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Everybody, welcome to Episode three hundred and twelve of Spin Check that's presented by Pink Whitney for my friends at New Amsterdam Vodka here in the barstool sports podcast, Family, what is up, boys?

As Wayne Campbell said, game on. The players and owners, they've signed off on the twenty twenty one season. We are a go. We also got the World Juniors starting up this week. We'll get to all those details shortly. Let's say hi to the boys first. Mikey Ginelli. What's up, buddy? You all set for Christmas or what?

Happy holidays, boys. I am all set for Christmas. Just hanging here in New York playing some video games. What have you guys been up to? This how you want to chime in there?

Why no question in there, because you kind of asked us how we were doing in the midst of the intro, but I didn't want to cockblock you on team me up, but I'm doing great. One of those podcasts where you hop on, you've done a little bit of studying as to everything you need to know. And then the minute it starts, you're like, what did I even read? So, look, it really looked forward to this one, boys, and just drop that that McDonald's ad, the sustainable beef, one another one we did and figured out when we were high and shout out to Jeff and Posher who helped me on that one.

And speaking of Jeff, his his Smokey Robinson, that same thing ended up getting all the way to SNL. They ended up doing an SNL skit about it. So he's been all over the place. They really had that cameo request turned into an SNL skit. Crazy about that.

Thinking of you studying. Like, I just picture two pit bulls, like barking at each other, trying to. It's just like there's zero calmness, zero being remembered. You're studying for a podcast. Cracks me up. I'm like, where do I store it?

Hi, guys. It's a wet dog.

What's going on? What's going on? It's great to be here lot. A lot of stuff's been happening in my life. Just I'm an enormous soccer fan now.

We'll get into that later. I'm a Chelsea team. Chelsea team is my team, I should say. We'll go into that later. Haughey's back, like you said already, that fires me up. We have some serious issues within the divisions because some are very easy, some are very hard. Some teams got lucky. Some teams may have been fucked. What else Grenelle. You mentioned Christmas. Yeah, Christmas is going to be awesome key this year.

Everyone knows you can't really be hanging around with other people.

You've got to keep things, you know, small, quiet. So we're going to be doing that and we'll just be hanging and all of a sudden Christmas movies. I'm enjoying them again. You know, my son's into them watching Charlie Brown Christmas 500 times, maybe the three hundred and first time it started getting a little annoying, but I'm still all in to watch it. Maybe seven hundred and fifty. I got to tell him the twenty six. But Christmas is over.

No more Charlie Brown. But I'm great. And like I said, I meant to say. It's nice being once a week right now, I'm fired up every time we record, I want to ask the movie guy what's the most underrated Christmas movie of all time? All right.

Underrated. I feel like every Christmas movie is probably even overrated at this point is bad.

I mean, that Santa is not underrated is it's my favorite Santa, I think because it's so profane, it might get overlooked a little bit. But I say bad Santa. I don't think that gets brought up enough in Christmas movie discussions.

Who's the guy? Billy. Billy Bob.

Billy Bob Thornton. Yeah, I've seen a black midget. Tony Cox.

Yeah, he's he's coming back.

They would just such absolute fucking scumbags, but they just kept running into bigger scumbags than them. So I put that answer a good answer.

Well, it's funny you mentioned Christmas movies. Well, when we last recorded last Monday, I had to take off because I told you guys I had a party. I had to go revisit an old friend, the Stanley Cup. I was fortunate to get invited to the party, coincidentally with the assistant coach, Derek. It was at an Irish by and temple, which ironically was closing. They actually kept it open for a couple extra nights. So the last night would be with the Stanley Cup and I was honored enough to be invited.

So it was actually pretty cool. It's this old Irish by no TVs and they're the only gave a big speech to say how special it was to close the place with the Stanley Cup there. Hang out my pal Derek I haven't seen in twenty two years. And because, as you know, I got introduced to cool head coach John Koopa and I know he says we're the guy is an absolute beauty. He didn't give me that his awesome handshake and walk away.

We sat there and we talked for an hour, an hour and 20 minutes. He face time busy, but we were talking about Christmas movies and he said, oh, me and my kids, we the other night we sat down, we watched National Lampoon vacation and then Christmas vacation. And like, those are the best family movies. I mean, you know, when you get little ones now, like even vacation, the first Nisim. Yeah, they're kind of of the eighties, but you can still sit there and watch what your family, any family is taking a road trip like this.

There's always some nostalgia there. So hanging out with Koopman was awesome. He's such a great guy, man. It was great, obviously, to see the cup again with social distance in and covid you couldn't be as free and footloose within, say, the last time I plotted with it.

But I don't have any lines, no lines out of the the just social media. Yeah.

He wasn't allowed to put any hallucinogens in the ball this year. What do you know. Tough covid hit man sucks. Hey did you get a face time from Cupitt.

I did not khutor ok. Yeah. No Tuba's.

Yeah because he's probably been out of business probably. That's his study and he calls us what Braco Lightning or use. He still forgets.

So yeah it was a good night and I think John Cooper is a good guy from Watchem. He really is bandit. We are. We shot the shift while had had a great time shooting the breeze with him. But we should mention I guess to because I did say the world just tighten up Christmas Day. We have James Duffy from TXN. He's an expert in that field. Also, great interview. We're going to bring him on a little later.

We got Team Canada, captain in Chicago, Black Hawk Kirby Doc, his second the parents kids, not even twenty years old yet, already making the second appearance on Checketts. We've got him from the bubble. Tell us what he's thinking on. It's the juniors. So we've got some good shit coming. But first oys, the twenty twenty one season is a go. NHLPA in the NHL reached an agreement over the weekend. Board of Governors approved that Sunday.

We're going to have a fifty six game season puck drop January 13th. Regular season's going to end May 8th, the last possible cup day, July 15th. Trade deadline, April 12. A whole bunch of dates drawn out.

There is going to be four divisions I would have to realign this year. Each division is going to have four teams in the playoffs. So this is like the nineteen eighties all over again. You got to fight your way out of division. But what's crazy, what we're seeing each team, all three of the divisions have to play their opponents fuckin eight times. You're not playing outside of division then you play in the playoffs. I mean these guys are going to hate each other so fucking much because by halfway through the season, it's like put them in the Coliseum.

And I love every aspect of it. I think it's like you said, it's a man's game at this point. Get your way out of your division and then you could fight for the cup. I like it for one year. I could understand some people's complaints. But the only question I had around the division alignment and that may have already been answered due to like a Colvert situation, but why why did Dallas not make it to the central? They didn't really give an explanation because a lot of people figure either Minnesota or St.

Louis because geographically those cities are actually further further east and Dallas, but they didn't really give an explanation on that. I don't know if that's what like on a subway comes in in like, oh, excuse me.

We haven't heard. We haven't heard. Frankly, I meant, why is in Dallas, in the West as opposed to St. Louis? Because I messed that up because so right now Dallas is in the Western Division. When wouldn't it make more sense for St. Louis?

No doubt Dallas is the essential. It's OK. So I was right. I was right. I had to study and work, study and work. That's why I had it right originally that I looked at my notes and I got the other way that I'm fucking serious. The letters are backwards.

So I wrote, this is why I wrote divisions. Had they said, why Dallas? Is it in the West instead of St. Louis?

This guy. Right. Let's imagine what I wrote down, like scratching his head with his one hand and writing like a fucking caveman. Jesus, I'm going through my mind.

OK, OK. There God, I am curious.

Have we heard what owners publicly like didn't like the original division line ups and or is that all kind of you just hear somebody complaining but you don't know who they basically that.

Yeah. You kind of know what goes on the record. You kind of have scuttlebutt so-and-so so pissed off. And I think the reason would be Dallas is also considered a southern city, even though it's further west. So I think by lumping them one with Tampa, Nashville, Florida, Carolina, it's almost more of almost more of a Southeastern Conference. So I think that's probably the justification for it.

So one of the justifications I said was to create better rivalries. But then I was like, oh, man, like St. Louis and Chicago and St. Louis and Nashville, they got that rivalry going. But what you're saying is, is maybe just think forward thinking as far as like bring back the rivalry of the Stanley Cup finals because they're going to be playing, right? Yeah.

I mean, I think I know. I mean, I think they just kind of go with geography here and someone has to get fucked basically out of that. Dallas, Minnesota, St. Louis, they're all right in the middle of the country. Someone was going to get screwed. As far as traveling to teams in this, I don't know. So, yeah, I would say, like, again, Dallas is a southern city as well as a western city.

So that's probably how they how they figure that out.

But either way, I think that because do you remember what it was? Was it 12 times you'd play a team in your division, in the first division? Was it six and six with Bridgeport and stuff?

Yeah, there are some weekends. You would just play one team three times. So, so.

And then the one year we played Bridgeport in the playoffs, I think we played Bridgeport 17 times. And at some point it's yeah. You hate teams so much but you just figure each other out. They always seem to be close games. I think gambling is going to be impossible this year, at least at the beginning, because the division when you when you know a teams game and you're only focused on, what, seven, eight other teams, ten, whatever, it just changes your seasons mentality because you're really playing team by team as opposed to preparing for thirty, thirty one teams.

So I think that that really will be interesting to watch. But what's going to be crazy is you get the four semifinalists. Each division sends one team and then you're battling out for the Stanley Cup. Two more rounds. You're not going to have a clue. You're going to think one team looks great coming into that. And then a team that comes out of a division that doesn't look as strong. It's just so different. You won't have known anything about one another.

It's going to make the playoffs so exciting.

I actually love what they did this year. It's a crazy year. You could have gone even crazier, but this is different. This is going to have a different feel and it's a sprint to the finish. I'm ready to go. I love that. We told everyone will be together when the season begins.

No, not yet. We haven't announced it.

Not so. Go ahead.

We'll be in Scottsdale Busies Home Biz's oh city. Oh, he's just howling like a coyote.

So he'll probably have some content pieces for us to do some sandbaggers and we'll be able to live stream the opening night of the NHL opening couple nights. I'm ready.

He'll be gambling going. We'll get a little bit of. I'm going to I can't wait for those odds to come out. We haven't even mentioned the North Division either. It's all seven Canadian teams. These guys are going to be playing each other between nine and nine or ten times. Yeah, I mean, picture that nine or ten that Alberta's just in the regular season, then they could meet in the playoffs. I mean, that's fucking obscene.

I think from a viewership standpoint, everything's going to work out. They're going to be able to to retain at least more of the revenue that they thought they would. And with with that, we could probably segway into the helmet ads.

Yes, absolutely.

And we scrolled now we realistically like in the hunt to get helmet ads because I try to use those like Budweiser, you know, like Chevrolet or those big dogs, Roman swipes from David Pignata.

He he said we will see ads on helmets this season subject to category restrictions in our sports business. Daily did have an article the other day. They said both sides of the helmet and only one brand allowed out of time on the helmet that basically calling it a make good for sponsors. But it's also a bit of a trial balloon because of a. Works, they'll probably continue it going forward. They said teams are likely to have one option for the road and one option for a home, a road brand and a home brand.

They won't be able to swap sponsors during the season, so they'll need to commit to it for the year and then they'll go to the bigger names out there. And the New Amsterdam Vladka, there are their partners with the NHL, too. So let's let's not rule anything out of the stadium.

Well, sports are the post game of this year. It'll just be our post game in a room on a zoom. Hey, what what I wanted to mention about the North is like Toronto as a team to me. I actually picked them to win the division. I tweeted back at Chicho to, you know, put all the divisions on a tweet. I said the winners were going to be Toronto, Tampa Bay, Colorado, Philly, those in my division winners.

So a couple of guys I saw one guy up there goes their seasons, poor fuckers, you know, just proving that I or showing that I have been a mush but.

Toronto is a team who went from, let's say, the third best team in the Northeast, Tampa Bay and Boston, I could you know, they're better than them, I would say, to probably the best team in Canada. And that just makes that can change their entire year. Not having to get out of a division that everyone always talked about would be so difficult for them. So there's just so many teams you can be happy and pissed off.

Columbus gets out of the metro. You know, Columbus is that that division is so difficult to begin with. The Metro. Look at it now. Pittsburgh's you could see you could say Pittsburgh's in danger of maybe not making the playoffs for the first time. And what is it, 15 years?

I don't know exactly since I think they have not missed playoffs since Sidney Crosby's. We missed we missed our rookie year. Yeah. We were together. That was the only time we missed playoffs. Yeah. So they're streaks. I mean, could be in danger. You see what goes on there. I just like I said before, I'm repeating myself. I'm ready. I'm ready.

Come on.

I didn't even study because look, I know I can't even and then I try to book Dallas and with Tampa and like the south on the east side, I've just been I've just been a mess with the locations right now. Help me out. All right.

Well, that map I had my blog today, some kid, and it was very rudimentary, but he drew colors around each zone. It's actually really good. It like because the northeast the east is so that if the further south Bruins have the thing is Pittsburgh, like there's eight teams all clustered like the northeast corridor and then everything else is so spread out. It's actually a pretty cool metric by psychedelics.

And looked at that. That's probably why I figure that Dallas was I was in Florida. I'm like, oh yeah, to get the fucking cup match up. And you guys are like, what the fuck is this guy talking about?

What's that? What countries that dance beer from right there on my map.

A few other notes too. It's got there will be a twenty three man roster. Eighty one and a half million dollar salary cap is going to be no preparation of salaries, no exhibition games. Non playoff teams will get a few extra days of camp. We just did mention bizarre. So what did that. We're going to be in Scottsdale and also the San Jose Sharks are going to be in Scottsdale as well due to county laws. They're forbidden to have any contact sports.

That's the same reason the forty Niners just had to finish this season in Arizona. Well, San Jose is going to stop this season there, so maybe we'll snag a few shots were on town as well.

This so that means in that area of the country, that kid no kids playing hockey or football. I'm not sure what it is at the youth level, that if the pros can't, that that's so brutal, that that's so brutal.

So my parents are in Ontario and I believe as of 12 o'clock on the twenty third, you have to stay in your house. It's basically full lockdown. I think you can go to the grocery store. I think you can go do curbside pickup for us.

Toronto is doing that at all of Ontario. I think it's all of Ontario. It's like a fairly serious lockdown. And I think that right now they have the day set at 28 days. And guys like I'm right now, I'm in Scottsdale. And, you know, it's I think things are moving fairly regularly here. So all of our Canadian listeners, I know this is a really tough situation you guys are in. Like I think at one point, depending on how bad it gets in other provinces, they might have to shut down there, too.

But if you're cooped up in your place and you know you're going a little crazy like this is there's a tough time of year to be alone. So, you know, hopefully you guys got friends you can reach out to and talk to it and get yourselves through this difficult time, because it's it's pretty intense, man, when it's cold and dark out and, you know, confined to their houses with and I'm sure you chime in on this or there are a lot of cases in Ontario.

I mean, Canada kind of beats to a different drum that I would say the United States are just a lot more cautious. So, I mean, I would say that cases have spiked to a certain degree that that they're just trying to nip it in the bud. And I'm sure the hospitals are getting over flooded. And it's just a horrible situation all around, guys. So good luck getting through it up north. We love you. And we know we've got a lot of Canadian listeners.

So have a great holiday because I don't think we'll be chiming in until afterward.

Yeah, yeah. But we got lots to get you for us. I mean, speaking speaking.

We just mentioned San Jose. They can't play in their own county. Well, conversely, the Florida Panthers intend to have fans in a limited capacity to start their season. And there's a guy who's been in Florida for the last two and a half weeks. I am not the least bit surprised. I was up in Massachusetts when I got Provincetown a couple of months ago to finally check it out. And the difference between there and here, it just as far as the mass usage and keeping making sure people when it's absolutely night and day, it's almost like a different country in some ways.

So the idea that the Panthers are going to have a crowd to start of the season isn't the least bit surprising at all.

I was just surprised the league would allow it, just given they don't want to like if you know, because you just you just you're going to bring it up later in the episode, but I guess I'll bring it up now.

You said, you know, Team Germany, they were overseas. Overseas, they got tested. Nobody tested positive. And then they came over here all of a sudden, eight, eight of the players for the world juniors test positive. So it's like, you know, if that were to happen because they're allowing fans of the building. Listen, I don't I don't care whether they do or not, but I wouldn't want that to be the reason that games had to be shut down.

This whole this whole wheel that they've been doing a good job so far in the NHL should be commended on it as far as keeping it safe inside the bubbles, so to speak.

Yeah, and just to throw in as well, my mayor, Marty Walsh, here in Boston. He told TD Garden the other day and he said it's possible that the Bruins could have fans in theirs earlier tonight.

Yeah, so this I know we have followed Florida a lot of times, but this could could be other other cities as well in the NHL seeming to defer to local authorities on such matters. So obviously, we'll keep you posted. And we mentioned the holidays as the holidays are upon us and we know a lot of people are going to be enjoying a few drinks. So you want to make sure your body is ready to bounce back the next morning with daytime detox.

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Awesome. I'll be cranking at this holiday because I'm going to get into the wine. I'm going to get into the beer. If you think I'm not having a few Pinkerton's when I'm watching the sandbagger and I'll be Dommy and DHV Detox beforehand. No days wasted.

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No days wasted after drinking with beers 20. I don't think I ever did that. We got to tell you that we're going to say what happened already put his hand down and he knocked his his mic out so he couldn't say anything that was funny. The guy who owns the company, no days wasted. The detox. You just went on that Dragons Den, which is the shark tank of Canada. He did pretty good. He had one of the judges being a complete dickhead.

Did anyone to invest?

Yeah. The one lady. Yeah, she invested. So they're working out a deal. And what she can do for the company behind the scenes was all this one guy was absolutely grilling him. So it was pretty funny.

He's like Mr. Wonderful of the States. Do you ever watch Shark Tank?

Well, Mr. Wonderful is Kevin O'Leary, isn't it? Yeah.

He grills people. He's like, oh, he's kind of a prick, I think, on there. Yeah, I think he's from Canada, actually. So he's on he's on both of them. He was so good on the. He's good. Yeah.

The Dragons Den and the Dragons Den version I believe was created by Brad Treliving, father who's whose Gem of the Calgary Flames, Jim Treliving. I think he's like a fucking billionaire dude. He's created Boston Pizza. He's created all the like these crazy things. And I think it was originally his concept. And because it was so successful with Kevin O'Leary, who I'm sure they met and crossed paths, and Jim Treliving is like this guy is an absolute character.

I've heard stories of this guy going all night and then doing all those calls in the morning like no underwear on, just a shirt and tie for the Xoom call on my. It's so wonderful. It's like that. Oh yeah. I heard he cranks it.

So hopefully I'm not spreading rumors here, but if I am, who gives a shit?

Johnny goodrow to the flyers.

That rumor started the second half. You get drafted I think. Hey, we got another big drop coming this week. Grenelle right. New sandbagger is this. I'm hearing whispers. This is the all time best sandbagger ever. Is that true.

Well let's wait and biz talk about it. I think it's the best sandbagger ever. We worked pretty long and hard on it. It's, it's yams and hazy. I'll say this.

We help with the editing process, so shout out to chase and who are able to get it to a point where we kind of just chime in a little bit. But the first time around, like the first fifteen minutes, I didn't stop laughing because and inhalers are an absolute circle.

They're a comedy show, key Quitline on the first tee muttered under his breath involving a lighthouse is all I'll say. It's like you're going to see the the humor that we see, you know, away from the interviews with Keith. You'll see it when we do it on with with Checketts and him getting involved. But he's even better when it's like no cameras on, although there was cameras on. But in that setting, it's so different.

You know, what I mean is I just feel like you're just you're with your buddy him and he's your clowns. And I think that everyone's going to enjoy it.

I'll be on the live chat 8pm on our YouTube channel that drops on Tuesday. So this comes out this comes out Tuesday morning.

I don't know how many people listening to the morning because it's Tuesday. Everyone's it's Tuesday right now.

I'm all right. But but not every listener gets to listen the first day is what I'm saying. So all the ones who are is head there for eight p.m. to our YouTube channel for a live viewing. That means we drop it on the spot and then it's going to be in the chat. It's it's probably like the coolest thing. Last time we had six thousand people watched the launch. So there's a lot of you know, there's a lot of electricity.

Let's get ten. Let's get to ten thousand with hey, what is that, what is that concurrent or something. Concurrence concurrent viewers. Ten thousand, ten thousand watts. And there's like golf videos from golf podcast get released. We're crushing them. We're hockey podcast. It's unbelievable.

And the other thing is too, before the show will start for two minutes, they play the best song I've ever heard. It's the Chili's beat, like the final, what is it, two minutes?

A minute and a half? Yeah, two minutes before I start, I want to play that song and that video.

Is it on the big booty mix right here?

It should be about the big number eight coming up here with with Kirby Doc, who they like them thick with three C's.

They got the booty coaches' with the band. They're doing the the Sidney Crosby leg ass workouts. Anyway, we'll get into that later with Kirby Doc. But this ah, this scheme sandbagger, which is brought to you by crosscountry mortgage guys. Let's get ten thousand concurrent. We'll see you there. Let's have some fun, bring a glass of pink with me and get ready to fucking laugh from Hazy and Yance.

Absolutely. I'm looking forward to seeing it myself when I know. Another thing you want to talk about regarding the new season was this taxi man squad. They're going to have a four to six man taxi squad teams can carry up to twenty nine players, Max. They'll travel and practice with the team. They'll get paid a full Agel salary. The CBA has been expanded to include four more recalls. But it's going to be interesting. I mean, like I think it was Frank Savelli biz that brought up the point.

Toronto can just only keep twenty one guys on the roster. And that's one way to kind of, I don't know, not separate the salary cap. That sounds kind of bad, but like, hey, play by the rules. And if you can have guys, you know, kind of in wait and not. On your captain, then take advantage of it, right? Feels like we're carrying the league here. We're helping you guys, OK?

I don't know if you guys saw the last valuation. OK, we're kind of at the top tier, so make sure we could slide under this cap number or it could be the analytics genius who is Kyle Doobies. And he could be just doing his thing and he knew it was coming. And if he saw that with so-called foresight, he had the foresight to skin-tight force. He had the foreskin out of the FAWZY. I don't know.

So the taxi squad's interesting because. I talked to an agent who mentions like the in-between guys where, you know, you have a two way contract and you make it probably decent money in the biz. You know, the guys I'm talking about. They're going to probably get put on this taxi squad and realistically get paid their H.O. salary to get bags catered for the whole season, you know, they'll get in here and there, but they'd be playing in the minors if this taxi squad wasn't available.

Some of them at least. So are guys like that. It's kind of a tough I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know if there's an opt out opt in the way the NFL did it. I don't I actually don't know if all that stuff's been settled. I don't know if that's even been announced. But there is certain. I don't want to say I don't want to say like things that would make you worry if you're one of these guys, but more I'm not going to get a chance to, like, play well down there and possibly get picked up on waivers, come up, make my NHL money, because they can they can bring you up for a game, pay you one day pro-rated NHL salary back to the taxi squad, you know what I mean?

Yes.

It kind of sucks for certain small of a small group of players in that league with taxi squad issues.

I think already you brought up the point, though, that that'll be this case until the NHL season may start in February.

That's what I wrote in that text. But I read up on a little bit further. That's not so clear. I think like these these guys are the guys they have to have now. If they go through them, I think they'd have to have some sort of clearance. I mean, if you if you guys get hurt, you going to have to go somewhere to get them.

So I don't for you saying that they would have to stay in their own kind of little bubble and just practice and then, you know, if they're kind of in this purgatory place or.

Yeah, well, that's with it all. But I thought at one point they'd be able to shift over to the American Hockey League and at least stay moving, but I don't think so. So overall, what you're saying, it's not even the money standpoint as far as the shipping back and forth. It's the fact that these guys who could be left in purgatory and I'm sure that there will be a number of players where it's like it's like a year lost.

Well, it's all you're doing is skating.

You're losing it. You're crazier. And it's a big year, like no matter how old you are. And all of a sudden it's a waste.

I'm going to be honest, as soon as I turn into that fourth line player where I was in the lineup and I could go four or five.

When was that? 87. Shut the fuck up. Let me get my thought out, OK? I'm struggling as it is. This part is you just completely lose your feel for the game because you haven't really been you haven't really played it. You know, I haven't played it since the coastal event. So for these guys, a year burn and then all these other guys who are playing and even if they're playing a junior, at least they're advancing and and staying in that rhythm.

So that's a little bit of a difficult situation. And I think that may be looking at like the like the full and detrimental aspect of it. But, yeah, there are some people are going to get no spit, no loop sandpaper finish up the hoop. Yeah.

Because you wonder if a team is going to say, well, you know this guy, we want him to develop in the NHL. He's not ready for the NHL. They might take a guy further down on the roster who's not even going to sniff the the big club, but they just need to have a taxi squad. You know, it's going to be very interesting to see how GMs handle it, because this I know it's where it's all new territory for everybody.

The taxi squad, we should get like a taxi squad player of the week award. I'd be a fool. Here's the thing by Gerard. I know I'd be a taxi squad player if you're if you're taxi squad in the playoffs like black aces or even if they had it in a normal year, you're ripping it up on the road. You can't even leave your hotel room. Taxi squad this year is a is a shit is a shit show.

So I don't know if a taxi company doesn't jump on some sort of sponsorship, but do they exist still?

Taxis remember, guys were paying like six hundred grand for medallions in NYC and Uber came along buried all that.

Oh really? Yeah. I'd be like I don't even know how to describe it.

It's like like getting a liquor license probably wet and then all of a sudden anyone that mother could get a liquor license, seemingly suspended two million on a home and a month later, like a gun range going in right next door.

OK, I mean, that's a pretty good example off the top of your head.

Thank you. I appreciate that.

So, yeah, these guys are basically going to be black asses for the year, but they will have to get in some games because like you said, guys get hurt, man. Sometimes teams get fucking bundled with injury.

So it's going to be interesting what you guys say, that fights are up one hundred percent, given the fact that how much these guys.

Oh, I think they have to be. I think they have to be. Oh, that's good. Yeah. That's going to be a positive.

It's going to be like the playoffs during the season because guys are going to fucking hate each of us so much. Think of it, eight his season, just one fucking team after the other, the same fucking seventeen.

You know, we should do a bet on who gets first Susya this season.

Some it's got to be some Willson's minus six hundred. Right.

I mean. Well who would be the revo. I put revo. Could we go get some seed. Actually Charkaoui. Forget it. Forget what do you say.

That I was going to say something. I was going to say Caspian's got to be up there.

Kassian screws are probably loose right now just getting ready to kill someone. I mean Canadian division. He's been bumping that. He's been bumping cameos too. There's there's quite a few guys hopped on the train. Yeah. He's he's pretty.

He's going I've thought about Cameo because you've done some funny ones, but I don't know. I just think I'm not not in yet. I think it's a great idea. I'm just not in yet. I don't know. It's hard.

It's going to be hard for me to think of what to say. You're good at that because. Well, they have to tell you a little bit. A bit. Yeah. Big.

Well, it's going to have his two kids going head to head. Nine to ten. Ten times. Yeah. Now that's Matthew Brady that's going to affect. And I'm curious.

I know I know this is this is the worst thing that could have happened.

Yeah, exactly. But it'll be good for the fans. One of the. Two on this, two teams have to carry at least three goaltenders between their roster and the taxi squad. However they do it roster wise, it don't matter, but they need to have at least three on call. So.

All right, boys, we also mentioned the world junior games are starting this Friday, Christmas Day. The gold medal game will be on January 5th at six thirty. There were a handful of exhibitions that had to be canceled due to covid stuff, as mentioned, that would help with the German squad. They did nothing wrong, but they come over and guys tested positive either way. So it looks like we should be off and running Christmas Day. The Canadians are a sizeable favorite, had no shock defending champs, but we were fortunate to get Kirby Doc, Team Canada's captain, to come off a little bit.

But first, I want to let you know this interview was brought to you by CrossCountry Mortgage America's crazy good mortgage company who make it easier to get the financing you need. Fast go to SCM lens, dot com slash and BD. So learn more about your future home buying or refinancing, refinancing experience and MLS three zero two nine Equal Housing Opportunity and now enjoy KEARBY.

Well, we're happy to welcome this young guy back for a second, the parents already, he's not even 20 years old yet. He just finished his rookie year with the Chicago Blackhawks and got his first taste of the NHL playoffs. And next week, he'll captain Team Canada at the World Junior Championship in Edmonton. Thanks so much for joining us again on the podcast, Kearby Doc. How you doin, brother?

Good, good. Thanks for coming back. Guys, I mean, last time I was on the set of swearword record, I don't think I'm going to try to top it all.

It's been topped and pump the brakes. But it's been talked. It's been it's been tough. I mean, personality wise, but.

Oh, OK. Personal best.

OK, I know you have the best four under 20. It's like world juniors under 20 swear jar.

You just overflowed the thing. The best part about that day. As we've said many times that your dad was just in the other room just laughing and he's like walking, right?

Yeah. My dad beat me.

So you guys finally got to hit the ice after, what, four or five days? Amandola mandatory isolation that correct?

Yeah, I think somebody told me today it was like our past 18 days of 2003 have been in quarantine and stuck in our hotel rooms, haven't been able to leave it. It's been brutal.

Like one big video game tournament down there. Yeah, pretty much. We played a lot of online poker with each other and stuff like that.

Is Shaynak postal thing in Junior? Yeah, but we can't play cards like how to. You can't play cards with each other. Oh yes.

You guys have to quarantine from each other in our own rooms.

Like that's totally bananas on the bench next to each other for 60 Minutes tonight, breathing all over each other in the corners. And you can't play cards. That's what I know. The hotel captain of the hotel towels must be taking an absolute licking right now.

Yeah, every time this is how much bleach they bring in in all the major, you know, at least they don't have to be listed on the Czech Republic floor.

Oh, shit. Imagine that they float around those like a CSI crime scene in there. Hey, we know you got name. Team captain mentioned your dad. He must like what's he going through right now among among them and then talk about yourself, because I know he's probably jacked up. Yeah.

Obviously, his family was happy. He got a couple of texts from them, talked to CEIBS quite a bit today. Actually, I had an hour long conversation with him on the phone. I was fine. I actually lived with him. I learned quite a bit and hopefully I don't disappoint him. He told me that if I mess it up, I'm not allowed to get back with him. Oh, that goes well.

You don't want to fuck up Team Canada world world junior ju ju. Hey, what about like when you find out the news, it's one thing because the is not sir you're not in the NHL, but for this to happen then be named captain right away. You're just so fired up. Yeah. Obviously lobster is tough, not like going or whatever. I mean bears can say that's true but not growing up in Canada where juniors is like means everything to us.

So this year and having the opportunity, it's I'm grateful for it. Obviously I'm excited to be here. And hopefully we get to start playing games.

And you're one for one in my career in international play because what you wouldn't want to under 18.

I want you to. I lost that you seventeens but one year eighteens. OK, two, four, three. We're bad. I'm sorry to say I'm not rooting for you, but still good luck.

Oh, come on. Yeah. What do you think? I'm on a roof team K.

I wanted to know who's who got named Jay. Who gets the D.J., who gets the iPod and what the heck are you guys playing in that locker room nowadays.

Ryan Suzuki runs the locker room. He a pretty well actually or Connors there. He's out in a couple of times, a couple of guys, they're pretty good music, a lot of country in the morning and we're kind of a slogan. But during the games he's got a big booty. Those mixes are pretty deadly.

What do you mean the big booty? What's this song we don't know about? Yeah. What do you shake your head for Grenelle. What do you do.

All remixes are the best. Who's making them to friends.

Yeah, to friends. They both have big ass booties. No, no I don't know. I don't even know what they look like the boys are into right now.

The young guys, the booty business.

Everyone wants that thickness now because these young boxers sicko's.

Oh yeah.

We're also auditoria. Hey. So I want to know and people are going to have to immediately look up this clip and Grenelle you can get it on Chiclets. When did you think to try that, that pass I saw in one of those scrimmages besides coming down the right side that was opening day.

He's Al-Ridi for everyone listening at home.

He sticks to the outside of the net, he throws it back in his feet, almost looks like he loses it at the same time with his right foot fires, a one rocket pass for a one time, a goal.

I have never seen that done. So when did that originally come about?

I learned not like four or five years ago from a skills coach, Darryl Balfour. He actually told me that he's from Nagara. Yeah. Yeah. I worked with Darryl for. Yes, I learned that from him and I tried it all the time and practice like I was at a foreign party back home and kid and girl who's here with Team Canada, we skate together in the summer and I must have tried it a hundred times in those games.

Yet a loser that won't give it up. I've never fucking work. Never, not one time. And he comes to me because this is the one time it's worked and it's televised everywhere. Now you're getting all this clout and stuff. I'm like, yeah, you're right.

I automatically get the booty max out all but when the cameras are on average, do you have you tried it in WHL games all the time?

You're saying or you saying, oh, I'm in summer skates and stuff like that. I've tried it all the time, but I, I've tried it a game like a couple of times, like in the corner and stuff, and it hasn't worked much love when I pumped your ice shot if you tried that in the game with the Saskatoon Blades.

But Lovers' my coach here always. He really. Yeah. He's my assistant coach. Oh yeah. That's different businesses. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. You have to play Tommy Sticks with the boys.

If you're the assistant bench, imagine that deathstar from dunking Keith that legend.

If he tries that a game against St. Louis City kicks it in the corner two on one with Kanter We'll go back to Teves and and Keith and I'm sure they reached out to you too and in tases heroics back in the day you mentioned Del Belfrage So did you start working with him on your skills because of Cain. Because Herman Cain or tired. Right.

Yeah, so obviously I was thirteen and thirteen or fourteen the first time I went and saw him and like that was the big thing was like this guy was Kaner skill. Guys like you cannot learn from him. So I was like, oh this is awesome. I remember the first time I went there for the first two days. I couldn't do anything like not a thing with the and he he's like looking at me like what like what is going on with this guy, like he's supposed to be this kid and can't do nothing with it.

But then after a while you start to figure it out and you feel real good on the ice. But he does so many things, like on the ice where it's like translate to my game, where it's like different from Canada and it's just like unique for a skills coach to do really.

So he's breaking down your video and games and then showing you in the areas and why you're doing certain certain drills as far as skills.

Yeah, pretty much. And like for me, being a bigger guy, it's more about puck protection and playing along the wall and learning skills that way. And so he tapers to each guy, obviously with he works with his his shot quite a bit and it's only some guys shot it.

Is that because that really it's stupid, man, you're going to find one of those.

You add that to your bag.

Yeah, obviously that's that's the plan. But I don't think I'll ever shoot the puck like. Well, you got to get Quad's like that.

Probably first. It's Portilla.

Take me back. How old are you in 2003 when I got it up?

Player of the game against Belarus is this world juniors in Halifax told me then I have been to see you were born in 2001.

So yeah, my best moment in my international career was a three assist game against Belarus in the world. Juniors, what's your first world junior memory?

I want to stick, so, yeah, one that you're like, I don't know, maybe seven, eight, nine, and you think back I go, Oh my God. Well, that's why the taser on. Good answer. Pretty vivid.

You remember that? How old were you then? Yeah. I would have been six, six or seven if only a six year old Canadian kid would remember the day I got down and then the abolition was a big one when he scored like five seconds left against the Russians. Like I was there on the outdrink. You practice that all the time. You're like five, four. You put on your celebratin knots of your buddies and stuff.

We mentioned the captaincy already, but you are also the only NHL on the roster. Does it kind of feel a little bit like all eyes on you between the media and your teammates?

A little bit. Oh, not really, I mean, there's a lot of good players here, obviously, Quentin Bio-fuel, just one second overall, there's cousins here. Biram The list goes on and on with the talent we have. But I think we're all pretty humbled in this experience. I mean, how is how are all these guys going to play first night power play first line? So we've got to figure that out. And I think that's a good thing about Team Canada, is that we're able to take so many talented players and make it a 20 minute roster.

Don't fall into that trap, you guys. Some first time is going to be have to be a fourth liner this tournament. Good luck trying to call one of your boys.

That's not an issue in Canada with these guys. Know it's about the flag. We know it's about the flag. Right, Kirby? You tell them.

Yeah, the maple leaf across your chest singing OK. And at the end of the tournament.

Hey, baby, I know other teams weren't so crazy about having some of their prospects play in the world. Junior, but did Chicago leave the decision basically all up to you?

So I approached my agent and he approached Stan, I think, a couple of days before the draft and said, hey, this is something Kirby wants to do. I mean, you wanted to play it last year and it stands. Okay, we'll talk about it after the draft. So after the job's done, the phone call is done. And he said this is something you want to do and we're not starting and it's not going to interfere with the schedule.

Go ahead. And I'm like, all right. Sounds good to me. So I've been here since day one. And it's like they told me 51 days we're going to spend in hotels for the world juniors.

And that's after what you went through in the bubble with Chicago and you had a great playoff, six points, nine games. I mean, must have felt pretty good to end your first NHL year when you were playing pretty dominating role there.

Yeah, I felt good coming back to to a Chicago bubble like before we went to Edmonton. Honestly, I think your draft was so long, like you had the under 18 that the beginning of the year you play your whole junior career or your junior season. Then you go from the combine to the draft to the even have new teams after like the world championships and development camps and all these Dorel junior camp during the summer. You have all this shit going on and you don't have time to really train or rest.

So when I got home from Chicago, like during the first covid hit, I was like, I'm going to take a couple. I think I took a month off of skating, just train. But I just felt good, like to kind of get in the gym and get a routine again and felt strong on the ice when I came back, worked with my trainer there and he's he's really helped me out a lot, to be honest. There is really change the way I trained.

And even at 19 years old, I do a lot of things I probably wouldn't think I'd be doing at this age. Even nutrition.

I know younger in my career, like, you know, I was working out and stuff, but I've eaten like a shithead.

Yeah, I, I try and track what I eat a little bit. I mean, I was thinking I might cheat me out here and there when I'm out with my buddies or something like that, but I eat pretty healthy at home. I think. I like to think so.

At least you're popping up all the checks for your buddies at home now. Right.

And a little bit sometimes they'll take it up. I got good buddies at home.

Oh, yeah. But they're rare. They'll be better if they're like doc or, you know, you have tonight. Thanks, but yeah, yeah, yeah. There's an odd night. I streetdance URL's. Yeah.

Earles Cactus Club. Cactus Club. Yeah. Oh yeah. Those are, those are staples in the Canada Kuraby.

How would you grade your first NHL season overall. Good in the playoffs. I think there's a lot of ups and downs obviously. Eighteen years old playing in the best league and it's going to be tough and I'm going to have my times where I struggle and times are I flare. So I got to find a way to be more consistent. I think that's a big thing for me, is being able to be consistent. I think in playoffs, I was I was really good there.

Did you hit the so-called rookie? While we hear about all the time, some guys seem to jump over. Other guys really hit it. Did you did you experience that at all? Yeah, I think there is a stretching and twenty three games, a lot of point or something like that, that's like there's no soul. Yeah, I was tough.

No, and he wasn't playing the D.J. role either. Yeah, I know.

I was pitching in the locker room, not saying anything. Listening to all these guys, doc. You said you talked to see the tapes call you. I texted with Taser a little bit. He was supposed to call me and then he just never called me back. Oh yeah, I'll get back to you when you get when you get the night before the gold medal game, because that's going to make you and your teammate to Canada.

Captain Eskin. Taser, Taser. Me. He's busy doing some training for returning players.

Have they, like, stepped up to talk about what the experience was like last year, winning gold? And you know what you have to go through as a team and as that, has that taken a little bit of pressure off you as well, maybe not knowing some of these guys and then being named captain? Yeah, those guys obviously know what the tournament takes to win. I mean, Ilyin cousin and Bhogle quite a bit. Obviously we grew up playing against each other and they're both the assistant captains for a reason.

So those guys are good buddies. I'm on and we have a lot of fun off the ice. And we're I think we're all just looking forward to start playing games again. I mean, for some of these guys, I mean, the guys have been playing the cue or myself haven't played a game since last March. I think everybody is just a little antsy to get going.

We have a captain before at any level. Yeah, I split captaincy duties at 16, so I came over to the plate for that, but other than that, I've never been a captain. I always been kind of an assistant captain.

I'm interested while your team first off, what is it, 21st rounders, as you said, the number earlier. Yeah, yeah. Either way, it's just insane. Group of talent put together. I'm a defense guy or an offensive defense guy. This Bone Biram for for hockey fans out there. Maybe not. Colorado Avalanche fans, just another freak on D coming into your entire Denver home soon.

So I just want you to describe him a little bit and describe both as a fourth forward. He's really good with the parkis is fun to play with, but he always puts it on your tape and on the powerplays. So patient with the puck up top and always seems to make the right play. But at the same time, he's really good in the zone. He's got a good stick and he's really starting to fill out and be a bit of a hassle in the corners to deal with.

I think that's something that he learned. Going back to Colorado for the bubble experience, too, is just how hard it is to play at that level against those big guys. And obviously he's got McKinnon guy run into practice again. So I'm sure that's no fun. But he he's taken a lot of strides. I think he'll be a really good player for a long time. Whose teams?

Canada's jester. Who's the guy? Absolute clown in the locker room talking and then doing the man trying to get in. The boys gone before the games. Canada needs to know who's doing all that and getting Canada's juju going.

We got a couple of guys I ball, I'd say is one of them is he's pretty funny. Go Taylor Gogia.

He's he's actually I'd say he's number one for to not even from Calgary, Alberta. Always read about.

Oh well it must be a lot of westerner's in on this team this year. I haven't even looked at how many guys from the Q but you know, as it gets to world juniors they need the toughness from out west.

Right. Yeah, I think we have nine guys here from the West and they it's like the most we've ever had.

Sam must be different than the other bubble. Guys are pretty much buckled the first two weeks of the NHL buckle bubble. This is a little bit different this time.

But so when can you, like, interact with the other like other teams that you can have to stay in your room the whole time?

How can you play cards with each other? I know that's that's no, I'm not talking to any other guys on the other teams.

Yeah. I would kind of said we're not really allowed to talk to anybody else besides our own team. But I think after the first week or so, there's going to kind of loosen up on the rules and let us from a little bit more than us locked down, which would be nice. Yeah.

Is there been anything that you thought of to keep yourselves entertained that be outside the box that people would find funny? Oh, no, not really. We've kind of kept it like everybody's got their like Xbox or pacifies or something like that here. So we're usually dialed in on that stuff and doing all that. But for me, I spend a lot of time on FaceTime talking to buddies and stuff and makes the time go way faster than just sitting in your room staying at the same four walls all the time.

Now, you fire up the Netflix at all, prime guy, or just just video games face time? Oh, no, I watch a lot of TV shows. I just finished watching Yellowstone. Actually, think of rossner. I love Kevin Costner. He's a great actor. It's a great show. I can't even take. Yeah, I can't even take credit for that TV show. Brent Seabrook got me into it. Thank you for telling the guys discography two years that it's a good TV show and nobody believed them except for me in that I watched it and told everybody it's actually get nobody watches it.

But it's a good TV show. It's my favorite by far.

Yeah, it's good stuff. Kevin Costner kind of doing a grizzled old rancher thing he's never done before. Plus, I mean, it's the best looking show on TV to the scenery is incredible. And I think.

Oh, yeah, yeah, it's beautiful. It makes me want to become a rancher, but I know I never will. Yeah. For about five minutes. Yeah.

Former Canada world junior captain Brandao now rancher. Yeah. I just want to do the work that just dispatch just just to go to stampede and get Tappan's.

Last question. I was going to ask you, who is your celebrity crush. Who's you like these days, Madison beers or something.

Is that one of the. Honestly that's that's a he's a legit missile launcher. Oh yeah.

Yeah. I'd say mass and beers for sure. Yeah. Hands down a lot of think about it.

And she's a singer too so we appreciate you coming on again. So much so buddy. I do. I wish you luck. I don't want you to win, but I hope you do.

Great, thanks. What and last thing you're taking Jack Sparrow as the look you're going with this with the facial hair.

Do we establish this? I've just gotten lazy and haven't shaved it in a while. Usually Hockey Canada's like short hair, shaved face look dead. Now we all look raggedy with our long hair and our terrible beards.

All right, buddy, best of luck. No pressure. I won't be hitting you up. Sounds good.

That's because you can't get any tickets for them to, like, sell and make little cash. Yeah, scalp them on the side. Kirby, thanks so much for joining us again.

Not even twenty years old, Artie gets two episodes under your belt.

I'm doing swipe ups for meet and greets at the gate in the quarantine bubble in Edmonton. Let's talk about that.

We've got the cologne. Go on.

Because fucking Leandro Sidel didn't want to do it this year. All right. See a doctor. Best seller luck. Yeah. Thanks, guys.

Want to send a huge thanks to Captain Kirby for joining us in the world, junior from the world junior bubble, great kid again. Second, the parents already not even 20 years old. He's a super kid, is easy to root for. Did you happen to see that McDavid video had actually dropped after we got our last episode? Pretty good stuff, huh?

Folks that hadn't been out yet and all of a sudden that came out. I'm like, oh, no, McDavid on the Jumbotron in Edmonton announcing the fact that he's captain. How do we not ask him about this? But then I looked and I think they kept it under wraps at least till that night. So unfortunately, we did get to ask him. But that's got to be a dream come true nonetheless. And good luck to Team Canada. There's going to be a lot of pressure.

There's a couple other teams that to at least to this point, had gotten consideration. But the more information you hear about it and I'll throw it over to you, it's not going to be an easy task here.

Yeah, I mean, the Russians I was just taking a look at the the odds here. They're five to one and they have a new coach now, Igor Larionov, who is a fantastic NHL player, but he didn't get into the NHL series. Twenty nine years old. He was playing for the team, Russia, the Russian. I mean, this is back in the early eighties where Russia didn't want their players in America. I mean, it was still during the Cold War, there was all this politicized politicization of everything.

And they really didn't want the players here. So he was taken and the eleventh round of the nineteen eighty five draft didn't end up getting to the NHL. Vancouver lose. Twenty nine years old. He played Vancouver for a few years. And of course everybody knows in Detroit they played the Russian five style of play. Now he had played that previously fought the Russian army had taken off. Then he played it in Detroit and now he's going to incorporate that style of play with the Russian world juniors, which, if you haven't seen it, the style played in the Red Wings back then is incredible.

Can you describe in layman's terms exactly so the Russian style of playing and how it works?

It's amazing because when I was in Russia, we would do you really would practice five guys in a color. And his unit was I think it was the green line, the green unit, or they might have called. And it was so in Russia.

He was so he was so incredibly talented. This guy in the whole Russian unit thing is like. It's not forwards working together as a three as three guys, it's not a defensive parent working in front of the net in the corner, it's five guys like every single part of the ice. They all have different jobs and all their jobs can be interchangeable. So they get five super skilled guys together that all of a sudden not only are skilled on different levels, but they know their game so well, they know each other inside out.

So they're able to just move. And I tell you, Larionov, I had the chance to one of the best, most patient goals I've ever seen in the Stanley Cup final was his trip was at Triple T winner in 02 against Carolina.

That was the game that we we went as top prospects that go into the draft up.

Saúl Lupul, Bodemeister myself, Rick Nash, you get to do the interview with Don Cherry. We've talked I've talked about it a bunch with guys we've interviewed.

And it's just peewee tournament. You're just going to mention this every episode.

Well, that's why I made you talk about Larionov. So I'm at this game and, you know, you're all hanging. Oh, you're all hanging out together.

And at some point I was just off on my own. I met John Bukha grass there. And then I'm standing in the corner where Larry Larionov comes down and just wait.

So was it who was in that Erbey? Yeah, yeah. This is our survey and just shelfs.

And it was so sick of the guys, the professor. It was exactly how he plays so smart, so smooth.

And the fact that he's now coaching, like I said, the Russian coaching can be different. I mean, it's like. They play in five man units, but they also, you know, a lot of individualism. Yes. And the will and the coaching to it's like so robotic and like, I don't know, it's hard to describe, but they don't give guys many freedoms, at least not like the the best players.

Now, Larionov, you've got to think he's going to have a different approach the way he thinks the game.

And I mean, I would love to like if you could throw money on Russia not rooting for Russia, but, you know, like it seems like in this tournament, they're always in the mix.

They're always going mix. I think the way he described Canelli trying to you chervitz me last podcast for just saying the Russian goalie was good.

And now you're saying you're rooting for Russia. You're so you're so fucking dumb on Twitter, too. You're like, Sweden's going to win. I'm like, where are you from? I'm saying that if you want value to a bet, you bet. The Russians. I'm not rooting for them.

I was saying that's all I was. Oh, no, no, no.

You like Sweden. I'm going to come on Sweden. They're my team. You were cheer me for Russia, though. I don't remember that Nikolai has been bosons.

Their goalie coach said, look out, this guy is going to be teaching these fucking young kids how to stop some pucks. But Larionov did an interview with TSA. I forget who conducted the interview, but he just said he's trying to change your way of thinking to where they're being a little bit better, conserving their energy out there, too, especially in such a short tournament. And you're playing every other day or maybe you've got even two days in between.

But, you know, it's congested and all of a sudden, you know, you go from, well, at least not playing a lot of games because there's a little bit of a gap here. By the time they come over and get into the swing of things when the back side of the tournament and you get to the round robin, you know, if you haven't conserved energy and you're not playing with the puck and you're not going to win, and especially with them considering they're going up against Canada and other countries who are pretty stacked this year, they're going to have to do everything in their power.

What was the other thing he was talking about? He said one of their advantages, too, though, and it kind of contradicts what I said to a certain degree was earlier in the year, is a decent amount of these guys on this world junior team were playing with KHL clubs. So they've been in the midst of games. So they've they're in better game shape than a lot of people are true in a lot of high level to at a high level as well.

That's the next I would say it's probably the next best caliber besides the NHL. It's got a little bit of a different style of play. It's a little bit less chances from the league, the NHL, they're tough to distinguish who's better, but it's certainly really good hockey, especially if you can go to the world juniors where guys haven't played in nine months. So don't sleep on these Russians guys.

And another fun fact about Liriano for you, not hockey fans, is this guy used to drink a glass of wine with his pregame meal every before every game so this guy would crush nice glass. He said. Did he say just calmed him down? Was that I?

I try to dig because I did read that the article, but I couldn't find the original source on it. It said he was said to have a glass of wine before, as I said before every game, a glass of red wine before. I want to say it was wrong.

I had one because Chelios had seven. His eye on the bottle.

Jesus, Charlie, I think I've I've been with guys who have who have a shot glass and a flask in their toiletry kit, and they would take a shot before I play with the guy and in in the minors that just ripped a huge bowl after pregame skate.

I'm like was like, I get the best nap. Yeah. I've heard a guy played hard too. It wasn't like it wasn't like this dude you'd ever think that. But that was like I would be asleep.

Listening was more maybe be like, oh it's so unprofessional where it's like sometimes the anxiety and how anxious guys are. I've also played with guys who like puke before when they're going to start. You know, I'm saying go there's this famous goaltender of all time. Then he used to puke before games.

One of the most was maybe it was wrong. Why are you laughing at Ghirardelli?

Because they got your base move.

Such a big move to bring something up like that and just not know, bringing it up like an awesome story that he's a I don't want one of the lawlessness is going to say, yeah, this star player used to vomit before.

Let's think of the best scholars of all time, Patrica. No, I don't think he did. I might not even be a goalie. I just that was the first thing my brain thought of. I said gold.

It's just, you know, the guy who plays Benziger.

Well, you get the shits up you go and, you know, stomach issues before and also world juniors makes you sorry. All right. Not world juniors. I always like to remind people of the line that Russia had at one point. That was Sergei Federov, Alexander Mogilny and Pavel Bury. Those in line will come to Russia.

Oh, we didn't even talk about that Dimitri Filipovic clip. We're going to bring that up about Doctoroff. There we go. But you could say it.

He had a was it a five goal game against the Washington Capitals? You end up scoring that they want five, four, two. And what was that considered?

The Russian five to a certain degree? Absolutely. Yeah, that was the that was the pride of it. Yeah. You know, a lot of backdoor passes.

Every goal was tic tac toe and and Federoff with five goals and they get the hottie winner. It was it was, it was something else. So if you can go check out that guy's Twitter account, he and then he ended up throwing out another clip. It was over two minutes of some of the goals they scored that year and that clip of the five goal game, I don't know what it is. I might be the first, but he reminds you how Vladimir Konstantinov wasn't just a killer on the ice.

He was sick with the puck offensively. He was quick. He'd get up in the rush. And you see a couple of plays he makes. He gives Federoff pretty much Tapan and that. Yeah, that was the five man unit that you talked about, Fitzloff, Konstantine off Federoff, Cosla in Larionov.

And of course, like I said, he did it with the team, Russia to the right Russian rahmi. He sent the crew off a macher off and had fattiest off in Cassatt's on off on that five man unit.

So that's the Russian five movie. And that call comes back to the Russian five is about that unit, that Liriano unit, right? He was yeah.

He was part of the one with the Russians in one with the Red Wings, which is pretty crazy because he didn't become a red wing until he's thirty five years old. I mean, he just just before he was thirty five actually, he won his three cups there. I also want to mention his two Olympic gold in 84 and 88 Hockey Hall of Fame in 2008 and Bui's just one of six players to win an Olympic gold world champion gold Stanley Cup, a Canada World Cup and a World Junior Championship gold that got like six guys in the world have done that and the professor's done it.

So guys have front someone in Russia right now going back to Federov and I think Grenelle, you posted some to the insurance Twitter about some of the like the gear that that has been worn throughout the years, like Ovechkin with the full visor.

But going back to Federoff with those white Nike skates and that white Nike basket, it was it was a bit of a knock off from the Bower 4000 helmet, but nobody in the league had better style and more more kids wanted to look like that guy on the ice just cruising in the win with that gear where he was a superstar.

Every aspect like he was like he's one of the reasons I'm getting into soccer. He was like a soccer superstar with the flair and the and the look of the whites, the white skates.

I mean, I'm sure David Beckham be a fair comparison. Yeah, kind of. I mean, was it really good or was he always bad? I think Beckham was pretty nasty. I'm getting in. I don't know yet. I'll learn. But but Federoff off. Yeah. The clip of getting out, coming out to the all star game, just like a little smile, you're like, holy Jesus.

I think he was continues with the Kournikova rockets.

Kournikova, she fucking gave him a career slump when she dumped the men.

It's like they were a very public romance, married to Enrique and they're still together.

Man, I thought it was going to be a quick, quick pop and give me an issue.

Maybe I should weigh the pain. Oh, yeah.

Oh, my God. Our Finnigan's going to start howling. I got a great voice.

No, is has peanut butter on his balls right now. As I say, I more action in that spot.

Happy birthday or Merry Christmas, Mr. Feeny. The game. This is for these Navy that because you in Arizona, right near the line at we got some more NHL notes to go back to, had nothing to do with the CBA.

Fortunately, unrestricted free agent Anthony Douglas signed a one year, one point seven dollars million deal at Florida. The twenty five year old had twenty three goals, 17 assists and sixty six games in Ottawa last year. This seems like a nice, cheap pick up for Florida. I mean, the kick can obviously score and he, you know, he's unrestricted. He has a forty goal season. Someone's going to maybe wiggle six million out of next year.

I think they they kind of like that run and gun to like they're I don't think they're necessarily very good defensively. And I know they picked up the broski to close the door. But this is a perfect incertain a guy who can and remember they lost track. That was a big loss offensively, maybe do Clark and slide in there. And we talked about him representing himself. I don't know if he ended up picking up an agent, but I think this is going to be perfect for him and he's going to be able to put up similar numbers that he did in Ottawa.

And hopefully he can end up getting that long term term contract that he deserves. So I think it's a it's a great move. And guys, I have to say it, no state income tax. Yeah. Trevor Lawrence just learned about that, the Jets fuck and those who are I don't know how I just thought NFL. I it's a no risk signing, I think Florida is looking for goalscoring, by the way, Mike Hoffman, he doesn't have a contract.

What's going on there?

Yeah, I mean, I think he's probably sitting on office. I mean, I'm sure he'll sign soon, but I don't think it will be. But I don't think there was any urgency because, you know, no one's really started skating yet.

Is there any other high end free agent that's just sitting at home without a contract? Because it's such an interesting situation as to like if a team does have cap room and let's say they get off to a decent start and they weren't maybe more attracted to Corey Perry's unrestricted I mean, he'd be a great veteran, especially a short season.

Correct. But he wouldn't be having the ask that Hoffman's asking him was probably looking at this off and getting five and a half, six with his consistency. As far as goal scorer, this guy is speaking a fucking spit on sandpaper finish like this is.

I think I think it's going to be a similar situation to Hall where he's going to he's going to be able to come in for a year. He's going to prove it. He's going to get a probably a probably not five, six range for one year. And then he's going to have to do it again. And then all of a sudden, hopefully things are back to normal and that he's going to and then he's going to reverse sandpaper, finish on the owner or the GM.

And maybe teams have said, like, hey, just sit tight, we're going to do it. But they have to move the money around for us to maybe have to make a deal to make cap room. But I mean, this guy is going to get signed, no doubt about it. He's tall.

You guys talked about Boston needing a winger. I mean, is this someone that you guys would like?

I think absolutely. I would just start rubbing rubbing each other all over the place, sign him 100 percent. I mean, crazy is known to be a finicky center.

Not everyone lines up perfect with them, but I don't know I don't know how him and Hoffman wouldn't work. The guys, I mean, too pure of a goal scorer. I love it. I mean, they don't have to pay. We're not sure if Josh is coming back.

So money might not be an issue. I agree, I agree completely. But what I'm surprised is the sign yet. All right. So do you think do you think if he's not signed by, like, January 1st, you'd start to be like, this is kind of weird? Or do you?

So you both think he's just sitting on offers waiting to make up his mind? I don't think that. I think that he's hoping for that. He ends up getting close to maybe his. No, I don't think it's going to happen. I think it's going to turn out more like a hall situation. I think I wouldn't be surprised if it went past the start of the season. But the question I have is like, what's going to be the rule on that?

And I guess we don't need to go there.

The I think I think he signs before the season, I think he does a one year deal Halsall situation. That's what I think.

All right. We'll see. Well, we got some good news coming in as well. Oscar Lindblom, Philadelphia fly.

He remains cancer free after his second checkup just over a year after being diagnosed with you and sarcoma. So obviously, great news to hear. I mean, what he went through had a tough season and managed to come back to the playoffs and a very inspirational moment. But of course, we want him on the ice. SOSKA Welcome back. And we have started off the hall last year.

Really? Yeah. He's a hell of a play, a man, and we love to see him healthy and great news to him. And obviously, we just mentioned the holiday season and our friends over at Nizza want to spread to messages, drive Sobell or get pulled over. And if you feel different, you drive different, drive high, get a DUI from December 16, 20, 20 through January 1st of twenty. Twenty one law enforcement officers across the US will be increasing enforcement on impaired drivers.

The consequences of driving drunk, like getting a DUI, your insurance going up, the possibility of a crash or worse, killing someone always there following you like a wave ready to crash at any moment. Again, drive sober or get pulled over. On average, a DUI can set you back ten grand. An attorney's fees, fines, court costs, lost time at work, higher insurance costs and you might lose your job. All right. That's foolish.

It's not worth it. Always celebrate with the plan. Always remember to plan ahead. If you're going to be celebrating, if you plan a drink plan for a sober driver, a UBA lift, whatever to get you home, it's your turn to be the designated driver. Take that role seriously and don't drink. Not even one. It's not worth it. All right. A DUI covers more than just alcohol. Two drugs that can make you feel different, make you drive different.

You could also get a DUI for that talk much. Also, remember, if you feel different, don't drive. Never drive high. You drive high, you get a DUI.

So be smart this holiday season and listen to our friends at Nizza drive sober or get pulled over. If you feel different, you drive different drive. I get a DUI. Folks are too old to know better. Don't be a goofball. This holiday season we're all going to be celebrating. Just be smart about it. That's all we're asking you to do. All right.

Moving right along, buddy. Henrik Lundqvist, this is some tough news. He's going to miss his first season with the Caps due to a heart condition, quote, We have decided the risk of playing before remedy to remedy my condition is too high. So I will spend the coming months figuring out the best course of action. He's going to spend some time with his family. You've got to feel terrible from a sweat. I mean, this huge career change, you had a rough year last year going to basically sort of restart his career, I guess, late.

And then this pops up out of nowhere, seemingly. Awful news, and it was exciting to think of him in another in another uniform and to go to a team like Washington was looking to rebound off kind of a disappointing season and off to a new beginning with a goalie that you didn't isn't proven right. So you didn't know. I think any fan of the Capitals could have seen Lundquist all of a sudden being the starter, the team, you never know.

So to have it kind of end like that. I don't want to say anything like that. I think I actually saw a tweet. I don't remember who is by saying, oh, this is the end for him. I don't know if he's going to want to go like this right now. Who knows what's going to go on with the heart and what ends up being the future diagnosis. But just a shitty tweet to see the video that he put up, a kind of just shot like that.

I was like, that's a bummer, because not only as a fan was I excited to see him somewhere else? I'm sure he was really ready to prove people wrong and go in and plays as well as he could.

Yeah, I think people could see his genuine love for the game and how much joy it brings on. And you could tell, like you said by that video, it just it was it was tough to watch. Well, let's hope he gets better and he's able to have a better sendoff because this shouldn't be the end of that career, that's for sure.

No, definitely not. Speaking of ends of careers, we want to send congrats to St. Louis Blue Alex Stein. He's retiring after fifteen seasons due to a back injury because he won the Stanley Cup with the blues in twenty nineteen. He spent his first three years with Toronto. He got traded along with Carlo Polyakov Ofili Step NIAC and ended up spend the rest of his career at St. Louis. Played a huge role there. He's got three and a half million due to him next year.

Basically, he's not technically retired or the blues are going to put his money on long term injured reserve so they can go over the cap if they need to. But man, as a guy who's been watch the league for a long time, I felt like yesterday that he got traded because he actually played a big wall in his final play with Big Wall and Winnipeg back of the 90s. So, I mean, that was thirteen years ago. He got trade at the St.

Louis. So again, this is just the fourth father son duo, an NHL history to register six hundred points apiece, joining the house, the house, the halls and the Stastny. So do you know him at all as well?

We were with him at training camp. And what I don't know. We're going to talk about soccer later. Did he get you on the Chelsea train? Because I believe, you know, he's Mad City, which was things I was considering.

Yeah. So I remember he had the Sox, so we were so busy and I met him at the same time and. I can't describe to you this guy, like the way I would put it is he's just he was he was the ultimate pro hockey player. He showed up to the rink. I knew nothing about him. He's doing like 30 minute bike rides before professional. Just quick on the ice. He's doing every drill perfect. He's the hardest guy to move.

He's the one that's like going 100 percent balls to the wall. Every practice. This is in training camp. You can tell the respect he gets. Everyone loves him. He's funny. He's laughing with guys. He's the ultimate teammate. And we even get to play real games with them because. But this guy was so nice to us and just so respected by the entire organization trainers. Everyone's like of Steiner said something that got done. And when I saw that he retired, I was like, fuck, I am so happy he won a Stanley Cup, made me so happy.

And think about think about a guy who I was in two training camps with.

That's how I know him.

And I speak like I knew the guy for fucking years because he was that friendly and that easy to get along with for me and pubis that I was like, oh, this guy. This guy is the ultimate pro.

Yeah. Work ethic definitely stood out in the training camp. I spent that he was always on the old school monarch by. Yeah, everybody had moved.

He had a Discman too from Sweden to is like just biking along like Rocky and most mornings are you'd get in there, he'd be one of the first guys there riding the bike, getting ready for practice.

The work ethic definitely stood out. But it was not only that, but like we were there for training camp on PTOs. So he extended his arm out to us. And every time they were going to eat larger than a group of like, you know, three or four guys, the invite was extended to us. So I remember when I left there, I felt like I was part of the team and that's why it was so sad. But it was definitely great to experience another organization, although it was only for a few weeks where I never had a negative one.

It was it was it was great, you know, Armstrong all the way down. And and it's it sucks that he has to retire because because of injury. But it's awesome. That ended up going to a place that eventually fell in love with him and vice versa. He got a Stanley Cup. And I think that maybe it's not the way he wanted to go, but I think he can sit back and be like, that was you. You can't really draw him up better than that.

Leafs Leafs fans have all they ever look back at that one and say, oh, my gosh, we kind of that's.

Yeah, that over a thousand games played in a hell of a career. And keeping with the St. Louis Blues theme here, Ryan O'Reilly will be the next blues cap and taken over after four seasons of Alex Pietrangelo. He'll be the twenty third captain in team history. No real surprise here. He's only been there two seasons. He's already won the cup, the consummate selkie, two time all star. Let's see, one hundred and thirty eight points in one hundred and fifty three games played thirty four points and thirty five playoff games played consummately to on and off the ice.

You don't hear enough good things about this guy it seems like so.

Well there you go. No surprise. Saint Louis one you just talked. You know, Pietrangelo is out of town now. He was a true leader, brought the work ethic every day. Same with Ryan O'Reilly now being named the twenty third captain. And then you had Steinar on the team, too. So a lot of guys pulling the rope. There are a lot of great candidates. But Ryan O'Reilly, I mean, look at the fucking resume.

Look what he's done since he's been traded there. I mean, this was a layup. This was a no brainer.

Yet for thirty five, it gets dark and like six thirty it gets light out. It's just kind of the news.

When you hear Ryan Riley's name, Captain, I don't know was I saw it. I saw it. And I my ball is big news that's making it right. Yes. I'm not chirping you. I know, buddy. A couple more notes before we start.

James Duffy gang. We still. Oh, yeah. A whole bunch of time with James. Dotti, which is great, by the way. He was he was a lot of fun to talk to a couple of the notes. In Edmonton, GM Kenny Holland announced that defenseman Oska Clef Barnes will miss the upcoming season due to a shoulder due to a shoulder injury.

Some of these words trip me up five goals, twenty nine assists and sixty two games last year. This one's from Elliott Freeman. Tampa Bay's cap issues may be solved by long term injury reserve. There is word Nikita Kutuzov is battling an injury that may keep him out a while. No comment from team agents. So details are sketchy, but clarity expected this week. If unable to play, unfortunately, it will clear room for the lightning. Obviously, they're a team that people are expecting to make moves because they need to in order to be compliant.

But LTI, I would certainly help them out. And one final note before we send it. That adopted congrats to Jordan two. He celebrated ten years of sobriety. He tweeted about it the other day. Jordan, congrats, brother. From all of us. A triplets. It's a hell of an accomplishment. It's not an easy thing to do. And I keep on doing what you're doing, brother. We're awful proud and we know it's not easy.

So everybody here is probably done. Amazing news right there.

And back to Kutuzov, like in twenty fifteen this happened, Kane got put on Altieri, got hurt against the Panthers and then he came back and they won the cup and doesn't you know, you can just put them in when there's no salary cap in the playoffs. So this could end up working out now at the same time, there were some people saying, oh, very convenient, it's like, yeah, they they want to play the whole fifty six regular season without one of the best players in the world like they were trying to do this.

So it could end up working out, for example, Stratasys Cotton. Yeah. Let's set all our star players for the whole season and then. And then we'll bring them back to MoCap. It's fucking genius. Sounds good if it works, but I don't I don't think that was the case. And to summarize, Clothbound, being out and let you summarize the perfectly, just your standard kick in the deck for others fans on Twitter. So. Oh, yeah.

An injury to a defenseman. Sheldon, sorry, I got hurt.

Who else? I don't know, I got hurt again, I stopped and got some and I believe one of the videos that was mentioned was the spoof video they did when they take my goal away, what's it called?

The YouTube link I sent today, or is it don't take my goal away because he did the Puckle, the glass tool that was fucking Heino possible glass. I haven't seen that other one.

Yeah. Don't take my goal away from him. Oh, dog. Martin, be home so that French being home and noodle's. So check that out too guys. They do a lot of silly stuff that's sad. And those are the top dogs. So enjoy Duthie. Well, it's a pleasure to bring on our next guest, you know him from his excellent work up on Tsenin, Canada. He's one of a bevy of awards for his hosting work.

He's also quite the world junior savant. And he just dropped his fourth book, Butis Hockey's Greatest Untold Stories, which you can find wherever books are sold. Thanks so much for joining us on the Spin and Checketts podcast. James Duthie. How you doing, brother?

All right, boys. How are you guys? Everything's great. Thanks for having me on. Hey, what are the what are they called that all the awards you've won, like the Emmys. The Canadian Emmys. Right.

Well, I don't like the term. What do you what do you do with all of them?

Are, you know, to jam. People always say, how many of you want to take your guys? I don't keep track of that. Nine. Nine. It's not.

No, they used to call them Gemini's and then they changed it to Canadian Screen Awards. And it's the it's such a Canadian show because you don't recognize hardly anybody who wins. And I should like I'm not trying to be derogatory to Canadian actors and shows and such, but, you know, they there's Jered and there's that guy.

What's that show again? That's kind of what it's like at the at the awards show. But it's great.

Get 50 percent gift cards to the 50 percent off gift cards to the keg, though. So it's kind of nice that you walk on stage with the trophy. They just had Timmy's 20 bucks at Tiffany's.

Well, Ginelli Grenelle said to me, he said, like, what's an example of how Duthie is someone in America in sports broadcasting? I said it kind of Scott Van Pelt show.

I mean, you're covering all the main events. I know he does a show every night and your main things, Hawkie But where you're at in your career, I can't imagine you ever saw this when you were younger and when you originally got into this business, because it's pretty cool to see that you're the number one guy in Canada for all the big events, Olympics, no matter what it is. So take me kind of through the beginning of where this all began or this passion for it.

I think like everybody, like every Canadian kid, I was a failed athlete who wanted to be a hockey player. But I grew up and I was in Victoria my early years. So when I moved to Ottawa, I was eight and I never skated. And so I had the langue nerd and then and then the Micron mascot, the big boot skates, because my ankles were so we'll see. And my dad didn't buy me a jock for the first two years because he was cheap as hell and he didn't think anybody could raise the puck.

And so I was really I didn't really catch up till I was like 14. And then I wanted to be a football player. And in grade, I really literally thought in grade 12 I was going to play in the NFL and nobody ever had the courage to say to you, you are like five, nine, about five, ten. I only have five, ten because I got a big, long head and I like one forty five skinny guy with mediocre speed.

And so but I really was so delusional and then you know, yeah I was Rudie, I got one school, McGill recruited me, I was going to play quarterback for McGill and then I was going to go play for the Forty Niners and then somebody slapped me in the face and grade 12 or 13 and said, you better not do that.

So I decided the sportscasting gig and then I was a news reporter because I couldn't get a sports job. So I was covering murders and fires and all that crap for about eight years before I actually finally got into sports. Any any.

Go ahead. Give as well. As you say, was there a time you thought about quitting that industry? Because just because you couldn't get your head in the sports world?

No. I mean, I was I thought for a while before that I would never get into sports just because back then, like Tyson was in its infancy, there were no other networks. Every sports station had two old guys who'd been there forever. So I did think for a while that I am going to be the local news guy forever. I'm going to be the guy that's like, you know, five. Let's send it out to James Duffy.

He's at the local Ottawa Valley cow milking contests. And I'll be like, Thank you, Max. Here's Betsy. I'm really working her. That's really what I thought my life was going to be. And then I was lucky enough to somebody saw me on TV and and and I got a chance and was was able to get there.

Finally, James, he's down there covering the most recent traffic traffic jam we have. Let's go after James. You want to know the truth?

My very first summer on the job, I was twenty two years old and there was the Gulf War broke out and they sent me down to Parliament Hill to do the live shot at the beginning of the six o'clock news because it was summer and all the other senior reporters were on vacation or whatever. And I didn't know anything. And Max, our anchorman, he always wanted to test the reporters. So he comes on. He's like, James, what do you think Canada's move is going to be in the Gulf War?

And in my head, I'm going, I don't have a freaking clue.

Like invade, don't invade. Send in the Navy, send in the Army. Do we have a Navy? I didn't know. So that was my first test as a broadcaster because I kind of had to fake it. Right. Like everybody fakes it. And so I went right now, cabinet's having an emergency meeting in the building behind me and they're they're looking over every possible option. They'll be evaluating all of the options and in due time, they'll make a decision.

But for now, Max, only time will tell. Back to you. I mean, that's big time. Big time even close that up. You put a nice bow on it like that, too. And the point back, you actually say nothing whatsoever.

And that's that's half the way the news media is. I realized after that you sent it back to him.

He was like, speechless. He's like, that guy just wanted me. I thought I was going to get fired. And then I walked back to the station. People like, hey, good job, good job. I like, wow, you can B.S. and get away with it on TV as long as you sound coughing.

So exactly your first year when you ended up getting involved in sports or hockey, look who's there at the time. McKenzie I'm guessing. Or you talking about Tiswas. Yes. Yes. You predate him even there. No, I think he was there definitely before me when I got hired. I was actually working in Vancouver and I got hired to host NBA and CFL. So that was my first job. I was your, you know, your Chris Berman on CFL and I did NBA, which nobody remembers.

And the funny thing I remember about that was the the executive producer back then said we want to have a cool, fresh, hip, young look for four NBA.

So you're not going to wear a tie, you're going to wear a mock turtleneck. So I wore these mock turtlenecks under jackets. And instead of looking like young and hip, I looked about ninety and that was me hosting NBA. But it was cool. It was Vince Carter's rookie year with the Raptors. So I got to cover that slam dunk contest out in Oakland, which is still one of the coolest events I've ever covered. And then a few years later, I did I did SportsCenter for a couple of years and then we got the hockey rights back in 2003.

And even that job that I didn't apply for it or anything and they didn't hire me. They hired this young lady who actually knew she was the weather girl out in Vancouver when I worked there and two days before the season, they just decided it wasn't going to work. She didn't really know that much about hockey. She wasn't comfortable. They weren't comfortable with her. And they called me the Sunday night before the season started. I think the season was starting on a Tuesday and offered me the job.

And that was if you go. Back to those early tapes, that's when we had like we had puppets doing jokes. We had live bands in the studio. We eventually had a monkey that spun a wheel. It was like a circus that that entire show. It was not your traditional desk with Bob McKenzie on it. It was it was really goofy TV. But I survived it somehow. Hmm.

James, did you even get a break after the Stanley Cup was done or was it straight into the world junior stuff? Like this year, you mean in general, yeah. Yes, I did the I did, I did. I mean, NRA, we weren't doing that much anyway. We didn't have the Masters. Right. I did go to the Masters, though.

You snuck that one in there in the preparation for the world.

Juniors are what, a warrior? I don't know if you want to sidetrack on that, as it probably does, but go into that later. It was you know, it wasn't great without the patrons and the sorry, I'm like gymnasts now.

You're not supposed to say you have this fancy fancy. Can't say rough. You can't see gallery. There's all sorts of things you can't say.

But from an actual selfish standpoint, one of the greatest experiences of my life and certainly covering golf, because there was nobody there. On Thursday, I followed Tiger and the gallery was me, my buddy Puffy Peyton Manning, who was a member and Tiger's girlfriend. That was the gallery for Tiger Woods Slough. And you put on it on Sunday.

D.J. was teeing off on seventeen. And I had to step back because my shadow was over his ball. So, like, it just it was so surreal to get that close because when you cover a Masters and you've been right. Went, Yeah, I have. So you know how crowded it is and you can't bring your cell phone and there's no electronic scoreboard. So when you're me and you have to do an hour postgame show after, it's impossible to cover the Masters on the golf course unless one guy is up by five strokes or something and then you can follow him.

I end up watching most of it on TV on Sunday because you just you don't know what's going on. Yeah. And so in this occasion, I could be out there on Sunday and followed for basically his entire 18 holes and listen to all the listen to the Caddy conversation. So that was really amazing. I'm sure.

I'm sure. You know, this is I don't know if you know who Gary McCord is. No, he's a golf announcer. You've seen, like, Tin Cup. He was describing the scene when he's going to hit the ball off the off the floor of the Flamingo or the Pelicans dock. And he's like this golf announcer and he still works in golf. I don't know if he does any more, but he was announcing for CBS at Augusta and they ended up gas and then, boom, you're never allowed back.

You'll never announced this golf tournament again because he said the Greens were faster than like a bikini wax or something about Luchini.

Yeah, he mentioned a little and he got talked Augusta National gaffes by them. So it's very interesting. He was saying, you got to say pageant stuff. It's so uptight with that. It's hilarious the way they've never like they've never chastised me. I'm sure there's times that I've said galleries and such. So I don't think they watch me as closely as they watch gymnasts on CBS.

Everyone I think it had a text from his buddies, old man or something that Larry David sent them about what he thought of his experience at the Masters. But we won't go into it. You kind of we mentioned you're hopping around from all these things in your motor is insane. And I don't know how you do it. But as far as experiences go, you just mentioned the Masters and then and then doing it for for hockey. What are some other things along the way that you've experienced that were just surreal and you never thought you'd find yourself?

They're all pretty much everything I do, because when we lost the national right, which was I guess six years ago now, which at the time felt really devastating. Right. And Hockey had we've done it for so long and we still do a ton of hockey now, we just have regional rights for the Leafs and the Jets and this ends and the Habs and all that. So we end up doing more hockey than we did before. But for me, it kind of allowed me to change the course of my career so I could do other sports, like do the Masters.

I get to do the Super Bowl. I'm lucky enough to join the CFL for the playoffs. The Grey Cup. If you guys haven't got a Grey Cup of Grey Cup, I'll take the Grey Cup over the Super Bowl any day. You know, Super Bowl has your you know, your Canadian common to know comment from a Canadian.

I mean, that here's the rebel. Here's folk hero. Probably probably because I can't get into the Super Bowl party.

You've got to change the kicking rule. Oh, you can. Do you think I can Duffy Red sneak into a Super Bowl party. We could run the Grey Cup parties, though.

One hundred percent. You guys could you guys could own great week because it's the same people that loves chick flicks. Love, love the Grey Cup. And but that's it's true though. Like there's such a, you know, a corporate rich guy kind of feel to the Super Bowl parties. And the Grey Cup is just so Canadian. And it's I don't know, I just love Grey Cup week. It's super fun. And I got to do the Raptors run in the NBA finals.

So, Dad, your question is all those things like I never thought I'd get to go to the Super Bowl, I never thought I'd get to go to the Masters. Pretty much everything I get to do is is is sensational.

And when was the first time you did an Olympics? I was in 06, so we were in Torino. But here's the funny deal with that. I think I was supposed to do two and then. We had a baby, and so I couldn't go to that and stupid kids.

So in 06, CBC had the rights and they didn't want myself and Gord Miller and Bob McKenzie, I guess the rights holders, I'll probably get this wrong, but they control who gets in the building. So basically we were the competitors from TSM KTB and they didn't want us in the building, so we had no rights. So we had to buy scalper's tickets to go to the gate.

So Gordon Miller had this Galper guy, his name was like Shaki or something and he'd have cash and buy tickets. So and sometimes we could only get singles so we'd sit in like different sections and then we'd meet outside with the cameramen and do our commentary on the game.

You'd send your buddy Puffy to meet his buddy Shaki. That's great. Discounted tickets. And so I did Turino, but. To answer your question, probably the best thing ever in 2010 I got was a real Olympic geek when I was a kid. I love the Olympics from 10 years old when I was in Montreal and two to I got to host during the day in Vancouver and then I go down and do the hockey games at night and that whole situation.

Sorry to bring this up to Aaargh! And you with.

But I'm sorry. All right.

And it was pretty, pretty great moment, wasn't it, because, you know, Iggy said the whole bit that that whole experience being there, I feel like everybody took three weeks off work and it was just a nonstop party.

People said it was like the wildest Olympics ever, probably the most insane couple of weeks of my life. Yeah, yeah. I slept two hours a night. And but you're just on such a kick the whole time and you're exhausted afterwards. I told a story in my last book, but I finished I went close to the closing ceremonies after and then we got in a car. Some driver picked this up, Lisa LaFlamme, who's the main news anchor in Canada.

And I watched the closing ceremonies and we got in the car and I sort of went, holy crap, like, what a crazy day. And we got 50 yards and some drunk. I ran across the intersection and the driver hit him. I'm sorry. I'm laughing. I'll get to it. So I thought we killed this guy. And the driver was this young girl volunteer and she was crying and all of the paramedics were there. And in my head, selfishly, I'm going, oh, man, I'm going to miss the after party.

This sucks so bad and get up.

Yeah. And then, like, so there was paramedics there and I'm like, oh my God, this guy is dead. And we're going have to go to the police station to file a report. And then all of a sudden he jumped up on his feet and he like ran by the window and he was Irish because I can't do an Irish accent. But he's like, sorry but sorry, my fault. And he just goes running off like the paramedics trying to chase him down.

And he was down for about five minutes. So so I made it to the after party. But that was probably the best experience of my career, that entire thing.

Nothing ever closed. My my buddies came and my brother and like, they they just ripped it up every single night. And then we were playing like every five days it felt like. So I've said it many times. It was it was the craziest two weeks. It was the best experience of my life, even though we didn't we didn't get it done.

When you when you start like so that 2010 Olympics, because it was in Canada, could you actually sense, like, the pressure those guys felt? Because I've always thought, like, it was nuts. I mean, the whole it just felt like it was just a bomb ready to explode if they weren't going to get it done. There was such big favorites in Vancouver. And then when we beat them in that first game, I really do feel like there was just so much pressure built up for them.

It was a weird time. Like I, I was so shocked they ended up winning it because it was tough when they lost that first one to us.

You're I think you're bang on and not to plug the book, but I will get into that.

No, but I wrote I wanted to do a chapter about that and I ended up doing Luongo and just his entire perspective of it. And Logan was great. And he he freely admits, like when after that game, I guess I think against you guys the first time. I think that's when they made the change. Schroder had a bad game. And Babcock, Texas Louie on the Boston says, I want to see at the front of the bus when we get off and he says, You're my guy now and and Louis says he basically went white, wanted to puke.

Right. He's not one of these guys. It was bravado, confidence. He, he really felt all that pressure of being in Vancouver where he played and he felt like he wanted to puke the entire tournament except for the games. You know, he settled in in the games. But I think Canada felt that because if you think about that, if you guys score in Otti and like Kovalsky had a really good chance, there was two or three really good chances.

That Olympics, like it was an incredible Olympics for Canada, we set a record for most gold medals by a host nation and all that.

But if Canada loses that game on the last day and this is no disrespect to all the other athletes, but it wouldn't have been the same, it would have felt like this massive letdown if they lose that game and what it would have gone from this incredible moment in our history, in Canadian history to.

Yeah, but they lost to Whitney and the guys in hockey so it would have sucked. The other thing was that closing ceremony was kind of a it was like this Australian guy did it and it had all these Canadian stereotypes. There was a giant inflatable beaver and inflatable moose flying around. It was the tackiest thing ever since Canada had lost. Everybody would have been so pissed off, they would have been chucking things at these guys. But because they want everybody was drunk and they kind of pulled it up.

Party time.

Sorry, Whit. Sorry. No, no, no.

That was Crosby doing that. It was it was meant to be it was like that he was put on this earth to score that goal. He really was swear to God he was.

James, you mentioned the book a couple of times already. Beauty is the title once again. Grab it if you haven't read it yet. Congrats again on your fourth book. How do you decide what to write? Like, what's that whole process until.

I think it would be different for every single book, my first book was about a junior hockey coach, Brian Kilrea, who was just a legend up here. I don't know if he's as well known in the stagecoach, the islanders briefly, but I've always felt like he was kind of Don Cherry without the pulpit. You know, he's just incredible, larger than life character. And I when I was working in Ottawa my early years, I covered him, so I wrote his book.

The second book was kind of a cheesy book of columns, easy book to write, because I'd already written all the columns over 10 years.

And then the third book was kind of a collection of all my stories from my career. And so butties, I don't know. I think sitting on that panel for 18 years, sitting next to guys not just like Bob Mackenzie and Pouilly and Odongo, I'm always beside. But, you know, Bui's was in there a couple of nights. It was in there. I probably had 50 different players, coaches like tortes and and lavae. And I realized maybe five or six years ago, I had this collection of stories that guys had told me that I needed to to do something with.

And so I started kind of writing them down in my phone memo folder. And I guess a year and a half ago or so started deciding it would be a book.

And so that was basically it.

I guess the four beauties. I you know, there's a million hockey books which have are like biographies. So they have a few good stories in them.

But you also have that I grew up in South Boston and the whole childhood thing, and I just wanted to write a book which is great stories, which is kind of and I will say this like what you guys do every week. You know, as I was writing this, it's not to blow too much smoke towards you, but it was like the confirmation that I was doing the right thing, because I think when I was first trying to make the deal with the publisher, it was when you guys sort of started to blow up.

And as as you know, I listen to you guys and you got more and more successful. It was confirmed in my head. What I thought I knew is that hockey just has so many great stories. And so when I wrote this book, I wanted it to be just when I called people, I said, you guys know because I badgered you for months, just tell me you're like, tell me an awesome hockey story. That's all I want.

I don't want anything else. Just fifty seven different guys tell me a great hockey story. And and that's what it kind of ended up being. So it's, I guess, my best that I've said this in interviews before.

It's like spitting shit clips, but with words on a page with my stories got rejected, though I had to keep all my best ones. Probably can't be in that book. It's not going on. It's not going in. Hustler, dude, it's not a subscription.

Thirteen. I got you.

I mean, I mentioned the porn star story, but only in a paragraph, I think. Oh my God, I cleaned it up pretty heavy. I'm pretty good. Yeah. That's the problem though. I don't know how many you guys I don't know how many stories in the book because you've had I'm sure a lot of the people that are in the book on your on the Potter, you know, they've already told on spit and checklists. I'd have to do a cross reference at some point that probably there's a few for sure.

Yeah. How do you decide where the line is?

Because obviously some of these stories of, let's say, colorful, that, you know, maybe you tell on this show, but you might not want a family friendly printed version. So how do you figure that out, James?

Well, I think with most most guys know that it's a book. So when I talk to them, I say, guys, this is going to be in print forever. You know what? Your grandkids are going to go be able to pick this up somewhere in some obscure library. So I think most guys, there were a few that people would call me back and say, hey, could you take out this line or or this thing? But for the most part, you weren't getting the, you know, a bunch of guys at the Ripper, joint stories.

It was more, you know, just most of the stuff I think you could tell on Spit and check, which I'd clean up the language here and there. There's language in the book, but I kind of wanted all ages to be able to read it, too. So when I interview somebody like a guy like this sometimes, or I'm trying to think of somebody like Kelly Chase, probably drop two F bombs percentages in our interviews.

And so I had to cut it down to one per paragraph or something to make a sound somewhat articulate. What were a few that you took away from the book being like this is this is going to make some noise? I know there was one about John Cooper I think I talked to you about on the phone before we talked on here.

Did Cooper Cooper been on your part and told that story? You know, we're trying to drag them on. Our was partying with them at a party the other night, was trying.

So trying to recoup is great, by the way. And when he for most of these guys, I didn't know the story beforehand. I just called people and said, tell me your story. Or they you know, they text me and say, okay, I got one for you and then called me back. And Coop's story without giving away all the details. Cooper story involves Dustin Tokarski. When Cooper is coaching Syracuse, Dustin Tokarski gets carjacked at knifepoint.

There's a high speed police chase. They spend the entire day at the police station. They race to a game and bingo, they get there late, basically run. Across the highway to get to the game, they go down to Casket's got PTSD, so he just says sit in the dressing room and you civies, they fall behind five. Nothing to Binghamton's. That was a good big team that had Hoffman and Robin Lenar and all those guys. So they start a brawl down five nothing.

Late in the second. There's a goalie fight between Lenar and Melania's. They both get kicked out. So the trainer has to go back and get Tokarski to dress. Tokarski comes in, they score six straight and win six, five and over.

And so finish telling me that story. And I said, OK, we got we got a carjacking, a car chase, a goalie fight. BRISTO And like a ridiculous once in a lifetime movie at this point. Yeah, I finished and I said, OK, that's the exact reason I wrote this book. Right. And it was the same with with, you know, talking about being sitting on the bathroom in the back of the private jet, which is just I told you guys you know, you guys you said you guys both sent me voice memos, which is really cool.

Well, it's so much I was in my ass. Oh. But I just laughed my ass off. Yeah. Sid actually sent me voice memos, too. It's hard to get guys, first of all, who are like, you know, as busy as you guys are on the podcast with guys like Sid in the middle of a playoff race. And so Sid would send me voice memos every couple of weeks and he sent me four or five. And they were all great stories.

As you guys know him. Well, he's he's underrated, I think, as a storyteller.

And so every couple of weeks I get a voice memo. Hey, it's James said so this one time, me and Colby Armstrong. And it went on and on like that.

That's unreal. Which all those four hey, if everything goes to shit you can just sell those things. You'd be back back in the penthouse. Sid voice memos on Amazon.com.

What was the super story for? Cooper was a blessing because at the end of the interview, I'd always ask and I probably asked you guys, I said, is there anybody I should talk to? I don't care if they're big name, but tell me a great character, great storyteller that I should talk to. And Cooper sent me to Erik Nielsen, who was Sid's roommate and guy. And that ended up being the first chapter of the book because he talked about why he only calls them Daryle.

And Nielsen was a wing, by the way. And there's a bunch of stories in there that are just coocoo. I don't know how she did survive without getting in trouble, but that's kind of the way the book work, right? Somebody would tell me about somebody. Somebody would tell me about somebody else and in the end suddenly have a book of great stories. James, how long is the process from soup to nuts from when you first have the idea to when the actual book comes out on this particular?

Well, in this case, probably five, six years. The idea I have a tendency to be lazy and I let something fester in my head for years and say, do I really want to do the work?

And then suddenly I need money like my wife comes home with a Louis Vuitton purse or something. And I'm like, oh, crap, I got to write another book.

Sitkoff, another story. Going to get this long as you're not doing couples photos.

Shit, all the vodka connection.

Well, that and your schedule probably fills up quick with how much you're having to do now and what it's hard to say no to.

How did you develop that motor where like you have to be a bit of a mirage, you know, if John Wright and down or a sports center up here, we're listening to this, they would laugh because they always say, I never work because I don't. I think people see me because, you know, they see me on SportsCenter. We'll do a hit after the game. It runs for twenty four hours the next day. And they think you're always working.

And that's not really the case. I have a you know, I have a my schedule gets intense at times like the world juniors or the masters or whatever, but then I'll have gaps.

And with this case, with covid, it really helped me in the last couple of months finishing off the book to really answer our question. It's probably like a year and a half. I think I signed the deal. I think about it for a few months. Then I start making the phone calls and slowly getting everybody together and the writing process maybe, you know, four or five, six months here and there. It takes like four months to get a hold of biz.

So that's four months in itself.

I'm so busy, busy. And I texted him and he texted me, must have been two times each. And I was like, dude, if you sent out the story and he's like, no, fok. I'm like, neither have I.

I just I would I would go to do it. Some would come up Grenelle he knows what, what I think I'm talking about right now. But finally I was like I got to sit down and actually do this.

Well the thing, the reason that was bugging is so bad and I hate Bug and people it really every time I sit down to make that text guys honestly I cringe because I hate doing it. But it was so funny in this book. Bobby was the first email I sent the very first day. I said I got to start writing this book. I sent an email to Bobby over and I don't pretend to have I've interviewed him a lot. Certainly he knows me, but I don't pretend to be tight or anything with Bobby or so I think maybe he'll get back to me or his people will get back to me.

So that's ten thirty at night, eight a.m. the next day I get this call from an unknown number and I pick up the phone like a James is. Bobby, are you ready to hear my story?

And I write this in the book like I freaked out. I panicked because I didn't even know how to tape phone calls back then. So the only thing I could think of on the spot was I get my wife's phone and I put my phone on on speaker and I use the voice memo thing and I record my wife's phone. So I ran into my wife is like ordering something online and she's on the phone with the salesgirl. And I'm like, Honey, it's Bobby freaking where I need your phone.

And she's like, Yeah, yeah, yeah. So do you have extra small in that in a blue Macanese? But Bobby can work. I need your phone.

So this goes on for about six minutes. I finally grab the phone from her. Bobby tells me the story. But the point of that Dettol Gretzky like I text Gretz. Hey, do you think you could have a story that you haven't told in your book? Ten minutes later he calls me. So I was bug and biz. I said I got Bobbio in one night.

I got three minutes for I'll never live this down.

Well, and also we the shuffle through ones that I could tell in your book, which Bobby and Greg Gretzky have never done an ad read this.

If that's true, how many swipe ups have they done?

We going to talk about world juniors. I mean, we we don't you know, we don't dive too much into it. But this year, because there's no hockey being played, we are going to Canada has got to be the favorite in this one.

They are. I got to I just remember I got to tell you guys a quick covid story. So this we're going into this bubble.

We got to sit in our room for four days when we get to Edmonton. I leave on Saturday and we have to do three Kobad tests. So they come to they the guy comes to our house to administer the covid test to me, and then he puts it in a little goes up my nose and he puts in the little plastic bag and says, put it in the fridge and a separate guy is going to come pick it up in the truck or whatever.

So I say, no problem. I put it in the fridge and my daughter's home. And I said, I'm going to go downstairs to hit some golf balls, which proud of me, I got the little simulator going downstairs and just call me.

Call me when. Call me when this guy comes or just get it out of the fridge. So I come upstairs. An hour later I go, did he come? And she goes, yeah. I said, did you give it to him? She goes, Yeah, I got out of the freezer and I go, the freezer. I, I said, it was in the fridge. So I run to the fridge and the thing is still in there.

I said, so what did you give this dude? And she goes, I don't know. It was a little plastic thing with a vial in it. I'm going, what the hell. So I now I got a. To call this lab and say, sorry, but my daughter gave you the wrong thing, they didn't give you my covid test, so they call me back and say, OK, we have this envelope. It says legally veterinary clinic on it.

She gave them I guess my dog was having these eye problems and they were injecting some blood serum into his eye. And so that's what she gave the covid guy. So so I tested negative for covid, but positive for dog rabies anyway.

Yeah. It's not as dirty as Usera. No, no, no, it's not. It would have been. I'm sure there have been better punchlines for that. But yeah, it's coming.

I'm always you're right. Canada is loaded. But that does like every forward is a first round pick. It's ludicrous because of this weird circumstance we're in with the pandemic and almost everybody being available except for LaBron Year. But look, the Americans are going to be good. The Russians are going to be good. So I always think you just never know how these kids are going to react to a situation. Something goes wrong in a semifinal game, you know, and suddenly you're down two goals.

And I don't think you ever know how how teams are going to react. And that's what makes the world juniors great. I've always said the reason it's the best hockey of the year is because there's tons of mistakes and they're 18 and 19 and sometimes 17 and 16 years old and they screw up and four to one games can go back the other way and be five, four and a heartbeat. And so that's what makes a great James.

Canada's the big jock, minus one thirty roughly depending on what size you go on.

But do you think any Cinderella plays the jumping on? I see some fifty to ones out there. Fifty five to one.

I mean we're taking a flyer on perhaps what what have we got. Germany, a country that lets Switzerland fifty to one, Slovakia fifty five, Germany seventy five. Even Finland seven to one is sure to.

Does that go from fucking Finland. Always in the mix. Finland like there always isn't supposed to be as good this year. Although Anton Lendell, there might be one of the best players in the tournament and that whole pesky Finnish cliche is true for a reason. Right? Like there. They're not an underdog anymore, though. They used to be kind of the fifth wheel at this tournament. Every year was funny. Every year I could do radio interviews before the world juniors and they'd say, who are the favorites without even looking at the rosters?

You go Canada, Russia, USA, Sweden tonight. And it's, you know, basically there'd be little 10 percent differences between those teams. But Finland has won two gold medals and what, the last five, six years. The Finns are a powerhouse now, I think are on the betting you're better off to take like Switzerland is always good for at least one, at least near upset in the tournament. And but but overall upsets like favourites to win, that just never happens.

Right? In Germany, you'll upset somebody or take somebody to over time, Switzerland will give you beat Russia in overtime or something in the in the in the round robin play. But when it once it gets to the medal round, it usually never happens. Slovakia creeps into the bronze medal game once every few years, but for the most part, it's going to be one of those five or two of those five in the gold medal game.

Right. What about the Czechs? Actually, I forgot them at twenty to one.

OK, I'm going to be fourth right here. Bobby Mac and Craig Button do the hard core research. When I'm locked in my room for four days, I will be studying the Czech roster. But I would be lying if I knew any depth right now of the Czech. And there's nothing I hate more than guys the best and go on and say, yeah, well, they got some you know, they got depth there in the first couple of lines, a and that's what we do.

Yeah. Gloppy guys like you ever surprised you came on our show? No, I hear what you think of us.

I fake my way through many a relegation game at the World Juniors where when I don't know anything, I just go. Bob, the check your thoughts.

You mentioned the pressure that they faced in 2010. Vancouver just I don't know of Americans listening can understand the pressure that these Canadian kids go through for world juniors and they're not being paid. No, they're not, but, you know, when people I know you're not one of those because there are people that are that don't like the world just because of that hate, that we put too much pressure on these kids. It's funny, whenever Canada wins, the nation celebrates and goes crazy.

Whenever Canada loses, you get a few people on social going.

You know, they put way too much pressure on these kids and might come back to that is always every single kid in Canada wants to be on that team who plays at that level. They all want that pressure. They want to be on the world juniors because it's such a grand stage, because DSN makes a huge deal out of it every year that that's what they want. And so they love that pressure. And if they lose, yeah, there's a few jerks that take it too far, probably in the criticism.

And I don't believe and I think when we cover it, we cover it differently than the NHL, because when Canada loses, yes, it's fair to say they didn't perform well or they underperform. You can criticize. But I think at the back of your mind, when Bob and I or Greg Barton or Gord Miller Rafer, our we're talking that we're always keeping in mind that they are kids and you're not going to rip somebody and destroy them. You know, the way that somebody might for a 10 year NHL vet because of what happened in one tournament.

And as far as the pressure, is it going to be last this year with no fans? Probably right. I think that that's it's an amazing boost when you have eighteen thousand screaming and red and white, but. I think maybe it takes a little bit of the heat off when when nobody's there for all the teams, right. No doubt, what's your favorite aspect of covering attorney James? Just the hockey R.A. in the end, first of all, we don't get we're locked in the studio a lot during the year and there's nothing like being at live events.

And when it's in North America, Bob and I are there and I won't be as great obviously this year because there are no fans there. But anywhere in the Canada or the states like Buffalo is awesome. That outdoor game in Buffalo is fantastic. We can in the US a few years ago, it's just the atmosphere is different than anything else. It's different than even the Stanley Cup final. And I always say Canada, we wave this flag. It's this big hockey nation, but it's all B.S. We're seven different hockey nations that all kind of hate each other.

Everybody hates the Leafs, who's not a fan. Canucks fans sends fans, Flames fans yet that they all hate the Leafs, Oilers hate the flames and the Jets and so on and so forth. And, you know, this is kind of the two weeks we're all Canadian fans are kind of the same. I know that sounds hokey.

That's way to put it. I never thought they all they're all they all get into it. They're so crazy during those two weeks they're singing. And, you know, people are, you know, have blitzed at the games. It's it's just it's just it's an awesome experience. It ends up being such a great party at the end of that tournament for teams to I remember playing you had once you had the night after the last game and everyone at six AM flights, I'm sure you do the same thing when you're in Europe.

You're quickly out of there so that last night ever just goes crazy. Yeah, I know the kids.

Sometimes it's just like a bus ride and they're gone, right? Yeah, it's a celebration of exactly a few few hours or whatever.

So, yeah, it's it's it's my favorite. Two events of the year are the World Juniors and the Masters for two different reasons. The World juniors, just because it's like I said, the best hockey that you see all year. And there's so much passion for all of the players, all the countries. And by the way, I'm a you know, I'm a proud Canadian, but I I'm one who likes it when the other countries win. I like the last eight years or so.

It's been great because everybody's won. And when Canada wins five golds in a row like they did in that stretch to twenty nine, it was great for Canadians, but it's not great for the tournament.

No, it's not. It's great when Finland wins and and the US knocks a couple of golds and Russia wins a couple of golds. I think that's fantastic for the tournament.

So you know. Call me a homer, but I like it when everybody wants. What's the typical workday done during this, James, 16 hour days, 14 hour days? How long the workday is here?

Yeah, juniors will be long, but there's Dick all to do. All right. Like we literally in this bubble when there is nowhere to go, we have the hotel in Edmonton and the booth where Bob and I will sit for the whole time. So there's literally nothing else to do. So we'll get to the rink. If Ferraro ever listens to this, he'll laugh because he isn't going to end up doing almost every game. And Bob and I take games off and he always makes fun of those intermissions that you do a really grueling the two and a half minute chat that you guys do when we're calling every single game.

But I kind of ride Bob's coattails. You know, Bob's at that sort of semi retirement age. So Bob always takes a schedule. He's like the godfather. The whole Bob father thing is true. So he grabs to give the world junior shed. And Bob goes, Hey, James and I will do that game, that game. Austria, Germany not doing that, that game, that game. And so I just sit back and ride Bob's coattails, but we're pretty much at the rink.

You know, we'll do two games a day. Some of the days we'll do three games. And but it's great. There's nothing else to do anyway.

One story I forgot to ask you that was in the book Realm, his comeback story. And I know you were pretty close with him.

I don't pretend to be close to him, but I worked in Ottawa and Paul was covering the sands. And I really respected the guy always. I always thought he got a bit of a bad rap. He was one of the first guys who wore the flashy suits to games and things like that.

Definitely made humour the way he made some mistakes.

But at his heart, he was a good guy. And most guys who know him will say that, right. The hockey players know him best.

And when Ray when Ray passed, it really bothered me that every story was about troubled.

NHL goalie Ray Emery dies in mysterious fashion. And it had this sort of cloud about it. And I say in the book, if you Google Ray Emory's name, every single story is about the way he died. And Matty Niccolò, who you guys know, the greatest trainer out there and a good buddy. I knew that he had he had helped Ray get back from that injury. And I had a lot of people in hockey had already said, I'm sure I'm not.

I'm saying something. You guys all know that that injury is one of the greatest sort of unreported comebacks ever. And so, Matty, I wanted Matt to tell that story. And basically, Ray could have been I know people exaggerate these things sometimes, but Ray could have easily been paralyzed. This was a surgery that had only been done on one one guy. And he was going to need there was no way he was going to play in the NHL game again.

It was almost impossible. But he wanted to. And so he told me that you're going to bring me back to the NHL. And Matt said, Buddy, if I get you jogging again, it would be a massive success. And Ray said, no, I'm going to play in the NHL again. And so the story is more about these two guys. And Ray didn't talk to Matt for like a month. And I thought, who is this guy?

That he won't say anything. He'll do all the workouts, but he's not talking to me. He hates me. He's going to fire me. But as soon as he let them in, they became like incredible friends. And Matt will now say now he's he's the most generous hockey player he's ever met. So I just wanted to tell a different side of Ramadi that people maybe didn't know because that comeback to win the Jennings trophy in the Stanley Cup in Chicago with Crawford and go, what, nineteen and one with a one point four goals against him, like a nine sixty save percentage or whatever it was that year from from where he was at.

The possibility of not walking again, I just think is one of the most remarkable comebacks in hockey history. That's a great story, I'm excited to read the book, how many total stories are there in there? Fifty seven is what I say. I got to be Ryan Whitney chapter. I got to look it up for you guys. Why didn't you why didn't you sign mine that I not.

Oh, I did sign years.

I don't think you did, but I don't think you did or you know what happened. And with me, I didn't. The books came out and the the the editor, the publisher guys love you guys, by the way, HarperCollins, they have big fans. And so they wanted to send books to you guys right away. So before I even had the books, they said, OK, OK, so I promise I will send.

You know how weird it is, though, for me to send autographed copies to I'm like I'm more like it's so good, so classy.

If you have an autograph, you get a legit book and it's autographed by the Alver.

I'm some dinky cable sportscaster from Canada. I'm a person, I'm a I'm a person too. I know my weird it is writing to Sydney to Sid. Best wishes you hold your head up. Shave's Duthie dear to Wayne. All the best. Say no to drugs. Keep dreaming large. You know, it just felt so dumb signing my autograph on books to all these legends. But I apologize for that.

You guys will get autograph copies. I promise. That's awesome.

Well, I didn't have any. Go ahead. Go ahead. You know, I was going to go down a different path and world junior so you can.

Oh, I was going to mention the chapters for the spit and check with fans out there just so they can go right to it. I'm sure they can snap. These last dance is chapter one, two, three, four, five, six, chapters six in the book and wit one of my old numbers, Bugsy, I'm fifty seven overbooked PJI I think it's called.

I'm trying to find it is like overbooked PJ That's like chapter page one thirty five.

And they did a number of chapters here so he's involved in the story with Whit or he has his own chapter actually. But we're told two stories.

Yes, that's right. And we made a I'm not I'm not trying to promote a podcast on your podcast, but they they ask you to do an audio book. Right. And I felt stupid just reading my book, you know, like on Donald Sutherland, just like Obama did it.

Yeah, that's a little different. Oh, listen, that was a fine young man when he joined the coyote. You know, it didn't sound right.

So I have this great producer. You know, my version of Mike is this guy named stuff, and he's an awesome producer. He does my podcast, a Rubber Boots podcast. And so we decided to do it like an audio book on steroids where we take the chapters. But you hear you guys tell them the story and he put in all the, you know, the radio doc kind of sound effects and they're really cool. We did Witts already.

We're going to get to business in January, but it's kind of an audio book of twenty twenty two or more of I expect it to.

Did you say to you did you put my voice memo to you on the pod.

Yeah. Did I get permission for that. No, I don't care. But did you take out shit. I might have said that was bad.

Yeah, I made you look great, but I think I sent it. You just didn't listen to it. I don't listen to fucking anything. Something I don't listen to anything. I literally sent you the finished version of the podcast. Anyway, it's not just your stories were great guys. And and I'm not blowing smoke, but when I sat down, I said both these guys have to be in the book because they're exactly what the book's all about.

We appreciate that different road here. How's the golf game? You mentioned the Masters and there was a big I think they did something similar to the sandbaggers because what was the deal? That was you and Dubus played? I'm going to I'm going to butcher it. What was the match?

So was involved. Yeah. So my my sort of business partner is, as far as Biz likes to call it, Jeff is a guy named another Jeff, Jeff Dykeman up here who also represents Jerry and he's good buddies with Kyle Dubus. Jerry is a comedian that people in the state should listen to to watch Mr. D, which I think is now available in the States. Great show. We just had them on. Yeah, he's awesome. So basically, he wanted to put together this big charity match for a lot of money and it was ended up being Dubus and Jerry D against me and Jeff O'Neal.

And it was an incredible tragedy where I was on fire. I'm very streaky. I'm probably kind of like this and always kind of like when he's not. I would say, oh, he's not as good as you wit, but he's a really good player and Jerry is really good and Kyle's got a good swing, but obviously it doesn't have a chance to play as much because he's a GM. And and so I was on fire for the first front nine basically, and it made some birdies and we were up by five strokes.

And then I completely crumbled down the stretch and always never forgiven me. And it's all captured on video. It's horrific.

Wedge game.

Was it your wedge guard while I was chunking wedges because, you know, like you guys know, feeling I could do TV in front of ten million people, but. You know, they closed down the course, there was like four cameras and you had to type things on and when I start to go south, I go south in a hurry. And I started to question everything about my game.

And I just I'm a mental midget was just awful. Still, that's great content right there, you get more into that. Speaking of old dog, he's always dogged us. He's not allowed to come on. Too bad. Now you now you are dog.

Look at the TSA. The absolute the number one man at TSA ends on with us now. Dog, come on.

When you when you guys were talking about stories that could or couldn't go in the book, I had a book of stories from him that couldn't go in the book, you know. Oh, yeah, 90 percent of the palm trees involved.

I think that's why he doesn't want to come on your podcast because he doesn't trust himself to edit himself. Will edit. He is he's very much like you, too. And that he is he is incredibly self-deprecating. He's a hilarious guy and yes, a great storyteller. He would be great. And he's a great storyteller.

That's the one thing. And I think I'm surrounded by, you know, Jamie McCleen and Dave Pool and Mike Johnson, these guys are awesome storytellers. And so that's what makes it so easy to do a book like that. James, I think you're downplaying maybe your creativity too much, you got a real creativity, you like to scratch you up behind the Puckle of a glass on the panel, hang a little video was a huge hit you great acting.

By the way. You had an appearance in June. Is that something you kind of want to do, maybe a little more of as you get older? Those just kind of fun side projects.

I had a bunch of real idiot friends are growing up like real idiots. You guys would have loved them all, just did ridiculously stupid things every Friday night. I was not about getting girls. It was about pulling the stupidest prank. And I was probably the least funny of all those guys. And so I grew up in that. And I think I always wanted to do idiot stuff. And when I joined TSA and eventually they let me do stupid stuff, I did a bunch of things with Luongo that were really dumb and the puck over glass.

I always wanted to be a musician. I think secretly my dad was a great musician and I never had the talent to actually write music, but I could come up with tunes. And so we did that puck over glass video and and we did another one called Don't Take My Goal Away, which is was a boy band. We did a parody of like an N Sync video, and it was Old Dog and myself and Noodles. And Bob McKenzie does a rap.

No, Reetta makes an appearance. You guys got a YouTube? That one. It's called Don't Take My Goal Away. And we have I have another brilliant friend. Lester McClain is on my iPod and he's a brilliant musician who works at TFN. So basically I will call him and I'll have like the tune in my head. I'll write the lyrics and I'll say, Lester, you've got to put this to music and I'll be like, fuck over glass.

I can as I go.

Like, I worked so hard to make it to the league and puck over glass he riff kiss my ass so and I'll just sing the to him and then we'll put it, he'll put it to music.

And that's the one thing I'm really like I have amazing people to send, but they've always let me do stupid stuff like that. And that's one of my favorite things about working at this network is I can be serious on the panel with Bob or at the Masters, but they'll let me do idiotic things. And I, I think I enjoy that as much as anything else. SoundCloud rapper next. That's what that's what all the young kids are doing. Are you on tick tock, James?

You're doing the tick tock. It's so funny you say that my daughter did a little tick tock video last night that she put me in and she was all excited today because it went I got no, I guess viral and tick tock. You had like two hundred thousand views. And so she's all she's all pumped up because I got her all these followers on Ticktock. And now I got all these creepy guys.

Yeah. You're like, oh great honey. Yeah, yeah. A bunch of guys wrote because she's in the video for a second too and a bunch of guys wrote, Hey, there's Duthie, my future father in law.

Oh my goodness. That was deleted. Those were the clean ones. We're not using that. We even have a limit here. What else?

Tell me, can I tell my favorite biz NHL on appearance.

Ah, I was the first time I'd ever experienced anything like that. I didn't understand how much work was involved. And then like, once you're on, you're on. And I was hung over every single day.

You don't have to apologize because like you're you are awesome. And I'll say this sincerely. I sound like I've been blown way too much smoke the show. But when when Whit and I told him this, which came in, you guys came in for only like two days each. We used to have guest appearances during the playoffs. And when we came in and left, I said, like that guy, I didn't know it was going to be spin and checklists and everything.

But I said, that guy is going to be like an awesome Annalie. If he wanted to be a straight analyst, you would have been awesome at it. And I know you do some of that on NHL Network. Thank you. And Biz, your personality was just like you were just blown up at the time, right. It was just starting to blow up.

But before point one, one point. All right. So I think we were doing either we were doing in Nashville, Vancouver playoff game or we were commenting on a Nashville Vancouver playoff game during the intermission. And it was one of business first intermissions. And that was this this was at the height of single biz just starting to ride fame, and Nashville was ahead of Vancouver. He was an elimination game in Vancouver and Nashville was up by a goal or something going to the third period.

And we were doing our serious panel. And I said to Biz Biz, what do you think the Canucks are thinking about the prospects of going back to Nashville? And Bill said quite seriously, they got to love that. Nashville is awesome. The bars there are amazing. I said, no, no, because I met the prospect of losing the game and having.

Oh, yeah, they don't want to go back there for that whole matter of like six of them. And there are six there. Last year we spent three days actually I might add seven. My focus is going to be I want to sit and they're laughing. Baby, let's go. Kanaks. Oh my God.

Oh, whoopsie. Look, see Daisy, that was I think we had Carrie Frazier was there as well at the same Carrie Frazier butchered a story when he came on your podcast. Maury Well, he got me in trouble too, because I had one of our PR people call and say, hey, just so you know, Carrie Frazier told a rather controversial story on and check. What about you guys all watching porn and what are you talking about?

So what happened was Biz and Carrie for Carrie Fraser was like our referee analyst during the round. Terrific guys. You guys know and and biz. At one point, I think business had gotten the video from a lady that was probably from the graphic that was graphic and it involved some sort of device or something. And he was showing the video to Carrie Fraser. And Carrie said, that looks just like my brush, my hair.

And so Bob and I thought this was the funniest thing in the history of the world, because Carrie is just like this incredibly innocent, wonderful guy because, you know, look at this.

Yeah, yeah.

We had a Carrie end up getting a Sharpie and signing the brush to biz from your buddy Carrie Fraser. And I just Bob and I just thought that was the greatest thing in the history of the world, that Carrie Fraser gave us a brush because of some semi porn video that you can see.

I got all yeah. I got a little tick tock of my own there before. Tick tock. Sure.

Were you the night that I came on, was it Gino Retta that was on or would you not have been on with him?

I was on with you for sure. I can't remember who was on the GOP yet. He gave me shit. It was the biggest bunch of bullshit. I said something and we went to commercial. I remember exactly what he said. He's like, Oh yeah, you spoke too quick there.

Let me know. Wasn't you. And and I remember thinking, like, oh man, I already it was the first time and he just and then Mackenzie's like, nah nah you were good, you were good. Don't worry about. I think that you probably did. That's hockey. They, you know, they milk you guys when you're there. So you probably did Gino's show and then came down and did the panel through the top.

And let's go through the line of all the shows right on off there. That was you know, that was my favorite time, though. We don't do that really anymore with our our regional games. But I loved in the playoffs we'd always have current players in and, you know, some guys struggled. Some guys were just awesome right away. I would say the best. Marty Berel, when he first came in, like the first day, I'm like, this guy is going to be awesome.

Even though he's gotten more his French accent has just gotten stronger and stronger over the years. I don't know if the guy lives in Buffalo and his accent just gets stronger every year. French it makes no sense whatsoever. Mike Johnson, same thing. He came in, was playing with Phoenix. He was awesome. And you could tell and it was awesome from the beginning. Then there's other guys like Colby Armstrong, I can remember he really struggled his first night because he was the same as you because, like, it's tough.

People don't realize you guys are hockey players. You've never done TV before.

And we're asking you, OK, speak to the camera, speak in twenty seconds, somewhat of a filter on, put somewhat of a filter on. That's the biggest thing. I got to go. I got to run it through two of them.

The red light, the red light turns on.

First night talks was on when Torts joined us. We had a pool about when he would swear and I think I had the lowest on the under. I had eighteen minutes and I lost. He was fourteen minutes. He swore and talks. He only dropped like an ass bomb. He just said he was talking about he was mad about somebody Sean Avery or something and and he or just some, some player he was unhappy with and he just said shit.

And we went to commercial break and I said Tortes you can't, it's T.S.A., you can't swear and talk says, I didn't swear. And I said he swore we had to show him the tape because and that's little towards people think he's fake or he's putting on a show. He gets so passionate that he loses his mind and then he doesn't know what he's saying. Craftswomen. Yeah. He didn't know that he that he swore. But but anyway, you like it's.

Really, it's hard to come in there the first time with all the studio lights and people barking things out, you and I can remember Kobe. Kobe was such a nice guy. And Kobe like guys, what do I say? What do I say? And we'd say, OK, well, Kobe, what are you talk about the power play and say, you know, the penguins really work it around well. And, you know, they use Malkin at the point and he'd say, OK, and he come on and say exactly what we told the penguins power play really work.

Well, they use butt. But now Kobe's become like this awesome analyst for SportsNet. Right. So you come in for two days. It's really it's hard to do. But you give guys a little bit of time and it's not it's not rocket.

It's not rocket science. Right. So you could learn it.

It just me, a few reps, armies, one of the funniest, like best guys I've ever met. And he came on the show, so we got to play in the minors together. You know, he was traded the year before.

I was we both went through the same thing and I ended up getting him on this podcast real early before bed when it was just me and.

Right, right. OK, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah. No, he's not. I'm sorry.

He was such a big hit. Everyone loved them. Since then, they've been asking for him to come back on. I ask him and he won't because he gets he has the worst anxiety. He gets so nervous that he's going to say something like and even before shows he gets it, he'll still get nervous. He was like that before games. And he's such a funny guy, the way he goes about it and talk talk about self deprecating. But he's the man.

So there's a big podcast. I wish I thought of the name of it right now. I'll know it in. I want to see Saskatchewan. And they said they're buddies with AMI and they've been asked me to come on. I said, if AMI comes back on Chilcote's I'll go on your show.

So Ami said, know right away. So now the pressure's really on them. But you mentioned him and I always have people ask me, you got to get him back on. Well now the ball's in his court.

He was so good in the book. And again, I always hesitate to start telling stories on the spot because you guys have probably heard them all. But his story about wrestling was said and he ends up nienstedt in the balls. Does you know that story? No. Well, that's so that's one of the ones in the book is when they were you know, I think Ami just got called up in his room and was said and they were like goofing around, wrestling in the hotel room.

And he kind of ran across the room and tried to do like a dive off the top rope off the bed. And he and he needs sit in the balls and and said, you know, he got swoll, real swoll. That's the good say.

Yeah. And they had to go to the trainer because he didn't think he was going to play. And Ami talks about it. He's so funny. It's like I was just praying, you know, the Army was worried that he'd killed Sid.

He's just he's you're right.

He's just one of the best. Well, we got them back. We we appreciate you coming on. It's been it's been fun catching up and hearing about your career, your life and what you do. So look forward to listening to you during. Actually, I won't be able to I won't be able to see the Canadian broadcast during the World Juniors.

But still, I'll try to log your testimony and. I'll get you the top secret. James and Bob only link if you want so you can watch the Canadian Byatt's broadcast, particularly for the Candidate USA game.

Bring it on. All right. Hello to all our followers. I got you guys. Well, have fun, James.

I'm sure you'll do great. And once again, the book is called Beauties Hockey's Greatest Untold Stories available wherever fine books are sold. So by all means, check it out, James. It was a pleasure and a blast. Thanks so much for joining us, brother.

I know it was it was my pleasure, guys. Huge fans of the pod. And thanks again for again. Duty's probably happened because Biton chick flicks is so successful. So don't sue me, OK?

Wow, that's quite an honor. Thank you. Collect some royalties.

See you boys. Thank you. Thanks so much to James Cagney for jumping on with us now. Some good stuff, man. The guy certainly knows his world junior's as in as well as the rest of the league, but just a joy to talk to. So hopefully you enjoyed it as much as we did doing it. So, listen, folks, this time of year, everybody wants to keep their home in their family safe, whether it's from a break in a fire flooding or a medical emergency, simply safe home security delivers award winning 24/7 protection with simply safe.

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All right. You know who needs a simplistic as Walter Gretzky? What the heck? What's going on here? This is like small town crime.

That was I thought that would have been a hanging offence in Canada.

In case you hadn't heard, Walter Gretzky, the old man, and Wayne Gretzky, obviously, someone broke into the house and stole over half a million dollars worth of memorabilia and sold it on the Internet. They actually did it back in August, but they had a track, all the items down. And it was actually a well, I don't hesitate to use the word friend because a friend would do that to someone. But I guess a former friend of the family and a senior Ontario provincial provincial police officer, what jobs I guess they were an officer was involved.

Just absolute travesty. Walter Gretzky, this wasn't like a basement.

And like this guy got a stash like they knew it was fucking Walter Gretzky.

And when they messed with China, it's like it's like Russian roulette. You're done. You get them.

If I can read some of the he's got the most like the biggest things. He stole the jerseys and sticks with the big sellers and because they sold them online. Now, if you're online, you see someone selling something you're not thinking of. Someone fucking stole this off the Gretzky. So they didn't arrest any of the people who bought the stuff because they didn't really know it was stolen. But but they were able to track everything down in Canada. I'm sure once they told people it was stolen from the Gretzky's, they had no problem turning it over.

But then you feel bad for those people who paid money for stolen stuff. Now they're fucking a few hundred bucks. A few thousand.

They take it back from them. I don't I don't know if they they spent the money or what. I don't know if they were able to track get all the dough back.

Why? Well, isn't Kurt Minahan doing a small town crime podcast? He's doing like a murder though. All Yes.

This this would probably go No. One in Canada who stole, who stole and how it all went down.

So either way, man, yeah. Like I said, I'm surprised they didn't string them up in that fucking town square breaking in the fucking gretzky's. You don't do that.

The friends of mine, ocean, ocean, all the guys jumping through the lasers in the basement in Bradford, Bradford under. So bizarre.

I don't know if you watch a live in Florida coming home tomorrow, but I was walking the beach. Did I get a little exercise? And I save all the stuff lit up. And it was a big sand castle like art installation was called Sand Hanjin. It was like designed almost like Stonehenge. So I was on my hands just legit as I saw it come in. And all of a sudden I turned and no shit, no fucking lie whatsoever.

There's a fucking warthog sandcastle right there. Of all the creatures, of all the beaches, the walk out, a legitimate warthog fucking sand sandcastle. Because if you listen to video, because you take a picture beside it. Oh, yeah, I took a picture of it, not beside it, because it was dark and I was by myself. But but when I was making the tape like, oh, look at these sandcastles. And it all sudden I just happened to come upon a fucking warthog sand castle.

What was meant to be it was meant to be, buddy. It was all meant to be come first full circle on you. That's just started snorting at it.

I gave a little snort the old Instagram. So.

All right. So, so well what else you have written down?

I got Lamar Jackson. Twenty one year old getting arrested in Calgary on video. Tom Cruise's nutty on the Mission Impossible set. Yeah, he was a philippon on those people.

Cheesus is that how actors act? They just scream at people.

That was the barista at the Starbucks in Boston the first day I got there.

And apparently all he saw was was two guys on set, like standing close to each other. But they had their masks on.

Yeah. They weren't six feet apart, like.

I mean, he the Christian science, they'll come out to they've gone down on science, Scientology, just for the sake of Scientology, whatever it is, those people who are defending religion call great.

Now we've got another war. Yeah, he went that was similar to the Christian Bale, but I think he went a little bit more over the top for something that wasn't as serious. Guys, when you're on these Holidae Hollywood sets, it's like high stress anyway, and a bunch that does his own stunts. There's there's timeline's it's just like a and he wears a lot of caps, I'd imagine so. Yeah. You know, maybe get out of the coal companies.

But yeah, it was it was kind of funny to hear. But he I mean, he is the Stollman, he's the reason they're all these guys are all working.

And I guess, you know, I mean, I don't know what the exact situation was, but if guys were too close together, man, it's like it's like how funny is the guy who grabs his phone and just get the audio recorder going is like, I'm going to get this zuman worldstar up in his face yet.

Shit stockers.

All Hey, wait, did you have somebody like mashed potatoes.

Oh is that what they say at the golf course. Fuck. Did you ever end up starting the Mandalorian went on Disney.

Oh, I've never watched one Star Wars, but I don't know, like I think Biz's watched it and checked it out after the first three.

OK, if you're not into Star Wars, I can see why not. But yeah, the finale was the other night. It was fantastic.

But you guys didn't see it, so we'll move along. We mentioned the sandbagger already wet. I'm sure you watched Tiger and Charlie Woods mucking up the coast all weekend.

They were last six holes in a sandbagger. Yeah. Anyway, all of a sudden, Charlie Woods is putting me and you in a mine pretzel and we're just like down on the ground and sitting Indian stuff doing keg stands.

So I thought it was awesome to see the coolest part about. About the whole thing was Tiger Woods, as he said once in a lifetime, once there's no one else like him, I would argue Tiger Woods is better at golf than anyone's ever been at any other sport like he was. He transcended sports. And so you never get to see this guy like a normal person who doesn't live a normal life.

Nothing about him is normal until you watch them, like play golf with his kid. Now, granted, they're both amazing. And the kids, 11 years old and he's already a scratch golfer. But to see, like Tiger Woods as a father, it's actually so cool because he's never he's never looked as normal to me, at least. And when you see, like, he's actually so fired up for his son, he made an eagle out there and the kid was all business just walking to the next.

But you could see Tiger Blasik watching your kid do that. So I thought that was awesome. And and now people talk about the expectations put on the kid. I think that if you're doing that, you're crazy, I mean, to talk about an 11 year old playing on the PGA Tour, that's you're just it's it's there's there's the odd you say he's on the trajectory to do that.

I don't even think no, I won't even say trajectory at that age. I think I think I think if you were one of the best, I think if you're one of the best golfers in the in the country or in the world, that 13, 14, I'm going to say you go to the PGA Championships of golf.

No, no, they did not. He did not. There was a course in Quebec, but he shot three over par. So I still run that town. I think, though, at 12, maybe 12, 13, 14, if you're one of the best golfers in the country or the world, you could say you're on the trajectory 11 man. I'm not not saying it yet.

Hockey two. If you saw it, if you showed me an 11 year old who is the best player in Canada. Yeah, they should get the trajectories, like, I don't know him at eleven, you'd be getting called out on the ring shrink in no time.

I think it's awesome though with at one point, whereas you know where the personal life side and how how shut down he was to the world when he was on that massive come up. It's been a treat to watch him on the back side of it and how he's able to enjoy it.

And I think he's feeling a lot less of the pressure, but more of the love from not only golf fans, but sports fans in general. So it's kind of, you know, as somebody who's not very dialed in to golf, but I was always a Tiger fan and always watching. It's like from the humanity aspect of it, it's fucking awesome. And then to see him out there with his kid and how silky his kid is, it's like if he could pass the torch full of a neighborhood, maybe if he could be if you could get amateur status, then maybe we'd give them the invite to the sandbagger.

We'll think about it. I don't know if Tiger is ready for the stage. PGA Tour sent out a tweet, two minutes of them video side by side, like the classic, like a kid who looks just like his dad has the same type mannerisms. So it was awesome.

I thought it was fun to watch one thing, because if this kid does turn out to be a good golfer, I mean, there's no better person to get wisdom from than his father because his father can tell him all the mistakes to avoid the tiger, you know, had himself. So either way, people are going to have eyes on the kid. So he'll have some pressure on him being the son of Tiger Woods, being on TV already. But kid looks like a phenom either way.

Lots of hockey news this week with.

So we didn't really get to the soccer stuff. Yes, so it's a long episode right now, so we'll actually talk soccer next week, more in depth and yeah, if you want to complain, shut up. What I say about golf and how the sandbagger doing now, we're going to have a talking soccer segment because business taking picking a team in the Premier League. I'm Chelsea guys, the Blues.

Chelsea Football Club. I looked at OK, so everyone's like, you can't pick one of the power six teams. I'm like, dude, I want to make sure the game's on TV. I'm not going to pick now. As cool as it is, boys may pick a team that's that's in the middle or at the bottom and trying to get up, trying to stay away from relegation. I'm picking a team that has the chance to win it. And not only am I picking a team that has a chance to win it, they're young, they're hungry.

And I've done all the research I can. I've talked to a bunch of people online. Chelsea brought back the best player they've ever had for their team. Maybe Frank Lampard. I don't even know if I'm saying the names. Right.

That's OK. We don't do that anyway. Chelsea, he was a legend for Chelsea.

And then he went on. Now he's a manager and they hired him as a manager because they got banned from having transfers for a cup for a year was so. So apparently they got caught. I've been told they got caught doing whatever one does. And that's like find a 15 year old phenom some part of the world. And you sent him to a private school in London. And all of a sudden he's playing for your team. He's playing for your under your fifteen and under team.

And then all of a sudden he makes a scene right now, who knows what happened, but they couldn't have transferred. So they brought back this guy. As a manager, you don't have much experience, but he's a legend for the team and they're young. Like I said, they got guys who came to that Chelsea organization, eight years old boys, and their dream was playing for the senior team. How cool is that? The drama in soccer and growing up playing for the the Chelsea organization from the time you were seven years old, getting to the getting to the Premier League.

And that's how got a Russian owner.

They got a Russian or a ton of money this year. Now we can't go to the game.

They got a couple. You know, we can they got a couple German. They got a couple of Germans. Is this Werner? Yes.

He's underperformed this year, but they get the best US soccer player will not be the best U.S. soccer player. Everyone like Pulisic. So they won today. My first day. I'm talking too much because I want to go really and and have segments with the Premier League. I'm all in and I'm OK. I'm going I'm going to do a Chelsea game.

I've gotten a few recommendations. Somebody has been saying Leeds is quite the place to watch a game. I've been here in Crystal Palace and it sounds like a strip club, so I'm kind of already down like I'm thinking of the pink witty promos with fucking Crystal Palace.

So and the rowdy fan base doing, you know. Well, we don't need to go into details. So I'm going to pick a team. I watch Sunderland Till I Die, which is a documentary. It's got two seasons. I don't know what the fan base is rowdy enough for me, but I really respect how these teams get relegated and they don't have much money, are trying to compete and create this culture where they can compete with the Chelsea and the Mannus and the main cities and all these Russian billionaires.

Yeah, man city was an option, but they're a little older.

And I was the only other time I've ever watched soccer or watched a lot in Pittsburgh. And I remember watching Chelsea play in the Champions League. They had this they had this player, Ballock, Michael Ballack from Germany. This guy was a stallion and he was nasty. And I remember being like Armenta, Chelsea. So now I'm getting back. And I was never fully and now I'm all in. I'm gambling. And so I also looked at Tottenham.

They're the most boring soccer team I've ever watched.

And their their manager's a legend, right? This guy is considered one of the best of all time is Portuguese guy. They're like the devils. He's like Lamoriello.

They just it was and that's who has roots for no surprise, which is odd because I believe Crystal Palace is owned by the New Jersey Devils owner. So that's yeah. There's another connection.

You think your team and next week we're doing or I'm doing something. Maybe we release it on the side. I'm doing talking soccer. All right. I'm rooting for Ted Lassos team. One other reminder, check out the sandbagger. We got hazy. And tonight, if you're Yandle dropping, unreal.

And also one of the no bid sorry, we're doing the dozen trivia with Jeff, DLO, Me and Biz, instead of defending our title later tonight that I'm not sure exactly when it's going to be dropping, but keep an eye out for that. Will be tweeting out from the Chipotle account, be business.

What are going to go defend our trivia title on the dozen with Jeff Delo be there seven fifty p.m. Eastern Time tonight, Sandbagger Invitational, Cohasset Golf Club. Myself and Ryan Whitney and Jee was there to help us out. First, Keith Yandle and Kevin Hayes. We will see you there. Be there with a glass of pink Whitney and let's fucking go baby. Bring the birdy juice. YouTube channel, spit and check out YouTube. As always, we like to thank our awesome sponsors here in Checketts, big thanks to our friends and family over at New Amsterdam, vodka and Pink Whitney, huge thanks to everybody over detoxifies making us feel good the next day.

Big thanks to our friends over at CrossCountry Mortgage. If you look in a Reavie or by. By all means, check them out. Big thanks to our friends at Nizza for keeping us safe on the roadways and a huge thanks to everybody over at simply safe for keeping us safe in our homes that.

Have a great week, everybody. Found the picture frozen landscape, chilled this room for 24 hour day. I think so, don't get this over with. Flashback to spring time again. What are they going to go for lunch? Couldn't agree more. Both Great. We tried. We said keep in touch. And, of course, still summertime out to the beach to his book. But I told him no. This time it was me and the.

Now, the powder is just one more sign of excitement tonight. Tonight, I set my mind about.