Spittin Chiclets - Spittin’ Chiclets Episode 515: Featuring Sean Pronger

Episode Date: July 23, 2024

On Episode 515 of Spittin’ Chiclets, the guys are joined by Sean Pronger, an all-time storyteller hailing from Dryden, Ontario. Through fighting as a kid playing street hockey, to practicing with Wayne Gretzky absolutely “hung to the balls”, this is one you won’t want to miss. But first, a coaching change in Columbus could spell new life into the franchise, a long time legend Joe Pavelski retires, and Rempe seems to be training to take the heavyweight belt this upcoming season. All this and more on this weeks episode. 00:00:00 - Start 00:00:41 - Chiclets Updates 00:34:55 - Columbus 00:39:35 - Pavelski Retirement 00:48:56 - Quinton Byfield 00:55:11 - Canucks 01:02:17 - Sean Pronger 02:28:11 - Rempe / Laraque 02:33:00 - ETC Support the Show: PINK WHITNEY: Take Your Shot with Pink Whitney LUCY: Get LUCY shipped straight to your door. Visit LUCY.CO/CHICLETS and use promo code CHICLETS to get 20% off your first order. Subscribe for another 15% off & shipping’s always free! BETTERHELP: Spittin Chiclets' is sponsored by BetterHelp. Visit https://BetterHelp.com/CHICLETS today to get 10% off your first month.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. Cheers, you love They say you're drunk at speech It's just so the thought 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, it's the Wicked Dog here. I'm with my boy Paul Biznasty Bissonette and this is episode 515 of Spittin' Chicklets Podcast coming to you fresh with some interesting news going around the league first i want to say hello to biz what is going on buddy how was the weekend and where are you at now is it still jackson are we up to no victoria i am currently in vancouver and my tours are pretty much done for the next eight weeks i'm gonna be laying low i have a home base and actually before we hopped on i I wrote down my travels ever since the job ended with TNT. Cause you're stuck there for what? Like six, seven weeks doing, you know, the, the first two rounds. And then we did the conference finals, which was with Wayne. And right after that, it was back to Phoenix. Then obviously we went to Edmonton, to Florida, back to Edmonton, then to Florida. After that, I was in Phoenix before we went to Vegas after Vegas it was back to Phoenix to pack up to drive to Jackson then it was a flight to Calgary for the Stampede flight back to Jackson got to hang out there a full week and then uh after that last Monday is

when I talked to you that was right before I took off ended up uh making the rest of the drive and headed up to Vancouver quickly and then i bounced over to victoria because we had what did you listen to on that drive because it's about i think you said 11 12 hours no i was i was wrong it's actually a 16 hour drive like just under 16 hours so actually i left on monday drove till about 10 and then i just i started nodding off a little bit and i don't fuck around the minute i get a little tired now, I pull over. So I pulled over on the side of the highway, slept a little bit, woke back up at four in the morning,

drove another hour, was still tired, pulled over at another rest stop, and then I woke up at about 8.30 and then just grinded out the rest of the drive off to Vancouver. I'm a sick puppy. Yeah, you're a very, very like um you have focus and when you want to do something there's nothing stopping you like if it's a long ride it's like that's it

business doing a long ride but i i really do i do really do enjoy driving like that after the season that's my time where i get back behind the wheel and remember like i'm i'm in atlanta for seven weeks and i'm not driving there so i just like to hit the open road and get a lot of thinking done um i like to listen to albums like i'll listen to albums front to back like i was kind of into bob seger quite a bit on my way to jackson what an absolute amazing artist that guy oh just gets me going and uh i gave a sneaky banger bob seger one time oh you did one of my sneaky bangers was a bob seger song and i got a lot of love for it actually the sad thing about me is that i don't even remember the name of it right now so i'm going to my liked songs and i'll tell you right now

bob seger has a jam that is named rambling gambling man Gamblin' Man. Ramblin' Gamblin' Man. And I got a lot of love for that when I dropped it. It's got a little- Is that based on R.A.? The Ramblin' Gamblin' Man? No, no, that's the Stumblin' Bumblin'- No, we love R.A. Ass wedgie pickin' man.

But no, we love R.A. So going back to the drive, then I got to Vancouver, but then quickly the next day flew over to Victoria because at VGC, the golf course where I'm a member, they have their member guests, but they also do a fun event that's called 18 Aces. So all 18 holes in the course are turned into par threes. So sometimes you're tripping, obviously, from the middle of the fairway, and it's just a fun event. You get banged up with the boys. You have a great lunch beforehand.

There's a buffet after. There's a big buffet. It's just sharing a lot of laughs. I always love getting over there. I got some property there, and I always think that Oak Bay is where I'll end up when I end up retiring. I'm settled in maybe with a family. Not sure on that. That's some of the thinking that's going on the road, too.

You've got a lot of time, buddy. You've got a lot of time. I know. Not sure on that. That's a lot of some of the thinking that's going on the road. You got a lot of time, buddy. You got a lot of time. I know. Well, I know. But then people bring up the aspect of if there's too much of an age gap, you won't have anything to really relate with your kid. It's TikTok now. Could you imagine what it's going to be in five, ten years or even 15 years from that? So I know Elon Musk is not happy with guys like me that the fact that

there's an issue with the population according to him but at a certain point i'm gonna have to start busting some nuts inside a lady and and start popping out some kids so okay that's a little bit that's a little bit of what the thinking happens on the road like contemplating hey when's it when's it going to be time to kind of hang up the single life because you can't like what am i doing keely i don't even I can't even go out anymore. I can't even fucking listen to the music. If you look at Bill Belichick right now, I believe he was older than I am currently

when his current girlfriend was born. I mean, that's pretty sick and twisted. Quickly, this episode is presented by Pink Whitney. It was an amazing weekend filled with a bunch of Pink Whitney. I was down in Scituate, Mass, my hometown, on the water. Beautiful. The Irish Riviera of Boston.

It's just an incredible coastal town that my parents live in. We went down there. Pink Whitney was flowing. I saw actually one guy on the beach. He walked by me and just held a nip up. Hey, look. It's Pink Whitney, guys. Thanks for buying that, bro.

Leave me alone. But I actually loved him. I went and chatted with him. And I want to shout out everyone who buys pink whitney the 1.75 liter ball is the one i always bring up so thank you so much to new amsterdam thank you to everyone who gets involved and it's summertime it's pink whitney time so uh i was gonna say to you that there were rumors around the group chat um maybe a group chat that you're not even on in which people mentioned on the long ride you were on. You had somebody cut down every episode of Chicklets this year, and it was only the things you said. It was just the audio of you, and that's what you listened to on the long ride.

True or false? Who the fuck said that, Yans? I just made it up. I just made it up. You fucking... No, you didn't. I want to know about this group chat. I swear on my life, I just made that up right now.

I just made that up right now. We have some mea culpas. We have some big time mea culpas. Which ones? Let me get ahead of this. Worldwin? Let me get ahead of this. Worldwin is just one of your words.

You can't figure that one out okay i knew that abraham lincoln was not killed at a movie theater like the imax okay i knew it was a theater i said movie he was doing the popcorn trick to his lovely lady beside him and took a fun he got caught lacking and took a bullet do you think old honest abe was able to order a drink at like at these new age theaters yeah bring me bring me a whiskey uh so a lot of people went what movie was abraham lincoln watching when when he was uh gunned down no it was theater i just added movie i mean i will take that one but i knew it wasn't a movie theater it's just i said so movies at that point hadn't even been created, correct?

Yeah. I don't think that they were ripping off hugely budgeted filmed movies and then putting them in front of people on a giant screen in 1863. I'm just guessing. I thought that was your Terminator came out. No, that was. your terminator came out no that was the um if anyone would have seen a movie from 1863 it would have been ra and he would have been like bringing up lines from it in the middle of the cup finals like we don't know what you're talking but meanwhile it was a silent movie um so he was so you're saying that he was watching live theater i believe he was watching yes similar to a way that

i went and watched uh uh jeremy strong was his name remember, similar to a way that I went and watched Jeremy Strong, was his name? Remember I went to the theater? Remember I went to Broadway and I really kind of classed it up for a night with my wife? No, that was the first time. You think that's what happened to Abe? You think Abe took a couple sleepers? I had muscle relaxers because I pulled my neck, and that was the only reason I fell asleep. When I was at this show that I can't even think of the name of that I raved about.

That was the theater. So Abraham Lincoln was at Hamilton. No, it wasn't Hamilton. Grinnelli, please look this up quick. You're our new guy. You're there. We go. OK, the first movie was released in Paris in 1895.

Lincoln was assassinated 30 years prior to that. So I wasn't that off So I wasn't that off. I wasn't that off. By the way, the fact that Lincoln was president in like 1950 something. I didn't realize it was that long ago that Abraham Lincoln was the president. That's crazy. I was also told that like more than just

Lincoln and Kennedy were assassinated. I guess there was others. Of course, I don't have the names by hand right now. Gee, quick. What presidents were assassinated? Not that this is a great convo, but yes, I said movie theater. And people, you know, it turns out he wasn't watching Basic Instinct at the movie theater. Fair enough, mea culpa.

I believe you're one that people were really laughing at. It was just the shock that you had that Lincoln was assassinated. Knowing you well, I was just impressed. You knew he was a president, so I'll take that. He's on the dollar bill, isn't he? He's also, I believe, on an enormous statue in D.C. that I went in eighth grade, Noble and Greeno School, an amazing school. Hold on.

The list of attempts is as follows. President assassinated Lincoln 1865, Garfield 1881, McKinley 1901, Kennedy 1963. President shot but survived. Teddy Roosevelt 1912, Reagan 1981. Holy shit. And President Trump. These guys. So my understanding is they didn't introduce the Secret Service till like way after all these guys were getting capped.

I'm guessing that there wasn't Secret Service in 1865, but they were behind the ball. Now, in fairness, I don't know if the Secret Service person in 1865, had they had it, would have been that woman bumbling, trying to get her gun back in the holster about two weeks ago when Trump was was almost gunned down. I don't know if you saw that woman. She's a little clumsy, probably trying to get him in the car. But we're not getting political on this show, dude. No, we're not getting political. And I thought the guys did an amazing job jumping on former President Trump as the person was trying to gun him down. But it was this leads to this conversation because I thought it was in a movie here.

I thought he was at IMAX with the 3D goggles on. That one's on me. Oh, okay. So I was wrong. Again, Secret Service was created in 1865, April 14th. I mean, it's obviously not to the level of now. And they were obviously dropping the ball, considering it feels like the next four or five presidents almost got GATT. 14th. I mean, it's obviously not to the level of them now, and they were obviously dropping the ball considering

it feels like the next four or five presidents almost got GATT. Well, gee, April 14th is that before or after in 1865 when Honest Abe was killed. What day was he killed? I think I remember actually Jeff telling me that's when they created it. So April

14th was the day that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. July 5th was the day that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. July 5th was the day that the Secret Service was created. So almost three months after. So it was one of those things where they're like, hey, guys, I think we got to maybe put together a team that protects the president of the United States. We'll take it. I mean, unfortunately, we lost Honest Abe, but they at least formed the Secret Service after that.

Wow. We really took a right turn but i do enjoy reading the things that we fuck up from podcast to podcast and considering we have the time we might as well revisit that um quickly before i guess we we move on and since we're on the subject uh what do you make of uh of um joe biden stepping down i mean portnoy has been all over it and and uh he's been very vocal on it i'm canadian i shouldn't have a say in who's the president of the united states of america and considering i'm not even a canadian resident i don't really get say on who's the prime minister so i'm kind of

in limbo here and i'm really not politically affiliated to anything well besides your trudeau tattoo on your left butt cheek but we'll forget that right right now. Listen, I'm a bit of a lefty pussy. I lean left, but even from Canadian standards, I would probably be like a centrist. So in the States, that would probably be considered left-leaning. Yeah, I think that like most people that are just like level-headed,

they're pretty much like in the middle and they see things on both sides. Today's day and age, it doesn't seem like that really uh generates the clicks and in terms of portnoy being involved i think he's seeing the numbers and we've seen the numbers and portnoy talk about numbies he you know it's all about the numbies i mean these political tweets put out people put out videos there's a hundred thousand likes on these things like people are just addicted to the political talk i could give two fucks i i think sleepy joe sleepy joe probably it was time to maybe go and and that kind of came to a forefront on sunday uh but whoa i don't i don't know enough

i don't know enough to really give a a formative opinion because i'm not i i don't i i don't want to say i don't care because i really love the united states of america but when you're watching this stuff on tv it's just hatred on both sides and i try to just stick in my lane do a hockey podcast be a good parent and husband and play some golf i i would i would say ever since covid i think the the biggest lesson i learned is just like it ain ain't really going to change much. So don't let it fucking work you up. And that would be my advice to anybody listening, especially you young kids who are going to

eventually grow up and maybe start having to be, you got, you got to stay educated on it. You got to be in the know for, for what's going on. But at the end of the day, worry about you, take care of yourself and your family. Cause nothing much is really going to change. Well, how about the, how about the old people treat people the way you want to be treated and like i'll tell you right now this day and age social media has changed a lot and and an opinion that i have of that is like nowadays you could meet someone or say back in the day you'd

meet someone and they'd be uh you'd be friendly with them and you'd see them once in a while. You're like, oh, that's a good guy. She's a good girl, blah, blah, blah. And that'd be it. Well, nowadays, if you know somebody and you follow them on social media, like the way they post may piss you off or certain things they say may piss you off. And then your opinion on somebody completely changes. Whereas back in the day, had you not seen any of their posts on Instagram or their political posts on Twitter or blah, blah, blah, you would have never even, they would have never bothered you. So it's like all like the social media aspect now changes your opinion on people when, if you just went old school on how you get along with them, when you

interact in person, it's, it's just completely different now. So that's one thing where, you know, you got, you got people who are posting all the times on Instagram that may drive you nuts, but if you never saw it, you wouldn't care at all. I don't know if I'm making any sense. You're making a lot of sense. A lot of opinions can be pushed around because of it. But just to go quickly, go back with,

and then since we're done with this topic, right, we're moving on? Well, I had one last thing because we brought up Honest Abe and he does have an enormous, incredible statue in D.C. And if you ever get the chance to go D.C. and see the Vietnam Memorial and see the Lincoln,

it's just incredible. We went on a trip there, eighth grade, Noble and Greeno School. I left for ninth grade Thayer Academy. Well, you're on a bus ride down. I'm going to say it's, I don't know, nine, 10 hour bus ride from the Boston area down there.

And there was a girl I really liked. And on the way back home, I asked her to date me. She said no. And I made the mistake of asking at the beginning of the bus ride. I will never forget. And you know my memory. You know my memory. It's not good.

But I have a vivid memory of asking this girl, if you want to be my girlfriend, and she's like, no, I kind of like how it is right now and i sat there listening to smashing pumpkins on my disc man crying the whole way home it felt like 24 hours i was on that god you didn't have any of the boys to talk to after that or were they kind of shitting on you for getting rejected no i think that one of them had like been with her and then she like she still liked him and i was just the loser steven glansberg in the back of the bus i actually walked up to the front of the bus and sat next to a teacher nobody saw me crying so being six three weighing 155 pounds that's what i was in eighth

grade six three 155 and having ears like this and getting like denied by a girl that you really thought you had something going with that's a tough day in the office for your old boy win so i'll remember that one till the day i die and i actually remember thinking like i just love my country at least i got to see the monuments in dc i was listening to disarm by uh i know how you felt i feel like i got shot in the chest well there are no rumors honest dave was gay but i feel like these people don't know what the hell they're talking about this is me reading the internet Who knows dude Not that there's anything wrong with that

No no no What do you mean a rumor I just see all these Now Twitter's saying like Honest Abe was gay You know I don't know what to believe That's the problem I was talking to my mother yesterday down in Titcher I don't know what to believe anymore

I don't care if I see it on the nightly seven o'clock nation news i don't know if it's true who knows all i know is that i got ugra and the rest of the crew and that's pretty much what we're vibing yeah right that's all i know is true that right now ra is working on getting better as a human and grinnelli's just grinding out his life and you're driving around and what you thought would be 10 hours that turned out to be 16 thinking about being a human and Grinnelli's just grinding out his life and you're driving around and what you thought would be 10 hours that turned out to be 16 thinking about being a father and dropping loads in a woman so to finish off with my travels uh this past weekend I went to a bachelor party and I was interested to get your thoughts on this going in I was a little skeptical of this many guys but a 24 man bachelor party oh dude that's hell but but but turned out to be

incredible my buddy liam maynard's getting married i've been with him ever since we it was so all the guys are mostly from vancouver so we just went up to whistler one day bachelor party we went golfing during the day we had like a whatever like a team event everyone had four guys in their team and like to take the two low scores on each hole or whatever it was and uh and then we went out for dinner and then went out to this place called buffalo bills and just like he's 45 so obviously you can't be doing like some long ass destination bachelor party so i thought it was a wise move to get it done one shot and we had a blast this buffalo bills place in whistler it's a it was a wise move to get it done one shot. And we had a blast. This Buffalo Bills place in Whistler, it's a bit of a crazy scene. It's a little younger, too.

But Whistler's a vibe. And I actually, when I did that Biz Does BC series, Mark McMorris was in it. And randomly, seven years later, and Crankworx was going on. So randomly this past weekend, Crankworx was going on. We're back there. It kind of just like the nostalgia and the memories. What's Crankworx was going on. So randomly this past weekend, Crankworx was going on. We're back there. It kind of just like the nostalgia and the memories. What's Crankworx, Biz?

Crankworx is this big bike event where they're doing all the downhill jumping and all this craziness where they do a bunch of competitions for people who do a bunch of mountain biking activities. So it's a big deal. Probably one of the biggest, if not the biggest weekend in Whistler the whole year.

And randomly ran into Mark McMorris so he was there and I was gonna have him come out to the dinner we were going to but he's getting ready to uh to go call the Olympics but he's he's not going to Paris to call the Olympics they stay in Toronto and they do it out of the studio there so nonetheless gonna be cool I'm excited to watch some of the games going on and happens every four years. And yeah, it was a great weekend in Whistler. And now, like I said, I'm back in Vancouver and ready to settle down and not be moving around like a crazy bastard.

I've always wanted to go to Whistler at the Olympics in Vancouver. That was where all the mountain aspect of it and the skiing and we were not able to get up there. I believe about two hours, correct, from Vancouver? Yeah, about 90 minutes, two hours if there's a little traffic. So I've always wanted to go up there. One of the best drives you'll ever do,

the Sea to Sky Highway, it's stunning. For about probably 40 minutes of it, the first 40 minutes, it's unreal because you could see the ocean to your left as you're driving up. So it's just a spectacular drive and experience and this whole little pocket of the world is just amazing in the pacific northwest it's like when that asshole office manager brett drove us up the pacific coast highway from l.a to san jose and i think it took us eight hours and it could have

taken us like three if we'd just gone a normal highway considering it was dark the whole ride um speaking of bachelor parties i ran into someone recently who i i think he's 42 his wife's the same age his wife was on a bachelorette party in vegas they all live on like the east coast so just like all right we're 42 you want to go on a big bachelorette party to vegas even though like 23 year old girls on go on bachelorettes to Vegas, whatever, no worries, then the wedding's in Paris. If you make people travel for both, you're a scumbag.

It's a lot. If you want to do a big, big bachelor, bachelorette, and big travel, but then have the wedding be local. But if you're going Vegas, Paris, you have every right not to go. That's something where I'll stick to my guns too. That's just too much, especially at the age of 42.

How are you swinging them right now? So that's one. I think I figured out my wedges. So I don't play much golf during the winter. We're obviously in the muck of the hockey season. It's just really not my thing, even to the fact I live in Arizona. But I've probably played like five or six times in the last like three four weeks and i've i'm figuring out my fucking irons on the back nine

of the last round that i played in whistler i was i was chucking darts like 90 feet using my 60 wedge boom i'm not putting from 70 yards out anymore let's put it that way like i i love the texas wedge that's how bad my golf game was but when you figure out your irons there's nothing better there's no better feeling than hitting a 60 or a 56 degree loft and like popping it up and then just it dropping on the green you know five to eight feet from the hole and i think i did that three or four times on the back nine of that round oh buddy i was fucking dialed i often run into people who like they love the podcast but then they'll always follow it up or sometimes hey i love the golf videos some people compliment my swing a lot of

people are like hey you really need to start drinking again to like get your swing better but now i although i have been drinking every time I've been playing golf, maybe that is the answer. I have promised you in the next sandbagger we do, you will see a new biz. Okay. I've always actually loved the Texas wedge. Kevin Hayes is the master. I played golf with Kevin Hayes. He'll be 50 yards out and he'll put it to like eight feet.

It's crazy. It's an amazing talent, but I knew you had a problem when you wanted to do the Texas wedge. And that one time we played together and there was a water hazard in front of me. I said, you can't skip that thing. No, if I get some topspin on it, I was like, all right, whatever. You're a fucking idiot. I've started playing a little bit golf.

It's been rough. I've had a couple good rounds and then a couple horrible rounds. But my attitude has been just so much better where actually Chris Wagner said, no, dude, you need to go back to being furious and being an asshole because when you played bad and you were like that, you ended up playing good. Now you're like like Pleasantville wit as you're shooting 85. But I said, no, no, no. For my mental health and like and then i really like golf now it isn't i'm not i'm not playing like i used to or as much as i used to which kind of go hand in hand

but i can't come home to this household and be in a bad mood after golf like that's the one thing my wife's like i don't care if you're gonna play golf but if you come back it's not like you were minus four in sweden and you're and you're caught in plate in your career. Like it's like you, you said you had a bad round. You'll get out next week. Old sandwich ain't going anywhere. Shut the fuck up and change a diaper.

Yeah. It changed a diaper, shut your mouth and they give them the bottle. I mean, that's what it is. Uh, how does your wife run your show more? The more kids you have,

like is there a progression that no doubt no doubt because every woman is the same in that when you meet them they're awesome and my wife's the best the best but as you get your third kid and you got a six and a crazy ass three-year-old and then the two-month-old like she's gonna tell you certain things that you have to do that she didn't necessarily have to tell you you had to do when you met right i when we met it was out to dinner or a movie theater with abe lincoln every single night and then golf the next day well now it's changed right like you wake up in the morning you got to make a waffle for rider you got to give wyatt cereal and then he spills the mole and then screams at you for it and then you got to give the bottle to cal and it's just yeah in a sense the

wife the wife runs the show a little bit more. But happy wife, happy life. And as long as I get to play a little golf, it's just I've had to come to grips. And I think anyone who loves golf that has kids will understand that you have to be able to enjoy the game when you're playing bad. That is so hard to do when you're decent, right? And also, i'm sure even people who didn't play pro sports but i have a level of competitiveness where i almost hated i

got to a point where i hated golf because of the frustration it's supposed to be four hours of relaxation like there's nothing relaxing about fucking shanking your ball there's nothing wrong with what you know i'm saying uh rolling it 20 foot past the hole longer than the original putt was. Like that's like to me where the frustration came from, but I get where you're coming from. Now I got to ask you a question. Like you got Ryder who is extremely level headed. He's like so giving and calm. And then you got Squanto who is just an absolute maniac.

What are the early signs of Cal? Like what are the, are you seeing? It's too, it's too early. It's too an absolute maniac. What are the early signs of Cal? Are you seeing? It's too early. It's too early. Okay. I'm praying for another Squanto, but I know that's going to be a lot on the family. But these stories that you tell me about him running your show are just incredible. So what I'm more interested in right now in Cal, and this was the big question big question was i'm pale as you guys can tell

very fair skin irish english fair skin pale riders very similar much better looking than i am but i mean i'm loading on the spf 50 before the beach similar to me very pale well my wife i like saying she's exotic looking right she's very very tan she's got all these different nationalities like you know you you know brie like no yeah she's like like very she spent out a day in the sun she'd look like twice as dark and it just like looks natural it looks unbelievable she she has a great natural tan very i'm not trying to over compliment here i don't want to overstep my boundaries but that's okay very exotic looking woman as long as you don't try to start a family with her someday we're cool and then squanto is brie squanto he's darker than her i think it's crazy so like when i'm around you got a paternity test that's the thing it's like

the ups driver no joke is exotic looking i'm like babe uh he's dropping off a lot of packages here. And so the question was, when number three comes, we got two whites and we got two darks. What will Cal be? Now, my dad thinks he's going to be a little darker, but I think he's pale. So we've been dealing with trying to figure out basically what color he's going to be. That's the question I'm wondering with Cal right now.

Quick Squanto story. I went back from Nantucket the night before Ryder, Cal, and Bree, because Ryder did a fishing camp. It was awesome. These kids had a blast. They had high school kids doing it, 9 to 12. He caught a bunch of fish every day, Monday through Thursday. It was awesome. Well, we were leaving Wednesday night, and he wanted to go to the last day Thursday. Bree said, no worries. I'll stay with him and Cal. You take Squanto and the dog back. Okay. Well, I know it sounds crazy because a newborn cries, but Squanto's harder than Cal right now. So I brought Yoshi and Squanto onto the boat and the boat was a little late. So

we're waiting outside the ferry. I think the boat was supposed to leave at 6.10 and we didn't really board it till 6.30. So you're sitting where you need to enter for a long time and i had the ipad but then that wasn't good enough and he's walking around he's talking to everyone i was just kind of like oh well we get on the boat and i got my seat and we were next to um there was a family to the right and then across from us another like two girls and their mom sat down and i was trying to set up his ipad just to like maybe calm him down and have him chill for an hour on the boat ride. Well, I could maybe just like listen to something,

you know, Bob Seger, maybe like you on your drive. So I stepped on Yoshi's leash because I was like, all right, there's a bunch of dogs on here. So he ain't going anywhere. And then I'm trying to help Wyatt,

but he's flipping out and I'm kind of holding him. He's like, put me down. And I'm just like ignoring him, put me down. And I'm just like ignoring him. Put me down. And I'm ignoring him trying to fix the iPad. And then he goes, he squeezes my cheek. He goes, put me down.

And I'm like, oh. And I was like kind of mad at him. I'm like, don't you talk to me like that. You shut up right now. And he goes, oh, you're rude to me. And I'm like, this is so embarrassing. Like, I look like a joke next to these people. But they're laughing, which is making him do it more.

Well, all of a sudden, everything relaxes. And I put the headphones on him. His hair's in his eyes. He needs a haircut. Brie wants the long hair on him. I got Ryder in the short hair. So it's like a battle between the haircuts. And finally, I'm relaxed.

And all of a sudden, this woman walks up around the corner. She's like, is this your dog? Well, in the midst of wrestling Squanto, I had stepped up and I didn't really. And Yoshi ran away. And somehow, I don't know. He wasn't barking. He barks. My dog hates me, by the way.

That's another story. We have this beautiful, amazing dog who hates my guts. It's the worst feeling. Like, he doesn't let me pet him. I feel it. Brie said to me, you got to be nicer to him. Like, months ago i was like all right i started giving him treats and even last week she said i i i'm with you now

he doesn't like it so that sucks but i lost him for a minute thank god it was on a boat um running your show this much i oh god it is it's it's comedy i can listen to you talk about it every podcast the reason why okay the reason he was coming home with me was because I've mentioned the jerseys. He wears, I'm not kidding you, six to seven jerseys a day. Every hour, if not less, he's running up to his room and he comes down with a different jersey. It's bizarre. Does he have a favorite one? Does he have a go-to?

Well, listen. So these aren't, like, I'm not buying my kid, like, sick jerseys. They're, like, old Little League, like, jerseys from his cousins. Or Ryder's old Argentina soccer jersey. Like, they're just random. Well, we get to Nantucket, and he's like, where's my Reds jersey? And it's an old Little League, like, the local town had a Cincinnati Reds. It was one of the teams.

It's just a T-shirt that says Reds. And Bree's like, I didn't pack it. And it's like, I looked at her. the local town had a Cincinnati Reds was one of the teams. It's just a t-shirt that says Reds. And Bree's like, I didn't pack it. And it's like, I looked at her. You didn't pack the Reds jersey? You didn't pack the fucking Reds jersey? And for two weeks, this kid asked, when are we going back to the yellow house for my Reds jersey?

So I said, hey, listen, I'm leaving Wednesday. You want to come back? Yeah, I need my Reds jersey. So we went through the disaster on the ferry, almost lost Yoshi, blah, blah, blah. And he falls asleep on on the ride home it's about an hour and 20 minutes from my house and we get home and he's passed out i'm like oh awesome i pick him up i carry him upstairs i put him in bed and he kind of wakes up where's my red jersey and i was like no no we'll get in the morning he's like where's my reds jersey I need my Reds jersey

That's why we came home early And he's got a lisp His lisp right now We're trying to work on that Where's my Reds jersey And it's like Oh he's spitting on me So then it took me 30 minutes

To find the goddamn Reds jersey It's 1030 And he's standing there With his twiddle in his tums So I'm calling Where's the Reds jersey Fucking disaster But it was uh it was an entertaining entertaining trip oh this guy runs your show i love it he does he does so

the jerseys thing it's a disaster but it's it's it's the life of being a parent don't get him a stamp call fanatics jersey just don't do that they can't fucking get it right true is that the one he had on no s it's it no s come on fanatics two stanley cups get his name right oh they might as well they it would have been better if they just put stammer on it stam can't forget the ass on stam coast hockey news hockey news a pretty uh I'd say, impressive hire. And I wonder how Blue Jackets fans feel. But Columbus, they go out and they hire Dean Everson, who coached the Wild for parts of five seasons.

Had a lot of success with them. You've seen his crazy stare on the bench. I think he came in pretty hard on guys, but that's kind of what that team needs right now. What do you take on Everson getting the Blue getting the blue jackets job yeah changing of the guard and i think they needed somebody who like you said i think that he's got that mix between player coach but also a hard ass and very structured like it's not going to be a country club there especially to start they need to re-establish that culture i think going back back to last year at the start of the year and that whole

fiasco, obviously there was probably a lot of frustration from ownership and the fact that that decision was made, it was reinforced. They make the hire, they got to buy them out and then they, they move on. And it's a Vincent,

right? Pascal Vincent, the coach who took over. And I just think he was put into a horrible situation, especially that short term and having to go from being an assistant coach to a head coach. And I don't think they have the personnel right now. I think they're headed in the right direction.

I think they have some decent pieces. But ultimately, he was put in a very horrible situation. But ever since they let go of the GM, they hired Don Waddell. Now they got Dean Evanson. They have some good young prospects. It seems like they're going to move on from line A. So it just really seems like it's a complete car wash

of what's been going on there in the past. And now they're looking to the future. And I love the hire. As I mentioned, I think they need that aspect of player coach, but yet a guy who is hard and who's going to come in there and clean up a lot of the mistakes that have been made. As well as, you know, he's been around a long time. I mean, this is a guy who played over 800 games as a player in the NHL.

He's coached a very long time. But like I said, it seems like that structure is going to be what they need. How do you feel about it? I think that the number one thing the blue jackets need right now is stability and you're bringing in a guy who's had success in minnesota who demands i'm not going to say excellence but professionalism and in a year that was a disaster from the get-go with fantilli and possibly brinley and all these young, talented guys that they have there. And then like Wierenski and they got some vets, but it's like we need some stability. And I think that when you go into training camp this year, if you are on the Blue Jackets,

there's going to be a clear message of what is expected, where last year it was such a gong show that they had to deal with all this nonsense. And like you said, Pascal Vincent, that's just a bad bounce for him. Like you plan all summer to be an assistant and what you're going to do and how you're going to work with Babcock, and boom, it's your job. You haven't really prepared to have that role, and everything changes so quick that the whole year was a gong show. And now you get to hire in July. He's able to put a game plan in place.

And one thing I do love, if I was a fan of the Blue Jackets, is the Evanston reactions on the bench when Minnesota was winning plan in place and one thing i do love if i was a fan of the black blue jackets is like the evanson reactions on the bench when minnesota was winning some of those games that that like he was a part of like i love that passion and i think that's probably what they need there is like the excitement and the demanding of certain things and making sure that if you don't do this you're not going to play whereas like i think there's probably some rumblings of a little bit of a country club there and partly yeah i was just gonna use the word country club that would have been the word i use and and where when did they have their most success with with a coach like john tortorella

now that could be a very intense situation that can wear on players over time but ultimately they needed a guy with a similar personality maybe not as intense to come in and make it way less of a country club vibe. And, and, and another thing too, like, um, I know Johnny ham and cheese maybe over the past couple of years,

hasn't exactly been like, you know, maybe the, the, the Johnny Goodrell we saw in Calgary, they clearly had better teams, but he's also a guy who's used to playing for a hard nose style coach and a guy who had success on her one and Daryl Sutter,

that could have been what eventually pushed them away. But evanson isn't daryl sutter there's a there's a drastic difference in between john totorella daryl sutter and dean evanson so i've only ever heard good things remember we went there i think we went and stopped by practice and we got to chat with him a little bit and that was right before the outdoor game before they played st louis and really feels like like what him and Billy G had going on was very positive. Seemed like it was an open-door policy where players can come in and communicate what they're seeing.

But ultimately, they need to go in with the work boots on this training camp because if they aren't all going on all cylinders all the time, they're still not in a place to make playoffs, as we speak. So a lot of work to be done, but a lot of respect now in that organization with Don Waddell and him coming over. Also, when he was in Minnesota,

I mean, I don't think you went into the season thinking, oh, this is a playoff team for sure. And he ends up being fired. But you saw like Garin, Billy Garin, he felt like he had to do it, but I think it was pretty hard and emotional for him to fire Dean Evanson. Yes, he hung up and cried.

If you remember, Evanson went in the locker room and went into his office and it was an emotional meeting in terms of like, I feel like I have to do this. I don't want to do this, but I think this is what we need. But Evanson got a lot more out of those wild teams than a lot of people expected.

Teams that were going through cap hell and didn't necessarily have a roster you expected that much that went on some runs in the regular season of like, wow, this is a pretty legit team. So I think Evanston will be able to work with an up-and-coming team. And what's cool for him is you look at it like, all right, we're not there yet. But I truly believe with this talented roster and the prospects coming and what I believe I could do as a coach, we're going to be there much sooner than people think. My last thing on it is I've said this before.

I want the Columbus blue jacket. Yeah. Good. And the main reason is that fan base. Awesome. Frigging fan base is packing that building game 82 when they're horrible going bananas with the fucking Abraham Lincoln cannon going off. And those fans have seen one series win, and they need to see more success.

They deserve it for how much they show up, and I can't wait to see how it plays out in Columbus. I also can't wait to see Fantilli's sophomore year. He had that injury at the end of this season, and I think he's going to pop off. Yes, agreed on all fronts, and that fan base deserves it. We went there. I don't know if it was at the beginning. No, it was two years ago, obviously.

I don't think we would have been invited last year, but me and G went, and that's when G declared at top five cities in the United States of America. I think he said top three. I think he said top three. Well, with the Abraham Lincoln cannon, that could be a fact now. We've got to go on to the next thing.

We thought this was the next biggest thing. Not Quentin Byfield, which we'll get to after this, but Joe Pavelski is hanging them up. 18 seasons in the NHL, over 1,000 points, with over 1,300 games, 201 playoff games. I think probably top 10 all-time good guys where people would be really disappointed he didn't win a Stanley Cup.

If you could list off probably a top 10 list of guys who never got to win a cup who deserve it and who guys want to win one, like Joe Thornton's on that list. Who else would you put on that list? Aginla. Jerome Aginla. Lundquist.

Henrik Lundquist. He's probably a top 10 guy. And I think that... Whitney. Ryan Whitney. One of the best backhand one-timers the world has ever seen. And as far as American Hockey Hall of Fame, I think it's a no-brainer.

He's the sixth highest scoring American-born player to ever play in the National Hockey League. And I think that if you asked his teammates and coaches for all-around character and qualities as a teammate, they would say he's a Hall of Famer. But I just don't think, I think without the cup, I don't know if he gets into the Hockey Hall of Fame. What do you think?

I think he ends up getting in. Wow, okay, good. I don't think it'll be like Shea Weber first ballot, you know, this past season, getting the announcement that he'll be going in in February or whatever they do that. But I think of Joe Pavelski and I kind of do think of a hockey hall of famer. And my number one stat for him is the most goals in the history of the Stanley Cup playoffs by an American born player. So it's like of all the times, and I know he didn't get the Stanley Cup, but he played his best hockey when the games meant the most. And he went to a cup final and he had a chance and he was just so consistent. And he was able to do it by not only being a seventh round

pick, but by being slow. Like we're not even saying like, oh, he wasn't super fast. He was slow. And he just was so goddamn good around the net so much better defensively than people realize and every teammate loved the guy so i was watching him play in that american century classic that they play out in lake tahoe he finished second place to marty fish for nail former tennis player who uh who i believe is like a legit like plus four handicaps like play oh wow that cool story of of that American tennis player. I think I watched a documentary on him or something. Yeah, Netflix.

Okay, that's what I watched, yes. Yeah, so he's unbelievable, and Pavelski and him just went toe-to-toe. I was looking at Pavelski out there because I was watching the broadcast. I mean, he took his hat off. The guy's hairline hasn't moved a goddamn centimeter. He's a stallion. He's a stallion.

He's a fucking well-dressed dude. All he did was show up and play. I think he's got a role. You know he's packing, Heat. I think he's a great hunter. He's a great golfer. He's dusting people in ping pong. Joe Pavelski is like, that is what you show a smaller kid,

maybe a late drafted or undrafted player who believes he could play in the NHL. Like, look at Joe Pavelski and look how every season he came to play and every year, you know where he scored goals from in the crease because he went in there and he took a beating and he had unbelievable hand eye and he tipped every puck in and then he competed. So I just hope that guy enjoys his retirement. I have a crazy theory that he probably will, considering everything he competed. So I just hope that guy enjoys his retirement. I have a crazy theory that he probably will considering everything he does. He does to extremely high levels. I think his retirement will be no different. There are certain people that play the game that retire

and you just picture being involved in a front office. Yeah. I saw Butcher Gross' tweet where he was like, it's a shame he didn't win a Stanley Cup, but he could see him winning one in management or you know whatever he wants to do in his post career involved with a team I feel like like he's like just like I said about like Derek step on like I'm sure Sidney Crosby Steve Eisenman there's certain guys that are kind of just wired to be I think Joe Thornton's kind of slowly getting into it a little bit like maybe not hard too

hardcore involved but dipping the toe in but eventually they find their way to the top because they're just so reputable and they're such good guys to have around so people have said you guys need pavelski in a sandbag a hundred percent but like let's make this clear right now i'm getting six shots six i'm like a three handicap like i was a zero for a while not anymore i'm a three i think my index is right around there he at least i'm getting five like he's a true plus one or two handicap so like people are coming at me like have him for a sandbag you're scared he'll dust you yeah he's way better than me so i'm taking shots you're getting like 20 if we play him put it that

way because we've seen ray whitney and we've seen some great golfers. I think Pavelski, I think he's above them all. You think he's the best hockey player golfer to exist on the planet? So I've been told that I've been told the best one is Greg McKegg. Do you remember the name Greg McKegg? No. I hope that's his first name. He played for like

pittsburgh and so uh while while you look this up actually uh we got to tease our next sandbagger it's coming out august 22nd it's actually going to be against uh jordan smaltz and uh heat daddy so they joined us at the win now boys like i know some people were messaging us hey i think the whole crew needs to take a break. This was kind of like the end of the craziness where everybody was buckled. It was 115 degrees on the course. I never thought we'd play in a hotter sandbagger

than the one we did in Nashville. Well, this was even worse. We started as early as we could to keep the temperature down, but that desert sun got us in no time. And you guys will have to watch and see how it all went i mean i urinated myself on the golf course i'm not gonna say how we got there i'm not gonna say how it all went down but i ended up pissing my pants i don't think i'm ever going to be invited back to a wind property in my life after this video comes out

but blame the pink whitney nips um and the birdie jews because I think we had about 4 or 5 on the first 6 holes. We teed off at 6.30 and by 7.15 everyone was crippled and Heat Daddy and Schmaltz, all I could say is just watch. I don't even really know how to describe those guys. Beautiful human beings, crazy minds. Some of the things that were

coming out of their mouths. I know Heat Daddy mentioned Kyle Rittenhouse. It's all kind of a little bit of their mouths. I know Heat Daddy mentioned Kyle Rittenhouse. It's all kind of a little bit of a blur. I don't know how we got there. I don't think we ever know how he gets where he goes to. I know we were going to do nine holes, and then we kept going. And then by 13, I'm like, I never wanted to get off a golf course more in my life.

But it was incredible. The ending, I'm sure, will surprise some people. But check that out August 22nd. Other NHL news you already quickly mentioned. Just to go back quickly to Pavelski, I think that there's always a time and the right time to do it. It's sad because I felt like the decline in a sense of how slow he ended up looking on the ice happened so drastic,

where the regular season, it was never really that noticeable, but as playoffs wore on and he'd struggled to score goals, it just, he, and that Edmonton spirit series, especially, it just seemed like he dropped like another pace. And it's just like,

Hey man, the, the age catches up to you at some point, but I think he ducked out at the right time and just an incredible career. Cause he shouldn't be remembered for that. He should be remembered for all the fucking goals he scored, all the games he played, and all the clutches he had throughout his 18-year season.

So best of luck of Joe Pavelski, and quit dodging us in the sandbaggers. We'll see you soon. Yeah, he also, like, if you, no, quickly, if you ever want to kind of show somebody the difference between playoffs and regular season, I think Pavelski had 29 goals this year. And then the playoffs came and it was just,

who knows if he was injured. But it was like, oh my God, I think the level's up this much and my foot speed isn't there. So he knew when it was time to go. Unfortunate how it ended. I mean, guys, think about the end of my career. I couldn't even play a game without tearing an ACL.

So he actually made out pretty good to think about. know the decline happens fast it happens faster for some than others but i think that he made out pretty good having that regular season then just unfortunately unfortunately fizzled out in playoffs um do you want to move on to uh probably the biggest signing since we last talked yes uh quickly greg mckay played 233 nhl games with toronto florida tampa pittsburgh carolina new york rangers bruins and back to the rangers along quickly. Greg McKegg played 233 NHL games with Toronto, Florida, Tampa, Pittsburgh, Carolina, New York Rangers, Bruins, and back to the Rangers along with a lot of AHL time. 21 goals

in 233 NHL games. Apparently he is the GOAT hockey player golfer. I've been told by several people he's a legitimate, unbelievable player. So maybe we could put together a Pavelski-McKegg match. We should announce the best golfers playing each other okay and then for as far as uh officials isn't rank i forget i forgot the first name is it kyle rank the garrett or garrett rank so what's

what's is he legit somewhat professional would he be better than that guy you just mentioned i think garrett rank would Rank would dummy both of them. Garrett Rank's one of the top mid-amateurs in the world, and that's for people over the age of 25 are considered mid-amateurs. And he competes in the USAM, the US Mid-AM, all the biggest, best tournaments around for those people Garrett Rank's a part of. So, yeah, he in the hockey world is the best golfer. So we'll go with the ref for that one.

Back to the NHL. Yes, the LA Kings, who had a really tough July 1st, kind of a tough offseason, according to all their fans and what I'm seeing online, made a nice move in that signing Quinton Byfield to a five-year extension. And I think it's 6.25 a season. And I love the move for both, but I almost love it more for Byfield. He popped off this season, and then you see he goes 80 games, 20 goals, 35 assists, 55 points. His career high had been 22 points the year prior.

So you see this huge climb, and then you see him and his agent say, well, we're going to sign this deal, and then you see him and his agent say well we're gonna sign this deal and you're gonna be ufa at 27 and then we're gonna sign another monster contract because the cap in five years could be 107 million for all we know and this is yeah this is the proper process too to where he doesn't have to all of a sudden being paid like he is the guy and be the guy this is the this is what i'm talking about when i see some of these guys just get the eight times eight like nothing they i will compliment the la kings they've made some tough moves as far as trades in the last year and a half i really didn't like the one with winnipeg obviously the

dubois signing is kind of a scarlet letter on Blake. So in some cases, early on when Blake took over, made some questionable moves, I feel like he reeled it back in. Last offseason wasn't the best offseason for him, but this is a huge deal. It kind of reminds me a little bit of how they handled the Kempe situation. I want to say Kempe got a four-year deal at $22 million. So they don't have to all of a sudden have this burden of being the guy. They essentially get this bridge deal. I think Kempe was a little bit older when he got that and you know he'd had to spend some time in the american league american league but nonetheless had the style of

production in which we're seeing from byfield popping off the way that he did and you can't make more than colpitar colpitar is making7 million in the next two years. And like you said, five years from now, when he's 27 years old, he will be that guy. Kopitar more than likely won't be there anymore. They're going to have Doughty off the books, and then it's going to be Quinton Byfield's team if all else goes according to plan. So a great deal for Rob Blake.

It kind of takes away a little bit of that heat that he's probably feeling from that Dubois signing and then buyout, as well as getting rid of a few key players. Like, who'd they get rid of? Velarde and Ayafalo? And did they part ways with someone else in that deal? No, I think you might be maybe imagining the drafting of Faber had the, the, the, the drafting of Faber, right. And then trading him.

Um, but like they have Brent Clark coming up who apparently is like crazy talented. Oh, actually I ran into your, one of your old coaches in Ontario, still coaches there at the airport in Vegas. Great guy. Can't think of his name.

Chris height. Chris. Yes. Yeah. Awesome guy. Awesome. And I was actually asking him about Brent Clark. He's saying like, Oh, think of his name chris height chris height yes yeah good dude went on to the awesome guy awesome guy and i was actually asking about brant clark he's saying like oh this kid is so skilled and i think right now it's just working on like more consistency and like he was speaking glowingly of

him though so they got they got this young d-man stud coming up so it's probably better uh it's never as bad as you think never as good as you think so i think the la kings fans are real down in the dumps probably not as bad as you think i did read that if if byfield had signed like an eight-year deal the number would have been astronomically high so maybe blake's looking at it like all right well i'd rather sign this see what you can do as opposed to what you're saying and give out an eight-. Yeah, I think they also, from the Kempe situation into this situation, they've got to buy time to get maybe some of the heavy contracts off the books. Now, outside of, I think it's Doughty who's making $11 million for three more years. I have no problem with him making that money.

I know that from a current-day production standpoint, he's probably an $8 million, $9 million defenseman. But when you bring two cups to the team, you should get paid whatever the fuck you want but like i said kopitar making seven million then you have to know that's under seven million i want to say two and then and then quentin byfield at that number and then as well as adrian kempe going in next year at five five like the money up front is spread out pretty evenly and they don't have any crazy bad contract so in my opinion it's definitely a good look for the next few years and then uh the question mark i think would by field is he played junior his first two years as a centerman um i think it's helped him out a lot moving to the wing and playing with colpitar so he doesn't have to

play against all these these juggernaut centermen in the Western conference night in night out until he does, you know, get his feet under him from an NHL perspective and learn how to produce and then play defensively enough to when Kopitar is gone at two, three years or three years, excuse me. If he is,

he can maybe then step into that center role. I think he's yet to maybe prove it. They can be that first line center, but I think that that's probably their expectation and where they hope he is by the time this deal ends. I even think this year, because last year you were looking at it like, all right, we got Kopitar, we got Dubois,

and then we got Deneau as the three centers, and Dubois is gone, and maybe they're like, all right, no, our second line center is going to be Quinton Byfield. We think he's ready now. Center ice to play as a 19- old in the nhl it's like good luck dude good luck so you'll see you know you'll see certain players he did deal with um he did deal with a an ankle or foot break in i don't know if it was last year's training camp or maybe the year before so maybe that's why the production was down and he so there's a there's a lot of growth here still left to happen.

So a great, great contract for the LA Kings. And as I said, it relieves a little pressure for Rob Blake after making a few tough ones early last offseason. Last thing before we send it over to Sean Pronger. We had Chris Pronger's brother on, and he had a great career himself. And he was a bit of a suitcase. He bounced around to a lot of teams and we discuss all of them. And, you know, but it seems like just a guy who was grateful to be playing pro hockey

and really embraced wherever he ended up and had fun while doing it. So I'm really looking forward to you guys listening to that interview. A lot of laughs and he's a funny character and he did play for the Canucks. So that's the last team we'll talk about before heading into that one um couple signings she lost I think might have happened before last podcast great contract they got for him 850 for two years and then a guy you talked about a few podcasts ago in in Sprong Sprong's a 20 goal guy where was he going to end up they signed him for under a million bucks so as far as Vancouver this offseason I know they lost Lindholm Witt but they locked up Sherwood they got DeBrusque they

got Joshua back on a very fair number they got Heinen and then now Sprong a 20 goal scorer so as far as their offensive depth heading into next season they might have a deeper forward group the question mark is obviously going to be the back end Quinn Hughes being their only puck moving defenseman they lose the door of so don't really know what's going to happen there but they got their goal tending and their forwards locked and loaded I think their forward group is phenomenal I think Jake DeBrusque is going to do really well there like I mentioned before when we talked about Vancouver what Elias Pettersson are you going to get that is the question if he is the guy before he signed the contract this season,

they're going to be unbelievable. If he's the guy we saw in the playoffs, it's going to be maybe a struggle. You need your superstars to be superstars, especially the ones that are paid like that. So I just couldn't believe the Shelof's deal. I saw it and I was like, how did they get him to be 50? I know you said he had no leverage, but he was phenomenal in the playoffs. It doesn't fucking matter.

Demko's their guy who's been able to do it year over year. You know exactly what you're getting from him. Obviously, the health component is an issue. I think I mentioned I talked to Boucher brian boucher who does who works with tnt and i said i feel like for a big guy this guy moves insane he goes biz if if mcdavid was a goalie this would be mcdavid the way that he's so big and the way he's able to go lateral and his positioning and his skating the problem is though with all that movement sometimes does come injury and he's been injured the last couple

years a little bit so she loves yeah he had a good playoff but where it's a hey buddy sign this deal or fucking stay at home what else you're not even our starter you're not our starter and have a couple good more years as a backup then you're gonna have all the leverage in the world and maybe a team if he's able to play that 25, 30 games to the way he played in playoffs, some team is going to make them an A1AB and give them a four-year deal at $4 million, the same that, or $5 million, the same that Allmark got when he ended up going over to Buffalo when they fucking traded him off. What a stupid, stupid move.

Because it was Buffalo who signed him to that deal, right? I want to say it was Buffalo who gave him four years at 5 million a year. But regardless, as if you're a goalie and you have that short sample size, I don't think you should be making big money, especially when you're restricted and you have no arbitration and no rights. And, and how many times have we seen a goalie go on a fun run for a couple months? And then all of a sudden it's like, Oh great. we got this guy for five more years making five million yeah you don't want to pay you don't want to pay these guys yeah the goalie game now it's wild like the inconsistency year to year from a lot of guys it's like what what happened last year and what is going on now there's always like this isn't the

same guy we saw last year good or bad so that So that's always interesting. The one worry for Vancouver, I would say, is you got Hughes and Hironic up top, awesome. But then for a team with fast-paced forwards that can score, Harsensousi, Tyler Myers, Forbert, and Vinny Desharnais, puck movement out of the zone could become an issue. I know Quinn Hughes can play 28 minutes a game, but I'm interested to see how they're able to break out of their own zone. If that's able to be crisp through the middle, tape to tape, or more chipping it off the glass to a forward unit who isn't necessarily going to go in and get it back. They want to enter the zone with pace and with possession of the puck.

Well, if they don't want to learn how to forecheck, they're not going to win a Stanley Cup. I mean, you've seen the last few teams who have. I mean, you have to be good in all areas. I'd say as far as Florida's concerned, that was one of their strongest strengths. So it's either you learn now with all those good players who can move up front, fucking go hound that puck down, baby.

You got to hound it. You got to hound it. Well, that leads right into Sean Pronger, who I believe was a member of the Vancouver Canucks. Was he not? Yeah. I mean, he had a cup of coffee a lot of places. I'll pull up his hockey DB.

Anaheim, Pittsburgh, Rangers, Kings, Bruins, Blue Jackets, and Vancouver was his last NHL team. He played three games in 2003, 2004, and then went over to the DEL in Germany. A great storyteller. We actually did this, I think it was November of 2023. So we've had this one for a while, and we really kind of thought it would be good to wait till the summer because people would enjoy it. Yeah, it's evergreen. And he brought us in some of their whiskey, I believe, that day.

Yeah, they got a booze brand they started with. So, yeah, it's a great interview. We sat down. You guys had some of it because I was off the piss. And like you said, a great storyteller. And I'm looking forward to you guys hearing about his journey. What up, guys? Before we continue, it's Wit, and I need to talk to you about BetterHelp.

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So do that with betterhelp.com slash chicklets. All right, it's time for our next guest. This center was taken by Vancouver in the third round of the 1991 draft. After four years at Bowling Green, he started his 11-year pro career, eight of which were in the NHL with Anaheim, Pittsburgh, the Ranges, Kings, Bruins, Blue Jackets, and Vancouver. He's also an accomplished author and now a purveyor of fine Canadian whiskey. It's a pleasure to welcome to the Spittin' Chickens podcast, Sean Pronger.

How's Southern Caltree, my friend? Awesome. I'm glad you got my bio I sent over. I know how to rub them up. Hey, I love the back of the book. He's got some quotes from guys, Brian Burke, Craig McTavish, Chris Pronger's brother, Rick Nash. Sean was one of the first guys to invite me into his home for dinner when I was a rookie, just trying to get adjusted to the NHL life. Funny, I never saw him much after that first year. He's not dead, is he?

Hell of a blur. He was such a child. He's 18. He's just so young. You forget what it's like. I know. And he comes over, just like, I'm like, dude, you want something to eat? He's like, yeah. So comes over just like could i get i'm like dude you

want something to eat he's like yeah so we'd like you know we sat together on the plane like i don't know why they let me in we're near someone that talented um but yeah he was a great guy uh just young i mean you know it was like one of the last dinners or that year when he was a rookie so we were i think we're in washington so the group of us go out and uh it was a great teaching moment for nasher we went went to dinner you know know, beers, wine, drinks, appies, like just the whole thing. We were out of the playoffs, obviously. Might've been January.

And so the bill comes, you know, it's obviously monstrous. And so we just chop it up four ways. And Nasher's like, I had a Coke and spaghetti bolognese. I go, you gotta learn buddy thanks for the beef tartare this isn't the wives dinner you know girls i had a salad so it's 17.99 for me actually you made out pretty good i thought you said you were gonna make him pay for it yeah how'd i known you know you never know when it's gonna be your last year or the guy's gonna be a you know superstar although he was he was obvious he was obvious he was going to be a superstar.

Yeah. Tell right away. Oh my God. Just a raw talent. I mean, just big and like he hasn't, he hadn't even filled out yet, but just so good and so good around the net. His hands were unbelievable. Yeah. I mean.

I don't know how much you watch now, but like this Leo Carlson, I mean, he's kind of a big center too, like kind of very similar in how much you watch. It is pretty awesome what's going on in Anaheim. Like. I know. I thought it was going to happen in a couple years but, I mean, you know, having lived here for a while,

they do have really good starts. And then I think the season catches up to them, but it'd be great if they can ride this for as long as possible because they have some talent. Do you go to many games? I do. I go to a handful, usually the first half, then I go to a lot in the second half. So the Ducks were your first NHL team? Yes. team yes yeah they were um god it seemed like 100 years ago but yeah i got called up i was

playing in baltimore walt kyle if you know that name was the head coach of the baltimore bandits and i literally just came out of the east coast the year before and uh he's and it was like you know i was i was a third line center in the american league not the guy you think's getting called up you know i was like i was playing like good hockey but you know the pucks were not flying in the net so it's like you would never expect the call and then he calls and i was it was almost out of like major league when it's like you know tom berenger's got a like sombrero laying across the bed i'm like on the couch i'm like hung over he's like sean i go yeah it's walt yeah well uh you're getting called up i go fuck you he goes no you're going i go dude seriously what time's practice tomorrow uh he's

like no sean you're the ducks are calling you up so and so got hurt i'm like are you fucking serious i go how many games he's like i don't know one go fucking play so i go to the airport and i got i don't know i didn't know what to do like I didn't even have a, I didn't have a suit. I had like a sport coat, a green one. I don't know why. A green fucking blazer, which just makes no sense. Tough plus minus the year before. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I bought it myself. And I go to the airport and I drop off my car in like short-term parking, like right beside the terminal. And I just like, fuck it. Got on the plane and took off and realized like that thing might not be there when I get back now my roommate pick it up and yeah showed up and played uh played one game didn't even look at the schedule played Washington uh survived that game but like no one tells you anything or I didn't think to ask so it's like the game's over and we're you

know tomorrow we got practice then we're flying out to Detroit and I'm like am I going am I going and no one says shit so I'm like, am I going? And no one says shit, so I'm just going to keep showing up. So I just showed up. I didn't even look at the schedule. So we played. Wednesday was against Washington. Thursday, travel day.

Friday, Detroit. Saturday, Toronto, Maple Leaf Gardens. Oh, man. Hockey night in Canada. I'm like, I got to get to that fucking game. I got to figure out a way. So I just show up, get on the bus or get on the plane, get to Detroit, survive Detroit.

I can't say I played well, but well enough that they couldn't get somebody there in time for the Toronto game. So then, yeah, played Hockey Night in Canada and it was awesome. Like it was a thrill. I mean, you guys have played in Maple Leaf. Did your family get to come down? They did not.

They were, they watched it, but they couldn't get there because it was like a lot of my times in the NHL were very last minute. So them booking travel would have been tough. And you're from Dryden, correct? Dryden, Ontario. Yep. Which is not far from Thunder Bay.

It's four hours from Thunder Bay. So that's where you had to what, play your minor? I played junior hockey in Thunder Bay. Okay. Thunder Bay Flyers, which they moved the team. But yeah, there's a lot of good players that came through there. So, I mean, yeah. What was it like growing up in Dryden?

And obviously that's not very close to Toronto, so no wonder they couldn't make it. Yeah, Dryden, I mean, special place in my heart. Not a lot going on in Dryden. Is it middle of nowhere? Literally. Like it's the definition of the middle of nowhere. Population?

Population 7,000. Okay. It's like a mill town. So there's not a lot to do. But, you know, when you're, when you grew up there, you don't know that. So we just, I mean, we had a blast. So me and Chris and our, you know our kind of the core group of friends,

we played road hockey. We played every day in front of our house and then as we got older, so we'd play all the time. Then we'd go to the outdoor rink on the weekend and then we'd come back, watch Hockey Night in Canada and then go dick around somewhere. But during the week, we'd play at night in front of the house and I mean, if anybody stuck to there, luckily it's 40 below,

so no one was outside. But the language that these young kids that we were, I mean, it was a lot. And so then as we got older, we'd, you know, because, you know, back we're watching the 70s and 80s hockey. I mean, it's just fights and physical, right? So we're working on our fighting on the street. And these are buddies. And so we would beat the shit out of each other.

So we got the big skidoo mitts on with the padding on them, you know, like, right? So we'd, it's like we play, like the games got a lot shorter and the fighting got a lot longer as we got older. And so we would, we would like square off with each other. These are like, we're best friends. And so some guys got braces, some guys don't, some These are like, we're best friends. And so some guys got braces. Some guys don't.

Some guys are taller. Some guys aren't. So we're working on stringing them out and then just. And everyone's chucking them. And it is just a melee. And so there's blood everywhere. Because the guy with braces, Chris Hancock, if you're watching, is just bloods everywhere.

So then I remember going in and my mom, it's dark outside. So I go into the light in the house and my mom comes around the corner. She's like, oh my God, Sean. I go, what? She's like, blood. I go, mom, it's not mine. It's like fucking like, things are caked in blood. It was, oh my God, we were lunatics.

And how many years younger is your brother? And would you kind of give him the beat down? And I would assume that's how he ended up as tough as he did. Thank you, Paul. Yes, I did. I'm sure at a certain point he kind of give him the beat down? And I would assume that's how he ended up as tough as he did. Thank you, Paul. Yes, I did. I'm sure at a certain point he kind of reversed it on you though. Funny, we never fought after. As soon as I thought maybe a chance I might not win, we never fought after that.

Hey, bro, what's up? Hey, let me fight them all. No, but yeah, he took a beating. Like I can't say I beat him in a greatness, but we fought a lot and I came out on the upper hand for pretty much all of them until I figured I couldn't, and then we didn't fight anymore.

Well, speaking of your brother, we didn't really talk about it when we came in. You have a new whiskey that you launched with Chris, and who else? Any other guys? Yeah, well, Niagara Falls Craft Distillery, they make it, and they're our partner. Well, from one booze brand to another,

congratulations on the launch of it. Thank you. You, from one booze brand to another, congratulations. Thank you. You know, I mean, you guys are the model. We're riding your coattails and following along on the path. It's been, JRNY for journey.

The journey. Yeah. That's awesome. That's a good name. Yeah. I like that. Canadian whiskey. Yeah.

No, it's, I mean, the first thing, the whiskey is awesome. Chris and I were involved in the whole tasting, like, and like,

I want to say development of it, but we just fucking tried it. And said, like, can you do this and that? Yeah, like, ah, it needs more. I don't know. It's too harsh. Our vocabulary wasn't there. And a lot of people call us the Ben and Jerry's of whiskey now.

Really? No. Yeah, I coined that. Keep going. Keep going. I like this. Good sales pitch. I know. But first of all, the going. I like this. Good sales pitch. I know.

But first of all, the whiskey is awesome. Niagara Falls did it. We were involved in the tasting of it, but it was like, I don't know if you guys ever watched Days of Thunder, like Cole Trickle trying to describe what to do with the car. Like, I don't know, I just drive it. I don't know, I just drink it.

This is what I like. Great analogy. They tweaked it, and it's awesome. And then it's been kind of fun to have something that you're proud of. And, you know, Chris is like a menace with the, he brings bottles everywhere. I mean, he is a menace. So, so, so growing up in Dryden, I would imagine the dream was is to, to go play in the NHL and that's how you were kind of get, going to get to get out of town, right.

And get to move on and experience the world. So pretty much you guys were off chasing your dream and obviously you guys both were able to accomplish it. Yeah. One reached a bit higher than the other, but yeah. Yeah. Probably, hey, probably you're a big reason for

that. I mean, maybe, yeah, but not to do. Yeah. Go the other way. But no, like for me, like Chris, his brain works a bit different, but for me, the NHL always seems so like, that's what they do. The big city kids do like, you know, like I just wanted to play because I love playing like I just love

playing so we'd play and I thought maybe you know I could play junior hockey like go to Thunder Bay and play junior or you know I had a coach in midget that played uh for North Dakota like well maybe I can get a scholarship and play college like that was like the extent of my like how high I thought I could reach but then when as you get there you play junior I'm like oh that guy that guy's getting a scholarship that guy's gonna be a first round pick like I'm like they're not that much better and so like you know I'm gonna get a scholarship so all right then I get one and then it's like uh didn't even think about getting drafted and then you know I'm playing against guys that are that have already been drafted um holding your own and I'm like

fuck these guys aren't much better like I can do this so then i get drafted and then then it's like okay well maybe i can play the minor i was thinking like well if i made 75 grand in the minors like fuck that'd be great so then you get to the you know then you get drafted you get you turn pro it's like this guy's playing at this level i mean i'm right there so then you just keep it was like just like bit by bit um chris might tell a different story because he was so good so young that it would have been yeah so was he was he kind of like a prodigy like in a way that right away you were like wow it was say maybe not right away but like 10 years old and you're 12 like yeah like he was playing he played up and i mean he would always play with my buddies like so he's always playing two years up uh even when we're just dicking around on the outdoor rink but he was so good so young um but i think the real like catalyst for him was i left

to go play in thunder bay junior which would have been i was 16 like my senior year of high school basically and so i left i when i left he was probably four inches shorter than me i came back two months so i left in august i came back in October, back to Dryden for Canadian Thanksgiving. And I came out, he came to watch the game. Then we're going to go back. He was four inches taller than me. He grew eight inches in two months. No way. And never had a, like an awkward moment. I think he had like growing pains where they ice them down and shit, but I wasn't there. But he, and he just, and then I went and watched him. He played high school like canadian high school hockey oh wait i didn't even know they had exactly and it's like and i'm watching him out there he

looked like a men against boys and he's like 14 and yeah just dominated then he went to stratford dominated and uh this is actually a funny story he so the whole plan for him was to go to college and so jerry york was my coach so jerry came up to trying to college. And so Jerry York was my coach. So Jerry came up to try and to like kind of convince Chris, like, you know, if you're going to go to college, you should come to Bowling Green and play with your brother. And meanwhile, you know, all the other big schools would be like all over him if they knew he was going to, you know, go to college.

So Jerry came up and my dad took him on a fishing trip, like a float plane, like middle of nowhere into somewhere. Well, they had weather issues. So they got stranded there like till like till it's almost too late where they have to spend the night and they they come back for some reason i thought they were going to go somewhere else anyway i'm having a party downstairs i'm already i'm on i'm on his team my mom's having a party there's like 40 year old women in hot tubs my me and my buddies are hammered in the basement and then all of a sudden my dad comes in and I'm like, fuck.

Hey coach. Coach, I think coach, I have a German beer stein I'm walking up the stairs I'm like, hey coach. Hey Sean.

He gives you, if you've talked, he's fucking awesome. Yeah, so that was the strip. So anyway, Chris, the whole plan for him

was to go to college and then, like in the OHL draft he went in the sixth round to Peterborough because he said he wasn't going. Detroit offered him I think a Corvette if he would agree to go play in the OHL draft, he went in the sixth round to Peterborough because he said he wasn't going. Detroit offered him,

I think a Corvette if he would agree to go play in the OHL. They had the first pick. We'll give you a Corvette. The Whalers? No, the Knights before the Knights. Yeah, it was the, yeah.

It was Detroit. It was a Compu. Compu-er maybe? I think it was Compu-er. Yeah. Yeah, like back in the, yeah. So they were going to give him a Corvette. And so then he plays a year in Stratford and we're sitting,

I remember sitting in the basement with my dad and him. And, uh, it's like, so my dad's like, so what do you think Chris should do? And I said, honestly,

I think you should go play junior. And the draft had already gone, already happened. And Chris goes for fuck sakes, I could have had a fucking Corvette. And so, but anyway, he went to Peter bowl and I think it worked out.

It worked out. It worked out. It worked out all right. Yeah. And you said that to him just basically, cause he was so good. So good. Like you have to wait to play another year in strategy. Yeah. Almost hindered development.

Hit the plateau. So you, you, you kind of made a few references jokingly about like what not to do. Like, so when you were coming up in the summer times where you may be not taking it as serious, partying a little bit more where he seemed to just have this like hyper drive focus and kind of kept in line uh not in the early days he did not um yeah he was a party boy yeah like so he it wasn't until like he i mean he was super talented i mean he was committed during the season but we'd do the same things in the summer like we'd work out but we'd like golf and fish and dick around with their buddies. But it wasn't until, I think he got a trainer, like a real, legit nutrition, got on a program.

But I think it was the playoffs of 96 when Detroit beat them in game seven, beat St. Louis. The eyes of the goal. Yes. Oh, yeah. Yes. That was the turning point because he became like, he dominated that playoff.

I think they went two rounds and he was dominant and then just never stopped. When he got traded, he got traded from Hartford to St. Louis for the most popular player, Brendan Shanahan. And so he comes into camp. He finished second last in the two mile run. This is like, they assigned him to a six year

contract for 14 million or something like that. And this got rid of their favorite player, the 50 goal scorer. And this guy comes, rolls into camp and, you know, he basically beats Grant Fuhrer in the two mile run. That's it. And so like, it's like, so Mike Keenan was a

coach and was all over him. Like, I mean, I swear to God, he was trying to make him quit. And he didn't quit he just stuck with it i think they traded for gretzky that year and i think he didn't told chris like hey you know gretzky doesn't like you and i think it was just kind of making up shit so like so chris walks back in the room like fuck you wayne like and he goes and then you know he's like coming out party was that playoff so then he you know iron mike was probably like i'll make him

quit or i'll make him one of the best ever but if you watch him like him he took Ole Okun like that I think Joe Thornton like that he is good with young like up and coming stars because he just rides the shit out of them Ari mentioned that you were drafted by Van but your first team was Anaheim so like how did it go in terms of the draft or then signing

like what was the what was the rough time we got we have as much time as you want draft uh fuck so my dad no like no one tell like no one had we didn't have somebody to like lean on in dryden like hey when you went to the draft what did you like there was no one there guy who would set the table for you guys from dryden one like one guy got drafted like the ninth round in 1982 like maybe so like there's's nothing to follow and no one to like say, oh, make sure you do this,

you do this. Like, so there was talk like I could go in the, like I think I had to go in the top three rounds or you can't get drafted back then. But I'm like, there's a chance

you can get drafted. My dad's like, let's go. I'm like, all right. So we book our flights, fly to Toronto and then drive to, it was in Buffalo, drive to Buffalo,

book our own room. I had one interview set up with Vancouver and then it's draft day.'m like all right we just park with everybody and walk in with everybody like all the fans so I'm sitting up with the fans so it's me my assistant coach of Bowling Green my teammate my dad and me and I'm up there and it's like and then the shit that goes through your head I'm like what if you know the first round is round is like, what if they take a flyer? Right?

I know I had three goals this year, but like it could happen. Like Sergei, I don't remember Sergei Bowden, he got drafted like 10th overall by the Jets. No. No one even knew. Like they drafted him. Like people were like, what the fuck is that? So like 5% of me is going like, what if they take a flyer?

I could go top five. Yeah. I could like seventh pick, top 10. No. I think it was Alex Stoyanov went seventh. And then it goes to the second round. I'm like, oh, second round? And I keep going like, I got three goals this year. I'm a fucking forward.

No, it was Colomore. And then third round, yeah, Sean Pronger. I'm like, awesome. Hug, hug, whatever. Now I'm like, how do I get down there? Like, I'm in the upper bowl. I'm in where the fans are. Like I watched a million drafts.

Like I don't even want to be there. Right. The camera's not even like, where is he? So then like, I got to negotiate with the security guard. I go, Hey, I just got you off. He goes, sure you did. I go, dude, here's my name. Did you hear it?

He's like, no, you can't come down. You should be sitting down. I go, I know I should be sitting down there, but no one told us where to go. So after 15 minutes of negotiating, I get down there and I realized how far, because then Steve Tambolini, who's with the Canucks, who I interviewed with,

is literally like, he's like, where the fuck is this guy? I know he's here. And so by the time I got down there, I think I was like five picks after for pictures. So that's how late I was getting there. But yeah, the draft happened. And then I played the rest of my college career.

Never thought about leaving early. I mean, there was a moment after my junior year where I had a decent year. I feel like they have to come to you. Yeah, yeah. And they didn't. So I'm like, all right. And then senior year, I was an average senior year.

And I actually went to spring break. and i remember talking to my dad and he's like you sure you should be going what if they like want to sign you i go i'm literally lubed up in like sunscreen like suntan oil i got like a cowboy hat on i'm like well uh i guess i'll just have to make that decision if it happens obviously it doesn't. And then, so my summer, after my senior year, I had to stay for summer school due to poor course management. So I graduate in August. And at that time,

when I'm at Bowling Green, Vancouver decides that, because the 94 lockout is looming. Yeah, 94 is looming. And so they somehow figured out some math and said we don't feel sean has a 75 chance of making the team in the next three years so we're gonna we're gonna release him and i'm like actually this may be good like i get like a pig anyway yeah so my agent lets me know and then he's like hey detroit wants to sign you you're gonna get 75 grand and you know

whatever i'm like fucking sign it let's go he's like all right i'll call you tomorrow calls me tomorrow he's like i got some uh bad news i go what they don't want to give me 75 he's like no uh the gm got fired oh and i'm like let me guess uh they don't want to sign anybody? No. Yeah. So, yeah. So I'm back to nothing. How many teams were in the NHL then? Six. Okay. I'm guessing it was like 24. Yeah.

So I went, it was 22, I think. Yeah. I think, so San Jose just got in. So I think they met at 22, I think. Yeah. Because it was 21 for a long time. Then they had the 90s. Yeah.

Because our buddy Whitney was the second round second round pick yeah that's right yeah for san jose yeah yeah pat falloon was the first pick oh yeah uh so yeah so anyway so now i'm sitting there in bowling green and i got nothing i'm like i have nothing that's nothing i'm fucked and uh so my agent's like sean i'm gonna get you something i'm like all I have nothing. I have nothing. I'm fucked. And so my agent's like, Sean, I'm going to get you something. I'm like, all right, Pat, go get him. And I shouldn't even say my agent. I got no fight. It's like Chris's agent.

Yeah. All right. I'm going to help your idiot brother out. Let's do this. So it's like, all right, I got you a tryout with Vegas in the IHL, like the old IHL. I'm like, okay. Yeah, here we go.

The guy had 75 grand two days ago. Now minus 75. Now I'm like, we got a marker at the Imperial Palace. So I'm like, that's the best we got. That's the best we got. So I roll into Vegas,

actually played, like had a great training camp. And we're staying at the Imperial Palace, which was owned by the guy, Ralph Engelstadt, who's a North Dakota big guy. So he loved hockey guys. I think he was, he might have passed away by then. But anyway, one of the other things with the IP is

every time you go to the buffet for breakfast, they give you an ace, like a free ace. So on the way to practice, I sit at the blackjack table and let the ace play and i'm like this is kind of awesome so like for 30 days i had an ace in my come on every hand you could actually do that yeah that back then this was in 1994 that was shit huh yeah so the ace that like literally it was a giant cardboard ace like it was like a happy gilmore so what do you mean like why as the blackjack deals you could use it as a token you started off with an ace like it was like a happy Gilmore so what do you mean like why as the black deals you could use it as a token you start it off with an ace like that's your first card oh I like that yeah

wow they don't do that anymore oh yeah yeah I think you know they got they can't even get into your hotel room now there's a 14 hour line right all right yeah like last few weeks that was a grind my years for RA it's it's how Vegas went to shit We don't need to get into it now, but maybe towards the end. That's an example. Yeah, IP's long gone. So Vegas, I mean, so I'm thinking, if I can make this team and I'm like, there's a chance. You know when you do training camp math, you're like, alright,

I'm better than that guy, that guy. If that guy stays or that guy, like, there is a chance I can make the team. Looking at the roster, I'm like, there's a chance. So I'm leading the camp and scoring. Like things are going great. I'm playing good. All of a sudden the lockout of 94 boom happens.

Vegas gets like five NHL guys. And I'm just like, there's, there's no chance. This is like mid September. So I could have like went somewhere else, but like, I can't leave.

They got to cut me. So I keep showing up and they keep not cutting me. So I'm like, I know there is no to cut me. So I keep showing up and they keep not cutting me. So I'm like, I know there is no room for me and I'm just like, all right, there's a jersey in my stall.

I'm getting per diem and I- And an ace? I got an ace. And so I just keep showing up and I keep playing well but I'm like, there is,

it's mathematically impossible. So now the calendar flips to October. I'm still there. The season is going to start in three days. I finally get the old, coach wants to see, I go, fucking finally. Go there, Sean, we gotta let you go. Yeah, no shit.

You could have done this two weeks ago. So now I like got nowhere to go. Go back to Toronto to like regroup. And then I had like three choices. I could have went to England to play. My old midget coach is a coach there. I'm like interesting i could go to knoxville tennessee which is a an affiliate of vegas because they like the way i play like okay let's keep tabs on them or i could quit and so at this point the nhl

it couldn't be further it couldn't be further i mean it was so like i'm like i it couldn't be further. It couldn't be further. I mean, it was so like, I'm like, I'm just trying to get to the end of October. Yeah. So I'm like, England sounds cool, but like if I go over there, I'm never coming back. Like I'm not going to be able to come back and play. Yeah. So I'm like, all right, let's go to Knoxville. And a college kid, like you hear all the horror stories of the coast. I'm like, oh, fuck.

I can only imagine how bad it was back then. Oh my God. Yeah. So we roll, I roll into Knoxville. I didn't even know they had a team. The Cherokees. Cherokees. Cherokees.

Was there even like a PHPA back then? I don't think so. Certainly not in the East Coast League. And I've seen a lot of shit go down in the Chiefs Coast League, so this must have been quite the experience. Oh, my God. We get down there. I get down there and just like, you know,

we're playing exhibition games in Birmingham and like you know it's like just a roster of tough guys and as a tall guy like oh we're fucking it doesn't matter I played at Bowling Green I got a varsity jacket you want to check out can we like ease into this

check the game notes I haven't played any pro yet please could you just let me pick the smallest guy? Fuck. Actually, I know. I would like a bigger guy, so it doesn't look as bad when I get beat up. Yeah.

Yeah, so play in the coast, and then, you know, like I thought I was making good money. I'm like, 500 bucks a week? This is great. And then we had an opportunity, me and two other guys, two teammates, a guy approached us about like,

hey, he bought a farm. He's going to tear down the house that's on it and build a mansion, but he's not doing it till the spring. So if you want to live in this house, you can live rent free on the farm. They got a barn. So we go check it out. This is probably

early October. We check it out. So the weather's not bad. We check out the barn. I'm like, this is fucking great. We can have parties in here. There's a big bar like 10 minutes bad. We check out the barn. I'm like, this is fucking great. Like we can have parties in here. Like there's a big bar, like 10 minutes away. Like we bring everybody back. Let's do it as a horseshoe pit. Done.

So we take it. We're living in a farmhouse. There's no fucking heat, no cable, no like nothing. It's like- How many guys? There's me and two other guys. Like it is a shithole. And then the weather turns.

Like I didn't realize it got cold in Tennessee. Oh, it does and the pipes froze so now it's like if anything other than a piss you got to drive down to the Flying J truck stop which is 15th drive you guys were showering the whole year I'd shower at the rink and then come

back and like what am I doing my parents came to visit like I remember the look on my dad's face he's like he's like the mills got spots for you but tons of spots there and so anyway i'm like oh i'm gonna ride i'm gonna finish this fucking year and then it was right at almost like the breaking point uh my agent called he's like hey i just want to let you know there's a team nhl team wants to sign you when the lockout ends and i'm like when the fuck's the lockout you were playing good then i was playing

good yeah i was playing good it was it was fun I think everybody else like the talent got pushed down like from so NHL the marginal guys got went to the IHL and AHL the marginal AHL guys got pushed down to the East Coast League so it was like really I mean the hockey was really good um and it was playing the guys were great I was having fun playing and yeah it was great and then he you know he drops out on me. And then I'm like, when's the locker room? And he's like, I don't know. So then I call Chris.

I go, hey, how's it going? Good. When the fuck are you guys going to take the deal? I'm like, let's get your brother out of here. Help a brother out. Right, literally help a brother out. And then I continue to play. And then my agent calls me.

He's like, hey, Anaheim Ducks. I'm ducks i'm like awesome he's like they're gonna sign you you don't have to play tonight but you're like you're not leaving till tomorrow so you could play or not play so that was like a like fuck do i play or not like if i what if i get hurt they're gonna sign you anyway i'm like all right fine so i played and uh and then, you know, I felt awful. I felt like I was getting released. Because the boys were getting on the bus to go to, like, Nashville for a game. And I'm, like, flying out to go meet the team in San Diego. Because the Ducks team was in San Diego.

So that was an interesting turn of events. So then I get to San Diego thinking, I'm like, all right. Here I come now. And then, you know, scratch for like first 10 games and like fucking hate. Thanks for signing me. Yeah, exactly. You guys wanted me. Oh my God. Then I thought like, well, I can't, I'm not progressing if I don't play.

So I asked to get sent back to the, I literally asked to get sent back to the coast thinking I would get sent back to Knoxville. All your buddies. No, you know, Anaheim's at their own. Yeah, right, right. Greensboro, I went. Jeff Brubaker, I don't know if you remember that name. No.

He was a menace as a player. He was the coach or just on the team? He was a coach. Yeah. So I go to Greensboro. I'm there for two, two games. This is all my first year pro. Two games, I take a slap shot in the face.

I go down, like I'm in front of the net. I go down, I'm thinking like, okay, my jaw's broken. And for some reason I thought like my jaw would unhinge. And so I'm like holding it like this. I get up, the trainer's running out. And I like run, or I skate past him, like racing to like, just to see what it looks like. Cause I didn't want to like freak out the kids

in the front row. Like when my jaw hits my chest. So I go to the, I go into the locker room. I'm like this, like, all right, drop it. And nothing happens. I'm like, oh, but blood's pouring out. So I could stick my tongue between my teeth. Oh no.

And I'm like, oh, I lost a tooth. And I'm like, nope, they're all there. The doctor comes in like the East Coast League doctor who's like half in the bag. Hi everybody. And I'm like, oh, I lost a tooth. And I'm like, nope, they're all there. The doctor comes in, like the East Coast League doctor, who's like half in the bag. Hi everybody. Exactly. Exactly.

He's got the wood. They got the veterinarians at that level. That's what I say. Exactly. Except the vets. Oh my God. So yeah,

so he comes in, he like checks out, oh, I think you just cut your gum. I'm like, all right doc, thank you. He's like,

so I go back out, play the third period, overtime. I go in the shootout. I think we lost the game. Come back gum. I'm like, all right, doc. Thank you. He's like, so I go back out, play the third period, overtime. I go in the shootout. I think we lost the game. Come back in. I'm like, doc, there's something wrong with my face. And he's like, oh, let me take another look. Oh, it looks like you're cut and you have a bruise in your gum.

I go, okay. All right, so I get on the bus. I think we were in Raleigh, North Dakota, or North Carolina. And I get on the bus. We had pizza. I go to take a bite of the pizza, and I literally almost passed out from the pain. So I just sat there for a two-hour drive

back to Green's, drinking my own blood. Just like, all right, I get there. Because I just got there, I'm in a hotel. I don't have a vehicle. Oh, my. So I'm in my home hotel, I like to call it. So I go there. I get up the next day.

A teammate drives me to practice, and I go to the trainer. i go there i get up the next day a teammate drives me to practice and i go to the trainer i go dude my face is fucked like this isn't just a bruise this is not a bruise yeah the uh you know fucking super doctor johnny sins the doctor yeah yeah yeah so i go i yeah so i go to the i go to practice and i'm like hey there's something wrong with my face can i see somebody like for the love of God? And he's like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

After practice, we'll get you over there. I go, I got to practice. He's like, yeah. So I practice, get a drive over to the place,

get an x-ray. Your jaw's broken. I'm like, yeah, you think? Yeah. That's when the PHPA was created. Yeah.

It was that day. Are you kidding me? It was that day. So I kidding me? It was that day. So I like- They couldn't diagnose a broken jaw by staring at it? I knew it was broken the minute the puck hit me. You're telling me that it was displaced. It had basically separated where your chin-

Right here. Like I got hit here, it cracked here. And I could stick my tongue through there. And the doc just couldn't see it. And I'm like, how can no one else see this? Like all the teeth are here, but they're this far apart. But you have a second mouth.

Exactly. So anyway, I go get my jaw. So the doc's like, okay, we're going to do wires shut. I'm like, all right, fine. So then I, uh, he's like, make sure you get the pain medication before you come to surgery. And I'm like, all right.

But I'm like, I'm in a hotel. I, I'm what we call a cab to go to the CVS. So I'm like, right but i'm like i've been a hotel i i'm what we call a cab to go to cvs so i'm like i'll get it after so i go get you know wired shut and it was like morning surgery and then come back and it's fine like you know nothing hurts i'm like what the fuck's the big deal you know dumb because i was still under the effects of the oh yeah so but one in the morning i wake up and i'm in agony and i'm like trying to like to claw these wires off my teeth. And I was in so much pain. And it's one in the morning, like nothing's open. I don't have a car.

In Greensboro. In Greensboro. Yeah. So I literally ran a hot bath, crawled into it. It got cold. I emptied it and filled it up for six hours. And then I walked to the CVS, waited for them to open, got it, got my stuff. And I'm just like, now I'm just like just miserable and uh so I like I'm stuck here I'm in a hotel with my jaw

wired shut I got no vehicle you got no like no like wife I don't know I don't have I know there's no I just met these guys now I can't even talk to them because I made my jaw wired shut oh so then I go to I so we like I would drink three insurer shakes uh for breakfast mcdonald's milkshake for like snack in the middle three insurer shakes for lunch mcdonald's shake for snack three insurer shakes for dinner and then i drink six or eight beers a night but i have to warm them up because i'm drinking them through my teeth so fucking no so then and then so my vehicle i had a great jeep grand Cherokee. Pro hockey at its finest. Right, like a Jeep Grand Cherokee in San Diego,

and it's getting picked up and getting shipped across. So it should be here. It's not here. I call the place with my jaw wired shut. I'm calling from a pay phone in the back of the bar because I don't have, like, there's no cell phones back then. So I call the shipping company. I'm'm like hey uh where's my truck it's like well it wasn't there when you went to pick it up i go what yeah the your car was not there it was right in front of

the travel lodge like outside you know across from the rink in san diego and i'm like uh okay so i call the hotel i go is there was there a white Jeep Grand Cherokee there like yeah there was I go is there anyone is there one anymore they're like no no it's gone I'm like okay so then I call the cops and I go I think someone's on my car no yeah as it turns out the same fucking time you'd broken your jaw

talking to the cops you know on a payphone with my jaw this is depressing I mean I don't know dude yeah so like so I wrote that in the book and I'm like, it's not meant as like to scare people off. I'm like, this is what, yeah. Oh, the Coastal fucking humble you, man. That's what it is. Oh my God.

Well said. It'll really make you question whether you love hockey that much. And so, yeah. And then it was like that summer I might sit down at the table as I'm filling out the insurance forms for all the items that were in my car. You know, custom fit, Titleist. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

Your money suits that were in there. Diamond rings. So my dad's like, Sean, that's insurance fraud. I go, the year I had. And I could just see the look on his face. He's like. And that's when the PHPA was created. He's like, do you really want it?

Like, he didn't say it. But he's like, do you want to really do this again? Like, cause I had another two years on my contract and I'm like, I'm just like, you know what, um, let's see how this year goes. And so I stuck it out and, uh, didn't quit. And yeah, that literally the next, uh, my first call up would have been in November, then like next year. call-up would have been in November than like next year. Well, it's funny to draw back to the book that Whit was talking about, how that all came to be was at a certain point, Chris had started a website.

Yes. Right. And he was talking about, you know, what it was like during training camp and all of his hockey experiences. And then you were able to write on the website in replies and you kind of described, no, no, no.

This is what most, this is what most professional athletes in the hockey world have to go through. And then you would start listing off stories exactly like the one you just told of like this chaos of playing in the minors. So that's kind of what spit, spit ball, kind of like your post career and everybody knowing you were a bit of a character. Yeah.

And that's kind of like the whole whiskey with the name of the journey is like, cause all that shit that happened, like when, and when, whatever it happens, that was not the end of it, but you know, shit happens to you. Like, I'm like,

all right, I can't wait to tell the fucking boys this, like we're going to have a drink this summer. I'm going to tell them it's going to be awesome. So like half the shit I do, I just say yes to do it. Like whatever it is, even now,

just for the story, like just for the fucking story. Well, I mean, you obviously went on to have more success in the NHL, but it's just cool that you got to experience this side of it, of pro hockey. No, no.

I mean, I don't regret any of it. Like if you would have showed me how my career would have went before, okay, you can do this. I'm like, I'll do that, whatever the fuck that is. Like I'm not doing that. Yeah, yeah. But when you're young and you don't know any better, you just kind of blindly go.

And I'm glad I did it. Like, you know, it taught me a lot about like, you know, resolve and being like, and just resilient and, you know, just keep showing up and good things happen. But yeah, it was actually fun to write the book. Cause I was like writing it from a safe place. Like nothing bad's going to happen. Like it got to the point where I didn't even buy green bananas. Like I was like, I might not be here long enough for them to get ripe.

So I'm not buying. Yeah. So do you remember like the first call up? I i'm sure you do but like yeah i was in walt walt walt walt called me i didn't believe him then you know get on the plane and i do i remember everything i sit the residence in i remember like randy lattes or he's like welcome to the show kid you know first to many i'm just like this is fucking awesome you're like sure yeah did they tell you something like how many how many do you like when you say first to many yeah ron ron wilson was the coach what was your first game like there was something

i mean i don't know if you guys had ron on here but he i mean he is a beauty um he was awesome he's like prongs welcome first game you're starting i'm, no shit. That's awesome. No, it was great. It was great. Yeah, he was awesome. He was, that guy was ahead of his time, like video. And he was a great coach. I think he. He was pretty hard to play for.

Yeah, he got it his own way. Like, so he had the two of the best players in the world at the time, Korea and Solani. And he like, I mean, I was on what we like to call the fifth line that played. So it was like, you know, one, two, three, one, five, one, two, three, like. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. But he, no, I thought he was a great coach, but he shot himself.

You know, that year that it was the second year I was there, we made the playoffs the first time. We actually had home ice advantage. And we got to the second round and lost to detroit in four straight but it was like single overtime double overtime triple overtime so it's like a really close detroit went on to win the stanley cup but like after the series i don't know if it was after or during the series ron was saying like you know his dream job would be to coach the detroit red wings like this is as he's coaching yeah it's like oh no that's a horrible i mean you're smarter than that yeah

i know i really like he was what he was like trying to pay them a compliment Yeah, it's like, oh no, that's a horrible stop. I mean, you're smarter than that. No, I really like it. He was what? He was like trying to pay them a compliment over the course? Something like that. He's from that area, I think. And so I don't know what his goal was, but I mean, he didn't re-sign with Anaheim. No. He went to-

How did you guys take it in the room? Like, did this come out in the midst of this? I think it came out after. Like, it didn't, I think it came out after. Okay. I think it came out during. Like, he would have had to address it. Yeah.

But yeah, I was like, come on, Ron, what are you doing? And then he got a job with the Capitals and took them to Stanley Cup

and lost again to Detroit in the finals. Oh God. It was like the back to, remember Detroit won 97-98? No way. Yeah, yeah.

They got in both years. They won twice. Yeah. Yeah. Jeez, I never thought of that. What was, what was like Korea like then?

Because I mean, so dominant. Like, definitely a different guy from all the stories I've heard. Like, super serious, right? Oh, my God. Yeah. I would say probably one of the most focused, if not the most focused athlete ever. Yeah. Somebody told me, and it could be like wives' tales at this point.

Like, he would chew every bite of food like 24 times to digest it better like a lunatic yeah lunatic very regimented oh my god yeah and to this day he's like that like he is he is he is like that yeah there was a cool thing on remember you surfing oh yeah there's a tsnp yeah it was like um i can't remember the name of it but it was really cool the way they did because he i mean i didn't realize how bad his concussion stuff was, but it was really bad. But him and Timu were roommates. They'd put him under the hotel, Theodore Flash and Tony Montana were their handles. Who is Tony Montana?

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, Theodore Flash. Who's that? The furthest guy from doing a lot. They were like the odd couple. You got like Paul, like so focused, so like he's at the rank he does everything the same every single game day like eats the same thing like just and

then you got timo just bumbles in whenever he feels like i heard i heard carlisle like would always look for him to be late and he would stroll in like one minute before he would be then you get dressed in two seconds so he was exactly he would like so let's just say the game is at 7.30, like you gotta be, like back then it was like an hour and a half, who knows now

if it's gonna be there three hours, but you had to be there by six. Like 5.59.30, he was on here, just, I'm like,

just wait, he'll be fucking here. Strolls in as the clock, he's in. And then he goes in late, hangs out with the trainers, like you don't even see him. He hangs out there

for until five minutes before you go on for warmup and then he gets dressed and goes out and like just gets two yeah at least exactly and at that time what was the fan base like were they drawing well were they were popular because it was it was pretty soon after it started here where the buzz from the movies kind of kept it going for a while yeah so like well i got there so 93 that was the first year 93 94 and then so i was there 96 97 like 90 like the spring of 97 is when we made the playoffs and it was jammed and they were going nuts it was all it was like really it was insane it was like the first we made we clinched the playoff spot the roof came off the place like and then in uh we played phoenix in the first round went to

game seven won in game seven in anaheim it was awesome and it's been the pond it was that it was the pond then yeah it's it's been this rink the whole time the whole time yeah yeah yeah and from there you went to pittsburgh the first of i believe six nhl trades you were part of yeah that trade was funny because uh my uh scott young so this is 98 now, Scott Young was on the Ducks. He was a Stanley Cup champion, and his contract was up. So he would have been a perfect guy. Trade deadline's coming. It's like, this guy's getting traded for sure.

Some team's going to have some sort of depth and experience, and he's like the prototypical guy that you would want. So he's my roommate. So it's deadline day, and we're hanging out in the room together. And I'm like, Scotty, like, where do you want to go? And he's like, I don't know. Like I get, you know, kids and I got a wife, the usual stuff. Like, I don't know.

Do I want to uproot everybody? I'm like, well, it'll be a couple months. It'll be fine. And so deadline comes and goes. We're in Chicago. It's like, all right, I'm going to go. I'm going to go to the gym. You know, I'll be back.

We'll grab dinner. You know, I'm glad you're here. So then I'm at the gym uh like off-site gym and uh i get a page over the thing like sean pronger please come to the front desk i'm like younger adult so i i go down there and he's like yeah call your roommate so i call him still no cell phones like call him i go scotty where you going he's like um have you talked to the coach i go about what you gotta call the coach i'm like what is it he's like he's looking for you i'm like all right i'm like this is fucking weird so then i call the coach he's like

have you talked to the gm i go i haven't no talk to the gym he's like well you should call the gm i'm like i was at globo gym literally literally so I'm like call the GM he's like Sean we traded at Pittsburgh I'm like okay I'm like what the fuck and I'm like I don't even know what place Pittsburgh's in I look so Anaheim we were like in last place second last Pittsburgh second overall in the conference I'm like all right back in the playoffs here we go Mario. Exactly. So anyway, yeah, I get traded to Pittsburgh. And awesome guys, like great team. And like Tom Brasso, I don't know if you've heard stories about him. I've heard he's a grumpy guy. We have.

We've heard he's a grumpy guy. He's going to the Hall of Fame in the next couple of days, isn't he? Monday. Oh, he was, I mean. Him, Vernon, Lundquist, it's a big goalie here. I mean, his nickname was Dorn, like Roger Dorn. Oh, no shit huh just hated rookie oh my god

and so I would go down and shoot him I've heard of I'm not going to be the guy that's going to hit him in the shoulder so everything I go down and like shoot right at his pads and so to the because I've seen him like someone will shoot high on him and he'll take the puck and as you go back in line he's firing it at you

so I'm like I'm not going to be that guy so I'm wearing the pillows every time i'm like oh maybe i'll try to go five holes like as he's and so i hit him in the pass and he comes over he goes prongs you can try to score i go i can score on the backup buddy i'm not i'm not gonna score on you uh so yeah uh but yeah great guys on the team and uh i will say this, the coach, Kevin Constantine, we got our coach, we played Montreal in the playoffs. Yeah. And he just wasn't capable of like, to the point where they had-

Who was coaching the Canadians then? It was, I think it was Alain Vigneault, I think. And they had Zarly Zalapsky. Oh, wow. Like an unbelievable skater, right? Who's a defenseman they moved him up to four

they created this like checking unit to shut Jager down so we're we have home ice we're starting like we got our you know

the coach sees who's on the other side so they got their whole defensive like Zarly Zalapsky playing wing that would match up against Jager

Konstantin puts our top line no it's like we want to keep them away from I don't like am I the only one that's fucking We want Jager away from that guy

Because he can skate with him And yeah so anyway we lost in six and that was the end of that That was first round First round yeah upset Well we asked you about Teemu in Korea Jager just a fucking beast Dude that guy was so He is so strong so good

He like Robert Lang was like Jack like built like he fucking beast. Dude, that guy was so, he is so strong, so good. Um, he like Robert Lang, it was like Jack, like built, like he took care of himself in the gym. You'd have two 25 on there, like crank out 12 of them. And then Yager like was like off to the side,

like kind of looking at him. Like he's never seen this exercise before. He's like, he's like, how much is that? Like everybody knows two pizzas. It's two 25. He's like, how much is that? It's like two and's 225 he's like how much is that

it's like two and a quarter so he gets into there like i aren't they're not even like evened up like he just grabs it just like muscles it up 12 times like he's like he's never done bench before and i'm like this dude's i mean this guy was the best of the natural yeah he was uh yeah he was amazing player he was very temperamental back then, though. What's that mean? Oh, like if he didn't have a good... Like if things were, like, if he wasn't happy with the coach, he'd skate off the ice

and like, something's wrong with my skate, and go, like, take it. He wouldn't say he had something wrong with the coach. No, no, he would actually skate and be like, and go, because in Pittsburgh, he'd go off, like, he's not like a pen, he'd go in the corner, right?

Yeah. Yeah, but I mean, he was, what a player. Did you see him, I mean, he was known for his gambling. Was he fucking playing on the plane? I didn't, I didn't see any of that. There were some guys, like some guys who were playing were gambling, but I didn't. The big swinging dicks? Yeah. It was like the big swinging dicks and Tyler Wright were on that. We're like, it was like Brasso, Hatcher, like all the guys making multi-millions. And then you got like, you know, league minimum playing with the big boys. Probably winning the money though, if to guess yeah that's why he's playing exactly he's like i know

what i'm doing here exactly during the time in pittsburgh you also played a few games with the houston arrows back in the old ihl now that's that's frequently gets mentioned as a city that doesn't have an nhl team do you think a team would work there i do i mean it was my new we were like i think we were first that was the year they won the championship. If I could do anything in my career over again, I would have tried not to get out of there. Like I would try, you know, I got sent down to Houston and I'm like, you know, when you get sent down after you've been in the NHL for a while,

it's like, I just want to get back. I got sent, you know, I was on the only one way of my career. I was on a one way. So I made more playing in Texas than I did playing up at the NHL because it's state tax. I've heard of it. Oh, and you're saying it almost would have been better

had you not got called up. Yeah, because I would have stayed there. I was like, I was playing great. They had great player. Like they ended up winning the championship that season, but like they had like an NHL roster. Like it was awesome. And I was so worried about getting called up again.

And so I was like, got my agent grinding. So, and then, you know, I played there. Houston was awesome and i was so worried about getting called up again and so i was like had my agent grinding so and then you know i played there the houston was awesome like i think they could handle it but i mean what the fuck do i know uh yeah yeah as long as they don't leave arizona business happy i'm good i'm gucci you like you like your team there i think that yeah i think that it's a great market i just They just need to figure out an arena situation, put it in a place. Yeah, I was going to say, where would you put it? Because like the word, it was obviously awful.

Yeah. I would probably say North Scottsdale could work just as much. I would probably rather at North Scottsdale more than Mesa and Mesa is another place they're looking. I just think that North Scottsdale is more suburbia where there's not really any

entertainment up there. So if you had a pro team, like there's enough money there where people can afford tickets. Yeah. Because, you know, they have, they have a supplement, is it supplementary income? What's the word I'm looking for? Disposable?

Disposable income. That's the one, Jesus Christ, OHL education right there. 1994 college graduate. Had a brain fart. But yeah, I think, I think it could. And you talk about TV market. By the time it's done growing, you're probably

talking easily top five in the United States. And that's the big focus, right? If you already have that TV market, why fuck around? Yeah. Next year, trades to the ranges. You had some big names in that trade. You and Pete and Edvid, Chris Tama, Falkovlev, Harry, Harry York, a couple of big names. 15 million. Yeah.eter nedved chris tamer for kovalev harry harry york couple big names 15 million yeah so the way we both needed money

then yeah yeah i was like uh so it was uh nedved for kovalev tamer for york pronger for 15 mil is how i tell my kids yeah yeah that was it that was, so I got called into the coach's office in Pittsburgh. It just got called up from Houston. Second game, back up, and I get called in. I'm like, oh, fuck. I guess I'm going back to Houston. He's like, Sean, we just traded in New York. I'm like, oh, okay.

The Rangers, I'm like, really? I perked up, and he's like, he looked at me like, why are you so excited? Why are you happy? And I'm like, dude, the fucking Madison Square Garden, this would be great. One of my best friends growing up lives in the city. I'm like, this is going to be fantastic. I'm going to commit to this.

But yeah, so played in New York briefly. Did you play with Gretzky? I did. For a bit, right? Yeah, I did. I played with Gretzky. Funny story about that. So I was playing there and nothing was going.

Like I was scratched like every other game. Like when I got there, I was a healthy scratch. And then I'm like, so I had. Who was the coach then? So it was John Muckler was the coach. Like who I grew up watching with the Oilers. Like. Yeah.

Yeah. So. All famous, right? Right. And then Craig McTavish, who I grew up watching, he's now the assistant coach. Charlie Huddy, assistant coach. Keith Acton, assistant coach.

Guys I all grew up. Plus all the guys on the team. You had Gretzky, Graves, Richter, Leach, Samuelson, Bukaboom, John McClain. These are all guys I just grew up watching. I'm like, this is awesome. I'm going to do whatever I can do to stay here somehow. And hey, Prongs, welcome to the Rangers. You're not going tonight. I'm like, this is awesome. I'm going to do whatever I can do to stay here somehow. And, um, you know, Hey, prongs, welcome to the Rangers. You're not going tonight. I'm like,

fuck, here we go. I'm going out. Yeah. So I kept it on the rails as much as I could. I'm like, all right, just, so I had the strength guy, like build me as some sort of bike program. Like I'll keep me in shape. Like I'm gonna do everything right. So I finally get into a game, like, keep me in shape. Like, I'm going to do everything right. So I finally get into a game, play good, scratch for two. Get into a game, play pretty good, scratch for two. Get into a game.

Me, Manny Malhotra, and Darren Langdon were the fourth line. Zero minutes. Malhotra, zero minutes. Langdon went and took a face-off and came out. He had, like, one second. They played 9-4. They played 9-4 the entire game. That's when you're like i don't know right so i'm like just like fuck what do i gotta do and so i think the final straw was we're on a road trip

and um we're playing carolina and it was like a big game like i think it was a five game losing streak and like people were starting people started getting traded said whole players only meeting and uh todd harvey Todd Harvey was on the team. He's actually playing. He played great in New York and he was banged up his hand. So we go, it's like pregame, or sorry, the morning skate coming off.

It's like, you know, I stay on, they get bag skated. And McTavish comes over. He's like, hey, Prongs, Harvey might not be able to go. So if you don't want to skate, you don't have to, like with the black aces. and i know what it's like to have an extra body out there like i'm like i'm not gonna leave these guys behind yeah i'm gonna go out there get bag

skated so then of course stay out stay there long enough to get back there's no food in the hotel when you get back so don't bother eating i order like room service like four scoops of chocolate ice cream me and tamer watch a movie go to the rink don't even tape my stick don't do anything get out there dick around and warm up come off prongs you're going i'm like oh no what you're going i'm like where's the power bars somebody get me a power bar i need tape i need laces i need a lot of shit here let's go so go. I have two helpers. We win 6-2. I'm like, maybe I've been doing this wrong the whole time.

Maybe less is more. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right? So then the next game, I get scratched for five straight after that. Like, we win in the biggest game of our season. Two apples? I played on the third line with Savard and Graves. Two helpers.

Played like 15 minutes. I'm like, this is great. I'm back. How do you get scratched after that like it was this is the time where like the coach they wouldn't even like fuck say award to you though right no like you had no feedback it's not like you're not playing yeah it's like yeah you're not going i feel like now they tell the guy why right yeah you have to now yeah yeah it's true right otherwise it's gonna be a whole thing hr is gonna call you yeah you know parents will be on the phone so the one that's lean kiffin yeah i'll get off this i remember me so as a teak and it was on the team as well

who was a you gotta have this oh i love to get it yeah um him and i are walking up the stands in denver like we're both scratches and they start chanting healthy scratch, healthy scratch. I'm just like, they'll finally get back to New York. I'm like, fuck this. Call my buddy.

Let's go out. We go out and we tear it up. Two small town kids in the big city to the point where we get to the bar, like two, like two a bar at two in the morning. And, uh, I go,

what, uh, we got any after hours bars around here and she goes you mean after we close at 4.30 I go never mind so 4.30 I get home at 5am practice I get up at 7 get to Rye for practice but I'm like

I don't give a shit like literally the day before I was the 8th defenseman I had like a yellow jersey I'm like does this even color match for you guys like I have my own jersey So I don't care so I get there Grab my chocolate chip muffin and coffee I'm hanging out in the locker room

I'm like colors It's like somebody rearranged the furniture I'm like where's my fucking stuff So I'm like looking I'm like normally I sit there It's got a red jersey there if that's not me Yellow so I start walking around And I go and i go back to my i go oh it is me grab the red jersey which is gretzky's line i go to i think mike foglan was the the trainer i go i go to folks

give me the wrong jersey he's like prongs no i didn't i go what he goes yeah kevin stevens is sick you're practicing with gretzky i'm like you gotta be fucking kidding me hung to the balls i'm like i go in the shower stink like shit oh my god crank the cold water and i'm just like what am i doing i gotta get my shit together like this isn't right and i'm like had to be today of course it had to be today so then i'm like do i tell gretzky that i'm hungover do i i go yeah he's a he's a guy he'll fucking he'll get it so like hey gretz uh you know nice to be on the team for a couple months i'm like hey gretz sean progger and i go hey i'm uh practicing with you today um had a bit of a late night last night so if you know don't mind just just don't pass me the puck

pass the puck to graves he's like no problem, no problem. I've been there myself. I'm like, oh. So now I'm thinking, all right, Gretz is on board. So then I'm like, all right. So I started thinking. And I remember an interview he had about him and Yari Curry. And him saying like, you know, Yari and I just had a way, we just communicated without, you know,

we would have found each other if we were on a pond, right? And I'm like, what if? Like, what if something magical happens? This is back to the draft when you're going second overall. Exactly, exactly. Like, what? And I'm like, what if? Like, what if something magical happens? This is back to the draft when you said you're going second overall. Exactly, exactly. Like, what if? I'm such a dreamer. I'm like, what if?

And we were doing so shitty that if we had any chemistry, like, Muckler had to, had to, like, keep it together. And so I'm out there skating around. Like, I'm skating around, like, high step in the corners at practice. Like, it's the all-star game.

I'm just like, yeah, I'm with you guys, guys. I'm looking, like, is anybody taking this picture? So then, first drill is like a three-on-two regroup just to warm up. I'm playing the off-wing. Gretzky fires over a pass like wounded duck. Off the backhand,

over the glass. Let's go again. Same shit. We went like four times. Oh, no. I'm like, I might go right off the ice. We went like four times. Oh no. Oh no. I'm like, I might have, I might go right off the ice

onto the Greyhound. The anxiety peak. Oh my God. It's indescribable. So I'm not Yari Curry. Apparently all my dreams are shattered now. And I go,

at the end of practice, we finally get over with the practice. Yeah, you're telling yourself the whole time you're never drinking again. Exactly. That's it never drinking again. Exactly.

That's it, you quit for life. Exactly. So I'm going to create a whiskey. So we, I did a practice. I go, sorry about that. He goes, you know, don't worry about it, kid. And he winked at me. And I'm like, you motherfucker.

Fucking love it. He literally got me sent down. Think don't worry, we won't be together again yeah it's a year well it's okay well I was gonna say a lot of stories for the only three months you were with the Rangers then on the road again to the Kings now you played with Blakey he was your teammate at Bowling Green too was he was there before right

yeah he was just before Bowling Green was he the reason that you went there he was one of them like he was like the fact because he was such a great player in college and then he you know he was turned like the everybody knew he was like the fact, cause he was such a great player in college. And then he, you know, he was turned like the, everybody knew he was turning pro. So it's like, you know, he was a pro.

Because at that time, had anybody came out of Bowling Green of a significance? Not, I mean, there had been guys, but nothing like of his caliber. Like, you know. Who was that really good defensive forward? Holsinger? Brian Holsinger.

He played at Bowling Green. He was there. Yeah, he was there when I was there. So wait, so, so didn't Blakey take you out on your recruiting trip you mentioned he did

he took me out and like we could quickly go back to Bowling Green thank you thank you yeah the good old days yeah we went out

it was like because I played junior in Thunder Bay we played Friday Saturday or Sunday so I could never get to any college visit for the games

so I'd go on a Monday so we went out Monday night in Bowling Green and I don't know where we went and what we did. Like I woke up fully dressed with like a beer opener on my hand with the coach banging on the door. Sean, we got to go. Like I was just going to go visit a class.

And yeah, Blakey. So I saw him that day. He's like, how was your night? I'm like, holy fuck. I missed everything. Like I missed everything. But yeah, Blakey, one of the all-time great dudes. Like, great guy.

Obviously, great player, too. How was that big brother as a coach, Larry Robinson? Yeah. Amazing. He seems like he'd be a legend of a coach. I'll tell you this. We had a tough time in LA. I mean, I literally just got there, and there was a players-only meeting.

I'm like, fuck. They're like, going around the room room write down what the problem is i don't give a shit what it is like write it down and i'm like i don't i literally wrote i go i don't feel i'm uh qualified to answer put my thing in there and then they start reading the shit and i remember ray ferraro said the problem like the problem that we have is steve duchesne no shit like just call them out i'm like holy fuck wow and so then then to back up steve duchesne is who at this time he was a defenseman uh with the kings that's a he was an offensive defenseman i think he went on like he might have won a cup in detroit after yeah he did yeah so he calls out a teammate in the room

in the room it's like uh. And I just got there. I'm like. What's that game show when they put out the tiki torch? Survivor. You guys have like the notes of reading off who's getting voted off the team. Yeah, we're pulling things out. I'm just like, is this fucking happening? Did him and Duchesne go back and forth? Not really.

Duchesne did like water off a duck's back. He might not have enlisted. I kind of respect that. He's like, yeah, you're right. It is kind of. You know, I'm playing like shit. You're right. I have the reason why we're not winning, you're right. It is kind of. No, I'm playing like shit. You're right. I have the reason why we're not winning.

You're right. But one of the things was for Larry, like don't, if we win, like don't mix up the lines or lines or lineup, like keep the same lineup. And I'll say this, like, and Larry was like so passionate. Like I was so passionate about hockey. He did, we did a meeting and he was literally in tears because we weren't winning and he was, he couldn't. And all he did was win. And yeah, that's, this guy's got 57 Stanley Cups.

He's got six as a player and like six as a coach or like, he's got a lot. And he just is so passionate about the game and cares so much that he's like literally in tears, like talking about like what we got to do. And then, you know, we have this meeting and like, okay, don't, you know, let's not mix up the lineup if we have, if we win. And so, you know, it was a lineup we won.

And then, you know, you get to the lineup the next day and it's like the four lines and then it's like Pronger slash Johnson on the wing. Literally my whole career. Exactly. I know. I don't know. Are you on the inside? Are you on the inside slash or the outside slash?

It didn't matter. I knew I wasn't. Right. If I had the slash, I was the guy out. You were the slash. You better have a fucking good warmup. It was like a rigged game of a coin flip. Oh my God.

Two sides with the same, two heads. Oh God, I hated that. And so Blakey sees this and he goes to Larry. He's like, hey, we talked about this. He can't fuck around. So Larry comes in, wipes off Johnson's name. You know, one more game. I can play another game.

I think we lost that game that I was out the next game. But Blakey went to bat for like a, you know, a fifth liner. You kind of look like Blakey a little bit. You guys have very similar noses too, right? Yeah. Right. Whiskey nose. Yeah, yeah.

They get a whiskey tan. Like the ski slope pits. Bumbo nose, yeah. Then after that, a free agent. You're a free agent for the first time. Wave in the offers, guys. July 1st, guys. Can't wait.

I need a cell phone now. Welcome to Boston. Do you need a fax machine set up in my tent? Yeah, so we have Boston. That was late in August. Yeah. I guess you're wondering. That was a late sign.

You're like, this is how much we have left. Take it or leave it. You're like, am I going to Greensboro? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, Boston. Signed with Boston.

Yeah, Pat Burns. Harry Sinden was the GM. Pat Burns was the coach. Like, oh my God. That was, and then Ken Baumgartner was assistant who I played with in Anaheim, who was one of the all-time greatest guys. He was tough as shit, right?

Oh my God. Yeah, he's a menace and like really bright guy too. Like it's like, not that you have to be, you know, not smart to be tough. Well, we know Biz, so. So anyway, yeah. So Boston was fun. Ray Bork was there.

Joe Thornton was 18 there, which was. was oh so that was the season he played like not not all the games like six he scored six goals or something like that like he was not like he was young but like i will say this about he has not changed him like at all like this guy is a hit it hard right oh my god just wants to be around oh my god i saw him right now yeah so no bad attitude sorry oh god no no you're good you're good yeah it seems like he's just always like because that year i didn't know if he'd be like what the fuck but he didn't no like he didn't give that impression i mean mind you i was only there for a minute so but i mean he yeah he was awesome but ray bork was there and in training camp we had this drill it was a skating drill so

there's a group one each so blue line blue line like and then same on the other side and you just skate skate around so like you're chasing the groups so bork was in one group and everybody basically caught up to bork's group but nobody passed them yeah so like the whole training camp is behind him he's just going around and said we're all just following him you know he's the guy being like don't pass me in the group and he was he was awesome that is so good what a great guy yeah you won providence for a chunk of the epita lavielette yeah lavi was the coach he just won the championship the year before in the american league um and you know i would come rolling in there you know after playing 200 games in the nhl and they named me captain it was not a good

experience i will say that no abby was an awesome coach outside of wayne who were you the most maybe after playing 200 games in the NHL and they named me captain. It was not a good experience. I will say that. But he was an awesome coach. Outside of Wayne, who were you the most maybe starstruck to play with when you got to one of your locations? That's a great question. I mean, you had Brian Leach on those Rangers teams too.

I mean, outside of Gretzky, I would say like Brian Leach, starstruck. I mean, yeah. I mean, Timu. I got Timu and Paul, but I felt like I was buddies with those. It's when you get to a new spot. Yeah.

Watching. Jager was just to watch him. Ray Bork would be another one. And then, I'm trying to think. Then it was Columbus. We were just kind of a collection of cast-offs. Columbus was like an Ohio State football player. We've talked about all these places you've bounced around,

but I imagine at a certain point it kind of beats you down a little bit, going up and down, playing for all these different teams. I did read that it was in Manitoba where you kind of reestablished your love for the game, right? You became captain there. You started putting up some points, and you probably felt like you were part of it and you had a home. I'll say this.

It reinvigorated my career. It came from providence where i was like i wanted to ask about that it was just were you just kind of down and yeah i was just like you know like i'm over that how many times can i get punched in the face and like sent down and this and that and like you know what maybe it's and then you know if you're having a bad game i'm like what am i gonna be a firefighter like i should look into that like hey it's crazy that was me too at the end you start actually being like oh what am i gonna do it like and and when you're going and you're young you don't even think and then as you get older and you're still a professional hockey player and other careers like what will i do after that's when you kind of know yeah i think this is kind of coming i'm

winding it down here like to phpa they have a life after hockey program. So I'm looking into that shit. And then I got traded like from Providence. I didn't even know that was possible. Like they traded me to Winnipeg. Yeah, I saw that. And I'm like, oh shit. Okay, well, I grew up going to this, you know, it's like a NHL rank.

I'm like, okay, close to home. So I go there and they run it like an NHL team. Randy Carlisle was a coach. It was awesome. Oh my God, yeahle was a coach. It was awesome. Yeah, it was great. Yeah, this is pre-NHL Randy. This is like, you know, he's still in the minors getting to the NHL, but that dude is awesome.

Like Prickly. He's a very funny guy, I'll say that. Well, he loves to challenge you. Like, he'd be on you, right, until you say, would you fuck off? He'd be like, finally. He's like. Exactly. Such a fucker. And he's like. Exactly. Such a fucker.

But he made you captain? I was assistant captain, I think, when. Did you guys have a little run in the playoffs? We had, not that year, but the year, the next year we did. Like, so I was there. We lost out in Long Beach to the best of three. We lost two straight. You're like, I'm staying in Long Beach.

We went out with a whimper. And then the next year we played. Next year was like, we were like an independent, like IHL. So we had guys like, we had Ken Reget from Detroit. Yeah. Yeah. We had like guys from each, like older guys from a bunch of other. That must've been crazy to see these old school guys come into like,

to like a minor league at that time. Right. Those guys have stories. Yeah. No, it was awesome. You get Sean Burr, like just, you know, I don't know if you've ever met him. I mean, he's passed away, but, like, he is an absolute character. But, like, having older guys, it just felt better.

It was easier to, like, play and do stuff because, like, they're similar, like, experiences, right? You know, everybody's been kicking the balls. At that point, was the AHL or IHL better than the other, or were they, like, dead even? I would say the I would have been better back then. Really? Yeah, because it's, like, older. Like, I would say the I would have been better back then. Really? Yeah, because it's like older.

They'd be older guys. These are guys that have less upside. They're kind of where they're at, where you've got the American League where they're younger. The prospects. They had way more upside, but they just were young. With LaViolette and Randy, could you kind of see, or you're not surprised that they ended up being successful NHL head coaches?

I knew LaViolette was going to be good. Really? For sure. Because he must have been young then. He was young. It was like, I'm trying to think, like his third year, fourth year coaching. The guy just brings teams to cup finals. Yeah.

So then he was the coach of Philly when Chris was with the Flyers. I remember seeing him in the locker room, half in the bag. I'm like, Labi, Why did you fucking trade me? From the wives room. Were you surprised he didn't get the call from the B's? Because I think everybody in Boston was like, this guy just won an AHL championship.

They passed him over for... Not Burns. They passed him over for somebody. They passed him over for the... Was it for Tor? No, Dave Lewis, right? Oh, from Detroit? Dave Lewis was in Detroit. Yeah, but he was also a head coach in the Bruins. Well, hey, you just saw who...

Maybe it wasn't. ...was mentioned as coach. You had Pat Burns while you were in Boston for a little bit, right? I did. I had Pat Burns. He was awesome. He was tough as shit. No nonsense. Oh, my God.

But he was more harder on you, I think, on the players when you were winning, like he'd like keep on you. I heard Daryl Sutter was like that. Yeah. And like when you're losing, he would like, I mean, he was fucking hard, but like he wouldn't beat you up in the media and stuff like that. Like he was, he was hard nosed, but, um, I mean, the practices were pretty simple. Like it wasn't, there's a lot of battle drills, you know, like, oh God, I god i fucking hated those practices but the one there's actually a funny story uh i keep forgetting to tell matthias tamander i don't remember that name yeah man yeah solid he was great in la right yeah uh

but so he's in boston we're in i think we're in arizona uh we have like three days off uh like trying to think either playing or waiting or whatever. Anyway, so we're practicing. And it's a, again, the three-on-two regroup drill. And he goes- You're kryptonite. And he wants to go D to D to the winger. So Matty gets the pass. I think Darren Van Imp was the other D. Fires it over to Imper off his ankle.

Do it again. D to D. To Manor, Imper off his fucking head. Do it again d to d no uh to manner emperor off his like fucking head i do it again they went like seven times it's like you read the numbers every day it's like seven they go he goes like seven times and then burns is like get the fuck off oh no kicks kicks him out of practice to mander so i see him in the locker room after practice. I go, I just go, I give him a hug and I go, buddy, it's going to be all right. He goes, I just was a healthy scratch at practice.

Hunted in practice. I got scratched from the practice. Oh my God. Yeah, it was tough. And then like the whole Ken Baumgartner had to cut me. So I was a teammate two years earlier on the plane. We're last exhibition game in Boston against Montreal, in Montreal.

We're on the team plane back. We're playing cards. And I can see Bomber coming out of the coach's area in the front. And he's walking back. And I'm like, keep going, buddy. Keep going. I'm like, yeah, yeah, hit me. Keep going.

Keep going. And I just feel him come in behind me and just sit there. And I'm looking next to Rob DeMaio. I'm like, well, he's not getting fucking tapped. So I'm like, I go, Bomber, I feel you back there. I'm like, well, he's not getting fucking tapped. So I'm like, I go, bomber, I feel you back there. He's like, yeah, just let me know when you're done playing. I go, I'm not done playing. I'll never be done playing.

I'll never be done playing. He's like, he goes, Sean, you're gonna make me do this? I go, fuck. Put my cards down. Do the dead man walk up to the front of the plane. Because I literally say, they're coming back. I saw him take another guy. I go, oh my God, they're shooting people on the plane plane they don't want to wait till the next day like just tell me

when we land it's just a lot easier if we just do it right now because i got a dinner when i get home yeah it was yeah that was although then at least if you get cut on the plane you go all in on every hand because you're gonna have to pay yeah yeah you never see exactly can you get a marker exactly exactly well like most guys on the way way out, you went and played a year overseas. Unless you want to ask him about where was he washed right before he ended? Well, he was at Columbus. For you, actually, I had a pretty decent stretch at Columbus. Yeah.

I went from Winnipeg. I got, so this is a very little known fact that I was actually part of the Islanders team I was playing for Winnipeg getting paid by Boston I was in a grocery store for whatever reason and grabbed and opened my paycheck and it had an Islander logo on it I'm like what the fuck

so I call my agent I go hey any idea why I have an Islander logo on my paycheck he's like no let me look into this. So as it turns out, I was traded. My rights were traded from Boston to the Islanders because Boston was over the 50 player max. So they just gave me the Islanders basically.

You could get away with so much shit back then. I mean, how does that, no one told you that. That cost you a first rounder now. No one told me anything. I'm like, I'm part of the Islanders. Caps their decision. That's how it cost you a first rounder now no one told me no one told me anything i'm like that's how it costs then um so the end of the season happens we're playing like our end of the season golf thing or whatever and uh i got a buddy of mine's like hey have you checked your cell phone i go no well your wife's trying to get a hold of you i'm like why it's like well

i don't know fucking call her so i call she yeah, have you talked to your agent? I'm like, no. Call agent. He's like, hey, Columbus just picked you up on waivers. I go, I was on waivers? Nobody even told me. Apparently the Islanders are like, well, we don't need this guy. Let's put him on waivers and get rid of him. And Columbus picked me up. So that's how I got back to Columbus on a random waiver.

Well, I was just going to ask about Germany. And I also heard a story where you went in the locker room and challenged your teammates or something like that. I did. So like not, not a very good last year send off playing overseas where you're going there. You think you're going to travel, have a great

year, present you with your Jersey at the end of the year. And I will remember. It was going to be magical. Like I was going over there thinking I'm going to play for another four or five years. That was my plan. And it was the most frustrating time of my life.

I got two, like a six month old and a two year old. And we're over there. It was miserable. I was playing awful. The whole thing sucked. And it just had a breaking moment. And I like, like this is probably four months into it. And it like, I've never been this frustrated in my life.

I was like swimming upstream. Like I did everything wrong. And I get in in the locker room i literally kicked the door in all the guys are like there's 12 north americans 12 germans roughly it's like half an hour 10 and 10 i kicked the door in and i just like i go i'm so fucking sick of this country any of you fucking germans want to stand up here and go right now let's fucking go and i'm like half joking but half serious and like obviously i think they all people like from north america go through like i think somebody goes through it all the time like at one point someone cracks and so then no one really looks up all of a sudden you're like i'll go you and it's all right i like oh shit it's our six foot

four trainer who's a boxer oh no i'm like no no i'm i'm in place i don't know you're good so i turn around i'm like all right let's. We square off in the dressing room. And I'm still half joking. And so I'm like, and I go to fake punch. Like I was going to punch and like miss and pull it back. And he leans in and I drill him right in the fucking eye. He goes down. I'm like, oh God, I am dead.

So he gets up. I give him a hug. I go, thanks, buddy. I needed that. And I just kind of like walked away. And he didn't do anything. He didn't do shit. shit no way i would have been dead oh my god i would have been like yeah i meant to do that you finished the year i finished the year i finished the year and then on the flight home uh so i got a screaming one-year-old my son uh who's bawling on the

way into the flight so i'm thinking okay it's eight hour flight to toronto he'll cry himself that's hell right there. Oh, my God. So then he's, so we're at the bulkhead, like first class and then us. So everybody coming on sees who's crying. And so it's just like, I'm like, get this fucking bird in the air. I'm like, done with this country. Let's get out of here.

And so we're about to take, we're like just waiting to leave the gate. This old guy comes up and like sticks his head through the curtain, like kind look in first class and then kind of turns this way slowly and goes better shut that kid up oh and goes back to his seat i'm like did he just say that dude i go to like my wife did he just say like she was probably like she didn't hear fucking she wasn't really listening but i'm like so i'm like i'm gonna go back there also i'm like we're gonna be uh taken off here like so i'm like all right sitting there i'm like you're human going to go back there. All of a sudden, like, bing, we're going to be taken off here. So I'm like, all right. I'm sitting there. You're fuming. He's like six rows behind me.

I'm like, I'm going to fucking get that guy. So all of a sudden, like, take off. Bing. The seatbelt comes off. I get up, go. As I'm getting up, his wife gets up to go to the bathroom. I'm like, perfect. So I walk past him.

Then I come back, and I go, what kind of a man tells a one-year-old to shut up? And he goes, what? I go, dude, I heard you. I was up there. My kid's crying. He came up there and told him to shut up. He goes, son, are you all right? He's like 65.

He goes, son, are you all right? I go, no. And I sit down next to him and I go, no, I'm not. But I'm so fucking tired of this bullshit because I've had a tough year. And he goes, I have six grandkids. I would never tell you to shut your kid up. You just imagined it. I'm just like, am I making up shit now?

Unless he was fucking with you. He might have been. My oldest son was crying. You fighting Bob Barker on the flight. He's not real. Peter Griffin, the chicken, going down the aisle, just chucking him. Totally. My oldest son, one one time he was crying

It was a three hour fight but he cried the whole time And so you're just You can't even describe it For people who don't like it imagine the parents And I remember being like I was like looking for somebody To be like mad at him for it And then my wife's like

Will you relax The guy would probably beat the shit out of you anyways If you found somebody. But you're so on tilt when they're crying. You're just looking for something. I thought you just go put them in the toilet and just close the door. No, you throw them down the bottom with the dogs. Oh, okay.

Yeah, as long as there's air. The air is fine down there, right, I think? You need a proxy for your anger. Oh, my God. I got one last thing, I guess. I mean, everywhere you went, even if you only had a few games, there was always a propensity for something big to happen. And you had three games with the Canucks that season.

And you were there for the Bertuzzi-Morins. And you were on ice. You were on ice for that. I was on the ice for that. That's fucked up. 154 penalty minutes in that game. And you guys have had Mayday on the Brad May? Yep.

So that might have been Brad May's finest game ever. He gets lost in it. Um, he had two goals, two, three fights. You think he fought Peter Royal twice and then fought, uh, it was Ken something or other. Mayday's a legend. Oh my God. Yeah.

So anyway, yeah. Did you guys know this was all going down? No, it was not. It was not planned at all, uh, uh, under advice of lawyers. No, I'm kidding. Um, I'm kidding. No, kidding no you're not no but uh no it was not planned like i mean steve moore some was like somebody wanted to fight him obviously

like he i don't know if you guys remember he cracked back right give the back story yeah so he earlier in the season probably two months earlier uh naslin at the time i think was the leading scorer of the in the nhl i think and was in a vulnerable position and Moore hit him, like a shoulder. I think it would be very suspendable now, like a head contact. But I think he was on his knees and Moore kind of drilled him, and I think he gave him a concussion. And then the next time they played, I don't know why nothing happened. Brad May, I think, put a bounty on his head after the game.

And then I think the next game they either moored in player, nothing happened. So this, Brad May, I think, put a bounty on his head after the game. And then I think the next game, they either moved in player, nothing happened. So this is like the last game. But the game mattered because the year before, it came down to Vancouver and Colorado for home ice advantage going into the playoffs. And Colorado won that game, got home ice, ended up winning. Like Vancouver got bounced the first round.

So this game mattered because I think it was still adjusting for like home ice advantage. And so before the game, Crawford, who's the coach, he's got the roster here. He's like this, you know, he's got Korea. I think Solani and Korea were on the. Yeah. This guy's got to pay a price.

This guy's got to pay a price. This guy's got to pay a price. This guy's got to pay a price. And then Steve Moore was like the fourth line center. And this fucking guy's got to pay a price. This guy's got to pay a price. This guy's got to pay a price. And then Steve Moore was like the fourth line center. And this fucking guy's got to pay a price. And so that was it. Like nothing else was said. I think we would go out there.

And Bert and Nazan had a crazy connection. Oh, yeah. No, I mean, that's like. It was Devin Morrison and they were just like. Yeah, they were like, I mean, they were awesome together. And, you know, I'm sure Bert felt like I let this happen to my buddy. Like I'm not letting this shit happen. And so the game started and it got out of hand immediately like with goals so if the game was close i don't think any of this shit would happen but it was like five nothing

after the first for colorado uh matt cook fought uh steve moore and then everybody else is trying to get out and he's not answering like he's not fighting anybody. And if you watch the video, I come out on the ice, and the best thing that he could have ever done was to fight me. But I'm like, I want to stick it around another game. We're getting close to the playoffs. If I can stay here, it'd be great. So I'm trying to do something. So I cross-check him.

I'm like, hey, let's go. He wouldn't even look at me. He skates away. And then he skates away and then gets into missile lock of Bertuzzi. He crosses his looked at me, he skates away. And then like, he skates away and then gets into like missile lock of Bertuzzi. Like he crosses his field of vision and Bert sees him and like,

he's like hitting him, hitting him, like turn around, doesn't turn around, follows him, grabs him by the back and then you see him drill him and then the pile up ensues.

And like that was in 04. So I'm on the pile. So I'm the fourth guy on the pile. So it's like Steve Moore, Bert, I think Nicolician was on and then So I'm on the pile. So I'm the fourth guy on the pile. So it's like Steve Moore, Burt, I think Nickolition was on, and then I was on top of him. And Nickolition is screaming like, like, get off. And you can see the blood, like, just, it was awful. It was awful.

And then, so I'm on the pile. The next time I saw Todd Bertuzzi, like I, they got him out from the pile, off the ice, out of the rink. I, then the next day I got sent down back to Winnipeg. The next time I saw Bertuzzi was four years later in Anaheim Ducks practice locker room. No shit.

And he was like, and you're right in the pile of the man. And I'm in the pile. I never, never saw him till three. Did you, did you know it was going to escalate to where it got to like right as soon as it happened? No,

like I, like I didn't. Nobody knew he had, he had broke, he broke his neck. Yeah, he broke his as soon as it happened no like i like i didn't nobody knew he had that he had broke we broke his neck yeah i broke his neck it was like i didn't like just even after the game like oh i had no idea no no idea like i didn't think it was gonna be i didn't think he was gonna be that severely injured like you know i didn't see the hit until later i saw the results which was awful and then the whole mood and the thing was oh god it was it was awful it was an awful thing for everybody. Yeah.

Obviously for Moore. How about Brad May? You mentioned him. 5.45 of ice time. Scored two shots. He scored on both goals. 47 penalty minutes. Oh my God.

If you watch, he scores. That's a stat line. Plus one. Yeah, he scores. And we lost 9-2 or 10-2. 9-2, yeah. And he scores almost identical goals where it's a pass in the corner.

So he's driving the net, scores, skates right back around and tries to fight the goalie. Both times. That was probably the most impressive five minutes of hockey. That's a wild stat line. Absolutely. Actually, I lied. I got to ask.

What happened in Europe with Doug Ewaite? Oh, yeah. They say the international incident with Dougie Waite, but there was no incident. It was just being in Germany when he came over. And, yeah, I mean, he was fun to play with. I think I went. What do you mean?

He came and played in that German league? Yeah, because it was the lockout, 0-4-0-5 lockout. So he came over near the tail end of the – as soon as it was officially canceled, he came over and played for a couple months. And, yeah, we're roommates. I always have like – I was done playing there, and I'm like – I think I had no goals.

And then all of a sudden Dougie comes over, and they got me on his line. I'm like, okay. The pucks start going in the net. I'm like, all right, all right. Then I think I blew up my MCL, and then that was the end of it. I went out with a whimper. Yeah.

Well, what a run though. I mean, everyone check out this book. Like I said, Journeyman by Sean Pronger with Dan Murphy. Is that Murphy and Van? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Is there one in there that you didn't tell on the pod that's like your go-to craziest story of all time? I will say the Gretzky story.

So the Gretzky story is my kind of what I tell all the time, like getting drunk and then having to practice with him. That's unreal. Yeah. Well, this is great. I'm looking forward to this. So thank you so much, Sean. Yeah, great.

Appreciate that. Best of luck with the whiskey. Yeah, guys, thanks. You know, I've been waiting for, you know, eight years to get on this thing, so I appreciate it. Now, maybe to stir the pot a little bit, is there any story about your brother you feel like sharing to get him going?

You know, I just love that after he bullied everyone his whole career you actually were bullying him yeah i mean uh i would stories of chris i think he should be the one to tell him but you got to ask him like the interact i'll say this about dan murphy who's a broad you know sports yeah awesome that dude could have like propelled his career if he only told the stories of my brother. He was on the inside of so much shit and never broke the story. Like, never. You can trust him.

He's got him in the vault. He is the vault. He knows where the bodies are buried. Look at that. It wasn't lying to you. That's awesome. Thank you. I bought the digital copy back like 10 years ago.

No shit, eh? Yeah. That's cool. Your mom threw you a surprise retirement party? Yeah. That's awesome, though. Well, thanks a lot sean oh thank you guys thank you yeah i appreciate it thank you before we go any further we need to talk about lucy and lucy is the obvious choice for the true nicotine pouch connoisseurs and that's why they're the official nicotine pouch connoisseurs, and that's why they're the official nicotine pouch partner of Barstool Sports.

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and now they're all in love with Lucy. It is number one. It is so good. And these breakers, you need to try them to see for yourself. They're incredible. 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. That's lucy.co slash chicklets. Thank you so much to Sean Pronger. Awesome guy. We appreciate him coming on. I know it was a long time. I hope he wasn't upset we waited so long, but I hope you guys enjoyed it. And Biz, one thing we did forget to mention last week

was the video that went viral of big George LaRock giving some little pointers to the Rampire State Building, Matthew Rempe, training with LaRock, the uppercuts. Did you see those uppercuts? Did you see those uppercuts? Those were vicious uppercuts. You know what that tells me? He's sending a message

to the rest of the heavyweights in the league saying, I'm training with LaRock and I'm going to come speed bag you motherfuckers. And there has been a revival of the heavyweight division ever since Rempe entered the league and it ain't going away he is sending a straight fucking message man and those upper cups look nasty some people were having a chuckle online about it saying ah it's not very realistic but hey he's a strong big guy he's got that reach and the way and and i think some people might say like what's going on here well

when i when i started fighting when i was at the pittsburgh organization mind you i was a defenseman yes i would fight you know maybe five times a season in junior um and then all of a sudden i got switched to the wing i was playing defense at the time and it was kind of the writing was on the wall and luckily the team had dennis bomby and i would work with him sometimes on grappling and how to properly grab the jersey off the hop did you want to grab it in the middle did you want to grab it closer to the arm how did you gain positioning and it was kind of almost a little bit like uh is it uh jujitsu when you grab on the tarp i think you're like you're more laying down on the mat yeah but you're you're uh maybe it's, I'm trying to think of what one it is

when you're more grappling and you're grabbing onto the jersey and you're learning how to control your body and stay up. So he's still young in the game, and I would imagine he's never been leaned on this much in his career where a lot of the focus of what he does is going to be running around, stirring it up, and ultimately fighting other heavyweights. So why not master your craft? I was taking boxing lessons at one point.

I was doing stuff on the ice with Bombay. So to me, this is a good thing. And yeah, maybe the uppercut video was a little silly. But nonetheless, I'm looking forward to seeing where this all goes next year as the heavyweight division gets bigger and bigger and there's a revival. I will preface this with, and I think most listeners are well aware that I can't fight my way out of a wet paper bag. But in watching Rempe, I don't necessarily think that the punching was the issue. It's more like I would think LaRock would be like, hey, you got to protect yourself a little. And I guess that's what you're talking about in terms of where you're grabbing and

grappling but it just seemed like you know he was willing to just throw bombs but he was leaving himself open and maybe it's more of like figuring out a way to protect yourself a little because it's not you're not gonna be able to last dude if you're just going toe to toe it doesn't work like well that's not true because guys in the past have like going back old school and and i actually appreciated the fact that he was willing to go toe to toe with guys i agree with you it wasn't the way that i fought you have to protect yourself if you want maybe a little bit more longevity but if you go back to the 80s those guys were fighting 30 times a year and they were they were having punch in the face matches so maybe he's trying to bring it back to that but i also think with his reach and his size that's

probably why george reached out to say hey if i teach you these little tricks not only are you going to be able to defend yourself better but you're still going to be able to get your punches through like the what he was doing with those uppercuts when sometimes some guys grab you you go over the top a couple like curtis mcdermott's good at it too where sometimes you you come up you come down on the other side to break the arm bar right you you you break that that grasp that he has on your jersey because dennis bomby wouldn't let go and that's why if you look at his hand none of his fingers point in the right direction because it's hard to hold on to those jerseys

when those guys... It's like an octopus. My octopus teacher on his hand. And then he goes... Yeah, so he's going up, down, and then you can come through with that uppercut if you have enough power, and he most certainly does.

So I'm interested to see what type of tricks he does teach him. George was known a little bit for the way he would marigold round. He would... Yeah, because he would tee up his left, dude. He would swing around and then just fire that left. Right.

He had a very unique style of how he fought. I liked the jersey jab because I was a pussy and I didn't want to get caught anymore because I didn't know how much more punishment my nose could have taken. But yeah, that's pretty much all i got on the rent-based stuff uh some more news uh koozie oh the bird man the bird celly is no longer in the national hockey league back to russia back to russia four-year deal he ended up signing and uh he uh agreed to mutually part ways on his contract in the last year where

i think he was set to make seven million or maybe just a little bit more north do you uh what do you make of koozie going back to russia i think that uh he must be making so much fucking money because what what did he agree to it was it one or two years one year one year left one year left on a seven7 million. I think it's just under eight then. I mean, he goes back to Russia as a super skilled player who will light that league up. And I'm thinking it's like a four-year deal for $20 million U.S., right? Like the amount of money that they have.

And then you're back in Russia. It seemed like even though he got to Carolina and had some quick success, by the end of their playoff run, he was almost kind of back to not necessarily the old Koozie. He's probably looking at it like, I could be in the minors. Who knows? I'll go back home. I'll get a huge payday. I'll play in the KHL. And I'm done over here.

I mean, that's what's amazing for these guys is they get to just go home and play hockey in their country and make a bunch of money once they're done here. Right. It's like you have to go over there when you're done over here being a North American and just suck it up in Russia. Yes, the money's amazing. The living not so great. So now he goes home, he's got all his family and all his friends and he makes a bunch of money makes sense to me the khl biz they made a little bit of news with their new uh they're gonna have an attempt at an overtime change i think i told you guys you just say this i think gretzky talked about making this the change where uh the minute the attacking team crosses the red line um in in three on three overtime in the khl the team with control the puck you can't go back across the red line to your own side of the ice we call it

ragging the puck so if they they don't like the look they're getting they bring it all the way back and it's chewing up too much time with a three on three so sometimes you can have these amazing chaotic games where it's back and forth, but other times you could spend two minutes of the overtime where it's like a quick one and done. Then they attack on offense, don't like what they see. All right, let's pick it back over the red line. Okay, let's go back. I don't like it again. So next thing you know, two minutes have gone back and you haven't had this where

if all of a sudden you get squeezed outside of the offensive blue line. Oh, it's the junior hockey league in russia excuse me not the khl that's oh my understanding i thought the k was doing it that's hey man we're in the offseason right we're in offseason mode folks my apology i believe the junior hockey league is testing it out for the khl okay khl okay so koozie won't be uh be getting jammed up at the red line but the reason i I like it so much is it creates probably a little bit more offense where all of a sudden if you get squeezed out of the offensive zone and then you don't have your guys back for you, you have to make a play.

You have to beat a guy probably one-on-one as you're getting squeezed off close to the red line because you don't want the over and back rule from basketball biting you in the ass. So I love it. It makes the wheels spin a little bit more, and it ultimately leads to more mistakes and more goals, which we don't want to see shit going to shootouts. Shootouts suck.

I fucking hate shootouts. Yeah, shootouts are a bummer. Yeah. But they're better than a tie. But I do think if you're going to take it out of the offensive zone, the red line comes pretty quick. So all of a sudden, you could see some two-on-ones the other way. If a guy's kind of stuck, like you said, with no support, doesn't really have anything to do with the puck and he gets pressured and boom, you get

a chance the other way. So that could create basically a quicker ending game. What I noticed this year though was, I mean, there was teams that would win the face off of overtime and they'd have the puck till the thing ended. Like, they were so adamant about if you don't have anything, just go back, regroup, and change. And then maybe you get a shot. If you get the rebound, boom, same exact thing. So it became a little bit boring.

It became like, like you said, the weird thing was is that some of the overtimes would be back and forth, 2-on-1, 2-on-1, 2-on-1. And then the other ones would just be like, all right, well, they're just playing for a shootout at this point So I'm interested to see how that works That would be the one I would be okay with ties in the NHL

I say fuck the shootout I say give me two more I think paying customers like with your kid You go and no one wins Let me ask you this do you think fans would be down If you said we'll give you two more minutes of 3-on-3 But no shootouts What do you think they would vote for I think fans would be down if you said we'll give you two more minutes of three on three, but no shootouts? What do you think they would vote for?

I think fans would want that, but I think players wouldn't. And I think they'd argue over that. You talk about adding time to the games and the PA flips out. Two more fucking minutes? I know, dude. I'm not saying it's like correct, but the PA goes nuts about that stuff. Well, you don't think they're going to go nuts about extending the season by two more games, 84-game season?

I'm hearing the next season. I think all of them, if you're going two more games for 84 and dropping preseason games, I think they'd take it. Preseason games stink. Unless you're a guy that's like, I got to play well here to give myself a chance of making this roster. The roster players are like, oh, my God, this sucks. A couple of quick things.

Torrey Krug might be out for the whole season. That's terrible news. Sucks for St. Louis. What a weird sounding like pre-arthritic condition in his ankle. That's nuts. And I got a lot of I was tagged in that a lot. Like, is this what you had? It's like, no, like. Like, my ankle was mush.

I've never even really heard of pre-arthritic. I don't know how they figured it out. But that sucks for him. That absolutely sucks. I think that if they need surgery, he would be out all season. But I don't think that's definite yet, as far as I read. No, but it could happen. It's, I think, more likely than not.

And that sucks. So if they lose Torrey Krug for the whole year, major loss on the back end. Drury in Carolina signed a pretty fair contract. I think that he's still got a little bit more to give, and with a few guys out of their lineup, he probably will be given a little bit more ice time next season. So looking forward to what he can do.

Another little one here, the Lake Tahoe Night Monsters, the new ECHL team out of Lake Tahoe. Absolutely hate the name. The logo is junk, but apparently because it's going to be the ECHL affiliate of the Golden Knights, they wanted to incorporate the word knight in it. So I don't know, man. Ain't exactly hitting the nose on the head like with the Golden Knights and the Seattle Kraken. It just, I don't know, man. Ain't exactly hitting the nose on the head like with the Golden Knights

and the Seattle Kraken. It just, I don't know. I'll send you the team logo and you tell me what you think of it. Yeah, send me over the jersey because I haven't seen that. In other news, Kyle Dubas in Craig Custon's new book admitted fault in not signing Marner, Matthews, and Nylander before going to get John Tavares and free agency. That's kind of one of the things we've talked about

about some of the major mistakes that were made by Kyle Dubas during his tenure as the GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs and I would say setting the tone for those contracts was a major, major, major miss. Along with I think the Codry trade was a major miss and

I would probably also say maybe drafting. I mean, how about Zach Hyman being a major miss? That's another big miss, not bringing him back. Because you didn't have the money, because you overpaid guys, because you had to, because you set the tone alone with the Johnny Tavares 11.5 and free agency. So the dominoes fell after that, and nice to hear a little bit of self-awareness, right?

Well, I actually, positivity for the Leafs, they hired a new director of amateur scouting. Did you see Mark Leach was hired? Yes, sir. And this guy was in Dallas for a long time. We've talked about how Dallas has drafted. And before that, he was with Jim Nill in Detroit. And how the hell is Detroit?

No, uh, uh, Ken Holland in Detroit. Oh, but Jim Nill was in Detroit, too. What? When Nill departed, the Detroit Red Wings, as an assistant GM to the general manager of the Stars in 2013, took Mark Leach with him. Leach had spent 20 season with the red wings the last 17 of those as an amateur scout where he helped put together the clubs that won the stanley cup in 97 98 2002 and 2008 so this is a guy going to a team who has not had a ton

of drafting success you can't count austin matthews and mitch marner right yes you picked them but i mean they were both no-brainers, okay? Now, I'm sure there's some talented guys there that they did a good job with that I'm not thinking of right now. But overall, it's been like, ah, what's going on with Leafs draft picks? There's got to be more there. Well, you're bringing in a guy who's been a top talent evaluator for about 30 years in the NHL now.

So I think that's exciting. I think that i actually texted shanny i texted him hey have you guys hired a new director of amateur scouting because i was gonna um you know put in the good word for one of my i think he blocked my number after my money goes his response is hilarious i think he blocked my number after the marner take and i think that he wants the ambassador jacket back he's gonna send to send someone to get that. I said, hey, Shani, what's going on? How are you? I'm curious.

Have you guys hired a new director of amateur scouting? He goes, tree is well down the road with someone, but I will call it off right now. It'll be a hell of a pay cut for you, wit, but you're hired. I said, I said, I go, imagine me in the meetings. Okay, guys, this kid turned down a pink Whitney shooter at the party. I was at, we can't pick him. So, uh, yeah, a little bit of a funny that maybe it wasn't so funny, but, um, exciting, exciting news.

I just didn't have the energy to give you a big one there. Thank you. And, uh, chicklets TV, vegas behind the scenes vlog will be dropping thursday at 6 p.m i think there were some great responses to our finals blog i think people saw the madness that was happening and clicks to fish fish incredible long elliot fish our guy one of our masters behind the scene with pasha all these guys great. Great job on that. And the Las Vegas vlog's pretty funny. I watched that today. So that comes out Thursday at 6 p.m.

Sandbagger with Heat Daddy and Schmaltzy, August 22nd. And Biz and I will be back to chat a little bit more with you guys next Tuesday. We appreciate your support. Have a wonderful week. We love you all. Chicka-chicka. We love you all. We'll be right back. 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 her line And I know she felt it Someone said she could have a free one on the chain She went below the bell, shit She had me with a cheap shot, a cheap shot She had me with a cheap shot, a cheap shot I think we need a deep talk The Chief Shot