Spittin Chiclets - Spittin’ Chiclets Episode 512: Featuring Macklin Celebrini + Kyle Okposo

Episode Date: July 2, 2024

Episode 512 of Spittin’ Chiclets marks the culmination of an electrifying season. As free agency ignites, teams are bartering assets, some more cut throat than others, shaping the narratives for the upcoming season with a flurry of blockbuster signings. The stage is set for the next chapter in hockey’s saga, promising a wealth of compelling storylines. Kyle Okposo, a triumphant Stanley Cup champion, joins the conversation to recount the Florida Panthers’ remarkable journey to the finals, sharing locker-room stories and exhilarating moments following their game 7 victory. Meanwhile, Macklin Celebrini takes center stage, delving into his journey from Shattuck-St Mary’s high school, to Boston University, to now being the 1st overall pick in this years draft, offering unique insights into his perspective on the game as he enters the league. Don’t miss out on this weeks episode. Support the Show: PINK WHITNEY: Take Your Shot with Pink Whitney G/Fore: Get 10% off your first order at gfore.com/chiclets PETER MILLAR: Go to https://petermillar.com/CHICLETS to check out the entire Crown Sport line for all of your performance needs.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. Well, she's your love. They say you're drunk at speech. She's just so good at that. I like to poke the bear. I like to stir the pot. But then you come on in and take it up a notch You hit me with a cheap shot, a cheap shot Hello everybody, welcome to episode 512 of Spit and Chickens

Presented by Pink Whitney from our friends at New Amsterdam Vodka Here in the Barstool Sports Podcast family Wowza boys, what a wild week, it's been a wild few weeks And Monday was even wilder, the first day of free agency. I don't think anybody expected what went down. Paul, biz nasty, biz the net. Holy shit. Money, money, money, money.

Money, money, money, money, money, money. I really miss being a player today. I really miss being a player today. I might have got fucking two million. I was like, I think biz could have got a two by two million on July 1st, 2024. Oh my God. What the

hell was that? That was old school. We missed the old trade deadlines, the old free agency. The cap goes up four million, then they say another four million next year, and guys are just slinging it around the league, hopping city to city, signing long-term deals.

I was seeing some of the numbers. I'm like, this is the greatest day I can remember in free agency in 20 years. I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but that was a wild, what was it? Basically like 90 minutes. There was one point where I, or maybe the first 30 minutes even, I think there was 30 deals. I mean, it started at like eight this morning i felt like right when we woke up this morning deals started breaking left and right so it's been a bit of crazy i mean the the gms were slinging it more than i was at rhino as far as dishing out the cash just making it rain after

all these players and guys i actually when we're going to get to the draft stuff a little bit later on and all the the future superstars but all the superstars that are currently National Hockey League are getting paid. And when I was at the sphere during the draft, I actually walked by Brisbane. I stopped by and I said, hello. And you could just see he was running the phones and his wheels were spinning. And I would say of any GM, he was probably the busiest, especially having a saying bye to a few very important pieces to that lineup. Just some craziness, some betrayal, more betrayal. Like I said, all right, we'll send it back over to you in order to get this big boy started. Well, I mean, we've got to say hi to the Whit Dog first, Ryan Whitney. What's going on, buddy? Yeah, I noticed you're wearing a Ryan Whitney shirt, all right.

That thing's pretty sick. Yeah. I appreciate you. I appreciate you rocking that thing, Honk. But first off, guys, I know it's July 1st, and it's Happy Canada Day. Oh, I guess you're listening on July 2nd. But as we're recording, Biz, as a Canadian, Happy Canada Day, buddy. And along with Canada Day goes the 4th of July down south, your American neighbors.

And we got 4th of July. And what goes with both those holidays is Pink Whitney. And it's one of those things where, yes, I bring up all the holidays, but it does go with each one. But the summer is when I've said golf season is Pink Whitney. The beach is Pink Whitney. The pontoon boat is Pink Whitney. So for everyone celebrating 4th of July, get involved. The 1.75 liter bottle is where we can really rock it because that's the big daddy that

will last you all day long, lighting off fireworks. Don't Jason Pierre Paul yourself because you got to be careful with those fireworks. I believe that was the guy who blew his hand off. Correct, Ari? Correct. So be safe. Having a great, great July 4th, you Americans. I hope you enjoyed Canada Day

and enjoy Pink Whitney with that. I just couldn't get over the fact that it happened so quick. And the best part about the Stammer thing is his interview with Sportsnet and our boy Colby Armstrong was amazing. Very transparent. And we can go into what he said there. And then response quotes after. It was very similar to Bryn Damore after they got swept, but he said they didn't get swept. It was like, I'm disappointed.

He's disappointed. The fans are disappointed. I don't know how it ended up getting there, but to see it actually happening, even though the rumblings have been going on, Stephen Stamkos in another team's jersey is a crazy thought to me. Yeah, off to Nashville.

I mean, Tampa Bay losing Stamkos. I mean, in the realm of history, it's not all that surprising considering guys who leave, but in this situation, man, I think the writing might have been on the wall. But anyways, he's going to Nashville with a bunch of other guys. Tim Bay also bringing in Jake Gensel. Is that an even tradeoff for you, Biz? As far as losing Stamco, bringing in Gensel,

is that a proper replacement with you? Well, I mean, before we even get into that, let's go back a little bit with Stephen Stamkos because he had the full year coming in to where they could have negotiated a contract right and I think that he was very surprised at the fact that they hadn't really started any type of

dialogue and I think Stam or his comments before the season or maybe it was just as the season was beginning is what kind of create a little bit of a press tour where Breezebois did mention like oh you know we do want this guy and we are going to try to figure something out. Well, nothing comes during the season. And then all of a sudden we're

at the table the other day in Vegas. And I misheard at first where I thought it was originally a three times three offer, but then you hear about this eight times three. And even when I was talking to Jeff, like he was like, oh, I thought it was three years eight million what he ended up getting but just a huge slap in the face offer in my opinion that is an offer that was offered knowing that he wasn't going to accept it and that they could move on from him in order to get other moves made and that to me is is the uproar online now with the fan base feeling disgusted about how they treated this the captain who helped them bring them to Stanley Cups to what is he 33 34 years old now like this guy had 80 points this season this guy's a 40 goal guy it's not like you're you're moving away from a guy who's already on his decline how many players of that age are able to produce like Stephen Stamkos is

so the the fact that that offer came in so insulting which was baffling to me and I'm sure and as you've heard very baffling to the Stamkos side uh there's obviously no question as to why he ended up moving on to Nashville now I'll throw it over to you, Whit. Why do you think it fizzled out the way that it fizzled out? Do you think that they... I truly believe that he would have accepted something that was maybe in the $4.5 million, $5 million a year if they would have provided him with a similar

term. Yeah. That's the craziest part of all this is without knowing him, we'll never truly know, but let me lay out what we do know. Legendary player. I think... I mean, I know LeCavier, but St. Louis, but Stammer played, he played 16 fucking years there. Two cups, Rocket Richard trophies, first overall, lived up to it. 50 goals his second year in the league when he was, what, 20 years old. Like, he has been a complete legend of the game since he came into this league,

and he wanted to be there. So right away, it wasn't him. You hear the stories of all these athletes who, yeah, the teams are trying to keep him, but they're ready to move on. This guy was making it clear, I want to stay a Lightning. I want to retire a Lightning. And that's when you look. Without knowing the real story there's what three

options the owner didn't want to keep him i'm guessing there's no chance that was the case the gm and his staff didn't want to pay him what he wanted and what he ended up getting thinking that his game is on the decline and that he he won't be worth that money maybe in the second third and fourth year or even maybe they thought he'd have a drop-off this upcoming season. Or then there's the coaching staff, and they were maybe looking at it like, I think this relationship has run its course. Those are the only three options. And we could say that the owner probably, I guess we can't for sure,

but the owner, I'm guessing, wanted Stamkos around, and there's two people left, the GM and the coach. So I don't know. It's unfair for me to say, but how else could you look at it? Do you know what I'm saying? Like, what are the other options here? If he was basically like, I'm so disappointed to leave here, but this offer was a disgrace.

He didn't say that, but with Army on the phone, he clearly said, yeah, I think we're kind of all wondering how we got here. What I will say, obviously, I have a relationship with him, but, you know, the coaches don't make the office. The general managers make the office. You don't think the coaching staff and the GMs talk about things, Ari? No, I think they talk about things, but at the end of the day, the general manager

is the guy who presents the contract, not the coach. I understand that, but in an organization like Tampa that's become this... The finals lost the two cup before that like they they are a closely knit group at the top so it has to be somewhat of an agreement dude that we don't want to pay him what he's going to get i mean what other way could you look at it well i

just think it's also insulting at the fact that we're talking about three million dollars for a player who averaged over a point per game so it it's not even like this wasn't even a contract. Yeah, but it's a little different. It was 24 that they know he probably wouldn't play the last two years of that, right? Which makes it even more insulting, in my opinion, because he's not going to end up getting that money unless what you're saying is he's going to go on LTR. Oh, that's true.

They offered this player a contract basically being like, here's a slap in the face. We know you're not going to take it and then we can just go on and get what we actually want in order to do business. Like $3 million a season for a guy who's averaged

just under 40 goals the last two years and he's been over a point per game. Like what other guy is even close to that that is coming, that is not on an entry-level contract or who is restricted? Like, this is pure insanity. We're not talking even about, like,

five and a half, which Marchie ended up getting. Like, we're talking about three fucking million dollars. Ryan Lomberg got two. Like, Dakota Joshua got more than $3 million. And he's, or he's not restricted but like this is like that's a role player that is a middle six guy never played a top line role or power play

in his life so to me it's it's it's not only the way that the season started and and but it's the way that that it ended with that slap in the face agreement. And listen, I have all the respect in the world for Breezeball. I think he's a savage. I think he's the type of GM that's five, six, seven steps ahead, as we ended up seeing. But there's some organizations that have no problem being cutthroat. We've talked about Vegas before. They're ruthless.

Tampa Bay has turned into a ruthless organization to the point where Sergeyev ended up posting a picture online of him and Stammer together on his Instagram. They're moving on from Sergeyev. Not just Stammer. After bringing McDonough back, you're right. They do have the Vegas little bit,

I guess, New England Patriots of I don't give a shit. And when we think an asset is declining we're gonna go get who kind of we consider very similar but younger Jake Gensel now I think it's just hard for the fans and also this season gets going and Gensel starts lighting it up the fans will forever remember stammer and what the what an ovation he'll get when Nashville comes to Tampa but they'll be rooting on the Lightning and rooting on Gensel lighting it up. So it's business decisions

just right off the bat as it's as fresh as it is today. It is shocking to see it all come to an end. And just to give the numbers out of the biz we were talking about, Tampa head off and Tampa goes allegedly by reports, eight years, 24 million, comes out to 3 million a year

versus 4 million, 32. Yeah, four years, 32 million he got comes out to 3 million a year versus 4 million, 32. Yeah, four years, 32 million he got from Nashville. A huge difference there. I can see why it was insulted. Even the other day when that report came out, it was redonkulous. The guy of that stature, what he did for the franchise, yeah, it was a slap in the face. However that slap came, Tampa has a whole new face, look in town.

And let's get Jake Hensel right now. I think he was the cream of the crop out of the free agency. I think this is a guy, Witt, who people are going to see just how great he is. I know they've seen it in the playoffs the last several years, but when you're in the shadow of a guy like Sidney Crosby, I think he can kind of come out a little bit more, even though he's in his 30s. What do you say, Witt?

Yeah, I agree. Just a playoff performer. That's what we've always kind of talked about him. So smart. And then he goes over to Carolina, lights it up. And what a kind of weird scenario with Carolina. It seemed like Elliott and the other insiders had mentioned he wanted this deal. He had this deal in place. And all of a sudden, it got a little closer to the deadline. And I would think that the closer you get to July 1st without signing, the harder

it is to end up signing it because you're like, as everyone's put it, you've waited this long. Why not wait a couple more days, a couple more weeks maybe, and just see what I can get. And then see actually all the different teams that are going to be calling me. And then I can go through. And when you're that good and you are the cream of the crop, like you said, you look at the rosters. You've got the best chance to win. Where do I see myself fitting in this no state tax thing i i think we i've mentioned i think we have to do something about this at some point the no state tax thing is very legit all right we teams all

over the league sign people but that is an unreal way i mean look at what nashville did that's another no state tax business favorite term the The team Biz wanted to play for. But Gensel realized after just waiting it out and thinking Carolina is going to be his future home, I got to see what's out there. And I think Tampa, while losing Stamkos and that offer being ridiculous, you got to give

credit. Biz said that. Breezeball had it in his mind already. That's the thing. You wonder how they go about it. I guess it's all the agency talk, talking to the agents, but you can't talk to the player, but he knew. You had to think he would have given Stamkos a different offer had he not thought he could have Gensel locked up that early. Do you agree?

Yeah, and another thing I think that Elliot talked about on 32 Thoughts is I think it was an 8x8 number for Gensel, and then that they were willing to match anyone. Now, I don't know what the, what the, what the, where the States of the organizations are like,

we've typically talked about how Carolina is a little bit more on the frugal side. Well, they're not an original six, you know, they don't have this massive insane budget and their team valuation isn't anywhere near where these other teams are. Tampa was obviously on the rise and is still a very respectable organization who does have a lot of money,

and they're able to fill them up with all that signing bonus and get to that $9 million tag. Now, I texted the group chat. I asked you guys if you thought that that was maybe a slight overpayment or if you were okay with the money. I guess where I was a little bit confused

is like, yes, we know Gensel is an elite playoff performer. We know that now he's able to play away from Sid and contribute and even drive enough traffic on his own line for it to make all sense. But for the difference in money that you're going to pay Gensel versus what you would have paid Stammer, if you could have got him on a team friendly deal, that would have been reasonable for the amount of point production. Is it worth that $9 million?

And taking the risk that you're bringing in a new guy. We knew that Stephen Stamkos could produce there. We know that he was a point-per-game player. So now your expectation is that you're hoping to get that from Gensel, that he is going to fit in after you've handed in all this money over to him and the signing bonus, and hope that he plays to the level in which that he has in Pittsburgh

and Carolina over the course of that length of the deal. He's got an eight-year track record of doing it, though, so I think that's fair. It wasn't a fluke year here or there. I know what you're saying, though. The pressure's on. I think also what makes it a little easier is that Kucherov and points are so unreal that you know like this guy's gonna get chances to score like he's playing with elite level players and you're you've seen what he can do with high level players

and Sid and even you know like what he did with with Ajo and Carolina and how he produced immediately there the track records there it's a number, but as the cap goes up, if he's producing 80 to 90 points and 35 to 40 goals all day, you're paying it, right? Yeah, at that rate, for sure. But like I said, for the difference in what you could have paid Stamkos to stick around

and maybe got him on a shorter-term deal and probably around that $5.5 million, $6 million tag if you're keeping them. I wonder if the juice is worth the squeeze. But it's Jake Gensel, like you said, proven track record, and just definitely a big swing for Breezebois in order to bring him in. And obviously part of the reason that they had to get rid of Sergeyev as well. So I don't know if you want to bring it over to Nashville now

and how they get two guys that feel like they were both slapped in the face and explain the March or so situation absolutely yeah just uh just let the listeners know Gensel did go for 70 years 63 mil nine million a year uh for a 25th uh for a third and 25 that was just to get the negotiating rights I think it's a great bargain and Sergeyev did go to Utah eight and a half million dollars they brought out the rights of JJ Bosa, Connor Geeky, and a couple of picks there. Nashville, obviously, we just mentioned Stammer, four years, 32 mil.

Jonathan Marcheseau, man, five years, 25 mil. Seems like a huge bargain. Also brought in Brady Shea, seven years, 49 mil, seven mil a year. Goey Scott, Wedgwood. But Marcheseau, man, I'm shocked he came in at that price, five years, I mean, basically $5 million a year for that caliber of scorer.

Playoff performance. I would have thought he would have got $8 million at least off that. Yeah, how old is he exactly? Much or so. Yeah. I think he's 23 years old. Is that O'Fackola already? Holy shit.

That's maybe a little bit of kind of hearing what they're going to do. Also, Stammer being there. They've re-signed Sorrows. How about Barry Trotz, man? And I think the more you look at that team, the city, the fan base. I mean, some people chirp the arena for being like a little older and smaller. The atmosphere is out of this world, Weberbaum. And they just, it's country music.

And it's like, it's totally made sense that this is turning in to an amazing place to play. Like Nashville is a place I think every guy in the league would say I'd love getting a chance to play there. I remember knowing nothing about it, going there first time as a Pittsburgh Penguin, being blown away. Now it's just growing so much too. It's like around the country,

so many people are moving to Nashville. Colin Whitneyney my brother just moved to nashville the place is humming and all of a sudden this hockey team which has the perfect location arena too right on the one of the most fun streets in the country is spending money willing to actually go out and when they signed saros i was like wow i didn't necessarily necessarily see that we talked about as as car of theie, who's possibly going to get traded now. But I think Barry Trotz is like, we know what we got here. Let's go out.

We'll spend even more money in free agency and give this thing a shot. He had a quote today that he's like, I think we're going to get a parade down Broadway at some point in our future too. He's thinking ahead and he's willing to go out and spend dough. And we were talking today today a couple guys uh mentioning that like nobody even talks about philippe forrestberg at least i feel like he doesn't get enough recognition he's dominant enormous can score and then ryan o'reilly fit in so well i love what they did there and i think preds fans this had to be besides going to the cup finals one of the best days in preds franchise history for their fans. I agree with you.

I was shocked at how fucking negative everybody was online. I guess I shouldn't be about when you're signing these guys who are 33, 34 years old as if they're fucking ready for the retirement home. Like we're talking about two guys who take so much pride in their game and they're some of the hardest workers in the offseason where some people are like oh so much for the rebuild never once did they talk about a rebuild this is a straight up fucking retool like look at the last two off seasons in the way they've moved they've went out and got experienced nhl hockey players like guys like luke shen a good foundational guy for the back end in order to instill those types of quality things you need in order to be a true professional ryan o'reilly what he's brought into their lineup and the way that he performed later in the season and even in playoffs.

And the one thing that I think that they lacked and they noticed was their power play really let them down against the Vancouver Canucks. And they didn't have that high-end goal scoring to alleviate a lot of pressure off that lineup. So what do they go out and do? They go address those needs and they bring over two wingers who were able to put the puck in the back of the net two bona fide 40 goal scorers year in and year out so to me they addressed all their needs right like that with those two signings and they show to the fan base and the guys in the locker room and everybody wants to talk about these rebuilds like oh let's just get all these

young players and all of a sudden they're just going to blossom and figure out how to play the young talented players they have in that locker room that they've kept they get to now learn off these stanley cup champions ryan o'reilly march or so stam coast and chenner all stanley cup champions that's how you build an organization trots knows that so for the people online talking about the retirement home and like so much for the rebuild, what are you talking about? Stop writing guys off over the age of 30 because so many of them are able to perform at high levels now.

So bravo to the Nashville Predators organization and an incredible two off seasons back to back. And you get two players with that. You don't think these guys are out to prove something now why don't you read the march you think that Stamkos is the only guy who got slapped in the face read the march or so comments is uh Trotz actually said exactly that too in his press conference today he said when I became GM of the Predators I said many times that I was looking to add serial winners to our franchise and there is perhaps no one who fits that mold more than Stephen Stamkos.

We're incredibly excited to sign a Hall of Fame player, and what a massive day for the future of our organization. But exactly like you said, Trotz is building winners. That's who he's bringing to town. Bring him in. Who the fuck are these young guys going to learn off of Witt? Two things. Those people, and they're a bunch of pashas.

They're the analytics their games decline doesn't matter they're not even looking at the name you just look at the age and you look at all that and you're like it's a depreciating asset there's no point in giving them those terms when you look at what nashville's already done they kept they signed yoshi yosi they signed forsberg they signed sorrows today they re-signed um uh Carrier on D they've last year Nyquist came in he did unbelievable it's it's been like a long time of them building and growing and going out and willing to have some young talent come into the lineup we talked about like you need veterans as you just said Biz you need guys to teach young people how to do things

and then when you bring them in and you have these expectations on them, you know for a fact because of what they've been through in their career prior that their expectations are going to be even higher. So also the goalie, the Russian, Askarov, I'm so bad with these Russians' names. I do apologize if you're out there and you're listening and you're Russian. But now they got a trade ship too because they signed Wedgwood. So Wedgwood's solid, dude. You bring him over, you got Saros locked in,

and now you're going to get something. I don't know if they're saying we want a current NHL player for their goaltending prospect, but they're going to get something. I think they said top prospect is what I was hearing. They'd like a top prospect back. That could help with their younger generation if fans are complaining about bringing in some old guys. I just think you got to get fans in the building.

You got to get them excited. They are in Nashville. Why not give them a chance? Another thing is too, Marshall So and Stamkos, you don't think other fan bases are excited when you get guys who've won Stanley Cups? You're like, hey, we got some guys in the room now

they're gonna show our guys what it's all about to win I just love the day for them and I thought when Barry Trotz went over there it was it was weird because David Poyle was finishing up and Trotz had been a coach and remember we were kind of like oh I guess he's just hopping right in and he's he's come out of the gate swinging and as a fan that's all you want your GM to do you know and I said that question over the group earlier as a fan, that's all you want your GM to do. I said that question over the group earlier. Nowadays, it's like you don't just have to win a Stanley Cup to get your price bumped up. If you play the Stanley Cup final, it seems to bump a guy's price up.

Do you agree with that, Biz? Yeah, you were saying is it more likely that guys get a little bit overpaid if they make these long runs? And I think it's also just recency bias and the fact that all these GMs are watching these guys play in these big moments and and when they're stepping up and they're elevating their play if they can go snag some of these guys who haven't been signed to long-term deals yeah it's gonna rub off on them they have that experience like even a guy like Fogle or whoever you want to name from that Edmonton lineup who doesn't come back it's like

they got to watch McDavid and Dreisaitl do it day in and day out, and they had to raise their level too. So bringing that over is so vital to an organization, and sometimes it's okay and worth a slight overpayment. And it's worked out for some and hasn't for others, but at the end of the day, as we see with the money situation, it happens more often than not. Congrats to Brady Shea, too.

Nice little payday for our pal, too. There's another guy. I didn't realize how great offensively he's been the past few years. I mean, that's a deal that I did see some questions to, I guess the term. But the number makes – the number, if you look at his stats, that's the number, dude. And, yeah, you can argue how long it is but there's no really like gray area when it comes to ufa's numbers and their comps when they have

stats like like brady shea has so he was he was gonna get it somewhere and i think that trots already mentioned like that's a guy we know how he could perform in big games he's been in a lot of huge playoff games with the rangers with the with the hurricanes they're looking for guys with that experience and i also didn't really get understand his offensive upside before i guess he never got the chance in in new york as much as we think he think he should have and if there's an organization too that can evaluate d it's the n Predators. So overall between him and Yossi, you could just fill in the blanks.

Now bring in some other solid two way defenseman, if anything, defensive defenseman, and you got your, you got yourself quite a good lineup going into the next year. It's I'm very excited for the Nashville Predators. And I would say they're one of the bigger, biggest winners,

if not the biggest winner of free agencies. Why are you laughing? G we're in Vegas last year for the cup final. We're in Lauderdale this year for the cup final. All signs point to us going to Broadway and doing the next year. Let's pop the brakes here.

Let's pop the brakes. Not with the Predators. I'm just saying we're going to get sandbagged into going to another city where we have to drink five days in a row. My liver just ran out of my asshole, G. Come on, put that stuff. Let's wait a little bit. All right, boys. Rhino, back in Florida. What an unbelievable season

he had in Florida Panthers championship. This is a great number for Florida, man. Eight years, $69 million for Sam Ryan. Comes out to $8.625 million. I thought, I mean, we've been talking about it since what, December, how much money he'd get this year, but when you come to a little bit wet, you want to stay somewhere, it's easy to take a little bit less money despite the sales tax. Well, let me chime in to it.

You talked about the fact that the state tax, and I believe that is going to be a topic of conversation going into the next CBA. There was a list. Yeah, there was a list of things that came out that they're going to look at very seriously. One of which that came out more recent was the length of the season because we're fucking here we are july 1st at basey they just finished their parade and all of a sudden certain guys can't even enjoy it to the level that they want to because their teams are moving on from them reinhardt is an example of getting to keep a guy at a very cheap number and a hometown discount obviously getting to play in florida is is a huge deal too and the fact that how comfortable he is there but on the flip side of it they had to get rid of

lomberg he's gone oel not there anymore uh who are the other name montour off to seattle yeah stendland stole us sorry because they'd be to cut you off no problem so as sad as it is in certain areas for the Florida Panthers, they probably lock in the guy that they wanted most. There were rumblings that Montour wasn't going to be back based on the number that he was going to get. And you kind of touched on it with Shea. There aren't too many free agent defensemen out there to begin with.

And when you've got a guy like Montour who, yeah, he probably had an off year definitely compared to the year before. He was always going to get that number. But Sam Reinhardt, 50 goal score. I think that this is a huge bargain and maybe not the fastest of feet, but a guy who has one of the biggest hockey brains going. It was a quote by Maurice who said that he's the second smartest player, I think, outside of Ron Francis that he's ever been around.

So those are some high praise. And you knew that there was no way that they were going to let him walk. And the fact that he was willing to come down as low as that number that you just mentioned, what a guy. And even if at the back half of the deal, he's not contributing the way that he has been,

I don't think it matters. I don't think anybody gives a fuck. Game winning goal in a Stanley Cup forever will be a legend in that organization. And as I shot in the group text, not shocked if he has at least three, four more years like this if he ends up in the rafters in South Florida. So bravo to Reinhardt,

who actually wasn't able to even go to the parade. He had to miss it. He sent out a video on their social media. He had his best friend's wedding to go to. And once again, another example as to why we should not be playing hockey this late into the summer. Yeah, that was laid out perfectly. I think that I said to Pasha at one point when they were talking numbers and everyone

was kind of saying nine right around there. And it's an awesome deal for both sides. But I was like, I don't know, how will that deal age? Like, obviously, Posh and him are boys. But I was like, he's not that fast. And he just kind of went into a long description of how good defensively and how smart he is and his release and that his game has never been built on speed. And that was the discussion we had about Pavelski for so many years.

It was like, yeah, as they get older, they're not the fastest skaters, but they've never been the fastest skaters. So it doesn't change the way they have to get scoring opportunities and chances. And he plays with Barkov, and his shot's that good, and he's just both ends of the ice. Incredible player. And what a couple days, dude. I mean, you win the Stanley Cup.

Your best buddy's getting married. I don't know if he was the best man. And then you sign for $70 million or whatever it was. You've got to just take that all in. He's going to be crushing Pink Whitney on 4th of July. I heard he gave a $250 gift card as a wedding gift. I'm not sure. No, he sent him one of those edible arrangements.

I remember I sent my wife one of those when we started dating. She's like, if you ever send me one of those again, I'll never talk to you. That's the biggest piece of trash. No offense if you send out edible arrangements. Actually, we have an ad read today. We got the new edible. It's good fire. Yeah, defenseman Kalikov, he's going to in florida four years 4.6 billion dollars but a few other

names that will not be well at least not signed yet uh tara sango who was a pretty clutch in a few of the games in the playoffs your boy nick cousins uh biz uh and kylo oposo a friend of the program we talked to a couple years ago in buffalo and actually we were lucky to have him on for a little bit right now so gee should we send it over to Kyle right now? Before we go any further, guys, I need to talk to you about Peter Millar. We just recently filmed the Sandbagger, and of course, I was rocking a beautiful, lightweight Peter Millar shirt, the only shirt I wear playing golf. Summer's finally here, and the warm weather is not leaving anytime soon, and that's why I'm here to talk to you about the always stylish

and incredibly comfortable lineup of performance shorts from our friend at Peter Millar. Shorts, shirts, pants, quarter zips, they have it all. Anchored by their best-selling Salem shorts, Peter Millar's crowned sport line promises peak performance both on and off the course. It's a classic fit and it's everyday style that makes you look so good,

feel so good. And no matter what you're shooting on the golf course or no matter what your day brings, you're dressed to the nines. And for those of you who need even more versatility in your summer wardrobe, their Shackleford performance shorts can even double as a pair of swim trunks for true course to clubhouse style. You finish your round, you don't have to go get changed. You just jump right in the pool with the Shacklefords. So right now, right now, head over to petermillard.com slash chickles to check out the entire Crown Sports line for all of your performance needs. That's Peter Millar, the official outfitter of the USGA.

While this is the best way to bring back a welcoming guest. After 17 NHL seasons, he can call himself a Stanley Cup champion. So great to bring back Kyle Oposo. Kyle, we met you a couple years ago in Buffalo. You're a saint of a man, and we're so proud of you right now to be a Stanley Cup champion. How's it feeling, my man? It feels incredible, guys.

Thanks for having me on again. Yeah, just hoisting that thing was a literal dream come true. How the hell is your voice better than R.A.'s right now? I mean, that party must have been absolutely insane, but you look and sound amazing. I've had probably almost 24 hours now of sobriety. We had the SBA, yesterday obviously which was just wild but um my wife had to uh we had to get back to buffalo right away because my daughter is on her way to rhode island for dance nationals so i was a dad of three today and life smacked me in the face this morning so

that's why my voice is okay that's what my wife talks about coming home from the trip she's like oh god i'm getting home at 6 a.m and then as soon as i walk in the door the wife hands me the kid like now it's your turn asshole oh yeah i was just i literally spent three and a half months just absolutely dialed in focusing on myself doing everything i needed to be doing mentally and obviously i still with the kids a fair amount but you know my mind is obviously preoccupied so now it's uh it's dad mode for a bit she's the one person who can say hey that that big huge cup that you won and raised over your head was sick but you're done with the party and now it's time it's time to get back to real world mode. I just want,

I just wanted to ask though, like going back in for game seven, that had to be the best feeling in the world because watching the team, right? It's, it's harder to watch them than when you're a part of it. And for you to get back in that game and, and get and play that well to Merle's was talking about you right off the

opening puck drop. How take me through your feelings through that whole kind of two days. it's horrible watching I mean you're you know you're not going to play game six and um I knew that there was a good chance that if it went seven that I was going to play uh based on the conversation I had with Mo but you know you're going into game six and you're thinking all right right, this is elimination game. You just put so much into the last three months with this team and you just start to get exhausted mentally. You check out a little bit. So I was watching that game from up top and obviously it wasn't going very well for us.

And right when they scored that third goal, I went downstairs and hopped on the bike and had to switch back on mentally. And cause I knew I was going to have to get ready to play the biggest game of my life, uh, in, in a few days. So, uh, couldn't have been happier, you know, going back in obviously, but you know, I, I talked about the, uh, the guys in the fourth line and we had so many guys that could play. And throughout the entire run, like Nick Cousins, Ryan Lomberg, myself, and Steve Lorenz specifically, obviously Stenny was the glue that held us all together. But those guys were so phenomenal, and we wanted each other to do well.

We really did, and the support that we gave each other was one of the best parts for me so just to circle back because that was such a a pivotal time and we'll get into the the whole team and the feelings but you're saying in edmonton after that third goal you legit just went down to where the room is and you got on the bike and got back in your head that you were going to be in the lineup were you told that you were going to be in the lineup if it went to game seven or how did you just have a feeling that you would you guys were going to rotate uh mo had kind of mentioned it to me that uh i had to stay mentally in it because if it's going seven there's a good chance

that i'd be in so um i had a pretty good inkling and you know i thought i thought cuz he played really well in that game but so uh i had a good feeling and i had to switch it on and so i just hopped on the bike for for 20 minutes to to get physically ready to go and during those 20 minutes kind of watching the third period um that's when i got mentally ready to go too and and since we're already on the topic like obviously you guys up three and then you guys lose three i know that after the game you talked about how you were playing mini sticks the night before and i kind of gave you a little bit perspective on this crazy run and where your your life's at but what was the

feeling with all you guys and the fact that you did have the there was a chance that this would be an epic collapse did that seep into your guys minds at all did the two-day layover really help and get you guys the reset? Because I know they let Bob stay away from the rink. So there must have been just so much going in your guys' minds. What was the conversation like on the plane back from Edmonton? It was, after that game, it was pretty down. You know, like we, just the initial reaction was

we just had three chances to win the cup, and we didn't do it. So now we're like, holy shit, we might lose. We might lose after being up 3-0. But the reset after the flight, the flight was okay. We kind of got back to kind of shooting her and just playing poker. Everybody's kind of starting to relax a little bit. Then the day before game seven, Mo, we had a great meeting.

We had a great practice. Then everybody's nerves dissipated because it was like, all right, this is ending no matter what the following day. Our season is going to be over. We know who we are and how we can play. And we haven't done that for three games because you get up three, nothing. Then all of a sudden you start thinking about the results instead of the process, which is what are we, what we've been doing this whole time is we just focusing on how we play. And so we knew that we

were going to go into game seven and we were going to be right. And that's, that's all we were focusing on. So honestly, it was the least nervous that we've been for game seven versus four, five, and six. Yeah. That feeling of knowing no matter what, guys, this is it. I feel like that really must have resonated with everyone. I was curious because Bob, he had been so incredible, two playoff runs now. And then all of a sudden you see a couple questionable ones go in. It just didn't seem like the Bob we'd come to see the first three rounds. And then that two days off, he didn't practice. And that breaks.

And obviously Twitter and all that. Bob's not on the ice. Somebody wrote, that's unusual. Did he just end up staying away? Was he at the rank? Was he talking to guys? He must have had some crazy focus to get ready for that game and he performed amazing i mean this guy's so dialed in all the time it's it's mind-boggling so just give him an extra day to reset and that was kind of the

the talk between uh tally and mo from my understanding and that's all he needed was to just just recharge his body you know he know, he's not a spring chicken anymore. You know, I think he's 35, turning 36, my age. And so just that mental reset gave him kind of the confidence. And honestly, when we scored the first goal, I thought it was over. Like I was that confident in how he was going to come out and play. And obviously they scored the next one quick. So that flips.

And then when we got the second one, you're just holding your breath the whole time. But just the way that this guy goes on the ice and he prepares, it is unlike anything that I've ever seen how he is on his edges. He is so detail oriented. And Stevie, Stevie Lorenz got a lot of play because he was shooting on him. He was like his shooter. And I would go on, you know, once out of every six or seven times. And we would do some passing drills.

And he's always working on the things. If he gives up a goal, he then the next day wants to work on 20 different shots that are similar to the situation and the goal that he gave up like this guy is just he doesn't shut it off so i think giving him that extra day really helped him just reset and realize that he's a main reason why we got to this point i thought you were going to say that you you you started as a shooter and then rung one off his neck and you weren't allowed back anymore no he wants me to hammer him off his head as hard as I can. He loves it. He just, he screams at guys. I'll practice too.

Like they'll, they'll rip one high and he'll go, Ooh, it's unbelievable. He's just taunting them. That's awesome. It's gotta be crazy to be a goalie. Yeah. Normally it's the guy, the goalie shooting the puck back at you at the corner when you're back in line and he's just loving it and barking at you guys. That's incredible to hear.

And we've heard a lot about his, his work, and everybody needs a day away at some point. But, R.A., I'll hand it over to you. You have one? Yeah, Kyle, I want to talk about the effect of Paul Maurice. I mean, he was a great story this whole play. He's been a coach for 29 years. His press conferences have become legendary. Like, how much of an effect had he had guided you to where you got to?

And, you know, just talk about Paul for a little bit. Well, he's one of the best speakers that I've ever seen. Just talk about Paul for a little bit. Well, he's one of the best speakers that I've ever seen. And him and Ralph Kruger are two of the best, in my opinion. And him and Ralph are actually pretty close. But the way that he communicates his message, I remember the first game that I played. It was in Dallas, right when I got traded. And he comes in for his pre-game speech speech at 5 30 and

he left the room 10 minutes later and i just looked around like was that fucking for real it was phenomenal and they said they like i remember erod looked at me and he's just like wait till wait till he really wants to get us fired up. And so he's able to communicate the game plan in such a clear and concise way. But then he's also able to motivate you after that and get the exact messaging that he wants you to have and that what he wants you to think about in your heads. So just a phenomenal speaker and he's super smart. And obviously his press conferences are absolutely hilarious because, I mean, I,

I truly think he just, he's just going to say whatever comes to his mind and he's so quick and witty and funny that they just, they come out like that. So the world got to kind of see a little behind the scenes, look into, into how he is, but just a,

just a phenomenal coach and a great person and i'm really happy i got to play for him off the top of my head like you go through your career play as a 19 year old score your first goal on martin brodeur i read and then all of a sudden you're captain of buffalo some tough years you're injured your family's been with you through all this did any of these things was there one particular thing when you raised the cup that you thought about or was it more just like I did it? Oh. I mean,

that kind of just hit me with all the feels like. Oh, yeah. Summarizing the career like that, but. Yeah, it's just, there's so many thoughts that could go through your mind

and maybe in the moment, I wouldn't know. You're just like, yes, but I didn't know if after anything in particular stood out. For me, it was more the, the last three and a half months

because I was comfortable in Buffalo, right? I wanted to win, and I really tried to do absolutely everything I could to get us to the next level. On and off the ice, in the community, I gave it literally everything that I had and I wanted to continue to do that. But I knew that if I didn't take this chance and go try to win a Stanley Cup that I would have regretted it forever. And I remember sitting about 15 feet from where I am now with my wife on, I don't know, 40 different occasions. And we're sitting there and we're talking about

every single pro and con. And I'm somebody that I analyze the situation to death and I want to know every outcome. And literally everything that happened in those conversations kind of happened in real life because, and it was hard. It was hard going down there for me without my family, because they're such a big part of my life. And then all of a sudden, I'm just a player again. And I'm not the captain of the team. And I went down there knowing that I was not guaranteed to play at all. And they were very upfront with me about that, which was great. I've never had a problem working hard or I'm not going to go down there. And if I'm scratched, I'm not going to be a shit guy like it's just not really me but um just what I went through in those three months was kind of what

what really hit me and where I got to and not playing game six and then getting back in there for game seven and like I I felt like I played one of my best games that I had in a long time and and it was just to do it with that with that group and group and from when I first walked in the locker room to where I stood before that game in Game 7, just unbelievable. Well, I mean, you kind of just summarized the trade there with what your thoughts were. And I mean, what was it like going into that locker room for the first time? I mean, they have so many character guys and so many guys that you would want in your corner in order to win a championship so how quickly were you able to get acclimated and and you know were you jaw dropped at some of the talent in there like you'd probably you know you've never played with sasha barkov you've played against them but like what was it

like with these guys and how quickly were you able to gel and and and figure things out uh it was pretty quick but i i'm also somebody who you know when i walk into a room i'm not gonna say a lot um i'm gonna kind of observe and that's what i try to do in this instance so first week week week and a half i just you know i come in and i'm i'm me but i just want to make sure that I have kind of all the dynamics at play. I want to see kind of who fits in where who's, who's doing what. So I tried to do that for the first little bit. Um, and once I kind of figured all that out, then I started to gel with everybody pretty quickly. And, and I mean, as far as on the ice goes, Iqbarki is incredible. This guy does absolutely everything. And he's so strong.

He's so gifted physically. But then he doesn't cheat the game either. And those guys are very few and far between. You know, he's the closest thing to 37 to Bergeron that I've seen. And he could have probably 120 points a year, but he never cheats the game because he just wants to win, and he's that good. And, you know, Gus Forsling, he's a guy that I didn't really know about him a lot.

And then you play with him, and this guy just kills plays constantly. It's just just ridiculous and you know then and you see all the other personalities but as far as you know off the ice kind of gelling with the guys you know i used to get into it a lot with with chucky as everybody does right and and so they kind of know that like you know that i can be a dog too right so that so that was never really an issue and then it's just about fitting in personalities and you know that i can be a dog too right so that so that was never really an issue and it then it's just about fitting in personalities and you know i've never really been you know one that's that's hard to get along with i feel like so um just a lot of you know times in the sauna just

shooting the shit it was it was great another guy i want to bring up was uh evan rodriguez he's one of these guys that you know may not be a huge dame when he gets signed at the free agency time but i think he was essential to young guys cup run this year erod yeah he was he was phenomenal i mean i played with him in buffalo so um when he was really young actually and i remember having him and his wife christy over to the house and um you know i think it was kind of the first time they got called up so it was a bit of a full circle moment you know now he's playing up he's got a huge role and he was fantastic for us like he can play with anybody he's one of those guys that is so smart that he can play with all the superstars you guys know how hard it is to play with with those superstars sometimes because you just want to give him the puck but he's played

with Sid he's played with Nate he can play with Barky. And he fits in seamless because he knows when to hang on the puck, when to have the confidence to toe drag somebody, and when to give it to them because he knows he's going to get it back. And he's able to fit in with all those different styles. That's a special player. And he took his game to another level in the playoffs. He was phenomenal. So at the celebration, that's what everyone wants to know about, right? Who was getting after it the most? What did you think of the parade? It ends up going down, I believe, A1A, right? Was it Los Olos and A1A? You saw the elbow room was bumping. Was it exactly what you thought it'd be or just a little bit different in Florida? It was nuts i mean i don't really know how it how it was anyplace else but the celebration the locker room was the was

probably one of the best parts i mean just did you have the honor of cnra get dragged out of there i actually heard about it but i didn't see you on the ice ra i don't think i saw you if i did i know i i want to come come up and shake in the air congratulate you but i didn't see you on the ice ra i don't think i saw you if i did no i know i want to come up and shake in the air congratulate you but i did not see you out there so congratulations belangely i missed the whole the whole antics but um you know it's it's funny now we can laugh about it obviously you guys have have done so much for for the game and you know it's i feel like in that situation it's just kind of like it goes both ways. You know, we could be a little pissed off at you, but we're not pissed off at you.

You know what I mean? So I think it's pretty funny now. But the locker room was Pasha was in there. I looked over. I actually screamed at him like, oh, you're the new R.A. We're in the corner. But yeah, just being in the locker room with the guys and i literally sat in my stall when i first got to florida mo kind of came up to me he's like i know we put you in the

corner and i know you got a thousand games and you're like you're obviously very well respected and a good leader but we're just gonna put you in the corner we don't want to mess up any chemistry that's fine and then it ended up being the best thing ever for me because i literally sat there i stood in my stall and watched all these guys lift the cup and shower each other with champagne and everybody hugging. And I sat there for probably an hour and a half. It was unbelievable. It was a bottle of champagne and I went to, I went to go get more when I needed it, but

it was just phenomenal. That's a moment that, that I will never forget. And to, to jump, to jump into the parade. So we're all kind of standing there and I got my four kids and I got my mother-in-law and my mother-in-law's sister helping out, but the kids are getting kind of antsy. It's super hot, right? So we all get on these double-decker buses and we're standing there we're kind of waiting around but we couldn't go yet because we hear it's pouring down at las olas down at like a1a so we're standing we're sitting in the parking lot of war memorial which is our practice facility and

it starts absolutely coming down like pounding us with rain rain. So, so then we, we just go and we're on top of this double-decker bus and like there's branches and guys are ducking under these branches. So it did not get off to a good start. And then the whole trip down there, it is pounding us with rain, like sideways. My kids had, my two younger ones had to go down below um and we're just like trying to wave at everybody but we can't see and there's not very many people like on on the initial route because it's just pouring but once we got once we got down to a1a it was banana land like just people lined up side to side and by this time we had been on the buses so long that guys had to piss right and so guys are running off

and pissing high-fiving with the fans whatever my wife i so i don't drink beer either so i got everyone's like chucking beer cans at me i'm allergic to beer that's why i don't drink beer but guys are like chucking beer cans at me i'm catching them i'm like i can't drink this whatever blah so then somebody else is throwing a white claw i'm trying to chug that my wife ran into cbs to go get us bottles of wine because that's basically what i drink is red wine so i was i was crushing red wine on the parade and my my son had the stanley cup and like his mini stanley cup and he's he's drinking coke and sprite out of it and thinking it's he's the worst person in the world and so i yeah i, it was just bananas. All the speeches were phenomenal. I mean, there's so much we could go into.

I mean, the funniest one was probably Ekblad giving the fuck you to Brooks Koepka, getting him back with the pylon. I mean, it was obviously lighthearted because I think they've patched things up since then. But what was, other than Paul Maurice getting up there, because he hits it out of the park 10 out of 10, what was the one speech that stood out where maybe you you was unexpected from a guy who doesn't say much

I mean it was Eckie for sure and you know Barkie is Barkie usually doesn't he doesn't say too much but when he does he carries he carries a big weight and I thought what he got up there was phenomenal he starts chanting Sergei it's just incredible but I mean when he carries a big weight and i thought what he got up there was phenomenal he starts chanting sergey

it's just incredible but i mean when ecky got up there he had the cone and i was like oh it's coming like brooks is a huge panthers fan right so i mean he he hangs out with a couple of guys and and whatever so i i think it's all good but just just the fact that he did that was was phenomenal i thought one of the most impressive things was Lomborghini at the 11 strip club. I think that if he didn't get a contract anywhere, he'd probably be able to make more working there the way he was working the pole.

Lambo, he's one of a kind. I look back at one point in the parade, and he was tarp off with uh with the running back from the dolphins at mozart and they were they were in the fire truck and bringing those guys beers and just i mean he was having an absolute time he's what a guy i also like to shift to kachuk because i feel like not only does he do so much on the ice but he's he's able to work the media like i look at him like a WWE superstar. He's carrying around that belt and just the way he's able to articulate,

especially even doing interviews before games and stuff like that. So what was it like hanging around a guy like that who had obviously been passed down from hockey lineage like his old man? Like, he was a rock star this whole run. Yeah, he's – i can't say enough good things about him um you know the the best part about it for me we became like fast friends right like like when i went like this like we golfed at his place a couple times um down in florida uh nice track and like, we obviously share that

passion with golf. So we, we connected right away. Um, but the, the best part for me about Chucky is how he treated my son. And, you know, it's like, it's like Rhino and, and his wife, Jess, um, you know, they used to come over to our house all the time. We're in Buffalo and just love being with our kids and, and, you know, just, they just wanted to be around and be with them and feel that family atmosphere. And Chucky, I think saw a lot of himself and in my oldest son. Um, and he was, so he took such extra time to just talk with him and sit there. And I, we were at his house, uh, the day after we won and we had the cup and I don't remember what I was doing.

I was sitting somewhere and I walk over and Chucky's just sitting there on the couch talking and they probably talked for an hour and he just loved, he loved being with my kids because he saw so much of himself uh in my son and the way that he treated them was just phenomenal and and that's something that i'll never forget guy what do you plan on doing what you do with the cup whenever it comes i'll probably be in minnesota and i haven't decided what i'm going to do in the morning if I'm going to go to like where I grew up playing or possibly bring the Shad. I don't know. I haven't really decided kind of what those details entail. I kind of have to figure all that out logistically and then we'll do something kind of mid-afternoon. We get an area where I live that has like a old general store that's been

there since 1895. I might set up some tents and have a little barbecue and then, you know, we'll have a, have a nice shaker at night. Unbelievable, man. I,

I, I don't know if you have anything else for him, but I got a lot. Yeah. I got a few, I got a few other ones. Do you, I was like part of what was so impressive about Florida

is the way they play, like how they smother you defensively, how they control the middle of the ice, like how good they were along the boards. Like I don't think I've ever seen a team as good along the wall as you guys were. So how was it like getting acclimated to the systems? Because you talked about how Paul Maurice is so good at articulating the way he wants you guys to play and motivate. So how long did it take for you to get adjusted? And how impressive was it for you to step into a team that was just that good at so many things?

It was definitely an adjustment because coming from Buffalo and the way that we played, it was a lot of skill. You're carrying the puck in through the blue line, across the blue line, trying to make a play. You're basically making plays all over the ice. And without giving too much away about how they play and all their systems and the terminology that they use. But I mean, there wasn't a lot of that. You know what you're getting. You're getting the red line and you're rimming the puck and you are going to get it. And I feel like at this stage of my career with the role that I was asked to play, it was awesome for me. Like it, like that's my game, right? Like I, I played along the walls for, for 17 years and that's been a big part of who I am.

Um, the attention to detail defensively was something that kind of around December, I started to really try to focus on and hone in on because I felt like I wanted to get a chance to win. And I knew that if I was going somewhere to play in the playoffs that I was going to have to have my details so sharp. But Paul takes it to another level in how he communicates that and the things that we do defensively and calls it our hard gaps. And, you know, they don't want – we don't want to give any space out there. And, like, Abiz, I know you said – I guess you say anaconda chokehold or something like that.

Yeah, like that's how we play. Hard defense, but unafraid too. And a lot of times, like in Buffalo, when I was there, we talked about being fearless offensively. And here it was be fearless defensively. Because you know that even if you're hard you're hard gap and somebody does get by you you know you got other guys that are going to be right there to smother them so um it was fun to to play that way honestly like it you know a little bit of that pressure and that anxiety

like oh i gotta do it i gotta be on my check i gotta be on the puck and on the body and and it was a lot of fun you mentioned reinhardt and and i imagine it was so difficult to see him get traded right and and you guys are buddies in buffalo you play together and then you end up winning the cup with with a good friend from another team how happy for for you were for him were you and then also how excited were you finding out it was florida to kind of get reunited with a good buddy yeah it was uh it was pretty incredible i mean we were talking throughout the whole process we played them i think a week before the deadline so we were staying connected and then the night before um you know we caught up

and we're hoping that it would happen so just to get down there and my first day down there I walk into the gym and you guys know you go into a new team you don't know where anything is and it was the first time for me mid-season and they were playing Calgary that night so I walk into the gym don't don't know anybody and it was after the second period and he went to go grab like a bar or something and he like saw me and he just came gave me a huge bear hug and um so it's great to be down there with him and when we won that first embrace that i had with him i you're just hugging everybody you're so excited and him and i just uh just the biggest hug and and the look on our faces like could you imagine when we were

where we were that we would be here about to hoist the Stanley Cup together just incredible we're not the problem we weren't the problem this is awesome we had Eichel, we had O'Reilly it's our turn

exactly you know what We had O'Reilly. It's our turn. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. You know what? I'm going to touch on that a little bit. I spoke about it a little bit during the playoffs where you get guys who haven't had playoff success and they get labeled as guys that aren't dogs or can't compete or can't work in a system. But a lot of that's no fault of their own.

And I'm not shitting on Buffalo. I'm not. Because I love Buffalo and I love my time there. And I wanted to do, like I said, everything that I could to help. And I really do believe that they will figure it out. I really do believe that they will figure it out I really do because they have people who want to be the best there and they they will get it done and the more direction that they have and the better people that they bring in you know I I really do think that that they will get it done and it is such a phenomenal hockey city.

Man, when this team is good, it is going to be one of the best places to play in the league and the atmosphere when the building was rocking. You watch those old clips when they were winning President's Trophies in like 99 in the square outside. People love Buffalo. They love the Sabres, and they want them to be good, and they will. Kyle, was there anything in particular that surprised you about hockey, playing hockey in Florida?

I know it's had a tough reputation, especially on the east side of Florida, but what surprised you the most about playing there this year? That's a good question. I don't know if anything was really shocking. Well, I guess for me, I went down there, and I kind of thought that maybe guys wouldn't be as dialed because it's Florida and you have so many of these other things that you can do and you can golf, you can go to the beach, all that. And I could not believe

how locked in these guys were. It was just, it is full go time and we are going to win a cup. And maybe that would have changed if I was there the entire year, you know, a little bit more lax, but everybody goes in there and they do their work and then they have fun. And it doesn't matter what you do on your off day. You can, you can do anything you want. That was probably to kind of further expand upon what I was talking about before is you can do anything that you want between games and and after practice and whatever but when you come to the rink you are coming to grind and and that was that was probably the most surprising thing is it's a work ethic from everybody top to bottom um i just had a couple about like you're going

into these insane environments what one was the most intimidating just going through the rounds because you have that battle of Florida to start things off. Then it's off to Boston. Then New York. You guys were down 2-1 in that series. You're at MSG. And then, of course, the atmosphere in Edmonton. So, like, what was, like, overall, what was the crazy ride like?

And what do you think was the most intimidating building that you had a chance to play in where you're like, wow, this is the fucking NHLl this is the biggest stage going yeah i mean each each one presented different challenges right i mean we we go up three nothing against tampa and then they they pound us in game four and and so the rink gets going right like it was it was uh it was great atmosphere game four but we finished off in five then you go to boston and we went all three in boston but that's a that's not an easy rink to play in uh it's a it's a fun rink to play in their fans are obviously so passionate and um but it was

it was really good series like really tight could have gone either way, break here, break there. Then you go to MSG. I was sitting up top for the first two games in MSG. I didn't play. The press box there, if you guys have been, it's kind of like a catwalk. There's fans behind you. I was sitting at the very end of the press box. In game two especially, I was getting chirped hard just heckled suck

you'd have buried that if you if you were in a healthy scratch like you bob just just the just constant and so that was i mean that was fun i obviously playing in long island for a long time you know the rangers fans don't forget so that was a blast but that rink was i mean it was jumping it was going that was a a really fun atmosphere to play in but i mean the only thing that i've ever seen that was as close to kind of that decibel level was that the nassau coliseum. That was how Edmonton was. It was loud. Obviously, the fans were in it.

You guys were there and had a front row seat to it. That bus ride after game six was hard. We were getting... Guys were fired up you guys were fired up i heard i heard fans were like throwing shit at the bus you guys were getting they were chirping your family members and stuff weren't they yeah game four oh that was game four excuse me excuse me yeah game four when we were there, there was a couple incidents. And like, hey, I get it. But at the same time, kids and wives should probably be off limits in those situations. No doubt.

But I understand everybody's fired up and fans are fans. And they're fans because a lot of times it's irrational. You know, it's just irrational, blind love for your team. And that's it. irrational you know and it's just irrational blind love for your team and and that's it so i understand it but but we were pretty fired up after that game six bus ride and just seeing you know how fired up the city was and they thought that they were going to take it and that gave us a some extra juice um another guy i wanted to ask you about uh sam bennett the menace like i think as much as i want him on my team come playoff time i think he should probably be in a max security prison when he's not playing hockey because this guy's a bit

of a psycho what did you make of the whole thing when that whole boston thing came about and just how fun was it going to a bat with a warrior like that who he he's he's got a different switch let's just put it that way i love benny i mean i went down the youtube rabbit hole of some of his fights and hits oh yeah it's pretty spectacular if you want to if you want to spend about 30 minutes doing that but not bad for a guy who can't do any chin-ups at the at the combine eh yeah not bad but no he's a dog he and he doesn't say much. He's just like kind of a silent assassin, like just like he is on the ice. He just lets his play do the talking. And yeah, I mean, he can when he sees red, it's it's full running of the bulls.

And as far as the Marshawn thing, you know, he's he's I can say this now. He had a broken hand. So he's playing with his with a broken hand on his other side. So when he comes to hit him, he can't protect himself with that hand. So he's got to try to go this way. And I don't think he's trying to like punch him in the face. I really don't. But yeah, I mean, he is a guy that you want in your corner for every single playoff series,

and he's just a phenomenal dude too. Great guy. Did he make you do any Burt Reynolds shots after you guys won it? That's his go-to shot. He made me suck a few back at the Stampede one year, so I just wanted to ask about that. I probably did. That's unbelievable um quickly just the other guy i was going to ask about who who was a really impactful player and you guys had so many as

carter verhage mr clutch i mean how many times has he came through with whether that's the ot winner or or a late game winning goal it just seems like that guy was able to figure out where to be at the right time uh yeah goo is uh they call him goo but he just phenomenal so clutch and he wants to be the guy he wants to be the guy to score the goals and that's why that's why he does it he just goes on the ice and he's like i don't really care about anything else. I'm just going to go score, and I'm going to be the difference maker. And I think that that's a big reason why he's so clutch. It was funny when we were in the locker room after we won, and I was sitting in my perch.

I looked around, and he was in full gear probably until 2.30 in the morning, and he had the cup for almost the whole time. It was just dumping it, dumping champagne in it, beers in it, feeding it to guys. And I just said, that's a guy that's done it before. He knows what he's doing. So it was pretty cool. Kyle, during the whole run, as a veteran, were you able to tell guys to absorb it, take it all in, but maybe at the same time saying, shit, this could be my last run?

What was your failures going through that, talking about the younger guys in particular? I don't know. I like having a nice deep conversation with people as everybody kind of knows who knows me. So I wasn't shy about sharing my perspective with the younger guys. And in this life, hopefully I'm on the younger side or middle-aged and but in in hockey terms for players i am you know old and grizzled and um so so i was able to said i think in life when you are older you obviously have a different perspective because you've experienced things and and hopefully you can gain some wisdom from that experience and i love talking to guys about about my experience and not in a way of of like oh i did this and i did that it's just they tell a story and i just i i don't know i just listen and then try to say okay this happened for me and and this is what i tried to do or you know i wish i would have done

this differently and so i i really enjoy having those conversations with the guys and i hope that i was able to help um help my teammates in a way and i think i did and as far as you know maybe it's my last one maybe it's not i haven't quite made up my mind on that front yet, but it's fun to go through a run like this after having the last eight years where I didn't play in the playoffs. I had three years on the island out of nine where I did. To have all of that culminate into this special run, everything was worth it. And all I tried to do was consume the

moment and take everything in and not and enjoy everything the fear even after game six when we're 3-3 and we're on the verge of the biggest collapse in sports history, which everybody was kind of saying, I, I, I loved it. I took it all in. And as wit said, at the start of the start of the pod, I went out with my kids and my two boys, they were playing mini sticks.

Dad, can you play a night before the game? And I was like, yeah, fine. All right. And I started to play, I give up a goal and I kind of half-ass shoot one whatever and then

i was just like you know what i'm gonna have some fun here and i'm gonna just just like go back to when i was in the driveway when i was eight years old pretending i was gonna play in game seven the stanley cup finals because you know what i'm playing in game seven of the stanley cup finals tomorrow and it was such an awesome moment that i have those with my boys and those are the things i'm going to remember forever that's awesome we couldn't be happier for you man and thank you so much for coming on to describe your whole experience and break down what it was like playing with all these awesome players and and coaching staff and and i can't think of it anyone more deserving man and to see your ride and the journey you've been on

and to maybe end it like this, it's remarkable. Now, you did make a comment. You're contemplating whether to retire or not, or are you trying to play longer? I don't know. I haven't officially decided yet, but we'll see. The last couple of years have been pretty eye-opening for me with everything that I went through with the NHLPA and helping that process along and meeting some different sort of business people and a lot of different people from around the game of hockey too.

invigorated something in me and gave me some excitement for, um, things in the future. And I really enjoy that side of it too. I enjoy, um, you know, all different aspects of a business or, you know, building a team or whatever, whatever that may be. Um, you know, I'm excited for that next phase as well, but, um, yeah, we'll see. Well, if it is buddy, hell of a fucking run and we appreciate you coming on man you're a legend thanks for having me guys appreciate it a pleasure buddy you're the man congratulations kyle thanks buddy before we continue i need to talk to you about lucy lucy is the obvious choice for the true nicotine pouch connoisseur.

That's why they're the official nicotine pouch partner of Barstool Sports. Lucy pouches go up to 12 milligram in strength and have a unique shape that feels great. Lucy Breakers are the only pouches with a hydration capsule inside. They're a totally new kind of pouch only available from Lucy. The flavors are out of control. Apple cider espresso is my go-to. It's an espresso martini in your mouth. I'm telling you, if you've tried the other ones, Lucy Breakers, you need to go get right now. Espresso in the morning. Each Breaker's pouch contains a hydration capsule that you crack open with your teeth before tossing it in your lip. The capsule releases a burst of flavor and helps release nicotine faster for an experience that you can't find in any other pouch. Gas station pouches get the job done, but once you've tried Lucy, you won't want anything else in your pocket.

And this has been the case for all my buddies, too. I said, give this one a shot. They're asking for more. They're ordering them. So get Lucy shipped straight to your door. Visit Lucy.co slash chicklets and use promo code chicklets to get 20% off your first order. Subscribe for another 15% off and shipping's always free. Thank you so much to Kyle Ocposo. What an amazing player. If that is a career, holy shit.

I mean, he didn't play the role Ray Bork played, but that's Ray Bork-ish. And you always say it never ends like that. Finishing off with a Stanley Cup. If that's it, who knows? He's not sure. He wants to play a lot of golf. I know that. And he actually mentioned right when we were done recording, he's like, oh, my God, the cup, by the way, the best part about it was how it was so imperfect.

All the little dents in it, all the bottoms all banged up, all the marks from everyone having it for so long. So he was amazed at the weight of it, and he was amazed at basically the shape of it. So thank you to him. Boston. I'm in Boston right now. That's where I live. The Bruins, Don Sweeney went out and made some moves. He made a couple of things happen. That Lindholm deal was nice. I was like, whew, that's an instrument. And you know what? The Bruins ever since the Chara and the, oh Jesus Jesus Christ, Mark Savard deal, they're willing to spend. They're willing to go out.

They've proved it with Pasta and McAvoy and all these signings. And they made themselves a better team, I believe. Tabrus gone. We'll go into that. That's a tough one. Probably time for him to make a change. And he got a payday. But I love Lindholm.

And Zdorov's going to, the media is going to eat him up here. Or I guess he'll just crush it making it sound like the media eats him up is probably a bad thing. Yeah, defenseman Nikita Zdorov, absolutely unreal season with Vancouver in the playoffs last year six year, $30 million daily came here for Elias Lindholm, seven years, 54.25

mil, I mean there's been very few Russian defensemen in Bruins history I think he's the sixth or seventh but this guy I mean we saw what he did last season in Vancouver, pro season. He's great in his own end, great offensively. Occasional penalty you might not want. But what he brings to the team, what he brings to the locker room,

and especially with the interviews, man, I was psyched about this. I tweeted a week ago. I hope they bring him in, and I'm absolutely fired up about it. Biz, what did you take on these two signings? Let's go to Zdorov. I was shocked that he didn't end up back in Vancouver, just based on these two signings um let's go to zadorov like i was shocked that he didn't end up back in vancouver just based on how uh he was embraced by the fan base as well as the team and how much success he had there um obviously it's a guy who has

moved teams before i don't know if the number got to be too high and the fact that they'd committed to ronick um and a few other players where they just didn't have the money to squeeze him in and as we know i mean tyler meyer's got a pretty team friendly deal there as well. But as we know, you need these big, lengthy, big bodied defensemen in order to win Stanley Cups. And that is the perfect fit, in my opinion, for the big, bad Bruins. And, you know, you mentioned, you know, sometimes takes the, the, the, a bad penalty here and there, bad turnover. And sometimes he can get off the rails, but ultimately what I think that he proved sometimes takes a bad penalty here and there, bad turnover, and sometimes he can get off the rails.

But ultimately what I think that he proved playing in Vancouver is that he can handle the bright lights and especially come playoff time. And that's what Boston needs. And hopefully he's able to go in there and play to where he was towards the end of the season and playoff time. As far as Lindholm's deal, I think it's huge, just because he's also the type of centerman where he's responsible defensively. Do I think he's a true number one center? I think when he's playing with quality players,

like he proved with Johnny Goudreau and Matthew Kachuk the year prior, when they were in Calgary. So he'll have that opportunity playing with top-end talent in Boston where he's probably not going to be relied on as heavily offensively but can keep up with those types of guys. So I think that Dreisaitl would be the perfect fit there eventually if he does end up moving on from Edmonton where all of a sudden you would have Dreisaitl.

We got to end this dry saddle Boston talk. You don't like that rumor mill? It's all Grinelli. It's all Grinelli. So you could keep going into it. It just makes my blood boil, and you can understand why. But ultimately paying a guy $7.75 is a great place to land on what you're going to get from Lindholm.

And it's definitely an upgrade from, and I don't want to, this doesn't come off as an insult, from Coyle and Zaka's standpoint. Like, I think the world of those guys, I think they both had incredible regular seasons. I just think as they got into the thick of things as they moved on in playoffs, it just wasn't where they should have been from a natural standpoint. I think Charlie Coyle would be a great second third line center on a Stanley Cup winning team you finally alleviate a little bit of pressure in that position in which seemed to be the talking point majority of the

season not only did you gain a first line center biz but you're also gaining a first line wing because now you can move Zaka to where he's played the best hockey in his time in Boston was on the wing so now you can now move him over to that wing on that first line and now you're throwing out Lindholm Pasternak and him on the first line and that's that's a great first line if you ask me up the middle you have Coyle you have Lindholm you have Beecher and you got Matty Potcher coming back I love where this team's going I love everything they're building and I love the draft pick they made at the draft that 6- seven kid out of bc how can you not love that kid yeah so they're looking pretty good good signings and if you're a beast fan you got to be licking

your chops i think going into next year probably a a better roster than this one definitely no question about it needed help in the face off dot needed help defensively up the middle no question about it they're a better team. Losing to Bruss sucks. It really does. I mean, that's 25 goals guaranteed every year, but I think you can find goals. I do.

I think they'll be able to find someone who can come up, score 10, 15, 20 goals on that first line, second line, but I think they're good. I think Zdorov, it must have been where they're going back and forth, and then the number, they just decided all beans, like, I can't do this. And that's when Myers got that deal.

All right, well, we're going to bring one of these big boys back. And they just they just decided they couldn't deal with that. But I was surprised too, because it seemed like he just fit in so well. He did. It didn't seem like it. And he was that good against Edmonton and Nashville. So I think that the Bruins fans are going to love him. That's one thing you always think about in this town, at least,

is they can get on players. Every city can, especially the original six, I guess. But they're going to love the way he plays. The one question mark will be, prior in his career, he's been in a bunch of different places, he's made the occasional kind of just like, what the hell was he just doing? I mean, you take the good with the bad, but I don't think Bruins fans are expecting like

an elite offensive talent and they really don't need that on defense there. They just need like a shutdown guy, a difficult to play against guy and a Bruins team that was always thought of as the big bad Bruins. They didn't seem necessarily that way this past season. Even last year when they're breaking all those regular season records, now it brings back some muscle. It brings back a little bite to the blue line there. So I think it's a great signing. I still think they need a little bite on offense. I still think they're missing a lot. They lost Pat Maroon, Lucic from the season before. Lauco is now out. I do

think somehow, whether it's through the minors whether trent frederick's going to kind of take a step back from you know 15 20 goals and he's going to be that fighter they need to add some type of grit in the bottom six the best part about it for me is the fact that i get to call him big z and it's going to drive boston fans out of their minds and and that is something i look to continue to do calm little z no Z. No, no. Z Junior. It doesn't matter. He specifically requested that nobody calls him Big Z in Boston, but that's not going to work with me. He's definitely got a sense of humor. We know that.

I texted him today, a little welcome to Boston. If I can help you out with anything. He replied, I thought you were an Oilers fan. Ha ha. Oh, he's taking shit. What the hell could you help him out with at Boston? Suits. He's going to help him with a suit game.

Couple fell off a truck. Anything he needs, anything he needs, I can help out with. Anybody who comes to Boston. I think he's staying away from that, the stuff that you could help him with. All right.

Chicago Blackhawks. I mean, obviously, Conor McDonough, they're going to be building around him. Brought in some new faces. Well, an old face,

but a few new ones too. Tyler Bertuzzi, four years, 22 mil. Toivo Turavainen, turbo as they call him. Three years, 16 plus. Pat Maroon, one year, 1.3. Craig Smith, one year, a million. And defenseman Alec Martinez, four million. I think that's a great veteran sign-up biz.

Blackhawks, things are going to be looking up for them here, eh? Yeah, I just think that they overall needed to put a more competent team on the ice. They were trying to solidify getting another high pick and going through a torturous year like that. But when you got a guy like Conor Bedard, we talked about it with the bringing in winners with Nashville. Like Alex Martinez has been there, right? Like Tyler Bertuzzi, he's got a decent track record where I feel like when the going gets tough, that's where his game elevates. Wasn't crazy about the way the year started for Tyler Bertuzzi. That might be a complaint for Chicago fans.

He just seems like the type of guy to rev it up when the back half of the season comes along. But I thought that that was a fair number. I was surprised at that number that the Leafs couldn't fit him back in the roster. But I just think that this team needed to have a better showing on the ice than last year, and they are getting there. And yeah, I was happy with their moves, and they look like a more respectable team.

I was watching Barstool Chiefs video. He was saying how he was kind of really holding on and hoping they could get Tanev, who goes on to the Leafs. But Alec Martinez is that veteran guy. He can munch minutes. They're going to get Taylor Hall back, right? Bertuzzi and Hall played pretty well together on the Bruins. Maybe they have a little bit of a connection.

And I think that this team will take a step forward. I don't necessarily think they're a playoff team yet. But everything that I hear all around different scouts I talk to, Chicago's prospect pool is out of this world. It seems like all the like different scouts I talk to Chicago's prospect pool is like out of this world it seems like all the guys that they have coming up and that they're drafting are going to have a legit chance of making an impact the same way all those draft picks did as they came up at the beginning of that dynasty so I think it's a great spot to be a Blackhawks fan right now because it wasn't it's been a lean few years but it it hasn't seemed

like forever they had so much success in 10 13 and 15 that all right we're ready to get going again and today was kind of a all right like I think that this team's going to take a step forward then we get some prospects coming in in the springtime maybe some college guys junior guys and then we're off and running the following year that's how I look at it but darts third season is when they're competing for a playoff spot. And was Tara Vining already there? Yeah. He had already been there, right?

Yeah. I like him as a player. I think he's a great all-around guy and then came over from Carolina, so another guy with winning pedigree. Speaking of winners, Seattle looking to get back in the playoffs next year. Chandler Stevenson, Stanley Cup out with Vegas last year. Brandon Montour with Florida this year. There's two last two years of Cup winners.

Chandler Stevenson signed seven years, 43.75 mil. Brandon Montour, seven years, 50 mil. Some nice change for those boys. I mean, with this and the new coaching change, I expect them to get right back in the playoffs. Would you wait next season? I know it's only two guys, but I know. Do I expect them to get right back in the guys but I don't know do I expect him to get right back

in the playoffs I don't know goaltending and they made a good step today I think Beniers had that sophomore slump season and biz you even you even texted it to me he needed some help and you bring over Stevenson who whose best part of his game is his motor that's Beniers best part of his game too now you got two guys that can fly up the middle. And a guy who's won, a guy who's been there, Montour just won. Same thing we're kind of talking about that you're bringing in these guys who've been there that are still, like, have a lot of

great hockey left. I think Stevenson's number, what was the final AAV on that? 6.25. Yeah. You know, maybe off this year a little high for me, but I already talked about the going rate for what you've done

and being a cup champ adds even a little bit more. I mean, you think back to when they did when I think he was point-per-game player in the playoffs for 20 points in 22 games, and now you've got a guy who's able to know how the West is played, know how to go up against the big guns in that conference, and then Montour, the way he moves the puck. I think the year was a little bit disappointment, but when you come back from injury,

20 games in, whatever it was, it's always a battle. You're always kind of playing catch-up, you feel like. And yes, OEL took his spot on the power play, but when he goes in and he's with Vince Dunn and they're snapping it around, he'll have all the confidence knowing he was given money that they want him there, and it's a good step.

But I'm not at all ready to say I see them easily hopping back in the playoffs as you did. Going to Montour, I think if he lands in a place with his play from the year prior and this year, I think that $7 million will be a fine deal over the course of it. You know what I'm saying? Maybe provide a little bit more offense, better defensively, and just really get his feet underneath him to where he was a few years ago. I think it's a huge add. And like you said, Whit, I texted in the group chat,

like Beniers is a little smaller and undersized, and he's going to eventually catch up and get thicker and be able to handle that pace along with the physicality of maybe being in that number one role but for the meantime like you're looking at that western conference and the number one center that you have to go up against night in and night out it just be a little bit nice to get veneers a breather where you know some nights that may be his matchup but not not so much where he's on an island because if you had to play another full season against those guys as the number one guy you got to worry about confidence at a certain point and you got this champion in

Chandler Stevenson who I thought was one of their more underappreciated underrated players during the course of that Stanley Cup run where he really elevated his play so I think he's going to add a ton to that lineup and it'll be a great guy for for Banears to learn off of as well and and you touched on his skating right like if you want to compete in today's game you got to play at a certain level and pace he might not wow you with his high-end offense but just how much he's able to cover of the ice uh from a 200 foot uh 200 foot game perspective i like the signing all day long and it also gives him an opportunity to go see if he can get to that next level because you know you're under the shadow of Jack Eichel and and uh who was

their second line center last year I feel like Chandler Stevenson was kind of that number three guy where they did you know they had they had Wild Bill in there in some cases and um I'm drawing a blank and who they most of the time had in that second. And then, of course, they have Hurdle now, who I would imagine that jumps in that role. So it's a good day to be a Saddle Kraken fan. The Montour signing was getting chirped a little bit, the fact that he's 30 and he's making over seven until he's 37.

I mean, when you had the year they had, they got to bring in something. They got to bring more help. The overpayment stuff. Yeah, I think there's a lot of times where you look back and you're like, that was a tough deal. But you got to give a goal. You got to give it a go. It's like there was nothing else out there for him. So they got a guy that they believe two years ago was his game and will be for the next three, four seasons as opposed to this year.

Coming off shoulder surgery. That's what people say. He's coming off shoulder surgery. He's 30. Well, all right. Well, now he'll be good. The doctors are pretty solid these days. It's not like when they operate on my foot 15 times.

I think Montour's got a lot of great hockey in him. All right, boys. Going a little further up the coast, the Pacific. Vancouver brings in Jake DeBrusque from the Bruins. Seven-year, $38.5 million deal. And Dan Hynan, two-year, $4.5 million deal. It Dan Heinen, two-year, $4.5 million deal. It's a team last year. They made a great run, even though they lost the first couple of goaltenders.

It feels like they just got to plug a few holes in here. Biz, do you think this is a pretty good day for Vancouver, the first day for the agency? Yeah, and they brought in Sherwood as well over from Nashville, who I think he was top 10 in hits all of last season. So he brings that physical element. I thought he was tremendous in playoffs, and he was very noticeable. And I think sometimes when you play against a guy like that and you see how good he actually is, it makes you respect his game even more.

And that's why I think that they went over and got him. I remember talking with Toc after the playoffs were over, and he specifically mentioned this kid's name and how big of a pain in the ass he was on the four check and just how hard he battles um as far as jake the bus debrusk i couldn't be happier for the guy um i think he's a gamer i think that the contract talks um um and and where the negotiations were over the past couple years and even when he was a free agent i think it kind of fucked them up a little bit where he didn't really feel like he was getting that security provided by the Bross and Bruins well I mean the Vancouver Canucks go

out and they do that for him and I think that they gave him a very healthy contract and I think that he's going to live up to those expectations because he's a big game player when you play in Boston you're used to making playoffs every year and they need guys who thrive under those moments and another another thing too, it's like, I think he'll be a good fit if he ends up playing with Petey. I feel like Petey needs that type of guy in his line where he's a little bit grittier, right? A little bit more of a puck count and not afraid to get to the blue paint. So it'll be a nice little contrast for him. And I also liked Heinen's game too I think he's a fast little water bug and and he's got a lot to provide so maybe with what they lost out in the in the Gensel sweepstakes because I heard that they were one of the teams talking to Jake Gensel Vancouver they have a lot of nice

consolation prizes where they never really had to go out and give this massive bag right with with Sherwood as we mentioned Heinen the fact that they were able to lock in Dakota Joshua for under $4 million. I think he got $3.25 million. So they've really replenished this group, and I think that they have a lot to build off of with these moves. And Jake DeBrus being a Western Canadian kid, I feel like he'll fit right in, and it's going to be a smooth transition. So bravo to the Vancouver Canucks, who I thought were another team that really won free agency. And maybe people will say that Roenick deal was maybe like a slight overpayment, but where the D market's at,

I think that they got everybody locked in at good rates. I saw a tweet comparing the DeBrus contract to Hyman's deal. I think it's the exact same deal. Zach Hyman's deal. I think it's the exact same deal. Zach Hyman? Yeah, and their numbers before they, like their numbers in Toronto and the numbers in Boston when they went over. Now, playing with Connor McDavid

is a completely different story, and Hyman's, what he's done is nobody saw that coming, but as a Canucks fan, you're looking at it like, all right, we need Patterson to be that superstar, right? He's got to be the guy that got all that dough, that had the 100-point season, that showed that he was a top player in the league and they're no doubt thinking that DeBrus could play with him,

drive the net. When you said gritty, I think someone that's going in and getting the puck, feeding Petey, like the things that he needs, that was perfectly said. And Hyman's kind of similar, right? Like Dirk Dogg's in on the four check. So I do see the similarities between them both. If he ever popped off for 50, I'd be surprised.

But I think every playoff, even though Bruins fans would occasionally get maybe a little frustrated with DeBrusque in the regular season, I think he had two 27-goal seasons or 125-127. He was always showing up in the playoffs and he always scored playoff goals and going in to where talk is, that's exactly what he wants. I also like on D, yeah, they lost Sadorov, but they're still enormous back there. They got Myers. They bring in Vinny DeHarne, who kind of sucks to see him leave Edmonton, but even though he wasn't able to be in the lineup as they went on the run against Dallas and when Broberg came in and kind of changed their breakout issues

when Deharnais was on the ice, he's a Vancouver-style D-man. You saw it in the second round watching the Oilers play them. They're just in your face. They're physical, and that's what talk wants back there, along with Quinn Hughes buzzing around and Hronik, who did have a good offensive season. So I thought it was a good day. I think DeBrusco fit right in there,

and I really wouldn't be surprised to see him get 25 to 30 for a good amount of those years. If Patterson's playing his game, no doubt he'd go to the net. I love that. I love that deal. People kind of question the number. I didn't. I was happy. As we say, Biz, we want these guys to the net. I love that. I love that deal. People kind of question the number. I didn't. I was happy.

As we say, Biz, we want these guys to get paid. Fucking rights. Absolutely. Posh's New Jersey Devils made a couple moves. Brunnen forward, Stephan Nosen, three-year, $8.25 million deal. Defenseman, Brett Pesci from Carolina, six-year, $33 million deal. Nice payday for him. Defenseman, Brendan Dillon, had a buddy on the program, three years, $12 million. Nice Nice payday for him. Defenseman Brendan Dillon, I bet he had a program.

Three years, $12 million. Nice little thumper on the back end. Should Pasha be happy with these moves? I know we're not going to bring him on today. I would think Pasha's very excited. The Stefan Nosen coming over from Carolina, he came out of nowhere. I mean, he was in the minors two or three years ago. He's a nice impact player on the bottom six.

The defense makeover, though, is what's probably the best thing for Devils fans is that you have Hughes and you have Nemec and you have this young talent and then you bring in physical Dylan Pesci, who it'll be interesting to see Pesci when he's not in that Carolina system. That is something that I think can maybe hide a couple warts on guys is how good they are team defensively. Now, the argument would be you're playing man on man. So you got to be able to cover your guy. You got to be able to move.

And Pesci's shown that he's able to do that great on the PK. But even bringing in Markstrom, I consider kind of part of this. And Fitzgerald really looked at it. This year was a fluke, right? They couldn't. They lost to the shit teams. They beat the good teams. They couldn't get a save.

Hughes got injured. It's like, let's reset. Let's go out, bring guys in that we know can help us get to that next level because that is the trajectory that team's on. And I think a day like today is only going to make it even better based on the young talent they have and then adding in what they did. I mean, I don't know about you guys, but I kind of want to run the disclaimer and hear what that

fucking idiot has to say. I would run the disclaimer. We know he's just going to love every move and every guy gone wasn't any good, but I'll run the disclaimer. He's not talking unless we do. Warning. The following statements are about to be made by a deranged Devils fan.

The views expressed are his and his only. Take everything you hear with a grain of salt because remember, he is a deranged Devils fan. The views expressed are his and his only. Take everything you hear with a grain of salt because, remember, he is a deranged Devils fan. Well, well, well, Mr. Pasha. What's up, fellas? Yeah, you summed it up perfectly, I thought. I thought Fitzy addressed exactly what this team needed. They have all the sexy skill in the world, but they need some meat and potatoes, some

guys that can protect the house. And yeah, Pesci, really good defender, PK. One of the better defenders on defending off the rush, which the Devils really struggled with last season. Then you got Dillon, also a PK guy, big, strong guy. So I think that combined with Markstrom, like you said, really going to tighten things up and then kind of allow the young guns to get up there and fly and create offense.

Pasha, the reason that Pesci was so good at fucking breaking up zone entries is because he had back pressure. Are those skill guys, those fancy players who don't know how to play a 200-foot game in New Jersey going to start creating a little back pressure? Here comes the Heashier talk. Here comes the Heashier-Bergeron talk. He's the only guy.

He's the only guy. That's a question for Sheldon Keefe. That's a question for Keefe. I think he did a good job getting that out of the forwards in toronto you saw like matthews how strong his defensive game was and even martyrs defensive game so if you can kind of do the same thing and get those guys to play solo defensively uh i think i think devils will be in really good shape what what happens to you what happens to you if they don't make playoffs next season well i'll have to give that some thought and come up with a counterpoint for you,

but I'll make a little bet. You're not going to fulfill it. Yeah, he didn't get it tattooed. You want to go down and not fulfill it. You should have to get a mushroom cut on the top of that ugly noggin of yours. I actually grew up with the mushroom cuts. I'll go back to my old days.

I need to see a picture of Pasha with the mushroom cut. Pasha analytics are they in your favor in both these signings like what would what would the people dogging maybe the dylan deal or the pesci deal say yeah what are the charts say they should make based on what i was reading i kind of like all the analytics people's they felt both deals were slight overpays uh that could kind of, in the last couple of years, maybe not look so great. But, you know, I think you kind of deal with that down the road. I love both deals. One thing, though, like, you know, I heard the Devils were basically on the goal line with Marcius O,

which I thought would be an unbelievable add. And then I guess Nashville swept in last second. So if there's one more order of business for Fitzy, I think he needs a winger to play with Jack, who can put the puck. I was pumped. I thought Marshall Sobe would be a great addition. For many of the reasons you guys mentioned earlier in the show,

all the cup-winning pedigree, things like that. Fitzy's still got to bring in a guy. I've heard rumblings of maybe Nikolai Ehlers. We've heard rumblings of Natchez. They have a lot of draft capital and stuff that they can trade. Side note, that Holtz deal, i don't like that at all wow they moved away from your boy they gave up early i really don't know yeah i don't know what they were doing schmied and holtz or paul car i mean that fits into them trying to get bigger and meaner but i i don't like giving up on holtz

but he's finally free from lindy now who wasn't a fan of him, giving a crack under Keith. Let's see if Keith can help turn it around. So I love most moves Fitz he makes. Head-scratching one on that one, but who knows? Let's see. The offseason's not done yet. Let's see if he can bring in a scoring winger and be what Holtz was supposed to be.

I don't know. All right, my friend. Thanks for jumping on. By the way, how'd you get home safe the other night after they ran into you and Memes? Whatever that night it was, Saturday, Friday night, whatever you guys were feeling. 7.30 a.m., flight out of Vegas. Those are not smooth sailing,

but happened to be home. It was a hell of a rip with you boys the last couple weeks. Hell of a rip as well. We'll see you later, my friend. We'll be in touch. Piz, your boys made a couple of big moves. Free living, showing up that D. Chris Tannev, six years, 27 mil. Great signing there. OEL, your other boy, four years, 14 mil.

Proud and goalie. Anthony Stolas was pretty great for Florida last year. Regular season. The one time they needed a playoffs, I think. Two years, five point, I'm sorry, five million biz. The Leafs come up next year or what? Yeah, kind of like Nashville situation. A lot of criticism online.

Like they didn't address their needs. It's like when have they never needed a guy like chris tan in the locker room i said that at the fucking deadline when he didn't go there and he ended up going over to dallas like that was a guy that i wanted yeah is he getting older absolutely but on a stanley cup winning team he's a number three four type shutdown d-man who can kill penalties. He's going to block shots. He's going to be a warrior in the D zone. He's going to be a cycle buster. And that's exactly what they needed.

And then to get him at, people were a little concerned about the length of the deal. But I think in order to get him down to that AAV, they had to present him with that. And we all know it's not easy playing in Toronto. So he probably wanted that type of security and that type of money. Few jokes in the group chat as to, oh, great, they just got their new whipping boy. Shut the fuck up to everybody in our Chicklets group chat. We got a winner on our side.

And then going over to OEL, Brad Treeliving helped sign that contract when he was at the Arizona Coyotes. He helped draft Oliver. This is a winner. I'm so happy with the rebound season he had in Florida, and to get him at $3.5 million, if he's bringing to the table what he brought this year in Florida, that's an absolute bargoon

because he ended up taking over that power play. I think he could step into that role where nothing against Morgan Riley, but I believe that Oliver high-end offense and what I've seen from him this guy's had three or he had back-to-back 20 goal seasons so playing with those skilled guy in Toronto's I I think that he could alleviate a lot of pressure off of Morgan Riley having to be that number one guy on the power play and he could step into that role to where they'll complement each other perfectly. So to the fan base saying they didn't address their needs,

I think that that can be done when JT is off the books. Yes, do they need to go solidify that bottom six and have guys who can help contribute more than they have in the past? I actually thought that last year in playoffs that their bottom six was pretty solid. Do they need to get better in order to be a Stanley cup champion? Absolutely. But in my opinion, a great start to free agency and solidifying that backend in which was leaking

a little bit of oil at times last year. Um, and, and Oliver is also a guy who can be a puck moving defenseman and getting it into that forward's hands a little bit cleaner probably was a priority and then that's going to happen as well so uh happy happy with it with the moves they made and the other guy up front who they locked in max domey i think that he fucking played incredible come playoff time and he deserved that contract and that's a place that he belongs um in leafland

it was he was born to be a toronto maple leaf he was awesome in that face-off circle when he had to step in as a centerman he can do so moving forward as a bit of a swiss army knife or back to wing where he played most of the year uh so another good one and also a guy who plays with a lot of sandpaper like he's a fucking piece of shit and when he's playing like a piece of shit i feel like that's when he's at his best. And you saw it against the Boston Bruins all series long and also during the course of the season as well. Mitch Marner needs a little Max Domi in him, I think. Just the whole way he talked about the city signing in Toronto, how he's willing to take less money, the way he plays gritty for the city. If Mitch Marner just had 10% of what Max Domi had,

he'd just be such a better player. He's getting it. They're doing a little bit of shock treatment up in Muskoka with him, and he's going to find that bite, and they're going to sign him with. Domi had an unreal video he released when he signed. It was like him on Jordan Belfort and Wolf of Wall Street's face. Our memes, Morningstar, Dale might have made that thing for him. It's just him saying, I ain't fucking leaving.

And then it rips through the pictures and videos of old Leafs legends, a picture of the skyline. It was a pretty cool way to announce that you're re-signing. You said you thought it was a great day. I don't know if I can give you that. I do think the D looks way better and more solid and tougher to play against. But if you think back to the first round, it wasn't the D that was

the issue. And they're bringing back basically the same forward crew minus Bertuzzi. Now, you got to think that they're looking like, maybe Easton Cowan, this kid who lit up the O, can step right in and be a contributor. I think Nick Robertson, he's not resigned.

No, he's not. I don't think he's coming back. So, I mean, granted, that's not like he wasn't like a huge part of their top two lines at all. But I think that the gripe from Leafs fans being it looks like we are bringing back a very, very similar, if not the same team up front that couldn't even get out of the first round. I know, but I don't think you can but I don't think you can seriously address the issue

until you get JT's numbers off the books. Yeah. And including what they decide to end up doing with Marner. Like we're talking about potentially having $22 million in cap space more next offseason. And maybe they're looking forward. What's the crop of free agency looking like next year? So for what they had to work with,

I think that they did a pretty good job given the situation. So that's why I said what I said. Tanev, awesome, awesome right off the jump. I think the no-move clause where you can't buy him out, you can't send him down, he's a little older, and just the way he plays, he can get beat down a little bit. A little scary, but it is somebody that

Leafs fans for a while have wanted. So then when you get him, it's hard to then be like, oh, well, I don't like the number. I don't like the term. It's kind of, you got him, though. At least give him a chance before you're all over the guy. My biggest issue with them is the fact that they haven't had any homegrown defensemen besides Morgan Riley come in

and be a major factor. Well, Lillgren resigned, right? What did he get? Yeah, okay. I don't know, but he ain't fucking moving the needle. Maybe he reaches the next level this year. He can skate. Lillgren got two years, three mil AAV.

You're going to need him to make a step. I don't mind him, three mil AAV. Let's hope. You're going to need him to make a step. I don't mind him, but from what I've seen so far, he's not the guy. He ain't the next Alex Petrangelo. We need one of those guys. Where the fuck are those guys at? Where's my Hayskid? Where's my McCarr?

They're fifth overall. They're fourth overall. Where's my Moritz Seider? Huh? Where is he? Top five pick, brother. Moritz Seider, he? Where is he? Top five pick, brother. Moritz Seider, he's in Detroit, which is where Patrick Kane is going to be for the biz.

One year, $4 million deal he signed. Also brought in goalie Cam Talbot, goalie Jack Hamill, and defenseman Eric Gustafson. But, I mean, Kane back to Detroit, and I don't think there's any big surprise there. I don't think he was ready to go back to Chicago, kind of take another kick out the can. But, I don't know, relatively somewhat quiet day for the Red Wings.

No biz. Yeah, I think that they got to more so concern themselves with getting Sider locked back in, Lucas Raymond. You know, they did a great job last year in giving Dylan Larkin that contract, which, you know, I talked about a lower number initially, but I think he even exceeded what he got as far as expectations. They got to brink it. Right now, I feel like they're chilling,

and they got to see with what all these guys they've drafted who are ready to make these big leaps are going to do before they go out and spend ridiculous money on any type of free agents. You talked about that, is it Edvinson, the defenseman? The big fucker?

They got some really good players in the pipeline, and I think it was Chicago that you mentioned having a lot of up-and-coming pedigree. I think that Detroit is in that topic of conversation as well, as well as the big goalie that played for the Oil Kings. Is it Costa? Costa, right? Yeah, Costa. So they're not doing anything drastic right

now they're they're going they're playing the long game to have sustainable success stevie why he knows what the fuck he's doing uh well that i think that's some of the complaint from wings fans i'm hearing from is it's eight years in a row out of the playoffs and you know they trade wallman and and and they don't really get anything back in terms of signing. Now, there's these Trouba rumblings, and I think Drury addressed it today that he's going to keep it private, what they've said to each other, but he mentioned how much he respects him as a person and a player. I don't know if that's going to end up going down, but you would think they would have a little more going on, a trade wise possibility because a little bit of an

underwhelming day i'd say i mean it's awesome news having cane back that's great i think with bonuses it can end up being six and a half like games played bonuses making the playoffs or winning around but i think fans are getting anxious there then and i don't think i know and when you have a july 1st where you wanted to at least get in the mix a little bit more than you did, it can be frustrating. Now, you mentioned all these guys they have due coming up, and Wallman, maybe they do look to Edvinson as kind of taking his job in the top four.

But I wouldn't say after today it's like Wings fans are celebrating. Yeah, I mean, it's a nice couple of moves, but yeah, nothing to get too crazy about. Washington Capitals, they made a big move. Picked up Jacob Chickren from Ottawa, couple moves but yeah nothing to get too crazy about uh washington capitals they made a big move uh picked up jacob chicken from ottawa uh sent back dick jensen in a third and 26 also signed matt roy 70 a 38 and a half million dollar deal uh brandon duhaime two years 3.7 million conor mcmichael well he's restricted free agent two year 4.2 million dollar deal another team is just more like just kind of house cleaning although chicken's a big deal biz what's your take on that i know you

were high on this guy a couple years ago in Arizona. Ottawa didn't seem to like the taste of him, I guess, after a little while. Yeah, no. Well, I mean, yeah, I think they did a good job of re-bolstering that back end. I mean, they got Carlson there, and then outside of that, it kind of drops off. So to bring in two names like that, I think, is huge. And I think that they want to be a competent team going into these final years of Ovi's goal chase.

And I think they've done just that, as well as getting rid of Darcy Kemper's contract, which they weren't happy with, and especially the way that... Oh, John, I'm drawing a blank on the goalie. What a hell of a year. Lingren. Lingren.

So, yeah, I think that it was a solid day. I think people were definitely surprised with how active Washington was uh lingering lingering so yeah i think that it was a solid day i don't i think that it uh i think people were definitely surprised with how active washington was based on expectations so uh good for them and a couple good couple good guys i think that you bring in logan thompson right they got manji apani they bring in uh the pierre luke dubois trade i trade. I think Matthew Roy, or is it Roy? Sorry. Roy. Roy.

He played at Michigan Tech. I play with him. I was actually. He's good. He's very good. I was just, whoa, whoa. That was a big jump in number. What is he making?

He's making over five, right? Yeah. I think that he's really good defensively. Sportsnet said he's one of the best, analytically, one of the best shutdown defensemen in the game. Yeah, sleeper. So that, Brandon Duhame plays edgy. I thought he'd be better in Colorado,

but it's a way different looking team, at least. You made the playoffs. Somehow, nobody knows really how it happened, and then the Rangers took care of you pretty easily. But you made some legit changes. So at least you're like, all right, we're not okay with what happened. I guess,

oh, she would, would be retiring or go on LTIR. So you got more money there. If that happens, you got backstroms, LTIR money. So at least they went out and tried to address some things.

It's not like, all right, as I've said, it's kind of seems like Washington is, is playing out the Ovechkin goal record. And that's kind of what I've been talking about this past season, even though they did get in the playoffs. That's not how they're looking at it.

They decided to go out, spend a bunch of dough, make a bunch of different moves, and they got something cooking. I think Logan Thompson is really good. Who knows if Lingen can kind of repeat what he did this year. But I thought it was like not an amazing day, but definitely not a bad day. I wouldn't be surprised if Ryan Leonard flips now. They're making moves, and when you look at it from his perspective,

they've now made enough moves where they're going to compete next year, and you can get this kid in on Ovi's historic run. Why would he go back to BC? He's proven everything he has to. I think he could be in Washington next season. Seems like a lot of guys in the mix that have to have proven years like I think Chikrin's got a lot to prove I think Dubois got a lot to prove and you know we much like those guys who are pretty pissed off about not getting re-signed in March or so and Stamkos in Nashville these guys you want guys having some spunk and some things

to prove going into a big year yeah what your uh Oilers made a couple of moves for next year. Jeff Skinner, one year, $3 million after his buyout. That's a hell of a play to pick up for that price, I think. Victor Arvidsson, two years, $8 million, and now bringing Corey Perry back for a year, $1.4 million. I think they had a few more holes to fill, but, you know, as an Oilers fan, Whit, you got to like these. And just as Pasha texted the group chat, Whit,

Henrik locks in for another two years. Henrik, oh, Rico. Henrik comes back. You got Brown coming back. I love Arvidsson. Arvidsson's always been. Now, granted, they've played the Kings three years in a row in the first round. Just in your face, Waterbug can score.

I love that signing. I think Connor Brown coming back. I think it was one year, one million bucks. Everyone, like the fans, just absolutely love that after his playoff. I tweeted something about when he re-signed and all the people were sending me is like his uh advanced numbers and his wins above replacement stat it's like well dude yeah he had a bad regular season he's fucking awesome in the playoffs why wouldn't that continue he's not a new guy on the team he's comfortable there i love that and and and the d has to it's a little bit of work left to be done there.

But if you can't be happy with what went on today as an Oilers fan, Skinner and Arvidsson, while being undersized, dude, they're going to play with – when you play with Leon and Connor, dude, it is a different ballgame. And Jeff Skinner at that number, with the numbers he's put up the last few seasons, yeah, the joke is, oh, well, Edmonton might miss the playoffs. No, no, no, no. We're bringing Skinner to the promised land.

Jeff Skinner's going to go from most games played without a playoff game directly to a Stanley Cup. So the Oilers, awesome first day when you get afraid of losing certain guys, and then Henrik comes back, Brown comes back. You didn't think necessarily that would happen. I don't know about Janmark. He didn't sign anywhere yet, did he? Or did I have that wrong?

Yeah, Yanmark got three years with them at 1.45 with the N20. Yeah, see, I didn't even do it. I'm fucking, I'm missing Yanmark. It's unbelievable. I am actually over the moon right now. I think that this was an awesome day coming off a tough game seven loss. Everyone wants to be there. Nobody wants to go anywhere.

They want to be a part of the greatest comeback story, the way the Panthers did it. Lose in the finals and go get it done. Beautifully summarized. And the Campbell buyout made total sense. I think that just kind of had to be done. It kind of sucks for him. I ran into him during the finals. For anyone who knows him, he's one of the nicest people you'll ever meet.

He's so genuinely nice. He's like, yeah, I'm looking forward to the summer. He didn't know what was going to happen. He ends up getting bought out, get a fresh start. So kind of a tough move. But now you just wonder who's going to be the GM. You wonder if you can get Leon signed this summer. There's a lot of questions that remain to be seen.

I know Biz mentioned a former Blackhawks GM possibly getting the job. He was actually reinstated, the guy that I'm talking about, along with Joel Quenville. And I think that that could obviously go down pretty soon from the sound of it. But a great first day for the Oilers. Another couple of you guys, old team. Pittsburgh Penguins, they're bringing in former Boston Bruin Matt Krizik. One year, $2.75 million deal. Also picked up our other buddy Kevin Hayes in a trade uh got

hazy in a second uh for future considerations and Anthony Beauvillier one year 1.25 mil uh gee I'll go to you on this one uh you're gonna miss uh Gryz I know he had a nice little run here in Boston but it seemed like the right might have been on the wall a little bit yeah definitely the right time to go but I wanted to ask you guys I also saw some news that the penguins are working on an extension for sydney crosby what number do you think that's going to fall in i think they said it's going to be around the three-year range uh if they're going to be as good of a team as they have been uh or the last couple years i think he should take them to the cleaners and make 13 14 as much as he can the full 20 that you're allowed to make

as an individual on a team based on the CBA. Because, I mean, I look at these moves, guys, and I just, that's a vanilla hockey team. I don't think they're going to make playoffs again at this point unless Sidney Crosby has another gear to give us, which I think that they asked enough of him last year in the performance that he had. So none of these jump out at me.

I've also heard that they're shopping Smith potentially. So it's just like really confusing times for me in the Pittsburgh Penguins. He went to the Rangers. Yeah, he just got traded to the Rangers. Oh, okay. There you go. I never saw that pop up. We got a lot of things coming in.

Aruma boys. But yeah, I mean, I'm happy for Hazy. You know, maybe find himself in a better situation. And, you know, getting to play with Crosby, as we did, is a treat in itself. So hopefully he's able to have some luck there. Yeah, I was actually talking to him, and I think that he had a pretty good relationship with Mike Sullivan over at the Worlds.

He liked how he played, and that deal ends up going down. I mean, people all over Pittsburgh so far are kind of giving him shit. It is hard after last year to see not any major upgrades. You just got to hope. Penguins fans just got to hope that Carlson has another gear and Malka. I know it's hard to think of that team right now as if they couldn't get in this year, being able to switch it around but i i i hope they do fuck i i just think crosby deserves to have a lot more when he's finishing out this this this career and maybe three times 10 yeah he'd be nice to to not take

20 anything anything under 20 of the team cap is basically him saying here. They should be giving him ownership like Mario for what he's done for that fucking team. Although they probably wouldn't pay him the full amount just like Mario. Fucking scumbags. Hopefully they'll just pay him up front anyways. But one more team note here before we bring up the draft. Philadelphia Flyers, they brought Matt Vamichkov to his ELC, Russian player. That's a huge development for the Flyers fans and also brought out Cam Atkinson.

So, a couple moves for the Flyers there. But boys, we were at the draft last week at the Sphail Friday night. This building, it's a marvel like we've heard about, just a building. I don't think any of you guys have ever been in anything like it. The whole like, I don't know, 100 feet high ceiling, Biz. It was kind of trippy.

I mean, maybe a little more for you than everybody else there, though, Biz. Is it only 100 feet? I feel like it's way higher than 100 feet. I mean, 100 stories, dude. I mean, is that an actual stat? Everyone looked like ants when we were up in the top level. It's crazy. 100 feet.

The ceiling goes all the way up. I've never been in a building anything like that i don't know anything to compare it to you think of the army theater here in massachusetts with it's nothing like that it's like it's like you're in a globe but just a phenomenal experience to witness that business i know you had a few comments well i'll just say that i think that you can consider it one of the seventh wonders of the world that are man-made uh Just incredible execution. Like I walked in and I was blown away at not only how clean it was

but just the overall setup. I was able to go down to the floor, which was as trippy as shit, and if I ever did a concert there, I'd probably want to hang out there. And then all the way to the top where you get to see the full screen. It's not as overwhelming up top as it is when you're down below. So bravo to the NHL for throwing it there. I think that they should do it there every year, even though moving forward they're not bringing the roundtables.

It's just going to be simply the prospects. I think that it should be done there every year. My only complaint about the full day is if you were live um uh there and when the teams were on the clock and let's say a team had seven minutes there was a lot of time where the screen wasn't being used so for about three minutes in a row it would just be a visual of the list of teams and then the picks that had already been picked picked that were there. So then from more rumors that were circulating or conversation still don't know if this is true, the teams,

if they wanted to have a special video or graphics playing on there while their time was up, they had to pay extra money for it. Is that true? That's the word that is going around where I'm like, man, like they paid to rent the space. Let's build this thing up and make it an even better live experience where, you know, when the

Kraken's going, let's have all the tentacles going of the octopus or whatever the fuck you call it and, and, and play a highlight videos of the past and present where sometimes it'd just be a graphic of like who their leading scorers were from the year before so really didn't think that they utilized the screen enough from the live experience it probably played out different on television but definitely could have made a a better show of it if they would have dolan specifically allowed the teams to use the screen to the best of their ability with whatever like philadelphia was, and then there was a skyline, which wasn't even Philly's skyline, and it was just the Flyers logo.

I want to see the Broad Street bullies going at it on this massive screen. I want to see the history of their team, them hoisting their cup, Bobby Clark smiling while raising it with no teeth. Give me action while I'm tripping on mushrooms at the sphere during the NHL draft. That's probably why Dana White came out and said that when the UFC goes there, what the NHL did will look like children with crayons. I think that was his quote. He said it's going to be like fucking kids playing with crayons was his quote. The experience of being in there was great,

but you're right. Like I was wondering if we'd get a little bit more of the videos from the Grateful Dead where you're like looking all around at different team videos. I like actually, yeah, the Kraken octopus, different things that would have maybe made the sphere more like it is for shows.

I guess that's the difference between you two, Fish, the Grateful Dead, and then the NHL holding a draft. It was still awesome to be in there, though. The only thing it made me do is want to go back and see a show there because the entire building, when you're walking up to it, as Ari said, that 100 feet seems way taller, and it's this enormous black sphere you walk into.

They had about 50 different bars in that place too. The place was completely packed. There was no lines for anything anywhere. I was amazed at the ability for how easy the, I guess, what would be the term? Accessibility? Yeah, accessibility. Convenience to just be in there.

The draft overall, the third overall pick, Beckett, is it Seneke? Is that how I say it? Correct. That kid's reaction. He goes, holy fuck. Oh my God. Holy shit.

He had no clue he was going third overall. It was the most evident. I was actually thinking back to my draft. My buddy of mine mike morris is actually picked i think 27th by the sharks he he wasn't expecting he was like out getting popcorn or something like that like that it reminded me of that just having no clue you were gonna go there and and the the embrace with his family was great and then biz you said donors like was talking to that kid's unbelievable talent, right? Yeah, he said that he grew six inches pretty quick.

And he said, if you look at his hands and his head, he's going to grow. And he might even grow a couple more inches to 6'4", 6'5". And then he's going to widen out. And when that's the case and they have him and that Leo Carlson, they're going to have some big boys up front, kind of like when they had Perry and Getzloff come in so very and he and he also said that um outside of of um Celebrini um probably the best

player in the draft in his opinion and his high-end skill could end up paying off where he ends up being the best player in the draft that was taken so I know maybe a shock to him going that high but definitely not a shock to some of the people that I ended up talking to and I guess from the overall conversation of talking to people at the draft sneakily one of the deepest drafts in in the last little bit here and I think the NHL needed a draft like that where you had some some pretty big names um even go a little bit later in that first round like that bouillon z bouillon like i feel like that was a steal for the minnesota wild at 12 who they moved up to grab them didn't they didn't they move they moved yeah they moved up one pick to grab them yeah one pick to end up securing that and uh as you guys know as the list goes on uh that the one kid who was

drafted um sagina spirit player uh drafted i think he went to the Calgary Flames. Apparently he was like a baby genius where he graduated high school. Oh, yeah, he graduated high school at like 11 or 12 years old. The guy is just an absolute brain. So just a lot of cool young players are going to be coming in the league, and it's exciting to see in the fact that also Utah ended up picking a Ginla where, where I heard that Calgary was trying to move up to pick him. So just a lot of cool storylines coming out of this year's draft.

That was Zane Pareka. You mentioned there, the D from Saginaw and he graduated high school at 16 years old. Pretty crazy. He flies. Yeah. I think he had over 30 goals, 90 points this year for Saginaw.

Like, seems just run and gun. Like, I guess what would be a good comp? I mean, I don't know. I can't even think of anyone right now. Carlson, maybe, it seems like. Like, he just, I saw like a highlight package. I was like, holy shit. Sick shot.

So, that was a good pick. I was also, I was very impressed when Billy Guerin, like, traded up. Like, it was like, all right, one spot away. We saw him at the Frozen Four in Minnesota. Ziv Bouyem. I love that. Thought he would go a little sooner. Pasha's boys picked this Anton Siliev, I think it is.

Siliev. He played in Torpedo this year. He's like 6'8", 6'7", 6'8". And things I've read and talking to people, he skates like he's 6'5", 11". So I don't know. Pasha immediately goes, Oh, look, this Twitter feed doesn't like his analytics in the KHL.

I'm like, Oh, my God. I think you're going to love this pick because he hammers guys too. And at 18 was playing 20 minutes a night on a good KHL team. So just a bunch yeah you're right bunch of different storylines as is the case every year with the draft. R.A. is there anyone outside of the guys we mentioned that that were surprising to you like who did you like as far as draft picks? Well I mean it's not so much as picks but I thought bringing in Jumbo Joe was pretty good when they drafted Macklin that was a nice touch you know

perform a first round pick with the new. Celine Dion showing up for the Montreal Canadiens. She got a real nice applause. Also, I don't know if you noticed this, Biz, when the guys come out, the players come with their suits, taking their suit coats off. By the way, I think the three-piece suit is making a comeback, by the way, Biz. I've seen a lot of them that night. Zito brought it back.

Real? Yeah. They were looking sharp. I don't know if you noticed, when they took those jackets off, they handed them off to the Vegas showgirls who noticed, when they took those jackets off They handed them off to Vegas showgirls Who were taking their jackets off I thought that was a nice little Vegas touch there And also, I think players had their own individual songs So when they were picked There were unique songs coming up

Because Macklin had a Return of the Mack That would have been nice We're going to bring him on shortly But I thought those were nice little Vegas-influenced touches. And speaking of Vegas, I'm sorry, San Jose, where Macklin's going to be going, a couple of moves they made, a couple of guys he's going to be playing with next year.

Alex Wenberg, two years, 10 mil. Tyler Tafoli, four years, 24 mil. I think with this sort of indication, these guys know good things are on the horizon in San Jose. I mean, they had Smith last year celebrating this year. This team is going to be an absolute powerhouse very soon. I try to attract some of these younger guys

to maybe even come in a little bit earlier. I think that, G, you alluded to Leonard in Washington where you show a lot more competence and not the AHL team that they put on the ice last year. This is something that can move in the right direction very quickly, and why not do it with some solid season vets? I kept hearing a lot of teams were trying to move up where Montreal picked at five to grab that Russian kid

who set or broke Kucherov's record at SKA. Dima Dov. Yeah, the second tier team. I think it's MHL or something, like the junior league over there. Yeah, the second i think it's mhl or something like the junior league yeah the second tier team so apparently a bunch of teams were calling them to try to move up and and they were adamant about selecting them and uh and that was another guy that whose name i kept hearing pop up i thought the best moment of the draft to me was actually on day two and i don't know if you guys saw the clip it kind of went viral today uh aaroniviraha from the Minnesota Wild when he was drafted I think it was the fourth round he went up to Billy

G gave him a hug and was like man like you just made the absolute steal the fucking draft and you could see Billy after they filmed him and he's like I fucking love that zap that back down at the table and was like boys this guy just told me we made the fucking steal the draft so you love I said the same thing to Pittsburgh when they picked me in the fourth. How many guys do you think? Then you actually stole something from the draft table. That was the only problem. I think that Chicago also offered next year's first round pick unprotected for Columbus's fourth.

And you imagine that they wanted to take the Demondov. I think there were some Blackhawks fans. Demondov, I don't know if I'm saying that right, but apparently there is a chance he is a future Kaprizov superstar type player. Did you see how he handed his jacket to the girl? He pigeon-tossed her as he gave her the jacket. It's like the Kachuks to R.A. I think that Chicago picking that D-man, though, made a lot of sense. I kept saying that I found it hard to believe he was better than Booyah after what I watched, but the size of him and then what everyone said

offensively, defensively, they are going to be a great team, Chicago. I think San Jose right now, yeah, well, it's exciting. You get a guy like Toffoli and new coach Ryan Wasowski. It's similar. You're still a ways away in my mind uh and and speaking of uh celebrini we're going to be throwing it over to him and probably right around now um i was blown away by this kid and how beyond his years he is san jose is in very good shape this kid's the total package and very hockey focused. I always ask these younger guys, like, what kind of hobbies do you have away from the rink?

And a lot of these new guys, it's like, I don't. I'm hockey, hockey, hockey. And that's exactly how this kid is. And I think that he's going to be able to make an impact very soon in his NHL career. And he's going to go on to have a big one. So without further ado ado let's send it off to this stud and and we appreciate his time and uh you already have a fan in me that's for sure he's 30 he's basically 35 years old somehow so i think you'll love it and um enjoy before we

continue i'm here to talk to you about g4 and we got a shoe launch alert. Everyone's favorite golf destination, G4, is dropping their latest G18 golf shoe. And with two limited edition colors, you better hurry. It's backed by research for optimal performance and unbeatable comfort. The new G18 keeps your game and style on point. And why not win it both at the same time it's ultra modern unique and features three simultaneous levels of traction to keep your extra stable on all types of terrain when you're playing golf if you're in the sand if you're in the desert if you're standing one foot almost in the water g4 has got you covered with the new g18 so check out the G18 golf shoe and plenty of others now at G4. And don't forget G4.com slash chicklets GFORE.com slash chicklets for 10% off your first order.

Well, it's very nice to welcome our next guest to the show. He will very, very likely be taken with the first overall pick by the San Jose Shocks at the 2024 NHL Draft here in Las Vegas after his terrific freshman year at Boston University. I'm sure he's going to have a pretty eventful summer after this, so it's great to welcome to the Spittin' Chicklets podcast, Macklin Celebrini. Thanks for joining us, my friend. Thank you guys for having me. I appreciate it.

What an honor this is. Long time, long time. I told him, I go, after the season, buddy, you're coming on. He's like, oh, come on, I'll come on. Then I was like, you're staying at BU one more year no no we appreciate this dude it was incredible seeing you play this year I'd heard so much about you coming in and then just you exceeded expectations which is wild considering what they were coming in so I was more interested in kind of how you picked BU and how you went about deciding to go play for the Terriers and for Pando and how that whole like recruitment process went yeah um obviously growing up like biz knows uh we being from canada you don't really

think about college like oh you're pretty much made your juniors no like growing up when i was a lot younger like it was pretty much whl like i just wanted to go to whl that's kind of the path that all my friends were taking so I never really even thought about it and then uh when I moved down to San Jose um heard about Shad I kind of one thing led to another this season like it just kind of became more clear and um once I got kind of presented with this opportunity to go in a year early um I really liked that like that idea of playing up against like the college players a year early, just getting that exposure in my draft year.

So you believed it was like a higher level of competition? Yeah, I mean, you can argue it either way, but I feel like the players that I was playing against were like 24, 23. Like some guys were 25, like eight years older than me. So I just feel like from that aspect like a lot of bigger stronger players that i was going up against and i feel like that really helped me well i was gonna say i noticed you you play with the chicago steel yeah yeah and and uh shane don't talked about it because i think his son went there as well where like the development there is crazy so you were able to obviously make that leap because you were you were maybe more prepared

playing at the ushl level with chicago yeah yeah i mean i mean there's stories about chicago like with a lot of money there too yeah like especially they changed ownerships now but while i was there larry robbins was still the uh the owner and i mean he supported us like like no other team in the ushl like anything we needed like he was always there for you. Like he would help us in whatever we needed. Yeah, so you mentioned the move to San Jose. And I think a lot of that has to do with your father. And your father, it's a crazy story.

I'd love to get like the in-depth part from you. But worked for the Golden State Warriors, became very close with Steph Curry, Draymond Green. And that's why you guys moved down there. What had he been doing prior to when he ended up getting that job and you moved to California? He was actually working. So he started off with the Vancouver Whitecaps in the MLS in Vancouver.

So he worked with them for a while, seven years, and then three years into his contract with the Whitecaps, he signed with the canucks so he worked with them for four years before he moved down um he also opened this uh like physiotherapist center in burnaby called fortius oh yeah you mentioned that i worked with your uncle there i think oh really i don't think it was your dad you don't you have like an uncle yeah yeah who helped out he helped you repair my bilateral sports hernia oh no way what's his name again randy yeah right yeah yeah okay that's really yeah yeah beautiful facility very nice state-of-the-art underground or not underground

underwater treadmills yeah yeah so like basically your best therapy you could get if you tore like an acl or anything like that yeah exactly like he he pretty much helped that build that place and um oversaw kind of the the recoveries that were going on there um and then he got presented this opportunity with san antonio uh the spurs and uh we actually went down there one summer and uh we kind of checked out like or they checked out the facilities and stuff like that um but then right after that uh golden state reached out to him and so he went over there as well and pretty much um one of the factors that went into making that decision was hockey like was there going to be hockey for us like for you and aiden for me and my younger brother rj like would there be hockey there would there be a good program where

we could like keep playing and like training so that was a big thing that went into that so ultimately he chose the Golden State Warriors and then I mean yeah he spent the first year down there by himself we were still in Vancouver and then um we all lived down there for a year so Aiden's two years older yeah then you then your sister then RJ yeah yeah okay so were you kind of bummed out to be going to California because Vancouver and you'd played a little bit with Bedard we'll get into that you knew him and all of a sudden you're leaving Canada and going to not a crazy youth hockey market in San Jose like I don't know what I don't know how old you were but was it a little like I don't want to leave like I got my buddies and my team here yeah i mean it was definitely a huge transition yeah vancouver's

there's so much hockey there like there's five rinks within 10 minutes of my house so like there's there's all that opportunity for ice and i mean that's kind of the culture i grew up into like no matter what like you just go play like working out was less like on the on the scale of the corn so you just go out, play with your buddies, have fun. And moving down to San Jose, where we lived, there's the Sharks Ice, the Sharks practice facility. And then the next rink was probably 45, 50 minutes away from our house. So it was just a huge transition for us. I mean, I was excited.

How old were you then? I was 14. So that's a big time yeah that's hard dude like you know you're dominating at your age group and all of a sudden you're you're gone that must have been a little little difficult yeah it was difficult like moving down there i mean i played a year up when i went to the junior sharks program which helped but it was like we didn't really have time to set up with school like we homeschooled the first year we got there so um yeah I mean overall it was just it was a huge transition and I mean I loved it but it was just it was it was a lot I oh I noticed Bedard's a lot into uh roller hockey given the lack of ice in California at the time did you maybe do more roller hockey

ball hockey like were you doing more of that stuff yeah I did I tried that um actually we we joined a league for a little bit down in California I mean in Vancouver and I never played roller hockey because there was always ice but um moving down there I started to play a little bit and then it kind of fizzled out. Like, just cause you were able to get access to more. Was that because of like, like, like, like, were you like traveling a lot to get the ice? Like where were you going most of the time? Um, I mean, for the year that I was there, it was a lot like, so in San Jose, there's

this thing called Gretzky hour. It's pretty much like open hockey. It's like an hour and a half of ice. You got to pay. Gretzky hour? It's called Gretzky Hour. It's pretty much like open hockey. It's like an hour and a half of ice. Gretzky Hour? It's called Gretzky Hour. No shit. Okay, cool. It's like an hour and a half of ice.

You got to pay like 14 bucks or whatever. You can get like a pass or whatever. But it's pretty much just open hockey. So like throughout the day, like we try to go during the day when it was less busy. And you just like skate on one or two gretzky hours and then practice because we only practice like four times a week which was also like a little bit of a an adjustment and then everywhere we went to play games we travel like we go yeah we travel like pittsburgh and um we go down to la and like very rarely were teams

coming to us just because like we were lower on the spectrum. And yeah, when they travel, they want to go where they can play a bunch of teams. But that it would only been you and San Jose. So your dad, like he was so busy with the Golden State and stuff. Like I imagine your mom had a ton to do with your travel. And like, could he make everything or was he not able to be at a lot of your travel and your games? Yeah, it was definitely tougher for him to travel especially at that point um he was still new with the Warriors so he didn't really have that flexibility to leave so for the

most part I would travel with some teammates or if yeah I mean I guess it was mostly traveling with like teammates like I just kind of be there with with some of my teammates and um yeah I mean my mom with my three other siblings and my dad being so busy at work is it was tough for um one of them to come with what was your dad's um past in in playing sports growing up did he ever play hockey or was it was it different sports and like how did he get into what he ended up doing and becoming so good at he uh growing up he played hockey until bantam i think and then he played he played uh professional soccer he played uh for the canadian national team playing soccer and then he uh he also played for i think it was the vancouver 86ers before they went to the white

caps so he played um pretty high level soccer but what caused him to go into like what he does now is uh he got he had really bad like he had two acl tears i think uh yeah he like shattered his foot he had stress fractures in his foot and like his foot like he broke his foot um broken ankle like he had a lot of injuries that were mishandled and he was so and he was like so like at the end of it his career was cut short because wow he couldn't like he couldn't he couldn't play on like he's had like five surgeries on his right knee so like at that point he was like i like i want to go into preventing this from happening to any other athlete so that's that you said preventing so that's what i've always heard about your dad is it's more about like the prevention and what you can do prior to ever being injured to like basically make

make sure an injury doesn't happen so for you and Aiden and your sister and brother like even at a young age were you always doing certain exercises or prehab type things like before practices or games like even being younger it wasn't so much of like before we skate it was just more like the workouts we did and the uh like even before we started lifting weights we'd always like we always did workouts but it was all like movement type stuff like stuff with movement core like bands yeah bands yeah yeah it's just pretty much just like he calls it like an athletic neutral position where like you're you're moving in a safe way like you're not compromising anything um i mean i'm not i don't really know much about it but i used to do that with your uncle and every time i moved

he'd be like oh my god he's like dude you don't move good let's just get on the underwater treadmill yeah fill the hour and get this guy out of my face he's hung over again i want to go back to the gretzky hour like yeah one thing about today's game is the skill set like you look at guys like connor mcdavid obviously your skills are a different level during those gretzky hours or sometimes where there was there no one out there so you're able to do those things on the ice where you're like going around the pylons or or the fake dummies a certain way to develop those skills because I feel like that's like you have to do that nowadays in order to get to that level yeah I feel like for me like I mean we went to so many but a lot I went with my older brother so we play a bunch of one-on-one

and we compete and battle but a lot of it yeah like usually when it was more busy we'd do that like when we we'd have we'd have less ice we'd like that like we'd work on like different kind of things like um whatever like for me I would just kind of base it off like my last game so like my last tournament like I'd figure like I had this opportunity or I was feeling like weak in like this situation like that's where I would kind of go to the ice and I would work on that. Like that's kind of like, cause it's tough to like really like set a plan for yourself when like you're just by yourself on the ice.

And you're young. Yeah, exactly. But that's kind of like how I looked at it. Like whatever I felt in the game that I needed to improve, I'd kind of go to the ice and I would just try to work on it just to kind of improve it. That's awesome. So, Gretzky, I mean, if you're already going 90 minutes, you've got to add nine more and make it 99 minutes.

Yeah, exactly. I was in charge of that. I just had the fortunate event of meeting your dad downstairs, Rick, and he was telling me he was talking to his players on Golden State and how these guys all watched the game and how amazed they were hearing about the injuries from all the guys who played in the playoffs. And what I want to ask, are there any lessons that you can incorporate into hockey that you might get from basketball?

Yeah, I mean, the way those guys – I mean, it's just a different world. The basketball world is – it's so much different than hockey. They're divas. I mean, I'm not going to – This guy's media trained. Holy shit, this guy's media trained. It would be you guys are smart. Oh, yeah, you know me.

No, but I mean, from every, I feel like from every athlete, you can learn from those guys. And I mean, they do love hockey. That's good to hear. My dad tells me all the time, like, this year when Chris Paul, like, he would check in, like, while my dad was watching our game at work. Like, Chris Paul would walk in and watch a little bit with him. Like, Draymond would ask, like, how we're doing

and ask to see some highlights or whatever. Nice. So, I mean, that kind of stuff's really cool, just, like, how, like, they actually, like, care and, like, they're kind of getting more interested in hockey. Good. Draymond seems like the type of guy who would like hockey. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

The physicality. I, uh, in talking to Joey Pereira, the assistant coach of BU and Pandolf before the season, and they were just telling me about you, like, wait, do you see this kid? Um, and they talked a lot about your 200 foot game. And I think that you get these supremely talented offensively players like yourself and they're 17 18 years old and they want points and they want goals but as they said right before you know your season it was like all defense it was you never cheated the game and I kind of wondered if if your dad was a part of that if it was maybe watching certain players growing up but you ended up getting so many points but it was never like sacrificing the defensive side of the puck and I didn't know where that came from that's just that's I mean it's kind of how I grew up like my

uh coaches growing up they'd always preach on playing the right way and like there's a right way to play in a wrong way to play and they'd they'd always like John Calvano who I who coached me since I was six playing spring spring hockey coach connor as well um i mean he would he like when we went to the brick invitational tournament he uh he came into our locker room and he's like one prime example is like he walked in he's like he's like if you want to win the scoring record that's fine we won't win the tournament though like you can't but you can't play that way play selfish um play the wrong way and what a great coach yeah so like that was something that stuck with me i was like so like if i if i wanna like if that's the way you need to play to win then that's like something that i learned kind of early and then throughout the like years that

like i started like playing like that it kind of just got more like you find yourself in better positions, like when you're below the puck or when you're in like the when you're playing the game the right way. Like you're always under the puck and you're always like coming. It just seems to find you a little bit more than if you're if you're trying to chase those points or chase kind of the goals. Like it feels like sometimes it can, it can bite you. So, uh, Colby Armstrong, who's like part of our show, he had mentioned that and he wasn't sure of the details, but apparently when you and Connor Bedard were younger, I know you're different ages. There was some sort of like, he says it was like a science project in terms of you guys, like playing other sports and seeing how your body would end up handle compared to just skating and playing hockey all year do you know what he's talking

about or is he just phantom making this up he said there's a picture of you it would have took six minutes to ask it too so i'm glad you know what i even is that do you even know what i'm talking about or no no okay i love this guy's honesty. You're an army. You're a fucking moron. If you don't pick this guy first overall. I'm pretty sure that this guy, you must've crushed all your meetings. How many meetings did you do? I had eight.

Yeah. I had eight. So I mean, they were, they were good. The team. Who is it? You have the best chemistry with San Jose.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, San Jose's interview is just good. Like overall, like it was a great conversation i mean every time every team asked about my family they were just curious about how i grew up um wanted to learn more about me which i mean i appreciate it so yeah is rj like coming up too is this kid gonna be a player he's good no way well how old is he at the new new hughes family here

possibly another one aiden's a vancouver pick and i think aiden has a very legit chance of playing in the nhl like probably play a couple years of college no doubt but a great player but the more interesting one is your sister who apparently is a top like ranked tennis player yeah she's uh here we go superstar yepstar. Yep. She's that good, huh? I mean, to be honest, I'm not,

I'm not too familiar with tennis. Like I'm not like, I'd be lying if I could actually tell you what I don't know, but like he's a, she's, she's amazing. Like everything I've heard about her. I mean,

she's going to like Mexico, Belgium, like she's going everywhere for these like international tournaments. How old is she? She's 15. Holy shit. So it's crazy. Is she Canadian or American?

She's Canadian. Fucking right. Let's go. Canadian. Let's go, baby. I love that. So we talked about your defensive game, your 200-foot game. What was the hardest adjustment, though, from you going from the ushl to obviously bought what are you laughing you like can't say ushl like every time you you

say like uchl like it's like every time you say i was an only child guy i got my grade 10 education these guys get on me about a league i never fucking played in um like what was the hardest adjustment because all of a sudden you're going from playing against these kids to these men. It was definitely like it was an adjustment, like no doubt. Like I feel like for me, because I mean that age discrepancy was still there. Like I was still playing against guys that were three or four years older than me. But I feel like the biggest thing was like the discipline in the game. I like I believe college hockey is a lot like a pro game like it's it's very similar like obviously it's not but it's it's very similar in the fact that like every like a lot of teams

especially that we played against were very defense oriented like they were very um structured structured very structured like their whole like system would be around like shutting down plays like ending plays in the neutral zone like those kinds of things where in the um in the ushl it was a lot more like junior hockey like there's a lot of running gun like you'd find yourself on a lot more two-on-ones breakaways that kind of stuff where in college like i don't know if i had an actual breakaway this year which is like I mean they're not very often in general but like it just speaks to like even like two-on-ones like it would be a lot of like three-on-twos or like three-on-twos with a back check like it'd be

like there are very little odd man rushes when you when you decided on Shattuck like I guess that was probably what one year after being in San Jose you played there one year and then was that more about like the Crosby, Taves all the names who had been there because you must have had so many people reaching out prep school wise and maybe you know USHL would have been the year after that but how did you decide on Shattuck um I kind of like I actually didn't know about Shattuck growing up like I'd never really even heard about it and then at San Jose one of my teammates I think he uh he went to visit Shattuck and he like as like because that's what they do they recruit so like they bring guys in like you

go see it and um they show you around so he went on like a visit and he told my dad about it so i was just like so he my dad told us about it and then throughout that year we were kind of planning on like what what our plans were for the next year and stuff like that and um we went what were other options sorry to interrupt you we were we were still talking about it but i mean at that point it was pretty much just shattuck like we were just pretty much just focused on Shattuck because when we went they did an amazing job like we loved it um their whole proposition of but then that's when COVID hit like COVID hit that March or whatever so we actually we were so lucky because when we went there um it was like the first season after covid but we still played like

over 50 games like we still played like a good amount of games and uh we were practicing every day like it was tough like we were doing like virtual school and um we were doing like we were still practicing every day but everything was in cohorts like our team was a core like every team was like a group so you couldn't like mix groups so I couldn't see my brother at all or anything like that which is tough like you're moving away from home and you can't see your family that that's at the same school but um I mean chat like we were so lucky like we were skating a couple hours every day still working out it was tough like we got shut down early November until January, which is tough.

But I mean, we were so lucky because we were still like, you talk to some guys in Canada, like they didn't even play a game. Yeah, Wyatt Johnson didn't even play hockey that year. Exactly. And we played over 50 games. So it's like, that's where like, we were so lucky with like that opportunity.

How were these moves like from a personal level because you move down to the states you're going to shattuck you're going to chicago you're going to be in boston like how are these moves for you like from a personal level was it hard to like adjust everywhere you went like that's a lot that's a lot of moving around for a young guy yeah when we moved down to san jose that was probably the biggest adjustment just because like it was my first time moving like even now in San Jose like I haven't really built relationships with many people in San Jose just because like I was I didn't go to school there I didn't like I know like my hockey team that I play with but like other than that like it was pretty much very like it was my family and

then hockey like there wasn't much like outside personal life which it was tough like I like I mean which it was great because like that's why like me and my older brother are so close like me and Anne are so close and um like me and my siblings are are very close and we we do a lot of things together um but um it was tough cause I, I still don't really, haven't really made those relationships. But after that it was, it was easier. Just like every move, like to Minnesota, then to Chicago and to Boston, like every move got a little bit easier and you kind of just learn how to meet new people and kind of build those relationships. What did you think of all the Peckaheads in Boston when you played there

and lived there for a year? No, I loved it. I loved Boston, yeah. Yeah, it was a good time. I want to ask, I feel like we're burying the lead a little. Conor Bedard, you played with him when you were kids. How old were you guys when you played together? I forget exactly how old we are.

Were you playing D then? I was playing D, yeah. When did you make that switch? I started playing D a couple years before the brick so I played year I play like I I played total I think of four years at D so two years before the brick and then two years after a year or two after the brick crazy yeah yeah but probably helped your defensive aspect of the game I would say yeah very helpful and it's like it also like it gives you a new like perspective on the game because you see it you see it it's a even though it's like you're on the same

ice and you see it from a whole different view like just being able like being behind the play always like kind of seeing how things develop it was definitely it definitely helped me a lot um it's obviously family's important hockey's important what do you do aside from that like what do you do to get away do you have like a silly hobby or did you learn how to surf when you were in san jose like what do you do when you want to get away from everything um i wish hockey yeah you love it that's like wayne pandoff told me that they had to like you like you can't skate this morning like this they had to legitimately lock them out of the rink yeah i mean like i love spending time like in boston like this year we'd always hang out as a team or especially our freshman like we were super close so we'd always go do something whether

it was grab dinner um just spend time like that's something that i love doing like i love i have hobbies like i'm trying to get better at golf i'm not very hobbies. I'm trying to get better at golf. I'm not very good, but I'm trying to get better. Yeah, I'm trying to work on it a little bit. I love playing other sports, basketball, soccer. But for the most part, it's more just spending time with my family and friends. I plan on any celebratory purchases after you sign the ELC. Yeah, what are you buying?

What are you blowing your dough on? Are you getting a G-Wagon? I've actually. Kirby Doc wanted a G-Wagon. He got himself a G-Wagon. Oh, yeah. Wow. That's a great purchase.

No. I'm honestly, I haven't really thought about it. It's definitely something that I should probably think about a little bit. But no, I mean, I'm sure there's something that will come that I really want, but right now there's nothing. All right. When did you first start thinking of like being an NHL star and the first overall pick?

Like a couple of years ago, was it like, oh my God, like I'm starting to see my name as a possible first overall, or was it even before that? Like I was always part of your dreams. Like some people say at 10 years old, they just loved the game and hadn't thought about the NHL too much but it seems like you're a little different than that yes and no like I I definitely like it's always been my dream to play NHL like every kid playing hockey but um when I was growing up like I never really I never like I never thought that I would actually play in the NHL like I knew

that I was I knew that I was good at what I did and I knew that um I had a shot um but I like the NHL was just always a dream for me like it was always something I watched on TV every night and then went back to like minor hockey practice so it's like it was never something that i really like thought about and then probably last summer was the first time like i actually thought about the nhl and i was like like i could actually like play which is it sounds kind of crazy but you never really thinking about that because like you hear a lot of this stuff like potential this you're trying more than noise yeah exactly but it's it is like noise like you never know like how you develop or like what will come in the future like like who knows if like this year whatever like i didn't

have a great year then then all that like that like that stuff doesn't matter what they were talking about so i just tried to keep it in perspective. Yeah, it was cool the way I was talked about and stuff, but I mean, it's never really certain. So you did a good job of staying in the moment. Do you do any type of meditation and things to kind of ground yourself like that, or does it just come natural? Because you think at a kid your age,

you kind of get maybe a little too focused on that type of stuff stuff i know i did my draft ranking and all this why are you laughing no but i'm serious but i'm serious like i got caught up in it whereas like you know i i don't know how you kind of took yourself away from um yeah i had to help a little bit right panda helped a lot like but it was all just like keeping things in perspective. Like really, like you think like if you're, I mean, I just, I just kept the perspective of where like, I mean, anything can happen. And like, if like, let's say like I get drafted first overall, like that doesn't change anything. Like when I get drafted first overall, I'll't change anything like when i get drafted first

overall i'll still need to prove something in the nhl like i'll still need to like live up to like that standard so work never ends exactly like even though like you get drafted or all this stuff like you're like until you're actually like a substantial player in the nhl like even then like that's what... You've got to keep it. Yeah, I've talked to my dad about some of the athletes he's worked with. He just tells me about how they train. Even guys like Henrik and Daniel Sedin for the Vancouver Canucks,

even at the end of their career, because it's always like you're trying to get to the best you can be and then you're trying to stay there. As long as you play in the later half part of your career like you're just trying to stay at that level so it's like you're never really not trying to get better and not working on things every day so that's just kind of how i thought about like and and i think that's like kind of like crosby right we've seen him change his game a little bit as he's gotten a little older. It's funny, there was a clip of you talking to Kevin Bieksa and with your let's go Canucks chant

with your brother who's a Canucks pick. So he's allowed to. And I think you said that's the last time you'll be doing it. But were the Sedins your favorite player growing up or did you have somebody else around the league you liked watching and trying to emulate? I love like Sidney Crosby was.

Yeah, he was your guy. He was a hero of mine like when he won the like 2010 olympics i'm sorry it doesn't give a fuck he was already at the roxy in the third period couldn't even get a shift you're right it was crushing uh i was minus one thanks a lot but you were three years old yeah Yeah. Yeah. No. But like, I mean, I remember, I actually remember that game. Like I remember I was playing street hockey on like, there's like pictures of us playing street hockey in the intermissions of that game and like coming inside and watching that

game. So Crosby was your guy. He was like my hero. And then I also loved watching like Patrick Kane, the Chicago Blackhawks. But no, like Vancouver was my team and I loved watching the Sedins. Got to be careful with your roof these days, eh boys? Yeah. Was the semifinal at the national championship Frozen Four the most,

like was that the most nervous you've ever been for a game? Was that the biggest stage you've ever played on so far in your career? I mean, yeah, you could argue that or the world juniors yeah like either or I mean the frozen four was it was like what our season came down to so it was definitely but it was it was a weird feeling because like when you get to like that like it was the biggest game of our season and we lost but I mean when you get to playing in that game like it's just another game and you just try to approach it the exact same way that you've approached every other game so it

it didn't really feel like the end of our season until like right at the 20 minutes after and then you're like wow like that was it like that's our season's done so I think most NHL people this year watching BU it was you and Lane Hudson. And you saw him hop right in. He looked amazing in the games he played for Montreal. So that had to be cool for you because you're seeing, all right, well, I won the Hobie Baker. Me and Lane made such a difference all year.

And he's flying around playing against the Detroit Red Wings. Was that cool for you? And kind of describe him as a player for any Canadians fans watching. Yeah. He's a game-breaker. I actually haven't played with someone like him. He's got an insane motor on. Oh, my God. I've played with a lot of great players,

but to play with him, the way he sees the ice and the plays that he makes. The head fakes. The head fakes. And you don't think you'll fall for them. You're like, no, I won't fall for them until you fall for them. And you're like, damn, won't fall for them until you fall for them like everyone else but um like even in practice like there are times where i was just like like i i can't even like come out at this guy yeah but um no he's watching him do

what he did i mean but that's just the kind of player he is he's he's a special player i mean i'm i'm i'm a little biased but i i feel like he'll be a great player in the NHL. What's up for the summer after this? Will you be in San Jose? Will you be with your family in terms of skating and training? What will you be doing? Yeah, I'll be mostly in Vancouver. I'll skate a lot up there.

We should do a funny piece where I go train with you and Bedard one day. You want to? I wake up at the crack of dawn do all your diet what are you doing like shakes and shit in the morning yeah you got your vitamin packs we could do that we could do that you guys do that there's a try smoking before it'll be working out today yeah yeah and then they gotta do my day like you just sit around you're like this all day you just sit around and think of silly ideas for a podcast

and rip the bong what the fuck can we like go out and at least you know go for a run talking about Pando I want to mention the bean pod

I mean he's a local guy you were probably I don't know how familiar you were before you got to Boston but the result wasn't the best for you guys this year but did you know how important it was

to the four schools in the region when you went to BU um I understood how much the bean pod meant and I understood like the history Do you know how important it was to the four schools in the region when you went to BU? I understood how much the Beanpot meant, and I understood the history behind it. But I never really understood of, like,

you can't really understand unless you've played in it. Like, the crowd, the atmosphere, the energy. And it was weird for me just because, like, I didn't grow up in Boston. Like I didn't, I didn't want like grow up watching this tournament, but, and it was, it was an odd idea, like two Mondays in the middle of February. You're like, it's kind of weird, but the, once you play in it or once you go to a game, you realize like how important it is. And I mean, that game against BC was probably one of my favorite games of the year just because of how amazing it was obviously BC being our rival and um them sweeping us two weekends before that so um it was like it was an amazing experience and I loved it um so Cole Aizerman's a draft

prospect that you guys you guys played together at Shattuck you're pretty good friends like what's his game like I've just heard he's a goal scorer, can put the puck in the back of the net. What can you describe in terms of his game and how he'll do at BU next year, you think? He's an amazing player. When we were at Shattuck, obviously it was a lower level,

but every time I got him the puck, he'd score, which is crazy. Every breakaway, he'd go on, whether I give him to him or not, you just know he's putting in the back of the net which I haven't had like that feeling with anyone else that I've played with like not to say like I haven't played with players I can score but he's just something else where you know like if he gets like an opportunity and he misses he'll be more mad at himself than like you could get mad at him like he's more disappointed in himself like he knows like what he can do and it's not even like his

shot is really good his release is unbelievable but it's where he puts it like his his knowledge of like actually putting the puck in the net that i feel like is his real strength oh we got to talk about world juniors quickly. What was that like? That was a blast. I'm sure. Oh, it was so fun. I had so much fun is you, again, you grew up watching the world juniors on TV every Christmas. It's a tradition. And then you get the opportunity to play and then it was,

it was a special experience. It didn't, it didn't feel like a normal Christmas though, just because like you were like getting prepared for games, but it was a great experience. It didn't feel like a normal Christmas, though, just because you were getting prepared for games. But it was a great experience. I loved it. It was just too bad how it ended. I was chatting with you before we came up here. This is obviously not your first time in Vegas

where your dad would be in the NBA and all. But what was the craziest thing when you first got here? Like, oh, my God, I can't believe this is a major city. Yeah. That was the first time. Yeah. I think I might the first time. Yeah. I think I might've been. Go ahead.

No, no, it's just, I mean, I didn't really know what to expect. Like obviously it's, it's kind of, I was talking with my brother about this.

It's a smaller city than I actually thought it was like it, like this downtown and stuff. It's smaller than I thought it was, which was a little bit of a surprise but i mean coming in late june early july it's so hot outside like you can't even go outside so it's just i mean but it's an amazing you see why there's so many shows here and um there's a lot of entertainment even now like the copa america is here like the soccer games are here is that going on here yeah there's like or it's like honduras and some jamaica playing tonight and then brazil playing friday or something did you did you

play soccer with your dad being such a good player and they gave that up around 13 14 yeah yeah exactly um well dude this was awesome buddy if they don't pick you first over all their fucking morons and i'll go in and fist fight them for you. You're not 18. I want to see a bursar today. Did you just turn 18 like yesterday? Yeah, 13. Oh, geez. The whole season is a 17.

All right, sing them happy birthday with that voice. I'll get canceled again. Yeah, exactly. Well, Mack, let's celebrate the incredible, incredible run this year. Hobie Baker is a 17-year-old. And tomorrow night is going to be, or Friday night, excuse me, is going to be the coolest moment of your life. So congratulations with everything, dude.

Yeah, man. Good head on your shoulders. Holy shit. You're more mature than me and already put together. Thanks so much, pal. I appreciate it. I'm a big fan. Don't thank him.

He's a lot. Best of luck in your future, kid. You're going to crush it. Thank you. I appreciate it. I'm a big fan. Don't thank him. He means a lot.

Best of luck in your future, kid. You're going to crush it. Thank you. I appreciate it. You got it. Man, thanks to Mac for jumping on us. What a great kid. Me and G got to talk to him a little bit before he brought him up for the lobby at the hotel the other day.

Just a genial kid. I think we kind of maybe loosened him up a little bit, too, because he had a great personality. He smiled a lot. So, Mac, great interview, and best of luck to you in the future. The Whit Dog, your boy, Slavskovsky of Montreal, eight-year extension, $7.6 million a year. A little bit about how the table's turned situation here, huh? Yeah, I mean, he ended up really coming on after I was like,

what is this guy doing? He seems lost. Probably a little unfair to me based on how young he is. The size of him, his shot, I don't think that's questionable. I think people have kind of wondered about his hockey sense. But there's been guys who have struggled at the beginning. And this deal, while right now, yeah, it looks like an enormous overpayment. And I think when Jack Hughes signed his, and some people wondered,

it's not like that because of the skill and the high-level playmaking you saw at Jack Hughes B when he signed his deal that was a little bit surprising. This one, it's just about looking towards the future and actually believing that he will turn into a 30-goal, 70, 80-point guy every year. And then you're laughing. As is the case with the Dreisaitl deal, who not even a great comparison.

I don't know why I'm going there. But now all I'm saying is the deal looks like a complete joke while there might have been few people at the time that questioned it. So I was wrong in terms of how many goals he finished the year with. How many did he? I think he was over 20. Okay, 19. So he's right there.

And that's after a really slow start and a lot of people calling him out. I think that it's a risky signing, but it's one that if you do hit the home run on, the GM's getting applauded. So you got to make big risks to have big success in this league. And this was one of those, but he's their first overall pick from a couple of years ago. They got Suzuki signed up. They're going to have Demidov there at some point. They got Reinbacher, I think was the defense. They took very high in a recent draft. So they do have young pieces. And if you believe that he's going to become pretty legit,

you sign him to this now, and then you hope that it ends up being a laugher of an underpayment in the long run. Yeah, I feel like these deals are just so easy. You hate these deals. No, I fucking hate it. It's just so easy. What do you mean? You just give a guy eight years, close to $8 million bucks because he had a good end to the season and like and he had a few

good games at the world championship like listen like I think that this guy's a physical freak and you know obviously when you when you're a physical freak when you're growing up but you can kind of just dummy kids and bully them and and physically take over games but at the nhl level we know you need to have a lot more than that i think his hockey sense and hockey iq is still something that's very much uh under question i i hope i hope he exceeds it i hope he exceeds expectations and what this contract has provided him but i i'm a little bit weary of it and i didn't see a need to even do it because if he goes off next year and has 30 goals, 30 assists, do you really have to pay him more than eight years at 7.6?

If he got what next year? If he goes 30 and 30 next year, do you tell me, a guy who is restricted coming off his entry level, that you have to go beyond of what they just paid him? That, to me, is what doesn't make sense because it goes back to certain situations with other organizations where I've basically been like, oh, congrats on getting your 30 and 30.

This is what we're offering you, or you can fucking stay home. It's not like Montreal ain't going to be winning next year. They probably won't even be making playoffs next year. So why the rush to just hand over all this money on a flyer on a guy who has proved himself for a half of an NHL season? It just, to me, it's like that's the... Yeah, 20, but...

I could be a general manager and hand over that contract. It doesn't take any type of skill set to try to get him before the curve or whatever term you want to use. Hit him before he actually ends up. So what was it? $7.6 million a year, man. Okay, so $7.6. Cap goes up next year.

Who gives a fuck? He had $20 and $30 this year. He goes $30 and $35 next year. Maybe that's $ 8.2. And then over the course of the deal, I know what you're saying. I'm trying to look at this. When did these GMs hand over their balls in a mason jar to these fucking agents that haven't proved fucked off?

It's the young bucks, dude. It's the high-picked young bucks. They own it. I like seeing the guys get paid, but I like seeing guys get paid who have at least put a little bit of time in. So there's plenty of these eight times eights you can look at and be like, sheesh. So probably more so than you'll say, oh, this guy's exceeded expectations.

So that's all I got to say about that, but happy for the kid and hope that he keeps accelerating his game based on what we saw in the back half and a little bit at World Championships. Moving on to NHL Newsday. NHL has reinstated Joel Quenville, Stan Bowman, and Al McIsaac after the Chicago incident a few years ago.

Basically banned them from the league. They had to go through different protocols, different programs, whatever. Basically, penance, I guess, is the word I've been using. Whit, how long do you think it is before someone hires Quentville? I mean, if he's eligible, if I was a team, I'd fucking hire him tomorrow, no? I mean, can't be hired until July 10th as well.

Yeah, July 10th and, yeah, I think that, Biz, you want to mention, I don't know if you want this on. Columbus? Columbus? What? Oh, is it? Sorry, sure. No, I thought you said that Q, did he talk to Beach? Is that what you said?

Or can we not say that? No, he did. No, that was in the report. No, he did talk to him. And, you know, obviously, Gary Bebba was satisfied with what all these guys did to reinstate them to be eligible. I'll tell you this. In the real world, and not saying this isn't, this is the hockey world and the real world, especially this subject and what went down. But people get in trouble, and they end up serving their time, dealing with their sentence, as I put put quote marks up and i feel like they have

i i they've been out of the game with a decently long time and there are going to be people who think that they should never be able to be involved in the game again i don't um that's that's just my opinion on it and it felt like the the time was kind of kind of here it seemed like all right it'd been long enough. Did you hear enough rumblings? Like, when can Quenville coach again? And then there were also things mentioned about him possibly. I don't know if it was Elliott or Jeff Marrick saying maybe he'd have to be an assistant coach first.

I don't know if that was a part of this release. But I'm telling you right now, you want to win games. And you're a GM that is willing to face a little backlash and not give a fuck about certain internet people and certain reporters that may come at you you go hire Joel Quenville to coach your team yeah and you know I had a chance to talk to him a little bit guys I think there's a lot about the story that hasn't gotten public and I don't know if it ever will uh the fact that he's talked to Kyle Beach and Kyle Beach is essentially gave him his blessing and saying that he believes that he should return. I mean, there's one person that should, should be able to say that it's him. And if that's okay

with him, then it's okay with me. And I just hope that everybody can move on past this. Um, I know that it's a type of thing for Kyle Beach that he'll never be able to move past this. But, you know, time heals. And I just hope that everybody ends up in a better place for it. It was a very, very unfortunate thing and a very dark stain on the Chicago Blackhawks and the NHL itself. And, yeah, I think that there's a lot of people out there that are not happy about this. And some of which are victims themselves of what happened. And I don't think that they're ever going to be over it. They'll never be able to get over it,

and they're going to have the same opinion as long as time goes on. So I guess the decision's the decision, and I hope he ends up landing on his feet. All right, boys, some fun news we can end with here at least uh the awards the last four awards we missed actually the last five awards that were announced over the weekend conor bedard got the call that no surprise there uh mac he got both uh nate mckinnon got both the hot in the lindsey i think there was somewhat of a surprise there that normally he won one of them but won both of them given the other cooch had uh the norris and cooch had to deal with that host, like giving him the Russian accent, trying to play with him. And Kooch was like, I don't think so, buddy.

I don't fucking think so. He was disgusted. Glad I came over from Russia for this, not to win anything and get made fun of. Thanks for the trip over here for nothing. Thanks for the brutal Russian accent. That was some tough Yakov Shbanov impression. Grinnell, your stunt double, Quinn Hughes on the Norris, just gave an absolutely wonderful speech. Just like great what he said aboutinnelli, a stunt double. Quinn Hughes on the Norris. Just gave an absolutely wonderful speech.

Just like great what he said about Yossi, his whole family. I mean, if you're going to say this is how you give a speech, especially for such a young kid, he did a hell of a job. I love how he said, too, I love watching my brother play, but Makar might be my favorite player to watch. And just giving, you know, nice compliments to your competition and guys that it's not bullshit. Like the respect that players have for other players in the league,

especially the top end talent. I think that once they get on the ice, it's different. But if you were to talk to these guys and have heart to heart, it's like you're amazed at what guys in the league can do. And you're amazed at certain talents that guys you play against possess. And Quinn Hughes did an awesome job kind of describing his appreciation for other guys' games.

Well said, Whit. Well said. Now, Connor Hellebuck won the Vesna. Again, no surprise there. So, boys, I know we're going to wrap up now, but Marc Messier next week, last episode of the season, before we go into summer mode. Awesome at the view we did up in Edmonton a couple weeks back.

He really loosened up, really showed a lot of his personality, not to mention the great story. So, boys, what a free agency day, man. What a weekend. What a trip. It's been a long trip. I think I did 13 fights in 20 days. I don't know if I'll ever do that again, and I'll be happy if that's the case, but no one else

would rather do it, boys. I know it's been touchy at times, but it's been a great run, great season, and hopefully we finish up strong next week. Yeah, I'm looking forward to some time off. It's beeny at times, but it's been a great run, great season, and hopefully we finish it up strong next week. Yeah, I'm looking forward to some time off. It's been an incredible year. As I keep saying, the greatest in NHL history. I think free agency delivered as well, and what a way to cap things off.

We're going to circle back next week with any following free agency news or anything else that comes out. R.A. just mentioned we're dropping Mark Messier. We were fortunate enough to sit down with some incredible people and bank some awesome interviews. So those will roll out throughout the course of the entire summer. And we'll be able to hop on,

bring those in, and bring them out with little to no hockey talk. And I hope everybody enjoys their summer. I'm going to be actually heading off to the Calgary Stampede this weekend. And so if you are in the Calgary area, I'll be doing something at the Greta bar. We've worked with Casey before who owns all of them. And, uh, if you want to stop by, I'll be there on the first weekend on the Sunday, I believe it's the seventh Sunday, the seventh and, uh, come by we're going,

there's going to be a live band and I'm sure I'll see you on the, the cowboy grounds as well. So I, Hey, listen, I took nine and a half months off boozing. I just went on a three-week ripper, folks. I felt awesome. I had a blast. I loved hanging out with our whole crew and chasing around the Stanley Cup finals as well as the awards and the draft.

And we love you guys. So I'm looking forward to ripping it up a little bit more with friends and, like I said, getting some time off. So we love you guys. Witt, anything else you got to mention? No, no. Just headed over tomorrow to Nantucket. Family went over today.

I'm driving the car on the car ferry tomorrow. I've loaded that thing up. I got to go finish doing that right now. You know, I got to pack the meat in the coolers. I got all these things the wife put together. I got to fit into the car. And I cannot wait. Just honestly, by tomorrow afternoon, being on the beach with my family and the kids.

And I cannot wait. And I hope everyone that is in America that's going to be celebrating the 4th of July has the best time with family and friends taking it all in. Canada and America, two of the best places to ever ever live in the world unbiased America I love it I love the 4th of July and I cannot wait to spend some time with my family it has been an amazing run but it seems like everyone's just due for a little bit of a break so next week we got mess we'll tie up any loose ends anything we might have missed if we did miss something that you hoped we talked about, there was so much.

Trades, signings, the draft. It's just been such a wild couple days in the NHL. So we do apologize. And we'll clean all that up next week, along with saying a final goodbye before an awesome interview with Messier. Hope you enjoyed Ocposo. Congrats to him. And also congrats to Celebrini.

I hope all you guys kind of were interested and enjoyed his whole vibe in life, I'd say. What a beast that kid's going to be. So, a great episode. So much happening in the league. Great season. We'll see you next Tuesday. Happy Canada Day. Love you guys.

Happy 4th. Thank you. But then you come on in and take it up a notch She hit me with a cheap shot, a cheap shot She hit me with a cheap shot, a cheap shot I bet she needs a detox to cleanse her mind Another week rolls in We're on the road again Thought I was safe and sound In my minivan But I said something That crossed the line

Oh and I know she felt it So I said she could Have a free one on the chin She went below the belt Outro Music We need a deep talk.