Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 437: Featuring Murls, Colby, Gretzky & More

Episode Date: April 17, 2023

On episode 437 of Spittin’ Chiclets, the guys are live at Borrellis on Long Island for a playoff preview. But first, the boys recap the big NYPD-FDNY game they broadcasted to barstool.tv this past weekend, Including a Wayne Gretzky interview (00:24:36 - 00:31:58). After the breakdown of the big game, the guys dive right into playoff predictions, with Frankie Borrelli and Pasha stopping by to defend the Devils and Islanders.You can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/schiclets

Hey, Spittin' Chicklets listeners, you can find every episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. Hello everybody, welcome to episode 437 of Spittin' Chicklets Presented by Pink Whitney, from our friends at New Amsterdam Vodka Here in the Barstool Sports Podcast family Hail, hail the gangs all here at Borelli's on Long Island After a terrific weekend, FDNY beat the NYPD 8-5 Mr. G helped put this thing together a year and a half ago, pal. What a splendiferous weekend we

had. We did it, boys. That's really all I can say. That was such a fun experience. It was so much fun. Was it not everything I told you it was going to be? It was everything and more. Yeah, I mean, it was very stressful putting it together and getting all hands on deck, but you guys and Barstool,

why don't you start out how the idea all started? It started out with you guys coming to last year's game. Before that or something. Oh, really? Then you text like Erica or something. Yeah, so I shot. So when I was in. Did we explain it was the FDNY-NYPD game yet?

Have we said those words? No, we haven't talked about that at all leading up to it. Well, did you use those words, Ari? I just used the score, yep. I was in my own head. I'm sorry, guys. But I leading up to it well did you use those words okay the school yep i was in my own head i'm sorry but i'm used to it so how it went was 2000 when they did the 20th anniversary of the 9-11 game they broadcasted on espn i was watching it msg was packed i thought it was such a good broadcast this was also during the pandemic when there was no hockey going on so i texted sean and i sent two texts i texted and I said, I think we should film a documentary about this.

And I texted Eric and Ardini and I said, are you watching this right now? Like, we could do this. Like, let's make, we could make this ours. And a year and a half later, we put on the broadcast and it was a crazy ride. I mean, especially with the documentary. Sean did an awesome job on that, but it's been crazy. I can't believe we did it last night. So who ended up deciding that it was okay for us to do it?

You had to contact FDNYN? Yeah, so then we went to the game last year, and that's when we decided to start filming the documentary, and the rights wasn't even something we thought of. We thought ESPN was potentially going to be broadcasting the game again, so when we went, I start talking to some of the guys, and I'm like, where's the TV truck? Why aren't you guys doing an interview? Who's mic'd up?

And he's like no one's broadcasting it this year I think like the Islanders might be but no one's broadcasting it and this was the conversation I had with Jimmy Hall who put on a show last night and I gave it to him What a scrap. But Jimmy said he's like no one has the rights to this game and I'm like can we take it?

And right away I told Sean said it to Brandon Mims shot shot a text to mimsy right away and he got on it he hit up erica and i think they started moving on it and like i said yeah a year and a year later we put on the game i didn't realize how big of a production this was going to be and then throughout the entire day i would say it was seamless like no at no point did a microphone not work. At no point was there, like, a breakdown of communications, which for Barstool, usually it's the Barstool effect. You know, you got guys who are, like, drunks trying to do something. Oh, that was, yeah, the old ways for sure.

Yeah, now all of a sudden we were just busy. You said it was kind of like when you do TNT games. It was similar to the way you go about talking to the producer in the headset and going throughout the whole day, and it was fantastic. It blew me away. And they've had a couple practice rounds at this. They did the Arizona Bowl. Was it the same crew that did the mini-putt?

It was, yeah. Some of the guys in the truck were talking about it. Yeah, we had a live mini-putt at Super Bowl. I watched that. That was crazy. I mean, it was crazy. That would be hard to do. Live updates, the score we're updating, and then, of course, this broadcast.

And also the barstool engine as well from a social media team perspective, how quick they're getting out all these clips. And then, of course, the big viral ones were how the game ended. I don't know if we're going to get there yet. And there's so many elements too, though, like the events team, having food for us at all times, like the sales team, having Muggsy waiting for us, and and Waters and the bat everywhere we go. And there's just so many people to thank.

And it was endless. Not to be that guy. There's like 100 people to thank. Not to be that guy, but one time at the end of one of these, I need a car ready to drive. One time. It's like, yeah, that's like the one thing that everybody forgets. Everyone at home probably thinks I'm the biggest baby, whining witty.

Every time we finish stuff, we walk miles and wait hours for Uber, so just want a car, wait one time. Hey, we saw a massive Donnybrook at some point. Oh, yeah. So here's my thing with UBS Arena, and it is a beautiful... Inside, they did a perfect job. I love the rink, but it is surrounded beautiful in inside they they did a perfect job i love the rink but it is

surrounded by the the racetrack belmont racetrack and highways and i went to the uh keith yandel game when he broke the iron man streak last year and you walk out you got to walk to the uber well there's nowhere to go in there's no bars if i owned land or i mean i know we're at barelli's right now but you almost have to try to get a restaurant or a bar around that area to have people somewhere to go. Well, everyone's loaded, and you go wait at the Ubers. Next thing you look, you know, we're standing next to a full-on brawl. I'm going to say that was like a three-on-three. No way.

It was outnumbered. It was like five-on-three. It was. So it was getting greasy. So it looked like a big crew of people. They're all trying to break it up. And Biz is on the phone. He's over there walking around.

He sees it. He goes bombing. He's like, stop fighting, stop fighting. And I was like, you couldn't pay me money to get in the middle. I'm not getting killed trying to break up a bunch of random strangers throwing nooks. But Biz ended up, he's like, okay, I'm not breaking this one up. No, no, they were very persistent. So I got the fuck out of the way.

But yeah, it was a great experience, man. I interrupted. A lot of fights during the game, okay, I'm not breaking this one up. No, no, they were very persistent, so I got the fuck out of the way. But, yeah, it was a great experience, man. I interrupted him. A lot of fights during the game, too, though. How about those? Peretta? Oh, man. Let's get into the game. So, awful start for NYPD.

I was so invested early on with these storylines going into, and then FDNY as advertised up 4-0. I thought it was going to be a rout. But the inspiring performance of Dan O'Donohue, he fucking put that team on his back and led them back. He was fucking taunting the bench. And when they were down 4-0, they needed something to rout. We're down 4-1.

He shushed the 80% crowd of FDNY. You've got to have some balls to be down 4-0. And shushing not only the crowd, but then he went right over the bench. And you did an excellent job between the benches. And you got the whole sight line. And then he came off the ice. And then he was still yelling at the other side. Yeah, he's like, shut the fuck up.

You shut your mouth. And I think there was one guy. He knows the team very well. And he was one guy. I don't know who he's like, who the fuck are you? I think there was kind of a no-name on FDNY that was chirping at him. And he's the big dog for PD. So that got the team team going all of a sudden they were in the mix again but it was the start that completely crushed him i didn't understand the depth is is not it's not equal

right now right fdny they have just like kind of two three lines and a couple more defense where nypd is top heavy they got their top line couple d men but they're younger too like they got younger younger yeah i went to both practices and i'm like okay fdny is gonna pump these guys like nyp just look slower they were way better actors though naturally in in the commercials that we did the nobody out pizzas the hype quickly they were easy to work with the fdny guys maybe not so much but they were also snapping around, skating a lot better. That's why I said going in, I'm like, this is going to be a dummy fest. And hold on. If you didn't get to watch, you'll be able to go back and watch.

We're going to upload it, I think, G said, in the next day or so. Yeah, by the time this podcast goes up, it will be up on our YouTube page. So you get to hear Jake Mars and Biz on the call. I was down between the benches. With the Biz cam. We threw to Merle's interview in the cap before. R.A. was in the stands with people. It was actually a full team effort.

Army did interviews after and was doing the intermission shows. Big Cat, too. We had Big Cat. Thanks to Big Cat. Rico Bosco was kicking around. Even if you know the score now. The Mushman Rico. I think most people listening would have a good time going

and at least checking out parts of the broadcast when we upload it. And I have to say, the thing that they did that was so cool about the broadcast was, like, yes, it was the game, and yes, it was this tradition, but, like, just broadcasting it, they give you that broadcast in the game, but they also give you, like, all the characters. Like, I thought it was so cool how they integrated everyone, all of us knuckleheads to just the way they showed you while you were calling the game during intense moments.

When you watch that, you're going to love seeing Biz losing his mind. Did you know the camera was on you? You were just in the game. Well, at a certain point, they started saying, yeah, look up to this cam because we were doing stuff on the fly. Originally, it was a cam that was across the ice that was shining over at us. But they would do like a two box of you and Marci. Yeah.

And that was awesome. Yeah, it was cool. But I was so invested in the game. And that's why early on you can hear it in my voice. I'm a little disappointed because I'm like, oh, I don't want this game to be 10-0 because we have the broadcast. That's why I was so grateful for Dan O'Donohue scoring that goal to make it 4-1 and then shushing because I felt like it gave NYPD life. And then that's when they started showing that resilience and storing back

to the point where it became 6-5. There were some fights in between. There were some massive hits. And, yeah, the pace got a little bit slower because I think both teams ran out of gas because these guys are wound up at, like, what, 2 in the afternoon coming in. NYPD, did they kick you out of the room or did FDNY? Oh, yeah, FDNY when I walked in. They heard I was there.

I was like, oh, shit. See, I wanted the police to win just because I knew they haven't won in five years. The celebration would have been crazy. I'm a producer at the end of the day. It was still fucking crazy in the FDNY room. It was crazy. But, I mean, imagine a win when they haven't won in five years.

They would have went fucking bananas. Yeah, they would have popped their logo. So I don't know which guy that was, but I was with G when this happened. I was like, ooh, shit. Yeah, my face went ghost white. So I walked into locker room, me and Colby, right as all the guys are walking in with their bags,

and see Perretta right away, daps me up. Not as friendly as he'd normally be, though. And then one of the other guys, I forget his name off the top of my head, goes you can't be in here and i'm like what like why and he's like we know who you're rooting for we know you're on the police side you you can't be in here and i'm like oh i'm like oh good one i look at colby and and and colby's dead dead she's like and he was like walking towards you and he said it he said it like he came right towards you he's like why are you in here we it He said it like He came right towards you

He's like why are you in here We went in after Army Admirals had brought in Pink Whitney To the That was after the game And then I went in after To say thanks with Biz Thanks for letting us

You know be a part of this We walk in The coach is in the middle He chugged At least half a bottle of Pink Whitney He must be so hungover right now He's over the toilet But Grinelli was in with us then, too.

And one of the kids goes, get the fuck out of here, Grinnelli. Again, after the game. I'm like, oh. They basically told me the only way I could stay is if I chugged the Pink Whitney bottle. So I'm like, just funneling Pink Whitney just so they don't kick my ass. In a room full of firefighters, he could have been on fire and nobody would have missed on him. The funniest thing ever, though, that kid bolts up to him pregame. They just get to the rink.

We're in there talking to some guys. that guy says that to you like it was like the record fell off at the bar you know and he stops and he's i could tell you were on your heels right away because i was like oh shit and then and then he just kept staring at you i don't do well with confidence no i don't mean either i was like i was like i got your back though he was like he wasn't a big guy but then he's like you you recovered well you're like after it was like it felt like forever though you're like where did you hear that from and then the guy just stared at you he's like we know we know get out of here like calm as shit and you're like okay all right ha ha ha and then we like left out of there as soon as we went out of

the room i'm like dude i had your back i swear well then i was walking down the hall later and i saw the police as they're walking and i'm like i got you boys let's go i'm riding the blue of course i'm right next to the fire locker room the door is wide open same guy i hear peretta in the back fuck you grinelli oh god you're on the shit list and you don't want to be on that guy's shit list no they were happy at the end of the game. I talked to them. They were happy. They love me. Before we go any further, you know what I'm here for. And that's to bring up my love and passion. New Amsterdam Vodka's own Pink Whitney.

It's got my name on it. It's incredible. The feedback, the amount of people that drink it, the amount of people that enjoy life when Pink Whitney's in the mix. And if you haven't tasted it, please go out and grab a bottle. You'll enjoy life. You'll have fun with the people you drink it with. It tastes phenomenal. You catch a nice buzz. And at the end, you just get to get another bottle the next night. That's how this works. We have people sending us pictures of hundreds of empty bottles around their apartments, dorm rooms packed with Pink Whitney, nips being brought into sporting events. It's the best drink you can drink. It's the best drink for winter. It's the

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get into all the nhl stuff it was just such an amazing day so i think we're really on a natural high in terms of ra's on and off maybe a synthetic one but we're basically so excited at how it went last night so i know we're continuing to talk about it but at the end of the game eight five after the empty netter was scored oh my god of a sudden, we see guys square off. I'm like, whoa, I kind of didn't expect it. I thought that would happen earlier and once the game was over. But there's guys that want to settle a score. The first fight was Dermody from PD versus Thomas Esposito, right?

He was a small guy, too. They were both a little undersized. And they square off. And Biz did a great job giving the play-by-play. Ryan Dermody, head of the Cops, one-on-one. Oh! Esposito! And this one goes in favor of FDNY, a fitting way for this game to end.

They literally hit themselves at the same exact time, but Esposito might have caught them a split second earlier. And literally, I think whoever landed that punch first even though they were so close in timing the other guy was going down and it was the perfect like punch scenario all of a sudden dermody goes down the crowd goes nuts and esposito skating off and we're going crazy like buddy the footage the footage they have the camera man the bench is going crazy this one i'll hand it over to Witt. He was losing his mind. All right, so the bench seems crazy.

That fight was the guy on the left. There's a guy on the left. I don't know who it was from FDNY. He's jumping up and down. I almost knocked this over behind me. He's throwing his hands up. He's double hand banging the boards in front of him. He's acting like a gorilla.

And by the way, like, Dermody was down for a little, like, for a second. Like, it's like, oh my God, they don't give a shit. Well, what happens next? I thought that was it.

Same. Nope. Coal made a vent. No. That was like 20 seconds in the game. Now we're like on to like, what,

like 12 seconds? 10 seconds? Now there's 20 seconds left, I think, right around when these happen. Well, then Perfetta and Jimmy Hall

go on. Perretta. Excuse me, Perretta. Perretta. Excuse me, Perretta, who was player of the game, maybe one of them for at least the defensive side. He was just a... Mind you, just Jimmy Hall guy was the guy who slashed an FDNY guy in the face, off the bench in 14. That's when the original, the hardcore bench brawl ensued

that made this game and put it really on the map. So all of a sudden we see gloves dropping. It's two defensemen. And we're like, oh boy. Now Jimmy Hall, he's an undersized guy. I'm going to say he's 5'7", 5'6". I don't know. But tough as nails.

And Merle's made a great point. He looks like White Sox Dave too, which sucks for him. But Merle's made a great point after. He's like, these guys, they're cops. They're fighting citizens if they have to outside. They're arresting people. In New York City. This is not a normal place.

These guys are lunatics already. So they square off. And, oh, boy. Perretta, I mean, he lined up as a lefty. You mean Kevin Bieksa? Yeah. What a call. It was him. Reincarnated. And up as a lefty. You mean Kevin Biexa? Yeah. What a call. It was him.

Reincarnated. And he lines up lefty. And Hall did a good job of switching to lefty before they kind of interacted with each other. Perretta said he was reading Hall, though, the whole time. Really? I'll say this from a fighter perspective. It seems like Hall was about a half second late on each grab. And then when Perretta had him, he thought he could catch up to him.

And Perretta was already cocked. No. And it was over. Who helped ignite that brawl in 2014? Perretta for FDNY, Hall for the Cops. It's all Perretta right now. Perretta comes in with the dunk. John Perretta letting it loose. Oh, my goodness.

Down goes Hall. John Perretta, the icing on the cake. So Perretta The icing on the cake So Perretta ends up He put him down And I was almost worried a little bit That he was actually knocked out But I met Jimmy Hall He was getting up no matter what

He gets up maybe a little wobbly But he skated off on his own power Perretta is going into the corner He's flashing the FDNY logo He's flexing his muscles The crowd is going absolutely apeshit. So at this point, the cops have lost 8-5. They've lost both fights.

I'm like, fuck these poor guys. Back to blue. And all of a sudden, I look over to the bench. I'm right at the bench. The guy next to me, so I'm in between the benches, all the way to the left of FDNY, closest to NYPD. He's looking over. I'm going, go to sleep. Laying down.

I'm like, oh, my God. And then on the other end of the bench, there is a guy. It's on video. You's looking over. I'm going, go to sleep! Laying down. I'm like, oh my god. And then, on the other end of the bench, there is a guy using... He flips over his stick over the bench. He's shoveling. He's pretending to shovel his grave. I'm like, if this was an NHL game, the Canadian sports media would have a heart attack

crying themselves to sleep. Trudeau would be flying to your house for a peace treaty. Trudeau would be flying to your house for a peace treaty. Trudeau would be calling an emergency press conference. But it was just old school hockey, and Biz said it best after. It's kind of how fights used to be in the NHL. And yes, there are still animals in the NHL. You see guys squaring off and not looking to grab and throwing bombs.

Not much like this. There was no tying up. It was just like they were trying to knock each other out. And I said after, I go, credit to both of the all four guys and the two guys who lost, no doubt, they squared off. They took off their helmet and it was just an amazing end to an awesome night.

I saw a couple comments. You guys are ruining men's league. I got to go skate at 10pm. Somebody's going to try to fight me. I said, don't square off and take your helmet off them. These guys wanted to do it. Shut up. So it was just an incredible evening. Grinnelli, I told you you did a great job.

Incredible job on the documentary as well. You said, wait until you see the game. And I was like, he's kind of overselling it. And it really was crazier than I kind of had imagined going in. And being between the benches, how did you like that? I told you it was awesome. I've never – I said last week how much I love this job. That's the coolest job in the world.

And I can't imagine in an NHL game being there. You're right in the mix. I had so much fun doing it. Biz and I, I think we were vibing off each other well, and Jake did a great job. Well, so it was interesting because originally you weren't going to have your mic turned on, but within like three – I was flipping.

Yeah, so it was going to be this, hey, toss it down for like a Pink Whitney minute with Witt or whatever, like a sponsored thing, where I needed somebody to play off of from the hockey sense where I thought Jake did an incredible job from a play-by-play history, the game perspective. Like, fuck, there was a lot of names to remember, and I'm not exactly the name guy, so I'm trying to like learn all these in the midst of the broadcast so i just think that overall and even with the truck and it's michael

mike rosenblom that's what i was just gonna say for him to change that on the fly like we had this whole minute this this whole show was set up minute by minute and then on the fly we texted him and said hey we want wit on the call all game and he changed it on the spot so like he is a pro total pro like unbelievable john kelly as well who was producing from the barstool side incredible job and at the end of the broadcast i shut it out the truck because there's so many there's like 17 people in a submarine making the red october making it all work but him in particular because he's been on every call leading up to this so we i know we said there's a lot of thank yous to go on. Live event, Lisa, her whole team.

She was just a Mancini. The whole squad. I believe she got a text from Steve Mayer from the NHL saying, like, you guys did a heck of a job with that broadcast. And that obviously means a lot from the big dogs coming down. My favorite moment from Jake. Oh, go ahead, Murr. Yeah, like, we got to talk about why they even have the game.

Like, all the charity stuff they do. The pregame ceremony had me in tears yeah i'm gonna bring up tears again now yeah the families we met up in the stands christina and colin moon it took me a while to get their names because i was in tears talking to them for a merle's minute and then i met jeff cool out there so we got to remember talking about that it's just an amazing thing and yep i did i was meeting christina moon was there was a lot of emotional moments and i mean even a special moment was to kick off the broadcast with wayne sharing a couple stories of of 9-11 and ace bailey and and you have an unreal story here we're gonna we're gonna send

it over to the interview but uh you probably could do a better job of explaining the backstory to what he ends up talking about yes the last thing wayne talks about is um a family uh um barbara and betty uh he ran i i think i'm pronouncing it right whose son uh he was working at canter fitzgerald and it's tough to talk about this stuff canter fitzgerald lost 658 employees they lost every single person that worked there in the north tower they were they were above where the plane hit. Their son was 23 years old, great kid, bright future. Well, Wayne had met his parents in 2005 in Vegas. And he talks about how they gave him a picture of their son.

And they said, you know, carry this around with you. He said, I'll keep this on me for the rest of my life. And fast forward to, I think, five years ago, Wayne ran into other family members and they said, oh, Wayne, you know, you met Barbara and Betty years ago after Charlie passed away. And I was wondering, do you still have the picture they gave you? And he opened up his wall and he pulled it out. He said, it'll never leave my side. And he goes into that. So we're going to throw it over to Wayne right now. And Biz, great job getting him. can't thank wayne enough wayne said to biz right away when he heard about these like i'm coming on the broadcast i played in new york i know what those people mean and

biz is like oh i don't want to bother him in the next day text him again yeah he's such a busy guy and so many people are pulling at him constantly and everyone's like oh when's he gonna be back on the broadcast i'm like has this guy not done enough for hockey and he continues to do it do so especially from like a charitable sense and like giving people's times for like important reasons that maybe are not seen by the public so i i was at tnt and i believe that ty gretzky who who helps him out a lot with the hockey schools uh he might have mentioned it to him and he's like hey uh busy goes ty told me that you guys are throwing on the FDNY NYPD broadcast. He goes, I'd love to come on. And I say, hey, absolutely.

I know how busy your time is. So, yeah, if you don't have the time, no worries. And then at the end of the broadcast, you know, we take the car back over to the hotel. He mentioned it again to follow up the next day. And once again, I wasn't going to bug him because I know how busy he is. And then he remembered in the morning, he goes, Biz, I'm coming on that broadcast. So I said, that's a very special moment for not only the broadcast, but of course these men and women and hearing these amazing backstories. So we're going to throw it over now.

And once again, there's a reason they call him the great one, guys. I know that he has the record for most points in the NHL, and that's never going to be touched. But he's just like a special guy who puts a lot of thought into a lot of things, and he articulates it so well, and that's why he's the GOAT. So over to Wayne Gretzky. This interview is brought to you by Chevy. You know we've been part of the Chevy EV family, but we've got big news.

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Everybody watching this FDNY NYPD game, a big surprise. Boy, did we deliver. Boy, did we deliver, Biz. And the man we're about to introduce came through in the clutch as always. Ladies and gentlemen, the greatest player to ever play the game, the great one, Wayne Gretzky. Wayne, welcome to the broadcast. Oh, I'm really excited to be here. What a rivalry. Probably bigger than the Islanders-Rangers rivalry. So I'm excited not only for the game, but to be with you two guys. Thanks for having me on.

They describe it as the biggest amateur rivalry on planet Earth, Wayne. And when we told you about it a few weeks ago at TNT, you perked up off the couch. You said, I want to be part of the broadcast. What about this game that means so much to you, Wayne? Well, listen, I lived in New York for three years and I want to tell you, first of all, how great they are. As you guys know, the firemen and the policemen, um, they're off the charts, their dedication and their desire, their hard work, uh, their fearlessness. But this hockey game means everything to them. When I lived in New York, all I ever heard from the fire department and the policemen was, Wayne, you've got to come and see our game.

It's a real hockey game. We hate each other. I used to say, how can you guys hate each other? You guys are kind of in the same field. You're trying to save lives and make people happier. But these guys take this game to heart. This is something special for them. Not only for them, but their families love it too.

Their grandmothers, their grandparents, their moms and dads, their kids. This is a full-on war. And I'm glad I'm not playing in it. I would need biz on one side and some ink on the other. Wayne, you mentioned three years as a Ranger. You went in 1996. So I imagine you met so many of these firefighters and policemen and women. Did you ever get to maybe go over to some of the precincts or the firehouses,

maybe slide down a fire pole one night? I didn't slide down the fire pole. I was no Batman, let me tell you that. But I will say this. We were fortunate enough, Janet and I, to be in New York in the 10-year anniversary of 9-11. And we went to one of the major firehouses where a lot of the people had diminished because of racing in and being heroes. And it was so overwhelming. I remember Janet and I sitting there.

A lot of the kids were like six and seven years old when their fathers had passed away and their mothers had passed away. And these kids were 17 and 18 getting ready to go to college. So for Jen and I, it was a surreal experience and something we'll never forget. Yeah, Wayne, this game is played in honor of the brave men and women who have lost their lives, some of which in 9-11. And the hockey community was directly impacted in 9-11. And the hockey

community was directly impacted by 9-11 as well. And it hit close home to you with the passing of Ace Bailey and Mark Bavis. And I believe you're said to said that Ace Bailey was like a second father to you. Can you speak on the two, please? Well, I didn't know Mark really well, but Ace loved him. He was a younger guy and i only met him a couple times and ace spoke very highly of him and the one thing i knew about ace uh if he said you were a good person you're a great person uh as far as ace goes i met him when i was 17 years old uh i became his roommate on the road uh the us, uh, spent a lot of great times together, Christmases. Uh, we traveled the world. Uh, he took care of me, uh, as the team mate, he took care of me as a son. Uh,

he took care of me as a friend. Uh, I can still remember like it was yesterday getting that call at 8 45 AM, which was, I guess, 5 45 AM a.m. L.A. time. And my friend called and said, you know, there's been a crash in New York. And from what I hear, I think Ace might have been on one of the planes. And I still remember my heart dropping. It was gut-wrenching. I'm still good friends with his wife, Kathy, and his son, Todd.

It was one of the most horrific days that I can remember in world history. And every person who was part of it and everyone who lives here still thinks about it. But I always said, you know, people would say to me, how was it living in New York? And I would say, you know what? Yeah, people are aggressive and people can be tough. But I'll tell you one thing, they're the nicest people who ever lived. And I think one of the great things that we got out of 9-11, if there's any positives, is that people learned how nice the people in New York are and how much they rally around each other and how much they care for each other. And that's the good thing that we take out of it. But, you know, you don't replace human life. Ace was so special to me.

I can remember one time we played in Cincinnati. And in those days, the WHA, you know, travel wasn't like it is today. We played in Cincinnati. We got up at 530 in the morning and flew from Cincinnati to Chicago, Chicago to Montreal, Montreal to Quebec City to play the Nordiques. And we got there around 3.15 in the afternoon. And I said, Ace, we got to lie down for a couple hours. And so we lied down and we missed our wake-up call.

And wake-up call came in a little bit late and raced me out of bed and he got me dressed. And I said, Ace, you're not coming? He goes, no, no, they're not going to miss me. You make sure you get to the rink. He got a cab downstairs. I got in the cab. I made it to warm up. I remember I came in after warm up and he was sitting there and his hair was

soaked and he was in his uniform and I said, Ace, I didn't see you on the warm up. He goes, no, no, no, they're not going to miss me. I just took a shower. That's how he was. A true legend of the game. Yeah, to miss me. I just took a shower. That's how he was. A true legend of the game. Yeah, I miss him.

I miss him tremendously. Well, Biz had mentioned to me, you met a very special family. It was Bernie and Barbara Heeran who lost their son Charlie tragically in 9-11 working in the North Tower. And I guess they presented you with something. Can you explain that story for everyone? Yeah. Jan and I happened to be in Vegas for a charity event,

and they were sitting by the pool. And I can't remember exactly what they were there for, but they had sort of a family get-together. And I kind of walked by, and they said, are you Wayne? And I said, yeah. And they said, you know, we had a son that tragically passed in 9-11. Here's his picture. And they gave me his card Wayne and I said yeah and they said you know we had a son that tragically passed in 9-11 here's his picture and they gave me his card and I said I'll keep it in my wallet for life

and they said okay and we had a nice chat we had a cold beverage together and 10 years later I was in Vegas again for another event and this family they were friends of their family and they said can we ask you a question? You saw that picture, our friend. Their family told us that you were going to have it in your wallet. And I said, yeah, and I pulled my wallet out, and I still have the picture. I said I promised the family I would never lose it. I would keep it forever.

But you know what? Everyone went through a hard time, and for me to keep a little keepsake like that is special to me. Wayne, we can't thank you enough for joining the broadcast it means a lot to us and I just can't thank you enough man yeah I appreciate it Wayne no you guys are wonderful

and what you guys are doing for these guys tonight and these families is incredible I know that you guys do a lot of charitable work around North America you guys are both wonderful you guys have a lot of charitable work around North America. You guys are both wonderful. You guys have a great night. All right. Thanks, Wayne.

Thanks, Wayne. And a big thanks to Wano once again. Like you said, Biz, very generous of his time. Great interview as well. But we have a few other thank yous we want to get to. First off, thanks to everybody who watched online, who attended the event, and who donated. And if you still want to donate, you go to BostonSports.com slash HockeyHeroes. Make a donation there.

It goes to all the HockeyHeroes on both sides, fire and police. And a few other thank yous we have. We want to thank Jameson's over on Floral Park. They hosted me and Johnny Kelly. We stopped by there. The folks at the tailgate, we stopped by. Great fans. A lot of Chicklets fans there.

It was very overwhelming. Good stuff. The UBS staff, everybody at the arena was terrific, taking care of us in the green room and whatnot. Of course, Borelli's were here right now. They were great to us last night, getting a bite to eat. Great to us right now. Mugsy Jeans.

I mean, how good did they make me look, Bess, huh? Talk about drip. You should be their muse. I mean, you're a new male model for Mugsy Jeans. That's the best I've ever seen you dressed in my entire life. It's not too often that all of us are in one shot together, and I'm getting most compliments. So I'll eat that all day. I'll eat that stuff up.

Chevrolet, G was driving the Chevys all over the place. Pink Whitney, of course. Big Dale Bruin and Labatt Blue. And also, thanks again to Jake Marsh. He did a terrific job. And also, personally, thanks to Johnny Kelly and Booz for taking care of me yesterday with all my cameras. And Jeff D. Lowe. Did we already

say him? He did an amazing job. He helped run the panel so just barstool's contributions not only behind the scenes but big cat jake marsh and jeff d low along with the entire content crew everybody showed up and elevated us and that's why we love barstool and we are part of the family all right boys uh let's talk some hockey a lot of firings since we last met uh a lot of you guys are familiar with this team, the Pittsburgh Penguins. They fired general manager Ron Hextall, assistant GM Chris Pryor, and president of Hockey Ops Brian Burke after failing to make the playoffs

for the first time since 2006, or as Jeff said, before the iPhone was released. Sixteen straight years of playoffs out the window. They lost to Chicago and Columbus to finish out the season. Josh, is it Yohi? Is that how you pronounce his name? And the Athletic absolutely ripped Ron Hextall in particular. Maybe the most thrashing of a human being I've ever read in media post-firing, I'd say. I wouldn't want to be a GM on the coast after getting ripped out.

The title of the article, Ron Hextall, in the end, didn't have the backbone for the Penguins GM job. Oh, my God. Calling him a jellyfish? He goes in to call him, what was it, a meek? Meek. Meek. Yeah.

And I'll tell you, he went over some deals, and Army, you've been in the mix in doing all these Penguins games. Yeah, spill the tea, Army. Wow. Spill the tea. I'm the new general manager of the Penguins. No shit. Congratulations.

Congratulations. Who's going to be your assistant? Well, he always rubbed my back, and he felt my spine. He's like, you got it. No, I'm the new general manager of the Penguins. No shit. Congratulations. Who's going to be your assistant? Well, Yowie rubbed my back and he felt my spine. He's like, you got it. No, I'm joking. Oh, yeah, you're afraid of Ronnie. That's why you said that. Take it back, C's.

It was awesome. Yeah, it was a disappointing season. Like, that was one article that Yowie wrote. He wrote several others leading up to this. And, you know, it was just disappointment. Hextall got booed, like, fire Hextall chants in Pittsburgh. And I was talking to Phil Bork, the old two-niner who's done radio there for a while. He's like, I've never heard that here.

Well, it's been pretty good times since Bork. Yeah, 16 years. 16 years of, like, pretty good times. But, yeah, just the summer deals, some of the trades, the Marino Matheson trades. How about the two years? McCann and Tanev to Seattle. What the fuck?

That's a Stanley Cup team with all those guys. And then the Carter two-year deal plus 35 contract. He didn't have a great year this year. Kapanen two-year deal as well. They somehow got St. Louis to claim him. He up playing pretty good there he started scoring which is like what the heck happened that was a wake-up call um and then on top of it all of this stuff all these things happen well Sid and Gino both played 82 games and had great seasons just like that middle bottom six third line area was mangled they They couldn't figure it out, and all the names that we mentioned

are all part of that, or getting rid of, or bringing in, or extending, or whatever happened. And then they couldn't stay healthy as well. And they brought in Granlin. The Granlin deal at the deadline? They got him for two more years at $5 million a year. Nashville didn't keep any of the money, and then also I'm pretty sure he ended up with one goal and two assists in 21 games.

It's like just move after move. And he says it. He says the remarkably inept Hextall tenure came to a merciful end on Friday morning, 793 days after it began. So he talks about this. I mean, I don't want to say it's a well-written article. If you're part of the Hextall family, you're like, this is hell on earth reading this. But he goes through what happened and how everything's gone the way it has.

And you got to think it's – I think the Penguins are a lot closer to kind of rebuilding and being a lower-level team than they are to being – Well, that's what happened. So this is what happened. Crosby and Yabs. Biz said what happened. So this is what happened. Crosby really abs. Biz said that, I think, three years ago. I'm a little late, but it's happening. Well, Fenway at their press conference the other day said that Crosby,

they don't want, he's going to play as a Penguin his entire career. What does Crosby want? Well, that's another question, right? I think he sees McKinnon Hattrick going into playoffs against Nashville, says that'd be fun, snap a few around him. Yeah, but you know what? I will say this, too, just about this season, and actually at the draft when they did end up getting signing,

Geno and Tanger. I don't know if that was Hexie's overall vision of like what would. So he didn't want to re-sign Malkin, they said. I don't know. And I'd love to know this year at the deadline a little bit, too, behind the scenes what deals they had that they didn't want to re-sign Malkin, they said. I don't know. And I'd love to know this year at the deadline, a little bit too behind the scenes, what deals they had that they didn't get, that panic moved them to get Granlin, right?

Because there's kind of rumors that they were on another trade. It fell apart, and they had to try to get something done. He wanted Trocek. He wanted to sign Trocek for a little less money, I think, than Malkin. That's when Trocek was up, yeah, and he went to the Rangers. Basically, though, when you have a team like that with those guys re-signed and you don't make playoffs for the first time since Merle's me and Army were on the team. We started it.

We started the streak. We started the streak, and all of a sudden it's come to an end. So some dark times ahead for Pittsburgh, I think. I just don't know what they do with the cap space and lack of prospects in terms of changing that team on the fly. The funny thing is, remember, we opened the season there. They won both games. They shit beat the Coyotes.

Then they dummy Tampa Bay. And we're like, Sid's going to win his fourth cup. We'll be back here in the spring. You guys are yelling at Sid on the Jumbotron. I just became a U.S. citizen. That seems like so long ago. We mushed the penguins. So to summarize things,

we're sorry, Penguins fans. Do you think there's any way they could trade him? Well, I think he has a no-move clause. He might want to go, though. Who's that, Sid? It's up to him someday.

If he wants to go, he'd go. I don't know. I can't see it happening. Two more years left. Oh, I meant, does he want to play, you think? Oh, I don't know. After the way he played this year, it's like,

what do you have for four years left? What do you have, 93 points? I see him just dipping, like, at one point, and just saying, ah, it's good. Going out on top. Having, like, two, three more years like he just had, and saying peace. You know what the thing that bugged me, too,

if you guys, you know, watch the final games, I know there's lots happening. Pittsburgh was already eliminated, which is like, you had to win chicago beat chicago in columbus after the islanders flunked and they opened the door for you to get in they lose to chicago after a back-to-back got in at 3 a.m with like an american league team and they at home and they lose that was it and they let the islanders back and they win their game eliminate them they go into columbus so and tanger gets like ran over by i don't even know who it was, like some guy in Columbus.

Let's just say that. Some e-bug player. Yeah. I didn't see this. He smokes them, like pops them. And like, guess who has to come over there? No shit. It was a joke.

I was like, what the hell is going on? I've been on that all year. No, it's happening for years. Like, it's like, what the heck is going on? I've been on that all year. No, it's happening for years. It's like, what the heck is going on? How does this guy have to do all of that? He's got 93 points. He played 82 games. He's going to be 36 this year, I think.

It's like, what the hell is going on? What are you doing? Every time I saw a broadcast. And he didn't fight, but he went over and let the guy know. Because you're supposed to. Yeah, and there's enough respect there where nothing escalates too much because it's Crosby. But he shouldn't be having to be enveshed emotionally like that

where he's focusing on getting points and providing just the things that he needs to provide. Like him and Gino and Tanger have to do that every game. They have to produce. They have to be the stars. And then they have to be those guys when it's like quiet. They have to emotionally pull guys in too. Which is bizarre for a little iran team so you

at least think they would have toughness and address that so that was the point of the article is the way hextall played just this maniac guy who took no shit from anyone and started his fair share of of brawls i'd say as a gm basically yo he writes like it was the complete opposite so we'll see what happens in the summer but a crazy year to think that the penguins are gone and it's only the first round about to begin and mike sullivan he seems to be safe obviously he's still there and he didn't put the roster together he did nothing wrong really this year as far as that uh you just mentioned columbus they fired their coach brad larson uh he and they won't be extending the contract of goalie coach manny legacy they

finished 31st in the league they did have a shitload of injuries. 563 man games lost. They dressed 47 different players. But what's his name? Aaron Portsline in the athletic does a great job covering Columbus. He said the room culture had kind of fallen off a bit and there wasn't as much culpability. What are you laughing about, Gene?

I just think it was me and Colby had a funny conversation about this. The fact that Goudreau scored that goal in the last game of the season, he's the only player on that team that's going to be there for the next eight years. You know what I mean? And they blew their chance at Bedard. Bedard could have been Goudreau's ticket. So here's my theory. So tell what happened, though.

What exactly went down was Columbus was in position to lose their final two games and finish last overall, and last overall gets a 25% chance at first pick. This is one of those years where if I'm Jarmo Kekalainen, I'm going down, I'm saying you have to lose these two games. And people may not want to hear that. Actually, Dallas Mavericks just got fined $750,000 for sitting guys in terms of maybe like i don't not tanking but making it a not level playing field i don't care it's like you need to

lose those games this is a generational player that could completely change a franchise and because of a meaningless overtime win you go from 25 to i think they'll have a 12 chance at winning that lottery and somebody said uh brad l, maybe he knew he was getting fired. And he's like, fuck you. That was my theory. So he's like, roll the hot guys out there and fucking let's get this win so we can screw them over on the way out. All you had to do, you suck all year.

All you had to do was just suck one more time. Yes. Just suck one more time. And then your player that's there the longest, no one else is going to be there, and Goudreau will still be sitting there at the end of this. He gets a breakaway at OT. Missed the net.

Shoot it in the corner. No, he puts Jari's jock in the rafters. It was unbelievable. Like, winner. I've talked about this times. We tanked and got Malkin and Crosby and what we did in those last three games, they sent all the good players back to the AHL

and called up all the healthy scratches from wilkes-barre for those last three games they were giving us money for team dinners to go out the night before the game so we're a little team card yes that's how you do it like it's so easy as the coach just roll the fourth you're taking quaaludes before guys like me to go out crawling out there like go get a mer's so easy to tank. I know. It's just crazy. It was amazing to see.

And then, obviously, you know, already that news comes down that he's gone. And, like, I was immediately in my head. I'm like, that was the dumbest thing. Why would you score that? Of all the guys, I could see an American League guy that they put in there. And he's, like, all excited. Oh, I got to break away at OT. I'm going to get.

He scores. And, like, the implications are the 10% loss on the lottery pick. But it's like it was Goudreau, of all people, that's like, this is going to be your new line mate, this generational talent. So Johnny Goudreau on a breakaway, and he pulls up. Okay, here. Oh, yes. He flicked it over the glass, folks. The Gretzky pull-up.

Awkward. But, yeah, interesting. Did we skip over Washington here? No, no. I jumped out of Columbus because we were just talking about it. But, yeah, the Capitals and head coach Peter Laviolette, yeah, interesting. Did we skip over Washington here? No, no. I jumped out of Columbus because we were just talking about it. But, yeah, the Capitals and head coach Peter Laviolette, quote, agreed to pot ways, end quote, after three seasons. His contract was going to expire at the end of June anyways.

But what do you make of this one? I hope they gave him the papers on the airplane on the way home from the last game. Because if you remember, that's what he did to me in Carolina when I scored the only goal. And that's why I was on him at the start of the season. I said, the Capitals stink. It's the end of the road. But this is personal. Yeah, it's personal for me.

So you hate him more than you hate Keefe? I don't know. That's similar. I like Spite Merles. You don't often see Merles get a little bit upset. But there's a few who get him rattled. So can you retell the story of getting sent home on the plane? So it was actually, that's a fun fact.

It was the last hockey game ever played in the spectrum in Philadelphia. It was Carolina versus Philly. I think we lost 3-1. I scored the only goal. And we played an exhibition game before, and I had an assist. So I had two points, two games. On the plane ride home, he hands me my walking papers. Already had my plane ticket with my name on it.

You could have had five goals. So I'm like, whatever. I'm going to have a great night in Raleigh, party with all the guys like we normally do. I get back to the hotel. I know the other minor leaguers. Like, hey, yeah, where are we going to go tonight? Let's go. And he's like, what are you talking about? I'm not going down. I'm like, well, that guy's from the East Coast. He's definitely

going down. Yo, buddy, let's go. We're going downtown. He's like, I'm not sent about? I'm not going down. I'm like, well, that guy's from the East Coast. He's definitely going down. Yo, buddy, let's go. We're going downtown. He's like, I'm not sent down. I was the only guy in the entire camp that gets sent down. And I got a point a game in the preseason. I knew I was going to play in the minors anyway, but it was just a dirty way to do it. On the airplane, nonetheless. Give you 10, 12 days at camp.

It doesn't have to be right away. I want the per diem. Or like start the year and then send you down because you earned it um you didn't care as far as the firing i thought uh i thought the team was hosed by injuries all year i mean you look at the beginning of the year i want to say at one point they had 40 million on the ir they had so many guys up in the press box like tom wilson he's a big to that team oshi backstrom i mean he was coming back from hip surgery too, so you're never even the same for the first 15, 20 when you get back.

So Carlson, he took that puck to the head. He fractured his skull, yeah. He said it felt like he got struck by lightning. That's how bad it was. So it actually fractured his skull. And so the team was never really together. I mean, you look from an offensive perspective. I think Ovi's father passed away as well, right? Ovi's father, yeah, he went back to Russia.

So even you look from an offensive perspective, your ace back there like Carlson, so much of even your breakout goes through him because he's playing 25, 28 minutes a game. So losing a big piece like that is probably a massive component, but then you take all those other losses. And one other thing, I'm not trying to be too critical, I felt like I don't think Darcy Kemper ever really got his legs underneath him as well.

But he's also been moving around the last couple of years. So interesting to see how that team comes back together towards the end of Ovi and Backstrom's career and how that core group maybe stays together and figures it out for one last run. But overall, from a coaching standpoint, I don't know. I don't really know much about LaViolette. Seems like he's a very structured, systems-oriented guy. And he had to deal with Kuznetsov

just straight dogging it all year. So you got all these injuries, then this guy who's proven that he can be a superstar level when they won the Cup. That's what he was doing. Well, he actually requested a trade, I guess, two years ago. He requested it again.

And he just, I think if you watch games, ask Capitals fans, there was games he just blatantly wasn't trying. So kind of a disaster of a season. I said a few weeks ago, maybe a month or so ago, I kind of see Washington playing out the string till Ovi breaks the record and then maybe another rebuild. And you've seen the success of Pittsburgh and Washington all these years, and it always comes to an end at some point.

And I feel like we're kind of coming to those days, whereas you see these teams coming up, and we'll talk about Buffalo and how things are looking different for so many clubs that have been so bad. And the great ones, they always have their declines. So we'll see what happens in the offseason. I would say they're in better shape than Pittsburgh right now moving forward. Well, I think, well, they made a decision, right? Like Hathaway, Orlov, like who else? How many other guys?

They sold off some of their guys, you know, at the deadline and still managed to kind of hang around and do okay actually with everything that happened. And they beat the Islanders in that game. Yeah, that was huge. They gave Pittsburgh the chance to control their own destiny. It was 2-0 a minute in.

Liam McHugh, your host at TNT, he's a big Islanders guy. So I text him right away. I'm like, boom, boom, with like two fire explosion emojis. I'm like, let's go. He's a nice enough guy. He didn't text me when they got their lights beat out against the Blackhawks the next night, the Penguins. But it was so funny when I saw that right away.

Washington just boom, boom, got on top of him. He texts with that Ledecky nonstop, who's the owner of the Islanders, right? Ledecky? Yep. Who hates my guts because I was calling the team boring. So we're in a bit of a feud. I got the whole Islanders management ownership team hating my guts. I'm surprised

I made it out of UBS Arena. I had to have Jake Marsh test all my food and water that I was drinking first. You're still in Isles country. You're not out yet. I know, yeah. Borelli's got food poisoning here. You're not feuding with him.

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Also, the St. Louis Blues let go assistant coaches Craig McTavish and Mike Van Ryn. They did keep Steve Ott and goaltending coach David Alexander. What do you make from that when a team gets rid of two assistant coaches, keeps the head coach and another assistant? I don't know. These guys might have more than me. A little awkward. I know after talking to Jim Montgomery when we

interviewed him at the Winter Classic, Steve Ott has a crazy bright future coaching. I got to know him a little bit in one of the lockouts. A hockey mind and a hockey lifer. I think it makes sense that he'll probably be there and end up being a head coach someday. Without being on the team, it's not fair for me to say kind of what those assistants that were let go

maybe were lacking or maybe there was a miscommunication with barubi and those two guys so i'm not at liberty to really say on that because you don't see it that often i agree i know otter pretty good and he's like he'll be i think he's good at what he does he's got a good enough personality where he can adapt to these younger players and massage them and try to teach them how to be true pros. Obviously, Berube still being around here, I felt like he was maybe a little bit hard media-wise on the younger guys, like Thomas and Kairou, basically saying,

these young guys, man, they're getting their points, but some nights they're not showing up, they're not back-checking, and they're not doing the things that it takes to win a cup. So they're going to have to work with these young players that they still have and haven't locked in these eight-times-eight deals and figure out how to get things done. But I think Steve Ott's one of those guys that can help do that. Yeah, smart, like sees patterns.

He sees the game in these weird patterns. I was talking to him about it one time when I did a TNT game. They were playing Tampa. I was between the benches it one time when I did a TNT game. They were playing Tampa. I was between the benches and had a chat with him about all this stuff. But yeah, bright future, good guy, but he's good with people. On the personal level, yeah. He's good with the players. He's kind of blurring the line a little bit almost because he's so good with people.

It's like he's a coach, but it's like he's still playing almost. I couldn't picture him as a head coach having to be serious. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But just a great guy, really smart guy, really good head and mind for hockey. One thing we skipped over when talking about that first overall pick, Bedard, they lost in Game 7, right, to the Saskatoon Blades. Yeah. The Regina Pats.

And he had, what, 19 points in the seven games? I think he had 20. 20 points. 20 points in seven. He only had one point, I 19 points in the seven games? I think he had 20. 20 points. 20 points in seven. He only had one point, I believe, in the game seven knockout game. My dad was going to the games. My dad was like texting me. He's like, because I'm from Saskatoon.

He's like, they can't shut this kid down. He's like, he had like three and one tonight. They won, and he was literally like. They got their pitchforks outside by a team bus. Saskatoon's like a top-ranked team in the CHL. They're one of the better teams in the Western League, and that's what this kid was doing is just ripping it apart. They were showing numbers like, look at McDavid's season this year,

and then they're showing his season in Regina this year too because it was almost identical numbers what they were doing. All right, to go back to answer your question about why this happens with St. Louis, the GM wanted to fire the coaches. They got to make a change. But do you want to go into the office and fire Craig Berube? That's another one. So it's like, nope, I'll just do the two little assistants.

Maybe that'll change something. And if it doesn't, I'll send someone in next year. I'll fire myself. The team with the best chance of a dot, Anaheim, they got a 25.5% chance of getting the number one pick. They will not renew the contract of head coach Dallas Eakins, whose deal expired at the end of the season. He was in Anaheim for four seasons with the organization for eight years.

They've been out of the playoffs the last five seasons. They were last in goal differential this year, minus 129, 31st in goal scored. And with Pat Verbeek taking over for Murray during the season, no surprise he's going to want his own coach, eh, Whit? Yeah, not at all. And I do want to give a little credit to Dallas Eakins. If everyone doesn't remember, he went

to Edmonton his first chance as a head coach in the NHL, and his first move was getting rid of the media's donuts and chocolate croissants. So that was the first kind of, I don't know if this guy's ready, and Edmonton had a tough go. Well, he ended up going down and being an AHL coach for a while

and did a good job and got his chance. I think he did a lot better job in Anaheim these few years changing his coaching style, but that roster wasn't built to win these few years. He was kind of let down in terms of they're in their rebuilding mode, and heads up for that club if they do get Bedard. I think it would be a quick rise to being a top team because they have so many good young prospects. But I don't know if he'll get another chance.

It's kind of hard after two when you really didn't have much success in either spot. But I do, from what I've heard, respect the fact that he changed a little bit as a coach. And when you get to Anaheim and have that roster, there was really no chance to have a good team. I usually like to see a coach who has a roster like that and through the dark days at least get the opportunity to come up and see if there is progression. I mean, DJ Smith's another guy, an example in Ottawa, where year over year they're doing better and that culture is growing now that they actually have the talent to do something.

So I guess I would always say I feel like you get a little bit of the raw end of the deal if you don't get to see the upswing. But I mean, like you said, he adapted adapted to his style he was great in San Diego because we actually used to have rivalries with him in Ontario but I'm sure he's going to land on his feet and get another job somewhere at some point yeah the draft lottery is going to be on May 8th and after Anaheim in order of odds you got Columbus, Chicago, San Jose, Montreal, Arizona, Philly, Washington, Detroit, St. Louis, and Vancouver. What are the odds between two and three?

Are they both 12% or does it drop a little bit? Columbus is second. They got a 13.5% chance, and Chicago was after them 11.5%. Okay, so similar on those two. Speaking of Chicago, Jonathan Taves, if he does return for a 16th NHL season, it will not be with Chicago, the team announced. He got his farewell swan song, whatever you want to call it, the Blackhawks, a nice tribute the other night.

But, Biz, do you think we see him for a 16th season, given the health woes he's had the last couple years? Yeah, I think that I could see him even maybe taking some time off again because I know that he was having some issues even at the end of the season. And coming back at some point to play a third, fourth-line center role, making a million bucks where not all the focus is on him because he's making all this money, and maybe enjoying hockey a little bit more on a winning team

and getting a pick where he wants to go. If he ends up hanging it up, man, that's a long time to be on top and to accomplish what he's accomplished. And if he were to be like, you know what? I've just simply had enough of this grind and travel. I want to go enjoy the rest of my life. I would not be shocked. I reached out to him to come on the podcast.

So he's going to come on for an interview soon here. I'm really interested to pick his brain. Obviously there was some crazy shit that happened to him with COVID and what it did to his immune system. So maybe not the ending that he deserved. That's why I kind of hope maybe he comes back and goes to a winning team where he ends up part of this fun group that ends up going to have more success. I don't want to think that Jonathan Taves' story has ended as a hockey player. I think that it's all health-related.

Biz said, I mean, what he's going Through just to like try to get healthy And feel good enough to play games for a Lottery team at the end of this season I mean he mentioned what he was having to go through Just to play games now and You realize I don't know if he'll want to go Through that grind I don't know if his body can handle It anymore but for me it was more

A bigger picture and 2010 was their first cup And Taves if you remember in the world juniors Had a legendary shootout run where For me, it was more a bigger picture. And 2010 was their first cup. And Taves, if you remember, in the World Juniors, had a legendary shootout run where Team Canada beat Team USA and was this superstar. And then 2010, he goes to the Olympics as the 13th forward. He ends up winning MVP of the Olympics. Canada gets the gold medal in Vancouver. He wins his first Stanley Cup.

He's a 22-year-old captain, I think, at Chicago. And really just changed everything there. I know it was him, Kane, Keith, Seabrook, and that's who you kind of think about. But there was just so many factors to a quick uprising in that whole organization from the bottom of the depths of the league with 5,000 people to the craziest, best atmosphere and a dynasty team. best atmosphere and a dynasty team 2010 2013 2015 he wins a con smith he he's just the ultimate pro he's a true legend in the city of chicago and i found it like a little poetic and fitting that no one really got a send-off like him in chicago and kane ended up getting traded and and so you didn't get the proper goodbye but he scored a goal in his final game in chicago he had a breakaway i think in overtime which would have just been so amazing to see him end it like that but then he's skating around and he's getting this goodbye he's got a hat on he's saying thank you he kept saying i don't deserve this i don't deserve this and i was just thinking like i felt so old i was 2010 i was really

near the end of my career kind i probably two three more years and i saw this kid coming up and all of a sudden it's over in Chicago it's like I'm 40 years old like where did the time go and they just had this amazing run and that guy is a hockey hall of famer once again I apologize for saying he wasn't and two seconds later taking that back but um it was it was cool to see him get the proper goodbye and and his his humility you could tell he doesn't think he deserves it but if there's anyone who does it was him and it's it's not only the like the hockey aspect and the physical damage that it does to your body and it fucking takes the soul out of your career that long and going through all the things that he did it's like you're the captain managing all the egos in the locker room and the relationship so the emotional toll it takes on you to be a leader for that long,

that's why if it's all said and done and he's like, hey, I'm peacing out, what a fucking run, man. I think he's a first ballot Hall of Famer based on accomplishments in the NHL and international play. Well, I think you got injuries at the end of your career. I did. I certainly did. You did.

We know about your knees. Hello, McDavid. did i certainly did you did we know about your knees hello mcdavid but uh that that's where it's like he's been through the ringer with you know missing some time it kind of beats the love out of the game for you a little like i think that's what you're getting to it's like you know you've done all this stuff and then now it's kind of hard and you're missing time and you're having to you know stay with it stay with it it's kind of like oh my god and you've accomplished so much you've already done everything yeah it's like think about that going every day think about every day going to the rink and and doing your stretches doing this it's just all all of it all of it combined also while while being a former superstar and then

you don't even have the game anymore so you're not only going through everything just to play in a game you're not the same through everything just to play in a game, you're not the same player. And it's mentally exhausting. So that's where I think he's going to probably obviously, if he doesn't know already, look at himself and go, do I love this still? I think we all did that, right?

Even the great ones do that. They're like, I don't got it anymore. Like, I can't go again. So I think that's something that he's going to have to talk to himself. A proper send-off. Yeah. He got it. And the fans ended up – it was good. Chicago announced that it was his last game, that he wasn't going to be re-signed. I think in the morning, everyone had time to go get tickets.

The place was packed. He went from no fans in that building to making it a dynasty in his last game. Everyone was filming it and giving him a proper goodbye. So at least we got to see that. Love it. And Chicago's head athletic trainer, Mike Gapsky, after 36 years retired, he was the longest-tenured trainer in the NHL and also the longest-tenured single-team trainer in NHL history.

Had over 3,000 regular season and playoff games, and, of course, the three Stanley Cups. So kudos to him. Congrats to him. They got him a bass boat. Did they? See the boat they got him? They got him a real nice boat.

That's sick. Is he the guy who used to walk around no shoes? I don't remember. I was playing. You probably saw the guys with the scratches were working out. I actually, yeah, that's a good point. That's exactly where I saw him in the hallway. I'm like, you have no shoes on?

And they were like, yeah, he never wears shoes, ever. I think he was on the ice when he got the bass boat for the viral situation because the team was going to be filming it. But other than that, he's going Fred Flintstone. It looked like Craig Anderson might be calling it a career. What they're calling his last career start in Ottawa the

other night. What a great gesture after the game, Biss. All the scents coming over and kind of giving a hug. You see Brady Kachuk go over and give him a nice big bear hug. I feel like sometimes that's why these games are scripted where it lined up perfectly where he gets to go back to his old team where he probably had the most success. They ended up making that playoff run with him.

So it was just a great scene, and holy shit, like you just said, you're 40 and you feel old looking back and all that stuff. Could you imagine still getting your body ready to play a fucking hockey game? It's crazy. I have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning after we record a podcast, for fuck's sakes. I mean, if he is indeed done, congrats to Andy. Hell of a career.

20 years in the NHL. Unbelievable. Ottawa, Buffalo, Florida, Chicago, Colorado, and a cup of coffee down in Washington as well. So a hell of a run for the guy. Biz, your boy Clayton Keller. If I could just quickly go back to Buffalo, though. Yeah, we got to show them some love.

Unbelievable season. As awesome as the Anderson story is, and he gets to retire the way he did, and I'm not even saying he could have been the backup, I just feel if they would have went and got somewhat of a competent goalie, they would be in a playoff spot right now. But they knew Levi was coming. They knew Levi was coming. It's the very, very very very beginning of the window I was against you along the entire season of them just

standing pat and going about this year and and creating a culture of a little bit of winning and they did that they were in it till the last till the second to last game of the year if you're a Buffalo Sabres fan you could tell me I'm a fucking moron, but I say this all the time. Why do you want to draft 15th? I'm not saying leverage the future. I'm saying go to get somebody. Fucking Allmark, they had him, and he signed for what? Four and a half, five million bucks a year? And obviously that mistake was made, but just go get somebody who's decent.

I'm not saying even give up a first rounder, but find somebody who can get you into playoffs, and they would have. Didn't they finish one or two points out of a playoff spot? They tied with the Penguins. They're one point out. And you know you're not going to win, again, an eighth seed, but you're also not going to win your first year in the playoffs.

So get all those young guys in there this year. Get that first year of playoff experience out of the way, and then you start going the next couple years. Get them to dip their toe in, man. Get bust their nut man they're virgins do you not think buffalo fucking rubbing tug baby i'm not saying get him the full fucking sex scene just get him the tug man i don't think buffalo sabers fans are fired up though they're like buffalo sabers fans are they're as happy as they could be yeah i mean you want to get in the playoffs but like ask a sabers fan right now they're in a great mood and spirit towards this team.

I agree, and they're getting some money off the books, and I want to say Opozo's deal is up, but I think they're going to bring him back, obviously as captain and on a cheaper deal. I love this comment. He goes, this is a team. We're finally a real team. And yes, it makes me excited for the future.

I'm just speaking on, I think that the experience come playoff time is valuable. What's everybody talking about as far as New Jersey and Rangers? I was just going to say that after you were done. Because I was like, Merles, is that kind of a shot at Pasha a little bit? It's not a shot. It's like, what's the one thing? It's like, they don't know what it's like when the puck drops comes playoff time. That's why everybody's got the Rangers.

It's like last year, they dipped their toe in. They should have lost first round against the Penguins. But then those young guys on that third line, the kid line, they get all that experience going to the conference finals. I think that that's valuable and important. And I look at this as maybe a wasted season where you're saying they're being a little bit more optimistic about it, saying, hey, man, we're right there.

Levi's coming in. Now we're going to get there next year. Okay, great. But then that's man, we're right there. Levi's coming in. Now we're going to get there next year. Okay, great. But then that's going to be your first experience. I agree with that. And then you're going to get bounced, and then there goes one year of that time again. So I'll shut up now. Buffalo fans are probably punching the steering wheel.

Brian from Buffalo is fucking losing it, the hipster. I was saying, yeah, Clayton Kelly, he tied the Coyotes team record, not the franchise, but since they've been in the desert. Big Walt's record of 86 points, he tied it. Did you think he was going to break it, man? He tied a good chance. He had a couple of them. Yeah, the last couple games.

I don't think he had a point in the second to last game, and then the last game he got one against Vancouver. I was just happy he at least tied it. That was all I was worried about, and I think he assisted on a goal at the end of the first period, late at the end of the first period, and it was against Vancouver. It was a high-scoring game, but that was it. I've said my piece on Clayton Keller.

I hope he's a finalist for the Masterton. I think he deserves it, and an incredible resilient season after suffering a broken femur last year. Difficult to come back from, And also, the team had a great year as far as exceeding expectations, but he had to play against top-line matchups every night, and the guy put up 86 fucking points. That's highly impressive. Put some respect on his name and the Coyotes.

Absolutely. Big Wall, pretty good company as well. This is time for Posh's stroke-off. Jack Hughes, he broke Patrick Elias' team record for points in the season. It was 96. He ended up getting 99. 43 goals, 56 assists. Wow, dodging bullets, baby.

Dodging bullets. I'm not even celebrating in the least, though, because of the fact this is a lost bet. I realized immediately this year when i saw how good he was how dynamic he is i didn't understand that he's actually like that level of player he's getting 100 points next year and if he doesn't get it next year somehow he's getting it the third year this bet was horrible by me i barely snuck by this season although i did take 500 off pasta for the palette yeah a lot i think think he had 35 goals or something like that so I won money there but that

Hughes bet is over and done with. He's a 100 point player and that's no doubt. But a consolation prize for Pasha who just sat down with a mic in that final game. Luke Hughes gets in the lineup and he gets a goal. His first of his career in his first game assisted by his brother and Pasha was cranking his

cock off. Listen, I've been saying for a while the future is bright, and I think you guys are eating crow now because biggest single-season turnaround in NHL history, 49 points. They broke the record in that last game. They broke our record, Army. Oh, my God. You took down the wit dog in arms, Pasha?

Suck on that wit. Devils in six. You took down the wit dog in arms, Posh? Suck on that wit. Devils in six. You got devils in six. We're going to get to that prediction later. Yeah, we got the previews coming up after all the NHL news. Good for you, Posh. It's been a good year for you. It's been a fight at times.

You've been battling, like our group chats. You know, you've taken... By himself. By himself, fighting. He's like a warrior. He's like a warrior and turning Devils fans against me. I've got guys DMing me being like, fuck you, man. Like, the way you talk about the Devils, you're making everybody hate them on the pod.

Well, you've already given your prediction. Explain why you believe Devils in six. We'll get to you first, and we'll go back to it later. Explain to me what makes the Devils so special. They're just simply a better team. Five on five, they're better in every single metric in terms of shot generation, chance generation, shot suppression, all that. Every metric, five on five, they're just a better team.

They're deeper on forward. They're deeper on D. Obviously, New York has a better goal. I think everybody knows that. New York has a better power play. So I think if the Rangers are to win this series, Igor's going to have to full-blown steal two games, I think. And I think the power play has to be opportunistic

because at 5-on-5 the Devils are going to out-chance them and dictate the pace of play every game. The team speed, we can go into this series a little bit more, but the team speed of Jersey's at another level than basically every team around the league, but especially the Rangers, who are a little bit on the slow side, I think. You're saying,

fuck the experience, I want the young legs. Everybody talks about this experience, but the last time the Devils were this good in 2012, let's not forget the rookie Adam Henrik had two series-winning goals in overtime. So, sure, experience is a big deal, but also you've got guys like Henrik winning two different series in the same playoff run.

So I wouldn't count out guys like Mercer, who I think is going to have big playoffs. The last month of the season, the Devils had Timo Meier on their third line. So you want to talk about depth? Give me the Devils' bottom six over the Rangers' bottom six any day of the week. Wow! Pasha came to play, baby! Every time he

talks to me, he just convinces me how good they are, and then I see it. We'll get to our picks a little bit, Pasha. Like analytics, stats, everything. He had it all there. Devils in six, baby. Is there one last thing you want to say about them? Is there anything else in that head of yours that you want to get off your chest? I said this last night.

I think there's going to be more moments regarding Patrick Kane, but I'll throw Tarasenko in there as well. I think there's going to be more moments in this series where you're like, woof, that was your guy, dude. Watch your fucking mouth, Pasha. Tough defensive play compared to times where you're like, oh, damn, Kane, that was a sick goal or whatever. I think he's going to be more of a liability than he is an asset.

You think this guy who's set to become the greatest American-born player of all time is going to lay an egg in a first-round matchup series against an unexperienced team? I think Patrick Kane is going to fucking bukkake all over your fucking face. Save it for the preview, bitch.

This is Pasha's moment. Calm down. He's got the vein in his neck going. This is coming from a guy who loves Patrick Kane. This is Pasha's moment. Calm down. He's got the vein in his neck going. All right. This is coming from a guy who loves Patrick Kane. I would say he's one of my top ten favorite players of all time. Unbelievable player. But listen, this isn't ten years ago. This is in today's NHL. Merles was saying, oh, Kane is better than Meyer.

Right now, today, that's crazy to say. Timo Meyer is a way better. Best winning percentage since the trade. New York Rangers. The whole league. Meyer's had more points. Kaneimo Meyers is a way better. He sets the trade. New York Rangers. The whole league. Meyers had more points. He's the new omelet guy in New York. You said it takes, what, a couple months to settle?

Yeah, all of a sudden there's too many tomatoes. There's not enough peppers. The cheese is overdone. Yeah, but it's not since he joined the Rangers. Kane has been an absolute defensive liability for a couple years now. And listen, I'm telling you, he'll hurt the team more than he's helped them. That's it. We're definitely going to the game now Tuesday.

Yeah, Merle and I are going Tuesday and Thursday. So we'll see. That's going to be electric. I know. They might fight each other in there. That might have been the best breakdown we've ever had in spit and chicklets. Well, dude, he looks at pictures of Jack Hughes in bathing suits every night. He's dialed into the Devils.

Of course it's going to be a good description of the club. Devils analytic spank bank looking at their advanced numbers. You were interviewing that guy at the NYPD game last night, and he came after you, too. He's like, I'm a Rangers fan, not a Fugazi. We're the for realsies. He said that in that interview. He made sure.

He's like, I got to say this. I got to make sure I get to say this. I'm a for realsie, man. I in that interview. He made sure. He's like, I got to say this. I got to make sure I get to say this. I'm a for realsie, man. I fucking need you guys right now to save my ass cheek because we have that bet going. I'm with you. I'll make one last comment. This is to the Rangers social media Instagram account. Look at this.

You'd be smart to block me again because I'll be chirping you all. Right to the camera. He wants Dolan now. He wants Dolan. Whoever runs the Rangers social media account, go ahead and block me now because you're going to be hearing a lot of it. James blocked you last year? James Dolan runs the account.

I don't know if it was Dolan. We called him out on the game notes, though, and then they unblocked me. They unblocked you. After game notes called him out. Ever since the Charles Oakley incident, he took over all social media. Just a coward organization through and through. That's a great move right there, Flash. We have the Eastern Conference bet.

If they get there in the next two years, I'm getting a tattoo of the devil, the mascot on my ass. This is where I'm going to hop off the mic. But you have to commit something if they don't make it to the conference playoff. Shave the head. I think he's got to shave the head. He said he'd jump in the Hudson. I don't think that's enough.

I said I would jump in the Hudson, and then Witt last night at dinner started making some points being like, people go in there in hazmat suits to clean it and shit. I would never jump in the Hudson, and then Witt last night at dinner started making some points, being like, people go in there in hazmat suits to clean it and shit. I would never jump in the Hudson. We'll have to think of something else, because that could kill me. I get to take a shit on your chest. I think that's a fair one. Jump in the Hudson.

Just a big Cleveland steamer right on your chest, Pasha. We'll fucking put it on the internet to embarrass you and the rest of the Devils fans. Probably get turned on by that. Shut the fuck up. I'm just stroking off the thing and shit. We're off the rails. Yeah, we got another Ranger. Mr. Borelli.

Frankie and Mr. Borelli are like, get the fuck out of my restaurant. One final Rangers note. So I actually went to the final home game the other night. Thanks to the Rangers and my pal Dan Neeson who hooked me up. Jacob Truba, at the end of the game, they did shirts off their backs like a lot of teams do. And the guy he presented his shirt to, he's a Sandy Hook survivor, Isaiah Marquez Green, his name is. And Trouba brought him over to the penalty box on the bench and sat with him. He presented him with a certificate saying he was going to pay for his law school

because the kid said he wanted to be a lawyer. And Trouba says, your law school's on me. He gave him his number, said, keep in touch. I want to monitor your scholastic, whatever. Endeavor. Endeavor, there you go. And now just a nice moment. I didn't get to see that during the game. But, by the way, when you get the VIP hookup with the Rangers, boy, good shit, man.

I got taken care of big time. All right, just big time. And now he goes from shrimp cocktails at the Jersey game down to the lower level. You said you ran into a celebrity, didn't you? A few of them, yeah. Michael Gandolfini, James Gandolfini, who played Tony Soprano. His son was there. Jason Biggs from American Pie.

Roy Wood Jr. from The Daily. She was right behind me. Real A-list there. Yeah, people really went – You're awesome. You're fucking awesome. People were bugging for photos. You said celebrity.

I was like, who do you see? Catherine Keener. She was probably the bigger name. She was the mom and 40-year-old virgin. Out of sight. Great actress. And I went over and people weren't bugging them to take a picture. Were people bugging you already?

No. No one. Whatever. If they do that, they're not bugging me. No one's ever bugged me. Didn't Austin Matthews look back and give you the... Oh, I was giving some head nods because Ryan O'Reilly was looking over and I kind of gave a couple head nods and they were kind of giggling. Yeah, him and Matthews because they were like, oh, he gave you the nod back. What the fuck is he? He probably snuck in.

Who's that guy? It's familiar. Here he is again. Why is that usher winking at me? But I will tell you, Catherine Keener, though, I just mentioned, I mean, she's in tons of great movies, B and John Malkovich, Out of Sight, 40-Year-Old Virgin. And I went over, I said, hey, this is a longtime fan.

I love your work. And she's like, oh, thank you. And then I didn't know we were going to see her later. Between periods, I ended up talking to her for like a half hour. Just the doll of a woman. Great gal. Great actress, too. So it was a treat, man.

R.A. was spitting game. Yeah, no, it was great because I'm a huge fan of hers. Working himself in the social pipeline. And his Muggsy jacket. His Muggsy jacket on, just the collar popped. Just sunglasses like a star. Lloyd Christmas and Harry over there working themselves in the social pipeline in Aspen. So it was good shit anyways.

But hey, boys, how about that Chevy commercial we dropped? The one we filmed out in Arizona with all the podcasts, boys. A lot of people saw me get basically murdered on screen by Will Compton. He fucking almost cracked my neck. Did you see the video? Yeah, I saw it. It was good. That was a good commercial too.

It was like an anchorman. Remember? Yeah. Anchorman when the three news teams came. That's a great call. And they all got in a fight. That's how it kind of ended up happening. And yeah, it blew up.

And of course, Compton was tweeting about ending your life or taking you from within one inch of ending your life. That's the same guy who filmed the Pink Whitney commercials, Rob Langeman. He does an awesome job. We just dropped that Pink Whitney commercial. We already talked about that. So we had a lot of things come out from our sponsors. That's cool.

Isn't that the one you couldn't get in the party? You guys couldn't get in? Yeah, we got pigeon tossed by Nicky Clicky. We're losers now. We're losers. Are we losers? And shout out to Chevy for coming on board for the FDNY NYPD broadcast. They have the new Chevy EVs out, and they've been an awesome sponsor for us this year.

It's been a great partnership. Just waiting for my truck. Absolutely. I've been patiently waiting. Before we get to the previews, we were talking last night about the NBA playoff schedule versus the NHL schedule, and you were actually saying that the NHL should maybe copy what the NBA does a little bit. Well, I more just thought about I guess it would make such a difference. So the NBA is all into the load management.

RA kind of informed us a few weeks ago about it's all done through analytical stuff in terms of when guys need to be rested. It's not their decision apparently when they don't want to play. And they hammer in all these games throughout the year. I think they start after the NHL, and then they finish before the NHL. Playoffs already began last night. But what they do is they then take two and sometimes three days in between every game. So they end up finishing after the cup final, but they've started beforehand.

NHL, it's all about that two-and-a-half-month grind of every other day. And if you win a series early, yeah, you get the three, four, maybe five-day break before the next series. If you don't, a lot of times you'll see game seven. You win on game seven Friday night, well, the second round's going to start on Sunday night, and that's kind of how it goes. But the argument is, for the NBA to do that, they want their players at tip-top shape.

And yeah, maybe they're softer and need a little bit more time, but maybe if the NHL did that, you would see better games. A lot of times the first round is by far and away the most entertaining two weeks we get, and then you see guys breaking down injuries and basically just being exhausted and have an adrenaline get them through games where if they did get that second day off between each game of the series maybe you'd see a little better hockey the other part of it though for me where i kind of think i'm still leaning is it's just it's the grind though hockey's all about that every other day and that kind of makes the run to the cup a little more special where like I remember in in the run

to the cup against Detroit it's like all right we played Wednesday Thursday you just go in you get treatment you just get ready cold tub get a nice dinner boom you wake up and you're right back at it so I think that's kind of cool in terms of winning the cup to go through that but you might see better hockey if they ever went to the longer days or longer breaks in between games yeah no i i like the argument i think that for me it's the the balance of both like regular season hockey in the nhl i feel like they should be no all-star game because i feel like it's a waste of time and there should be less back-to-backs i just feel like the quality based on how many how much they're trying to roll guys out there and and in hockey,

given the physicality and the fact that yeah, I get that you're not getting the pounding of running, which is a lot worse than skating, but adding in all the hitting where these guys aren't getting any type of load management. There's really no such thing until a team clinches a playoff spot

and you're already at game 75 where maybe they do it for one game and then let another three, four guys rest out of the core unit, say. You've seen Boston adapt to it. We talked to Coop, and Coop said, no, I'm not into that, where those guys have played that much hockey and then don't get the rest on top of the fact that playoffs are going every other night. So before we get to the previews, I think we got to bring up Calgary maybe, R.A.

Oh, yeah. Absolutely. And the issue in Calgary is what a disaster of a season. The big trades that happen, and all of a sudden they don't get into the playoffs. And I just want to get ahead of something. I sent a tweet out the night that they lost. Who'd they lose to in the shootout, guys, to knock them out? Nashville?

Yeah, because of UC Saros. Yes, it was Nashville. So Sutter ended up putting out Nick Ritchie in the shootout, and I just said, oh, my God, season on the line, like could be job on the line even though he's resigned two more years. It's like Nick Ritchie goes, and I said, Toffoli's been your best player by a mile all year Kadri did go and he missed Toffoli is unbelievable he doesn't shoot in a must-win game

in a shootout and and people all these fans that he's two for 20 this year in shootouts what are you talking about I said I don't give a shit and this is nothing against Nick Ritchie but I don't give a fuck if he was 0 for 40 in shootouts. It's your best player. The best players step up in the biggest moments. He's your number one goal scorer. You got to have him out there in that shootout. I don't care about prior records. This is to get in the playoffs. You don't put out Nick Ritchie in a shootout in a must-win game. So it was just shocking. And then throughout the year, year I swear to god the end of the Calgary Flames season was when Daryl Sutter embarrassed the rookie and I don't know if we

can get his name pulled up because I'm embarrassing him right now for not knowing his name but I'm not his head coach and Daryl Sutter he played his first game and he was asked about how the kid played and he's like what number was he and he just I don't know if he was trying to be funny but in the room I'll tell you I know a fact, it did not go over well. It's disrespectful to a guy whose lifelong dream just came true. And I don't care if rookies don't have much of a say in Daryl Sutter's old school. To kind of embarrass a guy like that, along with, I'm not saying Markstrom should take no blame. He had a bad season.

But he's messing with Markstrom's head throughout the entire year. And it's just stale. It's stale the way he goes about and coaches you saw in LA and this is a guy in the tweet I sent he has accomplished way more than I ever did in my NHL career but you can't coach the way he does anymore he doesn't change he's not going to give in and guys just tune him out it ends in a way that I'm sick and tired of listening to him. It's so miserable being at the rink, and you saw that a team with cup aspirations going into the year aren't even in the dance. That's Jacob Pelletier, too. Jacob Pelletier.

That right there, the embarrassment of him was the beginning of the end of the season. Was that worse than leaving Gretzky on the bench at Nagano? Maybe that's why they traded for him. Remember he traded his brother? Brought him in because he's better at the shootout. I think it's an insane reply because it means that he actually thought about it and gave it thought where

would he have not considered other options like putting Tafoli. There was other guys that he looked past other than Tafoli. Do you have the names? Yeah, Mangiapane, Duby, Lindholm. So it's the sweat equity that these guys have put in all season to even put them in that situation to fucking maybe make playoffs despite you know everything that's gone wrong richie was got at the deadline and when he scored

on uc ceros and the reason why he put him against them because he'd scored on him prior he was with a different team so like fuck off with this nonsense i think maybe you're you're overthinking it daryl yeah and i think you know you're talking about the moment too like yeah you were in that moment yeah that was a thing should it have been that for you maybe not you lost like 32 one goal games and how many were in overtime like they they couldn't catch a break they couldn't win games the goalies couldn't find a way the team couldn't find a way but you were still in that moment like you still have to like that that's everything so put your guys that are hauling in massive paychecks when the brinks truck pulls up those are the guys that got to get it done for you in that moment right and and that's i even think players expect that like you don't tell me he's like going you're

up richie and everyone on the bench is like, what the fuck? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Richie's like, no, no, don't do this to me. Don't do this to me, please. Oh, fuck. As he's jumping the boards to go, he's looking at Toffoli. He's like. The craziest thing to me, I think you guys were calling for the coaching change a month ago. So I was like, I'm going to look up at their AHL team.

First thing I see, they're in first place. With the MVP. Second thing I look up is the coach is Mitch Love, a former teammate of mine. Oh, no shit. He's a tough motherfucker. He was like this big. He's fighting the tough guys. I played against him in junior. He was just chuck him. He used to fight Gordo.

He's got a fucking nose like two cans. He does all the Team Canada junior stuff. This is the perfect up-and-coming coach. And he's in your same city like it would have been the easiest move oh yeah dan biles my stanley cup champion could have changed anything but maybe they'll win the calder cup and i'll get a chance somewhere else shout out mitch love shout out to the moose jaw warriors where he's don't beat me up yeah

don't beat us up that's why i said it's my dad scouts moose jaw warriors there you go a little shout out tie it in there a little much love i can't love for my dad scouts, Moose Jaw Warriors. There you go. A little shout-out. Tie it in there. A little Mitch Love. I can't find the tweet biz, but someone had mentioned that they basically, like, Sutter lost his team early in the season. They beat someone like 5-2, 6-2, and he bag-skated them the next day, like, for no fucking real reason whatsoever. And that just kind of pissed off guys in the room. You know, you've been beating that drum all year. And also, Hubert, though, the biggest point drop-off in NHL history,

I believe, is 115 down to like 55. And, of course, it's not his fault. He had him playing his off wing to start the season, which was crazy. Like the guy had his whole career on the other side. Oh, they got off on a horrible foot. I don't think there's any love lost there. I think it's so common that it's almost uncomfortable. I don't know how uncomfortable it would be going to the rink every day,

being like a star on the team and hating your head coach that much. But it all started with when he felt disrespected when he went down the tunnel because Huberto was battling an injury this year. I believe it was a lower body injury, I think foot or ankle. And he was, you know, Daryl Sutter, I don't think he necessarily cares when you're banged up and he wants you playing. He's old school. He's a farmer, and he's tough himself. And he was going down the tunnel to get treatment to try to kind of keep playing through that game. And then in the media after, they're like, where'd he go?

Oh, to take a shit. As a new guy on the team who respects himself as a player, who just had a season coming off of 100 and some odd points, you want to feel like the big man on campus and feel appreciated. And I don't think Daryl did a very good job of that all year. Yeah, and to the point of that too, the type of player he is. Right, Merles? You've seen a lot of guys like these guys, right?

He is a playmaker. He's perimeter guy. He's the disher. And he's not the superstar that is you know for example the guy that went the other way kachuk who's like in the middle of all the shit he's inside he gets in there huberto is an outside playmaking disher magician type of player and i think once it got hard for him early and settling in like i don't think that's like a satsy player i do know that he like knows what he's getting a little bit with the skill set,

but I think when it got a little harder, then all of a sudden it cranks up. Do you think it's a fair comparison, very similar style to a Joe Thornton where he's a pass-first mentality, he's a great power play guy? Not a big-bodied guy that can pull guys on his back.

Not taking away from Joe Thornton, but you hear stories about who was the coach, Todd McClellan in San Jose where he would do video sessions, and he'd stop and he goes, Joe, you got to shoot that. And he'd say, nope, I'm a passer to the coach. He's like, no, I'm staying stubborn. This is how I play the game. This is how I've been successful, and this is how I need to play to be successful.

I did it for fucking 10-odd years in Florida. It ain't going to fucking change now. All right, boys. I think it's about time to discuss the playoffs, so let's head over to that side. Before we go any further, here's a word from our friends at GameTime. GameTime is the exclusive ticket and partner of Barstool Sports. Created by fans for fans, GameTime is the ticket and app

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Download the GameTime app or go to the website, enter your email, and redeem the code CHICKLETS for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. All right, let's get cracking on the playoffs here, boys. First up, Florida versus Boston. Florida was the second wildcard team, and Boston, of course, won the President's Trophy. Game one, Monday at 7.30 in Boston. The Bruins a minus 3.35 favorite for the series. Florida is a plus 2.70 underdog. During the regular season Boston went 2-1-1 while Florida went 2-2. Merles, let's

go to you first for your take on this series buddy. I love Monty. Unbelievable job. The guy just wins everywhere he goes. I'm going to keep it short. Bruins in five. Okay. This series is crazy because when you look at it, the two teams and how the regular season went,

I'm the same way. I'm like Bruins four, maybe a gentleman sweep in five. Ulmark and Swayman, no matter who's in net, just these unreal season. And then Alex Lyon, who credit to him, I mean, kind of like a little bit of a journeyman just catches fire basically gets them in along with Matthew Kachuk but the matchup is just so uneven and the structure that the Bruins play compared to the lack of structure the Panthers

play it seems like it'll be a complete blowout then you say that and it's the playoffs and all any Bruins fan is thinking about right now is the Tampa Bay Lightning versus the Columbus Blue Jackets. I just don't see this happening with the Bruins team because of the depth. Tampa's stars went cold. That was Kucherov's career season, I believe. They all kind of, the stars went dry. Well, the Bruins, they have stars throughout the entire lineup. And, yes, Tampa had Hedman as a true number one,

and Sergeyev was young. The Bruins have two and a half number one defensemen. I'm giving Orlov the half. Since he's been in Boston, he's been a number one. McAvoy's been outstanding. Lindholm should be up for the Norris, and Orlov's been a monster. With the depth the Bruins have, the only worry is

Bergeron left the last game with an injury. He didn't really skate. Marchand left the last skate a little bit early. Everyone says it's just... Krejci too. But Krej really skate. Marchand left the last skate a little bit early. Everyone says it's just – Krejci too. But Krejci's fine, I guess. There is some soreness. The injury aspect for the Bruins, I don't know.

I'm kind of just reaching at straws to create in my mind a way the Panthers could compete. But I'm actually hopping on with Merles here. I think it gets done. Gentlemen sweep in five for the Bruins. I think gentlemen sweep too. The only snowball chance in hell that Florida has is if the goaltending implodes. And I just don't see that happening. You said it.

It doesn't matter who's in net. They got the job done all season long. So even if all marks week, boom, swayman, get in there. And it has everything to do with the way that they play structured hockey. And, hey, you mentioned a few of those guys maybe being a little bit dinged up. Well, they didn't even have them start the year. So they know how to win without maybe one or two stars missing out a lineup. And they were also winning when they were doing the, what do you call it, the resting.

The load management stuff. So, gentlemen sweep five games. That's what I was going to say, too. I say five games. I'm right on that as well. Boston in five. The Tampa thing, back when everyone's thinking about that, let's remember, too. They had that awesome season.

You said it. Guys went dry. They got Columbus, kicked their ass, pushed them around, bullied the shit out of them. Yeah, that's knocking out. And that's when they had to go get Coleman and Goudreau, and then they had Gord and all those guys on that third line that changed their whole team to where they were able to win. That ain't happening with Boston. They don't have that issue. They can play any way you want it uh i give i give florida a fighting

chance to win one game in that series you're gonna see kachuk he's gonna be he's gonna be a problem they got other guys too they got lomberg there that gudas who i heard is he's got a little bit of a fucked up shoulder but he's playing through it right. He's also a guy who will muck it up. So they do have a few guys that can drag him into the fight, but definitely not enough of them like Columbus where they're all drinking tortes as Kool-Aid, where they're like ghouls ready to go out there and just hit everything that moves.

And Barkov too, right? It'll be interesting. That's Yanz's favorite player ever. They got guys for Hagee, but then you can list off guys across the ice and then fucking third line you got, what, Bertuzzi.

I just think Boston has the answers. Also, as you're listening, today is game one. It's Marathon Monday in Boston, a pretty special holiday.

Patriots Day. The Red Sox play at like 10.30 in the morning. The marathon ends. I think it could be the drunkest crowd ever to attend an

NHL playoff game. So who knows what the atmosphere in the Garden will be like. Do Bruins fans do the wave? No, they don't. The only time I ever saw Bruins fans do a wave was the last ever playoff game at the Boston Garden versus the Devils in 1995. I was there

and we were so desperate to get one more game to keep the season going that we actually did a fucking wave when the Boston got in. It kept going and going. It was something the fans hated, but we were so desperate, we did a wave. So here's my only prediction. If they're drunk enough to somehow or accidentally start a wave, I completely change my pick and I say Florida wins the series.

But I don't think that's going to happen, right? Here goes Biz again, picking both sides. Yep, yep, yep. What would be the line on Bruins fans starting a wave at home marathon Monday? Minus 1,100. No, no, plus 1,100.

Plus 1,100, yeah, plus 1,100. So I think too, that might be the game that Florida could get them. Game one, wake them up. The wave game, everyone's blacked out. It didn't even happen. They show up to game two, they're like, we're down one? And R.A. has gone crazy in Boston. Sell the team. Move the team.

R.A., first, your pick in games. I got Bruins in four. Okay, sweet. Matty Kachuck, he's done a great job. He dragged this team into the playoffs, basically. But I think that's as far as they're going to go, especially you talk about the goaltending matchup. I just don't see Florida winning a game.

And my other question, so Allmark starts game one. Does Swayman even get a start? Do they ever even fuck around with that? Say they split at home. Would you ever go to Swayman game three, or is it just Allmark's your guy for this run? I think unless he has an atrocious game where you've got to get him out of there, no, I don't think we'll see Sway unless Al-Makshid's the bet.

If he does, then 100% we'll see. That is sometimes the problem. You saw it last year with Fleury and Talbot in Minnesota. Sometimes the goaltending situation gets a little confusing. All of a sudden you hit the panic button and... G, what do you got? Gentlemen sweep, just like you guys. Despite what Pasha says, I think the playoffs is all about depth and experience.

Mainly experience. So no one has more depth. No one has more experience than the Boston Bruins. So B's and 5's. Nobody's overthinking it. If you're watching on YouTube, you see me working on the computer. I'm tracking all these picks just so we can come and rip on biz at a later moment. But also we're going to have the score bet up in Ontario

where we're going to have seven out of our eight series win. You win the money. Witt won it last year. I went eight for eight. The only guy. For everyone to trip my picks. Eight for eight. I was just going to step in.

I take your comment very seriously, Merles, and I'm going to make a prediction, another hot take. You take every team? I will have – what do you mean? I'm taking fucking Boston, gentlemen sweep. I will have the best record coming out of playoffs as far as everyone's picks. At the end of the cup or into the first round? No, at the end of each of them. I will have the best record coming out of playoffs as far as everyone's picks. At the end of the first round. No.

At the end of each of them. I don't give a fuck. You tell me, buddy. Bistradamus is back. Bistradamus is back. Playoff long standings of just series wins. It doesn't have to be the correct games between a little better. Throw a little something in the pot.

I love that. I love that we have an analytics tracker guy now. Yeah. That'll go, Merle. That'll boy bring in everything. Yeah, we're really like modern, you know, setup with the analytics tracking. Well, we have to because Posh is tracking advanced analytics and shots from the slot on the left side, which is a silly hand saver. All right, next up, we got Tampa Bay, Toronto.

Game one Tuesday at 7.30. Toronto is a minus 148 favorite. Tampa Bay is plus 125 during the season. Toronto went 2-0-1. Tampa Bay went 1-2-0. Biz, you're a Leafs fan among many other squads. How do you see this series? Toronto is going to end the series in six games in Tampa Bay.

They're ready to go. Pretty much a dream scenario, in my opinion, for the Toronto Maple Leafs. They played this team last year, so they have a little built-up animosity towards this team that knocked them out and stole that, finally advancing past the first round. They've got to deal with all the media bullshit. Everybody's goddamn jobs are on the line. It's redemption time.

They've got them right where they want them. This is not only a battle of Tampa and Toronto. This is a battle of load management versus non-load management. John Cooper, he took a side. He picked a side. So it's me versus him and the fact that I think he should have rested some of his players going

to the playoffs. And now the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to bend them over and end this wonderful streak they've been on. Load management, Toronto Maple Leafs, Leafs in six. I will say this, Whit, before you give your pick. I'll make it up. You want me to go? I was at game six working between the benches for that game in Tampa

when Braden Point scored an OT to send it to game seven. So I'm with you, too. I'm with you that they get it done in six with Toronto. It's so funny you said that, that they get their revenge, because that game was like it was just on the brink. They had the series. They hadink. They had this series. They had it. They had them down.

They're on the road. They just had to put this team away. They couldn't. I am always concerned about Leafs goaltending for obvious reasons. But I just think that this is their year. I don't know why. I haven't liked the Leafs at all. I still don't really even know if I really like them.

But I got them getting over the hump this year in six. Mark that down. If they can't do it this year, it'll never happen. I just look at the overall season Tampa had, especially since January 1st. I think their penalty kills were one of the worst teams, maybe the worst playoff team penalty kills since January 1st. The end of the season was a nightmare. They make that enormous deal that was just shocking to people, what they gave up for Tanner Janot. I don't think he's playing, correct? I think he's injured.

He's out. That's a huge loss because all they really relied upon was those third-line guys, and they brought him in to be one of those players. Hedman had a little bit of an off year. Kucherov was unreal. Point with a quiet, quiet 50-goal season. And Stammer, Stammer. But you look at Toronto, and I just love the moves they made.

I think McCabe's been great there. Riley's actually struggled this year defensively, but they're able to kind of pick him up. And from every Toronto media outlet I've read in terms of recapping their regular season, Giordano was way above expectations just the hell he came back on a crazy cheap deal he's had a monster year Samsonov was solid all year and then you saw what Wall did so they have everything working towards them finally getting out of the first round Marner with a spectacular season MVP type

like performance. Everything just points to Toronto Maple Leafs finally doing it. Tampa Bay Lightning at 7. Wow! Are you fucking kidding me? I want to read your quote. Obviously I was nervous going into this

because of the... Goalie? Is it the goalie? I'm not going to change your mind with this, but this is Leafs captain John Tavares. Don't let the pressure outweigh the pleasure of the X. I don't care. Goalie? Is it the goalie? I'm not going to change your mind with this. It's just the Leafs. But this is Leafs captain John Tavares. Don't let the pressure outweigh the pleasure of this opportunity. These guys are excited for this moment. They know what's on the line with it. That's a ballsy pick, buddy.

I don't know why all of a sudden last minute you went off the wrist. I switched. As of last night, we were in Borelli's, I think, until about midnight. I was like, I'm on the Leafs. And I woke up and I was going over. I'm like, I've said long ago ago I picked the Tampa to win the first cup that they got. No, their second one, the first year I picked against them. And then I said, I'm never betting against them.

I'm not going to do it until they don't get back there. If they lose first round, I won't be surprised. But give me Vasilevsky. Give me Hedman. Give me what these guys have done in this run. I know they're exhausted, but this is why my main thing was finally, actually everyone says Toronto can do it. Before it was, oh, no, this is true.

This is going to be the perfect story. Exactly. That's when Toronto would actually continue to somehow choke and blow this entire thing up when they were the favorites for the first time and they still couldn't get it done. So I understand that I'm way kind of as the underdog right now in this pick, but Sergeyev was a monster this year, and Tampa, while sucking throughout the second half of the year,

they are able, in my mind, to just turn it on because they've done it before and it goes 7 again and they win Game 7 again in Toronto. I agree with Witt on Tampa. I've talked enough about Hedman, Vassie. Champions don't go away easy, but still, I got Leafs in 7. Gee, what do you got? Kind of same thing as Merle's there. I got Leafs in 7.

We can't forget who's playing goalie for the Tampa Bay Lightning, though. Andre Vassilis. And he hasn't been good. I know, but he's still the best goalie in the world. He is still the best goalie in the world. So I have Toronto in seven reluctantly. I'm worried to pick them, but... Here's a hot take for you.

I think Vasiliski gets pulled twice in this series. Wow. There you go. Book it. And Biz. Biz Tredonis is back. What the fuck are you looking at, Quader? And Biz, if Toronto can't do it this year

but oh it's not gonna be obviously dubas is gone obviously keith's gone they're gonna behead them in the town square in toronto yeah but heads man player like what do you do i guess we why even get into it because they may win but it's not happening that's why they're gonna lose is because they're actually finally yeah that's why i say leave ready in six, but I'm like, I kind of want what you're saying. John Tavares didn't invite the boys to Muskoka last summer to have a little powwow, to talk about the season before, to fucking go out in the first round to the exact same team. It's not happening. John Cooper, Tampa Bay Lightning, it was a great run.

Same team. It's now the Leafs' time. Yeah, they got a lot of tread in the tires the last three years. Believe it or not, I'm going Toronto in six. Yeah, if Vassie is as good as he is, I think he might be as tired as the rest of those guys. He hasn't been his usual stellar self, and he could steal a game or so, but

I think this is Toronto's year to win a first-round series. And remind you, talking about load management, I will be not tugging off at all during this playoff run. I forgot about that. Ser about load management, I will be not tugging off at all during this playoff run. I forgot about that. Serious load management. I'm going celibate.

I'm not abusing the Four Seasons towels at that place for six weeks, and then we go on the road for the finals. I will not. And, yeah, I'm going to be a little bit stressed out, but that's why you do the breathing exercises and you mix in a few hikes, right? A couple cold showers. A couple cold showers, do the hot contracts.

The one last thing, the Tampa loss that I think doesn't get enough discussion was McDonough, and they had to move him for cap reasons. But him and Cernak, they were the shutdown pair, and so that is the one that I think's really kind of crushed them this second half is having that beast, the McTruck, not in the lineup. But still, I'm on Tampa. I know I'm behind the eight ball already, but let's see what happens. All righty, next up, we have the Islanders in Carolina.

A very special guest coming in right now. Wow! In his building. Are we ready for this? Holy shit. Thank God we had Pasha to warm it up. Pasha did a good job describing why the Devils can win. What can the Islanders do, Frankie? You caught me at a bad time. Holy shit. Thank God we had Pasha to warm it up. Pasha did a good job describing why the Devils can win.

What can the Islanders do, Frankie? You caught me at a bad time. I got to take an absolute dump right now. That's not good before you talk about the Islanders. The Islanders, baby. I'm going to shit my pants sitting right here right now. New York Islanders, as we know, are my life. So this is everything to me. And I do think that they're going to win this series.

2019, we got swept by the Carolina Hurricanes. I think this is an amazing matchup for the Islanders. We avoided the Boston Bruins. If you would have told me a week ago that not only were the Islanders going to make the playoffs, but they were going to avoid the Boston Bruins because the Penguins, who are dead now, by the way, so rest in peace to the Penguins, but the Penguins were going to lose, and then all of a sudden the Islanders were going to win against Montreal, and Florida was going to lose the last game.

It's just crazy what ended up happening. So I think there's a lot of juice getting into this team right now. Matt Barzell is back. They went 14-7 and 2 without him, which is insane to rally around your star player being hurt. Sorokin's out of his fucking mind. The guy led the

league in shutouts. He should win the Vezina if it wasn't for Olmark. I think they're just going to give it to Olmark just because he's on the best team of all time. But Sorokin, and I agree with you, he's the most valuable player to his team. One of the most valuable players to his team this year. If you take him out, there may be a good argument. Marcel texted me that. He heard what I

said on the podcast about him potentially coming back and Sorokin and saying how he's the true MVP as far as what he means to his team. And going back to dumps and taking the dump, I feel like the Islanders took the biggest dump shit right before the All-Star break, and they got all the cobwebs out of their system.

They went that 13-game stretch where they went 3-7-3, where they averaged 1.69 goals for. They were boring to watch, and they still are boring to watch, but they've learned that they're almost back to that system where they kind of drag you into the swamp, but yet they get that opportunistic goal scoring and now with the barzell coming in which i gotta throw it over to you guys him not playing in lead-up games but

then all of a sudden being ready for playoffs is absolute bizarro land for me that reeks of lou all over it controlling that situation why was he not playing in these must-win games leading in? I don't understand it, but I read an interesting thing today. It would be more imposter thing. There's all these crazy stats, defensive stats, that since he's been out, the Islanders are in the top ten. When he was there, they were in the bottom five. So that's just like when he's in there, he's playing loosey-goosey,

and then maybe everybody else is playing loosey-goosey and then maybe everybody else is playing loosey-goosey he's gone they went back to their roots kind of you know and went to that islanders offensive shutdown so do you think that there's a possibility with lou knowing all those numbers because they have a team of analytics uh and they have a big staff do you think that lou could potentially be seeing those numbers and saying, hold them back here. We got a good thing going. Let's not fuck up the mojo by inserting them in the lineup. I don't know like that crazy, but I just think it's a great sign for the Islanders that they're starting to win in that direction.

Now your best player, he may listen to this and hear that he's got to turn up the defensive game, but he can still score. So I really like the Islanders. I'm going to say no to that they held him out. I'm going to say that he had a slow recovery. It was lower body. He was slowly making his way back. He didn't have enough practices to join the team

when he was fully being able to join the team. I know that he wanted to play in the last two games and lose. You haven't even had a practice yet. We're not just throwing you in to a must-win situation. You haven't even had contact in a practice yet. We're not just throwing you in to a must-win situation. You haven't even had contact in a practice yet. So let's just wait. Let's make sure you can get full practices in,

and let's just get this guy going. Is it a risk to not have your best player play in the last two games in a must-win situation? Yes. But like Merle was saying, the system was there. You had Hudson Fashion playing on the first line. The guy was playing out of his fucking mind. By the way, one of the greatest pickups by Lou Lamorello of all time.

Nobody knew who this fucking guy was. I knew who he was. He was good in college. If you looked at his hockey DB stats, he always got a chance on a shitty situation. They would bring him up in Arizona. He'd play for five games. He'd put up zero points on a minus five. They'd send him back down.

He'd put up 20 points in the AHL. You're like, who the fuck is this guy? He'd go to Buffalo. They'd bring him up for four games. Zero points, minus five. They'd send him back down. 22 goals in the AHL. Lou're like, who the fuck is this guy? He'd go to Buffalo. They'd bring him up for four games, zero points, minus five. They'd send him back down, 22 goals in the AHL. Lou's like, let's bring this fucking guy in. He's got 10 goals for the Islanders. He's by

far the hardest working guy on the ice every single second. You pair him up with Zach Parise, who, by the way, Zach Parise, 21 goal score, hasn't missed a game for the New York Islanders in two years. 164 games. Pasha watched him with the Devils and he guaranteed he scores at least one, if not two big, big goals in this years. 164 games. Pasha watched him with the Devils and he guaranteed he scores at least one

if not two big, big goals in this series. Dude, he's a gamer. Nobody works harder than that guy. He's fucking, how old is he now?

He's a year younger than me so he's turning 39 this year. It's psychotic how hard he works and he's just a fucking pest out there. He makes guys take penalties.

He's amazing. Who do we need to show up in this series? Because we're talking a lot about the Owls. I know the Hurricanes are good. They're real good. They're really good. They are 9, 8, and 1 in their last 18 games. They're sliding.

They don't have Pacioretty. They don't have Svechnikov. They don't even have a – who's their goalie? Is it Freddie Anderson? Is it Ranta? They don't have much proof in goaltending in playoffs. So I like where we're going with this. You see how I'm starting at you?

No, you're building your case. I'm starting to build up a little bit. Who do we need to show up as Bo Horvat? Has he slid because he doesn't have Matt Barzell with him? 100%. Will that just spark? I think that's going to be the difference. What's your pick?

How many games? New York Islanders in seven. Okay. What did you have, Bitt? So Frankie really does a great job, the same way Pasha does. You get these diehards and they make you believe that it can happen. And I think

the Islanders are a dangerous team. As somebody was discussing who the Bruins didn't want, we said Islanders. You don't want the Islanders because of the goalie and the ability to steal a series. Having said all that and in my mind thinking the Islanders got a great chance, I think the Hurricanes win this series. My main thing is special teams in the playoffs is so important. It pretty much can carry a team. It can kill a team. The Islanders had the third worst power

play in the NHL this year, 15%. If you want to round up, you could say 16%. They have no ability to score on the power play. They have no creativeness. I butchered that word. They aren't able to carry themselves by getting power plays and scoring goals and building momentum. On the flip side, Carolina, I think, finished number one on the penalty kill. They are animals in the D zone.

They play man-on-man, five-on-five. Somehow, man-on-man usually does number one on the penalty kill. They are animals in the D zone. They play man-on-man, five-on-five. Somehow, man-on-man usually does not work in the NHL. Guys are too skilled. Well, they figured it out. They are just on you all the time. There's no breakdowns. And because of, I think, their ability to play that good defensively against a team who does not score very well,

even though Sorokin's there, I think Carolina gets this series. But I think it's going seven as well. I think it's going to be a real good test for them. I just think that their scoring ability and their defensive play against a team who can't score is going to, in the end, win out. But it's going to be a good one. Merles, what do you got? So you had Canes in seven.

Canes in seven. I have the Islanders at plus 151 on the Barstool Sportsbook in six. Wow. Win at home, and then we go to Borelli's. Merle's is not far off of Frankie for his Islander heart either, though. You're like right there, too. I'm going Canes in six because nobody's talking about the Canes. Well, everyone's given the Islanders so much credit.

They are what they are. They got in by, like, this much. They lost the Washington. Penguins should have got in. They blew it. They shouldn't even be in the playoffs. They have life. You look at Carolina's D. They're big. They're lanky. They can skate. They can play D. Like the old boxing saying, styles

make fights. Carolina's going to be so comfy in this boring-ass game. They don't care. They can play that game. They can skate. They're going to out-skate them. Their D are much more mobile, up and down the ice at creating. I just think it's going to be over in six. I think it sets up really well for the Caps to be comfortable against this team. The Canes.

Sorokin. Okay. Sorokin. Okay. Sorry. What did I say? You said the Caps. That's okay.

Oh, sorry. Sorry. Yes. The Canes. The Canes. No Shvetchnikov is such a kick in the dick, and it was shocking that they didn't go out and get someone. They got Yese Pouliaressay Pouliarvy.

Pouliarvy, the bison king. The bison king. Licking his boogers. I think the Islanders give them all they can handle. Licking the corners, just the wrong ones. If Carolina's offense does go dry because of Sorokin and because of the lack of game breakers, which I've always said is their killer,

is that they don't have a superstar. Ahok is right at the cusp, but I just still think the overall team structure of Carolina is going to lead them to win, but it's going to be a hell of a series. I'm picking based on mojo, and I'm basing it on the fact that I want Carolina to win so bad in advance because I want that organization to kind of go on a run,

but I just feel like it's going to be a nightmare, and the Islanders fans are going to drag us into it, and I'm okay rooting for it. So I'm going Islanders in seven. Wow. Islanders in seven? I'm going Islanders in seven. And I don't even think that that's like a crazy off-the-board pick.

No. I think that probably media and if you polled the general public, I think most people would lean towards. I think this is the series where the upset is talked about the most. Yes, this is the upset series. Out of all of them, I think. It's the upset series. Yes, I agree.

Grinnelli's got the Isles in seven. Also, Carolina's a minus 186 favorite for gambling purposes. They beat them three out of four times during the season. But throw that out the window. I think they're going to be very tight games. They could be boring games. Which is good for the Islanders, I guess. Exactly.

That plays into their hands. Of course, they were in the instant conference finals two years in a row in the last few years, and I think Sorokin is going to be the huge difference here. I got the Islanders in seven. As much as I like to see the Canes go on, I got to go with the Isles, man. You forget about the 2021, I believe it was. They were a Yanni Gord goal away from winning the Stanley Cup. It was Islanders, it was Tampa, Game 7,

and they were both going to crush Montreal. So I don't know if the time's passed, but it's going to be a good one. Shorthanded goal. We lost 1-0. I just can't. I was with you. I can't believe it. He's all right.

Well, I'm happy for you guys. It's like you have three guys in the corner. Why do you have a fourth guy going into the corner in defense of someone like that? This is turning into a therapy session. I love this. We get talking all the time. I look forward. Thank you for having us here.

I look forward to watching you and your father on another Islanders run. That's right. And Borelli's packed every night. And that is honestly what you guys do with the fandom here, with the Islanders Nation and everything. It's fun to watch. It's fun to follow. is honestly what you guys do with the fandom here with the islanders nation and everything is it's fun to watch it's a yeah it's like every last in the last two years in 2020 2021 it was like those are just memories that i'll have for the rest of my life like i i'm a very i'm a big

advocate for like you have to enjoy the ride like i hate when people don't they're like oh show them like talk to me after the stanley cup final it's like the fun part is right now like this is when we're having fun. The videos, the pictures, hugging my dad, hugging my friends. You won the game in Boston with all of us there. Stu Feiner licking your guys' faces. Do I want to win the Stanley Cup? Yes, but it's not like I don't want that, but it's the ride, man.

Enjoy it. Every fan should enjoy the ride. Every game. Live and die that game because you don't know when the next one's going to come. Great point, buddy. Wow. Good breakdown, Frankie. He's my favorite fan. By the way, one's going to come. Great point, buddy. He's my favorite

fan. By the way, I'm going to play golf with this guy after. I could be in trouble. He might be pounding it by me. He's feeling it right now. What a great fan. The Islanders are lucky. Last one in the East, the Battle of the Hudson Ranges. Devils game won

Tuesday, 7 o'clock in New Jersey. This series is a pick-em as far as the odds makers are concerned. In four meetings during the regular season, the Devils went 3-0-1. The Rangers went 1-2-1. Ami, let's go to you first on this one. You're right next to me. Yeah, and I'm riding the Rangers. I'm riding them.

I'm on them. I'm going with them. They're deep. They're fast. They're strong. I know thatasha has gave us his breakdown and i'm fine i think jersey's a really good team i i like i like their d better they're bigger they're a little nastier they're a little meaner i the speed thing i get it but i

just think you know you go with the experience you go the way they're built top to bottom um they've got all these extra weapons. It took them time to kind of iron out the kinks with some of their new guys getting put in certain spots. But I think it's the Rangers in seven games. It's going to be a hell of a series. It's going to be an awesome series to follow and watch. And I believe, Merle, you and Pasha are going to games.

Boots on the ground. Boots on the ground. Perfect. That'll be fun to follow, too. Pasha, are you going to be losing on the ground boots on the ground perfect that'll be fun to follow too posture you're going to be losing your mind he will be he's going to be there in attendance watching the redheaded stepchilds get their fucking ass kicked i got rangers in five games i think i think with goaltending you touched on the back end i think that they're going to turn those fucking forwards into soft puppy shit like they are with no experience.

And the fact that you disrespected Kane and Tarasenko, two guys who have hoisted the Stanley Cup, and within recent memory, I think they're going to bring out that playoff experience. And you're talking about the end of the regular season and how they haven't really wowed you. Do you think that these guys care about these meaningless games towards the end of the season? No. They're saving it all up for this playoff run they're about to go on i got the rangers in five i was gonna say six but you pissed me off enough with you coming on earlier talking advanced analytics and and shitting on kane and i figured out the bet if they beat them out in the first round this year you have to get a a Patrick Kane face paint and go to a Rangers game in the second round.

Done. That's easy. I'm leaving you off the hook with that one. Can I just say this? I'm so confident in this pick. I think it's going to probably happen in six, but I'm hoping five. I'm saying five. Are you going left cheek or right cheek for the tattoo? I haven't figured it out. I've got to cover up a few of my pimples on my ass,

so probably over one of those, but depending on which one's the biggest that day. Lindgren, Foxandre miller beasts truba hughes coming down the wing cuts to the middle then you got micola and schneider i mean that's a rock steady that's a great i mean watch the punishment these fucking little fast forward sure they're bigger but the devil's decor is way more mobile you gotta got like Damian Severson on the third pair. Are you kidding me? And then Luke Hughes, I don't think he'll start, but if he ever hops in there, he wowed in his couple games he played.

I get the Rangers are bigger, but they're going to get fucking toasted. Yes, but Bratz. And that Trouba, I get Trouba's a mean player, but he is a liability defensively. No, not the second half of the year. Not since the helmet throw against Chicago, he's been really good. He's been really good. He's been really good. You know you're a bit insecure about it when you don't resort to pumping up your own team

but trying to discriminate another going after. I already pumped up my own team enough. Going after Truba, Kane, and Tarasenko. Okay, buddy. We'll see. What do you got for us, Whitdog? With Dallas, Minnesota, this is the other series that I've never been more on the fence. I was all in on New York throughout the season,

and then kind of talking to Pasha and seeing the Devils, it's like really, really hard to pick against them. I am going with the Rangers in seven. The main reason being the Devils off the rush are the best team in the league. It might be Edmonton, at least in the East. No one plays and scores off the rush like the Devils. But for the most part, playoffs are different in that way. Playoffs are different in the neutral zone. You're not able to create all of these chances off the rush that you are in the regular season. If they're able to do it, I'll 100% eat my words, but I think you're going to have to score more off offensive zone play, cycling down low, and scoring that way. No doubt the Devils

could do that. They got a bigger, meaner third and fourth line. That fourth line for New Jersey, it's Bastion, it's Wood, and it's McLeod. The Rangers don't have a fourth line like that. That could be a difference maker, but I'm with Biz in the fact that Patrick Kane might have not looked like himself since he came over. A lot's going on. Man, this is Patrick Kane we're talking about here. He is not over the hill. He's got plenty to give.

I think he's going to show up and be a stud in this series. I think that Shusterkin is the biggest factor. You've got one of the best goalies in the world who was sick at the end of the season. He caught fire. He got going. And the ability for the Rangers to just slow it down in the neutral zone, if they can't do that, they're fucked.

No doubt. But I think they'll be able to. And because of that, I think they end up getting this win. The other thing is, when you talk about Meyer and all these players up front for the Devils, well, you're kind of forgetting about how good Kreider can be.

And in the playoffs, he's a beast. That's a playoff-type player. You're forgetting that Zibanejad is so sick defensively and offensively. Like, that guy has already proven it in the playoffs. And I experienced the first time we made it. We made it with Pittsburgh and Ottawa. Game one, we got outshot 20-0 in the first round, in the first game, first period. We weren't as close to a team as the Devils are, and we weren't ready to go on a run,

but it's still that first experience. Jack Hughes is going to be in for a higher pace. He's an unbelievable player, but I just think the Rangers, and having done it last year, and having Chris Drury. There are some people in this world who all they do is win. All they do is build teams to win, which he's now doing. I think that just having him, the deals they made, the goalie they have, it's going to be an unreal series.

Definitely my most looked forward to series. I can't wait. Just the fact they're playing each other. Seven games in Jersey, Rangers get the win. The Merman? Yeah, last summer or spring, I was the only guy here carrying the Rangers flag. So I made a lot of friends in the Rangers. Doing it again.

Experience, goaltending. It's going to take them a little bit. Rangers in seven. Gee. I got Rangers in seven as well. All of us? I'm predicting a monster series from the kid line, in particular Hedl. I think Hedl's going to come to play, put on an absolute show.

I think the biggest mismatch in the entire playoffs is the goaltending in this series. I think Igor is so ahead of everything New Jersey has in goals. I got Rangers in seven. We haven't even mentioned Trochek. Trochek's going to have a series. He's going to have a series. He's going to fucking hammer guys through the middle, too. He's going to put a wet blanket on any offense you thought you were going to create, Pasha.

I think the experience they had last year, too, in that Western Conference Finals run, I think that's so much more valuable than people think. Eastern Conference Finals. I think that the fourth line for New York's also being overlooked. They're smaller, though. Yeah, Goudreau won a cup. That Mott's pretty good. He was decent when they had that couple series wins with Vancouver

with shorthanded goals. So it's not like they got these scrubs. What are you laughing at? Vesey's been great. Trochek's going to. The fact you guys haven't even mentioned Nico Heischer's name is a joke. He's the second best defensive forward in the fucking league. Show him some respect.

All right. Who's first? All right, what do you got? I got Jersey in seven. I think it's going to be a classic series battle of Hudson. Always a great take way back on the day of the early mid-90s when they went head-to-head quite a bit. But yeah,

I don't know. I just think New Jersey's feeling themselves looking good. They don't have the advantage in net, but I don't think it's going to matter in the long run. I got Jersey in seven. I think they'll be at least three. That makes me nervous. I think they'll be at least three games that go in overtime too as well. It does. R it does ra being on your side makes me nervous if we were all in the rangers it was completely over so now at least we have the chance all right before we go any further here's a few words from our friends at zip recruiter when it comes to

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because of the way it's set up. They're playing Colorado. Game one Tuesday at 10 o'clock. Colorado has no land to score for the entire playoffs. I think we're kind of waiting for him to come back. Unfortunately, he's not going to be. Colorado lost over 450 man games to injury this year, but they

finished hot as hell. The Nate Dog was on a tear. Colorado was minus 286 in the series. Seattle was plus 230. Colorado went 1-1-1 versus Seattle during the year. Seattle went 2-0-1, but again, I don't put much stock on that. Biz, what do you got for us on this one, buddy?

I'm going to colorado and five i think that last game was huge mckinnon getting that hat trick basically knowing hey if we got any shot we need to get some guys healthy and some rest after this first round before we go off to the second round and i think they had an unreal push towards the end of the season credit those guys for for what they did their big boys big boys, Rotten and him specifically. I believe Makar was a little bit banged up, but will he be starting playoffs? I haven't seen anything. That, to me, because they're playing Seattle, isn't so much of a concern.

They would probably be able to rest him one or two games if he still even is a little bit banged up. Just because they got some other puck-moving defensemen. They got Byron back there. They got Gerrard. They're solid. They got decent goaltending with Gorgiev. And then just overall, I just think their superstars can elevate them past a team like Seattle. And, you know, McKinnon and Ratner will continue to be able to do their thing like they did, especially towards the end of the regular season. I think that Seattle's going to get a win at home. I think it's going to be pretty impressive what we see from their fan base, but I just

don't see the defending Stanley Cup champions losing to a team with basically a second-year expansion team with not much experience. Peter Baugh of The Athletic reported that Kael McCarr will be ready for the playoffs. There you go. So even more reason to pick him in five. You said five? I said five. I think Seattle's going to get a big win at home in game three.

Now I hear that about McCarr. I say six. I'll keep it quick. Colorado six, everything you said. This is my only sweep in the first round. I think Colorado drums them. No disrespect. I think two weeks ago we said how much of a great

turnaround it was for Seattle. Haxtell deserves a ton of credit. Beniers should win Rookie of the Year, but he slowed down at the end. Understandable first 82-game season. There's just no firepower to match what Colorado has. Not only that, Philip Grubauer and Martin Jones, it's just the goaltending, I'm not going to say inexperience, but kind of inconsistency going up against the cup champs. Even without Landis Skog, I think Colorado waxes them. In four. Colorado in four.

What do you got, Merles? Yep, you know me. I got my number 29 Avs jersey cleaned and pressed, hanging in the closet, ready for a long run again my number 29 Avs jersey cleaned and pressed, hanging in the closet, ready for a long run again. Wow. Avs in four. Mr. G?

I think Seattle makes this tough for him. I think every game is going to be close. I have Colorado in six, but like I said, I think it's going to be a super close series. Colorado's played a lot of hockey over the past few years. No Landis Cogg, who's just such a catalyst to that offense and defense. McCarr is playing hurt. So yeah, I think it's going to be a close series and I think Colorado takes it, but I think Seattle definitely keeps it close. I get Colorado on five, like yeah, the goaltender matchup. I'm not, it doesn't really matter who Seattle throws out there. It's just too much

firepower. Even without land is called what we've seen out of Nate this year. I mean, his goals per game, or rather points per game was second only to McDavid. I think he keeps it rolling, and Colorado keeps it rolling in five. So, all right. Well, is that unanimous? We all pick Colorado, right? Yep. No shock there, really. All right, next up. This is a good old rivalry. Minnesota

versus Dallas. Of course, Dallas used to be in Minnesota. Game one tonight, 9-30. Dallas is our minus-150 favorite. Minnesota plus 125. During the season, Dallas went 2-0-2. Minnesota went 2-2. Whit, we'll go to you first on this one. You said you were very intrigued by this series.

Why is that? You go to me. I actually wish I wasn't going. I still haven't decided. This series is so evenly matched. The reason, in the end, I'm going to go with Dallas and seven is I'm kind of shocked at how nobody's talking about them. And I understand with what Minnesota's done without Kaprizov and how they figured it out this year, it's a pick that's kind of popular. But Dallas, they were outstanding.

And this Wyatt Johnson has brought them secondary scoring they didn't have. Jamie Benn has this monster comeback year. And then you always look for the goaltending. And if you remember what Ottinger did against the Calgary Flames, I think in Game 7 he had about 60 saves. He was out of this world. They have him. I know Flower's been great.

I know Minnesota's goaltending is not exactly weak at all. But I just think Pavelski, that game-breaker. You got the fact that Jason Robertson has established himself as a top player in the league. I just think Dallas is severely underrated, undervalued. And because of that, while being an amazing series, they're going to get it done in seven. Another series that could be a little boring like i think minnesota has to play that way to try to shut them down but another guy on dallas no like heskin in i think he broke the record for most most points in a season by a dallas defenseman um a not talked about enough superstar i know i keep saying that word but that's what he is so. So Dallas and Minnesota are going to have a great one, but Stars

and Seven. Merles, let's go to you next, buddy. Yeah, I'm going with the Wild and Six. I really like this Matt Boldy that stepped up, and I think, especially with the way Pittsburgh lost this year, the regret of trading

Marc-Andre Fleury is going to become even bigger, and he's going to steal the series. Do you think that he's going to be playing over Gustafson? I think so. You've got to go with the experience. What? Wow. I think this is the toughest decision for a head coach to decide who to put in

because I think Gustafson's just been lights out, and they've shared the net from a pretty even standpoint. Yeah, I don't know if it's printed out yet, but that's what I've got feeling as you go with the experience to start, especially on the road. And then if you lose, then you can go back at home, I guess. Kaprizov, what's his status? And Hartman.

Hartman got one game. Did that end of the year, too, when he walloped Ehlers? I'm going to go Dallas in seven, and it's just because we talked about sometimes that feng shui gets thrown off a little bit when you throw in a new guy, although it might be the reason they end up winning the series that you know you get boldy who's popped off and is helping carry a line where all of a sudden you get caprice off back and you split them up and you got this one two punch so now they're really balanced offensively with going against dallas i just feel like expectations are very high

internally for dallas and they look at this window with Ben and Sagan not getting any younger, where they have enough good leadership in that locker room with those guys, and yet these young guys making these huge impacts. And you touched on it. Having that ace back there is something that Minnesota doesn't really have. I feel like they just get it done collectively as a group, where Haskin is just, you know, you look at all these Stanley Cup teams,

like, you know, Pittsburgh has the Letang. You look at Washington, they have that Carlson. You look at when the Kings did it, they had the Dowdy. So that's very important, along with what we know Ottinger can do. Kaprizov's good to go for the playoffs, too. But sorry, Biz, just quickly, I forgot to mention, Erickson X, a huge part of that team, he's injured.

He went down. That was a kick in the dick for them. He's a shut down. Monster year. He's who Robertson would have to deal with. He's 6'3", he's enormous, he's tough to get around. So even if he plays, he's not at 100%. That's another thing that leads towards Dallas getting it done.

Yeah, and I got Dallas in seven. So you, how many? Seven. Seven? He how many? Seven. Seven? He went six, Minnesota. I think this is the hardest series. I think this is a seven-game series. I think this is the most evenly matched one,

and I'm sticking with Murr, my guy. I'm going with Minnesota to take it. On the road, game seven. Game seven. Take it. Mr. G. I also have Minnesota in seven. I just think that this Minnesota team, I don't want to call them a team of destiny

because that's what I've been calling the Bruins all season, but there's something about this team, like the way they do the tarps off. Ever since Revo got there, there's just something about this team. They do leave you blue-balled, though. This is the type of team that leaves you blue-balled every goddamn time. Everything in me says to pick Dallas, but I'm going with Minnesota in seven. Okay. I'd like to see Mitty go on.

I mean, they're kind of like Toronto in some sense. They can't get out of the first round. But I don't know. After what we saw out of Ottinger last year, what you were just saying, he was incredible. Robo's a bona fide superstar in the league right now. They've got two lines they've got to try to shut down. Some of them in Minnesota with Boldy and Caprizov.

But I don't know. It's going to be going to seven games in Dallas. It's going to take out during Dallas in seven. Interestingly enough, I said Heskinen's the best defender in the series, but overall, Minnesota has a better six-man unit. Dallas is a little weak at the bottom. Ryan Suter's not what he used to be. Colin Miller's a good player, but playoffs, I don't know.

I just think having Heskinen play in 28 minutes tonight is the difference maker on the defensive side. All right, boys. Last two here in the Pacific. Winnipeg was the second wildcard team, so they got put in the Pacific going against Vegas. Game won Tuesday at 9.30. Vegas is a minus 175 favorite.

Winnipeg has a plus 145 during the year. Vegas was 3-0 versus them. Winnipeg was 0-2-1. Ami, let's go to you first on this one, buddy. On game notes, we were down in Tampa, and I went after the Jets. I have this vision of the Jets in my head when I saw

them play. It's just like, they're huge. They have depth. They've got good players like skilled, high-end talent. They can shut down. They're on top of you. Hella buck factor. and then they just fell off they went to sleep and uh you know bonus had to give it to them i you know game notes gave it to them and they kind of woke up at the end so i'm kind of back on the on the jets again and even though i've always been on vega i always like vegas every year i pick like oh it's going to be

vegas in the final in the west like they're going to make it to the final. And they've disappointed. So I have been on the Jets. I'm going to pull the old wit dog move. I'm flip-flopping. I had Jets in seven. I'm getting off now, and I'm going Vegas in six. Wow.

Wow. Okay. So switch the winner and less games to get it done. Well, if you get it to seven, they would have won. They would have had to get to seven to beat them. They're not going to get to seven. What was that, Vegas in? Six.

I'm also Vegas in six. I do this every year. I said on the broadcast yesterday during the intermission, I pick Vegas. I want them to go all the way to the finals so we can have a chicklets trip to Vegas. I don't want that to happen. I don't want to go to Vegas again. Still recovering from Chicklets Cup 14 years ago there. I think home ice advantage plays such a massive factor in this series.

Like, Winnipeg's a tough place to travel to and to play in. They got the whiteout going. I mean, we know what Vegas provides. The whiteout. Yeah. I hate to be poopy. Because they have lots of spelling mistakes. I hate to be poopy pants on Winnipeg. They're just not a very exciting team for me to see advance, and I'm not shitting on Canada here.

I'd just much rather see Jack Eichel and Vegas and see what they can do maybe going on a little bit of a run here. I don't know who's going to get the start in that. I would imagine it's Jonathan Quick. I think it will be Brassois. Brassois has been playing great, and he's got confidence right now. That might be an overthinking situation, but he's been playing good. I'm okay with it if they give him the net.

If it would have been L.A. Vegas, I would have been very disappointed if Quicky wouldn't have got the net for that spite tour. But I think I'm going to go with Vegas in seven and not surprised if every team wins their home games. I think Vegas trucks them. I think Vegas gets it done in five. The only

chance they have is if Hellebuck, who will be up for the Vesna, has been outstanding, if he just completely stands on his head. Similar, I mean, similar I guess when you look at the Islanders. I think the Islanders have a way better chance of beating carolina than winnipeg does in this series they do have the better goalie but prossois after coming off the the surgery he didn't lose in regulation this year it was a lot it was 11 games i think he played maybe he might have got pulled once but 70 and three look great at the end of the year so you got quick as the

safety blanket but prossois is good. Vegas looked awesome. When everyone wrote them off, and we had a Chicklets episode maybe in February just ripping on them. What is going on? I think Eichel had a real tough 10-game stretch. He's picked it up. Stones back. I think Vegas is a very good team. Not talked about

enough. And I just think with Winnipeg's season, they did get it done at the end, but it's been overall kind of a disgusting second half for that team. And also, I don't think Cole Perfetti's status is known right now in terms of him playing or not, so I got Vegas in five. Mr. G, what do you got? Jack Eichel, 476 regular season games played, zero playoff games. This guy has been waiting for this game.

He's been waiting for this since he lost the national championship with BU. I got Vegas in five. I think this is going to be an easy series for them. I think Jack Eichel completely takes over on a con-smite run here. Winnipeg getting no respect here. Well, you have a future on it, so it doesn't count. I do, but I also think they've got a distinct advantage in goaltending with Hellebuck. I mean, he had a couple off nights this season, but I think he's still a bona fide number one goalie,

and he's going to be the difference here. I've got Winnipeg in six. R.A. rooting for the White Oaks. I've got Winnipeg in seven. I was kind of there, and then I audible. R.A. rooting for the White Oaks. You think he doesn't want to go to Winnipeg? Hellebuck's going to steal a couple games, and yeah, I do get 60 to one or two, so I've got to root for that, too.

I mean, naturally. Can we get a number of teams you have a future on that are in the Stanley Cup playoffs? Yeah, we can tell you right now. It's got to be at least six. No, I've got L.A., Winnipeg. That Ottawa

future from a couple years ago is still gone. Let's see. The Islanders, Florida, Boston, and I think that's it. I can double-check after. Holy shit, it's every team. It's every team. You've got to spread the wealth a little bit. I'll double-check after. Oh, yeah, the Kings.

I got them two in there in this series. You already said Kings, I believe. Did I? I'm sorry. But this is huge. This is a fun way to end it. Absolutely. Ian would have been going back and forth on this for a month now.

L.A. Edmonton. Was it? Yeah. Game one Monday night tonight at 10 o'clock. Edmonton, pretty big favorite here. Minus 225. Way too big of a favorite. I was thinking that too.

Kings plus 185 during the season. They both went two and two against each other. So pretty even there if you put much stock in it. Whit, you just chimed in. We'll go right back to you with this one. What do you got? I've never been more excited. As an an Oilers fan everyone knows that's my team I could not believe how big of a favorite they were I understand you end the year on a 14-0-1

run something that I don't think the Oilers have ever done leading into the playoffs they look outstanding it's a special time in that city but I if you're looking for value as a gambler you take the LA Kings in a heartbeat. I mean, this team, here's what I'm going to say about this series. Not crazy going out on a limb. The winner of this series goes to the Stanley Cup final. I think both teams are really good. I think it's easily probably going to be one of the most,

it will be the most entertaining first round with New York and New Jersey. I just, I'm on the Oilers because everything has changed since Ekholm came over. I kind of went on my rant last week. It was a little too early. But I'm not at all comfortable. And I told Biz, I'm not scared. You acted like I should be petrified of the LA Kings. I also know they could win this series.

You got Deneau and Kopitar. Can they shut down the top forwards on Edmonton? I don't know. Neither one of them are fleet of foot. Whereas the Oilers have team speed in bunches. The bottom six has been unbelievable. They got everyone back healthy. McLeod missed time. He's back.

Fogle missed time. He's back. It's all about peaking at the right time. The Oilers have this special mojo. We saw one of the greatest seasons in NHL history by Connor McDavid. He saw one of the greatest seasons in NHL history by Connor McDavid. Seriously, he put himself on such a different level than even Crosby ever did in a regular season. Ovechkin never did something like this in a regular season.

He's got the rock of a shard. He's got the Art Ross. He's going to get the heart. I just think it's going seven games. But this time, Edmonton, well, actually, they got to do it at home last time as well. They're going to get it done. They're going to get the win. But it's going to games but this time edmonton well actually they got to do it at home last time as well they're going to get it done they're going to get the win but it's going to be a battle and i think that they're going to split the first two they're going to split the next two in la and then it's bing bang they probably win home game five edmonton lose on the road game six win game seven it's going to be awesome but it's the oilers time yeah i'm uh i'm definitely not as

confident as i was probably a month ago. Well, we put a beating two games at the end on you. Yeah, that's fine, but as you've mentioned, regular season means nothing. Edmonton has this mojo where I think that McDavid and Leon are going to do something very special. Based on the odds, it's clear that the league want them to win.

So officiating, look for that. He's getting ahead of this one already. Look for officiating to be absolutely horrendous uh injuries coming in not huge for la not the fact that they haven't been playing good for la you mean not good yeah you said not huge not good not not not good at all they got edler who was banged up who may be coming back and coming back early fiala who was out and last week i thought it was kalia but it Velarde, the name I was thinking of. So not sure what the injury status is with those guys coming in.

But obviously for a team that gets it done by committee, three huge pieces, they're missing out a lineup, especially a veteran presence on the back end like Edler. I'm not confident. I'm going to say LA in seven. I still think they have an excellent team. I watched Kopitar's press conference. It's, you know, adamant that they know what the task is at hand.

I want to say the word was optimistically confident was the word that he used, which I fucking sure. Well, the word, sorry, words, plural. The phrase. Which trying to fucking dummy me because I'm talking about the Kings right now. He's trying to get the upper hand. But I think that you would have to admit not an ideal first round matchup no in fact a horrendous matchup to the point where you're saying it's going to go seven

games i agree i think la ends up taking it not confident though um the other thing uh i'm not going to give away the source um merles knows him but talking to people around the NHL coaches are actually really bullish on LA and how good they are apparently they break the puck out better than any other team in the league somehow they've figured out a way to get out of their zone with ease so that's going to be an issue

they got Kopitar and Deneau but we have McDavid and Leon that's why they're good at breaking out they're very responsible on their own end they come low and slow for their defense why they're good at breaking out. They're very responsible on their own end. They come low and slow for their defensemen. They're good at swooping by and picking up the puck when their defensemen pin the guy against them. They're structured.

They check well. They'll get in the way. They're hard. And if you're maybe an East Coast fan, doesn't stay up late, watch a lot of West Coast, but you will now, watch Evan Bouchard play. He's a former, I think, 10th or 11th overall pick, a struggle of a year, and Ekholm comes over, and it's been game-changing for him.

So this is a guy who now runs the power play with Barry gone, heavy shot, gets up in the rush. The Oilers are built to win a Stanley Cup. It sounds crazy, and it'll really come down to Skinner. People don't believe me, but I think the end of the season has proven this team is destined for greatness this year. And Bob Stauffer came in. Edmonton-Boston, my cup final pick.

Bob Stauffer came in. That was my preseason cup final pick. Yeah, I said it before the season. On Twitter, I believe their 12th forward hit the 10-goal mark in the last game of the season. So they had 12 forwards reach 10 goals. I've gotten a thousand tweets about it because

I mentioned and pumped LA's tires about having 10 guys. I wasn't taking anything away from Edmonton. I was just simply saying the depth is matched. Yeah, I would just say this. I'll ride Witt's coattails with this. Just watching the Oilers all this time. And, you know, you're living and dying with them, Witty. I don't think they've ever been as deep, as solid, as good as many weapons.

Like, of course, Connor and Leon get talked. They've got Kane. They've got Nuge. They've got Hyman. They've got guys that can play different ways, play harder. They're deeper. McLeod on the fourth line. They've got Janmark, a guy you just met.

These guys play hard games. They're fast. They're structured. They're deep. Ekholm put them over the top. He's just a rock back there, cross-check king, just can do it all and kind of has become the master of that D-court. He's helped out Nurse big time too.

Yeah, he doesn't have to get those first five matchups. And you talk about Skinner. Skinner's got to have a series. I think Skinner's capable of it. I just think this is the best I've ever seen the Oilers look in years for Connor McDavid, like always kind of. The time is now for the great ones to do it. I just think it's – I got Oilers in six games.

Mark me down, Merles. But I think just the way the Oilers are built right now, the way they look, the way they play, there's always been that hole. There's always been, they can't defend. They suck at this, so they can't do that. And I just think this year they've got a lot of what they need. What do you got, Mer?

Last night on the broadcast, Big Cat released his play of the year. This was the only thing that could fuck me so worry about that he took the Oilers to win the cup because he wants Connor McDavid to be the greatest athlete that you guys always talk about I think he's trying to get in the hot tub before you so he's taking Connor

and the Oilers he'd take up the whole god damn thing I love the Oilers you remember last year Dreisaitl was hurt the whole time, and they still beat the Kings. And he was still playing good. Yeah, and so I got Oilers. I'm going to say seven, though, because I do respect Kempe and the Kings.

My last thing before we get your guys' picks is the only thing that could happen is if somehow L.A. shuts down the greatest power play that anyone's ever seen. The greatest power play in NHL history. So if somehow they're able to shut that down, that could be the killer. I just don't think it's possible. When you watch a power play, you get the half-ball guy, you get the D-man up top. The Oilers don't even really have a power play.

They all skate around everywhere. Bouchard stays up top for one-timers. Other than that, it's Hyman, Leon, Nugent, and McDavid playing no position, and it's unstoppable. Go ahead, R.A., sorry. it's Hyman, Leon, Nuge, and McDavid playing no position, and it's unstoppable. Go ahead, R.A. Sorry. That's alright, buddy. I'm sorry, what? Edmonton and how many did you say? I took him to seven. In seven, okay. I'm doing the same. Edmonton in seven. I think that

echo move was exactly what they needed. Didn't need necessarily a flashy defenseman, just the guy who gets it done on both ends. He's tough as nails on his own end, and Skinner's been playing well. I think he's had some soaring confidence across the power play you mentioned. I'm just basically biting all your shit here. Edmonton in seven. Gee, what do you got, buddy?

So the whole time you guys have been talking, I've been thinking about what I'm going to say. And I was going to pump the fact that I said Bruins, Oilers, preseason, that was my cup final pick. Witt just stole my fire. I'm not changing up. I still think Edmonton, B's cup final. So I got Edmonton in seven here. I think it's going to be close. You guys basically said it all.

Am I the only guy that went six? If I could agree that that would be the final now, I'd take it. That would be amazing. What a Leafs fan you are. Oh, fuck off. I'm saying for entertainment value to see McDavid and Leon go against the greatest team ever assembled in the regular season.

And they beat them in Boston. Would be a great storyline going in. Yeah, that wraps up for the playoffs. Any other? Merle, actually, didn't you say you want to chime in on the Women's Worlds? Yeah, that's the last thing. Today, it's Sunday. We got the Women's Worlds, another U.S.-Canada matchup.

But this one's a little different, a little different this year. I was looking at the leaders, top scorers, U.S. top scorers. Shout her out,oline harvey from wisconsin and she went to that bishop carney school and uh that's where that 15 year old phenom from slovakia is going next year so we're going to be able to get all those highlights that girl scores all those highlights she's the mcdavid of female hockey players yeah unbelievable and then canada's top scorer is it's not it's sarah but it's not sarah nurse it's sarah phillier who went to princeton so i thought that was interesting two different girls on top but it's not Sarah Nurse. It's Sarah Affiliate who went to Princeton. So I thought that was interesting.

Two different girls on top, but that'll be a cool hockey game to tune into today. Or Sunday, sorry. So today for us, sorry, we'll know the score tomorrow. Back to the future. Sorry, were you going to say something? We've got to talk about the pizza maker. Oh, yeah. I'll say last thing.

I gave Biz a pretty good quote. He said, you've got to say that on the pod. I read this recently. And you talk about the playoffs and you talk about how excited we are as fans to get to watch this. I know everyone listening, watching it. And it's about being a warrior in the playoffs. I'm not at all trying to say that they're going to war. I know people get upset at that.

But it's about being a warrior. It's about battling for your team, your city. battling for your team, your city. And when you look back at cup champs, it's guys who are able to battle through adversity, injuries, losing players and losing tough games and still always coming out on top. And the saying I saw was fate whispers to the warrior, you can't handle the storm. And the warrior looks back and says I am the fucking storm

Wow Wow Ending it on that note So who's gonna have The most warriors To get this thing done It's a war of attrition It's gonna be an amazing

Two and a half months And we could not be happier To go two a week For the beginning And have game notes Noon Every single day Recapping the night before

And giving picks for that night It's gonna be an exciting time For us guys. I'm going to get that quote tattooed on my ass cheek next to the devil's head. That's a fucking quote and a half. Big time. And you can find that Game Notes Daily show. That's starting Monday, the first day of the playoffs today. And you can find that on the Chicklets YouTube

channel. I believe we're going to try and stream on TikTok and Twitter as well, but that's still, stay tuned for that. But we'll definitely be on the Chicklets YouTube channel. Last thing, Borelli's Pizza Maker, an iconic photo you sent me when you were going to the bathroom yesterday. Yeah, so last night, it was about midnight, and I just walked by. I was texting Frank, and we were here. Thanks to Amanda and Mr. Borelli, an amazing staff.

Great food. If you're in Long Island, get over here. But I was walking by to the bathroom, and I saw a guy just snoozing. He's against the wall, and he's dead asleep, and took a picture. It actually looks like a picture from the 50s. In the kitchen. I said, Frankie, I love this guy. Who is this?

And he said, dude, that's Loretto. 60 years of making pizza in this restaurant. His fingers are bent sideways. We figured out he's made over 1 million pizzas in his life. How does this guy not have a merch line or something? It should be called Loretta's. Every day for 60 years, this guy makes us. Here comes Frankie.

Just let this guy stand at the door and greet people. Guy doesn't know anything but pizza. You ask him, like, who's the president right now? He goes, what, what? Like, he doesn't know anything. Like, Loretta, you like music? He goes, like, music? He doesn't know, like, the world.

Like, if you say, like, what are those clothes? A big clothes. Like, he doesn't know the word. He doesn't know the word. You you say, what are those clothes? He doesn't know the word. He doesn't know the word. You know what I mean? So he comes in around noon. He just kind of shows up here. We don't even know how he gets. We don't know anything about him.

They don't even pay him. He just shows up. He doesn't have a workbook. And he just sleeps on the wall. He's just Loretto. He's like, huh? Money? Pay my favorite part about him.

He's the pizza god. It's my heart. It's who I am. And it's not like he's become the greatest. It's my heart. It's who I am. It's not like he's become the greatest pizza maker of all time. You can make that many pizzas. He just makes a good family style pizza. He never wanted to get better. He just does the same.

Loretto the robot. You'd think he'd be on Food Network by now making a million pizzas. No. He's just like, I'm making the same thing. I don't want a new ingredient. He doesn't have cable TV? He has no idea that there's new shit out there. Has Dave Porter ever shook his hand?

Well, Dave came here to review a fucking pizza, and my dad kicked Laredo off the fucking pizza. What? You never heard this story? He didn't give him the biggest one. My dad fumbled it. My dad pulled the starter in a fucking perfect game. Why?

He brought in fucking Mariano against fucking Big Papi. And what happened? My dad fumbled it. My dad pulled the starter in a fucking perfect game. Why? It's true. He brought in fucking Mariano against fucking Big Papi. And what happened? Dave gave it a fucking 7-9, and I think he was being a little bit nice. He looked at it. He goes, this is not the real pizza. What was your dad's reason for pulling off his starter? My dad was like, this is back in the heat of the pizza review days.

I was on the camera, and my dad watched every single one. And he goes, I know he likes them thin. I know he likes them crispy. I know he doesn't like the heat of the pizza review days. I was on the camera, and my dad watched every single one. And he goes, I know he likes them thin. I know he likes them crispy. I know he doesn't like the oil. He's like, I'm going to make it the way Dave likes it. But I'm like, Dad, you've got to throw the fastball. Yes. I've been doing this since 1955.

He gave him a new product. And it sucked. It was like a Greek pizza. He cut it so much that none of the slices were touching it. It didn't even look like a pizza. Dude, he legit. Oh, no. And the best part is, Loret It didn't even look like a pizza. Dude, he legit. Oh, no. And the best part is, Loretto doesn't even know who Davis is.

He has no idea. So then that night, I go home. I'm like, Dad, what did you do? And he's sitting down in his couch, and he goes, I fucked up. He panicked. He panicked. Those are the tough decisions coaches have to make. We made the Super Bowl, but Brady's not stuck.

He fucking pulled Laredo. How were Laredo's feelings after? He has no idea. He doesn't know. He's like, can I go back in now? Yeah. He wants to go back to work. He'll walk over, he'll put some wine inside a little soda cup,

and he'll just go back and make pizza. Yeah, that's it. He always acts like he's hiding it. He's like, what was that? And he's like, more wine. We don't care, pizza. Yeah, that's it. He always acts like he's hiding it. He's like, what was that? And he's just like, more and more. We don't care, bud. You've made a million a while. I think he needs to become the theme of the streams

maybe on this run as an apology. He doesn't even know what the internet is. After every goal, he's out here spinning a pizza on the fucking live cam. Three or four years ago, my dad threw that chair on top of me when we were out in the patio. The Islanders lost, I think it was to the Canes.

And Laredo looked into the screen and tapped it because he thought people were inside the screen. It was unbelievable. I've got to try and find that clip. It's insane. He was like, hello? This guy, he's a pizza maker. I love this guy.

Give him a pizza, guys. Give him a pizza. No, thank you, buddy. Thank you. And thanks to everyone listening. We had a long episode. We appreciate you supporting us talking about the FDNY NYPD event. I know that's been a lot of our time and discussions been leaning towards that,

but now we're into the playoffs, and I think this was a great episode setting the stage. Yeah, and just once again, a big thank you to G, Sean, Elliot, and Mims, and the rest of everybody else at Barstool who helped make that a possibility. That was probably one of the greatest experiences I've ever had as a member of this podcast. We all played a hand in it. It's been awesome having Merle and Army on board as well,

doing you guys' chicklets, game notes. I know there's more to come from a daily perspective all throughout playoffs, but we can't wait for this ride. It's going to be an awesome eight weeks. I'm actually going to be starting TNT with Army, the first couple broadcasts. And we're going to go on a fucking run here. We don't know where we're going to end up. And that's the beauty of it all.

As Witt said, hopefully Merle's going to be fucking swimming on the craps table again. But overall, guys, let's go on a rip. And a great way to kick things off with the FDNY NYPD broadcast. And last thing, we cannot thank them for allowing us to be a part of it. The families, the individuals who played in the game, it was electric, and we cannot wait until next year. We're praying we get the rights to it to do it again. And also, once again, we want to thank the staff at Jameson's,

the staff at UBS, of course, Borelli's, Muggsy, Chevrolet, Pink Whitney, Big Deal Bruin, Wayne Gretzky, Labatt Blue, and again, to Jake Marsh as well and Jeff D'Lo for helping out with the host. Terrific job in the play-by-play with Jake. Great stuff. Awesome week. I think that about wraps it, fellas. Muggsy's new muse. You're going to be a

fucking model. You're going to be the new Kate Moss. I don't know if you can do as much blow as her, but you'll be up there. By the way, I got two teams out west and three in the east. I got LA at 35-1, Winnipeg 60-1, 18-1 on the Bruins, 45-1 on the Islanders, and 40-1 on the Panthers. So we'll see what happens. It's up at 5 o'clock.

Talk to you later. I am Pat Bionici. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go.