Spittin’ Chiclets Episode 651: Featuring Liam Blutman & Michael Landsberg

Hey, spit and check. Let's listen to this. You can find every episode on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon music. The course is calling and your Chevy Equinox can take on whatever the day throws at you. Stylish and ready for anything. Equinox handles your commute, weekend trips, and even those last minute T times easily load up your clubs and gear with plenty of cargo space plus hidden storage under the rear floor to keep things neat. And with a big standout touchscreen, the Equinox puts all your tech right where you need it. Bold and confident Equinox looks just as good on the road as it does down the back roads. From the first drive to the final pot Equinox is built to do more so you can focus on the game. Football seasons here and whether you're grinding your way through the week or gearing up for kickoff, there's one ride that's always game ready. The Chevy Silverado. There's a reason Chevy is called the heartbeat of America and Silverado keeps that heartbeat strong. Whether you're towing, hauling, or tailgating, Silverado lets you show up strong and tackle any task. With best in class standard torque, the most functional bed and the advanced tech that's football guy approved. Check out offers on the 2026 Silverado at chevy.com. Me and Ryan have been officially welcomed to the jungle that is Boston Sportsman. I brought it towards the coyotes and I asked him if it was okay if I joined the spit check with podcast full time. No little bit no. Ryan Whitney's got a pink Whitney out there now. He can handle the song man. It's a full-time member. Marley just gotten us this from Chris Bate. Whoa, we're buzzing right now. So what is up folks? Welcome to episode 651 of the Spit and Chickles podcast. Hey Chickles fans, we're going to take a quick break for a message from one of our partners. 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So like I'm kind of really in when they're good. But I do have to root against them. Is that kind of soccer works? And Arsenal's never won a championship like now. They did win the Premier League this year, which is right. You know, give them kudos. They went to a penalty shot. Guy missed the net to keep the penalty penalty careful. Paul missed the net. Paul missed the net. That commercial. Well, the nets are small. That commercial haunts me more than your draft Kings ad because what draft Kings commercial? Never seen it. I know they beat the wheels off those commercials. Hey, you know what face? You got your shirt off. You got a nice body in the shower. It's not. It's not the worst thing for your resume off the, I should say, but pinkies up, pinkies up. And guys, we got a very packed up. So we got JR coming on. We might have blotments winged by Michael Landberg possibly. And unfortunately, we do have to start off just just crushing news for the hockey community. And we were filming a sandbag or I want to say last year with Darcy Tucker and Steve Thomas down at Panther National. We had the chance of running into Claude Lemieux. And just like amazing to see him. And he was kind of churping us. And I think because you had known him a little bit, I had never met him prior and like a really good person and the way he played and how competitive he was and how fierce of a competitor he was like meeting him off ice. He was just a joy to be around. And we chatted about possibly doing a sandbag or someday and a sit-down interview. And to get that news, it's, it's crushing. And I've seen a lot of guys who played with him. Scotty Gomez had an awesome post about him and a picture together when they won the Stanley Cup. And it's just, it's heartbreaking. And I, I know Brendan a little bit feel just sick to my stomach for him and his entire family. And it was a really hard day in the hockey community to see something like that. To see a legend of the game, you know, take his own life. It's truly heartbreaking stuff. And we want to talk about Claude just a little bit here and show him up because we haven't been on since this, this news broke. Yeah, I think I just like like met him quickly in passing before we saw him on the golf course. And buddy, like, yeah, like that was the first time I'd like truly met him. And it was just great to see how joyful he was. He had Hunter, who, who's Claudia's husband. His, his daughter's husband, Hunter, actually, he was starting like a golf channel. So Claude reached out like three, four weeks ago asking, Hey, can I, can we do a bag or with you guys? And then maybe you come on that channel and stuff like that. And obviously he was always, he loved, he loved his kids and he would do anything for his children. And just crazy that he did the torch, like the game prior, game three. And man, he looked unbelievable. He looked like he could still play. And he just looked so happy there. The fans were going absolutely crazy. And then to get that news guys, like just, oh, it's brutal. It's, it's brutal. And then to see how it trickled down the hockey world and the fact that like Freddie Anderson, like he'd become an agent and helped a lot of these guys, you know, sometimes it's not easy navigating your career. And the fact that not only was he an incredible father, but an incredible mentor to a lot of these players that were now trying to figure out their careers and where to sign and how to be happy and find, and find placement. And, and Freddie Anderson, who, who obviously got the horrible news, ended up having a start in, in game, in what was a game five. And, you know, with a heavy heart, got the job done. The interview with Jackie Redmond was just incredible and emotional. And I don't know how he, he played in the game and just, um, just, um, just awful guys, just, just an incredible, incredible gamer. One of the best playoff performers, hockey's ever seen. Um, and then like just like, you hear all these times about like the, the rivalries with the, the red wings and guys that he played it against and how much, how hated he was on the ice. But also though, how beloved he was by his teammates. Like we've had Scotty Gomez on here, what, three, four times. And I would say the number one guy he loved talking about and telling stories about was Pepe because when he got to New Jersey, he took him under his wing and he helped them and he helped teach him the ropes and, you know, Scotty Gomez was a very raw talent. And, uh, I think he just needed a little bit of mentorship. And he got some tough love from him too, which he loved, like looking back on it. He loved, he loved and, and, uh, I know it's, it's way and heavy on those guys. Actually, Bobby Holy called me last night, um, about some other stuff. And then of course, that as well. And it's just like it, like I said, his teammates just adored him. And if, if you wanted to win, that's, that's the guy you needed on your team. I, I don't know many times a guy had one of Stanley Cup. Um, and then went somewhere else, want a cup. And then that team was like, ah, what's the missing recipe and what we need to get over the hump? Well, I clawed them you and then they brought them back and then they won again, four Stanley cups, a consmith. Um, and I, I don't know how many, how many players in the history of the NHL have more points in the playoffs when things mattered than, than clawed them you. So I know we're talking a little bit about his on ice, but really it's, it's, it's what he, what, what he was about off the ice and, and that was a family man, an incredible man. And, um, and he will be surely missed. Yeah. Um, I got to meet him early in my career. He was, I think he had retired or stopped playing and then he was trying to get back in shape and, and playing and he was living in Phoenix. I think he was like the GM of the roadrunners team, the East Coast league team. So he would come out and skate with us during captain's practice. And he was kind of the first guy that I ever saw, like during a captain's practice, he was going 110 miles an hour, like finishing checks, you know, and it was very eye opening for me as a young guy. I'm like, oh, okay, this is what it takes to win. Like this guy wanted junior. He has already won four Stanley cups and he's out there giving it as well. He doesn't even know if he's going to get a job, right? So he was one of those guys that when, when the, when the puck dropped, it was game on and it didn't matter if it was on a shinny ice or, uh, in the Stanley Cup finals, uh, a true warrior and, you know, it's almost a compliment if you're a hockey player. If someone says, I hate playing against that guy, but I love you, you'd love to have him on your team. And there are certain guys that have played in this league and have that reputation. And he's one of them. And I think back to those rivalries, like you said, with Detroit. And then I saw a clip of Darren McCarty saying he's like, listen, I hated this guy's guts. Like did not like him one bit on the ice. And then, you know, what? I got to meet him and he was an absolute gentleman and a great guy and a family guy. Like you said, Biz, like, there's just, there's just those type of breed of players that, you know, once the game starts, that there's no friends. They're out there for blood. They want to win. And he did that, man. And, uh, I'm absolutely gutted. And Biz, we ran into his wife and his daughter in Vegas. I guess a couple of years ago, we were out there for the draft and that's where we saw him. That's where we saw him. >> That's where we saw him. And Pepe came over quick in all time nickname, Pepe Lemieux, Pepe Lemieux, if you remember, the French skunk, same accent, so just at all time nickname. But he always had his family around and he always, they were out there for the draft, but he brings his wife, his wife's husband or his daughter, sorry, and his wife's there, and they're just great people to be around. And Brendan also was one of those guys on the ice that you hated playing against. And I'll tell you a story, and he said it, I saw him in Nantucket a couple summers ago. I think his wife has a house out there and saw him out having a couple beers and I was like, hey, I got a hockey camp going on here. That's why I'm we're out here, whatever. Next morning, he shows up at 8 in the morning. He's got shorts on, didn't have any sweats because he's on vacation. And he learned that I'm sure from his dad, just being there for other guys. I didn't even have to ask him. He just showed up to the ring. He's like, oh, what times camp? I said 8 o'clock. He was there at 8.02. It's like, he's there ready to go bring in the energy for the kids. And I'm sure he learned that from his dad, just a true, true warrior of the game. And like you said, I think most importantly was a was a great father and a great grandfather and truly going to be messed, man. It's horrible, horrible news for the hockey world. I don't know where, if you saw Ken Danico, obviously he jumped on a few different news outlets because he loved them. He was very, very close with Ken Danico and Ken Danico. He talked about being there for teammates, he ends up, I think Ken Danico dealt with some struggles off the ice. I think it might have even been in his post career. And he said the first guy to reach out and offer help and anything he needed was Pepe. And that's just kind of, that's the guy he was and going back to maybe what his reputation was on the ice. That's like, that's so far in the rear-view mirror compared to the man that he was off the ice and what he was willing to do for friends, teammates and family. So to all of his children, he's got four kids to his wife and all of his family members and friends like this is gut wrenching. And we have Michael Landsberg coming on at the end of the show. We try not to talk like overbear everyone with the mental health stuff. Obviously we do mention it once in a while because we think it's extremely important. So he's like one of the people that was like ahead of it all and was okay using his platforms initially where maybe it was like full-paw and it wasn't something that was talked about a lot. He was one of the main guys that started talking about it. And he's dealt with a lot of mental health struggles on his own. So we just wanted him to bring him on because we have a lot of listeners and a lot of male listeners who deal with a lot of stuff internally. And we just want to give you guys like an outlet or how do I say this? Tools in case you are somebody that might be dealing with stuff in order to reach out and get this type of help. So we're not professionals here. We can speak to what we deal with personally when we're going through it, but he is definitely a guy that to listen to and to talk to and to give you resources if you are maybe dealing with something. We all got our stuff boys. We know that, right? We all have stuff that we deal with and it's how you deal with it. So we love everybody listening and that's pretty much yeah. I think the biggest thing with it is just just being there for somebody or knowing that someone could be there for you, right? It's asking for help. It's making that phone call. If you're not feeling 100% having somebody that'll be there for you. And I'm sure Peppy man, like he was probably there for everybody so much, maybe felt like he didn't have that one person, but there's always somebody that'll have that lending ear for you. And don't be too proud to make that phone call to call somebody and see how they're doing or whatever it is. And it's truly, especially as men, right? You think you're you got this, you can handle it, you can handle whatever comes at you, but man, there are some things that are a little bit tougher and I think, you know, making that phone call or making that text message to somebody could really help. All right. That's exactly what I was going to say. And I want to talk to Michael Lansberg about that later in terms of it's it's cutting your pain in half, right? And it's having somebody to take away grief and struggles and pain and lean on. And that's that's the biggest thing is. And I think within the NHL and all pro sports, it kind of makes me think of like reaching out to old teammates and just occasionally calling guys, hey, how you doing? It is. You've done that with me a lot. How you doing? We're talking all the time. But hey, how's everything going? And I always appreciate it. I think everyone does. And yeah, I remember seeing like a clip a while, a little day in a white, like you know, anyone who anyone talking about your struggles or your mental health is bullshit. I don't remember exactly what he said. It's like, fuck off, dude. Yeah. At this point, I could not agree more that a lot of people are going through a lot more than you think or know and to reach out and to be there for someone is a big deal. And to see that within our community from a legend, it's just like Biz said. It's gut wrenching. You just stop seeing your tracks and you're I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe it. So we'll talk more about that later. But within the game, it is, it is a happy time within the NHL as the Cup finals approach every year. It's special. And I think within this matchup, boys, like I, I am 50, 50 torn. Like I, I see Carolina as the betting favorite kind of don't understand that, but also see them easily being able to win this series. So it's, it's, I, I really am having a heart. I'm picking Carolina because I don't want Vegas to win, even though I love Hannah and I love Eiko. And the fact that one of those, those two were slave and are going to have a gold medal in a Stanley Cup. It's just an amazing storyline kind of going in, being an American. But boys, it's interesting to see that both these teams have basically run through everyone. And obviously Vegas had a little bit, not a struggle, but it took them six games in the first two rounds. And then they found everything a shocking sweep. Carolina loses one game after 11 days off. Both teams are getting the incredible gold tending. I don't know where you want to take it, but you've been on Vegas. I get to give you credit. You kind of called this. I think I was more like, well, obviously from watching, but like, Bunny and just like, you know, there's been a lot of influence there. But I think that if you watch enough, you're like, oh, wow, like it's all systems go. They're clicking. And just to like the coaching change and how much the morale help for those guys wanting to play for one another and wanting to be around the rink, definitely change. I guess I'll start by saying, like, I've seen some tweets out there, like, oh, the, like, this matchups horrible for ratings, like that, it's like, I think this is an unbelievable matchup to incredible storylines. And I think the hockey is going to be unbelievable. So as far as like the non big markets and the non traditional market nonsense, like, you can fuck right off. Like, I don't care where your team is located. It's about how it's built and the culture and what's happening on the ice. And if you want to start in Carolina, the most shocking, not shocking, but the most eye opening stat was raw the bod. He's been a part of 97 of 99 playoff games in the Carolina Hurricanes history. Oh, wow. Wow. Wow. Yeah. That is a wow. Did I get that stat right? I know it's like 96 or 97, like, something astonishing. And he's like, he's completely, like, rejuvenated this team and this culture when he came in, about eight, nine years ago, I think it was about nine years ago. And since he stepped in, they haven't missed playoffs and they've obviously been on this trajectory to building something to eventually win it as a coach, as he did as a player in Carolina. 20 years later, it could be 20 years on the nose. It could be later. And I got you see a lot of these videos of guys left in the cup. Like, his was like, so emotional, he was, it's one of the ones that they use all the time because of, it was just this like pent up emotion of all this, this work that this one individual had put in and throughout his career, whether it was in Philadelphia or whether it was in Carolina. And he played, I believe he played nine years in in Philadelphia and 10 years in Carolina. And he was a part of that team. And he knows what it takes and what type of culture needs to be built in order to win. And through years of persistence, persistency, through, through adversity, through getting fucking spanked in the Eastern Conference Finals, they were able to go out in the last, what, 18 months and make additions that have got them to where they are now, whether it's Carrier who, who want to cup with Vegas on the Eeler signing and also like either buy in to, to sign a $50 million deal. And then be put on the third line and basically play there all year and be okay with that. The Kiandre Miller turnaround, like basically just give it away from, from, from New York. I mean, the list goes on and on and on and guys they brought in who have helped kind of get this team to where they have. I mean, Jordan Martinuck, Basie and bodies, what this team's about got put on waivers a few years back. I know that it was for salary cap stuff, but they could have lost them. They could have lost them. He didn't take it as a slight. He just showed up every day with his lunchpale and continued to work harder. You know, I I mean the stankelvin. I mean how much, they all put my hand up. I was like, oh, fuck, that was a risky move when they move off of nature's to get ranting. And then in the dying minutes before the deadline, considering ranting, I wasn't going to resign. They can't lose him for nothing. And they flip him for stank over and we're thinking, is this guy really going to move the needle? And at that time, this guy was playing wing. And then at the start of the year, they put this guy at center ice. Maybe his stats don't jump off the page, boys, but he stays there all year. And at the deadline, we're thinking, oh, here comes a big move. They're going to push the chips in and get that second mindset or nothing. And we're going really, they're not going to push their chips in. And then this guy goes on to have the playoff that he's had Taylor Hall last year. People probably thought, oh, this guy's on his back nine. And you know, okay, I guess he could help them. Fuck, buddy. He might, he's probably one of their top players as far as the cons might this concern. So everything they've done from from Tulski from Brindamore to these guys buying in to these older veterans who have been there a while, who have continued to stay at it and stay persistent and continue to set the foundation to win. This is a pretty special group. And I'm looking forward to seeing what they could do now that they're going to get their toughest test as far as that group is concerned. So just a credit to that organization and the fans there, boys, holy fuck are they, they're crazy. They're die hard crazy NASCAR type fans that, that's what I wanted to bring up was the fans. But quickly you mentioned a lot of these guys, but the hurricane's point leaders this season, Halsey's one traded for by Tulski, Blake's two signed in an extension by Tulski. That's absolute robbery. The guys make it $5,000 the next eight years, stank over traded by Tulski, healers signed by Tulski and then Miller, Kyandria Miller signed and traded by Tulski. So a master class, but with the fans and Brindamore said this after the Easter conference final, they've been through a lot. And now when I say been through a lot, it's not like, you know, lottery team, lottery team losing season, but they've they've seen their team get really good and have these regular seasons and just get truck stick when the times got, you know, when the pressure got the biggest and the series got the most important and they stuck with them and they've been loyal. And now granted, maybe when the teams weren't great, the building wasn't great, but fuck, I can't really chirp them for that because when the teams are good, this place is a madhouse and it's really hard to play in there. So with the kind of the attitude that they've created with the tailgates and then how loud the arena is, it's a good for these people. It's been a long time since they've been on the cup final. They had an epic cup final 20 years ago against Edmonton. They were up three one all of a sudden. It's three three coming back home. They get the win. And it's funny because in Brindamore, I saw a clip today when he raises the cup, it's legendary. Like you said, and then he gives his son a hug. His son has a Justin Williams shirt on. He scored the empty net goal at game seven. You see, you know, his favorite player wasn't even his dad. I guess then, but it's, it's a cool story. And I want to quickly, there's a tweet here. It was Adam Gratz. I found this and it was basically how both teams were built. So he's got top five picks. He's got six through 32 first round pick, non first round pick, trade free agent, undrafted free agent waivers or expansion draft, you know, those are the eight ways these guys can be on the team. There's one top five pick picked by this team in the series, right? That's fetching the call view. Second overall. Okay. And then you got Seth Jarvis is a first round pick. After that non first round picks Jackson Blake, Aho, Nikitian, Slaven, trade, Hall, Stankov and Miller, Stahl, Martinuk, Jan Kowski, Dolorey, then you got all these other guys that are free agents, Robinson, Mike Riley, Sean Walker, Eilers, Chatfield, Gossess, Bear, Carrier, Frederick Anderson. So and then Brandon Bussie who played a major role in the year. He's a, he's a, he's on waiver. So and, and it's very, it's even crazier with just trades on Vegas. It's basically all trades. And it kind of brings me to think like you talk about, you need to tank and we've said you need to tank. You need to get all these high picks, the way Pittsburgh, the way Chicago did it. These teams have done it different. And it's like shows there's so many different ways and people who don't want it, their team to tank. They look at these teams and it's like they didn't really have to do that. Now, granted, Vegas got very lucky in an expansion job where they just, they just kind of ripped off the whole league. That makes it sound bad. They didn't do it. They didn't do anything wrong, but they fucking dumbied the whole league. They went in there like in Braveheart when they just pillage the village and just took everything. Oh, you don't want me to take this guy. What do you give me? Not to take them. The like, let's, the rules in that expansion draft were new rules and obviously set up this team for success. And at the time, I believe that fully had paid what 500 million for the team, which is the most for any expansion franchise in the NHL. Now it's crazy. We're at a billion the last one paid. And I believe the tag if you want to bring a new team in his two billion dollars. That's what it's set at right now. So that just goes to show the growth of the league. But I love how you mentioned everybody else with like you talk about Freddie Anderson and the stats that he's put up. Like this team ended up winning their division and having that the, the draws they did in playoffs based on success from bussy earlier in the year. And we've had him on to talk about how he was in the Florida organization and Charlotte is their AHL team and he was driving to Charlotte. And I believe in at a gas station, when he was filling up, he got the call. Hey, we're rerouting you're getting picked up by the hurricanes. Like, I think he had the best start for a goalie in the history of the NHL through his first 25 30 games, like 22 wins, four losses and something else like that. But like they're, they're D. I mean, you talk about slave and like chat field to me. You look at the box score and half the games. He's their ice time leader. And I love what Trace, he said about him. He plays and shows up to the rank every day. Like, like, I need to prove that I need to prove to be here. So to hear that, that was, that was pretty cool. And I mean, like that Walker, like he's an impressive skater. Like where do they pick up him from? Was he in Philly? He was, was he in Colorado? I don't know where he was. But you look at their, their 6D and how they move like Niketians probably lug in the least amount of ice, but he's the 6364 Russian frame where he's fucking buzzing up and down the ice. So the size and mobility of this back end, the way that it was built is, is tremendous. And what's crazy about this is I would say the, and this is not a knock because I thought that they showed up a lot better towards the end of the Montreal series. But they're, they're least achieving line out of the four has been, I would say a whole switch and, and Jarvis, that has to change. And it has to, if they're going against Vegas, like, like, I'm like, the fact that they were able to gain that confidence and put some points up towards the end of that series against Montreal is huge, huge, like, Svetch getting that OT winner. I believe it was game three in Montreal. Like, these are confidence boost that they're going to need. But that fourth line of Robinson, Jankowski and Carrier, that's the type of fourth line you need if you're going to win a Stanley Cup. You're seeing it the exact same thing in Vegas. The third line of Jordan Stahl, who, you know how long he's been there? I was shocked. It's, it's pretty crazy. And to get to go back to the cup final, too, is like, he's 14. How long is it 12 years now? Four, this is 14th year with the Carolina. He signed before they, they put a, a clamp on the, the, the length of contracts. He signed because he, I don't, I think it was partly because he wanted to go play with his brother. But also I think that he, it felt like at the time, maybe he want a little bit of a more predominant role on a team. And he signed that 10 year deal at six million a year. And then now he's making like three million bucks as one of the top third line center in the league. And the fact that he gets to play with, with Martin Rook, which we've talked about him. And then that, that either signing, like, what a, what a great third line, what a great buy-in line at the fact that a guy who designed for 50 sheets is willing to take a, a backsy and play third line minutes. And then like, like not enough can be said about this second line and what they've done throughout these three first rounds. Like that is, that is the biggest double barrel. Like, you fucking doubted me. Fuck you shove it up your hoop. As far as a second line, especially when you, when regards to staying Colvin playing center for the first time in his NHL career this year. Let me ask you this. Lead this team. Let me ask you this about stall. Are you putting him with, with home ice the first two games? Are you matching him with Eichel Dora, Fieven Barberschev, or Carlson Howden and Mariner? So this is, this is going to be the most interesting part of this series is, is with Carolina having home ice, which is massive for them is how they're going to handle the matchups. And I don't, I don't know how much they focused on that throughout the first three rounds. They haven't, they haven't had, right, they haven't had to, maybe you saw it a little bit through gameplay like where they would do it for a couple shifts just to make sure. But when you start line matching, you start kind of, in some cases, getting worried about that and not distributing the ice. And I think that Carolina's bread and butter is the fact that they're able to maintain that pace as we saw against Montreal. Like they fucking schooled them. One through four. And you're seeing that fourth line, just like Vegas in that 11 to 12 minute range. So I don't know, but they're also boys like, let's be real here. Their top, their best opponent, I believe, was Ottawa. Okay, they ended up sweeping them. That was probably the closest overall series as far as like how many scoring chances auto was generating, auto was snake pit. Like how many breakaways and golden opportunities did stooots and Brady have or they didn't capitalize on. So no, they haven't done it to this point because they haven't had to, but they haven't been against the team who has already won a cup with that core who you're dealing with like world class players top to bottom like Jack Eichel, like Mitch Mariner, like Carlson, you know, Theodore, like so I don't know what the what the answer is, but at this point, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Maybe roll it out game one the way you've been going and then make adjustments through there. But this that's going to be the toughest question. Keith, my my thought and tell me what you think. I think you put them on Mariner Carlson and howden because they're a little smaller, right? So it's like maybe you can really suffocate that line. Okay. And you can trust. Now, can you trust think over and against Eichel? That's like the issue here. And that's the biggest problem for Carolina. If they're to lose, I'm not no no shade at Carolina. They don't have an Eichel or a Mariner up front. There are six D are better overall six D. I believe than Vegas. But in terms of star power up front, Eichel and Mariner and I haven't even said stone. There are a step above any forward on Carolina. In my opinion. Well, and they're and and stone is now playing third line on the wing with hurdle. And then they got sizzards in the middle. So they now have four threatening lines, just as much as Carolina. If not more personally boys, I would I would go to Ajo in that line. If you are going to line match. And I would say. There's your guy. This is your this is going to be your your play cycle. This is going to be your this is going to be your Mona Lisa. We don't care if you score like to the rate that we we maybe expect you to, but he hasn't necessarily done that all playoffs. Your main your main role here is can you shut down these big boys? And can we just basically have that trade off? And then you go to Carlson against the stan coven line. So it's and that he'd look at then then you got stall against fucking the stone and and hurdle who all of a sudden is turned into he's been he's turned into like the league's most the biggest power forward going when we were fucking chirping them throughout for the, you know, the first and half the second round. Yeah, I think for me and I was one of those guys two saying I don't want them in the finals. I don't think they're they're fun to watch through two series. But I think they've proven that they are a fun team to watch and the way that they've all bought in like they I think this series is going to be amazing. I think the first two series were a little bit of a dud because they're sweeps and it's like, okay, it's just Carolina going out there and, you know, winning these games very kind of easily, I guess. But I think Montreal game, especially in that game, one, you saw that they can play a fast game. Obviously they lost that game, but they can play an upspeed game. They can make plays if they want to, but they're just such a well-rounded like they do everything the same exact way. That's why I don't think they have to line match. They don't have to be like, okay, Ajo, every time I go jumps over the boards, you're going because all four of their lines can do it. They're not like we got to hide this one line from this, you know, from the IKO line or hide this line from the Marner line. I think that they're all systems ago. They can put they can put any four lines out there and be happy and be trusting that matchup. So I just think that's the way Caroline is built and the way that Rod is, you know, built this team one through four. And they're demon. They're dear, big. They're long. They're, yeah, I think Biz, you said it. They remind you of Florida, right? Where they're, you know, they're not overly physical, right? Like maybe chat fields, the most physical guy back there, but they're not out there killing guys every shift. They're just disrupting guys, disrupting guys, not letting you in in the, not letting you in the zone clean. Like you tell me right now, if Marner, IKO, guys like that, when they're coming through the middle and they can't come in with possession, the guy don't have to make dumps. They're going to have to, and they make you make bad dumps too, like Anderson stop and it getting out of their zone. Like that can frustrate those big time, those big, the big boys, right? Like if you're a jack IKO, you don't want to be dumping the puck in, right? You're an all-time player. You want the puck on your stick, but they force these teams to play the way that they want to play. And it's been a masterclass through three rounds so far, but the big, big question is can they do it against this team? Because realistically, they've kind of had a cake walk to the finals. Would you say? Yeah, I would say, I would say that that's the way. Yeah, they've, they've, they've, they've lost one game, shout out to them for losing only one game and play off so far in amazing feet. But now it's the, it's the big boys from the West and in Vegas, I think, is a little more proven with who they've beaten, they've won some tighter games, closer series. So I think, I mean, everyone had Colorado winning that series, like the, the people that know what they're talking about and they work them. They absolutely work them. So I think this series is going to be incredible. I think that there's no way it doesn't go seven watch it'll go four now. But I think it's one of those ones that it's going to be an absolute ball. Well, if this, if this isn't a good series, it's going to be a bummer because we're at the point now where the conference finals for me growing up, they were legendary. I felt like, boy, I'm just one through eight. Okay. So that must, that's it. They last year in the East. Um, it was sweet. I think it was, it was at five games this year in the East five games last year, right? And then there was a sweep last year floor to swept Carolina, didn't they? Was it a, okay, either way, it's four or five games in both conferences the last few years. We're not getting, we're not getting what we hope. So you need a good cup final and, and obviously like two years ago, it was five, it was in five games last year. Carolina beat them one game. Yeah. Was it an overtime game? Game four, three, three, nothing just to stay alive. But the conference finals at this point. And yeah, so it is. It's just one through eight. That's what that's what needs to get the conference finals back. I, I think so. Like I'm not like, listen, if we've kind of gone back and forth on this, and it's been a huge topic. And I'm sure like Gary, if he listens or any of the people at the NHL, they're like, would you shut the fuck up about the one through eight? And listen, you get some iconic first round matchups in some cases in the second round. But if they want their nut and that's their March madness and that's when all the advertisers care and that's when everybody is still more focused on hockey because we're not in June. Then yeah, I get it. That's when you want the, the best series being played. But you just mentioned it as a result, you're not getting these iconic conference finals anymore. Like when's the last time we had a conference final go to seven games? That's a great question. Because we're going to look it up now. Another side note here, it was cool to see the list of conference finals winners. Touch or not touch the trophy. And who went on to win or not win? It was interesting to see that Crosby didn't touch it the first time against Detroit. They lost. And then all three other times they touched the conference finals trophy in one. So they're he's three for four when getting to the finals. And all three times he touched the trophy. So I don't remember his quote when they yeah, yeah, he's like, whatever you want to me, I'm not playing, you know, but don't touch it. If you say you can do whatever you want, but don't touch it, that's there's only one other thing to do. There's no other option. That's comedy. That's comedy right there. It's kind of crazy. I'm seeing 2018, the Washington capitals and Tampa Bay Lightning were the last time a conference finals went to game seven. That's crazy. How many how many in since 2020 have even gone to six games? Carolina in the rain, did they play the Rangers the one year they went to no, who would that have been? Florida in the range Florida and the Rangers went to six, I think, one year, somewhat recently. But I think of like, so if you went to if you went over the last six years, wait, you're correct. You are correct. Is that the only one in 2024, Florida and the Rangers went six Edmonton and Dallas went to six Edmonton Edmonton, I think Edmonton beat him in five last year and 20 or 24, 2024 Edmonton and Dallas went six the year before that Vegas and Dallas went six. But then the years, I mean, last year, three of three of 12 series since 2020 have gone to six games. That's fucking brutal. No seven and three to six. So if you want to have the one through eight argument and then as far as gameplay, the deeper it goes into playoffs, there's your answer right there. No, what if what if has argument like the argument of the first series being amazing, the first round usually is incredible. Yeah. Yeah, I know, but I still think you're going to get to sit first round. Yeah. I just want a better conference file. Like this, that was tough this year. I think typically though, too, like, like we see it in our numbers as well, like, use kind of drain off as you go later into the season. It's every single year we see it. And it's like, if if you have better series later in the in the playoffs, views won't go down and the interests will stay high or is it the problem that it's like summers arriving and then no matter what exactly. And that's how you keep up with summer. You got to have good series later, right? Yeah. Well, we talked Carolina, I would just say if one thing for them has to be better, it's power play. And I don't know what the percentages for Carolina right now, but to this point, you go back to, I believe it was game four in Montreal. They were dominant for 58 minutes. The worst part of their game was when they had that 503. They looked awful, right? So against an unbelievable penalty kill in Vegas and a team that locks you down. It's impossible to get to the inside. And I'm sure it's going to be fairly low scoring because Carolina can't score at ease when they're playing against good quality teams. They got to be able to figure out and capitalize on the power play, at least not be giving up shorthand of goals like we've seen from every other team over the course of this run. And so Charo Carolina, they've got a lot of good things cooking right now. And I guess we'll focus on the evil dark side at least also game one winner in the Stanley Cup final wins the series 77% of the time. Oh, I was surprised that that's like, and I think when the game won home team wins, I think it's even higher. But in terms of Vegas, so this is a tweet from Luke Fox, in less than 11 months, the Vegas Golden Knights acquired the playoffs leading score. They're studs starting goalie. A top four, right shot defenseman, a new cup winning head coach, and obviously a trip to the Stanley Cup final. And when you look at the roster, in terms of how I mentioned Carolina, non first round picks, but draft picks, course act dorafiev, expanse draft, William Wildbill, Carlson, Braden McNabb, trade, Marner, barbershave stone, Hanuffin, Howden, Theodore, Colesmith, Sizzards, hurdle, Eichel, Dowd, Riley Smith, Colossar, Jeremy Luzon, Rasmus Anderson, Aiden Hill, and Carter Hart of free agent. It's wild. And you have to, you have to say that being in Vegas, okay, so you're not, it's not a crazy media market, which some guys really love. It's great weather. It's no state tax. They are one of the cities in the league that guys are gonna forever want to play. They're always gonna want to play there. I think of Tampa like that. Florida's like that. Dallas is like that. Vegas is like that. I think there's a lot of common, common theme there. And you're no state tax thing has a legit thing. But in terms of what do you mean? It's been every fucking year since 2020. Go look at all the winners and all the teams that have had like Florida, Vegas, Dallas, like, they're not going anywhere. Like there, it's, it's not going to change. Like those teams and free agency is not what it once was. But if you're going to trade a guy who's still signed knowing that we're not going to trade for unless he's going to sign here, which is kind of how it works. Now you see Mariner and it was his right. It wasn't within the season. But that's what's going to happen. And so the way they've been able to do it, I don't like them, but they have great management. Cassidy was a great coach there. Now Tordorella is doing a hell of a job. You, I hate them out of jealousy. Like that's kind of where they're at. And I think we should bring in our guy, our guy who's been on this for a long time. A guy who has said, we don't ever need to keep our draft picks because they give us more every single year and we'll trade those away as well. Bring in Liam Blondie and he's like officially part of the dark side. I think that Vegas has added them to management. Look at he's in all black. He knows where the on the doors were. The bodies are buried. What's up, Lenny? I don't know where the police are. Oh, yeah, right. Yeah, okay. You've been wearing that form. Okay, man. Look at you. Yeah, I'm right. I'm right. I'm right. The guy who knows where bodies are buried. I gotta be honest. I've never seen him smile. He's all ear to ear. He's giddy. I'm giddy. He's itchy. He's itchy. Now, Blondie, I want to I want to preface this for people who don't know. Blondie is an actual enormous tennis guy as well. Before the year of the playoff, before the playoffs begin, he always releases a list of teams that will not win the Stanley Cup. And if they do, he can't watch Wimbledon, which apparently is like his favorite thing in the world. One of those teams, which it's amazing how it's come is the Carolina hurricane. So you have said for years, they are not a threat. That has to scare you now. You got some serious karma going on in your world. I mean, I've been right like six straight years. Yo, this time, it's getting dangerous, but it was dangerous with Edmonton the last two. And I was out on top. I gotta keep showing my way. Look, I'm a big believer that we we get in the airwaves and we say a lot of things and we we say things and we never back it up with with substance takes with stakes. That's all this is. I'm a believer in what I say. I'm going to continue a road and it just so happens. The dark side, my side is going to be the ones that need to put an end to them. So we're going to work on that. We're going to do it. You know what I'm saying? Are you are you worried like are you in fear of this team? Do you actually still consider them as like note because to say that they can't win the Stanley Cup to me, that says they get to the final against your team. You still have to be like, Oh, no, I'm not worried. I told you they can't win worry. That's not the correct word. I'm just very anxious. I hate the way I just ever since we won game four. It was like a three minute celebration for me and I was on to game one, game one, game one. I want to get this series. So I really truly do like no Western conference champions, Eastern conference champions, whatever I be. Don't touch the trophy. I don't want any of that merch. I want I want Stanley Cup merch. That's what we're playing for. And that's all I've been focused on. That's all I'm thinking about. I woke up today. What was what was Liam Blutman's first thought on June 1st? The new month woke up at like 5/50 of that cup week. No, first thought was man, Pavel Dorfayev's going to have a heck of a series. I thought you're saying, man, I'm hungry. Here we go. I got a piece. No, Doros going to have a great series. And you know, I look back. I see the two regular season means South of Warrows cares, but Dorfayev has three goals against Carolina in the two games this year. Oh, G's gone plus 4,000 cons. Why do you have 14 shot attempts in two games against Carolina woke up with the field? I think it's going to be a big Doro series. Are you worried at all with like the odds makers have Carolina the favorite here? Do you think that or that's just because Carolina's only lost one game? It doesn't bother me. We're big favorites. Big underdogs against Colorado. We've been slide the entire host season from a nods for so it doesn't mean anything to me too much weight on regular season hockey. Okay. Be be non biased then and tell me why Vegas is in terms of gambling. Vegas has Carolina's favorites. Why do they? Well, Vegas and Carolina, both those teams are pretty beloved by like models, data, the betting stuff. Carolina has always been at the top of that. I guess that's what you get when you got a mad scientist of a GM shout out to Tolskie for what he's been able to build. They love the the shot. Can we put up a picture of Tolskie by the way for those of you watching who who doesn't know what the mad scientist looks like? I would say like if Mark Ricci won sexiest man in Colorado, this guy should win sexiest man in the Carolinas. Yeah. Both the Carolinas North and South. Both. Both. Double state. I agree. I agree with you on that. Wait, to answer it, I really think that why Vegas loves Carolina from a bang standpoint is the shot disparity and what they do defensively and just like, you know, they're not giving the main goal. I just think that's it. I'll make you a bet, Bleny. Yeah. I picked Vegas and six. How about I get a pinky in the brain tattoo? If if if if Vegas wins and you get a Tolskie tattoo on you, not a tattoo guy. What do you mean you're not a tattoo guy? I put your fucking balls on the line. You talk about the stakes. Hey, these takes with stakes. Fucking, there's your state right there. That's a flame in y'all 20 ounces medium rare, right? You're fucking. My mother will never talk to me. Oh, yeah. Well, fuck you don't love anyone. Doesn't matter. This came so prepared. This is dial. Oh, fucking buzzer. Hey, you guys are on the same team, though, but you can't be going out and like, listen, I know we could throw around a lot about like how cut throat Vegas isn't stuff like that. Like, let's go back to the fact that the coaching change, like there's Tolskie right there. That's the tattoo. Bleny's going to have right on his neck right here. I think you got one. Yeah, you got to win it. I love that pocket square. Can you zoom in on that pocket square? He's got it. It looks like a grantee tons. I don't love that. It kind of looks like a castle and it looks like Bart Simpson's hair. That's like a grantee top. It's speaking to me. It's speaking to me. That's a national park right there. That is, you know, no, whoa, whoa, zoom in closer. It looks, it looks like like a gang band. It is something. Oh, my God. Dude, he's, I could see what it is ripped up. He's got to be. He's a bond filling. Yeah, he is. But listen, to gas, to gas, gas, Cassidy, that close to playoffs. Like, I don't dig by the way. And we just had him on. I wish I would have known this information before we, before we. before we let him go. But like apparently around the room, it was kind of one of these things where it's like, if we don't make playoffs, who cares? It was just a miserable, miserable, miserable atmosphere. Like they were counting down the days to the season was over. And I know at the time like they were like, it's still in a playoff spot. But the, the, the, the, the, the jubilation the room was gone. What's that? Saying the room was gone. It was gone. They were checked out. They, they, they, they were miserable. So we talk about how sometimes coaches like they, they keep tightening the vice, he just, he lost the room. And for, for the both McVee and, um, I'm drawn, uh, uh, McCrimman to pull the trigger of that close to playoffs and realize like, uh, I don't think this group is going to go anywhere with this guy as head coach. And then of all things to go poach, John Tartarella, like who would have fought in a million years that that would have been the guy. But, but you know, with a room like that, they know, those guys are on auto pilot. They know what the fuck to do, all those guys in that room. You needed to bring in a guy who has gravitas. Is that the word that keeps getting thrown around? Right. The toss, right? Why are you making that face, Whit? I was wondering if that was it. I couldn't believe that Tartarella, I thought he knew Kelly McCrimman, right? I'm guessing all the years, right? He never even knew him. He never met. Never knew him. He was shocked when he got the text. My thought, I thought was maybe McCrimman poked around and asked about, asked Eichel and Hanuffin after the Olympics about 100% and was that the case? I'm sure it was. I don't know where the bodies are buried though. It's gotta be. But good for him. For recognizing that the guys were checked out and to make that move. How many gyms would do that? Like not meant like Lou Lamarillo is the one that I can think of in the last 40 years that's done something like that where it's like to recognize it and to do it, just means you have a pulse of your team and you have one goal and that's to win the Stanley Cup and that's what they're trying to do. And like, how good is that as a fan, buddy? It's incredible as a fan. I mean, I remember texting you guys throughout the season and I looked back the date that I texted with. I believe it was like February 1st. I said, I'm losing confidence in this group. And then we keep texting you guys and be like, it is a slog. It is not joyous at all to watch them. And it shows in their play. It was a true grind to play 60 minutes. The only good thing about that January the mid March stretch is how much they trailed from behind and how that's the one thing that really, really pops in their play still is they got so much work to have in the grind out these games coming from behind all these like pushes. I mean, you guys see what they could do from 3L down against Colorado and these other comeback wins they've had. That's the one thing I'm grateful for. But yet like, Whit texted saying bloody, I love that move when Cassidy got fired and they bring in torts on March 28th. Whit knew in the time that that was like the thing you needed. That was the jolt, the flip of the switch to just get the, I'm not surprised at all that you said that they were looking forward to the end of the regular season winner lose. I'm not surprised at all by that. That's how it felt. They could have been like, yeah, if we miss he's fired like at this point, like and and people may hear that and be like, what the fuck? But when a room's gone, it's gone. And then you got, you got groups of guys after games having dinner and they're just like, this is fucking miserable. And it and it happens. It happens a lot more than people think. And the crazy thing is and it is a completely different team. But they finished the regular season with fewer wins than seven teams who missed the playoffs. So it's like more losses than wins. It's that's fucking wild. And they have and they just swept the president's trophy team. Talk about a league that makes no sense. And when you say, I've argued like coaching in the NHL, obviously it matters, but like it doesn't in a sense. And you see moments when it is everything. And this was a prime example. This proves that it's more about how you're able to motivate your players as opposed to the X's and O's, especially when you have a group like the Vegas goal the night. It's like all these guys know how to play hockey. They know the systems inside out. Like it go I mean, like it goes back to how the fact that they don't care about draft picks and developing young players for the most part. Like bloody, I mentioned last podcast. If they win the Cup, Calgary Flames have the next three years, they have their first rounder. Like Joink thanks for handoffing in Anderson. We don't give a fuck about the first rounders. Take him who gives a shit. So it's it's it's remarkable. And I mean, we've already complimented each player and what they have as far as top to bottom lines one through four, how they're D or built. Do would you agree that Whit mentioned this? Do you do you think that from one to six that Carolina does have the edge on the back end? How do you think it's closer than they say in bloody? I think it's pretty I think it's pretty close that they're they have even the top six. I think top four is even Carolina doesn't have the theater. They don't have that often. Gossess bear offensively is completely fine. That's fair, but he ain't I don't think he's theater offensively. No, but I know, but he doesn't need to play the five on five minutes. Right. His lights keep turning off the dark side. That's where the fuck bodies are buried. I told you guys. I do I do love this this other tweet that randomly popped up on my timeline. I do kind of dig the Vegas storyline and organization that treats nobody. Well, wins it absolutely all costs and isn't apologetic about it. They're not a dirty team either. They're just an evil one. If they win the cop hockey, Twitter is going to burn to the ground. All very true. Great statement, bloody Hey, chicken fans, we're going to take a quick break for a message from one of our partners. 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I think it'd just be super cool to see the Stanley Cup real Vegas Florida, Florida Vegas. The best two teams of the last four years will be fucking scum of the earth. Yeah. Yeah. I'm hoping Vegas gets it done in six again. I'm just so excited for this thing to start and then we could start talking and throw all the banter out there in between days, like this, this way up until opening puck drop is is brutal. Why is it brutal because I'm just, I'm just, I'm just itching. I'm chomping at the band, I'm ready to go. I know, but there's articles everywhere. It's like all you see stuff on your team. It's the exciting. But the best thing about this series, bloody is both teams going in extremely healthy. That's fucking huge. That watching that, that Florida Vegas series when Vegas stomped them in five games when Florida was so banged up, that's not fun to me. So that I'm, I'm so fired up about. I was going to ask you if they do have the ability to close out in six on home ice, will you be going to Vegas? I have no idea. What? The answer is yes. There were tickets for like a garden can chew and they're not going to fucking charge you to get in the building of all organized. I will meet you in Vegas if they have the opportunity to close out in six. Is it a guy's fingers and then buried his body? Like they'll give you free tickets. Is that a date? That would, that would be incredible. A lot of the rest of these, another big, a big storyline is the siren, the, the both these. They're siren. I'm so happy you brought that up. Listen, I just, I might be, they've got the size of their fucking horrible thing. They're the fucking evil villains. No, did you hear who, did you hear who Caroline is bringing out game one? Who? Cassidy. No. They're trolls on Twitter, they are, they're unbelieved, they're admin teams, unreal. If I am the Carolina Hurricanes, I bring in Bruce Cassie to sign that fucking. I would, I would, I would, I would, I would put him in a seat right behind Vegas's bench too. Incredible. Hey, he's going to have, he's going to have that evil cannabals, the costume on. No, we're the Toskey, the Toskey win. That's all the best salad in the league. Bloody, what are you from a gameplay perspective? Is there anything that maybe concerns you? Maybe line matchups, maybe penalty kill, like, what, what is it that like, what is it that concerned you or are you just that confident where you're like, it's all systems go. It's more about us than them. I, I, I am confident it is all systems go. I love starting this on the road. I love the opportunity to go out there and take home ice and game one. Maybe even game to us. Well, just want to go into Raleigh though and take one of those first two. Uh, the one concern is, it's, it's just obvious. It's the man and deep into how they absolutely suffocate you. I know that we got our playmakers, I cool, uh, Mariner Carlson. Whoever it be, we've got to be quick with the puck. Make some quick decisions and yo, get out there and not they can't. We can't let them suffocate us and grind it down. We got on the neutral zone and we've owned the neutral zone three straight series. There was a lot of talk about how are we going to be able to contain Leo Carlson. There was one moment in all series where I was like, wow, look at his speed. Well, I talk about how are we going to be able to contain Nathan McKinney? You think about the Lake Tahoe game, him playing Patrante launch skates. There was one time all serious was like, wow, look at Nathan's speed. That's the, that's the deal here. I think the biggest thing for them is not getting frustrated. Like the big guys get it because it's going to be a long series. There's going to be some dull drums during the games where you can't get the puck in. If those big guys cannot get frustrated and continue to play their game, I think, I think they're forwards outmatched. Carolinas forwards so much better. That's the key man and Mariner touched on it. These guys that they stick with it, they don't turn on each other. They don't start bitching whether that was a shot at Toronto and the way things went there. And or Cassidy and or that's just the way this team is gelden bonded over the last eight games of regular season. I mean, really all year though, you mentioned they were the comeback kids, right? They fucking figured it out and they would, they didn't matter how many goals they were down. They were, they would figure things out. So Bloney, it's interesting to hear how confident you are, but I'm not shocked. I'm not shocked. It's like, it's amazing to confident. No, I'm not too confident. I'm just, you know, they're coming in here 12 and one in the postseason. We're coming in here 12 and four. We have of the six series wins. We have the best series women and it's, look, I love being the underdog. I love being the evil empire. I love everyone rooting against us. I, I, you know, I love being the villain. Look at this guy. I'm the big bad, the big bad boy in the situation. I'm right to take another cup, bring it back to Vegas and let Michee bring his to Toronto. That's the play it. I should have a fucking win. I, I sent you that text. I was going to put that, that consmife bet in for Mariner at 12 to one. Would you say he's the, he's probably the top dog right now. What the fuck is your storyline that would work? It would, it would, they're not going to give it to heart. Um, and then all the writers just to Toronto. It's like, it's setting up that if they win, he's going to get it. What are the odds right now? Can you zoom in on those or just read them? We have, uh, Freddie at, uh, Mariner at plus 165 Freddie at plus 220 Taylor Hall at plus 600 Logan Stankov and at plus 8550 to Carter Heart at plus 1200 Jackson Blake at plus 1500 Jack Eiko plus 1600. I love that. That's correct. I, I, at the time, Mariner was plus 1200. That was before the Colorado series. While he's putting on a fucking clinic and I just think that the way that the whole season is gone and how we like joke about the script writers and stuff, I think, uh, I think 93 is going to be bringing a cup home to, to moscoka as well as a cons. Look at all those jerseys. That's like the main reason I think Vegas is going to win. Just like the fact that he leaves in the first year gone. He wins a cup and the consmife. It's just like a storyline that you couldn't even, you couldn't even, you couldn't to dreamt this. You couldn't have dreamt this is someone who can't stay in the leaf. So bloody, we appreciate it, buddy. Um, I'm sure there'll be a lot of discussion, a lot of arguing on our, on our text chain of throughout the next hopefully two weeks and seven games. That's what I want. Do you communicate with any of the players on the Golden Knights, Liam? No, he might stalk a couple of them. Does that count as communicating? Uh, Gary Lawless, the Emmy, though, and said I'm his favorite guy at barstool now. So that's another story. And I Gary not coming on with us before the series, he got me this jersey. He, he literally said, boys, I'll see, I'll see you in the cup ends. I'm like, no, no, Gary, staff comes on right before cup finals. Like that's our thing. You're, you're, you're, you're, you're Vegas is stuff. He's like, haha, I love you guys. See into I think that they're, they're, uh, I think that maybe he's upset about the cast to the interview. That's what I think. No, he's probably, he's probably superstitious. But if they do win, when they came on every series and they've won and you got to be superstitious. He came on, when he didn't come on, no, he came on, he came on before the playoffs started, I believe. He's been on twice, hasn't he? I think he's been on twice before the playoffs and in the middle, one of the, after the first round. No, we talked to during the Utah series, I believe. Yeah, when Carlson was coming back, remember it got announced that I don't know if he's playing this series. No, that was the ducks. It was right before the ducks and then he played games in one lane. I'm not kidding either. He got me this Jersey. We were game one this year. Oh, that's another, that's another crazy. You know, you know why they're going to win in six games at home. Me and Bloney started the season in Vegas. And remember when we were walking around like outside, uh, what do you call it on the strip? Long the strip and he called the door a fee of hat trick. He called it, and that's what he's called for the guy serious cocaine on the street. Right before you made the pick, I'm sure we have the right somewhere. That's what buddy's like, do I look like a cocaine guy? I'm like, yeah, but you're not and what's even crazier is Mariner. You know how they did the player intros where they come on the golden carpet, the, not the red carpet, the golden carpet. He came onto the panel. I did the Mitchie come back video and there's the picture of Mariner on the panel. And Bloney's a creep right below. And then, and then sure enough, when we were inside the building, uh, Lawless came and delivered this Mariner jersey. It's all coming together boys. It's all coming together. And so brought the bond, fucking cleans you, cleans and, and jerk. What is it, jerk press? How does it all just snatch clean and snatch bloody right over, right over his head? Snaps him in half. Hey, do you think there's any way that, um, like brinda Moore would call, um, Cassidy, like if they heard that interview, he was a little bit distraught. Like wanting to see things up. Do you think there's a chance that he would personally wouldn't just for, I don't want that bad karma. I just want to do it the way I've been doing it. I don't, I'm sure that Cassidy's called them and then like anything you need from me, let's go. All system, I'll work for free. It's so funny that a guy who a coach, he, you know, he wins a Stanley Cup there. And obviously he let us know he's, he's upset right now. Rightfully so it's like, he wants them to lose more than any person and the world. Everything ends ugly with them. Look at hurry, like it's just, it's toxic. Anyway, bloody, we love you. I'll see you in Vegas for game six. And, uh, yeah, I'd come out, I'd come out to that. Maybe you could facilitate a Mariner interview for us. I don't, I don't got the pull like that. I would love you. I would love if all you guys were there for a game six clothes. I'd, I'd show you the childhood home. I'd show you guys around Vegas and biz one last thing because that Vegas trip, that season opener, we blew that game in the third period to LA. By still walk the way, no one, that was a Stanley Cup. I was texting you during the game. You were up in the panel. I was looking at you. You were looking at me. I was expecting this is a cup kind of like this is the most talented team we had. I leave that game. Me and Uncle Kenny were going back and I do a video in the last words. I say in the video where I'll see you back here for a Stanley Cup final this season. Is this true, biz? Yeah, buddy. All this is dead. All this is even tough in that night as well. After we went to the Rhino and blue Liam salary, I would love to see Uncle Kenny Blutman too. That's just a face time. The end of last week, two weeks ago, whenever to talk to Uncle Kenny, but he didn't answer. All right, bloody. All right, we'll talk to you. I'll be you all as a collective. Yeah, get him out. Get him out. We said you love us. He said he got this quick hit boys. Hey, Chico's fans, we're going to take a quick break for a message from one of our partners. Bill Lucky, you should be meet the new Lucky one. Sweet T 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 Vodka based 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 one million dollars 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. Hey, Chico's fans, we're going to take a quick break for a message from one of our partners on game day. Get substacked high at Jersey mics, like the number 13 original Italian loaded with meats, cheese and toppings or the number 56 big kahuna cheese steak with grilled steak peppered. Onions and mushrooms topped with jalapenos and melty cheese get your sub-fix on game day in order in store or the Jersey Mike's app all right now back to the show Keith business off. So it's actually hilarious time to say I mean What a year for hockey Canada? these guys They didn't even get a medal though. I feel for said and and like I love said obviously I love celibreany, but like they lost in the bronze medal game to Norway Norway and I know and Ryan O'Reilly after how to quote so Matthew could chuck out a quote after USA It was a limited say and I never want to be at this tournament again I don't think people got that it means you're competing for the Stanley Cup final and you can't be there and you can't Partake it's it looks a lot worse if you don't think of it that way But then Ryan O'Reilly and he kind of got torched for it Ryan O'Reilly after said it's just To come over here and leave with nothing is is is just a disgrace and kind of shocking I would say Finland Seen bark off out there again. I was like oh my god like the panthers my fucking win the cup next year I don't think that's a huge shocking thing to say, but Helanius can't even say his name right. I don't think it's Helanius He's incredible. He scores the winner Finland gets it done But bizz I just said as you were taking a hose tough fear for hockey Canada. Yeah Riddle yeah Whatever what are you gonna do? I'll be honest like yes It would have been nice to bring home a medal from the worlds, but like it's be honest those guys get over there And they they're out they'd like their boo their booze in like they're having fun like they're enjoying each other's company Um, I don't maybe for whatever reason this year they took it more seriously and they were really trying to win But like I don't give a fuck about the world's no offense. That's a fair statement. That's a fair I have won one myself Under 18 and the summer one as well. I won two under 18 gold medals not a big deal Um, I just I don't give a flying fuck, but have a lot to Europe bizz had they won All the median Canada would have been talking about you know, it's a huge Canada, but now now everybody's gonna downplay it like it's nothing come on Go back and listen to any spit and chicklets about world championships Like during playoffs. Oh, I know you. Yeah. Oh, okay. Well Yeah, I mean, I'm not I've been very complimentary of of other countries kind of raising their level of play and and reaching Canada standards and as of right now we got to take a big fat look in the mirror and and figure shit out I mean Yeah, it's uh, it's it's not good. We don't we don't have many things to celebrate as a nation Um, when it comes to sports Uh, so I mean we got curling With the little finger flick and then and then what else now at this point Yeah, um bizz it is possibly good news for the uh world hockey stage that the ii chef has decided Russia could be back basically. They're going event by event which is They're gonna decide before each event if russia's allowed to play I it's kind of confusing to change like I thought when this announcement would come out It's like they're back. No, they're not back, but they're not like permanently banned So there's somewhere in between where they'll decide before I imagine that before best on best play It's been okay. They can play and then it goes back to world the world juniors and they say they can't play But there's a chance now we see russia in the next best on best Yeah, and and I think that that is going to be the case in uh in the next world cup of hockey in 2028 Um, I think that they're going to have to invent a new strain of ozempic for for ov to be a part of that one But I also believe that he will be a part of that one even even if he's not like Barring something like I think that next year he has his his his uh his farewell tour in the NHL That's my prediction and then the next year Just based on my inmate guys like he's not he can't even skate out there It's a fucking side show like in that in that regard especially could you imagine by the end of next season I think that maybe that following season when they do have the world cup of hockey I could see him playing in russia and then representing his country At the worlds and then that's it see it see a later sionara It would be I like that take it would be brutal It would be brutal If we didn't have Malcolm and OV at one last best on best as like a passing of the torch to the Caprice Offs to the Demidoves to the whatever Oves that are coming up Yeah, that's why it would have been nice to have them in this olympics just because those guys were still You know playing in gino who knows what he's going to do you want him best on best but I I agree with you on that because those guys do like to go back and play in russia for a year when they retire from the NHL Man, it would just be so good to have seen them in the olympics with how deep they are now the goal tending that they have But if we can get them in the world cup like that that is huge for hockey and it just makes the tournament that much even better I would I would personally sign off on OV being able to use olympic and the russian gas for that world cup of hockey I know the whole reason everyone would I know there's a lot of reasons as to why they're not playing whether it's doping Whether it's like the war like there's a lot of things at russia There you know they don't do it by the code exactly they're not exactly you know above the board usually and how they go about things But for that one specifically Russian gas olympic and whatever else that OV wants to do let him do whatever the fuck you want as long as he's bringing the gold card Um the kitchen arrangers are a complete wagon um memorial cup champs They took down every six to two they also beat them six to two in the round robin Samo Riley have you guys heard of Samo Riley no no is he a player first round pick by the Edmonton oilers a couple of years back They traded him. Oh, no, I believe he's OHL MVP OHL playoff MVP memorial cup MVP He's now a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Oh, where you at stop. That was the Isaac. Oh, okay, so now We're gonna offer Isaac Howard Incredible year in the AHL was dominant Michigan state the year before that I'm not ready to say like oh my god disaster trade at all because Isaac Howard could play a huge role with the oilers next year But the way Samo Riley played this season after the trade it is a look I don't think I could tell the truth that saying oilers fans aren't like You know we're looking at a possible I've read like unbelievable third line center in the eight in the NHL someday So Isaac Howard is a little more pressure on him than normal based on who you get traded for But congrats to congrats the you know, Kitchener. What a what a wagon of a team Hasn't Edmonton been looking for a third line center for quite some time Well, that's the the problem was that Isaac Howard be as a little bit older would be ready to play and have an impact on the oilers before Samo Riley in the window that McDavid has and I think Isaac Howard can be a really good player. So I'm just mentioning that he he was traded from the oilers And he just won every single thing. I think you can win in junior hockey individual and team. Yes, please. I went to Kitchener for a public appearance Like till I go like like meet the team and stuff like this year back Oh, no, like this is maybe two to three years ago and the reason I was there is it was facilitated by my buddy Jeff Krizakis who's constantly messaging me about like hey you guys do these uh these college hockey tours you need to come to Kitchener like First-class organization they they did they did a remodel to the locker room Supposedly, it's the nicest facility in in all junior hockey right now. Yeah. Yeah. They have like a golf simulator in there for the boys I think they do a lot of their like quote-unquote homeschooling because like their schedules are pretty crazy, right? They're more hockey focused in school but they have like a school room there where they're able to like do their their Studies at the rink like they are just top titty as far as uh junior hockey's concern and listen These CHL teams are gonna have to start doing this type of stuff in order to compete with what's going on with all this college money So it's now just go to the chl and then you go to college. It's just turned in the ushls fucked The national team development program could be in a tough spot Carter Meyer who I crazy dad I played with his dad Freddie. He left the national team development program Wrote of the Quebec League. He needs a release. He's gonna play with his brother next year Yeah, it's a crazy story. I actually want to I want to talk to Fred ramparts. I want to talk to Freddie more And and you know before we really discuss it, but a crazy you know, I shouldn't say crazy But you know something you haven't seen before where you're leaving the national development program which I've heard things are They're out of crossroads, which it seems like the entire junior hockey landscape is out of crossroads, but it's turning into I think there was a kid the year before JP who bear something like that or brother Horrible, but he left to go to the whl and it's a little scary for USA hockey. I'm not gonna lie and Interestingly enough a star player on Everett Landon Dupont So we've talked about Mickey Dupont who is a member of the Wilkes of penguins organization He's a great offense great guy Europe as well. He's kid He's disgusting master like Scott need a myer. Yeah, you're looking at like Quinn Hughes Scott. You know any and And he's, you know, undersized a little bit defense and it's incredible. And now ever season ends and then all the news is where is he going to go to college? And all of a sudden, I think he's going to be going on visits and you know, Michigan will be in the mix and you know, all these other teams with probably big dough and big pockets will be in the mix. But the question I have and I wonder is Keaton Verhoff, who Stoff had mentioned to us, I think was like the best defenseman to ever come out of Western Canada. He went to North Dakota and I wonder if going into the draft, if he'd stayed in the WHO, would he be getting drafted higher? Like I think it's a valid question based that all of a sudden you've seen G and you follow this a little more closely because names dropped a little bit. I think he had a tough or he had a real tough frozen for it. But it's a lot, it's a, it's harder hockey and that is not even a chirp. It's old way older men in college hockey. So it's probably best for your development. Is it best to play your draft year in college hockey? It's very difficult. You've seen Celebrity and Ikel and certain guys be able to light it up. You've seen a lot of other guys be like, holy fuck, this is not the CHL. So what it's actually went to is like, it's a, it's a conference of bigger, stronger Western league type guys, the 23 24 year old guys that are just old and big and play heavy. I mean, that's why we've seen what eight of the last like 10 national championships have come from the NCHC. So I, you mentioned Landon DuPont though. I wouldn't be surprised one bit. You said he's gonna, he could end up with a team with money. I wouldn't be shocked one bit if Denver comes in and just scoop some up here. Like, but they don't, but they don't pay their players. I heard after, I heard after that that that is kind of false. I heard that that is kind of false. We're gonna have to do some more digging on that one. Yeah, I think Denver has a little bit of money actually. I mean, we get all they give them free Chipotle, which is basically like a million. That's cool. Those guys, but she right now is Landon DuPont, the consensus first overall pick for 2027. No question about it right now. No, no, I love Carter Meyer too. And I think he's making, I think he's making a great move going to Quebec. I feel like the development program was almost too easy for him. So go to Quebec. You're playing against older guys. It'll be a little bit better for you. But yeah, I think Landon DuPont right now. I mean, especially with like what guys like Quinn Hughes and Kill McCart and Zach Orinsky have done over the past few years. And you're seeing how much value these puck moving defensemen have. I think it's no question. He's going to be the story of college hockey next year. Him, along with the plant, the three plant brothers that are playing at Minnesota Duluth. They'll be the story of college hockey. But with what I just wanted to ask you about those guys like McKinnon and Verhoff, who left juniors to, to ultimately test themselves, right? You're going to a tougher league with older players. And I know, I know he had mentioned it in the doc that you guys did with him. Like he knew he wasn't going to be putting up the same amount of numbers. He knew the game wasn't going to be as easy. But at the end of the day, man, like if you're getting yourself better, you're getting yourself to that next bubble. Who cares if you drop a pick or two? I agree. But I think some people do. I, I'm in agreement with you, but like, it's not like the NFL wearing bonuses are capped anywhere. The same. Yeah. It's all the same. It's all the same. Basie. If you're top 15 pick, I agree with you. And if you drop, if you're a guy that's considered, go for a better team, I think that if you have the mentality of you're staying in junior because you want to be a higher pick, I would avoid that guy at all costs. That, that, that, that tells me everything what you got between the years. I want guys who want to challenge themselves and like, learn, learn, like put me against harder competition. We fucking drop the line here all the time, iron sharpens, iron, Ryan Whitney. And you're going to flat parties and football games. It's probably enjoying your life a little bit more. It's a little better for sure. Then then, uh, all right. So we got Michael Lansberg coming on soon. Is he ready? Now, do you know, needs a few minutes here, needs a couple minutes. Okay. Any other subjects that we could talk about in the meantime? Mason McTavitch's name has been thrown around as a potential trade target for the auto senators apparently. Well, his dad, his dad was like the first hire, Dale McTavitch was, I believe, was the first hire that Steve Steyos made when he came in. So that's why McTavitch Mason's name is kind of floating around the senators organization. It seems as though being a healthy scratch in the playoffs, it's like, when that's happening to a guy who's considered a big part of that core, I could definitely see options of being traded or moving on from a guy because there's, there's something there that Kwenville didn't love, right? And then all of a sudden, like, can you, can you work through that and can in your exit meeting, you be on the same page of what needs to happen in the summer for you to not be sitting out and play off games in the most meaningful games. Or is it kind of like, we've seen many times coach and player they don't mix and I don't know, I'm not in that room, but I think there's room for him to get better. I think that like, you know, he's still young, right? I think that the signs after the contract negotiation and the fact that they're going to need money boys because they're going to have to pay Dylan Gunther or not Dylan Gunther Goche and Carlson. Like, I wouldn't be shocked if somebody offers sheets, Leo Carlson. And then you got Seneca after that and Seneca, so they got those three guys up for payment. I would rather, what is, what does McTavish make six and a half? No, I think he makes more. Maybe seven, he makes seven. I think that he's gone. But do you think it's one of those things because they did scratch him and play off. They like, they would have to eat some of the salary. No, they really want to go. He's young, he's young. No, but you're right. In terms of you're not selling high. That's what I mean. Like, what are you going to get right now after you? I think that a guy like McTavish, it's I don't know something that they can fill in in a spot where, I mean, I'm trying to think of their roster, like maybe like that might be the type of guy that you get rid of for like a first round pick. Yeah. People have mentioned Pittsburgh. That would be a good landing spot for him. I mean, there's a few. Obviously, Anaheim has to tinker the roster a little bit, but I feel like they got their foundational pieces and they're going to be fine. So I think that that for sure, like kind of like was zegrous. Remember when they went through the contract bullshit, like it just was like, Oh, okay, they're not starting off on the right foot. Don't know exactly if he's he's Quinnville's cup of tea, as well as is what for be knows what's going to be able to get them over the top. Like that guy making seven million compared to what you're going to have to pay everybody else. And that doesn't work real quick offer. You guys mentioned offer sheets and the ducks. I do think Oh, Olan Zellweger. I think he's a guy who could definitely get offer sheeted this summer. Like he just, he was getting healthy scratched at the end there. 22 years old puck moving demon, you know, obviously a hot commodity around the league. He actually looked good in the games he got in there, but they're just they have too many guys in the back end. They're just not going to be able to fit them in there. Well, we know there'll be 31 teams gun into offer sheet door of fear. I mean, nobody's taken it easy on Vegas after the after the run. He's got. He's going to reject them all and sign a an eight year deal. It's seven million boxes to be happy and I know tax day was sunshine and and sick. We're going to bring on Michael Landsberg. But hey, chicken fans, we're going to take a quick break for a message from one of our partners. Hey, Alabama, still blue coffees, new canned lattes are here and in a store near you crafted with 100% Colombian coffee. Each can is a good source of protein and comes in two smooth flavors espresso cafe mocha and espresso sweet cream. Whether you're braving your morning commute or chasing your pup, still blue cans are for those always on the go and for those who care. 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All new still blue coffee cans lattes now available at stillbluecoffee.com or subscribe on Amazon for 10% off. All right. Two things. Have you have you worn the noble track seato? Yes. Unbelievable. I have to be farted next to Wayne Gretzkin mine. No, I know, but I'm telling you, if you ever do fart next to somebody important, it won't let the fart out because the materials are so good. So that's that to the ad read. We talked possibly able to choose like the journey to but you have to check out their apparel. It's unbelievable. And the second thing is as far as body armor water, I get it sent to the house. A lot of people like they don't give it a chance because maybe they see other ones at the gas station where they're more familiar with. Everybody who tries it at my place is like, oh my God, and realize how good the body armor water is. It's fucking unbelievable. Like, if you go, if you put a tester of all the waters of bottled water next to each other with no label on it, I bet you that's the one you're picking with majority of the time. So shut out the body armor and everything they got going for us. And we got to bring on our next guest, a very special one. Bring them in right now, Michael Landsberg. Mike, what's going on? Well, what's going on? Pumped for this already pissed off. You called me Mike. Nobody calls me Mike. Used to be the running joke on off the record. This thanks for hookin' me up and pleasure to be here guys. And let me say this that in real serious this, that you guys have the ability with your platform and with your audience and with your attitude, like no bullshit, you know, we're just talking like real guys. You guys can change the way men look at mental health more than any platform out there. I just, I thought it was important to bring you on. Like we, we do talk about it sometimes. Michael, Michael, Michael, but you know, like, you know, we, we, you know, we're trying to keep it a little bit more positive around here most of the time. And we do touch on it when it is necessary. But we just felt like bringing you on was, was the play because like you've been ahead of this for a very long time. You've dealt with your personal struggles. And we just figured that you'd be the one to be able to get through to a lot of people listening if they are dealing with something in order to, to reach out to the right outlets and handle things the right way. So we appreciate you and everything that you've done in the mental health space. And ever since you were on, on TSN and, and talking about all this stuff before it was like at the time you were doing it, it was kind of like full Paul, like not many people were talking about this and really understood what it even was. You know, thanks for all that. It's, it's, it's funny how it just fell into my lap. I mean, I've battled anxiety on my life depression, really severe depression, the point where I understood why people take their own lives. It just kind of happened like, I don't know where because we were doing a show, Stefan Ryshe was a guest on off the record. And I had read that he battled depression throughout his career. So I thought that would make an interesting question. I'd never spoken about it at all. Never a single word. I just figured what difference would it make and people would just think, Oh, yeah, Lance, we're, you know, a lot of people don't like him. So he wants us to feel story for him. So I never mentioned it. So I said to Stefan, step out of the green room for a second if you would. I'd never met him before. I said, Would be okay if I asked you about depression. And he said, it's painful. I don't like to talk about it. So I said to him, would it help if I talked about it? He said, Sure, let's, uh, let's do it. I told him a bit about my story. We went on the air. I asked him, uh, and he came into this great answer. He said, imagine a Canadian kid born a Montreal drafted by the Montreal Canadians, rookie of the year in the NHL last Canadian score 50 goals Stanley Cup champion for the Montreal Canadians. And not one moment of that did I enjoy. And I thought, wow, that's got to be like the definition of depression. So he went through this and I realized because I'm hearing the count of my year, I'm almost at a time. And I got to mention it because I promised him I would. So I said 11 seconds worth. All I said was, Hey, Stefan, I'm sure a lot of people appreciate what you said. I know there's one other person on this set who's experienced depression. And that's me. And that was it. And the reaction to that was insane. I'm like reading these emails. I'm showing my wife and she goes, Holy shit, how did that happen? I wasn't trying to do anything good. But people heard that and they heard I was in a shame to embarrass. Stefan was in a shame to embarrass. We didn't sound weak and all of a sudden, you know, this became my new life. The tagline you always use is sick, not weak, right? Like that's what you always refer to. What like, when did like you personally start like getting these feelings? Like what like, when did they pop a bow? Like I would say like early in my life, I never really dealt with it, where all of a sudden, as you get older, life becomes a little bit more serious. You have more responsibility. And maybe that's where it creeps in. You know, the why is really difficult for a lot of people with with really serious depression because there is no why. It's like, I don't know how I got sick. I want to psychiatrist the first time. And I said to her, look, if you want me to come and talk about this, I'll come every day if you want me to come every day. But I need something right now. I'm fucking dying here. You've got to give me something because I'm not going to make it. And that was sort of my start on this journey. Why did it happen? I don't know. Did I have anxiety as a kid? Yes. Did I fear things other kids didn't fear? Absolutely. Did I ever talk about it? No. Did my daughter develop a chronic eye condition that was really serious and vision threatening? Yes. Did I handle that poorly? Yes. I became obsessed with it. And the more I thought about it, the more I fell into this whole of depression. But here's here's something guys. You got to understand. It happens so slowly. You don't know what's happening. It's like this tiny change in your life to who you are. And I heard my father in law one day say, wait, well, Michael has changed more than anyone I've ever met. And I thought, see, talking about like, I have a change. And then I started to think about it. Look at all the things I used to do that I didn't do anymore. All the things that used to bring me joy, all the confidence that I had. I used to look into the camera and I would know that I was born to do this. I was 100% sure that I could do whatever it was. We were going to do that day and that I could interview guys and not be afraid of them. And then I realized, oh my God, that guy is gone. And I have left. And being replaced by this person, I fucking hated him. I hated who I was. I hated everything about me. And that was kind of the start of this journey. That's interesting to hear because it does make a lot of sense in terms of having all the success you've had, having all the success stuff on reshade. It doesn't matter, right? And when you first saw the psychiatrist and then moving forward, like, did it take different psychiatrists? Did it take medication? Look, how long was this something where you feel like maybe now? And I hope you do have a little bit more of a grip on it. Oh, yeah. So I, it was medication, for sure. And I'm not here to be an advocate for medication, right? I'm only here to be an advocate for it. Do whatever you have to do because if you're, if you're really depressed or really anxious and anything else mental health related and you're not doing anything about it, you're giving up your life, man. You're giving up your life. You, you, you, you, you are alive, but you're not really living. So she wrote a prescription for me, went downstairs to the drug store, filled the prescription, bought a bottle of water, took my first color at that one in two weeks later, I was doing okay. And I cured this amount of time later. Do I still battle? Absolutely. But am I satisfied with what I get to do in my life and how I get to feel about it? Absolutely. And I know for me, when we came into the league, like even talking mental health, like it wasn't really a big topic. And I feel like the last handful of years, it's gotten more into the language. You see guys taking time off from mental health issues and stuff like that, where it's it's kind of one of those things like, like you've said, you're injured, you're hurt. It's part of, you know, if you're not feeling mentally strong, you can't go out and play in an NHL game or an NFL game or NBA game. Like what, what have you been most proud of seeing that progress the last few years of guys, you know, at least speaking it out. So other people know. Well, just, just you alone, like you played almost a thousand straight games, right? You played through like a bit, a starly, horrible injury, but that was okay because they were physical injuries, right? So we eat, but if, if, if that was something mental and you said, I'm just going to play through it, you'd be fucked. I can tell you, you would be because people who try to just play through it never get better unless they address it. So what I'm, I'm really proud of the fact that we just talk a bit more about it, but I'm kind of worried that it meant in particular, you know, like men, like we're still really shitty at it, you know, like, like we just don't talk about stuff the way women do, right? Like, like we look at Claude Lemieux. I mean, I, I knew Claude really well when we did the show. And he was on like, I don't know, 25 times probably. He was on my all-time favorite show maybe with Darren McCarty. We put those two guys on together and they'd never been together since they went at it on the ice. And I said to Claude, you know, would, would you do this? And he said absolutely. And we said to Darren, would you do it? He didn't say absolutely that quickly. But just the two of them together talking about it was amazing. And Lemieux was like, I, I know, it's one of the reasons why he put me on was Claude's death by suicide. It's just, he was one of those guys, and I'm sure you all have it, right? Guys that you expect to be a dick and he's not, he was, he was that guy. I thought, you know, like, well, Lemieux, like, what's he going to be like? He was an awesome guy. And he knew that I battled. But we never talked about it because, I mean, back then, I don't know what was going on with him. But I think that we could do way better. And just now, like on this show, we're making a difference because we're not talking about it. I give you say to him, man, hey, join us on spitten chitlets next week when we'll talk about the symptoms of depression. No one wants that. But now we're talking about, you know, Claude Lemieux and Darren McCarty and we're talking about other stuff. And somehow it finds its way into the conversation. That's why I say, you guys have this amazing power. I appreciate that. And I think there are, I don't think I know right now there's guys listening. or have turned it off like pussies, and I really don't care because I think there's a lot of people listening that are truly listening like holy shit. Like the line you just said, you're not living your life and nobody deserves that. And that's why I don't care about people who say, I have no interest in that. You're being a bitch blah, blah, blah, because if it reached one person, it really makes the world a difference to us. And I think it truly does. And to hop in there, Michael, like I almost envy people who like they don't deal with that. Like it never occupies their mind. It's when you talk about it, they're like, what are you talking about? That's that's pushy shit and they move on. Hey, to those people, I would shake their hands and say, hey, man, you're obviously living a lot better than a lot of people and your ability to shut that off. Hey, I commend you, but the other side of the coin is like, there's a lot of people that do deal with it. And there's a lot of people, especially men that deal with it in silence. And you've kind of set a few things where you've mentioned depression and anxiety. And there's a lot of different things that surround it. It's not just one thing. It's not very linear either. So can you maybe elaborate a little bit more on that? And what also do you think about the guys like Dana White who are like, ah, talking about that stuff is pushy shit? You know, I, Dana, if you were to say to me, hey, Michael, who is your favorite guest on off the record, I would say, you know, like we did like thousands of shows. So it's not like one guy comes to mind. But Dana wouldn't be one of the guys, absolutely. Because he had thick enough skin that you could challenge him. You could like, you could say what the fuck he talking about, you know, and he wouldn't be pissed off. I'm disappointed. I actually asked him not a couple of years ago. I asked him, would you work with me on a men's mental health program where we try to talk to men in a way that wasn't focused on mental illness. It was focused on the stories, the people, and somehow we weave it in there. And he said, absolutely. And then I find out, you know, he's saying that, you know, that it's pushy to, you know, like this kind of stuff. And that's disappointing, but, you know, live and learn. I still like the guy. And I still like the fact that he was such a great guest because you could like fight with him. Yeah, like you guys must know this. Like guys that you fight with and they solve, that's no good. But if you can find someone who you can fight with and debate with and argue with and you can tell them, you're a fucking idiot and they're not going to get mad because the show is, then that kind of stuff is gold. - And going back just to the other question there about, like it not being necessarily linear either, 'cause there's probably people listening right now that are dealing with different types of mental illness stuff, like what's your expertise in it? And like what, like what different lanes are there? And maybe like how do these people who are listening who are like, I can't find an answer, I can't find an answer, like what is it? - You know, the first thing you have to do is you have to think about it. Men don't think about their mental health because people don't tell us to think what are mental health. And it's an awareness that shit happens, right? You know, you see these stats about how many people actually are living with mental illness. And you go, holy crap, then you gotta think to yourself, okay, well, if one out of five have it, if one out of two experience mental health challenges by the time they're 40, then why would I assume it's not me? But we do assume that it's not us because we have no clue what it is. And one of the things I say, I mean, I've traveled around this country in a lot of the US talking about mental health and what other things to say is, if you haven't been through it, you can't understand it. No matter what, you can't understand it. People think they can, right? Because we use the word depression to say, oh, you know, my dad passed away like four years ago, you know, I'm depressed about it. It's not the same as the illness. So there's an awareness that we need. And I tell people, you gotta understand, it's not what you think it is, right? If you think that someone with depression is gonna look, you know, sad and they're gonna be crying all the time, fuck, men don't do that. You know what men do? They get pissed, they get angry, they yell at their kids, they yell at their wife, they act like assholes because they can't show the real pain they're in. They can't show like in hockey. You couldn't show sadness, right? You could show anger for sure, but you couldn't show sadness. And so understanding what an illness like depression or anxiety or bipolar or OCD, you know, they're kind of all grouped together. ADHD, it's kind of like this big mess in our heads and some people get a little of this and a little of that. But I think it's understanding the fact that it's not what you think it is. You know, I thought a lot about this before coming on and I thought hockey is maybe the best example of how to talk about mental health because you guys, you know, had a code, right? You played with the hockey code and the code told you certain things. I mean, we all know about the code. I didn't play hockey, but I know about the code, talked about the code all the time. And then one day I realized, you know, we men live by that same code. We like, like whether you played hockey or not, you live by the code, you know, the rules of the code, handle it yourself. You're a man, no one's coming. Don't show weakness ever because you're a man, act like it. And all of these rules that existed in hockey exist in a man's life. And we need to accept the fact that we're living by these ridiculous rules. They were great in hockey, right? You know, like they keep guys on the ice, they keep guys playing all kinds of shit. But when it comes to men living their life, no. - Michael, what would be a sign whether you could see in yourself or in one of your friends that they're acting off and it's not one of those things where it's just, oh, he's having a bad day or he's having a bad week where, you know, you could really tell something's going on. - You know, that's a great question. - Thank you. - And there's no real great answer to it because everybody's different. But, you know, how do you see, let me put it this way, okay? I'll give you an example of how tough it is. I did probably in my career a thousand shows severely depressed where I just, I hated everything about my life. I hated everything about who I was. Now, when I say I hated everything about my life, it's how I related to my life. And it was so obvious to me that it was on my face, right? Like, I would do a show and I would think, oh my God, people are going to call ambulances. They're going to, you know, like, let's get landscape help. Not one show. Did anyone actually ever say to me, are you okay? Not one. And in 2008, this is kind of like I have this tattoo on my arm. 11-24-08-YUL and H5-2-10-4-0-0. November 24, 2008-YUL is the Montreal Airport Code. Maria Hotel room 5-21-4 AM. We were there shooting off the record the great cup. And I sat on the edge of my bed and I thought, I understand why people take their own lives. It was like, I was in so much pain. It wasn't that I didn't love my wife and my kids and my parents at the time and didn't love my job. Like all of that was like, check 'em off. I was, you know, I was so blessed. But I was in so much pain at that point that I was way more afraid of having to try to live with that pain the next day than I was of dying. And that taught me so much. And then next day, when we did the show, no one said to me, like, you okay? You don't seem like yourself. So Keith, it's really tough to understand what's going on in someone's head if they don't want you to know 'cause we all get the ability to wear the mask and people with depression get really good at it. And-- - So it wasn't people not noticing it. It was more so you doing a good job of hiding it? - Totally, totally. I mean, if I would have acted the way I was feeling everybody would have known. I mean, I would just be in there, you know, wouldn't have taught, wouldn't have done anything. You know, I just wouldn't have been me. And guys like all of us in this conversation who work on camera, you get really good, right? At acting, how you think people want to see you as opposed to how you're actually feeling, right? You don't go on the air if you've had a bad day. Well, you might talk about the circumstances the bad day, but you, you know, if you're sad about something, you know, you put a face on and you do it. You watch, you watch MSNBC and REMelber and every night he seems like the same guy, but he has good days and bad days but he learns how to look just like he thinks you want him to look. And that's where it gets really tough to see through it. So Keith, my answer is, first of all, number one symptom that we all experience, whether it's anxiety or whether it's depression, is the desire to get the fuck out of here, the desire to retreat, the desire to like wherever you are, you want to be some place else. And mostly you want to be on your coach at home. And I can't explain to you why that is, but being around people and having to be yourself and to talk was so painful. And I, like I said, I've given a couple of hundred speeches every single person, every single person in the audience who's had this kind of illness has said me too. Like that's unbelievable. So when you watch people that you care about and all of a sudden they're not doing the things that they used to do or even more importantly, you don't think they want to do those things. Like you can show up for something and not want to be there, but that doesn't mean that you're still mentally healthy. So it's what you're thinking, do you want to be there? You know, and like for me, my wife knows. that the first sign that I'm struggling is I'm on the coach. Well, actually, I'm on the coach anyway, but there's different reasons for being on the coach. Like Sunday afternoon when NFL's on, like I'm on the fucking coach and that doesn't mean I'm depressed, but just the whole idea that you retreat, that you are trying to get away from everything and everyone, Keith, I can tell you that that is the biggest thing. - I wonder if you have a theory based on, I think a lot of it is the internet, but you'd be an example of maybe somebody who that's not the case of the uprise in this. Or is it actually it's always been around and it's just talked about more? Because I'm guessing it's a little of both. We're now you're hearing about it more, which is a good thing. But people will say like, look at these guys, we're on Memorial Day, we're talking about people who fought for their country and what they did and like what they're going through. But now it just seems to be more prevalent is that what's going on in today's culture and today everyone's lives? Or is it just always been here in your opinion? - Yeah, it's kind of like, I'll answer any question about lived experience, about how I dealt with it, how it feels like. That's the most important thing is what does it feel like to alert people that maybe you're not doing as well as you thought, but fuck, that's above my pay grade. Like knowing is there more now than there was, but there's way more communication that exists, right? Like there is, as you said, you know, there's the internet and if you're struggling, you can put it out there to the world. You know, I think though the world is probably more complicated today than it was say 30 years ago or 40 years ago, but even just think of this, like Memorial Day, like I have very few hobbies in life. One of my hobbies is World War II, fascinated by World War II. Do you know that, like in America, millions of men and women came home with severe PTSD but never spoke about it? So you could have said back at that time and the years afterwards, well, you know, I guess Warden mentally affect a lot of people, right? But it was because they never spoke about it. As a kid, I have this thing, this fear and I guarantee you with your audience being the size that it is, there's people who are going to nod their head right now. I had something called a metaphobia, the fear of throwing up. Now, like you could say, well, you know, nobody likes to throw up. I was desperately afraid to be around someone. I wouldn't ride on a bus to go to camp because I was so afraid. And in the speeches I give, I would say half the time. There's someone that puts up their hand, it says me too. So when I was a kid, I never spoke about it. I thought I was the only one on the planet. And then later on in life, you find out there are people. So is there more now than there was? Probably. Are we talking more about it? Absolutely. But are we helping people more? For sure, a little bit more. But when it comes to men, you know, like, this shows all about positivity, right? So, you know, I hate to mention it, but three out of four suicides are men, right? Like, we still, we're still just plugging our ears and pretending like it doesn't exist. Yeah, no, I mean, yeah, that's the thing. You just mentioned it. We try to, like, keep it positive because we're trying to be an escape for people to come and enjoy time. And I mean, like, there's a reason that we wanted you to come on and talk about this. One, 'cause you've lived it through experience. And we also, like, I mean, I could speak on behalf of all the guys, like, we really appreciate your vulnerability, 'cause I think that that's what it takes in order to have, like, a true conversation about this. And I don't know how many people are willing to put themselves out there the way that you are, Michael. So, one, we thank you for that. And I just, like, any time that I've personally dealt with it, I've had people, like, maybe say, "Hey, try this medication. I don't want to get on anything. I try to deal with things in a natural way." Do you find that, like, moving and getting exercise and doing things and kind of getting these small victories helps way more than maybe any type of substance would, 'cause you mentioned-- - Meditation, too. I think that's a big thing. - More about being, like, present, rather than being in the hamster wheel, 'cause you mentioned when you're going through stuff, you kind of just sit on the couch and maybe you let things fester, where, you know, typically I find the same thing, too, whenever I'm going through stands, I tend to just kind of sit around and I'm not as active or doing things. You know, I call it tied to the couch syndrome. It's like, you're feeling shitty, so you lie in the couch and then you're there for three hours and you realize you haven't done anything. So now you feel even more shitty, right? So it kind of magnifies it. You mentioned meditation. I was a little bit more narrow-minded when I first started talking about it and someone asked me on a speech, "What do you think of yoga as a treatment for depression?" and I said, like, I kind of scoffed at it and now my answer would be, if it helps you, like if yoga can make a difference in your life, if meditation can make a difference in your life, if positivity as you're talking about is, can make a difference in your life, then that's a great treatment, right? Like, the only bad treatment is no treatment. And treatment, as you guys said, can be a million different things. But the bottom line is, you've got to do something. - That's a great send-off and we appreciate it, Michael. And I'll tell you, a buddy of me and Keith just texted our group chat, guys, there's a new documentary on the history channel, World War Two with Tom Hanks, it's incredible. I don't know if you've seen it yet, I'm two episodes in, so you mentioned you were a big fan, so check that out if you haven't. - I've watched the first, I think they posted the first three episodes. I also saw on the weekend, I saw pressure, which has gotten a fair amount of publicity, although I say to my wife, you know, like they don't publicize movies anymore, and then I realized, I don't watch TV, right? I mean, you don't watch conventional TV ever unless it's a sporting event. So, but they still do, I guess, advertise, but pressure was really interesting story. And I know you're trying to wrap this up. - No, no, no, no, no, no, no, not at all. It's so weird to be doing something that has no sort of time. - I know, I was gonna mention that, like TSN, you got, it was, did it here, or like we could talk for another 20 minutes. - You know, I just, I think that you guys, because you're not telling people in advance, and every once in a while, you talk about mental health, but when you do it, it's so effective, because you haven't told people, okay, well, this is mental health talk. You know, it becomes part of a story, and that's what I'm trying to do. It's like, when I go out to speak, I say, look, hey, I can make jokes about mental illness, 'cause I got a mental illness. So, too much bad if you're gonna be offended by it, and I can make Jewish jokes, right, 'cause I'm Jewish. So, I think that bringing a sense of humor to it, ravling it in a story is a huge thing. Lyndon Byers, you guys obviously all know Lyndon Byers. He was kind of, I loved him, right? We put together a segment on off the record for him and Rob Ray together, and it was genius. Like, any idiot could have hosted a segment with Rob Ray and Lyndon Byers talk, and I knew, 'cause Lyndon and I stayed very close friends until his death, and I knew that he knew he had CTE. I knew that he knew that he was slipping away and sliding away, that he could bring a sense of humor to it in a way that there wasn't anyone else that I'd met that was like that. And that's where you do the real good, because like you say, if it's sad and somber, people are gonna turn the show off, turn the podcast off, but guys like you guys, like this. I mean, you're one of those guys who people wanna listen to, and they wanna hear. And when you can slip in something of value, I think it makes a huge difference. Did you ever meet Lyndon? Never met LB. - None of you guys did? - No. - But I remember hearing him on the radio here in Boston, and yeah, our, our, you know, our co-hosts here, R.A., he'd mentioned when he passed, we talked about him as brutal, and then, you know, I saw, I think it was Alan Wallshire, just two to the other day that it had come out, that he, it was grade three, I think CTE, and you mentioned and he knew that. Yeah, that's just, that's tough stuff. - He told me, he said, you know, I used, he said this on the air. He said, you know, you know, I, I drive still, and that wasn't necessarily gonna continue for a long time, but he said, I would, all of a sudden, I'd find myself parked 50 miles from my house, and I'd have no idea how I got there. None. And that was like, really creepy, but it really hit the seriousness of, you know, taking hits to the head, right? You know, we don't know what was going on in Cold Lebu's brain. It's, it's, it's, it's so hard to understand CTE for sure, but mental illness in general, because there's no proof of it, right? Like if I say, I'm really, really down, and I'm feeling, you know, like I, like I don't necessarily, you know, I don't wanna wake up tomorrow morning. I can't prove to you that that existed my head. I have no evidence, right? But other illnesses, you could do a biopsy or a blood test or an X-ray or MRI, and you could say, hey, take a look at this. But when it comes to mental illness, I got, I got no proof. You know, keep all of your injuries and all the things that you played through if you were so inclined, you could have like a scrapbook of, X-rays for that, right? You can't do that with mental illness. And that's why I think in a lot of ways people doubt that it exists. Um, well, like, I mean, I know that you like we're obviously going to move on from this, but the conversation about all this doesn't stop here. Like where if anybody's listening and they're really struggling, like, where can they find you to have more of this conversation? Like, where can they go? Is it, you mentioned you have speaking engagements? Like, what are some easier resources for people to like reach out to or find in order to help them out if they're listening? You know, the biggest thing that, that, yeah, I always tell people is that you got to, you got to come to grips with the fact that you need help. And once you do, like, many people, like, I just work for Green Shield. It's, uh, it's a benefits provider in Canada. And everybody that gets benefits in Canada has some kind of mental health allowance, right? They have access to an EFAP. Uh, and men don't use them. Like literally men will ignore the fact that, you know, they could actually without any expense whatsoever speak to a psychologist. So it's like, find out what you've got access to. And the first step for many is go to your family doctor, right? But talk to someone. And but it's not just those that are struggling. It's those that care about someone that's struggling, right? Like I spoke to a group last week. They were all sort of hardcore workout side guys who never would talk about this. And I said, how many of you guys would talk to your supervisor if you thought, eh, you know, I'm not doing well. I think I could use some help. Not one guy put up their hand. It's, it's 2026. And it's, it's also about how do you handle some of that you care about, right? Because we all have people in our lives that are going to struggle with mental illness. And how do we handle it? And that's another thing that you can learn a lot about. So um, talk to someone, go to a family doctor. And you asked me what you could do. Uh, I think what you could do is, and I'm kind of selling myself because the message is everything. But put me back on, you know, because like I kind of, you know what, maybe I should take that back. I don't know. But no, well, you, so I know that right now you got something in the works with Kevin BX, uh, and I know he's big on the mental health conversation because he was very close with Rick Ripon. And that hit really close. Well, there you go. I didn't even notice that shirt. They, and that hit close, uh, to home for him. And I know like, we had a lot of meat up for, uh, for lunch when I was there doing, uh, doing sports net before hockey night in Canada. And that's kind of where, you know, the conversation started again. Obviously, I'd been on off the record. And, uh, and you mentioned that you have this project coming up. Yeah. And it's all directed at man because I, I, because we're just not good at it. Uh, and men are dying and they don't have, even you can't, you can't solve it. You can't cure the problem. But I promise you that in the good that we could do that we've done today, uh, and that we could do in the future that we're going to save a life. As, uh, as Whit said, one life, like it's amazing. When, when, when I spoke about it, uh, on off the record, uh, with Stephane Richey, two and a half years later, I got a letter from a guy. And the guy said, Hey, Michael, uh, I just want to let you know you don't remember me. I did. It's Tyson Williams from North Battle for the sketch one. Yeah. I remembered him. He said, what I didn't tell you when we communicated after that off the record show. And then he added, which by the way, I didn't really like the show. I thought that was really funny that he said that and slipped that in. But he said, what I didn't tell you and I should have is that I was in my closet with a belt around my neck and I was going to end my life. And then the computer went and it was you responding to my message and we went back and forth six times. And I didn't know any of that was going on. But at the end, uh, he said, you know, you kind of convinced me that I had nothing to lose to go to talk to someone. So here I am two and a half years later. And then I ended up being the best man at his wedding. Can you imagine that? Never met the guy before in my life. And I was the best man. It is wedding. Like how how unbelievably cool is that? So, uh, I don't know how I got into that story. Oh, yeah. It's the power of the ability to make a difference in someone's life. Michael, thank you so much for coming on and talking about this. Um, we appreciate your vulnerability. And yeah, it's, uh, yeah, it's wild times. Yeah, for sure. And it's, uh, you know, like keep talking about it. But, you know, not in a somber way, but in a way that, you know, it kind of just slip in the message. And by the way, Wade Beelike was one of my best friends. The only guy that I ever, uh, really became friends with who was a guest on the show, um, was probably Wade Beelike. I mean, he was, he talked to me about his struggles and, uh, it's still like one of the biggest heartbreaks in my life. And, uh, I, I just think that, um, we need to keep doing what we're doing here today. And so guys, thank you so much for this. Thank you, man. Thank you. And, uh, my daughter said, uh, you're supposed to order cookies from her and you have not done that. Oh, yeah, that's right. Well, well, okay, we'll have to get that one up cookies. No, they're not. I, I don't, did you, I don't think you brought me last time we had lunch together. You mentioned that she was doing it. Yeah. Cause the extra, uh, ordered something for the, uh, can you get them to the States? I can for sure. Okay. Wow. Okay. Here we go. Here we go. And maybe we can get a little bit of cushion there. You know, yeah, for sure. And then you could talk about help with my mentals, at least. You know, you, uh, you told me about, uh, how when you retired, you, you really struggled. And that's huge, right? It was, I, I talked about it like, cause, because I don't imagine that a lot of people like deal with this on a daily basis for longer periods of time. It was when I, uh, got back from St. Louis with like, I was so happy in St. Louis. I was with him. We talked about this show about creating this and making it a YouTube. And I, it just came over me where I, like, it took over me physically. And that was the first time that it ever happened. And you mentioned the coach thing. Like, I was on my coach for three weeks. I called to NHL doctors. I didn't want to take any medication. They said, I was going for like four or five walks a day. I was pumping vitamin, uh, D and, and whatever, you know, supplements they told me to get on. And thankfully, uh, I ended up getting a job with, uh, not only the coyotes farm team, but then also the Manchester monarchs, Mike Fuida, Stothers. I talk about those guys all the time. That whole group of guys, they literally changed my life and turned around for the better and I'm forever grateful. So that's my experience with it. That's why I'm like, I don't mind talking about it because that was the first time in my life where it like, like, we all go through our ups and downs for everyday life. Like, I'm not never have I ever came close to what I was there, but it was crazy how it had taken over me physically where I was like, Oh my god. Like, this is something that needs to be talked about. And for those people that are going through that that are listening now, like I, like I'm so sorry that you're going through that. That's why when the Dana White comments come about a credit to all those people that have never, that have never happened to where they're able to, to go on through life day by day where it never affects them like that. And it's water under the bridge and he adversity that comes their way. But I'm talking about it for the people that it has affected like you and anybody else who's listening. You know, let's just be free. I think free to talk about it. I just saw you guys know, if I wanted to extend this conversation longer, I could because that's what I do. But I'm going to be very kind with you guys and say, you've been very kind with your time with me. So I'll just shut up. And next time ask me about CM Punk. Ask me about my CM Punk story. I was gonna really epic, epic feud. It was in the best thing about that story is after he like hated me. So is there anything wrong with this? Here's what I asked him. He was going from WWE to UFC. And that's when we got him. And I say to him, have you ever taken a real punch? And he went, what? And I said, have you ever taken a real punch? Because you know, like you were a professional wrestler. One of the most dangerous things out there. So I'm not demeaning what you did, but you don't punch guys, right? Have you ever taken a real punch? Because that's what you're going to get in UFC. And it all went downhill after that. Is that a reasonable question? Seems it. Yeah. Yeah, he didn't take it. So two weeks later, we were at UFC, whatever number it was in Vegas. Dana gave tickets to me and my wife and kids. And who's sitting four seats over? Oh, no. He am punk. So I decided I'm going to be like, well, I'm not scared of him. So I went up to him and I said, Hey, CM, I don't know if you even know what I look like, but it's Michael Hemsberg, you know, I talked a couple. It gave me this look. I actually have a picture of it because I told my son, you take the picture. And I told my daughter, you come with me because there's no way he's going to punch me in the head. Bring him cookies. Oh, my God. By the way, what is the website for the cookies for your daughters? Weatzies W. It's on Instagram. Sweeties. There's an S in the middle. And yeah, I'm not selling anything. No, I know, but I figured we'd just give her a plug. Cause good plug. Gotta give her a little plug. Come on. That's what we do around here. Thank you. I don't want to overstay my welcome. We got our race world coming up. Landsberg. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Thank you. We love you. A great chat. That was awesome, boys. At a time where You know us certainly and a lot of people need to hear it in the tragic news about clothe Lemus So let's bring in our A's world right now Hello Everybody welcome to our A's world here in the spittin chicklets podcast tomorrow night eight o'clock Stanley Cup Final can't wait Caroline a minus 155 Vegas plus 130 personally I think it's a pick-up. I think that line is whack Both teams in the third Stanley Cup Final ever both seek in their second championship Vegas and its ninth season of existence Carolina in its 46th 28th as the Hurricanes Moxtone right now has the most playoff points from the 2010 draft class which wild he was taken 78 overall and the six round that 123 points after him style Tyler Sagan then Tara Senkel and then Hyman 37-year-old Jordan style the oldest player in the Stanley Cup Final looking to become the first player to go at least 17 years from his first cup to his second one on him and way That's a great stat. Yeah and him and William Carrier the only two Hurricanes that have addressed For at least one game this postseason and have Stanley Cup Final experience Vegas has 13 of those guys Taylor Hall has the most regular season games played without without a cup 989 Tomas Hurtle on Vegas is 873. He's second so without a little without a cup or without a cup a cup game without a cup Without yeah without without winning a cup Also, there's been 28 game time or go ahead goals in the final 10 minutes of regulation this postseason tied for the second most ever at this juncture 76 games played And if we do get to OT Anderson 5-0 and over time so far this playoffs hot 3-0 and over time and just Interesting this if wow but we don't undefeated a The Hurricanes have won every overtime 3-2. Yeah, well, that's that's even wilder too And you know obviously we don't we don't want to see anybody get hurt But just an interesting note Aden Hill backup his last game was April 9th and Brandon Bouchy's last game was April 14 So if they have to go to the backup goalies man, those guys might be a little bit rusty show All right, who who who who goes to their backup first boys Well, neither one of these guys has been pulled correct. No. Yeah, yeah, hot and innocent and played every second as a goalie on the playoffs. So all right Quickly miss has Vegas in six. I am Carolina in seven yand you were Um, Vegas in six and what so what's just so we have it? What's yours? I get Vegas in seven I mean, I was just looking at the lineups on puck pd and it's so evenly matched But but the difference is is that Carolina doesn't have a Jack Ikel and I think like he's you know the most maybe dynamic best two-way player in the game to certainly today I think the way he's been playing the playoffs and Carolina that's going to be tough for them to match. It's I'm so site man Too division winners. I know people have been belly aching about you know that the Yeah, the last conference finals haven't been great, but this Has the uh makings from an all-time Stanley Cup final I think right now. So yeah, Vegas in seven very much looking forward to it And how about Logan stan coven two we as first three seasons He was in Western conference finals his first season Eastern conference finals the second season and here in his third season Stanley Cup final and he's been unreal man. What a deal Towski made there They got him a first in twenty six a first in twenty eight a third in twenty six a third in twenty seven They haven't signed until 2034 it's six million per And it allowed them to get hall. Yep. Yep. And rantan is going to be 30 in October making 12 million till uh 33 so just an Unreal deal what was called ski master class, baby. Yeah, absolutely. And of course my run Vegas No, I know, but I so I mean there's a common theme here I was a little critical of of that move not knowing that rantan would sign But that that was like Houdini escape expert style of what he was able to do and his body or work like you have to say that He's easily the top three GM in the league year over year. Yeah, getting that bounty. And they don't have A big budget. I think I think right now they're like 12 million under the cap So they're not even spending up to the cap really this is buddy. This is Towsky Towsky master class impressive stuff. The great read to Jason Demers. He put out his first sub stack You know, the little columns that people write. So you know, I read that this morning. It was awesome. Yeah good stuff Basically like, you know, he went to his first two seasons. He was in the conference finals full times and you know, you think oh, I'm gonna be back here and I think it was Trent Yani was his coach He's like, man, you like there's no guarantee this is gonna happen again And he's like, I wish I listen more but he goes into detail about what guys go through in the in the pain and getting shot up and stuff But yeah, give that a read if you get a chance. It's on Twitter. Jason Demers fall him out there. Good stuff. You gotta have we've had him on, haven't we? Uh, I was time to go. Yeah. Okay. We'll get him. We gotta get him on a guy. He's all over any cell network. Yeah, he's great. Yeah, he's a funny bastard. It's funny reading that reminded me. I've said before that in the cup finals in Pittsburgh Gary Roberts gave just a speech. I'll never forget talking about when I was in Calgary I thought that this would be Constant and it's been forever and I'm back and just because it's happened once and when you're young It doesn't mean shit like you'll you can easily never get this close again And that's kind of what Demers was talking about Trent Yani said like don't just think oh, I'm young next year You're after that. I'll be back because it's nothing is guaranteed in this game. Look at Jordan stall, right? I'm sure he's giving that same speech to his crew this week like yeah, what do you say? It's been 17 years and the guy and yeah, he for a player like him too with the teams that he's been on You'd expect that he's been in a couple finals or whatever, but it doesn't happen everyone Obviously mind I had you know previously blocked a trade at Carolina But he's got 21 points leading the NHL and playoff points right now But I look seven of his goals came in just four of the 16 games he's played and a third of his points seven of his 20 Points came in just two games versus Anaheim So it's just you know kind of like look took a little little closer close to look obviously I think he had three assists for his Colorado playing You know great two-way game. Obviously you don't have to get on the school board to have a great game That's why like I sound like a Toronto media. Yeah Jesus. That's why I think that like Like aside from the media probably pick and mariner just for that storyline I think that that's probably why most like hockey truest would say jack And what he does and how many hard minutes he has to log and in the in the but either way both guys have just been absolutely stellar especially Mariner on the pk we talked about his primary assists four of them There's only like Wayne Gratsky and like two other guys that have done that hockey history throughout the playoff run And he's still the chalk for the cons might but I think some value right there like Doraphay of he's 50 to one right now Howard was a hundred to one each of these guys has ten goals. Howard was good free game What is like if one of these guys has you know a four or five goals Stanley Cup finals series How do you not give it a guy with 15 goals you know what I'm saying? So I see tremendous value there if you're looking to throw a little action down 50 to one like I said Doraphay of a hundred to one on howden Also, I don't know if you guys saw the clip. Well, you guys hit start a Brendan Gallagher Very emotional. He had a press well, you know press grunt today Acknowledged in his time with the Canadians has come to an end you obviously he's a UFA and yeah, you know It's tough to tough to see a guy you know upset But like we just talk about Mike Lindbergh Mike, I should say great as you by the way guys It was great to have him on after what's transpired the last few days in hockey, but you know, it's it's okay to you know For a guy to show his emotions like that, but yeah, Brendan it was a tough. I would say if I'm like Vancouver is from there Yeah, that's already they already asked him basically about that, you know, oh did they okay shit Yeah, I'm gonna say like fuck you got it. They got a young team of guys that need to learn how to be pros and And how to handle business bring him in as like a mentor and yeah, I mean, they're not going to be close to the cap So fucking take care of them and yeah So I beg over um obviously yeah, we mentioned clothing earlier. So I went back and I watched unrivaled Detroit versus Colorado you could find that you know on the internet somewhere and um You know, sort of a tribute to clone you rewatch it because you know, he had that sit down with down Makati that kicked off the documentary and how they became close friends So if you get a chance give it a give it a watch and I like also how they point out You know, I mean obviously Claude played the way he played that was the style, but you know, he With the hit on draper people will forget like we've proceeded that and Adam foot, you know, basically getting put the party kiss from cause life I mean cause of smack this head off. He got 20 stitches head in his head That place he started everything, you know kind of up the auntie with things get kind of nasty there But it was funny now, you know, Shanahead and Claude played early in Shanahead's career And that's why um Claude son is Brendan. He's named after Brendan Shanahead and the first game they were head to head Colorado Detroit. He looks at Shanahead. He goes you're a loser. You've never won anything You know just to get his head like he's like that so much of a competitor was he's like My kids named his kids named after me and he called me a loser who's never won anything Just to like to do the psychological warfare so a lot of good stuff Just a history to that goes into what it's it's one of the best hockey documentaries like you can watch so it's yeah unrivaled Detroit vs Colorado give it a look see if you can it also to shout out to Vladimir Constantine off when you watch that obviously Would have with him. I mean he only played six NHL seasons you could have told me he played 10 or 12 with the impact he had on that team He was second in Norris voting to like before he had the accident there And you know he I think he had three goals and 35 assists back when Norris voters didn't emphasize points all the time It was about the you know the two-way ability of the fence. So just why I was mentioning that when I give him a shout out Um all right him fucking - Common today boys. - Common. - He's a common right now. - I had to get a finish with a flourish, yeah. And speaking of misbehavior at the rank, dude, we're gonna stop banning parents from these ranks. You guys must've saw the clip down, South Shore the other day. - I saw it. - Oh yeah. - Yeah, what is it? - It was one pound walk by, just like mouthing off to another guy. And then the other guy said, oh, your whole family's trash. And I think the guy, the guy who was like, basically instigated, I think he waited till he's far away, figuring people might like, oh, like hold the back. I go, you're lucky to hold me back. But no one did. And he had like the lower round. They tumbled down the stairs. It was just like, girl. Like, you guys are fucking adults, but the funniest part was that kid come over. He was probably 10 and he gunned his frickin' drink off the dude's head. - Send me this clip. I gotta watch this. - Yeah, buddy, it's ridiculous. And if, unless an adult ever like, put their hands on one of my kids, if I'm at a fight in the stands at a Utahky game, just take me out back and put me out to pasture. - Yeah, it's fucking insane. Like, these guys are rolling around the fucking rink in the stands, fighting each other on a May weekend in a Utahky tournament. Like, getting soaked by whatever elite team their kids are in pain. I'm like, what are we doing? - Wow. - And it was another, you know, another viral clip up Canada last week, a guy climb on the glass. It's just, I don't know. And I feel bad, man. I feel so bad for the coaches and the referees who have to have to deal with this idiocy. And a lot of them are not making a lot of money, but they're volunteering. But yeah, they go just like throw these people out, you don't get them out of the fritter. - The all time clip is way to go, Paul, after the past matches the glass with his wedding ring. - Yeah, so yeah, grow the fuck up out there, you hot. - Jesus sends it to me. - Yeah, brutal, just obnoxious. But you guys have been watching any of the college world series, either the baseball or the swap ball. - I watched Kansas Arkansas last night with Ryder. Arkansas was up five nothing. And in one inning, all of a sudden, it was, I think it was six five Kansas, they won 1310. College world series, college baseball is incredible. - The passion. - Don't understand how they're still using metal bats. These guys are fucking pounding the ball. I guess, yeah, that's just still what you do. But it's electric. And I last year, or the year before, got into the actual world series when they get to Omaha, it's awesome. Yeah, well, great. - Great. - I was following Williams-- - Jason Williams, drama with the women's. And how his daughter transferred from Florida to was a Texas tech, Texas tech, Texas tech. - Yeah, it's all real. - Am I crazy then? - He's hilarious. - Oh, he's hilarious. We're talking about fans getting, our parents getting into it in the crowd. And then all of a sudden, we transfer all her. Did he also play at both those schools? - No, he was a Florida. - Just Florida. - Okay, 'cause somebody posted a, maybe it was like an AI thing of him with the Texas tech with a basketball player. - Oh, no. - Yeah. - 'Cause I think an interview. - He's like a boomer. - I think an interview that he did, he said like he's done with Florida now. - Okay, okay. - Yeah, they asked like done with like, their basketball program too, are you separating this women's softball? He's like, I'll never step foot on that campus again. Unless one of my daughters is playing softball there. And he was kind of, I mean, was he a, did they win it all when he was there? - No, his daughter got beaten five times in like a, a best of three series. What's the right, why do they hate her just for transferring? - Probably, who knows? - Yeah. - I don't know, we're not in that room. - Yeah, yeah. - I turned on the game last night she went yabo. She absolutely crushes the ball. - Oh yeah. - She hit one last night too? - Yeah, I just happened to turn on the TV and it was, I think it was on ESPN. And as soon as I turned it on, it was like one pitch, then boom, absolutely smashed one to center field. - And I love the exuberant song. You know, when they get a hit like the way they wave into the dugout stuff. So in the same vein, it's like, did you see the dude in the baseball, the college world series, the dudes, he hits a home run and he totally hotdog the whole, like, you know, run around the bases. They threw him out of the fucking game. Like just for hotdog and yeah, the coach came out, they threw the coach out too. Like brutal dude, like, yeah, the girls, I mean, I think the girls like hot, it's great. They're excited. They kind of hotdog it a little bit. So then the see the dude get tossed like that. I don't know, kind of a hush it call I thought. But yeah, it's been, it's been fun to watch. The big complaint this week is like growing up, I love rollercoasters, buddy. Like, I, it's my 20s. If I'd get a pass of push guys, you go there on like, - I love rollercoasters. - It's like being, it was like having the puck to yourself unlimited. You couldn't pay me a million dollars to get on one of these things today. It seems like every week one gets stuck. You know, it's obviously like some, whether it's computer error or human error, but did you see one Thursday? Galveston, Texas is 100 feet up. It got stuck. It was eight like high school kids there. So the firefighters had a command. They had 105 foot ladder from the ladder truck. They had to extend up. And they had like body cams on. And these poor kids, I mean, you know, they were like 13, 14 year old girls. They're like like literally it's high, at the highest point on the rollercoaster, like facing down like this, like petrified and then. But go watch some of the clips because the way these firefighters talk to these kids and calm them down and say, look, you're okay. You went me in, they just kind of bring them down. They had to walk them all down this 105 foot ladder. It took four hours to take eight kids down, man. Absolute banana. So yeah, rollercoaster is done so you couldn't get me on. I'd rather go on a carnival ride. Yeah, I'll say I haven't been on many. And then we went to that carnival. And Witt's got a goal, by the way, he's got to go get a rider. So I'll say by the witty boy, love you guys. I'll see you on Thursday. See you Thursday. When I won that, but not a month, but not like when there was a couple there. And I was like, not a chance. I'm getting on one of those things that one of these janky pop up carnivals. Yeah, no, that's pretty crazy. I was from from hockey to to Texas tech baseball to now carnival rides. No, no, this is a legit like like a six flat, like a six flat. But when you watch the clip and just like again, shout out to the firefighters. But I get sweaty palms just watching it. I've got a classic recommendation for this week. One of my favorite documentaries ever. It's big part of I'm Boston or two King of Kong, fistful of quarters. It's a documentary about the chase in the high score on Donkey Kong. I've seen it. I've seen it. I've seen it phenomenal. Like did the one guy have it in this house? Um, yeah, yes, Steve Weebie, the nerdy guy who was sort of like the protagonist. And Billy Mitchell was the was the villain that he's chasing his score. Like you think it sounds goofy. But you're on the edge. You see, if you've never seen this movie, it's phenomenally made. It's like good versus evil about freaking Donkey Kong. So yeah, come out. Okay. I don't exactly remember the ending, but I got to remember that spoiler. Spoiler. Don't listen to this. If you don't want to hear maybe how the ending goes, there is any like almost going to set the record and then the machine, like stalls or like or like goes block or whatever. There's some some fishy things that go on some home cook and it's, uh, again, you don't think a video game documentary is like, it's going to have you on the edge of the seat, but it's a fascinating doc. Definitely give it a look. See if you get a chance to see it. So, uh, and also I know Michael Lansberg just mentioned that movie pressure. I'm actually going to go see that tomorrow. It's about D day. And I think it's about the weather guy who had like sort of make the call because they had a delayed the invasion on Normandy because of weather concerns. So I'm going to check that out. I also want to mention we talked about movies on the Memorial Day last week. There is a movie. He mentioned PTSD. It's called the best days of our lives. It's an old one. 1946. It was the very first movie I think that ever dealt with PTSD, which they call it shell shock back then. So, uh, it's, it's a great tribute to World War two folks and there's actually a guy from Cambridge. He won two Oscars for the same role. Um, he basically even, he wasn't even in battle. He was doing a teaching class on like explosives and he, and his hands got blown off. So back then, you know, they would put metal hooks on, on your hands. So this guy, he played the veteran in this, in this movie, uh, God, I wish I come up with his name. And he won an Oscar for the performance and he, they gave him an other Oscar because he was such an inspiration to veterans like around the world because this is right after World War two. Um, so yeah, great movie. The best. Yeah. Like a, like a, like a lifetime achievement type Oscar, well, just like a special Oscar, specifically, because of, because of, yeah, because of like the, you know, the way he uplifted other veterans out there. But yeah. Has that ever happened, like other than that instance, like a, like a specialty Oscar? No, he's the, like, well, they have, they've given special Oscars, but he's the only one to get two Oscars for the same role. Like the one, the, the traditional Oscar. And then, you know, I got to give it to all women. Is that, is that where the term shell shocked came from? Yeah. And the facts of like shell casings from guns before, before PTSD was, I never knew, I never knew that. Harold Russell, his name was, he was, I actually, I believe, you know what, he was born. I believe not somewhere in Canada was either Newfoundland or Nova Scotia was born and then his family relocated to Cambridge, mass right across the street from here. So because he's got like a very much, I gotta take a quick hose, yeah, go ahead, buddy. No, absolutely. We got deep. Yeah. They'll be wrapping up in a sec. Keith, you going to watch any of the NBA Finals at all? Did you catch game seven the other night? I didn't catch game seven, where the hell was I? When was that Saturday night? Yeah, Saturday. Yeah. Oh, I was actually, I went to the Kid Rock concert, my daughter's had a tournament in Tampa and went to the Kid Rock concert with one of the dads on the team's good friends with the Kid Rock and we went there, went after and got to meet Rick Flair after, which was unreal. No. is the man. Yeah, just like, he still looked unbelievable. I thought like, you know, just thought those wrestler guys, they age like milk. So, but he looked unbelievable. Um, you guys get a video of, uh, Victor went by on a holding a baseball. It actually looks like like us holding the golf ball. It's like, his hand completely takes over the ball. It's unlike anything I've ever seen. Oh, yeah. He's a treat to watch 23 years old. I mean, he's then, I think it's like MJ LeBron, Wemby. I think the way this kid what we seen out of him so far, but, uh, one other thing, going back to Carol Annara quick to that shot, they got a fact. He Andre Miller on the bench, like, well, after the game, sitting there with his new one, baby, just soaking it all in. And he probably didn't even know he was on camera either, man. That was, that was one of the best images we've seen so far. The playoffs, so good stuff. And also at the end of the game, seven of the night, when the dude dunked it, I mean, it was, you know, uh, spurs were up six already, 4.1 seconds. And he dunked out that put the game over. The whole run was two 12 and a half. And that last like dunk put the game over. So did you take the over? Is that why you show? No, no, I did, I did my, my brother texted right out. He goes that, that dunk, like, his most, you know, 90% of time guys just dribble at the clock. You know, up six, but he went home with stuff that were four seconds left. And, you know, I mean, you know, most people bet the over so you always root for that. But I wonder what this, uh, this final will get for viewership with Nixon, Wemby and the mix. I bet you they're doing like 15 million games. It'll be a monster. Yeah. New York. I mean, you see the streets like the interviews after like the man on the street after these nicknames, it's been crazy. Yeah. Crazy. Like if y'all, if you visit Manhattan and have no idea, like what's going on? If you go by MSG after a game, like it's, it's, it's bad. And as you think of probably over a riot or a parade or something going on. So what was the last, what was the last championship in New York? Like the whole, the last time they won? No, no, no, no, I'm not that, I mean, one like the game rights, the Yankees one in 2009. Oh, yeah. And then the ranges. No, but then when did the giants win? No, they, they want to. Oh, that was the 11 trigger one. Yeah, trigger one. We've got that one. PTSD, bro. So it's been a little while for New York. So if they get a championship here, man, I'm not even being, you know, a Boston sports fan. I'm actually, I'm rooting for the Nixon. This one. I really, huh? Yeah. No, I'm going to watch it. It should be, you know, and it's good. They don't, you know, every night you get to cut the couple of the NBA. So obviously they talked to make sure they don't conflict at this point. But, uh, yeah, boys, anything else before you wrap up here, how is a fun chat coming on? You know, no, no, you didn't miss that. I told R. A. I met Rick Flair this weekend. Holy shit. He, how old is he? He's, we looked it up like 73. Two. Yeah, I thought it's 70. He looks great. No, it, duty looked pretty good in person. Really? Unless it was an AI version, probably on the peptide day. Now, I don't know how much his body hurts doing that shit. Oh, the beat knows guys put on, but what a, what a legend. What does he do now? I just kind of cruise around just do appearances and stuff. Probably. Yeah. His finances, I think are our mess. I remember there was a big article. Yeah, a few years back. If I'm got age, it's kind of like whatever, just give me my 10, 50 K every public appearance as long as I got the Rolex on my wrist. I always, well, it's the only time for us. We, we, good at night. Everybody's fight up. Can't wait to get it. We're rockin' and rollin' great show. And now everything starts Tuesday. You love you. Yeah, Tuesday night, eight o'clock. Okay. See you there. All right. Love you guys. Love you gang. Adios. Peace. [Music] [Music]