The Hockey PDOcast - Episode 60: Music City Podcasting Machine

Episode Date: February 16, 2016

We had Eric Young join the show to make his belated case for why he should've been part of the All Star Weekend festivities in his hometown of Nashville, being a Predators fan over the years, and their outlook this season. We also discuss Rick Westhead's story about former NHLers like Mike Peluso and Dan Lacouture, and how the various concussions they suffered are having a frightening long-term impact on their lives. Being a veteran of an industry which has similar concussion issues, he provides a unique perspective on how he's handled an exceedingly high number of head injuries himself, and whether the wrestling world has improved its protocol over the years. His particular stance may not necessarily be a popular one or something you agree with, but it's important to hear both sides and get everything out on the table if we wish to further the conversation in a meaningful way moving forward. Every episode of this podcast is available on iTunes, Soundcloud, and can also be streamed from our website. Make sure to not only subscribe so that you don’t miss out on any new shows as they’re released, but also take a minute to leave us a glowing review. If you’ve been enjoying the work we’ve been doing please also consider chipping in to help support the show. There are a handful of housekeeping costs associated with producing the show that need to be covered, and every little bit helps. Thanks for listening! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices If you'd like to gain access to the two extra shows we're doing each week this season, you can subscribe to our Patreon page here: www.patreon.com/thehockeypdocast/membership If you'd like to participate in the conversation and join the community we're building over on Discord, you can do so by signing up for the Hockey PDOcast's server here: https://discord.gg/a2QGRpJc84 The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Are you ready for the most ridiculous internet sports show you have ever seen? Welcome to React, home of the most outrageous and hilarious videos the web has to offer. So join me, Rocky Theos, and my co-host, Raiders Pro Bowl defensive end, Max Crosby, as we invite your favorite athletes, celebrities, influencers, entertainers in for an episode of games, laughs, and of course the funniest reactions to the wildest web clips out there. Catch React on YouTube, and that is React, R-E-A-X-X. Don't miss it. This podcast episode is brought to you by Coors Light.

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And our guest today is, I can say with utmost certainty, he's the first guy we've had on the show to date and quite possibly the only one we'll ever have that can boast about having a better beard than I do. So it kind of leaves me in a little bit of a weird spot personally, but I guess I'll have to get over it. It's Eric Young. Eric, how's it going, man?

Yeah, it's good to be here. It's like when like two really tall people are in the same room. Yeah, they're just like sizing each other up. Yeah, they're used to being the tall person. Now there's two of them and they don't know where that, you know, They don't know where they are. Now it's two magical beards. Yeah.

Talk on the phone, talking hockey, in the same time, space, continue. It's a weird place. Yeah, we're sort of sizing each other up, and it's kind of awkward initially, and then once we get going, we're just going to have this, like, mutual bond,

and no one else can really understand. Just, you know, down-to-earth respect. You're from Canada. You've appeared. I've from Canada. I have a beard. I mean, we'll just leave it at that. Yeah.

So, for those that don't know, nowhere, I haven't seen you online. I mean, I was going to introduce you as a wrestler, but obviously, I think you might be one of the busiest people alive. I know you do a ton of traveling and performing, and I know you were doing some animal planet shows in the past. So I don't know.

What would you describe yourself as? Do you still introduce yourself as a wrestler? Yeah, I think that's what I am. You mean, at my core, that's, you know, I've been a wrestler. It's crazy to say, but I've been on TV, national television every week for 10 years plus, which is crazy to say. Yeah, I mean, I, you know, host. thing three full seasons of an extreme fishing show and then an extreme adventure show,

an animal planet, kind of open up the door to all kinds of stuff. So all kinds of irons in the fire, as you will. But yeah, I'm a wrestler. That's who I am and what I've done for the majority of my professional lives. And to most people, that's weird, but yeah, professional wrestler. Well, I think you're also sort of a hockey guy. I mean, I follow you on Twitter. I know that you tweet about it a lot.

And you're a predator guy specifically. you're a local Nashville person and a fan of the sport in general. And I thought the NHL sort of missed the boat by not having you around for the All-Star game festivities. Were you kind of disappointed by that? What's funny is I had talked to the NHL a little bit about hosting some events. And we went back and forth a little bit. And it even talked to the predators, you know, they have a lot of stuff going on being kind of the host.

And I'm very connected with the predators. And I know people that work there. And, you know, I led the crowd in the singing. of the National Anthem Game 5 during the Stanley Cup, you know, against the Blackhawks. I regret not trying to beat the shit out of Scott Darling. I don't even know if I didn't say that. Yeah, you can go for it. Yeah, but yeah, I was actually in the UK wrestling, so that's, wrestling is my job, and that's what pays my bills.

And we were on tour in the UK while they were here. And it's unfortunate for me, you know, because I wanted to go to an NHL All-Star game my whole life. And they held one 20 minutes from my house, and I was in the UK, wrestling. Not that's a bad thing, you know, that's a good problem to have. But yeah, I missed it. I followed it as much as I could time difference and traveling and stuff like that. But it's, it sounded like it was a hell of a weekend. And people found out exactly what I found out in 2004. Nashville is an amazing city. Yeah. So let's set the table then. I know you're, you mentioned you're a good Canadian kid. I think you were born in the Ontario area. Were you

like a least fan growing up or were you kind of just a hockey fan in general? Yeah, still a least fan. I always explained my hockey thing. random is I'm a fan of hockey, period, the end. My childhood allegiances were with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and I will always back the Maple Leafs and cheer for the Maple Leafs and watch them over top of most teams. And I'm a Predator fan, you know, admittedly adopted. But when I moved here, like, I started following them.

And, I mean, it's a great franchise. I've had a lot of cool memories being here and, you know, being there the first time they went to the, the second round, they beat Anaheim, and they went to the second round for the first time ever. I was at that game, you know, sitting six rows from the ice, and my mother was there, and that was a really cool moment. But, yeah, I'm a fan of hockey overall, and I'm a fan of players, but my two allegiances are Toronto and Nashville. Well, I mean, so you've been there since 2004, you said?

Yeah, 2004, I moved here. Wow, so you've sort of been through the whole Predators roller coaster. I guess you missed the first couple years of the expansion team kind of feeling out there. NHL and building together a competitive team and missing the playoffs for those years. But I mean, since you've been there, basically, they lost in the playoffs in the first round for five straight years or something like that. And there was a lockout in there in between. And then you mentioned they beat the ducks to make it to the second round.

I think the toughest one was probably the loss, the following year to the coyotes, right? Because I don't think that Phoenix team at the time was any good. Brutal, just brutal, like figuring, like, you know, they go in, coming against Phoenix. Phoenix, you know, play a great system. Dave Tibbitt is a good coach. You know, they had good goal tend to be, like on paper, they just didn't, they didn't size up at all. And I mean, admittedly, like, they

walked all over the predators. They smashed them, you know, and then maybe the players were all thinking, like, I was thinking, like, it's not going to be, oh, no game in the playoffs is going to be a cakewalk. You know, everyone's going to bring everything they have every night. But, I mean, they got embarrassed. It was embarrassing. Well, I mean,

especially, like, the year before when they finally got over that first round hump and beat the ducks, They ran into the Canucks who that year were probably the league's best team. And they still gave them a really competitive series. And then the following year, they beat the Red Wings finally. And that's a huge thing. I remember, I think that was the year where Shay Weber slammed Henrik Zetterberg's head into the boards. And I remember that was a big story.

And then they kind of, you know, this coyote's team that beats the Blackhawks, no less, is like, okay, this is setting up perfectly for us to finally either get into the conference finals or potentially even the Stanley Cup final. And that just must have been such a massive disappointment. Yeah, it's maddening, you know, being a fan of a team like that. And last year, you know, like, you know, the Blackhawks winning the whole thing. And, you know, like, the prejudice fans could kind of hang their hat and hey, well, at least we lost the team that won the whole thing. Right. Well, and that was a super competitive series, too.

Alter competitive. I mean, I watched every second of every game. And I'm telling you, two bounces, two bounces in overtime that go our way, they win that series. Right. So, I mean, you can, I mean, I know that's, oh, yeah, that's the, fandom, that's the reality. It was an ultra-competitive series. They ran their starting goalie out of the net.

This tall giant beanstock of a man comes in and is never really played in the playoffs. It's always been kind of like a backup and I'm thinking, okay, this is it. You know, we're going to beat Chicago and we're going to ride them with them. They lost their captain, Shea Weber to injury. And, you know,

everyone knows the rest. But two bounces and double overtime and triple overtime. The Preders win that series. So it's a, it was a cool thing to be part of that. I mean, you want them to win, but amazing. It was amazing series. Well, so, okay, let's go back then

to the Lost of Coyotes. I feel like everyone thought the franchise was sort of turning the corner and going to consistently be this really competitive team that was pushing for moving further and further in the playoffs. And then obviously, I think it was the year where René gets injured and they kind of bought them out and gets Seth Jones

as their prize and Trots gets fired and there's sort of this uncertainty with the team. I mean, was sort of an institution at that time in Nashville. And I don't know, it feels like they've made this massive sort of philosophical or just aesthetic transformation under under the new coaching staff with Peter Labio Lett, right? Where maybe more so last year than this year, but they've been playing a more up and down, fast-paced game with younger players kind of leading the charge.

I don't know. Have you sort of noticed that? And I guess have you enjoyed that change? Because I imagine as a fan of the team, like some of those trots here. must have been kind of tougher to watch. I mean, there wasn't a lot of talent for him to work with, but it still was pretty slow. Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, like you said, it changed philosophically and aesthetically. And, you know, being a guy that, like, admittedly, like, I'm not like a, you know, I don't know every in and out of hockey, but, you know, I played it my whole life growing up in Canada. I've been a massive fan of it for my entire life. So I know, you know, some about, you know, the trap and, you know, what kind of forecheck are they going with? So I seek and see that stuff on the.

so I can enjoy watching a Barry Trachcote's team because I know what they're trying to do. I see what's happening and I know what's going on. In a smaller market, the market is trying to get fans. Maybe, you know, they were always competitive, which made it good. I mean, I remember them almost losing the team to Blackberry and Balsilli and all that madness. Ownership group comes in, heroic ownership group, and they got red capes and they fly in and save the day. and now the team's doing great. The attendance is good and stuff.

But a lot of you have that says to me, I mean, it's fun to watch. I can't ever remember a game under a trots where they outshot anyone. They relied on defense and they relied on, mostly they relied on Dukharini. They would be outshot every game and were always competitive. You always felt like they were in the game, but they would be outshot by 10, 15, sometimes 20 shots in the game. And that never happens now. They always have more shots. And it was that, you know, the fly that started two or three weeks ago, they outshot almost every team, every single night.

And we're getting beat. Like, man, like, we're just not getting bounces. And, you know, maybe we need to get Drew in or maybe we need to do this. Maybe we need to do that. And again, David Poil, with the most magic trade ever, you know, people are like, oh, well, you gave up Seth Jones. Seth Jones wasn't going to be here next year anyway. Right. You know what I mean?

Like, you've already paid at home. You've already paid Alice. and you got Shea Weber and Yossi. Right. They can't afford another big money defense, or they're going to have me playing on their third line. You know, like, I gladly do it for free. Right.

But, I mean, like, the results are going to be terrible. But they were losing him anyways. So a guy that you're going to lose in the summer regardless. In my opinion, you turn into, I think, probably the best center that has ever played in Nashville. Right. Well, yeah, I mean, I was trying to think of guys that have been sort of in that caliber beforehand and obviously they weren't centers but you instantly think of like the

Radjlaw of cameo and the two years of Paul Korea and then I guess Philip Foresburg establishing himself last year but I mean the list of kind of upper echelon offensive talents that could just single-handedly generate goals and put puck in the net or even just kind of create offense and swing the territorial battle for in their favor has been pretty short in Ashe's history I guess Absolutely. They have never had a guy that does what he eat, what Roger Hansen does down the middle. Jason Arnett is the closest thing. And I mean, you got him in his last lines, right? Yeah, he was in the Twilight era of his career, he's slow, and he definitely doesn't have the playmaking ability to, you know. Rondo Hansen is young.

Randiore Hansen is a stud. He's a big body. He can skate like to win. He has good sense. He plays a full 200 feet. Like, man, like, I am so good. had that John Tortorello went to Colombo. He ended up being able to get, like he was, I hope he strikes there. How that is even possible and how you can employ John Torrello as your coach, he was benching the best

player on the team. No, I don't know what's going on behind the scenes, and frankly, I don't care. He's the best player on the team. And now he's the best sentiment that Nashville's ever had. Well, I mean, yeah, it doesn't really matter what's going on behind the scenes. I think when you're Columbus, you don't really have the luxury of benching Ryan

Johansson and rolling with the other guys. Definitely don't have that luxury. You've been a bad team forever. Me included, thinking that they were going to be really good this year, at least ultra-competitive this year. Broowski's a bust. Your best player in Johansson is scrapped and sitting on the bench. I mean, they're just littered with injuries.

Columbus is a bit of a letdown for me this year. No, for sure, I think for everyone. Okay, we need to have a couple conversations now that I don't think anyone in Nashville necessarily wants to have, but you've got three more years of Pecker-Renae at $7 million on the books, which is pretty steep for any goalie, really, especially a guy that's been underperforming as he has this year. And then obviously you have Shea Weber until pretty much the end of time.

Where are you at with both of those guys? Because myself and my co-host, Travis Yost, have been pretty critical of the performance of those two players this season and kind of just, I guess, the long-term outlook, right? Because it's kind of hard to fathom that a few years down the line when they're still being paid the big money, that they're going to be anywhere near resembling the players they were during their primes. Like if let's let's say Nashville loses in the first or second round this season.

And then this summer they have the potential of possibly offloading one of those two guys. And I think Shea Weber is probably more realistic because I think there's definitely a market still out there for him, even with that contract. Would you be in favor of moving him? Or do you think like just what he means to the franchise and being the captain and just how long he's been there and sort of the memories that he instills in fans of the team that it'd be kind of of tough to part ways with them. I mean, for me, I mean, in the salary cap era and the, you know, the free agency world that the NHL is now, I mean, nobody's safe. Like, anyone can be traded at any time.

You know, like, personally, like, I want to see him play here forever. He's one of my favorite players to watch. I played defense mostly growing up. He plays a style of hockey that I love. I would take him, you know, starting a fancy draft right now. You know, defensively, I don't know if I pick any. bit over top of him, you know, and that's probably emotional bias, you know, more than anything,

just because he's played on a team that I've backed for the last, you know, six, seven years. But, I mean, something has happened, I mean, and I mean, such a massive salary. Pecorina is, you know, I don't know, top five paid goalies in the league, and he's not playing like that. And I'm not, I'm not the crazy guys.

Like, oh, Carter Hutton's better and stuff. Carter Hutton has played great the last month. Right. And, you know, the last game, I don't know if you signed, of that, I watched the whole thing. Carter Hutton was a beast. Yeah. You know, and I heard today that he was, I was reading on Twitter today that he probably

would be starting night and that's exactly what I would do. You mean, like, whether, you got to go with a hot hand. And right now Carter Hutton is the hot hand. And that is insane for me to even say out loud, being a fan of the team. Carter Hutton is an awesome dude. A guy, I know personally, you know, great in the room, a great backup goal, a guy that will probably have a job in broadcasting when he's done. They go to him on the bench and he's like,

He's the best, right? Yeah, he is, it's unbelievable. It's like he's a broadcaster, but he's wearing equipment. He's amazing, and he's a good dude. I got met him several times, but right now he's the hot hand. You've got to set Pecorane down, and I don't know if he's injured, and I don't know what it is, but he's not right. I mean, they're out-shooting other teams,

and if you were to tell me at the start of the year that Nashville outsuits shoots the other team by 10 or 15 shots every game, you got Peck Arena and that. We should win every game, you know, on paper. we should be winning every game, and they're in a slide, man. I mean, they might not make the playoffs, which isn't insane to say. I think this is probably the best team that I've seen them have in 10 years.

Yeah. Well, I think it's entirely on the goaltending. As you mentioned, they're winning the possession battle, and they're creating more chances than the opposition, but I think they're getting, like, bottom 10 goaltending in the league. And when you're paying a guy $7 million,

it's kind of tough to reconcile that. And I agree with the Hutton thing. I mean, I don't think ultimately that Hutton's the answer long-term, and that, like, I don't think that, you know, they're going to ride them for the rest of the season, and he's going to get them to where they want to be. But for now, right?

You're just trying to make the playoffs and win enough games here to keep your stuff afloat in the Central Division. And he's clearly playing better than Reney. So I'm cool with that. It just kind of upsets me, just a guy that watches Predators games from time to time on GameCenter Live. It's, I love when Fox Sports goes over to Hutton and he just provides analysis of what they were

doing in practice and whatnot. And I've never seen anyone that's paid professionally to commentate on games, provide that sort of insight. So it's kind of interesting to see that. Yeah. Yeah, he's incredible. man. But yeah, got to go with the hot hand. They need a spark. And, I mean, the central division is ridiculous. I mean, it's probably the toughest, I think, the toughest division

in hockey right now. And they just need to make it. They just need to get in. That's what they need to be focused on and playing hunting and riding him until he shows that he's not. And then hopefully, Rina can get hot and they can sneak in and get in the playoffs, wildcard at least. Well, they definitely are in sort of a dogfight there with, in the wild card, in terms of teams like Colorado and Minnesota and whatnot. So it's tough to just take it for granted and be like, okay, who are we going to play in the playoffs? But I'm sure you've thought about it a little bit in terms of the road you'd like to see for them potentially because I'm sure you don't want to run into like a Chicago or in L.A. in the first round.

I don't know. Would you prefer, I guess, St. Louis most optimally in the first round? And that's crazy to say. But yeah, right now, yeah, maybe St. Louis. I mean, Dallas, I think, like, they've got a, they're unbelievable. offensively, I mean, so much skill that are one of my favorite teams to watch. If I'm not watching the Predators,

I watch Dallas, I love watching Florida this year, they're really fun to watch. But Dallas, I mean, the goaltending, who knows, you mean, like, they don't have a lot of experience between the two of them. I mean, I guess, a little bit in the Army, but who knows, man? I mean, St. Louis

could ignite, and right now it's so hard to say, but I mean, right now, I think I want to play St. Louis, it's a little dysfunctional. Yeah, they do. I mean, they have some injuries and whatnot, and obviously they themselves haven't necessarily had the most successful playoff history in years past, so they might be a little vulnerable. I think the Dallas series would be fascinating, especially if Rennie keeps playing the way he's playing. I mean, that could be, every game could be six-five, just up and down track meets. Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Okay, so this is the point of the show where we spend, what, 15, 20 minutes talking about the Predators in the NHL and that was a lot of fun and we're going to kind of shift to a more somber topic. It's it's sort of the elephant in the room that we need to discuss. I mean, it sucks because hockey's supposed to be this fun thing that kind of takes your mind off the real world and allows you to just be in a fantasy world for a few hours and just enjoy it as a fan of the sport. But given the current climate and the lawsuits going on, we sort of have to discuss it. And I don't know if you had a chance to see it, but TSN's Rick Westhead put together this remarkable, I guess 15, 20 minutes kind of feature story on how some of these fighters

that used to, you know, just be hired goons basically for NHL teams are kind of dealing with life after hockey. And it's just like, it's kind of scary stuff to watch, man. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Comcions is a weird thing for me too, you know, being for a from the wrestling world. We talked a little bit before we started, Daniel Bryan, you know, arguably the biggest star right now in the WWE having to retire because of it and and uh and step away from wrestling um and it's it's a scary thing but uh to me i mean this is this is personal uh what i think about and and part of it is you know being from uh you know playing hockey when i was younger and and breaking into wrestling like years and years ago like i'm you know a bit of a self-reclained

tough guy and then like uh you know no big deal i got a headache or whatever right just play it i don't I don't know how many I've had in my career, but being a wrestler for over 16 years, I guarantee I've had over probably 50, maybe 100 of them in my career, but I don't know. And I think concussions affect everyone differently, and I'm willing to bet if you went to most of the guys that are in the NHL lawsuit, if you would have went to them when they were 25 or 30 and said, hey, you know, what you're doing is dangerous. you need to sign this waiver saying you understand that it's dangerous. They're all going to sign. I'm going to sign it.

You know, I think most people in pro sports, they're not down. I mean, like, you know, it's contact. You know, you fly around the ice and these, you know, knives on your feet and galvanized rubber puck flying at 100 miles an hour. It's dangerous. Right. You know, it's really dangerous. And I think the lawsuit is blurring the lines. and I think it's coming to the forefront only because of money.

And in the end, and that we both know that that's what makes the world turn because of the lawsuit and because of the money and because of that, it's come to light. This is something that's probably been going on for years. But to me, there's not enough proof that, you know,

because of what they did or because of their lifestyle or whatever, that concussions is the main thing or because they played in the NHL or because they got, you know, because they fought for a living, this is the reason that things are like this. there's just not enough proof that concussions is the same and that's where I sit on.

Right. Well, I think just based on kind of the gravity of the situation and some of the stories we have heard, though, I think it's important that obviously some of it is tied to money, but I think it's important that we're at least having this conversation because, as you mentioned, this has been going on for many, many years, but I feel like, you know, in the late 90s, no one was even having, obviously podcasts weren't around. That's a point of its own. But I mean, people probably weren't going on the radio and having discussions about kind of the idea behind all this stuff and whether we should reevaluate and recalibrate how we're dealing with head injuries and whatnot. Because it is, it is, there's a life after hockey and wrestling, right? Like, it's not where you're going to be competing until you're 40 and then, oh, that's it. Like, obviously, some people start families or whatnot.

Other people kind of explore their own interests and there's so much more. there's like a second chapter through your life and it's just very devastating to see some of these guys that either have their careers cut short or are struggling in life afterwards to deal with that sort of stuff. Yeah. And it's, I mean, there's no way that it's not going to come off as insensitive. But I mean, that's sometimes it's the price that you don't have to pay. Do you mean, do you want to be a pro hockey player and, you know, and being a person that's a

friend player and you're making $450,000 a year to hang out with your buddies and, you mean, and work, you know, six months out of the year, then that's the price you pay. And I'm telling you right now, I mean, when I'm setting down in wrestling and I don't plan on being said and done for a long time, I mean, maybe when I'm 70, concussions affect me. But I'm telling you right now, I'm not trading it for anything. Yeah. This is all I've wanted to do my whole life. And I'm well aware that is dangerous.

And I'm well aware when I'm 60 years old, I'm not going to be able to move around. And then I'm probably not going to be able to remember things like an average person. Right. And I'm not, you know, I'm going to have all kinds of problems. I don't care. I'm not training it for anything. And I think a lot of the guys that they're being honest with themselves, they're not trained it either. It's the same thing as I go to a powerpractor and he works on my back and when he first took x-rays up my neck and my spine, he came to me and he said, man, I was expecting it to be a lot worse. He said, there's the ladies

that come in here that have been secretaries for 30 years. And I can't fix them. Their neck is so destroyed from bending over and typing that they'll never, they'll never live without pain. being a secretary. So now is a secretary going to sue her work because she's hurt. You know, like, where do we draw the line?

You mean, and unfortunately, that's the world we live in and maybe it's insensitive for me to say, but sometimes you got to just, you know, get tough.

And I mean, that's a terrible thing to say. Yeah. But it's sometimes she's got to, you know, and that's life and, and age catches up with everyone and concussions

affect everyone differently. You know, some people, you know, Muhammad Ali is an example of it and how he became later in life and, you know, not being able to speak and stuff like that. And everyone's different. I mean, there's all kinds of boxers that don't have the same thing that he has. Right.

And it's completely different. And to say that each concussion affects each person the same is insane. Yeah. And there's never going to be a proper protocol in place because everyone's different. And that's maybe what I'm saying is insensitive, but I don't care. That's how I, that's what I think. Oh, yeah, of course. I mean, you're entitled to your opinion. I think anyone's saying otherwise would be foolish. But so you can provide a interesting perspective as a wrestler. You're kind of in the world. And do you think that from your experience, I guess you can't speak for others, but do you think that the way it's concussions are handled in the wrestling world has changed over the years as we, as we've seen some of these stories come out and whatnot in terms of as soon as you suffer one or if you take a nasty fall or something, are you, are they handling it more carefully in terms of being like, like, okay, we need to get you properly checked out before we can clear you again to go.

Because I remember, I know, I mean, hockey as well, there's these stories where a guy just completely out of it and they just go, oh, you just got your bell rung, just get back out there, you know, we've got money to make. And it's kind of scary that, I mean, from that request head story where these fighters are, you know, take a nasty fall on the ice and they'd go back to the bench and the coach is like, listen, you got to go fight there again. This guy took a run at one of our players and the guy doesn't even really know where he is, but he's paid to do that, so he just does it.

Like, I don't know, it's kind of, it's tough to reconcile those two things, but I imagine that in the wrestling world with all the stories that have come out, that at least it's been kind of approached more carefully. Yeah, it's changing in all sports and men pro wrestling. It's, you know, like I can remember, you know, people I know, that I got their bell rung and, you know, the next day we're, you know, we're shooting another television show and they're figured in and the main thing, and they hold them out.

And I don't know where I fall on that. I mean, I guess, you know, that's all well and good. That's safe and stuff. And it's sad, but, like, me, now, like, I mean, I'm sure I've had them, you mean, but I couldn't tell you specifically when. Right. I've had one. And a lot of times it's because I'm not telling anybody.

I'm not. Well, I mean, you're incentivized. Exactly. Right. Like, I'm sure if you tell them, you might sit out, sit out, sit out until they replace you, Right? Like, that's just how the business world works, right? I'm incentivized to not. And part of it is, is professional pride because that's part of what a pro wrestler was when I started. I mean, I get my bell rung and I got stuff that I have to do next day. I mean, I'm figured in a lot of the main storylines.

I held the world title. And I'm telling you now, if I knew I had a concussion, I wasn't telling anybody. Because I got stuff that I got to do. I mean, this is how I pay my bill. and that's, I mean, again, this is may come across as insensitive to people they get them and, and safety of other people. But like I said, it's, it is unfortunately how it's looked at in the world that we live in and what I do and what hockey players do is dangerous. And that's just the way it is. Yeah. It's dangerous. Yeah, it is. It's never not going to be dangerous no matter how, what you do.

And you can protect guys, this, that, and the other, but these are all adults and they should be able to make their own choices. and if they choose to make a living that way and they choose to fight a guy or take a run at a guy and they get their bell rung, then that's on them. And I feel bad for the NHL and having to pay out money

and, you know, no one forced these guys to do it. This is what they did because they wanted a chance to play in the NHL. They got that. And I've had a pile of concussions and maybe it'll affect me when I'm older, but I'm not going to hold it against anybody.

I'm making my own choice. Yeah. No, as long as you can make that informed choice and you know you know what entails and how it's going to affect you i think that as an adult you're you're you know you're all out to make your own choices so i guess that that's a fair point um i can't i can't wait for all the meanderthal tweets i'm going to get about this oh man it's the internet i mean it happens yeah i'm glad we i'm glad we had you on to provide a perspective right because i i personally have never i've never had a concussion i've played sports but i've

never played at a, you know, a high enough level where guys were gunning for me and whatnot. So it's one of those things where I can't necessarily speak to the sort of philosophy and the mindset behind it. So it's always interesting to hear from people who have actually been been kind of in the fire. So Eric, man, thanks for taking the time. Do you want to plug any stuff while you're here? Oh, I mean, up in Canada, you're looking at this year up in Canada, the Fight Network. In fact, airs every Tuesday night. It's doing great in Canada of the numbers for like network are really, really good. I'm proud of the product right now.

It's super cool. If you want to come on and yell at me about how much finance, I'll am concussions. I'm on the Eric Young on Twitter, and that's it, man. Cool. Well, hopefully the Predators will be able to make some sort of a little playoff run here, and we'll get you back on as their local correspondent.

I'd love to see them make the Stanley Cup playoffs on the Stanley Cup final one day, just so I could go and hang out in Nashville for a few weeks. Me too. I've to quit my job single all the game. Cool, man, we'll talk soon. Appreciate it, Matt, thanks. Before we get out of here, I wanted to give a quick shout out to a few people that have helped support the show in recent weeks. Paul Nelson, Ufebodeen, Julie Gagnon, David Mussel, John Lee, and Eric Mills.

We appreciate your support as patrons in the show, and we appreciate everyone that's listened to us and pass it along to friends and family members and posted it online themselves. If you guys can go and leave a review and rate the show on iTunes, that would be greatly appreciated. lot of you have already, but every little one of those reviews counts. And we'll be back later in the week. The Hockey PDOCast online at HockeyPedocast.com. Subscribe on iTunes, SoundCloud, or follow on Twitter at Dim Filippovich and at Travis Yost.