The Athletic Hockey Show - Steve Dangle joins the show, Tony DeAngelo speaks out, Francisco Aquillini’s dreaded vote of Canucks confidence, Multiple Choice Madness, Hailbag, and more

Episode Date: February 15, 2021

First, Ian and Hailey discuss Canucks owner Francisco Aquillini’s Twitter rant, defending GM Jim Benning and attacking the media, BellMedia eliminating the TSN 1040 station in Vancouver, Tony DeAngelo breaking his silence with Larry Brooks in the New York Post, Don Waddell’s odd statement regarding the Cedric Paquette and Alex Galchenyuk for Ryan Dzingel trade, and more.Then, Steve Dangle, host of the appropriately named The Steve Dangle Podcast, joins the show to talk about his feud with WWE Hall of Famer Edge over who’s the biggest Leafs fan, the upcoming Leafs-Sens three game set, the impact Wayne Simmonds has had on the swagger of the Maple Leafs, and more.Plus, to close things out, Ian, Hailey, and Steve run through a series of Multiple Choice Madness questions, and Hailey answers listener questions in another installment of the Hailbag.And, don’t forget, you sign up for an annual subscription to The Athletic for just $3.99 a month when you visit http://theathletic.com/hockeyshow Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're back for another episode of the Athletic Hockey Show. I'm Ian Mendez alongside Haley Salveen. The theme of this week's episode is speaking out. As both Rangers' defenseman Tony DiAngelo, Canucks owner Francisco Aquilini, break their silences with some interesting comments. Steve Dangle is going to drop by. Help us answer some multiple choice madness questions.

We're going to talk about his little battle with WWE Star Edge. And we'll wrap up as we always do with the hail bag. bag, as I said, it's Ian Mendez, Haley Salveen with you in this episode of the podcast. Haley, for the people listening to us, it's actually, it's like a fake holiday in Canada today. In the province where I live, Ontario, it's Family Day. What is it in Alberta on this Monday? That is a great question. I have no idea, actually.

Is it like Klondike Days or something? Or is that in, is that in Edmonton in August? I don't know. But it's something weird. where every province has its own thing. And it's not really, it's like a fake holiday, but it's not a real holiday. Like I wish we had afternoon hockey games.

If this is a real holiday, let's see some afternoon hockey games, right? That's how I know it's a holiday. I know. And family day is, I mean, it's nice. It's great. Like nobody's going to say no to a day to spend with their family.

But it is, especially in hockey too. Like the flames are playing tonight. So they're going to be skating. They are in Vancouver still. So it's not like I'll be going to the rain. but still going to be working. And I exchanged messages with our editor, Aaron. I was just like, so do I work today?

Do I do nothing today? Like, well, we're recording the podcast and the Flames Play today. So it doesn't really matter. Like, I'll text my mom in the morning and say hello. So that's the extent to my family day. But I think it's called Family Day in Alberta. I think February 15th is called Family Day here. Not totally sure, though.

You're not sure. Yeah, that's all right. You're new. You're new to the province. Yeah. Hey, look, but you mentioned the fact that the Calgary Flames are in Vancouver. I'll tell you what, Vancouver Calgary. That was so interesting on Saturday because every Canucks fan, Haley was thinking, here we go. We got another date with the flames. Marky's going to shut us out. Here we go again. And just before, like, in around that game, this is what I thought was fascinating. Is there anything, Haley, before I get into kind of what Francisco Aquilini said, is there anything juicier than the owner of a hockey team in Canada kind of venting on social media? No, no, definitely not, especially because of the way, not just not just the fact that it's the owner venting on social media, but it's just the way that hockey fans are in Canada. And I just think that it's always going to be a big thing.

Whether it's, I mean, we're saying venting. So typically they're venting about their area. their grievances, right? And so that's what hockey fans do on a daily basis. But then when the owner gets involved and the hockey fans are there reading it, it just can snowball into such a mess. And I mean, we've seen in Ottawa what happens with owners who speak a lot. And it just, it puts the fans in a frenzy. And it's just, I don't know, you, you're in Ottawa still, Ian. Like, you can attest to what happens in the fan base when the owner is talking a lot. Yeah, no, it's certainly not anything that, like, people don't, I think for the most part, people don't want to hear from owners of sports teams.

I'm sorry, they don't. And so, but this one here with Aquilini was fascinating. So I'll just kind of give a summarized version of his tweets for those people who didn't quite see the story. So Vancouver Connects owner Francisco Aquilini tweets out on Saturday. This in the midst of the Canucks into just an awful stretch where they're just, it feels like everything's slipping away. Aquilini tweets out, quote, Our fans are passionate and knowledgeable. They have every right to express themselves.

But when the media starts pouring gas on the fire, dealing in rumors and misinformation as if it's fact, it's time for me to speak up. Contrary to what you may have read or heard, we're sticking to the path we're on, building on our core of young talent. Progression is not always a straight line. There's no easy fix.

Only patience commitment and hard work. I have full confidence in Jim, Travis, and this group, I have no plans to make changes. And you always got to end with a hashtag, Haley, hashtag, we are all caducks. So there's the owner basically saying, we're not doing anything. We're sticking on the path.

Some people read this, Haley, and say, that's the dreaded vote of confidence that somebody is going to lose their job at some point. Where do you see this play? How do you see this playing out now in the weeks or months ahead in Vancouver? Yeah, well, I just think the fact, that he went out and made that statement in the midst of a six game losing streak where,

you know, in the media, radio, you know, web reporting, newspapers, whatever it may be, you know, a lot of the discourse and the dialogue was about, you know, the, the Canucks are, you know, maybe one or two more bad ones away from a lot of people getting fired because this has just been a mess. And you know what? Like, that's not really pouring gas on the fire. Like, The Canucks were lost six straight games in quite embarrassing fashion in most games. You know, they showed some signs of life in the second game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, but the Leafs in the first game just were all over them. Their couple losses earlier were just really bad, and the Canucks just haven't looked great.

I mean, they did beat the flames, and they were the better team against the flames in the last two, even though they split the first two games against Calgary, excuse me. But in terms of what happens with the Canucks, I mean, I don't know if I see Jim Benning or anybody getting fired this season after that. I just I don't know how you can, I mean, at least not midseason, but I just don't know how you can go out and make a statement like that and then change your course. Maybe that's just me being overly trusting in what the owner's saying, but I just don't know if he would put a vote of confidence like that and then completely change his mind midseason. maybe in the off season if things don't go great, but I don't know what you think about, you know, just the job security aspect, Ian.

Yeah, and I think, you know, it's pretty atypical, Haley. Like, look, like Pittsburgh had a change in general manager midseason, but that was because Jim Rutherford stepped away. Like, it's very rare that you see an in-season general manager change, right? Usually that comes at some point in the off-season, before the draft. Like, it's just, it's awkward to kind of do that now. I'm not saying it's impossible,

but I agree with you in that I think it's almost like he's painted himself into a corner now. Now he can't do anything and that's all well and fun. I think the issue that I have here, Haley, is, you know, when he says when the media starts pouring gas on the fire, I think that there's an inherent mistrust, and this doesn't just go for Aquilini in Vancouver. This would certainly go for other owners in Canadian markets. They feel like it's the job of the media to be a cheerleader. and it's not our job to do that. Like, I think that a lot of owners and general managers in Canada think,

oh, typical Canadian media just being negative. Like, you have to understand. Our job is to put a little bit of fire on you. And I'm sorry if that's uncomfortable. I'm sorry if you don't like it, but that's our job. And you know what? I think if you pulled aside every reporter in Canada and said, would you like to see the team that you cover win a Stanley Cup?

I think unequivocally, our answer would be yes. And I do believe that. I think, but to get to that point, we can't just be blind cheerleaders like, yeah, we're on the right path. We have to hold you to some degree of accountability. And by doing that, that's what puts you on a championship path. Because if we just let you go unchecked with bad decision after bad decision, you're going to be in a bad spot.

And then when we start criticizing you, you're like, oh, you're pouring gas on the fire. That's our job. And I think at the end of the day, Haley, sometimes owners, don't understand the job of media covering a hockey team. And I wish everybody could sit down and understand what our jobs are, which is to accurately reflect what's going on with your team and to hold you to a degree of accountability. That's it.

We're not an extension of your PR department. We're not an extension of just cheerleading and cheering you on. And I'm sorry, but when you live in a Canadian market in particular, and I think in the United States, I think Boston and Philly and a whole bunch of these other cities, fall under the same thing where the fans are so passionate, it's the job of the media to kind of harness that passion and reflect that back to the owner.

Definitely. And I just think that there is that kind of disconnect sometimes between what owners and teams think media should be doing and what media actually should be. And I also don't think that, you know, it's not even devil's advocate. Because I agree with everything that you said, but I mean, it's not even our job to, like, we don't have to keep them accountable in the way of like,

it's our job to make sure that this team is like it's we're not about checks and balances we're just about being fair and we're just supposed to be independent which we are and for me specifically I mean I'm more of a feature writer so for me when I go in a room I'm like I'm just here to like find an interesting story to tell about somebody um I'm not here to you know sing rainbows and sunshine and daisies about a hockey team who's lost six straight it's just very strange to to blame the media for covering what's happening on the ice, which is the hockey team has lost six games straight and things are going to start getting a little tight because the team is not playing well. Like that's not pouring gas on the fire, like I said before. That's not, that's not something

that they're just making up. Like the media are watching, they're smart. You know, they understand the game and they're just analyzing it. It's not gasoline. It's just doing their job. And, you know, I think the one part about this, Ian, that I know that you really wanted to touch on is just the really tone-deaf timing of calling out the media in the wake of what happened over that weekend or, you know, just before the weekend with TSN, you know, cutting three major radio stations, among other cuts this year, including the Vancouver station. Yeah, Haley. And I appreciate you asking because obviously it's a guy that worked in radio, TSN radio for seven years.

that one cut pretty close to the heart. And I think for the owner to do that, like you have to understand, like Vancouver, it's a weird market. And I grew up there, Haley. So I feel like I know the Vancouver market. People think of the West Coast. One of the things you think of when you think of the West Coast is laid back and relax.

Ah, it's easy, breezy. It's the West Coast. You've never met a Canucks fan. Like, you, like, Canucks fans are awesome. Like, they should actually be in the eastern part of the country with their passion and their kind of feel towards the game. So when you eliminate a market, or an outlet, sorry, like TSN 1040 from that market where the fans felt like they were spitting straight truth. When you remove that from the marketplace, the fans are pretty upset.

And they feel like they lost a place to voice their concerns and the anger. And then to have the owner come out, you know, 72 hours, 96 hours, whatever it does, after that and say, wow, the media is pouring gas in the fire. I think it was just a little bit poorly timed. I understand what Francesco Aquilini is doing. I get it. You're defending your team. You're defending your decisions.

But maybe don't blame the media. Not this week, not in Vancouver. Not when so many people lost their job. And I want to tip my hat to Dan Murphy, who in the SportsNet broadcast, he didn't have to do this. It's a complete rival. To take the moment that Murph and Ian McIntyre and company did in that intermission to talk about what TSN 1040 meant to the marketplace was just a pure piece of class from that. group at SportsNet. But what it was, Haley, was an accurate reflection of how much that market is hurting, losing that type of entity. So it's a bad day for journalism in Canada. I think

when you lose entities like radio stations like that on mass, like it's not a great feeling. And Winnipeg, I know, is feeling the same thing. And I don't know what you think, Haley. I understand the irony of us discussing this on a podcast. But it is not a good week in sports talk radio in this country. And I don't even know where we're headed like six, 12, 18 months from now, you know?

No. And I think the one thing that really came through with what Dan Murphy said to is, you know, it might seem like it, but we're not rivals. Like we're all in this industry together and we might work for different companies and we might work for a company that has a different business model and different product model than other companies in this industry.

but, you know, we're not rivals here. Like, we're all in this together and to see so many people who we connect with on a, you know, daily, weekly, monthly basis, you know, I would go on those shows all the time to TEP Sends and then Flames. And it's just, you know, those are good people who are now looking for a job in a really difficult time right now. There's a lot of really qualified people who are struggling to find work and to just see so many more qualified people being added to that talent pool.

It's just a really difficult time. And I don't know where the sports talk radio industry is leading, especially now with stay-at-home order, there's not that many people driving. So how many people are tuning in on their computer, their phone, do they have a radio at home? It's just this industry is constantly changing. And unfortunately, with that change has come some, you know, really sad and unfortunate cuts. And, you know, Bell Media has been saying that we're streamlining. And, you know, there's a lot of not, there's a lot of not.

there's a lot of non-front-facing people who lost their jobs too because they're going to a more like automated system. There's different tech. There's, you know, robotic cams so people don't need to have a person standing there anymore. And, you know, we maybe don't see those people or hear them on the radio, but their jobs were lost too. So it's just a really difficult time for this industry. And the one thing I also just wanted to touch on quickly because I, we probably should move on soon because we've been talking about the Canucks for all. a while here. It's the Canucks Hockey Show today. But Travis Green, I saw that Travis Green reached out to a couple or most of the members that lost their jobs from TSN 1040, the head coach

of the Vancouver Canucks, just to reach out. And, you know, he said after a practice the other day, like, you know, he said the same thing. He's like, we're all in this together. You know, they might be asking me the questions. I might be the coach. But we're all doing this day to day together and it's just really unfortunate to see. So, you know, a lot of respect for Dan Murphy and a ton of respect for Travis Green for saying that. You know what? And following up on that, and he'll probably be embarrassed that this is out there. But, you know, I thought, you know, DJ Smith, head coach of the Ottawa Senators reached out directly to Brent Wallace of TSN, you know, after Brent was let go go kind of under similar circumstances. And I, you know, I think that's the type of thing that needs to

get out there. And that is DJ Smith understanding there's a human side to this and reaching out to Brent. That just speaks volumes about the type of human being that DJ Smith is, that he would reach out to somebody. Look, he's only worked with Brent Wallace for a year and a bit. Brent's been in this market for 20 plus years. For DJ Smith to reach out to Brent Wallace is exactly like, I know Travis Green got a lot of love for that.

I just, you know, at least in this podcast, Haley, I wanted to put that out there that DJ had done the same thing for Brent Wallace. And that's amazing to hear. And I mean, I spent the. one season with DJ and I couldn't speak highly enough about him as a coach and a person too. So I'm not at all surprised to hear that that's what he did for Brent. Yeah. Now listen, Haley, you said it's time to get off of the Canadian teams here and talking about the Vancouver Connect.

So why don't we sink our teeth into the latest in the Tony DiAngelo saga? And that is he spoke to Larry Brooks in the New York Post on the weekend. And it was an interesting article. I will say that. You know, I'll read the headline on it was Tony DeAnd B. Angelo bears his soul in first comment since Rangers exile. And, you know, and the lead of it from from Larry Brooks as well reads, it is perhaps the height of irony that the one time Tony DeAngelo might indeed be a victim, he outright refuses to advance that narrative. No, sir. So I know that, look,

Larry's taking a lot of heat. DeAngelo's taking a lot of heat. And I, you know, I want to have a really nuanced conversation about this because I'm not a big fan of the whole like let's all gather cancel culture like I'm all about trying to educate people on where they may have had some missteps. So I look at this article I think it was lacking a little bit for me. I wish that there was a little bit more of a pushback. But at the same time, I understand Tony DeAngel hadn't spoken to anybody in a couple of weeks. Larry Brooks gets it. So Larry Brooks gets it. But what was your like kind of takeaway an assessment from the article? after you had a chance to read it on the weekend.

Yeah. And you know what? I agree in the fact that, you know, somebody hasn't spoken about something and they're finally going to. That is, you know, from a news standpoint that is technically newsworthy to get somebody who was not spoken about something

that's been so headline worthy in that city. I just think the way that the story was done and the way that the, you know, you can feel the way that the interview was done. it just, it was lacking the balance. It was lacking, you know, the complete picture. And I just, let's just say if I'm covering this story and I'm covering the New York Rangers and I get, you know, my opportunity with Tony DiAngelo, I'm not injecting myself into this

story. I am not making this a column. I am not putting any kind of my own spin on this. This is instead of, you know, it's the height of irony that Tony DeAngelo could play. the victim card here, no, sir, but I'm going to play it for him, was basically the way this column laid out. That's not, it goes back to what the journalist's job is to do. And I know Larry Brooks is a columnist, but I just think a story with this many layers and this much stuff, it shouldn't be a column. This should be, you know, Tony DeAngelo was speaking for the first time in an exclusive interview

with the New York Post. Here's everything that happened. Factually, here's everything that happened between Tony DeAnglo, the Rangers, here's the history. Here's what he has to say. Here's the other side of it. You know, and then you keep going through. I just don't think it's the right play to play the victim card for Tony DeAngelo as a reporter. Like that is not the way that I would have gone about this story. And I think there was follow-up questions that probably needed to be asked.

I think there was, you know, like I said before, there's a bigger picture here that needed to be covered instead of just look at Tony DiAngelo, he just wants to play hockey. That's just not it. There's just way too much here to put your own stake in the ground and put your own voice injected into a story like this. That's just, for me personally, it's not the way I would have gone about it, but I'm not a columnist either, so I can understand that a bit, but it's just, I personally found some of the stuff in it irresponsible, very irresponsible. And but it, but it, here's the thing. It's newsworthy. Like getting Tony DeAngel on the record is newsworthy. So the idea that what Larry Brooks did wasn't newsworthy, I don't agree with that. It's newsworthy. I think I tend to agree with you, Haley, that, you know, maybe if I was doing it, it would have been framed a little bit differently. But now, I mean, look, it's out there in the public record. So at least now if Larry Brooks didn't ask the questions that we wanted to ask, well, now we can start asking those questions, right? And I think what would be great is if you want to, if you are, if you are, Tony DeAngelo's camp, I know he's an Eden Pulver guy as his agent and is with that agency,

I would say you need to get Tony DeAngelo in front of somebody who looks like me, okay, in the hockey world. It doesn't have to be. Pick Kevin Weeks. Pick Farhand Lulogy. Pick anybody you want and put him in a conversation with us so we can understand this young man. I want to make this clear. My job is not to shame Tony DeAngelo. and run him out of hockey in the National Hockey League. My job, I would say, as somebody who's been around this sport for 20 years, I want to help educate young people. And Tony DeAngelo has obviously had some missteps.

I think isolating this guy and kicking him out of the game forever doesn't do anybody any good. And we need to understand. We're asking, as a visible minority, I often ask people to put yourself in my shoes. understand what it's like for me being a brown skin person covering the NHL. Okay. What I'm trying to do is put myself in Tony DeAngelo's shoes or skates and understand, okay, maybe this young man grew up in a certain way and maybe he was exposed to certain ideas. And you know what?

If I was in Tony DeAngelo's skates and shoes, maybe I would have those opinions, right? Like, and I think it's really important. We figure out, like, where does this come from? Is it still an issue? And if it's not an issue, okay, well, let's, let's have a conversation with some who doesn't look like Tony DeAngelo, doesn't sound like Tony DeAngelo, and see how that conversation goes. And that's, that's what I would be about. I don't want to, like, I don't want to be part of the narrative that's like, I'm going to cancel Tony DeAngelo

forever and I don't ever want to hear or see of this guy again. That's not the way we should be doing it. If we're talking about building an inclusive society in hockey, that also means including people that don't align with us on the other side of the fence. And so I don't know where all of this goes, but I kind of feel like Haley, the article, I don't want to say it was a plant because, again, that is a disservice to everybody. But I think it's clear this is out there for maybe just maybe this will get some teams thinking, okay, well, maybe this young man isn't that bad. Maybe we can go ahead and trade for him.

Yeah, and I totally agree. Like we both said, it is newsworthy that he was talking. So to say, you know, why is this even happening? I just don't think that's fair to what is newsworthy in journalism. But I think it definitely, you know, like I was saying, there was questions that should have been asked and there was a bigger picture that maybe should have been tackled here instead of just beating the, you know, Tony DeAngelo side. And I think a lot of those kind of questions would have come from somebody like yourself

or somebody different asking those questions. And that's not us ripping Larry Brooks. That's not us trying to, you know, tear down the machine and whatever it may be. That's just us saying, like, there's more to this that needs to be covered. And I would hope that somebody different is given an opportunity to do that. Because I just don't think that this should be the only Tony DeAngelo story that's out there. I think there needs to be some more. Yeah, exactly.

Young people need multiple opportunities in like. to get it right. Like I said, I'd love to, and I understand my job as a reporter, as a journalist, people might say that that's not your job, but it is. It's my job to try and foster a more inclusive place in the NHL. And I'd love to see people work with this young man and figure out what's the root of the problem and can we address this? But I know Haley, we're going to get Steve Dangle to join us here in a second.

Real quick, we actually had a legitimate trade in the NHL on the weekend. the Ottawa Senator's Carolina Hurricanes trading a two-for-one deal where Ryan DeZingle comes back to Ottawa in exchange for Alex Galcenaic and Ced. Now, what I want to ask you about is Don Waddell puts a statement out about the trade. I'm going to read the statement again. Remember, the Carolina Hurricanes have traded for Cedricet and, I stress, and Alex Galcenaic. Here's the statement from Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell. Quote, Cedric is a strong physical forward who won the Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay last season. We're excited to add both of these players to our forward group.

Like, where's the line about Galcenaic? Not even Alex is a talented forward with a 30-goal season on his resume. Wait, nothing? Like, what happened here? I just, what is he supposed to say? We're excited to be the sixth franchise to give. of Alex Kelchenyuk a shot. Like, I don't want to be, like, you know, I'm not going to try to kick a guy when he's down,

but I mean, I would prefer a statement like that from Don Waddell than a statement like glowing praise of, you know, how proud they are to, to be acquiring Alex Galcenaic because that's just disingenuous. And we've seen that. And we've seen it not work. And so it's a little bit cheeky. It's, you know, a little bit of a savage move by Don Waddell to just like, like, yeah, there's two guys here, but I'm only talking about one.

I don't know. I just, what else is he supposed to say? Just anything, I guess. Anyway, but anyway, I just thought it was funny. We're excited for Alex also. That's all, that's all, yeah, it's. Hey, Haley, we're excited for Steve Dangle. I guess this is a little reciprocal deal because I think you and I, Haley,

were both on the Steve Dangle podcast right when we launched our own podcast, right, a couple of weeks ago? Yep. Well, was that your Steve Dangle podcast debut? Because that was like my sixth time on that show. Wow. You think he's going to get an Ottawa guy to come on his podcast all the time? Forget it.

But we're so pleased to have him with us. And you know what? Steve, I'm going to ask. The first question I'm going to ask you actually comes via Twitter. And Alex wants to know, hey, Steve, are you doing this podcast from Beyond the Grave after Edge murdered you on the weekend? Yeah. Oh, my God. Like, I died and went to heaven, but also got.

speared there off a ladder. What a, what a dumb, what a dumb life. Like, I can, I can make a video cutting a promo on someone who I watched Russell growing up and, uh, who happens to be a least fan. And then I never in a million years would have expected him to, to do one back. Because like, my wife even said, like, you, you don't think he'll actually respond to you. I go, no. And then I told her he made it.

And she's like, dude, he has, he has over a million followers. I'm just, I'm just glad like it was obviously all in good fun. And he took it exactly the way that he should have. Because you never know. Those guys are pretty intense. I thought, I think my favorite part of his video, like I watched it is he was just so calm. There was just like such like a calm nature and then all the belts hanging everywhere.

It was just, oh, there's like the memorabilia wall. And then there's like your belts hanging everywhere. It's a little bit different. I didn't keep all my like participant soccer trophies and my five year old. I learned how to skate thing and then I quit. Don't have a lot of accomplishments. Edge world champion. Pretty good.

Yeah. And that Bunny La Rock mask at the end was like unbelievable. So, well, I got to show them this though today. I got my autograph Felix Potvin mask. That's my pride and joy right there. I mean, I have a kid too, but whatever. That mask, that mask, though, it's all mine. Now what, now what years that Felix?

What years is Felix Potvan mask from? That is a good question because I don't, I don't think it's, I don't think it's like 100% authentic. There are some like little designs on it. Like there's a little, like it says Potvin in there. There's leafs within the design, which I don't think he actually had. I got this from someone who, I think they're a big podcast listener, but they ended up actually making a pretty huge donation to Easter Seals.

And for whatever reason, they came across this thing and sent it to me. And I look at the back and it's signed and everything. Oh, forget Edge. If I had to, listen, I'm very happy Edge is coming on the show. But if I had the option of interviewing him or keeping that mask, I would just simply have an edgeless show. This mask, oh, it's my favorite thing. It's my favorite thing that I own. That's really cool that it came from a listener, too,

or just somebody who is, you know, making donations. Like, that's really, really cool. Do you get stuff sent to you a lot? Um, I get, uh, I get a lot of drawings and paintings and stuff like that. Uh, sometimes. Yeah. It's actually, you know what? It's usually of my dogs.

Um, so I got a few really cool ones of that. I got this really nice woodworked, uh, thing, uh, that's got both my dogs on either side and it says victory puppies carved into it with the leaf logo and now it's like the centerpiece kind of uh of my blue room set i i love it that's amazing that's really cool sorry ian go ahead haley's just fishing now for our podcast listeners to start mailing us stuff uh do you uh do do you often get stuff mail to you yeah i love how she asked that i how did you open a p o box did you have i went to this place called shoppers drug mugs and i was like give me appeal box and they said, that's rude. And I said, may I please have one? And they said, okay.

And then I gave them money. Amazing. Hey, we'll talk a little bit about the Maple Leafs with you. And I know this is an audio podcast, but we are connecting with you via Zoom. And both Haley and I are fascinated by the t-shirt that you're wearing, which comes with quite the backstory. So why don't you fill in our listeners about what you're wearing today? Yeah. So my wife is from Aberdeen, Scotland and we go there every few years. And the last time I was there, we went to, I think it's a store called Primark, which I don't know, maybe that's like Sears or something over there.

But I randomly saw this Anaheim duck shirt. And it's not even like, it's not even really their colors. Got the copper and the yellow randomly. But it was like six pounds, which I think is like $10 or $11 Canadian. And I'm like, well, I'm not going to knock at the Scottish Ducks jersey. And so then I got it and I just wore it all around, I get it in Glasgow or Edinburgh. I don't know.

They're both great cities and I was probably drunk. So it was a very good time. I feel like a lot of, there's like a lot of random sports, specifically hockey things you can buy, like just in your travels. I've seen lots of, I was in Paris and I was waiting at the airport

because we were going from Paris to the south of France. And there was just rapid. Raptors stuff everywhere. Like the whole magazine rack was all Toronto Raptors because they had just one, which makes a bit more sense. But there was like more Raptors stuff in that Paris airport than I had seen when I was back home in Toronto. And it was very random, but very cool to see, like being from Toronto and seeing the

Toronto Raptors all over the Paris International Airport. It wasn't something I was expecting. I would have thought all Raptor stuff would be banned in France after what Vince Carter did to that one random guy. Oh, he posterized him. Oh, I don't even know that guy's name. I just know his height is 7-2. Not one guy.

You just know that Vince is dunking over him at the Olympics in 2000. That's amazing. So, listen, we got to bring you in for some multiple choice badness here in a second. But I want to ask you this. We're on the, and just happen to be the timing that we're getting you. Ottawa, Toronto are playing each other three times in a row. The Leafs are first overall. Ottawa's last overall, three games.

How many do the Leafs win all three this week? Ooh, I could see, because did Ottawa not win their last game? They did, they beat Winnipeg. Oh boy, I could see something dumb where, okay, I'm happy about the way the Leafs are playing generally, I really am, but I look at the record and I'm like, okay, even a good team should be losing more than that. You know what I mean? So it's almost too much of a good thing.

I have a feeling the Leafs are going to maybe pull off the first win. Then I think we start having the conversation. Well, I mean, Michael Hutchinson should maybe get a start. Then he gets in, it's a little rocky. And the next game, maybe they lose. I can see the Leafs going one and two against the Sends coming up because it just feels like they're due to have a crummy streak. And for as bad as the Sends are, even the worst. teams in the NHL these days will still win like a quarter of their games.

Like it's, it's, they're due. I feel like it's two forces that are due and every time they play there's some sort of weird magic about them. And I don't think any team is given the Leaf's fits the way Ottawa did in the second game of the season. So I'm telling you, I'm telling you right now, look out. Leaf fans are always full of reverse jinxes. I can just you're just reverse

Ottawa's not winning two out of three I'm just going to tell you that we need all the help we can get hey the reverse jinks worked against Vancouver they had that first terrible game against Leaves and I said oh no self-respecting NHL team is going to do that performance again

and then the very next night they were worse somehow they've had like one good period in that second game they were they sure yeah one good

period. I was happy to see them win the other night because those three games against the Leaks were sad. They made me sad. The flames were not good yesterday in that win for the Canucks. They were not good. Such an easy team to cheer for too. You know, Matthew Cichuck.

No, I am not stoked to. It's funny, there's been a few rivalries already, you know, kindled a little bit. I'm not stoked to see that guy eight more times. We got to see Scott Sabrin do something against Ottawa. That's what we need. So supposedly he's not even going to be in the lineup tonight. I'm actually kind of disappointed. I want to,

I want to see. He should play one of the three for crying out loud. 100%. Like, because even as a league fan, I just, I want to, I want to see.

I just want to see what that's like. And, you know, perhaps, perhaps the Wayne Simmons storyline with the Leafs this season has been overblown, I think. But they are clearly playing differently this season. And in their last game against Montreal, there were a few moments where I'm like,

you look a lot like last year's leaves. Just in terms of, like, their defense is much better no matter what. So that's good. But just in the way they were pushed around. And it's, you see the absence of a guy like that how it affects the whole team because he's not there to fight all the Leaf's fights. he's there to bring them into the fight. And they just seem to lack this swagger a little bit.

Yeah, it's more of that swagger than sandpaper, I think. Like, calling it sandpaper makes it seem like he's just an enforcer. But there's that kind of heartbeat feeling that we talk about with the Kachucks all the time. Brady Kachuk drags, descends into the battlemath. He Kach is the heartbeat of the Calgary Flames. And, you know, I don't know if you're going to say that Wayne Simmons is the heartbeat of the team because, you know, typically that goes hand in hand with a guy who's like a centerpiece, but he seems to be a really, really important piece to what the Toronto Maple Leafs have

been doing this season. Because he's scoring some goals too. He is scoring some goals, but they're also getting Joe Thornton back. They need, you need a guy who you're as excited as a child to see score who's not on the fourth one. It can't be Jason Spetsa every bloody night. You know what I mean? So it's, this is how I know the Leafs are still a young team, is these kids, every time someone over the age of 30 scores, they look surprised like it's a miracle. Look at the geriatric who scored.

It's a lot of fun to watch, but then I look at my own age and I go, hey, wait a minute. No, I don't like this. I don't like this new age. It's so, it's so funny because I just, people who know me know I like love memes and I love gifts and I, I just saw this one meme and it was like, me. Oh, I'm only 32. I have my whole life ahead of me. I'm in my prime.

And then it's like also me. Oh, my God. Like, ex player just turned 30. Oh, he's past his prime. Like, time to hang him up. Just the discourse about athletes compared to our own selves. Yeah. Well, Wayne Simmons, he's, you know, at the tail end of his career.

And he's a much older player. I'm like, my friends went to school with him. What do you? talking about. He was in my grade. I just didn't, uh, we, we, our paths never connected, but, uh, Adam, Adam, um, Adam, wow, went to school with that guy, man. See, you, you, you, you two are lucky. You're younger than me. I'm, so I'm the same age as Tom Brady. I'm clinging to it. I, I, I just want Brady to keep winning Super Bowls so that I can still say that there's, like, an active athlete that's the same age as me. But you will both get to

the point, uh, and I'm, I'm, I'm almost there now where if you're watching the draft, you start thinking like, wow, those parents look young. And then all of a sudden, you're like, I'm the same age as the parent on draft day with the kid being drafted in the first round. It is scary. It is really scary when that day comes. Oh, my God. That's not what I'm looking forward to. I know. I had an unfair advantage when I covered junior with one of my first jobs in the biz making 75 bucks a week. because I was actually younger than a handful of the players in the OHL that year. There were a few overage players who I think were like, I don't know, a few months older than me or whatever. But, you know, they were intimidated.

A few players, it's funny, back in the day, they were, like, intimidated to talk to Gene O'Retta. And I'm like, don't worry. I'm like six months older than you. And you're right, he is scary, but you only have to deal with him. for 10 minutes. So don't worry. You're going to have a great time. I had like a, I was older than everybody in when I worked in junior for two years

with Oshawa, home of steamed dangle. But when I worked in Oshawa, my, you know, my best friend, Jessica and I, we would always kind of shudder because, you know, there would be players and you'd be like, oh God, he was born in like 2003, like, oh, no. That's when you feel old when you're looking through the list of the new guys on the, like, the roster or the draft and you're like, yeah, he was born in 2000, 2003. Yep, nope. I'm old.

Yeah. And I'm only 26 and I was having the like, oh, God. Oh, my God. Oh, God. Now it's Ian and I's turn to be upset. No, yeah. You're not allowed to say that. So you're-

I fell old, so. You and my podcast co-host, Jesse, fall into the same boat where you talk like, you know, I'm of a different generation. It's like, no, no, no, hey, we would have went to, like, school to get, maybe not you, but Jesse is like three years younger than Adam and I. He needs to shut up. Anyway, this isn't about you anymore. This is about my bitterness towards Jesse. Yeah, that's fine. Exactly. Hey, Steve, listen, it's great to have you on the show today. We wanted to toss you in to our little segment that we do on Monday, which is multiple choice madness. So you all set to hop on here with us for a little bit of fun?

Okay, here we go. Okay, so we've got five questions. I can just go back and forth between the two of you, Steve and Haley. You guys can answer these questions. Let's start with this. Haley and I touched on this earlier in the podcast. So, Steve, I'm going to start with you on this one. What do you think was the most controversial moment from the NHL last week?

Was it, A, Tony DiAngelo speaking out and speaking to Larry Brooks of the New York Post? Was it B? Kinex owner Francisco Aquilini tweeting about the media and defending Jim Benning, or was it C? John Tortorella benching Patrick Line for what the team said was the verbal disrespecting of a coach. Steve, what was the most controversial thing that happened to the NHL in the past seven days? Aquilini made headlines because, I mean, it's an owner, right, speaking out. But at the end of the day, it's not that unusual for someone in management or ownership to throw up a smokescreen as a distraction. I would say Patrick Linae is the most controversial,

but it's John Totorella, and that's just sort of what he does. Benching people, for a guy who doesn't want to bench anyone, it sure seems to be his favorite thing. So I'm going to say Tony DiAngelo, because I read that piece from Larry Brooks, and it's ridiculous. I'll just come out and say it's absolutely ridiculous. And what I've noticed,

from his camp, from the Rangers, is there seems to be a real overloading of information to make the whole narrative confusing and they really hammer the Keandre Miller puck stuff because it's a story that's not totally confirmed and they try to so dealt with it. But at the end of the day, even if you ignore what happened with Tony Deanne,

Angelo in the O HL. And even if you ignore this and you ignore that, at the end of the day, no redemption article talking about how much you've learned is going to erase the fact that there was currently an NHL team paying you millions of dollars to stay away. And they're not doing that because of what you did when you were 17 or 18. And they're not doing that because Alexander Georgiev allegedly punched you in the face. Right. They're doing that for other reasons. why. So to me, that's the biggest controversy. Sorry if that's too long of an answer. No. No, that's great. Haley, what's the most controversial thing for the last seven days? Yeah, you know, I, like I do agree with Steve with everything that he just said, but, you know, that's always super boring.

So I'll go with the, I'll go with the Patrick. It's not fun to just agree with people on radio or podcasting. And I hate agreeing with Ian. I never do that. I'm going to go with Patrick Linae getting benched in a game by John Tortorella because I just found it was a bit, like part of the controversy was the discourse that happened in the immediate aftermath of like, oh, God, here we go again. It took exactly what two games for Tortorella to bench Patrick Line A. Oh, is he going to want out again? Like, let's analyze the look on Linae's face on the bench. Like, let's make some memes. And then it came out from the team, you know, no, it wasn't because of the multiple defensive lapses that he did have. Like, those were factual. I watched the game. He did have.

those moments where he cost, you know, he, he cost him a goal, arguably. But it was because he verbally disrespected one of the coaches and Tortorella was like, no, we're not going to handle that. We're not, nope, you can't do that here. Making an example of this, you're going to sit. Yeah, I just, I just think, you know, he's a brand new player. This was supposed to be like, oh, he's exactly what they needed, and this is going to be great and this is going to be fun. And, you know, he scored a couple of nice goals and he got a fight, but, you know, he also got benched. It's not really controversial, but I definitely think that was the most, like, headline worthy and just kind of weird, just because of that really quick back and forth that

happened. You know, there was a very quick kind of PR-ish turn there to the kind of discourse around what happened. You know, I was going to add a fourth option. If Tuka Rask got scored on when he left the net briefly there against the Rangers, I would have put that on the list, but thankfully Tuka got back into the net in time. Okay, question number two, on this Multiple Choice Madness Monday. Haley, I'm going to start with you on this one. We're looking at the four teams that are sitting in last place in their division right now. By the way, all of them missed the playoffs last year.

My question is, which fan base gang should be the most upset or worried that their team is currently sitting in last place in their respected division right now? Is it A, the Ottawa Senators in the North Division, B, Buffalo in the East, C, Detroit, and the Central, or D, San Jose in the West? Haley. I'm going to say San Jose just because, you know, last year when we were. were talking about the senators getting, you know, their pick, which ended up becoming Tim Stutzla, I think a lot of the conversation was like, there's no way this happens again. Like the San Jose Sharks can't be in the basement again. And I think, uh, just when you look at some of the contracts that that team has, some of the players that that team has, you know, Eric Carlson has struggled.

Um, you know, I just think that that that's a team that when you look at the players on the team, and again, the contracts and the amount of money they're paying some of those players. Um, you know, I just think that that's a team. they shouldn't be last, but they are. And it's not the, this is now the second year in a row where there's been a lot of disappointment in the San Jose team. At the same time, I don't want to kick them too bad because they had, I mean, they just had their first game in their own home rink. You know, it's probably not easy playing in a pandemic.

You know, this has been a very weird year for everyone, but they were playing their games in Arizona. They weren't even allowed in their own home city. So that's probably not easy either. But I just think that the sharks probably did. didn't expect to be in the basement once again. All right. Steve, over to you. Same question. Sends, Sabres, Red Wing, Sharks. What fan base do you think should be like the most

angry, upset, worried that their team's in last place right now? Well, Ottawa sure seems like it's by design. Red Wings, I think, underratedly so. Like, that team is, they really seem to be keeping the young players down and they're being very conservative about that. Sharks fans should definitely be disappointed, especially with the contracts that that team has, but how do you not say the Buffalo Sabres?

Like enough is enough with this team stinking. Like, not even just missing the playoffs, stinking. They stink. And I just talked to Dwayne Steinell, you know, the big Sabers fan called him to the radio, and he was freaking out about all the fake jerseys and everything. Enough is enough. How do you not be fed up if you're a Buffalo Sabers fan?

Duane from Buffalo is the greatest caller ever to any sports talk radio show of all time. That was epic and really captured the mood of and frustration of Sabers fans. Okay, question number three, multiple choice madness. You may have seen these floated out on the weekend. It was Valentine's Day on Sunday. NHL teams were putting out their own Valentine's Day card. So I asked the two of you. I'm going to give you a few examples.

What was the best one? Which of these ones did you actually like? Was it A, Florida Panthers putting out a little picture of Radco Gudis with the phrase, you're as good as it gets? Was it B, St. Louis Blues with a Jacob Della Rose with, will you accept this Della Rose? Number C, or a letter C here, the New York Rangers put out a Valentine with their super rookie Alexis Lafranier,

and the phrasing was simply live, laugh, love. This one might be partial to your heart, Mr. Dangle, is Toronto Maple Leafs, Justin Hall, who scored quite the goal against Carrie Price last week. That was unbelievable. But the Valentine's Day card from the Leaf was, you have my Hall Heart. Or I'm going to give you option E, which I feel like Haley's going to take, which is they're all terrible. Steve, first to you. Which one did these Valentine's Day messages did you like?

The Hall Heart. That's easily the worst one. It's not even close. It's only good if you mispronounce his name. Listen, I'm looking at, they all stink, but I got to say, as good as it gets, it's kind of good. It made me chuckle. That one's good.

I like that one. There we go. As good as it gets, Haley, are you going, they're all terrible? So it's a good thing that this is a podcast and not like a video platform because my facial expressions probably gave me away. I did not like a single one. I will say live, laugh, love did kind of make me laugh in like a, my God, that's stupid kind of way. Like, I don't know.

I'm not a, it just made me feel like I don't even know if teams tweeted these or if Ian just made them up. Like those stink like an Ian pun. They're a dead. That's a hurtful comment. Okay. On the question number four, and this is what sort of sparked the whole debate between Edge and Steve Dangle last week. I'm going to ask the question to the panel here. Haley, you start.

Who actually deserves the title of the greatest Leafs fan of all time? Is it A, our pal Steve Dangle? Is it B, WWE superstar wrestler Edge? Or C, what about any Leafs fan, basically over the age of 50 who has lived through a 50-plus-year drought? Haley, who actually deserves the mantle of greatest Leafs fan of all? all time. I'm going to say, see, I just think the patience and the loyalty that these fans have for this team, because, I mean, Leafs fans, they do get really cranky and they get very, very mad about things, but they're still there. They're still there. They still love the Leafs for 50 plus years.

My dad is a Leafs fan, and I've seen him through some of the tough times. You know, he's very passionate about his Toronto Maple Leaf. So I'm going to say, I'm sorry, Steve, you are a close second. but I'm going to say the 50-year-old Leafs fans who've been sticking with the team for a long time. I got to agree with you. With Leave fans, it's a collective suffering. We can't talk about one being bigger than the other, or I love them more, or even, you know, Edge, I got to talk to him about his little affinity for the New Jersey Devils. Like what's going on there?

But a lot of Leaf fans, at some point, they let their eyes wander a little bit. because the team let them down. For me, when I was younger, it was the Detroit Red Wings a little bit. So it's a collective suffering. I think it's everyone. All right. I see smart answer from both of you.

That's a great answer. Okay. Last question. Now, Lees fans are thinking, if ever we had, I don't always say an easy path to the final four, but certainly this year, it feels like if Toronto's ever going to get to the final four,

this would be the year the way that the divisions are set up. And this could be the year, depending on how the hockey gods lay things out, we could get a Toronto Boston Stanley Cup final. So here's my question to both of you. If the Toronto Maple Leafs got to a Stanley Cup final, but they lost in game seven to the Bruins, would that still be a satisfactory season for the Toronto Maple Leaf?

No. No, for the love of God, no. That is, in fact, my worst nightmare is that they would lose in the Stanley Cup final. especially game seven of the Stanley Cup final, that they would get so tantalizingly close and still lose it. I've seen that in my nightmares, but this one year, this one stupid year, where it would actually be possible to lose the Boston in that scenario?

You're Satan. You're actually the devil himself. I cannot believe you would even put that vision in my head. How dare you? Listen, I've covered the Ottawa Senators for a long time. It's my job to torment you. Fair enough. That is fair. Good job then. Yeah. Haley, look, Leifs fans have been saying,

we got to get to the final four. We just got to get to the, so, Haley, there's a scenario. They get to a game seven and they lose to the Bruins. Would that be satisfactory? No, I just, I think that for Leafs fans, like, Steve, wouldn't you be less devastated if they lost in like the conference final or something? Like they lost the round before. Exactly. Those, they lost a few times in the conference final when I was younger.

I am sad about it, but I'm not haunted by it. Buffalo Sabers fans haven't shut up about 99 for two decades now. Yeah. You know? I see, look at the way that Jamie Ben was last year after losing. You get so close. Like, that's terrible. You get so close and you just have to live with losing.

And not just losing, but like watching the boat parades. Like, imagine sitting and watching. And I know what's a different year. I just said Jamie Ben, but imagine watching Alex Ovechkin drunk in a fountain all summer while thinking about like the worst, you know, you just lost in the final. Think about that. Terrible. Like, what do those players do? You just throw not just your phone, but I guess your TV into the ocean. You can't watch anything. No. It's, oh, God, the worst torment. So no, Ian. Yeah. Yeah. That was definitely like a Battle of Ontario rivalry kind of question, Ian. But it's, yeah, that was. That was. That was. That was. That. was wrong with me and that's that's not the way we wanted to end this i want to end this on good terms but we do appreciate you steve listen for dropping by uh the podcast today we really

love the visit thanks for doing this look enjoy the uh the ottawa toronto games uh this week and uh why don't we allow you i think most people who listen they know where to find you but hey listen shameless plug for yourself here steve where can where can people find you and your podcast for sure well uh i got a couple staple videos on the sports net youtube channel called Hatpicks and Dangits. Hat picks are the good. Dangits are the bad. So hopefully the sends are on Dangits and the least are on Hat Picks this week. That's the Sportsnet YouTube channel. Obviously my podcast, we're going to have Edge on my YouTube channel and I got a book and I don't want to be this guy, but Google me. It's easier. Google me. This team is ruining

my life is the book and it's fantastic. Even James Reimer thinks it's a good book. Sean Fitzgerald interviewed him and James hadn't read it. Yeah. Oh, geez. I was devastated. That hurts. See, I don't, look, now I'm hurting you even more on the way out. But hey, listen, have a great week.

Enjoy the Ottawa-Torna games. And we'd love to have you again down the road. For sure. Thanks for having me, guys. Thanks, Steve. All right, Haley, that was a ton of fun having Steve Dangle join us. And as we open up the hail bag, actually, this question, this first question, is actually,

kind of about our pal, Steve Dangle, and that battle he had with Edge. So here's the question. This comes in on Twitter, Haley, on the Hail Back from Green Bear, Do Care. Again, I don't know what these mean. Green Bear, do care was the handle. And here's the question for us. You all work in sports media and have had the chance to interview some inspiring people or people that you've interviewed.

With Steve's recent Edge shoutout, who is the person or persons acknowledging your existence that resulted in an OMG, is this real life moment for you. So what's it for you, Haley? I think the biggest ones for me have just been, you know, through my work in women's hockey. I grew up, you know, idolizing, you know, the Haley Wickenhizers, Cassie Campbell's, Jana Heffords, you know, I grew up watching not just the NHL in every sport, but, you know, I like most, you know, lived and died by, you know, Canada, USA at the Olympics.

And so for me, you know, one of my first ever. pieces I did here at the athletic was an interview with Jane Hafford. And I was like, oh my God, it's Jana Hefford. She's in the hockey. Like, it was right before she won the Hockey Hall of Fame. And I was like, this is really cool. And then I also did, and Jaina, you know, I've gotten to know her really well through, you know, the PWHPA. She was the commissioner of the CWHL. So that was a cool moment for me. But, you know, I think I did a story about the Canada USA rivalry. It's one of my favorite stories I've ever done for the athletic. And I just did this kind of oral history type going through the years looking at how the Canada USA rivalry has changed. And it was, you know, looking at the

original rivalry. So I talked to like Cassie Campbell, Cammy Granato, you know, A.J. Malesco, all those players. And then I went through that kind of the middle years. And then the current. So, you know, Poulin, Hillary Knight, you know, Laura Stacey, all the current players. And I remember, you know, the story was done, I posted it and Cassie Campbell, Pascal, tweeted it and said, like, this is the best story ever done about the Canada USA rivalry. And I was like, oh my God. That was captain of team Canada. She just tweeted. Like, that was my like, holy crap, Cassie Campbell read my story. Because I'd interviewed Cassie before, but I was like, holy crap, Cassie Campbell talked to me. She read my story and she liked it. And for me, that was just such a huge one. And I think my dad has those moments

more than I do, you know, just vicariously through my career. Like, I was at home once and I got a call from from Jana Hefford and it's my phone's buzzing and he sees it and he's like, what? What? The Jena Hefford is calling you? Like Hall of Fame, Jena Hefford is calling you? I was like, yes, dad. It's Jaina.

So my dad has those moments all the time when I have like an interview with somebody, you know, specifically those, you know, female Olympians. Those are always the big moments for me and my family for sure. Yeah, you know, for me it would be, I was at the Vancouver Olympics in 2010 working for Sportsnet, and Nick Kiprios had arranged a sit-down interview for me and Wayne Gretzky. Like, Gretz had agreed to do this interview. But here's the catch, okay? Wayne was doing an interview with NBC and for their morning show, I think, on MSNBC.

And so the deal was Wayne would do this interview with me at the Olympic Broadcast Center, but it would be at 4.30 in the morning. Vancouver time. Like I'm in Vancouver, but Wayne was on NBC at, you know, 7 a.m., which was 4 o'clock Pacific time. You're like, Wayne will come into the broadcast studio, but you've got to be ready at 430. I'm like, yeah, no problem. So I'm waiting inside and they're like, yeah, Wayne will come to the door. So I'm waiting there and it's pouring, it's Vancouver, right, in February. It's pouring rain. The glass knocks. I open. It's Wayne Gretsky. He's soaking wet, he'll like, he comes in and he's angry. He's like, I don't. I don't. I don't. I don't,

And it's Wayne Gretzky, right? Like, and he's angry. He's like, NBC bleepin left me out in the bleepin' cold and rain. And he's so sour. And I'm like, oh, God. But here's the worst part. My camera person's not there yet and he's not ready. And Wayne's like, are we ready to go here?

And I'm like, ah, yeah, just a second. And I'm going up the escalator with Wayne Gretzky. And it's like a dream, right? It's four in the morning. I'm up with a soaking wet, angry Wayne Gretzky. And my camera's not ready. and we had this huge kitchen. I'm like, hey, can I get you a coffee?

He's like, yeah, coffee would be great. And I'm like, I don't even know how to make coffee. I'm like, I'll just figure this out. And thankfully, he kind of, I got him like some, I think I got him paper towels too. Like, imagine giving Wayne Gretsky paper towels to dry off. Just dab yourself off. Yeah, he just dab yourself lightly, great one.

And he dried off. And my camera person finally kind of showed up, but it was a little bit late, but Wayne was totally fine. He just sat there and we sat up in the room and he just, we just chatted for like 20 minutes. It was like, this is unreal. He's the best. He's unbelievable.

So, yeah, seeing an angry Wayne Gretzky was unbelievable. But then to see him just do a 180 and be like his normal self was, yeah, it was great. That's so cool. I interviewed, it was in a scrum, so it's not like I had a one-on-one with Wayne Gretzky, but I was still an intern at CBC News. And it was my final day of being an intern. And it was the day after Austin Matthews scored the four goals against senators in his NHL debut and Wayne was launching his new 99 red cask whiskey. Like I'll never forget it. And they're like,

so my editors and the people at the desk at CBC knew that I wanted to be a sports reporter. And they were like, Haley, why don't you go and clip Wayne Gretzky? He's launching his whiskey. And I was like, what? Pardon? It was my very last day. And they're like, yeah, yeah, we don't have anyone available. Like usually we just send a camera to go and film this. But why don't you go? ask him about Austin Matthews. We don't really, yeah, we're not going to do a story about the whiskey, but if he has something cool to say about Austin or the Leafs, why don't you go ask Wayne Gretzky about Austin Matthews?

I was like, oh, God. Like, this is so cool. I was texting my dad, and I dropped my pen on my shirt. So there's like this pen mark all down my shirt. I'm going to interview Wayne Gretzky, and I look dishevelled and I'm this like little intern, but it was like the very, it was the coolest thing because, you know, I just appreciated CBC doing that for me. They were just like, yeah, why don't you go, go talk to

Wayne, it's your last day. Congratulations. Like, you did a good job. Did you ask the question? Yeah, I did. And I did. And I did a story. It went through like the hockey night in Canada. And it was, you know, he was talking about how impressive it was. And because it was so, it was so random though, because I knew that he was launching his whiskey. It's at the LCBO. Like, this is about his Wayne Gretzky, like wineries, his stilleries. And it was kind of funny because I remember standing there and they're like, isn't there any more questions for Wayne? And I didn't ask anything yet. And I was like, I'm going to be the one to ask a hockey question here. You know, I'm so sorry. Typical Canadian apologize. And like, I'm going to be

the one to ask a hockey question. Sorry. Did you see Austin Matthews debut yesterday? And he's like, oh, yeah, it was so impressive. La, la, la, la. And I asked him like a follow up. And he talked about Austin. And at that point, most of the cameras kind of shut off, walked away because the PR person was like, all right, is that everything? I was like, ah, I've got one. Like, I've maybe got one. Sorry, can I hop in here? And then everyone kind of started coming back over because they're like, oh, he's talking about Austin Matthews, but a lot of the media had kind of shut their cameras off and left. And then it ended and Wayne's just kind of standing there and everyone else leaves and I'm just kind of standing there. And I was like, so DJ had a good tournament yesterday. And I just

like started talking to Wayne Gretzky about Dustin Johnson because he was world number one still at the time. And I was like, so DJ played really well last night. He was like, yeah, his drives are looking good. It swings looking great. Everything's great. And I just remember, I don't. I think I blacked out. Like, I don't remember what happened after that. Like, I just said something about Dustin Johnson. And, and then I was like, oh, God, what are you saying right now? I just completely, I don't know what he said to me, but I talked about golf with Wayne Gretzky, so that's a cool one, too. Yeah. And by the way, that Wayne Gretzky Red Cask whiskey is unreal. Like, if you're a whiskey officiato, you will like that stuff. So, listen, Haley, we'll leave it there because, look, we've,

we spent so much time on that one mailbag question that, uh, I think we've got to leave on a high note with you and I, with our awkward stories of interviewing Wayne Gradsky. So listen, have a great week, Haley. Enjoy what should be another great week of hockey. We'll get together again next Monday. It'll be a great one. See?

You're coming around on the puns. I like it. And thanks to everybody for listening to Athletic Hockey Show. Please subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. Leave a rating and a review, especially with Hayley's puns there. Like that, we would appreciate it. If you want to subscribe to the Athletic, you can get an annual subscription for just $399 a month when you visit theathletic.com slash hockey show. Don't miss out Wednesday's episode of the Athletic Hockey Show.

Scott Burnside, Pierre LeBron, they're going to have St. Louis Blues General Manager and the General Manager of Team Canada at the Olympic Games next year, Doug Armstrong on the show. That's coming up on Wednesday. I'll be back at it with Down Goes Brown, Sean McIndoo on Thursday.