Barbie, let's go party. Everybody, welcome to Episode three to one of Spuyten checklists presented by Pink Whitney for my friends at New Amsterdam Vodka here on the barstool sports podcast, Family.

How is everybody doing this week? This weekend had a great time out at Lake Tahoe.

We'll get to that shortly. Let's say hi to the boys like we usually do. Producer Mikey Grenelle. What's going on, buddy?

What's going on, guys? Best hope you enjoyed your Aspen trip six days until I see you guys down in Florida. We're still looking for some courses. So if you know any courses in the Jupiter area, hit me up. But boys, I'm excited for another trip. Always get a ton of stuff done. Mean this had a nice long call the other night, so I'm ready. They turn out.

Here we come. Yeah, well, I haven't flown into West Palm Beach in like thirty five years, so I'm looking.

Don't even know what that means. We're it's the airport at the airport. Yeah. Oh you don't just fly into Florida, you just, they don't drop you right in bars.

Don't drop just like at the Grove.

Twenty three actually. What the window. I will go to you next. You pretty much a Florida resident lately. No.

Oh yeah. I'm just looking for that. No state tax is finally convinced me I'm having a blast down here.

I think that the weather everywhere else in the country is kind of a disaster, needless to say. I mean, like you see Texas, what's going on? Florida, it's beautiful. I was in Tampa playing in a golf tournament, Gasparilla, Choteau, Paul Márcia Golf and Country Club. We can talk about that at the end.

Golf cock suck on that one.

And I was I was right involved in that game Saturday between Vegas and Colorado.

We're going to go into what happened then.

But the original view and the original thought I had right when it came on screen was it was one of the coolest looking rings you've ever seen.

So it's exciting to talk to you guys.

There's a million different things we can talk about for the next two hours or whatever it may be. But we also have two fun interviews.

So I appreciate everyone listening. Let's get this thing going.

We're going off the rails twenty times this episode. Yeah, there's nothing there. When I said there's a lot to talk about Anonymous. So it'll be 40 minutes soccer segment for all you pigeons out there who complain and whine to me.

And it'll be it'll be uglier than Batman going against the sun toe to toe with little speaking of off the rails, I mean, I had to put this up top.

You did anything but go off the rails your first time skiing. You made the video and I had said your skiing in skating is similar. You are a pro athlete. But I was thoroughly impressed. Your first day on the slopes.

I got to say I'll trail. They take it back.

You said I was on the Bunny Hills. No word of a lie. I did have one black diamond. I went down one of the hills at Snowmass. That was not the video I sent you. Yeah, you don't think that thing was legit?

Like a highway with maybe a little bit of a hill at the bottom going towards the water.

Where's posture to hop in and take that thing look a little steep.

It was like I think my my likes on my tweet on Twitter might have just five times yours. It was like, Jesus, everyone knows you're on a bunny slope.

I couldn't I couldn't get posher because he's actually in the process. You mentioned golf a little bit earlier. We got to sandbagger coming out this week. It's looking like a Thursday night.

We're back live to back back on YouTube. What's going to be doing the live chat? It's looking like a Thursday night drop. So we're going to do that live thing again Thursday. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But no, I just did that. You got me talking like this. We're going to drop that on Thursday. What's going to be in the live chat? I think that I'm able to hop in because I'm signed up to YouTube now, like one of these young bucks and we got Tyson Nash and Shane Doan.

So three Quixotes employees. Let's go Beber. Aside from that, though, the skiing guys, listen, I don't get to vacation much because obviously I work, you know, especially during the hockey season. But you're forced to put your phone down and your adrenaline gets going, kind of like it did when you're playing. I have now found my passion. You know how you found golf with. I will be oh, you're you're that's what you're saying here I am starting a pink Whitney ski team.

Yes. You're going to be all over the board.

I'm going to put the Tour de France just on hold for for a couple more years here. Pink Whitney ski team. We're going to get the one the one suits or the what do you call them?

The one piece suits, the one piece suit stupid and his lipstick. But it was oh, it was a blast.

So the guy who took care of me out there was that Sheldon Wilonsky guy talked about him. He was the one who he used to play for Huntsville, Alabama. Is that what's the Alabama. Huntsville, Alabama. Huntsville. You played university hockey. There is a Canadian guy. And then he ended up donating to the actual player relief fund just because he's got that connection to once again, I talked about it last podcast, the program that was struggling.

And he also helped raise a bunch of money for that. So we connected. He showed us the all the cool spots to eat. Aspen is absolutely stunning and I can't thank him enough for a wonderful trip, him and his family.

So what did you like? Were you surprised at how easy you got it? I mean, because it is it is similar to skiing. Ah, I mean, skating. R.A. was right.

But when you went down, whatever the Green Square or whatever the easiest one is, first you're like, oh, I kind of have this. Or to take a while, I would completely agree with what you told me.

Is it it's hard to do the body hills to get going. The first one was not steep enough when as I went up and got a little bit steeper, then I realized, like, what edges? Yes. Yeah. He kept saying, it's all edges. It's all edges. Right. And from being a hockey player, I was all I was in my head trying to say is like, OK, but like which one? At first I was kind of going a little bit like knees in like pizza style and working the inside ones.

But in order to go back, like, if you want to turn right, I would get on my far right outside edge and you kind of. Yeah. You think, well, yeah, I know where I'd never ski, just like, no, I know, I know.

Keep in mind, towards the end of my career, I couldn't really skate either. So it's been a while, but it's been a while here. But it was great. Thanks for asking, Ari.

And then what about what about the the postseason like that. Pretty cool to have drinks right at the bottom. That's always upraise. Is it a praise. Be free. I think brisky. Great.

I'm guessing Aspen was top notch. Oh yeah.

It was, it was great. The Snowmass place that I went to was maybe a little bit more like family oriented. I think there's a couple other Joffrey Lupul was in town there. He was skiing at a different hill, didn't end up getting to connect with him. But the one that was I think it was called base camp and it was cool. There was a couple of Chicot fans there. You know, you can grab a couple of pops at the bottom.

Yeah, I love the entire experience, but the biggest aspect was getting my adrenaline back up the fresh air, of course. And the fact that you're off the technology for a little bit, you're forced to be anyway. Yeah, good break if you want to die. Yeah, we mentioned we have two guests coming up a little later. We have Washington defenseman Brendan Dillon had a great chat with him. And we also have on Moch, we also brought in Mark Dayton of Pittsburgh radio fame.

You guys were very familiar with him back in your playing days there. We had a little Twitter dust up with him back on the day, but we had fun. It was it was a nice chat. He's certainly an entertainer. So we get that a little bit later. First off, I want to say now that hockey is back, you're going to have to find your shot. And what better way to do that than with Whitney? From January 1st through March?

Twenty sixth, we are given fans a chance to win a custom banquet and each shot machine. All you have to do is post a picture of you and your pink Whitney and use the hashtags hashtag pink Whitney, hashtag take your shot hashtag sweepstakes. Make sure you use all three. We will be picking winners from the US and Canada every other week. So make sure you get creative with your submission.

The Boys Down the men's club. You're asking me if I could find one of these. As I told them, I poke around, see what I can do for them and one of them I'm going to be given.

I'm going to be given mine away when the competition's over. You know, there are special edition. We've had some great submissions as far as people setting and creative things. So keep them coming, folks.

And you weren't the only one shred the night on the Internet this week. A gritty man, gritty, was snowboarding up a storm? I mean, honestly, that's impressive as hell to do. And a mascot costume, especially with a big hula hoop around you. He was absolutely killing it. Of course, Gritty was out in Lake Tahoe with the NHL was this weekend. The NHL outdoors at Lake Tahoe was kind of a last minute thing that was put together because the schedule's been beefed up.

We weren't able to get to Minnesota for the Winter Classic. I thought the NHL took a great initiative here. Let's do something on the fly. These things are usually planned out years in advance. They only had about two or three months to get it done. And of course, you know, the sun come out like, you know, the enemy of the people like Mr. Burns on The Simpsons. And, you know, they had an eight hour delay between the first and second period.

And everybody, you know, big cat got his jokes in and everybody had fun. But, you know, the second game went off without a hitch. They pushed postpone the stop till night time. We got the beautiful scenic views that look like Roger Deakins was directing the show. I thought overall what the weekend was a success, despite the eight hour information between the first two periods.

I think that it was very normal and probably right to be chirping the nature. I mean, just a crazy look. And then the quote, the quote that maybe we could put on a t shirt from Gary Bettman.

But if you look up at the sun, the cloud cover is everywhere but where the sun is.

And it did a number on the ice. Yeah. So usually the sun's up there and then it goes away at some point and it gets a little cooler and then it comes back out the next day. But I understand like people are going to laugh and make fun of the entire ordeal.

But like I said at the beginning, just the visual right away when you saw it and you knew they'd finish the games and then you move into the next night, we don't have to get to the Bruins fliers. But like the sunset at that time, because we didn't get to see that once the delay happened, those guys in Vegas called, didn't come back to later.

Well, we got to see the sunset. Some pictures now. I know you tweeted a bunch out as MacAvoy scores, just one of the coolest settings we've seen for an outdoor classic. Possibly the best one. The best looking one.

So you got to think, I mean, they're never going to move forward when fans are allowed back and say no fans and outdoor classics anymore. But this one time it worked perfectly and perfectly is probably not the right word to use there. But visually and overall, at the end, it was awesome.

I mean, you had the main event, Gary, going against the sun. I mean, that's a battle on its own. I know.

Like he was on these issues, they're like no retreat, retreat. Going back to gritty. I mean, he's, you know, coke fiend, deadbeat dad, loser, but he's the McDavid of mascot's right now. He is just so versatile. Just when you think, you know, maybe he's at his peak, he just brings it to another level. So stick stick taps for for gritty. Yeah. Both teams, petrol and McKinnon interviewed after the game and they were like they were also positive about what was going on.

So it's like as shitty as it was and as silly as it was. I mean, all press is good. Press is that is that is that fair to say in this circumstance? No.

Press is bad press. Is that it. Fuck, I don't know. I don't know.

I think I like mine better. I'm going to go back to mine. There's no such thing as bad press boy knows how are you had a knock off but you know, they give them gave us a little appetizer, then they came back for two periods. It kind of set the stage for the next day. Everyone wondering what's going to happen. Then all of a sudden the Bruins roll up with these retro tracks. And apparently it was it was Petrie's Bergeron's idea, the the whole icing, which to me, you know, made it an overall I, I love the entire experience was not coming out post game and the post game interview.

Now, Grindley, can you please roll the audio and just visualize him in these macho man Randy Savage shades with just unbelievable attitude walking out from the dressing room after a big win? Why are you wearing the glasses now? I assume it's I assume it's not sunny or is it just just enjoy and you enjoy having them on?

Well, we were listening bigger before you guys get to the media. So I was kind of dancing with these glasses out in the locker room and then you guys are it. And I had to go answer the question. So I missed the Barbecuers song. And I know who knows what's going to be on when I come back.

So to me, to me, the whole social media experience of the whole weekend, which is kind of how I consume a lot of my stuff, it was entertaining. And I think that ultimately you would have to consider that a success. And I mean, for people who hate Gary, I guess they got to see him get knocked out by the sun. So everybody won.

Also, I said on one part, my take showed up, big cat PFG those guys. And they asked me about the whole weekend, basically the delay. I'd never had to go through anything like that. And I know we saw we saw delays. Pittsburgh, Washington at one point. I think that was the night Crosby originally got injured with Steckel, hit him years back. So there's been issues, but starting the game was the craziest part. But when you bring up McKinnon and Petrona, not really complaining, it's like this year's been such a gong show to begin with.

And the season's kind of miserable for these guys. In a sense. They're on the road. They can't go anywhere. They're in eight buildings all year, seven or eight buildings. Well, this was just something different. So it's certainly weird to, like, take your gear off. Everything needs to dry, laundry needs to be done, and then you got to get back in. But they all they did was just approach it as a restart, like a whole new game.

So, yeah, it was there was comedy levels were high and then nothing beat.

Petro's seeing McCain in full tilt, coming at them and just being like, oh, God, just winding it out, boy. Hey, what do you say? Oh, boy, oh, boy. And perfect like that.

That shows I'm sorry because that shows you guys think like NHL players don't focus during the game. Always know there's times when you see somebody coming and you know you're fucked and you actually visually verbally get it out there. Yeah.

Petero was on edge just like me on the Bunny Hill.

My first go around there, just like, oh, and and listen, it's fate. McKinnon got to watch the thousandth game ceremony for his future teammate, Sidney Crosby. So everybody wins here. I'm just fucking around Pittsburgh. Fans were pissed at me for considering that. And we address it later on in the episode with Mark Madden. So just hang tight. But overall. All right.

What did you think of the whole thing, this enemy, this son fucking Mr. Burns from The Simpsons, he says those literal fucking words.

It's basically a coin flip every time you do one of these, maybe you guys went to the one in Colorado. They had the issue with people driving in and out.

Now, I'm glad you brought that up, because that was much more of a disaster for people who went to the game in the NHL, kind of was able to keep it quiet. That was a cluster fuck. This was a case of the NHL taking a risk. Now, we were in Dallas last year, New Year's Day. We got great, perfect weather for an outdoor game. It could have just as easily happened down there last year. I think the risk was worth it.

Yeah, the NHL is going to spend the money and do a lot of hard work. And if, you know, if it was sunny and 60 all weekend, they had and they had a fucking win, it could dump it. Then you just got two more postponing games. You've already had fucking thirty or forty. What a two more. I think the risk was well worth the reward.

The comedy the comedy also is like the one clip where I think you see one player fall than the ref fall. Then like another player off, like being busy at camp for the blues.

That was us a blues cap. Yeah.

I just so I think that I wish I tweeted that.

I think that it was, it was it was a success, as weird as that sounds to say. And I just had a blast watching last night's game, the way the sun was set.

Big time, big.

My my only criticism of this moving forward would be there's enough nice looking cold places where you can do this where you won't have to worry about the sun in the weather. There are people out on boats and T-shirts. And then there was a stoner 19 that the stoner 19 was Gooch. One of them. Oh, yeah.

David David Duke made the airways. What are not there.

That was me. Like NTR. Googe Dusty are good. Dusty are Whitney. There it is. Middle name Ryan. My first name's actually dust.

I was catching heat online from people that it was just my ears, my eyes and I was the one actually at the game the the stoner nineteen on the jet ski with the Red Wing Jersey and then the Red Wing flag meems postin that Stevi Dude Scout Schoharie from like Lake Tahoe. Oh my God.

He's been on fire lately and one of our listeners had a picture of the film Inside Joe Lewis. What stepwise retired number in the Rolling Stone over there. He probably hey, he's a eisenmann like he's a pretty serious guy. He Garrity hates our guts. And he but he had a nice, nice tribute video to to Crosby. Did you guys get the check? A lot of that stuff. Did you jump to the Crosby stuff? Yeah, I was able to watch all the pregame stuff.

Yeah, no, I just went to watch a couple of closing things on TAHO because I thought it looked great on TV because they didn't have the constraints of a normal stadium, like there was no crowd there, there was nothing overhead. So they were able to use all these new cameras and angles and stuff. I mean basically a lot of the stuff we saw on the Sunday night game, we had really seen a lot of those angles and shit before.

So visually, I thought I was pretty good. We got the reverse retros busted out. I tweeted, I like the Vegas one and everyone from Colorado was fucking crying about it. It's like I didn't say I didn't like the Colorado and I. I just said it like the Vegas one. And it's like you can't say you like something. And then what?

People fucking take it personal these days, like, hey, did you see did you see Bednarz Jackett. Yes, Jack, it was a 12 out of 10, I'd I'd pay two grand to get that jacket or one like that with with the with the Coyotes logo, with the crew. Now I'm thinking about it. Maybe I'll have to sandbag one of the coyotes.

And did you see Yaro Halak one on the rink? He still had the mullet from the 90s fucking getups. They had he with a mullet onto the fucking rink.

I think it was Pete Blackbird who said it looked like a scene at a hot tub time machine or something. Yeah, there was saved by the bell feelings of of at least five or six of them.

And I think Trent Frederich, mind, I heard you call him out with our last episode.

He got out of la, la, la, la. That was busy boy here saying that creating a little bit more space. I think the offense is going to now come and then bingo.

Very, very happy for the guy, because, as I said, I said he was changing the way the Bruins played, like he added that element, the pass Bruins that you've seen just pump guys would be willing to fight anyone, but he had to score. Maybe I did touch the common good for him. That was somebody I was rooting for, a Bruins. Everyone, I think, Ari, you were on them.

I mean, what a what it seemed like. Just a guaranteed. Philly has so many guys out with the Bruins lost two in a row is a great night to win a bet.

Yeah, it was definitely easy money for sure. And also too busy going back to Boston for a minute.

He was giving the media shit. He's like, you guys made me miss baby girl. I had to do media with that baby girl sucks. He was like dead serious, deadpan. He was obviously kidding. But he's like, I miss baby girl because I had to talk to you people like Bobby Girl.

He has a look at his face right now. He's like, we already played the clip. Yeah, that's the clip with Nygma. I know.

I know. Well, just for the audience, we don't play it on while we're sitting here. So I did it didn't run on here.

I listen, I've made far worse mistakes than that.

What was the what was the last thing I was going to chime in there with in two minutes is going to be like, did we talk about the game in Tuhoe Grenelle?

So Grinnell's tweeted or tweeted texted the group chat after Pasternak's scored his first year. I put a bet in that he's going to get to because he strolled in with the macho man, Randy Savage.

And one hundred one other note before we get to actually two more note before we get to sit. Mike Tirico, this is a guy he's I think he's in that gymnast's Al Michaels, Joe Bachtiar, where he can call any sport and pretty much to do it effortlessly. He was fantastic for a guy who hasn't done hockey a long time. I think he's pretty good at it.

I'm glad you brought that up. Fantastic job. And the fact that him and Edgell had to delay when all that stuff was going on, they crushed it. There was no dead air. And that getting thrown a curveball like that when you're on live TV is an absolute dick punch. OK, and those guys knocked it out of the park. So tip of the cap. Yeah.

Tirico, I don't know the list. He's pretty much done everything. Now I can picture I can hear his voice doing pretty much every major sport.

So to hop into quick hockey that quickly and make it seem like he's that much of a natural, especially especially because they had to replace Doc. Right. I mean, he's done such a good job for so long.

It was like, who's going to come in and do it, but good for him.

And that goes into our next point. Buddy Chris Johnson was on the air the other night and he said it looks like ESPN will be one of the league's TV partners when a new deal is signed this off season. I quote, Word is seeping out right now that ESPN has stepped up and it looks like they will get at least part of this contract. NBC is thought to be the other network that leagues in the air on. So it looks like they can have a couple of different networks show, you know, hopefully they'll keep Toriko going forward.

And ESPN, obviously, they should have Gary Thorn and Bill Klement years ago. Everybody's clamoring for Gary Thorn. Bill Klemet just retired. Gary Th1 just lost his job with the Baltimore Orioles network show. He's available. If you have to go on one, Garreth, one or the other, I'd be great. But either way, I know people have their issues with ESPN and hockey because the big the big thing is they weren't in bed together. They weren't business partners.

So ESPN didn't pump their product as much like they do with the NFL and NBA if they're in bed together with a contract. And yeah, you're going to see a lot more NHL on on SportsCenter, a lot more highlights and ideally get some more fans. And that's what this is all about.

You know, about the puck tracer that was Fox Fox tracks. Oh, boy.

Butchie grass. I actually had to get on him and he gave it right back to me on Twitter. I said, you better get that that highlight in tonight of the past that who made that dish, one of the six Cubano open.

My God, if you didn't see this dish and it was number one play on SportsCenter. So Hockey being on ESPN, I don't care what you say is huge. You need to Moochie basically already offered me a color job commentated. I said, Nabulsi, thank you so much. I got checkbooks. I got the golf. I'm going to stick with that. But, you know, it's just for me, once we see them on a major network, it's only going to make it more popular.

I'm convinced, especially how good the game is right now. The game is healthy. Everything's going great. So ESPN does really help the NHL.

That's the you're the spin around right now. Everybody's doing the spin room. We just saw Alex talked to it in the winter, the outdoor game. Patrick Kane, who he's been doing it for years, but he had a nice sick one the other night. And how about it wasn't a spinner AMA, but that goal by Patterson last night. Oh, the one where he battled that batted it. He was back was to the net. He battled it between his legs.

Top cheese. How's your mama, the Polish princess back baby.

Been lost and still lost that game.

Of course they all get tired of late but yeah I was going back to ESPN. It's built in market. I mean, every time you go in a barbershop or buy a restaurant, ESPN's always on the TV. So if those it's are playing man, people just got to see hockey, then they fall in love with it. So also I sent that old article out from like ninety three. The TV deal the NHL had back in the ninety one 92 season was worth five point five dollars million total and it was.

What channel? OK, so I didn't I wasn't, like, floored or blown away. You were like, what? What were the deals then for, like the NBA? Ninety one. Five million, which was at least ten times more at the time.

20 times more. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it was it was a tiny channel to. Aaargh!

Have you ever heard the story of the NBA? And there's like two guys who ended up selling like half of their proleague to the NBA. But part of the contract was they would always keep a certain percentage of TV rights. And these guys, it's more like the best business deals in sports history.

I think it's the St. Louis Hawks. I believe you're talking about the Hawks or the St. Louis. There's a St. Louis based NBA team. I'm familiar with that story. They had they held on to a small percentage of the TV rights and ended up getting a huge windfall years later, like multimillions of dollars. Yeah, crazy story.

So I always hire a lawyer to look over those contracts. Yeah.

The other. No, yeah. Besides that, Sid played in his 1000 game. I'm glad you're not the Penguins. This weekend he became the three hundred and fifty NHL to hit one thousand games played. They did a really nice pregame presentation. He got a little misty eyed during the ceremony there. The team gave him a nice Rolex. Is nice is Grinnell's, but a painting. He got the silver stick. It was pretty cool. The whole team came out and jerseys with eighty seven and they all tie their skates in unison before the game like it does because he went out, got himself two assists.

What go to you first. You are a longtime teammate of the kid. Yeah.

It's, it's kind of crazy to think he, he was just getting to a thousand. I mean I don't know. I think you sent us to there was a tweet of how many games he's actually missed. But not only is it seem like he's been in the league for so long that he would have reached thousand sooner. But you you also realize and think back to the games he did miss. There was a time like you didn't know if Sid was going to be be good, be healthy, and you didn't know what type of player you'd be able to be at.

Missed so much time. And of course, now, looking back, it was all I'm not going to say overblown by any means because there were certainly scary times for him as a player and and as a person.

But what he's done since and the questions that arose then just fell so flat. I mean, he won two more Stanley Cups. He's he's been as dominant as ever.

And I think that when you look back on this guy and I see a top five player of all time and you look at his points per game, it sets up. Right, right. I think in the top five, if not that definitely the top ten. And the way he's gone about it is just like there's nothing there. I mean, there's people who don't like Crosby. It's fans of other teams. There's never a Penguins fan that's ever said a bad word about the guy.

So I think the only people who do dislike him are just jealous that he's lit up their favorite club over the years. And I think that, like doing the things off the ice that he's done so quietly, you never he doesn't want things that he does for other people to be made public. You hear that about a lot of athletes. But for somebody like him who's super private and into like keeping things private, you know, he's not looking to get every every news, every piece of info that he has out there.

He's just, like, really happy with just being the best possible player he can be. He's always been that way, the best possible teammate and like a true leader. So, I mean, you talk about like a discussion about the top players. His name's always going to come come to a forefront. And part of it is the way that he has approached the game. And like, people just all look up to him. You saw the video that the penguins made.

I mean, you got guys superstars around the league, Cain, others that are just like, yeah, we've always looked up to him. So to hear every single person, all your peers speak that highly about you, it was just it was a cool thing to see a thousand come to a head. He's not done yet, not by any means. But still, I thought it would have been sooner. So it's it's it's great to finally have happened.

And how about he's the only our first penguin to reach a thousand games with the organization? No, no one had ever done that before.

I forgot that Mario was even shorter than that. So that might committal. Sent me over a bunch of, like, crazy stats about said he's the one who's got that high Hockey 365 book, like just some of the things the youngest player to score one hundred points in a single season. Crosby was also first rookie to record one hundred points and rack up. I think you're out for this one hundred penalty minutes like his first year. He was getting dimed up, wasn't he?

He was getting teed up by refs all the time.

He chirped refs hated him.

I think he's kind of relaxed on that more stat guy business here from from my committal here. Crosby was youngest player to win the Art Ross. He won his first in twenty seven with one hundred and twenty points. Nineteen years old that season, Crosby was second youngest player to win Hart. He won his first in twenty seven. Nineteen years old, only player to win at younger was Wayne Gretzky. There's like he's got eleven tricks to six point games.

One against Philly December 13th. Twenty six another against the Islanders on January 19th. Twenty ten. I mean he kept sending me over this when Crosby record is five hundredth career assists on October eight. Eighteen to twenty fourteen. He did it in just five hundred and forty five hundred and fifty four games, becoming the sixth fastest player to reach the milestone. The only players racked up 500 six faster where Gretzky, Lemieux, Stastny, Bob Year and Peter Forsberg.

So, like, it's just like the shit that he's done throughout his career is just like it's like like Madden is going to say later on.

He's top five all the time.

That one hundred and twenty point season was his second year. It was also my second year. That was my biggest year. I had 59 points and I said I probably had 10 assists on the bench when the goal was scored that year.

I've never seen a player like that. I know McDavid has done some crazy things, but I think just witnessing it in person and practice in every game. It was nuts. I remember the six point game against Philly. It was just like there were certain nights you could not stop. I'm still the same.

But then that year he just ran away with the ran away with with everything in that league. It was just like second year. First year. He came on hot. Second year I was like, oh my God, this is a different level up.

That tweet you were referencing earlier, it was injuries, Allocca. It was from Brendan Burkett's head injuries. A lockout and a pandemic have cost him two hundred and forty games so far, which is roughly three hundred six points at his one point to seven point per game average.

We also had that prop to if scores in the pens went 10 to one. We got some nice play in the Boston sportsbook. Unfortunately, he couldn't talk one for the people.

I think I did get to help his buddy. He didn't get the goal. But thanks everyone for playing along with the sports book. We were trying to have a little fun today. I know not everybody hockey gamble.

So we're trying to, you know, just it was just at odds or nice.

Yeah, absolutely. And also to what we get to this what we're going to get to very shortly. He said also did reiterate his desire to stay in Pittsburgh. You know, going back to the down drag stop Penn's inside scoop out, quote, Nothing has changed. Trade Room is a definitely a new subject I've had to deal with in here a little bit about I love playing here. This is where I love to play for the rest of my career.

I made no bones about it. So let's bring in Mark. Matt, he had a lot more to bring on to the subject. But first off, I want to mention that times are tough and worrying about your student loan payments don't make things any easier. That's where refinancing with Ernest could help Ernest ofis low rate student loan refinance. And you can check your rate risk free in just two minutes. By refinancing, you can reduce your loan term, save money or combine multiple loans into one simple monthly payment.

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We are now pleased, pleased to be joined by a long time buddy of myself and Paul bassinets a staple on the Pittsburgh sports media landscape, a host of on one 059, the X from three to six p.m. Monday through Friday. As a columnist with the Tribune, he used to work for the World Championship Wrestling w S.W. as a color commentator.

Mark Madden, Juju Smith. Schuster is number one fan.

Thanks for coming on the show. Not for much longer beards and wit and R.A. Great to join everybody here, Mike. Like I've said to a million hockey players and I like hockey players. I was here before you arrived. I'll be here after you're gone. Same applies to Juju Smith. Schuster can't wait till he leaves all mouth, all branding, all hat, no cattle. All right. Well, I love that you're getting right into it.

This is how he does things. And for folks wondering at home, maybe aren't familiar with Mark's work, a big hockey fan, I'll say I don't necessarily know if you're a huge sports fan. I know you love soccer in Liverpool, but a hockey fan and when I met you, you were nice enough to have me on your show. I was a guy who I think you enjoyed having on me because I was able to give a quote here and there.

But how long have you actually been in the Pittsburgh market and what was the beginning to you having your own radio show?

Well, you and best both great talkers. And that's why you're doing what you're doing currently with with BASTABLE. It's more important to have good talkers on a show than it is to have great players, great players who were boring, slow the show down. There are guys who elevate above that. Not that shit's boring. I get a lot out of him, as do you guys put on some interviews. Sid just spits his cliches and just isn't what you would hope he would be.

But I lived in Pittsburgh my whole life. I am a weatherbeaten 60 years old now, and I wrote for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette for years covering high school sports, being like the backup hockey writer to Dave Molinari, who you guys are very familiar with. But then at thirty six, I just was so used to being, you know, second fiddle at the Post Gazette, I quit. I took a job with a publication called Penguins Report, which was sponsored by Tom McMillan, who BISAN with both know.

And I stayed there for two years. But in the interim I got a job doing radio just as a fill in. And honestly, I don't want to blow my own horn, but toot toot, it took off like overnight and I've been doing it now for twenty five glorious years and I wasn't sure that would be my calling when I started. But in retrospect it's what I'm best at by far. And I was at ESPN twelve fifty for a long time, got fired there in the middle of the twenty eight Stanley Cup finals might I add.

And then was it the ex with Clear Channel and I heart media a year later. And that's where I've been ever since. And honestly and I think every time has a guy like this, I'm the guy who doesn't care if people like him or not. Least of all the athletes. And you were right with before. I love hockey. I love soccer. Everything else can go kick rocks. I just I'm not a big fan of much else.

I watch it because I have to. I love pro wrestling, too, obviously, because I worked in it. But football, I mean, why would anybody like football? Why would anybody like football players? A lot of people who do well, a lot of people do, but a lot of that's gambling and a lot of that fantasy league, too. I'd love to see what kind of ratings and attendance football would get with that gambling and fantasy league, especially on TV.

I just don't like the players. I don't like when, again, Juju Smith Schuster is all about branding and he couldn't make a catch in a big game to save his life. I don't like when Chase Claypoole tells the Browns they suck after the Browns kick their ass in a playoff game. That's just not how sports is in my book. And if that makes me sound old and crotchety, so be it. That's that's how I came in. And that's how I'm going out branding himself and not making plays.

That sounds like my career, Mark.

Well, it's worked better for some than others before we worked with what we got. Right.

I want to know how you got fired during the playoffs that year. Oh, see, this is something you guys should be familiar with.

A lot of New Englanders here. I made a I made a joke at the expense of the late Senator Ted Kennedy and and Disney owned ESPN owned my station. So they got rid of me. But that was OK because the reason they got rid of me and nobody ever used the punchline to the joke, by the way, they only had part of the joke. The punch line was, I wonder if the CapEx needs will send him a get well card.

Because Ted Kennedy got away with what he got away with murder, pretty much so, but the funny part about that is Disney had just bought ESPN and they didn't like that. They were paying me too much, quite honestly, because they tried to get me to take a pay cut when they came in on a guaranteed contract, which was there was no hope of that happening. So they were looking for a way to get rid of me. And for better or worse, actually for better, because I got a better job.

I gave them one bit. But the funny part is when they called my lawyer. About terminating me after the fact, they had already told me. They said, well, we'll give them whatever, three months severance and that's it. And my lawyer goes, You haven't read the contract. They assumed it was a standard ESPN contract, that they bought out a contract negotiated by my lawyer with the company, and there had to be three warnings in my file before they fired me and there were none.

So they were on the hook to pay me for three more years if I wanted. And I sat out eight months until I went to my heart. But they were on the hook and they didn't even bother to read their own contract before they tried to get rid of me. And we offered to go back. I mean, but they weren't having any of that at that point, so. But but I got a catchphrase out of it for my show.

I always use when something is is written in stone. I always say, like my lawyer said, with great gravitas to Disney. I think if you read his contract, you will find it's ironclad. And that was that. I mean, you know, I waited eight months, got hooked up with the X, and that's great because it's the Penguin flagship and that's where I belong with the flagship.

I mean, you're used to controversy now, I think kind of like the Avery situation. We got to sweep this one under the rug. Right. What happened with you guys back in twenty. Seventeen? Yeah, I was a dust up.

I mean, like I said before the show, a Twitter fight in twenty seventeen might as well have been the Civil War because it was so long ago, especially the way the last year has gone. I honestly forgot what it was about initially. I know Mark was talking about baseball and kind of having some fun with the facts and I don't I just looked at it as entertainment. Obviously if I had a real issue, I wouldn't have wanted a bond.

So, I mean, I it was so long ago. I have no real issue with it.

I got in a Twitter fight one time with Reggie Hardy, who's Matt Hardy, the rest of his wife. Right. And then we ran into each other at a like some kind of independent show when Matt was between WWE and wherever. And I expected to, like, take my head off. And she said, don't worry about it. Don't be Twitter. Yeah. And that's like a slogan for me now. It's only Twitter. I mean, who cares?

Twitter is the most disposable of mediums the world. Little notes nor long remembers. I think you guys do a good job. I was impressed. I kind of became a bit of a convert, the sit interview, because you guys got so much out of said, which ain't easy to do. And I pride myself on doing the same with him. You guys, you know, did what I do. You don't treat it like he's made a glass like a lot of people who deal with Syd do.

So I thought that was good stuff. The only thing that always stuck in my craw about podcasting in general was I paid my dues. I went through, you know, a river of shit. I was like Tim Robbins in in Shawshank Redemption before I came off the other side of my career. And now guys get, you know, put up some microphones and declare themselves podcasters.

Just yeah, I know what you're saying, where it's like you did pay your dues, but people can say they're broadcasters.

But until you get listeners, you know, but though I still think you guys, I would bet you guys are horribly underpaid. You need to form a union on.

Mark, I take offense to you saying that Twitter is disposable. That's where I get all my trade information like Darren Drager and go.

But we got to get into that. Yeah, hold on. Hold on. Before we get into current Pittsburgh Penguins ongoings, I need to have you tell the boys and all the listeners the story of Lemieux and the face off goal, because when you told me this my rookie year, I remember laughing out loud.

Well, Mario came back and, you know, I, I get along well with Mario. He's he's meant as much to my career and my show as anybody, him and Sid. And Mario came back and he kept trying to score right off the draw, like whack it in off the draw, right. And I went on my show and I said, well, because he I don't know if he still does, but he and then certainly. And I said, well, we finally found something the greatest player of all time can't do.

He's trying to score right off the draw and he can't even come close. Oh. So I see him like a game later and he goes, You really don't think I can do it, do you? And I go, Honestly, no, you're not coming close, big man. And he goes, Do you want to bet on it? And I go, What? Like, I'm joking. Sixty six bucks. He goes, No. Sixty six hundred.

And I'm like, at that point, you've got to do it. Yeah, you've got to do it. So I go, OK. So we agreed it would go to whatever charity the winner picked, although I could use the money, not him so much. But boy, I'll tell you one thing about him. He loves to win a bet. No questions asked. Michael Jordan when Michael Jordan came to the to be Celebrity Golf Invitational a couple of times and I don't know the exact amount, but Mario beat him for some for some money, no question about that.

Although to be fair, Mario never confirmed nor denied. So I'm as bad as Darren Drager on that one. The evil. But McKenzie, so much so.

We made the bet and he scores the goal and he turns the press box and waves to me. And I said afterwards, I go listen. And there was a big newspaper article about it in the Post because that I talked about it obviously on my show. And I go listen to be acknowledged immediately after goal by the greatest hockey player of all time. I'll pay sixty six hundred bucks for that any time. Every time. So that was tremendous. But the bit that the little sidebar to that is the game before.

The game before. He walked the fuck out of here on the draw and hit it off the crossbar into the stands, and as he went back in for the face off, he skated around the circle and glared up at the press box. And like Bob Barry said on like, it's coming, Mark, it's coming.

Barry said, I think we know who that for Robert Duvall.

And Mario said, you know, you guys know because he's a great guy. Oh, yeah. And, you know, he he's so much fun to deal with. Here's a good Mario story. Guns and Roses came to Pittsburgh and it was the version with Axel and all the all the rentals. Right. And so Axel wears a Alemu shirt for the encore. And the next day at the game, the media goes, you know, Mario, what do you think of Axl Rose, where Lemieux's shirt for the encore last night for Ganar.

And he goes, Well, you know what? There's always a pleasure and honor when these rock stars date, you know, and blah, blah, blah. Right. And I'm in the scrum and I go, hey, what's your favorite Guns N Roses song? And he looks at me. He's like, shaking his head just imperceptibly go, what's your favorite Guns N Roses song? And he, like, cracks up it goes. I don't know.

And then after the media clears, I go, You don't know any Guns N Roses songs because he listens to Frank Sinatra and Celine Dion, OK? And he goes, No, I don't. I go, how can you not know? Welcome to The Jungle. It was the national anthem in nineteen eighty seven and he just didn't know it. She's that's just a man that just sticks to what he what he does know and listens to the questions he wants.

So Darren Jagger's named name comes up immediately, and that's because he's had a lot of different reporting in terms of the future of the penguins. You talk about Crosby, Malkin, Letang, the big names. What will happen? Where will this organization go?

And he's kind of been pretty adamant in terms of there's a possibility that Crosby could be moving on.

I don't think he's come out and said it for sure. But you seem to think the exact opposite and he's not going anywhere. Tell us your thoughts and how you kind of approaching the future of this team.

Well, first off, Sid said as much the other day on the occasion of his thousandth game that he plans to finish his career in Pittsburgh. Here's what Darren Drager does. Darren Drager puts himself in the shoes of the Colorado GM and the Pittsburgh GM. It says, What would make sense for me to do? He basically makes a trade with himself and then presents it as a legit possibility without talking to certainly nobody in Pittsburgh, certainly not the city's management, certainly not to sit.

He basically says, here's what I would like to see happen. Here's what makes sense for me to see happen. And that presents this possibility. And before you know it, it's got legs and it's everywhere. But it's utter bullshit. You know, it's not that he made it up. He just put what he wants to see and said, you know, I could see this happening. I think Pittsburgh management needs to sit down with said at the end of the year and have a serious talk about where this goes.

And he says it with such gravitas that people buy into it. When he said it the first time Birken Hextall had been in their jobs for a week, you think the first thing they thought about was, well, we better sit down, which didn't have a serious conversation about Schlocker. Let's make a splash. You just yanked it out of thin air and it spread like wildfire. Adrian Dater, who writes for some fanboy website in Denver, he had a Crosby Avalanche.

Eighty seven Jersey mocked up and put it on his website.

That was for me. I actually custom ordered that, by the way.

Well, they are available, I think, in NHL dotcom. But it just just crazy how stuff like that, that has no basis, in fact, at least certainly not now spreads and sits and eisenmann guy. And he's a lemieux guy. And those guys finished their careers with one team. And I'm going to be honest, as long as you've won, that's the way to do it. That's how you have a jersey. That's how you have the legacy.

You Boston guys tell me, do you really look at Ray Bourque the same when he pimped himself out to Colorado to win the Stanley Cup? He didn't really earn because that's what happened. He was in Boston for twenty one years and couldn't win. Same like Jumbo Joe Jumbo. Joe's never won. When you're in the league that long and never win, that's not coincidence. You're part of a reason for that. And as somebody who saw Mario Lemieux spin Ray Bourque into the ice like a drill bit back in the 90s, what a ninety two conference finals.

I can attest. From what I see, the video does not lie. Well, all right. Well, tell me this. What do you think that they should do? What is the future? Do they need to trade Malkin then? Like, how do you approach the end of these guys contracts and possible careers like you've been, you've been all over Malkin on Twitter lately?

Well, how could I not be has three goals in 16 games. That's tryouts.

I was a career. I was a career for me. Well, I lowered my expectations for, you know, like what what they should have done with trademarking in twenty eighteen after they lost the Washington in the second round when Kuznets off scored in overtime. And that's. No, not good, Malcolm. But if you're going to reload, that's the time to do it. He was thirty one, he just had ninety some odd points. He's going to get huge return that now you're not going to get any return for him.

Now I'm on the guy out. I think he may well snap to and get going again, but he needs to do it because Geno is at a crossroads. He has one year left in this deal. If he wants extended here and at a decent price to, he's got to play better. I mean, you want to, you know, preserve legacies, but you want to move forward, too. And one thing the Geno fans don't want to get Geno exit since a top five player of all time, Geno might be top 50 said has meant as much to the franchise coast anyway as Mario goes the next year.

Done with Yorga. Geno just doesn't get the same deference to my mind that Sid does. Sid is going to be here forever in any way. We're still going to slack off Geno. The effort, I don't see it since. Always a goal line to go wide. Tasmanian devil Gino still got to earn it. He's got to earn that next contract and especially with Hextall in Burke, who have no allegiance to him from past glories with Watford, maybe with Hextall and Brook.

No. And people think Amanti Gino because I think he's not fit, but he's just not fit. OK, I'm glad you mentioned Jim Rutherford, because, you know, going back to the Draga stuff now, Draga, I don't think he has a reputation as a rumormongering. I think he's getting this from somewhere. But when you put that combination with Jim Rutherford just up and leave it out of nowhere, a very abrupt it does look to the outside perspective that something is afoot in Pittsburgh, in the front office there now.

I don't think so. First of all, Drager is a rumor monger. And he just you know, when you say Sid might get traded to Colorado with no basis, in fact, that defines being a rumor monger or whatever the plural is. That's where I got my job.

Gujral Information from Hoog Dreger. I think Dreger report because I think Eric Eric Francis. Is that the guy's name from from Calgary, right. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

But I, it's my understanding Rochfort had a series of disagreements with upper management, you know, the level between the owners and him that he just got tired of. And I think Jim had cabin fever to how this affected his, you know, feeling about his job, I do not know. But he had left his house in like a year because of covid. So that was an odd circumstance. And I'm not sure I, I I'm relatively close to the situation.

I'm not sure I know yet exactly what happened. But in a way, it might turn out better for the penguins. R.A. because. I think Jim would have been loathe to trade the market to make a move that has to be done to get us pointed in the right direction, which is, like I said, Hextall and Burke have no such allegiance. But the timing of it was strange. And in a way, I feel bad for Hexa and Burki because they're basically serving as their own interim GM for a year, because you can't come in in midseason and get your structure truly implemented and you can't hire guys that you want to hire to work underneath you because a lot of them probably aren't available.

But but I think and don't get me wrong, Jim Rockford was a godsend to this franchise. I thought the window had closed before Pittsburgh won two more cups. But now I think the window is closed. And I think it might be better to have fresh eyes to try to dig the club's way out.

I had one question about wrestling, which your favorite wrestling ever before.

I forget it, why they gave me to be on TV. That is by far my favorite era of wrestling. Now, probably Midatlantic in the 80s with the Four Horsemen Jim Crocket promotions, the old. Yes, that was my favorite to watch for sure. But I loved working it and it was the time of my life. I just had so much fun. And I'm friends with Ric Flair to this day. I've known him for even since predating when I worked in WWE.

But like I said, the time of my life, I don't think I could do it now. The travel was brutal, but, you know, I would never trade those memories for anything. And most important, it paid for my house. Was it paid for my house?

Was it the Lamu era that, like, sucked you into the hockey world is out with me?

Oh, no, no. I've been going since I was six years old. DeCourcy Right. Aren't you a DeCourcy guy?

Yeah, but that's that's not. Indigenous to why I got into hockey, my mother, my late mother was a big hockey fan. She went to see the Pittsburgh Hornets play. Back in the Tim Hortons era, when he was playing there before he went to Toronto, became a Hall of Famer, and when I was born, she loved hockey so much, he took me to a game in sixty seven, sixty eight and sixty eight. Sixty nine and sixty nine seventy when I was like six, seven, eight years old.

So I could say I went every year. And then after that we had season tickets for a long time and I started covering the penguins for UPI when I was 20 years old. So I've been involved one way or the other for a long time, it's just always been my passion in a football town, I was the hockey guy and still am.

So kind of a two part question. First, maybe not even a question. The first part of a statement that you do 15 hours a week and you do it alone and it's like you see all these radio shows that have partners and granted, you do interviews and take calls here and there. But it's but you're by yourself. So for Mark Martin to be by himself, it's no big deal. But explain to me what you would say on your show describing Lemieux as the greatest of all time.

How does he trump Gretzky? How does he Trump or what is your definition there?

I'm not sure he does. And by the way, doing radio by yourself is the best way to become a star. Yeah, but it's hard as fuck. Oh, no question. I'll tell you a quick story. Steve Austin started doing his podcast. And we happened to talk before he started doing it, and I said to him, Steve, I know you need to prepare, you know, like really thoroughly. And and I found out later he didn't really buy into it because he, like, ran out of stuff like 10 or 15 minutes in.

I got that. And maybe that's that's not true. And certainly he does a great podcast. Why? Because he's Steve Austin, for God's sakes. But no, I don't necessarily think abuse better than Gretzky and or that's just my opinion. I think no matter how you rank the top three, Lemuel Gretzky or I don't think you can be wrong, but I think leaving any one of those out of the top three should be a criminal offense subject to flogging.

I just don't think that, like, you know, whether it's Sid because Mike, my top five in order or Lemieux or Gretzky, said Gordie Howe, and you can make an argument for Walker rishard over Gordie Howe, but I never saw rocket rishard, so it's tough for me to do that. But in any order you put Alemu or in Gretzky in, I have no problem. I just rank camu first because I saw him play and I never saw anything like that.

Gretzky kind of like cerebrally you did that. Lamu was like, OK, here I come, and you can't do anything about it. And Bob, you just changed the game. Absolutely changed the game and just was I mean, I was like 10, 12 years old when he was in his prime and a witness that even as a penguin fan, I mean, the Bruins used to come to the arena when I was a kid and beat Pittsburgh to death.

And Bob, you are was the biggest part of that just to watch the way he played.

He was so different than anybody else since since thousands game celebration. You know, you watch it pretty closely. Like, what are some of your fondest memories of said like through has come up when he first got there and maybe some of your interactions with him?

Well, he's always great. You know, he's I always hesitate. I say this on my show. Whenever I say somebody like my friend that I work with in the media, like a hockey player, I always say you'd have to ask them. You know, you just never know from the media standpoint, because there's a line there that's difficult to cross. But, you know, I consider it a friend, you know, at any rate. And like I said, I don't treat him like he's made a glass.

I mess with them like, you know, I was berating him one time in the locker room just in fun after a game a few years back and again. So I think it was Jake, I'm not one hundred percent sure was like looking at me with his eyes wide open, like, I can't believe this. That bastard's talking to Sidney Crosby that way. You know, I think it was Jake, but but it's just a great guy to work with to get along with his family's great.

You know, I thought he was going to propose to his girlfriend during the during the one thousand game ceremony. But then I thought, no, that's definitely not Tang or IDM Tiger. But this is not that's not said. Maybe maybe she should have proposed to him. I don't know. But here's a sad story with I don't know.

Remember this probably not because it's just a minor laugh. But when she was a kid. He was like, I don't want to say easily embarrassed, but like there were certain things he didn't like to talk about. So one time I'm talking to Whit because it's a serious bastard like I am. Brianna Banks was in the porn star. You remember this went. Shemya, I mean, when I are talking about Brianna Banks, the porn star who is quite the looker and she's cool, too, and so seems like kind of, you know, in on the conversation and it goes, hey, Sid, what do you think of Brianna Banks and Shingo's?

Wouldn't that be like throwing a hot dog down a hallway?

And I go right away said she uses more than one hallway and she looked like you wanted to laugh and throw up at the same guy. And that was the end of the conversation that was speaking of top five, where she shrinking your top five mark. See, I'm not the pornified.

People think I've kind of aged out for one thing. Or you should be back. You would you agree. Tweet tweet remigio. I said I've aged out.

I was your man doing the Viagra to Vegas for I don't know my top three or probably.

In order, Riley steal a Lexus for Brianna Banks, all veterans of the Mahmad show my dad, I can see you nodding in agreement like I'm on the same show as these girls should be an opener at some point.

So do you like do you like study game tape, Mark? Is it like are you Busways?

You're trying to make me into this dirty old man? I keep telling you I have aged aged diapers. What's that? Don't I'm saying I'm backing you up.

He's in the Analytica porn Camuto but he puts that in a porn Carnaby's for the first two syllables.

Now here's here's a story from the witness, though, and it's from when I got fired from underneath the arena in the in the concourse during the 08 final. And this involves a favorite of the of the spinning chick lit show, by the way, and I'm talking to Big Dan Winstead, who's the greatest guy and with brothers are in town. And when they came to town, they hit Pittsburgh like an invading army. It was they did so much business they occupied.

I don't even know if my brothers were there as my buddies were there this time.

I think I know which one you're telling. I'm pretty sure.

I'm pretty sure. At least one year. But were a bunch of witnesses I you to call in. Was that a was there. You're right. So so I'm talking to Big Dan and Keith Jandal's. They're OK. And it's like before the game and he's literally blackout drunk. He's a blackout drunk and he's slumped in a aluminum folding chair in front of the parents and friends room. Right. Black that he's like, you know, like when you get put under, like for laser surgery or a twilight.

Yandle was in self-imposed twilight, so which brothers are his friends or whoever they get, the penguins patrol girls, these girls who were dressed in like, you know, faux penguin jinnies, and they would roam through the arena and they get the penguins girls to paint Jandal's face black and gold. And they cover it with, like the spray on penguins, decals like his forearms, his face. He looks like this fanboy maniac who's passed out in the chair.

And after they're done Jandal's, they're by himself, Clearview, Clearview, nobody near him. So you can't mistake, you know, what shape he's in or who he is and what he looks like. He's Arizona's property at the time, the entire Arizona hockey ops department, led by Wayne Gretzky, comes marching by and as they walk by, they're moving, but their eyes stay riveted the end of their life prospects. Yeah. And I look at, you know.

Right. He's like one of their top prospects. I look at Big Ben and he looks at me and goes, oh, that's not good, boy.

And boy, are they wrong. This is really wrong.

Hey, this was the same cup final that Foley, who won either one of my buddies, has been brought up many times in this show. After the game, Lindstrom's walking by like just going into going to the boss at Foley gets in his face, just goes, oh, elisions.

Like one of my friends couldn't even go to the wives room anymore was ridiculous. So that was a classic a moment.

But here we are all these years later, he's still in the league. Never missed a fucking game, that animal.

Yeah, that's right. I think he I think that was that toughened them up. I got was right around the time. That could have been the summer that he like changed everything like training and his whole, like, mindset to being a real pro. He thanked Shane Doan a lot. Maybe, maybe it was donor that next year who taught him what? You can't get blocked out at a cup final event when you're at the game. Yeah, yeah.

He hadn't changed right then and there. And I'm thinking to myself, you know, I just got fired. But yeah, it was worse off than me right now.

So I always I always thought it was I'm not going to say honor honorable, but it made sense that you would you would go after players, whether it was hockey, football. I mean, guys that didn't play well, you'd go at them on your show. Do well, do you still do. But then you'd be in the locker room. And I think a lot of times it's changed where nowadays people just kind of throw shots and they're not there in front of the people to to face them.

And had you ever, in all your kind of runs with different teams, had a guy come up to you and go at you after hearing what you said about him?

Barasso all the time? And I didn't hear about the same thing about Barasso, he just hated the media. Barasso swung a stick on my head once. I was I used before I worked for the X, I did work for the Penguins game night show on DVD when they were on TV, another station here in Pittsburgh, and I would do the postgame interviews in the runway afterwards. So one time I'm waiting after the game to do the interview and Barrasso walks by the butt end of the stick just misses my head.

And I figured it was an accident, you know, he was trying to, like, get by, I mean, as big a jerk as he was and I'm sure still is. I didn't think he would swing his dick at my head. So later on. And this is how Tommy was liked by the superstar players. On the team because they deferred to him, everybody below a certain line hated him, as evidenced by by this because somebody ratted him out.

Another penalty came up to me a little bit later and said, I can say who it is. Now, that was Tyler Wright who later worked in hockey management. And he goes, hey, did Tommy just miss you with his stick? And I go, Yeah, why? He goes, It wasn't an accident. Watch yourself. Because I guess he was laughing about it, you know, inside one time and I thought you were there for this with maybe you remember, maybe you don't.

I used to talk. I called George. The rock was just useless as a player, which he was absolutely useless as a player. He was just this heavyweight fighter who wasn't even getting meaningful fights. He would fight the other guy's heavyweight that each tipped their helmet to each other. He was a show one to himself, but he didn't help the team and he thought he could play and he couldn't. So one time at practice, he put a tape measure around my waist from behind trying to measure how bad I was.

And I told him, like the F off and, you know, and he, like, his eyes got big and I, I didn't back down. I just don't back down. But but full disclosure, though, like, I ripped Juju Smith Schuster to shreds, as you know, I've never met him. So you know what I do with hockey? I do go in the room. I just don't like football enough to even go to the games.

So I do give those guys a hard time. I never have to deal with them, but I'd be willing to.

I just that would mean going to football and I ain't go into football any any funny Yagur stories that stick out to. He was great to work with. Yeah, you know, people love them. I mean, it's just I like Manny Ramirez, like some stories.

You're just like, oh my God, I would have, like, great one liners, too, like when he was in Russia for the KHL in Siberia. And by the way. That was when the AG's confirmed he was a true mercenary. He gets nine million tax free to go play in Siberia. I mean, the old Soviet empire sent people to Siberia to punish them. Yeah, I went there for nine million. So he comes back and he's playing for Philadelphia and you guys know, stagy, of course, Paul Steigerwald, right.

And everybody goes in to talk to the eggs and he looks at stagy, goes, you're still alive.

It's like everybody just just cracked up. My biggest jog your memory of him playing was ninety nine playoffs. Pittsburgh was the eighth seed, barely made it in. And that was a time Prekop where Pittsburgh needed to make the playoffs and go as far as they could to survive financially. So we're playing Jersey, either the number one seed in the first round and the AXTON play a few games, he had a growing problem. He plays Game six. Scores the tie go away, sets up the winner to stock up, then we win game seven and he played and had a contribution.

He could barely walk afterwards. He had to be helped like, you know, in and out of the dressing room. Afterwards, you could see the what he was like in his shorts. You could see the bruise on his on his leg. And it was grotesque. So whenever people said, well, yeah, sometimes. Well, he didn't do that. He didn't then he he really gave everything at a time when the penguins really needed it.

And one thing about Jags I kind of feel bad about, we were talking before about guys who switch teams that just played for nine NHL teams and, you know, the team in the. All right, I feel bad because he doesn't really have a jersey. You know, like he spent his longest time and his most legendary time here, but when he comes back, he gets booed all the time and that's wrong. That shouldn't happen. But it does.

And, you know, he really isn't embraced anywhere because he moved all over the place because, again, he is a mercenary. And I always felt that kind of detracted from Gretzky to as great as Gretzky is. He played for five different teams. And I don't think that reflects as well as it could or should.

Is the Boeing maybe out of deference to Mario more than it is Antigua? No, I don't think so, because you accent Mario got along fine. I think you will get his number retired at some point if he agrees to come back to do it. I think that's part of the deal, that he needs to come back for it to happen.

The only guy, are you going to beg for him to come to your actual own Jersey retirement?

Please just come on the ice for a couple of minutes.

Yeah, but don't forget, he has to come all the way over from Korea, from Czech, where he's still playing, which is tremendous. Yeah.

Well, Mark Owens, we appreciate you coming on. This has been a blast. And for people outside of Pittsburgh, you can check this guy out online, check him out on Twitter. And let me say this before we finish Liverpool. Fuckin thanks.

You mean you chert me when I picked Chelsea. I know. I know. We still might finish ahead of you, but I will be a dick. And Gomez got her, you know, the two center defenders. Maybe I should have lowered expectations. But honestly, here's how I am as a fan. Penguins might struggle for a while in this era. I'm so grateful for what I've seen. You know, Liverpool, just one England last year.

You were the year before. I'm so grateful for what I've seen. And I've got to be honest, I think that makes me different than most sports fans. I've got to tell one story on two before we go. I've thought a couple of stories. This totally blew me off in Vegas. One time flies by balls deep. Yeah. What's that?

I was probably looking for Cialis. That's exactly right. I could tell you what happened. Busways, I ran into busy at Caesars Palace and he had like these five girls with them were all super hot. And so we just happened to see each other. He got rid of me as quickly as possible. And since I get it, what are you going to say? Hey, girls, here's my old ball back at my old fat friend with bad teeth.

What I'm saying now with him. So I get it because I've never helped anybody in that regard. I'm the worst wingman ever. But but it did happen. I just say it.

I try to sell it. I said five on two back checkers and they just said it wouldn't fly. I got one question for you if you to come, by the way.

I'm not Paul. That's the one thing I have going for me.

If you had to compare Sid to one Hall of Fame wrestler, who would you compare him to? Hall of Fame wrestler or even any wrestler at that regard, but you have to say Hall of Fame because it said. Dynamite kid. Workaholic, unmatched in ring performer puts himself at risk to make plays for the team. It's dynamite kid, or as they call him in Japan, dynamite the kiddo.

All right. I love it. All right, Mark, Mark, thank you for joining us. And keep on to keep crushing of them. Are you eating during the show? You pick that up for media. Exactly what do you think?

I'm just not going to, like, actually actually do what you do. You sort of taught me this whole game, bro. Thank you, guys.

Very enjoyable. I appreciate it. Thanks. Have a good day, brother.

Thank you very much, Mark Ma'aden believed he calls himself the super genius, one of five nine, the next three to six in Pittsburgh every afternoon, Monday through Friday.

So also, I think that we need to mention when he was fired and he talked about he made a joke about Ted Kennedy, the joke was, I always wish that Ted Kennedy would live long enough, long enough to be assassinated.

So, yeah, yeah, I did get a laugh that he told. I think nowadays those jokes don't fly. I don't think Ted Kennedy was a great person, but still had to give you some, I guess, backstory to expect the mine was.

Yeah. Yeah. A little context. Yeah, a little context. That was the word I was looking for. Thank you. I'm also here I want to talk to you guys about G4. I don't know who your listeners have heard of the brand G4.

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Check out G4 dot com slash checkout's for 10 percent off your first order. I mean, everything you just said is accurate because I wore them in both the sandbaggers coming up and they gave me a pair of the fancy ones and then the runner ones, I like the runner ones because they're a little bit more like, you know, everyday and comfortable. Ray Whitney was wearing them in the sandbagger, too. So other than that, I didn't I got to kind of defend Dragger a little bit because will not defend them.

I drank the Kool-Aid, so I was just as guilty as he was.

I'm sure Darren would have things to say. Maybe he'd want to. Come on. He does have his own podcast with Ray Ferraro, Ray and Dregs, but I don't know if he's just making them up.

Madden seems to think he is, but he could have sources. It's like very hard to just say who's actually correct in this.

OK, well, I still thought there was a possibility. That's why I jumped on the bandwagon and I guess I got any good Joseph. Yeah.

And we weren't we weren't here to refute Mark either. I mean, he has his opinions, like, you know, I mean, he actually I wasn't here to stick up for reblock. If you know what he said about Book eight. That's his opinion. I don't agree with it.

But, you know, I said, what did he say? Screwed them into the ice?

Well, he thinks anyone who ever, like, hasn't played for the same team their entire career. Who's a legend. Yeah. Isn't the legend.

Yeah. I mean, the Bruins were a mess at the time. I mean, I think anybody would have done the same thing. But he's the super genius, right?

Because we're going to send it over to the West Division and finish finish up that we already talked about Vegas and Colorado, obviously defenseman Cold Peraica on St. Louis. We we talked about him recently. He had looked a little bit out of sorts while he was pulled from the lineup. He does have a back injury he's been struggling through. That's why he hasn't been the same dominant player we've been used to over the years. So I hate to pick on a guy when he's hurt.

Well, it makes sense a little bit.

You were questioning kind of how he was moving because you watched all those. Yeah, he didn't lose games in a row. Right.

He looked like he'd lost the step of what's going on here. So. So are they saying that it was something that was lingering that he had set out for?

Well, the plan is rest right now. They don't know if they're going to need surgery. It so they're going to arrest them. And hopefully that works. And if not had to be, it had to be better.

Yeah, he just hasn't looked like himself. But like you, I love him as a player. He's a beast. And when they won that cup he was just a bigger piece as any anyone man. He was a horse back there.

Absolutely. No doubt about that. Moving right along here. Best hate to bring this up, but there was a huge article in the athletic about the Arizona Coyotes. We'd be remiss if we didn't talk about it here and spit checklists.

I was a pretty damning article. I think you'd say it was about the organization, the way the coyotes are running things. Katie Strang, who is an outstanding reporter, her credibility is really not in question anyway. She's been doing this for a long time. There was a big story about unpaid bills, the team not making payroll, not giving per diem. There was even one story that they didn't want to approve pizza for an overtime game in the bubble.

Katie Strang did give the coyotes an option to to speak to her. They declined. Then when they declined, they actually released their own statement afterwards. And just from a personal perspective, I thought it was a bad look. I mean, they they offered she offered them the talk they didn't want to. And then they kind of gave a statement kind of attack and they said she was harassing them. And then they listed a bunch of the owner's accomplishments over the years, which is kind of irrelevant to the lecture at hand, because I know it's uncomfortable probably for you to talk about.

But it was just, I guess from my perspective, not to do with you. It was just a tough look for a team trying to get its footing and, you know, lashing out the media. It might work for other people, but it doesn't work within the world. The hockey, when you don't report it was just a tough look. And again, it's destroying her reputation speaks for itself when it comes to hockey journalism.

Yeah. I mean, like guys, my experience in the organization has always been, like, extremely positive as a player and then transferring into, like the media side of it. It's just like not my world. I'm not in the office. Like, I don't know, like I can only speak on my experience. Obviously, it sucks that it's kind of like another another like, you know, taking one off the chain again hasn't necessarily has been the biggest hot streak going here.

But I mean, I don't know if you learn from it, let's get better. Let's fucking skull here. Come on.

Yeah, they just go to this black guy after black guy.

It's like you got to get things figured out which what.

Well, I was going to say, which kind of sucks because like, I don't know what the expectations were coming to the season, but the boys have been playing hard and they've been they've been fun to watch and they haven't I mean, they've had like, I think one bad game. And then in a couple of games, you've had like a few bad periods. But other than that man, you know, they got a great first line going right now.

Things are going pretty good. And I think, you know, I think the fan base is happy they're starting to see growth. So, I mean, I hope you know, I hope, you know, from an outside perspective, it doesn't reflect on what's going inside going on inside the locker room, because I think talk it's doing a good thing. And it on I was kind of going to say that, too.

It seems like it's an even when Chaika was there was issues with the you know, they got in trouble. They lost the draft picks for whatever that thing was with draft prospects. And it's always kind of away from the team. It's the players and the coaches are showing up doing their jobs. This other news like figure it out. Yeah, the ownership is different than the guys in the bench.

Yeah. I don't I don't think anyone's holding their feet to the fire as they should.

And but I also haven't had a conversation with them. Asking like what you know, what's going on here, like, I you know, I don't talk to them, so I can't just like, you know, she she obviously wrote what she wrote because she did some digging and talked to some people who were very unhappy with their circumstance.

I also wasn't in the room for that. So I don't know. I don't I don't I don't know what's going on.

And the last statement I will the last sentence of the statement today from the the owner said, As we will be exploring all of our legal options in response to the athletic, we will not have any further comments, which is kind of funny if the ten paragraphs of comments and I don't know any time that threatened legal legal options like that, I will keep an eye on it.

But I doubt anything will come to fruition there because, you know, unless it's libel and proven to be libel, then, you know, the case this I'll say this.

I probably wouldn't. I wrote a letter like a public letter back. Yeah. Yeah.

Especially when you huge comment and then you come out over the top. It's just kind of like, you know, he who does he protests who. Give me ten minutes to give you a comment. Yeah.

OK. How I can move on. All right.

We can move on to the L.A. Kings. A faunal week. This is a team nobody really had much to say good about. I know it's early, but seventeen points there right in the mix and the out in the West division, you know, we've been talking about Florida, but Borowski having a tough year and Chris Draeger coming out of nowhere. Well, how about in California, Cal Peterson, two, four, three goals against nine to six, same percentage.

He's kind of basically but not still a completely yet. But Jonathan Quick, he's basically still in the crease. Remember, you guys been catching much of the kings? I know they're kind of late for a quickie.

He's been playing a little bit better lately, had a shutout, I think three games ago. He played solid against the coyotes because they just played back to back against the Giants, lost in a shootout. The first game. And I'll say this like they have a very young Dierker. Doughty's playing solid. He's putting up some points. Ozzy Kopitar looks great. Dustin Brown is leading their team in scoring. I think he's got eight tuks now. The old guys are contributing and they care in these younger guys.

You're adding a little bit of spunk. The one guy, the one young guy who was coming in as the first rounder who I played with Adrian Kemp, I feel like he's really starting to find his groove now. There's a lot at twenty three to.

He's only twenty three. Right. And he was highly touted and you know, he was he was a consistent and HLR in the sense of like he was up and you know, he would disappear for four or five games and then you know, oh, there's the flashes of brilliance. He's starting to really put it together and get comfortable at the NHL level. L.A., I underestimated them coming in. And you mentioned their goalie, Cal Peterson. He I think he went to Notre Dame, ended up going to Ontario, rain with my old coach, Mike.

STUTTERS And I noticed that they were like shut teams out quite a bit. And I called them and asked them about this kid. He said he's just like a throwback. Just he's he's very aggressive. He's he's to be he plays very, like outside of his that he always, like, really challenges a shooter. And I, I love watching him play.

So as far as the coyotes are concerned, and if we can shift it over there quickly, though, with with I think you misspoke.

You meant Dustin Brown had the most goals. He's got eight goals. Can I say points? You just you set scoring.

But what I knew I meant and then I follow, too.

That's a kid, four year college player at Duluth. And you've seen him get better and better. He's somewhat near a point per game. So, yeah, they are they're not going to be an easy team to play against. Right. When you have that many young guys that many players look looking to prove themselves and then with still like Kopitar and Daudi, it is cool to see because those runs they went on when they won the cups, they were just so dominant.

You could tell the fans, the fans that's a hockey market.

When they're going just to go back about that series, they played St. Louis seven in a row. And throughout the course of those seven games, you could tell because Garland's been playing so well and getting a lot of attention, he started to take a lot of abuse. And when they ended up playing in L.A., it kind of continued. Dustin Brown took a few shots at him. Hey, that's hockey. And some teams play the bully. And I like old school hockey.

They need to find a way to try to protect him like he's taking far too much abuse. You end up taking a pretty nasty crosschecked to the neck. What's hard in today's NHL, especially with the team on the cusp of playoffs? Right. They're going to be fighting for that four spot is you can't be going out there, you know, taking selfies, penalties because one of your guys got stuck or hit. You know, you can't you can't afford losing a game three to where, you know, that goal was on the powerplays.

So you're between a bit of a rock and a hard place, maybe a bottom six aggressor type player. But for me, the coyotes need to fucking address that, because if this goes another thirty games, even if they do make playoffs, they're going to be so banged up you won't even have any juice left. So I don't know an area. I mean, I'll throw it to you because you're a BS fan, like they've never had an issue with that.

I would say maybe a year or two ago that they were having an issue where they weren't responding when Tuka got hit a couple of times, you know, they had Charra in the lineup, but he wasn't necessarily doing that role anymore.

I mean, he's forty two years old. He shouldn't have to be throwing hands. They didn't have Kevin Miller, but I think they have that thump back now. Kevin Miller, he's not playing every game. But yeah, I don't think you going to be pushing around too many Bruins goalies or superstars this year not paying the price. And Gowans Lighten it up man. He's the team leading scorer and he is a little guy and yeah, you do need some muscle there and that element isn't going to go away.

So hopefully the coyotes clean it up. I was just talking about the Kings. I want to talk about their neighbors to the south a little bit in Anaheim. They placed Adam and Ricky on waivers. This is a bit of a surprise. The thirty one year old led the team in scoring last year with twenty six goals and seventeen assists in 71 games. He still has three more years left at five point eight to five million. He's got three goals and one assist in six games this year.

The Ducks had a bad week. They had an open three week. They went from fourteen division down to last. You got to think maybe what, that GM Bob Murray is kind of grease the skids for a move here. And honestly, Enrique, I mean, it's not like he lost his fastball. I think a change of scenery could be perfect for this kid. If somebody is willing to take on this deal, I may be incorrect.

I think it's Henric.

I like Henrik Iglesias that you're saying saying let's go with Henrik, but I will be your hero, baby. And Kournikova's your pain. Oh, he was, of course.

So it's the other one. Oh yeah. You're not like, listen, that guy, he was sick on the Devils and then that trade happened and he scored that all time. Great goal against that. And we've talked about that. I was surprised to see it. I know his numbers are down, but Anaheim's just in that process of kind of retooling, trying to rebuild without being really bad.

It's an exciting time for them tonight with our boy, Trevor Xigris, making his debut in Arizona Monday night against the Coyotes. And see how that. Oh, but Henrik Iglesias, it sucks to get that news right. It doesn't matter how long you play in the league, doesn't matter who you are. I mean, to be put on waivers and have that type of money coming forward, it is a little embarrassing. It sucks to say, but hopefully he figures out what's going on and ends up still playing a role somewhere.

If it's not Anaheim, while worst case, Ontario he would go to, would he not go to San Diego to go? I mean, come on, Whale's vagina, not a bad spot to end up. No escrow and no escrow exactly a year like this year.

Who I'll blame my pronunciation on Andre Rishard because I'm so used to saying Andre Pocket Rocket Rishard, we're going to move it over to the North Division.

Always something going on here. Toronto hoops to get to jump on here. Britney Spears last week. Oops, they did it again. They follow a five one lead, rather follow a five one lead, lost six to five and Aussie after dad not going to break away. I mean, it was they were the laughing stock of the week, but of course, they rattled off three wins out. They had a seven point week still at the top of the NHL.

Thirty points off the Matthews on an absolute fucking tear. He had more points last week than the fallen players had all season. This is from Luke Fox Jukebox. More points last week than Malcolm Holliday and honestly, Matthew of Indic, Gainesville, Cazale, David Pasternack. Before last night, Niko Rantanen Kajuru and don't lock in of all head in this whole season. He's got twelve goals for Kerry price. That's those most off. Any goals. One hundred and seventy four goals in two hundred and ninety nine games already the most scored by any US born player in his first three hundred games.

I mean we stroke him every week. But if a guy keeps going like this, what else are we going to do best. It's fucked.

It's just he's, he's, he, he can single handedly win them games and it's sometimes like you watch these highlights and it looks so effortless too, isn't it?

Like weird how effortless it looks wit like if you compare like McDavid like buzzer out all the ice and all of a sudden you just see like this little sniper like or big sniper, I should say, like he just kind of gets it, pulls it and it's like, next thing you know, it's shelf and everybody's like, oh fuck, there was a goal. Like half the guys on the ice are still like playing it out. Yeah, he is.

It's like must watch right now and I have this feeling, I know it's so early, but he could chase 50 and 50, so he's at 18 goals through 18 games. And it seems like it's impossible.

But I don't know, man, like, right now he's so when you talk about, like, looking easy and like slow motion, he just comes in the zone with so much ease and then right around the net, he's so good at getting the shot of it. He needs like no time whatsoever to just flick the wrist on his backhand is good and monitor who's playing sick. I mean, he's like so good at setting him up and the thought and quote, I don't have the exact quote on me, but it was great.

It was like I think that I saw Matthews deserved to literally be in the running for every major trophy right now in the NHL. It's like selkie hard. It doesn't matter because he's making that much of a difference every single night. And I think that you've seen Toronto look like a team Muslins out again, which sucks. I think he broke a bone in his face.

But that team is like built to actually make some noise. It's your thought, Simmons. It's like this team is could actually get it done. And when you have Matthews, who's never looked this good, even for goal first game, it didn't matter of his career. It's like this is reaching this other level of greatness. And to have him in his prime Toronto looks for real. I don't care how weak people say the North Division is.

I mean, and not to take any focus away from Marner because he's been lights out, too. But you mentioned Thorton like from him and Spezza. There are two older guys who are making seven fifty, I think. I think Thornton's got nine points in nine games and Spezza isn't far off a point per game pace either. So they're they're looking great right now. And it was funny, he goes back to back four point games. And I would say at that point, and I know McDavid McDavid, but you're probably thinking for what he's doing for his team and the fact they're in first place.

He's probably at the top of the conversation for MVP. Yeah, well, after the second four point game, I think McDavid checks the box score before he goes out. And he went he went off, man three goals to assists the one goal where he just pickpockets. The guy goes down. It does a little chop suey, beats the puck into a square. So it gets slightly a little easier, looks at where he's going to pass it to and it's off his stick.

In no time, Markram couldn't even react and create a little highlight reel for our spin. Chuckles Pitch the crazy thing about that goal.

McDavid grabs it. He kicks it to himself right near the red line.

And then he's probably the only guy in the world who you're like. Did he mean to put that puck on edge?

Because it's like impossible. Any goal? He'll tell you what to Puck is on its edge and being shot. Goalies don't know how fast it's coming out. They don't know where it's going. It's a legit knuckleball. And it's like I don't think he did. But that's one guy who probably could pull that off. You want to Tanner was playing the two on one. Perfect. He was like taking away the pass, just basically praying the petrol. Oh, God.

When you see somebody like that coming down on you.

Oh, boy. Oh, God. Oh, boy.

What's that song feeling? Like a track star. Oh, holy by Justin Bieber.

Great. I can build Unreal Rider's favorite song. So, yeah, it was just it was just McDavid singing.

Oh well somebody's making some noise over there and now Edmonton sits in second in the north. So there's a couple of teams that are really hurt right now.

We'll get into the Calgary Flames, but that division up top looks fun still.

We've been saying it before we get off Toronto. I do want to mention we have the Battle of Ontario, Teuscher. We've been coming out with these just sort of a Grateful Dead theme style.

One last note on Toronto before we move out of Calgary with Alex Galkina, who had been traded last week. Well, he never left Canada. He stayed there. And then Carolina shipped him to Toronto. So he never had to quarantine anywhere. They sent him to Toronto for Igor Korsakoff in local Cadavid was Trotzky. So basically some organizational depth. They had no intention of keeping Galkina show and he can add another team to his resume. And yeah, Calgary, they had a one and three week.

They've lost three in a row. magicJack interview said quote, He was hearing from friends at home. He said, quote, More fans than media are all over me than previous years. They love me once. I just got to stop playing better personally. I'll give up scoring a goal for the rest of the year for a Stanley Cup. Confidence is a big part of me, and I obviously still got that. You know, I think the fans kind of maybe turned on a bit.

What this is a what have you done for me lately? Business, not just for the front office, but for fans also. You know that.

Yes, I know that as well as anyone in terms of being hated by pretty much every fan base I played for.

And I think that the tough thing about this was he he addressed this talking on the media and and then they got busted seven one by Edmonton, and then he had to come back, come back in after and say that was basically the lowest moment we've had since I got here.

And people are looking at the entire core in Calgary. And it's it's this back on the short Giordano Monohan goodrow and Kaschalk and like they go on a trip, I think they go play Ottawa three times and Toronto twice this week. And this upcoming few days, it's like that's kind of make or break for where they're sitting right now. You have to wonder, like what's going on, because this year they got more extreme and they brought Tannum on the.

And who both looks good, they've kind of held up their end of the bargain and the rest of the team, I'm not going to say struggled, right. Kudrow has been good. There's there's moments when this team looks looks in sync. But then at other times, there's like not much like there. They've had four coaches in the last six years. And it seems to be that like it's always the same questions no matter who's behind the bench.

So, Matthew, your check right now is getting it.

And it really goes back to like. I don't ever expect I would never expect fans to feel bad for anyone that is playing pro sports, never at all like you, they make millions of dollars. They do what they dreamed of doing for the most part growing up. But when you talk about being a pro athlete, like there's so many things that go into it, you don't think about when you're a young kid, just like praying and hoping you make it.

And it's like when you're not playing well and you're making money, you got to be ready to deal with legit pressure. And I know everyone at work has pressure and they have pressure making way less money. So somebody that that every day has to get their job done right. To put food on their family's tables, like laughing at me.

But for people who have been really good, like Matthew, Chuck so many stars out there their entire lives, once you start getting the heat, once you start feeling the other side, the the hatred that can kind of spew out a ridiculous fan's mouth and especially online, you understand like, all right, this is way harder than I thought it was, are way harder than it was when I came in and things were a breeze.

So you really learn a lot about people's character. I think when they first get their their dose of fans telling them that they suck. Right. And we'll see how Matthew Kucuk responds. I think that he's a hell of a player with many, many years ahead of him, of being a great player in the NHL.

But right now, it's probably his first real example time when he's part of the first time he's while making money or really in his entire career, being handed that much criticism. Now, as far as his production is concerned, I don't think his numbers are terrible.

I haven't watched them enough to he's on pace for like less than 50 points, but he's an eighty two game season. I know for him I get seventy seven points and he dropped down whatever, five ish, so I think offensively he's not himself.

OK, so OK, well that's fair because I haven't watched enough to to to be able to criticize his game. But I just think overall as a whole, that team right now is struggling like they've they've apologized to their goaltenders for hanging them out to dry. And like you said, it's like right now I'm very interested to see on this road trip how they respond a against Ottawa. It's one thing. Let's see what they can do against Toronto. But that's it, saying that like Ottawa, they beat Montreal, what to or they beat much earlier tonight in overtime, right?

All.

Yes. So Ottawa isn't isn't necessarily easy, but they got to win games. Calgary all. You think Kucuk meant to pass it off the demand? I 80 percent did I actually. I know there's a guy is a guy, right? There is a variety that would have been right on his tape.

I watched the gif a hundred times. And it's funny, I don't usually do a couple of times a year. I actually did. And nice, nice dish. And he's like, Hey, thanks. And that goes, no, I meant to yourself because he might have thought I meant as a sister in the game. I watched it 20 times and I don't think that guy was low enough. I don't think he tossed it too high to put too much mustard on it.

It looked to me like he was almost waiting for it to come off. I could be wrong. Maybe we'll get some clarification.

We got we got to get some truth serum before we ask him, but I think it tells the truth of him.

All right. I'll I'll say this. It would be so close to the skat when he released it and he was so ready for it when it came back. I'll I'll be willing to give it like I'll say. All right. I can see where you're coming from. At first, though, I agreed with Whit, though the guy was back door tickling, that he was tickling one of the one of the banners in the ceiling. Just wait and see thing.

Watch just watch the angle, the pass. And like I said, it didn't seem like I had enough mustard on the right angle to go because whoever it was might have been passed.

They weren't they didn't look like they were moving.

They were stationary. So either way, it was it was a hell of a hell of a fucking goal. The kid's good. And you brought the Canadians. They had a tough week. Oh, one in one five three loss to Toronto. Then the overtime loss to Ottawa. They dropped on a fourth. And since starting the season off, five on to the Habs have gone four or five and zero. And all five of those losses have come at the Bell Center where Montreal is now three five and oh, as opposed to six oh and two on the road and eleven, nineteen and six since November 16th.

The twenty nineteen. In that span, the only team with the worst home record is the Detroit Red Wings, the Montreal. Obviously it's a huge fact of if anybody misses a crowd, it's probably that building, especially on a Saturday night. But I don't know. Gary Bryce, he's he's struggling a bit right now, Jake. Alan's actually been the better goaltender of the two thus far. What I don't know, I could tell. I'll give you a pass like Brady.

Well, you give me a pass.

I mean, I haven't heard from all these Canadiens fans that were ripping me, going nuts on me right when the season started, they looked unbeatable. Now that they've kind of come back to life, I did immediately come out and say that they were way better team than I give them credit for in the little season preview we did.

But they don't look like the world beaters that they came out of the gates looking like, I'll say that. And another thing, too, is they got some young guys who are first time being that guy, Suzuki had a bit of a tough stretch there. I think he had maybe one assists in five games. I think you end up finding the back of that last game, though. So, listen, we're going to see guys go through these types of waves.

So I would imagine in the next little stretch here, they're going to they're going to back some wins because we were just talking about old school protection and we saw a good example of it with the Vancouver Canucks. Yeah, Derek. Footboard he grabbed the hold of Nils Haugland a late Friday night Haugland ahead hit him earlier He thought it was a little bit high Forbert that I thought for about might been leaning leaning a little taller I don't think was necessarily an intentional high hit but he did go up.

The Hoglund at the end of the game led to a huge pick pile and then the next game, which was Sunday night, he fired Zach McEuen. So I think this is a good example. You're talking about Vancouver not letting one of the young stars or potential stars get, in fact, what they're going to protect the kid. Yeah.

So here's what I fucking hate, though. All these Vancouver Canucks fans stormed to Flaubert's Instagram and just start slinging mud at him in the in the comments section. These people are lunatics, man. One hundred percent worse fan base as far as the bottom feeders, Vancouver Canucks, he thought he hit them high earlier. Then towards the end of the game, he took another little bit of a run at him. Hey, hey. All good for Hoglund or to play his game and do his thing so it gets in your face.

So Forbert retaliates.

Yeah, I get that he's a smaller guy, but he was still willing to handle his own business the next game against what's his name sorry, Jack McEwan. So it's just like fucking race. I love that. I love it all.

Other than the fact that these degenerates got to go harass Forbert. And the comment, by the way, my teammate, when we're on the call, they're not a big deal.

Hoglund or they'll put vinegar. Yeah. Yeah, he's get the you've seen the skill level, but he's also like, right in the mix.

I think I read something quickly, like Travis Green loves the guy, so he'll get his nose in there.

And Forbert did a good job. And I think that the the scrum at the end was a great symbol for Vancouver, though, because things haven't gone well.

But there was five guys immediately at the time, immediately. And that's what it's all about. And I'm not going to say there's teams out there that wouldn't do that. I'm not going to name certain teams, names that I don't think would necessarily respond. But Vancouver did a hell of a job there. Hey.

And if Hoglund are going to run around and be that guy, which I love, those types of players we talk about all the time. Well, you love playing with them. You hate playing against them. But but, you know, at some point someone's going to attack. You're going to dump them. Yeah, they're going to try to grab them. And the fact that the fact that the guys are like, hey, go play your game and we're going to back you up.

That's a that's a great feeling for Hoglund. Yeah.

That means you must be popular with the fellas.

Know for Portugal was it wasn't like it was a dirty hit or anything. I was just kind of pissed off and I gave a couple of crosschecked. So it wasn't like he was crying foul or anything, which is hockey. Good ol hockey. Baby, I want to I can get you.

I'll stick in the face.

Winnipeg had a two and one week to sit in third in the conference I'm sorry, in the division right now they've been playing some pretty solid hockey plup Obama made his presence known Sunday night. Two big goals, including the overtime game. One also had an assist. What did you catch any of that game? He was a pretty big force for them Sunday. I did. Van had the lead for a lot of that game and was really a little bit of a coming out party for him then.

I think it's been hard with all the time. He had the rest in quarantine when he got up there and that was a that was powerful statement by him. I mean, to get that winner in not he puts Winnipeg right in the top four who look like they should be able to get get get the playoff spot this year, especially especially as he plays better and better as he gets more comfortable with that system and Maurice and his teammates.

But I still think that there's probably more you can give. I would say he's not comfortable saying he's he's played his best yet, but a game like that could just get anyone wrong.

I wasn't really going to comment on anything. I think you nailed it. I was actually, you know, what I was thinking of. We've got to start the episode with dog days are over for Sid. That's what I was just thinking, is that that song that he fought for, Oita or Barbie Girl because because of Pasternak's, he this is the tough spot of this is these are the hardest decisions we have to make behind the scenes, folks.

Tough decisions. And it's up to Ginelli. Don't let us down.

I was going to say, are you going to say we?

What do you mean? Yeah. Yeah, well, you decide all of it. This one I'm a Barbie girl. You know that one with. It's such a bad story. Come on, Barbie, let's go party. Oh, oh, oh, definitely. I can fix off like a little of that shit that I said.

Edmondson three in one week, they jumped in a second place. Mike Smith is really short up there. And that I know it's a small sample size, but in five games started, he's got four wins, a one point eight three goals against a shutout, nine the same percentage. If he can kind of recapture that form he had a few years back. You know, Edmonton, they're going to be a tough out. Also, Connor McDavid, congrats to him.

He got his five hundredth NHL point. I was the eighth quickest to get to that number and he tied Sid Crosby did it in three hundred and sixty nine game. A little bit of symmetry there.

NHL script, that fucking Wizard of Oz, Gary Bettman going against the sun, not this enemy.

This month, we're going to get to the East and Central Africa and we'll be getting a Brendan down shortly. But first, I want to talk to you about Bruce.

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And now we're going to send it over to Brendon Dionne of the Washington Capitals.

Well, our next guest is a defenseman who just started his 10th season in the NHL and is second with the Washington Capitals, though he wasn't drafted by an NHL team, he played in a six hundredth NHL game last season, but many more to go.

I'm sure it's a pleasure to welcome to the Spit and Checketts podcast, Brendan Dolan, actually, for us. Brian, how's it going?

Thanks for having me, IRA. Appreciate being on here.

Absolutely. My pleasure. We're talking to you on Inauguration Day here in the States. You're in D.C. Is there a little Bosnia down there today similar to like a big game when, you know, the whole city is kind of revved up?

I'll I'll be honest, I'm not in the mix right now. Security is getting a little tightened up here around D.C., Arlington or a little bit, or I'm still hotel living here, looking to get settled in my my spot post camp. So 15 minutes out and I'm I'm staying safe.

Well, the caps, you got six points in your first four games. I know it's early, but how are you liking the sort of baseball style schedule so far?

Yeah, it's been it's been a little different. I mean, we were a couple of days in Buffalo, a couple of days. And it's it's nice to think early on the boys can be together in the hotel. Not that we're doing much. Their door dash has been a hot commodity for sure in between games and whatnot. But a lot of ping pong game and boys have been you on the call. Who's number one? Who's only got one, which is pretty.

The CPC set up goal and always been getting into it to a lot of the Russians don't have their family out yet. So if it's a game and up a storm and taken on the road to you hit a winner again.

So we dipped the ball and catch up and takes a bite out of it. It's just the farm animal. What a fun team, though.

This like. Oh yeah. So much, so much stuff. Social media especially comes out especially comes out with your team and we just see like Ovie going nuts before the game in the room and you and everyone up seems like the whole group just gets along as well as any, any team out there. Huh.

Or a crew. I mean, when I when I got traded here, I'll be honest, I knew nobody and come into the room. I mean, I like doing it, doing a couple Google searches. What can I talk to this guy about? Hopefully get on the golf course or something to break the ice. But I mean, I was more nervous for my for figuring out a handshake with all the fellas in my first game. I mean, it was a little touch and go for the first one to get dressed a couple of minutes earlier as we got going.

And just just a great group. I mean, I think that's the biggest thing that they've created culture wise here is from the top down over to Johnny Carson, OCE Wilson. I mean, you go through the lineup, these guys, they they work their bags off on the ice, but they love to have a good time. They love to keep it loose in the room practice days. I mean, you guys know how it is. It's a long, long season.

One year you're in the trenches. So to have a couple laughs, it's it's the good stuff.

They work their bags off before the game starts with all those cup checks are doing and warm up with this guy showed up with a fucking chastity belt on because he didn't want to lose his horn first after getting dealt all the equipment, guys a little busy with all the news sticks.

I mean, it's it's unbelievable. Those guys have a blast.

So it's going to be like a bondage outfits next. And the next level, you step inside the Washington room, they got the nipple clue to make sure we stand on the stand on the boards just in case.

I mean, some of those ones I mean, they got some bruises coming in and they're like, what did I do to block a shot? No, no, I was just give me a whack.

Well, I mean, you had a long run with San Jose. You get traded last year, played ten games, and then shit hits the fan. Corona comes. So you probably never got a place. You still don't have one. It's just been so, such a whirlwind, I'm guessing, with you not having a set place in stone in DC yet.

Oh, it's it's been a Gong Show the last last year. Well, coming up on when do we shut down first or second week of March. Where do you go then. Yeah. So I'm, I'm born and raised just outside Vancouver. So I had a couple of good times in Vancouver when he was a West Coast guy for a little bit. Yeah, we can keep those for another time, but yeah. So I obviously coming from San Jose, a West Coast guy didn't know much about the East Coast and travel and whatnot.

What a dream it is over here. I mean, I could maybe play an extra couple of years with our travel. I know, but yeah, the shutdown happened was in a hotel in Elliott Kovalchuk Ivankov having some nice dinner parties together. The two of us here in the hotel head back to San Jose was there for for a few weeks just in my place at a condo. They're beautiful, Santana. Oh, I'm sure, boys, I stayed there for the most boring place in the league.

I used to say you'd get in a big ol boy a business business, call it before man.

Jose, I mean, I'll be honest, there's not there's not much going on. Nightlife wise. October Fest.

So was back there and then my gals from from Minnesota. So we made a pit stop in there. It's got some skates and on the on the route back, but a lot of drive and miles logged due to the the old. And didn't want to be getting any positive tests and having to sit out extra. So finally made it back this way, Grindin. I mean, there's all these restrictions, but when you're going into view homes, look at homes, condos, the whole nine yards.

So finally, we've found a place in all of we've been moving in in the next week or two.

Here would have been your early impressions of Zdeno job as a teammate so far.

I mean, just legendary. I don't know where else you can go. Obviously, a big human in himself here. I was thinking I was a big guy, six, four. And I'm going to see the Cairo a couple extra times just looking up at them in the room. But he's there's a reason why he was a captain and he's going to be a Hall of Famer. This guy, when he when he speaks in the room, you know, you listen up, works his works his balls off in the gym to him in his first couple of days.

Feel bad for the Czechs and Slovaks on the old Wilshere because they were just brought right into the fold Z workouts. First the camp, and I'm sure they're still sore after those ones. And here the guy is at age forty three, still playing 20 minutes and they are blocking shots. You know, it's even in a team. We've got a pretty veteran veteran team here in Washington and I still think a guy like him coming in has been huge for the group, for the leadership and whatnot.

And I mean, he's big.

You got your big ticket this past summer. I mean, not for a guy like you who's had the career path you've had, like how you know, how exhilarating was that? We finally get basically recognized as far as the finance is concerned, basically what you've put into the game. Yeah, I mean, it's it's been nice to let you know when we get a paycheck, what it looks like it's been a while for for the boys, but it's it's it's something where I think going into free agency this past summer, there was a lot of question marks.

You talked to guys around the league that were coming up on their contract year and just so many unknowns. We didn't even know if there was going to be a season. This guys are going to have to start going over to Europe. What it was going to look like. And I think for for myself, you kind of talk to guys that have gone through the process before. It's kind of like, oh, yeah, you know, test the market, pick your city, pick your bliss, whatever you want to be.

But I don't think it was going to be that way for myself. And I think from from being in a wash for a couple of weeks and seeing what the squads like, how much fun they have a great area, great, great city. So was was happy it worked out. And to be here for another four years, it's going to be a blast.

I thought maybe since you were hanging out with cold Chucky, help you negotiate it. Yeah, well, I was actually going to talk to Baccy about it. Nick Backstrom. Just no right. No age. And he got it done in February before we were all shut down. I was like, jeez, smartest agent there is out there. Yeah, exactly.

So we go back a lot of times in this to earlier in your life and your hockey career and like first thing, everyone kind of notices when when looking up you and your stats is like you weren't drafted. And it's kind of shocking your size and how well you skate.

Were you were you shocked and or did you become such a better player at twenty, twenty one?

How did that all go down? You know, it was it was a weird kind of hockey career for me start at the very least, you know, being being a Canadian kid, I mean, hockey was eat, breathe, sleep with everything. And growing up, especially being a Canucks fan of Oprah as a young kid, the city in twins, I mean, we were pretty lucky there in Vancouver to have some of the players roll through. And, you know, you play your minors and then you go through and there's the junior drafts and these types of things.

And a lot of the guys I still skate with back home, I got drafted. And I just remember when when I didn't get picked at age 16. And, you know, these guys are wheeling around. I'm like, jeez, I feel like I can be like I can play with these guys, feel like I can keep up at least. And I was very fortunate to get on in the WHL there in Seattle. And we had Cheesa is, I think, six, five or six first round picks my my first two years.

And I was like, well, you know, you're actually talking about like NHL scouts coming in and you're talking about these things. And that was very fortunate. A great 20 year old year signed on with Dallas and just just was very, very lucky to have some awesome veteran guys. I mean, Ray Whitney, Brandon Morrow, Jamie Ben, Trevor Daly. I mean, the list really went on. And I think as a young player, I'm sure, as you found out, too, to have those guys kind of bring you along, teach you how to be a good teammate, teach you how to learn.

And, you know, when you have those, there's a reason why some of these guys have been playing for 15 years in the league and how they just come to the rink and and just just have fun and realize, you know, you're playing hockey. You're going to be in the best league in the world. And, you know, at the end of the day, just get better every day to going back to your bantam draft.

I was reading something that might have been a typo. Were you very undersized when you were 14 years old? Because I know only child is a little different. You get drafted the year before you go usually in the back of draft. It was two years before the WHL, correct?

Correct. Yeah. Yeah, I was I was just a little we lost five foot two at age 14. So Mom and dad, I mean, my dad sticks to mom is five nine. And it was just kind of like, is this kid going to start eating? This is breakfast. Is he going to have his Wheaties and sprout up eventually? And kind of just this the old cliche, stick with it. And I was fortunate enough to have a growth spurt.

I think when I was 18, I ended up kicking like six two or six, three one. It was my draft year and they weren't calling me Bambi on the ice so I could actually have some sort of coordination.

And yeah, here we are you to sleep with in an inversion table. You're paranoid. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're not. Yeah, we don't we don't want a young, young, small lodge in our household.

Exactly. Is embarrassing. The Dylan name like. Come on kid, let's go. Are you doing. Yeah. Your dad this mine honey the milkman was was lurking around or something was it.

Must have, it must have been like shocking almost. I mean was there one year when it, when there was a huge growth spurt. It was, it just kind of over two three. Yeah.

No I'd say it was probably like seventeen, eighteen. So I was a late birthday so drafter was eighteen. And I think that summer, like after my first year of Junior, I came home like my buddies kind of said, you know, like you'd be going to the golf course or hanging out at the rink. They're like like you or something. I shrink and I'm like, I don't know. And then you're at home every day with your parents.

So they're not really saying anything. And the next thing you know, you're kind of like as tall as your dad. And then he's like, OK, you know, something's going on. And it was just just just weird, you know, everyone's different different colors and everything happens and just clarify. And it finally did for me.

You pat your buddies on the head again, but until Zis patted me on the head.

So I noticed as your your junior career progressed, especially in your last year, you finally put some numbers on the point. Now, was that something you had to do just because you're the older guy and there weren't many of the other guys in the team? Or is that something that you you eventually added to your bag and junior because of the coach's decisions?

Yeah, I think I think it was a little bit of both. I mean, I'd been telling my coaches for years, hey, give me on the paper here, like, you know, get me something. I got I got a showcase for these these scouts that are coming in. And I mean, I think it's it's a lot of things involved with your hockey career. Right. Is this place and time or time and place opportunity? And I had some great coaches there in Junior Turner.

Stephenson played a long time in the NHL. Rob Sumner, who was one of the head scouts with Calgary now. And it is every every year. I was just trying to get better. I know it sounds so, you know, everyone wants to do that. But finally, my last year was kind of like either you're heading to hopefully UBC next year and I'm going to be trying to make something of a school or let's try and do this thing with Pro.

And I was fortunate to put up some numbers later. Some great players either drafted guys and got got some luck, started talking to some NHL teams. And you have been trying to get on the fire play ever since.

You kind of just answered. You've got to just answered. My next question is like there had to be at that point.

A bunch of teams that, Richard, were you were you really choosing with going with Dallas against some other options or were they kind of the leading candidates?

I mean, I'll be honest, I was I was pretty lucky. I was I was I was able to talk to probably around 10, 10 or 15 teams throughout the course of the year. And I think that's one thing that I was I was, again, very, very lucky to be is not drafted in a sense. And it was such a heartbreak thing at age 18 where, you know, you go through the tears and you're sitting there with your buddies and your parents and you're so bummed out.

And looking back on it, I mean, think about it. If your sentiment dropped to the pens in the last 10 years, like, you know, good luck, write her, you know, for the longest time with defenseman with teams that that were great on the back end. It's just you're kind of locked in there, unfortunately. And to be able to kind of talk to those teams and just see where where you might be able to fit in and look at some depth charts.

And again, my coaches that I had in Junior were really good with me on that. Hey, look, you can maybe go and try and, you know, live on the beach in L.A. or you can try and make a good, good, honest NHL career in a place where you're going to get opportunity. And I spent some time in the American League a year and a half and really learn from from another, you know, more veteran guys and good coaching staff.

And next thing you know, you get a crack. And I was my big thing is I once I got up there, I just want to stay there.

Texas stars, Austin, probably one of the most undercover best places to play. What was it like living there?

Yeah, I don't know if it's undercover anymore. It's it's got to be destination in the American League. I mean, what a spot. I came up there from Junior. We had an awesome and awesome group, young single guys that were just playing hockey and having fun. And the downtown area for sure could have an NHL team. I mean, you think about the support that I mean, they have for the Longhorns down there, we might be second fiddle no matter what NHL team goes in, as long as that school's around.

But lots to do. I mean, for a twenty twenty one year old guy to go to that city, you know, and a lot of fun with the guys, I think we were our home record has been pretty light. So because every team seen that the rookie party there.

So I guess they all the biggest of the age.

Exactly. And I think when teams are going through the Rockford's in the Peoria's and then they stumble upon in Austin, Texas, you're probably trying to have a good time there.

Your second year with the team, second season. Yarema Yagur comes in 40 years old. I think he only was there for thirty four games, but that must have been just like having a rock star in the room now.

And the players I've gotten to play with these guys, I mean, legends from from Brenden Morrow to. Yeah. Mayger obviously. Then I go to to San Jose and you got Jumbo Joe, you got Patty Marlowe, Brant Burns. I mean the list really goes on. And I think for, for Yorga that was the first time I was really like go wow, this guy is I mean this year Mayger has his resume, speaks for himself. You know, I think one of the nights it was probably a couple of weeks and I was still at the hotel and he actually stayed at the hotel the whole year.

So the practice rink in Dallas is of Frisco, a little little a little ways out from downtown. And it's like, what are you doing tonight, kid? Dinner playing video games is just trying to stay in the is a great well, we're going we're going across the way. And I kind of thought he was kidding. And then there is another check guy, Thomas Insua, who we were the same age, both first year up. And he's acknowledged like he's serious.

We're going over there like eleven o'clock. And sure enough, you know, ten forty five knock on my door. We get over there to the rink and I don't even I don't know. You must have a key because I don't remember how we got in. Everything was locked up and sure enough, ankle weights on his skates. We're we're doing this cutback drills. And it was yeah, it was it was insane. And he actually actually assisted when we played Vancouver, he insisted on my first goal, I think was my second goal ever.

But it was like the biggest goal I've ever. It was like him and Jamie Benn at the assists.

Was it in too?

But in the first game at home and playing for free, it was just like starting to get some more ball, just bending over.

Oh my.

I played for free that whole week. That whole paycheck was gone. So how is well worth it though.

Obviously Jamie then seems like he has like an aura misty around him. I mean he's a superstar but it doesn't seem like people know a bunch of bottom is you like that in the room as well.

Real quiet. Yeah, I think I think, Benny, when guys get to meet him and you get around them as much as his teammates and his buddies are, he's he's the best. He's such a good dude is funny. Again, another guy that's just, like you said, a kind of undercover until you get to see him every day and play against me like, all right, this guy this guy's the real deal. And, you know, good book.

Boy, do I feel like when those northwester Canadians tend to gravitate a little bit towards each other and he was really good for me. One of the actually, that's a funny story, my first game where I'll ever play in St. Louis at home. And I knew already pretty well from playing with him in the American League. And so we kind of had a close relationship. And Jamie was still Jamie being captain, the Dallas Stars. And you're kind of like, you know, you're on this guy.

And so we're walking in the rink at whatever it was, four thirty. And he looks over me is the first game that I was like, Yeah, makes you nervous. I was like, yeah, you should be in the NHL.

Oh, great. Here we go. And I mean, it was it was it made me kind of settle in after that and made some jokes. I'm sort of playing soccer and all that. But, you know, here I am, 21 or 22, going to my first game. And Captain, the team was like, oh, boy, I'm in one, but got away with it unscathed and no dashes. I don't think so. I was OK.

You think Jamie Benn would. Come on, Arpad, you said you chatted with him. I got a million. Like, every time I've asked him, he hasn't answered me back. Maybe a retirement guy.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure, Benny, I'm sure you could convince him to get on eventually. Maybe to do brothers Ben or something. I don't know.

Yeah, Jordy would definitely take the focus off of him. I think he's a little bit more outgoing. But I mean, it sounds you had such good relationships with all those guys. So the one year where you get traded for Jason Ambrosiano getting sent over to San Jose, was there any rumblings that you might be a guy would get moved when it happened, where you were there tears where the devastation was that excitement because you're going over to a bit of a wagon in San Jose?

Yeah, it was it was a little bit of everything, all those kind of combined. I mean, here you are, your first team. And I think for a lot of us, you know, the team you drafted by our team the first time, I feel like I'm going to play twenty years here. I'm going to ride off into the sunset to be the mayor of the town, and it's going to be good. And I think that was my kind of vision.

I'm like, I love it. Here in Dallas, we've got a bunch of young guys came up together, all kind of, you know, you see each other's first game, our first goal, or, you know, first nights out together, time on the road and you get super close. And I think that was that trade was kind of the first time where I'm like, wow, it's this really is a business. You know, we're not just playing hockey here.

And this is just a lot of things are kind of out of your control. And when I went over, it was it happens quick. You get traded. You're told that the rink I think it was whatever, right after practice, one o'clock and you're on the you're on the five thirty out to San Jose, different part of the Arab part of the world, different part of the country where, you know, you really only know the Fairmont, downtown San Jose and the rink and, you know, going in there to, as you said, a really veteran absolute wagon of a squad with with Burnsy Marello Jumbo, these KOOCH legends of the game that are still putting up numbers.

And I think when I walk through that room, it was really an eye opener that, you know, when I come here, I want to be here for as long as I can and try and just just be a piece of the puzzle. Was there a guy with more of a like a quiet presence than Trevor Daly? I know you you mentioned him early on.

Like, I, I got the chance. I first started playing against him probably at 14, 15, under 17. I remember he was the best player in the tournament, just unreal talent. But then I got to know him a little bit and just a cool cat off the ice like a true pro six skater. But I know you become pretty good buddies with him.

They'll still still text Mysterioso when he when he retired this year. I mean, what a career for for a guy that works for everything. He you know, he ended up achieving two time Stanley Cup guy beat us in the playoff business in San Jose. They're the one year. So I don't know if I was super happy for him then. But, you know, someone who is just good to the young guys, to, you know, he comes in and he played how many hundreds of games.

And what was so good to me, bringing me over for dinner, have me over to his place. And Trevor Daly, one of the best, still still working with the game. And I'm sure the penguins, I think, is hockey ops of some sort. They're really lucky to have.

So you've been fortunate that your whole career, where you're going with these teams and these guys are taking you under their wing. And there was one story I heard about Jumbo Joe when you did get over to San Jose. I don't know if it was around Christmas time when you guys were on your break or something.

Oh, yes. This is a good one. I thought at least so December. Twenty third in Anaheim. We around pregame skate. I just got traded there maybe maybe three weeks prior. And still the quiet guy in the room. There's a few of the younger guys around my age that I was starting to bond with and still in the hotel the whole nine yards. So my parents had had already planned. They had already down in San Jose. They're there December.

Twenty third waiting for me. We're flying back after the game out a couple of days, Christmas time, whatever. So I have pre game skate again. I'm wheeling around and one of the younger guys I is either Tierney or Barkley. Did you come up with like, hey, like what are you doing for the break. I like going back to San Jose and my folks are coming down. Sister's flying in from Toronto. We're just going to have a couple of days and kind of get to know San Jose goes, well, OK, no money, no skate today.

And I'm like, oh, we can't leave me cliffhanger like this. And so then Jumeau comes over, he goes too badly and sucks. But I'm like, what sucks? Okay, so I skate over and I'm like, what's going on? And he's like, well, now there's like five or six of us Jumbo's. Someone's got APJ. We're heading out to Vegas after the game. I'm like like after tonight's game here. We're in Anaheim like like on the tarmac, ready to rock and roll.

And it goes, Yeah. Like after the game. Like well to see if we're going over time we have to push it back, but we should be all good. So I kind of skate. All right. Go ahead. Jump ball. Like I've spoken two words to him, maybe three weeks say like hey jumbo, nice to me. I'm like, Jumbo is you got room for me if I hop in with you? I don't know.

I always just said that we got a little place lined up for Bagus and I think I'd been there once and, you know, with the history of the Dallas guys and nothing crazy. But I mean, here we are like Legend of the Game, Joe Thornton and I need to go to Vegas for Christmas break. And so, sure enough, literally finished the game. I think we won shoot out or something like that. Of course, it goes extra innings.

And here I am walking by like the new coaching staff. Been there for three weeks. Todd McKellen's looking at me like, what are you are you're not going on the bus kind of thing, walking up the, you know, the Anaheim little right by all the cars, right by the bus and the six of us hop into and over like this. This is like kind of like the water league moment for me right here. We are sitting on the plane playing cards.

That's jumbo, like Joe Thornton heading to Vegas. And sure enough, we got there, had a great time, of course, you know, paid for everything for all of us, took care of the boys. And I think that's just this one thing when it comes to Jumbo. And why are you still playing and still having success is I mean, I never saw the game as an optional skate in San Jose. Here he is at age forty two.

Now, I see in Toronto, he's playing with those young guns and kind of bringing them along. Not so much bringing a I mean, I think they might be having to keep up with him. So I think it's you know, it's those little things that you always remember is as a player, and especially when I just came to the team and going to be fortunate enough to play another five, six years with them, which was pretty cool.

Austin had brought them in to pay for the PJs when they go party with Beeb's.

That's probably why they fucking signed them with imaginary. Beeb's is looking at jumbo like you look at Jesus.

If you were a hardcore Catholic with a beard, a legend, I mean, there's so many different stories of guys playing with them, of him just totally.

Hey, boys, I want you to join with me in the way he said to you.

I got two bad guys, nonstop ball Boston, right. Oh, is is the best.

I mean, and that's the thing, again, whether you're a guy coming up to play your first game, your fourth line, your score to. He's he's still treating you the exact same way, and there's a reason, again, why it's just pretty cool when you see the career he's had. I mean, I remember watching this guy play in Vancouver, Team Canada Olympics when when the gold medal in here, he is inviting me to hop on, hop on a plane with him to have one of the best times of my life and come back right after Christmas and do it all over again on the ice.

We've had Brant Burns on the show before, Brant, obviously a real character of the game, is he maybe the most unique teammate you've ever had anywhere?

I mean, I think Burns is one of those guys where I'm in North Dakota and I'm one of the best men ever. And you could sit, sit at coffee or have a beer with them and might not you might not even come up in a full 24 hours like he's I mean, he's just into so many different things. He's got his ranch, which, again, you could talk to him about that for four days. I mean, didn't matter on any bye week.

I mean, the guy at the play in all the all star game. So he missed those extra couple of days, but he got a chance. He's flying back home. He's on that ranch. He's he's chillin. He's running and he's doing hunt and fish and whatever it is, you know, Burns, he's in it. And I think I mean, I still remember we were going paint balling as a team, kind of like a little team bonding thing.

And this is just burns to a tee. But he's not just going to do something. He's going to do something like all in. And we're like, it was paintball in the moral teams rent and the guns for you and everything. Just have some fun. And he shows up the next day with like it looked like he was going into an absolute war. And he's got the body armor, he's got the head to toe. He's probably his suit was probably about five grand.

Everything all. And he had his own gun. This thing is probably semi automatic shotgun like. So it was. Yeah. Broonzy's Burnsy is an awesome, awesome guy, awesome team and someone I'm I'm still able to call a good buddy.

Now you get traded to Washington to the deadline of February. You deal expired. I'm guessing that was a deal. You're probably expecting to go somewhere at that point. No.

Yeah, I think when from from what the expectations were for for the team for us in San Jose last year has as to how things played out. There definitely wasn't as as we saw it coming. And I think come Christmas time when we were we weren't winning games. You look at yourself in your own position as being a guy whose contract's up and there wasn't really any any negotiations going on. You're assuming and not that San Jose is a big a big media market, but I was starting to get more and more that I could be traded.

And I think in those instances, you're just hoping that it's a team that has a chance. And I think when when I did find out that it was Washington Eagle from the, you know, the sadness and the kind of frustration of the last six hockey seasons being somewhere and having some success, and the guys that you're building the relationships with, all those kind of things, are now going to be changed, whether you like it or not, coming to Washington and kind of having the the guys in the group that we do here really made it made it that much easier to kind of make the transition.

And as I said, it was it was more so we're about my handshake than that. I'm getting in there.

How did you know that you wanted to stay in Washington for your next deal? They offered them fucking, what? Sixteen, twenty seats. How much did you get?

You've got a nice fat one, a four year deal for your deal.

But hey, look at said look it up possible if you want to this. I don't want a podcast dude.

Come on and talk about how much you make. That's what we're all about here. OK, my apologies.

It was I think just coming and seeing the boys, you know, much fun they had. And then on top of that, having having a team. We do. I mean, I think every year that you got Alex Ovechkin leading the charge, you got a chance to win a cup. And that's something that I haven't been able to to to do yet. And I think even with some of the other pieces that they were they were talking about adding.

I mean, at the time, you know, Hank Lundquist was was being a toxic, common and obviously unfortunate, everything that's that's gone on for him the last couple of months. But I think the the big thing here is it's great hockey city, great hockey market, good group of dudes. And, you know, I think at the end of the day, that's all you want.

What do you make of the Burki player, defensive player of the game? Because I think you were awarded that game one. Have you seen that new show? And were you guys disappointed that that was, in fact, the MVP trophy for the game?

Well, I'm a couple episodes in now because when when Lavae was so was kind of having that after game one, I think a few of the boys were looking around like the characters in this one that I watched. I watched I watched The Karate Kid. So I kind of had a bit of it and that have kind of an intro. But I think when we brought that out and it kind of just talked about the mentality we want to have here, it it was it was pretty fitting for for the group and just staying on track.

A lot of stuff going on in the world. And Yeah. Ocean, I got to share that one after game one and hopefully be many more wins where we can keep dishing it around the room.

Have you seen any shots crossing by over yet?

He's a known double dipper, but what I heard was just annihilates the toilets in the road. I mean I mean, it's it's always world. We just live in it sometimes when it comes to those. And I think it's when it comes to the SA stepping, we've got we've got ourselves a pass the bar now on the road, so. No one has to worry about the Alfredo having anything extra, it's this I'm telling you, it's a different, different league here in Washington.

What an upset is the room, in contrast? Yeah. Yeah, exactly. He's like, come on, boys. Like, what's going on? Noise. Yeah, the toilets definitely. I mean, I don't know, maybe he's clean that act up because I haven't had to. I mean we all got our own room so who knows what happens behind closed doors.

OK, fair enough. What have you noticed like over in the room, was he kind of what you expected going in or do you have no expectations at all of what he'd be like around the boys?

Yeah, I think I think when I first got to Washington, it was kind of almost similar with Jumbo, you know, and when you look at these guys on, you know, from afar, just from playing an instrument like this guy is, this guy's a legend, right? And you're thinking, it's OK, come in practice hard, work hard. And, you know, that's kind of all it is like like how else could this guy be so good at hockey?

And when you actually get to see, you kind of peel back the layers of the jaw thorns and the Alex Ovechkin and see just the other things how how good they are in the room with guys. And I think for me specifically, I mean, just just always a smile on his face and an absolute mutant's like I mean, this guy is just like scoring goals is just like to do what he's done. I think it was my third or second game when he scored seven hundred last year.

I mean, you would have thought that was his first goal, how excited he gets. And I think he still brings that attitude. And in practice, like in games to and I mean, you don't score seven hundred by by fluke, that's for sure. And have all the boys love you while doing it.

So you get your Mariners hat on. That is a Seattle Mariners out, right?

It is a Mariners. It's just just keep it at. Yeah. You know, rumors get started here.

I was even going to talk to you.

I mean, considering we have to follow so many different teams, who's a guy on the team this year who might not be a household name, who you think is going to be popping off for the next few years?

Well, I think he's already popping off, but I think Tom Wilson's a guy who was obviously known for his physical play and how, you know, speaking immune six four to 20 wheeling around. But, you know, I think he just is his mentality on these two is he's a guy that's just always getting better. I think he's got, what, four or five points already in the first couple of games is a powerplays. He's kind of the heartbeat, I think, of our team when he's he seems to be going he brings guys with them.

And I think a lot of the guys on the team feed off that like anybody. There's no fans right now, the atmosphere and whatnot. It's not what a normal NHL game is. You know, there's there's some young guys, too. I mean, this MacMichael guy, we were calling him like Jesus, but we haven't seen him on the ice yet since world. So maybe if you can come in and be a quarter of the economist, David, I mean, we'd be happy with them and watch.

So I was hoping that kid's tires. I also I had the chance to I think maybe twice have been away on a golf trip with Backstrom. And you brought up him getting the deal done on his own true legend status. But man, what a he from just spending a couple a couple different time with him on trips.

I would love to get the chance to play with them only because he is the quietest guy, yet always chirping, if that makes any sense. It's like he's got that dry sense of humor. Right. And I'm guessing the guys, just after seeing what he's done throughout his career, couldn't have more respect for him.

And that's just another guy that just flies under the radar. You know, we talk about Jamie Bandolier, and I think for baccy, I'm sure he would be the first one to tell you, you know, like a lot of those a lot of those goals are, I mean, you know, finding a wheelhouse crossing passes. I mean, I'm just thankful I'm not on the PGA against those guys these days. But I think I think Nick is just, you know, you're kind of a pro and another guy that's, you know, those Swedes sometimes, you know, they just kind of like it, kind of like, oh, you know, he's not listen to this conversation and everything comes in.

A couple of days later, he's got a good joke about everything that was going on or he's just he's an awesome teammate, awesome guy who the boys love. He likes to get the guys together and get another one who it doesn't matter who you are, the team is treating you with with tons of respect, bringing you along. And, you know, you don't put up that many, many apples unless you're doing something right.

We used to train together for teams with Nugent, Hopkins brother. Is it Adam Hopkins?

Adam Nugent. Hopkins? Yeah, actually fortius. Our IP actually just shut down as of January one.

Oh, that's what I was trying to keep my career going. And you kind of just on the like level off where you spend the most time training in B.C. now. Yeah.

So I mean, I've been there the last couple of years. I mean, I still remember I mean, I don't know how many times you told me about you when in the Calder Cup and you know, how big of a warrior you were along the way. I think that was the summer after that, the sports hernia surgeries. I mean, here you were and walking around with maybe was just having the cup.

Yeah, I don't know what it was, but it was left in the Calder Cup. That's that's why I had the bilateral sports this year. I met you around my shitty Sindhi days.

All the craziness in Vancouver was because of you, a Beattie Street condo.

I mean I mean, not that I ever we had a good time there. And a bunch of the fellas we're not allowed to mention name on the podcast.

You get all heard about it. He likes to fly very under the radar. And those were our heydays where they're going to bring us. They don't even bring my name up. He said, yeah, he's like, you can cut you can cut that one out.

Then we we don't want no, we just we have to keep the name. So we leave the mystery of what is. But he was my coworker on the business. He does VXI like we were the guys hogging the steam steam clock there, whatever. I mean, why doesn't he want the recognition? He did a great job.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. We're out there on a scrap.

And I think at the time you were training with Tanner Glass out there and a few other guys and a glass Eric Brewer against a bunch of beer. Yeah, awesome. Dude, this guy was nasty.

I mean, there's another guy almost like Flannery, actually. I was talking with Z about him the other day because they both were Prince George Cougars in the Western League. And two guys I mean, Bruce played a thousand games at an awesome career, kind of. I think he's just living his best life right now. Golf ended up in Vancouver area. But for those those two guys are group kind of they were the ones bringing myself and Morgan Riley, a bunch of us, young, young, cruci, Theodore along.

And so now the group the last couple of summers was was myself. Morgan shifted or we got Ryan Johansen in there. So we got we got a good group. And then obviously Nuge and his brother, he's he's got a couple of guys that they're there doing their thing and then just pop over to the right next door. So a good, good little setup for the boys.

They wouldn't let me train in the big boy group where I had to go after them in the HL group. But that's why I used to mention, though it's always before.

So you got to be up even as the caller would put me in the big group, for fuck's sake, business telling everybody like the physios, like working on you after training. They're like like, hey, this polysynthetic like how many games he played. I mean, he keeps telling us about you just kicked me off the table.

I borrowed some of Brewers games. Yeah. I just so once he hit a thousand I think the rest of them to my totals ever have more than enough to share with anybody base to you guys are chatting about be behind my back, double my call. The cops suck it.

Yeah. This is this is a thought that he was a little more important than he actually was. I think we could both say that we had issues with that AKG. That is exactly.

Did you end up becoming like pretty close with Eric Brewer just through the training and him kind of like bringing you along, or is it now out of touch a little bit?

No, I still like Bruh Bruh texted me after I signed my deal, you know, he texted me through playoffs and, you know, when I got traded and I think I mean when you retire, I'm sure it's it's it's something where it's it's, you know, it's you want to stay involved with the game, but it's different. And I think for real, he's got he's got a family now. He's pretty involved with a member of some funny stories.

He is picking up women as well as six or eight year olds daughter's soccer and is going through the trials and tribulations of that. And then I remember he still would pop into the gym the odd time like one time I think he was he was doing like mountain biking. And he came in and this is his shoulder was absolutely dinged up. And I'm like, bruh, you just act like looks like he's got run over in the corner. He goes, this might be the worst injury I've had.

And it wasn't even playing hockey. Here I am retired and I'm coming in with an AC hanging off the ball and separation. Exactly.

I mean, along with the Wango and Bertuzzi, there's a long list. He was a horrific trade by the islanders top five pick. They got rid of him early, went on to have just a fantastic career. But that was that was a name from the past that was looked up to that guy. Oh, yeah, definitely.

And I only brought up Seattle not not not to do a roster just because you from there, you played there for forty years from right over the border. We we all excited for the region to get that thirty second NHL team.

Oh it's, it's going to be awesome for that city for, for the league as a whole. I think guys will see when, when we go there on the road it's it's an awesome city. I, I usually make a trip out of it in the summer with my buddies will go down when the Blue Jays would roll through town and I'd be one of the one of the maybe hundred people in the entire twenty thousand or thirty thousand people were in a mariners.

Mariners get up but kind of got to stay true to my guys. Like you said, I was there for a couple of years and know I first first MLB game. First NFL game was it was all in that city and then a lot of good, good times. But it's the area where the rink is. That was my first year we played at the arena. So it's going to look a lot different when we when we go through town there next time with all the renovations being done.

But, you know, even for that, for the robbery's Vancouver, how close it is, that whole all Western kind of Pacific Division or whatever it is, the Honda Division this year, I think is is is ultimately going to be better for it in the long run.

Did they did you guys draw pretty well with fans when you were there? We did. Great. Is the being in that, you know, like I think it was it was there for the Seattle Sonics where they were getting eighteen nineteen thousand. And so that one didn't look so look so great. But when we were thirty, thirty, forty minutes south of the city and they built an unreal, unreal facility for us now is just lighten it up there.

A couple of years ago Theodore and those guys. So yeah definitely. Definitely good.

Hockeytown, I love it. I want to ask about your number one side, this one quick one last quick one. You've been able to win number four and three for. Cities, which doesn't happen a lot because it is retired and a lot of places that no damage to somebody or just something you always want. I kind of always work growing up, I remember I don't know what year it was I'd ask for Bobby or is my dad's big, big favorite and then being the Bruins, you know, I watched that the goal and going through the gantlet here, how many times?

And so that was kind of where I work for, why I work for. And over the years, even guys that, you know, the Scott Stevens and some other number four that I've kind of just watched, it was it was cool to be able to get that actually were five and junior, because our captain at the time, Thomas Hickey, was you know, he was a first round pick and had a great career. He was wearing number four.

And there is not a chance I was asking for that when I got there. So, like you said, very fortunate that, you know, I feel like when we go through some of these teams like Montreal or Toronto or, you know, the Rangers, you're like, geez, how do the boys pick a number? There's so many retired, but they've been very lucky.

You can have a CASSIEL set of the Rolex is a two year warranty on that, by the way.

Just keep the receipt. Just keep the Koby. Koby was saying he was in Montreal for how many games last year and he bought that Coolac a Rolex, I think, for four years. No, no, that was classy. That's classy. He just has to get rid of some of that dough, that Montreal trip, that Montreal trip worked out for him.

And the team ended up getting like a high draft pick when they got rid of them. Right. How did that end up working, IRA? You were saying that?

Yeah. Yeah, they they picked him up and then they flip them for a couple picks. And it basically was a pretty beneficial move by the Burger Van Burger about Giammetti.

Oh, well, Dylon, we we appreciate you coming on. I didn't have any more questions, but you guys have a very good team. I don't even know if Whit picked you guys to make playoffs this year. Did you pick them to make playoffs yet?

Not after all, off the change. So, yeah, well, that's a good thing when you hear that I picked against you because that's usually the opposite of whatever I pick happens. And I said right away after the first week, I said Pittsburgh and Washington. I kind of wish I could flip them, but I'd never do it because that's the ones who gave me my big ticket.

So I was going to say a former Penn can't say that. It's like, no, no pens will be getting in every year.

The rest of this podcast for as far as I'm concerned, picked Phenix to go on Arizona, go undefeated. So far.

I might be in his contract or something. Yeah. Yeah. They could pay for they could pay for me.

Oh, well, we we we appreciate it, man. And I know you're a golf guy. Sandbagger in the future. Biz mentioned that, so we look forward to it. I appreciate it.

Thanks for having me, Boyce. Thank you so much to Brant and Dylan doing a hell of a job playing for the Washington Capitals, they currently sit in second in the east. So we appreciate him coming on. Great chat. And I need to talk to you guys about Talmage. You've seen and Checketts form a little partnership here.

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Because I can't wait to get to Florida, man. We're going to have to go check out a zoo or do some little off the beaten path content.

Gator Farm, baby. Any of you and you former on HLN, or I guess because the current ones can't get together with us, if you guys are down there at a softball, maybe we can go out and grab some food. What other things can we do around here? Maybe go to a gator farm?

Everglades. There's a ton of stuff in Florida. We could do a sandbagger down here or some some guys that don't know if you're in. Where do you live? Jupiter, Florida. You can drive.

So depending on where we are, what area are we staying in? Because we need recommendations on very popular dining spots. If you guys could throw them out to us on Twitter, what area?

When I got I got the Jupiter we are in Jupiter, Florida is OK because I got a couple of buddies coming out your neck of the woods.

Soon I got to get a list of restaurants and clubs that they're asked me to hit you up for some VIP places.

Hedonism three star success.

Twenty one starring Ari Shapiro is going to drive him home like those kids he met at the club last time as one guy was getting a hand.

Dougie, don't fly two thousand miles to fuck somebody else's wife. Just come to Scottsdale. He did some three nightclub in the Viagra triangle.

Oh, yeah.

Pretty fucking great man. Speaking of the golf, so that that Genesis opens this week, I mentioned before Boskell Banks. I don't if you've been reading him what he's been crushing these fucking golf blogs, dude, lately he's he's been like a hidden gem that baseball has just started writing a lot of golf lately. But even these generic tournaments that you don't really follow, he's been killing them. What's his name? Haoma one forty four.

This guy this guy, I don't know, Max Kellerman got to play golf them. He's the person who just gross people. Swing's online. He's very funny. I was really happy for him because he's a local kid who's I think his tweet was at at Revera.

He grew up years. He tried to get it high five from Tiger, just going to the tourney.

And then by winning Tiger's tournament yesterday or Sunday, he gets a three year exemption on tour and was handed was handed a trophy from Tiger Woods.

So it was. It was. And I was super happy for I've chatted with them a little like on dams. I've never met him. I know you did. You said he's a solid guy, huh? Unreal guy.

Every time it was drive at three twenty hits, it's a ten feet. And he just like it was fucking nuts. It doesn't make any sense. I mean, mind you, that course we were on was probably like a mini putt course for him. Yeah. But he was so emotional after round and went I don't know, I'm sure you saw it on the eighteenth. He had a three foot putt where he could have iced it in quote unquote regulation and then it had to go to extra holes because he'd missed that.

But, you know, he he he'd learn throughout the last couple of years to kind of collect his thoughts, put it in the past. He ended up icing it in extra holes. And I think he said that his wife texted him afterward and he's like she was like, hey, stick to the plan. Because, you know, the mental aspect to golf is in a whole different realm.

It's all mental. It's at that level. It's it's crazy. And you know, what's funny is if you think about. Sorry, go ahead. I didn't mean to interrupt you. Oh, no, I was I was going to more throw it over to you.

And I think another thing he said is he had this bad habit of always after hitting bad shots saying, oh, I suck. And he kind of had to train himself to stop doing that, because eventually, if you keep saying it, you're going to believe it. Right? You're going to get so down on yourself. And he stop saying it and he's just man. And what's awesome about it, too, it is she's been very vocal about that, kind of like when we had McKinnon on and talking about those mental struggles early on.

Well, the cool story about Haoma is he was a big time college player, you know, a highly ranked amateur golfer. And then he got on tour and I think he had some success. I don't exactly remember how the beginning went, but then he got the driver yips. If people don't know what that is. You've heard putting Yepes like he couldn't hit his driver. He's missing left. He's missing. Right. He said, like some of you know, he's at the rock bottom.

We lost his card and he's able to come back on tour. That's his second win. It just shows that golf is so insane for the mind and like the things that you can tell yourself and the things that you can trick yourself, it's just a crazy sport. And for him to come back and get that W after missing that putt, the hard thing is you miss a three footer to win a tour event. And this is a guy who dreamed of winning this.

Right. But you're in a playoff still. So like can you tell yourself, well, what if I just buried a fifteen footer to get into the playoff? I'm in the playoff. Like you just have to find the excitement. So I think you did a great job and there's a lot of people watching. He was he was on the range and he was on his phone. I didn't know his wife texted him because we started an interview with Jody Shelly that'll be coming out.

That was great. I know we just talked him over. We went all over his career.

So we were that was starting and it was kind of ending last night in L.A. and it probably was just easy for him.

He's talking to his wife. Whatever he's doing, he's like, I'm in a playoff. I still have a chance. And then he had to dodge a bullet on the playoff hole Tony. FENA, who finishes top five every week. Can't win, he had about a five footer to win seven feet, I think, and missed it after home, made a miraculous shot stuck up next to a tree. So it was an exciting PGA Sunday for sure that that tournament's awesome.

Yeah, if I get a forty four to one shot tour, I mean, that's if that's Alabama. Yeah, I probably would have probably even higher.

I saw a lot of people having met like 60 plus sixty six hundred. And not to copy off of what Madden said but seriously. And then I saw a lot of them tickets at plus six thousand. Yes. Off you at 60. So that's a that's higher than the number you just said.

Right. Right. Yeah. I mean that there's so many shops out there in different states. You're going to see a bunch of different numbers. But point being is that that's a fucking real nice pop.

If you had a couple hundred on them or even a dime, which I didn't know about the three year exemption like that in itself right there. Yeah.

So most events you get a two year exemption after winning, but there's elevated status tournaments where like the Genesis Tiger's tournament and some others, I think Arnold Palmer tournament, you get three, you get that extra year.

So I mean, that's just huge. I think he he's looking good now. But still, for any guy to have an exemption where you don't have to worry about losing your car to take so much heat off by boys moving right along, this story came out over the wire just about an hour or so ago.

Big news out of Manhattan, the New York Rangers. This is from Emily Kaplan at ESPN, The New York Rangers. Temi Panarin is taking a leave of absence for the team for personal reasons. The news comes after a Russian newspaper published allegations from pinions. Former KHL coach Andre Nazaroff noted spit. Then he claimed that to have got into a physical altercation with an 18 year old woman in Latvia back in 2011. Nazareth's interview said Panarin, quote, sent her to the floor with several powerful blows.

According to a translation provided to ESPN, Nazarov has previously criticized parents outspoken beliefs toward Russian President Vladimir Putin. That's a huge part of the story. The Rangers' had a statement. Temmy Vem vehemently and unequivocally denies any and all allegations in this fabricated story. This is clearly an intimidation tactic being used against them for being outspoken on recent political events. Temmy is obviously shaken and concerned it will take some time away from the team. The ranges fully support Temmy and we'll work with him to identify the source of these unfounded allegations.

Now it should be worth noting there was no woman has come forward. These allegations are coming strictly from Andre Nazarov, who has a history in Russia of supporting Putin. He's a Putin loyalist. And, you know, let's Aberfoyle Putin's a mobbed up dictator.

He's trying to upend democracy around the world. He has these people who fall in line with them and they they support him for whatever reason. Temmy Panarin is not one of these people. I think his grandfather would if he wasn't punished by Putin. He's not a fan of his. And he takes a huge risk to speak out like this because Putin poisons people around the world. The poison this guy Navalny, who who Panarin supports because this guy supports a more free and open Russia.

And the idea of being poisoned is not that much of a stretch of the of a belief to have when Putin is involved. So Panarin probably scared for his life. I know I'm rambling a little bit here. This is a huge.

Oh, it's true. This is fucking crazy, man. Like, I don't even know what to say about it other than, like, this is like the so sad man. This kid seems like such a great kid. And like like you said, he's obviously speaking out because he like, you know, he's in a circumstance where he can and, you know, I'm sure a lot of people in Russia would are supporting him big time, but they can't say shit.

Right it.

You hear people who like don't like the United States that live here. You want to see issues that like really make you think how lucky you are to live in the United States.

He he's probably actually so worried about family members at home.

Right. I mean, at this point, it's like you're making statements and I've seen people online.

This is why athletes shouldn't get into politics. It's like, all right. Well, you could say that you have the right to say that. But this kid's speaking up for like millions of people. And from what I've read and seen, a lot more Russians are now, like I would say, Putin's I don't know if he's going anywhere. I don't know enough. But like, there are a lot of people who are vocally saying the same things Panarin are.

And for him now to be like almost sort of like getting them like, is this him? Like getting the message like a shut up. But when you have family and people you care about that are still there, it's like it's such a scary time for that kid.

I can't even imagine.

And for the Rangers to come out and really back him, that shows kind of what what, what, what at least they think of this story. I mean, this is like this could be completely fabricated.

Yeah.

I mean, the Rangers. Yeah, they did make a statement. I mean, maybe they could have been a little bit more specific in there, but maybe they don't want to wade into too many political waters.

But, yeah, there were huge protests recently with in Russia, tens of thousands.

If not, I don't know if not hundreds took to the streets to protest and then. They try to do it again, and all of a sudden they barricaded all Moskal, it looked like Soviet era people were afraid to come out because the police force works for Putin men. It's like this is what happens when, you know, a country crumbles into fucking a dictatorship as everybody wants to curry favor with the dictator. I don't know, man. I think Russia might have been better off back in the 80s under the Soviet system than rather having a guy like Putin in charge.

And there was a Twitter account. It's at Slava Malamed Malamute. I'm not sure exactly how to pronounce it. He's a former Russian citizen. He teaches in America. Now, he has probably the best insight onto these situations. He grew up in Soviet Russia. He knows all the actors in these things. He's got great insight, he said today regarding the parents situation. One, it may or may not be true Latvian police records will tell to.

There is no doubt Nazareth's motivation is political. Free Nazaroff may or may not be acting on his own accord for the likeliest motivation is to remove Panarin from the Olympic team. Again, this is Slava's opinion. Number two is a fact, i.e. Nazarov motivation, he said. Nazaroff implied implied so himself by inserting the bit about, quote, pinions provocative social media posts for no apparent reason. As far as Piñera and what the Olympic team that Slava speculating.

But he said it would be in character for Putin's cronies to use Nazaroff to eliminate a potentially problematic player. Obviously, Nazaroff is a notoriously loose cannon known for not being not known for being smart, subtle or cautious. Again, this is not me saying it, and this might be just his way of trying to ingratiate himself to the powerful. So either way, it's a shitstorm for Panarin. The kid just wants to see people in his homeland have the freedom he now has in America.

That may be simplifying it, but Putin's a bad man. He's a bad actor, and he's probably shit in his pants that his family might be in danger right now. So it sucks that this stuff wades into hockey. But again, when you deal with what a former KGB guy running a country and he's in bed with all the oligarchs and he's mobbed up, this is the type of stuff that happens bad. So, I mean.

Well, Sadara, I know you went long there, but like, you're pretty much you pretty much nailed it all. So I wish him the best of luck. This is a terrible scene. Yeah.

Yeah. Obviously, we wish him the best. And one actually, this just popped up on my Twitter feed.

For what it's worth. The Wait Nazarov story reads an original Russian with all the strange details. It is absolutely reminiscent of old Soviet propaganda pieces, my opinion strictly. But this is at the very least, grossly embellished. So and again, it's not like there's a woman making a claim saying that she was beat. It's coming from Nazarov. So, you know, we were shot Tembisa the best, by all accounts, his kidneys. And he's in a real shitty situation.

So meanwhile, we got a much happier story. We're going to go to New Jersey Devil Travis. Jack also played in his one thousand game, played it on Sunday versus Washington. I finally got it done. There was a bunch of covid related. Affairs' Zajonc was the 20th overall pick in the 04 draft. He's in his fifth season, going to be thirty six. And he made his career has flown by. Only sixty six guys in history have played one thousand games but one team.

He's the fourth devil to do it after Brodo Dannica and and this is interesting. He was supposed to play Saturday, but again, the covid kind of bumped it around. It was supposed to be against Eric Staal, who is the only active player left from his NHL debut. He ended up playing his fifth I'm sorry, one thousandth against Ovie, who is the only other member of the four draft class to hit that number.

So far, so little bit of what's the word of.

But what's that thing? I'm not I'm not that I usually ask you those those vocab questions.

And I know what you're talking. Oh, you wouldn't ask me the shocker. We'll get the French one. I, I think it should be brought up that Bruce Boudreau recently has been on NHL Network.

I don't know if he still is, but he was talking about when he was coaching Faricy in Minnesota and pressie talent in the best country ever had was Travis AIJAC.

So I think like. I don't think the numbers were ever enormous offensively, but he he played over 80 he played 82 games full, full, full season, I think four years in a row, early on in his career. And then he's gotten 80 games quite often. So he's very durable and he's good defensively. And he was also way more skilled than people thought, like first round pick two years at North Dakota. One of those guys that was on the fast track.

And he's just had an unreal career. And I know that the Devils have had some some tough years. You got to go to the cup final in twenty twelve, but. Definitely an underappreciated player. I think that's a that's a sneaky thousand games man. Yeah, nobody knows what you remember.

Who is the guy? I thought it played like three hundred games in the last three years. Oh, gosh. George Bailey Bailey, when he had 12, will be drafted last year was only a second round.

What the hell?

Well, when you look at that, well, you look at that the devils very, very, very good draft selection looking back that he's still there for fourth player to ever do that with that team is that's impressive.

What? That words drive me crazy. I can't think of the biggest Ilja, not Nastassja, not symmetry. Like when things come together. Not kismet, but it's going to it's going to drive me fucking deja vu.

Got move on. I would definitely move on. But yeah, we're definitely one of the more durable players I was looking at.

His games played. He's missed very few games. So again, congrats to him. Let's see a couple of the notes here. Elvis Mosley, Kinsey's week to week Columbus goaltender.

Well, that kid, former guest for Spin Check, but he's going to be off a little bit. Florida had their season open and road point streak snapped at seven games to the Detroit Red Wings. A little bit of an upset there. Any other notes, boys, you want to jump on before we get to the fun stuff at the end? I mean, your hands are still putting up some points.

We got to get three apples the other night. That little group of haters in Florida, they've been pretty quiet online.

All those people are fools, fools. They don't know anything.

I tell you, as I don't they don't know anything. I love that they're listening. Just screaming, you know. You don't know anything.

Whitney, I got the Mike Pataudi last night. He was on for a call against let's get twelve points in 16 games.

The plus player turns it over once in a while. He's a problem gambler. Oh, he's fucking winning babies cash in his chips.

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I got a trivia question for you. How many players in NHL history have played one thousand games. Didn't Ari just say this to. Fuck, oh, man. You just said it, right? All right. I thought I did I'm expecting nineteen thousand three hundred and fifty one players craftsmen's. Three hundred and six hundred.

Well, I said if I had another one, I had another one written in my phone here for the Oilers. Oilers had lost 28 games in a row when neither McDavid or Driss title didn't have a point they want. But they won. They've won two in a row now. And when they hadn't gotten a point before before that. Popoff by McDavid. So that's pretty. That's pretty crazy. Twenty eight games that they hadn't won. If those guys in cash in and you get home you say, how'd it go McDavid.

And no point. She's like oh ok.

I guess the next game I had one game in order to stack, I just don't get on with here. Had another one for Huberta with a three point performance against Carolina. Two goals in assists. Huberta reached twenty points in his fourteenth game of the season, setting a franchise record for fastest Florida Panther player to reach twenty points in the season. This guy is. He's, he's, he's, he's getting into that one a class now, you know.

Why are you laughing. It's just a six that you just stack I dude, are you.

Well are you being sarcastic. You don't like being a little sarcastic there. OK, all right. Well maybe I'm a fucking idiot.

Good news. What. I found the word.

What is it. All right. Very serendipitous. Oh, hell of a movie.

Serendipity. I check. Check it out. Who's the rocket that's in that movie. All right. Was it. Oh, one chance.

Don't know. John Cusack. He he meets. Oh, she's like. She's like the No. One like myself in the game like Porter. I was like trying to dmr and stuff.

Jessica Jessica Biel now she's older. Damn it. Minnie Driver. No.

Oh my goodness. Oh.

Came back and sat back and said, hey Beckinsale. Yeah. And that's and so she meets Kuzak and they have a cup of coffee and she's given him his number, her number. And then the number blows away and she's all into like what's the word busiek all into.

I don't know if you've been looking for a lot of fucking words, this galaxy. I'm struggling with my vocab. She's all into like basically like whichever way the wind blows, no pun intended.

And so she won't she won't give him the number again. But she signs a book and then she goes and puts it in a book. She says, I'll put this in a bookstore somewhere. If you ever find this book, my name and numbers and you'll call me and then the movies about him finally. And he's with another girl, Tom Brady's baby mama. It's just a great romantic flick that I think anyone would enjoy. It has my seal of approval.

Tom Brady's got a baby mama. OK? Yeah. Yeah. What's the name for? Bridget Moynahan. Bridget Moynahan. Yeah, the first one. Yeah.

Before he married Ari Gold in the movie is John Cusack best buddy. You know, Brady. I didn't know Brady had a kid before Bridget Moynahan before he got what jazelle. Yeah. Yeah. Because like well she was pregnant all that long before they parted but whatever. That's another story for another day. We'll move right along.

Either serendipity different with me and we had a brain transplant. He can't remember any words. Now seriously I'm struggling.

I can't remember anything. But Mackenzie was on NBC earlier this week. He brought up the idea of the draft being pushed back. Yeah, because of the pandemic teams, I plan guys aren't developing kids a plan. He did say a couple of GMs brought it up. They're pushing for it because, again, potential draftees not getting the working, but the players association would have to sign off on it as the draft is collectively bargain thing, as we all know.

I don't know if it's going to happen, but we'll keep our eyes on it either way. That's out there. Sad news out of Brampton, Brampton, beast of the East Coast Hockey League, folded operations citing the effects of covid best you must have played there during your coach days.

No, like dash to every time 400 people in the arena stand bohlmann or not stand bohlmann, stand butler, no sideburns. Just sending out his top line to eat me up. Yeah, I remember it. OK, I'm sorry that they lost thirty.

Hey, speaking of speaking of folding, deaf Daft Punk broke up today.

How long have they been together. A long time.

And that's sad because I was hoping for one more, one more album after what was their last one. Some about memories. See, now I'm looking for the words you guys are rubbing off on me now.

That's just you rubbing off on yourself by rubbing your brain.

It was Random Access Memories. What an album. The one with the Pharrell tune.

What was there doing it right. Do it right.

I like that song. I like that song along that album. I like that song along. I can't even say a lot.

All right. Well, let's see how long we were going. We're going on a long time.

Yeah, we're almost done. Of those. Those are the guys with like Battlestar Galactica, right. There's like the robot, if I can.

Yeah, I'm surprised you're not a big fan.

I'm fucking old Mike Babcock. He's going to be back with a coaching role at the University of Saskatchewan. He was helping out. University of Vermont, before he's not taking a pay here, taking a paycheck, he's still unemployed, but he's still getting those fat checks from Mexico.

Eighty year, doesn't he? Yeah. Yeah, he's he's got some nice cabbage coming in. Yeah. He's probably just I don't know if I can get paid poking around, help out some kids.

So I would think he wants to coach again in the NHL and maybe I'm crazy for thinking that probably couldn't happen without something like this.

Just a little bit of like a rehab venture.

Maybe he doesn't want to coach in the NHL again. But this is a start where I'm getting back in there.

I'm going to get guys that are saying not horrific things about me as my former players were. And maybe I can get back to the National Hockey League and in the meantime, make my fifty six million next one weekend.

He's like Hulk and guys up to a lie detector test, I'm sure. I mean, that's what he's been accused of, talked about. It's not an insurmountable I mean, you know, he, I think he might have the hardest.

Coach is a hard nosed coach. The guys hated mental warfare, took it, took it over the line probably a few too many times. But I would be very surprised if he doesn't coach again in the NHL.

But this being the first step makes sense. Yeah, absolutely. Commodore hates stuff.

I think he's got to apologize to Fransen before. If he wants to get a job, just go fucking apologize face to face. I'm a phone call.

Yeah, Saturday night time. Saturday night on Twitter. I got to love Brad. Machon, I had tweeted the gift for him walking by wrasse kind of like making the face during Rask press, you know, didn't think nothing of it. And then some clown who I had previously muted to Leafs fan base was like, oh, Bergeron needs to retire. He watches his name and my son, God bless him, like, mix it up with absolute Twitter trolls, tells the guy, shut the STF you, bud.

And it's like you got to love the loyalty because he's a fucking pro athlete taking Twitter troll troll bait. But he's all it's all to defend Patrice Bergeron.

Like I think he would go to the ends of the Earth Day coming back. He's like he's like, yeah, I got a lot of commas. Or was that yesterday?

It was well, I thought he might have dragged them to Sunday, but then, like, people like the meme tamasha and then he was retweeting. That means like this is me tweeting from under your skin. And it was like a picture of the keyboard. He was really having a couple of glasses of vino and Tahoe having some fun with it.

I'm thinking that's how they keep themselves occupied.

And so, like, their little own little bubble just goes to show, man, I can even even the pro athletes get sucked into stupid fucking Twitter trolls, too.

But what's funny is if you mute an account like you don't hear them unless someone else tags like replies to him and then he gets pulled up into a feed, it'll say, this is from an account you muted. So I wouldn't even have seen it if Marshawn had replied to him, then my feed was a sore for the rest of the fucking weekend.

But actually a couple of us guys appeared on a few other barstool network shows. We want to let you know Whitney was on pod. My take that dropped. But today, Monday wet. Yes. Yeah, check it out. Always a big hit there.

And I would on twisted history with my boy large. If you have a listen to it, it's exactly what it says it is. He takes a history of something and that goes a deep dove on it. And we did about two hours on ice hockey the other night in the game of ice hockey, not just the NHL.

Yeah, the history of what and how it came to and you obviously get into the NHL and yeah, I mean, Lodge had had a great time doing that. So check that stuff out if you want to. Harrison, another forum and I don't feel about did any plan this weekend with the gambler, but imagine if Saturday you played Buffalo, the Rangers, the Red Wings, the Kings, the Sharks in the predators of underdogs and handily won all on one hundred to win 40 grand would have been a monster one.

Oh, my God. Oh, before we wrap up, I so I played at the Gasparilla I mentioned at the beginning.

So I got down to Florida February 2nd.

I don't remember, started playing, playing horrible, horrible bets. So mad like getting so pissed off on the phone just like fuck my game shit. I was like all of a sudden it's just like they call the drivers off all the putting off. Only I you haven't played in a while and you come on the floor of these courses are hard, there's win. But I was still so down and then finally did some soul searching, talked to people and it's just like what am I doing with my mental game in golf.

It's like, what are you doing? You're putting all this emphasis on like you have to play good, you have to be good. You're wearing if you're going to play bad. It's all such useless, wasted energy.

So I drive to this tournament and I have I shot seventy four die one day I shot seventy six at Trump Jupiter and then I had a couple, eighty four has had an eighty six. Where was that.

Just playing awful golf. And so I'm driving to this tournament.

Tampa's like three hours and I'm doing the soul search and I'm thinking, OK man, you can't keep putting so much emphasis that you started playing golf because it's fun. You cannot worry about like every round and having bad swings. It's like you talk to people who have played golf their whole life, which I have. And you learn like, dude, some days you just don't have it. There's PGA Tour guys who show up to the range. You don't have the same feel.

It's a weird game we talk about. Being mental, so I get to the term and I show up, I'm late for the practice round, I literally show up to my group from the practice run had already teed off one because there's groups all day. So they're on like the green on the group's waiting to have my can I just hit the ball so I get like this hole in birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie, one, two and three in the practice shot.

And I'm like, oh my God. And I just had a totally different attitude. I was like, I don't I was going into the ball still not knowing where it's going. But I was like, I don't care. I don't care. Not being the right word. I was more like, doesn't matter, man. Yeah. I could hit this thing off the planet. I could hit it nice. So that practice round I got some nice feels totally just having a good time taking it all in like not worrying about the outcome, not worrying about the scores, just enjoying what I was doing, had a good practice round tee off in the first round the next day shoot seventy one.

I think I had four bogeys and one birdie was a pass of four bogeys and three birdies. It was a par seventy in great shape. Right.

And I was like this is great and I wasn't even hitting it good. My misses off the tee. I didn't hit, I probably hit two good drives like in the center of the fairway, but the misses were like rough or right side of the fairway where I had shots. No one. I didn't hit the green. I was getting up and down and I wasn't worried. I wasn't grinding so hard. So it was really nice. I just enjoyed it.

Even though I didn't play, even though I didn't hit good, I scored well. And that also proved like you don't always have to hit it. Nice to score. So then I wanted to make the cut last year in this tournament. This is a top like mid amateur tournament in the country, probably like a top five eight event that they have for. I've always said many amateurs are over the age of twenty five. So to make the cut would have been a big deal last year like eighty seventy nine.

Didn't even sniff the cup. Might have missed it by 10. Well I go to the second round. That's why I was in the morning wave on Thursday. The second round Friday in the afternoon wave weather's horrific, it's raining, probably rained like eight or nine holes, not a real heavy rain for the most part, but just like cold rain and a lot of wind. I bogy the first hole on an awful chip and missed the green chunk, the chip, I then get up and down bogey and then I go on like a nice little run.

I actually made a couple up, so I made a couple other bogeys where I was three over, threw my first like six holes. I think I started on 11 or 12. I get to 18 par five. I hit it just long and two there's about 50 people out there. This tournament is great. The members come out and watch. They set up chairs. There's beers, policy. A golf and country club does the classiest thing in the world with the Gasparilla, but it is the sickest tournament.

Twelvemonth out there, chip it in for I'm unlike your place is going nuts with a tip in my cap. I got my picture on the scoreboard. They got scoreboards with your picture. It's a sick event. That's awesome.

So I grind through the round, I'm through thirty two holes. It's a thirty six hole cut through thirty two holes. I am three over so I'm too over for the day. I'm playing nice. It's shitty weather.

I'm like when I'm, I'm not hitting greens, I'm getting up and down, I'm just grinding it out and I get to seven which is my fifteenth hold the second round and I pull a drive left and oh this is the other thing.

I decided not to check the scoreboard. I was like I was talking to my buddy tonight for kidnapers. Yeah, I've brought them up. US Madame Champion played the Masters to us, opens great guy, great player. And he was like, I never look at scoreboard. I don't want to know. It's like I'm doing what I'm going to do no matter what which I had an argument with them about. Like if you have to make birdie, like you should know, probably more aggressive.

Yeah, yes. But he said like, dude, I don't know, I just don't look. So I was like, I'm not going to look all day. I also knew being at three over with four holes to go that I was fine. I was like, I'm inside the cutline for sure. The weather was awful. I apologize. I've left on seven. I have like one eighty five, but I'm blocked out. But like the wind's right to left so I'd have to hit it like right off the green if it doesn't draw or take the wind, it's pouring.

A greenside bunker was a very doable makeable shot.

I pull this like six iron a little bit too much and it hits a tree that's overhanging.

I had to get it out to the right stupid mistake.

It hits the tree direct drops directly like down and backwards into this bunker. So now I'm like one hundred and five yards. So much wind, hard bunker shot. These greens are grainy Donald Ross the roll off, they fall down and I hit it up just short.

Actually had a decent shot just short.

I trip it up like five feet. I missed the double. I'm like fuck I'm like whatever.

I didn't, I still didn't check the score. I'm like, Dude, you were going to make a double throw. I knew I was going to make a double in the tournament.

So I get to eight my my thirty third hole.

Yes, I hit it in the greenside bunker.

I make a really nice up and down nowhere's I get to nine, I got two holes remaining.

I push a drive. Right, right. It was a bad drive. It was pushed into the tree line. I was like one ninety short of the green. I had a window, same thing where I had to hit right off the green on seven and draw it in. This time I had room. I had to look at the left part of the green, which is really defended, has a bunker there.

I was like, if I hit it there, it's fine. The bunker, if it cuts like it should cut right, left or right, it could be on the on the green or the front of the green. Get up and down. Well it doesn't cut and it goes into this bunker. Now I'm back in front of the clubhouse. There's not a ton of people watching what's in this bunker. It's no problem. Bunker shot. I fucking played this goddamn bunker shot dude, I played this bunker shot, it goes over the green.

I'm like, are you kidding me? But I was not like I was not the same as I would have been before the drive to Tampa. I was just like, oh, come on, dude, get this up and down. Like, make bogey, come on. Or I chipin I don't hit a great ship. I was like long was a hard shot. I like ten feet. I miss it. Double, double, double.

So now I'm a double two of my last three holes and I like I got to see the scores, I pull up the scoreboard, the cuts plus six I'm sitting at plus seven.

I'm like Are you fucking kidding me. Double.

Double. So the tenth hole which is my thirty six hole is this like short dogleg. Right, with this vicious green.

And I'm like, all right, I got to make birdie at least I know now I'm glad I got to make Birdie hit a four iron middle of the fairway. I got like one hundred and fifteen yards in and the wind howling and it's raining and I hit it like twenty feet, twenty feet short, maybe twenty five feet like makeable. But you wanted to stuff it and I just missed the part and I missed the cut.

So a disappointing listen I just, I was very disappointed at the time.

I had a good attitude. I'm like I can't believe I just did that. I doubled to my last four to fucking missed the cut by one. There's no worse feeling like now I'm new to competitive golf. Three years in like missing the cut by one is awful shitty feeling. There's so many shots you can go back and make up, but. I then looked at it as what? I missed the cut by 10 last year, I only missed the cut by one this year, so it's an improvement, but my competitive nature was so fucking real.

And not to mention this was fucking brutal.

This was on my birthday. I'm happy birthday to yourself, Ryan.

But I'm going I'm going to I want to thank Palmasola. I'm going to go do donuts on those screens when I get there are the bankers are perfect, too.

I'm a teacher. I had six. It was in that bunker. Don't do it, man.

Don't do it. I love pharmacy.

I had I had a 60 degree was a long bunker shot and I grabbed my fifty five and I was like, no, just use the fifty five. And I hadn't hit a fifty five out of a bunker all tournament, two rounds, whatever.

Not all tournament sucks. So disappointing end but I'm on the right path. Seventy one seventy six at least. The game's feeling better. The mental attitude is going to be better.

Put that till that happens in a sandbagger I'm going to hear. Yeah I know. I know. I know.

So speaking of sandbaggers, Thursday night we're coming at you live. I think everyone's going to really enjoy donor now. Nasher is myself, the church for in the birdy juices flowing. And I think I think we might be able to maybe get to 10K concurrent again. I know it was yens and hazy last time, but if we can get ten K watching live again, we're really growing something with the Sandbagger Invitational.

So we appreciate you checking it out and listening as always and listen to me basically talk to myself and be like a psychiatrist for myself and talking about golf.

So have a great one, everyone. We love you. I got one.

I was just one last note. I want to send best wishes out to a great local kid, Anatoli Barisal.

He's a soccer player, BC High. He was just diagnosed with brain cancer. He's going through a medical situation. So I would go fund me. I'm going to tweet out for my account. I want to send best wishes. Great local kitties from Quinsy show Anatoliy with Bonnefoy here. Check. Let's get well, buddy, and hopefully we'll see you soon. Back out in the pitch. We're thinking about you guys.

All right. Thank you. Thanks, boys. I see you see guys, father.

As always, we'd like to thank our sponsors here and spit in Checketts big thanks to our friends at Pink Whitney and to Amsterdam vodka, huge thanks to our friends at Earner's. Take care of those student loans. Big thanks to our friends at PETA Molla for helping us out on the golf course. Huge thanks to our friends at Barouch. Keeping our check. That's cleaned big thanks to our friends over at TaylorMade as well.

Also helping us out on the golf course and a huge thanks to our friends at Zipp recruiter. If you're hiring, by all means, check them out. Have a great week, everybody.