Well, hello, everybody, welcome to Episode 310 of Spin Check presented by Pink Whitney from our friends at New Amsterdam Vodka here in the Barstools Bullets podcast. Family, what's up, gang? Let's get back in the saddle again. Lastly, last week looks like things are coming together for the upcoming season. We'll get to that shortly. Let's say hi to the fellas first. Mikey Grenelle, our producer. How goes it, brother?

It goes very well. I find out Colonel cough is being added to NHL twenty one. I bought myself some Christmas decorations and I received an extremely nice, nice text from Keith Yandle last night complimenting the NBD merch that Ryan is wearing right now.

So I'm in a very, very chipper mood. Do you have ever thought in a million years you'd be in a fucking video game? Jay Nope. No chance.

He's still waiting for a GM reply. ZAGG wait, Kernell, are you going to be a free agent or like a draft pick? No.

Grenelle Horcoff like the the name Grenelle Lakoff has been added. So they had the announcers go back and rerecord the name Grenelle Cough. So any time like my guy scores a goal or you can create a player and you can be granillo cough. Wait you didn't name them Grenelle cough. I named him Grenelle cough. Yes because I'm Russian born inside there's an AI right.

It's not Grenelle. Is there the AI there. Oh yeah. Canela cough. Yes but it's Grenelle e cough.

OK, that's what I wanted to make enunciation with promo code biz.

Twenty or twenty percent off Russian gas is making money off the Grenelle cough jersey that someday Bensley sweater shot out of business.

What's going on. We just interviewed Wolosky hasn't released yet but he was talking about the vitamins we got. We got some why nobody ain't going to be dropping this episode but so, so everyone listening doesn't know that that happened but. So we have two more terms now. We already have two terms total. We have the Russian gas and the vitamins looking for you guys during that one. You have a big, big announcement. All right.

Well, I got a couple of announcements. First off, I have to give a shout out to Drew and Brendan here in St. Petersburg, Florida, for allow me to use the Internet in the Florida room.

I have Wi-Fi in my hotel room, but I didn't have enough juice to do the show. So Grealy said, see what you can do. And a couple of listeners, I met them getting a Cuban sandwich the other day and they were very generous and allowed me to come and record in the show.

So if I buy a place in Florida, can you grab who did their ceiling for me?

Because I'm on the phone?

Yeah, I like the I told them the old school vibe reminded me of the house. I grew up in the 1960s style and shit.

But what I'm looking at right now, it looks like someone someone is living in there that Dexter's going to end up off at some point.

Good. Knowing you're is going to have to start hosting the show now to not just a little little paint chip.

I'm just gonna make sure I don't eat them on my tuna like I did when I was a kid. But yeah, because you did mention we have a major program note we want to share. We'll be dropping our next episode when I get introduced one time.

Don't fuck with my dad, but not least the wit. Doug Ryan.

Whitney, sorry. Don't be sorry. I need to explain to you my Monday. You know, you have those days. I actually thought at the end of the day I was like, at least I can tell the story on the podcast.

So I wake up early. Six thirty, I grab Whyatt. I take the diaper off, this dude hose is all over me, hit me in the chin, I'm like, I'm covered in his piss, whatever, no big deal like that happens all the time.

So but this one caught me in the chin, you know, in the face. Disgusting.

So whatever the day goes along, my back's killing me. All of a sudden I just moved quickly. That's where I'm at right now, where I'm just making quick movements, locking up. It's a nightmare. I actually I said, fuck that because I knew I'm now I'm now down for two days locked up.

So now I'm like, oh my God, it's not even eight thirty.

Or maybe it's like nine thirty at this point. So the day goes along, the day goes along, and I'm now going to go get an MRI on my neck. Now, it just so happened that my neck locked up the day that I was going to get the MRI. This thing's been scheduled for about a week. I'm trying to get figured out what's going on in my upper back. It's just what I want to get into it. So I'm driving along.

Saturday, we'll take you back two days, I bought a new car, two thousand twenty one Cadillac Escalade.

This thing is a beast. I looked at it online. I loved it.

So I went and got it. I'm driving along, I'm driving along. Saturday, I enjoy it. Sunday, I like this is great. I'm driving along sorry I went back there driving along, driving along Monday. I'm driving in the MRI. I'm like, this car's so fucking awesome. Might they change the inside?

I just love driving it 70 miles an hour.

Moving to the car broke down. No, completely. I'm like, what? I thought I ran something over it. Like, felt like there was like a human or maybe a cone or something that I'm like dragging like the thump, thump, thump.

I get over. I just immediately I go over to break down there. And this is on 95 North. Right. This is right near like Waltham. The cars are Bazaine.

Cars are going 70 to 90 miles an hour and there's a breakdown lane. But it's not that.

Why did you see the horror stories of people? Scary as fuck, dude. Yeah. Two hours, two hours, I waited the car said rear access, access off or something like that, I don't know what's going on it at one point it wouldn't even start.

I just turned it off. I tried to restart it.

It started and it was shaken like I was in on the Gravitron. Remember that that ride, it can be like, oh, that's more spinny. But still I'm sitting there, I'm panicking because cars are buzzing by and this car now won't even turn on and on like this brand new fucking car.

You shitting me? So I wait two hours, I get towed to the dealership to get a loaner car. But now I had to miss the MRI, so the car had to cancel the MRI. I'm like, what a fucking day. My next killing me. I smell like piss and I can't even get the MRI I need along with my brand new truck being a fucking lemon. So I get home. I grabbed my phone sitting on the couch, I go on Twitter.

I'm so embarrassed to admit I'm like a I'm like a 70 year old with pulling this move, this is something that you get grandfathers with. I'm a grandfather and I get a tweet. That's now deleted only from like Twitter support team or whatever, looked very official, blue checkmark, I click on the link, I don't know. Seventeen hundred followers said something like, there's a copyright infringement in one of your tweets signing now to correct this issue. Now, I immediately think back.

First of all, I immediately think back to like we got emails or something that music on Twitter could get you suspended. You know what I'm talking about?

I was like, oh, I don't know, maybe have a song on there, like a DMCA was flying around. Right now I sign into this thing.

It takes you to a link where you just put in your your Twitter name and password. Next thing you know, boom, boom, boom. My phone's going off like a like a July 4th fireworks. My phone, they hacked into my Instagram, my Gmail, my Twitter, my. There was one more. What was the other Venmo.

You said Venmo I Venmo. I don't know what the fuck happened, but they overtook it.

They were signing in from Turkey. They were signing in from California. There was one in Louisiana. Just just I was getting attacked.

SEAL team sixty nine just. Yeah.

So everything, everything that Monday, you know, you think of people out there and they're struggling and they're having a tough time. Think of Ryan Whitney's Monday, December 6th, then got their payback. Russians are getting their payback that they're coming after you. But you followed up with that wolosky interview and talk about battling back and grinding through it all. This guy, this you guys are going to love this interview and it isn't today. I didn't mean to interrupt you.

It isn't today, but you're going to love it. So. All right. I needed the intro because I needed to get it off my chest.

That's that's hilarious because I was like I got distracted when Bizz mentioned to throw it to the program. And no, we hadn't caught up with that.

First off, I do want to mention we do have two guests on today's episode. We have player Agent Allen Walsh. He comes on to break down and put it into layman's terms, what's going on with the league and the union and all the bullshit of the last couple of weeks? And we chatted with him for a bit. Interesting fellow. Like I said, he has a pretty fun Twitter follow as well. And we have Glenn Metropol, who is an NHL veteran for about ten, twelve years, played here in Boston for a little bit while I'm in Florida now.

But great little play a man. I enjoyed watching him play here. He has a very interesting story from where he came from and the fact he made it to the NHL. He certainly beat the odds. So we'll be getting to that a little bit shortly. But, yeah, we want to let the folks know we're going to be switching things up a little bit here on Checkout's instead of dropping on Thursdays. We are going to be dropping on Tuesdays starting this upcoming Tuesday the 15th, and we'll be doing each subsequent Tuesday going forward for, I don't know, I guess the foreseeable future.

I know you guys wanted to chime in here because if you want to go first, well, it's awesome.

Another thing, too, is we just dropped our first full episode on YouTube Episode three or nine with Peter Maguire on Monday. So the plan was Thursdays and Mondays. And Grenelle like, why not give these people the ability to listen during the week if they're commuting, dropping it on Tuesday. But also we're going to be able to follow up two days later. So Thursday mornings or actually sorry, in the afternoon Thursdays. So two days later basically with the full YouTube blank episode.

So I know it's not right away. Like some people do it. We're trying to innovate and get better and pay attention to the consumer, you guys. And we feel like the Tuesday drop and then followed by the Thursday YouTube launch will be perfect and everybody can get what they need at the right time. So that's that's how I feel about it with our users kind of direct us to what we do.

Yeah.

And I saw some, you know, not a ton, but some complaints of like, well, why would you draw someone wrote me why would you drop it as the pawn on Tuesday and not right then is the video.

And that just doesn't it doesn't make sense. And in the end, if you'd rather watch it on video, you just wait two extra days.

It ends up being the same thing right at odds.

Yeah. So I actually enjoy doing it. I think it's cool. You think you also. If you listen to our part, I think if you went and watched certain things and when conversations are happening, I think you'd have totally different opinions on like how our relationships are, how the podcast goes, because I think there's times that we probably sound either more serious or more joking around than we are actually when you see us on camera.

You know, I mean, I would completely agree. So YouTube's cool. You're getting into that. We did. The Checketts Kirkconnell. You know, we've we've really grown that channel, that YouTube channel.

And we have so many funny videos. I think when you get guests on that, that are telling good stories in the way they're animated. So I love it. And you mentioned, Ari, that we are going to want a week.

Yeah. Starting Tuesday. So, yeah. So I, I hope people aren't really disappointed by that. I, I understood. Good for good. Yeah. It's good. Yeah, we're good.

We're going to one episode a week for good and I and I if you are disappointed, I am sorry about that because we appreciate so much that you want like more content from us before and that's like the craziest feeling in the world.

But personally and the guys we all kind of agree that I think our shows better once a week. I think that it's I think it's fresher.

Or is it more fresh voice I'm real bad without talking. Pleasure.

Thank you. Fresh. Fresh. So listen, I'm excited going forward. I think you're going to love it because I think the products are going to get better. I think it's going to get improved. I think we're going be able to do interviews right before the day of the show, which changes in terms of like banking interviews and how things can go stale.

So we love all of you guys. We appreciate your support in more than you'd ever understand, really, realistically, I promise you that.

But two days a week at times it was just a little too much. You know, hockey's a weird game. You need a little bit more time to digest the major stories. And instead of boring you with some details of stats that we don't really.

I want to get into ourselves because we don't know that much about you, stick with one week, one week period of NHL events and our lives and you go it and we go out and we have, you know, two to two and a half great hours a week.

So the sandbaggers are going to be getting bigger. So we just want to say thank you and kind of explain why we will be going back to one episode a week.

Because when you came on going to two episodes a week, which was an awesome idea, it was it was great. And it really, really helped us grow.

And then I think like any profession job, like you reach a certain plateau, you know, you can plateau and you can kind of figure out what's working, what's not. So we're going to go back to once a week and we're excited.

Guys, we're still learning. This is this is very new. And as I said, the reason I spent so much time online, it's I try to read what the consumer wants and how are you going to read the room a little bit. And it's just like we're not news breakers. We kind of ingest everything that's going on and what people are saying and we give our opinions on it. And more than anything, we just want to have fun and and get these awesome stories out of these guys and guys that we talked about.

One of the guests today, Alan Walsh, we don't know a lot about what how the the behind the scenes business aspect works. And we got him on and he breaks a lot of things down to where we would have never been able to. And Chris, I mean, like when you're asking me to do that type of stuff, I sound like that that kid there's that video on YouTube, but he's like, it's like fucking two minutes.

And then you got to try to listen to my opinion on something I know nothing about. So we're just going to ask the stories we're going to get great guests on. We're gonna have a ball. And that is that is that summed up. Well, gee, yeah.

And I think also I'm sorry to cut you there, but it's Tuesday's pretty much right after the weekend, too. And big stuff tends to happen on the weekends at least. You know, news wise, we like to wrap up the weekend and it's better to do that on a Tuesday up on a Thursday episode as well done.

And we're going to be able to focus on all new things, too. I think that's the emphasis here is all these sandbaggers are coming out. We have the animations, the twitch channels. There's so many different avenues we can take this brand and we're going to be able to do that now because of.

Yeah, like Alan Walsch first, Gary Bettman, Russian, Rudy in Winnipeg. It's going to be fucking tremendous. Looking forward. You guys listen to this interview.

And what else do we got matching the training programs of those who have knee braces on hitting the bag?

Yeah, well, the reason we're all here, obviously, the NHL and it's looking like we're going to get a fifty fifty six game schedule looking to start mid-January, January 13th. Is the date being bandied about? It's going to be four divisions are going to be the All Canada Division. And then we got a little mix up from what they first reported.

We got Boston, Buffalo, New Jersey, the islanders, rangers, let's see, Philly, Pittsburgh, Washington, one division, Carolina, Columbus, Detroit, Chicago, Florida, Minnesota, Nashville, Tampa and another Anaheim, Arizona, Colorado, Dallas, L.A., San Jose, St. Louis. So not Vancouver, Vegas in the other. So that's a nice little wrinkle, different than what we Green does.

Camps could open as early as January 3rd. They might expand the rosters a little bit given the situation with covid.

But bottom line is as and will tell us shortly, is the NHL owners try to fucking squeeze a little bit more money and the players aren't going to have it. And they have they essentially called their bluff. But either way, we're going to have hockey soon enough. Boys would say you quit.

I just love seeing that we have concrete, you know, news. So that makes sense. Concrete news, things that are things that are now facts that we're getting a season now. I don't think many people or they shouldn't have worried about the whole season being canceled, but I think it's going to work out good. I know. I know we talked about how how is it going to go down even the first time with covid and the way it's increased now, it's like there are certain question marks.

But just to have news, as a hockey fan, that will be getting action soon enough that we're going to have storylines, we're going to have a Stanley Cup winner and maybe at some point we do have fans at the end. If the vaccine's out next year, by June, who knows? It's just positive news to know that we have action soon enough. The only crazy thing is, is that.

That many games in that short amount of time with with not that much time to get ready, because who knows how people are going to like guys flying in and traveling right now, there's certain question marks out there to really confuse you in terms of how camp's going to go.

So you could see maybe injuries here. There. We don't want to say that. But, you know, because you got to get the body going, you're got to get feeling loose. You can't just hop into these these games.

Groynes would be dower's my my. One thing I was happy to hear 56 games, not too much. I don't know how they're going to condense the schedule because if they do do it like really tight wrap, then you probably will see the same amount of injuries you would have seen in an 82 game season. But fifty six is perfect. I played in a year or so. Did you in a 48 game season. Yes, a half year lockout.

It was you know, it was a sprint sprint right out of the gate. You got to have a good start. You've got to sustain it. You've got to be rolling in the playoffs. So it's going to be exciting hockey from the drop of the puck. There's always the upside of the fact that they're going to start reintroducing fans, which is the man if they could ever get to back to one hundred percent capacity. We all know that playoffs with with fans, it's an electric factory, but fifty six games, I would assume less injuries.

And then we're going to get the same type of playoffs given the circumstance of a pandemic. And on top of that, the all Canadian division.

And you're getting these different types of rivalries that absolute twenty milligram fucking Cialis. I'm hard as a rock right now. You can't hardly rock.

All right.

I just think that the whole the whole thought process on the divisions and how it all broke down is crazy to me because Colorado and Tampa are going to just murder teams.

And it's crazy to see that the what's the division? The Metro is is the it's the toughest division of the of the in the league, I would say. Right.

And it got even harder, pretty much what you're looking at. So it's going to be it's going to be weird to watch how it all plays out. I love the all Canada thing because I think that those rivalries will be sick.

Now, here's what I'm wondering and I'm sure they're on the ball. But you've got to think if a team's going into to place a division opponent, you got you should play two games, right, to at least two games every time back to back or, I don't know, baseball series. Yeah, three in five days. So you can really limit how many times teams have to travel. I'm sure that will go down. But I, I have I have the idea I didn't suspect they would do it this but gone instead of four divisions.

I know everyone gets hung up on that go five divisions. Right. Have each division win automatically get in the playoffs then the next eleven highest points and then see them one through six in the NHL is done.

Wackiest things in the history as far as playoff history where you can just get any two fucking random teams like who killed off my brain.

My brain doesn't have to go past. That would be unreal. Yeah. My my brain doesn't have the capacity to understand what you just broke down. But if somebody some of you are listening, things are has got a point. Let's roll it, baby. Yeah. Jerry, let's get Jerry on what he's saying.

He's saying the coyotes could play Vegas in the cup final.

Yeah. And they actually did see them. I want to say it was eight nineteen eighty. Maybe they stay seated them one through sixteen for a couple of years there.

So you know you had like the Bruins versus the Kings and like the first round the playoffs you'll like crazy matchups that.

Yeah that would be, that would be so I think that would make the playoffs. So I think it would explode the viewership. I think that would be huge. Yeah.

That would be such an X factor. And hey, I mean, Vocativ, if it's already going to be a different sort of season, then, you know, I can dive in with both feet. Right.

Right. Well, like we mentioned, we reached out to Agent Allen Walsh to break this down for us simpleton's on the show and maybe make it more in layman's terms for you guys. But first, we want to mention that this interview is brought to you by Borgese Bouy Kidwai employees makes the most delicious air dried beef called biltong. Think of a healthier version of jerky with thirty percent more protein. Buddy Timmy Stapleton is behind this venture.

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Bui's twenty five. Yes, twenty five percent off your first order and check them out on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter as. Well, at Boykin's definitely check that stuff out, we sing its praise, its all the time because it's so damn good. And now we're going to send it over to Alan Walsh for his perspective.

Well, now we're going to bring on a gentleman who can help explain what's transpired over the last week or so regarding the league, the union, all this kind of scuttlebutt about Quba. He's an agent for several NHL players, perhaps most famously, Marc-Andre Fleury. He also runs a pretty robust Twitter account at Walsh.

A thanks so much for joining us on the Spin Checketts podcast, Alan Walsh. How are you, Alan?

I'm doing great. How are you guys doing? We're doing fantastic, especially now.

It looks like Hockey's comment, I guess. Was it as simple as the owners didn't like what they signed back in the summer and wanted a mulligan on this whole thing?

My personal opinion is Gary Bettman made a bet that by December or January, the pandemic would be past us and we'd be able to put, at least at the beginning of the season, about twenty five percent capacity of fans into buildings and very soon thereafter move to 50 percent. That was the thinking back in June and July as the deal was being consummated. And my feeling is that Gary, for the first time in a long time, made a bet that didn't pan out.

We're in a situation now where the virus is out of control in North America. Many cities are shut down. The likelihood of having fans in buildings through the regular season until around May twenty twenty one is somewhat more and more remote, which means we're looking at a worst case scenario revenue wise for the NHL.

Now, when you look at what happened and then the report comes out that there's several owners who are like, I never even signed up for this, what did you think was the story behind that, where some of those guys maybe didn't like it and it happened anyways, or they actually didn't know what was the real numbers and what was actually going to go down?

As crazy as that may sound, I think a lot of people don't appreciate the dynamic that takes place on the league side. Gary has an executive committee of the Board of Governors, which are eight owners. The rest of the owners are very much out of the loop as to the progress of negotiations, very little information is shared. How do I know? Because some of them are calling me, asking me what I know. And and I was flabbergasted to get some of those calls, so Gary's got these eight owners, I don't know to what level he shares, what is going on progress wise day to day, week to week with his I call them the Gang of Eight.

I was going to call them a cult. What do you call the cult? I call it the Gang of Eight. And the Gang of eight, I think is more informed than the other group, larger group of owners. But I am not surprised at all that many owners did not actually know the contents of the agreement until the very last minute before being asked to ratify it.

And just quickly, would you would you say that the Grinch Jeremy Jacobs is the number one leader of the Billionaires Club?

We're going to get whacked.

Yeah, but, you know, he kind of he's running those eight guys. Would you say or is that are you not even willing to say that on record?

I'm not willing to say that on record.

OK, there we go. Go ahead. Well, I mean, you've been through a lot of these lockouts. Obviously, this is a very different circumstance. Do you think it was completely unfair that the fact that the way it was portrayed in the media as to how they wanted to renegotiate where it was, it was essentially being presented as something else?

My own take on it was there was a deal. The deal was negotiated and ratified by both sides. The deal specifically took into account a worst case scenario for twenty twenty one, a moderate case scenario revenue wise and a best case scenario. And all the scenario scenarios were considered in coming to a final agreement. I don't think the NHL was really that intent on getting any real significant change to the deal. Why? Because we're only talking about a timing of payment issue.

The owners are guaranteed in this deal to be made whole to the penny. They're getting their 50 50. People don't understand. People are saying, but the players are going to get their salaries and there's going to be no revenue. Yes. For one year we are linking off of 50 50. But and it's an important but. As revenues recover and then as we get the new US TV deal that comes into play, the owners are going to be getting more than 50 50 and the players will be getting less until both sides are equalized at exactly 50 50.

The only thing we don't know is it going to take two years, three years, four years until both sides are equalized, because only at that point will we see any meaningful rise of the upper limit.

I mean, and for everyone at home listening, those owners when you look this year is a little different. The players are making their money even though there is no money coming in with the gate. I mean, those guys aren't making that deal unless they know that they're being made whole.

However many years it takes, they're not stupid, you know. I couldn't have said it better myself, right? Thank you, I appreciate that. I've been I've been told I could be a lawyer at some point in my life. Man What did you have, Ari?

I was going to say, Alan, realistically, when's the next labor issue going to pop up? It always seems like there's just one around the corner every time we cross one bridge. Well, I don't want to jinx anything, but we have now a deal encompassing the next six years with an option for a seventh. So I'm hoping we have entered into a unprecedented period of labor peace where the focus can actually turn to growing the game. And if the focus goes there to growing the game, I think that, you know, we will soon, within the next four or five years, be up around 90 million upper limit, maybe even by the end of this Quba be touching almost one hundred million in upper limit, which is means the owners are making money.

We'll have a new TV deal. Revenues, streaming deal, sports betting money coming off of the tracking devices. There's a whole bunch of pockets of revenue out there that can be captured. And I'm not even talking about things that should be and could be done in Europe.

So you think that the league is maybe moving a little bit too slow and a lot of other regards in the overall picture of the business, as you said, growing the game. It's a pretty vague comment. Do you mean more like the NBA as well as far as like lifting these personalities up? If you could just I mean, if that was a fair question, ask. Absolutely, it might be a little bit before your time is, but when the New York Rangers won the cup in nineteen ninety four, there was a famous cover of Sports Illustrated.

Calling the NHL the hockey game in town, and it specifically said on the cover, the NHL is hot, the NBA is not. And at the time, the two leagues were fairly close to each other in overall league wide revenue. What happened? All the momentum after the New York Rangers won the Stanley Cup got shut down with Gary Bettman locking the players out to start the ninety four ninety five season lost half the season. It was a very acrimonious negotiation and it took several years for the NHL to recover from that.

The thing is, though, I would argue in a sense that the price of the game is makes it so much more difficult like basketball, just because of the amount of people that are playing. I know I know your points and they're valid. It's just the games are so different that I don't even really try thinking about comparing the two. But when I look at or here, you bring up the new TV deal, the US TV deal that'll come.

Are they going to be able to to to use as negotiations the TV networks that the viewership was actually down throughout the pandemic and that numbers went down? I don't know why every sport's been that way since this all hit, but will that end up hurting the league at all? I don't think so.

You're 100 percent correct. Ratings were down between 40 and sixty one percent. Whether we're talking about the rights holders in Canada or the US with NBC, that's a huge number. And many of the other sports were down as well, 10, 15 percent, not as much. Hockey was playing a nontraditional calendar no one had ever had. Hockey played in the summer months like that before you had five games a day on all kinds of different networks. I was searching, you know, USA Network, where is this game?

You know, I couldn't find it yet to really work hard sometimes to find the games you wanted to watch. So I don't think that experience is going to hurt the value of the rights going forward, especially since I'm hearing and it's no great secret. There's been a lot of speculation on this for the last couple of years, that there's going to be a carve out to the rights with ESPN getting a game of the week and maybe even some games in the playoffs as well.

That all needs to be worked out. But getting hockey back on ESPN is going to just put so many more eyeballs on the NHL. You know, I. I love the game. I believe it's a compelling game. There's no greater game to watch live. And and it's time to take hockey to the NHL, to the next level, through rights, through TV, through a a concerted effort to sell the players because they're the product.

It's easy for us to bet. But to his defense, you mentioned the New York Rangers after they won the cup. I think the Forbes valuation just came out of what the team values were. They came in at the top at one point sixty five, leaves four at one point five. I believe Montreal was just south of that at one point thirty five.

Like, what good things do you think that he's done for the game?

And, you know, and other things that he's opened up to the players as far as growing revenues in this and that that you believe that that he should get credit for?

You asked me that question, I'd this like they wouldn't tell me the great things about Riggs. Oh, are you sandbagging son of a bitch?

No, but I mean, he's had to have done some things properly in order to grow it. And I mean, I know they're not one or a few things positive that you can say about them. I have been a fairly vocal critic of Gary Bettman for many, many years. I'm sure you're not shocked to hear it. I think he's done an excellent job representing his constituency of owners. For what people need to remember is that Gary was the godfather of the salary cap in the NBA.

He was David Stern's number two man, Bruce McNall, as owner of the L.A. Kings when he met with David Stern back in nineteen ninety nineteen ninety two and begged David Stern to come to the NHL as its first commissioner. Gary is the first commissioner in the history of the NHL. Before Gary, it was just a president, but they wanted a commissioner and they wanted someone with stature and they wanted somebody to come in and bring a salary cap to the NHL.

And David Stern said, look, I got a great gig here at the NBA, but my guy, Gary Bettman will be perfect for you. He's ready. And it was on David Stern's recommendation that Bruce McNall came back to the other owners and said, I found the guy who we need to hire as the first commissioner of the NHL. And Gary had one mandate when he came on board in in in ninety two. Ninety three. And that was to set up a salary cap in nineteen ninety four, set up a salary cap and get that implemented ASAP.

And it didn't work out for him in ninety five. And he learned a lot from that experience. But when he got the two thousand four Gary was determined to get a salary cap and before the lockout started I believe he had buy in from the owners to burn a year because Gary told the owners, you guys want to cap all deliver a cap. The only way we're getting a cap is if we burn a year. That's what it's going to take to crush the players.

And he was right. He was right.

Looking back at that time. Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to, you know. No, go ahead. No, I was it was about that time. That's when I came into the league and. Right.

I remember how some some guys were. We can't have a cap. We can't have a cap.

I remember thinking that would be awesome. But is there any chance that they're not going to get what they want? It was once you knew the year was done, it was like they'll probably do another year. They don't care. This is this isn't their number one source of revenue for these billionaires. I just thought there was never a chance it wouldn't be when they really decided. Here's the thing, Ryan, Bob, good now. Read the room correctly, and he read the situation correctly before the lockout started, because I remember I was there back in around two thousand two.

Bob went around on the fall tour, met with every team, and starting in 2002, he was saying, the guys, save your money, put your money away. We are going to be locked out in two thousand four and it's going to go 18 months. That would be the players are going to have to stay united for 18 months. The owners have decided to burn a year, and the only way we're going to withstand this attack and come out without a cap is to win when the first year is gone.

And there's no negotiations again until December of the following year and now are now looking and the owners are looking at canceling a second season. That's what we can make the deal without a cap. He was right.

You believe that that you believe if they held out till then, they would have gotten a cap 100 percent. I'm convinced of it. I guarantee it. Guarantee it. Every owner was in for one year. No one was in for two years. And Gary Bettman told the owners the players will not stick together for a second year, and he was right.

What did you make of would you say they were holding the Olympics hostage to the players to see what they can get, what they wanted? Is that a fair assessment? I think the you know, to me, the Olympics has always been an overblown issue, how many players actually go to the Olympics on a plate if you took a vote of the players? They all want to go. They all are in favor of the NHL going. But in my mind, it is in Hawaii.

It Bennettsville.

Exactly. If you're not going, it's even better. But I'll play it exactly how badly you need that vacation. You know, are you willing to sell your your your your economic livelihood in the future down the road for those 12 days in Hawaii that the Olympics are as as beneficial or even more beneficial to the league and the owners who are getting their product, their game, their best players showcased on the international stage for free? You know, it's it's and it's it's.

Go ahead. Well, I was going to say.

But but looking to the other way, I always feel they're using the NHL product. And I know in basketball in the Summer Olympics, it may not work this way, but they're looking at like we're shutting down our business so you can use our products. And that's probably in the Winter Olympics, the most watched thing. Would that be fairly accurate to say? Why shouldn't the league also be able to better benefit off maybe some of the TV rights to that in order to, like, compensate everyone for for what's going on?

And that's kind of playing devil's advocate again with with the whole hostage situation of the Olympics. But you mentioned earlier to growing the league. You mentioned Europe. Was that kind of like in that whole realm of what you were talking about overseas?

Yeah, but I think the NHL is European strategy and and and North American strategy has been a joke. What do they do? They go over to Sweden, go over to Finland, go over to Czech Republic, play two games and then come back and disappear. That's not a strategy. That's not a way to to really build a base of support. And they did the same thing in China. A couple of NHL teams went over to China, played a couple of games, and they haven't been back since.

What is that you need? You need to lay seeds, a grass roots level. And and there is no if anyone said to people working in the NHL, please tell us what your global strategy is, you would hear crickets. Well, we go over and play a couple of games. That's not a strategy. And in the till and to me it is. I mean, London, Berlin, Paris, you know, there is there's huge markets out there that would embrace NHL if they just tried to sell the game in those areas.

Yeah, the NHL never had that sort of dream team moment that, you know, basketball did back in 92 or Jordan and bird magic, we I don't know why we haven't. We certainly have, you know, commensurate superstars, but we just can't get to that level.

What I want to what I want to ask.

It's looks looks like we're gonna have a 56 game slate this year, mid January start of the plays that you talked to generally. Fine with that set up so far. Sure, I mean, every player I talk to wants to play as many games as possible and whether it's fifty six or fifty two as as many as possible. Look, it's not ideal. This is going to be a very difficult year. Everyone's concerned that the players and staff and everyone involved in putting on games can remain healthy and we can start the season and not have to stop the season and make it through to the end.

And I think you want to talk about Gary Bettman and hats off to the NHL. I had personally, and I'll admit it, a lot of doubts about the bubble concept and whether it would work, whether we'd have a bunch of positive tests once players got into the bubbles and they pulled it off. And really, it's a remarkable feat, not one positive test after players got into the bubbles in the two cities. Remarkable. And I trust that whatever logistics are, when both sides work together, as they did to finish the 19 20 season, when both sides work together, they can figure these things out.

And and I think for all of us, the most important thing is that we start the season sometime in January or no later than February one, but that we end the season to. I was going to happen here and just ask you, you're you're for sure the most vocal agent on Twitter as far as hockey is concerned, you love and represent your players better than anyone on the whole Flurry's situation.

Was that just because you've been with them for so long, there was so much emotion attached to it to where you decided to cook up this meme on your own? I don't know if you outsourced it and you dropped this thing in the middle of playoffs. That was absolute fucking bananas. And thank you for the entertainment, by the way. What how did that old situation breakdown?

OK, so you really been wanting to ask that question since the moment I came on. That's why I wanted you on.

So I wanted you on this and you're so much smarter.

And all this stuff that I are and I'm learning a lot what Alan thinks that I want that painting above my bed.

Yeah. You know, with all due respect, guys, that I know that it may seem like a cop out right now. I prefer not to get into any in-depth discussion on that. Let me guess.

You had a bottle Opus one in you. You were celebrating the billion dollars in contracts you have and you're a little ticked off that your boy Florie with those gorgeous teeth who's made a lot of saves in those yellow pads, was maybe getting the short end of the stick. And, hey, let's just chalk it up to that, buddy. But, hey, you got the Internet pop. And as you as you always do, do you have you ever, like, walked in a room with Gary?

Like, is there clear animosity? There is obviously there's a bit of hatred. Or is it strictly business, it's strictly business. I've always said when when I mean, if I were hypothetically speaking, of course, because it would never happen if I were working for the league. Right. A lot of. What I'm saying now. And what Gary and people with the league are saying, I would be saying what they're saying, and if Gary were an agent or working at the NHLPA, you'd be saying what Donald Fehr says.

Right. So it's really not ever personal. It's really just a matter of, you know, this is the side that I'm on. I've I wanted to be on this side since I was a kid. I've always been a player's guy from my earliest memory. You know, I never cheered for John Ziegler or Clarence Campbell. I always was a player's guy. And I ended up pursuing that passion to to represent players. But who knows? You know, I wasn't planning to become a prosecutor and it happened right out of law school.

You know, I may have taken a wrong turn at Albuquerque and back then and gone and worked for the league or going to work for it.

Should have made me a gazillion. Yeah.

Did you did you make it my did you make it did you make the meme that that's the one question tomorrow that she would give me something for fuck's sake.

Well no, they're what they're like. Is this guy that good of an artist there. Is he like this said outsourcing it?

You mentioned quickly, though, you were a prosecutor, you went from Montreal and then you went out to L.A. You're working for the district attorney out there. At any point at that time, did you think there was a chance you'd be back in hockey or were you so in love with the game, like you mentioned that the whole time?

You are only working towards that. I went to law school in L.A. with the idea that out of law school, I would work in hockey in some capacity and I had no idea what I never really thought about even becoming an agent. And in my last year of law school, I started an externship at the DA's office in the state of California is very unique. A law student with two years of law school done could actually make appearances in court as long as they have a licensed attorney sitting next to them.

So I was going down in my third year of law school and running a preliminary hearing or doing preliminary hearings on my own with a experienced 30 year plus prosecutor sitting next to me reading the L.A. Times. And I was doing robberies and burglaries and possession of cocaine for sale and assault with deadly weapons, felon with guns, attempted murder. And and I was like, I'm in court. I'm arguing these cases before a judge. I'm still in my third year of law school.

This is amazing. And I really fell in love with that word, became a prosecutor and ended up staying in the office for five years. But over the course of those five years, I worked for four of those years in a unit called the Hardcore Gang Division. And the only thing I did for four years were gang murder cases, one after the other. And I prosecuted 40 and I was twenty nine, turning 30 years of age. I just done my fortieth murder case and I was ready to move on to something else.

You only have so many trials in you, you only have the ability to go through living in trial for so long. And I was ready to move on and I was determined to to go work and hockey in some capacity.

Then I actually read a read an article that at one point you were the youngest lawyer to ever try a murder case in the state of California, which is wild. And the second thing is, if 40 cases was the right way, you 40 and know.

A flurry numbers kind of deal, you get your checklist, murder cases, I was thought I was I was I was thirty nine and one. Wow.

And that one case, I mean, what I don't know what you can and can't talk about but did at any point throughout that case you figured I don't know if I have this one locked up like was it early on.

I remember feeling midway through the case that it probably shouldn't have been filed. Yeah, and it had to do with the the quality of the eyewitnesses, all of my eyewitnesses were in state prison and all of them had multiple felonies. So we were bringing my witnesses out of the lockup in an orange jumpsuit, chained legs, ankles chained together. Yeah, tough luck for all your witnesses who saw the shooting and they were saying no.

Is there no states or am I making up that even if that were the case, some some states would have them in a suit like you could dress up a witness defendant.

Yeah, I see what you're saying. So so, you know, for a murder case, it's very rare to have a defendant out on bail. The O.J. Simpson is one of the most famous examples, but he would be in lockup wearing blue or orange. He would come out to the courtroom and the cameras would be on.

He was always wearing a suit and a tie, shifting it back to some of your career highlights. I mean, you represent so many star players. We mentioned Marc-Andre Fleury maybe mentioned a few of the highlights, like things that really stick out since you're joining hockey, maybe cup ceremonies or moments for for for certain guys. Just highlight a few for us.

I mean, with with Flower. I remember his first game in the NHL. And the funny thing is Mario Lemieux is there right in the room. And Flower was really nervous. And the guys told me after the game that Florea had jumped out of his chair and was running, started running down the runway towards the ice. And Mario yelled at him, you know, flurry, flurry. And he turns around and Flurry's like, yeah, it's like you forgot your stick.

And he's like, oh, wait, he had to run back and go get his goalie stick. The was about to go out on the ice without it. There's there so many stories, guys, Martin, have lied.

He and I, you know, it was a lifetime of brotherhood together. UPS and downs. Great moments. Patrick Elías, Pascal, we OK? Just one of the greats. Superduper. Yeah, with with Dupuy, I had the chance of playing with him, I was on that team that brought over Hosa and Pascal Dupuy and he told me if I'm wrong, I mean, he was kind of thought of as a throw in on that deal. You know, Hosa was the big name at the deadline and what a career he ended up having.

I mean, just to be a Stanley Cup champion and do what he did in Pittsburgh, was he fired up when that trade happened and ready for a new sport, or did he like being in Atlanta? Not that many people did.

So Pascal Dupere, one of one of the superduper one of the great, great teammates, one of the I was with Pascal from the time he was 18 years old, meeting his wife, having kids. You spend, you know, your whole a big part of your life with them off the ice. You live with them. And and just to me, the most rewarding thing, Mike Rup, you know, Mike, I represented for a number of years and still very close with him.

You you really become part of a family. You really do. And to me, the most gratifying thing is after a player has retired to maintain that relationship beyond being agent and player and how the strength of that bond carries on into the next phase of of the player's life, where, you know, on any given day, I have as many conversations with retired players who are clients of mine for eighteen, twenty, twenty, twenty five years, as I do players currently in the league right now.

I got one last one for you. Why did you choose L.A. Law School, your big L.A. law fan at the time? It's a great question. I was going at McGill University in Montreal. I was born and raised in Montreal, but my mother was an American citizen. So when I was really young, me and my younger brothers all got us passports as well. So the US was open to all of us and I was actually heading to law school on the East Coast and it was a February day in Montreal.

It was snowing like crazy. And I'm driving my Camaro with no snow tires up maktab going straight up in the storm. I made it halfway up the street next to McGill and the car made it halfway up and hit black ice and started sliding backwards. I was able to get it just over by the sidewalk, dump the car, trudge through the snow to class, ended up taking the metro and a bus home. And the next day my dad drove me back to my car with a shovel and the only thing you could see was the antenna from the car.

It was completely bare.

Police. Yeah.

And and at that time, I got a calendar from law school in L.A. and I had this really good looking blonde in a bikini on the beach reading a law book. And I looked at that picture. I looked outside, I laughed and I said, that's where I want to go.

I was going to finish up with just from your answer before, it's obvious why you go online and you stick up your players because, you know, you truly love these these guys. Last question I have for you before we leave, though, you fucking put my mind into a torpedo when you talked about the state tax issue and saying that players who play in Canada with filing taxes properly would pay the same amount of taxes as someone playing in a state with no state tax.

Allen Walsh, how the fuck is that possible?

Well, there is something in Canada called the retirement compensation agreement where a player can defer up to 50 percent of what he is earning in a given year. That money is going into a 50 percent into a refundable tax account with CCRA and 50 percent into a self directed account player. Can't touch the money. OK, now, every year, 50 percent, they pay normal tax, 50 percent, no tax at all. It goes into these accounts and they're invested and they grow over time, all tax free.

Whenever the player wants to collapse these accounts, they have to break all ties with Canada. OK, so they break all their ties with Canada. It could be in the US, it could be anywhere else. So a lot of Europeans have AKAs, a lot of American players playing in Canada have SSAs, and any Canadian player can have an RCA as long as they're willing to break all their ties with Canada for 18 to 24 months. It's all you got to do.

Seems then I the risk just separate from Canada, man. Canada's got Canada's the shit. I mean, I have the world juniors.

I have a I have a very well known player from Czech Republic who played years with the Ottawa senators and the Toronto Maple Leafs. And he had Nasya with many millions of dollars in there. And when he was done, when he was done in the NHL, he actually moved with his family to Barbados for two years and for two years. He's sending me pictures on the beach, you know, with a corona. And I'm like, oh, my God.

And during that two year period, he had broken all his ties to Canada. He collapsed the RCA. When you collapsed the RCA, you play you pay a flat twenty five percent tax and you get all your money. It happened so fast. That happened so quick. And after you get your money, you can move back to Canada. All right, well, that's that's a great way to end this thing, because that's breaking news to a couple people that may help some Canadian team signs and free agents.

You know you know, a guy who got American was like, I'll cut all my ties with Canada and my kid might get a top four defenseman.

No. All right, Allan, thank you so much.

It's it's much appreciate you coming on as a lot of fun, catching up with you, having you on and getting your insights into the league. So we appreciate it.

It's a privilege, guys.

Thank you so much, Alan. Thanks so much to Allan for joining us and translating for the layman. A lot of the terminology that sometimes even a guys like us, you guys were in the league. I covered the league and it gets boring. I could seediest talking about memorandums and escrow and all that kind of shit. So Alan basically gave his perspective on it, and it's always appreciated. We'll have to have him back. He's a colorful fellow.

Abey's, how are you on the spot there wasn't ready. Yes. He was all going to be ready on this show. I was trying to put him on the spot too though.

I was trying to get him to pump Gary's tires and he just wouldn't really do it.

And you're trying to get him to fess up to killing Florida? Oh, I couldn't believe he didn't talk about Florida.

I thought he was going to take us back like a National Enquirer journalist. Guys, we're not going to grill you on this podcast. We will ask the difficult questions. We will not grill. You know, we go.

All right. We've got a few NHL notes. Not a ton went on since last night, but fly assigned restricted free agent defenseman Phil Myers to a three year, seven point sixty five dollars million deal, comes out at two point fifty five million salary cap hit. He's going to be 24 in January. He appears to be a key part of the Philadelphia future on the back nine four goals, 12 assists in 50 games last season. What as a former defenseman, what's your take on this fellow?

I like them, Youngun.

I shouldn't say gun, but still solid, right? I mean, the guy moves around like SILC Philly, by the way, shot out them for being the team.

You could, you could have made the most money on last year betting on them against the spread.

Is that correct or did you see that. Well Meyers had something to do with that. So when you lock up guys at a young age to deals that.

Right away, kind of seem like a team friendly deal, like surrogate chefs, right, like it was higher than this, but you're like, oh, he could get more. This kid, Avusa UFA, the way he looks so far, I think he'd he'd be getting a ton of interest, but right now is able to lock a guy up at not a ridiculous amount to just keep kind of adding to like young depth on the blue line there and probably is something else.

So you got a leader that's really young to take this.

This might be a crazy question coming from a guy who doesn't own stuff. Gaspare, what happened that he get injured last year?

How he's just had a couple of years where after he blew up offensively, when he came into the league, like defensively he struggled. I think they say he turns it over at times where he's now he was getting healthy.

Strach At one point I saw that. Yeah.

So it's it's it's the maybe like maybe a little bit like myself came in with a little offensive bang. Next thing you know, this guy's got way more skill and he's way faster than I ever was.

So I still think he's got that heavy shot.

He's got amazing ability to hop into the play. But in terms of like what you read when coaches are complaining, it's defensive stuff.

But I would say just Philly, probably one of the more interesting teams moving forward. I would say fairly short window. Like I mean, Jrue, you know, he's getting to that age or a little older.

I don't think. I think the thing is though, they have they have young guys too. And the goal he's so young, so the backbone that you need to, to get it done right.

A guy that has looked at all things considered as much as we've seen Hart, he's looked like a guy who could win win a Stanley Cup. Right. So you have him at as young as you ever see goalies dominate.

So like you don't want to say the window's closing, but those those top level guys who didn't really perform in last year's playoffs and Jrue and stuff in his playoff struggles, those guys are your year older.

And I'd say Tyrod has extended that window right now. I mean, he's been so good so soon. He was outstanding in the playoffs last year. So those guys, they're the window is going to extend because of that kid. As far as Gloucester's, he could be just a sample and other player like changes.

You might just be what he needs. Like for whatever reason. Things haven't worked out the last couple of years for him, whether it's usage, confidence, whatever, he could end up somewhere and being just fine and another team leader.

But I believe that it's going to be difficult, given the circumstances to move that contract because he did sign, I want to say, at least a four year deal at a decent average annual salary balance. So excited check.

Right now, he's gassing his clients. I think. I think he's making five million a year.

He's got three years left, a four and a half million. There you go. OK, that's like what do you do mathematically close to the same ballpark.

I know my I know my stuff. Kinda if you if you're a college hockey fan, you might remember Shane Gaspare playing for Union. I believe it's Union College and Bears, maybe one of the sickest performances in like a final for ever.

This guy was a ghost. He was a machine in college.

What a nickname.

Turned out when he got perfect and he failed to win Florida.

They're going to have what's going to be referred to as a goaltending excellence to Pat Love. That's I love the down shoot for the moon there with that name.

It's going to be Roberto Wango who. Yes, we hear you. Please. We'd love to have him on the show as well. Francois Illia, Rob Tallas, former NHL net minder, and Leo Longo, Roberto's brother. They're going to be basically the Goaltending Excellence Department. What do you think of that name?

This I just I'm just glad Roberto Longo's not coming out with a podcast. Seriously fucking guy. This guy can do anything he wants. And I like the move. I mean, I talk about Sean Burke all the time because that was like my one man experience playing five years in Phoenix and or Phoenix and the Arizona Coyotes. What he was able to do just with the mental side, with Bryzgalov and Mike Smith and Dubnyk, you know, I mean, even more recently with Corey Schwabe here with with the way with Kemba how it worked out.

Well, pick up upper broski, a guy, they're paying a lot of money who I think probably needs a little bit of help right now and finding his game again and what a perfect guy to bring in not only to help but Borowski, but also they do have a young guy in the pipeline who they drafted in the first round, Spencer Knight, Spencer Knight. So great move. Obviously Roberto Longo's made enough in his career to where he probably wants to stay in Florida and work closely with the organization that's given them, you know, a lot of what he's achieved and vice versa.

But this is this kind of worked out better for an organization that needs a little bit of help in that department right now and just an even more unique individual to take that role.

Yeah. Now playing the other side of it, it is like four guys, right. Who all know what they're talking about. I mean, at some point it's like, how are they all going to go? And everything, so it is it is like not often do you see, like a four man team four four two guys. Now I guess you could argue that you're talking about the goalies in the prospects as well. So it's an entire organization thing.

But you have to think that there's going to be one main guy working with Petrovski, right? I mean, one or two. But get all for all of a sudden. It's like one goalies with all these coaches, like, what the fuck's going on?

They should just sign you and have you go skate.

And just the confidence you would score one time they'd be like, bring BUSIEK and make nine thousand saves in a row. I wasn't Schonberg. It was all there. Yeah. All those times in practice, just feeding them right in the gut.

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Eighty three chai, three chai tea cup, all the notes before we send it over to Glenn Metropol. Mazzuca Rella won't be ready for training camp. He had surgery in November. There's no time frame on him yet. But don't you guys like that? What, you're going to want him right away because you stop behind the eight ball in a season that's only 50 game on. It could be over before it starts.

I didn't know if I said this when we recorded last week or if I if it was in just our conversation.

But you can't go one in eight, you know, I mean, all of a sudden, if you start to two, eight and two, it's like, man, you're running out of time, quick to make the playoffs. So that's what I was talking about in terms of being a sprint and Zucchero, he's just proven.

How long he's able to stay and play well in this league, and he's not the fastest player in the world, he's really quick and he's got such a high hockey IQ where he's able to think the game so well. But I wouldn't I wouldn't think of him as like a game breaker speed wise, ever. Really.

I don't know about you because if you disagree with me on that. No, I just didn't see him coming down like burning people wide. No, I'm just a very smart player. Kind of like I mean, Messi might be a tough comparison, but just kind of like the best soccer player ever. Yeah. Just kind of shifty, like.

But there's a player over there so that and we cannot we cannot mention Mazzuca well without obviously always bringing up the greatest imitation of all time. Patrick Thoreson imitating Matt Zucchero. Get it on YouTube right now because he sticks 43 feet long and his hair's coming out the back and he's hopping around the way Zucchero did as best described you there.

But, you know, he's he's Madonna. And I know that he just. He all right. Yeah. All right. But he's I out of the life is this life that I did.

I just fucking ripping rails, bouncing balls, shoulder the whole had the whole great documentary on HBO.

By the way, if you haven't seen it about Magwitch one ago. Married. Oh yeah. It just baradaran. Right. OK, come on. Yeah. Yeah it's good shit.

If like I saw, I saw it, I just didn't remember the name of it. No I don't know the part, the part when he shows up to is it nappily or everyone in Italy and like the whole stadiums full just for him to walk in there when he got to the city.

It wasn't even for practice, I don't think. Yeah.

Oh absolutely. Yeah. There's a clip online. God, is it Liam Gallagher, the lead singer of Oasis?

Yeah, no, only about the two of them.

He tells the story in the clips on on Twitter. It's buzzing around. I ended up retweeting that. But you can't you could barely understand. Twenty five percent of what this guy says because he's from Manchester. Is that where he's from in England? And they just had this, like, very rough English accent. But you got to hear the way he describes the the one time he met Madonna. I said Madonna. Madonna. Yeah, Diego. Madonna.

Yeah. Yeah. He describes the first time he met him. And it's like it's world classic. He went up just to get a picture and he said, if you if you take any of the girls with you, he's going to basically kill you.

Sorry to hear that.

How many people watch the Super Bowl? Like two hundred million or something.

It seems like a lot. I would say world, I mean, worldwide or North America worldwide.

What would be your guess? I would say my guess was two hundred million.

I would say worldwide, probably five hundred million worldwide. OK, well, well, I'm pretty sure worldwide, like over a billion people watch the World Cup final.

So like there's people in the United States and Canada who like dog soccer, aren't fans, whatever. No big deal, but. It is the sickest game in the world when you actually watch these high level teams, the World Cup, like the euro. I am so into it. And the the guy who just got the bar stool is electric. Ginelli, is it?

Troops. Troops.

He does those live pictures inside there. Oh, I think he's been this team since Arsenal.

And he was like he's like talking about some guys like this fucking guy's got more more goals than our whole team does.

Now, granted, with his English accent, you can't imagine how much better it is than the line. I just tried to say repeating him. So check that guy. OK, but soccer is where it's at because those guys are the biggest superstars. They are rock stars, actors and athletes all rolled into one area.

If we had to pick a team podcast's in the soccer world, who would we have to pick? I would probably have no say in it. I kind of hear what everyone had to say and agree to something. I'd want a Premier League team. All right. One percent.

I don't follow it enough nearly to know who would be a good team, but I definitely soccer's on the sports I didn't grow up with. It wasn't big in the city back in the day and I didn't actually see a game. So I was right for the school, newspaper, college and had a couple of college women's game. And I sat down a couple of players. I'm like, explain to me. And that basically it's just like hockey. It's like trying to score on a goal and you don't want to be offsides.

Like conceptually, it's very huge similarities. I've always said that I could check out Wolverhampton. Wolverhampton has the funny Chelsea, Chelsea, Wolverhampton.

I like that. I like that dirt bag teams from like these greasy towns where if you strolled into Hampton, they'd stab you a hundred percent Wolverhampton.

Maybe I'd be the one getting stabbed if we went as fans. And I need a team. I need a team with the luxury boxes that you sit in with the flat screens in the buffets.

Have you guys want to tell? I want to be out of your fucking drinking, drinking, whatever English beer out of a guy's man tits in the fucking front row, the degenerate section. That's where I want to be. And when the soccer world fucked me.

Well, back in the world of hockey, apparently Vegas is sharp and some players, which isn't too big of a surprise there at their salary cap, they need to probably move some guys just to get CAP compliant for the year.

But we are here and Max Bachi already, Alec Martinez, Mike Andre Flurried, Jonathan March. So those are names being put out there. We're not putting them out there. Other parties have.

We're just passing them along as well, which you were very critical when they started making some moves of basically how they they've established themselves as a very cutthroat organization where it's like we're making the right play to move are to win excuse me. And now all of a sudden, like two fairly significant pieces are like, oh, these guys are on the blocks. Like, who wants them? Yeah.

It's just it's a way different time and team than that first year where it was all these unwanted guys that banded together, you know, got together for that amazing cup run. Now it's just year in, year out. They've signed some great players. They've made some great trades. But this is what happened.

So there's really no stability there. Right? I mean, you can talk about teams making moves that win cups, but there's been this stability core of Crosby, Malcolm Letang, you know, Fleury and Pittsburgh and Chicago, you know, Keith Caves and Cantlay and whereas Vegas is just them won a cup. So it's way different, but they've just been shipping them out and bringing them in.

Going back to the names, if you're a Boston Bruins fan and you find out Max Patchier already is available, you're immediately trying to think of what can we offer, what kind of package can we put together?

Can we fit his salary and do a winger or, you know, they can score that many goals and play. And he's a Bruins type player. I would be an unreal move for them to try to get him.

Oh, my God. The fact that you tied that back to the Bruins.

Well, the team that you talked about, another winger, right. For Qureishi, right? Well, unless and they stayed pretty patient during the free agency period, they didn't stay patient. They lost their best defenseman. Right.

But they stayed patient to where they thought maybe maybe an opportunity like this was the reason that they couldn't get over the hump. For fuck's sake, Whit, are you are with me. Hey, I'm eating a chip.

Yeah. That's already he's got, what, three years left. That seven million per the Bruins there, they only got a little less than three million in cap space.

They'd have to move some money rigourous give give them to the knights they can deal with. Fleury took a risk and you go out Walsh, come in and you should ask him about that potential fucking beauty.

Let's see what we've got here. Oh, this is from our friend Jeff Marek on the East Coast Hockey League. He said, Expect the league to announce that the Cincinnati Cyclones Idaho Steelheads in Kalamazoo wins will not play this season. Obviously, ramifications of all that covid shit. So it's tough to see because there's obviously a ripple effect. Guys work working jobs and they have to take other jobs, which means other people can't work. So obviously sucks to see.

We know a vaccine is coming. Hopefully it'll get here sooner and these guys get back to work. Everybody can get back to work either way.

Our next guest, he did make his bones on the East Coast Hockey League on his way to the NHL. Glen Metropolitan, unreal story. We're going to get that one sec. We want to tell you first that his interview was brought to you by Cross Country Mortgage. America's crazy good mortgage company will make it easier to get the financing you need. Fast go to scam lenders, Dotcom and BD to learn more about your future home buying or refinancing experience and MLS three zero two nine equal housing opportunity.

And now we're going to send it over to Glen Metropolitans.

Oh, it's a pleasure to welcome my next guest to the show, this forward overcame incredible odds to play pro hockey for 22 years, despite never playing juniors or college or ever being drafted. He'd go on to play over 400 NHL games for seven franchises after his NHL career. He went over to Europe and played well into his 40s, and he was recently inducted into the East Coast Hockey League Hall of Fame. Thanks so much for joining us, Glen Metropolitan.

How's it going, Phil?

And well, guys, thanks a lot for having me. Good.

You say you're in Tampa. How have you been down there for?

Well, I'm actually moved here last August with my son here to play get back into hockey and. That's momentum going into this beautiful pandemic kind of hit us, but says that doing OK don't color it, is it if you're doing some coaching down there, correct? Yeah, yeah.

I've I've looked on with the Tampa Bay Lightning and doing some learn to play programs and coaching a few teams, doing some player development. It's been great game, but you're going to get a ring.

If we get it right, it would be a plastic one. It's just like the one you can get at any store. I got to see I got to see the cup coming up the river.

You get the ushers. Did you see Maroon piss himself?

I saw that at the stadium. But those guys were there in one, that's for sure.

Well, it's great to finally have you on here. I got a chance to meet you quick a few years back in Boston. You're good friends with our boy, Brandon. Yep. Who's been on the show. People love him. But when did you guys first play together? Because he told me so. You got to get Metro on at some point. He's got stories for days. A guy played forever.

Yeah, my boy. Yep. Or he came over. We were in Manhattan together. Jeff Ward was our coach. He won the championship. There he came. I forget his whole life, he got over, he got released or whatever, but late sign and came over and we we had a great time, came over with Liz at the time. We wanted to come together and just had a blast. Man Just great guy salt of the Earth, you know, he said Manheim was actually crazy when you guys took it down like the whole town.

The city was just going nuts.

It's like they call it Hockeytown, Germany. So really great ownership. I mean, the crowds are amazing. You know, the whole one end of the building are just chanting all the time. Right. So was it was enjoyable to be a part of that run? That's for sure. I spent two years there.

It was to say we just mentioned it, but that's it's one of the many, many hockey stops. Metro, let's start at the beginning. I mean, like I said, you were never played Junior. Never drafted, never college. Where were you discovered? Was that that roller hockey league, is that really where it all took off for you?

Well, I had to play early hockey and some money to summer, but it we'll go way back, you know, growing up inner city Toronto, you know, playing in host leagues here that were free by the city down Amoss Park, Regent Park area from there, just kind of played wherever I could. You know, I was raised by a single mom, didn't really have the funds to play in those high level leagues. And quite frankly, I don't think it was cool just to run anyway to play in those leagues.

Then basically, high school hockey, a good friend of mine had a child, he was kind of like the top player get recruited for the junior B team in Richmond Hill. And you say, I want to give it a try, you know? And I'm like, well, how am I going to get there? Luckily, he drove. So off I went. I was the last cut on a junior B team. And then the rest is history.

No, two years there and then, you know, turning 19. All my buddies now are done with hockey partying. And I was like, man, I gotta get out of Toronto. So we're not the British Columbia. Vernon Chase, the scholarship got recruited by a lot of schools, signed a letter of intent with Bowling Green that fell through in the summer. And then basically here I go, East Coast Hockey League tryouts and, you know, roller hockey to summer to make some cash and kept kept and kept going.

So at that point, it was just too late to go go play junior hockey or you were just old enough where it was time to play pro.

Yeah. That time, yeah. I was 20. I finished my last in Vernon where I signed a letter of intent with Buddy Powers, a coach there at the Falcons, and then summertime came around in the years, you know, round Toronto. Right. Not working out in school. It's not like I want an A in school you knows more or less just get me a credit, you know, pass. So I had to be a redshirted for a year and then finally set up.

You know, I want to play pro hockey.

I don't sit around for a year, just train and then, you know, well, even getting to there is a long shot for anyone. But for you, you it's crazy because I mean, from talking to people, I Regent Park's a tough area to live. And you did a lot of your skating at the beginning at an outdoor rink. Is that true? Like summer, you were playing roller hockey winter. You're playing you're playing outdoors. Right?

Right. Somewhere close to where you could even your mom could see you. Is that true from from the kitchen window?

That pretty much. Yeah. Is one of those deals where you with all the noise outside of my life there a little bit. I was like, let me just disconnect. And I fell in love with the game and it wasn't hockey schools in the summer, you know? I mean, I never went to a hockey school. I was skate news more just I would have fun. Know you always got these little games on. I don't do ring.

So I just kind of, you know, you get your own game going. You try to get the you know, the other people. And it's just one of those deals.

How just kind of what do you think having a late start to where maybe the the pressure was never really there helped you, you know, essentially, like, you know, strive for it later on in life. You said nineteen years old. You go off to Junior for the first time. That's really the first time you've had any type of pressure playing, right?

Yeah. As I reflect, you know, there's it's more or less I just I played at the lower levels, but it wasn't like I was on a first line playing hockey where you're not really you know, you're not playing much. And I could use those moves. And then once I got to at a higher level, I can adjust to the speed. And I think ultimately that kind of kind of helped me a little bit, as in a summertime, I just wanted to keep working out running hills at Riverdale, whatever I could do to become a better hockey player, to get out of the life I was living.

I always wanted to be a hockey player. So it was like my own mentality was like I'm going to get discovered somehow. I know I'm as good as those guys. It's just keep going that, you know. I mean, that's kind of all I had.

So in a case for for off ice, like in the summertime, OK, who would you be training with? Would you just be following everybody and going wherever while.

Yeah, I remember one time watching CMW Gilmore, the Christie Petsalis playing baseball and Dugu is running up. I'm like, well this guy is run up the hills Mr. Gilmore. You know, the Maple believe the great maple leaf. And I'm like, no, I'm going to do that. So I just kind of I saw him and then I got some my mentors were the guys that worked at Boys and Girls Clubs, you know, the parks and recreation centers.

You know, those were the guys that kind of kept us all straight and narrow and kind of just taught me, you know, work out on your legs, do core, you know what I mean? Like, those were the guys and their trainers. And I was just pushing till you can't push no more on your own.

And, you know, the thing is to you just you're playing other sports, like you mentioned, you're playing baseball. I mean, I think we've talked a long time to plenty of players, but it's great to do other things and not not just skate all year, but with your with your situation. I mean, we talk about how expensive hockey is and how so many kids can't even get into the game. I mean, if you hadn't lived right next door to that rink, maybe you don't.

But when was the first time you actually got a pair of skates that weren't like a hand-me-down or use it when you got your own new pair of wheels? It had to be later than most kids playing hockey soon.

Yeah, I mean, we're talking in my teens, maybe just unbelievable. You know, I had some great people that helped along the way. And, you know, just with Amy Downs, you know, having one still can't take snapshots. You know, you got one stick. So it was just play. And I was thankful for any skates. You know, you have had steel on your kangaroo. It was it didn't matter, right? It was.

You know, we all have the love for the game was just like, get me out there and let's play it. No, no palms in the gloves, whatever.

Marshawn still does. That little rat.

Shila natural.

Growing up with that, I felt kind of similar like you put in Boston for me with Charles down there, but I feel like there was a lot a lot of similarities there, a little rough around the edges, tough sport to grow up, a lot of temptations. How were you able to just focus on on hockey and and keep that on the straight and narrow when there's so many other ways you can be derailed in a sport like that?

I think really I kind of learned from seeing that, you know, I knew I didn't want to be a part of that, you know, I mean, I didn't want to get that quick money and all that stuff all my my buddies were doing. I just I had my stats on, you know, being a professional hockey player, wherever that could be. You know, that was my goal. And at the time was just, you know, work hard and get out of that.

I know I don't want to be like that. So there's too much too much negative stuff that you learned. And you're like, that's not me.

So, you know, you go out and you think you might have this deal, Bowling Green, you're going to go to university. Everything's good, boom. It falls apart. And you said you got to go to the coast. Well, I mean, you hopped in, you dominate.

I mean, you get up over a point per game, your first year pro.

How did it even come about playing in Nashville and then and then Atlanta and a little bit the idea that you're like, how did that whole season contract come to be? Well, I after after the scholarship fell through, I decided I'm turning pro, I called up my old assistant coach, Troy will divert and Lakers at the time and music. I'll get you trouble with the Atlanta Delenda nights at the time. And I'm like, All right, let's go.

So I went there I was when it first kokkinos playing against some old old school guys, you know, and I got caught, got sent down to Nashville, East Coast Hockey League and then Sampson a minimum in East Coast. You know, they give you a apartment and then make it 400 bucks a week. And from there was just I remember being the first five or six games were on a road big road trip going down to Tallahassee, playing into tiger sharks.

And we're bringing this whole crew team right. We only got bunk beds on this country.

So I've come up to the front sleeping with their bus driver named Snake with a cut on sleeping on the on the stairs.

There is just like. All right, well, this is progress, man. I can't wait to get in the lineup.

So I think the coach makes you appreciate it more when you end up getting to the NHL. Some of the stories and some of the hotels are sleeping out and even some of the travel arrangements like do you have any other wacky stories that you remember from your coach days?

And there's so many. I mean, that the great thing was the sixteen bucks per know that was solid at truck stops. But, you know, the one story of mine is that we were all at the back of the bus. It's really relieving wheeling. We got a long trip back down to Nashville and it's New Year's Eve and we're kind of we finished our game and we're all the back, you know, do we play our cards? Guys are drinking here in York.

And if you guys remember here, you work at all St. Louis Blue. He was a teammate at the time and he went crazy. And next thing you know, he's going nuts. He pushes the event right out of the plastic, was flying off the car. The cars chasing us pulled over, sitting here. Guys are smoking in the back of the show back.

And yes, the pro hockey, the type of stuff you're really not seeing nowadays, that East Coast Hockey League guys literally Vaseline and up before the games cut New Jersey.

So they get in a fight, you know, they're pulling it. There's the empty arm, you know, the free arm. So they're quite a journey, boys. Yeah, absolutely.

I mentioned the Hall of Fame, by the way. Congratulations on that. Get into these Ghost Hall of Fame. That's quite an honor for you. But were you surprised it had been twenty three years since you played?

We kind of surprised to get a call all those years later that you had made it.

Yeah, I was just one of those surprised calls. I got an email, I believe, and a follow up call, and it was Wichita. I went there. I didn't really know what my vision of the East Coast back. And it was like, you know, where is this going to be at the Holiday Inn in the parking lot or what? You know, but you did it first class. And, you know, Kevin Lore is that you did the keynote.

You know, you get up there. It was awesome. Bednar is there. Jared Bednar play with him, a few other guys just to name a few. But it was such a great experience. And yet I have my family here with me. It was with a bonus, you know, my mom and my kids. So, yes, it was awesome. Great parents kind of froze up up there, actually. Yeah. We're like, whoa, look at all these people you want to thank everyone in Kiowas just do go out.

You go up there with something written. Are you going up there just straight from the heart?

I had something written, but basically I turn it in straight, did hurt. And I said, OK, thanks for having me there. Like we gate. We had seven minutes for you.

You got to keep going down there, Q&A and stuff. So it was great. What was your heart rate when you when you went up there in front of the mic, did a buck seventy five.

I don't know how the fuck these guys do it.

They just go there and start ripping it off. Man, I'd be shitting my pants. I had to do a wedding last summer and I completely butchered the beginning of it. I felt bad. I want to leave right afterward or do a redo.

It could attract the men in black. So that's where you're breaking with the nine ninety nine two thousand caps.

Now, is it true your first NHL game, your first line, Matza, Adam Oates and Peter Bronner's that is that accurate? Yeah, boys.

Yeah. Unreal. Oh. Oh, this is right in the fire. Hey, talk about locking up the summer to kind of make it easier. Was was one of those I line right up against Colibri, you know, I'm just like, jeez, what am I doing here if I do? And that was one of those games I, I got sent down right after that game and I was like, like shit, you know, this is this is it.

You know, I lost my opportunity had the poor, poor, poor me attitude headed down and Glen had got me back on track and got another opportunity in November that you're.

Well, I mean, that's like going back to your first game. You probably remember everything. Did you were you so nervous that you feel like you weren't able to play your game given you were thrown on the line with those guys?

Yeah, I was. One of those deals were made. The team we fly down there were practicing together with Bodger and Oates. And I'm just telling myself the whole time or just play your. Take it easy, but it was like one of those who couldn't fight. I couldn't tell myself that I'm sitting in a dressing room and I'm really here, you know, I've really done it. And and it played 18 minutes. We lost like two one or something else, the dash to it.

And it was one of those deals where it's like shit.

And it really dropped the ball. And that's what I mean. I try to like just try to forget about all those other things that got me there and just concentrate on my game. It was just it was a learning moment, that's for sure.

Well, for people who have listened to Adam Oates on this podcast and in general talk if you'd gone offsides, that's probably what got you sent down. He thinks you're an absolute Muppet. If you go offsides in the game of hockey, that could have been that could have been something that slowed you down that quick first day.

It might have been part of it, too.

But those those four I mean, four years, though, you're you're up and down with Washington, like Tampa. Quick back with Washington. But every time you're in the NHL, I mean, you're over a point per game. You're one of the top scores in that league. Is that one of those instances where it's like I've done everything I can at this level, but I keep getting caught up to the NHL and I can't stick like what's going on?

Why is this happening? Are you thinking about that as as you're being sent back and forth? I think when I think back about that, I think it was just more or less being part of a team. I love the guys important at the time and up there was it seemed like it was more of a job, you know, NHL, even though you want to be there. But as I get called up and I play the power play a little bit, I was good on the goal line.

And then all of a sudden it was like, I'm on the fourth line. Right. I have to chip it in. Watch. How do you pass it to you can't turn it over. So it's one of those deals where it's just it was and then I go down and it gleni Hanle down in Portland just beat me. I'd be able to be creative. I had more rope, you know, I was one of those deals. And and, you know, there's not a lot of communication and there's not they're not telling you, you know, tell that you can't do anything, nothing.

You're just you're in your own head and you're trying to you know, it was just trying to be prepared as best you can if you get to the NHL and people don't even believe me, like coaching pretty much stops like individual coaching.

Yeah. There's times assistant coaches work with guys, but in the end, it's like do your job. And then they're also calling up first NHL players to play on the fourth line in the NHL. It's like bring up a third or fourth line guy from the team down there.

Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Totally. Yeah. Like I said, right, you're on your own. There's no communication. You look at the the morning board, you know what learning on in your request yourself. Why am I in the fourth line today. I was on the second line. There's no so yeah. There's a lot of. Yeah. You're kind of left, you're left out there on an island there a little bit.

So you end up going off to Finland. At that point, did you think maybe your NHL dream was over and you're thinking, you know what, I might as well just go cash and take care of myself and my family as opposed to continually trying to do the up and down thing?

What the time I was my age was below zero. Now, at the Florida Panthers, GM, at the time, it was four years up and down. I had my first born, Olivia, and we're basically up and down sleeping in the top drawer at the Residente. You know, with my daughter getting called up, they come. So it was like one of those like, can you trade me? And they're like, why would we trade you?

Basically, you know, you're a great asset. I always go down there, work my bag off, you know, three and three, fight whatever. And so that's kind of what I did. And then and then finally, I'm not going to trade me. So then I went over. I was like, OK, what's the best wish I could go to Russia? Chased a big buck, but I just wanted to prove that I could play at that NHL.

So I went over there as a great hockey country, you know, two years there. And then you obviously Lugano won a championship there and world championships with Team Canada. I got to see Don with tell was back on the map. And then I got an opportunity to get back and I got all that confidence back. One of the lako here in Finland playing it safe, Koivu and all that. And I was like, man, I'm no problem.

I'm just going to see these guys in my head. I just got to get back and also get back in and kind of turned more into the player that I knew I could be.

That makes I think yeah, I think it's so true. You go over somewhere and you really find like the joy of hockey again. You love the game. No, great. You're playing first thing. And and Helsinki, I think personally is one of the best cities I've ever been to by all single men out there.

If you ever want to have fun, you speak English. Go to Helsinki. Oh, my God. But I mean, make sense. Now they're in the cage. I think so many guys want to go play there. You get to playing in the Russian League without having to live there.

Yeah, we have those big Skandinavia. So organic for the Finns are amazing. I got to live right in Helsinki. So, yeah. Boys love their son is in your vodka's. So how did you get to play with for Poula there.

Wow. Yeah. Yeah. You must have been like yeah he was like eighteen then maybe six. Yeah.

You could play. Could you tell though how good that guy was going to be. Kid was great. Know he's just a pro. Yeah. Great kid. He's down here to Tampa area. He guess he lives.

So I've been trying to reconnect with him so that seems like everybody, everybody gravitates back toward towards down there. You mentioned a couple of times you said you always knew you were as good. You always knew you were as good. Have you always had that self-confidence that's been instilled in you where, you know, you felt you could play at the top level?

I think I agree, I just with the training that I have known, like where I pushed myself to, you know, I mean, always working as working out as hard as I can and playing as much hockey as I can. I just felt this inner confidence, you know, I'm putting the work in and that's why I tell the kids now that I'm training, where are you guys going to put the work and, you know, and and you'll get discovered.

So that's that's kind of I guess it was an inner confidence. I mean, but, you know, I was in a flashy swag. I just go out there and do it. Better you find yourself back in the NHL, specifically Atlanta. It seems like we've had a few thrashers on the show lately. What was your experience like? Obviously, that didn't last too long, but I always like to get players perspective of their time there.

Yeah, it was just it felt just like such grassroots. I mean, it just didn't catch on, you know. But the team we had there were Kovalchuk and Hosa. These guys are like world class, like best players ever played with, like, unreal. But the city just didn't appreciate the talent we had there. Yes. And I got treated at the end there where I was. I was almost like a half a point game. I believe getting to play was called the chief commissioner, Bob Hartley, telling me I cinnamon Kobe and he'd be just like macho.

You got to put out these fires, like are able to turn the puck over the blue. And I got to drive the net, too, and get back to them.

You're going to put out a play defense for two.

Yeah. Yeah. But is it was a great experience going there. And I went to St. Louis. It was kind of one of those feelings that guys got treated with the ketchup deal with the four first round picks. So I went there and everyone's kind of sitting on pins and needles thinking you're getting get treated and that you're finished finishes off. And here I am with the A team that basically just gave up that time and. Here I am looking looking into Boston, so actually, though, quickly, we kind of jumped ahead because when you play the two years in Helsinki, then you went to Lugano, which I mean, my hope for when I went to Europe was to get to play in Switzerland.

They told me the agent I was working with was like, there's zero chance because every guy wants to play. It's the most beautiful country in the world. You got to go there. Now, I know you said you ran into Don Riddell at the world that year, but had you already resigned back in Switzerland with maybe an NHL out? Like, how did it all come about coming back?

And were there any other suitors besides the Thrashers? No, at that time when I was playing in little dominoes, having a great year, my agent at the time had a new agent, Larry Keleti kind of reached out and said some interesting you know, I already was one of those deals.

So I knew I always had that in the back pocket to go back to. Logan was leading league in scoring and stuff. So I knew that. But my whole goal was to get back to the NHL, you know, prove everyone wrong. So, you know, I could have stayed over there and made a lot more money. I mean, in Atlanta, that's for sure. But it was OK. That was part of my journey. And I just wanted to play at the highest level and show everyone that was good enough.

And I can compete at that level that I remember.

We had you in Boston just for a year. I mean, I thought you were Great Britain. Was did they ever give you a reason why they didn't want to bring it back for another year? I mean, you had some pretty good success here.

Yeah, I think those year that first went down with the concussion, Randy Johnson from behind and miss that year and that moved me up in a more significant role with Claude Julien giving me you know, I was playing with Chucky Karasu and Milan Lucic. We had a solid third line grindin in line and it went on. And then Burgess getting better, you know, savvy. She was getting better. And it was like, well, this is what we have for you.

You know, you're going to be put on a fourth line. I'm like, well, man, it's my time to kind of test the market a little bit. And that's kind of where I got a few other offers. Anaheim offered me a deal and then Philly. I was like, no, I could probably fit in. Good. Philly, you know, the flyers. That's kind of how that came about.

Was it hard that you were never able to get comfortable anywhere at the NHL level where you kept bouncing around or, you know, you felt like you've got your chance with Boston, you're playing well, all of a sudden you're out of there and then you're out of the next on to the next team.

I can kind of hurt a little bit. Right, because you felt like I was a Bruin. You know, I was finally part of an organization, you know, where I had a significant role, like, you know, the sports. I think they brought in the Finnair just sorry, whatever. Fort Leonard, Noki, Deucalion.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I played in Anaheim with him. Yeah. He came out a little spaz, but they brought him in the playoffs seven minute. Well and then that's kind of where the Philly deal came about.

That's just karma for you, taking some fans job with yakker at those levels. But what you got to experience, somebody that Bruins fans will never forget is a nineteen year old Melaleuca Edgeware number sixty two for part of the season fight and anyone it must have been jaw dropping as a veteran older guy like this kid doesn't give a shit.

Oh, yeah, it's a career. Was it our first the first game was on the road and we're playing in L.A. just toe to toe with that Ivana's or was it a Ivana's? Yeah, this cat shit and loose was just going out. Here you go. You know, it was like, OK. And I was looking down at thoughts to shine thought at times like, wow, this kid's this kid's got it. So what is it. Yes.

Yeah. I love great kid man. Whatever. What a great kid. That's right, you are lucky to play a match as well for a couple of seasons. I mean, obviously the hockey royalty deal we talk about on the show all the time and then you end up you have a career high of goals. You have, what? Twenty nine points, I think. Was it how frustrating was it that they didn't bring you back? I mean, I knew you were getting up there in age, but you had what are your best career outputs and then they don't want to offer you a contract.

That must be pretty, pretty frustrating. Well, it's thirty five. Right. So that that, you know, the game was getting younger than, you know, I couldn't be a ten minute guy with 36 year old legs so I could understand that philosophy. And then yeah, I didn't really have much on the table. So it was kind of I was, I was ready to head back overseas, you know.

Could it have been that you showed up late to the pregame meeting? I was talking to Scottie Gomez and he mentioned the one time you strolled in late. I don't know if you could tell the whole story for, remember, somewhat of the punch line. I am trying to remember which meeting that was. Well, basically, you stroll in late and you're like, Oh, sorry boys, sorry boys. You know, they have a game, right?

Of course you're nervous. You know, maybe you're going to get taken out of lineup and, you know, after you kind of apologize, I mean, Scottie Gomez is looking over and he's realizing you have a Tim Hortons coffee in your hands and he's thinking in his head. Well, this guy knew he was going to be late, but he still had time to go stop and get a Tim Hortons coffee. And apparently he got stuck on the drive through.

I can't remember that story, but maybe I could, that's why I don't I don't know if I'm going to talk to you about that, but that's the only one he had for me as far as when talking to you that you have a pretty good shower voice.

Well, I like to sing, but I got the skills competition. They got that.

You know, every year, every team kind of has that, you know, fan day or whatever skills competition. I remember we played they we played the least the night before and it was Sunday that we were going to do it. So I had all my family, friends from Toronto right to come in. I'm like, oh, we got Sunday off. Come on and watch. You know, Gomez, Giel, all these guys do some skill stuff.

I didn't think I was doing anything. So next thing, all the game's over. We're on Crescent Street, you know, doing some shots and hanging out, hugging and wrestling. And I get up and I'm like, oh, man, I to go to the rink. And they're like, yeah, I'm sure you got to be in. You're gonna shoot, you're shooting the target. I'm like, no man, I can't shoot targets today.

You're all red eyed. And so we get up there and cameleer is up there, he hits all four of them and I'm like you. I'm like I'm going to do I'm going to take slap or something clappers, you know? So next thing you know, I'm doing slap shots, pausing, teed it up, clapping at the last one was one. He blew it up. Whole crowd goes nuts. And it was quite a moment. It was pretty funny.

All my buddies were up there watching, laughing.

So like, I can't even open my eyes right now. And he's sniping top left shedder like what's going on here. That's how much of a natural he is.

Pretty much just having fun with the matza. I heard a funny I actually heard a funny story about how you got to Boston. I was told I was to tell me if this is incorrect.

I was told you talked to Michael Corleone, whoever was there and invited you to camp. And a couple hours later, you get a phone call.

Your flights are all set this morning. Had to be the airport from the secretary. You're like, what? You'd already just hopped in the car with your bag and was driving up from Atlanta? No.

What else are you talking about? From the. From a much relative filia debacle, I don't know, Maric thought it was going to Boston, you just hopped in the car, didn't even wait for a flight to camp. Like, I'll just drive up there.

I don't give a shit I did. Well, the deal that what happened in Boston was it didn't make room for me, but we had it. We had a contract kind of verbally, you know, we got to make some room for it. And then I was up there sitting in that basically the boiler, the boiler room trying, OK, so it didn't work out. But that other story might have been that skater would fill in the morning, get ready to play that night and it basically got waves in the afternoon.

I played against Philly that night in a much real jersey which just went down the hall. Just went down the hall. Yeah.

Hey, boys, I'm here, you know, so when that happens, crazy.

So you wrap up the NHL career, you go to Europe for seven years. So other than money, what's the priority? When you going back over there like a location team you're playing for?

What's what's the priority then? What's the time quality of life story.

So twenty ten finished. Right. And I'm kind of like, I'm ready to come over to Europe. I got it. I got a good deal on the table from that Yaroslavl team locomotive. And Brad McCrimmon was my coach in Atlanta and I was going to sign a deal with them. Quite a bit of money. And so happened my my my ex now. But my wife at the time was like, no, we're taking it. We're not going to kids.

I'm like, OK, but man, the money, you know, could set us up good. So finally, we like we agreed on going to Zouk and that's actually in the year when the plane look more. So I don't you know, I dodged one there and and two years after having two great years and Zo and a couple of offers to get some big money in in Russia, I just said, no, I can't do that. So the next best play, it's going to get money.

Was Switzerland, right? You got quality of life, family and in an attack on Iran. And then you'll go to I went to Germany because I still want to keep playing. You know, it was hard to get into Switzerland.

It still is. Right. There's only about three or four parts allowed. But although they do pay the best, it's a it's a very different style of game there over there, isn't it?

Oh, yeah. Yeah. They're they're all about you don't find I mean, pretty much, you know, but they're fast, good skilled players. I mean it's you've got to think about the culture. Right. So you got the top coaches that go over there to. Right. To teach your younger players. So it's it's quite, quite a country really pressed by the by the skill level.

I'm good buddies with Taylor Pietje. And he went over there and he said some of the coaches have some very, very odd philosophies. And in some cases it's almost played like soccer because puck possession is so important.

Yeah, yeah. It depends on the culture you had. Right. I had a great coach, Larry, here where he's from, Canada, Toronto area north. We're kind of more NHL team. But, you know, some of their teams kind of have the Swedish coaches that are there.

They're kind of more puck possession, come back, come in waves that regroup, regroup again, regroup again, just get as much speed as possible, like swinging down deep.

I actually played for Larry Harrison. I signed with Moto and I played two games. I was like minus 15 and retired because my ankle was shot. But Larry was the coach. The team wasn't great. I think he ended up getting let go, but he was a great guy and a lot of fun with them in training camp. But I was wondering how it ended up for him in Switzerland because you had some good teams playing for him, right?

Yeah, we had great players, Patrick Newling, Helton and two great Vince Henton and myself. Jason York was there, the Old York defenseman. Yeah. So that was one of the teams, too. We had the best imports know they had the money, so they got the best guys pretty much. And then the Swiss guys were really good too. So that's that's important. It isn't there. If you play for the top organizations, you get a better chance of winning.

So how many people a game, how many people at a game like Lugano and Zug, Lugano? I think we had about six thousand fans packed every night with the. The home section was always packed, but I mean, for some reason, you know, I mean, the games there's not too many other fans were there, but their loyal fans, that's for sure. Just a little bit smaller building, but a better, better feel, you know, a little tighter at Louisiana State, a soccer match over, you know, football, you know, where they're chanting.

They got flares going and they're not as crazy as the Finns.

And all the fans are a little wacky, are they not? The Finns are a little bit wackier. They're so shitfaced. I play for your great aunt. Our our derby was against JFK, which was kind of like the blue collar worker kind of guy. Our team had money to manage. The classes did have I mean, the riot police out there hosing people down. Ridiculous. Hold on. You're playing hockey.

Oh, so you guys were the cake cake eaters in Helsinki. You guys you guys were top notch, like Manchester City and all those top end teams in the British Premier League.

Yeah, we were pretty up there. Yeah.

You like throwing shit at your bus on the way out of town and the whole. All right.

All right. That was. Yeah. That draw the fire.

You could have just one stop over again. Which one would it be? You could do some more time.

And I love Boston. You know, like you were saying, I lived in Charlestown. I just love the diversity of the city. It's a great sports town. But any time you play an NHL didn't matter where, you know, there'd be a great spot to kind of redo. I loved it there.

Now, I to one of the town I want to mention, I think it might be one of the more underrated cities in pro hockey is Portland, Maine. Did you have a good time up there?

Yeah, Portland is great. Not too fun. Get off the bus at four in the morning on Sunday after three and three.

Cold there. But a love great restaurants. I mean, great, great time to be able to bond with teammates and have have a great time there too. I love Portland, Maine.

Would you ever get into coaching at a higher level? I know you're coaching your kids right now, but you're going to look to get into to maybe something in pro.

I'm kind of focusing more on just player development. I mean, just doing that. I'm not really assistant coach coach in that way. I'm not that I'm not really aspire to that right now. I kind of would be more of a consultant, just help players sentiment towards, you know, that's kind of where I'm at now. And it's a good opportunity came in and of course, I can entertain it. But right now, just trying to work on my craft, you know, I'm on the ice every day with kids and so.

Pylons and other pipelines out there. Yeah, you got the iPads and all the skills, coaches and all that stuff, is that how you have to keep up nowadays?

I'm not jumping through hoops or anything that I'm not able to click on. I'm like, let's let's get back to the fundamentals and master that, you know, learn how to use your speed, you know, gear, you know, but, you know, just trying to start my own thing, you know, the natural method and giving back and helping kids. And I'm surprised about the talent out here, gentlemen, that the players are really good.

I think I think we're professional teams are having success. You're seeing this. A lot of guys starting to settle there and, of course, coach their kids. You're seeing these these hockey hotbeds. I mean, St. Louis has been thriving quite a bit. I mean, you're starting to even see it a little bit in Phoenix. And I would imagine Tampa Bay is the same thing.

Yeah, exactly. All these guys are sitting around. They still around the caviare. You got your Girardi's around Collimore got a lot of guys that are giving back coaching.

You know, Callahan, you're already on the shot blocking clinic and then you get callsign battle through injuries.

I've seen I've seen video of it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've seen a few of the boys that are around which are these kids don't realize that. I would have dreamed to just meet anybody back in the day, you know, like Brad Smith. I mean, I would have died to meet any kind of maple leaf, but these guys were around all the time as kids just take it for granted, which is it's something else.

LACAVA Teaching kids how to toe drag around the kids, Calahan and Gerardi or teach you how to go down.

Yeah, they made forty million. I made one hundred.

Teaching them how to parallel park is Ferrario front.

So Yapper told me you guys just ripped it up after you took down the DL and Mannheim couple big nights.

Come laughing now. Much sleep we're talking. Yeah pretty. Pretty crazy times, any time you can win a championship, it's the old Ive's the next day back and we had just beaten up our restaurants and keep going.

And then I was playing golf with them and he was like, yeah. Then the next year we came here, you know, we had kind of a long off season and I came into camp with the groin injury and maybe Metro's knees hurt and all of a sudden we decide we good idea to golf at the owners cause till finally our GM saw us.

We were both at practice the next day and that was a good thirty six holes.

You know, when my knee blew up for some reason I was pivoting around it perfectly, though.

We took a big golf course and that's on this set up.

He said, Well, Metro, we want to thank you for stopping by. I mean, is there anything else you want to ask MRA? No, I think we're good, actually, not looking look at the calendar to October. Were you able to take it on October 1st while you were over there? Oh, shit. Yeah, well, yeah, I was as crazy as they see. Yeah. What is the setup there? What is it?

Just you go there and sit down at those tables and drink looking like dressed like those people or what. Pretty much, yeah.

It's, it's a big deal. You know, I had the whole lederhosen paid for 250 bucks for this thing. So I'm like can wear this with class. So we get down, we have we play a game and NBC got the day off and it's basically huge, huge tents with just people just pounding, pints, singing. And it was just you guys have a that that's got to be on your bucket list boys for sure.

Is it like the Calgary Stampede version of like the Germans do it? Pretty much, yeah.

Losing teammates. We had a team bus that they were leaving at ten o'clock. You know, guys are missing a bus on a train. The next day was like that could happen right in the outfits where you guys actually decked out.

Yeah. Yeah. Is it like is it a faux pas to show up without the outfit on? Because you see the pictures and everyone's all dolled up? Pretty much.

I need a leader. I was in. Yeah, I got the hat. Yeah. You got to like clack clack.

Ridgewell the European vacation. You got to look the part boys. Yeah.

Well thank you very much Métro.

It's good to catch up with you and I mean long shot to make it. You did that. So I know now that the the Zamboni it at Moss Park signed by you I was told. So it's pretty incredible story. Congratulations.

I appreciate it. Thank you, guys. Thanks for stopping by. Paul, please stay out of it.

Let's listen, you guys. Big thank you to Glenn Metropol for joining us. Definitely had a unique road to the show. I'm glad he was able to come on and tell everybody about it. And I got another note for you here.

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With your everyday hygiene needs, you can pick up this stuff at Amazon or Wal-Mart, or you can use the code hockey ten for 10 percent off at dude products dotcom. Once again, that dude products dotcom used the code hockey and the ten percent off. And like I said, I'm using a biz to wipe off the shame. I hate when I make mistakes on the show. Last week we were talking about the reverse retro jerseys and people thought I was sitting on the Devils.

I wasn't shitting on them. I just thought that you could previously get that green jersey before. Well, I fucked up. You couldn't.

Why was the red jersey? I was thinking of you.

It was on that one.

I thought something that many people said something to a couple of people, but they were nice about it. One guy said, hey, they never wore green before. And it just you just sometimes your memory plays tricks on you. And actually my boy Frosti, he's the equipment guy. He called me Altovise.

Oh, that's the last person out of you out alive now, so. Oh, all right.

You had a few screw ups on the last podcast. You also said that the Knux went to northern B.C. They didn't go to northern B.C. They just went a little north of Vancouver.

Oh, that's all. I kind of just hopped it on that as well, because I think I knew what he meant.

But there was also another one. You said the world juniors are going to be in red. They're there on their own. He said, St. Grenelle, if you want, I can do this. So what are you going to do? What are to do?

What did I do when I screw up big pig pilot over here?

No. And my next note, I did say the World Junior was in Red Deer in Edmonton and I did actually check the IIHF site. If you go on it, it still says Red Deer in Edmonton. That's what I read. It turns out they said back in September they were just doing an Edmonton only bubble. It was in the midst of the playoffs. You probably even said it on here. I forgot three months ago. I guess so.

Yeah, it wasn't in Red Deer in Edmonton, but so maybe the IIHF should take that off their website.

Oh, I remember their website crashed. It would take them an hour to get the bocskor up after the world juniors. When I was there, it was bullshit to look at your two apples.

So I think I was player of the game against what's the current Belarus.

Speaking of world juniors, we're going to be I believe we're trying to get Kirby Doc on and hope for Coffield. We're going to get a few of these guys are going to wrap up the tournament. Maybe we'll get them fucking each other. I love this. They're playing on Christmas this year. You're off the wait till Boxing Day. They're playing on Christmas. But I got something to chill and watch on the tube Christmas Day. I got to light a fire, have a couple of three cheese and just melt into the coach.

Speaking of, I know Vancouver's not northern B.C. Grenelle. I know it's the selfless, quiet, but the Kanaks anthem sing. Mike Donnelly apparently has done so. He was sang at an anti mosque event somewhere, I assume in the Vancouver area connection to Francesco Aquilina. He tweeted out, calling the former singer. I don't know if he was on the ropes prior to that, but apparently that was all the owner had to see.

And the guy who looks like an opera singer, he looks grief stricken. Obviously, he looks like an opera singer at a state fair.

That's what he looks like. So he posted, like, Longo's really let himself go like a couple of years after he left the team there, that guy got gassed.

He was singing somewhere where nobody had my son was in A.I.M. goes, oh, OK, OK.

Yeah, that's just funny. Or Claypole then then people chirping, looking like Luongo was when he was doing the anthem, but he decided to put the blades on and he's just ripping around. He's belting it out, he's killing it. And, and as the spotlight's falling, you're like, oh, there's a man in the middle of nowhere. He's going Byliner for that mask or for the matter excuse me, completely didn't realize they're putting one up there.

Just goes full tilt right to the map as. Flat on his face. He didn't really skip a beat, though he kept going pretty good performance, but he said he's he's eating a few L's, that's for sure.

If you if you watch the video, it's so obvious that the rug's right there. You're like, oh, he has to be planning a big stop.

Like when Louis Mendoza learns how to stop shouting Lester.

And he just and then all of a sudden you're like, oh, he ain't, stop it. And it's just the mother of all Topix.

If I was on the line of whoever was on the line staring at that and watching it, I would have started crying, laughing right before the game. Really?

Really. Oh, man. There's one funny thing would be to see in person. There is I don't know if it was world junior or world championship, but there was a Canadian woman who they brought out and she she messed up the anthem and she got so embarrassed, she walked back in. And then finally they like, no, hold on all you can do it. And they called her back on. And as soon as she as soon as she stepped on the ice, she she slipped on the rug and she was like, my Monday.

This sounds like my mother said she had shit on. It was one of the most awkward, tough scenes. And if I ever had to sing an anthem, I did the whole thing written down on the Jumbotron. Not like that would help me either, because I can barely fucking read, but just as like just as a safety net.

The anthem thing is you could know the anthem front, but the minute you step on that rug and or you're performing it like all along like a karaoke bar in Philadelphia, because that's true.

Do you think you could go the whole U.S. anthem went at the Boston Garden flawlessly, whether whether or not your voice was shit or not, but like the whole oh, I don't even know the words right now.

I need somebody to sing it. I'll sing along. But like, I could never just belt out. Oh, say, yeah, dude, I can't even get into it.

Right. I couldn't. I'm trying to think I'd be done within ten seconds.

All right, the news, I know the words, but I can't say I can't sing a lick and I know that can't I'm going back to the anthem singer, though.

A lot of people are making this push right now. And it's a girl, I believe. I don't know if I follow her on Twitter. Let me find it here quickly. Everybody's trying to get her to be the next anthem singer. And I hope I get this right. Mary who I it's H. Yui, is that right, Hawai? Who I'm not sure, to be honest with you, but we butcher enough names on it, so classic is his story that he's bringing up, then asking us if we know I know I suck with the fucking names.

But she's a singer songwriter. She's from Vancouver. She's done the anthem there before a lot of people are vouching for. So I think she's the next candidate to be the anthem singer for the Kanuk. So sorry for butchering that story forever was like, now I'm going to get we're going to get roasted by Twitter again, for Christ's sake. Not God fucking don't start that again.

Oh, hey. Because I'm obviously down Florida. We mentioned earlier I was walking down the street the other day and I look over and I see a fucking legit DeLorean in a driveway like the car from back to the future like that. And it's registered here. They got the guy still drives. I didn't ask him, but I took a couple of snide pictures of it. But legit DeLorean currently registered, I'm assuming Perry takes off Sunday drives, but pretty while those things are like seeing like, you know, an albino fucking out in the wild, you don't see them.

Yeah, I kind of like this. I don't really know what to give you there. That's I was going to bring up and Grenelle, I think you reposted it. Austin Matthews is established himself as the new quad of the NHL.

Minnelli's he's like pulling his fucking shorts up and shit.

He's like he's basically showing off showing them he's got yeah.

He's got many fridges in his quads built in.

He, he looks like if if you got buried and had to have surgery and then like, you know, you have a scar forever, like it looks like it's swollen.

That makes any sense. Dip fucking begged. They stood out, I like the fact that those two are working out together, man. You got to think they can only make each other better.

You know, when the program passes, I was wondering about those scores, considering they're going to be in the same division now. Yeah, David and Matt, I think they're sharing a chef, too.

Oh, really? That's what it is. Have you been over to any other skates? Oh, yeah. I think they probably have skates me in pure video for breakfast. He's got the Joe Louis, the cigarette and the Diet Pepsi. And if there are spots for the podcast, if not we could just bleep that out anyway. But yeah, no, it's awesome that those guys are working out together. But no, I have not been over that skate, but I've been over to Austin, Matthew's crib.

He lives in Arizona on the off season and a great trainer interested to see how this season's going to play out for him, because a lot of the action has been going on down here. As far as like the high end training, even with the coyotes, like all these guys have been together going to the trainer and most of the guys are on the ice together. So if anything, the coyotes have an advantage going in this one. So they're the favorite this year.

Get get on the fucking Galman corner. All right.

Home Cup favorite I get, I get the fucking L.A. Rams at fifty five to one. Not too bad right now.

Oh so you're rooting against the Pats tonight.

Well not necessarily. It's just one game. I don't, it's not. I mean they may have to get union make. Are they even for the playoffs.

They're in there right now. Yeah. Well that's a record. I'm not sure I'm the wrong I'm the wrong guy to ask.

And up to date, NFL stats say you're the right guy to ask about this, this new television show. I don't know if it's a movie. Mario Lopez, he's playing KFC. Have you seen this whole trailer that got got launched?

No, I was that I saw that. I thought it was like a joke. I thought it was like an ad. I had to do a double take there. So I thought it was a spoof at first. But apparently it's real, but it might, in fact be paid for by KFC just to make this this Sharknado type film to where it's so ridiculous. And the storylines crazy in this trailer just has everybody intrigued as to what's going on.

It's a Lifetime movie then. I've said it's a Lifetime movie. Like what does that mean?

Well, Lifetime movies of the like kind of cheesy soap opera type movies made for a while. I wouldn't say they're not geared toward the male population not being misogynistic. Yeah, but basically Lifetime movies are kind of cheesy love story type movies that, you know, skew toward more of the female population.

So they're not known for that. SANDERS They're not known for like, you know, you're not going to see any Oscar contenders.

AC Slater is playing Colonel Sanders correct. And shifting away from that.

Queen's Gambit was awesome for you. Watch it. I haven't watched it. I haven't not only the whole whatever happened, but the music just kind of put it to a different level. Very good. Seven episodes are really, really good show on Netflix.

Did that show end or was it an obvious ending or is there a second season? I don't want to give away the ending, OK? Thank you. Thank you. And we'll episode one. I'll watch it tonight. Will it grab me or will I be like that?

The whole the whole look of the show is episode one. It just fucking pulls you. Right. It gets you into perfect.

That's what I need. You know, some Breaking Bad shows where it does take a little bit and it's well, they got to get you early because it's only seven episodes.

Yeah, true. Very true. But it's very true. You guys are masters of the TV world.

I mentioned it before, but I will again. Ted Lassalle, if you have Apple TV plus it's a show I put on a couple of times before I get into it.

Fantastic show another one. But if you have Apple TV plus give it a whirl, it's one of those if you might need a couple episodes to get rolling. But once you do, it's it's a fantastic show.

Get another note here. Do you see breakdancing is going to be part of the twenty twenty four Paris Olympics.

What the I mean, it's a hell of a skill, but it seems like something that maybe would have been more relevant 30 years ago.

I think it's a fucking joke in the Olympics when you think of, you know, lacrosse but breakdancing in the Olympics. I think I think I don't need to talk. I don't even need to give my argument. Grenelle boom. I think what they're doing is they're trying to like they're trying to create these events to where it will go viral. And they're they're almost thinking to forward ahead to where like what they're trying to catch the curve or whatever it is.

But as you said, I think this is like a little bit outdated, but I'm very intrigued as to the first year and how it's going to be introduced and the fact that they're taking out all these like traditional sports that was originally why the whole Olympics was created to me is is mind boggling. But ultimately, they're trying to like they're trying to transition into what like people online will be talking about. Right.

Well, dude, if you're actually going to, like, think of the Olympics in what you consider it to mean, like you think of like Jesse Owens and Mark Spitz in the 1980 Olympic team and like fucking Michael Johnson in Atlanta, like and then you got J. Lo's like backup from a rap video. What the fuck, dude? It's a great Olympics, it's a three dancing. You can't I wish I could, I suck at it. Oh, I'm not saying I'm not that's not my argument here.

I would love to be able to break dance. If you could tell me I could break down. I can't even move your argument as Jay Leno's backup dancer. It's not the little bottle. Yeah, exactly.

Exactly. Like I have a silver medal. I don't need my silver medal from my 17 seconds played to be tarnished by some guy who who has a lock and dance studio in Boston.

Some kid on fucking tech talk to doing stupid break dancing videos, has a gold medal, and it could be a tech talker who comes and grabs the gold.

Like, imagine on the Wheaties box, it has it has to have, like fucking neon colors for the breakdancer who won the gold for the US, he'd be getting more airtime than Jarome Iginla.

Oh, my God. Did you know about that?

I don't play I don't blame the person interviewing them at all. Right. I don't think they even knew who it was. No. One hundred percent. They had no chance. They had no chance. Which makes it even more. Actually, it doesn't even actually, it's not even just the interview, though, because then whoever put it on and edited the film back at the studio wasn't like, oh, my God, like, that's Jarome again.

But if you're not a hockey fan and you're in your job, how do you I mean, he only played in Boston for one year.

It's so it's not like he was here for a long time with like, you know, someone who works in a newsroom, even if they're not in sports, wouldn't immediately recognize them just for those less than they were doing. One of those men in the street interviews all man at a rest stop and the woman interviewed Jarome Iginla like talking about a snow.

And he was like, oh, Canada, this is not them. But Bellambi just kind of gave stock hockey player answer. And people called out the station like, oh, did you realize that was Jerome Iginla? And like, yeah, the woman didn't realize it.

But then a bunch of other interviews came up, similar circumstances. Somebody grabbed Roberto Lango doing a man on the street of Alexander Ovechkin at a gas station and then was hilarious. One, it's Klay Thompson. He was up in New York and they stopped them and assembled scaffolding in New York City and he stopped. The game is like dead serious answer.

That's hilarious. There's one of Ovechkin.

Yeah. He was at a gas station and it it didn't appear the person individual. No, no. He was like this superstar Russian player for the local team.

The wrong one was about the weather, wasn't it? About the snow kind of had that feel to it. Do you ever see the the two jogging, the two joggers excuse me, the couple? And they're like, actually, you know, when it snows like this, it's kind of like an extra little cushion on the ground. They do the interview and she's like, oh, yeah, so confident. And then they end up trotting off and she slips on a sheet of ice.

And then right in the concussion protocol, she's out four to six, a baseline. It's not funny, obviously, seeing someone get hurt. It's not funny. But like she was so confident about the fact this is like snow on the ground is going to help cushion anything that was happening. And Zonk. Yeah, I saw walking on snow.

I'm walking like so I'm walking the same way.

You think a guy who'd get fooled by a Twitter D.M. to give you email and she got fish. That's how I'd be walking. I'm just like, so careful back. I have trouble balancing on the concrete. Hey, best you ever.

Do you have HBO? Well, access to HBO on your TV.

Yeah, I think I got access to HBO. You got to let it know.

There's a show is called How To With John Wilson. It's fucking hilarious. Benge There's like six episodes like twenty five minutes each in this guy. He just records random shit all over New York City and then he'll take a theme and he'll like kind of build the video around the theme. It's wicked clever. Do it. It's like kind of hard to describe when you watch it, you'll laugh your balls off. It's great, obviously, if you smoke a joint and watch it because it's like it's a wicked stoner comedy.

But it's also like this guy, the way he edits what's happening in New York City with what he's saying and he does it different theme. Each episode ties it all together. Dude, you can pick through it like three hours. It's fucking it's a little out there, but I highly recommend that it's it's a it's a very I know how to watch Gasolines game at first.

Yeah, I know, I know. I've been rambling on quite a bit where I didn't tell you about my my neighbor situation last week. Why. Well just like I've been, I've been moved in here for a while, this new place and new apartment, same complex I was in.

But the neighbor above me, just like it's like bowling balls hitting the floor all points in time for for hours on end.

And I'm afraid repeatedly or just like a random times or like just like an odd looking pattern to where you're you're I'm like, is somebody wrestling up there like, you know, is there a fucking bowling. Yeah. Are they Sue? I don't know what's happening to where because the patterns aren't necessarily similar all the time or from from any of these sequences. So finally to one night it kept going for about an hour. And I said to Katie, and I'm trying to be a patient neighbor here because know, I've been a young guy in the past and probably create a little bit of noise for my neighbors.

So I so I yeah. So I say I got to go say something. So I, I go up and I'm high as a kite when I finally have to decide this. So I go upstairs, knock on the door and this little nerdy guy answers the door and he's kind of out of breath and mind you going into this, I'm thinking you're on his mouth. This could be this guy could have a sex swing set up in his goddamn living room.

And I'm in directly interrupting is orgasm and or I'm getting Jeremy Yablonsky who's.

Yeah, you. Have you done cave. My God then. Jason, so this, you know, fairly I don't wanna say nerdy, but just like a, you know, common looking guy, Rick Moranis out of breath.

And I'm like, so I'm relieved that it's not Jeremy Blonsky going to knock me out. And I'm like, Hey, man, I've been waiting to come up and say something, but you guys are just like you're pounding on the floor. And he's like, Oh yeah, we were just finishing up our ping pong match and they on the piece of granite on the island, they made out of what seemed like cardboard from pizza boxes. They separated it in half and they're playing this ping pong match between three guys where it continued, I don't know, even though it was like Chinese running around.

Yeah, running around Trapline. And so I finally was like, oh, no, all are good. But they've continued to keep playing now. So do I have to go challenge this fucking guy to a game to say, hey, if you beat me in this island, ping pong granit match, keep playing play all fucking night. I don't care. But if I beat you, there's no more ping pong being played on you play if you play ping pong.

No, but I would get a trainer and I'd fucking dummy this guy. And I want to record at this show you guys, when I'm dealing with here, do you think I've been a fairly reasonable Nabor? Yeah, you know what, I would you don't really necessarily have to go up there now that you have once, but you could grab like that KCM twig behind you and just like hammer into the ceiling yourself, a couple tribes'.

I tried to call the cops to the ceiling, try to know and they don't care.

They put music pumping and then running around the kitchen.

Yeah, I mean, that that's that goes a little. But they're not doing anything that they like need to be doing right. And they're kind of ruining your.

And I wonder what I wonder what the public thinks. But if I'm you. I'm immediately getting I'm trying to be patient, but I'm ready to put my sweatband on and fuck this guy up in a match of ping pong and shut his ass down.

All of my my AOL name was Ping Pong Kang, 19, my screen name. Anyway, I'm sorry to bother you guys with that story, but that's what's been going on with the business, that it's just annoying when you're just stuck at home, the children all of a sudden boom, boom, noises like that come out of nowhere.

That would drive me insane.

Sorry to rub it in. No, we got four fucking jump upstairs buzzing around or anything else we got here. I don't grenvilles getting old, tired.

Yeah, not at this bad boy, I think. I think that should just about do it in the shed. Any other stuff you guys wanted to delve into?

I think we've done quite a bit. I can't think of anything that we didn't get into. Oh, actually, when we told you guys were going to once a week, first round of playoffs two will be pumping out two a week or the beginning of playoffs at least, where we're kind of going and when we have that much action we're talking about. So I wanted to mention that.

And was there another thing? I wrote something down, no, so we can wrap up a fun part, big thank you to Alan Walsh. That was very interesting. Wouldn't want Soor Fleury the meme. God yeah.

And the little guy, you got to like it and Glenn, Metropol it. So thank you, guys, and we'll see you soon.

Have a great weekend, everybody. As always, we'd like to thank our fantastic sponsors here and spit and chocolates big thanks to our friends over at New Amsterdam, vodka and Pink Whitney, big thanks to our new friends at Free Cheer. You guys have been taking great care of us. For you folks, check them out. Big thanks to our buddies over at Boykin's. The Biltong is the best stuff out there. Huge thanks to our friends over crosscountry mortgage.

If you're looking to get into the game or reify, by all means, check them out in a big thanks to our friends over at dude rates for keeping us kunda and these sweaty palms. Have a great weekend, everybody. Like my motto has always been, when it's right, it's right. Why wait until the middle of a cold, dark night when? You know, the night is always gonna be here anyway.