The Athletic Hockey Show - Peter Deboer's Dallas Stars ready for the next challenge, Keeping up with the Keeper of the Cup Phil Pritchard

Episode Date: August 24, 2022

This week on the roundtable, Rob, Sara and Jesse say hello to Dallas Stars head coach Peter Deboer who talks about his new team in Big D, reuniting with Joe Pavelski, how excited he is to coach a veteran team with some exciting young players mixed in, and the coaching fraternity in the NHL.The roundtable welcomes the keeper of the cup, Phil Pritchard from the Hockey Hall of Fame to discuss the summer of Stanley for the Colorado Avalanche. Phil talks about the origin of his job, some of the more exciting stories involving summer celebrations with Stanley and why a keep of the cup is a must.Plus, Rob, Sara and Jesse discuss some of the bigger news from the past week in the NHL with Nazem Kadri signing in Calgary, Paul Stastny agreeing to terms with Carolina, the future of Carey Price and Trevor Zegras and women's hockey star Sarah Nurse appearing on the cover of EA sports NHL '23. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What's going on, everybody. Welcome to the athletic hockey show, the Wednesday Roundtable Edition. I am Rob Pizzo from CBC Sports, joined as always by Sarah Sivian. How are you, Sarah? Excellent. How are you? I'm doing good. And finally, our co-host decides to get off the big, fancy golf courses and come and actually talk a little hockey.

Jesse Granger back in Vegas. Man, those pictures look good, Jesse. How are you? I'm doing good. I'm doing good. No complaints for me. Yeah, I didn't think there'd be complaints. We were slamming down last week because we're working and you're just putting these awesome pictures up.

But yeah, we got a jam-pack show as we always do. We're going to get to some of the big topics, guys. But we've got not one, but two guests on the show today. Pete DeBore, the new head coach of the Dallas stars going to be joining us later on on the show. And the keeper of the cup, Phil Pritchard, who's been obviously, you know, traveling around the world with the Cup with Colorado Avalanche. real quick, guys. I don't know if you've ever told a joke that's so bad that you think about it years later. I was in South Korea covering the Olympics.

I'm in this empty hallway, just me and my producer. And Phil Pritcher walks by. It's just the three of us. And I look at him and I kind of say, ha, ha, aren't you missing something? And he's like, ha, ha, and he walked away. And as soon as he left, my producer's like, you're such an idiot. You know how many times you probably hear is that dumb joke? And I spoke to Phil about it later on.

But every time we talk, I'm just like, oh, please, please just ignore that joke. But I'm not going to say it on the podcast. But like I said, we've got a jam pack show. Let's get right to it. Finally, guys, finally, Nazam Khadri has signed on the dotted line seven years, $49 million with the expected. No, not the expected. Calgary Flames.

The next guy to sign somewhere where we didn't expect it. How surprised were you guys when you saw this news? Sarah, we'll start with you. Very surprised? I don't know. I don't know. That sounded like a question more than an answer. I just come to expect the unexpected.

Jesse, how do you feel about this? Maybe I'll get inspiration. I was shocked. I thought that the longer this went on, it was just because of the way Lou Lamarillo operates and the way the islanders have done everything, I just assumed the only reason they haven't announced the signing is because it's with the islanders. Any other team would have just told the media like

normal people, but on Long Island, they do things differently. So to me, that was like the number one reason I thought he was going to the islanders was just because of, there's no way that it actually took him this long to choose a team. But apparently it did. I think it's fun, man. This NHL offseason has, has really, we don't get this much in hockey where it's like just things coming out of nowhere like you do in the NBA. Like, this was a fun offseason. I wish more off seasons were like this. You know, even doing this show, a lot of times, you know, on August 24th, you're kind

like, what do we going to talk about this week? That's not the case. I was at a family event over the weekend, and I have an uncle who lumps all hockey media into one. And he's like, well, you guys have sucked this off season. You thought Johnny Guadro was, you know, heading to New Jersey? Nope, he goes to Columbus. You thought Kachuk, you said it's done deal.

He's going to. to St. Louis. No, he goes to Florida. And now we've got Codry who, you know, it was reported pretty much that it was a done deal with the Islanders at 7 to 7.7. And then he's doing this. Does Bradtrow Living just deserve a massive raise? You know, you talk about making chicken salad out of chicken shit. I can't believe what he's done in this offseason. Jesse, what do you think? Yeah. I mean, we like as a Vegas reporter, obviously that's their biggest Pacific Division opponents. And a few days into this offseason, felt like the end of an era in Calgary. Like this team has,

they were the winners of the Pacific Division last year. It felt like they are going to plummet to the bottom. And here we are. Two months later, you could argue they're better. It's like, you got to see how it works on the ice. Hockey is more than any sport is how pieces fit on the ice.

We don't know how this is all going to work. But from a pure talent standpoint, the Calgary Flames are more talented than they were. And that is insane, considering they had a bunch of star players who just didn't want to play there. Like, couldn't afford them. They just didn't want to play there. It's crazy to me. They turned down money to leave.

I am arguing now that they're going to be better next year than they were last year. And I do, I kind of rolled my eyes when the return for Kachuk was UFAs, but now the picture's coming together. And this is an example for, there are some other teams where they don't, they kind of give up, right, after things like this happened with Drew and Kach. But it's like they did not give up and they found out ways to fill these holes. And I feel like that's an example for other teams. like a lot of fans let GMs use excuses, right? That, oh, this happened, they weren't expecting it, whatever.

Work harder. You're an NHL GM. Let's go. I feel I'm not like a race car driving fan or anything, but I feel like one of those times of your positive a crash is about to happen, and they somehow like straighten the car out and keep going. I think that's what Bradshaw Living did. By the way, I can't wait to see Nazim Kodry in the Battle of Alberta.

I think that there, like he is tailor-made for a race. rivalry like that. Sarah, I'm going to start with you on this one for obviously reasons. We have another signing. Paul Stassany, one year, one and a half million bucks with the Carolina Hurricanes. Your thoughts on this one? Yeah, good for them. Good deal. I like it. I think it'd hold a fill after the patch ready news happened. So I think they had to figure that out one way or another. We'll see how it goes. I love Stasney. Got to cover him here in Vegas. One of my favorite players to talk hockey with. Just really, really smart. Understands what's happening on the ice better than pretty much anyone I've ever spoken to. He, for a million and a half

dollars, it's like, this guy, he's going to outproduce that. It's almost like very, very rarely do you sign a contract where it's like guaranteed the player is going to outproduce his contract. This is one where it's like slam dunk. He will be better than his his cap hit is for a team like Carolina that's trying. They've been very good. They're trying to get over the hump. Getting a player that's that good for that little of money to me is a huge win. I don't understand how he didn't get more than that from other teams. Maybe he just wanted to play in Carolina. I'm shocked at that number for Paul Stasney. He does have bonuses. And we're seeing it more and more.

Yeah, he does have bonuses if they win the Cup. So that's kind of exciting. Veterans who take a little bit of a pay cut because, you know, they want that chance at the Cup. 36 years old, 45 points last season. You know, we were talking about the, the Cadry deal earlier. One of the moves that was also made to clear space for Cadry with Sean Monaghan heading to Montreal. And during that little press availability, GM Kent Hughes said that Carrie Price's knee, the news on it is discouraging,

and it's unlikely he's going to be able to play this entire season. And, you know, the word retire wasn't officially said, but obviously a lot of people are using that word. Is he the, if it does happen, is Kerry Price the best goalie of his generation, Sarah? Oh. When I ask a question like that, I always look to see who's the most perplexed with the question, and that's who I picked to go first.

So, Sarah, go ahead. I do remember asking some of the hurricanes, who would you want in net in Game 7? And a lot of the Canadian ones said Kerry Price. I do think he was maybe international play, and that, like, he was kind of a cult hero. I guess he was a cult hero. But I don't know. I think it's too soon to say. But he definitely.

left his mark. Jesse? It's such a hard question to answer because... I know. That's why I asked it. Because I think there are different ways of looking about that, like, who's the best goalie? Like, who had the best career? Certainly not, Carrie Price. He didn't, he doesn't have the best stats.

He'd never won a cup. He never really, he's only had one deep run into the playoffs. I mean, maybe two if you count the one a few years back. But to me, When I watch Kerry Price on the ice, he's the best goalie. Like his techniques, he's always in the right spot. If you're trying to teach a young goalie how to play goalie, these are the correct ways to play goalie.

These are the positions you need to be in. This is where you need to be on your crease when the puck is here. He's always there. He's like almost robotic. Like a human can't be that perfect in terms of his positioning. He's so good at it. It's almost like Dan Marino. Like when I think of quarterbacks, like Dan Marino might have been the best

quarter, might have been the best, like, player at the quarterback position. He played it better than anyone. But does anyone say Dan Marino's the best quarterback ever? No, because he didn't win Super Bowls. My question is, what generation are we putting it in? Like, who are the other people in his class? I think Hendrik Blanckech is. Okay. He's better to me. Well, he is, but I would always argue this about Kerry Price. His highs are hot. Like, that Hart trophy winning season was arguably one of the greatest seasons of goaltender has ever had in this league. Um, But consistency, I look at what Henrik Longfuss did throughout his career, just consistent. If you're asking me who to build a team around, maybe I'm taking Henrik Longfuss over

Kerry Price. If you're asking me game seven of the Stanley Cup final, maybe I'm taking carry price. It's a tough question, you know what I mean? And that's why I wanted to ask it. Last thing before we go to break, guys, as if the Arizona coyotes don't give us enough stuff to talk about, we know they're going to be playing at Arizona State University, that 5,000-seat arena that is still under. construction. But that arena now has a name. It is the Mullet Arena. Now, it's in recognition of

Donna and Barbara Mullet who helped get them to Division I. I want to just say that. They didn't just say, hey, the hockey hair, let's name it after this. But social media, one of the little nuts. My favorite one was Sun Devils in the front, coyotes in the back from somebody on Twitter. Luke Muse. I want to give him credit for saying that. But I mean, come on Arizona. I don't want, I don't any disrespect to Donald and Barbara Mullet, but no one in the meeting kind of went, um,

we're probably going to get mocked for this. It keeps giving them press, though. I would say, like, they're not going to get much good press for the things that are going on, so they might as well lean into it and like, be kind of lighthearted. I mean, I guess if your name is Mullet, your name is Mullet,

I don't know how else they could rectify that situation, but I like it. Mullet Arena, let's go. It's just hilarious that this whole story is so strange. And like the coyote's playing in a street. Like it's such a weird story. And then the fact that it just continues with this name, it's great. It's like on brand.

The war continues. And I am old enough to have had just a sick, sick mullet. Not ironically, guys, when everyone had the mullet. Maybe I'll show you a picture more these days. After the break, Pete DeBore, the new head coach of the Dallas Stars, who thankfully does not have a mullet. so don't go anywhere. Well, when the 2022-23 season kicks off and you look behind the benches of a lot of teams,

it might look a little bit different. There are a lot of moves in the off-season, and that includes the Dallas Stars, and we are really pleased to be joined by their new head coach, Pete Tabor, joining us on the athletic hockey show. Thanks so much for doing this, Pete. Absolutely. You've been the head coach of the Dallas Stars for a grand total of 64 days. So I know you're just getting your feet wet, but how's the transition been so far?

64 days. That's about the time we were in the bubble with Vegas my first time around. So, you know, it doesn't seem like a long time when you're stuck in a bubble for two months. It felt like 10 years. But, you know, I'm excited. Got a chance to spend a little bit of time in Dallas through the summer and obviously had conversations with all their key players. And, you know, I'm excited to get there.

We're just wrapping things up here in Canada in the next week and I'm going to start heading that direction. Did you like the city? You know what, I've always loved Dallas going in as a visiting coach. Big city, real friendly, lots to do, great downtown. I'm just getting to know kind of the outskirts. Our practice rink is out in Frisco, Plano area, where the Dallas Cowboys just built a brand new practice facility that's unbelievable.

I think the PGA also just built their new headquarters there. So it reminds me a little bit of Vegas. It's a bigger city, but really quickly growing, a lot of new people going in, a lot of construction going on. So, yeah, I love the weather. I love the tax rate in Texas. So there's a lot of good things. Pete, we're obviously going to talk a lot about the stars throughout this conversation.

But before we do, I do want to ask you, I kind of alluded to it off the top there. We're going to have 10 teams with new coaches. It's been an interesting offseason for people like us who get to cover and talk about it. You know, a lot of those coaches were behind other benches last year. I've always wanted to know, do you guys talk amongst each other when things like this happened, when vacancies happen? I mean, you're taking over for somebody who is elsewhere right now. Do you send text messages to each other saying, give me the good and bad reasons why maybe I should come here or or maybe stay away.

Well, yeah, we are a fraternity, so there is communication. It is, you know, it's a really unique time right now in the NHL. You know, in my, this would be my 15th season now. You know, I haven't seen such quick trigger fingers, I think, just in the league in general. And, you know, for me, when you look at the two teams at the end of the day that were left stand and they had, they were probably the two teams with the most stability over, over the time in Tampa and Colorado. So, you know, I'm not sure it makes a lot of sense. We were, I was at the Canadian coaching Olympic meetings last summer for a week with John

Cooper, Barry Trots, Bruce Cassidy and myself. And at the end of the season, three of the four of us were fired. So, you know, you have to shake your head and wonder a little bit about what's going on in the league. But it is a win now league. There's a lot of pressure to win immediately that I think filters from ownership to management. I think managers are getting fired quicker than they have or have been in the past. And I think that just filters down to us. I think we kind of know the answer based on what you said there,

but it seems like you were a bit surprised to not be coaching in Vegas this year, I guess. what do you think was ultimately the reason that they decided to move on? Like you said, everyone in the league, there's pressure to win, and obviously in Vegas, that's true also. But what do you think ultimately made that decision for them? Yeah, you know what, Justice, I'm not sure. You know, I think when you're making a decision like that, there's a bunch of factors. I'm sure, you know, but it essentially comes down to, you know, are we going to be better? you know, is this is, is Pete DeBore and whoever his staff's going to be going to be part of the solution to win a Stanley Cup this year?

Or, you know, can we, do we feel we have to do something else? And I think it just come, it's simply that. And I think there's a ton of factors that go into that when you're making those decisions. But, you know, you'd have to ask the people making those decisions. I think for me, you know, was I surprised? I was surprised. I thought we had an unheralded amount of injuries and things that we dealt with this year that I've never seen before in my time in the league. And I actually thought our staff and players, you know, really battled to get 94 points. And, you know, and the perspective of that is the year before I got to Vegas, Vegas made the playoffs with 93 points, I think. So, you know, it was one of those years, but, you know, in this league, you have to have a short memory.

I'm excited about the opportunity. I think everything happens for a reason. My phone rang and a great hockey man and Jim Mill called who I've got a tremendous amount of respect for, excited to work for. And, you know, as I dug into the Dallas stars, I started to get really excited. They've got a lot of great young players coming. They've got a nice blend of veteran guys there. And so, you know, my excitement, now it's kind of in the rear view mirror now. My excitement now is about what we can do in Dallas.

You say there's more turnover now than in 15 years of when you've been to coach in the NHL. Why do you think that is? And do you think that's a good or bad thing? Well, I don't think it's a good thing, Sarah. I think, like I said, I don't think it's an accident that the teams with the stability, you know, have been the best teams in the league recently. And, you know, I guess it goes hand in hand, right? Stability comes with winning,

but both those franchises had some really big bumps along the way and hit some potholes. Tampa missed the playoffs, you know, and ended up with a top two or three pick and still stuck with it. Colorado, you know, I think personally in San Jose, we'd beat them twice in the second round. And in Vegas, we beat them once in. the second round. So they couldn't get past the second round for years with a really good team and

stuck with it. So, you know, I don't know the answer to that. I do know as a coach, it takes some time to implement your system to get guys comfortable in it, to get guys moving seamlessly around the ice. And, you know, if you're changing consistently, you get short-term bumps in play and and things like that. But unless the program has gone right off the rails or the players have absolutely tuned you right out, you know, I just don't see it. Along those lines, Pete, you know, a lot of times when a coach gets fired, you know, everybody piles on, including the players, because they're going to get asked about it by

the media. But Max Patrattredi did an interview recently, and I want to read you the quote, he said, quote, probably the best coach I've had to date in terms of getting the best of me. And I've always wondered about the balance of a coach because, yes, you could be structurally sound. You could have all your exes and O's down, but you are dealing with a whole bunch of players. When you hear quotes like that, how does that obviously make you feel? And could you maybe walk us through a little bit of that? Because when you're coming into a new team, a team that didn't make the playoffs, you have to actually manage these people as people as well as maybe changing some of

the systems. Yeah. Well, you know, that's really nice to hear, especially from an established player like Max. You know, this is a guy who's been a captain of the Montreal Canadian, has been in the league for a long time, you know, and has a tremendous amount of respect and has played for a lot of coaches. So, you know, that's a great, I take that as a great compliment. And I also think it's a compliment to him because he was open to coaching. I think when I took the job in Vegas, the team, you know, was coming off a year where they

They got beat in the first round of the playoffs by San Jose the previous year where I was. You know, other than the run to the Stanley Cup final, they really hadn't had a, you know, it wasn't really heading in in a great direction at the time I came in. I think the team was around 500 around Christmas and kind of battling for playoff spot. So, you know, it was a group that was looking for some answers. We went into the bubble. Our offense dried up in the conference. and spinal, you know, probably a little bit the round before against Vancouver, you know,

and then the next year in Montreal, the same thing. But the thing I liked about Max was, you know, he wasn't happy just with scoring 30 goals. You know, he wanted to win a Stanley Cup. He wanted to win in the playoffs, like a lot of those guys did. And they were looking for answers and they were open to coaching and they were open to add layers to their game. And, you know, you say that should be common. It's common for young players coming in the league. Establish veterans, some of those guys don't want to, they don't want to look for answers. You know, just let me do what I've done my whole career. And, you know, I think Max was really open-minded to that, which was, which was great to see and great to work with. To, two kind of transition things to Dallas.

You mentioned getting to no players. I'm wondering how much does having Joe Pavelski there help you? Obviously, you've, you've worked with him. He can, he can kind of help introduce the players to you, introduce you to the players. How much does that help? Yeah, well, it gives us some instant credibility with the group. I mean, Joe is one of the most respected players and people in the game. You know, the fact that he's given us as endorsement, you know, he's seen it firsthand what we want to do, what the program is that we want to run. And he believes that that's the answer to help them win a Stanley Cup.

You know, this is a guy, you know, he's on the back nine of his career, so to speak. and he wants to win a Stanley Cup. So, you know, he's not doing it because he likes to have a beer with Pete DeBore. He wants to win a Stanley Cup and genuinely thinks that we have some things that we can maybe implement to help them get closer to that. So, you know, great to see him again. He's a fabulous hockey player. He's an even better person and leader in the room. And, you know, I'm just excited.

You never know when you leave a team if you're going to, you know, there's special players through your coaching career that you've coached. Some of the guys that I've had Joe Thornton, Yarm or Yager, you know, there's always some special guys there that, you know, when you walk out of an organization, you never know if you'll get a chance to work with them again. So I think when I left San Jose, Brent Burns, Joe Thornton, Joe Pavellsky, Logan Cature, Thomas Hurdle were guys that, You know, I really felt, boy, I wish I'm going to miss working with those guys.

So the chance I get to work with Joe again is special. Pete, we live in a cap world. And because of it, sometimes teams can be active in the offseason. Sometimes they can't. The stars weren't able to make the big splash because of the money. But you're very familiar with this team. I'm wondering how that affects how you approach camp. Are you going in with kind of a blank slate saying,

I got to see what I have before I figure out what I want to do? or is it you've got a definite plan that you want to go in there with? Yeah. Well, it kind of goes back to one of your earlier questions, Robert. It was you asked if we stay in touch as a coaching fraternity and share notes and things like that. You know, we are a fraternity. We do stay in touch.

I talked to Bruce Cassidy, but it was more about, you know, where to live and schools for his kids and things like that. I think every coach is different. I purposely didn't dive into. the previous coaches, Rick Bonas, or his coaching staff's thoughts on guys. I really believe the great thing about a fresh set of eyes on the group is it's a fresh set of eyes for everybody and you don't want to drag in perceptions of previous staffs or people to that.

So, you know, I don't offer them. I didn't offer them to Bruce on the Vegas team unless he wanted them. And I wasn't looking for them going into Dallas. But, you know, we did add in the, you know, he, you know, Even though it's a cap world, we did add. We added Mason Marchment, who I think is going to be a huge piece for us. You know, tragic story this summer. I was I was good friends with his father.

And so was Steve, Steve Spot, my assistant coach who grew up with him. So Mason's got a lot on this plate. But boy, he established himself last year as an impact player in the NHL. And so we're adding him up front. We lost Klingberg. They got to re-sign Ottinger and Robertson. who are two young guys who have established themselves as real NHL players that are going to get paid like that.

But, you know, we've got some young guys coming, but that's the cap world, right? Your young guys have to keep moving. You've got to keep putting young guys in underneath. And, you know, the challenge for us in Dallas is going to be getting, you know, another layer of production out of our veteran guys there that are there. Yeah, Mason had said that part of the reason he's going to Dallas is because of those close relationships.

What does that mean to you? Well, it's really important to me. I mean, it was such a tragic event. You know, a great man gone way too soon. I mean, you know, I was just, it was actually, I was in shock for weeks after. So, you know, I think Steve and I both feel the fact that we get to be around Mason this winter and support him through this would be something, you know, I think both of us would like to think that his dad would, would have appreciated. Last thing I want to ask you about quickly,

goaltending, which is always something that's kind of, you know, the spotlight on the coach on making decisions. We saw Jake Onger just turn heads in the playoffs, but I know in your press conference you mentioned, the hard part is getting him to kind of continue to ride that wave into the next season.

Have you spoken to Jake? And obviously, contracts aside, what have you talked to him about as far as maybe riding that playoff wave? Well, I have talked to Jake and Jesse might, disagree, but I don't have a lifetime problem with goaltenders. It was kind of a Vegas-specific thing.

We had a few issues through us, but I get along really well with goaltenders throughout most of my career. So, you know, I'm excited about working with Jake. My son actually played at Boston University with him for a year. So I've known them prior to this relationship a little bit. obviously saw what everyone else saw in the playoffs last year, great young goalie. I think with goalies,

I mean, this is how long I've been in the league now. I was in Florida as a head coach when we drafted Jacob Markstrom in Florida. And people forget that Jacob Markstrom was a Florida draft deck. And at that time, he was supposed to be, you know, the most ready player outside the NHL ready to come in.

It took him eight or nine years until he got to Vancouver. in the last two or three years to really establish himself as a bona fide starter. So, you know, I think the fact Jake is where he's at, he's way ahead of the curve for a lot of great goaltenders when you look at their history. But, you know, like Carter Hart in Philadelphia, it's not easy to replicate success. You know, that's what makes great goalies great. That's what makes you either a good goalie or, you know, you're talking about an elite starter. like Vasilevsky or Marty Bordor

or guys like that, it's the guys that can turn that initial success and the continued success year in, year out for a career. Pete, you're not alone. Jesse always tells us we're wrong about goaltenders as well. Thanks so much for doing this.

You really appreciate it. Good luck in Dallas, and hopefully we'll talk to you throughout the season. Thanks, guys. Big thanks to Pete Tobor, the new head coach of the Dallas stars. After the break, the man who wears the white gloves, The Keeper of the Cup.

Phil Pritchard will be joined, so don't go anywhere. Well, if you've watched the Stanley Cup final over the last, oh, 33 years, and if you're listening to the show, I bet you have. You are very familiar with our next guest. You know him as the keeper of the cup.

I'm a professional, so I'm going to introduce him by his given name. Phil Pritchard joining us on the athletic hockey show. Thanks so much for doing this, Phil. Hey, Rob, it's always good to chat. How's everything doing today?

We're doing great, but we want to know where you are because I know the offseason is just a whirlwind of traveling and accompanying that very old trophy around where are we finding you today. Yeah, that very old trophy is a very beautiful trophy though, isn't it? It is. We're in Ontario at a golf course. Actually, I'm at the golf range right now. And it's Adam Foote, who is one of the avalanche alumni in his numbers retired.

It's here golfing at two-time Stanley Cup champion is son Cal, who is with Tanning. Tampa last year, and his name's on it, too. So it's a father's son combo today here at the golf course, and they're, like I said, we're just at the golf range about to get ready for the tournament. And Mother Nature is a hockey fan because it's sun. Lord Stanley gets a real fun offseason. How has the reign of the avalanche, we'll call it, been so far? I mean, you're obviously, you know, going with every player, again, everyone gets their day with the cup. Is there a player or family that really has stood out as maybe a little more fun than the others. Well, you know what? I mean, obviously all of them do them differently and it depends

where you are. The cultures, food and the drink plays a big part of it. We spent 15 days in Europe and we were in a Czech Republic with Pavel Frank who's one of the goalies for the avalanche. He lives in Pilsen, Czech, which is where Pilsner. So we went down underground to the beer tanks down there that pretty well the whole town is that and it's because of that that pills near beer is around the world now so to be down there was with a Stanley Cup party going on it was it was pretty unique pretty bizarre but I think pretty special but like I said all the guys have unique things they do that are part of their part of their culture we were at a sauna on a sauna ferry up in northern Finland a couple of weeks ago as well and

And, you know, it sounds weird. You're going out on a boat and just have a sauna party. But in Finland, it's part of life. So each guy is different and it's all been special. And fortunately, fingers crossed. The airports have been okay. Renter cars are okay. Planes, trains, and automobiles have all worked out so far.

Phil, I'm always curious. So, like, we see the photos on social media of guys with the cup, like whether it's in the morning, eating cereal out of it with their kids. kids doing all this stuff. Like, do you ever leave the cup? Like, are you, their whole day, are you with the cup the entire time? Do you, like, is there any point where those guys are, where the cup is not with you? Or are you with it 24-7?

No, no, we're always within, I don't know, say 20 feet of it, somewhere like that. A lot of the guys, they start off with the breakfast with the family. We started off this morning with a breakfast buffet with family and friends here. And like I said, now we're at the golf tournament. And later on tonight, we'll be at a dinner party and that. But we're always around and then head off to the next guy. And the travel and road show continues. Do you have a favorite year with the cup?

Wow. Like I've been doing them for 33, 1983. 1988, so 34 years, this is this year. I think for me, I don't know if there's a favorite year. I think every time we go to a new city or a new country, that is pretty special because you see the fans for the first time, you see how exciting they are. But more importantly, you see the guy bring it back to his community.

And I think that's what makes it so special. So to narrow it down for a year is pretty tough. I know 1999 Dallas Stars was probably one of the craziest years we had. But the favorite one, I remember going to Anzi Kopitar in Slovenia, and it was the first time the Cup went there. It was so special for him, and he was such a proud native of Slovenia to bring it home for the kids and that. And I think that's what makes it special.

They're thrilled to go home and celebrate with their families and friends. They know the team is much more than the only. the ice. It's their first coach or teachers or things like that, which makes it special. And I think for all of them, it's pretty unique. Phil, when you take the cup to someone's house or an arena or anywhere where you may be going over the last 33 years, do you have to kind of set some ground rules? I mean, do you have to say, guys, this is what we're allowed to do with the cup. This is what we're not allowed to do with the cup. And a follow up to that, if you do have those ground rules, how tough is it to

enforce it because I'm sure a lot of people who are celebrating with the cup have had a little celebrating under the influence time before you get there. Yeah, a little oat soda, as they call it. Exactly. You know what? It's funny because it's a great question. So we usually in touch with them a couple of weeks out. So we have an idea of what their day is looking like from whether they're doing public events or the town is doing a

parade or a community event for them and what their private events are. But when we, and then the day before we talk to them and, you know, make sure we're meeting them at the right spot and everything. And then the day of when we sit with them in the morning, we kind of go through some, we call them housekeeping rules or rules of the role or whatever you want them to be. But for the guys, they're so respectful of what the Stanley Cup is and what it represents. And they know how hard it was to win. So for the guys, it's not the biggest issue.

It's usually their buddies that are the biggest contributors to it all. And not in a negative way. They're so excited for their friend that won the Stanley Cup, but they want to be part of it. And they are a part of it, but they don't go to the public events and they don't get the autographs and do the photos like the player does or whatever.

So they're starting drinking at 10 o'clock in the morning. So by the time we go to the party at night, they're well on their way and there's red flags going up all over the place. Keep an eye on this guy, this guy and that. Which makes it unique. So back to your question,

that's really what we have to worry about. The guy is so thrilled to be able to share it and to have time and spend it. That's usually great because he's achieved what he set out to do in hockey is to win the Stanley Cup. And they're not going to do things to damage it.

that, but it's their buddies. You've got to kind of keep an eye on. Is there anything that sticks out in your mind in the 33 years, a crazy request or something that a guy wanted to do that you had to say no, sorry, we just cannot do that? Well,

you see, we've been mountain climbing, we've been sea-doing. Like I said, we had a sauna party. I remember a couple years ago, Philip Grubauer were one of the goalies for Washington. and he's from the Bavarian Mountains in Germany, and he's a real Bavarian mountain man.

Like he wears the leader hosen year-round because that's what they do in Germany. And he met us at the Munich airport. And it was funny at the Munich airport, it's got a glass kind of window between arrivals and the guests that are picking you up. And we could see him on the other side, and people are getting photos and everything.

And I thought, holy smokes. Like he's popular. Like I didn't know hockey was that big in his area. So finally we get out and we're talking to him and I said, Phil, I don't want to be rude, but I didn't know you were this popular. And he said, I'm not. He goes, they thought I was an October festival promotion. I wear this year round.

He goes, so then we get the cup out and people go crazy and they figure out who he is. But the next morning, he wanted to go mountain climbing. So, yeah, no problem. me you take the trolley up so high and then you got to climb the rest of the way and we're climbing up the mountain and we're going to the restaurant right at the very top of the Bavarian mountains. And I'll, I guess the reflection from the silver of the cup, all these cows came running over towards us. And I'm saying, holy, well, like, what's going on here?

And I, you know, the cows have their things over there. I don't know if the silver attracts for them, but they kind of surrounded us and Phil's looking at it And he puts the cup down and, of course, they want to stick the head inside because they can smell the beer or whatever was in there already. And here we are on the top of the Vibrarian mountains thinking, well, I never thought this was going to happen. So did we plan that? No. Did it turn out that way? Yeah.

If he asked again, would we do in that? It might be a different answer. But it all worked out great. And I think one of the card companies used that photo. That's their hockey cards. So you never know what's going to happen when you hear the request. Once they explain it all to you, it's got a lot of meaning. If you hear at it just as the request, maybe you're not doing that.

But once you understand why, a lot of them make a lot of sense. Do you think the invention of smartphones and social media has changed these parties at all? That's probably a whole other show. I think, I mean, it's changed our world, obviously, and in the hockey world of the Stanley Cup, for sure it has. Every moment we have is on either Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok now, everywhere we go. And, I mean, as we all know, cameras are everywhere,

and they're showing it all. But it certainly changed everything. I know this morning when we were sitting with Adam and Cal, Adam obviously won in 2001 and in 96 way before the invention of the smartphone. His days were totally different than Cal's is. And it's just technology is changing. But I mean, you look at cell phones the way they are now. And regardless of what it is, it's changed the way we look at our world.

I got to ask you this. I need you to clear this up for me, Phil. I've talked to a lot of people about your job over the years. And so many people have claimed they are the reason why Phil Pritchard has a job. I talked to Glenn Healy. He says, no, it was the 94 Rangers. We snapped the top off the cup and we are the reason. I've talked to players on the 88 Oilers who said, no, no, no, we destroyed that thing.

Clear us up. Who's patient zero? Who was the reason that you've had a job for 33 years? Well, I don't know if there's an exact one. Like, as we all know in hockey, everything evolves. and I've talked to Glenn at length about it before and Paul Coffey and Wayne and I tell Glenn I said Glenn I don't know if breaking the cup is a thing you should advertise I mean you guys worked hard and that's it took 54 years for the Rangers to win it and

you're talking about breaking it like you should be what's your celebration like but I think for for my job particularly and all the cupkeepers it's it evolved into something and it's evolved into more than I think we actually thought it was going to be. The idea was to share the cup with friends and family and let the player worry about his commitments and we'd look after the cup and do Commissioner Bettman and everyone at the League and at the Hall of Fame and the Board of Governors. It has turned into this.

And at some ways it seems bigger than the sport now. And Glenn certainly was a part of it. And Paul Coffey and Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, and Trotche and all those guys, they're all part of it. And their names are on there and they're part of the union of the Stanley Cup forever. So I think everyone plays a role in the Stanley Cup is and what it represents. Phil, I'm going to let you go after you fill in the blank for me on this one. I know you're in charge of making sure that thing tries to stay in one piece.

But what words came out of your mouth when you gave the cup to the Colorado Avalanche and a mere minutes later, Nicholas Obey Kuban, dense the Stanley Cup while bringing it to the team picture. What words came out of your mouth? Well, I don't know if I can say it on this podcast. Yes, you can. But it was basically holy crap. It was basically holy crap.

And it was on, obviously, all the media networks were on and watched it. And I remember after the team photo, and this is the funniest part, we go over to see how the cup is. And one of the avalanche leans on top of me. and he goes, I've never seen him skate that fast in his life. And I don't know if you remember, he was doing an interview, and he had the cup, and he was skating over to the team photo. It was like he thought he was going to miss the team photo.

I don't think he realized he had the cup, and obviously he hit something from the ice. But the guy said, that's the fastest I've ever seen Nicholas skate, which is pretty funny. But at the same time, it was a horrible start to the Colorado Avalanche Stanley Cup celebration. but we've got a lot better and his day, Nicholas' day was great in Montreal and as they all have been. They all have been for sure and if you want to keep up with that, make sure go on Twitter

and follow Keeper of the Cup. Phil, thanks so much for doing this. We really appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of the summer and enjoy your round on the course today. Yeah, no problem. Thanks, guys. And maybe after the over, we can continue the conversation and fill in more blank. I can't wait. I can't wait.

Thanks so much, Phil. All right. Take care. Thanks for having me. Bye-bye. Phil Pritchard, the keeper of the cup and guys, he's needed. Trust me. I remember when Glenn Healy told me that they literally snapped the top off the cup and they had to solder it back together and they actually melted some of the names that were on the cups. Yeah, you can't just say, here you go. Go enjoy it to a bunch of really, really drunk guys celebrating. Before we go to break, guys, you video game players, anybody? Yes.

gamers? Yeah. Yeah? I'm not. I'm the old Blades of Steel guy. But NHL 23, the cover came out, and we've got Trevor Zegris and Sarah Nurse on the cover, which obviously is huge for the women's game. Your thoughts when you saw it, I've got my opinions on how it looks, but first off,

the fact that Sarah Nurse is on the cover of NHL 23. Sarah? Yeah, it's incredible. She's the first female athlete on an EA sports cover, I believe. That is amazing for that. But obviously, then you look at the cover itself. I guess we'll get into that. But love it.

I don't know. I like Zegris too there. I know people were like, he didn't win the calder. He shouldn't be there. But come on. He is fun and he's growing the game. I like it. I totally, the cover athletes, awesome.

Trevor Zegris may not be the best hockey player in the world. But to me, he is the, like, to me, he is the, like prototypical like video game cover guy because he does stuff you can only do video games on the ice. He's the only one that does this ridiculous stuff. So to me, he's perfect for a video game cover. I love that they've got nurse on there. Like Sarah said, huge moment. I didn't even really realize that until you said it. First female ever on any EA sports cover. That's awesome. What sucks is when I saw that cover, I didn't think of any of that. I thought, holy crap is that terrible looking. I don't understand. It's it's it looks like they're

standing in front of a green screen that they put palm trees in front of. They may or may not be standing on blocks of ice. I don't get it. I don't understand it. Maybe they'll explain later why the cover looks this way. It's an awful looking cover with two cool athletes. That's my thoughts. To clarify, it's the first time a woman's hockey player has gone on EA sports cover. Sorry about that. Why not just have them playing hockey? Like, I don't know why we had to do this whole palm tree. they're in shorts. Hockey's cool. Just have them both on there in a cool,

tough hockey pose and game over. I agree with everything you guys said about Sarah Nurse. I agree with everything you guys said about how just ugly that cover is. But I guess we've got to take the wins where we can get them. Guys, what are we working on this week? Jesse?

I'm chatting with some players. It's been a while. It's been all summer. And for the Golden Knights, this has seemed like an incredibly long offseason. they haven't had one this long. So I'm finally getting around to talking to the players. Not going to reveal who they are.

But I got some stories coming up after chatting with players on how their summers were really fun stuff. Sarah? I am going to Charleston tomorrow. So I'm taking vacation and maybe you'll hear from me after. I can't wait to find out the first time we're like, yes, I've got this interview. I'm writing a story. Because you're on a pretty good streak. Thanks, guys.

We will talk to you. Not next week. just want to let everybody know we will be back September the 7th. We're all going to take a little vacation next week. But before we do, I do want to remind you to give us a follow on your favorite podcast platform and leave a rating and a review. It helps us out a lot. Right now you get an annual subscription to The Athletic for just $1 a month for six months

when you visit the athletic.com slash hockey show. The athletic hockey show returns on Thursday. Ian Mendez, down goes brown, take over the reins. And like I said, we will be back September. seven, thanks for listening. We'll talk to you then.