Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 58: Featuring Florida Panthers President/CEO Matt Caldwell

Episode Date: December 22, 2017

On Episode 58, the boys discuss the news that the Isles will be moving back home, the NHL's lack of U.S. marketing for the Centennial Game, Ottawa owner Eugene Melnyk's comments that overshadowed the game, Erik Karlsson's future, and more. Florida Panthers President and CEO Matt Caldwell calls in for a chat to discuss his path from Staten Island to South Florida, applying what he learned in the military to the business side of a hockey franchise, the challenges of the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale market, and a bunch more in a very interesting conversation. The gents finish up with #AllRightHamilton and reminiscing about sneaking peeks at toys as young kids.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. This episode of Spittin' Chicklets is brought to you by Sauce Hockey. We all know that hockey's more a game. We've talked about it constantly. It's a culture. It's a way of life. Hockey is the best thing in the world. That's why we listen to this show and do it. Sauce Hockey is a full line of apparel that tells the hockey story from every level. Whether you're a savvy veteran

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to produce his exclusive in one apparel featuring tarps, sweaters, and buckets donning the legend himself. Make sure to head on over to SauceHockey.com. Use the code CHICKLETS. That's SauceHockey.com, code CHICKLETS. That's saucerhockey.com code CHICKLETS. Just hear those sleigh bells jingling Ring-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling to Ring-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling to

Come on, it's the lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you Ring-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling to Outside the snow is falling and friends are calling you Ring-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling to Come on, it's the lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you Outside the snow is falling and friends are calling you. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Hello, everybody. Welcome to episode 58.

Chris Letang. Ah. Robert Cronk. French Letang. Isn't that French for the pussy? Letang is actually a savage out there. But I will say quickly, I'm 58 too. Jack Lambert for Steelers fans, right?

Oh, but it's only hockey guys. Yeah, but listen. I think that's why Pittsburgh fans love LeTang in 58 because, you know, the old legendary linebacker or whatever. All I know is that my team had an amazing win in Pittsburgh last weekend. Which one? The New England Patriots. Oh, if I can see, you threw me off at the football. I know is that my team had an amazing win in Pittsburgh last weekend. Which one? The New England Patriots. Oh, if I can see, you threw me off at the football. I know.

I threw you off. Huge win. What's up, producer? Grinnelli? Hello, gentlemen. Episode 5-8. We have actually, this is a first for us for Spittin' Chicklets. We're bringing on a team president and CEO today.

Matt Caldwell of the Florida Panthers will be joining us shortly, which should be interesting. Yeah, very interesting. Army man. A little different perspective than we usually get. We still haven't had an actual active NHL goalie on. We're still working on that. We haven't.

We've had Kevin Weeks on, a good friend of the program, but he's been retired for years as we know. I wrote Luongo a direct message a couple times, but he just shriveled me in no response. Maybe he's still scythed from 2011. I don't know. I don't know. Yeah, but I mean,riveled and made no response. Maybe he's still scythed from 2011. I don't know. I wasn't on the Bruins. Yeah, I know.

But I never scored against them. But I may have tripped once or twice on Twitter. But maybe he's googled your writings of Luongo. That's a very true possibility. No coaches either. We haven't had a coach on yet.

I don't want any coaches. Yeah, yeah. Unless it's Terry. This is a player-friendly podcast. Yeah. Yeah, I don't even know if we've really shot. We'll get maybe an old coach on Sunday. Perhaps Michel Therrien.

I was actually thinking the other day if we ever had him on. That would be hilarious. Yeah, so we'd love to. Any goalies out there listening. Maybe we should get an owner on like Eugene Melnick. Oh, speaking of doing. So, okay, now, NHL 100th anniversary was, well, it's been going on for a year. And it was culminated in Ottawa or Montreal.

Did you know they were playing a game in outdoor in downtown Ottawa last week? I knew because I'm a worker at NHL Network, and it's my job. It certainly wasn't a lot of press. I didn't really know anything about it. Now, I guess two Canadian teams is probably huge in Canada, but you'd still think south of the border. Let us in on a little secret of an outdoor game. I mean, it's the first one of the year.

I think I'd be more excited for that one than I am Buffalo Rangers. But it seems like, you know, every year, not every year they do the Winter Classic, but a few of the years they've done what I call the Heritage Classic in the years past. Yes, yeah. And then this 100th anniversary. But it's like we don't hear about it down here. It doesn't get anywhere near the promotion. I'm not sure. I think it was on NHL Network, that game.

I don't know if it was on NBC Sports Network, the Montreal Ottawa game. I don't know. It might have been. Actually, it was like minus seven degrees, too. Yeah, it just seemed like there was a total dirt, a promotion. There was nothing known about it. But anyways, as you said, Ottawa's owner, Eugene Melnick, it's pretty sad when that's the story of the weekend.

He basically threatened, subtly threatened that. The Senators probably might not be there for a while. And you've got to think Eric Carlson is gone. Oh, yeah, he's gone. I would say he's gone. I mean, when you've got the team owner, you know, just basically ripping into the fans. Yeah, that's pretty much what he did.

He said, you guys don't like him. You don't go to the games. He mentioned we're one of the biggest spenders in the league. We spend $68 million, but people give a shit that we're cheap. What do you mean? He's like, that's crazy. Are you kidding me? Even at $68 million, that's way too much over a revenue base that we have.

We can barely sell out Eastern Conference final games. Right. So I kind of understand all that now the rink's in a shitty spot same with same with phoenix that's what we've talked about with like glendale it's too far from the city but it's still amazing before the 100th anniversary game that the owner's threatening to leave um i mean i think that all of this like you said just makes carlson look look gone i mean like he's gonna want i mean well you know 11 12 million a year he He deserves it.

He's going to get it. He probably wants to try to really win. That going along with what's going on there and moving and the team and how bad they've been this year, it's going to be really interesting to see when he's gone. That's the question. Is it this summer? Is it during the season? You always feel like guys wait for the summer because they think

they can really spend more time figuring out a trade, getting as much as possible. But, I mean, just to see him in another uni is going to be exciting. By the way, this is us just completely making this up, but we're thinking about him in another uni. I can't imagine a scenario in which he re-signs with the Ottawa Senate. It's based on the comments of Melnick, the financial situation they have there. They're a small market Canadian team. Connecting the dots here, man, I mean, it would seem if they're not financially

viable in that spot, it would be the easiest move ever to just go from Ontario to Quebec, and they'd stay in the division. Everything would just, like, be perfect. Now, I know fans don't want to hear that, but, you know, when you're team owner, I mean, I'd say he drew a line in the sand, basically. Like, if we can't do this, like I said, we're not selling out third-round playoff games. I mean, this is going to the Stanley Cup. Hockey Canada, and we're not selling out.

Shout out to Eric Carlson, too, for his gender reveal. A boy. Good for him. He also looked like Brian Boitano celebrating it. That was the figure skater Right Like jumping around He was like

Twirling So he was fired up That was good to see Congrats I was just Spitting my fucking tea All over the place With the Brian Boitano

Didn't think I was Saying his name today Didn't know we were Going to get that Hit that in your bingo square Special Christmas edition So actually going back To Carlson

Someone asked us Where do you think he'd go It's way too early For that type of stuff. I mean, it's going to depend on need and value. But I did tweet out the other night, if Bobby Orr was in today's league, he would easily be a $15 million player, but he would only take 10 just to help the team. Oh, my God. There it is. There it is.

There it is. I love it. We're big Bobby Orr people here. That's R.A. just getting his junket out. You haven't said anything about him in a while either. It has been a while, yeah. We have fun with all sports. You take this guy and that generation, how he would do it. I think he's the one.

You've been over people who's good now that wouldn't be good then, blah, blah, blah. He will forever be the best. The skating was the best part about him. So you bring him in now, it's the same exact Bobby Orr. Yeah. And it's funny because, you know, and the reason I thought of it was because last year when Carlson in the playoffs on the fucking one leg, I mean,

I don't make that comparison really at all, but I had to like, okay, this he's reminded me a little bit of Bobby Orr with the, with the performance he's doing, how he's changing the whole game. So I don't know how fun hockey would be if you could just skate around like Bobby Orton and kill a whole two-minute penalty by yourself. Just wheeling around the net. I'd be talking shit, buzzing by guys. I'd be like, I can't catch me, killing a whole penalty right now.

I mean, he's the best. We need to somehow get Bobby Orton on here. Yeah. I need to maybe write him A handwritten note Bobby please come on This is your old friend Ryan That's a hand We'd have to go to him though

You'd have to leave the house Do kids nowadays Know how to do a handwritten I don't know I was taught Writing thank you notes Growing up I'd write a thank you note

For everything It goes a long way Especially now more than ever Write thank you notes Speaking of thank you notes Frankie Borelli Our buddy the pizza maker Down at headquarters

He's probably sending out Some thank you notes Because itorelli Our buddy The pizza maker Down at headquarters He's probably sending out Some thank you notes Because it's apparent It looks like The Long Island Islanders It's funny Because Brooklyn's Technically part of Long Island

I love Is it? Yeah I love New York people hate When you point that out But they're like Oh we're going back

To Long Island It's like Yeah Brooklyn and Queens are actually On the far west By New Queens So the Islanders I didn't't read, I saw the story. Are they, this is like.

This is as close to definite as I've heard of all these stories. Who's paying for the ring? I didn't get that part of the article. I just, there's the most certainty I've read about this team actually getting a new arena. Out by Belmont Park, the horse track on Long Island. Closer to the original home. I mean, if it happens, great for the Islanders fans because it's been a disaster because they've been outstanding at home this year for the most part.

But it's like, you know. It just doesn't seem right. Yeah, it sucks for people who, if, you know, your team moves, you know, 50 miles to the west, it doesn't help anybody. And if they can get back to where their fans are, where the players don't have to drive two hours each way to fucking practice every day, then good for them. Apparently the team will pay for

a black car for you one of the ways, either to the game or home from the game. So I think guys take the train there and then take the black car home the team pays for. But you don't want to be dealing with that. It's nice to shoot over to the rink where you play. I think that watching them play, like,

by the way, I talked about Barzell before the year, correct? Actually, you did, but we've been getting trapped about not matching him lately, so this is a good time. That guy is unreal. I saw it last year in the World Juniors. World Juniors is coming up soon, by the way. One of the best times of the year. I love watching that tournament.

So, the Islanders are nasty and they're going back to where it sounds like they'll be back home and they'll have a new rink. So maybe John Tavares stays there. And they're good. If they can get a goalie, really. I mean, Halak's been good, but he hasn't been good. You know what I mean?

It's just not consistent. You can't rely and trust on them. But if they can get a goalie, they're pretty good. And they score. I mean, they score almost as well as any other team that I can immediately think of. Winnipeg. Well, that's their problem is the goaltender. I saw the stat.

I believe it was Tuesday night. They have the lowest combined goal percentage. I'm sorry, save percentage in the NHL at like 8-9-2. That's a kick in the dick. That's not good. And, you know, I know they play run-and-gun style. They can't score. I mean, they can score almost – not at will, but they can run-and-gun with you.

But, you know, a run-and-gun doesn't work in the playoffs. No. You know, they're kind of almost overachieving right now based on what their goaltenders have done. They're going to need an upgrade in goaltending. But if they got a sick goalie and then, like, you know, Tavares stays, maybe the Islanders are. Yeah, well, that's the other key is Tavares. I mean, he's going to have an opportunity to go anywhere he wants, and people are going to be able to pay him whatever he wants. I think he wants to stay with the Islanders.

I think he wants to win there and go in and get. But now you're talking about a new arena. Okay, but they haven't dug a hole for it yet. Yeah, that's why I'm wondering. Yeah, you're right. It's a couple years away. It's at least three years. Yeah, I would say so. You're talking Brooklyn

another couple years. That's what, three more years before we get a new arena, but we're still that far away, but are we going to win in the meantime, not with Halak and Greece, so it's rice in the net. Congrats on the Isles. Josh Bailey, when we say Thras, you've got to bring up him.

I mean, for Islanders fans. This guy's lighting it up this year. Quietly just goes about and just racks up points playing with Johnny Tavares. So, that team's good. I mean, they're fun to watch. By the way, we didn't mention in the Toronto Carolina game that they had the other day for the 100th anniversary at 2 o'clock on Tuesday. Oh, my God.

So, that wasn't nobody. I was like, why is there a Tuesday game at 2 o'clock on Tuesday. Oh my God. I was like, why is there a Tuesday game at 2 o'clock? But I was on the couch. They cost me money. Oh yes, I get to gamble. I was pissed. I looked. I hammered the Maple Leafs. I saw Chief tweeted out and was like, wait a minute. I had no idea. Middle of the afternoon puck and I'm like, that would have been all over that puck line in Toronto.

They fucking dummied Carolina. Gambling wise, I need to apologize to everyone. Actually, screw you, everyone. I'm not apologizing. I will say, though, that Winnipeg, when I said hammer them, they did go on to, I think, lose like two or three in a row right after the podcast last week. But since then, they lost in St. Louis,

and then the next night they played them again at home, which is kind of weird. Hey, back-to-back. Back-to-back. Home and home. No, back-to-back nights in different arenas is not very common, I'd say, in the NHL. Home and home? They used to be the norm back in the day.

Maybe, but not like the next day, especially St. Louis to Winnipeg. I mean, I guess Boston and New York and those teams probably do it a little bit more often, but I don't see it that often anymore. Yeah, it used to be a very common place. But. But I don't see it that often anymore. Yeah, it used to be very complex. But yeah, you don't see it one night after another. You don't see it as much. And when St. Louis won the game in St. Louis, I was like, boom, Monday night. I mean, the Jets should at least split with them at home, and they worked them.

So stay on the Jets. Just listen to me. Stay on the Jets. And by the time this show drops, they'll have already played in Boston. And I very much was looking forward to that game last night. Yes. Two teams playing well. And Winnipeg, it's great.

I mean, I know we have fun with the Canadian teams, but it's good to have healthy teams in Canada. We just talked about Ottawa not being so healthy. But what they've done in Winnipeg, the accumulation of talent they've had. You've mentioned the top six a bunch of times on the show. They're a fun team to watch, man. And Tuesday night's game in Nashville, did you catch that one? Yes, I did. I saw the highlights.

Speaking of gambling, dude, I kept track from Sunday. Every game Sunday, every game Monday, and the first couple games, first several games Tuesday, there were 15 straight games in which the team covered the puck line. Again, now that's puck line, not alternate or regular puck line. People think I mean the favorite when I say that. Okay, so you're saying one team won by two or more goals. Exactly.

Yeah, when I say puck line, that means that I'm not necessarily referring to the favorite because a lot of sites offer the alternate line. I hope yours does because that's what it is. I don't. I don't. It stinks. Because there's so many times there's underdogs. I'm like, I want to take them right now, minus one and a half.

And it's probably what, like plus 380? Like Tuesday night, Winnipeg was in Nashville. And someone and someone asked me oh do you like them on the money line i said you know that's a good play tonight and i didn't even look at the puck line but they had to have been like plus fucking 260 or something like that when would it ever be 380 if you were like a plus 170 money line um or would it never even get plus three when would you be no you would be i would say like if uh so say the Sabres played Thursday night and then they played in Boston on Friday night, right? They'd be a huge underdog.

They'd be probably plus 170, I'd say, no? Yeah, easily, yeah. So then if you went to reverse A&R and had them minus one and a half, would that get up to plus 380? Maybe not that. If you had Arizona in Chicago, say, probably you'd get it. Because I've seen plus 400s on the puck line. Let's throw it here say, you'd probably get it.

Because I've seen plus 400s on the puck line. Let's throw out here. Maybe they blow them out. You know, like last night, Tuesday night with Winnipeg. I was thinking, good squad. Nashville's good, but you're going to get a good return. I don't know if you remember the highlights. It was 4-4 with less than two minutes left.

Winnipeg scored with like a minute and a half left. They got an empty net with two seconds left. That was to go along with the Crosby. I tweeted it out. The Penguins against the Coyotes, I think it was Saturday night maybe. It was 2-2 with 15 seconds left, and somehow the Penguins won 4-2. It was like they scored right at 14 seconds, and then Crosby, somehow the guy tried dumping, and Crosby buried it with two seconds.

Another miracle puck line cover. But that usually never happens. No, it's— Well, this is going to—water's going to find its level. Yeah, it's part of the game. And I've been making the joke, you know, worshiping at our Blessed Lady of the Unguarded Cage. Because every night there's an empty net, and you just need it to happen. You know, Tim Schaller, Boston Buffalo the other night.

Tim Schaller, I mean, he just was trying to clear it, clanks it off the boards, slowly trickles all the way down, boom, in the net. And then, you know, other nights, you know, you got Crosby from fucking half, you know, center right. Yeah, you love this. You'll never get over this. Never get over that, no. Then you missed one for you.

But, you know, the worst was last season. I lost. I had a two-goal lead, and the fucking team gave up a goal, 0.1 seconds left in the game to lose it. And quickly, before we bring in the interview, we shout out to Vegas. They won. They beat Tampa. I will say, we'll go into this in more detail next week,

but they're the hot guy at the roulette table right now. People are starting to come over. Some women are starting to come over. People are talking shit. Blow my dice. Things end up things end up uh coming back you know like they're they're they're good but this is this is insane at this point and like i'm just shocked by it and i looked into some stuff and talked to some people that it will it will end and they'll come back to who you think

they or you thought they were a little bit somewhat soon i would say all right we're gonna bring an interview now but i real, I'll give you a great call about our road team struggling in Vegas this year. It was one of your better predictions. Because you just rip it up and get after it. Now we're going to bring in our president and CEO of the Florida Panthers, Matt Caldwell. And this interview was brought to you by SeatGeek. Buying tickets can be complicated and confusing, but there is a simpler way to buy with SeatGeek.

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Just download the SeatGeek app and enter promo code Hockey today. That's promo code Hockey for $20 off your first SeatGeek purchase. SeatGeek, right seat, right now, right from your phone. And now we're very pleased to bring in the Florida Panthers president and CEO, Matthew Caldwell. Matthew, welcome to the show. Thanks, guys. I appreciate you having me on. Do people call you Matthew? No, most people call me Matt we'll go with Matt

Matthew's too formal I didn't want to the whole time be like hey Matthew yeah Matty I grew up in Staten Island probably similar to Charlestown so I grew up with a bunch of cops, firemen. They'd all call me Matty growing up.

Oh, I didn't know his name. Yeah. The little city kid at the – almost like hockey, you just kind of make a nickname out of it. Add the Y or the I to the M. It made me madder. Although I'm not sure we had too many cops in Charlestown if you've ever seen the town. But, well, Thornton brought me there. We went – you know, Sean Thornton brought me there we went

you know Sean Thornton is on our business side now I think he was on with you guys a little while ago and we went to in the off season

we went out we had an opportunity to visit the Patriots who I'm sure you love and he's a big fan and we went there and spent a whole day

with their whole staff it was awesome he brought me out to a bunch of old stop the grounds old Ironsides. I would have been fine staying there, but then he brought me to this monument place. It was like a pizza joint. It was a good time.

I liked it. Yeah, some good bars. Actually, I was in the Ironside Grill, the place you just mentioned. I want to say it was 08, and the cop had been in town with the wives' convo. Who comes walking over his shoulder in the middle of January, but thought he you know, just to show because he knows how much of an impact

the Cup has on fans, and he took it by heart in the middle of the winter. That's awesome. You mentioned you grew up in Staten Island. Were you a huge hockey fan growing up? And if so, who was your team growing up on Staten Island? Yeah, huge fan. Unfortunately, who was your team growing up on Staten Island? Yeah, huge fan.

Unfortunately, it was the Rangers. It's amazing how quickly I dropped that loyalty, though. But now that I'm with the Panthers, I'm so all in with the team here. But growing up, going to games with my dad, I was a big Ranger fan. It was awesome. All the New York teams, Yankees, Giants, Knicks, it was all growing up in New York, Boston, those towns like sports are just

your whole life. It's been a lot of times in Madison, by God. So, you know, I was looking up your bio and everything and you went to West Point, correct? Yes. So I got to um go there for training camp with the pittsburgh penguins it was like 07 or 08 it was unreal like i don't

think people realize how beautiful that campus is but i i remember talking to one of the one of the guys at lunch is it are they cadets are you guys considered cadets there yes okay so i'm talking to one of the cadets and they were telling me about how you guys, for punishment, would get walking hours. Can you explain? Like, I didn't really get the whole story from him. What is that? And he's saying something about the president. He's saying the president could pardon these walking hours.

Is this true? Yeah. It's brutal. It's absolutely brutal, yeah. So depending on the infraction, and I'll tell you the infraction that I got while I was there. You'll love it, but you get a certain amount of hours, and they have a whole rules book on what infraction equates to a certain amount of hours.

But typically, the minimum you get is about five. Jesus. You have to show up on a Saturday afternoon at noon. You show up for an inspection in're fully uniform all dressed up they inspect you make sure your belt your shoes everything shine everything looks good you have a rifle in your hand and you march uh probably about 10 15 feet stop turn back around march back to the way you started and you do that for five hours brutal brutalutal. Fucking brutal. So Saturday mornings, as I'm putting my whipped cream

on my village and waffle hungover, you were marching with a gun in your hand. Yeah. Marching with an M-16 over my shoulder. And then you would do 55 minutes on, and then they'd give you like a five-minute break. And those five minutes felt like it was 30 seconds. They would just fly by,

and then you're like, ah, this this is brutal and go right back through it but yeah you can you do five at a time uh and so one time i my sophomore year i'm from staten island so i was locally a bunch of seniors wanted to go out in the city and i i knew where to go because i grew up and you know grew up in the area so um uh we had taps which is you is they check your beds at 1130 at night. And I was in my bed. And after 1130, I met a couple of the seniors, and I shot down to the city. We went out for the night. Well, they happened to do a reinspection of beds at like 3.

Nope. So I got busted. Disaster. Yeah. So I can't. It was a complete disaster. I got 20 hours foraster. Yeah. So I can't. Yeah, it's a complete disaster. I got 20 hours for this. Yeah.

So I got, you know, I had to do five on a Saturday, five on a Sunday, and then the final weekend, the same thing. It was brutal. Yeah. So those are my 20. And then could the president, is that true or is that bullshit? Can the president, like when he visits, get rid of all of them? Yeah.

Yeah. So it's unbelievable. So there's kids that get hundreds of hours. You know, if you, yeah, no joke. There's actually a guy that works with us.

His name's Tony Maganello. It's a great Italian name. He's one of our owners, like close friends from Brooklyn. And at one point, he had the record for like the most hours at West Point.

He had like 260. And he had to like march all these hours off he got caught like drinking like multiple times and got busted and he said you know he just kept doing like the same offense over and over again so but when when someone um a head of state so it could be the president united states or like like a prime minister of eng or some equivalent person comes to visit West Point to make a speech, usually we try to get some message to that person. The generals don't like it, but he can relieve all people of hours. You know, they can just wipe them clean.

They can get fourths forever. The fourth cadets. Yeah, exactly. So whoever currently has hours on their plate, they wipe them all out. I mean, it's crazy. Like graduation week, the week before we graduate, there's people marching hours all day long. They're trying to burn off the last 50 that they got.

It's brutal. Wow. It's absolutely brutal. A little different than my college experience, for sure. I'd say. Same here. Speaking of the military, it's well-known that your owner, Vincent Viola, was a big military guy, was in the Army as well,

and you have several other military guys in the front office. Now, how do you apply the skills that you learned in the military? How do you apply those to a pro hockey team, Matt? It seemed like two totally different fields where you learn probably obviously a ton of stuff in the military, but how do you apply that into a front office or on the business side of a hockey team? Yeah, so on the business side, it's funny.

A lot of people have the same perception that you had, which is like you would think the military is so different, but when I, I worked at, when I got out of the army, I worked on wall street. And then, and then after that, I worked with Benny for a while and came to the Panthers and there's a lot of similar, like any, any like real competitive company firm, you know, and in our case, you know, the business staff of the, of the team, you know,

you want people that are team oriented. You want people that want to put, you know, the, the organization first before their own interests. So, you know, you want people that are team-oriented. You want people that want to put, you know, the organization first before their own interests. So, you know, we just preach a lot of the values that we learned in the Army. And, you know, all the things you hear in the, you know, hockey locker room and all about working hard and being dedicated and then just always doing anything for a teammate. So, like, for example, one of the first things we did, we came in when we saw the whole layout of our business staff, people were all in cubicles, guys in closets. I mean, it was like so spread out and there's like no communication and people just kind of worried about their own lane. So we just knocked down everything we had in our huge like sales

floor. We just made one big open pit of different conference tables and pods of desks and stuff. And we said, listen, there's no privacy. There's no folks sitting in the corner doing their own thing. If you want something from sales, walk over and talk to the person. If you want something from IT, the guys stand right there. Get it done. We don't need to be sending emails and whatever else

to communicate with these folks. So we just try to, like, really preach an open communication. You know, everybody can, you know, from the lowest totem pole person to the team president can bring ideas to the table and hope to get them executed. And that's how we operate in the Army. You know, I served in Iraq, and, you know, we don't have time to deal with office politics and deal with any bureaucracies and all. We just try to throw a lot out and apply it to the business world.

So I think it's been pretty well received on the business side, and it's gone pretty well. Matt, actually, I did want to say that before both of you, and I said thank you for your service. We did know you served, so we want to thank you for that. I appreciate that. Thank you very much. My other question is hockey-wise, are you in on any of the hockey decisions? Are you sitting in with the GMs? Are you ever talking to the coaches, or are you mainly on that other business side?

I'd say probably 80% of the job is all. Maybe 85% of the job is on the business side. And then just real high-level talks with our GM. I'm not involved with the nitty-gritty of all the scouting meetings and amateur meetings and drafting and all that. Me and Dale have such a great relationship. We talk every day, and he'll update me. I was involved with the whole coaching process this year. Dale ran it. When he got down

to the final three or four candidates, he brought me in to meet everyone. Ultimately, it's Dale's decision. I just give him some of my input and we go back and forth. At the end of the day, I run the whole budget. That's why I was

put in this position. Vinny was making this big investment, and he trusts me, and I've worked with him for a long time. So when Dale wants to make a move, and maybe we need to go outside the budget that we're at, I try to help him with those conversations and approach ownership and say, hey, we really need to do this. So I just try to help Dale get over the finish line

with things he wants to do on the hockey side. So you're an important middleman. And are you the guy, if the fellas aren't happy with the hotel on the road, are you the guy catching the heat? Are you putting them in Holiday Inn Expresses? It definitely comes up my route. Because another thing is when Vinny first bought the team, he also made this major investment in a charter airline in South Florida.

I don't know if you guys remember Eastern Airlines growing up. But it was a pretty big name in the 60s, 70s, 80s. They went bankrupt. And then we found someone that was trying to relaunch the airline as a charter company, not as like one of the major, major, like, commercial airlines. So, you know, Vinnie made investments, and then we were going to use one of those charter flights, you know, to fly the team around and hopefully save some money. So, of course, like, you know, if we took off three minutes, you know, you know, after the departure time, everybody was giving me shit,

you know, because they knew I was involved with the airline. So, yeah, that definitely comes up my route. No. So, it's all good. In Miami-Fort Lauderdale market, it's known since sports kind of be a little finicky market, I guess, there's a lot going on, the weather's there. You know, what's the biggest challenge for the organization to get relevant and stay relevant?

I know you guys had a nice run early after the team got there in 96. And back in 2012, you had another nice run. But it seems like you kind of get this momentum and then it kind of dissipates because, like I said, it's tough to get a foothold in the area. Because, you know, like I said, it's tough to get a foothold in the area. What's the biggest challenge for the organization right now as far as, you know, making a true impact in the Miami area where people kind of, like, grab onto this team and hold onto this team? Yeah.

So that's a great question. So two big things. The first is, you know, it's kind of like what I said before. You don't have anyone in South Florida that was born here and grew up here. So so before when you asked me you know my where i grew up stat now and i grew up a ranger fan yankees and all that um so i my like fondest memories of a child is going to a game my dad and you know sneaking me and sneaking me and he was a cop in new york city and you know he knew the cop at this gate you know we'd go in sneak in and try to you know find seats, you know, find seats and all. I remember that at four, five, six years old. And, you know, our market, they don't have that affinity to the team

because I'd say, you know, I've had to quantify it, at least 80% of the people aren't from there. So to build, like, that generational, you know, that generational kind of affinity and close association takes a lot. So what we're doing to combat that is we're investing a ton in youth hockey. And I got Thornton all over this. Like we have one rink that we own and then another six rinks that we have good relationships with.

And we're trying to put a Panther, you know, shield and logo on every single youth hockey player all over South Florida. Because if you get the kid into it at seven years old, you know, you got three fans that actually got his parents or old, you know, you've got three fans. You've got his parents or guardians, whoever's going to come to the game. So that's one tough challenge. The second thing is you kind of referenced it in your question. So the expansion team came out.

They had a great season. Their third year, they went to the Stanley Cup. Wayne Huizenga was the owner. And there was so much hype and excitement. But between Wayne Huizenga and then Vinny buying the team in 2013, which was about a 14-year period, they had four different ownerships. So you have all those – when you just have all that turnover and so many promises and so many folks coming in and out

and key draft picks that they couldn't sign long-term because of money issues. The fan base, which was already small to begin with, has just been told so many lies, so many promises that haven't been delivered. So you just have this once bitten twice, ten times shy kind of attitude in the market. When Vinny came in, there was so much excitement about him because, you know, he brings a lot of money. He's very accomplished. It was a reminder of the good old days with Wayne Huizenga.

And we got off to a great start during the second season. We went to the playoffs. We had our best season ever. And that hype really built up again. And we saw it. I mean, the second half of that season, we had 16,000, 17,000 people easy, like every game. So we're big believers in if we build it, they will come.

And nowadays, you've got to win anywhere. I mean, I know New York's and Boston's and Montreal's are a little different, but even those markets get pretty impatient with you, especially the millennials, right? The millennials are going to bounce and do something else if they have the opportunity. Yeah, it's true. I mean, you got to be good.

If you have a good team, a really good team, they're going to come. I can picture Thorny now with the younger kids. He's probably got them in like batting cages taking balls off their chest like Happy Gilmore, toughing them up. I can see it now. But listen, I know Vincent Viola just a little bit from my time with the Panthers when he was the owner. I was actually in the minors, but he came down and met with everyone.

And you can tell right from meeting him, I mean, this is a driven, successful, competitive guy. He has a serious tone to him. So this year, the team hasn't played as well as I think they hope. Are you noticing that he'll be salty after a loss? Is he in a different mood after a win? How does that go? That's a great question.

You know, early on, he's so, so competitive. He would get really, really emotional and pissed off and salty, like you said. This is his first time being an owner, a majority owner. He had a minority stake in the new jersey nets at the time before they moved to brooklyn but this is the first time of him you know uh fully owning a team and being the main guy and you know he uh he's got he's the most competitive person i know and you know he's got a very very high standard of excellence so i think early on uh he was getting frustrating and kind of being emotional game to game but you we learned a lot after that big season.

That big season, we lost in the first round. And he got really upset with some things. We made a few changes that didn't work well. And we quickly corrected them. And then this year, what I'm noticing, and it's really been inspiring to see, is he's probably the most positive and laid back that I've ever seen him. He's very confident in Dale. He's very confident in what I'm doing on the business side.

He knows we've got great youth. We've got Barkoff and Trochak and Huberto and Eklat, all these stars signed to long-term deals. And then we've got a great coach that we brought in. So we're getting him to be a lot more long-term focused, and he's shown us that about a third of the way through the season so far. So it's been great to watch him believe in the process. Right now I'd say it would be a great time for you and the Tampa Bay –

your squad and Tampa Bay Lightning would be perfect to get a really good rivalry going. You guys have been across the state for over 20 years now, but hopefully you guys can meet in the playoffs because that's where rivalries can really take hold. Because you guys have such a stacked team, like you just mentioned, guys, like Huberdeau and Barkoff. And, you know, Tampa's doing what they're doing. And, you know, you guys can ever meet in a playoff round.

And I think it could truly be one of the great, you know, rivalries in hockey because, you know, regionally it would just help the interest so much. But now we've got one more question for you. Have you guys made Thornton a four-star general in the office yet or what? Yeah, he's got – I'm the four-star. I'm going to give him two stars. He's got to earn his stripes, you know. But I tell you, he's been great, guys.

Like, I'd be the first one to want to rip on him. Like, I've been so impressed how hard he's working and how interested he is. For a 22-year-old kid out of college sitting there banging out cold calls, when Sean Thornton walks up to him and wants to learn about his clients and how he can help and let's go to a meeting together, it's inspiring for these college kids that we hired on our sales floor. He's jumped right in. He's been awesome.

And then I kind of use him as an enforcer too. Like, you know, if I got like a couple of departments that aren't talking to each other, if sales and marketing aren't getting along, I just send authority. I'm like, go get these guys in the room. Stop, you know, bullshit. They talk to each other after that.

That's awesome. That's awesome. Well, listen, Matt, we really appreciate it. When you mentioned the young guys, too, people don't even know about Bjorkstrom at Denver. He's going to be a stud. So I think this year, I know it hasn't gone as you'd hoped so far, but I think that the team's got a lot to build on, and we really appreciate you coming on. Okay.

Thanks for the time, guys. This is awesome. Appreciate it. Anytime. That interview was also brought to you by DraftKings. Hockey season is in full swing, but it's not too late to get in on the action with one-day fantasy hockey at DraftKings.com. Tonight, you can play free with your first deposit for over $5,000 in total prizes. With DraftKings, there are many ways to play.

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Minimum $5 deposit required. Eligibility restrictions apply. See DraftKings.com for details. Once again, a big thanks to Matt Caldwell for joining us. It was nice to get, like I said, a different side of an organization on here. We obviously have a lot of players and media guys, so it was interesting to get a different perspective. I'd love to be able to say I'm a CEO. That's a pretty power

move. Pretty big thing. If you're talking to someone, you're a CEO. Even if it's some pigeon company, you're still the CEO. Plus, as a guy who talks a little funny, I love to hear when people still are able to maintain their accents from their region and still be very successful. Did he have a Staten Island accent?

A little bit. A little bit? Yeah, I'm sure it was a lot stronger. I'm sure he's probably had a temper down a little bit. But yeah, he had a very strong New York accent. So again, thanks a lot to Matt Caldwell for joining us. And now it's time for our weekly segment in which we take all right questions from our listeners.

We got any good ones? All right, Hamilton. We got some decent ones, boys. So John Chazen asks, Alright, Hamilton, what was your favorite teen Christmas party memory? Alright, Hamilton! In honor of the holidays, of course.

Oh, I got... We got... We had an awesome one at Mark Recchi's house in Pittsburgh. Everyone got after it. And there's a picture... There's a picture of me. I might be with Colby Armstrong and his wife. And then behind the picture, totally not photobombing it on purpose,

but is Mario Lemieux. So I have that. I always look through that one. I'm like, oh man, I was loaded in that picture and Mario was in the back of it. So that was a good one. I'm trying to think of other ones. Does every team have a Christmas party every year? Yeah, pretty much.

At some point, yeah. I mean, even if it has to be, you look in the schedule, it could be December 2nd, right? I mean, you just got to get one in. Edmonton, Joey Moss comes around. Do you guys know who Joey Moss is? Is he the...

We've discussed this before. He's a fan, right? Joey Moss is over 30 years equipment manager of the Oilers. He's got, I don't know if it's Down syndrome or whatever. Developmental disabilities or whatever. He's the man. I got traded to Edmonton and I walk in and you've always heard of Joey Moss because he got the job because Wayne Gretzky dated his sister

when he was a rookie or something and brought Joey in and he never left. So he's the best. But I got in there and Joey, I'd heard about him. And then people are sitting around the table eating breakfast, shitting on him. They're like, shut up, Joey, you dumb fuck. I'm like, oh my God. I'm like, what the hell? And then he just started dying laughing, giving it back to guys.

He's like, fuck you, Whitney. So he's the man. So he would come to the parties in Edmonton he'd come to every party but christmas parties be awesome he'd have his christmas gear on and just give joey shit the whole time so those are good ones um but it's always fun i mean get it get team parties are so good in the nhl because you get like everyone around i mean like how many times do you really get get around everyone beside like away from the arena you know guys go dinner, different groups and stuff like that. So it's always fun to get the trainers out with you.

They're drinking and everyone's having a good time. Yeah, not only everyone together, but everyone together. Shit face. Everyone together getting after it. What is the tag from like real world when things stop getting fake and start getting real? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like a real man's, a sober man's thoughts or a drunk man's words.

Is that it? Yeah, yeah. With soberness, conceals, drunkenness, reveals or something. Sometimes people just be... I try to be honest

all the time. Yeah, me too. That's why when people say that, it's like, nah, sometimes people just drunk assholes. Like they're not revealing anything. They're just drunk

and being an idiot. Alright, what else? Alright, boys. So Mike DeFonzio asks Dark Horse team to make the playoffs slash make some noise. Alright, Hamilton. they're just drunk and being an idiot. What else? Mike DeFonzio asks Dark Horse team to make the playoffs slash make some noise. All right, who you got?

Dark Horse team to make some playoffs. It's funny. Make some playoffs. It's tough to call it Dark Horse now because the playoff chase starts so early. I think we're so cognizant of who needs to get in. Shit, man. I know Carolina was the fancy pick to make a little while ago.

You can't even say Vegas anymore. They were at the fucking top of the Western Conference as of Wednesday. Shit, man. I don't know. I mean, I honestly don't look in here. You got like 32 teams to choose from. Well, I know what I'm saying. It's tough to say that a team is a dark horse.

I mean, Pittsburgh's not in the playoffs right now. You can't call them a dark horse. They're the Defending Cup champions. I understand. And honestly, I don't know that any of these teams that are not in the playoffs right now might even get in the playoffs and have a hard time calling any of them a dark horse. Fuck it. You know what? I don't think they're going to make it. But if Vancouver ever got in the playoffs, that would be the biggest surprise. Yeah, that would them a dark horse. Fuck it. I don't think they're going to make it, but if

Vancouver ever got in the playoffs, that would be the biggest surprise. Yeah, that would be their dark horse. Colorado, same thing. I like Calgary. I don't know if they're a dark horse, but Calgary's pretty solid. They have an awesome D. Goudreau and Monaghan are so filthy

together. Monaghan doesn't really get enough credit. I think Goudreau kind of deserves more so. I think he's more of a playmaker. But Monahan's awesome. That guy's a sniper. So that's a team that I could see them hopping in and making some noise. But yeah, I will give you credit that there aren't many dark horses. Right, because Calgary was a playoff team last year.

I look at a team like the Devils. I know they're a top-tier division. Devils are here to stay. I said this 10 games in or 12 games in. They're awesome. And the reason that they're so... Well, besides the rookies that they're getting surprises from and a lot of help from,

but Schneider and Nett, he's so good that it's like, all right, well, nothing's going to end where they got a shit goal and he's going to start sucking. They're good on that side of the puck. We'd be remiss if we didn't mention Adam Henrik's nasty, nasty. How often does a guy who you get

traded for, do you put him on a fucking highlight reel like that? And your goalie, your old goalie too. It would have been so much better off for Votnin had it been in Anaheim. Right, right. You know what I mean?

I guess he played there, but more so the fans that lost this guy. I didn't really see much of a fan favorite. They call him Rico. Rico, yeah. He was a big-time favorite. By the way, if you think about it, for a guy that you don't hear a ton about, scored the clincher against the Panthers the year they went to the Cup. Yeah, yeah. In triple overtime, I think, Game 7. Scored the clincher against the Rangersthers the year they went to the Cup in triple overtime

I think game seven scored the clincher against the Rangers to go to the Cup that year in the East Conference Finals so he did have a a couple you know

big moments for the Devils but that was he might as well have taken his Cup off and grabbed his whatever and slapped Votnin in the face

as he skated by him and then not only did Grinnell you said it, he burnt him with this amazing flip. He then, instead of keeping it on his forehand, goes backhand shelf with this awesome finish move with Vatanen dragged, kind of hanging all over him.

So that was probably goal of the year right now. Yeah, no question. Yeah, especially not just the move itself, but then you had the whole context of the trade there. Yeah, like, Sammy, see you later. Yeah, yeah. How does my dick taste? That was dirty.

And I guess even the Devils, his old teammates were blowing him kisses or something. I didn't see the actual video. I read that. But that's when you know it's a nasty go when your former teammates are even fucking giving you props. I mean, the flip to himself is like, what are the chances that actually lands perfectly flat and doesn't kick towards the corner and is just there for you perfectly? So that was a highly skilled play.

That was like Grinnelli in street hockey. Eggies. Should I think of an all-right Hamilton right now? What's your worst or best Christmas gift? Dude, that's... You know what? Well, we actually did more pregame shit than we thought. I wrote that down.

Yeah, we could have had a little Christmas stuff. My worst Christmas present... It's tough to remember worst. It's tough to worst. My best one, honestly, dude, it wasn't even something I asked for. Barbie or socks. No. Dude, Atari 2600.

This was the original video game. The first Atari. Dude, I didn't even... How old were you at this point? I was six or seven. The first Atari. How old were you at this point? I was six or seven. Really? Yeah. This was either 78 or 79.

I didn't even know what Atari was. Never heard of it. My stepfather, who's been gone for a while, he was what you call an early adapter. He was a gamer? Not really a gamer, just a technology. They call them early adapters. They're people who like... Basically, he had a VCR in the late 70s.

Dude, you know they cost... VCRs, when they came out in the late 70s... They were like $500, right? They were like $700 in the fucking 70s, dude. That's so expensive. So he always had the new tech shit before other people. So he got up Christmas morning. Like I said, never even heard of it.

And I was like, what's this? And all of a sudden, dude, an hour later, I'm playing fucking combat in my living room. And it was the greatest thing ever. What were the games for Atari? Like Snake? Atari, they gave you combat. It was like basically you were in a tank and you fought the other guy in a tank. Or there was one with planes.

It was like a war scenario. But no graphics. Oh, there was graphics. But they were like that old school Pong style. What was Atari's most famous game? I would say Pong. Pac-Man, but it was so bad. Like it was the first version of Pac-Man that came out.

It was awful by like today's standards. But after the – like there was the Atari 2600. Then a few years later, they came out with the Atari 5200. Oh, the 5200. Dude. That brought the noise.200. Oh, the 5200. Dude. That brought the noise. That was like legit Pac-Man. The graphics were like ground-blowing at the time.

So definitely, I would say my Atari, which I didn't even have to ask for, I didn't even know, was probably up there. And then, you know, any Star Wars toys that came. Where's present? I don't know. Socks, I guess. Yeah, socks. So what was the Unreal? I'm wracking my brain.

What was the Unreal Nintendo game wracking my brain What was the Unreal Nintendo game Tantra No like Tetris No no With the guys running around The two animal guys

It was Contra Contra Contra was one of them Double Dragon was another one Contra was sick My best gift was That's tough

I had some good ones But I think at the peak of Like my hockey nerd factory level uh i was probably like 11 so 94 i got a i got a t-flex you remember the t-flex and then like it could only oh no sorry it wasn't t-flex that was yours later i got the ultralight the ultralight stick was the best stick and then you got like the bauer um insert blade with that had like the hooks on it remember that oh yeah tape over and i had the linden curve the linden curve was the bomb the

boss curve and i remember like i think my dad hit it so i opened up everything else i'm like i didn't get the ultralight like just some fucking whiny kid like in my head i would never say a lot i got slapped and then he's like hey you check behind the thing like almost ralphie with the with the uh with the christmas yeah he's like hey check behind the thing and that's where the ultralight was so then i just was just cranking it to that stick the rest of christmas christmas day that's what my grandmother did to me she hit a uh synergy grip remember the yellow synergy grips she hit one up under the couch and she told me to run upstairs and check under the couch grandmother got you that grandmother well my dad asked you to ask my son what his son wants.

Exactly. I understand. Dude, one year, I just thought my brother, like, my brother was a fucking older brother, menace growing up, like, wicked menace. So, like, he would, like, I would get in trouble all the time just being around him. Wicked menace. And, like, he knew, you know, he was a couple years old. Oh, spoiler alert if you still believe in Santa Claus, listen.

But he knew, you know, he was creeping around the house looking for gifts before Christmas just because he was a menace. He couldn't wait. I did that. I was still in that believe, not believe line. And he'd point them out. He's like, look. And it was like Star Wars toys.

And then my mother found out he was creeping. She made me tell what I saw. And then she threatened to bring it back. And I'm like, motherfucker, I didn't do nothing. This asshole dragged me down there. I'm going to lose my fucking Jawa tatooine set because of this i remember actually going in and starting to look for gifts and like lift i figured out where they were this old nasty brown thing in the basement but it was locked up and you could lift up the

corners and then i went and got the flashlight and i'm going in i'm like i don't want that i don't want that i don't want that and then like i go to my mom and i'd be like hey i definitely don't want like this like thinking you're like. And then I'd go to my mom and I'd be like, hey, I definitely don't want this. Thinking you're not going to get what she's like, you saw the president. You stitched it yourself. I thought I'm so smooth to just randomly be like, hey, I don't want anything Star Wars. That's fucking hilarious. Yeah.

So that was, I mean, it's funny now. Thanksgiving is the best holiday, but Christmas is still, like, Christmas Eve is the best. You just get crushed, and now there's football. It's a Sunday this year. Oh, wow. I'm going to have the time of my life. I just can't wait. I can't wait.

It's an exciting time in the Whitney household. I know the little guy, you know, he's still new here, and he doesn't grasp concepts such as, like, calendars of Christmas yet. Or humans. Yeah, humans or any of that. Or going on the toilet because you're wet. Because I'm wiping his cornhole every minute. But it must be an exciting time for you though, right? You know, you got a new family.

You know, your parents must be very excited. Her parents. Yeah, it'll be great. Christmas Eve at her house, like 40 people. So that'll be like my time to shine. Because I won't, you know, people will hold them the whole time. I won't even see them really. shine because i won't you know people hold them the whole time i won't even see them really yeah and then christmas day you know i'll probably be just be like a little hungover i'll bet you know i'm just laying on the couch with them uh but you

know it's it's it's a great time of year you're right it's very special um and my brother's home my bro's home from san francisco so oh nice yeah i uh obviously i was saying we this the wife's been very busy. Didn't even get to a Christmas tree yet. Not sure that's going to happen. Yeah, it's Festivus here at the R.A. Household. It's definitely a little Festivus here. Yeah, she's going to fucking. We're about to air our grievances post-podcast.

But, yeah, listen, man, I don't know. I just do the family shit. I mean, you get older, and when you don't have kids, it's like you realize Christmas is definitely more of a kid's day. Oh, yeah. Definitely a kid's day. But it's good to see family catch up on them go stop your face maybe fucking tyler on all that shit but what are you doing granelli i go to my family's my uh my aunt's house you get after it oh we get so you guys like the whole family's getting after like music's pumping yeah so i wear this uh i wear this like onesie every year oh

too it's uh it was my mom's and she didn't want to wear it one year. So I was like, fuck it, I'll wear it. So now I just wear it every year. So now you rock that thing. Yep. Is there feet on it, like a footie? Yeah. Really?

Yeah. So your mother's onesie fits you? No, no. So she got it for herself. Instantly, it was like, I don't want to wear this. We're doing an ugly sweater party. This thing sucks. I'm like, fuck it, I'll wear it.

That's mine now forever. I'll rock the hell out of it.'s gold yeah not bad now one other christmas thing i mean i we might i don't know someone might ask us a few weeks ago but the three things i need to watch you know before christmas you know in order bad santa christmas vacation christmas story i like the three mandatory those are the three bad santa's so good. It is. He is such a scumbag. It's unreal. It is. How they take a holiday movie, make it so profane, but also fucking hilarious. And who's the amazing uncle in National Lampoon?

Uncle Eddie. Cousin Eddie. Cousin Eddie. Randy Quaid. That guy is unreal. I love that movie. And yeah, Christmas Story, that's the one that just plays all day. Yeah, they started it right mid-12 o'clock Christmas Day when it starts in the air for 24 hours.

I know people like, you know, bellyache about it. It's old because it came out years ago. But dude, when it came out in 1983, it was still set in the 40s. I remember being old enough to be like, that's kind of a hot leg on that lamp. That's when I knew I was growing up a little bit. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Well, no, it's good, too.

If you're a fan of the mother and the Christmas story, you can just go put on Slapshona and see your boobies because it's Suzanne. Yes, Suzanne. Yeah, her nice 70s banana titties. Oh, and that note. She's a lesbian. I know. I know.

This week's All Right Hamilton is brought to you by Fuego Box. Everyone's done all the standard gift items. Clothes, cologne, a nice ball of Oblicko. Done, done, and done We've got something different and much better than any of those this holiday season Fuego Box has put together a bunch of Hot sauce gift holiday boxes At all price points for this promo with us

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code and free koozie edition will automatically be applied. That's FuegoBox.com slash Barstool. F-U-E-G-O Box dot com slash Barstool. Hot sauce and cold beer. Sounds like the perfect holiday season. Actually, to everyone, a serious note.

We're done, right? We're already at Hamilton's. Thank you to the listeners. I hope you guys have a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday. So we're going to be back next week with a special World Junior guest. Yes, absolutely. Remember the United States World Junior team? They won the gold medal last year for all you Canadian listeners.

So that'll be a good one next week so you will not miss us. But I hope you have a very Merry Christmas. Yeah, I want to echo what Ryan said. Thanks to our fans, our listeners who've been listening for a long time, whether you just joined us, I know people kind of seem to discover us weekly. We appreciate everybody out there. Thanks for

tuning in. Have a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah, a Kwesi Kwanzaa, a Tip Top Tip, and a solemn and dignified Ramadan. Kwanzaa, a tip-top tip, and a solemn and dignified Ramadan. Where's Kwanzaa? Africa? Yeah, yeah. If you watch the local media, you would think that a lot of black Americans celebrate it.

But I worked, I had a few jobs over the years where I had a lot of black coworkers, and I didn't hear the word Kwanzaa once during holiday season. Can you not say Merry Christmas to people? No, see, I think that Happy Holidays thing gets blown out of proportion. I think when people say it, it's all encompassing. Sometimes it's not that, oh, you might not celebrate Merry Christmas and I'm going to offend you. No, because all my Jewish friends, they never get offended to say Merry Christmas. They get 12 days of it.

It's just like when you say it, instead of saying, hey, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and whatever, C, whatever else you made, you just say Happy Holidays. It's just like an all-encompassing thing. It's never been a politically correct thing. It's just been like, you know, this is going to cover six or seven things because you might celebrate something else.

You can still say Merry Christmas to everyone. So Merry Christmas to everybody. And we do get the day off. It is a federal holiday so it's not like, you know, it's not like we're putting something on you.

The country gets the day off for Christmas so Merry Christmas. With that. With that. Happy fucking New Year. Sorry. I just got his blood pressure up.

You know how it happens. We'll see you guys later. Everybody have a great one. Grinnelly, thanks for everything, buddy. Peace out. We'll see you next time.