The Athletic Hockey Show - Travis Zajac was made in New Jersey. Hughes, Pettersson, Kaprizov and Tkachuk remain unsigned as NHL training camps set to open.

Episode Date: September 21, 2021

Craig and Sean welcome Travis Zajac who retired from the NHL yesterday. Travis looks back fondly at his 15 years in the NHL, how New Jersey and Lou Lamoriello helped shape him, and how much he is looking forward to working with the organization in retirement.Plus, Craig and Sean take a look at the remaining unsigned restricted free agents including Kirill Kaprizov, Brady Tkachuk, Robert Thomas and the Vancouver duo of Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hey everyone. Welcome to this Tuesday episode of the Athletic Hockey Show. I am Craig Custin's, as always, as I always am. As sometimes you are Craig Custin's. Joined. Occasionally. On Max Boltman last week, that poor sweet boy. How to go? That's Sean Gentile.

If you're not familiar with the Tuesday All-American episode, the Americans edition, where we focus exclusively on Americans and American guests like Travis's age. Like Winnipeg-born Travis Ajax, who we claim as an American, I would say. He played college hockey. Yes, college hockey. College hockey plays for, in some ways, the most American of teams. The New Jersey Devils? There's something about.

The America's team? Every, listen, people are saying it more and more. We love the New Jersey Devils here in the USA. But no, he is. He's honorary. College hockey, an entire career spent playing for Lou LaMerello teams, basically, other than a couple years in between there. What's more American than that? Who's more American than Lou Lamarillo, who I think he started Providence.

I'm not sure about the accuracy of this. Started Providence. Yeah, played. You know, built the basketball program there with Rick Petito. That's a pretty American. I think he won a World Series running the Yankees at one point. Mayer, it may not be, there's versions of this. Yes.

Got the nets to the NBA finals, Jason Kidd. That's pretty American. Richard. Richard Jefferson. Yeah. So, like, Lou Lamarillo is America. And the devils, of course, are America's theme. And so that by, and also, I think the devil's tweeted this out.

They said with Travis Ajax, producer Jeff, read it to us. And I'm not remembering it exactly, but he was born in Winnipeg, but made in New Jersey. Is that what it was? He's sticking around in North. Jersey. Is he? Is that what he decided? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's, it's, his kids go to school there. He's, he's got, that's, that's home for him now. So yeah, it was a great, great talk with Travis. He's a, he's a good dude. Like you said in the intro, I mean, we love, this is kind of Ryan Miller vibes from him, right? Where we get these guys at a transitional period in, in their lives. And there's,

you know, they're, they're happy to talk about it. Yeah, it was, it was a, it was a fun time. despite a bad internet connection on Travis's card. Yeah, I will say this. So you, you, the listener won't have to worry about it because it's all be cleaned up and sound great by the time you get to it. But if you hear us referring to him powering through,

it's only because we had to like call back 20 different times. And this is like, you can always tell the quality of a human being. Like travels was like, hey, you guys there calling back, like whatever you can, he could do to make this a good interview.

Jump through, jump through hoops, dialed some 20 digit. dial a number for Zoom from the Lambo in the in the driveway or whatever it was he's a he's a he's he's a he's a he's a he's a so that's so definitely listen to that let's start here though Sean because my favorite time of year is is right now because like hockey we're finally returning to a little bit of normalcy in terms of the the ebbs and flows of the season and we are firmly in like the prospect tournament phase or you know coming out of it a bit going in a training camp. And with that always is the RFA panic phase where really nothing needs

to get done all summer. So there's no reason for anybody to sign. Right. And people are at cottages. And yet we always get to this point where it's like, oh, these guys aren't done yet. And right now, you know, the biggest names, Brady Kachuk, Kup, Keprezov, Kwin-Uze, Pedersen, Robert Thomas. There's like some good RFAs. I have zero concern level. Where's your concern level on these? I'm losing sleep over it. Oh, I knew it.

What is Robert Thomas's contract going to look like? Now, I think Brady Kachuk is the interesting one. Again, I know we talked about it a bit last week, so we don't need to belabor the point here. But we heard last week, 8 by 8 or whatever it was, or 8 by 7, I can't remember the specifics of it now. was on the table and probably going to happen soon. And here we are a week later talking about him still not having a deal.

I think that's the interesting one because that from Ottawa is the godfather offer. They're giving that like that would represent top of market deal for him where it's like you're maybe paying a premium to get him to stay in Ottawa. Let's let's be realistic here. And we know that it was offered and we know. that it hasn't been signed. So that to me is a really interesting thing. I mean, forget this season,

just in terms of what it means, you know, for the future of a high profile, still extremely young players. So I'm fascinated. I'm fascinated by that one. Caprizov, I'm just, I just don't, I just, we're just never going to have a resolution there. It doesn't matter how long it goes.

That one. I don't think so. We're just going to be talking about it again in five years and 10. You're like, there's going to be, we're going to be stuck in this time warp where the only thing we talk about each week is, you know, will Capriazov take five years and $40 million or where whatever it is? There's just, it's just a really funny, a funny back and forth where it's been close and not close and now it's close again. But yeah, that's, I mean, that's, that's one to watch because he's, because he's great and it's, and it's the wild. What I love about that is there's, so there seems to be, you know, there's always the waiting game, right?

and you have somewhat comparable players. You don't want to be the one that goes first. But then once that first domino falls, they all fall. And Drancer wrote a really good story today. You know, two days out of Vancouver camp, what it means reporting that, I think Pedersen and Quinn Hughes are now in Michigan. I think they're in my driveway, potentially. I can't say that for sure.

There's somewhere nearby training sticking together, not in any hurry to get to camp. But there's, you have this, well, if theoretically, Caprizov has the most leverage out of anybody because he's got the Russia situation. So if you're playing this out. Even still. Like that's like we can hear that it's off the table and blah, blah, whatever. No, but you always, if it gets ugly again, you throw that back out there, right? No, I'm agreeing with you.

Like, we can. I don't know why you're arguing this. Whatever. You know what? Fist fight after the pod. I'm already mad at you. Whatever. No, that's, that's, that's always going to be there.

That's always like the escape hatch there, right? That's like, that's the looming specter for that. And nobody else has that. That's for sure. Yeah. So, so the, in that deal potentially impacts the two deals in Vancouver, right? So if you're, if we're talking about timing this, if you're a CAA, which represents Patterson and Quinn Hughes, you're just sitting and you're waiting to see what Caprizzav does because

he's got the most leverage. And he can, you know, he's coming off this great season. so he's going to set the market. And then you've got these other two that you probably want to keep in the same ballpark in terms of what they look like, right? You don't want one of those guys to feel like the other one got a ton more. You know, on some level, it's a mini version of what we saw with Toronto a few years ago when they went through with Austin and Nylander and eventually Mitch Marner.

And I think Neil, you know, I think Neelander probably didn't want, you know, if you're going first, you don't want to look bad and take less money, right? Then the other ones you're going to get. It's a staring. It's a staring contest. Right. Classic. Right.

And so, but on top of it, you know, you're the Canucks and you maybe haven't managed the cap perfectly perfect. Yeah. Yeah. So not could, could have been better with that over the last few years. Yes. So I think that like, so this happens every year. There's always the RFA holdouts. There's never a rush to get them done.

But this year's version has a little bit of a distinct flavor because of the Russia, Vancouver, pear, more than anything. If Caprizov is the domino that you're waiting, like, they're waiting for a domino to fall that might not fall. You know? What do you think? Is it, is it Kach or Kepov in your mind is the domino? I think, I feel like we have our answer with Kach already.

Is that, is that crazy to say? Like, this is complete reading. tea leaves from me, but it's like, if that dude was going to accept $8 million a year and it was on the table, he'd have done it already. That doesn't, that's not like a wait and see. Like, I'll get back to you in 10 days. If you're 21-year-old Brady Kachuk who has an opportunity to lock in for 64 Schmill until you're 29 or whatever and still be a free agent again, like he either wants it or he doesn't. So maybe that domino doesn't fall at all. And now you have, you know, you have you have billy garren saying that they're ready to move ahead if they have to and they're

disappointed and all that like like you're like we're getting into we're getting into sweating time here and if you're Vancouver and you're just crossing your fingers and hoping that one of those guys gets done and provides the template like you might be waiting a while like they might be I mean and again this is just this is just speculation really on my part but like you might see the Canucks guys setting the market, whether they want to or not, because these other guys, I don't think you can, I don't think you can write in pen that they're going to get deals done anytime in the immediate future. All I know is without, if you're a player, the history shows if you miss a significant amount of time and we're not at that point yet, it doesn't go well for you. Like that's,

like that's the other factor is you can, you can try to squeeze every ounce of leverage you may or may not have but if you start missing it gets into the season or you miss significant amount of time that never works out like that season almost seems seems like a loss not to be overly dramatic it's hard it's hard to play hockey and it's hard to it's hard to jump on a speeding train right yes if you get if you if you if you come in and you get a deal done or you finally decide to report and it's Halloween or whatever like the the the middle of November that's a that's a That's a big, big ask. So, yeah, I mean, not to be alarmist.

And, you know, we could see one or all these guys sign before this gets published, honestly. Yeah. But doesn't feel like that's happening and it's starting to get really, really interesting. Okay. The other part I like about this time of year is the veterans sitting on the market still. And, you know, we start seeing the PTOs. And it's like, it's like the leaves turning colors. Do you know how personally excited I was this?

Brian Boyle hook on with with the penguins here. Oh, what a, what a gift, what a gift, what a gift to the writers in Pittsburgh. Yeah, congratulations on that by the way. Thank you. I appreciate it. So, so producer Jeff threw a few names at us. Who, who are you, who are you giving a PTO or a look to out of Eric Stahl, Bobby Ryan, Patrick Marl? Um, Eric Stahl.

Yeah. How dare you, though, with Bobby Ryan? I know. We love, we love Bobby, right? And I'd give one to him too. But like... I know, he can't give him to everyone. I would...

Buddy, this is my fake team. You get a PTO. Everybody gets a PTO. Thank you. Calling up... Will the Mew take a PTO? Maybe. Maybe.

But, I mean, Stahl plays center, right? And I know that he's... He hit the... He may have hit the cliff here. I don't think he's in PTO territory, though, by the way. Maybe I shouldn't have phrased it that way. He's in proper contract. I think it's one of those, he seems like one of those guys who it's like a quote-unquote PTO,

but like you know, you know what the score is, right? Like he comes to camp and it's like, yes, this is what we're designating it as, but we all know. We all know what the score is going to be. It's the end of it's the end of that. Some team is going to need, you know, a completely capable bottom six era, Eric Stahl. Yeah. Right.

And I know, again, we just said it, but maybe. maybe went off the cliff over the last year or two, but teams need centers, man. He's, he's worth, he's worth a look until, until he proves otherwise. So yeah, I'm taking him, I'm taking him over, over Bobby Ryan as much as, as much, as much as we love him around these parts. Yeah. I, I wonder if there's a, um, a team that, you know, that can do the Red Wings thing with Bobby Ryan with one of these guys and just say, hey, we'll get you, we'll, we'll

juice up your playing time and get you, wherever you want to go at the trade down. Like that might be the, if you're a veteran player, that's maybe the move where you can assess the situation. Go play on a team that maybe doesn't have high expectations, but you're going to get some ice time. You have, you know, establish yourself and then you get to, at that point, say, hey, send me over to, you know, the capitals or whatever. I think that's the move rather than trying to pick right now. I'm interested also and kind of same. I don't even know. Like, what is going on with Patrick Marlowe?

Like is he going to do it again? Is he not? Like is he, is it sharks or bust for him? I don't, I feel like he's, we've gotten some radio silence from him over the last, over the last little bit.

What are the odds you think that it just kind of ends for him without any sort of, you know, fanfare? Like he just, he really just runs out of gas and, like, like, have we already,

have we already, have we already watched that dude's last NHL game? I don't know we might have. Yeah. Better, better career than you want to give him credit for. Marlow? I've had I've he's been a joy to watch honestly I've I've loved I've loved watching Patrick

Marlon there's just something inherently fun about watching guys phase into the old man phase the old man era of their of their careers and you watch their you maybe watch their games change a little bit bit bit more and it's like watching old dudes hoop at the YMCA right where they're they're picking their spots and popping and I love I love watching guys do that that's why Thornton's been such a, such a treat over the last however many years. But so yeah, I'm all, I'm all for it. But man, I don't know. Again, this goes for everybody. This goes for the RFAs. This goes for the vets. We're talking about like camps are opening, man. Yeah, that's the great. That's the great news. It's here. And if you don't have a deal, it's fair to wonder now whether one's coming,

at least in this first part of the season. The best part in my last favorite part about this time of years when camp's open and you're like and you're reminded where a guy signed that you totally forgot where they're like you know Thomas Tatars in the best shape of his life in New Jersey where's that where's that where's that it where's that again? God that that is where he is he's in New Jersey I love that I love I've I forgot I forgot how much I forgot how much I like that deal for them because it because it's it's true they they need a they need a they need a guy like that they don't have to worry about scratching him in the playoffs.

They can just put them next to Jack Hughes and let them cook, baby. You're being mean. All right. Well, that's a perfect segue for America's team to go into America's Center who retired in Travis Sejack. Let's take a quick break and jump into that conversation. We're thrilled to be joined by Travis Ajax, who is clearly in a better ride than Sean and I will ever own.

That's better. That's better than the environment. better than the impreza, yes, better than a Subaru. I'm very jealous right now. Yeah. It's better than my first car, too. I remember buying when I,

my first car was like Accura Integra, where the lights would flip up. So I was pretty pumped to have that car. Yeah. Baby blue car. Took such good care of it. But, you know, that was true.

That's a big feature with the flip lights, though, man. Did you have like... Huge. Like, what's that? Did you have like a 10 CD changer that was in the trunk or two? No, no CD. No CD. No CD.

Yeah. What do you think he's made a buddy, Sean? Come on. Yeah. Come on. It was his first car. Let's go. Yeah.

Oh, my gosh. I always like when one of the lights says it works and it looks like the car is like winking at you driving down the road. It's the most embarrassing thing in the world. It goes of my aunt's powder blue Ford probe that she was driving in like 1995. Yeah. Exactly. Well, Travis, congratulations, first of all, an incredible career. And what is, we actually had Ryan Miller on right when he retired.

We love talking to Ryan. And it's just fun to get people in this moment, right? Where it's like, okay, now becomes the rest of my life. And I can already tell you seem pretty comfortable with it. Like, is there any anxiety or what are the emotions right now? No, it's, you know, it was emotional day yesterday. I would say, but up until that point, I was, you know, I was at peace with it. I think I was ready for the next chapter, next phase.

I kind of knew it. So I'm excited. Like I, you know, I get to be around my kids a little more, take them to hockey, carpool, pick them up for school. So it's stuff I'm really looking forward to, stuff I've missed out a lot on. So besides that, I get to work on my golf game a little bit too. So that's a plus. But there's a lot of things I'm looking forward to. And when I look back, I'm just, I really am just grateful to have played 15 years

and have so many memories of my church. 15 years. I was looking. Do you know how many people in your draft class have played 1,000 games? No, Ovi for sure, right? There's one. There's got to be guys pretty closer there. Yeah, there's some guys knocking on the door, but there's only two right now, and we're talking to one of them.

So that's, I mean, that's pretty incredible. Yeah, that's cool. Yeah, that's awesome. It's funny. Like, I like to get really nostalgic in these moments, right? I mean, I like to get nostalgic all the time. I guess it's, I don't know what happened when I turned 40 in the 40s. And so good luck.

You have that to look forward to. And I love the draft your stuff. Do you, do you, if I remember quickly, Devils traded up right to get you? Is that right? Do you know what was that? Yes. Yeah, you know what? Just going into that year, I was playing junior hockey.

I had a really good year. But I had a feel when I get drafted. I didn't know where. I didn't think of being the first round. But I guess as the year went on, I, you know, I started talking to agents. And they're like, oh. you got to come to Carolina and I'm like I don't know me and my we're like I guess we'll me and my dad just went so we're like we'll show up well we'll sit in the stands and we're

with an agent at the time and and he was he I represented a few guys with the devils and he's like oh you're going to get picnacks I'm like what's like no way like I was sitting there in my you know more suit I had my street tear. I'm looking back. I'm like, this is, this is, this is pretty funny. But so I got picked 20 if they, they traded up. Yeah. And I just remember going down and put it on the jersey standing, standing up there. And it was just all kind of, you know, really a blur. But it was just a, I still remember just, I still remember that night. And, and it was just a, it was a great experienced just me and my dad kind of there and then uh i think we you know after they had a

they had a kind of a draft party and um uh it was just it was just me because they didn't have any drafts and other in the other rounds and uh so that was uh one person draft party yeah yeah so you were so you were a one you're a one person draft class yeah for lulim for lu i don't Lou for the first or second round. And we were just kind of, I was sitting there with all the, with Lou and all the coaches and the scouting staff. And I just remember Robbie for Torque, girl in me with some questions. And I was really nervous about that. But just, like I said, just a fantastic experience.

So you're a one person draft class for Lou and he traded up to get you. That's like, no pressure. No pressure. That's no, that's no big deal. What were your first impressions of Lou? Well, at the time, I was pretty, you know, naive. I didn't know much about him, about really any of the general managers in hockey. To be honest, it's not really something I followed.

Yeah. But, you know, as you get more accustomed to what New Jersey is about, you hear stories, and you see the presence he has. And it's pretty intimidating, to be honest. I think when I was with you young men, you're you're just you just shut your mouth anyways and do what you're told so I never really had a any run-ins or problems with Lou but you definitely feel the presence you feel the of him around and how guys you know react and act around him and

he his expectations are what his expectations are and I think if you can if you can manage all that he's he's a fantastic a fantastic a fantastic manager and he was great for me when I first came in just to teach me what it took to be a teammate, what it took to be a good person, what it took to be a pro on and off the ice. Did you know you were the first guy to sign a max length contract after the lockout? I saw that. I saw that today. You were the first guy to sign an eight year deal.

So I don't know. It's just one of those things where we heard about it so much yesterday, you know, Lamerillo guy and all that. I mean, that started out, that started out early on, right? Like, you were, you were tied to him in that organization for a long time from the jump. Like, you set, you set that kind of tone back then. Yeah, you know what? I, like I said, I, you know, he was the first guy to believe in me, first guy to, you know, really know what to, you know, what I was all about and what it took to be a pro. So he, like I said, I have a lot of respect for Lou and what he brings to a team and the way he expects an organization to be run.

What a lot of people don't know about that contract is there were eight more years in the drawer that only you and Lou knew about. We can talk about it now, but it was actually a 16-year deal. It's funny, I didn't realize this until I was reading up on some stuff. So I grew up, my best friend had five brothers. It was five brothers was the family. And so I spent every day in my life there playing every sport imaginable. And it completely shaped me, right? Like, that was, we were the youngest and we just would get beat up.

And we learned how to behave on a football field or playing hockey or basketball. And I just, so I just project that. And anyone else that comes from that kind of family, like, how much do you think that shaped you being in that scene growing up? Yeah. for sure. I was in a hockey environment with three younger brothers, a dad who played college hockey. So, and then on top of that being Winnipeg where everyone only plays hockey, you know, in the winter. It's a sport for, you can play outdoors for, you know, seven months. So, you know, that was great.

I, we, you know, we were, my, my dad would take us to the rinks, you know, after school or on the weekends. And that's kind of where we all fell in love with the game was on the outdoor rinks and being with our friends, being with their family, playing two on two as they got older. So there was a lot of competition. And it was just great for us to get away and be outside and be active. And, you know, you, you know, that's where I really learned the game. And like I said, fell in love. with it. How much of that is going to be part of your new gig with the Devils? I know that

sort of does seem it seems like it's by, you know, by design, not all that defined right now, but like community stuff and in youth hockey and in Jersey. Like is that is that is that the play for you moving forward with them? Well, I definitely like I said, I love I love being around the kids and seeing their enthusiasm. I think that's that's part of it is growing the game in Jersey. I think even even I've seen in the last few years just being around, like I said, my family's youth hockey held the game has grown here. There's there's more and more teams. There's, you know, more girls playing, different cultures playing. So it's the devils have done a great job of just expanding hockey in the state. And I definitely, I definitely want to be part of that.

just like you said, knowing what it did for me as a kid, being able to be on a team, being around your friends, I think that's all important. So there's a little bit of like lore legend about how you ended up at North Dakota. So you can, I want you to tell the story. There's like there's the classic, you know, assistant coach shows up to watch another player and Travis, you know, catches his attention. How much truth is that? What was that like that process like you?

To be honest, I never heard, I didn't hear that one. Oh, really? Yeah, I think there's like a Bradbury went to watch somebody else and was like, oh, I need this kid, a two-way sentiment or whatever. I don't know. I mean, if that's true, that's pretty cool. But, you know, I think the interest for me in North Dakota was just knowing how many good players have gone there in the past, the coaching staff.

The arena was still one of the best arenas I've ever played with. So it was a good, it was a good place to develop if you wanted to make the next level I found. Good coaching staff. Like I said, top players around where you're going to play with some of the best players. And that was the draw for me. And also being two hours from home, I could go home, have a home cooked meal, get my laundry done. My parents would come watch me every weekend. So it was just a great, it was a great school, great hockey school.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But, you know, I had a lot of, I had a lot of fun there. And I played with a lot of good players, a lot of guys who made the next level. And, you know, you see the success they have every year there and the players they get. So it's, as far as I'm concerned, it was the right place for me. Were you part of the Jonathan Taves recruiting? Was that a thing? Um, I don't think I was. I, uh, you know, I played with him when he was a freshman and I just look back at that team and see all like the skill, like some of the players we had with Taves and Oshy and Stafford. Uh-huh. Joe Finley was a first round draft pick. Brian Lee was a first round draft pick. Like we had, we had some guys, Taylor Chorney.

we had we had some really good players. Ryan Duncan was a Hobie Baker, you know, winner. So it was, it's, the team we had that year was absolutely, it was, it was loaded.

Loaded, yeah. So, so that, that was a lot of fun. And great guys. Like, I mean, like to play with.

Like, I mean, talk about, like, fun and to hang out with. I mean, O'Sie, I can imagine.

And, and Dave's, like, that's like, like, of like we're going to get serious when it's college college college like I'm just college college Josh yeah yeah oh's just one of the you know he's uh he's a happy go lucky guy and yeah and you know he's just a lot of fun to be around and probably one of the most

skilled players i've ever seen like we would play like a canada u.s game every monday and he's a righty but he would play like left-handed and be better than half the guys you know skill-wise So it's like, yeah, so just, you know, a lot of skill level on that team. And, you know, just a great two years there. We were close. But, you know, I think they went to the Frozen Four, like four years in a row or five years in a row. So we got the Osi story. Is there like a young TAVE story of him coming in as a freshman and, you know,

wowing anybody or doing anything fun? Let's go. no like uh he he was he was captain serious he was the guy um if you wanted to get better you go you know you go to putts with johnny you go train with johnny um he was like he was just he's always been that that guy who's been a good leader a good teammate always wanted to uh you know always wanting to be the best and gets the next level. So, even like, because he came in as a 17-year-old, I believe. He just always pushed himself, always, you know, always wanted to reach the next level.

And you see, you know, where that's taken. He's, you know, Stanley Cups, two-way player, one of the best, probably two-way players in the game. So it'll be nice to see him, definitely see him back this year. The one thing I was thinking about when we were scheduled to talk to you is I covered that devil's kings final. And that devil's run that you guys made in 2012, they all blur together now. It was such a, it was a fun run for you guys. Like it was fun to watch from the outside. Great people in that room.

What do you remember most about that run? Just, you know, we were, I think, a six feet coming in. We weren't expected to do much. But, you know, it's like anything you make the playoffs and anything can happen. you get on a roll. And I think that was us. We, you know, I feel like the toughest round, the first round to get out of. And we went to game seven, game six and game seven, both in overtime we won.

So after that, we kind of got rolling a little belief. And, you know, we win the next two series. And then you're all of a sudden you're in the finals. And I think, you know, we played a really, really good team and kind of got down early, battled back. But, you know, didn't find a way. to win it, but it was still, it was a great run, a lot of good experiences. We had a great, we had a great team.

I wouldn't know, I wouldn't say we were the most, like, talented team, but we, we were a really good team and that's, you know, from the goal pending out. God, there were so many memorable individual performances on that team. Like, whether it was you or, like, Henrique was going off and Kovotouk was just unbelievable that whole, that whole postseason. Like, that was Bryce Salis. Salvador and Andy Gray. Like that,

that team to see. It was, it was, it was, it was, it was, it was, it was,

it was somebody different stepping up. It was a blast to cover. Yeah, no, exactly. We, you're right, but,

uh, Sal was awesome for us then. Oh, he was so good. He had, uh, he was, uh,

yeah, he was great for us, uh, Marty was great next. And then you, you know, you have Covey, Zach,

Patty, uh, Eliash like we you know we we had some we had three lines there in our I didn't even meant I didn't even mention Perisi or Eliash oh yeah by the way by the way yeah so it was uh you know it was uh like we said we had some we had some skill we but we were you know we played hard we uh you know Pete de boar obviously he's a really good coach um and just guys to play the right way and play hard and you see the success he's had in his career so far.

So fantastic. Yeah, a good group of guys, like friends on that team, lifelong friends. So those are the memories all remember. I was just talking to somebody about this the other day. Andy Green might be the greatest human alive. What a great dude. Greener is a great dude. Probably throughout his career probably the most, underrated D-Man I've played with.

And I think that's why he can still play, like, now and be, you know, be so successful. He's a great scare. He plays the game, like, in a rocking chair, and he's a great teammate, more importantly. He's a good guy to be around. He's funny, you know, plays the right way, unselfish. So all those types of things, greener, greener in body. So, you know, probably, like I said, he was, I played with him for 15 years and that was, you know, he's one of my closest friends. Was it tough to say no to those guys?

Because I know you said you talked a little about coming back to the island maybe. Like, you got, you got him, you got, you got, you got Zach. I mean, like, you could have had a little, another little mini reunion there. Was that a tough thing to pass on? You know, like, I kind of knew where my heart was. Yeah. I think it was always in Jersey. And I think at the end of the day, I also, like I said,

I also knew I was ready for the next phase. And I didn't want to, you know, you don't want to play for the wrong reasons, I think. I, you know, I've always enjoyed the game. But, you know, when it starts, when that kind of internal drive and that passion and goes away, it's hard to, you know, it feels like a job. And that's, you know, that's not what I wanted to play for. Most of all, I did, I did want to thank you for your contributions to a fantasy league that I had in 2008, 2009. So this is like, this is like the crowning achievement of your career, obviously, is your, your four short-handed, your four short-handed points that year, single-handedly won me like, you know, $300 when I was broke.

So thank you. Thank you very, thank you very much for that, man. Oh, oh, you and I, okay. Yeah, those were, uh, some, uh, some, some, uh, some glory years back then. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Uh, I think you owe me a cut, Sean, don't at least a tip or something. Yeah, the checks.

The checks in the mail. The checks in the mail. Yeah, you can, you can put it towards a mupkeep on, on the whip there for sure. Oh. Well, Travis, thanks for doing this. Thanks for powering through. Yeah. Thanks for the time and the patience.

Yeah, I appreciate it. No, it was awesome. Thanks for having me guys anytime. So I got, uh, I got time to hang out with you guys now. So. Yeah, that's fine. Don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, we'll be bugging, we'll be bugging you all the time.

What to golf today? What do you do? Yeah. I'm, shit, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'll be there very quickly. Yeah. All right, guys. I appreciate it.

Thank you for everything. Thanks again, man. We'll see it. Take care. Thank you. That was great. And I think, Sean, are you still there? Did you get in the car to go drive four hours to me, Travis? Yeah. He's like, now we can hang out. You're like, no, we are hanging. Literally, I will get in my car. The Impraza is going to be parked next to the Lambo at whatever, at whatever course he's at right now. Oh my gosh. Don't write checks. Don't write checks that your mouth can't cash, Trave. Let's go. I loved his response to the fantasy thing. Like, what do you say as a player when you're like,

nothing? It's an, it's an, it's an, it's an, it's an, it's an, it's an, it's an, it's an, it's an, it's an, it's a, it's a, it's a lifelong impression on me. I love that, I love that, I love that 2012 team, man. It was fun. That was fun. That was fun. That was biased and I think towards them because that was the first cup final I covered. So I was like that I was like, I was like, oh, this is great flying back and forth between Newark and in, in, in, in, in, that was, that was, that was a treat.

One of the worst things I ever did, I complained. I feel terrible. I don't even want to tell this story. I complained to Yon Headberg, who was the backup goalie on that team behind Marty Bauder. I don't even know if I wouldn't admit this. Oh, we were tired. We'd been traveling a lot in the playoffs. That's wrong with you.

I can see where this is going already. We were exhausted. The media was exhausted. Yeah. And it was three, I think it was three nothing Kings. And I would. We had that, we had that fake flight at the end of it. And I was like.

ruined everybody. I'm like, don't extend. Do you need to, do you really need to extend? I made some kind of offhand comment to Johan about extending it because I didn't want to have to do another cross-country flight. This guy's playing in the Stanley Cup final to win the Stanley Cup. And I complained to one of the players. This is like the lowest of the low media moment for me. I'm going to say, and he would like the nicest human.

He was like, Craig, what are you talking about? Legendarily nice guy, A. Mm-hmm. And someone who you've known forever. Forever because of the thrash stuff. So you're, I think that's why I felt like, like, we're just standing and I'm like, please don't extend this thing. We know where this is.

Like something like that. I don't remember what I said. And it was, what is wrong with you? It was just a moment. That's what that's, I think that was his appropriate response from Yon on was. Did you forget what team might like, yeah. Did you forget what team? might play for. I'm the one I'm the

one that's losing. I regretted it the second it came out of my mouth when I saw his reaction. I regret telling the story again. Now I'm bringing up these terrible memories. I was just we were terrible shape. Drinking too much probably like there's so many stories from that series because I just I remember when it

ended everyone was I don't know why everyone was so gassed like whatever we're doing is hard. You know I never just like literally playing for Stanley Cup. Like, we're tired from just going back and forth. You said that. And you said that and you physically tried to like grab the words out of the air and stick them back in your mouth. Right? You're just like I can I need to like can I keep rewind on this like what is wrong with me? Yeah. Um, I had more than enough of those. Yeah. So I take so Johan if you're listening to this, which I'm sure you are. I would like to

formally apologize. He's always he's always in the comments. John Hepberg, always, always complaining about us saying, um, too much. He's got a few suggested phrases. He was the guy who said you got a stuff saying 100%. So he's hearing this. All right. Thanks, Travis. We'll be back in a second.

We're back. And we omitted the biggest news of Monday. It's the Arizona coyotes bringing back the Kachina jerseys is their primary look. Oh my gosh. For the season. We saw the, it might be the only good thing about that, about that franchise, but we'll, we can just save that for another day. We saw the dark ones last year and now, and now they're wearing the whites.

I love what they did with this because they took the logo. They updated a little bit. They cleaned it up. Actually, Chris, Chris Creamer at Sportslogos.net did a really good, had a really good breakdown of the various changes that, you know, a weirdly iconic logo has undergone since, you know, 1995 or whatever it was. So yeah, they cleaned it up a bit. They gave the people what they wanted in at least this single way. And I'm here, I'm here for it. Just wearing them, wear them all day every day. Give me a reason to watch the Phoenix Coyotes. That's, that's, that's close enough.

Phoenix Coyotes. Oh, my God. Sorry, the Glendale, sorry, the Glendale, sorry, the Glendale coyotes. Oh, wait, never mind. I feel like it's, they, there's, maybe the cynic in me is like, They're pumping all the return of this. It's like it's a big distraction from the train wreck. That's all, I don't know. That's 100%. I can't get excited about it. It is operative.

No, I just aesthetically, I like looking at these jerseys. And it hits some kind of nostalgia button for me. This is Operation Human Shield in the form. We don't know where we're playing next year. Bring back the front. Don't, don't know where we're playing. Barely icing an NHL team. They have their, the account.

The accounting on the hockey team alone is just wild. You look at cap hits versus money in, money out. It's a mess. There's no reason to watch that team. So of course, of course they're like, oh yeah, by the way, don't look at the roster. Don't think about the arena situation. Just look over here.

We have a new logo on our website. We have the Kachina Head up top now. We brought back an old jersey and just, just like tweaked it a little bit. They didn't have, it's brilliant. They didn't even have to spend money on a redesign. They just straight up used an old, an old logo and did some Photoshop fills on stuff to make the colors match.

It's brilliant, because I love it. And I fully realize how cynical and gross it is in a lot of ways, but also feed me that nonsense all day long. I'm an, I'm an easy mark. Give me stuff like that and I'm going to just respond like lizard brain to it. Like, oh, this is great. And I'm going to ignore that, you know, they're going to be whatever playing at a community rank next year.

Yeah. Whatever's going to happen. The jerseys will be great, though. All right. All right. So I want to give my final thought here and just applaud Jonathan Druan coming forward and speaking about his personal leave of absence for the Montreal Canadians. I want to say it was five months ago.

and just sharing his struggles with anxiety and, you know, there was, I think, some insomnia. And really, look, hockey is, you know, the hockey culture has just been celebrating, powering through every injury and toughing everything out. And boy, do I, I just give Jonathan Duran credit for stepping forward. saying, hey, like, it wasn't right for me. I needed to surround myself with the right people. Because, like, these are serious issues. And I can't imagine dealing with anxiety and being, what was he, the number three overall pick.

So, arrives with white hot pressure. Then he's traded in a high profile trade to maybe the biggest, you know, outside of Toronto, then, you know, media markets. in terms of scrutiny. And also, by the way, he's a French-speaking player who grew up in the area. That's right. So all you have... Just amped up times a thousand.

Just multi... So just magnify everything. He never just got to, like, try to quietly develop as an NHL player somewhere. It was always like, Jonathan Duran, is he living up to expectations? What's the... Like, constantly. Jonathan Duan was constantly in the news, I feel like. And now we know, on top of all of that,

he was battling through this. And I don't know, I just, you know, I love that. He shared that. He empowered others to speak out about it to. I mean, you never know what these things, what the end result is. Arpin, Basu wrote a couple really good pieces on Drew and whenever all this. And I'm sure there's more in the works from him, honestly. But when all this initially hit, you know, five months ago, I think Arpin had a handle on it.

Contextualized it really well. Talked about all that, all those things we mentioned. just went in detail, did a really good job of, you know, setting up the situation that Duran was faced with, right? And I think if you want to, if you want a good read on this topic and certainly more context or nuance that either of us can give in, you know, a couple minutes here, just seek that out because it was, it was really good. And again, it's by, it's by Arpin Basu and it was published, you know, whatever in the spring. Breaking news, Sean, as we wrap off.

I see that. I know. Bobby Ryan. Oh, baby. Bobby Ryan. PTO with the Detroit Red Wings. I think he might somehow heard us saying go sign with a team like the Red Wings. No one's going to believe that we didn't know this was coming in some form. You know, it's great. We can do the Bobby Ryan Trade Watch yet again next year.

Yet again. I can't wait to get on the Zoom and ask him about the trade deadline on day one of his PTO. You get another year of hanging out with them on online. on Red Wing Zooms? Who loses here? Nobody loses. This is great for Bobby Ryan and great. Spin them at the deadline. Get a third round pick. Just great asset management. Just complete. Just true like perverse enjoyment out of watching Eisenman work, work the deadline. It's fun. It's great. It's great.

And it's going to, we're going to be there in like, whatever, five months now, six months now. Oh, you're talking about the trade deadline? Yes. We need to start prepping for this. You need to get your shit together. Oh, my gosh. Start doing your trade deadline prep work, baby. It's right around the corner.

Sean, let's wrap this thing. Thanks for doing this. A sincere thank you. That last one wasn't sincere. A sincere thank you to Travis Ajax and producer Jeff for lining that up and for all the editing for producer Jeff. Powering through, like you said. Good God. Quick plug.

If you're getting back into the podcast space, if you're return. for your hockey and you want to just you want to download them all are our we have a nice suite of podcasts at the at the athletic on top of the athletic hockey show get no sleep till belmont las and powers have been doing it front nationwide is the blue jackets the leaf report straight from the source that's mike russo's fan you don't like all these you don't have to be fans of these teams to listen you just have to like hockey and insight we all these are way more insightful than sean and i the van cast of course and le support athletic for our friends speaking.

How was my accent? It was close. I don't know. Is it le? I said lay. There's, there aren't two. Okay.

Just the one. I was referring to Arpid and Marcette's what. Oh my gosh. All right. Thank you for listening. And if you want to help us out in any way, I don't know why you would, but if you would, for some reason, leave a rating in a review wherever you're listening to this.

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