Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 39: Featuring Jimmy Vesey

Episode Date: July 28, 2017

On this week's Spittin' Chiclets, New York Ranger Jimmy Vesey joins the boys for the whole show. He discusses the rookie year "wall", what it was like being the big NHL story last summer, what led to him to choosing the Rangers, getting booed in Buffalo, his golf game (or lack thereof) and tons more.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

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What up? What up? How are ya? It's Trademark, Ryan Whitney. Midsummer. What up? What up? Producer Mikey Grinelli. How are ya, gentlemen? And a very special guest, another local lad, plays for the New York Rangers. Welcome to the show, Jimmy Veazey. Thanks, guys. Thanks for having me.

Boys, isn't it a pleasure to have this guy in here? We have a lot to ask you. We have a lot to ask you. First off, though, we have to say, we have to clear the air on Kevin Hayes saying that you completely fucked him over in your living situation. Doing you dirty last week. He did you dirty on spitting chicklets. You got to clear that up. I don't know. I think it was just a big miscue.

But we talked in the summer about living together last year, and then I didn't hear anything about it for literally three months. So when I got to New York, I was on my own. But, no, I was under the impression that his dad comes down a lot and stuff, so I thought he would take the spare bedroom when he came, so I didn't want to interfere on that. You don't want to mess with Big Kev. Yeah, Kev literally didn't give me the official invite, so I just took matters into my own hands and lived with brady shea last year

and now he's jealous and he's you know it's all three of these guys in the penthouse right i think it's hilarious that like yeah i couldn't wait to live by myself and all these guys get out of college and they all like pack and live together oh i when i remember i remember specifically remembering like being so panicked about having to live with myself and needing to find a roommate every year i was like I cannot live by myself. This is horrendous. I just let it, like, the college, like, doormat atmosphere. Then finally, you get a little older, you're like, all right, I hate this person,

or I need to live alone. Yeah, eventually. But when you're young, out of school. Yeah. It's easy. Plus, you're all hanging out together. It's easy to do. So big first year in the Rangers.

It was obviously a huge deal. Rehashed the whole draft stuff, everything. You know, you didn't go to Nashville and ended up. You were kind of the story of hockey for a little – for the summer, probably inadvertently so, but that's the way things played out. You know, what was your first year in New York like? Was it everything you expected? Was it a lot of ups and downs? What was your overall rating after your rookie year?

Yeah, no, it was a blast of a year. I mean, you know, I was 23 years old in New York City, and I went to – obviously I went to Harvard, so there's a lot of Harvard, you know, big Harvard connection down there. I got to hang out with some of my buddies outside of, you know, hockey. But, yeah, as a rookie, I mean, it's a lot of ups and downs. You know, I obviously had a big start to the year, and then middle of the year was kind of up and down, you could say.

But I thought I finished strong in the playoffs especially, and, you know, I think I'm going to try to ride that momentum, I guess, into this season. Did you hit what, as Conley referred to, was the wall? I mean, it's almost like a cliche in hockey. A rookie starts off great, and then he just, you know, hits the wall. Is that basically what happened to you? You're just kind of playing so much, you just bought it,

he's not used to it, the schedule, does it just catch up to you? I mean, I think yes and no. I think the wall, I mean, everyone wanted to talk about that to me. Everyone, all they did was bring it up. We're not talking Pink Floyd either. Coming out of college, you're just like every single person, they're like, oh, wait until you play. You're like, all right, well, what am I going to do?

Yeah, and then every single reporter asks you about it. I mean, yeah. To some extent, I think the biggest hurdle for me was, with so many games, the mental aspect. I mean, I know Whit probably could talk about this, but it's just your confidence has to be high at all times. Otherwise, you know, when you have no confidence, you suck pretty much. Just like with chicks.

True, true. Just I never suck. Sorry, guys. But, yeah, it was up and down in the middle of the year. And I don't think it was a physical thing, so to speak. I thought I came back strong, like I said, in the playoffs, but sometimes mentally it takes a toll on you. I think that it's crazy.

For me, looking back, you could get on the ice, and within 10 seconds of handling a puck in warm-ups, be like, fuck, I got it tonight. Your legs feel good. Your hands feel good. And then there's other times you get on the it tonight your legs feel good you know your hands feel good and then there's other times you get on the ice your legs feel so heavy your hands suck and you're like oh boy this is gonna be a complete grind and i just remember like the best players you know they felt like that certain nights but they would end up just grinding through it and like playing a

different game so the first year it's so tough because you don't know like you don't really know what to expect in certain buildings like did you ever get on the road and be like holy fuck like i'm kind of in one tonight i'm this place is intense i'm not ready to play uh i think our first long road trip was the western canada one in november and we also had a rookie party on that trip so double whammy so then we had i think we had a back-to-back too and those two games i was like kind of like holy shit like this is not for me right now yeah but uh no i've said to people before it was crazy how like one week you can be so on on top of the world and then you have one bad shift or one bad game and

then you're like in the dumps but i don't know i think it's just a process you got to uh got to learn to uh keep that even keel yeah and like i just you know i always remember like the the most truest lines like you're never as good as you think and you're never as bad as you think because there's times when you're like oh you know but there's still stuff you're fucking up and then when you're low you're like i can't do anything right but you are still doing things right so um i didn't know like with with vigno like were you would he like would he give it to you would he give you a tough love would he be nice to you like how was that player coach relationship um i don't know i think it was, it's obviously a little different than college. I mean, I think, you know, college, you know, coaches can be like buddy-buddy, where I think in pro, you know, you don't really have the same.

He's your boss. but I mean I think he actually um you know did like me this year he played me a lot in a lot of situations and um you know I obviously started off hot and then kind of had that lull in the middle of the year but I think you know everything I got I deserved and um you know he was he was good to me all year and uh you know I was a rookie never played in the NHL and and he uh you know had faith in me right away. So I couldn't ask for much more. What do you think you need to improve on next year after this year? You're like, okay, I've got to be better at this to keep doing this.

Yeah, that's a good question because I feel like you know right when the season ends, right? Yeah. To me, I think I've been working in the summer obviously i'm getting stronger um now just in front of the net and stuff is is pretty crazy how strong guys are and and you know if you're in the corner and then you pass it back to the point and you got to get to the net just the way defenseman box out and stuff is uh is insane and then you know i'd really like to work on my puck protection uh not getting knocked off the puck. And I think, you know, possession especially, beneath the dots is becoming a huge part of the game.

So, you know, I think I've been trying to work on that as well. It's so true now. Like you watch guys like, and you, you know, you bring up Crosby because he's the best at it. But if you can just create like four seconds for yourself, even less, just like time to get to get a little room space and to find somebody open and now you see so many times it's the d-man right through the seam um but when you get it you get it and you know you don't feel strong enough and

guys are pushing you off easier it's like that the play never keeps going through you so that's something that's great but i like always wonder like when you when you like train now are you training every day like with a purpose you look are you working like i know you're with all the same guys with brian mcdonough um but like are you working on like basically as much strength as you are staying flexible and making sure you're not going to get hurt like he's pretty good with that stuff are you mainly just weights and strength right now i think the flexibility and uh you know injury prevention stuff is is huge these days but yeah i think uh you know mostly just working on like i think like leg and core strength and stuff like that and then uh i think you can look at training kind of as two pronged like in the weight room and then

you know the skill stuff you do on the ice. So, you know, it's kind of hard to simulate puck protection in the summer. I could see you, like, in your apartment, like, in the bag, making sure no one gets to see you. You're like, Percy, hold on, hold on. I'm going to try to box me out here, man. No, but, yeah, we get the summer league actually on Wednesday nights tonight. But, yeah, I guess, you know, that's a good outlet to try to, you know, work on stuff or

try new things so who's the best who's best player you've seen in that league so far who dominates down there the most i'm trying to think i'm trying to think um i heard you talk a lot down uh no i i do like shinny hockey a lot but um you know i get eichel on our team he's uh obviously you know his skating ability is good in uh you know that wide open hockey but um you know i get eichel on our team he's uh obviously you know his skating ability is good and uh you know that wide open hockey but um you know there's a lot of different guys that you might not think like brock little yeah dude lights up sweden this kid yeah oh shit like so he played um at cushing academy with my brother yeah and um then he yale yeah yeah kid went to yale smaller player player, but really, really skilled.

And he's been in Sweden now for, I want to say, like four or five years. I'm kind of guessing there, but he just lights up the league every year. So, like, in summers, you're probably like, holy fuck. It's just like, how does this guy not play in the NHL when you see this league? Yeah, exactly. Did you hear the first year in the league, obviously, you get, you know, trapped a lot. How often do you get trapped in the NHL, do they trap you about that,

like being a smartass or something like that? Like basically like the Charles Donald Selby guy wouldn't goodwill hunt and yell at you. I don't know. I think I got it a couple times. I think I was one time I was complaining to a referee and someone on the other team was like, you're a smart kid. You went to Harvard.

You can figure it out. And then actually we we played Ottawa in December. I actually got into my first fight. Who was it with? Mark Stone. Pretty uneventful fight. That's how they should all be, hopefully. But no, I think it kind of happened.

I think I was pissed off because there was a scrum in front of the benches at one point and i was locked up with someone but someone from the the bench was saying yeah this is uh this is an ncaa you might get hurt out here like you can fight out here and i was like you're like dude shut up yeah oh oh it's not the ncaa no shit you start talking child what do you speak? Is it Mandarin you speak? I need to bring this up. You do speak Mandarin.

Set the record straight. I'll set the record straight. I did study it for six years, four in high school, two in college, but I haven't done anything with it in like three years. Would you understand? Where do they speak Mandarin, Charles? China. Most of China.

It's a dialect of Chinese. Chinese isn't a language? There's Sichuan and then there's Mandarin, correct? I don't know. There's a lot of different dialects. So wait, if I say somebody's speaking Chinese, is that a language? Yeah.

Okay, okay. So Mandarin's different. Why the fuck did you ever start studying that? I don't know. It's kind of weird. You know, I didn't really think about possibly hockey being a career, so I was always really into school. And I went to Belmont Hill through my junior year.

And I had a teacher in middle school actually that said you know if you ever like get the opportunity to study this you should you know business and all this stuff guess it's not that bad of an idea especially the way the world's going that was so much business china's gonna own the world someday so yeah i kind of just dove into it and then and then it's uh I took four years in high school. And then when I went to college, you have to take a foreign language. So I just went back to the beginning. So you just dummy those classes.

Oh, yeah, it was a cakewalk. So have you landed in Shanghai today? Could you handle yourself walking around China? Yeah, I think I could have the basics down. Wow, that's like... Could you say something to us right now? Say I'm on spitting chicklets. Go Rangers.

I don't know. I'm a little rusty. I'm not going to say it. Was it Van Kicker God or Van Dyke who said if you... Ring, ring, speaking chicklets. No, I was going to say we should have him do it and then we could put the subtitles on Wayne's World. Wayne's World would speak in English.

Hopefully you guys have seen Wayne's World. Ask a millennial. I have. I'm on board. Have you seen Wayne's World. Wayne's World would speak in English. Hopefully you guys have seen Wayne's World. Ask a millennial. I have. I'm on board. Have you seen Wayne's World? Are you familiar with it? No way. No chance.

I think he's out of it, though, but I know Wayne's World. That's a fucking movie. It's definitely a classic. I wanted to go back into you saying that you didn't really ever consider or plan on being in the NHL. When did that start coming up coming to reality um and then was it tough leaving Belmont Hill because people don't know Belmont Hill is a really good prep school hill you play in the ISL high school hockey and then for your senior year

I know you left school to play like junior hockey right was that kind of when you started thinking NHL or not even that so I mean to be honest, I was really good as a kid, and then I kind of, you know, didn't grow or anything like that. So I kind of went towards the middle of the pack, you know, at the beginning of high school. But yeah, I never really took hockey. I mean, I always loved hockey, but I didn't start training or anything until going into that senior year. But my sophomore year at Belmont Hill, I had a good year. And then going into junior year, it was my draft year. And I was actually like 85th on Central Scouting.

Going into your junior year? Because I repeated a year. Oh, okay. Okay. So I was like 85th on Central Scouting. I was like, shit, I might, number one, I might get drafted. Number two, I might have to go to the combine i can't do one pull-up but um i ended up having a average season went way down the rankings didn't get drafted kind of bitter about that and then um i was kind

of like all right i'm going to take this serious um kind of needed a change of scenery and I went to the Kings for my senior year worked out with Brian McDonough that summer and um you know I wasn't even really thinking about getting drafted that year I was thinking of kind of just just getting myself ready for college but you already committed to Harvard at the time yeah so so I committed to harvard before my junior season kind of as like you know i don't know what this is going to be but i figured out you know get a good degree exactly so so yeah i guess going into that senior year and then after that year um you know getting drafted then i was like maybe okay this might be something so i heard a lot about your younger brother growing up because i know local mass kid we you know played in the same

you know area growing up and i heard your little brother was like a prodigy growing up and then i i didn't hear much about you until on that one until no until it was like like you said like your senior year junior year kind of well your junior year, kind of around there. So what was it like playing with your brother growing up? And now he's at UMaine. So what's it like playing with him? And have you played with him, played against him at all? He was nasty.

He was a prodigy. Growing up, we were on the 93 Middlesex Islanders. And he's a 95. And my dad was the coach. So my dad was like, I'll just put him on the 93s but he was like two years up yeah but he was like bigger than a lot of kids on the team and an absolute animal so yeah he was i mean he like he wasn't out of place at all but um yeah i don't know what was the question i didn't really give you a good question there, but essentially, how good do you think your brother can be? I think he has a lot of potential.

He's working out with us right now in Foxborough, and he's actually been really dedicated this summer. He's been watching what he eats like a crazy person. That's not fun. Yeah, but he's actually in great shape right now I'm hoping that he has a big year at Maine And then everything falls into place You said your dad coached you

At that particular team Didn't he coach you? You, Grizzly, Brendan, Kahlia And where does that play? Because I actually know your dad was an amazing player. But I'm saying when you guys were like five and six years old, wasn't he already like he knew you guys were skilled? Wasn't he almost already teach you like how to be a pro at that young age,

just like how to do things the right way? Is that true? I mean, I know all kinds of rumors and gossip, but basically wasn't he preparing you guys almost to be a pro at such a young age? Yeah, no, we we had a we actually had a good team um for the islanders we had like you said myself grizzy uh brendan and then we also had um you know my brother was on the team who got drafted and then doyle somerby was the captain of bu last year he got drafted so uh we had a lot of guys that you know went on to play college get drafted um Joey Aiden

shout out my homie but uh yeah you know my dad you know for you thinking back for you thought he uh he was the coach with uh Mark Fidler and Brian Gustin and um you know they were super intense but you know obviously it helped us in the long run just you know taking the game serious and and stuff like that. Yeah, didn't they basically say, like, leave your kid outside the locker room and screw them? Essentially, like, you know, like they should do. Yeah, yeah, parents weren't allowed, stuff like that. And, you know, I remember, like, just the practices and, you know, like they were implementing systems, you know, from a young age and, you know and running power plays and stuff like that.

And I think Grizzlies are still an unbelievable power play defenseman. So I don't know. I think my dad and that coaching staff definitely had a big impact on all of us. Yeah, it gave you a little bit of a blueprint to work off of. Right. So your father played at Merrimack? Right. And then where? Christopher Columbus High School? Right. And then... Christopher Columbus

High School, baby. And then where is that? Charleston? North End. North End. Christopher Columbus High School. It's now defunct.

It's been... It was actually his father because it's hilarious. I watched his dad win the Eastern Mass title at the Old Garden. I didn't go to the whole state finals.

I actually went to Disney World the week later. And then 84, Columbus won the whole state and then within actually went to Disney World the week later. And then, 84, Columbus won the whole state, and then within four years, they didn't have a team, and then six years, there was no more high school. I was the last graduating class there. So they won. Oh, so he was actually playing for, that was

the high school team he was on that won it? Yeah, he was, he, dude, he, that was 84, they won the whole state. His father was a fucking machine out there, and he basically, his old man put Merrimack on the map. Yeah, I remember that. So where did he play pro? So he was drafted by St. Louis and then played.

He graduated college in 88 and then retired in 95. But basically split with St. Louis and Boston. Predominantly in the minors, but 15 games in the NHL. Yeah, he actually spent a lot of time in Phoenix, too, when they had the Phoenix Roadrunners IHL team. I'm telling you, man, go look at his old man's stats. No, I've actually always heard of his father from the Yandles.

He also has one of the best hockey TV pictures, I think, of all time. I'm going to look this thing up right now. This is going on spit and chickleth. I've got to look this thing up. Yeah. He looks like an absolute savage. I mean, easily a point-per-game guy, if not a point and a half. And he'd beat the shit out of you, too.

You look at his pims back. And that's when the early 90s, man. That's when you had to fight. Late 80s, early 90s. If you played in the IHL, man, you had to be a tough son. IHL, the true Iron League. You just had to just chuck them, especially if you were American too, honestly. It's like, fuck you.

Would you say in some ways that basically not getting drafted? He looks like a legit hip man. This is great podcasting. Wow. Holy shit dude Just walking out of Oh my god

Walking out of Copperfield Smacking people in the mouth That's incredible Not getting drafted in 2011 Was that probably I guess the best thing that happened What did he tell you? What did he tell you?

As far as motivating you It pissed you off So I mean in a sense Are you kind of glad it almost happened in hindsight? Yeah, I think it was, you know, a big wake-up call in the sense that I had to work harder and do more if I wanted to take hockey serious. But, yeah, I remember we, you know, we didn't have anyone over the house. We thought maybe I would get drafted in the late rounds. But, you know, we followed it the whole time, and then I didn't get drafted.

And I think, you know know we were all pissed off so uh yeah that was definitely my motivation i guess for the for the next year it's like i went and shot pucks right there um so i looked at looking at your hockey db2 earlier you when you got to harvard you didn't have tons of success your first two years right I mean well maybe your second year but your first year um was it just tough getting used to college hockey were you not playing a lot like what was the what was the big jump basically from when you you know went from freshman sophomore just dominating junior year or is it well I think um I definitely got bigger but you know we actually I entered Harvard invard in a in kind of a a time of turmoil for the program we were uh well we were just not good we're at the same after after bozo left

that's a little bu shit talk right there but um yeah i think my my freshman year we were 12th out of 12th place in the ecAC. It was the first time in school history. And then my sophomore year, we were 11th out of 12th. And we scored, like, no goals. Like, under two a game. No, like, probably two a game. Can't get points like that. Yeah, and then after that year, i think um you know the whole coaching staff

the players and the alum the alumni were starting to get you know kind of embarrassed like i remember talking to alumni saying like it's embarrassing to go to the beaten pot these days you're never getting a job with a big four down wall street you guys don't clear that just getting pounded in front of no harvard fans at the garden but yeah, we kind of just tried to change the culture, I guess, of the team and be more accountable. We got more involved in the community, not only the school community, but the local community to try to get more people to our games. I mean, we always had the talent.

We always had the good recruits. And then my last two years it finally came together and then you know if you look at last year Harvard was in the frozen four and and the favorite really yeah I've said this before I don't I don't think they're going anywhere anytime soon if you look at you know the recruits that they're getting and uh you know they're getting like kids that are supposed to be you know top 10 picks over the next couple years so and and like you always wondered um like why weren't they better at those times but you think like maybe parents are starting to kind of figure out like why why wouldn't you go to harvard like first of all they're good it's the best school in the world and like the the alumni like um connection there like network yeah it's it's

insane like do you when you were playing there would you already like get into stuff like that like did you ever do anything in the summer for like internships were you all hockey in the summer you know are you laughing so i was i was all hockey but no like um especially my last two years like i said when we started to to revamp the program and the alumni got more involved uh you know every guy that wanted an internship in the summer got one from a from a hockey alum so like you said the net the networking there is uh incredible and um you know guys that that aren't playing hockey after school you know definitely get set up you still go hong kong so hong kong actually uh isn't really the spot anymore really so i guess dude was the spot when my buddies were at harvard yeah you just go upstairs and

get crippled it was like it was the best party spot ever ask brendan burn but i don't know where is the spot now so the i guess uh hong kong got really on, like new owners got strict on IDs and no one really goes there. Like they don't let underagers in anymore, so no one goes there. But I think the one thing, if I could say one thing about Harvard, what it's missing is a college bar in Harvard Square. Yeah. So all the places there are essentially yuppie places.

There isn't any down-to-earth, normal spot there. I know in the movie Good Will Hunting, that bar was based on one in the 90s. That was the spot that's gone. Hong Kong's gone. The guys really bust out 1800 colonial economy bullshit like that. With ponytails. That was VZ's left wing his first two years. How do you like them apples?

Going back to the draft, obviously, you got motivated not getting drafted in 11. You got third round national next year. Now, did they have an inkling? I mean, they had to know your plans were to do four years at Harvard. So, I'm assuming assuming were aware of that. So was that ever a possibility that they thought, you know, you weren't going to be there after four years that they think would happen last summer was ever going to transpire?

Or is that just something that sort of happened organically? Like you played a few years and you realized, okay, geez, I could have my pick of the litter after. How did, you know, give us a little insight on that. Yeah, I think it definitely happened organically, I could have my pick of the litter after. How did, you know, give us a little insight on that. Yeah, I think it definitely happened organically, I guess. Obviously, after two years, my stats were, I basically did shit. So, I mean, after two years, I wasn't thinking about leaving or anything like that. And then my junior year is when I, it was statistically my best year.

And, you know, they asked to if i wanted to leave after that year and um i actually thought about it for a while and um i decided i was going to go back i just didn't didn't want to uh you know walk out on on harvard i didn't know if i would ever go back and get my uh my degree and then you know senior year was kind of just a a clusterfuck to be honest i couldn't play a game without or you know couldn't go a month without hearing stuff about that stuff but um at the end of the day yeah i just um you know sitting down with my agent my family uh you know they thought i'd be crazy if i didn't do that and i mean a year later kids are doing it again but yeah no that was the only real asshole you broke the asshole see i i just i just think like knowing you it must have

sucked like last summer like you didn't you don't want to be the center of like the hockey unless they're talking about how nasty your season was to be in the middle of it having not played yet and people like saying like what the fuck this kid's an asshole like one you're like you have no idea what you're talking about but two it must have been annoying for you yeah it was it was a tough summer I actually handled it pretty well I think until towards the end of the summer one time I like I went up to my dad I was like this is out of control like I'm gonna snap at some point but uh did you the best thing was um you know I obviously got backlash or whatever, but I got traded to Buffalo at the draft. So for the rest of the summer, I was property of Buffalo.

Oh, yeah, and they're like, he's going to sign with Buffalo. Oh, that's right. You're right. Oh, yeah, yeah. So just like when it was dying down. You had Buffalo people start hating you. Dude, I heard him and I go up bunk bed buddies in camp 20 years ago. Oh, fuck.

Oh, I forgot they made it. And then the best thing was the first time we played in Buffalo, I'm getting booed. We can't even do anything to you guys. We can have a third round of for your rights. And I remember we're on a face-off and Felina looked at me and he was like, why are they booing you? I'm like, I have no idea. He was like, I would have done the same fucking thing.

Did you get booed in Boston at all? I know some donkeys here would have probably booed you. No, I didn't get booed in Boston, but if I did, I definitely think I would have looked up in the stands, and there would have been a brawl with my aunts. Hey, but I remember watching the game in Nashville this year. You ended up, did you get empty net goal? Or did you seal it with something?

No, so before the game, you know, obviously, obviously Hazy did the same thing that I did, not signing with Chicago. So I'm like, before the game i'm like kevin like when you played in chicago the first time they boo you and he's like no like i don't think you're gonna get booed i'm like really get on the ice for warm-ups all kinds of signs lining the glass then i i didn't even have to touch the box hey well man at least their team sucked this year when i uh when i got literally got on the ice i got booed and then it went into a shootout yeah just a shootout fuck and so that morning i pre-gamed skate i literally tried to

stay on the ice as long as i could because I knew when I came off you know the media was going to be around my stall maybe I cannot wait them so I took like a million breakaways on Ronta and um the assistant coach happened to be watching and like three there was one stretch where I went three in a row and came in and scored all three so it goes into the shootout and i'm like i know he's gonna pick me he picks me first first shooter of the shootout actually i don't know national line one first but i go first and i'm like i actually probably blacked out but wasn't that nervous came in and scored and i was like i was like if i didn't score that i might have just never played hockey again and went to Wall Street. It would have been the loudest boo you'll ever hear in your life.

The whole place would have been just shitting on you. I mean, no. But, like, to be honest, I mean, all that stuff is what it is. It's in the past. But, I mean, you know, Nashville, obviously, you know, it didn't hurt them. Like, you know what I mean? They went to the Stanley Cup, whatever. It was the most normal move ever.

I remember tweeting out. Yeah, I was going to say that, too. One of my biggest supporters. Nobody did anything. Everything was by the book, on the up and up. There was not necessarily anything approaching illegal or about it. It was the system, the way it's set up. It was a fucking,

it was when you have the chance to have multiple people give you offers and you let, you hear all your options. It was totally, totally normal.

I just think that it's funny like when you went and you actually did decide on the teams, like were you sure of the Rangers? Were you so into it or was there a part of you like, I don't know about this other team that likes me?

Was it easy enough once you saw New York and talked to Kevin and shit? Hazy said without him, you weren't going at all. No, I think at a certain point, you could have made a case for anybody. But just kind of a gut feeling obviously but yeah i do think you know having kevin there is definitely a part of it and um you know we worked out together last summer i know he said last year like he used to play like he said you know he's the dj in the gym so he used to put on like every song that had new York in its lyrics. He's like, all right, this is just going to subtly get to him.

I'll work out long. But, no, yeah, then it was ultimately the Rangers. But, you know, you could have talked about any team until you were blue in the face. 23 in New York City, though. It doesn't get any better than that. Yeah, you're living, man. You're living. Did you even go near social

media this cup run? Obviously, Nashville getting in. I mean, I can't imagine what people chirp. There's so many people online that just have balls to say whatever, so I can't imagine what they might have even been saying to me. Yeah, like one tweet, he's like, oh, golf, and they're just showing him Nashville box scores and all those replies.

Did you even bother looking, or did you just ignore it the whole time? no to be honest i didn't i definitely learned this year you want to kind of filter social media as much as you can but um yeah i definitely wasn't going on in the playoffs who um i meant to ask before what d-man do you think was like the hardest to play in like your rookie year you're like fuck that guy was that guy was nasty tonight like did anyone stick out to you defensive wise um i think you know we played playoffs against montreal and ottawa so i think uh you know in the first round you know weber's obviously a beast especially like i was talking earlier in the corners and in front of the net. You don't want to go in there. It's like a big, like, Oxman.

And then Kyle Sin was also just gross in the playoffs. And he was playing on a messed up foot. He was so gross. Yeah, he was insane. Everyone we've had on has said warm-ups at MSG are unbelievable. Am I right on that? Yeah, I think, you know, obviously maybe it might have – I don't think it wore off that much.

You know, I think the national anthem especially at MSG is sick. And then the playoffs I thought were – our first-round series in Montreal I think was like the most fun I've ever had playing hockey just the bell center and then MSG just every game just insane and that series actually like every time someone touched the puck there was like a a huge hit it was like it set I think it actually set like franchise records for hits in a series and stuff like that. Yeah, that's one of those series that, obviously, early round series, neither team goes to the cup when you think back.

It was like, yeah, that was a hell of a series to watch. Yeah, and they beat the shit out of each other. The original six-factor going back and forth and stuff. It does make for a good series. I know some guys you don't get to go against them once a year or twice a year with the way the schedule is, but who do you think is the best dominant player, say, under 25? That way we can rule shit out.

Yeah, I know. That way everyone says shit. Yeah, I think we only got to play McDavid twice. I don't know if he lit us up. But one was right at the beginning of the year and then one was in the middle. But, I mean, even just all the stuff he does with the puck, that might not even translate into a point,

but just blown by defensemen and stuff like that. He's definitely electric to watch. And then, obviously, I think Matthews had a sick year. Have you played with him? Matthews? Did you play in the Worlds had a sick year have you played with him matthews you played in the world with him no never played with him one year didn't you the men's worlds yeah yeah i played after my junior year in college oh that was after your junior year yeah no and you still didn't turn pro yeah that must have been a tough to say i know you said that before that must have been hard though because like you're you were already a little old for your grade, right?

Yeah. I mean, I was a year. You were 23 when you graduated? Right. Yeah, okay. But, yeah, I definitely realized on that trip that being in college is a poor man's life. You're in Munich ripping it up at this stick bar restaurant. You're like, oh, man, I'm going back to Harvard?

Can't even go to the Hong Kong. Do we have any All Right Hamiltons over there? We do. We do. All right, Ryan, before we get to All Right Hamilton, All Right Hamilton is brought to you by HelixSleep.com. You're unique. You don't walk like everybody else, talk like everyone else,

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Like, oh, I listen. There's no way you know the move. Is it Fast Times? Fast Times is very fun. It was on TV the other night. It's been very heavy. After the last 30 minutes, I was dying. Very heavy in the HBO rotation.

One of the greatest, like, boob scenes ever in an 80s film. Gotta acknowledge it. Gotta acknowledge it. Alright, so Mike Hicks wants to know which NHL player has the sickest house. All right, Hamilton. Jesus. Fuck, that's a good one, man.

I don't... I know it's good. Horkoff has a sick house in Michigan. Real sick house. Keith Yandel's got a nice crib around here i don't even have a house i don't know who's yours um i mean i haven't seen that many hank has a sick uh condo or apartment i guess in oh that's gotta be nice penthouse yeah see because in the city elevator right to his unit oh yeah oh fuck yeah two floors but um

this year when we when we went to buffalo uh dan gerardi had the a bus for everyone uh to go over the board over the border into canada he lives right near niagara falls in a sick sick house on a lake um yeah it's right on the lake or the river. I don't know. But money obviously goes farther there. Oh, shit. But he's got a sick, sick crib. Who's yours, Grinnelly? You know, I've hung out with so many players, gone to so many of their houses. I don't know.

It's tough to choose. So James Lang asks, who had the smelliest gear out of everyone you played with? All right, Hamilton. Wow. It all kind of stinks. A Russian? Oh. I actually don't.

There's always that one guy in the team that stinks. In the NHL, nobody's gear stinks. Oh, yeah. Grinnelli, it's clean. See, I don't know these things. But international tournaments, as old as the World Juniors, I remember everyone's got the locker room for the entire tournament. Russians, the locker rooms were so smelly. It was crazy.

You could smell them on the ice. Are they one of those no deodorant countries? I don't know, dude. There was deodorant when I was over there playing, but it was like weird stick-em, dude. It was probably like PEDs in the deodorant. I just remember that those locker rooms stunk.

That's a weird question. Yeah, I didn't notice anyone too bad this year. It's like, no, we all wash our gear. I guess it's a little different in the men's league. Yeah, a little different than putting it in your basement after your Thursday night league game. Alright, so Greg, I can't really read his last name,

wants to know, what's the wildest thing you've done the night before a game and how'd that game go the next day? I think I told this story once. You did? Yeah. That was when I was really hung over for a game.

That was unfortunate, but I'm assuming you haven't done anything. Were you soft this year? No. I wasn't soft, but I don't know. It was my first year, so I was definitely. College cons, too. You guys can go back to college.

College. I didn't do shit, Jack Parker. You scared the shit out of me. This is one thing I think is way different about pro than college. In college, like Tuesday for Friday, Saturday games, Tuesday was like the absolute last night anyone ever thought about having a beer. Whereas pro, it's like go out to dinner on the road like wine yeah exactly exactly like i remember bu wasn't even like we we got to go out after the saturday night game and nobody even like really thought of drinking till the next saturday yeah and i'm like

and then i turned pro i'm like wait a minute what you could you could have been you could have been drinking like wednesday night not like heavy but like hung out and had a couple and then had a game Friday at least, let alone the night before. I think some colleges were different, though. I think Michigan and stuff used to get after it more. BU, we were petrified. I think not just the booze, too. I think if you got company for the night, that can really drain a man, too. The legs?

Women weak in legs, man. I tell you, man. True. Got handy before a hoop game in high school. Worst game ever, dude. I tell you, man. True. Got handy before the hoop game in high school. Worst game ever, dude. You went 0 for 11. Yeah. I was standing anyways, bud.

All right. So Curtis McDonald wants to know, who are the best and worst golfers in the NHL, past and current players? All right, Hamilton. Vesey might be one of the worst. He's got one round under his belt. But the best players is Ray Whitney, I think. Ray Whitney was the wizard man.

Unreal at hockey. Everyone knows that. He had over 1,000 points, but he's probably like a plus-two golfer. He's nasty. Wasn't he like one of the funniest guys in the league? He's hilarious. He's hilarious. Hilarious.

I remember he came up to me like Ray Whitney, Ryan Whitney. It was weird. When I came into the NHL and he just lines up next to me, he's like, what up, cuz? I'd never even met him. I was like, this guy's hilarious. He's nasty. But VZ's just picking up the sport. Yeah, it might be the worst.

Are you a lefty? Yeah, lefty. So him and Kevin Hayes just do monster lefties making divots to China on tracks across Massachusetts. I'm a lefty as well. It's funny. When I played, I shot a golf righty, but I shoot

a hockey stick lefty. I do the same thing. When I pitched in baseball, I pitched lefty, and then when I throw a football, I throw a righty. So I'm all fucked up. That's real weird. I don't speak Mandarin.

Best golfer? I mean, I know Rick Nash loves to golf on our team, but this year when we were in Phoenix, we went to the driving range. And, I mean, I haven't seen a lot of people golf, but JT Miller was absolutely unloading on the ball. Really? Like driving it a mile. But he's too busy hunting.

True. I don't know how he splits his time. Well, dude, we really appreciate you coming in, man. It was exciting watching you this year. I think that there's only really good things to come with you and the Rangers, and we really appreciate it. Yeah, we got a note, actually, for our buddy Mike Rappaport, actor slash podcast extraordinaire.

He wanted to let everyone know, if you're in the Dallas area. That's the guy everyone says I look like. Yeah, a little bit. Yeah, you do. Everyone calls me Remy from Higher Learning. That's hilarious. Yeah, he wanted us to tell you, if you're in the Dallas area and love to laugh, this Saturday night, go see, if you're part of the Barstool family,

if you're a stoolie, it's the I Am Rappaport Stereo Podcast. They're going to be taping it this Saturday night, July 29th, at the Texas Theater in Dallas. Special guests, Kenyon Martin, Steven Jackson, Gary Payton, Rashad Lewis, Scal, a.k.a. Brian Scalabrini, Deshaun Stevenson, and more. Let's go to IamRappaportTour.com. You can find it. Go to Mike's Twitter.

Find his Twitter page. Again, it's www.IamRappaport.com. This Saturday night, if you're in Dallas, go check it out for our boy, Rap. Jimmy, thanks again for coming in. Appreciate it immensely. What else you got going on this Sunday other than working out, just kind of bumming around? Yeah, I'm not doing much.

I'm going to try to pick up my golf game. He's going to go buy a set of clubs from here, dude. One last story that we didn't get to. Oh, absolutely. We talked about this before the show, but I listen to the podcast. You guys always talk about you know being waffled but um when i was younger me my dad and my brother actually went to keith yandals uh draft party at his house and and milton and wit was there and i distinctly remember it because he

had like a cowboy hat on probably absolutely smashed and we were smashed and i just bought a penguin i had just bought a pittsburgh penguins hat and i had him sign it so yes should have brought he could have returned the favor today i was like come here buddy here i'll sign that hat you want an autograph no problem asked him to sign it a little bit of full circle in here exactly all right well thanks again jim really appreciate it and i're the man, buddy. And hopefully we'll do it again, and good luck this year with the regs. Thanks, guys. Appreciate it.

We got it together, didn't we? We've definitely got our thing together, don't we, baby? Isn't that nice? I mean, really, when you're really sitting and thinking about it, isn't it really, that nice? I mean, really, when you're really sitting psychobotany, isn't it really, really nice? I can easily feel myself slipping more and more waves. That's super weird. Have you heard Spike's car radio? It's comedian, actor, writer Spike Ferriston sitting on the porch in Malibu That's Super World. like unprotected sex for driving. Jeremy Piven. You know what? I think you and Jerry are spiritually tied to cars and I respect it and I love it,

but I don't quite get it yet, but I want to get it. Download new episodes of Spikes Car Radio every Wednesday on the Podcast One app or save time and subscribe now at Apple Podcasts

or at PodcastOne.com.