Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 463: Featuring Nico Hischier

Episode Date: September 26, 2023

On Episode 463 of Spittin’ Chiclets, the guys are joined by Nico Hischier. The Devils Captain joined (01:35:17) to discuss growing up in Switzerland, the Devils playoff run, his teammates and more. But first, the guys open the show with some news from Murls. The guys then discuss the recent drama between Steven Stamkos and the Tampa Bay Lightning. The guys wrap up the show with the Metro preview and some golf talk.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 463 of Spittin' Chicklets, presented by Pink Whitney from our friends at New Amsterdam Vodka, here in the Barstool Sports Podcast family. What's going on gang? NHL hockey back in less than two weeks. We have another division preview for you on tap today. A huge jam-packed show, so let's say hi to the boys first. Once again, across the pond in Sweden, Matt Murley, the Murr. What's shaking, buddy?

What's going on? Still a father of one. Could be a father of two by the time this drops. It could happen any minute. Biz, I want to take my name out of the running as an alternate for the Big Deal Selects. I pulled a hammy on the treadmill today, sprinting. Not in good shape. Just showing my age.

I got to stop doing the sprints. Did you stretch at all? No. No. So you got on the treadmill and just started running? No, I did. I did actually our walk that you did, the 12 incline times three speed. I did that for 20 minutes.

Then I jogged for 10. And then I got into the 30 30 sprints and it didn't feel good and then immediately like grabbed it i'm like did you feel a pop no no not bad like i stopped before it got too bad but i i just confirmed that i'm not a big deal select anymore well so what happens if let's say in uh like six seven days her water breaks are you still coming to chicklets cup like is that have you talked to your wife about this yeah we we've had discussion is it's gonna be by the hour it's a certain hour before i'm coming if not i'm not coming so i think the

babies do it almost came i think it's it's coming it's gonna be plenty of time i'll be at chicklets cup how do you know that from a certain way that the baby's kicking like from what her like temperature rises how do you know that then uh some like little contractions and stuff and like last night she thought maybe it was coming so i feel like i could get pulled out of here right now i think so you're not doing a home birth wait you did a home birth your second one? Yes, Wyatt was born in this house. So what'd you do? You like fill up a- What did I do? I think I told the story. I fucking was in the shower with my wife

with his head coming out of a vagina ready to deliver him myself. And the woman, the midwife sprinted in with her jacket on and ran in the shower and we carried her into bed. So you don't do like a blow up little pool or something. Sometimes people need a little blow up pool, right? No, there's a blow up pool.

There's a blow up pool. Oh, okay. And so she got me up at like 5 a.m she's like it's actually it was crazy are you like buddy you should have seen me trying to fill this thing up i was and it was only cold water was coming out i was like i don't know what we're gonna do here babe like and then boom why it was there so the panic was like what happens when the when he comes out and then like he's in the water she's like you grab him you fucking asshole like it was like this isn't like rocket science i know but they're all slimy and stuff so it's like the surge protected what do i do and i don't think a lot of people understand this is probably like maybe you know the international symbol for oversharing, but after a baby comes out,

you got to wait a little bit and then the placenta comes out and oh my God, dude. Aren't you supposed to eat it? Dinner time. Some women have like put it into pills, I believe, and you can eat it. My wife did not do that.

Like a chicken. It looks like chicken parm, doesn't it? Yeah, I just throw it right on top of my Caesar salad. It's perfect. It tastes great. But what were we saying about that oh just like how you're supposed to wait yeah the placenta is how the baby feeds and everything while they're inside the woman it's just wild wild i'll tell you what like women giving birth like you think you're a tough guy we got all these different

tough guys we talked to biz talks about fighting nasty morasty once you see a tough guy. We got all these different tough guys we talk to. Biz talks about fighting nasty, morasty. Once you see a woman give birth, they immediately, for the rest of time, are the toughest human being alive. Well, R.A., how many times have you been constipated? I mean, I imagine your shits, that's probably very similar to giving birth. It's like putting on a racquetball sometimes.

It's brutal, so I can't imagine what it's like. Instead of placenta after, it's just like crumbs of the fucking pretzels from his bag. With the extra cheddar cheese, though. Forget that. No, I mean actual cheddar cheese. That's what I like. The gold-dusted ones.

Now, is the placenta something that could help heal your hamstring? What type of vitamins and nutrients does this thing have? Yeah, you can rub it all over a bruise it's placenta can be used for anything but it's like tiger it's tiger bomb on steroids like tussin instead of shave his head to like drop that kid drop that kid yeah uh morel do you think like is it offside to ask you to bring some of it over for like the big deal selects to give us before you play nose face give you a little placenta that's what i'm saying we need every offside to ask you to bring some of it over for the big deal specs?

Before you play nose face, give you a little placenta shot. That's what I'm saying. We need every little advantage we can get. I'll ask up there. They'll love me asking that in English to them. Have the two boys with you. Might be due for a daughter here. Statistically. We don't find out. I think it's the greatest surprise in life.

Absolutely. I love not knowing. So we're going to wait and see. Merles, when she's giving birth, are you seeing it come out of the hole? So I had numerous, my brother, my cousin, my friends, they all told me to stay north of the border and look down. Look into her eyes. Yeah, you can't unsee what goes on down there. So this last

time the first time i did that but this time she wants me to like get down there and like try to catch it but i don't know so i have to get those nfl gloves the ones that are very sticky yeah you know what the butterfingers whoopsie oh jesus christ he's got pine tar all over his knuckles getting ready. Oh, shit. Next up, the biz man, Paul Biznasty. Bizsonet, we got some great news. We're going to not break in a second, but get to in a second. How you doing, pal?

How was your week? I'm doing good, man. Training for Chicklets Cup. Still off the sauce. Still off the dope. You know, just getting ready, man. I'm prepared. I'm staying laser focused. I don't want to embarrass myself.

I mean, I haven't i mean i haven't won we haven't won our own tournament yet anything i can do to get prepared for this and we also have el capitan terry ryan he's coming off a ball hockey world championship so his leadership and he's in shape and the rest of the crew that i bet you half of the team played for the national team for canada in buffalo they actually had it at river, the exact same place we're going to. I mean, you guys know if you've been to the first one, we're going there back to back. An incredible venue where we're going to have a great time.

We got the Buffalo Sabres game on the Friday against the Pittsburgh Penguins. And then Saturday at the concert hall, like in the midst of Riverworks, we got Dirty Honey. So it's going to be a great week. So just a lot of resting up for that and nothing much exciting going on here, boys. Biz, what time do you go to bed at night? Lately, I've been going to bed around 9.30, 10 o'clock. Oh, shit.

Yeah, naturally waking up about 6, 6.30. I'll tell you what. I just can't go to bed early. Every night, I'm like, all right, 10 o'clock 10 30 go upstairs and then it's 11 30 and i'm always falling asleep on the couch and then you kind of wake up and then it's hard i need to start going to bed earlier but i don't want to go to bed yet do you know what i'm saying i used to be on not i wouldn't say an ra schedule but yeah i'd be usually going to bed around like 12 o'clock and then i would be tired because you're looking at your phone in bed but I've been very disciplined lately and if you're if you're waking up early you just got to break the cycle right so if you

get up early and you go work out like I'd either do one or two things I go to my trainer who a guy named Brandon he actually trained Sugar Sean O'Malley I've talked about him before we got to get Sugar Sean on this pod yeah he said he's gonna on. I didn't want to bug him before his latest fight. So I wanted him to focus on that. And now he's, he's world champion in his weight class. We should also get my trainer on man. He's a fascinating guy. And he could talk about how we incorporate a lot of this breathing and a lot of the breathing exercises, either pre or post workout to calm down and get the heart rate rested, but also in the midst of the workout. So if you're breathing properly during it, you don't get as tired and,

or I wake up and I go for a three and a half mile run. And it usually takes me about like 20. I think I shed my time down to about 27 and a half minutes right now, but then you go throughout a full day wit. So by the time seven seven eight o'clock rolls around like i'm just trying to keep my fucking eyes open yeah so you don't need a like you're not napping at all no naps no i'm not like once in a while i'll do like a 15 20 minute nap but i can't shut my brain off so i'm just kind of wound up and and as i said getting ready for for a lot man it's going to be a big season and already you kind of teed it up so not only i just can't get over the fact that you when you run and or do like cardio you don't listen to anything that's just wild i i just i'm trying to focus on my breathing that's the biggest thing right

especially if you're what no i said no shit like because i mean you said your brain don't stop i'm i kind of have the same thing so it's just being focused on your breathing that's kind of that's kind of uh not unusual it's different i guess to breathing. That's kind of, that's kind of a, not unusual. It's, it's different, I guess, to not have some keeping your brain occupied when you do that stuff. No, I just, it, it,

it helps me. And so sometimes I'll try to do strictly nasal breathing. I know a lot of people, especially in the, like the fitness world have been talking about this recently. Like when you go to bed, some people even do duct tape across their mouth because you're supposed to breathe in and out through,

through your nose. And that's how you're asleep properly. Where, why are you laughing Merle? Good enough. Sounds like what happens in Terry Ryan's tent. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Well, I always had duct tape beside my bed anyway, so it just worked out perfectly. Holy shit.

Well, you just mentioned Captain Terry Ryan. We also have a captain of the New Jersey Devils coming later, Nico Heashy. Great interview. We have a preview in the Metropolitan Division. Oh my God. Pasha's got a raging boner right now behind the scenes. And by the way, we might be bringing Pasha on. I think we are bringing him on to do the Devils breakdown.

I mean, he has been doing Popeye wrist curls to tug these guys off for, what, three months now, getting ready since they've been eliminated? He made us look like fools last year. He did. He did. And the whole Rangers fan base, those fucking Fugazis. So I'm interested to see

what Mr. Pasha has in order for us. I got a breakdown from when we get to the Rangers and the Islanders. I had Avery Zaretsky, former Barstow employee, Rangers diehard, that Pasha owned.

And then I got Frankie Borelli, the Lunatic Islanders fan. I had them send me big time breakdowns of each one of their teams. What did he send you? Adderall so you could stay awake for a full fucking Islanders game this year? Just a snooze fest.

Slowest team in the league. The New York Ambience. Guys, what's up? It's Whit here. And you know what I'm here to talk about. It's the Pink Drink. Pink Whitney, fall season, fall golf, football, Chicklets Cup, most importantly.

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We got old people who love it. We got younger drinking age people who love it. We actually are lucky enough to be able to have this stuff sent to us and hammer it down when you need a buzz. If you're at home and you got kids crying and it's nighttime and it's late and you're just like, ah, just maybe do a nip. Is that the best advice sometimes? No, but it can make you a better parent at times. I know anyone out there knows what I'm saying. So go right now to your local liquor store, get involved, grab a big old bottle this time. Maybe save the nips for next week. Grab a big old bottle, pour it over some ice, put whatever

mix you want in, and enjoy your night, enjoy your day, enjoy your fall with Pink Whitney. Dude, Biz, big news this week. Great news for hockey fans. Yourself, Wayne Gretzky, Hank Lundquist, Anson Carter signed multi-year extensions with TNT. You guys are going to be back for a long while

here. Brian Boucher is going to take over for Jonesy and join Kenny Albert. Nedzo, probably the best call in hockey. Brendan Burke, the Islanders' terrific play-by-play man. He's going to be calling games as well with the three-time Olympic gold winner and Harvard superstar, Jen Barterell. Panga's going to join them. Jackie Redmond, Tariq El-Bashar. We're going to be doing the Rover Reporter.

Great stuff, man. Congratulations, dude. Although you did get tripped, a lot of people are wondering, was that your first ever contract extension? No. Brad Treeliving, who's now with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the commander-in-chief, he gave me a contract extension. Two years when I was playing with the Phoenix Coyotes.

One way? He was, yes. I got a two-year one way and then another two-year one way. And you're probably wondering, well, why was it the assistant GM giving you the deal? It's because the assistant GM usually deals with the AHL guys and the peasants. And that was obviously me. So shout out to Brad Tree Living.

That's why I'll be sniffing his jock the rest of the season. And as long as he is tenured with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Let's go, boys and blue. What was it? Two years, 525 each year, year then like two years 775 each year my second one my i got uh the first one was 625 650 i believe and then the next one was 725 750 but the 725 year we had the half year lockout oh that's a kick in the dick. Just a kick in the junk. With escrow, I was basically making minimum wage. Back to the contract extension.

So obviously, I think it was supposed to be announced last week, but they put that on hold for obvious reasons. But I am so fucking excited to be back. I am very grateful to work with an incredible crew. Ari, you mentioned all those names. Those are the best in the business. The fact that I even get to sit next to Wayne Gretzky, Anson Carter, Liam McHugh, the best bus driver in the business. Hank used to be talking.

Obviously, that was a tough loss. And then also, from what I'm hearing, Armdog's going to be in the mix a little bit. And Jans is going to be in the mix a little bit. So a lot of the same crew back and all those play-by-play and color guys as well. So, I mean, aside from pumping their tires and getting to work with those extremely talented people, getting to work with you guys and our fan base is probably the reason why I ended up

where I did in that seat. So to you guys, you know I love you. Thank you guys for all you've done for me. To our fans who continue to support us, to you guys, you know I love you. Thank you guys for all you've done for me. To our fans who continue to support us, to you guys as well. I will try to not butcher my hot takes this season. I feel like my hot takes are humming this year. I'm heading in the right direction. I started last week with the Kings buzzing in that direction.

So we're going to let it fly this year, and I'm very excited to be back with TNT. Do you get like 10 new suits with the new deal? Do they buy you new gear? No, I might buy new dress shoes, but I'll just keep. No, I got about what? Probably 12 blazers, 10 pairs of pants, and 25 dress shirts last year. So I'll use and abuse those suits for probably the next 10 years yes so i don't need i don't need i hey we'll let hank wear the nice suits i don't need to wear

the nice suits i just got the who shot the couch versions and what is it wednesday nights again so we're gonna have wednesday nights we got a couple friday nights and then in the second half of the season a lot of sunday nights as well so february march we're gonna once football is all said and done they're gonna start doing the wednesday sunday schedule and i actually think i might rent the place in florida because i mean traveling cross-country every week it's a little bit tiring so when there's going to be two shows in a week i might as well not come back and and stay there i might uh maybe i'll just go stay with the ants so speaking of your hot takes being on fire this year,

they didn't want to listen to you and have Sunday games during the NFL? What do you mean? Remember when you said that there should be NHL games every Sunday afternoon while the NFL is going on? We can argue about this till I'm blue in the face. And with the amount of people switching channels over and over, if there's a couple bad games on, on the nfl side they can just flip over to some hockey it's everybody it's it's

the international day for sitting on your couch in the entire united states of america even in canada for the amount of people that watch football between the buffalo bills and the seahawks i still think that it's not a bad idea they should test it with one or two games and or do three where they spread them out start one at at one o'clock start one at four o'clock and start one at seven o'clock you guys think I'm fucking crazy playing while Dallas plays like this is the 49ers I went fuck off you didn't didn't they send a tweet out like the week after I mentioned that on the podcast that they were considering it? I think we sent it to the group chat. Grinnelly, help me out here, please.

Yeah, I think this is right here. There you go. Thank you, Grinnelly. That's good. That's all we need. Thank you for stopping by. Did you get a modified no trade clause that you got to name three networks you won't get traded to if they want to dump you off? What networks did you put? No, I did not. I did not do that. I like that joke, though, Ari. All right, you wrote that one yourself? I'm not a walker. Come on.

Ari, I did have a question for you, though. Let's have it. So you're a huge television show, movie guy. And recently, Drew Barrymore came out during this writer's strike, and she said that she was going to continue the show that she was doing because i would imagine she doesn't need any of these networks and they can just post the the shows onto youtube and continue doing it that way now i obviously you want to stay in um what's the word i'm looking for you want to stay

relevant no loyal to the union yeah like loyal to the union in solidarity that's the word I'm looking for? You want to stay relevant, loyal to the union, like loyal to the union in solidarity. That's the word. That's a big one. That's I'm at the right one. That went down. You want to stay in solidarity, solidarity with the union, but like considering how much control like all the networks and these, these executives have over the talent. Now that you have youtube and social media and all these things at your disposal why don't all these people just go off and create their own outlets like if she's saying that she can sustain and do her show writers it's the writers that are striking biz i think she was saying that she was going to do her show without the writers not without the network like she was going to move and... And that's why it also created a controversial

topic that like, why does Drew Barrymore, who does a talk show, need writers? Shouldn't she be writing her own content? Well, I think it's a tale as old as time that all these late night shows, they all have writers. They all have joke writers and different...

I mean, it takes a village, right? You can't... I is a supremely talented talk show host could do everything on their own. But I imagine when you're doing something like that five days a week, you need help. You need your team. The whole, the whole thing's bizarre to me though, because like in the end, like they're not going to win, right? Like the executives in the studiosA., they're not giving in. And it's like the players are never going to beat the owners in the NHL. It's I don't know if it's an uphill battle. They have a chance of winning or they're just kind of wait. They're going to end up losing all this pay the entire time and take a similar type deal. What do you think about that, R.A.? I'm 100 percent on the union side. Obviously, you know, I grew up in a union town. I've been in some unions. I'm not like everything has to be union. But in this case, yeah, these guys, guys and gals, they're getting screwed because the whole landscape has changed with streaming. So people aren't getting residuals that they used to get back in the day. And these studios are dirtbags about it.

They hide money like so many writers and actors have sued to get money that was due them back because they they do this like kind of fancy bookkeeping dirty bookkeeping that keeps from paying what they should be paying these guys so now that streaming come out and there was nothing there there was no contract because it just kind of come out of nowhere and yeah wait it's that's a great question these studios they can wait them out they got billions of dollars and a lot of these people they're losing houses and one of the studio execs come out and said we're gonna wait this out until they start losing their houses and shit now think of how much of a fucking scumbag you're going to be to say, we're going to wait for people to lose their houses and shit. Oh, yeah.

Let's go, R.A. Grind my fucking gears, baby. I mean, the guy probably has seven houses. Right. And listen, there is fucking nothing. See that right there? There is absolutely fucking nothing that exists in Hollywood without the pen or the laptop or whatever.

The writers make fucking everything. They've been disrespected forever. Nothing happens all day. You can take the AI and shove it up your fucking ass because it's never going to do what people do. You need that human element when you write stuff. And I feel bad for these people that are losing their houses, are losing money.

But I think they're fucking in for the long haul, buddy. I know there's a lot of rich guys, rich actors and actresses that are helping them pay their bills and whatnot. But fuck the studios on this stuff, man. They're going to try to be dirtbags. And what's going to happen, hopefully, is the stockholders are going to be, hey, we're tanking here. Winnie's going to do something.

And they finally bend over and just give the money. Because there are executives out there making hundreds of millions of fucking dollars. They could just, that's it. That would make the fucking difference up. And they don't want to do it. They're being scumbags and dirtbags about it. So, yeah, writers and actors, man, I hope they fucking win this. And they got a valid point.

And, you know, fuck the soup. So, R.A., if you write a successful, if you're the writer of a successful show or movie, like, are you getting paid, like, pennies on the dollar? Like, do they have just, like, how are you making big money as a writer? Your show has to, like, be, like, Breaking Bad almost? Yeah, and they get bought and they just get fucked. They get bent over a barrel. They're not making what they used to because the studios, they're just, they're scumbags about it.

They're dirt bags. Uh, you could write a great show and then you sign off something and you're not getting a, B and C like they used to, man. They just want them to be fucking peasants. They don't want to fucking pay them what they should get.

And they, they really think this AI shit is going to like, like make new movies. You, you can't write a fucking good thing without the human element, man. That's a big component right now. They're say they're battling.

Like last time there was a massive strike i don't know if it or or something disrupted the industry i believe it was streaming as you mentioned to where you know all of a sudden there's a lot of people getting cut off from getting certain paychecks where they're saying with the way that ai is heading that's why these these networks and and these big dogs are staying firm where they believe that like there's there's there's there's not a lot of original ideas that are created anymore because almost a lot of them have been have been written and taken over you could agree to disagree i don't think that they should turn to ai but they're saying that it's so smart in the way that it's

constantly evolving and how intelligent it is getting that they can do that and and even from a situation of of of once you've kind of signed your life away so to speak as an actor or actress they can then take the the the technology and like basically just keep using your image and likeness that's exactly the another point they they want extras and you know i've been an extra a couple times they want the extra to sign sign this thing that says we could use your image and like this anytime you want from going forward so they'll put your fucking paint your face on some you know fucking uh green screen body and make money and your face is in it and they're not getting shit and the thing is as far as the air uh wit and business it's not for the art they don't say no let's bring the ai and so for the artistry it's to save fucking money like you need a human element. No AI could write fucking Romeo and Juliet

or fucking The Godfather, any of that shit. It's just not possible, man. I was going to say, there's so many different in-depth type, whether it's a joke or a dramatic storyline. Maybe I'm totally wrong, and I'm not educated at all in AI, but it seems crazy to me to think that an amazingly well-written movie could come from that. Maybe I'm way off.

It can't. It's like the human element of going through different parts of your life that create these dramas and comedies and movies and shows. I would have thought when streaming came along and there was Netflix and Amazon Prime and so on and so on, that it would almost create more openings for writers. I guess it's just like watered down in a sense. All right. I think I just teed up your grind. My gears this episode.

You know what? I just jumped ahead and we got to do it right now. And this kind of ties into it brought to you by big deal. Bruin.com slash find a grind on my gears this week. The show I've talked about with a bunch winning time, the show based on the book Showtime about the 1980s Lakers. Terrific book by Jeff Perlman.

One of the best book writers, novelist, not a novelist, book writers out there about actual sports heroes, legendary teams over the years. Wrote a tremendous book. HBO picked it up. Season one last year, I raved about it. Look, I mean, I hate the Lakers.

Obviously, I have tremendous respect for the franchise, similar to the Montreal Canadiens. Season one come out, terrific. I raved about it, blogged about it. Look, I mean, I hate the Lakers. Obviously, I have tremendous respect for the franchise, similar to the Montreal Canadiens. Season one come out terrific. I raved about it, blogged about it. Season two come out. It was great. I was writing blogs about that. Jeff Perlman, the guy who wrote the book, said, hey, I'm getting word it might not be back for season three because the viewership is down. Now, HBO historically hasn't given a fuck about ratings. If the artistry is good, people like it. If it's a a good show they'll keep it on because it's fucking HBO they never really cared about that shit well season two uh was going I think was the season fucking finale Sunday night and the people on that fucking show didn't know that the show was getting canceled until Sunday night and I'm watching it in it the last fucking game

they have 1984 final spoiler alert the Lakers lose to the Celtics in fucking seven I'm like how even end a Lakers show with the Celtics winning in 1984 so that fucking happens they tagged it on like the Pucci episode of the Simpsons Pucci flew back to his home planet and died on the way home the stupidest fakest thing they put all these fucking letters and now oh the Lakers did this ABCD magic on HA like they put them in like two minutes worth of like title cards and it was horrific it was an awful way to fucking end the show and this sucks because these people had no idea there's no conclusive end they did it with deadwood back in the day and yeah that happened largely because of the strike also because of fucking uh the writers aren't around they didn't want to promote it i

guess how fucking infuriated i get basically if this didn't happen right now if this didn't happen during like the strike all this shit going on, it would have stayed. And also, HBO has a guy in charge. He's slashing and burning everything. He's trying to save money because they made stupid investments. Who, Zaslav? Yeah, Zaslav.

Okay, so I think he's technically my boss, so I'm back to not being on TNT again. But from my understanding, he made million yep the the year before last yep he himself uh and then and then this year he his bonuses are not attached to the stock price it's like getting the signing bonus that is loco protected yeah it's he's austin matthews of the film world and it's like his salary is like not quite the amount they're fighting over, but it's not much more than that. That's what's insane about wit.

You went to BU. He spoke at the BU graduation this past summer. I don't know if you saw the clips at all. He get up there and the fucking, I'd never seen a crowd at a graduation college that chant. They're like, pay your writers. They fucking chant this road, this whole speech, pay your writers. Cause it's just so goddamn wrong.

And listen, I've been an HBO guy. pay my hot takes 50 years man i've been watching hbo since mid late 70s it's been the like marquee cable fucking channel out there forever and it's just getting fucking watered down like that even the the app hbo max come out it was terrific you had all these marquee things and my 70 79 year old dad looked at the thing lately and was like, what is all this shit? They're just trying to do all this reality shit. All right, do you know that you can download shows from HBO Max onto your computer

or iPad for the flight? Only when they're airing them. You can download them and then on your flight, you can watch the downloaded version of what you have to swear on. Now, Ari, I respect you sticking up for the writers in this flight you can watch the downloaded version of what you have what do they think of next now all right i i uh i respect you sticking up for the writers in this whole writer slash actor

strike because like if there's one thing you are passionate about well yeah and and you've obviously done acting in the past and still do it with shorezy now and you're going to continue to do it but you come on the show and i know that there's one thing that you're extremely passionate about is it's your movies and television shows. So I appreciate your perspective and I hope that your fellow common men and women get paid and they're not losing their houses and continue working in the industry. Yeah. And one last point before we can move along here. It's like the whole perception of Hollywood elites, blah, blah, blah. It's like so very few of these actors are in that like upper echelon that you

think of like you know zillions of dollars a lot of these people are just working class people they go from job to job you know guys who work on the crew their teamsters their blue collar guys like those are the people who are suffering those are the people who are getting fucked it's not you know george clooney all those people at that level julia roberts they have enough money forever ideally they would all come together and make a plan to just start their own studio like united artisted way back in the day that's what I'm saying Yeah they should be doing that all right The the the I got a

I don't know if I can let you skate like Hollywood elite is more yes there's not An enormous Amount of like amazing actors And actresses making huge dough But a lot of them are pretty vocal on all Their bullshit stuff and award Shows talking about all this nonsense liberal bullshit.

Like, they do love getting their points across. That's the Hollywood elite. Joaquin Phoenix said I couldn't have cereal with my – or milk with my cereal. He said stop milking cows, didn't he? Oh, I'm not sure. That wouldn't surprise me. He's a little bit out there. Nothing would surprise me with him.

But actors and actresses get on the soapbox quite a bit. And they talk to people all over the country who have fractions of what they have. And they're telling them what to do. I think that's more the Hollywood elite description of some of these people. Yeah, fair enough. And, you know, it's also people sticking their mics in front of them and asking them what they think. It's just, you know, not unlike what kind of we do here. We share our opinions.

I mean, I don't think they're just getting on a soapbox to get on it. I mean, some of them are, yeah, Twitter, Instagram, whatever. But I don't think that's really, you know, relative to, yeah, relative to what we're talking about here. And what's going to suck too, guys, is, you know, another year or two, whatever, there's this lull, like we already had the last strike, where there's nothing getting made for six, eight, ten months. So then there's going to be this whole period, man.

It's brutal. It shouldn't happen. They're just trying to fucking drown these people, drain them forever, make them fucking submit to them. Fuck that. Fuck the suits. Just hold out, wait out, and get what you deserve, man. I support them 100%. We can move on before I have a fucking dinner show here.

Once again, brought to you by BigDealBrewing.com. Hopefully they get some big deals out in boy. All right. I brought you by big deal. Bruin slash find. Hopefully I got some big deals out in L.A. So people can have a few this weekend and relax. We haven't forgot about our boy G. G, we got a little sale coming up on the old chiclet site. What's going on? Yeah.

Back to hockey sale. We got a lot more mouse to feed. Merles is having a kid. So we're doing a merch sale back to hockey sale. Twenty five percent off the entire entire chiclet store all week this week so barstoolsports.com slash chiclets check that out buy some merch and uh 25 off pretty good deal we got a bunch of peter millar stuff we got a bunch of that uh it's called unreal but it's unrl on the sweater they're comfy as shit they good. I got it on right now. Oh, is that the unreal one?

There you go. This is, this is, this is an unreal. I don't know if this is the exact one we have, but this is that it's so comfortable. Yeah. And then we also have tons of big deal brewing t-shirts like Merle's has

chicklets, hats, big deal brewing hats. You guys are all wearing them. So barstool sports.com slash chicklets to check that out. And biz, I do need to make a correction on you. At the beginning of the show, you said we've never won our own tournament regarding the Chicklets Cup.

Yeah, your roller hockey division. You've won the fourth division. And then you won the second division with Patrick Sharp, dude. Like, come on, G. No, no, we won the fourth division with Patrick Sharp. Yeah. We're talking about fucking man missile. And I fanned on the two-on-one we're facing a team ras on the on the championship and

you're like bragging about sharpie getting seven goals running away with the title so g uh give them the website for the merchandise but also we're going to be doing a lot of giveaways on our social media so follow our instagram our twitter on facebook like we're going to be running like contests where if you just respond, quote, tweet, and follow certain accounts, uh, we're going to be giving away like free merch bundle packages. Uh, if you are coming to Chicklets Cup and mind you, all you folks who live in the Buffalo area, you don't need to be playing in the Chicklets Cup to come to Chicklets Cup. Anybody can walk up the concert. We're, we're throwing by dirty honey, an incredible band. Anybody can come.

It's going to be on the Saturday night. So all the foot traffic, we're going to have tons of merchandise there for sale. And it will also have that sale tag of the 25% off as well in attendance there. So yeah, so that's barstoolsports.com slash chicklets biz. That's the website you were asking for. And then like you said, like in the past, we've always said we'll have merch at the Chicklets Cup.

This year, we're really ramping it up. You're able to buy merch on the spot. We're going to have tons of different collections. You'll also be able to buy the stuff that isn't there. We'll have an iPad where you can just buzz it up there. So it's going to be awesome.

And just a reminder, 25% off all week this week. Let's go. Yeah, YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment. going to be awesome and just a reminder 25 off all week this week let's go yeah our youtube channel subscribe like comment sandbag is all the behind behind the scenes stuff and all our original content's coming but boys uh camps open this week rosters have been released but uh we just want to let you know we are recording earlier this week because the wit dog has uh yet another vacation biz wit where are we after this time here we go Here we go Which spa resort are you going to now, Whit? I'm going to Mars

The best part is If you fucking guys think I feel bad For these vacations I'm going to Ireland And then I'm going to Rome I'm going to Ireland 18 months ago 16 of us planned a trip Over to Ireland

We fly on Saturday night, which is tomorrow night. So thank you guys, actually. First off, thank you very much for recording tonight. Now, granted, we couldn't have done this midseason before the weekend games, but no games yet. So we're recording on a Friday night instead of a Monday. So I don't have to record after golf in Ireland. But we're going Saturday night.

We fly into Dublin, play in Royal Dublin on Sunday morning. Then we bus up to Northern Ireland. We play Royal Port Rush on Monday, which is an amazing, probably the second best course I've ever played after Shinnecock, which I got to play this week. Shout out Witt. But we're playing there. And then the next day we're playing Port Stewart, which is a beautiful course. i've played there as well about 10 years ago when i used to go away with cleary and horkoff and bertuzzi a bunch of guys and then the next day we play royal county down the day after that we're playing a course called castle rock i've never played there and the day after that i think we play the european club and then

and then everyone's flying home but a buddy of mine, we're meeting our wives in Rome and we're... Well, we had plans to go to the Ryder Cup. I mentioned it, but I don't have tickets. And I got kind of hosed. I thought I had tickets. Now I don't. I don't know what to do, but it should be an amazing trip. I mean, it's a hell of a crew. We have a special, very special itinerary planned. It's just something that you look forward to for so long. So that now it's like Christmas Eve for me right now. We leave tomorrow. And then tomorrow it's a 9.30 p.m. flight.

Like, what do I do all day? So I'll take the boys maybe to the Children's Museum. It's going to rain all day. But I'm fired up. I can't wait. I cannot wait. So I will be walking around Port Stewart Golf Course when this episode drops. So let me know if you enjoyed

the show and if you don't like me or the show please leave me alone uh are you going to be taking public transportation like merle said or are you completely kiboshing that i think that would be in dublin he was no he was talking about rome and rome about rome with rome so you don't want her walking around yeah i also don hop on, hop off. I also don't want some like Italian lunatic drooling on her on the subway but I will give... Armani underwear.

The man thong on. Nice tan. The huge schlong. Huge uncircumcised penis. And then there's my husband. He's got a terrible, terrible hairline, horrible, curly, gross, balding hair. He's white as an absolute ghost.

Pubic hair like Velcro. And his hogs two inches fuck hard. What a catch I got. First time in Italy, though, right? We're all ahead. First time in Italy, yeah. So Italy may be a straight-up disaster if I don't somehow get tickets.

I don't really know what to do. Considering it's Sunday, too, when everyone wants to go, there's 12 matches on the course, the 12 singles matches. So I don't really know what to expect, but I've always wanted to go to Italy to try the food. The food is just supposed to be so fantastic. Kind of like the Uber Eats Grinnelli's been getting every night. Burger King.

I get the best Italian. Wait, don't be the typical American and go over to Rome and ask for chicken parm. No, no, no, no. I won't. I won't. I promise. I promise. I'm going off the menu, old John.

That's not Italian. Imagine Biz trying to order an Italy. Get the pasta with the fermando cheese on it. Wait, the pasta is completely different there, though. It's like the American Italian food that you it's so it's so light and less because of the soil and what they put in their food. And it's all made from scratch. I think most people who are listening are aware. You think the carbonara at the cheesecake factory is different than the authentic?

Oh, they don't just put it in the microwave like Olive Garden? Oh, fuck. I remember finding out that they were microwaving, microwaving the chicken at Olive Garden? Oh, fuck. I remember finding out that they were microwaving the chicken at Olive Garden. I almost threw up. Are you doing the night tour of the Coliseum still? I don't know.

I got to ask about that. I'm trying to figure out a way to break the news that we don't have Ryder Cup tickets. Hey, you scalp those tickets for Ryder Cup tickets? You didn't tell the wife yet? Don't get the Saborah pizza box tickets likeinnelli did the one time outside of MSG.

But that's going to be a that's going to be a fun couple of weeks for you. We're excited to hear about every single shot. Yeah. So I get home Tuesday because I'll record the next episode, you know, next week that you guys are listening. I'll record there from Rome Monday and then we're flying home. And then I'm on and then I and then I'm on a plane to Buffalo Thursday morning. So when you see me in Buffalo, give me a hug. Jesus.

Luigi's going to be balls deep on the king size. Actually, my boy Faraway Falls, he's on Instagram. He's on the trip. He's on my squad. He's my assistant captain. He released a preview of each team, and he just writes like, actually, it's hilarious. I guess it would maybe...

I thought they were on strike. No, he wrote under mine. I got to find what he said. He just does fake quotes that are pretty good. He wrote under mine. One of the quotes was, we want our money back, the Edmonton Oilers. Yeah, I saw that.

And then actually he wrote, I didn't even realize he wrote, I told Wit this on our last pod and I'll say it again here. My message to Team County Down is simple. No spit, no lube, sandpaper finish. Stick it to Team Portrush. Paul Bissonette. Oh yeah, I'm a misogynist for that one. Yeah, you're a misogynist.

Michael Scott goes to New York. But misogenic, as Portnoy calls it. I always go to my favorite pizza place and he crossed the street and walks into Sparrow in New York City on the office.

Remember that fucking scene? Yeah, yeah, yeah. The best pizza in New York. Oh, fucking classic. All right. Before we go any further, here's a word from our friends at BetterHelp.

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All right, boys, let's get over to the hockey. This week, I think the big news, Tampa Bay captain Stephen Stamkos, not a guy who typically uses the media to send the message, so... Jerry! Jerry! Jerry, Jerry. A lot of people raise their eyebrows when he expects expressed his disappointment. Basically, I quote the lack of talk in that regard.

Of course, he's talking about he's going to be a free agent this this summer. He said they haven't been any conversations. I'm ready whenever it is what it is. You can tell he's very disappointed. He said, there haven't been any conversations. I'm ready whenever. It is what it is. You can tell he's very disappointed.

GM Julian Breezeball said, Stephen has mentioned publicly to me that he wants to spend his entire career with the Lightning. I think it would be great for our organization if he could spend his entire career with the Lightning. That's in everyone's best interest. He said they share the same common goal. That's our objective. In order for us to do this, we're going to need to spend our cap dollars as wisely as possible. I think if you read between lines here he's saying steve you can stay uh but you got to take less uh biz go to you first on this were you surprised uh stamco's went to the media on this and what's your take on how it might play out i mean he might be dealing with the assistant general manager at the the insinuation

that he's gonna have to take a hometown discount now did i expect these type of fireworks before the season season to start guys absolutely not it almost feels like stammer had them tm up with that question but the fact the fact that they haven't reached out to him to at least start negotiations is such a slap in the face and we're not talking and my mind you you might think like oh steven Stephen Stamkos, how old is he? Like 36, 37? No, he's 33 years old. Dude, I looked this morning. And this is a guy. I looked this morning. I thought he was 35, 36.

I couldn't believe it. He's 33 years old. He trains like an absolute madman with Gary Roberts. He's came back from a couple serious injuries too here, folks, right? Like he's dealt with some shit. And it's not like the production has gone down. I know he's dealt with some shit and it's not like the production has gone down i know he's playing with world-class players like kucherov and mixing it up with those braden point he's going off two year removes from 104 point season then last year was over a point

of game with 84 points so the production is still there now i think it's a complete fucking slap in the face that he has not been reached out to to talk about a contract extension uh right off the top of my head i'm thinking in order to keep him a tampa bay lightning i would probably offer him a five to six year deal and you could probably keep his aav in the five and a half to six and a half number which i think you take that listen listen listen listen are you breeze was mole no no i know it's a little bit low but i'm also taking into account that he's been playing with these high world-class players that are making nine nine and a half wit. And I don't think that they can afford to keep them. If it ends up being above that six and a half,

seven number, do I think he can go somewhere else and get it? Oh, you said five, five and a half. So I said, I said between five and a half, six and a half.

That's what I said. First off between five and a half and six, but I'm also saying, giving them a six year term for a guy who's about to turn 34 years old, which would bring them to 40 years old. I think with the cap going up, I think at a six and a half million dollar number for six years for a guy who's already made $84 million there. And mind you, no state tax would be a great number to get them at to not only keep that core group in which they have together and i'm going to hand it over to you right now with the biggest factor as to why it's a slap in the face is because of all the other guys who are part of that core group

and when they locked up so yeah the i'll say this for him to go public. I was shocked because he is a guy that's in the room. First of all, like one of the most universally respected players in the league, I would say with what he's accomplished. I mean, you think back to their first cup in COVID year when he, when he barely got to play that one game scored the beautiful goal. Like,

you know, you felt for the guy that he got his Stanley cup, but he wasn't there in most of the games. But he still made an impact in that series against Dallas. And then he goes on to have another monster season. They get another one. With all the injuries,

all that he's accomplished in his career, he's never once spoken out in terms of like bringing outside, bringing stuff outside the locker room, right? Like everything stays within the team. That's how he's always approached everything. He's been a phenomenal captain. He's been a phenomenal leader.

And all of a sudden, he says that at that press conference. And you're like, if you could ever talk to this guy, have a couple beers and really get his opinion, if he was saying that to the media, he must be beyond bullshit right now. And I really don't blame him because if you look at the, they didn't even reach out. How do you not even,

cause, cause, and, and who said it is, uh, Elliot and Jeff on 32 thoughts said all their guys signed all of them. It's a surrogate. It's point.

It's Kucherov. It's Vasilevsky. It's Cernak, um, uh, Hagel. They all got signed the summer before their deal ended. So if they approached him the exact same way they've signed all the rest of their core,

all the rest of these champions, I know Hagel wasn't there for the Cubs, but all the rest of them, he would have had a deal done this summer. Not only does he not have a deal, not even a reach out, not even a, hey, what are you guys thinking for a number? This is what we're thinking. So for him, it's more about the insult and the slap in the face of like, you're not even going to reach out? And I think that is crazy. Now, also, Brisebois learned under Steve Eizerman. You remember what Steve Eizerman did to Martin St. Louis?

You remember how that relationship combusted? So he doesn't give a fuck. He's a, I don't want to say cold hearted. That's not the right word, but he sticks to what he believes in and he really doesn't give a fuck and he doesn't let feelings get in the way. Similar to a way Bill Belichick's done it. Now Breezeball learned that way. They created champions that way.

And he's decided, well, I'm in no rush to get him signed. And it could be one of those Bill Belichick things where he's looking at the age. Now, what do they say the prime is in hockey? 24 to 29? I'm pretty sure like at 30, you're on the back nine. 33? To the exception of some guys who, you know, they drink from that fountain of youth, which he seems to be doing because he had 104 point season two years ago and he had 84 last year

like this is that's not a there's no production drop off and i understand that you also have to factor in that at a certain point there is going to be a decline and the money has obviously already been snapped around to certain guys that's why i said in this case to keep him around you just provide him with term that would bring him to 40 years old and in that case if you're stamp coast you have to bend at some point i think which he hasn't even said he's not willing to do either he just wants to reach out right right no no doubt no doubt but i'm i mean obviously with, or I'll throw it over to you with all this, you speculate and you think, well, what would what would be the number that would probably keep him there? And where do you guys lie? Yeah, that's what you don't get is like before they made this Hagel contract, how do you not reach out to know what Stamkos kind of won. So then maybe you kind of work it. Hagel had to be re-signed before the season.

Hagel came over from Chicago two years ago, right before the cup run. And then he had one year left, I believe a million and a half. He was a free agent this summer? Correct. But all the other guys you got right. Now keep in mind,

Hagel might've been restricted and he might not have been an unrestricted free agent but ultimately he had to sign before training camp correct yeah but you should know what he needs because then then maybe you go to hagel like listen stammer's gonna only take six you take it you're taking six two you got to know what stamkos wants before you get into that deal i think it's crazy that they don't well not for fucking julian hagel signed this year biz wrong how much 1.5 okay okay so he did have another okay never mind never mind all right i thought so what so he came over with uh he came over with two years left on his deal i think they got him last year didn't they get him last year uh the hagel trade right here was March 18, 2022.

Tampa Bay got Hagel, a couple picks. They sent Taylor Radish. So Chicago had just signed him. Wow, okay. My bad. I thought he only had one year left at one and a half. He had two years left at one and a half. Everybody talked about an overpayment, an overpayment, an overpayment. The reason they overpaid is because they get him another year at a million and a half dollars.

That is a fucking bargoon. That's a bargoon. Yeah, the extension signed August 22nd of this year. Eight years, $52 million, $6.5 million. So, yeah, you can understand why Stamkos might have a little B in his bonnet. Alluding to your point, that's a slap in the face of the fact that they lock in this guy before they give it to their captain who's been there and helped them win two cups. That's actually insanity where you want to talk cutthroat brisebois is cutthroat and and

it's one thing to be sitting around and have a a great say seven eight year run with a team and your deal's coming up to you got one more year left and you haven't won anything yet and you could see a gm be like dude this guy i mean he's been a great player we haven't won anything yet. And you could see a GM be like, dude, this guy, I mean, he's been a great player. We haven't done shit in the playoffs. This guy's done everything. You got the two cups. You got the third cup in a row. They lost to a wagon in Colorado. It's like, it is very odd. The only explanation in my mind, and this is from reading Breeze was quotes and seeing stammers is he kind of,

he kind of thinks his game is in decline. Like what what else could you infer from what he's saying and doing in terms of not reaching out besides him thinking like, you know what, maybe it's going to be another dip this year. It was a dip last year. Now, granted, his dips to 84 points or whatever it was. But maybe in his mind, he's like, I don't know. I don't I don lock him in long term, which is you know what's going through Stammer's head because what else are you going to think if you're the captain of a dynasty in a sense, right? You could call them, I mean, I guess three's the dynasty. What do you think Coop thinks of all this?

Well, haven't they had beef? Haven't they like gone back and forth a little bit? Him and Coop? Yeah. Oh, there's a three-way? There's a three-way? Not publicly. We're playing Chinese checkers now?

I could be making this up. Yeah, when this came out, I was like, should I? I'm like, yeah, maybe I won't throw him with Koop a text on this one because I don't know the dynamics there because, you know, it's his cap and best player on his team. Wrong number. Who dis? Yeah, exactly.

New phone. Who dis? I can't believe he's going into his 16th season already. I mean, what's he got? 1,056 points in 1,003 games. I'm stunned by all this stuff. Oh, Biz and Merles. Is it more of an insult to not reach out like he did?

Or is it more of an insult to reach out and say, hey, we got a five-year deal for you at $4 million a year? No, that would be a slap in the face. So you think that's a bigger slap in the face than... You were ready to have an aneurysm when I said five and a half, but I was talking term. I wouldn't be shocked if he took a six times six. To me, it's like if you want to...

He's already made $84. I know, but $84 million on his last... Yeah, agreed. Just to stay there and be a lightning forever i understand give it to him in signing bonus too just like coming off those seasons that's the thing it's not even like this is a captain who's coming off a couple weak years he's still lighting it up you think he plowed his old lady oh jesus hey you gotta ask him either way maybe he wants to stay there because his kids in school, his wife's from there.

He's got the perfect house. He doesn't want to move. Who knows? Maybe you reach out to him. He's like, yeah, screw it. Give me six years, four million. I don't care about money. I got enough.

You don't know because you never asked him. Yeah, exactly. Just feel him out. That's what I would do. He's calling his agent like, did he call today? He's like, yeah, not yet, stammer. He's like, what is happening right now? The only big name that's scheduled to go at UFA after this season,

you know, Willie D. Lander, who's actually got moved to center for the start of training camp here. I'll run down the names here. Mark Shifley, Jake Gensel, Elias Lindholm, Chandler Stevenson, Jonathan Marcheseau, Devon Taves, Noah Hannafin, Brandon Montour, Connor Hellebuck, Ilya Samsonov. Which of these guys is most likely to be completely UFA after this year? The team's just going to be all set. Shifley, 1,000%. Yeah, he's probably going to get traded.

I think if Winnipeg don't sell him and Hellebuck at the deadline, they've lost their minds. Personally, and I don't know shit about being a GM. I mean, I don't know shit about being a GM, I mean, I don't know how you don't move them this summer and get way more back in return as opposed to waiting until every year to get to the U.S.A. deadline. You don't think Boston's going to be getting desperate at the fucking deadline with no center ice? More desperate closer to the deadline.

You guys think for a possible two-month run you're going to get more than an entire season i yes i do and then the entire season you can read you could try to sign them i think that what you i think that yes teams get more desperate throughout the season it doesn't necessarily need to be at the deadline it could be you know as early as a few months into the season depending on how boston starts if they're not getting any offensive output from those two first line center and on top of that which has become more popular lately is the sign and trades right like you saw it with matthew kachuk which i think that that was like the first of its kind which is kind of crazy to think about like that was the start of it where now you're going to start seeing it more and more and more so i would say with the names on that list ra i would say this

is probably one of the the the best uh ufa classes as of at least right now that it might that that list might dwindle like for instance when's the last time a free agent defenseman as good as devon taves has actually hit the market like if devon taves gets to this summer he's going to get paid nine and a half, 10 million easy. I mean, right. He's a top 20 defenseman in the league. If they, if they, if they, if there was an, if it was an Olympic year, he'd be playing with Kale McCarr on, on the same pairing.

Like he's a world-class defenseman. Even, I mean, Hannafin might get fucking seven, 8 million bucks. You talked about Shifley already. And there's a few other names on that list that they can, I mean, they stick out like sore thumbs. I don't see Gensel. see gents going nowhere right but that's a guy the other thing about stamp coast that's nuts is he actually went to free agency the last time and remember everyone said toronto was getting him he's going to the leafs like they this is the second time this has happened they didn't they didn't re-up him

before the last time he was going to be UFA. Well, they wouldn't be able to afford him now. Brad Tree Living is adamant that he wants to sign William Nylander. I think William Nylander ends up getting close to that $10 million number. I think that they're lunatics if they go over the 10. I think a nice 9, 9. half number would be fucking silky. You can't possibly pay him more than Sebastian Ajo. That, to me, is a good number. Sebastian Ajo is making nine and a half.

I would say from a full body of work, Sebastian Ajo has the edge here from an overall game, correct? I think nobody's here to argue that. He's had more... Yeah, no. And he's the center. We'll see what Nylander does as center. And we haven't seen what he's been able to do at center.

That's going to be another wrench into the Toronto drama going into the season. But overall, I don't think he's going anywhere because Brad Treeliving's been adamant that they're going to get a deal done. So they got Johnny T on the wing. I love how Biz weaseled this into Leafs talk, but is Johnny T on the wing to start camp?

I don't know. That's what they said. They were saying that the other night on the press conferences. Or they can go three down the middle. That's what I'm saying, man. Three down the middle. I know John Tavares making 11 and a half

is not ideal as a third line center, but he's going to be chewing up guys in that matchup where if all of a sudden you have Nylander at second line center with Matthews at number one, we're talking about as much center depth as, as the LA Kings in the Las Vegas golden Knights here. James Myrtle tweeted that the lines would be Bertuzzi, Matthews, Marner,

Nyes, Tavares, Lafferty, Robertson, Nylander, Domi, Yarncroft, Kampf,

and Reeves. That's a good lineup. Need a time off to yourself here, Biz or what? That screams top three in the East. So he listed the second line that would be the third line, technically? You don't even fucking need defense. Me and you could be a third pairing on that team with that offense. Give me Edmonton.

What else is in the drama pool here, R.A.? Is there anything else? Restricted free agents. Still got a couple of them out there. The biggest one, Anaheim Duck, Trevor Zegers. Hopefully I'm saying this right. Renaud Lavoie said on TVA Sports that the Ducks are offering

$3 to $4 million per year. Merles, he heard he was getting offered three years at $4 million per. Pierre Lebrun said both sides agreed on three years, but not necessarily the money. So, actually, Merles, we'll go to you. Is this a low-ball offer? Are they trying to play hardball? Verbeek sent in a message.

What do you got for us, buddy? Yeah, Verbeek low-ball offer. It's confirmed three years, $4 million. I got that confirmed on good sources. And there's been at least three teams to reach out to them for a trade already so we could see him move in and the guy we're just talking about would be a nice little uh who's the team i heard one rumor the sabers i like to think toronto would be in on that i could see a knee lander switched right over for

zegras you're out of your fucking mind dude dude. That was a worse take than your fucking Darnell Nurse at 8 to 12 minutes. Anaheim would happily pay him the $10 million he wants, and then Toronto could get Zegers $7 million, $8 million. And there you go. You got your second line center. No. No.

Making both teams happy here. No, no. As far as the Buffalo Sabres, now I'm drawing a blank on the coach's name. Is it Granato? Yes. Yep. Don Granato. Donny Granato. We've had guys on and he really likes to give players a leash offensively. So when hearing that come up, I'm like, wow, that makes a lot of sense because it seems like the biggest issue that Verbeek has is he doesn't trust that zgris is a playoff type player and maybe hasn't developed

his defensive game enough where he all of a sudden wants to send him this proven offer at three years four million a year let's not forget guys i know that he's you know an offensive dynamo and maybe lacks the defensive skills but this guy led their fucking team in scoring last year. He's got 126 points the last two years, and he's 22 years old. I think that that's a slap in the face offer. I would see like a two-year at $5 million a year as a fair deal to get done as a prove-it type contract. How about with these numbers? If they want three years, they can't do three years, 18 million?

Well, the worst part about it for Zegers is usually what they do is on the third year of the contract is where you would get your qualifying offer and then they have to

automatically bump it up, I believe, 20 or 15 or 10, 15%. What's the automatic bump up? I think it's 10. 10% or a QO. Yeah, it used to be 10%. Is it when i'm a qo yeah i used to is it 10 on a qo qualified off yeah okay so all of a sudden like he's got no position on the third year of his contract to get a major bump because they're going to still have him one year restricted at the end of that three-year term and i think we could all agree that for a four million dollar a

year offer is an absolute dump on the chest for for trevor greece that's what the worm makes in chicago and on top of that everything he does for you off the ice from a marketing standpoint he's fucking dating a wiggle dicker right now who's like world famous he's the face of the league he was on the video game last year he's the one that does all the highlight real goals that all the networks want to keep showing so argument is that's not going to win you games i think that i don't think you need to have a bigger fish to fry i don't think i don't think you need a crystal ball to understand that there's major beef between what verbique thinks of zegras's game and what zegras thinks of zegras's game but at least zegras's numbers are there like i i i do not think

that the hockey world would blink an eye or bat an eye whatever the saying is if we heard that he signed a three-year 18 million dollar deal i'd be like yeah it's pretty fair 61 and 65 points you know how you get league revenue up you do a fucking steve stamkos julian brisebois main card and then you do a zegras for beak undercard and get them right in the ring and they can fucking figure it out there with the contracts no headgear in a ladder match that's how you get this shit figured out who knew before training camp had begun that we'd have this type of fucking drama i love it and by and by the way, throughout all of this, Drysdale,

Drysdale has it. He's not even a champ. Where is Drysdale? What does he want? What are they offering him? Where in the world is Carmen San Diego? So I was just going to ask you guys, like Rasmus Dahlin is also,

has a pending contract coming up in Buffalo. Would you guys trade Trevor Zegers and Jamie Drysdale to Buffalo for Rasmus Dolan? Yes. What? A future stud defenseman and Zegers?

No, no, no, no, no. Buddy, you got a top. You wouldn't trade. You have Owen Power and you wouldn't trade Darlene who doesn't play defense. Darlene has already showed you. Darlene has already showed you that he can do it. He's a top 10 to 15 defenseman in the world. If you fucking trade a guy who's proved it,

coming off of his entry level, who apparently they can lock in for $9 million, any Sabres fan listening right now is punching their fucking steering wheel thinking that you would trade drysdale and zgris for their stud defense i don't give a fuck if they have owen power in the pipeline they're building i think you're underrating what drysdale showed when he was 20 years old and had like 36 he played fucking five games last year okay yeah i mean he's coming off an injury but i i people at that age you're coming

back from injuries now that's not the worry out there is that he's never gonna be the same throw the poll up so by the end of the podcast we can get the results i think that we're honestly we're gonna have to go into witness protection program from buffalo sabers fans for chicklets cup we're gonna have to have uh what's the security that falls around the president we're gonna have to have secret service at the fact that you think that they would trade these people are buffalo bills fans dude what do you think these are all geniuses up in buffalo you're telling me right now that you wouldn't even consider dried stale and zebras for ross miss dalene no not even a chicken dicks chance. And you said Dahlin's apparently asking for what?

I think this poll is going to be a lot closer than you think. The rumor is that Dahlin has been asking for 10.5, not 9 million. It's 10.5 is what Dahlin's supposedly asking for. I mean, that's what fucking Devon Taves would get in free agency. So I'm interested to see the results. Hey, I got no problem admitting when I'm wrong. You guys know that about me. But I will be shocked if it's not pretty close to 50-50.

Would you trade Drysdale and Seagrass for Rostis Daly? Okay, so I'm saying not a chicken dick's chance. R.A., what are you saying if you're Buffalo and you get that proposal? I mean, I don't think Buffalo wants to trade him at all, but you certainly got to sit and think about that. I mean, when G brought it up, it was kind of like, you think you're going to say no right away, but then you're like, I don't know.

It's a very intriguing thing to discuss. And I'll say this. This is me going on what scouts and what I saw from Drysdale at 20, like that this is a future number one stud in the NHL. So obviously, if there's no chance and, and I don't know what I'm talking about and this guy's going to be like a career third or fourth defenseman,

this sounds stupid, but from what I'm hearing, he could be as good of a player as Darlene, considering he plays defense too. Darlene got a lot better defensively last year and also physical. Merles, when you watch your Sabres play Merles, do you think Darlene's doing a ton defensively?

And I'm not even saying he has to. He gets 80 fucking points. He doesn't have to. But there's a lot of kind of not too much. What's the word when you're getting involved? He's a forward half the time he's out there. He's the fourth forward out there most of the time. I think that's a great deal

for both teams. I think that can make both teams happy. It's very interesting one. You know what? We're going to embrace debate. That's what we need to do here. Healthy debate. Rico Bosco. I popped a vein in my forehead, but we still got to embrace debate. All I have to say is Tage Thompson, Dillon Cousins and Trevor Z egress down the middle for the for the buffalo sabers that

is a unbelievable one two three punch for the next five to ten years i'd be i'd be curious to know what yans would think of that put the pull up put the pull up and this is how you have to word it would you trade if you're if you're the sabers do you accept no no no no don't even say either team just just put it to the fans would you trade rasmus dalin for trevor ziegris and drysdale and just write yes or no and biz thinks this is going to be like 92 to 8 8%. I think 80-20. I'll update with results soon. Hey, and should we put Darlene at a $10 million tag? No, I'm saying. No, I think we play it as it is right now.

No hypotheticals, nothing. All right. I think Biz is hitting the panic button right now, folks. Well, I was actually saying more than I think he's hitting the panic button right now folks Well I was actually saying More than I think he's going to get paid I think 9.5 is a good number For a guy who's restricted Anyway R.A. what do we got next brother

On another note I heard the Ducks A lot of them caught the sandbagger They were big fans of it from what I understand Big fans of the last sandbagger as well So kudos to us Two other RFAs 23 year old Columbus defenseman, Tim Bernie, and a 22 year old Sen Sen of Shane Pinto.

The other two RFAs without a deal currently. We were talking about captains last week. We said there were eight teams without a captain. Whit, you predicted Braden Shen for St. Louis. You nailed that. 32 year old Sen was named the 24th captain in Blues history. Falk Pareko and Thomas are going to get the A's. Shen has five years left at six.5 mil, no trade clause, so he's not going anywhere for a while.

And then on Wednesday, the Bruins named Brad Marchand, 27th captain in team history. Pasta and McAvoy are going to get the A's. He's got two years left at 6.125 mil. Monty had a funny joke about it, but – oh, yeah, I'm sorry, Blackhawks. They're going to go captainless this year. You know why? It was out of respect to Jonathan Taves.

They're going to go with the three A's. So major surprise on any of those. No, not really. You nailed Shen. I'll take it over. Sidney Crosby was named captain in his second year. I would imagine if Bedard puts up the numbers that we are all expecting, that it wouldn't be crazy to think

that he would be named captain in his second year. And considering it wasn't just about Sid getting 100 points, it was the type of person he was, where it was so laser-focused. It was the drive. There's nothing else but hockey. And I seem to think Bedard has a lot of that in him from interviews you've seen.

And he's good on the mic already. He's comfortable talking to media. He jokes around. He's loose. I mean, remember when they won the World Juniors and he gave it to that reporter? He's like, I don't want to talk about myself. I think he's got that Sid mold, that Nathan McKinnon mold. It all kind of started with Sid.

Actually, I shouldn't say that. It was kind of always Iserman and Joe Sackick, right? Where it was hockey, it was team first, it wasn't loud, it wasn't biz and wit style and spit and chicklet. It was just more about being professional and looking at your job as something that you take so much pride in. So the way Bedard comes off, if he does light it up, I wouldn't be surprised at all if he gets to see the next season. It all started with Gretzky. All those young kids all used to go and meet with Gretzky and learn from him,

how to be the leader, how to deal with the media. You still see it with Connor. Now it sounds just like Gretzky. When he talks, I got a little fun trivia for your question. Since we're talking about captains, I saw Sid.

He's the longest standing captain, obviously in the league. Who's the longest that captain for a single team ever in the NHL? The longest what? He was a captain for the longest, like the most years in his team ever in the NHL. Stevie Iserman? There you go. There you got it.

19 years. I thought it was maybe Ray Bork. I'm the best. Ray Bork had to be right up there. We talked captains last week. You were looking for a specific term. I said Rorschach test, but then I went back and listened to the pod. I don't think that was what you were looking for.

Was it flashcards? Were you thinking flashcards last week? I was thinking flashcards, but I thought there was a name for when they show you a flashcard of what looks like a placenta and you say what first comes to your head. Yeah, that's the Rorschach test. So, yeah. All right. Yeah, so you got it right, buddy.

Yeah, bingo, bingo. Biz, your boys are Rorschach test. So, yeah. All right. Yeah. So you got it right, buddy. Yeah. Bingo, bingo. Biz, your boys are down under this this week. Good night, buddy. 60, 40 right now, Biz. For me. Oh. With six for you. 621 votes.

I've got to waste it. That actually could get worse. Wait, you got to go read the comments, too. They're like the comments are kind of just what Biz was saying. There you go. Suck on that. Buffalo're like, the comments are kind of just what Biz was saying. There you go. Suck on that. Buffalo is mad. Buffalo is mad.

You know what? I'm going to take every single person's name on here, and if in two years Drysdale turns into what people say he's going to turn into, I'm going to DM all of them and say, suck nothing. Suck nothing. Suck my placenta. All right. Yeah. Coy australia against the la kings dried stills trash on this really yeah that is down australia la arizona all the way down there for a couple exhibition games hoping to grow the game here uh the games are being played at rod

arena is actually where the australian open and tennis is played. But Craig Morgan, the great Coyotes reporter, he said that last night there were puddles, ruts and uneven coloring on the ice that led to the practice being moved. I think they fixed a few of the things in the meantime. But I just want to say, because we've had since we started tickets, a lot of love from Australia. So to all the blokes and cheerleaders down there. Thank you, mate. They've been great for supporting us. I was hoping we went down there to be honest with you, man. The Australian Ice Hockey Federation has been set up for, I think,

over 100 years as of right now. It was one of the first places to introduce ice hockey. So as far as the history of the game there, it goes on forever. Obviously, it hasn't developed at the pace in which they probably expected, but they do have a professional league over there. When I went over there for the Olympic Network, we covered it, and they have two teams in Melbourne, and I think the league has about eight to ten teams

all up the Sunshine Coast. So it's cool, man. It'd be an awesome place to play, and I was surprised to hear that the ice was melting because it's their winter right now. So it's not like the temperature is that hot yeah it wasn't hot you know it's the first time though I mean you're

building a rink in a place that never had a rink before so it's I mean logistics a lot of things could probably go wrong but either way looks like they might have rectified it and now moving right along but if you had a team in Australia business so many crazy dangerous animals you can name the team after like Australia leads the league in poisonous, deadly animals

between, like, the snakes, the fucking anything in the outback. It's a wild fight. The Melbourne Keiths. My son got a book. It's like, who would win? Great white shark versus killer whale. And one of them is tarantula versus a scorpion. Who do you think would take that one down?

Well, considering a tarantula lived a long time at somebody's house, we'll get to later. I might go with the scorpion on that one. Yeah, this book said that the scorpion would just get it with a stinger, and then it paralyzes their leg, and then that's it. Their donzel. Actually, Biz, if I'm not mistaken, Austria has a pretty key role in Chiclet's history.

If I'm not mistaken, when we invited you to join the show, when you said yes, you were in Australia. i was there filming it for the olympic network so i was there for about nine days i i rave about melbourne all the time when i talk about australia the cuisine there the food the restaurants were incredible and the coffee i always go back to the coffee what's that bar Marlowe? The flat white. They all had the flat white coffee down there. That's what everybody wanted to talk about in Australia.

Bunch of fucking jacked kangaroos as well. They look like they did about 15 to 20 at fucking Sing Sing. Some of those kangaroos, big time jacked up. Let's see. Ottawa Senators sale has gone through. The Board of Governors unanimously approved the send sale to a group led by Michael Anlauer. Price was close to one billion dollars uh eugene mellick's daughters are going to retain 10 of the team

as well so thankfully that went through without a hitch imagine a billion dollars for the senators man that's that's tremendous you can only imagine what a team like the kings or the freaking broens or canadians are worth that i'll tell you though i've been very hard on the ottawa senators over the years and it's been a tough go, right? And the arena is just in a horrible location. I root for the Senators to get good, and I think back to those teams that just couldn't get by the Leafs when Hossa was young and Martin Havlat and De'Achara and Redden.

I'd love to see the Senators get good again. I think, obviously, it's well known that for Buffalo, the Detroit Red Wings, and Ottawa, it's a big time make or break season. But for Ottawa to get good, just experiencing playing there in the playoffs that first year,

the Penguins made the playoffs in Sid's second season. When I was there, the atmosphere was out of control. The horn they had, the fans, and it's just been a long run for those fans

not to have much to cheer about. So I hope they get it going. I feel like getting a new owner is an enormous first step. It's not like Eugene Melnick had the best reputation with the fans, I'll say. Not really fair to kind of go at a guy. He's passed away. But it's still one of those organizations and cities and markets that if they were good and if they exploded, it adds the Maple Leafs and the Senators rivalry. It would be a great thing for the league. So

anytime a fan base goes through years and years of pain and you'll see the commanders, the Washington commanders and how happy they are, you get a new owner. It's just this new jolt of life. You could see great things on the horizon for that team. And it's exciting as a fan of the league and somebody who hopes the Ottawa gets pretty good. You got to be fired up for all life you could see great things on the horizon for that team and it's exciting as a as a fan of the league and somebody who hopes the Ottawa gets pretty good you got to be fired up for all those people yeah wait while you were boring me with that rant I don't know if you mentioned I don't I'm just fucking with you did you mention the the party district in the new rink that they that they've been talking about uh no well that No. Well, that was part of what a few of the ownership groups

that were approaching them about buying the team were really emphasizing. It's like the rink out in Kanata is not going to be the long-term play here. They need to get a rink back downtown and kind of get that city vibing again. I've never been downtown Ottawa. It's a bit of a sleepy downtown.

I mean, of course a it's a parliament town that's where all the you know the the the politics goes down in Canada that's where people were standing up and saying Ryan Whitney doesn't like Pearson Airport so change it up listen to listen to wit listen to Ryan with me that's where that's where that was going down oh yeah oh yeah buddy we should go to Ottawa for a trip. I'm down. Yeah, Pia Dorian's done a great job. I'm down for fucking any trip ever.

I shouldn't surprise you. Speaking of politicians, how about this girl getting tugged off or tugging off that dude in the movie theater? The American politician. And she's not bad. No, she's nice. And they were at Beetlejuice, dude. They were at the play Beetlejuice.

And she was tugging this guy off with her hammers hanging out. That was the first date, too. That was the first time they went on a date together. Just stroking them off. They must have been on shrooms or something. It's like, Beetlejuice? You're doing this during Beetlejuice? Let's move it along, shall we?

Kind of gets me going. Pierre Dorian's done a great job, though. And with Brady Kachuk, he'll get them in the playoffs, man. Tremendous leader, just like his old band. So it's going to happen soon. But, boys, we haven't even gotten to the Metropolitan preview yet. First team we're going to go with, the New Jersey Devils. Gee, you have anybody in the closet for us?

I know one. Dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum. Okay, maybe not. Oh! Oh! The master of the dum, dum. Okay, maybe not. Oh. Oh! The master of the sandbaggers. That's not G. Holy shit.

The man behind the magic. Pasha, what's up, buddy? Let's run over some numbers here. Last season, of course, 52-22-8, 112 points. Second in the Metro, third out of 32 teams. They lost in the second round to Carolina, 4-1. 9-1 to win the Cup this year. They made some big moves here.

Tyler Tafoya they brought in. Colin Miller, Eric Colgrin, Thomas Noshik, Cal Foote. They did lose Sharon Govich, Damon Severson, Ryan Graves. That's some huge D. Miles Wood, Jesper Boquist, Thomas Tata, Jonathan Bernier. They got a little bit of cap space yet. But, Pasha, they made some huge strides last year. Jack Hughes, obviously in that superstar realm.

What do you got for us this year, buddy? What are you growing in there, by the way? It looks like R.A.'s basement. I got the jungle vibes going on in my apartment. But before we get into the Dallas talk, I just have to throw my hat in the ring on the little debate you guys just had. I'm on business side. I would not trade Rasmus Daly in for Zegers and

Riesdell. I'm almost all ready to say that I was so stupid. Oh, you're flip-flopping already? Shocker. No, no, I'm not. I'm not flip-flopping already. I want to see Drysdale, but it sounds like everyone thinks Drysdale's not good. So I didn't really know that. No, not at all. I don't think that's the speculation. I think he's going to be a really good top two D-man. But I think Darlene's your number one pillar guy. He's going to be a top five, six D-man elite. Big body, 6'3".

You don't replace that. They don't come by every day. And that's no knock on Zegers and Drysdale, who I think are unbelievable players. But I'm with Biz on this one. Smartest thing you've ever said. Oh, you're with Biz. I can't believe it, dude. He's on the payroll. Carry fucking Biz's water all over this content. You're with

Biz. Let me show you my surprise face. Now, Posh, what do we need to know about this Devils team? Are they going to take another step? Well, yeah. I think you just said it already. I mean, the Devils team kind of surprised the hockey world. Everybody except for me last year. That unbelievable

season. I am looking for them to take another step this year. I put together a list of five predictions I think for this last year. That unbelievable season. I am looking for them to take another step this year. I put together a list of five predictions I think for this coming year for them. I'll start off with the first one. I think the Devils lead the league in goal score this year. I think they do it off the back of five different 30 goal scores. I think Hughes, Brock,

Kiescher, Meyer, and then one of either Toffoli or Mercer get 30 goals. I think it's going to be a high-flying offensive team. Last year, Buffalo led the league with four separate 30 goal scores. I think it's going to be a high-flying offensive team. Last year, Buffalo led the league with four separate 30-goal scorers. I'm thinking Jersey breaks out this year. And yeah, that's my first prediction. I think it's going to be high-flying offense.

Luke Hughes is going to be dynamic, spark some life in that second unit power play. I think they're going to be scoring a lot of goals. Pasha, are you at all worried? And be honest, are you worried about the goaltending? And granted, I had no idea about Schmid, and the guy who was in the USHL two years ago, he looked great in the playoffs,

but there has to be some part of you deep down that knows that Vanacek and Schmid could not be the answer as the season goes on, at least to try to understand the conversation. You think Asia Akira Schmid's the answer? So that's another one of my five points. I predict Schmid's going to take over as a starter by Christmas time. That being said, yes, there is that shadow

down my mind. Obviously, Schmid's small sample size is not proven, but what I saw in the playoffs was unbelievable. This guy comes in, pressure situation, MSG, down 2-0 in the series, and this guy was so calm, cool, and collected. Just settled the team down. Didn't give up rebounds. Big-bodied

guy. From what I saw, I really liked it. He's really young still. I think he's the future of their goaltending. But of course, it's false emphasize. I do think that is a bit of a question mark. It's far from a sure thing. You still have four more predictions, right? I got three more. I got three more. So that was two of them. And the other one that I think

got our today's guest on our show, Nico Aki, sure. I think he wins the Selkie Trophy. First title since John Madden in 2001 to win the Selkie. I think with Bergeron gone now, it opens up the door for him. This guy's an unbelievable two-way player, as you guys know. So I think he wins the Selkie.

Number four, Luke Hughes. I think he's a colored finalist I think barring injury Bedard's a lot to get at Bedard, Fantilli and Hughes I think are the three that are going to be nominated so I think Hughes has a massive year and with all that being said my fifth prediction I do think there is a regression

in the regular season for them I do think they have a slightly worse regular season than they did last year just you know losing Severson and Graves that's a lot of experience on on the back end. Kevin Ball is going to fill the role of Graves of kind of eating pops for breakfast. And then Luke Hughes is going to step in for Severson for a little bit of offense, but there's going to be growing pains. So I think that's going to hurt them a little bit. But my prediction is they finish second in the Metro again to Carolina. I'm just curious, Pasha, what are they saying as camp begins about Nemec?

Because you got Luke Hughes, this absolute stud. I think he was fourth overall. And then you obviously got Dougie Hamilton signed to the long-term deal. Tommy Fitzgerald with an absolute steel job of John Marino. But then the fact that they still have the second overall pick a year ago, two years ago, that isn't even really on the roster or in the plans to be in the opening night roster, but could he come up throughout the season

and make an impact? Why is Hughes guaranteed on the team and he isn't? I just think the flashes that Hughes showed last year kind of showed that, all right, between this guy and the fire in the playoffs, if he's ready to perform, I think Nemitz didn't have the best camp last year, so that kind of hurt him. I would say, yeah, there's two

wild cards this year, and it's Nemec and Holtz. Nemec, yeah, I think I would lean towards he makes the team. I think they're going to give him every chance to make it, but I think it's far from a lock. He's a right-handed guy. I think he'll get in with relatively sheltered minutes, so I think he's, you know, I'd say there's a good chance he makes the team, but I also wouldn't

be shocked if they season him a bit more. And Alex Holtz, it's, you know, I'd say there's a good chance he makes the team, but I also wouldn't be shocked if they season him a bit more. And Alex holds, it's obviously super early, but every indication from the first couple of days of cap is this guy is a lot faster of a skater this year. Okay. Wow. Yeah. He trained with Brad. He looked a little bit rough and out of place last year in the game.

He did. Yeah. I remember that game. I remember the game we went to against Chicago and Jersey. When first thing you said, you're like, this guy's boots are not there. They're not there. That was the knock on him. So he trained with Brad skating coach all summer in Sweden and everyone's

saying he looks a lot faster. So if you can come in and slot in, in a top nine, maybe even a top six role, you know, with addition to fully and all those guys, because I think these devils give your team the run for the money for deepest top nine elite.

Oh, and, and Timo Meyer, I wouldn't say like knocked the socks off all of us last year when coming over. You think he gels in a little bit more this season? Like where do you see his numbers at? Absolutely. I think he gets 40 goals again, right around 40 goals.

This guy's just a big body, power forward. I think he's the exact kind of player they need. Again, obviously numbers speak louder than everything, but I mean, watching him play last year, the guy was dominating the game. I know the numbers weren't there, but he was crushing guys, generating chances. I think now that he has a chance to settle in, you know, get used to the new environment, I'm expecting him to go back to what he's been. It's kind of brand new, all 35, 40 goals for. I think that Toffoli pickup is one of the sneakiest pickups of the offseason. Just a natural goal scorer. He kind of went away for a couple years in L.A.

when they were struggling right after Rob Blake took over and they went through their dog days. But he is back to fucking putting the puck in the back of that. I want to say he was Calgary's leading scorer last year. He might even have had 40. So they had him to the mix, which probably helps Holtz out on that right side to kind of develop

and get to learn from the Wiley veteran. Yeah, exactly. I mean, the Devils, for all the skilled players they have, they don't really have a lot of pure snipers. DeFole is that right-handed shot,

sniper guy that can finish on the power play. Their power play wasn't great last year for kind of all the skill they have. So I think he's going to make a big impact on the power play. RN, you always give me a hard time because when the trade broke, I was kind of like, I don't know how I feel about it. That's because my first thought-

You dogged him. You dogged him right away. No, no, no, no. I didn't dog him. I said, I'm not sure how I feel about the trade. I have to think about it because the first thought was foot speed. Devils are the fastest team in the league. Tafoli's not the fastest player, but he's a smart guy who uses his smarts to get in positions to use a shot better. And I think, like uses smarts to get in positions to use a shot better. And I think, like I said,

power play is going to be a huge factor. I'm not so sure he's going to have huge five on five numbers, but I do like the trade now that I've kind of digested a bit already. So, so back off on that. In fairness, you had no idea he had 30 goals. You're like,

holy shit. I didn't know he had 30. That's true. That's right. I hadn't done my homework on to Foley. That is true. A cup winning veteran with tons of experience. And I guess're talking extension for lindy as well huh fitzy fitzy mentioned have you heard that one yet pash yeah it's kind of in a weird spot i guess he had

an option on his last contract that he kind of exercised without anyone knowing so he was kind of limbo but yeah fitzy said yesterday i think that the work on extension i think that's great i mean he's done a great job he lets the guys kind of just do their thing offensively and obviously whatever's going on is working so i like that and pasha i want to get the the bets here before the season starts officially what's the one with biz and what's the one with okay so as of right now last year they didn't make the the eastern conference finals if they don't make it this year i don't have to get a tattoo of the new jersey devil's mascot on my ass but you have to play along too if i'm going to go through it no we well we agreed we agreed my

side of it was that uh if the devils launched that devils rangers series i would have to go into patrick kane jordan msg in round two okay but now but we have to carry one over for this year so i'll give you one or two options you start an only fans and the devil's mascot has to fist fuck you in the ass for our fan base to purchase you can make a little bit of money you can make a little bit of money and or and or gentle from the minute they get eliminated to the end of the stanley cup finals you have to wear your hair like alfalfa you have to part it in the middle and you have to put the little... What do you mean? Pasha, let me help you out here. Biz is an idiot

for making this bet. He's now trying to make you do something that you never agreed to when the bet was made. Put your balls on the line. What do you mean? I'm putting my balls on the line. You put your balls on the line because you thought they were so bad. You thought there was absolutely no chance it would ever happen. And now it's out of nowhere. And you want absolutely no chance it would ever happen. And now it's out of nowhere.

And you want to have him have to do something. And now it's out of nowhere. Well, you have to entertain our fucking fans. Do something. I will entertain your fans. Other than stroke off your fucking boy, Jack Hughes. Fucking do something. Getting fisted by a mascot is outrageous.

That's not the same plan as getting attacked. I bet you'd like that, you sick fuck. I remember when we made the bet, you agreed that you would do something. It wasn't like business just throwing this clause in there. You did say, I will do something. We just have to think of it. I agree. And then last year, we said, if the Devils lose to the Rangers, I have to go, but Patrick James, you're his MSG. So what's the bet this year? I'm down, absolutely, but I'm not getting fisted by the mascot. And the second thing, listen,

I don't think the devil's going to win the cup this year. So that's like a guarantee that for X amount of time, I'm going to wear my hair like that. Fuck that. Like the odds there are skewed. That's like, I'm guaranteed to have to do that. Whereas yours is a good chance you're not going to have to get a tattoo.

So we can talk about this. How about this? How about this? It'll be a progression. If they don't make playoffs, you get fisted in the ass by the mascot. If they get beat out in the first round, you have to wear your hair like alfalfa.

And then if they get bounced in the second round, it could be something innocent. But if they don't make playoffs, Pasha, and they regress that much, you should be taking the mascot's fist in your ass. No, he should. He should do. He should do.

If they don't make the playoffs, he gets biz nasty tattoo fist in your ass. No, he should. He should do. He should do. If they don't make the playoffs, he gets biz nasty tattooed on his ass. Yes. Yeah. Okay. I'm not getting a fist in my fucking mascot. Yeah, you think he wants that? He's your buddy.

He's your butt buddy. And by the way, if the regression could also mean they lose in the first round, mean they lose in the first round. If they lose in the first round, it shouldn't be as bad as missing the playoffs. But yeah, there should be something there. But the whole getting fisted in OnlyFans is a tad aggressive. What about Peter Mansbis?

If they lose in the first round, Peter Mansbis? No, dude. Because that's so outrageous. Because when you made the bet, it was a long shot for the Devils to make the conference finals. Can the Devils lose in the first round? There's a very good chance that happens. I got one. He should have to.

If they lose first... So, Pasha, you're in agreement. If something happens and they miss the playoffs, you get the incursion biz nasty on your ass cheek, okay? And if they lose first round, you have to get your eyebrow pierced and wear a Rangers logo in the eyebrow till playoffs end.

No, of the team who eliminates them. Of the team who eliminates them. Or is it what the Rangers? Either or. Whatever you want. Rangers ain't making playoffs. So it's more about the eyebrow piercing for whatever it would be. Two months after the first round ends.

That's if they get eliminated in the first round? Yes. Yeah. Yes. Okay. I think we can all agree they're making playoffs. I got to make them play. A round of applause, too,

for Pasha. That's a great breakdown, and I love the five notes there. They are an amazing team. I can't believe I'm saying it this quick, but after last year and seeing how fast they are and seeing Jack Hughes, the worst decision of my life, making that bet.

They are an incredible club. Did you explain the financial bet? I think everybody who listens knows it. It's 100 points. My bet was, I don't even know why I made this because I really like Jack Hughes. I think he's unreal. I think you pissed me off so much talking about him

that I don't know what I was thinking. We were in dinner in Buffalo, shit based off of the sandbag. We were just arguing about the belt. I said, if he gets, if he, um, he,

if he doesn't get a hundred points or more in the next three seasons that I owe Pasha 3000 bucks. And if he, if he doesn't do it, he owes me 3000 bucks. So I mean, the fact of the matter is the only thing that could stop him from getting 100 points in this year or next year is if he were to get injured. I do not want that to happen.

I'm making that abundantly clear. Knock on the Pink Whitney Wood sign there. And he finished last year with 99 fucking points. And you can't make this shit up. And I met him and he's a great kid and he's an incredible player to watch. So it's like the worst. It's the, I wish I tried buying out of it. I tried buying out of it and scumbag posh over there wouldn't let me.

So it is what it is. I got a proposition. Would you guys consider upping the ante where if it was 108 points, but the bet doubled, would you consider that wit 108 points? But if he gets it, you owe him six grand. And if he doesn't, I lose the bet doubled. Would you consider that, Witt? 108 points, but if he gets it, you owe him six grand? And if he doesn't, I lose the bet? Maybe we could work out a different way the other way. No, because I'm already, like, I like the Devils,

and I like Hughes, so I'm already, it would just create more rooting against him. I don't want it. Now, he would be the first devil in history to reach 100 points. Isn't he the highest scoring season, the single season highest scoring devil of all time already at his young age? The last week of the season there, he beat Patrick Gallagher at 96, I believe, and then fizzled out a little bit.

He got hurt for four games. He really killed his mojo there, and he was buzzing. And then in overtime of the 82nd game of the regular season, got an apple just to put it on 99. Right on the edge there. We knew how to keep those stats down, Biz, back in the day. So final

offer before we move on to our next team, Pasha. Can I pay you $1,000 right now and have this bet be over? Absolutely not. You're the biggest piece of shit. You wish. $1,500? You and have this bed. Absolutely not. You're the biggest piece of shit. You wish. $1,500? You wish. Nope.

Wow. $1,700, final offer. $2,900, final offer. Fuck you, Pasha. Get this guy off my screen. Get the fuck off the screen, you pigeon. Thanks for having me, boys. Always good to see you, bud.

Biz, I'd be shocked if 80% of our audience even knows who Alfalfa is in this day and age. I mean, obviously, this crew does. Well, we could put a picture up on the screen for everybody. That's the same percentage of people that are going to find out that I mentioned Driedsdale and Zegers for Darlene that lost their mind. So in the end, I'm like minus seven this episode. All right.

Well, Devils fans, you waited long enough. We're going to send it over to your captain, Nico Heischer, right now. Enjoy it. What's up, guys? This interview is brought to you by our great friends at Chevy. Chevy is working to make charging simple. With over 110,000 charging stations across the U.S., Canada, and growing, Chevy is the go-to electric car on the market.

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all of them as simple as plugging in your smartphone. Learn more at chevy.com slash electric. That's chevy.com slash electric. Thank you to Chevy, our great friends, and now to the interview. All right, it's time to bring on our next guest he was the first Swiss player to be taken number one overall in the NHL draft he then made the New Jersey Devils right out of camp as an 18 year old and just completed his sixth season already and he's here in Nashville because he's a finalist for the Selkie trophy tonight we're happy to welcome to the spit and chiclets podcastlets podcast, Nico Hischa. How are you enjoying Nashville so far, brother?

Thanks, guys. Thanks for having me. I mean, it's fun. Definitely a fun town. Different for me coming from Switzerland. Not much country music, but I like the vibe. It was a good time. I read that you're a big rap guy.

Where did you read that? I don't know. He just made it up. I just made it up Swiss rap they rap in like five different languages Swiss rap

but I listen to like a lot of music just kind of depends what I'm up to but coming from Europe I like techno a lot yeah

oh yeah you like the clubs the discotheques yeah I don't mind that but I listen like I said

like not a big country guy, but coming here, it's a wipe. Like now I like it. So listen to everything a little bit. It's crazy to me. Ari says it's your sixth. It was your sixth season already.

Like, I mean, I just feel like you just came into the league. So for yourself, like how quickly has it gone by? How exciting is it now for the team you guys have compared to what you had coming in? and just basically your overall thoughts on being in jersey being the captain now and how it's all progressed yeah like you said it goes fast yeah and i think you guys probably know better than me it just goes like this and uh yeah i was thinking that too next year's gonna be my seventh year so it does go fast but uh i'm really happy in jersey i'm happy uh what we have there right now and where we're going and uh yeah i just hope we can take step by step

and last year was obviously a big step for us and uh yeah i just hope uh keep going like that how did you bump up offensively what was it coming into the season that changed? Was it last summer's training regimen? Like all of a sudden you set career highs and what goals, assists, and points? I was just trying to do my thing. And I guess, yeah, I just took another step, which I was expecting on myself. And I guess the team was expecting that.

And I'm glad I could do that. But I didn't do anything crazy changing-wise. I just tried to keep working out and keep working on my stuff I've always done and just trying to progress as a player and develop me as a player year by year. Do you spend every summer in Switzerland? You go home each year?

Yeah, I'm usually always back home in Switzerland and come back when the season starts. I always see Instagram videos. It's a beautiful country. Oh, it's incredible. I couldn't get a job in the Swiss League. I thought I'd be gone. Did you play Worlds there back in like

when were you there? I always wanted to play there. It's the best place to play over in Europe, I would say. But it's a lot harder than people realize to get a job as an import. But, like, I love getting to talk to you. Have we had a Swiss player on before? I don't think so. I don't think so.

Because it's becoming better and better at hockey. You've got Yossi yourself. But for growing up, like, I'm assuming soccer was probably a little bit bigger in that country i don't know for you personally like what it was like as a youngster playing hockey over there yeah i mean i played a lot of different sports but i did play uh soccer as well in switzerland and uh but it's kind of i think it's like same right now like hockey and uh soccer the two biggest yeah in switzerland but obviously there there's skiing is big in Switzerland and stuff like that. But hockey

is, like you said, it's actually a fun league there with some fans and fast league. They just bumped up the amount of players you can have as imports in the Swiss teams. They changed those three when I was trying to get a job. Now they changed it.

Now they changed it. Morales has another country to be mad at. You should call them again now. Yeah, yeah, yeah, right. I'm sure I'd get a job now. But, all right, so growing up, what was your team over there? Like, what was the team you played for growing up? Okay, growing up,

I grew up in like a small village, kind of, where my team that I grew up with playing was, it's called FISP, like E-H-C FISP. But, uh, when I was 15, I moved to Bern, which is the capital of Switzerland. Great place to play. 18,000 a game. Yeah. It's, it's, yeah, that's, it's, it's a great time.

Yeah. It's, it's really, uh, something special. Uh, I had my first pro game there and I was, yeah. It's really something special. I had my first pro game there, and I was just running out there. I've got to jump in here before we get to his pro career. You know Ryan Whitney won the Quebec Peewee Tournament, right? Have you ever heard that? Yeah, I've never mentioned it. Did you know he was the leading scorer his year in Quebec Peewee Tournament?

Is that true? I worry more about team accomplishments. I love that. I saw it on the internet. 19 points in 6 games, Quebec B-Week tournament. It's got to be true. According to the internet. No wins though.

In terms of you as a youngster and not a ton of Swiss players have been in the NHL. Well, there's been a good amount, but was your goal almost to play in the league over there? Like, was that kind of your dream as a young kid or were you always thinking NHL? Both.

Yeah, I think both. First, for sure, I wanted to like, yeah, just play hockey. Yeah. Do that as my job. And obviously growing up in switzerland you know there's a league and uh uh watching them it was yeah always a kind of goal like working myself up to like this level and uh after that when i yeah got my first phone kind of stuff i was looking like all the nhl games and was pretty clear from that point on that i

at some point i want to try to come over and play here so is it something they really emphasize over in swiss as far as the defensive side of the game because that's obviously yeah that's obviously a big part of what you bring to the table good 200 foot you're always responsible always on the right side of the puck like who taught you that coming up and as far as hockey was concerned yeah i i actually like was really offensive offensive uh when i was young but uh at some point uh i was talking to some coaches and after that i was like seeing pavel datu play that's like he's your guy yeah so i was like yeah i got inspired by his game and uh i mean he's obviously a unbelievable player and uh you can put him on if you need a goal if you don't if you're like up a goal if you're down a goal and uh that's kind of like what i was trying

to do and then from that point i was trying to work on my defensive game a lot too and took pride in that. So that was one of the things that I read that was correct. You idolized Pavel Datsyuk coming up. So was it a case of you watching games and tape over there? Because obviously with the time change and everything going on,

how did you watch and kind of emulate your game after him? Yeah, for me, it was, I guess when I started watching the nhl uh i never really had a favorite team growing up but i was always like a datuk fan so i obviously followed the red wings and uh but uh when people ask me like what's your favorite team growing up i i just always answered i didn't have one i was just just like legit just following Paolo Dazio and watching all the highlights of him. And just, yeah, I got just inspired by his game. And that's kind of what I wanted to do after.

You mentioned, you know, your mother and father and brother and sister here. So was your dad the one who got you into hockey? Did he play? Did your brother play? Things like that. Like who got you into the game? My brother did. My brother's older. that's awesome i mean they're kind of my idol too like always want to do uh whatever he did so uh he got me into it um my dad was actually

a little soccer player he was soccer player so he didn't really play hockey but uh he always enjoyed like going to like hockey games and uh i think my mom took my brother once uh skating and then uh yeah after that my brother did it i wanted to do it i think your family's a bunch of athletes too aren't they yeah i mean yeah my mom used to swim um your mom was met her last night she's tall yeah she is yeah what happened to you yeah what you think i'm small no i'm not big but i wouldn't say i'm small i'll take average competitive swimmer uh she was yeah she did she did that and my dad was soccer player and uh then my sister played volleyball she She's, I mean, probably sorry too.

She's pretty tall too. And my brother plays hockey in the Swiss League. Oh, he does? What teams does he play for? He plays right now for Biel. Okay.

They lost in the finals. Yeah, against Geneva. We were following that mission. Witt's kind of a, you're kind of a bandwagon fan as far as soccer. Who's your squad?

Chelsea? Chelsea's my team. You're a big man. You guys? Tough year. Oh, yeah. You're going to take Mount take mount you're gonna go after mason mount i'm reading oh you're a manchester united guy no no no oh okay i like liverpool liverpool oh my god i like i don't know where the hell liverpool but same there same there was growing up

I always played soccer too and my favorite player was Steven Gerrard yeah legend I've seen an unreal documentary on him actually he never left that's why I chose Liverpool

have you ever seen him play in person? no I haven't oh you gotta get over there definitely on my bucket list but the best athlete ever from Switzerland is obviously Federer have you ever run into him have you ever played tennis anything got anything on that yeah i like tennis i do play uh with some friends during summer

and uh i've actually met fitter once at the u.s open uh right after my draft and uh yeah i mean it was pretty cool and yeah like you said's, I think he's the man. So, uh, he's really impressive, whatever, like he's doing, he's just doing everything right. That's what he's doing. He's perfect. I always say he's like Lidstrom kind of, they reminded me of each other. They don't sweat.

They just sweat. Yeah. For, for people like myself who don't really understand, Switzerland's interesting, right? Like there's so many people who speak all these different languages french italian german whatever so how do you like what is the main language everyone's speaking over there do you know what i mean it's three well kind of four but like it's everyone speaks all of them no no no no swiss german yeah it's like swiss german so easy way is obviously like switzerland borders to like Germany, France and Italy. So when you're close to the Italy border, you speak Italian.

When you're close to the French border, you speak French. It's all based on the region. Yeah. But I grew up like in the German part. So my mother language is Swiss German. But we do obviously like growing up, like you always get to interact with different languages. So I started learning French early and Italian. Yeah.

Italian so-so, but French I will get around. But you can converse with people in French and German, English, and not Italian, you're saying? Yeah, I can order food or beer in Italian, but that's it. That's all you need. Yeah, it works, it works. With French, I'll get around. And German, obviously, yes. And English by now, too.

So, all right, so you're coming up playing, you go over to Bern. It's interesting to see you ended up in halifax had an amazing team there right did it how did that come about right like how did you decide on going there as opposed to being a younger player in the nla yeah i mean that was definitely a big decision for me because i was kind of in between i played a few pro games with burn at that point and i was they told me i was able to like bump up in that team and they gonna give me some games and stuff and the other option was going overseas and uh play in a junior league but and for me it was always uh uh at the end I thought if I'm not

gonna do it I'm gonna regret it and uh I can always go back and play in Switzerland yeah exactly and my goal that I mean by that point my goal was like playing the NHL and it was my draft year as well and from that point I was actually pretty clear like I gotta try it and Halifax had interest in me and from my agency

and everyone I said it's a great spot to be and Timo was there earlier I knew Timo from like the World Juniors a bit texted him about it a little bit and after that everything worked out and uh yeah don't you don't regret it did you make it clear maybe um to other chl teams like yeah i'm only gonna go to halifax type thing like because what if somebody else had drafted you yeah yeah my agent made sure like that halifax picked me so i didn't i don't know what he said but that's kind of so what happened yeah so we all like i guess chl guys you kind of

move away from home to go play you had to freaking go a long way what was your pretty comfy playing in your hometown and getting some pro games your bro and everything yeah well that's it that's the thing uh burden isn't even my hometown like when i was 15 i moved out from my hometown to play for another team because my team i grew up playing with didn't even had like the highest junior level to play in switzerland that's why i switched clubs in switzerland already and i was living there with so you're on my own already yeah so when i was 15 i moved out my first time. Lived with my aunt in Bern. And my brother was there too, playing there. So we were already out with 15.

And with 17, I went to Halifax. Just go. As far as a cultural difference when you went over to Halifax, was there any getting homesick? I mean, away from your family for the first time? I mean, obviously you missed them at the beginning but for me it was like the bigger step for me uh sounds weird but the biggest step was like when i moved like first time i moved out when i was 15 yeah that's almost yeah so i got used

to it kind of and uh just it wasn't like an hour train ride it was like a flight away so burn wasn't like too far from my hometown but when i was in halifax it was obviously way further but i kind of got used to like being away from my family and stuff were you projected to go that high coming into that season with halifax because it seems like quite a lot for you to come over and then not only get adjusted to the different size ice maybe a little bit of a different game. And then I would imagine also more physical too. Yeah. What do you mean?

Like in the draft though? Yeah. No, I don't think so. No. I mean, at the beginning of the year. And that one year just kind of bumped you up that much, right? Yeah, I think kind of all started at like after we were juniors. You had a good tourney.

Yeah, I had a good tournament there. It was definitely a fun tournament. And after that, yeah, the people start talking. But for me, it was just, yeah, coming over to Halifax, trying to get adjusted, like you said, to the smaller ice rink, to more physicality and stuff like that. It is different, like coming from europe obviously so but uh back in halifax yeah they had a great coach great teammates they helped me a lot actually so

it was uh like i said i don't regret it at all it was really important for me to do that year and it worked out yeah as good as this can be what What's crazy is it happened so quick, right? All of a sudden, I'm going to Halifax. Then I'm first overall. Then I'm in the NHL that first season. You probably never could have imagined two years prior that you'd be playing in the NHL that quick. 100%, no.

Did you even go to camp that year thinking you'd make the team? Obviously, that was my goal, yeah. I believed in myself that i can do it uh but uh i didn't like knew 100 yeah like i knew i gotta go in there and like to prove myself and uh just try uh the best i can do and uh but it worked out who was the coach of the Devils at that time? John Hines. Yeah, John Hines. Hines, yeah. You guys added Jack Cusa a couple years ago.

He's been a real shot. What's he like in the room? We were out with him last night. He seems like quite the character. Yeah, I mean, if you met him, you know he is. He's Jack. I like that about him. He doesn't, like, does acting or stuff like that.

He's just Jack and a really funny guy to be around with. And obviously, yeah, throughout the years, I got a good friendship with him and it's always fun. Were there any texts to, to brat throughout that negotiation? Like,

come on, buddy, we need you back. Were you, were you actually in touch with them at all to see what was going on? I obviously, I mean, me and Bratter, we came in together right so there was we both had our our rookie seasons together so i'm i'm close with bradder too and uh we always throughout the year already we always had talks and it wasn't just like necessary right now before the signing we always were a little bit

in contact about it and and um yeah he basically made it clear to me too that he wants to stay in new jersey and and uh the better now uh they got it done and i obviously uh told him uh we're happy to have him he's happy and uh now uh yeah we can get to work did you tell him that you he can't make more than you and that's why you had to take hometown discount? Or was it because Pasha was threatening him? I don't know. No, no, I didn't.

I mean, I just, I'm happy for him. They made a deal, a deal done. And that's, that's all that matters. So he's been always just one year or two years. And now he finally got this deal. And that's good for us. Should we get Pasha in here to maybe ask a question? Because he's probably the biggest New Jersey Devils.

And we have to thank him because he's the one who ended up solidifying this interview right now. So Pasha, if there's anything. And was he sliding into your DMs from the early days as a Devils supporter? No, no. I actually met Pasha in Vancouver once. So that's kind of how we met, right? Is he known in the locker room as like the devil's guy?

Do you guys know about him? After that series now, for sure. Yeah. I mean, you're, I guess you're the only guy supporting us, right? Only guy to stick up for the guys. These guys were all chirping.

But Nico, thanks for coming on, man. Yeah. Yeah, it's been... Shaking. He's like, Mr. He's here. Need some new pants for Pasha. All right, you guys are done. I've been following up on a kind of business question about Brat.

You know, you guys have four Swiss players in the league between you, Siegenthaler, Schmid, and now Meyer. How much did that play a factor in you guys trying to convince Meyer to come over? Were you enticing him, talking about it before the trade? And also now, as we both know, he's got a big contract negotiation going on. How much are you using the Swiss influence

to kind of convince him to stay there for a while? We'll try. I mean, obviously, Seeks, and we know him from playing World Juniors together. And even before the trade, we were talking together. But he never really knew like where he's heading to but he kind of knew like jersey has interest and stuff like that and he but you're just like talking you know like you just go if it happens oh that would be kind of

cool and stuff like that and now we got him and he played a few games with us, playoffs, and he likes it. And I think he enjoys playing with a couple of Swiss guys too. And now in the East Coast, I think it's obviously a little different, as he says. So I think he likes it. And same there. I hope to get it done and can have him too. Yeah, I think he's a big piece of the team moving forward. I think a lot of the fans are hard on him because the numbers weren't there in the playoffs.

But if you watch the games, you'd see that he was contributing in basically every area of the ice and just the numbers weren't there. So I think he's a big part of the core coming up. 100%. I mean, just if you look at our forward group, you don't really have a player like him. He's obviously a big guy that you can run somebody over to and score goals.

And me, Bradder, Jack, we're not the biggest, I would say. So he's definitely a type of player that we could definitely use. Let's not forget this clown to your left here said he'd rather have Patty Kane in the deadline than Timo Mayer. Let that be known. I've renounced my Rangers.

I'm a free agent. I'm trying to come to the Devils and you won't let me. The Devils don't want you. I made a pitch at Jack Hughes last night. I think he turned me down. You are not welcome, Merles. You're not welcome.

But one more question for you going back to the playoffs. Would you say that you guys as a young team kind of coming together, winning your first series, emotional Game 7 win against the Rangers,

would you say you guys had a bit of an emotional letdown going into the Carolina series, obviously coming out pretty flat in the first two games? Yeah, it was... Yeah, it's hard to say, to be honest, but it it definitely it was a quick

turnaround for us we had game seven and next day we flew right out to uh carolina and uh yeah they kind of ran us over the first two games and um but i think like you said i think just the experience we had winning a game seven, winning a series, it's already like really important for our team. And just understanding that it was a whole different series. Like Carolina played obviously a different style than the Rangers did. So understanding that, I think that's going to help us moving forward too. Were you guys a little shell-shocked going into playoffs? Just like unexpecting, like you're playing a veteran team like the rangers i thought you guys

played horrendous in the first two games no offense but then for you guys to come out in games three and four and look like a completely different team like what what did what did change what was what was said yeah i think yeah maybe yeah a little nervous maybe over excitement too you know like trying too much uh sometimes not good either so i think we we got a little nervous maybe over excitement too you know like trying too much uh sometimes not good either so i think we we got a little bit too excited about the playoffs and uh we just knew we didn't play well the first two game and uh we tried to yeah calm everybody down and uh because we've we've done it like last year pretty much the whole year like we've we've proven that we can be good teams and we knew like the Rangers are a good team.

But we just got to play our game, do it to win games. And I think we started doing that when we went to MSG and the first two games weren't just, they were just not good enough. Going back to when you came into the league, you know, such a young kid,

like were there veterans that took you under their wing? Was there a guy in particular, like where did you live that first year things like that that probably made it a little easier for you coming in so young yeah I mean well first at the way till till they told me to get an apartment so I was living a little bit in hotels and stuff like that and but coming in I had great great guys on the team i was obviously that year i was playing with halsey a lot so uh was with him around a bit and uh but living after i was by myself and uh like i've said before too me and bradder came in together so we kind of got

an apartment in the same building and we kind of helped each other out. So it was, it was, it's important having that guy, like, you know, a younger guy that just, you can at least hang out with and stuff. That's true.

Even to that point though, like for this year, game seven, first playoff win, like you're the captain, you know, and you look through the lineups, like what a lot,

Dougie Hamilton and Hala are like the veteran guys, but your core group or your team's fairly young so who who steps up like after you know the terrible start and like it's not going good like when you don't know you don't know or you know you don't have those that experience around you guys are kind of going through this together it's all new for you even being a young captain you know yeah it it is experience for me for sure but i'm i'm growing into it and i think i'm getting better with it uh i'm not like i wouldn't say i'm like the loudest guy and in the locker room but there's something uh need to be said i'm not afraid to and i think

that's something i'm still learning but i'm getting better at it does it help have you ever just fucking lost it that'd be I couldn't picture you snapping. I know. It takes a lot. Yeah. But I actually, I have. I mean, obviously, through the last couple of years, when you lose a lot of games, it kind of sucks.

So you can snap there once in a while. Well, probably not last year. That was the single greatest turnaround season in NHL history based on points. Well, at least that's what Pasha keeps telling me. I don't know how good my facts are. But just from going from the year prior to this year, was there stuff being said in the group chat to motivate you guys to step it up in training and to come in more prepared?

What did Ruff say, too? What did Lindy say when he came in? No, I mean, we just trust the process. We knew it's not going to go like... I mean, to be honest, I was a little surprised too by myself that it was like that big of a step. We did have a great year and it felt good because I always believed in this group.

I signed in Jersey. I wanted to be there. I knew what kind of players we have. And going through like this losing i think sometimes you need that to like taking the next step and now uh even yeah the last few years when we weren't making the playoffs uh somewhere a little bit you always saw some little steps going the right direction and uh and obviously last year was a really big one which obviously is more obvious to see and uh now it's just about like yeah getting another little step another little step to to the ultimate goal one day uh winning the cup so that's that's our goal in in new jersey and uh that's what we're trying to do it didn't start that way for you

though pasha hey what were you What didn't start that way? Were you, at the start of the year, were you chanting Fire Lindy or were you? That was fucking crazy. It wasn't easy

at the start though. No, I mean, yeah, definitely not, but I mean, I think Lindy handled it the best too.

Like, how he handled it was perfect. I mean, it's obviously, we got passionate bands in Jersey and uh obviously fans want to see uh your team win and uh after a few years we had uh yeah you kind of understand

it but it's uh they're passionate so and i think like i said lindy just perfectly uh acted to it was there anything uh oh i was just gonna ask when was there anything when you got to the states that you were just like why why do people do this all the time or maybe some hobbies that you ended up hopping on that you would have never expected that you hopped on uh living in swiss yeah i don't know it's just everything is bigger here like even food wise everything that's probably the first thing i i noticed like portions yeah they are? Yeah, if you order something. That's why you started looking like Merle. In Switzerland, I would go to dinner and I'd have to get two entrees.

I'd get the first one. And it's so small. And then it's so expensive over there. So I'm spending 70 bucks and I'm getting the littlest pasta dish. So I'd go out to eat with the teammates and then I'd go home make another like pasta dish at home because i couldn't afford more i agree i mean that's kind of the first thing i just noticed when i came over here just even like just all the grocery store the fucking onions are like just just everything is bigger have you grown up enough to where you cook for yourself i not a big cook but i do cook myself too. But obviously we go out for eating a lot and stuff like that.

But I do know how to cook. And sometimes I do myself some cooking. Nico, just jumping back to that biggest single season turnaround in NHL history. Not taking anything away from your team this year, because obviously you had an incredible season, but as a viewer, I felt that last year, you guys played a lot better than your record showed and a huge reason

that you didn't perform that way was because of goaltending. I think you guys started, what, seven or eight goalies throughout the year? So how important has it been to get a guy like VTech to come in to stabilize the goaltending, to know you can get the big saves? How much do you think that impacted that turnaround? As a viewer.

As a viewer. As a super fan. No, I mean, obviously, huge. I mean, if you look at good teams, every good team has a good goalie. And I think Vita came in for us and did whatever we need to ask from him. He did a great job.

He was playing really well for us the whole year. Yeah, I mean, goalies can win you games, and he's done that throughout the year for us. So he's been whatever we needed, so it's good for us. Oh, go ahead, Rory. You got your first taste the battle the Hudson the playoffs with the Rangers did that kind of take to make you jump back a little

just of crazy fans on both sides you know in New York I'm going back to Newark all those games that are kind of make you like holy shit how the intensity of it all it was definitely fun 100% I we as soon as we knew we're going to play the Rangers there you could tell like excitement was there.

Even the regular season game against the Rangers was a little different. It's just a rivalry game, Hudson River rivalry. It was definitely a fun series, obviously for us the way it ended, and even more fun. It was something I probably won't forget in my career that like that first playoff series win I ever had. We kind of talk about like expectations on this show a lot for younger guys and really high picks. And, you know, last year you had 60 points, 70 games.

Then this year you're a point per game player. But was it hard before a little bit? Like, cause people like first overall, you know, you got to light it up right away because of mcdavid and matthews like did you did that bother you at times did you think about like i got to produce more offensively mainly because of how expectations of first overall picks immediately are even though it's so unrealistic for a lot of players yeah um yeah i mean definitely wasn't easy at the point i'm 18 coming into the league and uh getting compared to to drafts ahead of me or yeah like you said mcdavid so i'm like oh wow that's a that's a high standard i don't think i can fill fill those shoes but on the other

hand i just start to learn like you just follow the process work hard do the best you can every day you're your own player and yeah just try to not listen to the outside noise and just be as best as you can be it's so important not listening to the outside noise so for yourself personally like is there someone in your life you're leaning on a lot when things aren't going well and like maybe it's your parents maybe it's your agent like is there somebody you're talking to a lot through things because you know being a young captain like you yourself have to get things off your mind at times yeah for sure i'm i would say i'm pretty close to my brother and sister uh we have a really good uh sibling bond. So if there's anything, I know I can always go to them and lean on them.

What about alumni? Is there any old alumni kicking around who've won cups, who you've been chatting with and kind of ingest information off of? Here in America? Well, yeah. Gomez. The conversation never ended. Danny Danico.

I thought he was in concussion protocol. He's around a lot. You talk always with Dano a bit, but just remember I was with Andy Green, but he didn't win a cup, but still Andy Green was the captain

when I got in there. He's still in Jersey, so I see him sometimes and uh yeah if there's like any questions i would would always like yes you would reach out to him just a calming influence hey yeah but he's uh yeah great guy and uh was always uh fun a little off topic but i'm i'm looking down your legs what's up with the uh triangle tattoo on the ankle? Any meaning to that? They did it on vacation. You were buckled.

You were buckled. He got matching tattoos with a random girl. No, no. It's actually me and my brother, we kind of did like a broader tattoo. Okay, I gotcha. Is that the only one? Cancun prison tat. Yeah. Thought it was a great idea, but no, it's all good. Speaking of tattoos, Nico, have you heard about Biz's Bet? Is that the only one? Cancun prison tap Cancun prison tap

Speaking of tattoos Nico have you heard about Biz's bet About you guys going to the conference finals I actually haven't no No you tell it Pasha So last summer Biz and I kind of got into it on Twitter And then out of the blue he said

If the Devils make the conference final Any of the next two seasons I'll get the mascot tattooed on my ass. Yeah, I was fucking nervous after you guys pulled off that first series. I don't know, man. Like, I like Carolina's game, but I didn't think that you guys were any worse than Carolina. So thank you guys. You guys laid an egg.

Wow. God forbid you get a goofy tattoo. No, you gave me a little extra motivation. Yeah, I can't hear you. Don't piss the captain off. Don't tell the boys, please. Nate will have it up on the board. It's their trainer, Nate.

He's a beauty, eh? Nader? Yeah, you got a good crew of trainers. How big is that? Frosty and Nader. Just wild beauties, eh? Yeah, me, Frosty, yeah, Nader, Brent. They're all great guys. I mean, yeah, you know Frosty. Yeah, Frosty yeah Nader Brent they're all great guys

I mean yeah you you know Frosty Frosty's great Ari knows him really well I've heard about this guy he's a urban legend he's the best

you should see this Nate his like assistant or whatever he's just the guy's a card he has energy oh yeah yeah so

we got a really good guys who is the the biz calls him the jester like the goofball in the locker room. It's got to be Miles Wood, no? He's kind of quiet, isn't he?

Yeah, he doesn't say too much. We think, I don't know. I think Bashan and McLeod are definitely a funny couple together. I mean, they've been playing in Mississauga together and now in Jersey. Got separate a little bit with with uh when bass passion went to uh seattle but we picked him up from waivers again so it was if you're around them it's always a good time well you got such a young locker room i would imagine like every day is just different stories flying around like

it kind of it would kind of have maybe more of an ahl locker room feel which is it's you know if you talk to owen power together probably just guys willing to stick around oh that's my alarm i gotta go do the the nhl tnt oh not a big deal or not a big deal but it was like it was like buffalo so many young guys so they're willing to stay on the ice after practice and it's maybe a little bit more easier to gel when you have such a young group it is and I mean we have a great locker room it's it's fun coming in uh almost going in with a smile in the locker room and like you said yeah everybody has has to say something uh funny story there funny story there and uh it's and and I've experienced both because when I came in in the league first it was still a great locker room but it was just different.

I was really young and we had like older guys with like families and stuff. So where I live in like Jersey City, Hoboken, there were like maybe three guys at that point. And now it's like pretty much a whole team. You just took over the block. No wonder Grinnelly moved there. Don't say where's your neighbor. We don't want Ploshes showing up at your door.

Ploshes Airbnb-ing right now. I'm not going to say my head. I'm going to ask you, speaking of your young group, maybe you guys answered this question in the media during it. What was up with the no-sell-y sell-ys in the playoffs? I saw Dougie Hamilton was just staring in the stands. We were like, what the fuck? Yeah, his remote control broke.

Yeah, he was just staring. And then someone scored later and did the same thing. Yeah, he was just like staring in the stands. We were like, what the fuck? Yeah, his remote control broke. Yeah, he was just staring. And then someone scored later and did the same thing. Yeah, he was just like doing the Dougie. Yeah, I don't know. It wasn't even a thing. No, it wasn't a thing. I don't know. It was just, I don't know.

Never asked them why they sell it like this. It wasn't a thing for us. Just, I don't know. Staring down the scum bag. I guess. I don't know. Ice cold. You've had Lindy for three years now years now i mean he's been around the game forever but he seems like kind of young at heart he kind of makes you guys have fun out there it looks like oh yeah i mean uh

lindy's been always really fair to us and uh obviously with with his experience uh can teach us a lot and uh it's, yeah, we have a good time with him and he's working with the players well together and yeah, he's been great with us. I like asking guys

sometimes in terms of just like continuing to improve, like personally, is there something this summer or within your game you're like,

I just want to get a little better at that. Like, is there anything in your mind? No, I usually, like I said earlier too, I i just want to get a little better at that like is there anything in your mind um no i usually like i said earlier too i usually just try to like work on my things i always done i like to basics that's yeah exactly uh not obviously try to focus on on some stuff a little bit more from here and then but i want to do consistently everything that i've always been doing and

that's how i feel the best it's already got you here so can you imagine if he's got like a super long stick now and he's trying to do like badar gristers yeah i don't think that's gonna work for me you know but yeah maybe that would be maybe a thing uh i'm trying and i've been trying to work on the last few summers as well like my shooting uh so will you be on the ice we ask the current players now it's so different will you be on the ice a lot during the summer you put the skates away for a bit uh definitely put them away for a bit yeah uh i'm i'm a guy i yeah i need put my hockey bag a little bit away after a long season but i'll start usually maybe like i'm not going to the ice for like maybe a month or so month month and a half and then start slowly skating again and by august like september

i obviously skate with that pro team like in your town do they let you do that yeah i'm actually that's what i'm doing in burn i'm skating skating in Bern and in August I can sometimes join their like practice and like basically their training camp because they're starting earlier. And,

but I also maybe sometimes go to Zurich where like Diggettaller, Piusutter, like a couple, like a couple,

Malgin, like all these guys are skating in Zurich. What's best city to go maybe party in Switzerland? I mean, I'm guessing Zurich, but isn't Zug pretty good?

Bern? What's the best? Bern is pretty chill. If you want to have a good party, I think Zurich is definitely the spot to go to, but there's Geneva. I heard it's good. Is there golf over there?

A lot of golf. Lausanne is good too. A lot of golf? Is there golf big over in Switzerland or no? Yeah, there is. Yeah? A lot of golf. Lausanne is good. A lot of golf? Is there golf big over in Switzerland or no? Yeah, there is. Yeah. A lot of nice courses. Yeah, for sure.

Oh, speaking of Swiss, when we played world championships there, I think Rick Nash was like wildly popular. He went there. Did you go watch any of those guys? I think Joe Thornton was there as well. He met a Swiss guy. Yeah, his wife is Swiss. Did you go to any of those like when you were a young guy?

It's really, really, really young. Well, that Laco year, he wouldn't have been that young, right? No, some of those guys went over there, and they were like heroes over there a little bit. So did you go to any, watch any of those guys? I've seen, like, games when, I mean, Patrick Kane and Tyre Sagan, they were, like, in Beale, where, like, my brother plays now. So I've seen I remember

in the locker room when a bunch of NHL players came over and Tavares was in Bern. So I remember I was watching a game with those players on the team, which obviously when I was young was pretty cool for me. He actually just went to Magni Degors

to watch Datsun instead of going to Russia Well anyone got anything else for this time? Yeah I was going to say Switzerland's gotten much better on the international stage the last few years and by the way Roman Yossi was the first Swiss player we had a few years back Yes we did

Who are players you look up to? Some of the first Swiss players were goalies like Ed Abisher, Jonas Hiller Who's the third one there? Gerber. So who were the guys you looked up to as a kid? Swiss players? Yes.

Obviously, for me, like, as a forward, Nino. Okay, yeah. He was definitely a guy I was always looking up to. And just, I mean, yeah, even like his path, too. He went through Portland andland and uh then good uh islanders i think drafted to the islanders so nina was always a guy i was looking up to but obviously growing up you knew yosi mark stride like these kind of guys that mark stride was good player yeah the way for you guys yeah exactly, exactly. He did. So, you know, you knew these guys, but I always followed everyone.

But for me, it was more like Nino because of like forward position. Is there a player who never played in the NHL, but is like a legend in Swiss hockey? Who is the guy? Ambil. Ambil. Yeah. What years is this? Like 90s? No, now. Like, he might still Ambil. Yeah. What year is this? Like 90s?

No, now. No, he's still playing. Yeah. No shit. So he just lights up the Swiss League. I played against him over there. I think he was in Zurich when I played against him. Yeah.

He actually tried to come over a little bit. I got all the Europe on him. He's a correspondent. You're a correspondent. Well, you don't bet on all this. Well, I tell the story. You got to back me up on this. I try to tell these guys, when I played in Switzerland,

the guys are gambling on all the games. Not your own game, but instead of going into intermission, like going into the locker room, the guys are sitting on the bench looking at the out-of-town scoreboard. The Swiss guys are nuts. What's your thoughts on how the leading scorer has to wear a gold helmet in the Swiss league? Just a target on his back.

And the jersey. Oh, it's different jersey too? Jersey and helmet, like flame helmet. Yeah, flame jersey. Like you're on fire. Yeah. I think the golden is, I think it's in Finland or Sweden. And in Switzerland, it's like flames.

Think the NHL should bring that? No, I think we're good how it is. But it's, I don't know. You grew up like this, right? For me, it was first weird when it wasn't, right? So it's just, yeah. It was like everything else. You just got used to it.

It was probably weird when you got over here and the fans weren't standing up the whole game, chanting too, right? That's different too, for sure. Like the fan culture in Europe than here. Obviously, you got great fans here too. And playoffs is amazing too. I think it has to do with the portions.

They're a little bit lazier. They just can't get out of their seats. Cheesecake factory to a game here. Sleep Frank the Tank style. Do you know who Frank the Tank is? Yeah, the Tank. Yeah, a Jersey fan, too. You guys should put him in net.

You guys wouldn't fucking let in a goal. Vladekov. Dude, Swiss fans are nuts. I'm telling you, I was in Lugano, and we couldn't leave the rink because we were losing so much. The fans were outside. They wouldn't let us leave the rink. Like, no, you guys got to stay in here.

I stayed in there for three hours. The train? No, we couldn't leave they brought in beer they brought in pizza because the fans were going nuts they wanted to like they wanted you guys dead like i thought they wanted you back on the ice they riot like the police come in riot gear and stuff they're nuts over there well they probably had money on it just like you guys exactly no it's it's definitely different they're like like almost like soccer fans like they're chanting they have their chants and uh they have their in every arena their away team has their like own

sector uh section where where the away fans are and they're chanting and singing and and for safety purposes fireworks going off exactly they're out of control do you ski you ski over the in switz i used to a lot yeah where i grew up i Do you ski over the, in the Swits? I used to a lot, yeah. Where I grew up, I grew up right in the mountains in Switzerland, like close to Zermatt.

So I, I used to, I used, I snowboard though. I used to, used to be a lot on the snowboard. Yeah. Zermatt,

this could be a little nugget for you guys. That's the mountain that's on the Toberloon candy, right? You know, a little fact for you listeners. A little fact,

yeah. Unbelievable. I don't know why, this Swits channel, it? You know it. A little fact for you listeners. Merle's. Unbelievable. Swiss's channel. Scott Guy. I'm impressed. Atta boy, man. I'm trying to get on the Devil's bandwagon. I'm trying to get in. Trying to get a PTO. He'll be playing for their ECHL team in no time. Be down in Utica with Rob Esch.

Well, boys, I got to get going. I don't know if you guys got any more, but I just want to say thank you before I take off. Thank you very much. I got Singzy texting me a don't know if you guys got any more, but I just want to say thank you before I take off. Thank you very much. Thank you. I got Singzy texted me a question right now. Oh, Jesus Christ. Uh-oh. I told him another devil super fan from our game notes daily.

It's Pasha, Singzy, and Frank the Tank on behalf of them. They're big fans. So thank you, brother. Yeah, no problem. Thanks for coming on, Nico. Yeah, thanks for having me, guys. All right, guys, before we go any further, it's time to talk to you about our exclusive ticketing partner, GameTime.

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Enter your email and redeem code CHICKLETS for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Huge thanks to Nico Heischer for jumping on us. Devil's Captain. Can't wait to see what they do next year after what they did last year. But moving right along across the river, the New York Rangers last year, 107 points. Third in the Metro, ninth out of 32 teams. And they lost to the Devils 4-3 in that epic first round battle.

They're 13-1 to win this cup this year. They got some new faces too. Peter Laviolette behind the bench this year. They brought in Blake Wheeler, Nick Bonino, Tyler Pitlick, and Eric Gustafson. They didn't keep Patrick Kane, Vladimir Tarasenko, Nico Mikola, Yaroslav Halak, Tyler Mott,

Libor Hajek, Ryan Carpenter, or Wyatt Kalnick. A little bit of turnover with the Rangers. They're over by the cap a little bit right now, but we still got a ways to go before that matters. Pretty much the same team as last year. Chris Drury added some veteran depth, but Witt, we'll go to you first with the Rangers. What are you thinking from them this year,

buddy? I don't know what to expect. I really was looking at last year like a true Stanley Cup contender. The main thing about all of this is Igor Shostakhin. It's actually incredible how hot he can get. He goes on these

runs where he's unbeatable. He's pretty much not their entire team, but without him, you don't even consider the Rangers as a playoff favorite or a top team in the league. The team relies on him so much. I guess not even to the extent

of over on Long Island in terms of their goaltender, but it's still similar with another Russian in New York City. And when he's going, this team's just that hard to beat. Okay. My biggest thing looking at the Rangers this year is Kako and Lafreniere. it sounds crazy, but when you have these young guns that are high draft picks, they have to light it up. They have to become good. It's this cap world where you pretty much know, I don't know, maybe you guys disagree. You know what you're getting out of Adam Fox this year. You pretty much know what Kreider's going to bring. You could pencil Kreider in for 30 to 40, right? You could pencil Adam Fox in for like 65 to 80 points. You can pencil Panarin in for 75 to 90 points. It's all these guys that you know what you're going to get, including Shusterkin in his play. The question is, the depth positions at forward and these two young guys, if they make

an enormous step and they can hop into that category of being 20 to 30 goal guys, all of a sudden you're looking at this team completely different. They got weapons on different lines. And it's funny, I don't even bring up Hedl. I think Hedl is going to continue to step up. He showed enough to me last year where I expect even more. It's Kako and Lafreniere that are the question marks. And if you look at the team and you think of those guys having subpar seasons and not

taking that next step in their career, I wouldn't be surprised at all if they don't do that much. If they're a middle of the pack, yeah, I'm going to pick them to make the playoffs, but I wouldn't consider them Stanley Cup contenders unless those two guys make huge steps up and start lighting it up and producing offensively. It's pretty simple to me. I like their D. I mean, Fox is so good. Just the way he slides around the ice and makes it look so simple while not being the fastest skater. It's pretty simple to me. I like their D. I mean, Fox is so good. Just the way he slides around the ice and makes it look so simple while not being the fastest skater. It's incredible to watch. But that's my main storyline. Actually, I should read what Avery said to me.

He talked about Shosturkin first. Talked about their core. I mean, I didn't even say Zabeniad. He looked at the core as Panarin, Zabeniad, Kreider, Trocek, Fox. He talks about seeing Keandre Miller paired with Fox in training camp. Right? That could even elevate Keandre Miller even more. I love that kid's game.

He skates like the wind. That's another guy that I think you can pencil in and know what you're going to get if you're Peter Laviolette. So a lot of great things on this team. A lot of things for Rangers fans to look forward to, but also some question marks with some younger players that every successful team has guys step up and if those two can't do it, younger

guys I mean, if those two can't do it, this is not nearly the same type of team that they could be if they had a couple of young studs that they drafted that high. Well said, Witt. Wow. Well said. And i feel bad putting it on two guys but i mean when they're picked that high that's just kind of what comes with it do you know what i mean by that oh i know what you mean and i'm gonna go the other way you got

to make them playoffs i don't really i have them missing playoffs this year i think shesurken's sick and tired of saving their fucking bacon. I think they're all frauds. I don't like their depth at all. No offense to those two guys you just mentioned, and throw Hedl in the mix, so the Treyway. Their fan base are frauds. Their team are frauds.

Not even the nice guy, Peter Laviolette, who gave our boy here, Merles, a one-way ticket to the ECHL. Not even he can save their bacon they're done they're not going to recover they're not going to recover from being up two games last year to the devils and then fucking taking a huge deuce at msg and squandering it all away they're frauds the metro's too strong fuck the fugazis no playoffs for you and then dolan's going to have a meltdown exactly how i want the season to end that's all i got for that i think the coaching staff is gonna make a big difference yeah lavi

let's proven that guy's a winner no can't argue it okay he's got michael pekka helping out he's got phil housley dan muse a local guy the gear on by the end of the year that's how bad it's gonna be no playoffs in the metro like trolling right of the year. That's how bad it's going to be. Wow. No playoffs in the Metro. Are you, like, trolling right now? No. I'm not saying you're trolling by saying no playoffs, but you think they're going to be brutal? I don't think they're going to make playoffs.

I'll tell you why. With that fucking goalie, dude. And hold on. If I tell you he stays healthy all season, which is a question mark for Shusterkin, if a Shusterkin is playing healthy, doesn't miss games for injuries, you have him missing playoffs. I have other teams making playoffs. Oh, you're fucking nuts.

I just think with a goalie like that, he's too good. What do you got for the regs, Merle? Might be time for a Rangers Cup future after hearing that. Last time, Biz had a team out with the Bruins set the record, right? Oh, yeah, and then they got bounced in the first round. You want to talk about bad takes.

R.A. didn't even have Vegas making the fucking playoffs last year. Let's talk about that. R.A. didn't even know who scored the game winner for the Panthers that night. Exactly. You want to shit on me, Merles? Take a look around. Let's turn up R.A. and fuck him up instead. You have a nine.

Bitch, bitch, bitch. You said a team was going to miss the playoffs that broke the all-time record for points. And then they got bounced. It doesn't matter. That had nothing to do with it. Okay, wait. You think that that's worse than saying a team's not going to make playoffs and then goes on to win the Stanley Cup?

Yeah. Enough. Enough with your guys' nonsense. You can bag the Rangers on your own time. If they had 117 points in this amazing season, but they broke the all-time record. You can bag-lick the Rangers on your own time. Merles, what do you think about the Rangers?

I'm kind of off the Rangers this year. I got them ranked ninth overall in the whole league, and I got them getting third in the division, getting into the playoffs. I love Keiondre Miller, who you just talked talked about I love to pick up they picked up Quickie they picked up Bonino a couple local guys couple Avon old farms guys that know how to win cups get them in there see if they can get them over the top but it's not like the last couple years where I'm really excited to be a Ranger fan but you have in the playoffs Merle's outwit as well correct

yes yeah gee what do you do what do you have on Rangers playoffs or what you have in the playoffs Merle's outwit as well, correct? Yes. Gee, what do you have on Rangers playoffs or what? I'm in the playoffs. I think they get in as a wildcard team. Yeah, I think so too. I think Will is going to have a really good year, man. He made all his dough. He's still putting points up at 37 years old. And that D, man, that's one of the best top fours in the league. So yeah,

they're definitely getting back in the playoffs. We'll see what happens there. I'll tell you right now though, I have the standings up. I don't know who I'm going to have back in the playoffs. So we'll see what happens there. I'll tell you right now, though, I have the standings up. I don't know who I'm going to have missing in this conference. This is tough. It is tough. Fucking Shusterka, man. He was unreal in that series versus the Devils.

I mean, he went three and four. One nine six goals against nine three one save percentage, man. He did his job. What do you think of Panarin's on a shaved melon there, Biz? Did you see that? He's got the RA chop. I think it's nice. I think summertime coming in coming in you know shed a few pounds off especially during training camp you get the fitness testing coming in and uh yeah it just it's nice i i shaved my head the one

summer after doing the peter man's business it's nice man it cools you down you sleep a lot better so overall i mean aesthetically it doesn't look the best on him because i think he looks good when he's got that salad flowing. But, yeah, I can understand why he did it. Yeah, they asked Shusteric on what he thought of it. He said, I cried. Kind of a funny quote from the Russian goaltender. All right, next up, a team you guys are very familiar with,

the Pittsburgh Penguins. Last season, 91 points, fifth in the Metro, 19. Oh, a stunner. The arm dog out of nowhere. The new color commenter. The arm dog. Color commenter. Whatever the hell it's called.

Yeah, I love it, boys. I'm having a tough show. Great seeing you, boys. Great seeing you. Yeah, got a couple things on the plate this year. I'm back in the show, boys. Back on the old bird flying first class five-star hotels for les mignons let's go you don't even have to play so uh for those of you

who don't know what you're what you're talking about can you explain what's going on with your job with the penguins this year yeah so there was a big shake-up here with our regional rights of AT&T Sportsnet. It'll now be called Sportsnet Pittsburgh as Nesson, who was ran by the Fenway Sports Group, came in and took it over. So it's all taken over pretty much in-house by the Pittsburgh Penguins. They've made some changes to the TV side. A lot of people getting switched around all over the place. And the Penguins are have

announced some people josh getzoff will be the new uh play-by-play man uh on tv uh and myself uh phil bork and mike rupp were announced as rotating color um comment commenters uh for the penguins this season as well as doing a lot of stuff for uh in in studio as well so on the desk doing intermissions how many games are you gonna be doing army uh i'm not sure yet i think we'll be up around maybe half maybe half once it's all said and done and once it's it's put in there so it's kind of a switch they switch the radio play-by-play and mirrors from tv right yep that's correct that's what they did yeah and if you remember uh wit back in the day and merles you'll remember this too you you were there you guys were up and around at that time um when staggy and i think uh mike lang made the switch

made like a switcheroo as well from tv to radio radio to tv so mike lang could then work inside the penguins orb as as their radio guy doing every single game, including all the playoffs because Biz, as you know, of course, that's when you get hot in the playoffs, baby, on TNT and make that big playoff run and the regional guys are done after the first round. So Mike Lang's calls. Yeah, Biz had some big runs for the Coyotes in the playoffs.

We went to the conference finals. How deep have you gone? I went to the cup final and I'm talking about when you were a broadcaster, not when you were a broadcaster, not when you were a player being a DJ, but good call. So exciting times, boys.

Exciting. Do you get to pick what road trips you go on or is that just delivered to you? I would like to try to lean on them a little bit because like if they're going out West, like Western Canada, where I'm from, I would like to get out there.

That'd be kind of cool. So we'll see where the chips fall and where I get to go. It wouldn't be bad also to do the California swing. I don't know if I have my choice on any of that. So a little bit of sun or a little bit of snow kind of in my neighborhood, but we'll see how it works out here with the new crew. Are you going to have to put the Just For Men's hair dye

on Crosby's hair? Oh, do you see the gray stripes on him oh buddy oh he's starting to look old he's starting to turn yeah he looks good but yeah the gray is sneaking in on some of the boys um yeah there's no question i think they're they posted where they post a picture maybe of him like doing a modeling shot at nhl media day when i was there and i saw it on yeah he had the salt and pepper going big time so I gotta give him my uh hair dye routine there to to you know just for men or whatever it is just don't fix it well you know get the shoe polish in there arm dog um give us the vibe first few days of camp out in Pittsburgh I mean the Carlson deal

Riley Smith coming over the first year Sid didn't make the playoff. What does Dubas' nuts taste like? I saw him today. Bob Biz, you know from the last three years. Shut the fuck up. I ain't team Dubas no more. You tell me. I ain't Dubas.

Dubas and the boys were up in the Eagles perch watching camp today. I was over there this morning and watching some of the guys. It looked pretty good, boys. I'm not going to lie. And I think, you know, Mike Sullivan said this is probably the most competitive camp he's had since he's maybe been there. I think their team has kind of been picked for, you know, several years, the cupboards have been thin and, you know,

Dubas came in and did what he did in Toronto last year too. And just started, you know, grabbing guys. They got a bunch of, they got a bunch of, they got a bunch of guys on PTO, they got a bunch of guys on pto which i think are quality guys which makes it you know a little bit more competitive and then you know signing guys to come in and um you know trade for guys and and pick guys up so um you know i don't know if his work is done even even yet we'll see because i think you know when you look at the depths of the penguins boys that's where, that's where the damage was really done. Like there's no question.

The top six guys had pretty good years last year. Their bottom six were pathetic. They had no heart. They wouldn't mix it up. You had Sidney Crosby going after guys to mix it up, to get them involved in games. They were, yeah, they were the muscle. Sid and Gino and Tanger were the muscle of this team. And it just became vanilla.

It just was like a vanilla team to kind of watch. So I think they've kind of revived that a little bit. Obviously, Carlson is like a huge boost, I think, to everybody when you get a guy of that caliber. But bringing in like Eller, they got Henestrosa, they've got Achari. You know, they added him. Nieto's fast. Nieto can move. Yeah.

And then they've also, on on top of that because of those like foot soldier guys you've got you've now like upped your penalty kill too so i i think with the moves that they've done as well they've they've hit on yes making your death better and in doing so and and you know getting the you know the big fish and carlson you've you've helped also a couple categories your special teams your p PK and your power play, who were both middle of the pack last year. If I look at their team, I'm thinking that's got to improve single-handedly on its own with a lot of the guys that they got coming in and in the lineup. And who knows where that puts them at the end of the year, but I think it puts them in the playoffs.

I think the one and most devastating loss for the Golden Knights was losing Riley Smith. Yeah. But they pick up him, and that's the type of guy that they needed to add to that lineup. We use the term Swiss Army Knife a lot, but he's a guy who's as reliable as they get up and down. I saw him schnizzle a little boom, boom from Gino in front of the net today at camp. Just a bang, bang, one-touch drive in the net. That's the kind of guy he is, right? He gets the pucks.

He hangs on to pucks. He gets to the front of the net. He's a high hockey IQ guy, too. He can make plays and get to spots, but he has that grit, too, to his game that he can play kind of a robust kind of style, which allows him to be very versatile, I think, too, with his game. So massive pickup. Look, they lose Zucker, who I thought had a pretty good year last year, moved on from him and went and got Riley Smith,

who I think is, you know, like the kind of guy you need. He's got decent size, won the cup, and I watch him today with Gino, and they look pretty darn good together in a scrimmage. Armdog, in looking at the roster right like i i think it's much improved i think lars eller playing well i mean we've seen some struggles the past few years out of him but then you also think back to when the capitals won the stanley cup he was outrageous so i don't know like what they're gonna get out of him that's a big kind of third line center role that if he has a good year,

it can make a big difference. But with Gensel, when are they thinking he can be back? Like how long are they going to have to be without him? Well, by the sound that you see skating already, they, I think Mike Sullivan said that yesterday at camp,

he's skating. Most of the guys, there's some guys banged up a little bit right now, day to day, I guess that are kind of just like little injuries. So he's a little bit more now day to day i guess that are kind of just like little injuries so um he's a little bit more uh wait and see with his just do the facts so what's the timing on that i have i have no clue like some are saying a week into the season um you know does it does it last a couple weeks into the season till they get him back no question wit he's he's like probably the

most non-talked about uh probably superstar player in the league like the way he produces the way he scores star okay yeah i'll give you that he's a star no question and an all-star um but uh you know you need that guy on the top line with now my worry is you need that guy as biz uh dog the third and fourth line last year. Rightfully so. No pushback. Achari, 100%. You bring him in. Sandpaper, tough. But then you look. I mean, I'm looking at the lines here.

Like, Jeff Carter's on the third line. Yeah, I was going to ask you about him. Matt Nieto, Rem Pitt. In terms of sandpaper, they only really have Achari down there. It's still going gonna be not the grittiest grindiest vaguest type fourth and third line that's that's the worry and it seemed like the speed on carter is declining quite a bit so is that a reason why they ended up moving them to the wing or yeah i think you i think you can put them on wing i think they did that a little bit

last year and i think just for that you know just lugging up the middle for that many games and i think he's he's a good fit at the wing we know i think he can get up and down the wing as a big body guy but he can also he's also good on face-offs and they've got him killing some penalties too so he can mix in there but i think you know looking at this i think eller if eller can like you said some tough years in wash um, but if Eller can bounce back in that third line position, I think that's where he'll slot probably with Drew O'Connor who might get a good look. Another big body guy that plays pretty good straight line hockey and can be

tough to play against. They haven't had in Pittsburgh guys. And as you know, watching them, they're like a opportunistic quick strike kind of offensive, you know, watching them, they're like a opportunistic, quick strike kind of offensive, you know, defense to forward straight up and get going and attack type of team. They haven't had like guys that can, you know, wear you down, like hang on to pucks in the offensive zone cycle, eat up, eat up there. You know, the opponent's defenseman down there and wear them down a bit. I think Eller and O'Connor and some of these guys that they brought in have the ability to play that kind of game,

which I don't think they've had through their lineup for a while. And it kind of just leaves games kind of floundering. It's just floundering. It's been like you put out the big boys, they get a couple chances, and then it's these other guys that didn't really do anything. They didn't really provide an identity on their line line where i think they've got more guys now i'm not saying they're gonna go and like punch your lights out but i think they've got guys that play physical enough and and a style of game enough that's a little bit more abrasive down in the bottom six army is there anybody from

like the minors or from the draft do they have any sort of prospects like a guy who's going to jump on and help this team that we haven't heard about yeah choco choco yeah the bowling alley prospects will be ripping it up um yeah i don't know they don't have that many guys honestly there is a guy that they brought in with you know him um what's his name defenseman shay ryan shay he's he's a guy that they brought in he's i think he's from is he from your neck of the woods too did a great job the past few years playing for dallas's ahl team never got a chance local kid great guy i would love to see him get an opportunity i really would hopefully mike sullivan gives him a little bit of an extra look being a boston guy i know it sounds ridiculous, but you never know. But he can play that kid.

Yeah, I saw him there today. He looked pretty slick. He just looks poised. He looks like there's nothing. He's probably only 24, 24, maybe 25. I think he's 26. Is he? Good call, Witt. Stay hot.

I think he's 26. And I know he's coming over from the Dallas system. And I believe played behind down there, Harley. Did they have Harley down there for a while? So he wasn't getting like primo minutes, but I think he's a guy that played fairly well in the American League and no one's really talking about him a little bit,

but I think he came in on one year, one way, boys, and where's he going to slide? Like, what's that bottom pairing defense going to look like when you've got, you know, graves, graves, Latang, you got Pedersen Carlson and then,

and then PO Joseph and Chad Ruedel. But then you've got all these guys that are, that are still there too. Like Ty Smith, Mark Friedman. You know, there's, there's quite a bit of a log jam in there.

They will butchers here, I think on, you know, here as well. So at least that's a competition thing for those final two spots where you're not just, like, stuck with six guys. You got nothing else. At least they have guys, if they're not playing well.

Say Joseph and Ruedel aren't doing the job. They got some options, at least, this year. Yeah, they've got options. They've got some depth. And I think that was just manufactured, too, because, like you said, Whit, like, who's coming up? Who's going to play. I know Nylander came up a little bit last year for like,

you know, a handful of games and provided a little bit, but you know, when you go and look at what they actually needed, they needed depth. He's a captain in 2.0. Yeah. He's a speedster.

He's a skill guy, but yeah, puppy shit. Yeah. I, he played well last year when he was up though, when given the opportunity, he really did.

So, uh, Grinnell says he's washed up. He what is he a costco what'd you call him a costco brand walmart walmart did you say that i said he's a walmart brand eric carlson and i don't think it's the crazy statement could you imagine getting called a walmart i think they're different yeah i think they're different i think they're really different like i think i don't know how it's going to be because i think we saw petrie come in right and they there was so much ice time to be shared between those two or so little um i think it kind of affected affected uh tanger's game a little bit just because he's used to you know getting 25 minutes a night where he had to kind of you know they had to feel that one out a little bit, where I think these guys are such like, I think Tanger plays really hard minutes. Like he battles out there.

And if you can, if you can lend Carlson, obviously to those offensive moments, I think you'll get even more out of Tanger if they can manage that correctly. Obviously that's going to be, that'll be a tough one to manage those minutes and kind of how those guys are deployed. You have to think 101 point eric carlson who was like literally playing beer league today at camp it looked hilarious just the how simple he hangs on to pucks and he does stuff that like most guys normally wouldn't even try or do you have a true win i didn't notice that i didn't notice that he didn't have a lip

pillow rolling buddy yeah the old zinsky he uh he did he's above zins dude he he was he was rolling out there he has like ice in his veins boys hey like he goes right for the coal right for the coal in his lip i mean he should make the power play if the power play is not top five in the league then they might not make playoffs because you got to think that they're going to be like living on their power play i think i think they're 14th they were 14th lights out this year he's got to have a year this year he's got you got a wild card you got to make i got the a as much as dubas is a turncoat as much as he's in my shithouse he did a lot of good jobs with the moves and bringing over some guys to fill in some holes this offseason.

And I think with Jari having a bounce-back year, you know these guys. You don't think Sid's going to have these guys motivated. Look how he stressed out he was in the offseason. He fucking went half his hair went gray. He's ready to turn this thing around. He's not missing playoffs back-to-back years. That ain't happening on his watch.

I got the Pittsburgh Penguins making playoffs. Yeah. You already said they're in. Merles, what do you got on the pens? Yeah, I got Pittsburgh in. I got them on the fourth spot in the Metro wildcard. 14th overall. Hot take.

If things are not good first two months, the coach is going to be gone. I can see that happening. This is it. They're all in. That's a hot take. You heard it here first. What do you think of that, Army?

Well, I just think, I just think that for me, I think with the people they brought in and the competitiveness of this camp, like, you know, when you come in and it's just like the team's picked and you know no one's fighting for anything and there's nothing on the line like i just think this is a different feel to start the year you got a new gm the new staff is hired like on the back side of of you know analytics team and all this stuff that dubas is building out here too as well um it's just i think there's just like a different vibe right now for everyone and you know i i heard that i think i might have saw something like a hot seat thing or something merles to your point i'd seen something about that and but i do think it's all in i do think obviously it's all in and we were talking a few years ago last dance last dance um so for these guys i think it's it's you know important for them to get off to a really

good start and you know build that mojo off of off of what they're able to do but i i don't know if i can see that merles i don't know like sully's kind of i just think new owner new gm yeah we just talked there's no prospects if you're the just bought this team you're like oh my god like we have to win this year yeah and it's worked in the past fired if you're talking like you get paid by the team what should they well i just can't see it i mean the guy's a pretty good coach like what another team would probably fire their coach the next day if he got fired to hire him so i actually don't disagree with merles because of the new GM. It kind of always wants his own guy. If they get off to a slow start, you never know.

I got him making playoffs when Ray Sherrill gave me that contract back in the day buffet, and I was ever told there'd be a podcast that I'm a part of. I would say I'd have to forever take them to make the playoffs. I'm not super confident because I do think there's a lot of question marks there. One of them being Jari being able to stay healthy, but i got him getting in and that's the big topic yeah because he every year he's hurt but when he plays he's great so depending on his health i got him making it i got him making it i think i don't know if they'll get a top three spot in that

division but i do have him getting in i think they're the biggest wild card team obviously in the division like we know like if you want to look at the vision top to bottom like this is the canes kind of you know i think it's yeah it seems like it's just their division like they've been doing it for so long like they're at that point as well um we know what the devils are looking like and where they're trending they're right there you go to the next tier uh where's it the rangers and and and then after that i mean what what do you got it's going to be the penguins the division is the devils and carolina and then after that you got like rangers pittsburgh sort of islanders and then obviously columbus and philly you're and wash and washes there i got wash making playoffs oh you're boys you do what are you

what are you talking about why not they had they had 40 million on the ir to start the year they had no john carlson most of the time which power played what feeds them they got kemper who have an off year where it was his third team in three years i think he's having a bounce back yeah you got your number one center who's been asking to get traded for like two years it doesn't matter just give him a bag of cocaine business business talking like a guy that's getting paid by the caps i ain't i ain't they're chasing the goal record but i think that they're gonna have a bounce back year boys ra what do you think about my comments um as far as the playoffs so we just talked about 17 different things yes or no no i don't don't have Pittsburgh getting in, no.

Wow. They're the oldest team in the league. 31.1 is the oldest average age. That's Pittsburgh. Last year was the first time since Rookia they were in the playoffs. I think that's going to happen two years in a row. I just think they're a little bit older, a little bit slower, and I don't see them getting in.

I know their fans hate me. They'll probably hate me a little bit more. We've got to get our producers to take G. What do you have for the Penguins? Oh, yeah, what's G going? Playoff team, not a cup team. Pretty simple. We got to get our producers take G. Playoff team, not a cup team. Pretty simple. They just don't have the makings. And I agree with everything

Merle said. Armdog, we appreciate this in-depth analysis by you. I can't wait. Now every time the Penguins are on and you're working, I'm going to tune into their feed and look forward to seeing you. Hit me up. Text me. Text me when I'm working. I love it. I love hearing to seeing you. Hit me up. Text me. Text me when I'm working.

I love it. I love hearing from the boys. And I also, I stopped by practice today, boys, or camp, whatever you want to call it. And then I wheeled over to the USHL Fall Fest that's on right now here in Pittsburgh. And I had to work the clock for the Green Bay Gamblers against the Sioux City Musketeers in an OT victory here

to start the season off for the USHL. So lots of hockey action here in Pittsburgh. It's been pretty awesome. And I was scrambling working a clock. You guys ever done that? It was insane. Keeping track of shots, working the clock, Merle. It's stressful down there.

That was my summer job. My dad ran high school leagues. I would always keep the clock. But I don't know. Am I still owned by Green Bay Gamblers? They drafted me to the US DHL. They won in overtime today. And if you want to talk about that,

big Swedish kid named Larson from Halsby, Sweden. I don't know where that is. Do you know where that is, Merles? Halsby, Sweden scored the overtime winning goal. I made a great call over the system. Overtime winner by, what did I say, Larson. In overtime. I gave her that call.

I gave her that call. The old RJ. Overtime. Rest in peace. All right, boys. Keep kicking butt. Guys, before we go any further, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Fresh ball fall is upon us. And you need to be in the festive spirit.

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Biz, you just mentioned the Caps. You might as well jump in on them. Last season, 80 points. They were sixth in the Metro, 25 out of 32 teams. Last time in playoffs, 20-22. They lost in the first round to Florida. 75-1 to win the Cup this year. They do have a new coach in Spencer Carvery.

They brought in Joel Edmondson via trade. Max Patch, you're ready on a free agent deal. Caps based, they're a little bit over, but again, it's still early. They could LTI guys if they have to, but it feels like this is kind of going to be like the last run of this era of that team. I mean, they got Ovi. Willie got the nice big deal there, but Merle, let's go to you first on this.

Where do you have the caps going this year? Playoffs or whatnot? Yeah, I got them out. I got them ranked 25th overall. Wow. I don't like them at all. I didn't like them last year. I had that call that, I got them out. I got them ranked 25th overall. Wow. I don't like them at all. I didn't like them last year. I had that call that they would be knocked out.

I think they're only chasing the OV record. The one thing I'm looking forward to them, they signed this little guy, Phillips. You ever hear of this kid? He was in the AHL for Calgary for the last few years. He's a real big scorer. He could get on one of those top two lines with those guys, but I just don't see it

like backstrom's not going to be that healthy um like you said kuznetsov is what do you mean he's not going to be healthy he's coming back from the major major hip surgery that's possible to come back from in a sense he came back last year from it i know but he didn't exactly look great well he had a full season off season to fucking get it rehabilitated. Do you think Patrick Kane's never going to come back from his hip surgery? I just think that at Backstrom age and how long he's played and how that's the same surgery that, um, that Jovo had, I believe. And now granted, it's completely different situations, but he was like,

he was not able to do it anymore. And I think Backstrom's like, yeah, right. If he's second line center because Netsov's number one, I just don't know how much production you're going to get. I don't have him making the playoffs. I don't have him as bad as 25th overall in the league as Merles does. The one thing I'll say is if, what's his name? If Mantha actually does something and plays hard and lights it up, and then they get

patcher ready and he's healthy and he could play well and they basically need like a bunch of big years from these guys you know what ovi's gonna do but i i just don't see it i don't see on d them having that much i know sandin looked pretty good when he came yeah they're a little thin on the back end yeah a little thin and i guess you said if kemper has a big bounce back here stanley cup champ that could happen that's the key right there you never underestimate the heart of a champion and they got a lot in that locker room and you talk about guys who missed significant time last year you talk about backstrom kuznetsov missed time tom wilson was out with a torn acl you've obviously missed the heart of your power play and carl who's feeding Ovi for the one timers. Let's not forget about their center depth through Dowd's an incredible

fourth line center. They brought in Dylan Strom last year, who was able to get good reps because of backstroms absence, who's able to put up some good amount of points. Oh, she missed time last year. They got some fucking good players in that locker room. I agree with you.

They're a little thin on the back end. I'm excited to see what Sandin can do with being given that 20 to 22 minute range. We're not getting mind fucked in Toronto where he's all of a sudden being handed the reins and then they take him off him and then hand them back. And then all of a sudden he's out of the lineup and he's back in the lineup. No mind games there. He's going to have a chance to flourish there love the Edmondson pickup you just mentioned Pat mentioned Patch already so they have a lot of old veterans in that locker room the the Manta the Manta thing I just I feel like some nights he looks a little bit disinterested but with I with him getting called out because it seemed like he was maybe going to be on the trade blocks I think he's going to have a big bounce back year too. A lot of heavy bodies there. I think they're going to sneak into playoffs and look out.

They could do some damage. So I got Washington making it. Wow. This got him in. Can we not agree that that's a sneaky, pretty good center ice? Like doubt is a fourth. If Backstrom can be what he once was, yes. But if he's laboring around and has lost a complete step,

then you're looking at, all right, I like Dylan Strom, and Kuznetsov's kind of the ultimate wild card. If he wants to play, he's incredible. If he doesn't, he's nothing. Get him the wolf. So if you're correcting your statement that Backstrom had this full other offseason and he'll be back to the Nicholas Backstrom we've all seen, then yeah, that's a pretty

sick center lineup if Kuznetsov decides to try. If not, it could be ugly. And we haven't even talked about that Sonny Milano. Like he started showing some good signs of finally finding his NHL game. And I like their team. I like their team, especially with a long

offseason. A lot of time to get some rest, get back in the gym, get training, get healthy. I like them. I like the Caps. Gee, what do you have the Caps this year, buddy? I didn't have them as a playoff team five minutes ago

and Biz just made a very, very, very convincing case. It's, I still don't have them making the playoffs but biz that was incredible job like I'm I'm on the the borderline there so no playoffs but biz made a very compelling case and I think they're going to be better than they were last year fucking payroll after that stroke sesh they should yeah I don't have them getting in either I was a tough year for them last year new coach it does feel like I don't think they're just playing to get over the record here. They still have some good parts there.

Carlson still there. The D is, you know, not one of the better ones. Carlson back. He's obviously a huge key part of that, but yeah, I just don't see them getting in.

But you did mention Grubauer. I'm sorry. Kemper get them too confused all the time. If he can have a bounce back, they may challenge, but I just don't see it from right now. Time to move to the Carolina hurricanes. One last thing.

Ovi is 72 away from tying, 73 from breaking it. How many at the end of the season do you think he needs? Basically, how many do you think he gets this year? I think he gets 40. I think he'll have 32 to go. Yeah, I think he'll have between 40 and 45, I would say. So keep abreast of that. But Carolina last year, 113 points.

First in the Metro. Second out of all 32 teams. They were swept by Florida in the Eastern Conference Finals. 8-1 to win the Cup this year. I think it's some new faces in town. Michael Bunton, a little sandpaper. Brendan Lemieux, a little more sandpaper. Dimitri Orloff, Tony D'Angelo, Caleb Jones on the defensive end.

They said adios to Max Pacioretty, Shane Gostenspear, Calvin DeHaan, Paul Stastny, and Derek Stepan. They got a little under a million in cap space right now, but this is a team, Biz, they've been knocking, they've been knocking. They were in the Eastern Conference Finals a couple years ago. They have everything there. They got the coach. They just couldn't really break through last year.

I thought they were terrific. Freddie Anderson was tremendous in that series. They just couldn't score. What's his name? Bobrovsky st. Freddie Anderson was tremendous in that series. They just couldn't score. What's his name? Bobrovsky stymied them all series, but what do you got for us there, Busy Boy? Yeah, I mean, I think that you can look at that series, and that was the type of series that could have gone seven games.

Mind you, no Tara Vinen and no Shvetsnikov, but I think that with the competence they have in net and a good one-two punch in Anderson and Ronta that back end might be the nicest back end I've ever seen going into a season like it was it was good to begin with we saw how Orlov played last year in Boston like he's getting inserted there and on top of that D'Angelo let's not forget what he did when

he went and revived his career there after the big gong show happened with the Rangers. Obviously, the experiment in Philadelphia didn't work, and I don't know how much he liked it there or how much torts had to do with that. But we know what kind of numbers he was able to put up when he played for Rod the Bod. So that top six, probably the filthiest of any team in the league. I would say that people would argue that because Vegas are having their same six return that you would lean towards them, but at least in the Eastern Conference. And as far as the forwards are concerned, you know exactly what you're going to get from them. They play their balls off night in and night out.

They're going to win the division. They're going to make playoffs. This ain't rocket Scientology. Who wants it next? They are so deep at every position and the fact that they're starting the year without chevetchnikov it almost helps right i mean just come playoff time he's got a little more rest right not not dealing with the 82 game grind i mean do you guys remember the show he put on when we were at the oilers carolina game where

they made edmonton look like an ahl team at home. It's an incredible environment when they have a good team. You've seen all the struggling years when it's kind of a tough barn, but when they got a good team, the place is rocking. Biz talked about the D best overall top six in the league. I'd say I couldn't believe what I shouldn't say. I couldn't believe, but Brent Burns going in there,

61 points, just almost a, a rejuvenation for him to be on such a good team again after the the struggles in San Jose it's they have every making of a team that can compete for the Stanley Cup for some reason in my mind I I know they're an amazing regular season team I got them winning the division again I just don't know what it is that I don't look at them as Stanley Cup contenders. Contenders isn't the right word because they're right there, but I don't think that they can win

the Stanley Cup for some reason. Maybe it goes back to how hard they go all season long. As Merles has always said, they just got no gas left in the tank, but an amazing team. Wouldn't be surprised at all if they're first in the East at the end of the year. It's a fun team to watch play too. They got speed. They got depth. And the two goalies, even if one of them goes down, which it seems like one of those two are always injured, they got that other guy in there to step in.

So a hell of a club. Yeah, I'm like you, Whit. I could take them to win the President's Trophy, but I have them ranked sixth overall in the league like just just when it comes to playoffs or if they were playing a team in a seven game series i'm not going to take them in that way i love them i got my hat down there last year at the stadium series which was the one of the greatest events i've ever been to in sports or anything

um i got obviously in the playoffs i got them in division. I want to see the devils win the division. So that's it for me. And yeah, me and G both having the playoffs. No surprise there. Moving right along to the Philadelphia Flyers in the process of a rebuild right now. They were seventh in the Metro last year, 26 out of 32 teams.

Last time in the playoffs, 2020, they lost in the second round, 150 to one to win the Cup this year. They brought in Garnett Hathaway, Ryan Poling, Sean Walker, Mark Stahl, Victor Mite, Cal Peterson. They said adios to our buddy Hazy, James Van Riemsdyk, Brendan Lemieux, Ivan Proveroff, Kevin Connaughton,

Justin Braun, Tony D'Angelo. Lots of turnover there. Basically, let's go to you on the Murrells first on this one. They're in a total rebuild here. Like, what does, you know, Tord Stewart, is he just trying to rebuild this culture? I mean, they're obviously not going to you on the murals first on this one if they're in a total rebuild here like what does you know torts do is he just trying to rebuild this culture i mean they're obviously not going to get to the playoffs what's the mentality of guys on that type of team that you know you're not going to playoffs how do you approach that season yeah i mean with torts it's totally different than when i went through when we were in a rebuild he's going to still get the

best out of him and that's almost like a problem it's going to be the same problem they had this year where they're going to not get the top three pick. They're going to end up winning enough games because he's got everybody blocking shots. He's got everybody going 100%.

And that's what's going to happen with them. But, you know, Jonesy's in there. Breer's in there. I think they're going to turn it around quicker than people think. But they're 29th ranked in my rankings.

Yeah, it's almost like if before the 2010-2011 season there was a hockey podcast and they were doing their previews and then you got to the Oilers, the team I was on, it's just like, yeah, it's going to be a tough one. I mean, you know, Owen Tippett's a fun player to watch, right? Is it Morgan Frost? Is it Morgan? Am I fucking that?

Yep. Yep. That's it. He showed some glimpses last year. That's a guy that you look to take a next step. As a Flyers fan, you want him to lose. I've said this a million times.

It's tough going to a game wearing a jersey and rooting for your team to lose. But in the end, that is what will help them. And Merles puts it best. They'll probably end up finishing with the sixth worst record in the end, that is what will help them. And Merle puts it best. They'll probably end up finishing with the sixth worst record in the league and get the sixth to eighth pick, and you just don't get that game-breaker franchise change in player. And maybe without torts pushing guys' buttons and expecting excellence,

even though there's not much there, they would be top three bottom team. But it almost hurts them that he's there pushing these guys, getting the most out of them because they won't be a pushover. As much as lack of skill they have, the work ethic will be there and there'll be nights that they get trounced, but there'll also be games that they're in because of how hard they go. So not much expectations, more for fans to check out some younger players. Hope guys make big steps. Cam York's a defenseman who obviously has a pretty good pedigree in where he's picked and coming up in becoming a pro, but there's just not

much excitement. I'm going to save my energy. They're not making playoffs. I'll save that question. Me and G do not have them in as well. One thing I want to bring up, Kata Hott, not just because I have to say Kata Hart. He's heading into his sixth season.

He's the final year of his deal. He's going to be RFA, but I'm curious to see if he might get dealt. I mean, he's a top-notch goalie. They're in a rebuild. I don't know. Imagine he might want to get out of their business. He's been there six, seven years, man. You don't want to be in a rebuild when you're 25 years old, do you?

Well, I don't think he has a ton of leverage in a sense of how he's played. I'm not throwing him under the bus either it just hasn't been a very good team um yeah it would probably be a but it's also hard for for um for another team to evaluate what he actually is right like he's never he hasn't played a lot of meaningful games maybe he did early when he first stepped in but um you know if i'm them considering with maybe the numbers he's put up, I don't think you'd have to overpay him. So I would hang on to him until this team starts turning around

because good goalies don't just come up that easily. So no, I would hang on to him. There's other goalies that teams will be looking to go get rather than a guy like that. We talked about it. Gibson and then Hellebuck will be the first two off the list, in my opinion. All right, moving on to the next team, the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Obviously, a lot of changes there lately. 59 points last year. They were last in the Metro, 31st out of the 32 teams. Last time in the playoffs was 2020. Lost to Tampa in the first round. They're also 150-1 to win the Cup. Obviously, a new head coach, Pascal Vincent. Adam Fantilli, they got in the draft.

Ivan Provorov, Damon Severson, great defenseman as well. They didn't really lose anybody from last year. Got a little under five man in cap space. But this team, I think they might surprise people this year with a little bit. I think they're going to be galvanized after what happened. And they got some good parts there. What's your take your take on it buddy I agree with you um I don't have them making playoffs I think that's kind of obvious but I think you're going to look at a big time improvement on last year and last year if you remember going into the season with the Goudreau

signing like that was they were unexpectedly that bad last year I didn't I didn't see that coming so I think that with that, you're going to have some steps forward. I hope, as I said last week, that they're able to kind of come together as a group and deal with all that went down the past couple of weeks with Babcock being gone. Pascal Vincent, as we said, deserves this job. He gets a chance to go in there. I'm looking at Fantilli. I think Fantilli can go in and have a monster rookie year. He should have a chance, if he has a great camp, to play on one of the top two lines.

Line A, you know Line A is going to be right around a point per game. Should be good for 30 to 40. Wierenski wasn't playing last year. An enormous loss. Maybe their best overall player. Can do it at both ends of the ice. Eat minutes. It's kind of a depth thing. I mean, they got some great top end players. I think Goudreau

will be even better after his first year there. So I'm with you, R.A., that they won't be a pushover. They'll probably be much better than last year while still not getting in the playoffs. I do wonder if it almost be better off if they did struggle again just to get another high pick. I know we're kind of regurgitating and repeating ourselves in terms of the bad teams, but it's going to be a better year for blue jackets fans. It's going to be a more competitive team. And you got some guys that I think will have big seasons there.

And my call is Wierenski is a monster all season. Yeah. I think you're just more concerned at seeing certain individuals take strides. Yeah, Kent Johnson. Yeah, like Kent Johnson, you want to see do well and take that next step. Obviously, you want to see Fantilli have a monster first year. Even that Texier. Is that how you say it? Texier? Yeah.

Texier? Texier. I think he's French. Norensky and how he bounces back. Yeah. They got Provorov. Their back end with the Severson pickup, it ain't that horrible. So just overall, it's more of seeing how certain guys are developing

and or bouncing back from injury, whether Laine is going to get somewhat of a heartbeat and maybe stick around longer than his contract. But overall, they're not making playoffs, but I'd like to see them have a surprising year. But you said it you don't want to be drafting uh you don't be drafting too high you wouldn't mind you might you wouldn't mind getting one of those lottery picks once again just one more year to make a difference and in terms of uh in terms of fantilli uh we didn't see anything like that in college hockey as a true underage freshman since jack eichel they both won the

hobie baker they were both draft eligible their freshman year as opposed to getting picked before college hockey as a true underage freshman since Jack Eichel. They both won the Hobie Baker. They were both draft eligible their freshman year as opposed to getting picked before their freshman season. And Eichel went in. He had 56 points and 24 goals his rookie year. So I think you could easily expect Fantilli to maybe even do a little bit more damage, maybe getting a bigger opportunity than Eichel got that first year.

I don't remember exactly how often he was playing. I'm sure his minutes were great. But I think Fantilli getting 30 goals and 65 points is realistic. Yeah, and the game is just easier for the younger guys now. It's more wide open. It's all smaller players. So it's a lot different than when Jack came in. I got him 24th overall.

No playoffs. But I have him sniffing the wild card for a long part of the season and then eventually bowing out. Merce Likens was was bad last year. He was bad. So, right. We saw him play real well year prior. So we'll see if he can bounce back. It's a bounce back season for a lot of guys.

And we're just to get back healthy. So a better team, but not a playoff team. Yeah, he's a guy we kind of roof Elvis. I mean, he went through that that awful traumatic thing, losing his best friend, his not a playoff team. Yeah, he's a guy you kind of root for, Elvis. I mean, you went through that awful traumatic thing about losing his best friend, his teammate, a couple years before. That has to affect any guy. Just whatever you do for a living,

it had to affect him. So yeah, we'd love to see him bounce back. They missed 500 man games to injury last year. They're the youngest team in the league. I think they're going to have a huge bounce back. The Devils had a 49-point improvement last year. I mean, if Columbus were to ever do that, they would definitely be in the playoffs. I don't know if they're going to get that high, but this is going to be a fun team to watch last year. You mentioned Wierenski back,

Fantilli, no doubt it's going to be fun to watch, but I don't think they're going to get back in this year, but certainly going to watch a lot of games. Gee said he doesn't have them back in the playoffs as well, but like I said, it's going to be a fun team to watch. Next up, business favorite team, the Islanders. Fourth in the Metro last year. 15th out of 32 teams. They lost in the first round to Carolina. 50-1 to win the Cup this year. Didn't really do much as far as transactions. They brought in

Julian Gaultier, Carson Kuhlman for depth moves. They lost Josh Bailey and Zach Parise, who could potentially still come back. Two straight semifinal appearances. Then they kind of tape it off a bit. Basically, the Islanders don't do something soon they're going to probably fall off here but what do you got them doing this year I know they're going to hopefully get

Bo Horvat playing like he was playing in Vancouver because you know he really struggled when he came over the fan base started getting on him and guys I just think this team is so boring they're so slow Lou Lamarillo tried to bring back the hockey of the past and

it's really slapping him in the face if it wasn't for their goaltending they would probably be drafting in the top five like it's it's I'll read Frankie's text how about this pretty good breakdown let's go okay and I think it's pretty realistic and he he's nuts. But he says, a lot of talk about the Isles not making any moves, but they signed Horvat, Sorokin, and Engvall. As always, the players that are present need to play to their full potential. With the style the Islanders play, they cannot afford to have multiple guys have off years. Some teams can afford it when they have massive pop up top

that could save their offensive production. The Islanders will use experience and chemistry as their strength this year. They are the definition of a team and it shows. This team battled back to make the playoffs last year and they'll never roll over. Sorokin is a top three goalie. Excuse me. I'm coughing because of how ridiculous this text is. Just kidding.

Sorokin is a top three goalie and maybe the best goalie under pressure in the entire league. The team goes as he goes. Matt Barzell, he needs to be and will be the guy this year. He's healthy, he's never been in better shape in his life, and he's hungry. He knows what his contract is and he knows what his role is and what he has to do. Brock Nelson needs to keep

being Brock Nelson. Guy might be the best player on the team aside from Sorokin. Biggest thing to take a step forward will be the defense needs to figure out how to move the puck better. This is what I was going to say. One of the worst power plays in the league. Take the shovel out of their hands. One of the worst power plays in the league every

single year. It's because they have no puck moving defenseman. Devon Taves was the guy. Dobson needs to be the guy. Pulak needs to be the guy. They need to be better and the offense will make it happen. Brock, Lee, Horvat, Barzal are enough to have a good power play. No more excuses.

I wonder if Lou's liking the second rounders that he got for Devon Tabes. What a horrible trade. I cannot decide. I don't think I have them making it, but I think it'll be the same exact thing as this year coming down. They needed Pittsburgh to lose if you forget. Because of Sorokin, it's my same thing with the Rangers, and the Rangers are a better overall team. But with that goalie, it's really hard

to pick against them. I haven't decided yet. I'm kind of leading towards no, but put it this way, they're not easy to play against. They they're always gonna like clog it up in the neutral zone you're not gonna score a lot on them so if their power play could be halfway decent not god-awful like every other season and Barzell has a monster season I could see him getting in so I'm leaning no but I won't be surprised if they get in to kind of hedge my bet a little bit Merles yeah I mean Brelli's the Islanders' insider for us. If he says Barzell's in the best shape of his life, that makes me excited because he's got to be an absolute superstar.

That's their guy. He's got to be dominant. He'll drag Horvat along with him, and I don't have them making it. They will be right there, like you said, at the wild card. I got him 18th overall, and I got him 5th in the division. No playoffs. No playoffs. G doesn't have him in the playoffs.

And, you know what, I don't either. I think, as good as they are, they're kind of boring. The defense should bounce back. Horvat essentially kind of replaces Parise's goals, but I don't have him getting in either. But to copy wit, Sorokin, man, his numbers since 2021, a minimum 120 games played, ranks first in save percentage, goals against, shutouts, and goals saved above expectation.

So he's obviously a huge X factor for the Islanders. Okay, guys, in thinking about this and looking at their roster, the line combo, is Ottawa, Detroit, or Buffalo better than them, though? I don't know, man. They're fucking older. I know that's not a great thing, but it's a veteran team with the best goalie in the league.

It's not as easy to say they won't get in as you think because if Barzell lights it up this year, if Barzell's a 90-point guy, for him to have that happen, their power play's got to be good. I think they... Fuck, I don't know what to say say i was thinking you put barzell up on top just play five forwards on their power play because whatever they did last year wasn't working no yeah that's the team i

struggle the most with picking because they had they with that goalie they were in the playoffs last year i don't know but i do think ottawa detroit and uh buffalo are going to be much better we'll get to them if the islanders get in I don't think any of Ottawa, Buffalo, or Detroit gets in. You know what I mean? Exactly. If they get in, you don't want to play that team in the playoffs. No.

Because of Sorokin. Yeah. Bingo, bingo. All right, that's our Metropolitan Preview. A couple more things before we let you all go. The Ryder Cup this week. Whit Bostel, not Ryder. The Ryder Cup.

Have you been watching that? And there was a big controversy. It was a four or five. You could explain. I'm not the golf guy. Yeah, so I don't like playing in scrambles. I think a lot of golfers that play a lot of golf, they enjoy playing their own ball. But scrambles are a blast, right?

Especially if you're somebody who doesn't play a ton of golf. And that was a good way they did the first round. Yeah, Merles would love a scramble, right? You hit a great shot, you take your shot. It's perfect. So I didn't know this. Apparently in a scramble, the actual rules are when the ball goes in the hole, that's your team score. So what you're saying, what I'm trying to say is, say you have a 10-foot putt. You got four guys in your group. They were doing two on two. But say you got a 10-foot putt and each guy gets a chance to make it. Well,

if the first guy goes and misses by an inch, you know, you're in for the five. Obviously, one of the four people will hit the putt for five. If you go tap the putt in, though. By the letter of the law and a scramble, which I didn't know, that is your score. Oh, what? I know. So what happened was. The other guys can't shoot.

You can't just okay we're in for the so minahan who is a a terrorist of a competitor a complete lunatic and obviously an enormous asshole when he wants to be he was playing against francis ellis part of barstool and arian foster former nfl running back francis had about a 10 foot for birdie, and he putted it just past, and he went over, and he knocked it in. And Kirk said, oh, that's a five.

Now, I was watching this, not knowing the rule. I said, oh, he's just being a prick, right? Because obviously they would have made that. But no, the actual rule was that that's a five. Now, it was kind of a Bush League move. That was Portnoy's argument that the way they were playing,

you still give the guy the chance at making the four. But Minahan was correct in the fact that the rules are, and these guys, I think they're playing for 30 grand. It's still going on next week as well. He said, no, that's a five. So it went crazy viral. I think there was like 25 million views of the video. Wow.

Yeah, and obviously everyone had their opinion. So it went crazy viral. I think there was like 25 million views of the video. Wow. Yeah, and obviously everyone had their opinion. And when you get into golf rules and golf stuff on Twitter, it's like this wild world of lunatics talking about different examples and rules and violations. So apparently that's what happened. Minahan got it right, and it was a five because he knocked it in. You're not allowed to do that. And it ended up standing up. That's actually what happened. But I didn't know that was a rule. I didn't know that was a five because he knocked it in you're not allowed to do that and it ended up standing up that's actually what happened but i didn't know that was a rule i didn't know that

was right i mean it's just it's just common knowledge that it's like okay well they're they're in for the five i just don't get why because you didn't go in order no so if he just marked it obviously they would have made it that's just i i think that anybody can agree that's just being a straight up hardo yeah and yes which he was being but he also knew that in scrambles that is the rule so did it cost them that match who won that match uh minahan did win that match minahan and hank beat ellison and arian foster they had like another rules issue on another hole i don't remember what that was but it's actually awesome content. You got a Big Cats team versus Portnoy. They got a bunch of Barstool

personalities. It's actually been pretty fun to watch. We couldn't do it. We were down at the draft and the awards in Nashville. And unfortunately, Barstool's doing a Barstool Survivor where they're having all the big dogs kind of come together and they're doing it for $100,000. I've had a bunch of people is portnoy or portnoy big cat kfc everyone's doing it

then we do that well dude we were in and that's what i was going to say everyone everyone had been asking me why aren't you doing it but it's during chicklets cup so uh yeah so unfortunate because it would have been pretty fun i I don't know if after that. How do they not check that we're throwing our biggest event of the year? That's Barstool, baby. That's Barstool, baby. But I would love to see you two work in that game. Check out the Ryder Cup on YouTube.

Survivor, what type of events are they doing? Are they doing like you have to live in the woods? No, you're living in the office. In the office, yeah. That's why after like a night. And then you got to vote people off. It's a whole manipulation of everything. I've never watched Survivor either. the woods no you're living in the office in the office yeah that's why after like a night off it's a whole manipulation of everything i've never watched survivor either i guess it's all about making um aliases alliances or alliances alliances so it's yeah and then at the end whoever you voted

out has to pick the winner so you can't piss them off too much it's tough but 100k going to the winner i would have i would have i would have loved to be loved to be a part of that but like You can't piss them off too much. It's tough. But 100K going to the winner. I would have loved to be a part of that. But like I said, after two nights in the New York City Barstool office, I might have just started sabotaging myself to get out and sleep in an actual bed. But I think the Ryder Cup is some of the best content I've ever seen. And I think that this Barstool Survivor, with all the big guys being a part of it, I think when that video comes out, it'll be absolute must-watch stuff.

So unfortunately, we're not going to be there. We got the Chicklets Cup. We got Biz. We have Biz trying to grab a title. We got more important fish to fry. We will be in Buffalo in two weeks. And we were supposed to drop Terry Ryan on this podcast, but because we went so long with not only the nico he's your interview and all the breakdowns and the 45 minute start about

merles's placenta eating and and pill creation uh we're gonna bump him back to next week but he was electric listen must listen we got some great stories coming uh we love you guys and uh that's pretty much a shout out to the TNT crew. Love you guys. Happy to be back. Have a great week, everyone. If you're in Ireland, in Dublin, I'll be there Thursday, Friday night. Come say hello. Music

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