Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 462: Featuring Chris Chelios + Kevin Bieksa

Episode Date: September 19, 2023

On Episode 462 of Spittin’ Chiclets, the guys are joined by Chris Chelios & Kevin Bieksa. Cheli joined (01:17:52) to discuss his recent jersey retirement announcement, playing in Detroit, and lastly Mike Babcock. But first, the guys open the show breaking down their crazy week surrounding the Mike Babcock news that broke on the last podcast. The guys then hear from Kevin Bieksa (01:46:47), who recaps the latest Sandbagger and breaks down the Canucks/Ducks offseason. The boys wrap up with the rest of the Pacific Division preview and some NHL news.You can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/schiclets

Hey, Spittin' Chicklets listeners, you can find every episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. Hello everybody, welcome to episode 462 of Spittin' Chicklets, presented by Pink Whitney from our friends at New Amsterdam Vodka here in the Barstool Sports Podcast family. Gang, we came back with a bang last week, hope you all loved John Nasty Marasty, but pretty crazy week for the Chicklets crew, we're going to get to that shortly, but we got to say hi to the boys first. Once again, across the pond, our buddy Matt Murley over in Sweden. How are we doing, buddy?

I'm doing good. I'm happy to report the Bills with a big win. Biz, did you see who attended the game yesterday? Good vibes. Morgan Riley and Mitch Marner. Yep, that's it. They're down there. That's perfect.

They'll just blow it in the playoffs again. Hey, hey, hey, hey. Watch your fucking mouth. Watch your fucking mouth. Oh, all right. Look at you. You're making that face, you bitch. Don't you think they'd blow it in the playoffs too, you fucking pot-stirring prick?

Laughing guy, you're being a fucking savage. I was like, ooh, you're the pot-stirrer. Merles, more importantly, any day now, right? Any day, we're on the clock. All the jobs are done. The suitcase for the hospital is packed. I've been dry. I'm off the booze for nine days straight.

So I'm ready to drive up there and be on my feet for as long as it takes for the baby to come out. That's more of a chicklets cup thing. You're getting ready for the roller hockey, right? More so than the kid? It's come out. That's more of a Chicklets Cup thing. You're getting ready for the roller hockey, right? More so than the kid? It's for both. It's for both. It's being disguised.

I just got my flight for Chicklets Cup. I had to tell them, like, hey, I might not be able to make it. Make sure you get a refundable one. But that five-day trip would be really needed after a week of a newborn. Grinnelli's not going to be happy. Typically, coaches don't like when you're having a kid around season time. They want it done in the offseason, so you might have to answer

to him, Coach Grinnell, I'm not happy with you getting into the team affairs. Well, as long as you show pictures of the baby, you should be good. Yeah. Oh, Jesus. Okay, already. We're starting already. Jesus Christ. Morales, by the way, actually, Biz, too,

when we're in Buffalo for Chicklets Cup, Sunday morning, the Bills play at 9.30 in London. Can you imagine that city? The bars will be open, no? I'll be celebrating a Chicklets Cup all night and they'll probably just lead me into the morning.

I don't know if they're doing a special tailgate to watch it on their big screens but uh you know bill's mafia will be out in full form they just had their home opener and it was uh it was a pretty crazy tailgate as it usually is shocker uh let's go to the wit dog next ryan whitney how you been how was your week pal um good obviously a wild week that we'll go into soon. Amazing feedback on the sandbagger that we dropped. It was a blast to do. I mean, we have juice coming on today to talk about a little bit, along with some Pacific Division teams we're previewing.

Week was going solid. Obviously, like, madness throughout the whole Babcock scenario and situation, and we're trying to, as I was trying to stay along with that. But then, of course, yesterday, I go to get a coffee and I went inside. Now, my fault, my fault. I didn't lock the car, but I was parked directly in front of this Starbucks, University Avenue, Westwood. And I walk in and I was probably in there max five minutes,

like three to five minutes. And I come back out, think nothing of it, went to hit some balls, went and practiced for about an hour, chipping, putting, getting ready for a big trip to Ireland coming up. And I get in my car and I check my texts and I have all these texts from American Express and Bank of America, $10,000 at Target and $4,000 on the Bank of America. I'm like, what the hell? I checked my wallet.

Somebody went into my car while I was getting the coffee, took $900 cash and my two credit cards. And I was like, holy shit. That's fucking bullshit, dude. Just give him back his fucking dime. You didn't need to be following me around, dude. I could have lent you the money. I asked you twice.

You said no. I had to follow you to fucking Westwood to fucking bring in your car. He's going to charge you for the gas money to get over there. I just took the cash out, too, the day before. I was so rattled. Luckily, the banks and the credit cards are good. They take it right off the statement. I was actually curious, though, because they spent the Bank of America charges got declined, but the American Express ones went through.

So I don't know, like, does American Express have to eat that? Or maybe I'm wondering that they don't have to eat it because obviously they didn't ask for I.D. when the scumbag used my credit card. So maybe it's actually on Target where he spent the money. But I was kind of wondering, like, how that ends up going about it. Like somebody somebody's losing the money, maybe it's actually on target where he spent the money but i was kind of wondering like how that ends up going about like somebody somebody's losing the money whether it's target american express i can't remember the last time i can't remember last time somebody asked me for id when i used my credit card no that's exactly i was i was saying my wife i i don't same here but i think you're supposed to no you used to always you they would even like running through sometimes years ago now they ago. Now they don't even

give a shit anymore. If you're going to Target and you're buying eight flat screen TVs, typically they should probably ID you. He's like looking over his shoulder. He's like, why are you tweaking out, dude? Looking like a fucking R.A. in a TSA line. We have a gallon drum of goldfish

somebody bought for some reason. We're not sure who it was. And for some reason, he's pouring them into a disgusting used plastic bag. And he's drinking wine that was opened in 2017. What the hell is going on? Out of a body armor bottle. What the hell? Did you get Caymus? Come out with a new clear Caymus.

Like Pepsi Quit. Yeah, exactly. But it goes back to the, you know, if you steal, you are the ultimate dirtbag scumbag disrespectful piece of shit because it's just one it's one thing like to actually steal from another human being like the money that they've worked for and earned thanks sid uh to actually take from somebody and now listen i stole one time i stole pop tarts from a store in Citroen, Massachusetts. And I got caught, and I had to pay the piper, and I had to go in, and I never done it again. And I read the riot act by my parents.

Did you get spanked by your old man? Along with a little maybe physical touch in terms of you do not steal. Spoon? Spoon or belt? Neither. The old hands worked. What are you going to say, G? Did you hear about how at the Barstool Awards my credit card got stolen?

No. No. It was horrible. So I was at breakfast with Pasha. And well, first, let me set the scene. I ordered room service before we went to the Barstool Awards. And about five minutes after I ordered room service, I get a call on the hotel line. And they're like, hey, Mr. Grinnell, your credit card is declined.

Do you mind reading your credit card number off and just giving it back to us? Because it's not going through right now. I'm like, that's weird because I workbooked this. So I don't know how that could happen. But sure, I'll give you my debit card. So I give them my debit card. And I think nothing of it. We go to the barstool

wards we have a good time the next morning um i i'm at uh breakfast with pasha and pasha's like hey man like the craziest thing happened to me yesterday like i ordered room service after i ordered room service someone called asked for my credit card number and then i woke up to all these charges on my phone and my face just dropped. Inside job, obviously. Inside job, 100%. Someone at the hotel got you guys. Someone at the hotel.

So I have up until like three days ago, every night at like 2 a.m., Domino's, Roxbury House of Pizza. Every single night, like $40, $50, $60. Every time it would get declined, but they just kept trying. They just kept trying and tried to ring me up. But definitely an inside job. Oh, you think? There's a disgruntled fahed in Boston coming after the Chiclets crew. Yeah, what the hell's going on here?

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liquor store you can go to, they carry it. I love the nips, but if you like the big bottle, I love you too. Check it out right now. Pink Whitney. It's where it's at. So, Ed, who actually caught you stealing was it the store who caught me oh no no no no like i think it was my mom now i i was like 11 years old she's like where'd you get these and you know right away like it's funny when you're younger like i remember like you're lying to your parents you think you're so smooth it's like i can already the minute rider lies i'm like hey tell me the

truth like you just know she just knew marched me back down to to ronnie shones and uh i returned those pop tarts i'd already opened a pack i was a pop tart fanatic back in the day i eat them cold i eat them hot those things were crack coat crack cocaine to me. But I learned my lesson. And that is stealing from people is the lowest behavior a human being can show. It's just you have no respect for what they've earned and what they have and you're taking from them. It's a dirtbag move. And I got got. Now, like I said, on me for not locking my car, but I just figured I was running in and out. I've left the kids in the car there before, so that won't be happening anymore, although Wyatt would probably stab the guy

trying to steal him. So I just, it was a little bit of a bummer of a Sunday, right? It was more about the cash. I was a little upset, but in the end, Babs resigned later in the day, so it was a win. Okay, well, we'll jump right into that, but we got to talk to the biz man first. Paul Biz, Nasty Biz, I know it was a win okay well we'll jump right into that but we got to talk to the biz man first paul biz nasty business i know it was a very active week for you but yeah other than all that

stuff are you drained okay yeah just yeah it was a lot right i mean yeah it was it was overwhelming a little bit yeah it was i didn't think it was gonna pop the way it did and obviously we'll get into it but as far as the weekend's concerned i tried to uh get my head out of it i went uh i've been working out. I mentioned I'm in loser mode right now, getting ready for Chicklets Cup, trying to take down my first title. Apparently, Noseface is signed up and ready to go. Saturday, I ended up going over to Rafi's practice again with the 10-year-olds at the Junior Coyotes. And then Jordan Smaltz, he lives here now. He's Smaltz's brother from the Coyotes.

He did play in St. Louis, was playing overseas last year, retired, and he's hanging out here. So it was myself, him, Jason Demers, who's also retired now, ended up getting his 700th game last year with Edmonton at the end of the year. And then Zach Sanford, who just signed with the Coyotes. So he didn't end up heading over to Australia. We had a nice foursome, had a great time at the Camelback Golf Course, and had a great match. Zach Sanford who just signed with the Coyotes so he didn't end up heading over to Australia we had a nice foursome had a great time at the Camelback golf course and had a great match so uh working on those golf skills and then uh aside from that just just working the phone guys it's been uh I'm not a journal I don't know how the fuck those guys do it weekend yeah I don't know how they do

it weekend uh weekend week out but uh hopefully it's the last story I break for a long time because my, what do you call it? What's your system there? Your nervous system is a little bit shot just from all the chaotic shit coming through. So, R.A., I guess I'll throw it back over to you to tee up the whole story and how it all got rolled out last week. Yeah, absolutely. Like I said, one of the craziest weeks in the show history. I came to a head Sunday afternoon. Mike Babcock officially resigned as head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets

before training camp got underway. Last week, you broke the story about him deciding to go through players' phones. You know, him and Boo Jenner come out with a statement, sort of like trying to shoot down your statement that it all wasn't a big deal. We were just trying to get to know each other. The union went out there, Marty Walsh and Ron Hainsey to investigate a little bit. And it seemed like they were going to try to button it up. Columbus put their statement out with both of those guys and everyone seemed like they were going to move along. But then there were whispers that, wait, there's a little bit more here. Some guys were not comfortable with this. And there

was more of an investigation. And and I mean, kudos to Marty Walsh and Hainsey. You know, I don't remember the union doing this before, you know, the last, I don't know, 20, 30 years to go and look into something like this. Because I said it last week, the union might be interested in this because it's a privacy issue. And lo and behold, yeah, guys, some guys were not happy with it. Not just younger guys.

There was a few guys not liking what went down. And then all of a sudden, everything just shifted, and people were just sort of waiting and waiting. And then Sunday, the news come out. He was donezo. He resigned. It's kind of an atomic blast for the NHL news world. And yeah, here we are talking about it, man.

I mean, we're kind of stunned what went on. Whit, what did you think? How did you think it might play out over the whole thing? Like, what was your take? I mean, obviously, Biz, and you kind of broke the thing. I had nothing to do with it as far as having information. But what was your week like? Let's just back things up here.

Okay, yeah, it's a lot of information. Yeah, there's a lot to digest here. So last week, we said what we said on the podcast. And obviously, we were very animated about it. And we did so based on what I had heard at that point, right? So let's even back up even further we were going to do all of our our pre-season breakdown and when we were going to get to the Columbus I have no personal ill will towards Mike Babcock the only thing that I know

about Mike Babcock is the things that he's done in the past which in a lot of cases have been pretty shitty things I mean you can go to the Mike Madonna thing of him sitting him out to make sure he doesn't hit his 1500th game. We have Chris Chelios who's coming on later in the pod here and he tried to healthy scratch him in the outdoor game in Chicago where players ended up going in from Detroit saying if you, you know, basically we're not playing

if you healthy scratch him. Then I think he started the game and then didn't really play a shift after that. So Chelios started drinking on the bench. Hilarious. The Commodore stuff, which has been playing out online for years and years, in which how he treated him when he was in Detroit. The Franz and stuff.

The Mitch Marner stuff and the way that he treated the young guys in Toronto. Or how about what he did to your buddy when he got his game during the Loco, when they played at the pond, right? So you told that story a while ago. Yeah. This was a story going back. It was Sean O'Connor and they were playing an exhibition game and, uh, he was out there taping a stick on the bench.

And this is when he was the head coach of Anaheim and he walked out to the bench and he was like, Hey, pretty cool. Hey. And the guy's like oh yeah this is awesome Sean O'Connor said that and he says yeah don't get used to it this will be your last game playing here like just like a job just like odd behavior from a coach like not building up his players and in fact really doing a good job of tearing them down when he deems them I guess not worthy of being a superstar or in his realm. So all that aside, right? Babcock gets canned in

Toronto. Some people think it's for the coaching aspect, but a lot of it was because of stuff that was also going on behind the scenes. Not really sure how much people know about the whole story in which that played out. Now, so I am a second chance guy through and through. So he goes away for four years, his contract in Toronto ends, and now he's getting a new shot with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Hey, if he would have came in and completely changed the way he is as a human and how he coaches and his methods and how he's trying to motivate his player and galvanize his group. Great, man. It would be a great story about a guy turning his life around and becoming a better person. And he had four years to go away and do so. So once again, no ill will, nothing coming into the season to say negative about him. We don't even know him. Don't even know him. So I get a text message before the last podcast.

So this was on Wednesday, September 6th. And it comes in and I'll read it off to you. And I ended up tweeting it out. You got to sneak into your pod about Babs getting guys to show their photos on the big screen. He's doing it to guys in Columbus now. Same shit he did to me. Now, this is a friend of mine. Guys need to know that's coming.

It's a fucking joke. I wrote, what does he do what photos i don't understand haha and the person wrote back call you in five it's wild he's up to his old tricks again guys got guys get no warning so i hop on a phone with my friend who mind you the backstory is and i know this is being portrayed by Babcock, or at least was, and the Columbus organization as a, oh, I'm just getting to know the players where we come inside the room and we exchange photos of our families. And that's a good way to kick things off. That's not what's happening here. That's not what's going down.

Because I talked to my friend. Maybe it was to certain guys that are a little bit older. And that's why, go ahead, go ahead. Well, no, no, that's fair, Witt. And that's how it was being portrayed with Boone Jenner and also Johnny Hammond Cheese, in which I want to apologize right now because I was put on the spot.

I totally forgot of the story and how we were going to talk about it on the podcast until Witt reminded me on the spot. I was like, oh yeah. And then I told the story very animated, obviously threw in the throbbing dick pics and the pierced nipples and and joked around about it in which i probably shouldn't have but at the time i assumed that this had only happened to an older player which the player who texted me who used to play for babcock was an older player so the story story goes, he gets to Toronto first meeting with Babcock.

He gets in the room, not a, Hey, I really want to get to know you. Like, do you want to exchange for it's a, Hey, pull out your phone. Uh, I want to know what type of person you are. The video guy hooks it up to the airplay mode and they start, start scrolling through pics. Well, obviously it's summertime and you're having fun with your buddies in the summertime and there's some party pictures well right right away if you can't understand that that's an establishment of a power dynamic we're not we're just not going to simply see eye to eye on this definitely a bizarre way to try to get to know someone i'm not right away flagging it down and saying oh this guy's a

fucking predator this guy's a creep i'm saying just a bizarre way in the past to get to know your player but as described by the player it was a very odd way to get their their first meeting and and to get to know each other off the hop because there was party pictures in there it seemed like babcock wasn't impressed and then obviously to play out that season, this player gets dragged along. He gets treated like shit. It's mental warfare to the point where at a certain point during the season, this player calls up the GM and says, I can't play for this guy anymore. I understand if you have to keep him as a head coach, but you need to trade me because i need to get out of the situation because i'm getting mind fucked now it just so happens in toronto apparently that on the same day another player called the gm to say the exact same thing i'm done with this guy so they

proceed to then get rid of mike babcock okay so that's the way it was happening in the past well you think now interestingly enough biz not, sorry. No, interrupt all you want because this is a conversation. Yeah. When he was let go from Toronto and the main source of the off-ice things was Mitch Marner and what he did to him. Just such a dirtbag move to make you rate your teammates is one thing.

To then tell the teammates what this rookie said about him, it's just, it's so ridiculous. But the phone stuff never came out i was actually never came out i knew nothing about this which is surprising my buddy had never told me this story other than the fact that he was getting fucked with his entire time playing with mike babcock and guys we're speaking a certain way because i made the mistake of of mentioning boone jenner in which once again i'm very sorry about so we're speaking a certain way because I made the mistake of, of mentioning Boone Jenner in which once again, I'm very sorry about.

So we're trying to explain all this and protect the guys moving forward who ended up divulging more and more information as this proceeded. So I get told that I get told, obviously Boone Jenner that happened to him as soon as he got to Columbus. And I, I know for a fact that it didn't go down the way that they try to portray it in their statement. So we say what we say on the pod. One of the comments I made, I hope this is true or we look like idiots. Well, we recorded that podcast on Sunday because wit was busy on Monday and there was no real like, Oh, we have to record Monday

because there's games going on and have to be like exactly up to date. So just, just in case, and I believe all my sources, obviously I call a member of the team. I say, is this actually what's going on? A different member of the team and it gets confirmed. So we dropped the podcast and I guess I expected it to get a little bit of traction, but not the amount of traction that it ended up getting. Well, guess what happens after that? More texts start rolling in. Wit got a couple texts. I get a couple texts.

I got one that said, I got one from a guy who plays. And he said, dude, this is actually nuts that you know about this. His friend who plays went in to meet Babs. Same thing. Hey, let me see your phone guy's like uh and he texted my buddy right after he goes dude right after he left the meeting you will not believe what just happened to me and my friend said what he's like i just went in for a meeting to meet the coach and he grabs my phone and starts ripping through the pics and i i'm

getting it i'm like oh my god now now not to mention the fact that for anyone out there who thinks that Biz and I were on this crusade to get this guy fired, that is the most patently false information. Because Biz called me. We were just talking about what we were going to talk about in the first episode last week. And he said, you won't believe this. We're going to talk about this. And that's why he kind of had forgot about i said oh biz what about babs it there was no sort of planning it was it was actually like i guess a little um ridiculous of us to think it wouldn't catch the steam that it did but we were just saying it like ah this this guy hasn't changed like there was no expectations or goal in mind when talking about this and i think a lot of people thought it was commodore who had sent that text because he's got this beef with babcock and we're sticking up for his buddy it's like no guys we just told you about all the old story this is a new story on top of all this other shit that is now going on so as the story continues to progress throughout the week that's

why i was so aggressive at going back at them online because I knew it wasn't this innocent thing of getting to know his players and then later on after Babs had had uh you know resigned or whatever Jarmo said I didn't think it was that big of a deal because we ended up exchanging family photos where I don't want to give Babs too much credit here but he's obviously an intelligent guy in a sense of like, he's almost getting ahead of it by doing it with an equal, or I guess in this case, a superior where as it trickles down to then how he starts doing it towards

the young guys, it there's, there's like a, it doesn't seem as bad, right? But there's, there's a difference between the actual stories that we're starting to hear even worse than the way that the Boone Jenner one is being portrayed. And well, that's why it's not. I really do feel bad that Jenner's name was brought into this.

And I think looking back, obviously, his name wouldn't have been brought up because that's not fair to him. And I also want to say, like people that are like, oh, Jenner and Goudreau lied for the team. No, they did not. Leave them alone. Yeah, those guys went in, and while probably and definitely thinking it was odd, he went in, and exactly as Biz said, oh, with these guys, this guy with the long deal,

the captain, hey, let me see your family. I'll show you some pictures of my family, and so on and so on. Knowing for a fact it would not be the same with younger guys, guys that he wants to announce his power to, guys that he wants to be able to bully. And the fact of the matter is Jenner and Goudreau, there's no lying there. I mean, in reality, they went in there. And I think in a sense, like they also wanted to put out the fire the team wanted them to put out the fire well and and and remember here given his history and how he treats players that he doesn't like and wants to be gone and we're going to be talking to chelios later he basically tried to mind fuck him to the sense where he walks in and asks for a trade just so babcock doesn't have to deal with him anymore. If Babcock, if this story comes out and they don't say that, and all of a sudden Babcock

is still the head coach and they were like, yeah, what he said was true. You don't think he's going to fuck with their careers. Look at how much longer Johnny's got on his deal there. How many more years does Jenner have? But the biggest problem here, guys, and the reason that the player who texted me wanted these guys getting the heads up. And by the way, there was a designated guy in Toronto that would give all the new guys a heads up because he knew that this was going to happen to them. And then later apologized to the player who reached out to me because he'd forgotten to mention that this is actually what goes down.

actually what goes down so just of i guess just bizarre behavior for a guy who had who had been fired for shit like this then to continue it but this player wanted me to talk about this on the podcast the only reason i did just so these younger guys would get the heads up in the warning never did i call for babcock to get fired on the last podcast i didn't give a flying fuck if he stuck around and you can even go back to my tweets online all i said is knock it off enough of this nonsense my babcock's future didn't lie in my hands it lied in the hands of the younger players in which he did even worse shit to that didn't come out and that still has been under wraps in which probably because they want to protect these guys and just what they should be doing focusing on hockey my biggest ask here

moving forward is any media member that steps around the team don't ask them about this anymore leave these fucking players alone this happened before training camp the right guy is in the position now and pascal vincent he's got reins. Let these younger kids focus on it. And I'll tell you this. If I had a fucking young kid, if I had a child and he was drafted to this team with one of these stories that I heard and what happened and remember this also this other story didn't happen at the rink. It happened at Babcock's house this summer.

One of the stories. If this would have happened to my kid and my kid came home and told me this story, Babcock wouldn't have had to be let go or resign because I would have marched over to Babcock's house and I would have fucking pumped his eyes shut and thrown him in Lake Michigan or whatever fucking lake he's fucking lives on in Michigan. Like this is fucking mental warfare, a guy who didn't learn his lesson lesson and we can continue to have a longer discussion about other, maybe other shit that he's done. But if you're thinking, oh, this is cancel culture, cancel culture. No, this is a guy who's been known to do this shit, doing the exact same shit after going

away for four years, who just didn't learn his lesson. And this guy has no, he does not deserve to be around the game. He doesn't deserve to be around these kids and especially have control of their futures in the palm of his hands, in which he seems to really flex that power dynamic, has in the past, and he'll continue to do it

if you give him another fucking job. He never would have done it. He'll never have a job in the NHL again. A bad guy is rid of the game. And here's the thing I'm going to say to everyone. Oh, these young pussies, these kids can't handle hard coaching. They didn't say shit. This is not hard coaching. This is not a coach who will yell at you when you fuck up. This is not a coach who demands excellence. And when you're lazy, he's going to give it to you and possibly embarrass you in front of the team. this is something that has nothing to do with the

game of hockey i am i do i agree with with the way that some old school coaches coach no but they still have the right to coach that way this is off ice mental warfare as biz puts it bullshit when you ask a younger guy to come to your house for lunch, and he shows up, and you take his phone, and you take this kid's phone, and you're reading it, and you're going through it, pictures, text messages. I'm here for lunch, by the way. And then you give him the phone back, and you say, you're good to go.

No lunch, no discussion. That is a fucking joke. It is not a you have no right just to be an NHL coach because of your resume, which, mind you, the guy can obviously coach. Now, there is an argument to be made that he won a cup with Detroit with one of the best teams I've ever seen. I lost to the team. I saw them. And then he won gold medals with Canada. My son Wyatt could have coached those teams. He's two and a half. Mind you, the guy's coach.

He got Anaheim to the cup final back in the day. He's a good coach. He's a dickhead. He's a bad person. And you don't deserve to be in this league. And to do that to young kids. Now, mind you, okay, so you get drafted by Columbus. One of the best days of your life, right? What do you do from there?

I'm going to development camp. I'm getting a jersey. I'm going to be around pro training staff, pro coaches. I'm going to go and meet an NHL coach. I hope to be on this team two, three years. Let me see your phone. What the fuck? That is so, and this is not soft. If you think I'm soft, as Biz said, we don't align in anything in life. That is bullshit. And the fact of the matter is those kids go in excited, looking towards the future. And all of a sudden you're sitting there and you're like, what's he looking at? This isn't fair. This isn't right. I would have deleted things.

It's just not, it's not the way that any job, any job should be approached by a boss. And like Commodore mentioned this. I heard someone else say it. And you can kind of go on wild, not conspiracies, but imagine what would have happened. But think about a kid who, maybe somebody's gay. And they haven't come out of the closet. And Commie said this. I was talking on the phone.

And he's got a picture holding his boyfriend's hand. This is stuff that goes so far beyond the game of hockey where a guy has no right to do. And because of that, he's gone and he should be gone. But for anyone out there who's thinking that we're out there looking to get him fired and that we're cancel culture, fuck you. This is not cancel culture. This is something that blew up more than we ever could have imagined. is not cancel culture this is something that blew up more than we ever could have imagined and we were actually happy that it ended up being said because little did we know what actually went on we had a couple people reach out like we didn't know how deep this went so the fact of the matter

is the guy had no business doing what he did and i'll tell you another thing i think he proves himself as a man with that fucking statement. That statement is the biggest bunch of bullshit. Yeah, I'm too much of a distraction. I had to go. No responsibility taken. No apologies. In this guy's mind, he still doesn't even think he did anything wrong. And I'll tell you, Kekka Leinen, he gave a statement too.

Thank you for your professionalism. What are you talking about? The guy didn't even make it to the preseason. Professionalism? He's digging through 18-year guy didn't even make it to the preseason. Professionalism? He's digging through 18-year-old, 20-year-old's phones. Yeah, and as far as like Yarmou's concerned, like, listen, you guys can have your opinion, but I heard he's got a big heart

and he was trying to give a guy a second opportunity. So in no way, shape, or form do I think he should be canned. Obviously, I wasn't impressed with his statement like you just mentioned, Whit, a guy a second opportunity so in no way shape or form do i think he should be canned obviously i wasn't impressed with his statement like you just you just mentioned wit but going going back to to why i mentioned it the the guy who reached out to me to tell me that this was going down in columbus he's the hero marty walsh and ron hainsey are the pa for actually digging into this further and finding out what was actually going on that was that was worse than we originally spoke about on the podcast. Great job by them.

And once again, great job by the younger players stepping up in Columbus to really nail this in the butt before the season started. Because who knows what would have been collateral damage as a result of this guy continuing his old habits. would have been collateral damage as a result of this guy continuing his old habits like like think about how many players lives would have been made to fucking be hell for a full season in columbus because he didn't align with what he saw on their phones or their text messages so it's just a fucking shit show here's another thing i also don't give a fuck i've been in the twitter and internet game long enough i don't care what other media people or other people online think about who we work with or, or what podcast and what we're about over here to discredit what we're saying. I don't care. So I don't even care to go back at these

people who are like, Oh, we're going to defend Babcock because check the source. It's a, it's a, it's a, it's a spit and check what saying it. We don't like how they go on and let it fly. And they, they were not happy with my no spit, no lube, sandpaper finish. It's like, who that's how I talk. I don't give a fuck. I'm not changing the way I speak for these people. I haven't in the past, I won't moving forward. And like I said, I don't care because I have a, I have a place where I can speak my mind in a platform where I can do so. And I'm very happy to be affiliated to Barstool, which gives me that type of platform. So I'm not feeding into these other online idiots

who just like don't like me. So they want to discredit me. It doesn't phase me anymore. That's why I don't reply online to them anymore. So it's just like- The fact of the matter is, is like those people got embarrassed enough. Like I had buddies who were reaching out, like, you got to drag these people.

It's like, no, those people look as foolish as they could ever look. So I really don't care. In the end, honestly, the only thing I'm happy about is there's a couple guys in Columbus, maybe even more than a couple whose lives will be for the better because a truly bad person isn't going to be coaching them. So the fact of the matter is Biz tweeted out, we're a players podcast. I love the fact that we get players to come on and they're willing to talk to us. It's truly very lucky for us that we have guys and friends in the league still.

And that'll change, man. As this goes on, a lot of our parties are going to be out of the league. But it's nice to know that players know we're looking out for them. Obviously, we wish we hadn't named Jenner. uh that was probably unfair and probably unfair of me to i regret it unfair of me to put biz on the spot like that no i was me in terms of a guy who's who's who's a beloved teammate who plays the game hard and the way it should be played that was unfair but we're looking out for players we always will be and all those people who immediately discredited us and that call themselves journalists, you've got to take a look in the mirror.

Because if you're an actual journalist, it shouldn't matter where it comes from. You check into things. You look at things, how it actually went down, as the PA did. And lucky for us, they did. Because the old way of hockey and the PA, maybe that does get swept under the rug. And so there are things that are happening that are obviously proof that the times are changing. But nobody, nobody, and I'll say it again. You want to be a hard-ass coach?

Like, we've talked a lot about John Tortorella. Well, guys will tell you off the ice, John Tortorella is a good guy and that he truly cares about him. A lot of people have said that. He may be a hard-ass and a dickhead to play for. A lot of people have said that. He may be a hard ass and a dickhead to play for. He is not even remotely in the same stratosphere as this guy. So it's none of his business or job to look through somebody's phone his job is to get people to come together and lead people to where they never thought was possible that's the job of a coach what people are doing off the ice and what they're doing with their personal lives it's none of your business okay so it's a wild story uh who would have ever thought it went down and there's still an open

invitation if this guy wants to if he doesn't think he did anything wrong mike babcock can It's a wild story. Who would have ever thought it went down like this? And there's still an open invitation. If this guy wants to, if he doesn't think he did anything wrong, Mike Babcock can join us and come talk about it. And the things that we've heard, we can fucking bring them up. And if he wants to deny them, and if he wants to think the way that he handles his coaching situations is appropriate, he could come on and defend himself. So it's still an open invitation.

Is that the same case for you guys? gladly yeah absolutely so he already took my credit cards and cash out of starbucks oh fuck joe is there any uh is there anything else on the subject that you wanted to bring up i mean is there any other statements that came out you know we'll go to you do you have any input you have any uh you do you hear any stuff on the side? Which, where are you stance on this? Obviously with us, but yeah,

I just, I had a guy that played in Toronto. I knew that texted me and he told me the same thing, but he got the heads up from somebody before he went in. So he got, he didn't have to deal with it, but it just made me think of when I was coaching the kids, we had to do this safe sport,

like training. You do this test online to make sure you're always you're never making anyone uncomfortable and always in the right situation you don't go in the locker room alone you're not allowed to drive a kid home it's it's all kind of the same stuff that it's just common sense if you're coaching you're you know you're in power you shouldn't do it i remember when biz i when you got done telling the story i was like isn't that illegal to do it just it just felt wrong and it was wrong to mention that like like and i'm trying to portray um and from what i'm being told and people by the way like name names no we're not naming names if you don't believe us

if you don't believe us at this point yeah keep going on living your life the way you want to live and if you think you really wanted to get to know their families and not fucking gather dirt on them, I got a fucking penny stock I want to sell you. And by the way, so this guy, he saw him one time just absolutely abusing a janitor at Joe Louis Arena. I'm talking up and down, just giving this guy the business. So like when you talk about the golden rule in life life, treat others the way you want to be treated, it didn't exist with him. And he was smart enough to treat the people that he thought he needed a certain way.

And then the people he looks at as, I can dominate you, I can own you, I can make you do whatever I say, those people never got the correct treatment in life. So that's not fair. And in the end, Chelios says you know, says it later on. It's karma. Absolutely.

And even his initial statement was like full of crap. And I was wrong. I thought when they came out up, they're going to put him on water. He said it was offensive. He said we were offensive. Yeah. Oh, really? Because actually more stuff came out that we didn't even know about and we're offensive?

And that's the same thing with him not taking responsibility after. Mind you, I also forgot to mention, when he came back as a coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs to coach his first game at Joe Louis Arena against the Detroit Red Wings, there was people from the concession stands putting money on the board. There was like 40 grand on the board, dude. Concessions workers, hey, put me down for 15 bucks get a win tonight guys come on j a jason spezza first game back in toronto healthy scratch yeah it's never ending um so there's obviously a couple things that we probably would have done different but in the end

we didn't even know what was going to come of this and a lot more came than we had info on yeah like you said a crazy weekend i thought the owner statement that come out on monday uh our ownership group is deeply frustrated and disappointed by the events of the past week we've been in contact with john davidson yamo kika landon our management team throughout the process and we're in full agreement with mike stepping down and pascal vincent leading our team as head coach it seemed to me like they were sort of sort ofamo and J.D. on notice. And, you know, Biz, I think this is your classic.

You hear about it all the time. Old boys club hire. Like, you know, John's, Davidson's 70 years old. And there was an article in The Athletic a few weeks back. Aaron Portsline wrote that Ken Hitchcock and Dave King, you know, friends of the program we've had on, you know, they're friends with Babcock. And they recommended him that, oh, you know, he could be good for this job. And it just was like, okay, did Yamo make this call?

Did Davidson make the call? Because sometimes you don't know where the buck stops with some of these teams. But it's just your classic old boys hire, like they're trying to take care of the guy. And like the NHL.com, they had like a three-part series on Babcock coming back. I thought they were sort of like polishing his reputation

and making him look a little bit better. It was just kind of weird. There was all these people sort of like pulling farm within the nhl community but i will but i will say this already what's frustrating is like then you see people online talking about like oh hockey culture and this and that it's like this shit overshadows how many amazing people that are involved in the game like don't let this don't let this overshadow how many awesome people that are involved like guys like i had dave tippett as a coach i was a fucking borderline nhler when i was in the lineup i would play two to three minutes and every time i was a healthy scratch dave tippett would come up to me

pre-game skate and he'd be like beezer like it was a tough decision oh yeah sound it wasn't but he would make me feel like i was part of the group so every time that i've had coaches i have never been through an experience the way that my friend reached out and described his experience that's why i brought it up on the podcast so once again to him for stepping up he's the hero to the guys in columbus for not fucking taking his shit and finally putting their foot down and nipping this in the butt they're the hero to the NHLPA for sticking up for the fucking players and doing all the due diligence and getting rid of this guy they're the fucking hero and and appreciate we're very fortunate to get to do what we do it's because we do have a lot of trust from a lot of

our fan base so to the people who listen to the podcast and who backed us on all of this, it was a very difficult week for us. We appreciate you guys. We love you. We're really happy that it wasn't kind of left in this gray area where some of you may have been let down by it. All we were trying to do was the right thing because, once again, the older guys who made us aware of this,

we don't want to see these younger players grow through this bullshit anymore and we think that with this situation coming out it's going to send a message to that old boys club the ones that are still around that if you do step out of line again we're going to fucking bend you over no spit no lube sandpaper finish that's it that's all i got to say on the subject. I think something has changed business is the new standard for NHL coaches. Like they're just not going to tolerate this type of shit anymore. I think what you've done

and what works. That is what works. That is what you need to do now. More John Coopers. Yeah. More John Coopers. More Bednar's. More Derek Gallon's. Yep. Less Babcock's, if any. And as far as Commie, like, Commie doesn't need us to, like, do his dirty work for him.

Well, there's a lot of, there's a lot of. On Instagram. I'm telling you right now that there are people, and I, and even Commie's aware, and I'll say, like, I don't blame you that think he's an unhinged lunatic. Commie is doing this, and if you know, call me, you know, he's, he's like fucking around. Like he obviously can't stand the guy.

That's quite clear. But he's also like just keeping himself busy. There is no sort of like psychosis to Mike Commodore. And actually he ended up stopping and, and stop talking about him for a little while. And there was like players like, no, no, no, you got to do it more.

Like all these guys that played for him. Like you may think he's a lunatic and I don't blame you. But in the end, he can't stand the guy and he's doing it fucking around, keeping himself busy. And he's also having like support of guys who played for him that couldn't stand him. Another guy, Mark Frazier, a very well-liked player that played drunk. He's been open about how miserable and how awful he was to deal with. So we've talked about this long enough. And, oh, final thing.

There are a faction of Blue Jackets fans who are, like, coming at me. I'm sure they're coming at you, Biz. I wish nothing but a phenomenal season for the Blue Jackets. It's a great fan base that, you know that they haven't had a ton of success. They've moved past the first round one time, but I'm rooting for them. I really like Zach Wierenski. We got to know him. I just

think that if you're out there as a Blue Jacket fan and you hate us, your hatred is kind of directed towards the wrong people because we're rooting for you. We know that it's a special fan base and a great place to play, but we brought up something that needed to be brought up. Well said.

It is funny to a lot of people who are discredited in the report. Some of these people are like, oh, don't prejudge anybody. That's all they did with us. They prejudge us for who we work for and what we do. Before we send it over to Chris Gelius, I just want to mention Pascal Vincent. You know, he got bumped at the head gig. This guy's been paying his dues for about 22 years. A head coach in the Q for 11, a Winnipeg assistant for five,

head coach AHL Manitoba for five, and then he's been an assistant in Columbus for the last two. So this is a guy who's deserved a chance. He probably should have got it from the get-go. So I just want to acknowledge that as well. Fucking right, man. New blood. Absolutely.

And you know what that's a tough gig dude to echo your sentiments with i i loved going to columbus i think that that fan base is so loyal despite maybe not having success i i fucking i hope this galvanizes the group and i hope they end up surprising people and sneak in a wild card spot and make playoffs it's going to be obviously it's going to be tough sledding for them. And I don't think that they're quite there yet, but I like Fantilli. They got some great fucking young blood on that team. And I hope that they end up coming up to play this season.

And I hope this doesn't distract them. And I've, I've already said it once. If you're a media member, let it die. Let this die. Let these guys focus on hockey. And let's just move forward.

They didn't do fuck all. They just want to play hockey. And in terms of Pascal Vincent, actually, like, that's tough. I mean, I would imagine that you get your first chance to be an NHL head coach. You spend all summer. You're going through possible line scenarios. You're working with the assistant coaches on how you want to approach forecheck, power play, special teams. Well, the guy's got two days before camp.

So it's hard for him. I'm sure it's a dream come true. He mentioned he didn't want to have it happen this way, which I understand, but he's getting the chance and it's going to be kind of quick learning on the goal for him. And I wish him all the best. And I wish that team the best.

Guys, it was when it rains, it pours in Columbus. I don't know if you guys saw the Tate McRae music video that just got put out this past weekend where she used to be dating Cole Sillinger, the prospect on the Columbus Blue Jackets. They just recently broke up. She just put out a video of her riding a Zamboni, dancing as seductively as you've ever seen in a... At the Rent-A-Skate room, whatever. Exactly. I don't know. That kid's a stallion.

I'm sure he'll do okay. He is a man missile. Not to mention, like, they had the press conference today with Davidson and Kekeleinan. Ohio State plays Notre Dame this weekend. So the city of Columbus has way bigger things on their mind. Let's be honest here. Because Buckeye football to them trounces the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Yeah, huge out there. So, boys, you want to send it over to Chelios right now? He had a good perspective on things, obviously. Yeah, and you know what, guys? We talked to Chelios about a lot of stuff, right? We had him on to talk about Babs, but we go into a bunch of different things. His summer, what's going on,

his year with ESPN last year. So this does not continue as Babcock bashing. It's an interview with a Hall of Famer and a legend. So enjoy. This interview is brought to you by Chevy. Chevy has convenient ways to research and shop electric vehicles online. When researching, utilize Chevy MyWay. Vehicle specialists and hosts give a virtual tour

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Learn more at chevy.com slash electric. Well, it's been way too long since we've had this legend on the show. Almost 2000 regular season and playoff games of pro hockey, three Norris trophies, three Stanley cups, one of the NHL's 100th greatest players. And of course, he's a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. We are very happy to welcome back to the Spittin' Chicklets podcast, Chris Chelios with Shake and Chelly. Not much. Just enjoying a good summer. You know, been in Chicago most of the summer. Traveling a lot. A lot of music shows.

So it's been a great summer. Looks like you're getting some rays, too. Yeah, still got that Malibu place. So we get out there. But it's been a great summer. Looks like you're getting some rays too. Yeah, still got that Malibu place. So we get out there. But it's been extremely warm everywhere, quite honestly. So there's nothing better than Chicago summers, quite honestly. It's been a great summer boating and being on that lake. You mentioned before we started going here that you're buddies with the guys

who run Lollapalooza, which is the festival they do downtown Chicago. Have you been going, do you go there usually every year? Every year, right downtown, the boats right there, just you spend a day in the boat and head over to the, you know, venue over, it's just by Soldier's Field in Grant Park, but it's over, you know, a million people. I think that's one of their biggest ones. Three guys from Austin, all named Charlie, just, you know, coincidence. They're all named Charlie. They call it the three C's and, and they started this festival with the guy from, what's it, Will Ferrell, not Will Ferrell, but Perry, Perry. Oh, Perry Ferrell. Perry Ferrell. So yeah, it's been a lot of fun going to South America. And I think Austin City Limits is the

next big one they have. And just a great group of guys. I love music. I don't know much about music, but I do love going to these outdoor venues. So they throw all the big festivals? Yeah. You just mentioned that Austin City Limits, that's huge. What other big ones are they doing? Well, the one in Sao Paulo is huge. In Brazil, Chile, they throw a big one there. But Chicago, I think, is definitely the biggest one.

And it all banks on the weather, right? So if they get weather, you know, it's a younger crowd here in Chicago. You know, the last two days in Asbury, much older crowd. But they had the Beach Boys and some other bands from the past. And, you know, that's kind of where Springsteen, you know, we kind of built that place over there with those guys. So I don't know if you've ever been to Asbury, but it's a really neat little town. Did he play at that one? That's kind of where Springsteen, you know, we kind of built that place over there with those guys. So I don't know if you've ever been to Asbury,

but it's a really neat little town. Did he play at that one, Shelly, this year? Springsteen did not. Someone said he's sick right now. So usually he pops over there. But, you know, a saxophone player, Clarence Clemons' kid was there, Jake. And a lot of people just show up and jump on stage. And then it's those after parties that are really cool. And all these guys get together and,

and just go up on stage and jam for a few hours at a local bar. But the guy from food fighters is crazy. He's got so much energy. He's that Dave Grohl. Oh, Dave Grohl. Yeah. Unbelievable.

He just must love what he's doing. Cause you gotta, you know, get them off stage. Yeah. I mean, two, two iconic bands and he's so generous too.

Like he brought that young girl, the little black girl plays the drums. He brought out her on stage. He brings all these guests on. Yeah. He's, he's so generous, too. Like, he brought that young girl, the little black girl who plays the drums. He brought out her on stage. He brings all these guests on. Yeah, he's a great guy. Who headlined the Asbury one this year? It was the Foo Fighters last night. The night before that, the Killers.

Actually, the Killers grabbed some kid out of the crowd to play the drums, and he absolutely nailed it. It was amazing. So I don't know if it was fixed or not. It sure looked like it might have been. But, God, it was pretty cool to see this kid jump up there and do that. Well, another cool thing with the musical acts was your boy, Eddie Vedder, with the big surprise and telling you that you were going to get

your jersey retired by the Blackhawks. Now, did you have any clue that was going to go down? I'm telling you, I looked back, and there were so many signs, like my daughter flying in the town. Yeah, and Eddie played it so good. I guess they were working on it for two months, And I look back and there are so many signs, like my daughter flying. Really? Yeah. And Eddie played it so good. I guess they were working on it for two months. And I swear to God, you guys, even when I was on the stage, the show before that on Tuesday, as I was leaving the stage, the drummer, Matt Cameron, you know, says to me, good job.

Now get the F off the stage. And I'm like, Jesus, this guy don't really like, they don't usually do things like that. and I'm like, Jesus, this guy don't really like, they don't usually do things like that. I think the last time, you know, Dennis Rodman got on stage, you know, he wouldn't get off the stage and the band had a meeting and he wasn't allowed backstage anymore. So, you know, come Thursday when Eddie was doing even halfway through the presentation, you know, I saw him put my highlights on there. I still had no idea what was going on until they dropped the banner in the video that it, then it hit me. But almost like a blackout.

It was crazy. All I wanted to do was get off that goddamn stage. Eddie kept bugging me and said, hold on, hold on. As he put the microphone away, he said, just wait a second. So they got me really good, I've got to be honest with you. It was pretty special. I've known those guys since 95, so it was great. Yeah, how did you get to know them?

Like, I mean, obviously you probably go into a lot of their shows, right? Yeah. I mean, as many as I can, I'm going to go to Austin tomorrow, but again, Rodman, Eddie was a big Chicago sports fan. You know, he grew up here. Not real long. I think he left at the age of 10 or 11, but, you know, he was coming into town to watch the Bulls run and i saw him in a bar

and he's just staring at me and somehow we had this connection that you know we our paths were very similar that we grew up in chicago moved to san diego and then he went to seattle for his big break and i took off from moose jaw saskatchewan to get you know where everything turned around for me so and it's been great you know i'm not as close with the other guys but they've treated me unbelievably i've been able to go on some pretty special trips and jump on the plane with them you know someday i'll be look back they're not old enough yet but like the stones or like you know some of these other bands they're an incredible band where's the coolest venue you think you've ever seen them play i would say out in Italy. I love Italy. Florence is no more beautiful city.

Four Seasons in Italy is probably the most beautiful hotel in all the world. That's probably the coolest place that I've ever been to see them play. I saw them at Fenway a few years ago. It's almost like cathartic when you see them because they just pour everything out. You just rock out. You feel like you had a religious revival or something.

You mentioned Fenway. I think if we're counting the U're counting us it's got to be fenway or madison square garden you know that place is special whether it's a sporting event or even you know a concert it's there's something about that garden that brings out the best to everybody have you ever talked to him about like the dynamic within a band like the fact that they've made it this long like do they just all get along that well do they want to continue to do this is there ever a sign of them maybe kind of shutting it down or you're not even really get into that with them no i i think they all get along but you know like for us for hockey players you guys are together all the time you know 20 we go to

meals together and you're you spend quite those guys tend to go on their own you know because they're together so much in the studio. But, I mean, I just think back to that Pearl Jam, that documentary they did. And like a lot of the bands, as you mentioned, a lot of them break up because they can't get along. But these guys, I mean, they're solid. And they're all good guys, and they do their own thing.

And, you know, Eddie's the one that tends to get out a lot, you know, socialize with people. He likes to help people, whether it's race car. The guy that ran the guy over on the track in the race car, he pretty much saved him from jumping off a cliff, that driver that did that. So he got a big heart, Eddie, and there's not enough of him. People are always asking him for stuff, and he has a hard time saying no, but he's amazing.

I just want to quickly get back to the Chicago thing. When you ended up getting traded to Detroit, at the time, that was a big rivalry. It still is, but maybe not of the magnitude that it was when you were traded. Was there some bad blood between the Chicago fan base and maybe the way in the hostility towards you because you went to the rival? Oh, God. I mean, i got booed

every time i came back the first game and scotty bowman after the second period said look at you know michael jordan had come to the game to watch uh and scotty after the second period just came up to me he goes hey go take your stuff off and go drink with your buddies uh mj up in the suite so i i got to miss the third period and sit in the suite with MJ. That's how bad the crowd was. Scotty said, you're keeping the crowd in this one. And it went on for years until the Blackhawks finally went on that run with a cup and had the success they did. They kind of forgot about me.

But it could have been a disaster had it not lasted as long as I did with Detroit because I really had nowhere to go. Detroit hated me from the eight prior years before that and then Chicago turned on me the minute I you know put that jersey on in Detroit so I got lucky with that one what like I mean did you feel like a turncoat or was it just a contract situation like what was the dynamic that ended up leading you to the rival yeah well Bob Murray you know things weren't going well that was probably the that was the only year we didn't make the playoffs, or I didn't make the playoffs, and Bob Murray

called me up, and I said, listen, you know, this isn't working. You guys, give me an extension. No more money, but I wanted, you know, some kind of security, and he just said to me, listen, why don't you just play another year, and then we'll, you know, you can retire, and you can work in management, and I just sat there and go,

I think I got some, I got a few miles left on this body of mine. So, yeah, so, you know you can retire and you can work in management and i just sat there and go i think i got some i got a few miles left on this body of mine so yeah so you know and and that's what it was in dirk graham at that time my ex-teammate was a coach and all the signs were there they wouldn't let me bring my kids to the rink anymore and they were trying it was like who was the one that was going to be the first one to either get traded or ask for the trade and i i just said i don't want to embarrass myself in front of the team or the city. And it just wasn't right. So it was time to go. And it worked out great.

Is that why you think the surprise was so enormous for you of getting the jersey retired by them? Yeah, I mean, I left on great terms with Mr. Wurtz, meaning Bill Wurtz and Rocky Wurtz. But quite honestly, it's something I always thought about. But at the end of the day, I didn't think I played in any place long enough. You know, Montreal was seven years, Chicago a little bit over eight, and then Detroit 10, so I just felt like that was probably the one thing. Had I played with, you know, one team my whole career, I think playing 26 years, it would have been more realistic to feel like I was going to get my jersey retired but and I wasn't even thinking about it quite honestly at this point because it's been so long I mean I I've just like baffled like did the fit were the fans unaware of what was going on behind

the scenes and after you were booed the first time did you try to vocalize that via the media saying like I wanted to stay stick around like I wanted to sign and get some security these guys thought I was done. I ended up playing another 10 fucking years. Yeah. Like, that's crazy. I should have probably came out and said that. But, again, it was a tough couple years for me

when I came back to Chicago, people yelling at me on the street, you know, with my kids, young kids, getting in fights actually outside a Cubs game with my dad, you know, fighting other people. So it was brutal. My dad had to close the bar down. I had a bar in Madison and, you know, he couldn't take people, you know, what they were doing to me. And then at night they honored me. Just a few years later, the, the, uh, the Hawks honored me, you know,

Rocky thought it'd be a great idea. And John McDonough. And I told him, you know, even it hasn't been long enough. And they booed the shit out of me. I didn't finish my speech. I crumbled up my speech and I threw the microphone to JR on the ice and said, I'm out of here. So it was bad. My, you know, my daughter started bawling her eyes out on the ice because what they were doing. So, uh, yeah, I, I never expected it to be that bad, but it, it got bad. Oh, they still love you in Atlanta, Chelya. I know that. I got them out of the league and then moved

them. There's been a lot of talk lately. I don't know if the NHL is going to expand it out, but do you think under the right circumstances, right arena, right owner, hockey could work in Atlanta? Yeah, I mean, again, it has a lot to do with you look at what Vegas did. You've got to win. Vegas, Seattle, and to come

out of the gate like these two teams have with their expansion, if they can put a good team on the ice, and I think the way it's set up now, it's not like it used to be where you get an expansion team and they're terrible for years. So, yeah, I do think it's a great sports town. They had it there for a while. And as I said, that city needs something. That downtown area, it's beat up pretty bad.

So, with a new rink and the right people running it, I think it would be a great place to put a team. I think a lot of people forget that that's where you finished off. I actually played against you when I was with the Coyotes and I asked you for a signed stick. You gave me a signed Warrior stick. There you go. Well, they shouldn't have picked me.

That last seven games, I put them out of the playoffs. I was there to mentor Zach Bogosian. It was just the blind leading the blind there. So, yeah. Miz sold the stick anyways. Yeah, right. Thanks, Miz. But, you know, like I said, it was, you know, Don Waddell.

We had some history. So he thought I could come in and help some of the young guys. And the timing was terrible. I was at the Olympics in Vancouver for two weeks, you know, doing nothing but drinking with everybody. And then, you know, then they call me up the day I get back from Vancouver. But lady luck was over for me. I was out of shape and never played my way into shape. And it was time, though. It was I'm glad I did it. And I'm glad no one even know I knew I went there. So a heck of a career. And I think, you I think we'll let the elephant out of the bag here.

I think one of the main components as to why we wanted to get you on was to talk about this Babcock situation. And from a guy who at the point in time where you were playing for him, you'd establish your career, and you were probably well on to being a Hall of Famer at that point. And you guys seemed to really butt heads. I just wanted to get your thoughts on not only the firing but like the dynamic between him and the players when when you were playing with him or for him excuse me in Detroit yeah I mean at the end of the day the

things he did and it's out there now with you know what happened with Marner in Toronto to get him fired and you know now what happened with columbus and and with detroit uh it's just so unnecessary uh the things he did to players and how awkward and uncomfortable and even you know you said you're winning you know you go to the rink you could put up with it if you're winning even when we were winning it wasn't fun coming to the rink for a lot of people players and uh some of me keeps telling me he's trying to get fired and just take his money and run i don't know what it you know what the settlement was this time that he stepped down or he was getting paid. But he's smart like a fox, this guy.

But, again, my history goes back to him when I played in Moose Jaw. He was playing in the Saskatchewan League against me. Then I go sign with Montreal. He was then attending McGill University. So we go back, way back. And then the third day of camp, he called me in his office and said, hey, you remember me? And I knew this was going to go bad right from day one. I said, no, I don't remember you.

So that didn't start things off on the right foot either, meaning that I remember from playing against him in our Montreal days. But I just, like I said, what he did, and thank God the players, most of the time, as you know, those guys are afraid to step up and go public with things like this. And this time between the PA and the Columbus players, at least they all stuck together. Now they don't have to start the season having to worry about what they should

have done. They should be worrying about hockey and that's it. It was just absolute garbage what he did. So you said, he said he's smart like a fox, right? And and one thing that caught me off guard was he actually exchanged family photos with Yarmul. So Yarmul was almost sticking up for him in the press conference. But I feel like he's got a way about how he goes about these things where he almost establishes that that picture sharing. But then as the story started to roll out and we're not going to share all of them because we want to protect some of the

younger guys, but he doesn't go about it the same way with the older guys as he does with the young guys. Like in some cases it was very predatory in a sense of there's not like a, it's not a question of whether you're handing a phone over. It's give me your phone. We're going to look through your photos. Yeah. And then still can't believe it that you would even do that. Like what? He's never heard of Facebook or Instagram? You want to get to know the families?

Go on their Instagram and go through their social media. Like, that's just as – it's just crazy what he did. And you're right. He'd take advantage. The Marner's a perfect example. And what he did was try and turn, you know, players against players or use one of the guys to be basically his rat to see, you know, what the guys are saying behind his back. And, you know, I've always said there's too many good people in hockey that have to deal with someone like him.

And, you know, there's absolutely no way he's going to coach again in the league. That's going to be it for him. But it's just a shame that like Johan Fransen comes to mind. What do you put that poor kid through when he was suffering through the concussion thing and literally was calling him in the office once a week to tell him that he's a fat pig and, you know, your teammates hate you. Why don't you just quit? So he's done some pretty malicious things over the course of his career.

Well, one of the ones was with you at the outdoor game, right? And at that time, like, he was trying to mess with you, but you're a veteran. How was, like, would you be telling him to fuck off to his face like what was the dynamic between you and him when all this was going down honestly at that point in my career uh that i played song i didn't want to move my family i didn't want to be traded i love detroit and thank god kenny holland and jim nill and the illiches had my back now they couldn't tell babs to play me or not you you know, but, but what they could do is say, you're not going to get rid of them. And it went as far as I knew

that, you know, the secretary working right outside of Kenny Holland's office. So anytime Babs are going to Kenny's office to have a meeting, she could hear everything. And Babs was trying to get me traded. And one example was like, well, okay, Babs, let me know what's he doing? He goes, well, I tell him to do this, but he doesn't want to do it. And Kenny says, but does he do it? He says, yeah, but he doesn't want to. He goes, well, as long as he does what you tell him to do, he's on the team. So that's the kind of stuff he was doing.

And, you know, the McCrimmon, when they got rid of McCrimmon, Babs was trying to blame Kenny. Kenny, you know, it was unbelievable, the manipulating. And, you know, like I said, it was horrible. So if I'd have been 10 years younger, I would have asked to be traded. And, yeah, I would have told him to beat it. What's interesting to me, too, is in talking to other guys, is that he knew what he was doing in a sense of maybe kissing up to certain media members. Like everything was so coordinated with him, which made it even more like malicious

and kind of mean in a sense. So you'd agree in a sense of seeing him treat certain people that he needed on his side the right way. And then people who he didn't need, it was just, fuck you, get away from me. Absolutely. And I'm not going to mention names either,

but the guys from the media, he had those guys in his office more than anybody. So, yes, he knew what he was doing. He's very calculated. And he just needed a few guys in his corner. And, you know, even the people that he surrounded himself with from back home, they'd come into the bar. And the word that comes to mind is, like, really disrespectful.

Jesus Christ, the people that worked in the concessions hated him. How do you do that? Like, how do you get those people that work at the arenas to hate you that much? So he just treated people poorly. Jelly, with the camera stuff, is it just about, like, powers, or, like, trying to, like, psych these guys out and get inside their head? Like, what's his aim with that, with, like, the younger guys? Well, this ego and power trip he was on, you know, throughout his whole career.

But young guys, you know, he can go after young guys. They're scared. They just want to play. You know, and I don't blame the young guys for being silent. But I'll tell you what, I give credit to the Players Association flying down there. Yeah. Like you said, Biz, there's more to it than, you know, everybody knows. And I think, you know, Babcock realized that, you know,

he can't keep writing these statements about how he thought it was positive because it was probably snowballing and all of it was going to come out eventually. Do you think the Columbus room, is it going to be tough for them to come together now after Boone gave his statement back at Babcock as the captain? Is this something they'll be able to

get past quickly? Because there's a lot of new guys, new faces in that room too. No, I think the fact that he's gone now, it'll make him stronger. Someone tried to do that, and ultimately they all – and everybody knows Boone. He's just scared. He was afraid. Right, right.

And he didn't want to upset management. I get it. I've been there. But, again, it's good that the players – and I'm sure the veteran players, you know they had meetings like amongst each other i'm guessing and uh at the end of the day i think all those guys it's going to be behind them in no time and for they'll make them stronger because they stuck together against the guy who really deserved what he got that's like the one thing i wanted i i already i mean we're going to

be rolling this out uh after we talk about it on the podcast and we're pre-recording it but i wanted to emphasize is like no none of the energy should be focused on boone jenner or johnny goudreau basically having to stick up for their coach in that circumstance because if he doesn't end up getting fired and nothing comes of it he's got the their careers in the palm of his hand and i know johnny signed up for as many years and with the money he's making but as far as Boone Jenner, like you don't know what's going to happen with him. Like he doesn't know what he's going to do with his career. And as far as the young guys are concerned and the,

and the way different dynamic on how it was handled, they, those guys are probably scared fucking shitless. Yeah. And, and again, there's no reason at all that Babcock should have put these guys in this position.

He, you know, it's divisive and that's what he did. So, but again, I think the players, they're going to, hockey players are hockey players. They're going to support each other. And like I said, this would be forgotten. I don't know.

Have they named the head coach yet? Yeah. Vincent, Pascal Vincent. Okay. Well, you know, like I said, it'll be behind him quick. And the good thing is it happened before this, you know, right before training camp. So that's good that I guess he was in Traverse City and the next day he was gone. So, you know, the timing was perfect that this all

came out. Quickly, just changing subjects a little bit. Enjoyed you this year on ESPN. I know you won't be back, but did you enjoy it? Did you kind of expect what it ended up being like? Like, what was your thoughts on the year, you know, doing TV work with ESPN? Ian like like what was your thoughts on the year um you know doing tv work with ESPN I mean I loved working with mess and leaves and those guys uh it was it was a way to stay relevant not that I to me that was real important but it was great being around the guys again um I think you know you're you're in that it's for me it was real tough uh to be critical on players but you know you call I'd like the thing. I just call it like I see it.

And, you know, if a guy has a bad game, he has a bad game. And it never got personal with me with any of the players. But to answer your question, yeah, I really enjoyed it. And I was kind of surprised I didn't get asked back. But, you know, like I said, it was a good experience. And, you know, maybe it will open some doors here chicago for me uh my daughter's doing the same thing so i got to work a couple games with her gives me a little more free time but i really did enjoy you know the time i had with them for that two years and then it's yeah i guess i'm more and more comfortable as we went on

and like i said it you hate getting traded you hate hate getting fired. So I didn't like it too much that I was released. A good buddy of mine, Brandon Yip, has played with your son Jake for a while. And he got married this summer. Was that a blast or what? Oh, my God. Yeah. Not the whole Chinese team was here, but we were represented. I don't know if you guys saw that, but at some point, uh, Ty Domi was in town and he's really good friends with Drake.

So he brang Drake to the, the party. Yeah, it was unbelievable. And he surprised my son, tapped him on the shoulder and my son turned around and then he looked again and goes, what the, so these guys are doing shots for an hour and a half with Drake and Yip and those,

the teammates were there. But yeah, it was a heck of a wedding. We had, we had a great time. Does he tell you stories about Billy, the billionaire owner of the team? No, no, I didn't get a chance. He was talking to all the young kids.

I got to speak with him a little bit with Ty at the restaurant they were at for a few minutes. But, you know, like I said, we're sitting there. And I said, look, I'd like to stay, but we got to get going. My son's getting married tomorrow and we're going to go to this bar that we're having a little party there. He goes, well, where is it? I said, well, that's five minutes away. We got in these three escalades and it was like a, you know, it was unbelievable, like barreling through the city with Drake and, but you know, Ty, Ty's, you know, like he's like, he's the king of everybody, Ty. So, but it was, it was quite a show to have him there. I knew he was a big

hockey fan, but that's awesome. Back to the TV for a sec, Chell. Are you able to watch Biz much when he's on TNT? Oh, yeah. I yell at, I text Gretz, I should text you, Biz, to wake Gretz up once in a while. He just goes off in a tent

in this little Lala world. But yeah, I love watching you guys. I mean, that's I look forward to intermissions and watching you guys all the time. He's just thinking about lining up his next foursome on the golf course. Yeah, exactly. Golfing with MJ at the Grove and DJ and all the

big dogs. So yeah, he's a legend. It's so fun to work with him and man, his brain as far as how much he can remember about his playing days he's a hockey encyclopedia like you remember as much as he remembers about everything that's happened no the stories are endless with him and he's a great storyteller and i'm sure you've been in the rooms afterwards with him oh yeah it just goes on and great stories like funny stories and

just he loves everything about the game and he just he does you know gretz he's a little shy sometimes and he can get timid but you get him in closed doors with the guys and a couple drinks he's no one better oh he's the best i just had one more thing one more thing about babs i kind of forgot to ask before you go and that is like in your opinion do you think right now he still actually thinks he didn't do anything wrong because in talking to some certain guys that played for him they're all like oh he's probably blaming someone else right now as we speak oh there's no question there's no question he doesn't think he did anything wrong i mean whether it's his ego or you know people can actually lie and you start

believing your lies now he's a literary giant, this guy, right? He's a psychologist. He thinks he knows more than everybody. So he can write or talk his way out of anything. That's, that's, that's the gift that he has, but you know, he didn't get out of this one because he must've known it was coming. And, uh, again, I, I just said, you don't want to say you hate the guy, but what he did was unnecessary. And you heard a lot of people over the years. And once again, to do what he did, you know, after what happened in Toronto, it's crazy. So, yeah. One last one for me, Charlie. What's your favorite Pearl Jam album? Oh, my God.

It has to be 10. You know, the first one. It's like the easiest one you put on when you jump on the bike in the morning. And it just amps up as the album goes on and gets you fired up. So, yeah, that just reminds me of the album goes on and gets you fired up so yeah that just reminds you of the 90s and bringing you back to those times and you're watching eddie climb through the rafters and jump like surface jump off the stage and surf the people like it's it's amazing if you look at some of the documentaries that what he's done and what that band's been through

are you still ripping 45 minute hour-long bikes every morning? Nah. Yeah. I mean, I'm riding the bike a lot. Right now, I'm sitting outside the Russian bathhouse. You guys ruined my sauna time. So I'm half sweaty here now. I had to get out. But, yeah, I try and do something every day, at least 45 minutes to an hour of cardio. And if I don't, then I just eat or – I'm not going to say I drink less, but I eat less. How's that?

All right, Charlie, thank you so much. You're the one who made the sauna and the cold tubs cool before everybody started Instagramming about it. Yeah. No, I'd like to think, like you said, it started back in Montreal, actually Wisconsin, with the sauna. And then the cold tub, Montreal had that old, you know, those old stainless steel cold tubs and they just fill up, every trainer filled them with ice and it was all part. I didn't realize how good it was for

it and healthy it was for it, especially getting rid of all the inflammation at my age. So it's, uh, I'm, that's one thing I'm addicted to is that sauna and the coal plunge. Yeah. You were just trying to recover from the pops. Who knew it was so good for you, right? Yeah. That's the easy way to sweat that stuff out. That's for sure. Well, Hey, we appreciate your time. You're a legend. Congratulations on everything, including the jersey retirement. And, hey, if we got boys, we should probably try to head over to Chicago for it. Hey, save the date.

What date is it? 24th, February 24th will be the party. February 25th will be the actual game against Detroit and the hanging of the jersey. But, yeah, save the date, you guys. Maybe TNT will cover that game. That'd be a good one. Let's do it. Yeah. Gretz will be there. MJ will be there. They'll all be there. Oh yeah. First rounds on MJ. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You can afford it now. Yeah. Yeah.

Thanks so much, Shell. All right, guys. Thanks. All right. Okay, buddy. Take care. Before we continue guys, I need to talk to you about Peter Millar. As we move throughout the year, hot summer temperatures are giving way to cooler mornings and evenings. And that's why our friends at Peter Millar are constantly developing lightweight layers perfect for the changing season. Whether it's a little cool in the morning and you're teeing off around 8 a.m. on a nice beautiful fall Sunday before football and then it gets a little warm, you can wear the quarter zips. You can wear these shirts all day long. It doesn't matter. And this year, Peter Millar has introduced an all-new hoodie, the Beaumont. It features performance benefits like four-way stretch, moisture-wicking fabric,

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Just an absolute legend of the game, and I love that he's such a huge Pearl Jam fan. Boys, we should try to get out there for that number retirement, like you mentioned. That would be awesome. That would be awesome. Drink it with MJ. Maybe we'll get the invite to the...

Oh, you've actually been to the Grove, haven't you, Whit? Yes. Dan's brought you? Incredible. Maybe we'll get a sandbagger against MJ and Wayne. Imagine that. I played with MJ. Tough stakes for you, Biz.

You don't want to play in that game. Oh, I know. He's carrying around his cash in the movie. This is $5 Nassau. It won't work. Sorry. I'll just get him waffled by the fucking eighth hole. That's all.

It'll be good. One other note, too. I just want to give props to our co-workers, John Feidelberg, Tommy Sm uh they did a video sort of a skit i guess satirizing the whole thing that happened and they took something that was shitty it made it absolutely hysterical so we just want to go was that funny doff our caps to them if you haven't seen it yet uh check it out it was just uh like i said something that sucked but they made it funny so go enjoy it but uh a few things happened this week too how about j about Judd Matnook, our buddy? Nickelback.

I mean, I think he's the Eskimo brothers with Glenny Balls now. They actually brought him up on stage. Dude, he fucking killed it. Did you see the video, Merle? Yeah. Unbelievable. Good sign for the Canes. That's a good offseason.

Good sign for them. How about the glow up on Matnook? He goes from being put on waivers at the beginning of last season to having a career year, lightening up in playoffs, and now he's starring at rock shows with Nickelback. So good for our Birdman, buddy. Piz, would you be able to go up there with a band and sing along like that? Not a chance. I don't have the balls for that.

No way. Who are you with? No, dude. My voice is horrendous. My body's horrible. I got no moves, and I'm just overall pretty awkward. My body's horrible. I got no moves. And I'm just overall pretty awkward. So that's a no.

All right. We got to get you up on stage singing some with Dirty Honey at Chicklet's Cup. Oof. It's funny. I had that weird thought in my head the other day. Like, what if they try to bring me up? I'm like, I got to find a stone song I know every single word to. Because I do a pretty good Mick Jagger with.

You have to have a song that you know every word to, no? Yeah, no, I got a few of them, yeah. I got my wedding. I did Let's Spend the Night Together. Obviously, it was getting better. You did karaoke at your own wedding? No, I like lipstick. It was at a Chinese restaurant, so that's why it was perfect. No, it was McGill and Dodd down in Philly.

No, I do a sick Mick Jagger, like not singing, but like the whole body impersonation. Yeah, we saw it in Philly that time. Yeah, and I won tickets to their concert down in Tampa back in 98, 99. I won a concert at a local bar and got hooked up. Gate is at Treasure Island. So, all right, moving right along. The Bruins, they had a fashion show Saturday night to debut their 100th anniversary jerseys.

They're going to wear them all year. A home jersey, a road jersey, and a special one for when they play original six teams. But it was pretty cool. It was at the JetBlue Hangar at the airport. You didn't have to go in the airport the usual way. Didn't have to get molested by TSA. They had parking right out front, and you walk in, and there's the big Bear Force One JetBlue airplane right in the room.

And then they had Lucic, Marchand, and Carlo come out to debut the jerseys. Did you get a look at them, Whit? I did. That's what they call the team plane, the Bear Force One. No, it wasn't actually the team plane, but that particular version of it is Bear Force One. I don't know who flies on it, if it's the general public or whatever.

But it was pretty cool having it there. I thought it was pretty cool. Marshawn could be a guy who joined a rock star, a rock band on stage the way he walked the runway there. He was just pointing at people. He looked very natural doing that. I agreed with Grinelli's take. I think there's one extra band on the arm of each jersey.

I still love the jerseys. I really thought that they came out real well, but there's just an extra stripe on the arm I would have gotten away from. And I actually thought the biggest fumble of the night, besides them being associated with JetBlue, one of the most disgraceful airlines in the world, just a horrible, horrible airline. They've completely lost their way.

They started off strong years ago. Their planes suck. The new planes are okay, but the old ones are such shit the tv screen is the size of like the mini iphones everything's broken but whatever jet blue's trash but what that bruins fumbled was i thought it was the perfect time to announce their new captain now obviously something like that is is something you're not going to rush into i actually was surprised i think there's eight teams right now without a captain,

which to me seems nuts. One of the coolest articles. Don't you feel like, for respect for Patrice Bergeron, that's the type of captaincy that you wait one year to then give out? Like Detroit ended up waiting a little bit of time after Lidstrom. Like they might've waited a couple of years

to give it over to Larkin, where right now I don't think the Coyotes have a captain either. So I just feel that like it would probably show a couple of years to give it over to Larkin where right now I don't think the Coyotes have a captain either. So I just feel that like it would probably show a lot of respect, even though they have Marchie and a few other guys like like McAvoy who probably could take it and deserve it. I just feel like you kind of let that one sit for a year. I see your argument. I would probably argue that Montgomery and Bergeron, who I'm sure would be willing to meet with the guy that they chose. And Patrice is like... Well, who do you pick?

Marshy? It's Marshy or McAvoy for me. And I think Pasta's there, just maybe with the language. And I know that's not fair. His English is really good. But Marshy or McAvoy to me. English is really good. But Marcia or McAvoy to me,

I just think if you're announcing a new jersey in this special 100th year anniversary, it would be pretty cool to announce a captain. I know what you're saying. But more than anything, I was going to bring up an article. And I don't know what year this was. It was probably the late 90s, maybe early 2000s. Sports Illustrated had an article, and it was a picture of all the captains.

It was such a cool picture. And now currently there's eight teams without a captain. It's pretty surprising. Oh, wow. That's how many? Yeah. I got all eight for you right here. Anaheim, Coyotes, Bruins, Flames, Blackhawks, Flyers, Kraken, and St. Louis Blues.

Calgary has been since 21 and near Cote since 21 no i heard the coyotes are named but the other day it was a jim from the delta house they decided he was going to be the captain shut the fuck up all right you piece of shit i would say that i would say that if they had to give on you give it to kelz and not the most vocal guy but just from what he came back last year and the way that he approaches the game and his professionalism, I mean, he's going to be here. He's got a contract for at least another five years.

So if I'm the Coyotes, I end up picking Kells. Maybe they'll do it when they get back from the Australia trip because they went off there to kick off camp, but maybe they want to wait. I'll give you my, like, what do they do when they show you a card and you have to say, like, what you think of first?

What's that called already? A Rorschach test. Yeah, so give me the teams, and I'll give you my name. Anaheim. Fowler. McTavish. What? Yeah, I do.

Before Fowler? Hey. You can't give it to McTavish now. I'm doing the Roku test. Oh, okay. So stop bugging me. All right, sure, sure. Coyotes.

Keller. Bruins. McAvoy. Flames. Backland. Blackhawks. Bedard, just fucking give it to him, Christ. Like, that one, I can't even do the Rokushish game.

Felino? Maybe Jones? Felino, I think he even do the Jones game. Maybe Jones. Felino. I think it'll only be there a year or two. That's too tough. I guess. I guess Jones, but I don't even hate giving it to Bedard. Yeah. Three A's maybe.

No, you can't. You can't do Bedard, but go ahead. Flyers. Jesus Christ. That's a tough scene right now. Tattoo it on Torts' forehead. Gritty. In other Flyers news,

their big top draft pick couldn't get ice time on his real KHL team. He got loaned to another one. So, yeah. No shit. Things are great for Flyers. Seattle. Eberle.

And last one, St. Louis Blues. Braden Shen. That's it. Now, obviously And last one, St. Louis Blues. Braden Shen. That's it. Now, obviously, a lot goes into that, and it's a tough decision. And I do understand what you're saying, Biz. I just thought for the jersey announcement, it would have been cool. But we'll see. It has to be an NHL record is the amount of teams who don't have a captain named.

But I like that approach. If there isn't a standout there's no reason that you have to be forced to do it just wait as far as they're not doing it the other night i think the the thinking was that would overshadow because you want to debut these new jerseys you want to sell them so if they announce the captain that would have probably overshadowed bringing out the jerseys so you're getting two headlines instead of maybe one headline and like a subhead you know what i mean yeah it could have overshadowed sort of cannibalize each other story-wise uh as far as flying what you gotta get dude i'll tell you what when the amazon prime has those sales for one day amazon fire it's like

50 bucks when they sell them best thing to take for movies man you could download movies from netflix for travel they don't have to worry about the internet and shitty tvs what are you talking about he's talking about the little screens on the jet blue flights. When you're talking about jet blue flying the shitty TVs, dude, I got an Amazon fire like on sale, dude, you can download. A lot of people don't know this.

You can download movies from Netflix, prime HBO max, not permanently. Like while they're on those services, you can download them and have them on your, uh, your, your tablet,

your Amazon. So when you're on the plane and the internet sucks, they're on this. You can watch them like when any, without the plane and the internet sucks, they're on there. So you can watch them without any issues on the internet. You get what I'm saying? Yeah. I know you don't.

No, I just think you saying you can download movies onto your iPad is pretty well known. No, but from Netflix and those services. That's what I mean. A lot of people don't know you can do them when they're currently on that.

Oh, okay. Well, San Tapio is after, too. When you're people don't know you can do them when they're currently on that. Oh, okay. Then a little San Tapio's after two. When you're in East Boston, you've got to hit up San Tapio's. I saw that spread you had. Holy shit, R.A. That was a meal and a half. Did you eat the whole pizza too? Yep.

I sat there. They closed at 10, and the lady's like, oh, you can stay. We still got to clean up. I had a couple of bats while I was there. I says, I'm trying to tie my record because I went there years ago. I ate the whole pie, all the lamb, and all the bread. So the other night, I missed one piece of lamb and didn't finish the bread, but I whacked out that whole pizza, though, yeah.

That a boy, all right. This is from a guy who said he eats healthier than me. Hey, couple of clicks. Oh, yeah. Wait, what? Gee, a couple of shows ago, trying to say I was like a junk food fiend because I picked on him about his chicken fingers that you've always been saying it went. I don't eat fucking gross food.

I think both you guys eat like sewer rats, to be honest. It's insane. Where's that come from? Your body is an anomaly, R.A. R.A., I've never seen you have a green. That's what I was saying. Gee, I haven't seen you either have a green. I eat a salad every day, chicken and rice every single day. That's why he got so. Gee, I haven't seen you either have a green. I eat a salad every day.

Chicken and rice every single day. That's why he got so sick Chicken and rice is your salad? Wait, you've seen me one time get McDonald's when we were in San Jose.

That's the only time you've ever seen me eat fast food Hey, that's why Gee got so sick. He ate a salad and his body rejected it. I mean, wait,

you've never seen me eat any fast food or any like trash like stuff like that, right? I mean. Candy though, RA. eat any fast food or any like trash, like stuff like that. Right. I mean, candy though. All right. You eat like Skittles for breakfast.

The fuck out of here. You're just fucking lying. You're making shit up all this. I've never. All right. All right. I haven't seen you get fast food. Right.

Yeah. So I'll say that. I mean, in terms of overall healthiness, like I think G like exercises a little. So I got to give him. But in terms of like eating, I am 100 G exercises a little, so I got to give him. But in terms of eating, I think you guys- I am 100 times healthier than R.A. is as a person. You told me you had Uber Eats for dinner three years in a row. Time out.

Everyone in New York gets Uber Eats for dinner every single night because walking to the grocery store- Not from fucking Harvey's. Dude, I don't get Harvey's. I get the nicest Italian food every single night. Serafina. Chicken parm every night. You're crushing it. Pasta.

I get nice stuff every night. I'm telling you, I don't eat. Have you ever seen me eat fast food? We should do like a health challenge between you two. Oh my God, I would love to. Do the body weight, gym appearances, the whole kit and caboodle. Both of you guys. Like a combine?

Yeah. Oh. I'll do a combine. Oh. You don't want basketball shooting in that G, though. You're going down in that one. I don't want to do a fucking decathlon. I'm just saying I don't eat trash like he says I do.

He eats more fucking chicken, chicken, chicken. Let's talk some hockey. Let's talk some previews. Let's talk about the Pacific Division. Hold on. We were just talking about. Sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Let's talk about the Pacific Division. Hold on. We were just talking about Conor Bedard played his first prospects game the other night with Patrick. I mean,

the release, dude. We got to talk about that release. Have you seen anything like that before in this league? I don't think I have. Have you Whit? So the only thing that I kind of see is Matthews in terms of the dragging it. And we've talked a lot about just changing the angle, whether it's three inches or a foot.

It actually really fucks with goalies in terms of their angles and how their ability to play the puck and where they think it's coming from. But Dard's is... Barstool Chief had a great little tweet. It showed where the puck was on the one goal he scored from the top right, the right circle. And he has a line where the puck was on the one goal he scored from like the the top right the right circle and he has a line where the puck is and then he has a line from where he releases

and it's it looks about a foot different and there's a little bit of a screen i think it's kirby doc's brother actually who's like oh my god and then the one he scores from basically the goal line he goes shelf the other direction it's i and now like everyone overreacts to things me included like i i now think he's getting 40 i was gonna say 40 easily i i actually think he's gonna get 40 goals in his sleep yeah the old yeah the only difference being is this is like a rookie tournament uh and he's playing against a lot of junior guys or maybe guys who have played a little bit in the american league so time and space is definitely a factor and including in a some of those the goalies were already on their knees but overall as far as his release like he's

already at a NHL world-class release so if he's got other guys setting him up through seams and he is able to get that time and space i see no reason why he can't get 40 goals in his first season i i i think the matthews comparison is perfect and i think in matthew's first year he did reach 40 go yeah 41 goals and that first game he had four so he ends up having a back-to-back to start the season against Pittsburgh and then Boston. So I cannot wait to get started. And another guy, another young buck, Fantilli, he fucking lit it up in that junior tournament in Traverse City as well. So between him, Fantilli, and Leo Carlson,

the future is bright for this league, and that's exactly what we needed, some young studs stepping in and taking the game over. Another wave, dog. Merles, would you say Fantilli, I'm sorry, collison's guaranteed to make the team would you say um i i just talking to a guy from sweden about that i don't think he's guaranteed it's going to depend on his camp uh i just saw he just scored monday night and uh his first goal another beauty goal just like these other guys i believe he's there but i mean if, but if he has a terrible camp, you send him back to Sweden. The SHL is better. Do you not go to the minors?

No, I don't think so. I think you're better off playing in the AHL. And that's no disrespect to the SHL in Sweden, and I think that's great. Maybe him being comfortable at home would be a big factor in that, but the AHL is the second best league in the world, dude.

I really think it is. I don't think you're allowed to, though. I don't think it matters how his camp goes. He's going to get that nine games. They're going to keep, especially at the fact that Zegers' contract isn't figured out right now, so they're a little bit thin at center ice.

So right now, as it looks, probably McTavish might be their first line center. And then you would have Leo Carlson as their second line center. Give him the reps. See how he would adjust playing with those top guys. And then what do they care? If it's a disastrous start, they want to be drafting in the top three again.

They're not ready to make that jump. So in my opinion, he's getting the nine games, and he needs to get his feet wet over here. As far as him playing in the American League, I don't know. I don't know what the answer is, but there is a difference, right? Because if you are... European, right?

Yeah, it's not... Major junior guys can't, Murr. They can't. Although, I think we talked about it. Shane Wright just got the exemption because he was also a double underager in the OHL. This needs to happen more. As far as the North american guys are concerned if these

guys have been playing junior so long and they're dominating at that level let's speed it up and get him in the american hockey league enough of sending him back to junior to fucking put up 150 points and continue with the bad habits yeah we'll check in on seattle in a little bit wait i've been beating the uh 42 goals uh 46 assist drum for um bedard. And Bouchigras tweeted at me that day. He's like, who's going to score those goals because of all those assists? I'm like, whoever they put in a line with him, man. This kid's so good. I think you could put stiffs out there, and they'll still score 25 goals with the kid.

With the skill level. All right, let's see. Adam Lowry's going to be the new Jets captain. He's the 10th in franchise history. He's entering his 10th season with the team. I don't think this is too big of a surprise. They stripped him from my wheel last year. He's obviously with the Rangers now.

Either of you guys know him, Larry, at all? No, I don't. I've seen him play, though, a beast. Yeah. A hard-nosed game, fight anyone. Kind of reminds me of Coyle on the Bs. But tougher, I think. Yeah, but probably at best a second-line center,

like a good 200-foot player. Probably lacks that elite offense, but overall the type of guy, like you said, he'll stick up for teammates, and that's probably the right guy in that situation. Right now, I don't know what's going on in that Jets locker room. I think that they're definitely going to have to take a step back before they move forward.

I think it could be tough sledding. It's going to be tough sledding this season, especially if Hellebuck finds his way himself out of town and on a contender. Yeah, Lowry's dad, he was a gritty bastard man. Dave Lowry played in the Florida Panthers way back in the day. If I'm the LA Kings, I'm doing anything I can do to get Hellebuck. And nothing against Copley and Cam Talbot, but that's the one thing I think

they're lacking right now. And if they get an elite goaltender, I think that they're a cup favorite. At least top three. Chat about the Kings shortly as well. Shitty news out of Denver. Gabriel Landerskog, he's going to miss the entire regular season with that injury to the knee. You hate to hear it, but it sounds like he could possibly be back in the spring

with the playoffs. I mean, Merle, is there any Swedish scoop over there for us or what? No, I got no scoops on them. But you saw they signed Tatar, I think, for $1.5 million. They're going to use that salary cap. And then when he's healthy, he'll pop them into the playoffs. He'll be fresh for that last two months. I like the Avs.

Yeah, what do you call it? The Kucherov. Yep. The question being, like, will he be able to play again? Nobody really knows. I hope so. I guess, obviously, it sounds like he's be able to play again? Nobody really knows. I hope so. I guess, obviously, it sounds like he's definitely going to try again at some point. But I just immediately think I'm just real happy he got that cup.

He was such a big factor. The captain, he got to raise it first. That amazing run that the Avalanche had. So no matter what happens, and hopefully he plays again and goes on to rip it up again, but at least he got that Stanley Cup. It doesn't make it easier for him, but I think looking back someday, if he isn't able to go again, I'm really happy he did get that. We've had him on here. Great guy.

So it's tough. It's just mentally exhausting for him, I'm sure. Good point, Whit. We want to congratulate a couple guys who hung up the skates. Tim Schaller, he played four years at Providence, never drafted. Then he had a 10-year pro career, six of those years in the NHL with Buffalo, Boston, Vancouver, and LA. So

congrats to him on a great career. And also defenseman Nick Holden. This guy played the WHL, also not drafted. He grinded for about six years in the AHL, became an NHL regular at 26 years old, played over 700 regular season and playoff games over 12 seasons, six teams. So congrats to those guys, man.

You always love those non-drafted guys to go out and grind and have a nice little career. Yeah, a couple clicks for the boys. A couple clicks. Yeah, absolutely. A couple fucking. And when special players retire, there's a lot of discussion and obviously good reason to have discussion on their careers and what they did. But a lot of guys like that, you know, it's just them and their family that go through it

and so it's nice to be able to mention them and kind of let everyone know that no matter if you were a superstar or a journeyman you put your life uh towards one goal and you accomplish it so congrats to you guys absolutely do you guys like make your announcements like are you officially retired did you file papers? How does any of that work? I never filed a paper or anything. I just sent out a tweet. And then all of a sudden, the PA put out,

welcome to the, what is it called? The Alumni Association. The alumni put out a tweet. Welcome to the alumni. I was like, oh, I guess it's official. Really? You don't have to do any paperwork? I tore my second ACL in that last season.

I think the writing was on the wall. I didn't even have to sign my papers. I just need to sign the doctor documents. As far as formality or insurance type shit, they don't have you sign anything? No, I've told the insurance story. My mom saved me. Have I told that?

I went to sign up to the to have the players association insurance for the rest of my life it's very expensive but it's top notch you can't get better insurance especially when your wife is like having a baby and it covers your entire family and the woman at the pa is like uh did you have insurance from the time your last nhl game till now and i was like i don't think so she She's like, oh, you can't get it. You would have had to have been covered the entire time leading up to this. And then I called my mom. She's like, oh, I signed you up for

a Blue Cross Blue Shield. That's awesome. I forgot to do it. I got hosed. Yeah. So I was like, thank God she saved me. So, yeah. I was very lucky because that insurance... I actually think that the the league should cover that for the rest of your life yes um it's something that i've been trying to get

that going i actually talked to a guy in vegas and on an nhl team and he's like no you're an idiot all the players should keep all their money i'm like just take a little bit off the top and take care of everybody for their whole lives like the reason all these kids are making this money is because of the older players. It's not that much. Just take care of them. But what was great about Charlotte too, when he was here in Boston,

he was going into his contract here, 12 goals, 10 assists, his career highs. He ended up getting a two year deal from Vancouver for just under 4 million for a fourth line. I always love to see those guys get some cash. It's all about timing.

Fucking right, baby. Biosteel, a name we talked about on here. They're all done, man. There was a company founded by Mike Camilleri. They filed for bankruptcy protection. What happened here, Biz? You got any intel or what? You're the fucking host. You should know. I know. We are the Canadian.

What the fuck are you talking about? They weren't making money. Obviously, what happened, they filed for bankruptcy protection. They weren't making money. I mean, as a Canadian. Well obviously they were talking about as they weren't making money obviously what happened they'll file for bankruptcy protection they weren't making money i mean as a canadian hit like well they were making money they were just spending too much money i think that they were spending about what was it like 30 million 30 40 million more than they were making and advertising they got all the big dogs i think they have packer patrick mahomes they have uh they have dac prescott so they got into the football world as well as the hockey world. McDavid is no longer one of their sponsors,

like one of their guys or athletes. So I don't know what's going on. Maybe a little bit of mismanagement, but that's hard, man, because they took over for Gatorade as the league sports drink sponsor. So all of a sudden you pigeon toss Gatorade, you get BioSteel to move in. Now that they're bankrupt, I don't know if they can afford to pay their bills. Does Gatorade tell them to kick rocks?

Hey, Body Armor, they sponsor our pod. That's a perfect opportunity for them to step in and maybe become the main sponsor. That Body Armor big bottle with the wide mouth, my wife said, you have to have him send us more of this. That water is lights out. And if you're trying to tell me that all water is the same, you're bullshit. You give me water tests, I'll hammer out body armor right away.

Let's do that sometime. Yeah. So I don't know what's going on, R.A. Maybe next time come a little prepared. No, what I was getting to, you're the Canadian here. We don't see it down here i've never seen bio steel i don't hear about it i just it seemed like it was more of like almost a canadian thing than an american thing that's all the company was hemorrhaging money since the day

biz skated in the bio steel camp yeah that's what really led him to the bankruptcy all right uh what do we got next we have uh kevin bx next we're gonna go to go to Bieksa. We're going to talk about the Sandbagger. We're going to talk about the Anaheim Ducks and the Vancouver Canucks season preview. Before we hand it over, thank you to everybody who's watched. I think it's over 330,000 people have already watched it on the Spit and Chicklets YouTube channel. I say this every time.

If you have not subscribed to it, go do so. We put the podcast on there as well so you could see our beautiful faces and to all of our staff behind the scenes shauna puzo he helped out with the nypd fdny doc uh elliot fish uh pasha eschke uh i always forget the guy who does all the approach shots names uh or his name logan logan we fly him in especially for those these guys go on the course for four or five hours they sweat their balls off they're there before we show before we show up they're there after we're gone these guys do all the heavy lifting they're the one who cut all the clips for our podcast they're the reason that these get to get filmed and why

you spit and chickles fans get to have laughs at our expense so shout out to our crew behind the scenes for making this all possible and of course our guests Getzlov and Biexa what wit we had no business winning that match zero those two got a little buckled and they couldn't hit the

golf ball straight thanks R.A. and you and yeah thank good job R.A. and we just it was like uh it was like popeye eating his spinach it was like the more pink whitney shots we had the straighter we were hitting the ball i made a i made a claim i was the best drunk golfer in the world i think i might be you might you and john daly are the best drunk golfers on the planet and you hack darts too but we can't put that in there because we'll get mad at you. All right.

And now to juice. All right. Before we go any further, here's a word from our friends at Game Time. Game Time is the exclusive ticketing partner of Barstool Sports. Created by fans for fans, Game Time is the ticket and app that makes it easier than ever to score last-minute deals on tickets to sports, concerts, and shows,

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seamlessly. Skip the hassle and enjoy the moment. Download the GameTime app or go to the website, enter your email and redeem code CHICKLETS for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. All right, it's time to bring on our next guest. It's his third appearance with us, and he's here to talk about his first sandbagger in preview his former teams as well. He's missing his compadre right now but it's always a pleasure to have him on welcome back to the spitting chickens podcast kevin bx how we doing juice good buddy but our first sandbagger you and me right that's right i heard it was my first i don't know where that from well he doesn't remember it juice so it doesn't count he was the star of the show when i

when i saw him when i got to the range i'm like oh my god this is gonna be sloppy and sure enough it was that was our secret weapon the funniest clip in the show is what gets he goes who the fuck is that guy you're like that's all right he's the host of the show well you say i guess we could consider him the host of the show if that's what you want to call him people were loving your guy's cart cam. He had a couple highlights for sure. I thought the one where he didn't know Looch had resigned four days before his beloved Boston Bruins in.

I thought that was priceless. And it made sense because you look like you weren't all there. I just told him Bergeron retired, too. He just found out. And we landed on the moon, too. When you put that on Instagram, I was dying. Then I texted you the night the pizza I was at in Boston. And so I was in Boston the other day.

Me and Looch tried to meet up, but the time didn't work. And I'm like, oh, did you hear he signed, by the way? I'm going to text. I was pissing myself off. Good shit. Well, how was your Sandbagger overall? What kind of grade did you give it, your first one? Sandbagger was amazing. kind of grade did you give it at your first one? Sandbagger was amazing.

I mean, a little disappointed, like re-watching it, because obviously we had a few drinks, right? We had a couple of Pink Whitney's, a couple of big deal breweries. So a little foggy by the end, but that's kind of, I thought, where like you picked it up, re-watching it. Oh, buddy. You played your best golf when, like I think after hole 12 13 biz kind of carried you on the front nine oh and then you took over on the back nine and that was that was kind of the

difference but what a match like if you look back at it we had we had a couple opportunities early about three which would have been devastating for you guys then you guys had some missed opportunities too so back and forth a lot of fun probably deserves a rematch at some point i gotta ask you do you did you get a little bit nervous with the cameras on like is a little bit different than normal golf like did you was your was your heart rate a little elevated like when the puck was on your stick during a breakout i think it's like anything like the first shot a couple shots maybe the first putt you're and then once after that you stop thinking about the cameras right and we we settled in

pretty nice like the chirps were flowing pretty good and gets it gets he's a fun guy to ride in the cart with like it's so you kind of quickly forget about the cameras there was nobody driving over the greens which was nice too it was that the track cam guy who was the guy with the camera that right behind the tee box he kept yelling at me because he's like every time somebody would hit i would like jump into the screen to tee up my ball. And he kept getting mad at me and saying, take your time. I got to watch the ball before it lands.

I get in trouble for that too. I get in trouble for that one too. I think that's why a couple of the shot tracers maybe said directions that the ball necessarily didn't go into. But I'm always... They're like, you have to let the ball land before you step in. I'm like, I'm so antsy to tee my ball up. That's kind of how it goes.

But who would have thought that when we did that first pink Whitney shot for your birdie Barnett birdie that we would end up, which, by the way, biz, when he made that, he looked in our eyes, didn't even look at the ball and putted his putt in. And I was like, I think we're going to get smoked today. But biz did. He smoked that joint on the first hole. And he was like, that we're gonna get smoked today but biz did he smoked that joint on the first hole and he was like that was the best golf i've ever seen you play early biz yeah ra definitely threw a wrench into your guys but i thought ra was our secret weapon because

he obviously got you guys so fucked up the humidity was cranked to another level and uh before we got recording here you use the term we got get seed because gets he was supposed to show up for this interview as well and we're gonna get the anaheim ducks breakdown uh little pre-season breakdown but much like him on the greens he no showed i thought he i thought he killed you guys right he couldn't fucking sink a putt i thought i thought that the chances of him showing up to the match were 50 50 i thought it was going to be me and R.A. against you two. R.A. would be getting three strokes a hole. And that's what I thought.

So we're lucky he showed up to the match. But, yeah, he's a busy guy now. And he's got four kids. And he's got a real job. And it's too bad he couldn't be here today. But that putt biz, I just heard you love eye contact. That's why I gave it to you. Missionary eye contact. Just no talking. Just direct eye on. I just to you. Missionary eye contact.

Just no talking. Just direct eye contact. I just heard you like. No blinking. I was so disgusted you made me put it. So disgusted you made me put it. I actually have a buddy that does that here all the time. And it's win-win, right?

You drain it. You look like the man. You miss it. You're not even looking. So currently you're in Newport. You obviously live there full time. So you re-sign with Hockey Night in Canada. How many years?

Are you allowed to divulge the information of how long your contract is? Yeah, I think I am. I have one year remaining. Yeah, exactly. Well, we have three more years with the TV rights in Canada. So I'm locked up to the end of this term. Oh, wow. So that was kind of basically.

That's awesome. So they come up in Canada in three I'm locked up to the end of this term. So that was kind of basically. That's awesome. They come up with in Canada in three years with the league. It's been, yeah, it's already been a quick seven years, I think, or no 12 year deal, 12 year deal. So I think it's been nine years already. Where do you see it going though? Like as of right now, Sportsnet locked it in. To the top. To the top.

I don't want to say it cock blocked TSN a little bit, Like as of right now, sports net locked it to the top, to the top. I don't want to say it cock block TSN a little bit, but they get like regional rights. Do you think that they're going to take more of a United States approach where they're going to snap it around? Kind of like they did with ESPN and TNT moving forward after this. I don't know, biz you're asking the wrong guy. I,

and there's not honestly a whole lot of talk around the network either as far as what's happening in three years. And don't know, Biz. You're asking the wrong guy. There's not honestly a whole lot of talk around the network either as far as what's happening in three years. Don't forget, CBC still kind of owns Hockey Night in Canada, right? And that kind of comes with the package. So there's a lot going on right there. And I'll let those guys handle it. And I got three more years to talk hockey, Canadian hockey mostly. And I'll enjoy that.

And then after that, who knows where we're all going to be. Quickly back to the sandbagger because I haven't spoken to you since, but what was your state of mind when you left? Because I know I had to go right to the airport. I was crippled. Was your son with you on that trip? So you guys, I drove from California right to Nashville for that sandbagger, right?

It's a little bit of a detour to Toronto going through Nashville. So I booked the closest hotel to the course and, uh, my son had to stay at the hotel with the dog, but I Ubered back after our little drink inside. And apparently I wrestled my son for an hour. He's like, you came in and we UFC wrestled. And he's, and he says, he my son for an hour. He's like, you came in and we UFC

wrestled and he says, he claims he tapped me out. I don't believe it. I think he did. Legit hour we wrestled. R.A. could have tapped. I know R.A. was waffled too, but I think anyone could have tapped you out after and that's you too. That's like fighting a piece of jello.

No bones in R.A.'s fighting a piece of jello no bones in our body just liquid jello slipping around oh shit i'm not jumping on this i'm not jumping on this all right you take enough chirps i know thanks buddy uh actually so like what was the most unexpected thing on the on the sandbag was it something like holy shit these guys are a little bonkers. Was it the scoring rules? I still don't know the score and how it goes. Was it just how waffled everybody got? Well, you thought the first hole was a par two, so I'm pretty sure we know you don't know anything about golf.

I thought it was the mini golf on route one. Like, this is something that you were kind of surprised by, like, holy shit, these guys are savages. Well, like, the fact that Biz gets, like, three strokes a hole, that's something I didn't quite understand. And I knew the negotiation was a big part of it before the match. And we definitely lost that on the range. I don't think biz is a stroke a hole guy.

I'm not a shot. You're better than that. I'm a 14. And I bet you. So why were you getting a stroke a hole? He wasn't. He wasn't getting the par threes. I don't get strokes on par threes.

I get 14 strokes. I get, I'm telling you, ask anybody I've ever golfed with. Like I, it's whether the driver's not working or the putter's not working. I don't think I've ever broken 90 on a golf course when I put, but you got the best clubs I've ever seen. Like I was hitting your clubs on the range.

That looks like a tour player. I shouldn't be hitting blades anyway. And that's what I'm playing. I'm playing like a, a blade slash cavity back. What do they call it the pp790s wit yes i believe so awesome club but yeah i can i can definitely stroke it but i tell you what uh i think that i'm right where i should be and then i think moving forward i actually bumped my handicap down on the next one against eichel and hannafin to a 12. So after your guys,

it's usually wit carrying my ass though. And that's the reason why I stay at a 14. Her that long was a snooze fest compared to what we, what we had. It was, it was nothing similar. Although RA was shit canned again. So surprise,

surprise. That was actually a enjoyable to kind of see there's a, there's a moment on, I believe our our second-to-last hole that R.A. on the green, I'm not going to give anything away, just puts on a performance for the ages. I'll just say that. What we did in the next one is R.A., the other team can sub in R.A. to take that person's next shot. Oh, no, no.

You did that? Yes. You tried to do that with us. That's a terrible idea. We puked in his mouth, and then we nixed it. And then we figured, hey, RA's here again. We got to implement them more somehow. And because he didn't bring enough weed, then we just figured, hey, we'll sub him in that way.

I can't wait to watch that. So fast forward to the second last hole, right? Juice, give everyone, I mean, similar in a way where business travel and Scottsdale to Atlanta every week. So you're going Newport to Toronto. What do you leave Friday nights or Friday afternoon? Friday flights usually like around noon and get in at 738. Meet Kelly Rudy usually for a drink at the hotel, catch up and then work all Saturday, come home Sunday morning, 8am. That's awesome, though. You really enjoy it.

I mean, you crush it on TV. You do a great job. You like what you're doing, even though the travel is probably pretty rough. Yeah, it's honestly, guys, not as bad as you think. It's a direct flight. It's a little bit of time to sleep or watch a movie on the flight and then during the week I'm pretty busy biz likes to make fun of me but I coach during the week so I'm on the ice four days a week coaching the kids and helping those kids move on to the next level and so it's like a nice contrast with being on the ice and coaching kids and then on the weekends talking hockey and watching the big boys what's it like coaching the kids with the parents? Like, do they get pretty involved?

Are you getting emails and shit? Like you're, you're not teaching them to snap it around enough. Like what, what's the parent situation like in Newport? It's actually funny. You just asked that biz. Cause I just went through something and it's been really good. The last couple of years, we've kind of been able to kind of pick and choose our team and,

and eliminate those type of parents, right. The hockey parents. But, um, recently just got blasted on Instagram by a mom on the team, which was kind of funny after, after, after we got back from Boston, uh, and she, she has a private account to her defense, but like all the moms on the team and my wife's a mom, right. My son's on the team. She follows her and apparently just blasted me on her Instagram saying that I

don't, uh, her son's overlooked and I don't, uh, play him enough. So, you know, that you deal with that stuff. Sometimes if you guys coach your kids in hockey and biz, when you have kids one day, that's, that's a little bit of a part of it. Right. But historically it's been pretty good here in california the occasional crazy hockey parent but there's not many of them is is it a situation where like certain kids get more ice time because they're a little bit better like like do like would he not get power play time maybe because he's a little bit behind or is it just you roll out the next pair and same with the lines no like now they're

16 years old right and these kids like some of them some of them have been drafted already to the whl some of them are going to be playing in the ushl next year or the bchl like these kids are serious hockey players everybody that's in my program wants to continue on and play so like i coach them very fair ton of communication but we have four lines and you're not going to play four you're not going to roll four lines and 16u triple a hockey right you're obviously going to roll three lines you're going to sub in the other power play and penalty kill is obviously going to dictate some of the time so i'm like guys you guys are in constant competition with each other for ice time

and for roles and the guys that are playing better are going to play a little bit more like that's just the way the sport goes that's the way any sport goes at a highly competitive level, right? For people not to understand that, that's how successful teams as you get older go. When they're seven years old, yeah, you roll everyone through. But it always has boggled my mind talking to buddies of mine who coach kids who are older, your son's age. It's like you need to understand that you're not just going to be handed things. And the sooner these kids realize it for life, not just sports, the better off they are. Well, you have a responsibility to like your top guys as well.

Like I feel like sometimes we've all had different coaches where some coaches really cater to the bottom players and really try to elevate them and bring them up to the level of the top. And they almost neglect the top players. And then some coaches are like, I'm only talking to the top players. If you're not a top player, I'm not going to bother with you. Right. So there's a little bit of a different theory there. And which depending on what kind of coach you are, like I try to give everybody a little bit of attention, but if anything, I neglect our top players at times.

Cause I'm trying to over coach the bottom players. You know what I mean? So sometimes I feel a little bit guilty of that. Like I don't give our top guys enough of my time to try to make them better and also are you trying to i don't want to say be harder on your own kid but maybe hold them to a higher standard therefore you're not playing favorites like you almost overcompensate to make sure that that you're not getting moms on instagram ripping you and fucking chirping you nobody will ever accuse me of playing my son too much i i actually asked two kids that were injured the other day i go you guys think i'm hard on on cole and they're like oh yeah oh yeah you are i go well i mean he's my son right like i expect a

lot of them he's he's the mentally toughest kid i don't know if it's because he's had you know people have been hard on him his whole life growing up in Vancouver, being my son, but he's such a mentally tough kid, but I am a little bit harder on him, but I know he can take it. And it's all constructive at the end of the day. He knows that I care about him and I'm trying to help him move on. Uh, juice. We haven't talked to you in a while, like, you know, on chiclets. And, and since, since we last spoke, you actually retired as a Canuck. You signed a contract to retire as a Vancouver Canuck. How did that all come about? Whose idea was it?

And you must have been thrilled with how that went down, considering I think every fan knows you as a member of that team. It was unbelievable. And the way it came down is my dad actually thought of it and thought it would be a nice closing to my career. And this was just before COVID. So I can't remember how it happened. Either my agent reached out to the Canucks

after that conversation or vice versa. We set the date, COVID happened, and the date was already picked, had to get it canceled. So we had to kind of put it off for a couple of years because like funny, that was kind of the first time I was on ice with full equipment since I stopped playing.

And it was like four years or five years after my last NHL game. So when I'm skating out there, I feel a little bit awkward, obviously, right? Yeah, this is really cool, but it's also a little bit embarrassing, right? This guy skating out in his full gear and the pants are too tight and like shoulder pads are falling apart and uh but it was a super cool weekend it was great to see like all my whole friends and teammates and family all came in um it's a pretty nice ending to a career there well speaking of the Canucks we wanted to have you win out well gets he did make it to talk about the Canucks and the Ducks going forward this season it seems like ever since that cup of parents in 2011 it's like the Canucks have kind of been a no-man's land.

What's your take on him this year? I mean, I thought he gave him a good shot in the arm last year. Do you think they can make a bid for the playoffs this year with what they have there if Demko has a little bounce back here? Yeah, Demko's a big part of it for me. He only played 32 games last year, but he was 11-4-2 guys down the stretch, so

he's still capable of being that goalie. For that team to win, they need a star goalie. Like for that team to win, they need a star goalie. They need Demko to stand on his head like they used to. I mean, you look at Kuzimenko had a huge year last year, 39 goals. Does he sophomore slump, right? That's another big F because I still think they're pretty lean offensively. Kuzimenko, Miller, and then Pedersen. Pedersen's got some contract issues coming up. He doesn't want to negotiate during the season. Does that become a distraction in media Vancouver

that we know loves distractions, right? Does that turn into a bigger deal as the season gets going? Just a toxic media base, eh? Like as far as them just stirring it up constantly. They're not afraid of a negative story there. They are not afraid of it. I've never met one. They didn't like to match a nice rainy day in Vancouver.

Just drop the hammer. Oh, four, two win. Fuck it. Boom. Bombshell. We will tear this team apart by the seams.

So I don't know, like Ken, the Canucks, like, you know, who's like a sleeper. If you want to talk serious, like a sleeper might be McCabe. serious? A sleeper might be McKay.

He, again, missed half. He's a plus 100 player for his career. He's a good two-way player, and he just never really got going because of injuries last year. He could be a nice player that could kind of solidify them and make them a little bit harder to play against. Talk has kind of gotten a lot more to JT Miller. Can that continue?

Their D is a lot bigger and more meat and potatoes now with Soucy and Ian Cole. Maybe that's what they need. Give Quinn Hughes the puck, let him move it, and then everyone else just hunker down and play defense and move the puck up. Let's go back to Pedersen here. From my understanding, he's asking for $11 million,

maybe even a little bit more than $11 million. Pay him. But that's the thing. So he's got leverage because they don't have many offensive threats, and you mentioned they're a little bit thin offensively, but do you feel like his overall game deserves that much money, even though he is dynamic offensively? Or do you say as an organization,

prove it to me that you can get better on the defensive side of the puck and that you can play at that level and then we'll hand over the money? Because nowadays it just seems like they're paying guys based on projections rather than what they've proven. Yeah, but it's kind of been like that for a while though, paying guys based on projections, right?

Like it used to be your third and fourth contracts you'd get paid like when we played and then it got a little bit less to your second contract and now it's like entry level paid right away so it's getting less and less so that's kind of what it's become more like you are getting paid on projections but to your point biz you're right like you're giving over 10 million to somebody they better really impact the game offensively and defensively so him not signing a contract right now might work both ways might give the team a little bit more time to see is this the guy that's going to be our number one center on both ends is he going to be our

patrice bergeron like obviously not as good as bergeron although a lot of people in vancouver feel like he could be selkie worthy at some point of his career but that's probably what he needs to turn into to be, to make that team into a team that can contend for a playoff spot every year. For me, it's like just coming off what he did last year, he got over a hundred points for the first time in his career.

And like, I just think you could not even think about the Canucks losing him. So I understand that there's certain respects of like overpayment, but I think he's going to continue to climb. I think offensively, he's taught one of the top players in the league. So it'll be interesting to see how it ends up going down. But for you watching these games, what's your opinion on kind of where Brock Besser's at? Do you think he can still be 35-40 goal guy?

Can he get there? And in terms of skating, I know sometimes maybe slow feed is somewhat of an issue, but do you still think there's enough there for him to kind of light it up offensively and really carry that team? And quickly, before you answer, his five-on-five game is where people seem to criticize at his lack of production. So to also hand over money to a guy like that who's not making that much of an impact five-on-five offensively, it's kind of what's hurting them in a sense well he's he's always been considered a skill guy with

a really good shot so half ball power play shooter on the flank skill guy like the knock on him uh and i mean this is out there is maybe not as hard to play against not good on the boards uh not in the best of shape. Like big guy. Yeah. I think he's listed at 6'1", 208. Like that's a pretty big winger, right? That's not a small guy. So, you know, to his credit, I heard he had an unbelievable summer.

So I heard they got on him really hard and talk, wanted to make sure he was training. I think he changed gyms, changed trainers. And I heard he came back in really good shape. So that's a good start, right? Ah, cramp. Cramp in the leg. Still hung over from the sandbag. Humidity from Nashville kicking in late.

Oh, God. Can't use that excuse now. So, I mean, can he carry them, Biz? Maybe put that Hermes pillow underneath your leg. Glad you got it on the screen there spending some of that fucking show dough you made overpaid defenseman in fucking newport i don't know i don't know what that age stood for but uh what were we talking about besser yeah yeah right i don't know like he's gonna play through

he's not gonna carry them offensively but he's gonna get a chance to maybe show that he can still be an offensive contributor in the league or else probably the trade deadline is gonna be his worst enemy do you think that they uh overblew the some of the JT Miller stuff last year like I know that at a certain point that you know he was getting pissed off because there's a delayed penalty and maybe some of the body language on the ice. Like, is that just another another Vancouver media situation of them stirring it up? Or do you think that that needed to be cleaned up?

It's a little bit of both. I think he did. I don't think you guys have ever had him before. Have you on our podcast? No, I hung out with him for the first time at a wedding this summer. He was a blast. Fucking crazy. I don't think he's the first time at a wedding this summer. He was a blast. Fucking crazy dude. I don't think he's got a filter is what I understand.

Not from when I was hanging with him. So the night of my retirement, we met for a drink after the game just to talk or whatever. But anyways, my point is he did a podcast this summer, Cam and Strict. Cam Jansen's podcast, if you want to listen to it. I don't want to cross promote here, but it was really good. I love those guys. You can if you if you want to listen to it i don't want to cross promote here but it was really good those guys you can cross promote all you want it was a really good uh podcast and it was a good opportunity for him to kind of like get off of his chest his perspective of how that all unfolded and he didn't like it because he felt like a couple of those plays the media used to kind of identify his season and his character so he didn't like those plays um and i mean i'm kind

of on the fence about him because those two plays like yeah they weren't great like not back checking the bang and the stick on the net for the goalie to change i have no problems with that right like i like to like i yelled at a teammate once in a while too i think there's nothing wrong with being intense like that just the effort plays i think but certainly like he seems like he's got great character from i I don't know what you think, Whit, but just from talking to him and hearing him talk, he seems accountable. I mean, I think he'll

have a great season. I think Toc's been unbelievable for him. I think Toc can push his buttons and there's that mutual respect there because obviously of Toc's career and the way he played the game, I think there's going to be that respect there where Toc can get the most out of him. What I got from him was, like, wants to win.

Like, almost so much so that it kind of can take over him in a sense. But, like, I never knew anything about him as a guy, but, like, seeing his numbers the last two years, right? Like, 99 points two years ago. He's right at a point per game last year 32 goals both seasons but he's like he's an intense dude that there's no sort of uh laziness on his end to be a winner right so i think it it almost gets like mistaken as as being angry and upset he's just so pissed off they're not a good team that for me like you said with talk it's like he knows what he did he knows how he played. If he's going to listen to anyone, it would be someone like Rick Talk.

I think he's going to have a monster year again. I just think that he gets disgusted with losing. Can I ask you a question, Whit? Yeah. Can I ask you this, Whit? What do you think about the comparison with him and Kessler? You play with Kessler at the Olympics. How close or how similar do you think those personalities are? Without playing with JT Miller,

I can actually say that they did remind me of each other a little bit. And I remember playing with Kess. I remember him screaming at Getzlaff and Perry, those two games we played Canada, just so intense, the desire to win, would do anything to win. And then in talking to JT Miller just just about, about, you know, his season in a sense, even like listening to him talk about golf, he tried qualifying for the U S open. He's, he's an intense guy that, that I actually think you're right. That has, they have a lot

of similarities together and, and to hate somebody you play against is one thing. And, and, and Kessler was, people hated playing against him, but guys want to run their team. And I actually think JT Miller has even more offensive upside than Kessler ever did. I mean, I know Kessler's a big-time stud, goal-scoring, 40-goal guy. But JT Miller's shot and the way he skates, when that kid gets moving up ice, it's pretty tough to stop. So that's a good comparison. Yeah, that's what they've made in Vancouver for years.

Just the personality, right? Just super competitive, and maybe it comes off the wrong way at times but it comes off as like arrogance but it's not it really isn't and talking to him it's just like I can't stand losing I don't want to be a part of a losing team I'm gonna do whatever I can also got to put that mask on it because like 82 games to carry that type of you know that type of intensity sometimes you have to you have to turn it up and and maybe it's not coming as natural but you got but you got to find a way to kind of get it out of yourself uh but moving away from that i was going to talk to you about the back end that's probably their weakest link i think they're just super thin back there but

there's one guy that he's playing 30 minutes a night he just got handed the c and that's quinn hughes and this kid's a stud i mean he's an analytic darling a night. He just got handed the C, and that's Quinn Hughes. And this kid's a stud. I mean, he's an analytic darling. Like, what do you make of his game and as far as them handing the C over to him? I like it. I think ultimate puck-moving defenseman. And like you said, you can play him 30 minutes.

He's got an engine that never stops. It doesn't ever look like he looks tired out there. He kind of has that, like, tired, laboring look, but he's never actually – I don't think he's got an engine that never stops it doesn't ever look like he looks tired out there he kind of has that like tired laboring look but he's never actually i don't think he's ever actually tired because he's such a great skater but he like the way their team is constructed he can almost be your only puck moving defenseman playing half the game and then like i said really like everybody else just defends and plays hard and just gets the puck up to the forwards and let them do their thing but i like it i I mean, he's the new NHL. Like these U.S. kids, man, they're taking over the game, right?

Really with him and Jack and Cole Caulfield and Zegers. And yeah, all of them, they're all taking over the game. And the Kachuks and Matthews, like they're all turning into being the leaders of their teams. And I think Quinn's going to be a good leader for those guys. Everybody likes him on the team. He's got kind of that quiet, reserved personality that I think does really well in a market like Vancouver,

like a Henrik Sedin. Henrik Sedin wasn't in-your-face, loud. He was just quiet, kept to himself, did his job, did his media requests when he had to, but wasn't an overly public guy. And I think that'll be really good for Quinn. I think he'll handle the media well. In looking at the team though, there is a lot of kind of similarities and you could argue, obviously there's Ekman, Larson's gone, but they, in a sense,

they are kind of bringing back the same team. And when you look at like how last season went, if they do get off to a slow start, that's when you start talking about the media and them just becoming just horrible to deal with in that city, right? Yeah, for sure. Like they need a good start. I think back to Demko. I think it all starts with Demko at the beginning. Right.

And I don't know if we're going to get to Anaheim. It's almost the same with Anaheim. Like if John Gibson doesn't stand on his head early, they get off to a bad start and then everything just snowballs out of control. Because when you have these young teams, they're very fragile, I feel like, at the beginning of the season. And if you don't have a good start, things can really go the wrong way. And I think the goalie is

the one guy who can make sure you get out of the gates strong. Before we move on to Anaheim, we're going to see playoffs. Do you think Vancouver makes the playoffs juice this year or what? I'll put you on the spot. There's a couple. To the cup.

To the cup. It was a juice night in Vancouver last year. Yeah, they're going to miss by 30 points. Canucks versus Coyotes in the conference final. Matching suits. Matching suits. Let's just see how they get out of the gates. Let's see how they get out of the gates.

All right. Before you answer that. And if you do a pretty cool video came out about talking and mentioning that, that coaching staff, you got some fucking big names in there. You got Adam foot helping them out. You got Sergey Gonchar. And apparently it's going to be the Sadeen brothers helping with the power

play. Like, how do you think that collective like help from that coaching staff will, will amplify the group? It'll be unbelievable. Again, if you're a guy in that locker room on that team, how do you not listen to these voices?

These guys are hall of famers, like Olympia Olympians, you know, all stars. Like you got everything right there. You got everything that you could possibly need to want. So I know like there's a couple of the city and kind of started getting onto the ice more and more last year.

And they were showing some of these guys things that like talking with Chris Higgins that works for the team. He's like, he's showing these kids something where like, I'm still learning. Like Higgins has been retired now and city and they're showing them something like on the wall, how to like counter pinch a defenseman. he's like oh my god like that is so smart the twins kept a lot of this stuff to themselves when they play they were just so smart so ahead of their time and now they're starting to like teach it to some of these younger guys so like what an asset and then adam foot like i got to know footer a bunch because we kind of both worked for my agent uh helping develop some of their defensemen

in the NHL. So I've been on the ice with him quite a bit. And he's another guy. He's got all these little like old school tricks. Yeah, like finding a guy in the spleen. Yeah, but a little bit more subtle than that. But he's got some of these, but just something simple, like when you make a pass,

your first step after you make your pass is recover to the middle. So you make your pass wherever it is in the D zone. First step is recovering to the, like just little tips like that, that some of these young guys aren't taught at a young age. And I don't think there's as much teaching anymore of like how the game is played and structure. I think it's more like skill development. I know it is just from being in the minor hockey environment.

So to have guys like that, I think is going to be huge for them. Yeah. I agree. Like just all those little details. If you add them up up over time it's just going to help you win games like you said like like guys firing an outlet pass and they're just kind of admiring it as opposed to skating up and getting your gap because hey if that puck gets turned over and you're backed into your blue line if it gets turned over you got no gap and next thing you know you're

fucking hemmed in for another 45 seconds as opposed to closing the guy off at the blue line if it gets turned over you got no gap and next thing you know you're fucking hemmed in for another 45 seconds as opposed to closing the guy off at the blue line look at you x's and o's get little fucking hockey knowledge for all you fans bring him in the kid just dialing it up right now the coaching staff they tried to get me on the coaching staff i said no i i i just don't want to sit down with Akalini for too many dinners. At Aliza. At one of his apartments. Next question. Next question.

Hey, well, no, the next one is do they make playoffs or not? You got to answer it. He said yes. You got to make them playoffs. I said yes. I don't know who they're going to make it instead of, right? Like, obviously, Vegas is probably going to be in the mix again will Calgary fall

off I don't know Edmonton's going to be there so you got Edmonton and Vegas in for sure Coyotes aren't making it but I hate to say it Kings yeah Kings so now you're looking for like a wild card you're battling for a wild card spot so good luck I think they're going to be battling at the end

I don't think they're going to be battling at the end. I don't think they're going to get in. But it's funny. As much as two years ago we were saying the Pacific was the worst division in hockey, I think it's arguably the best now. Now, if Calgary has a big bounce-back season, that's kind of dependent on them and Vancouver competing. But the Pacific now, it's murderer's row. on them and Vancouver competing.

But the Pacific now, it's murderer's row. Guys, Vegas and Oilers was the Stanley Cup final last year's playoffs. I really believe it. A lot of people, you said it too? Yeah, a lot of people believe those were the two best teams. And what a series it was. That determined the winner right there. And that's why a lot of the talk is let's have some realignment here for the playoffs.

Go back to the one versus eight. So you don't have to have the two best teams playing in the second round well it's going to happen again especially with the kings in the mix i actually think the kings are the best team in that division there's no way what do you mean no way look at their fuck look at the middle of their ice it's the goaltending oh yeah oh yeah go oh ve Vegas fucking wrote. Vegas would have had an RA and Netafil would have went down and it wouldn't have mattered. Money's right. You're not taking lead, man. All right.

You won't take lead, man. Fuck it. I'll take a case of fucking big deal bro to get me out there. Biz, what do you got for playoffs? Vancouver make it or what? I just, oh, God, I hate to do this to my boy. I think that they're going to fight for a wild card but i just think that the vision's too strong and like you you

just mentioned calgary like i think that calgary ends up sneaking in they had uh they led the league last year in one goal losses they had 31 goal losses the most since like 2010 17 of which in shootout and in overtime and the fact that they got some new coaching staff and uh who was the assistant coach they picked up uh used to play for the Bruins Savard I think that his connection with Huberto is going to help out and that's going to amplify his offense if Huberto has 20-25 more points where he's normally at I think that they're in the playoffs last year because they only missed it by a few points. So I don't have Vancouver making it, unfortunately.

But definitely a lot better than last year, that's for sure. So no. And Juice, we got to get on to Anaheim now. Hold on. R.A., what, you have them making it? You know what? I think Demko is going to bounce back. I think Tarkin's got their attention. I think they're going to play hard for him. I think they're only 12

points back on Winnipeg on the last spot last year. Yeah, you know what? I think they can. I think Winarkin's got their attention. I think they're going to play hard for him. I think they're only 12 points back on Winnipeg on the last spot last year. Yeah, you know what? I think they can. I think Winnipeg's going to falter a bit. Wouldn't be surprised if they trade Hellebuck at some point. Yeah, I think Vancouver's going to get a gel, man. They were just sort of an assortment of pots before Tarkin got there. I think he's going to bring them together.

Demko, yeah, I think they will squeeze in on a wild card. Their bottom six is going to have to establish an identity because right now you just don't know what you're getting from those guys. So we'll see what they can do with them. My hot take of Vancouver is if they do get in the playoffs, I think Elias Patterson's up for MVP. And Selke? And Selke?

And Selke. There you go. MVP and Selke. I like the moves on D. Like, not huge stuff, but they had brought in Roenick before. Coles, you know, he's a thumper in his own end. And what's his name? Soucy.

I just think they got a lot better there. They were 24th of goals against last year. I think they're really cleaning up in their own end. And, yeah, I think they're going to be significantly better. So, I always think about, like, the one year. And I don't think you were there with. The year Pittsburgh won the one cup um they had Letang obviously puck mover and then they had a bunch of like Rob Scuderi's and uh you know I

think maybe Schultz was there but he was just kind of like a resurgence of his career it was all just a bunch of like Ian Cole just a bunch of guys that just yeah just shot the puck off the glass and let the forwards do their thing and then then flurry was amazing in that or Murray. I don't know which one it was, but that's almost the kind of the identity of the Canucks are going to have. They're going to have one puck mover. They're going to have a bunch of big lugs on D that can defend and clear the front of the net.

Demko is going to stand on his head and then they're going to have like a deadly power play. That's kind of the recipe for me, if they're going to be successful. And I'm pretty sure talk was there during that. So it all makes sense, right? Like that's how they need to play. I think to be successful. And I'm pretty sure talk was there during that. So it all makes sense, right? Like that's how they need to play, I think, to be successful. We can't leave Quinn Hughes' stunt double out.

We got to see what his perspective is. G, does your boy make the playoffs this year or what? No shot. I don't think there's a shot. Yeah, I don't think there's a shot. Fuck you, Juice. Fuck you and your opinion. No chance.

I'm going to tell you in a headlock dude oh yeah it's gonna shave your head this big razor um off to anaheim i guess the first topic of discussion was uh all the rumblings that gibson wanted out now it's got to be hard you played with him there he's been helping trying to carry that team for a while with not much help like you know what do you make of that whole situation well i i'm'm a huge John Gibson fan. So I think he's an unbelievable goalie. I think there's obviously been some debate over the last couple of years about his numbers.

But this is, again, a guy at the start of every season, it just gets peppered with shots, peppered with shots. He always starts strong. He always kind of keeps that team into the mix until he just breaks down after 30 games because he's just been peppered with shots. So he's 30 years old now. He's been in the league for a bit.

And he honestly just wants to win hockey games and play meaningful games. He'll trade all of his saves, all of his 40 save nights just to play in the playoffs again. I know he will. So for him, winning's everything. So I think you can count on him being strong in that. It's the team in front of him, right? You look at their top three guys, their top three young guys, right? Troy Terry just signed a big deal.

Xigris and then Mason McTavish. That's their top three right now. For that team to even come close to a playoff spot, those guys can't be minus 20, minus 25, minus 29. They're all going to be close to a point of the game this year. I really think that. But those guys have to be somewhere near the positives or in the positives, especially if they're a point of game. If you're a point of game, you can't be a negative player if you're going to be on a winning team. So I look at those three. Those three are the ones that have to take the next step. The D, it's been the

Cam Fowler show, what you play with him. It's been the Cam Fowler show for the last five years. He's been the only defenseman on that team. Now they bring in Gudis, they bring in Labushkin, they bring in some sandpaper. So hopefully it's almost the same thing as Van. Hopefully you've got some guys that can defend now and then let Cam do his thing.

Sorry, I'm going to cut you off. I actually never had the chance. I miss Fowler, but just watching him, just so underrated and just with how bad Anaheim's been, he doesn't get the respect he deserves. But in terms of negativity around the Ducks, I actually don't really see it. I feel like this year, I don't think they

get in the playoffs, but I think you're going to see some growth. And I think this Zellweger, this kid, what he did in the World Juniors and in junior hockey you remember one of the most ridiculous insane trades I've ever heard of from the WHL he traded basically 10 years of draft picks for the kid but he is a future stud so with McTavish now the only question I have for you is in terms of Zegers in this holdout right now because I don't know Pat Verbeek personally I know Greg Cronin a little bit, the new head coach there.

These guys are no bullshit. They're hard guys to please in a sense of how hard Pat Verbeek played and what he expects. And I think Zekras, with all the skill in the world, probably at times Verbeek looks at him like, I'm going to need more from you. So if you're him, what are you looking for for a deal? Are you willing to just maybe get a two, three-year kind of bridge deal

and then light it up and prove that you're worth this big dough that you want? How do you think that all plays out? I don't know. From whose perspective? From Zegers' perspective? From Zegers, I guess. What would you be saying to him if you represented him in a sense? And it's not a real fair question because you don't know him personally,

but just as an analyst. Yeah, I don't know. That but just as an analyst yeah i don't know that depends if he if he's looking at staying there long term or not right is he a guy that's thinking about i don't know like all these guys seem like they want to play with each other like all these u.s junior kids so is he already kind of making side bets with the hughes brothers to link up somewhere he's he's at the playoff game with Mr. Hughes watching the Devils, remember? Who knows? We might have a super team. We might have a Miami Heat

super team in a few years. He's got a TikTok girlfriend now. Maybe LA is the spot. Or Anaheim, I should say. Yeah. I mean, I don't know. It's just different. These kids think in a different way. I was always a guy that I took security.

I'll take as many years as you're going to offer me. Even if I take a little bit of a hit on AAV rather than take like a two year high AAV, I would take a five year, just slightly a little bit lower just for the security. But I don't think kids are like that these days. They kind of bet on themselves and they're you know more than often it were it didn't work for klingberg mind you but a lot of other people it works for that they bet on themselves they take the two three year deal and then they try to make a little bit more money but as far as young guys in the pipeline though you mentioned zellweger do we even talk about drysdale who's coming off the shoulder injury last year so they got leo carlson which a lot of people a lot of good things they got a lot of real real good young players which in about two to three years i see that if that

core group's able to all develop as as according to plan that team could be lethal so for right now i think they did a good job of bringing in guys like calorn who's got that championship pedigree uh strome and some of those wily veterans who can help lead these guys and teach them the way, I think that they're looking good in the future. But as far as the Zegers thing, I just think you have to set a good precedent for the other guys where you can't just hand over a long-term deal and a bunch of money to maybe a guy who hasn't developed his game where it's going to be sustainable come playoff time like right now he seems like a piece like a like a skilled piece but maybe not a guy in that true that true core where if you if you're not playing both sides of the puck and not playing that playoff style hockey

it's really hard to just kind of do these uh these projection contracts where you're going to say oh well here's like a seven times seven for a guy where you're just really not sure. And you know what the problem with that is, Biz, is that the guy right behind him, McTavish, he is a both ends of the ice kind of player. So how do you give, to your point, how do you give him the big contract and then you got Mack right behind him who arguably plays the game the right way? And you're going to have a lot of these young guys coming in at the same time who are going to be demanding probably those eight times eight. Likeo carlson if he has a good first two years like

all of a sudden you see like sanderson uh the list goes on hughes like those guys are getting the eight times eight well what's it gonna be at in two years yeah it's probably gonna be having a hand over nine ten million at that point with where the cap's gonna go probably up another five million so the precedent in which verbeek is trying to set, I think, doesn't bode well for Zegers. But in the meantime, take a bridge deal, prove yourself, develop your overall game, and then fuck, that whole core gets to stay together. And those guys are sitting pretty in about two, three years. Well, I hope so. They've been terrible for five years, Biz, so I hope they have some good prospects in the pipeline.

Yeah, well, they did it the right way. They went and got real shitty as opposed to, hey, let's go sign some guys and be like, you know, be drafting eighth, ninth overall. That's how you have to get better. Imagine they had nobody in the pipeline right now after five years of knowing. You're right.

They got some good players coming out finally, which is nice. Nice to see. Yeah. So, Eric has a number one. That's right. Number one for what do you call it? Prospects in under 23 plays. I think getting Gudis and Labushka are huge because like last year,

was it 39.1 shots allowed? Most in NHL history. That's how many shots they gave up a game? Yeah. Most shots allowed per game. No wonder Gibson wants to get traded. Jesus Christ. Get him some new groin.

Minus 128 goal differential. And then shots against per game, 37.1. That's actual shots that hit the goalie. Second was only 32.7. Juice, do you think, and not asking for secret intel here, but do you think Gibson is on this team, say, February, or is someone going to, he's got four years left, 6.4. We're seeing goalie prices kind of go down. Do you think a team

would take that price off for him? I mean, he's worth it, but he'd have to play good. Yeah, I mean, we got the same agent and he's a friend. I can't really say too much. What I will say is I know a lot of the comparisons were in the offseason.

Hellebucker Gibson. Who would you rather have? Hellebucker Gibson. And I'm a lot of the comparisons were in the off season, Hellebucker Gibson, who would you rather have Hellebucker Gibson? And I'm a huge John Gibson advocate. And I think some people try to make the, the, the argument about his numbers aren't as good as they, they should have been the last three years. But I'm like, this guy's a stud,

man. You get a team in front of them that can defend a little, you don't give them 35 shots a game and you give them maybe, maybe the occasional game, he gets 25 shots and you don't just grind this guy into the ground i think he can be a top five goalie in the league still i really do so that's my my opinion on him um i don't know nothing about greg greg cronin their new coach uh anything on him uh i heard a great communicator, really intense. I wouldn't say he's an easy coach. I think it kind of

aligns with Pat Verbeek. The way Pat Verbeek is a hard-nosed kind of guy and the way he played, I think it definitely aligns with his philosophy there. But he's apparently supposed to be a good communicator, but he's supposed to be a hard-nosed coach. I haven't met him yet.

My boys skate before their team every day, so I get off the ice and I see them going on and stuff. I haven't ran into him yet, but we'll see how he does. Juice, in playing there, I experienced... I was there for a calendar year

and we had a pretty good team when I got traded over there. The fan base, it was electric. It was an awesome building to play in. And naturally, right when the team struggles, it's not going to be the same. So when you look at the team, the fans just want a winner.

Do you think that they'll be showing up early in the season and then if they start losing, that's when the crowd disappears a little bit? Yeah, that's Southern California for you. It's a wins-oriented fan fan base so you'll have your your regulars that go to support no matter what but it's uh there's a lot of competition around here for sports there's a lot of colleges there's you know there's basketball baseball going on uh they'll kind of they'll they'll keep coming if they're winning uh but yeah that's going to

be the main thing they got to win they got to be competitive they've been supported for the last couple years and they haven't won a whole lot of games and you know they still are doing renovations they renovated the dressing room at honda they put in a new uh little lounge downstairs where the players actually walk through the lounge going on to the ice in between periods at the start of the game so like the fans are literally watching zegras and Drysdale walk right by him. And they're, so they're trying to make it more interactive and give the fans more

opportunities to interact with them. But at the end of the day, it's about wins and losses. Like they want to come and they want to feel good and leave that rank with the win. So the team can't finish in the bottom three again. No. Yeah.

Lots to improve on. They were 31st in goals for power play and penalty kill last season. No player more than 23 goals. So I would assume. I'm most excited. I'm most excited assuming that Leo Carlson makes the team and stuff. I'm really looking forward to seeing him play. I mean, you know, obviously he ends up being that high of a pick

and we've been hearing about him for years. And just when we met him, I was so impressed with him as a guy, right? Like, obviously he's dealt with the stutter that he deals with his entire life. He's willing to do an interview with us. He seems super humble, grateful to have the chance to even be at the draft. So, like, based on hanging around with the kid for 45 minutes and what I've heard, like a genuine person that wants to be on a winner. So I'm excited to watch him play. And I think you're looking at a possible future superstar.

It's just interesting to see what impact he makes right away. So I don't have to make the playoffs. If they do make the playoffs and they're close, trade deadline, they go out and they trade for Corey Perry. They bring him back for the playoff run. So he didn't lose in the cup final a fourth year in a row. He immediately gets suspended for 11 games when he gets back. Or somebody from behind.

Yeah, accidentally on purpose. Ah, shit. Well, Juice, we appreciate you. Actually, Juice, I have one more question off topic. I had no idea that your wife's actually an author. She's released a couple novels. That's pretty cool, huh? Yeah.

No shit, really? Yeah. They're somewhere around here. I can't find them. But yeah, she wrote two books. I've said on the podcast before, it's actually, to be a very successful author, it's probably one of the coolest jobs you could have.

You could do it from anywhere. Nobody really knows who you are in terms of famous authors getting stopped. They don't really know what they look like. But in terms of her writing books, like writer's box, does she talk to you about all that stuff? Or is it more you just stay out of the way? No, no, she talks to me.

It's kind of like a little bit of the reverse Jacob Truba where he wanted to go play in the US because his wife is a US citizen and wanted to work. My wife worked in Canada when I played in Vancouver for 10 years. She worked at the Canucks Family Education Center. And then she taught Canadian citizenship courses to refugee women. So she used to go into the ceremonies when the women would become Canadian citizens. And so that's what she did in Vancouver. She got her master's, you know, she's a very smart woman. Then we moved down to

the US and she can't do anything. She doesn't have a visa. And our kids were kind of getting older. They're at school all day. So then she started writing novels and like, they're, they're amazing. If any women are out there or men looking just for entertainment, they're great. So she's got two that have already been published and she won an award with the first one, uh, the Canadian book club award. And now third one, she's kind of halfway through that and comes and goes when she feels like it, but like something I tell you, I could never, I could never write a book and have that focus, that concentration, that the articulation biz, the vocabulary.

Wow. That's a big one for you. How many fucking syllables? Hey, you said entertainment. Are they fiction? Yeah. What kind of novels? Yeah. Autobiography. No, fiction. They better be fiction. And the first one, the woman has an affair, so I hope it's fiction, Biz, for my sake. Just getting it off her chest, eh? How to deal with psychopaths. Jokes on me, eh?

Yeah. Jokes on me, I guess. Romance novels? Juice? Like romance novels? The first one is called Women's Literature and the second one is like a psychological thriller. So the setting for the first one is Newport Beach.

The setting for the second novel is Vancouver, Kelowna area. So you write a little bit based on what you know, but it's by no means an autobiography. It's meant for entertainment. Well, everyone check those out if you'd like. And Drew, I got to meet Cole once in Vegas.

I think it was All-Star Game, whatever it was. Good luck to his team this year. Good luck to you guys. He's a great kid, and we appreciate you coming on and doing that, Sandbagger Buddy. Love coming on, boys. Thanks. Anytime.

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Best taste of water out there no doubt about it body armor is available in stores nationwide but you can head on over to body armor store on amazon and get yours today enjoy some body armor big thanks to juice for jumping all this man he's an absolute character i love having him around hopefully do another rematch you think you'll have a rematch with him, Whit? He wants one. Everyone who loses to us says, I want a rematch. I want a rematch. I said, okay. We'll figure that out at some point. But, I don't know.

I don't know if those guys can hang when the boozing gets involved. I'm going to be quite honest with you. Get in line. I'm your secret weapon. Alright, we're going to take a look at the rest of the Pacific, going over to the San Jose Sharks. Last season, rough one for them. 58 points. They were seventh in the Pacific, 29th out of 32 teams.

They haven't been to the playoffs since 2019 when they lost in the Western Conference Finals. Odds to win the cup this year, 250 to one. Made a couple of trades. They brought in Michael Granlund, Mike Hoffman.

They signed Mackenzie Blackwood as a goalie. They brought in Anthony Duclair in a trade as well. They did make the big Eric Carlson trade. Also said bye to Andreas Johnson and goaltender James Reimer. They only got like $4 million in cap space. So, Merle, that's a lot of money to spend on a team. They were 35 points back in the 18 last year.

They lost their top scorer. I know a lot of money is coming off the books next year, but what's your take with the Sharks this year, Merle? Yeah, if you've been following along, I've been doing one team a day since the 32-day mark, counting down to the season. A little info, a couple bets in there. And the Sharks, I'm sorry to say, Sharks fans,

they were number 32. They're just brutal. They traded everybody away. Obviously, my biggest loss was Eric Carlson, 100-point guy, hard to replace him. I really like the addition of Anthony DeClaire. He's a great player. In Florida, he was

kind of finding his way. I thought he was finally going to do it. All right, this is his spot, but it didn't work out for whatever reason. He's out there, and I like this because at the end of the season, he's going to be a hot commodity for the trades. Add him to your playoff roster, he brings speed scoring little grit and uh but one guy i'm really and cheap at three million oh yeah dirt cheap and um the one guy i really want i want to watch this

team for this year is this william ecklund swede he was a seventh overall pick got a little taste last year 17 17 games, but this year, now that Meyer's gone, he should get a lot more ice time. So that's my player to watch for the Sharks. Kevin LeBanc in the final year of his deal in San Jose as well. I think he'd be a great addition for any team at the deadline,

looking to add a little scoring. What's Couture's contract? He's got four years left at $8 million per year. He's 34 years old. I feel bad for him. Him and hurdles. He's making $8 million a year, but he's been a great player for a long time. And this season, I have to say that they're easily the worst team in the league, right? Yeah.

I can't see anyone. I know we already talked about Anaheim. Anaheim's got some real bright prospects. And I know Will Smith's going to be a stud at some point in this league, but the San Jose Sharks right now, and I love Mike Greer and David Quinn's a friend, but I feel bad for that squad because it's going to be

tough sledding. But as we've said many times before, you've got to be really, really bad. It's the Philadelphia Flyers world that you're stuck in the middle where you end up average for a lot longer than you should be. They're going to be bad. They've been bad.

It'll continue. But hopefully within four or five years, they can really pick this thing up and get it going. I mean, I have nothing to say. I feel bad about it. I mean, you look at Thomas Hurdle. That's a guy like, that's the thing. They have some really good players.

It's just the depth and the lack of the entire team being able to step in and have the fourth line out there against the first line of another team and be okay with that for a couple seconds before the line change happens. They just don't have that ability. So it's going to be tough sledding and hopefully some prospects get in there. I almost feel bad for that fan base because of the amount of sustained relevancy they had for that 15 years during the Joe Thornton era and all that that going on they don't even end up getting a cup out of it i know they only make it to the finals one time and then now it they're i mean they're at the beginning

of the rebuild phase right last year was a shit show this year is going to be a shit show i would imagine they're probably picking in the top five for the next three, four years to come here. So Greer's got his hands full. You mentioned where they're at in the cap. Well, they retained a lot of money in order to gain a lot of assets. So you just got to hope they're spending a lot of money on scouts just as much as they are their players and players who aren't even in the lineup they're paying for.

So tough sledding to be a Sharks fan. But what a fan base. What a fan base. And I'm telling you, and we've been over this, when they were top dogs going into that barn, just get out of the first period down 2-0, and you have a chance, possibly. Last the first 10.

Just get out alive. I will never forget the beatdown that I took there one night on the Penguins. It was just the Metallica buzzing. They're coming out of the Big Shark. And those fans, like Biz said, they never got that cup, which makes it that much tougher to deal with the down times. But they'll be back.

They'll be back. It just all relies on that drafting and hitting those home runs. So you wish the fans the best, and you also wish that they stay loyal and keep showing up because that's what made that place so special is their fan base and how loud they were yeah hurl's got uh seven years left at 8.1 million uh 36 year old defense and mark andre i'm sorry mark edward vlasic he's got three years left on that deal at seven mil and they got seven and a half million dead money in buyouts but they got about 27 million coming off the books after this season and you know mike ray

he could start with sort of molding the team in his image of what he wants to do. And maybe they can try to get some free agency. It's just hard because you can't really build in free agency anymore. All these good players are locked in, right? So you almost don't want to go just spend that money because you have to. I mean, having good veteran presence around, like the guys like the Vlasics who have been around and they handle their business appropriately,

even though they're obviously on the back nine, they'll lead the way and hopefully they get some nice young studs in the pipeline soon enough and they look more like Anaheim than they do right now. I don't think we have to go around the table. Everybody agrees they're not going to be in the playoffs, I would assume. Yeah, Vegas has them as the lowest point total, 66.5. All right, let's go up to Alberta.

The Calgary Flames last year, they had 93 points, fifth in the Pacific, 16th overall in the league. Last time in the playoffs, 2022, they lost to Edmonton in the second round. They haven't gotten past the second round since 2004 when they went to the cup final, lost to Tampa. Their odds this year are 30 to 1. They have a new coach, Ryan Husker. He was the assistant for a long time.

They brought in Igor Sharangovich in the Tyler Toffoli trade. Defenseman Jordan Ostley, like I said, they lost Toffoli. Milan Lucic, Trevor Lewis, Michael Stone, Nick Ritchie gone. They're over the cap right now. I know the season hasn't started yet. They could get underneath. It's 213,000 over right now. It was a bumpy ride for Cowtown last year. It seemed like like i don't know if the son of stuff overshadowed everything because i know it feels like they're underneath his thumb now they could

maybe i don't know breathe a little bit because he put hubido on the wrong off wing and it just seemed like a clusterfuck of a year for that team last year well i mean fucking the the oilers going back to the year previous just ended them they had the one nothing series lead and then all of a sudden Edmonton turned it on they got they got playing like a bunch of idiots opened things up and uh yeah the Sutter experiment was was not very good last year I think that the morale was extremely low uh let's not forget about the key losses right they lost Johnny Goudreau and then they lost Kachuk. I'm not sure how much that had to do with Daryl being at the reins, but I think that the negativity spread a little bit

too much, especially with Huberto early on. That threw him off his game. I thought they were going to fucking win the division again, right? Because of the ads, losing those guys, they ended up adding who'd they pick up. They picked up Hubie, they picked up adding, who'd they pick up? They picked up Hubie, they picked up Wieger, and then they got Kadri. So I thought that they were going to be all right, but the offense just was never there. Only 55 points from Huberto after he'd had 100 the year previous. Probably the biggest issue was goaltending.

And I think that Darrell was in Markstrom's head a little bit. Same with Vladar, who when he took over, Vladar was solid at the start, but then it just became a carousel where they couldn't get the big saves. But let's not forget, and I think I mentioned this when we were talking to Juice, most one goal losses since 2010, 2011, that was the Florida Panthers. They had 31 goal losses. So I think with now a little bit happier environment, Huberto getting his game back, Powerplay probably getting some help with Savard coming there as an assistant

and him sprinkling his magic in there. I actually think that these guys make the playoffs this year. The biggest question mark right now is can they lock in Lindholm, right lost I don't know they're gonna have to offer him quite a bit of money he's got all the leverage right now because if they lose him as a first line center they're really gonna be toast because you can't go find guys to replace him we talked about it you can't build through free agency you got to lock this guy in and keep him around so they got a they actually got a lot of guys they got assigned because uh they got a lot of pending ufas other than limholm they have

backland hannifin killington tanev and zadorov so not sure uh not sure what they're going to be able to uh to do this season but i'm confident that they can get back to the winning ways and uh they're going to be okay. Bounce back. Yep. And I hate saying it. I'm an Oilers guy, and the Oilers are so fucking good, it's actually scary. But the Calgary Flames are going to be a good team this year.

I think that getting away from Sutter and the negativity, as Biz put it, the showing up to the rink and just kind of walking on eggshells and knowing that he's disappointed in everyone. It just can weigh you down. And I think Markstrom's going to have a bounce back year. I think Huberto's going to be awesome. I actually think with that new head coach,

who definitely deserves this chance, I think they're going to be a really good team. And like Huberto went in there, he's playing out of position. He had to deal with the expectations of losing Kachuk and Goudreau. There was just so much madness that all kind of rolled together into just a shit season. And like that can happen, but you look at what's there. And I think that there's a lot there to win a bunch of games. I have them making playoffs too, no doubt. But I also think that the bounce back is going to be the biggest part.

And mainly for me, it's with Markstrom. And also the fact that Vladar can be a really good goalie. If he does struggle, one of those goalies is going to be good. I mean, you look at their third line could consist of Backlund, Blake Coleman, and Mangiapane, right? So if that's your third line, that looks great. Super excited to see Coronado, who was a first-rounder a couple years ago.

He played at Harvard. A ton of skill. He'll have the ability and the chance, I think, to play on one of the top two lines. Pasha's boy from New Jersey, Sharon Govich, comes over. He had 25 goals two years ago. And then last year, I think, kind of lost his spot, maybe with

the Devils getting a little bit more depth, but a crazy release. He's got an unreal shot. So all of a sudden, if he's playing with Rubidoux and Lindholm, he's got a real chance to produce those goals that he did a couple of years ago. I just like their team. And like I said, going into last year, I thought they'd have a great team and everything snowballed from the get-go. But I think with a new coach in there and Markstrom having a bounce-back year, I've mentioned I played with him, very proud guy, will be really expecting a lot from himself, and I think he's got a lot to prove. And because of that, he's probably so focused.

He's a dad now, and he's probably ready to go, I think. And I just like their team. I don't think that they're going to compete for the Stanley Cup, but I think they're going to be in the playoffs. And I mean, obviously, you want to see that new arena get built at some point. That arena is a little worn down

and they have to deal with the Oilers who just own them. But I do like their team and I'm kind of excited to see Huberto and what he can accomplish because that's another proud guy coming off one of the worst years he's had in the league. You he's looking at his contract and him well another issue too is is as much as he struggled he wasn't really getting a lot of opportunity like most nights you looked at

the score sheet he was playing 15 minutes now maybe Daryl wasn't happy with how he was playing on the defensive side of the puck maybe he just didn't like his style of play but like i said with 20 minutes of ice time and him getting another 20 points i think they find themselves within a playoff spot now the only other thing we talked about vladar and and marky like it's a crowded crease man they had this wolf kid that's coming up too and he got a few games at the end of the year and if i'm not mistaken he won goalie of the year last year in the american hockey league and maybe even the year previous so if they're not getting that goaltending from those two guys off the start you see Wolfe getting called and got called up and taken over the crease so they got a crowded crease in uh in um in Calgary so it should be interesting to see

how things play out also on D and now granted granted question marks around Hannafin in terms of wanting to be traded and maybe he doesn't want to resign there. Who knows how that plays out? I think at a press conference around the flames golf, the annual golf thing before camp, he mentioned he just wants to see how the season goes. If they get off to a good start, he wants to be on a winning team.

So things like that can change. A guy may not want to sign somewhere. All of a sudden they have a great year and and and his you know tune changes a little bit but if you look at their d they got a lot better six guys than a lot of teams in the league like if you're looking like hannifin rasmus anderson mckenzie wieger chris tanev oliver shillington and nikita zadorov there's a lot worse decors out there, right? So it's a team that I think because of what happened and finally having the excuse and quotations of Darryl and how he's wearing on everyone, if he's being gone,

they got no excuses anymore, and I'm expecting big things from the Flames. Merles, what do you got for us, buddy? I'm the opposite of these two guys. I think they've lost too much. Toffoli left. He was their top scorer. He's gone

i have them not making the playoffs and and the only way they do it is what you guys talk about if markstrom if he has the vesna year if he wins the vesna they'll make the playoffs but all these guys they don't want to sign there they're not committing to it like you can't be on a team like that with guys that aren't committed to be there and like want to win with each other what do you mean they're all fucking playing for contracts that's exactly where you want them yeah but they You can't be on a team like that with guys that aren't committed to be there and like want to win with each other. What do you mean? They're all fucking playing for contracts. That's exactly where you want them. Yeah, but they don't want to be in Calgary.

Like they're just not committed to that. I just don't I don't buy them at all. The division is way too strong. You look at Edmonton, Vegas, L.A., the top. They're not better than those three teams. So I'm going to have them not making the playoffs. Well, that's the thing. So I'm going to have them not making the playoffs.

Well, that's the thing. I think it's pretty easy to say, probably more than any other division of the three teams that we all have winning the Pacific or getting the spots, the auto spots in L.A., Vegas and Edmonton. But it's not going to be that easy for the entire division because there's so many deep teams. So I just think if Calgary has goaltending, then they'll be right there. I got five. I got five teams in the Pacific making playoffs, and I got Calgary edging out Vancouver. So I think that they are going to make playoffs, and they're going to slide into a one. So you're going to have Seattle in?

Yep. Yep. G, where you at, buddy? Who do you have on Calgary? What are you thinking? I actually don't think they make the playoffs. I think Flames fans should head into the year thinking one thing,

and that's sell, sell, sell, sell at the trade deadline, like Biz said. They just signed Huberto and Weeger. What do you mean? But Backlund, Lindholm, Doobie, Hannafin, Tanev, these are guys that have already expressed that they don't want to re-sign in Calgary. So you might as well get something for them now,

because in a year from now, their hand's going to be on their dick. They you might as well get something for him now. Cause in a year from now, they're going to be, their hand's going to be on their dick. They're going to have nothing, nothing to show from it. So I think they sell, I think they get off to a slow start and by Thanksgiving, they start dealing.

I agree with you in a sense, if they're not in a healthy position, come trade deadline, you got to sell and prepare for the future. You have some decent pieces and get unload, worry about the future. So it should, I mean, there's a lot of question marks heading into this season, and Calgary's probably one of those teams where it's just like it's so up in the air,

who the fuck knows what's going to happen. Yeah, Uyghur and Anderson, the only defensemen signed beyond next season, and they're kind of coming to a crossroads with all these contracts and guys up and whatever. But I think the new voice in there with Husker, he's got to know this team well. He was in the AHL team for four years as assistant for the last couple and if Markstrom I agree with you what if Markstrom gets that form back I think they're back in the playoffs because there's a lot of good parts there and like you just said biz all these guys are playing for contracts too so

uh we're gonna go to their rival in Alberta the Edmonton Oilers uh 109 points last year second in the Pacific they were sixth overall in the league. I think right now, same mission, man. The time is now at Edmonton. Their Stanley Cup odds are 10-1. They lost to Vegas last year. They've lost the last two years to the eventual Stanley Cup champions. But the number I wrote on this sheet, guys,

2024. I'm sorry. I can't remember. 2026. That's McDavid's contract is up. I think people are going to start wondering about this, man, because if they don't win, they don't have the great goaltender right now. The team is not a perfect team to win a Stanley Cup. Witt, you're the ex-Oyler. What's your take on it, man?

Stanley Cup. Stanley Cup champions. And people may think I'm crazy. Juice said it. That Vegas-Edmonton second-round series was the Stanley Cup right there. And they were close. Now, they didn't even get to game seven. So were they that close? No. But it was 2-2 heading into game five. And Aiden Hill put on a performance for the ages in game five and game six. And if he didn't and Edmonton squeaked away, they're winning the Stanley Cup. But this team is so driven.

They have one of the greatest players to ever play hockey. Leon also is a top four player in the NHL or the world. It is depth, and Connor Brown is an enormous signer, right? And you look at Zach Hyman. Zach Hyman, people say, oh, there could be a dip back. Nope. He's got the speed. He has the ability to play with McDavid or Dreitzadl.

They have so many weapons that I just think with what McDavid and how driven he is and how much time that him and Leon spent together this summer, how early they've already been skating together. It's Stanley Cup or bust in that city with that team. And I also think like Skinner had a solid year, right? And Campbell had one good month. But I think Campbell's going to come back and have a good season. Maybe I'm crazy for thinking that, but that first year in Edmonton, it's tough. The guy obviously wasn't comfortable. He did not have the best season. He's going to be better. Skinner's also going to be

better because that competition between them two, same in Calgary how they got the prospect coming up that's a good thing they're trying up they're trying to become the number one that battle in practice is something that you need that's something that's good for a team um but like Connor Brown reminds me a lot of Hyman and to bring him in uh short money a lot of bonuses available for him but it's like you have to have these heartbreaking losses. Every Stanley Cup champion's been through a time that you feel so close and you can't get there and it makes you even hungrier. Evan Bouchard, what a player he is. I mean, let's be honest.

The power play is the greatest power play to ever be in the league. And nothing's going to slow them down, let alone the fact that they get so many power plays because of their speed Nugent Hopkins I don't know if Nugent Hopkins has the same has the same season point wise but still both ends of the ice so reliable uh Jan Marks there for the entire season I like his game yeah there's just there's a different feeling there and I just think a guy like McDavid, he's that good. He is that good to lead this team. And what he did last year, insanely enough, I think there's more there.

It sounds crazy. He's in the prime. He knows exactly what he wants. He knows how to get it done. They've had these bitter losses. Western Conference Final followed by the second round. They have everything there to win the Stanley Cup. And they are my pick. And I'm not saying it as a homer i truly think that the way everything's aligning and how much pain there's been and how much growth there's been with the prospects you

look at a guy like holloway he's going to get a chance they brought that lane peterson in his fourth line player there's more depth there this year there's more guys fighting for roster spots the competition within and i truly think they're going to win the division and win the stanley cup yeah and they didn't lose one member of that core group which is important right they got a lot of guys filling in now i think healthy kane's healthy you mentioned the goaltending duo if they share the net and they both have a successful season i think that they're definitely going to win the division. They got Ekholm back, which is huge, right? That was a big trade for them.

Not only did he prove that with his play when he got there, but getting him that last year on his deal. And then Darnell Nurse wasn't healthy. People need to lay the fuck off him. I think he's going to have an awesome bounce back year. I know he wasn't great in playoffs, and it came out that he was injured. So I like their duo in net.

I think Skinner gets a year more mature and I think he eventually becomes the starter full time. The biggest question mark I have is how are they going to adjust to the things that have hurt them when it comes down to playoff time? And that's it's not sustainable to be playing Leon Dreisaitl and Connor McDavid 25 minutes. They need to get contributions all season long where they can rely on that they do need some games where they need to play that 22 23 minutes that is sustainable but do you agree with me wit where they can't keep relying on those two guys to play 25 minutes when you get to the playoffs these teams are too deep too good defensively too structured to have to rely on these players yeah i i do i do and that's why like a guy like ryan mcleod yeah he's so fast and dangerous when he gets his speed going and he's involved in the game. We're going to we're going to need to step up from him. We're going to need Holloway to get a chance and obviously become accustomed to the NHL and have a big season. I know what you're saying.

And like, yeah, they, they can't be playing 25 minutes and go all the way to the finals. If they do, if anyone could, it's probably them too, but still it's not a recipe for success, but I just think you're going to see step ups from guys that,

that just get that extra year in the league. And I do expect a lot from Ryan McLeod. I think Warren Fogle can be better than he was last year. And at times he looked great. Maybe something that some nights he disappears, but in terms of nurse on the backend, it's like when i'm talking to oilers fans it's almost like you just and it's hard to do and then part of being a fan is looking at what guys pay get paid and what you expect and you almost just have to look at him and and kind of forget what he's being paid is he

overpaid no doubt that that that was he got the deal he got right in the end. They probably wouldn't have done that, but they also wanted to keep him and had to keep him. So I don't really know what else they could have done. But if you don't look at him being a nine million dollar a year defenseman, you could see him and he makes an impact. Not only does he make an impact on the ice, but in the room, guys love him. He's tough as nails. You love that on the back end. He skates like the wind. You love that. He's good defensively.

Yes, he's never going to be a $9 million a year player. But if you don't look at him and his salary attached to him, it's a lot easier to kind of respect and understand what he brings to that team. Now, the playoffs, he did struggle. And I was somebody that was all over him. The King series wasn't great. But he still is a top four defenseman in the NHL, right? So it's like as long as he continues to evolve,

and he's still pretty young. He still can improve on his game. He's never going to be a 50, 60-point guy. So I think Oilers fans are always going to be disappointed at the lack of offense and things like that, but he's an important member of the team. He's wearing a letter on his jersey for a reason. So I also love Kulak. Okay.

The way he skates, that's a great bottom pair defenseman. Deharna had moments in the playoffs. He looked a little overwhelmed, but it's another year in the league. So the team, put it this way, they looked great last year and they're better this year. So it's just it's it's it's a very i would say the only the only significant loss just going back to playoffs was losing costin i thought that he was a big force he was physical but i think that they found guys

who can step in in his spot and and replace him on the bottom six overall i think we all think that they're making playoffs i think they do have a chance to win the division. But hey, with Vegas in the mix and LA, you never know. But the biggest thing for me is they need to find a way to spread out that ice time and be fresh going into playoffs if they're going to have a chicken dicks chance. The only thing, the ice time is a little misleading because they are playing minute 45 on the power play. And I like that. And I like that. And I want that.

So sometimes you see 23 minutes and you'll see they had six power plays and they pretty much played all of them. But I know what you're saying. And I do agree. They need more scoring from their bottom six. But if they can get that, they're the best team in the league. Merles? Yeah, you want us to remember him not a nine not as a nine million player but that means the coach has got to do it too like nurse he doesn't need to be playing 20 minutes move him

down let him focus on the 12 15 minutes are you out of your mind you got at home with at home comes there 12 to 15 kenny holland reads my blog to trade for at home. They go 18-2-1. That's a D-man. They need a D-man. They got Bouchard for the power play. They got Ekholm for the shutdown in the PK. How many defensemen do you think they're playing? Eight guys? I got this other guy, Witt. You might know about him. Philip Broberg, first rounder. He should make

a huge jump up. And apparently he looks phenomenal. Darnell Nurse should be playing 18-20 minutes a night. 16 to 18. Are you guys fucking high? What does he do out there? Why do you want him out there?

20 minutes a night's a lot, bro. Focus on the 15. You just said he's a top four defenseman on any team. I would say that's between 18 and 20 minutes. I'm not just trying to argue to the sake of arguing, but if you're going to pay a guy $9 million and you got him playing between 15 and 12, come on now.

That's what you got to do if you want to win. Oh, yeah. Guy's a liability out there half the time he's out there. No, he was because he was playing with a fucking one groin last playoff. Don't limit his minutes. He won't be as hurt. I think he's an 18 minute, 18 minute guy. And you have to be playing that.

If Broberg comes on the scene and he's like moving the puck as well as people say he can and skating the way he can, like then, then we're talking about possibly nurse playing 15 to 16 minutes. If fucking Darnell nurses, listen, as he's going to drive off the road playing 15, 12 to 15 minutes,

you guys come on. Well, I mean, I mean, he he it depends on how he plays if he's playing good if he's playing good play him 20 minutes a game i think merles is more than more than anything saying if he's not playing good don't just keep throwing him out there because he's making nine million exactly and on a happier note oilers i got you to win the president's Trophy. Plus 800, Whit. There we go. There you go. This team is so good.

They're so good. And now, granted, yeah, they're two players. They're two players. Okay. Well, they happen to be two of the greatest players I've ever seen. Yeah, Whit. They do have two of the best players in the world, but they've been squandering these opportunities. You look at the save percentage last year from the goaltenders.

6-6, 3-2-6 goals against 8-9-4 save percentage. No matter who they start, that has to be better. Also, outscored 25-30. I'm sorry, yeah, 25-30 they outscored and even strengthened the playoffs. That has to improve as well. 25-30? Yeah, they outscored. Yeah, they scored 25.

Well, I know. Right, well, yeah, I sound like a European reading it that way. You must have had those written down next to the BioSteel notes. So I didn't know you were doing Bloomberg business stuff here. That shit was boring. But either way, they're in the playoffs. I'm sure G's going to say they're in the playoffs, right? We'll move on to the LA Kings.

Hopefully do a little bit better here. LA Kings last year, third in the Pacific, 10th overall in the league. Last time in the playoffs last year, they lost in the first round to Edmonton the last two years, 22 to one to win the cup this year, but huge deal they made. They signed and traded. Winnipeg sent over Pierre-Luc Dubois.

Eight years, $68 million deal. Also brought in Trevor Lewis, Kevin Connaughton, Cam Talbot, David Riddick, and the goaltenders. But they lost a lot of guys. Gabe Velati, Alex Ayafalo, Sean Walker, Sean Dursey, Alex Edler, Cal Peterson, and Yunus Korpisalo. Very little cap space, about $123,000. Also, Todd McClellan, he's heading into the fifth and final year of his deal.

I have to, like I said, two straight first round losses. Oh, he deserves an extension. Well, that's, you know, that's because you got the lame duck status there. You wonder if they are going to extend him. But, you know, LA a couple years ago, they were sort of like knocking on the door. They're a contender right now. What do you think, Biz? What's your take on the Kings this year?

I think that they have a very strong chance, if they stay healthy, to win that Pacific division. I would argue that their top three lines are the best depth on any team in the league. Their center ice is easily the strongest in the league right now. That is such a huge pickup. Rob Blake, ever since he first took over, yeah, there was a few hiccups early on, but mixing in young talent and going out

and signing some fucking big name players like Deneau, obviously it's a little easier when you're the LA Kings to bring guys over to LA. You get to fly under the radar and play there and you're fucking on a championship caliber team. Like I said, going out there and getting to block huge dono and then kopitar i think that their top four defense are very underrated you still have a lot of gas left in the tank with drew dowdy i think that russian defenseman there

is it how do i pronounce his name gavakov they picked him up from columbus extremely underrated i love matt roy played with him in the American Hockey League. A very solid. Joey Anderson's nice. I think Mikey Anderson fucking plays a very heavy game. Obviously, Dowdy's Dowdy. The big question mark is in net right now. They had Phoenix Copley step in last year when they had some struggling goaltenders,

and he went on that crazy run, which got them back in the playoff picture. They pick up Talbot for that wily veteran experience so all they need to do is split the net and and play competent enough and that team is easily going to make the playoffs and I mentioned you said they lost a few guys up front RA but they fucking had Arvidsson come in on that trade from from Nashville he was fucking awesome. He was stellar in playoffs. They have Fiala who was injured in playoffs, who when he's healthy,

he's fucking unbelievable. Kempe, automatic 40 goals. He's another guy who flies under the radar there. I guess the one question mark is if question Quinton Byfield, if he could take that next step, as I said, this fucking

top nine forwards is lethal they i i like them i i view them as a top three cup favorite the biggest question mark in net and there's a few goalies you got one down the road in gibson and then you got another one in hellebuck who could who could end up making they got no money dude i understand but you never know what's going to happen throughout the season. Maybe they have the long-term AR play happening. You never know, right? But let's see how things go.

The Vegas Golden Knights ended up winning the Stanley Cup with a fourth, fifth-string goalie in Aiden Hill. If one of these guys pops off, like in Cam Talbot, he plays like he did a few years ago when he was in Minnesota, who the fuck knows what can happen? So I am pumped. We all know they're my third team. I'm continuing to root for them.

And I see big things happening for the Los Angeles Kings. They're a great team. Cannot argue about the top nine. I actually think that easily the biggest question mark is goaltending. It's just really hard for me to look at that team and take them as serious Stanley Cup contenders with what it looks like now. I mean, they're just spending so little money on goaltending,

which could end up being amazing. If one of these guys plays great, and all of a sudden you're looking at this like, look at the money we got on our goalies, and we're still this good of a team. But if they do struggle, it won't be that shocking because of who you have there and and i i understand copley did a hell of a job last year but he's never proven himself as a number one and and cam talbot well well also you know there's a chance he lights it up there's also a chance he could struggle so i i just i see that

team being so deep at every position but goalie, and that's the most important position on any team. So the Quinton Byfield thing is also interesting because he looks like he could be a stud, but this is kind of a big season for him. If he doesn't make that step up, then you start wondering, does he need to play center to be good? Well, he ain't playing center on that team unless he's playing on the fourth line, which won't happen.

The center position there, Biz, you're right. It's unbelievable. To have Deneau as your third line center is so crazy that you're laughing with the depth you have up the middle. They'll be so good at shutting teams down defensively. I love their decor. For me, it's all about goaltending. If they get good goaltending, they could win the Stanley Cup, no doubt. If they don't, they could kind of struggle to get in the playoffs, dude.

It's that kind of uncertain going into this season. So if Byfield plays well, Byfield jumps up to 50 points and they could get goaltending, man, they're going to be very hard to beat, no matter who it is. Merles, what do you got on the Kings? Yeah, obviously got them in the playoffs.

I have them ranked third in the division. Vegas and Edmonton are just too good. If they want to go to the cup, you're saying you got to beat both of them in a seven game series. I just can't see it. I got a great guy to watch, though, this player to watch. Brant Clark. You guys heard of this guy?

Stud. Absolute stud. He was eighth overall pick. He averaged like one point under two points a game in the ohl last year he played his nine games and got sent back there but he has a chance to make the team this year and he would be he's he's drew dowdy you know the next drew dowdy 2.0 is that what you would use soon as dowdy's done this guy's gonna fill right in a great time to be a kings fan to watch this kid the kings have done a phenomenal job in going from those two Stanley Cups

and having a couple years when they weren't there. But what a quick rebuild in terms of becoming a contender again. That's the argument that fans will always give in terms of not really tearing it down. And I know we're staunch believers in really becoming bad to become great again. They've somehow, through Rob Blake and obviously Todd McClellan deserves some credit in how he's coaching them, but they've just retooled on the fly and become immediately contenders

when it looked like there was going to be a time where they were going to struggle for a while. So part of that's drafting, right? They did lose a guy like Velarde, but you're not able to bring guys in without trading good players. So unfortunately, they lose some guys who made a big impact.

Like I thought Jersey was a big loss. Then you forget about Clark coming in. So it's a fun team to watch too. I love watching games in LA. The fans are awesome. They got one of the best goal horns around and they're a tough team to beat. Merle. So obviously you have been the playoffs.

G what do you, what about you? What's your take on the Kings? I am very, very high in the Kings, kind of like Biz and Witt said. I think everything comes down to goaltending. One thing I think is interesting, and I think Biz just brought it up, is what do you do with Quinton Byfield? There's a huge gaping hole in goal. Maybe you look to move Quinton Byfield to a team like Winnipeg

and bring in Connor Hellebuck because, I mean, need help up the middle and when LA needs a goalie. So I don't know. I think, I think there's a lot of interesting things that could happen with this team this year. How long is Hellebuck signed for? This is, he's going into the final year of his contract.

So that's tough, man. If Byfield goes on to be a 70 to 90 point guy. But Kopitar and Dowdy have earned the respect and brought them to Stanley Cups you push your chips in the middle for those guys and you have a two three year window here where you can win another one and you got to go for it now and and I think that you if you do so you do so for for a sign and trade style trade where if if it's Quinton Byfield and Clark and a draft pick and you get back that goalie, hey, who knows, man? Maybe Shifley's on the way out too. I mean, I think he's only got a year left

on his deal as well, right? And he's only making six million bucks and he's a point of game player every year since he signed that fucking contract. And I think you'd see a team like Winnipeg eat some money if they could get some draft picks in return. Sure, sure. I mean, look at how crafty Blake's been with signing those two big centermen in Deneau and Dubois. So you got to go for it now, boys. You only have so much of a window available.

Dubois is going to have a monster year. Oh, yeah, he's going to shut the haters up. Fiala has been a great pickup for the Kings, too, since January 1st of 2022, he's got 137 points in 121 games. Some of them were obviously with Minnesota before that. He had 72 points in 69 games last year. So 70 at $55 million deal money.

Well spent. I average in 1.13 points per game. So yeah, obviously I get the Kings in the playoffs. I've been on the tip for a little while here. So hopefully they get back in. Vegas up next. Stanley Cup champions.

111 points. First in Pacific. They were fifth out of 32 teams. They beat Florida four games to one to win the Stanley Cup. They're 12 to one Merrills this year. I thought they'd be a little lower than that. Didn't really bring in any new faces. They largely have the same team coming back,

except Riley Smith was traded to Pittsburgh. Phil Kessel's gone. Teddy Bluger's gone. Jonathan Quick and Laurent Persuade, they're gone as well. Right now, they are over the cap by about $4.1 million, but they do have Robin Lane, who's probably going to go on LTIR. Unlikely, he's going to be playing this year. 16-6, they rolled to that cup win last year.

There's no reason this team can't repeat, right, Whit? No, there isn't. Real tough loss with Riley Smith uh being gone just what he meant to that franchise how good he was in the playoffs but I totally understand that for watching Baryshev it was like you know we want to keep him we can't keep both of them and and they made a tough decision but that organization's proved they have no problem making these hard decisions and they finally were kind of rewarded with all the trades and all the, I guess you could say disloyalty to guys kind of come into fruition with them becoming Stanley cup champs.

I do think that it's so hard after you win the cup to come back and, and maybe you see a slow start and maybe, maybe you don't and they light it up and they're that good of a team where the hangover doesn't really affect them but there's just so much that goes into to getting ready to play again and and being willing to kind of do what it takes to win a lot of games early in the season after having that high of winning the stanley cup and then coming back and realizing oh my god we got 82 games before we can even try to repeat and then you you see teams struggle out of the gate sometimes and it wouldn't shock me.

But in the end, they're right there. They're making playoffs. The goaltending, right? Can Aiden Hill? I just don't know. It's so hard for me to think that they won't be really good again, but I also wouldn't be shocked if there's some sort of step down. The reason that I do believe that they'll continue't be really good again, but I also wouldn't be shocked if there's some sort of step down though.

The reason that I do believe that they'll, they'll be continue to be this good is like Mark Stone is a leader. I don't know about his health, right? Like you've seen him go through so many different back injuries and what he was doing to play in the playoffs. Like that guy's kind of a player that like it could end at any moment. I hate saying that, but you've,

you go through back surgery after back surgery and all of a sudden it's like, you never know what's going to happen. They're also currently over the cap, right? Yeah, but like I said, they have Lane, his $5 million deal. They can LTI him, so they can make it. What's the word? The biggest thing for me is their defense, and it's so good. They have all six guys back that won the Stanley Cup, right?

So you look at how you know you need to play and having those guys that you can rely on. They all know their roles. That was one thing, watching them play in the playoffs, that whole team knows their role. And that is such a... It sounds ridiculous to say, but in a lot of teams you'll see throughout the year,

guys don't know what's expected of them. They don't think that their role should be what it is. Well, everyone bought in there and everyone understood that this is what I'm paid to do. This is what I'm expected to do. And when an entire team knows that crazy things they can accomplish and they did. So a guy like Amadio, I think he has a big year. He's the ability to step up in the lineup and you saw how good he was in the playoffs. Kind of similar to a guy like Stevenson who really never got a chance to be like a top player until he got over to Vegas. Maybe Amio takes a big step up I still feel bad that I didn't even know who he was

after they won the Stanley Cup and I was like oh shit great game buddy I was also waffled with the mer he told me about that one when I saw him but um no it's a great team like what else can you say that we didn't say in the Stanley Cup it's's just so many, so many things are question marks for me because of how you respond after winning the title. But the other thing I will say about this team is as a coach's shelf life, right? You've heard things about Cassidy that as the years go on, it can start to wear down on you and everything's hunky-dory right now they're stanley cup champs but as years go on maybe maybe uh certain behaviors and attitudes continue and guys do start getting sick of hearing them i i know that's obviously a reach right now they're coming off a stanley cup it's just when i'm thinking out loud of what could maybe derail this team that's something

that's a possibility while being not not um what's the word i'm looking for here don't ask me uh that's not a strong possibility i'll say but i'm just trying to think of reasons that maybe the oilers will be able to walk through them this year likelihood is that likelihood maybe yeah all right there you go i think i'm pretty sure i pissed off a lot of golden knights fans when i said that the uh the top three centermen depth position it would go to the pissed off a lot of Golden Knights fans when I said that the top three centermen depth position, it would go to the Kings. But a lot of people would argue that this center ice is probably the strongest.

And even if you look to that fourth line with Roy in the mix, especially the way that Chandler Stevenson took that next step. So between Eichel, Stevenson, and Willie, Slick Willie, and Roy, that's a very fucking deep middle of the ice. Replacing Smith is not going to be easy, so I don't know who steps up in that position. But from top to bottom, still a lethal team. You worry about the rest and how much recovery you do get

when you go all the way to the finals. But overall, another cup contender for me. And I mean, I don't really need to speak long-winded on these guys. They're still the same team and they look lethal. Marcia Sosa's last year of his deal. Yep. So we'll see what happens there. Overall have them making playoffs and

Kelly McCrimmon has just done an unbelievable job of assembling this incredible roster. There are no weaknesses so it's like you're just like reaching to find things but this team is they're so well balanced that they're going to be right there again, I think. Biz, you ask and I shall deliver. This is from the Vegas Insider, Migs.

This is the guy who's going to replace Riley Smith. Pavel Dorfiev. You ever heard of him? No. I'm not saying it right. I'm the worst with these names. Dorofree F. He had seven goals in 18 games last year,

called up from the minors from the HL team. So look for him to fill in for Riley Smith. He's obviously a goal scorer. He's a sniffer, just like Riley Smith, Vegas and five. I got Vegas as a number two in the division this year. I love that team. They're D there. Nobody has a D that big that can skate like that. And that puts them above. And blocking shots.

They just have it all. And I would say you guys would agree, I would assume best fourth line in the league by a mile. Yeah. How good was Wah in the playoffs? And then you look at Carrier, you look at the cigarette machine running people over and Colasar's got a lot more skill than people

think. But I do not want them to go back to the finals. No finals. I can't do it again. Away from that city. Yeah, I think me and G agree. Definitely the playoffs. All right, before we go any further, here's some words from our friends over at Sport Clips.

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uninterrupted relaxation. So yeah, come watch an endless stream of sports on TV while getting an awesome cut. Sport Clips, it's a game changer. All right, boys. Next up, Seattle crack. A huge surprise last year. 100 points. They were fourth in the Pacific, 12th out of 32 teams.

First time in the playoffs. First and last time in the playoffs last year. They beat the Avs in the first round. Huge upset. Lost to Dallas in the second round, 4-3. Four games to three. 35-1 to win the cup this year. They beat the Avs in the first round. Huge upset. Lost to Dallas in the second round. 4-3. Four games to three. 35-1 to win the Cup this year. They brought in Kyler Yamamoto,

Pierre Bellemere, Brian Dumoulin from Pittsburgh. They said bye to Morgan Geeky, Ryan Donato, Daniel Sprung, Jonas Donskoi, Carson Soucy, and Martin Jones. They got less than a million in cap space right now, but this team basically, like I said, big story last year. Biz, do you think they repeat what they did last year or they kind of settled back down to the first year strength in numbers strength in numbers i think that's a solid roster and last year let's not forget they did this

with martin jones playing a net for the better part of that first half of the season i think grubauer is going to be awesome throughout the entire year he's comfortable he's settled in um love their decor. I think that they're from top to bottom, first line to fourth line. They got good energy. They move fast. They play as a team, a good five-man unit. They're disciplined, a great special team. So I can't see a reason why these guys miss playoffs. And you got to think a guy like Matty Beneers, another year more mature. I love guys and uh I'm sorry I doubted him last year I got him making playoffs I said I had five in the Pacific division and uh

and they're gonna be all right I I couldn't agree more I owe all the fans an apology in Seattle I actually think they're better this year because somehow they were as good as they were last year with shit goaltending so you have to think that that's going to change a little bit. But, I mean, look at what Tolvanen did. The guy comes over and lights it up. It's like had nothing going in Nashville. They get him on waivers. He's an immediate impact player.

They have a great top three lines. I mean, when Yanni Gord's playing on the third line, right, you can imagine this team. I think they're going to be even better. I think that the goaltending can't be that bad again. To me, Grubauer, you saw him finish second in the Vezina

a few years ago, and then it was kind of a struggle, and then all of a sudden, he turned it on, right? I mean, he was able to beat the Avalanche in Colorado in Game 7. I think they have a bounce-back year at the goaltending position. I think they've gotten better overall. I actually like... I know Dumoulin struggled and Penguins fans will say you're crazy, but I think slotting in there, possibly playing with Justin Schultz on the last

pair, they do a good job. It's just such a hardworking team. Their identity is to outwork you. They don't have a superstar, so they know that they all got to work together. They roll four lines a lot, and they're just coming at you and wave. So I don't think that they take a step back. If anything, they're probably even a little bit better. I got them in the playoffs for sure. What else about Seattle did I think? Oh, McCann. The year he had last year, dude, was outstanding. And I think he could continue it. Eberle's a leader. He's been in the league a long time.

All of a sudden, he's a veteran. I feel like just yesterday we were living together. He was a young rookie. And now he's done a good job in terms of getting there and showing guys what it takes to be a pro. It's just a bunch of guys up and down that lineup that have kind of proven their worth getting a chance in Seattle. And after that first-year struggle, last year was a shock Seattle. And after that first year struggle last year was,

was a shocker. And this year, I don't think there'll be a surprise that they're just competing again, all season in the playoffs for me. What do you got for us? Merles? Yeah, I got them fourth in the division.

I like to crack and I love what they did last year. I love their style play. The four second lines. I like to call it where they just, everybody goes out and plays the exact same way. They picked up Pierre Edward Belmar from Tampa. He's just a great veteran. Penalty kill wins face offs.

He knows how to win. I love that pickup for him. They got a young D from the HL. He was an HL all star. Riker Evans. Look for him to get some time up. These these new young kids, they're better than everybody. They're all so skilled. The game is wide open. When you're in the regular season,

I love to see guys like this getting called up and they're going to win a lot of games. I love the Kraken because they're hosting the Winter Classic. So when I get out to Seattle, I want to be treated well. So I got the Kraken in the playoffs wildcard spot. There's only one way they miss playoffs, is if that fucking liability buoy keeps hanging around that team. That fucking mascot is the worst. Dream haunter. Hey, dream haunter.

He also owns you. Just a straight up lib. Robbing targets, robbing CDSs, just a piece of shit sjw fuck you buoy you fucking greasy fuck gee we're gonna be heading there for the winter classic what do you think of seattle this year playoffs or no uh i think seattle does make the playoffs uh i'm most excited to watch matt veneers 24 goals last year spent the summer skating with the Hughes brothers so I think he's going to take a big step I think 30 goals at least I'm hammering that over uh I love Seattle I love just like Merle said four second lines but my biggest thing I'm watching this year is Matty Veneers

taking that next step to being a superstar yeah they'll need a few more goals because all the players they lost and brought back they actually lost 30 collective goals but they still have 10 forwards that scored double digits last year. I think the goaltender might be a bit of a question only because of the injury history with Grubar. Dreeja, he was in the minor leagues last year. Him or Joey Decord, either one is going to back up. But I think if he's healthy all year, they should definitely get back in the playoffs.

And Biz, I wanted to go back to the Shane Wright. He got granted the exemption to play in the AHL this year. Do you think this is a rule they have to change or just keep doing exemptions? Does it happen enough where they need to make a rule change? I just like the exemption status side of it, right? And right now there's a rule in place because these junior teams don't want to be losing these 18 year olds

where if they're they're not going to make the nhl club they want to fucking be able to sell tickets so i just think it should be a case-to-case evaluation where in this case with him being a double underager and him lighting up the ohl like he did there's no reason for him to go back there he's not going to develop that's the perfect spot him. He gained a lot of experience in that run that he had with Coachella Valley. That was a great run they went on last year. Unfortunately, they lost in what was a double overtime to the Hershey Bears.

They were up 3-2 in that series too. And they got a great coach down there in Dan Bilesma, who I had in the American Hockey League. And he's a very knowledgeable guy. And I think that he's going to help them develop at a good pace now I'm interested to see what happens with this kids it's kind of like a Lafreniere situation where you get this this you know young stud who was a phenom and all of a sudden you know he's like not quite NHL ready so if he gets enough development down there at some point you'd hope to see him get called up and make an impact with

Seattle maybe a little more foot speed but as he gets older that'll be there i also i also owe an apology to dave haxkel and the sacrificial lamb if you remember yeah i said oh they're just bringing him in coach a couple years gas them once they get good and fuck he proved everyone wrong um he's got those guys playing hard the The four second lines. I also think Adam Larson's supremely underrated. Big body, can move the puck. They're just a good all-around team. They really don't have any weaknesses besides in net.

And like I said, they were able to be as good as they were last year with really subpar goaltending. So you got to think it improves a little bit. Seattle in the playoffs again. The Kraken. I can't wait to catch a game out there. We owe another apology to the Kraken coaching staff, but this was the Coachella Valley. Jessica Campbell.

Remember we met her in Nashville, and she was right away. I guess we posted a terrible picture of her on the bench celebrating or something. So here's your official apology. Did she message you saying, fuck you, use the good one? No, we met her.

No, remember we saw her? I don't remember. At lunch in Nashville, she showed us. I must not have been there when you guys met her. Was she bitching about the picture you guys posted? She was like, yeah, joking. Like, really, guys? This is the picture you chose?

We blamed it all on memes right away. So it's our official apology. All right, boys. Late in the show. You know what that means? Something that's grinding my gears. Latest Grind My Gears segment, of course, is always brought to you by big deal brewing.com slash finder uh this week it's definitely work centric um we play the dozen trivia i'm not sure if everybody out there knows

it but me uh went and biz with the spit and chiclets team well it got disbanded uh and then they had a tournament a g uh all-time tournament and i'm so mad at my boy jeff d low he runs a tournament i wasn't included everyone's been waiting for years do a one-on-one do a one-on-one tournament so you have like one ultimate winner and he didn't use anybody he didn't like he didn't use anybody from here he i guess he drew all the players from last season it's like that's like jeopardy having a tournament of champions and only using people from the last season. I don't get it. Do I get a good gray pair or what G? You know what? I am not going to say anything negative towards commissioner Jeff D low as me

and Merle's have been trying to get our team EBR back on track. We lost Jordan Woodruff. We need another team member. I believe already you've already joined another team. So I am doing everything I can to get my good graces. I want to be back in the dozen. Merles, we need another teammate. So I am not saying a

bad word about Jeff D'Lo. Yeah, and I feel bad. Jeff's one of my favorite guys at the company, but I was just kind of pissed off that he didn't use people from seasons before, especially like, you know, I think I've done pretty good when we've been on. I've always been a pretty high-rated player, but I don't know,

JDL, maybe someone will back out and you can pull me in, but as far as me getting on that team, boys, someone reached out to me, said, you want to be on my team? I didn't know what was going on. Nobody reached out, said you guys were a free agent, so yeah, I jumped on with Hubs and Ebo, but anyways, Jeff D'Lo, you grinded my gears this week,

not having me in the tournament. So once again, Grinds My Gears, brought to you by bigdealbrewing.com slash finder. See where it is next to you, close to you, and enjoy them for the rest of the hockey season starting up. G, we got the Chicklets Cup coming in two weeks. Anything else the folks should be aware of? Any beer updates, vodka updates?

What else you got for us, G? No, I would say tune in to the Chicklets YouTube channel. Like Biz said, subscribe, like, comment on every video. And any Chicklets Cup news you'll see on our socials. We also did announce last week, just in case you missed it, we're going to be giving away a ticket. Well, every participant of the Chicklets Cup will be given a ticket to the Penguin Sabres game on Friday night. It's going to be such a blast.

We're all in one section together. Everyone's going to be drinking, partying after the full day of activity. So we're very excited for Chicklets Cup. Love it. Love it. Can't wait. Rear, I got two things for you before we go here.

First one, I ran across this nice little trivia question again for you guys. It was a little bit of a coach's episode. Which NHL coach has been awarded the Jack Adams Award most often? I can give you a multiple choice if you need the help. The coach in the NHL who's won it the most? Julian?

I'll give you a multiple choice. Current coach? Nope. Most of all time. Al Arbor, Toe Blake, Scotty Bowman,man or pat burns i gotta go bowman pat burns burns i'll say al arbor pat burns three times wow that's a wow three different teams right i don't have all that but i was very surprised by that i went al arbor right away but i guess when you have like the best team you're you don't always get the coach of the year and true my second thing wit

we have a huge game on saturday my old team timra versus your old team moto first time in the shl since you were there so huge derby game as long as my kid doesn't come before then i will be at the game so i will be taking timraennie over for boots on the ground, but maybe me and you will do a little side wager. I made such an impact in moto. There's a chance I could be going back for a jersey retirement at some point, and I'm proud to call myself a former member of Ornskold's week. Ornskold's week.

Merle's going to have the man n nipple on his new kids going to be breastfeeding off his tit. And he's going to be fucking wagering money lines at the Timber game. The poor kid doesn't have a diaper because he lost all his money betting against moto. Just shitting all over fans heads. Well, this was a long one.

Appreciate you guys. Good insight as always. And that pretty much wraps it up. I'm heading tomorrow on a helicopter to play National Golf Links. And then the next day I'm playing Shinnecock. So just a dream couple days coming up for me. If you're in the area, say hello. Send me some recommendations for dinner.

And as always, we love you guys. We appreciate you listening. Thanks for listening the entire show. And we'll be back to you next week with another Division Preview. Enjoy some dirty honey on the outro. Outro Music