The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - The Hockey Show: Roy's Birthday Party

Episode Date: July 11, 2025

Roy's birthday celebration continues on this week's edition of The Hockey Show! We kick off the party by breaking down the epic golf course fight that involved former Panthers enforcer Nick Tarnasky before we get into our wins and fails of the week, including Sam Bennett's wedding, Gavin McKenna committing to Penn State, and an epic flex by Bo Byram. Then, Bill Lindsay of the Florida Panthers Radio Network and NHL Network joins the show to discuss the Panthers' epic offseason, how the second Stanley Cup championship has been different than the first, and the restraint he had to show when Bill Zito lost the GM of the Year Award to Jim Nill of the Dallas Stars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode is brought to you by Adidas. When the frustration grows and the doubts start to creep in, we all need someone who has our back. To tell us we'll be okay, to remind us of our ability, to believe, because their belief in us transfers to self-belief and reminds us of all that we're capable of. We all need someone to make us believe. Hashtag, you got this.

What's better than a well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue? A well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue You got this. covered. Download the Instacart app and enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart, groceries that over-deliver. Welcome to The Hockey Show. That's David Dwork of The Hockey News. Rosie and Ethan's in the shipping container. My name is Roy Bellamy. We have- It's his birthday. Thank you. name is Roy Bellamy. We have- It's his birthday. Thank you. Today is my birthday.

Today is- Happy birthday, Roy. Year number 41 starts today. Happy birthday. Thank you, Ethan. I appreciate you saying that. Year number 41 starts today. Love you, buddy.

Yeah, number one starts today. Say you love me back. What? You said- Say you love me back. I said I love you. I make it a point to not say I love you until I really feel like saying it And right now I don't feel like saying it because you love Rose. I love Rose. Yes

Thank you, thank thank you. I love you and I love you too. And I love you too, bro Yes, and I look camera on me, please so I can point my finger at the camera And I love you too because between the of the Stanley Cup final in June 3rd, we asked you to buy our jerseys at levitardaf.com. And the proceeds from that went to a nonprofit called Rescue Paws. They help save dogs and find a forever home. And thanks to you, Rescue Paws received to the tune of $300 from Shirt Cell. So we appreciate you helping out the dogs.

For more information, log on to rescuepawsfl.org. We are at ORG. We are grateful for you for helping us out there. So thank you everybody. Also thank you to Ethan's family for single-handedly sponsoring several animal Coming up today we have Bill Lindsey To talk about the Florida Panthers development camp and everything that's going on in the HR right now

You can find them on the Florida Panthers radio network Any children network huh a little bit of Panthers news a little bit of Panthers news that happened between the time that we were off. Yeah, a little bit. They signed some people. You can watch that interview if you're watching on DraftKings Network on YouTube, on the Love It Torn and Friends YouTube page. You can click on playlists and find the hockey show there. And that's all the episodes are in that folder. So please go ahead and take a look at that now all four of us have golf before right? Oh, yeah, you rose you golf. I won When I was eight years old your good golfer Rosie. Yeah, I want you out sometime you can call it golf what we've done

Yeah, we've gone to a golf course with I've played golf with Roy. That's a that's an interesting Doesn't know how to drive the cart the golf cart that I can say because I edited that video and you guys almost crashed like three times. Yeah when we go back we did not crash what the hell are you talking about? Came a little close. We did come a little close. There was a divot that we ran into. You can't drive a golf cart the way that you drive your normal car. I drive a Mustang. Yes, and you drive it as a Mustang should be driven. I'll give you that. Maybe not in the situations, but that's for another day. We almost drifted. You're not driving the golf cart this year. Who do you trust to drive a golf cart more, Roy or Rose? I know my answer. What is your answer, Ethan?

Roy. I love you. I don't know. I've never driven with Rose. I've only heard stories. Okay, I'm going to tell you the story. Once I had the golf course and I ended up in the sand. So, there you go. Like in the car room. You drove the golf course into the bunker? Yeah, so there you go. Well sometimes they do sneak up on you, you don't see the bunker, you don't end up in the...

How in the world did you stop the show? How did you end up in the bunker? I lost control and then I went to the sand and we crashed into the sand. So we just got out of the sand and we just started playing with the sand. At least you didn't... you started playing with the sand. Yeah, we were like... You made sand castles? Are you sober for this?

I was 12. Oh, you drove the golf cart at 12 years old? Who allowed a 12 year old to drive a golf cart? Yeah, then they did not let me drive, so yeah. For the rest of your life, you don't even have a driver's license. I don't believe it. I have a driver's license! You didn't crash into a tree at least.

Hey, hey, hey! Rose had to drive back to Key West to try and find her driver's license, didn't you? Yeah, she lost her entire bag in the garbage. I drove the way back, and I'm not going to say this on air, but yes. Yes. You're not going to say it on air, but yes. Yes. You're not gonna say it on air. No, no, no, because I was lucky what happened to me.

Yes, yes, you were lucky. You were absolutely lucky. You also drive to Niagara Falls? Yeah. Niagara Falls. Where did you drive to Niagara Falls from? Oh, we were in Toronto. Canada.

I just took a car. Oh, you drove to Niagara Falls. They were like, you went to Niagara Falls? I'm like, you are here, and're not going to go to the Nagara. And I was like, what is... No, we got a job to do. Yeah, you had the time, bro. I'm so sorry, but we had time.

Oh my God. We need to have like a club of just Rose butchering names at some point. It looked like it sounded like we were in a club, actually, literally. We were talking about golf and you get into a situation where you might be playing slow enough for the people the group behind you to catch up and there are Scenarios yeah, it happens it happens. Yeah, and you get into a few scenarios a few things can happen You can let them play through they can join your group They can gracefully wait for you or shenanigans can have you can hit into them. Yeah Yeah, you can speed it up

asshole. Your T-shock can hit somebody in the back. Yeah, but anyway, shenanigans can happen in that fourth instance and shenanigans did happen in this instance because one of these guys in one of these groups did not know that he was running into former NHL enforcer, nasty Nick Tarnaski. And this guy plays for us. Here we go. Go now. Pack up, go now. This guy is incredibly drunk.

Yeah. And- Wait, is that the hockey player? No, no, no, no. Here comes the hockey player. You'll know. You'll know. Oh my goodness.

Into the lake. Oh my God. Now this was in Canada right? See this is where a fight usually ends. Do they have gators in Canada? No. When one participant gets tossed into a body of water usually that's the end of the fight. This is the best. He's saying bang as he's throwing punches into the guy's face. And then he pushes the friend off he's like no you cannot help him. Grabbing of the collar. But he had just gottenrenched, so maybe he wanted to hang on to him from a slippery standpoint. Listen to the sound the punches make when it hits his face. He even set it off!

I know, he's like, what? That's the best part right there. The toss. The toss is the best part. Can we slow this down like we were doing on the main show and get him just frozen in midair as he got tossed? Yes. Get out of here. Get him out of here. Get him out of here, Blue. Now, we're going to rewind here.

But I want to rewind to where he actually got up, because it was a nice little wobble. Oh, this is the best. Right here. Right there. Oh my goodness. He definitely was like, oh, strong. Almost lost consciousness. That's the freeze frame. That's the ultimate freeze frame right there. Oh my goodness. He

That's the ultimate freeze-frame All the way back to where he grabbed his collar like all my goodness Oh keep going all the way back now do it when he get up look at his wobble like you look at this Why he just got up you can go ahead and play it now. He punched him bang bang Have this collar You can go ahead and play it now. You punched him bang bang bang Bang! Grabbed his collar Ooh! Now watch him get up His head just like whipped into the ground there Watch his wobble

Wobble! Whoa! That's a bar wobble That's a wobble I've seen That's second trip to the bathroom at the bar wobble right there How? You guys have all heard of hangxiety obviously right? That has to be the worst case of anxiety anybody's ever had right

Yeah, I fought a NHL hockey player. He threw me into a lake twice. Yeah, it's great video evidence I mean that's definitely gonna play at that guy's wedding someday Yeah, that's going viral and maybe this guy can get some money out of it by suing Tarnaski or The video evidence is pretty clear that he was the aggressor. He might have gotten his ass kicked. I'm gonna go play golf too so I go viral. Tempted murder for being thrown into a lake. You're gonna go golfing so you can go viral? What? You're shot? Yeah, what's gonna make you go viral? I don't know, I'm gonna go find it. You're gonna go find a hockey player to fight? I don't know. No fighting no. My face is too precious to fight.

What? Hey this is the money. Wins and fails in the week is presented by Jägermeister. Serve it cold or don't serve it at all. Jägermeister damn that's cold. For more visit Jägermeister.com drink responsibly. Dave what's your win? My win of the week we're going back to a former Panther a goaltender a man who I enjoy talking to Alex Lyon He played for the Panthers You remember the Lion King if not for Alex Lyon like this this whole Panthers Amazingness that we've been experiencing for the last three years may not have even happened Yeah, cuz if not for Alex Lyon They might not even made the playoffs in 2023 back when they beat Boston and went on that crazy run and the Blackhawks

Thank You Peter Morazzic. We appreciate you all in Chicago. So Alex Lyons signed with the Buffalo Sabres this offseason and gave an interview. He's kind of known for giving great quotes. He's just a good thinker. He's a big F1 fan. So he had some gems when he spoke to the new Buffalo media. There's a bit of a compilation of them. I thought we could play them and enjoy a little bit of Alex Lyons, so if you'd please. You do need the Xs and the Os,

but you also need the Jimmies and the Joes. Gotta have the Jimmies and the Joes. Yeah, don't forget about the Joes. You just have to figure out the things that work for you and stick to them and hold them in your hand like a fragile baby bird. You stop reading books quite as much and you don't realize that you really can't read at the same level you did before.

So you know a lot. You got to be the most competitive guy on the ice tomorrow. If you continue to bring passion and energy through the bad times. Stu gots is mad. Stu gots wishes he could put on this kind of masterclass. It's always nothing but battle. And the hamster wheel never stops spinning really. So, but I was probably a sleeping monster

unless you're, you know, whatever. Usain Bolt, like I said, I've been on the receiving end of some shellac kings by the Sabres here in the last few years. So I know how dangerous this team can be. There's no off position for the genius switch. No. Is this sarcastic? No, this is just Alex Lyon being Alex Lyon.

He's unforgivably awesome. Like I love the fact that he could just let it rip. He's got like no filter. He's just a good dude. I love it. My winter week, it's cuffing season everybody. This is around the time in the off season where everybody gets married.

Matt Dickachuk's gonna get married soon. Yes he is. Yes he is and maybe he's gonna get surgery. Who knows? It's gonna be some great video from that one. Yeah, I'm sure there's gonna be a lot of drug panthers and fellow hockey players going to. Yes, Chuck is getting married.

Rose, she's not worried about the surgery thing you said. She's like, Chuck, is he getting married? What? The latest wedding found Sam Bennett putting that wedding band on his new wife. Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Bennett. Congrats to Sam and Zoe. Yeah, and of course there's only one way

for Sam to come out to his reception. The sign of dogs barking. Yeah. It's to the Panthers Go song. Hit it. Let it go. It's been too long since we've heard this. Yeah.

Yeah, the last time we heard it, the Panthers raised the Stanley Cup. Yeah, so congratulations to raised the Stanley Cup. Oh, oh, long, long time is coming to the NCAA. My win of the week goes to the Penn State Nittany Lions for getting Gavin McKenna, who is going to be surely the number one pick in the 2020-26 draft. This kid is unbelievable. He has hyped the likes of Connor Bidard,

maybe even in the Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid. Don't you dare mention his name. You don't want Roy to hate the kid before he even gets to the league. This kid is supposed to be. Take back my I love you. This kid is supposed to be the next big thing. And Penn State, they went to their first Frozen 4 last year

and now they've got the best player in the country coming to play in their program. So huge for the Nittany Lions. It's a huge moment for NCAA hockey as well to get this big of a star coming over to college hockey as Bucci would like to say. So the big moment for college hockeyittany Lions. It's a huge moment for NCAA hockey as well to get this big of a star coming over to college hockey, as Bucci would like to say. So the big moment for college hockey. Very excited.

Emily Kaplan. And big win for us as well. Sarah Sivian is Penn State girls. So big win for all hockey fans as well, because we get to watch Galvin McKenna more excessively. Rosie. Rosie. Rosarius.

Rio Micas. Oh, there we go. Oh. Oh. Rosa in un minuto. Rosie, Rosarius, real mic is, oh there we go. Oh, oh, Rosa in un minuto. That is a shocking situation. Celebrating today Roy's 41th birthday and he was so happy he came in, put my shirt off camera and the thing is that Roy came in

and he was not that happy and then I started screaming I was like woo hoo Roy it's your birthday woo hoo and that happy. And then I started screaming. I was like, woo hoo, Roy, it's your birthday. Woo hoo. And then he started smiling. Everybody started singing. I understand everything she's saying right now. Yeah, except the music's too loud. That was a minute or 40 seconds?

22 seconds. No, it's 22 seconds. Rosa in half a minute. That's also my win of the week, Roy's birthday. Rosie was like, ha ha ha ha. She got up and just ran and hugged me. I appreciate you. Fails of the week, David, go ahead.

All right, my fail of the week. Go ahead, go ahead. Thanks, dude. There's been a lot of attention over the last week or so around Sabres, Defenson, Bo Bynum, 24 year old. Byrum, that's a fine. I said Byrum. You said Bynum, like Andrew Bynum, Bo Bynum, it year old. He's an RF. That's a fine. I said Byron.

You said Bynum like Andrew Bynum. Oh, Byron. It's a fine man. $2. It's Bo Bynum. Excuse me. You fail. Yes, my fail.

So there's been a lot of talk about Bo Byron. Thank you, Ethan. Is he, he's an RFA. Is he going to stay in Buffalo? He's going to go. I don't know. That's not what this is about. This is about a video that popped up starring him.

That's from like two years ago. And it just made me laugh a lot lot so I'm using it as my fail of the week it's Bo at what looks like based on the background the global series in Finland a couple years ago and he basically eviscerates avalanche sideline reporter Kyle Keefe just play the audio this is awesome like my jacket oh yeah does yours have your name in it no my, my name's on the cup though. Oh no. There's no better comeback than no, my name's on the cup. Why did the Aves trade him for KC Middlestadt?

They're idiots. They're idiots. My favorite week, the New York Outlanders. We're back. We're back because these idiots signed Anthony D'Angelo to a contract extension one year at $1.75 million

dollars they just did not learn the lesson but as always said those right leaning I mean right defensemen yeah the right handed shot defensemen don't grow on trees no he does not rose like that defeats the purpose of what I'm talking about pizza joint down the street it is a good name. It is a good name. Well, look up the racist incidents that he's had and the stories that he's said, the incidents with Keandre Miller. The whole suspension situation, remind us. Look all that up because this guy doesn't deserve now a seventh chance in this NHL career.

So yeah, he's a terrible teammate, a terrible person, and I hope the Islanders fail miserably this season. Ethan, you're failed. I look forward to you bashing them all season, by the way. Sorry, Ethan? My fail of the week, my fail of the year, my fail of the lifetime, Jim Neal won the Jim Gregory again over Bill Zito. It's the most ridiculous thing ever.

It gets more and more ridiculous by the day. We'll talk about it more later, hopefully, in the show, but this is just the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen, that he won the Jim Gregory for a third time. No, we'll talk about it more later, hopefully in the show, but this is just the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen that he won the Jim Gregory for a third time. No, we will talk about this. We're going to talk about this with Bill Lindsay of the Florida Panthers Radio Network because this is a travesty and I don't appreciate how this happens. It's bullshit. We're going to talk to Billy Lindsay coming up next. Hey everybody, it's Mike down Down here in South Florida, as the audience well knows, we've been celebrating a proper championship and we've been enjoying every minute of it. And by my side throughout that entire championship celebration has been Miller Lite. Yeah, I

wanted to make my championship time a Miller time because much like most of the fun memories I've had as an adult, Miller Lite has been right there by my side supplementing every experience. And now that I'm about to travel during the summer, you can rest assured, I'm going to be having plenty of Miller Lite along the way, because that's what summer is all about. And since 1975, Miller Lite has been right there in all those memories for you listening right now. It's the 50th anniversary of Miller Lite. That's 50 years of great taste, great friends, great moments. Miller Lite, great taste, 96 calories. Go to MillerLite.com slash Dan to find delivery options near you, or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much

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For the first time ever, the 32 best soccer clubs from across the world are coming together to decide who the undisputed champions of the world are in the FIFA Club World Cup. The world's best players, Messi, Holland, Kane, and more are all taking part. And you can watch every match for free on Dazon, starting on June 14th and running until July 13th. Sign up now at dazon.com slash FIFA.

That's D-A-Z-N dot com slash FIFA. We are joined by Bill Lindsay of the Florida Panthers Radio Network and Stanley Cup champion. Stanley Cup champion. Two time. Two time. Stanley Cup champion. Florida Panthers Radio Network also an analyst for the Angel Network.

Let's not forget that. He's national. So this has been an excellent off season for the Florida Panthers and it must have been an excellent off season for you Billy. Did you get to spend some time with the Cup? Have you been fishing? Have you been golfing? What's going on?

Yeah, the parade, we got a little time with it. I got my pitchers last year with my dad was special. This one just wrapping around, can't believe we're back to back Stanley Cup champions and what this group was able to do. I had a hard time wrapping my head around when everyone would say defending Stanley Cup champions last year. Now it's really going to be mind-boggling as we go into this next season saying back-to-back defending Stanley Cup Champions. Florida Panthers, it's hard to get used to for myself. Yeah, the parade was awesome. Got some time around the cup. That's enough for me. The second

go-around, don't need a lot. Last year was made pretty special by the organization, same thing. But it's the players that earned it, deserved it. GMs, the coaches, everyone that put in the hard work they deserve their time around the cup and to be with it and celebrate it what a what a wonderful group of individuals men that they assembled on that ice to get that accomplished and for myself a little bit of golf and now it's fishing time down here in the keys a little bit for me. If you can't wrap your head around saying the words defending champions just waiting to say three Pete. Oh Banners up there next year. Can't wait to see them right next to each other. That's great

The Panthers yesterday signed Macky Samuskevich to one-year deal yesterday on any other team in this league He would be a top nine forward. Most teams will have them as a top six forward, but he's Stanley Cup champions. He barely sniffed the playoffs. You only got to play in four games, five games during the playoffs, none in the conference final, none in the Stanley Cup final. Do you see his role expanding anytime during this next season? Yeah, there will be a point for Mackie Samaskkevich that he's going to be an integral part to

this team. It's sometimes easier as a young kid coming in as far as grabbing a spot when you go to a place that is struggling, like maybe a Buffalo, somewhere like that. But if you get into a footing and you get leadership like this, you are learning everything and more as a young player for Maki Samuskevich that you could ever ask for. So he's going to be light years ahead of the curve. Once he finally does develop into that top six, top nine forward, there's going to be a chance throughout the course of the season.

We threw it, saw it last year, injury. So it plays a role. And right now we're, I believe, three million over the cap as we head in to the season. There is going to be, have to make some roster adjustments, some tweaks. We don't know how that's all going to the season. There is going to be have to make some roster adjustments, some tweaks. We don't know how that's all going to sort out. But Mackay Samuskevich, an elite shot, an elite skill maker, and we need players on entry level deals when you win back to back cups. Bill Zito, fabulous job keeping this group together. But for the most part, Mackay's going to, Mackay will be there and they have high huge hopes for him in the future.

Billy, you talked a little bit about kind of the difference year over year, defending champions, back to back champions. It's a luxury, right? To be able to have firsthand knowledge of being able to compare and go through year over year. So I wanted to ask you just from your perspective, how different was this year going through the run to the cup, winning the cup, the whole experience on the ice? How different was it for you year over year?

Because for Roy and I, both awesome experiences, but very different experiences. So obviously you've got a much more in-depth perspective than we do. Yeah, David Roy, I would agree with you. They were different experiences. Last year, the game seven, nail-biting, trying to win your first Stanley Cup,

and they're able to get it done. And when you have that relief, that burden off your shoulder, it comes into this year, and you want that back-to-back cup. But you you have that relief, that burden off your shoulder, it comes into this year and you want that back to back cup, but you already know that you have that one in your back pocket. So there is a bit of a sense of, okay, we've done it. Now is it really possible for us to do it one more time? So that's where I kind of look at it

and went through the ups and downs as we got my washer. He cut my, the wife sneaking in doing the laundry in the background. Real life, happening on the hockey show. Yes. You love it. There we go. The wash is done.

So that's all good, guys. I'm going to text my wife and check her heart. But for me, the experience, it was really, I got to cherish it this year. Soak it in during the regular season. I knew we were going to be a playoff team. We were resting, just didn't care about that spot. I was interested once the playoffs started, how we were gonna all fit with Marchand Jones and resting players down the stress.

But I asked Paul Maurice where his team was at and what he was feeling for the most part as he headed in as far as his top nine forward grouping. And he says, I know exactly where everyone fits in this puzzle and we're playing extremely good defensively. We're gonna be ready for the playoffs. And that was with about five, six games left. That kind of settled me down and made me understand,

okay, this is gonna be okay. And then once they dropped that puck against the Tampa Bay Lightning, I saw the first couple of games, I thought, okay, this is real again. These guys fit and we're gonna have a chance. And as the run went on, series by series, I just made a point of myself to soak everything in.

Because this might never happen again, it might next year, but you just never know what kind of possibility that is all going to be and play out. Boy, did I get to soak it all in in game number six this year. Just sit back last year with all that excitement throwing everything around. I took my headset off with a minute and a half left in the game. This is exactly what I was gonna ask you about Billy is last year there was obviously that amazing moment where you're you know I can hear you in Doug's

chest you know crying and hugging him and so what was it like this year in terms of kind of did you say to yourself? Hey, maybe this year just kind of lay out or what was how was the call different? Yeah, I knew this year I was gonna lay out no matter what even if it was game seven double overtime That was enough. I blew it up. I blew it up one time for Doug. I wasn't gonna do it again Those are special calls for radio play-by-play guys and jumped over it. It worked out All right in the end some people hated it, some people loved it. I thought it was perfect. It was pure emotion on my behalf, but act there like you've been

there before, right? And we have. Well now we have. We hadn't been there the first... That was what was so great about it, I thought, Billy, was it was all the emotion of 30 years. Yeah, well and it worked out beautifully this time because we had the big lead and I just just just could sit there I took my headset off with a minute and a half and I've said this is gonna be Doug's for the last minute and a Half until about 30 seconds after the game I took my headset off and just kind of sat back there and just listened to the fans watch the players on the bench And just more of a surreal

Experience being able to soak it all in and it was just the best feeling that I ever could have just sitting there with a fan. So it's totally different in so many ways, but uniquely special in their own right. It's hard to describe, but I guess the word cherish is the word that I would use more this year. Being able to understand last year was a blur. I was just able to just really appreciate every second of that playoff run that I possibly could just knowing really what this meant to everybody on the Panthers and that South Florida community. The Panthers held the developmental camp last week, and there have been a few

famous instances of brothers playing on the same team. You got the Stasneys, you got the Sutters, you got the Sedines. And funny enough, the Panthers have brothers in their Dev Camp, whose last name begins with S ironically, as Lucas and Grayson's Sarchen. How do they look in camp? And are there any other names from these prospects that you think will make a jump? Yeah. So all the prospects right now, all that you mentioned, Roy, all you have to do

is go down the contract list and kind of, especially once after this year, this training camp schedule's gonna get a little bit shorter and they're gonna have to be able to figure things out as we go to the 84 game schedule on 26, 27. But the names that you mentioned and everyone, they're gonna get their opportunities in these development camps. They'll get a shot training camp to play a lot of hockey

But most of them are gonna be destined to Charlotte So the better your training camp is the the higher on the radar you stick out Then you get just placed on the call-up line But I can go down through the contracts right now and tell you there's no spots available at this moment Wow, and especially It's even a past the top 12. So that's where it goes into. And you have to figure out with the prospects some of the higher end ones and what you're

looking at as far as development. Do I call them up and play them in a fourth line role? Or if they're a top six player, someone goes down to my top six, nine, can I get them in here, give them a little bit more ice time for a bit, help further their development and then get back down to Charlotte. And that's how you have to,

on a really strong team like this, like the Panthers, you're gonna have to see those marks and those early signs that they can play in the NHL, but most of the damage that they're gonna have to do is gonna be very, very short windows. Train camp, development camp, maybe one or two call-ups, and then down at Charlotte, you have to play your tail off and prove that maybe you belong in the NHL. To crack the door on a team like this, this one back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships

is one of the hardest things to do as a young player. We'll see how it all plays out. The Panthers do have some prospects down deep in that pool and they will have to develop them. But Charlotte was really good last year, lost in the Calder Cup Final. Hopefully they continue on that trajectory. If they do, then we're going to see more and more be able to just kind of infiltrate this lineup as we go. Billy, I wanted to real quick ask you about something completely off topic and that's nicknames. You've been called Chilly Billy, Chilly Willie.

Billy, yeah. You've been called Kill Bill. You had some good nicknames. What have been some of your favorite that your teammates or the other guys have had that kind of stand out to you when I bring up funky nicknames? Yeah, Chilly Willie was the first one that kind of stuck, and that goes to our, he's an assistant equipment manager now. He was our head equipment manager and has been with us since day one, is Scott Tinkler. So you remember down in Selfie Street, the Wet Willys? Oh yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Me and Scott and our families and wives, we used to go down there some afternoons. It's a little after practice place to go, right? No, no, not after practice. It might be more in the summertime or different. Down when we played in Miami maybe after a game but yeah for some reason Tink just it's not wet willies we're going to chilly

willies so it's yeah that's where it kind of stuck and that's for South Florida that's it a couple of people Ray Shepard actually my middle name is Hamilton that's nice so So, Hammy. I kind of really appreciate this one. Hammy got around the locker room a little bit with some people. Ray Shepard to this day still calls me Hammy. That's a good one. So I like Hammy, my middle name.

When that kind of bounces around, I think it's kind of unique. So, Chilly Willie, Hammy. You mentioned the kill bill I probably had some ones from other teammates or not other team teammates other teams that were probably a little bit less flattering Yeah, a little bit a little bit less less flattering the interesting thing about the kill bill one was when I went over to Germany I went over there and that's when that kill bill show came out and first day I arrived in Germany for some reason on the front of their newspaper coming to the clone shark kill Bill I was like, okay

It was it was weird. It was out of left field, but They loved it over there and kind of ran with it But the one that the two that have stuck is is chilly Willie and hammy Pitching you in the Uma Thurman yellow jumpsuit. I was just going to say there needs to be a poster for Panther, the Panthers radio network with Bill Lindsay wielding a Hattori Hanzo sword. William Hamilton Lindsay. Good reference.

Billy, I want to ask you, obviously the story of the off season was what the Panthers just bombing free agency by resigning all three of their guys and just basically putting an end to it. For you, which of the three signings was most important? Aaron Ekblad, Sam Bennett, or Brad Marshan? Sam Bennett. He's the motor on this team. He's the engine. When he's out of the lineup, we miss him a lot. There's a lot of guys that can really drive it, bark off, could chuck different kind of players, but the energy and enthusiasm that Bennett plays with, it's kind of contagious. He can drag

everyone into the fight altogether. It's a mean brand of style and Sam Bennett gets played a lot. Regular season numbers are decent, but it's the intangibles. How much are the intangibles worth? Well, we saw it in the playoffs with the Con Smythe. I believe he led the team in hits, shots, goals, roll goals, all kinds of records. So when it comes to at the most meaningful moments, Sam Bennett seems to be there. So that's a huge one to get done, still a pretty young age, and to keep him into the fold. After that, Aaron Atblad, that's a good deal,

been here a long time, maybe has a chance to be a lifetime Panther at this. We'll never know how that plays out, but that was the one that I thought maybe would walk. And Brad Marshand wasn't curious how they were going to do it, but given the six years, Bill Zito just seems to have this kind of magic. He said he thought he could get all three back. He did, which was kind of mind-blowing. I thought we'd maybe have a chance on Bennett, a pretty good chance on Marshan.

And I thought maybe Eklat was going to test the free Asian market. So to get Eklat, I would say that's kind of the most surprising one. And Bennett was the hugest one to get done. You mentioned Bill Zito and I'm still really angry about this. Now, obviously winning the Stanley Cup is more important than winning any individual award, but it makes no sense to me why Bill Zito didn't win the Jim Gregory award for GM of the Year. It makes even less sense that he was left off of seven ballots by the voters.

He was left off of seven ballots. Seven people did not vote for him at all. Does this make- How many teams are in Canada? Seven. There's seven teams in Canada, I believe. So explain to me, just based on the moves they just did this all season, why he's going to lose out to Jim Neal again this year. Roy, you know how hard I had to stay off Twitter and all these? When I saw that come out, I had a bunch of stuff that I was typing down and kind of getting ready

And getting prepared to go and when I looked at it at the end. I just said nope there goes the wife Again, she's crawling and I don't know. I called my incident. Best interview ever. Did you use fabric softener? I love it We got fabric did we use fabric softener? Throw some of those beads the smell it the beads that make it smell nice in there Yeah, I don't know she She's got it going, but... So to get back to... So I had to... So I typed that out, Billy, come on. No fading.

Remember the golden rule of Twitter when you type something and before you hit send, for me always asking, are you questioning this before you send it out? Yeah. I did it about five or six times with Bill Zito and never hit send for me always asking, are you questioning this before you send it out? Yeah. I did it about five or six times with Bill Zito and never hit send. Yeah. I was like, yeah, I probably shouldn't hit send on this. But I was like, okay, Jim Neal does a nice job, but Forsling, Verhaggie, Bennett, Kachuk, three straight trips to the Stanley Cup. Yeah, that doesn't add up in anybody's world. It's the Panthers. It's the freaking Panthers who were like terrible before Zito got here. What are we doing? Look at my shirt.

The two greatest things about this, Roy and David, is that you are going to have, you got the Cups, Bill Zito, individual awards, they would love to have them, but they are secondary to winning a Stanley Cup. We keep winning Stanley Cups. If they don't like us, if they ain't us, they hate us, that's fine. There is a lot about that with the Panthers and the way that they play, but there is no denying Bill Zito just should be GM of the Year one of these last two years. No discredit to Jim Nill and it's hard, but everyone knows it. So I guess that's a good point. Outside of the voters,

I guess the majority of the hockey world, if you pulled them, Bill Zito would be GM of the Year. Seven people didn't vote for him. But yeah, Zito doesn't have anything to prove. And remember, Chilly Willie, the internet is forever. That is, the internet is forever. You have to, you definitely have to be careful out there with what you're going to send out and post. And that is a true statement.

It's also true when they vote. Forever. You can look back on these votes and see who picked out Jim Neal all the time over Bill Zito. Well, we appreciate you Billy for joining us here. Bill Lindsay of the Florida Panthers Hockey Network and NHL Network. Bill, thank you for joining us. Thank you guys. Happy birthday Roy. Thank you. Have a great one. Thank you. I appreciate you Billy. Thank you. Love you Billy. Love you guys. Thanks to Bill Lindsay again for joining us on the hockey show. We are not on next week. We are back July 25th For everybody here. Happy birthday Roy. Thank you Ethan. I appreciate you for everybody in the back You do it again. I love you. You gotta make it weird. I mean come on

I'm trying to close the show over here for Gino and Jason for Ethan and Rosie for David. My name is Roy We will see you July 25th everybody