Spittin' Chiclets Episode 629: Featuring Mark Howe

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Head over to bombas.com/audio and use code audio for 20% off your first purchase. That's B-O-M-B-A-S dot com slash audio code audio at checkout. That's it from Chris Beat. Whoa, where buzzing right now? Skiing. What is going on folks? Welcome to episode 629. This is always that OSHI? No, that's not your OSHI. That's OSHI. That's my mum's dog who said that he's going nuts. This could be an issue but I apologize everyone. Cobb of this may like it. Last dog issue was not good and big Dan was there so this though. No, she gave me a bully stick together. If she starts barking, co-set. I'm talking. You can't be yelling. I'm sorry guys. I'm speaking a book. I'm looking at bothered by that name than the barking to be honest. Co-set. That's such a bizarre name for a dog. No, I was like, what is co-set better be like the streets she grew up on. Give her some pink with me cause a co-setty co-confetti co-setty boys. I'm way I'm way this is not. You're on your heels. I'm on my heels right now. I'm not. Well, speaking of minus three, those teeth right now, you're minus three teeth because you said has better teeth. You're 40. Co-sets are better than yours. I mean that that middle one that is just a little baby dolphin tooth is so. And then that little one. Oh my god, you look like just a straight up homeless man. Cracked head. Hey, Chico's fans, we're going to take a quick break for a message from one of our partners. Football season is finally upon us, which means it's game on with Ryobi with over 400 core of the solutions, including speakers, fans and lights for the tailgate, leaf blowers and string trimmers for yard maintenance, stick vacuums and spot cleaners for cleaning up after the party and drills, saws and more for your DIY projects. Ryobi has you covered from the tailgate to the garage, backyard and everywhere in between. Find Ryobi products only at your local home depot, visit RyobiTools.com/barstool to see the full game on lineup. All right. Now back to the show. So what happened? Oh, okay. So like here's my bridge. So like what happened is like obviously from from getting my fucking face caved in because I didn't listen enough to Dennis Monvey as he ends told you last podcast. And I'd get my shit pushed in. And they had to eventually file a few of them down in order to make this bridge. And though you could on the one side which one's the file. What? Which ones did they file down? You're a fucking idiot. Why did you just get the veneers? Because because you have to like get the like the drill metal implants. Yeah. And it takes a little bit of time. And I just like I don't I just never really had the time. Right. So I'm gonna be doing this. So good guys. Do you like the list? Oh my God. Why it's just hearing you say he's like, who else has that? I got bitch. I sound like I'm on stream yard for my phone again when all the fans bitch about my list. But yeah. No, and the glue was just coming loose and sure enough after the broadcast last night. I was like playing around with it and boop fell out. So I'm on the IR with no jibs for hopefully only a few days to like get back and somebody can glue these bad boys back in. But kind of smells like. Yeah, smells it. Oh, oh, man. Yeah. Dude, if you smell what's been glued into the top of your gums, I'm just guessing that just smells like Houston's. Just a few season salad. Hey, let me turn my air conditioning off. Give me two seconds. You guys can keep chatting. Okay. Yeah. We'll keep chatting away. Hey, to see if to go on TV again with those teeth like that. I don't know. I just go the whole playoffs. No, no jibs. That would be eight. He's like, Jack Hughes has gotten so much attention for the no teeth. I'm doing it now. Yeah, man. I'm sick it tired of this. I thought tape accray was a secret agent, but I'm gonna rip my teeth out. Maybe I could take it. That's okay. I have to update my riot profile. I can't be catfishing people, right? You got to be, you got to be truly who you are and present yourself as they're going to meet you in public. So yeah, for all the ladies out there. Hey, you could just solely go body picks. Go see one East Coast lead game. And that's where you come back as. Yeah. Okay. Oh, man. That was honestly, but in that video, you said describe the video. I mean, it was so good. Oh, okay. Okay. Okay. Poor oil. I love this guy. Oh, hey, so after the game, I took all the boys out to eat. They had a three and three, by the way, against 20. Yeah. They lost. They lost six, three game one. Saturday, they lost six, nothing on Star Wars. And I don't know how I'll have G look up how they did Sunday. So they're playing a three and a two and a half. If they gave up six again, boys, 18 against on the weekend, you're there. But I would go to war for these guys. Okay. And birdie the coach, like legit, legit. If somebody would have ran one of them and it would have got chippy, I would have dressed. I would have thrown the gear on. I might even fucking just come back next year and play in the coast. Just do the podcast. No TNT and ride the bus and play in the coast. Okay. Because I love everybody at TNT, but I got the itch to go again after grabbing dinner post. And those are teeth. So, uh, so we go, we went there. The reason I went back to partly is because the first time we went there, we did the sandbagger with Paige in the afternoon. You guys were obviously buckled. I was high on gummies. And we got to the game, like right around puck drop, watched it. And then we had to get out of there because you know, we had other shit that we had to do. So we never really got to go down and meet the team, meet the coach. So I wanted to go back on our behalf and say hi to the boys. And, and it just so worked out. We could do the silly birthday thing so I could meet the season ticket holders. And boys, I'm going to tell you they were in dead last in the entire league. The car. Hey, hey, don't laugh. Well, it's funny because it's just a buddy. We are just folks, man, but hey, we're not going to be fucking last next year because we're going to bring in a few ringers and they won. They won Sunday. Sorry. Four to one. Okay. Fucking right. That's a big right. Of course, when you left, they got to top you. I did leave. Yeah. Um, but, uh, so I, I got to meet all the season ticket holders and like give them birthday cake and just thank them for being the sick season ticket holders. But he every single person, like reinforce and was like, thank you guys so much for bringing hockey back to Greensboro. Like they are regardless of being in last place in the league. And even after the game when I met with the boys, like they talked about the support they've been feeling from the fans, they were down. They got, they got lit up one game a few weeks ago at home. They were down for nothing in the first period. Well, fucking normally, well, you're, you play for the Leafs. You're getting jerseys on the ice. You're getting booed going off the ice like people are like the fuck. These fans are on their feet cheering the boys on like encouraging them. Hey, don't worry about it. You know, let's come out firing in the second period. Like even the players are like, man, it's like a crazy. I've never seen anything like it. They're just so happy to have hockey back and they're so supportive and such such good Southern hospitality. I was like blown away by not only just hearing that, but also getting to shake their hands and just seeing how excited they are. Like obviously year one, you have a little bit of grace in leeway, but they were just so, so appreciative of them getting hockey back and rally rallies about an hour and a half away. So now they don't have to drive as far and maybe spend as much all the time if they want to get their hockey thick. So just to be there and see everybody and then of course to meet the team and birdie the head coachman, just an unbelievable guy and and yeah, tell people who don't know what he's been through. So he played for a while. I think he's a legend in in Idaho, the steelhead. Idaho steelhead. I actually played a game there. We had an all-star game there one year where when I was playing with Wheeling, we didn't normally go out west. Like we didn't travel because you know, obviously to cut costs and stuff like that, but he's like, you go to certain bars there. He's got his jersey up like people love them. He's like, he played with Lance Gallbrith. He played with Yablonsky. He remember when Yablonsky signed with them in the coast and then he fought UFC. They brought like some like like it wasn't UFC, but it was like a lower level UFC, but it was an octagon. So Jeremy Yablonsky was playing in the coast and then fought in a sanctioned event and he came out with like his jersey and he was like one of his ring guys in between the first period. That was the interest. Instead of the shoe mow over it, they fucking put an octagon in the middle and just went at it. Um, but, um, but he's a legend and he had brain cancer and he survived it and now and they actually had cancer, uh, the cancer night there on Saturday and like they, like a big standing old. They brought down all the fans who had been through cancer and survived as well. Um, and he got the shake all their hands. So that was a pretty cool thing, although they got slaughtered six, nothing way to go boys. Uh, but, uh, but just like unbelievable guy and like a throwback and a guy that we're going to then should get on the podcast and interview. We were supposed to early on, but the type of guy, like I said, I met him and I'm like, fucking give me a pair of skates and give me some equipment. I want to, I want to run through a wall for this guy. So just a great overall, we can, uh, fuck, I'm drawn a blank. If G, if you could pull it up the radio announcer, is it, uh, he's electric on Instagram. Electric. By the way, they do everything, too. They don't just do the radio. They do the travel, they do the meals. They take Casey Ditzel. Casey Ditzel. This drives the bus. Hey, like NHL jobs someday. You're saying the suit still. He wears the crazy suits every game too. He's unbelievable. Yeah. It was business birthday technical rain coats celebration. But he's, he's doing the radio and then like next time he's like, we're going to throw it down. We're going to throw it down on the con course for a hit and then like it's him down there. It's, he's like spitting down and then he's like sweating his dick off but he's as he's selling hot dogs as he's selling hot dogs. But he, they go to an in period hit or no, sorry, it was in between periods. He's sharp and it skates. No, but they had a pie eating contest and he fucking won the pie eating contest. It was him and for just, they had to put him in there just so they didn't have to give the jerk free jersey away. So they knew he'd win it. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. He's in there. He's got the pink blazer on with the pink tie. And he's mucking the, the, the pie and then like he has to go back up with pile on his face and call the rest of the game by the sky. They should put him in the hockey hall fame for that performance you put on the other night. So all in Greensboro gives up another one and he's just like wiping apple pie off chin. Oh my god. We're going to. Hey, we can't, I'm going to go bill fully style. We're going to win the East Coast championship in our first five years of existence. All right. I don't care if I got to put Yanceh whole salary on bringing in some Yanceh, you and you and Bri are going to be playing the point next year. Perfect. Yeah. I actually, you're, uh, was it your nephew who ended up getting called up to the USHL? Yeah. Yeah. So his, uh, my nephew, Colin, his, his high school season ended, which must be a new thing with like you're able to leave after if you're drafted by USHL team, you can go out and play. So he, uh, he went out to Madison, Wisconsin, the Bob Suda arena, great old barn biz, like I watched the games on TV. You would have loved this barn, but they're getting a new rick next year, which is supposed to be unreal. Tom Gilbert's an assistant coach. So great, great for my nephew Colin to be learned from him. He played in Edmonton with you. Yeah. I played with Tom Gilbert and I'll tell you why he was nasty. Yeah. He was a nasty player and like, I think that was, I mean, that was 2010, 11-ish. He was kind of unreal analytically. I, I'm pretty sure like before it was a thing that he was like one of those guys under the hood guy early on. Like if he got the pocket was getting out of his own zone. Yeah. And never really got the respect he deserved. I mean, he was on some bad oilers teams, but he, that's the perfect guy for Colin to like get coach. I don't know if Colin will be there next year. Or if he's going to go back to cushion, but I watched the second game. Yeah. The rink sick. Two good stands on each side. And then behind one of the nets, it's awesome. It's like two different layers or two different, you know, balcony and then some normal seats. Then behind the net, there's nothing else. So I think nowadays, USA, you're looking for bigger and better next year. They'll go to another one. But yeah, I was excited for him. And I'll tell you, man, what US, the US national team was playing them both nights. The pace is crazy, man. Like you just, you kind of forget how good these six, 16, 16, 16, 17, 18 year olds are. It was, it was good. How did he do? Great. The first game, I think he was obviously a little nervous, but played simple, made good plays, but just wasn't like jumping up into play as much as probably he would be in his normal thing, like changing, you know, just being a good team in the second game. He ended up getting thrown out of the game for getting into a little tussle with the guys. And he said all the boys were loving it because he's like a 16 year old kid. But yeah, Matt Collins kid was on. He, I thought he was the best player on the ice, number seven for the NDP team. He was unbelievable. Yeah. So he, I think he's going to be a first round pick, but the other son, he might have three boys, if not four, his next son, Joey is like the next US superstar. Really? I believe he's a 2010. And I've already heard and seen some clips. Like I think that the next Joe, like this column's unreal. I don't know. Is this name? Why it? Not exactly sure. Gee, look it up quick. The one at the national team that's the draft eligible this year. But he needs got a son, Joey, who is looking like a complete superstar. I don't know if he'll be on the U 17 team next year. But yeah, I was excited why it is his name. Yeah. So why calling? Why calling? So I, I, I, I drew a blank here, boys. I forgot to tell the Doyle story. Yeah. Man, I was, I was crying. So, and also comment after I got sidetracked there because I, I fucking the, the radio guy eating the pie, man, I was fucking losing my mind. He had your cocking on from your birthday party while doing the pie eating contest. I'm investing money in it. Showed out the Doyle, the mascot, though, that guy works as absolute nuts off and just like he was so good. It was great to celebrate my birthday with him. So we go there that first game and we show up and we're obviously aware that Doyle is the mascot. They had all the stuff, the animals, they sold out of those incredible marketing. The mascot looks unreal. So Yannes is like, wait a minute. They got a player on the team last name Doyle, too. Pretty good player. He's actually called up to the American league this year. I forget where he went to university. So obviously we were having a good time following this Doyle guy. Well, I, so this Doyle kid was still on the team. So I, I'm like, oh, fuck, I gotta send a video with Doyle to the boys to let him know this guy is still on the team. And I start recording. No, the fucking way I just started recording and Doyle eats a minus. And I was hollowing sending this to the group chat and then after the game, I just had to tell him when we were having food and the boys had a, he took the piss grade. He had a good chuckle. I said, hey, I'm telling this on the body. He's like, yeah, go ahead. But the best part was that murals said after and I didn't even think of it. He's like, wait, because he, you know, he's out there for the goal against, they didn't change murals. He's like, they don't even change after a goal against in the coast, which you don't see often at pro hockey. You get scored on like change. You want to get off? By the way, this is even more incredible. I just looked him up. Massachusetts kid played a year at BU then went to Northeastern from Linfield and asked you to show no parade in Doyle, who's just, yeah, obviously, he played in the age of this year for Chicago. But when, when we're there when business in the field, they just thinks don't go grateful. Hey, with the first 10 minutes of the game, he was dashed to, he ended up finishing dashed to. But I was just like, odd, but a classic Massachusetts guy can give it or could probably also take it, right? Yeah. We're talking about it now. Well, uh, you get automatic contract for next year. There you got a sign a month. Caroline is going to give him a one-way NHL deal, but he did playing in Greensboro. They got, hey, they got this like six eight Russian goalie to this guy. This guy straight straight out of the league. When we were there, we looked him up and he's a second rounder. I think he's not. He's really. He wasn't playing. And fifth round, fifth rounder. Sorry, fifth rounder. I got to, I got to get a, I got to get this kid's name. His name is Lewis, Ruslan. Kai's have six, four, two or one. He's from, uh, Treles, Treles, Benzk. Treles, Benzk. Is that you say it? Yeah. Okay. Okay. Okay. So I mean, eight Carolina, you know, Brandon Bussies had this incredible year. But like, don't sleep on the fact that a six foot four, fifth round goalie, who's worked, a lot of goalies worked their way up. No, he's not going anywhere. He's on the worst team in the league. We're not, we're not letting him get called off. He's not. Sorry. We're blocking that one. We got some sayers to what goes on. We got Doyle on a one way next year, playing the coast. And then this goalie is going to be a lifer. He's got, he's got a point eight goals against an a nine eighty save percentage. Yeah. I'm sorry. I'm begging for him for the NHL. So we're actually, we're not talking about NHL hockey anymore. We're strictly a coast podcast now. Okay. Okay. We I was actually telling, I was on the Kachak's podcast. And now they go, what's the, what's the craziest bar you played into the minors? And I've, I've talked about before Toledo. Yeah. Toledo had a building. It might have been like the second building ever built in hockey. This place was an absolute dump. You had no separation from the fans when you were on the bench. You literally had to walk up the stairs onto the concourse to get in your locker room, which was a shoe box. It was like a closet in the concourse. The glass, the glass was like three feet high. So if you came around the net and you try to put one off the glass, there was a fan who had teeth like me. Like their whole, their whole fan section. I think they had teeth like you before the game. Oh, yeah. And they had a heckler fan who would bring a megaphone and he would stand up and the megaphone would literally be writing your ear as you're taking face offs of the neutral zone. And this guy would be heckling the shit out of me the whole game. So the point where we would have verbal art altercations where Glenn Patrick would be like this enough, like this is crazy. Like the insults that we're going back and forth, it was, it was our this world. So the East Coast, the cheese toast league is the best. And that was the building that had, I said the second building ever created legit. I think the Zamboni they had, it had like the, you know, when they have like a, like a little, when you make something and it has like a, like a code on it, it was like a second bony signature from making it. Yeah. And I don't even think it was called the Zamboni. It was like the ice cleaners before they even created Zambonis. It was like one of the first ones ever made. And I would say of the eight times I played in Toledo, the Zamboni broke down about three times where all the blue liquid would just spill out where we'd have to, we'd get delayed. We'd have to wait and then they'd try to like clean. So then they'd have like a pylon, like a pylon in the middle of the ice basically while we were playing the rest of the game. So the Toledo sports arena was built in 1947. And I was playing there in, in, oh, I was probably there in like, oh, six, oh seven. Did they still, do they still have a team? Oh, yeah. They moved into a brand new building and they sell it out like every game. One of the, I think they have the best attendance in the coast year over year. And they're always competitive. It's a juggernaut. They're one of the, one of the most profitable themes in the coast. So speaking of incredible fan bases, we'll, um, and we'll get into hockey and one of the lowest moments for the Toronto Maple Leafs since, you know, I don't know since this podcast began, but we got to experience Keith and I last night a top five sporting event of my life. Wow. It was one for me. What is, when you think of US Canada at the Bell Center last year, this was right there. And it was the Dominican Republic first team USA semi finals world baseball classic in Miami. 80% if not 90% Dominican fans and these people are so passionate, so insane. It's all they got is baseball. I looked it up 11 million people in Dominican. Their lineup is, their lineup was incredible superstar after superstar. These people wanted it. And they were the nicest fans, buddy. They Keith and I were in the belly of the beast. We were, we were in the middle. The riders looking around like he was intimidated, but they were all like I was asking guys questions they're filling me in on where guys are from in Dominican. Like they're path to getting there after the game. Look at a great game. Amazing game. Shake in our hands. But dude, they were so loud. We were going up the escalators. We walked in all of a sudden. We're like, what is that? And it's just drummed. Boom, boom. They got the horns. They got the whiskers kind of like they do in Japan, too, right? Japan. They're very loud and animated as well. Um, this was, this was in the same building that they had the winter class. Yes. Yep. Buddy. It was the difference in atmosphere from that game to this. Yeah. Was it was a different galaxy. From before the game even started this like the game hadn't even started. We take the escalator up. All you hear is drum and whistling. Dance and guys run around. Girls run around. Dance it. It was legit. It's like from the second you walked into the into the field. I'll play. I have a video just like kind of quickly. This was this was an hour before the first pitch. What percentage was there? The minute. Oh, wow. That's in the concourse. And there was like a little six different groups of 40 to 50 guys with all their instruments and horns. And it was and buddy, the game, the game itself. I know. It was awesome. The making a public hit a home run off schemes. They're up one nothing. Then I wanted to get why it's something because he couldn't come with us. Right. Dude, we walked. Tell me explain this to me. There's four different merch shops. There wasn't a child sized hat or shirt in any of them. Not one. No kits here. I was like, what is going in that walk? Because everyone's like the other one over there behind left field has it. I'm like, okay, get a not behind right field has it. None of the four innings. I missed. I missed both home runs. I'm in the throwout from judge and judge Aaron judge Gundeg. I owed it. Now I was seeing this on TV, but then like riders upset. We can't get why it's something. He's being a great brother. What a great brother. Yeah. He's a buddy. He was, he's like, I want to get why it's something. And we couldn't, we, we ended up, I bought like a small, like a adultersy that why it's worn around. It's down to his toes. But the game, yeah. And then like at the end of the game, apparently the strike hope Mason Miller had, it was a little bit low. A lot of responses to a little bit. It was a ball. A little low ball. I was at a soft training game. The play Red Sox spring training game earlier in the week. And I got to witness the first now they cannot challenge balls and strikes. And it's pretty cool because the battle back up challenge. I think you only get two or three of them a game. If, if it's successful, the challenge, you don't lose it though. So you could have 20 a game if they're all correct. Right. Okay. Buddy. Four seconds. Boom. Perfect. So the answers come quickly. There's not a delay. It's another great addition along with the pitch clock we've talked about, but you can't do that in the world. Baseball classic. They don't have it. And that's what it's such bullshit because that would have been ball four, which I think would have loaded the bases. No, I would have been first and third would have been first and third. There was a guy and third tying run. I saw, I saw a graphic of the guys they left stranded in the second four. And that's right when Whit got back because my nephew, I took my three nephews and we go up to one. And I'm like, Whits missing everything. Like what is going on? He comes back. They load the bases in my nephews. Look at me. They're like, you got to be the one to tell what he's got to go back to the Jersey store. And I already in my head. I'm like, Oh, I'm getting booed out here. Like by the Americans around us. Like if this, if they score a run here, we get out of the jam. And then Garrett Whitlock comes in. He's a Red Sox pitcher strikes out the side in the eighth. That was sick. Then Mason Miller, who's the pitcher closing for the Padres, he, he, he's faced 15 batters in the world baseball class. He struck out 10 of them. Now, granted the 10th one, maybe was, it was ball four, but incredible atmosphere. Something really cool. Keith's idea and we drove over from Naples in a torrential downpour. The kids are screaming. I was shut up. Be quiet. I couldn't even see in front of me. My mom's in the car. I was just, it was a disaster. Everyone be quiet. I'm trying to focus. I had my sunglasses on and a pouring roll yelling on the box. As I'm texting you, trying to get tickets and shit, you must have wanted to kill me. Oh, I was just losing it. But incredible night, incredible night. And, and the final should be great. I think Venezuela plays team Italy, which is all guys from New Jersey tonight. And then the whole express so shot thing is great. So fun. When the Italians hit a home run, although they're all Americans. Is it, is it like 80% Americans for team Italy or something? Yeah. I'd say probably even more real quick guys on the robot. Um, so I was talking to an MLB player who said that, uh, they think that this season, because of those, the robot strikes owner, whatever, it's going to be an all time historic home run season. Like bet the over is basically on every guy because the way that I'm going to call it this year, it's, it's going to be like out of this world. Like guys are going to have historic seasons. What if for what reason though? Like just because they're going to get more opportunities at the plate because they'll, they'll call the bullshit balls back. Yeah. Basically, like those pictures aren't going to get those calls that were like borderline on the strike. So now and they think that guys are going to be using this all the time. Like no question about it. They're going to fucking well, here's what's interesting is, is the pitcher and the batter or the only two who can challenge or can't be the manager, but you only get two or three game, whatever it is. So I was saying to my dad at the spring training, I'm like, oh, if you call for a challenge and you're incorrect, like you're catching heat when you get back to the bench because you just lost one and it was your decision. Those guys knew it though. As soon as they called it, he was fucking losing it. Yeah. He was losing it. He gave it to like why are you talking about? Yeah. And I don't think the umps are thrilled about it because it's going to make them look a little ridiculous. So I would not think that. I would just think it shows again the call wrong, though. Yeah. But you're going pure on instincts where it's like, okay, call like perfect use it. Okay. I was wrong. Greg, what do you, you got to make a decision like split second, right? So I know, but I do know that the more challenges against you that are where you were incorrect, that affects your ability to play off the game better. We're in the big baby. Okay. All right. Speaking of that, after all that baseball stuff, I got down a Greg Maddox rabbit hole last night. If you're this guy, if you're of yours, if you're with him, he's just a professor. There's a back and forth between at bats of him going and Barry Barnes. Yeah. And then like describing like, well, like Barry Barnes, like, oh, I knew he was going to come back with this and and Greg Maddox saying like, I knew he knew I was going to come back with this. So I threw it. It's baseball is a pretty, it's a pretty fascinating sport. And the adjustments they've made over the past couple of years, I believe have saved it. And we've already talked about this boys. If they go through a lockout, they're fucking morons. They're morons. And I'm around the field last night, just talking to different fans like it is, this is the last season. And it's just so mind numbing. Haven't been through this in the NHL in the setback and where baseball's at. So enjoy this year because it seems like there is zero chance these guys are these guys, they're exactly incorrect. in thinking no salary cap, buddy. We're arguing with Ernie Clement Schneider and I'm forgetting the other guy. Ernie Clement got in the game as a pinch runner, a me at double play. Nathan Lucas, fuck I drew a blank on him. He was a beauty. We argued with him. And I said, we were all beating the same drum. I said, you guys need to get to the table with them and figure something out. And once again, man, you get teams like the Pittsburgh pirates. You don't spend shit. You forced those types of teams where their bottom, their basement is $50, $75 million more than what it is now. And then yeah, maybe those, the, there's a top cap. But the, the, the thing we always use, the, the, the tide lifts all boats or some shit. Yeah. What is it rising tide lifts all boats? I, I butcher that one every goddamn time. That's okay. You're known for butchering simple things. And it's okay. That's what makes you you. And another thing is, that makes you you is your love for the Toronto Maple Leafs. And I'm very unfortunate that this happened right after we recorded, I think, or maybe the day after that last week. But an upsetting scene to say the least, the butcher, Radco Goudus. He did it again. This one might have been one of his most egregious. Now, my dad hates Radco Goudus. I said, Hey, apparently he's a great guy. He goes, I don't care how good of a guy is. I hate watching him play. He's injured Tony people. He was like, I went through his YouTube of all his dirty hits after that Matthews one. And this one, this one was ugly. It was a straight sprint to a guy who's obviously going to take a step around you. And when he took the step around him, he stuck his knee out. It was what happened after that was the main issue and got everyone talking over the past five, six days. And that was the, the no response. And I'll say the most amazing thing about it was Neil and her after saying, I didn't see it. And then and then the screenshot comes up of him with his arm in the air, looking to make the, make the penalty call. Biz, what did you think? Give me your thoughts. What? Yeah. I mean, we're pretty like far removed from everybody's really heard a lot of the responses and what asked to happen. I spoke my piece on it on TNT last night. Like it's just like the, it's like the, the exclamation point on just a season from hell. And I would say as a result of it, like beforehand, I would have said, you know what? We got awesome two more years under contract. I'm hoping that he wants to come back and be part of a group that fixes this and, and you know, quick retool and be competitive and relevant and back in a playoff spot next year. You know, some people might disagree with that and think I'm delusional. Yes, I'm a bit of a delusional least fan. I mean, we can all agree on that. And then Willie as well. But that was one of those things where I'm like, you know what? I would be totally fine if Austin after, you know, dealing with the bullshit after the Olympics, seeing that response from his teammates and him just saying, you know what? I've given my time and energy to the city. I think maybe it's time that we kind of have like a clean breakup. You guys get plenty in return. And, and boys, I'm just speaking my, my side of it, like he might be like, oh, there's no bearing on my decision based on what happened on the ice there. And maybe he wants to come back and be part of the solution, which is awesome, right? That would be great if that was the case because he's a, he's a world class player. And you got him locked up for the next two years at a pretty reasonable A.V. But I, you know, I said on the broadcast too, like I can't speak with like a ton of credibility when it comes to power play. I can't speak about high, you know, playing top line minutes and a lot of things really. But I can't speak on that because that was my job as a player. And even when I was playing in junior hockey in the East Coast in the HL, one stuff like that would happen. And when I wasn't even a fighter at that level in the ECHL in junior, if that happened to one of my teammates, regardless of where they stood in the lineup, I would have been sprinting over there to try to handle that business. I remember when you wouldn't even be playing in games. And if guys got taken liberties on you being more upset than anyone, like, after the game in the locker that you like do anything. Yeah. It was a very vulnerable thing, right? And yeah, it's like you of all guys, like you were not known for your toughness that you are self deprecating about it. Like, remember when Donor got knocked out by Wiz against Anaheim? You ended up fighting him. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He I went down to fought him. I knew I was going to get beat up. For God, he was a lefty. But it's just one of those things when you captain gets hit like that. It was a bad elbow. And it's something and it wasn't just because I wanted to do it. I probably had to beat a guy to get there to try to fight him to show my love to Donor because four other guys on the ice wanted to do it too. Like it was, our team was close like that, where if one guy got taken advantage of everybody wanted to get him, the bench was going crazy. The coaches were going crazy. So yeah, I mean, it's just one of those things where you see a guy get hit like that, no matter who you are. And and good as to like, he's not one of those guys. If he hits a guy, he'll give you the fight. Like, he's not going to shy away from it. And if he, if it's a smaller guy, like, say kneeland or grabbed him, he's not really going to take advantage of him. If he has the opportunity, I mean, it's bad. Is that sounds he just needs? What's the worst that's going to happen? You get bopped on the head a few times. Like all, like all nowadays, like it's like all concussion protocol. Give me a fucking break, man. Some of these guys are such fucking pussies. Like I told the story on the broadcast boys, like, and I've said it before, the Jeremy of Blonsky were in Binghamton, right? I know this guy is an absolute killer. Like I was, I'm a, I was like a light heavyweight trying to learn how to do it in order to try to get to the next level. And you know, he ends up running one of our guys and I go right after him and three punches. He catches me right on the button and I'm bambi. I can't even stand up on the way to the box. And once again, there's no concussion protocol. There's no going down the tunnel to show weakness. You go to the penalty box, you get your bearings. And hopefully after that five minutes, you serve your, your okay enough to skate back to the bench and take a regular shift. Well, I was and I did. Well, we had another guy in the team. Bambi wasn't in the lineup or was injured or, or maybe he wasn't there at the time for whatever reason. So I was essentially the guy. Well, sure enough, the apple ends up running another one of our teammates. And we had another guy in the team. I'm not going to say names who was kind of like in my position. And he, he didn't do anything. I mean, pretend you not see it move. You know what I'm talking about. But he, and that's another thing too. Like, I don't give a fuck if you saw it. You see your captain there and you see that good is around it. You're fucking, yeah, you shed the mitts. You're trying to pump his eyes shut and you ask questions later. What are you worried about? You're not worried about season's done an instigator penalty to put them on the power play where you lose a game where you desperately needed those two points. You're out of a fucking playoff spot. You're got nothing to play for other than your pride and your teammates and finishing the season strong to let the organization know that you want to be a part of the solution. And, and it's not even just Willie. It's the other guys on the ice. And maybe they're taking a lot of heat for it. And they probably feel terrible about it now and regret the situation. And they're going to have to live with those thoughts and, and that feeling and that criticism. Because that's just, hey, buddy, you're playing and you're, you want, you want to play in the bigs and you want to fucking make all that money. You got to deal with the criticism when it comes. But going back to what I was saying, I had to go back out there and fight the devil again. And he fucking bambied me again. And I, I was, I was, I had the bambie knees. I went back to the box and did the same thing. So it ultimately comes back to, if you want to be a winner and a champion, you, you have to come out of your comfort zone. And you have to show courage and situations where maybe you don't want to. And that was a test. And they failed it miserably. And to me, it's just a bad look. Like, I know I, I joke a little bit about the chrome hard jeans and the tank top and the press box type of stuff. And this isn't like a new opportunity to shit on Willie. It's more of like, buddy, I get that that's cool. And I get all that. But it's like, I would, I would sit him down after the season. Really every single guy, if I was management and say, what do you want? Like, what do you want? What do you want out of this? Like, can I, can we win with this? And we win with you. Are you in the playoffs? Are you willing to make these sacrifices? Are you more worried about growing your, and listen, I was a social media guy too. But like, I also wasn't playing first line minutes and making 11 and a half and relied upon to win hockey games. So it's just like, it's very frustrating from a fan standpoint. And I am 100% okay. If they trade, if they come to an agreement, right? Like, I love Matthews. Like, if he wants to stick around all, all good. If, if, if they want, if they come to a decision where they're going to move on from him and then Willie and strip it to the ground, my only advice is, I want, I want the Wendell Clark era back. I want the Duggy Gilmores. I want to be so fucking proud of the team I'm watching on the ice where, yeah, maybe they're not, maybe they, they lose second or third round. But I know they're going down with a fight and they're going to have blood on their jerseys and they're going to be, and then they're going to have the yacht club rocking. They're going to have people so, so passionate about the theme that's on the ice. They're not too busy between periods doing bumps in the bathroom that they're out there glued to their seats and then standing up when they get the action that, that's what they're so proud to see. So that's kind of just me speaking. from the heart. Maybe people think we're being hyperbolic about it and overreacting, but it's just like, I've seen enough and it's time to kind of reshuffle the deck here. From everything I've heard, is that Matthews wants to be there and wants to be part of the solution and win a cup there? But like, I don't know, you think this is one of those things where it's like, oh, this is the final straw? I don't know if it's the final straw. I just know that you look around and remembering playing and like, when I was on Pittsburgh and we came together, it was, it was things that some fans may not think is that important and playing the game. It's just like, buddy, Dalin said it best the other day. He's like, we have formed a brotherhood in here. And this is a team who had the Taj Thompson incident and then you see the difference this year and he said, now if one of us gets touched, there's four guys flying in. You saw it with Don when Hagel went after Dalin and then he was asked, like, oh, what did you guys do? He's like, we drink beers together and that is like a headline and makes people laugh, but it's not even a joke. It's literally like becoming a family and hanging out off the ice and you don't have to be best bodies and you don't have to be out all night together. But after games and on the road, guys getting in a room or a hall together in one of the banquet rooms and just having a couple beers and it's just like, it's a team. You become a family and you see teams that are like that and they have tons of success. And even when they don't have success, you can tell the difference between the teams that aren't like that. And it's quite obvious. I guess having played, not trying to sound like that guy, but I just remember the teams I was on that was like that. And then some teams I was on that wasn't. Somebody posted, because there was like an older guy, yeah, and you might think of it, but they had a rule where you don't have to stay the whole night. But when we throw bags in our room, bag trucker shut out to Hal Gill and in Mason, go down for one. And if you want to go back to your room and go on your own after that, but you stay for one. And then you always see the teams that have the most success. You're going to have 15, 16 guys there staying for a few more, getting to know each other and forming that bond. You just talk about with Dalene and buddy, you mentioned that Hagel incident and Buffalo the other night where Josh don't end up jumping on him, UPL. I think it was UPL playing that he was sprinting out of his crease to go handle business. Like that's that is a carbon copy example of what needs to happen if you're going to you're going to be a successful group. And I just don't feel it out of Toronto. And it just year from hell. And yeah. And some people want to bring up the whole like, oh, like, like the idiots online, like, oh, like, like, maybe they didn't want to fight for mass use because they don't feel that type of reciprocation. It's like, I don't know, man. His fucking team USA teammates seem to really like him. Like, I don't, I don't think he's a problem. And nor should he have to fucking worry about handling business. Everybody else should because he's the one doing all the heavy lifting. We did get a very, very funny press release by, but Judd, super agent Judd, the league runs through him. And, and to say in a press or statement that the director player safety should be suspended himself. That, that, I mean, that's funny. I don't, I don't care which way you look at it. Now it was a five game suspension for Goudes. I would have been fine with like seven. I mean, it just maybe a couple more. It wasn't like five's not nothing. I should have eight to 10. Okay. Yeah. Cause it's that blatant. And he's done it so many times prior. So I was surprised it was five. But the whole system on how you get suspended, even mcdavid talked about it. And, and we'll get into mcdavid. I thought the oilers had a pretty good response to Aussie wise black and it's hit on Leon who left the game, came back and then didn't finish the game. But he said like, basically when everyone's complaining about every suspension, it kind of screams like, all right, something's a little off here. The statement is if every time there's a suspension, everybody complains about it, why don't we take a look at the process and figure out if there's a better way to make sure that both parties are happy because it seems like there's a lot of frustration. I get that. Well, what do you, what do you think with? So I play with George Parros. I like George a lot. That's a tough gig, dude. It is not a gig that's for anyone or the faint of heart because you are pissing every side off, right? You're pissing off the side. You're suspending. You're pissing off the side that doesn't think it was a long enough suspension. You're a former player. You're taking money out of players pockets. It's not something that's like an easy gig, which is why I usually don't see people do it that long. I know Shanny did it for a little while. Bizz, I don't know. In terms of, did you ask what, what could you do different? In the process. Yeah. Is that what you meant? No, I just, my whole thing is, what they say is, is they don't take the injury into account. They say that, right? Right. Don't know if that's the case. But I think it's a little silly if they don't weigh it as a factor. I also don't know if Toronto's in a wild card spot right now, fighting for their playoff lives, and all the sudden Gouda's takes out their captain and their best player. Does that factor in you guys? Yeah. Well, that shouldn't be a case because Toronto's out of it. You're saying, well, yeah, you're saying, would it be more if they were in it? Well, yeah, because he's obviously way more valuable in that situation to his team. Would that factor on the decision making? But to me, if you have a guy who's now got a third degree MCL sprain, which I've had that before, I've had a second degree, I've had a first degree, I've had a third degree, I've had it all. I got no knees right now or teeth or teeth or brain or nostrils. Like, Austin, I think he's total going to miss 16 games. So you're telling me a guy who gives a direct knee with people said, oh, he hasn't been suspended in seven years. Like, I listen, we know Gouda's plays on the edge and we know that was a torpedo knee and he just took out a guy for 16 games. If not more length of time, a third degree, you're usually looking at about six weeks. If not two months, depending on the severity of the third degree. So how is that fair that this guy's going to miss, you know, 10 days to two weeks when this guy's going to miss that much time? So to me, that scale is a little unbalanced and they should weigh it as a factor. Are you guys agree with that? It's just tough. I'm even going back to McDavid's comments. Like, no matter what, someone's going to be pissed off whether what team, if you're the Toronto Maple Leafs fan or if you're Anaheim Duck fan. So I don't know how they can make it, like, what making a kneeing is automatic five, making an elbow to the head is an automatic three. Like, how can you possibly? Well, I think you have to weigh it. Like, if a guy, like, kind of like, he starts getting a little bit of a chicken wing out and you can clearly see it's a little bit accidental. And there's an injury as a result of that. Well, you got, you got to weigh that in on the scale, right? I think you're, you're crazy to think you shouldn't. I'm not saying you, but if somebody's injured and you don't factor that in, that's, that's ludicrous to me. And it's a big time reach of an analogy, but it's like, hey, you get a, you murder someone or you try to murder. I mean, you know, it's attempted murder or it's murder. And, and using the analogies and little crazy talk about murder, but it is good. So maybe it's not that crazy. So like, buddy, like, if a guy's out 30 games with an injury, yeah, it should be way more of a suspension than if, than if he didn't end up getting hurt from the same play. But it's one of those things where if, say Matthews hit some fourth liner and they're like, hey, you be out for 30 games and then they'll make the penalty on Matthews more severe and then Toronto doesn't get him. Yeah, but well, it shouldn't, that shouldn't weigh it on like how good the player is. I think that we all know when we watch a video if you've played before, especially to our level, what level the intent was and what the guy's history is. Like Matthew's not running around elbowing guys typically, right? So if he just kind of is in a, a quick situation where instinctively his arm comes up because it happens quick and as a result, that guy's out for six weeks with a concussion. I don't think you're hitting him as hard as you would as if like go to go to us with it with a with a torpedo knee or if goodness is going Scott Stevens across the blue line and clips a guy on the jaw like that to me. I think we're all smart enough to know how to evaluate it as former players. And once again, I think that the injury at hand should weigh as a factor. It shouldn't be the end all be all, but they should have taken that into account with good suspension. If they gave him six games, it wouldn't even be talked about it's just because it was that five games. It was the phone hearing. Yeah, the in person. Sure, but I still would have been like, I think eight to 10 was the number. And does the fact that Anaheim is in a playoff spot and fighting. And you know, does that weigh into it as well? So not I, I don't, I'm not as correct. Obviously, Judd is kind of emotional about it because Austin's one of his biggest clients. He's like really good friends with him. He cares about him and his family. And there's like a deep emotional connection there. So obviously he's fiery, but I think that there it's somewhere in between where it was, but five games was definitely light. And but you nailed on it. It's the worst job in the league. And George is deals with so much backlash as a result to every decision he makes. So I do feel for him and not a job, not a job a lot of people want. Remember, remember, Shanny was doing it and he was doing the videos. Yeah. Oh my God. Yeah. Exactly. By the way, yeah, whoever does it will be hated. It's just, that's just how it is. We should be the panel. And we do it on here. Imagine we have no listeners left. Imagine what people would say about Austin. They'd hate us more than Philly fans. We should, we should honestly, when there is something like that before for the announcement comes out, we should say what we think, how many games we think it should be and see if we're close. - So yeah, so we'll be even more wrong. I'll be like, that's a seven game and they're like, oh, that's a $5,000 fine. So we would-- - We'll do like college, like he has to sit out the first period. - And you mentioned the fires hating us, but they can't hate us today, buddy, because Mark Howe, - Oh yeah. - of the people interview we got close to you in a little bit. This is so many Gordy stories. Mark Howe Hall of Famer himself, just an awesome guy, great storyteller. So I can't wait to get to that. - And I'll quickly touch on that, boys, like this is probably top five interview for me. And like obviously we take to have somebody on who knew that all the Gordy stories as much as his son did. Like I felt like it was just an nostalgia. We always talk about the Mount Rushmore and of Hockey and hearing Mark talk about his father, you completely understand why Wayne Gratzky was obsessed with Gordy Howe and why he looked up to him and he was his idol. If the NHL is nowhere near the place it is right now without Gordy Howe, the fact that he would after games in Detroit, he would sign autographs till every single person had their autograph sign and left the building every time he played there. It's like you would never see that again, ever. And the foundation of this league was built off the back of guys like Gordy Howe and it's just like, I have like fucking chills thinking about it and just an incredible way. I think we were with him for 90 minutes. I could have talked to him for another two hours and I hope we get to get him on again and get on his brother as well who I'm sure has different variations of different stories as well. So just an absolute honor to get to talk to Mark who is a Hall of Famer himself. So just just incredible. - Yeah, and just quickly I do want to mention so that Aussie wise blood hit on Leon. Now I don't think the injuries too serious didn't sound like that. Like they let him go back into the game. He couldn't finish, he'd already scored. One, nothing wrong with the hit, nothing at all. Good hockey hit too. Leon, I think he averages close to like three points of game against Nashville. He'd already scored. So I get it. It's like, all right, we're gonna run around. The only thing I would have liked is right after captain went over and two handed him right near the bench and wise blood gave him one right back. Maybe just like jump them then. I understand like not his role but whatever we're talking about it. Later Fredrick did his best. Wise blood just wouldn't fight. It was nice though. Wallman crushed him along the wall after he made a breakout pass. Oilers get a big win. So that was just as long as Leon's like not seriously hurt. It's not a big deal. But I thought the response was pretty good 'cause the rest of the game they were going out of him and he just didn't, he wasn't gonna fight. But I respect that kid. Plays hard and he threw a nice hit. And it wasn't a dirty hit and they're still going after him. Like that's just a hockey play. I hope it's just like a hit pointer and not his back 'cause like the way he went in, I hope it's not his back 'cause especially during playoff time the fact that's lingering is brutal. But yeah, I mean, that's one of those things those happened during a game. You know, the guys tried to do what they did. Wise blood probably he doesn't have to answer the bell there 'cause it wasn't a dirty hit. He didn't do anything illegal. So I think that's kind of, people think he's a pussy for not fighting. I don't think that's fair 'cause it was a clean hit. - Yeah. And I just wanted to get to that and we're gonna get into the East Playoff picture. Some stuff happened in there and obviously out West, but right now, I think it's time for Mark Howe. Everyone sit down and enjoy this because I know we all did. - Hey, Chick what's fans? We're gonna take a quick break for a message from one of our partners. You've been lucky, you should be. Meet the new lucky one, Sweet Tea from Miss Peaches. The vodka drink that's positively doing good. Made with real tea and real vodka, non-carbonated, the hundred calories. And here's the scoop. Their new Sweet Tea is the only Valkovace Sweet Tea on the market, simple ingredients in a smooth full flavor that makes it taste just like the real Sweet Tea. Best part, every can helps rescue dogs find their forever homes as they work to a goal of donating $1 million to dog rescues in 2026. So if you love true Sweet Tea, this one's a no-brainer. Pick up a lucky one Sweet Tea today and give back one can at a time. - All right, now back to the show. Hey, Chick what's fans, we're gonna take a quick break for a message from one of our partners. - This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Football has a play for just about everything. You can go deep, keep it on the ground or drop something nobody sees coming. And whether you want to run a flea flicker or a push push, you need a plan to fit your unique situation. That's why State Farm takes the time to get to know you so they can help personalize coverage for your life and budget. Now that's a solid game plan. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. It's a real pleasure to be joined right now by a special guest, a hockey hall of famer and son of hockey royalty, Mark Howell. What's going on, how are you? - Doing all right guys, so how are you doing today? So just, I've been busy like everybody else on East Coast digging out a snow the last week or so and yeah, just having fun with it. - Are you still out there shoveling? - Oh yeah, gotta keep doing. So actually did run the house last Sunday and then went down to the Jersey Shore 'cause I got a home down there and I got a couple boats so checking on things and because I didn't think there was gonna be that much snow but yeah, there was plenty of snow and ice and the hard part 'cause I try to go for run most every day and I think it was about 19 degrees and I was out, I did a quick three miles and just wore four layers, but the face was getting a little chilly. So I couldn't wait to get back in the car and get the hear going again. - I was gonna say you have a great tan going but it's more about the cold. - Oh yeah, for sure. So you're 70 years old and you look unbelievable. Is that, you know, you give that credit so you just stay in busy and running and just stay in active? - Yeah, well that and good genes. So dad obviously was a strong human being. I think I have more of my mother's genes but my mom was a very strong woman as well but I think over the, I retired about five years ago. I had my longtime girlfriend Sharon. She had had, she was beginning symptoms of dementia and it was starting to get an issue and then we one got vaccinated for COVID just about five years ago and it just blew her out of the water and ever since that day, she's needed 24 hour care. And so the, and I think ever since I've been 50 because it becomes more important, I think that you're with your fitness and all and trying to give yourself the best opportunity to quality of life and but I find now it is so beneficial being the primary caregiver for Sharon here at home is to, it's made, I go out for a run and, you know, some days, you know, the part of this I've ever run that's 18 miles, I've done it a few times. But for me, it gets rid of the crap in my head and it keeps my brain somewhat clear and for me that's the best benefit of it. - We had a coach in Arizona, Dave King, yeah. - And it was same thing every single morning, he would wake up and he would go run about, I think it was about five miles, he would do every day, so. - I think he just got more mad at the more he ran, though. He was a grumpy guy. (laughing) - Well, no, no, no, those are coaches. So, yeah. - General, so. - Yeah, the happy one for the guys that didn't work out. So. - How much hockey you still watching? - Actually not, this year not much. So I was, went on a fish and took with my brother, Marty. We were up in Nova Scotia, up in Annie Ganesh, and did some giant bluefin tuna fish. And Dennis, you're an old teammate of yours. Probably Dennis Bond, he got me home. - Oh yeah, man. - I caught my hands, bones. - Yeah, about 10, 12 years ago. And then, and I've gone up there a number of times since and then came back and then, unfortunately, I had an emergency surgery. I think it was just about 10, 11 weeks ago. I ended up having a ball block. I'd just woke up in the middle of the night, I was in extreme pain and they ran me in. It split me open, take a little bit of my intestine out, staple it back together, sewed me up. And I'm probably about 95, 97% healed from that. So, the hardest thing's just been getting my energy levels back, but it's, but I feel lucky. So, I mean, I don't know what happened if I would have been out in the boat and I went in through the pain that I went through. So, so I feel pretty fortunate. At least I was here at home. He's fishing like a therapeutic thing for you because a business is a big fly fishing man now. And he's just, it's just something that, you know, he likes to get off his mind and it's kind of his, his relaxation is it the same for you? Mark, I went one time. I said, I'm addicted and these guys have been given it to me ever since because I said the word addicted. They think I should be doing it every week, but you can't be fly fishing every week because it's cold outside now. Yeah, well, you can, but the lure might bounce a little bit, but yeah, I don't think it's, I used to, I used to golf a ton. I used to play 125 rounds a year, years ago. Now that I know I suck, we used to call it the summer tour, especially here in Philly and now when I started my playing career down in Houston, we used to play all the time. And, but then I slowly migrated into boating and fishing And I think a lot of it was because I got into boarding. big time in 86 down at the Jersey Shore and I loved our shore fishing so I got a bigger boat and but my kids were at three four or five years of age at the time and I'm golf and you're going all winter traveling hockey and now I'm golfing five days a week and I said I got to start doing more with my kids I want to be a part of their lives growing up so we got into boating we went to the shore and yeah so we we used to spend probably two and a half to three months there every year and and I continue to go there and it was and it was great I did so many wonderful things with my kid unfortunately all three of my kids they all got C-sick so I've been there buddy yeah until they invented the patch behind the year it was hard for them to go out but they still don't like it as much but for me I find like some of my brother Marty's up in just outside of Hartford and so we're about three hours apart and we we normally do four to five fishing trips every year we go down to Louisiana down at Venice and we go tuna fishing down out of there and and then even years ago we used to go fishing up in Long Island sound so when I was scouting I used to go do a lot of games in Bridgeport a lot of games a heart for a lot of games in the Springfield and when my dad was still alive so dad would be staying at Marty's house and so in the morning we get up four o'clock and we go wet a line till about noon come in have a little nap to notice go scout a few games and just hope by Sunday when you've been doing the same thing four days wrong hopefully the game was good otherwise your your head's kind of given it one of these as you're trying to watch but yeah I found it's I mean I I love the excitement of it and every day you go out you think or today's the day but but I think a lot of it is I built a lot of relationships with with friends and and mostly with family doing fishing trips and because I think my dad used to take Marty and I and a lot of trips when we were kids how many hole in ones if you're playing that many rounds of golf only had one so you got one though I got one yeah with I had I lipped the cup five or six times there was a favorite course we had in Detroit called Plum Hollow I think it was a third hole is perfect 180 yards is perfect six iron for me and and I swear if I ever got one it's gonna be that hole but I think I think my whole one was out at the LaCosta Country Club I was playing with dad out in California back in the old WHA days oh that's so you see you got it when when when when Gordy was there oh yeah yeah so yeah he yeah so like that was one thing you know I was a pretty good golfer back in the day the first time my first time I ever shot par was I was 15 years old and it could that was a great golfer too that was like a plus two hammock he was so good every sport but I fear I never gonna I said I'm never gonna catch him in hockey so I said well maybe I can get him a golf and I'll never forget because we were we're we're both one over going into the last hole and he bogie-dive birdied so I said that was that was a big day for me first time you ever beat him was that day yeah yeah that was that day oh that's incredible we we love going back to the start your story's just incredible like your dad's mr. hockey right and I'm looking up he was 32 when you were born and most of the time you know guys have kids at that age it's like I probably got a couple years left he wasn't he wasn't even close to being done so you're born into Troy he's on the wings and what do you remember about growing up and being around the rank and I imagine you fell in love with the game quite early just seeing your dad and and seeing what he had done like what are your memories of of starting to play the game and how often your dad was around then as he was still playing and probably traveling a ton yeah well yeah we're back in the day they traveled by you know by train most of the time and but but it was great dad whenever I could dad would bring me to the rank and I remember I started playing my first year of playing on a team I was four years old we played now door ranks for two years and then my mom who was so instrumental in my brother in ice career she negotiated the deal and I was able to build a rank as one of the it was the first rank built indoor rank in the state of Michigan and I think within but the next seven eight years it was probably 20 25 ranks but yeah yeah but so I but I had so many opportunities as a kid dad would take me to practice between Doug Barkley Bill Gatsby sit able all these guys were coaching at the time when I was a kid that then when I got to and I haven't grown since since I was like 13 years old and I was about 190 pounds back then but they used to let me practice with the red wings when I was 13 and I remember dad one year I was 14 took me up the poor here on I spent a week at training camp my parents let me miss a week of school and and I want right to training camp and on earth first first scrimmage I was lined up and normally Dean Prentice was the left wing or on dad's line but they they let me take that spot and Dean was playing against being in the first scrimmage their team won three nothing Dean Prentice got three goals and every guy in that locker room said hey kid we know you can score but you got to learn how to check so those were those are lessons I learned when I was 12 13 14 years of age oh unbelievable at what age did you realize that your your father was just larger than life figure like what when did that kind of clue in where it's like oh like this guy is a big deal and so many people look up to him and you kind of just touched on how instrumental I think we forget like we just view Michigan as like a hockey state now but back then you said there were no indoor rink so before Wayne Gretzky you know was in LA it was kind of like that movement your father created in Detroit in Michigan really yeah well you know everywhere we went I just thought it was normal I mean that's what I grew up with like it was and it was one in Detroit I mean everywhere I went in Detroit but every I remember one time we're on a fishing trip up in the northwest territories we flew back we landed in Edmonton and you know back in the day when those cell phones and dad went in with phone booth and it took him at least two hours to get out of the phone booth because he never refused an autograph so everybody in the entire Edmonton airport was there and dad would just sign and so and but we were used to that but our whole lives had to do with just doing things at a family we never talk talk we never talk those kind of thing we talk when are we going to fish and when can we go golf and or you know when we can do a family trip to Florida whatever that was our life and it was had nothing to do with the limelight or anything else and but and dad was very gracious with I I know whenever I went to the Red Wing games and sometimes I would be the only one there I'd be maybe nine ten years of age and the wings you always came out in the hallway and you had everybody in the arena who was still there sitting there and they would all want autographs so I loved that I'd have my little little stick and a little tape ball and I'd be playing ball hockey against the the the stairs went up to the bleachers air the balcony and dad would sit and sign every single autograph every single night and I and I do remember one time I asked him in the car on the ride home I said dad like how can you do that why do you do that and he said to me he said those are the people that are paying my salary he said you know I owe to him and dad was always gracious this that way now when you're dead originally started playing us so long ago like that's when guys were working in the offseason and stuff right I don't know if that was ever the case for him but it was just such a different life such a different world for professional athletes like do you remember what he would do in the summers because training wasn't big I mean everyone's seen the pictures of him just a naturally enormous human being but do you remember his like off seasons then and was it kind of just fishing and hanging with the fam and not really training and skating uh well yeah but that well he used to go back home and uh his his uh father my grandpa Al he he was in charge of uh paving all the sidewalks and some of the streets in Saskatoon way back in the day so when dad would go back home in the summer uh when he would he'd be lifting cement cement bags all summer and uh well and his grandpa used to put him under pressure and they'd have like four 80 pound bags and he'd bet somebody said I said bet you my son can can lift these all at once and then he'd look at my son and he'd bet like a necklace or dime which ton of money back in the day and he'd look at my dad he said kid don't let me down he had a double hernia surgery a couple years later but yeah but dad was just a beast of a man and if anybody saw his hands his hands are absolutely massive so uh I know he he spanked me one time and I deserved it and it was just one little whack and then I said well whenever I'm getting a trouble again I'm gonna make sure dad's out of town because those big mints are gonna touch me again. That's what caused the bowel block 65 years. Yeah so um take us through because you mentioned you guys didn't really talk talk much hockey right and all of a sudden you become a pretty incredible player like a junior player scoring a hundred points you go to the OHA at that point a hundred points and There had to be a time when, when he realized like, wow, like my son, it's not just like he's just liking and playing hockey, he, he's going to play pro. At that point, did he start kind of talking to you about the game a little bit more and helping you with your development, or was it always kind of, you were on your own a little bit? Now, always on my own. So, on Alex. That's one of the things that I appreciate the most about my parents was they let us experience life and learn life lessons on our own, and that, that's way of, you know, as a prime example, I got, I don't mind talent stories on myself. So, first game in the WHA, we play a game out in LA. We win the game. I'm just 18 years old. Now I'm playing pro hockey and this is back in 73, I'm making 125,000 a year, and I'm living my dream. I'm, I'm, I'm getting to my dream and I'm out in LA and boom, you know, we win the game. Well, I'm out having a good time and come back in the hotel room and then have a, have a young girl with me and go and have fun. Well, then we, then so don't get much sleep in. I had a couple of, maybe too many drinks, you know, yeah. And so, and now you, now you hop on a plane at 830 in the morning. We fly somewhere and then we fly in the admin until we land at 3 o'clock. We have a game at 7 o'clock that day. And so yeah, I'm tired and I'm hurting a little bit and, but like I said, everything is so new, so exciting and I was, the only thing I was kind of retort was when somebody's coming to run you over, try to run right through them, like just don't back down. So I'm, I think I'm like third shift of the game or something, and then they had a big settlement, Jim, a big Jim Harrison. And sure enough, I had my head down and bone, I don't, I never saw him coming and he went over my glove, my helmet, everything went flying. And I was half cold turkey. And this right near the end of the first period we come in and they always had me sitting next to dad in the locker room and all that there was, he just kind of looked at me like this. He said, well, did you learn a lesson? I go, yes, sir, I did. Like, and that was his, that was his way of saying, okay, you realize what you did last night is not acceptable and you learned the reason why. So yeah, so that, but that's how I learned, you know, learn my lessons from, you know, from from my dad, most of my mom was a little more direct, but that had more to do with life lessons and not so much playing hockey, but, but the door was always open. I used to ask the odd time, I remember playing with the Marley's the one year in Toronto. And I was playing really well and I was skating good and this above my chances weren't coming. There had been like five or six games in a row and mom and dad came up to watch and, and so I asked my dad, I said, dad, just if you got a pointer for me, I said, I, I, I skate really good. I'm into the game and, but things just aren't clicking. I'm not getting the opportunities. And he, so after the game, he said, well, you're, and I played left wing till I was, you know, like 24, 25 in my life and I was, I was like 15 feet off the board. So now I'm coming down the ice, so I'm lined up directly with the defenseman and so dad pointed out, he said, you're just making that guy's job that much easier. So he says, get your ass over on the boards. Now you force it off and he's got to come to you. And then you judge if he comes too early, comes too late, you either go, why you can cut to the middle, do whatever. And he told me that after the game and I think I scored a hat trick and two goals and two more goals and other goals. I had like eight, nine goals in the next four games just from a single little tip. So yeah. So yeah, the door was open. We would have the odd interaction like that most of the time you could figure it out by yourself. But, but yeah, it was, it was, and I, but I said, that's what I appreciated the most about my parents is, nobody, they weren't harping on me. I never got to push X and my brother Marty was, you know, play pro for 12 years. He basically quit hockey one year because he loved football and things didn't work out with football. And there was a game where we were playing against, we're in Detroit, we're playing against Guelph. And he said there's a kind of other team and he loved to fight him every time. And so I told this football coach, I can't make practice because I have to play this hockey game. And the football coach said, well, that's it. You're done playing football. And Marty was by far the best athlete in our school. And so then he boom. So that was it. He kind of made him play high. But my parents had no problem with it. So they, they just supported what we did. But everyone swung. You need a little, need a little slap. And so we got a little slap when we needed it. But yeah, they, they were, they were always there to support us. When, when talking about your career, I, with a few people, that's what they said when you ended up switching from four to defense, how it was such a smooth transition where I think that you ended up maybe even leading your team in points, even as a D-man. What was the reason for the switch? Like, why did you go from a forward to a D-man? Well, actually, the, the first guy to ever put me on a defense was, uh, was, uh, building in. When we were playing down in Houston, that was, uh, the fourth year that we played there. And, uh, the Renox, uh, because teams into W-H, you only had maybe 25 guys on your, in your entire organization. And we had a number of injuries and, uh, with, and spent in myself as well. I was coming off to shoulder separation. But we only had, uh, I think five defense and, uh, and the whole organization now, we're healthy. So they put me back there. I ended up playing, uh, with a defense and Paul Polpio. I played, uh, I think 32, 33 games, I'm like that and I had 50 points, um, and then, boom, then I went back to wing, uh, the next year when we went up to Hartford, uh, but when the league smurged, um, I played the first three or four games of the year, uh, on left wing. And then we went in the Buffalo one day and, um, uh, we're playing against the savers. And so in the morning skate, I played left wing in the morning skate and then we came in for the game and I'm looking at the, on the blackboard and a lineup sheet and they had my name on defense when they had somebody else on left wing. I thought the guys were playing a joke. So I went and raised the, I raised the board and I put my name back up and, and they said, oh, you're playing defense tonight. I got the coaches. Can I say, you got to be kidding me. So I said, I wish I would have had one day to practice and I'll never forget. My first shift was against Gilbert Perot and my defense partner, pinched in. The puck came out and I had Gilbert Perot one and, and believe me, I, I, I, I think my shift was 15 seconds. Thank God he lost the puck. I landed on it and I had to change. I was out of breath and that's how my career started as a defenseman in the NHL, but, uh, but I, I loved it. My brother was a defense and on a team and, and I ended up taking, I ended up playing 30 minutes a night and when I was in the Hartford, as compared to playing 22 as a winger and I think as a defense and you can control the pace of the game much better. And, uh, so I, I liked that part of it, but the bad part was, I ended up taking minutes away from my brother and, uh, and, uh, and it was a tough, I mean, I could skate, I could do a lot of that. I could pass the puck really well, but it took me a few years to learn how to actually properly play the game. I played the position of defense. Mark, you mentioned, uh, in the beginning, you making 125,000 in the WHA, uh, kind of a two-part question. Was that one of the reasons why you went to the WHA instead of the NHL and what was a rookie salary in the NHL at that time compared to the 125? Well, Gordy was playing Detroit. Uh, he had retired two years previous, uh, and his 25th year and also his 24th year, uh, he made $100,000 a year. So I get offered a contract, just sign my name, I get 125, uh, but in actuality, uh, because that was, uh, uh, fresh off of Memorial Cup win in Toronto, uh, I just turned 18, uh, I won the MVP and they're off me 25 grand more than WHA Gordy had ever made in his lifetime. But I want to, I felt I needed another year in junior. Uh, I guess mostly for maturity reasons, um, but, uh, it actually, dad, dad said to me, he says, look, if I have to, I'll break your arm, sign the contract for you. And it just kind of said, okay, no, but, but the reason was so, but at the time, so it's basically being US born. If you want to Canada and play junior hockey and I got my $10, uh, a week expense money, uh, but once you want to Canada, you're considered professional. You couldn't go play college hockey. You couldn't, uh, you know, I ended up playing in the Olympics the year before. So I couldn't have played in the Olympics and, um, so, but the WHA, they decided they wanted the, uh, they used to have a, uh, in their draft, part of it was a professional draft. And they want to under the assumption that, okay, the NCAA considers the Howboys professional because I made $10 a week. So, yeah, so they are available for the professional draft. So that's how we got drafted in, in the WHA. I remember my dad called the people at the NHL and he said, look, I'd like to come back and play. I would like for my kids to be able to come play in the NHL and the NHL just said, no, because you had to be 20 years of age at the time. Oh. And yeah, so, uh, you had no choice. I mean, like, great, probably the best player in, I think, a junior time with Dennis Potton, who could easily come out, I think he's spent five years in Ottawa, um, but he, he had to play five years in junior. And once he turned 20 and then, we and I rode in. who knows what a great player he was. But yeah, yeah, to wait. But the WHO provided that opportunity for guys like myself, Marty. They had the baby bulls down a Birmingham. I mean, Langway, Napier, then you know, Gretzfladen, Indianapolis, Massfladen Cincinnati, and Mike Gartner was in Cincinnati, and a lot of really good players got the beginning of their career in the WHO. Just big, and I think it was maybe three years later, something like that, the NHL, finally. Finally, change, and then you could drop players at 18. Did the NHL make you guys feel as outcast at that time? Like it was kind of like a PGA lifestyle of thing because they went off and did their own thing, or was it pretty cordial? No, it was, I think it's very similar to the live thing. So, but in a way, I looked at, I had no choice. It was either playing Toronto or go to the WHO, and playing the same team as my father. It was kind of a no-brainer. And actually that year, I think, was, I appreciated my father as a hockey player better than I ever did, and I used to watch so many games, but he won the MVP of the league. And to me, the league was kind of a hybrid of the American league and the NHL, without the high-end stars. There weren't the no-o-vechkins, no-cross, we used to know those kind of guys. But the Bobby Holes and League already was there. There were some pretty good players, not the elite guys. And yeah, Gordy been retired for two years. It's like I was watching Rivers come out of retirement to play a few games this year. And I go, it's not that he was 44 or 45. I said, the hard part was like, he'd been out for five years. Marty and I saw what it did. Gordy was the most phenomenal athlete I've ever seen. And during train camp in Houston, actually Marty and I went to my mom and said, we're really concerned with data. I mean, we didn't know, we didn't know red could be that purple in somebody's face. Like, and here's a man that has incredible stamina. And so we built an ink and over had a chat with mom and dad. I think it was maybe about a week, 10 days later, I couldn't keep up with the guy. Just absolutely incredible stamina. And, but he came back and he won the MVP that year of the league. And I think he could have won the next year and to me, that's the most amazing thing I'd ever seen in sport. And I was the one who benefited. So Gordy played right wing. We had a sendman named Jimmy Cher and I was the left winger. So yeah, and it took, it took me about three months, actually, to really adapt. Marty fit into the league quicker and adapted quicker. Took me, I would say, two to three months. And I give Bill to need a lot of credit because he, I didn't play any special teams play early on. And then he started to give me a little bit of PK time and then finally got me on the power play. And I think by that time, then I started to feel like I belong to pro hockey. - Was Gordy fighting it all then? Or was there a bubble around him where guys wouldn't go near him just because of his dad? I was like, what was it? - Well, I'd say, you guys should have, you should give my brother, Marty. And if Marty's so good at this, you should give him maybe a, give him one or two of the pink witties. You, you get him going and I, but I remember the first exhibition game we were planning Houston. Well, with Houston, but I think we're playing in Greensboro somewhere in the Caroliners or something. And I don't know what to expect, 18 year old kid. You know, you remember, you're 18. You're just so nervous. You're so excited beyond the ice and you just, and you're focused on what you're trying to do. And all I know is they dropped the puck and as soon as the puck dropped, the left winger, who was lined up next to Gordy, Guy drops his glove and he starts coming at Gordy. Oh yeah. - What? - What do you mean he Gordy did? He too handed this guy, just split his forehead, right down here. Guy was out in Polk, Turkey. And I'm like, well, I'm like, you know, okay, you got me out of my little days that I'm in. I'm kind of like this. Well, then Gordy does five minutes in a belly box. Come down next shift, boom. They send another guy out. And another guy's standard and he's wanting to drop his gloves. But he's not going to drop his stick and he's trying to slash Gordy's stick out of his hand and Gordy finally. And I'm like, well, we're going right across the side of the face. This guy goes down. So honestly, honestly, God is truth. And so that's how we establish him. So while you, one of the neatest things about being a son of Gordy, how is no matter where you go? And from Bob Yor to Wayne Gratsky to all the greats, the greats of the greats at all of them. They all have their story of what Gordy how did to them. And what to do, and a lot of the, and it was, and I witnessed some of it. And I, you know, it was frightening. And, but I would say 99.9% of the time, the difference is if somebody else did that too, you'd probably hold that grudge against him for the rest of your life. With Gordy how Marty said it best, he goes, it's like the play, you wear that with a badge of honor. Like here's what Gordy did to me. So I mean, him, that guy walked into every bar, he every went to say, see that scar right there. Going to have you right across the floor every guy. Every guy looked like chief coach, the Rubei right now. You might speech impediment Gordy gave me this. Yeah, yeah. No, chief with a great teammate. No, yeah, I love him. So how bit my hand off. So, so Mark, that, so your first two years, Gordy came back and Houston, you guys won it all, both years. Which is pretty cool for you to get two championships. And then he's like 48 years old. But was there any talk of retirement? Or was he like, oh, I still love it. I'm playing with my boys. I'm still producing like 100 points, 99 points, 102 points, he's 47, 96 points when he's 48. Like, there was no need to retire because he was still so good. I'm guessing, right? Did your mom just never want him around? Yeah, well, that might have been it. I don't know. No, I do remember one day in Houston and it was a first year. And dad looked, dad looked at Marty and I he goes, this game is not meant to be this fun. I don't remember it being this fun. And so that's when he's 45 for it. And he did, he loved the game. He just had fun. It was his place to be. And like I said, he was an absolute mountain of a man. And like I said, I'm never seen him with a stamina. He had, but his passion for the game and his love of the game is when he retired and hard for the 52, he didn't want to retire. He really did not want to retire. They had him, I said, he was so good at 52. I say this all the time. They had him on the foyer. So now that's a year, that was a year I got moved to defense. The first year that the league's merged. And dad was now centering the fourth line. Nick Futeu was his left winger. Nick Futeu got 10 goals that year. That's how good he already how it was. And but dad still had 37, 38 points. - 41, 41 points that year. - 41 point, yeah, like at 52. And believe it, and yeah, he had slowed a lot. And I think it hurt a little bit, I'm not blowing my horn here, but you know how you play with certain guys. And sometimes you just have incredible chemistry. And it seems odd because between a father and son, it should be natural. But like, I don't know, like he made the game so easy. And we never had to talk on the ice. We never had to do this. And the only ever used to say was if the puck, somebody did dump the puck at what you hated to do. But if somebody dumped it, he says you get in there. And it says you create havoc. And they get your ass out and find a soft spot. And he said, because he would read where the puck's gone. And he won every one-on-one battle. 'Cause he was so much stronger. And then you better have your stick on the ice 'cause the puck's coming. So he made the game so much easier for me. But yeah, but even his last year then, I think the team Harper came to him and they wanted them to retire. And it was really hard on him. So like I say, you think about it. You played hockey all those years. And yeah, I think getting out of the game was a little tough. But yeah, but I mean, I look at what Tom Brady did and in his 40s and obviously on a different stage. But to me, what Gordy Howe did in the '52, and playing in the national hockey league is pretty amazing thing. - This is a couple part question. The picture of Gordy with the stick around Wayne Gretzky's neck when he's eight years old or whatever it was. Like you mentioned, Gordy Howe was everyone's idol. Did he ever mention who his idol was? And granted, this is back so long ago, you can't even really watch NHL games. But was there somebody that he was growing up maybe in Saskatchewan that he looked up to or kind of taught him the ways to do everything that he ended up passing on? - I don't recall like, Timmy. I know he had a lot of friends. He was really good friends with Johnny Bauer. I know a couple of summers. We went up to Bobby Howe's ranch. I did laugh. That always said he had so much respect for all the other players in the league. I kind of had a little side argument with him going, "Well, I watched you play against some of my thoughts." I'm not sure you respect him that much. But he did. he, he loved the camaraderie and being on the ice and, uh, But yeah, I think a lot of the guys that I think were from the West that he got to watch grow up. I know he really admired Jack Adams when he when he first got to Detroit and but nah he just grew up like I said I think they were in the town of floral. I think they had five homes and and that was it. So they you know and they had nine kids in the family and actually the first pair of skates dad ever got. I think it was about four or five and and they had no money at the time that it was in the depression and some woman came by and she had a bag full of stuff and you know she said you know do you have any money. So I think my grandmother scraped together two dollars and gave the woman two dollars she gave her the bag. Inside that bag was a pair of skates and so my dad took one is sister Helen took the other one. I think about a month later dad finally wrestled it away and um that's that's from Gordy became a hockey player and uh yeah is pretty is for you kidding me. Yeah it's pretty neat stuff. Yeah. What what was Gordy like in the room was he was he was he kind of talkative was he one of it was he more quiet and just taking it all in. Took it all in. So yeah on the ice in the locker room never in never anything to say um he his actions his actions spoke volumes so uh and like I said he uh yeah it's not not very often that uh he had much to say. I know you guys would probably would have loved it. I know uh as a kid growing up and we'd be in the car we'd be in the trade heading down the lodge freeway and in the odd time dad would like to mean he'd say well keep an eye on so and so tonight and it would be a player from the other team and I whoa I'd be sitting in my seat in section seven and just be licking my chops and uh I remember one night he said I'll keep an eye on Keith Magneson. I don't know what Keith Magneson did but oh my god and I go to the game and and it's right near the end of Redwoods from not very good and Chicago was beating them pretty bad this game and Stan McKee just taking the draw and they get it to Magneson in in the defensive right corner and Gordy's lined up on the slot and uh and Magneson gets a puts his head down he's skating like this he gets to the back of the net and Gordy just fires this elbow bomb nails right in the face and he's and he's pretty well out on his feet and then Gordy grabs him by the back and then he slams his face down on his knee. Oh yeah well he got two minutes for roughing in two minutes well boy and and so now we're in the car I'm not saying boo and we're by halfway home and dad look all he said to me looked me go said did you see that I go yeah I saw it like we didn't see it but yeah but he yeah he had the memory of an elephant and uh you know God forbid uh I've seen a couple guys that he he had it all for and uh obviously if they're doing something really bad then uh yeah they they paid for it physically and normally it was uh something in their face and but he uh now I'm thinking I laugh even so like Davy Keon one of the great player I play with Davy and Hartford as well and Davy is one of the cleanest I had 104 penalty minutes in his career used to have his patent a little hook check and Davy we're having lunch one day and he says yeah I remember first time I played your dad he said come up boom hook the puck away from behind it took off and Davy came to the bench and all the players said oh better watch out he goes hey I've watched the I've watch talking I in Canada he goes I I know not to take you know not they hit Gordy he said no it's Gordy just doesn't like it when you take the puck from him and so then I don't happen again and all the players now Davy comes to sit on the bench and all the players kind of wolf they spread out Davy's got to sit on an island and they're saying and there he's going what are you doing he goes we don't know how we don't know when what you're going to pay for what you just did it's going to be in 1970 oh yeah and so uh don't cook I guess we had later in the period I guess uh Davy goes to do it a third time with dad had a real short stick uh but like and even though he want to uh with through grade eight at school pretty smart individual he said well he took a stick and then moved his hands forward and put the puck maybe a foot farther in front of him so now Davy had to reach longer so now he's going like this well I suppose it is exposed to this chin Gordy takes his right hand to often just rifles it Davy wakes up in a hospital and all the players that we told you like but but then and why do you ask wait so wait no Wayne was telling me actually it was at my dad's funeral Wayne was telling me that the when he was playing with Indianapolis when he was 17 and he did same thing he took the puck from Gordy turned around he said maybe about a second or two later Wayne's laying on the ice he said he thought his arm was broken Gordy looks down at him he said kid don't ever take my puck again and Wayne says oh leave me I'm not doing it but that but that's how Gordy kind of he did just this this little thing and even uh you're getting space yeah oh big time so like I remember so I'm playing in Philly and with a great goal score and Tim Kerr and Tim was scoring I think 40 45 goals a couple years and so dad's down there the locker room one day and Tim goes oh can I beat your own man can I mean yes yeah come on over so it comes out and and my dad says oh Tim pledge of me says can you do me a favor he goes be sure mr how whatever you want to go because he says next time you're on national TV because all the games were not TV he says yeah when and we are standing in the front of the net Tim was 232 32 big strong man with soft hands and guys you should just cross check them in the back of the neck back they had he says next time I guys doing that to you you're on national TV I want you to drop your glove and just smoke the guy and Tim he was such a mild manner guy and Tim he goes okay mr how oh behind me about a month about a month later we're putting in New York ranger night I don't know if it was Tommy Laylar or somebody they're hitting Timmy from behind you couldn't move them anyway Timmy drops his gloves and it just starts whaling on the guy yeah but that's what go so Gordy but he had the mindset that this is gonna he's said you have to do it on national TV so everybody sees what you're doing it might think you're a little wacko and realize if I do this next time I might be the one getting the punch in the face and he said it's gonna give you that much more time if I have in that much more time you're gonna score that many more goals and a truth then him he scored 50 to 55 gold in four years in a row after that but it's just brilliant it's brilliant stuff that most most people would not think of you talk about all these crazy sticks to the face almost but his penalty minutes weren't that crazy were the refs afraid to give him a penalty that like he would spear a ref in the face too because like his penalty minutes aren't that crazy as high as ever was a hundred nine uh yeah well you used to be how to get away with a little bit more that's five hundred now just the other team sentiment was like just throw it to him off the face off please wow I guess somebody asked me they said how Gordy doing today's NHL I go I said he couldn't play and it'll really is a league that good I know now he'd be suspended the entire time so but uh but he he was talking about I remember back in the day with uh go away back and he was telling me about one red story and some of these guys were referring so you're going back into 40s and 50s uh pre my time and if you had a young guy come out and if somebody was doing something that taking liberties or doing whatever they let the game they let the game get police by the players in the referees just kind of put on their blinders and they said okay the player the players are going to level level the uh playing field and they're going to take care of it on their own we don't need to call all the panelists so um yeah but it was uh even a mighty I used to laugh so um uh go into the Stanley Cup finals I said it wasn't getting a slash in the face or two or three stitches if it wasn't at least 10 stitches there wasn't a penalty it wasn't called and I know I I liked it that way I I would rather have the players decide uh then uh in the referee I referees and we all hate them but they they have a really tough job and uh and I think the last thing a ref would want was to call a penalty on somebody and results in a power play goal and and you win a Stanley Cup and in game seven I I don't think that's good for anybody and uh so yeah but back in the day yeah obviously the uh the referees had a blind eye to everything I mean we've we've mentioned that great depression in this interview uh train rides to games which is which is just nuts to think about you mentioned how he he wasn't much of a talker before games and even during the game now a thing that I loved about back then uh even when I played his post game pops was he was he the type where he would go with the boys and have beers and and and that type of stuff would not really I mean not from the time uh that I knew well when I would go to game and throughout if my dad had more than two beers maybe once or twice in his lifetime um you know and he he learned a long time ago and he pointed this out to me in Houston as well and he'd say look at this guy look at this guy look at this guy he said they're they're creeping the 30 and he goes you're 18 he goes it's now when you decide uh how many years you want to play because if you take care of yourself you're going to be able to play a lot of years if you don't take care of yourself he said with the exception of very few people by the time you're getting 30 32 your career is going to be over And I didn't always listen to him, but it was true. And I think that's how he led his life. And that's how, you know, it was that way at home too. I remember one time, I think it was a first, they had the igloo in Pittsburgh and one of the trainers for the Red Wings was sick. So I ended up being the, I got to go on the road trip was around Christmas time. And so I was the assistant trainer for the wings on that day. And so the team flew in. I think they were getting $20 expense money. So the guys are running to McDonald's or something and then they'd go and sit and, uh, there was a go-go bar. And but I'm sitting there and guys are having a beer or two. And I'm just kind of watching. Then a girl comes out or a go-go boots on and dad goes, "Oh, time for you to get out of here." (laughing) Yeah, that's all that I went. Yeah, but it was, uh, no, I never, I never, ever saw my father drunk, I never saw my mother drunk. Um, like so they, they generally always took very good care of themselves that way. He was almost ahead of his time, you know, 'cause back then that wasn't the thing and he knew he could see ahead. Um, but I wanna, I wanna ask a couple things about your career after your dad retired when you got to the NHL because you get on the flyers after the whalers and yet some incredible teams. I mean, the two cup finals and I'm wondering like, when you got there, were you, were you appreciative of like the NHL? Like, yeah, I'd been in the WHO, but this is different. This is kind of a level above in the WHO. There's no longer around. I'm pretty happy now that I'm getting to carve out my own career at the highest level. Yeah, well, so we, we went to that. I mean, you grow up, I know I grow up and I said, you know, my lifelong dream was to plan a national hockey league or in a Stanley Cup. And, you know, so now I'm in the WHO and after four years, part of our deal with, we were free agents. And I'd been, I'd been drafted by the Boston Bruins and oh my god, I wanted to go to the Boston Bruins so bad. And it was just dying to go. And at the time, they offered me a five year contract that paid 230 grand a year. And I'm like, oh, like this is grand plus I wanted to go, but if I went to Boston, Gordy would have had to retire. And so, and Gordy wasn't gonna play against his sons and this and that. And so in the Hartford Whalers, they offered us a deal that were Marty, Dan, I could still play together. And, you know, and for me, it was even for less money. But I was still settling to stay in the WHO 'cause I wanted to get to the NHL so bad. And I had a tattoo with my mom and we spent about five, 10 minutes. And yeah, I became pretty obvious. And yeah, just I would never ever regret not just the seven years that I played with on the same team as my father and my brother. But yeah, so that was always there in the back of my head and then a couple years later, the league smurged. And my career started out in Hartford. Like I said, I played defense when I first got going. I was learning and learning and I think the second year, I think I was seventh or eighth and scoring in the league. And I want to and things were good. And I want to really bad injury. I got skewered on and that and you can find anything in the world on YouTube where you can't find my injury. So almost ended your career, right? What do you mean skewered? What does that mean? Like skewered. Well, yeah, well, the way that that's used to be where you had the pegs and then they used to cundle point right in the middle and then that's where designed for the puck to hit and deflect it in the netting. So they didn't go in and out so quick. So they wouldn't mess it all. And so, you know, I was sliding towards our net and I had John Tonelli and I kind of collided and I lost my balance. I went in and so and I had a bad back, my whole career. So I put my feet up to absorb the shock with the net. And as I did that, the middle part of that net came up and it's like a spear. And what it did, it went in, it scraped my rectal wall. It came up and thank God I was just on an angle. I just missed my final court and I basically came out my right hip and I ended up losing, I was down like 22, 23 pounds or whatever for the longest time. And I came back and played six weeks later. I shouldn't have. Oh my God. But you know, but back in the day, those are the things you did and Mike Rogers with the heck of a player too. We both got hurt within the same time because we were eighth place overall in the league. And then I think six weeks later we're in 18th. And so you're in the top 16 would make it. So yeah, you're trying to come back, you're trying to, I was 170 pounds, I was a weak noodle. But that precipitated things happening where the manager became unhappy with me. I was unhappy with me. I was not a good hockey player the next year. I was still only playing 178 pounds. And so I think, you know, if it was today's game, yeah, I probably wouldn't have played for probably three, four months at least. And, but then things, we became very unsettled in the Hartford. And so I kind of requested a trade. They couldn't get rid of me fast enough. And I gave him a chance to the ranger, the islanders, the Bruins or the Flyers. Trade me one of the, 'cause I didn't know what trade is. It gave me one of those four teams. And as it worked out, I got traded to the Flyers and absolutely loved every second that I played there. And because the way I was taught how to play the game, and it's all about team, then matter who gets all the goals, who gets the credit, it's all about team and good character. And that was the organization, especially back in the 80s. And, yeah, being a part of those teams, meeting the national hockey league. And by stroke of luck, like I said, so I played basically about a year and a half of defense, I went through that bad injury. But when I came to Philly, a guy who I've always credited was Eddie Van Impe. And Eddie Van Impe, former Flyer. And Eddie, if anybody watched him play, like I could skate circles around Eddie with one skate on, I think. But with Eddie playing defense, if you got anywhere within two feet of that net, you were gonna leave six inches shorter. I, one of the hardest toughest guys you've ever seen play. And he used to come out, he says, you're in the running for the Norris trophy. What am I gonna teach you? And I said, Eddie, nobody's ever taught me anything about playing defense. So I used to play the games and then on prism would now cast an Xfinity, they would replay the games at one o'clock. So after the game, I'd go have a couple beer by tea, drive home, get home at one. And I used to watch the replay of the games. And there would be four or five, or hopefully only one or two where I made mistakes in the game. And I would have to sit and watch that whole game to the guy to the point of where I made a mistake. Then I'd try to analyze what I did wrong. And that's how I tried to learn how to be a better defense. And Eddie Van Imp told me how he played the game within his limitations, physical limitations. And so I used, he gave me those guidelines. And those guidelines helped me so much positionally and helped me with the way I thought the game. So now, instead of wasting all my energy, chasing people around the rate, because I'm in the wrong position, now I'm in the right position and all I got to do is read and react boom. And it actually helped my game offensively as well, because now you could save your energy for offense. So Eddie Van Imp was instrumental in my career. And also I had great defense. My first partner was Glenn Cochran, who absolutely loved God rest his soul. And then another God rest his soul, my best friend from hockey, Brad McCrimman. And then I played with Shell Samuson, who probably some of you guys know as well. So I was very lucky. I had three great partners when I was playing there. Couple of you guys play Ryan and Keith. You guys play defense. It's not a one-man show. It takes a team. And every day of practice, we worked hard together as a team or as a pairing. And that's what made us better. - Was it just like staying inside the dots kind of a little bit, like was he just talked positionally wise with Van Imp just talk about not running out to the boards, we didn't need to little things like that, protecting the middle of the ice? - Yeah, yeah, that, and then positioning your hips, so like if you're trying to be, if I'd be backing down, so you gotta, you know, three on two, whatever I'm backing, and I can close gaps pretty quick. And which wasn't really a thing back in the day, now it is. But as I'm backing, and if I turn myself on an angle here, and I'm backing, if I'm going towards the corner, what if I pivot, I can pivot 180 degrees, when I'm pivoting and I'm heading towards, maybe where the line is on the boards in the corner. Now if, and playing at 186 pounds or whatever, so now if I have a bigger winger, if he has any kind of leverage on me, he's gonna beat me because I'm going against him. But so Eddie would say, okay, you might be able to move sideways like that, so keep your hips straight either straight or towards the net, so you're kind of going like little sideways. And by doing that, so now when I pivot, now I pivot for the near post. And I'll care who it is, they weren't gonna beat me to that near post. - Wow. - And so, and it's such a tiny little thing, and yeah, so, but yeah, and then he used to teach who got the players. And he said, boom, pop pops out of the offensive blue line, they got a two on one, and instantly goes, Who do you want to shoot? And I go, "Okay, I want to do it." want this guy over here to shoot because he's got four goals. You know, over here, it's got 25. So I would instantly, I would run over to the guy that's got 25 goals and he'd throw it to the guys, got four. Then I sit there, it's trying to play in the eye of the goal. Okay, it's an, and he'd say it's not a two or one, it's a two on two. But I'm giving my goalie the best odds to make that safe. So it's simple little things that I'd, I'd never thought about. But that's part of, I like the experience and defense from you. By, you know, you're improving your skills, you're improving your ability, but now so you're, you're improving how you think the game. And, you know, so you see, he said, basically, you, he has a defense and you dictate who you want to shoot the pot. So, and I, you know, check the game notes, check the game notes for game notes. Yeah, and there's some, some guys can score from, you know, Red Hall can score from 40, 50 feet. And I read Larsson can score from outside to blue, like Al McGinnis. So those are the guys you had to have a tight gap when you're 60 feet away. With a lot of guys, they can shoot the pot from 30 feet all day. And also, if you got an outnumbered rush, he goes, just keep the guy wide. And if he shoots and scores from there, I'll get you a different goalie can stop the pot. Do your, do your job, let them do their job. And so yeah, yeah, yeah, but he helped me a ton. Not many guys go from being a forward to being up for a Norris. Do you remember where the highest you finished in Norris voting at any point in your career? Probably the closest I came would be my first year in Philly. And the way I looked at it, I was a better defenseman of the year, the first half year in Hartford. Like so, I was seventh or eighth and scoring at the time in the league. And I was 25, but when I was really on top of my game and, uh, and just starting to really blossom, uh, but in Philly, to me, it was more of a team thing. And actually, and I think I was kind of the favorite coming down to the last, maybe five, six weeks, uh, we were playing a game. I think it was Chicago and I fell on a skate, uh, what I did, it kind of, uh, it cut some of my kidney so because I was bleeding for about 10 days. So they, I wasn't allowed to do anything for, uh, I think it was two weeks. I sat out, but it took me probably three months to get my energy levels back. And I go over that three months and my game had gone down a little bit in Rod Langway one. And every, but in, but they brought you, they brought Gordy and to present the Norris at year because they really thought I was going to win it. So Gordy was disappointed. And then I got interviewed and everybody saw my guys. It's terrible, but I said, nah, I go, I'm playing on the team. And at the time, I was only playing 24, 25 minutes a night. I go, this is a team concept here. I go, what Rod Langway, do he got the caps into the playoffs? Say your Rod Langway is playing 30 minutes a night. I go, he's more valuable to his team than I am to my team. That's how I looked at it. Um, but I, I do think if I didn't get hurt that year, uh, cut my kidney, I probably, I'm probably one, uh, the next, another year when I had my best statistical year, I think it was 86 or whatever. McCrimmin and I were part, we used to last plus 85. I know I had 87 points, but McCrimmin and I every day when I never read paper, were we looking to paper just see what Paul coffee did? Cause coffee broke Bobby Orres record that year. And Brad and I together, we were trying to keep up with coffee. If cost didn't have that year, then I, I, I think I would have won that year too. But I think I was, uh, I, I laughed because I think I was one of the finalists for the MVP, uh, with the Gretz and Mario. And I'm going, yeah, okay, that, you look, that's true, that's guy in there. But, uh, but no, I like, to me, I was more about team and, and the one thing I used to do in Philly is whenever you may not start team or you're one in award, I think you used to get like a $2,000 little, uh, reward from the league or whatever. And so I institute to the rule that if you want a league award that you, you, you got to keep half the money to give Donkel Sam the other half, you had to treat the team. So every time we used to go to LA, I used to take the boys out to El Toritos and we'd hit a happy hour out there for about four or five hours and, uh, yeah. So because you're not winning without the cement bags around your hotel room. Like all man and go, go, go, go, we, we, we, we, we get back to the room. I had a Brian prop hitting a weird at the LAX Mariam. Brian probably hitting golf balls out off my balcony. So I just wanted to ask with Philly Ed Schneider like in what he meant to, you know, very few owners had that much of a connection in the locker room and would come down. So I don't know how many guys. Especially back then, but yeah, especially for back then. Like I just wanted you to touch on him and what he meant to the organization. And maybe a reason why you wanted to go to Philly to begin with. I wanted to go to Philly just because I, I thought they were one of the best teams in the league. And, and I, I had one, like, I won national championship every year growing up. One of the Memorial Cup, uh, came second the Olympus. I wasn't used to finishing second. And then we had two years in a heart for we didn't make the playoff. I hated losing. Didn't that so I loved to win, but I hated losing. And, uh, the four teams and Philly was one of those teams. And, um, but yeah, Ed, Ed Schneider still to this day for guys who played here. Um, yeah, he, he's the reason why in, in, uh, I think the way the organization was. And if somebody was there and they didn't fit into the mix, they were gone in a heartbeat. You didn't, you weren't necessarily the most skilled or talented player, but you had character and you competed for the guy next to you. Not for yourself, but for the guy next to you. Um, and, yeah, and then that tradition was instilled in Bobby Clark. And I had the opportunity to play two years with, uh, with Clarkie and, uh, uh, that's, that's how Clarkie was. And he was dedicated to the team and everything else. And then that kind of filtered down to the next generation. Dave Poulin was the next captain. Dave was a prime example of that. So, uh, but, but it all started with Ed Schneider. And, and what I loved is he just had, he had a passion for the game. Like absolutely incredible. Uh, I think it was, uh, I think an 80, uh, 85, uh, first time. We went to the finals and, uh, and we, and we lost. We, we got beat up pretty bad by Emerton. But after I had a big party behind his house and, uh, and I remember, it was half raining out and Ed had a few cocktails and he was happy the way I was playing. And he came over and he's going to tackle me. Well, stubborn me. I'm going, ah, you're not going to tackle me. I'm not going down. I'm not very good in the car going home later. I said, oh, I should have just let him take me to the ground. Yeah, the owner. I said, oh, my son, uh, stubborn me. I couldn't do it. No, but, but I love that. I, I, I, he, I'd see him come in that room. And boy, if we had a bad loss in all, he'd be just steaming. But to me, I, I love that passion. And, and Mr. Litch and Detroit was very similar, uh, where, I mean, they, they're all about team victories. And team win, and they're, I don't think you can win with less your own, your ownership is, is bought in 100% and, uh, yeah. And both of those owners were, uh, and it's fairly, especially as Snyder, uh, they're bought in 100% and they just wanted to win. Yeah, you know, they meant a lot to both those guys, Mr. Litch and, um, uh, edge Snyder, edge Snyder, you know, they meant a lot when, you know, people still now are still talking about them, still thanking them in their speeches. And what they meant to those teams, so that, that's amazing. And were you, were you around when they would go to that bar that ended up burning down and then they all wore the, the arm bands? But they like, they had this place. They would go to after practice. Uh, that was that, well, that was Raxie's bar, I think. I think that was Raxie years ago. The, uh, the, uh, the broad street bully guys, that's where we went. We went to, uh, and we called it the K-Martis Kaminsky's. Uh, so, uh, yeah, it was right across from the ring, right? Well, no, not the high, there was, uh, actually back in the old WHA, when the New York Golden Blades folded. Uh, and they came down, they had to play like two months in Jersey. And there was, there was a rink they played at in Jersey. And then I don't know, like, I don't know, some four years later, I'm playing at Philly, and I'm sitting in this bar and I go, oh my god, I remember that ring, we played there years ago. But, uh, yeah, I mean, uh, I think the Raxie's bar was fairly, I think it was just over the river from where the spectrum used to be. And, uh, I think it was, it was just in Jersey. Maybe a lot of people don't even think of you as being an American guy and playing on the Olympics, just kind of want to get your thoughts on, uh, the Olympics this year, who you, who you like, uh, what do you think USA is going to, gonna do it this year? Or, or do you think Canada holds strong? I think it's going to come down to just a break here there. Um, uh, you go back or one simple play. I mean, you, you go or a matchup. Uh, I mean, look last year, there was an icing. They couldn't get ike on the ice. Uh, Matthews takes a face off and boom. And, uh, and, uh, the puck ends up in the net. And when you have international competition like that, it, it comes down to one play. Uh, but I think it's a US guy. If you learn little lessons from those little things, uh, and when you at that level of competition, uh, that's what the difference is. So, um, I mean, I, I, I love, I, when I was 16 and, you know, I got invited to go, uh, play on the Olympics out in Japan. And, um, I said, not what a great experience for me. I got, I kind of like it back. I think it's better entertainment when you have the best players in the world. But I liked the better when it was more amateurish just because to me the greatest victory I think that I've ever seen was the 1980 team and the upset over the Soviets. I don't know if there's anybody had anything to do with hockey in the US that didn't think I was such a phenomenal thing. Yeah, but what made it so great was you got the vaunted Soviets that are just kind of dominated international hockey because they had basically the best of their best and you got a bunch of college kids coming in there and I think they would if they would have played 50 games they won the one game that they had to and to me that's what makes it so great. We know kind of what you're up to as you get older and you're done playing and all that but I'm curious for Gordy did he end up going like would he go down to Florida and the winters like as you know his life got older and he got older was he playing a ton of golf when he retired did that stay a big part of his life? Well he used to do some public appearances and my mom was always busy doing stuff but they used to go down to CSTK every year they used to run a place for two months and they usually did it near playoff time so I never had a chance to go but my kids would go and all their grandkids and they used to get a couple condos and bite people down so they did that every year but you know then my mom started actually my mom died from a disease called Pixazise which is a form of dementia but she started to get ill I think when she was maybe 57 58 years of age so it hit really really early on in life and dad basically dedicated his life to taking care of his wife and my mother and you know I just show and that's what was important to him and all the preface stuff didn't matter but but every year I know I had some buddies had boats down the Virgin Islands and for Christmas gifts or like I said I've had a 43-foot sport fisherman and I had for years 40 years now in Jersey and did a ton but I used to buy plain tickets and this and that and so I used to bring you know my parents down or take them on different vacations and we did that and then after my mom passed and I was in Detroit and I kept on the caregiver that my mother had I kept kept her on for about three months five days a week just to be my dad's companion and and I would I would change my schedule because I used to go to the I would scout out at Detroit usually about every three to four weeks just to spend a little time with dad and I went in one day and he's looking at a team picture from 46 and he looks and goes he's dead he's dead he's dead and he pointed to himself he goes I might as well be dead too I go whoa dad time out time out so I called it was great Detroit and being in scouting and I could adjust my own schedule so I quickly changed everything I called Marty and Connecticut and I said here's what happened I said if I don't get dad out of the house he's not gonna be around long and so I rented a car drove back to Philly and had him live with me for about two months but I told Marty I got to start because the red ones were still in a Western conference at the time so I said I'm basically going to be gone for almost two months traveling so I need you to take care of dad so we would switch dad back and forth but then what we did for the next eight years or so Marty would always schedule a trip down in Florida we'd go to Ilamarada with some friends we had down there and we'd take dads and I just had to have a game or two on my schedule down in Fort Lauderdale and I'd go spend four or five days down there and Marty bring him down and we'd go sail fishing for with our friends at Philpots and then then like I said in the fall when I'd have to go to training camp up in Traverse City I'd shipped out off to Connecticut but as soon as I got back I said I did I did all my games the bridge for its ring fill whatever and then we would go straight fast fishing and then I would get him all summer long and so and he loved fishing I'd get him out in the water we'd do our own clam and everything else and so and there wasn't one day that won by the rest of my dad's life that he didn't wake up and he didn't have either Marty myself or younger brother Marie and you know for about a year or so my sister can't believe it oh that's a family right there yeah and you need and you can't like so I'm kind of going through the same thing here so I've been the February 16th I think it'll be five years since Sharon got her injection and she's needed permanent permanent help and and everybody's failure of sacrificing this I said I'm not sacrificing anything I'm I'm with the person who gave me more emotionally that anybody else in my lifetime and I'd have to be the most selfish individual in the world to to give that up to take care of her and yeah it helps me to get out and run a little bit but I have help I mean I would not be able to do this without helping so so I do this and and then and I book free time with my family with my kids my grandkids and then I know what the flyers alumni is really strong Brad March has done a superb job here and they do a lot of things with the flyers warriors oh yeah we went a bunch of years ago there he he does an incredible job remember we went there yeah and I sort of I tried it it's the most everything I do they have the Gordy howcares event up in Calgary every May to raise money for all for nurses for all timers and then and then we do a ton of stuff with the the charity my mom that created the howl foundation so so basically you know I'm I'm here taking care Sharon but whenever I have free time it's with family or it's doing charitable events that because that and that basically it was started by my mother my mother always wanted to get back more than what they received and so and it's and we've been lucky I think dad passed I think like nine years ago now and we we've been able to raise a little over I think we're like 550,000 we've been able to donate and we're trying to go to locate we've done some stuff down in Houston we did a real nice donation up in Saskatoon where dad's from and trying to work around the country where mom and dad had some impact or the community impacted their lives and and it's been great and filling with the Snyder hockey and Snyder foundation anybody wants to donate so every dollar that we donate they kick in too so I think we're we're we're a little over 300,000 so between the two of us together we're close to a million dollars which maybe in some worlds doesn't mean a lot but I know from my mother it would mean a lot to get back to other people and like and it kind of blows down to yeah my grandmother gave up two dollars and it got a pair of skates and one of the greatest hockey players if not the greatest hockey player ever came out of that two dollars so we hope someday we can we can do that for somebody else getting a plan to Troy and it kind of come in full circle like getting to end your career their house special was that for you and the fact that you grew up you know watching your father play for the Red Wings and then finally getting to dawn that Jersey well yeah it was pretty it was pretty special and actually I and I love playing Philadelphia so I was here 10 years unfortunately I went through back surgery and and I really struggled with it afterwards and and I tried to play within a month which was a dumb thing and they cost me time but eventually I got to the point where I felt like I'd play pretty well 60 games and and it came time and like I said I'd never want to Stanley Cup as a player and that was my goal as a kid I wanted to win a Stanley Cup and I knew at the time Billy was in a rebuild and I had to go somewhere so I put a list of four teams together and I had a good friend of mine Ed Farron I said here I'm just calling four teams if I can't land on one of these four teams I'm staying a chilly because I like and so the New York Rangers gave me a one-year offer and Lou Lamarillo called me from Jersey he said if you're seriously going to the Rangers please give me a call back we don't want you going there I called Detroit as for two-year contract and they they got in the mix but the team I actually wanted to go to was a pitcher of penguins and so I put in a call and I had put in a call for me and they never return my call and I I felt it was the best chance and so and but the most natural fit was for me to go back home to Detroit Detroit Detroit was second on my list and but and by far the best thing I ever did so I spent 29 years in that organization and what a great organization and but yeah so so I had three I ended up playing three more years instead of two well the Rangers won a cup or pitcher won a cup Rangers won a cup and the devil yes well yeah well at least I got to the finals the my third year and we lost to the devil so I want to Detroit Detroit had so many great pieces but my take kind of was the locker room this wasn't great yet they didn't have everything to play guys were still learning how to be how to win uh and what Scotty Bowman came there that kind of changed a lot a lot of minds a lot of attitudes uh and Scotty got that thing put together and Steve I was going to be became the great player that he was and was Sergei Fedoroff and and I was roommates and partners with the like so they brought Brad McCrimman and I in there to play with some of these younger guys and I guess we taught him what not to do And we played with Nick and Blattie and got to room with these guys and just wonderful, wonderful human beings. But yeah, they, and then once Scott, he put his little tweak on the team and between County Holland and Jimmy DeBelano. They build a heck of a team and, yeah, and the rival rules that used to have a Colorado, I still think of the best I ever saw in hockey, but, yeah, it's, but that's how I ended up in Detroit. So when I, and I went in, they gave me a two year playing contract and a two year, two year contract to begin working off the ice. So I knew I was guaranteed four years here because my oldest son had just started high school and he was cursing me every day for moving. And my daughter was just starting mental school. So I didn't want to move my kids real quick. So we moved to Detroit and asked my son while the son who did not want to move still lives there. So, but yeah, I was, but it was, it was, I was very fortunate things worked out my favor, but I think the first six exhibition game we play was against the penguins and Craig Patrick was sitting on the bench. And I knew Craig a little about why not. I said, why did you never return my call? And he said, we knew we couldn't afford you. I said, this was, I said this wasn't about money. It really wasn't about money. I wanted to go win a Stanley Coppin. But yeah, but I never regretted the fact that I went to the Red Wings and in part of the fact and in my brother Marty to this day, so I wish I would have wore, wish I had a chance to play in a Red Wings uniform one game. So I don't know if you guys have heard. So the story of my dad told me I think it was about a month, six weeks after I retired. Dad comes out to me and goes, boy, I wish you would have worn my Jersey one game. And I said, why didn't you tell me this one? I was still playing it. So when I was fortunate enough to get in hockey all the fame. And that was the first thing I thought of. I said, well, I'm going to wear Gordy's Jersey for him up on stage. Yeah, so I kind of made up for it. I think Mark, this has been just incredible. And I think the stories of your dad and your own career, like the main takeaway for me is your family. Like that is, that is incredible to hear how close knit you guys were and what you meant to each other and what you're doing now. And what you meant to the game. Yeah, and what you meant to the game. So this is, this is an all-time interview. We can't thank you enough. I really do appreciate sharing all these stories because I think it's so important for the younger generation to keep hearing these stories of what your dad meant to the league, what you meant to the league and to hearing stories from, yeah, to hear these stories from you. It was incredible honor for us and thank you so much. Yeah, I'm glad. Thanks for all the memories. Get a chance to watch you guys play. So a lot of good stuff. Some funny stuff too, but I know you all had great careers. One of the dad always said he was like, there's only six, seven hundred guys that are playing the league. They're the best in the world and have a little respect for all of them because they're good at what they do and everybody has their role. Yeah, it was, it was a great, it was a, I spent a good game to a lot of people. I know you guys can say that. I can say that. But as you get older, the thing that I appreciate more is family. The family in the background and, and I know my dad gets so much credit, but without a doubt, the backbone of the how family was my mother Colleen. So she, she was a strength and I'll give you one more Gordy story. So just for we end. So I always beat Marty home from school. So I used to run home. Marty always took the bus. So I ran home so I could play hockey more in the driveway. I came home one day. Marty's sitting at the kitchen table and hanging his head and I go, Marty, what's going on? He said, well, you said kid of school is making fun of dad and a red wing. So I popped him in the nose and I got suspended. And so, so my mom, we had a split level of mom comes running down and she thought it was dad. So she comes down. She's yelling at me and yelling at Marty back upstairs. She goes down about two hours later dad comes home from practice. And so dad goes, what's going on? Well, my mom hears him. She comes down and she's giving dad hell. She says, yeah, you teach your kids violence. You teach him this where you teach him this. You teach him that and everything else. Dad's just blind side of mine goes running back upstairs. And so dad looks at Marty goes, what's going on? He goes says, dad, he said the guy sitting behind me in class. He said, he was making fun of you, making fun of the red wings. I told him to stop. I'm going to pop him. And he said, and he started cutting up against the Marty turn around pop the guy broke his nose. So dad sitting there and he's looking at the stairs like this. He goes, oh, to Marty caps him on the shoulder. It says good job. So, what an answer. I know. So, Gordy, but no, but Gordy, Gordy led by example. But my colleague, my mother, Colleen was the backbone in the family structure. You can't replace family. They're, they're with life's all about. And as you guys know, you're getting a really good lock room. They're your second family. They're, they're, they're lucky. But I had a fun time and enjoyed it. Thank you so much. I just want to say one thing. And when when Gretz had his goal record broken by Ovi and just that whole ceremony and then Wayne, basically saying how Gordy treated him when Wayne broke his record. And I mean, I'm sure you around for all that. And I just thought it was so cool about how he passed the torch over to Wayne and how Wayne was able to pass it over to Ovi and just how cool that whole thing wasn't here in the background to it. And also how, how your mother gave a gift to Janet. And then Janet gave one to Ovi's wife as well. So just setting the example. And there's a reason his name is Mr. Hockey and true legend of the game. Yeah. So yeah, I remember Texan Wayne. I said, yeah, I really appreciated him bringing up mom and dad. But like I said, I, I remember a dad soon. I, I actually, I wasn't sure who felt worse near Wayne. I know how hard it was on him. And Gordy was his idol growing up. But, but yeah, Wayne's been an incredible, well, an incredible hockey player and love playing against him. You don't get embarrassed a few times. But, but yeah, he's, he came along with the game. Really needed somebody. And he's been, I think a wonderful ambassador for the game. And yeah, like I said, just want to help a hockey player. Mark, thank you so much. Once again, we appreciate it. Have a, have a great rest of the day and good luck with everything. Yeah, go out and show us some more snow. All right, guys, see you again. We're going to take a quick break for a message from one of our partners on game day gets substacked high at Jersey Mike's like the number 13 original Italian loaded with meats, cheese and toppings or the number 56 big kahuna cheese steak with grilled steak peppers, onions and mushrooms topped with jalapenos and melty cheese. Get your sub fix on game day and order in store or the Jersey Mike's app. All right, now back to the show. Hey, chicken fans, we're going to take a quick break for a message from one of our partners. Hey, it's Fran from chicks in the office. It's officially sweater season. And this fall, Abercrombie is setting a new standard with upgraded fabrics like 100% cashmere wool blends and other natural fibers. This collection brings quality and craftsmanship to your favorite seasonal staple. The one I'll be wearing most is the roll neck crew sweater. It is so perfect for busy weekends dressing up for a night out. You can dress it up, dress it down with my Abercrombie denim. This is your sign to curate a whole new aesthetic as the temperature drops shop new sweaters at Abercrombie in the app online and in stores. Thank you so much to Mark how I really want to sit down with him again, because busy said it like that was there was plenty more in the tank and the stories and buddy. Everyone knows about Gordy House toughness, right? Like Mr. hockey, the Gordy how hat trick, but Mark how coming back after getting split in the rear end by the net and coming back that quick and the amount of time people would miss now like Apple doll doesn't fall far from the tree in terms of toughness and just a great dude. It was a blast to talk to and I think it was his son who had been telling him he's got to go on right is that we said it was so long ago. We did that appearance in in Philadelphia or maybe I'd went back when I was doing a big deal brew. What do you call it? A big deal. Hey, baby for now, it's on the shelf for now. Throwback night and he was there and I'm like, oh, we'd love to get you on. So I'm glad we finally did and yeah, he should be on. He should be on once a month for all the stories he's got Keith. Brett Burns, okay, you are now third all time in consecutive games played. He passed you this week. He is now 74 games away from passing Phil Kessel is the iron man. And boy, this guy coming into the league as a forward, then he switches to D. He's played forever. He's still playing at a very high level on the best team in the league. He's an amazing person. We got to sit down with him a while back. I think it was West Coast wagon tour out in San Jose, we did outside of his house. We did it outside of his house and he just the way that he's kind of gone through his career in terms of like. Takes the RV all summer with his family works out in Walmart parking lots. He used to and then he bought a ranch in Texas. Now he's got like a thousand acre ranch in Texas. He like, well, it was all part of the streak. It was all Brock Lesnar of the NHL Brock Lesnar and I don't know if we've told everyone. We sat down with Brock Lesnar that that interview is coming out soon and it's incredible too. So fired up for some interviews coming, but man, Phil and yourself, while both incredible players, very offensive players, right? Not overly physical Brent Burns is kind of a different beast to be approaching this and you know, knock on wood here 74 games remaining, but it's just insane that he's played this many in a row the way he's gone about playing his entire career. So I want you to speak on how hard it was for you and listen, I we've already both said that you weren't a physical player like I was fucking Scott Stevens and you played about eight hours after losing 10 teeth and after breaking your foot. So you went through a lot, but he's he's played a different style to make this happen. Yeah, 100% and all the credits in him and I go back even to Cogliano, the way that he played. You know, guy who has had the race for a long time, even when I had it, I was kind of like it's Cogliano's, it should have been his. He got that one game suspension, but those guys just played different game and honest game there. They're not flamingo in when a puck's coming in like, you know, maybe I was there. They're, you know, first on the four check their first back getting the puck like Brent Burns is one of those guys who he's a big body and he has to play against a lot of guys that are big bodies and he's battling every single night. Everyone's trying to hit him every single night because remember him in San Jose like how offensive he was, but he wasn't giving up anything defensively, just playing hard in all free zones. You know, but he's also one of those guys too, like you never knew what was in his backpack. He just knew how dialed in he was to his game and being ready to play and getting his body right. And there's no, there's no mistaken of why he's able to do this because he obviously puts in the effort. He puts in the effort on the ice and then off the ice as well. So complete credit to him, that's unbelievable, you know, accomplishment for him to do that, the way that he plays for how long that he's played and like you said, but it doesn't look like he's stopping anytime now, especially on that team, if he's able to stay there for next two or three years, even though he's 40 years old. Is he 40 yet? Yeah, boys. There's three guys left. The oldest guys in league were from my draft right now, 19 year- one, Terry Brown, and OVs in '85, but he was a late birthday, so he actually wasn't my draft. So two guys from my draft left, three of which are 1985 born and I don't know how much time OVs got left. I think him and the worm are going to be the last guy standing. Lindsay seems like he hasn't slowed down. He slowed down the least out of any wall for that age, I think a worm might beat worms fucking and it goes back to the conversation before the interview. One of the reasons that Perry is continually being given contracts and playing is because if anyone does something to a teammate of his, he'll fight him, he'll spear him, like that is Cory Perry, buddy. He's got off the opening face off against Buffalo day. Just say, "Hey, welcome back, boys." 41 years old, 41 years old or whatever, so yeah, Shadow Brent Burns and it's incredible. Before we get to the Easter conference race, I was a great conversation on TNT. We've had it a lot. It doesn't have to be long here, but looking at the central and looking at what the Western conference first round would look like if it was one through eight, I'm completely on board now. I don't get this and granted, I gave Colorado the central couple of weeks ago. Dallas has three points behind them. I think they haven't lost in regulations since the end of January, right? Is that the 16 and oh, it's crazy, especially no rant and then like that is, it's not, it's not so me giving Colorado division was stupid. Obviously I said it in the opposite happened and just looking at the fact Minnesota, they've lost it Toronto. They've lost it. I think three straight lost home games, three games in a row. So every team's going to go through a little bit of a cold spell here. You don't want it to have, you don't want this to leak into the playoffs, you can hopefully get things figured out. But buddy, the way you guys showed it on TNT, like Minnesota right now would get Utah. That would be the three, six matchup, right? And it's a lot more fair to them. And buddy, Utah could, Utah's a fun team to watch that wouldn't be an easy out, but whether it's Colorado or Dallas, it's like, come on here, man. And the Oilers would have to pay for where they're at, right? They would end up getting Colorado, I think first round right now and, oh no, I think Oilers would end up with Dallas, I guess, but, but, but, but, but, but getting punished for not having a regular season as it should go. Yes. Exactly. So I just, I think it goes down to a few things. You, hockey, you could argue it between football and hockey are the hardest sports to play. 82 games is a lot of fucking games compared to 18, you know, maybe if you're a lineman or a running back, it's a different situation, but to have to play 82 games and go through that schedule to not be rewarded if you're finishing second in your, in your conference to play. And you, and you all of a sudden get delivered the third place team. That's ridiculous. You could have not literally the second and third place teams in the overall standings in the league and keep in mind, these teams played majority of their games against Western team matchups. So they had even harder regular season than the Eastern teams, okay? On top of the travel and you got jobs and livelihoods at stake. And if you're in honor of a team like Minnesota, you haven't been out. I think they're, they've lost their last eight first round matchups. They've been out. So you have the opportunity to make these trades to make your team better. And take your stab at spending even more money on the cap to put a better roster together. And all of a sudden you're, you're finished third place in the league and you're starting the playoffs on the road. What if they get beat in, in, in five or six games, let's say six games. You get three home games, they go how much gate revenue you're losing. Oh, we're, let's say they get you tossed the first round matchup and they bring them to six or seven games. Well, if you go seven games, you get four home games. And even if you end up meeting Dallas in the next round and you lose, fucking, what, what do you think? What do you think a team like Minnesota pulls in on a playoff game? Two million bucks. How much? Two million. I would say on the low end, yeah, maybe, yeah, maybe three. I think Edmundton's pulling in like seven or eight million. I know, but every single fan is a jersey. That's true. That's true. But it's just like to me, like for that reason and, and jobs being at stake, if you're, if you don't get past the first round and, and you're at the helm for three, four years, they're going to look to make a change, right? Maybe not Billy G because of the grace that he has and everybody, obviously knows he's very talented at what he does, but majority of GM's you'd be out the door or, or, or, or that GM would be being pressured by ownership to say something's up. We got to change the coach. So jobs are at stake when this is going down and I just don't understand why we're playing a hardcore 82 game schedule, if it means nothing in the seating, they did, they did this for, because they wanted more matchups in your division. They wanted those, the rivalries, right? In the playoffs and getting shit going, but it's like, I didn't do wanted to ensure that you would get the Pittsburgh versus Washington, which they got in the second round, right? Which were these iconic matchups in series. Well, then you got, then you got Pittsburgh and Carolina, four game suite. Then you got Florida and Carolina, four game, four game suite. So yeah, they've ruined, yeah, they're not ruined, but the conference final is never as good as the second round. It's usually the first round is the best. Yeah. Which, which, which would remain the same one through eight, the first round is still the first round. There's still going to be the four and four and five, the, even the three and six is like, there's still good matchups and also the probability like we saw when, when Boston was taken down by Florida, like that was an iconic series. So I think that I, if they want to stay stubborn and they feel like the way they're doing it is better for the overall like revenue side of it. I guess it's like, maybe hard to argue, but why not try it one year? Try it. That's, I've been, and you've already done it. You've done it. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I've been beating this drum. They, they, they'll throw the tradition in your face, well, they just moved it to 84 games. Yeah. You know how I said, move it to 76 games? Why not do, why not do a best on best year? Remember, remember how I said, move to 76 people said, Oh, yeah, you think they're going to give up that gate? Why don't you try to do the playins in that year? Why don't you test it one year where you open up the, open up to three or one game playing? I think you do two or three. Yeah. But all, but all at the higher seed. What do you, what do you mean? Oh, so if, oh, so no travel, if 10's playing eight or whatever it would be 10's playing seven and nine's playing eight, the eight, the seven and the eight, they get, they get all three home games. If it goes to the third game. Okay. I like that. Okay. So seven and eight would get the home games against the, the nine and 10. Yeah. Yeah. I like that. Okay. I bet teams would like that. I mean, if you're an owner, you like that. Yeah. And the, and even the owners who aren't getting the gate, well, hey, we got to win two games in the road and then we get, we get at least, at least two home playoff games. Yeah. But also you could work out a system where it becomes a kitty in a pot where it's, it's, it's, it's, it's a collection where all owners benefit from this. That's why I said do it in the best on best year, especially the one that you control it. Like throw the Olympic gear in the toilet, okay? 'cause you're not able to. to generate, generate any revenue. They do not pay the NHL or the owners for borrowing their high end talent to go grow the game. And I can get the frustration from the ownership side on that because they're using their assets to go better. I think it's a disc. That's why I lost my mind about the ring situation. It's like, oh, the Olympics, you're going to fucking treat hockey like it's peasantry and not have the rink and focus on that. Like it's not your biggest asset. How many other, how many other sports had fucking 20 million people watching it? Maybe, maybe some of the figure skating, the two man cock lose ain't fucking getting 20 million people watching it. I'll tell you that for free. But that fucking course was done on time. I didn't miss a minute of that. But on the year where you're controlling best on best and you're able to monetize that, which you should be based on what we just shot for nations and Olympics, do a lower, do a lower amount of games, focus more on in conference play. Do the, the, the, the, the one through, well, in this case, one through 10 seeding where one through six would get the buy seven through 10 would have to play the playing around. That's where you get the extra gate money for the games miss because you're only playing 76 instead of 82. Well, I guess 84 in this case, because they didn't the fucking care about tradition when it meant more dollars in their pocket and do it that way. Do it one year in 2028 as we're going to get to in our next conversation when they're controlling the best on best doing the world cup of hockey. Test it out. See how it goes. And let's fucking roll, baby. If you love it, if this happens, it could be your, if my Mona Lisa could be your Mona Lisa. So staying with the West quickly, there's one team. There's one spot left, boys. I think everyone and god damn, I might do this again, but I think Utah's in. And then you got Seattle San Jose LA and Nashville fighting for the eighth spot. I, I, I just can't say enough. And I don't think anyone listening that isn't a fan of those teams can, can disagree with me that like we need San Jose in this. And what celebrate he did incredible. It's just if they get in the playoffs, he's MVP in my mind. 100% if, if he's, I mean, the excitement that that team has, you go back to the echo and Boston. And I did get in a little shit on Twitter. I kind of thought to Shane's goal against New Orleans was a little bit better. Um, I think that a little batting it out of the air. Obviously looks beautiful. And he was falling over as he did it. But San Jose is just, it's just incredible hockey to watch. And what Ryan was soft. He's done there is amazing and showed out that team and no offense to Seattle LA or Nashville. We've seen LA in the playoffs. Um, Nashville credit to them. They were down and out. They're somehow in the mix and Seattle is Seattle. Your guy is is actually lighting it up there. Bismic Matthews. Um, so we'll see what happens in the West. The, do you see that goal? Well, he set up the one that celebrate me by outmossing and out battling. I think it was when they were playing in a, that was the Montreal one. Was it Ottawa that he, that he set his guy up back there? They lost to Ottawa, but I think it was that game, right? Okay. And then even against Montreal, the, the, the goal that celebrity scored his release and how he, he almost sells it like he's going cross body like glove side and how he's able to push the puck and, and, and like create deception as we're unreleased. And he ended up scoring blocker side. Um, I think that that one was on. Uh, who was in that? I don't think it was Dober. Who's the other guy? It was Fowler, Fowler, the unfowler. So he is just remarkable. And I agree if he, if they make playoffs, he has to be the MVP. He has to. Even just just seeing the way that he plays like his game is built for playoffs, like how just the energizer, bunny. He's never given up on pox. He's always in the mix. Like we need to see him. But even if you know, they go out and play Colorado, get swept in four games, like just to have him on centerised while the playoffs are going on. Like it's a no brain, but the only thing like L.A. fans could make an argument because you want copatare in for his last year. Hey, and congrats to him, boys. Yes. Yes. Good segue, Yance. Yes. You, man. And say copatar has become the all time long score of the Los Angeles Kings. Um, the guy, the guy has done it on both sides of the park forever. He's a Hall of Famer. And it is crazy to say like always was like the Patrice Berger on the west, like probably an overall more impressive career. I mean, the offensive, not, dude, look at the offensive numbers, Keith. Look at the 90 point seasons and like how much this guy's been able to do with, right? Like, yeah, it's of great teams there, but like it all changed when he came in. It all changed. And just a six foot three dominant set of iceman that's been able to do it with one team his entire career. And I mean, a lot of a lot of expectations coming in first round pick, but to then see him break the all time record for points by that team, it's just amazing. Like, and I think that based on what I what I've seen, like obviously first ball at Hall of Famer, like no disrespect to Patrice Berger on, but it was the same type hockey with a little bit more offense. Yeah, the Pershron have added more offense if he wanted to. Maybe he sacrificed a little to be even better defensively, but the guys just, he's got 1300 and eight points, boys. Yeah, I know like he's, he's better than Berger on. Yeah, you know, me and him, we drafted the same year, came in the same year. We played against each other at time. And one of those guys that you just always had respect for because like Berger on like copatar, like Barkob, if those guys wanted to cheat the game a little bit and be more offensive and, you know, try to get a hundred points every year. They could easily do it, but they just put the team first, even you saw his goal to break the record. He's celebrating with his team and all he says is now, let's go fucking win this game. Like he doesn't care about us. Then he's just a team first guy, very respectful on the ice, played hard, but he was never doing anything dirty. Like if he, if you had your back turn, he was yelling to let you know he was coming, always, always enjoyed playing against him. Just because of how respectful he was for the game, you know, what it meant. And I saw an interview with him. He's like, you could never tell like a young kid from Slovenia. Like the fact that I could even stick in the NHL, even though I think he was 11th overall, like for him to even stick in the NHL meant to break this record of a, of a LA king's legend, like Marcel Dionne, like you could just tell how much the game means to him and, you know, how grateful he is from a small country where, you know, it's not a hockey first country. Like it had moved to Sweden when he was young. I mean, and like the top five there, I mean, it's Angeko Patar, Marcel Dionne, Luke Robotai, Dave Taylor and Wayne Gretzky in terms of all time points. So it's just incredible. And another guy who, um, he had a prick side to him. He was a big moose. And he wasn't, I don't think anyone would be like, oh, he's a dirty player, but he didn't take any shit and all the playoffs came. I mean, he's just a big body that like you couldn't really move around. So his ankles are, are like this big, yeah, the opposite of mine. His like between like his, his personality, the way he carried himself, his work ethic, his game, uh, you said like sacrificing offense to, to like have a better overall game. Yet he was still putting up like 90 hundred point seasons. Yeah. Um, I would say that him and Barkov to me are very similar. Like that would be more of the, the Eastern comp than, than Patrice Bergeron, uh, his gear wear, the tinted visor. He's even the raccoon eyes that he has. There was just him. He looks like a vampire. I think he is a vampire. No, he is. Yeah. He is. He's like, cow chocolate. Another surprising, uh, that wasn't surprising because he was bound to do that this year. But surprising news from the other California Southern California team. Mason McTavish was a healthy scratch on Sunday. Um, Troy Terry came back to the lineup. He actually had three assists. Uh, they beat, they beat Montreal. But I don't know, like Mason McTavish, like, I think maybe a little bit of a slow year, kind of surprised to see him scratch though. And I guess it might make sense if you did hear rumblings of like him and Munchikov for knives, like, that was it. I'm, I've, I've, I've, I believe I've gotten confirmation. What? Why are you and Pinkie's up? Troy Terry did not have a hit in that game. Pinkie's up. Okay. Yes. Still a lot. Stay loyal. Troy. Don't fuck us. Come on Troy. Troy. Hey, if he's getting three apples, Quenville's like, no, we don't need you to hit, but we're on, we're on OVD zone start watch and Troy, what do you think's going to happen first? No, he had to go into assist with that game against Montreal. Oh, oh, he just posted this and on the chat here and I saw this, McTavish's analytics and under the hood numbers are horrendous. He's also from my understanding, a little bit chubby and maybe out of shape. Now, sometimes some of these guys, it takes them a little bit into their pro careers to work off the baby fat. You know, he's kind of already got the chubby cheeks. So some guys have a little bit harder time, hard time than others to like shed the body fat. Um, and I don't know, man, like going back to her beak and Quenville, they seem like no nonsense guy when it comes to, hey, if they like you, they like it, if they don't, they don't, we saw that with Trevor Zegress. And I don't want to say they make it miserable, but they kind of let you know it's like, you're not our guy. So it's either he's going to take a big look in the mirror and probably hearing rumblings that his name was on the trade blocks. So he can go back and have the best off season training of his life and come back with a new attitude and a new perspective and or He ends up getting dealt in a new situation somewhere else, but were we not talking about him being the next captain of that team? Uh, I think that year, uh, I don't know if I said he's the next guy. I think we were like throwing our options because plays hard. Yeah. I like the way he goes to the net. He does play hard. Like he's got a, uh, he, he does have to seem the wires crossed sometimes when he's getting pushed around a little bit and fucked with, but, uh, they got a lot of young guns and a lot of options there now boys. So if you're not picking up your slack, they'll fucking move you just like we talked about. And just like Zegris, there was that contract back and forth and when Verbeak's getting questioned about the money he wants to hand you, he's not happy. So he's got a war of 9%, which is real bad. He's got a 1% ED defense and Jay fresh hockey describes him as a slow skater, a non factor in transition poor defensively shows flashes, but a lot of work to do to become a top six steady forward. But if that's only if his production increases. So okay, well, that doesn't, that, that, that, that doesn't sounds like he's got a, uh, a big offseason ahead of him. Yes, very true. Um, and to the E, uh, oh, final thing, Ryan Smith and Utah, like, yeah, I put this in the chat. The rings get better every year. They got the three year, um, kind of enhance many offseason to the ring for the hockey viewers. He's just like giving out tickets to his suite, like randomly, he'll tweet out and give out tickets to random people haven't seen a mammoth game. He's exactly what you want in an NHL owner. It's really cool to see like him. He just loves it. Bizz, I do always laugh now when I see him like with contracts and anything like the money that he's spending on the jazz. He's just like, this is, this is fucking is a front wipe dam. He's like, Nick, Nick smaltz eight million bucks. He's sure. Like, let me, let me see. Let me check my astray out here. Okay. I go. I make seven million for the jazz. Like, we can give it anyone. But he, I think honestly, if there was no salary cap, he would spend as much money as humanly possible to get a winning team there. 100, 100%, um, so, uh, like, you know, we talk about the modernized coaches and guys that are adapting. Like, he's the, he's the prime example of ownership and how you have to be in order to track guys and they want to be. He's given them out. You taught jazz tickets to like trying to kind of clap with guys and stuff like just different. I talked to weeks. He was like, dude, it's such like a family like this guy cares so much about the play. Not just the hockey guy, even like the jazz. Like, he just, he bleeds that like, he fucking loves it. And you can tell, like, he's at the games. He's wearing his emotions on his sleeve, sitting on the glass. Like, who wouldn't want to be part of that team? So I'm actually going to be doing that with them. So I'm going there on the 26 Thursday, March 26. I was supposed to do a NASCAR's earlier in the season. And it got bumped back for whatever reason. But I'm going there me, Bob, he hosts in Nashur going to be doing the NASCAR's and then I'm going to spend a little time get the tour of the Delta Center and the whole facility in Utah and and see what's going on there. Man, it's going to be a blast. We're hoping to get both of you to stop by the zoom on the NASCAR. I talked to Nashur. I'll be on there. If you guys have time, no pressure whatsoever. But it'd be nice to get you guys on there. And I'm really excited to attend that. And then the next morning with Nashur, we're actually flying a St. Louis to go on there, Kelly Chase in the puck cancer. They're going to have a charity game. So that'll be a great time just to kind of see everybody and go show support to you playing. They asked me to play. I just like a courtesy invite like you should. No. I fuck I boys. I don't know if I can. I don't mind. I put the blades on. I don't know. I just. I promised me one thing if you do play. Sure. Don't do that fake fighting. How they do those in the alumni games. I already I already did want against Cam Janssen last time we were there. Yeah, but Cam didn't know it was fake. That's true. That's true. You don't like the fake fighting. No, no, you know, Cam Janssen wants a real one too. He would do anything to get out there again and fight. They should fly in fucking booth. I said, I'll take care of him for mouth. Hear that, Radco. I'm going to scare you guys on the outline here. We got his auto a too far out. I say no chance all over this weekend, boys, much we all loses to Anna. I'm in San Jose at home. And auto will beat them both first game. I think all Mark shut out and then the next night Sunday, they played him again, right? Like they're not playing Rhymer. There are no position to not, you know, give all my right to start. I'm and he gave up four on like, I think a 20 shots, 22 shots, but they got to win seven, four. Auto right now, boys, James Dutti had a tweet made me laugh. He's like, I don't know if the water was going to miss the playoffs or win the Eastern Conference and go to the cup final like that's how kind of jackal and hide they can be. But if you look, all right, so they are, they're three points out of the eighth spot, which is the wings. They got a game in hand, but they're five points out of the third spot in the Atlantic, which is Montreal. Now, I, I think auto gets in, dude, I don't know Detroit. They got a huge point in Dallas. They were down to Dallas. Dallas doesn't lose games when they're up. was too nothing. And they ended up tying it. They lost it over time. I definitely made an incorrect tweet saying it's gut wrenching loss for Detroit. Now the fans are like, dude, we just got a point out of that. We needed that. I was more just thinking if they could have got the win in OT, it would have been enormous. But I like auto was chances to get in. I if Omar can play as well as he did against Anaheim, he doesn't even have to be excellent. It doesn't have to get shut out. It's just have something there. They get in like, dude, if you finish, if you finish, if you win the Atlantic or you win the Metro and you got to play Ottawa, like that's not that's not something I'm dying for. If I'm a team who wins my division. So like their chance, I know they're they're out right now. Detroit, let's see what goes on there. Boston, the race in the east is excellent. Even the islanders in Pittsburgh, they're at 81. Columbus can catch them or the wild cards bought. So I don't know if you guys think you're leaning into which teams are going to get in. But right now in the east Buffalo safe, Tampa safe, Carolina safe after that. Boys, it's like I consider five spots available maybe four. If you're Ottawa, like you got to go to your goal tending and just be like, hey, we're riding you the rest of the year. Like there's no, I think he knows that. How many back to backs? I go, maybe on the back to backs. He doesn't play, but he's got to play 95% of these games coming in when he played the back to back this weekend and and dude, Ottawa would be them, them getting in and battling Toronto to then take the step back and knock it in is that would be a disaster. A disaster. That's why I believe I think Brady had one in one in the San Jose win. We'll see. I don't know, Bizz, if you feel one way or the other about Ottawa. Well, I'd be nice and Brady's last year to give them a nice send off and I play. I think that's really nice to them. Guys, we got some breaking news here. Calgary Edmonton and Prague will be the host for the 2028 World Cup of hockey. The NHL just that's a good geography. So hold on. You're telling me I read these reports. I saw Stockholm Calgary Edmonton. You're fucking telling me that the kings of hockey, the United States of America, there's no games in America. Zero. That's not what I was in their game and it means that's a fucking disgrace. You know why to the Buffalo? You know why it's a disgrace. You know why the Europeans are going to say, oh, we need games over here. You just got the Olympics and get the next one. And then you got the next one in France. Yeah. So you got your fix of best on best the facts that they're not doing it after USA just swept the board and even in sled hockey. Couple clicks for the sled hockey team USA. I think Declan Farmer is going to be joining us this week or next boy. Show no team USA. Paralympic sled hockey team unreal. And as a Canadian, I'm saying it's bullshit. Like Edmonton and Calgary is going to be an electric. That's awesome. That's awesome. But they should in another thing too. You do like afternoon, like a little bit later afternoon games in New York or Boston. The people in Europe can still watch that at these hours. Maybe it's like what an eight or nine o'clock puck drop over there if you're doing like a two a two PM game. So I think it's absolute rubbish and I don't know why they made this decision. If they're trying to grow the game over there, well, like I just said, they just had it and fucking Milan and then they're going to have it in France. They're going to have the whole tournament over there. The last the last two Olympic best on best. So just absolute rubbish to say. Correct me if I'm wrong during the finals in Edmonton. Memes had to stay in a hostel. Like they don't even have the room and board to take care of these. Like but I don't mind Edmonton. They're going to be doing billet families for the players to go back. P. We tournament. I don't mind Calgary and Edmonton because the building in Edmonton is insane. The Calgary building is going to be unbelievable. But then have like have like phillion Buffalo Buffalo Boston and just you got to give you got to give the United States games. That's crazy. Crazy. And the tournament will be great. Oh, I don't I don't get that at all. I I'm interested to hear what like whoever made the decision. I'm sure it's Gary or like their whole team like why tell me why there's no game in the States. Like talk talk about a missed opportunity. We're talking about growing the game where it needs to grow. Yeah. North America specifically USA and you're not I'm not gonna have any in USA, it's just dumb. - I would do it in Tampa and Florida before I did an Edmonton at Calgary. - I think Edmonton at Calgary are incredible host cities and I think that boss in New York should have been. - Yeah. - Yeah, that's just so confusing to me. - It is New York too, you could play games on the island, you could play games at MSG, what the fuck? - At Posh's greasy building, the presidential center. - The brew, and another Eastern team in the mix, they bring up Columbus has 14 of their possible 20 points. Do you know how sick it would be there? - That's another mess. - I know. - Yeah, but shout out to Blue Jackets, they are not going away. - Oh, another question on that World Cup, is it gonna be before the season? - Yeah, February. - Durant, okay. - Okay, February, so literally two years from now and I think that the rank in Calgary will be done at that point. - Yeah, it has to be right. - I can't do it up to you. - I do know that tonight, as you're listening on Tuesday, March 17th, happy St. Patrick's Day, Bruins, Canadians, that's a big one. Columbus plays Carolina, that's a huge one. What else we got? Sharks, oilers, that should be entertaining. I hope Leon's able to play in that. What else we got, close Seattle lightning, so that's a huge game for Seattle. It's gonna be an exciting finish here. That just kind of dampers my mood a little bit. No games in the United States, that's kind of tough. News for the Washington capitals and the Chicago Black Hawks, I just saw. So BU lost out tough year. Jay Pandoffo said, like, kind of put some ownership on himself, BU just had an off season, but Cole Hudson has signed. Lane Hudson's brother, another second round pick. Actually, I was talking to his agent, Sean Coffin. After Hudson Lane went and second round of what he's doing and then Cole has dominated for two years in college, undersized defenseman. He said there's an undersized defenseman in the Quebec League this year. Let me get his name. I apologize. Cushing boy. No, this is different. This is a different. Save your bill in the wave. I'm sorry if I'm standing correct. But he's like, he's probably gonna go top 20 now based on what teams are seeing, like the Hudson brothers and some undersized, 'cause you need puck movers, you need guys who can get up the ice, join offense. Like, that's the game now. So I think the success of Lane, I think Cole's gonna be really good. I've said it a many times. He's very different. I got to see him play with you guys. Yeah, he runs around, throws his body around, like Lane's more stick on puck. But he'll be in the lineup, I'm sure, for Washington next game. And then Sasha Boyd there, who's the first round of for Chicago, he signed as well. Kind of crazy. He wasn't even playing. He was healthy, scratched for BU's first hockey tournament game against Vermont. They ended up losing a Yukon. He was back in the lineup. I guess he missed the team lift. That's not this is the kid who fought against Lowell earlier this year. Oh, yeah, I was always physical. Like it could be, could be a great pro, but kind of weird to see that he'd like missed the team lift and got scratched because of that. That's not a great look. Wait, nothing to worry about, though, with BU, like Caleb Malhotra coming in next year, Tide and Lawrence will have another year under his belt. Like, I feel like they're gonna have a big bounce back season next year. Is that Manny's kid? It is, yes. Wow. Yes. You've loved seeing there. There's so many like, yeah, I mean, we talked about Matt calling his kids. All the guys kids coming up now. It's going to be fun in the next. I know it's real weird. So odd to see like, I can't imagine what what guys that played with Keith, like all of a sudden, like, oh my god, Matthew and Brady are here. It's just, but I love seeing it. Former players and their their kids who are making statements. When he was guys, he could, he could do something very special. He's got 60 assists in 60 games this season. The last offense that did that's Paul coffee and the only defenseman in the history of the NHL to average an assist per game is Bobby or and Paul coffee. So if Quinn does this, it's like, I just, I can't believe it. I, that is so ridiculous to be able to get that many assists. And the amount of minutes he plays, I guess it's not surprising. And now he's got caprice off and all the talent and boldly there. But he, I mean, even to do what he did with Vancouver, the past few years, it's unreal. He can end up with 82 assists. That would be something that we've only seen by two other guys in the history of the game. So once again, shout out the power Olympic sled hockey team. Men's Olympic, women's Olympic, power Olympic, men's world, women's world, power men's power, women's women's just, but we couldn't get a world cup of hockey. No, what do we got to do? What do we got to do, biz? What do we have to do, Gary? And the Super Bowl is in Saskatoon next year too. Here a fucking idiot. Speaking of ridiculous shit, who's that soft break away. Buddy in the cage, he's got a funny thing I've seen in hockey a long time. Talk about not giving. I thought he was, I was like, okay, now I'll go, now I'll go, nope. Picture this picture, the picture, the MLB shot clock, but add two hours on it. And that's how long it took him to get to the goal line. Yeah. It's like he was shit faced. Like, all right, if I go any faster, I'm going to piss myself. Hey, Wayne despises that, right? Like the going and slow. I don't know. I don't know. I mean, I, we should get him on to talk about. I feel like I've heard him talk about it. That he hates how guys come in slow and stuff like that. He must have been losing his mind. He just comes in slow, but this, but then he speeds up. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Who was he's controller broke from the time he touched the bottom guy? He's coming in like McDavid compared to this. I wish that he, if he'd scored, he would have done a faster arm flap for the bird celebration than he had skated in. It was, yeah, it was, it was if you got something. I don't know how many of our listeners like don't, um, like sometimes you have some old timers who don't really are on social media. But if, if you're not, like, just have somebody open up an app and show you how ridiculous this Kuznetz arm break away was. If you literally does that, that's showing everybody in the hockey world. He does not give a flying. Oh, no. I mean, this is the same league where I got, you know, a guy's cell phone fell out of his pants when he got hit in the middle of the game. It, nothing shocks you in the KHL. That's why we love it. Um, final shout out. We talked about Detroit, but now it's Minnesota. Tony to cost the 2500 games. Yeah, behind the benches. Yeah, do you have them? Didn't you? No, I missed them in Phoenix. Oh, yeah. But unlike before you got to Phoenix, he came. He was in Winnipeg and came from Winnipeg. I think he was Stan Wilson's assistant unbelievable guy. He was always like whenever we played them, he was always in the locker room hanging out with Stan and Tony and donor and just an unbelievable guy. One of those guys, anytime you play it against them, always came over, said hello, Ashley, if he needed anything, I mean, all those guys are the best. We say it all the time, but 2500 games, man. And those guys like are going on three hours of sleep. Like they're the reasons why we're all pampered the way that we are. Just unbelievable morale guys and shout out to him. I hope the boys got him a nice gift and took care of him for the night. It's not he was with Yuka. Remember Yuka? You can win an unreal massage, Diane. Unfortunately, he passed away on the day of his wedding, man. Like a tragic story and he would always tell stories about when they were in Winnipeg and how they would like, you know, obviously these guys are landing sometimes in some cases at like two in the morning and then they'd have to go to the rank and unpack bags and hang all our gear up. Like that's the NHL. How close class it is. And they would put like they would put beers in one beer in each of the guys bag and as they were unpacking the bags, they would be crushing the beers and they would be really cold at that point because they were underneath the plane. So just like that's the old old school stories and these trainers, man, and what they what they do for us. So unreal. Congratulations. And what a handsome guy, too. He is an age to day Benjamin button. He's going backwards. Biz, we used to do every once a year would go and help the trainers unpack after like a long flight or something like that. And it was literally my favorite day of the year because you just go there, have a couple beers with them, hang the shit, get on the bus, tell some story. Oh, dude, those guys are the best. Tony Silva. Remember, uh, what, what did, what did Jolvo do? Did Jolvo better than he couldn't stay like an hour in the sauna? And if he did, he, he'd pay him 10 grand. Yeah, it was like 30 minutes in the sauna. And we had the hottest theme room in the league in Phoenix. This thing blew hot fire. It would kill Joe Rogan. That's how hot this thing was. He stayed in there and came out and that he came out and collapsed and fell right into the cold tub. And I think that's what brought him back to life. But he was one of those guys. He would do anything for a dollar. It was unbelievable. And I think he gave him fly or 10 grand for that. So shut out to the trainers the best. All right, boys. Um, we will be back. We'll see everyone or you will hear from us again on Friday. Thank you so much for listening to go USA. A bad habit worth breaking but it's taking time. I don't know. Don't let it, it's going to happen. It's going to happen again. [Music] Hey, Chico's fans, we're going to take a quick break for a message from one of our partners. This one's brought to you by TickPick ever actually read a ticket receipt, service fee, processing fee, convenience fee, convenient for who? That's an extra 30 bucks a ticket. TickPick doesn't do that. Never has. Never will. No fees means the exact same seat, same section, same row, cost less on TickPick. Fans trust TickPick for all their live events, check to reviews yourself. 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