The Steve Dangle Podcast - The Steve Dangle Podcast - Aug 30, 2016 - Nick Kypreos

Episode Date: August 30, 2016

On this episode, Nick Kypreos joins the show to talk about calling Steve a loser, PK Subban, the Oilers, Leafs, winning the Cup, old hockey stories, and why Doug MacLean is wrong. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Panago Pizza presents S.T.P. The Steve Dangle Podcast with your hosts, Steve Dangle and Adam Wilde. Well, the moment has finally come. We're finally here. Steve's back from vacation in Scotland. I hope they toughened you up over there. Oh, definitely. No, no, no. I find them to be a kind-hearted people who never rib you at all. Yeah, they didn't repulse the Romans and the Brits and everybody else. I hope they toughened you up because sitting to your left is the one and only Nick Kiprios. Finally joining us on the Steve Nagle podcast.

It's been a while. It has. You know, Nick, it's so great to have you here. We've wanted you here always. We've always wanted to have you on. But especially after, especially after, we're going right into this. There was a particular moment. Why not?

Why not, right? You called Steve. I don't think you called him a loser. I think you said his mentality was a loser's mentality. That's the point that I wanted to make. Right. Absolutely. How social media took it is entirely different.

And I got lambasted. I also got good for you. So it was a nice mixture of both. But the perception was that I called Steve a loser. Right. Which, Adam, to your point, was not the point I was trying to make, and I didn't want it to come across that way, but people interpreted it that way. Well, social media is such a great jury, isn't it? They really do listen to everything that you say and really recant it back exactly the way you said it, right?

And to be honest with you, like, you know, I did not know much about Steve. I didn't know much about like his style. That was all kind of new to me when they first showed that part of the piece that you did on Tank Nation. Yeah. Right? The night before, producer Paul Bromby contacted me. He's like, hey, man, can we use this video on TV? I'm like, yeah, of course.

And then this happened. you know and and at the time you know it was a very sensitive subject and and to me steve it's still a sensitive subject we can talk you know just the that whole concept well can i can i play the clip because i actually have it here is that would you guys be okay with that is that all right here we go here we go whole thing disgraceful i think steve dangle in his rant he doesn't come across anything but a big loser and that's a seven second clip it was obviously recorded okay well there it is there it is doesn't come across as anything but a big loser it doesn't mean the mentality uh the the thought process and my whole thing on that whole tank nation is that it's it's

all about the integrity of the game it's all about the integrity of the players on the ice I've been on bad teams I've been on teams that have got rid of veterans for younger players I know when I was in Hartford and we started trading some veterans for draft picks that were two or three years down the road and and myself and a few of the other veterans like Pat Verbeek and and uh other guys would be just shaking our heads going um how's that helping us right right you You know, our draft pick right now is in the maternity ward, right? Right, yeah. It's not helping me now.

So it's like it's insulting for the players on the ice to sit there and say everybody's in cahoots that they want to go get a draft pick and start building for their future when the here and now, it's not helping anybody. Well, and it's funny because, you know, on paper you're right. Like on paper from those who have never been in an NHL draft, really i mean anybody that's played a team sport doesn't matter how bad you are you still want to win yeah right you of course you show up you want to win yeah um but then but on paper it looks

great yeah and then on top of that i'm still learning about you know steve and while i'm used to kind of like the objective analysis i find out he's super fan super fan which throws is being objective out the window. It's fourth down and long, and Steve's punting on being objective. Well, you know, and I don't think you have to explain that. I think we all kind of knew,

and that's what was so funny about that situation was especially, you know, you guys got together and took the picture afterwards and that sort of thing, but it was such a funny moment, and forgive me, Steve, but I said to my girlfriend who's now my fiance

at the time I said that is the best thing that's ever happened to Steve's career honestly and she's like I agree

I completely agree and the other thing too is I didn't really you know I didn't know him at all and here we are what almost two years later

and I still don't know you really that well but I know of you I know your style I know your work and you know from a personal

you know perspective of you know i i love listening to him because he's so passionate that's the number one thing as a broadcaster you want to come across to your listener is that you care and you're passionate from grapes to anyone else when you come across that way people may not agree with you but they appreciate that you are so in on what you're talking about and and he's got that the hand movement very animated i'm greek half italian right half italian that whole mediterranean thing right where your the hands are going the facial expression i mean how long before he gets his

own cartoon right right well i need it i didn't need it for sure i would love that so it's all good it's all good yeah you know and and anyone listening out there i will not put them in a headlock i know a few people why not uh we were kind of hoping for that all right well we're gonna have to spike a few things in the coffee in the water nick you know i i have to say uh you know your career has been very very interesting did you ever see yourself when uh when you were playing for the hartford whalers did you ever see yourself as one of the marquee names i don't know no absolutely not but you know i will say this you know for anybody listening that uh while you can never predict anything that uh has gone on for me in 18 years you you do

want to try to put yourself in a position where you you kind of you're in the here and now but you want to kind of protect your future a little bit by by doing certain things and throughout my career i can honestly say that i i did not shy away from the media interviews opportunities to go meet people i always told the pr department if there's anything you feel like uh that would be good for us or me uh let's do it so you know in the latter part of my career as a leaf uh i never turned down a chance to go into the studio to talk to uh you know guys like gourd stelic at the time on uh fan 590 uh howard burger be chasing everybody around with the mic go go talk to him if he's looking for you, even with the Rangers.

You know, we won the Cup after, you know, a few days after the parade and, you know, the mayor's office and all of that. Everybody kind of disappeared. I'm like, where are you guys going? The next day I get a call, MTV Beach House, you know. You did that? A few supermodels hanging around. Oh, that sounds terrible.

I'm in. I'm in. So we'd be in the Hamptons with the Stanley Cup, throwing out first pitches at Yankee Stadium with Messier and Leach. I mean, anything that I would try to gravitate to that. So at the end of my career, I, of course, had that concussion that contemplated retirement. And then that's when the second sports station in the country nationally started up in 1998. Scott Moore's idea on a napkin turned into what is now the number one sports brand in Canada. Amazing.

And I don't know if you knew it at the time, but you were hanging around with some prominent future broadcasters. broadcasters and you're one of a very small group of people that can say uh you had pierre mcguire as your head yes that's right that's right so a lot of people can say that uh you know uh you know what pierre's done an unbelievable job as a as an analyst uh nbc it doesn't get much better than that uh i remember in 94 we'd always have these hot stoves so we'd uh we'd sit in the lobby of the hotel and it would be myself glenn healy uh eddie old chuck uh mike hartman uh a few of us and and we'd be talking about uh where we were going to be in 15 or 20 years and everybody heels TV

Eddie Olchek TV Kipper DJing on MTV VJ DJ or VJ and you know sure enough

you know two out of three or three out of three you know we all went on and have pretty good broadcasting careers but the opportunity

is there for the players the question is do you embrace it or do you shy away from it most of my teammates don't want to go out there They understand that there's a responsibility, and they're stand-up guys, so they do it.

But some would rather just go shower, get dressed, and go home. Are you trying to say Phil Kessel is not going to be a co-worker of yours in the future? When you win a Stanley Cup, you can do whatever you want. Yeah, really, right? Oh, that's right. Phil Kessel is the Stanley Cup champion. I forgot about that. Yeah, you know, we've talked about it on the show a lot, and I think actually this is kind of the perfect time to bring it up,

And I didn't even think that we would, but Nick, there seems to be in hockey, more than any other sport, a reluctance to be a personality. And we see it with what happens to people when they become personalities. Now, I'm not saying Sean Avery handled it well, but Sean Avery was a personality of the game. Brett Hall was a personality of the game. P.K. Subban is a personality on the game. And every single time these players come along, it seems like they are seen as a bad thing, as a distraction. Yeah, well, it's a distraction when the team loses, okay? Let's be perfectly clear that when you win, you can get away with a lot.

And when Montreal was having those nice runs in the playoffs And PK was still PK There wasn't a lot of talk about distractions About his brand About the other things that he was doing on the side Exactly It was there It wasn't as prominent

It was there But it's always there People know it's there But it's You can't knock it You can't knock it We're winning He's playing great

Things are going well Camilleri at the time was the hottest scorer in the playoffs. It was all good. It was all good. But the moment you start losing and you continue to get yourself out there in various ways, and even though it's positive, you know, all his stuff with the hospital, positive, there's still the thought that perhaps if you spent a little bit more time, you know, around the team or even not getting yourself out there the perception will be that your

your energy and your focus is on turning the team around opposed to going out there and enhancing your brand and pk is a guy that leaves it all on the ice you never question uh his commitment his here and that now is is great but the moment he left the rink and the team was doing lousy and missing the playoffs and and and one of their worst runs in franchise history there are people in that organization that say okay that's too much that's too much and not enough attention here and that's going to cause a friction uh within the organization devil's advocate though uh when price was gone suban was still their best player so why wouldn't why don't players who aren't pk suban who aren't as good get a little more heat uh and not just from the fans from the management

yeah well particularly from the management that's that's gonna happen uh now it's just pk was such a polarizing figure that the focus was always on pk and now that he's gone and you've got a guy who's a lot you know more reserved in in Weber you watch come September October on Pacioretty now Pacioretty is going to get a lot more attention now the PK is gone he should not be stoked and you know and he's a good player but he's going to have to be able to score 35 or 40 goals and get them in a playoff race for him to not have um you know that that negative attention come his way because now the focus is going to be on other players now the pk is gone in montreal do you think that i mean since we're on the topic do you think they made a mistake

do i think they made a mistake i i like pk suban i think in today's game uh he's he's perfect for it He's dynamic, he's a great skater, big shot, lateral movement's fantastic, he loves holding on to the puck and making plays in the puck possession world. There's going to be situations where he falls and gives up the late goal, which was so... So overblown, I've got to say. In many ways it was. And his team didn't really even cover for him.

But overall, I would not have made a trade for a 31-year-old Shea Weber. To me, that's got plan B written all over it. You want to go P.K. Subban, Norris Trophy winner, $9 million defenseman to Nashville, then Yossi's coming the other way, right? Guy in his mid-20s, that makes sense. Not 31-year-old Shea Weber, who could still be great for, I would think, two, three more years. But PK's upside is seven or eight more years. To me, it wasn't apples to apples.

Yossi for PK would have been apples to apples for me. So I believe, correct me if I'm wrong, you're the guy who broke that trade. and that was that was quite the day I think a lot of people are going to remember that day because I think it was the trifecta

Taylor Hall PK Subran and then Stamkos resigning all within like 15 minutes 20 minutes

15 minutes I was on a train to Liverpool going I couldn't believe you know we had talked about I you know on Hockey Central

at noon with Doug McLean and Darren Millard we had talked about PK all year and right from the get-go you know the the feeling was especially with that that that blow up earlier in the year uh columbus if i'm not mistaken where he fell uh i'm not 100 sure it was before christmas i'm in my summer mode but uh it just seemed with their reaction of not backing up their star player that that was for me the tea leave that read he's done yeah no they adam's looking confused they threw him right under lotto boost well i mean well michelle

terrian did in the in the in the press conference after right 100 i remember but do you mean do you mean the play on the ice too because what i saw and i i saw he lost an edge he lost an edge trying to go wide yeah and then they came back and i remember breaking down this uh this particular uh goal where it it started off as an odd man rush but actually patch ready came back and and covered the play on a three-on-three so it's colorado not columbus i knew it started right same colors and and patch it so markov's back it's an odd man rush and patch ready actually comes into the play but he takes the high guy and then leaves them and then that creates a two-on-one down low so they were okay for me tarion needed to emphasize more on the fact that we were in

position and we did not pick up the right check but he didn't really do that it was all about pk and to me it was really simple either you're gonna protect your star player and go down with the ship on that particular play or you're gonna bail on him and they bailed on him and to me that was it that was it he is done he's got a no move clause kicking in july 1st the mandate will be to trade pk suban before then it's so crazy because i had heard just all over the world yeah yeah they're thinking about trading them but i never really believed they would do it i never really believed they would do it like when when do you think it materialized because i think I think Bergevin said the draft.

No, that's not true. That's not true. That's, you know, we were at the draft, and it got hot and heavy on the PK. He came out and said, we're not shopping. Do people want to ask questions? Yeah, he totally downplayed it. But behind the scenes, we know what was happening.

So do you think he was shocked? Do you think they made active phone calls, or do you think people started calling them after, say, a moment like that? like i said adam the mandate was to get him out so let's get the best deal possible lose the nine million where we we feel like we're we're overvalued there and uh and let's move forward so whatever you want it whatever however you want however you want to say it they did not want to go into next season with pk uh and his no move clause in effect so uh i think the shea weber thing probably happened really quick i don't think that was a deal that uh that started six months ago

right not a chance not a chance i think that was the we're not going to give you yosi but we'll give you shea weber so a lot of people talk about why didn't you go get taylor hall for pk suba and that would have been better that's a lot of montreal canadian fans saying that um there's just no way that you're going to go to carrie price who you're going to try to resign in a couple of years and make him your franchise guy and and maybe the highest paid goalie in the world you're not going to look him in the eye and say we just gave up a 26 minute man uh and we're not getting a defenseman back look at that defense without pk suban or shea weber so pretty rough you're you're not you're not looking you're not looking uh carry price in

the eye and say i just traded uh pk suban and i didn't get it so they had to kind of make that that move they had to get a defenseman back um but we did get your team candidate teammate doesn't that make you feel good it's a little bit of an easier yeah because pk didn't make team candidate either oh i didn't even think of that but it's funny because uh like i was really on this story months before and uh the first the first uh message i received that day was it could happen today so i sent that tweet out before i sent the other tweet out and then uh i was talking to tim from the tim and sid show and they said that the the newsroom just stopped cold when i sent the first one and then it was like you know a complete explosion in the in the uh uh the

assignment desk area when uh when i said that uh the deal was done for shea weber so he said that But that was a memorable, memorable moment in Sportsnet at the assignment desk that P.K. Subban got traded. It must have been an unbelievable day. I've broken a lot of trades over my 18 years. That one will be by far the best one. Oh, how do you top that? Yeah, I can't top that.

How do you top that in today's NHL? yeah oh yeah and the fact that just the very fact that it's it's PK too

a guy that by all rights should have never been traded period like he should have just stayed in Montreal it's the quality of the player it's the personality

it's what he meant to the city it's so so many things and that's just one half of the deal yeah the other half is like a gold medalist

20 gold defenseman captain of the team that he was traded from which no one mentioned you know just And just to pick up our earlier conversation, the attention that P.K. Subban gets in 2016, 20 years ago, would have never happened. To your point earlier that guys are more conservative and they don't want to look out of place and they all kind of want to mix in. But he's one of those players that says you can do it all.

And I think he was doing it all. I think he was an all-star player. He was a go-to guy on the team, a leader. And yet he wanted his off-ice to be everything about the game or himself and what he's able to do and the mountains he's able to move, whether it's a $10 million donation to the hospital or other various things that he's involved with. He's the type of guy that says, I can do it all. I can do it all, and my game doesn't have to suffer. And I think he was able to do that. People in Montreal say no. No, he was not able to do that. Do you think that, I mean, because quite honestly, here's how I see this shaking down,

is Terry Ann could be through two jobs before PK's contract's up. Do you think that this Montreal management group, the team will probably be better this year just by virtue of the fact that Carey Price will be healthy, we assume. But long-term, this is going to be probably a blight on both of their careers, Bergevin and Tarian. Without a doubt, especially for Bergevin, right? Because he did downplay it.

He did downplay the P.K. Subban trade talks when history will show that it was a complete opposite. it so where this leads the Montreal Canadians in the next two or three years will really be I think the thing that people will remember you know Mark Bergevin stint in Montreal that this one is is the capper it's a fork in the road

right now for Montreal right Shea Weber comes in and and is a and leads them to the playoffs you know and or maybe even you know get to a semi-final or final I mean, Carey Price, you don't ever underestimate Carey Price and his ability to carry a team. That's the one position, right? It's like having your star pitcher for game seven on the mound

so he can win it all by himself. Unless your star pitcher is David Price. It's funny because I think you ask a lot of people who hated the trade from Montreal's perspective. If you said, you know, crystal ball, you shake it and you go, the Habs win two rounds next year. Most of them go, yeah, I believe it. I believe it.

So can Shea Weber at 35 score you 15 goals and still be a top defenseman? That to me is what I'm more interested in opposed to, you know, next year, whether they sneak into the playoffs. Well, we got to wrap just here for just a sec. I'm going to go to commercials. We'll come back. We got to talk about Taylor Hall, Adam Larson, and a whole bunch of other things. You know, Nick, especially the beginning of your career, because I'm really fascinated about, A, some of your playing stuff. be how the transition to broadcasting came about.

So we'll talk about that next. Nick Kiprios on the Steve Dangle Podcast on Sportsnet 590 The Fan. So Nick Kiprios is joining us on the Steve Dangle Podcast. Hard as that is to believe, we have a real legitimate sports guy in the studio. You know, we like to play at that. We like to talk about it.

But we really, I mean, it's great to have you here, Nick. And, you know... An athlete. An athlete, yeah. Not even just a sports commentator. A guy who actually hashtag played the game. Are you not turning into an athlete? Are you not training?

Are you, like, what happened? I'm training, but, man, I just, I love pasta. Yeah. Chips and chocolate. Can I tell you a story about this morning? Can I? Yeah, let me hear it. So, Steve's, and you do TV a lot, and as a TV, I do TV a lot, too.

You might not know that, but, and Steve's kind of worried about what it's going to be like if he has to do some TV. So, I guess he's come back from Scotland, and he thinks that he's overweight and thinks he's going to look bad on TV. So this morning, he's like, guys, I can't even have a coffee. I'm going to have to have a green tea. Go on to the green tea. I'm wondering from you. What are they saying about green tea? It burns more calories?

Or what's green tea have over coffee? I started this thing called intermittent fasting, and they tell you to have green tea. So you didn't eat yesterday either? No, no, I did a 24-hour fast. It sucked. It sucked a lot. Just, see, you gave it away just before I think we came on air,

or you said it already, just, it's the chocolate, right? Oh, yeah. So it's two things, bread and sugar, man. You got to get it out of your diet. I know, I know. Because, Nick, you're still in great shape. No, I don't know about that. But the last little while, see, we got World Cup coming up, right?

So usually I'm not, you know, we'll do one or two Leaf exhibition games towards the latter part of September, and then we'll kick it in October. But I got to go to work. I got to go to work next week. We're doing preview shows. And I think the 8th or the 9th, we got an exhibition game. This season is going to be absolutely ridiculous.

And then every day. So we got two games, a 3 o'clock and a 7 o'clock, starting as early as, I think, September 17th. It'll be fun. I'm looking forward to it. You know, I'm like with like many at the beginning, you're like, OK, what's this going to be like? They're going with what? A North American team and a team Europe.

And it's like, is it gimmicky? And that sounds kind of gimmicky to me. Who said that? You know, is that one of yours? We're trying to figure out what national anthem they play when some of Europe wins. I'm there with everybody else wondering, but then you're sitting there going, OK, I mean, Can you picture a Toronto scalper saying, who's looking for Latvia?

Anybody need Latvia? Austria? Who's looking for a pair for Austria? No. So I think it's better off with McDavid and a North American team there than having some of the weaker nations there that nobody wants to go see an 8-1 score.

Right. So this one at least has some intrigue. Any way you look at it, if you're one of the best hockey players in the world you're playing

in this thing right like to have the best hockey players in the world in one tournament under one roof to me

then nothing better except for PK yeah PK will not except for PK except for PK PK stands for Phil Kessel what is that

what is that why why Olympics why I mean he did technically make the Olympic team What's the deal there?

You know what? They've got this left and right shot thing, right? They're married to it. So, you know, Keith's out. So is Jay Bomeester really the better option? Keith's out. Bomeester comes in. Left shot, left shot.

Bomeester comes in as a partner already with Petrangelo. So they love that. He's a minute eater, too. So, you know, he's been under the umbrella. He's thrived under the umbrella. They've won with him. There's a real loyalty, right, with Hockey Canada? I can't blame them for that.

So does PK come in and replace Duncan Keith? Not according to the blueprint that Hockey Canada's had for many years now. Fair enough. And they do win. As for it being a gimmick, you know, I was looking at the rosters yesterday and I was going through the top 50 scores in the NHL last season. They're almost all there. Right.

they're almost all going to be in this tournament and there were a bunch i left you know i will say this that you know besides the north american team team europe that that to me is not uh here or there to me it's just about how how hard can the guys play coming out of summer mode that's the only thing i will sit there and say and i may have my answers early as an exhibition game or game one canada versus czech republic uh saturday night but that is how hard will they play so i was golfing with stamp coast maybe about a month ago as one does yeah and he's and he told me that babcock's calling the guys all the time all the time you ready you in shape you're you you good to go so i'm thinking you know if if if stamkos can say that and kind of feel

babcock's energy on how important it is for them then they're going to be ready you know i heard uh crosby uh has got a bunch of guys out in nova scotia the last uh few days nathan mckinnon probably one of them and so yes uh you know what i i'm not sure if it was just exclusive team canada right or if there was a few other guys but i heard a lot of them revolved around team canada guys amazing brad marchand so you know they're they're getting ready for this thing they're getting ready for this nobody wants to be embarrassed nobody wants to make uh you know their their respective club or country you know look bad so they come and play hard you're the best players in the world it's going to be entertaining and it's in canada if you need

that extra motivation yeah really a team i wouldn't sleep on if we're talking about motivation russia they love any tournament right any tournament yeah now flawed yeah but you know what they love it uh again they're they're questionable on on the on the blue line but you know there's also a ton of pressure on them you know not being able to get it done and so she and you know it's a it's always been a proud federation and they have not had success like they they would have i think there's nothing that the the russian players in ovechkin would love more than to come right into toronto and beat team canada so i think there i think there's a lot of pressure you know the country's it's challenging times in russia they could use something positive

and i think ovechkin and company will feel that and and push hard push hard to have success which would be great which would be great but my question is i hope it's a good tournament yeah i think listen i think it's going to be 100 the one of the most entertaining things we've seen oh yeah for all that we made fun of it yeah for literally hours but it's going to be fun it's going to be great however what what is the effect on the top 50 you mentioned it the top 50 scores in the nhl come game 62 come game 72 come game 82 come second round of the playoffs are you 25 or 26 are you 32 are you 44 like jogger you tell me you tell me who you are and how much hockey you've played and how you play it and all of those factors come into play listen

You love the game. You play it every day. Every day. No question. Right? Forget about... It's seven-year-old mentality. I don't want to go around a pylon.

I just want to play. Same thing. Same thing. As long as you're healthy, you feel good, you can play every day. You know? Now, again, are you a skater? Are you a checker? Are you a shot blocker?

How do you play the game? How beat up your body is? You know, are you on a roll? Have you not scored in 20 games, right? Like all those factors come into play. But as far as, you know, your love for the game and whether you've played 60 or 80 games by February or March or you're in June and you're playing your 128th game,

including World Cup and All-Star and Outdoor Game, whatever, you love the game, man. You play it every day. it's not an issue it won't be an issue and you know you were a player

how fun was training camp did you love it some of these guys I think are going to get out of some of that by being in this tournament oh yeah no no no they'll come out

of the tournament they'll take 4 or 5 days off they'll come in and practice I can't see anybody anybody playing any last few exhibition games

it'll all be right in most of them you'll be in you'll be in game mode you'll be in game mode by then and you won't need anything

except a little bit of rest and a little bit of mental regroup and you're good to go do you think for the Leafs you know having this is a big year for them

just selling the hope right oh my god how long did we get into this 37 minutes 37 minutes 37 minutes

it wasn't even me who brought the hat without super fan mentioning him right he hasn't even brought it up yet that's awesome but it is a big

it's their head coach the guy who sets the mentality for the whole organization is otherwise engaged so you've got you've got

Marner you've got Matthews you've got well I think Matthews is playing in the tournament anyway yes he is 11 of them

yeah 9 or 11 it's 9 players and the coach so 10 Leafs representatives so what does that do I mean does that do you think that

makes a difference do you think I mean Babcock's already set a stamp but what does that do to the team it can only be positive absolutely

Yeah, absolutely. Like you think about game, big game pressure, stakes high. It's all about experience. It's all about being in those trenches. So you got these young kids now coming in, in a very short period of time where they are told that anything less than the top of your game, you know, is unacceptable. uh that's that's awesome stuff that's awesome stuff the experience that they're going to get off of this and to be able to go back into that dressing room that younger dressing room for the leafs is a huge upside you know like morgan riley is going to be one of the older players right in that room with the experience that he's had and the games played and now he's he's coming off a world cup he'll be ready to take it to another level i might be wrong but I think the Leafs the longest tenured Leaf

is Kadri I'm trying to think Bozak maybe oh yeah you know what maybe Bozak Kadri's like 2 yeah

and he's what 26, 27 he was no I think he's even younger than that you know drafted in 09 now

you know much broader scope from I think Leaf fans including the guy to my right whether or not oh you're surrounded with him by the way

yeah we are alright hey Justin nice hat I'm such a Leaf fan And that I used to play your avatar on PowerPlay 98 in video games. How'd I do? You did pretty well. You did pretty well.

I played that this past year. Killer on a line. Oh, gosh. So it's whether the scope is they're going to finish 30th or to the other side of the pendulum where they'll challenge for a playoff spot. It's much broader than it was a year ago. And that's another good thing, right? For me, the biggest one was Frederick Anderson.

They revamped their goaltending situation. Anderson is a 2016 type of goalie, big, agile, has shown abilities to steal games. It's just a matter for me, a level of consistency. and where's his range for getting mentally tougher now from Anaheim to Toronto where everybody's watching, everybody's writing, everybody's talking.

Well, you went from Hartford to New York, right? Did you not? I did. I went from the outhouse to the penthouse. The outhouse. And I'm not talking about the city of Hartford. I love the city of Hartford. It was awesome.

awesome they voted me whaler favorite whaler um but there's something to be said between uh uh the outhouse of that civic center that was in a mall no way was it really oh yeah it was in a mall it cut through the mall you're like uh do i need anything from you know the gap on my way to the game no i think i'm okay wow to madison square garden the center of it all right the most entertaining building in the world that's that's pretty cool was that hard for you was that i mean i know you were a guy that always kind of embraced the media spotlight anyway but when you've got say two reporters and then the next day you've got 15 yeah yeah you know what By then I had, you know, three and a half years in Washington, which was, you know, decent market, you know, nothing, you know, on a grand scheme of things, you know, comparable to anything in Canada or, you know, Boston, New York.

But, you know, it was good. It was really good. And the moment you got traded to the Rangers, it was unbelievable. I was there three or four days. My mom and dad came down. We started walking down Fifth Avenue, and a cop car comes right beside me, right? And it scared the crap out of me, and it startled my parents. The cop comes out.

Welcome to the New York Rangers. I'm like, ooh. Wow. Thanks. That's really cool. Thanks. Thanks for that. It was like the moment you became a Ranger,

you inherited 54 years of Ranger misery because they wouldn't mention anything else except we haven't won. We haven't won since 1940. I'm like, okay, all right. I don't know if I can really do anything about that, but I'll talk to Messier and Leach and Richter, okay? I'm going to let them know how you feel.

So that part of it, you got right away. And then, of course, you played for the Leafs, which is, you know, the same thing. But worse. But worse. Yeah. It wasn't when he played, though. But listen.

No, no, no. You know what? It was like the stock market. I got traded to the Rangers. You know, you're riding it high, and the stock's going up. When I got to the Leafs, it was the tail end of the 93, 94 runs.

And you got that nasty little bit in the middle. And then all of a sudden I'm like, I'm traded and you're hearing things like, you know, we got to cut the budget. And I'm like, this is Toronto. Why do they have to cut the budget? Like, there's no salary cap. Like, what's with the budget?

But there was a mandate to cut by $5 million, the budget. And I don't know whether or not it had anything to do with eventual ownership restructuring. Stavro, of course, was moving into full ownership or just had it. And there was a cash call for stock options being changed over. I don't know what it was, but it was Gilmore had to go. Kirk Muller had to go. I think Dave Gagne, who was probably making pretty good buck at the time, had to go. And it's like, wow, this is not good.

This is not good. So unfortunately, when it came to the Leafs, the stock was going down. Have you heard the rumor that Wayne Gretzky was going to, after that St. Louis year, he was going to sign with the Leafs? And then that exact thing happened. It's a money issue. True story? I believe it was true. Yeah, I do.

Cool. I heard it. I just wanted to ask you because I thought if anybody would know close enough to the game. Yeah, I think it was a money issue. Well, with that note, we're going to go to the actual podcast portion of the show. So we're going to wrap it up on Sportsnet 590 The Fan. Nick Kiprios is with us. If you want to download the show, sportsnet.ca,

and the podcast is brought to you by Panago Pizza. How are you guys enjoying the water? Oh, yeah. I am so refreshed and hydrated thanks to GPA oxygen water. Which we will talk about, too. Thank you, boys. It's not witchcraft, by the way. Thank you.

It isn't. No, it's real. It's not witchcraft. It's for real. I almost have to pee. Almost. Nick Caprio is joining us. Obviously, you know that if you're listening to the podcast portion,

because that's where we are. We can now officially swear. So it's available. Yeah, it's available. I've been off for two months so I usually do that when my kids are around so if they're not around

I don't know if I can drop any four letter words well if it comes out just know that there won't be any panic stricken looks or anything like that Nick I want to go back to the beginning of your career you were the second leading goal scorer

in the O right? yeah I had a great run putting the puck in the net in junior hockey North Bay it was a I originally got drafted by the Kitchener Rangers

and then I got traded up to North Bay and I think I finished the year there with like 12-13 goals and then next year

I jumped to 41 maybe 42 41 thank you and then I jumped to 62

and I know that number yeah you gotta remember that one that's a better number than 40 damn good number over 40 right anything with a 40s doesn't sound as good as 62 yeah yeah and then the year I turned pro I started the season in Hershey and I just felt I wasn't getting the ice time that I needed

to keep developing so I went back as an overage to North Bay and I think I scored 49 goals in 40 46 games 46 games see again in the 40s I don't remember much in the 40s so I scored 49 goals 2046 games and if i was to if i was to have played a full year i think i would have cracked 70 maybe 70 plus goals that year wow but you know when people say what happened to you and i'm like you know what it's a different game it's faster it's tougher those guys are the best in the world and while i appreciate junior hockey for being uh one of the highest levels uh do the do the math and do the percentages of the guys that leave junior hockey and play in the NHL.

It's not high. And it's not high. Even one game. Even one game. Right? And the other thing that happened to me is I blew out my knee. Oh. I had major reconstruction.

I got into a fight with Jamie Huscroft, New Jersey Devils, and I had major surgery. I blew out my ACL and then did some damage to my MCL. and uh you know what that that took a little bit off of me i never really it's never the same after that so you know i'm not saying that that's the reason why i stopped being a goal scorer but it did have an effect i was never a great skater um but i i never felt as comfortable as i did uh before the surgery do you regret not spending that full season in hershey uh no because the following year i went back and i had a really good year i think i scored 24 goals

just checking right and led that team in game winning goals and we won the calder cup right so no complaints there you have a calder cup ring and a stanley cup ring i do which i think is a rare thing that's pretty rare i do so uh and i love that championship of course it doesn't get the notoriety uh and the attention of a stanley cup but to win at any level is so hard we went to game when i was with the north bay centennials at the time we went to game seven twice to go to the memorial cup one was to host the event and the other one was in the ochel championship and we lost both games and that just crushed me because you know a small window to to be a champion you you want to take advantage of it so you know to come back a few years later

and and win a calder cup in hershey and again right historic franchise right it's not wasn't one of those where you bounce it around in the american hockey league from town to town i mean And we're talking about some of the best American hockey history in Hershey. Probably better attendance than some NHL teams. Like sold out Saturday nights, 8,500 people in that old Hershey Park Arena. And I played with great veterans like Kevin McCarthy, Al Hill, Don Nachbauer, who's done a great job coaching in the W. Dave Fenvis, who was an outstanding MVP.

Wendell Young was our goalie. We only had a few young kids there that stepped up. Gord Murphy, myself. Two guys that probably went on. Gord had a great career. I had a decent career. It's hard to come out of the American League and have a full-time career in the NHL.

I was very fortunate in my time in Hershey. Did you ever go to the Hershey theme park there? Oh, yeah. Are you kidding me? I grew up going there. First of all, I mean, I was making $22,000 a year. Big money.

Big money. So when the guy who collects tickets likes you, you go on as many rides as you want. All right. That's awesome. That's where I went on my first roller coaster in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Fellow lover of free things.

Yes, fellow lover of free things, exactly. So I had a decent year score in there as well. And then you get up to the NHL, and we've talked about this often, it's that, you know, there are guys who are AHL guys that are great in the AHL and they come up

or for whatever reason, it just, it doesn't happen. It just doesn't happen. And we've even talked about like Tim Stapleton who is lighting it up in the... I think he still holds the Marlies record

for points in a season. And then he, now he's in the K. Yes. And he's, and he was killing it there. Yes, a KHL all-star. There's many factors,

many reasons. Go back to junior hockey and see how many 50 and 60 goal scorers are in junior hockey that never got a sniff in the NHL. Tom Sestito scored 40, I think. There's a ton of them. You know what, though? Tom's like me, right? You score goals in junior hockey, and then you get to the pros,

and the goals don't come as often as you like, and it's like, okay, here's the deal. It's real simple, okay? Score, and you get to stay. and if you don't find something else that you can contribute with and i'm like okay well i'm pretty strong guy always been one of the stronger guys in training camp every time i went to philly's training camp for four or five years they give me this award next to tim cura was the best guy uh on the bench press i'd be bench pressing you know uh 225 like 25 times 30 times

like I was I'm telling you can you still do that did you get that folks and which means yes I'm like you know

okay here's the deal I'm getting on a hockey card I'm getting on an Opechee hockey card so I will do whatever it takes to get on Opechee I want bubblegum

stuck to my card so I'm like okay then what else am I going to do I'm going to hit I'll stand up for my teammates. I'll be a pain in the ass.

I'll do whatever it takes to stay. That's what I did, and that's what Tom's done in his career. So a lot of guys can't do that, can't do that. If you're a scorer and you can't score, they're done. I said, I'm not done. Wow. And that took you from 62 goal scorer to, I saw on thehockeyfights.com, they have an Instagram account, and they posted your fight against Tony Twist.

and the caption was just to take some stones I was never a big guy that you had to win your fight you just didn't have to lose it or be embarrassed just have that you're not scared

I'll stand up for my guys you'll be fine my last fight didn't end that well but that's the nature of the game but the one year that I had in Hartford before trading to

the Rangers I scored 17 goals I probably could have hit 20 and I really I hurt my I had a bad abdominal

injury that shut down my season or else I think I could have got 20 that year and been one of the few guys in history to score 20 goals

and have 300 penalty minutes because you were it's funny I think I was reading up on that I think I was third or fourth

in the league that year it was something like you had 325 penalty minutes and it was like I couldn't believe that it was third or fourth was it fifth

what was it what was the what was the actual number I couldn't believe it was that low I was like that is insane Peluso

McSorley that year I think two of the names that I remember that were up there but you know at least I I proved for one year

that you know the goals in junior were you know still there still had a bit of a shot and was able to have a pretty good year

and on a team that probably wasn't at its height I mean really I mean the Hartford Whalers in the NHL did the best

in the late 80s right like that was they had the best coach in the league Adam they sure did they could

they could out coach anyone on any night so you see I mean we were we touched a little bit on Hartford so let's let's talk about

the time in Hartford because it seems like it was just a a weird we started the show we were talking about Pierre Maguire are we coming full circle now

I just I'm trying to steer you into my favorite story ever my favorite your favorite story ever Best hockey story ever. Okay, so.

Because I can't tell. Yeah. You can. So one night we're in Hartford and we're down 4-0 after 40 minutes. And we haven't touched the puck against the Montreal Canadiens. And Paul Holmgren comes in and just rips us. Just completely tears us a strip from top to bottom. And he's as intimidating as you'll ever meet.

And he always loved getting half a hockey stick and just slamming it in his hand. right just whacking it and whacking it it's like you know walking tall you know just this big stick and you know it's like at any time you know andrew castle's like he's gonna hit somebody he's gonna hit he's actually gonna hit somebody like guys were like not taking their helmets off you know in between periods just in case yeah just in case so of course and this by the way is the gm of your team yeah he was gm he was coach he was uh he was he wore a lot of hats uh over that short period of time i was in hartford so of course you know pierre mcguire now is going to play you know good cop so the bad cop just tore us a strip so paul hungren leaves the room and pierre comes

back into the room and he starts with that super positive right stuff right so a few guys are kind rolling their eyes but he's gonna stick with it and he says guys it's simple here's the game plan okay we're down four nothing we are gonna score a goal every five minutes and we're gonna win this thing in overtime and we're like we haven't touched the puck in 40 minutes can we just try to get one so sure enough we're about three minutes in and we get a lucky bounce and it's four one and pierre mcguire starts running up and down the bench saying see guys see we got one already we're way ahead of schedule and i'm like we're down four one we've touched the puck once and somehow we're ahead of schedule.

I look back and I say, do you want me to rag the puck, get us back on schedule, slow it down a little bit? It just seems like if there was ever a twilight zone in the NHL, it would have been the California Golden Seals and then the Hartford Whalers of the early 90s. It was just a crazy time and place, and not necessarily bad. But when you look back at that, and then you go to the Rangers,

and I have to I want to know what it's like to win the Stanley Cup I want to know what that's like from you but before we talk

about that when you look back on Hartford what do you see especially now looking at because you talk so much now

about the business of the game we are so as fans the topics now are so much less about the actual gameplay

more about well the ownership they're going to be the Las Vegas boogie nights we're not sure what the heck what is the

well First of all, I will say that when it was good in Hartford, it was great. They had great support. It's a smaller community, of course. Insurance capital of the world. Connecticut basketball rules. University rules. But there was this core group of fans in Hartford that was great.

okay so when i had gotten there the one thing that i think ultimately will go back and be the demise of the hartford whalers is uh ronnie francis and elf samuelson getting traded and because it was a small community they took that so personally it it actually killed probably 30 or 40 percent of the market just shut them down completely shut them down so when we had when i had gotten there we were playing in front of 8 000 fans when it should have been 15 and 16 000 fans every night and uh the other equation is that john cullen and zarly zalapsky were the two key components for that trade to pittsburgh and they never hit it not like

obviously the work that Ronnie Francis did for that community Ron Francis is the fourth highest scoring player of all time it just seems

and Alf Samuelsson was popular but it was also there was a core group behind it too Dave Tippett Mike Liute who was

you know a goalie goalie and the all star when he was doing great it's just all of these guys who were fan favorites, kind of got, you know,

the feeling from the fans was they got run out of town. And the organization never recovered off of that. But my stay there, the people were awesome. I loved it there. I could have been happy the next 15 years playing in Hartford. You know, it was great. You're in the NHL. We're in an NHL jersey, right?

I think I'm starting to see where your opinion on tanking was formed. trying to protect my heart for days that's right we're not talking about trading away ron francis though we're talking about trading roman poland a couple seconds yes much better much better um and then re-signing him again because what the hell yeah why not why not so so then you you go to new york and and i want to know because we're we're leaf fans i want to know okay what it's like okay can i give you another story please Yeah, no, give me all the stories. So I'm renting in Hartford, Connecticut, okay?

And my rent is like $400 a month. And I got a decent place, right? This is Hartford, 1993. So I get traded to the Rangers, and I go into practice. And Marc Messier, you know, comes over, introduces himself. I've never really met him, which, like, you're in awe right away. You're like, oh, my God, Mark Massey is coming over me. Oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God.

Don't embarrass yourself. So he says, welcome to the team. You know, you got set up. And then he's like, where are you going to live? I said, I have no idea. He goes, are you married or single? I said, I'm single. He goes, good.

You're going to live downtown. I say, okay, cool. Because back then, prior to Mark Massey coming, and it was taboo to live in the city, right? They encouraged all the players to be in the suburbs. Less trouble. You're in the city, New York, underground world, trouble. Everybody out of New York.

So Mark comes in and goes, no, no, no, no, no, no. You live wherever you want to live. And New York's an amazing city and it offers so much. And you're going to live in the city. And I said, okay, I would live in the city. He goes, yeah, you can find a decent place for about $4,000 a month. Oh, my God. And my jaw dropped.

I said, that's an extra zero than what I was paying in Hartford, right? So I decide, okay, I'll give it a try. Now, there's another single guy, Brian Noonan, on the team. And I go, how about you want to live in the city? We'll be roommates. So we found a place, 80th and Columbus, right across from History Museum and across from Central Park on the Upper West Side. Ended up being $3,500 a month. And I'm telling you, it was the best $1,750 I've ever spent a month in my life.

Living in the city was awesome. Awesome. Doorman, you know, deli across the street, huge Ranger fans, never paid for an egg sandwich in three years I was there. It was so cool. And, you know, the other thing, too, is, like, you don't need a car. So I had one. And then, like, they tell you, well, you got to get a parking garage. And I'm like, my parking garage a month was more than I spent on my place in Hartford.

Wow. I needed another $400 or $500 a month to park a car. I'm like, it's like getting in my car and apartment. Not now, early 90s. Oh, I bet you it would be like $1,200, $1,500 a month to park a car now. So it was awesome to be in Upper West Side. To be a single NHL player living in New York City. When the Rangers are on their way to winning the Cup.

Mike, I don't know what we're at now. 23 years since then? We're closing in on 25 years since we won the Stanley Cup and people still talk about it like it's yesterday. Not the young kids, but people still talk about that team. And while I appreciate any Stanley Cup, man, you're lucky enough to win one on an original six team. it's it's just a little bit sweeter you can't you can't deny that right you can't deny it like

you know winning a stanley cup's hard and it's great tampa bay carolina you know all those places anaheim now they've all experienced now championships being newer generation teams but man oh man Chicago Boston New York Montreal Toronto oh god look out man it's something a little extra special so I guess I guess that leads me to what's it like to not just win a Stanley Cup but end a drought end a half century drought how's that feel there's another drought by the way yeah there's another drought there's another drought but yeah you you think about the number of guys that have put that uniform on and uh and and failed right because that's essentially what it is it's a failure you know not being able to deliver uh it's it's mind-boggling um

you know i remember being on the ice and you know we're in that pile and we're all screaming and yelling and uh and i i go like you don't know what to do you don't know who to hug you're just like you know you're all over the place and i looked at brian leach and i go what do we do now and he goes i don't know let's go ask mess okay five other times he's been there five other times let's go ask him and then you know you got this cup and you're like you're taking it all over the place and And I remember being in a cab with Brian Noon and we're like, we're on Fifth Avenue and it's around 11 o'clock, 1130. We're bar hopping now.

And I said, let's just take it out now and just like stick it on the curb on Fifth Avenue. See what happens? Yeah, see what happens. and then like one cab another cab a cop car a cab a car a car and the whole thing's just like the traffic can't get through now wow yeah yeah and we're like we gotta get it out of here we gotta get it out of here we gotta get it out of here probably to walk it out of there too uh china club big spot right big spot can i tell you this one china club story okay tied omis will you please tied omis book by the way it's full of

them oh i got a great one i got a great one okay so i'm with the washington capitals and the place to be in new york in the early 90s was the china club in the basement for reference i'm pretty sure this is where the dave chappelle rick james sketch happened oh happened in the china club okay this is a place where bruce springsteen will walk in have a few drinks next thing you know he's jamming downstairs like that stuff happened all the time so we got an off night the next an off day the next day that i'm in with the washington capitals and we all like boys we got to go to the china club right we got to go to the china club so there's like 10 of us go to the china club on a monday night that was the hot night monday night so

we get there there's a bit of a lineup but you know big bouncer you know washington capitals yeah not impressed right he says okay uh you know we'll let you know so we're all kind of just standing around so now it's like half an hour nothing uh you know go back to him we're gonna get in yeah you're gonna get in you're gonna get in just hold on guys This is an NHL team. Hour, hour, nothing, right? And then finally Dale Hunter goes, boys, let's grease them up.

So we're all pitching in like 40, 50 bucks. No, no. Money grease, right? I was like, oh my God. We're not beating up any bouncers, okay? We're even smart enough. We're like greasing up. so like we got like 500 bucks to give this bouncer early 90s right yeah so he takes the money no

problem he says don't worry i'll get you in wait another 15 20 minutes finally we get in right hour and a half and we think we're like the cat's meow in there you know we're in the china club all right so years later i get traded to the new york rangers right and of course you're with mess slide right in no problem table he's the man he's the man so then we're sitting around the table same bouncer comes down and he says Moose I got the St. Louis Blues

outside he goes he looks at his watch and goes another 40 minutes oh my god that's so impressive that's power

that is crazy what season was that what season was that That was the year Mask got traded from Edmonton to New York. That was the first year. Jesse, I want you to look up the list of players Messier made weight. Go look up his first year in New York. It might have been Brandon Shanahan.

It would be the 93 St. Louis Blues? Yeah, so it would have been Brett Hall, Al McInnes, Chris Cronin, Curtis Joseph. that's amazing and he just said forget it who else we got we got Kevin he goes

not yet not yet that was a good team too holy smokes oh yeah wow now was this the night before a game

or after oh gosh you're killing me right now no no how about you remember your night oh my god it's great

because if you're playing on the next day you go well I know they didn't even get in until like 1130 oh yeah it's true I'm gonna assume it was after

I would assume that St. Louis probably had an off day the next day right that's my guess anyways but anyways

that's the hottest club in New York that's amazing like you think about that that is you're right that's real power especially in a city

like New York where no one cares who you are in Shift Work Domi's book he's talking about during warm ups Mario Lemieux

and all the penguins are skating up to him going can you get us in he thought they were kidding and then after the game he's like no for real like can you get us into the China Club

it's Mario Lemieux That's right. So Johnny B was the bouncer. Still friends with him today. Great guy. He's had a few bars. Auction House was the big one when we won the cup. That's the first place that we took it to. wow right remember sitting there with tim robbins right tim robbins shawshank uh was out and he's telling us you know decent actor you know i've never really named dropped in my life that's what i've been doing for the last hour to get into this place so i can see the stanley cup wow he had to name drop to get in

yes wow he says I don't name drop but I name dropped as many cops

and security people as I could to come here wow and see the Stanley Cup that's amazing that's amazing so it

I mean New York must have the last time I was there I was in a bar where there was a picture of Mess with the Stanley Cup and it was shot up

so of course Mess looks like he's 10 feet tall as he always does anyway yes exactly and And you talk to people, like you said, and it's like it was yesterday.

I'll remember where they were. When that finally happens here, and I believe it finally will, I'm not saying, I'm not guaranteeing, but I believe that it's finally going to happen here. I think there's a very good chance that Bloor Street could break off and fall into Lake Ontario. It's going to be wild, right? That must be as a city. It's going to be wild. And it'll be really emotional.

you know the the most famous sign the night we won was uh now i can die in peace that was a ranger fan wow yeah yeah you could find it on the internet it's a really really cool shot uh sports illustrated had me lifting the cup uh with now i can die in peace in the background and that sign says it all just says it all do you have

do you have a copy of it by the way do you still have that copy of that magazine I don't know there's a I had a box somewhere and in the garage

and I think a rat chewed through half of it so I'm sure I can find another one do you still have all your jerseys yeah that's a bit

of a sore spot I used to when I first started in with oh there it is that's such a cool picture yeah when I first started

with the Sportsnet I brought in a couple jerseys for backdrops and then I left them in the car and then a few of them got stolen

no way yeah yeah dude I know a guy who played one exhibition game with the Rangers and he's got that frame

they're out there somewhere someone's hiding them in a basement somewhere in a box which is a shame but that's okay but you have some like of your own

oh no I still have I still have I got Rangers I got Leafs I got a few for the kids Good. Yeah, I got a few for the kids, so we're good. We're covered.

That just hurts me, though. I'm like, God, you guys are way more emotional than I am. Well, it's just, I mean, listen, I think it's a little bit different. Because for us, it's so, well, I mean, for you, too, but, like, it's such an irreplaceable, unattainable thing. You wore it. And it was your name. Yeah, and you've had it around, so maybe it doesn't seem that way to you,

but if someone randomly pulled an NHL game-worn jersey out of their trunk from the 90s I'd be like where the hell did you get this yeah people are weird too I got in this messy night one night in Chicago uh Jim Cummings broke my nose with a wheelhouse elbow and I went back and I fought him again which was stupid and my jersey's absolutely covered in blood and you know years later

a collector was telling me that that was the hottest jersey people wanted on you know it's sold

somewhere someone's got it somewhere someone really wanted it it's cause there's a story

you know and it's like every jersey has a story but that kind of that's a story that's a warrior

yeah where's the Stanley Cup ring right now where do you keep it home yeah it's home

it's home you know it's great because You go do some charitable things, or you go do a golf tournament. You play with guys that you've never met before. It's nice to show it, and I'll wear it on air. You know what?

I'll never forget the first time I ever saw one of those was at training camp with the Philadelphia Flyers, and it was Keith Acton's. and and he brought it out and i'd never seen one before and i was like you know 19 years old 20 years old and i just thought it was like the coolest thing i've ever seen just incredible and this would have been like from the 70s 80s 80s oh okay acting would have won with Yeah, Edmonton. Oh, I'm sorry. Edmonton, Edmonton.

So I had lunch one day with Mark Messier, and I said, you know, I'm like, I kind of noticed you never wear any Stanley Cup rings. You got like five of them. Like, where are they all? He asked the same question as you did. Where are they?

He goes, I think they're in a shoebox somewhere in Hilton Head. I'm like, oh, okay, all right. And then he says to me, where's yours? And I said, I don't know if he's playing with me or what. And he said, Mark, I don't have one. He goes, okay, I'll make you a deal. When you get yours, I'll wear mine.

I'm like, that's a good deal. That's a good deal. I like that deal. Let's go get one. And that's why they won. That's the type of guy he was. He's like, I'm not wearing my Edmonton ring because you don't have one. He doesn't have one.

He doesn't have one. I'm going to wear mine when you guys can wear one too. When the Rangers win. That's right. I love that. When you can wear one, I'll wear mine. I've always said the loneliest guy in the room has to be the new acquisition during the home opener of the Stanley Cup champions.

The raise and the banner. Everyone's like, oh, man, remember that? Oh, that was such a great time. You're right. You're just like, ugh. I remember with Mark Osborne, he got traded, I think, from the Leafs to the Rangers that year. And yeah, they do feel a little awkward,

but they understand that it's a moment for the guys that want it. And they're very respectful of that. But you're right, it kind of singles them out a little bit momentarily. But it is what it is, right? I'm just trying to think of who Pittsburgh brought in this offseason, who's going to feel a little bit weird. I feel like people in Chicago pretty much every second year. Yeah, right.

And by pretty much, I mean literally. Every second year. Yeah, holy smokes, man. Nick, we do need to talk about the Leafs because we are based out of Toronto. And really, the world kind of rotates around us, right? I mean, I think we're... It does. It's a gravitational pull.

Yeah, it does. I understand that now. I didn't know that a little while ago when I accused Steve of being a loser. I understand it now what do you see what do you see with this because we're

you know as fans and as people we talk about it all the time the management group seems to be doing it the right way

yeah now we've got a you know it's really the Leafs and the Coyotes with the best young players you can debate

who's got more yeah but it seems like they're the teams that have really done the analytics thing they've done the drafting thing

what are your thoughts that they are they are on the path of uh of of gaining respectability no question about it uh it started when brendan shanahan uh put a team together of of good people i think the world of mark hunter i think he's a lifer right loves the game loves being in the rink loves finding talent finding guys that play the game the way he likes to see it play. Which is what? Oh, gritty, like respects talent, but wants to see compete, right? Not everybody has it.

Like a lot of guys have great talent, but to find that unattainable thing that you cannot get through analytics, you still have to have an eye to really understand that this game is great with the skating and the passing and the shooting, but the one thing that you're going to have to put together is that one ingredient that paper cannot show you, and that's how much fight is in the dog.

Like I said, skating, shooting, passing is great, but for me, I want to see a puck in the corner and I want to see two guys go after it and I want to see who comes out with it. You tell me where analytics can show you that. And that's not disrespecting analytics, but I'm saying that to me is the purest form of what our game's all about.

Like I have that at the top of the list. And I think Hunter does. I think the way Brendan Shanahan played the game, he does. And I think Babcock, they get it. They get it. So now it's just a matter of this great talented group, right, with Marner, you know, Nylander, now Matthews, you know,

where is that fight in the dog? Because we found out Jonathan Taves has it, you know, Patrick Kane has it when it comes to finding pucks and going into the dirty areas. And that's what we got to find out with the Leafs now moving forward. Is that a teachable thing? i think you can you uh is it teachable uh can it be brought out i guess yes it is but again uh nobody knows if you have it you know even the person that we're talking about maybe it's

something that he discovers that he has but you know you you gotta as players you gotta start searching for it now and then you know that you'll have those key moments in your career where it has to surface at the right time you know what maybe we'll see it a little bit in the world cup if it surfaces at the world cup and players young players discover it then it's a lot easier to get it back when you need it because you've seen it before that's the experience that people say well he's he's an experienced veteran he's he's done it before that's why people no matter what area you're talking about they always go back to you know he's he's done it before we've seen it and then it's a little easier to bring it out is there a player you can think of when you were playing

who you know maybe you know ho-hum whatever but he flicks that switch or something pissed him off and he's just a monster uh listen i mean there there's some that just rely on their talent alone and then there's others that can bring out you know the best of it uh you know the one thing that I will say about Brandon Shanahan is that, you know, we're talking about one of the best goal scorers in the history of the game, right? I mean, not very many guys have been able to do what he has, but, you know, he was there willing to do different things, you know, at different times. Pat Verbeek, I mentioned him earlier in the show, he's another guy. I mean, those type of guys, when they bring, you know, five tool players is often mentioned in baseball, but when you get,

you know one of those guys that can shoot pass hit fight do whatever it takes to win you know that that to me is how you win championships wow you know and and speaking of baseball i mean i'm i'm the leafs super fan but i know for a fact you're the you're the jay super fan like uh yeah it's been a fun summer i gotta be honest with you uh many uh many nights just hanging out with the jays now we're down that stretch we're gonna do it again in terms of uh do you believe in this team because there seems to be some apprehension around them uh yes i i like i like the the changes that they've made uh shapiro was in a very tough position going against a guy that was super popular but i was i was skeptical of the change but i i think he's done a really good job of of not being

the center of attention um and quietly going out and getting a few pieces uh they made some changes with some pitchers Santos was out Chavez Jesse Chavez and now he's gone they were bad

those guys they were horrible those mid guys and now you know few guys coming in Benoit I think

is it Benoit Grilly Grilly's been good Grilly Grilly who is so mediocre in Atlanta I think Grilly

and Smoke should do a barbecue cookbook they definitely do commercials i like there's an opportunity there there is there's there's some opportunity to get on that okay but they're fun they're fun because they go down 5-2 and you don't turn the set off right they go down 6-2 but that's against minnesota we'll see how they do uh moving forward here because there's some tough games coming up but it'll be a fun stretch again i like how you're you know just talking about the jays and they've done some

really good things but man during the the playoffs so the nhl playoffs so there's uh this control room where there's this big tv and all the hosts watch it and there's a few other smaller tvs and you can watch the other games and every now and then you know it'd be in the middle of a play pucks just in you know the neutral zone and you would just see kipper go yes Fucking love my jeans High fives around High fives around And sure enough

You look up So we did a home run I scare the shit Out of everybody In the room No he's a very You know Greeks Are known as

Very quiet people Wow yeah of course It's that Mediterranean Calmness That everybody's Known for Yes As loud as you could

Oh my god They're like Elliot Friedman's Like you gave me A heart attack For Christ's sakes And Elliot's a pretty Calm and collected guy

Yeah So what happened Well, it'll be fun down the stretch again. I'm excited. Well, especially, and you're going to be. I don't know. I'm in trouble, though, because it's right through the World Cup. I know.

I know. Well, to be fair, yeah, the stretch will be fun. As long as they can get into the playoffs, then you're at the beginning of the NHL season, and you'll be all right, right? I don't know if I'm going to be. I've got to be on my best behavior now. Ron McLean's coming back, you know. I've got to be on my best behavior with that guy.

Yeah, well, he's Ron McLean. Although, I hear Ron McLean's a fun, fun guy. So, maybe you'll be all right. Just ask any small town throughout Canada. Literally, any small town. They will say the same thing. Are there any left? Are there any left for a hometown?

No, no, no. He's covered every single one. He's covered every single one. He would be able to deliver a beautiful five-hour soliloquy about Moose Factory, Ontario. He's the one I want doing my eulogy, whether he knows me or not, at the end of my life. He's just one of those great speakers, great orators.

So it would be great to have him back. And Nick, when you go into the season, When you go, like, obviously you've got the World Cup. But going into this season, and we haven't even hit Taylor Hall and Adam Larson yet, but what are the things, what are the main stories do you think coming into the World Cup,

going into the NHL season that we're going to be looking at? Like, what do you think is, what are you going to be looking for? Well, the West to me has been this great dominating conference the last few years. When you talk about contending teams, you're probably going to rattle off, you know, four or five teams in the West before you even talk about teams in the East.

But as we know, it's a different beast in the playoffs. But Chicago, L.A., St. Louis now, Anaheim, San Jose, Nashville, right? I don't even think you mentioned L.A. No, I did. I did. Sorry, sorry, sorry. You didn't get L.A. Did you pay attention for Christmas?

You're right, you're right. Am I boring you? You're not talking about the Leafs. Do I need to put you in a headlock? When you don't talk about the Leafs, Is that what everybody's waiting for? Just do it. Jesus.

Just do it. So, you know, even with Pitt's Stanley Cup, you almost gravitate to the West before you go back to Pittsburgh. You know, everybody says we're a copycat league, right? And everybody's modeling now Pittsburgh, right? Quick, fast team, you know, guys like Hagelin

darting in or darting out and I'm like where were people wanting to be like Pittsburgh like three months into the season

right when it was all the Boston Chicago they were like we couldn't dump on Pitt enough you know

Sid was horrible right 91 in league scoring and then Sid gets a new coach and he becomes

the best player in the world again and all these pieces start coming together you know the traded pieces you know before trevor daly got hurt and you know haglin haglin was great with the rangers he sucked in anaheim and then he was great again pittsburgh so it people will always just sit there and just gravitate to the west and i don't think anything

will be different uh when we start in october so screw washington and screw the penguins i think that's what makes the East so fun other contending teams like the Leafs it's like a tire fire and here's where you know

here you go super fan Leafs nation starting with the three guys in this room right okay

so okay we're going to talk about Pittsburgh we're going to talk about Washington and you go Tampa and Florida we'd all sit there

and go okay four of them pretty good locks yeah right you wouldn't bet against them no

okay But after that, especially in the Leafs division, like Montreal, Boston, not sure, Ottawa, Leafs, Detroit, you're starting to go... I don't know. I mean, are the Leafs that much worse than Montreal? Of course, they got Carey Price. I get that factor. but you know Carey tweaked

something again it's like you might even like the Leafs better you know if Carey's out I mean you said that not me

I don't know why I'm such a super fan I mean it's and they didn't solve their goaltending issue which is what happens if

Carey Price goes down I think their backup is El Montoya I mean it was a good backup until a long ago you look at you look at those question marks

what are the Leafs in the Atlantic I don't know what they mean Atlantic and I'm like okay I mean And a lot of teams there that the Leafs should be, you know, not that much worse.

And they are probably, they were probably last year one of the best coached teams, right? It seems like there was a system and that it was implemented and that went. I mean, I don't know. Just, you finish in 30th, you finish in 30th, right? I mean, I can't look you straight in the eye and say they were a great coached team and they finished in 30th. Right, right. But they have a definitive system, which is a good thing. Did they have many nights where you went,

you know what, if they actually had good players, this would have gone a little differently? Well, it wasn't like two years ago when it was just like... Awful? Awful's like a really good word for it. I was making videos with an army helmet on. They lost games by a goal or two, which was a little bit more respectful than the year before

where they had that one stint where it was like Montreal season last year regarding some of the worst hockey in history in the organization. By the way, was that lack of pride? Anderson's the key for me. He's the key for you. So how he does kind of determines the team.

And I think he can steal games. I don't know how many he will. I don't know how consistent he can get his game to the next level this quickly. But over the course of the next two or three years, I think his new contract, will be one of the bigger bargains in the NHL. God, I hope you're right.

I hope. I hope I'm right for you so you can have some fun. Thank you. Are you, as a former Leaf, as a guy who grew up here, are you a Leaf fan? You know what? Are you allowed to be? I grew up a Leaf fan.

Okay, I was one of those guys that if I'm in, I'm in, right? And for me, Sittler was it, right? and I remember where I was when Lanny scored the overtime goal that knocked out the Islanders so they can go to the conference final against Montreal I mean all of that I had the posters in my room I grew up

a Leaf fan am I still a Leaf fan I would like to see I would like to see success here for many reasons you know one selfishly my kids right my kids I mean

I'd like them to see a championship and what that would be like right on an original six team and live it and be around it I mean I grew up with some some of what

Leaf fans got in the early 90s when they were close but not close enough but everybody's curious to see what would happen if the Leafs won a cup but you know we're also

since 1993 not had a Canadian Stanley Cup team so So, you know, you got to sit there and go, you know, right now, beggars can't be choosers. We'll take anything in Canada to bring it, you know, back home. But I'm Canadian, so. Except for Ottawa. You know.

I don't know if you can accept that. I don't know. You want to broadcast objectively. Yeah. You know, something I'll teach Steve somewhere down the road. Maybe we'll go for lunch, you know. But, you know, from. Are you buying?

Absolutely. But from, you know, a personal point of view, yeah, I'm from Toronto. It's my hometown. I got to wear a Leaf jersey Do you know when I got traded There were only 87 guys in the history Prior to me that was born in Toronto

And got to put on a Leaf uniform Less than 100 Wow Less than 100 Don Cherry focused on these good Ontario kids And the fact that there's less than 100 at that point Yeah at that point So maybe that's a bit over

And that was before the amalgamation too right so the number is probably ballooned in recent years but i would love to know what the number since of toronto proper yeah of old toronto was so that was a that was a thrill in itself for me um but you know i it's it's tough now with this uh next generation because when i grew up right again to watch the leafs the big nights were wednesday night was their midweek game and then Saturday, of course, Hockey Night in Canada. So while I knew a lot of the star players on other teams like Bobby Clark on Philly

or Brian Troche on the Islanders and Dennis Podvan, you didn't really know the rest of the league. You didn't know anything about the league. Now kids today, they go to their phones and they follow any team they want for 82 games and they gravitate to Sydney and Ovechkin and then become Washington Capital fans or Pittsburgh fans. And it's like you're not localized anymore, right?

You can go anywhere you want, watch any player you want as many times as you want. You can isolate a guy, one of your favorite players. You can do anything you want today. So the danger for the Leaf organization is that the way we grew up with inheriting your dad or your grandfather's favorite team is not there anymore, man. You inherit it through your smartphone now. I got news for my future kids.

They are inheriting. They are inheriting. Yes. It's a burden. And you know what? And then they call child services. And Stevie ain't seeing his kids anymore because he's abusive.

He's leaf abusive. I'll get some kids who know a good hockey team when they see it. So Nick, at this part of the show, we normally do, quickly, haul for Larson before we do the press conference. We're going to take listener questions

just a second here. Haul for Larson, what'd you think? I think on the surface, I get what Edmonton fans are saying. We gave up an all-star for a non-all-star. Okay? that's i get it i get it like this guy should be able to score 35 goals 40 goals in his sleep he's that talented but what will dictate this trade down the road i think more has to do with

how the rest of the forwards you know whether it's eberly whether nugent hopkins sticks around whether dry sidle connor i think could lead the league in scoring as early as next year if he's healthy for 82 games right if those guys are able to do what they're supposed to do then you're not going to miss taylor hall as much but if larson can come in and give you 22 23 minutes of shut down you know flawless defensive zone coverage and just be a rock it doesn't even have to be an all-star but just a rock then that's going to benefit the Oilers more than Taylor Hall's 35 goals but that'll

be dictated by who carries that weight for the forwards but it's not it's not a sexy trade It's not. But if Larson can come in and continue, he's just starting. He's just starting. He was a disappointment. He played better last year, and I think that's what Edmonton saw, is that upside, that the scale's moving and trending upward. If he can come in and be a solid, solid defender, which they've lacked for years now, then I think it's got a chance to be one of those trades that can really help down the road. Amazing. All right, let's do the press conference. First question, what's the most insane thing... Who's it from? Who's it from? Do we know?

It's from LateFearness on Twitter. Okay. What's the most insane thing you've heard a panelist say that they actually believed? I don't know. That's a good question. Anything Doug McClain said in the last five years. Just five? Um, you know, Doug McLean during the lockout year, uh, we went at it.

Oh my gosh. He of course pro owner, right. And me objected objectively covering the player side, but he'll say otherwise, but we, we went at it pretty good. You know, um, I think probably Doug McLean saying that, uh, the owners like to protect, what's best for the game. That did not come out of his mouth. Did he say that?

Yeah, during the lockout. I think that was probably it, that the owners want what's best for the league. And of course, they said what's best for their pocketbook. How did he actually believe it? You're going to have to ask him that. I think he's on your next show. That'd be fun to have him.

Well, the best part about this is that you would say that to him if you were here like you could tell oh yeah oh no he's so pro owner it's disgusting wow

yeah yeah it makes it just I wanted to throw up during the lockout every time well so did all of us you looking forward

to the next one boys it's coming you know what's crazy our ratings were never higher for Hockey Central at noon during the lockout really it was crazy

that's how starved everyone was it was crazy it was crazy and it was just I used to I was living in Calgary at the time I used to watch it on TV

but it was it was that was painful I can remember actually going to within six six or eight months I went to the

Calgary Flames home opener and then I moved home and then I went to the Toronto Maple Leafs home opener it was all in the same year like it was really

you know what I mean like it was such a weird it was weird when that happened right it was when you lose out on half a season well as a young

professional working in hockey I would use a different word than weird Broke. It's a huge pain in the ass. Yeah.

Had to work for the KHL. I had to make a lot of sacrifices, Adam. That was not a fun year. Nick, do you think it'll happen again? No. No? No. You think they'll avoid it this time?

Sorry? You think they'll avoid it this time? Okay. Like, in all honesty, it's at 50-50. Like, where is there to go? Like, come on. Like, what are you going to, you're going to shut down the league because you want to tweak free agency or, you know?

There's no reason to ever have a lockout ever again. It's at 50-50. Come on. And we fought through two lockouts for that. It's crazy. But yeah, that's what we're at. And the players bought into this escrow. I know it drives them batty.

They hate it. I don't understand. They hate it. I'm not going to lie. It's just, it's an overage of the money that the players are getting from the owners. So the contracts, if you collected all of the contracts, it doesn't match up as 50%, right, of the revenue. It's over. It's over the 50-50 split.

so if we the 50 50 split says that if you collected everyone's contract they're making exactly 50 of the revenue well it's impossible right there's going to be overage and there's going to be you you're going to spend a little bit over it's it's allocated that you can spend a little bit over at various parts during a one year so then what the escrow does is it collects certain money that you're going to pay back to the owners when they finally do the math on what the 50-50 split is.

Are you following me? Yes. So, last year I think it was 15 or 16% that they collected that goes into an escrow. So when it's time to pay the owners back the money that was over the 50 50 the owners got their money because if you didn't have escrow and

if you just said you're going to collect your money and at the end of the year we're going to come to you and say you owe us you know 70 million dollars because you went over the 50 50 the players are going to go um you know what i just got gas for the boat up at the cottage and i'm just a little short yeah and can i get you next week and the fear for the players association is if they didn't have the escrow that it would bankrupt the pa right it would just they they it would be over that's what that's what escrow is it's a guarantee on the 50 50 split for the owners and the owners wanted that oh yeah i'm sure the players did too it's just a great way to save money so sometimes So hold on, just to put things in perspective for, say, you know, P.K. Subban, who's making $9 million, or Sid, who's close to $9 million, you know, depending where you pay taxes, right?

And in Canada, I think, you know, with the liberals, we're probably in the 55, 56%. So this goes to the Stamkos kind of situation, right? Free agency, 56%, right? Off your paycheck right away. So if Stamkos was going to make $10 million. I mean, he's making five. Yeah, five. Okay.

Now escrow was at, I think, 16 or 17. Take that off of half a million dollars, right? So, we're talking another, I don't know, $75,000, $80,000, right? So, now you're down to, you know, or I'm sorry, $750,000. Yep. Right off $10 million. Yep. Right?

Yep, because- Okay, almost three quarters of a million dollars. Now, depending on what you pay your agent, if he's doing everything involved- It's like 3%. No, 5%, maybe 5%. Before tax. Depending on what services you're getting. So that might be another.

So now you're 55, 75, almost 75, 77% of $10 million is gone. So when you think you're making $10 million, you ain't making $10 million. So it's, you know, and I can hear the listeners now going, Boo-hoo. Boo-hoo. I'm only collecting $2 million out of $10 million. But condos are expensive down in California. Take it from a guy who ended his career face first

on Madison Square Garden ice in a puddle of blood that that's what you look at every time you step on the ice and you never know what's going to happen and what kind of job you're going to get next if you're fortunate enough like I've been to be in broadcasting or you're one of the averages who changes over seven jobs in the first three years looking for something after hockey. But that's what the players got to live with, right,

is the fact that this is it. I got to make hay while I can because I don't know what tomorrow brings. But it is a sore spot with the players that they lose so much percentage of their money now year to year you just reminded me I think I've told

this story before but Jim the net detective Kerry I think he won the Calder he won the Vesna

with I want to say Washington one day I was on LinkedIn and he came up as like one of my like suggested connections

oh I've looked him up he's a financial guy in Florida isn't he I think so yeah he's running like a financial firm guy has the Vesna trophy at him

yeah it's crazy it's crazy you know what My advice to any young player is I don't care if you're making $50,000 in the minors or $500,000 in the NHL minimum salary or $600,000, whatever it is, or $10 million. Get people you can trust. Get financial people that kind of know and protect yourself. Don't give them your assets.

Don't hand over stuff and not know what's going on. You've got to pay attention. And, you know, I was fortunate enough to get involved with Stu Gav, an ex-player that got into the, you know, the financial world and they've been great. They've been great. They give me sound advice, nothing, nothing high risk, just slow and steady. And that's what it's all about, really. I mean, in all financing, they'll tell you that unless you're big money. Significant chunks of that have to be kind of low risk, slow over the course of 20, 30 years, right?

There's a lot of sad stories out there. Jack Johnson's playing for free right now, trying to pay creditors, right? And there's a lot of guys that have made, and I don't care, you can blow anything. You can blow a million, you can blow 10 million, you can blow 50 million. I mean, it's not hard to go through money, but you've got to have a good head on your shoulders. You've got to protect yourself, protect your family, you know? And your future. Yeah.

I mean, you can have generational wealth or you can be back to work. When you take this show syndicated and, you know, start making your millions, Steve. Well, you mean when we get off the 1 a.m. shift that we're doing currently? That's right. We'll take it to the next level. I'm not reading about you I want that VH1 special And that's when the new Pokemon cards came out

And things really went off the rails ESPN's 30 for 30 The demise Of Dangle I really got into memorabilia I really blew my wad on that Nick Kiprio's Rangers jersey with all the blood on it Or was it Washington? I couldn't remember

I don't remember either I got six concussions man And I barely remember what I had for breakfast. Jesse, what do we got? Next question here. Derek wants to know, what's the best lead you had on a trade that never happened? Oh, gosh.

Damn, that's a good question. That's a really good question. I was like, come on, you guys. Now you're putting me on the spot. What is your favorite color? I was supposed to get traded to Buffalo, I think, with the rangers in 95 for uh sweeney that never happened uh but as a analyst uh okay i'm gonna have to come back to that one and just uh offhand well how about this when did

you realize you were getting pretty good at this breaking trades thing because every trade deadline well follow that twitter you know when when i first started well first of all it was really bob mckenzie who started you know that whole thing and then you know of course tsn's on their own until 1998 and then we came around and i just retired from the game but i i met a lot of people in a short period of time in my pro career that I've gone on to do various things. So you just start making phone calls. You almost kind of fell off of it,

fell into it on its own because it'd be like, you'd be talking to somebody on the phone and then said, oh, we're going to trade so-and-so. And I'm like, really? I'm like, okay. So then I go into a production meeting at Sportsnet

and I heard so-and-so is going to get traded And they're like, well, that's news. And I'm like, okay. So, you know, like, and then at that time, of course, there's no Twitter. There's nothing social, nothing. It's just your phone. So then you go to the assignment desk. And at that time we had the web, right?

We had the web, 1998. I'm hip. I'm cool. So then they start building stories. and oh my god it was like horse and buggy time you know they type slow and then they push the enter button and it wouldn't come up on the world wide web for like 10 minutes 12 minutes and then sure enough though when it did come up then it got picked up by cp and for a new station Canadian Press.

At Sportsnet, to be picked up by CP, Sportsnet is reporting or Sportsnet says that someone was huge for us. It was like a big deal. So then it kind of snowballed into, okay, let's see what else I can find out. And that's how it started. So it kind of just evolved on its own. And then this whole thing, this whole life of Sportsnet versus TSN kind of took a life of its own.

And it was just the two of us just kind of going back at it, you know, back and forth. I believe you referred to them as those fuckers. Yes. That was my favorite moment on Twitter. Oh, so good. So, you know, you think, you know, when I called or referred to your loser mentality as a kind of a defining moment in your career, that was one for me. That was definitely one for me.

When did you realize, like, oh, no. Oh, was that public? Bob tweeted you. About 30 seconds after I sent it. Oh, that's a long time. It used to be, I thought I was direct messaging. And no, at the time, I sent that out to about, I don't know, 80,000 followers. You know?

That's far more than I have currently. I thought my career was over then. Yeah. Yeah. You know, dropping the F-bomb, you know, was not a good idea. Well, I don't think it surprises anybody. I mean, really. No, but at the time.

Yeah, I guess. I'm like, oh, my God. You swore. You swore. No, no, no. An NHL player swears. I've never, I didn't even know how to delete. Oh, no.

I didn't even know how to delete. And people are saying, you got to delete it. You got to delete it. I'm like, I don't even know. I don't even know how to delete. Right? But, you know, it's twofold. Some people think, you know, good for you.

And other people say, I don't know. It makes you real. makes you real it's nice to know you're a real person it's just a real situation it's fine you know

they've got you know great people there that do good things we got good people doing things it's like it's a healthy

competition for you know breaking trades and that sort of stuff and yeah we're just better that's all

they you know they got that one we got this one whatever you got you got you know

the people listening the people listening you know they get the information fast like you know when I found PK Subban you know got traded

people found out 10 seconds later that I found out and that stuff didn't happen you know prior to social media do you ever check your tweets over I always find like

I'll tweet something and I'll go ah there's a spelling mistake do you check them over just quickly before you you try yeah you're human

like you said but that's what I always say about myself it's like but people but people will they'll point the

you know you'll get the message saying you misspelt this you dummy you stupid mother do you ever read your mentions yeah it's hard not to

it's hard not to because Elliot straight up refused when we asked him that it's hard not to when you have time when you're bored when you're waiting for a flight

whatever but you know there's some people that are really sensitive to that you know and I don't know

maybe I should be more sensitive but you know at the end of the day it's just one person's opinion you know who may have five followers you know i'm like yeah i don't know i mean i can't i can't let that affect me you know whatever which way you know and over the course of 18 years like you know it does get you know you're gonna make some mistakes right so i had this amazing source right who's never steered me wrong and we're doing free agency

and it's ryan's suitor right and i had put down now i didn't put it like and he he sends me ryan suiter to detroit right so again i'm i'm not sure i like to kind of make sure two or three times but i so i don't i don't say deal done or you know reported as concrete so what you'll say is you know i'm hearing ryan suiter to detroit and then sure enough about a minute later my source who's impeccable says sorry i forgot to add two question marks are you hearing ryan suiter to detroit and i'm like oh my god oh my god are you kidding me where were those question marks you didn't put question marks on that

when you sent it to me and he's like sorry I forgot and I'm like okay everybody thinks that he's going to Detroit and I'm going to have egg on my face

for a really long time and sure enough people still say yeah yeah P.K. Subban in Nashville you told me Ryan Suter

to Detroit you dumb and I'm like yeah listen over 18 years you're going to miss a question mark or an exclamation point

somewhere no big deal that's a great story i love that because i love that that's how it can happen that's how it can happen so you know people think like you're you're dumb you're way off base i'm like no it's just you know we're all human here and just little tiny mistakes like that and that's why you need to you know take a deep breath sometimes before you press the send button but you know i haven't learned that yet it was a it was a good learning experience for me but you know i i was mad at myself at the time

but now I'm like I put my record over the 18 years up opposed to just a couple of mistakes 18 years is a long time to be involved in this thing it's not going to go perfect for 18 years and whether I'm

in for another year or another 10 years regardless there's going to be situations when you know you don't always look like you're a genius you know so like you said we're human I love that story

that's my favorite story you've told so far just because it's like an answer I'm sorry for the question a quarter of a million people are watching yes

yeah this is amazing we got another question yeah this one's from Ryan if you were still playing today who's one player you wouldn't mess with oh gosh

there's a few but like Luchich top of the list you know top of the list train boxer you know

train boxer He is, he's, he's, Connor McDavid grew two inches when he signed, right? Yep. For sure. He's going to clear out some room, right? For sure. Like there is a, there is a, something to be said for, you know, if he's playing with Connor McDavid, which you would assume they probably will try.

Yeah. Yeah. Some people think that, that, that element of the game's gone now and, uh, you know, they don't have to be scared of anybody anymore. And I'm like, that's still not the game that I know. Still not the game I know. man i've i've looked in the eyes of guys on the ice and i know when they're they're backing off or they're a little intimidated or they're just a little gun shy and that stuff still happens

today man it does like you could see it you can see it not everybody's as brave as they want to believe that they are so luchich will exploit that you know when they play against certain teams the Oilers would be fun to watch some people have talked negatively about that signing and certainly the term is rough but I think about the Bruins when they were just doing whatever they wanted

and now it's Lucic but it's not just Lucic you also got Darnell Nurse yeah and no one's thinking about that Darnell Nurse is really strong those are two top ten guys in the league maybe not Nurse right away but

in a couple years Luchich nurse that's a nightmare that's a nightmare physically physically now is it going to turn into goals

for and fewer against I don't know but it's going to be unpleasant on a night to night basis that's going to suck

Nick have you noticed this the t-shirt that Steve is wearing yes do you see do you see who that might be

now they yeah Austin Matthews which you know might have been a director's all the taking Now, because of your deep, deep knowledge of the Leafs,

is it official that he's wearing number 34? No, it's not. So these shirts might be collector's items. At development camp, he wore number 63. Marner wore 84. Like, everyone had a super number. Lou's got this thing about numbers. You know that, right?

Yeah. So what is it? Just you'll get what we give you? Basically. I think we'll find out, you know, at training camp. I freaking love Lou. And this is the, like, someone, I wonder if someone talks to him. I don't know if you can talk to Lou Lamorello.

They just released the new Leafs jerseys. They're going to sell a bajillion of them. Who do you want in your jersey? Matthews, Marlers, Nylander, Marner. Until the season starts, right? You can't sell Matthews jerseys. I can get it customized. Of course you can.

But they won't sell them until... But they won't sell them. It's a PA issue. Oh. Yeah, because he's not officially a licensed player of the association until you play a game, until you're vested. But you can buy a blank, which my wife already has. And guess what?

She put my name on it. I played for the Leafs. I don't know if you know that. Is that a jersey foul for you, by the way, when people get their own names on the back of a jersey? Does that bother you? No. Okay, good.

Thank you. It does not. Thank you. No. no good sweet and I gotta ask

as a guy who's been a player and you've been a professional broadcaster I think probably longer than you were a player when you look at a guy

like Steven this new breed of of people that are coming up what do you mean you people we're part of it

that's an interesting way to phrase it we're an offshoot we're not a radio show we're a podcast which is an offshoot of the same thing that YouTube is

to television What do you think about it? You know what, overall, I think it's great. Everything is great. Social media is great. It's helped me in my career with various things, including sharing information. But everything's a double-edged sword. It could work in your favor or it could be your worst nightmare.

It's just respecting it and using it to your advantage. Everybody wins. but you know he's he's the next generation type of guy where people want to be not only in foreign but they want to be entertained and they want to laugh a little they want to cry a little you know they're they're in they're in i mean it's great that you guys are doing this it's great that you know i'm hearing that you guys are getting 20 30 000 listeners that's awesome right i think it's terrific just if people want it you guys are willing to you know do it for them then uh everybody wins.

It's about growing our game. It's about making more people aware how great the game is. Steve's been able to do that in a very short period of time, and it's good to hang out with you guys today. Well, gosh.

Nick, I was just going to say, it was a pleasure of ours, too. We went a little bit over time. Just don't talk about people losing on purpose anymore, okay? It pisses me off, all right? Oh, but delicious draft picks. Okay, hold on, hold on, hold on.

Now, are you okay if the Leafs finish in 30th place again? Because I think it's a disaster. Yeah, it is. It's a disaster. And it's funny because the light at the end of the tunnel, supposedly, I can't remember the name of the kid who was supposed to go first overall this year, but he's supposed to be spectacular.

But they're supposed to be going up now. No, no. Merrick would not stop talking about it. He plays on the Brandon Wheat Kings, I think. Oh, yeah, that's Millard's guy then. Yeah, you know who I'm talking about? Yeah, I do. I know who you're talking about, too, and it's going to kill me.

Yeah, whatever. It doesn't matter. He was the top scorer in the playoffs. He lit it up. Nolan Patrick? Nolan Patrick. Thank you. Which is a family relation to James Patrick.

Oh, really? Yeah. Well, there you go. That's me. So, I mean, you're not going to get the first overall pick every year, but they're supposed to be trending up. Unless you're Edmonton. Unless you're Edmonton.

But that was a fluke. It was terrible. It was a fluke. You look at the stats behind it, the statistical likelihood of them getting, what was it, four first overall picks or three first overall picks? So small. So small. They're supposed to be going up.

Last year was the Grin and Barrett sacrifice for Leafs fans and for the Leafs too. I don't think Babcock or Lou or Shanahan or anyone, especially in the dressing room, liked that. um but it's it's more it's uh it bared fruit okay so hopefully this year is an upswing give me your cutoff between success and failure if they finish 25 and under i'll be pretty disappointed um if they finish 25 to 25 23 i'll be it'll be a bit of a bummer if they finish 20 and up I'll be pretty stoked I'll be pretty happy

I just wish you could see Nick's face right now But that's realistic right? Yeah Oh that's No that's Yeah but that's not That's not based on tanking though

No I'm not saying Oh gosh I hope they finish 20th I'm saying What's their ceiling right now? Exactly Looking at their roster Challenging for a playoff spot

Until like late February Okay So if they are picking 10th overall It's okay They pick where they pick this year They pick where they pick Good

I'm with you then I'm with you What do you think? I'm with you What's your cutoff? You know what? I think if they're picking top 5 It's a bad season

Yeah Okay Top 5 is a bad season Unless they win the lottery They miss the playoffs By one point And they win 6-10

Is not making big strides 6-10 is not making big strides, 10 and up 10 is making strides and up if they're drafting so again you got

Frederick Anderson, you got all these pieces now and you know they say winning breeds winning losing breeds losing as well you know they need to start feeling real success not we lost by a goal success they got to start

feeling like they're this core group now can win now now that's what you want them to feel it's not realistic if they do maybe but they got to feel like they they should challenge for playoffs right frederick anderson you're you're the next goalie for the next five years you can't come in finish 30th, you know? No. You can't. No. Okay?

Because nobody will believe that you're the future goalie if they're picking in the top three or the top five again. You've got to steal games. No one's saying you've got to do it for 60 times in the season, but, you know.

You've got to give something to hope about, right? You've got to steal five or ten games this year. And that's exactly, and they're selling hope this year. That's what the sell, the sell is hope, right?

The sell is, that's going to be the interest. It wasn't Bernier, it wasn't Reimer I mean that those guys kind of kept a house made of popsicle sticks up for a little while but now for a little while but now you got mortar you know you got some real foundation here so now pressure is on Babcock now to start showing that why these guys are the future it's hard to finish bottom five

with a really good goalie I think correct yeah correct and there'll be some nights when maybe he's not as mentally

as tough as he should be and consistent as he should be Frederick Anderson but I think they got a really good goalie awesome

I do he's a big guy he's a big guy that can move just gotta between the years now start developing between the years

well Mike Babcock can help with that so we hear so and he's gonna be he's gonna get a sample Okay, boys, how do we do? We're wrapping it up.

Pretty good, holy smokes. Anybody need to go pee? Yeah, I do. Yeah, actually. Pick up Mixed Water GP8. And Nick, just quickly, this water actually gets you like, I do have to pee. It's a company that I got involved in about five years ago. And, you know, I'm like everyone else at the beginning.

Come on, it's water. Water's water. but if you drink it this water is different from other waters it does it does get through your bloodstream faster because uh steve has to go to the bathroom now doug mclean usually he's so funny after our hockey central news shows because he says that the first thing he does is he starts walking and then he's like i i gotta go into starbucks take a piss right and then and then he But he'll pretend that he's going to buy something first because he doesn't want to be the guy that just uses the bathroom and leaves.

Really? Why does he care? Oh, it's very important to Doug. It's very important to Doug. So he waits in line? Well, he'll kind of wait in line. He'll kind of poke around and see if he wants a blueberry muffin, and then he'll dart into the washroom. It's so funny.

But it is a little different. It's a lighter water. It doesn't bloat you. They break down the water molecules. They actually break them down and reconstruct them, and they actually physically put more oxygen in each molecule. That's why you've got to pee faster because it's going through your blood system. I heard Elliott Friedman say on multiple occasions, like,

Kipper, what the hell is in this? It's true. It's absolutely true. We're honored that you came. The stories were unbelievable, and I hope this is not the last time because it was so much fun. And have fun going into the World Cup. I know it's going to be an extra long season for you. Thank you for making time for us today.

All right, guys. Really a pleasure coming there and shooting the shit with you guys. It was a lot of fun. We got them to square. There you go. And my kids aren't around. Follow the guys on Twitter at Steve underscore Dangle, at Adam W-Y-L-D-E,

and at Jesse Blake. The Steve Dangle Podcast. Brought to you by Panago Pizza. Order at Panago.com and stuff your face with deliciousness. Thanks for watching!