Spittin Chiclets - Spittin’ Chiclets Episode 455: Featuring Milan Lucic

Episode Date: August 1, 2023

On Episode 455 of Spittin’ Chiclets, the guys are joined by Milan Lucic. Looch joined (00:23:19) to discuss his return to Boston, playing in Calgary, Biz’s bet, and tons more. But first, the guys open the show and catch up with Murls on his summer at Saratoga. The guys also break down the major news that Patrice Bergeron is retiring and the Sebastian Aho contract. Murls wraps up the show with some EuroHockey previews.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 455 of Spittin' Chicklets presented by Pink Whitney from our friends at New Amps, Dan Vodka, here in the Barstool Sports Podcast family. How's everybody doing? Hopefully enjoying your summer. And we have a little special summer guest right now. He just got back to Sweden, our buddy Matt Murley. Merles, what's going on? How's your summer going, my man? What's up, fellas? It's going well.

I had a heck of a time. This is my first time back since game one against Vegas. Oh, my God, Mur. Oh, my God. Feels like a century ago. Yes, it's crazy to be back here after that long. I couldn't believe it. But yeah, I had a great summer starting with that.

Then the Nashville trip. And then the last few weeks i've been up in albany and uh well documented saratoga my favorite place in the world so i got up there for for a few trips and uh we're back in sweden how'd you hit the ponies uh it didn't do great um nine days it was open for nine days i made it to five of them so that that those are pretty good numbers i like that um the gambling was kind of up and down it wasn't on wasn't bad it wasn't great and uh it went went fine one disappointing thing is i missed mr ice this year because i was planning on seeing him last weekend but then dave's horse got scratched because of the weather so they end up flying up

to toronto together the day i was there so they missed that day and that was it so it wasn't it wasn't as fun as last year when i got to see mr ice and the syndicate put on a beating but it was a great trip the vegas insider megs made it out for a weekend so we had a good time there murr i gotta ask like what is one piece of advice? I told you, I've never been to Saratoga before. Very disappointed that you're back in Sweden. Was hoping my first time in Saratoga would be with you. I think I'm planning to go soon. But what would be your one piece of advice? Or you know what? Give me two pieces of advice from someone who has never been to Saratoga before and is making their first trip this summer. Your first pilgrimage there.

So number one, I guess, since we're big Pink Whitney guys, you can't bring in the glass bottle of Pink Whitney. You got to bring in the little plastic nips because there's no glass bottles. So I guess that leads into the number one thing. You can bring your own booze, but it has to be in plastic or in cans. So don't bring any glass beer bottles. Don't bring any glass liquor bottles. And when you say bring, is this into the tailgate, into the venue? What do you mean? Yeah, right into the venue. So you can wheel in your own

cooler. A lot of people will bring chairs and they'll set up almost like a little mini campground. They'll bring the pop-up tents, and you can have it that kind of system. So that's one way to do it, to go all in up there. But the way I like to do it is you maybe get a little seat in the clubhouse, but you're paying $17 a beer up there. So you bring a smaller cooler, and you kind of just stash it around the grounds so you can go out, grab your free beer, and then go back and sit in your expensive seat. So that's a little trick of the pros. And it's the craziest place on earth still up there.

You can just leave your coolers filled with high noons or Pink Whitney or Big Deal Brew, and nobody will touch them. It's just there's still a respect factor up there. So sneak in your own booze is number one. Number two, be ready for the after party. That's probably the best part. After there's a couple of different bars. You can go to Trackside Grill.

You can go to Horseshoe. You can go to Ciro's. They're all walking distance to the track. So you go there. So basically like don't blow your load at 2 p.m. is what you're saying. Like don't get too drunk at the day drink. So at night you can still go out.

Yeah, exactly. This will happen as soon as the last race ends. Maybe even before the last race, people will start making their way to these outdoor bars. There's always great live music playing. Those will go until roughly 9, 9.30. Then after that, you're on your own. You can try to head downtown if you're still standing but that's my favorite part is those outdoor bars afterwards uh what's what it's a late last call that two mores right isn't it like 3 30 in that neck of the woods yeah four it's 4 a.m and it's

it's not needed especially when you're starting at 10 a.m at the track so the 4 a.m downtown saratoga that's why i say you're on your own if you want to battle that anymore. Gee, a guy like you, a young guy still, you would want to do that. I'm over that. I go to the outdoor bars. I head home and get ready for the next day. I'm excited. I'm very, very excited. Now, did they have Big Deal Brew for sale at Saratoga? Or were those the ones you brought in?

No, I brought those in. I made sure to stop by the local Stewart's shop and got my Big Deal Brew and brought them in. They were a hit. A lot of people saw them and were, oh, Big Deal brew and brought them in. And they were ahead. A lot of people saw them and were, oh, Big Deal brew, Big Deal brew. So that was fun. And like I said, you bring in the Pink Whitney nips are key. They're key.

It was so hot. I don't know how it's been where you guys are. It's been so muggy. It's been so humid and hot. It's been disgusting, man. It's been a tough summer so far, too, with the weather. It's like it will be nice during the week. Week it fucking pours it's it's brutal yeah that's what we had it was either pouring rain or uh too hot to be outside so basically we were living in my

parents pool you get out of the pool you would hang out for 10 minutes be like this stinks go inside the ac till you're ready to jump in the pool again. And it was really a brutal summer. There was terrible weather reports too, which the couple of days at Saratoga weren't that good. They scratched all the horses and then it never ended up raining anyway. Wow. That was disappointing. That's tough.

I could be at the spot tomorrow. I'm doing my annual Vermont trip and we usually slide over. I haven't planned on it yet, but we might, if not tomorrow, maybe Thursday. So could be over there. Yeah. As far as planned on it yet, but we might, if not tomorrow, maybe Thursday. So it could be over there. Yeah. As far as the weather, gee, I saw something online that a buoy down in Florida, it measured the water temperature at a hundred degrees. The water temperature, like it was a hundred degrees, which is like, I mean, that's bath

level, like if not hot tub level. Yeah. I mean, I hit the, when I hit the ocean and down the Jersey shore, the, I even thought the ocean water there was like bathtub water. You could just lay in it all day. Yeah, 100. I mean, that doesn't even cool you off at all. Yeah, that's tough.

Folks, before we continue, it's the Wit Dog here, and you know it's time to talk some Pink Whitney. The summer of 2023, a memorable year for many people. Most importantly, yours truly because of the sales of Pink Whitney and how much you guys are supporting this brand and this drink. It means the world to me. It means the world to us and I just want to say thank you. And actually, as I've started to do these ad reads and get involved with really diving in deep to Pink Whitney and what it means to so many people out there, I told you I've been receiving DMs of special maybe occasions Pink Whitney's at. Weddings, bachelor parties, bachelorettes. Well, I got a DM this week, folks, that's going to blow your mind.

It's going to knock your socks right off your body, Grinnelly. I got a DM from a kid named Corey, and he told me he's liked this girl for two years. I don't know how old he is. He's 21, but I don't know how old he is. And he told me he could never muster up the courage to talk to her. I couldn't talk to her. I couldn't talk to her. I didn't think she'd like me.

You know, I don't like my hair. Blah, blah, blah, blah. Well, you know what happened? Gee, he slammed home a couple of nips of Pink Whitney. And he said, Whit, I finally said, fuck it. I think it was the Pink Whitney talking. I went up to this girl. What'd she tell me?

I've been waiting for you to talk to me for a year. And this kid told me that without Pink Whitney, his new soulmate would have never even been involved in his life, his universe, anything to do with him without Pink Whitney. So can you imagine, can you imagine this kid just walking around sad all day i like that girl in the corner but she won't talk to me boom shot of pink whitney boom shot of pink whitney boom mixed drink pink whitney next thing you know wedding bells are ringing at some point i think so cory congratulations on your new girlfriend. You're welcome. Also, I will not forget. I will not forget about you lake people.

I dogged you early on talking about the beach, talking about the golf course. You lake motherfuckers are the craziest bastards out there. And I'll tell you, every single time I hear from a lake person, I know that I'll never ever forget the lake people again. And I don't know if anyone saw the video going viral about all those sharks swimming in the ocean in Corpus Christi, Texas. That's another reason to be a lake person. So get out on the pontoon boat, grab the water skis, and grab the Pink Whitney with a nice cooler with ice. You don't want the Pink Whitney warm. You

need it cold. And get out on that lake and rip it up like the lake people you are. Some of you missing fingers. I don't know. Lake people are crazy, but I love all of you. So continue to support the brand. I thank you so much. Lake people, golf people, beach people, stay away from the sharks, stay close to the Pink Whitney, and enjoy yourselves. And thanks to Pink Whitney, and thanks to myself. Not trying to be cocky, yourself. And thanks to Pink Whitney and thanks to myself. Not trying to be cocky, but it is my name. I love you very much. Pink Whitney out. Speaking of cool off, Sebastian Ajo could probably install a couple more new pools if he wants to cool off down in Carolina. He got a nice little extension from the bosses. Eight year, $78 million deal comes out to 9.75 mil average annual value for the 26-year-old center. Just turned 26 the day he signed it.

Merles, let's go to you first. What was your take on this? Write about what you thought. More or less, where does he fit in elsewhere? What do you think? Yeah. Yeah, I expected it. He's been a big part of their team.

It's tough to find free agents anymore. There's no free agents. We saw it this year. There was no big players. So you have to lock in your guys you got to lock them in long term maybe it's a little higher than you know maybe his points show but when you're a leader of that team you're in carolina you got to overpay just a little bit but i think it's a it's a great deal for both sides but if anything maybe a little extra money

but that's what he gets for being probably a lifetime Kane now. G, what's your take on it? I mean, as a guy with a team that doesn't have a number one center, I'm saying grab him and don't ever let him go. Pay him whatever he wants to get. But I mean, I love the contract. I like to look at the comparables when it comes to this thing. I love the contract. I like to look at the comparables when it comes to this thing. So Barkoff signed a $10 million per year deal for eight years. Dylan Larkin, $8.75 for eight years. Bo Horvat, $8.5 for eight. I mean, Bo Horvat getting $8.5 for eight, I'd much rather Sebastian Ajo at $9.75 for eight. I think that's a much better value. And the cap's going to go up. The cap is definitely going to go up. That's something we know. And I think in three or four

years, you're going to be looking at this contract and saying, this is nothing. This is great. And it's funny because I texted Merle's NRA right before this. And I was like, I was planning to come on this podcast. And my whole thing about today's pod was going to be, the Bruins are fine this year. Next year, they're going to go get Sebastian Ajo. They're going to sign Ajo to this big ticket, and then 10 minutes or a few days before we jump on, Ajo signs the deal. So I like the deal for the Canes. I like the deal for Ajo, and I think it's a good deal. Yeah, I agree. I think it's kind of coming in those numbers that you see all of these

young stars coming in at right now, and it could be a bargain. I mean, especially if the cap goes up significantly in the next few years, it could be a bargain depending on how much the cap goes up. And also, gee, yeah, looking ahead to next summer, I mean, we could take Ajo off the board. But, you know, these are names, again, they're probably going to be some of them re-signed by the current team, but Austin Matthews, Elias Patterson, Steve Stamkos, Connor Hellebuck,

Jake Gensel, Mark Shifley, Willie Nylander, all those guys are potential UFAs next year, so hopefully the Bs can either make a move for a guy, a little sign and trade or something going on, because we do got to replenish the stocks because Patrice Bergeron, 20 years with the organization, 19 in the NHL, the one year down in Providence during the lockout. He hung him up. A sad day in Boston, but a grateful day.

I mean, sad to any time a guy of that caliber retires or leaves your team. It's sad, but happy to have had him for as long as we did and for what he did. And, gee, I mean, you're much younger than me. I mean, you essentially grew up with this guy as you're brewing, and you probably took it harder than anybody in the crew. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's funny because I always say like when, like with Tom Brady, right? Tom Brady won his first Superbowl in New England when I was seven years old. So all I've really ever

known in my life was winning football with, with Patrice Bergeron. It's like, all I've ever known is having like a reliable, unbelievable hockey player as my number one center on my team, basically my whole life. So yeah, it was definitely tough. And one thing I think about is, so my dad had season tickets my whole life for the Boston Bruins. And when I was younger, he moved them up to the balcony around 2004, 2005. And his reasoning at the time was, I want you to watch this Bergeron guy. I want you to watch him every single shift. Realistically, he probably just didn't want to pay the price for the lower bowl.

And he just told like a 10-year-old Mike Cornell, hey, I'm doing this so you can learn from Patrice Bergeron. But every game I'd go to, it was kind of like, hey, ISO this doing this so you can learn from Patrice Bergeron. But every game I go to, it was kind of like, hey, ISO this guy, watch what he does. And it was always, he plays the game the right way. He plays the game exactly how it's supposed to be played. So yeah, man, it sucks. It really sucks. I've made numerous videos. I've said it on this show. I'm not worried about the Bruins next season. I think Bergeron's coming back. Bergeron, Zaka Coyle down the middle. Now this kind of changes everything. I'm pretty worried heading into next season. There's a clear gaping hole at the one seat position, but congrats to Bergie. Congrats to

his entire family. I think an unbelievable career. Top two Bruin all time, in my opinion. Bobby Orr being one, Patrice Bergeron being right behind him at two he got that cup in 2011 triple gold club member won the world junior won the won the gold medal at the Olympics and then won the Stanley Cup so there's really not much more you can say about him best defensive forward of all time and that they should rename the Selke after him so it sucks I'm very sad, but kind of one of those things. Don't,

don't cry. Cause it's over smile. Cause it happened. Exactly. Mal Murrow is not necessarily a Bruins guy. What was your take on it? Just his whole career, his whole legacy as a guy who,

you know, didn't grow up around. Yeah. I mean, I become a adopted Bruins fan just through my brother and, and being friends with you guys and the barstool watch parties. And it's not going to be the same. Like you're saying, you turn on the game, he's out there.

You know he's out there. And as a pro or as a coach, you do want to watch him. And your dad was right. You should have watched everything he did. And now that we're in this business and we got the interviews with the guys that have played with him, you heard how much of a guy he was in the locker room and away from the ice where we should all learn from him even more that way than we did on the ice. How he respected everybody. He took care of the rookies.

You weren't a rookie. You were part of the team, which was a lot different than most teams back 20 years ago when he first came in. And I never really got to play against him in the nhl you know i didn't get out he wasn't trying to shut down my line ever and i wasn't allowed out against his line but in the ahl i was and i always remember this this was when he was in the ahl in providence i had him lined up like this guy's not looking he played in the nhl the year before so everybody knew who he was but i I got this guy lined up. He wasn't Patrice Bergeron yet.

I got this guy lined up. He doesn't see me coming. I go to hit him. Little did I know he did see me coming. And it was the first cold shoulder I ever got when the guy pretends he's not looking. Boom. Right in my chest. Knocked me down.

Wind out of me from a reverse hit. And I was like, ooh, this guy is going to be a serious player. I knew right then. And obviously went on had a great career and gee I agree with you and I think I saw it in your blog RA about changing the selkie to him and you know you look at the history and you know Frank Selkie it's no disrespect to him he was a general manager hall of fame general manager but he didn't play the game there was certainly no nothing to do with like being a defensive forward with him and that was the day they would were naming all these awards after general managers and owners and you know a lot of like cronyism was going on so i i don't know the guy won six of them i think he

i think he's gotten something like 42 of all the votes going back to like 2011 there's just so many outrageous stats so i mean if they do it would be a hell of a gesture and our buddy sings he he i was talking about the internet the other day on the internet the other day about naming, maybe doing with this, not just that award, with a bunch of them, maybe modernize them. You know, these names are going back 80, 100 years, some cases that, you know, a lot of new fans can't relate to it, don't know what it is. I think, you know, you can maybe

modernize the awards in some way. Ari, what are your thoughts, though? What are your overall thoughts on him leaving, the Bruins' future next year, like, you know, his legacy, everything? His legacy is, like you just said, it's up there among the best in the Bruins' history. I know people say, you can put Espo here, you can put Bork here, but he played his whole career here, 19 full seasons here, 20 with the organization. It's a gaping hole, man. We're not going to

realize how bad it was until we see the Bruins this year, and he's no longer in the lineup. Obviously, his 37 is going to be in the rafters, I would imagine, sometime next season, unless they're going to wait a little bit longer. And the next stop after that will be the Hall of Fame in three years. He should be a first balloter. But just the man on the team, the way he recalibrated that whole locker room culture, him and Choward together. I saw the quote from McAvoy. He said, we're going to try to take what you built here and keep it going.

Like kind of keeping that friendly locker room, just having respect for everybody in the team, everybody in the building. I think that's that's one of his legacies, of course, to go with the on ice legacy. And yeah, just one of the one of the best athletes in our lifetime. It's there's no doubt about that. A first class human being. I mean, you know, we had a lot of shit on the side about guys. We obviously don't talk about them on the show, you know, or play his podcast. We're not going to throw anyone on the bus.

I've never heard a bad word about the guy. I've never heard like really anything negative about him. So, I mean, he's just a you know, I would say perfect human being. None of us are perfect, but I mean, we've never heard anything negative about the guy. And also, you know, the quotes from Sid and Sully that the Pittsburgh Penguins' Twitter feed put out and Butch Cassidy. I think that's, you know, testament to how well

he was thought of. And even Sid even called him among one of the greats. So, yeah, it's a huge legacy he leaves behind, but it's another Hall of Fame. I'm so glad he got the one cup. Wish he got two because, you know, that's sort of the standard in Bruins history. You know, the big bad Bruins, Bob Ewer, you know, he won two cups if he could have got that second one, he would have been right on that, that legacy, that pedestal with all those guys. But even so he got the one, he did a hell of a job here and sucks to see him go, but you know, he, he did a terrific job here. So actually Merle, you just mentioned that season he played in Providence.

It's so weird for me, RA, because this is like the last of my childhood fandom, right? Like I've all, all the players I was like a fan, like a true fan of, like I would like wait outside the arena for their autograph at 10, 15, 10, 13 years old. Like they're all gone now. So it's, it's weird for me, like even just thinking about, I'll always be a fan of the Boston Bruins, but there's just something that's, it's just different now. And it's, it's, it feels different to be a Bruins fan and not to take away anything from the team. I love this team so much, but yeah, like that, that, that youth, the childhood part of me is, is now gone. And one more thing about, you know,

there's two, two ways I like to think of Patrice Bergeron and one, like how great he was off the ice. You always hear about the guys great he was off the ice. You always hear about the guys talking about him off the ice. And I think it's really funny because you don't hear many crazy Bergeron stories, how outgoing he was. And I think that's because there's a respect factor there. I still think Bergeron was getting in the mix with all the boys. And I heard a funny story on Missing Curfew. Jimmy Hayes, RIP, he told it. And he said that one night they're all at the club and they're waiting for the bottles to come out and he just can't find Bergeron anywhere.

And he's looking around, looking around. And then this guy comes and he's got a big mask on and he's dancing with the bottles, dressed up as an alien. The guy pops the head off and it's Patrice Bergeron, like dressed up as an alien. The guy pops the head off and it's Patrice Bergeron. So it's just cool stories like that. And then you think about even Bergeron playing with the punctured lung in 2013, like just playing through all the injuries he did coming back from those awful concussions. It's been like, there's been a lot of highs and lows in his career and it's been amazing to, it's just, it's been amazing to watch.

Yeah. Uh, Merle's that season. Walsh, she, Brendan Walsh brought him to the, uh, Boston marathon,

a marathon Monday, 2005. Cause they weren't playing. He was, I think 19. And we, like you said, we had already seen him rookie year and I was,

you know, marathon Monday. He was, I was feeling that day. And we were like, kind of sit there. It's all, you know,

kids from salty Dorchester, Charlestown, hanging out boozing. And, you know, this new bro and shows up at Walsh. I was, like, bundled, like, telling him, like, he had to show Thornton. He had to lead the way because Joe Thornton, you know,

obviously get traded not long after that. But I was like, bud, you got to show him the way. Show him how to play, you know, play with heart, whatever. He's looking at me like, who's this goofball, you know? Well, he ended up getting the cup. So I guess he listened. But speaking of the cup, one of his old teammates we were able to track down. Unfortunately, we talked to him before Bergeron retired,

so we didn't get his take on that. But either way, we caught up with our old pal Milan Lucic, who's coming back to Boston this season, signed a one-year deal for a million dollars. So gee, I think we should send him over to Lucic right about now. Sounds good. All right. Milan Lucic. Enjoy. This interview is brought to you by Chevy. Chevy is working to make charging simple. There are over 110,000 charging stations across the U.S. and Canada and still growing.

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All right, it's time for our next guest. He's making his third appearance on the show and he'll be heading into his 17th NHL season this fall. He, of course, won the 2011 Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins. Welcome back to the Spittin' Chicklets podcast and welcome back to Boston Milan Lucic How's it going pal? Looch Looch

You look great I was just crying laughing because Grinelli Before you signed on said Yeah so the Looch signing got announced And I looked down at my phone And had a text from Milan Lucic I said holy shit it, how horny is R.A.? But unfortunately, there's a man who may be horny.

And that's you, Biz, because we're going to have to play that clip. What do you mean, Biz? What do you mean? I was AI generated. That was not me. I don't know. I don't trust the fucking internet, the interwebs. That was AI generated. I'm not fucking my mattress, Looch.

I don't even have a mattress. I sleep on the floor like Boyd Gordon. AI generated. Funny, I just saw it. I didn't see that clip before, but I saw it now and I feel like you kind of have to. You kind of have to hold your own department. No shit, Looch. I'm not one to renege on my bets. Look at now your word. I know you are. You're a man of your word

all right fine we'll do a hey i'll tell you what if you get a hat trick this season i'll do it on a live stream okay all right let's live stream and be just crushing my mattress but hey you got to be fired up to be back in boston man that city loves you it's like that you know you're you're their adopted son yeah and honestly that's kind of how i feel i feel like i'm going home you know i mean obviously vancouver is always going to be you know my hometown and where i was you know born and raised but you know when you go somewhere as a 19 year old where you kind of you know you guys know how it is where you you become an adult and you know and i was out there by myself so So I kind of had to like, you know, figure out the city and, and, and all that type of stuff. It was, it was like where I matured and became an adult. And I was there for a long time. I was there for eight years,

uh, you know, and then, you know, got, got married while I was a Bruin. I, you know, had two kids and two of my older kids are born in Boston. And so like like I said it's it's a you know it's a place where I feel really feel like I became myself and my own and and so that's why it feels like like I'm going home with you saying you got married while you were brewing it reminds me of last summer and probably why that video ended up getting leaked about me fucking my mattress was because you were at Tuca Rass wedding and just seeing all you guys reunited, man, it just seemed like it makes sense. You have such good connections with those guys and, and I'm sure you're excited. Yeah. And, and, and you know what, that was, that was,

that was, that was the best wedding I've ever been to is a Lake Como getting one of the nicest villas on the lake. I mean, there's the first, anytime you get a chance to go there, we had to go. And, and, and you know what, like, especially with what happened with COVID and all that type of stuff, you know, we weren't able to celebrate our, our 2011 10 year reunion, you know, because it was, you know, 2021 and stuff was still shut down and all that type of stuff. And, you know, with everyone being busy and getting older and having kids and, and all that type of stuff, it's really hard for us to kind of, you know,

reunite and get together and do stuff. And, and you know, I, I think that's one of the first thing, first things we kind of did together where we had a big group of us together and, and it really was a lot of fun.

And you know, yeah, that video will, you guys were fucking buckled while you're in Europe Biz you can go even harder When you're not on your own continent I feel like Well the thing is too Is Chukwa He didn't let us

So he didn't let us have beers And stuff until like 8pm So all we were allowed to have was like Alcohol spritzers and like white wine And it was like 40 degrees celsius so what is that i gotta get now i gotta get back to going to fahrenheit because i've been in canada last seven years so i gotta go back fahrenheit but anyways two plus 30 yeah but anyways so so yeah it was smoking

hot in italy he made a black tie i'm like are you kidding me you're gonna make a black tie it's gonna be that it's gonna be 100 degrees and then it was just apryl spritzers or or prosecco and so you know how that is you start drinking hammering the prosecco back with all the sugar and all that type of stuff so yeah we were we were feeling good and feeling sexy before the before the uh before the food even came out and yeah i that video of us dancing was even before before we started dinner and and marshy just could not wait to undo a shirt and get shirtless as why almost most hockey weddings turned into why'd they say no beer because you start the chugging contest like you did during the bubble in uh were you in was it was you were you in toronto or edmonton during the bubble because i heard that you were just getting the guys going.

We were Edmonton, yeah. Okay. I think that was a part of the reason why. Yeah, probably. Tuca's wife babysitting you guys saying, yeah, we're not getting into these antics. No beers for Looch until 8 p.m., Tuca. No, but you know what?

It was probably a smart thing to do because it was a really, really beautiful wedding no but you know what it was it was probably a smart thing to do because it was it was a it was a really really beautiful wedding so and you know what everyone everyone behaved everyone you know was good and and and that's the main thing about it you had another one this weekend didn't you another wedding i had two actually i was uh i was in toronto for two of them the first one was uh for brett ritchie and then uh and. The first one was for Brett Ritchie and then this Saturday was for Andy Andreev so we had a couple guys, a couple LA boys

that there's no. Back with Forbes for the third time. Oh god. He's still single isn't he? I think so yeah. So back with Forbes now for the third time. If we could do a most eligible bachelor, maybe a season of the bachelor NHL style,

I would love to see Forbes on that. Yeah, but Biz, that's if he gets his elevator fixed. Remember when he came on, he had some wonky elevator that didn't work? You've got to chirp him, Looch. Hey, he's actually moving to the back bay or the south end because of that. Because of the elevator. He was telling me that on the weekend. he said he was chirping the landlord's daughter

about nepotism and they were just in a heated heated battle no but you know what two two two great weddings one was uh in a barn in orangeville so that was a lot of fun for richie uh because he's out that way and then uh andrea did his at the Four Seasons in Yorkville. And as you guys know, Four Seasons Yorkville is top notch. So, yeah, two great weddings, two great guys. A lot of fun. Had my shirt off on both of them. So, yeah, good times.

Looch, take us kind of through coming back to the Bruins. I mean, I know Free Agency opens. I'm guessing it was all in your mind. Like, can this work out? Like, how did it? Was it Don Sweeney came to you first? Did your agent call? How did it all go down?

Well, first off, Craig Conroy was pretty awesome about it. You know, he gave him permission to talk to a few teams, you know, before July 1st. So, you know, him doing that that you know i i couldn't thank him enough for that just you know just get ahead of it you know and i and i had asked him to i'm like hey like i got i got three kids like lots going on like i wouldn't mind getting a little bit of a jump start on all this and then it kind of became you know a public thing because what what isn't public anymore with social media and and yeah so you know i didn't even know what to expect and you know there's a there's a lot of teams that reached out and all that type of stuff and and then uh

you know one of the first guys or he was the second or third guy was was my agent called me and said hey don swede's gonna call y' like, Oh really? You know, because I never really knew if, if, uh, you know, if, if they would entertain me coming back or, or, or all that type of stuff. And, you know, he just called me and said, Hey, Looch, how you doing? All this type of stuff. How's it going? How's the family? How's the kids? And then, uh, and then, you know, his first question was question was you know would you have any interest in coming back and i was like well well of course you know it's you know i'd love to come back and and uh you know just just had some conversations that way and uh all that type of stuff and obviously i went back to talking to a few more teams and uh the all the other teams that were interested and then

you know i got to talk to monty as well and and had some really good conversations about my role what my role was going to be and and all that type of stuff and and and the main thing for me too was you know i i kind of wanted to go back to you know like an original six team and and stuff like that because i had i really enjoyed that you know sometimes when you start somewhere you don't really understand what it fully means until you're gone and i i don't want to say like i i took it for granted because i i didn't i i enjoyed and embraced i think being a bruin as much as i possibly could but but if you get what i'm saying sometimes you don't truly understand it when until you go somewhere else. You don't know how good you had it, right?

Yeah, exactly. And then, you know, then you realize, okay, like, you know, wearing the spoke bee, playing at the garden, being in the city of Boston, you know, and not only that, like my 17th year now, I get to come and do that back as a Bruin. And it's going to be their century season. So to be, you know, to be back for the century season for the first, you know, professional American team, you know, NHL team. So it's, you know, all kind of all the stars were aligned for me to come back. And that's, you know, that was just an opportunity, you know, I kind of, all the stars were aligned for me to come back. And that's, you know, that was just an opportunity I, you know, I couldn't pass up and, you know, selfishly, I kind of wanted to do it for my kids as well. And, you know, they, they don't really, you know, they, they were two and a newborn when I got traded.

So they don't really remember me as a Boston Bruins. to go back and and wear the jersey and put the black and gold on for them you know now they're 10 and 8 and my little guy's 5 they'll they'll now see me you know wearing the spoke be so selfishly that's that's kind of cool that I get to share that moment with them as well and and like I said all the stars were kind of aligned for for me to say yes and come back and and I'm really looking forward to it. Hey, R.A., were you aware of that, that the Bruins were, they must have been named the first team as opposed to what, Detroit, New York, Chicago?

Yeah. So they were the first American team established? In the NHL, yeah. Okay. There was a team in Seattle, but they weren't actually in the NHL. There was a whole bunch of leagues before the NHL, but yeah, 100 years, man.

A little fun fact for all our fans. Thanks, Looch. Looch, did you never sell your place? Did you own a place the whole time? I sold it, unfortunately. I still kick myself to this day why I sold it. And then after I sold it, Krug bought it a year

after that, so me and Krug, it's kind of both of our places. I think if you ask Krug the same question, he'll probably tell you the same thing that he was, we're both kind of kicking ourselves why, why we sold it. But, uh, you know, that's, that's kind of a reason why I went, why I went back because I was in Toronto for those two weddings and I stayed there for the whole week. And then, uh, I was like, Hey, you know, midweek, I'll just jump down to Boston, you know, check out some schools for the kids, check out some places to see where to live and all that type of stuff.

So, and, you know, just straight out of that Billy Bishop, you know, airport there, a nice little propel plane, hop down to Boston for the day. And, well, it was kind of nice. Everyone's saying I brought the sunshine because Cause they said the weather has been brutal. It's been awesome. Then ever since I came back, it's, it's been nice. So you guys are welcome.

Yeah. Bruins fans. It's porn random. Like it's beautiful. Oh, Looch is back. Sunshine. Sunshine.

That should be your new nickname. This, this time around sunshine. Um, Looch, i was thinking maybe we can make you the first ever player sponsored by big deal brewing considering uh you're you're the one to be known to crush pints maybe we can work something out are you sponsored by a beer company yet i'm not sponsored by anyone so maybe i like this we can talk after this so maybe we'll have

to do a little business now you did mention uh did mention going back and not appreciating your first time around or as much. What would be the difference between playing in Boston to Canadian markets? I know the Edmonton experience didn't probably work out as well as you'd hope, but Calgary, it seemed to really rejuvenate your love for the game. Yeah, I mean, yeah, Calgary was great and i think you know i give a lot of credit to all the people that i was there with you know the and and the cool part was was the fans in calgary embraced me right away so you know i mean i wouldn't even have the puck

i'd be going in on a four check and they'd just be going lu you know like that's you know and say what you want like those things those things you know they get you going when you know in the middle of the game you're just like okay like i'm gonna go out there and kill someone for them and all that type of stuff but uh but no you know they were all great and you know even my teammates that you know it was such a great group a really good good group of guys you know biz i know you were a big fan of ours, especially that 21-22 season. And, you know, I think that whole group still kicks themselves for the way we lost to Edmonton. And because we really had a group that could have went all the way.

I mean, you know, I don't know if we would have beat Colorado after, you know, if we got to them in the conference finals. But we definitely, you know, had a really good chance to. And, you know, those, you think back to all the years that you play, that's one of the teams that you kind of kick yourself about, that you're like, ah, we didn't reach our full potential like we could have. And, you know, so that one kind of stings. But, yeah, you know what, just the differences is, I mean, you know, I, I always say it, I, you know, and I already talked about the original six stuff and, and all that type of stuff. But like, you know, for me, you know, being, being an athlete in Boston is just, there's just something different about it.

There's just like, you know, especially the time that, you know, I was there and going back to, I mean, you know, you got to remember, like I show up in 07, you know, the Red Sox beat the Rockies and they win a world series. Uh, the pitch Patriots go 16 and oh, uh, the Celtics get the big three and, and when, you know, the NBA championship right away and in 07, 08, and, and then they go back to the championship in 2010. And, you know, we kind of, we're kind of catching up and getting caught up to these other teams winning championships. And then we eventually win in 11 and then the Patriots are always dominating and all that type of stuff. But there's just something, I don't even know how to explain it. explain it it's just like you know when you know when you think of when you're a kid on what it's going to be like to to play you know in the show you know whatever whichever show you want to call it nba mlb nhl uh nfl you know when you get to do it in a place like boston it definitely feels

like that you know like the show and and the way the fans uh embrace it the way the fans you know care about i think like what is it is it like wbz or the sports hub um 95 they're they're i think they're like the most listened to sports radio show in the country and no just like flat out radio stations because like people in boston care more about the professional sports more than anything and i think even too like you know you know there's a lot of these american cities you know they you know they're there's college there's college uh sports that are bigger than their pro sports and i'm not saying that the college sports aren't big in boston because they're they're pretty huge but you know the way they cheer for their pro teams and the way you know they get behind them and you know even if

you know even the way they they're all over you if you're not playing well it's just like it's just something different and and for me you know there was always a connection with the fans a connection with the city so for me to go back to that, it's pretty awesome. I get a little bit of goosebumps just thinking about it. You got chills right now, Looch? I think about that first game and getting introduced. I think it's going to be a pretty cool moment. R.A., are you yelling Looch from the press box,

or do they say you can't do that? No, be in the locker room. Sneak down there. I walked into the regular section, and I'll yell it there. But, Looch, are you going to live in the city or the suburbs now that you've got a few kids? I haven't decided yet, so we're still trying to figure that out. Yeah.

R.A.'s got some space at his spot. He's got a three-bedroom. I'll buck up with him if I need a stay-a-nighter. I love it. Did it ever get suffocating, like talking about the fans again, like almost too much, especially during the cup runs back 10 years ago, 12 years ago, whatever? Like overwhelming, like just too many people maybe on top of you?

Not really. people maybe on top of you uh not really i mean i i think i think i did i i did a pretty good job of kind of keeping a low profile for the most part when i was there uh you know i i didn't leave the north end much so uh you know that's really the only place you would kind of see me so uh so yeah that was that was kind of it and you better start packing heat if that's the case if you're going back but then yeah but you know what like and and the thing the cool thing about that was was i just became like a neighborhood guy there you know so it was like you know even when i went back you know i just missed it oh hey luch how are you you know how are you you know they hit me with the hey i was i'm'm like, oh, man, I missed that.

So I got to get my accent going again. I'll give you some lessons. We had Toffoli on, and he kind of talked about the worlds and everything. And that must have been pretty special for you, right? You go over there, you get to experience that and kind of take us through you deciding to go. And I actually read, didn't you kind of call and say you wanted to go yeah i actually uh i reached out to doug armstrong uh you know there was a bunch of guys on our team that they had reached out to and the first guy that said he was gonna go was weeks and then weeks said he was going and then toff was kind of on the fence deciding and i was like you know what fucking i'm calling doug i've never been

i'm gonna go i'm coming and and because i'd never played it before and you know it's something that i wanted to experience and i think you know if you get a chance and everyone has always told me that if you get a chance to experience the world championships you should you should uh you should experience it and the cool part was was you know one of the things that was attractable too was we were doing our five-day camp in budapest so you know you get a chance to go see budapest you know get together with the guys and all that type of stuff there and then we were in the riga latvia uh um group and everyone that i talked to had gone to worlds before that had been to Riga they said you

know it's one of the most you know underrated you know places they had been to so so yeah I mean and anytime you're on team Canada you know you're you're you have a chance to win gold so I was like you know what this would be you know I, I got not much, not much plan, not much going on. Um, and I still felt like I had juice left in the tank. And to be perfectly honest, I kind of didn't really want to start my summer work out in the middle of May. So I was like, you know what, I just, I'm just going to go and keep playing, you know? And I, like I said, I was still feeling good, still had juice left in the tank. And that's why I called Doug and asked him if I could go. And, uh, and, uh, he said, you know what, just give me two days to hear back from the

other guys that they invited. And, you know, and if they're, if we get the nose, then, then we'll have a spot for you. So luckily I, enough guys said no, that they had a spot for me and, and ended up being a blast. And I go back to my kids uh you know when i won the stanley cup you know i i didn't have kids i was just a young 22 23 year old and you know at least i got to share you know one championship with them out in finland so that just made it all worth it that olympic ice has to be a bitch though like i'm not saying

you're the slowest guy but fucking you're about as fast as I was out there. Well, Hey, that's actually one of the things like, well, I went out there and then, you know, obviously there's a lot of scouts and stuff that were out there.

And I think it actually, you know, helped me, you know, kind of get a, get the interest that I did for UFA for july 1 because of all the guys all the scouts and stuff that came out watching that everyone just kept calling me and saying oh oh wow luch you're moving you're moving like you're moving like you're advising out there

and and yeah and and honestly i think that's the biggest reason why i got a lot of interest is was because i decided and called to go to the world championships and played the way that I did. So yeah, that helped me out as well. Before we go any further, here's a word from our friends at The Scorebet. Hello, Canada. This episode is brought to you by The Scorebet Sportsbook and Casino. The Scorebet is the best sportsbook for the hockey obsessed. With a wide variety of markets and daily specials from us here at Spit and Chicklets, we've got you covered for everything on the ice.

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Download today and see how the best sports app period does sports betting. Please play responsibly. 19 plus, Ontario only. Game with problem, call Connex Ontario at 1-866-531-2600. I understand you talked to Chicago quite a bit, a free agency. Was that like kind of the allure of Bedardad maybe going and playing with this next superstar yeah for sure and you know again another another thing that was a big draw was was you know original six original six team and you know and and not only that you get to wear one of the nicest if not the nicest uh uh jersey in the league uh cool city awesome city i think for me I think I have maybe the most family out of anywhere in Chicago so you know I it would I'd be I would have been playing in front of

a lot of family on a night-to-night basis and and all that type of stuff so yeah that's that's what was a big draw to me was was uh all that type of stuff and you know what i thought it would have been pretty cool to to play with a new kid that obviously shattered a ton of records you know uh doing what he did in juniors and world juniors and all that type of stuff and you know not only that you know he's a vancouver kid a western kid uh as well you know would have been a chance to to play with an up-and-coming you know potential to be one of the, you know, would have been a chance to play with an up and coming, you know, potential to be one of the best, you know, Vancouver players out of Vancouver ever. So it was, you know, those things crossed my mind, but like I said, you know, getting the opportunity to, to come back to Boston was, was something that I couldn't pass up.

You mentioned earlier, there were a bunch of teams. So other than Chicago, who were the other teams? Are you allowed to say? Were the Leafs in the mix? Yeah, kind of, yeah. I talked to, just talked to Tree a little bit, obviously because I had Tree in Calgary there. So, you know, he expressed some interest, and I was like, you know, it'd be tough for me to be a Leaf. Oh, because of the Boston connection? You'd feel like you'd be tough for me to to be a leafer oh because of the boston connection you'd

feel like you'd be a turncoat yeah well it didn't stop you in the battle of alberta i guess you have a choice in that one though i didn't have much of a choice in that one so um i heard they brought you back to boston to help lure bergeron back and any rumors and rumblings that he's going to be skating this season for the bees uh you know what i don't know what his plan is obviously bergie is someone i think that can do and whatever he needs to do or wants to do uh you know he's i mean his career speaks for itself so uh i'm not gonna say anything that's gonna you know start any rumors and all that type of stuff of you know briggs a class act and you know one of one of the biggest class acts that's probably ever played so

yeah we'll do it he's gonna make the best decision that's best for him and his family uh so we'll see what he does i was talking to someone uh who's who's like friendly with his financial advisor or whatever and he said that for like four or five years, like right when the season ends, he's been like, I'm done. And then like late July comes and he just gets that burn again. So hopefully for Bees fans, that kind of happens once more. I mean, you coming back definitely doesn't hurt. So that's definitely a good thing.

Yeah, I hope it helps. You know, I'm doing, I'll do whatever I can to help out. So I'm not just going there either for just like a farewell tour going there because i still like i said i still feel like i got juice left in the tank that's why i went to the world championships so you know my plan isn't just to play one year and and and hang them up i'm like the great mark rec he said you know he always said to us you know you play until they kick you out because when you get to the other side, you know, there's nothing better than being a hockey player because when they get to the other side, it sucks. Oh, big time. I was going to ask about your relationship with Sutter.

I mean, I would imagine you're not, you don't mind the hard-nosed coaches. And then also how hard was it to see the turnaround and losing kachuk and goudreau and even in some cases you know i think kachuk maybe wasn't a big fan of sutter and in his antics and maybe his style of coaching yeah you know what daryl's great everyone know daryl's hard everyone uh everyone knows daryl demands a lot uh he's he's hard on you every single day you know even if you're on a eight game win streak. He's hard on you every single day. Even if you're on an eight-game win streak, he's still hard on you. He's one of those guys that's always going to push for more, and he's always pushing for more.

Maybe sometimes it wears on you, and it wears on you, and it's hard. But in a sense, it's almost like he's doing it because he wants the guys to kind of come together and make it light amongst themselves. But like I said, it can wear on you because he can be hard on you. And you know what? Like I said, and I've said this before, I think his coaching tactics, his X's and O's, his ability to break the other team down, you know, it's, it's the best that I've ever played for. I mean, you know, you come in the room, he's got writing all over the whiteboards and all that type of stuff. So I'd get a coffee and just try to figure it all out for the meeting.

You know, it always be pretty fun. And then I go over to Trevor Lewis. I'd be like, what do you think this is today? So we try to figure it out out before the meeting you know it always be pretty fun and then i go over to trevor lewis i'd be like what do you think this is today so we try to figure it out usually me chad evan toffoli would go around and try to figure it out before he would tell us just inspirational quotes or or what like riddles quotes there were quotes sometimes they were inspirational sometimes they were like fuck you well no not that direct but you know along those lines uh but uh you know they you know all that type of stuff just all at they sometimes they were simple sometimes it would just say quick physical smart and that was it and we're like okay or even just like qps that was, and all that type of stuff.

So, yeah. You know what? Like I said, he's a great coach to play for, you know, but you transfer seasons. So in 21, 22, I mean, you could say everyone loved him, you know, because we're winning, everyone's having success, all that type of stuff. It's like any coach. but then when you have expectations you don't live up to expectations and then you know frustration kicks in you know players are

frustrated he's frustrated you know and he's not the guy that's gonna come in and say all right boys we're we're lightening things up today we're or you know he's he's not he's not gonna be the guy to do that um um and all that type of stuff and then and then everyone just started wearing on everyone and all that type of stuff and and like i said his game plan is great all that type of stuff but you know sometimes like i said he gets too hard on you and all that type of stuff and the new generation of guys they don't really take it like like we do yeah and you know so that's where i think now you know it's for me personally i think one of the most important things is is being a great

motivator and and you know just because of how the new generation is is you know they need to feel motivated they need to you know kind of be patted on the back and say you know let's go and you know and and to me, that's nowadays is what makes, separates the good coaches from the not so good coaches. Do you think that kind of style is going to eventually go away, that high nose on top of guys all the time because, like you just mentioned, the way the players are these days? To be honest, I think it just, it's always going to depend on the group, right?

So I think you got to know your group. You got to see, you know, pushing buttons and all that type of stuff. Is it eventually going to go away? I don't know. You already see that the, that the queue is already taken out fighting, which I don't agree with. Um, you know, so there's now these, what, there's the three fight rule in the OHL. I think there's a 10 fight rule in the ohl i think there's a 10 fight rule in the whl so you know

and i think that just all kind of is going full circle so you know the hard no stuff is seems to be getting less and less as as time goes on you know maybe we'll see maybe we'll see cages in our lifetime in the next yeah 20 years i wouldn't be surprised. You referenced that series against Edmonton where you guys thought that you had the team to win the Stanley Cup. Throughout that series, what do you think went wrong? I felt maybe there was a lack of adjustments made, and especially how quick they were through the neutral zone, and you guys were really okay playing that rope-a-dope style against them,

which seemed to fit more into their hands. So, I don't know, what was your opinion on the series? Well, I think you're right, Biz. I think we opened it up way too much against them. You know, and that's, you can't open it up at all against those guys. And then, honestly, I think the worst thing that could have happened is we won game one. What was it, 9-5 or 9-6?

Oh. So then, you know, so game one has opened up, so then what do we think right away? It's like, oh, you know, we think, okay, now we can score with these guys because we put up nine, you know, in game one, and I thought that was the worst thing that could happen, and then it seemed like when Hyman scored that PK goal in game one and i thought that was the worst thing that could happen and then and then it seemed like when hyman scored that pk goal in game two i don't know i don't remember if it was to make it four three i think it was a shit show too every game was a shit show every

game was a shit show and then yeah just like i think we just lost our heads and lost our cool in the way that we needed to be needed how we needed to be and how we needed to play. And then, you know, every time we took a penalty, you know, they would score on it. And every time we got a lead, they would score right away back, you know, after that. So, and, and then, like you said, every time we turned the puck over and ended up in our net, it was like everything that, it was just so uncharacteristic, you we didn't tighten it up after that we didn't you know we didn't tighten up the neutral zone we didn't tighten up the d zone we didn't you know just you know do all that type of stuff like we did in the regular season and then and then it ends up costing you the way that it did and i think it was a bit of a carryover into last season because how everything went down even as an oilers guy though i i can admit like

you guys had a way better chance of, I mean, the Avs just swept them. You guys would have given the Avs some action, right? Because I think it would have been just a totally different game. So, yeah, looking back on that, that team was good. That regular season was nuts, and Markstrom was playing as good as he's ever played,

I think, so I do think he's going to bounce back this year, though, Sutter not there. It'll be a little easier for him. He's a guy huh great guy great teammate you know a great person to beat around likes to have a lot of fun and the thing is what you know he he works his he works his ass off too so like even for him like you could just see the frustration in his face this year you know and it wasn't from a lack of effort or anything he was almost like trying too hard because he cared as much as he did so yeah and i and i'm with you i think he's gonna have a great bounce back season well toffoli told us uh that it would be zero zero after the first

and and daryl come in and he'd be like v Vildar, get ready. He's like, what the fuck? I haven't given up a goal yet. But I wanted to ask you, like, you said 17th year in the league. That's wild. What a run. But what's changed in the summers for you? Like training now, are you more skating, like not as heavy weights? Like how has it evolved for you these past, these past few years as opposed to,

you know, when you came in? Well, you know what? I don't have to work as hard building my base strength anymore. So, you know, my base of strength is there and,

and so, yeah, I don't have to spend a good chunk of summer just working on a strength phase. So all that type of stuff. So that's one thing that's good. So like you said, it's not as heavy weights as,

as, as what it used to be. you know i'm not i'm not really doing like power cleans and and all that type of stuff anymore where uh you know you couldn't walk for like three days after and and back squats and all that crazy shit that we it's ridiculous what we were doing, wasn't it? Oh, it's crazy what we used to do. It wasn't healthy. No, it wasn't. And so, yeah, like, you know, just, just, it's funny now, like now, now guys are spending 45 to an hour just warming up, you know, doing a dynamic warmup, you know, functional movement warmups and all that type of stuff. And I think that's where, you know, I've changed and not not just myself the whole game has changed is because you know guys are spending a lot more time on functional movement and dynamic warm-ups and all that type of stuff and and then kind of you know working working smarter after that but but i still do like to throw some weight around you know it's still fun for me and and then for me you know once you know once august hits i like to get on the ice you know like try to get out there like four times a week so like you know you're skating a lot more than than almost what you used to and and i think that's that's another thing too is a

lot more guys are skating and i feel like guys aren't taking any time off the ice oh these young guys that's all they do they don't even fucking lift weights. They just skate, skate, skate, develop their skills. But the thing is to add to that point is they just skate and they don't build their base of strength and they're getting double hip surgeries at like 24, 25 years old. So it's like, you know what I'm trying to say? And, and so, yeah, like you need that little bit of that rest on your hips and your joints and all that type of stuff and to build your basic strength. But, yeah, it's just skating a lot more, I guess, and all that type of stuff.

And to be honest, I still love it, still have a lot of fun with it, and, yeah, look forward to the rest of the summer doing it. Are you still a huge stat guy, Lucha? I remember you were my car one night. I gave like you a hoodie and a size of ride home somehow or other. And you had your phone out in the backseat, like rolling through the stat. You knew every guy, how many goals he had that night. If he got two more that night, you were all over it.

Well, yeah, I mean, back then I used to, you know, just keep up with it. Just keep up with it. I mean, now it's so easy you just pull out your phone you know put up the app and you can see who scored and how they scored and all that type of stuff and for me it's more just i just remember things i just you know if i see it i'll remember it um you know even even plays on the ice like i'll remember little plays uh you know even if i'm watching a game that i'm not even playing and i'll i'll remember plays and stuff that i was you know you know just just watching and it's not not because i'm like a hockey nerd or something and all i do is just

watch hockey and rip out stats and you know this guy like i don't know a guy's shooting percentage or how many shots he had that night i just know like you know the main stuff like you know goals and assists and i'll look up hits sometimes and all that type of stuff but uh or if there's a fight i'll always look that up but uh but yeah it's just i've always had a good memory from from when i would look something up or or see something on tv or if i'm you know part of a play or watching a play during a game on the bench or whatever and you know or out there so it's just something that i've always had but it's really funny this it never and i don't know why i didn't have that memory with like biology and social studies and all this stuff but when you gotta you gotta actually show up to the classes That's the process You used to get the wooden spoon

If I didn't show up to class But no But when it comes to like hockey and movie quotes And music and stuff like that My memory has always been great There you go How close were you to coming here during the season last year at the deadline I know there was some talk about it

Was that even in motion at all or was it just a rumor I don't know. I think it was just a rumor. I'm not the guy to ask. I hadn't heard about it from anyone from Calgary or Boston. So, yeah, I think it was just a rumor. And I think me being at the Tuca's wedding kind of, you know. Fueled it a little bit.

Oh, that for sure sparked it. Fueled it, yeah. What was that little thing he did when he was dancing? What was he like counting something out? When he was whipping his hand down, that one move, that was going viral. Did you see it, Biz? No.

I didn't see it. He had a little funky dance move, but. Did you know Monty before you signed? Did you have any relationship with him at all before this? No, no relationship with Monty before. But, you know, just talking to guys that have played for him and said that he's awesome, and they all had a lot of fun playing for him last year. So really looking forward to that relationship and playing for him. Chris Kelly is an assistant coach guy I played with, so talked to him too.

So excited to team up with him again. We're certainly excited to have you back in town. Oh, man. We're fired excited to have you back in town. Oh, man. Yeah, we're fired up for you, Looch. That first game back, buddy, when everybody's giving her the Looch. You're going to get the goosebumps fired up. Yeah, home opener with my dad. Where are you spending the summer?

Are you out west? I'm in Hermosa right now. Oh, nice. Yeah, so we kept our place in Hermosa Beach, and so we just come here for for like a couple weeks my daughter my daughter got into junior lifeguards so we wanted her to experience that or get some like responsibility with the lifeguard stuff and and whatnot so you know pretty cool experience for her awesome well we appreciate your time buddy

yeah it's uh it's been it's been a hell of career, and like you said, it's not over yet. So congrats on being a Bruin again, and thanks for joining. Thank you, fellas. Always a pleasure being on with you guys. Good to have you back. Now a moment for one of our favorites, Bolero. Bolero is the world's largest owner and operator of bowling centers with over 325 locations throughout the united states and currently located in 34 states bolero is known

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Hank, Carl, and more compete for the ultimate championship title. Join in on the fun with a trip to the lanes. Enjoy bowling, good food and drinks, and a guaranteed spot on the lanes when you reserve online visit bolero.com using the promo code barstool for 15 off your next reservation this offer is only valid through august 31st once again that's bolero.com promo code barstool for 15 off uh big thanks to milan for jumping on us again. I believe I said it was his third time coming on with us. Can't wait to see him back in the black and gold this year. Should be good stuff. I like to say it, Merles. I wish they had

him last year during the playoffs, but alas, it did not happen. What's going on, Merles? What do you got for us? Yeah, just before we get going to Bruins, I got one question for both of you as Bruins guys. Where will we see Bergeron next? What's more likely? We're going to see him, one, on a chicklets interview, two, part of a NHL coaching staff, three, part of an NHL

management team, or four, pull your boy Tom Brady and make a return? I personally think a chicklets interview comes before any of this. I think there's always been talks of Bergeron will come on after once he retires. And I just think from everything I've heard about this guy, the one reason he retired was he wanted to spend time with his family. So I just don't see him jumping into a coaching role at least that quick because I feel like as a coaching role, it's a lot of hours. It's a lot of time. It's a lot of energy.

I could see him being like a Stevie Y being in the front office just, it's a lot of hours. It's a lot of time. It's a lot of energy. I could see him doing like being like a Stevie Y, being in the front office just because he's a hockey lifer. But I don't know, R.A., I don't know what you think, but I just, I don't see him. I don't think we'll see him much for the next year. I think he's going to go spend some time with his family. I agree on that, G, that I don't see him going to work anytime soon. Just enjoy every time a little bit.

He's got the little ones at home. 96 million in career earnings. He's got to come back. 96 million. And, dude, how many millions? He left tens of millions on the table. If money was his only aim, he could have made a lot more. But I don't think he really gives much of a shit about that personally.

And I guess by default, yeah, Chiklitz would probably be first because we'd have a whole year or so to get him. But yeah, I think he probably wouldn't work for another team. I would imagine the Bruins say, hey, whenever you're ready, give us a call. And if there's not a position open, they'll make one up for him. I mean, he's a guy who has so much wealth of knowledge of the game, whatever he wanted to do. If that's even what he wants to do, I don't even know if he has designs on working at a front office. But if he does, the Bruins would certainly make way for him. But yeah, I think he's just going to relax,

enjoy retirement for a little bit, and yeah, hopefully see him around the neighborhood a little bit. Maybe he's visiting his old teammate across the street. Maybe I'll bump into him. I wouldn't be surprised, though, if you do see him around the Bruins rink a lot. When they film that behind the B series, which is kind of like a reality show TV series following the Bruins. I wouldn't be shocked if you see him after some games in the locker room, skating with them at practice here or there. I don't think he'll be away from the team 100%, but I don't think he'll be working 40 hours a week. Yeah, and I don't think we're going to see a Tom Brady. It just doesn't strike me as the type of guy that would do that.

I mean, it's something he's been mulling over for a long time. I think, you know, well, apparently he knew for a while, and the team knew for a while because they had breakup day. That's when they filmed all their video clips for the video that the Bruins rolled out when he retired. Because Ty Anderson, the great reporter, great beat reporter here in Boston, he recognized, oh, they had all those clothes on at breakup day way back in May. So that's how you keep a secret, man, to tell 23 guys in the NHL.

I mean, the NHL, a lot of gossip, a lot of sewing circles amongst the NHL guys talking. And for them to keep their mouth shut, that's just a testament. But R.A., don't you think, R.A., I feel like they could have recorded those last year as well and been like, hey, let's record these as a backup because Bergeron could retire. You know what I mean? They may well have, but I guess the fact that they knew for months. They got knocked out what, May? I mean, for two months, the idea that a secret.

Again, we talked to guys. NHL players love to gossip, as do we. Just the fact that it didn't get out to media. That's why I don't think the decision was made already until recently. I think they filmed those videos ahead of time as a precautionary thing. And I think this decision was made recently because we've seen Bruins players out. We've talked to Bruins players. You're telling me after a couple beers, they're not going to fucking tell us Bergeron's fucking leaving?

Hey, they might have told us in Nashville and all of us forgot. They probably did. They probably did. I think that, well, that's what I'm saying. No, because that's a testament to how much respect they had for this guy, that they did keep it a secret. They didn't say anything because it was Patrice Bergeron. They kept their fucking mouth shut.

So either way, we'll never know. And, well, like I said, Sadie's gone happy. We got to enjoy it. Now, Merles, I have a question for you. What's on the deck for EBI right now? Euro starting up. We need some futures for the Swedish Elite League, the German League. Come on, man.

I got to get my futures in here. Yeah, that's why I had to come back. The leagues have started. The KHL has started. And last year, I didn't really follow it much. But this year, under strict order from Biz, we like it. We're we, we like Meech golf. We got to make sure he doesn't kick anybody. So I will pay attention to him a little bit this year in the KHL,

but I get stomach aches. I see clips on Twitter. They're already like doing the two a days they're running and they're two a day ice. Oh man, those days. I don't ever want to go back to those KHL camps, but this week the European leagues are going to get underway.

August 1st is normally the day they all get going. And they'll do four or five practice days and they'll get right into the exhibition games. So either you'll play teams in your league, you'll play a team in the second league, or if you're in Germany, maybe go over and play an Austrian team. So there'll be a lot of different leagues like playing each other. So it'll be harder to get different leagues like playing each other. So it'll be harder to get an understanding for futures and stuff. But it's always the same teams over here.

It's those big money teams in Germany, like Munich and Berlin, that will be up there near the top. And Sweden, Vecchio seems to be up there in Skellefteå every year. But we all know I love Timra. And we're going to be back again. We're not going to surprise the bookmakers this year. The Barstool Sportsbook won't be surprised

when we're on them all year. So we won't get as good odds on them because they are good again. They will be in the playoffs. And you also got to pay attention and wait. A guy like Leo Carlson, our buddy now, is he going to play for Anaheim? Is he going to make the team or are they going to send them back to Orobro? So a guy like that that we got to wait and see if he's going to make it back and before you really want to start betting on these teams but don't worry i'm back here i'll get the twitter going once everything gets going we'll have some picks for you guys what do you think of carlson oh sorry oh carl i love him i i i loved watching him last year, and I watched him in the Worlds there, too. He was great in that stuff, so I think he's going to have no problem adjusting to the NHL.

I would play him right away. Did you just ask Merles what he thinks of Carlson? We have heard what Merles thinks of Carlson for fucking three years. I didn't finish what I was saying. I was saying, what do you think of Carlson making the team next year? I didn't finish what I was going to ask him. I know he's been of Carlson making the team next year? I didn't finish what I was going to ask. I know he's been stroking them for years now. Yeah, I think I would put him there.

He's got all those other young guys there. Let them all learn together. It's basically like the old AHL. They used to put all of us young guys together, learn how to win together. But now they just do it at the NHL level. They all make it 900,000. They got plenty of cap space. Get them all in there.

Learn to win together. Figure out who plays good with each other and uh go from there he's not gonna he's done everything he can over here but selfishly i want us i want him to come back so i can watch him all year and i think he comes back what are we gonna say merrill's before i jacked you there a second ago you were yeah i wanted to i'm getting like my next big thing is the Chicklets Cup. That's the other reason I'm over here. I'm trying to get in shape. The American food and I just, I gain too much weight when I'm over there. So I wouldn't be in shape for Chicklets Cup.

And I've been following the Twitter on that. And I noticed a little beef RA with you and one of our guys that doesn't like the Chicklets Cup, Mark Madden. What's going on there? You know, I know we had him on a while back and you know i wasn't gonna try to overrule uh biz and wit they said let's bring him on i said whatever i'm not gonna die on this hill and you know we were civil to each other for the sake of that and then he ended up bad mouthing us at some other time not long after that and i know biz called them out and then yesterday and i usually don't fucking feed the trolls merles but like with that

idiot i i had no problem feeding him. He's like, Bergeron was a dollar store Ron Francis. I was like, you effing idiot, slob. Then he deleted that, and then he changed it to Dollar Tree. It was a big difference. Then I was going back and forth. I was just like, he's just a loser. That's all he does.

He's just an engagement with negativity. Nobody out there likes him except for his dedicated fans. There's an old clip. I think they're wrestling announcer, Jim Cornette, I think his name is. Someone sent me a clip of him going off for six minutes on Mad. Now, I'll send it out a little later today. He's just a goofball who just leaves bullshit in his wake. I don't know how he's been successful for however long.

That's the word. And he's so obsessed with money been successful for however, well, that's the word. And he's so obsessed with like money or how much he's like, oh, are they paying you yet? It's like, motherfucker, I co-founded this podcast. Do you think I'm not getting paid here?

Like he's just so obsessed on all the, all this stupid shit. So yeah, I'm kind of almost embarrassed. We had him on the show now, all these years later, it's almost like a blemish on spin chicklets guest register, but whatever we had him and live and learn.

That'll be a first day. and the last time we have one. Fucking goofball. So anyway, any folks going back to the Chicklets Cup, actually, Merle. So you guys have a roller team here. I reached out to Army.

It seemed like there was a little confusion about the management here. What's going on? I don't know. The commissioner of the Chicklets Cup. Gee, what's going on? We will have a team. It's just Army doing what Army does,

asking a million questions when he's already been told the answers. It's the same exact thing we've done for the past three Chicklets Cup. We'll have a team. We're adding Army to the team, and we're very, very excited. We'll have Darls, Chief, Feidelberg,

the whole crew's going to be there, fight smoking cigs on the bench. One guy who won't be there, R.A., you will not be our coach again. I believe you were fired last Chicklets Cup. But we're excited. We're very excited. We have a good squad.

I think we might have to jump divisions this year. I've been kind of sandbagging us the past few years, putting us in the bottom division. So I'm most excited, too, because there's been so much, I don't want to say notoriety, but there's been so much publicity now about the Chicklets Cup. Everyone wants to join. We got the Empty Netters guys joining. We got a ton of people.

Johnny Laz is putting in a team. We have all these different people where it's going to be fun to play against. Are we getting our ringer from Toronto there? I heard we are. I heard he's asking to play and he wants to come back. Okay, yeah. I might not show up if he doesn't. He's not there. But those other cast that roster you just announced.

Remember we had a bench darling in that first game? Yeah, but we're adding Army. We're adding Army. Army's going to be a nice puck moving defenseman. We need that ringer. Is the roster full, G? You guys looking for talent still? Always looking for talent.

Can never have enough talent. You got some guys, you send them my way. I do have a player, actually, who played in Vermont. I could talk off campus. We could chat, but a snipe and no doubt. We'll chat a little later about that. I wasn't sure what the roster situation was. I will say, Chief has

done a great job as the team's... I would say Chief's been a great GM. Chief's, you know, he was the one who brought in... Well, he did bring in Darling, so that's kind of a blemish on his resume. But he did bring in Patrick Sharp as well. So you bring in Sharp, he helps us win the ship. It's all good. Makes the team a lot better looking, too, collectively, when you bring in Sharp, he helps us win the ship. It's all good. Makes the team a lot better looking too

collectively when you bring in a guy like that. Very true. Chicklets Cup, Buffalo early October. Can't wait. A couple other notes here. We want to send our deepest condolences to Danny Wertz and his family on the loss of his dad, Rocky. He passed away last week at the age of 70. Of course, the owners of the Chicago

Blackhawks. We've been out there a few times and the hospitality those guys showed us was really nice. So we just want to say we're sorry for your loss, Danny, and extend the sympathies to your family as well. A couple other things here. G, have you been catching anything of the show? Have you caught Oppenheimer yet? I know we've been talking about that a little bit on here. I haven't seen Oppenheimer yet. I haven't seen Barbie. I haven't really been watching many movies yet, RA. I'd love to hear some recommendations if you got any. Yeah. I haven't been back to the movie since Oppenheimer, but a couple of documentaries on HBO, who's still tremendous documentaries that's

been their forte for a long time now. They did one last week. It's called After the Bite, and it's about Wellfleet on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. And there was a shark attack there, I want to say 2018, where a young man was killed by a great white. And the effect it's had on the town. And it kind of divided the town because all the sharks are here because of the seals. Because they protected the seal population. So now there's a ton of seals. So all the sharks are coming here to eat the seals. And the seals are eating all the fish that the fishermen used to catch.

So it's kind of like everybody's pointing fingers at each other, and because of the rising temperatures of the ocean we talked about earlier, there's more sharks coming down further south from up in the North Atlantic. I mean, they estimate there's like about 400 sharks that kind of commiserate in the Cape Cod area. That's a crazy amount. And if you see any of these videos online, they're monsters. I mean, obviously, great ways of monsters, but the ones that are out there now these the giant sharks i

mean i usually i'll go in the water anytime willy-nilly i would probably think twice especially with the way these orcas are popping up everywhere lately it's been kind of crazy i don't know if you've seen all the killer whales they're popping up in places they've never been seen before there's something going on in the ocean man but either way the documentary it's excellent it goes into like i said the town sort of being divided and just how they've had to adapt. And then you got the other side, people like, oh, it's nature. No, we don't get to determine how it plays out, blah, blah, blah. So if you get a chance, give that a look.

And also there's a series called Last Call. I was done with murder docs. There's just too many of them on Netflix. After making a murder, it's like everybody got on the murder porn fucking train i get it it's titillating and it's like you kind of get scared and shut the tv up but it's called last call and it was about a serial killer in uh early 90s new york city excuse me who was talking in homosexual men and it it was like the gruesome fucking details that were going on and and like basically the police department back then was just they didn't care i mean it was rampant like sort of homophobia not sort of rampant

homophobia among the department side were like the chief at the time and they just they weren't putting any effort into like sort of solving these crimes and they get into the whole detail about the people who were killed the manner which it went down and and there's an interview one guy who actually had run in with the killer and managed to get away. And I was sitting here with goosebumps listening to it. It was bone-chilling. And if you like those type of talks, man, it's called Last Call, a tremendous documentary series on HBO.

So give that a look if you're interested. Where was the serial killer one located? Where can you watch that? Yeah, both of them on HBO. I'm still going to call it hbo max i know that that idiot in charge is like one of the greatest brands the best brand in cable hbo and they like oh let's cut the hbo off because people think the tie brow call it max it's like the fuck's this guy doing man but anyways hbo max or hbo wherever wherever you want to call it both of them uh

after the bite is just a one-off and the last call is four parts and like like I said, it was like some gruesome things going on, gruesome details, but it was just real interesting, too, as a time capsule of like 30 years ago, how things were and how they've changed in a lot of ways, Tank. So give those a whirl. Big Deal Brew, gee, we mentioned last week, well, we've been in Manitoba for a bit now, Ontario, a bunch of states here. Go to bigdealbrewing.com slash finder. Find out where we are, where you can get us, any other things going on. Massive restock in Ontario. So if you're heading up to the lake this weekend, grab some

Big Deal Brews at the local LCBO. And like we said, there's tons of states we're releasing all the time. So check the social medias, check bigdealbrewing.com slash finder. And Merle's, I actually saw a picture from the Big Deal Brewing social media. Someone tried to check their Big Deal Brews to travel with them. That wasn't you, was it? No, no, no. Hey, I had no room for any this time. But if you're going to bring them, you got to hide them in the suitcase. But we brought four bags over here, all maximum weight. So I didn't get any fresh big deal brews to add to my stash back there. But I did have some. I got to shout out my Moors Tree Service Beer League team. They let me skate. We went two and all when I was there. I showed up each game with a 12 pack of big deal brew and a

12 pack of blue light. So everybody had the beer. But it was funny being back playing this year after game notes and all the rules we came up with because I was walking on eggshells. If I mess up one of these, these guys are going to call me out. So I was pretty good. How was the gear wear, though? You were big on the gear wear. You've always said you've got to look good in the beer leagues. How was your gear wear?

It was decent except for the only jersey they had for me was a goalie cut. So I looked even fatter than I already am. It was rude. So my gear where wasn't great. And then one of the games I made the mistake. I left my bag out. I didn't I didn't talk the bag underneath the bench. So that's bad locker room etiquette by me.

That was the only couple of mishaps I had, but it was funny like being back in it after we made up all these rules that the guy's got to follow. But I had a great time. It's so fun when you're, when you, after you skate that hour and then you can crush a beer, it's the best thing in the world.

You feel so good too. Like your body just feels like, well, like you're sore and you're hurting, but like your body just feels so good. Yeah, there's nothing like it. There is absolutely nothing like it. Well, boys, I think I'm about to go for one right now.

Got to enjoy the rest of my time in Vermont by the lake, like you just said. Any final notes before we wrap up and move on here? Is that it? No. Congrats. Geoburns.com slash finder. Go find some beers for the weekend. All right, everybody.

Thanks for tuning in, and we will see you next week with another interview for us from the series. Have a great one, all. Bye. Bye. Bye.