Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 430: Featuring Dylan Strome + Fake GM Joe

Episode Date: February 28, 2023

On Episode 430 of Spittin’ Chiclets, the guys are joined by Dylan Strome and Fake GM Joe. Stromer joined (01:18:27 - 01:54:56) for the 2nd time, to discuss his career, the trade to Chicago, signing in Washington and tons more. But first, the guys open with their typical therapy session. The guys also dive into all the recent NHL news, including the huge Timo Meier-New Jersey trade. The boys also break down the power-house eastern conference and all the moves the teams are making. The guys wrap up (02:23:56 - 03:03:37) with an interview with the crazy fan we described on Episode 429, who came to our Florida meet and greet and pretended to work for us.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 430 of Spittin' Chicklets, presented by Pink Whitney, from our friends at New Amsterdam Vodka here in the Barstool Sports Podcast family. Ahoy hoy everyone, hope you're all doing great out there. The trade market has heated up, the wild card race in the east is crazy, and we had a goalie goal this week. We'll get to all that shit in a little bit, but of course, we got to say hi to the

fellas first. Biz Nasty, let's go to you first. What's up, my buddy? Guys, Hawk and Lugz, too. There's a lot going on in the league right now. I'm excited. I don't even really want to talk about my personal life much, although I do have a pretty insane story, and I'm a little nervous to share it. I teamed up with Pasha first. You guys will

love this one. You guys might think I'm a complete fucking lunatic for the way I handle this. That's old news. Okay. Well, to judge my social skills on this one, so I go to do my gateway loop hike, as I normally do. I go hiking as a de-stressor.

I go to work on my breathing, calm myself down, and just like an overall workout. I do certain work on my breathing, calm myself down. And just like an overall workout, I do certain paces. Sometimes I run at the start, but it's ultimately to get my mind right. So it's been a pretty crazy couple of weeks, a lot of travel, a lot of doing this, a lot of doing that. So I get to the hike and I got to take a leak. I got my water bottle and it's called the gateway loop. I think I might've already mentioned that it's about five miles. Um, it was Saturday, so a little bit busy. Um, so when I leave the car, like automatically I'm in my head going through my workout and how I

want to approach it, whether I want to run the first little bit, uh, this nasal breathing I've been starting to do, I have a horrible nose, eventually going to get the Ryan Kessler, uh, surgery that he got to help his sleeping. But the nasal breathing definitely helps me as far as like getting my cardiovascular up and it helps me sleep at night. So going to take my piss before the hike, I get in there, there's a guy on the right urinal, there's three urinals. So I whip out my horn, start the hose. This guy lets like the biggest fart go.

I'm so in my head that I'm just thinking about my workout still dialed in. Another guy walks in on the left. The guy on the right is still there pissing. I don't know if he had stage fright, whatever it may be. Keep in mind, he's the one who ripped ass. So still in my own head, I finished my piss and I start walk, grab my water bottle off where the sink was and start walking out i forgot to wash my hands this guy who ripped that fart goes dude wash your fucking hands so just as i came in dude bro fuck just as it just as it

clicked in i'm like oh fuck and i start washing my hands and he walks up but when i turn back around the corner i looked over to be like like first of all who the fuck would have like said something like that and he's like he gives me like the look around like starts shaking his head while he's still to piss then he walks up i'm washing my hands and i look at him and i say are you out of your fucking mind and he's like what that's disgusting wash your hands i said are you out of your fucking mind and then he's like what you turn around and wash your hands i'm like buddy i'm about to go on a five mile hike in the desert snotting all over myself and you're fucking worried about me washing my hands i ain't going out there to dab guys up i'm going out there to snot on myself and get my

fucking workout in and then so he kind of kept holding his position on it bro i i'm washing my hands flicking water in his face saying i i say hoping he does something how did you not bring up the fart he just dropped in your mouth bro i was i was on my heels so much and i i i i wanted to knock this guy's teeth out because Because I just, mind your own fucking business. That's not what you need pre-workout, right? That's funny. I was thinking about it for half the hike, so I'm already rattled. I get out there.

The guy who came in to the left was a biker guy, so he does the path with the bike. And he was waiting outside the door. He didn't wash his hands either. He just got the fuck out of the bathroom because we were both at the sinks going at it and finally i walked out he's like oh he goes i thought somebody was gonna come out sideways and the way these places are built by these hikes like you could hear everything and there's like families around like looking at us when we walk out of the bathroom i'm ready to kill this guy and the the biker guy had my back where he was like what the fuck is wrong with that guy and of course just a an absolute

karen type character he has his family with him so i i cooler heads prevail i thought i said my piece by basically challenging him i said on the way out of the bathroom i'm like you're trying to shame me he's like for not washing my hands he's like i wasn't trying to shame you i'm like bro i turn around the corner and you're scoffing at me shaking your head because i didn't wash my hands before a five mile hike where i'm about to grind my cock off. Like, fuck you, you piece of shit. So sure enough, I figured, hey, I might see him as I come around because it's a loop. I pat myself on the back for this one.

His kid says, hey, mister. As I'm walking by him, I didn't say a word. Buddy, the old man says, don't talk to him. And I wanted to teach him a lesson and pull his jersey overhead and just feed him some uppercuts because I feel like people get way too comfortable trying to tell strangers what to do in public. What was his height and weight biz? Not that it matters because there's UFC killers who are little.

It doesn't really matter, I guess. If you're a lunatic, you can beat up anyone. But what did he look like? 5'10", chunkster, love handles, going out of style. That's a dummy for you. The old muffin top all around him. I probably could have done three full loops of this thing until he did one because I basically met him at the start along the other side.

So I just sometimes like i just feel like people just need to shut the fuck up and stay at other people's business what the fuck is he here for washing hands like oh does it make any sense i'm i'm actually shocked that i didn't knock this guy's teeth out so i'm glad i'm here i'm glad i didn't and for those of you who would have knocked his teeth out maybe try a little little bit more hiking, a little bit more nasal breathing. Biz, when you say bikers, you mean like Hells Angels or like Greg LeMond? No, they do the,

they put their mountain bikes on and they go around because it's a big rock path and you can go deeper. You can go deeper into the desert, but I, um, cooler heads prevailed. Oh, that's good. Take a couple deep breaths, flick some water in the guy's face. And I think that I got my point across.

If I'm taking a smash, I'm washing my hands every time. If I'm taking a piss, rarely, if ever, come at me if you want. I don't give a fuck. If it's a gross bathroom and it's one of those ones

you actually have to flush on your own, I'm washing. But if I'm just touching my horn, unless there's piss all over my hand, which I an adult so i probably like shouldn't be peeing on myself i'm walking right out of that bathroom and and and if somebody said something to me like that like i'd be the guy to go at him and then get beat up like he's a lefty and pops my eyes shut don't be telling me to wash my hands seriously i must have said are you out of your fucking mind 40 times and at the point where by the end of it because he kept trying to push his point i was yelling

oh yeah i was in his face saying are you out of your fucking mind gee can you not picture this how he gets you know how he gets angrier and angrier i could totally see this entire scenario yeah he just he gets those killer eyes. The wires cross. As Tony Soprano calls them, Manson lamps. Like fucking Charles Manson. Okay, I like that. Anyway, that's all I had really going

on this weekend. Had a relaxing hike. Just a nice relaxing hike. Murdered a family. Next up, let's go to the Whit Dog, Ryan Whitney. That's a foreign bedroom I see behind you. Where are you this weekend, this week? Yeah, Mom, I'm at my parents'.

They bought a nice condo in Estero last year, which is about 25, 30 minutes north of Naples, I think, and it's beautiful. It's on a golf course. There's tennis. There's pickleball. It's a great spot. You know, Q-tips everywhere.

If you know a Q-tip's an old person with white hair so it's it's constantly just you know they're just walking all over the place but my parents seem to love it came to visit them um after this long trip which was fort lauderdale and then in clearwater clearwater beach we stayed at this sand pearl resort it was phenomenal what a beautiful beach clearwater holy. Holy shit. It's like California, so wide. They got very lucky that that hurricane ended up missing Tampa and that area. It could have washed away the entire strip, I guess, but it was a lot of fun. Played in that golf tournament, played like shit, shocker. Hit the wrong ball in the first round. I was playing with this guy. He's the man. A big time mid-amateur golfer. His name's Tug. His name's Tug, boys. I'm like, Tuggy. We were playing a one with a blue dot.

And I was like, oh, whatever. It'll be fine. I have a line over the putting stripe. He didn't. He actually tells me a couple holes in. He was in the lead of this tournament a few years back, and he hit the wrong ball. And the other guy hit his ball. So they both got two shots penalties. And I'm just laughing. I'm like, whatever no big deal well we're both short right of the first hole it was our 11th hole or 12th hole and he just walked up to a ball and he's like he shook his head no no it's you so I went up and now mind you I'm totally admitting this is 100% my fault and like something like this happens once and I'll never it'll never happen again I'll never make this mistake again in like competition well I didn't really look I just kind of trusted him and he told he felt horrible dude but I putted it up to about an inch and I was just going to knock it in and he's like

oh my god I'm like what he's like dude that my ball. So he didn't even get a fucking penalty. He didn't even get a two-shot penalty. So I shot 80, then 76. I'm just so average at golf. I have a mental block. Before we get to the hockey, man. I'm not even going to get into it. But this tournament's incredible. I've mentioned before, thank you so much to the Gasparilla Tournament Committee.

It's just a blast. It's so fun to play in. There's fans out there. There's drink tents. It's just scoreboards. Like I mentioned, it was a blast. I wish I played better, but it was still really fun. And then we drove down here and I'm out of here Wednesday. So it's been a long two weeks. I'm kind of really ready to get home. One of those situations where vacation's awesome, but you're just kind of like, oh, I just want to go back into my routine. Unfortunately, I'm going back to a house that's being demolished basically right now. So that'll be fun. But still, it'll be nice to get back. There's a huge snowstorm, I guess,

coming to Boston tonight and Tuesday. So I'm going to kind of miss that. I'll get home with snow on the ground, which I don't mind. And other than that, oh, something funny happened. So this resort had, that's why I thought of Sand Pearl. So had i don't know i guess it's normal but they had like a mermaid show up to the pool for the kids so this girl's like swimming around like mermaid like she doesn't have feet dude she's got an ra memories back of hedonism fucking darlena he was pounding a mermaid. A merman. Merman. Just don't turn into a fish. Just don't turn into a fish. So, like, whatever, she's talking to the kids.

I think she read a story. She's swimming around. Kind of bizarre, but I guess, whatever, the kids were into it. Girls seemed to be into it. Weird. Weird. Like, pink hair, kind of weird. But she's sitting there, and I'm, like, kind of nearby, and I can sitting there and i'm like kind of nearby and i

can hear and the kid's like where are you from this little kid wise ass too i could tell he was a wise ass i love them she's like atlantis he's like dollar store version of atlantis he must have been seven years old i started laughing oh shit so that cracked me up but it was fun because um like i said the beach was awesome great food great room service which is something that is like big time underrated i guess when you talk about hotels i ordered a new york strip with like roasted veg roasted potatoes and a vegetable medley and i'm like i don't know you know like just room service and steak this thing was unbelievable this steak is i ordered it again the next night i'm like i don don't know, you know, like just room service and steak. This thing was unbelievable.

This steak, I ordered it again the next night. I'm like, I don't want to go to dinner because I got this room service. So it was phenomenal. And other than that, oh, and then my parents gave me this. One of the most bizarre gifts of all time, but it's pretty funny, I guess. I could tell it was a painting or a picture. I was like, oh, probably a nice one of the beach or something. Nope.

Tim Jackman? Oh. Oh, what Jackman? Oh. Oh, what? That is weird. It's my face on Jon Snow. Oh my God. I still don't really know where they got this idea, but I don't know where this is going in the house. If I hang this up in the house, I may get some divorce papers just handed right over right in my face. But still, I guess Ryan stands for little king and they took that as king of the north i'm king of nothing i'll tell you that king of three putting but my what my teeth look great in this thing look at this they do they do look good yeah they should have i'm just gonna leave this here guys for the whole pod and talk to you

just punch a hole in it and talk through the hole in the painting. So your wife has already seen that then. I was going to say if she hadn't seen it, maybe put it above your bed for when she gets home and surprise her. Oh, you can't see the bottom?

She's down there. She's actually rubbing my feet in the painting. It's pretty cool. So much respect to her. No, she's definitely filing. Oh, yeah, she's done. But no, more than anything, guys,

I cannot get over the NHL right now. I know we constantly talk about just getting to the playoffs and this being kind of the grind type of the season. I would say we're a little bit past the grind because now it's trade deadline, then it's sprint to the finish, an amazing race in the East. And what the hell is going on in the West?

Is somebody going to do anything? We got a couple little rumblings here and there, my other thing is is don waddell asleep did don waddell like is uh the carolina hurricanes and their fans like what is going on so we can share is a time share with lou and he's in the same spot that he was this summer they're on the ultra russian ambient and don waddell hasn't picked up his phone in two weeks so the hurricanes Hurricanes, Jesus Christ, guys, you get a chance to win the Stanley Cup. You haven't done jack shit. No, he's actually in that dark room that Aaron Rodgers was in. He's going to clear his head.

He did a full week, no self-service, no nothing. He's clearing his mind, figuring out what the right move is for the deadline. Only juggernaut team in the East really not to do anything. They better do something. We can get into Pittsburgh later, but I was really referring to the top six. And I know we still got to throw it to G and talk to RA here. Whit, I thought you were going to go through every single stroke that you had at the Gasparilla Golf Tournament before we got into the hockey. I'll just leave it like this was the whole week. The first hole, I striped one down the middle. it like this was the whole week. The first hole, I striped one down the middle. I had 105 yards in.

The pin is back right. It is four paces. You get the sheet. It's four paces from the right, which then drops down. It's a really hard up and down. There's 40 feet of green left to the pin. I miss it to the right. I don't get up and down. I did that like seven times to the point where I was aiming left of the green, knowing my club has just is so late right now that I was blocking everything and still continue to miss it to the right. So just it's like dumb, dumb, dumb mistakes, but I'm not even mentally making the mistake because I'm aiming to the fat part of the green so if i do miss it left i can get up and down i'm still missing right to right pins it's just a disgrace i don't want to get up i don't want to get mad i don't want to get upset and i want to talk hockey so i feel like the first 20 minutes of the podcast has turned into our therapy sessions seriously just let out all these uh these panic attacks and these crazy scenarios uh i made one birdie in 36 holes but it's one fucking birdie dude what's bugging you what's happened with you buddy i mean a lot's bugging me right now to be honest with you things have been pretty crazy for me well first off quick shout out to my dad happy 61st birthday

guy's an absolute legend love my dad a lot but number two my my apartment right now is an absolute disaster so i'm moving to hoboken this week. So moving for the ninth time in 10 years. But now you're a homeowner. I am a homeowner. Shutout Cross Country Mortgage. Congratulations, buddy. Congratulations. Thanks, guys.

Thanks, guys. It doesn't happen without you, and it doesn't happen without the Chicklets fans coming to live shows, buying merch. So I love the Chicklets fans. But like I said, my apartment is like an absolute, it looks like a hurricane went off in here. The only thing fully set up still is my desk. I'm like, we're not taking it down until I do game notes on Wednesday. So yeah, life is pretty

crazy for me. I can't afford to pay rent in this city anymore. So I looked across the river, hit up our friends at Cross Country Mortgage and decided to buy a little apartment in Hoboken. Mortgage is cheaper than rent now. apartment in Hoboken. Mortgage is cheaper than rent now, so I'm excited. He's bunking up with Jack Hughes. They're going to live together. Timo Meyer, I got an extra room for you, bud. Hoboken, Frank Sinatra's hometown, right? Gee, that's where he's from, right? Yeah, and maybe potentially RA, the new home for Timo Meyer, New Devils, New Devils trade. Segway City. Gee, going to jump right into it. By the way, Whit, how good is Gasparilla?

Did you go to any of the parties around Tampa? No, so I think that's actually a couple weeks prior. Oh, okay. All right, yeah. I think the actual Gasparilla celebration weekend is before, so this is just still called the tourney. Maybe it's kind of all of February is considered that time in Tampa, but no, I didn't get to experience the real festivities.

It's a pirate party and i would say that it's a classier version of uh mardi gras yeah i think anything is classier than mardi gras but yeah i think that's a pretty good analogy even in florida holy shit uh biz i i knew you would want to check in i i i did the opposite of a i know you micro dose on occasion like you know with the mental health. Yeah. Yeah. I impromptu had a macro dose the other night.

I forgot I had a couple of boom, boom stashed in my drawer somewhere. And I had a good time the other night, man. I was, I was feeling it. You might say. It's amazing sometimes how a big macro dose could just completely change your mindset. You go get fucked up. You have a lot of laughs one night. On the other hand, Hey, I'm not recommending everybody try it. I would, I would consult a professional. I've had a buddy who took a macro dose one time and it fucked them up for

like a year where he ended up going into a depression and couldn't figure it out where, where I believe he believes anyway, if I'm talking to doctors that he consulted with was it threw off his body's chemistry and his brain's chemistry so he ended up using other drugs in order to get out of that depression oh no no christ wit wit i know you're laughing buddy i know you're but uh what are what are some of the drugs that uh what that he was talking about that he used heroin no no like what mdma benzos or something like so mdma is something that you can use what's the other one where it feels like you have the moon boots on it's also oh ketamine it's another another

process where hey i've actually tried ketamine before like partying it is a nice time you can't take too much of it though because it'll really fuck you up you just got to take like these little tootskies and then you're good for about an hour and for all you kids listening out there that's chicklets if you get real fucked up on one drug do another one you'll be back to perfect in no time back to normal

what did you do on it it was kind of late at night very spur of the moment but you know I had the urge I watched some nature shit on Netflix like stuff with like the monkeys and the birds. I was like, holy shit. And then I kicked back to recliner. Dude, I never realized how like trippy Octung Baby, the U2 album is. I put that on and man, I was feeling it, seeing all kinds of stuff.

It was a good time. I had a little blast by myself. What's it called? You know, the U2 album, Octung Baby from what, 92? The old album. I didn't realize. What what 90 92 the old album i didn't know that was the name of it i didn't realize there's well i don't know if it really has any psychedelia in it but i certainly was feeling it that night but yeah man it's good to flush the brain out a little bit and uh you know fucking why not when in rome why not exactly i think yans texted me one

uh one of those nights i don't know if it was night that you were on shrooms he goes are you watching ra's q and j session right now on instagram live i delete my instagram app quite a bit now he it's it i've tuned into a couple of them ra you just rifle off on the comments and some of the people telling you to clean your room you're like i go fuck your mother hey i think the best part is i always watch them too i'll tune in and and you always see Keith Yandel 3 is joined. You know Yand watches like every single one of them. But it's funny because the thing, it's like so fast. I don't even know who's on because, you know, I'm not.

How many people are tuned into that already? When I first get on with it, it probably gets up to maybe like 300. Of course, I'm doing it like two in the morning usually. And then it kind of slowly goes down and goes down. And I'm like, all right, once we go into 30 i'm gonna stop but that's just him and keith doing an instagram live with him he's just staying on his phone no it's fun what the fuck are you doing out here in the living room you're waking up the kids you know on instagram people seem to dig it it's you know a little fun fun activity to do on the

side plus you know a little What do you call it rat-a-tat quick answering It's a spit and chiclets rabbit hole man It's one of the extended pieces of entertainment We offer it doesn't matter It's like a little speakeasy society The Q&J club on R.A.'s Instagram That's a perfect way to put it

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Get involved with New Amsterdam's Pink Whitney. Thank you so much for enjoying it. Thank you so much for trying it. And thank you so much for just being a part of the Pink Whitney family. So New Amsterdam, our presenting sponsor, thanks to them, and thanks to you, Pink Whitney, the Big Whitney. We do talk hockey on the show, so we should probably get to that. Also, we do have two guests. We have Dylan Strom of the Washington Capitals. We're going to talk to him in a little bit. And we also have GM Joe, GM in quotes,

the guy who crashed our potty down in Fort Lauderdale. We brought him in for a job interview and to figure out what the hell he was doing down there. We'll get to that a little bit later, but first, Friday is the trade deadline. The market heated up quite a bit over the weekend. One potential trade we've been hearing about for a long time finally went down. The Devils acquired Timo Maier from San Jose in a trade involving nine players and four draft picks. The 26-year-old Maier is in the last year of a four-year $24 million contract. He will be a restricted free agent this summer. He's got 52 points in 57 games so far. They also got

defenseman Scott Harrington, a trio of prospects, in a fifth rounder in 24. San Jose kept half of the salary. They ended up with forwards Fabian Zetterlund, Andreas Janssen, a pair of Russian defenseman prospects, and a bunch of picks. But Meyer, of course, is the centerpiece of this whole deal. Huge addition for the Devils. Biz, I'll go to you first. Does New Jersey need to make other moves to contend or is this going to be it for them or what? Well, I don't know if they're done quite yet. I guess the only other thing I could maybe recommend is another defenseman. I don't think they're going to get to upgrade a net although i mean talking to posh he's pretty much brainwashed me he thinks they're all set to take on the rangers

with this move uh the only thing that scares me is the fact that they weren't able to lock him into a contract given that the hall that san jose got back uh but everybody on on new jersey's side seems confident they're going to be able to lock them in. I don't know what number he ends up getting at. From Pasha's standpoint, some of you people are like, who the fuck is Pasha? He's the biggest jock sniffer Devils fans. Deranged. Deranged, one of our videographers.

He's been on Twitter all day, at the Rangers. So he is chopping at the bit to get them in the first round, but we're not sure how that division is going to end up playing out. But overall, Fitz, he went out and did exactly what he needed to do in order to solidify that lineup going into playoffs to give that young group a chance to take that next step. I like the aggressive move.

I think Timo Meier, he's a point-of-game player, maybe even a little bit above a point-of-game player. He wins battles. He's good point of game player, maybe even a little bit above a point of game player. Wins battles. He's good on the forecheck. He can make plays as well as put the puck in the net. His numbers have been consistent over the last couple of years. So him coming over, I don't really have any, I guess, worries about him dropping off. And I think he's going to immediately impact that lineup. And much like the Rangers, there's enough attention going around up front as far as guys having to carry the load, especially ones with those young, fresh legs. I think that this is a very dangerous team. And if I look at them playing the Rangers in the first

round and that plays itself out, I would probably put the Rangers just based on goaltending at a 52% advantage. Very, very slight just because of goaltending. I think that their back end is okay and fine. I would like to see them potentially add something else besides that. But probably the biggest name left on the board, knowing that Patrick Kane's going to end up going to the Rangers. So all credits due to Fitzy for turning this thing around. I thought that they were going to dip after that amazing start.

Even after they were dealing with some of those injuries, they were right back to their winning ways. They've been consistent as of late, and adding a guy like that is exactly what they needed to do. So, Whit, I don't have really much else than that. I think that everybody expected him to go to the New Jersey Devils. It seems as if though maybe Carolina was in it to a certain point, and we're going to get to them later, but they had enough.

And to get out of this without having to give up Mercer or the sixth overall pick in Holtz, I think is a massive, massive win. The one kid, I can't even say his last name, R.A., the big defenseman, that seems to be the – How do you say it? Nemec. No, there was another kid. Maybe it was the longer name.

Oh, yeah, the Shadur or something. Yeah, I can't say the name. I could say Nemec for fuck's sakes. Come on, give me some credit here, G. But that seems to be maybe the only guy that people seem to think he's going to be a solid NHL-er at some point that they were maybe a little bit concerned about getting away with. But the other, Zetterling, is that how you say his last name? Zetterland.

He's a solid physical player. I mean, but that's somebody at this point you're willing to part with. Yeah, you could definitely part with. Built like a cigarette machine. There was nothing that stood out about his game where I'm like, ah, man, they're really going to miss

that guy in the lineup. They got the guy they needed, and now we are headed for some absolute juggernaut series in the East. This is, not to be hyperbolic about this situation, this is the strongest

that I believe a conference has ever been going into playoffs. At least it's top six. And if fucking Pittsburgh ends up making a move and that core group can get things going, look out, man. The East is absolute insanity. I described it as a cage match, hell in the cell type atmosphere. It's going to be lunacy.

I love this move. I cannot wait for the first round to start. But Meyer, he's a game breaker, dude. And he's not just great around the net. He's, he's awesome because he's physical too. He's a big guy. He's hard to move off the puck. He goes and gets the puck back. He's constantly in the offensive zone. And now the thing is with New Jersey, it's like, all right, say he ends up playing with his fellow Swiss countrymen in Heashier, right? It's always Heashier and Meyer on the ice, and then it's Hughes and Bratt.

So now all of a sudden you have the two star centers, and Hughes is just at another level, but Heashier's a hell of a player, the captain of the team, the guy's great at both ends of the ice. But one of those guys was always without Bratt, right? It was one of the centers had Bratt, and then the other center was kind of just working on his own. now it's like at all times not at all times when the third and fourth liner on the ice you know what I mean but those two top lines it's an elite center and an elite winger so it just gives them the combo of two different lines of having four different game breakers on the ice

and Meyer's just so good because of how physical he is I think he fits in perfectly he could skate well with jersey he's exactly what they needed And I think they wanted to do something in the summer, but they were able to just wait it out, wait it out. And like Biz said, everyone kind of the entire time figured he'd be going to Jersey and they ended up getting the deal done. So great job by Fitzy. But go look at the goal Meyer scored against Anaheim this year. He falls down, gets back up on the rush, snipes one. He's just, he's an awesome player and he's young. And yeah, the qualifying offer is 10 million. Hopefully they can get him locked up long-term. And obviously the cap hit they're hoping isn't 10 million per season. I don't know if he's

necessarily worth that, but in terms of this season and what they need to do and what they're trying to do with what every other team is loading up with in that conference, that's a hell of a move that gives them a legit chance to go on a little bit of a run. I'm going to be on the Rangers in that series, mainly because it's just Sterkin. I can't believe I'm going to be with Avery Zaretsky in terms of rooting for the Rangers, but let's not sleep on the fact that Carolina hasn't done anything. I think they'll do something, but Jersey's only three points back of that. So who knows what Meyer does when he comes in, continues to light it up. I mean, he's been great this year for San Jose. Now he goes to a legit, really good team. I can only imagine his numbers are even better. His possession numbers will be even better. And playing against

him is difficult. It's not just the size and the speed. It's how physical he is and how he's willing to take a hit to make a play and also be pretty good on the other side of the puck in the defensive zone. So an awesome deal and an awesome player that's now a devil. I know we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves because at this point to the home stretch, getting that first seed where you get to play a wild card as opposed to going against whoever the top three in that division are is going to be huge. So I'd imagine you see all three of these teams pressing hard to get that one spot. And as you mentioned, man, the other two teams have made their deals. And I don't know what Donnie Waddell's doing. I tweeted it out. Somebody get the guy a bump.

The party started here. You got to get going. And sometimes people forget, like, Palat's been injured a lot of the year or was out for a big majority of the first half. That's a huge add with that experience. And I feel like as well as Holla did with puck retrievals and being a guy who could fit in the top six early, I don't think that that was sustainable.

So he gets to get bumped down and line match more appropriately in the bottom six. So they're top six, completely loaded. I love that fourth line and the chemistry that they have going. Miles Wood's a guy that can also provide that physicality. And I think you touched on it when you were describing Timo Meier, where he doesn't shy away from the physical play. And if there was one complaint I would have had in New Jersey about going into playoffs, was maybe that they were a bit soft. So hopefully they're not going to get pushed around the way

that people expected, and they put up a better fight if in fact they do place off the Rangers. The reason, I don't know how confident Rangers fans are in their overall top four compared to against New York, but with the way that Marino has came over from his Pittsburgh days where last year might have been a bit of an off year, and him in graves, I just look at New York, if healthy on the back end, I just look at New York, if healthy on the back end, Keandre Miller, Lindgren, Fox, and Trouba as a better top four than what they got. So that's just my opinion.

You guys may disagree, and then obviously the Mikola pickup as that fifth, sixth type guy with some big size back there, I just lean towards them goaltending and defense-wise. And when you look up front, I mean, we'll get to that in a little bit. I also think that in granted, like I said, there's a chance that they don't play each other in the first round. But if it does happen for me,

not only is it the goaltending, it's the fact that the Rangers, they went to the conference final last year. They've kind of been there. They're adding Patrick Kane at some point. The Devils, it's one of those things. You have these struggles. Then you get in the first year. They've kind of been there. They're adding Patrick Kane at some point. The Devils, it's one of those things. You have these struggles. Then you get in the first year. There's not a ton expected. You haven't been in the playoffs. All these guys, they don't really know the level it takes where you've got to up your game. The Rangers last year have been through it. Then adding

a three-time legendary cup winner like Kane. For me, I think the Rangers in that series are if they do play, it'll be minus 150. That much? Yeah. Oh, okay. I do.

Wow. All righty. Yeah, probably. All right, no? Yeah, I'd say about that. I mean, just on the goaltending alone, you've got to give the edge to Shuster. I know he's been struggling lately, but he'll be fine once the playoffs roll around. But it is cool.

It's cool for the Devils fans, and it's like, it's been a long road. And all of a sudden this year that the expectations were higher, but they've completely exceeded even their own fans and what they thought they could do. So then to go out and get a game breaker, you feel happy for a fan base who had all that success in the nineties and early two thousands. And it's been a tough go lately. And now it's like, all right, not only are we in the mix here, but we're adding this guy. It's a cool thing for a fan base to get to experience that sort of excitement. And we've alluded to it six times, but if this trade doesn't go down with Kane,

talk about the biggest blue ball cocktease special in the history of the National Hockey League. Avery's going to be cruising around with a wheelbarrow carrying his balls if that trade doesn't go through. The whole playoff run. It's going to happen. It's going to happen. It's going to happen. It's happening today, Tuesday. I know when it drops.

If it hasn't by the time the show is, it's going to happen on Sunday. So I keep, you know, Elliot Friedman, he's the guy. Marek's awesome. The 32 Thoughts and all the other insiders, they're kind of saying Wednesday. But in terms of, like, what's happening, I don't feel for Chicago, but you got to understand this is exactly what happened with Claude Giroux last year when Colorado really wanted him. He said, I'm going to Florida or I'm not going anywhere. And Patrick Kane has made it clear,

I'm going to the Rangers. So it really kind of puts a bind in terms of what the Blackhawks can get back, which I think is going to be unfortunately not that much in terms of like a superstar Hall of Famer getting traded. Blackhawk fans are going to be like what the fuck's going on but when you have a team and you you're able to kind of hold them hostage in a sense of like this is where i'm going they really have nothing they could do besides get whatever the rangers are willing to give up because it's either lose them for nothing or get some sort of return even though it may be really weak so it it's a position that patrick kane has afforded himself biz but still it makes it tough on the blackhawks yeah okay i think you meant keep them for nothing correct sorry sorry yeah we have a loop yeah keep them

and then lose them at at ufa this summer yeah okay well all right do you want to tee it up you basically broke this trade you said 99 this is happening i mean do you want to tee it up? You basically broke this trade. You said 99% this is happening. I mean, you refused to take association with the rumor boys last podcast, and you stuck to your big J journalism. He was on shrooms, though. No, not that time. You know, I love you boys, but, you know, my training was, I was the newspaper nerd at school.

I still have that in me. And, no, I don't fake it. I mean, I'm a fucking weirdo. I got a lot of quirks, but I don't make stuff up. I don't lie, especially something like that. I, source did tell me

it's 99% done. Talked to him today, said it's happening tomorrow. It's in the can and it's going to go down tomorrow. Well, today, Tuesday, so. Yeah, it's going to, by the close of business Tuesday,

Patrick Kane should be a Ranger. That's, I don't think I broke it. I know it's all, everyone knew what was happening, but I, you know, I wouldn't fucking say I could have done it nine million times with other trades that ain't my story let's start with you what type of impact do you see Patrick Kane making on Broadway uh I mean fuck I don't know if he's enough to put him over the top

but I mean he's Patrick Kane man I know he's a little bit older hip bother him but that's a huge pickup I mean I don't know where they're going to slot him in, presumably, with the, what's his name, the bread man there, Panarin, but that's a huge pickup for them. Plus with Tarasenko, still, though, I don't know, man. I don't know that that's enough because everything gets tighter in the playoffs. Defense gets better. And I know I just said Shostakovich will be better in the playoffs,

but, you know, I don't know if Rangers fans are shitting their pants a little about his play lately, but, yeah, I don't know. They don't scare me even if they get Kane, I guess. Wow. They don't scare you at all. Man, I think they got a hell of a hockey team. Now, I will say, in talking to a couple fans, I don't necessarily think right now the thought on Tarasenko so far

has been anything that special. I don't know how well he's actually played since he came over. They had a huge win yesterday against LA, or Sunday, excuse me. But Kane is such a difference maker. And the fact that he had the slow start and he was battling the hip injury, and he made it clear to people, like, this hip is not as bad as everyone's making it sound to be. But, all right, now I really got to turn it on.

I want to get traded. I want to figure it out. Dude, he's got 10 points in his last four games. He's on a run right now where you got to think he's feeling healthy. He's excited to get out of town. I know that sounds crazy. It's probably super emotional whenever this does go down, but you get Patrick Kane in MSG. And I'll say, I've said it before, I love playing in Montreal. There is nothing like the buzz of MSG. It's the pregame tunes. It's the lights. It's walking around Broadway and Manhattan and just showing up to the arena with all the action and all the atmosphere. And I think he's going to go there and light it up.

I think he's going to be unbelievable. And I think the Rangers could win the Eastern Conference, no problem. And that's coming from me. I think that there might be still a debate on who is the best american born player of all time i think that patrick kane's a sick puppy and he wants to be at the top of that i think that this is this is going to be his mona lisa moment where he's going to go over and he's going to have sheer dominance come playoff time and i'm scared for it obviously with you know the littleift that we have going.

I refused to ask him a question the other night, by the way, when we were at TNT. I'm staying firm on the clown and him coming against the Rueber boys. R.A., that wasn't a shot at you. That was a shot at us three. I know that you're really not in that category. But it's almost like how they used to say about Jordan, like late in his career during regular season games,

he'd have to find a way to get himself going. It's almost like he was nixing the trade then Tarasenko got picked up where he was basically in control of it all but then yet got pissed off and it's just like he he needed something to motivate him like the kid like the 11 year old kid in the crowd maybe throwing a chirp at him where MJ's like all right motherfucker I'm gonna put up 50 tonight in Utah you You know, with the guy with the Carl Malone jersey looking at him like, yeah, yeah, motherfucker, I'm going to leg your ass up. And I feel like he, that's what we've seen over the last, last four or five games of him working himself up. Let's not, let's not kid ourselves.

The first 40 games of the season, he looked completely disinterested in Chicago. There were even games as the trade deadline was coming to where not back checking, just lazy stick checks, where now all of a sudden he's leading that Chicago team to victory while him and Max Domi are pretty much the only two showing up. So I think that he's going to go over there and I think he's going to solidify himself as the greatest American born player of all time and help to take this team on a run. I think he's going to take off there. I think he's going to be unbelievable. I'm scared shitless of the New York Rangers right now. I think that they are going to be an absolute wagon. I put them just below Boston in the Eastern

Conference. Now, with all that said, with those two trades that they've made and how much they've leveraged the future, that's a lot of fucking pressure on that team right now. So I'm interested to see if they can handle it. Last year felt like they surpassed expectations now the expectations are even higher than they were let's see if they can live up to them all right when you mentioned that you're not really afraid of them i know you're kind of saying that as a bruins fan but does that mean you would be picking the devils to beat the rangers in the first round um shit i didn't think of that i mean i'd have to see the lines first but um or did you only mean if the bruins ended up facing off with them in the easter conference final you'd

be like we're we're moving on to the car yeah i mean again it's not a disrespect to kane it's just you know they're a great team i've given them given them their props but you know i just i don't that doesn't as a bees fan or whatever yeah i'm not i'm like i'm not sweating i guess is uh the way to put it uh but speaking of the Rangers, in order to facilitate the presumed trade for Kane, they sent forward Vitaly Kravstov to Vancouver for William Lockwood in Vancouver's seventh round pick on the 26th. Now, the Rangers have been doing this crazy cap stuff. I don't know if you saw the game Sunday.

They dressed Braden Schneider and Ryan Carpenter. They sat on the bench, but they didn't play because they couldn't send them down, but they didn't want to get hurt because they didn't want to fucking lose them. And Carpenter got 13 seconds to play because he sat for Miller's penalty, which we'll get to in a second. So the Rangers have been doing all this fiddle-diddle just to get the cap right, and they thought they might be screwed after what we saw yesterday with Keiondre Miller. He got a match penalty for spitting at Drew Doughty. It was kind of like, oh, man, this guy's been such a good citizen on and off the ice. People were shocked by it.

And he did meet with Doughty afterwards. And Doughty, I guess, was receptive to it. I guess it was a good conversation per Molly Walker from the New York Post. Miller does have a hearing with DOPS today. People are expecting a suspension because of precedent when uh what's his name uh garrett hathaway ended up doing it when he was in washington exactly so people are expecting that there so that was maybe going to affect the cap situation and it still may because the rangers lost ryan lindgren on saturday after tj oshi hit

him so the bottom line is the rangers might be fielding 15 guys for a game but i don't think it's really a big deal because they're kind of locked in that spot anyways. But what was your take on that incident with Miller? I mean, it was ugly to see, but I mean, if that was okay. I'm going to take it as him for his word in that it was totally accidental. Now, you watch it, it's like, how is that accidental? But for him to say it, and then from all accounts, and including Miller's statement that he didn't, it was totally accidental. Now you watch it, it's like, how is that accidental? But for him to say it and then from all accounts and including Miller's statement that he released, Doughty was kind of receptive, as you mentioned,

to like him telling him that was not on purpose, that's not who I am. Quick little side story, my buddy Fairway Foles, everyone knows Foles the prankster, he's, I don't know if I've mentioned this, he spit in somebody's face in three different sports in high school. In football, he was at the bottom of a whatever they call that,

a little scrum in football, spitting in a kid's face. Spitting in a kid's face in hockey in the winter season. And then in baseball, in the ultimate spit-in-the-face move, he hit a pop fly, and the first baseman was waiting to catch it. And as he rounded first, as the first baseman was looking up at the ball, he spit in his face. Maybe the three scummiest moves of all time, but Foles is a competitor. He'd do anything to win.

But spitting in a man's face, I mean, in terms of like the most disrespectful thing you can do, I would say it's right there, maybe number one. So for Miller to come out and immediately say he was so sorry and they didn't mean to I'm gonna believe him I don't know I don't think he'll get suspended maybe a fine he was kicked out of the game but just a crazy move like if you're gonna spit in someone's face you better be ready to throw hands now the thing is Foles will throw hands with anyone and pretty much dummy anyone I know so he was willing and ready nobody would step up to the plate after getting a loogie shoved in their mouth by the Foles burglar. But I think that Miller was honest in his apology

and that I'm just going to take him for his word, right? If he says he didn't mean to do that, he didn't mean to do that. It's just kind of awkward time to have him standing right in front of you and all of a sudden you spit at him. I don't know how that ends up working. Yeah. The internet took it to a completely different place, but glad they got to chat afterward. One of those things that probably follows you around for a couple years, and it does suck regardless if there was an intention or not, given the fact that they did speak and then Dowdy seems to believe that it was accidental, I wonder if they take that into consideration and talk amongst the Department of Player Safety.

So if not, obviously, I assume that he will get a game or two. But if Dowdy's okay, I think it should be on Dowdy's call and say, hey, if he doesn't actually think it was on purpose, they should just kind of give him clearance. And, you know, I think that everybody handled it the appropriate way. Was Hathaway suspended when he did it? Oh, yeah. clearance and you know i think that he everybody handled it the appropriate way it was half the way suspended when he did it oh yeah i think yeah he straight up just i think did it on purpose and as i said that that followed him around for a little bit and i think since then he's he's cleaned

up his act uh depending on which maybe which fan base you ask but re there was a couple things you mentioned there that uh we got to dissect uh also them losing lingren yeah and people were not happy about the tj oshi hit i would say definitely hit hit him in a vulnerable spot sometimes with at the pace of the game and when things are slowed down he he definitely came at him from the side but by the time that he made contact it looked like lingren had already been turning in so the way that he went into the boards, probably a little bit too close. And I was not crazy about the hit, but definitely one of those borderline ones

where I don't want to hang him on the cross for what he ended up doing. A very, very difficult loss if they end up losing Lindgren long-term. This is a defenseman for the New York Rangers who blocks shots. He's a honey badger, plays way above his size. I know he's probably, other than Fox, he's probably the smallest guy

in the lineup that they have, but he plays way above it and is just a great leader in that locker room, and he's nails. I think if push came to shove, he wouldn't have a problem dropping him with most guys in the league. So a great top four that you can't afford to lose come playoff time so let's hope that he's not on the shelf much longer. Yeah Gallant was very upset about the hit after and if you remember R.A. and G. you'll know I mean Lindgren was kind of a toss in when Rick Nash got traded to the Bruins that year nobody really expected that much but what a

player he's turned into and you described him perfect biz kind of a heart and soul guy for the Rangers when I look at that team, especially looking at the run they went on last year. Just playing through injuries, just battling anyone, so they cannot withstand to not have him. I have heard it's more of a day-to-day thing and they don't expect a long-term injury, but what a player he's turned into and what a big-time factor he can be

for the Rangers killing penalties and just playing good defensive hockey. Wow. Boys are fucking on fire today. I was'm gonna go jump over to the west for a second Nashville right now has 64 points in 57 games the west what they stink the west stinks the only chance the west has is either Colorado who's now crushing teams or if the east just beats the shit out of themselves so much and biz his hell in a cell first three rounds that they just have nothing left come the cup finals. So yeah, Nashville, they're six points back of Seattle for the second wildcard with two games in hand, but it looks like they're going to be sellers after all. They traded Nino Niederreiter

to Winnipeg for a second rounder in 24. He's got 28 points in 56 games this season. Let's see, he's in the first year of a two-year, $8 million deal. He's been a 20-goal scorer six times in 12 seasons. So Winnipeg will juice that offense a little bit. The Preds also parted with rugged forward Tanner Juneau. They sent the undrafted 25-year-old to Tampa for defenseman Cal Foote. Tampa's third, fourth, and fifth round picks this summer. Tampa's second round pick in 24, and Tampa's first round pick in 25, top 10 protected. Genoa, once again, 14 points in 56 games. A little bit of a slack from last year.

Make it 800 grand. He will be a restricted free agent. But, Biz, what do you make of this deal? Some people think Tampa overpaid. Do you agree? Yeah, I think that they did slightly overpay, but given them circumstance and where you sent a perfect tweet of the breakdown by Breezebois, that's exactly what I would have said about the trade. Can I read that to you? Yeah, as you teed up, that top six and that core group of guys, so look at the top six forwards they have, completely solidified,

awesome high-flying offense. This is exactly what they did with Coleman. This is exactly what they did with Hagel, although Hagel did jump into that top six where they get these guys on these great contracts. They do give up quite a bit, but a guy who is a useful player to their specific lineup. And Breezeball obviously thinks that these guys have earned the right to compete again. Who gives a fuck about the future? Now on top of that, the year that Janot's been having has been a complete off year. Based on some of the analytics I'm seeing and from watching games that he's played,

just a bit snakebitten. He's still getting his opportunities, but we keep talking about these line matchups. Well, he gets to go on to that third line who is extremely extremely heavy now he's got nick paul as an as a centerman and a guy who had a coming out party as far as playoff performances last year in ross colton that's a that's a big line that can move that can shut down a line for the Maple Leafs a top two line right so that's who they're looking at as the team that they're going up against as a Leafs fan that move scares the shit out of me uh as far as what he gave up go back to Breeze Boss comments as you could tee up this is what

he sees as what he gave up so necessarily not maybe a haul to him with yeah and I I will say I saw it I was. I think most of the hockey world was in just seeing that many picks. Also, Cal Foote, I mean, I know he probably hasn't lived up to the expectations of a first round pick by Tampa, but still a serviceable defenseman. But what Breezebois said, and I'll read this as well as I can, at the end of the day, I know there's a perceived value of those picks, but we have a really good idea of what the actual value of those picks are. Individually, you can go, what's the first round pick worth? What's the second round pick worth?

And so forth and so on. When we look at what's worth to us, based on the odds of those picks turning into good NHL players down the road, I'd rather have the good player right now for this season and next and help this group win right now, because I know what the odds are of those picks turning into players. I also know what the odds are of those picks turning into players. I also know what the odds are of those picks turning into players that can help us win while we have this group of players right now in their prime, ready to go for another long run. The odds of that are zero. None of those picks were going to help. None of the players we were going to draft with those picks are going to help us win

this year or next or probably the year after that. So when you put it into that context and you frame it that way, it ends up being a pretty easy decision actually. And I completely understand what he's saying. And I think fan bases in terms of teams that are going for it, respect it as well, because you can look at like the future and what you're giving up and what possibly could happen with all these picks. And then you look at, we got two Stanley cups. We went to another final and who knows how much longer we have. And why not just completely be willing to sacrifice the future to just try to get another one. And if I'm a fan, I'm looking at like, yes, I really don't care. And I understand that this could be in five, six years, a team that's really struggling and bottom of the barrel. But look at what we have the chance to do again this year. So when I look at like fifth round picks, even the first round pick, I'm trying to win another Stanley Cup. And now not only do we add a guy like Janot who's physical, he can fight. Not that that matters a ton in the

playoffs, but it does in a sense. I know that this guy is going to make a difference. And the biggest thing, and I think the biggest thing that people have been saying in terms of defending Tampa is the fact that they know what to do with these guys. They know what to do with Coleman. They know what to do with Barkley Goudreau. They know how to get Nick Paul into the lineup making a difference. So they have this proven track record of bringing over third line grinders who can fight and play physical and be playoff type players. And they know how to get them in their lineup playing that type of system and playing that type of hockey. So I know the the return looks insane and what they gave up great job by david poyle who we'll get into is now retiring july 1st but great job by him getting nashville a bunch of picks and and

in a sense of trying to rebuild this whole thing but good job by tampa because what the fuck why would you wait for anything else you have a chance to do it. So let's just deal with the future when the future comes and let's get a player that we know can help us win playoff games. Vegas Oz has the top six teams in the league as those top six teams in the Eastern Conference. You look at this Tampa Bay lineup right now and they can win another Stanley Cup. And you talk about that physicality.

That is one thing that they'll have the edge on going against Toronto. And one thing I was concerned about for Toronto, even going into playoffs the way they're built now, the Lafferty pickup's going to help with that. We know the Achari is going to help with that. The reason why, we still don't know where O'Reilly's going to end up, but he's also not going to be intimidated by that type of physicality. But if you look at that bottom six, and everybody saying patty maroon and cory perry don't scare me they're a

little slow you don't think those guys know how to contribute their fucking 10 minutes are you guys out of your fucking mind look at the i already mentioned that the third line and colton paul and janeau they got maroon maroon belmar and cory perry our fourth line. That's going to be a very difficult bottom six for the Maple Leafs to handle. And I would say up front, based on playoff experience and championship pedigree, those are two very evenly matched lineups right now. Advantage going to Tampa and Nets. Still confident in my Leafs because I think they're going to be hungrier, but this is a Stanley Cup lineup in Tampa Bay.

And we've already mentioned those two deals. The Coleman one, he was making 2 million bucks when he came over. He still had another year left on that deal, and that's why they overpaid for him. Same with Hagel, where he was making 1.5 each year, which is obviously a bargain. He's set to get paid this offseason. And with the Jeannot situation,'s restricted getting this guy he might sign a bridge deal I'm hearing that they're trying to lock him into a Nick Paul type deal where they give him length and they get a nice little bargain so now all of a sudden you've solidified a perfect middle six guy where I think that he's the type of guy could bump up to the second line

once the offense starts going so you have to have guys in a hard cap era that are making that middle money who are contributing, not just on the score sheet. But you talked about a guy who's willing to fight, a guy who's heavy on the forecheck, a good net front presence, all the other little intangibles. Tanner Jeannot is a good fucking hockey player, and this is an unreal trade. And I give each team an A-plus for the haul that Nashville got back and the one guy that they needed to get in the lineup for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Good stuff, Biz. By the way, Janot wasn't even drafted until they were able to turn an undrafted guy

into all those picks, so impressive work for Poyle. We'll get to him in a second. Tampa Bay's first pick in the next draft isn't until the sixth round. They don't have a first or a second next the sixth round they don't have a first or a second next year and they don't have a first and 25 so you know they're mortgaging it for the fucking championships now and that's that's what it's all about i suppose uh let's see the preds also lost ryan johansson for the rest of the season he got cut by a skate required surgery but he had those cut resistant resistant socks on and they said it would have been a lot worse if he

didn't have them on. So obviously- Those things are incredible. And I think the one everyone seems to think of often is Eric Carlson when Matt Cook got him. I don't think he had them on then. And those have been, I would say, Biz, when we were playing, they were kind of coming around, but now I would think most guys wear them. And what a godsend they can be because that's it's truly like it's horrific to think what could happen with the skate blade and you know we saw what Evander Kane went through this year but thank god he had it on because if he's still out with surgery and was wearing them who knows what could have happened if he hadn't so a pretty amazing invention I think it's Kevlar

that's used and the socks are still light enough that guys don't mind wearing them just to add that extra protection yeah Preds already had a tough challenge trying to get in the playoffs. It's got to get a lot tougher with no Joe Hanson. Guys, before we go any further, I want to talk to you about our Battle of the Badge merch line. That is right. We have teamed up with Barstool Sports and released a merch line to support the Battle of the Badge hockey game

that is between the NYPD and FDNY on April 15th at the UBS Arena on Long Island. We're not only proud to be broadcasting this hockey game, we're also proud to support this merch line. 100% of net proceeds goes directly to the Hockey Heroes Fund. Let me repeat that. 100% of net proceeds goes directly to the Hockey Heroes Fund. This fund will be split evenly between the

nypd and fdny and you could check that out at store.barstoolsports.com store.barstoolsports.com now back to the show the other big news like we just said uh david poyle he's going to retire after 26 years as the general manager down in Music City. The only general manager that the Preds have ever had. Uh, let's see, 73 years old. Not really surprised that he's going to retire. He's actually going to hang on with the team, be a consultant. I was surprised by the replacement.

Barry Trotz is going to take over officially in June, but he's working for the team now. He's going to be an advisor as they, you know, do the transition, whatever. Were you a little surprised with that? You know, Trotz went to the GM role instead of going back behind the bench? Yeah, I was. But it kind of makes sense now that maybe he was turning down coaching options knowing that this was probably going to happen. I'm sure he's close enough with David Poyle where he said,

listen, I want you to be my successor. And Trotz then has to think about, all right, do I want to coach again? I think being a GM is a better move, especially as you get older, you're not traveling as much. It's a little easier on the body, on the mind maybe. But to now know what David Poyle accomplished as the GM of the Predators, and I know there was never a Stanley Cup, but they made that special run when the Penguins got him. And just to know that he was there from the beginning and to see what that team has turned into in terms of an entire market and a fan base and how fun it is to go to a game, it's a pretty special accomplishment. I know he was around the league for a long time before he was in Nashville and he did a bunch of great things, but to actually see what he built there, and it was him and a lot of other people, including Barry Trotz and other people that work for the organization that maybe we don't know their names. But when you look at David Boyle, the drafting he did to build a team from basically nothing with a fan base that didn't know a ton

about hockey into this rabid group of fans that sell out each game, that have this amazing atmosphere that people want to travel to and be a part of and witness a game in Nashville. It's been such a great run. And I think for a team that was always kind of, I'm not going to say cash strapped, but it wasn't one of the big spenders before the cap, and then since the cap, to see the drafting that they've had, Shea Weber, Ryan Suter, Dan Hamheis, all these defensemen that they've developed, it's been one of their signature calling cards in terms of drafting defensemen, and then just that one run was special. I mean, Pittsburgh got the best of them, but it was a hell of a series, and I think that when you look back on David Poyle's career,

it's nothing but an enormous success. So congrats to him on a hell of a run, and I know he'll be sticking around for this draft and then kind of hang him up and be just on the sidelines a little bit. Barry Trotz will probably be great at that job. You know he's probably comfortable with Nashville. That was probably the biggest thing. If I'm going to end up being able to be GM of this team,

I don't need to coach again. It's probably went through his mind. So it's an exciting time for Nashville fans because you're losing an all-time great GM, but you're getting a guy who knows the area, who knows the team and knows the fan base. And I think it'll be awesome. It is tough though going to become a GM.

It's so much different than coaching. There's so many different factors with the AHL team and all the prospects and all the prospect pools you're going through in the draft. So it'll be probably difficult, but he's probably been learning on the fly as his career's gone on. And now Poyle will be able to help him take over. Just great breakdown. As far as Poyle, you'd be hard pressed to find a more respected, nicer man in the entire game of hockey. An incredible,

incredible run as far as GM of that organization. I want to say right now, outside of Pittsburgh, they have the longest streak of making playoffs, most consecutive seasons making the playoffs. So the fact in that small market, the amount of sustained relevancy he could take them to with being crafty about all these little moves and trades that he's been making, it just speaks to the success that he's had.

You said that you were a little shocked about Barry Trotz joining him. Maybe shocked that he's back there doing it, but I'm not shocked that he wanted to be a GM. From my understanding, I know there was talk about that his father was going through illness and he wanted to be closer to his family, but also part of my understanding from other people was he was hoping at one point that he was going to be able to replace Lou. And when that was no longer clear and the fact that Lou maybe wants to stay around a little bit longer or pass the throne off to somebody more likely of his

choosing, that that's where things started fizzling out. So now he ends up in this role in which he wanted. Now it makes more sense of the fact that he's back with Poyle, a guy who he coached for, for many, many years. And considering Poyle is going to still stay on as a consultant, it's almost like they're going to have this tag team effort and work together like they did in the past to have that success once again. I mean, some people say, well, they didn't win it. Well, I tell you what, man, for being a small market like that and for having the achievements that they've had, I'd say it's pretty fucking successful. So happy that he's there. I think it makes a lot of sense. I'm sure those fans, he's beloved there

for what Trotz did for for the community for them to bring him back in i bet you despite maybe the negativity surrounding this season and how they're not going to probably make playoffs i'd say it's a pretty nice bonus and also a proper send off the poil and according you know jeff merrick said on hockey night in canada besides sorrows roman yosi and philippe forsberg Everyone else is basically on the table in Nashville. So as an Oilers fan, I'm hoping somehow they can get Ekholm out of there. The only question is I mentioned on Twitter, what the hell do you have to give up? Because he just, he just got that return for Tanner Janot. Who knows what the fuck you would get for,

for Matthias Ekholm. Maybe somebody wrote me on Twitter, he'd have to send the West Edmonton mall. home. Maybe somebody wrote me on Twitter he'd have to send the West Edmonton Mall. Aldo. Aldo. We got six Aldos. We got four Harveys. A gun shooting range. And a swing.

And Tim Horton's rights all throughout Edmonton. Me and G, of course, we went to that Stanley Cup 2017. Was that probably the first ever Chuck Litz-Rhodie meeting you, right? I would imagine, G, of course, we went to that Stanley Cup 2017. Was that probably the first ever Chooklets roadie, me and you, right? I would imagine, G, we didn't do anything before that, right? We funded ourselves as well. Yeah, self-funded, yeah.

Yeah, we picked up the tab ourselves. Well, we did have a hookup on the ticket end, so that was not the problem at all. I slept on the floor of your hotel room. We stayed in like a $200 a night hotel room in Nashville, like the cheapest hotel we could find. I slept face first on the floor every night. So I actually have the stat here. So Pittsburgh leads the way with consecutive playoff appearances

with 16 in a row right now, which is also in jeopardy. And then Nashville's right below them with eight straight. So this will be the first time in a while that they don't end up crashing. So Crosby's never missed. He missed his first year. Okay. I want to say his first year was a whole. I was on that team.

Probably should remember that. The only year you are just dragging him down. So I got a chance to watch Nashville the other night, and despite all this news surrounding the team, they still play their bags off. And that comb did look really good. They play a very physical game. And one kid I was very happy for was that Cody Glass.

His game's starting to turn around. He's starting to get really adapted to the NHL at speed and his creativity out there. He had a no-look backhand pass over to Dutchie and then had a beauty on the power play to really put things away in the third period. So that was a guy who dealt with a lot of injuries in the start of his NHL career. So I'm hoping this change of scenery and the more ice time and the more confidence that comes,

this kid turns out exactly where they expected he would be. Biz, you know who has the record for most consecutive years in the playoffs? I do. I would assume that Detroit Red Wings at 23 years? Nope. I'll give you a clue. The colors of the team are represented by the flag behind R.A. The Boston Bruins at 29?

It was like 30 years or something, wasn't it? 29. 29 years. And they didn't win a cup in all that time. Yeah, there was six fucking teams in the league for fuck's sakes. No, this was like in the 80s and 90s and early 2000s, I think. Yeah, yeah, the streak ended, I want to say, 96, 97,

right around there, yeah. 29 years. Well, that perfect segue. Don Tweeney, say what you will about him, but he put his balls on the table. They're getting ready for the cup run. He picked up Dimitri Olof and Garnett Hathaway from the Capitals. A three-way deal involving Washington and Minnesota.

The Caps got Craig Smith. He's going to be a UFA this summer. And they got Boston's first round pick in 23. They're third in 24. And they're second in 25. They're also going to retain half of Orloff's salary. Minnesota's going to take a quarter of that salary, too. And for their troubles, they're going to get a fifth rounder from Boston.

They also potted with their sixth round pick from 2017, Andrei Svetlakov. His rights went to Boston. Olaf and Hathaway are both going to be unrestricted this summer, but the best team in the league just got better, and not by a little bit either. These are two huge additions. What's your take on it, buddy? I love this trade. I think it was an absolute game-breaker. For somebody who has been very hard on Don Sweeney in terms of his drafting, you've got to pump his tires when it comes to his trades because this guy has brought in Lindholm now. He's brought in Orlov.

He got Taylor Hall in the mix. There's all these different things he's done to add to his current team. So maybe in terms of the future in drafting, he hasn't been great. But in adding to his team, so maybe in terms of the future in drafting he hasn't been great but in adding to his team he's been top of the list gm because this trade was a when i look at the bruins it's like all right mcavoy is one of the best defensemen in the league if you know he's not i think it's mccarr and then like i'll i'll talk about mcavoy right after that i don't i don't understand i don't understand people who don't realize how good he is. He fucking runs people over. So McAvoy's right there. Then you got Lindholm who's having a ridiculous season. And then now you're

going to have Orlov. So you're going to have Orlov, Lindholm, or McAvoy on the ice every single shift. I mean, that is something else because you look at the chances that the Bruins have to win the Stanley Cup this year. And Hathaway also, I I mean I love that because he's a perfect Bruin he's gonna fit into the third and fourth line he's a motherfucker to play against he's from Maine so he mentioned that it was always a dream to play for the Bruins really cool story for him he played at Brown which is in Providence so it's like it all comes full circle and he gets to be a member of the Boston Bruins he's gonna make a big difference they get rid of the Craig Smith contract, who never really fell into the plan this year. I don't think he played great. And maybe Montgomery wasn't a huge fan of his game.

So he's out the door. Hathaway comes in, more of a Bruin type player, more of a playoff type player. But the Orlov move is what really solidifies that team. Because now to just mention the fact that they will never have a guy on the ice on D that isn't Orlov, McAvoy, or Lindholm. And you're thinking how special this team is. Now I saw right off the bat, he was playing the right side with Forbert and Clifton got scratched, which was kind of surprising. I actually pictured Orlov on the left and Clifton on the right of that 5-6. And you can't even consider it the 5-6 because of how good Orlov is. And I think that now, you know, they say he can play on the right side,

but I think what's going to happen is you're going to see mixtures and different pairings kind of giving a shot throughout the rest of the regular season to really see where they want to be game one of the first round. But Orlov is an awesome player. The guy goes back, he gets the puck, he makes great first outlet passes. He's really better offensively than his numbers show this year. And just the fact that he could skate so well, it's just a difference. It's a difference maker on the back end for a team who already had a strong one.

But the thing is with the Bruins addressing what they really needed to address and one more defender and one bottom six guy, they did a hell of a job. So now you get the best team in the league. And the thing that blows me away with the Bruins is I go to the standings, I'll check the stats, the goal differential, like all these good teams are plus 45, plus 46, they're plus 94. I mean, this team is something else. And then just to get this guy on D and that honey badger up front, it was a hell

of a move for the Bruins. I couldn't agree. The only thing I would say, one of the strongest D course I think we've seen in recent memory. The fact that the flip-flop might be Clifton or Forbert out of the lineup, like, fuck it. Either one of those might be top four in some teams who are making playoffs deep air. And the reason why maybe I lean more towards Forbert is I like him on the penalty kill. He sacrifices his body.

He's meat and potatoes. He's a utility guy, and that's where he specializes in. So you seem to have a lot of puck moving all around defensemen, where maybe you just need that guy who's just there to be meat and potatoes off the glass and out. So just a wagon of a lineup. I don't know if we mentioned the goalie goal yet. This has been a magical season for them. Anything less than the Eastern Conference Finals would be a lineup. I don't know if we mentioned the goalie goal yet. This has been a magical season for them.

Anything less than the Eastern Conference Finals would be a disappointment. Oh, absolutely. And well, seeing as you brought the goalie goal up, yeah, Saturday in Vancouver, Linus Omak scored the first goalie goal in Bruins history. Also got the puck line cover. I love how he went by the bench, did a little fly-by with all the glove tabs.

That was good stuff. And then, you know, he does the post-game hug with Swayman every game. And then that was like the all-time, jumped up on his arms. It was like two lovers having seen each other in 20 years, that hug. Good shit. Gee, let's get your take on it.

You're not a Bruins fan. What's your take on the trade, buddy? I mean, I think Biz just said it. They're a team of destiny. Given their forwards, do their bottom six scare you at all? Not at all. Adding Hathaway is enough. You're okay with, is it bottom six scare you at all? Not at all. You think adding Hathaway is enough?

You're okay with, is it A.J. Greer? Yeah, Frederick Greer, Hathaway. That is meat and potatoes, just how you need it for a playoff run, Biz. I like Coyle penciled in as that third line center. I just wasn't sure how you guys felt about the rest of the guys. Well, you got Coyle and you have Taylor Hall in the third line as well. I mean, that might be the best third line in all hockey. Okay.

All right. You heard it here first. You guys are the Boston guys. Well, we got one more note. You might as well get to it, Biz, if you brought the goal up. Brad Marchand, he's been an absolute menace on social media between Instagram and Twitter.

He got fined $5,000 for what they call a dangerous trip off of York Strand, right? What do you want to call it? A slew for whatever the league called it, a dangerous trip. $5,000 fine, bringing his total forfeited salary up to $1,424,564,568,033. All right. You could have rounded it up, buddy. You just could have rounded it up. $568,000 and 33 cents. That was an amazing description. I think you just listed a billion dollars the way you said that. One billion. Yeah, call 1.4 mil, eight sussies, six fines, 28 games lost.

That's a lot of pocket tickets. So on Sunday night he tweeted, back on Cameo, we all know why. He was like chirping the, they were talking about maybe an all-star game in like Edmonton or Seattle. He's like, LOL lol can't wait to see how many guys boycott that game and then people started chirping him he's like well it's true and he's like not like you'll be making it anyways and guys like i i hope it's not one of those places just going back and forth with all the fans and shit he's like let's put it this way no one's taking less to stay there talking about edmonton just the absolute chirp festival but that's my son i'm glad ra is not a capologist but as far as marshall is concerned

cameo the app where you can get these uh these personalized messages what is he charging per cameo can you dig that up for us grinelli i wouldn't mind uh mine purchasing one for the podcast it'd be fun to see if we can can get him introducing one of our episodes or something. What's it cost? A personalized video will cost $200 from Brad Martian. That is expensive, Brad.

He only needs 25 of them to get that five grand back, so they'll probably be locked up, and then he'll be right off cameo in two days. Entertaining on and off the ice. Biz, one of your teams is up next. A few minutes ago, the Leafs made a big deal to shore up their defense. They acquired a defenseman, Jake McCabe, forward Sam Lafferty,

a fifth-round pick in 24 and a fifth-round pick in 25 from the Blackhawks. In return, the Hawks got forward Joey Anderson, forward Pavel Gogolev, and a top 10 protected first round pick in 25, and a second round pick in 26. The Leafs need more than this biz. What else do they got to do here? Jake McCabe, what's your take on it here, buddy? So his name kept popping up quite a bit. It's really hard to evaluate a defenseman who's on a team that is so bad because you're spending so much time in your defensive zone. The last time I got to watch him play was actually against the Leafs where right off the opening faceoff, he ended up toe picking

and Nylander went down and scored. So I don't know if it was an inside job trying to get the Leafs home ice advantage in the first round. Maybe he had a little meeting with Dubas in the hallway. Say, hey, help us out here. We'll fucking pick you up at the deadline. We're going to run, buddy. But I think he's just a good, solid defenseman. He plays physical.

I don't think he's going to wow you with this play. But with Muzzin going down with his injury and him announcing that he's going to be out for the season, I think that they had to go out and just do something. So just to have a bigger guy back there who can play against heavy bodies like Tampa Bay, like Boston if they have to, well, they went out and got it. Lafferty, who ended up starting out in Pittsburgh, just seems like an up-and-down-the-wing type player who plays with a physical edge. Fast, too.

Another thing, too, yeah, you just, like I said, it's hard to see what these guys are made of when they're playing on a team that's basically AHL caliber. So coming over, I'm interested to see how their first couple games go. I don't exactly know where they slot in, but we'll see. And I trust Dubas' move in a sense where he feels that they can fill in holes that they are missing right now. I think Dubas understands and knows that he's probably gone if they don't get out of the first round it's like what are we waiting for here we got to do it this

year or bust and I like their move so far I really do I think we already talked about O'Reilly and Achari and now to get that other forward, bottom six guy who can play with pace the way the Maple Leafs do, I just feel real bad for Jake Muzzin. You know, he's out for the year. It's a scary injury that he's dealing with, and you know, he means a lot to that team. So you just feel for a guy who, although he's won the Stanley Cups and had this amazing career, it just sucks to see that he's going to be out this year with injury, and who knows the future. But good job by Dubas to get a defenseman who's similar in stature and skill level, physicality.

So good moves by Toronto. I don't know if they'll have anything more to do leading up to Friday. One other tree we had mentioned yet, the Habs and Stars exchange a pair of Russian forwards. Dallas sent Denis Gurionov to Montreal, got back Evgeny Dadunov. Dadunov's 33 years old. He's got 18 points in 50 games. He'll be unrestricted this summer.

Gurianoff's 25. He's got 9 points in 43 games. He'll be on RFA this summer. Biz, anything on this? Just two guys who need a change of scenery, basically? This Dadunov, he got screwed over last year with the fake move over to Anaheim. He had a great season. He's a guy who's, I guess you could kind of move him up and down the lineup. With the lack of offense that Dallas has had lately, I hope that he moves over there and is able to find his rhythm. And I

think that he could be a massive, massive add. I think that's a sneaky, sneaky pickup. It's kind of sad that we're talking about the biggest moves in the West being Nito Niederreiter, Baryshev, and right now Dadnov. But those are the moves that I think that you're going to have to make and not much in the West in order to really compete with what else is going on. But I could see that being like a Nemestikov a few years ago where it's the sneakiest move of the deadline based on what you had to give away to get him as far as Garionov he hadn't done fuck all this year he was as useless as Kapanen was in Pittsburgh which is

kind of crazy because he's fast as shit he was a high pick and there was times he was unreal so maybe going to Montreal in terms of getting more ice time he could kind of pop off I think that's the thought in terms of Kent Hughes and thinking that there's still like untapped potential there. But I did want to mention the Niederreiter move. We kind of skipped by it quick. Winnipeg, who has had the sneakiest, quietest, great season of any team in the league, I think they're four and seven in their last 11 games. In eight of those games, they've scored

two or less. So they did have to do something. Niederre last 11 games. In eight of those games, they've scored two or less. So they did have to do something. Niederreiter should help. It was a quiet move, but at least it's a move Winnipeg kind of realizes. They're hitting the skids a little bit, and things are getting a little bit scary for them. So it is weird in the West right now, though. We need Edmonton to do something. We really do. Yeah, they better do something before Friday.

But, boys, we've been buzzing along. I think we should probably send it over to Dylan Strom right about now. You'll agree? Let's do it. Another team in the Eastern playoff race. Great dude. Played in Arizona. I'm happy that he moved on to Chicago and now Washington and is having success.

And boys, he got fucking paid. Just like his brother. Chicklets fans, major announcement. Pizza Hut is bringing back the New Yorker and even more important news they are coming on as a major sponsor for the FDNY NYPD hockey game going on at UBS Arena on Long Island April 15th do not miss it on top of that you know what Pizza Hut's doing they're going to be handing

out those wonderful pies all across the fans and stands that's what they're going to do so not only are they supporting an incredible cause them coming on board and delivering pies all across the fans in the stands. That's what they're going to do. So not only are they supporting an incredible cause, them coming on board and delivering pies out to the fans makes it 10 times better. So we'll see you at the game. And once again, the New Yorker is back, and we can't thank Pizza Hut enough. What's up? All right. Enjoy Dylan Strom. All right.

We'd like to welcome our next guest to the show. He was taken third overall at the 2015 draft by the Arizona Coyotes. He then went pro after four years of putting up monster numbers for the Eriatas of the OHL. After a few years in Chicago, he signed with Washington, where he's already signed a five-year extension. Thanks so much for joining us once again on the Spittin' Chickens podcast. Dylan Strom, how's it going, man? Pretty good, boys. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it. It's been a long time.

Mem Cup MVP. You won the scoring title over McDavid and Marner, just dropping your nuts on their forehead. Fucking A, buddy. What a junior career you had. Yeah, thanks. Thank you. Those are the good days, I guess they call them.

Are you in a cell right now? I'm in my hotel room. I didn't have time to make my bed, so I didn't want to show the dirty bed. Okay. Once you get back into a wild card spot, they're going to go back to the four seasons or what? We got some work to do to catch up to that, but hopefully we can get back in there. It's been a bit of a grind as of late, but boys are working for it. So lost a tough one yesterday to Buffalo.

They're a good young team, so they got the best of us for sure. Yeah, we just had Tage Thompson on. Actually, you're playing second fiddle right now. We usually go to the winners and then the losers. He dusted me on a few draws, and I think he had one or two goals. He's having a year. He's a hell of a player, that guy. You just mentioned Connor McDavid at juniors.

Was he head and shoulders above everybody even at 15, 16 years old or kind of on the same level? I don't know that's what i'm asking no and he was like by far like i've told the story a few times like he he just did these things in practice that you couldn't even like believe like he was the same age or the same age and it's like how can this guy be so much better than at that time you know guys that were four and five years older because he was a year younger and i mean like i don't think anyone's surprised anyone that watched him in junior isn't surprised at what he's doing now um you know you

hear those like generational that word thrown around a lot but he obviously is and and you know the stuff he's doing the nhl it's like did you guys see that spin around the other day like at the blue line like if that gets picked off like for like 99 of other players that's a that's a two on oh the other way but he just dipsy doodles around through the middle and just you know makes these plays happen out of nowhere and he's been doing that for for a long time it's you know i'm gonna hold that uh that scoring title over over everyone's head for for a long time and i do was he on the juice no you think you think he was juicing at that age no no all right just wonder i'm just wondering he was a freaking junior i age? No? No. All right. I'm just wondering.

He was a freaking junior. I just figured to ask you. I thought maybe he'd be the type of teammate to shove needles in his ass. What do you got? Well, I was going to say, first off, congrats, buddy, on the deal you signed. Because I know, I think it's your seventh year pro. Kind of a tough go in Arizona for everyone the past long while, it seems like. And then you get to Chicago.

But then this year, it seems like you've really kind of found your stride in terms of being where you want to be, being a part of a team that knows what you can do. So it had to be a relief to get a nice contract too in terms of grinding throughout all these years to find yourself as a player and on the right team, right? Yeah, for sure. I appreciate the kind words.

But it's been not everyone's path is the same way to get to the nhl mine certainly wasn't you know being a high pick especially with the guys that were drafted around me um you know you go through you go through stretches where you're like you know obviously people are throwing around the word the bus label all the time and um you know it's not easy to hear all the time so you just try to you know put it in the back of your mind and not worry about it too much and then you know like i said everyone has a different path and once i got traded to chicago i feel like it really turned around for me and they kind of just believed in me and gave me a really good chance to play with some really good players and then um you know the team obviously

didn't do as well as they would have hoped and you know we made some trades last year at the beginning and everyone expected us to be a playoff team and then starting off the season like oh and 11 just everything kind of just fell apart after that and then starting off the season like oh and 11 just everything kind of just fell apart after that and then the um you know like the sexual assault scandal and there was just so much going on with our team the gm got fired and then um coach got fired and and just a bunch of stuff going on and then um no they kind of just decided on on the fly that they were going to do a full-on rebuild when when kyle became gm and then um i kind of knew after that kind of that

moment I feel like I wasn't going to be back there but you know I had some good success there and some good some good numbers and play with some unbelievable players and then coming to Washington I was you know going to a new team you never really know what to expect especially an old team with so many veterans and and legends on the team and and guys that you know they expect you know a lot of anyone they bring in and obviously Backstrom was out so it was kind of the good fit at the beginning of the year got to play with Ovi you know got to play with some really good players I was playing on the power play every single night and and yeah it kind of just clicked and the team was doing well and we were in a playoff spot and you know the timing was just right and you know when they offered me a contract of course with

everything that's going on I was gonna I was gonna jump all over that. I hate to revisit it and go back but just you know the fact that you weren't there when everything originally happened and to be part of chicago last season and through everything what was happening media wise i don't think we've talked to anyone from chicago since it just obviously sucked the complete life out of the locker room and you're answering questions yeah like you came to the rink every day not not knowing like you know, what was going to come out that day or who was going to be gone or what the news was. I mean, obviously it was a terrible situation for everyone involved and especially for Kyle Beach.

Like, I mean, to have to go through that, I mean, you know, you don't even want to think about, you know, that type of thing. So, yeah, but you're coming to the rink and like no one knew what was going to happen and there was, you know, there was people being asked questions. There was like the GM being asked questions, the owners were being asked questions. And then, you know, you don't really hear too much about it, like everything that went on or what was going to happen. So you're kind of just at the mercy of, you know, whatever the media says or whatever, you know, whatever you hear pretty much. I want to go back to the trade. When you got

trade to Chicago, were you bummed out that Arizona kind of got rid of you so quick? Were you happy with the change of scenery, a little bit of both? I mean, I think I definitely didn't play like up to my capability there. I don't want to say I didn't get a great shot. I didn't play a lot of minutes and I wasn't really on the power play. But you can make excuses for everything. I think I didn't play that well there. And I think it was a good change of scenery for both. Obviously, you see how well Smalls is doing there. everything I think I didn't play that well there and and I think it was a good change of scenery for both obviously you see how well Schmalz is doing there and you know I think the trade worked out for both teams I'd say I think you know they kind of wanted to you know to get a new piece and see how it worked and then you know Chicago was kind of doing the same thing so I think it worked out for both I was I was definitely happy to have a little change of scenery but you know

being so young I had only played 48 games when I got traded so I was like still trying to find my way I remember the one big thing that happened to me was I never got a housing letter in Arizona so But, you know, being so young, I had only played 48 games when I got traded. So I was like still trying to find my way. I remember the one big thing that happened to me was I never got a housing letter in Arizona. So I was like up there for like four or five months, you know, throughout the couple of years. And I was living in a hotel pretty much the whole time. I eventually moved in with Chikrin to Domi's house and I still hadn't had a housing letter.

So it's just one of those things that sticks in the back of your mind that, you know, are you going to be there for a long time? Are you going to stick there? Things like that and then i remember i got traded to chicago and and uh the team services guy tony omen he went to me like the first day i got there he's like yeah just go look for a condo and let us know what you find we'll get you a hotel until then and i was like really like i can get a housing letter are you sure are you sure and he's like yeah stan told me stan told me that that uh to go find a house so it was like kind of like right off the bat it felt like you know they really wanted me and go find a house. So it was kind of like right off the bat,

it felt like they really wanted me. And it's a small thing, obviously, but as a young guy, a housing letter means a lot. It means that you're going to be up there for the year and it means that you're going to stay there and play. And you saw what happened with that video with Gunther, like when he got the call, was told by Arizona that he's going to stay there and stuff.

And it's just like you want to do that. And it helps your confidence. And as little as it may be, think it's it's a big thing and um so when I got to Chicago kind of just started off on the right foot and then my first game I was playing with the break-in chain and we played against Vegas and you know had one and one and was pretty fired up about it so um no I hadn't even had a two-point game I don't think in my career to that point what's cool is like people are sometimes don't realize how much off ice stuff affects on ice play

so you're telling us boom you're told right away you're gonna be here get a place and then you're like a point per game player that year like there's no chance it didn't have one to do with the other right yeah no i think it's it's exactly that um you know i think it's like you get told that and and you just it just kind of you know gets you going and like they're like oh you oh they want you. So that was definitely good to hear. And I was super excited and found a place right away. And the rest is history, I guess.

You talk about that draft. A lot of people kind of say the 0-3 draft's the best of all time. I think if you look to 2015, it's pretty much becoming the same type thing. I know Boston had a little bit of a hiccup with three in a row in the middle but did you know kind of going into your draft year and right around 17 18 19 like how stacked that draft was and how many good players are gonna end up being nhl stars from from that first round i don't think uh you really realize at the time because those are the those are the guys that you've like kind of grown up with and played with like throughout, throughout your whole life. So

you know, they're good players, but you never know how the, how the draft is going to turn out. I think if you, if you look at like the first round, um, you know, there's some, there's some really, really good players. Even the second round, like Ajo was the second rounder, you know, maybe I'm a bit biased, but I think, yeah, it was, it was maybe it rivals the 2003 draft for sure. I think, um, maybe like Shabbat, Kyle Connor Conner, Timo Meier, Rantanen. The list kind of goes on, Proverov. There's these guys that are making good money and obviously doing really well for teams

and guys that have won Stanley Cups and that are a big part. And obviously, Boston has those three picks in a row. And I mean, they got the Brusk and the other two are kind of up and down in the NHL but you know Boston made it made a Stanley Cup final you know the most recent out of anyone that you know kind of got drafted in that area so I think you know when they got a guy like DeBrusque he's obviously huge for their team and you see what he's doing now he's just having a great year again it's true you I'm looking at the second round it's like Christian Fisher, Sebastian Ajo,

Brandon Carlo, there's so Daniel Sprong I mean who's had a great year, Sebastian Ajo, Brandon Carlo. Daniel Sprong, I mean, who's had a great year. Rupe Hintz, you're right, Rasmus Andersen. I didn't even realize how good the second one was. Vince Dunn, Siegenthaler. It's pretty cool. Well, I was just going to say, the trade over to Chicago, did it have a lot to do with the fact that you'd played with the Debrinket in junior?

When you got there, was that something they said that they could hopefully reignite that chemistry that you had playing with him in Erie? Yeah, I think so. I think, I think it helped for sure. Um, you know, we were, we were a pretty good, uh, pretty good duo in junior there for the last couple of years. And we had a lot of success and, um, you know, then when I didn't have success in Arizona, I think Chicago kind of saw an opportunity and Debrinket had 28 goals as a rookie um with like three hat tricks I think and and um no they knew what what he was what he was capable of and I think they could only they thought that it was gonna you know boost boost his uh you know goal scoring and his play and and I think that together it worked really well and then obviously when you throw a guy like like Kane

on the other side I mean definitely not just a throw-in type of guy but um you know we we had instant instant chemistry and connection and and um you know we had instant instant chemistry and connection and and uh you know actually that first year it was actually me to break out in dominic kahoon i don't remember that name he was he was uh in the nhl for a while and we had we were playing on the third line so we were getting great matchups um we had a pretty good team and it was just we're playing the power play together and you know there was a lot of chemistry and i i do think that was a big reason why they traded for me. They never said that to me in person, but I think the connection there

with what we did in junior together kind of translated to Chicago. Was Kane what you would have expected him to be when you got there, just personality-wise, the way that he handled himself? He seemed like he's a pretty quiet guy, just putts around, minds his own business. Is he a funny bastard is he throwing chirps underneath his breath breath and shit i think he's the type of guy that um you know once once he kind of opens up and once you're there for a while i think yeah he definitely throws the chirps he wasn't what i was expecting at all um you know as like a you know 20 year old you just

hear about patty kane and you hear like all the all these stories and everything like that um no he won three cups uh He's won a cons might. He won a Rocky Richard. I think he's won pretty much everything there is to win. But he's a really, really down-to-earth guy. I like to say he liked me right away. I think playing on his line, he loves to get points. He loves to score goals.

And when you help him do that, you're going to get some brownie points. We've still maintained a really good friendship um you know he's he's an easy guy to talk to um he loves scoring goals i mean you guys see the way he he's even celebrating you know on a team at chicago this year when he scores goals you know he's fired up and he wants to win um obviously we'll see what happens with him in the next couple days but i think everyone kind of everyone kind of knows what's going to happen it just hasn't happened yet but um no to get to play with a guy like that and have him become a friend,

I've been pretty fortunate to play with some unbelievably good players. And, you know, sometimes you just sit back and think, like, I was on my line for, like, three years. And, you know, it was so fun to be a part of this because he was so intense on the ice, but he just wanted you to be good. Like, he wanted you to have success and he wanted you to make the plays. He told me that he's like, I'm going to yell at you sometimes

because I know you can make the plays. When you hear that from someone, like I said, it fires you up, and it makes you want to be great as well. And the guys who can't make the plays, he just doesn't talk to them. Get off my line. talk to my assistant no but he does love to score goals and if you set him up for a few goals or you put a couple of his passes in it goes a long way for sure uh we've heard so much about jonathan tave's leadership what was it like playing with a guy like that yeah i think you can really tell right when i remember the

first day i walked into the dressing room they had to hold practice because we took the red eye we played a game in arizona me and Perlini at one o'clock I think on a Sunday afternoon and I got traded at about 6 30 I was on a plane at about 10 at night um and we we went right through the night to Chicago and we got there in the morning and then um they had to hold practice back a little bit so when you when I first walked in it was like guys were kind of already dressed and ready to go. And they made us like walk in the room and just like waved to everybody and say hi. It was so awkward. I remember Steve was the first day of school.

It was so awkward. It was so awkward. And you weren't proven yet. So you're like, this is so embarrassing. Yeah, like exactly. Painter gives him the dead fish. Kiss my fucking ring. My ring finger, bitch.

This boy was schmaltz you better wake up stromer see brooks the one yelling like holy hurry up boys hurry up boys and i was like oh i guess i better go i just like turned around quickly went to get my stuff on and we were dressed in on the ice pretty soon that's where i kind of met everyone on the ice and then played the next night and you're kind of just thrown into the fire right away so you kind of meet guys on the fly but going back to taves you can just see leaving on a bad team or not a great team how good of a leader he was just because you can kind of keep everyone in check and i think you see that with a lot of the really good teams like how many leaders they have on the team like c

brooke g cam ward uh you know chris kunitz like these guys they were all all leaders and all you know could have been wearing a letter um But just, you know, the calming influence and seeing what they do to be successful, it went a long way for sure. All right, I got to ask, because this year you're in Washington and you're just getting to just be around Ovechkin. That's more what I'm interested in right now.

This season being that special, he's passing Howe and he's doing all these incredible things. But what's he like in the room? Is he chirping, guys? Is he loud? Is he quiet? Like, I just he's doing all these incredible things like but what's he like in the room is he chirping guys is he loud is he quiet like i just always kind of wonder what it's like to be around him on a regular basis yeah he's definitely loud i mean he's i think the stories that you've heard about him are definitely true he's you know he's a guy that loves to have fun um you know he worked he worked really hard he worked hard in practice um nothing all the cliche

things that you've probably heard about him are true. He's chirping guys for sure. I don't know if you guys have seen the Caps videos that they post before. We go on the ice for the game. He's got a handshake with everyone. He's singing songs. He's joking around. And to see a guy that scored that many goals.

You see Stamkos just scored his 500th, I believe it was. And when you're on a team with a guy that scored that many goals like you see Stamkos just scored his 500th I believe it was and you know when you're on a guy a team with a guy that just scored 800 it's like 500 doesn't even seem like that much and obviously it's like there's like I think 40 players in the NHL that I've ever or maybe even less than that that have scored 500 goals um but just being around a complete legend it's you know in every every aspect of life he's you know he's you know been to the Olympics he's you know won I you know been to the olympics he's you know won i think he's won like nine rocket richards um no he just passed gordie how and some of the guys like make jokes like imagine passing gordie how in anything like in anything like john carlson

says it a lot like like mr hockey like you just passed mr hockey like that's the guy's name so i mean to be on his team it's something that i never would have thought of my little brother had a oveshkin jersey when we were growing up and it's like now i'm on i play with him and i'm on his line and i see him every day it's like sometimes you don't even believe it but um no he's a heck of a guy and you know there's a reason why you know everyone everyone talks so highly of him he's a bit of a farm animal have you uh have you got to see what he eats for pre-game have you like dialed ited it in? He's been known as a sauce crosser. Yeah, that is true. That is true.

I think, you know, for playing 17 years, I don't think I've ever seen a guy get so excited for a pregame meal like he does every time. He orders it in from this place, and, like, I think it's called Mama Lucia. I don't want to get the name wrong, but I think that's what it's called. And he just, you know, he's singing when he gets off the ice and morning skate he's ready for his pre-game meal he's he's so excited he's trying to get other guys to eat his the what he eats and um he's mixing sauces together and a few guys actually do do eat from the same place he gets it delivered to the

rink and um no he does mix the sauces i don't know who said that first but i remember seeing that i was like is this really true boy gordon told me about it and it would drive him crazy because he would go get the Alfredo and there'd be the marinara sauce all over it because he'd be crossing the things where he wouldn't change the what do you call them, ladles? Spoons? Is it a ladle? Is a ladle a word

R.A.? Yeah, ladle, yeah soup ladle, probably sauces too Speaking of other weird shit that's going on you touched on the handshake line. These guys are fucking hitting each other's cocks and asses all through warm-up. What's with this S&M routine, and have you gotten involved? What do you got, like nipple clamps on underneath your gear and shit? No, I think they just, you know,

these guys have been on the same team for a long time, and I was actually thinking about this the other day when I was like, because I'm sure you've seen like Oshie and Wilson do like the you know the baseball swing at each other's asses on the ice and warm-ups and it's just like when you play so many games in a season and you're these guys have been on the same team for so long um you know I think they just try to keep it light and get the handshakes going I'm sure it's a bit of a bit of superstition at this point um you know they kind of just do whatever but when a new guy comes in they kind of just make a handshake and and you kind of just go with it i'm a guy that hangs out in the room until like the clock goes down and then so i do a few handshakes with some guys in

there and and uh then walk out to the ice and i can hear ov yelling or or osh yelling you know from from from inside the dressing room at every rink and they just i think it's just something to keep it light and um you know the boys have fun with it, and it's pretty funny. I know the fans start to get into it too. The fans in Washington are waiting for Wilson to baseball swing Oshie's ass before he takes a shot. Oh, yeah. The women in the furrow are just losing their minds when Wilson comes out. I mean, even TJ Oshie's a bit of a handsome bastard too.

You guys got a fucking good-looking lineup. What do you guys call it again? Man rocket. A couple man missiles. Who's got the worst handshake pregame routine? Like one where you're like, I'm not for this shit. If you could eliminate one from the island, which one would it be? I'm going to chirp Van Riemsdyk because he chirps me a lot.

We chirp each other a lot. But he chirps me definitely more than I chirp him. And he waits until our goalies yell 30 on the clock before we go, and he stands up and does his little routine and then has to give everyone a high five, but he has to do it in order. So it's like if guys are in like, you know, like usually at home he goes around

and like just dabs everyone up before he goes on the ice. But when we're on the road, you know, not everyone's in the same stall as they're in at home. So he's going from, like, left side of the room to the right side of the room to, you know, to outside the hallway to hit everyone and say hello to everyone and do whatever he does before the ice.

So I'll trip him. If there's one guy I can go without, it's him for the handshakes. Fuck him, man. Fuck family. He's like, LaViolette, what's he like in the locker room? He seems like a player's coach, but yet when things need to be said, he seems like a player's coach but yet when things

need to be said he seems like he gets pretty firm he looks like he could snap biz i think you hit the nail right on the head i think exactly what you just said he one of the things i was surprised about when i got here was no he's been around for a long time so but you know players don't talk too much about coaches i think like you hear some things about other guys but i hadn't i had no expectations i didn't know much about him he He called me when I signed there in July, just said he's happy to have me. He loves me on the power plays, watched me for a long time. And, you know, he said like, you know, said great things about me. And, you know, he said, I'm going to play a lot and TMS high expectations and sort of the fans. But one thing I really was

impressed with was his, his like motivation um you know he's been here for I think three or four years and a lot of these guys have been here for for longer than that um and I still think he pushes the right buttons to get guys pretty fired up before the game or if things are going awry he knows what to say at the right times to to get everyone you know kind of fired up for that moment and like I said before it's a long season there's 82 games so you know you don't want to be saying the same thing all the time over and over again. And I think she does a good job of mixing it up and, you know, pushing the right buttons for guys. And I think I've noticed that since I've been here.

It's been kind of a weird last couple days, I guess, in Washington. I mean, you guys are only three points out of the wild card after kind of a tough 10-game stretch here. But had a huge win against the Rangers and then a tough game the next day against Buffalo. But then you see Hathaway and Orlov, you know, they're traded. Obviously, Craig Smith comes back, but it's one of those things where like, oh, we could still make the playoffs, but are they almost kind of planning on us not making the playoffs? Like what's the room discussion? Was it kind of shocking to lose those two guys or hearing those rumblings? Did you kind of expect that? I don't think anyone expected it. I mean, like you said, we're so close to the wild card.

The problem is we've played more games than everyone, so it looks like our winning percentage, you know, isn't as great as some of these other teams in front of us. But, you know, we got to the rink against the Rangers, I think it was. Yeah, no, it was the Ducks. It was the game against the Ducks, the game before the Rangers. And, you know, Hathaway and Orlov's name wasn't on the board for the lineup. And everyone, you know, I think when you see that, everyone kind of understands that, you know Hathaway and and Orlov's name wasn't on the board for the lineup and everyone you know I think when you see that everyone kind of you know understands that you

know they're obviously getting traded or you see guys in the round the league that have been held out for for trades um so you know you get to the rink and you're like you know obviously everyone's kind of thinking like are we just like selling or what's kind of going on um and they they get some picks back for for those guys and those those Orlov's been here for a long time so I know um you know it's a lot for a lot of the guys it was tough to see him go and um it's just part of the business I guess you know we're kind of taking it day by day you know no one really knows what's going to happen I think the deadline's like three or four days away um you know we got a lot of UFAs coming up so but we're still in it so it's

like it's a it's a bit a mix of both. Like, we're right there, close to playoff contention. Obviously, we've got to start getting some wins, but, you know, I don't think anyone really knows what's going to happen besides, you know, the people up top, and we're just trying to take it day by day, and hopefully we can, you know, make it a tough decision for them.

I think a lot of people forget, too, at the beginning of the season, you guys were dealing with a shit ton of injuries. I think at one point, you guys had 40 million on the the ir so now that you guys are getting guys back healthy wilson's back of course backstrom's back like what do you think needs to change about your guys game in order to solidify that wild card spot because the way things are looking i don't think it's going to be possible for you guys to squeeze in the top three so what do you guys need to do as a group and what is maybe laviolette harping on the most for you guys to squeak in biz i know they give you some shit about

some tough questions some bad questions but that's a that's a good question i'm gonna buddy i'm a fucking i don't know what it is yeah yeah you know sometimes the brain's not clicking buddy but sometimes it is yeah thank you my friend thank you no no problem um who's got the biggest dick on the team oh here we go come on um no but like you kind of touched on how many injuries we've had um and our season's kind of you know gone a bit bit downhill ever since uh carlson got injured um he got injured on the january uh december 23rd because it was the game before christmas and obviously it was a pretty gross injury you guys i'm sure have seen it but um when you lose a number one defenseman and a guy like that that plays that many minutes runs the

power play you know plays every situation penalty kills plays a ton of five on five you know he's still leading our team and and you know average time on ice and he's been out for a couple months and when you lose a guy like that I think it's it's tough to tough to you know find someone that can fill that role I don't think anyone really can because you know he makes really good money he's a great player he's been around for a long time and um you know we've had some other guys step up on defense but you know it's tough when you lose a guy like that so if i had the answer to to your question about what we can do to to make the playoffs i think it's just um we haven't been getting out to good starts at all we've been we've been trailing and chasing every game for the last like nine or ten games and um you know we when we played against the

rangers that was our first win and like since boston since the first game after the break and you know we got a lead and it felt like the game was just so much easier because you weren't chasing that goal you weren't chasing like the the game the whole time um and and every game it seems like we're getting out you know we're getting down two or three nothing and that you know teams can just tighten it up after that and kind of just lock it down. If we get out to a lead, that game against the Rangers felt so easy because we had the lead and they were the ones chasing.

We were getting more chances. And then when you're down, you think you're going to get all these chances and try to climb your way back in, but teams just lock it down when they're up 2 or 3. My answer to your really good question is get out to better starts. I got one quick follow-up about those injuries. three so um my answer to your to your really good question is get out to better starts um i i got one quick follow-up about those injuries backstrom and i think a lot of people wrote him off in the off season given with the hip surgery and everything that he's had to go through to get back

like how was it witnessing him doing all his therapy workouts and all that in order to get back if i'm not mistaken he's back in the lineup and back playing to to his full potential yeah yeah yeah he's been playing good too um you know to see a guy that that's you know played 16 years and been relatively healthy for most of his career and then i i wasn't here obviously the last couple years but guys say you know he was really struggling with his hip and it was really bothering him and to be honest since he's been back no one's really even said a word about it like i think it's just it's been feeling really good um he's been feeling comfortable and confident and and you know i think there's only been one other hockey player i think he knew a guy in sweden that had had the same surgery um and he talked to that guy a little bit and the guy said you know

it's it's been going really well i got both done um you know it's been feeling good uh so i think backstrom that kind of used his you know his mindset on it a little bit um and he got the the new surgery done and um you know he worked hard to get back and he's been feeling good like like i said no one even really talks about it now because i think he's been feeling so good so it's obviously great to see and it's it's huge for for our team he makes some of the the you know the nicest passes like he makes these little plays obviously he's not the quickest guy um but he makes these little plays in tight and these little sauce passes. And, you know, he's a big reason why Obi scored that many goals. He's got a lot of apples on those goals.

Don, I know your younger brother plays for Hershey. Have you guys ever played on a team before other than when you were little kids? No. No, we haven't. We played when we were, I think, I was six and he was four and we were on our little team in poor credit.

And other than that we haven't this year at camp was like the first time i've ever really been on you know obviously during season like the ice with him it was kind of weird how it all worked out uh hershey was really interested in him and and you know i'm happy that he found a spot there and we played a little scrimmage with each other uh during camp because you know it was weird i mean you know you're growing up watching your brother you know the whole time but never play with him even in junior he was on hamilton and i was on erie and the four games that i was there when he he would have played erie um i was at world juniors both times so i've never really been on the same ice with him during during

the season so um you know to have that experience with him and he's only two hours away we played the ducks last week so but against ryan matt came down for dinner and you know he's only two hours away so came down for dinner stayed the night had the day off the next day so um you know it's nice to be so close to the family didn't he get a five times five too ryan did yeah ryan got the exact same deal fucking hey the whole family's just cashing in it's just last time we talked it kind of blew up a bit that you said my dad should sell his uh his fur. So I remember that blew up. Yeah, I tell that to every dad who's got eight kids in the show. I mean, look at the list. You got the Hughes brothers. Actually, Witt is in Florida

right now. Where are you, Naples? Estero. And my parents, ironically enough, they bought a condo and right beneath them is the stall. So Henry's Super Sperm Stall. I actually saw him this morning. He was airing out his gear. He must have skated this morning. So obviously, that's probably the number one. I guess Mr. Sutter, back in the day, he might be the original king of it with all those

Sutter's running around the league. Well, they knew how to do that with the turkey baster because they had all the horses on the property. So that was just easy running, right? All right. What do you mean? The turkey, that's how they used to do that with the turkey baster because they had all the horses on the property. So that was just easy running, right? All right, what do you mean? The turkey, that's how they used to do it. I know, I'm laughing. I'm laughing.

Well, there's the stalls. You got stalls, you got Sutters, Subans, Strom. So there's a lot of S names in there. Maybe that has something to do with it. Yeah, okay. Speaking of farm animals. Oh, go ahead. The Kachuks are obviously doing really well,

and their dad played too. So a lot of brothers out there Van Riemsdijk, I guess I got to show Van Riemsdijk after I come Oh yeah Speaking of farm animals Going back to Ovi I'm sure your buddies in group techs Who are in the show, maybe don't even play hockey But follow

They're like, what's Ovi like? What are some stories when you you first got there that you got to experience that you can share with us about ovi like just like silly shit like in practice and stuff that's what i'm interested in is he dialed in or is he kind of in his own world jogger style yeah i think i mean he's i think it's a bit of both i think he's kind of like like he knows when to turn it on and and knows when you know it's a bit of both. I think he's kind of like, like he knows when to turn it on and knows when, you know, it's a day after a game and we're, we have a practice and everyone,

you know, it's like a 30 minute practice and, and, you know, he's kind of just going in and, you know, doing his thing. I'm not sure I've ever heard the other story, but I mean,

he, I think he, he knows when to turn it on and when to turn it and when to, you know, kind of float around it in practice. But, um,

you know, my buddies are like, you know, they messaged me and they're saying like, you know, well, what's Ovi like? And I'm just like, it's it's hard to describe I mean you guys saw after he got that 800th goal in Chicago in the Hatcher and it was so it was crazy that was one of the craziest games I've

ever been a part of and he gets off the ice and we just shower him in bud lights and I think I was just the happiest man and like even after like the 800th goal he just gets showered in bud lights and everyone's just you know he just grabs one right away and just starts chugging it after the game right in the dress it's all over his gear um no but he you know he likes to have fun and uh you know he's he's one of the you know he's he's a legend i mean he's like people talk about me he's a top five of all time maybe top 10 of all time and he's you know hopefully gonna pass gretzky and you know hopefully i can be a part of it and it's just like sometimes you just gotta pinch yourself like is this guy like everyone knows that the goal when gretzky breaks the record from mcthorley like everyone's seen the goal he

runs on the ice um and to think that you know ovi scored his 802nd goal that was the goal that you know everyone taught and everyone remembers from from from gretzky and you know i think everyone's looking forward to that moment i mean i'm certainly excited for it i hope i hope i'm the one that gets the apple on i mean you gotta get the apple on that that's what i'm gonna say go down in history like that that's history i got i got the apple on 801 to tie gordy house so i kept the stick from that um they were all that's awesome yeah so that that was like one of the one of the coolest moments of the year for sure just Just I drop pass, give him a drop pass, you know, because he got the hat trick.

He got the 800th goal. He got 798, 99 and 800 in Chicago. And they didn't score for like, I don't know, five games maybe. And, you know, I was on his line. So I'm like, fuck, like I got to make some plays here and then get him the puck. And there was a couple of chances where he had to get it. And then against Winnipegg it was the game before Christmas so we had a little

break and then he would drop past me fired a five hole and if you watch the replay I think I'm the happiest guy. I jump into the jump. John Carlson jumps into the pile and I jump into the pile and Gustafson jumps on me and then he gets 802 on the empty net or so. One story I can

tell is he took uh after that game you know he mentioned something to a reporter that like what are you gonna do to celebrate and he's like hot dogs and nachos i was like that is definitely not what we ate that night because he took us out to a to a nice meal with with a bunch of the guys and whoever whoever come after that because it was the break the next day and um no he he definitely is is one of the most generous people i've ever met in my life he you know so he put the card down he put the gold card down oh yeah he took care of everything he you know he's you know one of a kind when it when it comes to that he's you know never never afraid to to put the card down he's um you know he

like i can't even describe like we had like. We had steak. We had caviar. We had whatever. Caviar? Oh, yeah. Caviar. Big caviar guy. He put ketchup on it. All those Russians are, man.

They drink and eat the most expensive foods. I will say, just looking at him, he looks like he has the stinkiest farts on the planet. Does he have stinky farts? He must have the stinkiest. There's the question. There's the TNT biz. How, how, how, because his diet, just everything about it. He looks like he's 55.

Is he 55? I can't, I can't confirm that he's 55. He does. I mean, I think a lot of hockey players, you know, rip some farts, I guess. Come on, biz. I gave you props about the question before and then, but he, like, he is crazy. Like, he drinks, like, he drinks, like, Pepsis or Cokes, like, it's water. Like, you guys seen him drinking on the bench.

I know that's out there. He, like, he just goes, like, yells to the trainer, like, Brock Coke. Just fire a little brand new Coke, and he just cracks it open and he's just i don't know i like i think if there's a like a documentary or something about him when he's done playing um you know i i don't really know how to how to describe it i think you know i think everyone's going to be excited if that comes out in the future i think it's it's him and uh him and kessel should be in the same hall of fame class when they get inducted.

Just, they must've been made in the same lab, but they're both their bodies define science the way that they treat their bodies yet still keep on ticking. But he's so, he's so powerful too. Like, you know, he's, I think he's 37 or 38. Um, and he's still like, he still goes, goes past guys. Like no problem. Like when he turns on the jets, he just goes around guys. And he's so strong that like, um, he just won like he still goes goes past guys like no problem like when he turns on the jets he just goes around guys and he's so strong that like um he just won our muscles guys off he did a couple times last game where he just literally got the puck on the half wall in

neutral zone blows by a guy wide and gets a grade a chance and you know you see some of the goals he scored in his past i think the one against montreal when he like backhands it off the wall there's like a spin around i think it was was around Hammerlick, I want to say. And then he slides scores on Price like from his ass. It's like, you know, those goals just don't happen like to anyone. They just happen to him. Last question. I know you got to run, but you mentioned Kane.

Well, kind of he mentioned to you like, I'm going to yell at you if you're not playing up to your potential. And McKinnon's been known to do that. Will Ovi give it to guys if they're not playing up to where they should be or is he more kind of lets guys go on their own I think um I think let's go let's guys go on their own a little bit more I think you know he's not a guy that like screams at guys in the bench or yells at guys I think um you know when I signed my contract the other day some people were asking like no what's it gonna be like to play with Ovi and I'm like it is a little bit similar to Kane where you know he wants you to make that pass because I think he knows you can make that

pass and he's seen it before. Um, no, but he gets open and, you know, he's waiting for the, for that one tee and got a few goals. We fought a few apples that way,

um, this year where I just coming across the middle and, you know, he's waiting there loaded, ready to go. So you just got to put it in the right spot. And, um,

he scores a lot of goals where like the pucks are, are bouncing in his feet. He scored a few goals this year where it's like a guy gives him like a balancing pass off a stick and it's in his feet and he goes like stick skate to stick so fast and just pull and release and it's like not the pucks too half of the time like they're rolling caner were given to me back in the day well not back in the day a couple years for those couple years that i wouldn't keep them flat you know he goes just just keep them flat okay keep the puck flat and so when i got with ovi you know i i've definitely thrown a couple muffins over to him and he's just connected on them like it's a perfectly flat pass like caner's pass no this has been a great

breakdown man we appreciate you great we appreciate your time i know you guys are um are chilling today but thank you very much. Hopefully you guys go on a little bit of a run and can end up getting in, and we appreciate it. Congrats on your deal. Once again. Yeah, thanks a lot, guys. I appreciate it.

Anytime. Big thanks to Dylan Strong for jumping on with us, his second appearance on Spit and Chickle. It's a nice kid, Biz, huh? I really enjoyed chatting with him. Awesome guy. I'm so happy for him that he finally got an opportunity, especially with the offensive

upside. It was just a matter of time before he blossomed. And I think you asked him too, Whit. I don't think he really got his opportunity in Arizona. And I just think sometimes these guys come in, the expectations are so high, especially being a top three overall draft pick. So just an unreal guy. And hey, they got a lot of work cut out for them if they're going to get that wild card spot but uh we'll see we'll see how things go absolutely uh thursday uh blues coach craig berube basically emptied both barrels on his team after blowing a two nothing lead then losing in overtime to the cox three two uh he said quote our best players don't play with any passion no emotion and no inspiration at all they don don't play inspired hockey. You cannot play in this league without emotion, grit, being inspired. They're getting paid lots of money, and they're not doing the job. End of story. Some tough quotes. The next day,

Robert Thomas was doing his weekly radio hit. He said, it's frustrating to hear that. What he said couldn't be further from the truth. Well, before practice, GM Doug Armstrong come in, addressed the whole team, I think, just to sort of get everybody on the same page but I'll go to you first biz when a guy guys get traded away like that have you seen to have an adverse effect in the room like you know they're basically like kind of waving the flag on the season um I think I I think that they had to based on the performance of the overall team uh I don't even some of the guys that they parted ways with, I think we can all agree that Ryan O'Reilly

got off to a very slow offensive start. Tara Senko and the relationship with the organization seemed to fizzle out. I think that they, based on the contracts that were handed out, I think that they felt that these guys are the next wave of guys who could take St. Louis to winning a Stanley Cup again. I get hesitant to handing over these deals. A lot

of them feel like 50-50 Russian roulette, where some of them pan out, some of them don't. I mean, Kairou's over a point a game or at a point of game but I think that where Berube gets a little bit frustrated is in the the mistakes being made uh the maybe lack of the 200 foot game uh Thomas I haven't really watched him that closely this this year but if Berube is saying it I'm pretty sure he can assess talent having been around as long as he has as a player and coach and i probably have to agree with the results on the season as to most of the top end guys in this lineup and what they've done now there's no running for these guys anymore now there's no ryan o'reilly there there's no uh perron who left in the offseason uh schwartz who was taken in the expansion draft so all these guys uh

Petrangelo who ended up going away from Vegas so all these guys who were leading this team when they were winning they're all gone so the reins have been completely handed off to Robert Thomas Kairou and a few of the others so I would I would say that based on the overall season his his statement was very accurate. I think that some of these young guys are going to have to take a long, hard look in the mirror. And he's bang on about saying that if you're not going to bring that intensity night in, night out, there's way too many top end players in the league who are type A personalities that are going to bring it. And you're not going to end up making playoffs and winning shit if you don't bring that edge. Look at around the league and the players driving their teams.

Take a look around. They compete. They compete every night, night in and night out. We mentioned it last podcast. I think I've been fucking saying it every week now because of how frustrating the Penguins have been. Sid's mucking it up with guys and he's already won three cups so that if you're not out there to prove things night in and night out and it's not just the flying up and down the ice and toe drag this toe drain that it's winning the battles all

the little shit so i see biz i think odd for thomas to say to kind of go back and it couldn't be further from the truth where i don't know man i don't know well the i think the the whole issue can be looked upon as like these guys are around point per game right kairu's there thomas is there buchnevich is there he's missed a little time but he's still point per game dude you can get points and you can get your cookies doing it the wrong way if that makes any sense you can get power play points you can get your cookies doing it the wrong way if that makes any sense you can get power play points you can get different instances of producing offense without playing the way you need to play to win i haven't watched enough of the blues it's kind of what you said biz i just kind of believe barubi based on his track record how he played the game and how he's coached the

stanley cup champion to say he can bring these guys in the room and say, listen, yeah, you get your points, but that's not what I'm talking about. Because we need you to produce points, but I think you can produce them while playing a different style. And I know it sounds like I'm calling these guys out. I just said I haven't seen enough. But when he goes on runs or rants like this, it's like there has to be something there where these guys could be sitting around saying,

well, I'm doing my job offensively but there's another side of the game that you have to play a certain way to be successful so young players I think a lot of times and offensive players they look at like all right my stats are good but you you've I've had enough coaches because you had enough coaches where like you could be producing and you're you're not getting the job done in the grand scheme of things. So I think that's probably what Ruby's looking at. Like, I don't care how many points you produce. And yes, we pay you to get points and produce on the power play. But like, I need you grinding. I need you back checking. I need you playing defense. I need you going in the corners, coming out with the puck. So there's a disconnect a lot of times between guys in terms of production

and how you're actually playing and it's the same way players can finish a game where they get a couple cheap assists like i did my job and the coach watches the video it's like dude you didn't do anything so i think the blues and those guys are proud athletes they'll probably start playing a little different but it was also surprising to see that thomas come back in terms that that's it couldn't be further from the truth because obviously there's a complete disconnect between what he's saying and what Thomas and Kyrie probably think they're doing. So we'll see how it plays out, but it is a different time for St. Louis. At least they got a guy off waivers that's going to help push the pace and get them to that next level. Yeah, Kaepernick, he's been great.

Well, it's funny you mentioned Kaepernick, Biz. The guy that Pittsburgh signed two-year, $6.4 million deal last summer, well, they put him on waivers the other day. I think that he was just going to go down to the minors, but St. Louis ended up picking him up, added him to the roster. I mean, they pretty much did Pittsburgh a favor, but Hextall, he's taking a beating right now. The fans would chant, fire Hextall. Some of the beat writers have been all over him. So what do you got for us on Pittsburgh, Busy? In all seriousness, though, I like the pickup by St. Louis. I agree it is a bit of a buddy pass to Ronnie Hextall.

I would imagine Armstrong's probably like, hey, I'll help you out, buddy, with all the scrutiny you're getting and all these athletic articles ripping you. Take a flyer on him. Maybe that is the landing spot. You said it about Garionov going to Montreal. Maybe he'll go all of a sudden find his game up top there. But overall, just a very disappointing season so far. Disappears way too much. And it seems like they're going to have a large number of guys in Berube's bringing push in the pace group in practice and trying to find that overall competitiveness. I'm surprised Kapanen didn't work out in Pittsburgh.

I mean, he could skate. He could play on a top line. I kind of imagine him fitting in somewhere. And it just, I don't know if it was lack of work ethic. I don't know if Mike Sullivan couldn't stand his game. And then that snowballs. He loses his confidence. Who knows what ended up happening.

But talk about a disappointment. I mean, you make a signing like that and boom, four or five months later, he's on waivers. It's like, what the fuck just happened? But that's kind of in Pittsburgh's entire season. So let's see if he can kind of reclaim his career, get things going again and find a chance to really thrive in St. Louis. But how quickly things went downhill for him with the Penguins was shocking. Yeah, I'm not sure if you heard Mike Sullivan's comment after the game. He said, our roster is our roster. I don't know if it was an intentional shot at Hextall,

but it was kind of like an indictment of what he was dealing with there. So, you know, they're going to grind through it. They did have a tough stretch. They won two games over the weekend. They're still in the mix, but I don't know if they're going to get the playoffs or not. Let's talk about this. We go back to Bobby Clark. He was very critical of some of Ronnie's moves or lack thereof. I guess I have enough faith in him where I'm okay with his patience and seeing maybe if this group that they have right now can figure it out. They haven't had long periods of time where they've all been healthy. I think that it would be a little bit idiotic if they didn't do something to shake things up in that locker room going into the

deadline here. So who knows? Maybe a deal doesn't get made and they all figure it out and he ends up looking like the genius in the long run. But I don't know, man. It just seems very bizarre that at this point with what he's seen in the ups and downs of the season so far and how much the media has been barking about improving that third line because guys the top six has not let this team down like they are still getting the point but if anything it's all the the the other guys that have not brought their game who have been letting them down mainly the third line in the last like probably month to six weeks in which the guy the the media has been all over them about so they got to go out and do something in my opinion but i'll trust uh i'll trust ron hextall i guess before i get critical until i see what what the final results are a huge two wins though because they got the

st louis winner overtime where they blew it st louis tied it kind of late. And then they had to travel back home to Pittsburgh. They took on Tampa and put a beating on them. I think they scored five at the end of the second period or first period. So must-needed wins for a team all of a sudden. They're on the outside looking in like, oh, my God, is Pittsburgh going to miss the playoffs? So at least you see a little bit of a comeback this weekend. But, yeah, you're going to have to imagine that they do something.

We're talking about what Breeze was done in Tampa and all these teams going for it, willing to mortgage the future. If there's any team that's willing to mortgage the future, it's Pittsburgh. But the problem is they just have nothing left to give. So I don't know how he's going to end up making a move and what they can end up actually doing. But you think it's all hands on deck in terms of changing something and bringing somebody in that may be able to help out that bottom six. So it'll be interesting Friday because if nothing happens, Penguins fans may completely lose their mind. A couple other deals we're going to go over real quick here. Chicago

acquired defenseman Nikita Zaitsev from Ottawa along with their second round pick in 23 in a fourth and 26 for the old future considerations. He's in the sixth year of a seven-year deal 4.5 AAV I don't know if this is just a salary dump by Ottawa or what the deal is if they're trying to do something a little bit later uh the Blackhawks also traded Jack Johnson back to Colorado who he won the cup at last year Colorado sent uh Andreas Eglin back to the Blackhawks. Both players will be UFA after this season. And we were just talking about the Blues. They traded Ivan Babashev to Vegas for prospect Zach Dean. Vegas once again trades one of their first-round picks

to get a little help at the deadline. And let's see, Vegas also picked up defenseman Dyson Mayo from Arizona for Shea Weber's contract and a fifth-round pick in 23. Dyson's in the first year of a three-year $2.85 million extension, was most recently with AHL Tucson, played 15 games with Arizona this year. Biz, do you know anything about that kid? You guys see Pronger's tweet?

No, what'd he say? About Weber joining their foursome, Hossa and Datsuk and Pronger? The four legends on the Coyotes roster rightotes roster right now yeah they gotta retire all their jerseys fucking a webber's deal it's a year 11 of a 14-year deal carries a 7.85 million dollar cap hit uh that will help the yotes reach the salary floor in case they need to uh vegas currently has 15.7 million dollars on long-term injury reserve between Stone, Leonard, and Patrick. But, boys, something weird this year. I don't remember this really happening at all much in the past,

but all these guys, they're sitting for trades. Have you ever seen this before? The Coyotes are trendsetters. Jacob Chikorin, seven games he's been sitting. Gavrikov in Columbus, seven games. Luke Shedd, three games. I mean, is this going to be a deterrent? Is this going to screw things up up what's the deal with this it's a weird it's a weird thing but I've actually for a long time wondered why it didn't happen like it almost makes sense to me

like all right we're trading this guy if he gets hurt we're completely fucked we're not going to get anything back for him so why not play him now the whole other side of it is like all right well people are just going to be sitting around like this ch So why not play him? Now the whole other side of it is like, all right, well, people are just going to be sitting around like this Chikrin situation. I feel for the Coyotes. I feel for him. It's like, this has to get figured out. Let's fucking hope he gets traded by Friday because he might end up like, I don't know what he's going to do if he doesn't get dealt, but you're paying these guys all this money. And then you understand like, we can't risk them getting hurt. So I see that side of it when it comes to seven games and chickens instance, and the games are going up for Gavrikov and the other guys you mentioned, that's when the player starts getting

frustrated. Like, all right, so I'm going to get traded. I haven't played in a month. How am I going to fit into this new team? So I understand both sides of it, but I have been surprised in other seasons that it didn't happen sooner where guys are like, all right, well well we can't risk him getting hurt because that's happened in the past where all of a sudden the guy gets injured and then you can't trade him at all so i don't know your opinion on on it biz because some people it seems to be driving some people mad yeah i i think that they're eventually going to make a rule about this if they don't change the hard cap situation because you see all these even the patrick Patrick Kane deal taking a week to go through because they got to figure out where they're going to put all this dead money, which third

party team is going to take some of that on so they can keep his salary down so he could fit within that team's cap. So it's overall just a shit show. I hope they address it in the next CBA so it doesn't have to be like this. But at the point where he might end up missing 12% to 15% of the season just by being held on the shelf for a trade purpose, it does seem a little bit ridiculous based on the amount of money these guys are making. Also, people are paying money to come watch these players play and they don't get to see the stars out there or high-caliber players.

It's a shit show. I hope the Coyotes get the return they want for Chikrin. I don't know what the asking price is. I'm not in these meetings. I'm just a peasant. So that's pretty much all I got on it. Biz, I know you want to talk about Carolina as well. They haven't really been doing much of anything.

People are kind of getting on the GM, Don Waddell. They did get Pat Chioretti back for a couple games. Unfortunately, he got hurt again. They do have $12.5 million in long-term injury reserves, so they Chiordi back for a couple games. Unfortunately, he got hurt again. They do have $12.5 million in long-term injury reserves, so they can go over that with a decent salary, but what kind of move should they be looking at and what should they do? Well, I was going to

go to that stadium series game, but every single fan of the Carolina Hurricanes came up to me and Grinnelli and asked, what is Don Waddell going to do with the dead line? So I said, enough's enough. I'm not going to the tailgate. Get me the fuck out of this town until this guy makes a goddamn move. He has to do something. And there's a few names that have popped up. I got one via text. It could be a rumor voice situation. Kevin Hayes, in my opinion, in my opinion, their my opinion, their biggest hole right now is at second line center.

And if you don't want to leverage the future, this seems like a good idea because you could probably go get him for very cheap because they could dump off his salary. I think he's set to make seven million in the next four years. How many more years does Hazy have left on his contract? Maybe five. Maybe five years. So that is one name that's popped up where he could fit right in the middle there and help that second line out. Another name that has popped up in the last week is Schmaltz out of Arizona,

and he has been red hot in the last 11 games nine goals six assists he's buzzing he's had a great season playing with Keller Barrett Hayton's been their sentiment and they have still been out there producing offense uh the reason and I know Carolina is a pretty cheap team um they've you know I think that's that's kind of known it's public knowledge where their owner is a bit of an alligator arm. But he's set to make in the next three years where his salary was backloaded, where he's making $7.50, $7.50, and maybe $8.50. So he's in actual dollars. So his cap hits at $5.80, but he's set to make all that money on the backside.

So Arizona might be looking to move that off of the books, knowing that they're going to be probably not in a playoff situation. So those are just a few names in which they could go out there and maybe make an instant impact. But the longer you wait, the less there is on the table, and I don't know what you guys got. Well, Kevin Hayes has three more years after this year. Three. Okay, three. I thought it was four.

You know, if they could end up doing that movie, I saw his name kind of pop up today. That'd be great for him. Obviously, torts can't stand him. And then you just look at Carolina, the fan base, in terms of, like, they deserve something to happen. And it does make sense where they don't do rentals. That's been kind of clear with that organization. So maybe they bring in a guy with terms.

So the problem is, like, the big big guns they're coming off the table Meyer there was rumors now he's in Jersey it's just it's more about the fact that everyone's doing something and they haven't done anything now Friday deadline will come and they will have made a move but you just wonder what's left and if they can really get creative and maybe get a guy that hasn't even been mentioned because every single year someone gets traded that you didn't think was getting traded right there's always a name that you're kind of shocked and surprised that maybe they're working one of those grind lines right now in terms of trying to figure out a guy and nobody even knows what's going on but they got to do something they have a full-blown legitimate chance to win the stanley cup and you can't stand

pat after making the move for patchioretty in the summer, getting screwed over by his injury, and then you sit around. It's like, no way, no way. We have money to spend. We have a team that can win. Something has to happen. Ben, you mentioned the Hurricanes owner being cheap. Kevin Hayes' real money, like you previously just mentioned, his money goes down from seven to six to five over the next three years too so he could save some real money there yeah the last two years he's only making four actually or maybe no because he's probably getting a bonus yeah so 5.25 the last two years and 6.5 next year with the cap hit of 7.5 so so i would imagine philly would be happy to get that off the books given the relationship between hazy and Torts

because they're not in win mode right now. You could probably get away with not giving them a huge asset return. I would imagine maybe even like a second rounder might get it done where you might have to pay a little bit more is where another team's going to have to eat some of the salary. And at that point, if you're getting hazy half price, that's a great second line center who can really fit into most. He went over to Winnipeg. He could fit in offense. He could fit in there anywhere. He's a crafty type player. The other wild card name I was going to throw out there, and he's been there before, was Max Domi who got dealt at the deadline. And you guys are saying, well, what does that have to do with the center position?

This year, he's been bumped to center and he's been doing a fucking half decent job and when he's playing with with skilled guys like patrick kane he's getting the job done i don't know how much sauce he's a ragu sauce you saw him throwing the other night where they were going back and forth exchanging flying saucers so to mention he had the game he had the two goals in game seven against the bruins so at least you know there's some success there as well. That would probably be the cheapest you could get to fill in that hole. But going back to Carolina, make a fucking move, or you guys are going to be golfing with Harry Styles again pretty soon.

Biz, we don't get too many heavyweight matches in the NHL anymore, but Saturday night, Milan, Lucic, Curtis McDrammond, I don't know if it was the fight of the year, but probably one of the top three fights of the year. What's your expert? I've never seen a crowd that horny for a fight when they were barking at each other with the linesmen in between. And maybe it's because you don't really get these, as you just mentioned. Luch, if there was any questions that that guy lost an edge as far as toughness, he regained

it. I've never seen dermy hit like that really not one time no good job by the linies too to let yeah let luch go they let him screw off but the thing was did mcdermott had him too and then just that one luch bomb it's like i didn't i didn't know you've never even seen mcdermott go down like that though nope nope he always stood in there with anybody he was scrapping. And now we look forward where I feel like the heavyweight rivalries have came back up into play where you got Wi-Fi in the mix, you got DeLorea,

you got Matt Martin over there in the east with the Islanders. But the big one I got circled is Minnesota playing Calgary pretty pretty soon where revo and luch could potentially be going at it that would be that to me is the ultimate heavyweight championship fight uh i don't know i think i bet i bet you if you polled everybody they would say it was a 50 50 split between whether you're picking Lucic or Revo. I hope we get to see it and just circle that on your maps, guys. Circle them. Absolutely, man. I thought last Thursday night was one of the best nights of the season. There were 10 games being played. Nine of them had playoff ramifications. Four out of those 10 went to OT and two out of the four games that went to OT, they were tied with under a minute left and the tying team ended up winning the game. Just all kinds of good drama. That

Tampa Bay Buffalo Sabres game, was it Buffalo went 6-5 OT. Tage Thompson had a hat trick on his 40th the next game, but there was a little ugliness. Eric Chernak, he hit Kyle Oposo with a little chicken wing, ended up getting a two-game suspension fart. Whit, did you think that two games should have been more, should have been less? What would you take on that? Kind of what I expected. I wouldn't have been shocked at three,

but in listening to the Tampa announcers describe the hit on replay, they were like, oh, his elbow was tucked in. It's like, no, dude, his elbow was sticking directly parallel to the ice. It buried him in the face. Tucked in his root canal. Yeah, that was, you know, and if you remember the emotional discussion we had with Ocposo about his injury and what he went through to get healthy, you just, you get scared.

And hopefully he's doing all right. But I know that Cernyx plays on an edge, right? That guy's a mean bastard on the ice. It's why he's so successful. I think even he would say he regrets that one, you know, losing a couple games pay. But it was a dirty hit that had to be suspended. And hearing the Tampa Bay announcers trying to kind of defend it was comical. Yeah, you can't defend that.

I mean, there's no need for it. It's just a total lack of respect. And again, like you said, Opozo is a guy we got to know a little bit. You have, you know, empathy for any guy, especially when you meet a guy, hang out with him a little bit. So, you know, those are the type of hits. It's just one of those things as a fenceman, you kind of overplay your angle a bit. It's just like a natural reaction to stop him. You throw the elbow out.

I'm sure Chernak regrets it, but it was a scary-looking one. Yeah, no doubt about that. Well, something pleasant that went on Saturday night. Patrick Marleau, his number 12, became the first number in Sharks history to be retired. Went up to the rafters before the game versus Chicago. And they had a legends game the night before, and they were interviewing Jumbo, Joe Thorne.

And he said, oh, I hope he scores four goals because you got to wait and see what happens. If he does, like making a reference to his of high score four, I'm going to pull my prick out. And even like San Jose, the team Twitter accounts put it out with like a winking face. Like, yeah, obviously didn't say exactly what it alluded to but i thought that was pretty funny but either way patrick malo nice to see him get the number retired just uh you know one of the greats of the

last couple decades i think that when did that quote come about when it was hurdle it was his first nhl game and he did he did the between the legs goal for the for the hat trick and then after the game uh joe thornton said fuck if i scored four goals i'd whip my hog out and fucking do the helicopter cock and maybe not so many words but i think we all know what he was saying i think what was cool was you know and patrick marlo just just a classy guy and he did it for so long so well but what i thought was interesting was was you hear a lot of guys we ask people about joe thornton what a team guy is how much he loves the boys you see how

emotional he was during the entire ceremony and i think he knows his days coming of his getting jersey retired but you know he was just truly emotional about a friend a guy he's played a long time with seeing his jersey go up and what that means to him and you got to imagine his career is kind of going through his mind and what they went through as a twosome and having some great frigging teams in San Jose. They came real close. They had other runs where they could have won a Stanley Cup.

But I thought it was really cool to see a longtime teammate, Joe Thornton, get emotional for a friend and a teammate and a brother, in a sense, and seeing Marleau get his honor of having his jersey number up there forever. Yeah. Yeah, congrats to Paddy. A couple more notes before we get our next interview ready here. Last Tuesday in Philly, Conor McDavid's assist on Leon Dreiselgold gave him 800 NHL points in his 545th game.

The fifth fastest ever after Gretzky, Lemieux, Mike Bossy, and Peter Stastny, and the fifth youngest ever after Gretzky, Lemieux, Hawichek, and Eisenman. Guys just keep rolling along, and it was also dry-settled 700 points on the same play. That was pretty cool. Spencenite's going to be out indefinitely after entering the NHLPA player assistance program. Obviously, we wish him the best and good health coming forward. The Panthers did get Anthony Duclair back Friday night. He returned to the lineup, got an assist in his first game back. So it was good to see him back in the lineup.

The crowd gave him a nice little cheer and stuff. I want to refrain some comments from last podcast. I said that I'd rather put my cock and balls in a blender than see the Florida Panthers in playoffs. I would say that I'm going to pull those back because as Anson Carter mentioned the other day when we were doing the TNT broadcast, Matthew Kachuk's having a sneaky MVP season. Connor McDavid's going to win it. We all know that. But what he's doing to galvanize that group in Florida, especially after the All-Star break and the way that they've been playing, it would be fun to see if he could single-handedly lead that team into playoffs

and what he could do from there. Maybe, who knows, maybe they pull off an upset somehow. I don't think that we, the top to bottom, really love their lineup, but with the season that he's been having, and then now you bring Duclair back, who, I mean, guys, he had 30 tucks last year. That was a big loss in the off season when he tore his Achilles. So he's back in there. Look out for the Florida Panthers. And I have to apologize for all you Panthers fans out there. I refrain from my comments.

All right. We promised you a second interview. Gee, you want to give a little background on this for the folks who might not have listened to the show last time? Yeah, absolutely. So last podcast, we explained this whole story. We actually posted it on social media. It went pretty viral. We had a fan come to our meet and greet in Fort Lauderdale at Bo's Pub. His name is Joe. He basically, he told the bar he was working for Barstool. He told Barstool he was working for the bar. He ran the show. The thing is, he did an incredible job. He did an amazing job, but he conned everyone. He's Catch Me If You Can, he's Leonardo DiCaprio. And then at the end, he admitted to us that he conned his way down.

He basically, he didn't work for the bar. He didn't work for Barstool. And so we had him on, we interviewed him, and it was basically a job interview. And I think he came out very, very likable. I'm interested to see what the fans think um you'll get to listen to him now but a good dude a good sport a psychopath but uh listen to it now tell us what you think and as biz mentions at the end of the pod a lot of this comes down to the fan base who i will say as of right now now before an interview you have certain thoughts maybe things will change but as of right now our fan base are big joe fans that's what i kind of got i've gotten a ton of hire-ums i've gotten a few don't hire-ums but we'll see what you guys think after you hear them right now big deal brewing is now available in vermont and new hampshire that's right my old

stomping grounds match vegas manchester it's near and dear to my heart, folks. I won a Calder Cup there, and now you can enjoy the wonderful Big Deal Brew. And if you're having a hard time finding it, we got you covered. You can go to BigDealBrewing.com. We have a store locator.

That way, you don't have to waste any money on gas trying to find it. Big Deal Brew. Enjoy it. Vermont, New Hampshire, we are in. Thanks for joining Joey Rubino. Well, a lot of the listeners wanted to hear from this cat after a stunt down in Florida a couple weeks back,

and we were able to track him down. So welcome to the show, General Manager Joe Rubino. What's going on, my friend? What's going on, boys? Thanks for having me. Not that we're reffing a game running late. What sport are you reffing? I do Stony Brook. It's ACHA D1 hockey here on the island. Went to fucking overtime, let alone a shootout.

As soon as the shootout started, I was like, boys, I got to run. My guys in the locker room, they took care of me. They knew I had to run, so they were happy to help out. Hey, we're on your time, buddy. Hey, we're on your time. For everyone that wants to know, Joey delayed this interview. Hey, guys, I need another 30 minutes. I'm actually in the process of stealing a referee costume from somebody else

because I'm not actually a ref. The guy says four-ish. He's in the back of his trunk right now. Technically, it is 4-ish. We said 4 p.m. I got the emails, Joe. Suck a dick. So, Joe.

So, Joe. And then Joe hops on here and then say, hey, are we recording? And we said, no, not yet. And then he goes, well, before we hit record, this is how it's going to go. Trying to run our show on our podcast. I go, go guys hold on we're not recording i said stop talking right now joe we're gonna absolutely ask you whatever the fuck we want to ask you bud hi so so let's let's go back um what about two three weeks now and i

guess the uh the job heard around the world at bo's Pub by you. Give us your kind of play-by-play on deciding to come down there and when it all came into your head that this was going to be a good idea. Yeah, so I'm actually interviewing with the Panthers right now for a position with the organization. And I went down there to see the facility, to see the practice ring, to kind of look at apartments because I'm thinking about relocating down there. I turned down a job in the past for them that wasn't really A1. And I didn't even go down there.

So I didn't do my due diligence. So this time I was like, it's All-Star weekend. Chicklets is going to be down there. Let me go down there and see what it's about. Knowing you guys are going to be there. Go to the event down at the beach. Go to the skills comp. Run into RA.

And I'm like, alright, I'll see you tomorrow at the event. Saturday morning rolls around. I'm the first one there. The restaurant's nowhere near ready. Let me just walk around town starts raining sideways i'm like all right let me go post up onto this canopy and some other gm something easy he's like oh fuck out of here you can't stand here like it's fucking raining what do you want me to do i'm going to bo's pub walk into bo's pub and uh

like what are you doing here i'm like oh i'm here for the barstool event playing stupid and he's like oh it starts at 11 i'm like no no i'm from barstool did you so did you decide right then to say that or was that planned yeah so i mean i i've always wanted to work for barstool work for spit Spittin' Chicklets. Um, going to the weekend, I packed a NHL polo to try and like work my way down to the glass, but I'm interviewing with the Panthers. So I'm not trying to get thrown out of the arena that I want to work at. So, um, with that, I showed up to your event. I knew that I didn't mean any harm. All I wanted to do was help you guys. And I tried to address that in the email I sent you guys.

But overall, working for you guys would be a dream come true. Was it the Panthers GM job? Is Bill Zito on the hot seat? What job exactly were you going down for? It was manager of youth hockey, amateur hockey, so to try and grow the game in South Florida. Interesting. When did you

tell the waitresses to put on Pink Whitney t-shirts? As soon as I got there. So at that point, had anyone asked you like what you do? Like, I know you had told them I'm with Barstool, but then were other people like, who are you? And then you just kind of kept repeating that. How it went was the bartender grabbed me i went upstairs um i just said hey i'm joe i'm here to help out kind of like left it alone and um one thing led to the next and they're like oh so you're with barstool i'm like yeah i'm with barstool like fucking viva la stool like absolutely um password and just, oh, yeah, I've worked other events in the past. We had the one in Manhattan, the Pink Whitney release party, which I was at, helping out, taking photos in the podcast that you guys did.

I'm already saying we. That you guys did. Like, you referenced a guy taking photos at the event and helping along. And I was there with that kid, but I got fucking wasted that night. And I was like, I need to step away and made it up to the VIP and was like drinking with you guys.

But that was it. And I, I went home that night thinking like, damn, I blew my shot. Like I wanted to talk to them, show them like what I can do for them. And I just,

I just got drunk and I, I couldn't do anything at that point. Yeah, we already have an RA. Yeah. We already got a guy that does that. So, so from my understanding is you went down there with no intention of, of doing what you eventually did. You were planning on going to the Pink Whitney event. And when you got there and you fell under these circumstances where you just kept using these vague terms, like, yes, I work for Barstool, you found yourself in this lie.

Like, how did it snowball? And when did it click to you where you were going to keep going with this whole charade? Yeah, so it definitely snowballed. Like, initially, I was like, all right, like, let me just help the boys out. And, you know, maybe I'll hop into Uber with them and go to the game. And I didn't have immediate credential.

So I'm like, I could get into their suite. Pardon? And like. What the fuck are you talking about? You trying to put your name on my hotel room too and like get a fucking room key, bud? Yeah. You set up my surprise 40th birthday party too. I was there actually.

I was one of the deckhands tying off the boat where did i see you at the skills competition when so you so i was outside of the on suite level and ran into you we took the elevator down you were looking for like yanz's family i think you just kept saying i got a schmooze with with the fams or whatever and all right well i'm like walking around with you we're shooting the shit and um i actually i i'm not surprised you don't remember probably get a hundred different people walking up to you but i showed you i had like a tin of romeo and juliettes then i told you like i had smokes for you but last minute i was like bugging. I was like, you know what? Like, let me not bring weed on the plane. And that was it.

And I was like, listen, like I had it ready to go. The pre-roll is ready for you and just didn't. So did you feel like you paid for a blow job for you? But I decided to bring weed on a plane, whatever. It's not even the biggest thing. They're just pretty sure TSA only looks for explosives. But when you're heading down for a job interview, it's amazing to think that you even thought about it. Sorry, Bill Zito.

I'm going to miss that. I'm in prison. I had a pound of weed in my carry-on along with my Chicklets t-shirts. Zito walks into his office. There's a cloud of smoke. He's like what the fuck is going on you have a seat here bill he's sitting in bill's seat why don't you have a seat here um then when we arrived like i mentioned on the pod i'm sure you've heard i mean

super impressed with the gm of bo's pub which happens to be Joey Rubino. And when you started talking to me like, we got this, we got that, is that when you were like, all right, I'm all in on this? Or had it even happened before that where you were running the entire show? You're saying at the event? Yeah, like when you met Biz and I, and then you started kind of not bossing us around, but really like telling us what was up to the point where we were like, hey, great job, man. Is that when you like agreed or told yourself i'm all in right now i mean i was there three

hours before you guys i'm i'm telling everyone what to do i'm running drinks um you know and uh like you said it kind of just like snowballed into what uh one thing led to the next and again it started out as you know maybe i'll just like hitch a ride and and party with them at the all-star game and then biz is like oh i'm flying out of here wits like i'm flying out of here and i'm like you know what like i'm i'm fucking helping keeping this this event going because they were in over their head they were not prepared like i've been working events for a long time and and uh you know i i don't want to take all the credit but like i whipped that what what did they screw up on like

what were they so bad at that yeah let's hear it give us your list i don't want to rip on them but like well yeah i think it's like if you we've already ripped on them enough dude you basically saved the day you're like it doesn't exist anymore You're like a knight. Gallo doesn't exist anymore. You're like a shining knight. You could dog Bo's pub at this point. There's no more New Amsterdam. It's done. You've ruined them.

Just like everything, they were completely understaffed, right? So there was two bartenders upstairs, one and a half downstairs, zero security there. So I'm thinking you're about to have like four or five hundred people show up. And I'm like looking around, I'm like, I wonder what your like fire code is for for people in here, because it's going to be packed to the gills. And then doors open and all of a sudden it's like, holy shit, like they're definitely not ready. So I hold the line. I'm like, let's get like 20 people upstairs and just see how it goes right away. Instant line all the way to the stairs, lines down to the stairs. I'm like, okay, now we have two lines going because we had people in the dining room. Then we also had people on the staircase, right? Basically got rid of the staircase or got rid

of the line from the dining room, got the staircase line going. And all of a sudden people are still asking Leslie, like, Hey, I have a reservation. I have a reservation. I should be allowed upstairs. That's when like, okay, shut down open table. And then it was, you know, I've been here for two hours and I'm in the dining room, but I'm not allowed on the line. So you were dealing with customer complaints. Everybody wanted a piece of the boys and you were kind of you were you were playing the middleman and you were diffusing a lot of stuff for us so that's that's huge so but fast forwarding so your adrenaline's

going right obviously you're playing this this whole lie out at what point did you notice the dominoes falling and and and and at that point in what direction did you end up bringing it is that the time that you went to the bathroom and let Grinnelli know while he was hosing that you fucking took over this whole event pretty much yeah like because I knew my cover was blown so I I was like looking for one of you guys wit had already ducked out um pretty sure you were already outside and like I fully intended on like coming clean about it because i don't want to be known as like a liar like or like a sneaker like i didn't cheat anybody i got into a free event like i didn't take any money i didn't collect any tips like i didn't do anything like that like

literally just there to help you guys out so when my back you asked my mother-in-law for her number bro what are you talking about i'm just kidding well ra-in-law for her number, bro. What are you talking about? I'm just kidding. Well, R.A. is asking my mother for her number. Okay, eye for an eye. That's it. Okay, fucking ricochet. Which is weird because I asked fucking R.A. for his mom's number,

so I guess we're all even here. Okay, so like we said, though, when was the cover blown? Was it when Grinelli saw the bartender be like yo what's your name again like you mentioned something like that no so the somebody from Bo's Pub like their head of social came up to me and was like hey can I get like four or five t-shirts for the kitchen and dish crew I'm like yeah of course like they deserve it like they're running food they're doing whatever like the staff is all wearing shirts like let's help them out go behind the step and repeat board open up the box of t-shirts that was there that was supposed to be for the fans and you know pulled out a couple different sizes handed it to them and that was it then i tell one of the girls from barstool i'm like hey

by the way like um i just gave a handful of shirts to the dish crew and kitchen and she's like no you're not supposed to do that like who are you those aren't yours you had so you kind of ratted yourself a little bit yeah i'm thinking i'm doing the right thing and she's like those aren't your shirts touch like who are you i'm'm like, fuck. So now she goes and double checks with someone from the restaurant. And they're like, wait, which person you're talking about? He said he was from Barstool.

So now I'm like, damn. Yeah. Now I got to go grab Grinnelli's hog while he's hosing. Yeah. What happened? Well, I already had the Uber set up on my phone. Like, Merles is asking, like, hey, who's got the uber and i'm like i do you know like and she's like you should probably just leave i'm like i'm not leaving if you would have known what this place would have been like without me here like i'm not i'm not fucking leaving so you so at that point when you

got busted you kind of went on the offense which is that's a little bit like the that's where we that's where we kind of worry about the wires crossing and maybe the dead bodies in the trunk type stuff that's where we get not only like leonardo dicaprio and catch me if you can but he's also like leo and wolf of wall street where he ain't fucking leaving i'm not fucking leaving okay so here's another one i got for you and i will say this uh and back you up i you came down to explain this story when i was in the parking lot waiting for a cab with mcquade yeah and you put my mind in a complete i hadn't slept yet i i was sleeping during the rob brindamore interview i do the two-hour appearance and then i got this guy in the parking lot handing me a business card a female's business

card I don't think it was anybody from Bo's Pub I don't think it was anybody from Gallo's it was some random female's business card and you'd written your name on it in red lipstick now what the fuck was that about all right so um that business card was Leslie Grossman's she's the director of Bo's Pub and And after I got Boston, after I already talked to Grinnell in the bathroom, she handed me two business cards, right? And I wrote my name on it. And I was like, listen, Leslie, I'm so sorry I lied to you. And she's like, what do you mean? I'm like, listen, I wasn't really from Barstool. I'm just trying to show these guys that I want to work for them.

And she's like, oh my God, you absolutely killed it, blah, blah, blah. And I was like, will you vouch for me if they call you? And she's like, absolutely. You were amazing. You helped me out. She's like a sweet lady. And I felt terrible that I lied to her. But again, I didn't steal anything.

I didn't take anything. I didn't collect any money. And so she hands me her business cards like if y'all want to come work for us like come on back down i'm like i'm from long island like i'm not fucking coming to work at a restaurant so i'm like all right let me like write my name down on the card and like hand them to you guys and like be like call this lady like she will vouch for me like i'm sorry i lied and that's basically when i saw you and i was like, let me try and get this across to you. All right. So then I read the email with the resume and what you did, the list close to 20 things.

And like I've said before, just an outstanding job you did do. And I also tweeted like, I want to hate you, but I actually really like you. I want to hate you. I told my friends back home the story. They thought it was one of the funniest stories ever. They hate everyone and they like you. Your mother's email.. I told my friends back home the story. They thought it was one of the funniest stories ever. They hate everyone and they like you. Your mother's email. You wrote that email, correct?

From my mother? Yes. Look at the wording, bro. I write fucking poetic. She didn't even put an email signature. That makes me believe that it was you, though. I feel like you're a smart guy that knows to spell a few names. Or this guy is willing to throw his mom under the bus so bad that he wants his job i kind of want to hear him out

here she she cares right all she cares i get that she doesn't want you living in her house anymore dude that's a fact um no more corpses because so she so she commented on the instagram post which i have to say shout out chiclet fans 30 000 fucking likes on a post i got more likes than tarasenko i got more likes than ryan o'reilly trade like this is fucking groundbreaking and i got more likes than both of these guys come on so overwhelming support from chiclets fans. Shout out to you guys. I'm scrolling through. Hire my son. He's the best.

His resume is legit. How is she? I text her immediately. Delete your fucking comment. Are you kidding? A couple days later, or a week later, you guys post another episode. And I'm like, please bring it up please bring it up like all of a sudden we got an email from this kid's mom i'm like you gotta be kidding me right i text her i'm like did you fucking email them she's like yeah this is what

i said i'm like why you have to get involved you know but she, she means well, she, she's a sweetheart, you know. If we were to hire you, could we use her as a reference to call? Yeah, absolutely. That's where I get my travel, um, you know, uh, experience from because she was a travel agent for a while. So I did the travel work for my college club team. So I, I know all the ins and outs of like, you what to look out for what not to look out for um staying in a hotel where like when there's pictures of the room and stuff like obviously make sure there's a flat screen tv on the walls like updated art the carpet doesn't have jizz stains on it stuff like that so I was just going to ask RA and Whit are you guys opposed to maybe

doing right now a short job interview? No, not at all. That's kind of what I was going to get into in the fact that R.A. brought up a good point that I had also thought of, but he mentioned first in terms of like, all right, if this guy works for us, we could have every single chicklet's lunatic popping out of the woodwork, breaking into events and being an absolute lunatics in doing what you did. So that's a little bit of a worry. And the other thing is like, what would you do for us? Like, do you have any idea of what you would want to do,

what you think you could do? Because in terms of like your personality and what you did, it is pretty impressive. I like talking to you. You can bust balls, but I have no idea what you would do. That's, That's the only question. And I've been thinking about that too. And none of the Chiglitz fans have my resume. Like flat out. I was with the Islanders for seven years. I worked for Matt Martin running his events.

I worked for Steve Alliquette doing NHL film and analytics, shot sequencing. I have a college degree. I don't know if biz has ever seen one of these maybe on the wall as you like i'm obsessed with this guy room well two of us don't have degrees one guy's from north adam state the other guy's from plentiful state so basically we have one full degree between the four of us there you go and i can make a second one um for those of you wanting like a background check that i'm actually gonna kill you

this is my usa hockey reffing card um okay that case they they run back next to me sport certified i got it i gotta re-up that every year um so that's just like in the way that parents talk to you guys i wouldn't be surprised if you end up killing us because you got to get it out at somebody's like ned flers finally snapping yeah right no being a ref is great for all those parents like fuck you go usahockey.com slash become an official go try and get your

level one certification because it's not easy being a ref but we need more refs out there no doubt no doubt what a fucking shout out and on top of that not to hop in This guy could ref at the ball hockey tournaments We need refs at the

Chicklets Cup too so you could run that Hey he's like nah I'm all set With that guys I thought I'd be playing in it Go ahead What I could do for you guys There's some stuff that I could say Off air that I don't want to fully disclose to you guys just yet because I want to give, like, certain ideas away.

So, pre-COVID, I literally want to kill myself for this. Pre-COVID, I wrote down 25 different things that I could do for Chiclets, and I literally threw out that sheet of paper like a month ago um but why cool honestly like i was just clearing my room out and it was in a folder and i was like oh like remember when i i was sitting in a cubicle doing this and i literally was just like threw it out i like there has to be a few things that you remember from the list what would be one of them what would be of one of your biggest things that you would fix about Chicklets right now? So as far as like your live events go, right? The biggest thing that I saw was like, it's almost anarchy.

And there's no like direction. And that's what I was there doing, like facilitating. Like you said to me, Biz, you were like, hey, you got to be the bad guy. Like you got to shuffle these people along. Like you need that. When you went to Carolina, there was a video on Chicklets where like you're holding a tray of shots and there's like seven fucking savages like pulling shots from you. It's like, boys, like back it up. Like let's let's have some like nice like flow to this, like set it up the way it's supposed to be done. Um, like pre-event meetings, post-event meetings, what can we do

better? What, what do we learn from this event? What worked, what didn't work? Um, I'm not too sure like how you guys operate as it is, but I've been working events in the past and like, there's ways to do things and there's ways not to do things there's there's intangibles that i could bring to the table and as far as like um like moving forward and like for the pod like i don't want to be on camera i don't want to necessarily like steal your spotlight like i said in initial email because what do i have fucking 400 followers on instagram nobody cares you know you guys are absolutely killing it um one of the things i think we could do is just continue to grow the game you know as a referee like i got little kids coming to the hockey rink like wearing spit like

spitting chicklets gear like moms are in in the stands like wearing like pink whitney toques like the game is like growing and Spinship is killing it. So I just think overall we need to facilitate more areas and continue to grow. I should do a kids' podcast for the kids, for all the minor hockey league players, where there's no swearing. Is that what you're saying?

Maybe that? No. You do a phenomenal job not swearing. I want to clear something up too when you say when you say when i say be the bad guy it's because sometimes the events are planned for an hour and a half and there's two and a half to three hours of people to say hello to and make sure they get their picture so that's why we just at a certain point like if we you know spend 15 minutes with each person nobody's gonna end up getting all their pictures so i can i completely agree and it sucks because you're like you guys are all so genuine and like good guys that you want to have that conversation build a relationship with your

fans and even at bo's pub like there was 15 minutes left in the event and there was still a line down to the street you know and there was no way we were going to get to those people i asked i asked stevie why this same question and uh you know he gave me some good insight what do you do outside of work to relax and decompress let's not talk about work right now what are you doing with your free time he's like you ever seen the show dexter dexter is a good show I like you know walks in the park I have a border collie needs a lot of energy taken out so I walk

him I go mountain biking with the boys skate you know at the local park ice hockey reffing you know the basics alright do you have a question do you have a hospitality background?

You worked in restaurants before that. You're so familiar with how things should be run, or at least you think. I have a degree from college in public relations, and guest services kind of ties into that. Never really worked in a restaurant atmosphere, but my girlfriend has, so she's always telling me like what to do what not to do kind of things um and it's like just being genuine but also um

you know people at events are there to have a good time so we're always looking to um you know make sure all the areas are covered especially at like like our Matt Martin events, right? So like, you want to make sure the dishes are being cleared, cups are being cleared, and garbages aren't overflowing. It's not really something that you need like a restaurant background in, it's more just seeing things that need to get done. And one thing about me is like, I always try and go above and beyond, like the call of duty, right? so if i'm here for an event like i'm still i i'm taking out the trash because i'm not gonna say like oh the janitor needs to do that like no job is too little what i like illegal activities has lou lamorello had you do for him in the past

um so i'm not gonna touch on the the Lou situation because for other reasons. He could be a mole. He could be a mole, guys. Not a mole, but. Just some stuff that we can't hear right now. Yeah, I could tell you guys some stuff off air. Okay. But there are some things that.

Wait, so are you currently still close with Lou, or has the relationship fizzled? No. I'm not talking to him. Okay. You guys are not on speaking terms. Have you ever gone to an event and told the restaurant you were with the Islanders and then told the Islanders you were with the restaurant

similar to this fashion? No, but I've been working with the Islanders for so long that I've done so many different events, restaurants, block parties, meet and greets. All that stuff is like second nature to me. So what I'm thinking right now, and now this is by no means like a guarantee or anything, like there's going to be discussion between all of us. And Grinelli really is kind of the final say guy when it comes to our events and stuff like that. But in thinking, you could be the guy that is sent ahead to really set things up i know we've sort of had that but that's something that

comes to mind other than that we'll have to discuss i don't know if you have anything else to say i don't know if the boys have any other questions it's been interesting it's been nice getting to to know you a little bit on here i still think you're crazy but a good a good crazy i'll say he did call our fans savages when they were reaching over for the Pink Whitney. I take that as a compliment. When we go to these events,

they are rapid, and I think that they're like wild animals, much like the warthog we got over here, R.A. So sometimes I like the aspect of security, but I also like to let them roam free like wild animals should. So, Grinnell, it always goes back to you. I mean, there's always room for improvement, and we want to make sure everybody's experience is the best one.

Yes. What's your feeling on all this? I would like an elevator pitch in 23 words or less. Let's see what you got. 23 words or less. 23 words or less. That's four. That breath counts as one.

Take your time. Don't rush. Take a deep breath, buddy. This is... Put the music on. We do three-hour pods. This could be a 15-minute break. Everybody can do some breathing exercises. I'll be there before and after your events to make sure everything went absolutely A1. I mean, that's fucking under 23.

He's efficient. He's efficient, boys. Saves time. We need that. We would also have to maybe get clearance from Ashley. That's the girl that was maybe a little bit spooked out when she found out this random fan came and pretended he had two jobs in which he didn't have any of them.

The red lipstick on the business card, I'm still scratching my head about that one. We're probably going to have to maybe put you through some more testing. R.A., is there any final question you want to ask him before we end this? We potentially interview your mom for a secondary option just to get some references.

And then, of course, we're going to have to consult with the fan base. Because the fan base. He should have to do Wingate VO2. We should put him through like a draft combine. I thought this was going to be like Kangaroo Court. I thought it would be in a locker room somewhere, you know, ass naked. But, no, in my email email i actually did apologize to ashley um i did feel bad like i wasn't trying to like make her look bad um and like again like my

best intentions were at heart and i was just there trying to help you guys and like protect the brand because like if if i wasn't there like who knows what would have happened, and it would have been, like, some really, like, unhappy fans, and I just didn't want that to happen, you know? So I'm fine with, like, whatever, like, you guys want to do, like, moving forward. I'm down for whatever, you know? Joe, what about people think you may have, like, credibility issues, you know considering like you

had a bullshit people to get we get we go out what's your response to that i think that's bullshit because um you know these days it's it's all about who you know and and sometimes like the hardest working people like they don't even get a shot and i'm willing to be that person for you guys and a lot of people they only look out for themselves you know i consider myself to be that person for you guys. A lot of people, they only look out for themselves. I consider myself to be the most for the boys person in the world. I even have a fucking tattoo for the boys. Strike. To those people who think that I don't deserve it, that's fine. They're just upset that they didn't think of it first.

Would you get a little Chicklets logo as a tear, a teardrop? A pink teardrop? Would you for us? My godmother might disown me. I don't know. She said whatever tattoo is just nothing on the hands or above the collar. So you'd get a spitting Chicklets tramp stamp, a pink Whitney head logo tramp stamp.

Aki Sick going down the arse? No, like our logo right on the tramp stamp area. That's pushing it. The, the, the, the first thing that I could think of as a tester, and I completely respect everything you did and, and you coming on here and conducting the way yourself, the way you have, like, I want to give you an opportunity. We are going to have to do more due diligence. I said that, but we speak of events and Grinnell has set up one of the biggest ones in the history of spit and chicklets coming up at the UBS arena on Long Island. That's a fucking home game for you. But I have to ask you, like, I know that you said that you and Lou are no longer on speaking

terms, but we're also going into his house. And I don't know how much you listened to the podcast. He in fact sent his son over to Arizona Arizona during Super Bowl to issue a death threat towards me. Would you potentially act as security for us going into UBS Arena? I would expect that all of us have to have bulletproof vests on. And we already have one guy, Pasha, who's banned from the NHL. So are you currently banned from ubs arena by any chance or no does he no yeah does he have a restraining order on him like no fly list or

anything like that um i i still have a great relationship with my contacts at the islanders um things just didn't really end well with with them you know i i was there for for seven years still working part-time you know i was as long as I could, as hard as I could working part-time. My year to date was like $5,000. So I always had to have some other part-time or full-time job during the day that never panned out because I was on a Thursday like, hey, it's a game day. Can I leave at three o'clock? And they're like, everyone else wants to leave at three o'clock. Like, why the fuck do you get to, you know, I, I've had so many other jobs, like to try and chase this dream of working with the Islanders.

And it just like never really panned out. I thought by the, by like 10 years, I'd be traveling with the team doing player relations. Um, and I had a great relationship with them and like the players and the families and things like that. Um, never like- Joe, you don't have to explain yourself. Lou's never been good at assessing real talent, buddy, but here at Spittin' Chip, we can, and we know, and we know it when we see it. And they didn't give you the opportunity. Now, you talk about all this hard work you put in for him. Were they compensating you properly? I went through different ownership, different coaching staff, different GM. And, you know, little by little, like things started to change. Like John Ledecky is great. Like he, he started to take care of the employees at the end of the day, but like seven years and you see three interns get bumped up from intern to part-time to full-time. It's like, fuck man.

Like, what am I doing here? You know? And I still got buddies that work for the team and it's like, yo, you're still going to games. Like, and then they're like not hiring you like come on you know it's just it's not fair to to these kids that are students and then working and then working a second job and they say oh we like to hire from within and but you don't and i did my due diligence on you before this interview and i heard you actually did a fantastic job with the Islanders. I heard you absolutely crushed it with them. So hearing this, that's frustrating. I understand why you would be pissed off at them,

but in particular, I was told that you did an amazing job handling the wives and girlfriends. What specifically did you do with them? Pardon? Oh, Jesus. Back it up. I will defend my wags. One of the Tavares left. I will defend my wags. No wonder Tavara's left.

I will defend my wags till the day I die. I've never once said a bad thing about them. Guys in the locker room, you know, when I ref, they're like, oh, like, who's the hottest? I'm like, fuck you. Like, I'm not some fucking sleazeball. Like, they're my clients, basically, right? And I was assigned to a family room and wives suite. Right. So, uh, I was kind of like security, you know, helping them out, helping new players

transition to the arena, families, things like that. Um, and you know, I just, I just had a great relationship with them and I, uh, you know, I could tell you some stories off air, but, um, with them and i uh you know i could tell you some stories off air but um you know overall like they're all great and um they actually shop in my boy's liquor store in garden city shout out garden city wine and spirits no free shout outs during job interviews you can shut out pink whitney though because that's the reason that you're potentially getting a job with us you should be shouting out pink whitney gallo new Amsterdam. If you knew how much Pink Whitney we go through in the summertime, it is my girlfriend's favorite drink. Bro, that's no matter where we go.

Pink Whitney? No? All right. Vodka, Pink Whitney. Would she get a tramp stamp for us? She's already got one of Joe's face. No, no, no. It says GM.

But it comes off in the shower. Suck on that wit. All right. Hey, no. It says GM. But it comes off in the shower. Suck on that wit. All right. Hey, listen. I think this has been pretty solid. In terms of how this interview could have gone, this could have been an absolute disgrace for you. And it could have been one of those things where the listeners are like, no chance. Now we heard his voice.

We want nothing to do with him. In terms of being one of the hosts, I completely feel the opposite. So I'm guessing listeners will as well so let's let's let's you know reconvene we'll discuss we got the vo2 we got the wind gate then maybe another test i was thinking is ra you have to do like all the drugs and alcohol he does one night and if you could stay awake as long as he can that would be a passing grade because the guy's an absolute workhorse. He's got stamina coming out of his ear holes in terms of how much this man can do. So there's a bunch of different tests we will have.

We'll continue to do some background research. But overall, I consider this interview a success for yourself, bud. I appreciate that. And I appreciate you guys having me on. And, you know, you guys want to say what you want to say and joke about what you want to say. And, you know, I read some of the comments and they're like, oh, drug test this kid, like whatever.

He's on some northern Long Island powder, like never done coke in my life, like kept my nose clean. Like I'm still pursuing a career in officiating. You know, I would love to get up to the D1 level, go work IHF, some international hockey and, you know, even the A A. I got boys in the A right now, and that's a dream for me. So it would be awesome trying to facilitate you guys and also skating some games along the way. It would be really cool. All right, bud. All right. We will be in touch. Never done a two-ski. Continue to grind. Honestly, in all seriousness, it sounds

like you're somebody who's kind of been grinding for quite a long time. And as crazy as this move was, it did show a lot of drive, a lot of commitment. And it's something that I am impressed by. So we appreciate all things withstanding. We really appreciate your help that day because that was, like I said, the smoothest meet and greet we've ever had. And that was mainly because of you. So thank you and and we'll be in touch thank you cool i want one promise though what do you got if lou if lou and the islanders come crawling back because they want your work ethic and they want to bring you back on board you manute bolum and say ah ah ah

i'm property now listen they'll be lucky if they make the playoffs right now. Kane to the Rangers? Let's fucking go. Let's go. I hope they do. 88 on Broadway? So are you a Rangers fan? So I grew up a Ranger fan.

My dad is a carpenter for like 30 years. He basically built Manhattan. So he was always freaking out. No shit. Your dad built MSG? He's a mobster? So he didn't build MSG, but he built like a lot of surrounding buildings he built a couple like the sky he like literally put up skyscrapers in manhattan waking up 3 a.m to go get a parking spot at 4 a.m to sleep in his car till fucking

his shift started like the dude's a legend right so i grew up a ranger fan fast forward college and then all of a sudden, a pro club offers you a job. It's like, I can't turn this down because I'm a fuck the Islanders. You know, but I would like to leave. Maybe they knew. Maybe they knew the deep down love of the Rangers, and that's why you never got that kind of bigger job you hoped for. Maybe that's something Lou would know.

He would know. I don't know. There are some stories about Charlesles wong like r.i.p but like if you had like a like a rangers like uh if you had a like a rangers like uh bumper sticker or like license plate like logo like he would literally like tow your car to the other side of the parking lot like that man was a savage um but like i would leave for work like wearing like a ranger, an Islander's polo. And my dad would be like, yo,

take that shit off. Like, nah, not in here. I'm like, I'm going to work. Like, come on,

dad. I didn't build Manhattan for you to wear that shit. Literally. We're Vanderbilt, son. I'm getting paid two and a half dollars an hour to wear this dad. Leave me alone. Yeah.

All right, buddy. This has been awesome our fans are going to decide and uh and maybe they'll have a test that they want you to go through yep sounds like a plans run the show here baby so thanks again and uh i'll keep that uh business card in hand sounds good boys well there he is the gm joe uh let us know what you think should we hire him not hire him what. What would you take on? He's a character.

You got to say that. Kind of cocky in a good way. I like that a little bit. A little bit of cockiness. A little bit of an edge. Yeah. But it was an interesting interview. But a big heart.

Yeah. And the biggest takeaway was how he outed himself. And it was when he gave away the Pink Whitney t-shirts to the cooks and staff in the back. And it just shows that he's got a big heart. And that's why I think a lot of our fan base are on his side. So I think that it's just a matter of time before this guy has got a bulletproof vest

on and putting Lula Amarillo in an armbar. Yeah. So let us know what you think and we'll see what happens. Gee, we have a new episode of Gay Notes dropping Thursday, correct Armando? That is correct. Thursday morning, we have a new episode dropping Gay Notes dropping Thursday, correct Armando? That is correct. Thursday morning we have a new episode dropping on the YouTube channel and then Merle's and I also have a video when we were in Arizona last week. We went to ASU, we toured Mullet Arena, not from the Yotes perspective, we toured it from the ASU hockey team perspective. We had Josh Doan show us around,

show us how unbelievable their new facility is. So that video is dropping on Wednesday. It's a really cool thing that we want to keep doing. We want to go to these colleges, check out their facilities, show the world what they have to offer. And Greg Powers is the man. He's doing an unreal job at ASU. He's brought that program from a club team now to what I call it the Mecca of college hockey. So we're excited for this video to drop. It's really cool. What's the latest on the next sandbag? Do we have a hot date for that?

Give or take March 15th. We're saying March 15th right now, but you never know with Posh. And he's battling online with Rangers fans. He's editing. Did we read his tweet out? His tweet's nuts. I mean, he has somewhat of a point.

Okay, so he said, NYR are a graveyard where washed up players go for their careers to die. And then he listed somewhat of a point. Okay, so he said, NYR are a graveyard where washed-up players go for their careers to die. And then he listed a bunch of names. He put Holik, Drury, Redden, Gomez, Naslin, Richards, Gabarik, Nash, St. Louis, Tarasenko. And then he put, only fitting for Kane to go there. That's a troll tweet. I mean, I think Rick Nash had the most goals in his career one season in New York. I think Gabarik won a Stanley Cup after being on the Rangers,

and he also lit it up in New York. So there's some names on there who certainly were on the back nine and maybe didn't play up to their potential, but that's a guy who's just looking to start the battle early with Rangers fans. Oh, you mean Pasha talking out of his ass? Oh, no, you don't say. I am a little bit nervous, though though with them getting Timo Meier and I didn't touch on it earlier. I have a, I was spouting off online, just like Pasha saying that

if the New Jersey Devils make the Eastern Conference Finals in the next two years, so this year and next, I will get a tattoo on my ass of the Devils mascot. I hold true to every single one of my bets unless they involve my dick, which I didn't end up chopping off my foreskin, but that was because my doctor told me that it would be a horrible idea and there was a lot of risk associated to that. So Snuffleupagus is staying. But if New Jersey does make the Eastern Conference Finals, I will be getting a devil mascot tattoo on my ass in Atlanta because that's where I'll be when the Eastern conference finals are going on. Maybe Charles Barkley can hold my hand while we're doing it.

Also biz big deal brew now available in New Hampshire and Vermont. Correct? Absolutely. So next, because this podcast is ran so long, it is available in more States. We're going to give you every single state next podcast, along with news as to where you can get it.

It is easy in most states to find it on the store locator. You can go to bigdealbrewing.com. Store locator is pretty easy to use. You put in your area code and you can put in the mileage and it'll tell you the closest stores to get it around your area. It is available on some driving services. Is that delivery services? Like GoPuff. GoPuff.

Yeah, Drizzly, those types of services. So check that out on the website. And as far as Canada is concerned, we are going to have an update very soon. Guys, we are doing everything we can. Canada is very strict when it comes to alcohol coming in their country. Healthcare is free there. So they do look out for these types of things. But the good news is, is it will be available probably in the next three months in

select provinces. We will have an update in the next few weeks. Thank you so much for your patience. If you have had a chance to try it, we appreciate you guys supporting our beer and our alcohol brand along with Pink Whitney. So to the moon. Thank you all. And that's pretty much all I got for this podcast. And Chicklets Game Notes, like we mentioned, will be dropping Thursday this week.

Check out Merle's and Armdog and all their shenanigans the past month. And next week, the deadline will be over. Kane should be a ranger there'll probably be some other sneaky moves nobody even thought about and we'll break all those down next Tuesday we'll be right back getting ready for this stretch drive

playoff hockey on the horizon we'll talk to you guys soon