The Steve Dangle Podcast - What's the Move? | June 27, 2019

Episode Date: June 28, 2019

On this episode of The Steve Dangle Podcast, offer sheets, Darren, Mitch and more offer sheets (00:00), Kyle Dubas' track record as GM (26:30), Gary Bettman says that basketball will never surpass hockey in Canada (57:00), and the press conference: we have another live show! (1:25:00). Originally aired: June 27, 2019 Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/NyGsBV48X1I Merch: https://teespring.com/en-GB/stores/fancydangleshirts Follow us on Twitter: @Steve_Dangle, @AdamWylde, & @JesseBlake Follow us on Instagram: @SteveDangle, @AdamWylde, & @Jesse.Blake Subscribe to us on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/steve-dangle-podcast/id669828195?mt=2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Panago Pizza presents S.C.P. The Steve Dangle Podcast with your hosts, Steve Dangle and Adam Wilde. Hear that? What is it? Is it the fan in the corner? It's not the fan in the corner. No? What is it? It's the calm before the storm. A lot of sheets coming to a city near you.

It's more like tumbleweed. Just rolling by. Yeah. If I were to make an offer sheet to someone, if I was like, I'm going to target this player. Josh Levo, here we go. I got $30 million. I'm going to, I'm going to target. Give it all to Josh Levo.

I'm going to give it all to Josh Levo. I'm going to, no, I'm going to, I'm going to target a player. Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to target a guy. Do you think that I would need to meet with said player in order to make that offer? Yeah. Because if I'm an NHL GM, I just go, fuck it. Here's what we're offering you.

And then I'll show you why you should sign. But first I'm going to show you the number. Oh, okay. So you're just approaching it differently. I'm hooking you with the money. Don't bury the lead, baby. Hit me with the dollars first. We're willing to give up four first round picks and, to quote Darren Drager,

$13, maybe $14 million. Who? To quote who? Oh, Paul Marner. Sorry. Darren Ferris. Sorry. We'll talk about that in a second

This is what I don't get about The offer sheet debate And again, it can happen, sure But if you are an NHL general manager How is it possible That you haven't planned this yet How is it possible That you didn't know exactly

What you were going to do Especially if you've got this much cap space This is the thing, I understand from the Leafs perspective Why they're not doing anything They can't really do anything until they figure out what's going on with Mitch Marner right yeah that makes sense but if you're a team like the islanders you're a team like the avalanche you're a team like the panthers you know what you're doing as soon as that window opens and if you don't then you should be fired there's uh there's a few teams right now it's funny it's

gonna be a real fun few weeks but there's a few teams right now where if if they don't get the guys they're going after what do they do what do they do with all their space other than overpay Mediocre players Right What do they do Because there's It looks like three teams As many

That seem to be What's the term you use Because you're an old man Whole hog What I don't think I've ever used that term What whole hog

You go whole hog Into the Into the Panera and Bobrovsky Sweepstakes Sure Is there anybody else That's even up this year

Other than Panera and Bobrovsky No There's some Are there Pavelski I know You know what I'm saying Literally, like, is there any...

Yeah, so it's Pavelski, Anders Lee, and then... Anton Strahlman? Yeah, like, there's a definite A-class, A-plus class of guys. Jake Gardner, you probably put him there. In a B. I wouldn't put him in the A. No, he's an A. He's an A-minus.

Whoa. All right. Which, according to Reddit, is the same as a B-plus. Is that an argument on Reddit? It is not. It was a... Yeah. Can I give out my crown?

Well, I mean, we did partner with Crown Royal, so yes, you should give out your crown. And when we come back in September with games, we can start awarding our crown of the game. And we'll do it in the preseason to guys that you've never heard of, like Gunnar Fontaine. Gunnar Wolf Fontaine. Gunnar Wolf Fontaine. I hope he gets the crown because he's got a great name, Gunnar Wolf Fontaine. My favorite new protagonist from the Doom series, Gunnar Wolf Fontaine. Jesse.

Yes. Please go ahead. I would like to give my crown to Offer Sheets for being the biggest sham since, wow. See, sham, wow. Because every, all we hear, Offer Sheet, Offer Sheet, Offer Sheet, for the last 12 months, for the last 10 months, for the last 10 days, for the last 10 hours, all we hear is about Offer Sheets. 10.

It's not going to happen. Yeah. It's not going to happen. Why do people keep doing this evil, ooh, Offer Sheet boogeyman? Because every year, it's offer sheet boogeyman, and then an offer sheet never happens. True. Wow. What a sham.

Sham wow. Biggest sham since wow. You're wiping the floor with them, Jesse. So why is this year going to be any different? Because you never know. Because Darren Farris says so? Are we really believing Darren Farris? Yeah.

Well, and that's... We are. That's what we're going to say. Maybe. Indeed. Yeah. That makes no sense to me. I think it was somebody from the hockey news.

They tweeted this, and I meant to pull the tweet, but we were busy at a work function for about 16 hours yesterday. So I saw this come up on my phone, and I wish I'd saved it. Very cryptic. But what it said was, just got off the phone with an agent. And he said, you know that no offer sheets are coming, right? And this is from an agent to a reporter. And I forget who tweeted it. I think it was somebody from the Hockey News.

Apologies for not quoting you directly. Ken Campbell? No, it was not Ken Campbell. But it is a very funny thing that, I mean, you've got one guy saying it's going to happen. And then you've got all the rest of the guys going, like, Chris Johnston went on Sportsnet 590 yesterday and said, I will eat my shoe if Marner gets $13 million. And he is welcome to do that on this show. Does that count as beef? Would a leather shoe count as meat?

I think in an abstract way it has to. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yummy. Exactly. It's crazy to me how one person has been able to create this narrative that an offer sheet is coming to one guy, and then that spun out to, oh, an offer sheet's coming to O and Line A

and Levo and everybody. But it's just one guy who's trying to use offer sheets as a boogeyman to get his client more money. And what was interesting from Elliott Friedman's final 31 thoughts, which is a central reading, final of the season, was this interesting... Which, by the way, I don't believe that for one second. What? His final 31 thoughts.

It's definitely not. He's absolutely going to do one next week after Free Agent Friends. Are you kidding me? All those guys signed? I think you're right. He always does. I think you're right. He always does one in the first...

He's going to stop doing 31 thoughts the week before the biggest transactional period of the year? Doesn't Elliot go away on July 2nd? Probably. And then the website has left the schmucks like me, like, I've got to make 14 videos now. The website and the radio station. Yes, and the radio station. You're right.

I'm sort of the only guy here. Anyway, hey, next time you're enjoying a free agent frenzy period. We didn't give our crowns. No, you guys got to do yours, yeah. My crown goes to Elliot when he writes 31 thoughts again next week because I know he will. Sorry, Elliot. Love you, man.

You know that this is happening. My crown goes to Chris Johnston. May he stay hungry. And remember, the next time you're hanging out, thinking about what free agents the Leafs will not sign this year, make sure that you pull out a crown royal and think to yourself, hey, don't worry, this Mitch Marner thing will work itself out. I love you, Adam. Crown royal.

Just the way you say things. I'm like, why don't I have a crown royal? Why don't you? Why don't I? Why don't you? And then I can't come up with a good reason. And the second I get home, I'm going to be like, Adam told me. So now the narrative is changing, ladies and gentlemen.

Narrative. What a great word. Gunner Wolfe narrative. My favorite Leafs prospect. The way he flies down the wing and changes it up on you. Changing the narrative. What? They are changing the narrative.

The spin has changed. Because if you've noticed, there have been no reported offer sheets. Now. Now. To be fair. I believe the off-sheets have to come July 1st. Yes, and also... Here's the thing about that.

It would have leaked already. I would think so. And you know why it would have leaked already? Because Darren Drager would have had the story. Well... Listen, when the story comes, when Mitch Marner re-signs, Darren Drager will break it.

He will break it. And you know what? Maybe all of this, all of the feeding of Marner's camp into the public will have been worth it at that point. I mean, really, if you look at it, That's his whole job Is to get that scoop

What happens if he doesn't? Dude, if he doesn't What happens if McKenzie scoops him? I was about to say I think McKenzie will break it Because I think after all this time He's going to be like, okay, you do it

I don't know why That's my guess You think Darren Drager will give it over to Bob? Yeah Oh yeah, they never talk to each other Colleagues never talk to each other Share information You think that after all of this

I don't know I don't want to believe Adam Now every tweet Darren Drager puts out The guy is like overloaded with something That I think someone from Leafs Twitter Laura from Leafs Twitter, right? Didn't she start the thank you Paul? Yeah, I don't know who started it

I'm not the biggest fan of that The trolling guy's mentions like that All the responses to everything he tweets He says, okay, Paul. Yeah. Yeah. Well. I mean, I think it's mostly Darren.

I don't think it's Paul Marner. Well, okay. I would have said, okay, Darren, because I think it's coming from Darren Bairns. Do you think the things he's putting out there are untruthful? You know what I mean? Do you think the things he's tweeting are lies he concocted? My answer is no. No, I don't think he's lying.

No. No, he's just tweeting information. One side is saying. Yes. It's just a little bit transparent as to what the information is. I mean, let's be honest. I don't think we need to tap dance around this. Obviously, he's got a connection to the agent.

There's a history there. And from this perspective, he's probably trying to build up capital and get one of the biggest scoops of this year, which is a Toronto player. Sorry, guys. Toronto's a big market for hockey. It's the scoop. It's the scoop this year. The scoop. And if he gets it, then he wins.

It's this year's Tavares. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. It's this year's Tavares, and the year before, well, 2016, it was supposed to be Stamkos, and then everyone lost their mind and did the Hall trade and Subban trade within half an hour of that. This one's Marner re-signing. It has the biggest implications throughout the league.

But, sorry, what I was getting to earlier was, during 31 thoughts, Freed said something that I don't necessarily believe about all the restricted free agents are waiting for the first person to sign because they don't want to be the first person to sign

because then they set the market and then they're going to piss people off one way or the other. Oh, you didn't sign for enough. You signed for too much. I believe that. Etc. I absolutely believe that. When numbers are so public like this. Yeah. Because you got to see these guys at PA meetings and stuff.

And you're going to see them when you're hanging out with them during the strike. Well, lockout. Yes. Lockout. Wonderful. Jesus, Adam.

I mean, you're going to get nice and close as you're both losing year two of your contract. I just, I don't, I don't believe that. I think the second they see their number, they'll sign. And if Sebastian, Sebastian Ajo, you see how I said that? Sebastian.

Sebastian Ajo. So, if he signs the rumored number from last night, which was 9.5, are we all happy with that? I don't hate it. Well, here's... Should I hate it, Steve? It's irrelevant, because didn't you know that Marner doesn't give a shit about the comparables? Remember that? Because Marner exists in a vacuum amongst no other NHL players, because he's special Mitch Marner.

You know what's an interesting one to me is Miko Rantanen, where like those contract negotiations got to be interesting because they have like what, $30 million or something in cap space because they're obviously trying to load up with other guys. But how does, how is that negotiation going? I want, I want $10.5 million. We can't afford to pay you $10.5 million. Yeah, you can. Yes, you absolutely can. You keep trading away people, including my friends. Yes, you can.

It's probably more, you're not worth $7.5 million. Well, and that's a much harder conversation. Yes. I don't know. I just, Marner is, we've already said this a bunch of times. He's not as interesting an RFA to me as Patrick Laine, as Braden Point. I'm so sick of everyone talking about Braden Point. Like, it's going to be simple because it's going to be, and I hate it.

There's absolutely no reason why Braden points Contract negotiations should be simple Right They don't pay people Does that not make Marner's This whole thing around Marner more frustrating Because of how simple this should be Yes

Because a guy like Lionel, like you said, comes off the weirdest season ever But Mitch Marner's just straightforward He's good, here's a bunch of money But for some reason it's difficult Who do we think is going to have The better career Marner or Lionel There's one

That's a good question I think based on And the recency bias is a major thing In analysts I mean if you were to say last year Everybody would say Laine You say this year, everybody would say Marner So one guy had his worst season so far

Another guy had his best season so far But looking at the previous two seasons You gonna take that bet? It'd be a hard bet You're talking about a guy, Laine should be snoring his way to 40 goals every year. Snoring. He's going to hit 50 goals more than once. Yeah, he's that good.

Well, he scored 17 goals in a month. Yeah, like... Like, even if he doesn't score the rest of the months, which he almost didn't, that's still fucking amazing. Like, that's incredible. He scored like eight goals in three games. Do you take that bet that he will never have last season again? Yes.

I take that bet because he had two seasons and not last season. It's... Yes! Yes! He had two seasons of not last season. And he's had a couple injuries, and he's bounced back from them, scored a big old bunch of goals. And to that point, Steve, what's more important in the NHL?

Goals or assists? Goals. I don't know. I'm sick of talking down Marner. Dude, we're not. If we're talking comparables. It's just facts. Yeah.

Listen, everybody's a fan of Mitch Marner, the player, Mitch Marner, the personality, Mitch Marner, the contribution of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the fact that he is living our dream. He gets to live, like, the great thing about Mitch is that you're almost living vicariously through him because you are, he is, like, he's the thing that you hoped that you could be when you were playing road hockey on your parents' driveway. Right? Crushing Red Bulls, skating around real fast, doing loops on the ice.

Yeah. Distracted in the first round by your full-town team. High C. Crushing high C and going ballistic. Yeah, man, you crush a high C, it brings you back to life, I'll tell you what. Oh, yeah. Oh, you're tired and hot? High C will pick you up.

High C, woo! Going nuts. Who won the soccer game? Was it Timmy with his orange slices? Or Johnny over there with his high C? It's always the team with the high C It's literally like the wind-up toy drink Right?

You just go And then crash But it was good while you were up It's the I hate my babysitter drink You ply Timmy full of high C And drive the babysitter nuts all night While you go out and have a peaceful night At the movies

And watch L.A. Confidential And if that movie's full You go see Titanic Wow. They were out at the same time. There you go. Steve, everybody. In 1997, when Roberto LaManga was drafted.

I think it's just one of those things. It's unfortunate that it's come to this, but I certainly, I don't, one thing I will say about the whole situation and the way that it is publicly, not one bad thing, not one bad thing, not one negative thing,

not one non-neutral thing, except for the cold-blooded facts, Has come out of Caldubus' mouth But on the other side We have this twister And it's literally Just a twister of information Like imagine a twister

Like a cartoon Tasmanian Devil 13 million, 14 million dollars Disrespected Rookie bonuses Ice time in his first NHL season That he's still hanging Which is wrong

But that's the thing is it sucks you into that vortex. And the Leafs are on the other side going, here's the number we can give you. And I normally... I hope they just conduct business. I normally would start... I would normally side with the player on these things.

But again, I've been... I'm not critical of necessarily Mitch Marner. But at a certain point, you've got to haul your agent in and go, dude, this isn't working. So do we give him any credit that he hasn't said anything himself? No.

Oh, I don't think so. That's the easy way. Players often don't. I mean, the NBA they do, which is hilarious. They do Instagram comments. Do they have agents? Yeah. In a certain way.

Andre Iguodala right now is on a media tour because he wants to be. He was on The Breakfast Club. He's been doing podcasts. Nobody's signing with the Knicks. Right. He's just been talking shit publicly. It's amazing. Didn't he rip the Golden State training set on The Breakfast Club and then defend them

the next day? Because he's been doing it. He went to CBS. There's just so many opportunities to talk. and it's like, you've never, and then we haven't heard from Mitch Marner. No, and that by the way, for Mitch, is the right thing. No, we did. We did hear from him.

He took a picture with Max Domi. Right. You know what? When your public perception is dropping in Toronto, you know what you do is you take a picture with Max Domi. Of the Montreal Canadiens. Listen, whatever. This is buddy. I don't care. I really don't care. They would have played together

on the nights, I think. Oh, yeah. It's his responsibility, right, Mitch? To go back to this, to rail in his team. Yeah. That this shouldn't be coming out. So do we blame him for the Tasmanian storm that's going on? I think they're, well, I mean, it's a playbook, but I just think you don't get sucked

in anymore. Like, if the offer sheet was coming, if he was this guy that you needed to have, like, if Connor McDavid was an RFA right now, do you not think that an offer would have been made? An offer sheet? Yeah. Like, you would have been like, Connor,

whatever the fuck you want. Write the number down. He's the best player in the league yes and there's no question but that's but that's the point you know what i mean yeah if mitch marner was this can't miss thing which he is but not in the same not in that same stratosphere where essentially you're trading for first round picks for a guy plus 10 plus million dollars of cap space the deal would have been we would have heard about it we would know do you think do you think darren ferris is going to keep that quiet okay so i don't know about that anymore because i feel like we've been uh and i noticed this at the draft i feel like a lot of

names have come up um and the monkey wrench that got thrown in and this was the moment i realized the summer wasn't going to go the way that i thought it was going to the the monkey wrench was we don't know what the cap is yeah and i think most teams went into the summer thinking it was going to be 83. They got wind that it was going to be a little bit less than that. And then they got wind that it was going to be a million and a half dollars less than that. Last night, before the holo trade went through, I think I saw Vegas had an $89 million cap hit. Wow. And it's, what's the cap? 81.5? Yeah. Yeah. So I'm surprised. How much was holo making? 2.75. So they still got a ways to go. It's a dent.

It's a dent. Man, if Ottawa is not getting that David Clarkson deal, how can you not? The deal is insured. The David Clarkson contract is insured. They don't have to pay for it. Beyond, I think, is it 20%?

I don't know. So 80% of that stuff, I think, is insured. So Ottawa basically gets to take that contract at 20% of its value for one year. And Ottawa's still $11 million from the floor. And there's no one to give the money to, is the funny thing. You look at the roster, there's no one to give the money to.

Don't get me started with the crap I hear every time I say we've got to get rid of the hard cap. People are like, well, what about cap floor teams? Which, by the way, total fucking illusion. None of the cap floor teams, you're even paying up to the cap floor. No. You need to give them more money so they can spend it. That's what I'm asking the rich teams to do. Also, Ottawa's bad on purpose.

Yes. Ottawa's not paying anyone by design. Also, salaries in the NHL should just be larger. Yes. Like, it's ridiculous that the best player in the game makes $14 million. Did you see? Like, he should be making... Or they should be more tilted towards the more talented.

Because it is a 50-50 split, right? So, revenues are what they are. That is what it is. But I think, like, the stars matter more than people think, I think. You know what I mean? We still put... There's this old school mentality. Well, the third line guy.

Third line guy. Broadcasters will talk about the third line guy for 20 fucking minutes. But Conor McDavid's like, well, yeah, he did another great thing. Moving on. I looked at the Raptors, their salary breakdown. I know different sport, it's completely different. But I was just like, Fred VanVleet makes what? Yeah.

Well, yeah. Marc Gasol just opted into his $28 million contract. Yeah. And he's the, what, seventh best guy on the team? Yeah, and Siakam is like, I want to say he makes like a million and a half. I know it's different. I know it's completely different. But just seeing the gap.

You would think they don't play in the same league You would think like Oh yeah here's D-League guy And here's Michael Jordan There needs to be a better way of distributing salaries in the NHL Than what it is right now I mean there's a lot of issues with the NHL That's probably why they're

Going to have another lockout and it's going to be great But sorry the monkey wrench I was getting to The teams I think were preparing for an 83 million dollar cap They got a cap that's a million and a half dollars less than that And you know don't you think we would have heard it by now, you keep asking. I don't think any insider really has the inside track on a whole lot

other than what teams are looking for, because all the names that have moved so far, I haven't heard brought up. Did anyone hear that Calvin DeHaan was going to get moved? No. Did anyone hear that Eric Holla was going to get moved? I think Calvin DeHaan or Eric Holla were long-time guys mentioned out there. I think they were that day. Like, the Calvin DeHaan trade seems like a that-day phone call.

Oh, I never thought about that. Okay. You know what I mean? Did you hear the way the Subban trade was described in 31 Thoughts? A little bit. I can't really fully remember. So it was basically, like, it sounds an awful lot like Poyle was on the phone with another team For a big chunk of the day

And it sounds to me that that other team Was the Leafs And they were working on it, working on it, working on it And he got fed up and he called New Jersey And he goes Here's the deal, it's the full 9 mil, do you want it? And New Jersey went, yes, absolutely And that's how Subban became a devil

Did any of us It was weird, it was like the day before the draft We heard like, oh It sounds like Subban's getting traded We all said, what? I don't think New Jersey was ever even brought up And now he's a devil So the whole Don't you think we would have heard it

That's what makes this summer Have you heard the new rumors? But with Marner That's a different ball game than the Subban trade This is the one guy That everybody's hyper-focusing on this offseason Because of the drama surrounding it We would have heard about that

Maybe not the Subban trade, maybe not the Calvin DeHaan trade Love Calvin, but he's a B player No way No way are we not hearing Darren Farris, Mr. Publicity Spin, is not going to let enough... If I am Team X and I offer him

do you think that Darren Farris is going to keep that quiet? What if Team X is the Islanders? And it's Lou Lamorello. So Lou Lamorello, who quite frankly, to quote your tweet, screwed Mitch Marner out of his own bonuses. Yeah, he was responsible for

a bunch of the things that Mitch Marner is allegedly mad about that he's not actually mad about. We'll get to you in a sec, Jesse. I know. He didn't make the team as a rookie. He didn't make his rookie bonuses. You know, not enough ice time. You hate me because I'm short or something.

Yeah, which Lou probably did. I mean, based on what we heard. He was like, I don't know if he's big enough. Didn't he say that? I don't know. I'm pretty sure he said it in an interview. Oh, yeah, he did. So he's going to go and sign with that guy?

And the Islanders are really going to go, okay, here's the trade. John Tavares for Mitch Marner and four firsts. Yeah. No, John Tavares and four firsts. That's what I mean, sorry. Forever Mitch Marner. Sorry, yeah, that's what I mean. I don't know.

I don't think so. Like, to me, the Islanders should consider it as a desperation move if they think they're going to lose, well, everybody. Anders Lee, in particular, and also Robin Leonard, and they were to miss out on Bobrovsky because all of a sudden they're a player in Bobrovsky now. I just, I have no idea what to expect this summer, and I feel like there's a lot of foregone conclusions going into every summer,

and I just feel like this one doesn't have those. The NHL seems to be like foregone conclusion, Bill. Can I tell you what's going to happen? What's going to happen? Every one of those $7 million and up RFAs resigns with the team they're with. Well, yeah. Because. I believe Jesse's been saying that, but what is the new rule, Jesse?

The new rumors. What are they? Have you heard the new rumors? What are the new rumors? Well, after the Willie negotiations, after Subban falls through, after Mitch take this long. Have you heard the rumors that Caladubas is a bad negotiator? Who said this? It's just Twitter, people.

Oh, boy. But Leafs Twitter is trying to talk about how Caladubas isn't good at negotiating. So we're going to forget that Tavares is a Leaf, right? Yeah. And we're also, less than a year after it happened, And we're also going to forget that William Nylander has exactly the same money, basically, as Kevin Hayes. Yeah. We're going to forget that, too.

But it took until December, Adam. So fucking what, man? It took as long as it took. What if he was signed in September and Lou was there? By the way, a bunch of people said last episode when I said, going to your bad negotiating thing, that it was going to go to December 1st because of chaos. And, you know, the Leafs can't actually do that because if you prorate a deal, the Leafs don't have the cap for it. Stop saying can't when it comes to the NHL. Just say it's not likely.

Stop paying attention to rules. Since when does anything about this league follow rules? And what can and can't happen? Rules are loose guidelines. But basically, the idea is that if they wanted to prorate his deal the way Nylander did, everybody was like, oh, Nylander's making $10 million. Well, no, he didn't. He made $6.9 something, whatever his actual money was.

How mad are people going to be when they discover Nylander's not making $10? And if you don't know what prorated means, you should. If you're following sports, Google it. I'm not going to get into explaining it. Or if you're a person. The point here... You should know what the word means, I'm sorry. Is that the guy, there's nothing wrong with a negotiation that goes long.

Like, by that same logic, is William Nylander's agent not also a terrible negotiator? Maybe he's a fantastic one. Because it, well, how could he be fantastic if it went to December 1st? I don't freaking know. That also means that Darren Ferris is a bad negotiator. I don't think this means, I don't think this means Kyle Dubas is a bad negotiator. I think that is ridiculous. It means he can't get things done.

Well, so let me be devil's advocate for a moment. So when the Eric Holla to Carolina trade broke, I had an odd thought, and maybe it's just because it was late at night and I was having my night cheese. You ever have cheese before bed to give yourself dreams on purpose? I do! The Carolina Hurricanes have been active. And the Carolina Hurricanes, I feel like, make moves. They make the type of moves that I thought, when Dubas became GM, he was going to make.

Does that make sense? Don Waddell. Yeah. Graph boy. This old guy is going out there, and he's going, here's a 22 year old former fourth rounder for a center who can do a lot of things and isn't paid that much you know what i mean and i'm not saying the leaf should have gone out and got eric holla i don't think there's a need for that but i'm just i'm watching all these teams make all these moves

carolina is one of the most active among them the nita rider trade was one of the fleecings of last season and i'm just like i i hope the marner negotiations are not preventing the leafs from doing stuff well that was what i was going to ask you next because apparently that's that's the phone call according i believe pure lebrun said when people call the leafs i believe it was pure forgive me if i'm misattributing this uh every team is saying we can't the least are saying we can't really do anything until we figure out more just wrong that's that's that's such a terrible way of thinking. And if any member of the Leafs organization hears this, you're nuts.

Whether you have Mitch Marner or not, you have one of the worst right sides on defense in the sport. Go out and make some fucking phone calls and fix that Colin Miller or whoever else you gotta get.

Whether or not you have Mitch Marner, you're gonna need people to play on your right side. Whether or not you have Mitch Marner, you're gonna have to fix that shite defense. Get on the phone and fix that. What do you do all day? That conversation that we have all the time about general managers. Surely you're not on the phone with Darren Farris 12, 13, 14 hours a day! Get out there and call some other guys, get a defenseman and hopefully he shoots right! Go out there and make other moves! It is June 27th! If

you don't move your ass, they're gonna be gone! And then all of a sudden, Nikita Zaitsev's gonna look pretty good and he's gonna stick around again. And don't use that as a negotiation tactic, by the way, anymore. Oh, we could just keep him! We could just keep him! Listen, I know it worked for Marleau and I think you got very lucky in that regard. And also you gave up a first round pick to do it. You come back with this defense, again, boned and there's no point, you certainly can't argue to Mitch Marner, hey come back because we got a contender with this core on D. You just can't. No, you're right.

Do not let this stupid circus sideshow hold you up. Because that by the way, is what they're hoping for! This is part of their strategy to put pressure on you and if, oh god, if I don't sign this contract. If I don't cave into his demands, I can't go out and get the defender I want. Go get him. The Maple Leafs do not begin and end with Mitch

Marner. Go out there and make some friggin' moves because it's drying up. From July 2nd of 2018 onwards, are you disappointed in Kyle Dubas? July 2nd, 2018.

So after Tavares. No see you'd have to go to like July 5th Because there was also Tyler Ennis And I really like the Tyler Ennis dude You can include Tyler Ennis if you want Are you disappointed in the moves Kyle Dubas has made Going back to your point that you think Carolina

Has been making these little moves that are really smart Well let's go through the list Let's go through the list Can I pull up NHL GM tracker Connor Carrick for Shit I want to say he was he's seventh.

Justin Hall makes the team. Martin Marincin makes the team. Calvin Pickard for nothing. Curtis McElhaney for nothing. Garrett Sparks is the backup. There was no space for Levo, so they went out and got Carconi from the Canucks. Carconi at least seems to be a good bet, so that's good. I guess their hand was sort of forced.

So they went out and they got Jake Muzzin, which I think is wonderful. Wasn't cheap. Was not cheap. And what else have they done? Trying to think of what else they've done. I can't think of anything else. Nothing worth noting, I don't think. They didn't get a fourth-line center.

Re-sign Garrett Sparks. Oh, Nick Patan for Per Lindholm. Yeah, the bunch of... Mikhailov, yeah. I mean it isn't it doesn't look great and here's the thing when these next seven days

for Kyle Dubas not only do they set up next year but they're really going to set up how people really start to believe what he is you can only coast on the Tavares stuff for so long and I look at it and I go okay I think the principles that we attribute to Kyle Dubas

and the ones that he strives for are ones that I go man Really appreciate that Especially the social stuff It was great to see him at Pride It was great Like nobody's arguing that For sure

On the hockey part though For sure Yeah Standing in the rain Shooting a commercial shoot At midnight on a Friday night For sick Yeah

On the hockey part though Right now Right now If what If what we heard about Marner holding up Everything is true Then I'm very concerned

That's a huge mistake That is That's an enormous mistake Like I would rather If that's what's going on I would rather let Marner sit for the entire year, get absolutely nothing for him, and have P.K. Subban on the roster.

I'd rather trade him. Like, I'd rather, I, I, I, seriously, seriously, you cannot go on, you know what, at least without Mitch Marner, still have a pretty kick-ass offense, it's not nearly as good. Let's, you know, no confusion there. It's not nearly as good. They're not going to set records for goals scored. Yeah. But you might have a defenseman.

I'd say it's probably still a top-half offense. Yep. And you might, probably, definitely. Definitely a top 10. You still have Matthews, Tavares, and Kadri, actually, as your 1-2-3 up the middle. And Janssen and Kapanen and Hyman when he's back. I mean, Hyman's not the most offensively gifted, but it doesn't matter. You've got a couple guys on Marlies who could fill in on the wing anyway.

You could always find cheap guys on the wing, which is why I always rip into the Oilers. Use the $10 million to go get the cheap guy for the win. You've got a bunch of expensive guys. Or you get your defenseman. Right, or that. The pressing need I know I'm always like, listen, go with your strength Go with what makes you special

And make that stronger Their defense Is not good enough It's not close to good enough They need to make moves there Don't let a winger, and I don't care how good That winger is Hold that up

Whatever it was That was going to be in the package for PK Like, tell me now There's got to be another guy. If Kyle Dubas was talking to you right now and he was being honest, he gave him truth serum. All right, who's next? You would have to say to him, you have to think that whatever it was that he was waiting to pull the trigger on, he should have just said, fuck it, let's go.

It was the salary, apparently. Well, it was the salary for the Preds. But apparently, as Steve kind of alluded to, David Poyle was waiting on another team to get back to him. And apparently the team that was supposed to get back to him was the Leafs. And he waited all afternoon and he said, nope, we're not going to wait anymore. I think wasn't it the Leafs were going to get back to him about the salary retention And then he would have done it Whatever the package was plus taking on PK's salary

I don't know if it was that Because there's no way the Leafs could have The Preds were willing to retain up to 3 mil I gotta imagine that was the whole thing My assumption is the Leafs would have had to give up way more than the Devils did But the Devils retained all 9 mil Which made it a very cheap deal for them If the Leafs get the Preds to retain three mil of that, all of a sudden you're giving up what?

Like, is Kadri part of that deal? I would have done that. You know? But we'll never know, will we? We kept hearing at the deadline, oh, they're in on, God knows, it's this big name. It could be Ekblad. It could be Dowdy. It could be this.

Dude, you need something. You need someone. If they keep Zaitsev and re-sign Hainsey, I might blow a gasket. Like, I might lose my mind. Well, that seems like the most likely outcome right now. I still have the benefit of the doubt that both guys are moving on. Hainsey they might bring back in a role that is a little bit more understandable. See, if I'm the GM, I go, no.

Because what Babcock will do is he'll say, yeah, I could use that guy, but I've also got Hainsey. Well, I've seen some people... Take his toys away. I've seen some people go Why are we even talking about bringing back Reimer Or FNUF For the love of God, close the book on those chapters Close the book on the Hainsey chapter

I read it It was short It always ends in April In Boston Yeah, in Boston In TD Garden, in Game 7 Don't worry, Ron's on the ice I don't know how long

Don't worry Don't worry, Ron's on the ice And also, it's okay, though. He looks fast compared to the guy with no friggin' ACL. I don't know how long next year's book is. All I know is the one that we've read for the last two years ends in April. I'm tired of it. Who is it?

Who's it going to be? Damon Severson's name is apparently off. It's not there anymore. Yeah, New Jersey likes him again because they got smart. He's on a decent deal, and his role's going to be reduced. He's going to be playing under the total edge of P.K. Schumann. It's almost like Nikita Zaitsev's role should have never been as big as it was. It's almost like when you get really good players up top, it takes pressure off the bottom.

Welcome for your roster stock, Tim Frady. That's why I was thinking Kyle Turris would fit in great with the Leafs, because he plays their style and he could play a reduced role. Yeah, I don't know, maybe. Yeah, I don't know, maybe. They got to go out there and... What is it? What is it?

Like, what I kept expecting and what I've said for a while now is, okay, Tavares is the big fish, for sure. Any time you have a chance to go out there and get John Tavares, you do it. Yeah. Always. Of course. Of course. But what I expected out of, I guess, this regime, or whatever you want to call it.

Regime. Regime. What I expected out of this regime was that they were going to go out, and they were going to get these guys for very cheap, and we were all going to go, who the hell are these guys? And like four guys who Make charts and know how to code Go actually I did some research on this guy And he's actually quite good and undervalued

And then he comes in and he scores 15-20 goals Next year and we go oh holy shit He's a genius And you're paying him peanuts and it makes your roster look great Yes because he's smarter than the rest And I know this segment started With can you believe people

Are actually asking this I don't I think it's a little bit ridiculous. It might be a little early, but it's not unwarranted. I would not go so far to say he's a bad negotiator when it comes to contracts. No, no. But, Schitter got off the pot. What's the move, man?

What's the move? I'm dying to find out. Because if July 2nd comes, they haven't made a trade, and they haven't signed anyone decent on the back end, I'm going to flip. The Leafs have already reached out to Anton Strauman and they say the asking price is too high. Okay, so he's out.

Damon Severson's out. Colin Miller, what's the word? Colin Miller, what's the word? Let's go. Who's next? Who's next? Eventually, you keep going down that list and you get some acute insights of.

You're looking at that. This is what I'm saying. Who's expendable? Aaron Eckblad, what's it going to take? Get moving, man. You have a front office bigger than anybody else's. Who's on the phone? Who wants what? What's going on? You know, like after a while, there's too many people at the party, just order a frickin' pizza. Stop asking everyone what

their favorite toppings are. Where's the pizza from? Panago, obviously. Thank you. Like, how? You do what you do at every house party. Hey, what do you want? What do you want? What do you want? Ah, we want a meat lovers and we want a veggie. just make the call make the executive decision

even if it's not all that popular I am just looking something up right now is it a trade? I guess I must be using this wrong I'm trying to browse CapFriendly for who's going to be a UFA and P.K. Subban's name keeps coming up and I've

updated my search results and it keeps coming up so that's not right but essentially after Anton Strahlman you've got like Ben Lovejoy Carl Gunnarsson extended with St. Louis? Yeah, I got that written down. That's why I was going to wait on that. So, yeah, if you just go on the homepage.

Oh, sorry, my bad. That's all right, two years. Did you just hit browse UFAs on the homepage? Is it on the homepage? Yeah, so just go to the homepage, capfriendly.com, and then the middle section, see where it says unrestricted free agents? Ah, browse UFAs. Hit browse UFAs.

Ah. See, I was trying to narrow down that search because I was in that area because I was trying to get defenseman, but anyway, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. The point here is that we've got Dion Phaneuf, Tyler Myers, Andrew McDonald, Mark Mathot, Nicholas Cronwall, who is unbelievably still playing, Anton Strahlman, Jake Gardner, Dan Girardi, Michael DelZotto, Ron Hainsey, Ben Hutton, Adam McQuaid, Ben Lovejoy, Patrick Namath, Nathan Boileau, and Alex Petrovic.

You gotta make a trade. I mean, I would sign Alex Petrovic. It's not a game changer. No, but that's a depth signing. Still get him. Fine, fine. But you need to make a trade. You have to make a trade.

And all those guys, I wasn't even naming just the right shot guys. And I believe Don Skoya is, yeah, he's right wing, but at least he would be a depth signing. He's going to be too expensive, I think. I just, I feel like these next seven days are going to determine the way we talk about this Leafs team and the way we talk about Kyle Dubas for the next 12 months. I really do. I think, Steve, I think you're absolutely right.

If he does not move and act decisively here, act decisively, and you've got to make the right choice, too. Now, I wonder. You can't be patient on this one anymore. In his defense, maybe the patience, and he's just got brass huevos, maybe the holdup is everyone else. They want to see what's going to happen with their guys, with their free agents. We got the Panarin-Bobrovsky thing holding everything up. Sebastian Ajo in Carolina, who was only offered $6 million. I thought it was $8 million, but that's still way too little for him.

Yeah, crazy for a centerman. I thought it was 6 over 8 That was the number that I thought I saw Oh I think it was 8 over 6 But they both aren't enough They're not enough for a player that good You know Ekblad Was reportedly the rumor

Well that team's freaking waiting on Bobrovsky and Panarin So you don't know what's going to happen there Is Mike Hoffman available So there's all these potential trading partners That the Leafs have that Can't really do business until after they get some answers on July

1st, so maybe that's the holdup. But like, to me, last night when I saw the holotrade, I went, finally! Finally, Vegas made a move! Because they were the team that had to!

They were the team that had to make a move, and they basically dumped cap and got nothing in return. So, and I'm not saying the Leafs should have gone out and got that guy, but this is a team in as tight a bind as any in the league. People

are talking about Pacioretty getting moved. I don't know, maybe that's the hold up there. Can you imagine that? They don't even want Colin Miller! They don't even want him! Like, to me, he, I don't, maybe it's my problem because mentally I made him a leaf a couple weeks ago

because I don't... It's like Pui Arvi. It's like, well, how is the Connor Brown for Pui Arvi deal not happening? Oh my god. But apparently he doesn't want to stay in Canada. He wants to go to the States. Yeah, whatever. Okay, so pull your armies out. Who's next?

Who's next, right? Like, move down the list and get some shit done. Because I'm losing it over here. I'm losing it. Mitch Marner does not have as much to do with the Leafs' defense being shitty as you think. Or, and, don't give Mitch Marner and his agent that much power. Right. To hold up the Toronto Maple Leafs?

Yeah. You're going to let one restricted free agent, one 22-year-old and his agent, hold up a 102-year-old storied franchise. Most of that story is tragic. Yes. Yes, it is extraordinarily tragic. Are we really going to do that? They were trying to move Garrett Sparks. Whatever happened to that?

Remember that? Leafs are shopping or whatever happened to that? They need to sign Marner before they can move Garrett Sparks. Hey, you know who's a free agent that's interesting? And Colorado Avalanche fans are like, yeah, go ahead with this one. Simeon Varlamov. Well, he's not coming to Toronto. But you think somewhere else?

Well, I think he's an interesting goaltending free agent. I mean, he was 20-19 last year. But, like... He's way past his best. I know. But is he not a 20- or 30-game guy? Yeah, but you've got to... The Leafs...

I mean, it's well documented that it was a mistake to get rid of Curtis McElhinney. Oh, he's not a free agent? They need a guy. They need a guy to meet. Isn't McElhinney a free agent? It was the right move at the time. Yeah, it was a right move, logically. We've done that.

But some of the suggestions I've seen for Leafs backup are guys who are going to end up making between $2 and $3 million, and I don't think they think they can afford that. And I would rather go through another season with Garrett Sparks as the backup. At least he's got something to prove. Well, at least he's got something to prove, but I would rather go through another season with Garrett Sparks as the backup if it means they make an improvement to the defense.

It sucks It sucks Go fix it Yeah Gareth Sparks will lose less games If they improve defense Yes Yes

He will let in less bad goals Yes What if we took away His glove And he only had to make Barehanded saves What if He had to fight a bear

What if he had to fight a bear To get to the net No we Gareth you can't get into the net Until you fight this bear You gotta Barehanded You see

Yeah Barehanded No, we gotta put all his equipment in the back window of a car so that it shrinks to the size that it ought to be. I'm so sick of him flying around and his blocker is facing the wrong way.

Get some shit that fits! I'm so sick! Doesn't it look like he plays with equipment that doesn't fit? It looks like a little kid playing in his dad's goalie equipment. Sometimes, right? You're not wrong. He's like a bellhop with his white gloves, trying to catch pucks with these

nice like nice gloves but with his fingers not you know no I don't I can't remember if you were able to come remember it was game five against Utica two years ago yeah when they won the whole championship mm-hmm and he made that save bear that's what I was referencing yeah when I said I said he only could make bear handed saves because I made that say bear I thought Two things in that moment the first was wow It's always great when you go to a sporting event and something makes you say wow number two that shit is not cute No, and then last year boy was it ugly. Mm-hmm

Listen, I'll go through another year. I am willing to put money down Why watch me do this guys? Oh cool willing to put money down Steve is not willing to put money down on many things And this money he's putting down Is like a dollar The dollar that he saved by negotiating His car If Kyle Dubas was negotiating For that car

It wouldn't have been signed until six months From now I would have just had to ride a bike Imagine how many times it would have been an on time For the podcast with the bike You see Like quads the size of You'd have Marty St. Louis clots.

Your legs would look like chicken wings, reversed. This speaker right here, it would just be unbelievable. Gareth Barks will have a better season this upcoming one than he did last. Yes. Not a high bar to have to climb over. Yada, yada, yada. If you're being held up because the market's held up, I understand. If you're being held up by Mitch Marner, that's a mistake.

that is a mistake and if you know you put yourself in a position where you get a guy and your defense is improved but all of a sudden it makes it a tighter squeeze you take that with you into negotiations and if Marner doesn't blink and he's got to go somewhere else I don't know Pearson's not that far that's life man like this is this is what I've been saying for a while now. I just want to know. I love hockey. I love watching the games. The team I cheer for is the Toronto Maple Leafs. Who plays for them? That's all I want to know. That's all I want to know. That's all I'm interested in. That's all I care about. Oh, so-and-so left. Well, he doesn't play for the Toronto Maple Leafs anymore. Let me know

who plays for the Leafs and I'll cheer for him. Okay? I'm sick of this waiting around bullshit i'm with you i'm with you i'm so sick well again i just announced the fucking color colin miller trade already if he goes somewhere else at this point i'm gonna be pissed yeah at this point i'm gonna be i must think it's something better i must think it's something better for sure but like to me i'm like they need a number one uh right-handed shot and he's not it okay but they're also gonna need a number two and three yeah Go get any one of them Who are the options?

You re-sign Jake It's not happening So what's the next one? Leafs can't give him 7 mil Which way do you shoot? I shoot right And I just scored a goal You got options

Along the left half wall I don't even know how I got there I was supposed to be playing right D Sounds like you in NHL It does It really does I'm just gonna do my Steve thing And it worked!

And it worked! Just like in the video games. I get back to the bench and I go, well, it worked! Whatever. Hainsey? No good. No bueno. Zaitsev?

No good. No bueno. Igor Orzhiganov? Are you joking? Roman Polak? No. Starting to look pretty good. Connor Carrick would be nice.

Connor? Holy shit, there's one? Yeah, and that like... Justin Holl? Please, for the love of God, don't make me! No! No! And we missed out on Carl Gunnarsson.

We did, yeah. Is he right-handed shot? No, he's left-handed. Right-handed shot stud, Carl Gunnarsson. I think even Blues fans are like, yeah, that's great we won the cup with him, but are you sure about that? And when you sign guys,

make sure you're signing hockey players. Because they turn Justin Holl into a hockey practicer. Yeah. And it hurt him as a hockey player. Well, here's the thing. Stop. The Leafs need to stop making players into hockey practicers. Do you know how much of a testament it is to Josh Levo's ability as a hockey player

that he was able to survive and thrive after his tenure under Mike Babcock? Yeah. Everyone's talking about go get him back. Man, if Josh Levo comes back, he truly is the hero that the Leafs do not deserve. He's the biggest Leaf fan of all time if he comes back. It's got to be worse than playing in the AHL, right? Because at least you're playing games. You're playing.

Yes! Yeah, if you're just on fucking scratched every night, that doesn't make sense. Yeah, I mean, you do get your full NHL salary, which I'm sure is pretty dope. But Josh Levo's made some money now, and he wants to play some freaking games. Justin Hall's a bit of a different case. He played in the AHL until he was 26, and then I don't know if he played in the NHL, but he sure practiced here. When he did play, there were games where I was like, oof.

But he played a couple games in a row, I think towards the end of the season, and you started to see it come around, right? Anyone will give you that. Anyone will give you that. But like, and control the zone exits. Spinning behind the back pass to Freddy Gauthier for a goal from his knees. Like, anyone can give you that. 82 games, plus 25-30.

Or whatever, well, obviously not 30. Something in between like 22 and 28 Whatever it was going to cost the Leafs to get Petrangelo last year They should have just paid the price Holy shit Should have just paid it Colton Perrick Anybody

Anybody I'm getting antsy here And it has nothing to do with Marner I saw the idea floated that it might make sense to trade This is crazy Don't survive without Mitch Marner The defense has got me shook Yeah, yeah

Well, and then let's have the conversation quickly about, like, why wouldn't you just trade Mitch Marner? Other than the pronouncement that Kyle Dubas made, the two pronouncements have painted him into a corner. First, that he promised William Nylander he wasn't going to trade him. Second, that he said, we will re-sign these guys. But if Kyle Dubas goes out and makes a killer trade, Mitch Marner for great defenseman or a couple great pieces that the Leafs need, and they figure out their defense from here, does anybody complain? Yeah, at first.

At first. But you look at the DeMar DeRozan trade. People complained about that. We complained about Kawhi until he got on the court and we said, holy shit, we've never seen a player this good in this city. You know what I mean? So, you know, people keep going,

oh, just give me the four first round picks. I'm convinced if you trade him, you get a better package than that. A more useful package than that as well. Right off the bat, useful. Because people are talking about, oh yeah, with cap space and picks. What player of impact are you going to get for a first round pick that's supposed to be in the 20s? Yeah, like you couldn't even get Jake Muzzin for that.

You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. Muzzin cost that plus a good right-handed defensive prospect and a decent AHL winger. Prospect. Yeah. So, the Leafs have some work to do, and it certainly doesn't start or end with Mitch Marner. Gary Bettman says basketball could never surpass hockey in Canada in terms of popularity.

Gary Bettman continues to be Employee of the Month at the NHL. Gary Bettman is wrong. Gary Bettman sounds a little bit scared. Gary Bettman should be. I said this before the show. Gary Bettman should be doing Everything in his power To try to convince Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment

Not to re-sign Kawhi Leonard If the Raptors re-sign that player To me it's a bigger F-you To the North American sports landscape Than the Raptors winning Or The Raptors winning and then re-signing him Never speak again

Literally shut your mouth for the rest of your life We won, he stayed You lose You lose Every shit talker on every American sports show You lose and you lost forever Lou Williams I was reminded who that is this week

Sixth man of the year Adorable Sixth man like I'm Lou That's very good It was funny to hear Lou Williams say that After he was upset a couple years ago That the Raptors didn't reach out and try to re-sign him Remember that?

It was like, okay, you wanted to stay here, man. So if the Raptors get him back and they win another championship... We don't have to win another championship. They don't even have to. They might not even have to. No. Just keep him. We're good.

It reminds me of the beginning of The Dark Knight Rises and Bane goes, The fire rises. You're not stopping this fire. There are so many little kids who just grew up with an NBA championship. it's fantastic for basketball in the city especially and across Canada and I think there's a real shot at basketball becoming the number one sport who knows I have told the story many times and it's changed but it is a little bit the same uh when I was working at the zoo I want to say it was like 2007 Toronto Zoo I know it's a very strange place to do this gauge but

Trust me, it works All the NHL gear That kids wore Wasn't Leafs Kids wore Taves So I guess it wouldn't have been 2007 It would have been like 08 or 09

After they win their cups Taves, Kane, Crosby Ovechkin, Getzlaff Is a very popular one You know, because they had just won In 2007, I want to say Corey Perry was in there People didn't wear Leafs, and the kids who did, there's one kid, I can literally picture

this kid in my mind, the dad was like, patting him on the back, like, yeah, he's a big Leaf fan, and the kid was just like, the parent made him wear that shirt. Blank jersey. Yeah, the kid made him wear that shirt. The Leafs were ass. No name on the back. The Leafs sucked. The Leafs did not stoke cheer.

The Leafs did not spark joy In that child To quote Mary Kondo Now You're a kid Right now And you're at the store And if your parents are anything like mine

They're not going Okay we're going to get you a Leafs jersey And a Raptors jersey It's maybe the end of the school year And you're rewarded because you weren't that much of a little shit And it's on sale And it's on sale I didn't get a full price.

Oh, you're getting a Valanchunas jersey. You know that, right? Like, yeah, oh yeah, for sure. Whoever was traded, that's who you're getting. Oh, look, do you like DeLon Wright? Do you like DeLon? There might be a couple of Terrence Ross ones. Yeah, yeah.

Oh, yeah. So my parents would go, hi. Grievous Vasquez from a couple years ago. So my parents would go, all right, you want Terrence Ross. You want Terrence Ross. or do you want Matt Hunwick? I've got to go with Terrence Ross. Because I'm not getting both.

I'm going with Terrence Ross. They won a championship. At least they didn't do shit. Here's the quote from Masai Ujiri that led to the Batman quote to put this in a little more context. Shani is my boy and so is Kyle Dubas. This is Masai Ujiri talking.

But I really do think that basketball basketball could replace hockey as the top sport in Canada. The way basketball is growing around the world, I do think we're lucky that in a place like Canada, there's room for baseball, there's room for basketball, there's room for hockey, and there's room for soccer. Now, Rob Pizzo, who you've worked with on Saturday night, asked on the Hockey Night in Canada podcast, actually,

Gary Bettman about that. Now, Gary Bettman starts this quote with the thing that Gary Bettman says every single time someone says something controversial that Gary Bettman doesn't agree with. And the reason Gary Bettman starts like this is he doesn't want you to think that he's attacking anyone because he's a lawyer. Smart. I didn't hear Maasai say that. Yes, you did.

Yes, you did. Yes, you did. I didn't hear Maasai say that. I'd be surprised, that is, he'd be surprised if basketball took over as the more popular sport. We have seven franchises in Canada. It's great for the Raptors that after 24 years they had a great run and they should be congratulated for that. But the NBA in Canada has had mixed results. It didn't work out so well in Vancouver.

I think time will tell but I think when people think about the heart and soul of Canada They think about hockey now a couple things. I want you to pull out of this before Steve blows up Okay, first thing is three things for that. Okay. I think Jesse's gonna blow up first first things first Okay, we're gonna Jesse first things. I just want to say That the Vancouver situation was bad owners, right? Yep, that was bad shitty ownership that never wanted the team there anyway, so we'll just get that off the table And you want to talk about that whole Oh please god no don't make me play

In Canada thing Didn't just plague the Raptors They picked first overall and the guy almost cried Yeah And the second one that I would say to you Is that is how Gary Bettman takes In my opinion The NHL in Canada for granted

Oh yeah He knows we will always be there We will always show up That fat TV rights deal That was signed a few years ago The money doesn't change, does it? 12 years, baby. And the thing with that is Gary Bettman, because of that,

does very little to grow the game here, relatively speaking. They're trying to grow it in the States. And it's funny to hear Gary say the NBA had mixed results in Canada. Because I would say, through the first five years of the NHL's expansion into the southern United States, we're talking about the 92-93 expansion. Oh, they had a rough first 30-40 years. San Jose, Tampa Bay, Los Angeles, when it started in the late 70s, early 80s. These teams, nobody went.

Nobody cared. But you look at thriving markets. You look at Tampa Bay. You look at Dallas. Dallas, when it had good ownership. When Dallas had bad ownership, you started to hear rumors, maybe the Stars won't be there forever. Remember that?

That was not that long ago. San Jose, I mentioned. Anaheim, Los Angeles. you look at Carolina as soon as they got a great owner look at that, they go on a run or a crazy owner, which is sometimes the same, people show up

and that's that's the point I want to make here is that Gary Bettman is at a point now and what do we do? Gary Bettman is at a point now where he knows that and doesn't believe that Canadians are going anywhere

the problem for Gary Bettman is not our generation the problem is Generation Z the millennials are already 24 years old at the youngest Generation Z is the one that the NHL ought to be freaked out about and they ought to look at the way baseball

looked at things when millennials were coming up and they were like ah millennials don't care about baseball and baseball said that's fine we don't care about them either and baseball the average age of a person who watches baseball is now 55 the NHL is going to age itself out Jesse

That was one of my main points I was just about to get to. Sorry. No, thank you. Thank you. Baseball, at one point, was the number one sport in America. What? In our lifetime? In our lifetime.

Yeah, this wasn't that long ago. Untouchable. Now it's the number three sport after the NFL and the NBA in America. Oh, well. And it's fucking boring. It sucks. Yeah, it's trending downwards. Oh.

And if you're Gary Bettman, like, hockey is so entrenched in Canada. There are entire cities that come together just on hockey. We have a program on CBC based entirely on that idea of hockey being Canada. You know, hometown hockey. Hockey thrives where there's nothing else to do, for sure. But things change. So does basketball. It's true.

But things change. And I think Gary Bettman needs to watch out. And if he's saying Vancouver is a reason that the NBA failed in Canada... He knows that Vancouver... Vancouver left the NBA 18 years ago. Also, Winnipeg and Quebec failed hockey in Canada. Yeah. What the hell are you?

Two of your franchises failed. Oh, well, this factor and that factor. Well, fuck this factor and that factor. Same shit, Gary. Like, what the hell? I think, too. Listen, there are going to be people in the West and in the East in Canada who go, you guys are coming at this from a really Toronto-centric.

We're happy for you. but remember we don't have an NBA franchise and I remember tweeting at the beginning of this at the beginning of this Raptors run and saying if there's one thing I hope this Raptors run does is that it encourages more franchises in this country they are very expensive

and I think only probably three cities could support them to be quite frank you gotta have about three or four million people Canada's not big and that's fine it's less than the population of California the entirety of Canada I think you need Vancouver, Montreal are the only two that I can see really supporting

Yeah, there's growing markets, but like... Right now. When we say growing markets, we're talking about a place like Halifax, and we're talking about a conversation like they might get a CFL team. And they can barely support that. But that's the reality of a country that's ten times less. Halifax is our Atlanta. It's the new big place that's growing.

I don't think that's a good comparison. I don't think that's a good comparison. No? No. Strip clubs? No, I'm kidding. No, one strip club. Ralph's, by the way.

One strip club. Ralph's did not go. They got Migos out in Halifax. No, they got Migos in Scarborough. Oh, Migos the band. No, he was staying there. Oh, Migos. About the bar that he always talks about.

Talking about the rap group, Adam. Hey, we had LMFAO at one of our station events when I was out there. Wow. Yeah, when they only had I'm in Miami, bitch. Because they were the, like, slash of hip-hop. That's right. They just showed up to everything. So, when you look at this, like the Vancouver thing, and I tweeted that.

people tweeted me that example and I said, you know that that's not a good example. Why are you tweeting that at me? You know that's a terrible example and the economic situation is completely different and I think that basketball in Vancouver would work today. Because if the BC Lions are one of the most well attended sports, if the Vancouver

Whitecaps have done as well as they've done, Vancouver loves sports and they love teams that win. And I think Vancouver is one of the most beautiful places on the planet to live. You want to tell me, Maybe we weren't very good at marketing Canada in the 90s Show me Toronto in the winter

And I'll show you a big middle finger From somebody who grew up in the south F that, why would I ever want to be there And then you're here and you're like Oh it's great and it's a fun place Toronto summer rules But these guys are going to be here in the summer Vancouver doesn't have winter

And you can't forget No team in Seattle All those basketball fans who are currently in Seattle Without a team, they're coming up to Vancouver And the weather in Seattle is the same, if it's the weather. And the economics are similar. And then you've got the rivalry of two Seattle-Vancouver teams that you could eventually have. How's anyone going to get to the games?

Sorry. I just wanted to be a joke. I think that the point here is that Gary Bettman knows exactly. Gary Bettman knows that the majority of people go, yeah, you're right, didn't work in Vancouver, could never work. Right? No. Gary Bettman also knows the realities of that economic situation which is

that is total and utter bullshit of an answer and he should be scared and he is but he can't say it the idea that anybody in any industry doesn't have any type of threat towards them it's ridiculous imagine running a company and be like we're always gonna be

on top nothing is ever gonna change we're number one always because the people will support that's a ridiculous mindset to have for running any company. Yes. No matter what industry. Us three. Us three, right now, after the show, we want to go play a game of horse. Or whatever.

What do we need? A basketball. Done. Yep. A basketball and a rim that hasn't been taken down. Show me a gym. Show me a gym in Canada. A high school gym, a middle school gym, a junior school gym that doesn't have two basketball hoops. At least two. LA Fitness, Good Life,

all the big chains of gyms they have. But when you want to play hockey, you've got to pull out all the plastic sticks. You've got to pull out the ball. You gotta pull out the net You gotta get ice It's gotta be at midnight Even if it's road hockey Even if you're playing

That in gym You gotta have 20 sticks There's a reason Soccer is the biggest Sport in the world It requires a ball And that's it Ball net

You don't even need nets No you just need Kick it between sticks Make their nets It doesn't matter You just need the ball You've never had You never had that

Imaginary argument In elementary school Where you're like The post is there A million times Look There's the rock There's the other rock

Lunch bags We just used our lunch bags Lunch bags all the time. Yes. Growing up. Yes. That's why lunch bags were just destroyed by the end of the year. Because it would just be like, people step on them, and the ball goes over them, and

it's icy outside. My winter jacket was always torn to shit because I was always the goalie in kickball. Oh, okay. So foot hockey, I think we call it. Kickball. That's literally what soccer is. Kicking a ball. Yep.

And basketball is dribbling one. The barrier to entry for basketball is so much easier than it is for hockey. Uh-huh. So why? So does hockey want to be golf? Hockey's not even close to golf economically, by the way, but does hockey want to be a niche rich man sport? Yes.

Or does hockey want to be the everyman sport that it used to be? Because hockey used to be the everyman working class sport. There's a book I started reading on the way to Vancouver, and it's not out yet. I got the advanced copy. It's by Sean Fitzgerald, and what I've read so far is so, so good, and I can't wait to read the rest of it. It's called Before the Lights Go Out,

A Season Inside a Game Worth Saving. And it's about hockey, I don't know if you could tell from the title, and I mean, you know, so I posted that video of me scoring a goal, and most people were like, hey, you know, because, I don't know, it was surprising, frankly, but I still had a few people go, how did you grow up in Canada and never play? And what was the reason? Well, my reasons, forget it. There are a wide variety of reasons, but it's a question. What's the key reason? Time and money. Bingo.

And specifically, let's be straight here. Yeah. Your parents had a lot of financial commitments with Rachel. Yeah. And they didn't have the money. I think even if Rachel had been born completely healthy, it still would have been a huge challenge. My dad worked nights and shit. It was hard.

You would have had to basically get a lift every game. Yeah. I have friends in their 30s who have good jobs and have no prospect of owning a house how are they going to put a kid in hockey equipment, fuck that

they'll put them in something else because the kid, how hard is it to get a kid excited about something other than hockey, you put on a Raptors game, you show them a couple kawaii clips you go, ah isn't that great, and the kid goes, yeah because they're a kid, and they go with whatever you say and you go, great, and you put a ball in their hand

And they love that for the rest of their life And that's what they play You gotta work to get a kid into hockey But anyway, sorry, what I was getting to there How did you grow up in Canada and not play Is becoming an outdated question No one plays That's the problem

That's the lights going out part No one plays anymore Registration is either stagnant Or dropping Is that really true? Yes! Oh, I did not. When I was growing up, you had to register by a certain date or you didn't get in.

Now they can't get enough people in. Wow. Yeah. That's interesting. That's why every year, it's the sons and nephews of people we grew up watching. Yeah. And here's the other thing, too. When you look at, and we talk, like, I sound like an old man.

I'm 31 years old. I have a one-month-old daughter tomorrow. So I am a dad. Wow, it's still been less than a month. I know, right? I am a dad, I am in my 30s, as weird as it is to say, because I still feel like I'm 25, I still feel like we just started this podcast yesterday, honestly. I know, it's crazy.

And if you are in your mid-20s, get ready, baby, because it goes fast. I gotta tell you, the hockey stick I played with was $10 to $15, and it was a Mario Lemieux stick. I'll never forget it. It was the Mario Lemieux budget stick, basically, because he had a good stick. And his stick was $10 to $15. Yeah, when he had a pro, there was the pro Mario Lemieux stick. That was $25.

My dad's like, you're using that for maximum 40 games? I'm not buying you a $25 stick. Also, Adam, you're terrible. That's outrageous. Yeah, also, I was bad. Cam Campbell was tripping you at the draft. Was he? Yeah.

Oh, yeah? Well, because I suck? Yeah, he said you suck. I do suck. That's funny. That's a good story. And? He said he sucks, too.

Yeah. Well, we all suck. You guys play in the same league, right? Yeah. Yeah, it was funny going head-to-head with this team because it was literally the two worst teams in the league. But it was a fight because we were like, this is a game we could actually win! And Ken was always so gracious. But the one stick that everybody wanted was the Yarmir Yager Silver Easton Aluminum Stick.

This stick was the actual stick. And here's the thing. How are those ever allowed? You can make the argument to your parents, well, hey, this is a good investment. Yes, it's $40. but when you break the end of the stick the stick's unbreakable except at the end

you can pull the heel of the stick out and get a new heel in, right? so this is a stick that could last me several years and if I use it the right way I can dull the edges of all the players that I play against because that used to happen in the NHL too I can literally shave down the spinal column

that's what Jürgen Jager used to have to go off the ice and get his skates re-sharpened in between shifts because he'd fall on someone's stick and he'd lose the thing, which doesn't happen with carbon shafts anymore. When I was finishing hockey, there was

a stick that I won. You won? $200. Carbon fiber. One of those first carbon fiber things. Sticks. Those CCM 3000 tacks that everybody used to want? They were $50. Now you can get skates

that are $600. Hockey? hockey and i've talked about this it was funny the last time we talked about this um a listener reached out to me and said you know we could actually do this right and i was suggesting i want to come out with like a generic hockey brand where we just make equipment it's all the same only it's called generic or it's called adam wild brand or something stupid and he's like well we could just he's like we could start with sticks if you want to he's like i could go check with a supplier in china and here's much which was cost and i was like well this seems like a really

involved process and i got a lot going on already yeah but if you were if you were a smart business person and you want and you love hockey the smart thing for you to do right now is find a way to do that sell volume sell to the families that can't afford it this is why like canadian tire has this thing right now which is great it's jumpstart and it gets you into any particular sport but the most expensive sport to get in is is hockey so what they do is they give you a full thing of equipment And it's all top of the line It's good stuff But it's thousands of dollars per player

Yeah this is what I'm saying man And the entrance fees are thousands of dollars per player You can be anybody and play soccer You can be anybody and play basketball You can be like upper middle class And still have a really difficult time Affording hockey I don't think I'm going to be able to do it

That's insane I don't think so That's insane because Adam makes 5 million dollars a year I'm going to get Because I own a house in this city At least I got to that point I got to that freaking point And that was really hard

And we are budgeting like crazy To keep it And then having a child And then having child care Eventually your kid's gonna want to go to school Yeah You gotta plan for that Eventually my wife's gonna want to go back to work

Gotta plan for that too So that means we gotta Having a child is not even really taking care of the child it's what do I do with the child when I have something to do without the child where do I put this child down and who do I keep it with that's literally having a child that's why

I was laughing at people because I said having a puppy is harder than having a baby because no one's going to yell at you in the middle of a grocery store get that baby out of the store what are you doing in my store with that baby

it's true you bring in a puppy they go what Yeah, you can't bring your puppy into Tim Hortons. No, you can't. You can bring your baby. Unless he's a service dog, which is pretty easy to get, by the way. You can get service thing for anything. So if you do want to bring your dog with you.

Yeah, but not for a 15-pound puppy. It's a service puppy. You're training it. Last fall, the three of us, we do the Easter Seals tournament. Yes. When we raised over, was it $1,500? We were all gifted a stick. $1,000.

It was $1,000. We were all gifted a stick. By the way, if you donated, I don't know if we said it at the time. I think we did, but also, thank you. Thank you. Holy crap. You really helped some people out. Thank you.

Yeah. We put together two teams, raised over 55 grand, and I'm just letting you know, I'm going to start even earlier this year, and we're going to smash 55 grand. And we're going to win a game. And we're going to win a game, and I'm going to score a damn goal, and so is Jesse and Adam's going to have to eat that sandwich. We're going to... Oh, that's right.

The Don Jerry sandwich bet's still on. Oh, I'm scoring. I am not passing the fucking rush. Jesse, you stand in front. I'm going to put one off your ass. Oh yeah It's going to be great So we were all

Gifted a stick It was Super Tack Yeah Super Tack One of the ones You just That stick retails For like $320 Yep

That's insane It is insane That's just a regular Hockey stick You know what I might do With that stick next year Auction it off And give the money

Back to Easter Seals I use it Like it's It's a great stick I use it But hopefully My stick survives Yeah

Just give that away Give it on the podcast Or something Yeah, we'll do some stuff. I I was thinking about like we could do some experiences too like with the show Like I don't know what we could do. Foot massages. We're gonna massage your feet. I am not touching your foot, sorry Steve will No, I'm saying we auction off Adam massages their feet. No, you and I will watch. You and I will watch, okay fine. Anyway, Adam will watch. But Adam's got those dancing fingers because he uses the board all day

The point is with all of this that our game that we love Has priced itself out of the market Or is on its way You're getting into specifics Hockey is alienating people Yes And the leadership of the most important league Doesn't seem to think that

Now It's so ridiculous Maybe we're taking Bettman's words a little bit too seriously After all, he's the commissioner of the NHL Which he keeps saying Well of course basketball is going to overtake Maybe he should have said challenge accepted

You know He's like I see him coming And I'm not going to let you defeat me basketball Maybe he should have said something better than Ah what is basketball Anyways You know That's so good

He goes on the offensive and talks about the one failure in Canada Right Instead of saying Screw that That's so good Jesse And he also could have said You know what? NBA's done an amazing job of growing their game in the last 10 years.

There's lots we can learn from them. But we feel like we've got some tricks up our sleeve, too. And we're so excited for this next season for you. And I'd be like, great, you have me. But he can't say, wait and see what happens next. Because what happens next is a lockout. In a year. Literally a year.

Seattle, welcome to the NHL. And clunk. That was the sound of a gate closing. Clunk. Lockout. Man. Jesse. inspirational speaker

next commissioner of the NHL Jesse Blake he ought to be we can't change we can't call him no man it's not even that

hard of a sell look how tall he is you know every team would love it look at it you know you know what I love about our commissioner

I had to look up at him Paul Fenton Paul Fenton would freak out Jesse Blake for commissioner trade I'm Paul Fenton and I approve this message

I'm going to have a stick and puck on Sunday do it are you actually yeah I'm just getting around There you go. Hit up a rink in Mississauga. It's fun.

It's fun. Bring your socks. I forgot about yours, yeah. Yesterday I was pissed. Jesse Blake, commissioner. He's 6'4". Every time he steps up to the negotiating table or whatever it is. You're taller than 6'4", right?

I'm around 6'4". You're around 6'4". It's cool. So am I. Are you? I mean, I'm around 6'4". Around. What's next, Adam?

What's next? See? He's delegating already. God, he's good. He's a born leader. Natural born leader. The next thing is Port Perry. Right.

Old flame brewery. Getting an NHL franchise. For Port Perry. Next Thursday night, 7 o'clock, we are a go for this event, I believe. Is there an Eventbrite yet? No. And that I was waiting for you to create. I did not know that.

Okay. So how about I do that? Steve, do you mind creating that Eventbrite? We'll do that right here on the show. Sorry. Honestly, as I've said, we've Jesse and I especially have been in the weeds With our other job lately

In the best way, but sometimes things Bottleneck on you, and you're trying to do A million things at once, so we are I haven't been doing anything I know you've been busy, forgetting stuff Sticking puck and all that I'm still mad But essentially we need

We'll put up the event, it will come through Steve's account Steve, do you want to give people A time and a place before you put it out So as in, give them a forewarning Because there's an 80 person max here And there are going to be people that are disappointed Okay let's say Let's say

What is reasonable Let's say 6 o'clock Sure you can say it now but also tweet this out after No no I'm going to But I just don't want anyone missing out on it So how about 6 o'clock 6pm

Eastern Friday night that is tomorrow night June 28 I'll post a link on my Twitter to the Eventbrite and that's that

the live event is July 4th in Port Perry at Old Flame Brewery yep they have beer and if you can't make it or if you're like

iffy on making it please don't reserve a ticket yeah like only reserve it if you can go because there's only 80 and by the way leave it for somebody

who's 100% confirmed This goes for people that are unsure and people that maybe miss it. There will be more. This is not the end. It's merely the beginning. How much does it cost? This many? It costs zero dollars.

It costs zero dollars. It costs that many dollars. That's right. Just come in, have a good time, and we can't wait to meet you and hang out. And there will be more this summer, I promise. Promise. Let's do the press conference. The Presser SDP.

Jesse is eating food with his mouth full. But, you know, that's what you get to do when you're a commissioner like him. It's true. It's true. His food stays warm because he eats it so high in the air. It's one of the great things about having a six-foot-four commissioner. He rises, but actually with Jesse's height, it falls because he's so tall. Oh.

You know? He, like, he's probably really good in high-altitude situations because that's where he lives his life. Should I only do things in Colorado? Yeah. This is from Just Made This For Podcast. It says, Steve, Brendan Leipzig is set to be a UFA. I know you were very upset he got taken during the expansion draft.

Do you think we could have him again? Yes. Oh, yeah. Who? Brendan Leipzig. Oh, yeah. I think that'd be a great signing. Yeah, it's a really interesting signing.

You know, I think there's a couple guys who have an argument where you can get the band back together. And I'm not even going to say James Reimer. Whoops, too late. Josh Levo is a really interesting option if he was into that. I doubt he is. But Brendan Leipzig is sort of looking to revive his NHL career and looking to revive...

He still really needs to establish himself as an every-single-day NHL player. Well, this would be his last chance, though. It would be his last chance. He'd be probably lucky to get a third-line role, but I think he plays a style that Babcock would probably like. He's a playmaker by nature, and I feel like he could have a role on the second power play unit because I remember he was really good at that with the Marlies.

It's been a few years, obviously, so things have probably changed. Yeah, I can see him being a cheap option. Pick up the phone. One thing that happened this week was Roberto Luongo retired. Yes. Clap for his career. Yeah, seriously, what a great career. Amazing career.

Second most ever games played, third most ever wins. Is he the best goalie for Adam and Steve? Is he the best goalie to ever not win a cup? Cujo, Dave3106, provides some examples. This is Cujo, Hextall, Luongo, Kiprasov. Guys that are, he thinks, off the top of his head. What do you guys think? Best goalie ever, never win?

To be added. Long quest, yeah. Curtis. Hmm. Doesn't Curtis Joseph lead? Isn't he the all-time losses leader? I don't know. That might be Broderick.

Well, because the best goalies of all time. Right. Like, they won and lost the most games. That was like Lenny Wilkins, too. Lenny Wilkins. All-time losing-est coach, but all-time winning-est coach. You just play a shitload of games. Yeah, you just hang it out.

I'm gonna say... I'm gonna say yes, because yesterday I got mad about Roberto Luongo. He played I think it was 19 seasons? Might have been 20? Let's say

19 seasons. That's so rare. You got mad about something. I know. It's very odd. He played eight seasons with the Canucks. He had one split season. So he had eight seasons with the Canucks, one season with the Islanders,

and I guess that would have left ten with the Panthers? No, it was part of 11 because he had the one split season. So he played parts of 11 with Florida, parts of eight with Vancouver, and one with the Islanders. How many times did he make the playoffs with Vancouver? in eight years. Eight seasons. Anyone?

Anyone? Six. Okay. That's very good. I was going to say a number much lower than that. That's very, very good. Making the playoffs

75% of the time? That's great. Yeah. Very good. In 11 seasons with Florida, how many times did he make the playoffs? How many?

Twice. Not many. Four. I'm going to say four times. I'm going to say two. He made the playoffs Half as often as Jesse thinks And a quarter as often as Adam thinks

He made the playoffs as a Florida Panther Once In 11 seasons He played 6 games 6 playoff games As a member of the Florida Panthers That Organization

Abandoned Him I don't think a goalie has ever been so alone On an NHL franchise He constantly faced the most shots, too. Yeah, and played the most games. I was going through his, like, there was a season where he played 72 games. Insane.

Get someone, anyone, to score a freaking goal in front of this guy. Well, you know what also would piss you off is that he was a Leafs draft pick. No, no, is that Niedermeyer? Niedermeyer was. No, no, both of them, they were the same, but not in the way that you think. Okay. In 1990, I want to say it was, or 91, the Leafs had traded their first round pick over a year ahead of time. So it bit them when they sent their pick to the Devils, to Lou Lamorello in the Devils,

and it gave them the third overall pick, Scott Niedermeyer. Fast forward a half decade later, they had not learned a lesson. The Leafs acquire Wendell Clark. They reacquired Wendell Clark. From the Islanders. DJ Smith. Oh. And Matthew Schneider

Who was actually He was quite good The Leafs gave up Kenny Janssen Kenny Janssen Who was a great defenseman Turned out to be their captain Ended up being their captain

Yeah Drake Barahowski Sean Haggerty I think was the guy's name And their 1997 First round pick Fast forward They suck

The pick is Fourth overall The Islanders Use it to select Roberto Luongo Roberto Luongo plays one season with the Islanders The 99-2000 season And he wasn't all that good

And the Islanders weren't all that good But I mean, he's a young goalie What did you expect out of him? And as a result of that season The Islanders had the first overall pick Which they used to select Rick DiPietro So now all of a sudden

They got a new goalie of the future So they trade Luongo to the Panthers The trade was Heading to Long Island Mark Parrish Oh no Who had a good career He had 150 goal a year

140 goal a year or something He had a good career Steady producing forward Mark Parrish and Oleg Kavasha Remember him? I do remember him In exchange for Roberto Luongo and Ole Jokinen

Wow That is a Those are the Mike Milbury years Hell yeah it was If Mike Milbury had been a potato The Islanders would have been They would have been a threat to make the finals Luongo's first game

Chara, Spezza Luongo Who else did they have Jokinen There were some great players On that team, Kenny Janssen Great defenseman, people don't give him credit There was a

Well, they wouldn't have had Janssen without yadda yadda yadda. Yeah. There was a great tweet I saw. I think it was in Luongo's first game. Luongo's first game was a win against the Boston Bruins, and the game-winning goal was scored by Zdeno Chara. Wow. Chara with the Islanders.

It still blows my mind that two teams gave Chara up for relatively nothing. Well, it sends literally. Yeah, well, because the Islanders got Yashin for him, Um, but, but then the senators were like, Wade Redden, Zidane O'Chara, we're going to go Wade Redden on this one. Did you see the, uh. Like that's what they had. You see the Friedman story about Wade Redden?

No. So it was a few summers ago, like a decade ago. Uh, and Brooks, Brooks Orpik, now that he's retired, um, gave Friedman permission to tell this story. So the Rangers were gearing up to have a very big summer and they were going to give a lot of money to brooks or pick and wade redden brooks or pick thought it was they were going to give a bunch of money to wade redden or him so when he saw the rangers signed wade redden he said all right screw it i guess i'll just resign with the penguins so we called up glenn say there to tell

him that and then say they're called back and was like what the i was gonna sign both of you Wow, that's funny And Orpik, I'm sure, regrets it deeply He won a cup Yeah Anyway, Luongo Listen, Florida Panthers fans I know that conversation was probably a tough one to swallow

Everyone thinks about Vancouver As the missed opportunity for him No, at least he was close Lots of goalies come close There's no shame in coming close It is a very hard league To not make the playoffs every season but one

with literally one of the best goalies of all time that's terrible and unforgivable as a hockey fan. And imagine how many bad trades the Leafs could have avoided had they just kept the pick and picked him. They wouldn't have picked him. They would have picked God knows who. Some dumb

Who sucked? They would have picked that guy. Yeah, who sucked? They would have picked that guy. They would have picked that guy. For sure. There were 246 players picked in 1997 and Luongo is tied for 46th in scoring

What? With 23 assists Wow. That's a cool stat That's a very cool stat. That's crazy Somebody did a video on Luongo Yeah. Why do I remember all this? Did he tweet you back by the way? Because you tweeted No he didn't and I was really hoping he would I was pissed

I forgot my socks Luongo didn't tweet me back It's been a tough day for you Yesterday was garbage Did you tell the Sox story on the show this episode? Did I? No. You mentioned it.

I got to stick and puck. And I was like rushing. Yeah. Yeah, yesterday. I got to stick and puck and I was rushing. I was doing errands and I showed up late. But I was like, you know what? I just want to get some ice time in because I'm learning.

And really, I love being on the ice now. It's funny. I'm talking about hockey dying and alienating people. Meanwhile, I'm learning it and loving every second of it. But you've always loved hockey. Yeah. Yeah, but. We all love hockey.

Yeah, but it was I also had to put on a bit of a brave face To learn Because it's been so It's been un-fun Because I'm so bad But now that I actually know a couple things I'm like, this is awesome

And every moment I'm on the bench is agony And I just want to get back out there It's so fun That's the point That's what it should be That's how hockey should make you feel And so I was Gotta get there to stick a puck

And I realize Oh shit, I'm not wearing any socks like regular socks so but I but I remember a couple years ago I interviewed Chris Stewart when the Minnesota Wild came to town and his claim to fame is he doesn't wear any socks so I assume he just has these Fred Flintstone calloused feet so I was like you know what I'll do it I'm not even going to be out here that long and if it starts to hurt I'll stop so start getting all my stuff out put on my leg pads or shin whatever knee pads you can't call them knee pads because they go the whole leg yeah this is funny like leg pads so i put it on my front calves

and i realized i don't even have hockey socks and i wore shorts there so i just okay my options are Get on the ice with just shorts Like a dick Or have leg pads or whatever With exposed leg at the back And Zoe just went, I'm going home That was so sad That was so sad and defeated

Maybe I'll go to Mississauga on Sunday Sometimes you can't All the way to Mississauga I'm sorry It's only like four hours for you We're talking about doing Renting us some ice downtown I can do downtown

Yeah, doing it like on Wednesdays or something, that might be fun. Anyway, guys, love you both. Have an enjoyable long weekend and an enjoyable free agent weekend. We will be back with a, I believe, we'll figure out our show schedule for next week. I am very excited about the next show, the next episode of this show. Well, so, okay. Imagine we come back, nobody's made an offer to anyone. Yeah, our next show is signed.

Not even Penari. It's like just, it's the most NHL thing ever. Free agent frenzy, it's an eight-hour broadcast. Nobody's here. Nobody's doing anything. Our next show isn't July 4th. It's July 7th? We're going to talk about that off the air, Steve.

Remember what I said? Hey, let's talk about that off the air. Remember what I said 30 seconds ago? Yeah, but like it's... It's not during the long weekend. Yeah, but like... Anyway, we love you. We'll talk to you soon, and we will see you on the floor.

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