Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 352: Featuring Scott Gomez

Episode Date: September 21, 2021

On Episode 352 of Spittin’ Chiclets, the guys are joined by Scott Gomez. Gomer joined the show (01:27:20) for round 2 to talk about his time in New York and Montreal, some more Lou stories, what he���s up to now and tons more. The guys open the show with an update on everything they have been up to for the past 6 weeks. Biz also addresses the massive TNT news that was announced last week. The guys also get into all the NHL news missed over the past few weeks, including the big Montreal-Carolina offer sheet. The boys wrap up talking a little pop culture with Rear Admiral giving Biz a few more TV show recommendations.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' Checklets 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 352 of Spittin' Chicklets, presented by Pink Whitney, from our friends at New Amsterdam Vodka and the Barstool Sports Podcast family. Howdy all, it's so awesome to be back after a nice little breathe that'll recharge the batteries. Three weeks from today we're going to kick off a new season, it's going to be our first since 2019 hopefully we get a complete season no stoppages no shortages whatever gonna have some new looks gonna have a new team gonna have a new tv deal we're gonna talk about but first gotta catch up with the fellas producer mikey granelli what did you do for the last month anything interesting let's just get to the other guys everyone's heard from me for

the past month let's just get to the big dogs that's right you were jumping in the mix here with the ra you guys took over the podcast what were you guys talking about yeah exactly talking about me buying like too expensive of pizzas legitimately nothing so thank god you guys are back because we need too expensive of pizzas yeah man one night down the jersey shore i paid like 75 bucks for just two plain cheese pizzas it was a long story paul well we'll get to that one later we'll get to that one later yeah he just said barn burner did it top the lacrosse story it may have yeah we'll say it did uh he's gonna call i let's do this all let's take this from the top paul biz nasty bisonette we'll get to your big news in a

little bit but i saw a lot of your instagram you are a well-traveled man on your break a lot of hiking a lot of sweating no you saw katie's instagram because she was posting a lot about the hiking so i ended up driving up to vancouver guys i had a a lot of awesome stuff going on up there one of my best friends got married uh ended up visiting whistler um you'll be happy to know i uh joined a golf club vgc victoria golf club i'm now officially a member at a course shot my first round 92 with a with a herniated disc in my back l5s1 it was it was a little bit out that day but still grinded through it and then afterward um uh russ cortnell was there because he's a member there and uh this other guy bussy i gotta get his name i gotta pull it up here they were they were in the basement

they got this area it's like where uh where all the guys play dice afterward do you play dice at your club i've never played dice at my club but i've played a lot of other uh gambling games but no dice is usually like a street corner game isn isn't it? It's like public push shit, huh? What would you join a fucking goat ranch in the middle of downtown Vancouver? He says things got 18 holes in quick there, but with this other guy who's a member, he's the only player in WHL history to be traded for a bus. So he's got the nickname bussy tom bussy

yeah so we were playing dice till late in the morning so ultimately it's an unbelievable club i had a great time over on the island uh got to check out my properties and stuff like that now uh going back to to russ cordinal he's actually selling property over there for that you remember gauzer i talk about it all the time discovery discovery they got another one that's going on a little island just off of uh of vancouver island it's i believe i think it's called james island so they have this private 18 holes and i think they're selling lots between like four and nine million bucks it's like billy goat central so i got to hang out with those guys he told me all about that and then uh as i mentioned as I mentioned some hiking, which you saw on Katie's Instagram, and we ended up driving up cause we couldn't fly with the dogs.

A lot of airlines ended up buttoning up on traveling with dogs on the plane. So, uh, Lloyd, I know, I know we haven't talked really much about Lloyd lately, but he's getting bigger, but, uh, he is, uh, he's a bedwetter. My dog, Lloyd, my dog. Remember when I adopted a dog and we didn didn't we didn't figure out what the name was dude i forgot you had another dog dude it's been a while i thought lloyd was a guy you met on one of your hikes for a second lloyd oh he wets the bed why your dog sleeps in the bed with you sometimes some nights yeah especially when we were up in vancouver but yeah he's a big guy isn't he

he's getting big he's 50 pounds already i want to say he's Vancouver. But yeah, he's a big guy, isn't he? He's getting big. He's 50 pounds already. I want to say he's about five months old. So he's going to be bigger than Finn. And ultimately, it was a good time away. And you mentioned Instagram, R.A. I shut down the social media. It felt great to live like a normal human again, where you're not reading and watching other people's lives nonstop.

So I had a good break, completely dialed out, and had a wonderful trip lives nonstop. So I had a good, good break, completely dialed out and had a wonderful trip with my girlfriend. So it was good. You live, you, you, you live not like a normal human though. What do you mean? Cause normal humans have all of the social media. That's true. I went off.

I went off the old school normal, but current day bizarro world, bizarro world biz, biz grill us. You must have peaked here and there, though, biz. I mean, you had to. I mean, you had to have peaked once or twice, no? Because I try to. I don't know if he would, man. He gets in trances and shit when he's hiking.

I had to go through Jeff Jacobson. Anything I needed. OK, well, anything I needed posted, I had to go through Jeff. Oh, wow. I think it's good. Good once in a while. Oh, it's all right. I wish I could do it. So I mean, I cut you go through Jeff. Oh, wow. I think it's good once in a while. Oh, it's all right. I wish I could do it. Sorry, I mean, I cut you off.

I wish I could. Oh, you're good. I wish I could as much as you did, because I said I was going to. And I didn't interact as much, but I was still definitely like, I'm a news hound. I'm a news junkie. I was definitely like. I did get a little bit of work done there, though.

So I ended up filming that second Watson Gloves commercial. Oh, buddy. Pasha sent me the trailer for that. No, he sent me, it's not even a trailer. It's a 10 second clip. And I just,

my mouth was a gap. Is that the word? A gap. And I was like, Oh my God, what is this commercial going to be like? Just the face and your outfit and what is around you. Yeah.

I can't wait to see this. So that's one of our sponsors. And we ended up doing a collab, but not too long ago. And we launched that first commercial. And then we, you know, yeah i can't wait to see this so that's one of our sponsors and we ended up doing a collab not too long ago we launched that first commercial and then we uh you know we got back and sat down and they're gonna let us push the limits again so uh very thankful for that uh speaking of other content sandbagger with zach warensky and andrew cop not an ahler by the way. That will be dropping today, folks. It's Tuesday. We're recording this Monday. Pasha

did an unbelievable job. This drops Wednesday. Drops Wednesday, 7 p.m. Okay, we backed it up. I thought it was dropping today, but Witt, you've had a chance to peek at it. What are your thoughts so far? I don't even really, I can't really give my thoughts

until post, post whenever it's like, there's just so much shit that goes down in that match that I've been thinking about since the match. Like I haven't, like that match has been on my head, on my mind. I think there's so much that we could chat about after, but right now I would be giving things away. I'll say this, just the fact that you thought caught playing the ahl and he had 15

goals last year was one of the funniest moments on the ride there um but i think it's great i actually thought it started off a little bit slow when we were in the midst of the match but looking back it's it's pretty good from the get-go like these guys were um they were they were they were more like taking us in slowly right they're like what's wrong with these guys but then they finally got into the mix and and i think everyone's going to enjoy it i saw a good trailer for it is has that dropped no that drops monday night at 8 p.m so by the time this podcast drops it will have dropped okay nice all right so you guys have already seen it or go check it out so we got we got to hear about what you were up to with one of the posts that i did

see when i put so i i ended up downloading twitter just to hit a couple retweets one of which being uh riders first day of school yeah first day of preschool first day of preschool pretty crazy moment i mean he's turning four november 28th and why it's turning one november 16th so just happening quick like all of a sudden this case going to preschool now granted he's got two years of preschool he so he's got a brutal birthday for hockey right if you play hockey now who even knows if he like will play hockey or wants to play hockey but you better fucking want to play hockey no i'm just kidding so you know you want to be born january february right so you're you're playing you're one of the older kids with your birth year so he's late but school wise he's

going to be old school i think it's september 15th or September 1st. If you're born after that, you can't go to. So next year he can't go to kindergarten. Even next year, he'll be turning five just like a month or two into another year of whatever it is preschool. to go till he's in real school but still it's crazy to send him off to school and he's he's enjoyed it i mean dude he's like uh he just like is he's so unreal at some moments and then that next moment he's bawling crying screaming at me it's just like it's just four three four years old they're nuts they're crazy but to see him go off to school and get some pictures with him i was pretty pumped i was pretty proud you know what? Seeing my guy, some fresh new kicks on to re-hook them up with these nice white Adidas. For sure, they came home dirty as shit. I was like, they play outside an hour of the three hours he's gone.

That's the other thing. We dropped him off. We went and got him like two hours later. So all preschools, only two hours. That's like three, two and a half, three. But you can have them do lunch bunch and then lunch bunch. You're going to stay an extra 45 minutes and eat lunch there but you know i we did it today the school called you gotta come get rider he's furious i don't know what's going on he didn't want i think everyone

was leaving and he was staying a little for lunch he's like fuck that i'm not staying everyone else is leaving i'm leaving too so we'll see it's not a long day though but you know it's you just got to get him in the mix it's three days a week but he's starting skating we're gonna do skating he started playing lacrosse dude this guy started this program in massachusetts it's called scoops lacrosse it's for kids age uh like three and a half four ish to i think 10 it goes to he's in like 10 towns now this guy comes he's pumping music the whole time he makes the kids dance he's doing he's doing like a clown stuff being a goofball he's like teaching the kids like we got the barney costume on dude this guy i the first thing was thursday night i was like this guy's an animal

and he does it all over towns and so it's pretty cool lacrosse is a great sport baseball america's pastime is it still i don't know i love baseball but lacrosse if you want to be an athlete you play lacrosse that's an athletic sport that might be the toughest sport of them all it's it's baseball so I got him a stick on Amazon he's firing the thing around um dude the break was great I've actually been like itching to get back for a little bit now though like I think like I I enjoy this so much getting on and just rambling on and on. It was like, all right, let's go. The thing was, we had really nothing to talk about.

We could get on and do what we're doing right now and talk about absolute nonsense. But in the end, the people want to hear about hockey. So I'm excited to be back. Played a lot of golf. My elbow's still fucked up. Sucks. It's way better, but it's still not great. I got to get this thing figured out. What else?

Shot my career low, though. Shot 65. Shot 65 at my comment and then talk it with my brother-in-law, who's a 45 handicap. He had 35 drinks, broke two clubs. Dude, neither one out of anger. On the fourth tee, by the way, some guy joins us at the golf club. He shows up.

He's like, you're not playing the tips because we were playing one up. They have a big tournament, the U.S. Mid-Avenger coming up at this course, Maya Comet. The winner goes to the Masters. So they close the back tees. So my 65 is from the one-up tees. So it's not as impressive. But this guy pulls up.

He's like, you guys aren't playing the tips? I'm like, dude, settle down now. He proceeds to pump three balls dead right out of bounds. I was like like this guy want to play that dips sure shit my brother-in-law on the fourth tee this kid he just got these clubs we're crushing drinks i took a picture of in front of his seat in the cart it was like a 750 tee time pack of newports red bull transfusion and a bud light it's a great morning so fourth tee he hits the ground about three feet

behind the ball and snaps his driver and half he's looking he's like oh my god i was dying laughing we get to the 17th tee dude this now he's hitting three wood he hits the three wood same thing i don't know what happened this time because the ball actually went forward the club snaps in half and somehow miraculously scientifically i don't know how this is possible i'm sitting right behind them on my phone on a bench the club head goes flying back hits me in the ankle i still have a fucked up ankle from this no granted my ankles are brutal but i'm like wounded so he broke two clubs we finished the round i birdied the 18th hole that eagle i i get to seven under on 18 and he goes bro you played

pretty good i go i just shot 65 dude seven under is the best round of my life he goes yeah man i knew you were making some birdies out there so i had no idea what was going on which is probably why i played great but that was awesome uh most embarrassing moment for me so i've long said on this podcast and in life in general, if you run out of gas, you're the biggest piece of trash scumbag. You should spend a night in jail. Like running out of gas is so unacceptable. And a lot of times I've mentioned that I think like women, no offense, ladies out there, but you guys are guilty at leaving tanks on near empty when your husband gets in the car. I'm I'm now the biggest loser to ever appear on a podcast.

I went to physical therapy at BU the other day. I had my wife's car. She was still in Nantucket. And I don't know. I popped up that it was like 40 miles to empty. And I was like, oh, I'll go do it. No, I'll go do it at a at a at a what's it called when they do the they pump your gas for you.

All right. Full service. Full service. I saw one when the light came on the day before. I said, I'm not getting out pumping gas. I love the full service. I hate pumping gas. So I go I forget, though. So I go into BU. I leave BU. It's three o'clock. Thank God it wasn't like five. And I go on this road. Is it Buick Street? God, it wasn't like five. And I go on this road. Is it Buick Street? Yeah, I think it's Buick Street. And all of a sudden the car shuts off. I'm like, what the fuck? I look down.

There is no gas left in the car. I was like, oh, my God, dude, I'm in the middle of the intersection in the middle of this road. Sorry, not in the intersection, middle of this one lane road. Like, you know, there's one lane this way, lane this way but i'm now so i'm like shit so uh there's a little like entrance behind me and i'm on a slight little hill so i put it in neutral and i'm trying to ghost ride this thing but the power steering's off because the car can't be running so i'm turning the wheel like this i end up kind of backing in where i'm like can maybe ride it down and just like park it there it It's not blocked traffic stops, gets stuck. So I'm now sticking out into the road. Dude, people are losing their mind. I was outside. I was fucking losing. I was calling AAA, but I didn't know my number. I was just, I was walking around. My heart rate must've been 180. People are honking

the horn at me. This guy walks out of the building like he's going home and he goes, bro, you can't be parking your car there. I'm like, dude, I ran out of gas. I'm the biggest loser in the world. I'm a scumbag. I'm a scumbag. I'm an absolute loser. Dude, if I give you $100, will you walk to the gas station and get me gas? He goes, I don't have a container. I go, no, they'll give you one. I've been to this before because I've run out of gas before. So listen, the guy's like, yeah, man. i give him i had two hundred dollars on me so i give him the two hundos because i you know he needed to pay for the gas and i wanted to give him his money dude this guy could have taken off right like what a guy that's true shit for the

next 15 to 20 minutes i'm getting motherfucked up and down the street people are waiting the other the other the other lines going then a car from my side that my car's blocking tries to get in. So then that causes traffic on the other end. I see him coming back. I'm like, thank God. Unbelievable. He can't, he comes back. He ends up filling it up. He's like, dude, you don't touch this. You don't need to touch this. I've already got gas on me. Don't need to touch this. I go, buddy, thank you so much. You're the best guy I've ever met. Keep the money. Just keep the rest. Like, you know, probably one, one 80. because it can only fill up a little bit like and he goes man yeah thank you so much and he goes hey can you do me one favor though i go yeah he goes don't call yourself a loser and a scumbag and an idiot you're not you're not those words you're a good person and have a great day

man i was like what if God was one of us? Dude, I have the pictures I'll send you guys of him putting the gas in and the car in the middle of the road. But I actually should have been put in jail for a night because running out of gas is an un... What is the word? Inexcusable scumbag move. So like bells and whistles weren't going off. Usually when you're running out, especially new cars,

they're like dinging every five seconds. Or did they already call me out? Shut the fuck up to the car what did they say he was driving she didn't tell you so you had your jerry's blowing me up she's sending it to all of our friends the family group chats i'm like this was a secret hey did you tell the whole story did you get that move from jack eichel which one like getting the guy to go for you and and and what so so you're saying you you didn't want to go because you didn't want to leave your car there yeah because then i was like people like but i did want to go but i did want to go because i wouldn't have to be there to catch the wrath of all these people that i was holding

up but then i'm like dude but then if they if they come and tow the car before I'm back. I don't know where to go. So what I did was I actually sat like 30 yards down from the car. I have pictures. And like, so people were like screaming and swearing. Look at this fucking guy. He walked away 10 minutes ago. He's a loser. That was a tough moment for me on the break. Yeah.

I don't, I mean, I don't, I don't, I don't really have much else. I would say Boston was, would probably be the worst city in the world to run out't really have much else. I would say Boston would probably be the worst city in the world to run out of gas in an intersection, too. I can't imagine things that would be elsewhere. It's hilarious. I ended up seeing a video of you sent to us by...

Oh! I don't think I saw it, judging by that reaction. This is a real treat. You went to a concert the other night. Who'd you see play? Oh, the Black Rose. You were front row.

I was psyched to get to it. Go ahead, yeah. You were psyched on something. Oh, the sweat factor? Oh, my God. Yeah, yeah. No, R.A., we got this sent to us from a friend of the lead singer of the band who opened up for whoever you were seeing.

And he went up to introduce himself and you had no idea what was going on. Like he was like, this dude was on another planet, just loving the music. So we have the video. Yeah, I know. I hadn't seen it yet. Cause I, yeah, I saw that last Wednesday, dude, front row. I mean, when you're on, when literally on the railing, I mean, Chris Robinson and Ridge Robinson are 10 feet in front of us.

And we saw nobody. Oh yeah. Yeah. Well, the people listening to happen. I did tweet out a video it said where's waldo and i don't think people found me but we were legit in the front row yeah i mean plus i was rocking my fat my head off i mean i'm i was headbanging i'm sure i was doing whatever in the video i can imagine i'm looking forward to seeing it but i had an absolute blast my first concert in four years man i had to let it out oh shit yeah because the fucking pandemic you know that was two years ago two years and well you know and the last one i saw was tom petty his 40th tour

40th anniversary tour god rest his soul 2017 i had been no show since so wow and it was great too i don't know if you guys are familiar with the black crows or their catalog at all but their first album the shake your money maker i had you know jealous again twice inside she talks to angels like three certified bangers right there. They play that whole album front to back, like the, you know, the whole, the way it plays on the album. And then, you know, they take a quick break and then they play like five or six songs after that. And it's incredible to,

just to see like this band had been doing it for 30 years, like in front of you that close, there's, there's nothing like it, man. If you can ever sit that close for any show, there's nothing like being that close to the artist and seeing them doing their thing. It's incredible. Especially if you're in a mushroom spot and always please ends up in the front row. Or did you actually buy these front row seats this time? Well, I had what they were busy with actually third row seats on the aisle,

but because you know, the, the rows get smaller as you get closer. So there's no one in front of you. So like the, the kind of the concert rules are if you know, you're on that seat and there's no one in front of you,'re kind of you kind of have that spot right on the rail so like we were like basically and i guess for lack of a better word entitled to the spot we had carved out in the rail but uh no it was did the dude say hi to me after the show with a durin because one guy i have no idea because one guy was kind of funny during them during the show like harry i'm like headbanging in the front row and a guy walks by like he's over the security bar he's like hey love the show like gives me a fist bumps and keeps going my brother's

like what was that i was like i don't know the chicklets listeners they're all over and then another dude after the show that's when i was fully drenched and he come over and yeah so what's up so it might have been the second guy but yeah it's nice to see some chicklets half listeners in attendance too i bumped into a few of them as well all right what else did you get into did you go to cape cod was that one of your trips i did yeah i went down to uh chatham yeah we didn't do we is in attendance too. I bumped into a few of them as well. Ari, what else did you get into? Did you go to Cape Cod? Was that one of your trips? I did, yeah. I went down to Chatham.

Yeah, we didn't do, we usually do Vermont. We usually do that lake house in Vermont, but we couldn't get it this year. So we ended up going to Chatham down Cape Cod. And I know obviously Cape Cod's known for their beaches, but I didn't realize how many lakes are down the Cape with. There's a small lake there,

and the house is on the lake. So I didn't even go to the beach at all. We like a literal lake right at right at the end of the driveway so i just stayed at the house most of the week except for going out to dinner or picking food up or whatever and we went to some friends not a beach guy either dude give me a pool or a lake beaches are pain in the prick especially i'm pasty prick like me i gotta put all that goop all over me if i want to be out in it so i'd rather just go for a dip and sit in the shade. And I love the ocean, but going to the beach is a fucking chore, man. My friend went to a wedding in Chatham this weekend. Chatham Bar's in this beautiful resort in Chatham.

It's Bruno Mars played the wedding. I don't know if I'm a big Bruno Mars music fan, but he's pretty energetic on stage. He's incredible. The night he said, like, yeah, I'm going to this wedding tonight, How sick is that? Bruno Mars is a music fan, but he's pretty energetic on stage. He's incredible. The night he said, like, yeah, I'm going to this wedding tonight, and there's Bruno Mars. Like, we started listening to Bruno Mars.

Dude, he has bangers. Oh, does he? Yeah. And that slow song. Versace on the floor. That song's phenomenal. I don't know what it's called. There's just a bunch of great Bruno Mars songs. I didn't realize how much I enjoyed his music.

But to play a wedding like that guy, he must have been like $2 million, $3 million. Speaking of music, Kanye dropped his new album, R.A. Did you get a chance to check that out? I have not. It's not on my to-do list either. I probably won't get to it. No, just the Kanye, just not my thing.

What about you, Whit? No, no. I have this bad thing where i listen like if i like some songs on spotify i then listen to like the 10 most recent likes just over and over and over again i'm such a bad like music selector you ride the algorithm yeah i guess so but no i just like i don't know how to get find new music but i i i'm not the biggest kanye guy i mean if you send me some good songs i'll listen i listen to i i went through drake's new one and i i'm not the biggest kanye guy i mean if you send me some good songs i'll listen i listen to i i went through drake's new one and like i heard some good ones but everyone

that like people say this is the best song i listen to is brutal i don't even remember the name of it so i'm a little bit of an odd music duck if that makes any sense but like i don't know you seem to be all dialed into kanye do. He'll release a new face mask and you'll be talking about it on this podcast. No, I mean, it's, it's, it's a little bit of a spectacle when he drops an album. And I thought that the start of the album was pretty good. There was a bunch of bangers. It got a little too gospel for me and too long. So there's one thing about all the streaming services now is you essentially

as an artist get rewarded on the length of the album. So these artists are starting to release these albums that are just too long 27 songs on this one so you kind of you kind of lose interest at a certain point now i mean ra like going going back to the old times like i mean even some of your favorite bands like did they used to do the double discs like double albums yeah like well the stones actually they had only one double album that was made in the studio they had a live couple double yeah a couple double albums that were live but yeah they only made one double album exile exile on main street it's maybe their best album as well but yeah you'd seen it a lot more in the 70s and stuff but now to even hear the word album like it's almost inconceivable because it's like music such a singles based thing

it's like people have like one song it's's like just getting that one song out there. Like the whole idea of a concept of an album, it's almost foreign to most musicians now. Is it normal now or am I totally off in that it was always songs are so short? Do you notice songs are so short now, Ari? People's attention spans have dropped. I think it's been cyclical when like rock and roll first started, like songs were basically under two minutes and then they got crazy long in the 70s. And I think it's been psychical when like rock and roll first started like songs were basically under two minutes and then you know they got crazy long in the 70s and i think it's

it's come probably come back a little but yeah and what biz said also attention span too i'm sure that fact is in it at some point by the way the band who opened for the black crow's dirty honey you mentioned your buddy's friend worked for him so i want to give them a shout out as well i didn't get in not gonna blow smoke and pretend i get in for opener. I don't know if he works for you. I think it's the lead singer who was trying to talk to you. Oh, really? Yeah. No, because I was. I'm pretty sure.

Did you read that? Well, the second dude. He's coming up with the mic, and R.A. had no clue. R.A., come on up. Yeah. Well, last time, actually, not the last time I saw. I saw the Black Crows when they were touring with Jimmy Page, the Led Zeppelin guitarist, like 22 years ago.

And I actually caught the lead singer's harmonica. He threw it out to the audience and was probably one of the two best catches I ever made in my life. Jumped up and pulled down the dude's harmonica. So I was looking for it because I knew I was going to be close. I was going to, like, show him it during the show, but I couldn't find it. It's buried amongst all my shit somewhere. So he sends us the video yo boys marks marks the singer from dirty honey sent me this he opened up for black crows last night look

at ra he was in one i go oh my god dude i'm crying laughing he goes mark goes up to him and says he's a huge fan of the pod ra's got zero idea that he just performed and blows him off dude no i said no no no i i said no, no, no. I said hello. Thanks for listening. Dude, he was dressed like in shorts. He didn't look like a – he had like shorts and a T-shirt on, dude. Hey, he comes up.

R.A.'s like, I'll sign. Yeah, what do you want me to sign? What do you want me to sign? No, I'm like, dude, get me backstage. I want to blaze up with the Robinson brothers. I think – I don't know if I've told the story on the podcast before, but Pasha was at one of the draftss and Cole Caulfield came up to him and like started saying hi.

And Pasha was kind of like, all right, man. And then Pasha went into the crowd next thing, you know, 15 picks later is getting drafted by Montreal and Pasha being the jock sniffer that he is. He's like,

damn it could have got in there. But now speaking of Caulfield, we do have him for a sandbagger coming up him and Zegers. That'll be the next one. So the big swing, a little, little Twitter said his heart take of the nhl season that caulfield gets 40 who yeah so like nhl tweeted out what's your hot take of the season and zegras retweeted and wrote call caulfield gets 40 tops

i mean he's been with him he knows the guy he knows the guy like as well as anyone else how much they've played together, right? Younger days, growing up, USA. He believes in him. I could see it. That's a lot of pressure from the friend with 40 tucks. Yeah, he's like, thanks, bro. In his first full season.

Yeah, it would be impressive as hell. But, yeah, we got a lot of hockey to get to. Actually, we got to give a big thanks first off. We haven't been together. AJ Galante and Brad Wingfield joined us last week. We kind of gave that a little surprise episode. Everybody was talking about the Doc. We knew how popular it was.

We were able to get both of them. So we hope you enjoyed that. So we want to thank those guys again. A.J.'s a great kid, man. It was great catching up with him. Because you watch the Doc and you're like, what kind of guy is this going to be? And he's an awesome dude.

He's just a great kid. I was so glad we had him on if you have any if you have any preconceived like ideas about what he'd be like like maybe a you know a rich kid maybe you think he's spoiled like he was the man like self-deprecating good dude well spoken i had a blast talking to him so i'd like to maybe meet up with him again at some point absolutely he actually sent us over like a bunch of footage from his like infamous camcorder from the netflix documentary and we incorporated that into our full length youtube pod so check out the full length youtube pod because yeah because there's a ton of like when he talks about john cena coming to the game like he has all that footage of it so it's really cool a lot of cool fight footage as well nice and well when he killed when he filled ended up uh texting me over

a picture of when he baseball swung that guy in the neck pretty nice pretty nice picture of it like mid-swing on the way down well biz with hockey coming back into our lives head on over to your local bar and make sure to order up some pink whitney not sure if you caught the highlights over the weekend on the pll championship game, but that's what the Chaos got. Those are the guys who won the championship this year. They got a big trophy full of Pink Whitney, and you can do the same at your local spot. So head on out and grab some fine Pink Whitney.

You were mentioning lacrosse earlier. Paul Rabel retired from professional lacrosse. Is he like one of the goats of lacrosse? I consider him the goat. I consider him like the Gretzky. I mean, he's the all-time greatest. He also started this league too, right? So he didn't just play.

Now he's taking it to another level. We interviewed him a few years back. Maybe not even years now. No, during the pandemic last year. Okay. Yeah, great guy. Ten years ago, I bet. It's great.

It's cool what they're doing. They go to cities and everyone plays. I watched a little bit of the final game. I mean, it's pretty sick to see him retire as a player, and he gets to just hop right in to continue to grow the league. So it's awesome. Congrats to him for an amazing run. Well said.

Well said. Well, boys, I said it earlier. I should say I alluded to it, and we kind of buried the lead here. Our boy, Paul Biznasty Bisnet, has gotten a gig at TNT. earlier i should say i alluded to it and we kind of buried the lead here our boy paul biz nasty business has gotten a gig at tnt he's going to be an official tnt in studio analyst as they not for the first time ever joined this network biz we're all proud poppers right here buddy hey biz i don't even know what to say this is nuts man like i i would have never thought in a million years after you know the career i had i'd be fucking teeing it up with wayne gradsky on the panel um

i'm i you know i i obviously feel blessed like back when i even got the call to go interview i was like holy shit and went there um you know and then ended up getting offered the job and i guess the first thing was like oh like like like, like chicklets is, you know, that's, that's where I hang out. That's where I do most of my work. You know, is that going to be okay? And the fact that Barstool and Turner Sports was okay, that it's all going to work together.

And I know some of you are probably wondering, well, you know, what's, what's going to happen to the pod? Well, absolutely nothing. And I'm hoping- Better fucking be nothing. Tell you that for free. Well, if anything,

I hope we get Wano on it at some point. That'd be awesome. I don't know if they described it in the it when they came out with all the details, but I'm actually not even going to be on the panel. I'm just getting Wayne his water and his towel between breaks. So they kind of overblown it. But, no, guys, I'm a little overwhelmed. There's a ton of thanks to go around.

Of course, the Turner Sports, and I got to mention a few names. Tara, Michelle, Craig, and Sean, they were the ones who were there when I ended up going in maybe feel very comfortable they were the ones afterward when I talked to them about how this would all work um as well of course with uh Erica Nardini and Barstool Sports and Dave allowing it all to go down um and of course to you guys like I don't think this opportunity comes about if this podcast never it never was created so like to to you ra and and grinnell and and wit like i you know i'm you know forever grateful to you guys and of course for all your support but um giving me kind of like a second lease on life post career and you know you just talked about paul rabel uh

wit and i'd say the hardest part of a professional athlete is when you retire and what you're going to get into next. And, and luckily for, for this, this like media career, it's, you know, it's given me a second lease on life and something to look forward to when I wake up in the morning and something to strive towards. And, and also like, as far as the thank yous go, like you guys know, Jeff Jacobson, he's, he's my, I don't know you, what you, he's a Jack of all trades. So I'm sorry. I mean, I, I guess he's my agent, uh, helps out with a lot of the creative on some of

the other stuff that I do, like Watson gloves. Um, he's been a big help in all this. Um, of course, Pasha as well, who's the videographer for a lot of the stuff that we do. Um, the Arizona coyotes, when I first retired, they gave me my first opportunity in the media world into like the whole crew here, Todd Walsh, whether it's Tyson Nash, Jody Jackson, Bob Heat House, who, who basically coddled me and helped nurture me on the radio. And that's where I first started. If I've forgotten any names, as far as the Arizona Coyotes are concerned, like Rich Nair um, like everybody, the whole organization itself.

Um, and then of course, just family and friends and my girlfriend, Katie. Um, I just, it's, it's been, like I said, I don't really know how to summarize what's happened in, in, in 2017 to now. Um, I guess if there's one last thing I could say, when I mentioned the podcast, I also, I guess if there's one last thing I could say, when I mentioned the podcast, I also, I include the fans in that because if it wasn't for our massive fan base, we wouldn't be able to do what we do as far as, you know, whether it's the ball and roll hockeyNT, I'm representing all of what I just said. Like you guys, the fans and everything. And if it wasn't for all those people that I mentioned, there's not a chicken, dick, chance in hell that I would even got the call to go and even get interviewed.

So I hope I summarized that properly. And once again, thank you to all those people that I mentioned. I'm so fucking excited to get started. uh it still seems very very surreal so i hope i some summarize that all right congrats biz all right did he just win an emmy no but it's oh yeah hold on let me get that list on my podcast we can i got a couple requests before you go i'm actually i was busting your balls i'd like to know this will be in the next season of Ted Lasso. It needs to say, like when you're talking, like host of Spittin' Chicklets podcast, are they going to put that beneath you? Yeah, I think.

Jeff, get that in the contract now. All right. I want 20 points in the back end. With all the dinners we've had, all the discussions we've had, when you repeat yourself over and over, can you imagine Gretzky one night like, Biz, so that night I got 50 and 39 when I scored my fifth goal. The feeling that went through my heart.

And Biz goes, what? What? What did you say, Wayne? Like, Wayne fucking Gretzky better be ready to repeat himself 14 times talking to you. Are you going to be nervous as shit, dude? Are you going to be nervous? Okay, so what I really enjoyed about it was the fact that it was laid back similar to this podcast, where I believe the segments are about 12 minutes long.

So it's not just like, boom, get out your thought and then move on. You get to articulate, and it's more conversation driven and um i was there with liam and anson carter for my uh for the tryout and like i said the 12 minute segments seemed like they flew by but because it was conversational it made it a lot easier in order to do like the i guess the tv mind you we were not on live i think my heart rate will be similar to when I had the puck on my stick on the power play to road trips ever had that. But actually one thing I didn't mention when I was summarizing everything, and I get what you're saying, you chirp me for, for thanking all these people,

but I'm, I'm, I'm dead serious. When I say none of that would have been possible without them, but the people I get to work with on, on the Turner side of it now, and you guys have seen the list of people and it is just you know stud after stud and we got uh jonesy in between the benches i don't know if he's ever done yeah he's he's going to be there liam of course who has an insane motor uh anson carter rick talkett who i'm familiar with from his time with with the coyotes i'm looking forward him. I think that he's going to drag so many good stories out of Wano, and I'm sure that's a big component as to why they brought him in.

And also the people who are going to be calling the games. Everybody. Eddie Olchek's going to be an analysis for, I believe, what? Is it in between periods when they just go to the booth? How does that work? Edzo's doing the game color, I thought. Edzo's the color guy. Oh, color guy. Yeah. Okay. Well, honestly, I don't know who's – there's was doing the, the, the game color. I thought it was the same thing.

Yeah. Okay. Cause yeah. Cause well, I honestly, I don't know who's there's so many names. I forget who's on what network, but I know Kenny,

Kenny Albert and like Brendan Burke, the two of the main play by play guys. Brendan Burke, another guy who I was with, with the wheeling nailers. That's where he got his start in pro sports. Yeah. Oh,

he was unreal. I'm like this guy, he's guy has a unreal voice and he's got a good cadence and now he's doing it with the islanders and of course has this job he'll continue to do the islanders the way like yeah like edzo with the blackhawks yeah uh the other thing i forgot so you're thanking us you're welcome um i wouldn't necessarily thank us quick though because this is the most appointment viewing television for me ever because i'm not gonna lie any mistake you make i just get to talk about it on the pod i

get to make videos on twitter it's like i'm the troll for my own good buddy i won't even be i told you i'm getting fucking wayne his towel and his bagels and his coffee i won't even be on there i said i said i wrote a blog about the schedule coming up is I'm like, you know, he might be a chucklehead on our show. I'm like, but when you, I mean, I've watched you in Arizona. You're very good on TV. You know, you're going to crush it, bro. You're going to crush it. Exactly, dude. I wouldn't worry about it at all. And I'm sure it's

going to be more loosey goosey. I know TNT's and have a little more like looser style than ESPN as far as their approach to everything. Obviously they hired you, but like you're going to kill it, dude. Like what said, said, I mean, this is what you do, man. I can't talk. I won't make any Forsy jokes. What else can I do?

Can't make any Forsy jokes. You could still make London Knights jokes. You could still talk about London playing guys. That's not off limits. Just text Charles Backley. I don't think you can talk about drugs. No, no. Weeds, not drugs.

I can do them. Just can't talk about them. No, no. Weeds, not drugs. I can do them. Just can't talk about it. No piss tests at Turner. Hey, guys, before I sign this, are there drug tests? Oh, there it is. You're good. I studied all night, but I still failed. Darren Pang's in the mix, too.

So it's cool, man. I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to you guys fucking chirping me every pot about all these names i'm butchering and and breaking down whatever's going on what do you think about it uh what do you think about it g i know what she thinks about it i'll tell you right now memes is gonna destroy you that kid is gonna have a field day with you every night but one thing i am excited for you mixing in maybe a little pink whitney in there maybe a little pink whitney tie here or there i don't know pump some sales that's what i want to see money on the board for a homer simpson quote yeah and when i said family i i should have

specified and said my parents and my sister natalie but what was the oh you hey so the i i don't want to get chirped by um uh avery i think I got to get some new jibs and or get some massive whitening strips. And I don't have any suits. I have like two suits right now. You need a new suit every – you need – you can't wear a suit more than two times this year. Because you're on 30 times, right? I was just thinking of wearing my gray suit every single time.

Every time, yeah. You could either go same outfit every time, or you need like 30 suits. Or Canadian tuxedo, get the jean jacket and jeans. I don't want to be a spoiler, but what about the salad? So that's the biggest question mark right now. Should I just keep the fro going? What's the long-term plan, if any? See, when I had my skullet going, that was just like pandemic related, and then I just, fuck it. I think you should go, what's the long-term plan if any see i when i had my skullet going that was just like pandemic

related and then i just fuck it i think i think you should go uh what's the kid in play is that the dude just like straight up yeah yeah like the box top fucking yeah yeah i don't know if you can have it on the sides like this i mean it's great it's a great look you could do like i could go jerry curl mullet like You could do ponytail or something. Couldn't you with that? Could that be a ponytail? What about comb rows? Maybe dreads?

He sells out each dread. He's got a fucking fizz. I have tough hair. And I don't have sideburns either. So it's tough to pull off some hair looks. Anybody who has an opinion on what I should do with my hair or direct me into the direction of a good hairstylist, I'll take anybody's opinion at this point.

Either way, I can't wait. And like we said, Biz, you're going to be on TNT. And here was the big surprise. TNT and ESPN both dropped big press releases the other day announcing their respective schedules. The Edmonton Oilers and our buddy Connor are going to be on six times on TNT and ESPN both dropped big press releases the other day announcing their respective schedules. The Edmonton Oilers and our buddy Connor are going to be on six times on TNT on just one of the channels in America. I know they're

going to be on ESPN or ABC ESPN Plus. It does kind of get confusing to talk about, but if you're not familiar, guys, NHL TV, the whole that doesn't exist anymore. Basically ESPN Plus is going to air like thousands of out-of-market games as well as Hulu.

So if you don't have that ESPN Plus, Hulu, Disney bundle yet, you should get it. It's like $13 a month. You get the three channels. Plus, that's basically the equivalent of what the NHL TV used to be. So you're going to get all these out-of-town games. So if you don't have it yet, definitely jump on it. So you won't be going to nhl.com to watch

games anymore you're saying you know you used to go up top and yeah no that's it's gone so you basically i i don't know if every single game is going to be available like that was i and as far as the blackouts or whatever but it seems like between hulu uh espn plus like the vast majority of these games you're going to be able to see. I'm pumped. I'm pumped for those two opening games. So we're doing a back-to-back, a doubleheader. Yeah. The second one, I believe, is Colorado and Chicago. And then the first one being this.

I think Dana White might be dropping the puck for the first one in Washington, New York Rangers with Revo on board. I would imagine there's going to be some fireworks for that one. That's perfect. That's awesome. I think that they know what they're doing, right? Let's get them right in the mix here. Let's figure it out.

We got the new broadcast partners. Let's get some action that first night. The two networks, guys, all the NBA games. It's, after football, the biggest sport on the planet. So it's like if you're going to be in bed with two networks, who better to be than ESPN TNT right now? As far as growing the game, everybody has these channels on all the time, so it's ideal from that

respect. I mean, TNT's created probably the best panel to ever exist in sports with Shaq and Barkley and all those guys. There's actually a documentary out on it and how it all got formed and earned as well. What's that on? I don't know if it might be on HBO but I just found it one night and I turned it on and it was fascinating and and and uh you know learning how Shaq when he first started he was he just like really didn't

know how to act and then finally he just kind of it clicked and then he became a natural and I guess the rest is history it's on H Hulu, by the way, Whit. Oh, Hulu. That documentary, have you watched it, Grinelli? No, it's called The Inside Story. I just Googled it for you. Oh, there you go. That's being a producer right there.

On your toes early in the season. This is our training camp episode. That's what Biz said. I'm actually surprised you never got the call, Whit. I don't want to do that shit. Suck it, Turner. I appreciate the offer, though, Buzz. Yeah, it looks like it's on HBO Max as well, too.

Yeah, the inside story. Looks like I have four or five episodes. And then Chicago, which I would probably say, what, the most improved team this offseason, just given the fact that they're getting caves back. Kirby Dock was injured most of the season last year. Now they got Seth Jones. They've added the Vezna Trophy winner. I mean, he's back. Kirby Doc was was injured most of the season last year. Now they got Seth Jones. They've added the Vezina trophy winner.

I mean, he's in TV mode already. All right. Well, no, I was just saying, like, you know, Chicago went from last year. Like, yeah, you know, Stan Bowman's jobs on the line. And then all of a sudden, boom, they got they got. I mean, I would say it'd be good. Yeah. I mean, they're a team you'll turn on now.

Well, last year, you're like, yeah, maybe not. But, you know, Florida Jones Jones, Kane, Tays back. Them being on six times is great on TNT. But, dude, if Edmonton is bad again this year, like there could be just fireworks. Like it might be McDavid. I'm done. This might be it.

They just got Hyman. If Hyman's not good, there's just so much going on in Edmonton now that if this year it can't change, heads up. So I'm very excited to see that storyline and how it goes. He'll still get out of Edmonton faster than Eichel out of Buffalo. Oh, dude, it's crazy. People have traded our franchise. I've heard rumblings about L.A. right now.

I've heard rumblings about everything. But what sucks is we're probably not going to have him on Team USA the way it's looking. Yeah. I mean, I don't know. He needs surgery before he plays, so he has to get surgery before he even plays wherever he plays. He's going to check in for his physical with Buffalo.

He's going to report for that, and then they're going to go from there. How awkward would that be? Hey, guys. Hey, Doc. Hey, Doc. Hey, Doc. Appreciate it. No hard feelings. Yeah.

Look at this freckle on my back. Hey, also, too, we want to mention our pal Boots, John Boots. He's going to have a new show on ESPN2 called The Point. It's going to be on every Thursday at 3 p.m. It's going to be obviously NHL-centric. Going to have a little bit more. Thursday at what time? Thursday at 3 p.m. on ESPN time Thursday 3 p.m on ESPN 2

3 p.m I'm sure probably rear as well but uh booties out buddy so I want to give you a heads up especially man he's gonna crush it and look I know you know I've shit on ESPN we've all shit on ESPN for whatever reasons you have for it whether it's content or otherwise but this is you know this is a good thing for the league man this is a network that still matters it's when you go to the barbershop or the 99 for a beer or wherever it's the network that's always on and now that the nhl is back in bed with them and that's where they pimp out well you know we'll be there hope bring back the analogy book yeah bring back what is the glowing puck is like how much that was fox dude oh was it fox oh yeah uh and also three three outdoor games this year uh st

louis at minnesota on new year's uh day of course don't want the classic that got bounced from last year tampa bay at nashville um i'm not sure what that one guys that's the one yeah i think we're leaning toward that one and then buffalo toronto at hamilton march 13. Oh, my goodness, that hammer. How many people in the drunk tank that night in all of the Niagara region? I don't know if hammers. I guess you would consider it the GTA maybe, but oh, my goodness, that is going to be one slop fest. And who's playing in that one? Toronto and Buffalo?

Toronto, Buffalo, and Hamilton, yeah. When is the Tampa at Nashville game? I wrote it down. Late February. Actually, it's February 26th. A week after the Olympics. Perfect. Well, we've been dying to get to Minnesota,

but this year we get the what do you call it? Bowl game in Arizona. The Boston Bowl. I don't know if we're going to be able to do both. I know, you know, they want all the folks down there for the game. What channel will the Olympics be on? Probably NBC. NBC has the Olympics.

Oh, shit. I'm not even thinking that. Yeah, I guess. But we'll be doing. I didn't even think of the broadcast. But hockey will be on all NBC's channels, I guess, like all the other ones. The extended family, yeah. I think we'll be doing some live streaming for the Olympics, right, Biz?

I think we might be coming back out to Arizona to see you. We're going to get right in the mix. Canada versus America, let's go. Yeah. Yeah, I can't wait. I would say this is probably one of the better United States teams that is going to be assembled in a long time. Yeah, we're a wagon now.

Going to be unreal. World Juniors last year? Yeah, led by austin matthews who ended up getting the cover of uh were we around recording when he got the cover of the the ea people were losing it about this way and i thought what well first of all everybody's talking about it uh probably the most marketable player in the nhl right now american born going into an Olympic year, playing for the biggest Canadian franchise.

Have you chatted with him? He said in some interviews his wrist is going to be fine. He's not worried about it, but he's still kind of recovering from that, huh? Yeah, I actually went with him. I was with him in L.A. and we did something together for that EA shoot. Oh, really? Yeah, when they ended up announcing it. But he looked good.

He's still training. He was talking about how he does all this band work for training now. The guys are moving away from the weights. So it's a lot of weight. Yeah, I wish I knew that, dude. I'd have an ankle to stand on. I know, all that power. I was cleaning.

I was, like, trying to clean 265, dude, my back, my hips, my feet. Now these guys are, like, body weight stuff. They're quicker, they're faster and stronger i what a joke yeah we got fucked i got hosed busy either way congrats we we look forward to it i'm sure the extended chicklets family and fans look forward to it as well because uh they're a funny motherfucker thank you for the emmy thank you for the emmy yeah give you a little you guys should have started playing the music. Music would have started playing like 10 minutes into your speech there.

And you would have got to hook some old person's cane. I don't give a shit. I wanted to thank all the people I needed to thank, including the fans out there. So lick my dick. I'm a man of honor. Yeah. A little more Emmy talk a little later in the show. Of course, the other big news was an offer sheet,

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As a person who requires rolling papers, you cannot go wrong with this deal. Even if you don't go back to them, the rolling tray itself is worth it so much. So again, OCB, check them out. Biz, I was talking about office sheets. We talk about them all the time on this show. We say it's an underused utility.

GMs don't go to. Well, Carolina said, fuck that noise, and they went with it. They successfully office sheeted Montreal Canadian no more. Yes, Barry Kotkaniemi, the 21-year-old forward, signed a one-year deal worth $6.1 million. He just finished his entry-level deal. Of course, Montreal had off-sheeted Sebastian Ajo two years ago.

So Carolina, not only did they match, they had a little troll job going on too as well. They released a statement from their GM that was word for word with the Burger Van set a couple years ago. They had a $20 signing bonus because Ajo's number is 20. I'll take it. And then they used French on Twitter, and they changed their fucking Twitter bio to French.

I mean, chefs kiss times 100 to Carolina for all this. Yeah, other than the fact that they got bent over and had to take it. I mean, I'm talking on a PR front. They didn't, they didn't match it. Montreal, Montreal got a first and a third in 22 for,

for their troubles. And it was the first successful offer sheet since Dustin Penner back in 07. Great stuff. I know people have been waiting to talk about it. It's been a while, but biz let's hear it. Okay.

So I was talking to wit before we hopped on. This is hilarious. Get ready for this one, boys. I thought they were buddies, Waddell and Bergervant, and when he offer sheeted Ajo, I thought he was doing that to help his buddy up to get him at a good number because who in their right fucking mind

didn't think that they were going to match eight and a half for Ajo? Would you not put Ajo top 15 centers in the league, maybe top 10. He's a point of game guy. He's nasty. He's, he's absolutely filthy.

So when he did, when they did that, I don't think GMs are just like, yo, dude, I'm going to help you out. I'm going to chuck this guy. 70 million.

Good. He was the burger van. They were probably fucking, you know, doing the weight training at the last GM meetings. And he's like, i'm gonna i'm gonna toss you a bone here don got him some wind straw he's like dude i'll get you back i'll get a fucking ajo offer sheet you can sign and then i thought maybe them offer offer sheeting uh how do you say his name cock hey boys this is the training you better work on this shit, dude. Good luck, TNT.

Like, hey, Gretz, take this one for me. And then they ended up offering him just over $6 million at one year. And I'm like, oh, this must be them paying him back to give him a first and third rounder for the tummy stick action that he gave for the Ajo offer sheet. And then sure as shit, they fucking don't end up matching it. And then they end up taking it off and then flip the first and third. Mind you, they gave up a first and second to get Christian Dvorak, who I think is an upgrade at center from, from a cop.

Cop. Come to me. Yeah. Cock. Couldn't hear me. Cock. Can hear me. So I'll throw it over to you with, this is just a big fucking head scratcher.

I have no clue what's going on. This is a very uncharacteristic move for Waddell. And I think that from what I'm hearing, it wasn't him. It was coming from the ownership group and telling him. Tom Dundon. I think that the way they went about it probably was the owner. And obviously the owner signs off on the social media on the team, like making an absolute spectacle of it.

He was awesome for the sport, though. I was just so entertained when that was all going down. Yeah. It's, it's, it's weird. Like looking back, I mean,

Montreal took him third overall in 18, right? Like fucking Brady could Chuck went the next pick. I mean, if they could do that one over and then Quinn Hughes was a little later, right? So you got to look now it's coming up on four years and still so

early, but he hasn't done that much right like healthy scratch this year in the playoffs here and there um so bergeron was pretty honest and like he's not a six million dollar player we were talking about paying him two million like on a couple year bridge deal and so that doesn't work for us and in the end i think it could end up helping him now granted he had to give up the first and the third first and the second he got a first and the third now what sucks is Carolina's pick Carolina's nasty like I don't see their pick being any better than like 24th 25th overall right they're an awesome team but Dvorak is a better player right now I think Dvorak supremely underrated I think if he wasn't on trash bag coyotes,

no offense, Biz, then we'd know a lot more about him. He plays both sides of the puck. He's a point every other game player, right? So I saw a quote online saying if he was your third line center, you're competing for the Stanley Cup. If he's your second line center,

you have a good team. So I think that in Montreal's case, they lost this guy that was a really high pick they definitely hadn't panned out the way they'd hoped when they picked him but they got a guy back who's better all the way around and Cockney Ami's gonna play wing they said in Carolina they got a center which is what they needed so I don't think Montreal is a worse team they're probably a better team it was just about losing an asset like that and somebody who maybe the ceiling of his game is six million dollars a year but he certainly wasn't there yet it was just about losing an asset like that and somebody who maybe the ceiling of his game

is $6 million a year, but he certainly wasn't there yet. It was just great how the whole thing went down. In the end, it might've helped both teams because who knows what happens now that that kid, Coctin Yemi, gets under Rod Brindamore. Like I feel like his systems

and the way he goes about things, he could truly change a guy's game. He could change the way he approaches the game on and off the ice. Maybe that's what that kid needs to hit that next level, that third overall potential. But Montreal getting Dvorak, they got a better player than they lost for now.

And recency bias too. Cochran Yemi had a pretty good playoff. Like he started lighting it up. I think he set a record for goals scored by a centerman under the age of 20 years old. Was he not healthy scratched at one point in the playoffs? No, he wasn't. In the cup finals.

Yeah, it was a bit of a roller coaster ride. Last game, I think he was. Yeah. It was a bit of a roller coaster ride in the playoffs. But overall game, he just hasn't developed as like a, I guess, turned into what he was drafted at third overall. Still only 21. I mean, he just turned 21.

That's the problem these days is usually people get a little bit impatient with those high-end picks, and they're like, oh, well, he's a bust because he hasn't turned out. It's like Capo Caco. Everybody's writing him off because he hasn't had maybe the best success in New York in his first two seasons there. But there's plenty of development to go on, and I'm sure Rob Brindamore will do a good job and getting through to him and and a lot less responsibility in the

as a winger than in the middle of the ice like playing center at the national hockey league level you're there's just so many responsibilities and that's why i said montreal gets better in this department he is i i described devorah in his early career as as kind of a poor man's couture. He can kill penalties. He can contribute offensively. Maybe not as much offensively, but defensively is good. Yeah, probably defensively as reliable. Kills penalties really good in the face-off circle.

So I think this is a huge add. And going back to Suzuki, it seems as though they think he's ready to step in and take on that number one center role. He's nasty. I think that's a pretty good one-two punch. And the little icing on the cake, cherry on top, is the fact that they got Dvorak locked in at, I think, just over $4 million for the next four years.

I get that, Biz. Four years left at $4.45 million. He's got a modified no trade for the last two. And also they gave up, I'm not sure if I mentioned, Montreux gave up a first in 22 and a second in 24. So, I mean, that's a very team-friendly deal. When Krejci left, and he's just lighting it up back home in check. Great to see.

When he left, it was kind of like, all right, well, Boston's going to go out and get Dvorak. I mean, talk about some issues at center, the Bruins. I know that's a different discussion, but you heard right away that Dvorak was going to be traded. It was just where? And Montreal said, all right, we lost Kockney. I mean, let's go get him.

So, yeah, interesting move. But offer sheets being signed is a good thing for the game. So one thing that sucks for Carolina, too, is even moving forward, well, I guess they could offer him a longer-term deal. But if they want to qualify him, you've got to give him a little bit of a raise on the qualifier. So it's already at $6 million what he's going to be making this year. They kind of put themselves between a rock and a hard place.

Now, I'm sure Waddell, if it was not him at all involved in this move and it was, in fact, ownership group, you've got to imagine there's a massive amount of frustration giving up a first and a third in order to acquire this guy that you're going to overpay. You don't know where he fits in your lineup. He's not going to be playing the position where he was last year. And if he was playing center for that team, he'd probably be third or fourth on the depth chart so just uh just a bizarro land move that ended up coming back to bite him in the ass or at least helping each other

out biz just a little tummy stick action between the burger van hey buddy i'll get him brother out uh look it up another future hall of fame was on the move jumbo joe after uh some time in toronto guess doesn't he doesn't think that's the spot he's gone to florida florida panthers jumbo joe one year 750k um obviously this guy's chasing a cup at this point in his career we can logically assume with that he thinks florida is a pretty fucking good chance at it no i think that i i don't know like how many cup contending teams had room for him or wanted him. There could have been a bunch, but I have no idea.

And when you say he's chasing a cup, no doubt, I think he's so in love with the game of hockey, the boys in the locker room. He's more just like, I'm not done playing. I don't think next year he'll be done playing if a team will sign him i don't know if he'll sign with a team that looks like it's going to be a real tough year like florida looks good dude they could win that division but i more than anything think along with chasing the cup it's more about like i just keep i don't want to leave this game

i don't want to leave leave yet i i have more left to give and i love the boys yeah like chelios in a lot of ways you know or another guy who just got a big con or another one year contract excuse me you got it oh big z perfect no it was an awesome segue dude and fucking with the wit dog swipe the tns ready bitches suck that one. Back to the team that drafted them until they traded them for fucking Yashin and fucking Spetsa. Every year, Chara plays Milbury just like, oh. Yeah, Big Z ends up with the Islanders.

Obviously, you know, last year, then Washington didn't pan out like you hope. But I don't know. Like you said, Wade, you can't. There's no wrong move here. Adding a guy like that, if you're Rostick and fit it, he brings so much to the room for such cheap value. I mean, the veteran minimum, I think $750 or $795 or whatever it is. It's money well spent.

I'm sorry. Spezza was an Islander? No, no, no. I butchered that saying that. No, the trade, when they traded Chara to Ottawa, they sent the first round pick along as well. Oh, and then they picked Spezza. Okay.

Yeah. I was just like a little taken aback. And then they gave Yashin like half of the real estate in Long Island to pay him and still pay him. Okay. So this move. Sorry. I think it's awesome because Chara looked great on Washington last year,

I thought. I mean, their team was kind of a mess. End of the year was bizarre. But if he doesn't play a ton of minutes, that was the whole issue, right? In Boston, he was playing too much. And the Islanders are deep at D. Like, I don't see how he goes in there and doesn't help him. He's going to play like 15 minutes.

He's going to PK. He's going to do the same. It's going to be the same player. And they got the horses to play the 25 minutes there, right? Like, they don't really need that much help but just to get a veteran like that it's it's islander hockey dude it's like it makes so much sense for sure if there was one team he would fit right in with it's probably them i mean boston was a very structured team and i mean going to tell the

islanders who are probably the most structured team of the whole national Hockey League, where you don't get exposed as much. I mean, Washington, they tend to open things up a little bit more. And maybe he could be left on an island here and there sometimes. But no, I think this is a solid move. And man, the Islanders, man, with getting Anders Lee back, with that veteran leadership in the locker room, they're going to look very dangerous coming into this season. I'm almost willing.

They look so good to me in the years that what's happened here. I'm almost willing to maybe chuck out a truce. I haven't decided yet. I don't know if they'd take me. I don't want to continue this because I have a bad feeling of where it's going. But yeah, I mean, dude, they're a good team. Getting Anders Lee's back huge.

And I think like one of the signing of the one of the best signings in the league was the Pellock contract. Yeah. Making like five point two or whatever. Five point five, seven, whatever it is like he's sick. So this team's nasty. I'm very I'm very worried. The only thing holding them back is this road trip they've got to take to start the season. And I think that they're on.

Oh, before their building's ready? Yeah, like 15 to 20 games. So that's a tough way to start the year in a very difficult. It's 20 games? I thought it was 11 to 13, but it's the longest ever. Yeah, it's 25 games. Let's just keep every time I tell the story. 34 games and they're coming back,

but Frankie will be there. If you could start the whole first half of the season, 41 games on the road to get all the games over with, would you do it to play the last half of the season at home? Yeah, I'd probably be about 300 pounds though. Yeah, I would though.

It'd be pretty sick i mean just get it out of the way i also was thinking of me as a player with no kids and not married like oh yeah take me on the road for that long then you just get home and you chill yeah be pretty and then you have kids and you're like i'll play every game on the road yeah just give me 82 on the road dude hey wait question for you the game no he can watch the TV. Grinnelly, what do you got for us? Whit, if the Islanders win the Eastern Conference, will you serve tables at Borelli's? Ooh, we're reintroducing it.

No, what are you talking about, dude? I'm thinking about, like, becoming a fan, dude. I ain't fucking talking about betting against them yet. Giving in, so easy. I haven't given in that easy, Grinnelly. You want to talk about giving in i'll fucking show you giving in when i'm wearing an islanders jersey the fucking first game of the year i'm i've mentioned i'm thinking about it they're still like you could find 25 30 to 1 odds

on maybe not 30 but there's some pretty good for the islanders yeah i thought i heard i thought i heard or read 23 or 25 they're the favorites to win their division i saw yeah i maybe i i saw they were higher than I thought. I remember taking notice and making a mental note to check myself because anything over 15-1 with that team is pretty good fucking value, I'll tell you that. They lost Eberle, right? Like, that's it.

Is Bailey still there? Josh Bailey is still there. Yeah. So I think they only lost Ebs. Yeah. For all intents, they're bringing back the same team. So, yeah yeah if you can find again anything over 13 even 13 and when i'd say there's good value on them so all right i saw

on twitter you you think the kraken are gonna make the playoffs huh i do in that division um i think what four teams in that division didn't even make the playoffs last year and i know it was different roles and with the canadian canadian division all that but uh the three california teams kind of stink right now. You know, Calgary had a rough season last year. Yeah, I think Seattle, on top of that, they're going to be competitive. I mean, they're bringing in a Vezina finalist,

Chris Drieser, who basically knocked out a guy from his number one role last year as a goalie. And they got a pretty decent roster. I know it doesn't jump out at you. It's an expansion franchise. But yeah, this team, you know, they're not here to just to fucking pay an expansion fee by any stretch. I don't think the Kings will suck as bad as,

as people think already this year. You said the three California teams. Yeah. Well, yeah. A little going off last year. I mean, I think that,

yeah, they played better late in the year. I know they're not awful, but you know, when you didn't make the playoffs last year, then that's, that stinks in a carry over a little bit. So yeah, gee, I think think I think Seattle makes the playoffs.

I do. I think I think that we want to talk for. So we'll see what happens. Well, some players are still looking for a gig this season. But no matter what you do for a living, looking for a job is no picnic. It sucks. Stress, strained eyes from looking at screens all day. You get ghosted. ZipRecruiter knows that the general

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We're not going to him right quite yet, but we haven't even mentioned our guest yet. And he's actually a returning guest. Scott Gomez, we had on a actually a returning guest, Scott Gomez. We had on a couple of years ago, all time. I mean, I think he took 45 minutes just talking about Claude Lemieux alone. And we've been talking about, you know, getting him back for part two. So when we were doing the live streams in New York a couple months back, he flew in from Alaska, joined us for a couple of days.

Absolute character Scott is. But again, we're not going to him quite yet, but I just want to mention we do have him coming up. He's a piece of it. He's like talking to a Goosebumps Choose Your Own End, and he just goes into these spiderwebs. He'll start telling a story, go off to one, bring it back, go to the other way.

He gives you options to ask where he wants it to go from. That's fucking a perfect description of him. But Restricted Free Agents, they've been kind of the big news. There's still some big names out there who haven't signed yet uh carol caprizoff in minnesota uh rasmus dalina buffalo uh grinnelly's twin quinn hughes and elias pedersen out in vancouver uh brady kachuk up in ottawa a bunch of rfas have signed but uh before we get to those there was a shitload of big extensions a lot of guys getting locked up for the long-term future.

Philly was busy. What's that? Philly was busy. Philly extended 28-year-old center Sean Couturier, a.k.a. Coots. Eight years, 62 mil. Average annual value was 7.75 mil. His deal will kick in after this season. He's in the last year of his sixth year, $26 million deal.

Philly also extended 22-year-old forward Joel Faraby, six years, 30 mil. That's next year as well. Like you said, Biz, Philly loading up. These are some great deals, I think, going forward for him. If you want me to elaborate, Couturier, one of the best two-way centers in the league. I mean, no-brainer locking him up.

As far as Farabee's concerned, I don't know a ton about him. I don't really know his game much. I'll throw that one over to Witt. Every guy I talk to, though, on Philly says he's fucking unbelievable. He's sick. He played at BU. He's got swagger, too. He was actually that same draft.

He was late. It was 2018 that we were talking about the kachuk draft where they the canadians could add him i think he was around 15 20th middle of the first round but a stud like you could tell in college he had so much game he's gonna hop right into the nhl and he mean he looks he looks great the times i've seen him play at the at the highest level so that signing makes a lot of sense where if he turns into the player they're probably seen in a year or two yeah it's a nice little bargain for a few years. Yeah, catch him

on the upswing. Oh, like they caught me in Pittsburgh, right, Biz? Right on the upswing. Only greatness to come. Yeah, they got you locked in at a fair number so they could deal you. Two days, what? I said they got you locked in at a fair number so they could deal you. Sucker.

But Biz, catch him on the upsiss, Katori at that number. I mean, he's a premier two-way center in the game, a perennial Celtic favorite at this point. That's a great sign that you're a Philly fan, Biz, no? Well, yeah. I mean, just like a guy you can rely on in any situation. I mean, you know, if you need him to kill a penalty, you need him to block a shot, you need him to win a face-off,

you need him to score a goal, he does it all. And he's got a bit of bite to his game too, and fuck does he ever look funny out there with no jibs. He's missing the full top, girl. So they, listen, we've talked about this Philly team and their window to win. We saw the moves they made in the offseason as well, bringing in some D to bolster up the back end,

kind of hat getting locked into a niceseason as well, bringing in some D to bolster up the back end. Cata Hatt getting locked into a nice deal as well. So they are looking pretty right now. They're definitely making playoffs in a bounce-back year after missing it last year. And I know last year I picked them to come out of the East. I might have to pick them again. I might double down on my pick. Yeah, you mentioned Cata Hatt.

He was a restricted free agent signed for three years, just under $12 million a year. AAV comes out to just under $4 million. And also defenseman Travis Sanheim, two years, $9.35 million. So yeah, Philly locking up key components of their future going forward. A couple other extensions

we also want to mention. St. Louis extended 28-year-old defenseman Colton Pareko, eight years, 52 mil. Comes out to $6.5 million a year. Like all of these guys, the deal kicks in. After this season, St. Louis also signed forward Tyler Bozak, one year, $750K. Bonuses can take that up to $2 million.

Whit, what do you think on Pareko? I think he needs to get back to where he was kind of heading when they got rid of Petrangelo and what they maybe thought they had. It was a little bit of a rough year. I know he battled a bunch of injuries. I think there's tons of game there left. But I think if he'd had a different type of season, he's looking at a bigger payday now still. Right.

He's set for life. He's fucking he's golden. It's a great deal, I think, for the player and the team. But I think if you were to talk to Doug Armstrong and the coaching staff there, it's like, all right, we're going to need a little bit more. I do expect St. Louis will bounce back. Funny enough, I read that after requesting the trade, what's his name? I'm blanking out.

Fucking Russian. Tarasenko. Tarasenko is looking phenomenal right now. He's buzzing around. So I guess no hard feelings. He's willing to be there and play as hard as he can. Maybe he still wants out. Maybe he figures if he dominates,

it'll be easier for them to trade him. But Pareko was going to get locked up. It was only a matter of time. I think in the end, though, they're going to need him to become that number one guy that you saw coming up when they won the Stanley Cup and a few years prior to that. And if anything, if you're armstrong

you're probably excited he ever had his off year when it was his contract year i know so then you fired up at a bit of a bargain i think six and a half is a very fair number based on how he played last year and what you alluded to it like there were the struggles were were very real yeah and and i didn't realize he was battling injury so So, guys, I mean, after bringing a cup to that city and being a big component to that team when they won it, I mean, I think this is a guy you want around for a long time. Great guy in the locker room. Very respectful.

Ivan Drago. And they probably got one of probably the best top four decors in the league. I would say that who'd they get over from Carolina? Falk. Torrey Krug. They got Perenko. and then who's the other guy I'm forgetting I don't know if they're top I don't know oh it's Bo Meester Grinnell you gotta you gotta make sure too when he talks about his predictions like you gotta be you gotta write him down because he'll go on his predictions, you got to be like, dude, you got to write him down because he'll go on Turner.

He'll come here and be like, Philly's winning the cup, and on Turner, he'll be like, Coro, L.H., cup winners. You know he's going to fuck up these predictions. Yeah, 100%. No, it was actually McInnes was the one I was thinking of. Pronger, too. He was fucking money for the Blues last year.

One other big extension to report. Chicago extended 28-year-old defenseman Connor Murphy four years, 17.6 mil, 4.4 AAV. His deal kicks in next year. He's in the last year of his sixth year, $23 million deal. Like I said, I mentioned the RFAs. I don't know if you caught the quote from

Matty Kachuk talking about Brady. Of course, Brady, he's coming off his entry-level deal. He's obviously the future of Ottawa, probably going to be named the captain. Matt said, quote, he might be pulling a classic Kachuk right now. Dad held out, Matthew held out, and Brady looks like he's on his way right now.

Hopefully, it can get figured out from here. My dad and I are definitely involved. Brady needs to help him out with that stuff. He wasn't as cutthroat as we were during it, but he's starting to become more of a Kachuk the later this goes. Wow. I mean, obviously when you hear it, it's a little more audio context to it. But, yeah, I mean, these guys know what their value is,

and they're going to stand up for it and get what they think they're paid. And, you know, we've got no issue with that. It's a bit in check, that's for sure. I think he holds all the cards right now. I brady kachuk is the heartbeat of that team i think everybody in that locker room is following him and he brings it in every facet of the game and if he has to fucking fight the toughest guy on the other team while doing it and putting the puck in the net he's gonna do it and if you're the ottawa senators and you've been having the struggles you've been having over the past few years, if not a little bit longer than that,

you might want to just slide over a blank sheet of paper and say, what's your number, pal? So what would you give him, Biz? Considering he is restricted and he's coming out of his entry-level contract, I think that an eight-year deal at around $7 million to $8 million. Oh, dude, I think he wants more than that. Dude, that's funny because i just

wrote eight times seven and a half as you would well you guys don't think they're offering them that well keep in mind so you're you're you're looking at a we're coming out of covid the fact that we're on a flat cap situation i mean i would imagine he's not going to get much signing bonus because melnick's a cheap fuck so maybe yeah boost up that number i think i think eight times eight would be a great score i think that would be a very good number of brady could get that and and i think that he's i think that he's worth it considering what he's provided that team every i i agree i just wonder i bet you he's probably saying like if you don't hit the number that i want just give me a bridge deal right, that's the argument where it's like,

I'm not signing an eight-year deal for a number that I'm not comfortable with. In that case, give me something two, three years, figure it out. But in the end, I'm sure Otto was like, dude, we got to get this guy locked up. I'm with you, true leader. And he's not a kachuk if he doesn't hold out, Brady.

Matt held out, Keith held out. He's got to hold out. I mean, he's a little big Walt. It's hard to ask me because, me because I was never confident in my abilities to the point that these elite NHLers are. So if you said, hey, eight times. Eight times 100 grand. Eight years, 800 grand.

Give me a pen. Give me two of them. Yeah, there wasn't much negotiating going on when I was doing my deals, guys. It was kind of like, hey, this is a little bit of a raise sign here. But, yeah, like, I mean, if he wants to hold out for an even bigger number than even if it was higher than eight times eight, then all the power to him. I'm not the one that's playing 20 minutes a night,

having to carry that organization and lead the way as you know as far as it on the ice and in the locker room so I don't what would you put his number at wit I think eight by eight I think player and team are happy but I also maybe could see a point where he wants nine yeah I mean it's it's hard because the the COVID has messed with the salary so much in a sense like you just kind of got fucked if you're not fucked, right? These guys are signing for $60 million, $70 million. But in the end, it's really changed the money in looking at where the cap is and where it's going to be going.

The TV deal is going to help a ton. I think I want to say that Matthew Kachuk got a deal in the $7 million range. I don't know what he signed for. Can you look that up, Grinnelli? But it could be a reasonable comp for a player who did sign his restricted deal, was restricted and signed. Carolina forward Andrei Svechnikov. This was a monster deal.

Eight years, $62 million, 7.75 mil. Biz about the range we were just talking about for Brady. That's more than fair. I'm sorry, guys. Brady's got 45 points in 71 games, 20 goals. The next year, 21 goals, 44 points. Last year, 56 games, 17 goals, 36 points. So, yeah, if you were to get eight times eight,

I mean, his numbers are not at all who he is, right? Like, he adds so much more but you know yeah he hasn't really even come close to point per game right so it's hard to be asking for eight nine million like we're saying uh matthew's deal was three years uh 21 million for a cap hit of seven mil per year and that was essentially a bridge deal yeah i think i fucking hit that right on the nose guys so yeah that's. That's why you're the guy. A little shout out to remembering something. But yeah, Svechnikov, I mean,

7.75 mil. I would say, not that they have similar styles, but they're both young guys who produced their key members of the current squads right now, so I think there is some comparability there. Is that a word? Comparability? Yeah, we'll take it.

It's a great word if I just think that's a nice one. There was some comparability there. Is that a word? Comparability? Yeah, we'll take it. I'll let you create that. It's a great word if I just didn't come back to it. That's a nice one. All right. Yeah, like I said, there was a shitload of restricted free agents who did get signed. I'll rattle through some of the major ones here. Rangers goalie Igor Shostakhin, four years, 22.6 mil.

That one's nice. If he turns out what everyone says he's gonna be yeah he's making what is it what is the hit uh five and a half ish yeah i mean dude like if he's that true number one that they're hoping he's gonna be fuck you're not paying him eight nine that's huge um nashville pretty busy had three three restricted free agents in-house uh kevin fiala did a one-year deal 5.1 mil uh the key to their future goal uc saros uh signed a four-year deal, 5.1 mil. The key to their future goal, UC Saros signed a four-year, $20 million deal. Very team-friendly deal. This guy's one of the best goalies in the league right now.

And also forward, Ealy Tolvanen, three years, 4.35 mil. Detroit cleaning house a little bit. Jacob Brown, they gave him three years, 15.75 mil. Adam Ernie, two years, 4.75 mil uh adam earn ernie earn ernie burton ernie two years 4.2 mil uh and defenseman uh philip uh ron ronick three years 13.2 mil he's a big part of that blue line in detroit obviously stevie y gave him some dough uh winnipeg had a shot some dough with defenseman neil peonk i remember he got traded there a lot of people weren't too like big on him keen on him well he signed a four-year deal in Winnipeg worth $23.5

million. He's obviously a pretty solid player up there. And our buddy Andrew Klopp, one year, $3.64 million. Not too bad for a minor leaguer. Not too bad. Pretty good. Highest salary in the AHL biz. Yeah. No, he's going to be buzzing in Manitoba with the

Moose. He's going to be paying for everyone's chicken parm sobs with the money in the cup before the game. We appreciate you signing that huge deal. Going back to Pionk, that was part of the Trouba deal, was it not? Yeah, and he was undrafted. Awesome player. He's, like, better than Trouba. Yeah, well, that's what I'm saying.

Everyone was, like, you know, shitting on Winnipeg at the time, and, you know, the guy turned out to be a, oh, what do you know, a pretty good defense for himself. Let's see, moving right along. The Islanders, goalie Ilya Sorokin, three years, 12 mil.

Anthony Beauvillier, three years, 12.45 mil. Buffalo, our buddy Casey Middlestad. He'll, who, by the way, I don't know if you saw his numbers underneath Don Granato last year. Totally different player playing underneath the coach that, you know, Buffalo brought in late in the year.

And obviously they like what they saw. I know he had some trouble starting off, but nice to see Casey three years, 7.5 mil. Defenseman Henry Joker-Haju, three years, same deal, 7.5 mil. Calgary gave defenseman Nikita Zadorov one year, 3.75 mil. Washington goalie Ilya Samsonov one year, 2 mil. Florida forward Sam Reinhart three years, 19.5 mil. That's a great deal for Reinhart.

Yes. Yeah. Buffalo never wanted to commit to him long-term. They kept giving him these like one-year deals or whatever. So that's another sneaky ad for that Florida Panthers team. And I agree with you when i could i could see them winning that division for sure and i think that there's a couple guys for tampa who are going to start the year on the ir are they're not and they got 10 million going

to their number two goalie that's the craziest part yeah uh ottawa uh forward drake bathison six years just under 30 mil 34 points in 56 games last year. And Jason Dickinson, Vancouver signed him three years, just under eight mil. And Vegas, this one just came in today, I believe. Vegas signed forward Nolan Patrick, two years, 2.4 mil. Of course, they picked him up from Philly in a trade. Hopefully he can stay healthy.

I think he went to Nashville first. And, man, like second overall, dude, he's battled these concussions. Three-way deal. He could go to Vegas and play on a really good team and be healthy, hopefully knock on wood for his sake, and really take off, right? So I like that. That's an interesting one to watch because I remember Kevin Hayes telling me how good he was at times, too, before all the injuries.

Like, this kid's a player. So I want to see where that one goes. Basically had a full year off with those. So many storylines going into this year. Jesus Christ, what a job we have. Okay. We just don't know who's in what league. All right, a couple more here before we send it over to Scott Gomez.

Part De. A couple free agents signed in. Seattle signed. I'm sorry. Yeah, Seattle signed for our local kid, Ryan Donato, to a one-year deal worth $750,000. Calgary signed defenseman Eric Goodbranson, one year just under two mil. And a couple PTOs, friends of the family, are the noteworthy names.

The BizWin special. Yeah, PTOs. Brian Boyle signed one with Pittsburgh. Jimmy Veazey signed PTO at New Jersey. James Neal with St. Louis. And Jack Johnson with Colorado. So those are pretty much all the transactions the major transactions to get everybody up to speed um any other final comments boys before we get ready to send it over to mr gomez oh i'll find it would be busy to get a pto

and just go to camp next week me and you again wouldn't you think a team would do it now like even the danbury trash could cover it danbury trashes could put you on the payroll for a week i honestly don't think i'd make it through fitness testing right now that's how out of shape i am i couldn't tie my skates what's fits what's fitness testing oh i did a three-day juice cleanse during the break too i didn't tell you about that didn't eat a bite of food in three days lost like eight pounds put it right back on god God bless you. All right, gang. This interview is brought to you by Earnest.

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And now our friend, Scott Gomez. And now, our. Scotty Gomez. What's new, Gomez? Nothing. Thanks for having me. It's our pleasure, man. Would you take the red eye in from Alaska? All right. So just for you guys, I took the red eye. I got the call, the bullpen. And yeah, I took the red eye and I got in.

And then Biz told me to be here at 2. And it's 4. I'm like, what the fuck, 2? I'm like, dude, the Xanax was still in me. And so thank God Biz said, dude, don't worry about it. There's no rush. I was like, all right, thanks. So I got here. Just don't sleep through the stream.

Yeah, right now. Sort of Pink Whitney in me. Have you been filming a lot of that stuff, Scotty Goes in Alaska? Like where did you bounce around to film all that? So what happened was is that when I went to see you and we did those shows, it was Scotty's house and then the NHL came through and they wanted to try something out, so they bought five episodes of it.

They switched to Scotty Goes, and then, yeah, that's, you know, I had a list of guys, and, of course, you know how the NHL works. This guy can't do it. This guy, because he said something bad, or whatever. So finally, you know. Guys, I need to do somebody. Well, yeah, I mean, you pick the guys then. But, no, to do somebody. Oh, yeah. I mean, you pick the guys then. But no, we got it.

Five episodes, four already have gone, and the last one's with Ken Danico. So it went pretty good. Do you think that – because one of the most commonly said things after you came on was your memory. Do you think your memory and being able to remember so many parts of your career and life really helps you do this post-playing career you have going now? I think with hockey. You don't forget anything. I think with hockey, like, I think people forget that, like, I was a solid C student because I couldn't remember dick.

And, yeah, I mean, when it came to stuff that happened in our lives and hockey and the locker, I mean, I'd be a straight-A student if that was the case. But, no, and I just, I don't know. I guess I was always one of those guys because we had our 20-year reunion with the Devils. And, I mean, guys, you know, just how do you remember that? I'm like, well, how could I not? I mean, it was the time of my life. Like, yeah, yeah.

You know, there's something. Like the minute alcohol hits your memory, skyrockets. Exactly. But then there was other guys that, like, you know, it's fun. It's better when, you know, the stories I'm telling you, it's all happened, but it's so much better when the guys are around to give their side of it like i wish you know because me and cloud let me just die like because his side of it's even funnier and then there's there's other there's other stuff but uh and we were together i mean there were so many other other things that i

forgot that like yeah guys brought up and i mean yeah we definitely had some fun there that weekend yeah because we first had you on i mean i think three quarters of the episode was you telling stories about pepe i mean they were hilarious i don't think we got past your first three years of playing in new jersey well i think we also had some drinks too and uh yeah we were having a good time but yeah people were you know people were asking why didn't you get into this i'm like because we're still on the rookie year i mean that was uh you know it is your rookie year that's i still think that's the the best time it's all new. Oh, me too. It's all new. You're just, you don't know, especially back then. I mean, it was fun to not get shit on, but just, hey, this is what, you're the young kid.

I mean, this is all, this is going to be an experience that it's only going to happen once. And it did happen for the next two or three years until Gio got there because I still was the youngest. But, yeah, so, no, those, a lot of characters, a lot of good times. And the thing is, when we all get together, the Devils teams, everyone thought because of Lou and the way the organization was run that we were a boring team. We kind of take offense to that because we just had to do stuff a little more. You had to hide it.

Yeah, hide it even more. There was some stuff, why are we hiding this? That's just the way it was. You throw any team up there, we show up partying with the best of them. That's for sure. Three out of your first four seasons, you show up partying with the best of them. That's for sure. Yeah, three out of your first four seasons, you went to the Cup, won two of them. One guy we didn't talk about before, Patrick Elias. This is a guy who should be in the Hall of Fame, no?

I think, I mean, he's got all the credentials, but who knows? I mean, there's other guys that you kind of question, like, why aren't they in there? Like, Alexander McGillney, I cannot believe is not your number one. That's the one that I always come up with. It's a shame. So who knows what it is, not taking believe, is not your number one. That's the one that I always come up with. It's a shame. So who knows what it is. Not taking anything away from the Hall of Fame. But I do remember me and Jay Pandolfo, those years.

And Patty had a great career. I mean, he was probably the best linemate I've ever had. But at one point, I remember me and Jay sitting on the bench. And it might have been the second playoff run. But we were literally like, dude, this guy's top top five top three in the league right now like we're talking when he was rolling he led your team in scoring yeah yeah five years well he always came back and beat me that's good but yeah but uh but patty uh not passing to him no no no he was on the a-line he was on the a-line and and um but yeah patty would

always come through and get me but i'd never forget i don't think people realized because we weren't publicized we we weren't out there, but Patrick Elias at one point was nasty. I mean, the stuff he was doing. If you ever watch, not that you guys would, but if you ever watch those finals runs and you see the A-line, you'll see Patty Elias. I mean, he's running it.

I mean, it was basically sit back and let's watch the show. He was that good at that time. One thing we didn't talk about is your second year, you guys ended up losing the finals. So you kind of went back-to-back in the first two years. You probably played against one of the most iconic teams of all time in the Colorado Avalanche when they got Bork. Of course, they had Patty Waugh.

I don't know how many Hall of Famers they had, but it probably rivals the team that they had in Detroit the one year. See, that's – it's funny because, you know, we all could have, should have, would have. And that's the – if we win that year, you look at our lineup, and, I mean, it goes down as, like, you know, back-to-back, beaten – Like a legendary team. I mean, you look at that lineup, you really look at that lineup,

and the only guy we were missing was Pep because, you know, he signed with Phoenix. But you look at that lineup, I mean, it was just – we were stacked. And I think, you know, I keep bringing up that lineup, I mean, it was just, we were stacked. And I think, you know, I keep bringing up that, you know, we lost. It's, you know, how did we do that? We had them in game six. And, you know, Bobby Haleek made a good point. He said, you don't realize, people don't realize how much hockey you've played.

How much hockey you've played. And what killed us is we had Carolina down 3-0 in the first round. And, you know, we already knew that we were going to go back. It's just, call it cocky, call it. No one was beating us out of the East. And we ended up going game six. Just two extra games. And we had an older team. And those just two, you know, it just, you know how it is.

You got to, and especially it's not like you're going back to, like, Boston or a good city. You're going back to, no offense, but you're going back to Carolina. Raleigh. Yeah. And you don't golf. The flight's even longer. Yeah, exactly.

The flight's even longer. And then people forget. I mean, give Colorado. I mean, you know, Peter Forsberg was out. He was out in the finals. And the guy that we lost that was our motor going, there's always a guy that seems to have a run like that was Randy McKay. He was so hard.

Yeah, and he breaks his hand. He breaks his fingers or hands. Game two, game one after game one or game two, we won. We're staying the night. Yeah, I think it was game two we won. And Randy's out, and we're all in the room, and everyone's drinking, and everyone's just whatever, just loosening up. And guys are playing cards, and Randy McKay's hands like this. Everyone's just loosening up. And guys are playing cards.

And Randy McKay, his hand's like this. He's sitting there. The big boys are playing cards. The rest of us are just hanging out together. And the trainer has to come in and tell Randy that he's done. So Randy's sitting there, and he's telling everyone, we all do, I'll be back. And the trainer has to come and tell him you know hey randy the the images came back it's you're done and you know we're all sitting there like seeing a ghost and randy starts crying he's balling up and then the best part about it was he's balling up and then he's like he wins the hand with like a flush he throws it down like flex the money and then we're all like raising with a good hand.

You know, he's crying. We're that close and who knows, you know, you're wired up in the playoffs. So a lot of guys are teared up too because our leader's like, oh man, you know, he's done. But never forget that he wins the pot and just like, well boys, sometimes it ain't always bad

news or something. He's like, I gotta go call my wife now. You got all your winnings. So that series, people who don't remember, you guys, you were up 3-2, and you were back in Jersey. What do you remember about game six? The only thing I remember is Bork scoring off that faceoff, obviously a legendary goal in the finals for him.

But the celebration planning, I'm guessing with how professional your team was, wasn't even worried about. But it had to be crazy knowing we can get this done in the building tonight. We won game five, and Bob Corkum had, I think, a goal and assist. I think we won two to one. Jason Arnott was out of the lineup. Bob Corkum comes in, has a huge game. So we win that huge game.

I think we probably stayed a night there, but we're coming back, and we got confidence. It's like we're all over them, coming win that huge game. I think we probably stayed the night there. We're coming back, and we got confidence. It's like we're all over them coming back in our rank. And maybe you don't think too ahead. I mean, there was no thinking a party or anything. I mean, at that point, we just didn't have that kind of group. And we're thinking more like it's kind of cool to win at home. Yeah, because you'd won both on the road, right? Yeah, I won one on the road in Dallas.

And so we come back, and I mean, if you go back and look at the first period, I think we outshot them 20-2. I scored a goal. I basically kicked it in. And I didn't even care because I was going to get another one. That's how on we were. Because it was like right there in front. I couldn't do it.

So the crowd's going. Anyway. So it was 1-0? No, because it doesn't count. But we were all over them. And I think what happens, I remember we got a 5-on-3. Oh, no. And people don't realize, and you guys have been there,

if you guys are gambling men or betting men, whoever seems to get that first goal in those clinching games, it just, because of both sides. Then you need two. You need two. Yeah. If you score and you're at home, it's just the relief on the bench, especially at home.

It's just like, okay, not going to happen. And if you get scored on against, especially on the road, it's like all the bad thoughts are just coming in now. So we go, I think we had a five on three, almost score, whatever. They kill it. And I think Adam Foote, I think he scores from the red line. He dumped it in and kind of hit it with a bounce, and that just was like, what the fuck?

What? I mean, Patrick Watt just completely stole that game. And then, all right, we peppered him again, and then next you notice, I don't know if that's when Drew scored that highlight real goal. That was ridiculous. It was one of those goals. We were all over him, and maybe it was 2-1, but when Drew scored that, we weren't.

And then just to get on that flight, just to get back. Okay, we still were confident, but it still wasn't something. We just knew we really, really ruined an opportunity to take this, and now we've got to go back to Colorado and deal with all that. And Tange. The Tange show. Yeah, and Tange had a great game. We ended up losing, and we just can't believe it.

I mean, you go all that way, back to back, and then especially before the game, guys that hadn't won it, they got up and spoke, and it was just, everyone's emotional, everyone's, and yeah, after you lose, you're just sitting there, and you're crying, you're... You went all the way to the finals, game seven, you had it right up your grasp, and luckily for you, you went all the way to the finals game seven you had it you had it right up

your grasp and luckily for you you went at the year before but as you said you're more like worse it made it worse it made it just it's just disgusting and then you realize like how hard i mean for me it was like man this is easy well you know probably come back but i'm gonna win four but then when you lose you some some fear goes in you like i might never get back here we're like what they're talking about. And the worst part was, too, we're getting on the bus, and, I mean, you know, the party is just going on in the rink. I mean, you've got to pass everything.

You're seeing guys. You're congratulating them. It just takes forever to get you. You've got to go see your family because David Liu flew everyone down. And we get on the bus, and then we got trapped in traffic, right? You know, leaving the arena right there. And it takes a little bit for fans to realize it's the devil. So the bus is rocking.

People are just, we couldn't get out of it. Paul and White's like, what is it? Yeah, yeah. And so I do remember I sat across from O'Gilney. I don't even know at this point. I probably have about 10 Vodka's in me. Because Randy had a Copenhagen. I put a Copenhagen in. And I just remember waking up in

newark with a big wad of chew in my mouth just pat yeah it was it was uh drink your sorrows away oh man and then we didn't rebound i mean we uh the next year i mean just took so much out of us like especially going back to colorado i mean it was it was painful every time we saw colorado anything to do with colorado and the only thing that was good that took a year, once we beat Anaheim, it kind of washed the Colorado series away. I mean, it always hurt. We got another one, though. And it just kind of, all right, we're done with that.

That can finally go. But, yeah, that was – and especially, I mean, he's an idol of all of ours, Ray Bork. But the storyline was just like we wanted to shit on that so bad. And then for him to have that, I mean, great for Ray, but it was still at the same time, like, just add that on. And now they always show, you know, the Ray Bork cover. That's just, you don't change the channel.

I can't even watch it. It's just still painful. Did it feel like the whole hockey world was rooting against you guys because of that? Because the Bork angle? Oh, for sure. And they'd won it the year before. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

For sure. And it was, but I think we thrived on that. Yeah, you want to kiss everyone off. We loved, like, being that, the non-sexy year before. Yeah, yeah. For sure. And it was, but I think we thrived on that. Yeah, you want to kiss everyone off. We loved being that, the non-sexy team that like, yeah. But it was funny because a buddy of mine calls me and he says, hey, you know, you're getting the phone calls, whatever, friend back home. And he says, huge Ray Bork fan since we were kids. And he's like, you know, Gomer, it's kind of nice, but, you know, it sucks.omer it's it's kind of nice but um you know it

sucks but yeah it's kind of nice for you know ray you know ray bork whatever and i'm just like shut the fuck up so i remember that anyway my friend years yeah years later he uh you know he played for maine they they lost the national championship to i think it was minnesota was it barrett heist it was one of the heist chris it was He's a great friend of mine. But I remember and I called I was watching the game. You know obviously

I wanted them to win. I think Minnesota they might have gone back to back whatever. And no team has done that for

whatever. So I called Heiston and I'm like hey man I'm so sorry you lost but God you know it's so good to see Minnesota go back

there. He's like fuck you go over there. He knew it. We were joking about that. So I got payback on that but it was I'm a big Thomas fan

he's 18 years old he did great for Minnesota so I don't know if there's any other Jersey guys we haven't asked about I don't think we talked about Scott Stevens now I don't know if there's a lot to talk about with him because he's a pretty seems like a pretty quiet guy yeah Scotty was there's you know there's three banners up there, Stanley Cups,

and it starts with Scotty Stevens. It really does. I mean, obviously, Marty Brodeur is, I think, the greatest, but it's Scotty. So when you get in there, I remember Bobby Hulik and Scott Niedermeyer. Scott Niedermeyer didn't talk much, but at pregame at his house. And they told me right away they were like watch this guy watch this everything this is this is how this is how it's done this is what sets the tone of our practices our practices you go back in the day i mean they were sick i mean it was the

game's reason i mean we fought more on the bench because we just had you know it was we're just competing against each other that how good those teams were. But Scottie set the tone. And he was 36 at the time. And, I mean, he's the hardest working guy ever. And I remember my first, one of my first, I make the team, we used to do this warm-up drill that you go one-on-one with the guy and you, you know, play keep away. And, you know, I made the team,

so maybe I had a night of celebration with a couple of the guys. You know. Yeah, well, you know. Maybe not at my best, but anyway, I'm 19. You're invincible. It's no biggie. But I remember Robbie puts me against Scotty, and I'm just like, are you kidding me?

Like, really? And then, I mean, you know, and I'm going against dad. I mean, the nickname was dad. And he's, like, basically telling me, like, let's go. More, more. Like, cross check me in the back. Give me, like, the guy's an animal. against dad i mean nickname was dad and and he's like basically telling me like let's go more more like cross check me in the back give me like the guy's an animal and and on the ice off the he just he was our hardest working guy and everyone just fell uh fell in the line but i mean as far as like all the rest of our buddies that played i didn't know what it was like to go against us and have

that fear because guys would be like g, you'll never understand what it's like to have that guy across. The only thing closest I'd say was when Kasperitis was still healthy. When that guy was on the ice, he was scary. You had to know where that guy was at because this guy was rocky. I remember the closest thing to that, Damon Lankow told us, he came back, juniors, Tri-Cities, was skating with us, and he said, I think this was when Lindros was in his prime, Damon Lankow told us he came back, juniors, Tri-Cities, skating with us.

And he said, I think this is when Lindros was in his prime, he said when he puts his foot over the boards, the whole building feels that this guy's on the ice. And, I mean, he can hurt you. And that's how Scotty was. I mean, just, but, you know, Scotty, and people don't realize how good a player this guy was. That's what I was going to ask you.

In the 80s and early 90s, I mean, he had some 70-point years. So when you were with him and it's Rafalski, Niedermeyer running the offensive part of production from the D, he still must have made plays that you're like, holy fuck, people don't know how good offensively he is.

Dude, he can put it on a dime like that. Anywhere. I mean, he's one of those guys if someone was missing, he's automatic in the power play and it wasn't even like, oh, it wasn't, because there's certain guys

that get back there and you're like, oh, shit. Yeah, like if I went off the Pittsburgh first power play and it wasn't even it wasn't even like oh it wasn't the biggest it wasn't you know because there's certain guys that get back there and like oh shit yeah like if i went off the pittsburgh first power play it was no thing if goncho went off oh shit you know so but yeah so but but um just as intensity just as uh his work ethic i mean he didn't have to talk he didn't have to say we had other guys for that we had randy mckay we had bobby league we had the guys but but scotty just uh just i mean an animal. I mean, I can't even. We used to play the game where, I don't know if I brought it up last time, where if you had to go to war, Vietnam, who are you picking? And I'm like, fuck off.

No one's picking me. I'm like, you know. And team building exercise. Well, no, it wasn't even that. It was just something we'd always fuck around with. Hypothetical. You know, we didn't even do any of that team building shit. Like, team building shit.

Team building was go to the bar, get to know a guy. Team building is on the ice, go to practice. Not taking away anything, but we did certain stuff that it's like, we're hockey players. This does not lead to anything. So Scotty and Jay Pandolfo were always the two that, probably called them the three that were like, you're taking that guy. I'm following that guy. Where do I go? go where do I go he's a foxhole buddy

yeah yeah I mean you know just tell me what to do so those three guys and then I got picked uh if you had to go to practice completely drunk and you can do it you're taking Gomer because hey man I mean like I said Scotty's over there and uh you know you didn't want to be the guy that stuck out that's for sure when he hit Lindros in the 2000 semis there, did you see that happen live? Were you on the ice, the bench? I was on the bench and what happened was that, so game six, we got a win.

Claude Lemieux steps it up. He backed it up. I mean, because after we went down 3-1, you know, we've all had guys that got up and said, you know, first Larry came in. Raw, raw. Larry comes in and the greatest human being yeah like larry comes in and you know the greatest human being there is and larry comes in and absolutely just just rips us you bunch of you know this you guys i mean you're giving something up this because we couldn't be filling for if you go back in those

games they're just what the hell is going on here like how are we down three yeah it was one of those like and it does happen it's just like so after they leave, Claude Lemieux stands up, and he's basically like, you know, basically mother fucks every guy. It's kind of like with that Jordan thing when that Coup coach said that, you know, Jordan stood up and was like, you better bring it tomorrow. Just something about it when he said it. And then he goes out and scores the game winner in game six. But Lindros had just come back.

Yes. And, you know, the guy hadn't played in a year. You could tell he's fresh. And the worst thing that could have happened was Lindros scores to make it 2-1. But he had so many chances. He had so many, like, so he scores that goal. Now it's like, this guy, shit, this guy can be warmed up. This is the last thing we need. This guy being, and he had a couple good shifts.

I don't know how many shifts it was. I think he and man he came in the middle and because i remember pando gets laid out jay gets laid out right there and and just to see a big guy like that just go down and i mean like a sack of bricks i mean you're like you know don't realize how huge that man was and then after it happened though scotty he was he was rattled. He didn't want to. And everyone thinks Scotty, just no.

I mean, Scotty, he was not like that. He didn't want to kill a guy. I mean, deep down, I think he did. But, Larry, Scotty was, like, in the hallway right there. And Larry had to go, like, grab him and, like, hey, you know, talk. Like, he just needed insurance. Hey, you're feigning this. Yeah, because, I mean, not that he was going to anyway. But it still was like he was right.

I mean, you know, no one injured guys. My memory of that hit is crazy. My dad and I went to watch it at this local golf course, Widow's Walk. I don't know why we went there, but all of a sudden we're watching the game, and that hit happened. He said, oh, my God, I was going nuts. I was like 16, 17. And he said, he goes, that could be the end of Eric Lindros' career.

And it kind of was. He played again. But that was the one. And the funny thing about Stevens knocking over Pando on that hit is it was the same way when he knocked out Kozlov in 95. One devil got crushed in that, too. Because he was coming. It didn't matter who was there. And the thing about him is, like, guys that knew.

It's like, it's an art. Guys that knew how to hip check, right? You think you got a guy that you're going against the wall. Like I got this guy and all of a sudden, boom. And I mean they just – you know, it's like a linebacker. Scotty played linebacker growing up. But like in practice, I'd cut through the middle and he'd come and like right there he'd be like, I got you. I could have had you.

I got you. And I'm like, no, you didn't. My head's up, motherfucker. Like, you know, that's how competitive Scotty was. Like, this, I mean, in practice, it was even, it was. Hey, were you serious when you actually played linebacker in high school? Oh, yeah, yeah. Scotty played football.

Yeah, that's what, because I remember asking him. The least surprising thing I've ever heard. Yeah, and I remember asking him, I was like, did you? And he was like, oh, yeah, I played linebacker in football. And I was like, he's like, you think, you know, he probably, he's so humble in this, but I'm like, God, what were those hits like? He's just kind of yeah yeah like he didn't say much but yeah he's uh he's a guy you definitely uh i got two rings because of that guy so when when you guys would go for pops all the

time was was he usually a guy that was always there and if he was was he just kind of hanging back letting everybody else be the jesters and and no i mean it was uh scotty would have his beers he'd come he wouldn't he wouldn't hang out long he just uh you know we just and no I mean it was Scotty would have his beers he'd come he wouldn't hang out long he'd just you know no one cared as long as you know guys would show up but a guy like that his credentials and everything he's done and the way he works he don't have to show I mean it's Scotty like he

there's you know everyone you know if you had to show up have a beer yeah but he wasn't no Scotty was he's a great wine guy great wine connoisseur. Scotty Stevens knows his wine. If you ever get to go to dinner with this guy, you don't even, you let him take the wine. Perfect, get an expensive bottle.

Oh, yeah. Take off to the bathroom when the bill comes. Yeah, but he's the guy that, you know. Actually knows who he's talking about. We're starting with this white, we're starting, and you're just like, okay. Yeah, I know. But, yeah, he was the man. I mean, he's a hunter, everything.

Like, it was Scotty, man. We were talking actually right before we started recording, 2003 Eastern Conference Finals versus Ottawa. Game seven in Ottawa. You guys, what'd you say? Your bus broke down? You had to go to the rink in a school bus? Yeah.

Well, I'll give you this one, but I'll give you the fine Scotty Stevens. Okay. No, I love this shit. You've been one of the best guys to come on the podcast and describe individuals. That's what I love. I love hearing about these legends and what they were like, and you just stare at them in awe your whole career. So here's Scotty's defining.

We're playing against Tampa, and I think we go – we win the first two games, and Tampa was up on the rise. They were up and coming. And were they ready to beat us? Probably not, but they're right there. Vinny and all of them are still kind of young. So we win – let's see. First two games we win.

Tampa wins game three. We're playing game – no, this was game three or four. Ah, shit, I don't remember. Here's what happens. You can restart it. Here's what happens. We're restart. Here's what happens. We're up 2-1, maybe 2-0, and Cabena, remember that guy? He had a shot.

Pablo Cabena had a shot. He's at the red line, and he's going to dump the puck in. And I remember because I was right by the blue, and I think I'm right there. And he takes a slap shot, and instead of dumping it in, I think he tried to fake like he's going slap shot and instead of dumping it in I think he tried to fake like he's gonna shoot it on net like Johnny Boychuck was a master at that like but he had a good so he shoots it and it goes and it smokes Scotty right in the ear so like you know the Lindros swing went down but Scotty Stevens goes down and it's like you're basically

like you know like basically like kicking him like hey hey, man, you're going to get up? Like, dude, Scotty Stevens, don't go down. It's like seeing Superman. Yeah, like, whoa, what are you doing? Like, hey. And Scotty's down. And next thing you notice, guys are taking him off. And when he left the bench in Tampa right there, our whole bench just kind of went like,

where's our leader going? What's going on here? Where's William Wallace going? Yeah, why is William Wallace getting carried out? And then Tampa comes back and bang, bang, bang, they beat us 3-2, 4-2. So the next game, it might have been game five. Yeah, it was game five. It was game five.

We don't know if Scotty's playing. And it was just kind of like. You're like, wait, what? Yeah, and I remember he finally comes in because he was always on the later bus with me. He comes in. He sits down in the room, you know, where all the food's at. And everyone, guys have already left. And Scotty sits down and everyone just kind of leaves him alone.

And I just remember, like, going up to him, sitting next to him and being like, you're going to play, right? Hey, stop talking about this, man. You know what I mean? Scotty just kind of broke the, like, I had that relationship with him. know i mean it's guy just kind of broke the like i had that relationship with him kind of just like just kind of messed and then he uh yeah he goes on the ice and i think i got an assist and scotty scores the first goal and it just kind of like and then we don't know when the series but that just shows you the the magnitude of this guy like when he went down it was like what the whoa you're not supposed to do that like get up like it was shock it was shocking and then uh but yeah he – I mean, the guy was just a gamer.

But going back to the game seven. So we're up on Ottawa 3-1. And as cocky as it sounds, I'm not taking anything from Anaheim. Both teams felt it. Whoever wins this is going to win the cup. It was just – that was kind of the finals. Like, taking nothing away from Anaheim. But the big boys lost.

Detroit, Dallas, Colorado. I mean, you've got to take advantage of this. It feels like this year's Lightning Islanders. Yeah, it was exactly what we talked about before. It was kind of like, you never know in Montreal, but, I mean, hey, you've got that feeling, that sense. So we're up 3-1. And they win, so we're up game six. It's three to two now.

We go into double overtime, and I think Haas scores. Haas scores, so now we got to go back to Anaheim. Don't forget, a lot of us. Ottawa, sorry. Ottawa, sorry. A lot of us have that feeling still in us that this is like we're going back to Colorado. Like, we had these guys. Not only that, we had them two games in.

So this is where pat burns the late great pat burns was just at his best like there was just no you know you just there's no give a fuck like certain coaches you can see at this time and maybe they're nervous no he was just so now we're all ready let's go game seven here we go boys the trainers leave early rumor has it that they got the cab driver got in a wreck so our trainers are on the side of the highway waiting for a car to pick them up. Tough start to Game 7. Tough start to Game 7.

So the first group leaves. Now the second group, you know, it's probably about 10 of us or whatever it is, we're going, and the bus breaks down. The bus breaks down. And for people that don't know how hockey players work, we're probably all athletes, we're so superstitious. Regimented. We just lost.

Yes, yes. It's over. It's over. It's over. This is a sign. We shouldn't even go. What the hell is going on here? You didn't even know about the trainers yet. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You know what I mean? So we're waiting on the side, and we're just thinking another bus comes. And I remember Turner Stevenson reminded us, we got picked up by a school bus. No. So we're in a school bus. We're all listening to your music, your tunes. You're getting pumped up. And we're in a school bus going you know we're all listening

to your music your tunes you're getting pumped up and we're in a fucking school bus like the booster yeah yeah like yeah the booster goes it's a short bus too yeah yeah right and probably the guys that probably could have been but we literally on a bus and i don't even know what the security let us in they're like what the hell's a school bus doing here? So we get in there, and now everyone's talking. It's kind of taking over. Like, is this a bad sign? And I think Pat Burns came in and just said something like, a tournament in November. But he said in regards of like, this is why we'll have the last laugh

or something like, this is the way it's supposed to go. Why make it easier? He said something so cool that I was like, fuck, yeah. Like, here we go. And then, yeah, what a game. And then freeze came through at the end and uh and i mean that was that was probably one of the best victories and i mean the because we're going back to the finals we're confidence but uh that ottawa team i mean they were stacked they were that team all year long they were just completely stacked and for us to to stick with the plan and uh here we go but it

and i'm sorry but in i'm give you a battle too, though. That went seven, man. So, yeah. We, it kind of reminds me of the first game. We beat them bad, game one. Game two. You guys had home ice, right? Yeah, so game two, we beat them 2-0, something like that. All right, we're feeling good.

We go out to Anaheim, and we just had that confidence, like, hey, why not get three? Like, you know, I'm still a young man. I'm back in my head. This could be a sweep, you know. And the first game three, it goes into overtime. And the first shot they took, they scored. So we're kind of like, ah, watch that one out.

Hey, I guess we're winning at home. Like, meaning that that doesn't really count. We didn't even get a chance. You know what I mean? Like, you know, the first shift of the game, I mean, all right. You're just thinking of positive stuff. Hey, they're going to have to win one. Next game, too, I think it goes into overtime.

Kind of same thing. Oh, really? Both of those were OT wins. Did it go into overtime? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Three and four. So now it's like, okay, all right. Well, they're not going to beat us at home.

Go back home, beat them. Now it's like they've had their little they've had their fun now it's time to win in Cali and we're staying the night, rumor has it we're staying the night they planned it that way let this one in, let's have a little fun in Cali and it's one of those games where like

we're ready and I think, I don't know Joe Neuendijk gets hurt right away and it was okay we've all been there, here we go and it's one of those games that like And I think, I don't know if Joe Nguyen-Dyke- That was the game, right? Joe Nguyen-Dyke gets hurt right away. And it was, okay, we've all been there. Here we go. And it's one of those games that like, dude, it's like 3-0 after like 10 minutes or something like that. You're like, are you fucking kidding me? We're going to have to go to game six.

So let's make a run. We can do this. We'll make a run. We don't want- And then, I don't know what the final was. It was like 5-whatever. 5-2. And not only that, got an ass kicking places korea

gets up after he gets rocked by scotty he gets rocked by scotty i'm right there on the ice he gets i mean everyone says it was late and it's finals back then it wasn't final there ain't no late yeah but the worst part was is is is paul or he gets up and he snipes that up top shelf goal and now i mean it just was like, so now we got to stay a night. Now we're all like, all you want to do is get home, get in.

So now we got to stay a night and now it's Colorado all over again. We still got to fly back in. We still got to fly back. It's a long flight. We're everyone's trying to be positive, but the guys that have been there, that's all we're thinking. Like,

is this going to happen again? Cause you just never know. I mean, you just, are you guys, are you guys thinking it or are you guys having conversations amongst each other? It's pretty quiet. It's quiet. Everyone's just kind of, you know, there's no one's...

It's, you know, not a death yet. It's not, but it's like, it's just... You're thinking it. It's thinking it. It's in the back of your human. It's thinking in the back of your mind. Like, are you kidding me? Like, here we go.

Like, this can't happen. Almost like we're so much better than this team. How are we going to seven? Exactly. And I mean, that's... they were they were great jaguar and everything and then i just remember just before just guys were like i think it happened twice but that's the uh m&m song um lose yourself and you know the music gets cut off when you know there's like 10 minutes to go music gets cut off and that game it was like fuck no we went we we left it we like right when we're getting ready to go out that song's going on and it was just like fuck it here we go like this and once we got that first one it just like

i said you get the first one the finals any any it was like this is not tonight boys and then they've got the second one and then free i mean rupper had mean, Ruppert had a hell of a game. We were all over. But, yeah. And it's kind of like that Gretzky says when they lost to the Islanders, and he's walking by, and the Islander guys are all just... It kind of was that feeling that, like, it's over, man. The Colorado thing, everything's over. Like, this is, you know, like, we did it.

It's two. It, this is, you know, like, we did it. We, you know, it's two. I mean, it was a good feeling. And then we get in the locker room, and, you know, there's probably more alcohol on this table than we had in the room. And it was like, you know, so we literally have no booze. There's, like, five bottles of champagne. Lou's like, it's a big year next year, boys. Yeah, so I think, and we all joke about it now, but I think in Lou's defense,

that's the last thing he was thinking. Who was thinking it then? It's going to be some intern. Me, Jamie Langenbrenner, we went left. Whitey, Turner Stevenson, Dick Jim McKenzie, they went right. Literally, we found coolers and stuff there. We left. Whitey, Turner Stevenson, Dick Jim McKenzie, they went right. And then they ended up going. So literally we found like coolers and stuff there. And we're like, we had a big bucket or one of the laundry buckets.

We're filling up booze. After winning the cup. After winning the cup. And Whitey and us, we all come back with booze. And now it gets even worse. So it's like two, or it's after the game, we all go to dinner right there. And now Mike's, the bar we hang out at in West Orange, you know, Mike Citarella's bar, it was home.

We're going to go there. And the streets, I mean, the cops cut off the streets and everything's packed. I get there and, you know, it's just jam-packed. And now, you know. We're going. It's like, where's the cuff? Like, you know it's just jam-packed and and now you know we're going it's like where where's the cuff like you know where's the cup where's where's the cup so turner stevenson that asshole comes in with jim mckenzie and turner's that dick that left all his gear on like you know like some guys just take the skates off yeah he's like all right man like okay so t's

like you know he's got his gear on and everything. And he comes in. That's what Podine did after the Colorado one. A bunch of guys have done it. And Turner comes in and he's like, nope. And then Scottie comes in. And Scottie was pretty pissed. Like, yeah, Lou, we're probably the only team ever to win the Stanley Cup. We didn't have it that night. Lou was snuggling it.

Who knows what was going on with it. He was spooning it. So now the owner of the bar has got to get up and make the announcement like, yeah, Stanley Cup won't be coming tonight. Oh, my God. That's so devils. In that point, you didn't care. Like I said, guys probably would have reacted different.

But for most of us, it was our second one. The thing was just don't really give a fuck. We won. We'll make up for it. We'll definitely make up for it. But, yeah, it was our second one. The thing was just, don't really give a fuck. We won. We'll make up for it. We'll definitely make up for it. But yeah, that's a trivia question we always joke about. What's the one team that probably didn't party with the Stanley Cup that night? It was the 2003 Devils.

To transition, thank you for all those memories, man. You have an unreal memory. Going back to Alaska, did you get to bring the Cup back there a few times? Yeah, so the first time, you get it for 24 hours. And the most humbling thing was I'm living in New York. I'm living in Jersey. I'm in New York City. I'm at clubs.

I'm in bars. We're in Alaska. If you're not 21, you're not getting in a bar. Oh, it's beyond striking. Everyone knows everyone. And that's all booze hounds there. And we're talking, you try to get in a fake ID. Most places, there's places like everyone want to go.

They handcuff you in front of the place until the cops come. So everyone's walking in. Wow, tough crowd. Yeah, so I win the cup, and now I go back home, and I'm still like, now my buddies are all 21, and everyone wants to go to the bar. And I'm like, hey, let's have a house party. Anyway, so the cup's coming and the guy from the cup calls me and he says hey gomer uh got a

surprise for you i'm supposed to get it friday morning he goes because of the scheduling because how far alaska is um you get it uh you're gonna get it thursday night and i'm like you're shitting me right and i was out yeah and i was out and so i'm like call my dad right away because we had something set up like randy mckay really helped out for this and um so we we get the cup i a couple of my buddies that are older we go to the bar the dream was always to get into chukwu charlie's that's the bar and we all got to play what was the place in boston dad's yeah yeah there's one place that when you're finally 21 you're getting in and so we go there Wednesday night and come out and we say, hey, listen, the

Stanley Cup will be here. You know, Scott's underrated. And they were like, absolutely. My old coach is a lieutenant cop. So anyway, we get there, do the places beyond pack. I've never been in there. So I'm like, you know, and they assign a lady with me. They assign this lady to be my chaperone okay whatever i got a posse of about 10 you know 12

mexicans that are gonna you know they'll be fine my uncles and all this shit and so anyway the lady this is the so now all of a sudden the lady's really all over me like like anything i'm drinking she's she's grabbing it like there's no booze in that i'm like are you get the yeah of course i'm like looking at her like i'm the most regular guy here. But not even that. I'm like, what are you thinking? Like, what? So she is just all over it.

And now it's not getting fun for me. I'm like, who the fuck is this lady? My mom wants to whip her ass because my mom knows. And it just was like, this ain't fun. So finally, all right, let's go. Let's get everyone. It's time for everyone to drink. So we get on the stage.

Everyone wants a drink from the cup so she goes out and she brings back three you know two or three cases of old duels and i'm like hell you doing no and you know how we think i don't care if whatever it is but there is no fucking chance i'm going back to that locker room and guys find out that i was pouring old duels in the cup. So now I'm just thinking that. I'm thinking of the boys. I could care less about what's going on. I'm thinking way ahead.

So I said to her, I said to the owner, I said, okay, you got two options here. One, non-alcoholic beer is not going in the cup. And I go, two, you got a choice. Either she stays or the cup goes. Like, I ain't dealing with this shit anymore. Or she goes or the cup goes. Yeah, yeah. And so they, you know, she got booted out.

We had fun. And then, I mean, that night, I mean, the partying and stuff, the shenanigans that go on. It was like Studio 54. It's crazy. I mean, we had, it just, you know, I don't know if the cup guys, I don't think it was Mikey or whatever. He might have passed out a little earlier. But the whole event start, started at 7 in the morning. I mean, I literally haven't gone to bed.

My dad comes to my house. They cut the street off where I live for all the neighbors, which is a habit. And you always get that one guy right away. The news interview is the one guy that moved in like two years ago. I've lived in the same neighborhood my whole life. I bought my parents out how they moved somewhere else and this guy's in on tv saying like yeah i remember when scotty was just a little kid running down and so all the neighbors want to beat this guy's ass like what like so then we go interview him yeah i mean

so then we go uh the first stop was we took it to the elderly home and you know it we got in there and it's if it wasn't 98 degrees it was 100 and i mean i'm like dad what the like people are just you know so they don't know i mean you know they don't even know like half the people are just scootering by it like what the fuck's this like it just took the hospitals and we took it and then um we had it out the out in the in the park kind of like downtown and we had it there for like five hours. And they had a motorhome set up for me. I mean, I passed out.

So everyone got to like, we wanted it for the town. Took it to the local bar, and then we had our party. But the best advice I ever got from that was Randy McKay, because I went up to Randy and I said, hey, what do I do? And he's like, okay, here's what you want to do. You want it for the people. But he goes, once you get to your private party, he goes, you put the Stanley cup on that corner and then you make sure you're on the

other side of it. Cause at that point you're just, you're done with it. People want pictures. People want like, it's like, Hey, it's there for that.

And that was some of the greatest advice. And, and he gave pan J pin off on the same advice. And of course, Jay, that idiot, he didn't listen. So after I,

so nice. Yeah. So after I talked to jam, like, how was your party? He's like, fuck, I didn't listen to Randy. And I'm like, what, that idiot, he didn't listen. He's also so nice. Yeah, so after I talked to Jay, I'm like, how was your party? He's like, fuck, I didn't listen to Randy. And I'm like, what? And he's like, I took pictures all night. I just got stuck in the corner there. And it was, yeah, so, you know, but it was neat.

By the time that thing left, it was, you know. That's what I heard. I heard, guys, your hands are sore, too, from carrying it around the whole time. And that's the thing. I was one of those guys, like, you know, let someone else carry it in let let like i don't need to carry it in like you know people were shocked on that like hey you carried it and here's another thing we really there's one guy so this was at the after party the second night and i mean so i'm outside and i'm smoking a dart and I'm looking and I'm talking to someone

and I see this guy and he's just all walking serious and he's like really upset and I'm like hey

what's wrong you okay and he turns to me and he goes all the blood and sweat and tears that goes into winning Lord Stanley Cup

people are disrespecting it and I'm like oh Jesus buddy like I won I'm like, oh, Jesus, buddy. Like, I won. Yeah, yeah, no, I'm like, oh, that sucks. Like, man, I'm not going to tell you to come back in. Like, what the fuck? Like, that's the whole point, man.

And so he does that. And then the best part is you get people still this day, you're like, you know, hey, grab the cup. Have a sip. No, no, no, no. Why not? You know, the only people that win it are allowed to grab it. Well, unless you really, really pick up your game,

I don't think you're ever going to have a chance. You're 48 and on the third line in the men's league team, dude. Pick the fucking thing up. Like, dude, you're not like, that's for players, man. That ain't for fans. And I mean, yeah, it was. People cheer at me because when the Bruins won, I lifted up. Like, that's disrespectful.

You didn't win. I'm like, what am I going to fucking say no to? Exactly. Fucking squid. Sticking with Alaska, during the lockout, you ended up going to play for the Alaska Aces back home in the ECHL. That must have been an absolute blast. Just home games? I think about it now.

Yeah, talk to us about how it all went down. So here's what happened. Okay, we all knew there was going to be a lockout. You were in, right? And we all were told, no way, we're taking a cap going to be a lockout. You were in, right? And it was, you know, and we all were told, no way we're taking a cap. I mean, that was embedded in us. I mean, I don't know how many interviews. No cap.

Yeah, yeah, I don't know how many interviews. They're like, never. We will never. Like the Palmeiro thing. And then. Imagine the deal they would have got if you just took it right away. Palmeiro.

So he goes, all right, so what happens is that Igor Larionov goes, Iggy goes, came is that Igor Larionov goes Iggy goes became close to Igor Larionov and if anyone ever gets to talk with this guy

or be around this guy he is magic the professor he's a genius this guy and not even the stories so I finally get

my own seat on the bus and I'm fuck all you motherfuckers like I'm finally hey the G Love is here my seat I'm in the back and I'm you know I'm talking the shit because I finally got my own seat on the bus and I'm fuck all you motherfuckers like I'm finally hey the G Love is here my seat I'm in the back and I'm you know I'm talking the shit because I finally got my own seat and here comes the professor and he's walking

and it's kind of like the Forrest Gump thing like seats taken but it's not no one would say that no you're good yeah yeah but he's coming back and I'm like motherfucker he's gonna pick me so I move to the you know I move to the front you know this side and I'm just acting like I'm on somebody's like hey kiddo move over I'm like fuck so there know, I moved to the front, you know, the side, and I'm just acting like I'm on something. He's like, hey,

kiddo, move over. I'm like, fuck. So there goes that. I don't have my own seat, but. She loves dead.

It was the greatest experience ever to become closer to Igor Leonov and the stories and just what really happened. I mean, just incredible. And it's just so, I mean, so as we get closer,

he says, he goes, hey, you know, there's going to be a lockout. It's going to be a lockout next year. And he goes, I'm having my retirement game.

You, Pando, I think Marty was invited, like, it's going to be a lockout. There's going to be a lockout next year. And he goes, I'm having my retirement game. You, Pando, I think Marty was invited. It's going to be in Russia. We'll get to that. And so he knows there's going to be a lockout. And I'm like, so as the year goes on, Iggy goes, hey, do you want to play? I want you to play for my hometown in Russia. And I can't even say Vardar scores.

I don't even know. I don't want to butcher it up. And I think the money was like $350, cash, whatever. I was like even say virus scores. I don't even know. I don't want to butcher it up. But so, and I think the money was like, I think it was like 350 cash, whatever. Like, I was like, oh, okay. And so I go out to Russia to go. And at this point, the Aces guys are already coming in. So I've already been skating with them.

And there's already, there's six Alaskans on the team. And a lot of guys that were your type player weren't playing that year. It was younger guys who would play. So, and no one knew about how russia was everyone's just seeing the money right so i go out to moscow take a flight i go out to moscow me and barry smith though the the coach he was going to coach there so thank god he was there so what what's going to happen is i'm going to go with the team for two weeks

so i get into moscow and you know when you go with uh igor larionov slav fatisov it's like probably michael jordan on stair like you're with role i mean you were with role i can't even explain so i'm with the g i'm i'm in places in moscow that i'm like where the fuck do i sign up mexican guy yeah i mean it was but it was like where the fuck am i signing i'll sign right like this is gonna be you know i'm already i'm already telling the the president that we'll make the play. You know, I'm guaranteeing shit. I'm like, this is going to be great.

So then I'm with Igor for two days with Iggy. And then Iggy leaves. I'm going to meet him later on the road. So now I go with this Russian agent. Sepphoris? A little chubby guy. Great guy. We became friends.

Meet Barry Smith. So now they're going to give me the tour where I'm going to live. And now we're leaving kind of Moscow and I'm, you know, kind of in the rear view mirror

like, I thought I was living in there. What the fuck? So I'm like, it's considered Moscow but it's like an hour away. I see the, all right,

so now I go and I go with the team. We get on this train. I'm meeting the team. So we get on this train. It's like a third world country train. I'm on this train. All right. We get on this train. I'm meeting the team. So we get on this train. It's like a third world country train. I'm on this train. All right.

We're on this train for like four hours. We get out. I got my hockey gear. And we watch the team play. And I'll never forget this day. I put my bag down in front of the bus thinking that, you know, it's a fucking pro. So, you know, who puts it in there?

So the bus is waiting. And we're all on the bus. And they're all speaking Russian. And Kozlov was on the team. And he's kind of like, he's just quiet. And Kozlov, next thing you notice, I see him get off the bus and grabs my gear. Why am I doing this? Not a gentle, not a gentle.

It's like, you know, basically throws it in, this and that. I'm sitting there like, shit, was I supposed to get that? So anyway, he comes back, and I'm like, like hey am i supposed to get he's like it's not the nhl or something like that i'm like all right man chill out like fuck i didn't know you know so kamensky's on val kamensky's on a team legend and so we start traveling around with these guys and it's like what the fuck man oh yeah like what like was it with the super league still yeah yeah it just it's just started i think um so we go to uh kind of kazakhstan where vinnie the caviar was playing i see vinnie at this hotel i see him in the morning and he's like

like i was like well hey how is it and he's like do you need the money and i'm like no and he's like go fucking come here man he's like don't don't he could be like dude they they were like living in they were living in they were they were living they were living in bunkers. Pre-game skates were practices. It's funny because the Russians come here. I mean, you ever get to play the Russians, it's the best. Because they're just... It's so easy compared to where they came from.

But when they go back, it's like they don't care. That's what they do. So anyway, we were seeing that. That's what they do. So anyway, we were seeing that, got to meet other guys, and at that point, we flew on one of the planes, and the thing dropped about. It was just what happened was I already started skating back home. I'd already started playing for the Aces.

I'd already been with the guys, and I'm like, you know what? Man, I don't really want to do you know so i go back i didn't want to take a guy's spot and they said they were like hey we're going to keep a spot open because rumor got it like hey scott might want to play and yeah i ended up finally was it hard to break it to iggy to say hey man this is just not for me i feel like you kind of i was more worried about uh i was more worried about not getting invited to the retirement party that was going to happen later on so i was i was like iggy like iggy like i probably want in for that yeah iggy listen man you know my family needs me like this is an opportunity for me to get back to the town he's awesome he didn't wait he don't there was nothing like that he understood he was like yeah he's like yeah i want i want to stay home i want to play at home so now now i play in the coast and um you know uh ryan bast famous legend the beast

we're gonna close friends so my first game or my first practice whatever i'm in front of the net and this guy is just cross-checking me like giving it to me he's one of those canadian hockey players only knows one speed you know like and he's giving it to me and i'm kind of like this you know they didn't get the uh memoir like like don't touch me like like i get this i get this enough i get this enough in the devil i thought this was going to be like so so finally we're in front of the net and he you know are we going to the boards and i'm waiting for him and we used to joke called the g love special the other one i just waited for him and i just bang give it to him. And now I'm thinking,

the whole rink just kind of stops because he's an animal. Like, they're probably thinking, oh my God, Beast is going to, you know, and I'm even kind of thinking like, shit, like, well, I got it, you know, I had it and he looked at me

and he's like, yep, like it, like the intensity, like it. I was like, oh, fuck, this is going to be good. So now we play, the first game is we play three and three and it's San Diego. Play the first game and I play 3-3, and it's San Diego.

Play the first game, and I think I got a point. I'm like, man, this may be a little harder than I thought because it's just kind of scrambling. So the first East Coast game now, I'm on the bench. The game's about to start, and Mike Lee is a massive fighter, and Lee's just, you you know one of my closest friends but the game's about to start and the benches are separated with this plexiglass and leesy just stands up and starts hitting the plexiglass like who wants some of this

motherfucker he's going this is my first east coast game and i'm like mike no mike stop it like mike what the fuck you doing and then everyone on the bench is like everyone's like nah he just does that every game like you know so we play the second night and now we have a third game and I remember the head coach told me he said

I'm gonna make you play all three games you're like no no no I'm just like you know I didn't want is the last guy i didn't want anyone thinking that you know now now back i look about i should have said no i'm gonna play two you know whatever so i was like yeah of course the next game's at like noon it's a noon game uh there's a hall it's halloween whatever there's a halloween party i don't leave till like you know anyway i'm thinking get through thinking, get through the game, get through the weekend.

I'm like, all right. It was a big deal. You know, get through it. But now the flight's at 7 in the morning. We fly to Seattle. Seattle to L.A. Then we wait for the bus for about two hours. We get on the bus.

We go to Bakersfield. We play the next night, right? And Bakersfield had a tough team. Like, there you go. We play the next night. Then we get back Bakersfield had a tough team. Like, there, you know, we played the next night. Then we get back on the bus, go to San Diego, go back to San Diego, play there the next night, and then get on the bus and go to Fresno. That's the only moment where I was like, oh, my God, I can't do this. Back to Russia.

Yeah, yeah. Back to Russia. Igor. Igor. I made a mistake. So now we're not talking. Now we get on the flights. And I always notice the all-star Jack, Jack Michaels,

he's the TV guy for the Edmonton Oilers, but he's there. And I always notice he's in first class and the coach, which is fun, but I'm like, how the fuck is this guy always in first class? Why are we leaving so early? And then later on we became good friends with him because every flight we took was like the worst flights ever because that's the flight he – Is he worst flights ever because that's the flight he. No, that's the flight he and the coach would get first class.

First class. 100%. That's so fucking slimy. That is so slimy. Good guy. I had him in everything. The best. The best.

So now we get on the plane and now my seat's in the middle. And I'm like, oh, God. And I'm trying to be like, not act like a diva, but I'm like, oh, my God.'m trying to be like not act like a diva but I'm like oh my god middle seat and there's a guy right or lazy I think right there and I was like hey I'll give you 50 bucks if you switch seats and he's I mean jumps out of the seat gets in Joe Talbert's great kid comes up to me goes Gomer you're in the coast I was like yeah and he goes he would have done it for five bucks but you talk about you talk about like because when we grew up uaa it was it was they were great they had a great hockey and that's why a lot of most

of us are great hockey players because of that era that i mean they always lost to lake superior in the quarterfinals that just shows you how far they got i mean they um but the town used to run i mean it was scalping tickets there was was 6,000. Did you play up there? It was that crazy there? Crazy. I missed the trip up there. Okay, so yeah. So by then it was, but I mean, we're talking, you're scalping a ticket.

Like you are like, I mean, it was the Friday. Hottest ticket in town. Oh, like in Minnesota, Wisconsin, any of the big teams, St. Cloud were coming in. We're talking Monday through, I mean, it was happening. So it's been a while, but the Aces, Alaska was winning, so the Aces, you know, Alaska loves winners. So the Aces started winning.

So now they take over, and now there's booze there, UA is struggling. But now our team comes into effect. You're there. It was rock and roll, guys. That's sick. So now I've been with the Devils the whole time, and this is the first time I don't have rules.

Oh, my God. I'm just not even kidding you. You're not even in the A. Yeah, and I mean, you cannot put six Alaskans on a team, plus the other guys. I mean, I never partied that hard. Like, literally, like, the shenanigans that went on, like, it was incredible to think back. And here's the worst part.

When the league, we were in Peoria, remember, because Gretzky and Lemieux got involved. Like, the league's going to happen. They're saying it's the worst part. When the league, we were in Peoria, remember, because Gretzky and Lemieux got involved. Like, the league's going to happen. They're saying it's going to happen. So my business guy drives out from Chicago, probably take a flight back from Chicago. And I'm probably one of the only guys that I'm like, oh, shit, man.

I don't want this to start. No, no, not even that. I'm 225. I'm 225 pounds. I'm in the shower one time, and this guy looks, and not that I was ever some specimen. I'm 225 pounds. I'm in the shower one time, and this guy looks. Not that I was ever some specimen. Let's get that straight. But I'm in the shower one time, and this guy looks at me, and he just starts laughing.

He's like, you've got to be kidding me. So the more I started looking at myself in the mirror, I'm like, oh, my God. Because I didn't have, I'm like, I would have been in shit and trouble. 100% no cap. No cap. Leave the charge. We're not playing that. Here's a Springsteen ticket.

Get your ass in shape. Yeah, I mean, because that's like, remember, the truck and some of those guys got suspended. I mean, I would have definitely been on that list. But one of the defining moments was, I mean, okay, so we're in Boise, Idaho, and I played with a kid, Darryl Hay, and we go out in Boise. What a sleeper. What a good time. Oh, I played in the All-Star game there. Not a big deal.

Yeah. In the coast. Yeah. I actually, I think that Darryl Hay was playing maybe even for the Boise team when that all went down. Yeah. So we go out and we have a curfew. And I'm like, a curfew? What's that?

And so I don't, you know, a bunch of us don't make it in a curfew and i'm like a curfew what's that like and so i don't you know a bunch of us don't make it in a curfew and i uh keith mccambridge one of the best leaders i've played with you know this is the coast he's the captain of the team he comes up to me and he's like and i have so much respect for this guy he's like and he's like hey uh gomer um painter wants to see you in the room and now i'm like shit man someone died like we're gonna go in there my parents dead or what's going on so i go in the room and the coach is just there with the stick and he's just like so i'm walking in now i'm like shit what happened you know hey and he's like he's like what time did um what time did you get home last night i'm

like thinking in my head are you fucking kidding i'm gonna deal with this dude i got 80 points and i said well this is this is the beginning and he says um i go uh what time was curfew and he's like curfew was at 12 and i was like or whatever it was that night i was like yeah i got home at like 12 05 and he goes nope no 1207 nope 1209 i just kept going by two. It's like that, what's that, Good Will Hunting, when he's counting the fucking seconds. I got to run one more, because I'm like, dude, I'm not dealing with, I had to deal with Lou enough.

Like, fuck this. So I'm like, I think we get down to like 12.31 or whatever. He's like, I made my last call at 1.30 or 1.02, two whatever it was and i'm like why and he's like and he goes what would happen if you were with the devils and lou lamarillo and i was like well let me first tell you uh the rule was with the devils was if you're gonna miss curfew you miss curfew that is passed down to you by the older guys like hey kid show up the pregame skate play a road game play show up the pregame skate we're in Vancouver show up to pregame skate play a road game show up to pregame skate

it's not even that it's more like you know I remember because Vancouver I got the green light finally and Chris Terraria and a couple guys like hey you can go out

you can miss it we don't have a game the next day but we had practice and he's like yeah and he goes all of them are like do not be a fucking idiot

that comes home curfew's at 11 do not come home at like 11, 30, 12 and I'm like what time do I come home they're like 1.30 12. And I'm like, what time do I come home? They're like, 1.30 on the safe side too. Because that's a loo.

He'll be up by then. Yeah, probably. Upstairs, I mean. So then I said to him, I go, well, I give him that story. I'm like, well, this is how it works. And I'm like, hey, listen, have I not been working hard? You don't have a problem with me. I'm like, team's drinking for free now.

Like, what the fuck, man? You're handing out the per diem packs. Yeah, like, what's the issue here? Like, come on. He was just mad because I think other guys went. So now he's like, well, you're not paying their fine. I was like, whatever. So then this kid walks in.

I don't really want to get the name, but he still had a couple. And he walks in, and the coach yells at him, what time did you get home? And he goes, man, I'm'm not even gonna lie to you he's like i took home the hottest girl last night it's my duty to please the booty it's my duty to please the booty through the coach and i'm sitting there like like does that work and he's like get the fuck out of here like you're paying the fine he's like all right and he just leaves and i'm like is that happening in the fine. He's like, all right. And he just leaves. And I'm like, is that happening in the coast? What the fuck? Like, I'm getting yelled at? Yeah, it's my duty to please the booty. Ironically enough, the next year when the NHL got back in,

you had the best year of your career. Yeah, well, I mean, that line, I mean, we just, you know, when you know how it is, you're getting a groove. That's when me, Patty, and what happened was, is that I never got off to a good start. That's where, like, that first year when I made the also i was one of those guys and then we had so many new coaches and it always took the new coach like you know to get my personality like just because i didn't fucking sit here and crunch the stick before a game i mean i couldn't

like yeah but hey i'm not ready we get on the ice i'm you know so it always took that half a year and i remember because it was my second time going to arbitration. And I'm like, fuck, dude, the way the numbers are going, I'm going to be signing for two. I might just have to take whatever. And Burnsy, that guy was the hardest guy ever on me. And for some odd reason, he tried me, Gio, and Patty. It didn't work.

It didn't work. It didn't work. He put us back together. And at that point, Patty, me and Patty got so much shit. Like, we'd be benched, let's say. Because once the score got two, once we scored two goals, guys like us were like, fuck. Like, here we go. Matt and them are going to play. But we'd literally be in a game hoping that the other team would be up by two because then we got to play so that's how you get ice time and then but

bernsie would be the guy that he's such a prick he's the best bernsie would be the guy that like because you know me and patty be on the bench pissed and then afterwards in front of everyone he'd be like those two fucking selfish guys see that they're not there for their teammates we're like what are you playing man what the like you know That was just Bernsie. And then finally, it got to the point where Bernsie puts together, shit happens, and now I'm coming back to the bench and I'm like,

fuck you, get me back on the ice. He's like, ooh, little prick's got a little spunk today. I like it. He just knew how to fucking... He wanted to fire you.

Yeah, he wanted, but he also didn't need it. But that's when, yeah, I finished the year and it went from arbitration going to two, like back in the fives. Here we go.

Yeah, here we go, baby. So, no, that was a fun year. I mean, it was great. We ended up, you know, not going as far. But, yeah, the East Coast, it was something else. It must have been special playing back home in front of everyone. I'm glad I did it. I look back, and just not only that, for the town.

I met some great friends still to this day. And, yeah, we just had a character team. Like, we – no one understands what it's like to go on a road trip. I mean, you would, but we're in Vegas for seven days. Oh, my God. Like, are you kidding me? I mean, it's just like – And you had money.

Yeah, but, I mean, no one else does, though. Yeah, exactly. That's even more like – Subsidizing everybody. Yeah, it's like, hey, you know, but it was – you know, that was the number one goal. Hey, man, you guys can say whatever you want, but when you all leave here gomer did his part like i wasn't cheap but but i mean we're in vegas for seven fucking days like i mean it was just incredible i mean just just some of the the the stories and uh you know i mean you really do find out that guys love

the game i mean they don't want it to end i mean it's just this is what they play i mean this is but it was it was a special time for the town. It ended crazy. So what happened was we played Bakersfield, and it was a tough team. It was weird. We played them, and I don't know, for some reason, I was kind of like, this team's good enough. Like, our team can win. Like, I don't really – like, you know, I don't – kind of either way,

if we win it or go further, I'm going to get too much credit. I didn't kind of want that. Not that I wanted to bail out, but I was also starting to get like man this is a lot like but playoffs and we play bakersfield and anchorage and we fly back with the team with bakersfield like there's like two different planes and so i'm sitting next to the guy that's gonna hit me from behind and we talked the whole time so then the next day at at the game, right at the door, the door opens and I'm standing, it's their visiting team

and I'm just standing there like, I don't know where the puck's at and dude, Buddy rocks me. The same guy. The same guy that I fucking was on the plane with the whole time,

rocks me. I hit the gate. I hit the latch and you know, maybe it comes into effect with my acting chops but you know how it is, you gotta play it off.

Like, I'm dying. I'm dying. So anyway, I'm thinking, fuck, man. So I played it up so much that it's like, I hope there's something wrong with me. Because this is going to be like, you know, like, anyway, we go get x-rays. I'm on a thing. And my pubis is cracked. And it's probably like not even the size of that.

And I'm like, shit, like, can I still play? And the doctor's like, yeah, of course, you know,

whatever. I turn around and the, the reporter is right there in the fucking room. And I'm like, what the fuck are you doing here? He's like, nothing. Just writing shit. So then weirdest thing,

man, about five minutes later, the coach comes in and I'm, you know, I'm acting like I'm dying. And the coach comes in and hands me the phone. And I'm like, I think it's my parent or whatever. And it's, Scotty, you okay?

Oh, my God. So this has got to be like 3 in the morning, East Coast time, whatever. And I'm like, yeah. And he's like, what happened? And I said, Lou, if this was playoffs, I'd be playing next game. He's like, okay, you're done. You're done there. And I'm like, can you make next game. He's like, okay, you're done. You're done there. And I'm like, can you make that official?

He's like, it is. And I was like, okay, thanks. So now the kid can't fly back to Alaska because the town threats all of the – it was a big deal. But the worst part was I got – I don't know why they get – I got the MVP award, but I had to walk out and receive it. And I'm walking, and the boys are like,

Gomer, you're limping on the wrong foot. You're limping on the wrong foot. I'm like, what are you talking about? And they're like, Gomer, it's the right side. You've been doing it. I was like, really? No, no, no. And it's like one of those things, I got to get on the ice to think of who it is.

I'm like, no, we're just fucking with you. I'm like, which limp is it? It's the right or the left. It was a great group of guys. yeah they want to actually went out one at the next year so it was yeah my buddy uh justin myers was on the team that wanted one of my best buddies but so you know we've gone over this amazing career that you began in new jersey and then the summer 07 comes it's finally your turn to be ufa you've had every single year you know you're 60 point 70 point 80 point guy take me through the UFA to sign in with the Rangers, with Drury, and how all that went down.

Because I remember seeing that you both went to there and we were in the same division. I'm like, what? They got both of them? Yeah. So I kind of— Did you want to stay in Jersey? No, I kind of was—I was, you know, I got fortunate to play in the Olympics and the World Cup. And I got to see kind of like—

How different it can be. How different it can be. How different it can be. And I was just like, we've just won so much that it was, I think it was getting taken for granted. Like, excuse me, it wasn't, it just wasn't being fun, whatever. And maybe I wanted a new, something new. Like, not many guys leave there. And the year I had, and people don't forget,

it's usually the playoffs that I had. That's where I kind of got paid. It was more like play. And what happened was that the number just went up. So people forget that. And Lou was like, he offered Christmas time because we said, I was in arbitration with him again. And we said, thank God they moved the arbitration because it used to be like an hour and a half in the room just hearing how bad a player you are. Yeah, they just carve you apart.

But it's a business. I never understood that guys that like. Guys get that mad. Yeah, it's like, what are they supposed to say? But you're in there. But I mean, it's an hour and 45. And Lou and all his lawyers are there. And they're just bashing you.

And then the PA gives you a lawyer. And so you don't know. All right, here we go. And this guy's all pumped up. It's straight from my cousin vinny like a public when that guy when the guy starts talking he's like yeah yeah well scott's numbers are wait hold on i'm just like i'm looking like i'm looking at the fucking guy and i'm looking at lou and i'm and lou's just like got a smirk on his face and i'm like what the fuck so now i picked them yeah yeah right yeah so so now i'm you know i'm so now that happens but if you go to arbitration against lou usually you'd be shipped out because

if you look at all the guys that did it i i stayed so we go the next time and this time they cut it shorter if it's like a half an hour or whatever and before we went in there said lou i'll give up a year of free agency you know i, I want five, six, whatever. And I'll give you up one year just to put you in. He was like, no, no, no. So, hey, I'll find. We go in there. And he knew there was going to be a lockout.

We go in there. And afterwards, he's like, yeah, I hate doing that kind of stuff, Scott. I'm like, yeah, whatever. And he's like, we're in the bathroom taking a piss. He's like, how are you getting home? And I'm like, shit, my flight's tomorrow. I was like, well, it's tomorrow. Customs and all that, even Toronto.

And he's like, I got the plane if you want to go right now. And I'm like, ooh, I could be in the city by 11. Yeah, so I flew home with, yeah, I called Pando. I'm like, hey, yeah, I'm getting a T-Dubrow. I'll meet you in there, whatever. But yeah, that just shows you the business part of it. Like, I flew home with Lou after the afternoon. No hard feelings.

No hard feelings. So he taught us the business part. So now when the free agency was coming it was between Montreal Philly LA and um in New York and it was between like Brie uh Brie Drury I mean it was like who's gonna sign first three yeah and so it came down to like LA Montreal and uh you know those teams and for some odd reason man I just you know I loved playing in the the Garden. I wanted to see. I wanted to play in the city. It was everything about it.

Like, I thought they were up and coming. You know, they had a good year the year before. And, yeah, I mean, you meet with people, and it's a little different, man, the way they recruit. You know, the way they just – the way they want – I mean, it was something, hey, I want to try this. It makes you feel wanted. I want to try this.

I want to, you know, and it is business. I mean, and, you know, I signed, and then they were asking about Drew, and I'm like, yeah. And then here's the thing, though. The only regret I do have is that because, you know, they already had 23. But I was so like, I want to get away from Lou. I want to show Lou because Lou gave me that number. I want to show that I could. So Drew was talking about it, and he wanted 23 because of Don Manley and and we're talking about it on the phone and I'm

like yeah and he goes what other number would you want I'm like well number 11 he's like why didn't she why can't you be number 11 and I'm like dumb fuck do you know where we just signed like like do you know who number 11 was so no so that, yeah, we didn't flip or anything. I was like, Drew, you take 23. I'll take 19 because, you know, whatever. So, but yeah, it was, you know, it was crazy. I mean, you don't realize it until things are starting to happen. And I remember going up to Jimmy Dowd and I'm like, hey, man, I haven't been the new kid in school for a while. Like, what, you know, what's that like? Again, he's laughing. He goes, hey, the cool people find the cool people. And I'm like, fuck off like what uh you know what's that like again he's laughing

he goes hey the cool people find the cool people and i'm like fuck off jimmy like what is that and he's like all right it's like who do you hang out with he starts naming guys in the team and i'm like yeah he goes do you hang out with those guys i was like no are those guys cool yeah because are they cool i'm like no it's like cool people find cool people man it's just the way it's gonna work yeah so so yeah but going in there it was uh it was a great experience i mean what an organization i mean the way they take care i mean it was it was incredible i mean it was almost maybe too much country club but it was uh you know it was it was it was you played master square garden every night it was it was pretty cool and it pissed off a lot of pissed off i mean a lot of people and

you know people are going over it but the thing that I didn't understand was some guys that I grew up with, with the Devils, I mean, they took it personally. Really? Yeah, and that shocked me. A couple guys. And that shocked me the most because I'm like, yeah, this is business, man. This is money. I'm going to fight for them.

You know what I mean? I'll send you the arbitration tape. You can listen to what they thought of being there. Yeah, it's just like anywhere but there. It's like, this is business. Come on. Like, and then there was other guys that didn't care, but that was the most shocking. Who was the most mad?

Other than Lou. Was Lou mad? No. Did you have to call Lou and say, sorry? I think I could call Lou and I said, hey, I'm signing with, you know, I had to call a couple of people. I think, well, I was just out with Whitey about a month ago whatever in jersey and yeah he was like yeah you know i was oh i was pissed at you i was so mad at you and i'm like why and he

was i don't know i just well you know i just felt you let us down and i think uh the rival yeah yeah but uh um i think i'm sure marty a couple guys they were they were they were upset i mean but you know the other guys were hey they're happy i mean you're happy for guys that hey this is what it's about you get you know you're supposed to go for your ticket man listen were you what was oh sorry oh i was just gonna say were you happy with the way you performed in new york because you know i don't know if the trade took you by surprise but based on numbers that looked all right even in your first year in montreal they you know they went down a little bit but it's it's the thing that I get to New York, and right away I'm like, oh, shit. Anyone that says you sign a contract like that, it's not going to get in your mind.

You're like, oh, okay. You feel a little pressure, man. Seven sheets, man. Jared Cole right now in the Yankees, dude. You're feeling it. And the worst part was was that you know i got my money up front like i want to front because you never know what's gonna happen so we're in the we're in the uh pa meeting and you know they show the guys you know

and my number's at 10 and i'm the highest paid guy that year or and i just remember like oh please take that down please take that like i'm seeing like sacking those guys i'm like oh come on like and i remember chelio it just turns me and chelie turns to me and god i was like fuck yeah gomer fuck yeah i'm like no get that down i'm like get that i'm like get that down so then so it happens and yeah i'm a little nervous because i you know what are they expecting what are they expecting me to score 50 goals now and And I didn't score for like three or four games and pressure. And Bobby Haleek,

I talked to him because he did the same thing with the Rangers. And Bobby's line was the best was he said, if you guys are signing me to be the first line center, we do not win the Stanley Cup. But if I'm second or third, we win the Stanley Cup. But Bobby made it always a point.

He's like, don't forget, you're not going to change as a player. People are going to have a hard time with that. They're going to think because you signed this money now, you're just going to be a completely different player. He's like, no, you're not. He's like, you just keep your games. And that helped a lot. And yeah, I mean, I was an All-Star that year.

I had the same numbers. We did good in the playoffs. And then same thing. People forget that because of that one year in Montreal. I know. It's just funny. And I'm not going to be the guy that's like, well, hey, look at them. No, it was the same. i had people forget that because of that one year in montreal it's just funny and i'm not gonna be the guy that's like well hey look at them no it was the same i had basically the same numbers the same we had you know we came short that's your you guys

beat us uh you guys beat us around yeah and uh but no i look back i never you know i i'd never uh take it back i mean it was it was something that you know it was i got to play for the gardener in the garden what was jagger like yeah actually you know, I got to play for the Gardner. In the Gardner, it was great. What was Jagger like? Jagger, you know. Because you're playing with a guy who was not the style player you'd played with in Jersey, right? It's just, like, so different for you, I'm guessing. Jagger right away comes in. And here's the only thing where Jagger came into camp, like, 240.

I don't know what he weighed, but he was out of shape. Like, it was, you know, I being there, I wasn't used to that. Like, the top dog, you know, Scotty, all the boys. So anyway, it took Yeggs, like, I don't know, half a year to get, and then once that happened, you saw the Armory Auger. Like, we played

together, and actually we played again in Jersey, but the thing about me and him playing together, it was more just keep away. We're like, it's like, hey man, you can do that. I can only keep it away for so long and then i got i mean you're you're a beast out there like so we didn't really click i mean on the powerpoint stuff that was fine but you know my my game was like with patty and alias anyone that i gotta know where you're gonna throw it give and go give and go is like if you're in trouble i know you're gonna throw it there where jogger can hold on to the puck for, he can hold on to the puck for four minutes and you don't know where

to go. Like, I am. So, but yeah, we came together. I mean, it was a good run. I mean, he's, you know, a little different. He was different, spiritual. In practice, he'd just go like on his own, right? He would go.

He wouldn't. His intensity wasn't that great in practice. And then, you know, but then at the end he would, he would stay after for like an hour and work on that. Just do it then. But, but then like guys like me, it's like,

dude, like what the fuck? Like, yeah, you can't, you know, you're, you're going to work hard with us,

but you're going to, but you know, yeah, he was a nice guy. Great. I mean, you know, he,

he's a little different. I mean, just with the, you know, what he believes is spiritual stuff. And, and I mean, yeah, but I mean, yeah, I mean, just with what he believes is spiritual stuff. Yeah. And, I mean, yeah. But, I mean, yeah.

I mean, look at the guy still playing hockey. I mean, I know I wouldn't want to be. No. I mean, there's just a. He just loves it. Oh, go ahead, Eric. How fired up were you when your agent called and said, all right, yep, we got 70-ish, 51-5 from the Rangers.

How many backflips? We were based in chicago so i flew out and the worst part was it was my high school 10-year reunion so i was hoping the contract would come out before it but anyway no so i had to leave the reunion hook up with that girl no no no no no but it was just get the prom queen yeah i was junior prom king but and i wasn't there in my senior year. What a year early. No, so we were based out of Chicago. And the numbers were all the same.

Okay. It was all the same. It was the same from the L.A. It actually probably took less from the other. It was all the same. It was all lined up like that. So then, like I said, basically at the end, came down to L.A. and New York.

And then I talked to Luke Robitaille. And, you know, I just, yeah, I, I went with it and then it wasn't, it wasn't the money. Cause I wasn't born with it. Wasn't raised with it.

Only thing I do remember is one time I was with the trainer and we were watching Montreal play. Whoever in Kovalev was on, on the ice. I don't know if it was Pittsburgh or Montreal and, and they announced, you know, on TV, they announced Kovalev was on the ice. I don't know if it was Pittsburgh or Montreal. And they announced, you know, on TV they announced Kovalev's salary. He was making $8 million or something like that. And I remember going to the trainer. I'm like, fuck, man, imagine that.

And he looked at me. He's like, you know you're going to be making that. And I was like, I didn't, you know, I didn't. So it wasn't like the money. That's how you were, dude. It wasn't like the money thing. It was just like, wow. And then, you know, he sat back and he looked, and then he started thinking,

shit, maybe did I do the right thing? Like I'm signing with the ring. But there's no looking back. This is what it is. Hey, let's go for it. We just talked to George LaRock, and he ended up signing there as a free agent. He said it was about a month after he signed that he regretted it. When you moved over there did did you feel the same

as you did maybe in new jersey or new york or did you have to feel the an an exponential weight of the world on your shoulders given you were in montreal all of a sudden oh when i got traded to montreal yeah okay so no so what happens is is that in the summer no move clause no no yeah i had uh i had like seven eight teams and the thing was was you know i'll call whatever team don't want you fuck off i'll see you later i'm not gonna sit here i don't want to be here yeah you don't want me here i don't want so i'm in the summer and uh and a mayor alexander mcgillney always said he goes you're gonna get traded once and you know your career and he goes just hope it's in the summer so i'm sitting there and i'm i get a call it's in the summer. So I'm sitting there and I get a call.

It's in the morning. And it's Steve Valquette, one of my best friends. And he's like, fuck, can't believe this is ending. I'm like, what are you talking about? And he's like, oh, shit, man, you don't know? And I'm like, no, what? And he goes, fuck, Omar, I think you got traded. And I'm like, really?

I'm like, where? To Montreal, you know, whatever. And so I get traded to Montreal. And I'm like, you know, it's like, okay, I'm like really I'm like where to Montreal you know whatever and so I get traded to Montreal and I'm like you know it's like oh yeah I'm going to Montreal but I'm like man I'm going to miss like living in the city being there the group you know I'm going to miss that

hey they don't want any team that's fine and yeah I remember and then you got to get the fake calls from the like I get you know Slash and he was great to me, but I get a call from him, and he's basically like, he goes, you know, like there's nothing to say. I don't need to say, we're not going to be buddies anymore, or whatever.

And then, you know, I get a call from Torts, and he's like, you know, gives me the ultimate, like, you know, I'm going to be watching you to make sure, you know, to see how you're doing. I'm like, why do you guys got to say that? Like, yeah, no, you're not.'m like why do guys gotta say that like yeah no you're not like yeah you're really gonna watch me

like yeah your team's here hey Gomer that shift you should've like like it's like the number one thing when they're like

just man no one's yelling even up walking the shots all caps yeah so darts so then

so guys start calling and that's another thing you find out you really find out and you tell like you find out like who not your buddy whatever, but you find out who calls. And it's always an important thing to, whether you like the guy or not, you make a call, hey, sorry to hear what happened.

Sorry, because there's nothing worse when you see them later on. They're like, hey, I was meaning to call you. I was so upset. Shut the fuck up. Dude, save it, save it. So now, right away, I'm in Montreal. I was actually going fishing that weekend and um we're driving out and phone's kind of spotty and then you know get the montreal

media now that's and it so happened i was going to my business manager's bachelor party in montreal a week later with like a hall of fame group like like a hall of Fame group. And so now I'm a Hab though. And we all love Montreal. We all love this. But it takes it about a thousand times up when you're a Hab. Oh, yeah. So this bachelor party went from to like. It's crazy.

It was crazy. It was like, it was absolute nuts. And, you know, the only thing was that there was a bunch of new guys on the team. So it was me, Gio, Brian Gionta, Mike Camilleri, Yo Spachek, Hal Gill. So it was kind of we're all in this together, we're new. And you find out right away in Montreal, like, first of all, the fans have a say. And I come from places where they the fans have a say and I come from places where they don't have a say

this is like you know I still don't I still think that they shouldn't they have a say in everything you want but it should not have anything to do with what happens in decisions so Max LePeriere and Mike Camilleri are going to fight in the room this is like one of our first

our first practices, whatever. Because they're heated? They just rubbed each other the wrong way. But it's one of those like, you know, they're just face-to-face. Like, no, there ain't going to be a swing. And, you know, great guy, Lappy and Cam, great friends. But it was just funny. They're like, it's like you're almost like someone throw a punch.

Like someone do something. Like this is just too good. But they're going at it. Like, someone throw a punch. Like, someone do something. Like, this is just too good. But they're going at it. Just then the PR guy comes in.

And he's going to the door across the locker room. And we're like, yo, where are you going? He's like, we got to let the media in. Oh, my God. You can't let the media wait. You know, their timing. You can't let them wait. And spot checking me, we're like, yo, whoa, that's not happening.

Like, you know, that's not happening. That's not happening. Hey, this is in-house. So that was a wake-up call in Montreal. Like, wow. Are guys more worried about if the media is going to wait because there's going to be a fight in the room? That's bizarre, man. They're going to see that?

They were just scared of that. But I'll give you a – you guys can edit this. My first Ranger road trip. No one knows this. but I'll give you a, you guys can edit this, my first Ranger road trip. No one knows this. So it was Stahl's rookie year. So I don't know if it's my first year in New York or second. I think it's my first.

So, yeah. So we go to Tampa. We're 6-0. And we're at a, we go out. We all go out, go to this one club, whatever. And I'm with with my boy brandon dabinsky and i'm sitting with him the whole time teaching him how to be a pro this and that like hey man you just you know and i'm also in shock that it's the first time i'm on the road where i'm not wearing a suit like i'm in actual clothes and that was like a big like wow like human yeah like so so anyway we um tell him do we were like the last to leave

we're walking out and there's just commotion outside there's commotion and i walk out i'm like what the fuck you know and you know or is he there's this group of guys and there's a bunch of muscle heads around something something happened whatever something something went down and finally i'm coming out and it gets calmed down and then there's this girl in the corner that will not stop stop like i don't know what happened someone like but she's just she's throwing gas in the fire everything's calmed down and finally one of the boys turns to her and is like shut the fuck up he says something and it just started mayhem so it was one of the muscle heads girls

yeah so now i don't know what happens i'm out there and before you know it no one knows this before the girl that's yelling she fucking smokes me i turn around i get full punched in the face and i'm like i see red and i've never you know never touched the girl never it's number one really never would you can't i mean i got fucking rocked and i'm like what the fuck i can't do anything and just then i think i think maybe one of her boyfriends thought i did some because just then i turn and this fucking guy just pow cranks me i go down i hit my face on the ground and i'm wearing a suit or no i actually did have my suit on because I was after a game Yeah, and I hit the ground and I jump right back up, but I didn't want to get my suits buddy

So I'm doing the lean over and I'm thinking I'm like you didn't fucking knock me out You didn't knock me out. And meanwhile stalls. He's a rookie. He's right next to me and his face is just like I'm like Stolze. Let's go get the fucking Kelly. There's nothing I'm like it cuz I get out There's it's already guys are it's not like there's a bra or it's just like hey we need this to end right now but I'm leaking on the ground so me and Stolze getting the

cat finally I got the suit all over me and now I'm just like oh my god like what happened so get back to the room guys are bringing ice now you know how it is word leaks out that Gomer got, you know, I was in a fight. Beat up by a girl. Yeah, well, no, no one saw.

But that's the thing. No one saw the girl hit me. They saw the guy hit me. But I was more pissed that, like, dude, this girl rocked me. Like, she got one in. Like, you know. And so now I'm in the room. And I'll never forget.

I mean, Aves comes in. And he's just dying laughing. And I'm like, dude, I have ice in my face. My face is mangled. So, you know, thinking about the devil's days and stuff like that, it's like just everyone keeping in house, nothing happened.

And so the next day, one of the assistant coaches comes up to me and, you know, I got the look. Eyes are kind of black. And he comes up to me and he's like, what happened? I'm like, I got hit with a stick yesterday he's like you did when like i don't know second period third i don't know like fuck off so i didn't say that but i'm thinking so he comes back again um i i watched

all video i don't remember you getting that yeah yeah it happened when the video did it happen this before it happened in the corner. You didn't see it? Yeah. Well, look at my fate. And then just wouldn't drop it. We're man up and just fucking ask. And I'll tell you.

Cause you know, cause you know that I didn't get hit. You know, you know, I fucking, so, so what happens is, is that,

um, uh, anyway, I get called in the slats room and slats is like, what happened? And I'm like, you know, this is what happened.

He's like, who, who did it? Who, who, who started? I'm like, you know, I ain what happened. He's like, who, who did it? Who, who, who started? I'm like,

you know, I ain't giving a name. Like, I ain't, Hey, just whatever happened. And the coolest thing about that was slats was like, the only thing he was mad at me about was like,

Hey, you know, I want to know first, like, like, and I did, I was like, yeah,

you're probably right. Like I should have, I would just to get, cause that's probably what it does the same with Lou, but I just do, that was my first road trip. And I couldn't, yeah. And then, you know how that goes? Like, I should have let him know that night. Because that's probably what I would have done the same with Lou. But I just, dude, that was my first road trip. After a big free and exciting. Yeah, and then you know how that goes.

Like, oh, you know, hey, my person. He's out fighting. Yeah, oh, we got one of these guys. I've never been in a fight. Yeah, I just walked out. I was like, oh, what's going on here? Ronda Rousey suckered me, dude. What do you want me to do?

Fuck. So when you got traded to Macho, were you pissed off? Were you, like, relieved? What was your reaction? No, just literally man i'm gonna miss i'm gonna miss the whole setup i had i'm gonna miss playing in the car i'm gonna miss the you know it's and also hey they don't want you i was excited to go to montreal yeah there's only so many times you get to play at uh original six uh i remember saying i was just in the microwave now i'm gonna go straight to the stove or like and it was i mean these people would it was we had a great first year i mean it's the eastern finals it was uh it was it was it was different i mean but it was at the same

time i mean you're playing in the bell center you're playing i mean you don't realize it until like i mean it's like it's a religion it's a really and. And this is what saved me. And a lot of people don't know that was my years with the Devils at the end, you know, I'm reading about myself. And Joe Neuendijk, which is probably one of the greatest leaders ever, Joe Neuendijk, I probably brought it up last time, Joe Neuendijk said to me, hey, kid, don't read that. He goes, don't read that shit.

And the way he knew, he's just a stud. And he's like's like hey one of these days you're gonna be in a spot where you know it's gonna like it ain't gonna be good for some odd reason i just it and pat burns hey i know she you know don't you know burns he just kind of stuck into my head too and for some odd reason i don't listen much but i listened to those two guys and i just kind of stopped and that also saved me in montreal because i mean i'd get in the elevator when that bad year happened I'd get in the elevator and you know my neighbors and stuff would just be like dude they're like are you okay and I'm like

yeah why like you know you passed the puck on that two on one but I mean but they were like no because what's being said about me and what's being like what's being around I don't know this and then like I was talking to the reporter one time and like two guys grabbed me and another guy grabbed me. They're like, dude, why the fuck are you talking to that guy?

And I'm like, why? Who is that? And they're like, that's the guy that rips you every day, has a special thing. And I'm like, don't even know who he is, man. I don't even give a fuck. Well, let me ask you because for such a positive guy and everyone who's ever met you, the energy you give off is just like having a good time. I enjoy my life. But no matter what, it must have been hard, right?

And I know you weren't reading the stuff, but for all the success you had, it ends up being different that second year in Montreal. One, how did things change? And two, were there ever days that even a guy like you, you were really down? Yeah, when he asked Joe to break his arm. Yeah. I forgot about that it got uh no and for me to sit here and say oh no i'm not really i'm an asshole all day you guys see me yeah i know what you mean yeah but it was more like this i didn't like i didn't want

people feeling sorry for me and a lot of my friends and they were feeling sorry and i'm like what are you talking like you know and the whole point was i every day has been a saturday since i've come in this league every day i go to work it's a saturday like holy fuck man i know what it's like to go to work on monday now like oh my god like and it's just for some odd reason i cannot explain what happened like guys ask i'm like i you know the game i can't explain how i look back because i do remember always sitting there we're playing playoffs against philly and ken manderville and you know we all go through the sheets and i'm looking at a stat and he didn't score in 100 games and i remember saying how the fuck is that even like it couldn't even and i always remembered you know when i was there it was like holy fuck like like

and it also it also really you know i people don't understand like randy mckay jim mckenzie bobby holic jay pandolfo ken danico turner stevenson they would call me not to talk hockey to see how i'm doing hey kid like then just to have reinsurance have reassurance. So like, hey, that went a lot. Like Steve Valachette. He was in Russia. True friends. So it almost became a job where they were more worried about you than you were maybe worried about. But just to hear me talk to them and them say, like, get, you know.

Because, yeah, I mean, and let's not face it. Or let's face it. We weren't doing good as a team. Other guys were having a little success. And so the pressure was the pressure was all off everyone like i was like i was the joke which is fine hey i'm a big boy hey you know i'm still getting paid but it became like i mean i'm sitting there at the rink and i'm looking i mean like there's people you know dressed up in sombreros and they're just

having celebrations and this and that i'm thinking mother, mother of God, I've just come to this? Yeah. Like, wow. Like, you know, it was literally like, and for some odd reason, it was just a life lesson that, like, there's not one thing in this game that anyone, I have it over anyone that I can ever say is that I've been here. You've experienced everything. And I've been here. And I'll tell you one thing. Like, when you're down here, no one, it's like the play. No one wants to catch whatever you got. Like, kind of and i learned that later on like when i

went to florida i don't i was like costanza i didn't even have to show up it was like but it was still like it still was like that's a slap into all those guys face that the older guys that taught me like hey you still have responsibility like when pk would get out of line i'd have to grab him like hey like and you know the media was all over it how dare you know how dare scott gomez yell at pk where i'm like kid you know it's great friendly like no you're not going to do this like you you know it's just there's a right right and wrong way but yeah man there was uh if i would have read the media and i would have done i would have i probably would have uh jumped off some bridge but the worst part was and dude i dude, I had fucking one 10th a career that you did,

but I just know going through that in Edmonton, like you said, the worst part is when guys are like, hey, you all right, man? It's like. You don't give a fuck. You're like, dude. You're like, it makes it even worse that, like, all the guys in the team are like, stick with it. You're like, fuck, man.

It's just. And then the whole Jovo thing and all that was like a couple guys. It was more of a joke. Joke. But they were like but they were like gomer how you doing i'm like i'll fucking pay you to break my fucking arm right now i'm not like give me some sense of humor yeah it was just like what do you know what it was but yeah and then it was funny because yeah i mean you just sit there and like i mean wow and then you see you know you see guys feeding off it you know guys loved it there's guys that are like, hey, that's fine.

That's fine. As long as you're a good teammate, as long as you truly know, I mean, that was the one goal that you got to have. I mean, you can't change that in that regard. And the last thing I'll say about that is just, and I'm sure you'd agree, is for any player who's listening that in the NHL you're highly paid, you're not doing well, and you're kind of the butt of some jokes. How about now when it's like, I don't give a fuck. Everyone listening, you will be rich and retired and you will not care that you went through it. And that's the whole point.

It's like, how did you leave? It's money. It's money. This is a business. This is a business. The first time I held the Stanley Cup, Randy McKay, Bobby Haleak. Okay, you got that out of the way.

Now for the rest of your career, it's this. It's money. Because we all think we come in, is a family oriented money yeah it's it's money so that's and then you do kind of find yourself saying some lines like i remember when martin lapointe signed that huge contract five million uh 25 yeah yeah i remember that and i remember i remember guys chirping him overrated the sat and the point would turn to the bench and say something. I remember guys chirping him. And I remember it was a McGillney or McKay. Like we're a bunch of idiots,

hockey players. I'm like, what do you mean? He's like, we should all be bowing to that guy. Cause that guy just made everyone more money. And guys like that. I learned that like right away.

Like it's about that. So when you're getting chirped on the ice by certain guys and they're chirping you, I mean the one line you could go to is like, dude, I'm rich, man. Like I didn't want to say it, but you're getting chirped on the ice by certain guys and they're chirping you I mean the one line you could go to is like dude I'm rich man like I didn't want to say it but you're like

you know you gotta like hopefully you gotta come up with something that's what I say when you're tired you look back it's like dude what the fuck and you won cups

it's like I didn't even win a cup I don't care I got made fun of for league minimum for fucking Christ's sake I'm fucking losing it over here but hey this is great this has been unreal so we didn't cover the back For fucking Christ's sake. I'm fucking losing it over here. But hey, this is great. This has been unreal.

So we didn't cover the last one-third, so I guess we've got to make a trilogy, but this is gone. Yeah, we're going to do some video with him and do some different stuff in terms of getting this guy off the ice. So Scotty goes, that's awesome. The NHL has realized how talented you are. And to no surprise, the type of guy you are you're making content now and so i'm really happy for you and we appreciate you coming on hey just trying to follow you guys lead you guys set the you guys set the bar on the standard and so uh yeah shows uh maybe we'll add a teammate i don't know what he's gonna cost us in free agency but uh we'll see yeah but it

all we make up we make up for it because he pays for everything. Oh, yeah. Thank you, Gomer. Hey, where's the company card? Oh, it's Scotty's here. Good stuff. Thank you. Huge thanks to Gomer for not only coming in to join us, but he flew all the way in from Alaska to hang out with us for the weekend. He's an absolute specimen.

Gomez, every time he comes to New York, it's an adventure. But last time he talked to him, I think we spent 45 minutes on Claude Lemieux stories alone. So it was great to get him back in for part two. Hopefully you all enjoyed it. We would do want to let you know that that interview was also brought to you by our friends at simply safe. There's big news from our favorite home security company. Simply safe just launched a new wireless outdoor security camera.

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visit simplisafe.com slash chiclets. What's more, SimpliSafe is celebrating this new camera by offering 20% off your entire new system and your first month of monitoring service free when you enroll in interactive monitoring. Again, that's simplisafe.com slash chicklets. Ray, if you would have had that, you would have caught the neighbor who was leaving his dog's deuces on your front porch.

That was years ago. Actually, dude, the squirrels have been kind of crazy. I don't know if you can follow my Instagram. They're probably listening to the podcast. Maybe. Maybe they hear me, but they've been wilding out there. I don't know if it's like mating season and shit, but it's funny because the trees are all rustling like Jurassic Park. I think there's a T-Rex underneath there. And a little squirrel

pops out chasing another squirrel, asking with a fucking clam chat wrist. Before you know it, it's mayhem out here, Biz. Holy shit. Speaking of good days, if you're Buffalo's number one overall pick in the draft last year, Owen Powell, you're going to have some good days. He's going back to Michigan

for his sophomore year. That team is stacked. They're better than the Sabres. Stacked right now. So yeah, he, no surprise there. I think everybody expected him to go back to Michigan, so that's what he's going to do. Our buddy Sid, Sidney Crosby, in case you're not sure, he's going to miss the start of the season.

He had to get wrist surgery. I guess something was nagging him a little bit, and they want to see how it kind of hashed out the first few weeks of him skating, get back to the rhythm of things, I guess you of things i guess you'd say and they realized that wait a minute this ain't gonna work so they had to get him some surgery his wrist he's gonna be out for a little uh time a couple stars out with wrist injuries well i mean matthews is back i you know what did they say what was wrong with it like what part of it i don't they said the exact specificity of it i mean i i saw wrist that's how i wrote down i don't think said the exact specificity of it i mean i i saw

wrist that's how i wrote down i don't know if it was tendons or whatever but they were they basically were gonna try it out and say okay if he can play for the rest of the year he will but i think when training camp we're all not training camp when he started skating they realized he's in more pain than they expected that's why he got the surgery this late because people are saying oh shit if he was hurt why didn't he get the surgery you know back then? I think they figured they were going to give it a whirl and see how it played out. That must be the most annoying thing to a fan. It's like, yes, we're going into the season. It's like

now they decided to have surgery. It's like, fuck! You got to see if CT will help. You know what I mean? There's so many times when it's like, you got to give it six weeks of no usage, see if it works, and then you need the surgery. It just sucks.

He's going to miss part of the year. I wonder if he used Dr. Buddha Ball. He was the guy who helped me out when that guy stepped on my wrist. Buddha Ball helped me out too with my wrist. No way. One of the best fingernails were kind of weird too. I was like, oh, man, weird fingernails. But he's a hell of a surgeon.

I think it's because their hands get so dry because they have to wash their hands constantly i think that's a that's a thing for for most surgeons because they have to be clean when they're going in for it but um i think i've told the story on the podcast before when i was in the american hockey league the year i was an up and down between the nhl and ahl when we were playing the hershey bears in playoffs i got hit ass over tea kettle like one guy got me high one guy got me low and one of the guys as he was stepping through the hit when I when I got when I was asked over tea kettles like basically when like my head was by the ice I laid my my hand down

and and he stepped right on my wrist all right and it cut the tendons to my fingers so I had to get rushed out and luckily he was able to to tie a ball back up and i'll never forget i went to the hospital that night in wilkes-barre and the and the doc the doctor there was like ah suck it up you'll be back playing next game six to eight months later after tying my tennis oh yeah medical school he go to i'll never forget he's like oh you'll be back playing next game stop being a wuss and i was kind of like okay well that's good i care doctor at school he's like hey doc butterball don't even worry about it biz kid and stick handle before this happens so just make sure he doesn't

die under the operating table that's that's where i blame my hands went after that i couldn't throw a saucer pass i couldn't feel the bottom yeah. Yeah, I couldn't really feel my bottom hand. Yeah, my Dr. Vinny Boombatz. Carolina defenseman Jake Adden, he's likely to miss the season due to hip and back surgery. He's going to be going on LTIA. Yeah, he was pretty dinged up, and it doesn't look like he's going to be able to play this year.

He looks stunned. Well, yeah, I mean, that's like all of a sudden boom back. And you said back in hip surgery and hip surgeries. They didn't, I don't know if he had them yet. Cause the article I read that didn't disclose whether he had had the surgeries yet. So if he hadn't had him yet, he's due for a hip back, but either way, it's going to pretty much torpedo his season.

So he'll be on LTI for Carolina. This is another little story that popped up. There's going to be small ads on NHL Jersey start next season. Love it. The ads must fit a rectangle three by three and a half inches. They're going to be slightly bigger than what the patches the NBA currently uses. It said that the NBA's revenue boosted by an estimated $150 million

when they did it. So I don't know what the. So even if it's half, even if it's half or it could be 50, 75 million. The thing is, I said, I love it. I don't love it. Right. Like I look at Montreal's home jerseys, Chicago's home jerseys. Like I don't want to see an ad on those,

but to make that much money for the players in the league is a good thing. That's what I love about it. It's a no brainer. This is like, I have four more inches in the back is a good thing. That's what I love about it. It's a no-brainer. This is like I have four more inches in the back here if you want to put one from Avis. Actually, I don't even need the name bar. He already sold his grades. I don't need the name bar.

Just put an herbal act of ad read on there. But, and our buddy, well, I don't know you guys know, my buddy Greg Wyshynski, he said the placement of the ads is going to be left up to the individual teams because obviously some teams like the Rangers with the diagonal and, you know, teams get capped. And so they'll leave it up to the teams. But you can assume it's going to be probably, you know, above the heart or opposite the heart, depending on what team you root for.

Let's see. Ottawa extended general manager Pierre Dorian through 2025. He's like, what do I have to do to get fired? Getting an Uber. We get some congratulations in order. A couple of guys retired from the National Hockey League. First one, David Backus, 15 NHL season split between St. Louis, mostly played with Boston, obviously for a bit,

and then finished up with Anaheim. Well, until he went back to St. Louis and he signed a one-day contract to retire as a St. Louis Blue 965 games played in another 82 in the playoffs just a consummate professional wit I mean tough as nails his nature off the ice was kind of the opposite of how he was on the ice he was a fierce two-way competitor great center could score goals, beat you up, do everything, just a fantastic player, great legacy. It's unfortunate he couldn't get a Stanley Cup,

but I think when players who play with David Baggers think of him, they'll think what a great fucking teammate. Yeah, he really did do it all. There was a few years there. I mean, he's looking 30 goals. He's fighting. He's hitting. He's killing penalties.

He was just a power forward who dude he saved like he was taking dogs back from the russian olympics in sochi he's got a heart of gold yeah he cares for animals right he's a good human being who unfortunately fuck i mean concussions his team that he that he he retired as a blue like he went to Boston, they lost the Stanley Cup final to him. You know, forever, that'll be the tough part of his career. But if that's the worst thing that happened to him, what a run he had. He played in the league a long time.

U.S. guy, college guy. What did he play, Mankato, I believe? Do you have it down there already? I didn't have his college, no, but I can certainly pull it up for you. I thought you were going towards the disappointed voice in your mouth, Whit. I thought you were going to mention the concussions. I'm happy to see him retire and not sustain anymore.

I mean, if there's one guy, it felt like every year he'd get one, and as they pile up, you have concern about the guy's health. So I'm happy he was able to to hang him up and and in doing so had an unreal career yeah what mancato is where he played three seasons yeah so um yeah represented his country a bunch of different times yeah one of those hits remember seabrook got him that one biz that was one of the worst ones he did battle a lot of head injuries where it was almost uh you're right, like looking at it, it's probably time, right? He's played a long time.

He's put his body through a lot. So hopefully he's good now. I saw him in the distance at Jimmy Hayes' funeral. I didn't get to talk to him, but I saw he was there. No surprise he showed up for that. And just a good guy who I think probably got a lot more out of his career than some people thought when he was 18, 19 years old, right? Yeah, he was a, 19 years old, right? Mm-hmm.

Yeah, he was a great Bruin, too. I mean, I thought he had statistically maybe not, but the guy, he got a lot of bad luck here. Remember he got that gash in his leg? He cut his leg. He had a concussion. I think he had a really lot of tough luck as a Bruin, but he gave everything he had while he was here as a fan, man.

That's all you can really ask for from a guy, you know? Yeah. The other guy who ended up retiring, Travis Zajac, probably the sneakiest thousand games ever. Yeah, that guy. Steady Eddie. Steady Eddie, like such a Lamarillo player, right, in Jersey all those years.

And then they brought him over to the Islanders. I think he had every game except for 14, 15 games as, as a devil. So he retired as a devil. He's going to stay on and work with them, but he played at North Dakota and then him and Parisi were in New Jersey together.

Who was also North Dakota fighting Sue. And I think looking back, like Zajac was another guy. The reason you last this long in the league is you can play both sides of the puck. I mean, unless you're one of those dudes who's just straight up 40 goal guy every year, you got to be able to be good defensively.

That's why he played so long, because he was able to like shut down the opposing team's top players while also providing offense himself. Jersey had a couple really good years when he was there. He got to go to the Stanley Cup final. What year was that? Did they lose?

They lost to LA in 2010. It was either either 12 or 14 it was either 12 or 14 because those are two years la one is it's true i saw how many games i would have guessed 800 i thought he had 800 850 games like over a thousand stayed healthy most of his career and a guy who i'm wondering um if he couldn't get another contract, I think he might have been able to, or it was more just say, I don't, when you know, you know, right? Maybe it was just a new time. Yeah, he didn't play many games last year.

I think he played 13. Hadn't played a ton over the last two years. But just steady Eddie. Know exactly what to expect night in and night out. And you mentioned that Lou Lamerello is special. He played two AHL games and then right up to the NHL and never looked back um and uh an unbelievable career so I'm sure he's you said he's getting into what player development with the organization he's doing a bunch of stuff player

development on and off the ice and then I also read he's going to work with developing the New Jersey Devils like youth hockey program so he's probably going to do a lot of off-ice stuff with younger kids which is pretty cool that he's going to be doing that and trying to grow the game in the Jersey area. I don't know. Fucking rights. I'm looking up his career earnings, but what's your guess?

I would say I would say over 50. I'd say 55 million. Oh, nice. Would that be making 55 sheets? Yeah. Just to get a little over his numbers, 15 seasons, 1,037 games played, all but 13 of them with New Jersey.

He's one of just four players with 500 points with the New Jersey Devils. And yeah, he's going to be doing player development and consult with the team as well. And also one of the retirement, we want to give a shout out to Zach Smith. 65, I think. 65 sheets. How you doing? 65 million.

Wow. Good for him. Like I was saying, forward Zach Smith. He retired after 662 games played, 12 NHL seasons, 11 with Ottawa, one with Chicago. He was hurt back in February of 2020. He had some back surgery and probably realized by the time he got back from it, he might not be in playing condition

anymore. So we want to give a congratulations to those three guys on behalf of us. Zach Smith, Travis Zajac, and David Backus. Guys gave a lot to the game. Gave the heart and soul to the game, to the league. We always like to acknowledge them here on Spit and Chicklet. Enjoy retirement, guys.

Hopefully we'll get one or two or three years on soon. Speaking of retired guys in St. Louis, Chris Prong is number 44. He's going to be retired January 17th of 2022. Even though he's in their top four still, they're going to retire him while he's playing. It's cool. First time I've ever seen that. Fuck.

He could probably still squeeze into that top four. They got to be wearing those old... Are they doing the reverse retros again this season? I don't think they're doing the reverse retros. I don't know what they're doing as far as third jerseys. It's funny you said that, Biz. Hilarious. Your team is bringing back the Kachina. Yes, as their full-time jersey.

But the reason I asked, if they were doing the reverse retros, if they they're doing pronger night they got to go back to the ones that they used last season with the blue with the with the white and yellow at the bottom or not white and yellow red and yellow excuse me yes yeah i thought those were some of the the sneakiest best reverse retros now i know i don't know what if adidas was just doing that for the first year and then now they're going back to to the way it was. But I like that concept. At least do it every couple of years where they got to get people designing these new types of jerseys.

I think that the Coyotes had to do it, though. They had to. It's like the one thing people want from them is that jersey, right? I read a lot about, they're trying to get like more popular with younger people and they think that that Jersey will help. I agree with them. So they're going to have them in white too now, which I actually really like,

if you go look at the old photos of like Rick talk it and Ronick and all these guys, the white one was the one that stuck out the most to me. They used to have the real thick neck on them though. Yeah. Yeah. It is striking. Sometimes used to have the real thick neck on them, though. Yeah. Yeah, it is striking. I usually like the road – well, I shouldn't say the road jersey. It was a road jersey when I grew up, but like the DACA version, I like those better. But with the Arizona biz, I like that.

The kachina on white, something about it. Very striking. It just pops. The crest pops a little bit more. Exactly. All right, buzzing right along here. Rangers general manager Chris Drury said it's a priority to name a captain this season preferably early in the season but he wants a new head coach

gerard gerard galant to have a little time to assess but interestingly uh temi parent basically flat out said i don't want to do it uh he come out and you know said it's not a job that you know he doesn't speak english great he just knows he's not suited to be a captain. And he, it was just unusual, I guess, to read quotes so far about a guy like saying, no, I don't want to be captain, but you certainly understand that he made his point. Uh, but they haven't been a captain for the rain. It hasn't been a captain for the Rangers since Ryan McDonough, uh, back in let's see, February 26th of 2018. So three and a half years.

What about Adam Fox? I was thinking that I mean you know he came out of college so he's not like super young but that might be a lot to put on his plate now after you know he just won the Norris Trophy let him focus on his game but you got to also look at candidates who are going to be there a while

and he's one of those guys Zibanejad would probably be a good pick but once again he's one of those guys um zabinijad would probably be a you know a good pick but once again he's up for uh he's up for a contract after this season so yeah he's been there a while it could be cried he's actually the longest 10 degrees when guys are fucking flying into the zone it can't be cried maybe the seal weigh him down so he'll actually slow down and won't be offside. But yeah, when Donor ended up retiring, they took a year off with not having one. I think same with Detroit where they finally eventually named Larkin.

Now, what's the longest a team's ever gone without having a sea? That's a great question, Paul. I don't know off the top of my head. I would assume like two meetings. Remember when they made Luongo the captain in vancouver and he had the sea on the jersey minnesota yeah he had it on his chin of his helmet yeah he did he did knock him on the jersey went on his fucking bucket you're right yeah he had it right in the right on his chin on the on the helmet which is fucking awesome i I don't know. The Rangers...

Minnesota did that no-captain thing for the first two years of their existence, I think, or the rotation. And they had two different captains, I thought, with Koivu at one point. Yeah, that's a good question. To have no C, either way. I don't know if you guys saw the clip. Jonathan Drouin, he talked

about... Remember, he stepped away from the game back several months ago, and he talked about it openly he cited his anxiety insomnia sleeping conditions but either way he looked good he sounded good and you know we obviously root for any guy in the league to get back to their their healthy status and you know it was nice to see him at least out there talking about the the difficulties he's had and you know anxiety sucks man i mean i i still get it doing shows. That's why I have a few beers before we start recording sometimes. I can't imagine.

You don't think I had it when I was talking about TNT earlier? Like... I actually watched it. So the show Untold about Crime and Punishment with AJ and Wingfield, they have a bunch of different of those documentaries.

And one of them's on Marty Fish, who, if you don't know who that is, incredible tennis player. He grew up with Andy Roddick and what a wild story. One of the first athletes to like make it big and talking about his mental health. This is such a good watch. I recommend it to anyone. Also, I respect the hell out of Marty Fish. He's an absolute stick would dummy me on the golf course

so check that one out it's really good and it involves anxiety and insomnia and the same type things that Druin was talking about he was battling so hopefully he feels better

because right that trade we've shit on that trade a lot how good Sergeyev is and what's happened with Druin but he's still there's so much in there as a player let's see if this year he's feeling healthy and better. He can go light it up.

And coerce them for talking about it because it's not easy to do and for him to come out and acknowledge it and talk about it. I think it helps people. I know it genuinely helps people out. So good job, Jonathan. Yeah, and there's probably tons more guys who suffer from this. Maybe not to the extent that he was

where he had to finally say, hey, I got to take a step maybe not to the extent that he was where he had to finally say hey i i i gotta take a step away but the you know the the fact that he's being vocal about it is huge because moving forward if i feel like more guys will you know tend to put their own personal health it gets it gets it gets difficult man you're under the bright lights playing in the nhl and like you feel like you'd be letting your teammates down by leaving especially around playoff time. So on top of the anxiety he's probably already dealing with, the conversation of going in there and talking about it. It's compounded. Yeah, it probably made it even worse.

So like I said, kudos to him, and I hope that he can recover. What's going on here? G texted us, and hopefully he didn't get us some Wikipedia, or if he did, it's sourced. G texted us and hopefully he didn't get us some Wikipedia or if he did, it's sourced. Bruins are the longest team without a captain, 1967, 68 through 72, 73, six seasons,

according to the text from Grinnelli. Chicago and Pittsburgh also each did five seasons as well. Okay. And of course, Johnny Busek. A lot of people think Bobby O is the captain, but Johnny Busek was the captain for a lot of those Bruins teams. Misconception for you. Let's see. Moving right along.

The Columbus Blue Jackets. Back in June, they hired Sylvain Lefebvre to be an assistant on Brad Lawson's staff, but he declined to get a COVID vaccination, which violates the NHL protocol. So the team let him go. So he will not be an assistant coach for the Columbus Blue Jackets because he didn't want to get vaccinated. The OHL suspended Montreal draft pick Logan Mayhew

indefinitely for violating the league's expectation for appropriate conduct by a player. He can apply for reinstatement January 1st of 2022 but what's interesting to me guys is that like this is bullshit he wasn't suspended before the draft they I think I would it's safe to say they knew the details of what had happened and then he gets drafted and then all this year all this time later and again when it's offending his actions or what

he did it's just that odd he gets suspended now, whereas if he didn't get drafted, then there'll be no action or if he get drafted later. It's just sort of a weird cause and effect, almost like they're trying to catch up to something. Am I off here, boys, or what? Yeah, I was certainly surprised by it. And it almost makes it sound like – so I think they'll let him play when he tries to reinstate, right? January 1st.

So it's like they're suspending him for half the season. But I don't know. It was a big story. And what he did was not right by no means is that fucking acceptable. He came out. He said he didn't want to be drafted. I think. Now granted, the story goes back to where he didn't give an apology to what the girl wanted.

And there's a long backstory to this. But I thought he came out and seemed responsible enough to say that he really fucked up and needed to learn from his mistakes. And I don't know. They're just like, all right, well, even though you just got trapped in the first round, you can't play in our league. I was just surprised. I don't agree with it. But the OHL seems to be doing things occasionally that that i don't agree with more often nowadays if he did some suspension where the why wasn't he suspended right when this became

knowledge you know what i'm saying like i'm not saying he should or shouldn't be it's not that's not what we're arguing it's just the fact that i'm just curious i'm just curious to know if if maybe sometimes the people making the decisions are unaware as to like the amount of public backlash it will actually receive when it's done and then it and then it does and then they like you said already they're just trying to catch up to it on the back end so yeah i don't know i don't know it's uh but i would imagine for a guy who said he didn't want to even be drafted he's probably okay with the punishment now and he probably just wants to put this behind him as does i'm sure everyone involved with the situation i agree 100%, Paul.

And again, to reiterate, we're not defending him or what he did. Obviously, it's not acceptable what he did. He zoned up to it. It just seemed the timing of the suspension was just a little odd. That's all. It was just a little weird, and I think you guys agree. We got a couple of sad notes from the last time he met. Unfortunately, legendary Chicago Blackhawks goalie Tony Esposito

Tony O he died at 78 from pancreatic cancer a hockey hall of fame I mean Tony O he's a guy I've seen you know late in his career kind of the ass end of it and this is a guy who did it with panache he did it with style like you just knew it was Tony Esposito when he

was playing that he just had this sort of own style about him of course you know he did it from the goofy hand or whatever they call it, like the opposite hand of doing it. And also he was early prior to the butterfly technique. I mean, that's something we take for granted nowadays that goalies do that all the time. But he was an early, what's that, early adapter, I guess, to that because it's not something you really talked about way back then.

People didn't even talk about goalie technique back in the day. So our condolences. Strap on the Boston Globe to your knees and good luck. It was. Yeah, basically that was it. Exactly what. So, you know, our condolences to Phil, of course, and the extended Esposito family, friends,

and anybody who played with him. And also we want to send our condolences to the family and friends of roger bear mr ranger uh he passed away at 80 years old uh his number seven was the first to be retired by the rangers so uh again our sympathies condolences to the extended rangers family i saw a great video a guy was in like in one of the arenas watching the rangers warm up and he had his jersey on from back in the day, and he went down, he tapped him on the shoulder, he turned around, and it was Roger O'Bear.

It was pretty cool. I read and heard some great things about him. What a player, too. I didn't know how good he was, right? You start learning and hearing once he passes away. Unfortunately, he took that, but holy fuck, what a career. Well, it goes to show how much cops matter, because those Rangers teams in the 70s

had a lot of good squads with, but they couldn't get over the hump and, you know, Mr. Ranger, Roger O'Byrne was a key part of them. So, again, our condolences. A little bit of a happy note, at least we can go to here. Happy 70th birthday to the flower, the original flower, Guy Lafleur. This is a guy

who tortured my childhood as a Bruins fan. A Montreal Canadian forward with 50 goals. I believe he was the first player to have 50 goals and 100 points for six consecutive seasons. Just a dynamic player. An awesome player to watch. I hated him as a kid, but I appreciated him.

So I figured I'd give a nice little happy birthday to Guy Lafleur. I don't know if he listens, but hopefully someone can't convey the message to him if they don't. Because he was a hell of a player in biz. You know what? I know Herbal Active has been treating you pretty good lately. They are back. Herbal Active, the CBD company, they were on the podcast, I want to say, a few years ago.

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you guys need through Herbal Active with the Biz 20 promo code. How's that? That's a pretty good match. Do they still have the rub? You mean the bomb? The bomb. Ooh, look at you. This was the stuff that we sent to R.A. What are you going to do? This is the stuff we sent to R.A. when he was massaging his grandma or aunt's feet.

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when we get to them, the ETC part, as I call them in our email, the et cetera part, the non-hockey part, the celebrity, entertainment, movies, news, all that. Unfortunately, again, there's a few death notices of folks that we really liked, really appreciated, and we do want to acknowledge them here right now. Norm MacDonald, 61-year-old comedian, hosted SNL for the weekend update for a bunch of years,

a bunch of movies. I've seen him in concert. You're obviously familiar with Norm MacDonald. Oh, Dirty Works, one of the funniest movies of all time. A lot of people don't even know about it. I didn't even know about it. Then somebody told about me. It's comedy.

Artie Lange's in it. Those two were kind of in a lot of stuff together, huh? Yeah, yeah. They knew each other very well. But what was the weekend update to? He always talked about OJ. Well, that's why he lost the job there, yeah. Really?

Oh, yeah. OJ was friends with Don Olmey, who ran NBC or NBC Sports at the time. And Norm, like, he did not be shy about calling it on OJ, because obviously he was a double murderer, even if he wasn't convicted. So he would just say it like, oh, murder is legal in the state of California now. And, like, eventually he got warned about it, warned about it, and then they fight him basically because he would just do too many OJ jokes. Yeah.

I mean, him and Artie Lang are pretty aggressive, and I think they've been blackballed a few places for their aggressive comedy. Now, Norm MacDonald on these talk shows, how he would just go into these stories. Like the moth one is incredible how he just ranted on about the moth the moth family the moth telling him the doctor all of his problems and then coming back with the punch line after like five minutes then there was also the the one girl who uh was on the conan show who was promoting her movie with Carrot Top. Oh, my goodness. He was just ruining Carrot Top.

Him on The View. Oh, my God. He's talking about Bill Clinton murdering someone. And he just loved the awkward moments. The moments that make most people's skin crawl, I think he wanted to live in those moments. And the more uncomfortable everyone was, the happier he was. that's what it seemed like at least yeah yeah no he was a master that i mean he didn't specialize in awkward comedy but he had no problem like venturing into it

was he was he always on the conan o'brien show was he one of the guys that would come in frequently i mean he was he popped on Letterman's couch. Yeah, he did frequent guest spots. I mean, I didn't watch Conan enough to know how frequently he did, but I mean, I think they were boys from going back 30 years because Conan used to write for SNL way back in the day. Conan, he went on Conan. So Conan got the late-night job,

and then I think nine months later, like, got fired, right, R.A.? Oh, God, yeah. He was supposed to get it, and then Jay Leno backstabbed him, and then, like, he, like got fired. Right. All right. Oh God. Yeah. He was supposed to get it. And then Jay Leno backstabbed them. And then like, yeah, exactly. So Norm's Norm goes on and he's got this big, he's like, oh, I forgot. I got this basket for you. I, I forgot to give it to you.

I kept forgetting to bring it in. And it's the basket is like, congrats on getting the job. And he's like, open the card up, Colin. And the card's like, congrats on this job and the next 25 years. And your future is just straight out teeing him off. He's like, oh, I didn't get this to you right away, but still, congrats, man. Oh, funny bastard. Oh, I also heard he.

This might have been I was listening to Minahan. They were talking about him a bunch. They that he had an idea for like a show like that would that would be that would be like a normal. Like say everybody loves Raymond where he's the husband and it's a it's a sitcom and and he's got the family and it's norm. and it's a sitcom and he's got the family and it's Norm, but then a couple episodes in, his wife's brutally murdered and he comes home and her head's cut off. Oh, my God. And everyone's like, Norm.

The dead pin. He was the master of the dead pin. I told you guys, I actually look back to my old DMs. We used to trade DMs back in the day, like eight, nine years ago, but it was pretty cool. Like, you know, one of my comedy heroes that I actually get a reply from via DM. It's pretty, pretty good. You don't know how to roll a joint.

Get better, dude. Yeah. Yeah. No, he, I had tagged him about something and he, yeah, he followed me and slid in my DMs to talk about what I had tagged him about. But yeah, it was, it was pretty cool. But moving right along, unfortunately, well well my favorite group in the world you guys know the rolling stones they lost their drama charlie watts a few weeks back nine uh he was 80 years old and

it's funny man like you guys know i wrote i write obituaries of boston and i don't write every celebrity death i write if it affects me in a personal way enough to want to write about it. And I always would think, ah, what if one of the stones dies and you always think it's going to be Keith or Mick. And then, you know,

Charlie Watts dies. And it's like, fuck man. It was like the dude's 80 years old. He was the drummer for the best rock and roll band ever. And it's like, you know, you,

you, you sat on one hand, but it's also like, man, this guy had the best fucking life ever. Like, and he wasn't like, he wasn't seeking the spotlight. Mixing him and I got Keith's keep like Charlie Watts is like a very, he was an English gentleman. He, he was a very quiet guy,

but he was like the heartbeat of the band, man. And when he died, it was like, I can't say I was sad that the guy died, but it was like, man, what a fucking life you know some some obituaries would i sit down i cried like when tom petty died he wasn't young but the way he died it was unexpected and it was you know i was sad i cried right now but charlie it was like man this guy had a fucking life man like you know he went to a band audition 50 fucking eight years ago and got the job of his lifetime he never missed 58 years of rolling stone never missed a gig he was all set up yeah not one gig not one gig he was all

set to go back on tour and then they announced about two months ago that they did you know it was probably a pre pre-tour physical they said oh he charlie's not gonna be able to tour and then you know he died two months later so you know, obviously had some sort of calamity going on. But this guy was just the backbeat. You know, you always think of Stones, Mick, Keith, whatever, even Ron Wood. But, you know, Charlie was the drummer for 58 fucking years. And all of a sudden he's gone, man. It's like it's heartbreaking.

I mean, it's a band. I got him tattooed on my leg. And it's like it's sad, and it's like, it's sad, but it's like the ultimate tribute is this guy was a legendary drummer for a legendary band. So I think the fact that he lived to 80, man, it's like you can't cry too much, Biz. If you're a rock star and you make it that long,

like the way they were living, holy shit. I mean, he's a Rolling Stone dude. He lives to 80 fucking years old. Yeah. The fact that they're all still alive is a miracle. It's crazy. Like, these guys were, I mean, they were doing hard drugs for fucking 20, 30 years, right? Right.

And Charlie, everyone thinks so. Charlie, he was so quiet. But he confessed to having a heroin addiction during their run. I think it was in the 70s or 80s. And, you know, it was such a crazy thing. I mean, imagine being the most famous fucking rock band in the world for 40 50 fucking years that's a lot and yeah he had his own personal trials and tribulations and he got through him and he was just always such a low-key guy and i'll tell you i've seen the stones probably three dozen times and every time

you saw them when they announced him it was the loudest cheer by far i mean everyone loves mick and keith but when they announced Charlie, because he just was shy. He was like sheepishly would smile because it almost seemed like he was at odds. They're trying to get him going. Yeah, he was like at odds. They're trying to get him going, eh? His personality was at odds with being what a rock and roll-like personality

should be. So, anyways, man, he's a guy I loved. I've worshipped for a long time, and I want to send Mike a don'ts. I don't know who might listen to Spitting Chickens, who loves Charlie Watts, but if you do, I'm terribly saddened that we lost him, but he had a great life, and I want to send everybody my sympathies. And finally, one last one here.

Michael K. Williams. Anybody who watched The Wire on HBO? Omar coming, y'all. I mean, like I said in my old bit that I wrote for Boston, Whitbiz, one of the most iconic TV characters in the history of the medium. There was nobody out there who just personified a character, I don't think. I mean, you think of the Fonz and Henry Winkler. That's what Omar was like.

Omar, Michael K. Williams, he was such an iconic character. And just to lose him at 54, man, it's sad. It's sad that we lost a guy like that because he was such a great guy, but more than a wire, dude. He was in movies, shows all over the place. He was in Boardwalk Empire, too. Boardwalk Empire, Chalky White, exactly.

I mean, gone, baby, gone. Every movie he was in, he was just one of those person, one of those actors who had such a presence that whenever you saw him in, they struck a chord with you. And I mean, the wire, though, like his thing with that. I mean, his character is a guy who robbed drug dealers with a shotgun, and he was beloved because I think because Williams' portrayal was so charismatic with that, like, you felt like you want to hang out with the guy.

Even though he's, like, ripping off drug dealers, like, there was something about him where, like, this guy has a cool vignette to him. When he died, like, I love The Wire, one of my favorite shows. And somebody wrote or put up the scene with Bunk when Bunk meets him at the, it's like a bus stop or something. That's an unreal scene. It's a great scene.

I got to get back into that show. I tried it. Yeah, I tried it. It can be a little slow. I actually know a lot of people who don't like it, so I totally understand somebody who wouldn't be into it. I don't know, though. Maybe when you're older, maybe a couple years go by,

maybe give it another shot. I just enjoyed the hell out of it. I didn't love season two but omar's number one character no doubt so are you one of those i don't like season two of the why people what i don't know yeah i didn't like i i mean i i watched it it was just my least favorite season i hated that kid i hated that fucking kid ziggy ziggy yeah he's an awful character but I think season two gets a bad rap because none of the wire happens without season two. Like all the events. Oh, no, I know.

You got to set them up to knock them down. Right. All right. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. It is. But anyways, yeah, again, I just want to acknowledge a few of the folks we've lost since we last met.

But we can talk about some cheerier things while we're here. The Emmys. I don't know if you guys watched the Emmys, and it was an awesome Monday Night Football game. Actually, you know what? Let's talk about football first. NFL, Brady and Gronk, Biz, Witt, it's tough to watch these guys still do it in a different city right now, but I can't get mad.

I mean, Witt, you can't get mad watching Tom Brady. No, it's incredible. At this point, I don't – how old is Brady? 44? Is he 44 yet? Like, I don't – like, when will he be – I don't know. Now you can't really hit the QB.

Like, when will he be bad? Like, I don't really see in, like, two years all of a sudden, like, he's going to be that much worse. Who knows? Like, I think Belichick was asked, could he play until he's 50, and he said, like, if anyone could, it's probably him. So the game's changed for the quarterbacks are protected so much. If you make sure he's on a team with a great old line, he's got receivers.

It's just wild to watch. But the first two weeks have been awesome. There was some sick 430 games yesterday. I'm in an awesome survivor pool, right? It's so interesting that how much gambling goes on. Go to the Barstool Sportsbook in the states that you can. So interesting in the gambling world of the NFL to then look at how hard it is just to pick a winner every fucking week.

Like these survivor pools, Biz, when you pick a team, you can't use them again. It gets crazy as the weeks go on. I took one down once too i was split with like 40 people but um yeah the nfl has been good i'm actually this game's on in the background right now i have the over tonight in green bay detroit detroit went up early so i i'm excited for the football season to get going but the brady gronk thing is just a joke like i don't see how it's gonna they're be stopped this year. They have the whole team back.

I mean, all the primetime games have been awesome. I mean, I watched a little bit of the Ravens-Chiefs one. What was the one with the Raiders in week one? That was crazy. Was it with Baltimore? Yeah, they thought they had the touchdown, the refs on the mic being like, hey, guys, this game's not over. Everybody's still shaking hands and praying on the field.

Finally, they get everybody off, and then they pick. They ended up getting the pick and going back the other way. That was crazy. Yeah, there's been a lot of that shit. Like the Seattle-Tennessee game, like Tennessee, they sacked Russell Wilson in the end zone, should have been a safety in the game, and they ended up saying, nope, he didn't get tackled.

It was like the ref rest is so fucking bad. So the problem is this new taunting, dude. The fact that they're throwing flags for taunting, and it's not even taunting some of the flags they're throwing. It's like as good as the NFL is, they find ways to just fuck it up. They really do, dude. They're no fun league. Honestly, if a guy makes a play in boxing,

the guy's face, who gives a fuck, dude? I know. That's what they're getting paid for, to do those plays. We expect them to not be fired up and fucking delicate. Whose idea was this? Was this the league? Some cranky old dipshit, man. It's fucking brutal, dude.

That's the passion people like with sports. I know. To say, oh, it's Taunton. Fuck that noise. R.A. and Witt, what have you been? What have been your initial thoughts on Mac Jones? I thought he looked fantastic so far. I mean, I don't know about fantastic.

He definitely looks better than any other rookie QB. Now he's with a coach who's been around the game so long and a team who's probably better. Not probably, but Jacksonville and the Jets with those other two guys have nothing on the Patriots. And the guy in San Fran hasn't been playing. But he looks very, very comfortable and confident, which is the biggest thing. So, like, it's very weird to me, too, because so the kid on the Jets took Zach Wilson, right?

I'm not saying he's bad. I'm not saying he's a boss. It's been two games. But the Jets pick him And he was sick at BYU I watched him and I used to bet on BYU But how do you not take that fucking QB at Alabama Who's played in the SEC and been through everything

I know that they don't give Alabama QBs credit Because of all the weapons they have But if you're scouting You're seeing this kid's athleticism at BYU, or you're just seeing this old-school, big-body pocket passer who ran Alabama's offense in the best

college. It's just so awkward and weird. And you're essentially playing with NFL caliber players day in and day out, practicing and then hitting them. They overthink it. They definitely overthink it. And they look for athleticism, but it's like, I don't know, like Belichick, now two games, dude, so what the hell do we know? But it looks like this guy was a steal in the middle of the first round.

It's just he just looks very – he looks like a pro. Since we're on the football topic, did you guys see that kid propose to his girlfriend after the loss in the NCAA? Talk about all-time tough proposals. He was a barstool athlete, too. They should have cut him. I said it. I tweeted it.

What the hell was that kid thinking? I don't even understand how you could get engaged after losing a game on a Hail Mary. get engaged after losing a game on a Hail Mary. All right. You put proposing as a player post game, win or lose as worse than doing it at a sporting event as like somebody there watching. I think any, any proposal around any sporting event is just all,

all, all a loss, no matter before, after, during, it's just, just what, what's a divorce rate is for.

There was a divorce on the big screen though. Yeah. I think Barstool had it up there. Or maybe it wasn't an announcement of a divorce, but guys were with their buddies, and they were like, congrats on the divorce, Max. It was up on the big screen. That's better than like, look, honey, Chelsea, will you marry me? Chelsea Football Club, by the way.

Holy shit, is my soccer team good? Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. This Lukaku from Belgium, guys. I'll go into that later. You mentioned soccer. A few minutes ago, I mentioned Ted Lasso. The Emmys are on Sunday night, and obviously we were all watching football.

But I thought it was awesome that Ted Lasso won the Emmy for Best Comedy. Jason Zadakis won. Hannah Waddingham won for best actress. Brett Goldstein won for best actor. Dude, Ted Lassell has taken the world by storm, and everyone's still wondering, has Ryan Whitney watched Ted Lassell yet? No, but I've tried so many times

where I have this stupid big controller that can switch over. On the controller that like can switch over so I can on the controller I can press Apple TV but I press it and then I can't get off the screensaver screen because I don't have the Apple TV remote I want to watch the show like I'm actually now like dying to watch the show I was with on a golf trip with uh Horkoff and Cleary my good buddy some other guys were on the trip and they were mentioning Bertuzzi was on the trip, and it almost would make you coach different. That's how good the show is, they're saying.

If you coach kids, it might make you coach a different way. Like, all right, once my Apple TV works, I'm going to watch it. Biz, will you? Oh, yeah, I haven't watched it yet. I'll hop on the train with you but like you're saying like coach from like a way a way more positive perspective well yeah i guess he's like you got to see the show but in the end it's all about being positive for what they said and like more they didn't want to give stuff away clearly tried ruining like the second season

for me i go shut up bear i started i had to go i'm not listening because he was just trying to ruin it for me. But I'm going to watch it. There's 100 people who've said it's the best show of all time, so I have to. Yeah, it really is that good, obviously. But additionally, Succession, that was not at the Emmys. That's just a show I've been beating the drum. It's coming back October 17th. Are you caught up on it?

You've seen it, right? Yeah, I've watched all Succession. I love it. Have you caught up on it? You've seen it, right? Yeah, I've watched all Succession. I love it. Have you watched Succession? No. I'm really behind on a lot of shows right now. I'll tell you right now, if you're going to watch one show for the next two months. I'm trying to cure my dog from bedwetting.

Biz, watch Succession. It's a one-hour drama on HBO. There have been two seasons of it. It's fucking phenomenal. Like, I could tell you to watch this comedy or that comedy, but if I'm going to tell you to watch one show until we meet again, watch Succession. It's absolutely phenomenal.

It's an unreal drama. Again, it's coming back October 17th. There are two seasons to watch in the meantime. Also, another show I discovered, it's called The Other Two. Like, The Other Two. time also uh with another show i discovered it's called the other two like the other two apparently the first season of this aired back and like two years ago on comedy central i never heard of it didn't didn't know it was a show well hbo picked it up and they sanctioned i i'll pay for a second season so i didn't hear about it until the second season dropped and basically it's a story about a family who's the youngest brother becomes a viral sensation for singing

like a shitty song and the two siblings become like you know his not hangers-on but they become his managers hence the name the other two what i'm telling you this show is fucking hilarious anybody it's a comedy it's a half-hour comedy, right? They just finished the second season on HBO Max. Hilarious. You can whiz through the whole season or two seasons in an afternoon and night. I didn't even hear the show

a month ago. I can't recommend it. How many people besides you like normal people can't fucking whiz through two seasons in a night? What are you talking about? Well, the half hour, dude, the half hour job folks just quit it. Yeah, dude. What are there?

10 episodes? Yeah, exactly. That 10 episodes, half hour hours just during the day to just crush a show. Don't have fucking kids, man. That's what I'm saying. No, no. All joking aside. Here's a vasectomy to add with a biz 20 promo code.

Now, even if you spread it out with like i stumbled upon the show i've literally never heard of it and you know me i'm a tv guy i hear all the shit i saw the other the other two and it was season two hbo max i was like wait a minute i knew we'd heard of season one and i put it on and it was on it's come to find out it was on comedy central this show absolutely fucking hilarious i bloggedged about it the other day. I wrote a big blog saying if you're looking for a comedy show, watch the other two. How do I watch the first season? It's on

HBO Max as well. Even though Comedy Central aired the first season, it's still on HBO Max so you can go back. It's a brilliant satire of pop culture, internet culture. I mean, The Simpsons, hilarious with that shit.

This show actually, in some ways, reminded me of The Simpsons about how funny. Oh, my goodness. No, listen. It's not a cartoon. How much it satirized pop culture and internet culture. It was like, oh, my God. The way this show is funny reminds me of how The Simpsons was funny. Well, now I know why you love it so much. And I'm going to check it out.

And I'm not saying it's as funny collectively as The Simpsons, but the jokes they make on the same level. Pick one, R.A., and I'll start tonight with my girlfriend. Ted Lasso, Succession, or the other two. Which one do you want me to start? Start the other two. Because it's a good goofy humor i just said if you have one show to watch secession so he changed his mind well he said right now and that's biz like on his own level so like i was coordinating for him not you no i i i love your recommendations

you told me mayor of east town and i fuck yeah that show was unreal i i binged watched that so i turned into ra i went straight uh i think it was uh about eight hours of uh of shows i went through the night uh i had one other thing written down here wit you uh you mentioned this uh nypd um fdny hockey game on espn too you said it was amazing it was one of the best hockey games I've ever watched, dude. It was unbelievable. These guys were, it was full hitting, bro. Full hitting. They were killing each other out there. They were brawling. It was unbelievable.

It was fights. MSG was fucking sold out. Bouchergrass, Kevin Weeks, Ryan Callahan on the broadcast for ESPN. It was the 20th anniversary of 9-11 and this game was fireworks i at this point it's like you know there's only so much to be said right people can't watch it but but holy shit it was it was so entertaining unreal hockey was it like 50 50 as far as who

people were rooting for i felt like i felt like it was 50 50 i think when the fire like it was 50-50. I think when the fire scored, it was maybe a little bit louder, but these teams hated each other. Like, you couldn't even imagine how much these teams were battling back and forth. It was just awesome. It was a couple weeks ago now, but entertaining game. The broadcast was incredible, too, just how they incorporated, like, 9-11 stories and stuff. I thought it was awesome.

Well, everyone, we missed you guys guys we missed talking to each other as you can tell we've rambled on for close to three hours i think but it's it's ha it's happening boys we're back there's so many storylines like we mentioned we got biz as a national tv star now i'm making a fool out of himself allowing us to use him as content. It's going to be excellent, and I can't wait to get going. So we'll have season previews coming up. We're all going to be together at the beginning of the year and watch some games, and we'll get the gambling, we'll get Merle's involved. So I cannot wait, and I'm so happy

that we are working again. Ryder Cup, Whit? You want to talk Ryder Cup quick? Oh, do I want to talk Ryder Cup? We can go over that next week, but holy shit. Maybe one of the most dislikable, like this USA team, Brooks Koepka is a fucking idiot. Like I couldn't stand Bryson. I can't stand Bryson.

This Koepka, did you see his quotes, Biz? No. He's like, yeah, it's kind of a tough week. I'm like paraphrasing. You know, during the major weeks, I'm on my own. I get to nap a lot, you know, on my schedule. You know, I don't even have time to lift the Ryder Cup. I had to go to the gym at 5 in the morning, like a tiger.

It's just like, don't play. Paul Asinger was the captain. I think they won in 2008. He came out. He's like, don't play, man. Like, cut him. He's just such a, I don't know. I hated him from the beginning.

There was some arrogance about, I don't know. I hated him from the beginning. There was some arrogance about him. I didn't like, it was easy to root for him over Bryson DeChambeau. Cause you know, well, I mean, I think his actions kind of speak for themselves as well, but I feel like they're just like two losers going at it. It really is. It's two clowns going back and forth and it's, he just like, I don't know, something about him. He just thinks he's so cool.

Like, yeah, dude, I want to, you know, I would have been in the, I would have played in major league baseball. I played hockey. Then I got hurt. It's like, I don't know, man. Once he started dog, I talked to my buddy. He's a Navy SEAL. He's like, you can't put your fucking personal schedule aside for one week

to represent your country in probably the most universally loved and watched golf event every other year, the Ryder cup, like just such a clown. So I wish they'd cut them. Uh, but he's playing. I love speed. I like Thomas. I I've given Thomas shit before. I actually really like Justin Thomas. Now it's just when he had the guy kicked out for telling his ball to get in the bunker was a tough moment for him a few years ago. I love Morikawa. I love Shawfield. I like Scotty Scheffler.

I like all the rest of the team. It's just like Brooks and Bryson. Fuck. But for some reason, nine of the last 12 Ryder Cups, Europe's won. And every year, the U.S. is favored. But this course, Whistling Straight, I had a chance to play it a few years back in Wisconsin. It is like a bomber's paradise, right? It's a long course.

USA is the favorite again, but I do not know. So let's, let's all watch that this weekend. Um, and we'll be able to talk about it next week. I go USA, go USA. I'm going to, you know, I'm a United States citizen. I'm an American fan. Just those two guys drive me nuts. Well said with, uh, Boys, it's been a blast getting everybody back, getting the band back together, having some fun, raising some hell,

and we'll catch everybody next week. Thanks, Scotty Gomez, and we'll talk to you guys next week. As always, we like to thank our terrific sponsors here on Spitting Chicklets. Huge thanks to our friends over at Pink Whitney and New Amsterdam Vodka. Big thanks to our friends over at OCB Rolling Papers for taking care of us. Huge thanks to our friends at ZipRecruiter. Check them out, looking for a new job.

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