The Steve Dangle Podcast - The Steve Dangle Podcast - Jul 12, 2016 - Ben Scrivens

Episode Date: July 12, 2016

On today's podcast, Ben Scrivens calls in to talk about pretty much everything. Not much exaggeration there. His season, the Oilers, the Hall trade, the Canadiens, the Subban trade his wife Jenny, playing in Australia, Game 7 (that one) and much, much more. This episode is like a box of chocolates. 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, I leave the country for a couple weeks and everybody loses their damn minds. Well, okay, let's think of all the things that have happened since you left. The country you went to left the European Union. That's correct, yeah. The day you left for that country. Yeah.

And then I think there was the Taylor Hall trade, which five minutes later was followed by the P.K. Subban trade, which five minutes later was followed by Stephen Stamkos re-signing. Which was on the same level of international media coverage. Yes, right? Yes, absolutely. They're on the same level right now, one after the other. In fact, the BBC actually led with P.K. Subban traded over Brexit. I mean, it was Brexit. Boris Johnson.

Telexic. Yeah, Telexic. P.K. Exit. P.K. Exit. P.K. Exit. P.K. Exit. P.K. Exit. P.K. Exit.

P.K. Exit. P.K. Exit. P.K. Exit. There you go. Thank you. And hey, we should probably announce the fourth person to join us on the show today. Oh, well, no. A very important thing is Adam Gotten...

Whatever. We'll talk about that on the online portion. No one cares. The first active professional hockey player to ever join this podcast. And he's joining us from a wind tunnel. Yes, apparently. Scribbles. Scrivezina.

Ben Scrivens. Woo! Yay! I like that pity woo you give yourself, Ben. Yeah, I try. Thanks for having me on. Well, thanks for talking to us from your 94 F-150 in the middle of Denver. Is that right?

That's what you're doing? Yeah, I'm on the outskirts right now. I pulled over, and I appear to have pulled over on a truck route. So every 30 seconds or so, there's probably going to be a semi. Good, good. Good spot. It's not a long show. Don't worry about that.

Don't worry about it. The great thing about Ben Well one of the many Great things about Ben Is he owns two trucks That are older than Jesse is He has

What's the oldest one dude Is it the Red Dragon No I've got a A 91 Jeep Wrangler Actually is the oldest Oh Wow Wow

And you were just telling us About I guess the Red The Red Dragon Which you and your dad Just sunk a Brand new motor into Yeah we We put a 454

Big block into it Turned it into A bit of a sleeper So that's no longer the daily driver. I've got the Jeep because I need a 4x4 for the winters in Denver. And then I bought the 94 F-150 when I was in Bakersfield this year to start the year. I bought it for, I think, $2,000 just to have something to drive around Bakersfield while I was down there expecting to sell it. And lo and behold, I fell in love with the truck, so I decided to keep it.

I feel like that might be a bit of a thing with you. I mean, how many do you own right now? Well, I've got, well, I guess between Jen and I, we have four vehicles. And then, you know, my family has a bunch of cars as well, too, and motorbikes and all that sort of stuff. But that's the interesting part, Ben, is that when you ask most people how many cars or trucks they own, they'll go, one, two. you had to go um let me think about that for a second let me say like how many like you just have them scattered all over north america yeah yeah my uh the uh the chevy's up in uh in alberta right now um i've got i bought some rims down here in the states that i gotta bring up there

and put rubber on before uh we put drop spindles on the front so it doesn't you know the rims are the rims that are currently on it aren't wide enough to clear to clear all the turning steering mechanisms so yeah it's basically drivable but it's not drivable until it gets

new rims up there so well I'm sure you're going to declare those rims at customs like a good Canadian kid well I mean you get a deal by buying them in the states and then you pay a little bit of money at customs to bring them up it's still the better way to do it most people the only issue is you need a

for most people is that you need an address to ship to in the States, which is somewhat difficult to do for most people, but obviously being in Denver, we have a place to ship it to, and then we go back and forth to Edmonton a couple times in summer anyway, so

it's not the biggest hassle for us. Globetrotter, Ben Scrivens. Speaking of which, you just went to Australia to play hockey. When did you get back from that? I got back Maybe A little over a week ago

So Sunday the 3rd Of July I got back Oh okay I thought it was more recently Because I keep looking at Sasky Stewart's

Twitter And she's still there Obviously Because she's from there Yeah I think she I think she stayed for Two extra weeks Or something

She was there Which makes sense Yeah So what were you doing down there Because I Think I brought it up On the podcast And I did a really poor job

Of explaining it So it's a It's kind of a promotional hockey tour. They've had a few NHL guys go over in the past. I think Brent Burns is probably the biggest name to have gone over.

He went over last year. We had Adam Cracknell and myself and Scott Darling and then Brandon Bolig as well this year. So there's a couple of NHL guys who went over. A lot of

NHL guys are European pros and the point of the tour is to raise some money for a couple of charities. One of them is essentially they're all to do with brain injuries and spinal cord injuries and research and support groups that go along with those two causes. And then a secondary benefit is trying to grow the game outside of North America. Selling hockey in Canada is probably the easiest job on the face of the earth.

it's a little more difficult to bring it to places like Australia where they don't have natural ice outdoors I mean the coldest it gets here in the summer is 5 degrees and they think that's freezing I wear shorts when I go

golfing in that temperature it's a good way to showcase the game over there and create some more fans and try to do our part to grow the game while we still can and I mean Third benefit, just personally, is you get a free trip to Australia

and you get to see another side of the world that you wouldn't necessarily go to. And how'd you get hooked up with that? Was it Sasky? No, it was Kyle Quincy. He lives in Denver as well. He used to play for the Avs. He is one of the first guys, the first NHL guys, to be associated with it. there's a guy um the head guy is uh carrie goulet and his uh now fiance actually got engaged uh this tour in australia uh tony mill um great people they do uh the majority of the work the

lion's share and uh my neighbor from back home actually a guy named tyler grahn we played together playing junior he played at northern michigan and uh he's playing in uh in the european pro leagues uh right now um he went on it last year and uh you know told me all about it i had heard about it but uh you know nothing firsthand and he had gone on it said nothing but good things so uh he kind of talked me into it and uh it was a good opportunity to be able to lay some up with him again and you said brent burns is probably the biggest name to have gone but i mean i mean brent burns is pretty good but he's he's never won an all-star game mvp and i mean you were there with john scott dude you're just gonna you're just gonna glaze over john scott well obviously

you have to right the guy's got a big enough head as it is i'm i'm totally kidding john john's a great guy he brought his whole family over uh got newborn twins uh that were born close to the end of the season um they came over his wife his other two daughters um and uh and grandma came along to To babysit as well So You know He's a great ambassador He's

Incredibly intelligent He's He's super witty He's a You know A great ambassador For the game And

You know I was on the spot I was trying to remember Everybody off the top of my head And Sorry Johnny Forgot about you And you messed up

Way to go John's going to hear this By the way Ben Because John is an avid listener Clearly Oh yeah Definitely He loves podcasts

It's funny because It's funny you bring him up Or funny Steve brings him up you know you guys you played together in Montreal this year uh well more in uh St. John's oh yeah no I think you you were both there for the one game were you guys we played yeah we played together for one game in St. John uh and then he was called up I think right after the game or the next day or something like that right I was down for the rest of the week or two that was left in the season in St. John's well when you when you saw what he was going through when he when he was

traded um i mean obviously he has twins on the way and we were kind of right in the thick of it too in terms of trying to get him into the all-star game and and i know that there was some mixed feelings on this show from one member i felt bad uh you know but i i always felt like it was such a cool thing uh that that this guy was going through this and it seemed like at the time there was a lot of um there was a lot of pushback against him going and he even addressed it in his Players' Tribune article. When you saw it, what did you think about it? I mean, at the time that all that stuff was going on,

I was down in Bakersfield for the most part anyway. So I was a little bit removed as well. I mean, I definitely think that the fans, I mean, if we didn't have fans, you're playing in front of, you know, you're playing in an empty stadium in a quiet rink with just the other guys on your team playing against each other.

You know, the fans make the atmosphere. The fans make the NHL what it is. I mean, the players bring the skill and the sweat and the sacrifice, but, you know, the atmosphere and the culture around hockey wouldn't be anything without the fans. And so you can't discount what the fans want. I mean, you can extrapolate this farther out.

I mean, if the fans want higher-scoring games, I think there's better ways to go about it than going after goalie equipment. But at the end of the day, I mean, we're an entertainment business. I mean, you have to take into account what the fans are asking for. If they want higher games, if that's what they want, right? I mean, it's all well and fine to tell fans, hey, no, this is actually really exciting. But at the end of the day, they're the ones who are making the determination

of whether they were entertained or not. So, you know, to come back to John Scott, if that's what the fans wanted, then that's what the fans should have gotten. And I think, I don't think it was the smartest business decision to go against your core fan base and say, no, no, no, we know what's best for you. um we're gonna manipulate and pull strings behind the scenes to prevent you guys from having what you want to prevent you from having your toy and and being entertained so um you know i i think it was short-sighted but there are plenty of other things that the nhl has kind of fell ass backwards

into that turned out to be a hugely successful uh thing for them so i don't think this is the first and probably won't be the last, but, you know, at the end of the day, the fans should be, their opinions should be heard about what direction the NHL should be going in. Well, and to that point, you know, do you think there's a bit of an old-school culture in the NHL that may be out of step with what younger fans, and really the fans in our age group now, Ben,

I mean, you and Steve and I are about the same age. Jesse's significantly younger and he likes to tell us all the time he's really not that much younger but he still likes to drive that point home you know Ben like you and I know that like

with our generation of fans our age group we're the future of watching hockey and we're the ones that are starting to settle down starting to engage starting to get engaged and get married and have kids and those are the fans that the NHL is targeting and And a little bit, at least, you know, the ones that are at home on a Saturday night rather than out at the clubs.

Yeah. Do you think that the NHL maybe doesn't understand in the same way that they used to what this new fan base wants? Well, I mean, I don't think that you can, if you're going to go at it generationally, I don't think that you can say that it's, oh, NHL executives and the older NHL executives or marketers or whatever. Because you have, I mean, you go on Twitter and you see the same opinions being thrown out by the older generation of fans. I mean, I think that the older generation of fans, you know, they, oh, I remember when Bobby Orr used to go end-to-end and you're like, yeah, but that's just never going to happen anymore. I mean, they didn't really play defense back then. And I remember never going back there, right?

Yeah. And, oh, I remember when, you know, watching Gordie Howe and his elbows. You know, there's rules against elbowing people in the head. There's rules and such and protocols. I mean, I don't think that it's a generational thing that's like an NHL executive. Like, oh, you know, the powers that be in the NHL don't understand what the next generation wants. I mean, again, you extrapolate this out to even societal things. I mean, our generation is a lot more open and understanding.

I mean, you look at LGBT rights. I mean, it's the older generations who generally, obviously, not a steadfast rule for everybody. But generally, they're a lot slower to come around. And some of them will just never come around. And it's unfortunate that the solution to that problem is just, you know. Let people die. Yeah, give it time and the problem tends to solve itself, you know. Yeah.

But when you come back to hockey, I mean, it's what people are used to and what people are comfortable with. And honestly, it's what they're nostalgic for. You know, they remember our parents' generation. They grew up watching Hockey Night in Canada. And, you know, every Saturday night, sitting around watching it on black and white and, you know, hearing the same announcers. And that's when they see those things and see hockey played in that way,

it brings them back to a good feeling of how they were when they were younger. And the way that we see hockey, and it's going to be the same thing for us. We have to be cognizant when we get older than we already are. When we turn 50 and 60, we're going to sit back and go, what do we got all these augmented reality holograms on the screen for? I mean, you kids should just be watching it the way we used to watch it, with a glowing puck yeah true it's it's not that our generation is better or or even different than than our parents generation is that what we're used to is what we've grown up with and what

they're used to is what they grew up with and it's very difficult to change what you're comfortable with um unless you're cognitively like focusing on on accepting something new so um i mean i don't think the nhl i don't think they're alienating anybody because eventually this stuff is going to change just it's not going to change as quickly as anybody wants it to in terms of our like our younger generation right right ben uses lots of big words yeah geez ben just jumped on the show and became the smartest person on it yeah i mean yeah yeah as opposed to what yeah um so when i when i tweeted yesterday that you were coming on the show people wanted me to ask you about oh you You know, you played with Subban, you know, talk about the Subban thing and talk about the Taylor Hall thing.

You had a pretty fascinating story last year, too. I want to go back about 10 months ago, a year ago. And what happened basically from the beginning of the season onward? You want like every detail? Not every single detail, but it started funny. I remember the day I drove up to my first Montreal Canadiens practice. I got out of the car and I was wearing Converse. It didn't start in Montreal.

Right, exactly. It started in Bakersfield, I believe. Yeah, so, I mean, one of the problems that I specifically have talking about this is that anybody who's an Edmonton fan, anytime I, I mean, you can't say anything without it just being all, he's got sour grapes. You know, he didn't play well enough, and now he's trying to take pot shots at Edmonton. I mean, I grew up in Edmonton. I'm an Oilers fan growing up.

you know it's not like i have any ill will towards the organization or the players or anything like that um and really like the same situation could have played out with me getting waived and sent down and traded later um and and had it been handled differently internally i mean i definitely wouldn't have had any gripes or commotion i mean i played with when i was playing uh in toronto with the Marlies, I played with Jeff Finger for two seasons. I mean, I'm sure you guys remember the deal that he signed

out of Colorado. And he got way, I mean, he got way, it was every summer, or every training camp he was coming in, he almost knew he was going to get waived. He wasn't going to be on a team. But I mean, he's probably one of the best pros I've ever played with. He's a great guy in the room. He wasn't dour.

You know, he understood that it was, you know, a business decision and that's the way it was it's going to happen. I mean, it's not like you're sitting there going like, Oh, you know, they screwed me over in this way or that way. The only thing that I didn't, the only issue that I really had with being waived was that I was waived without a visa. I was waived. I came into camp in great shape. Um, you know, the, uh, training staff and all everybody in, in, uh, Toronto or pardon everybody in Edmonton that I, that I came in in great shape in terms of like the training staff.

and then you know whatever I thought I had a pretty good camp you know I had a thing at a 927 save percentage

in my couple games which is again it's small but who's counting yeah I mean but it's a small sample

so it's not like I can just say oh I had the greatest camp ever right I think you know it's open to interpretation

once you get into camp and you know I probably didn't play as well enough the year before to like guarantee myself a spot on the team And, you know what, that's the business of hockey.

I've been around long enough to understand that. What I couldn't understand is how you can wave somebody, and it was both me and Nikita Nikitin to get waved and then have to sit around for three weeks waiting for a visa before you can play a game in the AHL. So all the momentum you have of your summer, you know, coming in. I came into Edmonton earlier and had goalie camps with Dustin Schwartz, the goalie coach in Edmonton.

It wasn't just me, it was Talbot, it was Nielsen, it was Brassois. We all came in and had weeks worth of work on the ice, getting tuned in. I thought I had a good camp, and you have this momentum going, and you're excited for a season, and then all of a sudden you're waiting for almost a month before you can even play a game again. um i mean that that's the only gripe that i really have it's not the matter of like getting waived or or anything like that um i wasn't the first guy to get waived on a one-way contract guarantee i won't be the last one these are these are business decisions i get that

but the you know just the way in which it played out was uh which i think probably frustrating more than anything and yeah i have no question i could have handled things probably differently in terms of getting myself through that lull. But, you know, it was definitely difficult. I hadn't gone through it before. But, you know, it's a life lesson that, you know, I think I'm a better person coming out the other end of it. So, yeah, it's difficult.

Ben, is it rare for a team to waive you without a visa or is that sort of par for the course? I mean, I don't know. I didn't think so. Like, when I would get sent down, when I got sent to Reading in the East Coast, when I was with Toronto, um, you know, they had everything planned ahead of time. There was, um, I think they knew that I was going to be starting at number five on the

depth chart, but, but I mean, it was still, I was going to a different country and they had everything taken care of ahead of time. So that was my only, um, I guess my only other, uh, I guess experience with, with going from one country to another um you know in uh in montreal st john's is still in canada so i didn't need one there when i was playing in la even if i had gone down to manchester it's in the same country so i would have already had a visa so i mean maybe it's a an issue with just um you know with shirely having come over from boston where providence is is their uh um their ahl team and And, you know, maybe just, I don't want to, maybe it was one of those details that kind

of just fell through the cracks, but it was a detail that affected me personally and affected my ability to play. So, you know, that was the, that was the frustrating part on my end. So, I mean, I don't, I don't know if I haven't heard of it happen to anybody else before. I don't think Nikki, you know, Nikki had seen it before either, but, you know, it is what it is at this point. So, you know, that was the only issue with it. You know, any fans in Edmonton who are listening and still thinking that I'm harboring any resentment.

You know, I still consider Edmonton, you know, my home town. So, I mean, you hear what Dallas Eakin said on the radio in Toronto the other day. You know, Edmonton deserves to have a winning team. You know, I would have loved to have been part of that, but that's just not how the cards played out for me personally. But that doesn't mean that I have any ill will or want Edmonton to lose for another 20 years or anything like that. That's silliness to try and project that upon me for a fan who's upset and rightfully so that the team hasn't done well. But, you know, to say that, to project on me that I'm, you know, somehow willing that to continue just through my attitude is probably, I think, unfair. Well, it is.

But that's the thing, Ben, is that you can't win in the Internet generation. And so to try to win, like, you could say, God, I really love London, England. and that could offend somebody in Manchester who really loves Manchester and thinks you're taking a swipe at Manchester. It's like saying I really love Toronto and it offends people around Canada because you're not saying

I really love that particular city, right? Just because you're saying one thing does not mean you're also saying another. You are saying what you're saying and we understand that it's not a pot shot at Edmonton. You're upset, justifiably so. You had to wait for three weeks to play a game again. I can get that.

I get that. I understand that. And I think anybody with a brain, anybody worth listening to, talking to, responding to, would get that. But Adam, you like London, England? Does that mean you voted to leave?

I'm actually not from there. I didn't vote at all. Oh, typical excuse! Liberal! Pinko liberal! I, uh, yeah. You know what, Ben? I totally understand that. So you're, you know, you end up, I mean, from there, I mean, take us through what happened. You go down to Bakersfield.

Did you feel out of step when you got there? Uh, yeah. I mean, I Like I said, I definitely could have, I don't even want to say handled it. Obviously, I didn't play great when I was down there. I mean, I think most goalies out there will attest to, like, getting into a rhythm is one of the most important things to playing well and going on a run. You know, LB, Laura Persuade, is the guy of the future, I think.

I think he's a great goalie, and I can understand Edmonton's position that they want to continue to develop him. I was on the last year of my deal, so even if they run me out for the rest of the year, it was just going to cost them money in terms of my salary. But me as an issue for them going forward was going to end within that season anyway. So I can understand why they were playing LB as much as they were. You know, it was up to me to play better and just to force them to give me more starts. So I was fortunate.

LB had a bit of an injury, and that gave me an opportunity to play a little bit more. And when I was playing consistently, you know, my numbers went back up. And then that opened up the door to get traded to Montreal. all. And that's where I'm going to stop you because we have to go to break here. But when we come back, I want to talk to you. We want to talk to you about because two of the trades that happened this

offseason that overshadowed free agency, that overshadowed the draft, that overshadowed everything. They are involving the two teams that you were associated with last year and you played with the two main players that left. So we want to ask you about both of them. P.K. Suvan and Taylor Hall next on the Steve Dangle Podcast

on the Fan 590. So we're with Ben Scrivens. Former Toronto Maple Leaf Former Los Angeles King But I think most interestingly Considering what's gone on Former Edmonton Oiler Slash Montreal Canadian

Ah yes And truly two teams That have taken the spotlight Away from Toronto Which I mean It's kind of unacceptable But it's okay The season will begin soon

We'll be right back Exactly We'll be right back there It all does And Ben you played here You know it all Kind of comes out of Toronto The world revolves around Toronto

Yes You guys sound like true Torontos. Thanks, man. I've never been paid a better compliment. Never been paid a better compliment. Ben, you know, okay, so you played with Taylor Hall, and we had to say that was the trade that broke first, and that was kind of the one that I was on a train going from, I think,

London to Liverpool, and I was blown away by that trade. It was shocking. For you, when you see a trade like that, Taylor Hall for Adam Larson, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? um i don't know i mean obviously edmonton uh i think they felt like and i think a lot of the fan base felt like they had to shake things up and somehow and in in some sense um there's always going to be debate about who you give up i mean if if you don't give up taylor hall do you give up uh nuge and if you give up nuge now you have a different uh sect of the fan base who is up in

arms about that and if you don't give up new your hall then you give up ebbs and if you do that then there's a different sector of the fan base that's up in arms so um you know you they're in the unenviable position of having to um trade away a good player and uh you know obviously taylor is a a great player on the ice he uh he puts up points and uh you know he's going to be a valuable asset a team like New Jersey who needs offense. It seemed like a good fit

for both. I don't know a ton about Larson. I didn't play against him all that much, but they've got a good group of Swedes in Edmonton. You've got Anton Lander, you've got Klaus Baum.

They had Nelson there. Swedes They're all great guys. I've never met a Swede that I didn't really like. That's actually true. They're great. They are unbelievable as a group of people. It's going to be a situation where I think Larson will come in

and I think he'll be able to feel at home because they have that little group of the locker room. Not that they section themselves off, but you imagine what it's like going to a foreign country and uh and being forced to speak a language that isn't yours a hundred percent of the time um you know it's it's nice to have someone uh you know close by that uh you can talk candidly with uh in your in your native tongue so i i think it's a good fit for larson as well um i think the question though and i think what upset people though was that people didn't feel like it was enough for taylor hall right i mean and we i think on this show we've

all i mean i said it on the internet i haven't had i haven't been on back on the show yet but And it doesn't seem like it was a very equal trade. I mean, yeah, I think that there might be some validity to that when you look at pure numbers in production. I think that, I mean, I can't remember who I was talking with, but they made the comment that, well, a couple of GMs had come out and said that they wish they had known that Hall was on the market. I mean, I'm not even plugged into the, you know, I'm not on the GM group chat that they got to watch. Which apparently exists. The WhatsApp group? It's hilarious.

Apparently something very similar exists. Really? Yes, yes. But, you know, I mean, I remember seeing articles. I'm pretty sure I remember. I don't want to pull a Donald Trump here, but I'm pretty sure I remember seeing articles about Trelli saying that they were going to have to shake up the core in some sense. so if you're a GM that wanted Taylor Hall, how is that not an

open invitation for you to pick up the phone and say, hey what do you mean by core players? Is number four involved? Is he open? What can we get for him? So if you're a GM who's saying, oh we wish we would have known that's an indictment on you probably not being that

creative picking up your phone and I mean I get that you don't want to trade you an in-division and in-conference rival, right? But, I mean, you look at the situation that happened, and this has Peter Shirely written all over it, but you look at what happened with Martin Jones.

I mean, he leaves L.A. He gets traded to Boston, and not even five hours later gets traded to San Jose. So it's not like it's impossible for Taylor Hall to have ended up in Calgary or Vancouver or L.A. or any number of other teams by these kind of, you know, different differently designed um you know trade scenario so um you know the fact that it was pretty open knowledge that that someone was on the block um you know i mean maybe i i can't say

i wasn't in any of the obviously not in any of the trade discussions but um i mean it's easy to sit back and say oh you should have got more for him but if nobody's offering more for him how do you get more for them. You can't write your, just like as a player, I can't write my own contract. It'd be lovely if you could, but you just can't force someone else

to trade a person that they don't want to trade. I mean, it's all well and fine to nitpick, but until you know, you know, what discussions were going on in the trade rooms, you just really have no idea

and you can't truly be, you know, someone who adds anything valid to the opinion other than, I would have gotten more. Okay, well, be a GM and get more of that next time. So, okay, so I'm going to put you in the GM shoes then. Okay, it's NHL 16. You are, you have the, you have, you do a fantasy draft,

and you can pick any team you want, but it's a fantasy draft, so you're drafting. You have six phones. Yeah, and you have six, you're up to the six phone level. It's like Blackberry. You have Taylor Hall on your team, and the CPU comes along and offers you Adam Larson. Do you take that deal?

oh well that's the first deal that comes your way probably not um i mean but if if you've been offering every you know 28 other teams taylor hall and and you know new jersey comes around and that's the best offer i mean that that's your best offer at that point right i mean theoretically they could have held on to him to start the season and then waited to waiting for, you know, maybe someone gets hurt, you know, a top player on another team gets hurt and they need a left winger. Well, all of a sudden, you know, Taylor Hall is now a huge commodity that they can look to move, and now they have leverage on that other team.

But, you know, you also run the risk of now you've got upheaval in the middle of the season, and that's probably the last thing that Edmonton needs is commotion in the middle of the year when they're trying to assert themselves as a team that's competing every night for two points. Like I said, it's easy to nitpick and easy to second-guess, but unless you're that GM, you really don't know what else is offered and what the terms and the reasoning behind everything was.

I mean, you can even look at the Anderson-Bernier trade, which was initially a straight-up trade with some draft picks. But at the time, it didn't look like it. It just looked like they traded a one-for-one almost, right? Until you see the full picture play out, you really don't know what's going on, if that makes sense. Yeah, yeah. Well, what do you think that does, since you were in that dressing room,

what do you think that does to the core of Edmonton, the core Edmonton players, those guys that were all drafted in the top two or three picks in the draft for years and years and years in a row? I mean, we all know the running joke with Edmondson. Do you think that significantly changes the dressing room? It might. I mean, the way in which it would change the culture and the mood in the room is it just puts everybody on notice.

Like, hey, nobody's untouchable here. You know, you're going to be expected to do what Todd McClellan asked you to do. And this isn't saying that Taylor Hall wasn't doing that. No, no, no, we know. Yeah, what it's saying is that, you know, we're trying to usher in a new era of accountability here. And there is no one who's going to be above it. And, you know, it doesn't matter what your name is, you know, there's going to be expectations for how you play. And it's unfortunate that we had to trade a great player like Taylor because he is, I mean, he's an all-star player.

There's no arguing that. but there was going to have to be sacrifices made in some sense in order to show up the back end and I think everybody in Edmonton and the management there has been pretty vocal about that it's not like that's a top secret thing that I'm divulging or anything like that

but I think it's maybe an eye-opener for the guys who are already in there that things will change whether you want them to or not and we're not going to accept losing anymore which is, I don't think, a bad thing organizationally for them to illustrate to the players. And devil's advocate, this is, you know, as someone who really didn't think the Oilers got enough back for Hall, there was that great down-goes-brown thing, like, we need to shake up our core.

Oh, but let's not trade that guy. No, not this guy either. Hey, how come we're bad again? Yeah. You know, they finally made that move. It's hard to do. It's hard to do. I definitely don't envy Shirely's position. And now he has a reputation of trading both Hall and Sagan.

So, I mean, he's got those two, you know, skeletons in his closet, so to speak. But, you know, if things turn around in Edmonton, which, I mean, again, I don't think getting rid of Taylor Hall is the reason that Edmonton has struggled. But, again, everybody was saying it's not like there's a – the debate wasn't whether or not they had to move somebody. It was who they had to move. So everybody was on board with moving somebody, and the final squeeze of the trigger came from Chiarelli. So I don't envy him, and only time will tell us if that's what it's going to take to kind of turn that ship around.

So he's traded Taylor Hall, he's traded Tyler Sagan. Not enough people, I think, are talking about he might have to trade or might trade. the first pick from the 2012 draft, Neil Yakupov. It's been a rumor for God knows how long. Is that guy misunderstood? Is Yakupov misunderstood, do you think? I think he's criminally misunderstood.

Yak is a great guy. He's a great teammate. He works so incredibly hard, and that can be his downfall sometimes. He wants to win so badly that sometimes he tries to do too much. And, I mean, I've definitely been in that position. When I was in Edmonton, that was one of my downfalls is I was trying to do too much.

I was worrying about other people's positions defensively because I was seeing plays develop that were obviously high-scoring chances. And at the end of the day, if you're worrying about other people's jobs, it's only affecting your play. um i think yak is a guy who uh given the right coaching and the right understanding of the defensive way in which to play um you know he is so he's such a good skater he's such a good release um and he cares so much about winning that all it's going to take is for him to figure it out and he's going to be back to his status as a as a valuable first overall pick um

You know, it's unfortunate that, I mean, you look at when he played with Derrick Roy in Edmonton. That was the second half of my last year there. You know, Derrick Roy's a veteran guy who puts up points and is a centerman. And Derrick Roy got the best out of Neil Yakupov. Well, and so did Connor McDavid last year with Pouliot. Pouliot, yeah. You know, and what Derek did was, you know, he held Yak accountable for mismanaging pucks and turning pucks over and, you know, the risk-reward ratio that you need as an offensive guy but also have to be defensively responsible. Derek Roy held Yak accountable in a way that allowed Yak the freedom to score

and produce offense, but also prevented him from getting away with stuff that he maybe had gotten away with in the past. And it only, I mean, it had to have come from a veteran guy who was a point-scoring guy. You know, you can't, as much as you love Matt Hendrickson, he is a great guy and a great teammate and a great leader. He's not an 80-point guy or a 60-point guy in the league, So it's tough for the skill guys to look at him and, I mean, they respect the hell out of Matt

because he has completely earned it. But when it comes to, it's easy for a handle to say, hey, we all got a blocked shot. But when it's Derrick Roy or your top guys saying, hey, your top point guys saying we got a blocked shot, it is a different message as much as you hate to admit it. so shifting gears to Montreal but similarly to the Yak conversation why was PK Subban such a bad teammate I just I just gotta know that's all I've ever been told is he's a really bad teammate um I I mean I personally I'll preface everything by saying that I love PK I think he's a great guy um yeah but Ben why is he a bad teammate

It's just, why is he a bad teammate? I mean, I can't speak for anybody else other than myself. PK was great to me. I think he, I mean, he is flamboyant. He's out there. He's not afraid to be loud and be in your face. What I respect the most about PK is no matter what was going on, he brought it every night.

And, you know, he made mistakes, and everybody makes mistakes. I've made a ton of mistakes in my career. I don't think anybody's immune from that aspect. But he, I mean, he wants to win, and he was doing everything he could. You know, you look at enigmatic guys who are so skilled and can be so good, and they only show up on the ice half the time, right? You watch a whole game, and you're like, I don't even think I noticed that guy out there. You can never, ever say that about tubes.

And, you know, I guess one thing you can say that would be a valid criticism of my comments is that I was only with them for half a year. So maybe there's stuff that I didn't see or I didn't know about or some background that was lost on me. But for me, I mean, Suze is a great teammate to me. When I first got traded there, super welcoming. um you know he's super obviously super generous not just with uh you know all the hospital uh donations and and his time but he uh you know just being a good teammate to me i mean he always

anytime something was going on it was you know text from suits inviting me along and um you know i i can't say enough good things about it so um it's entirely possible that other guys have have different uh have had different experiences with him um and i think probably what hurt the most for him last year um in terms of his perception was because he is so vocal and so out there um when things are going well he gets a lot of the credit and and deservedly so but when things were going poorly last year um you know when when the team wasn't winning you know it's tough to get out of that spotlight and and i don't think he shied away from it i don't think that he you know walked away from cameras or interviews or didn't talk to the media but but you know every

you know if he made a mistake he was magnified because it was a loss not a win right and it's because it's him yeah yeah well and it's no it's no different than a goalie right i mean yeah well he's got way too much credit for wins and way too much uh blame for losses um in my in my opinion And I think Shubes is the type of guy who's that influential on games that when you win, he maybe gets more credit than he deserves. And when you lose, like last year, he probably got more blame than he deserved. Ben, what was the mood in that dressing room? You played in Montreal in a very tough time.

Probably one of the toughest in Montreal's history. The last, like, ten years. Yeah. I don't know if they've ever had a season like that. It was a bizarre, very, very bizarre season. So you played with them in the lowest of the low, and I want to know what the mood in the dressing room was like when you guys were going through that together.

I mean, I think everybody was frustrated. You know, it was never an issue of, like, lack of effort, right? It was almost that thing that we were talking about with Yak, where, you know, when things are snowballing in a bad way, the worst thing that you as an individual can do is try to do too much if you focus on your job and what you have to do

then the team has a whole benefit because there's reliability on what you're doing and I think it's incredibly difficult to do to focus on your job and do it 100% the best way that you can do and have the results not go your way. I mean we had so many games

last year when I was there that we would out-shoot teams and we would lose 2-1 You know, and it was a post. It was, you know, a guy just had an unbelievable game. I mean, but the randomness of running into a hot goalie that often was, you know, it was almost comical. And then you compound that with injury. So guys are playing with new linemates every other day, it seemed like. And, you know, you just have all these issues that are outside of effort.

And it makes it really difficult. I think probably frustration and expectation played into how the mood. I mean, I don't think it was, I think by the end when the team was out of playoffs, you know, it was pretty somber. I don't think it was pantherous or anything like that. I don't think that the guys were, you know, turning on each other necessarily. or not in a way that was, like, going to tear a team apart. I mean, everybody wants to win.

Everybody is competitive. And, you know, it's just a whole bunch of frustration. And, you know, you're looking under every rock. What can I do to change it? And, you know, that's not always the best way to do it. And, again, I wish I was the expert and knew how to change those things around. You know, I've been on teams that have won before. I've been on teams that have lost before.

And it's hard to figure out that right combination. And, you know, I don't anticipate that they're, especially having Carey Price back, I don't think that they're going to have as much difficulty as they had last year. Well, hard to see how any team would, right? I mean, so much went wrong. Now, Ben, I got to hold you up on this one

because we got to go on Sportsnet 590, The Fan. The podcast is brought to you by Panago Pizza. It's what's on the inside that counts. Isn't it? Yes, especially after what Ben's told us. You know, they looked under every rock. And it is what's on the inside that counts. Not to poke fun, Ben.

I've got a lot more to ask you about. Yeah, exactly. We've got more to ask you about in Montreal. We've got more to ask you about you. And we also want to know what Pokemon you've caught in Pokemon Go. So we'll get to that in the podcast portion of this. You can download it at Sportsnet.ca. It is the Steve Dangle Podcast, which you can also find on iTunes, Podstitcher, Google Play, anywhere else.

You can find a podcast. We're on it. The internet. So, Ben, getting back to with Montreal and that sort of thing, do you think that there's a chance? And it's been argued We're recording again Yeah we are recording And you can also say

Fuck Let's fucking go Yeah Wow Not only did we get An NHLer on the show We got an NHLer To drop the F on

Which is so rare They never do that So yeah I mean I've been In hockey drafts Nobody ever swears ever Ben Do you think that

There could be Do you think that Some of the problems That happened last year Could have been solved By different systems In terms of coaching um i think a lot of the problems i'm not a coaching expert the x's and o's are

definitely not my specialty so you know it's probably not my place to critique um i think that the biggest problem that you had was injuries um and you look at columbus columbus goes from you know pushing for a playoff team to the year i mean i don't be able to watch like 500 or 600 man games or something yeah oh it's crazy yeah two or three years ago i rip them but holy smokes, do they get hurt? Montreal wasn't that bad, but it wasn't that far off either. And especially when you have important players on your team getting hurt. And obviously, Terry Price is the most important player there.

But you also lose Zubes for the last three weeks of the year, months of the year. You lose Gallagher early on for a while. Yeah, right before you got there. Yeah, I mean, it just goes on and on and on of how many guys they lost in important roles. And when you have that variance in your lineup, it's hard to get that chemistry going. You know, it's hard for lines to keep up production. Okay, well, we got a new right winger tonight, so now everybody knows where each other is,

and now you've got to try and figure out someone else's habits and where they like to be, right and left handed you know all those little like you know when you're really clicking with somebody is those things are almost automatic you just know where the guy's going to be um and and you're not thinking about it and and then you get a new guy and now you have to start thinking a little bit that slows everything down just a half second and that can be the difference a lot of times so um i mean if you could always go back and and say oh well if they had just you know played a one two two sweep for checking the neutral zone they would have won four more games right i mean it's tough to unless you have unless you've already done that um it's

hard to really contextualize and say that this is a for sure thing and until then it's just a hypothesis saying well what if you just played like pittsburgh and did it all out like like a full like a full court press in every zone of the ice well yeah that works if you have the right players to play that system but not everybody has the right players to play that system you need you need um you need personnel and strategy uh to combine in the right way and it's difficult What to do to find that match In the way that That Yakupov is misunderstood

In your opinion Do you think PK is too? By everybody By management By fans By media I mean I don't think

How you I don't know How you can say That a Norris trophy winner Is misunderstood And everybody thinks He's good right? Right

Yeah But they're saying No they don't I mean Not good enough And that's That's the thing Is that it seemed like

No matter what he did There was always people going Yeah but he's not Shea Weber Yeah but it was The half season Norris Yeah Right

A lot of people Saying that Crosby was having The same Discussions about him This year I mean Up until

What January He was Oh man It's not even a debate Who's better Ovechkin or Crosby Anymore You know

I think I think that's An issue with Hot take media Right What can we What can we talk about Today that's gonna

Get us some Some clicks and get people talking, right? And controversy follows, especially in sports and hockey. So, you know, you have to be cognizant of what's being said and why.

I don't think that that many people think that Zink is bad. So I don't truly believe he's that misunderstood. Then why was he traded? That's what I don't understand. And that's what we're having, and I don't expect you

to fully answer that. But is there anything in your mind, now being an objective person, because you are a free agent, at least as far as we know, you haven't broken anything yet, how does a guy like P.K. get traded for a guy like Shea Weber, and that is not taking swipes at Shea Weber, but you look at the advanced numbers, and you look at the normal numbers, and P.K. Subban's the better defenseman, period, and I have no problem saying that. certainly the younger one yeah i mean it's i would say that probably is i mean i don't think anybody has i'm not saying anything that's like new and controversial but i definitely think that with the old guard of hockey that sues his personality and his outgoingness uh can rub some people the wrong way uh every young person i shouldn't say every the vast majority of young people in the sport like to see personality um i mean i like it i i don't see anything wrong with it especially if you're if you're looking as a from a player's perspective at selling the game

and drawing in new fans and and trying to take people away from basketball and football and baseball and drop people in i mean having the oh yeah i was we we gave 110 percent you know we really tried out there and you know it was uh you know all four lines were clicking that stuff just doesn't appeal to everybody anymore and it's it again it's everybody who already knows hockey they love those cliches and it's it's new or it's what they're comfortable with but if you're trying to bring new people in i mean that's not nearly as exciting as you'd need to be in order to to steal people away from a slam dunk competition or a home run derby or or whatever you have you know what i mean it's um or john scott do an all-star game yeah exactly i mean those are the

those are like out of the box um you know lines of thinking that are generally not not widely accepted within you know the old school mentality of of nhl and of hockey but um you know i definitely think that sues his personality is is more in line with with the younger generation and um you know he's he's going to be a leader because i think you're going to see more and more guys come out like this i mean um you have you know jonathan drew and who i don't know if he overvalued himself but he definitely has a lot of confidence to do what he did right and but he came back and played well yeah exactly i mean it was never a question of whether or not he was good enough to play in nhl he's the number three overall pick that's generally um you know 99 times out of 100 that's

going to be a bona fide nhl player for a good amount of time right and you know you i mean that's one example but there's there's countless examples out there of guys who are like you know what like i know that i'm good i don't i don't need to you know have as much humbleness as as you expect me to have and and just because that's the way you know landing mcdonald did it back in your day that doesn't mean that that is how i have to do it you know the the longer we talk to you the more i realize you're like a well-spoken forrest gump and you've just you've just kind of been around and you've and you've had all these crazy experiences and i'm thinking of all the biggest stories from like the last year or so and now i want to ask you about kessel because i

realize you have some you have a you know inside uh interest in in that too yeah is that a guy that's misunderstood oh no question thank you he was bill phil is it phil's an introvert i mean that's at the end of the day phil's an introvert and in the toronto media you guys do not do well with with introverts or with guys who don't who is you guys who is you guys ben Oh, you know who exactly I'm talking about with you guys. I mean, you know what? The people that you are calling you guys would not consider us their cohort, although we would consider them ours.

Do you know what I'm saying? The first shot considers me a peer, for sure. Yeah, definitely. Have you ever... Sorry, go ahead. I was going to say, that's the infighting within a group. From an outsider's perspective, we can lump all you guys together. Yeah.

We're completely fine with it. I mean, you ask anybody in, you know, a Vancouver or a Calgary or someone who's not a Toronto fan, and they go, oh, Steve, is that that blogger guy that screams at his computer? He's not any different than, you know, the Toronto Sun guys who every article is about how great the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to be this year. I mean, from an outsider's perspective. Oh, you just think all Steves are the same.

Yeah, no question. I'm fine saying that. Shocking. Shocking, Ben Scribbins. That's a player hot take on a media personality, by the way. Yeah, exactly. Oh, sorry. When you understand why you guys do it,

everything's sold in Toronto. That's where the money is. Yeah. You guys have the biggest market. You guys are an original 16. I mean, when you look at it as a business, again, we're an entertainment industry. You go to where the dollars are

and selling the Toronto Maple Leafs, Or, for that matter, selling the Montreal Canadiens is easy money. So, of course, it makes sense why you guys would do it. One more time for the people in the back! Sorry. Yeah. But why do people talk so much about the Leafs? But why?

Because that's, yeah, I mean, here's the thing. More like Toronto net. More like Toronto sports network. Shut up, internet commenter! No one cares! Sorry. I'm not saying that it is right, and I'm not saying that I like it, but I understand why it happened.

I can say, like, oh, roll my eyes and go, another Leafs article or another LFR or whatever. But, I mean, I can understand why it happened. That doesn't mean I have to like it or follow it. But, I mean, everybody complains, oh, another TSN or another Sportsnet, you know, leading with trouble. Then turn on your TV five minutes later.

You already know what's going to lead with that. Yeah, and it's not like it's different in any other sport. Yeah, yeah. Well, Ben, we also roll our eyes every time Steve says, I have another LFR. Jesse and I are constantly going, yeah, okay, another LFR. I do one after every game. Oh, I'm sorry.

Hey, let me guess what you're going to do next time. Are you going to yell at your camera a little bit? Yeah, yeah, I am. Grab your hair? Grab your little toys? Listen, sometimes my hair is too short to grab, so I do other things like jump and scream. Yeah, listen, Ben Scribbins, brand manager, knows what your brand is, okay?

Oh, oh. I mean, that's good for my hashtag brand. He follows my hashtag content. Right, right. Well, and Ben, the thing is, getting back to Phil Kessel, have you ever seen him eat a hot dog in your life? Yes. Really?

What? Sorry. So, in Montreal, it's a visitor team. Oh. that's like so like most most arenas you get there's like pizza in the room after the game because you're you've physically exerted yourself it's quick carbs it's quick food um you can order it in it i don't know if it's the healthiest option ever but you know guys are guys have exerted themselves to the part where they're like starving they're like i just need anything in my

system right now yeah yeah so every every team has i'll say like 28 teams out of out of 30 um bring in uh pizza or something like that there i've seen like wings and stuff before or like subs but um montreal is the only one that's different in that they they bring in hot dogs yeah you know i don't know if you've been to a game at the bell center but they got like that white bread toasted with the hot dog in the middle and they just wrap it around right they do that a box of those um I mean, that's one of the best parts about playing in Montreal as a road team is the Sheehan shows after the game. I think it was John Garrett said back when he played,

he used to hide hot dogs in his goalie pads because he'd be the backup goalie, right? And he would just mow down on a hot dog on the bench. Oh, that's hilarious. Did Ben Scrivens ever do that? Yes, I'm pretty sure I have. I mean, I can't say 100% sure that I have, but I mean, again, Even if he did eat a hot dog every day, who gives a fuck?

He scores 40 goals. Again, it gets back to that, like, you're not doing it in the way that I, as an outsider, expect you to do. So I'm going to vilify you. And, I mean, Phil took so much flack in Toronto, undeservedly so, in my opinion. I mean, the only thing you could argue is that he's the best player and the team wasn't winning. But if that's the only argument that you have, I mean, what else do you expect him to do?

I mean, he scores his goals. He plays well. I don't think he's that much of a defensive liability for what he brings to a team. So when he won this year, I was jacked up for him. I'm super pumped that he won. I think a whole bunch of guys on that team that I'm pretty happy were able to exercise their demons, for lack of a better word.

I mean, you look at Justin Schultz, you look at Phil Kessel, there's a whole bunch of guys who have had unfair shakes based strictly off of how fans and media have portrayed them without really knowing who they are or what they should be bringing to a team. Are you saying, though, and can you confirm, that the hot dog stand at College Street was not wheeled

to the Bell Center in Montreal for Phil Kessel specifically. I think it was Front and John. Front and John. Oh, was it the Front and John one? How dare you, Adam White. Okay.

You know, here's the... Ben, we all... For the record, in case you haven't heard us make fun of that constantly, we for sure understood at the time that the article came out

that that was a gigantic load of crap. Oh, yeah. And even if it wasn't, who cares? What difference does it make? Right. None different.

Right. It's the answer. None different. And Phil's a good guy. Yeah, he's an unbelievable guy. He just doesn't open up to the media, and he shouldn't have to. That's not his personality. But, you know, you were jacked for him to win,

but, I mean, he did kind of have to take away a Stanley Cup dream from a friend of yours, and it made me sad as well. Yeah, I'm not happy that Ryan didn't come out with a ring, But Or even Jones For that matter Was another one I thought

I thought Marty played Oh that's right Yeah I mean That's one of the cool parts About having played In the NHL Is that

You know I got asked Well like Who are you cheering for In the playoffs Well I kind of know Almost one or two guys On every team

Like I don't I don't really have those I don't really have those Like team affiliations Like Like Like you people do It's a different way to watch the game

Which is not lost on me That it's unique I'm able to watch the games And watch for just a good hockey game Without really pulling for anyone If San Jose had won I would have been just as content And just as happy watching it

As if Pittsburgh won You know, Ben, you better watch those pot shots. Otherwise, the title of this podcast is going to be Ben Scrivens. I did see Phil Kessel eat a hot dog. Okay. All right. That's going to be the hot take title. It's going to be called No One Likes Ben Scrivens.

What do you guys need for a rating scrap? No. Yeah, but you know what? That makes sense. You're an auto media type. Yeah, typical. James is another guy, though, that seems like a really good dude. He is a great dude.

But there's only, I'm going to say, under, like, three or four guys that I've played with in hockey that I, like, really don't like as a person. And James is definitely not one of those guys. I still keep in touch with him. He's a great guy. There's really only, like, less than, you know, the fingers on my left hand of guys that I'm like, oh, I do not have the time of day for you. And it has nothing to do with whether or not they're good at hockey or not.

It's purely who they are off the ice. That's how I determine if I like you or not. And, I mean, other people are different. I mean, you kind of see that with athletes as well. It's like, well, yeah, he did this horrific thing off the field, but look, but he scored a touchdown or hit a home run or he's got a hat trick last night. And we'll sweep all that other stuff under the rug.

For me, I'm kind of like, no. You can be the greatest player to ever play, and if you're a dick, you're still a dick to me, and I don't have the time of day for you. Are you saying that it actually matters what kind of a person you are in athletics? Because I've been given the impression that doesn't matter. Well, to me it does, and I feel like I'm probably an outlier.

I don't think I'm in the majority in that sense. I think that's changing. I think that is changing. This weekend we had John Jones, who's probably the biggest dirtbag on earth, getting the biggest cheers at his press conference during the week. Yeah, for cheating, right? Prior to cheating. I think what comes into it is people value money more than they value their...

They can flip-flop their morals depending on what's going on, but when it comes down to them having money on the line, and, I mean, that's how the UFC, that's how football, and that's how, you know, golf and all this stuff. The reason one of the biggest drivers of fandom is the online betting right now, and I don't think it's going anywhere. So at the end of the day, you go,

well, I can win $500 if Jon Jones wins this fight because that's what I put on him. You know what? I've kind of put my money where my allegiances are, and if he does this, that, or the other, I need that 500 bucks more than I need to go on Twitter and say oh this guy's a bad guy you know

that's the way that I see it and I think that's a driver of our apathy towards behavior that's unbecoming of role models what do you do about that right are you going to ban betting are you going to take money out of it

well if you do that all of a sudden salaries are going down and fandom is falling right after. And I mean, what's the point of having a franchise in Las Vegas if you're taking the betting out of it, right? I mean, seriously. So you just mentioned being a role model

and I get the impression that that is something you actually take very seriously because no one made you go to Australia to do what you just did. No one made you paint your mask to show support for people with mental illnesses? This is something you take seriously.

Yeah, I mean, I don't do it as a role model thing. I really don't care if people agree with me or don't agree with me. It's as simple as I think it's the right thing to do for me. You know, you get into a lot of debates about current societal issues and you're never going to be 100% aligned with people. but I've learned early on in my life that no one's going to say my opinion for me I might as well say it myself

so you know that's essentially what it comes down to I am opinionated I definitely think that potentially could have hurt me in my length of my hockey playing career because I'm not just like oh yeah

put your head down and don't attract any attention type of guys I mean there's guys out there and it's not a knock on that um it just i just can't do that it's just not how i was raised and brought up and it's just not my personality to be like that so um you know it's not a negative one way or the other in my opinion but um you know i'm i was fortunate uh to be in a position where you know i had cameras around in a platform so um i took advantage of that in uh the best way that i saw fit and And I would do it again tomorrow if I could.

Well, it seems like, and I hope you don't mind me bringing up your wife, Jenny, but both of you are like that. You're both opinionated people. You're both strong in your convictions. Is that something that you think drew the two of you together in the first place? I don't know, to be honest. It's probably all physical at the start. All right, well, fair.

I think what brought us together we were both hockey players at Cornell I love that that was so honest, it's so true I saw your Dad, how'd you meet Mom? I was like, man, she's hot She made a kick save and I was done I still don't know what she saw

that's the weird one Fair enough, that is a mystery, you're right But yeah, I mean, obviously probably like attraction brings you together in the first place and then realizing

that the other person isn't a monster is probably what keeps you together, right? Mm-hmm. Well, when you got down on one knee and asked Jenny to marry you,

did you say, honey, I'm so glad that you're not a monster. Will you marry me? I actually don't remember exactly what I said. We were golfing

and I, yeah, I think it was pretty short and sweet. I'm an emotional robot so i don't do well with the whole feeling thing which is which has been detrimental at times but you know i'm still breathing so it hasn't been too bad i guess um did you yeah jen knows that about me as well so i don't think she was expecting a big um you know heartfelt thing and

and all that stuff um she's she knows now or she's learned over well i guess we've been together 10 years that valentine's day is not is not a day to me it's just not something that god how can you give me advice because i would like february 14th jenny i would like that not to be a day because i think every day should be damn it well i mean just don't just don't do it ben ben okay ben you just mean that you never do anything nice right right i mean it's it's okay it's a time i mean i don't i don't know if you can tell this about me but i'm i'm contrarian to a fault where if you tell me to do something unless it's something i'm like okay yeah let's do that

like i probably am not going to be a willing participant to it like my like i used to have absolute battles with my parents like go make your bed why i'm just it's gonna be messed up when i get back into it no i'm not like it doesn't make any sense to me to do it right and that just carried on for the rest of my life and again i think that's something that probably hurt me um hockey wise is that you know we're doing this drill why why are we doing this this one doesn't make a lot of sense why are we killing penalties like this why are we doing it that way and that doesn't I mean it's a very army like

attitude that you that is kind of being adopted by by sports in general is when I say do 100 pushups you do okay we're going to do 100 pushups right now and not ask questions why not a well why are we doing

100 pushups when we could do this and that and get the same benefits and we're actually going to be less tired and but that doesn't go over very well in an authoritarian sense, so anyway, getting back to Valentine's Day is, yeah, I don't know

I just, I think it's I think it's a terrible well, it's not terrible it's just not for me alright, fair, that's what I'm going to say to Caprice this year and I'll see how that works and simply don't do it at the end of the day, if that's going to be a deal breaker

then that's going to be a deal breaker I mean, there are other things that I do that or how do you put it there are in every relationship there's things that are like oh must-haves and like that'd be nice if that happened but if it didn't you know it's not the end of the world right and so like i'm i'm quite frugal i don't know if you could tell that by all my all my cars and stuff like that um cars are older than half the oilers yeah yeah exactly I don't see a lot of points in spending money on that sort of stuff.

So if I was with someone who needed, like, who needed, you know, constant, like, gift-giving, because there are some people that need that, and it's not a negative thing. It's just how people are. There's a book called, I think, Five Languages of Love, and it talks about, you know, just what people need. And it's almost like a personality trait. Some people need quality time.

Some people need, like, physical affection, like, holding hands and, like, arms around all the time. And, like, those sort of just, like, hey, I'm, like, always, to me it sounds creepy and horrific, but, like, I'm always touching you. You know what I mean? There's other people who need, like, gift giving. I don't know if I already said that. There's other people who need, like, verbal reassurances. Like, always being, like, oh, you're the most beautiful. Oh, I love you so much.

Like, to me, those things are, like, for me, it's, like, quality time. Like, doing, like, fun, like, going golfing together and, like, hanging out together and, like, debating and talking. That's what's important to me. And Jen, I think, is along, is basically on the same page for a lot of that stuff. Not that she's, like, following me, but she's, like, that on her own. So we've got, like, a good thing going. If I was with somebody who needed, like, content gifts and, like, emotionally, like, oh, I love you so much, it just wouldn't work because I'm so put off by that type of stuff. It's just, like, to my being, it's just not something that would ever happen.

I would find out about your women, which kind of language of love they speak in before they just start calling me down any time. Fair enough. When you went to Cornell for four years, were you thinking about your post-hockey career and being like, hey, what if this doesn't work out? Maybe I should get a degree in something. Yeah, honestly. So I never, I think this is why I'm,

even with like what happened last year, like being waived and like getting traded, sent down again, it's like, I mean, it's tough. It's an ego show. I think the hardest part about it is it's in the public eye. So like all your friends and family, and then they got to answer questions like, oh it's basically like being publicly fired or publicly demoted like multiple times in a year

and having like that publicly not just like a one-time news clip but like like almost leading with it on on the sports channels and that's what the a lot of the water cooler talk is right it's like oh you see they wave screwing the film down good he's brutal blah blah blah and then you know my sister and my brother and my parents are in edmonton and they got here people in their coffee shot and tim horton's in line at tim horton you know talking shit about their kid right or their brother so i think that's that was a tough part about it but um you know aside from all that like i've gotten so much out of hockey uh you know hot the game doesn't owe me anything i'm extremely happy with my career with everything i've been able to accomplish um and i started with um with

my college degree so i was playing junior hockey and expect like i told my parents like oh like i'm gonna just play junior until i'm 20 and then i'll go to college you know basically not never expecting to go to college for hockey just like get off my back for two years until i until i really have to do it right yeah and then when i was 19 i was fortunate enough that cornell today like we want you to come play here and i obviously didn't know a ton about cornell i didn't i wasn't like researching universities like oh who's who's losing a goalie who needs to where can i go what's going to be good um you know i kind of was just playing and point out came up and i looked them up oh wow an ivy league university yeah that sounds that way that's going to be a good idea

for me to do um and my uh my expectation going in was i was going to play you know a dozen games and be a Division I athlete and be able to tell my kids, oh, yeah, you know, I played in the NCAA as a Division I athlete and here's my jacket still and blah, blah, blah. And then whenever that was done, I'd have my degree and I'd go off and work like everybody else in my family. I was fortunate that I got a chance to play at school and I did get a chance to play.

I played well. There are a whole bunch of circumstances that allow me to sign in Toronto. So do you remember that first phone call? Say that again? Do you remember that first phone call? With Toronto? Yeah. Well, it was actually my agent.

So it started after my junior year. That summer, I had a bunch of, I probably had four or five people, agents, contact me saying they wanted to represent me. And so that was the first time I thought I'd maybe be able to play professionally because I was like, well, these guys only make money if I make money. So if they think that I'm going to make money, if they think that an investment in me is worthwhile enough, then they think that I can make some money. So, you know, obviously, we're going to see where this goes, right? Three consecutive seasons of over a 930 save percentage in university.

Not bad. Yeah. I mean, we had a good team as well, which helps. I mean, I definitely think that goaltending is overvalued in some sense. And you never find a bad goalie on a good team, really. I mean, it's the Osgood effect. Now, everybody who plays in the NHL is a good player. I don't think Osgood is a five-cup, like, that much of a stud goalie.

Calm down. But he played on a team where all he had to do was make the saves he was expected to make, right? And he won five cups, and he has five more cups than I do, right? Sorry, just thought of a new headline, Ben, which is Ben Scribbins, Chris Osgood, not good. That'll be the new headline. Toronto, Chris Osgood, not good. Yeah.

And the easy way to come back at it is say, well, he has five more cups than I do. That is 100% factual. It's not a knock on him. What it is is a compliment to a team, that Detroit team. conversely, there's a bunch of goalies who, I mean, you look at the guys in Dallas not this past year, but even

two years, three years before that they're struggling to keep anywhere near a league average save percentage, but I mean do we really not think that Kerry Letton is a good goalie? I mean that can't possibly be true, right?

There's some other effect going on in there, and And at the end of the day, if you're a goalie playing in the NHL, you're probably a pretty damn good goalie. And no question there, like, Carey Price is hands down better at hockey than every other goalie in the league, in my opinion. But that doesn't mean that if you're not Carey Price, you're not a good goalie, right?

It just means that he is that much better than everybody. I mean, again, not a knockoff. I just said he's the best goalie in the world. But how many cups does he have? right? It's a hard thing to win a cup when you're playing individually and when you're judged

individually. It's teams that win and teams that lose, in my personal opinion. Alright, let's keep going with this, Forrest. We've got your crazy year. We talked about Hall, Jakubov, Subban, Kessel, a little bit of Reimer, a little bit of

University, all this other stuff. Your wife, Jenny, was a goalie in the inaugural season of the nwhl and i might be wrong i couldn't find another example of this but you were the first husband wife duo to play professional hockey at the same time um i think what was what was that all like that i mean it was challenging obviously being in uh in different cities but um i mean we've been together a while as well so it wasn't something that i was like overly concerned about either um but uh no she she loved it she um she was

hesitant to to commit to it um early on i think she thought that i was gonna not be supportive for some reason i don't know why i think she was because you don't do valentine's day ben that was the reason i did it's like oh your guys season goes to the end of february okay this is a good excuse not to do that yeah so what I need is for Caprice

to play professional hockey and then just say sorry you're busy so we can't oh is that all that's all but I mean Ben

when you guys have kids like you they're gonna have so much to be proud of with their parents and they're probably just gonna be like yeah that's what my parents

said whatever but like that is such an incredible accomplishment do you guys ever have you ever sat back and had a beer and just said

go us way to go like high five um not not really i don't know i mean we're obviously proud of our accomplishments and um yeah i i don't know i guess i never really thought about like cheersing myself maybe that's i think that's weird maybe like oh hey how hey honey how great are we It's kind of a weird thing Maybe you think it's weird I do it every day Drake style More likely like

Oh what the hell is going on with this country right now Is what we talk about over a beer Well maybe more than one And you know as far as As far as the women's game goes Because obviously Jenny was Intimately involved in it You know

when you have when you guys do if you guys end up having kids and that sort of thing you know she's going to be one of those names

one of those people that was around at the real inception and the real taking off point of women's professional hockey and

you know if you have a daughter do you think that you'll want her to kind of go down the same route that both of you did and try to

grow the game in the same way Jen did? I don't want to try to talk about the unborn yet and try to determine a career path for him um i mean we we were both fortunate in just the circumstances that arose for us to get where we are um you know at the end of i think when we have kids it's gonna be find something that you like doing and let's let's make sure that you work hard at that you know i like you have parents and stuff talk to

about like oh so like how do you make it my kid loves hockey so much and you know how like what did you do to make it to the nhl and you go wow i got really lucky here because this coach liked me picked me for a tournament and that's where this scout saw me or this coach from college and then when i was in college my roommate dad was a scout here and got me in touch with a goalie coach and that goalie coach ended up getting hired at this team and then he got me a contract and then i was able to play and guys got hurt and i gave me opportunities to play and and then halfway through their eyes glaze over and they go so what should i do with my kid you know i have no idea i mean the best analogy that i have is like you don't you don't buy your

kid a guitar and say like oh you're you're gonna be the next hendrix like play every day and we're gonna make you not that you want your kid to die at 27 no no but to be as good as hendrix that's what we we take from that okay yeah don't worry you're not we're not the internet here we promise yeah eric clapton you always have to be careful because there are people out there who will dissect everything you say yes um but essentially yeah you don't you don't buy your kid a guitar saying like oh you're gonna be this next you know phenom guitar player and you're gonna make millions of dollars and be a rock star right you buy him a guitar so that they learn a skill um they get to start a band with their friends in the garage and and um you know living to be

in a group and learn some some talent and teach them a bit of work ethic and and uh some sacrifice in order to get better at something and i don't think that sports are any different i think you get more out of being on a team and learning how to be um competitive and control emotions and and be selfless and sacrifice for the group. I think that's a more important thing for kids and everybody to learn than I'm going to step on everybody's throat in order to make it to the NHL because chances are you're not going to make it to the NHL. I mean, the chances, realistically, for me being an undrafted 18-year-old

was that I wasn't going to make the NHL. And honestly, I never even considered playing in the NHL until I was playing with the Marlies in the AHL being like, I had a pretty good camp. I might be able to get a game or two here if somebody gets hurt. You know, it wasn't like I was sitting in college or sitting at junior being like,

oh, I'm only four steps away and, you know, this is the route that I planned out for myself. Because you end up, you know, you can drive yourself crazy because so little of that is in your control, right? It's very much a, you know, control what you can control.

and everything else, there's no point worrying about it. I mean, you fight. If you think that you're going to have some control over it, I mean, obviously fight until the end, but understanding what is and isn't in your control is super important as well. So, yeah, I don't know. I don't know if that answered any questions at all. None.

None. Zero. No, Ben, what are you going to do next year? We don't know what your situation is, so what's the deal? Well, I've got a couple lines. I've basically committed somewhere, but I can't really bring it. I can't say it until it's been official. That's kind of the official stance that every hockey player has to take.

Because if you say something and then things change, because things change in hockey, then you look like an idiot. Yeah, yeah. I would say probably within a day or two, what I'm going to be doing will be announced. But, yeah, I don't know. Hockey's fun right now, so we'll see how this year goes. Here's a very general question.

Are you excited about the opportunity? Yeah, I think I am. I think it'll be a new challenge for me. And, you know, there's some familiar faces where I'm going, so that'll make it an enjoyable time as well. And it should be a good challenge, especially personally, you know, after a tough year to have some stability

and be able to just play and work hard it's going to be a good challenge okay okay alright man we'll see you with the Leafs we do have a position open

we do have a backup position open I'm just saying it'd be nice to see you back and you know what I'm going to do this oh I'm going to go there oh

the last time you were a uniform member of the Toronto Maple Leafs oh I have to ask Ben everything's been going so well and you probably won't want to talk to me after this

and I get it but that game that last game was against Boston it was three years ago and we still haven't forgotten about it it was a heartbreaker for the fans and it was I mean it was something

Joffrey Lupo even said would haunt him forever for you watching that game can you describe how it went in your mind how it felt the the feeling after the game all of those things yeah i mean obviously with um it's hard to look at that game without looking at the series as a whole as well um i mean first off like i didn't play at all so yeah i'm immediately like one step removed from you know loops and from rhymes and a lot of guys who who had probably who actually

had an effect on the game and on the series so for me it was probably, I don't want to say it was easy to swallow but it probably wasn't as painful as it was for guys who had actual influence

on the outcome, right? But I mean, we were down 3-1 in the series and we come back, we force a game 7 especially a game to exercise at the end of the game at Boston Because, you know, for the entire time I was with this organization, I mean, we would get shit kicked.

And it was, every time was a little bit different. It wasn't like, again, it's never like, oh, you know, we just didn't try and boss us, you know, and hammered us. It was like, one time it was, you know, we just took too many penalties and they torched us on the power play. Other times it was, you know, either me or Rhymes or someone would have, you know, just an off night as a goalie or, you know, there was always something weird about it. And it was it was one of those things where this was the playoff series to kind of exercise those. And it started out, you know, you go down 3-1 and it's like internally we didn't feel like internally we didn't feel like we were playing poorly. But, you know, you definitely felt from the I mean, nobody gave that team a chance right from the start because of the history of Boston, the recent history of Boston. So to exercise those and to force it to game seven was huge in and of itself.

You know, mentally for the guys on the team was was an important step, even like going past that season. Right. Where it wasn't it wasn't the big bad Bruins anymore. Or was it, you know, we can win this game if we play well and do this well and do that well, right? Now we're just focusing on ourselves again. And then the game seven itself, obviously, I mean, if you lose 5-0 or you lose in overtime, it's going to hurt. Obviously, the frustrating part I think guys felt the most was being up

and being in control and having it slip away. But, I mean, I think that, I mean, there are different things that could have happened to have potentially swayed that. You guys can probably double-check this, but I think we went down to, like, seven players. You know, we were double-shifting guys. The same guys were kind of just going over and back, over and back, in terms of who was actually going out there to play. Komarov's last shift was about three minutes into the third. Yeah. Yeah, you know, and I think Clark MacArthur got sad as well.

You know, like there's a bunch of guys who are good NHL players who probably could have played a little bit more. But, again, at the time, it's, you know, that's what the coach's job is, is to do what he thinks will ensure a win for the team. And, you know, it was unfortunate that I think guys kind of ran out of gas a little bit just because of shortening the bench as early and significantly as it did. But, you know, as a player, I mean, what do you do about that, right? Yeah, you don't control that. Yeah, again, it gets back to, like, what can you control? And I think that's probably what hurt guys the most is some guys had no control because they were benched and they weren't playing.

And the guys who were playing were absolutely gassed, but they were doing everything they possibly could to, you know, hang on. Well, and the coach that you mentioned is back in the NHL, and he's actually going to be coaching the goalie that you were traded for in a strange twist of events. And also the assistant general manager happens to be the same GM of that team. It's such a weird sequence of events.

And, you know, what was your experience under Randy Carlisle? I mean, it wasn't that. I mean, I didn't, obviously I was young. I thought I had a pretty good year. Obviously you want to play every game that the team goes out there for. So you want to play more.

I thought I could have played more but I don't think anybody in the NHL who doesn't play all the time would say anything differently right you gotta have that internal confidence that you know you can play at that level and help the team win so but you know I mean

he was a pretty straight shooter with me again I'm not an X's and O's guy where I'm like oh you know we should have used this breakout instead of that one and that would have made you know a big difference but you know He was

He was A straight shooter Enough with me Honestly like As a goalie You deal more With your goalie coach Than you do

With the head coach So You know That is true That was It was It was great to work With Frankie

That was That was the Best part about Being in Toronto Was working with Frankie Allaire Francois Allaire Yeah

Yeah And Yeah I mean In terms of my Day to day Dealings with Randy

I mean They're pretty limited You know He was never Disrespectful to me So So, yeah, no issues one way or the other. Did he ever make you toast?

He never made me toast. Okay, I just wanted you to check. No, I didn't have HBO back then either. Oh. I'm glad that you got that reference, though. That's nice. I love Ben. You know, okay, here's how I feel about all the things going on in the NHL

and management. I mean, you've got to pick up your phone, you meatball. And, oh, my goodness, the media, they could do all these things differently. coaching look i mean you can only control what you control and i'm not a nexus nose guy i don't know man i just you can only control what you can control well yeah i mean it's it's there there's so many different tactics that you can use and i mean i'm just not that's just my brain doesn't work quite like that you know i'm not i'm not a nexus and those guys i i can tell what teams are doing i can tell you know a two one two four check versus a one two

two trap you know all those things but in terms of like what works and what works best for individual teams it's not my you know i'm i'm confident with my opinions when i state them like when i give you an opinion it's because i genuinely feel that way if i don't know about something i'm not just gonna talk shit and be like oh yeah jay should have definitely done this because then i look like an idiot and all my other opinions are invalid right you have to have an understanding of i know what i know but i also know what i don't know and and there's no point in trying to you know act act smarter than i am by trying to you know talk about you know x's and o's when that's just not something that uh that makes sense to me or or works internally in my

mind that makes sense to me so fair enough ben we're going to do something we like to call the press conference and it works like a press conference uh only it's the it's the fans of Steve Dangle Podcast asking you asking you questions. So we're going to have Jesse kind of relay them to you. Yes. The Presser SDP The Steve Dangle Press Conference

So one fan just wanted you to speak on Jenny retiring from hockey and returning to PR work. Just speak on? Yeah, it's not really a question. They wanted you to know his your your experience in her going through this um well i mean i think it was a

it was a difficult decision for her but um you know she's got to make a decision that uh that makes the most sense uh for her you know her she's fortunate that she's in a position where um i hope this doesn't sound callous or anything like that but like she's in a position where she can make decisions about uh her future that are not solely dependent on on money and um you know are we going to be able to pay you know the mortgages type of type of uh scenario so she can make decisions that are uh purely based off of what she wants to do what she's going to be happy doing you know all those like not that she's a millennial but all those like millennial type questions like is this really the best use of my talent right you know she she's fortunate that

she's in a position where and and whenever i'm done hockey i'm going to be in that same position where you know all right i can take a step back for you know six months and figure out what it is i want to do she's in that position right now and i'll eventually be there um and it's uh you know obviously we're extremely fortunate to to have that type of freedom but uh you know it's not lost on us it doesn't mean that we're you know we're not just golfing and then sailing around the world for you know six months and then oh god we have no more money what are we gonna do somebody feel sorry for us you know right uh you know we're fortunate with uh with our situation and she is right now and yeah she'll uh she'll figure out what her next step is uh when the

time comes and just for the audience because some people were saying get jenny on uh we tried just didn't work out today we'll try to get her on another time yeah uh nick wants to know what do you think of the world cup format and the funny teams like world north america well i think it's i think it's cool i think it'll be a good uh good experience um i think that uh again you need to create something that's a little bit different in order to sell the game right nobody nobody really wants to see i don't want to say like bottom feeder national teams but i mean like canada tends to beat up on teams that are um that have just like they just got out of the B division, right? And they have to play

against, you know, unless Latvia has, unless Latvia's goalie has an out-of-this-world game where you know, there's just nothing gets by him but I mean, those are kind of outlier types of scenarios. It almost happened. Yeah, I know. I mean, exactly.

It happens, but I mean, it might be in terms of just parity I think it's a better idea to have these, you know, the European pro team are the European All-Star team and the under-23 team. I think those are good ideas because it's outside the box. It creates parity.

Every game is, you're not going to, nobody wants to pay, you know, I don't even know what tickets are going in. Nobody wants to pay $200 a ticket to go watch, you know, Canada steamroll somebody 8-0, you know? They want to see a game where Canada has to, or Canada or the U.S. or Sweden or whatever team you're aligned with, they want to see you win, but they want to see you have to work for a win, right? Right.

Well, I mean, I would have no problem with Canada winning every game and Steve Rowling their way to the championship in any tournament. But, yeah, I mean, because I'm biased. But also, at the same time, I understand what you're saying. Entertainment level, we just watched the UEFA tournament and how close that was and how exciting that was. And none of us really have a team in the race, unless you guys do, that I didn't know about.

Exactly. And, again, selling hockey in Canada is the easiest job in the world. Yeah. I mean, there's, oh, yeah, let's cover Team Canada and we'll sell some jerseys. Oh, yeah, that sounds like a tough job. How about you try to sell, you know, a Team North America jersey here and try and get people invested, try to get Canadian youth invested in cheering for Max Pacioretty, who's an American, right?

Or I don't even know all the rosters, to be honest. But trying to get kids cheering for someone that isn't the normal thing, because that's the way that you grow the game. You don't want the Harlem Globetrotters beating the Washington Generals every game because you see it once, and eventually it's like, okay, I don't need to go because I already know who's going to win. People still go to their games, Ben. Yeah, so here's my...

They're due. They're due. Crusty. You've never seen it before. I dare you to find me one season ticket holder The Harlem Globetrotters The Leafs have thousands, Ben Alright, alright

So, Sal, since we have you here Alright, since it's the four of us on the show right now I think we all need to pick our team And then maybe lay down a bet Oh, okay I think it's illegal for me to bet on hockey Oh, okay So maybe

Maybe next time I wasn't talking I wasn't talking money here Is Would it be illegal For you to bet A dinner Or a

What do you pay For dinner with Adam Besides your good looks Damn what can we do For free What can we get for free Alright what if Here's this

No no what if we do this What if we do this Everyone gets closed For free right okay So whoever Whoever wins Everybody else has to tweet That this person

Is the best Of the four of us Is very smart And handsome That's free, right? Super smart and handsome. That's free, yeah. That is a good workaround.

Can we do that? Yes. All right. Yeah, yeah. All right, Ben, only if you're comfortable, man. I don't want to put you in any bad standing here. I don't know, man. We'll figure it out.

If I do something wrong, someone will tell me. All right, so, Steve, who's your team? I want North America. I want the young guns to shock the world. Okay. All right, Jesse? Do I get to take Canada? Can I do that?

Yeah, you can take Canada. I'll take Canada. You're going to take Canada? Ben, what about you, buddy? I'll go last. I'll see what's left after you guys pick. All right, well, since Canada's taken, I'm going to take my other native land,

which is the United States, even though I'm kind of angry at them for not putting Phil Kessel on the roster. That is just insanity. Absolute, unmitigated insanity. So far, we have three picks in two countries. All right, Ben? I think that

I assume that Canada and US are going to get taken so I was going to go the under 23 but I'll go I'll go with Sweden as my

as my pick now to be fair to we will say whatever team goes the furthest right and if there's a tiebreaker

whatever team won the most games and then if there's a tiebreaker there whatever team scored the most goals and we'll call it we'll call it there alright

so we're all agreed whoever wins whoever wins has to everybody else has to tweet about how handsome and cool they are cool?

deal? sounds good alright awesome done final question yes are you playing Pokemon Go? um

so like the original Pokemon like the the great Game Boy version um came out when I was in probably junior high

like late elementary junior high somewhere around there um so that was like that's right in my wheelhouse I downloaded

the new Pokemon Go and then I realized you had to walk around and so I deleted it immediately. That is funny. I was sitting on my couch looking around my living room

for Pokemon and there's no Pokemon in my living room so I was like, okay, let's get started. Ben, who's your starter Pokemon? I don't know.

I mean, I played it so often when I was a kid I started with each one of them um it kind of depended on who who I was

I guess like the feeling that day probably I would have gone what's the fire one Charmander Charmander yeah I probably would have gone with that one

you know just say but I mean I did I did the squirrel thing I did the I don't know what the other one is

Bulbasaur and Squirtle That's the one you could start off with? Yeah, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander. And if you had Pokemon Yellow, which I did, you could get Pikachu. Pikachu. See, I always thought Pikachu was overrated. I mean, he was obviously like the star of that cartoon.

I think everybody agrees on that. I watched the cartoon, but, you know, you catch him and he was a liability on your roster. Truly. If you went up against a rock or a water, you were toast. Well, no, water, not... Well, rock, you were toast. Yeah, as you say, that never made sense to me. I always thought the electricity ones

would do well against the water ones, but... Yeah. Well, they do. Well, they do. Adam screwed it up. Somebody uses, like, somebody uses, like, a power move on you,

like, you know, because Squirtle could do more than shoot water. He could actually, like, what was the body slam? Yeah. You get a body slam, that Pikachu's toast.

But what level was he at? True. True, Steve. Good point. Let's argue this. I mean, you go to get the Thunder Badge, and it's like, there's that Sandshrew

you weren't paying attention to. All of a sudden, there's an all-star on your team you know he can win the the Thunderstone Thunder Badge

sorry Conn Smythe how do you remember these things Adam like I played that game no girl talked to me until I was in grade 11

that's how fair and you're a married man now and it worked out for you well Ben do we have any more questions Jess are we good no we're good

Ben thank you so much for your time and for your candor I mean you were very honest with us and I really appreciate that it's sometimes it's it's a tough position for you to be in because i mean we're talking about the people

that you work with on the day on a daily basis right yeah i mean i i think that uh honesty is usually honesty usually helps people who deserve it is generally how it works out for me so um yeah i mean i i don't think i threw anybody under the bus like i said at the end of the day ever it's easy for fans to like oh you know player x is brutal he should be in the age That's one of my favorite insults that people tweet at me. It's like, oh, you're brutal. You're an AHL goalie. I'm like, you know, AHL's pretty good quality, right?

Yeah, it's pretty good. You're brutal. You're in one of the best leagues in the world. Oh, yeah. You're really hurtful, man. I'm still in the top league in North America. That's one of the biggest insults I've ever had. You should write back, how's house league?

Yeah. Well, again, it's never good to argue on the internet. You're right. It's a slippery slope. I've received DMs from Ben going, no! Stop! Stop what you're doing. I always appreciated that.

I realized something just this moment. There are all kinds of reasons why you're the Forrest Gump of hockey. You know, you had this experience, that, that, that, that, that. We went through the whole list. Your wife is Jenny. Jenny! I didn't even realize. Do you have a friend named Dan?

I do have a friend named Dan No friend named Bubba though Not yet And Jen's not a heroin addict either Oh fair enough Well I mean Well you can scrap that press conference question there Jesse I mean there's still time

Right She's not playing any hockey anymore She can pick up a new hobby I hear PR is a crazy business. It is. It is. Well, yeah, Ben, honestly, thank you so much for coming on. And this show is devolving quickly, so we better get out of it.

Yeah. But we hope to talk to you soon and really looking forward to your announcement whenever it comes. I appreciate it. Thanks, guys. Good luck in the upcoming season. We hope to talk to you and Jen on the same episode next time we have you on. Yes. Sounds good.

Bye. Bye. Bye. 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 Thank you.