Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 423: Featuring Jim Montgomery + Dylan Guenther

Episode Date: January 10, 2023

On Episode 423 of Spittin' Chiclets, the guys are joined by Jim Montgomery and Dylan Guenther. The Yotes prospect and Gold Medal winner joined (32:18) right off the jump to talk World Juniors, playing with Team Canada, Arizona and tons more. But first, the guys open the show discussing Canada's big World Juniors win and how Connor Bedard has already reached SuperStar status. The boys also discuss some NHL news including Tage Thompson's incredible start. Is it time to consider the Sabres forward an MVP candidate? The guys are then joined by Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery (02:13:19). Monty joined to discuss his career, why the Bruins are so good, Patrice Bergeron and tons more. The guys wrap up the show discussing All Star rosters and some NFL news.You can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/schiclets

Hey, Spittin' Chicklets listeners, you can find every episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. Hello everybody, welcome to episode 423 of Spittin' Chicklets, presented by Pink Whitney, from our friends at New Amsterdam Vodka, here in the Barstool Sports Podcast family. How's it going everyone? Big week up north with the World Juniors, all-star rosters are out, and I wonder if everybody here has recuperated from last week. We had a rock'em, sock'em time. So let's check and see how people are feeling. Whit, you weren't staying at the hotel.

You aren't fully recuperated or what? Did you have a rock'em, sock'em time, Whit? Huh? Did you? Was it rock'em, sock'em? I had a phenomenal time. Rock'em, sock'em? Yeah, I'll use that term.

Old school Don Cherry. Some of the greatest videos I've ever watched. I always remember. Blue, what a dog. Let's go. Rock'em, sock'em. We loved Felix Potvin, too. And Alan Best. That remember. Blue, what a dog. Let's go. I'm sorry. I loved Felix Potvin too. And Alan Best, that old goalie, Alan Best for the Maple Leafs. I think that was his name.

Double wristers for Dougie Gilmore every single one. I got a Rockham Sockham in my stocking a couple of years. You know, the old VHS. If I could have, I would have tugged myself to it right then. But I was like nine. I think the week went, the weekend went phenomenal it was just such a great time i know we went over it kind of already on last week's show but yeah i was a hurt unit boys it was one of those things where you're just like oh i had a couple friends that

were at the game and had gone out new year's eve but you know we were kind of going for four straight days and i was talking to like how how do you feel right now i said i feel absolutely horrific i can't talk i can't walk i can't smile i can barely sleep it was a recipe for disaster And I was talking to like, how how do you feel right now? I said, I feel absolutely horrific. I can't talk. I can't walk. I can't smile. I can barely sleep. It was a recipe for disaster, what we did to our bodies and our minds. But in the end, hell of a time.

So I think that's usually what ends up being the case is you regret decisions that you made. But in the end, you look back and you wouldn't change a goddamn thing, if you know what I'm saying, fellas. So, yeah, it's been a pretty relaxing week. Have eaten so well um for you haven't had a sip i had a i had an ipa on um friday night with my dinner um a fiddlehead or something like that i got no big deal brewing or it would have been that um other than that no eating after like 8 p.m. I'm zinning the dick off my body. But it's actually a great thing because you're zinning. Zenning? No, zinning.

Oh, no free ads. But it's one of those things where if you put one in, I'm like, this is the trick. I'll just if it's in, I'm not going to eat. Right. Because I tried the old brush my teeth at like eight. And then because you brushed, you're not going to eat again. Well, you can always brush again. Three packs of M&M.

You love those M&M, the peanut covered ones. Oh, peanut M&Ms are my jump off. Those things are just so legit. I was I was I was you're a snack whore. And didn't a didn't the old lady didn't the old lady yell down the stairs a couple of ago you know we're both on this little kick you know new year but but i'm gonna continue it i just want to lose like i just want to lose like eight to ten pounds but um so she went up to bed she goes to bed early and i thought she was asleep and i went in and i i i don't know what i was doing but sometimes you need to be held account you know accountable and and i just heard her

what are you doing i'm like nothing she's like don't eat anything i'm like okay fair so i shut this i slammed the refrigerator shut in disgust but you know then went back to the zinning ways and watch the movies watch a lot of hockey and and and it is i'm not gonna say the doldrums of this season this is the tough part of the season for a lot of guys it's just game 40 to 65 usually can be kind of a grind and and for me um i've watched a lot of hockey but also what a weekend of football i mean just the damar hamlin story buffalo's kick return we'll get into it later but i just had a blast on the couch sunday just watching games and seeing the playoffs uh kind of fall out or or figure how it was all going to shake out for next week um i told

you guys before on the podcast i don't know if i brought it up when mike richards was on but he got sent down to manchester the year we won the calder cup obviously with the contract situation and um murzy our trainer would always fill up he would have like three different candies i think he had like skittles something but then those then those peanut M&Ms. But they were like a fucking, the jumbo size packed in, and then you would turn it and you'd get like five in your hand. So, you know, the guys wouldn't splurge too much. Maybe after practice, get a couple handfuls. Richie's got his cups.

He's like, no, no, no, no. Dude, Mike Richards would have like hundreds of these peanut M&Ms in his hoodie in the pouch, and he would just buzz around for two hours before the game, just eating. I don't know how he didn't play with a fucking tummy ache and be puking between every shift, but he, he was nasty for us when he was there. He was such an intelligent player, just like watching him, like, like how crafty he was with his stick, like on face off. So he was a big help to us, but fuck, he used to just cripple those peanut m&ms and the

other thing you mentioned when you when i go to boston it just sucks me and you you can't say no to having pops with everybody and just getting fucking buckled and then kind of maybe not eating the best so i i i mean i love my time in boston but it just chews you up and spits you out i felt like i was on the fucking IR for a week and we actually had to go back and do a TNT broadcast that Wednesday so another thing too is when you know when you know Gretzky comes down for a couple just to tell a few stories it's just you can't say no impossible did we discuss last week the video of that guy getting the handshake no no I hadn't came I hadn't seen it yet that was

the funny and then they scored like a minute a minute insane five seconds my life's changing sometimes we get some old school guys listening to the pod and they're not all over social media but i'm sure i love you guys yeah thanks i love you guys honestly for anyone out there no twitter you're just you're the best you're the balls and give yourself a pat on the back right now for not I love you guys. Honestly, for anyone out there, no Twitter, you're the best. You're the balls. Give yourself a pat on the back right now for not being one of these losers that lives on the internet like me. All of us. Like Donnie in Saskatchewan

up riding his tractor right now. Oh, no, he's on a horse. He's going to the post office on his horse, Carl. Dude, some of the best DMs I've gotten over the years, the guys in the tractor when they're listening. Have you ever years the guys in the tractor like when they're listening like have you ever seen the inside of a tractor lately the technology is fucking crazy in those things the coolest picks we get are our northern albertans people in

saskatchewan on the far on their john deers and they're like listen to the podcast it's fucking sick all right especially the ones with the sunset there's guys and maybe some gals out there who are like finding out things that happen maybe first listening to the pod like they're just like oh i didn't even know they're like who's this the boys on chiclets didn't even mention it hey who's this elon musk guy they keep talking about yeah biz we had a nice departure in front of the hotel you were heading to atlanta i was getting a uber home a whole mile and a half and uh it was like the next night i was sitting here with my wife i was like i can't believe he's on fucking tv right now doing a

doubleheader he goes i can't keep my eyes open at all like choking i couldn't choke down a beer and you would you would grind a man you were funny too i think you were a little off kilter a little so you made it even funnier that we'll get to the tnt i was fucking keeping my eyes open i got a tnt question for later okay i was keeping my eyes open. I got a TNT question for later. Okay. I was keeping my eyes open with toothpicks, but speaking of that little Ronde who we had before, you know, TNT gets you the driver. They're the fucking best.

They, they unreal set up. So driver comes, grabs me. We stop off for a pit stop at the outside of our race hotel for obvious reasons, bro. I was so gassed from the whole week and our weekend leading up.

And I must've like left my knapsack open. Somebody stole my fucking jewelry bag, and luckily I was wearing my one Rolex. I'm a watch guy. I don't have a fancy car. I like watches. I had my fucking Rolex Datejust in there, the first one I'd ever bought me with the Jubilee bracelet. Fuck, dude. Somebody yanked it out of my bag, so I had to file Rolex date just in there. The first one I'd ever bought me with the Jubilee bracelet. Fuck, dude.

Somebody yanked it out of my bag. So I had to file an insurance claim. But RA, I think I was a little off the gun because I'd toked up with you beforehand. You sure it wasn't RA? That was. No, no. I stole him, but not from him. He's wearing it on the pod.

He's like, look at this thing I found. I'll sell it back to you. 75 cents on the dollar, Biz. So that was a bit of a kick in the dick and then you know we had to reroute to charlotte because there was a tornado that hit down in atlanta but all all in all though boys fucking worst things are happening in the world so hey if you work for delta though and just by chance this thing fell out of my bag because uh i was i was out to lunch fucking help me out little to me green jewelry bag that had a a rolex date just with a jewelry bracelet and there was also a bottega vanetta wallet a brand new one in there that i was gonna bust open so not too bad of a

kick in the dick but hey if you work for delta and you find it send it my way i love you forever i'll even give you what a thousand bucks reward is that a good reward? I have it actually I'll take that a thousand Get the fuck out of here I'm fucking with you I've been like hoping I get like an email about it from Delta every day Man just checking my phone You can't even get an email from Delta

With like a flight change They'll tell you after the flight left That it left a little earlier than it was supposed to They're not going to return your watch Delta is like the best of the airlines isn't it speaking of airlines they also i i'm i'm flying uh down to orlando tomorrow at 5 a.m to play golf for tuesday wednesday thursday fly home thursday night i love you baby thanks for letting me do this but i need my golf fix and um i'm fucking flying spirit airline on the way down dude wow we should vlog this let me say i never thought this day would i am flying spirit airline tomorrow morning now i

don't think that's that bad dude i think it's i think it's as bad as you can get i might as well be flying on like an old plane they used to like like fly cattle across the Atlantic, like in the 50s. I don't even know if they ever did that, but I just made that up. I think what happened was the next earliest flight leaving Boston tomorrow. It was like 730. But I'm like, I want to get there for more golf that day. You know what I mean? So I'm like, I'll sacrifice flying on an absolute piece of

shit airline i guess i shouldn't be chirping them before i go but it won't be out till i'm on the plane but i i'm just yeah i'm a little scared a little scared that the bags won't get up get there that i won't get there the pilot comes out challenges you're like ernie else he's like i i listen to the podcast got something to say to my face you fuck yeah what are you doing flying for spirit but i uh hey do you are you allowed to carry on i think it's like 35 bucks i i got i i went to the bank today to get a a bundle of quarters because apparently you got to put a quarter in to open up the above compartment to put your bag in i don't believe it's like playing pac-man in an old arcade. It's

like, can anyone got a dime? You're an idiot. All right. He's like, I got a dime bag. All right. What the hell have you been up to sitting around watching movies? Yeah. No, I went heavy in the movies when we had the three days off around Christmas. Definitely. But recuperated, man. Like I'm the old guy, the crew. Obviously

I'm I mean, I'm middle aged for Christ's sake. Four nights in a row, I had the hotel. I was like, gonna take advantage of it. It's not too often. I have hotel rooms in my home city. It was obviously the thing to do. We had all the interviews and the work. And yeah, man, back to back to back to back, baby.

It was the trip we talked about. We were waiting for it. I was gonna be a ripper. I wasn't gonna be a fucking pussy and stay in the room at all. And I didn't. I made the most of it. I paid for it.

No regrets. Like Whit said, it was all worth it. I still had like a bit of a high you know when you get like a natural buzz like you know like the weekend we had me in particular those are rare and everything yeah no those natural highs are another one but just a naturally like you got a buzz off that it gives you sort of a lift so yeah that was such a great week so i had a recoup rate man i was so beat like said my old ass didn't get a ton of sleep but it was awesome man i had such a great week so i had a recuperate man i i was so beat like said my old ass didn't get a ton of sleep but it was awesome man i had such a great time just emotionally exhausted yeah great drained exactly all right we need to get you a spa day after that yeah i could have used one but

hey we gotta rest up man we gotta we got a pretty busy calendar coming up in february gee we haven't talked to you yet why don't you you share it with us? G, what's up, buddy? What's going on, boys? I got myself into a bit of a predicament. I have no clothes. So doing laundry here in New York is such a bitch. So I use one of those laundry delivery services. So they come. Yeah, they scoop your laundry. They fold it. They do the whole thing. They deliver it back. And I started using this new guy and he promised to return my clothes in 24 hours. And that was last Wednesday. It's been like five or five days now. His number is like deactivated. He won't answer my calls. He's gone completely dark. And the thing is, is I've been saying I'm not a laundry guy, man. It

takes me a while to do my laundry. I build it so i just got back from this boston trip so i compile all of my laundry like every piece of clothing i had i put into four trash bags i bring it down to my lobby he comes and picks it up i don't think i'm ever going to see any of these clothes again because they're gone long gone so he got sick of the skid marks he's like fuck this guy and bring him back his clothes 100 this kid wears white undies with these tire marks jesus tough one for me right now boys yeah that sucks but the good thing is i mean all you wear is our merch anyways exactly that that was exactly what my girlfriend said she goes hey just walk back in the barstool and grab a couple more spit and chiclet sweatshirts. That's all you wear anyways.

So laundry, laundry is something else. I'll tell you, like my wife's a machine. She does everything like the pool, everything for the house, everything. I'm telling you, all I do is bring in the cheddar, but she can't even handle the laundry. We've now moved on to the laundry delivery service. It's just and then with kids and then like they're somewhat similar sizes. So like I use to fold i used to say i'll fold any clothes that are mine but because the kids it's just laundry kids clothes would be such a pain in the ass oh it's like a little underwear with

tire marks like g i'm pretty sure alan iverson was uh well obviously he's rich enough but he would just leave his clothes he just would wear them one time and that's it he would just yeah go to the city with nothing just buy new clothes yeah that's why he did go bankrupt though well yeah this is not financial advice for anybody listening gee we're stinging all week too like that's old guys or what you bounce back or what yeah i've actually uh i've been under the weather as well i haven't been feeling too hot so it's been uh i just laid on the couch all weekend with my puppy so it actually wasn't a bet all of our listeners just listen to us they're like hey you guys can fucking get therapists can we get to some fucking hockey talk guys got the headphones in while he's like drilling a new sidewalk in chicago he's like shut

the fuck up talk about the boudard pick blackhawk steak we're gonna get him when I get to the Bruins then actually we got a shout out to whoever tossed me that box of pre-rolls that I mean I had my own stuff in the room but that's clutch man when you don't have time to roll nice pre-rolls that's the one we burned it up and you're the worst roller of all time oh yeah can't even do it yeah yeah I know

I'm not the best I'm not the pressure but either nail it or I suck at it either way I think he's doing it because he knows we won't want it so he's like i get this whole bitch to myself that's the ra mentality i'm gonna i'm gonna bog at it i would smart us we do need to thank marcus felino uh he revealed that minnesota is going to be the next state for big deal brewing biz tell us how that came about uh we asked marcus felino to announce the state and he did it it was that simple good so biz sent him a tall boy i said listen motherfucker i'll come out of retirement beat your ass if you don't announce minnesota for us and he did and he's such a fucking handsome

stallion doing it and that is the eighth state that's been announced minnesota we're getting uh it's it's growing as far as a labatt state. So give it time. If you're having a difficult time finding it, we are launching more cases there very soon. So it's kind of a funky state and how it all works as far as distribution. So just like I said, be patient and you will be able to find it in certain locations. And as soon as we get all those locations, we will let you know. So Minnesota, eighth state, seventh Arizona, you guys know the original six and more states coming. Be patient. And Canada coming very soon.

Just bear with us. That's all I can say. Fucking legality bullshit. It is coming soon. Gee, that hat is sick. I'll say this, not to jump down your throat. Like, I invented Pink Whitney. I did it all.

Without me, it's nothing. Biz did nothing. G did nothing. It's all me. I have plenty of pink whitney merch i don't have any big deal merch i don't have a hat i don't have a shirt i don't have a hoodie so please g please i got you buddy i'll send you some right i love i love that winter lid well we were worried about size right based on breeze recent comments so we were just maybe you were in between sizes so now that we know you're a double xl yeah we gotten a car accident, swallowed the airbag. There you go. What do we got?

All right. As you mentioned, they're waiting for hockey. Well, Canada is very happy this week. Gold medal game versus Czechia. They coughed up a two nothing lead. Czechia tied in the third period. But Dylan Gunther, the golden goal, unreal goal, unreal game. Goal tenders played out of their minds.

Oh, and by the way, we're going to be talking to him very shortly, but let's first go to the Canadian on the podcast for his take. Well, no, I want to go to wit because you had quite the hot take on the internet, on the Twitter ways, in the semifinal game when USA got hosed with one of the worst hockey calls I've ever seen in my life. Yeah, well, I think that's got over a million views. So no matter what people think of me, I'll take I'll take those numbers.

I am well aware, well aware of the rules. OK, I understand in the International Ice Hockey Federation that is considered goaltender interference. It's bullshit, though. I know I know that they got the call correct. I'm doing quotations for anyone in their tractor. I understand that's the call. The International Ice Hockey Federation, this is coming from an NHL referee.

These exact words I'm about to say have been the number one people in the pussification of hockey. The rules are horrific. I saw guys getting kicked out of the tournament for hits that should have maybe been two minutes for roughing or charging. It's just a complete joke. And the fact that Blake, Jason Blake's son,

I played with Jason Blake. The fact his son had the puck on his stick and got a goaltender interference call is a joke, man. I understand in that game, they got the rule right. My video, and I didn't do a good enough job in saying that i know the rules it's the fact that the rule is pathetic and by the way first off i should not first off because it's like the 17th thing i've said congratulations canada what a team uh great effort you have a superstar bedard gunther was unbelievable it was a hell of a team i love that kid uh Zellweger, too.

Jesus, what a defense. Well, he just got a fucking, they traded like an arena. They gave up the arena to get him. The Broncos. Kamloops gave up the next 20 years of their organization. The owner had to give up his ranch. He's one of the part owners. Buddy, that kid.

He can lug the man. He can lug the man. With Drysdale on Anaheim. anaheim's gonna be nice but uh it was just so disgusting to see a goal scored and a guy with the puck on his stick do a great move and like oh goaltender interference like it's just a horrible horrible way to ref games and i and and if the nhl players do go to the olympics again i can't imagine the shit we're gonna fucking witness in terms of horrific officiating I agree with everything you just said by the way I think that

that obviously not saying that you're aware of the rules just gets all the trolls going but your breakdown of saying that the pussification of it all and like taking it too far kind of like when they took too far like the foot in the crease thing with the brett hall like that whole season was like wasted on such a dumb fucking rule i agree with you but i don't think that to the olympic side of it they send those some of those refs man they're coming over from other countries and it's just ref completely completely different we even had remember when we had brendan prust on the podcast and he talked about going over to germany and how bad they were there so i think for him hit it he must be running guys over that guy hit like a mac truck he's like boom game suspension he's like what but it is nice that it didn't end up being the deciding goal canada went on to lay

a trouncing on the u.s what was the final link six two see that's another thing everyone's like oh six two doesn't even matter we also had another goal called back that one was that one that was a poke at the pad that was a poke at the pad. That was a poke at the pad. That was the right call. But it's not about the fact that the goal was called back and you still won by four. It's the fact that it was a 3-3 game,

and that would have changed everything. I'm not going to sit there and be like, oh, it doesn't matter because you won by four. No, it's 3-3. Your asses pucker up a little bit. I mean, in the end, I love Logan Cooley. I think that Arizona has a stud on their hands. But doing the old, I can't hear you after making it 1-0

could have been a little old takes exposed-ish. I mean, there's no rub and swipe for that. Luke Hughes looked great. People are saying that maybe at the end of his college career, like he would go up to the Devils right away. Like fucking up. Oh, Hughes? Yeah, his coach at Michigan said he would go up to the Devils right away. Like fucking. Oh, Hughes. Yeah.

His coach at Michigan said, I think you'll see him in the lineup. And then they have the kid Nemec. So they have both of those D come and Pasha's just rubbing himself right now over his designer jeans he wears. And then shout out that Juracek defenseman on check. It's ugly days in Columbus right now. I think Columbus has one or less goals in seven of their last 12 games. And I know this is defensive, but that guy's got a big game. I love him.

But as far as Canada is concerned, I mean, we're going to get to talk to Dylan Gunther coming on here. And I'm interested to hear like behind the scenes, you know, going through the early tournament. I mean, that was a devastating loss. to hear like behind the scenes you know going through the early uh tournament uh i mean that was a devastating loss and then facing all that uh criticism in the media and it being on canadian soil i'm sure that was amplified to a level that he's never experienced before that would basically like being a a toronto maple leaf having to deal with leafs media and so they had to go through that it seemed like just throughout the tournament like it seemed like such a close group i'm interested to see if that loss even galvanized them even more where they had to really stick together at that time and just like all the way to the end where you got bedard after

the game like fuck off i ain't talking about myself i want to talk about this team this group of guys what i've been through with them and then obviously as a coyote and you know drafting dylan gunther and seeing the impact that he's made on the ice for the coyotes early in the season. So happy that they gave him because, you know, he's obviously a big piece of the coyotes roster now, but allowing him to go get that experience and then to contribute on that stage, that's gotta be huge for, for fucking his confidence.

So I'm looking forward to really getting the behind the scenes on an incredible run by Canada, back-to-back gold medals. And then, uh, you know, I thought, uh, you know, Shane Wright had a strong tournament and he got to go prove himself and be in that environment again. Talk about the, I think we were bringing it up on the TNT call today because, um, we have, uh, like the, the, like the Shane Wright topic and what, you know,

him getting sent back to junior and like go from like, sometimes like the the like the shane wright topic and what no him getting sent back to junior and like go from like sometimes like there's so much pressure on these guys early on and then going from first overall for two years everybody thought to fourth and then all of a sudden like the i don't know i wouldn't call it mayhem but everything he was going on with in seattle early in the season like that's going to be hard on your confidence but then for him to like go down to the ahl get that experience know that he could at least dominate at that level then get to go come back score the goal against Montreal and then go to world juniors and then be the captain of the gold medal team you talk about building that confidence back up I think it's been great for

him too so a lot of great storylines for that team Canada in this run and I mean you already mentioned Zellweger and what he's going to be able to do. Yeah, in terms of right, it's a marathon, not a sprint. And I've said so many times that there's been certain picks and players that just jump in and dominate so quickly that it's just amazing to see the talent in these young guys. But every guy's different. It's fine if you don't play in the league right away.

Man, you could dominate in the NHL. You could dominate junior. I just hate the fact that there's probably kids out there who get picked high, and then they start to panic a little bit. Like, oh, I'm not dominating yet. Look at these other high picks. They did it right away. Buddy, every guy's different.

Every individual is himself. And you'll hear when we drop Chara in a couple weeks. His agent came on, Matt Cater, for a little bit and just mentioned, this whole game is a marathon, not a sprint. It's about having a long career. Dude, who cares if you get to the NHL at 21? You got 10, 12 years to make a ton of money, be a great player. You don't need to do it right away. So I always tell young players I meet, like, buddy, don't worry. There's going to be ups and downs. And not every single person is McDavid, obviously. But I mean, it's just like, don't worry about what others are doing. And the last thing I'll say on the tournament, disgusting.

Disgusting to win a gold medal three on three. I knew they did it all tournament. And I thought even in the bronze medal game, I thought it'd be different in the gold if they went to overtime. I'm okay with four and four, but I don't know. Like, three on three for the gold medal? What the hell is that? I don't like it either. It's like, what do they get?

They got a game after us. Is the ice rented? Yeah. Yeah. The men's league coming on. Honestly, up in Canada, it probably is. This guy's a big deal. They're like, we're charging $400 an hour for this ice.

Fuck you. Yeah. I mean, it's a 20 minute overtime. Why do you got, why do you got to go to three on three? I don't know. It's bizarre. Yeah. Yeah.

I was going to ask him about that when we get to him. All right, before we go any further, we have a few words from our presenting sponsor at Pink Whitney and New Amsterdam Vodka. This stuff has been unreal all winter, man. I go across the street, my favorite bar, the Warren Tavern. I get it on rocks over there, maybe club soda. We had a big party last week at the Wilbur Theater.

Incredible. The Pink Whitney was flying. Grinnelly was doing his little shtick out front. I've been living off this stuff. If you haven't tried it out, go to your local bar, order up a shot, or if you don't want a shot, get it with some club soda. That's the way I take it.

Either way, you'll want to get some pink Whitney. It's the good stuff, the birdie juice. Grinnelly, I'm sure you've got a bottle or seven in your fridge. All right. I have a ton of bottles in my fridge. I actually, you know, holiday season's right around the corner. I talk about all the time how I gift it to my my brothers. I put it in their stockings. I talked last part about how I gifted it to my friends. Well, it's the new year. I have a doorman in my building, so I gift it to my doorman. We have a few different doormen. I bring down a bottle for each of them and they absolutely love it. Pink Whitney, like we always say, it's the gift that keeps on giving. So absolutely. So head on over to your local bar and order a shot of Pink Whitney.

We also had some laughs on Twitter. Biz, you said go Yotes after one of Gunther's goals, and our buddy Jakey Vorchek chimed in. Biz, shut the fuck up with the Yotes thoughts all the time. LOL. I think he meant to spell tweets but it was pretty funny bring a little levity during the game i mean he's he's a fucking madman we gotta get him back on the show fucking mute me borchak mute me then and half the internet

probably does for anyone new to the pod go back in time i think it was we were in philly i don't know four years ago now three years ago now what a a character Jake Voracek is. Just that great guy. Every teammate loves him that's ever played with him. So that was a fun interview. My captain is how I'm referring to Bedard now because I've already built it in my brain that we're going to get that first overall pick and I'm already looking towards the future

about him leading us, especially after those post-game quotes. In that moment where you've dominated the world juniors to a level nobody else has dominated them and to just completely deflect it to your team. That's my captain. Yeah, nine goals, 14 assists for 23 points in seven games. Obviously, he led the whole tournament. Then he had that quote you just mentioned.

Then he went back to Regina. First game back, four goals, two assists, 13 shots on goal. On the season, he's got 40 goals, 53 assists. If it was an 82-game season, that's a 91-goal, 212-point pace that this kid's on. But just to have the gold medal and then go and put fucking six points up, this kid is – I can't wait until we get him in the big league. I heard a rumor that, like, Seattle was going to try to pick him up

at one point. Like, I don't know how good Regina is in the Western Hockey League. They're not very good. Right. So you think that – I think they just – at one point. I don't know how good Regina is in the Western Hockey League. They're not very good. Right. I think they just he doesn't, I don't know if he doesn't want to be traded or the team doesn't want to trade him, but he's not going anywhere. He's like, I want to get ready for the combine.

Get me the fuck out of Junior. I'm too good for this league. Probably go to the World Championships. If Zellweger got that return, I mean, half of the Canadian of the canadian cattle in the western hockey league is going to get dealt for conor bedard uh we'll trade you three yellowstone ranch locations and a couple of uh smarties half the tim hortons franchises and as

jeff mentioned before the show too biz the financial bump that bedard's given to these arenas who might normally wouldn't be selling a lot of these tickets they're opening up sections that normally might be closed for some of these games. People are coming out to see the kid. They know he's a generational talent, so he's also providing a financial bump already. So, yeah, we can't wait till we get him up on the show, like I said. Seattle sent Shane Wright back to OHL Kingston with the expectation that he'll be traded for the remainder of the season.

The trade deadline is today, Tuesday. We never talked about Badard in some of his interviews. It looks like he's on like a 20 milligram indica edible. He's just, yeah, I don't know if he's like, is he just getting waffled in the locker room? Like during the game, he's so bored with playing against these losers. Yeah, he's like, I got to start playing super high.

And then if I could still do it, then my, no, man, I'm going to the hall of fame. I don't know what's going on with some of those interviews and for everybody listening the trade we keep referencing all right you want to pull it up for like everything that zellwiger and i want to say there was one more player uh going over but it was for a boatload oh monster trade one of the biggest i've ever seen at any level any league uh buddy jeff marrick i believe broke it uh the everett silvertips traded anaheim defensive prospect olin zellwiger and Caps prospect forward Ryan Hofer to the Kamloops Blazers for a bounty of players and picks.

Everett's going to get two players, two prospects, four first-round picks, a second-rounder, a third-rounder, a fourth-rounder, a fifth-rounder, a sixth-rounder, and a conditional second-rounder. The 19-year-old zellweger was taken 34th overall in the 21 draft he's going to cam loop cam loops like i said they're hosting the memorial cup so you know he'll obviously get some play there so but this is i mean this trade biz i've never seen anything like i mean lindros forsberg comes to mind but this is crazy it's

preposterous i think i called them the broncos earlier i meant to say the cam loops blazers i think i said broncos anyway that's the only thing the only thing i'm curious about is like obviously cam loops hosts they're automatically in the in the memorial cup so all those teams they load up but what happens to like the kids who are drafted by cam loops i mean with the picks they have remaining for the next few years like it's's almost like, all right, I just got picked to what's going to be the worst team for what? Five, six years. Like I understand like there has to be a boatload going back for two

players of that caliber to make a run at winning, you know, the biggest trophy in Canadian junior hockey, but it happens at the pro level. Not to this, not to this. I mean, look at,

look at what Russell Wilson got. That's worked out well. And the Seahawks ended up making playoffs and they get the fifth overall pick. And I think they still got another first rounder and then two seconds and they don't have Russell Wilson. So it's happening everywhere. It's a pandemic, bad, horrible, horrible decisions about leveraging the future. And then it completely blowing up in your face.

Now, I just hope it's, is not the team that did that and then loses completely blowing up in your face. Now, I just hope this is not the team that did that and then loses out in the second round of playoffs and then also doesn't win the Memorial Cup. Because then, like you said, it's like you've leveraged it all. So let's go Blazers. Donor, I'm rooting for you, buddy. And if not, you could spend a few, you could spend a couple months on my couch

if times get that bad, my friend. I love you, Donor. I know one is I mentioned Luke Hughes a minute ago. It was his coach. Brandon Norado said he would quote bet his mortgage that Hughes will be in the devil's lineup at the end of the 22, 22 season. Okay. Hot taste exposed.

Let's go. Bet the mortgage. And Dylan Gunther, he went back to the Coyotes. He's the ninth overall pick back in 21. He's got 11 points in 21. I think 22 games now after he played the other night. So what do you say, boys? Send it over to him now?

Let's do it. We'd like to welcome our first guest to the show. Last Thursday, this 19-year-old scored two goals in the World Junior Gold Medal game, including the overtime game winner to give Canada back-to-back championships. And then Monday night, he resumed his season with the Arizona Coyotes, the team that took him ninth overall at the 2021 draft. Thanks so much for joining us on the Spittin' Chicklets podcast. Dylan Gunther, is your head still spinning or what, brother? Yeah, no, thank you. It's an

honor. Thanks for having me on today. Pleasure's all ours. Yeah, if you haven't had a whirlwind couple of days quite like this, getting a gold medal, then suiting up for an NHL team a couple nights later. No, it's happened pretty quick. The last 48 hours, my phone's been blowing up nonstop. It's been surreal. I mean, every kid dreams of that, so it's been awesome. How many interviews have you done for this? I did a couple today.

I did two today. I mean, when you texted me about this one, I was stoked. I actually had my agent text me and ask if I could do one around the same time. And I said no. So I have a few to find out. I thought he was going to say, hey, don't go on there and say something stupid. Fuck that.

No, I'm super stoked to be on here. So when did you find out that, I guess it's more of a conversation, but the Coyotes have to let you go back to play World Juniors. When did you find out that that I guess it's more of a conversation, but the Coyotes have to let you go back to play World Juniors. When did you find out that that was going to be the case? Yeah, so we were on a road trip when I left. We played LA, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton. And after the Calgary game, Bill called me up to the front and he said, you're going to play at Edmonton.

And after, you're going to stay at Edmonton and then head off to the World Juniors. So I played that game, had a couple of days at home, which was nice, and headed off to Moncton, which is where the camp was. If you would have said that, would you have asked to go? Was that something that you wanted to go do? I don't know if I would have asked to go. I think at first I was a little bit bummed out, I'm not going to lie.

It almost feels like you're getting sent down a little bit bummed out, I'm not going to lie. It almost feels like you're getting sent down, like a little bit. You have that feeling. But once he kind of explained the reasoning, and I talked to Bear, who obviously has been in Hockey Canada for so long and had so much to do with them. And once they kind of explained to me and showed their side of the story, I was really excited. And once I got there, and there's a lot of local guys who I played with growing up,

five guys from the Edmonton area. So I knew a lot of the guys on the team and had built relationships with them and ended up having a great time. So I couldn't be happier that I went. And you guys lost that first game. Did confidence go down at all or did it actually benefit you kind of later down the line because you might have known some guys' tendencies or whatever? Yeah, I think it helped us.

I mean, it's almost good to go through that, I think, just to kind of keep you level-headed a little bit. I mean, we had such a skilled, talented team, as the Canadian team always is. And, yeah, I think us going through that and kind of having that little bump in the road there brought us down a little bit. It said, you know, we're not going to just walk through this tournament and, and you know,

play, play how we want to play and, and, and when the thing, I think we have to play as a team. And, and after that first game, I thought we really played well, you know, kind of as one. Was there money on the board for getting a Michiganigan done in that first game you would think this was all over you guys i was ready to fucking lose my mind you guys were just hey you guys were playing soft you were playing a little bit too individual but the perfect learning lesson early in that tournament and i think you even had quotes about like hey we're not going to michigan our way to the gold medal game here like we need to we need to get on the forecheck a little bit and stop trying to toe drag guys

yeah I think it uh it's not even that I I dislike the player I just think like early on in the tournament uh I just thought it kind of leaked into the rest of our game like just that uh I don't know not the individuality of it us trying to beat guys one-on-one, make pretty plays, stuff like that. And I thought that when we kind of came out and did that, I think it leaked in. And even like the perspective, if you were on the other team and, you know, let's say two of the guys tried that early on in the game, I think that maybe the other team felt a little bit disrespected by that.

And they thought, you know, maybe these guys think it's going to be easy. So they played really well the rest of the game. Once they got up, they locked it down and we couldn't score. I was lucky enough to play in a World Junior in Halifax. And I long said it was the craziest, most electric atmosphere I ever got to experience. Were you kind of blown away with the crowd? And, you know, granted, it's in Canada. Obviously, you know what to expect,

but it still must have kind of shocked you in a way of how loud that building got. Oh, I had no idea it was like that over there. I'd never been to the East Coast before, and it was unbelievable. Even the pre-tournament games in Moncton, it sold out in the warm-ups. I couldn't believe it, actually.

And there's people standing on their feet, you know, with 30 seconds left in the game. And it was so much fun to play there. And that atmosphere was just wild. And I think with the World Juniors, that makes it so special. It's like the kind of whole country gets behind it. And I feel like that's something that, you know, you don't really get anywhere else other than in that tournament so it was really cool to play in front of a crowd

like that do you feel like going through that experience of that first game lost though because you even going towards the end of the tournament it seemed like the group of guys loved each other how quickly did you guys gel and did you use that even more as a bonding moment to like get all on the same page and say hey we got to stick together here? Yeah, I think exactly that. I think, you know, we have to play as a team, which was a big one. And that's kind of a big, tough obstacle, I think, for like the Canadian team and the American team is you have so many like really good players within the team who have so much skill and talent. But really, you know, the team, the team plays better as one. I mean, when you come together as one, you're going to play better.

So after that game, we played Germany, and our start was really good, and we hopped all over them right off the start and scored early. And, you know, even though maybe they weren't as good of a team as some of the other teams, I think that that game really helped us step in the right direction. Then you have like 10 points and Bernard had like 14 or something. You guys were just fucking snapping it around. Yeah, they had a five-minute power play. I think it was pretty tight.

And then we had a five-minute power play late in the second. I think we scored four or five on it. So our power play was really good. And it kind of started on that game. I'm just curious, did you choose not to play in the Summer World Junior? I know there were some guys

who kind of opted out of that. Was that your decision? No, I would have went. I had an injury late in the Western League playoffs. I missed the Memorial Cup too, actually, which was a bummer. So it was like pretty close

and I was kind of just getting back on the ice so i just kind of made the decision to continue to rehab you mean around the time i helped you guys win the western league when i came in and gave you guys the the oil kings intro yeah that was uh that was awesome i i remember that uh game two of the playoffs so i was injured in game three actually first game in game in Seattle. But, yeah, that was electric. We won that game, too, after our first game lost. So that was a lot of fun. Waino texted me in the morning.

He goes, you're going to do this. I'm like, oh, my God, I'm hungover. Fuck, I can't play this one off. You're like, these young bucks are going to make fun of me. But, hey, I'll tell you what, man, the minute you guys got the little pat slap. Beat going. Yeah, when you guys got the beat going, dude, right into it then i went i went man's biz i took my hat off and the boys kind of

gave me a chuckle gave me the confidence i needed so thank you to the boys man that was uh that must have been a great experience though that like win the western league have that awesome team and go on that run as well yeah that was, that was a lot of fun. And I think especially because a lot of us played together for so long and we didn't get to play in the playoffs. So it was like kind of the last hurrah for all of us. I mean, a lot of guys were 19 and they were moving on. So we were pretty fired up.

I mean, we had made some pretty big trades. It obviously helped us a lot get there. But I think like the core of that team had been together for so long I mean, we had made some pretty big trades. They obviously helped us a lot get there. But I think, like, the core of that team had been together for so long, and it felt like forever. And to go through that and to win was – yeah, that was awesome. Like a Zellweger-type trade where you guys traded away four first-rounders, six second-rounders, four horse, the team bus, and a ranch. That was crazy.

I was talking to Zellie. I mean, you can't get traded when you're at the World Juniors, and there was a couple of guys there who thought that maybe they'd get dealt. And that's the biggest I've ever seen. We traded for Gooley last year, two first-round picks, a drafted player, a good young player and that that was just uh unbelievable i mean he's gonna play 30 games there probably that's crazy he's he's he's so good though that's all my god unbelievable wit was wit was stroking him off earlier in the

pod or maybe depending on when we record to record of this. But another guy who might get dealt, a guy who's been all over the airwaves, but darn, we got to hear behind the scenes. What's this kid like? What's it like playing with him? His fucking skill set is through the roof. Best player you've ever shared the ice with? At least not non-NHL? Oh, yeah.

Yeah. I'm just amazed watching him. You see him do all these things, and I'm trying to figure out, like, how he does it because I'm trying to compare him to, like, NHL players in the NHL, and I find myself taking the best part of the best players, you know, like Matthew's shot and McDavid's, like, shiftiness. Like, I don't know.

Like, he's just – he's so good. And, you know, he works so hard, too. And he's a great guy off the ice. He's modest, too. And he was a lot of fun to be around. And I think the big thing with him is just how deadly his shot is. And when you have to respect the shot like you do as a defenseman, he's able to make those crafty moves and make plays.

So, I think he had a four and two last night in a 6-3 win against Calgary. So welcome back to the league. We've talked before about the first time Vince and I played with Crosby, and you wonder like, oh, how good is this guy? And then you see it, you're blown away. So you'd heard about him.

He's been such a name for so long. Like that first time you played Regina, if that was the first time you faced him, were you kind of going in like, oh, how good can he be and then right away you knew yeah I played with some of the younger 18 would be the first time uh so we were in the bubble and he was lighting up the bubble uh on the other side we were kind of like oh like you know it's uh the division's not as good like something you know like we're trying to find, like, no way he's doing this. Like, come on. He's only 15. And then he goes to the U18s, and I was like, yeah, boy,

this guy is the real deal here. Like, he's legit. And after every World Junior game, like, we have an old group chat with a lot of the former Oil King guys and stuff. And, you know, it was buzzing when he would put on a show and score some nice goals there does he get banged up before these interviews he does he's always like seems like he's a little soft stuff he's eating edibles is he eating edibles before these interviews i i don't know

he does look a little bit uh spacey when he's doing i remember the one of the intermission he wasn't even answering questions i don't know what he was doing. People were losing it online about it. I'm like, shut the fuck up, man. He's got three goals for you. Just go to bed. Yeah, I like the guy. You ever seen the Coach Chippy guy? He says, but he always talks about... Chippy, he's the best.

Yeah, so he's like on TikTok and he's always talking about how big his forearms are and he makes videos about him doing curls when he's sleeping and stuff like that. So I like that guy he's pretty he's pretty funny so what does he incorporate bedard into his his shtick on tiktok hey i'll play i'll play a clip of it right now benzie it's time to get up we gotta go benzie we gotta get up buddy benzie it's time to get up Bad, Betsy, if I see one more Bad, that's bad

No more forearm pump, bad No more forearm pumps We got Slovakia in an hour No more forearm pumps Bad, bad, Betsy, bad No more forearm pumps The whole bus is waiting. We got Slovakia in an hour.

I'll be there when I'm ready. Your forearms are the size of a tree. Did Dino get you doing the forearm twigs? Dino got you doing them? Okay, well, I'm gonna have to talk to Dino. I said I'll be there when I'm ready. I said I'll be there when I'm ready. So he's got Popeye forearms.

Is he hitting the rice bucket before games, Connor Bedard? Oh, he's juice. He's huge. Yeah, he's been like that since the U18 too. I couldn't believe how strong he was. Yeah, he's strong. Do you think they changed his birth certificate? Do you think he's older than he actually is?

Are we starting to catch up with the Russia mentality? No, I don't think he's older. I don't know, maybe Sarnes or something in there. We could have a lead here, Grinnell. Tweet it out. Tweet the poll out or something. He's like a baseball player from the Dominican Republic. You mentioned Bedard's shot. We had Shane Doan on, and he was raving about yours

and how deceptaving about yours and how deceptive it is and how like, you know, I think, what did he say? He like grits his teeth and he curls his toes to get a shot off as hard as he used to get it off. But you just seem to do it very eloquently and using the technology to stick. Where did you learn all that? Like, how did you adapt and, and just kind of go into that? I practiced a lot, like in the basement, I, uh, I practiced a ton, like countless hours down. I still do, like when I'm at home. You know, my brother and I, we're down there for hours.

And I don't know, I think just the technology, the sticks are whippier now, so you can kind of just let the stick do its thing. And yeah, I remember shooting with Donor in his garage there, and we were snapping around for a little bit. But I think just the practice of it. And then the stick. And Bedard, his stick is, like, really long.

It's weird. He's got a long stick, and he's got a 70 flex, too. So I'm a 77, but he's got a long 70 flex stick. And I try to, you can sling it with it. So, yeah, it's nice. I'm wondering for you, I mean, you know, like you mentioned you end the year with injury, but you come into camp,

you're a high draft pick. Like, what were the expectations? Were you thinking you could make this team? Or were you kind of expecting to go back to junior? Like, what was your camp experience like this September? Yeah, I think I definitely had some expectations on myself. I wanted to make the team just because, you know, my junior team wasn't very good back home either.

And Edmonton and a lot of the guys had moved on or starting their pro career. So throughout the whole summer, I was working hard to try to make that team. And they wanted me to get bigger and heavier and stronger. And, you know, I worked really hard to put on weight throughout the summer and just try to get better throughout the camp. And it's a lot different of a game, too. I had to adjust defensively. In junior, if I make a tough play or have a bad giveaway or something,

I'm going out the next shift anyways. And it's different up here. I kind of learned to reevaluate my game like that. You can't just evaluate off scoring chances and my offensive game, but also, you know, stuff around the defensive zone.

It's the little things that kind of add up and just build confidence that way. Dylan, I want to go back to the gold medal game. When the Czechs tied it, they tied up within like a minute, less than a minute. Did team tense up at all? Did someone speak up? How did you guys handle that moment of pressure there? Yeah, we did a little bit. It was weird.

Like, we kind of hemmed them in on their first goal. Like, they were hemmed in for a while. Then they just went down. And it was kind of a weird bounce. We thought maybe it was offside. Maybe it wasn't. Then it went in. And then our line went out the next shift.

Iced the puck off the faceoff. Couldn't get the puck out. And they scored again. And it was a little sense of panic, like five minutes left. It's, you know, not ideal. You're up two with ten minutes left to go in the game, and you let two in like that. So, I mean, once we got through that period

and we kind of went into the intermission, it was behind us. I mean, we didn't talk about the structural breakdowns or anything that happened just because we knew it was three on three. And it's just a way different game. And so once we got to that, and a lot of guys in the summer, they won in three-on-three last year, so they kind of knew what to expect. But, yeah, it was just a different game,

and just put that behind us and get ready for that. Did the guys like the three-on-three, or would they prefer the five-on-five for a 20-minute overtime, do you think? I think like for me i think the five on five it it just three on three seems wrong for me like i i get it in the regular season and stuff it's super entertaining to watch but i think that like that level and with like those stakes and stuff on the line it uh i i prefer i prefer the five on five with no

shootout either like i remember uh a few years back, the US beat Canada in the shootout after an unreal 5-on-5 20-minute overtime went to a shootout. I think Terry scored, and that was the only goal. I think just a continuous 5-on-5 would be in my favor, but I know the 3-on-3 is pretty entertaining for the fans. They got the men's league after you guys. They already sold the ice. They got to get you guys out of there. They got to get you guys out of there.

They got to get you guys out of there. He sought watches for the MVPs and get the fuck off by 11. Yeah, yeah. That's kind of what it seemed like. Another guy I wanted to ask about is, because it was you and Bedard and you saw Zellweger, but this Joshua, was it Wah or Roy? I mean, a late pick by the Canadians and a Quebec kid. So it's exciting for the fans to have a kid coming up.

But I didn't know much. What a player, huh? Yeah, he's unreal. I've never played with him before either. I never played with him at the under 17, the under 18. So I didn't know him until this tournament. And he was really good everywhere too. He killed penalties.

And on the forecheck like his stick was like unreal he would disrupt pucks it seemed like every time they would touch it he'd get a stick on it and and end up getting the puck so he was a huge part of that team he was a really good player yeah he was awesome uh dylan on the golden goal itself did your eyes kind of get wide when you realized you had an on man on man rush there yeah i uh, I did. And the guys here, they've been giving it to me for the celly. You did look like, you were like asleep. I wasn't thinking. I just saw the two-on-one and I scored and I was happy because like,

it was a goal. I just completely forgot that we were in the overtime and then walked through with stuff up in the air and then he grabbed me and I had my gloves up and then walk, walk through his stuff up in the air. And then he grabbed me and I had my gloves off. And then I, I, I saw me and it was like the Ricky Bobby. I don't know what to do with my hand or something.

And cause I just had my gloves sitting there like this. So then I got them off and the guys would turn for me. But in that moment, I even after like the last, like 10 minutes after when I was getting interviewed and stuff and the crowd was just going crazy. I couldn't believe it. Took one of Bedard's edibles between periods before the three on three. It looked like you scored the winner in a preseason pre pre-tourney match.

I was like, I actually was like, I wonder if he forgot. It turns out you did. That's hilarious. I guess I wasn't thinking about the cell. The guys were saying like they would have threw their stick and gloves into the sand or something like that. But no, I was just thinking about the goal and completely forgot. Ask Christian Fisher what he did to me when we were in the fucking American League.

This motherfucker shot the bow and arrow at me on the bench. We almost had a bench clear and brawl right after this. So that's probably why he wanted to see something out of you. Yeah, no, I'll ask him about that for sure yeah going scott's the star was there for me he was like the one all over me so i was gonna ask you who's another guy maybe in the tournament or on your team who you you know when you play with guys sometimes you gain a whole new respect for their game and you're like holy shit this guy's gonna be a hell of a player down the road or maybe a guy you faced off against is there any names that stuck stick out to you from from at the world juniors yeah i kind of want to like i knew a

lot of the players uh before on the other teams i don't know as much it's kind of hard to tell i mean they all have the same gear on and stuff like uh it's hard but uh i thought wall wall was really good and fantilli was another guy who who I'd obviously heard about a lot and him playing in the college. I never played against him ever, but he was really good. I mean, he can skate like the wind. He's fast, and he was relentless. And, yeah, he's a good player.

So I really liked him, and he was a really good guy too. It's fun to be around. I know you mentioned the other teams. It is hard. You know, you're only playing against them quick, but you get your ninth overall and the next year you get that Logan Cooley and being an American watching their games, that's an up-and-coming

studs. It's got to be exciting seeing him light it up and knowing you guys could be line mates next year. Yeah, it is. He was really good against us too. He scored early and he has kind of an edge to this game, too, that I didn't know he had. And he plays with, like, a lot of emotion.

You can tell he's super competitive just the way he plays. So he was really good against us, and he's having a good year in college, too. So, yeah, that'll be exciting in the upcoming years. I'm curious. You're one of those guys that really got affected your draft year with COVID, right? So I'm wondering, for a kid who's been a star player and dreaming about the NHL draft, was there times of panic,

or not panic, but worry, like, oh my God, this is going to kind of fuck with my future? Yeah, especially before the season. So we didn't get going until like February in my draft year. And there was like talk about like, well, would I go overseas or something? And I like talked about it. But the league said that they were going to get something going. So I was hopeful for that.

I mean, we had a good team too. So I didn't want to miss out if like we ended up going to the playoffs or something because we had a good team. We ended up going to the playoffs or something because we had a good team. And I remember in, like, November to January in Edmonton, the rinks were all closed. So all the guys were playing games and practicing with their team. And I'm skating on the outdoor rink with, like, the guys around the city.

I mean, we have good players around the city, and're fortunate to have a nice kind of rink with boards and stuff where we do development, but I think when that was going on, I was stressing a little bit and I was itching to get out there and play. I mean, it ended up working out okay and we went going with the Oil Kings, then went to

the U18s and won gold there, but yeah, definitely. Dylan, I saw you bumping Sidney Crosby when Pittsburgh was in town the other night. Was that your first time meeting him? Yeah, that was the first time. Do you have a stick or anything signed? Yeah. Yeah, I couldn't believe it.

I practiced and then they were coming to the rink and I couldn't manage. It's like, well, Penguins are coming if you want to meet Crosby. I said, yeah, absolutely. So I got to meet with him, talk with him about Halifax. And, I mean, pretty cool. Like, he's the guy with the golden goal. Like, he is the golden goal. He's a Canadian hero, like, my favorite player growing up.

But when he scored that in 2010, I'd be seven years old. So, like, my favorite player and getting to kind of share like a similar moment was him but was unbelievable and then we went to the game last night and the equipment manager goes uh yeah Crosby uh asked for one of your sticks I'm like what yeah he's like yeah he wants you to sign a stick for him so uh that that was like geez he wants one of my sticks. That's crazy. So I got a stick from him too. And yeah, that's unbelievable. I couldn't believe a stick too. It's got like a straight curve and like a weird grip on it.

It's short. So it's, uh, it's different. Yeah. Is there a secret, a golden goal handshake that he taught you? Uh, no handshake. Just a nice firm, uh, standard one. There you go that's that's it tommy sticks before they touch each other's canadian balls i'm not happy to hear you're playing tommy sticks with crosby before puck drop maybe after the game uh dylan but fuck come on man yeah i i don't know i can't turn that one down that's uh it's pretty cool like how much of an adjustment was it you know thursday or world're at World Juniors, three nights later you're on an NHL sheet.

Well, albeit at a college campus, but like how much is the pace different? Watch your mouth, R.A. He was trying to dig you there, Dillon. Don't buy into this bullshit. The Mullet Arena is the hardest place to play in the fucking league right now. Yeah, I'm sorry.

We've had success there too. I don't think other teams, yeah, I mean, we're playing well in there, so they don't know what to expect. We have a lot of fun success there, too. I don't think other teams, yeah, I mean, we're playing well in there, so they don't know what to expect. We have a lot of fun playing there. But, yeah, I was thinking, I was like, is there going to be an adjustment? And it was. I mean, they're fast.

Everyone's always in the right spot. The sticks are always so good. But I think coming back, I was just trying to take that momentum and kind of confidence that I built up throughout the tournament to bring back here and just try to play a similar game. And I mean, we played pretty well last night. We got into a bit of penalty trouble and stuff. But, you know, we were buzzing early. We scored early.

And I thought we played pretty well. You've been playing awesome. As far as the college experience, though, at Mullet, do the boys love it? Do you guys joke around about it in the locker room? I know early on there were some other teams complaining, but fuck them. Yeah, no, it's a lot of fun. And the older guys are always telling me and Big Bad Bainer, that's what they call him, my roommate, about going out after games

and stuff like that right on campus. So, I mean, he was just in college. He played at Boston College. So, no, it's a lot of fun to play in. We've had success there because I don't think teams know what they're coming into when they get there. And it's smaller. It's more compact.

It's a bit of a younger crowd. And it's a lot of fun to play in. So I enjoy it. I was looking up some details on you before the interview. I realized they still don't have your mugshot up on the NHL page or the Coyotes page. Bullshit. Yeah, they did it with

Michelli earlier this year. They didn't have his picture up. So I bitched about it on here and on Twitter and they finally fixed it. So whoever's listening now, get this kid's pitcher up, man. He's been there all season, 21 games. I don't know why your pitcher wouldn't be up there, man. We got to get that up for you. I don't know.

It might be a first-year thing. Hopefully get her up there. Hey, Jim. Who's been one of the guys that you've had to lean on the most, though, as far as stepping into the NHL? I know you've got some skilled forwards to play with, like Kels, Schmaltzy's really skilled. So that offensive side of your game, has that been helped develop by a few of those guys?

Yeah, I think just watching them in practice, too. I mean, you can learn so much in practice, like playing with and against these guys and battling. And the loss in Kraus is another one. Like, he is an unbelievable guy. He's really good with the younger guys. He takes us out to eat on the road and krauts is another one like he is a unbelievable guy he's really good with the younger guys he takes us out to eat on the road and stuff and he's just a horse so he's so good on the forecheck and getting pucks and he's got a lot of goals this year so uh you know the older

guys have been great and we have some pretty good offensive players like cal small city uh goss despair he's uh he's super skilled back. So it's fun to watch those guys and get to play with them a little bit. And another young guy, Michelli. Michelli. He's on the IR. He's finished, though. I know. I say it like he's Italian, though.

Yeah. I give it the soprano's wrist. Michelli. Yeah, he's super good. He's super shifty, like deceptive with the pocket. He's an unreal playmaker. So I had room with him last year at the rookie camp and stuff when I first got drafted, so I got to know him then.

Yeah, he's a good dude. It'd be pretty sick if maybe end of the year you go to world championships. I don't know if that'll be an option, but that'd probably be something you'd love to do, no? I didn't even think of that, actually. But, yeah, whenever you get a chance to play there. I actually had a buddy play there last year, Sillinger. He's from the West, too.

And he said he had a lot of fun playing there. I think they won silver there. But he said he had a blast there. And also Dyson Mayo from Arizona. He played there last year. And he said it's a pretty cool experience. It's like a three-week thing. It's kind of a vacation, but I also get to play hockey there.

I hope you were selling Arizona to Bedard when you're at World Juniors. Were you putting the bug in his ear that he's going to love it here? Oh, yeah. I'd place it in there and let him know how much fun he'd have here and how nice the city is. I feel like people don't know that either, like how clean it is and how nice it is and like the weather here. And yeah, I mean, it's been unbelievable.

I really like it. So just getting your opinion, because people have mentioned like, oh, what's it going to be like that first year? Can you see like a 40 goal, 80 point rookie year for him next year? Yeah. I know it sounds crazy, but.

I don't know. Like it's so hard like i think so low like how good he is offensively and i remember after the slovakia game when he danced those guys and scored an overtime i was talking with brand clark and he's uh up with la and i was asking i was like yo like how many do you think like like he could get right now and he's like well like i mean if he plays like-line minutes and on the power play and stuff, he could probably put up a point a game. So I think so, yeah, and I'm excited to kind of see it next year.

Hey, tell the boys, fucking let a few soft ones in if you guys are in the lead moving forward here. Come on, Gun. Hey. None of that. Howdy's work hard, but tank for Bedard. That's the say that should be the new mantra

in the locker room I'll get the t-shirts printed Grinnelli help me out with those let's fucking lock this kid in Gunther we're gonna have a long run here we're gonna get the new arena it's gonna be a blast that'd be a lot of fun

yeah I'd love to play with him so I was planting the seeds in his ear and you know you better be excited start missing the net then. Fuck. He seems like a pretty outgoing guy. Like he's got some personality to him from what we've seen, huh? Yeah. Yeah. He does. Yeah. He's, uh, yeah, he's good. I mean, like I said, he's a really good guy off the ice and, uh, he's super modest too.

I think that goes a long way. Like, like when you come back in the room and, uh, you're watching the highlights and they're talking about him and stuff, like he's not talking about himself or saying, you know, look at me here. I think he's really modest about that, and it really helps, you know, kind of internally in the morale on the team when you have a guy that good and who's getting, you know, that much attention, who's, you know, really, really good about it.

Well, we can't thank you enough and honestly and watching you play earlier this year you had a crazy long career ahead of you super skilled so we appreciate it and congratulations on the gold medal man that's awesome no yeah thank you guys thank you guys so much for uh having me on i uh couldn't be happier when you text me that was awesome i'll never forget that so thank you buddy the pleasure is all all ours and uh if the guys in the locker room are giving you a hard time with the celly, just fucking send them my way. Especially

if it's Fisher, I'll bop them on the head, that fucker. Yeah, I'll let them know tomorrow. Tell them to put away the bow and arrow. Put away the bow and arrow. I haven't seen the bow and arrow yet. I'll send you the clip. Okay. Awesome. See you, buddy. Thanks a bunch. Congrats, man. Thanks. Congrats again, pal. Great job the but okay. I'll send you the clip. Okay. Awesome. See you, buddy.

Thanks. Thanks a bunch. Thanks, man. Thanks. Congrats again, pal. Great job the other night. Yeah. Thank you so much, guys.

Appreciate it. Keep ripping it up, dude. Great meeting you. Keep going, buddy. See you guys. Huge thanks to Dylan for jumping on with us, man. He had a very busy week, so he made some time for us, and we appreciate it very much. Of course, Biz, you had a big hand in getting him there.

Biz, you had a big hand in a scene the other night. I mean, I don't know if it's viral or what a viral level is, but you asked to do the gritty, and I don't know. What exactly did you do? Oh, okay. I thought you were mentioning the Larkin thing. We're going to go to the gritty first. I don't know how to do the fucking gritty.

I know that Grinnell probably knows how to do that dance. Every kid under a certain age does it all over TikTok, and they put me on the spot i remember seeing ian schefter was it ian schefter who did it on the adam schefter adam schefter ian fucking i'm out to lunch well wait you were right you were right last week when you said justin jeffries created that jefferson created that the lsu wide receiver from the vikings he's the guy who created that you were right i don't ever remember seeing it prior to him doing it when it was at lsu and the lsu had another stud receiver oh chase yeah i think it was those doing it that year with burrow and that was kind of the first i i heard of it biz yours wasn't too bad i thought it was decent my my my sack was like hitting up against my uh my dress pants i think it's gotten a little bit heavier since that whole ordeal happened,

although we're almost back to normal. So, yeah, no, I definitely let the gritty crowd down. You definitely got that on audio, too, because I heard you talking about your sack when we were sitting down the night. Did he just say something about his sack? I'm like, yeah, he probably did talk about his sack during the time. Yeah, late night TNT gets a little bit greasy. Yeah, I mean, it was good stuff

either way, but before the Wings-Devils game, by the way, the Devils pounded the Wings 5-1, you had your big J-Journal head on interviewing Dylan Lockett. What do you say we fire that audio up there, G? Now we'll go with the serious stuff. Do you think you still have a Red Wings jersey on next year? I know you guys are in contract negotiations

going back and forth, but how are things proceeding, and do you think that you guys are going to meet somewhere? I sure hope so. You know, I've got a game to play in 15 minutes right now. I'm just excited to be wearing a jersey playing in the

NHL tonight, and yeah, I hope that I'm here. Dylan, just tell him. You can tell me. Just tell him it's none of his business. Don't worry, he'll be fine about this. Yeah.

I don't even know what to say. If your PR guy wants to answer it, you can hand over the headset to him. Yeah. Dylan, don't worry. I got permission to leave? Yes. All right. See you guys.

I'm not going to lie, Whit. i don't like doing the pre-game interviews because like i don't really fucking give a fuck about the four check i don't want to i go i get to ask the captain of the red wings one question all that's being talked about is the contract negotiation between his side and stevie why and apparently stevie why ain't budging that's what what's being said right he thinks he knows exactly what this person's worth and bringing him back and it's being offered and he ain't moving i said i want to know what the fuck is going on i want to know what's going on with the detroit red wings captain and i bet you a lot of the fan base wants to know what the fuck's

going on with the detroit red wings captain so i asked him and he was fucking pissed and he looked at the PR guy and then the PR guy didn't have anything to say. And then it was awkward as shit. And then I said, does the PR guy want to answer the question? And I had so many Detroit Red Wings fans, you classless hack asking him that 15 minutes before puck drop. Fuck you. If you can't handle that mentally, me asking about his contract 15 minutes before puck drop. Fuck you. If you can't handle that mentally,

me asking about his contract 15 minutes before puck drop, come on. Guy's going to sign for over 50 million bucks. He can handle a little bit of a difficult question. And that was a softball for him to say, I'm confident that things are going to get done. I want to be the fucking captain of this team and, and we're going to get it done. And I'm going to be the leader of the squad, but I'll hand it over to you.

What did you think? Would you have been pissed if I asked you that? I just would have been so shocked. And for some reason, I don't know, when I saw the clip, I was out to lunch. I was like, I thought it was post-game. When I actually realized it was before the game, I mean, I'm not a question shamer.

Asking questions and i've never done shame my question it's so hard that was the worst fucking question pre-game i've ever heard like i can't believe you like i there was no other reaction and for him to say i got a game in 50 like i bet you even talk was like, what the fuck? It's like, it's just so funny to think that that's what you came up with. And granted, I'm not question shaming while also seriously question shaming you. But I mean, never in a million years did that kid expect to put his deal up. I came one on one McDavid down the wing fucking crossing over where's he

going where's he go you don't know bitch fucking between your legs if i want motherfucker his reaction like the way he looked over he's like what the fuck he's like like if he could have you fucking kidding me right now yeah yeah it's okay so all right well he probably hates my guts i i love larkin fucking sent me like, I asked him for restaurant recommendations one time, and he fucking sent a bottle of wine over. So now I feel like a fucking asshole, of course, but not really, because, you know, we used to get to chatter about it on the podcast. But what do you imagine that, and we'll get back to the question shaming,

and, R.A., maybe your opinion on whether it was a good or bad question. R.A. texted me. That's the worst question I've ever seen. He was dogging you. R.A., maybe your opinion on whether it was a good or bad. R.A. texted me. That's the worst question I've ever seen. He was dogging you. R.A. Biz. Who are you going to believe, yeah? R.A.

Who are you going to believe, yeah, Biz? I haven't heard you speak, so I don't know. Is he lying to me? I'm lying. I'm lying. Okay, fuck you. I'll ask you. Fine, fuck you.

I'm going to send it over to R.A. for this question. R.A., I can't imagine that Stevie Y is offering their camp anything less than $7.5 million a year. I think that that would probably be insulting. I would imagine the comfortable number of any Detroit fan listening would probably assume like an 8 times 8. Not what the market thinks. What do you think would be being offered to him at this point?

I wrote down 8.5 is what I just wrote. I don't know if Detroit's coming in that high, but I think that's probably where he is. I mean, he's less than a point per game player. He had a great season last year. I mean, if he wants to be there,

he wants to commit, stay the captain of this huge legendary franchise. Then, you know, I think he'd come to a deal. I think he's going to get about eight and a half. They'll probably fight over it a little bit, but look at the dollars going up.

He looks at what Goudreau got. Not that they're the same type of player, but look around, man. He's got to probably get at least 8.5, no? You look at Barzell. I think Barzell's 9.25, who's also a year younger. I don't know if he's that type player. I don't think he's that dynamic,

but last year was huge. This year, he's kind of keeping up that same pace i think i think if the if if the wings lock that up at eight years for 67 million right whatever 8.5 i think that's a i think that's a very fair deal for both sides i don't i don't think that that's what what stevie y would probably offer. No, I think he's probably offering eight times like 6.75. No, if it's that low, then I'm on Larkin's side. So what I talked to G about as I compared it, we were talking on the phone. I said, I want to talk about this because we've talked about Bor Horvat.

If this guy doesn't sign a contract before the trade deadline, Stevie Y is moving that asset and looking towards the future. Oh, you think bro he's i think so he's got it no i don't know man it's tough trading your young cap he's got a no sorry to interrupt he's got a no trade clause so he doesn't go anywhere unless he fucking absolutely wants to he has a no trade clause just for this this just for this year and the contract yeah yeah i don't know i couldn't see that base i think this is one of those if you lose him you lose him in the summer but yeah wow i didn't know that yeah five-year deal he only had

it in the last year of the deal um probably for this type exact scenario i suppose but he doesn't go anywhere unless he wants to i mean i mean the fact that the cap isn't really going to be going up that hurts him a little bit i i put it this way i would be shocked busy boy if next year opening night he's not on the red wings i'd be shocked i'm shocked i'm shocked that he wouldn't wave it to like it because obviously the the it would be going to a contender or somebody who needs his services now right i just i look at the landis kog contract where landis kog i would say very similar comparison and landis k cog his only issue lately over the last couple years is maybe staying healthy for the full schedule right but based

on like a point production standpoint i want to say he's even like a little bit more than larkin and i get that it's a year later but as far as money i mean guy won a stanley cup as a leader of the fucking colorado avalanche and i think that he's probably a little bit more advanced in the number category because of guys surrounding him so that's where I kind of leveled it off is like the same type of intangibles where he got eight times seven so advanced the year I think that the number that that Detroit might be staying firm at is probably 7.5 I can that's where and that's where i landed and to hear that he's got the no trade clause i never looked at that and i i mean obviously i'm not a fucking like i'm not elliot friedman i'm not any of these guys where i fucking know even where to

go for that but you don't think that he would be traded to a contender if if they can't come on an agreement wouldn't that benefit him from a going to free agency and getting what he wants standpoint possibly money wise but in terms of being from Detroit being the captain and looking at maybe the future of this team being super bright I would think he'd really want to be there we'll see it's interesting I mean Detroit's struggling too right now I think it was a little they they ain't gonna make playoffs and like I don't want to say sophomore slump for cider it's just lugging those minutes against all those top end guys all the time and you know him and him and charlotte are playing together i think they've played quite a bit of the season together and like they're

getting chewed up a little bit like it's it's it's tough sledding with the lack of depth they have there and all of a sudden this kid in his second year is getting put in every single situation he'll learn and grow from it we know that but uh yeah they're they're they're a ways away and they put up a pretty good fight in the meantime but yeah they're not a playoff team guys there's also not a ton of young centers on the free agency market this summer jonathan tase ryan o'reilly sean monaghan jordan stall bo horvat joe pavelski those are some of the names who will be free agents but larkin seems to be the youngest pavelski got a yeah pavelski. Those are some of the names who will be free agents, but Larkin seems to be the youngest. Pavelski got a year. Yeah, Pavelski just re-signed him.

Sorry, but other than that, not many names in the market there. All right. He'd definitely make more money if he goes to UFA. He's going to make more dough. It's all about, you know, do you want to be there? Do you want to be a part of this? And he's the captain, and he's from Michigan. Exactly.

He's in his eighth year. He's only been to the playoff once, but it's not like this team that's been floundering. I mean, they've been working on something. They're getting there. The pieces and parts are there. So, again, like you said, does he want to be with Detroit? I think that's where he wants to be, the hometown.

Why wouldn't he? I don't know. I would say we get him on and ask him, but that ain't happening. No. Yeah, we've watched that. We'll have to put him in that chair from Clockwork Orange when they hold his eyes open like, oh, your next interview with Biz.

You ever see Clockwork Orange, Biz? I never saw it in its entirety. I've seen bits and pieces of it. Oh, that's a second. All right. Yeah. So, all right, but honest answer. Were you surprised at the question?

Were you like, if Jack Edwards had asked like that to Brad Marshall, would you have been like, oh, my God? Probably, yeah, because it's local regional. I was surprised in a good way, though, because like, you know, sometimes like I've done on the show here, we're kind of having softballs or whatever, and I'll come out and kind of put someone on the spot a little bit. I think it kind of refocuses, refocuses it.

And they're like, oh, shit, I got to answer this really here. Because you could kind of see his wheels turning. I thought it was great, man. You you know i would say you put him on the spot he probably gets asked that all the time and you know whatever cliches those guys usually come up but i thought it was great great tv uh and if i could do it again man like you say people can shame questions it's what happens after what gets said after it's like you know it could be a dopey question but if the fucking answer is grade a then well that doesn't happen without the quote unquote shitty question.

So fucking keep at it, buddy. That's right. That's what I thought. Fuck wit. Listen to you. I appreciate that. Smoke that, Big J. Big J on the hat.

Sounds like a couple guys who ask bad questions. But that's what we're talking about. Sometimes. So anyways, we were down Newark, because that's the Devils beat up the Red Wings that night. We were down Newark about a month ago. Since we left, the Devils went 0-7-1. They finally won Saturday when they beat the Rangers in OT. Pasha was all over us.

But this Jack Hughes, man, absolutely carrying this team right now. 26 goals, 23 assists in 40 games. On pace for 53 goals, 101 points. This team, man. Go to you first. I knew you were trash. You might lose a bet over this yeah that's a tough bet that was a that was a bad bet by me and i seem to uh i like to have

pride and be able to kind of figure out some good odds with people i don't know what the hell i was thinking i i knew he was super talented i i kind of was betting that he'd have a tough time staying healthy all those years because of the injuries he'd had in the past. I don't root for that at all. But in the end, my bet that he wasn't going to get 100 points in the next three years could turn out to be one of the worst bets I've ever made in my life. Because right now he's on pace for over 100 this year. And then he has two more years. If something were to happen, he gets a little cold.

So that's a loss. That's going to be a payment to Pasha. Pasha should get the paddle you if he goes the full three years every year. 100 points. Just bend you over like dazed and confused. Who is the guy? Who is the Ben Affleck has the one that says, fuck you. That's a bad beat on the pitcher who keeps rubbing his friggin nose all movie.

I hate that guy. But it's weird because that start was so, so special. And it was like, holy shit, like this devil seems for real. And then things came back to earth. And I think most Devils fans would agree that they didn't even see a run like that coming. I think they thought they'd really compete for a playoff spot this year. But that was like, oh, my God, expectations were just immediately brought a little bit higher in the end.

I think they kind of came back to who they are now. They still sit second in in the Metro. So the season's still been going great. But they needed that win. They needed that win and leave it up to the Rangers to get them that win. Holy fuck. What a collapse. Now, I should shout out to Shisterkin because most of that game it was insane like

they were out shooting two to one which is kind of the devil's matcher right we out shoot everyone we're dominating we're just losing every game at home and then boom Hughes took over he had two beauties that team though I still don't think and I think Jersey's in the playoffs I really do I think they're

going to get in but I think they lose first round and that's not dogging them I think it're going to get in, but I think they lose first round and that's not dogging them. I think it's going to be a bright future. I just, I don't see that team built to win now. So I understood how they had that little run and that little hiccup at home these past few weeks, but it's just like their defense and their goaltending.

I don't know. I don't see like a team that can compete in a seven game series when we get to the spring, but still it was nice to see them comegame series when we get to the spring. But still, it was nice to see them come back and smack the Rangers in the mouth. Yeah, I'm so invested in their rollercoaster ride, whether they're going to make playoffs or not. So I'm just going to enjoy the moment in that ride

and hopefully ribbon posher in the end. The one they had in the TNT broadcast was the big win they had against Detroit. And then that next game, R.A., they had fucking Cap tnt broadcast was the big win they had against detroit and then that next game ra we had they had uh fucking capri soft man are we done on the new jersey chatter by the way ra did you have anything to say we had the other the other game first the second half of the tnt doubleheader yeah then buffalo so yeah minnesota beat up on tampa five to one on that game by the way you had that interview with jake middleton between periods. Hilarious dude. So that was at the, that was, he looks like a comedian.

Yeah, he is hilarious. No, he is a comedian. Uh, that was after the game. And I guess he's the guy who started the whole tarps off, uh,

post game interviews. That's why it all started with Foligno and then Revo. And I guess he's the guy in the locker room where, you know, the certain guys who just have that little, uh, the jock and, and they don't wear anything else.

And then they, they have the ankle socks on and they fucking walk around basically in the buck and you can see their bare ass all the time he's that guy so guys give him a hard time about it and his answer is i run hot i'm always sweating i'm always hot so he likes to just walk around basically in the nude in the locker room so definitely a character shot blocking uh greasy defenseman who gets the job done and he seems seems to be one of the characters in the locker room. The first time I ever saw those like jocks that just hold your nuts. I was I remember being like, what is that? Like it was always the older guys. And I guess it makes sense of Middleton. He just looks like a vet from the 80s. Right. He looks like he could fit right in in the 80s and guys are just i'm like is there a cup or no it just holds my nut sack i'm like hold the nut my nuts are so small that i wouldn't even need the thing but just hilarious then they turn around and they're bare asses face out you're like what is that thing yeah he looks like a guy at home i don't even know if you've heard of these things. It's just a straight up nut hugger. They don't need them.

They don't fucking nuts. Don't drop anymore. Whit. Do you need hockey to get one of these? I can get all the balls. All right. Some guys wear them like even away from the rink. They just like that.

The nothing. It's kind of like the Calvin Klein, but even less. Going to be fucking tripping all of them at this fucking rate, man. But the reason we want to bring up Minnesota is they are humming right now. Wait, it's kind of a weird team. Like they're getting good goaltending from this Gustafson kid. Fleury really hasn't been his like full self all season. He still hasn't got his feet from underneath him.

He's had some tough outings, one against Buffalo. And we're going to get to that where they lost 6-5. Solid back end. That third line has really picked things up. Foligno, Greenway, just a big, heavy line. But it's still fucking crazy how they're getting it done with their two first centers. They had that Frederick Goudreau and then Sam Steele. But they do have the good wings.

They got Boldy and Hartman who are playing well together, and then they have Zuccarello and Capri soft. So yeah, I think that they're going to make playoffs, but are they going to be able to address the first two line centers? Like they're not going to make it out of the first round again. If that, those are their two,

two guys like no offense. I mean, they're doing a hell of a job, like being repairmen right now and filling in the gaps, but like these aren't, these aren't first line centers first or second line centers i know but they're run lately i mean they i think they were like seven eight and two right around then at the start of the year like what's going on and they've turned

it on and quickly let's mention uh flurry he's had to leave the team for uh some personal reasons so everyone knows how much fans we are of him a great guy a a great teammate. Let's hope that everything's okay at home. And it kind of makes sense, right? If he's maybe been struggling a little bit, who knows what he's dealing with in his personal life. So we're thinking of Marc-Andre. I think he's leaving the team for a couple days. But yeah, Minnesota is one of those teams that I put them in the category

as a really good team. Not a contender, though. I don't want to say the same as Jersey, kind of two different makeups of teams and how they play. But I don't know if with Minnesota's depth, they're going to be able to kind of make a big run. But they are fun to watch when they're buzzing.

I mean, even that Buffalo game, I know they ended up getting the loss, but it's like Kaprizov is something else. I think R.A. sent the note. Since he came in the league, he's fourth in goals in the entire NHL, only behind Matthews, maybe Pasta and Ovi. Actually, yeah, only four players have more goals than Kaprizov's, 97 since he entered the league.

Matthews, McDavid, Dreisaitl, and Ovechkin. And looking back now, I think his extension is around nine. Nine and a half. That's a nice deal, man. That's a guy for the next eight years. Pencil him in for if he plays 82 games, 95 to

105 points. I mean, an elite level, full-blown superstar in my mind. I love watching the kid play. So they have him as a game breaker. But like you mentioned, it's like the center depth and then, you know, and occasionally this season that the goaltending it just kind of makes me question what kind of run they could ever go on come come the spring and in the few years when the suitor and the parisi cap hits are off then we really start discussing them kind of getting things

rolling and being able to sign certain players but it is a team right now who doesn't strike me as a true cup contender talk has him as a top seven player in the nhl capri soft wow yeah which which i i couldn't argue with just his like his vision out there and like just the the plays that he'll make you see the high tip goal that he had his fucking blade was facing the defensive zone and then sometimes where like he's coming in the zone and someone rifles a pass over, he'll just one-touch it to the guy who's off to the wing. Like, he just, the way his vision scans the ice and him just knowing everything.

And the way he, I call them the Shakira hips, kind of like Makar, where they get going around the zone. They just open them up, 10 and 2. And he's just, he's such a fucking treat to watch so i don't know that i they just got to address the first two lines and figure out if they can at least get like one centerman in there they're kind of jammed up because of that amnesty buyout bullshit but definitely a fun team to watch who's humming right now uh caprizov too and you'll notice this with truly great players and i kind of lead towards Europeans, but it is it is anyone.

I think Crosby, it's like when the pucks in their feet march on the same way, they're so good when the puck is in their feet. It's like and I bring up Europeans maybe playing soccer growing up. I don't know. Mainly just these guys are so skilled where you can't give them a bad. You cannot give them a bad pass. It's like no matter where you give it to them, they somehow end up bringing it up. And then when the puck is in their feet and guys are running out and they're always able to angle their body, protect it, kick it up to their stick. And it's a true talent to be able to like get a pass in your feet and be able to handle it while you're moving, while you're making a play and still create offensively. So it's amazing to see see where he gets the puck delivered

and how he still creates so much offense based on a bad pass. It's like the video games. You just put it in his bubble, and it'll just all of a sudden get to his stick. Wait, you just mentioned the goalies a couple minutes ago. Well, at the Winter Classic, we obviously didn't hear it at the game, but Wayne Gretzky said that you need two goalies to win in this league nowadays. And going back to Minnesota, Marc-Andre Fleury started 25 games. Philippe Gustafson started 16.

Not quite a 50-50 split, but obviously more than what you've probably seen in the past. Then, you know, Gustafson had to leave the game, actually. It was the night you were on. I guess he got the turkey trots, had to run off the ice. He got sick. There was only like two minutes left in the game, too. And then, you know, Marc-Andre had to fill in for him.

So we're seeing teams are needing two goalies like this so biz what's your take on that do they need them just for the regular season or are you final one good room the playoffs like last year i know uh campus started 16 out of the 20 games last year franco's come in for a few but you know it doesn't make a difference whether it's playoffs or regular season you took the words right out of my mouth it's a two goal system now, and going back last year to the finals, when Fransos came in, I think his playoff numbers were just slightly better than Kemper's. Go back to the famous quote, stats are for losers, from Waino,

when I compared that with this team, you just need average goaltending. He said it's about the timely saves, yeah they had him to lean on man and and it matters you can't you can't be a one goalie system anymore like the only one freak of nature could could argue that and it's Vasilevsky but he he's a fucking alien and he doesn't he doesn't make sense but even this year they're leaning on Elliott a little bit to help him through this time you know he has Elliott's got the net I I think he played back-to-back. It might have been because Vasilevsky also got a bug, but you need fucking two goalies now, boys.

The days of the Broders are over. Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I will say that when you get to the playoffs, you need somebody to kind of grab it, right? Because if you're going back and forth in the playoffs, that's not on purpose. It's big. 82 games. These guys can't do the Brodeur style. It's just a different game. There's so much speed.

There's so much that goes into it. You get into this playoff, the playoffs, and you have to really have a guy grab that job. Because if you're going back and forth, and all marks like the Vezna front front runner right now, I'd say, but like he has Swayman.

And even last year with Shosturkin, like having one of the greatest years of all time, he had Gorgiev. Well, right now Shosturkin's not top 10 in the league in save percentage or goals against. Maybe it's a little bit of like, all right, well, we don't really trust the other guy as much as when we had Gorgiev here.

And that's kind of led to Shosturkin not having the same season as last year. So it's had Georgia up here and that's kind of led to Shusterkin not having the same season as last year. So it's one of those things where it's like all year. Yeah. Let's space it out. Let's get a guy rest. But we're looking towards making that be making that move because we need

our guy to take over. Once the playoffs start, when you're in a playoff series and you're ever in the point where there's a guy starting game one and a different guy starting game two and then the first guy goes back for game three. It's like we're probably down to all you know what I'm saying? So it's like it was so true in the regular season, but it all

changes come playoff time, man. And kind of like Minnesota last year where I guess you could say there maybe was a little bit of confusion where it was like, well, is it going to be Talbot or Fleury? Because they had both such success. And I want to say before Fleury got there, like Talbot was like, well, is it going to be Talbot or, or, or Flurry? Cause they had both such success. And I want to say before Flurry got there, like Talbot was like on a, on a 10 game heater, like hadn't lost in 10 games.

So yeah, definitely want to have one guy as that guy for sure. You don't want that confusion going in. Then it just goes to the, the, the, the mind games, the mental torpedoes for the coach. We do want to mention our Mark Andre's former teammates, the penguins, uh, the mental torpedoes for the coach. We do want to mention Marc-Andre's former teammates, the Penguins. The whole team flew to Montreal for the funeral of Chris Letang's father, Claude Fouquet. He passed away last week, so we certainly want to extend our deepest condolences

to Chris Letang and his family and the whole Penguins family. Very sorry for your loss. So we just want to pass that along. He's been through the ringer, man. The team's already started wearing a CFf uh decal on their helmets to to honor him so that was pretty nice what they did so great job by the penguins organization just a very classy move so awesome uh but we just talked about the sabers man

uh minnesota went to buffalo that game very entertaining saturday night tilt that the sabers won six five and ot after the win the Sabres are just four points behind the second wildcard team, currently the Penguins, with two games in hand. And they got four games in hand over ninth-placed Isles, who are tied with Pittsburgh in points, man. They've won eight of nine, Pittsburgh. There's Uko, Pekka, Lukonen, Lukonen. He's won six straight.

But Rasmus Darlene, man, unreal night the other night. 22-year-old defenseman had a career night. Two goals, three assists in 29 minutes and 25 seconds of ice. man unreal night the other night 22 year old defenseman had a career night two goals three assists in 29 minutes and 25 seconds of ice 44 points on the air in 36 games with the other d guy oh here we go wait no we need the real analyst speaking up on this let's hear it i mean that 54 over and under i took at the beginning of the year i smashed that over i got a little heat for saying that it looks like a great bet now. Yeah, I think I gave you heat right away and then looked.

He had 54 last year. He's going to get 80 this year. He might get 90. What's he at? 46 points already? I think he's at 44 right now. Oh, my God. What a player.

And this is one of those things where, granted, the team was struggling the past few years, but people are like, and you know what? I was part of it. And I said, I don't know. I don't know. But it's it's been a little while, but you're now looking at a game breaker on defense. And Buffalo Sabres fans at times will say, oh, defensively, maybe gets lost in his own zone.

Well, dude, when you're producing at a clip like this, you don't care because it's like a fourth forward. It's a rover. It's a player who's when he's on the ice. Other teams are looking at a clip like this, you don't care because it's like a fourth forward. It's a rover. It's a player who's when he's on the ice. Other teams are looking at a true threat. It's not like, oh, worry about that first science. Well, no, Darlene's leading the rush. He's joining on the rushes that late guy and his vision and his skill level is so high that it's like a forward when he gets the puck.

Five points the other night in a 6-5 win. He's all over the ice. I think he played over 30 minutes. He's able to play that much because his skating is just beautiful to watch. I mean, he moves out there so graceful. It's just amazing to watch him. And I think that with the confidence he's getting,

and I love this quote about those beauty jerseys, they're wearing those black and reds. He says, we feel evil in them. Something like that. I mean, that's beautiful. I think he's in the bondage and shit.

They've scored six goals. Every no, I think he's coming out like that. I mean, that's beautiful. I think he's into bondage and shit. They've scored six goals. I don't know. I think he's coming out with a guy. I wore my guy. I wore my gag ball to the rink. Um, they, he's doing the Patrick line. They walk in. He's got the fucking leather straps on.

He's like the game. Um, they have six goals. Every time they've played, it wore those jerseys. They have the most goal. Oh no. I think the Bruins last night overtook them. They're second in the league in goals scored. And I tweeted out, I don't know if they'll get in.

I really hope they do. But they're going to be there. 10, 15 games left in the season. They won't be dead yet. They're going to be there all the way. Did you see the building? How much the building was rocking? Buddy, these fans.

I want them to go for it. I want them to fucking go for it and get a goalie. Look how much cap space they have, too. It's just such a cool time. And these Sabres fans. Holy shit. Sabres. Lark.

They deserve this. Are you still sticking with your guns? Do you still think Patty Kane gets dealt there? No. Now Kane's injured. So I don't know what's going to happen. So I'm not sticking to my guns I don't stick to my guns on anything apparently he's meeting with the

Pagoulas that's just like not actually true oh yeah true that'll be on Instagram they're meeting in in Darlene's private doctors looking at his knee they're meeting in the in the I lost the joke

I was going to say the cell in Darlene's basement that game was awesome Ryder was battling the flu this weekend poor kid oh my god senior kid with the shakes when he's cold overheating just horrible

but he woke up and kind of stayed all day in bed and I just put on I was putting on the 10 minute condensed games from NHL dot com. And when that game was going on, he was yelling from up in our bed. He's like, oh, my God. Oh, my God. Because the goal is tied it. Oh, no.

Just because just watching like goal goal. Because in that 10 minutes, they're being 11 goals. Basically, the whole thing was goals. And it was like, holy shit, that action, man. And, and Thompson's goal in that game was a complete C dude.

That thing must've been going a hundred miles an hour. Like there's no goalie in the world that's stopping that park one timer from the OV spot. And I just love, his is a little lower. His is a little lower. It's by the dot. Oh,

nobody's usually higher, but he was wide he was wide yeah he was like you want to stay inside the dots when you're shooting that he still drips out and he knows he's so accurate he shoots it so hard it's like nope thank you so dolly and handing those things over he could get 80 points the next 10 years yeah no they call that the fadeaway jumper that's what they're calling it in Buffalo. I like Krebs, too. The first-rounder from Vegas who got dealt in the Eichel deal, he's growing, he's getting better.

It's an exciting time to be a Sabres fan. They're my squad. They are my squad. Ari, I think you mentioned it. Five-point night for Darlene. He's, what, second now in defensive scoring? Yeah, after Collison, 44 points in 36 games. Going back to T.H. Thompson for a second,

I guess he's like still 20-1 to win the MVP. I mean... MVP's over, though. You think what? Conor or Leon? No, McDavid's. They're probably going to fucking miss the playoffs, for Christ's sake. Obviously, you never, ever, ever root for it, but the X factor of a guy who fucking gets hurt or dinged up

and misses 70 games. It's the second time we've brought this up. We're doing away with it. I know. But from a game of perspective, thank you, Whit. Another future for this guy? Could you not talk him off the ledge for once, Whit?

I actually had Argentina to win the World Cup. It's funny. Here's the ticket. I looked up. I was like, how many do I have this year? Obviously, World Cup. It's funny. Here's the ticket. I looked up. I was like, how many do I have this year? Now, obviously, the obligatory Bruins won. Obligatory Senate is won. But I got Winnipeg 60 to one.

I think the island is like 35 to one. And I got the Kings like 40 to one. We'll get to the Kings in a bit. We actually have them on the TNT broadcast coming up. And that's a team that with a couple moves back, could see them going to the western conference finals it ain't that hard of a conference but going back to tage thompson i believe because he's still on the last year of his old deal uh best production based on value in the league right now and he is just a fucking treat to watch and man you're basically looking at a a guy who's elevated his game to being a top

five player in the nhl he's like he's like a dry cycle yeah he's like he's incredible he's so fun to watch and like it's not just the shot like there's guys you've seen before that just their one weapon is the shot and get open and yeah he's gonna score it's like the hands the passing he gave a pass over to uh tuck in overtime flurry made an unreal save too it's like he's going to score. It's like the hands, the passing. He gave a pass over to Tuck in overtime. Fleury made an unreal save too. Yeah, he did. He's just waiting him out. That little toe drag

where Fleury's probably thinking he shoots and he slides it over to Tuck. Those two have a serious connection. Yeah, good stuff. It's been a lot of fun to watch. Averaging four goals a game.

Power play clicking at 29%. Good for second in the NHL. On the other end, the penalty killing is at 27th at a 72.4 percent clip i mean biz this team has plenty of cap room i think like 17 million you hearing chicken's name come up a lot you think they're gonna make a move here to try to get a run at the playoffs it's not necessarily the cup just get a playoff run go for it fuck fuck go for it why wouldn't you right that's what they help. I want to see that crowd rocking.

That's the dumb move, and that's not what they're going to do. But I say, fuck it, go for it. But I would say that they will remain patient. What you're seeing right now, you just said they're the second highest scoring team in the league. The minute that they get a couple better defenders, because you have a great number one offensive defenseman, I think power is going to end up being, I could see power being like a J bowl Meester. I don't,

I think he's going to be better offensively. You think he's okay. So there you go. So then all of a sudden they go the one, one, sorry, if they go to the one D on the power play, which they may,

I mean, it's like, you understand he may never be that 50 point guy, but in terms of 20, 24 minutes a night, this kid is so young still. Exactly. And then, obviously, getting a goaltender. And then you just talked about, oh, they're not good on the penalty kill.

And, all right, those types of lunch pail players, they're going to be able to plug in those holes because they do have that cap space. And the biggest concern was Skinner. But now, all of a sudden sudden he's playing with good players. Like, he's... What do you mean he's not? Is he a 9.5, 10 million player?

No, but his points say that. So fuck it. Keep rolling, baby. And the cap's going to keep going up, so they're in good shape, or that one's not going to hurt them too bad long-term. So they are sitting pretty. Don't go for it.

Remain patient. Only thing that sucks, though, is you're probably not going to get that high of a draft pick unless Gary rigs it again. If you, but they've had enough. It's like uncle with the high draft picks. Everyone at Edmonton's just punching their roof. But quick league discussion in terms of, you mentioned their power play. Power plays are so good now.

And I don't really know what's happened. power plays are so good now and i don't really know what's happened i understand that maybe in the past few years specifically it's really changed to the four forward system sometimes you even see five forwards but it's like there's 22 teams right now in the nhl with a power play better than 20 percent yeah that that like back when i played like you you're at 20 you're loving life this is great boys this is what we need to be. There's eight teams over 25% power play percentage. It's like that's why you see how many guys are scoring so many goals. And it's just amazing to see what teams have been able to figure out on the man advantage to continually keep them in games,

to get into the playoffs based on just being up a man and scoring at will. So 22 of 32 teams to be over 20 halfway through the year that's wild to me what we're talking about that a couple weeks ago at tnt we're like 25 is kind of the standard when we played it was 20 uh definitely the four forward system and i think it's just more uh common now where they're okay with that first unit taking the full time. Like sometimes you see how, how long McDavid and dry side will stay out there where you're like,

well, fucking you might as well. What else are you going to do? Yeah. Same way. The reason that Canada had Bedard out every other shift in the three on three in the, in the,

in the quarterfinals against Slovakia, it's like, you just keep playing your ace and, and, and the system shows that if you do, you're going to be in the 30% mark yeah definitely definitely something and as far as you mentioned i know we've been speaking a while on this shit doleen and how he is offensively he's like the fourth guy in that cycle and he's and he walks the line there's probably a select few you put

like maybe the way klingberg would walk the line, uh, McCarr and Carlson, and then maybe a few others can walk it to his standard. So his offensive game is just absolutely filthy. And I know we, you know, sharks fans, it's a, it's a tough run.

It's a tough year. I watched the other night, uh, against the Bruins, Eric Carlson. Oh, Oh my God. Right now.

It looks, it looks 10. He looks, it's God. Right now. It looks, it looks 10. He looks, it's like 10 years ago. It's just, and, and let's hope that for the league sake, for fan sake,

and for some contending teams, fan base, let's hope there could be a deal worked out this year. I know he wants to probably move on and, and, and, you know, give himself a chance to win a Stanley cup,

but what a fucking player he is, man. It is insane to watch him this season. I know they're out west and I know the team's struggling, but if you get a chance, it's beautiful. It's insane to watch. He just had a 14-game point streak that was snapped, I think, by Boston.

This is where the argument comes in for the soft cap, where it's just a shame that there can't be any big deadline moves where a guy with that type of talent having that type of season can't get moved at the deadline we can we don't need to get into cba discussions but moving forward i think that they should seriously take a look at making it a soft cap where fuck there's enough teams that are worth enough hey mate or at least moving it to where you're not getting punished

if you're drafting and developing a guy. But the fact that you can't make a big fucking deadline move anymore unless you have somebody on long-term IR, I don't think it does a lot for our game. Everybody's looking forward to trade deadline. Now it's just a limp dick. I think this year's going to be pretty good with Horvat, some others. I think it's going to be an exciting one.

Just talking about the Mestikov move of the deadline be an exciting one. Just talking about the best to call move of the deadline. Oh, yeah. Just talking about Buffalo's power play. Well, the Washington Capitals, they're 16th in the league with a 22.1% clip, but they should get a nice little goose this weekend. Tom Wilson come back with Nick Backstrom. Nick Backstrom had one of those hip resurfacing surgeries. I think Eddie Joe was the only one to get it before him.

Wilson had an ACL tear. They're all fixed up. They come back Sunday. One nut to win over Columbus. Backstrom played 14-0-3. Three hits, one shot on goal. Willie, 14 minutes, 10 seconds, six hits, a shot on goal. Obviously, they'll ease their way back into it,

but this should definitely, definitely goose the power play. Darcy Kemp has been unreal for the last month. 7-0- 3 his last 10 starts four shutouts leads the nhl uh right now the caps five back of carolina though the canes do have three games in hand but this is a team man we've picked on him a lot of expectations weren't too high for him now this team's like holy shit they're ready for bear in the playoffs when they're already coming hey whoa i never picked on him ryan would you like to speak? You said the Bruins were going to miss the playoffs, bro. They might break the record for most points all time.

I'm not talking about anything else. I was going to ask the group prior to the recording if we could do our halfway through the season favorite moments so far, and mine was going to be that Biz picked the Bruins to miss the playoffs. So I won't discuss my slander of the Capitals, which has been high. And I've said they were boring and they don't get much going. And it's all about the OV goal chase. They have $40 million on the IR.

I look dumb now. I look dumb very often. And I like this team. And I do think that getting those two guys back is just a kick that they need. Not that they need, but that the team's probably so excited about. It's just, you know, as a fan of the Capitals, just be patient. It's going to take time. In terms of Backstrom's surgery, I mean, Jovo came back.

I think he only played 30, 40 games after. I mean, that's a major surgery. So let's hope Backstrom's able to get back and become the player he was. It's going to be hard for him to do that. But you know, over time, Wilson will be right back to where he's at. So it's definitely exciting for them to play the way they had and then have those guys hop in. They actually were dominated by the Blue Jackets and still, you know, squeaked out that win Sunday. But it's going to take a little bit of time. It's why they're only playing 14 minutes. But I think Dylan Strom has been huge there. And, and it's like, he, he seems comfortable, you know,

he's kind of bounced around in his career after being such a high pick. And it looks like this is the spot where he's able to finally figure out, like, I want to be here. So we'll see how long he ends up being a Capitol. It was hard for me to take a mid podcast, podcast piss into a water bottle and ingest everything you just said, but that was a great breakdown, Whit. I think that this is a dark horse team.

With Darcy Kemper getting hot and fucking he knows the experience of being in the playoff picture, if they make the playoffs, I see them being very dangerous. Peaking at the right time in the season, they got Ovi chasing the goal record so you know he's fucking all jacked up on russian gas they may they may make a big splash in the east if i'll say this if i'm the boston bruins i don't want to catch them first round not a chance so maybe i trump your prediction of the washington capitals with my stupid one

i don't know bruins might miss the playoffs, dude. They could, they could lose the next 40. Still get in. It's good to see a, it's good to see them healthy and a relevant team, especially as Ovi chases this record and like in a serious tone. And I agree with you, Dylan Strom has been huge. It, it, you know, it took care of the offense when they had a few of those guys out, they had 40 million on the IR at one point, and getting all these guys back is huge.

They got the band back together, and they got some good depth players. My boy, Nicky Dowd. And Carlson's out. So, you know, then he'll come back in at some point. Well, yeah, that could be an issue at some point with the money. Right now they have $14 million on LTIR between Carlson, Connor Brown, and Kyle Hagelin. And if they do all come back, or even a couple, and they're going to

have to move some money around, definitely. And a name that's got thrown out there, Anthony Mantha, he was scratched on Sunday. He's got one more year left at $5.7 million, 23 points in 42 games played. So they've thrown his name as possible trade bait if they do got to get cap compliant when these guys come back.

So yeah, I don't think Stevie Y was the biggest fan of them. And I think that that was part of the Vrana swap. Yeah. So, so yeah, I don't know. Like he just,

one of those guys where some games, he looks like such a beast out there. I know good along the walls, good net front presence. He'll go on a good stretch of hockey. And then all of a sudden he just disappears. So I don't know if it's a torn motivator cuff and they, maybe that's just a little kick in the ass to get them going,

put them on the trade blocks. But yeah, that could, that could be a guy they can part ways with for sure. Given all the other guys they got now after getting these two guys back, how would the caps not make the playoffs? Like what would they have to do to like, fuck this up with lose?

That's a great, that's a good breakdown. No, I don't know. I mean, I would think that they'll be able to get in now. I would be shocked if they don't. I guess the only way would be if the goaltending falls apart. You know the power play is going to be good. That wins teams games.

But the way Kemper now looks, it's like, yeah, I think that that's a team that's going to get in. And like Biz said, nobody wants to face them. It's a crazy crowd. It's a tough building to play in. And they have a bunch of veterans who've won Stanley Cups. It's like, it'll almost be good if, like I mentioned, if Baxter can come back from this and even be like a, you know,

a really good third line center and play power play or even get back to himself and then Wilson you know him and how he plays in the playoffs it's perfect for his game so nobody wants to face him and I think they'll get in I don't I don't see them somehow not getting into the playoffs and it's all because of this run they just went on without these guys I think the back at backup goalies been playing well to RA when he had to step in when when Kemper was struggling a little bit there. Kepa's numbers were never not good.

It was just there was a few sequences of time there where you'd have a couple bad ones in a row. But my answer, R.A., would be, depending on how long Carlson's out, they rely heavily on their success sometimes on their power play. I think last year it ended up having a fall-off year. They got to get back to having that their power play. I think last year it ended up having a fall off year. They got to get back to having that humming power play to, to,

for me to make the difference. And I think that they're easily a playoff team. Yeah. I don't see them not getting at this point, especially with, with those two guys bring, how about the Saturday night affair, Colorado Edmonton, Edmonton playing so,

so here and there, but Colorado was down on the dumps. They lost five straight, the down to nothing heading into the third period, not looking good. Then the Nate dog puts on the cape. He looked like McDavid on that goal he scored to get them on the board. Then the second goal, 34-year-old veteran defenseman Brad Hunt, first one of the year, great timing for it.

And then who else? Kale McCaw, OT. He played 33 minutes and nine seconds that night, and they had seven defensemen dressed. The most he's ever played in a game. He ended it. He's got 16 game-winning goals already. He's number two on the list of defensemen

within their first four seasons getting game winners. The most time on ice by an Avalanche player since Adam Foote way back in 2003. And he's played, he's cracked 30 minutes five times in like the last month. This kid just keeps doing more and more. Like McDavid, like every week, there's something else with this kid with steroids yeah i mean i i'm pretty sure he leads the league in ice time for a game which he's kind of had towards their run and and without getting um i don't want to say deep it's not the right word

but that mckinnon goal is the type of goal that can actually change a season. And it's not just about the goal. It's about the fact that they came back to win. It's one of those things where your team is just dragging along and you're battling injuries and you don't have your captain. There's all these different things you're dealing with after winning the cup. And only a cup winner could tell you that that next year is tough, man. It really is.

It's a grind to understand. We have 82 more. Do we get back with the chance to repeat? We can't wait till that time comes, but all of a sudden, halfway through the season, we're not even in the playoffs. And I don't think anyone's worried about them missing the playoffs, but then we're down in Edmonton and boom, what happens? One of the greatest players to ever play for your franchise. And one of the top players in the league scores. One of the most beautiful goals we've seen in the NHL this season. You come back from behind,

you get the winning OT from your superstar defenseman. And it's like, don't look now, but a goal like that can switch an entire season around. And I know it sounds stupid in a long year when so many different things happen, you have a comeback win against the team in the playoffs that you're beating the Western conference final,

all based on that goal, making it to one1 that's something that just a team can just hop on right it's like holy shit he just did that we're back in this game we win this game now let's go on a run all this first half bullshit's behind us let's get Landeskog back in a little while and let's try to really go again and get into the playoffs and do this whole thing again. So as an Oilers fan, it's like, holy fuck, it's CC like just gets burned and then nurses too wide and boom. By the way, McCarr dished it quickly

over to McKinnon on that goal and then still I think beat both defensemen off the ice. If there was a rebound, he would have buried it anyways. So one of the goals of the year. Nothing else to say. Besides, I think you see colorado get hot come up for oxygen wet i can't i can't holy shit i am so convinced that that was a season you know what i mean biz i was galvanizing galvanizing it's a galvanizing goal a galvanizing

winning i wanted to applaud you let's give him a little applause for that break not too many not too many but it was many. But it was a stunning goal and the way that McKinnon just gallops up the ice when he's getting those crossovers going. You could have at least given us the sound effects. I actually watched right when he got the puck. I think

there was four or five power crossovers to his right and then he did one power crossover in the neutral zone and boom, he's gone. You know, I chirped CeCe and but it's like i don't i don't know if there's many defensemen in the league that aren't getting split there you just you got to understand with a guy like that be closer together in the middle all right i love the fact that you brought up macar's ice time like that is some heavy heavy shit um as a fan you, given with their injuries and how they're

playing catch-up now, it does scare me getting burnt out a little too early in the season, but at least he's got a supporting cast, unlike the Edmonton Oilers. How much did McDavid and Dreisaitl play in that one? 27, 28 minutes or something? He's jumped out at me.

McDavid had an assist in 26 minutes and 4 seconds of ice time. Leon had 2 assist in 26 minutes and 4 seconds of ice time. Leon had 2 assists in 27 minutes and 25 seconds of ice time. The only Oiler to have more than them was Don Elnuris, 28-21. Then I look back a couple more games. McDavid's last 3 games before

that one, 24-50, 21-18, 23-50. Leon, 21-57, 23-37,37 1910. So I wanted to ask is I is Woodcroft riding these guys too much right now at these time of ice numbers? I would say yes, but what else are you going to do? There's literally no option there.

Yeah, I mean, Oilers fans. It's like, holy shit, man. It truly is. It's a two man team. Now, if cider and Larkin foraitl and McDavid, you do it. If you're looking at positives, I think Kane will be back a lot sooner than they thought. And talk about needing this guy back.

I mean, you've seen since he's been over there. And by the way, my jersey's on the way. But you've seen since he's come over, he's a point-per-game player. You get him back in the mix. Hyman's had a great year, but he's playing with those two or one of them at all times. It's just, it's, there's zero depth. There's nothing there. And when you look at like this team, it's like, they're not going to win anything. Not going to win anything. I think last

week I said they could get in and win the Stanley Cup. I jumped back and forth. But when you have to have these guys constantly playing 25 minutes a game, it's like what is the long game plan here? You can't just rely on two guys and over and over and over they're dragging this entire team around. And like Biz says,

take one of them out. What are they? A bottom 10 team in the league? It's fucking gross. It's nice having two guys like that that you could potentially trade, though, because like Joe Thornton, when he got traded, they fucked it up. At least if they fuck up one of them, they have the chance to not fuck up trading the other guy. I mean, that's a positive.

That's the only way I can look at it, all right? So you're saying McDavid to LA and Dreisaitl to Anaheim? Is that what you're saying? Maybe. Maybe. Grow the game in the South. Gary would be licking his chops. Either way, McDavid, 41 games through the season, halfway through.

He's got 33 goals and 43 assists on a 152-point pace. He was also the fifth fastest to 500 assists in league history, coming after Wayne, Mario, Peter Stastny, and Bobby Orr. And Dreisaitl, 107 power play goals already. He's already fourth in Oilers history. What you just mentioned to Van de Koon, he may well join the team before the All-Star break. So we'll keep an eye on that.

And speaking of the All-Star break, the rosters got announced between periods of the Capitals Blue Jackets game the other night. Let's ask Torrance what he thinks. It's a tough league to win in no matter who you play. So we're certainly not going to go in the back door and say that because

it's against weaker opponents. I think our game has grown as a team. John, TK has been arguably your most consistent player all year long. Are you disappointed that he didn't make the All-Star team tonight? Oh, I didn't worry about that shit. The way they all, the whole game, the whole weekend,

I don't even watch it. I think it's turned into a, well, I'll just leave it at that. I really don't care. Do you think that he's deserving of All-Star? I really don't care. I'm talking about All-Star stuff, okay? Alrighty then. Like, the question was about Connect Me,

who has been one of the few bright spots on that team. You can't take, like, a minute to just, like, yeah, you know, he got snubbed. Or, you know, TK's been really good for us. It's just like, oh, my God, the act gets so old, dude. It's so old. It's like, I oh, my God, the act gets so old, dude. It's so old. It's like I understand you can't you may hate the All-Star weekend. Like they asked you about one guy who's been giving every single thing you've asked all year.

And there isn't a chance you could maybe pump his tires. It's just the act is so old to me. It really is. I think it's I think it's hilarious. but let's run through some of the names here. I get some reactions. The Atlantic, Nikita Kucherov, Dylan Larkin, Mitch Mana, Nick Suzuki, Tage Thompson, Brady Kachuk, Matthew Kachuk, Linus Olmach. That wraps up the Atlantic.

Any quick reaction? I mean, you can say every team has a fucking snub because there's so much talent in the league, but did anything jump at you there Biz on that first team no I was just absorbing Witt's comments about torts and I agree with you and the more I thought about the Hayes thing it's just yeah I just

the new wave of coach and the communication between player and coach is a lot healthier I don't like a lot of the mind games and the theatrics in the media i think after a very short period of time it wears off i thought that for whatever reason it was going to be a even a little bit better and different this time where it seems like he's gone back the other way you know it seemed like he was getting a little bit better when in columbus i

don't know and then now it's just Philly to me is just it's just it's the worst it's the worst scenario in the NHL right now I think Chicago's they're they're awful but like you know you see Lucas Reichel gets like his first NHL goal the other night it seems like you know the team's at least given their all there's not much there and and Columbus like I said it's it's it's it's a tough spot and there's so many different teams but Arizona's played well that's a tank team Anaheim's not good but they got some young talent and, it's a tough spot. And there's so many different teams. But Arizona's played well. That's a tank team. Anaheim's not good. But they got some young talent.

And then it's just Philly and torts and what just looks like a miserable, miserable spot to be in. And let's mention Kevin Hayes because he texted me about two weeks ago, maybe 10 days ago, and said, dude, I made the All-Star game. You can't say anything yet. And I said, congrats. That's unbelievable. I was so happy for him.

And then we could play the quote. He mentioned to me what he ends up saying, this quote about Jimmy Hayes and what he had hoped for him in his career. I guess, first of all, congratulations. Just your thoughts overall on getting to do this. Yeah. I mean, it's really exciting for myself and my family. I didn't see it coming, but I'm excited,

and it's really important to myself and my brother's family and my whole family because ever since my brother's kind of been out of the league, his only wish is to Have me make the all-star game and literally every year. He told me this is gonna be the year so I mean, I don't want to make this an emotional sad type interview, but When I found out I was a pretty emotional about it my parents were really really happy for me.

It's going to be a really fun weekend. Personally, from a hockey standpoint, I imagine it's nice to have the acknowledgement, maybe not just this season, but overall a career that's worthy of that kind of honor. Growing up as a kid, you dream about making the NHL. I mean, growing up as a kid, you dream about making the NHL and a pretty unrealistic dream growing up, and then all of a sudden it happens, and you start having bigger dreams, and yeah, I mean, I've always wanted to be an all-star. I think there's plenty of guys in this team that are deserving for it, so yeah, I mean, it's nice to have that kind of with me.

So it's, yeah, I mean, I'm really excited. So hearing that, it's like as tough as things are going in Philly and how Torrance obviously doesn't like Kevin Hayes, doesn't really play very much when he is in the lineup, considering he got scratched and he's in the All-Star game. But that's awesome. And that's something that Kevin will forever remember. And, you know, just knowing that that's what his brother hoped for him and that's something that kevin will forever remember and you know just

knowing that that that's what his brother hoped for him and that he made it happen it's such a cool story and yeah so happy for that entire family well said wit and we're gonna get to be there we're gonna be there with them oh oh boy that's gonna be wild you're gonna have uh hazy hazy down there plus the kachuk boys are gonna be down there by the way congrats to keith and chantel on your boys, both your boys making the same team. That's going to be cool as hell, but there's going to be a lot of assholes tearing it up down there.

We know that's going to happen. Plus, oh, well, we'll get to him in a minute. One more Massachusetts guy. But first, the rest of the Metro. Sidney Crosby. Thanks, Sid. Johnny Goudreau. Hazy, as we just mentioned. Jack Hughes.

Brock Nelson. Alexander Ovechkin. Igor Shosturkin, and Andrei Svechnikov. I can't do all that. Please never make that noise again. Happy for Brock Nelson. Great two-way center. He's had an awesome year. That was kind of a guy who jumped out to me, like deserving of it.

And, you know, it's been a really good career for him, kind of quietly too. And so that's something that just when things are over, 15 years down the line, you looked, I was an NHL all-star. Was that the guy we thought had 200 games played? No, that was Bailey. Oh, Bailey, okay. Yeah, I thought it was his third year in the league. He had like 1,200 games.

Ah, shit. Let's see. The Central, Clayton Keller, Seth Jones, Kael McCaw, Jason Robertson, Kirill Kaprizov, UC Saros, Vladimir Tarasenko, Josh Morrissey. Nice to see a couple of new names in there. Morrissey, I don't think he's been there before. Robo, obviously great to see him there.

Kale McCarr, no brainer. Gee, let's go to you for a little reaction here, big guy. I was a bit shocked to see Vladimir Tarasenko on there. Just in the sense like he's probably getting traded out of St. Louis. You know, things haven't gone as great as he wanted. I don't know. Just a little shocked to see him on there. Yeah, he always figures some big names are going to get left out one way or the other.

It is weird to see, you know, he's fifth in scoring on the Blues. Kairou has turned it on big time since a little slump early. I know Kairou was, was Kairou there turned it on big time since a little slump early. I know Kairou was... Was Kairou there last year? Yes, he won the fastest skater. Yeah, we saw him at Hakkasan after. He called it. He called his shot.

Yep, forgot. He was like, I'm going to pay for this bottle service tomorrow night. I'm going to win that fastest skater. And then blew the 50K at the club. They should do a new goalie skill. Like get Jordan Bennington there and another goalie. Just have a goalie bump so goalies are are past each other who can knock each other over because the fucking way bennett's like like the movie a knight's tale when they would do the

jousting little joust yeah yeah get some bin a joust going well they're actually fell remember the xfl they'd race to the center to get the ball to see who started with it no i don't remember that they used to line the guys up and it would just be a full sprint 30 yards oh that was the ball thing i thought they had no fair catches and that was the thing jesus christ that's just like that's fucking nuts bull in the ring as they say uh i think there was talks of actually doing these like funky all-star uh skills competition things somebody said an alligator i think it was jeff merrick and ellie jeff merrick yeah okay you got the rundown there yeah he merrick he said they they're talking about incorporating alligators into it in some form and he's like he said like round meat he goes i guess they just call them hamburgers so they're gonna shoot like meat-sized pucks or meat-shaped pucks

or whatever and uh shoot them to the alligator to feed the alligators that was one thing he mentioned so uh we were talking like, what other Florida skills could you incorporate into the skills competition, taking into account the way you would state your... Who can do the most meth and then drive in a car that

isn't registered? Hey, how about this one? Johnny Goudreau jet ski competition get cologne there boat cologne and get a jet ski race going the professional doc talker you got one all right like waffle like waffle house like contra like mix like you have to fight your way like out of a fucking waffle house at like four in the morning dude those fucking that staff throws hands you see that video?

The girl caught the chair they threw at her, and she buckled that girl at about 15 uppercuts. Is this based on one viral video? Or is this a regular occurrence in Florida Waffle House? No, Waffle House has brawls, dude. You have to have fought UFC to work there. Yeah, yeah. I mean, the customers, they misbehave.

Most of the time, it's the customers fuck around and find out because it's not the staff picking fights, but they're well equipped to handle it. How about how many with the most rides you could hit at Disney World in a day without a fast pass to that's more violent than Waffle House with all those crazy parents. Hey, now going back to Waffle House house man like uh i haven't seen many of these videos about specific waffle houses i mean what's the one that you're talking about a waffle house oh what oh wow that's why i've been to a bunch of them and there's never been any type of violence seems like it's like a solid diner yeah it's probably a notch below a solid diner i would say but it's certainly good. It does the trick. You know, if you're traveling or you just need a late night fucking eat.

I've never had a bad meal. Like my Waffle House. What comes into my brain is tin cup when I think they celebrate there after his really low round on like Friday or something. And then his girl comes in and it just looked like pretty disgusting in the movie. I feel like they show, you know, if you get a waffle or pancakes there, there's, you know, there's a pound of butter on top of it. It's just one of those. Oh, yeah. It's crazy when you're drunk.

Just probably the spot. Actually, it's funny you mentioned 10 Cup when I think they're trying to incorporate a hockey golf thing on the ice to just spice up the all-star skills. Because I think the NHL all-star game is definitely losing a little bit of steam so they've got to find ways to revamp it and they have tried. They've tried for many years and I know we've been long on the All-Star talk. I think you still have to talk about the Pacific. Absolutely.

I mentioned one more Massachusetts guy. Congrats to Matty Badez. He's a rookie this year. Might win Rookie of the Year as well. He made the All-Star team so big shout out to him. Kevin Fiala, Nazem cadre eric carlson conor mcdavid elijah peterson and troy terry and logan thompson so again a lot of new names on there guys getting their first crack at it i'm sure it's pretty good to the first first time all-stars which i'm not being a dick did you play in an all-star game i'm not no i didn't but i would have made it and then i got hurt okay nhl yeah dude that year that i blew up my ankle like the real end in edmonton

i was gonna make it i think i had right around a near a point per game at the time not a point per game i'm gonna check right now i think the one good 35 games i had 27 points oh that's a great start i think i was gonna make it that year at least i tell myself that i'd say the one good 35 games, I had 27 points. That's a great start. I think I was going to make it that year. At least I tell myself that. I played in a Young Stars game already. You remember when they had the Young Stars game? Yes, I do.

Yeah. So that was a lot of fun, actually, getting to be around, like, obviously, the regular All-Stars. That's when I had to sit on the toilet on Mario's plane. I'd say the one good prediction I had before the season started was Logan Thompson. Seventh best goalie in the National Hockey League. He's well on his way, man. He fucking might win the Vesna.

He has a good back half for crying out loud. Undrafted folks. Canadian boy. Good Canadian boy. I was looking at numbers today. It's weird. Vegas. Vegas is like 500 at home. They're lighting it up on the road that that home ice advantage it's kind of surprising to see how well they've played and they're not even really doing

that great in the in their building yeah teams must have smartened up about the vegas flu you know what i mean well they stay 40 minutes off the strip now they got them staying in fucking scottsdale which probably ain't any better better actually they make him stay in the middle of the desert the audio is probably too long to play but very cool moment for Troy Terry when he found out he was an all-star they brought him Troy Aikman via video who he's named after and it was great little speech he gave to him

Troy it wasn't just obligatory hey congratulations he had some nice words it was a cameo 20 bucks but you can tell Terry was visibly moved. Right. What you could tell it like really meant something to him. I just got a kick because after we talked to him, you realize he's a funny kid. Right. And he's like, oh, Troy, he came on the screen. He's like, is he talking to me?

It was just like a kind of like a goopy response. But yeah, I didn't even I actually forgot that he was named after Troy Aikman. So it's pretty cool. And Troy Aikman, by the way, what a stud guy. He's got to be on testosterone or something. He looks insane. He looks incredible. And for all the concussions the guy had, he just looks like he's all ripped up. He had the Monday night football microphone, which made it look even cooler, you know, being that big of a broadcaster. So that was one of the most original ways I've ever seen a guy find out that he was a participant in the All-Star game. Yeah, definitely something different. Do you ever see that picture of Troy Aikman with Jay-Z?

They say he looks like a white Jay-Z. They do look a lot alike. Yeah, it's kind of funny. Not something you think about when you look at it. You're like, I think they nailed that one. All right, so for the final 12 players, there'll be two skaters and one goalie from each division. The NHL is going to have fans vote online, and then they're going to combine those votes with some sort of Twitter data. Those 12 players are expected to be revealed on January 19th.

Of course, All-Star Weekend is down. Sunrise, Florida, February 3rd and 4th. We should get a podcast, Dark Horse, who we have all our fans vote for. What about Middleton because of his interview? Oh, yeah. We didn't mention that because he called his teammate a piece of shit right on the fucking air, and you have to pay his fine. Well, yeah, actually, let's roll that.

We were talking about this group, just how tight it is. We've spoken to Ryan Reeves. He talks about the chemistry on the ice, but also in the locker room, how this is a tight-knit group. And Billy Guerin has said that he likes character people, and he likes characters. And I feel like that is you. How much does this team allow everyone to be themselves?

Oh, it's unbelievable. You see it with everyone. Like, we got a guy like Rebo coming in. Johnny Merrill's got a mullet and a little mustache and mith and teeth. Bartsy's kind of a piece of shit out there. It's all just everyone can be their own person, and it's unbelievable. Look at Abyss moment right there. It's a family show. He just had moment right there. It's a family show.

He just had a biz moment. It's a family show. I'll pay your fine. There you go. That's a reason to vote for him. Fuck it. Get him in the All-Star game. Absolutely.

Get him in. Hey, hey, and he'll do the breakaway cop with no tarp on. He'll go nipples out. Put some Spittin' Chicklets nipple clamps on him as part of the crew. Maybe get the Pink Whitney droopers. Darlene has a spitting Chiklitz whip for his. Yeah, Pink Whitney nips on his nips. Tuck those eggs away.

And finally, the coaches. Rod Brindamore is going to coach the Metropolitan. Bruce Cassidy will coach the Pacific. Interestingly, this is the fourth time in five years that Vegas coaches coach the Pacific. Interestingly, this is the fourth time in five years that Vegas coaches coach the Pacific. We won't find out about the central coaches until tonight's games conclude because Dallas it's either going to be Pete DeBoer from Dallas or Winnipeg's Rick Bonus. And then the Atlantic is very first time participating in an all-star game. Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery.

And boys, I don't think we even told the listeners who we had today, so I think we should probably send it over to them right now. This interview is brought to you by HelloFresh. You've got New Year's goals, and HelloFresh is here to help you achieve them. Skip the grocery store and take control of your time and budget with delicious recipes delivered right to your door. Looking for an easy way to eat well and save money this year? Cut back on expensive takeout

and delivery and get started with HelloFresh. You'll love how fast, easy, and affordable it is to whip up a restaurant-quality meal right in your own kitchen. With HelloFresh, eating well in the new year can be stress-free and delicious. With over 35 weekly recipes, they have the options you're looking for to help achieve your goals. Choose calorie smart and carb smart recipes or even customize select meals by swapping proteins or sides, upgrading your proteins or adding protein to a veggie dish. Go to hellofresh.com slash chicklets21 and use the code chicklets21 for 21 free meals plus free shipping. That's code chicklets21 at hellofresh.com slash chicklets21. Enjoy Monty. All right, we're very happy to welcome our next guest to the show. After a stellar collegiate

career at the University of Maine where he won a national championship and was the tourney MVP. The center played professionally for 12 seasons. He then moved behind the bench winning two clock cups in the USHL and the national championship at the University of Denver before moving up to the NHL. He's currently in his third season as an NHL head coach and first here in Boston where his Bruins have been lighting the world on fire since the season started. Thanks so much for joining us on the Spitting Chicklets podcast. Jim Montgomery, how's it going, Monty? It's going great, guys.

Thanks for having me on, and thanks for coming to the great city of Boston. Absolutely. Our pleasure. It's thanks to Murr. The Murr man, for people who don't know, Murr is sitting in. We're not with Biz right now. And you guys go pretty far back at this point, right? Yeah.

Well, I played against Monty my rookie year. He was in Utah. And I first met you after one of the games, and you were really nice to me. You were telling me all about my game. I was one of your last year's older guy. He's already into the coaching. And I should have known.

He's already into the coaching. This guy's going to be a legendary coach. And that always stuck with us. But then he ends up being the coach at RPI. And I swear to God, this is the best story. The whole interview maybe is we get there. We're doing doing the skate i don't know if you remember this we would skate before the hockey school and i walk in i haven't seen you in 15 years i don't know 10 years and uh you're getting ready you're taping your shin pads and you're like hey merles what's

going on you hear about the saratoga place i'm like yeah i'm like yeah it's awesome like the horses are running right now and you're like oh well let's go then and you took the tape off your shin guard and wanted to go right now i'm like no no we got to skate first and then we'll head up for the afternoon you you showed me how to bet the ponies he showed me too but it's something i really regret ever learning from the friggin guy because now I never win a race. But that's where we reconnected and became great friends at RPI, and that was probably the start of your coaching career basically, right? That was the start.

Yeah, that was the start when I got paid the year before. I was a volunteer at Notre Dame and then got there. I had four great years there. Started my family there, and then we moved to Dubuque. So there's so many different ways because you played for such a long time and you're coaching but I think already mentioned before I'm just kind of hopping into to this year right because we're here uh for the winter classic pretty special game you guys got to be fired up about getting to be a part of that we're really excited you know um and I've been really amazed at this group um there it's it's a pleasure it's an honor and they're so easy to coach um you know you got bergeron march on poster knock as you know and mcavoy is our four letters

um you know great leaders but there's guys under them too that support them so well they got creche felino lynn home you know you got gri. I mean, we have a great balance of North American and European players. And the culture here, I've been blown away with how everyone treats each other the right way, with respect, and how everyone loves to compete. So I'm curious, because if you look at the culture that's been set here for so long, but Krejci was a big part of that in my mind. And when he left it was tough and when you took the job i don't know the time frame he had he agreed to come back

how did that all come about when did you know he was going to be back this year probably after a week i had the job oh shit did you talk to him uh yeah i did yeah um and it was still in its infancy but i think it was a matter of you you know, the dollars and cents working. And this is where he wanted to play. He wanted to finish his career. He's, I think, about 10 games away from 1,000 in his career. And the opportunity to come back, to be around the guys I already just spoke about, and especially an opportunity to play on the same line with Pasternak for a year,

I think was really intriguing for him. I know a lot of punters are talking about this being maybe a soft rebuild for the bees this year but what was it about the roster that intrigued you that you say i gotta go to this team i gotta coach these guys uh it was the depth at every position um and i thought the depth was good i didn't know how good it was i i gotta be honest that uh the talent and um i think what's inside every individual here was way above what I expected. You know, you got two really good goalies. Olmark's having a Vezna-type season.

Swayman's playing great. And then the decor I thought was going to be our strength because you have McAvoy and then you have Lindholm and then you have such really good pieces to go with it. Two really good defensive defensemen. You got a guy that does everything. You know, in 75, I'm good with numbers, Cliffy. And then you have, you know, Grizzie.

Grizzie can do it all too. Like if we need someone to go in on the power play, he can go and he can run a power play. He's done it for years in this league. So I knew we were really good on the back end. Up front, I didn't know how deep we were. You know, I didn't know how good Pavel Zakho was. I didn't know how good Foligno was.

I didn't know how good Nosek was. Guys that really matter to being able to go wave after wave. You know about Bergeron. You know about Posnack. You know about Krejci. You know, DeBrusk is coming into his own. Again, I think Don Sweeney's done an incredible job putting a great roster together. And I think our staff has walked into a great situation.

And these guys, they play to win every game. It's unreal to witness. That kind of explains so many come from behind victories. It feels like you guys go down. It's like they're going to tie it up. But you brought up the name Foligno, and I think it's, for us, probably one of our favorite current player interviews when we interviewed him last year.

And, you know, last year was kind of a struggle for him at times. And I don't know if you talked to him and you weren't here, but what's changed with him? Because he looks quicker, he looks faster, definitely more confident. I don't know if you talked to him over the summer. summer i know you weren't here but he just looks fantastic this year yeah we did talk over the summer and he does look fantastic and i thought there was three things um that would allow him to have a lot more success this year one was and you guys both know this you come off your first major surgery yeah it takes It takes a while. At least a year.

Yeah. And that summer, you're just trying to get healthy. You're not training, right, for a grind of an NHL season. Two was he's moving away to a new city with his family, you know, and we've all been there the first time you get traded away, and now you're going into a new locker room, and how are you going to fit in? Where's your role? You role, all those things. And then you're going home, and maybe you guys didn't go through this in your career,

but I've gone through this in my coaching career. You switch cities, it takes a while for your wife and your kids to find new friends, to get in their routine. Our routine, it's easy. We go to the rink, we've got 30 people that are friends that are talking the same language as we are it's very easy for us it's not easy on the family yeah and i think you feel that stress probably too because even though things at the rink are good you can tell at home it's probably like oh they're they're struggling to really kind of feel involved in

the new city so it makes sense yeah it's in the back of your head at all times yeah i want to talk about like i feel like all the guys are playing with more confidence and i know just being around you and i was still playing your coaching rpi you would give me confidence i'd be skating with you is that something like is definitely part of your recipe for coaching is give these guys confidence to go out there yeah you know um and to be honest i think i've changed even more so to being more positive you know after the struggles i had um i've been a lot more empathetic towards okay how do i get someone to believe in themselves even more instead of harping maybe more on the mistake that just happened i now come they come back to the bench and when i let them you know relax a little bit and then they end up you know when it's their turn

they slide in front of you again. I say, wait, don't worry about what just happened. Let's think about what you're going to do next, you know? Let's talk about what we can do and not what we just didn't do. Another guy I want to mention, Trent Frederick. He struggled for the last couple years, but it seems like you unlocked something in him this year. What have you told him that he's playing so much better

than he had been in previous years? Well, I can't take credit for that. All these guys are, I always go back to the culture here. Everybody supports each other. And I think for Trent Frederick, the big thing has been he had lost his confidence. And to get his confidence back, he had to get it through practice, and you could see him making plays in practice. His training camp wasn't good. And he knew that he wasn't happy with himself but it took a while before he had

the confidence to hang on the pucks and you know once you're a player and you have the ability to hold on the puck for an extra second or two until the play develops instead of looking just to get rid of it now your feet aren't moving now when you you hang on to pucks, your feet are moving, you're creating space, and you feel good about your game. The more you touch the puck, the better you feel as a player. And you mentioned all Mark Vezna frontrunner right now, but how do you go about getting both guys starts? Swayman's played great at times,

so do you never want to go too long without one guy getting a start? How will that go the rest of the season, or is it just too hard to say to say yeah it's probably too hard to say yeah but we do plan on uh pretty much a rotation okay um you know all marks played a lot of games just because uh swayman got hurt for three weeks so that allowed us to thankfully ride him and for him to get that opportunity to know what it's like to go through three weeks of being a number one and playing 90% of the games. You know, right now he's played incredible hockey, but Swayman gives us the opportunity

to keep both of them sharp, and we can win any game with either one of them in the nets. Does Swayman being a main guy give any favors to him? Well, we do have a kindred spirit there, you know. We know what it's like to be up in Alfond and getting cheered on, especially when we're playing BC, right, Whit? I'll be you.

I'll be you. You're B.U. Yeah, I knew you. We can actually go into that because I want to get into your career with how long you played. When we get to Maine, I can bring that up. But the beginning of the game for you,

as a young kid falling in love with this, was your dad who got you into it? What was your beginning in hockey? You know, just being in Canada. Hockey Night in Canada is on all the time. My dad didn't play, but he did coach it. He played other sports. He went to the Olympics in boxing, actually.

Oh, shit. Yeah, he didn't teach me how to fight. I was begging for a left. I got hit with so many rights at times I did fight. But, you know, he was a real good athlete. But what he instilled in me was the team first attitude and always trying to make another pass to set a teammate up. I think things that inherently allowed me, I think,

to always think team first and put the team ahead of any individual when I was on teams. So, you know, you grew up in the bulking age of powerful, where it's big, strong guys, and you were undersized, but you lit it up wherever you went. So as a youngster, did you even look to the Quebec League or that whole time, were you like, I want to go play college hockey? You know, I did look to the Quebec League league um but i was overlooked uh really yeah and uh in fairness i was five foot two at 15 you know i didn't i hit a growth spurt to five seven oh by the time i was 17 like this could have been a lot

worse it could have been really bad um so i i was, after a while, I was just like, oh, wait a minute. I can play hockey until, if I go to college at 19, I can play hockey until I'm 23 before I got to go in the real world. I was just delaying everything. I remember my dad was like, well, you got an opportunity to go to Middlebury Division III. I'm like, Dad, no rush to go there. The Belushi plan.

They do two hours of homework at night. That's too hard of a school. I'm going to Maine. Yeah. So other than Maine, what other schools recruited you? And was Maine the first one to come at you? The first one to contact me, I think, was, believe it or not, Princeton. And then Clarkson came on, then Maine came on.

I went on visits to Clarkson, Maine, and UNH, and then I was ready to make a decision. He at least could spell UNH. I'm guessing Sean Walsh, your coach, he must have been a huge factor in you going to Maine, I assume. He was. Him and Grant Stanbrook, the lead recruiter there at the time. I think in a lot of the visits that he came and saw me play,

he would teach me something after every game about either puck protection or how to get better balance on the ice, stuff I had never heard before. And I always wanted to be around people that could make you better. And when I went on to visit, Sean Walsh was incredible, the way he commanded a room. And the stuff he said, that you would go out and watch the team play on your visit and they would implement it and I was like man it seems like the game's a lot easier yeah Sean Walsh must have been actually a big part of you ended up becoming a coach right I'm guessing

because of how dominant of a personality was everyone who ever met him has so many great things to say and and did that lead to you like someday knowing you wanted to get into the game and coaching when you're done playing yeah because i felt he made the game easier for us really um and he had a magnetic personality it was it was hard to uh it's hard to explain just because i was there four years and you guys both know like you you end up being around a coach for four years after a while like you know what he's going to say. Yeah. I never knew what he was going to say.

Like he was that creative, that charismatic. So you had some great teams there, but your senior year, I mean, one of the, if not the best college hockey team ever, at least one of them. And Paul Carrillo is a freshman. So if anyone hasn't ever seen Out of the Woods, I mean, Merle showed me some of the outfits you had on. Some turtlenecks and some vests and just amazing looks. That hair.

Yeah, you had a bunch of hair. But was ESPN? Spaghetti straps pulling them across. It was like Ernie McCracken coming off the court. Bigger. Coming off the court. But ESPN followed you the whole year, right? That never happened then, right? It's like that never happened then, right?

It was the first one, actually, yeah. I don't know exactly. I think it was Viacom. They were somehow. Okay. Because we had the Ferraros that were drafted, and Viacom, I think, was with the Rangers at the time. I think that's how it all came about.

But it was. It was really interesting, really well done. And I guess it was just fortuitous that we had such a dominant team that year. Yeah, I got to ask about, like, the Migs told me to ask about this guy. The Migs? He was even smaller than you. The Cal Ingram or whatever. I eat an apple off his head.

They don't have him there. Everybody talks about you in Korea that year, but he scored 40 or 50 goals or something, right? Yeah, Cal was 5'4 on a good day. Holy shit! 48 goals. No way. Yeah, I remember seeing him score that much. You think somebody that small could play now in the NHL?

Like, he would have had a chance? Yeah, you know, I think it is possible. You know, you've got Johnny Gaudreau and Garland. I mean, I know they're bigger than that but uh the thing about cal was he was fearless i mean if you ran him you'd get spirit as you run him right in the groin too what do you remember about korea like coming in had you heard everything or did you see him like holy shit like you know the greatest freshman year of all time i hosted him on his recruiting visit the year before and was blown away with the way he looked at the game, but I hadn't seen him on the ice yet.

And the first day of practice, he did a couple of things, and I was like, I've never been on the ice with someone this good. You know, I always wondered, what are these superstars? How good are they? And when you get on the ice with a Sidney Crosby and you see it, you're like, oh, okay. That was me and him. Like, how good is this kid?

Exactly. Holy shit. How good can you be at hockey? You can't be that much better than me. Yeah, you are. Yeah, they are. Yeah. A lot better.

So coming out of Maine, though, I mean, 95 points that year, so many in the course of the four years there. Are you frustrated to not get a chance in the NHL right away? Or did you? Like, what was your mindset when college ended for your next few years turning pro? Yeah, you know, I did get a good opportunity my first year. I don't think I took good enough advantage of it.

Then, unfortunately, I never got that same opportunity. But I look back at it, and I think the reason that I have such a vast knowledge of different coaches is because I didn't make it. You know, I wasn't with the same coach for five years. I switched coaches almost every 18 months because I was a suitcase. And I took so many good things from certain coaches and certain things coaches I would never do. I would never treat a player like that. I saw how it crushed a player you know and then you see another coach and he comes in and he explains something and i always

relate it to people who don't understand it's like you go to a math teacher and he might be brilliant but if he can't explain it in layman's terms it's the same thing with a coach you know two plus two is four it's that simple when a great coach gets up there and explains it to you. And now it makes sense and you just go out and play, right? Instead of, oh, if the puck goes here, you go here. If the puck goes there, you go here. And here you've got to start. Don't turn your back on the puck.

Well, wait, just where am I supposed to go? That's why I didn't go to Princeton right there. But that's probably what you mean in terms of Sean Wallace made it easier. Yeah, he made it easy. The puck's going here. If you're under pressure, these are where your outs are. If you're not under pressure, play. Go make a play.

And when you joined the Blues, they had Shanahan, Hull, a couple characters in the room, but one of them named Peter Stastny. I know it was late in his career. Did you play on a line with him at all? You must have learned a few things from him as well. No, I didn't play on a line with him, but I did. When he came into our locker room you could see the intensity and the leadership in him just a brilliant hockey

mind i remember coming in the room and it was the first game he played for us and the power play didn't go well in the first he took over the board and he's got hull and shanahan and he's got jeff brown and housley he said we're's going here and Craig Janney, and we're going to do this, we're going to do that. And no one told Hulley what to do on the ice, you know? And Hulley was looking at him and he goes, I got 86 goals in this league last year. Yeah, I risked my life to get over here.

Put your pen away, Peter. Put your pen away. The other run that, as a player, I looked up is late 90s with the Phantoms, Philly Phantoms, and some huge years in the AHL, and no call-up from the Flyers that year. Was that surprising? Did that shock you a little bit? Or was it kind of just like this team's loaded up top and this is what it is?

Yeah, it wasn't surprising, actually. I signed a three-year deal just because Philly was a great place to play in the minors. And if there ever was injuries, maybe I'd get called up. But it was a dynamite place to live. And the Flyers were loaded at that time. Yeah, they were stacked. I mean, their fourth-line center was Joel Otto. Where am I going to fit in?

Yeah. Is it true you came out with the nickname Legion of Doom? Yeah, it it true you came out with the nickname Legion of Doom? Yeah, it is true. And it was one of my best friends in Montreal was a huge Flyers fan. And they had just, John LeClair and I were in that package that went to Philadelphia together. And he goes on a line with Drenberg and Lindros. And they were so big and they were so dominant. Like they were averaging four and a half points their first 10 or 15 games. And just a reporter came in and was like,

man, how do people stop them? I'm like, I don't know. You're doomed. They're like the Legion of Doom. And my buddy had said that to me. I didn't follow wrestling, but he did. And that's where he got it. They're the Legion of Doom.

And I just said it, and the reporter put it in the paper. So my buddy Tommy takes full credit for that. Did he get any money from all the T-shirts and hat sales? No. Not a business mind. Tommy's still looking to collect. You mentioned Montreal. I want to go back a little.

You got traded then for Guy Cavanaugh. It was a short stint, but that must have been a huge thrill for you being a Montreal guy to be able to put that jersey on for a few games. Oh, you're right. I remember the first game was an exhibition game. And I remember putting on the red jersey and looking down and seeing the CH crest. And they had won four cups between the ages of 6 and 10 in a row.

And those guys, so many of them were heroes. And now I'm looking over and there's Patrick Waugh getting dressed. Kirk Muller's there. It was a great moment. Unfortunately, they were looking to get big, and 5'7 doesn't fit with big. Not in any sport. I guess when you pull that jersey on the first time in the forum,

does it feel different? Do you almost feel like Superman a little bit just because of the history, the culture behind that jersey? Do you feel a little taller, I guess? Yeah, I mean, I just felt incredibly thankful, you know, to have the opportunity to be there. That's what I remember. So Merle said to me, last year playing pro, you were player coach.

Is that true? Yeah. Like, who came to you with that idea? How did that all come about? And what are your day-to-day, like, I mean, you're practicing, but also running practice. How did it work? Reg Dunlop.

Yeah. The funny thing was is Reg Dunlop. Yeah. The funny thing was how that idea came to me. I thought my career was over. I didn't know what was wrong with me. I'd gone over to Russia, and I came back, find out I had a sports hernia. And I was like, man, it might be time, body start. And, you know, that's 35. And I saw Joel Quenville in a sports

bar in st louis and i said can i pick your brain have lunch with you tomorrow he's like yeah sure and i picked i said i want to get into coaching i think this is what i could be good at and i said before i dive into a you know nine to five or sales job of some sort and he goes well you know just apply and i did a couple of interviews but didn't really get any traction to be a coach or an assistant coach was what i was looking at and he goes something to think about is be a player assistant that's what he did his last year in the american league so i i reached out to american league teams and i almost had a bite i think was with the Islanders and Greg

Cronin was there um but it didn't work out didn't materialize and then there was a um United Hockey League team in St. Louis and it was actually the year of the lockout um okay so better probably than the league right yeah the league was better but the opportunity was presented itself I was like hey I'm only gonna do this if I have the opportunity to be an assistant coach. And, you know, the balance between being one of the boys in the locker room and also supporting the head coach, that was new for me. But it was a real good experience. Killer Kamensky was the head coach. Really?

Yeah. Oh, my God. Great guy. Biz isn't here, and he wouldn't let you skip over Russia that quickly. Nobody likes the Russian stories better than him. He's just amazed by it. Yeah, you must have had something from the 20 games in Ufa. I was in Ufa.

I actually didn't mind Ufa when I was over there and we played them. Yeah, I guess I got two good stories I remember. One was, like, I lived about two kilometers from the rink and they had a taxi driver basically drive me from there to the rink every day and i was getting bored of just going and sitting in my hotel room i didn't have internet didn't have anything oh my so halfway along there was this place restaurant beer garden and uh so i started becoming my place to hang out and eat you know and uh i remember after one of our games we won and i wasn't russian mentality for the players where they don't trust you until they get to know you so it takes

time um so i was on my own lot and we had a big win and by then i had met a gal that spoke english spent the summer in california she got me an internet card she got me a phone card lifesaver lifesaver you know and so the boys all show up at that restaurant bar and here i am i'm in the middle now i'm one of the boys. They took me everywhere after that. The other one was, you know, we're bussing to, I think, Magnitogorsk, where Malkin's from, and halfway through the bus, you stop off, and here you stop off, you've got your choice of Burger King or Sbarro's or something, you know, and the pit stop.

Well, there it's just people on tables pulled out, and they're selling fish, and it's full of fishes. Oh, out and they're selling fish and it's full fishes cutting their heads off in front of you so i'm like yeah so i'm like hey where's the bathroom oh it's right back there so i walk back into what i think is a bathroom and everything's outside and it's just like the cement wall and i walk in there the stench it's just holes in the ground right and i don't know how andy dufresne went through two football fields of that stuff because I almost puked. I went and peed out the back.

I wasn't going in that stuff. I talked about it on Checklist Game Notes about it in China being the holes and in Russia just the hole. People are amazed by it. Yeah. Just drop your trousers. No toilet paper. No flusher.

I mean, this wasn't even the KHL. No flusher. I mean, this wasn't even the KHL. This is just Russia. This is Russian Super League. It was getting paid in a paper bag like you see over there. So you get to Notre Dame, and then when you went to RPI, did you have a plan of how long you'd be there, how long you hoped to be there? Because it was four or five years, right?

You were the assistant there? I was four years there, yeah. and were you looking to maybe get a head coaching job in college but it took to go to the ushl to get that first head coach experience yeah basically like i've always been a person that i just get immersed in the moment and so i was loving trying to help seth apper rebuild rpi and we were starting to have a lot of success on the recruiting trails. The teams incrementally were getting better. And then out of the blue, I got a phone call from John Cooper. He's like, I remember he's first like, hey, are you coming?

He's at the time in Green Bay in the USHL. And he's like, are you comfortable in your job? I'm like, this sounds weird. I go, what do you got? Are you testing me? Yeah. You're living upstairs Franco's dentistry in a studio franco's gonna love it that we're talking i still text with him uh that was my landlord a great dentist uh yeah so he had so then the

owners uh brad quong who actually lives here in new now with his family, called me and it was a week later and I was like, would you like to apply for the job as a head coach? And I was like, you know what, it was time to try and it was a great league and Cooper then went on to the American League. Blashill had just left and gone on to

Western at the time. So it had been a proving ground that if you go there, you get experience. It's actually the best year I had in my growth as a coach. Really? Because you have to do so much at the junior level. You have to wear a lot of hats. But the first year, I think, you go from being an assistant

to a head coach, you really grow because you're making every decision. And it's good to do it at a lower level like i have a lot of admiration for rod brindamore who did it at the nhl level and does done it so well yeah it's almost like to be able to hop right in there and do it it's like you don't learn at all from being with younger guys and doing all those different roles it's impressive just to hop right in there like you mentioned it's true true. Dubuque there, you won two championships in the three years, but I'm sure the listeners want to hear, like,

what was Johnny Goudreau like back then? How did you find him? How did you get him there? Did you know he was going to be this good? Did not know he was going to be this good, right? I don't think anyone can look at a guy that's 5'7", 130 pounds, and think he's going to get 110 points in the NHL. But how we got him was the head scout, Bobby Kinsella, was like,

you're going to think I'm crazy, but he goes, I think we should go after this kid. He goes, he's the best midget offensive player I saw. And I go, where does he live? He told me. I'm like, well, John Stevens lives there. John Stevens has a son that's that age. So I called up Rambo, and, you know, Johnny's like,

he goes, he's the best offensive player I've seen in this area. He goes, no question. He goes, his dad ran the rink that our Phantoms team in 98 won a Jets where we practiced. Was it like Voorhees? Voorhees. Yeah, yeah. And so anyways, I called him, convinced him to sign independent

because we had like six free agent contracts at that time. That's what they called them. And we signed him. He came to camp, and he was really good in camp, but my idea was, and it was funny, Northeastern's like, you're going to have him for three years. We have one year, 78 points as a rookie, won rookie of the year, was our leading scorer in the playoffs.

But my funniest story about him on the ice was I would watch, we had a two-on-one drill, and he would do something so creative every time. I would always end it on the last, I want to see Johnny one more time. What's he going to do now? And then the other one was when the NHL Scouting Combine came and they were to weigh him.

And so he tapes like eight pucks underneath his shorts, and he's standing there, and the pucks drop as he's on the stand. And the guy goes, I'll put you down as 138. I'll give you an extra three pounds. I wonder what he weighs now, actually. He's probably only a buck 50 now, I bet. Maybe a little more. Yeah, 165, I weighs now, actually. He's probably only $1.50 now, I bet. Maybe a little more. Yeah, 165, I would say, Max.

Fuck. Dropping hundreds out of his... Yeah, exactly. Monty, three years at Dubuque, you won two titles. Was that when you realized, I got a gift for this, for the coaching thing? Or did it come later? You know what I realized then is that

I had the ability to get everybody to believe that we could do something really well together um that I connected with people that how we could play and how we were going to do it um I could tell the players believed in that so that gave me confidence that I could go to the next level had you been applying or after the two titles did you apply to different schools or had Denver reached out to you? What was the connection to getting there? I mean, a true blue-brud program in college hockey, I'd say, with the history that's happened at Denver.

Yeah, you know, I mean, I was still, we were playing in my third year in Dubuque, and, you know, we were the best team in the league. Like, that team was really dominant. And I think it was maybe in april early april um the university of denver reached out to me wow that's nice yeah and you know they were doing the search and they're like you're one of the people and and i went through the search i was one of the four finalists and was very lucky to get the offer i still remember i was supposed to fly home

like at two o'clock and they said said, well, it's going later. We'll fly you in a private jet to your game. And I'm like, okay, I'll stay around. I'll wait three weeks to fly in a VJ. So you did an interview? Are you nervous before that type of interview or not really because you're so prepared? Yeah, you have a lot of time to prepare.

type interview or not really because you're so prepared yeah you have a lot of time to prepare yeah you know so you go in there and it's uh you know i think the more you do interviews the more you get really confident how to prepare you as long as you're prepared it's like anything um you know if you're prepared and you've trained all summer you go into camp you feel confident you go out yeah you get ready for the season quite confidently it's the same thing for an interview you got to know who you're interviewing with that's the most important part had you guys had a chance at winning the national title prior to the year that you got it done had you had a run in the final four i don't remember those yeah we're in a we're in a frozen four the year before we lost to a great north dakota team that beat us three two in the final minute oh my god my God. Schmaltz scored.

Oh, yeah, he's a good player. Yeah. I got to bring up a big name. He's one of your probably best players you ever coached from Denver, Rudy. Our boy Rudy from Barstool. He claimed the fame that he won a national title with you. I still don't believe he played. He did.

He did. Yeah. What a character. Great kid. I call him a kid because that's how I knew him. Oh, he's still a kid. Yeah. And he just had incredible personality,

was clearly one of the most liked players in the program. And he didn't play in the Frozen Four the year we won, but he played almost every game the following year. And I think I made a coaching mistake in the final eight, and we didn't have great legs that game because we lost to Ohio State. Ohio State played great, but the frozen four, the other three teams we were 8-0 against. So if we beat Ohio State.

It's good matchups. Yeah, good matchups for us. He told us a funny story we had to ask you about. One time you guys got on the road, or maybe it was the – I don't know when it when it was but the sticks didn't come up and you made them practice pretending like they were holding sticks where'd you get that idea uh we're a western i just said i said we're gonna go out there we can only do our first three drills yeah we just need to move the legs for 20 minutes so that we're okay tomorrow night and it was funny the guys were really creative you know the starting goaltender they they must have all said it we're not going to score on him We're okay tomorrow night. And it was funny. The guys were really creative. The starting goaltender, they must have all said it. We're not going to score on him.

No one celebrated on the fake shots. But on the backup, they were going bar down every time. Did not you guys hit a bunch of traffic on the way to one of the games during the playoffs, and the bus driver just pulled a page out of Sandra Bullock's book and just fought it? Went by everybody, went past the police. That's a national championship game. Oh, it was the Natty, okay.

Yeah, it was in Chicago, and the bus driver just went off the rails and just started hammering people. We thought we were on speed, you know, in the movie Speed, when you hit the bump and people's heads are hitting. It was good. So at Denver, when did the NHL gig first come up on the radar? Did Dallas reach out to you first? Did you hear something from an agent?

Yeah, not to interrupt you, but I was bringing that up. Sometimes it looks as if a college coaching job could be just the perfect gig for 35 years. So you had to really probably figure out, do I want to keep doing this or go to the show? Not to interrupt you. You're right. It was really hard to leave Denver. Right? I mean, you would have been good forever. Yeah, because I interrupt you, but. You're right. It was really hard to leave Denver. Right? I mean, you would have been good forever.

Yeah, because I'm a city person. I grew up in a city. So did my wife. She's from St. Louis, you know. And so for Emily and I to leave Denver, which was a great city, you got only about three cities that are four cities. You got Boston, you got Minnesota, Columbus, and Denver, probably that are real cities, you know cities that you could coach college hockey in.

And so if you're going to decide to leave, you've got to make sure it's the right thing for your family. So I first interviewed, I think, after my second year in Denver with Calgary. But I could tell it was a good experience, but there was no way i was getting the job um then i think in the next year i interviewed in buffalo in florida i believe um and i think i was a finalist in florida but i pulled out it was taking too long and i don't think i was getting a job but it was wasn't right for the program didn't feel right yeah um and then that following year um the year after

national championship um you know i had the rangers called and dallas and both incredible situations and then dallas really got aggressive with it and we had to make a decision it's either i felt if i said no to the nhl then it was never going to come back because it was kind of like fourth time you're going through the interview process. Even though it's the first time I was offered a job, it just felt like if you're going to do this, we're going to do this now. It'd probably get around to teams. Like he said, no, we're offering a job.

And everyone's like, all right, he's probably good with college. Yeah, he wants to be Jerry York, which I did think about. Jerry York's a great coach, great person. After Dallas, you did about a year and a half there. You were assistant for Craig Berube in St. Louis. What kind of things did you learn coaching under him? Any new tricks you pick up? How to hold players accountable to the results of what their role is.

I really learned how he did that. I learned how he did that. I learned how he's great under pressure. The harder the pressure, the pressure mounts, losing streaks or players not playing well, superstars not scoring, and maybe the bench going the wrong way. He had a great ability to bring everybody back to focusing about control what

you control and letting people be themselves. You know, he never got too high about anything. And the way he treated his staff, wonderful man to work for, you know, he made you, he empowered you, he let you do your thing and was just gave you a lot of confidence. So I think everybody, and he did the same thing for the players. I think that's why players love playing for him. Wasn't Otter back there with you too, Steve Ott?

Oh, yeah. Otter's a beaut. He must never stop talking from the bench, right? He never stops. Oh, he's unbelievable. I love that guy. I hated playing against him, but he's a great dude. He is a wonderful man.

He's a brilliant hockey mind, and the players really enjoy playing for him. See him a great dude he is a wonderful man he's a brilliant hockey mind and the players really enjoy playing for him see him being a head coach someday absolutely yeah yeah I want to talk some St. Louis too because I know like development like that's probably your strongest quality as a coach and I couldn't help but notice Kairu and Thomas taking like huge leaps the last couple years when you were in St. Louis with them did you work with them or am I a crazy person? Well I mean we all worked with them but I think Ott and myself because we were the forward coaches spent the most time with them you know first of all they're two outstanding talents you don't put up

numbers like they're putting up without the ability they needed the mental freedom to believe in themselves and i think they got that through chief and through the work that otter and i did with them with video and you know giving them the confidence that you know not only can you be playing this league but you can dominate in this league and it's fun to still watch them yeah i remember rpi had all these little righties that you turned into all americans and now you those two little righties in st louis are all stars so there's something there's definitely something he was a righty little righty that's how it works i don't know maudie it was something that maybe uh one of your coaches did whether you're coaching or playing that you've had i will never do that to a player you don't have to say the name but just

maybe a particular thing a coach did you that you thought was useless. One of the biggest lessons I learned was when I was in Russia, when the guy punched the player in the face, you're like, yeah, I'm not going to do this. This coach was really hard on everybody. And that's the way they do things there back then. I don't know if they still do that, but this is 20 years ago now. And you got yelled at for everything. And I remember he sat me out a couple of games because he didn't think

I was working hard enough in practice. And he probably was right. And I gave him the benefit of the doubt. And so I just started working, working. I sat out those two games. I got put back in. And I remember I started playing real well and then like maybe five games later our team didn't play well and I thought I played well and he yanked me out of the lineup after that and I remember him yelling at me the next time in practice and I was just like looking at him and I'm like you know you lost me yeah because you weren't fair and that's the biggest thing i took is i always want to be fair with players i want to be honest um and sometimes it's hard because unfortunately like even now the nhl you have 23 players so there's three players not playing every game you know

and as the season wears on it tends to be the same players over, usually, that are the odd man out. And trying to communicate to guys when you're not playing them and keeping them upbeat, trying telling them to be ready, that's the hardest part, I think, of the job. Helping players get better that are playing minutes and showing them stuff on power play or showing them stuff on puck protection or how to end plays. That's the fun part.

And players usually love eating that up. You mentioned when you were a player coach in terms of being one of the boys in the room and then being an assistant coach, it kind of goes hand in hand with being an assistant last year and then going to the head coach this year. We've asked other coaches about that, but what is the hardest thing?

Just almost not being able to joke around a little bit. But I feel like you still may do that. Like what is the difference in terms of dealing with guys as the head versus the assistant? Yeah, I think as an assistant, there's less pressure. You can be more friendly. But I think the biggest place of growth I've had from my headstand in Dallas to here is I think I wasn't myself enough in Dallas as far as being friendly, as far as I'm not afraid now to put myself out there and tell the players a story about my playing days. And despite I'm fat and bald, I picked up chicks too at times, you know? And then, you know, but they relate to it, you know?

Where I think that if you're yourself and you're genuine, whether you're delivering good news or you're telling them, you know, a teaching moment that they need to be better in. I think players, as long as you're honest and you're being fair to them, they might not like it, but they're going to listen and they're going to try and do what you're asking of them. I talked to a couple of guys, get some, not dirt on you, some information. They referred you as the Pied Piper in a good way.

And I wondered, did that come natural? I wonder where that came from. Did that come natural to you or something that you just picked things up along the way? Because, I mean, I went back and watched the old video and you kind of had that, you know, presence already when you were playing in Maine. It's like, so it seems like you had it from the jump. Yeah, I think, you know, I think you are the environment you grow up in. My dad was a natural leader.

You know, he wore the captain in football and in basketball teams that won Canadian championships he was a leader of the union at Shell Oil so I think I picked up a lot from him and I don't think I think in team surroundings I've always been very comfortable to step up whether I was wearing a letter or not as a player and I think that carried over to being confident when I'm in the middle of the room I got one final one I gotta ask about Patrice Bergeron has he kind of like blown you away I know you probably had expectations but has he exceeded them from what you've seen so far just in a few months absolutely um just the his ability to be uh of being cognizant of how everybody around him's doing that takes a lot of energy from just not being able to prepare yourself to be great, which

he is. And I've learned from him of how to be a better person, not only a better leader, but be a better person. That's how impactful he is. Did you get one of those Louis bags that I saw all the players get the other day? No, I haven't impacted him that way. That's a great way to end it, Monty.

We can't thank you enough. I mean, it's been amazing to see you come back and have so much success here. So congratulations. Good luck the rest of the way. Thanks, guys. I appreciate you having me on. Thanks a lot. Merle, thank you, bud.

Hopefully see you on the duck boat in about six months. All right, before we go any further, we're going to take a minute to talk about our merch. We heard Whit mention it a little while ago. He needs some Big Dale Brew. I'm sure G's going to get it out to him. We just dropped these not too long ago. New Chiclet shirts. We have Canadian versions of it.

You can get up in the Great White North, our favorite country up there. And like I just said, the Big Deal, bro, and Pink Whitney. We got all kinds of stuff. We've been doing this for a long time. We got the classic jerseys. G, what's your favorite right now? My favorite right now, R.A., is the winter hats. I got the Big Deal Brewing winter hat on right now. My favorite right now, RA is the winter hats. I got the big deal brewing winter hat on right now.

I also, we also have some pink Whitney winter hats, the spitting chiclets, winter hats. It's getting cold here in New York. My ears get freezing. So anytime I can put on a nice, a big deal brewing toque,

as they say up North, I'm happy to do it. And all you got to do very simple barstool, sports.com slash chicletslets i also love the uh the new pink whitney roback hoodies we have they're so comfortable so soft nice and thin so you can basically wear it at any times it doesn't get any better than the chicklets merch right now and if we didn't have chicklets merch we'd be naked every day granelli because that's all we wear it's literally i would be naked i have no clothesy, because that's all we wear. Literally, I would be naked. I have no clothes right now.

So that's all I'm wearing right now. And I'm happy to do it. Very happy to do it, R.A. And nobody wants to see us naked either. But it's always comfortable. Always epic designs. Always guaranteed to impress. The Barstool Store has everything for everyone.

Once again, shop now at store.barstoolsports.com. Man, huge thanks to Monty for coming in with us last week at the hotel room awesome chat with him anytime we get a current coach it's always a big thrill for us but he made it so easy talking about like you said what he had two careers the pro playing career now the pro coaching career and you could see why the guys in that room respond to him any guys who played for

him so thanks again Monty great time of you and his team I mean I know we'll bro stroke off the bruins again it's like hey man when they keep fucking setting records every week, then we're going to stroke them off. And right now I'm double-wristing, Biz. I mean, they're 32-4-4, the best start in the modern era of hockey, which is to say post-expansion.

They beat up Anaheim, what, 7-1 Sunday night. They have points in 14 straight games, haven't lost at home in regulation. It just keeps coming and coming and coming. And then Bergeron, he hit 600 assists on Sunday. And the night before that, he assisted on Marshawn's goal to make him third place on the Bruins all time points list after Bork and Busick. So I don't know. The more they keep doing this, we got it. We got to acknowledge that we would do for any team.

It's an insane team. They're so well-rounded. DeBrus goes on long term IR. Feel bad for him having a career year. And Craig Smith goes up in the lineup and looks phenomenal. And after a season where a lot of people have wondered kind of what's going on with him, boom, it looks like he's found his stride. They have

all the makings of a Stanley Cup winning team. Let's see if they can get the job done. Interestingly enough, I saw in the Athletic there's a great monday column i don't know i feel bad not knowing the guy's name brown i believe it is and and he he talks about the bruins are crushing every other division in the league i think i don't even know if they've lost to any teams from any other division but they've struggled in the atlantic so's interesting that that now granted, those are most of your games, but that's, that's probably the best division in the league. So it makes sense,

but it's not as easy to say right away and he writes that they can hop right out and get out of the Atlantic through two rounds. So that'll be an amazing test, but just, it's, it's a fun team to watch and people think I'm a Bruins fan. I root for them, but I'm not really, but I don't really care in the end. What are they? I think you're a Bruins fan. I think you're a Bruins fan.

That's a good thing. Yeah, you got to be loyal to the home team. When I think of the Bruins, I'd love to see them win a Stanley Cup because I'd love to see Bergeron win one as the captain. But, no, I don't really care if they lose. I just what's cool is being the local team around here. They're so fun to watch. And the one thing about them is they go down to nothing.

It's like live bet auto city. It's just it is it is it's the best team in the league by a mile. And and we'll see how the second half goes. I don't think they're going to go 32-4-4 again. But they're going to be the president's trophy winner unless something drastic happens. And they're going to be the Stanley Cup favorites. So Bruins fans are getting a special run.

And it's all thanks to Biz picking them to miss the playoffs. Real quick before we move on from the Bees, McAvoy went on the Empty Netters podcast. And he actually told a story how uh brad marsh and uh is so superstitious he didn't want to change his gloves for the winter classic so he spray painted his black warrior gloves gold and he they didn't know if he was going to get fined he just went in was like i don't give a fuck i'm not changing my gloves and just spray painted him gold have you guys ever seen something like that i've seen guys not want to switch their

gear yeah but I've actually seen that makes sense because he plays with holes in his glove. Yeah, and I mean, they had, so just for reference, the Bruins had to wear gold gloves and he didn't want to switch up from his normal black gloves, so he spray painted them completely gold. So what did they spray paint?

Did they spray paint them black? Oh, I would guess so. Yeah, I guess he has a two-pair rotation that he just rotates between the two pairs and he spray painted in one of them gold and he's going to use the other black i use new gloves biz every like six games i love the new gloves i felt like i shot the puck a little harder but that's probably because i have yeah some guys would have like four pairs of gloves on rotation and they would have them on the heater so after like two or three shifts in the period they get'd get the new warm set. Yeah, I was switching every period a couple times.

Yeah, that's a bit extreme. That's fucking nuts. Absolute hero act by me. One more little quick hand gallop. Pasta, man. This guy's unbelievable. Four points in that game versus Anaheim. Hattrick and an assist.

He has goals in 25 of the 40 Bruins games and points in 34 of the 40 games, 32 goals, 26 assists for 58 points in 40 games. I mean, another MVP candidate. We're talking about third and scoring. I just love having him in Boston. Sign the fucking guy. He's already going to cost 11, 12 mil.

But even when you get to meet him, like we've had him on the show, boys, he's just such a gregarious, friendly guy. He's just very easy to root for, you know? Did I tell you guys what he said to me? I saw him at a steakhouse in Boston and I didn't see him. I was sitting at the bar with my wife and I get a pat on the back and I

turn around. He's like, oh, I see you spending the pink Whitney money. He's very fucking hilarious, dude. He made a great point to Keith Yandel about like how cool his skates were for the winter class. He's like, why can't we do this stuff all the time?

Like, I think he's super into, you know, having fun within the game. And you can just tell when he's on the ice. I actually also forgot that he won the Rock of Richard. I think he shared it one year with maybe Ovi. Ovi, I believe. Yeah, I forgot that that he had he has one of those. And I wouldn't be surprised if he gets it this year. Is that voice you do animal, or is it Tasmanian?

I think it's like my, that's my Ladislav Smead, another Czech beauty. He's going to come on the show at one point, one of the all-time funniest people I've ever met. So he used to yell at Tom Gilbert like, did you fuck a baby dolphin teeth? We got to give a shout out to Alaska Biz. Thursday in LA was the first time in NHL history that two Alaska

born goalies were in net as Phoenix Copley was in net for the Kings Jeremy Swayman from the Bruins Phoenix Cope is it Copley a copy I say copy because that's how it's saying boss what a run he's on North Pole he's from North Pole Alaska and Swayman's from Anchorage so nice little history made by it by a couple of guys like North Pole, Alaska, and Swayman's from Anchorage. So nice little history made by a couple guys. He's from the North Pole? The name of the city is North Pole, Alaska. Yeah, with a town.

Yeah. Jesus. What is he on? A 10-2 start right now with the Kings this year? Yes. And they were in desperate need of some goaltending because the rest of the team has been fine. And I mentioned earlier in the podcast,

I see them as a threat in the West. If they keep getting that type of goaltending, you got to think that they – like Kopitar and dowdy ain't getting any younger and you have a really really good top nine if byfield can in the second half get going offensively like think about all the like the 30 point guys they have right now like they just have a really well balanced offense and maybe a little bit of oomph on the fourth line. Maybe like a Nick Bonino or somebody who's been there and has that experience to help them maybe kill penalties or give them a little bit of momentum for those deeper lines. They got Fiala.

They got Arvidsson. They got Moore. They got Velarde. Kopitar. Deneau. Deneau is like maybe the now new most underrated player in the league fucking guy dude he just shuts people

down he adds the offense what a signing that was he doesn't have to be the one he doesn't have to be the number one there either right so it's just a very comforting thing with having Kopitar him and going as a number two so I don't know I'd like to see them try to make a deadline move that Quickie't know i'd like to see them try to make a deadline move

that quick he's not able to play to to where he used to and he's had a tough start to the season he makes six million bucks i just see him as more of a leader in that room so i don't see them moving on from him even though i believe it's the last year of his deal he's like you need him and i don't you know so it's also a lot of money and like you think about like what you could get for with that amount of dough to go out and add somebody at the deadline but i basically say count that whole count that as a dream but definitely a good team in the west they'll do something though blake blake's not gonna sit around i don't think he knows like you mentioned there's a couple the good thing is they do have these young guys coming up,

but they got to make a splash. Got to love stories like that with the goalie, Copley, Copley. They're just, you know, journeymen been around. Two guys get hurt, and then he steps up, and he's playing the best hockey of his life, and the team needs it most, man. There's so many amazing goalies in so many different leagues. It's like it's one of those positions.

Give a guy a chance and just watch somebody run with it. Yeah. Awesome. Uh, because you put this feather in your cap, the 2023 winter classic at Fenway was the most watched regular season game ever on cable, uh,

averaged 1.8 million viewers peaked with 2.1 million late in the day, uh, up 31% from last year. Uh, the game also set merch records, both at Fenway and online. Jerseys accounted for 72% of the

sales, and Sid and Pasta were the best-selling jerseys for each team. So get that hockey-related revenue up, up and up. They were only watching because Biz had his shirt halfway down. It's like he was going to a club. I had my belly button out for the for the

people at home uh probably had nothing to do with the fact that wano was there shaking people's hand did we go to the full breakdown of of how that happened he shook somebody's hand and the person's like well did we roll the clip actually yeah we already did this oh we already did that all right well we're getting we're getting deep we're getting in the weeds here folks we're getting to the end of the podcast, but a great broadcast. We had a blast and a very successful winter classic, and it's nice to see that they're bringing in that dough. Hopefully the bees get a little bit of that pasta jersey sale

because they're going to need it to pay them in free agency, bitch. Goddamn right. A couple more notes before we finish up shop here. The Rangers signed Jimmy Veazey to a two-year, $1.6 million extension. The 29-year-old vet has seven goals and seven assists in 40 games played this year, and he's one of the key penalty killers on that team, as well as a pretty well-liked guy in the locker room. They were busting his balls down there because I think he was doing a promo

or something with Dunkin' Donuts, and they said, what you ordering? He had an iced coffee and a plain bagel. And you're in New York City, the bagel capital of the world they were all giving him shit for like like a plain bagel from Dunks instead of like I love these great guy his father's a great person and I'm really happy to see him you know he bounced around a bit and he ends up back in New York where he's obviously most comfortable because that's where he signed out of college and he hasn't turned turned into a top two-line scorer, but he's made his way into the NHL as a great third, fourth-liner,

penalty killer, could chip in 10-15 goals. I'm really happy for him. Have you talked to him? Did he spend time trying to develop those other intangibles, knowing that he couldn't crack it as a top two-line guy? No criticism whatsoever. Just sometimes those guys go on. Sorry.

Sorry, buddy. He got bit by the golf bug. So that's what he does in the summer. No training going on. Yeah. I saw his dad the other night. We're always a pleasure to see big Jim. And I think I mentioned it before. It's kind of reminiscent of what Tommy Fitz did years ago.

And he played in the league. You know, he was a scorer everywhere. He wasn't. He had to adapt his game and kind of become a check and center and a penalty killer. And you're kind of seeing this a little later with another, I guess, townie related hockey,

hockey player. So pretty cool to see, make that, make that switch and, you know, still have his career going. He loves it down there. See Detroit plays forward,

Jacob Brown on waivers. He did clear waivers. Then he was assigned to grand Rapids. This was not long after he came out of the employee assistance program. He's got one more year left on his deal at a five and a quarter million dollar hit uh it seemed biz like a calculated risk by stevie why here i figured nobody would bite and if they did then he'd get some cap relief i know he's guy's still skilled but uh he basically he's down the mine is now and i'm not

sure what's going on i think somebody said he he took his the team information off his instagram so i don't know if this is an ugly situation or just one that's going to fix itself, what you take on it. No, I agree with you. Definitely strategic, probably a little bit right before the deadline. I don't think a lot of teams maybe expected him. And you don't have long to act on it. I believe you're on the waiver wire for, what, 24 hours?

Maybe 48 hours. So, yeah, a calculated risk and you know i could he'll probably be back in the league next year just needs to go down there and and i thought they were going to send him down on a conditioning stint to start and then maybe it switched to to the to the waivers right because originally it was conditioning stint wasn't it yeah he did that he did the conditioning stint and then the waivers was was a separate. So basically, maybe he's just not ready for the big club, or they don't want him there yet. He was highly touted.

He came over in that Manta trade, and he was fucking buzzing on offense. So, I mean, I would imagine he's still got a lot of game left, and I hope to see him back in the NHL soon. Yeah, absolutely. We mentioned Blake Wheeler getting hurt in the, quote, groin a few weeks back. uh we mentioned blake wheeler getting hurt in the quote groin a few weeks back well it turns out he actually ruptured a testicle and he finished the game uh i mean is taking off the plums the worst pain biz or like getting cut or punched like what is i told the story on the podcast before pittsburgh training camp i think it was gonchar he came and dumped it in over the red line and i

didn't wear a jock at that time. There was about an 18-month period where I went no jock playing pro hockey, and he got me square in the nuts. I couldn't finish the rest of the game. It didn't end up swelling up to this enormous size, but it sucks, buddy. I went through another enlarged nut a couple weeks ago, so my heart goes out to this guy. I feel terrible.

Hopefully he can get the swelling down, and he can be back in the game action in no time. I couldn't drive Ryder to school one morning because I rolled my ankle getting out of bed. This guy's playing an NHL game coming back from a fucking ruptured nut. That would happen in the NBA? There we go. I don't think I've ever even heard of anyone getting a ruptured nut. That just fucking gives you the willies.

I don't even know what that means. What, like the nut just exploded inside of his sack i don't know yeah i'm not sure i remember those songs when we were kids when you're flying over venus and a martian bites your penis it's a rupture did you have those songs wet fucking rupture songs i guess not all right song i think he's on mute. I'm not on mute. Silent laughter then. He just had nothing to say, buddy. Nothing to say.

I'm sure some of our listeners are familiar with the old rupture tunes. Anyways, we want to send. Biz, a ruptured testicle is a health emergency that happens when the membrane holding the testicle breaks. So it's not the testicle itself. It's just a membrane holding the testicle itself did they reattach it or they just let it be after the swelling goes down they can reattach it yes okay then they tell you there's no nut for six months would you go crazy oh yeah i went

fucking like a month the only good thing is you'd have like a monster wet dream and anyone hating on a wet dream. Oh, freebies, man. They're the ultimate freebies. Oh, my God. I can do nothing and wake up with a mess in your pants. All right. Moving right along. We want to send best wishes out to Pete Webber, the voice of the Predators.

He had to take a small hiatus for a medical procedure. They explained it on NHL.com. Very complex procedure involving his brain and kind of really wild if you read the details. But he's been with the team since the get-go. He's done both TV and radio. So get well, Pete. We're rooting for you. And meanwhile, Max Herz has done a great job filling in for him down in Nashville.

We also want to send best wishes to Army's Eric Huss. He was injured Thursday versus Sacred Heart when I took a skate inadvertently to the neck. He was cut pretty bad, but fortunately, Army's athletic trainer, Rachel Leahy, jumped into action immediately. I was able to staunch to bleed him. They got him to the hospital, into surgery. He's out now. He's stable. He's feeling good, walking around. And Leahy was given the player of the game championship belt from the team, which is a pretty cool gesture they did. And, you know, speaking of the trainers and these folks who help out athletes, good news from Buffalo

from the Bills Mafia. DeMar Hamlin doing much better. He's conscious. He was on Twitter. He left the hospital today. Head back to Buffalo. I hadn't caught that. That's awesome. And how about when he first came to the first thing he asked was who won the game? That's such

a football guy. Also, too, the Bills are going to give him his full know, all these bylaws and CBAs, they could have they were only required to pay him whatever the level is when he's on IR. But it's unbelievable to think a pro team doing something like this just out of kindness of their heart. But they're going to give him his full salary given the circumstances. And then the first play of the game, what you must have been watching. Oh, that was just that was straight out of a movie movie straight out of a movie to see that guy return the kick and then he returned another one to solid special teams by the patriots um i i don't know if we have the answer and i feel kind of okay asking this now that thank god the guy's okay

just the scariest moment i've ever seen on television. But can he play football again? Possibly. I know it's crazy to discuss, and I wouldn't even mention it if he wasn't, you know, if he hadn't left the hospital. But I hope I hope he can. But just just incredible. And these trainers are so amazing. Thank God, you know, they acted the way they did. And I'll never forget having that game on.

And when they came back from commercial, Joe Buck, they showed Josh Allen was crying and I think Diggs was shaking his head. You were just like, holy shit. Joe Buck said, we have no words. They went back to commercial. I was like, oh my God, is he alive? Just an amazing effort

by the training staff and what those people did to truly save a guy's life. Hopefully, he can play football again. I just, I know no one would discuss it and there'll be people, why even asking, but I'm wondering, hopefully he can. No, I think it highlighted some things definitely like after the game where I guess at one point they were thinking about resuming, like after like a five minute warmup.

And that's when like Josh Allen Burrows, the coach from the bills, they stepped in, they said, listen, like, wait, like, let's, let's even go even like less than that. Like when a guy would have like a nasty leg break, you wouldn't even want to return to action. I know. But to see something like that, it's just, Hey man, both teams are just completely out of it.

And then already you touched on the salary. Like that also was something that was highlighted, how cutthroat the NFL is and how it's not guaranteed salaries and how like these guys are treated like meat where it's like oh okay we'll cart them off and five minutes later we're back to action where it's like no no we're dealing with humans here and you're talking about the highest grossing sports league I believe maybe maybe not compared to soccer but at least in North America where it's like how are these guys not getting guaranteed fucking contracts it's fucking how are you paying your quarterback 45 million dollars and a guy can't get a guaranteed couple million bucks like yeah

it's it's it highlighted some pretty nasty things but to hear that he's all right and and and uh he he did this annual toy drive and i think he started it when he was in college this go fund me for the toy drive generated like four or 5 million bucks. At least the last that we look, it could be in the, in the double digits. So just the way that the community in Buffalo responds to their athletes and anytime they're in a, in a moment of need, it is like, it's like, it's, it gives you a goosebumps. So the whole city of Buffalo, and I guess everybody

else too who who helped like donate and and uh and elevate whatever he was doing good beforehand very very cool to see and uh glad to hear he's all right yeah absolutely and what i do i wouldn't be surprised at all if he plays again i mean you think of teddy bruski had a stroke back back on the day other guys if it's similar injuries i I mean, if the doctor OKs them, then, you know, it definitely would be back out there. But the NFL Network had a doctor on and the doctor just said it's entirely too soon to have that conversation. So the question has been asked. Don't worry.

All right. Well, guys, great show. Hopefully everybody out there enjoyed it. We'll be back next week in action. Any final thoughts? Chicklets game notes coming on Thursday. We also have a vlog recapping the whole Boston

trip. RA, we got to see RA his high school. He shows you around Boston. You meet some of his friends. So that's an awesome vlog. You can find that on our YouTube channel coming Wednesday at 6 p.m. Love all of you. Thanks for listening. Peace. Have a great one.