Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 93: Featuring Nello Ferrara & A Senators Meltdown

Episode Date: June 15, 2018

On Episode 93, the guys open up with the dual PR disasters coming out of Canada's capital. Ottawa Senators assistant GM Randy Lee was accused of giving an unsolicited shoulder rub to a 19-year-old hotel shuttle driver and allegedly made lewd comments regarding his (Lee's) wrench as well. Meanwhile, Melinda Karlsson filed for a peace bond (Canadian restraining order, roughly) against Mike Hoffman's longtime fiancée Monika Caryk because Caryk is alleged to have made some preposterously crazy comments online regarding the Karlsson's stillborn child. Several other WAGs backed Karlsson's account. And that's just the tip of the (alleged) lunatic iceberg and another indication of how quickly it's fallen apart for the Sens. The fellas also discuss the Islanders/John Tavares situation before Biz interviews Nello Ferrara about his wild ride through the minor leagues. 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. We're excited to share with you that today's episode of Spittin' Chicklets is brought to you by our new friends at DrinkAid, formerly known as Never Too Hungover. DrinkAid is the official drink-before-you-drink drink. We love this product not only because it works, but because it's owned by the Malouf family, who are not only co-owners of the amazing Vegas Golden Knights, but they're responsible for bringing the team to Vegas. Drink Aid is a drink with vitamins and supplements that's considered

the official drink before you drink drink, because it helps you feel great in the a.m. after a night out of drinking. I tried this stuff a couple weeks ago. I mean, I'm an old guy. I don't whack them back like I used to, but I used this stuff, man, and I was feeling like a million bucks the next day. How do you use it? It's simple. You take one small bottle before you drink. It helps neutralize toxins, restores vital nutrients, and rehydrates the body. Going out

and boozing and feeling great sounds pretty good to us, so when we got the samples they sent that way, we were wicked eager to try them out, and I love them. I know Wits tried them out. Biz liked them. Grinnelli, the young buck of the crew, he said he helped them out as well. You know, especially when you've got holiday weekends, 4th of July coming up,

you want to make sure you replenish all your fluids and all that stuff. You know, no one wants to have a great night out and then have to pay the filler all day. That's what Drink Aid's for, man. You're going to get rid of all those hangovers, all that stuff? No way, man. Those are in the past. For those of you who don't believe it could possibly work, check out all the great customer reviews on Amazon, Facebook, and DrinkAid.com. On top of that, they offer 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Love it or they'll give you your money back. No questions asked. Can't beat it. This company is blowing up so fast with over 4 million bottles sold so far. Get it now at DrinkAade.com or Amazon. The bottom line is we at Barstool think Drinkade is a game changer. It's an amazing life hack and we encourage you to try it out. They've hooked us up with a special offer for just the stoolies.

Get 25% off at drinkade.com or Amazon. At checkout, use the promo code CHICKLETS. That's C-H-I-C-L-E-T-S. Same promo code works at either place. Give it a try. Hello everybody, welcome to episode Peter Nedved of Spittin' Chicklets, brought to you by Barstool Sports. Season is over, so we got to find things to talk about. Well, we always find things to talk about. What up, everyone? 93, Ryan Nugent Hopkins, the Nuge, my buddy in Edmonton.

That's the one I think of. And we don't really have to find things to talk about this week. Let's talk to Biz because we got some stuff in the news. Cool. Well, R.A., you touched on it off-season. Normally not many things to talk about before the draft and NHL awards, but the headlines be writing themselves these days. Especially up in Ottawa.

And if you're working for the PR team of the Ottawa Senators, Jesus, get that guy a drink. Talk about an absolute dumpster fire in the nation's capital of your home country, Biz. I mean, the dumpster fire gif would be very accurate, and I've seen it a ton right now. Why don't we get to it? And you know what? Let's ask Grinelli to describe the events and how they took place. Yeah, he sent us the link originally. Yeah, he's been doing some hardcore journalism.

So gossip. All right. So so first, Assistant General Manager Randy Lee, he's doing court to face a harassment allegation on July 6th. So he won't be able to attend the draft. He's charged with harassing a hotel shuttle driver in Buffalo during the pre-draft scouting combine two weeks ago. He was initially scheduled to appear in court on June 22nd, today's yada yada yada. The court was changed shortly after for not making a plea deal for making lewd comments and rubbing the shoulders of a 19-year-old male shuttle driver on May 15th. He was charged with second-degree harassment and faces a fine up to 15 days in jail. Before we get into that part, and there's another part in Ottawa we all know,

I want to be professional in a sense that this is all, um, this is nothing. Alleged. This is all alleged. So when we talk about this, nothing's been proven. So we hear what we hear. We read the news. But to be open about it, I mean, this is all alleged. Having said all that, this is a tough look.

Holy shit, dude. You're not only rubbing some stranger's shoulders and making comments to him. It's your Uber driver. What's funny, my Uber driver, don't talk to me. Don't talk to me. I put my headphones in. Leave me alone.

Oh, I love talking to my Uber driver. This guy not only doesn't want to talk to his Uber driver, he's rubbing his shoulders? Yeah. Actually, it was a shuttle driver. I don't know if it matters or not. Either way.

Yeah, either way. It's still inappropriate, if allegedly. Well, me and R.A. were talking about it a shuttle driver. I don't know if it matters or not. It was a shuttle. Either way. Yeah. Either way. It's still inappropriate, if allegedly. Well, me and R.A. were talking about it a little bit. And when I found out the kid was 19, like, as a grown man, if I was driving a shuttle and a guy did that to me, I'd just turn around and say, buddy, you touch me again like that, I'm going to knock the teeth right off your fucking head. And that's the way I would handle it. not everyone would handle like i would this kid's a 19 year old kid just doing his job probably trying to make a couple bucks in the summer save up for for beer and and maybe put some money towards college and now he's got to deal with a guy harassing him and he's probably freezing up he's like what the fuck do i do you know like what if i say something back i get canned

there's probably a million things running through this guy's head and apparently uh based off the article he froze up a little bit he was very shaken up and fuck man if this is in fact true like jesus christ you can't bounce back from that you're toast he wanted a he wanted a like a maybe a tip not just the a tip. You get it? Yeah, I know. I got it. Yeah, it's a weird case. Obviously, you know, with the Me Too movement and sexual harassment and all that type of stuff. But this is an unusual case because it's not really of a sexual nature.

I mean, obviously, it's strange it's touching you uncomfortably like that. That's not appropriate, but it's just weird. I mean, apparently, he it's strange it touching you uncomfortably like that. That's, you know, not appropriate, but it's just weird. I mean, apparently he was hitting on the kid. I don't know if he got a missed signal or if he had a buzz on and thought the kid was cute or something. But I don't know. I mean, I think people have done worse than this in front offices and still managed to have careers afterwards. I don't know if he's necessarily going to lose a 23-year career because he squeezed the guy's shoulders or not well just because of the backlash and how sensitive these things are and the whole thing already you said it with all this me too you have to be aware of

what you're doing you can't just be be an older guy and be like oh i was drunk and i was sexually harassing a 19 year old like no there's responsibilities for your actions and if you're you're not aware enough, especially in today's age, to just fucking keep your hands to yourself, it's a tough PR move for the Ottawa Senators, and on top of what else happened. Yeah, it's a rough week. Go ahead, Grinnelly.

Give us the big juicy one. This one might be one of the most bizarre stories I've ever heard in the NHL. Yeah, this is banana land. So the Ottawa Senators are investigating an issue that prompted the wife of team captain Eric Carlson to file an order of protection against the fiance of teammate Mike Hoffman, alleging she harassed a couple, including remarks about the death of their child. alleging she harassed a couple, including remarks about the death of their child. In the May 4th application for a peace bond that was obtained by multiple media outlets, Melinda Carlson alleges that Monica Chirac has harassed Carlson and her husband online since November 17th, November of 2017.

Monica Chirac has uttered numerous statements wishing my unborn child was dead, uttered that she wished I was dead, and that someone should take out my husband's legs to end his career. Thoughts? I guess I'll go first. So I follow Carlson on Instagram. He's an unbelievable guy. I've heard nothing but great things about his wife, too,

who I think he got married to last summer. She's from Ottawa. Her whole family's there. Ari, I don't know if you guys follow him on Instagram, but when that comment was said, I remember seeing it. And I'm like, what the fuck is wrong with this person? And Carlson, at this point, it had been going on a while through this account, was harassing him and his wife and even on the wife's page. But this one he snapped back at and he's like what the fuck is wrong with you i'm assuming this that that comments when he finally

said enough's enough i have to launch an investigation and i i don't know if it says it in the article but they hired i believe a private investigator to get to the bottom of it because they were probably fearful for his wife's uh health or or safety and wanted to address it so that's i've talked to a bunch of people and they're backing up the story if hoffman's wife was actually doing this and for for the carlson's to go ahead and actually get this order of protection which i'm assuming is like in canada for what is it is that restraining something it's like a restraining order okay so good good call right there great job all right I mean I know nothing about them for them to for them to take it to that much of an extreme you gotta think they know a hundred percent that this was this

lunatic if this and she's a lunatic if this happened it's actually sick and you know what if you're gonna be the type of person that is a troll online and even even if it's your husband's teammate and you hate her maybe you're jealous of her or you got they had a beef who knows if you're gonna say stuff online uh she's disgusting she looks ugly carlson sucks whatever when you start talking about their baby and and their baby being stillborn and them losing a child, you're a fucking scumbag piece of shit. You deserve only hell to come. You deserve the worst possible things to happen to you because to say that to someone,

so even whoever's saying it, it's like what kind of person writes that shit? That's why the internet can be such a cesspool. That disgusts me. You want to say you suck at hockey? You want to say you dress like a slut? Go ahead. Also wishing Eric Carlson injury in some of the comments. And, R.A., before you chime in, I reached out to a hockey wife who's very in touch with all the hockey wives doing all this charity work because there is a ton of them that do a lot of good things.

And I got confirmation that that this is for real. And it was her. And this is a long time coming from some feud that was obviously brewing up before this. Yeah, I don't think there's any doubt whatsoever. It's her because there were a handful of other wives who tweeted as well. I want to say Kyle Taurus's wife. And there was at least one other wife. They tweeted it.

And like, it's about time this woman got exposed. Like all these other, you know, wags, wives and girlfriends chimed in. And it's like, yeah,

this, this broad, just fucking crazy. Have you ever heard, I mean, you guys obviously in the show, everybody has, you know, stage five cling clangers that type of stuff goes on but have you ever heard of anything on this level where people chirping about a stillborn fucking baby that's obscene

and that's where i gotta naturally bring this to mike hoffman okay this came out this broke a huge story the other day and like we're saying we're all pretty much sure from what we're hearing that it was his fiance doing this he comes right out and says he said 150 which is the stupidest thing when people say over 100 100 is the max don't say higher he said 150 this was not my fiance we do have nothing to do. We'll cooperate and help. So now, dude, if it's them, like we're saying, what the hell is wrong with this guy? He's coming out and saying that. Does he believe her in her denying this?

Or does he know and he knew this entire time? Because if this somehow comes out and when it's become the story it has i think it's going to come out if this guy knew that she was right in this shit during the season to his teammate his captain he's fucking done in the nhl and i'm not saying he's done as a player i'm not saying he won't be in the league anymore but you try coming back from something like this with trust in teammates and who wants to bring this guy in. And this is his fiance. Where the hell do you go from here with a player like this? Well, I'll,

I'll say two things. If, if he ends up staying with her, I would assume if in fact it was her who wrote those things on that account, that still hasn't been, he knows it was her. Right. And he probably knew it was happening to some degree.

And even if he tells me, oh, I didn't know, but I'm going to stay with her because people make mistakes. I still can't psychologically believe that he didn't know shit was going down. And on the other side, if he didn't, and he's just taking her word for it right now. And then maybe if it is proven it was you you fucking gotta go and it sucks and i feel bad for him genuinely if he didn't know because he just lost lost his fiance and probably the love of his life so if he didn't know it sucks on both sides here it sucks of course for the carlson's who had to fucking deal with that but christ man like as crazy as she is a guy just lost his best friend that's what i want to say. So if he comes out and says the 150 percent, so maybe he gets a call and he actually didn't know one thing all year. And he's like, no way, no way. Like this is my fiance. Like you said, my best friend.

She would never do that. She would never do that. Then he goes and sees her and she breaks down. Yeah, it was me. That is actually really sad because you can't marry that fucking person. You can't. And that's to lose, I mean, a woman you love. Well, you can, but then you'll be playing in the KHL.

It's a sickening thing that the Carlson had to deal with that. Like I mentioned, Carl comes on our golf trip. I'll see him soon. It's something like, you know, I won't even really bring it up to him. What am I going to say? It's just to have to go through that um and it's a come out that it was imagine imagine finding out who is this i wonder who this is one of those and then like a private investor comes like dude this is a woman that you know and is around you at every yeah it's a psychopathic thing to do for

this girl she's a sick prick if it's her. And, Ari, I don't know if you heard this either, that there was rumors, or maybe this is true now, that there was a confrontation, I think six weeks ago, maybe two months ago, between the both of them in the parking lot at the arena. Now, this could be just speculation and a rumor. But, and then to go even even further apparently the organization's known about this for months so they were trying to keep this under wraps rightfully so and trying to move hoffman in the meantime pierre dorian's like where do i get my medical marijuana card jesus christ

yeah i mean you expect trolls on the internet that's one thing but you you don't expect them to be you know your teammates your teammate's significant other. And as far as Hoffman, I can't imagine he knew that. Like, I mean, it's so easy to have a burner account or have an account where you just fuck with people. Anybody can do it easily. He could have not known. He could have not known. You're right.

I mean, you know, and especially if he did know, that would indicate a level of crazy. He probably didn't want to be around. And I think, yeah, I mean, I'm sure we've all had girlfriends in the past where you're getting lied to to your face, but you believe him because he's your girlfriend or someone you love. And if she's straight up just

lying to his face and it's his girl, then he's going to believe her. And eventually, shit's going to come to a head. But I can't think he had any part to that. He's just hook, line, and sinker for her. And remember, on both things,

subjects we talk about regarding Ottawa Senators, well, that's what we're going to say. Right now, that girl, Hoffman's wife or fiancé, sorry, is being blamed for it, and the other guy who apparently sexually harassed the driver this is the story that came out now in fact things might change but based off the

information we've been given right now this is our feeling on it and before we move on to some news in long island strong island um you gotta you gotta you gotta mention that this girl Hoffman's fiance if it was her and she's right now like no it wasn't me no it wasn't me the internet's undefeated and deep down you know they're gonna it's good there's gonna be proof like something's gonna come together that you you're done like and that's just the worst feeling in the world like if you're making a lie it's I got to come forward at some point here. So good luck to the Ottawa Senators. And hopefully the Carlsons don't have to deal with any more stuff like that.

Because no one deserves that. And maybe some sympathy for Ottawa Senators fans who have stuck by that team regarding all the situations. Especially with Owner saying he's going to move them. I mean, fuck already. Imagine like this drama and that implosion happened to fucking Bruins or even the coyotes. I'd be devastated. Yeah.

It shows you how, how quickly it can all fall apart. Like I always kind of use the Canucks as like a, a benchmark with the Bruins. Cause they, you know, played each other in the cup and the Bruins have kind of stayed competitive, had a decent run and Vancouver's just like falling off the map. But this is like way off. I mean, Ottawa was on the cusp of going to the cup last year and it's just falling apart spectacularly. And this type of shit is just indicative of like a franchise in disarray. Probably this story is

probably just the perfect metaphor for that franchise right now. Hey boys, before we go any further, I just wanted to also mention that this podcast is also brought to you by ZipRecruiter. Anybody out there hiring? Every business needs great people and a better way to find them. Something better than posting your job online and just hoping the right person finds it. No, no, no. You want to go to ZipRecruiter because they find the people for you. They knew there was a smarter way to do it, so they went out and built the platform to find the right job candidates for you. ZipRecruiter learns what you're looking for, identifies people with the right experience, and invites them to apply to your job. In fact, 80% of employers who post a job on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate through the site

in just one day. ZipRecruiter doesn't stop there either. They even spotlight the strongest applications you receive, so you never miss a great match. The right candidates are out there. ZipRecruiter is how you find them. Businesses of all sizes trust ZipRecruiter for their hiring needs. Right now, our listeners can trust ZipRecruiter for free. That's right, free. Just go to ZipRecruiter.com slash chicklets.

That's C-H-I-C-L-E-T-S. That's ZipRecruiter.com slash chicklets. That's C-H-I-C-L-E-T-S. That's ZipRecruiter.com slash chicklets. ZipRecruiter.com slash chicklets. ZipRecruiter, the smartest way to hire. All right. Well, happier news. More normal hockey news. Rumors are a swirling that John Tavares is possibly in discussions about re-signing with the New

York Islanders prior to hitting free agency. Chris, who had that report? It was on Twitter. Oh, okay. Oh, the old Mr. Twitter. It was on the internet. It's got to be true. Well, so if it is true, we'll just go on the assumption that somebody on Twitter said it

that knows what they're talking about. Probably Frankie Borelli, that smelly Muppet. Lou Amarillo tweeted it from his burner account. Lou Amarillo comes in there and makes some big changes. Everybody's got burner accounts. Makes some big changes. Gar Snow gone. Doug Waite gone.

Right when I saw that, I'm thinking, wow, Doug Waite, John Tavares, that's a special relationship. Or I thought it was. I'm pretty sure John Tavares lived with Doug Wade his rookie year when they were playing together. Now he's his head coach, so I'm like, wow. But maybe him and Tavares weren't seeing eye-to-eye player-coach relationship. I'm shocked to hear this.

They probably loved each other. Nobody had to play defense. But I just, God, I just pictured this entire time, John Tavares wanting to win a Stanley Cup and not to say he doesn't he might want to do it with the team he started with but I saw him hitting free agency more than anything I wanted some excitement in my life come July 1st get Johnny T on the market maybe the biggest free agent in the history of free agency as crazy as that sounds sounds. Is there a chance this doesn't happen? Yeah, now that we hear it. But I still would be shocked.

Why do you want to go back there? You've got 12 games in Long Island. You've got the other 30 in Brooklyn. The rink apparently will be done. But when's that going to be done? Three years? Where's your team heading? Barzell's a great piece.

They don't really have a goalie. It would just surprise me very much. He's going to piece they don't really have a goalie it would just surprise me very much he's going to get them well they actually have two goalies well yeah just tough to maybe mix in a save once in a while it's just i mean you got a blank check wherever you want to go and you're going back there that's loyalty if he does it yeah i mean he's going to be 28 years old when the next season starts i mean he's what won one playoff series in his career so far. I mean, if you're Tavares, you're looking at the future of this team. And I don't know, they don't look like they're going to be a real competitor in the next couple of years, man.

I would bounce, not necessarily to the highest paycheck, but just whoever's going to give me the best opportunity to win with a decent-sized paycheck. I think he bounces. I mean, you know, he's been loyal to them long enough. I don't think they've necessarily shown him the loyalty back as far as giving him an on-ice product that he can win with. So I think, you know, Luke coming in, obviously he wants his own coach. And he actually was pretty good friends with God Snow, too. So it was probably uncomfortable having to do that because God snow actually gave his kid a job a few years ago, but you know, like any GM, especially one of Lou statue,

they're going to want to kind of put their own footprint on it. And yeah, man, if I'm Tavares, I'm bouncing. Sorry, Frankie. I don't know. I mean, obviously there's going to be some serious talks between Lou and Tavares as far as the direction of the team. I think they have a nice base of of skilled forwards I mean it's tough for D I feel like that's a a team with uh with a D core where they're going to have to overpay to get average talent either they're going to get it

homegrown or or they're a little hoot because I don't see many good free agent defensemen lining up to go to Long Island. I mean, they're kind of similar to an Edmonton in that regard. Besides being 2,000 miles above North Dakota, although they have Earls and Cactus Club. Did I ever say Mike Comrie? There's the millionaires cut steak and Comrie would just be like, can I get the billionaire's cut? Every time. I'd laugh every single time.

Cactus Club? Yeah, and Eberle would get a duck club sandwich every time. I'm like, dude, enough with the duck club. I love your Edmonton stories some guy actually tweeted at me hey love the pod but can one week you not give edmonton shit and i was like yeah i won't it still just came out yeah i seen that guy too that was hilarious i totally just thought of him after i said it poor guy oh fuck oh well but uh boys i mean that wraps up all the the drama yeah tell us about this guy we were sending an interview a special interview that biz did solo can we get a little

explanation of who he is in the backstory before you uh you know yeah i was in a locker room when i was playing in the american hockey league in ontario and Vincent Laverde, there was a bit of a campfire going on, and Vincent Laverde was talking about this Nello Ferrara, and I hope I'm saying his name correctly or pronouncing it, but long story short, this guy's grandfather created the candy company that does Lemonheads, so he's got a boatload of cash, grew up a guy's guy uh he didn't play much competitive hockey growing up and he only played like four or five games in the ushl

and then he just like went away uh for a bit and he would like organize all the nhl skates and just like just like love being around the hockey guys so this guy uh he was boozing quite a bit finally he's like fucking i'm gonna get in shape and give it one last kick in the kick at the can career wise one last like there was ever one to begin yeah and he ended up signing with a bunch of like svhl chl east coast hockey league teams by calling them up when when teams would be going through a bunch of injuries and say, hey, man, I got a lot to offer. I'll work my bag off. I'll set the tone in practice. I'll fight whoever.

And this motherfucker carved out an 11-year career just bouncing around from one team to the next. Like at some points he was even calling teams acting as his own agent, as a different person, being like, hey, I got this guy. He's really good. He works hard. Meanwhile, he was talking about himself, and he would land himself jobs. And he would play like five games on one team,

and then they'd probably see how he wasn't that great. But he worked hard. And some teams he would stick around for like half the season. So he ended up playing pro hockey on HockeyDB about 11 seasons. All right. Well, I'm looking forward to listening to this one. So we got Nello Ferreira coming to you now. This interview is presented by MyBookie.ag.

The U.S. Open is in full swing. You probably got some nice odds out there because you used MyBookie.ag. One good thing about the golfing bets, tons of great odds, always lots of money to be made. So you want to go to MyBookie.ag and get the best odds available. They got all different kinds of wages on baseball, video games, the e-sports, all that great stuff you'll want. And you get lightning fast payouts. They got every sport in every league.

If you're looking for casino games, blackjack, roulette, craps, they got all that stuff. MyBookie. My bookie. Dot. A.G. Has it all. Not to mention you can play everything on your cell phone, iPad, your tablet. Totally up to you. You can literally play from anywhere.

It's safe as anything. There's no problems. You get nice, quick payouts. Okay. You play, you win, you get paid. So if you want to get in on the action this summer, go to my bookie. Dot. A.G. now and sign up with them. Use the promo code SPIT to ensure that you're eligible for all of our future promotions and bonuses.

Now, when you use SPIT, you're getting a 50% bonus on your deposit. You can't beat it. Visit Vegas from your couch and try them out today. Once again, that's mybookie.ag. Use the promo code SPIT. Well, our next guest is extremely special. And I actually heard this story when I was playing in the American League with a guest we recently had on in Vincent Laverde, another Chicago native.

And we were in the locker room after practice, and somehow the name Nello Ferreira came up. And he's another Chicago guy and probably one of the more fascinating hockey stories you'll ever hear. And I ended up tweeting out about it after I'd heard it in the locker room that afternoon. And long story short, it ended up getting all the way to, I believe, the New York Times. And they ended up going into Chicago doing a big spread article on this guy and I want to welcome to the podcast Nello Ferrara.

How are you guys? A pretty subtle hello considering your fucking back story there Nello. Appreciate it. We might have to get you a few pops in you to get you chatting more. Oh oh yeah i got a

job now so i gotta watch what i say i guess yeah i guess we're in a bit of a time difference so it's 4 30 there on a thursday uh okay i guess let's start from the beginning you were born in chicago and uh one of the interesting things too is you is you were born into the candy family. Yes. My great-grandpa came here and started as a baker. He was making wedding cakes in the early 1900s, and then the candy factory evolved from it. Then my grandpa came home from the war and got involved with it, and then got married, had kids. got involved with it and then uh got married had kids my dad came out and he got involved and then i got involved uh right out of uh right in my early 20s but i've been working there since i was about 15 so but going there my whole life obviously and and the famous candy is lemonheads

of course yep lemonheads fireballs b Beans, and then Black Forest Gummies, Red Hots, all the old-fashioned hard candies. And in growing up in Chicago, you fell in love with hockey, played a bunch of minor league hockey there? I like to use the term radical. I was a radical Blackhawk fan as a kid, especially back in the 80s and the early 90s when Chicago was basically the most terrifying team to have to play against. And it was the division with St. Louis and Detroit and the Minnesota North Stars.

So at a young age, I got to see a style of hockey that I fell in love with and tried to shape my game after and unfortunately as you know the game is not quite like that much anymore so yeah it's weird we modeled our game for that style and then all of a sudden it's poof it's gone just like that I know that's why grandpa always yelled at me telling me that you can't you can't go wrong with baseball my grandpa was 94 when he died and he watched baseball every single day. And I said, why? He goes, because baseball can't change.

And sure enough, I'm sitting here now thinking, you know, obviously you're watching the playoffs, and the playoffs is a little more exciting. But if you think about it, sometimes watching these games is like watching paint dry, especially if a game's going 7-8-, and nothing happens during the entire 60 minutes that is even close to being a shove or a punch. It just kind of shows you how different things are today. To fast forward a little bit, you actually organized quite a few of the pro skates in Chicago even still. Yeah. I kind of stepped away from it last year just because I opened up a gym in Chicago and that took up a ton of time.

And also, I took the job in Rapid City, so I had to go to Minnesota for the development camp. We're affiliated with them and just basically build a team from scratch last year because it was my partner, Dan Tetrell, was an old teammate of mine, called me and offered me the job. I jumped on it right away just because it's him. And we were good buddies when we played and speak the same language as far as the way the game should be played. So I did that. And then I didn't get a chance to do it last year. But it's a lot of work, especially the older we got, the younger the kids get. It's, you know, back in our day, if you said you're coming, you're coming. Then you've got to chase guys down for money and stuff like that.

Then there's always the gripers who want to have to pay $20. They'd rather blow a couple hundred at Lululemon than spend a couple hundred on ice time to invest in their career. That's true. And I guess we'll back it up to the whole reason why you're even on this podcast is because of your amazing story. So the way it was explained to me was, I mean, even looking at your hockey DB, you didn't play a lot of, I would say, good quality junior.

You played a total of nine games in the ushl and then you keep scrolling on the the hockey db and from 2003 to 2014 you bounced around from different minor league leagues and teams and you would essentially call teams and act as your own agent you would find out which team had injuries, and you would talk your way on to professional hockey teams without even having played much time, even in junior, not being drafted. Yeah, no, so what happened in junior was I was a smaller kid, and I didn't really fill out until I was in my late 20s.

And my last year of junior, when I was in Sioux City, I shattered my hand in a fight. And I had to get a pin in it, and that was the end of that. So I was pretty sure I'm done now. So without any type of a junior background, I wasn't going to get a college opportunity or anything. So I started taking classes at the colleges in Chicago and then working full-time at the candy factory. at the colleges in Chicago and then working full-time at the candy factory. But what happened was I went through a really rough spell in the early 2000s. My mom and dad were getting divorced, and where I come from, family is more important than religion.

So I was kind of going down the wrong road, and sure enough, I snapped out of it in in about 2004 or 2003 and what I was doing was just getting back in shape and I got myself into a level of being in shape that I'd never really gotten in before and I was skating for fun and sure enough someone I heard over at some guys chiming in one time like I guarantee you he could go play somewhere like in the coast or the united league or whatever so i uh i called up a team uh in biggers and i can remember about the years here this is before the internet was really really what it is today so there's web pages but there really wasn't much web stuff where you could just type the guy's name in and go see his stats so i could call up you know certain teams and bullshit guys pretty easy

because I sat between my dad and my grandpa. You know, at the end of the day, we're selling candy for a living. So I learned how to talk like my dad and grandpa. So I got in the one time I called Bakersfield, and the head coach wasn't available. So they transferred me with the assistant coach. His name was Marty Raymond. And sure marty raymond was a french guy but i had called and said that was my name was nelly la chance i was an agent and uh he called picked up and started speaking french to

me and i hung up the phone on him so quick i was i was exposed so it uh i waited a couple days so i called a buddy a buddy of mine named Jason Ralph, who I went to hockey school with. And I hadn't seen him in a few years. And sure enough, he was there and he was a big piece of the puzzle. So he picked up the phone, got me in the training camp there. And you know how it goes. A lot of times it's who you know well. So I went to Bakersfield and I actually had a really, really great training camp. It was my first training camp ever, pro camp I went to. And I actually had a really really great training camp it was my first training

camp ever pro camp I went to and I did really really well and they're like this is pretty pretty interesting what you brought you're obviously no I had a lot of areas and stuff that I was lacking because you know you go from junior and not playing for like six years and I really didn't even skate during that period of time well right your Sioux City where you shattered your hand was in 1996-97 you played five pro games in 2003-2004 so that's that's a long period of hockey and no offense to you not only were you not playing at a high level you somehow weaseled your way into pro hockey right and the scary thing was is I knew that uh and this is where everybody was really worried

about my mental well-being was I knew in order to stick or even get any type of a sniff I was going to have to go the extra length so I was obviously out there running around trying to fight every single night back in the day I remember you I mean you can remember back when you were in wheeling it's there's three four heavyweights on every single team and about six guys that could really chuck them so you know what I mean it was you I had to commit myself to you know knowing the fact that I have absolutely no chance of having any type of a minor league career unless I'm willing to do this. Well, I mean, and you're not like entirely undersized, but I'll say this.

When I was in the American League coming up as a fighter, I wasn't necessarily a heavyweight. There was guys who were 6'4", 230, 235. You're listed at 5'11", 195. But yeah, to be going up against heavyweights at those lower levels, most of the time, those guys are just as tough as the heavies in the NHL because the only reason they're not there is because they can't really play a lick. Right, and the other thing, too, is they're a lot more pissed off than the guys up in the show.

A lot of anger issues down there. Well, yeah, you got the fucking 20-hour bus rides and you're eating soggy subs the whole day. Oh, yeah, or you know, Olive Garden and whatnot, but I'll never forget it. I was in Kansas City so my second year I went to Kansas City and I was there, believe it or not,

the whole year, but I tore my patellar tendon in my knee, so I got sidelined for the rest of the year after my first 17 games, and my coach there was like an older, like like I looked at him like an older brother. Obviously he was a coach figure but he was. This guy was really out

for every single player to make them the best player that they could be. It's not very common in that level that you always come across a good guy like that. Yeah, it's difficult. A lot of times they're selfish and there's

egos involved. Oh yeah. But his name's a good guy like that yeah it's difficult a lot of times they're selfish and there's you know oh yeah he goes involved oh yeah but his name's daryl williams he's uh he was just in uh with the rangers for the last few years and he was with vancouver and uh he really got my mind into it and and told me he's like you got what it takes to be a regular player in this league, and I'm going to help you get there. And that was in the United Hockey League. So basically comparable to the ECHL now, correct? Yeah. You know, back then, I'd say I would give that a little bit of an edge,

and the reason why is because in the old united league you were allowed i think we were allowed seven or six or seven vets and there was a ton of play and in the salary cap was higher than the coast so you would have and obviously back in the day there was a little hanky-panky with the salary caps oh yeah i know the table money for sure yeah exactly like the old danbury trashers and um you know so there was a lot of players that were really really good players like i played with my my uh that year when i was there i played with a guy named jason ruff who was one of the greatest guys i ever met in my life and you know part of the reason you love the game obviously winning and being part of a team is one thing but it's

the relationships and friendships you make throughout your career. And I met a guy named Jason Ruff. He was an old vet. He played in St. Louis and Tampa Bay. Yeah, he had 14 NHL games, three goals, three assists. Yeah, came up with, came through Lethbridge when Lethbridge was a expansion team in the dub and just one of those genuine periods of time you cherish and you always, you always think about it. And, uh, you know, there's a lot of guys like that, but, but, you know, I'll give you an example.

We were, uh, you know, in, in the thing too, is our division. Like we played St. Louis and Darrell Williams is our coach. And he was, he was a fight a night game guy. The guy played at one game, I think, or two games in LA. but if you look at his minor league stats he was in the 300s every year steady and a true gentleman you would never know it and then on the other bench we had you can always respect guys who who like the fighting but also did it because then you then they're not hypocrites it ain't the skill guy who's calling guys pussies in the locker room exactly then you know how much they like today it's so irrelevant

and they make fun of guys for it. But at the end of the day, it's harder to deal with that pressure of having to do that every night than it is to score goals every night, in my opinion. Oh, fuck yeah. Yeah, but like on our bench, we had Darrell Williams, and then we had Jeff Mad Dog Medill. His nickname alone speaks for himself.

And then on the other bench, get uh kevin killer kaminsky and uh and scott mellenby that year because that was during the lockout so i mean it was it was absolute warfare and in one game i'll never forget we had a line brawl i got in a fight with a kid named brad mcmillan who was an absolute and i mean this guy was an animal scariest he's a guy that you never were able to take a pre-game nap before played him. Yeah, he was the Colt Knorr. I was always scared shitless to fight the Colt Knorr, and thankfully I never had to. Yeah, so we had a little line brawl at the end of the game on Friday night,

and then sure enough, Saturday, like six seconds into it, Puck comes over our bench, so the draw's right in front, and I'm playing D at the time, and all of a sudden, Willie, our coach, goes, Nello, take take left wing just a Swiss army knife oh yeah McMillan's up there and McMillan's on there and then our other heavyweight Georgie Davis is on right wing and then there's one of their other heavyweights sure enough the puck drops and four sets of gloves come off so I started off with this McMillan kid and I swear to god I'm my father who passed away a couple years ago. I hit him with a jab.

He went back like two feet, and then he came at me, and I hit this kid with everything I had twice. And the rush of confidence I got when I hit him that second time, I was almost about to just start skating to the bench, and all of a sudden I just heard giggling. And all of a sudden I realized, I said, oh, shit. And the next thing you know is he just started pounding me. So sure enough, I took my kid.

Oh, yeah. And when I tell you I heard, hey, hey, hey, hey, like that, I literally almost shit my pants. I must have shit my pants. Hey, you know who was like that too? Who was nasty, morasty when I played in Syracuse. He would let me get the first four or five punches of the fight

and my fucking hand would feel like it was broken and he had a big fat melon on him and then that's when he would take over and then he would break my nose normally every fight. It's amazing. This guy was the same size and shape as him. Obviously a western boy too fight it's amazing that you know what i mean like it's it's he's this guy was the same exact size

and shape as him but he and obviously a western boy too because those western boys are the worst guys in the world they have to to battle with but uh but the funniest part about the story was so i went down and the night before he speared me in the stomach and he got he got teed up and was tossed during that line ball so i never in my life ever punch a guy when he's down. So to make a long story short, he's pounding me. I get back up. I turn and I look, and everybody is on the other side of the ice, including both linesmen, with this other fight that's going on.

So sure enough, I'm in deep shit right now. So I grabbed him by his left shoulder, grabbed him by his left pant leg, did the old pull back and pull pull up and brought him down. And I believe I blew his shoulder out when that happened. So the next thing you know, as he's screaming on the ground, I said, this is for fucking sparing me last night. And I cracked him one. But wait a minute, here's the moral of the story.

It ain't over. The next thing you know, as I look up and got dennis vial in a full-blown sprint coming after me now i'm gassed my legs are toast i tried as hard as i could i think i look like the tin man skating to the box i literally dove in the telling box and slammed the door like in a horror movie because he was coming to get me did you ever have to play that guy again because he probably was human yeah he was out that he was out the rest of the year because of that and um then i think he might have taken a year off or something but then sure enough a few years later you know it's like my sixth

sixth or seventh year i'm like all right pre preseason. You know how preseason is. It's a shit show. But the game started to change a little bit as far as all the tough guys coming in. So all of a sudden, I'm in training camp. I'm in Bloomington, Illinois. Now it's the IHL. I went back to the IHL. And we're in warm-ups in Fort Wayne.

And sure enough, I see this mutant just skating around in the other zone. And I look, and it's him. Oh, he's probably filming from the mouth when he saw you he didn't see me he didn't see me i swear to god i was hiding behind everybody like obviously in pre-season we didn't have names on jerseys or anything so i'm like all right he doesn't he might not recognize me i got longer hair okay maybe maybe you won't know it's me i swear to god man i was i was like this guy's gonna if he gets me he's gonna rip the face skin off my face like there's no escape and he and he played the whole game and didn't recognize you no he had no idea it was me oh my god i mean he's just running around

just looking at the guy in the eye you know i mean you know i was laughing because like last last year the uh the blackhawks had a bunch of skates before training camp, before conditioning. And I was out there with a good buddy of mine, Steve Pops, running drills for the players and stuff. And I'm just kind of looking and I'm seeing how different the actual look of the player is today. And you just, you know, back in the day, you saw that specific set of eyes. And I actually saw it in Lance Beaumont. I looked and I saw this guy's eyes. Back in the day, you saw that specific set of eyes, and I actually saw it in Lance Bulma. I looked, and I saw this guy's eyes.

I looked at Tutu's eyes. I'm like, you don't see eyes like that anymore. I'm like, so I didn't know Lance Bulma was who he was. I'm like, that guy likes to scrap. I said, what's his name? Like, Lance Bulma. Well, sure enough, he does like to scrap. Great. Lance is an awesome guy, too.

Tutu's a great guy. Oh, yeah. They just got that switch where you know if, like, once it goes off, you're in a toe-to-toe, and the only way he's going to stop is if he gets knocked out. Exactly. That's the mentality. I need to give everybody a bit of a background here. You played for 20 different teams in semi-pro hockey over the course of, I guess you could say, 11 years.

And you didn't play more than 17 games for a team. So you were just hopping around. And I mean, some seasons, well, I mean, 2009 to 2010, you played for three different teams. That happened a few times 2006 2007 you played for three teams you played for two in the ECHL one in the SBHL and and so how many times did you have to call up and act as your own agent because I'm sure you didn't have to have an agent well that was that was in the beginning because I could get away with it. But then, you know, it's just I was smart. I wasn't going to abuse it because it's like sooner or later they're going to find out and I didn't want to look like a clown.

You know, it was like certain guys wouldn't say anything about it. They knew I got them when I was or sometimes I would admit to it, but they knew I got them. But I had as soon as I had like three four years I was able to actually hang in in that level I actually went to a couple American League camps I was in Grand Rapids one year and actually made it to the last cut um and so that's in 2006 2007 when you play with Toledo Storm for five games yeah that was exactly what it was yeah that's exactly it and uh I was there, and I actually decided. It was a hard decision because all of a sudden,

it's like the United League was starting to fail, and East Coast League had so many contracted players, and I knew that I wasn't going to be a guy on the level they call up. And so if I just wanted to make my mark at a legit opportunity, and I knew if I had gotten that that then i would stick no matter what because i was a locker room guy i was willing to do whatever it took and when i fought it really got guys going especially the the older guys you know oh yeah good precedence to set for the younger guys you know like look now it was a little guy and not the most skilled guy in the world but

he finishes every check and i did it's one thing I love to hit it was one thing I always love to do is was to hit I wasn't a yapper either I didn't chirp anybody I was just really quiet but it just got to the point to like in the coast like I'll never forget when you were in Wheeling I was in Trenton and Johnstown was there and I was like the second game in Johnstown I couldn't get a fight from anybody and I I just lined up with this one guy, and I remember looking. He was running around. I looked at him, and I on the drive said, I hear you're tough. And he just kind of looked

at me, and then he kind of like snapped. I was like, oh, no, no. Coach wants me to be on the ice. I can't fight. Coach said I can't fight, blah, blah, blah. So I just, you know, being me, I just came by the bench and said, hey, did you tell so-and-so he can't go? And you know what that does? It breaks the kid's complete mind frame down.

So it's just like, yeah, you started to know, like, there was a difference between the United League and the East Coast League. So it was just, as time went on, it got harder and harder to find a place to play. But, you know, my last year, believe it or not, I was in Denver from training camp for like a week out of training camp. Then we got six guys sent down from Cleveland because we were affiliated with Colorado. And then I got called up right after Halloween. And I was there in and out of the lineup till probably like the trade

deadline. And then we got a bunch of Cleveland was the worst team in the American league that year. So we got like seven guys sent down as punishment up there. They came down. We were a powerhouse in Denver that year. And then sure enough, I got put on waivers, got picked up in St. Louis by the St. Charles team there. And Jamie Rivers, who I remember watching as a kid in Detroit,

was there and I played against him a bunch when he was coaching that year, and he brought me right in, and I actually went in there and made an impact. We won our first game in like eight games. My first game there, I had an assist on a fight and kind of recharged the locker room a little bit, and then sure enough, I can't remember how many games it was, I had another fight against a big guy. You played six played six games you had an assist and you had 12 penalty minutes yeah it was two fights there and sure enough my last fight was my last game i ever played and what happened was is i fought a guy was like six six he was a big moose and my pec uh my pectoral

muscle and tendon completely ripped off my shoulder. And yeah, so sure enough, I had to get the whole toolbox put into the shoulder. And that was all she wrote. That must have been your last ever pro game. It was, but I did my therapy and I kept going. I didn't want to quit because when you're playing great and you finally get that confidence and you're comfortable and you're not worried about 20 sets of eyes on your back waiting to see if you screw up and then they cut you.

Yeah, it only took you 11 years, Nello. Yeah, well, every time I did it, something happened. So it happened for me in Kansas City, and then it happened again for me my last year. And what happened was it was like, you know what, it's a mentality. I'm not quitting. I'm not whatever. It'm not whatever, you know? It's the eye of the tiger, you know? And the year before, though, was kind of something cool.

You ended up finally getting your first ever pro goal in your 10th season with the Bloomington Blaze. I mean, just like talk about that. That must have fired the boys up. Do you still have the puck? Like like talk about that. That must have fired the boys up. Do you still have the puck? Like, talk about it. So, when I tell you it was the ugliest. Oh, I'm fellow.

I've never seen in your life. I mean, it was, I got the puck at the point. And I've always had a really good shot. So, I get the puck at the point, and the guy was right on me. So, I just, it wasn't even a wrist shot. It wasn't a snap shot. It was just I kind of chipped it on, and it like three-hopped into the net against one of the best goalies in the league, a guy named Dan Pataccio.

And sure enough, hops over his pad, and it goes in. Everybody on the ice just stopped, and they kind of all looked back at me, and I just was standing there emotionless. I didn't even realize it went in. And sure enough, the crowd starts blowing I realized I scored my D partner there was a kid named Travis Granblah and he and I played in Kalamazoo like six years before that he goes did you fucking score did you fucking score and I go did I I had no idea so I actually put my arms up like fuck I guess I scored next thing

you know as I go to the yeah I go to bench, and it kind of all hit me at once. I'm like, shit. So I kind of put my head down. I got choked up on the right side of the bench, and I told the coach, I said, I need a shift off here so I can get my head back together. That's unbelievable. Yeah, it was pretty cool. I'm like, you know what?

It was, but, you know, it was cool. Ten years, man. Ten years, you finally got your first pro goal. Yeah, I know. It was nuts. I actually still do it. I gave the puck to my dad when he was sick. My dad had esophageal cancer.

He got it and died pretty quickly, but I gave him that puck, orophagal cancer he got it and died pretty quickly but i gave him that puck and um i actually ended up getting it back you know on the road but uh yeah no i look at that thing it's it's it's it's kind of got a good story to it you know oh man it's uh you know resiliency and and i mean just talking about grinding it out this is the ultimate hockey DB. I mean, I remember when Vincent Laverde mentioned it, he showed it to me. I couldn't believe it. I thought it was some joke, and somebody had got like an Excel program and drove through this.

I tried finding little kids in China that are those computer wizards that crack into that thing to beef up my stats to give me a better shot. But hockey DB is tough yeah yeah they got a pretty good system going on so a lot of these teams i mean like you look at like south carolina stingrays like you played three games there were you there for longer periods of time you were just a lot of time healthy scratch a lot of places like so there's a situation where they're affiliated with Hershey and Washington and sure enough they got pounded with injuries and I was literally there for the amount of time that showed that I was there but if you look at when I was in like I was in Rockford my first year I was there a lot longer I'd be scratched a ton Bakersfield especially i was in bakersfield from uh december all the way

till late march and you only played five games now would you would you go online and look at what teams were struggling with injuries and then call them up religiously religiously yeah i would i'd even call guys on the phone and say hey did anything happen in the game tonight you know what were what were some of of the worst places you played or maybe some of the craziest minor league hockey stories? Like if there's one story that just pops out to you. That's a tough one because a lot of people get in trouble for it. Can you not name names?

Yeah, I could try to figure that out. Give me a second. Let me go back to the other part. The worst place I played was in Flint. I played in Flint, Michigan. I was in Kalamazoo for a couple months, and we had a coach there who was a longtime NHL veteran, Brian, the Colonel Curran,

and he was one of those guys that was uh never really uh adapted to the new way things were done you know we're we're talking hour and a half practices every single day with a 15 minute bag skate oh and uh yeah so him and I butted heads and I never butted heads with a coach before but he butted we butted heads because he accused me of doing something on the ice that I didn't do and then when he went and saw it on video he I asked him like did you see the video because I'm not going to throw the guy under the bus that did it so he's like yeah I saw it you did this and this I'm like I go I go come on so anyways he ends up uh put me on waivers and Flint picked me up right away so I go to Flint and I was there for like two weeks and make a long story short i lived in a hotel room it was

it was just a nightmare and i get pulled over to go into the rink every day because uh you know they think everyone on the highway that has a remotely uh nice decent car is a drug dealer so you get pulled over and and sure enough i never never got paid from them. I'll never forget as long as I live. I never got paid for them. And just to tell you how things work, the guy that was the head coach there owned a piece of an equipment company and actually called me like a year later and asked me if I want to invest money in the company. Jesus.

Are you kidding me? You know what I mean? That's some balls on the guy. Do you remember the guy's name who didn't pay you? Yeah, he had the porn star name, Peter North. He was the head coach. So he had a piece of the company, and I said, you've got to be kidding me. I said, you're going to call me and ask me for money for your company,

and you couldn't even pay me? I said, what, I was making like $400 a week at the time? You know, I said, you wouldn't take my calls? You'll take my calls now, won't you? even pay me i said what i was making like 400 bucks a week at the time you know i see you wouldn't take my calls now you'll take you'll take my calls now won't you but that's you know like that's that's that's the that's the stuff you're over in fucking russia yeah but at least in russia you know they're hardcore you know what i mean it's they'll shoot you at least but my whole thing was like that's why the minor leagues get that bad rap. And that's something I've always said.

Like I told my partner, like we're dedicated to, we treat this coaching in the East Coast league now with these kids. And you have a lot of kids on two ways. It's like, I always promise I'll never lie to you. You might not like what I hear. I'm going to give it to you straight. And I'm always going to treat this like I'm in the NHL. And that's what, that's what we should do because some of the stuff that used to happen

in those leagues, especially guys that were, you know, guys that were fighting every single night that had wives and kids and stuff getting screwed out of money that they were promised. Oh, man, that's a hard paycheck. I was doing it in the American League in the nhl eating my lickings but imagine i couldn't imagine doing it for i mean christ i think the the lowest amount of money a guy could make was 250 in the echl when i started there but at that time i was on an nhl deal it was just because pittsburgh's uh defense were so packed up that i had to start in the coast two

time echl two-time echl-Star, not a big deal. I remember watching you. You were playing D back then. Yeah, I was a defenseman. Yeah, I used to just fucking play 30 minutes a night. Yeah, I remember you fought Gino Paisolini right in front of our bench one night. Yeah, I used to play with him a couple. He actually reached out to me recently.

Yeah, he's here in Chicago. He's a buddy of mine. Yeah, yeah. So getting back to maybe any crazy, crazy stories that you can tell without naming names. So we were playing one time in this one decent city, and we had a really, really tight group. And it was awesome because a bunch of the guys from this team actually came out to my bachelor party two summers ago.

Oh, and that's another story. Mind you, a two-week bachelor party that you invited me to after I talked about the story on Twitter. Yeah, so I actually… How do you get a green light for a two-week bachelor party i get the greatest wife in the world she's been with me forever you know what i mean at my age she's done it all i was i was i'm like let's like you know done the vegas thing done you know done everything there is and it's like let's do something unique that all you know a lot of my friends are married with kids and these guys haven't been out of their house or out of their wife's you know reach for 10 years now so I'm like

you know let's go do something really awesome so we went to Lake Tahoe I got one of my best friends I grew up with he's like a brother to me uh he's a he was a former former pro boxer his name's Joey Gilbert he's in Reno so he had the setup he's's like, we've got to do this, this, and this. I'm like, all right, perfect. So go to Lake Tahoe. And it was awesome for me. It was like, you know what? I had 41 guys came through that two weeks and I'd say half of them were former teammates. And you know, the shittiest part about the game of hockey is you make friendships and bonds with guys. And once that season's over,

you don't know if you're ever going to see them again. And for me, like, that's something I always struggle with because I'm always really tight with my teammates. Well, most of them, I should say. So anyways, we're in this one town, and we used to make it, you know, like every single week, Wednesday, we would go to local Ripper's for lunch. They'd have a buffet and it was quiet. No one was in there.

We'd go in there and just do our thing. There was always a kid there that was in a wheelchair. He was challenged. His name was Tanner. We'd always go in there and Tanner would be there. The DJ would go in and they'd always have a funny introduction when we walked there, and the DJ would, you know, go in, and, you know, they'd always have a funny introduction when we walked. And mind you, there's nobody in the place, you know.

This place smelled like mothballs. It was disgusting. So sure enough, you know, they're in there, and the girl's up on stage, and all of a sudden, it's like a real bad storm out, and, you know, we're like three sheets to the wind, and the next thing you know is the lights go out. The whole city lost power to the whole place, you know we're like three sheets to the wind and the next thing you know is uh the lights go out the whole they lost power to the whole place you know microphones are like everybody relax relax

relax the next thing you know is you hear this loud horn and these sirens are going off and sure enough this kid tanner had all these lights because i guess he travels around the streets to get to and from home or wherever he goes the whole place starts lighting up from this kid's lights that he had custom made on his wheelchair so the next thing you know is tanner's got everything going he's got a radio on his wheelchair every there's you know places that empty and they're having an absolute blast and the next thing you know is uh lights and power come back on the guy kept turning the radio you know the dj gets back into it the next thing you know is tanner's trying to take over

the dj with his own radio and everything and sure enough this guy starts screaming at tanner next thing you know oh breaks loose like shut up leave tanner alone you know you know it's those little things that you'll never forget. You get to sit back and talk about it. How long was this guy playing his radio and his lights? And were the girls coming over? Oh, it made a day out of it. Everyone was dying laughing. I mean, it was fantastic.

Like, the kids saved the day. How bad were the girls? You know what? Because, well, I'll just give it away, we're in California. So, obviously, you know, California's got great pedigree out there. But, you know, they've been putting the time in like we do in the East Coast Hockey League. It wears you down, you know. So, there's some mutants, but there's also some not too bad ones.

The dimmed lights help out a lot. Oh, yeah, yeah. And the perfume always takes the mind off of everything, too. I'm still trying to find out. I always go when my wife works at the department store, so any time I go there with her, I always sneak out to the perfume section trying to figure out which one the strippers wear. I don't think they're shopping at the department store.

It's funny. They get the Axe body spray from Walmart. Yeah, with Lysol mixed into it. Yeah, a little disinfectant. Unbelievable. Did you – you were in Wilkes-Barre, and then you were in – Wilkes-Barre, and then – well, Wheeling, Wilkes-Barre, and where else? I know you were in – the first time I ever met you was in the –

at the United Center through Adrian DeCoin. You guys went to town. I was going. Yeah, I met you down in the hallway. Hey, boys, I just want to take another minute to mention Quip. I know when you get an older man taking care of your teeth, you can be a little bit more mature, so you want the perfect brush for your teeth. That's why you want to go with Quip.

When it comes to your health, brushing your teeth is one of the most important parts of your day. And Quip knows that. They combine dentistry and design to make a better electric toothbrush. It's the new electric toothbrush that packs just the right amount of vibrations. You know, a slim design at a fraction of the cost of the bulkier traditional electric brushes. Quip comes with a nice mount that sections right onto your mirror and sticks to use. Perfect for traveling. Perfect to have right in the house.

And because the thing that cleans your mouth should also be clean, Quip subscription plan refreshes your brush on a dentist-recommended schedule, delivering new brush heads every three months for just $5, including free shipping worldwide. You can't beat it, man. Quip is backed by a network of over 10,000 dental professionals, including dentists hygienists and dental students most toothbrushes don't get named one of time magazine's best

inventions of the year but quip did find out why for yourself quip starts at just 25 dollars and if you go to getquip.com slash chiclets that's c-h-i-c-l-e-T-S. Go to getquip.com slash chicklets right now, and you'll get your first refill pack free with a Quip electric toothbrush. Again, free. That's your first refill pack free at getquip.com slash chicklets. Spell it out. G-E-T-Q-U-I-P.com slash chicklets. C-H-I-C-L-E-T-S.

Here's another question for you. You're good buddies with the coach from Karate Kid. He's not a coach. He's a sensei. He was the coach. There's a major difference. Oh, was he not the coach in the movie? He's the sensei in the movie.

There's a major difference between a coach and a sensei. Okay. I'll hand it over to you, Al. What's his real name in real life? His name is Martin Kove. He is the coolest, down-to-earth guy you've ever met in your life. And what happened was when I got done playing, I'm like, I'm not someone who likes to sit still. So what I end up doing is I got to do projects or something and keep busy and, you know, try to learn something.

So there was a building for sale that was like a hundred-year-old storefront with an apartment and everything. And I'm like, you know what, I always kind of wanted to learn how to rehab and gut stuff. So took a real small chance, bought this building, learned how to gut it and all that kind of stuff, fixed up the first floor and the second floor, got it, rent it out. And then the basement, the basement looked like a scene out of the movie Silence of the Lambs. Like I legitimately am not scared of anything, but I wouldn't go in this basement by myself. It was terrifying down there. And I looked, I'm like, this is, it was huge. It was raw. And I'm'm like you know what i'm

going to put my dream clubhouse down here i had a tree house when i was a kid so i was always into that kind of stuff so sure enough i i finished this basement out it's a palace i put like a a 15 seat bar with two tvs on the wall every single type of you know liquor on the wall it's just it's awesome it's called the we nicknamed it the Get Down Lounge. Then I got like a little rock and roll corner with portraits of all my favorite guitarists on the wall. I got a memorial wall for... So what is it? Is it like a speakeasy kind of?

It's a private club for me and all my buddies I grew up with. And what we do is everything is on the honor system. So I got a paddle like on a blackjack table built into the bar so if you come down there with a couple of your buddies everyone's got a key five with their name in it they come in and whenever they want they if you have a couple of beers or whatever it is you just put a little money in the kitty and whatever's left over we use for anything but it's like the first year the place was pumping so we had a significant amount of money left over i said you know what things weren't perfect this is exactly what i ever dreamed it to be we're going

to have a honorary guest for the one year anniversary so me i'm born in 1976 and i was a 1980s movie guy so karate kid rocky rocky's my favorite movie and i'm like you know what first i wanted to get paulie from Rocky, but he couldn't do it. I'm like, I'm going to get the sensei from Karate Kid. Because I wanted, you know how creative it is. You want to bring that guy that everyone, nobody knew who it was going to be. It was a big secret. So when I brought him in and I opened up the curtains and there he is,

everyone's going to go absolutely bananas. So sure enough, call this guy. You know, talking to the hollywood agents these guys they all think they're wise guys and stuff so i'm like listen this is not a joke i know this sounds like a joke we want to you know fly the guy in we'll put him up we're going to take care of him for the weekend all he's got to do is come in for a couple hours so sure enough i got my buddy involved who's a lawyer and he calls the agent he's's like, listen, I know this sounds crazy. We're not weirdos.

We're dead serious about this. And the guy goes, let me tell you something. All my clients would not even think twice about this. He goes, but this guy is one of the greatest guys you'll ever meet, and he might actually do something like this. So sure enough, we talk to him, turns the phone over to us. We're talking to the guy directly. Guy comes in. We meet him for dinner Friday night. The guy was the greatest guy in the world. We hung out till like two, three o'clock in the morning, me, him, my buddy Damon and my buddy Joe Corbo. And sure enough, the next day he's like, listen, I'm going to come there.

I'm going to hang out with you guys all night. He loved doing what he did. So he comes down. I got him behind the curtains in my club. And I said, gentlemen, I said, I know we're all eager to see who this is. But being the age that we are, I got a very significant guest. Ladies and gentlemen, Sensei John Creaser. I whipped open the curtains. And then that song from Karate Kid

You're the Best comes on. The place went bananas. Bananas. This guy was fantastic. We sat there the whole night smoking cigars. He's talking. I mean, you want to talk about a guy that can chirp people? He could chirp people. He would take my buddy Damon and

just chirp him and turn him upside down. Right in the guy's mind and get him going. But he hung out that night. What did it cost you guys, if you don't mind me asking? I can't remember. But it was nothing. Maybe like four or five grand?

Yeah, something around there. And, you know, we gave him a first-class ticket, which absolutely he should have that because the guy's an ace. guy's an ace and sure enough uh you know now you're saying like you'd assume he's gonna come for two hours and then and then just yeah like just fit his quota like that's how most of them work exactly no no this guy was in it like he became so mesmerized by our town where we come from the club my buddies and everything and like it was unbelievable so then the next day come to your wedding yeah so this is where i'm getting to so the next day listen we're gonna go to the he's a huge baseball fan as a kid he grew up in uh i grew

up in new york so he was a huge yankee fan and everything so here's the best so we take him to the cubs park my old equipment manager from seven teams when I played hockey is the, is the manager for the visiting teams clubhouse for the Chicago Cubs. So I called him up and I said, Hey Schmitty, I said, is there any way you can get me on the field? Like, well, I got, I got Sensei from the karate kids. Like it's done. So I bring them down and the next thing you know is Sensei's walking around the ballpark, you know, he's walking around the field, he's sitting in the dugout and he's like, it's done. So I bring them down. The next thing you know is Sensei's walking around the ballpark.

You know, he's walking around the field. He's sitting in the dugout. And he's like, this is unbelievable. Like, you don't understand. This is amazing. So sure enough, went out to dinner with him that night. Next day, he's on a plane. Calls me and my buddy from the plane.

He's literally choked up. He goes, boys, I want you to know something. I needed this weekend so bad. He goes, boys, I want you to know something. I needed this weekend so bad. He goes, I had so much fun. You've got to come visit me in L.A., please. And sure enough, we've kept in touch with him ever since. And sure enough, I got married a month later. And the next thing you know, he shows up in this awesome white tuxedo.

Showed up and just crashed my wedding. It was fantastic. He crashed it? It was all set up, but he asked I got to come to Noah's wedding. We just had an instant friendship with this guy.

It's just fantastic. Unbelievable guy. He could talk movies with you. You know how we sit and talk about hockey? He loves talking movies about that stuff. Well, they just started the, the, the, the re the re-up show, didn't they? Oh yeah. So, so here's the best.

So he, um, we were talking when he was in town about like, you gotta get it. We, there's gotta be another karate kid. You know, they're doing it with Rocky. They're going back. They're going, you know know all these movies are starting to like revamp them you know there's another top gun coming out i'm like they gotta do a karate kid and i said it's all about cobra kai you know and sure enough all these things were thrown on the table but all of a sudden the show comes out it's a series and it's like everything we talked about these these writers had the same vision as we did and they went with it it's a series and it's like everything we talked about these these writers

had the same vision as we did and they went with it it's a little and the best part about it now is like it's good for kids but it's for us to watch a movie that we saw when we were kids and it's all these these uh these situations that were involved i mean it's it's daniel larusso versus johnny lawrence the entire time it's's fantastic. That's unbelievable, Nell. I mean, I would always see pictures with you and that guy wondering how the hell you guys met up or something, but that's a great story. And, I mean, fuck, we've probably already gone 45 minutes.

I just want to thank you for coming on. If there's anything else you want to touch on, feel free. But other than that, thank you so much for your time. Hey, Biz, thanks a ton. You know, it's funny. Like, I got that article in the New York Times. It's funny how we're – I'm running a hockey school right now. We're talking about, you know, everyone says what, you know, hockey –

all these guys think hockey owes them something and whatnot. And it's like, no, man, it goes, it's a privilege to play the game. And if, you know, if you, if you will, if you're true to the games, I always believe something's going to happen for you. And sure enough, your tweet got all that, that motion going for me from everything from the New York times. I had a movie producer contact me twice. One guy came out to meet me in a rapid city this year.

Cause I wanted to do a movie on me. All this kind of stuff, and it all started from your tweets. Otherwise, I was, you know, my story was basically buried. There was nothing there, you know. I think it's fascinating anyone who's willing to put that much effort in to play that. I mean, not to say in the dumps of hockey, but it's a grind playing in those minor leagues

played in the sphl the u-haul but i used to play in wheeling and you know our bus would break down on the road and we'd have to take over the booster bus and they would take our bus and wait till it got fixed like like yeah it might have sucked a little bit at the time but those are the stories that i tell now and that I remember the most. They're the richest stories there are. You know what I mean? A bus break-in is down. You'll take the bus break-in down any day over having the plane break down.

Yeah, that's a good point. Well, Noel, thanks again, and we'll probably have you on again sometime. Anytime. It was my pleasure. Good luck with the coaching career, with the family, and we're going to post that link to the new york times article when we when your episode comes out peace of time man have a good one Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.