Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 347: Featuring Kevin Weekes + HockeyFest Recap With Matt Murley

Episode Date: August 10, 2021

On Episode 347 of Spittin’ Chiclets the guys are joined by Kevin Weekes. Weekesy (00:55:59) joined to discuss his media career, his NHL career, Marc-Andre Fleury and tons more. But first, the guys open up the show discussing the Barstool Sports HockeyFest from this past weekend in Detroit and the massive success behind the tournament. RA then recaps his unbelievable goalie performance while Biz, Whit, Grinnelli and Murls discuss their weekends as well. The guys then get to some NHL news, including the Darnell Nurse contract. The boys wrap up with some All Right Hamilton questions and the new Grinds My Gears segment from RA.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 347 of Spittin' Chicklets presented by Pink Whitney from our friends at New Amsterdam Vodka here in the Barstool Sports Podcast family. Boys, after seven months of episodes, countless interviews and other Stanley Cup playoffs, we are at the last episode of the season. It is August, but things are pushed off about a month this year. Let's say hi to the boys first before we wrap up the last episode. Producer Mikey Grinelli with another stellar season of hard work.

Pulled it together this weekend in Motown. Not too many. Not too many. Unreal stuff. G, how are you feeling, buddy? I feel great. We pulled it off. We pulled it off. We pulled it off, boys.

We pulled off this amazing Hockey Fest this weekend, so I'm excited. Grinnell, you sound less excited. Now I'm going to tell everyone. Although he's burnt out. I'm going to tell everyone at home right now. Right? I'm going to tell everyone at home. August is a month of vacation.

This show is going to be a little bit off the rails. We've been in Detroit for 15 months, it feels like. It's been the best time. We're the rails. We've been in Detroit for 15 months, it feels like. It's been the best time. We have absolutely blitzed this city. It was a fantastic couple nights. You can hear my voice. You can hear Grinnelly.

And you're going to hear Biz, believe me. So we're ready to just talk shop and go over the weekend. But don't think any of us. And we get the Murr here as well. Oh, we got a special appearance, Murrly. The Murr is here. He's been here the whole time. I got kicked in the nuts. Let me finish my statement, Biz, please.

Okay, sorry. Do not expect professionalism on this podcast. All right, so I'm being dead honest. Now, let's have a time. Biz, how you doing? I'm hurting. I'm hurting. I'm hurting bad.

You guys, Biz went hard. He had a hell of a weekend. We'll get into that. Biz, just what hurts the most? We think he broke two toes, but is it more like the inner hangover body or is it more the pain from the toes? So one learning experience from, I think, the whole ball hockey, roller hockey tournament, hockey fest, as we're going to call it,

was the 7.30 starts. And that is just absolutely ridiculous. So that's going to be one And that is just absolutely ridiculous. So that's going to be one thing that we change about them. And the fact that we were getting belligerent, rolling dice, doubling down on fucking whatever, 19 maybe in rolls. I don't know. That's probably how it is. No, it was 17.

The dealer was all over me. I had the made hand. No, it was 8. It was 19, and I doubled. But whatever. Whatever it may be. It was late nights and then early mornings. Not a lot of sleep, and we're in one.

But the city of Detroit treated us well. It was an amazing hockey fest. The whole Barstool family and the event they were able to put on with Brad Jones, I think it surpassed any expectation I ever had coming in. The city completely embraced it. I am so overwhelmed. And I think we're living on a natural high, as they call it, although we're probably all under.

Well, it's been a long week. It's been a long week. You left me hanging on a fist bump. I started this week. I came in on Wednesday, and I played Oakland Hills. Shout out Oakland Hills. They just did a little golf. They just redid the South course. They've had Ryder Cups, you know, a little golf. They just redid the South course.

They've had Ryder Cups, US Opens, PGAs. They just redid the South and it came out so beautiful. I got to play there. We got two sandbaggers after that and a little warmup round. So that content's coming back and the craziest shit that's ever happened

in a sandbagger went down on this trip. So those will be coming out, gee, the next two months? Yeah, August, September. Yeah, Pasha, probably about four months. No, Pasha, I think he's going to drone prison. We'll have to get into that. Well, we did mention Merles is here.

We've got to say hi, Matt Merley, gambling correspondent. I don't think I've seen you since the crap table's Wednesday. Yeah, I mean, we came in really hot, and I got the Vegas voice like the rest of the boys. Detroit voice. But mine is from coaching. The first game, I'm yelling, screaming every time R.A. made a save.

I was coaching them. But then I realized, like, all right, this team's not moving on. So I jumped ship, and I was on Wierenski's bench the last couple games just coaching those guys up, screaming at the refs, everything. So half of it's from screaming for a Yo 11 or a hit, but a lot of it's from the coaching. I think we might need to bring G on here for the back story of a Wierenski team and the ball hockey, which kind of became the main event.

This all began Wednesday. So Wierenski threw in a team. Dylan Larkin completely ghosted. No show. Just a straight-up no show out of Lark's. Great guy, but he just ghosted us. I think Stevie Y may be a little nervous about the whole ball hockey situation. Heard about all the pot smoke coming out of the old Shillelagh.

Honestly, once I saw the game, I'm like, Larkin should not have been playing in this coming off neck surgery. No, it was so intense. Are you kidding me? That's true. So what happened was Wednesday night when we're at the tables, we meet a couple guys. And right away, they kind of recognize us. We get talking.

They're like, yeah, we're here to play. Nice. What division are you in? Or no, I always ask, are you playing ball hockey on your feet or roller hockey? And we're ball hockey. We're actually a professional league or whatever they are. We're the all-star team. We're going to crush everyone in this tournament.

I'm like, whoa. Actually, what did you say to him when you first met him about his snout? Oh, man. This guy had a nose like a half-chewed caramel. I'll tell you what. Vince met him, gave him a big hug. There's a guy I know from my career. I know that's coming from potato nose.

So Kyle Quincy's got a buddy he introduced me to way back when, and we'll probably get an Instagram post about it or something, but we call him Shovel Face. And basically, if you looked at him from the side, it looked like his face had been completely caved in and somebody had chewed off his nose. So he's coming up with a full buttoned-up golf shirt saying, I'm going to fucking win this tournament,

and I'm going to dunk on anybody trying to compete with me. What's the guy's name? Johnny? It was Rudy. The kid's name was Rudy. No, dude, they were calling him Rudy on Dorensky's team, I thought, because he tried so hard like Rudy in the movie. Oh, I was calling him Rudy the whole time. We're going to be able to do this.

Dude, you were dogging him to his face. This guy was a street dog. Street dog. And he wanted this tournament, and he called it Wednesday at the Crap Stables where Merles was, I don't know, cross-eyed. We tried telling him, dude, there's NHL players in this. And he's like, yeah, I know, but I'm better than them, and we're better than them. He goes, I don't care.

You don't get it. And he's like, we're coming for them. And I was like, oh, my God. So then I meet Wierenski and his brother, and they're like, oh, it's just going to be a fun time. We're out for a cool game. And I'm like, no, man. I'm like, it's going to be really serious.

Like, we met a guy that's, like, hunting you down. Like, be ready. Well, and I'm like no man I'm like it's going to be really serious like we met a guy that's like hunting you down like be ready well and I thought about it it's like these guys so impressed like watching this final game we'll get video out there it's actually an unreal game they were nasty I mean they're playing Wierenski other legit hockey players played d1 played at a high level and they know the game a little bit different. Their gloves aren't hockey gloves. It's a whole different game. It's a whole different game, but they still have skill, and they make sick plays.

The shootout moves they were doing, where they tapped on their leg and do a spinorama? Well, so they squared off in the first round, or maybe they were the second game, right? The second round, technically. I think it's round robin. And it was 2-2, and next thing you know, the goalie of the ball hockey

team is just chirping everyone. Wierenski calling a pigeon, just enough where they were like, and Steve Wierenski played, you know, he played a long time pro, watched Stanley Cup in Pittsburgh. Tough prick, and he's like, there's no fucking around anymore. The goalie's talking shit,

we're gunning for them, we'll meet them in the finals. So we got to wait until that all kind of boiled down. All of a sudden, what does Wierenski's team do? They call in some meat. Who was that guy, Merle? He goes, we're bringing a body tomorrow. An old cop drove 45 minutes down. 6'3", 240.

And he goes, Merle said, I think it could be a fight. Plus 300. So our league is kind of like the French league where you can call in any fighters. What was the old French Quebec league? Yeah, the Quebec Senior League. Yeah, Quebec Senior League. Where it was a meat fest. They were flying guys in on private

planes. They were getting paid per game, like a couple thousand per game. And if you fought off the opening face-off, it was like a $1,500 bonus. Oh, yeah. Sean McMorrell played. I think Nasty Morasty played.

Him and Bossy used to go. And I think the fans packed those buildings. They're smoking darts in the ring. No doubt. They didn't care what the final score was. Yeah, they didn't care at all. Check out the Bossy, Morasty. There's like a compilation of all the final score was. Yeah, they didn't care at all. Check out the bossy, morasty. There's like a compilation of all the times they fought.

Just doof, doof, doof, doof, doof. This is very funny. For anyone, you've got to check out the YouTube biz. His eyes are literally shut. You could blind him with floss right now. We're having a good time. Having a blast. Our voices, as you know, are hoarse because the Pink Whitney was flowing this weekend

throughout Greektown during Hockey Fest. Big thanks to them for this weekend. And wherever you are this summer, make sure you head to your local bar and make sure you order some Pink Whitney. It's the perfect summer shot for you and your friends. And once again, huge thank you to everybody at Pink Whitney and New Amsterdam for sponsoring this weekend. Terrific job.

Lots of vodka drunk. So back to Hockey Fest wit. Did you have any additional stuff? Lisa lit that. We've got to thank her. Lisa's just unbelievable. Her and her whole team at Barstool. Yeah, but that was just an ad, so.

No, yeah, Lisa. Live event, Lisa, they call her. I actually met Lisa when I got to NHL Network and, you know, became friends with her, really learned what she did. I remember saying, you'd be unreal at Barstool. She asked me what Barstool was like, and I connected her and Erica. Right away, Erica's like, this girl's awesome. She knows exactly what we're into.

She's feeling the same type thing. Ever since she's come, she's run all the Barstool classics. She did that with Riggs, and it's moved into such a machine. Then she helps out with all the live event stuff, sets everything up in advance. You're right. The thank yous matter because all this stuff that went down and all the people who enjoyed the weekend, which we were, like you said,

couldn't believe how many came. It's all because of what they're doing prior. So thank you. Yeah, the crowd was unreal. I mean, everyone was kind of like Detroit. People kind of looking across. Yeah, me. Just trying to save you that way. And we got it. And honestly, the hospitality was great.

I've had a blast. I mean, I'd never been here before. I would definitely come back here for a hockey game, 100%. Imagine if we could have had the Canadians, too. I mean, yeah. Unfortunately, memes couldn't come in the country. He had a visa issue. Lots of Canadians couldn't get here.

Wait, they said it wasn't a necessity? Said it wasn't a necessity. Oh, shit. I never seen his memes. I know how Pasha got in. Wait, they said it wasn't a necessity? Said it wasn't a necessity. Oh, shit. Somehow Pasha got in. No, they're like, memes, you used to clip old school on an old meme. You're done. You're not getting in. Well, I think we gave memes enough ammunition for the next few months, Biz, anyways.

And these might be good memes for a change. We were just saying it's a different game, Grinnelly. You know it's a different game when I can actually suit up and play. Oh, I missed it. I mean, I don't know who starts this. I can't believe up and play in a hockey tournament. I missed it. I mean, I don't know who starts this. I can't believe it. I think I have to. I'm sorry.

I missed the greatest ball hockey performance of all time because I had to. We skipped ahead. Hold on. Biz did the opening ceremonies of this tournament. I did the opening ceremonies and then ass-clinched my cheeks all the way back to the hotel to try to let out explosive diarrhea. Now, let me tell you, everybody here listening knows the first night of a bender, recovering the next morning is the worst.

It's always the first. You know, once you get in, like, vacation mode, as they call it, well, after the opening ceremonies, I just, yeah, it didn't sit well with me, and I ended up missing R.A.'s performance in goal. Yeah, he needed a little quick nap after, but I got to experience it. And you're forgetting one important part of the opening ceremonies. Biz gives a good speech, gives the mic over to two guys, one of them Ron Sanko's son, buddy of mine.

They crushed the Canadian National Anthem. They crushed it. Biz said, and now for the United States National Anthem, and he's like, where is this guy? He goes, all right, we're good with that. They cancel. I think it was like a lot of guys on Redskins' team were supposed to say it.

I thought during the speech there was no – it was so early that that team hadn't showed up yet, which we've already talked about, 7.30 starts. We can make this a running theme. Yeah, no chance again. But but r.a gets in that it was like i would say you didn't start playing till 10 30 right whatever okay well either way the the sun was was on its way up and we're in the middle of this parking lot it had to be 85 already i'm like oh r.a is here. He was loaded all night. How is he going to play goalie? He hasn't played goalie in 20 years.

The guy gets in that and stood on his head. He's flopping his leather glove around, making glove saves, kicking out saves, probably gave up like three goals pretty early. Barstool ties it up and he starts kicking, keeping them in it.

And we have the video. I was like just pumping his tires. He's said it since I met him. Yeah, I played ball hockey goalie growing up. And I was like, dude, no you didn't. Did you though? And it was pretty sick to watch. You've seen him on a mini putt course.

You're like, I know you're athletic. Yeah, and he told me he mini putted. Exactly. There was no bullshit coming from him here. I described it as when the Pirates pitcher pitched the perfect game on acid. That almost happened Saturday morning, but I couldn't play. Which, I don't know how much we can talk about acid on this podcast, given our gambling relationships or whatever we're affiliated to, but that kind of happened on the trip too.

Well, yeah. I can also talk about the feeling. This is a little off subject. The feeling of being on acid, I was not, but the feeling was when Merle's was down to $100 the first night when we met Caramel Noseface. Actually, it's Caramel Noseface killer. He's like Marshawn

on the ice. Are we allowed to talk about that run? Oh my God. Oh my God. So this guy gets down to a hundred bucks and we're at roulette. I said, Merle ate black.

Cornelius is like, you think ate black, what happens? Eight black drops. He didn't speak for 20 minutes before that. Says just black eight. That's it. Black eight.

We bet it. Bang, hits. So we just sit there for another 20 minutes. He doesn just black eight that's it black eight we bet it bang hits so we just sit there for another 20 minutes he doesn't say a word again all of a sudden he's like black 17 i'm like mean girl like yep go again boom he hits it again who was the wit he would only open his mouth just to to like give out the winner And then he wouldn't talk for 20 minutes. And then he'd give out another winner. I was sprinting around the casino. And then he hit on black six. And then he did it a third time.

I called three times. I said he was going to get naked if the first one hit when he only had $100 on eight. And then the pit box said he couldn't get naked. There he goes. Ten naked jumping jacks. It hits. He goes bananas. Immediately starts taking off his shirt.

The dealer says, no, no, no, seriously, you have to leave your clothes on. So just that was the beginning of the trip. That night was money. And then, well, for me, I lost everything. From buying him for $3,500

down to $100, up $9,500. Yeah, that was great. That was a run for the age. That was great. You took the money from me. I haven't seen it since Wednesday. I was playing $25 hands next to these guys

and I couldn't handle the stress of the emotional swings. What a run. It was awesome. I got hosed by the anchor. I got hosed by the anchor twice. I don't think anyone gives a shit in listening to how I lost money. I understand that.

But this kid, he's got 16. I had, I had ace five dealer shown a six, right? I double, I had a big action. This kid's got 16. He stays right?

No. 17. She showed seven. That's what it was. Seven. Yeah. Dealer shows seven. So 16.

So he's got to hit. You have to hit. And he's like, no, no, I can't hit. She ends up wheeling over like a three, a four. She takes like 16 cards basically.

That's the worst. And that kid only had a quarter up. She gets 19. I flip over my card to two, and I just look at this kid. He's like, man, I want to play my cards, which I totally understand. It's like the biggest catch-22, right? You're in a, which I totally understand. It's like the biggest catch-22. You're in a casino. It's somebody's money. You understand. You can play

however you want, but if you're the anchor on the table... If you're the fucking anchor, buddy, fuck off. The anchor makes the night. Eat the fucking cards. You're an anchor. Ask the guy who has the most money up. Like, oh, wait, what do you want me to do? You got like three grand up. I got a 25 bucks. What do you want me to do? It like three grand up i got a 25 bucks what do you

want me to do yes yes it's all relative but it's like bro if you're sitting down as a fucking caboose fucking rock you need to be a ride or die check you know if you need a fucking ride if you ain't looking at the guy with 1500 on tail being like bro what am i doing 1500 do you know do you know how anchors became in existence? They hold down boats. They hold down ships that can't go anywhere. It's necessary that that anchor, if it doesn't work, that ship's screwed. It's fucked.

You control the narrative in a sense of the table. That doesn't make sense. No, it's Titanic shit. Yeah. And he's looking at me and he's just like, that was it. You know, like I said, nobody cares. That happened two other times. I had three, I said two, I said three anchor awful, awful experiences.

And I just think blackjack people will understand listening like the anchor matters. So I digress. Merle Zott, thanks for the shout-outs. I did hear you coaching us the other day I did hear you were wet every time and it pumped you up biz I wasn't disappointed you weren't there I was curious I'm like geez we're busy though because like you did the uh opening ceremonies then I figured you'd be there but I blocked it out you know it's like I ain't gonna poke as busy in here oh well I think it all worked out well I'm telling you, there's nothing like having explosive diarrhea and a lack of sleep.

And then I'd be lying if I didn't miss the full performance because we did take a 30-minute nap. But in order to get back to the event after having explosive diarrhea and going through that out-of-body experience, basically like we were doing... You told me you had to crawl from the toilet to bed. I felt like I was doing ayahuasca. that's basically how bad it got in the toilet bowl okay and um and we came back and we got to interact with the crowd and fans all day that's and i don't know what you

even how it even came up but the whole experience in detroit here it ended up working out so well because it felt like we could talk and interact with every single person that was involved with the entire roller hockey and ball hockey experience. And we ended up going the distance, and that was the Friday night where we ended up going to Old Shillelagh's, which...

This place was three levels. Unreal. It was like getting a little dabble of Ecclesiacus on the pod We bet your ass we can't We could just bleep it out You'd say whatever you want And then you went to the next level

and then you reached fucking Bowser at the top which me and R.A. got into the smoke room It was like a chicken coop and you could smoke it It was like a two hour sesh I went up there during the Saturday afternoon because you watch the games from up at that spot, right? You guys were in that area just hotboxing that thing?

Yeah, the entire time. Chicken cooping there, yeah. I was on the second floor. I didn't see you one time. These people were handing us homegrown gorilla fingers. Louisville sluggish. And it just didn't stop. So the next thing you know, we're in this fucking vortex of weed

and interacting with some awesome people. And I don't know how we got to the old show. I don't know, we're in this fucking vortex of weed and interacting with some awesome people. And I don't know how we got to the old. I don't know how we got to this. But there was a local cannabis. Now, there must have been, you know, 500 people at the bar. We got to shoot the shit with everyone. More and more adds on to the full experience of our time in Detroit. Like I come here expecting to be be two plastic street hockey nets set up

in the road. Then I got here and you guys had five rinks set up. It was placed right where we could watch from a bar too. We had the beer garden going. I didn't meet one grumpy person. Everyone just had the time of their lives the whole weekend. That's what I said. The thing about our events

and not just this one, I don't know anywhere else where you get so much testosterone in one place, but you don't, like nobody's a dickhead. Usually there's one, and we got a couple of lone wolves. Well, that anchor was kind of a dickhead. But people like, not even close to a fight. Like, I didn't see an argument, maybe on

the turn of the games, maybe, but nothing. It's just such a fucking mad chill vibe. Granted, 80% of the people here probably spliffed out because it's legal here in Michigan. But it was just such a cool vibe man it was like you know usually when it's a hot dog factory like that everywhere there's some couple dickheads square off you don't even see anything you didn't sense like yeah yeah exactly you didn't sense anything like that and i mean unless something happened i'm unaware of it's like that's that's the vibe we like to convey and it fucking was splendid this weekend so when when you said, wow, we're going to Detroit, and I was like, why are we going to Detroit?

You hear things about the downtown. They're trying to get better and better, and there's some areas that are so nice. But in the end, we get down here, and everyone that I met said, Detroit doesn't get a lot of stuff like this. It's so great you guys came. So to see them pretty fired up to have an event like downtown here for everyone that locally like love chicklets like i met a kid who um never watched hockey never into hockey he like falls bar stool so when covid hit like he

said march 20th 2020 he's like oh i'm gonna try spitting chicklets and he finished the most recent episode last week. And he was like, one of those kids that just, you meet so many people like that. It's the best feeling. It makes you so. You guys used to live really far. Yeah, I go, how weird was it at the beginning? He goes, Jesus Christ, you guys were tapped.

He goes, you and R.A. were talking nonsense. And then Biz came in like a flying, like what are those things that ninjas throw? Ninja stars? The ninja stars. That was you just coming and cutting everything up. But yeah, I'm just talking about the city and how good it was. Some other stories of people that came in to play in the tournament. We got to get to that. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

A lot of people. Spirit Airlines is the biggest scumbag organization. They host so many competitors in this tournament. Spirit Airlines, I don't know what the hell is going on. Somebody duct taped one of the people on the flight to a seat. That was Spirit? No, I'm talking how they're canceling all their flights. I think this has a part to do with it

and the fact that one of the employees finally said, this is ridiculous how this person is acting. And they whipped out duct tape and duct taped this lunatic to his seat. Yeah, he's like, my parents are worth $2 million. God, I'm playing spirit. I'm like, oh, dude. I'm like, have a fun next few years. I'm going to take a shit in an aisle if that's what you get for $2 million.

I just booked a flight to Columbia, and that was one of the airlines. And I'm like, no fucking way. There's just certain things. Because if this happens, then you can only blame yourself for taking Spirit. And I know people who are on budgets and you've got to spend money when you can. But there's just certain companies. When you take pot, you can only blame yourself afterwards. R.A.'s paddling across rather than taking a sip.

Yeah, but that way he can bring all his drugs. So, hey. He's the only guy who brings drugs to Columbia. Hey, listen. Listen, Spirit Airlines biz, you'd pay eight bucks for a flight to Myrtle Beach. Hey, it'd be 75 cents to use the overhead compartment. You'd have to put quarters and you couldn't even use. They charge you for everything. You had to pay to get your seatbelt buckled on Spirit.

It's the biggest piece of trash. So the reason we get into it is because there was a team in Orlando. There was a team... LA. LA. And then somebody else. They all had Spirit flights. Is San Diego a kid? Yes. And they all had Spirit flights. They got messages, emails at midnight. Their flights were at

5.45 and 6 a.m. that the flight was canceled. But they ended up working out. For California, Orlando guys hopped in a van and drove. Right? Yeah. Marina drove. Marina from Boston.

Yeah, but she was working. It's a little different than like. Chief drove as well. Yeah, awesome. That's great they drove, but I'm saying to get your flight canceled that late and just still want to be here and to get in a van and like, I don't know what it takes from Orlando. We had people that drove here.

It takes getting duct taped. I'd rather wait in line at Space Mountain than do that. We had people that drove here from Florida that weren't even playing in the tournament just to hang out at the event. Yeah, so it was great. I mean, I know we're talking about it a lot, but it was a weekend for us that it was a first, right? It was our first event doing the ball hockey. Like you said, Brad Jones, huge help.

He set it all up, but we didn't know how it would go. So I think we're just pretty fired up talking about it and sharing our experiences because all the people who were here and we got to interact with, they're going to be listening. And so we loved it. And to every person who probably put money on black, because every time people were saying, are we going black or red at the roulette table,

everybody kept saying black. So, you know, at one point, somebody from the tournament put some money on black based on our call. Who gave you the jersey, Wesley Stein? That USA Hockey jersey. Yeah, and, like, I can't even believe I forgot to bring that up. Great, Calmer. Veterans Hockey United.

So I met these guys. They have all served or are still currently serving in the military. This guy did a couple tours in Afghanistan. He loves hockey. We had a great discussion. He tells me all about his business and what they've started not even business he's just done this like he connects veterans and current people serving in the military to men's hockey leagues so all over the world wherever people get stationed all over the country Europe he finds guys places to play and he said like the

conversation I had with him for when he was on duty and even now and hanging out with these guys is to get your mind off of some of the stuff that they have to go through for 90 minutes. He said it means so much. And all these guys that he's connecting, I was blown away. He gave Biz and I the coolest jerseys. Actually, all three of us, I think. I got my jersey. We'll get a picture of that. I'm bringing it home.

So you have to shout out them. They have a website, VeteranHockeyUnited.com, and just an unreal thing that they're doing. So it's another group of people you meet. You're just like, this is the best job in the world. No doubt about it. A few other things I wanted to mention as well. Shout out to Mattress Firm as well.

I know that we don't have a set aside for them, but they were huge this weekend. They had the big trailer. I gave a couple mattresses away to a couple listeners the other day with the hashtag thing. That was pretty fun. Got to see a couple of the nice neighborhoods around here. Also, I want to give a shout out to the Covington Street Hockey League. Those guys showed

up with their own trailer. They had it parked in the back of the parking lot where all the rinks were set up. These guys have a great story. Covington, Kentucky, right? The boards at the old arena in Dayton, where the Dayton races or the WHA used to play. They were taking the arena down. The boards was the only thing standing.

These guys made phone calls, got money donated, end up driving up. These are the boards. When was this? You know, like the 80s or more recently? No, I think this was fairly recent. I would say within the last 10, 15 years if I had to guess. But the arena was the very first

professional location, the very first professional game Wayne Gretzky ever played when he was with the Indianapolis Racers. His very first game. So like one of the guys said it, those boys got Gretzky's juju on them. So they got all this money together, got all these permits, and they brought the boards from Dayton, Ohio down to Covington

and set it up in like a recreational area so they have their own street hockey league. Just a really fucking cool thing to go up in. And these guys didn't, it wasn't like, hey, buddy, get your pickup truck and go up. They had to get permits and raise a shitload of money. It was a big undertaking. So I met those guys.

Those guys was great. There were tons of other leagues. I know Myrtle Beach, we said something, Florida, guys from Seattle. And shout out to all the Michigan folks, too. I think 75% of the crowd probably was within 45 minutes to a couple hours of this place. So I want to give them a shout out to all the Michigan folks too. I think 75% of the crowd was within 45 minutes to a couple hours of this place. So I want to give them a shout out as well. Also

we could talk about the pre... Well, I won't say what it was. We see a guy come in. We're hanging out in the... Oh my God. We have like a beer pen. He kind of had a drink in this area. So we're hanging out having a few between games or whatever. And I look over and I see a guy with a priest robe on,

and he's got gelled up hair. He's handsome. He's got, like, mirrored shades on. I thought it was a costume. He got mirrored shades on with the Rangers logo on it. And, like, the night before, we had people dressed up as Hulk Hogan, a macho man. So I showed, we got some wackos out there.

I'm like, somebody's here, you know, dressed in a priest robe. And I kind of sit, and he's got a smile on his face, thinking, like, you know, these guys are a joke store. So I was like, hey's here, you know, dressed in priest robes. And I kind of sit, and he's got a smile on his face, thinking like, you know, these guys are jokes. So I was like, hey, how you doing? I was like, what's up with the bit? He's like, I'm a priest. I was like, no, really. He goes, no, I'm a priest at the church over there.

I was like, you fucking hill. I felt like such a. I goes, I feel like such a. He's like, don't worry about it. I love the show, blah, blah, blah. He's like a listener to the show. He's stationed here. And funny enough, our Instagram account tweeted,

sent out a video of him skating. And Meme said, when you have pawns at one and sermon at two, because he was skating in his robes. He's like, oh, you guys, I had my Instagram years ago. So it's a Cannon Stein of St. Joseph's Shrine. Father of the hood, they call him. Well, ask this guy what he said to him. It's pretty similar.

I just said, what's up, man? Why are you dressed like a priest, dude? He's like, I am a priest. I gave him knocks. I'm like, that's unreal. He plays men's league one night a week, maybe two nights a week. That'll put you on your heels, eh? I go, it's 100 degrees out there.

Under Armour can't make you a priest outfit. Steven Seagal throat shot. I was like, I am a priest. Whoa, shit. All right. We got to get him an NBD, one of those nice fitted shirts. We were talking about that. How have they not created this under armor type material for priests

who want to live in Detroit in the middle of summer where they're not sweating their absolute cojones off? He had to have been dripping. He was looking sharp, though. He reminded me of an old priest of mine, Father Roy and Coin. Jesus. Ron Coin. Sorry, Father Coin.

Real nice guy. Really relates to the young kids. I was like, Father, I didn't know what to say at first because I haven't really had a conversation with a priest all that time. I was like, my great aunt was a nun. I was like, wait a minute. That's like when people come up to me and be like, dude, I played three games in the coast. I was like, sorry, dude. That was a people come up to me and be like, dude, I played three games in the coast. I was like, sorry, dude. That was a terrible thing.

But he was a wicked nice guy. So we put our ear on his heels. Dude, I thought he'd be good. All right, you should go down the street now and do a confession. I got a flight in 18 hours, buddy. He's like, I didn't tell you. He's like, I'll give you the last three months. That's all I'm giving you.

I didn't tell you she was a nun and she ran a book on the side. I left that out. She taught me about lines and our parlays. Goes without saying. One last note, the Detroit pizza. You guys had it in the sports book. The sports book in the Greektown Casino is some of the best pizza I've ever eaten in my life. Is that Chicago or Detroit style pizza?

I'll tell you what. If it's considered deep dish, it's better than anything I've ever had in Chicago. So not only do they suck at pizza in general, they suck at their own stuff worse than a sport. Hey, I'm a Chicago guy. You can hate biz. I'm a Chicago guy. They gave me a broken stick, though. Chicago deep dish.

I would call that a Sicilian slice. Wait. Chicago deep dish. Going over to R.A. Sicilian. So I went to... Sorry, Merle. Sorry, Merle.

I was going to cut you off. I went to Buddy's. Frosty said go up there. You do that too much. I've been working this town for years. And I said go there. So I went to Sorry I cut you off I went to Buddy's Frosty said go up there You do that too much I worked in this town for years And I said go there So I went to Buddy's It's classic Detroit style And I had

It's good It's filling I like New York Northeast Whatever Boston Philly style better But it's better than Chicago

So I tweeted that I had every little wine bag From Chicago Like we don't eat that It's like dude It's called Chicago Fucking style pizza Whether you eat it

There or not That's what it's fucking known it's called Chicago fucking style pizza whether you eat it there or not that's what it's fucking known as Twitter people getting in our ears oh fucking even White Sox you know what grinds

my ears White Sox nobody here eats that stuff I'm like Dave I'm not saying you eat I'm saying that's the fucking style

we have to transition this into grind my gears because you were bitching about the Guardians the Cleveland Guardians we'll save that for later we got some other shit

we got to before we got me bitching about 20 things I know you like to go off on tangents with the Guardians, the Cleveland Guardians. We'll save that for later. We get some other shit. We get me bitching about 20 things. I know you like to go off on tangents, but I like to try to keep the fucking focus. How is the guy who's going to drive the bus? Especially on a night like tonight. Actually, I think we called the other night. Who was I talking to? We said, we've got to stop calling it the driving the bus.

I like calling a quarterback on the power play a little bit. I'm not going to be cool with that. Coordinating the box on the BK. You're driving me on the power play a little bit better. I'm not going to be cool with that. Coordinating the box on the BK. You're driving me on the bus and I'm the quarterback of the power play getting off the bus. Alrighty then. Oh, fuck, alright.

Don't be all sensitive. I'm just busting balls. I'm sensitive, mate. Second unit power play, I'll settle for that. How about that? Never step foot on the ice when it really matters. You get the last 30 seconds. You could have just really given it back to me there, all right. He goes, the last 30 seconds.

He'd like it. All right, boys. Any final thoughts on Detroit before we get – there weren't a lot of trends, actually. You're not fucking Zubom, all right. I'll tell you that. Barstool team needs to get better next year. Yeah, Barstool team needs to get better.

And shout out to Scott Darling for coming in. Oh, yeah, Dolls. That's right, too. Good call, G. Yeah, Scott Darling came out and played with us. You're Barstow teams get better. And shout out to Scott Darling for coming in. Oh, yeah, Dolls. That's right, too. Good call, G. Yeah, Scott Darling come out and played with us. We're not Zubov, buddy. Oh, dude, we didn't even...

Actually, how the fuck we gloss over? I threw it to him. He's so whacked. He doesn't throw... You played that the second day. That's why we were saying talk about old chalet.

Oh, my God. My ribs, I did something. I definitely couldn't play the next day. There was no way I could have thrown myself in the concrete. I played goalie.

It wasn't pretty and we were done. And at that point, I definitely couldn't play the next day. There was no way I could have thrown myself in the concrete. I played goalie. I played goalie. It wasn't pretty. And we were done. And at that point, it became all about the fans, the interaction, and getting to experience that final game between Rorensky and fucking half-chewed caramel face in the finals of that ball hockey. Because we probably had, what, about 1,000 people watching and dialed in? I was wondering how many people.

Yeah, I'd say so. We had like 5,000 on Instagram Live as well. Yeah, it was definitely like rows deep. And just to see them – go ahead, Ari. I'm sorry. They brought that meat in. They brought in that big meat, and he goes and hits that kid right away into the boards. All of a sudden, the puck pops to him. That kid scores right away.

And then Rorensky comes over complaining about how long his stick was. Boom, the kid scores again. And they got up 3-0 on him right away. He said, he tapped me on the shoulder and goes, look how long his stick is. As I turned my head around to look at it, he was sniping number two. Half-chewed caramel? Yes. And then he was celebrating in their face.

I'm like, oh, my God, this kid is. That's what he said. He's like, Marchand. But Wierenski's team came back in like this most ridiculous fashion with that many people watching and me and Merle's kind of coaching. I was actually, I was like, this is why coaching would be really fun.

I mean, I was just opening the door for those guys. I'm calling you coaching. We were just talking to each other and I was still like fired up. But you can't gamble. But you can't gamble. It'd be fun if you could coach and gamble, though. Oh, my God.

Imagine coaching. Now we're talking. That's the next wave. That's the future. Also, too, shout out to all the local independent media we showed up to. A lot of non-Bostel people came to take pictures and videos and stuff. So pretty good stuff we were sharing online. All right, boys.

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Well, Biz, speaking of locking things up, Edmonton signed down on the rest to an eight-year $74 million extension. It's a 9.25 AAV. It expires after the 30 season. It would have been a UFA after next season. He's to play it this year at 5.6 million he's 26 years old last year he had 16 goals 20 assists in 56 games he's got a full no move clause through the contract and a modified no trade in the last three what you're the D guy we always go to you first yes it was this more than you expected for Don Elnur?

Yeah, I think everyone probably expected a little bit less. But then once you saw these deals being signed by Dougie Hamilton and Seth Jones and Wierenski, we talk all the time, if you need a guy to come to Edmonton, you've got to overpay, right? He's also had a fantastic last few years in terms of, like, he gets better every single season. So no doubt in my mind i think it's an overpay but that's what happens now everyone that was i saw bitching online and obviously when these big deals come out all you see is comments overpay overpay it's like obviously

that's what everyone thinks about all the money given out now unless it's mcdavid mckinnon mccarr like there's few players everyone else it's overpay so he had a really high shooting percentage so there's like oh that's gonna come down right he's not gonna get 16 goals again but i look at him his skating's unreal one of the best skating defensemen in the league so in terms of like the most important aspect for defensemen nowadays he's got that you know he's always gonna be able to be up in the play people bitch he has that many points he's with mcdavid all right well he's gonna be on his team the next eight years whatever it is consistent 25 minutes every single night.

Every night. And here's the thing. This guy is tough as shit. Tall. Have you seen him fight? I mean, anyone on here who hasn't, YouTube, I'm like, you're not even just getting a full-blown offensive. You're getting a Shea Weber. Yeah.

A guy in front of you, he's going to fucking give you a cross check. He'll fucking go toe-to-toe with any other teams. I think anyone. Yeah, he'll fight anyone. If it had to come down to Reeves, he's like, yeah, we're fucking going. Let's go. But he doesn't need to. He's kind of like that Chris Pronger type in a sense of like he's playing it in a mean style.

And when push comes to shove, it's going to be I'm going to fucking win you in the corner, motherfucker. Yeah. And he's a cultural guy. No, that's how it's going. Hey, buddy, it's a man's game still. And the cup finals and all of it, it's proven time over time. He's got that little extra spice. And listen, nine and a half, you're probably like,

oh, fuck, yeah, that's a lot of money. That's what the market's saying right now for premium defensemen. And if you're the Edmonton Oilers, you should be kissing his feet at the fact he'd be willing to even stay in that fucking city and help you guys win something if you even do. Right? Yeah, I mean...

Is that a polite way of putting it or what? He wanted... You know, I'm an Oilers guy. They all hated me, but I'm an Oilers guy. They all will see, right, that he's only going to continue to get better, I think. They love him in the locker room, too. And you say Shea Weber, and you mean in terms of the toughness and how mean he is. Now, I know you did.

If Connor McDavid's looking at a few guys in the locker room, who am I going to war with? He's looking over at Darnold. Man, their core is McDavid, Dreitzel, the new Hyman contract, Nugent Hopkins, and Nurse. That's their five guys, right? You know, you need to get a goalie in terms of long term. But still, it's just you want to keep your best players. It's been hard. Your core.

And you just lost Adam Larson, and that might affect him a little bit, right? And if he's not playing with him, I don't know if he played with him all time last year. I'm not going to pretend I know that. But fuck. I just couldn't believe the negativity. I couldn't believe it because I could, but I also look at it. He's not like a one-style type player, one-trick pony. So I like him.

I think he'd make Canada's Olympic team if they go to Beijing, if the NHL players end up going. So that's what you got to get paid, like you said. So I think it's a good thing for the Oilers, and they realize they got to do this to keep guys. And they're right behind Winnipeg as far as all their moves. I'm excited to see what they can do in the next year or two. Smitty's got to be good again.

Smitty's got to put on a performance. I would say it's an overpay just because he's not the top guy in the power play. If I'm going to pay my D, $9 million. Yeah, but that's what you've got Tyson Berry there for. But what he brings is the toughness. That's what Connor wanted. Connor's definitely. But what he brings is the toughness. And maybe that's what Connor wanted. Connor's definitely calling some shots there. Has to be.

And you need protection. Sidney never had any protection. He took some hits that he probably shouldn't have hit. You guys have talked about that before. Now you got some. Oh, I played fucking 15 games already. You got some meat there. How much more do you want me to do, man?

Guys are going to think twice before running Connor knowing that Nurse is back. 100%. Between him and Cassian, I think that's all the modern day toughness you need. You don't need maybe a little bit more. Maybe you get a guy in the fourth line, mix it up a little bit. I think, fuck, if you

were smart enough, you'd figure it out. If you're a guy in the minors, they're saying, hey, I'll turn on the meat. Let's crank it up and chip it in, chip it out, fucking muck it up on the fourth line, maybe get a ring or two. That's how you got there, buddy. That's how you did it. Before we get to the other signs, we haven't, of course, per usual, mentioned our guest yet.

We'll bring him on shortly. Kevin Weeks joined us in New York a few weeks ago. Good one. Awesome conversation. It goes all over the place, but gets into him being an actual insider, unlike us, his career, tons of good stuff. But we'll get to that shortly. We did him years ago before Biz was on the pod, right?

Yeah, yeah. Last time he was on was, yeah, I think four years ago. It might have been three or four years. It was too long, so it was great to get Weeksy back in studio. A couple of the big sign-ins. The Islanders signed restricted free agent defenseman Adam Pellick. Cool. Eight years, $46 million deal.

Lou getting it done. Another bargoon. Lou getting it done at $5.75 million AAV. He's got a no-trade clause from 23 through 25, then a modified no-trade for the last four years of the deal. 14 points in 56 games last year for the 27-year-old. But he's not all about points. He's just a solid, dependable, really good two-way defender.

And that could be tremendous value in a couple years. He held his family kidnap. That's the only explanation for that contract. Lou just, he's a mastermind. He's a mastermind. What do you call the interrogation rooms? You think he puts them in one of those before he signs them? I think that he just, he also had a guy that

was a little bit behind in terms of negotiating with like big numbers in his past. Like he's never put up offensive big numbers. But no doubt if there was a faction of Oilers fans who right away saw Darnell Nurse's deal and were like, are you kidding me? We gave him that

much? The same amount of Islanders fans were like, what? That's all we had to pay Pelic? We were with our boy Frankie Morelli. Frank and their cocks off. He was like, can you believe we only got him for that much? And I was telling him, yeah, but he didn't have huge numbers to get a lot more. And he's like, I know, but now if he starts playing power play, maybe he could. And there was moments, actually, he looks way better offensively than he's ever given.

That Noah Dobson, right, it's a high pick. He's nasty offensively. He could be the first power play guy. But, yeah, this guy's skating. We keep saying everyone, like, Nurse gets better. This kid, he continues to do the same exact thing. Like, this year was the first year everyone's like, whoa. If he didn't progress at all at this point, you're still looking at a bargain.

Yeah, if he came. If you're saying there's an upside to it, it's like, oh my goodness. Here's Lou Lamarillo. Another... And Paul Mary's just waiting. You know Paul Mary's resigning there, but nothing's come out yet. So it's just like, Lou's like, I'll get to you later, bud. Parisi, too.

Lou knows what he's doing. Can't question Lou. Siri has a Lou Lamarillo voice, but it's only for prospects and people who are assigned within the organization. It comes through. Is that actually a funny joke, my bitch, for one time? Everything's funny coming at you right now. You might have a broken rib already.

It hurts to breathe, you told me, too. Dude, honestly, it hurt more today than yesterday. At first, I thought it might have been one of those hidden muscles you don't necessarily see, but you have. But then, like, today, it's like, because I did kind of throw myself out there a little bit. You were Dominic Hasek already. If it hurts two more days, I'll get an X-ray. His plate goal, he wouldn't go down. He's going to head up his insurance company.

What? He's going to head up his insurance company. That's what it's for. His claim is like, yeah, I broke my patella tendon. My right nostril. And my taste buds from stripping the acid. If I was still working for the city,

I'd fly home tomorrow and walk and work with a hoodie sweatshirt, the back to us, and no one could see me then slide on water. Like, oh, I broke my ribs. Make sure you get paid. I can tell you guys a great story about that faking. We had to do it in college for a guy. So we might have been out, and then he might have gotten a little tussle out of town at the bar.

So he broke his hand. But you couldn't tell anybody that because he could lose his scholarship to kill all of us. So we come back. He has to suck it up from Saturday night until Monday afternoon when we start doing a team workout and we're using medicine balls so we had to sit there with a broken hand waiting and then when one of us threw the medicine ball to him he like fakes like hits it he's like oh my hand my hand i broke my hand goes to the emergency room gets it all done up misses first two months of the year. Nobody ever found out about it.

There was like four or five of us that knew about it. We kept it a secret the whole year. At the end of the season, we told the coach. He's like, you assholes. But that was a good one. Hey, you get the strength coach fired for doing a drill. That's being a team player, though, man. You got to cover up for that guy. Yeah.

I mean, that's what you have to do. That's what the late. It has to be NHL stories of just getting to the rink the next day and getting the ice. My only one is the guy bringing out your gitch bag because you're late, so you can put your gitch on and the coach won't know you were late. But that's faking the old hand injury. I think Terry Ryan told a story about that when he lost his teeth

and he lost his insurance, so they weren't going to pay for his teeth. So he faked it in the minors. Or he might even have got him knocked out of a bar. Oh, he did it himself. He did it himself after. With like a skateaked it in the minors. Or he might even have got him knocked over the bar. Oh, he did it himself. He did it himself after. With, like, a skate. Yeah. No.

Oh, yeah. He's, yeah. That's savage. Seattle Kraken not done yet. What are they doing? Restricted free agent Vince Dunn to a two-year $8 million deal. They, of course, claimed him from St. Louis in the expansion draft. They also signed unrestricted free agent forward Marcus Johansson

to a one-year $1.5 million deal. He'll be 31 when the season starts. That could be a value deal. Vince Dunn, you surprised at that number? I mean, okay, so I kind of look at Vince Dunn like a Brandon Montour. So I played, I think I've seen enough of him in the American League and then him come up to the NHL, to St. Louis, and sometimes you're like, okay, yeah, this guy's going to be able to take the next leap. And same with Brendan Montour when he was out with Anaheim. That's where he started, right? Then he ended up in Buffalo.

Right, and it kind of derailed him, but he's kind of like that smooth-skating, offensive-type defenseman where, yeah, I think this guy, he might put up Tyson Berry numbers all of a sudden, might be able to stab it around, depending on the situation that he's in. So for two years at $4 million a year, I think it's a good deal. I'm interested to see if he can take that next step

because I don't think he ever got to be that guy in St. Louis. Yeah, he's going to be like, who got to Vegas and just, who am I thinking? Theodore. Yeah, I mean, I'm not saying it's Theodore, but he had the chance. Boom, he went to Vegas, and he's just getting to play, and Dunn will get that chance he never got in St. Louis. It was Theodore, Montour, and then one other defenseman. Schmidt. There was a couple in the Anaheim system where you're kind of like

oh fuck yeah they had a couple Swedish guys that were really good there. They gotta make a decision here. Fowler was older and he'd already gotten paid. Well Fowler and I think Manson was one of the guys they also protected. I wasn't sure maybe there might be one other name in there. It's like fuck is it can this guy kind of be the guy?

I think with the Seattle I think he's going to have that opportunity where it's, you know. But I think because what you're saying in terms of maybe a little bit of inconsistency is probably why he doesn't get a longer deal from them. Or maybe he even wanted two years. I shouldn't say that that was the case. But they probably looked at it like, we're not going to give this guy a five-year deal. We're going to see what we got.

You also got the winning pedigree too which you can't get enough of that in a locker room when you're starting and that's where you kind of value is like what type of impact did he have on that that stanley cup win and like it's like yeah he was he was a factor for sure but i think that in the hockey world is always going to get overpaid now it's a case of like hey we, we actually need you to be part of, I don't want, maybe not the core, but we need you to be a bigger piece than definitely what you were in St. Louis. I mean, you think of the names on that St. Louis Cup. I mean, Dunn's, he's on the lower tier of that list,

and that's not taking anything away from any Stanley Cup winner. But am I crazy here? Well, now he can go to Seattle, and we talk about the power play. Now maybe he's the top guy on that power play, and that's just points all day. Right, and that's his role, and that's what he's doing. And then he's going to get that confidence, and he's just going to run with it.

It's like those Vegas guys. They got there, they got to play a little more, they got the confidence. You guys know when you play it. If you get confident and you're on a run, it's the best. If you get there. It's like on the craps day. It's exactly like gambling.

If you get put in a spot and you start doing well and you're like oh my god like no one's going anywhere here like i'm gonna be here if i continue to do this that that's been the case for guys in vegas now granted they've switched their lineups it seems quite often but guys are getting paid is more more than anything what i'm saying all right boys a bunch of other signs here i'll route them off if you want to chime in. Just chime in. Colorado signed unrestricted free agent defenseman Ryan Murray. One year, $2 million deal.

St. Louis also signed a pair of restricted free agent forwards. Jordan Cairo, two years, 5.6 million. I like that guy. Zach Sandberg. Fucking player. Big boy, can skate. What was his AAV? 2.8 AAV.

Yeah. That could be nice. St. Louis is looking like they're going to be ready to go again. Yes. Zach Sanford, one year 2 million. Ottawa signed RFA defenseman Victor Mite, one year 1.2 mil. Shock signed RFA goalie Aiden Hill, two years 4.35 mil.

I'm telling you. Oh, hey. Hey, he's not on the Coyotes anymore. I'm telling you. No, fuck. Hey, he's not on the Coyotes anymore. I don't need to stroke him off. I'm not playing hometown favorites. But I'm saying is I liked what I saw. 6'5", great pedigree, incredible wingspan,

has a fucking massive competitive drive. I'm saying is if he pops off and he becomes a top 15 goalie in the league don't be surprised folks I like it, that's a good call I like it, what else we got here let's see, Nashville signs RFA defenseman Dante Favreau, two years 4.8 mil

Jersey signs RFA forward Igor Sharangovich, two years 4 mil they also brought in Thomas Tatar at two years 9 mil, 4.5 AAV. He got shriveled by Montreal. He wasn't in the plans the entire playoffs pretty much, right? But it's happened in Detroit, and he was in Vegas, correct? So I think he still has skill.

I think maybe teams get a little fed up that it's just not much away from the park, and if he's not really producing offensively, then he's not in the lineup. But he still will at least add some skill level to Jersey, who doesn't exactly score in bunches or they haven't. What's he making a year? Tatar's going to make $4.5 a year for the next two years. Yeah, that's what I was surprised at. I'm like, $4.5 for a guy who got shriveled away from—

Let's look at his numbers. Do you know what I'm saying? I'm looking at the market and I'm like four and a half for a guy who got shriveled away from look at his numbers. But you know what I'm saying? I'm looking at the market and I'm saying, wait, a guy who like they were basically paying this amount of money to not have play for them in Montreal, who was having success. What's the problem here? What am I not seeing? If it's a complete misusage and a guy who's not going to flourish in that type of system as far as a defensive style. But when I see four and a half million in this market for a guy who is shriveled away from a playoff contender, there's got to be pressure marks.

I know, but listen. This goes back to 18-19, Montreal, since you got there. Okay. 80 games, 58 points, 25 goals. Okay, so that's four and a half right there. The year before, 68 games, 61 points, 22 goals. That's a bargain. And this past year, 50 games, 30 points.

He went 10 and 20, so I think— He had his off year, and they shriveled him in playoffs, and somebody was like, you know what? This is a good value at this point. Yeah, like he still is showing that he can produce. Okay. Just had a little bit of an off year then. Yeah. Or an off playoff where they didn't need him or want him.

He's only 32. I thought he was older for some reason, but he's not. What else? Pittsburgh signs RFA forward Zach Aston Reese. One year, 1.725 mil. Chicago signs forward Brandon Hagel. three years, 4.5 mil. And other restricted free agents looking at arbitration unless they come to a deal. Names of note, Ross Colton, Tampa Bay, Andrew Kopp, Winnipeg, Neil Pionk, Winnipeg, UC

Soros, Nashville, probably the biggest name on the list, Jacob Rana on Detroit, and Nikita Zdorov, Calgary. Of course, he hasn't played a game for them yet, but he is their property and he is RFA. So you bring up Andrew Kopp. We got to do two sandbaggers here like I mentioned. The first was with Wierenski and Andrew Kopp. They both played at Michigan together and Kopp

is a guy who Biz We're driving to the sandbagger. Me, Merrill, and Biz says, I think this is the first AHL we're driving we're driving I'm gonna eat this one we're driving to the sandbagger me, Merrill's, and Biz he says I think I think this is the first AHL we've had

on a sandbagger we hockey DB him he's got more games played than I ever had and last year he had 15 goals and he should be fucking making

a nice payday here pretty soon so he's gone to arbitration once already and I'm talking to him, and he might go again. He's like, I don't want to do it again. No. It's tough.

We've talked about this a bunch. Small horn in the shower, boys don't like him in the locker room. Terrible haircuts. We don't like his clothes. Anything they can say about you. He doesn't have his coffee. Doesn't flush. But his numbers, man.

Merle's was betting him to score first goal this year, right? Yeah, he was a guy. Everybody talks about their top. So he was a guy that was kind of going in and out of there and just like you put him there. Great things were happening every time he was on the ice. He was starting off the game scoring all the time. And I had him bet one time to score the first goal,

like 18 plus 1,800 or something. He scores. I start doing the laps around the living room, fist pumping. Offside's coach's challenge. Pull it back. Unbelievable. It's like the 17th cup. What happened next game?

Well, of course, like two nights later, he scores the opening goal when I don't put any action on it. Who was offside? That's what he was asking me. I couldn't remember exactly who it was, but it wasn't him. I wonder if as a player, when you're at the table with the management saying

like, remember when that motherfucker went offside? That guy you signed on that contract and it should have been my goal. That happened to me in 2017, first game of the Cup. Remember Subban scored and they called it back and they didn't even have conclusive evidence. It cost me, well, five times. Oh, grind my gears.

Put it on my gears. Grind my gears. All right, boys. Well, there's not much worse than looking for a job and the accompanying stress, the applications, the ghostings, the monotony. Not fun. ZipRecruiter knows that the general experience of looking for a job

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He's currently calling the Stanley Cup on the NHL Network's international broadcast. And per the New York Post, you'll see him as a studio and game analyst on ESPN's start next season. Thanks so much for coming in to see us. Kevin Weeks, how have you been, Weeksy? Fellas, thank you guys so much for having me, man. I'm pumped to be here. Thanks, boys. This has been a long time.

Thank you. Four years. Before Biz was on the show. So to hear that, that feels like a different lifetime. So thank you for joining us. And it's funny, R.A. mentions that you're doing the international broadcast and doing the color commentating. That's when we first met. When you were doing the West Coast Hockey Night in Canada color.

I thought you were great at that. And then you've gone to the in-studio uh analyst position and what do you like most are you looking forward to getting back into the color thank you i i like them both because i feel they both kind of feed each other you know you always have to be in the game yeah and you guys know that you always have to be in the rink the players are the product so you always have to be around the rink. The players are the product. So you always have to be around the rink, be in contact with the players, with the trainers, with the equipment managers, everybody. And that helps by being in the game. But also, too, there's little nuances that you see being in the building. You know that.

These guys are so good and these women are so good that play the sport. And some of it gets missed when you're in the studio. As eagle-eyed as we think we are, there's just little nuances that you can't pick up if you're not in the building. So I feel like the two kind of work well in tandem for me. Not only being in the building, but when you're up top too, you see everything. That's a whole different... That's why every analyst, the game's so easy, guys.

Oh, yeah. You've got 10 minutes to make a play. Totally. Have you ever done between the benches? I have. I did that for ESPN during World Cup. And truth be told, since this is released now, they asked me if I'd ever done between the benches. And Hockey canada i'd never done between the benches but our producer at world cup

he's like hey have you done between like yeah man i'm good no problem i'm good let's roll so honestly but that's a different level because you're so close to it yeah but that's a little bit more natural as you guys can you know you can relate to because we're used to being at ice level either on the ice or on the bench. In a weird way, though, which is your question, when I first started doing those games out west for hockey night, being at that bird's-eye view up in the top of the Saddle Dome or Rexall or wherever it was, wherever the West Coast game was,

it's a different perspective. It's a completely different perspective. So between the benches was challenging but fun. I loved it. And hearing the guys – sorry, you can go ahead, Biz, after this. But hearing the guys go back and forth, that's what I would love to experience, the shit talk and how angry guys get, and that's what's cool about the in-between-the-benches position.

Totally. When you were a player towards the end, did you have any idea that you were going to get into media, and were you always a guy who was around the rink absorbing everything that was going on? You know, it's funny. I've always been a rink rat since I was a kid. I never wanted to leave the rink. And I played with older players, but I never wanted to leave the rink. So my dad was always really cool that way. I'm like, no, I want to watch the peewee team.

Okay, the minor bantam team. Okay, the bantam team. Okay, the midget team. And I was always like rink rat kid. So this kind of worked itself out naturally that way. But in playing, you get towards the end of your career you start becoming in my case i became a backup and i didn't really play my last two years in jersey i think i played 20 games my last year maybe seven the year before you're playing with marty brodeur you know there's no net you know there's no net it's his net understandably so but what was really cool about that is you get to see the boys you get to be around them more there was a little less pressure in a sense but it made my understanding of the game even deeper than it already was and you know some of the guys some of my teammates would probably joke and say that i

was always commentating on the bench anyway when i wasn't in the net right so you're chirping you're trying to encourage guys you just want to add value because you're a vocal guy yeah if you're not playing you don't want to be a lump and you still want to be a really good team just tired pumping everybody on the way off doors never not open exactly exactly you don't want to be that like that suck that's on the bench that just sucks the energy out of the group you never want to be that and i think that's something for a lot of young girls and boys that are listening you always want to be the alpha and be in the net but there's only one net at a time and if you're not you got to try to find ways to contribute to your team and then and then like

when you end up getting into it were you nervous on camera was there was there a process or were you always that guy when you were getting interviewed even when you're playing like you love that aspect of being on camera okay so what's i was certainly nervous to an extent but here's the thing when i first went to the o and i first went to owen sound cbc was doing this thing called the fifth estate they still have it and they were doing this investigative show on young prospects that are going to either junior or going to play college so you can imagine me going up to owen sound my dad brings me up my boy painter who played in the minors shout out to painter assistant coach for uh you know painter obviously buffalo sabers uh echl team in cincy with Matty Thomas as their head coach.

But Painter and I go up there, and, you know, I'm supposed to be a top prospect. We already have Storzy. We already have Jamie Storr, who's a future first-round pick. So they already drafted Storzy. He's half Japanese, half Hungarian. I'm Caribbean black. So we already have these two visible minority goalies already to start in Owenstown, right? So anyway, I get up there, but this fifth estate was following me the

whole time as they're shooting this feature. So I kind of became very comfortable with the camera, but that probably went over well. I come in in Jordans. It's Owenstown. I'm rocking Jordans. I got an Air Jordan hat on. Yeah, I got an Air Jordan hat on, and I come into training camp, and this camera crew from CBC is in behind me. And it wasn't anything grandstanding for me. Was that your first year at Owens Island? That was my rookie year. They're like, who is this guy?

That was my rookie year. Whoa, money bags here. Honestly, that was my rookie year. And listen, we're from Scarborough. My parents are immigrant parents, work exceptionally hard, mom and dad. Like, look, it's not like that. But this camp, so these guys are like, who's this guy coming in here? But pretty quickly and luckily, I had one of my teammates from minor hockey from Toronto Red Wings,

Luigi Kelchi, who played over in the DL. He's in Germany now still, who was great with me. I billeted with him, and he was there before I got there. And then Storys and I became close. Andrew Burnett, Scott Walker, Wayne Primo. We had all these players on our team. That was a squad, huh? We had a squad.

And everybody was really cool and kind of welcoming, so that kind of went away. But carry that forward, though, Biz. So I'm doing Hockey Night in Canada, and we were in Edmonton for one of your games. I wonder if I was in the lineup. Look at Witt scratching his eyebrow. So we're in Edmonton, okay?

And it was one of my first shows. So I know. I told you guys before I came in here. I'm Sergey Sweateroff. I sweat all the time. Oh, buddy. Bro, you know the rags here. This guy's leaking.

Yeah, totally, totally. That's why you lied about between the benches. So you didn't have to deal with that. That heat. Yeah, the heat in Calgary when they scored the goal horn. They put the flames on. Yeah, the heat in Calgary when they score the goal horn. They put the flames on. Exactly, exactly. So listen, so here's again, my girl's from Calgary too and her family.

Shout out to them. But here's the crazy thing. So before the game, like in the pregame skate at Rexall, you know that acrylic glass room that they had by your dressing room there? Yes. So as you guys are all set up here, I go in there for the pregame skate. I'm with my play-by-play guy. They're like, yeah, postgame, you and Scott Oak are going to be doing after hours from in there.

I'm like, in where? It's like where the furnace is. Exactly. Like in there, like in that acrylic room. I'm like, do we have any fans? Now it's building up in my head already. I already know. This is morning skate.

So you ask me if I'm there. I'm there. I'm like, oh, man. Listen, the calling the game part, I can get down with that. But this postgame after hours, I'm going to be so hot in that. It looks like an incubator. I know for sure. So like, yeah, we see no problem.

We've got a couple fans here. You'll be good. Sure enough, come down. Race down from the broadcast booth. Come down. Get in there. Before we even go live, I'm leaking. Like through the suit. I'm leaking already.

And I'm on with it. We had Pat Quinn, bless his soul. We had the great Pat Quinn was our guest. Scott Oak is the host, as he still is. And my phone is lighting up. And it's lighting up. We go to break. My boys are like, get a towel.

What's going on? Takes it from Quinn. You you know they give the player the coach the towel probably probably nice it's not uh this is before twitter really took off this could have been a viral this could have been a viral thing i had another one of those i'll get to in edmonton too hey by the way you're saying it was pre-game skate that was like biz being nervous for a fight that night you were nervous for the heat totally I can't sleep I can't pregame nap I swear to god

I was so to answer you for the TV kind of component not as much but for that situation for after hours

I was literally leaking I was so hot and sweaty so as you know any of my co-workers I always tell them like hey listen I'll buy you

whatever you want but I need to have the studio cold no the girls have dresses on and the studio is 62 it's cold from like 7 to 10pm and we're just like I'll buy you whatever you want, but I need to have the studio cold. No, the girls have dresses on, and the studio is 62. It's cold. And from like 7 to 10 p.m., they're in weeks like, I'll do anything for you.

Whatever you want. Hot chocolate, you want sandwiches, whatever you want, I'll buy. So is that how you sleep, or is it just because when you're on television, maybe the nerves take over, and that's why you open up? It's a part of both, but I come by it naturally. Like, listen, Caribbean parents, hot blood, both parents. My mom sweats a lot, so I kind of get it from her. My dad never sweats, seldom, unless he's outside in the garden or whatever.

But for the most part, what's crazy, too, is at home, 65, 66, maybe 68, maybe. But those nests have my fingerprints all over them. Oh, yeah. Who touched the thermostat? I try to lock mine. Bro. That's cold. That's what I do. 67, 67. It's's what i do 67 67 yes but here's here's a funny thing and we can all relate to this you know you're on the road you play with different guys you're in the room

you room with different guys so i remember my my rookie year in the minors i room i'll never forget we were playing in uh adirondack there was a snowstorm in Adirondack that looked like Ottawa or Owen Sound. And I played junior in Ottawa. You know Owen Sound in Ottawa. It's freezing in those places. But we're used to it. We're from Canada. It's cool.

But Adirondack was freezing. The bus pulls up to the hotel. I'm not going to say the player I was rooming with. Bro, this guy had the window open. The snow was blowing in. It was blowing in. I would rather that than 82 degrees. Totally.

It was blowing in. And at the time, I'm like, what's up? But he was an older player. I'm like, what's up with this clown? Like, you know, you couldn't say anything. You've got to be respectful. He played in the show some. So at any rate, whatever.

That's kind of where it kind of turned for me. But truth be told, man, the other day, one of our air conditioners at the house upstairs where our master bedroom is, all of a sudden, the heat wave came. We get back from our place in Miami, land in Jersey, get to the house upstairs where our master bedroom is. All of a sudden, the heat wave came. We get back from our place in Miami, land in Jersey, get to the house. It's baking in there. I was so upset. So I called the air-conditioned guy. He's like, can't do it tonight.

Weak. Sorry. Can't do it tonight. Hotel. So he comes the next morning. Yeah, you need a whole new unit. You need a compressor. $5,000?

Yeah, no problem, man. Here you go. No problem. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever. He could have said $55,000. I would no problem, man. Here you go. No problem. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever. He could have said 55,000 and I would have bought that. For sure.

Totally. Actually, I think I ran into you when I was in Miami last time. Yeah, that's right. You had some real estate deals going on down there? Yeah. You stay moving and shaking

and I was even going to say that even about the media side of it is you really don't say no to anything. And it's nice that they're going to be able to let you stay with NHL Network even though you're heading over to ESPN and continue both gigs. Thank you. Look, I think, like you guys, when we first started, this is kind of a new venture for us, right? It's a second career. And as players, you play in this tournament, you go play pickup,

you go play shinny, you want free ice, you play street hockey, you play mini sticks. We did that our whole lives. So it's kind of how we're wired in a way and then for me for media i just really wanted to be as good as i could as fast as possible because i knew that there's so many established people that are so good at what they do in all sports right like i'm an all sports guy i love of course i'm a hockey nerd but i watch all sports so there's so many great commentators men and women that are on in different sports like oh i like, oh, I really like him. I like her. She's excellent.

They're good. And I wanted to be good. But also, too, it wasn't easy. Like, I got to shout out Mark Jacobson, who ran the NHL Network up in Toronto, and Shirely Najak, who ran Hockey Night in Canada and who's still there. Those were your first spots?

Those were my first people. And also the great john shannon yeah and the great john shannon different people behind the scenes a lot of our producers and i was hungry i wasn't really cocky at all i was really hungry hey if you see anything i would literally guys monday night nhl network tuesday night nhl network wednesday night nhl network thursday night nhl network friday morning fly out to do one of your games. Arizona, Edmonton, wherever. Do the game. Do after hours.

Fly back Sunday, work Monday again. Exactly. And Monday morning, be back at the CBC building in Toronto doing tape with Shirely. Just seeing if there's anything that I could have improved on. So it was, even now, to your point, I respect the craft. And we all have different paths like we did as players. But look at what you guys are doing. You guys bootstrapped this thing, and you started the way in which you started,

and you guys just kept going, kept going, kept going, and you did more. You maybe fail at some things, and then you try others. It's kind of all part of it, yeah. Totally, totally. We learn as we go. We did that as players. You didn't know how to do a backhand sauce right away. You didn't know how to. Still don't.

I walked you into that one. R.A.'s probably got a better one than you. Don't know how to do an ad read right away. That may be a bad example. But you know what I'm saying, right? And you get humbled. When you learn to play, you're getting humbled. Even as you grow and you get up to different levels,

you get into college, you get into BU. Look at the guys you were playing with. Look at the guys you were playing against. So as sweet as you were and as nice and skilled as you grow and you get up to different levels, you get into college, you get to BU. Look at the guys you were playing with. Look at the guys you were playing against. So as sweet as you were and as nice and skilled as you were, there's still things that we learned as players. And I think it kind of applies in this stuff too. No doubt. And you've busted your hump on TV, Kev. But another aspect of the media you've gotten into is breaking stories.

Do you like chasing the scoops down or what? Yeah, I've noticed it. More and more every year. I love to break stories. I think you get the scoops down or what? Yeah, I've noticed it. More and more every year. I think you get the three red alarms at every tweet. Breaking, breaking. You get the header set for your break news.

Here's the thing with that. I respect all the breakers. All the trade breakers that we have. From Freed to sometimes it's Chris Johnson that drags to the OG Bob McKenzie. The OG, the Bob father. You know what I mean?

Adam Schefter in the NFL side, Woj in the NBA side, Shams on the NBA side. It's so hard to chase that stuff. Oh, it's a grind. And everything has to kind of line up, right? And you have to double check, triple check to make sure everything's right, everything's accurate. But also, too, we were players, and you want to be respectful. There's times this past summer that Patrick Hornquist won. He didn't know about the deal.

And I broke the deal. That's happened a couple times. And I broke the deal not knowing that he didn't know about the deal. Blame the agent. You know what I'm saying? Blame the agent. Once you get the goal from the source, you don't care if the player doesn't know. That's why he threw his gear out on his lawn.

That's why his gear was on his lawn. Actually? I mean, obviously he was upset about leaving Pitt, of course. Who wouldn't? You're in Pitt. You both were. Get your cups. Sid, back to back.

And Florida wasn't what it's starting to become now based on the year they had, right? He was probably a big part of that. Exactly. No question. So I try to be as mindful and tactful as I can, but I like that. There's a little rush to doing that. Oh, there is. There has to be.

There's a little bit of a rush, a little bit of – And nerves. R.A. has a huge – Of course, and nerves. R.A. has a huge scoop. Right now? Yeah, he's huge holding on to it. What are you doing, R.A.?

I know. You have to ask the question. I know. Because the last time I got one this way, I ended up getting frosted. Things kind of changed, so I put myself out there. So I'm a little hesitant this time. He's a little gun-shy. You know what it is?

It's me throwing a pizza first shift. And second shift, I have that pass to the middle, but I might just go off the wall and out because I'm gun-shy. But I'm hearing – I don't know when this is going to drop, but I'll throw it out there. I'm hearing a prominent Bruin will not be back next year. Someone who's going to be a free agent and they won't be signed, they're going to opt to go elsewhere. But I was waiting on the last thing. Okay, you can run with it, but I didn't get that.

So I can throw that out as a tease. Let's just say there'll be about seven and a quarter available. I'll leave it at that. Oh, wow, that's huge. I have no clue who he's talking about. That's true, exactly. I know. That's huge, though.

I think you should tweet it right now. I'm being told David Krejci will not be back at the Boston Bruins. Weeksie just did. Weeksie got another one. 17 emergency siren modes. Hey, you know what, though? I have no problem being wrong. But I told these guys. these guys it's true though

i mean i make stuff up they obviously grew up playing hockey i was a journalism major for me yeah like scoring a goal is like getting a story i think it's an equivalent thing it's like you get the high in a similar way for me yeah i agree because i can't score goals so and listen and listen you can't always i mean you can't always be accurate because there's so many moving parts right like this isn't this isn't you this isn't wit business it's not any of us these are the people that are playing it's the factors the agent it's the gm it's the agent's runner it's all these different people team president team owner like that's how a lot of these deals come down sometimes listen sometimes you know there's

different sources everybody kind of scoffs at the trainers not Not me. I never scoffed at them. I always took care of them. I always do now. Whatever, massage therapist. But you know a lot of people. They were more important pieces than I was, so I had to be nice to them. And they hear things before anyone sometimes. Of course they do.

A lot of them, Zamboni drivers. I'll tell you a story. We're going to need a helmet for number 88. There's a Zamboni driver that when I was younger, as a kid playing back in Toronto, I won't say what arena because I don't want to tip it off, but he was there since I was six. He's still at that rink now. It's a legendary rink that you know very well back home.

Same ice? Reddit already figured it out. I was going to ask you about that. And I got to tell you what. There's numerous times that he's told me, he's like, hey, listen, I had this scout come talk to me. I had this GM come talk to me. I times that he's told me he's like hey listen i had this scout come talk to me i had this gm come talk to me i had that person talk to me zamboni driver by the way yeah so for a lot of you young girls and boys and people that are listening that aspire to play at

a higher level you never my parents always tell me to this day you never know who's who and you know you always want to try to do right by people where you can because you never know who's who and who might have that word for sure you know what i mean especially as you're aspiring to play at higher levels right um you just mentioned saint mike's wall yeah kind of i guess yeah yeah i kind of i kind of did but i let the cat out of the bag the cat wasn't even in the bag imagine trying to hold on to a source's name he's like jerry oh shit it's like you mean same what do you know like texas and the source for me over here so being from toronto i'm sure that experience hey! Oh, shit. It's like, you mean St. Mike's? What do you mean? You know, Texas, Swiss, want me over here.

So being from Toronto, I'm sure that experience before you got to junior was everything you wanted. I mean, there's a list of how many guys who eventually moved on from the St. Mike's buzzers to go on to play

for even St. Mike's majors in junior A and then go on to the NHL. Was that a big preparation time for you? Yeah, it was huge. We grew up down the street from St. Mike's before we moved to Scarborough.

We lived on St. Clair, off of office st clair and christy like five minutes from there so i'll take you back like sean burke playing for st mike's buzzers my dad and i are walking up to st mike's or taking the ttc up to st mike's to watch sean burke play like he's a he's a can't miss right he was a can't miss goalie so you know i was a can't-miss goalie. So, you know, I'm 6'7". Sean Burke is the man. Then it was Mike Rosati, who's now Vegas' goalie coach. He was playing there. I mean, there's so many guys and people that played there. And then it got a little bit closer to home with the Big E, right?

When the Big E was there at 15, Big Eric Lindros was there at 15. And then it came full circle because I played with them a little bit. That was our, like, Tier 2 affiliate. So I was with Brett Lindros there. But just, I mean, the tradition of all the people that have played there, little bit that was our like tier two affiliate so i was with brett lindros there but just uh i mean the tradition of all the people that have played there guys working out there in the off season as you know of course you guys the whole bio steel group and everything else so it's it's one of those shrines it's one of those hockey shrines for any of the listeners if you ever have

a chance and you're in toronto make sure you go and check out st mike's arena st mike's at chesswood because i played toronto red wings those are are two of the most iconic rinks. And it's special times, man. Because listen, we all started young. None of us, we all hoped to play in the show.

We wanted to play in the show. That was kind of hockey night in Canada when you were playing minor hockey. 100%. And that's why I told you earlier, I never wanted to leave the rink.

And I got to say something. Being as curious as I am and as hungry as I was to learn, so many of those older goalies and older players were so cool to me. Like they never would shun me if I wanted to try their glove or, hey, guys, can I come in the room and just see the midget team? You're playing people. You know what I mean?

They're like, yeah, come on in here, man. No problem. And what's funny, guys, and you guys have seen this full circle too, we're at Stanley Cup Final in St. Louis, right, two years ago against your Bs. It was hot outside. Why the exit? I'm sad I saw you. Yeah, I was a chocolate souffle.

Oh, my God. Kidding me? So your squad, right, your hometown, but your squad. So we're in this specifically in St. Louis. So going on the headset to call the game or whatever. I see this guy I haven't seen since I was eight years old. Last name's Kairou. I'm like, it's Aki Kairou, Jordan Kairou's dad.

I used to go into their room as like a peewee, minor peewee, when his dad was playing for the midget team. And his dad was a good player. And his dad was a good player. And this is Jordan Kairou's dad. I almost started crying i'm like oh my god i'm like aki is that you he's like cav man what's going on bra bra bra and i didn't know that him and my cousins grew up together in parkdale back home so it's a small world and just goes to show you never really know and here i am you know his dad is one of those people i idolize and now his

son's living his dream playing for the Blues. Heck of a player. Heck of a good young player, too. Heck of a player. So it just goes to show you, Biz, we just never know where things will go. Yeah. I was going to hop in just quickly. Yeah, take your time.

You also mentioned agents and all these different fabrics of the game. I wanted to get your feeling on, going back to last year, that whole Alan Walsh situation and how you viewed it, and especially even moving forward into this year with that goaltending situation in Vegas. As a former goaltender, how did you view it all? So let me qualify it this way. I will say that, first of all, as I said earlier,

there's only one net, which is great for being a goalie and which sucks being a goalie. There's no rolling over the boards. All right, change. Left winger. You know what I mean? There's only one tendy in the net at once. And if you are getting the call in, you're down 6-0.

You're down 6-0 in pit. Pits on a 5-on-3 power play. They skate in the old barn. They skate over like weeks. I'm like, who are you looking for? You looking for me? So Malkin, Sid, Tic Tac, LeTtac-lutang me on the bench oh my gosh so that's the hard part about being a tender right because only one goalie could play

i'll then say this i know alan walsh well he goes to bat for his players man alan goes to bat he'll go to war for his players you have to send him on a helicopter specter gunship into afghanistan he's there like honestly like he'll do whatever it takes for his players so i respect that part of it i've known robin and heard about lenner from my boy who you guys had on the great hendrick lundquist because lenner's dad was his goalie coach growing up in sweden people didn't know that no way i had no clue here in new york Hank's like, wait till you see this Leonard kid. Wait till you see him. He's 13.

Wait till you see him. He's going to play in the show. Because Leonard's dad was his goalie coach. And he could already tell then. Henrik, wait till you see him. He's only 13. Wait till you see him. He can play.

He's probably built like a man at that point, too. Exactly. Exactly. So I've always liked him since he got drafted to the Sens. And then Flowers Flower. How do we not love Flower? It's unfortunate that it played out publicly but here's the thing man we got to be real i love everything about vegas i

love their owner bill foley the man the way he treats the players trainers staff fans everybody first class operation but they've been kind of messing around with flower a little bit and at some point here's the thing and we always talk about this at home flower is like a golden retriever or a lab you know what i mean he's not going to give you any he's not a rottweiler and they take advantage of correct he's not a rottweiler yeah you feel me like he's almost too nice at times you're like 100 if he's a doberman but he's all about the team so it's it's 100 but but a lab will bite too if it has to. If it has to.

But, you know, you keep messing around and you kind of saw the way it went down in Pitt towards the end. Now you see him kind of the way it's happening in Vegas, which is unfortunate because this is hard to say. He'll probably end up third all-time in wins, all-time great. But what's crazy is the fact that he gets jacked around as well so what does that say for any one of us in here yeah there's even conversations he might be on the move exactly it's like oh my goodness you know he's on his third team now and this guy's gonna be a first ballot hall of famer totally and pigeon tossed and if and if it's us and we're him we might actually want to move or entertain it i don't know know. Sorry to interrupt you. There's one thing.

As guys get older and the Parisi situation, they're like, you're not the same player. But Fleury is still producing at their high enough level and he's getting treated like this. Do you think he's going to win it? He needs one. I think they maybe hopefully look at it,

not just that his season wasn't amazing, but they look at it like, this is your career. You deserve one i think so i think so and for the mental warfare from alan walsh but no but i love but to be i love the fact that alan goes to bat for yeah no you know you guys know like we all listen everybody i hear this often especially in tv and you guys have built something so unique and so incredible here that you have ownership stake. It's real, it's raw, and it's authentic, is the word I like to say. Thank you. You know what I'm saying?

But for a lot of us on the other sides of the business, we don't necessarily always have that. And then some of the politics starts eking in, and then people will always say, oh, you hockey guys are so nice. Okay, let's mess around with you. Okay, you hockey guys are so cool. oh, you hockey guys are so nice. Okay, let's mess around with you. Okay, you hockey guys are so cool. You guys are so – Team first.

Let's mess around with you. Again, let's move this goal line over here. Let's do that over there. And quite frankly, I'm telling you now, with other athletes, that's not happening. You can't play those games with NBA players, NFL players, baseball players because they'll get right to it. But they see – and hockey players are genuinely nice people. So again, it comes back to, are you the lab or are you the Rottweiler or the pit bull? Do you get what I mean?

Yeah, I do. You've got to stick up for yourself. A hundred percent. A hundred percent. And that's kind of the deal with Flower. So hopefully it ends well for everybody because they're a first-class group. And I love Flower and I think Robin's an excellent goalie. Oh yeah, they're both awesome.

They're both awesome. I just think it's too much of a good thing right now. And I love Flower, and I think Robin's an excellent goalie. Oh, yeah, they're both awesome. They're both awesome. I just think it's too much of a good thing right now, and I'm curious to see how it gets resolved. So you would have went back to Flower for game three? Yeah, of course. Come on, boys. Sorry for even asking. Is this you?

I'm going to leave. No, no. No, Biz called it. No, Biz, come on. I called it. You knew they were going to do it. I think I said beforehand I think they were going to do it, and think I said beforehand, I think they were going to do it. And then when it was announced, I said, I think it's the right play.

And he said, well, what do they do after? I said, regardless, I think they're going back to flurry for game five. He called that. My thing was, flurry again. If he's no good, Lennar at home. Or what would that have been? Back at home for five. Yeah, back at home.

Exactly. And it was just interesting. It was an odd way for the season to end for a guy who was the best goalie in the league this year, many say. And also, the team couldn't score. It wasn't even his fault in the beginning. Yeah, might not have mattered a lot. The sticks, all their sticks froze up, man. Everybody's sticks froze up.

Every year it does that. On the podcast itself, we kind of beat that subject pretty much throughout playoffs. But I wanted to get your opinion on it because you probably have a pretty good pulse on it. So thank you for the insight. So you talk about getting into the media game. You're very natural at it. You've worked hard at it. No part of you ever really wanted to be GM, assistant GM, player development?

Were you ever looking at that? Funny. That's an interesting question. So I was all media. It's so opposite, too. I'd say probably the first nine years, right? Probably the first nine years. This is my 12th year in media now. First nine years, I was all media, I'd say probably the first nine years, right? Probably the first nine years. This is my 12th year in media now.

First nine years, I was all media. And then somebody had asked me if I would ever consider, would I ever consider being a GM? And I was like, never really considered it, but okay. And then it kind of grew on me a little bit. And I thought about it, you know, a little bit more, a little deeper. Kind of went deeper into my mind and thinking about it and visualizing it, thought about it you know a little bit more a little deeper kind of went deeper into my mind and thinking about and visualizing it talking about it at home talking about it with our families and stuff different people your trusted people i was kind of like hey i prefer to probably be a team president of hockey ops because we played with how many different of

these guys and people that we know that are gms team presidents head coaches and you're kind of like i could do this yeah right that's that's a competitive juices 100 and listen it's amazing to to be in the role that we're in you know you guys doing all the amazing content and and and all of us contributing in the ways we do but look man we all want to drink some champagne out of the cup, drink some Dom, some Ace of Spades. That's what's sick is you have to stay involved in winning and building. You know what I'm saying?

I know. And you think of all the people. None of us have rings here. We lost in one. Called our cups. Some of us have drank out of the cup. Yes, attaboy. Exactly.

Not the big one. But I know what you're saying. You know what I mean? You did that with that group in Ontario. He went to Quebec Championship. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Exactly. But I get what you're saying. You know what I mean? You did that with that group in Ontario. 97. He went to Quebec Championship. Yeah, yeah, exactly. But I get what you're saying. You know what I mean?

I always think about it maybe down the road if I would ever want to get back in coaching. Maybe if I ever have kids and stuff. I think you'd be great at that too. But part of me would want to challenge myself to see if I'd be good at something back on the other side. Right. And just because of all the experience that we had, right? So for me, look, I played for the great Lou Lamorello, the great Glenn Sather, the great Jimmy Rutherford.

I was on with him yesterday. He's getting back involved. Of course he is. He ain't going anywhere. Of course he is. The late, great Bill Torrey, the architect of the Islanders. Like I played for all those people. So a lot of what i saw from them

and a lot of what i liked and what they did and then plus our own experience and the new game and everything else just kind of putting that all together there's a part of me that's interested in it so to answer you um wits i'm interested in it but it has to be something that i've learned through this interview process on that is it really comes down to people yeah because your name pops up in these things all the time when it used to not and i mean tv compared to being a gm or a president that's a cushy gig like you marry that job once you take it right but it you're right but it has to be the right people and the right ownership group that's what i've come to find out because i got to tell you this and be respectful of the process look man i know as do you guys we

have an intrinsic knowledge of the game like you know if you got a nick on your skate you could feel it do you know what i mean like it's that like your stick's a little bit too whippy okay this tape's not grippy enough um whatever it we know the game that well and And, okay, I'm 46. I've been in the game for 40 years. And outside of two years House League at St. Mike's and two years and call it maybe four years in the minors, that's like 34 years at the elite level. That's a lot of experience. Around the game.

Around the game. Yeah, meeting so many different people. Meeting so many and always being at an elite level. The cap threw a bit of a wrench at us, but I get what you're saying. Around the game. Around the game. Yeah, meeting so many different people. Meeting so many, and always being at a league level. The cap threw a bit of a wrench at us, but I get what you're saying. Exactly, exactly. Do they hand you a test when you go in? No. With the capologist stuff?

You know what's funny? It's funny you ask that. They don't really, in my experience in these interviews, it hasn't been about that for me. But what's been really interesting is you're trying to convince people that don't know one billionth what we know about the game that you're a good candidate. So that's kind of been an interesting process. Do you know what I mean? Oh, for sure.

Like in one of them, and keeping the process respectful, I had a family member of one of them interrogating me. And I'm like, did you play the quebec peewee tournament like did i see you in kamloops were you in the kamloops or like were you in the even before your time in the sea spray tournament in boston in the summer like well i don't i i didn't see you there in 84 like it was pretty interesting and i don't say that to grandstand it's just that i what i've seen and you guys would have seen this based on your experiences the good organizations have really good people that have good intentions and that treat people first class and that want to do it for the right reasons and also you know what i'm saying do their job let them do their job if you're

if you're in the mix it's like the jerry jones thing it's like how are you supposed to build a team yes you have voices up top that don't even know much about the sport telling you what to do. A hundred percent. Yeah, and asking you about getting into that side of it. It's just such a short life too for guys where people are just hired to be fired. It's a little different in the media where obviously people are let go, but the pressure is just – it's the pressure versus the ability to go back in and find that drive to try to win and you wanted a cup as a player and like look at eisenman look

how bad this guy wants it what he's doing now it's just competitiveness but yeah but i do but but what's interesting is everybody you know we we we do multimedia and what drives you in doing multimedia like what is it on a day-to-day for you guys? I've had conversations with you guys. I'm like, you guys are fucking crushing this shit. You guys are rocking this shit. I have to do different things. I sometimes get a little bit bored if you say stagnant, coming outside the box.

And that's why I mentioned a challenge, doing something different. But on the same side, you've spent, what, you said 12 years now in media? Yeah. That's a long time to build it up to where you've got now. Now you've got the NHL Network, ESPNn gig you're doing the international for the nhl and so the sky's the limit in the media world so it'd be hard because you i don't think you'd be taking a step back or

maybe sideways would be a fair statement yeah and then i don't know if you get you get the respect at where you're starting as a gm job or wherever you would in the front office to where you are in the media world. Exactly. And also the performance aspect, right? Like we're performers. That's what we do. This is our stage. This is our rink. This is your new rink. You know what? Okay. What's street hockey rink? Exactly. Exactly. But hey, this is Barstool. This is what we do. You know, you guys think we're growing market share. Pink Whitney, how many times I text you guys and ask you guys, what's going on? What's happening? What's the latest? We don't even know.

How many millions is it now, boys? Don't be tight. Tell me. Tell the fans. People want to see the growth. The Forbes articles. No, it's true. But you start going through all these progressions.

You guys hit. You're hitting. You're climbing. You're hitting. You're climbing. It's really no different. So that's kind of – i like that performance element and i wonder that if i do end up getting a front office position team pres or gm you get the juice because you have

the investment in the team but you're not the one that's performing whereas in media we're still the ones that are performing you're performing but it's it's behind the scenes exactly correct and that's well well said well said well wizard of oz yeah exactly totally talk about your latest career let's go back to your first career your hockey career you had a pretty good one you were the second round pick florida panthers their very first entry draft yeah i mean you were basically their future goalie that's what they drafted you for correct yeah yeah i mean it was i'll always be indebted to them and be grateful to them. They developed me.

They helped me get to the NHL. You start moving around. Here's one thing that was interesting. As a goalie, and especially as a black goalie playing hockey, you don't always get the benefit of the doubt. You're not getting a long leash. Everything is hyper tight. For me, I was wound that way, and it's the way i'm kind of wired but at the same time the reality is is i felt you probably

heard me say this you see me sweating now as i talk about it i literally felt like i was on a tightrope over niagara falls with no safety net none and especially in that era right like it's a little different maybe now but especially like early 90s mid 90s and luckily the great grand for who you guys had on was grant and he you know he proved to people and glenn sather to his props to glenn sather for always having international teams in edmonton always and here were the rangers too but i mean you had grant and then we had freddie and walking gauge and some of these other goalies uh we had Polky Reddick, pardon me, but really it was really lonely out there. It was a real lonely existence from that standpoint

because it wasn't really normalized for a lot of people. And they didn't treat prospects like they treat them now. Exactly. It wasn't like, hey, we're working with you after practice. You got this in the summer. It was like, hey, good luck, man. It was different. There wasn't the development of players back when you came into the league.

Exactly. And I was lucky that Florida had the great Billy Smith, which is amazing. Oh, my God. He was your goalie coach? What? Bro, wait. I had the great Billy Smith, and I swear, thanks to Billy, because he kind of helped sharpen my mentality a little bit to be more intense,

I guess, if you will. Obviously, it's Billy Smith, right yeah but here's what was so florida to their credit they would send him to owen sound or they send him to ottawa when i got traded there and stuff in the o and he he would always he was always trying to impart like competitiveness weeks you gotta you gotta you see you just your net your net weeks it's your net nobody comes you quit your blue paint your blue paint you gotta defend your Nobody comes. You're a blue paint. You're a blue paint. You've got to defend your blue paint.

No passes through the blue paint. Nobody skates in here and drives the net. None of that. Nobody drives the goal line. You've got to defend. I swear to God, guys. I looked like I was on the Kenyan marathon team. I was 158 pounds.

Fighting guys in practice. I swear. And I told you about going to the O, right? So I'm 158 pounds, 10 pounds 10 pack you could see every vein like so skinny and so wiry and i'm taking guys out in practice because i didn't know because after i got drafted by them league was big then too yeah exactly billy spills like hey man you got you got it. So guys would be like cutting the net. I'd come out like hashing, take legs out, take knees out, poke check. Like guys would come around blocker side, and I'd already have my hand up at the top of my stick waiting for them to come around,

sword as they come around, chop their leg. So finally some of the older guys are like, Weeksy, man, you got to chill. Like you got to chill. This isn't cool. Go tell him that. Yeah, exactly. Like this isn't cool. You you're gonna blow somebody's acl out heaven forbid so it was just kind of learning as we went along and listen like we don't know we we watch the games you go to the rink as a kid my parents are from beautiful barbados man they were just learning hockey as we went along

there was no playbook there was no guidebook as now you see the kachooks and all these sam gagne all these different second generational players we didn't have that so we just learned as we kind of went so it was i i loved it man it was all that i hoped it would have been i love the game i love the position i'm a goalie freak i'm a hockey freak but there were challenges man there were some challenges in in being a black player and certainly being a black goalie at that time. Contracts aren't the same. Opportunities aren't the same. And some of the people, John Torchetti, amazing.

Oh, Torch? Torch, awesome. My man. Steve Ludzik, amazing. Paul Maurice, awesome. Jim Rutherford, Glenn Saylor. There's people that, Benoit Allaire, the goalie coach, there's people that were awesome.

But some of those people just didn't really like the fact that you were there at the same time. You know what I mean? And it's like, I don't know if we're going to give you that contract. We'll probably give you 50 cents on the dollar. Everything's a grind. It's always a grind. And it's probably frustrating too, Kev,

because it's not a tangible thing you could look and point to. It's like you just know. You just can't. 100%. And people, they know something they can doubt you on unless you can unequivocally prove it. Yeah, what do you mean? Exactly. And you know what?

That brings us to today, right? Yeah. That brings us to today. We're in a different world today than we were in the early 90s. It's a different people's understanding, people's compassion, people's empathy. We had a second civil rights movement last year. people's compassion, people's empathy. We had a second civil rights movement last year.

So it's, and also it's kind of been this unspoken truth in our game that's been, for all the amazing things about our game, which we love, and none of us would be here without it, so we always love the game, put the game first, right? We know that, but that's been something that's been bubbling under the surface that has never really fully been addressed publicly.

And I think this last year and a half when you see some the players that do look like us and more importantly the players that don't and people that don't look like us come forward and support and say hey man this is horseshit like this has to stop yeah you know we don't want to see this happen to an ethan bear or whoever the person may be anymore was it hard when you're moving around and maybe getting different direction from different goalie coaches where you were trying to keep these new people and these new organizations?

I don't want to say happy, because in some cases they're probably like, hey, play your game, but yet they're still trying to teach you and show you what to do. So where was the one place where you finally felt like you were at home? That's a great question.

I think Jeff Reese, when I was in Tampa, I mentioned Billy Smith off the start, but Reese when I was in Tampa, who's now Dallasie coach Reeser was great to me and we had the great Nikolai Habibulin so I learned so much from the Bulin wall because at that point I was going from being like athletic guy to butterfly athletic guy and Habibulin was one of the best on the planet at that point you know you could put him in against Belfort who I was actually texting with him yesterday Belfort um Patrick Waugh any of those greats furzi like he'd go head to head with any of them right marty and and those types of goalies so i seeing him every day in tampa i was learning a

lot from him and i think reaser really helped me there but my own personal goalie coach sudsy sudsy maharaj who's anaheim's goalie coach he like had not for him i wouldn't have lasted in the league as long as i did he was amazing like that summer work you're doing with him oh my god like i'm telling you like we go center ice arena back home pharmacy and mcnichol underneath the chinese buffet that center ice arena literally underneath the chinese buffet and suds you'd be coming from oakville and this is coming like deep north scarborough and And he would say, he's like, hey, what time do you want to skate? I'm like, all right, 8 in the morning. Okay, no problem.

Drive through Toronto traffic. Get all the way there. Be ready. That's awesome. Have a shooter or two shooters. Like I almost tear up talking about it. Yeah. I was doing something for the NHL coaches clinic.

I was hosting online a Zoom with them. And I literally had tears flowing like talking about him for what he meant. And there was a cultural fluency because he's from Trinidad right so he's from the caribbean too his parents from trinidad he played the position yeah and there was a cultural fluency there but he he really helped me a lot and gave me a lot of confidence and just i wouldn't be here without him honestly and and i know not to speak for you but i'm guessing one of your most memorable moments and jumping around was in carolina and that run to the cup and totally ironically enough i was at um the triple overtime game oh no way when uh larry on off score yeah beautiful backhander but throughout that run you had a big you had a big role early on in the playoffs right thank you

what was the whole situation in terms of you and herbe and how you were playing and archie was the man i mean he was a great goalie you know how long he played he's about as tall as this camera set up here we have that was such an unreal story so he was like 34 during that yeah he was doing repairs on his own pads wasn't he was he totally yeah he's the guys you have no yes exactly he was homegrown he was like tim thomas before tim thomas 100 so homemade not even homegrown. Yeah, yeah. That's what I meant. That's what I meant.

So truth be told, we have the same agent. I still have Paul Theofanis out of New York here. Amazing. Him and Brad. Amazing people. Theo served the country. Badass. Delta Force.

Green Beret. Special Forces. Cat. Amazing. Speaks how many different languages? Fluent in Russian, Greek, American, New Yorker. He's incredible, this guy. Went to Harvard. force his cat amazing speaks how many different languages fluent in russian greek american new yorker like jeez he's incredible this guy went to harvard it just off the charts but he was our agent and we had both him and archer zerbe so i get traded carolina he had both of us archie's the

man he's been multi-time all-star down there he's like the guy but what was crazy is when i first got you asked about feeling at home when i first got you asked about feeling at home when i first got there like i didn't have to feel like a freak anymore because at the time i was in great shape i had an eight pack like but then you have the greek god that's rod brindamore oh you know what i mean and then you had sammy cappin and ronnie francis brett hedekin who was super stacked and you had all these other guys oh dog oh dog another greek god but listen but oh dog then was a different old-Dog that you see now, of course. O-Dog was a sniper.

O-Dog could fly. And to tell you guys. Could he fly too? Yeah. Was that one of his biggest? Why? He was shot. Totally.

That's a great comparison. He was that fast, huh? Absolutely. O-Dog was a player. Funny fucking bastard too. Totally. And I'll tell you what's crazy about O-Dog is growing up playing against him in Toronto, he was a playmaker.

He was never a Kessel before. So in the O, this guy would switch hands over as a righty, come down, give you a shimmy, turn his hands over, lefty, sauce. No. I saw it in Guelph. I saw it playing against Guelph. So he's saucing it off the backhand, holding the stick. Holding the stick.

He was so gifted and then became a goal scorer, as you guys know, and had great wheels. But we just had a really special team at that time. And these guys were, you know, everybody, especially led by Rod, conditioning. And Archie was in sick shape, too. Tell us some Brenda Moore stuff. Well, we've got to get Archie was in sick shape too. Tell us some Brendamore stuff. Well, we got to get Archie first. Sorry, sorry. I keep interrupting you.

No, it's all good. I like that because it's natural. So basically, right from the beginning, guys would come up to me in practice. They're like, you could play, man. You could do that. You can kick. I'm like, hey, guys, thanks, whatever.

And remember, we had Archie and Tom Barrasso. Yeah, that's right. We had Tommy B there, two cups, Tom Barrasso at that point. Rumpy, right? Bro, so this is – it comes back again. So I'm the chocolate lab, so everybody's like, oh, we see you, okay. No problem. We can shoot high on you.

You don't complain? No problem. Shots ripping off my collarbone. I was like, whatever. Because they couldn't shoot high on Tommy you don't get you don't complain no problem shots ripping off my collarbone i was like whatever because they couldn't shoot high on tommy b no like you couldn't even get it above his waist like above his pants and he could fire it he'd shoot it back at guys skate off the ice so and it had a great career of course but that was kind of the dynamic so i was like the third guy when i got traded there until they moved tomm And then as the playoffs started, Archie started off. He was hot.

And I remember Paul Maurice told me before the playoffs, he's like, Leeksy, be ready. Be fucking ready. Be ready. Be fucking ready. I'm like, okay, coach, you know, whatever. But I can share this. I don't want to get too crass but i'll share this story

so as it turns out i end up getting in a couple games just up the road ironically by our jersey house here at the old meadowlands i get in a couple games in relief and then now it's ahead of game five and he calls me they tell me he wants to see me in the office i'm like oh my gosh coach wants to see me what's going on so i go in there and I'll say this for the audience, although I'll keep it relatively clean, but I have to be real. He's like, Weeksy? He's got a lipper in, right? He's like, Weeksy, you're fucking going tomorrow.

You're going. It's my first playoff start. Now, I've gotten into relief, right? I'm getting sweaty telling the story. Turn the camera off. Turn the AC on. No, no, this is good. Honestly. relief right i'm getting sweaty telling the story turn the camera off turn the ac up like honestly so he's so he's like you're fucking going tomorrow big boy i'm like okay coach yep coach i'm ready to go i'm ready to go he goes i want your balls to hang down like big old church big old church

bells hanging down big balls tomorrow and i swear to god i don't know if i walked out of the office i don't know if i crawled out of the office i don't know how i got out of the office you see how i'm reacting now i don't know but i literally went stretched worked out changed went back to the to the to the hotel there in raleigh because i was living in the hotel at that time i started visualizing like i must have had 25 crystal balls in my room. I'm exaggerating, but I literally started visualizing this whole game, all these plays.

Okay, Neuendijk's going to be over here. Niedermeyer's going to be there. Scottie Stevens is going to be here. Pandolfo, Madden, like I literally must have gone through this game in my head about 10 times the night before that start.

What game of the series was it? Game five. Wow. And we end up winning this game dude that's amazing in ot but really what was so cool about it is kind of everything that you live for to to get there it all kind of made sense because now you're playing in the stanley cup playoffs you just want to play you just want to play off game in the nhl like and and we the great joe vasicek uh bless him who passed on ended up scoring that that goal in

ot you remember big joe joe vasicek lefty yeah 63 yeah and he was in that tragedy in uh oh yoroslav and in yoroslav so um may he rest easy and rest in peace but he scored that game winner and life just kind of changed after that and things just but our team it was really our team that group we just had so many like i'm telling you we would think we're working out you asked me about roddy and never mind the amazing job that he's done as a coach in the canes which took too long for them to hire him took too long for them to resign and that's their combo but nonetheless we would think we were training and and we were. All you heard, clink, clink, clink, clink, clink, clink, clink, squat rack, clink, clink, clink.

This guy, he's everything that you've heard about him and more. So he's screaming at the mirror at himself before the squat. Oh, my God. Did he make you put needles in his ass? I'm telling you. No, this guy's all natural. I never saw him eat anything bad. I never saw him drink anything that he shouldn't.

He's so hyper committed to the game, so real to the game, so true to it. And if you go back and look at pictures in the hockey news, like, when he was in Michigan State as a freshman, he was built like that. Oh, really? He was stacked up from the beginning. Like, not a hard gainer like me. Like, he was already a man. But he put in so much work. And even now as a coach.

And that's why guys love playing for him. Because he's real. He doesn't disrespect anybody. He loves everybody in the room. No matter where you're from. What you look like. Where your parents are from. Treats the trainers first.

Like, he's a top class man. To me, he's one of the best culture shapers right now in the world of pro sports. Big time. Dude. Big time. For them not to give him whatever he wanted. I want to get want to shape and try to make that team i'd love to play for honestly you go through a wall for that guy and just like 1484 hall of famer get him in there what are we doing he's a hall of famer for my spot but exactly uh hey i want to go back to

okay so that run though i think you ended up playing in eight games. Yeah, something like that. And you even had back-to-back shutouts twice. Mm-hmm. That's, I mean, yeah, that's unbelievable. And you mentioned the visualization. Is that something that you've always done throughout your career? I always did it since I was a kid. But I didn't really know what it was when I was young. I just, you know, you hear, you read Sports Illustrated, all these things back in the day.

The sporting news, hockey news, anything you get your hands on, right? And you're hearing. And so I would always do that before tournaments, before big games and stuff. But at that time, what was really interesting is everything just felt really natural. And it all just kind of came together at the right time. And I was with the right group of the right people. As I said, look at the right time and I was with the right group of the right people. As I said, look at the players we had there,

Jim Rutherford, Hall of Famer, Roddy, Ronnie, Hedekin. Look at all these guys, Glenn Wesley. We had a class team. We had a good club, O-Dog and Marty Jelena. But what was cool, I guess in my own individual game, was it was kind of like a, this is what I've been saying. You know what I mean? It was kind of a validation. I can do it.

I just wanted a chance. I wanted people to feel like I was their guy. And at that point, you felt that. A hundred percent. And Paul Maurice was that way. All the coaches were that way. Jimmy Rutherford. There was no undermining.

There's no, we're going to cannonball you. There's no, we're going to submarine. You know what I mean? And you guys know the difference. You guys know when you're in a spot and where people, I mean, look at you. As I said. You can feel it. You can feel the difference.

The next two seasons, you were the commandant. And that's, you know, you can feel the difference. And that, to me, I was always very cognizant of that. And now, you know, on this side of the business. And you are asking me even about tv or or about management or any of those things but i think that that's so important and that's such a big miss for a lot of people and you guys know exactly what i've talked about like you guys have worked in different places and you continue to work in different places and you know the people that know that and that respect that you know the others that don't do you know know what I mean? Oh, for sure.

And I try to say it in subtle ways and hope people are going to pick up on it, but a lot of times they don't pick up on it. Because imagine being in the room with Sid. You guys know what it's like to be in the room with Sid. And Sid's top class, amazing, one of the best ever at everything. But Sid would be like, really? Do you know what I mean? Yeah.

Like Taser, Kane, any of these greats., they'd be like, what's going on here? So I just find that the environment and the people side of it and how you treat people, that goes a long way for how people perform, how they feel when they come to the rink. You don't want to be dreading going to the rink. You don't want to dread going to the studio. And the people that cultivate the right environment. Look, I asked Jimmy Rutherford this yesterday. I go, Jimmy, what about the repeat in Pittsburgh?

Because obviously Tampa has a chance. And Jimmy's like, Kevin, I'll tell you what. I had to make sure people wanted to do it. Everybody other than Sid, I had to make sure they were on board. And if they weren't, I had to get them out of there. That's Jimmy saying it. You know what I mean? No, it's cool.

I love that. In his mind, he's going to be able to figure out if this guy's ready for not only the physical, but the mental battle it's going to take to repeat. You talked about the commitment from Rod the Bot. That's kind of what it takes, and that's very similar to Sid, right? So it's like some guys aren't necessarily committed to giving giving that much of their life to the sport correct correct and and you know when you have everything to the detail but you treat people right you're gonna great things can happen like great things can happen i just want to ask did paul marie say anything after the game

did he come up with that yeah he was he was yeah he church hey basically church bells i said church bell not the liberty bells but you know one thing that i would say actually here here's one of them here's the way i'd characterize it uh biz is anytime i see him or anytime he sees my parents he this is the level of human he is. He'll always say, and he's always very complimentary and say, Kev saved my job. No shit.

He's like, your son saved my job. And he'll tell me that openly. He's like, you saved my job. Because of that run in game five? Wow. And that's the level of class. And that's what I'm saying. We have some awesome people in our sport, a lot of them actually.

But people like that, like you were saying, you want to run through a wall for those people. You know what I mean? And I've had some of those people in TV, not as many of them, but I still have some of them. And that's why I mentioned earlier Mark Jacobson or Shirely Najak and John Shannon, some of these people. And there's others too. Too many to mention. some of these people because and there's others too too many to mention but um the way that they appreciate you for all that you are who you are what you are what you can do it gives you wings instead of instead of getting pinpricked do you know what i'm saying it's a big difference between

the two you guys know i remember watching that run and i i thought you would get back in because i mean you look at the numbers now you were playing great were you thinking shit i might get back in during the final there hell yeah oh you were playing you were playing like maybe the best hockey team to ever be formed together i mean that they had like eight hall of famers i think you know what's crazy okay so so i talked to shanny about this because i play with shanny in jersey toward the end of his career consequently mine too and and with the rangers too prior to that guys you guys know going to joe lewis bro i played junior in the joe because before they were plymouth before it was plymouth plymouth whalers they were the detroit junior wings oh jimmy rutherford gm paul maurice head

coach right and those teams were stacked i remember our bus pulling up and big ups to Wayne Primo because Primo was playing with us. And Keith was playing for the Red Wings, right? So we're like, wow, Keith is loaded. He's making $250,000 playing for the Red Wings. I was getting $35 a week at On Sound. And after the games, Keith would see Wayne. He'd hug him.

Give him a little cash to take back. A little per diem pack. Exactly. Rip it off. It was all ones for the Rippers in Windsor. You don't want to go to those ones. So at that point, I was like, man, but any time we played there since June, I think I got, I think I had my first OHL win against them.

But nonetheless, playing at the Joe, by the time the bus pulls up to the stairs outside you're down two cop and and that team that red wings team so to tie a bow on it like you're skating out for a warm-up oh ozzy oh no it's hashik oh okay no it's kujo all right lidstrom he's there okay who else they got back there oh chelly's back there oh sweet oh there's eiserman sweet there's shanny sweet lariat up oh okay and the word and the worst part about that was you couldn't help it and just the mystique of the joe the smell of the joe and you got holly out there chirping everyone there and here's the crazy part about it i talked to shanny about he's like you know what we see you know what you know what shady we'd be out there what? You know what, Shady?

We'd be out there, and we wouldn't look at you guys on purpose because we knew you were looking at us. So we wouldn't even look at you guys. You can tell when you're being stared at. I swear to God. You're unbelievable in impressions. Who else you got? Do Broder.

Do Broder. Marty, I can't do Marty. I don't know why. I can't do him. But listen, I got to tell you, what was crazy about this is you were almost psyched out before the game started. Yeah. Before the puck dropped. But to answer you, I did think I was going to get back in.

Yeah. It just never went that way. But again, here's where good organizations adjust, right? Because I was 27, I think, at the time. But they had a young stud in Cam Ward. adjust, right? Because I was 27 I think at the time. But they had a young stud in Cam Ward and when they went back to win that one in

06 to win that one. Stahl was there I think it was one of his first years. Totally. They're like, oh Cam Ward you can kick, you're ready? No big deal. Get in there. He was 20. He was 20. So they didn't horse around the next time around. They got it right. Who was his backup on that team? Marty Gerber.

Gerber. Who was nice too. He could kick too. He had played most of that year yeah and gerber could kick too so as you just said busy you got some of those young guys in there with some of the grizzled vets doug wade who had an amazing career glenny wesley all those guys mixed in with some of the young ray whitney the wizard our boy you know the wizard's awesome you played with him in florida when you broke yeah i love the wizard? Yeah, I love the Wizard. I'm sorry, go ahead. He's awesome. No, him and his wife, Bridge, are great people. They are.

Who was your first game against? Do you have vivid memories of it? Yeah, first game I got in was against Dallas on the road. They pulled Beezer, and I went in for the third period. They had five shots. And then the second one, my first start was in Ottawa. We ended up tying that 2-2 in overtime. I think it was like second star.

But, guys, I got to tell you, and this is for the listeners, My first start was in Ottawa. We ended up tying that 2-2 in overtime. I was like second star. But guys, I got to tell you, and this is for the listeners, I couldn't win a game to save my life when I first got to the league. What a panic. I was 0-2, whatever game stars here and there, but 0-2, 0-4, 0-1, whatever it was, 0-6, 0-10, whatever it was. And if you would have seen the coverage, I wouldn't wish that on anybody. People talk about mental health.

I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Listen, I was IHL goalie of the year, played half the year in the I that year. Couldn't string a full 60 together at the NHL level. And I wasn't really on exactly great teams or high-end teams but whatever like you you wear it you're the tendy you want to kick for the boys and some of those games I kicked in some of them I was averaging some of them I just couldn't string it together and it was vile like can't play goalie of the future can't this can't what and it was so mean-spirited and just it started to really build and boil.

And fortunately, I was able to get my first one and kind of get past that after the next year. But it was really hard. That was a tough time. And I think the biggest thing that I would say to the listeners is a lot of people look at these athletes and entertainers and musicians and people that, you know, even yourselves, you guys are doing this huge stuff.

People don't understand the struggle. You know? People don't understand the struggle. You know? People don't understand. Yeah, some days you're not doing right on a personal level. Totally. Yet you still have to get up and go perform. You still got to get up and perform. And you're not getting the results you want.

You're thinking of all the people you're letting down. You're not on your A game. You know, Biz, I'm sure you went into some games where, hey, Biz, this is going to be a physical game tonight. Like, we're going to need you because that's going to be an X factor in the game. Do you know what I mean? Oh, for sure. This is not an all-skill team. Not much, but yeah, a couple times. No, but it's true. We're going to need

Jam. We need you tonight. We need you on the forecheck. We need you, like, whatever the case may be. And if it doesn't happen or it didn't happen for you, you know, you were that. You know what I mean? You're like, fuck, I let the boys down, man. I wanted to.

So that's really hard. That was a tough time, but you always have to persevere. That's one thing I'd say for a lot of the listeners. You always want to persevere. And the other goalies on that team were all vets. So you were the only young guy. Were you getting any help from the vets? Or were you kind of, like you said, you felt like you were on an island?

Yeah, no, I didn't really get much help from vets at that point. Yeah, I didn't feel like – Did you find yourself sometimes distancing yourself just because you were kind of in this maybe lonely, tough mental place? Yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah, and I mean luckily I have amazing parents and amazing sister and people around me at that time too, friends I grew up playing minor hockey with that knew me when I had 10 cents in my pocket going to a convenience store. You know what I mean? when I had 10 cents in my pocket, go in a convenience store.

You know what I mean? And you could lean on them and late-night calls and just get yourself back to a good place to where you have it in your stomach to go to the rink the next day. And that team did, in all due respect, that team did stink in front of you. It wasn't like you were the problem on that team. Yeah, no, no, no, I get that. But, you know, there's a personal element to being a goalie too. Your big thing is you want to do it for your teammates, right,

and for the fans and the organization. You want to kick and win and give them a chance to win so you wear that but also it's kind of an individualized position so imagine being a qb you don't want to throw picks all the time and even you're going to be well your receiver to what your tight end wasn't you didn't get any coverage it falls on you it falls on you you know what i'm saying like the goalies they ask what's your record. You've got to figure that out. You've got to find. So for me, in figuring that out at the NHL level, not in practice. In practice, I was stoning people, making these saves, doing this stuff.

But unfortunately, I played a lot in the minors in my time in the minors. But I just couldn't string it together right out of the blocks. And it took me some time. Excuse me, because I want to go back to Fort Wayne. I know one of our Twitter followers. I saw that. saw that you were you on the kelly cup that year because i couldn't i wasn't but they're in it they're they're in it this year okay so ironically um the fort wayne comets and torch was there man our boy torch was there he was uh coach gm he ran he ran fort wayne he was great the crronky, the family there still owns it.

The Frankie family, excuse me. The Frankie family still owns Fort Wayne. And ironically, like my girl's mom is from Fort Wayne, which I never knew at the time. She's from Indiana. So even though they grew up in Calgary, but her mom's from Indiana. So Fort Wayne was awesome. It was great. It was a great, great minor league town.

They were amazing to my family when we were there. My dad was there a few times. They were great. I love that. I want to ask about Marty Brodeur because I don't think he's a guy who's great at talking about himself. He likes to deflect all the praise and stuff. But, I mean, you got a firsthand experience. Just what made him so special as a player and what was he like off the ice as a guy?

You know what's funny? I love that you asked me that because as we're talking about tension and tightness and environment or whatever, Marty was like this cable, that cable on your head, just like that. Loose him, you know, and he earned, yeah, Dano, Scottie Niedermeyer, like all those players, Patrick Ilias. But Marty himself, I think environmentally it allowed him to be chill, and he's just very chill. Very, very, very easy. Like, I don't think I played with a goalie that never got psyched up for a game, at least that I could see, like him.

He just showed up. He just showed up. He was so confident in how he went about it. I felt like that playing high school basketball. Yeah. I didn't feel like that playing pro or junior or NHL. And it's a good argument. He felt like that.

Like he was just at the Y, just playing pick-up hoops. It's not necessarily an argument, but you can talk. Is he like that because he's so good and the game does come easy to him? Or is he so good because of his attitude? He's able to stay calm in those situations. It's a combo. Most people, the most successful people in the world,

and I noticed it in hockey, it was never too high or too low. Crosby would have a little bit of a spell, and he wouldn't really care, and then he'd have five points in a night, and it was just the same thing, where I was, I've said this a million times in the show, I was like, two assists, what's up, boys?

How you doing? Where's my contract? And I'm like this. Staring down the GM on the bus. Fucks my deal, bitch. Oh, that's funny. You had a second assist off the block. That is funny.

Well, I was talking as if I was you snapping around a couple seconds. That's hilarious. When you were in Jersey, you played for one of our more popular guests recently, Brent Sutter. Oh, yeah. That was a good one you guys had with Sutter. He was incredible. Yeah, that was a really good one. He's basically a Canadian.

He showed a lot of his personality. We didn't get to see much of that in Jersey. I wish we saw more of it. Seriously. Because he was wound so tight. But again, keep in mind, same thing like i was saying this was his as much as he's been in the league and as much success and a greater player he was this was his first time coaching in the nhl too you know and he was leaving red deer he owns him and his family on the team they own the arena they own the farms

he said it was everything his life savings jumbotron put it all in that part of the stories like people thought i had money like no no i need this totally it was everything, his life savings. Totally. He put it all in. That part of the story is like people thought I had money. He's like, no, no, I need this. Totally. It was a great entrepreneurial move for him by him and his wife and their family. And brilliance too. Amazing. He didn't even really want to come to the NHL to coach.

And Lou really pushed to get him. And what was interesting about it is we didn't see as much of his personality, hardly any that we got to see with you guys. You guys brought it out of him, and I thought it was amazing. He was so funny, and it was good to see. Yeah, he was exactly. He was wonderful. He was unwound.

He was just chill. Hell of a storyteller, too. Unreal, unreal. It was unreal. But listen, he's helped a lot of players, man. Like, there's a lot of guys. You guys, Colby, obviously, but James Reimer. Who's the big one?

Darcy Kemper. Matt Dumba. Like, they produce a lot of players in the league quietly that have come out of the deer, as they call it, in Red Deer. Where did Nooch play? Yeah, I think Nooch played there, too. Yeah. Yeah, I think Nooch. I don't know if he was with.

I don't know if he was under. No, he was Regina. He was Regina. Was he Regina or there? I think he was Red Deer. I don't know if he was with. I don't know if he was under. No, he was Regina. He was Regina. Was he Regina or there? I think he was Red Deer, but I don't know if Sutter was there. They were comparable to, it was Red Deer and Kelowna. He was Regina, I think. Red Deer and Kelowna were kind of, maybe Red Deer a little bit more before Kelowna,

but they were the London Knights of the West. Oh, yeah. Just always very dominant, producing tons of great talent. Boyd Gordon played there. You mentioned Army. Making a lot of bread there, too. Don't kid yourself. Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah. He was Red Deer. He was Red Deer, yeah. A lot of bread there. We can't talk about that. That's Red Deer. I got in trouble for talking about the London Knights like that. Well, listen.

But let's be real. Same thing with the Hunter family. Those guys invested in London. Yep. And they spent a lot of money to buy London. They treat those players, same thing with the hunter family those guys invested in london yeah and they they spent a lot of money to buy london they treat those players same thing they treat those players first class there you know and that's a factory as you know london's a factory in terms of producing players but they treat their players world-class man they really do uh talking about coaches i

think we glossed it over in tampa bay but you played for torts for quite a while what was that what was that adventure like, given his reputation? Yeah, Torts. Interestingly, I had Torts when I was in the Spangler Cup in Switzerland first. Because Steve Shields got called up to Buffalo. Rochester needed a goalie. They were playing in the Spangler Cup in Switzerland. And they asked Florida to loan me there.

So I played for them there. He coached Canada? No, it was Rochester Americans went there because they'd won the AHL so they went as kind of a US entry it was sweet it was fun um that was a fun tourney that was a really fun tourney there we had we had a blast I think it was goalie attorney it was fun right yeah it was a fun it was a fun time there but torts in general I think one of the things with Torts is he cares. He loves the game. He's passionate.

He wants his team to play with an edge. He wants guys to play hard. He wants guys to respect the game, which I respect. I think the one challenge is the world has changed so much. Do you know what I mean? I thought he did a pretty good job of adapting. Exactly. Exactly. As it went along, I really think so too. For what know what I mean? I thought he did a pretty good job of adapting. Exactly, exactly.

As it went along, I really think so too. For what he had before, it's pretty good what he's turned into. Absolutely, absolutely. And that was important. And that was important for him to be able to do that and make those adjustments to coach today's player because today's world is different. We know that. Like it's a different era in so many different ways.

And I think toward the latter part there, he did a really good job of that. He really did. One of the things I had down for when you were with the Lightning is a couple years after you left, they ended up getting over the hump, but you got to see LeCavalier, St. Louis, Brad Richards at a very young age. Could you see? Money. Yeah. You saw it coming?

Oh, money. Look, guys, I told you I played in the eye. And when I was in the Fort Wayne or when I was at the Detroit Vipers, I saw Marty St. Louis and Eric Perrin. Dirt. They were so dirty. So good. So, so, so good.

And listen, we want to also, as much as we're entertaining, as much as you guys entertain and we share stories, we also want to inspire a lot of your listeners, right, and your viewers and stuff. This is a clean version, so don't take this down the wrong road. We're in the shower post-game playing in Tampa. Marty St. Louis, you know, Week C, you know, I think I could do more to help the team, you know. I'm like, Marty, I agree, man.

You don't have to sell me. I played against you in the eye. I thought you were dirty. We had him on the fourth line. That's crazy. I mean, this is after Calgary. This is after Calgary. I didn't know that.

Bro, fourth line. I played against, he was in Cleveland in the eye. He was, him and Perrin were dirty. I'm like, Marty, I know how good you are. He's like, I don't know, you know. I said, if you take shit, you're going to get shit. Same thing we talked about. I said, go and tell Ludsy, because I had played for Ludzy in Detroit with the Vipers.

I'm like, go tell Ludzy. He went and talked to Ludzy. I think it was two years later he was NHL MVP. Basically, he's like, just give me, I mean, who knows, give me a chance. Let me at least try. And that was when. And credit to Ludzy, man, for doing it and being open-minded, because everybody had written him off.

Well, and for a player to have the jam to actually go have that conversation. Yeah, at that point, it was like, what's worst case? Calgary's got rid of me. I'm fourth line here. I've got nothing to lose. I've got nothing to lose. And listen, hey, as well, credit to Torts because Torts had a big hand in that too. Once Torts took over, you've got to give it where it's due, Torts.

But that Tampa group really allowed him to flourish and allowed him to become – now he's a Hall of Famer. I think Richie might get in too. Richie was amazing. Richie was a rookie that year. He was 20. I think he had 63, 65 points or something. Yeah, 62.

62 points. Sick. Sick. Like patient, dishes, read the game so well. It was the perfect storm. They had their diamond in the rough. They had their top-end prospect. And then, I mean, Richards was still – yeah, Vinny was what?

Was he first overall? Yeah, and Vinny was money already. You could see it. He just had to learn, but he was already money. You had Pavel Khabin on the back end. Then they ended up trading for Danny Boyle too. Then they traded for Javi Boulin, much to my demise, but it helped me anyway, as I told you earlier,

helped me improve and get better. And they just built this squad. And you know what? Here's the thing too. Everybody, and I know you guys being from Mass and for us being from Ontario or people from the West or people from wherever, Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, let's say. We know everything about hockey.

Those teams can't win because it's a non-traditional hockey market. I got news for you. Tampa is a sick place to play. They've got a dynasty going right now. No state tax. No state tax either. We talked about it. Vegas already already their money

like you like every single one of the sunbelt teams close your ears biz but every single one of the sunbelt teams with the exception to this point to this point man we're done let's wrap this up just up to the minute not that it's not possible but hey every one of those teams has been to a cup yeah every one of them. Dallas has won one. Carolina won one. Tampa won one. L.A., Anaheim, all these Suncoast teams. So as much as people try to hate on them, you've got to give people their due.

I mean, they're doing an awesome job in Tampa. Their owner, Jeff Vinick, has done an amazing job. One other thing I had written down here. I know we went pretty long. Take your time. You were traded for Bure. Yeah. I mean, it's summertime, you get the phone call. I mean, I knew because I wanted a one-way contract.

I had earned a one-way contract. I had been in the minors. I had done all these things. Same thing I go back to earlier. All these other guys were getting one-way deals like candy. Yeah, one-way, $5.50, $6.50, $7.50. And they came to me skimmy, and they're like, ah, well, we could give you 400 over 75 i'm

like what are we doing so anyway so yeah so i 75 honestly yeah right with can't help himself so on principle i i went to that's how i went to detroit and played in the minors but um being a part of that deal was crazy because he's such a star and we had jovo sam gagne i'm sorry dave gagne's dad myself and i think mike brown but what sucks is when you're a part of that deal was crazy because he's such a star. And we had Joe Vols, Dave Gagne's dad, myself, and I think Mike Brown. But what sucks is when you're a part of those deals, the expectations are always through the roof. Always. Anytime you're in one of those deals, that's almost a no-win situation. But it got me my one way, and it got me more games in the league, which I was happy with.

Bingo. Well, this was outstanding weeks. We done? It's a blast to catch up with you guys. You guys rapping already? Yeah. You guys have changed. Now you're corporate now.

You're in Forbes. You're in NY Post. We're interviewing later. We're interviewing. Who do we have later? George LaRock. Well, they just broke Sabre's name, Don Granato, next head coach. They just broke that.

You know what? I think that's a great hire. Yeah. I think Donnie. They look like a different team under him. I think Donnie did an outstanding job there, boys. And the boys love playing for him, as you could see. Hey, remember, those guys were in the carpet like dirt.

They were as down as you've seen anyone be down in this league in 20 years. I felt bad. Right? It got sad. How many in a row? They're fans are. Oh, yeah. They do deserve that.

We know. Like, I talked to guys in that group. It was a problem getting up to go to the rink to find motivation for those guys. And he was able to pick those guys up. I think he did an awesome job. So nice on you, Biz, getting that. I was breaking notes. Biz is via Twitter.

Let me ask you. Now, let me jam you guys up on the record since we're on here. You guys jam me up. So I'm going to jam you back up in a good way too as you did me. What's the latest? Because you guys don't like to talk about yourselves and you're doing amazing things. And I want to know this for myself. What's like who?

He's like, what are you talking about? I can? Yeah, exactly. No, but with all the stuff you guys are doing, and I got to tell you, I get asked time and time again, I read this article. I read this in the Globe and Mail. I read this in the National Post. I read this in USA Today. I read this in Forbes.

What is it? Tell me about those guys. My to-be father-in-law shortly has the Pink Whitney literally in our last – we were at our Miami house I think last week. It's in the freezer. They were there for like five months. That I think, last week. It's in the freezer. They were there for like five months. That's where I leave mine. It's in the freezer. It's chilled.

I swear to God. Well, just to hop in, you kind of mentioned it earlier how empty you were left feeling in some of the situations that you were in where maybe people ahead of you had control. Right. That was one thing that I ended up talking to Brant Myers when he was was with the la organization where he would help out the guy's transition and he said you know when i got out of playing and everything got cleaned up he ended up creating his own llc that way he had his own control and could you know build people rather than be under people's control 100 and it comes off as negative when i say under people no no i know exactly but like i don't i can't the mainstream media stuff is hard for me

because it's not naturally how I talk. I talk how I talked in the locker room. So I just wanted to eventually do my own thing. And thankfully for me that these guys had already started this podcast and we were able to kind of do things our own way. And with the fans that came associated with that, they kind of direct us to what they like and don't like.

And everything really is just taken on a mind of its own. And we're extremely grateful. We talked about it last night, how funny it is. We've got G, who's the younger guy in the crew, who's kind of keeping us informed with what all the younger kids like. We've got R.A., who's lived the life of a thousand men. He snuck into 10 cup parties. He grew up the way that he did.

And then, of course, with the way he played and has his credibility. And then I'm kind of like the clown. So it's been a great ride. And all that stuff is, I don't want to say it's noise. It's just, I guess, documentation of some of the crazy things that have happened along the way. How are some of those things? How are they going? I stepped into about, there was a pallet of money when I walked in.

Oh yeah. It was up to my knees. No, no, no. But how's everything going? Well, it's been going good. And like, listen, you guys tell Forbes, tell us, tell me. I want to know how things are going.

I'm a businessman. It's been going good because we've been able to add resources. Like we hired Sean, who's a videographer and he spends time editing. So now we're able to get the podcast out on YouTube faster. So with all the success of everything else,

we've been able to reinvest and do more crazy things. We're going to start doing more live events like ball hockey. Sick. You should do it right here in Times Square if you guys are serious. I don't know if you'd ever strap on the pads. Maybe we can get you for a tennis ball only. No street hockey ball, dog. Maybe Milik?

Exactly. The balls won't be hanging like church bells if they take a street hockey ball. That's what the Cubs do. Exactly. We're going to do some both Cubs, bro. I rock two. You want two Cubs? Yeah.

Jim Rivnack. Jim Rivnack, NHL goalie with Washington. Packing heat down there? Yeah. Jim Rivnack told me in the minors, I got hammered one night in Rochester. He's like, what are you doing? You've got to be weird to you. I'm like, all right, I got you. Anyway, in Rochester. He's like, what are you doing? You've got to be – you've got to wear a tee. I'm like, all right, I got you.

Anyway, we'll stay off of that. Go ahead. Go ahead. No, no. We also hired a new Pink Whitney social media – Julia. Julia. Nice, man.

So now you're getting the Pink Whitney Instagram and Twitter buzzing a little bit more. Yeah. And what's crazy is just how big the youtube and instagram is now with younger kids i sound so old saying that i don't have a a public instagram but our youtube channel keeps growing and growing and so many younger kids yeah i think that maybe necessarily wouldn't know about our show but kind of learn about whether it's our golf matches or the behind the scenes when we come amazing by the way it's. So it's like to just get in with this company and then be involved with how the internet's growing and where it's at now. It's like any new channel we can open, I'm not good at opening it.

But then to get involved. I've literally never gotten a phone call for anything we've tried to do regarding the pod. That's so cool. Go do it. You know what, though, guys? What's really cool about that is it it comes off that way too like it it's very authentic it's real of real and people appreciate that there's it's unfiltered which is really cool because people feel like they're getting you you know what i mean they're

on the bus with you they're on the road with you they're on the course with you and you become a not only from a pop culture standpoint but people get but people get to really enjoy you guys in their everyday lives, which is really cool. And also bringing out other players and their personalities. Oh, yeah, of course. I feel like so many guys have so many great stories and people want to know about these guys that they were cheering for all these years and spending money on.

I even had it written down here, like Daveave andertruck like i've heard him be interviewed before with the white horse yeah and i just i don't i wonder what he's like as a person a guy that scored that many power play goals and a guy that i grew up watching when even when he was playing in buffalo so it's just it's just more genuine curiosity to be honest about about especially from the podcast form of getting guys on. So, hey, we appreciate the compliment. And right back, you, man, you're a horse. And you talked about the work ethic and all those days in a row you had to work to get where you are.

And, I mean, it's well-deserved. Thanks so much, boys. Thank you. It's been an honor. Keep crushing all of us. Thank you, boys. Maybe we'll get you in a sandbagger. Maybe.

Yeah, you can go all foxy. I try. We'll get him sweating in no time. You and Jose Theodore. Let's do that in the winter. Huge thanks to our boy Weeksy for coming and hanging out with us a couple weeks back in New York. Outstanding interview.

Hopefully you guys liked it. Always a pleasure to talk to him. Can't wait to see him on TV on ESPN next year. So we got him on before the whole Kraken situation happened. He crushed it on the whole expansion draft. I mean, although it was a bit of a shit show, given that most of it was spoiled. I thought he was bouncing around town doing his thing.

But on top of the goalie thing, I had a little bit of hockey trivia because he was very opinionated on the Marc-Andre Fleury situation. Who was the last goalie to be traded after winning the Vezina in the NHL? Anyone who thinks of it first, say it. He's looking at me, but this is for all of us. I just wanted to bring it up.

Oh, alright. I'm okay. Dominic Hasek? No. Hold on, hold on. Dominic Hasek? No. Oh! Merles. Dominic Hasek was traded to the Red Wings in 2001 after winning the Vesna. But to be fair, he wanted out of Buffalo. It was like, it was.

And I remember that deal he signed with Detroit. Sorry, Buffalo. Now's not the time. Yeah, I remember that deal he signed with Detroit. If they won the cup, he had a million dollar bonus. I remember at the time just being like, holy shit, and they won it. So yeah, I forgot. I shouldn't say I forgot. I didn't know that. The Murr

legend. That's just typical Buffalo. I'm a Bills fan, so I'm used to it. Oh, Josh Allen, dude. See that? A lot of people forget. I think he played for Blackhawks first, didn't he? Blackhawks first. A lot of people don't know think Hosnick played for Blackhawks first, didn't he? Yep. Blackhawks first. A lot of people don't know about that either. Behind Eddie Eagle.

Good trivia guy, Merle. Behind Eddie Eagle. Yeah, sports trivia. I was just bringing that up going back to the last podcast. We were talking about the whole Marc-Andre Fleury fiasco. And Merle, I mean, we talked about how crazy it is that one of the nicest guys associated to the game, and on top of of that surpasses it with his talent and yet kind of he's kind of getting shafted a little bit given his it's kind of like too nice of a guy i remember

he i was on pittsburgh when we drafted him so he was 18 years old and every morning he would come and ask me for like a ride to the rink like matt can you give me a ride to the rink and i'm like yeah dude you're the number one pick of course i'm driving you the rink and every day would ask me what that was how uber was created that's when uber started i was like wait i wanted to ask him if i could pick him up and drive like merles you're still you're not on the team anymore stop driving flurry to the rink get away from us got sent he's commuting from wilkes-barre just to drive flurry to the rink they sent him down he's like i can't leave i driveried to the rink. Get away from us. Got sent down. He's commuting from Wilkes-Barre just to drive Flurry to the rink. They sent him down. He's like, I can't leave.

I drive Flurry to the rink, guys. I'll get you a one-way. I was trying to do anything. I was trying to do anything to stay up there, as you guys know. All right, boys. At Labatt, they don't care if you're good or bad at most things in life. They only care if you're good at being yourself and not pretending to be somebody you're not, Paul. And if you are, they're good with you.

After all, if you choose Labatt Blue Light, you're good at the most important thing there is, beer. We already know how good you are at watching hockey. Be good at beer, too, with pristine Canadian Pilsner Labatt Blue Light. We're going to be working with Labatt Blue all year. We have some exciting

content coming up, so grab a pack and enjoy. And we want to send a huge thanks to Labatt for sponsoring Hockey Fest this weekend in Detroit. So make a great weekend better. Be sure to grab some blue lights to enjoy the game with. Even though baseball is the only boring-ass game in town right now. I drank a gazillion. Yeah.

A gazillion this weekend. Yeah, a lot of pink Whitney, a lot of blue lights this weekend. But a couple of the hockey notes to get to here. Pierre-Luc Dubois is going to win number 80 this season in honor of former teammate Matisse Kivlenic, who was killed in that tragic fireworks accident earlier this summer. Anders Nilsson, who most recently played with Ottawa in the 2019-2020 season, retired after seven NHL seasons due to post-concussion syndrome and neck issues.

So we wish him good health and hopefully he feels better after this. That's a tough way to go out for guys. But we wish him the best. Pittsburgh named Andy Chiodo, team goaltending coach. Cheeser. Cheeser. Oh, my God. He carried us to the Colder Cup finals.

Have you got him on the podcast? No, we've never had him. This guy was a legend in net. We were in Wilkes-Barre, and like Mo said, Fleury's there, right? It's the lockout year. Number one goalie, right? Your number one pick. He's the future. Kyoto played so good. He stole the job. This guy was a force

in the playoffs. Got us to the Calder Cup Finals where we lost to Milwaukee. We got swept. They were a wagon. You guys got swept that year? We got swept by Milwaukee, yeah. So you played in Milwaukee. Was that the first time you'd ever played away in Milwaukee? Yeah, because I played college that year. So I was just there for the playoffs. So we played in Milwaukee. Was that the first time you'd ever played away in Milwaukee? Yeah, because I played college that year. So I was just there for the playoffs.

So we never even ended up playing them one time when I was up in my American League career. Really? Milwaukee's a great city. I know. Sneaky great city. And obviously you'd play there.

They love drinking there. Yeah, I've been there a couple times. But I had a legendary story, actually, from Milwaukee. This guy, Chris Durno. He played there. So when we got in the town of San Antonio, he wanted to go out to see his old teammates and just go to his old bars.

But the coach was like, you guys can't go out. So he puts on going out clothes like this and then puts his track suit on over it and zips it up. So he's walking down to the lobby in his track suit so all the coaches see him. He's like, oh, yeah, I'm just going out to get like Gatorade and stuff. Gets outside, rips off the – stashes it in the bushes. Get the NBA start. He's like a girl.

He's like a girl. The Coastal Law Palooza. When they do the intros of the – when they pull off the – what do they call those? The tearaway pants? He's like outside of the hotel once he gets past the coaches. Yep. And then so then he goes out and has himself a night, comes back at like 3 in the morning, goes into the bushes, puts it back on, zips it up so if anybody sees him.

I went for a 10-mile run. Yeah, it was a legendary move in Milwaukee. That's why he knew it was a time there. You didn't meet him out? No, I did not go out that night. He was washed with the binoculars. I was keeping it pro. From the balcony the whole night.

Just craving a night on the road. The AHL Board of Governors has approved the qualification rules and format for the 22 Call the Cup playoffs. A total of 23 teams will qualify for the postseason. When the regular season ends, they're going to have five rounds of playoffs. So hopefully we'll get that back next year. We missed a lot of minor league hockey last year. A lot of hockey last year. Seriously.

Boy, the big rig. He threw out the first pitch of the Cardinals game the other day. How was it? He also got bounced at the quarterfinals at a roller hockey tournament recently. Did he? But he wins the Stanley Cup third in a row. And the next thing you know, blink of an eye after going on this cannon

Champa Bay Fest of gas and beers. Two weeks later later i want to say he was in the national championship tournament of roller hockey was he i don't know ask grinnelly the guy from boston probably beat him that week yeah i shouldn't beat him but no he i didn't actually see the pitch but he threw it to ozzy smith who was like a hero his i mean i know you guys younger but he was it to Ozzie Smith, who was like a hero of his. I mean, I know you guys are younger, but he was a shortstop in St. Louis forever. Hall of Famer. This guy was a freak with the glove. I feel like Maroon's the new Brett

Hall. He gets to be the drunk, fun guy. Yeah, he's like, I just want three cups in a row. I can do whatever I want. Have a statue of him in St. Louis, too. I don't know if you saw the tweet the other day from BetThePucks, the Twitter account we have with top 10 most profitable Moneyline teams last season. There was only one team on the top 10, number six.

That wasn't a playoff team last year. Who was it, Merle? You didn't get the email? You didn't get the email, Merle? It was Ottawa. R.A.'s dark horse. His pesky sins. He loves the pesky sins. You picked them in the cup, R.A.'s dark horse. His pesky sins. He loves the pesky sins.

You picked them to win the cup, R.A. No, I put a future on them to win the cup. I didn't pick them to win the cup. You're a gambler. You know the difference. But I think they won 20 games this year. At least 11 of their games they covered the puck line, though, the reverse puck line. So they were a huge moneymaker last year.

So have you looked at it? Did you see any odds for the cup downstairs at all? I didn't see it down there yet. Okay. But you know what happened last time I came on? I said I liked the Jets, and then we saw what happened there. So I don't want to make any cup predictions yet. Well, Viz had to cut off

his force, and he didn't do it. He's running to get out of the first round again. Alright, boys. We are bringing back a segment we haven't done for a while it's the last episode of the year like we said there's not a lot of hockey to talk about we're all kind of a little loosey goofy right now so we're going to bring back the old segment listen to questions we got them submitted earlier we're going to have some fun with it but first if you refinance your student debt at earnest.com slash chicklets you you can get a $100 cash bonus. Terms and conditions apply. Earnest offers low-rate student loan refinancing, and you can check your rate risk-free in just two minutes.

With Earnest, you get radically flexible payments, and you can pick your loan term. By refinancing, you can reduce your loan term, save money, or combine multiple loans into a simple monthly payment. And if you have questions, you can even talk to a real-life human at Earnest for help. Isn't it time you stopped feeling overwhelmed by your student debt? Earnest is offering our listeners a $100 cash bonus. Refinance your student debt at earnest.com slash chicklets. Once again, terms and conditions do apply. Well, boys, we haven't talked about this.

I was going to hop in here and say I consider this kind of like a trivia type segment. And did you get Grinnelli on the last Dozens episode? Oh, my God. I'm glad you brought this up. Oh, my God. And your responses to it. So for people who didn't witness this, the Dozen is a trivia game that Barstool plays. The Chicklets, we have a team. Oh my God. And your responses to it. So for people who didn't witness this The Dozen is a trivia game

that Barstool plays that chicklets. We have a team. We go on. Grinnelli got called in on phone a friend and the question was It's like who wants

to be a millionaire? You get a phone a friend. Yes. And it was a hockey question. Do you want to say the question Mike? No because I barely heard the question

because I was sitting at dinner. No, no, no, no, no, no. no time out and for you guys to biz the other day you didn't even know who the chicago blackhawks goalie was so you can't even chirp me for this at all well there's a difference so it's of being on the spot and also the fact that you get to absorb the question and also answer it and the fact i'll say this i would have gotten, but that's very short-sighted. You don't get to read it, though. That's the tough part.

But it's how it all went down, what was the most funny part. And Witt, I'll let you take it over. Well, no, Mike, so the question was like, it was who is an Arizona person? Who is the Calgary Flames' 10th overall draft pick in the 2010 draft? Who was born in Scottsdale, Arizona. So Grinelli is on the spot, couldn't hear the question apparently, and then he ends up answering Sean Monaghan, who's a Canadian guy.

Listen, hey, listen, I've had my fuck-ups, but whatever, okay? But what happens, though, is fights his his team who he was playing for on the dozens which is an unbelievable game show he gives the answer the other team gets a chance to rebuttal and get the point so fights makes the mistake and i hope we've already rolled the clip is if you hang up the fucking phone bud all right they're, they're going to call Mike Grinelli. Big one. I've got a freaking answer. John, how are you?

Grinelli, what's up, babe? I'm on the dozen. I got an NHL question. Question. A top ten pick by the Flames in 2016. Hailing from Scottsdale. Yeah, I lost you. A top ten pick by the Flames in 2016. Hailing from Scottsdale. A top 10 pick by the Flames in 2016.

Hailing from Scottsdale, Arizona. This figure holds the cap for the first time since 2012. Do you hear me? Yes, I'm thinking. I'm going to say Sean Monaghan. Sean Monaghan. That's it. Yep, I'm going by Glennie's reaction.

It looks like you got that one right. We're going to go Sean Monaghan. Final answer, please. Oh, no! No! Was that a fake out, boss? No, I thought it was Sean Monaghan. You got anything, boss?

Fuck me. 10 seconds. Wait, wait. It's Matthew Kachuk. Matthew Kachuk! Matthew Kachuk! Matthew Kachuk! Matthew Kachuk! Matthew Kachuk! Final answer. All time gap! I'm sorry!

I don't know what happened! I don't know what happened before! John, why did he put the phone up? All time gap! I didn't know he was going to start without an answer. Are you fucking kidding me? Thank you, Grinnell.

Thank you, Mikey Grinnelli. And Grinnelli... I didn't think of that. I didn't think of that. Grinnelli... Grinnelli all of a sudden after this stupid on-the-sponsor reply and all the wheels turning

at the fact that he's probably at dinner or whatever it may be. He's like, oh, no, it's Matthew Kachuk. You can see, I think it was Len dinner, whatever it may be. He's like, oh no, it's Matthew Kachuk. You can see, I think it was Lenny Balls just wrote up. He goes, Matthew Kachuk. They would have had no

goddamn clue who the pick was. And then Grinelli finally comes to, gives it, and fights. He's like, no, no, yelling into his phone. But in in my opinion hang up the phone fights it's on you Grinnelli was putting a tough jam he fucked up initially but he eventually came to and found the answer so it was a fucking shit show I don't know anyone it's a great clip and Grinnelli's been taking a lot of heat I'm sorry all right I just kicked him

that I explained that pretty well? Yeah, you explained it phenomenally. It was a great live moment. I hadn't thought of giving fights part of the blame, but still. He should have hung up the phone. I just thought you knew Monaghan was Canadian, but fair enough. I don't think I even heard

the Scottsdale part. Okay, fair. I thought it was a layup. Because you live in Scottsdale. okay okay fair fair I thought it was a lamp I guess yeah because you I mean you live in Scottsdale I think maybe you the Dale you were dialed in there the Dale

R.A.'s new Daytona alright alright Hamilton we have any good questions sometimes yeah that's sometimes there's the same old ones like who are your dream guests

like fuck marry kill blah blah blah it's like we don't want to fuck any of each other marry each other or kill any of each other. So that is all 17 of those.

It's all dudes. Gee, actually, I got them mostly off Twitter. I don't know if you saw any on Instagram. I kind of scrolled through earlier, but I don't know if any caught your eye, but I'll rattle them off, good or bad. This is a quick one. Can the Lightning 3P wit?

No. Biz? No. Merles? Yeah, I think they can. Fucking right they can. Why couldn't they? I just think they lost a legitimate line that was just such a difference maker for them.

And I think so many teams got better. And yes, they can, but I am not picking them. I also think the condensed schedule and the physical nature of it, these guys got to be worn down. There's only so much these guys can carry into the offseason. I know Cooch had basically the whole season off. I'd love to see their odds right now. This is a good one. If you guys could have

played for any NHL team other than the ones you played with, who would you choose? Merles, we'll go to you. I would have loved to do one of the New York teams, Rangers or Islanders, just being from New York and I guess Buffalo is New York, but that's a little further away from my family, just so my family could have been really close to get to more games.

What? I think I've always said Chicago. I just think that I saw it early, maybe because I saw it my rookie year when there was like 8,000 people in there. As Adrian O'Corn, you could yell over to people in the stands. And then I just remember as they got better and just seeing what happened there, like the crowd, the anthem, the city.

I love that city. I would have picked the Blackhawks. Leafs. Chaka. We're not done. Ari and Grinelli, other than the Bruins, who would it be? Grinelli?

LA Kings. New. Grinelli. Other than the Bruins, who would it be? Grinelli? L.A. Kings. Newport Beach is awesome. You don't live in Newport Beach when you play for L.A., but it is sick. He could if he wanted to. No, I'm saying like Manhattan Beach. Manhattan Beach. That's the one I would have picked. Manhattan Beach.

I wasn't chirping you at all. I think he'd take any beach at this point. Yeah, exactly. He'd play for the Ducks or the Kings. He would commute if it meant cheaper real estate. San Diego Gulls, I'll take it. That's the mind frame he's in. You're right, you're right.

I would, for the historical aspect, I would probably say Philadelphia, just because it's like a great North East town. You had the hat on, Gritty. You had the hat on, too. I did have the hat. But modern day answer, probably Tampa Bay. I mean, you guys know I'm a Florida guy. Love the Gulf Coast.

It's near Daytona Beach. Of course, biz. No state tax. I mean, a lot of draws to Tampa. Whether they're good or bad, I'd love to play there. You know what's another one I would pick is Nashville. I fell in love when we went there in 2017. I could handle that at 28, not at 18, though, Nashville.

I would be traded by the time I was 21 if I was fucking in Nashville. If I can trade me after the draft party. Let's see. Question for Biz and Wit. What was the biggest cringe moment in the show? What was your biggest cringe moment in the show? Laurel's is here, too, so... I know this. I mean, probably if...

Buddy, I have so many cringe moments. Alright. Nothing jumps. I mean, Grinnelli's question to Jack Eichel. Definitely. That's got to be top three of all time. I wasn't here for that. Does it mean in the show or in the show like the NHL?

Oh, I think they mean the podcast, right? Or do they mean being in the show? No, it's probably just for you two because it says question if a biz is in a way. Yeah, but you didn't play in the show. That's why it's hockey. That's why I figured during our NHL careers. Oh, I'm sorry. I'll just take the ricochet. It was a terrible question.

I thought that's fair. No, I mean... I can see why me reading it... I'll give mine in most recent memory. I got asked to host the opening of a wedding for a friend of mine. I'm like... I didn't know the backstories to a lot of these hosts and i was essentially doing these like live

ad reads and i was that's not a strength if you have to do the reading i was butchering it and uh that's not either show and and and the bride's father was off the table on the right. And I could just see him how frustrated he was, how pathetic of a performance that I put on. And it was probably for this. I felt that was I was like, I kept playing it in my head being like, oh, my God, I couldn't. I was I was my confidence got shot off the hop. So it was. Hey, it's really funny that this was just brought up, actually.

I got ambushed interviewed on this trip. Remember me telling you this? Yes. So who was that that was doing those interviews? I think it was the team that you brought up. Was it Covington? Yeah, it was Covington. So this guy, we had met some of the people, and all of a sudden this guy's like,

Hey, Ryan, can I talk to you for a second? Boom, he's got a big video camera in my like i was like oh turn over they probably have this first shift no i was like oh what's this who's this for what's this interview he's like oh coming in street doggy whatever just like quickly says it i had the worst interview of all time we have to get this clip i it was like i've never held a microphone or been asked a question i was like what just happened when I walked away? And I think they ambushed you already I thought, or maybe you, but you don't remember.

I didn't do any podcast. I got asked to do an interview, but I was like, I can't do it now, but I got an email sent. I sounded like a moron. They got me a few times right after I got off the ice, so zero oxygen in the brain. Did that interview you lose sleep over? No, I didn't lose one second of sleep i just think

it's hilarious that sometimes you can be so good with words and other times you can't even speak so i just remember being super embarrassed after that but back to granelli's line to eichel merles he said how many how many beers would you have to drink for me to score on you in pond hockey? Aiko doesn't even play goalie. No. How many beers did you drink when you asked that question? Not the show ending. He's like, what the hell did I ask him?

No, no. I didn't realize it until a week later because I posted it on my Instagram thinking I asked a sick question. And then I started reading all the comments and I'm like, wait. Wait, that was bad. That was so cringy. What am I doing? I thought you knew it right after. I asked if Carey Price was thinking about the Olympics

when he's in the Stanley Cup final. That was a great one. You think he's just concentrating on proving his worth as the number one guy in Beijing? It was the night before game one of the Cup finals. Ari, what about you? Show cringe? Oh, God. I don't know. I'll pick an episode.

I mean, I wasn't in the other show, so I don't have any cringe for that. Plenty of... Do you want an answer that he actually asked a question about for the NHL? Yeah, what's yours, Murr? I got a penalty shot, and of course it was in the first or third period, and then you miss it, and you have to do that skate of shame

all the way back to the bench. That was just cringy. You're just so embarrassing. And if you have to skate by the other team's bench. Yeah, they're all giving it to you. Did you make a decent move? Did you miss the net like a muppet? No, I did a good move forehand, backhand, back to the forehand.

I just didn't raise it up. It was Johnny Graham. I got an NHL one is we were playing against the flyers it was the game i fought rose hill and i think we were up three one at a time and he was taking a couple runs at shane doan so we're at home it was a good atmosphere i'm like fuck this guy he's taking runs at donor to get the flyers back in it but that same game i ended up fighting him it was a good scrap we ended up they scored four and answer we lost five three completely fucked the momentum up but in that game i made a turnover at the blue line they ended up scoring but i fucking i was so fucking angry because i knew if i made a mistake i was getting no more eyes yeah that's such a panic

it was the worst if i made a mistake i, I knew that was the end of my night. And I made a mistake at the R Blue line, and I fucking bent my stick over my knee. Bo Jackson? I went Bo Jackson. And Hartnell and Simmons were right there, and they're like, oh, yeah, tough. They were like, oh, yeah, tough. Hey, you're tough as shit, man. Is that a boy? Oh, yeah, snap the 90 flex, buddy. You're the best, be must have. Hey, you're tough as shit, man. Is that a boy?

Oh, yeah. Stop the 90 flex, buddy. You're the best, bellows. And I felt like the biggest loser. And then that was in the midst of this route where they fucking, I fucked up the momentum, break the stick over the Ebo Jackson, them ripping me. Like, I felt like a loser in the showers. I remember Pittsburgh playoffs.

I think it was the year we went to the finals, actually. We played Philly. And I had had a bad first round, right, in fans. I had had a bad year, kind of. It was after I had my big year. And so fans, they were not happy with me. I was well aware. I was not at all.

I was like the whipping boy, I think. So I'm feeling the pressure. We got game one, Philly. I was like the whipping boy, I think. And so I'm feeling the pressure. We got game one, Philly. I go out second, and I get the puck, and I wheel in that, and there isn't a Philadelphia Flyer within 30 feet of me. And I just panic, zero confidence at this time, and rip a backhand over the glass to lay a game penalty. And it was just like you just could tell.

Once they saw it was me, I was like, oh, my God. Philly didn't score, but I remember being, I was like, I don't know if I can continue to play on this team. I stink right now, but that was cringey. Who's the guy in that show where they, like, planted drugs on, or the, oh, God, I'm drawing a blank. What are you talking about? Dassey, something Dassey, Sean Dassey.

Oh, that's the, he loved the WWE, didn't murder. I know what you're talking about. Why are you thinking about this, though? Like I was saying how mad they were at you at that point. They were willing to plant drugs on you. No, they didn't plant drugs on that kid. Is that going a little too far off the rails? Yeah, that made no sense. Because the kid didn't get planted drugs on him. Is that going a little too far off the rails?

That made no sense because the kid didn't get planted drugs on him. Or he got planted the murder weapon. I think he just convinced him that he did it and he's just like, can I go watch WrestleMania now? If you tell us you did it, you can go. He's like, yeah, I murdered her. I don't know. I don't remember the name of that.

Making a murder. That can cut that all out. Making a Murderer. Yeah, Making a Murderer. Making a Murderer. That was the most ridiculous. Kill them all, I did. The most ridiculous description of Making a Murderer. I think he's still in prison. Kill them all, I did. Yeah, he was just up for one of his trials recently. Oh, what the fuck's his name now?

Sean Daquiri. No, now you got me thinking of it. Sean Avery. No, not Making a Murderer. Sean Daquiri. Sean Avery. Making a Murderer or Robert Durst. Are you talking about Robert Durst? No, that was the HBO one. Oh,agger. Sean Avery. Is he talking about Making a Murderer or Robert Durst? Are you talking about Robert Durst?

No, that was the HBO one. Oh, okay. Sean Avery? No. Avery did a little, did you see the, he did like a three minute little movie. He killed a bike lane person. Did you see that? No, I haven't.

Yeah, he crushed it. Avery's just fine. He loves the acting stuff. He did something great. And I love that he loves the acting stuff. It was good. It was about, it's about some some group in la right it was like a commercial for them but he acted the whole thing and it was it was pretty entertaining actually he's good he said he sent me i made a

talk about it on the podcast before but he sent me a couple of his like like his practicing clips and like he could be able to go off on monologue for like a minute, but yet – and I'm like, how the fuck could you even memorize a minute worth of dialogue, like word for word? I was like, could you do that, you think? Could I? No, I don't think – A minute? I don't think I could do that.

Do you do RA? I don't. No, that would be tough, man. Like, I mean – That's got to be the hardest part of being a hand drive. I would never be able to memorize anything. You'd have to have the conversation with people over and over and over and over. Is that the hardest part of acting?

Is like that? For some people, it's the easiest part, though, just the memorization. But it's hard for a lot. It is hard to remember a lot of shit, man. Acting ain't easy, beast. R.A. couldn't remember to put the chef's gown on before the scene in Apren. Merles, we'll go to you last because you need a few minutes to think about this. Gee, what country that you haven't been to yet is at the top of your list to visit?

Switzerland. Switzerland looks awesome. I don't know. I follow this Instagram account that always has pictures and videos of all these cool villages and shit all around the world. It's gorgeous. And Switzerland looks awesome. I think that's Swaziland. Villages and shit all around the world.

It's gorgeous. And Switzerland looks awesome. I think that's Swaziland. I think Switzerland's probably one of the nicest nations to live in on the globe, 100%. Yeah, that was the one tough thing. I had a big Christmas trip planned if I was going to stay in Sweden that year. I ended up retiring after two games, but it was going to be Swiss mountains skiing. And by retiring, I didn't do it. But that is a great pick.

mountain skiing, and by retiring I didn't do it, but that is a great pick. I don't think mine will happen for a lot of years from now, hopefully if I'm lucky enough, but it's Australia. It's a continent and a country, shout out them. I just think it looks so amazing. My wife actually did semester abroad there. She said it's sick.

Some of the best golf in the world. But I want to go for two weeks. Travel there is a nice day on a plane. But I'll have the sickest sweet on any airline. Brunelli's been there. And then I ended up going there with the Olympic Network. When I was first starting out my media career, I did something with the Olympic Network where I went there to Australia. I think we did a podcast. We brought you aboard.

That was your first show. That was your first show. That was your first show. That was his first show with us. One of my first ones. Was it really? Yeah, it was in Melbourne. And the people I worked with were amazing. The restaurants and we would go out for these night spots to grab drinks, the cocktails.

As far as the nightlife, Melbourne was incredible. I didn't get a chance to go to, what's the- Sydney. Oh, yeah. I went to Sydney. Hey, but listen. So, 24 hours on a plane. You gotta go like two weeks. I know that sounds ridiculous. I took a

couple edibles on my flight and I slept most of it and that was the way to go. I don't know what you would want to do. I wasn't that rattled by staying that long on a plane. Given the expectations going in of how I don't like being cooped up in a fucking box that long, I think

I took a 10 milligram and I was good. I was good to go. Yeah, but Witt, if you do go to Australia, this is for anybody listening, you got to have at least three weeks down there to get everything done. That was my only regret. And if you go all the way there, you definitely want to

pop over to New Zealand and hit that for a few days too. Done. That's why I was thinking three weeks. It's so much going on, yeah. Three weeks, and you can't do it until the kids are older, like three weeks. So my answer, New Zealand. Wow, you're hopping on Australia to do New Zealand. No, he just brought it up, and my sister went on a backpacking trip when she just finished college.

She went two weeks Australiaralia two weeks new zealand and i like i like the green aspect big hiking there too though a lot of hiking a lot of outdoorsy it's like it's you feel like you're traveling to a different planet at least from what i've seen and it's a lot more green than australia and i feel like it's it's a little bit more it's kind of got that like it's like nature it's there's more green than Australia. And I feel like it's a little bit more. It's kind of got that. It's like nature. There's tons of nature. I've been there.

You're zip lining. Even the big cities don't feel too overwhelming. It's very clean living. Where else do they have Kiwi race in the museum? Is that why you like it? I actually crushed the Sydney casino there. It was when the Patriots made that comeback game. I was there for that.

The Atlanta Super Bowl? Yeah, I flew overnight from Japan, landed at like 10 in the morning, went right to that casino, and the game was on at like 10 in the morning there. And then that Patriots, it was unbelievable that I hit the craps after and then did all the tourism stuff. But we only got to see Sydney. We went up on the islands a little bit. We went to Brisbane. And then we went over to New Zealand.

So we didn't get over to Melbourne. We didn't get over to Perth on the other side. So what country would you pick? Mine, it's almost embarrassing to say. You've lived in 87 of them. I've been everywhere. And somehow, I'm 100% Irish. I've never been to Ireland somehow. It's embarrassing to say. You've lived in 87. I've been everywhere, and somehow I'm 100% Irish. I've never been to Ireland somehow.

It's embarrassing to say. You were in Europe that long, and you didn't go over to Ireland. And it was always like, next break we'll go to Ireland. Next year we'll go to Ireland. And it just hasn't happened. A couple sandbaggers with Merles over there. Wow, you've got to go. It's unreal.

We're doing Chelsea game in London, sandbaggers England, and we'll go over, yeah, then Mermitas in Ireland. And Ari, you've already been there. You love it. Love it. Can't wait to go back. I was going to, but didn't make it. I was going to say Australia.

Whit said that. I think somewhere in Europe, probably either Germany, Spain, or Portugal. I would want to go to all those three. Well, I thought you would have been to Germany. I didn't know that. No. Ireland's actually the only European country I've actually been to. I've never been on mainland Europe yet.

Me either. Italy is another joint I'd like to go to. Europe is so cool in the fact that you just hop on trains or flights that are 20 minutes. They're so cheap. They used to be. I haven't been over there in a while. But you just go everywhere when you're there. It's so easy.

Living there must be sick to be able to just travel that easily and see all these different cultures. Biz, what would your goal song be? Oh, my goodness. Anyone else can jump in. I thought of this before. I never have one. Gee, I know you've got something lined up. So you're saying if you were forced to have a goal song after you would score a goal, there would be no music playing?

No, no, I know. No, I need to pick something. I know. I'm just so bad at that. Biz, I feel like need to pick something I'm so bad at that I feel like yours would be I Got A Feeling You love that song That's never going to happen again Which would be Mbop

Not I Got A Feeling by Who's The Band No, not a Chicken Dicks chance I had it in Sweden Our team in Sweden would do that I had like an inch If you had Sweden would do that What was your song? I had like an intro If you had a starting lineup You had a little bit of song too

You didn't pick them They did them They did them for you First one like when I got intro'd For the game It would be the American Jesus I don't know who sings that It would be like

American Jesus No it's not It's the Pech mode Yeah and then That was my intro Yeah I don't even know what it was. That's personal Jesus. But they would only do small clips of that

because I was the American on the team. They thought that was the thing. And then when my goal score, it was, was it Alicia Keys? It was like the New York. Yeah. So that was playing with Spark as I was from New York. That's kind of cool. They did it.

I didn't get to choose them, but I thought it was kind of cool. I told G, I didn't know if we them, but I thought it was kind of cool. I told G, I didn't know if we were like how they were doing intros here. I'm like, if they do intros, I'm like, I know what song I want. Do you remember what I told you? I don't know. Return of the Mac, because I was like, oh, that's a great one. I haven't played in 20 years, so it would have been perfect if

we were queuing up tunes. It would have been a good tune, but I don't think I'm going to score too many goals as a goaltender. Have you thought of one in the meantime? Honestly, I just thought of that rap, that Wilkes-Barre rap. Merle just got in as his from Chris Beach. I just play that for me over and over. Ryan's flying.

Ryan's flying. I wasn't. All right. We'll do a couple more here, then we get ready to wrap up the last one of the year. Well, you can jump in on this one too, other guys. Biz and Ari, are you guys Sativa or Indica fans? Sativa. Yes.

Whatever the one that keeps you energized. I had 12 days off. I felt great, and I came on this trip. But, yeah, the one that puts you to sleep, I am so useless if i ever smoke that okay uh we'll wrap up with this one i guess what surprised you most about your trip to detroit how there's no nothing open uh eating wise past 11 o'clock yes i think downtown is shuts down early it seems for food But what surprises me most?

That a priest came to the outdoor hockey fest and dressed in full garb or uniform. I don't know. That's tough. You have one, G? Pizza, without a doubt. I mean, you said it off the jump, but I fell in love with the pizza here.

I think it's unbelievable. Burles? I already talked about how the setup was unreal, but I got an RA. That was probably the most surprising, that first game he played. I was shocked. That was in Detroit. Yeah. True that. Thank you, Merle. I appreciate

it. It was probably just the prevalence. Maybe this is more about the Chicklets fans than Detroit, but just the prevalence and prominence of blowing hay all weekend all over the place. The cops didn't seem to care. You don't want to be disrespectful. I know it's legal, but some cops, you don't know if they're going to bristle

if they see you smoking it. But I don't think anybody had a care in the world about all the hay being blown. By the way, like I said, it's good stuff here. I mean, Michigan grows some nice stuff. I was very surprised. Craps, 50 minimum. I was like, then you got,

you got to double the pass line. If you hit it, it's outrageous. It's just like, Oh my God, 50 minimum surprising. $35 blackjack. I'm a cheap fucker.

I like the $5 blackjack guys. I like the sack. They can't find anything. Can't find anything under 15. Give me a $65 win after three hours. And I got my deck right hard. You got your sub for tomorrow, a couple beers. You're perfect.

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And follow OCB on Instagram at OCBUSA to stay in touch with the natural wonder of OCB. Must be 21 plus to buy the papers and follow their accounts. And yeah, lots of OCB fun this week out here, boys. I know we got a couple more minutes left. We're talking about Grinds My Gears, and this is one. It's got a

grind. I think this probably grinds everyone's gears. We've got an hour left. No, we've got a few more minutes left. It happens every time you're at a hotel is people who fucking let the hotel doors slam like late at night

or early in the morning and wake the whole fucking floor up no I mean I've actually never my thing in hotels is being near the elevator

and that waking me up I've never thought I've never that's never happened you've never gotten woken up because the doors are always heavy

he's the door slammer alright he's on the other side. Wait a minute. Do I hold the door? He's fucking whipping him shut. It's Bill Whittle. I'm not going to get up.

Everybody's going to get up. It's Bill Whittle waking me up the last 10 trips. I realized as I finished, that's what you were going to say. I'm like, I'm that guy. So maybe that's me. A lot of it's the housekeeping because they put that latch on there. So they're in and out of the room. That's kind of how I view a lot of shit is where people unknowingly do shit that annoys other people.

But those people who are annoyed by the shit that other people are doing are also doing annoying shit that the people who aren't annoyed by the things that you just described would be annoyed by. Do you get what I'm saying by that? It's like a yin-yang thing, man. You just like inceptioned RAs grinding my gears. Fucking Sean was laughing back there, but I think I made perfect sense. Oh, I know what you meant. I fucking nailed the dismount, bitch.

Did you ever get waken up, G, by a lot of hotel doors slamming? No, I actually think that might be me who is the alarm. Well, what I do sometimes, if I don't have to set an alarm, like today, I mean, I was up late last night. When do you ever have to set an alarm?

When we tape in the mornings. Those 11 a.m. tapings. Motherfucking night last week on a Monday. I was up at 6 guzzling coffee. I wanted to ask you guys what you made of the whole Aaron Rodgers press conferences after the whole fiasco went down and the fact that he was just like, when's the last time you saw an athlete be that raw on camera?

I know we're a hockey podcast, but that was just like a slaughter fest. Yeah, he seems to really hate playing there. I mean, I don't know. What does he make, $35 million? Right? Are you a Rodgers guy or not? I've never been a huge fan i've always said this he is unreal like i have blatantly said i mean maybe like as good as they've they've come right when he's on it just seems like he's

as good as anyone's ever been but i've just always kind of thought he's a little bit like not full of himself, right? I don't know, like his whole vibe. I've never been a huge fan of him away from the field. This time, I mean, he's so unhappy there. He's just dogging the place, and I couldn't really believe it. Do you agree with the aspect of like – What does that do for them to this year?

Should he be consulted on big decisions they're making, like let's say drafting another quarterback with a first rounder? No, fuck that, dude. I don't know him shit. Drafting another quarterback? They're setting themselves up. He's a diva, dude. He's a diva. Signings, hey, let's get

this guy in there. But drafting, man, that's their organization. That's their future. I know you're a Packers guy, but how are they supposed to be like hey aaron are you gonna be okay with us getting a qb that we think i'll be our qb in five years like but i also think that like well from a tom brady perspective i feel like he had a lot of say with what was going on in tampa bay and he's like yeah well they're just they're investing in him right now and the moment where green bay seems to be an organization where it's kind of just like

you know we do things by the books. And if you're the Patriots, it might be a different ball game where it's like, well, yeah, we're also producing championships every year. And we might be a little bit more narrow-minded because we just kind of saw that dynasty unfold. It's also a first-round pick, Biz.

It's like your window is only so short. You know, like he wants to win now. You're drafting a first-round guy. Right, who could be an impact-wide receiver in the lineup right now. Yes, right now. Okay. And they're saying, oh, we're betting on the future, and he's saying, motherfucker, I just followed up with an MVP season.

Fuck your future. Your future is right now, bitch. That's what I'm saying. That's the frustration, no? Okay, okay, listen. And we've never been that good to where like i get like i get the other side of saying he's a diva but it's also like motherfucker give me another receiver you might have another fucking ring and we're talking about now bitch hey me me saying that they shouldn't ask him about

draft the qb not thinking that it could have been a sick receiver i was more thinking hockey right they don't always make an immediate mcac okay football you're right you could get a legit like stud wide receiver but the press conference is a different story because like what is i just don't understand what does that do for your team this year he's probably thinking i'm gonna play unreal no matter what these comments don't matter i get it but you just cannot tell me that that's like a good storyline leading into a season well then you also have your best receiver davante adams um who like is posting out the same fucking instagram post of basically being like the last dance it's kind of like i see how they run the ship here we're ain't cool with it but we're the biggest ballers let's go do it on our own terms then bounce and i can understand where like there's a level to it now

where it's like well they they're they're in the locker room, no? Yeah, so if they go out, like you said, ball out and they're unreal, then I have no clue what I'm talking about, which has happened five million times on this show. As great as he is, and he's one of the greatest quarterbacks you've ever fucking seen play throwing the ball. But he's also like, what, one in four, one in five in NFC championship games, won Super Bowl. So I don't think he has the fucking playoff resume

to necessarily act like that all the time. I mean, the record's out there, but at the end of the day, it's playoff wins. He's got playoff wins, but he's only got one Super Bowl win. So, yeah. I thought it was, and I wanted to talk about it because we don't see shit like that in hockey. We're a fucking, a player just going at management.

All right. One last one for you, Biz. When they say a movie's coming out this Friday on Netflix, and it means like 12 a.m. it's supposed to drop, and Netflix doesn't drop it until 3 o'clock in the morning. This is a grind my gears. And this is one that you wait for shows. Now, Netflix quarterly earnings, it dropped.

Their ship's not being ran very tightly, and that was the first time it happened in like years where they their quarterly earnings drop so i don't know if what so what would happen when streaming services say oh it's dropping friday whatever it usually drops at midnight because that's friday but netflix doesn't drop it until 3 a.m eastern time because it's not because i think they're based in California. So it's actually – they wait for it. It's actually 3 o'clock in California. Insane blind my ears because it's 3 a.m.

It's fucking nuts that we're talking about this. It's nuts. Who the hell is waiting up until midnight of 3 a.m. to begin with? Hello? Yeah. Just go to sleep that night and start in the morning. Like what the fuck? You have to watch it right then?

No, watch it at midnight. What I'm saying is if it comes on Friday, you should be able to watch it at midnight. But Netflix doesn't put it on Netflix on the East Coast until 3 a.m. Eastern time until it's fucking Friday in California. Could be this. Anytime something says Friday,

it's whatever time zone you're in, not fucking like three hours later. This is his TV version of the shark. Don't warn the people on the news about the sharks. So I'm calling them shock attacks. Do you think that that had an effect on their quarterly earnings? Yes or no?

No, the shitty fucking run of shows has. I would maybe say yes, because I also know nothing about them to where I would know other reasons that they might have gone down. You think there's a lot of people on it? I think there's more streaming services. How many people are mad about the fact

that they're not dropping it at the time that you think they should drop it on when they're announcing it? Have you seen it online as a complaint? No, it's fucking TV nerd shit. I don't even know if anyone ever figured it out. I'm sure someone did. But it's just like you see it Friday and you're like, fuck, man. It came out until 3 o'clock.

It happens all the time. But Netflix is the only one who does it. I think most people are like, Netflix is probably Friday, guys. At some point Friday when you wake up, you can watch it. Only person. Friday at midnight people are like, Netflix is probably Friday, guys. At some point Friday when you wake up, you can watch it. Only person. Friday at midnight. But no, the shows have stunk lately.

That's why they're probably just locked in. All right, just move over to Europe with me and then it'll be 3 a.m. is our 9 a.m. So it'll be perfect for you. That'll fuck me all up. All right, boys. I don't know if you have any closing statements, arguments, thoughts, whatever,

after a tremendous season, a long, not really a long one. The one before was fucking endless. But it's been a great several months, what, seven months, eight months. Detroit was awesome. Sponsors were great. Grinnelli. And we'll have a vlog of every single thing that happened,

all the tournament, everything, you guys the whole time. Drop it on YouTube sometime in the next week or two. Yeah, I'm excited for the interviews that are going to drop. It's awesome to think about just having a little time away from the game and come back refreshed. We're going to get real refocused for next season, add to this podcast, continue to try to get better. And I think it's been kind of a crazy two-year run with COVID and then this year.

And then all of a sudden it's a little recharge your batteries time. We come back, and I hope you enjoy the interviews that we did. I think a lot of them are entertaining and hold you over for a couple weeks, and we can all get back and chat, have a bunch of things to talk about in whatever, three, four weeks from now. And just to reiterate, we're not going off the air completely. We are dropping episodes for the rest of the month. Just going to be interviews only.

There's no news to talk about, so we're just going to be dropping awesome interviews while we did them down in New York. If something big happens, we'll be on. Yeah. I mean, it'd have to be like a major fucking trade or something. Like a defenseman signing for 9.5 million again. What'd you do? Charlie McAvoy.

He's got to be the next D getting paid. He's next, baby. He's next. Holy shit. What's boss got to do with that one already? Chuckie brings trucks. And a fucking Bergeron. We'll save that for another podcast.

Bergeron's going to bully him down to seven. Yeah. No, I love you, Bergie. But anyways, everybody, have a great rest of your summer. We'll be seeing you online and elsewhere. And fucking thanks for everything. Thank you so much. Love you guys.

Love you guys. Love you guys. You're the best. I'm out.