Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 432: Featuring Shjon Podein
Episode Date: March 14, 2023On Episode 432 of Spittin’ Chiclets, the guys are joined by Shjon Podein. Shjon joined (01:31:08:19 - 02:30:12:10) to discuss his time in Philly, winning the Cup in Colorado, his infamous Stanley Cu...p story, and tons more. But first, the guys open the show recapping their weekends and breaking down the major news out of Philadelphia. The boys also touch on all the major NHL news, and discuss the possibility of an LA Kings - Vegas Golden Knights 1st round playoff matchup.You can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/schiclets
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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 432 of Spittin' Chicklets, presented by Pink Whitney.
My friends at New Amsterdam Vodka here in the Barstool Sports Podcast family.
What's going on everyone? We're headed into the last month of the season.
All the big trades are done and it's time for another sandbagger. So let's check in with the fellas first. Biz, the birthday boy.
Happy birthday, our friend.
Let's go to you first.
How did you celebrate your birthday this week?
I thought we were going to come out swinging with the sandbagger and pasta and the boys.
Should we start with that?
Speaking of Pink Whitney, guys, we have probably one of the best, if not the best sandbagger
coming out on Wednesday.
I'm super fired up.
Originally, we were supposed to have it at 6 p.m., but we didn't want to interfere
with the TNT broadcast, so
I mean, Whit, I'll let you chime in here.
That was such a blast. We were blessed to have
Fiala and Pasta join us in
Florida during All-Star break,
and once again, it came down
to the wire. Now you see the real Pasta.
And once you see what we're talking about,
you'll understand what I mean.
Very gracious to those guys. I mean, all-star break, it's fun playing golf and they're down
in Florida coming from the cold weather. Well, I guess not Fiala, but it's still like a lot to ask
for them to come and film for five hours, play golf with us, all the cameras around. So we want
to say thanks to those guys. then yeah the match it's hard to
kind of describe it without giving stuff away but let's to say the least we were surprised because
i don't think there's much golf in czech republic or switzerland maybe there is i mean fiala speaks
about nine languages i know he was his parents are czech or something i don't remember the whole
backstory i think we get into it on the onbagger, but these guys are, they're athletes. That's what
it comes down to. You put a big time athlete with a golf club in his hand, they can look foolish,
but if you got the hand eye and you've played a couple of times, you'll see pretty quick that
while not the most aesthetically pleasing swings, they get the fucking job done.
So I'm looking forward to Wednesday night night looking forward to the feedback the trailer pasha released with the awesome vibe
was just phenomenal great work by him so that's why i want to lead it off with the sandbagger and
and just kind of thanking all the guys who are involved and who helped make it work uh pasha
being one of the main components to it he has to edit the whole thing but we got shauna puso
uh we got uh fish what's his first
name is it eric elliot oh fuck i was close enough sorry fishy uh and uh logan rg i'll let you hop
in and say thank you to the rest of the guys yeah fish mcquade logan sean there's a a big crew of us
the sales team to get the sales team get the sales part of it done so yeah it's a big crew and then
you got to thank the course as well i think the course for letting us play it there lagomar lagomar once
again our guy connor hooking it up so it's uh yeah it was awesome yeah it was a pretty pretty
pretty special day so we're looking forward are you going to be live in the chat on wednesday me
wit no you're not going to be in the chat it's just going to be merles merles will be there
crew i don't even know merles merles will have to be staying the chat. It's just going to be Merle's. Merle's will be there, I guess. And the EBR crew. I don't even know.
Merle's will have to be staying up late night for that.
What time on Wednesday are we dropping this bitch?
5 p.m. Eastern time.
5 p.m. Eastern.
Wow.
Leading into TNT.
We're going to get to that later.
We got the Leafs and Avalanche.
So that's going to be a big, a potential final.
Right?
Because you know the Leafs are favorite.
Yeah, the Avs can do it again, but that will not be the final.
But going back to the birthday weekend, guys,
spent like a grown-up.
I didn't end up going on the 47-mile hike.
Oh, I was wondering.
Like you were making it sound like, oh, I went on a little hike.
I'm like, dude, that's a little hike.
So it was probably not the right time to go.
I ended up bailing on that,
but still got some good training sessions in and went on three separate hikes.
The big one on Saturday with Donor, we went seven miles in this place in Cave Creek with Pasha.
So it was us three.
It was a ball.
We ended up getting downpoured on like halfway through.
So you're just like up in Cave Creek, back in all the mountains and stuff like that.
You can't really see many houses.
There's not many people there.
So it was a very, very tranquil hike.
And of course with donor, it's always good conversation and just watch a lot of hockey
with Pasha.
He ended up cooking me a few steak dinners.
I went and got the steaks and we grilled them up on the barbecue and fuck every, every night
I fell on the, on the, I fell asleep on the couch before 10 o'clock.
So it was, it was a great, a great weekend.
I ended up finishing off yesterday on Sunday
With my third hike of the weekend
So I went on three small ones
And then I ended up getting either food poisoning or sunstroke
One of the two
So I ended up yucking the whole night
Are those similar
Like is what happens to you similar
With sunstroke
And food poisoning
I'm not sure
But after the hike And I did it tarps off and
the sun was beaten down for the first time really hall uh first time really hard like for the first
time i guess in winter is it still considered winter i think it's technically spring now
if not it's got to be daylight savings because the first time it was it was as cooking as it
was so i went tarps off and after the hike i I was like, oh fuck, man, I got to go get something to eat or I'm going to pass out here.
And after I ate, come home and you know that feeling when you're like, oh, something's coming up and then you end up yucking.
And then there's just a buildup to the next throw up too.
So it was a tough night, but a tough way to start the week, but definitely looking forward to everything we got going on.
Do you, are you a guy guy like if you go to the beach
or tarps off on a hike do you put sunscreen on ever i didn't i did not put sunscreen on for this
one it was about an hour and an hour and 45 minute hike so if i did that i'd be in the hospital like
no i'm not kidding 45 really no if i didn't have my shirt on in the sun for like 30 minutes dude
i'm in a bad bad place you know i bet you i'm gonna
have a bunch of dermatologists listening to this podcast we're gonna reach out via dm saying what
the fuck are you doing you idiot i say i gotta get my base tan for tnt brother my other question is
so when i do my walks on the treadmill i go to 4.7 and it's right around a 14 minute mile so
i would say i'd be like an hour 40, hour 35, seven minute,
seven mile walk on the treadmill. It takes you that long on the hikes, uphill, downhill,
you're still seven miles right around hour 40. The seven mile one, I was, the seven mile one
was spur cross. And I think that there is elevation to it. I think total, we were out of there in two
and a half hours, burned a thousand calories.
Did you stop for a couple of minutes here and there?
No, no, no.
That was basically going straight through.
Are you saying that I'm going slow?
Is that what you're alluding to?
No, no, no, no, no, no.
I mean, it's the uphill downhill parts that create the extra time, I'm assuming.
I'm also walking pretty fast at four or seven on the treadmill.
Like I'm speed walking.
You know how I walk anyway. Oh yeah. What's the elevation when i'm a i'm speed walking okay you know how i
walk anyway oh yeah what's what's the elevation when you're going four seven oh zero i don't
consider that incline button on the left yeah that'll do it no i just look at it i just uh i
like doing it well one you get the nature right so it just completely takes you out of any type
of technology it makes you appreciate things more,
but I like the elevation and the endurance aspect of it, especially with the hiking and the building
up your leg muscles without having to do any type of like squats or lunges or hit the heavyweights
in the gym. Were you, were you a heavyweight guy when you were training growing up? Oh yeah,
I was a real heavyweight guy. No, but like, no, I was, I was power cleans, power lifting.
I started training
with Mike Boyle. Who's a legend in the training game. He was longtime BU hockey trainer. Like
back when they became like, I think late eighties, he might've began if not early nineties, but
really kind of by Boyle, baby. I mean, he's, he's growing a big business. He's had so much success.
Um, and then I remember eighth grade was when I really started training. I would take,
and then I remember eighth grade was when I really started training I would take I would like take the train and what else from Nobles in Dedham to BU and and that's when I
learned to like clean hang clean snatches up over the head at that time we were back squatting and
then it turned into I don't know the research that was done where front squatting is a lot
better for you you could do more weight when it's on your back but yeah it was it was all heavyweight it was all and then now i
think it's really changed the the biggest game changer is how they have these what are those
machines now where you just put the pressure up and it's like air pressure visor yeah that's that
was one of them but i think i think a lot of people do that stuff maybe lower weight more
dynamic i mean it just changes constantly who knows in 30 years it could be back to like heavy
power cleans but i mean i understand where the the thought process was on cleaning and doing
things like that just i beat the fucking wheels off my body doing that stuff and in herniated
disc later on in my career the l5s1 that i bring up all the time but all that shit even
sometimes mid-back and then when you're when you're 16 17 years old trying to rack up the
squat rack the 400 pounds and squatting that shit it ain't doing much more for you or any
anymore if anything it's counterproductive to what you need in the hockey look at look at the way
conor mcdavid's built you would never think that he's a freak athlete it's all about mobility and movement
and I just think in the latter part yeah fast twitch all that type stuff so no I've been I'm
proud of myself I don't like to pump my own tires too hard yes I'm uh but but getting back in shape
and trying to get back to that level where like at least I'm challenging myself from week to week
and and trying to up the level of fitness I I'm going to see where I can bring it.
Somebody actually reached out.
Jeff got an email from the Tour de France about going to do some type of training because
of all the shit I was talking on the podcast.
So when I get some time off this summer, I'd love to go for a week, week and a half and
be humbled by these bicycle riders.
Those guys would stuff you right in their back pocket.
I think we chirped them hard.
I better be able to take the drugs they're taking then.
Fair enough.
What language are you guys speaking right now?
This is all foreign to me.
All right.
You should start with the walking on the treadmill.
That'd be just a great start to get going.
I would recommend pick up basketball,
but I think we all know how that's going.
Yeah, that's a disaster.
No, I walk around the neighborhood or the city. I get walk and not lately it's been a little cool he walks when
he smokes so that's how we get motivated hey it was pasta the biggest chicklets bump ever he does
a sandbag with you guys that he signs for 11 and a half sheets i mean that that's a little chicklets
bump we didn't talk about it much last week because we knew we were going to have the sandbagger
coming out but congrats to him man worth every. I mean, the last deal was much like a Marchy deal
where he was on a bit of a discount. I think he was only making what? Six million bucks on his
last deal? Six and change. Yeah. Bridge deal. Yeah. But when you do what he's done the past
few, it's like, no, no, no, no. We said it. No more, no more team friendly deals the time has changed in boston he just i mean he
creates on his own he's still a human highlight reel where he'll walk defenseman one-on-one uh
he's got playmaking abilities where he can distribute the puck his one-timer is unreal he
always finds that little pocket off where those two other guys on his line will find him so he's
just he brings it all he's one of the most dynamic players offensively in the entire league. So he's worth every penny and I couldn't be
happier for him. And I think one of his quotes last time when he was on that team friendly deal
was, I don't do it for the money. He's like, I just love the game. I mean, some people might
push back on that now that he's picking 11 sheets, but I mean, hey, the model seems to be working up
until now. Gee, we got some big deal brewing news as well.
I saw your video the other day.
We're on tap now, huh?
We are now available on tap.
Go to your bar.
Make sure they request big deal brewing on tap because I was drinking it all weekend at the Canuck and it was fantastic, boys.
That's where you filmed that.
So they were one of the first places to get it on tap.
The spouts are absolutely stunning.
Buffalo Wild Wings is now carrying it.
They have 30 draft beers
In the state of New York since they've had it the last couple weeks
It's already the 11th highest selling
Beer on their draft list
So folks
I think even as far as distribution
If you want it at your local liquor store
Make sure you're asking for it
Also some good news on Canada
The only thing I can say
About it is the first three provinces
are going to be Alberta, BC, and Ontario.
And you should be expecting big deal brew in those three provinces
around playoff time.
So Canada, it always takes forever.
They have a lot of rules.
I know I keep harping on that.
So finally we're going to break the threshold of getting into Canada. Real limited amount of cases in Ontario to start. But once again,
just continue to ask for it from your local LCBOs. And then I guess it's a little bit more
independent out in Alberta and BC. So great news on the big deal brewing front. I think we're going
to be having some more states come about, but we are slowly rolling out. This is a little bit more mom and pop, but we are very, very grateful for all you people who have supported Big Deal Brewing to begin with. have it all there. So just bigdealbrewing.com slash finder. And again, we're posting all these things on our
social as well. We're posting what liquor stores have it, what booze stores have it, what bars have
it, what states are coming out. So just stay tuned to all that. I'm constantly, constantly the one
to think of the great people in the great area of Saskatchewan.
So don't even think we're not thinking about you.
Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, we understand they're first,
but I'm a Saskatchewan guy deep down.
I feel like I had a relative someday in Saskatchewan, so it'll be there.
Don't think we forgot about you. Colby Armstrong.
Exactly.
Yeah, same body.
Before we go any further, you know what I'm here to talk to you about.
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One other thing I did on my birthday weekend before falling asleep on the couch on Saturday,
I watched that Murdaugh Murders.
Have you seen that?
Oh, on Netflix?
Yeah.
On Netflix.
Yeah.
Have you seen it, guys?
Actually, hilarious story about that.
It's funny you brought that up. I wouldn't have remembered. Funny. Hilarious. Yeah. Hilarious. I mean,
the entire case is not hilarious. What happened to these people is not hilarious, but what happened
with the story I heard this weekend was pretty funny. The story was Jersey Jerry, for everyone
who knows Barstool knows who Jersey Jerry is I am March I was gambling with him all
weekend well he watched the first episode and he was disgusted by Paul Murdoch the kid and he
decided that he was going to find his Instagram and DM him and he DM'd him some hateful stuff I
hope you deserve to die was one of them well it turned out he was dead he hadn't watched the second and
third episode yet oh my god holy shit wow that was i mean do you want to go into it a little bit like
what what were your takeaways from that just a scumbag family horrible family i mean there's not
much to be said for people who don't know the story it was basically this family like ran this
small area in south carolina for years and years and years and it turns out they were they were
dirtbags i don't know if the if the generations prior were like this current generation but
i mean now there's only one of them left the father just got just got found guilty of killing
his son and his and his wife it's just a horrible disgusting story but i don't
really have much else to say on it besides it was shocking to watch and see what these people were
able to get away with year after year how about some of the other people some of the people yes
the other people involved that were hanging around though i feel like they knew they were scumbags
but because they were rich and had all this cool shit they were still hanging around with them
yeah that's how life works yeah small town rich connected assholes i mean they were getting away
with everything and even when the boat crashed the kid was laughing the other the kid whose
girlfriend died he's like this kid's got a smile on his face it just shows you how much of an
asshole he was he was so adamant about taking the boat yeah it was like and then while while while
that the police are around the kid obviously they're looking for this girl it's so sad and and the kid's like you know who that that kid's dad is good luck you know it's like
everyone knew like it was just it was horrible it was like they were trying not to find her
because if they didn't then they couldn't be any fucking judges like it was definitely fishy but
thankfully they're all fucking done so the guy's probably gonna do life i recommend it and it's
short it's not one of those ones that drags out. It's three episodes. Each of them are about 50 minutes long. Maybe you
could do away with the first one, but it does set the tone of it all. You could watch episode three
and then understand everything, right? I don't remember. I would watch all three, but also at
the same time, I don't know if Netflix rushed that because Amazon also put one out at the same time that was
far superior. There was far more like video. They have video of the crash when the boat crashed into
the bridge. So check that out if you haven't seen it, boys, as well, because I thought Amazon did a
way better job. I thought it was all murder docked out because everything seems to be like murder on
Netflix lately, but I did check that out. It was pretty good. Definitely give it a whirl.
I feel like Manitoba is punching this well right now after all the provinces we just mentioned.
We didn't mention Manitoba at all.
No beer.
But I'm sure it's going to be coming there sooner or later.
You just mentioned gambling in Massachusetts.
That's the other thing on tap.
Barstool did open their app here Friday at 10 o'clock in the morning.
So if you are in Massachusetts, the Barstool app is live if you want to gamble uh how about that electric moment with elio uh what oh my god
mr ice he's gone on the cold he had two miracle wins saturday night to make that day even but
friday night he had chicago florida over chicago went out to a two nothing lead through one not
much action which was almost good because we wanted the good team to be chasing, right?
So Florida ends up going up 3-2, and we're like, all right,
I guess we're kind of alive.
Kachuk, first assist on all three goals.
What a hockey player.
Holy shit.
Well, what happens?
We're thinking, all right, well, maybe, maybe that Florida can go up 4-2
and then they get the empty netter.
I don't think Chicago's going to be able to tie it up, and sure as shit,
Big Cat, me, Portnoy, and Elio are just around the computer.
Empty net, you know, goalie pulled for Chicago.
Puck goes in front.
We're all going, ah, and he bangs it in.
I don't remember who scored.
Nikito, I think, is out for the year now.
I can't think of his name right now, but it was electric because, you know,
if you bet the over 6.5, you get it to 3-3.
It's a winner. So it was an amazing win. know, if you bet the over 6.5, you get it to 3.3, it's a winner.
So it was an amazing win.
It was a crazy two days.
Pretty much the exact opposite of Biz's healthy weekend.
I sat there, gambled, drank high noon tequilas.
Those are phenomenal.
Oh, yeah.
And ate like shit.
Portnoy ordered Golden Temple for us Friday night,
and then we ended up getting it again Saturday.
So just like back-to-back Chinese food.
I'm disgusting.
Just losers everywhere in college basketball.
Absolute loser fest.
I was giving out losers.
Portnoy must have been two for 50.
He was horrendous.
Dan couldn't give a winner.
Jersey Jerry, I am March.
He was getting hot.
He was giving some winners.
Big winner, Marquette, first half against Xavier
in the Big East title game.
That was a win.
What I was
able to win on with the help of Kirk Minahan, who also caught fire, was the golf gambling aspect to
the Barstool Sportsbook where Scotty Scheffler seemed to get hot. So we just started pounding
fairway hit, green and regulation, next hole, fairway hit, green and regulation.
You can do that in golf?
Oh, I guess in the majors, they have a ton of guys. For the most part, at the players, they just had one group.
Scheffler was so good Saturday, we just kept taking him to hit every fairway and every green in regulation.
Now, granted, the odds are going up, but we just kept pounding it.
I don't know how, like, if a player gets hot, you can almost see that they're just in that groove.
It's like, just keep pounding that number, pounding that number.
And that's how we're able to win.
Minahan, at one point, looked over.
I think he said, like,
Scheffler, eighth green in regulation.
There's a 240-yard par three.
Boom, he hits it to 10 feet.
So we crushed the golf aspect.
College basketball, it's impossible.
These kids are so bad.
They're so good.
They're so bad, too.
When teams are pressing,
like the full-c full court press they can't
even get the ball inbounds it's unbelievable they make the worst cross-court turnovers
it's nuts and you got to remember they're just kids that's what we kept saying they're just kids
but when you have all this money riding on you certainly don't treat them like kids you're like
get the ball inbounds you lay it up and then the, worst beat of the weekend. So Elio and Stephen Che, well, I should say Stephen Che and Elio,
they've combined to make a prop bet.
I think they're going to do it two or three times a week called the Brain Freeze.
Stephen Che is a master, apparently, at NBA props,
players over a certain amount of assists or three-pointers, things like that.
And Elio, he's the overmaster.
So the Brain Freeze the first night involved the center from the Cleveland Cavaliers getting over two and
a half assists, and then Elio's over of Chicago and Florida. Well, that game was first, so his
part hit. The freeze part of the brain freeze had hit. So then this center, Mobley, his name was
Mobley, he's got two assists, and he got in foul trouble, so they took him off the court.
We're like, get this guy back in the game.
Get back.
We need another assist.
Sure as shit, he gets a pass thrown to him from the three-point line.
A beautiful little, like, fake up for a layup and just chips it over to a guy
who's running into the basket for a slam dunk.
We're celebrating.
Yeah.
Dude, he got stuffed by the rim.
An NBA player, legit, like a kid, like a child on a five-foot hoop,
went to jump up and literally stuffed himself on the rim with the dunk.
It didn't go in.
The bet didn't hit.
So it was just an awful, awful weekend of just loser after loser besides the golf.
But it is pretty cool to have the app and the ability to gamble online in Massachusetts now.
That Dixie that Jerry took with, I think basketballs are the official number one enemy of Boston employees this year.
I have to see in that fall he took.
Did you see it?
Yes, I did.
I wasn't there for that, but that was a bad one.
Yeah, that looked pretty rough.
Should we get to the hockey boys?
Got some shit to get to.
Unless you did anything very interesting this weekend.
Hanging in there sleeping.
Walks and smoked.
Yeah, didn't do much of anything.
Just kind of took it easy, relaxed, watch them hockey.
Yeah, kind of a boring weekend for the old guy of the crew.
I did bet the Bruins live as they went down.
They went down 1-0, I bet them live.
They went down 2-0, I bet them live.
They made it 2-1, I bet them live again.
So that was good.
Yeah, didn't do much.
We do have a good guest coming later, Sean Podine, won the 0-1 cup with the Avalanche Minnesota guy. Good
stuff coming later. But first, we had a firing after five seasons of really no organizational
progress. The Philadelphia Flyers fired general manager and president of hockey operations,
Chuck Fletcher, a week after letting him oversee the one last trade deadline for the foundry
franchise. Former Flyer Danny Breer was named the interim GM, while the organization begins the process
of permanently filling two separate positions, president of Hockey Ops and general manager.
Breer was the special assistant to the GM for the last year after spending five years with Maine
up in the coast. Right now, only Columbus and Montreal have fewer points in the East End Philly.
They've made the playoffs once since 2018.
Not bad enough to make the lottery odds.
And then there was that clip I sent you guys of Fletcher at, I think it was a season ticket hold to meet.
And that was just really awkward.
He was talking about an app that can make up trades for you.
It just sounded like cap-friendly.
He mentioned JV as the name of the trade.
It was just like, Jesus Christ, man.
But anyways, he's gone.
I know the fans have been looking for it. The way that he described it was, it was an app that would tell you whether the proposal,
the trade proposal was fair or not.
And that potentially he made it sound like
he was actually making decisions based off
what this app was telling him.
So obviously not a good look.
I don't know how much stock I want to put into that,
whether he ended up making the decision because of the app.
Sometimes because of all this analytics talk.
Some of these GMs are trying to maybe play catch up a little bit
and use them to their advantage, where in some cases,
like that is not where you go look.
Okay, so biggest surprise is the fact that they did this
after the trade deadline.
And I just think it speaks volumes to maybe the disconnect
that's going on throughout the whole organization.
Oh, there's a big one.
I don't want to talk poorly on them.
We went there at the beginning of the year.
They took care of us.
There's so many wonderful people there.
But basically from what I gathered from the trip was ever since Comcast bought it, they don't treat the alumni as well where they've been kind of pushed off to the side.
And maybe they don't treat the fans the way they once did too, right?
So now all of a sudden you try to change the guard, you get Fletch in there.
And let's start off by saying, like, he's a wonderful guy.
Like, he's awesome, right?
I think he could self-admittedly say that he didn't personally do a very good job.
I think he admitted it when they had that press conference right after the trade deadline. Hated a majority of his moves, didn't really understand them.
Maybe he was in fact getting them from the app, but just overall from top to bottom,
it's just been a bit of a shit show. My understanding was when Ron Hextall was there,
he would allow nobody to have any type of saying
on what was going on. He was making the final call and it wasn't really much of a powwow and
getting everybody's opinions. I heard that the pendulum swayed too much the other way then when
Chuck Fletcher was involved, where maybe some of these moves can't be blamed on him. Maybe they
were being ordered down from the top. And I think that
sometimes when you have this old guard as part of an organization that they feel because of what
they've accomplished in the past, maybe they have some entitlement as to how much power they should
have in these decisions. But to keep up as the fucking general manager and know the what, what,
and the who's who of what's going on, you have to fucking be on the pulse of the league non-stop so to to blame fletch for all these moves that happen i i can't do it because i
don't know who was the one recommending doing them but if most of them were on him and those were his
decisions catastrophic and he set the organization back a little bit and the fact that they didn't
unload much else or get creative
at the deadline you see you saw some of these other teams get creative with stuff whether it
was retaining salaries and salaries and gaining draft picks it was like what are you doing here
fold your hand Doug Armstrong folded his hand look at the returns that he got based on one where he
was at the time so just just a big, big head scratcher
from the total organization in general.
I hope they could figure things out
and kind of bridge that gap
to where maybe the fans feel
about where the organization is at.
And if in fact that the alumni
is not really as involved
in being treated the way that they were
before the new ownership took over,
maybe they should look to maybe mend that
and get them more involved
because I'm pretty sure during these dark times,
those fans can at least lean on those good memories
of having those alumni around,
walk in the halls,
and get you through basically the shit years.
Because that's like...
Don't you think though...
Don't you think like it's...
It's almost time to like cut the cord from the old ways of the Flyers?
There's so much nepotism there that all it is is former Flyers that have been there forever.
And you're exactly right, because when Hextall is there, he's like, I'm done.
I think Holmgren and Bill Barber and Bobby Clark, they're super involved,
and there's probably all of a sudden Hextall's like, no, no, no, we're not doing
too many cooks in the kitchen thing.
And then all of a sudden
it's gone back to now where, like you say,
like Fletcher, a lot of the times,
I don't even think, like,
from what I've heard, like that wrist align
and re-signing, which is like, I don't know
what they were thinking, but that's
something where it's like, oh, this is a Flyers type
player. You know, this is a Broad Street bully.
It's like... Yeah, double down on the fact
they traded for him when they shouldn't have gave up
for... I think they gave up multiple
first-rounders for him. At least one, I know.
They don't even have a lot of draft picks
coming up.
Alright, so then they
gave Arizona two draft
picks. One of them was a second-rounder
just to take Goss' bear, right?
And then you see what Carolina does in terms of like,
then they trade draft picks just to be able to talk to D'Angelo
before they signed him.
So it's been all this mismanagement of like players they're signing,
draft picks they're giving away, too many cooks in the kitchen,
and all these things that lead back to like all of their leaning on the old
flyers and the guys who got it done they haven't won a cup in 50 years dude it's like you gotta at
some point kind of cut the cord from the past i know that may not sit well with a lot of fans
but there's a new way of doing things what edmonton had to do it just to a certain degree
edmonton had to do it and it was the same? Edmonton had to do it to a certain degree.
Edmonton had to do it.
And it was the same type thing there.
Now, Daniel Breer may be awesome.
The one thing I love about Daniel Breer,
it wasn't retire and sit around and broom,
you're brought back in the fold.
He's been in the coast and he's been learning how this goes at a lower level.
And all the most successful people like Chris Drury,
he started at the bottom and he worked his way up.
Yeah, granted, once you get up and up and move up the ladder, it then comes to the conclusion like what
you did and where you're going to end up sitting. But you can't just hop in and all of a sudden be
like running team. So Breer at least has some experience at the East Coast League level and
he's been very open to analytics and all these different things. Whereas it's like the Flyers
have relied on not only trying to turn this thing around so quick,
but they've relied on guys who did it a long time ago when the game was just a lot different.
And when you have all these different opinions and guys telling you what to do,
it's like I kind of feel for Fletcher a little bit.
I'm not at all saying he didn't do a bad job.
He didn't.
But you said right off the hop,
I don't even think a lot of these decisions were his decision.
So when you have all these guys telling you what you have to do
and what you shouldn't do, it makes it pretty hard
to kind of go on what you think you should do
because you have different opinions left and right coming at you all the time.
Breer said this needs to be a full rebuild.
Torts made it pretty clear with that letter as well,
and they haven't done it in so long.
And you look at Chicago the great years.
You look at Pittsburgh all these years.
You look at all the teams who've had serious success.
That's what it takes.
And I know that the big discussion from people in terms of full rebuild
is like, oh, the fans are just going to shut off.
Well, they're going to come back when they start winning.
I understand there's this worry of like, oh, my God, through these three, going to shut off. Well, they're going to come back when they start winning. I understand there's this worry of, oh my God,
through these three, four years, however it takes,
it's going to be a disaster.
We're not going to sell tickets, blah, blah, blah.
Well, do you want to deal with the constant malaise
of being an average team and barely even in the fight
to try to get in the playoffs?
Or do you want to be really bad and get really good?
It doesn't always work that way because the draft doesn't go well
and things can happen, but there's no other way that they can do it now.
They have to completely rebuild.
They should be saying anyone above the age of 25 is available
and we don't even need an amazing return back.
Just get us back to where we're just playing prospects.
We're going to be shitty.
I actually think Torts would be a really good coach for a rebuild too
because he's going to teach you what it takes compete-wise.
You're not going to have the skill, but he's at least going to be there
and be able to teach these kids what it's like to be a pro
and compete every night.
So right now, as a Flyers fan, you've got to be disgusted,
but you want this team to be bad the next two years.
It sucks to say, but there's no other way to get good.
People were saying that for president,
Ray Whitney's came up and also Shane Doan.
So the biggest component to that is like,
I don't know what his round table was, Chuck Fletcher,
but having the right round table
and being able to bounce ideas
and not just having a bunch of yes men in the room,
it's important the team that you're going to build as well around you and and briere is just the type
of guy where he's going to listen to your opinion as well he's not like stubborn and set in his ways
he's has more of that new school approach as well with the credibility as a player and to add if
they end up adding one if not both of those guys like like Ray Whitney's been around the game of hockey forever.
I mean, he was a, he was a stick boy trainer with the Edmonton Oilers when Gretzky was playing,
ended up playing over, over, probably over 1200 games, over a thousand points. Uh, I think that
he should be at some point considered for the, for the hall of fame. Uh, but to have a guy like
that, I think he was also one of the final guys in the
job for the san jose he had his name in the in the ring for there when when greer ended up getting it
so to have those two guys as part of your staff they have a lot to offer and also two guys who
have a complete pulse on what's going on nowadays that's going to be that's going to be important
to his success as well so i'm happy for brie and Breer. And as you said, he's earned the right based on going to grind it out at the lower level.
And he's just interim, but they're going to, from what I read,
they're going to have a president of hockey ops, and then they're going to have the GM.
Fletcher was doing both.
It's a lot, right?
And I know Breer is just the interim, but you'd think he'd get one of those spots
based on how the next few months go. And it wouldn't be fair to mention, they made the trade for Ellis,
who's a great defense, and I don't know what's going on. Hopefully he can play hockey again.
That was a kick in the dick, right? And then you missed Couturier all year. Kim Atkinson's been
out all year. And then as I mentioned, you got to rebuild and you got to be bad and get high draft
picks. Well, it really sucks what happened with Nolan Patrick because he looked like a
surefire prospect. And that's one of those, oh, we're bad. We get the second overall pick. And
then that happens. That's the risk. That's what Edmonton went through for so long with all these
picks and they're not getting any better. There certainly is that that's the argument for we
can't go full rebuild. You're never sure about these draft picks. Understandably so. But in the
past, the way teams become great again is through the draft so there's just been so many different
things that have gone sideways for the Flyers this last little while not to mention the COVID
year they were actually pretty good in 2020 when the season shut down so I really like Chuck though
and and Biz and I have been around him personally. He's the assistant GM at Pittsburgh. Great person.
So you hate to see guys that you know
and that are good people go through this,
but it was a tough run.
Can I ask you guys, if you're Danny Breer,
like what is the first move you're making this off season?
Well, he mentioned the word rebuild.
He said that.
And I'm sure maybe it's a split in the fan base
as to what they want to do at this point,
but I say fucking full-blown rebuild.
There's no other way around it.
I would be as bad as possible next year.
With a coach who's not going to let these guys be bad and skate through it,
he's going to be a motherfucker.
I disagree with you on the torts comment where it's like,
I think there's a balance in between the two.
I just don't like the way he carves the guys publicly so much.
And then how he plays these.
Then he kind of pumps their tires, though.
Like a week later, he'll kind of pump a guy up that he's been hard on.
I don't think he's evolved enough.
I don't know, like going through a rebuild, man, like who do you want?
Like a younger guy?
It's definitely going to be tough.
It's going to be tough sledding for a while, but to see true greatness again,
it's going to have to happen, and they've never done it.
They've never done it once.
All right, Chicklets fans, it's time to talk to you about a beer
that's near and dear to my heart.
I know I like Big Deal Brew, but I also love Labatt Blue Light.
And you guys know, there's a little bit of Canadian kindness
in every sip of Labatt Blue Light. How did it get in there, you ask? They're Canadian. That's how.
You could spread the love yourself by sharing a Labatt. And when you share a Labatt, you're not
just sharing a beer. You're sharing an experience that'll pair with anything from hockey to hoedown.
That's right. even hoedown.
So the next time you're watching the hockey game with your buds,
be sure to share a Labatt,
because while you might not all root for the same team,
you can all enjoy a nice, crisp Labatt blue light.
Labatt, the pristine Canadian pilsner.
Another name mentioned as a possible president of hockey ops is Eric Lidross from
Elliott Friedman. Also, Charlie O'Connor and the Athletic did a great piece of what you guys are
just saying. They got to kind of strip down this old culture, start anew, and turn the page basically
on all the history of this team. And Ristolainen, he was traded. I just checked it. He was traded
for Robert Haag, a first and a second rounder. They gave up all that for him. As for what I would
do, man, I mean, it's simple.
You just fucking trade guys, get rid of whoever you can.
I mean, all the guys who got some term left,
you got to strip it down to four parts,
almost like a shitty old car.
Just get rid of what you can and go from there.
But I mean, I've been calling this with the flyer zone
since we started the show.
Not good enough for the playoffs,
not bad enough for a good lottery pick,
and they're still there all these years later
because they've been kind of clinging to this thing. So, I mean, I don't know
how they couldn't get, I mean, they couldn't get, what, even a seventh or eighth rounder for Van
Riemsdyk at the deadline? I find it hard to believe 31 other teams wouldn't take a flyer
on him for something cheap. So, I don't know, man. I think the fans do deserve better there,
so we'll see what happens going forward. Other news there, Tony D'Angelo got a two-game sussy,
speared Corey Perry right in the nuts.
Afterwards, he said he wanted to fight him.
Perry didn't want to go.
I don't think that's really a license
to whack a guy in the nuts.
Hey, can't do that.
But the way Tampa,
you ever see those documentaries
about gangs,
when they jump at a new gang member,
they all go over and beat him up.
That's really what Tampa did to D'Angelo.
Six guys jumped on a five,
and then the Flyers,
they really didn't come to the fence all that much yeah they didn't really break much
of a sweat there well so for Tampa for a while now anytime any of their players get hit it's a
fucking five-man mutiny every time and that's just a sign of a good team who cares about each other
and they love each other and that's why they win so yeah I mean I'm not saying D'Angelo's guys
don't love him,
but they're probably like, ah, if you spear a guy in the nets,
you probably deserve a bit of a shit-kicking.
And as you said, just because a guy doesn't want to go yet.
As much as the worm probably deserved it,
I don't know what he said to him or what he did accidentally on purpose
because we know something happened for him to do that.
Were you watching the game, Whit?
No, I just saw that clip.
I try not
to watch philadelphia play ever i think i started laughing at like perry if he's not 38 yet he's
turning 38 soon nothing has changed like no i feel so old he's still out there every single shift
being a complete rat pissing people off it's incredible like i don't know what he's gonna
do when he retires he's gonna have to not wash his hands in the bathroom and just hope a guy says
no he'll be mixing it up at men's league he'll be playing beer league hockey just to stir it up
with a full fucking cage on it's just so funny to me like at the end of that he got slammed down
pretty hard didn't he i don't know he ended up going down hard on that he looked like he could
have hit his head on the ice too i'm like this guy will never stop it is unbelievable he cannot
function on the ice without being in the middle of madness so you just have to respect it you
ever spear a guy in the nuts i got ovechkin by accident i got fined and i told you colin campbell
said to me at least you got the right guy he was totally fucking around but i was laughing
i i went to lift up ob stick and i caught him right the nuts he was down screaming in pain i was like i'm dead red
dot on you the rest of the game i was like i'm a dead man and nobody did nobody nobody ended up
jumping me or anything i think it was pretty evident i didn't mean to but i did get fined
like five grand for it that was early washington game uh early washington years with ob that's
when they didn't have the winning culture no if you would have got jumped by the rest of the team no but they had like matt bradley
they had brian sotheby they had guys who were tough as shit that were willing to do anything
i think they just they're like we're not gonna pump in that tall goofy eye that tall goofy
bastard's eyes shut we don't need these he's he's too valuable on the ice tim jackman take care of
that like he's like in dale Like Dale Hunter was a day.
He'd still be drinking out of a frigging straw.
Exactly.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the division,
a lot of people were saying the Metropolitan was done.
I'm not going to mention any names.
Carolina, though, I don't know.
They're all knotted up.
The Devils have tied Carolina 94 points each.
Carolina does have a game in hand.
But the Devils, man, we've got to give them a shout-out here.
After a little stumble back in December, they've been lights out since. They're 22-6-3 since their last two-game losing streak. I know we talked a lot about Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt,
rightfully so, but this kid, Dawson Marissa, unbelievable season he's had so far. Youngest
guy on the team, Kabaddi and Newfoundland native. He's got 49 points in 66 games. He had an eight-game
goal streak, put up 15 points during that.
This kid's unbelievable.
And also the goalies, man.
It doesn't really matter who Lindy's throwing out there.
Mackenzie Blackwood's been out a little bit.
This kid, Akira Schmid's come in, filled in for him awesomely.
And how about the Vitek Vanacek signing?
A lot of people were kind of leery about that.
3.4 mil.
They got a number one goalie out of the deal.
But, Whit, you thought it was going to be a battle of the Hudson, New York, New Jersey.
So did I. I still
do think it will be, but a huge
win Sunday. I mean, that's just
that's domination. But
the Devils have surprised
us all, including our boy Keith Yandel
who I believe said they were going
to miss the playoffs. I'm getting
all these Devils fans coming at me
for my old takes. Just know I hate Pasha. I'm getting all these Devils fans coming at me for my old takes.
Just know, I hate Pasha. I don't hate the Devils. I hate Pasha. I want you to fail because of Pasha.
He's the most annoying fan in the world. And that's including Avery. Avery's probably a little bit more annoying. But Pasha is the one reason that I root against the Devils. But watching
their team's fun, they're fast, they're dynamic. I love that you mentioned Mercer.
I mean, this guy's never seen the AHL.
Right into the NHL, one of those complete hockey players.
And he's a newfie too, I believe.
Correct, Biz?
He's a newfie.
So you know he's hardcore.
You know, he probably loves his pops.
Loves his beers.
That's my guess.
Throws both ways.
But he looks just like a complete...
Can sing karaoke with the best of them.
Yup, kissing fish.
He's a complete hockey player. Like, he's in the league at such a young age not only because of his scoring because
he plays at both ends of the ice it's one of those players they're so rare it's like at such a young
age to be responsible defensively and he's awesome but the guy is a former defenseman i gotta talk
about is is dougie hamilton it's d. I mean, he can be so good.
And this year, his shot is amazing.
I love the short windup he has too.
He doesn't take forever to get it off.
Just right back to the waist half clapper, and it's heavy.
And he's able to just skate so well that, I mean,
point per game defenseman in the NHL,
I know it's a little different these days, point production,
but this is outstanding this season he's having.
And you can talk about all the forwards and Vanachick and how good he's been, but when you got Hamilton out
there every night playing 25 minutes, constantly giving the puck up to these skilled fast forwards,
you got to give him credit in terms of being around the league and finally finding his spot
in Jersey and lighten it up. So the team is dynamic. I still think Carolina wins the division.
Do they play each other anymore?
Do you know?
Can you check that one, G?
I'm guessing they have another game against one another.
I'm assuming.
Originally, I was a little concerned about Carolina not doing something at the deadline.
Then we watched them a couple games right after the deadline
where they stuck with Cochran and the Emmy in that second line center role,
and that line was playing unbelievable.
But now do you get a little bit worried?
Yes, I was worried from the start.
I was worried from the start.
I said it after the deadline.
I said, I can't believe they didn't do anything.
Especially if they don't win the division,
then they got to go against the Rangers first round,
as opposed to then you get a win.
Well, don't sleep on the fact.
Don't sleep on the fact that the Penguins and the Rangers
played twice this week, I think.
And they're six points back.
You never know.
They don't play each other again either.
So you never know.
Our pens, they get two wins in regulation.
Maybe all of a sudden it's still Jersey-New York,
but it's actually the top seed versus one of the wild cards.
Because as much as I'm saying Carolina didn't do anything,
and I'm surprised the rangers don't
exactly look great since kane came over do they to you guys no give it time give it time like i
said last week you got to give it time but did they mess with chemistry now you know i'm seeing
rangers fans losing their mind when the power play starts and zabinijad's not out there they got to
get the power play figured out.
It's almost like they should have Kreider, Zibanejad, and Fox starting every single power play and then just figure out the other two.
I know, like, obviously you want Panarin out there.
Maybe you want Kane out there.
If they both could be together, I don't know.
But to not have Zibanejad, who is so good on the power play,
starting power plays, that's where Rangers fans are like,
what the fuck is going on?
Yeah, we can have two good units. There's too many cooks in the kitchen that's what i'm saying GM
table there's too many cooks oh that game and when you have a when you have a guy of Patrick
Kane's presence come in it's hard not to just try to like get him in right away and feeling
comfortable when you mentioned before everything was running smoothly i mean bump bump them off bump them off second unit well bits have you ever seen a team have
true success in the playoffs with two number one units it works in the regular season at times but
like you gotta have your go-to five when that power those power plays come playoffs you don't
want any confusion you it's because all of a sudden it's like all right well that was 45 seconds well we have this other number one unit like let's get
them out there and then that that first unit's like what we didn't even get a full chance it's
it just creates confusion and drama within the team whereas like when you've got your five man
guys that's who goes and when there's too many cooks you end up rebuilding although last year
uh florida in the playoffs would be a contradictory example to that
where they had that one unit and then all of a sudden they just went limp.
They went completely limp.
I think they scored like one or two playoff goals all last offseason.
So it's still a very interesting race.
Getting a little bit more nervous for Carolina,
but if that fucking division shakes out where the Pens end up overtaking the the rangers that that's a big time long shot i
want to be clear that's a little bit of trolling crazy what a crazy crazy finish that would be
still a lot of hockey left to be played though absolutely best do you think the devils are ready
for a run here or not quite ready to to cause a damage man the young legs is something especially
how much you have
to skate in today's game. They have so many guys up and down their lineup who have those young
legs who just play with that pace. And if you're an older team, man, it's hard to keep up with that.
That's why I really like that Rangers-New Jersey matchup first round. Not only would the Rangers
have all the pressure on them, the skating ability you have to give
the nod to to the New Jersey so I'll tell you what too biz in terms of like deep teams making
runs and being able to roll out four lines Miles Wood Michael McLeod and Nathan Bastion on that
fourth line is a problem they're all enormous they all could skate and they're just pricks to play
against. So like when they have the skill up and down the top three, because I think like
the last time I saw like Brat was playing with Holla and Palat on like the third line. So
if that's your fourth line that you're throwing out there to change momentum and then all your
other three lines can score, they are good. They're a really good team. It's really going
to come down to Vanacek. How good is he in the playoffs because the devils at this point i know i've made fun of
them and i know i hate pasha but they're a threat they go to the isha conference finals i won't be
shocked fuck and then you get a tattoo on my ass why did i do that because we got seven dollars
already i must have been on the couch like ra doing a q and
j session where i was just spouting off and now by the way my bet was jack hughes 100 points he
needs 21 he's got he needs 21 points in the last 15 games which i think is right about his pace if
not a little less than his face off of off of injury he's he's looking a little bit sluggish
and sometimes a you know to to go back the other way,
is sometimes when you're a younger guy,
you go late into the season,
all of a sudden, he's a small guy, right?
So you start, all of a sudden,
you lose that muscle tone.
You start getting bumped around a little bit.
Am I going crazy here?
It's a possibility.
Am I going crazy?
I mean, a lot of little guys have won the cup.
They've made the grind.
No, that's not what I'm saying.
As I'm saying, fatigue plays a factor.
I'm with you.
Especially for these younger guys, right?
That's like the other, looking at it the other way.
Load management.
We need load management.
That's what I'm, that's what I was leading into.
Yeah.
I remember when we talked to Charlie McAvoy, like early in the chicklets days, he would
always harp on like early in his career, the the biggest change was how long the season was.
And every year by March, he would be like,
fuck, when is this season going to end?
Yeah, and McAvoy's a much bigger guy than Jack Hughes is,
so Hughes has probably taken a lot of damage.
I'm with you on that, Bess.
If you're going to talk about that, so his first year he played 61 games.
His next year he played 56.
The next year he played 49, and this year he's at 62. So there you go. This is the most games he played 61 games. His next year he played 56. The next year he played 49.
And this year he's at 62.
So he's never, I mean, this is the most games he's ever played.
There you go.
What a point by me.
What a point by me.
To go back to the load management we talked about last week,
I actually got a text from a professional athlete, not in the NHL.
He said, I'm listening to the podcast from this week, and you are correct.
The vast majority of the time it is not the player's decision. It's the sports science department. They handle the NHL. He said, I'm listening to the podcast from this week and you are correct. The vast majority of the time, it is not the player's decision. It's the sports science department.
They handle the player load. They'll be taken under a practice during the game. If the coach
and the front officer are buying into that philosophy, then the guys are not playing.
So it was an NFL player who reached out and said, that's 100% on it. It's not the player's call to
play. So don't kill the messenger here. And jj reddick talked about it too as well like on on a clip that was on twitter last week saying oh like we don't decide
we're not gonna play and like you know the teams have to handle the lineup card lebron can't like
forge a fucking lineup card and say oh i'm definitely playing tonight i don't know i think
hockey should probably look into it i know that you guys want to play every game and it's
understandable but like the bruins right now man like they got they're probably gonna go number
one seed i'd rather bergeron sit a couple games,
so he's got a little more fucking gas in the tank.
I understand once you've wrapped things up.
You'd like to see Jack Hughes set out a few too, I'm sure.
I wouldn't mind if Jack shut it down for a couple at the end of the year
and finished with 99 points.
He's already had an incredible season.
Let's just cool it off right now, Jack.
Although Pasha has two more years.
That bet's a loser, but he owes me 500 because he said palat was going to get 25 goals this year so that's
i'm up money on them um but the owners they can't love hearing this shit i mean i guess they're down
with it with the nba but all of a sudden these nhl owners are paying these guys money and then
you're telling them that they're not going to play some of the games i don't know man but different
different league nowadays, I suppose.
Yeah, I think it's almost like postponing what you're spending it on.
I mean, if they're going to play the regular season,
potentially wear themselves out, even possibly get injured,
or they're going to go in the playoffs and have that more gas in the tank.
I mean, if I was an owner, that's the mentality I would take.
But either way, the Metro winner is going to play the first wildcard team,
and that's still far from decided.
Penguins and the Islanders, they've created a little bit of space lately,
but still a lot of hockey left.
Even though they've been pretty inconsistent, the Florida Panthers,
they're nipping at the heels of the two wildcard teams.
But, Biz, there's been nothing inconsistent about Matthew Kachuk this year.
He's had an MVP caliber campaign so far, 87 points in 64 games,
which is 30 points more than the number two guy on Florida.
I know you watched the Florida
Jets game the other day, Biz. What did you see with them, and do you think they managed to get
in the playoffs here? Since the All-Star break, and I know a couple podcasts ago I was joking
about saying I'd rather put my cock and balls in a blender than see them make playoffs. They have
probably been one of the most electric teams out of All-Star break, watching their games on either
the ESPN app or on TV, getting awesome crowds,
but their pace of play, it's just up and down the ice. And they're looking a lot more like they did
last year and a lot more consistent where, hey, sometimes it takes, with new personnel, it takes
time for things to start clicking. But going back before the All-Star game, not only the
inconsistency, but they just weren't that exciting to watch matthew kachuk he's
on a different planet right now you can tell he's he's loving playing there especially with a lot
more offensive mindset with their with their system and how they play the game i would love
to see them sneak in rather than the islanders at this point but oh going back to that game the jets
needed one too because the jets have been leaking oil big time it went to overtime and that sam reinhardt had a wide open net and he ended up fucking it was wide open i ended up
missing it well all of a sudden now they're three points back with one game in hand uh for a playoff
race as opposed to now two two games so those little moments now for florida creep it up and
trying to nip that wild card spot it's like it's it's life or death at this point so
a tough a tough bounce for reinhardt but it's a you look back at that as soon as this race is all
done if they miss playoffs by a point and there it was right there and they get shit goaltending
they don't get good goaltending ever the guys make it 10 million he's not very good
and so like as even as they start playing better,
they're 6-3-1 in their last 10.
It's like you're able to score and Kachuk's the leader,
but then all of a sudden these goals are leaking in on the other end.
You're just like, oh, dude, mix one in.
Mix a save in, dude.
There's no chance we can build momentum.
That's how I feel about Oilers goaltending.
Yeah, that was, well, Skinner really turned it around in Boston
after he lit up those bad two, and then he got lit up
in Toronto. You can't even play Campbell.
It's just, yeah, that's
a worry, but we're on the Panthers right
now. In terms of who I'd
want to get in, I've said I don't want
them to get in, but I
guess if you're going to talk, the Islanders,
at least they'd be more exciting,
right? Although the Islanders with Soroka, and they get be more exciting right although the islanders were soroka and they get in all bets are off this friggin guy
everyone laughed at me when i said he's going to be better than shisterka and they laughed at me
they came at me online keep keep laughing and keep keep just watching the games and talk to me
in five years like is like what my argument was he is so good he could be actually up for like mvp of
the league the mvp race is done obviously but like when you talk about most valuable players to their
team elias sorokin's right there in the conversation so in terms of who could actually win around the
islanders have a way better chance than the panthers i agree with that i don't think they do
damage when they get there but fuck are they fun to watch. And that's all I care about for teams I don't care about.
Which is like three teams.
Matthew's little brother, Brady, he's kind of doing the same thing
with Ottawa, averaging a point per game.
The Sens, they were looking good.
They rattled off five straight, but then they dropped three out of four,
dropped back a little bit of the standards.
You know what happened, R.A.?
We talked about them.
We talked about them.
And they took a huge deuce.
They have shit the bed.
Lost to Vancouver. They have shit the bed. Lost to Vancouver.
Yes, they lose to another bad one.
They lost to Calgary.
They were so bad against Calgary.
Pinto had just a horrendous turnover, led back to a goal the other end.
I think Huberto got it.
I don't know what happened there, but they were just buzzing, cruising along.
And I don't know if it's puck management, not being ready to play,
all these different factors where they're not even close to what they were.
Maybe we kind of overvalued them after just whooping up on Detroit
right around the deadline.
But I thought that they were going to keep going and humming.
And now all of a sudden it looks like they're probably,
it's probably too little too late, I would say, after this last week.
Some notable losses, like you guys just said.
They lost to the Flames 5--1 canucks 5-2 they lost to the blackhawks 5-0 uh those will catch up that can't happen
yeah it hasn't been people have been bitching about the brinket they say it looks a lot
different in ottawa than he did in chicago i think mark mathod had a tweet uh he was basically
insinuating that the Brinkett's asking
for $9 million. And he said, if you want fucking $9 million, you better be driving your own line.
And I couldn't agree more. So I don't know what's going to happen with that situation. But if I'm
not mistaken, he's up this summer. He needs to be re-signed. Yeah, he's restricted. A player
looking for anything north of $9 million should be driving the line he's playing on. Let's stop
pretending it's a line-mate issue.
I think there was like four of his 30 goals, I think, were just five on five.
However they end up, though, the Claude Giroux sign has been unbelievable by Pierre Dorian.
He's averaging a point per game as well.
I don't know if they're going to get in the playoffs, but he's been outstanding.
I'm sure he's doing a lot of the leadership stuff, too.
But we've got to go to Jeff Chikrin here.
He's been pretty good so far.
Oh, that's his old man.
That's his old man that's all right
i'm sorry jake yeah quickly all right to bring it he doesn't he has 21 goals so i don't know what
what that tweet said but he does not have 30 goals all right i'm sorry well i may remember
reading the wrong one but uh either way chickering man four points in six games so far but this diet
he's talking about uh he said the guys guys think I'm crazy. My family thinks
I'm crazy. My girlfriend thinks I'm crazy. It's like an ancestral way of living. And I'm also
eating raw liver, raw beef heart, doing all this crazy stuff. The taste is awful, but your body
almost craves it when you eat it consistently because it's just so nutrient dense. You guys
have a play with anybody who ate anything along these lines like this? No, this is like a new
revolution with the liver king.
I don't listen to enough Joe Rogan to have an opinion on what type of nutrients you're getting from all this crazy meat.
They talk about it on there.
It's only a matter of time, boys.
It's only a matter of time before Biz comes on this podcast and he's like,
Boys, I'm eating raw meat.
I'm eating raw liver.
Getting in shape.
I will be 400 pounds like the whale where he just won.
Brendan Fraser.
I'll be 400 pounds before I ever eat raw meat like what he's talking about.
No, I wouldn't do that.
I don't like the taste of it either.
Gee, I wouldn't be able to scarf.
Would you not be vomiting every time you try to get it down, R.A.?
Have you ever eaten raw meat?
I mean, isn't beef you ever eaten raw meat? Probably like rat. Isn't beef
carpaccio raw meat?
Capaccio.
I was waiting for that. Can I get an order of beef
carpaccio, please? Seven-up beef
carpaccio. And a big deal brewing,
please. Make it two.
I mean, I think the only thing you typically eat raw
is sushi, but as far as like organs, I mean, I used to eat thing you typically eat raw is sushi.
But as far as like organs, I mean, I used to eat liver when I was a kid,
but you'd fry that up.
I didn't eat it raw.
So did I.
My parents would feed it to me once in a while.
It's awful.
I mean, he's absolutely shredded, right?
Shredded.
He works out with like a football trainer where he is just,
we talked about the squatting a lot and chucking weights a lot.
He's chucking weights. He looks like a linebacker, a full-fledged linebacker with his tarp off.
So he is, yeah, I just, I don't think I would even, I wouldn't even give it a chance.
I wouldn't even try it.
I guess I just have to take his word for it.
You don't know anything about it either, do you, Whit?
No, and like, when he says it it tastes so disgusting but then your body craves
it like for me it's like i got a couple things i like i love hanging out with my kids i love
golfing and i love eating like it's just not even worth it now obviously it's a completely different
set of circumstances like this guy's trying to be a star in the nhl and like doing what he can
for his body that's how he makes money so like you're willing I guess to struggle through eating this absolute shit to to look that good and feel that good but
to to to eat something for for your diet when you're not like a professional athlete that
tastes horrible like I'm not doing that life's too short to hate what I'm eating to try to feel
and look better I'll feel and look like shit before I eat that stuff.
If I had to eat something that tasted that gross to me,
I'm telling you, I'd rather be a fat slob. Biz, if it extended your contract in the NHL,
extended your career in the NHL five years,
only a one-way contract,
but you have to eat raw meat the whole time,
would you do it?
I'd be curious to know what this is costing him.
Yeah, I would probably do it in that case
if I get an extra five years, but the food wasn't the reason i wasn't playing
i didn't play as long it was the booze that the booze that weighed me down um i did he did he
mention how he gets it does he bring it with him on the road or does the team provide it where they
have the buffet out there and all of a sudden you get the liver king diet and all the boys have to
look at that nice shit beef hearts on the left and some tripe on the right i mean you go to any
butcher shop you can buy that shit it's usually pretty cheap because most people don't buy it
you guys ever have tripe by the way never a big italian mike you ever had it's an italian dish
it's like i haven't no cow stomach i'm surprised i'm surprised you might not have it yeah you ever
had cow tongue i haven't no but that's another popular uh popular cut i not have had it. Yeah. You ever had cow tongue? I haven't. No, but that's another popular cut.
I've never had it.
Kind of wild.
I get like chicken fingers, steak, or sushi.
These things are, it's like a different language you're talking about right now.
Cow tongue?
You're eating cow tongue?
Yeah.
I see them right in the butcher shop, right in the window there.
You cook it up and it's just like, what does it taste like?
We should do that as a content piece on our next trip.
No thanks.
I'll judge your faces as you eat.
Wait, I found the fuck up here.
I butchered it.
Alex DeBringen has four even strength goals in 30 games in this calendar year, 2023.
That's what it is.
39 million a year?
30 games this year.
Yeah, so that's what it was.
And now help yourself to this tripe.
You just mentioned Meathot.
Mark Meathot used to be a defenseman for Ottawa.
He put a pretty interesting question on Twitter, Biz.
Mark Mathot.
Mark Meathot.
Meathot.
Meathot, I said it right the first time.
I guess not.
Would you trade Tim Stutzler for Austin Matthews, Biz?
Would you do that?
Nonsense.
Absolutely nonsense.
Nonsense.
What about you?
I did pump Stutzler's tires last week though.
He's legit.
He compared
their stats this
year.
Keep in mind,
Austin Matthews,
the season he's
having with
battling through
not only the
injuries but the
other adversity,
he's fucking
leading, he's
leading the,
he was leading
all the forwards
and block shots,
still pumping in
Geno's left and
right, came in
with a wrist
injury, ended up
being sidelined with a knee injury partway through the year.
So no, and he's the reigning MVP.
Do I think that...
So Stutzel ended up signing after his second year,
so they got him at a bargain.
If you want to bet on yourself and get paid, do it.
He's having his pop-off year this year.
Based on value, yeah, it's going to look pretty good next year
when he's making $8 million and he's playing the way he's playing. But is he fucking Austin Matthews? No. He's having one
good year. Let's pump the brakes, man. Pump the brakes. He's got seven more years at $8.35 million
per year. Seven more years, $8.35. Okay, so what did Stutzel do in his first two years compared to
what Austin Matthews did? So Stutzel went 53 games played,
12 goals, 17 assists, 29
points. Matthews got that in his first
10 games. Then he went 79
games played, 22 goals, 36
assists, 58 points. Third year,
62 games, 32 goals, 39
assists, 71 points. You understand
why Matthews made his money because Matthews
proved it early. And
yes, based on value in
the season stutzel's having he's fucking popping off man i'm happy for that team and they got him
in a bargain just like tage thompson style in buffalo maybe not to that degree but no he ain't
no i would not swap them out not a chicken dick's chance in hell what about you guys and you guys
aren't even the least fans i'll say this i this. I would think if that trade broke, the internet may break.
And I would think that if Ottawa, if Toronto called Pierre Dorian and said,
hey, we'll give you Matthews for Stutzle, that they would say yes before they could even say yes.
Like their brain would be going so fast. But I guess it's not that insane.
I bet you he would say no saying that I have this guy at eight years times
8 million rather than having to renegotiate Austin Matthews' new contract.
He ain't taking a fucking, imagine what he would charge to play in Ottawa.
He would have to be on the Ryan Reynolds train for owning the team at that point.
Austin Matthews raises the value of the team though.
If he was traded to Ottawa, that team significantly goes up in price. That's a great point. That's a great point. Austin Matthews raises the value of the team though. If he was traded to Ottawa, that team significantly goes up in price. That's a great point. That's a great point. So no,
I would not. R.A., what do you think? I mean, I think the one advantage, if you can call it that,
Stutzel is much younger than him, so you are getting a younger player, but yeah, I think I'd
be fine, pretty much okay with having Austin Matthews on my team. I thought it was just a
good hypothetical. We're talking about it, baby. He's crushing Matthews on my team. I thought it was just a good hypothetical. Good point.
We're talking about it, baby.
He's crushing Matthews' third year.
Not crushing, but he's ahead of him his third year. So let's see next year.
See, if Stutzel
pops off next year for like 45
goals and 60 assists,
then we're maybe looking at a true superstar.
Yeah, I mean, Jimmy Stutzel.
All of the Senators fans, their heads are going to explode right now.
It's only 21 years old.
Well, whoever you choose, let's hope you can actually watch them
when they are playing because Thursday night,
arguably the game of the year, a potential Stanley Cup final,
Edmonton at Boston, wasn't even on TV.
The only place you could watch it was ESPN Plus streaming,
and everybody was frustrated.
People were pissed off, and, of course,
that led into all the blackout situation going on again.
I wrote a big blog about it.
It took me a while to write it, 900 words.
I haven't done that in a while.
But people are irate, man.
You think about it.
Best player in the fucking galaxy or universe versus the best team on the planet right now.
And you couldn't watch it on TV.
And like I said before, I stick up for the baby boomers, the old fans.
People have watched this league for 50, 60 years. If they don't have the internet and they're not going to get it,
they can't watch these players. They're getting screwed. I don't understand why they couldn't
have it streaming and on the air. I mean, Disney owns 7,000 channels. So it's very frustrating for
a lot of folks. Either way, in the game, Edmonton overcame a two-none deficit, won the game 3-2.
The last time the Bruins lost in regulation while leading after two periods
was back in November of 2021 to the Oilers.
But the Bruins did beat Detroit on Saturday
and became the first team to clinch a playoff spot.
They also set the record becoming the fastest team to 50 wins.
They did it in 64 games.
The 97 Wings and 19 Lightning did it in 66 games i'm sorry 66 games uh and then saturday night
mctavid first game in toronto area i know he downplayed it the media kind of made a big deal
about it he said he really doesn't have a lot of family in the area anymore and that one was only
on the nhl network so if you only had streaming you couldn't watch it well they didn't want
everybody seeing that choke job so it's actually a good thing it was only on the NHL network. What do you say, Whit?
How about them Leafs, dog?
Yeah, Marder was ridiculous.
Oilers D looked like Ryan Whitney's special,
just throwing pizzas left and right in that one.
Yeah, McLeod had the tough one.
Marder just knocked it out of midair
and then just completely embarrassed the goalie.
That was a sick goal.
And then he had three assists as well.
So my issue with Edmonton goaltending, though not on that one that was the second goal it's listen they had a
they had a rough stretch there they end up throwing another pizza and then i want to say it was uh
was it taveras who ended up finishing it off or no it was kneelander where just make that fucking
save man you gotta you gotta be there when there's some breakdowns.
And the Oilers are just not getting that goaltending right now.
You know what I'm saying?
It's these timely saves that they're missing.
And they're just fucking getting lit up.
Skinner and Campbell.
Yeah, he gave up six goals on just 37 shots.
Actually, McDavid, against the Bruins Thursday,
just the seventh time he's been held pointless all season.
Of course, he still has 127 points, which is 29 more than Leon,
obviously runaway winner for the hot.
But Biz, a couple stars got some payback on you as well.
Detroit was on TNT earlier in the week.
Dylan Larkin trapped them.
Gee, want to roll that?
I wanted to ask you, is there ever any doubt in your mind
that you were going to put on that winged wheel ever again?
No, no.
I wanted to be here.
It's a great place to play.
I'm from here.
You know what?
It just, I couldn't imagine myself anywhere else.
I said that.
Some people, like one of your coworkers there in the studio, couldn't really understand that.
But I said it quite a bit, and I really meant it.
Love it.
Wow.
He wouldn't even name you, but some people.
I don't think he would have gone on if Biz was there.
Maybe not.
I bridged the gap between him and Stevie Y, and that's the respect I get.
We landed right on his number, and now he's chirping me when I'm not there.
Whatever.
I don't care.
I'm past it.
We're on to Cleveland, as Bill Belichick would say.
Since he...
Well, he wasn't the only one.
Then we had Marshawn on the Sunday TNT.
Where's Biz?
He a little hungover.
50 comes quick.
I mean, Sean across the bow.
I don't look...
Yeah, fuck off, Marshy.
Oh, you see Biz?
He's like, I don't look 50.
Come on.
I think he did his job.
Maybe I will.
Maybe I will start... That's all he job. Maybe I will. Maybe I will look 50.
Like, that's all he wanted.
Maybe I will start eating the liver and all that stuff.
Maybe I could take a few years off, get my complexion dialed in.
Throw some sunscreen on and then eat a heart.
Could work.
Do I look 50, Biz?
Probably right now.
You're 50?
Are you 50 yet?
Yeah, I turned 50 last May, yeah.
Yeah, you look about 50. Thanks. you got some good color on you this weekend so yeah you look you look you look about
50 all right yeah maybe a little older maybe 55 i get a little bit of sleep i'll probably look a
little bit she's gonna get his and sold dylan larkin i think he's still poopy pants about me
saying uh second line center on a stanley cup winning team stay away from my guy brad marsh and before this playoff run biz you don't fucking throw any jinxes or any fucking
voodoo magic at him it's not happening this year this is our year i would never hey if anything i
got them sparked up i said they were going to miss playoffs this year i'm they they should thank me
for this run they're on because i'm the mush god that's one of the maybe of all the takes we've all had
yeah the biz picked the team that might break the all-time record in points to not make the playoffs
like there's no other explanation or description of how stupid we are i've trumped keith and his
jersey take but uh another thing i forgot to mention like last week or whenever we were
talking about should the bruins like be really trying to break the record I can't believe we didn't even think to mention it's not even the
fucking record there was no overtime then so what are we talking about here like you get the point
for losing in overtime now you get the two points winning the shootout like that's not the record
even if they break it that's bullshit well how many how many shootout wins do they have now Now, back then they had overtime, but it was five on five.
They have five minutes OT, it was five on five.
Is that what you're comparing it to?
Or are you saying back when the record was set, there was no overtime in general?
No, I'm saying that you couldn't, like, I guess I worded it wrong.
You couldn't get a point by losing in a shootout.
You couldn't, you know what I mean?
Well, this is fastest of 50 wins, right?
No, but the record they're
chasing is points oh okay so you're saying that the whole point aspect of it is is invalid in my
mind because they give them more points than they did back then yeah you're right no you're right
but hey i'm just i'm just reading what the pr people put out uh hey great to see our buddy
arm dog on the tnt desk the other day our awesome crew guys got their biz he was there with yans and i he got the game note story oh gee that was that was awesome to see there and you're back
condensed it too he did a really good job at condensing it which is very difficult on tv
because sometimes you get a little bit stuff on tv oh i remember one time i was like before the
pre-meeting show at nhl network it's like i'll tell that Story and then I'm telling the story
As I normally do and the producer's like
Let's go let's go we gotta move I'm like ah
To condense a story on television time
You gotta be good so Army crushed
That I think Army's been fantastic
Yen's too but what is your
Guys take like how do you think he's been doing so far
Both those guys they're made for TV
It's fucking awesome it's great to see
Started out with Chicklets game
notes and all of a sudden he's at the top, baby.
Faces for radio,
but phenomenal on television. This is Matt Foley,
inspirational speaker. He just shits on
all these teams and they go out and fucking rip
off wins and make the playoffs. Yeah, that's what I'm trying to do.
Back on the air
this week with a team biz that a lot of people
thought was DOA a little while ago.
Minnesota Wild looked like they were on the verge of maybe sliding out of the top eight out west. Three
separate three-game losing streaks wasn't looking good, but after tying a franchise record with their
13-game point streak, they're making a serious bid for the Central Division right now. They got
84 points in 67 games, just one back at Dallas. Dallas does have a game in hand. They did suffer
a pretty big loss the other day. Kirill Kaprizov got hurt.
He kind of made a cut there.
Logan Stanley kind of crumpled on top of him and fell awkwardly.
But Minnesota got nine goals the first two games without him.
He had 22% of their team goals before he got injured.
Just under 22%.
But we've got to give a shout-out to our boy Revo.
Gordie Howe-Hattrick, Sunday, first one ever.
The fight, probably not the best fight he had,
but he goal, assist, and he had a scrap,
so shout out to Revo for
his Gordie. And they did
ask him when he had the last one. He says, high school?
No, you can't fight in high school. I don't even know if he ever had
one before. That's what he said.
Real quick, can I just ask about
Caprizov? Did you guys
see that he cut the tongues off the top
of his skate? Is that not the craziest shit you've ever seen i've seen guys do that before i don't know why they do it
uh for for uh for ankle flexion better ankle flexion so just like above where the laces tie
he cuts yeah cuts it right i think oliver eckman larston used to do it at one point or at least
to a certain degree maybe not as low as he went,
but yeah, some guys do.
I mean, look at the way McDavid ties his skates.
Super loose.
Like all the, you go to the top eyelids.
Like I wouldn't be shocked
if you could maybe take his foot out of his boot
while it was still tied.
That's how, maybe I'm over-exaggerating,
but a lot of the science now says
it's all about the knee and ankle flexion and how you get that proper stride.
So I can understand why he's doing it, but just from a comfort standpoint,
I hate the feeling of that.
Going back to Minnesota, I thought they were a team that,
I thought they were going to fold their cards much like we saw St. Louis do
at the deadline.
I thought Billy G was extremely crafty
in what he did in order to get over the guys to complement his lineup. We talked about Klingberg,
Nyquist, and Johansson. So where beforehand I felt like they were maybe a little too rugged,
they get rugged, they get rid of Greenway. And listen, it hasn't been the offense that's been
elevating this team. It's been their defensive play.
I texted Billy G because we got him on the broadcast coming out. I said, what's been the biggest difference aside from goaltending?
He says, we've really done a better job in the second half from eliminating high, high
danger scoring chances.
It was getting a little too sloppy defensively where they don't have the team that can score
three, four goals.
So they have to really tighten things up and they've done so.
But in the midst of that 13 game point streak, so they have to really tighten things up, and they've done so.
But in the midst of that 13-game point streak, and they're still in it because they ended up losing to Arizona 5-4 at the Mullet Arena,
but the 10 games prior, they had only allowed two goals or less
that entire time.
So talk about Gustafsson and Fleury getting it done in net
as well as that entire time. So talk about Gustafson and Fleury getting it done in net as well as that defensive game.
In order for them, we knew in order for them to not only make playoffs but have any success
in playoffs, they have to go on some sort of like magical run where everything's just
going in at the right time and they are getting that goaltending.
Well, right now it's happening and it's cool.
And for a small market team like that, we forget.
Would you consider Minnesota small market or maybe mid-tier?
No. I think they pack it every game. The fans are rabid. standpoint and where maybe a team is a little bit timid and timid moving forward because the two big
massive contracts they handed over they got burnt on well that allows them to kind of build from the
from a financial standpoint as well because like i i would imagine that they're a team once those
amnesty buyouts are out they're spending right to the cap as much as they can right they want to win
so i think flurry's been much better flurry's played real well and gustafson
i mean for a senator's fan that's tough dude they traded him early he's young they traded talbot for
him right talbot's an older player and i know they wanted more stability and net but gustafson
he's had a good year and flurry's playing better erickson act doesn't really get enough credit
i think like hartman's playing better and Eriksson-Eck doesn't really get enough credit.
I think Hartman's playing better. And then not to mention, bring it in Marcus Johansson. That's a good move. Nyquist hasn't played yet. He's going to be there. So as much as I've kind of
dogged him and said, I don't know if they could do anything in the playoffs, it's still a pretty
cool story. I'll be interested to see the next few weeks without Kaprizov because it's one thing to
do it for a little bit right after it happens. when the games settle in and and all of a sudden the averages kind of start figuring or
what's what am I trying to think of when like the team's doing yeah you know what I'm saying like
all now Zuccarello he still continues to just produce he's like not the fastest player he's
not the biggest player he's just got a crazy high hockey IQ.
And teammates love him.
He always seems to play better the bigger the game.
So that's some guy that they're really going to lean on.
And like I mentioned, like Erickson Eck,
hopefully Foligno keeps going, starts scoring a little bit more.
So there's been guys Billy G has mentioned that they needed more from.
And you're probably seeing these guys, their game change a little bit as the success has really
started to settle it in here and that's where through this stretch without kaprizov that's
where the klingberg and the johansson and hopefully if once nyquist is healthy that's where
they become more offensive right compared to what they were before the deadline i mean klingberg
fucking walks a line just as good as anyone in the league. I mean, defensively, he's a liability,
but maybe he's cleaned things up since he's been there.
Yeah, Gustafson, 17, 8-5, 2-0-1 goals against with a 9-3-1 save percentage.
That's unreal.
Three shutouts, but you just mentioned Marc-Andre Fleury.
He's got five straight wins in two games versus the Jets and Sharks. He stopped 36 out of 39 of 39 high danger shots for a 9-2-3 save percentage,
which is like pretty phenomenal for that situation. Then Saturday in San Jose, he almost got in the
scrap. He was kind of mixing up in the crease with Evgeny Svechnikov, who whatever reason
decided to fuck with him in the crease. And I guess Rimas skated out to like the blue line,
and Marc-Andre said he gave him a little shrug. He says, I kind of want to fight, but it's not
the right time to fool around. So pretty funny stuff.
I mean, you don't want to get in a scrap.
He said he did back in junior and broke a knuckle.
But either way, man, if he gets hot, I don't know.
I think they could do anything in the playoffs.
Would you say that, Biz?
I mean, they got as good a chance as anyone if either Flurry or Guff's in Minnesota.
If one of those guys gets in the zone.
Out of the West, yes.
And we're going to get to Colorado.
I don't know what's happening with Landeskog.
His injury keeps getting pushed back further and further they didn't really address that second
line center position they ended up getting lars eller who's been as cold as anyone i don't think
he doesn't have a point he's 24 of the last 25 games he's played i was gonna say i think it's
been 15 games since he's got a point it's just that's crazy that's a that's a biz run like
usually you just end up getting one on that hits your leg and then goes to somebody like no shit the chances yeah
so yeah he's been uh he hasn't exactly been up to expectation so yes i think that i truly believe
anybody in the west can win win it and you just mentioned with goaltending sure why not especially
when they get kaprizov back yeah they need to go on a magical run for it to happen.
I'm still going with my Kings out west,
but we can get to them later if we got them on the menu.
Yeah, I'm not sure any forwards carry this team quite like Kaprizov has this year.
So, yeah, got to get him back out there.
The Minnesota State high school tourney wrapped up.
We've been getting tons of requests for the last,
since we started, Chicklets basically, about coming out to Minnesota for the high school tourney. Obviously. We've been getting tons of requests for the last, since we started,
Chicklets basically,
coming out to Minnesota for the high school tourney.
Obviously, we'd love to someday.
It's tough with scheduling,
and we've got to do the NHL stuff.
I don't know what's going to happen in the future,
but I do want to give a shout out.
The Class AA final,
Minnetonka beat Adina 2-1 in the Class A final.
What is it?
Madomadai, I think you say it.
They beat Warroad 6-5.
But congrats to all the winners and all the divisions.
All right, real quick.
That was one of the craziest games.
Did you see the kid, Grinnelli?
Did you see that kid?
That was insane.
That was insane.
So real quick.
So they're down.
Matomadai is down two goals in like the final two minutes.
They score a goal.
To Warroad?
To Warroad.
So they score a goal, get it to within score a goal get it to within one they score
another goal ref waves it off then about 20 this is in like the final two minutes then about 30
seconds later the captain comes down scores again points at the ref and he's like go go go go right
in the ref's face it was incredible and then matu many ends up going on to win it in overtime the
kid just pulls off like one of the sickest cellies you'll ever see.
The fans from the high school team are jumping over the glass onto the ice.
Climbing the glass and jumped onto the ice biz.
One kid.
It was an athletic move, too.
I'm more interested in the player introductions.
One guy had a lover boy Drake haircut.
Then you see the...
Somebody called it the RA, RA quarantine special.
The skullet.
That was memes.
The skullet.
What's with these kids shouting out their lawn care businesses?
Do they actually have lawn care businesses in the summer?
Or is that just like a thing that the kids do now?
No, it's, they actually do.
It's smart business, man.
Think about it.
I mean, if my, if my, if I told my boss, I'm like, hey, I'll give you this.
I'll pump you in front of thousands of people.
Yeah, get a $5 raise.
What about the kid who came out and asked his girl to prom on his stick?
No, I know.
That's, come on, man.
I would have benched that kid so quick.
I've been like, you sit at the end of the bench for the first period,
and maybe you could check your phone after the first and see if she's going to say yes.
But we're about to play a state title hockey game, and on your stick,
you're asking your girlfriend to prom?
Am I being like grumpy old boomer right now?
It was a round-robin game.
It wasn't the finals, was it?
No, it was the finals.
You're at the Excel Center in the state tournament.
You're asking your girlfriend to prom?
Like most times, skating up to the blue line, you're like, all right, first shift, get a
hit in, make a nice tape, tape back.
No, hey, Hillary, want to come to prom with me?
I'll rent a nice limo.
Yeah.
I went to, I went to like nine, nine different proms.
I was like.
Oh, what a wheel you are, R.A.
You dog you.
I'm not saying I got fucking smashed all over.
R.A., R. all right did you get asked by
an older girl at a different school to go to her prom to go chaperone it no oh i actually i got a
funny story with that i mean there's got to be a bunch of different fucking scenarios here well
what would happen back in the day we'd all go on spring break there'd be kids from charlestown
southeast dorchester and you'd meet you know different girls whatever and you could all come
back home and you'd have you know go a, it wasn't even a date.
You just were, like, a good prom date.
Not even hooking up.
Just go, he's a good guy.
He's a good time.
Friend zone.
I already went on nine friend zone proms.
No, it wasn't friend zone.
It was just, like, you'd go just to have a good time.
How many of the nine did you whack?
Honestly, none that night.
None.
None that night. No, but that's a fucking insane stat they were they weren't I went over nine they weren't whackable like nights it was
one post prom yeah it was a whackable summer but no they weren't like whack you know like I wasn't
going to hopefully get laid it was like I girls I hardly even knew it was like a friend of a friend
type shit uh but I'm not trying to sound like a chauvinistic pig.
I'm not saying you'd be whacking every single one.
No, but that's the pig in my mix.
One in there.
It wasn't that night.
Like I said, the rest of the summer.
No, that's a theme.
Everyone thinks prom night, you give it up and all.
But actually, kind of a funny story.
This is the last one.
I was probably a little bit too old to be going to the prom.
It was the 94 Stanley Cup.
How old are you?
How old were you last prom?
27.
22.
22?
That's brutal.
It was a...
Listen, when I worked at...
That's illegal, isn't it?
R.A. DiCaprio.
No.
I was...
When I was working at my uncle's video store back then,
it was one of the girls I work with, her friend,
I wasn't tracking tools.
How was Epstein Island, all right?
Oh, come on.
You guys would go creep me on me.
So my uncle's like, hey, why don't you go to the prom with so-and-so?
I was like, eh, I'm not really interested.
I'll give you extra work hours.
Because I claimed I was broke.
He's like, I'll give you extra work hours so you can go.
And I was like, all right, I'll be the nice guy. I'll go.
I was just
going to be a gentleman.
We walk into the prom.
You know who Bob Norton is, right? He used to work
through the bean pot. He's a local hockey
guy. He hasn't done it for a while. He did Nesson.
He would do the bean pot. Now, I walk in
and he's actually the principal of the school
of the prom going. The Rangers
were playing the Canucks in the Stanley Cup that night.
It was one of the first few games.
So we walk in, and I see Bob Norton from Nessun.
And I was like, and all the kids are on it.
I was like, hey, Bob, you got a score in the Rangers game?
And all the kids were mortified because I called the principal his first name.
I didn't even know he was the principal.
Oh, he was the principal.
He was the principal of this particular high school.
And I walked in and asked him.
Again, I wasn't being disrespectful.
He didn't flinch.
He didn't give a shit.
He's like, no, I haven't heard anything yet so yeah I was uh 22 he's like uh hey
Brian stand over there I got somebody you want to meet and then all of a sudden two police officers
are walking over to arrest your ass here's one here's one hey I went to prom one time and I uh
I think I was a junior sophomore why don't you have a seat here Brian and we were we were yeah
why don't you have a seat and we were in And we were, we were, yeah, why don't you have a seat? And we were in the pool after. There was like a bunch of people.
I was talking to a girl and like, oh, there's a buddy around me too.
Dude, I just got rock hard talking to her.
And then everyone saw that my boner was just sticking out of my shorts just from talking to her.
And I was made fun of and embarrassed so bad.
I think I ended up going home.
That's what it's like when you're young, though.
Even just talking to a girl, you're just like, you got those young legs.
Rock hard, just full of testosterone. I wouldn't have been embarrassed my buddy's chirping no that i said
fuck you i think it was a little embarrassing the girls looking down and we're talking about
science class and i have a raging heart on in a pool yeah i think
well i mean biology can do that man yeah especially that's not my fault yeah um i i uh me and my buddy jamie tardif we wore the dumb
and dumber suits to our prom of course because we're orange or blue i was blue and and uh and
jamie was orange so we did that that was one of the first times i ever got drunk too maybe the
first time i ever got drunk was prom off wine me too too, I think. Wine coolers? Me too. No, just red wine.
Wow. My teeth were purple
by the end of the night. I was just an absolute mess.
Yeah. I don't think
any kid, Ari, I know you're older
than me, but it was just Bud Light.
If you grew up in Boston, you
just drank Bud Light.
All I ever remember at any party,
just Bud Lights. Keystone Light.
I drank a lot of Keystone Light as I was coming up.
What did you do for prom, Grinnell?
Let me hear the stupid shit you did for prom.
Oh, I was hoping you wouldn't ask.
I went to a few proms like RA as well.
My kill count was a little better, but I actually fucked up really bad.
I got suspended from the lacrosse team my senior year because early.
You wouldn't clap like you know they
taught you a girl asked you to prom in like November so I got asked to prom in like November
come to she didn't go to our school so come to find out months later that was the same day as
a lacrosse game so I wanted to skip the prom but my parents wouldn't let me they're kind of like
you said yes to this girl she bought her dress you can't bail so i had to uh miss the lacrosse game which was you skipped a game your
senior year to a sport you were going to play in college dude i didn't want to do it the problem
was it was like i know it was one of those things where it's like i had to do it like i couldn't
leave this girl out to dry i had to do be a good person because, like, I couldn't bail on her.
Then she goes alone.
It sucked.
I wanted to play in the game more than anything.
She could have brought R.A.
You're the opposite of GM Joe.
Is it GM Joe?
Yeah.
Yeah, you're not for the boys.
You're for the puss.
So, basically, your last memories of lacrosse were skipping a game senior year
and then quitting the team, like team a couple months later in college.
I always said I was a hockey player that played lacrosse.
I was a lacrosse player.
I was a hockey player who played lacrosse at the end of the day.
You know what I mean?
I was never really a lacrosse player.
But yeah, that was a tough one.
I was hoping you guys wouldn't ask.
That's not as tough as going 0 for 9 at prom. I tell you, wouldn't ask. That's not as tough as R.A. going 0 for 9 at prom.
I tell you, I don't think that's going to be trumped.
Yeah, I mean, I don't care. Like I said, I had a reputation as a good, reliable date.
Wasn't going to be a donkey. Have a good time. I didn't mind. I like to dance.
I had a good time. I actually just sent you guys a picture from my senior prom.
You could see how thin and chompy I was looking back at it.
R.A. picks up the girl from prom biz, meets her dad. Actually, I just sent you guys a picture from my senior prom. You can see how thin and chapped I was looking back at it. How many of the same suits did you wear?
R.A. picks up the girl from prom biz, meets her dad,
and then the dad's like, dude, you beat me up when I was in middle school
when you were in high school.
Oh, my God.
Definitely not me.
What are you looking at?
I'm looking at R.A.'s prom photo.
You look great here, R.A., and you match her.
Yeah.
That's actually one of my oldest good friends.
She's like
that was totally platonic friend just the old pal we've known each other since we were four or five
years old i took her to my senior prom she took me to hers it was you know it was just pals was
going to the prom i mean she must look back on that dress and just be like what the hell was i
maybe that was the time well it was yeah 1990 bait, basically late 80s. That's fuchsia.
That's the color.
I had to get a fuchsia.
So you were a gal pal.
So you went to a prom in the late 80s, and then you went to a prom during the 94 Cup Finals.
I graduated 90, so my junior prom, 89, senior prom, 90.
And then, yeah, I don't know if I went to one every year through 94, but 94 was my last prom during the Stanley Cup Finals.
That has to be some
sort of world record going to prom nine times i don't we can move on now we talked about prom
enough i i will say one high school i i didn't go to their prom was john marshall high school in
minnesota but you know who did sean podine uh i think we should probably send it over to him right
now the minnesota native and 2001 stanley cup right, guys, before we go on to the interview, this interview is brought to you by Chevy. Chevrolet is a trusted
company that has been innovating for the last 100 years. Up to now, most electric vehicles have been
either too expensive, too small, and or too limited in capabilities for most people. But
Chevrolet is committed to making EVs available
for all Americans. They have over 1,900 certified Chevy EV dealerships. You hear that? 1,900
locations. Because Chevy, EVs for everyone, everywhere. Now, off to the interview.
Sean Podine, enjoy. All right, it's time to bring on our guest. After being
selected in the eighth round of the 1988 draft by Edmonton, he went on to play 826 regular season
and playoff games over 11 seasons with four teams. And in 2001, he won the Stanley Cup with the
Colorado Avalanche. Pleasure to welcome to the Spit and Chickles podcast, Sean Podine. How's it
going, man? Hey, hey guys. What's going on these days? What have you been up to the Spit and Chickens Podcast, Sean Podine. How's it going, man? Hey. Hey, guys.
What's going on these days?
What have you been up to?
You're a fucking silly bastard.
We're going to have some fun this time.
All right.
He's a Calder Cup champ, too.
Him and his Calder Cups.
Nah, we do want to mention that first. You should have mentioned that first.
Man, that trumps.
Yeah, true, true.
You bring up some old Cape Breton, Nova Scotia days.
I can love that.
Yeah, Jack.
Hey, Poles, the funny thing is, in looking at all your pictures online,
you had those mullets just rocking, and now they're back in style.
They were so popular back then.
Come on.
It must have been, what was it, 1995?
Yeah.
Oh, those were just beauties.
But no, right now, just settled down back in Minnesota.
My wife and I have had a house there for about 20 years.
And my daughter plays ice hockey
out at the University of Vermont in Burlington.
Oh, nice.
Yeah, and so I was just out there for 10 days.
That was a lot of fun.
And then my boy,
he plays high school hockey
at Benilson St. Margaret back home,
junior does.
And yeah, and right now
I'm actually down in Kansas City.
I work with a friend of mine down here.
We run a rink and a hockey organization
in Shawnee, Kansas at the Kansas City Ice Center.
So that's kind of what I do these days.
Wow.
What's the hockey situation like in Kansas?
Is it growing?
It's fun.
It's, you know, I love it down here.
I mean, it's pretty much a yes, sir.
Yes, ma'am.
A lot of shotguns.
God fearing people.
So I've been in just fine.
And it's a fun
environment it's um it's great people and you know it's growing slowly as you know when you
come from a place like whether it be canada or like the what i like to call the 11th province
minnesota it's uh all over so down here it's growing slowly but surely. Yeah, it's been a long time since the Scouts were in town, huh?
Yeah.
That was back in the 70s.
Holy shit.
Was that one season, I think, maybe?
I think, yeah, one or two, if that.
Then they headed out with Colorado, then New Jersey.
So you just mentioned the mullet.
I think we should go to your high school days.
You graduated with John Marshall High School.
Did you play in the tournament then?
And was the hair stuff such a big deal then,
or was it even a second thought? Well, first of all, I love that you said John Marshall High
School. I still remember the school's fighting song, but anyway, let me digress for a sec. No,
back then it was a little smaller. When I grew up in Rochester, Minnesota, we had three television
channels. So it's a little different trying to explain that to the kids today and um back then it was
state high school was a big big deal of course and um we never made it three years in a row we
got beat by the pesky burnsville braves back then they had a lot they had uh the granado family came
through there mr osiki was the coach and they were the i think they won the state tournament two of
the three years we were there but they they nipped my dreams when i was a young kid very early from 16 to 18 where was it played back then it was if i don't know if you
guys have ever seen any old footage of but they used to have the saint paul civic center with
clear board the clear board yeah the clear board those were sick so if you watch real close while
the guy teams that made it there i was the kid running down by the the penalty box waving through
the clear boards to show everyone i was there so after that you went to the ushl it's obviously gotten a
lot better over the years was the nhl on your mind already at that point or were you just playing just
to keep playing hockey oh okay are you guys ready for this one so i grew up you know remember the
old slide hockey game uh that they it used to come a little stanley cup yeah slide the players up and down so
my my big dream when i was growing up is to play for the john roger rockets and that is not a word
of a lie that was my goal that's a youth player and um only nhl game we got on got back in rochester
was the sunday afternoon it was always the flyers versus somebody and it was the one they used to
have peter puck if you ever look it up.
He would come out and do a shootout after the second period.
It's kind of cool.
So then I graduated from high school and I actually had a scholarship.
And again, a lot of people don't know this.
They used to have a Division I college team out in San Diego, California,
called the United States International University Soaring Seagulls.
California called the United States International University Soaring Seagulls.
Brad Buteau, a big, you know, iconic coach from back in the day. I went out there and I played for three months and I really realized when I was playing beach volleyball the day of the first
couple of games and not drinking Gatorade or Powerade. Maybe I should not stick out there and chase my dream of being a
UMD bulldog is what I really wanted to be coming out of high school. So I drove back and it was
kind of funny on my way back, I was driving back and I got home and the junior coach, Frank
Ceratori, he's the head coach at Air Force. I owe him my career pretty much. I got back and I wanted
to go to UMD, but I had to sit out a year.
So he said, you know what, you can go there to school and you can play for the, it was called
the Rochester Mustangs back then in the USHL. And so I would, and then, so he called UMD and they
wouldn't take me because they were, back then you could have as many players as you want, I think,
but he talked him into let me play for a year on the sixth line.
And, uh, so visit, but I can't remember the name of your company, but that's two lines deeper than yours, I think.
And what do you mean?
Press box entertainment?
Oh, I remember that's fucking legitimately the name of my company.
I thought you were chirping me and I don't know how you do that.
Oh no.
So you were, you were deeper than the press box.
If you were playing sixth line.
There was no press boxes back then either.
And then I played junior hockey on the weekends,
and my dad bought me a $500, I think it was something called a Vag,
it was rear wheel drive.
And I'd drive up Monday mornings at 4, go to class, skate with the Bulldogs, drive down
Friday at 12 and play junior hockey Friday, Saturday and Sunday if we had games. And that
was my freshman year of college. And so, yeah, Frank, thank goodness for him. He got me up there.
And the next year I started my sophomore year, I had to sit out until Thanksgiving, my sophomore
year. And then I was on the fourth line, fourth line.
And then my senior year, I got a chance to play consistently and then moved on to the next level.
So unless I'm just crazy here.
So you were practicing with the college team while playing in the UCHL games and going there on the weekends?
Yeah.
Was that legal?
Did anybody know about this?
Could you have gotten in big time trouble if people found out?
No, they knew about it. But back then, I'm thinking more of the rules were written in pencil than pen.
So they were negotiable. Let's put it that way.
And so, yeah. And so that was, I loved it. It was, I mean, I was young, had energy.
I was 18 years old and we had a lot of success on our junior team,
and the coaches in college let me skate with them for a year
without being on the plate.
Do you think that was huge in development,
and the fact that you were getting those practice reps against the –
usually the college players are older,
and then you would go play against the younger kids in the UCHL.
So did you feel like it was almost easier,
like you were wearing a governor out there? Great question well i really didn't have a governor i had one speed
and i wasn't fast so but going against like you said neutral yeah i had a very strong neutral
and uh so playing against those guys in practice and playing against as you said 21 22 year olds
division one players,
I had to push myself just so I wouldn't embarrass myself. And then to go back to junior and junior
hockey was different back then. I mean, now you look at the USA challenge, you got, you know,
first round draft picks, you got guys that are moving on to play pro hockey for sure. Back then
it was guys looking to try to get that half scholarship, quarter scholarship, didn't have
anything coming out of high school and didn't want to go play division three or division two or three back then.
And so they were really good players also, but it was just another step up playing with,
up at UMD in practices. So yeah, I really do believe it was a big move for my development.
So when I was in high school, it was getting better, but yeah, like I think back in your days,
it was almost like if you didn't have I think back in your days, it was almost
like if you didn't have anything going, like you said, you go to the USHL. Now in Massachusetts,
even Minnesota, I think if you're an elite player, senior, junior year, you're going out there and
now it's the best league in the country. But my question was, when you hear about Minnesota and
kids playing high school hockey, like a lot of times, at least people out East think all their
dreams are go to the U.
And you mentioned you kind of dreamed of playing
for Minnesota Duluth.
Now they had Brett Hull, they had those great teams,
and then for a while they were bad,
but that was kind of your dream,
and now it's turned into this powerhouse program again.
Well, and I mean this sincerely.
Luckily, I was there during the bad years.
I called it, right?
That's how you made the team.
You guys laugh, but that's exactly how i got to actually play they had what they called the brett hall years
and then the sean podine years and then there's a young kid named gary plant who came in with a
whole host of players and the kid went right back up again and now scotty sandal and that group done
an unbelievable job what'd you bring bring the San Diego work ethic over?
Is that what happened?
The whole team?
Snow volleyball instead of beach.
Yeah, I wanted to go back to that and ask, like,
you mentioned you guys were having too many pops on the beach,
not really concentrating on hockey.
Did you get to go on a school visit there before you actually committed at least?
I did.
Oh, fuck.
No wonder you ended up there.
Well, honest to goodness, I took the visit and it was great. But back then, I think if I remember right, and my family, we're just a blue collar, hardworking family. I think I was the
first one to go to university and they were offering a full scholarship and it was like
$11,500. I mean, for our family, that was like, you just could not turn it down. And it was kind of
what I went into it with that. But at the same time, my whole dream was to go to Duluth. Back
then there was only two division one teams in Minnesota, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
and Duluth. And Duluth was always a smaller school and I was more of a small town kind of guy. And I
always thought how great it would be to go up there and, you know, play the big school and, you know, try to have success.
So yeah, it ended up working out great and I was very blessed with the way it went, but it was a little bit of a roundabout route.
I don't know if you've already mentioned this, but when you finally played that second year after, what do you call it, red shirting or sitting out for that transfer, did you end up getting some form of scholarship?
Okay. Okay. You're just, sorry, because you're reminding me of a couple of things I haven't
thought about for about 30 years. So no, I did not get scholarship money. I got financial aid
because my parents were divorced at the time. So back then, I think UNV cost a whopping 5,200
a year back then. Okay. Wow. And I still remember my
senior year of spring quarter, they offered to buy me my books. And I was, I kind of looked at
the coach and said, I haven't bought books for two years. You're offering me now my senior spring.
Pay my bar tab and we'll talk.
Did your dad get you into the game? Like what was your beginning into hockey?
You just loved it from the jump? You know, we were blessed. So when I was young, we had a
semi-pro team there called the Rochester Mustangs where guys would come in and they would find them
jobs and they'd play semi-pro hockey out of Rochester. And after they were done playing,
they ended up settling down, getting married and getting involved in our association. And at that time we had the biggest association in Minnesota.
And so, and believe it or not, I still have a memory of my mom pushing me on the ice. First
time fell on my arse, turned around, crying, tried to get off. She was like, not a chance.
And then it kind of took off. And it was a sport that I, I was always a kid who loved sports and
I was, you know, not who loved sports and i was you know
not athletic but i had you know i got confidence out of it and i enjoyed playing a bunch of
different sports but hockey was the one i just had a passion for sean this was way back when
there was still uh 12 rounds in the draft did you have much or any contact with any teams prior to
the draft okay i hope you guys don't mind if i throw these stories in here i mean
i was talking earlier mike my boy loves your show. He just raves
about it. Junior does, but I'm sure they'll watch this. But my kid has asked me and his buddy,
so what was it like? I said, there's no stage, there's no TV. For me, I was driving home from
San Diego. I went out there to drive my coach's car from San Diego back to Denver, hopped in my
buddy's car, drove
back. So we stopped in Omaha and I called my dad from the pay phone because there were no cell
phones. And I said, Hey pops, you know, I'll be home in about six hours. And he goes, yeah,
I was in the, in the only paper I ever knew was the Rochester Post Bulletin. There was no national
syndicates down there. So it's like, yeah, you're supposed to get drafted in like 200th overall or
something. I said, yeah, you know, I've heard kind of that before, but I'm sure it won't happen.
So I'm in the car with my buddy driving back. And I'm like, you know, if I did get drafted,
the only team I don't want to get drafted by is Edmonton. Cause they're way too good. And I'll
never get a shot to play for them. Get in about four in the morning. My mom wakes up. She goes,
yeah, you got drafted i
was like really she goes yeah he goes and grabs the post-it off the fridge the fridge
she goes by the edmonton oilers and i was like oh no
my dream's done priceless plant here i come exactly. And so, yeah, that's how it worked.
And then I got the, I don't even know what you would call it,
the sheet in the mail six weeks later, name, size, weight,
which way do you shoot, where do you play?
And I was like, I don't even know if they know who I am.
That's unbelievable.
I'd say there's no Gary Bettman announcing the draft pick.
Your mom with a Post-it note off the fridge.
I'd say there's no Gary Bettman announcing the draft pick.
Your mom with a post-it note off the fridge.
What's the nationality to have the spelling of your name, S-H-J-O-N, for Sean?
Well, my family's kind of a mutt from all over in Europe,
but when I was born, my mom loved the name Sean,
and my grandpa's name was John, and they kind of pushed S-H-J-O-N together and made for a very interesting time explaining my name to teachers
and parents growing up like like olvie crossing the sauces a little collaboration hey hey uh
wasn't your father trying to name you wolf gang oh so there was a battle between this crazy spelled
sean or wolf gang i mean how did they end did they end up deciding on not calling you Wolfgang?
Maybe that's what caused the divorce.
I'm not sure, but.
Oh, no.
I'm glad my mom won that battle.
I'll tell you that.
My dad, lie out.
He was a 60s child, I guess.
Oh, was there like an old guitarist named Wolfgang or something?
I don't know.
Maybe he just thought it up one night.
Maybe Mozart.
All right, well.
Good call on that one.
I thought we were going to get to the bottom of that one.
It's still a mystery.
It's still a mystery.
It's still a mystery, even to you.
All right, so you get out of UMD after finally getting your books paid for,
and right to training
camp with the Oilers. I mean, what was your training like back then where you're even kind
of working out? It was just so different at that time. So back then, I mean, there was no,
there was no bikes or nothing called cardio. It was just weights. And back then the big thing was
Nebraska football. They had a program called bigger, faster, stronger, deadlift, squat,
bench press, you know, however much you can do
one rep. And so that was my big thing. I was going to go into camp. I was by that time, like when I
was 16, I was 5'5", 130. And then I went into camp, I was 6'2 and a half, I think 222 pounds.
So I kind of really balled up as much and it wasn't't all muscle, and got on the ice, and I realized real quickly that at this level,
this was never going to work.
And so the following summer, I got on Edmonton's program,
and I was down to about 198 pounds.
And then it was funny.
You get rid of 30 pounds, and you feel lighter.
And so that helped tremendously.
So when you ended up joining Edmonton, Sean,
they kind of had like the post-Dynasty blues, I'd say, at the time.
Did they ever really give you a chance to settle in?
Did you ever feel comfortable with Edmonton while you were there?
I got two memories.
First time on the ice, I'm stretching on the boards,
and Kevin Pendergaston comes down.
He was one of the head scouts.
I'm not sure of his official title, but he goes,
Hey, Sean, Kevin, I'm the one who saw you play. And he looks around and goes, and I think I'm
the only one here who's ever seen you play hockey before. I'm like, what is going on here? Like,
you're right. I'm thinking I'm all pumped. You know, I'm at a pro camp.
And then I go into the locker room and of course, the young guys went allowed in the big locker
room and I got new gloves. And I'm like, oh oh my goodness this is this is cool well i find out three days later they gave
the rookies the gloves to break in for the veterans to break them in and then the number 58
should have gave me a sign that maybe it wasn't in their uh near projections like what bays got
number 67 yeah the training camp number, just the fucking, the only
the minimal amount of
per diem pack money and then see you later. We got you
a flight out of town.
So just going back to college though, I noticed
in your last year you really exploded
offensively. So like going into that
Edmonton camp, like what did you, what were you
expecting to show off? What kind of player
do you think you'd establish yourself at that
point as to why they wanted to draft you i worked hard and it was nothing special at all
and i really was hoping to maybe you know i knew i was going to go to the minors established as
like a third fourth line grinder and i knew i would have to fight at that size back then because
i really wanted to be a team player and so then I remember going down, first exhibition game in Cape Breton,
Trevor Steinberg, I just ran him from behind, you know, college boy.
Of course he finished your checks.
I go to skate away, and I feel his big paw grab me,
and he just started hammering me.
By this time, he had broken my jaw,
and I'm just grabbing, grabbing, trying to figure out what's going on.
I finally get his right hand. I'm like, okay, fine. I go to cock my left. He's a lefty. He
starts beating me. His left breaks my nose. So it's a line brawl. I go to the penalty box. I'm
like, I need some ice here. My face is numb. I'm bleeding. And my center looks at me and says,
don't put it on your face. They'll know you're hurt. So I got a bag of ice on my knuckles and trust me, there wasn't one scratch. And I'm
like, where am I? I'm at the end of the earth. As far as I was concerned, being from Minnesota,
I got an ice pack on my knuckles and my face is pounding to my heartbeat. And so that's how I
started. That's how I was going to make my big move, Biz. That's what I was going to show them.
Did anyone kind of take you, did anyone take you under the wing and teach you a little bit about fighting? Biz has mentioned
guys helped him before, considering you knew you'd kind of have to do a little bit of it.
Of course, I started taking boxing lessons the next summer. The tough guys on the team kind of
showed me a few things. And to be honest, I was never a tough guy, but I always felt, you know,
you know, back in the nineties, you wanted to show that you, you were there for your teammates. And, uh, so my, honestly, my main goal when I started fights and they're usually the bigger guy, not started gotten fights with bigger guys.
Don't get KO'd.
Don't get too hurt and just make it look like you hung in there.
And that's what I kind of did.
Story of my life, buddy.
Story. Especially with some of these guys putting needles in their ass. looked like you hung in there and that's what i kind of did story of my life buddy story especially
with some of these guys putting needles in their ass you're just like it's like it's like hanging
on to a bowl for eight seconds like jeremy obonsky i tell about talk about all the time
now had uh you mentioned you didn't want to go to edmonton because you didn't think you were
going to get your shot now the american hockey league was in cape breton we had that been your
first time ever visiting Canada,
or because you played in Minnesota growing up,
you guys would go for tournaments all the time?
Back then, there were no tournaments.
There was no summer hockey.
There was no AAA hockey.
So you never, yeah.
The only ice I got in the summer was the Rochester Youth Hockey Association
summer camp that I got a deal on because I would help counsel it.
And so the only time we had been to Thunder Bay,
my buddy here, Dean Nelson,
who I run the rink with, we went up for a camp. And back then it was before the Eastern Bloc
countries, the guys had started coming over. So the Canadians hated Americans. So I'm not there
for two weeks. Everybody hated me, but they loved my buddy because he was funny. That was my two
weeks in Canada. Oh, unreal. Sean, I know your first coach was Teddy Green, a.k.a. Terrible Teddy Green.
What was it like having an original six-guy old school?
Was he a tough guy to play for?
What kind of coach was he?
No, he was the best.
I mean, I was very blessed to have some great, great coaches,
and Mr. Green was unbelievable.
He was just hard-nosed, blue-collar, but honest as the day is long. And he was just who he was just he was just hard-nosed blue collar but honest as the day is long and
uh and he was just he was just who he was there was no there was no uh give you a hug as you feel
that dagger going near back it was front and center this is how it is this is where you're at
and i loved it i loved every minute playing for ted you know you get to the minors you're
experiencing cape brett and then your second year you you had an unreal season. And at any point, like 30 goals is really legit. And did you think
maybe get called up at some point that year? Were you kind of waiting for the coach to give you the
tap? Or were you kind of almost no expectations throughout that run in Cape Breton? Great
question. So my second year, I kind of got placed because we only could carry 10 forwards back then. So pretty much everybody played.
And they put me with a couple of young guys that came over from Czechoslovakia,
Thomas Sershon and Thomas Kapusta.
And they were very talented.
And they literally, you know, I'd get the puck at the side of the net
after they did all the hard work and fancy stuff and I ended up getting some points.
But I never really thought that I would get called up at all and it was just uh it was I was just happy
playing and I just you know I love the game and then it was the next year where I went to camp
and I and I actually was the last one cut from camp and oh I'm not sure how it is nowadays but
back then if you had a two-way and someone had a one-way the one way was staying because yeah edmonton was a lower a lower monetary club back then after the big boys all moved on
and i think that's when mr pockington was kind of selling off the the higher price guys that
were getting free agent money and um if i remember right and uh so i was the last one cut and cape
breton was the other end of the world from Edmonton, you know, in my
little hamster brain. So what they would do is in our team. And again, we were laughing with you at
the Minnesota Duluth thing, but Edmonton was not, we were really, really bad. And so they would call
up two guys at a time because the team wasn't doing well. And so they, but they'd call you up
for a week to make it worth your trip. The first two guys went up. I didn't get called up.
They came back.
Next two guys went up.
Next two guys went up.
Finally, the fourth time, Scotty Thornton, who had a heck of a career, tough guy, great guy.
Him and I passed the other two guys in the Cape Breton Airport on the way going up,
and we were like, we'll see you in a week.
I didn't know if I sure went to study.
And that's when I got up there and we played.
And I ended up actually scoring a goal in my first period.
And I'll never forget that feeling.
It was like the weight of the world went off my chest.
And I ended up hanging in there and staying up there that year.
And then the journey kind of started at that level.
Who was it against?
Who did you score against?
I can't remember his first name, but it was in Washington.
It was Hripnak.
Hey, as long as you remember the stories off the ice,
we don't give a fuck about who you scored against and how.
You did finish with 100 goals, though.
That's a nice number.
You were cooler than 99.
Big time.
Big time.
A killer slap shot from the bottom of the circles in Dallas.
So I know how my time was in the American Hockey League.
You know, all the guys are young, you're moving, you're shaking.
Like, did you have a girl at the time where you guys like having all these wild stories off the ice?
Did you have a close group of guys?
Like, is there a couple that stand out to you that you can remember?
We had a very, that was the one thing out in Cape Breton Island.
We had a very tight group and we had success there one year, which was nice.
I was just by myself out there.
And, you know, yeah.
We had a fun time together on and off.
When you guys went on that run to win the Calder Cup,
I imagine the crowds
were crazy being in canada you know they it's the ahl but to them it's their hometown team right
yeah it was actually it was we we sold out every game out there because you're kind of the big fish
in the small pond out there there wasn't anything other any sports at that level and so we had a
great following the year the year we won we had a guy named guy named Billy McDougal. He had 51 points in 17 playoff games. I mean, it was crazy. Like he was on fire,
but the story I remember about that is we were playing Rochester in the finals. And so
my dad and my grandpa flew out, which was a big deal. You know, my grandpa wore the suit and
everything flew out. I got like this limo to pick them up. And I met the bar restaurant
order the night before. So I dinner all set up. They come to the game first shift. This guy,
Melanson, I think his name was spears me right in the swimsuit area. And I'm just enraged. And now
I'm, you don't want to lose this playoffs. He's coming up the boards i go to run him he freaking forearms me in the face now my face is
numb and now you know those it doesn't happen all all the time those moments with it's the
eyes roll back a little bit and you just lose it i chase that freaking guy all the way down the ice
and i get him he's got his back to me i'm gonna cross check on the back of the head
his d partner steps in front greg brown. He's a coach out at BC.
Yeah.
I cross check him in the nose, drop him.
He's sitting there.
I see blood coming out.
I'm still trying to give a lancet.
They get in.
I'm doing the old, you know, tough guy throwing my elbow pads off in Jersey.
And so I get, I get out of there and I'm like, my first thought was, oh my goodness,
my grandpa's going to be pissed off.
I get to the hotel. and I'm like, my first thought was, oh, my goodness, my grandpa's going to be pissed off. I get to the hotel.
I walk into the room.
He lectures me for 10 minutes, and I just sat there like a dog between my legs and my head down.
Sorry, Grandpa.
Sorry, Grandpa.
What did he lecture you on, though?
The fact that you put on a scene?
I mean, the guy did fucking cheap shot you, so I don't mind you going after him.
What was the issue?
Because he spent all that money, and that was a lot of money back then to come watch his grandson okay well i mean it was like hey but
fucking sometimes the wires crash on him that's why that's why they were going to name you wolf
gang because you got a quick wick that's why so um i i want to say earlier you mentioned every
sunday the only game that would be on television in Minnesota was the Flyers game. Then you end up
getting to get traded there. You must've been over the moon. I mean, bittersweet.
How did that all go down and why do you think you ended up getting traded?
Well, it was one of those, and I don't know if it's around anymore, but it was called a group
six free agency where I was over 25 years old. I had played less than 80 games.
Yeah. I remember that. And then you become a UFA.
Yeah. And I was more than four years pro, I think it was.
Or less than five years pro.
I can't remember.
So I became a free agent and no one was going to sign me.
And I had some two-way offers.
And then another guy, I call him Godwinks, and they come into your life.
Craig McTavish had just gone out there.
And Bob Clark had heard that I was a little bit of a, you know, really good guy, but had a little bit of a wild side. And Mac T just told them, you don't have to worry about them. And they
offered me a one-way contract. And honestly, if I couldn't, Philly was just like a godsend. It was
a blue collar city. It was was tough we had a big team tough
team fans were crazy and awesome and that's kind of where i got my first first chance to really go
and play at that level and show that i could maybe fit in i was talking to john buchigras who's one
of our you know one of our favorite guys he speaks so highly of you and that's kind of the
the first i ever read about you as a character was when buchi used to have his column i believe it was and he told me a hilarious story he said i had
to ask you about your rookie year in edmonton on your birthday when your brothers got you in the
hotel yeah involving a sombrero and a t-rex outfit i think mctavish is involved in the story as well
i was just gonna bring that up too yeah okay so at that age i thought craig mctavish looked
like he was a grandpa right like he was what 33 34 i'm 24 whatever was the pro he still looks good
he's so great he's benjamin button yeah good one and so we went out for the night and uh
ended up at some room with my brothers and all i had had on was my boxers, a sombrero, and a big five-foot blown-up Tyrannosaurus rex.
And I don't know, it was four in the morning or something, and I leave the room.
I don't know where my room's at.
I can't remember.
And a security guard comes up and goes, hey, we got a complaint about some guy and his boxers and a sombrero and a T-Rex being too loud.
And I looked at him and i
said you got the wrong guy man jesus those are those edmonton nights there's not much else going
on that's so good you left out the part where i slowly got in my room quietly and i put the t-rex
right above uh mac t because he'd sleep on his back. So when he woke
up, he had a big dinosaur face. Unbelievable. How about that? Funny. Oh, so good. So Sean,
was Philly your only offer? Did you have other offers? What was the deal there when you were a
free agent? I had other offers, but they were, again, they were like two-way deals, NHL so much,
NHL so much. And Philadelphia offered me a one-way deal. And I was, you know,
over the moon with it. And my agent at that time was Jeff Solomon. And I, again, I remember talking
to him, I was at a hockey camp and on the payphone and he's like, you know, let's see, you know,
I think I can, you know, maybe get a little bit more. I said, okay. He was so good to me.
And I remember walking away from the payphone three steps turned
around called him quick back and told him i couldn't sleep and i was gonna throw up if he
didn't take the deal and he said all right and that's how it happened i don't want to risk not
getting it if you ask for more they might say fuck off yeah yeah i was coming off my fourth year with
a whopping three goals i think on the fifth line at Edmonton. So I was more than okay with it.
What was it like first seeing Eric Lindros, right? I mean, you must have been... We bring up a lot on
this show. We'd love to get him on sometime, but not many more dominant players through a certain
era than he was in his prime. He was scary in every facet of the game. I mean, his hands,
skill-wise. I think at the time he was 6'6". If I remember right, 240, 45 game. I mean, his hands, skill-wise, I think at the time he was 6'6",
if I remember right, 240, 45 pounds. I mean, he would destroy guys. He was tough. I mean,
he was the complete player. I mean, he was amazing and just the nicest guy. He was just a leader on
our team. I mean, a leader in everything. I mean, he was that monumental in person as, you know,
the stats show or whatever
where everything he did
on the ice. I know during those years, Philly
was knocking. They were a great contender, but
that one year, you guys played Tampa Bay in the playoffs
in the Trop. Well,
the Dome, the Devil Rays play. Was that the
strangest place you ever played any game, let alone the playoffs?
They played games there? Yeah.
Actually, a little trivia.
That arena holds the record for biggest playoff crowd ever.
Wow.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'll get it from rear.
Yeah, it was an indoor, what do they call it now, winter classic game in a baseball stadium.
And yeah, it was just so huge and vast.
And you're coming from the spectrum that it felt like the fans were just right on top of you.
And so it was a weird, weird, quiet feeling because there was just nothing around you.
And busy like this one, I still remember we were playing them, and I think it was game five, and I ran.
Remember Rudy Pozczek?
Yeah.
Real tough guy.
And I ran him, and I'm looking at him, and he goes, don't worry, Poz, I'll get you next year.
And I was like, oh, great, I got to live with this all summer.
Oh, no, you don't like sleeping on him.
You'd rather get him over with.
No.
You just hurt me now.
But that must have been a great rip, though.
I think you guys made playoffs five years in a row.
I'm sure the morale in the city was super high.
Was that probably the closest group you ever got to play with,
I guess, other than your Stanley Cup? The group in Colorado, we were very, very tight also.
And it was nice to have success there. But like I told Bob, Mr. Clark, I would give him my left
testicle to win one in Philly when I was there because it was just such a special feeling.
Yeah. You were quite upset when you ended up getting traded. They didn't give you the heads
up. And I was actually texting to Jonesy to get some stories on you,
but I didn't realize you guys
had been traded for each other.
He's like, he goes,
oh, actually he got traded for me,
but tell him he owes me a Stanley Cup ring.
You know what?
Actually, it's funny you bring that up.
Before the trade happened,
Mr. Clark called me in his office
and he said to me,
you know, I usually don't do this pose,
but I just want to let you know
what's on the table as a trade,
and I just want to get your thoughts.
And I told him just what I told you.
I said, but I understand.
I think, again, I probably had, you know,
a whopping one or two points after 14, 15 games,
and that city is about winning.
So, yeah, I did get traded for Jonesy,
but he leaves out the part that I think he was playing on one leg then.
So it might have been equal value.
Yeah, and then he ended up getting a three-year extension with Philly, took him to the cleaners.
I think he had $2 million a year or two.
Yeah.
With all that time that you'd spent there, I would imagine that you got pretty close with Clark.
Was that probably the most difficult, that conversation, and you ended up moving on?
Bob Clark was just amazing.
He's a mentor of mine, and he's someone I've always looked up to,
and it was literally just, I just feel so blessed to be able to
got to play for him.
I just didn't want it to end, I guess.
And then looking back, it's kind of like that's,
you became a true NHLer then, right?
Like that was the beginning of you kind of becoming this role player
that brought a lot to the room.
So your memory is probably,
it's like you don't get that cup ring without getting to Philly.
And then the chance they gave you that that's,
what's cool about it.
No,
it's,
it's,
it's,
you know,
it's,
it's people always,
when they talk about the moment you have success,
which is great,
but there's so many steps that get up to that.
And,
you know,
in Edmonton,
Mr.
Sather,
giving me a chance and keeping me around when I literally probably didn't
belong at times.
But I worked hard and kept my mouth shut.
I got to Philly and Terry Murray giving me my chance as a coach.
Mr. Clark believing in me and giving me a chance.
I'm definitely not a player who's going to wow you with anything in my game.
But hopefully every night I can show up and give an honest effort.
They gave me the chance to do that night after night.
Those little things mean a lot.
Were you a loud guy in the room?
Were you keeping the boys loose all the time?
Oh, yeah.
He was a man-gina guy getting the boys loose before a big uptight game.
There's a little Timbit man from Tim Hortons on the back.
I know you, you sick puppy.
Wolfgang, baby.
You know, I don't know.
I was pretty much a let's-go them rah rah guy but it was seems like it
seemed like every year one time i'd get up and start throwing the f-bombs out because we were
underperforming but that was about it and yeah i was just i just loved the mentality of whatever
it takes to win and you know i was blessed to be in organizations that just had that same mentality
and i felt so i felt like I belonged.
Were you a guy who we've talked about it before, where it's hard, right?
When you're never that comfortable, like where you kind of always on your toes, like, you
know, this could go into the rink every day.
Like, I don't know how long this is going to last.
So not only are you kind of a little stressed out, but also appreciating what you have,
as opposed to guys kind of like myself who took it for granted a little bit.
I think the best way I could sum that up, I remember when I was in Colorado and you're right
on. I remember we played Dallas and I think someone must've turned the microwave on somewhere
and the coach had a play went off in his head and he put me on the ice to kill a penalty and
I ended up scoring a goal. It was a big game because Dallas had beat us for two years to go to the cup.
And I remember sitting in the bar after with my wife and some friends.
And as clear as day, I remember thinking, you know what?
I know I'm in the lineup tomorrow.
Yeah.
But no, fear can be a great driver.
You know, it can be a brick wall you can't get through or a big wind behind your back.
So it helped me to be fearful of losing something that I loved more than anything at
the time to keep pushing myself never to get comfortable that's what drove me to even like
to fight and get the wheels beat off me it's he said it's almost like the fear component of like
not being able to to at least stay in the NHL yeah busy hit it right on the head like for me I never
expected to be there you know like I said before I't kidding. My goal was to play varsity hockey at John Marshall High School and to be playing the game I loved and the game, I mean,
it was my dream. And I just never wanted to lose that dream. All the fear, all the hard work or
whatever you want to call it, that it took to stay there. It was all more than well worth it because
it meant that much to me. So those years, you know, you mentioned Dallas got in the Noctio twice and you guys have such good teams. Like you kind of knew it was
there though, right? Like you knew we're just so close. And at that time, it's kind of like the
East is now the West was, was the wagon. That's who everyone was worried about. Yeah. It's funny
because I remember we, we lost a Dallas one year and then we lost him the next year and people,
you know, ask, you know, when did, you know, how was that season?
And, you know, the season was great when it was over, but it started on the plane ride back from
Dallas. I remember sitting back there with Raymond Bork, who I literally still talk to on the day we
had success every year for the last, what, 22 years or whatever with Patrick Waugh, with Joe
Sackick, Dave Reed, Rob Blake. And we were talking about what we needed to, and this is literally two hours after we just got beat. No shit. Yeah. And it was, it was powerful. Just
listening to those guys talk and what we needed to do. And it was, it's amazing how much, and
when we did have success, I remember just the memory and, you know, some younger guys are
jumping up and down. Great. And I mean, i just broke down in tears and this set memories of all the people on my path would help me from when i was a kid and how much time
and energies and monies they put in to help me chase my dream and at that moment to realize it
so that was really really cool i want to go to game six sean before before the game did anybody
speak up i mean the cup was in the building off you guys but for the devils did anyone like speak
before the team or did you try to keep it out of business as usual oh it was i remember we
had some uh team meetings or actually raymond bork i mean he's just an amazing amazing friend
he was talking to a few of us one-on-one about you know the game coming up and we're going into
that game and it was all on the line. And I, I remember it
so vividly because after game five, I think it was, was it game five when we lost, I literally
was supposed to do an interview, but I broke down crying because I always thought in my mind,
cause I didn't know what it took to win that you had to steal one. You had to steal that one game.
And I think it was game five, if I right or game four anyway we were out getting out
shot you know 40 to 10 or whatever and Patrick while I was having one of his average nights you
know um went to play a puck on the net and they I can't remember what happened the end of score and
then it was boom boom boom and I just was in my mind I thought that that was it we lost we missed
the opportunity and I was just
down. We flew back. So that must've been game four, flew back. And I got on the couch, I turned
on the TV and I interviewed Patrick about, you know, that play. And right away, he was like,
I can't worry about that. That's done. We have another game in two days. And I was like, it was
like getting slapped in the face. He's like, Oh my goodness, right, it's done. And you talk about regrets in life or whatever it might be,
or this younger generation worrying about what could have been.
It just was, as soon as I heard that, it was like we moved on from that.
That significant moment of you hearing him say that,
that's what made him a sick puppy is just like the mental game he had.
I remember someone asked me about Patrick when I was younger,
you know, is, is, is he as cocky as, you know, people say he is. And I said, is it being cocky
for the greatest goalie in the world? And he put, no, that's confident. And so yeah, game six,
we're in Jersey. They're shite kicking us. They're out shooting us 11, one, they got a goal called
off because it went off the skate. And I'm like,'m like oh my goodness you know and all of a sudden we got a goal another one we ended up having success and went back home but it's
amazing how many little things it takes especially when you're out on the ice with these you know
future hall of famers these great players you got Marty Brodeur over in the other net and
you know to get one by him especially in the old trap days when he could literally use a six foot
equalizer to pull anyone back,
it was like pulling teeth.
And it was just special to be able to realize it.
No bullshit, Biz.
I was actually at that game before when Roar Fumble fucked the puck there.
It's the first Daily Cup I ever went to.
No way.
Yeah.
Yeah, I was actually at that game.
No bullshit.
Now, Sean, legendary story.
We've got to bring it up.
You kept your uniform
your gear on for a full 25 hours after you won the cup was that a deer a bet on a whim how did
that all come to come to be okay we've all seen a christmas story right when the kid sticks his
tongue on the pole because of a triple dog there so we we ended up having success and then the
locker room was just packed so i went out on the ice with my wife and our friends I called my grandpa just nice and you know serene I come back in everyone's
dressed ready to go down to the chop house our buddy Bill ran it and uh I think it was Joseph
I can't remember who said just wear your stuff there just wear it there so the equipment managers
my best friends Smoke and Terry tape on these little guards on my skates,
and I go in thinking, ah, it'll be kind of fun to walk in with it on, and I was with Trey Anestesio,
a good friend of mine, not a good friend of mine, a real, real good friend, and he goes,
Barry, Barry, look, Poole's got his stuff on, and Barry Melrose, who I've done some charity work
with, is a friend of mine, I go, he goes, that's nothing, we had a guy in Adirondack wear his stuff on and barry melrose who i've done some charity work with is a friend of mine i go he goes that's nothing we had a guy in adirondack where his stuff for 24 hours after
we won so of course it's like here we go you're right i knew it right away i'm like i'm i don't
think i'll ever graduate from 12 years old and then so i kept it on there then we went out for
the night and i remember laying in bed with my wife and we were in Curtis Lissitian's house and he had like a king size bed.
And she was as far over on that side as you could get.
And I was over here.
And she's like, just take it off.
You're disgusting.
And I said, honey, trust me, of anything I do in this career, people will remember this longer than anything else.
And no shit.
There we go And now when your name's brought up
The guy wore his sweaty disgusting gear for over a day
It was so
I remember sitting at the Morrison Inn
This little bar up in Morrison
And taking the
You know where they pour soda and water out
Behind the bar
And just dousing my body
I was overheating
My scars were starting to scab over like green
I'm like
What am I doing right now?
Did you take any Dixies walking around with the skates for so long
with a couple cocktails in you?
I never took a digger, but back when I played,
I wore a size 9 1⁄4 because everything had to be perfect for me
just to be able to cross over, you know?
So they were so tight.
When I took them off, my feet literally looked like they were a couple of watermelons on the end of my legs.
It was so gross.
I was just disgusting.
I know we're switching subjects big time here, but you're a big Phish guy, the band.
How many concerts have you been to, Phish concerts?
You know, probably half a dozen.
My friend Brad Sands was the manager of the band
and we got to meet him when they were out in philadelphia and uh just i mean incredible human
beings and so got to know them and seen them in a few different places and venues and yes and that's
kind of how we hit it off and just we've actually stayed in touch would you uh would you hit up the
shakedown street at their concerts do you know what what that is? I don't know what that is.
That's where all the people who want drugs, they go meet.
They call it Shakedown Street, and they kind of just tap each other,
and then they exchange the drugs.
I raised a VIP there.
I mean, you look like the type of guy who likes to have a good time, Sean.
So I figured if you're going to fish concerts,
you might be on the old shrooms or some shit.
Well, right now I'm happy I answered.
I didn't know what it was
and i hope you believe me yeah no i do i do another another thing buchi mentioned to me
is at one point you owned a car that only drove in reverse is that true okay it's the whole i mean
you have tried shrooms so i'm in cape breton and back back then, literally, I made $27,000 Canadian my first year. And this
is back when the Canadian dollar was 66 cents on the dollar. I believe the taxes were 52%.
I was paying my agent 5%. I literally lost money my first three years of playing pro hockey.
So my first year, Dean Antos and I, my teammate, we get a car and it stopped going
forward. And I know nothing about cars and we had no money to fix it. So I had to drive backwards
to the streets of Sydney, Nova Scotia to practice and back. That's easily the best
fucking story we've heard today on this, on this show. That's, that's incredible.
No accidents either, right?
No accidents, and it wasn't a Tesla or Mercedes, I'll tell you that.
Yeah, no shit.
There was no rear-view camera in that wagon.
No, there wasn't.
That's incredible.
Did Harley ever put you on a line with Forsberg or Sack at any point
just for shits and giggles?
They're like, what the fuck?
You guys are asking hilarious questions.
So one time, we must have been playing so bad.
He put me and Eric Mestier on a line with Peter.
And Bob literally comes up to me and says,
if Peter passes you the puck, don't touch it and finish your text.
Let it go past you.
What was your relationship with hardly he seemed like a bit of
a hard-nosed coach like kind of bit of an asshole yeah you know i liked hard-nosed coaches i was
a pretty honest player and i liked black and white and um that him image and uh koochie and those
guys brian trottier um michelle goulet, they only wanted the best and they wanted to win.
So everything that they did was for that purpose,
and it was the exact same purpose I had.
So I loved it.
Joe Sackick, I just mentioned him.
He's a guy whose reputation is somewhat of a quiet guy.
Did he speak up often?
And when he did, it was a situation where everybody paid attention,
obviously, because of Sackick.
You hit it on the head.
When I talk about Joseph, he was my neighbor out there for a couple years.
He's as great of a player as he is on the ice.
He's a better human being.
And when he spoke, people listened.
But honestly, by his actions, he didn't have to say pretty much at all.
He was the hardest worker.
He was the go-to guy. He never questioned his intensity,
his care, his passion. And so by, and the old phrase, actions are louder than words. He was
that guy who did that. I noticed the next season you ended up getting traded to St. Louis, spent
another year there. And then it was kind of, you know, the NHL career was coming to an end,
but you weren't done playing. You went over to Sweden and even Japan. Was it hard for you when you realized that the NHL deals were drying up and
it was time to go to Europe? Or was that something you were okay with at the time? How was your
mind throughout that process? It was not hard at all. I say it often. I was the luckiest and
most blessed man to play until I did not like playing anymore. And if you ever look at, you know, the guys who play to their 40s and 50s,
they don't start on the fourth line.
When you go down from the fourth line, you're out of the league.
And so I played until I was 35, I think.
And I honestly was done.
I was tired.
And this is when computers were new.
So I remember sending over emails because I wanted to see if I could go get
a hockey job in Spain, Ireland, Japan, or South Africa, because I didn't know if they had hockey
teams or what was going on. And then my agent had found me, Jeff had found me a couple teams like
elite teams or whatever in Finland and Russia, but they wanted a year long commitment. And
I was honestly just tired. And then this team, Vekla from Sweden, they called me through another
guy and said, yeah, we'd love to, they were in the, the, the all Spenskin division, the second
division. Oh, they were at the time. Yeah. And they said, well, you don't have to come over till
the middle of October and you can go home for Christmas for three weeks. And I started doing the math. So I'd go over there for like a month and a half,
two months, come home for three weeks, go back for about a month and a half or so. And then
the season was done and they didn't ask me to stick around. And I got the funny story about
this. So, and I mean, I wasn't making, you know, tons and tons of money, but I obviously didn't major in finance when I was at Minnesota Blue.
I'm sitting on the bus and, you know, I had the cooler in there and just sitting there.
And I always thought euros were two to one to American dollars.
So I never really looked into it.
I just probably someone told me sometime late at night, one at one place or another.
So I'm sitting on the bus and all of a sudden I hear some Swede because a lot of them didn't speak great English.
He goes, no, no, no, no, no. 1.21, 1.21. I turned around. I was like, what are you guys talking
about? American dollar, Euro 1.2 or one American dollar 1.2. So I started doing the math and I was
making something like 80, not 80% less, but what,
eight cents on the dollar less or however it goes.
Don't follow my math.
And I was like, oh, okay.
Crack another beer.
Oh, fuck it.
I got to play three more seasons.
Oh, Jesus.
I got to get a part-time job here.
You already mentioned it, Japan.
That must have been a fucking awesome time.
I heard they
treat you like God there. It was one of the best experiences my wife and I had. We went over there.
It was at the end of my career. And it all started from one of the emails I sent over there.
And a guy who was a goalie coach, Hiroti Wakabayashi, still a good friend of mine,
works down in Arizona with some of the amateur clubs, AAA clubs. And he emailed me back. It took two
years. He found a team. I flew over and visited. It was awesome. And then it was amazing. Like you
said, it was a small fan base, but very passionate. Food was unbelievable. And at the end of the year,
Hiroki tells me that he really only understood half of what I would say to him when I'd have to translate.
And no one else there spoke English on my team.
But I loved it.
That's unbelievable.
Our buddy Matt Murley played over there.
And he said, you mentioned the food.
And he said it's the cleanest place he's ever been in his life.
Hands down.
Amazing.
I mean, you live on an island.
You're going to keep it pretty clean.
And that's what they did there.
And there's no trash cans.
It was weird.
Like, you know, the big ugly American with, you know, overeating and whatever else, you
know, loud.
And it was just like, it was so, so cool.
It was, I loved it.
Any other quick, fun, cultural differences, things you got to experience that you think
you would have never, or thought you never would have got to?
The first thing that sticks out is playing in China.
I don't know if you guys, I had never been to a communist country before.
I just, you know, never had been one, didn't really realize the differences.
So we were playing this team, this team from China, from Chichi Ha, I believe.
We would beat them 22 to 1 in Japan.
And on the way over there they the guys were telling me
you know they're gonna cheat i was like oh no you guys just relax relax just take it easy
all of a sudden the game's going on i'm like what is going on here so the referees are paid by the
government i mean i should have known that and the players are all you know on government getting
paid by the government and so it's a one zero game And we had called off sides on a breakaway. One of our players, it was just one of those moments. I just screwed up. And I was like, I got on the ice. I'm like,
I'm going to run this ref. I don't know what to do. So they went back with the puck. I went all
the way down here. I saw the ref over on the other side. And so I timed it. And when they dumped it
in, I ran at that ref and I jammed my knees freaking hard in the back of his leg so now i'm sitting there at a hockey rink in japan in china 250 300 fans starting to
throw food at me spitting on me the the rest down i think he tore his mcl or something they have to
escort me off the ice and now i'm like what do i do so i go in the locker room i lock the door and
i sit there with my stick i'm like'm like, first couple are getting it.
I'm not sure what's happening.
And so luckily I just locked the door and they escorted me out after my full
equipment.
You could have been stuck there.
Oh yeah.
Solitary confinement.
It was interesting,
but it was,
it was one of the most amazing experiences ever being over in Japan.
And I,
I can't wait to go back one day.
Guessing the sushi blows away. Anything you get around here oh it was it was sickening bear belt sushi i was
it was i was like in a dream i and i love sushi so it was a everyday occurrence just in talking to
you i could tell how much you love the game and how much it meant to you as a person in your life
and so we talked to a lot of guys when they retire, it's all about finding that next passion and finding, you know, something to truly love again. And it's hard for
a lot of guys. Was that something that you went through mental health wise and just finding that
next thing? As much as I think I would add a harder times that a lot of teammates who had
the game taken away from them before they were ready. And I had a lot of teammates who really
loved the locker room. They love the guys and being in that atmosphere. And I had a lot of teammates who really loved the locker room. They loved that the
guys and being in that atmosphere. And for me, I was blessed to play to the point where I literally
didn't want to play anymore. And the one thing I will always miss is just the competition at that
elite level with like-minded people every day you go to the rink. And that, that is, I don't know if
you can find, not you, I don't know if I can find something that would compare to that at the most elite level around.
But at that time we were starting to have kids and we were selling back down in Minnesota.
So my vision or my view of life was changing.
So it was kind of timing for myself.
Yeah, that's true.
What have you been up to lately, Sean?
He's a hockey dad.
He's dealing with all the hockey, the crazy hockey parents.
Oh man. you've been up to lately sean he's a hockey dad he's dealing with all the hockey the crazy hockey parents oh man well my kids are through the association association levels so down here in kansas city it's you were asking about that a little bit the biggest difference is compared to
like a canada or minnesota the skill level is obviously not as high as up where it's kind of
you're born and bred into it but the uh parent issues are much more minor and they're
so much more appreciative for coming to help and being part of their kid's life and their family's
life and and giving your time for it so that's night and day also from more competitive uh areas
well it's like minnesota and mass and canada all these the parents they expect or not expect but
they're all my kid's gonna get the nhl he expect, but they're like, oh, my kid's
going to get the NHL. He's going to D1 scholarship. Whereas there, it's all about the expectations.
And the parents are just happy that their kids get to do something they like. That's not that
common, I'm guessing. No, you're hitting it right on the head. I mean, expectations set too high are
the first things that lead to sadness and frustration, right? And so if you're setting
your goals on your kid getting a D1 scholarship
when he's nine, you're just setting yourself up for frustration,
sadness, and being not happy.
They're down here.
They want the experience of walking in the shoes you're wearing
and enjoying the moment and making it a great experience for their kids
is the number one priority.
Sean, are you still following the league?
Do you have a favorite team that you root for?
I mean, it's been a crazy, crazy NHL season,
especially in the Eastern Conference.
Too bad your flyers stink.
Yeah, you know, I don't watch a ton.
We always watch NHL on the fly with my boy.
Junior loves that stuff.
Of course, you got to go for the wild back home.
It's nice having a team back there.
We didn't have a team for quite a few years there, it's nice having pro nhl hockey back in the hood but yeah
of course follow the avalanche always will follow the flyers and always i'm the sucker i brought my
boy up when they closed northlands coliseum up in edmonton so really oh yeah that was a blast that
was that was a fun build i mean i know by the end when i was there it was a dump we had a great locker room though they had redone all of that and the lounge but but the
building man i we were so bad that the crowds weren't crazy we're always sold out but i just
always imagine that place in the in the late 80s and it must have been something else experience
at college was like yours when you are in edmonton was like yeah i was practicing with a junior team
during the week and then i'd play on the weekends.
No, I bet more so when he got there, things went south.
And now that he's gone, they've gone uphill again.
You mentioned that you talked to Ray Bork on the anniversary,
the day you guys won.
And do you call other teammates?
Do you kind of try to get in touch with guys maybe once a year
to reminisce a little bit?
You know, every once in a while, I still talk to quite a few of them just here and there randomly yeah
daniel high note he's the godfather of my little boy junior so we stay in touch um but raymond it's
it's every year on that day june 9th i end up giving him a ring and we just chat just quickly
and touch base and you know he's one of those you have those quality friends that you just you look forward to those little moments, he's one of those, you have those quality friends
that you just, you look forward to those little moments,
and that's one of them.
So that's been pretty cool.
Sean, I was reading that old piece that Bucciaross wrote on you a few years back,
and you had a rule for life, I think it said,
never start a land war in Asia.
So I'm guessing you're a big Princess Bride fan if you put that on there, huh?
Oh, my goodness.
Never trust a chick with a tattoo of a dagger on her body.
Was that the other?
Yeah, that was in the book.
Why is that?
That's all I've ever dated. I'm married.
What do you mean? What do you mean here?
Princess Bride.
That's actually in my quota. That's what you have to have if you want to get a date with me.
It has to be in their bio.
No, but what's the backstory between never trust a girl who's got a dagger on her?
Oh no, I thought, I was thinking that was, I stole that from the Princess Bride, Three Rules.
Oh, okay, okay, my apologies.
I'm not the movie guy, sorry.
Yeah.
Sean, we can't thank you enough.
You know, pretty cool story to have you dreaming of high school hockey
and then to become a Stanley Cup champion.
So thank you very much for your time, and we appreciate it.
Congrats on everything, and good luck at Kansas.
Kansas, do you want to mention the program's name again?
Well, we're the Kansas City Stars down here at the Kansas City Ice Center
in Shawnee, Kansas.
And, yeah, my buddy Dean Nelson runs the program,
and I pretend like I help, and we have a really good time,
and we enjoy being down here.
So thanks for letting me throw a little plug in there for him.
Well, good luck with everything, and good luck to your daughter and your son. Thank you for thinking of me, little plug in there for him. Well, good luck with everything and good luck to your daughter and your son.
Thank you for thinking of me, guys.
I really appreciate it.
Well, thank you, Sean.
Much appreciated.
Man, big thanks to Sean Podi for jumping on us.
What a character.
That was funny stuff.
We have another funny guy from Minnesota
coming next week as well.
So hopefully you'll enjoy that as well.
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Biz, what a wild turn of events for Jonathan Quick this year.
A couple weeks ago, he's backing up his team.
He's made his legend on the LA Kings.
Today, he's the number one goalie on their shiny helmet rivals,
the Vegas Golden Knights.
He's won his first three stats,
included a 33-save shutout in Carolina Saturday.
Stopped 92 out of 98 shots for a 9-3-9 save percentage.
Biz, let me ask you,
can a trade not only rejuvenate a guy's mentality,
but his physical skills as well?
I mean, that sort of seems like it's happening right now,
based on what we saw.
I think you need to wait a couple of weeks
till the adrenaline wears off to see where we're at here.
But I'm all for this Jonathan Quick spite tour beginning.
And I hope it keeps going.
And I mentioned it podcast over and over.
Them and the Kings meeting first round
would be just a perfect storyline to kick off the West
because I feel like everything's been so eccentric that we need some some bad blood in the West in order to spark things up so if that's a
first round matchup all eyes on that man and I'm happy for him and and he's a competitive bastard
even in practice fucking rebound game whatever it is he wants to win so when he felt disrespected
being called off the bus and being traded I would imagine that it's ignited a fire in him like no other and i have no qualms that he can get back
to his his goaltending of the past keep in mind too is he's also used to a few of the guys in
front of him mcnabb and mcnabb and who's the other one martinez so the way they defend in front of
them sometimes and the way that they're able to box out because that was a big component of LA Kings defense they fucking let them see
everything and they boxed out perfectly so I'm sure I'm sure being back with a few guys that
he's familiar with on the back end and them guys being able to communicate to their partners and
the other d-men hey if you do this we're going to be set up for success with Jonathan Quick.
I think that it makes perfect sense for some people right now saying that Vegas is going to be the team to come out of the West.
I mean, we keep going back and forth on whoever it is.
With their lineup, if they can add Stone and they continue to get this type of goaltending
from Quick, look out, man.
And that's a fucking rager barn to play in, too.
I think top to bottom, they're Ds, one of the top Ds in the league.
You got Petrangelo and Theodore.
You got Petro Theodore, then you got Martinez and McNabb,
and then you got Haag and Whitecloud.
Martinez leads the league in blocked shots.
I think Vegas leads the league in blocked shots. I think Vegas leads the league in
blocked shots as a team. So that's something that definitely helps a goalie. Quick had a sub 900
save percentage his last eight starts with the Kings. And in these three games, I think he's 939.
So say what you want, like confidence is a crazy thing and it doesn't matter what sport you're
playing and it doesn't matter how you get it and also unfortunately how quickly you can lose it but something's going with him right now
now it's unfair to say that this has this is all to do with vegas's defensive system and the
blocking shots because la is a great defensive team as well but just just the the ability for a veteran player to just feel slighted can carry a guy for miles.
It's like, it's that one thing he needed possibly.
Like, oh, I needed a little motivation.
Not that he didn't have it to win games and go on another cup run,
but like, they got rid of me?
They got rid of me?
And now he's in Vegas and he probably feels this rejuvenation of like the old Jonathan
Quick the young Jonathan Quick I'm gonna prove everyone wrong I'm gonna become the starter of
this team I'm gonna win a Stanley Cup and now he's in a different spot mentally certainly physically
and he seems to be feeling it but they have so many goalies like Thompson's gonna come back
Brassois like Aiden Hill's now hurt. There's so many different guys there.
But come game one of the playoffs, I wouldn't be surprised at all if it's Jonathan Quick.
And to see him rebound the way he has after such an enormous movement
in his life, like it wasn't just moving from the city.
It was just everything mentally.
And this is how he kind of has come out and fought those demons
of being traded and being felt left out. that's all the credit goes to him.
That's amazing.
But Vegas, yeah, this team, if they can get Stone back the way Eichel's playing now,
that is a good team.
And that barbershop pickup, we said it before he was traded,
that guy would be a difference maker somewhere.
That is the type of player that you wouldn't play off series with.
So they're looking really good right now.'m really happy for quickie yeah yeah vegas goalies the bed like spinal tap drummers
this year you mentioned thompson and broussard they've already been hurt aiden hill mispractice
uh with a lower body injury they had to call it the yuri patera then what happened they had
a dress freddie brathwaite a 50 year old freddie brathwaite been retired for 11 years uh he had a
dress for henderson their farm team down the road, AHL.
He didn't have to get in the game, but hilarious.
Then we had another e-bug situation Friday night.
Chicago had addressed the local e-bug.
Kid Zach Andrews, wait, did you see where he played his last hockey?
UMass Boston.
UMass Boston, baby.
The Beacons, correct?
Yeah, absolutely wild.
Like I said, he didn't get in the game, but still hilarious that you got a D3 guy on the bench
potentially getting in the game.
And we also had another goalie scrap in the jungle,
this one between Fort Wayne's Ryan Fante and Wheeling's Brad Barone, who's a mass hole.
And I don't know, it happened after an empty netter,
so I actually sent a message to the guy who was writing about it, the reporter,
because there was no goalie in the net when they scored,
so he must have been coming out to go back on the thing
and ended up fucking going to fight the other guy.
Did you see that jab?
You don't see too many jabs at any fights, let alone a goalie,
but all the teammates.
He looked like he knew what he was doing, a little boxing training.
But what was hilarious, all his teammates, it looked like Lord of the Flies.
There was like a circle around.
They were all banging their sticks on the ice and shit during the fight.
Fucking hilarious to have another one of those.
So good stuff.
But Biz, you know what we absolutely need to complete this year right now?
An e-bug goalie fight.
That would just tie it off together.
I thought you were going to say an e-bug goalie goal.
Yeah, well, that's-
Because we already saw one with Linus Allmark.
And then he fights the guy after.
Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, e-bug goalie Gordie Howe.
Well, if fucking Rebo finally got his,
I'd put my money on the E-bug.
Ah, fucking right.
Funny shit, man.
Well, elsewhere...
It's still crazy that we're having E-bug situations, though, right?
Oh, it is.
Can we all agree on that?
100%.
The fact that it's the National Hockey League.
How have they not figured this out yet
where there's like a bullpen catcher
that you can keep on staff who's at least of good enough caliber
where you don't have to call guys off the shelf?
It makes for a good story, and we're talking about it every time,
so maybe that's their logic and thinking behind it,
but it's fucking absurd that they're still doing this.
I just never want it to go away just so that maybe once again
the Leafs could lose to their Zamboni driver.
That is the ultimate why I don't want it to leave.
They haven't got out of the first round since Ari went to his last prom,
and all I want is them to lose to another EBUG goalie.
It's just amazing.
That's probably why they decided we're keeping this forever.
Seriously.
That was on SportsCenter in the U the u.s and shit that was big time
never mind uh bullpen catches more like local softball guy business to get a guy like that
out there you know i mean just local kid fucking d3 man it's it's a great story when it does happen
but anyways elsewhere out west uh it's been a rough year uh for the san jose sharks they have
the second fewest points in the league with 50 and it looks like it might be time to take a toll on the guys. First, we saw head coach David Quinn. As mad,
I think, as we've ever seen him, giving the refs an earful. They called a penalty on San Jose. He
definitely did not agree with it. And this is per at SnipeCity420. He wrote, David Quinn yelled,
fuck you at the referee nine times, no exaggeration. Then called him a fucking asshole
and told him, go fuck yourself.
I got fined 25 grand, got kicked out of the game.
I guess he got his money's worth for 25 grand.
Who reported this?
420 Sniper? It was a Twitter follow, at SnipeCity420.
He broke down the film.
That's where we're getting our forensic information from,
for the part.
That's where Matthew's for Stutzel.
Hey, this is a new analytics right here.
Doesn't use Wikipedia, but will use Snipe City 420.
Yeah.
I checked it out.
I mean, it did look at least nine times.
He said, fuck you to the right.
No, hey, that was like a Jimmy Playfair special.
You see about maybe one snapshot a year like that in the National Hockey League.
I can't remember one in recent memory where a guy was going that hard.
He was fucking fuming there.
He ended up getting ching, ching.
Yeah, because remember, Brynden Moore got the 25K when he went out.
That's what Quinn got, and Brynden Moore did not get his money's worth compared to Quinn.
Quinn got his money's worth, and it's one of those things.
It's just been bubbling over.
It's a long season, losing, losing, a guy who has a lot of pride,
who came back into the NHL.
The team obviously wasn't going to be very good this year,
but at some point, everyone has their moments,
and I think that was the perfect time for him just to explode
the wires crossed after a real long season and he went bananas and then carlson i think was that
another game that he went another game yeah different game by the way that play and what
happened was eric carlson makes a real nice move on new hook of colorado they're down six nothing
to the abs i think it was late in the third period and a blatant like
get beat and just throw your stick up he didn't mean to catches him right in the mouth he's
bleeding everywhere no call like one of the worst no calls of the season i'd say and carlson is on
the bench so mad the trainer's trying to put like gauze over his mouth from bleeding he's got blood
on his jersey i think the trainer then says to him,
hey, you've got to go get stitched up.
And he turns around and throws a fastball with his helmet across the ice.
Yeah, you don't see the helmet toss very often.
Darlin ended up getting McKinnon one year
where he chucked it at him in the chest.
But not often do you see.
Last week we were talking about the goalie throwing the bottle at the official.
Now we've got the helmet toss coming in. it worked for Trouba earlier this year,
but he didn't throw it at a person. He threw it at the boards. Carlson got two fun sportsmen like Antetem in a misconduct. He said, it's just a little disrespectful. They have a tough job.
Things are going to get missed. I found that one hard to miss to get disrespected like that. It's
tough to take. I think they were pissed that the refs didn't come over and say, hey man, we missed
it. And then I think that goes a long way with guys
when they acknowledge they screwed up and i think the fact they didn't piss them off further but
just bleeding ever like that's okay no worries um but going back to what a season like that can do
to you mentally uh my first year with the saginaw spirit in the ohl. We started the season, I want to say five and five,
and we finished the season with 11 wins.
Well, so.
Just, it's a nightmare.
It becomes miserable going to the rink.
The losing just wears on you, and that's why eventually the wires cross and you get results like this.
So my heart goes out to Quinny.
I can imagine what he was going through to get to that point.
Yeah, it all came together and bubbled over at one moment.
They got to get him a yoga instructor or something after a snapshot like that.
That's where he should have to put his 25 grand.
No?
Maybe like a breathing coach.
I'll send him my guy.
We could do a couple of Zoom calls.
Hey, get him on the liver king diet.
Maybe that'll help.
All those nutrients.
I don't know.
He looks great for his age. He doesn't need to be going all
liver shit like that.
He's got a nice coif.
A little further up the coast there, Biz,
the Canucks, they've won four straight, given
Tarkin a 10-7-2 record his first
19 games behind the bench. And JT
Miller, he's got 19 points in
18 games under Tarkin so far.
Looks like a different player.
This is from Canucks beat writer Thomas Grants. JT Miller has played his best, most focused,
and most obviously motivated hockey since the trade deadline. Miller himself said, since Rick Scott here, I think I've simplified my game. He's had four shorthanded goals. How
about this? The team has nine shorties in Tark's first 19 games. That puts him fifth among all
coaches this year already
for team shorty. So, Biz, chime in here. What do you got to say about Tarket's effect on Miller?
The penalty kill was atrocious, and he's done an excellent job since he's came in.
Back probably three, four years ago when he was coaching the Coyotes, they led the league in
shorthanded goals too. They had Grabner. They had a bunch of other guys, Brad Richardson.
and shorthanded goals too.
They had Grabner.
They had a bunch of other guys, Brad Richardson.
So no surprises to him, not only going to fix the PK,
but them obviously scoring on it as well.
But probably not a good thing for the Canucks and where they want to draft.
I mean, this conversation has been going on and on and on.
But you knew that he was going to go in there and turn things around.
He's got an incredible staff.
They're just playing way better as a group together, getting production from guys like JT Miller. Of course,
I don't think he was happy and he looked a little bit disheveled in the first half of the season
where they didn't have any direction. One of the things when Toc was scouting their team is talking
about their stars extending shifts too. Sometimes you're looking for cookies and you're out there
too long. If you're out there
a minute and 15 seconds, that's way too long at the NHL level. 45 seconds, get the fuck off the
ice if you're playing at the pace that you should be playing at. So I'm happy that they're winning
games. They're winning games and getting farther and farther out of good drafting position.
It's like the Flyers of the west but i'll say this if if they believe
they can retool and not have to rebuild i trust that talk it and staff can end up doing it rather
than maybe in other places i still think you need it to burn the thing to the ground but this is
kind of the way that that vancouver runs every year they're just like, you know, too good to not draft in the top three
and too bad not to make playoffs.
And it's just kind of this revolving door.
But overall, incredible job by them to turn things around
and make their team more watchable.
They are pretty fun to watch.
The Kuzmenko is so good.
That guy, what a season he's had.
First year over in North America.
They got him re-signed,
which is good. I know at the time we were saying, get whatever you can for him. But I guess if
they're going to go about it the way they want to go about it, they kind of had to re-sign him.
Yeah, I just don't really know what to say. I don't know what they could do this summer to
all of a sudden become a contender. Is that even possible with what's there right now?
They do have Demko, Hughes, and Pedersen, right?
If you're going to talk about having a guy in each position the way we've talked about
Ottinger, Heskin, and Robertson in Dallas, that is a foundation.
But it just seems like everything else there isn't going to be quickly solved in terms
of becoming an actual contender to win a cup.
But you knew he'd do a good job.
I remember you telling me about making the PK better,
that he'd be able to do that no problem.
So that's one thing.
Well, it was running at like 60%.
I think a chimpanzee could have went in there and improved it to some degree.
But yes, all this not only killing but production from it, insane.
I just, I don't know.
What's Vancouver?
What are they doing?
You've got to get bad to be really good.
That's why I'm trying to remain positive and say, oh, great job.
You've won four in a row.
The team's playing well.
It's like, you're just like, this is counterproductive here.
Unless we're the fools and they actually do retool for the first time
in the last 10 times they said they were going to do it.
I'm pretty sure there's an argument also.
I went into it a few weeks ago.
Go around the four sports.
I don't know if you're going to find five more hated owners than
that guy. He's the most
hated owner in the NHL.
And if you go to the other leagues,
once the commander's Snyder's
gone, I think he might be number one.
They despise him. Yeah, he's a dickhead, that
Snyder.
Is he on the way out?
I think they're forcing him to sell it.
Yeah, and he's probably going to go down swinging too because he's such an asshole.
He'll probably get every lawyer in the fucking country to defend him.
He's a fucking loser, that guy.
You think he's got more demons than Tiger in the closet?
Maybe.
I mean, all that shit that was going on behind the scenes, the NFL did that report even though
they didn't do anything after.
Wait, you're the golf guy. What's going on behind the scenes, the NFL did that report even though they didn't do anything after. You're the golf guy.
What's going on with Tiger?
Tiger had an interesting breakup to say the least.
I guess the old move is when you're really rich
and you don't think she'll leave the house,
you just have your team tell her that you're going on a long vacation
and then when she goes to the airport.
Pack your Louis Vuitton luggage, babe.
Pack a bunch of bikinis you're actually going somewhere tropical
oh that was an amazing breakup yeah i'll see you at the plane honey all of a sudden like a giant
jack security guard just like whisking her away into a yellow cab like he's gerard gallant
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I mentioned Trevor Zegers, another fantastic goal. Honestly, I think this might have been one of his
best. You consider the speed he was at and the lack of space to be able to go
through his legs over Grubauer like that.
Whit, what was your take on this one?
Do you think that was his most impressive, even more so than the Michigan stuff?
Yeah, that one with how fast he's moving.
The crazy thing is, I know if you watch it, you may not believe me,
that isn't even hard for him.
Like he's done that and
practice it so often where that is so second nature to just have no angle left and you're
not be able to beat the goal in the backhand between the legs full speed he's that skilled
i also loved after how that i think they asked him like what his thought process on his goals
and he said i'll just fuck it is that true true? Did you see that? Well, I mean, we talked about it at the beginning of the year.
I think that's basically his mentality towards everything.
Just go with the flow, baby.
That was a top-tier goal.
And, hey, Pat Verbeek, he's got to fucking probably sign this guy.
I wonder what he's going to command.
Some people always rag on his defensive game
and how sometimes he'll disappear, but ultimately the numbers decide.
He's got 20 tucks now on the year or just over, and he scores these highlight reel goals. I don't
think he's like, he's not the leader of the team, but he's a perfect piece. He reminds me of a Jake
Gensel, where he could just find these ways to score, but you're going to need to build around
him. And for a team that's not that good biz
he's putting seat fans in the seats every night 100 100 so you gotta commend him on that car yeah
currently in the last year of his elc so yeah we'll be interested to see what he gets in his
next deal no questions i guarantee verbeet tries to get him at a at a bridge deal no questions i
bet you there's going to be a little bit of a contract conflict there i would i would i would even predict potentially uh a sit out if they're not gonna offer them
that uh fuck it before bedard goes anywhere though if you're gonna take the blackhawks the
blue jackets the coyotes and the ducks oh i don't even think it's close to the brightest future i
think anaheim has it i think mctTavish, Zegers, Tridesdale,
they seem to have probably the best landing spot for Conor Bernard in terms of how good that team
could be in a few years. So yeah, that'll be an interesting one because he hasn't lit it up. I
mean, he's done very well offensively on a real bad team. But if you're talking about maybe looking
for the bridge deal to keep him motivated in a way, I'm also looking at the fact that if you
can get him at that, you know, reasonable number for eight years, then if he does pop off, you're
laughing. So there's an argument for both sides. Were you saying Verbeek would do the bridge deal
to almost say, hold your horses, let's not get too cocky. No,
that's not the right word, but you know what I'm saying, right? Let's continue to try to drive to
earn your huge payday in three years. Well, what would you give Zegers right now,
based on everything he brings to the table? I wouldn't have him higher than $7 million a year.
I was going to say I'd give him eight years, seven and a half, no problem.
Yeah, I don't know what a bridge deal has gone up.
I mean, we talked about pasta earlier.
His bridge deal was six, six and a half million.
So, I mean, if the cap's going up,
you've got to think of the price of a bridge deal.
Well, how many years did pasta sign?
I wouldn't really consider that one a bridge deal
because didn't he sign like a six times six?
It was six, yeah.
Six, so bridge deals are typically two to three years.
Yeah.
Right? Like Matthew Kachuk signed one. Yeah. Six. So bridge deals are typically two to three years. Yeah. Right?
Like Matthew Kachuk signed one.
Yeah.
And then he was able to get out.
I just, I don't know.
Based on everything he brings to the table,
I think seven and a half might end up being a lot.
Dude, in five years?
He's 21.
He's at like a point per, he's not at a point per game,
but pretty close. They're horrible. He's a big name. he's not at point per game but pretty close they're
horrible i he's a big i'm not saying i wouldn't give it to him but i wouldn't be shocked if for
beak wants him on a bridge deal that's my that's my opinion that'll be an interesting one to see
play out you're right i wouldn't be shocked if we saw a little bit of conflict there so we'll see
are you sure he's up after this year oh Oh, yeah. This is his third year.
Yeah.
Like, the fact is he hadn't already signed already.
Then he has a prove-it year, which is this year.
And I would say based on numbers, he's done a pretty good job.
But what do you think his side wants, his camp wants,
based on what Verbeek wants to pay him?
Because keep in mind. He goes in the office.
He's like, give me $13 million a year for eight years.
Because you just mentioned all those young guys and how they're all coming up together.
Everybody's going to have to get paid at some point.
So not as easy as you think.
I would give them seven and a half though.
Eight years, seven and a half is a great number.
Eight for eight.
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There was one significant sign since our last episode.
Cap signed defenseman Trevor Van Reamsnight
to a three-year, $9 million deal.
Nice little race from the 950 he was making.
He's got 19 points in 66 games this year,
career-high in goals and points.
But I found a couple kind of funky numbers here, Biz,
doing a little prep for the show.
When the Islanders came back to beat the Pens Thursday,
it was the 50th multi-goal third-period comeback
win of the season. It's the most in a single season in nhl history we still got like another month left
i mean like we always say like two there used to be two nothing was the worst lead hockey
we always say now it's three nothing but i think this is pretty much an indication that that's
what it is that's insane that there's been that many comebacks already this year yeah when the
year started out there was an astronomical number
of two-goal games
or two-goal leads, excuse me,
Remember the Canucks
blew like seven of them?
17 of them.
That's what made Rutherford go mad
and started going at Bruce
and the media.
But we've talked about
the stat analytic
on when a team's up two goals,
80% of the time,
the other team, or they end up getting the penalty, the team that's up two goals 80 of the time the other team or they end up getting
the penalty the team that's up two goals so that had a lot to do it especially early on but yeah i
think i think it's great i think no teams are ever out of it and it's good good for the league to
have these type of comebacks so stats like that are important in keeping the entertainment high
especially the doldrums of the season you got to be able to finish those games off though
good teams you're up two goals in the third period you got to finish those games off especially come
playoff time you can't be blowing late leads like that regular season it's different but that's not
a good sign if a team can't hold on to a lead especially late in the game uh ironically you
brought up the islanders beating the penguins to make that happen
first time in franchise history 50 years the islanders swept the season series against the
penguins so shocking and i think i think the last two were big comebacks so that's pretty that's
pretty big time for for a team that's fighting to get in with the penguins to just sweep their ass
this season so that was one of the arguments we talked about earlier in the season
when all these were being blown is you get all these young guys in the lineup
and you're up two goals and you keep looking for your cookies
where game and puck management comes into play.
And sometimes early in their career, they really haven't developed that mindset.
Or they don't care to. There's a difference.
Correct. Correct.
So that's one level for improvement
for some of these teams and these young guys yeah the shitload uh six on five goals as well
which obviously goes hand in hand with that stat uh how about gino became the franchise leader in
penalty minutes for the penguins at 1050 past kevin stevens on the all-time list for the penguins
this one jumped out this was crazy crazy when St. Louis Blues have
just four players that won the Stanley Cup four years ago on their current roster. Braden Shen,
Colton Pareko, Jordan Bennington, and Sammy Blake, who they actually traded away and then brought
back. I mean, that's kind of like a jarring number, no? Like four years later? Yeah, that's
a quick drop from the top. And I think the way Doug Armstrong's doing it is the correct way though.
He's really trusting and relying on these guys that he signed, Robert Thomas, Jordan Cairo. He
believes in those guys. How can you not after the deals they got and they're going to be able to
lead them forward. But yeah, all of a sudden the Blues won the cup. They looked like they were
poised to maybe make a couple other runs. Granted, Petro was a free agent. He was gone. And from there, it kind of all fell apart. And I keep saying last year,
they could have almost beat the Avs, almost beat the Avs in quotation. But all of a sudden this
year, it quickly came to an end. I think Tarasenko being a little bit of a baby probably had something
to do with all that stuff going down. Ryan O'Reilly's play fell off a little bit. There
was a bunch of different factors, but that quick to have a Stanley Cup champion dismantled, it's just not,
it's not that common. But I do, I do, I don't think they're going like full rebuild. I think
they're doing what Vancouver wants to do and what Flyers have tried to do and quickly turn it
around. And Doug Armstrong's the man that I'd have a lot of trust in getting that done. Yeah.
That's still kind of shocking.
I mean, look at the Bruins, not to keep fraying off the Bruins,
but they've got three guys from the 2011 Stanley Cup.
Krejci, Marchand, Bergeron still on the team.
That was frigging 12 years ago.
So that's the fucking game, man. Free agency, it's all a money game.
Calgary, they squandered a chance to get within two points of Winnipeg Friday night
when they lost to the Ducks.
Biz, that dropped their playoff odds from 42% down to 28%
after that particular game.
That seems like a huge drop, 14%, for just one game this point in the season, no?
No, with as few games as are going on and the fact that Nashville keeps winning.
What a disgraceful loss.
I know.
I think it was 16% was what they ended up dropping in the playoff race,
just based on that loss.
What's that?
They went to 28% after that loss.
Oh, right, but it was a 16% jump, was it not?
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Sorry, I apologize.
No, no, you're good.
But just, yeah, I think that that pretty much puts An end to the season for the Calgary Flames
I don't think that they're going to make playoffs
And I just think that they the room was
Lost and that just tells you everything you need
To know in a must win game
Backs against the wall you can't beat the Ducks
Who are fucking going for a lottery
Pick it's a disgraceful
Loss and they don't deserve to make
Playoffs this year it was the same exact
Thought that went through my head when Ottawa lost to the Blackhawks. It's like points are so important and
you squander. The Senators lose to the Hawks and then the Flames lose to the Ducks. It's like you
don't even deserve to get it. That should be a guaranteed win right there. Yeah, actually Gibson's
been playing pretty well. I mean, he gets bombarded every game, 35, 40 shots. He had a tough season, but he was out of his mind in that game.
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We mentioned some expansion talk last week. Bucciarossi put out a tweet about Atlanta,
possibly Houston.
And I guess in Atlanta, what's the city called?
Alpharetta.
That's the city that they want to maybe put an arena in.
Now, the mayor's city hasn't talked to the NHL at all.
Bill Daley said, not our priority right now.
Anything that would get done would be built around a new facility.
But I don't know.
I don't know if you're going to go back to a city for a third time.
I mean, they had the flames. They had the thrashes. I don't know if you got to go back to a city for a third time. I mean, they had the Flames.
They had the Thrashers.
Both left.
Would you go back to Atlanta if you were the commissioner?
I mean, is third time going to be a charm there?
If they go back there, I will just be disgusted.
I played against the Thrashers.
When I'm telling you it was the worst atmosphere I've ever even imagined for an NHL game,
I'm not even describing
it correctly. Like it was horrible. Now the rink or the arena was totally built for basketball.
They have one side of the whole arena is suites. So there's like no seats there or very few. It was
so bizarre. Maybe for bat, maybe for the Hawks games, it's great. But you've had two times there,
and you've got all these different areas that want teams.
Like, no way.
No way.
You cannot even think about going back to Georgia for the NHL.
It's already failed.
Not once, like you said, twice.
So if they go back there, I think they're crazy.
I don't even understand the thought process behind even wanting to.
Not saying they do, but it was in the news. In one case, they didn't have very good ownership.
And I mean, it's a heavily populated city. And I think if they got the right ownership group
behind it, and right now with expansion teams, it's a billion bucks probably the next roll call.
And from my understanding is they want a team in Houston and they want a team in Atlanta.
And if the Coyotes don't get their new arena approval, that they could potentially be one
of the teams that do move and go to one of those spots. And then the other one would be expansion.
But let's say Coyotes figure out their shit and they ended up going two more expansion teams.
Why wouldn't the owners agree to it? it's fucking free money in their pocket a billion dollars for each team and the owners
get that they get all that money but if it fails again then they're they're they're left with the
headache of this absolute disaster and trying to move a team somewhere else and not even to mention
there's 32 teams right now what why do they need another team? I didn't even think it's big. I don't like the idea of the league being watered down more.
If anything, 28 teams would probably be better.
You want to cut more?
Well, just because of the amount of talent on the ice night in and night out.
I'm not trying to rag on the league.
How many of me's do you want to see out there?
Not many, right?
So you want the teams to be a little bit deeper.
That's why like back in the day when hockey,
like the original six, of course, is another story.
But I think that if they, I think other leagues are expanding
and I think that you got to do it in these southern markets
that have these huge populations.
Like the amount of people that are moving to Atlanta and droves,
especially post-pandemic,
I think if the
arena is built in the proper spot, it could definitely survive and thrive. And that's just
my opinion on it. I don't, I don't think that the league needs to move to 34 teams, but if for,
from a money standpoint and expansion standpoint, why the hell not? And definitely do it in those
two cities. Other people would argue, why not bring it back to Quebec?
I would have no problem with them adding in another Canadian city, but just with the dollar
with where it's at, I just don't see it happening.
Like it's fucking buck 40 right now.
It might even go even worse with the way that the economy is.
So I love, I love Houston down with that a hundred percent, but give me Kansas City over Atlanta again.
Yeah, I mean, in Houston, they could accommodate a team tomorrow.
I think if the thing doesn't work out in Arizona, like you just said, Biz and Tempe,
the NHL will call whoever, and they could have that team in Houston in six months.
I mean, they have the arena.
I believe it's the biggest American city that does not have an NHL team right now,
so they have the means to take in a team, and we're going to wait and see on that. I don't think we need to go to
34 teams. I think 32 is a perfect number to have for the NHL, but I don't know. We'll see what
happens going forward. I would say though that in a case of if the Coyotes can't figure out their
arena situation and guys, I want this team to stay here. I love the Coyotes and I'm not saying that
I want this to happen, but if they aren't able to solidify that newer rink i would be okay with them trying it out in atlanta again
just give it one one more fair shake wow okay all right boys uh and the tnt studios are there too
so they already have hockey roots with everything going on there right now yeah why why are you
laughing because i had to squeak that in there, R.A.?
A little bit.
Yeah, I mean, they're 0 for 2.
Again, if they don't get that Tempe deal, I think you'll see Arizona go right to Houston,
and they're already in the same division.
They won't have to switch anything around.
I think that would work out perfectly.
Makes a lot of sense to me.
Absolutely.
All right, that wraps up the hockey portion.
Have that rivalry with Dallas.
That'd be pretty cool.
Bingo.
Natural rivalry right there, Biz. I'm sorry, Whit. Looking at the golf stuff, that rivalry with dallas that'd be pretty cool bingo natural rivalry right
there biz i'm sorry with uh looking at the golf stuff that's why i said that with scotty shuffler
pretty much a drama-free last day for the players championship what you'd take on uh the golf the
weekend i know you had some uh prediction talk as well well my favorite part of the week was
actually wednesday before the tournament began um they do on the 17th green, the island green, pretty famous.
They do every caddy gets a shot and then closest to the pin obviously wins. I think a bunch of
money is raised for charity. Well, one of the caddies, oh fuck, I'm so mad. I don't remember
who he caddies for, but it doesn't really matter. The night before he was on a group chat with some
buddies or his family and he was kind of, it was breaking down like the odds of him actually hitting the green or hitting it in
the water and then at the end he wrote you know what though i could see myself throwing a dart to
four feet seven inches sure as shit this guy the next day steps up hits it to four feet seven inches
to win the closest to the pin caddy challenge at the players which that is crazy i
hope you get a lot of that night to actually just type out four feet seven inches and then that was
where you hit it to on that green a wild story in terms of the golf this scotty did he win a free
car wit what did he win for getting i don't even know what i don't even know if they win anything
actually i shouldn't even have said that i'm not sure i don't think he got a free car. I didn't see that in the news, but the tournament, Scotty Scheffler, he's like one of the most talented golfers,
not just alive. Like this guy is on a run that has never, I think it's been 390 days
since he got his first PGA Tour win until he got his sixth. I think the only other guys faster were
Tiger and Jack Nicklaus.
There might've been one other. I'm not sure. I apologize if there is another guy, but he has
just come onto the scene and got his first W and ever since then been unreal. And the thing is,
every part of his game is perfect. He's a ball striker. His short game's incredible. He putts
it well. it's just
lights out i sent out a tweet he comes from what seems like an amazing family there was a quote his
dad told him like be a better person than you are golfer he's a religious guy married pretty young
even though he looks like he's 56 and and like as a father i would say not even golf like if your
son were to turn out what this guy seems to be like you'd be very
very proud and having said all that he is the most boring fucking guy i've ever watched play golf he
gives me no excitement and maybe yeah until the tiger shit behind the scenes comes out yeah i
don't think so i don't he was talking about like bible study with his wife and on the netflix
special like i mean i don't know if there's tiger secrets of Waffle House women
being bent over the toilet in random spots along the Southeast United States,
but he runs away with tournaments and he ruins it for me
and the rest of the viewers.
And yes, I am openly admitting that it's not his fault, really.
It's just something about him.
It gives me no juice.
He ruined the Masters last year.
He won by four and four putted the 18th hole of the final round.
He just gets up there and just stripes it
and then putts it and chips it perfectly.
And it's like, oh, Scottie won by six again.
I don't know.
Maybe it's the fact that Jon Rahm gets angry out there
and just brings more to the table.
But Scottie Scheffler turning into the greatest golfer in the world
is just ruining my Sundays.
He just gives me nothing.
I don't know if other golf fans agree with me
or if they just love how amazing he is at golf,
but after his interviews, he's so friendly, just gee-gosh,
Willie, you know, me and my wife are going to have some popcorn
and we're going to watch a movie.
They asked him what he was going to do to celebrate. He said, we're gonna have some popcorn and we're gonna watch a movie and they asked him what he's gonna do to celebrate we're gonna go to bed my grandmother made some
dessert like just what seems like an all-around amazing person that just does not get me excited
to watch him play golf i i feel bad saying it i mean what does he care he's the greatest golfer
in the world right now he's the number one he took over rom he took over number one yeah he he's just out he's outstanding dude he's just i don't know how like when he's on i don't know
if anyone can beat him he's incredible i don't even watch enough golf to really know that know
about this guy i know his names came up a few times he was a young phenom so it's not like
he came out of nowhere his entire life how old was he when he won his first tournament you said
it took him a while last year no i know but how but like how old was he when he did it uh he's 26 now so he's 25
and and he'd probably been on tour like two or three years three years maybe maybe less but um
since he's won it's just it's been an explosion now he's got the masters and the players i think
the only other two guys to ever hold those titles at the same time is tiger
and jack is the players considered the fifth major that's what the poor likes to call it um the
course is amazing and and difficult and and nobody's ever repeated there and as as boring as
that finish might have been it's probably not as boring as live's launch day apparently i don't
know if horrible make going to make it.
I think it's going to die.
And I was watching a couple weeks ago, there was a guy who's older.
I think his name's Eric Cole.
He spells it with a C, not like our boy Colesie with a K, though.
That is Eric, I'm saying.
And he's been on, like, mini tours and a teaching pro,
and he's grinded and grinded and grinded.
Then he's in the Honda Classic and he's in a playoff against Chris Kirk.
He ended up losing.
But I said to my buddy after, I'm like, Liv will never have that.
Liv will never have the guy who's just fought his entire career to even get his tour card
and then possibly he's going to win on tour and secure his card for two years and completely
change his life.
Liv is just blah.
It's just I love golf.
I have no desire whatsoever to watch it.
I do not blame some of those guys for taking the money.
I'm not one of those people.
Do what you want.
If you're going to take that money and secure your family's future,
go right ahead.
But in terms of watching, I don't even know if in two years,
Liv Golf will be anything.
It's got nothing to make me want to watch it.
The network it had it on, the ratings were better on like a silly dog video
or animal videos.
The CW, it's like.
Yeah, they did not draw very well in that first opening.
What Liv has done though is it is going to make the majors even that much bigger.
And even the players this week.
So the players was always known as the strongest field in golf
because so many guys don't get into the majors where you have basically
every good player in the world always plays in the players.
Well, this year with all these Liv guys, it wasn't as strong.
But now the majors, I mean mean can you imagine cam smith from live going head to head with rory on
sunday like what that would do it just it the only time you'll see these guys playing together
is four times a year and now it's like oh my god now the entire that's how you get golf going if
we need to see some like fistfights on the course yeah i'd love that and that that
will definitely grow the game would they would ever do a pga versus live event or is that not
would they never even collab i don't know if the tour would ever even want to like associate with
them um i just don't know like how live's gonna last when nobody nobody cares and and and there's
people who will yell at me online say oh i'm really into watching live a hundred And there's people who will yell at me online and say, oh, I'm really into watching Liv.
100% there's people who like it,
but the overwhelming majority of golf fans really could give a fuck.
They're not playing for anything.
There's no, like, what is the word I'm looking for?
I can't even speak.
There's just nothing there that creates drama.
Like, oh, the guy wins $4.5 million, the team, and then wins the team event. It's just nothing there that creates drama. Like, oh, the guy wins four and a half million,
the team and then wins the team event.
It's like, oh, big deal.
They're already fucking loaded anyways.
Yeah.
I think the purses is what thought would draw people's attention in.
Like, oh, you can win this much,
but then that loses its luster a couple of weeks in
and now we are where we are.
I could see it not being a tour in like three years.
I think it's done. Especially when you consider where tour in like three years. I think it's done.
Especially when you consider where the money's coming from.
I think that's a big factor as well.
Probably.
Yeah, 100%.
I'd love to see what happens if it does fold
in terms of how these guys get back on tour.
Because the tour can say, yeah, you're kicked off the tour.
You're suspended from the tour or whatever it is.
You left.
You broke loss.
They're also in a lawsuit right now.
They're literally suing the PGA Tour. so why do they allow them to play in the majors
because the majors aren't run by the pga tour the masters runs the masters the pga of america
runs the pga championship the usj runs the us open and the rna runs the british open so
the open championship sorry golf ardos it's all up to them. And I think they're
smart enough to be like, all right, well, to be a major, you need everyone. But to see some of
these guys, and there's rumblings that a lot of these, and I shouldn't say a lot, there are guys
already that are probably really regretting their decision. And maybe there's whispers and like,
can I get back on tour? But it would be hilarious
to see how it all goes down if the tour is like, all right, yeah, we'll take you in. You got to go
get your PGA Tour card at qualifying school. Who knows, right? Like, go get it any other,
the same way any other guy would have to go get it. I bet you Koepka couldn't even get it right now.
It's crazy. Golf is so fucked. You just lose your game people lose their game there's no other sport
like it like yeah all of a sudden guys in the nhl or the nba or the nfl they get older they lose a
step and they can't play at the highest level golf like you win a major two years later you can't hit
the ball in balance it's it's crazy and right now kefka you saw the netflix special he's just
sitting at home like i lost my swing I don't know what's going on.
It's a wild game.
Hardest game on earth.
Wow.
All right.
Fucking golf talk.
I like that golf breakdown.
I learned a lot from you, Whit.
Thank you.
Whit crushes it.
Any other questions you have on golf, let me know, Biz.
I'll do my best to answer them.
And if I don't know, I'll make something up.
One last thing I have here.
Biz, did you catch any of the Oscars last night at all?
Sunday night? I didn't. I got food poisoning. I was puking okay that's it that's all i just saw that
asshole woman wearing that outfit that was blocking the entire show for the people behind her all right
is that fucking lady kidding me yeah come on yeah what do you mean come on no i'm not saying like
who who is the lady i don't know She had a fucking thing on her head.
Three rows behind her, couldn't see.
Yeah, it was like having an umbrella like up and keeping everyone's view.
Yeah, pretty brutal.
I'm not going to get into the whole.
I'm sorry, G, go ahead.
Was she just going to say that?
Did she become internet famous because of it?
I think if you're sitting like third row of the Oscars, you're already famous,
but I don't know who she is.
I was going to say, I don't know if you guys saw,
I don't know if I'm saying his name right,
K. Hugh Kwan's speech when he won his award.
It instant tears, instant tears.
Yeah, it was very, very powerful.
He's the guy, he's the kid from the Goonies
who had all like the crazy inventions.
And I think he's had a long run,
a crazy road to get to where he is now.
But just to see him go up on stage and be like, Mom, I did it.
I did it, Mom.
Oh, that's awesome.
It was just, if you guys haven't watched it, go check it out because it was instant tears.
Exactly what I was going to say, G.
I mean, I saw Goonies and Temple of Doom back when I was 13, 14.
I remember being a kid.
I wanted to be that kid on the screen.
And he was like this hero to me.
And then all of a sudden, he was gone. He was in like one movie in 30 years there was no market for him he couldn't
fucking find a job anywhere he started doing stunt coordinator work behind the scenes he was like he
was begging for one job just give me one job so i can keep my insurance and he couldn't even get a
job and then this script falls in his lap uh everything everywhere all at once which is a
crazy trippy movie it's like sci-fi martial arts
drama it's all kinds of genres blended into one and he was awesome and it's like man this guy's
been a great actor this whole time and no one's utilized him and he's so fucking appreciative
that and like that's what it is about it's like he's not bitter he's not mad he's just so happy
and appreciative of what's happened now this kid he was from vietnam the his family was on a boat
they lived in hong kong They were refugees living in a camp.
And he won an Oscar.
I mean, like he said, it's the American dream.
I mean, kind of a roundabout way to get there.
But one of the most inspirational things I've seen in ages,
and it's just like you can't help but feel good when you see this kid
because he's so earnest, my guy.
So earnest and honest and genuine about it.
And, man, I love it.
I loved this kid since I was a teenager way back in the day. And to see this happen all these years later, you can't help but feel genuine about it. Man, I love it. I loved this kid since I was a teenager way back in the day.
And to see this happen all these years later,
you can't help but feel good about it.
So check out even the speech if that's it.
He won Best Actor?
Best Supporting Actor.
That's awesome.
Who won Best Actor?
Brendan Fraser.
Fraser for The Whale.
Did any of you guys see that?
No.
Extremely sad?
Yeah.
I mean, I know not every movie's gonna be
a cherry pick you up entertainer thing but i was just like what's the fucking purpose of this movie
like he's just a big sad fat guy who you know crying i mean again fraser was awesome in it but
like the movie is just like a wicked fucking downer and i mean i'm happy that's probably why
it didn't win best picture well if you haven't seen it the one you just mentioned won best picture
correct the one with the Asian guy
or you said he's Taiwanese
he's Vietnamese
you know a lot of the
called boat people back in the day after the war
they came to America and America
you know welcomed with open arms he come over
as a young kid
he was in two of the biggest fucking movies
of the 80s.
Goonies, Indiana Jones, Temple of Doom,
and then nothing.
Couldn't get fucking nothing after that.
So sometimes these child actors get pegged
into a certain role where it's hard for people
to not envision them as those iconic characters.
And you said 30 years he was begging for roles.
The acting life, it could be a fucking grind
and just tear you down to shreds.
The fact that he stuck it out and kept doing
and just kept staying positive
and ended up landing his role.
Now, how did this script fall in his lap?
And did he have any help in producing it or writing it?
No, no.
The two directors, they're called the daniels
the two different guys whose name is daniel uh they i sought him out and they they he got the
script like he had nothing to do with the the production of it didn't do anything with the
writing and again he was begging for jobs he couldn't get jobs anywhere and it wasn't so much
the child actor thing business like because he was an asian kid and you know you think back there
really haven't been a lot of roles for like young Asian guys in the last 30 years in Hollywood.
So he couldn't really get a sniff more so on that end.
And, uh, they, they tracked him down.
Like I said, he was doing stunt coordinating stuff, uh, stuff behind the scenes.
He was still working in the movies just behind the camera, not in front of it.
And they, they sent them a script to him and they ended up picking him for the role.
And he fucking killed the man.
It's like, this guy has had this talent all this time. And it hasn't been utilized.
And again, he's not bitter about it.
He's so grateful and so happy.
And, you know, everywhere he goes, he takes selfies with everyone.
He's almost like a kid-like quality to it.
And I don't know.
It just makes you feel good.
And when you see it, you know.
Reminds me of the Asian guy from The Hangover.
When he got that role and what it did for his career.
Yeah.
Imagine how mad this guy was when Crazy Rich Asians came out
and he couldn't even get a role in that one.
It's funny you said that.
That was the movie that I think kind of gave him a little spark
because there's not a ton of movies starring Asian folks in America.
I don't know if that lit the candle as far as him getting the role,
but I know when he saw that, it was like, okay,
maybe I can be in a movie again.
Like I said, directors got him
the screenplay, and I think they
specifically wanted him. I'm going to watch
that speech when we're done here. That's awesome.
It's good. It's pretty cool seeing
people's lifelong dreams come true,
let alone somebody who's been through
that much. My wife had it on. I was stretching. Let alone somebody who's been through that much.
My wife had it on.
I was stretching in the room, and I said that to her.
These people, just seeing somebody's dream come true is so awesome.
Oh, and one last thing, too, is Harrison Ford presented the statue for Best Picture,
and they were in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom fucking almost 40 years ago, and he actually handed the trophy to them and they hugged them,
and they were pulling up all the old pictures of those two hugging from the movie, man.
Oh, that's awesome.
Yeah, it's just such a legacy.
How about Harrison Ford's 80 years old?
He looks great.
He lives in Jackson Hole.
He lives in Jackson.
Does he?
He's more than fucking biz, too.
Oh, yeah.
That's all he does is hang out on his ranch and stope, stope.
He's a BPG, big pot guy, yeah.
Wow.
That's why I bought property there.
I'm hoping I can rip the bong with Harrison.
I mean, plus, I mean, Imagine being Han Solo and fucking Indiana Jones
He's talking about a legend
Fucking all time
He could go to any prom
Guys one more thing we will be
Participating in the Barstool
Bracket Buskers this year
We do it every year
We actually won it one year the year we all won
The Bitcoin or
whatever, uh, on UCLA. Uh, so that, that is tomorrow, uh, Tuesday, uh, 11 AM on Barstool
Sports. Check it out there. And, uh, let's see how we do. Let's see what team we get.
Awesome show. Uh, I think we could wrap it. Any last things? Oh yeah. Gee, we got one more for,
uh, for the upcoming event in New York. Yeah. so I think we're about 32 days away as we record this from the NYPD-FDNY game.
And we're trying to raise some money for a good cause here.
So I know Biz is wearing the shirt right now.
So if you buy some merch or just donate to barstoolsports.com slash hockeyheroes,
100% of net proceeds will be donated to the Hockey Heroes Fund.
And for those who don't know what the Hockey Heroes Fund is,
it will be split evenly between the NYPD and FDNY with grants going to support
a variety of community efforts and initiatives, including the Widows and Children's Fund,
the fund that provides aid and assistance to widows, widowers, eligible dependents of both
New York City firefighters and New York City police officers who lost their lives in the line of duty. So guys, we're trying to do something great here. This broadcast is
going to be a great time, but at the end of the day, we're trying to do something for a good cause.
So barstoolsports.com slash hockey heroes. You can find all the info there.
Wow. I got one more thing.
We'll see you Wednesday. Wednesday, 5 p.m. Eastern. Subscribe to the Spit and Chickles YouTube channel
and do not miss Pasta and Fiala taking on Witt and Biz.
Six in a row, by the way, going into this one.
Six victories in a row.
These guys are gunning for our necks.
And me and Whitney go head-to-head with a couple of all-stars.
Yep, and unfortunately, I told my friend Bobby Putler,
I'd mentioned this.
When I went to the outdoor game this year, I don't know if you guys remember,
but I saw the 2010 Minutemen Flames.
They were a team that was going to the Quebec tournament.
We've talked about the Quebec tournament a lot, and they had a great team.
And there was a kid on the team, Nico Santella. Well, unfortunately, his dad,
Matty, passed away March 7th. Suddenly, just a horrible story. So there's a GoFundMe
trying to help the family get through it. And I just felt so bad when Bobby asked me to maybe
mention it and see if any of our amazing listeners wanted or could donate. Just a real tough time for a family
that lost their dad. I didn't know him, but such a sad story. So my thoughts go out to their family,
the Santella family, and hug your loved ones. And thank you so much for listening, guys.
Have a great weekend and tune in on Wednesday. Appreciate it. I'll see you next time.