2026 Milan Olympics Preview and Predictions w/ Jack O’Callahan

Summary

Empty Netters Podcast: 2026 Milan Olympics Preview and Predictions w/ Jack O’Callahan

Date: February 10, 2026
Host: Almost Friday Media
Special Guest: Jack O’Callahan (1980 Miracle on Ice gold medalist)

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Episode Overview

In this special Olympics preview, the Empty Netters (Dan Powers, Chris Powers, and Evan Watkins) break down the men’s and women’s 2026 Olympic hockey tournaments, analyze rosters for Team USA and Team Canada, and deliver bold predictions ahead of their departure for Milan. Joined by legendary 1980 gold medalist Jack O'Callahan, they dive into Olympics memories, Miracle stories, and offer a candid, hilarious look at building a championship team. The episode is high-energy, irreverent, and loaded with deep hockey insight, banter, and memorable moments.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Olympic Hockey Roster Reactions & Line Analysis

[07:16 – 38:38]

Team Canada: Immediate Impressions and Line Grades

• First Line: Macklin Celebrini – Connor McDavid – Tom Wilson
  • “A plus, no notes.” – Dan [08:22]
  • Powers brothers debate Wilson’s presence on L1, surprised but see logic: “Put some grit in there…who’s also going to get you 75 points in a season.” – Dan [11:40]
• Second Line: Mitch Marner – Sidney Crosby – Mark Stone
  • Mixed feelings, concern about lack of true snipers and speed: “There’s just something I don’t find delicious about it.” – Dan [12:10]
  • “We could have had more fun on that line.” – Chris [13:16]
• Third Line: Brad Marchand – Nathan MacKinnon – Nick Suzuki
  • Both hosts want Suzuki to play center: “No clue what we’re doing not putting Nick Suzuki at center.” – Dan [14:02]
  • Suggest line tweaks for optimal balance.
• Fourth Line: Hagel – Bo Horvat – Sam Reinhart
  • Praises Canada’s depth: “That line is going out as your fourth line and you’re another team, you’re like, are you kidding me?” – Dan [16:52]

Defense & Goalies

• Top pair: Toews-Makar is a lock.
• Questions about Harley sitting, Parayko’s inclusion; see Canada’s D-pairs as “marriages of old” that shouldn’t be changed lightly. [20:19]
• Goaltending no longer a huge advantage for USA: “LT (Logan Thompson) and Darce (Darcy Kuemper) are so good.” [21:34]

Team USA: Immediate Impressions and Line Grades

• First Line: Gensel – Matthews – Boldy
  • “B minus” – Dan, still skeptical of Matthews as 1C and captain: “He has never showed up in big games. I just don't get it.” [24:20]
• Second Line: Tkachuk – Eichel – Tkachuk
  • Hosts love the chemistry and identity.
• Third Line (Hughes/Larkin/Thompson or Connor):
  • “That is an all-star team like you read about.” – Dan [26:26]
  • Jack Hughes seen as better suited to wing.
• Fourth Line: Keller/Trocheck/Nelson or Miller/Nelson/Hughes
  • “B minus. I am like, I don't know, man.” – Dan [29:43]
  • Hosts rail against Trocheck/Miller over Kyle Connor: “If you scratch Kyle Connor… that belongs in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise… You’re fucking dumb if you do that.” – Dan [31:17]

Defense & Goaltending

• “Happy harmonious marriages” on D, love Quinn and McAvoy, see Slavin-Faber as elite.
• Goalie debate: “I wouldn’t start (Hellebuyck). As great as USA’s are, none come without negatives.” – Dan [35:21]
• Complexities in starting order and rotation; worry about confidence and pressure.

Format & Predictions

• Clarifies Olympic tournament format and controversial OT rules: 3-on-3 OT even for gold medal [44:12].
  • “We talk about ‘if it ain't broke, don't fix it’…I want to see who is the better team 5-on-5.” – Dan [45:03]

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2. Notable Quotes & Banter

• “Tom Wilson can score five goals in this tournament just by standing in the right place.” – Chris, on Team Canada’s construction [09:45]
• “The embarrassment of riches…” – Dan, on Team Canada’s insane depth [15:58]
• “If you scratch Kyle Connor, the galaxy brain stuff…belongs in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise.” – Dan [31:17]
• “When you’re as good as this fucking dude…there’s absolutely no reason for him at any moment to just go like this: ‘I’m here now, fuck off.’” – Dan, on Auston Matthews [52:38]
• “I want the D pairings to be marriages of old. No one’s getting divorced back in the 40s and 50s!” – Dan [20:19]
• “No, you idiots. Mark Stone is so good…” – Chris, defending Mark Stone [13:16]
• “If you start Sway (Swayman) or Otter (Oettinger) and they’re kind of leaky and you get by Latvia, it’s almost a good feeling to be like, we’re going back to Helly, dude.” – Dan [38:52]
• “If you go someone else, you have now benched Connor Hellebuyck…you can’t really go back to him after you bench him…” – Dan [37:54]

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3. Olympic Women’s Preview

[46:56 – 49:14]

• Recaps early women’s results: “The women’s game is already buzzing…” – Dan [48:57]
• USA-Canada women’s games are must-watch, “those ladies go to war against each other.” [48:57]

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4. Players to Watch & “Coming Out Party” Picks

[49:14 – 58:46]

For USA

• Standouts:
  • Charlie McAvoy (“playing the best hockey of his life right now.”) [49:41]
  • Zach Werenski (“Argument to be made as best defenseman in the NHL.”) [49:57]
  • Jack Eichel and Dylan Larkin called out, but Matt Boldy and Tage Thompson tabbed as breakout stars.
• Coming Out Party: Matt Boldy (“I legitimately think he’s going to be one of our top producing players.” – Chris [52:15]) and Clayton Keller [51:21]

For Canada

• Standouts: Macklin Celebrini, Connor McDavid, goaltending duo
• Coming Out Party: Nick Suzuki (“This is going to be… like we were with Slavin. People around the league… are going to go, ‘what the fuck, is this guy a top player in the league?’”) [54:05]; Celebrini as well [54:58]
• Heart Pick: Evan picks Sidney Crosby (“He’s the heart and soul and he’s still around…this might not even be his last [Olympics].”) [57:13]

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5. Group Orders & Medal Predictions

[58:46 – 64:16]

• Group top picks: Canada/Czechia (A), Sweden/Finland (B), USA/Germany (C)
• Bronze Medal Predictions: Sweden over Czechia [minute 60]
• Gold Medal Game: Consensus wish for USA, but majority pick Canada to win gold (“I want USA to win so badly, but…put a gun to my head, I think Canada is going to do it.” – Chris [61:41])
• Sentimental note: “It’s so conflicting…I wish they could tie.” – Dan [62:23]

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Interview Segment: Jack O’Callahan (1980 Miracle on Ice)

[65:57 – 137:10]

Major Highlights:

On College Choices & BU Days

• Jack’s near-Harvard commitment, why he chose BU for hockey brotherhood, fit, and coach Parker's influence.
  • “Harvard almost took it for granted…but the BU guys were all around my family.” [72:19]
• Stories from the iconic Beanpot tournament and balancing hockey with bartending at the “dugout” in Boston.

On Pre-Olympic Preparation

• 61-game pre-Olympic schedule—Herb Brooks color-coded importance, with “gold” games including all NCAA matchups:
  • “He was like, ‘if you can’t beat a college team, I’m blowing up the whole team.’” [93:02]

On Injury and Making the Team

• Shocking near-cut after a knee injury at MSG Soviet game—last-minute medical save by Dr. Richard Steadman, radical “active” rehabbing.
  • “All Steadman did was buy me time.” [100:26]
  • “At that time, I thought I was off the team.” [96:32]
• Ended up missing only two games in Lake Placid.

On Team Culture, Miracle, and Brooks’ Methods

• Inside scoop: Jack admits he wasn’t on the ice during the famous “Herbies” scene; describes what really happened—arena staff shut off the lights to stop Brooks [104:24].
• Team-building through “the ball” – tape ball with every quirky Herb saying.
• The now-legendary locker room speech before the Finland gold medal game, confirming its reality and intensity:
  • “I was just on fire…no way in the world we were losing that game. We were 100% winning that game. Absolutely.” [123:13]
• Bunker Hill moment real; Charlestown pride and the myth behind “we won at Bunker Hill.” [123:45]

Life After & Reflections on Miracle

• Involvement in “Miracle” film, consulting on accuracy and sharing personal archives; praises the film’s impact.
  • “Every guy to a man on our team thinks the movie’s awesome…it’s become a little bit of an iconic movie.” [133:50]

Memorable Quotes

• “He takes out a piece of tape, writes the saying, and rolls it into a ball…by the end of the season, the freakin’ ball was this big.” [108:55]
• “We were incredibly determined…no way in the world we were losing that game.” [123:13]
• “Miracle is all for one, one for all…we were like the twenty musketeers.” – Jack [135:48]

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Other Segments

College Hockey Rundown

[139:49 – 146:08]

• Detailed NCAA rankings rundown, big games, and shifts at the top, with passionate analysis of Michigan-Michigan State and Boston Beanpot.

Beer League Hotline: Wild Listener Confessional

[149:29 – 153:59]

• Call-in about a beer league commissioner creeping on a listener’s girlfriend on Instagram, then kicking the caller off the team.
  • “This is the biggest no-brainer. Why in the world would you not expose him? This guy is a pervert.” – Dan [151:09]

Blind Rankings: Best Italian Foods

[154:37 – 163:08]

• Fun food rankings in advance of the Milan trip; robust, friendly debate about carbonara, lasagna, margherita pizza, and more.

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Canada Lines Analysis: 08:08 – 18:09
• USA Lines Analysis: 22:24 – 38:38
• Olympic Format & OT Rules: 39:27 – 46:21
• Women’s Tournament Discussion: 46:56 – 49:14
• Players to Watch & Predictions: 49:14 – 65:00+
• Jack O’Callahan Interview: 65:57 – 137:10
• College Hockey Segment: 139:49 – 146:08
• Beer League Hotline: 149:29 – 153:59
• Italian Food Rankings: 154:37 – 163:08

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Memorable Moments

• Jack O'Callahan on “Miracle”:
  “Every guy to a man on our team thinks the movie’s awesome…and I think it’s become a little bit of an iconic movie.” [133:50]
• Jack describing the Olympic gold moment:
  “We were 100% winning that game. Absolutely.” [123:13]
• Canada vs USA roster meltdown:
  “If you scratch Kyle Connor…you’re fucking dumb if you do that.” – Dan [31:17]
• On OT rules:
  “I want to see who is the better team 5-on-5.” – Dan [45:03]

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Tone & Style

The episode is raw, lively, and authenticity-obsessed—equal parts insightful hockey analysis, bold opinions, sibling roasts, and celebration of “beauty” in both the sport and its culture. The addition of Jack O’Callahan’s Boston charm, historical knowledge, and storytelling prowess grounds the episode in both reverence for tradition and a joyous “let’s hang” modern hockey podcast vibe.

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If you missed this episode, you got Olympic roster scoops, classic “Miracle” lore, up-to-the-minute predictions, and an unapologetically honest, passionate look at the sport.

Transcript

[A]

Welcome to the Empty Netters podcast.

[B]

Can you believe what this has become?

[C]

There's a full 48 hours where I felt like I was like, literally Superman.

[A]

Jumbo loves playing Fortnite, so he gets on the sticks. Did TR show you the sauna cycle.

[C]

Or was that all you?

[A]

No, I invented that.

[C]

Almost a year now that I haven't taken a body check. That's kind of nice.

[A]

So we are back. We are horned up and we are going deep.

[C]

Finished tonight with some chicken fingers and a few Guinnesses. Ran into you guys. That's where this pod came to life.

[A]

Ice is ready. And we are back with another episode of the Empty Netters podcast, brought to you by BetMGM. The show before Milan. This is coming out the day that we are headed to Milan. I am your host, Dan Powers on the sticks. The man with a car as cool as himself, Evan Watkins. Did not realize you had the whip like that, dude.

[D]

78 Nova.

[B]

Unbelievable.

[A]

And then over here hosting the show as well. After the first series in the super bowl, he declared the game over for the Patriots. And once, for once, he was right.

[B]

Chris Powers, as always, I'm always right. And I have to say, the first series, actually, the Seahawks had like one big play, but then the Pats had a good hold and. And no. And no one looked that good. On Seattle, it was catching that plays. And then the Pats had like two first downs and miss. But I was like, oh, we actually look great. I actually texted some of the boys, congrats, guys, we won. And if. Let this be a lesson to everybody, Dan, because I've spent 20 years saying we've lost after the first 10 minutes of every game. And we went on the greatest dominant run of all time. And then the first time ever, I go, dude, I think we're gonna win.

[A]

We get kicked.

[B]

So maybe it was me all along. You tried to come.

[A]

You tried to be positive. One time it blew up in your face.

[D]

Always be negative.

[B]

I've ever seen.

[A]

Yeah, always be negative.

[D]

It's like we need to put a don't above the believe sign and.

[A]

Yeah, in dead lasso. Yeah, that'll help you do if it's the last thing you do. Do not believe.

[C]

Like, good.

[B]

That has worked for me just fine, thank you very much.

[A]

I'm not going to lie, boys. We, by the way, quick shout out to the live show. Anyone in the L A area who came to that live show, that was fucking unbeliev. Holy smokes.

[B]

If you missed it, go watch. It's on the YouTube right now. Unbelievable.

[A]

That's right. That was so much fun. And we had a whole segment. We brought up Billy Langdon, our boy and we talked about super bowl like party vibes, set up everything. I, I kind of did a last minute trip here to New York which genuinely when I, when I bought the ticket and planned it right before heading over to Italy, I was like, oh, the Super Bowl. Like, yeah. I was going to go to our friend Emily and Kevin's who always do an unbelievable spread. We went there for Thanksgiving. It was gon be fantastic. A bunch of the boys were at the office. There were so many options. And I was just like, peace out, I'm leaving.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And I got a quarter into that game and I was like, I'm so glad that I'm not making an event of watching this game. This is the worst Super Bowl I've ever seen. It was terrible. But you know what saved it? What boys? Bad Bony. That was electric.

[C]

It was good.

[A]

Bad Bunny at Coachella was just like the. I don't care if you can't. If you don't know the words. I just vibe to the music, brother. Like that he's just got bop after bop after bop. And I, it even got to the point where like a new song would come on and I was like, I. I didn't even know this was him. Like, he's just got, he's got Smash records, dude.

[B]

Like smash records. I was really enjoying the cameos and, and not knocking him. It was incredible. Like, because I'm with you, Dan. I. I don't even know when one song ends. Like I thought that was one song for.

[A]

I know.

[B]

Which is.

[A]

Isn't that so cool? It's like, it's like it's entire show of him is like a. It's a free flowing DJ set. Yeah. I just don't know what one thing ends and when it's like Tenet. He is a bad Bunny show is Tenet on stage.

[B]

You could play that bad Bunny show backwards and you would not realize that it was a different halftime show. You'd be like, that was sick.

[D]

Ricky Martin also did you. Ricky Martin got buff. He's like, that's what I mean, dude.

[A]

Holy ev. I go, yeah, right.

[B]

How old is he?

[A]

We're at a pub and look it up. He popped on and my friend Tor was like, oh my God, it's Ricky Martin.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And I go, Jesus Christ. He looks amazing. I mean the guy.

[D]

54 years old.

[B]

54, dude. It's pretty good. That's awesome.

[A]

Unbelievable. He's Keeping it. He's keeping it. Fit as a fit.

[D]

At least. Something happened in the. The halftime show. He, like, walked around some trees and I was on a rooftop, and he went into, like. He, like, crashed through somebody's house. Like, more drama happened in that halftime show.

[A]

Yeah, that wedding ceremony was real.

[D]

I heard that. Yeah.

[B]

Crazy, dude. We. We were dying. Connor Haney. Damn. We were dying at the beginning. He's coming through. Like, you know, it was like. It was like he was in the. In a jungle or whatever, you know, like that whole. For like the first three minutes, he's, like, walking through. And it was sick because the keys, the camera's tracking in front of him and there's, like, dudes playing dominoes and then a guy drinking out of coconuts and then, you know, whatever.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

As he's going through, like, the. The bamboo or like the. The sugar cane maze or whatever, and somebody caught her hand, he goes crazy. That no one in the stadium could see this, like, you know, on tv. It's, like, so sick. But I'm like, are you in the stadium just watching, like, I wonder if he's in there. No, I wonder if he's in that maze.

[A]

Surely it was on the jumbotron.

[B]

Okay. Yeah. I was like, what a. What a moment. You're like, I'm at the super bowl for the Bad Bunny show and he's hidden.

[A]

I actually. I couldn't stop laughing. Looking at the. Feel like you're watching the show on TV and you're. You can just see lines of the field under it. And I was like, it's unbelievable that they're putting all this on the field when a half a football needs to be played.

[B]

Yeah, right.

[A]

You know, I wonder if there was anyone.

[B]

Half of the most boring football of all time has already been played. And I'm like, that's true. To protect this field at all costs, dude. What if it gets worse?

[A]

Or maybe it makes better. At least adds a little bit of entertainment.

[D]

Somebody tripped on a straw hat left behind from the fight. Oh, come on, man.

[A]

Jeez.

[B]

Oh, dude, that was brutal. Anyway, at least something happened, dude. There was a stress. Yeah. I was like, there's going to be zero touchdowns.

[D]

Yeah, I thought. I thought Sean's prediction of. Of the score being 11 was going to be true.

[B]

God, I forgot about that.

[A]

He totally did that.

[D]

It was the field goal.

[B]

Hilarious. If that ended at 12, nothing. And I was like, sean, you just missed it, dude.

[A]

What was funny is he did say 11, and when it was 9, nothing. And the way that they were pinning the Pats in and Drake May was getting sacked left, right and center. I was like, a safety is very possible here. Like, it might be 11 nothing.

[B]

That would have been the most iconic moment of my entire life.

[A]

Oh, holy shit. God, it would have been so funny. Well, shout out to Bad Bunny for giving us some entertainment, maybe kicking it into gear for the boys. We got a great episode today, folks. Jack O', Callaghan, gold medalist from the 1980 Olympic team, is on the show getting you pumped up for Olympics. We're going to talk through a bunch of Olympic stuff, get through our regularly Schedul Tuesday show programs, and then we're going to get you guys out of here so we can get to Milan. So let's just jump right into it. Cp we're getting into hot ice. We're going to focus on the line projections for Team USA and Team Canada that we've been seeing all over Twitter. Team USA or actually, let's start Team Canada.

[B]

Shake it up for the hot ice is literally just going to be our Olympic preview and predictions. Strapped in, here we go. The Team Canada, they've both had practices now, so there were lines. This could change, but these were the lines scene at practice.

[A]

Yeah, go through the lines and I'm going to give it. I'm going to give it a letter grade.

[B]

Okay, so here's Team Canada, line one. I'm going to go left wing center to right wing. Macklin, Celebrini, Connor McDavid. Tom Wilson.

[A]

A plus, no notes.

[B]

A plus.

[A]

Absolute A plus, no notes.

[B]

A Plus, yes. What was the four nations line? It was point up there, I think.

[A]

Yeah, I think so.

[B]

Point. And, like, maybe even Reiner. I like that. Why are you not surprised at all that Tom Wilson's up there? I'm not even saying it's a bad grade. I'm just saying, like, how come you're, like, amazing.

[A]

Can I. Can I be a. Can I be a little piece of shit?

[C]

Yep.

[A]

When. When we did our own roster predictions, I had Tom Wilson on my first line.

[B]

Okay, so you're. This, you're not grading fairly. You're great. You're grading on a DP curve.

[A]

But this is my. This is dp. I'm allowed to do exactly that.

[B]

I think I get it. Like, John Cooper made a bunch of comments like, you know, he's. You gotta. You need an F1. And he's one of the best in the business, barreling down there drilling people and. No, we. We were talking about Zach Hyman the other day. Dan. I'M not knocking him at all. But everyone's like, holy, Hyman's so productive. And I'm like, hyman knows where to go and can hammer in backdoor from passes from McDavid. You know, like, with.

[A]

With all due respect, I don't. I don't think that that's that hard to learn.

[B]

Okay. That's kind of what I'm saying, where I'm like, surely Tom Wilson is capable of that too. So that's why I get it. I'm like, yeah, yeah, dude. Tom Wilson can score. Tom Wilson score five goals in this tournament just by standing in the right place. So he has that ability. Absolutely. I guess I'm little surprised that you bring a Tom Wilson theoretically, in my mind to be on that third or fourth line where they're like, dude, go. Go. Shake it up. Go out against Miller and Trocheck and whatever. So I was kind of surprised they were like, actually, no, he's going to play first line when they have, obviously, missile launchers that they could put up there and create this incredible first line. So I'm only going to go a minus because Conor and Mac is amazing. We kind of brushed over that. Like, I love that dude so much. But I'm kind of surprised they go Wilson first line there. And I wouldn't be shocked if it changes if they don't have immediate success ever.

[A]

You had Settlers of Catan fan?

[D]

I've heard of it, but I've never actually played it.

[A]

Okay, we got it. We're going to. We're going to change that quick.

[D]

Okay. Get me in the catan.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So in Catan, you. You can get cards that have different things on them. It has like, or.

[C]

Or.

[A]

Wolves, wheat, bricks, wood, lumber, beef, tallow. And then you can.

[B]

That one's pricey, though, bro. Yeah, that one's pricey.

[A]

Yeah, but you can. Then you can combine those things. A number of the cards and a collection and a combination of them to build stuff like a settlement, a road, this, that, and the other. This line is a perfect catan build for me. It's just. It's a perfect recipe of these three guys. That's why. Complimentary pieces, complimentary pieces. Everyone's playing a role. I absolutely love it.

[D]

Maybe they put Wilson up top because they're like, well, USA is trying to be a little bullish maybe.

[A]

I just think when you've got McDavid and Mac, two of the top three point scorers in the NHL together, put. Put some grit in there, who's also going to get you 75 points in a season like that is. It is just the best recipe. Get it, get it. Like Tom Wilson is in the corners digging pucks out and feeding them to Macklin celebrini and Connor McDavid. The easy.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Line two left, center, right. Mitch Marner, Sidney Crosby, Mark Stone.

[A]

I'm going like a flat B here. I. So I don't, I don't love this combo. There's. There's like, there's just something I don't find delicious about it. Sid is an A plus always. But there's almost like I feel like I need someone to score goals on that line. Like Mitch is a pass guy. Sid is perfect. I think Stone is even kind of a pass guy. Like he can score for sure, but he's also not a big time scorer. It's also kind of a slow boots line with Sid and, and Stone.

[B]

Dude, I'm with you, Dan. I, I'm kind of shocked by this line. I think again, I can't remember who Marner played with it for at Four nations, but Marner is such a dish, man. Sid is obviously scoring a ton this year, so it's like he can score, you know, I guess that's the answer. But I, but I, I think Sid can be such a weapon if you put these snipers on his wings. And I don't think you did. And I'm with you on Stone. Stone is a fascinating player because all he does is produce. And we all laugh like Stone is, is slow and what's he doing? And I'm like, he what?

[A]

He's un.

[B]

Is pumping in points, you idiots. Mark Stone is so good, but I'm just like, holy. We couldn't have got, you know, a Sam Reinert up there? Like something where I'm like, dude, I just felt like there was more talent, different talent to put on Sid's line. So I was, I was surprised by this one too. I love the idea that Sid is 2C, which I'll talk about in a second. But I, I was like, oh man, we could have had a little bit more fun on that line. Three great players, obviously. I mean, Canada is so stacked. But again, I was like, I don't know what I was expecting from these, but it wasn't what I'm seeing so far.

[A]

Yeah, okay.

[B]

At third line, Brad Marchand, Nathan McKinnon, Nick Suzuki.

[A]

I'm going to go a minus here. I love Marshy and Nate together. I'm as big of a Nick Suzuki guy as it gets. But my gripe here is I Have no clue what we're doing. Not putting Nick Suzuki at center on this team. Nick Suzuki is a top. I was going to say 10, but I might even go like top six or seven center in the NHL. He's one of the best 200 foot centers in the NHL. He's a selkie level guy. I don't know why we're putting Nick Suzuki on wings.

[B]

So, Dan, for me, that's exactly it. Look, what's shocking is. And dude, these are. They're gonna roll lines in a way that they really do. And obviously everyone's sick, but dude, don't forget at four nations. Like, I remember talking to Marshy and. And Jarvey when they were kind of on that third line in four nations, and they're like, yeah, you. We. We played way less and like, we had a job. And when we. When they got that one goal on that, it was like a great play. Like, remember, Jarvey chipped it out. Like everyone got a point or whatever. They were like, it just felt great to contribute because we're the third line. So I'm kind of like, dude, how is Nathan McKinnon there when you could have just gone him on that Sid wing? If that had been Marner Sid McKinnon, I'd be like, that line is tremendous. There's all your goals with Nate on the wing. He's capable of playing wing. You said that the other day. And then you get to go Suzuki centering that third line with. With Marshy Suzuki and put Stone there, let's say. And that third. I'm like, oh, that's a. That's a perfect third line. A perfect third line at the Olympics. So I'm just like. And again, I'm sure they'll. With McKinnon there, I'm sure they'll roll three lines just as much. But I'm like, it just feels odd. Just feels odd to me that Those are your three Cs when it should be Suzuki and Nate could play on Sid's wing.

[A]

Agree. Love that take.

[B]

Yeah. So, you know, I get some question marks there. Fourth line, Hagel, Bo Horvat, Sam Reiner.

[A]

A B plus, A minus. I think all these. My big one is I like the idea of needing Nick Suzuki top three lines, but this is a situation where I'm like, I just think Nick Suzuki is a better center than Bo Horvat. The. The. The embarrassment of riches on, like, I was about to say, when will the Brandon Hagel disrespect stop, please? But then I feel the same way. About Rhino here. Oh, my God. And there's part of me that's like, I look at the way that Brandon Hagel has elevated his game the last few years playing with guys like Kucherov, you know, and point here and there. And that's when I look at that line, too. And I'm like, brandon Hagel on that wing with Sidney Crosby would probably do something real special, but.

[B]

And right. Like you just said, like, that one's actually even more shocking to me, especially with the way he's. He's played in big moments the last.

[A]

Few years where I'm like, I will say Hegel, Horvat, Reinert as your fourth line. This is exactly what we keep talking about. We wish the USA would do that. Like, when that line is going out as your fourth line and you're another team, you're like, are you what? Kidding me? So that's pretty sick.

[B]

Yep. It's definitely a make it stop line. But again, dude, I will be interested to see how much burn they get if they truly just roll four. I love it. Who cares, frankly? You know, like, you can be whatever number line you want to be if they just roll them, but if this is like, oh, yeah, they get a couple minutes a night, I'm going to be like, wow, that's kind of shocking to me that that's who you kind of stash down there. Yeah. Okay. D, do you want to just all at once?

[A]

Yeah. Let him rip.

[B]

Okay, so It's Taze and McCarr. We're line one, Morrissey and Parenco. De pairing two, Sanheim and Shea Theodore. D pairing three. Which left Harley. Oh, actually, let me do the. Well, whatever. So it left Harley and Dewey as the two out.

[A]

Yeah. And then up top, you have Sam Bennett and Seth Jarvis.

[B]

Seth Jarvis and Sam Bennett were the two forwards you left out. That's what I was gonna say.

[A]

Yeah. To touch on the forwards, like, those are the two guys added. It kind of makes sense that they are starting as the. The guys out, but we'll probably see them in.

[B]

That's what I'm saying. They will get rotated in more than I think maybe these D will, but go on. Yeah.

[A]

Taves and Makar was always a lock. And then after that, it's kind of like, pick your poison for these guys. I. I think it's all about chemistry on this. Like, on paper, I'm like, Shea, Theodore, not being a second pairing is insane. And I. I suppose I feel that way. But when we get to usa, we're going to see A similar situation.

[B]

Left shot. Dan, like, is he playing off offside?

[A]

He's a lefty, I believe. Evan, will you look that up?

[B]

Can you check those D? Evan, like, I think Perinko is right, but like Sanheim and Shea. Theodore.

[A]

His name is Pareco, not Paranco. You gotta work.

[B]

I always say that wrong.

[A]

I know you do. It's so.

[D]

Isn't that the type of breadcrumbs.

[A]

Panko.

[B]

What a nickname, dude. I'm calling him that now.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Breadcru. There's too many car. There's too many car based nicknames in the NHL.

[B]

You're right.

[D]

He shoots left.

[A]

Yeah. So Shay is. Shay is left shot. So. So yeah, there's a double up for you.

[B]

Yeah. That's interesting.

[A]

I think the surprising one here is Harley. For me, I. Harley and Sani, like, you know, I know that this Canada group and these coaches absolutely love Sanny and he's a great player. I am, I am. I'm a touch surprised that Sani is currently looking like he's in over Harley.

[B]

Okay. Yeah, same.

[A]

Yeah, I guess. Same.

[B]

I think I was expecting this in a way. And my surprise the whole time has been breadcrumb because I was like, I don't even know if I pick him. But then it's your GM picking, which, you know, maybe. Maybe I put too much stock in based on the cooperation Sorelli comments. But I, I just. That was always my surprise and I. I'm surprised he was on the team and then I'm surprised he's in the second pairing. But I think like I said a second ago, it will be harder to crack. It'll be harder to change that up than the forwards, I think because the forwards would be. The forwards are going to jumble around like there's no chance Sam Bennett doesn't get in. Jarvi doesn't get in the D. I think will be tricky.

[A]

I love that take. Actually, I feel the same way about usa Honestly, when we get there, it's like you. Those almost need to be the most solid for me. I want the D pairings. I want these to be marriages of old. I, you know, no, no, no one's getting divorced back in the. In the 40s and 50s. That's what I want the D pairings to be in the Olympics. This is. That is your guy. Stand by your man. You're playing together and you're making it work. If I want my team to be successful, I need happy marriages on the blue line.

[B]

And no, no word yet from the practices on goalie it's going to be fascinating. That'll be the most interesting thing to see. Canada goalie. I'm salivating for that choice. I don't know if there was more today because you found some good tweets from today, Dan. I don't know if someone had eyes on it at this. At the next practice, I'm also going.

[A]

To say this, but before we move on to usa, there have been. It has been the. It's been the biggest crutch for. For us fans to be like, we've got the advantage in goalie. It's not even close. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

[B]

Dude.

[A]

Benner's having a struggle. A tough year, because the Blues are having a tough year. Logan Thompson and Darcy Kemper are fucking phenomenal. So, like, this talk of, yo.

[B]

There's such a clear advantage.

[A]

I'm like, what? We got to stop saying this because LT and. And Darce are so good. Dude.

[B]

What were the Vesna finalists last year?

[A]

It was Hellebuck, Kemper and lt.

[B]

I thought so. But maybe he finished fourth. Like, weren't we in. Weren't you in the car with him?

[A]

We were like, maybe Vassy. Did Vassi creep up in there?

[D]

I think, yeah, yeah. Hellebuck, Kemper, Vasilevsky and that.

[B]

But LT finished fourth because, remember, we were with him in the car and we were like, oh, you got. You got fourth. So it's like they got, like, their. Their third. They have the third and fourth Vesna finalists from last year on the team, and we have the one who isn't even playing to his potential.

[A]

So I'm like, yeah.

[B]

Wait, are they better in what?

[A]

How.

[B]

The turntables.

[A]

Dude that has the turntables. It is so real.

[B]

Okay, so now I'm giving you USA lines, and we have USA lines from practice one and USA lines from practice two, where there was some slight changes. So I'll read both.

[A]

Okay. Is that going to be complicated, or should we just read one?

[B]

Nope. Because you don't know. You don't know usa. And I guess, like, ignore who was line one and two. But line. The top six stayed the same. So you have quote, unquote, line one.

[A]

Gensel Matthews Boldy B minus.

[B]

What is wrong with you, dude? Take that sweatshirt off.

[A]

B, B flat, B.

[B]

Why?

[A]

I love the Matt Boldy first line. I absolutely love that for. So he is this. He is this guy. He is. He is. Who is the most underrated basketball player of all time. Why was I going Basketball?

[B]

Yeah. That's crazy. How would I know that he is.

[A]

Matt Boldy is the mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving dinner. Like everyone. Bobby Ryan, that dude, everyone always forgets to bring up. Matt Boldy. He is so fucking good. I love that he's on first Line. Jake Gensel, also insanely underappreciated. He had a great Four nations too. I, I do not mean for this to come off as Auston Matthews disrespect. I just don't get it, man. I don't think he has earned this honor. I don't think he, we had so many conversations. He was named captain recently, by the way. Like, the captains came out. There were so many people in our DMS being like, how the fuck is he captain of this team? I think that that's rude. We don't know what's going on in the locker room. He's obviously an elite player, but he's not playing well this year. His team's not playing well this year. He was not great in Four nations last year. He has never showed up in big games. I just don't get it.

[B]

And, but are you just not getting the 1C of it? Like, if this was quote unquote, line two, do you not care or do you say you want him like out of the lineup?

[A]

I, I, I would love to see what an Auston Matthews can do in a third line situation, maybe where he's not matched up against the other team's first line. And also maybe he looks at it like a, oh, there's a little bit less pressure on me. I'm not the first line guy, but to me, I'd be much happier personally if Dylan Larkin, Tage Thompson was on that line.

[B]

Yep. Okay, so I'm, I'm not on your side on this one because I think Gensel and Boldy are no brainers. I got, and I know you said that too, but I'm like, gentle and Boldy are no brainers. And let's just go to the second line because this will help complete the point. The second line, quote unquote, but possibly the first line, because it was in the second practice, is the Chuck Eichel Tkachuk line.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Great. I assume you love that. Yes, yes. So if that, if you put that line out first, then I need Gensel and Boldy on the wings of whatever the other top six line is. And I just think Auston Matthews has a skill set that literally no one else on this team and maybe in this tournament possess and he just has to be there. Like, we can only win if he is there. And Plays to his potential. Now, has he ever done that? Rarely in big moments. I hear you big time, but I just almost feel like you have to go. The way we win is him, is him doing it. So we have to give him that opportunity.

[A]

Evan, as we keep talking, can you look up Austin Matthews career stats season by season? Like, I want you to read off his points, like his point totals season by season.

[D]

All right, Give me a moment. I got you.

[A]

Yeah, we can move to the next line, Chris.

[B]

Okay, so in practice one, the third line was Jack Hughes, Dylan Larkin, Tage Thompson. And in practice two, it was Kyle Connor. Dylan Larkin, Tage Thompson.

[A]

Yeah. Okay. Jack Hughes, Dylan Larkin, Tage Thompson. Absolutely love all three centers.

[B]

Just. Just throw like that is.

[A]

That is an all star team like you read about. That is. That is when we got to selects and everyone was like, I play center and.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, well, we got to fucking figure it out. Somebody go to the wall, please.

[A]

But I dig that line. I really like Jack Hughes on a wing position. I think Jack Hughes should move to wing, period.

[B]

In real life. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

I love Jack. And I also love like the fact. Say what you will about Jack's injury.

[C]

I hope.

[A]

I hope he's healthy. I. I'm a Jack Hughes believer, man. I feel like he's getting shit on a lot recently, and I know he didn't play that great in Four nations, but the kid's talented.

[C]

Yep.

[A]

I'm excited to see him maybe, you know, get. Get a. Get a stiff upper lip here and start playing well. But I like that balance too. Like the, the idea of Tage on the wing hitting one t. Clap bombs. Let. Let Dylan be Dylan. He's. He's a leader. He's perfect. He's got a great relationship with Jack. I like that line a lot. Me too.

[B]

And I think, oh, yeah, go have go.

[D]

I got you, Matthew. I'm gonna go backwards from this year. So in 51 games, we have 48 points goals last season. 78 points in 67 games. 2023, 2024. His best season yet. 107 points in 81 games. Almost played a full season. 20, 22, 23, 85 points and 74.

[A]

69 goal a year too.

[D]

Yeah, 69 goals. Nice. In 2020-202420-22106 points in 73 games. 60 goals. 2021 weird season. 66 points, 52 games, 41 goals, 2020 season. 80 points, 70 games, 47 goals. 2019, 73 points, 68 games.

[A]

Okay, we can, we.

[B]

We.

[A]

We can we can stop there, go.

[D]

All the way back.

[A]

But yeah, thank you for that. The reason I asked you to do that is because I do think people Forget about those 200 plus point seasons.

[B]

And that in that one season, that short season got shortened where he was on pace to score fucking another 70 burger, you know, and have another 100 point season.

[A]

Yeah, people forget about that. And I do think the last two seasons have just been like, pretty poop for him and injuries aren't helping. And it's also hilarious. This is the, the scale we talk about when you're like, Austin Matthews is having a great year this year and he has 26 goals and he's just under point per game. And we're, we're over here talking about other guys, like Dylan Larkin, for example. Like, if Dylan Larkin's on an 80 point pace, I'm like, yeah, that's amazing. Start him over, Austin. And I'm like, Austin's doing the same fucking thing. What are you talking about? So it is, he does have an unfair measuring stick, but yeah, that is what all the only thing I wanted to bring up.

[B]

Okay, so then, Dan, line four, so we can have the bottom six combo. On practice one, it was Clayton Keller, Vinnie Trocheck, Brock Nelson, and in practice two, it was J.T. miller, Brock Nelson, Jack Hughes.

[A]

B minus. Yeah, I, I, to me, I, I am like, I don't know, man.

[B]

Who do you want, who do you want at center on fourth line?

[A]

Brock Nelson.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Okay, so then get, get, get, get the Rangers out of this lineup. I, I, it's, Sullivan doesn't like to.

[D]

Make adjustments either, so you might be stuck.

[A]

It's, it's, it's not, it's not my typical Rangers hate. It's, it's not a joke. Like, they're, I don't give a fuck about those guys. They're, they're, you know, they're good players, but the team is fucking terrible. They are both having terrible seasons.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

We're talking about other guys who are all fucking All Stars, the majority of which are having, or at least the guys that are in contention to start over them or not start over them are all having significantly better years than them. What are we fucking talking about, dude?

[B]

And Dan, what if you, if you.

[A]

Scratch, if you scratch Kyle Connor, okay, For either of those fucking two guys, the, the Galaxy brain stuff that is going on here belongs in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. It is so. It's such a hilarious overthink to be like, I think this is something we gotta do. You're you're fucking dumb if you do that.

[B]

Fucking mind. When I saw the first day one practice lines and Kyle Connor is scratched, and I was like, dude, what. Why pick him then? Why pick him? Like, literally, you benched him in the Four nations final and then said, oh, man, we don't score enough. And I was like, yeah, pretty stupid to bench one of your elite, elite 50 goal scorers in the league. And then they were like, yeah, yeah, that's our bad. That was crazy. Then you pick him for the Olympics and they're like this, he's not playing again. And I'm like, leave him home, dude. That is madness, bro. So, yeah, it's already insane that you're like, you're gonna stuff him on the fourth line. I guess in day two, they had him on the third line, which is nice, but. Yeah, it is. I hate doing like the. I need the Rangers out. But that. That fourth line has to be Clayton Keller, Brock Nelson and Jack Hughes. If. If Connor's up on that third line.

[A]

And, well, you know what's funny is like, similar to Team Canada, I don't care if they're on the fourth line. We've talked about this. This is not. This is not 2014. It's not 2010. There aren't any bruisers on this team. There aren't fucking energy guys on this team or there shouldn't be. And we. Even with some of the decisions that we didn't agree with, like the fact that we'll continue to call it out, the fact that Jason Robertson, Alex DeBrincat, Cole Caufield aren't on this team, I think is a shame game. But even with that, there are plenty of talented guys here to build a fourth line that competes with Canada's fourth line. So I don't give a fuck where Kyle Connor is. If he's on the fourth line, he's on the fourth line. Fine. Look at Clayton Keller. Clayton Keller's elite. He's going to be on the fourth line. That's fine. And if your fourth line is Clayton Keller, Brock Nelson, Kyle Conner, I'm like, fuck, yeah. Oh, yeah. That's sick. Yep. So, yeah, I just. I don't care where Kyle Conner is. I don't. I don't care what people thought about maybe his first or second game at Four Nations. It's kind. Kyle Connor play the guy.

[B]

Oh, my God. Okay, so D. Dan is Hughes McAvoy. No surprise there. Slave and Faber, no surprise there. In practice one, it was Warrensky and Hanifin. And in Practice two, it was Sanderson and Werensky.

[A]

I. No, absolutely no notes. Same thing. Happy harmonious marriages. I think Quinner and Charlie is such a perfect combination. Like let Charlie be Charlie. Let Quinn be Quinn. Slave, Slavin and Faber. Absolutely perfect. Let. Let Slaven be Slavin. Let Faber. I mean the way that Faber can launch into his best offensive self playing with Jacob Slavin is so delicious. And then this is what I was referring to with Canada, like with Zach Grensky on your third pairing is hysterical.

[B]

It's hysterical.

[A]

It's. It's absolutely hysterical. But it's one of those things where like if, if, if it's up to me, I'm putting Warrenski first parity. But Quinn and Charlie play so well together and so like I'd want to be like it's Warrensky and Charlie. But then you break that up and I'm like, I don't know. So whatever, it's fine. I don't care who weren't ski plays with. He's going to elevate whoever he plays with. If it were, you know, when you look at the. There's like a bruising lockdown guy and an offensive guy on every pairing. Well, you got Quinn's the offense, Charlie's the Hammer, Slavin's the Hammer, Faber's the offense. Warensky does both because he's perfect. But Warrensky's the offense in this situation. I think Hannifin's the Hammer. Yep. What's interesting about Sandy is I love Sandy and I would probably pick him. And what I love about the combo of him and Rensky is Sandy's both too. Like, I think they're both such good two way defenseman, so don't really care which one you go there. But. And Warrensky's the guy that I would have the like could be anyone.

[B]

So that's great actually. Great point dude, because I'd go Sandy there but. But it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter at all. And I hope Lacombe gets in a little bit in goal in on day two. They did report Hellebuck was on. On one side his own net. So likely hella buck. Which I don't love to be honest with you, but you can't get mad at having Connor Hellback. But I, I just.

[A]

Disagree. Yes you can. And I'll tell you exactly why. Here's my, here's my stance on this. I wouldn't start him because as good as Connor Helbuk is literally one MVP last year trash, but literally one mvp. And then what happened? Dude, he gets into the playoffs and all of the same question marks happened. They fell apart, they lost games they shouldn't have, and they eventually got bounced from the playoffs way too early. A guy like Vasilevsky, there are no question marks with, like, he's. He is always going to play. There is no. There are no.

[B]

Ooh.

[A]

Like, what's going on with Vasilevsky? A guy like Shusterkin, same deal. Like, doesn't matter who's in front of him. He's always going to play. I. I don't think Sway obviously won a gold this past summer. I think that's amazing. He's having a great year. Otter is having a great year. But Otter has had a few things in the past couple seasons in playoffs where it's like, it's felt like maybe he didn't play up to potential. The problem with the USA goalies, as great as they are, none of them are. You can't make a case that has. That doesn't have negatives. What a fucking ridiculous runaround sentence that was. But you know what I'm saying, Like, when you're talking about Vassi, there's nothing to say.

[B]

He's just.

[A]

He is what he is. He's phenomenal. There's nothing to say. I don't think that you have. And I know jets fans would try to disagree, but you're just. You.

[B]

Oh, no, dude. They would. They would be like.

[A]

I think someone. I think some would. Because jets fans are loyal and they stand by their guy and respect that.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But. But they are at. You got drunk goggles on. If you don't think that there's something to say. But yeah, I mean, you. You could make the same argument. I'm like, look at last season. Like, it was a brutal season for Sway for a number of. With what was going on in Boston. And you know, this, that. Whatever. But wins the gold this summer. Bounce back. He's a top goalie in the league this year. So, you know, if it's up to me, I would give someone else a shot because you know what happens if you start hellebuck and who's USA's first game? Latvia.

[B]

I will tell you, USA's first game is Latvia.

[A]

USA plays Latvia. What's tough is, no disrespect Latvia, that'll probably be a comfortable win for the U.S. but if you start Connor Helbuk against Latvia and he lets in, like, three ugly goals. Yep. You are definitely now going, jesus fucking Christ. What do we do with this guy?

[B]

I Think. Yeah, I think you go someone else. I legitimately do.

[A]

And that is then already a mistake, dude, because if you go someone else, you have now benched Connor Hellebuck. You have benched the reigning MVP of the league. You can't really go back to him after you bench him. And if you then go Sway or if you go Otter and in their next game, which is against who? Germany.

[D]

Yes.

[B]

Game is. Yes.

[D]

Denmark. Usa.

[A]

Denmark. Denmark is the next game, right?

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. So you then go against Denmark, and if Swayer. Otter is leaky now, you have no idea what you're doing.

[B]

Yeah, dude.

[D]

Then you.

[B]

Then. Then it's a rotation. Then we just rotating, dude. Everyone. Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Call Parrish.

[B]

Get him in there, because who cares? Who cares? At that point, our entire advantage is dead. And we should go home. We should actually go home and get rest. We should go home and get rest for the 2030 Olympics.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Everybody cool out. That would be great.

[A]

So, as stupid as it sounds, there's a part of me that's like, just start Sway, and if Sway is lights the fuck out, you go, boom. We did it.

[B]

I'm a genius.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

But if you start Sway or Otter and they're, like, kind of leaky, and you get by Latvia, it's. It's almost a good feeling to be like this. We're going back to Hellbug, dude. We're going back to the mvp.

[C]

Yep.

[B]

Okay, so let me give you.

[A]

Now I might be Galaxy Brainy.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, Dan. We. We like.

[D]

Dude, let's strategically lose the first game.

[A]

Yeah, Tank.

[D]

Just first game, make everybody think you're weak. And then bam.

[B]

God. Okay, I'm gonna rip us through some things as we get into, like, our. Our predictions here. So there's three groups. Group A is Canada. That's how you say it, right?

[A]

Chechia, Czechia.

[B]

Is it, though?

[A]

Yeah, it is. I mean, like, it's. It's up for interpretation.

[B]

Yeah, it's like the Chile thing.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, but it's Czechia. And just say the Czechs.

[B]

Canada. Yeah, I like that, Dan. I like Galaxy Check. Stay hot. Stay hot. Group A is Canada. The Czechs, the Swiss and France. Group B is Finland. Sweden. Amazing. Slovakia, Italy, the hosts.

[A]

Can I pause real quick? Have any of you guys seen the mock ups of the. The Italian team roster where it's like, if you have Italian heritage, you can play for the team.

[B]

Oh, it's all. No, I haven't seen that. They're awesome.

[A]

It's really fun. We gotta find those. But they're really fun.

[B]

And then group C is usa, Germany, Latvia, Denmark. Okay, so those are your three groups. There's a round robin to start where in each group everyone plays each other. Okay. After the round robin, the three group winners plus the top second place team. So in the best second place team, for points out of one of those three groups, those four teams get a buy. Three group winners, top second place team.

[A]

Very cool.

[B]

So then on Tuesday the 17th, every other team, all the remaining eight, play a single elimination qualification game with the top seed playing the lowest seed, etc. Just like a. Like a playoff.

[A]

Very cool.

[B]

And then those four winners meet the four teams that got a buy into the quarterfinals. So it's actually interesting that everyone makes it out of the round robin. There's no like, oh, we were bad. Like in the World cup, you're like, you're out. You know, you two are out. We're going on to the knockout stage. Wrong. Everyone is in. So you get that fourth game no matter what, if you don't get the buy. But it does make getting that buy so important because you just duck that random game where you're like, oh, whatever, we just have to play Italy, who's 0 and 3. But it's like, well, they just play the game of their life and beat you. And now you're out. And you're like, are we like, you're.

[A]

Telling me we can't get a fourth group in here?

[B]

Agree, man. I was actually looking at the world rankings the other day when I was putting this together, and there were some teams that didn't make it that I, I was like, why aren't they. They should just be in.

[A]

Yeah, like, let's, let's. The Russians. Russians right off the bat, like, let's know. But like, we're saying in our perfect world, these Russian players, who hopefully have nothing to do with the political situation, should be able to play as the Olympic athletes from Russia or something, because they would have a good team.

[D]

So let's say Russia, the athletes formerly known as Russian.

[A]

Yes, dude, there we go. Let's call them Yugoslavia.

[B]

Yep. Okay. I like that. Dan. There's. These are the. These are the IIHF world rankings. These are crazy. I don't know how they get these, but these are the IIHF World rankings as of May 2025 for.

[A]

For Men's hockey.

[B]

Yeah, I got men's and women's here. What's. National ice hockey teams. Yeah. Number one, Russia. Number two. Not there. Number two, us. Number three, Switzerland. And then I'm just going to read it down. Canada, Sweden. Czechs. Finland. Germany. Denmark, Slovakia, Latvia. All in. Austria? Not there.

[A]

Norway?

[B]

Not there. Kazakhstan? Not there. France. Belarus. Not there. Slovenia? Not there. Hungary? Not there. Great Britain?

[A]

Not there.

[B]

You know, so there's just. My point is we could get one more group of teams that no one would go. You're ruining this tournament.

[D]

Poland, South Korea even is kind of up there.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. So there's. I'm with you. I think it would just be more fun to have one more group and then just make it, make it like the four group winners go. There's a way to do this more evenly. You're making the math hard. It's rattling me. Okay. But that's the importance of getting that by finishing in the group. We hit this on the live. But I just wanted to do a reminder here for anyone didn't get to hear the live or hasn't watched that on YouTube yet. The OT rules actually kind of crazy. In the preliminary rounds there any tie game ends in a five minute three on three overtime, just like the NHL. And then it goes to a shootout. The only difference is it's a five person shootout instead of three. And then if it's tied after five, then it goes into that sudden death like it normally does. And you can repeat because those are the rules in the Olympics. Obviously. We saw Tjoshi do that a thousand times in a row and it was incredible. So that's the preliminary rounds, then the quarters and semis. Do a 10 minute three on three overtime. And if it's still tied, it's the five person shootout with sudden death shootouts after that. And that would be crazy, dude. Like a, a, a semi final game for the right to go to the gold ending in a shootout. And in a shootout after a 10 minute three on three overtime is, is like cool and wild to me. And then the biggest one is the gold medal game is a continuous 20 minute overtime periods, but also three on three.

[A]

We talked about it. The live show. Absolutely fucking insane. It's just so dumb, dude. It's like we, we, we talk about all the time the if it, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. And there's a reason why in the Stanley cup playoffs when you get to overtime, it's just 20 minute periods at 5 on 5 because we want to just see who fucking wins the game based on who's the best fucking team on the ice. And 3v3 OT is that now is it exciting in regular season NHL play? Yes. Even though it's already broken because of the regroup, as you always call out cp. But it is what it is. Shootouts are fun. This is the Olympics. This isn't some throwaway game up in Rochester. So what are you talking about? That we implemented 3v3 at all? And I, I. It's. I think it's crazy and I'm not happy about it. Are they worried about pro?

[D]

Are they worried about programming where they're like, we don't want these to go too long now. People have short attention spans a days, guys.

[A]

You can't let these games. I actually bet. I bet in the early rounds it has something to do with that because there's one rink, right? Like, it's like there's not. It's. It's complicated. But when it comes to the gold medal game, there's absolutely no excuse for this. It's. I think it's a classic overthink.

[B]

Did Dan. Did four nations go to double ot or was that the single?

[A]

That was one ot.

[B]

One ot. Because it just. You're right, Ev. I was about to say, like, it sucks that I. They could take that from me, like a triple overtime. USA Canada gold medal game. I'm like, that wasn't that amazing.

[A]

But that would be amazing. It's not even that. It's. That it's not. It's not the game that. I'm sorry, man. Like, that is. And that maybe this is a boomer take. Call me a boomer, folks, in the comments.

[D]

All right? Go off funk.

[A]

If this is a lame take, seriously, call me out. But I just think, like, like when it comes to the Olympics, I want to see who is the better team. Five on five.

[B]

Yep. No, I'm with you, dude. I'm with you. I. I actually was like, I had to check that 15 times on different sites because I was like, no way are you doing three on three overtime.

[D]

But at what point do we. How many years until we're like one on one with like just a goal?

[B]

Yeah, Dan.

[A]

Love that. I love. I. I think it would be so funny.

[C]

Just do one on one. Yeah.

[A]

It would be so crazy.

[B]

Okay, so you know everyone's schedule. Just, you know, who they're playing in order. Canada plays the Czechs, the Swiss, then France. US Plays Latvia, then Denmark, then Germany. Sweden plays Italy, then Finland and Slovakia. The Czechs play Canada, then France, then Swiss. Okay, quick preview predictions and then actual literal predictions. Dan, who is going to go before.

[A]

Before we get into that, I just want to do a rundown of the gals.

[B]

Oh, hell yeah.

[A]

The. The women's game is playing right now. Prelims are going to and we've had some fucking electric games. Started off hot with some with some dramatics with neurovirus. The finish finish team couldn't even play. So in our prelim game so far, Germany with a nice tight game. WA 21 over France. Italy the hosts get a 32 win over Japan. The Czech team clapped 2 nothing against Finland. And again I bet neurovirus was definitely not helping the finish gals in that one. My girls on Sweden 4 nothing against France. Canada with a dominant 44 nothing win against Switzerland. USA dominant 5 nothing win against Finland. And like I don't know if you saw that Hillary night goal but like Hillary just charging the net going Chetty bombs on everybody. Unbelievable. Sweden another big win against the host Italy. 61 Germany takes down Japan 52 tail as old as time. Switzerland big 43 win over check. Japan nice win 32 over France. US 51 over the checks. Italy 41 over France and then Sweden 41 over Germany. So we've got games today, big games too. US and Swiss play at 2:40 today. That's coming up. This will be over by the time you guys are listening to this big game. Canada check today. Japan, Sweden is tomorrow as well as Italy, Germany and USA Canada. So when you are listening to this, we're getting our first U.S. canada tilt in the women's game at 2:10pm Eastern time. So make sure to tune into that. We also have Finland, Switzerland as well. So if you are itching for the hockey already, it's already buzzing. The gals are ripping it all over the ice right now and yeah, tomorrow obviously big one USA Canada. We've the, we've got the, the, the, the series that goes on with those gals all the time. Because though, I mean Canada, US Women hockey is those, those ladies go to war against each other. It is wild. So those games are going right now. Make sure to tune in. If you're listening to this on Tuesday, tune in today because there's some elite matchups.

[B]

Yep. Okay, Dan, I want to hear and EV2 actually, who do you think is going to shine for U.S. and Canada? Like we're going to look back on this and go holy that they had an unbelievable tournament.

[A]

I, I think, I think Charlie McAvoy is going to have a great time. I'm going to do two D and I'm going to do two forwards.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I think Charlie McAvoy is going to have a great tournament. I think he's playing the best hockey of his Life right now. Even after he got his jaw shattered into a million pieces.

[B]

Catch a brain break.

[A]

It's insane actually.

[B]

He catches plenty of breaks. Can he catch less breaks?

[A]

Catch. Catch. Health please.

[B]

Yeah, that'd be sick.

[A]

I think he's gonna have a phenomenal tournament and I think Warensky is too. That, that's a lame pick by me. But Warrensky has emerged as. I'm sorry man. Say what you want about Kale and Quinn. I think Warrensky the last two years has emerged as an, as an argument to be made as the best defenseman in the National Hockey League.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

And I think he wanted to have a bit better of a Four nations tournament. So I, I, I'm, I have eyes on him doing something special. And my, you, my forwards. There's, there are guy. I think Jack Eichel is obviously going to play well. I think Dylan's obviously going to play well. But for me the big standouts are going to be Matt Boldy and Tage Thompson. I think Paige Thompson. I think he, I think he does well with a chip on his shoulder and I think he's had a chip on his shoulder for a couple of years now. And you see the way Buffalo's playing. He's a big, has a big part of that. I think he was pissed when he didn't make Four Nations. I think he's so thrilled to be here now and I think he's going to prove everyone right to select him.

[B]

Dan, My next question was going to be who has a coming out party in the way Slave and did. Obviously everyone here is good. It's not like people don't know who these guys are. But I think after Four nations, like the hockey world was like, like, yo, Jacob Slavin is so good.

[A]

100 that happened.

[B]

Who, who I was going to ask you next, who is going to have their coming out party?

[D]

Do you.

[B]

Would your answer be Tage or Boldi or do you have a different answer for that?

[A]

Clayton Keller.

[B]

Okay. Sick.

[A]

Yeah, I, I would. I could see Boldi because my whole thing that I said, I was like Baldi is somehow still underrated.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So it, and that was the kind of the case with Slaving last year. Like we went into that game being like, I mean he came on the show and we were like, everyone, this dude is the best defensive defenseman in the NHL. And I think people did realize that. No, I'm not saying credit to us. Tons of hockey people know that.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But Boldy is kind of similar to that. Like I do think there's going to be a lot of people who aren't wild fans who are going to be like, Jesus fucking Christ, this kid is pretty good. But I think Clayton Keller could have a big time. Like, wake up people. This guy is fantastic.

[B]

Yep. Okay, I'll, I'll do mine. I think I'm going to, I'm going boldly for that coming out party. For everything you just said. I legitimately think he's going to be one of our top producing players and everyone's going to go, holy, dude. Matt Boldy is like a, a top of that league conversation.

[A]

Yeah, he's a job.

[B]

Yeah. Like, I think he actually might be this, he'll be all timer after this and then I'm going to go, I'm going to go back to the well like a moron. But the person who is going to absolutely shine for Team USA is Auston Matthews. He's going to have an incredible tournament. We are going to go to the gold medal game. I don't know if we'll win, but he's going to have a shitload of goals and everyone's gonna go. I'm so, I feel so sorry that I talk so much shit about him.

[A]

I love, love, love that take. And, and I, I know, I know I gave my caveats at the beginning, but I, I, I said yesterday on Hockey Talk, I was like. Cause I, like, I said a bunch of people were like, they should guy, should this guy be captain? And when you're as good as this fucking dude. He's a former MVP. He scores 60 goals. There is absolutely no reason for him at any moment to just go like this. And I'm here now. Fuck off. Yep. So what better time to do it?

[B]

Ev, Ev, who you got for, like, a superstar on Team USA and who you got for a coming out party?

[D]

I think Matthew Tkachuk's gonna, gonna be ready to go and I think he's rested and they're having a frustrating season in Florida, so maybe he, he lets it out. He might also get a little, you know, tough. So maybe he has some effects on games that have less to do with scoring, but I think that frustration is going to come out and maybe in a good way just be like, very effective.

[A]

Love.

[B]

Love it. Yep.

[D]

Hmm. Coming out party. I don't know. I mean, I'd have to say boldly like you guys.

[B]

Yeah, boldly, I think. God, I feel really good about that.

[D]

Yeah, that's the obvious one. So, though, okay, why, why change it?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I hope to God we didn't Just mush the Dan.

[B]

Same questions. Team Canada.

[A]

I love a Nick Suzuki 100% to.

[B]

Shine or the coming out party.

[A]

Nick. Nick Suzuki coming out party. It's going to make Habs fans so fun to watch because they, they ride at dawn for their king. And I love that. That I think Nick Suzuki, this is going to be like, we were with Slavin. People around the league who don't necessarily watch a lot of Atlantic games or a lot of Canadiens games are going to go, what the fuck? Is this guy a top player in the league? And to that we will say yes. And, dude, give me. I am dead ass. Give me Macklin for my mvp. I just think, look at what he's done all year, dude. He just doesn't give a fuck. This guy don't give a hell about nothing. And I think he's gonna, he's gonna look around, playing with Connor McDavid, playing with Sid, Power play time, this, that. And he's gonna just be like, I'm just gonna have fun. And I think he's going to dominate.

[B]

Dude, funny you say that because he was going to be my pick for coming out party, which is ridiculous because it's not like anyone doesn't think he's, like, he's an MVP candidate. But I just think that. Remember last year when Conor scored to win four nations and they asked Sid, like, like, was that a passing of the torch? And Sid was like, shut the up. Because he's like, I'm still in the league and just as good as anybody. But I actually think Macklin is so, like you said, he don't give a fuck about nothing. He's gonna play this so loose that people are gonna leave this tournament and be like, wait, is Macklin the best player in the league? Like, I actually think, I actually think that's what's gonna happen. I think he's gonna be so carefree that he's gonna lead the team in scoring.

[A]

And you know what's so funny too is there are so many guys on this team that are so good.

[C]

Yep.

[A]

That I think it takes, I don't even want to say pressure, but it takes some pressure off him. I think there's an element for him that he's like, I'm on. Like, look around. Connor's here, Sid's here, Nate's here, Kale's here.

[B]

Like, I don't need to do.

[A]

I don't. They're not that much is on my shoulders. And I hate I, I. And Ev. I want you to give your answer too. I hate that we're just saying everybody, but like we talked about with Baner, with the Tribune article, I. I think there is a world where Conor goes.

[B]

Goblin mode in this tournament. He goons, dude.

[A]

I mean, think about the way that this dude has been waiting to play in the Olympics and what he said in that article. There is a chance that we see Connor McDavid happier than we've ever seen him in our lives at this tournament. He is going to get here, he's going to be eating risotto and Milanese, and he's going to be just having the time of his fucking life wearing that Team Canada sweater at the Olympics for the first time in his career. And he might go full juniors mode.

[B]

Yeah. And say, get you idiots. Mike, my superstar Dan before Eva is. And I could have flipped these, but is lt. I think he gets time. I think. I think he literally, like, logs two shutouts. And everyone's like, oh, my God, I can't believe we were making fun of Canada's goalies. They won easily. And LT was tournament mvp. And I'm like, chris, very cool.

[A]

Very cool.

[B]

Of Canada or my. Yeah, star and star and coming out party.

[D]

I mean, my heart wants me to give the star to Crosby just because he's the captain and I do it.

[A]

I think you might have to do it.

[D]

I. But, you know, but the reality is he's. He's up there in age and. And the intensity of play might stifle him a little bit. And I. And I'm only saying that because I love him so much, and I. I don't want him to, like, like, get his butt hurt if he. If it, like, doesn't pan out.

[B]

Yep.

[D]

But I, I have to give it to him. I just think, like, he's. He's the heart and soul and he's still around and this might not even be his last.

[B]

I know.

[D]

Who knows? He might play at 42 or however old he's going to be, and then. Yeah, I don't know.

[A]

Yeah, I think he will.

[D]

He's still going, man. Just unstoppable.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

And. And yeah, I mean, as far as coming out party, I think if I'm looking at it, as far as, like, what people at large are going to talk about, because Celebrini is a great player. He's ha. He's young. He plays in San Jose. I don't know a ton of people who talk about San Jose. I think that I know poor people that are going to watch the Olympics and they might watch this and Go. Who the fuck is this guy?

[B]

You know what I mean?

[D]

Because he is amazing. So I mean, if we're talking about coming up party as far as like how people have. Viewers are going to see this, I have to go sell a brini here because he is that good and he is, you know, I mean, look, the NHL sometimes it takes a minute for people to catch the attention, right?

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

And a lot, A lot of people are looking at the Olympics right now. So I, I think I love it.

[B]

Okay, boys, here we go. So final predictions. Dan. Top two teams in group A out of Canada to check. Swiss and France.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm going to go Canada. And I think, man, there's just some tough injuries all around, but even with that, I think I'm going to go. The checks. I think they've got to get it.

[B]

Evan, top two group. Top two teams in group A, Canada.

[D]

Let's go Swiss.

[B]

Love that.

[A]

That.

[B]

I'm going Canada. Check. Dan, Top two teams in group B, Finland, Sweden, Slovakia.

[A]

Italy. Sweden, Finland. In that order.

[B]

Evan.

[D]

Yeah, same.

[B]

Yup, same. And then, Dan, Group C, top two teams. Usa, Germany, Latvia, Denmark.

[A]

I'm gonna go usa, Germany. In that order. And I'm also going to say I think the Germans are going to be much, much better than people realize.

[B]

Okay.

[D]

Ev, look, I can't claim to know that much about all of these, so I will, I will parrot. Like I'll be a little puppet. Yeah. Usa, Germany.

[B]

Okay, same. My. My predictions are mostly chalk, but I think it's gonna. I think it's gonna happen. Dan, bronze medal game. Who's playing and who's winning? Bronze.

[A]

Oh, my God. I didn't want to do this.

[B]

You have to. This is the dude.

[D]

Put him on the spot, man.

[B]

Olympic predictions.

[A]

I. I think the bronze medal game is going to be Sweden. Czechia.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And the winner will be Sweden.

[B]

Ev.

[D]

I do think Sweden has a great team. Right. So let's say, yeah, Sweden. Check.

[B]

And Sweden. Sweden. Bronze. Okay, that's what I have.

[D]

Evan, let's go.

[B]

Check, check. Winning.

[D]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, let's make their prime for an upset.

[B]

Yep. Something's gonna happen. Germany could even sneak in. Dan. Okay. And then I don't even need to ask the matchup, but gold medal game, boys, who's winning?

[A]

I just feel like I never know what to do here because obviously I'm rooting for the United States.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

But when I say United States, our lovely Canadian fellows call me an idiot.

[C]

Yep.

[A]

But when I then go, well, Canada, because I think Canada is Better. And I think they're going to win. Then I get called a traitor.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

I can't win. I'm either a dumb dumb or I'm a traitor.

[B]

And dude, you got to be. I'd rather be a trader. No, I'd rather be dumb than a trader, but I'm going to be a trader. In honor of the NBC Peacocks hit show, you Caught Yourself a trader. Because I want USA to win so badly. But the Crosby triple gold medal thing and Dewey Crosby and doing triple gold medal.

[A]

Come on.

[B]

I'm going. I think Canada is going to do it. I want USA so badly, but I think put a gun to my head. I think Canada is going to do it.

[A]

Then I'll be a dummy me and I'll say usa. Come on, boys, let's go. But I am also going to be typical Danny Green Jeans. I just want everyone to be happy and everyone to have fun. I. I don't know. I'm getting older. I'm so soft and emotional. It's just. It is what it is. I. I love Canada so much and like them, these guys and, and the gals too, obviously. We've got so many people on that women's team we're ruined for too. That I just like. It's so conflicting because every time I'm.

[B]

Like, I wish they could tie. Yeah.

[A]

It was the same thing as four nations. Like, we lost in overtime. And I was like looking at how happy all of the. Our Canadian friends are, all the people we've met on the road in Edmonton and Toronto and Montreal and everything, and seeing how happy they were because it's their game. It's like, it's cool. And also the guys are so happy. And I'm like, how could I be mad at this?

[B]

Yep. Okay, Ev, who you got?

[D]

Canada. I'm a. I'm a trader. I'm a proud trader. I derive no sense of national pride from players playing a game that I, you know, they're not me. I didn't do it. And I think Canada has the better team and. Yeah, sorry. It's their. It's their sport. It's their sport. Game. I'm sorry, I'm. I mean, I'd say citizen. I love hockey. Hockey. But, you know, read the tea leaves. It's Canada sport.

[A]

They're.

[D]

They're great. And I hope USA can sometimes can someday pull it off, but I don't predict it'll be this Olympics.

[B]

Yep. Okay.

[A]

Chris, do you know off the top of your head, the gold, silver and bronze of 20, 22.

[B]

Oh, no.

[C]

And I don't even.

[B]

I don't mean to disrespect that Olympics. I think Finland won. I think Finland won gold.

[D]

I can help you here.

[B]

Yeah, maybe.

[D]

Canada, Finland, gold. Silver. Russia, bronze. Slovakia. That's what it's saying here.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Sick.

[A]

Canada, U.S. no metal. Didn't even met.

[B]

Tough. Tough.

[A]

Yeah. And then the. The lady. Canada, gold. USA silver. Finland, bronze. So Canada going for back to back.

[B]

Yeah, that's gonna be sick.

[A]

Finland going for back to back in the men's.

[B]

Yeah, fair enough.

[A]

It's exciting.

[B]

Okay, those are our Olympic predictions and previews. We cannot wait. When you're listening to this, we're already in the air. Now we're going to take an ad break and then we are going to send it to our incredible Jack o' Callaghan interview, brought to you by our friends at Bauer. Bauer is dapping us up for a ton of Olympic coverage. They're going to be bringing you a ton of exclusive interviews like this. So OC be the 1980 Olympic hero. Coming at you right after this break. Every Tuesday of the NHL season, BetMGM is dishing out extra winnings with the NHL Odds Boost token. Here's how you get in on this fun, because you do not want to miss out on this. They have the best deals, and this is one of my favorites. You log into your BETMGM account and you add any NHL wager to your bet slip. Anything you want, puck line, money, line, overs, saves, anything. Okay. Then you just activate that NHL Odds Boost token. And if your boosted bet hits, you get a bigger payout. If you haven't joined the BetMGM family yet, now is the time to do it. Use that bonus code, netters. That's N E T T E R S. And you enjoy up to fifteen hundred dollars in a new player offer on your first wager. So you get in, you get 1500 on a new player offer. Then you can use the NHL Odds Boost token. Everything's coming up you. It's amazing. BETMGM is amazing. Make it legendary. We are joined today by a Charlestown, Mass. Native, give the 96th overall pick in the 1977 draft of the Chicago Blackhawks, where he played five seasons, who also played two more seasons for the New Jersey Devils. He was an All American, a Bean Pot mvp, a Bean Pot champion, an NCAA Tournament MVP and the NCAA tournament champion for the Bu Terriers. A Calder cup champion. Sick. And of course, an Olympic gold medalist in 1980 as a member of the Miracle on Ice USA hockey team, Jack O', Callaghan, welcome. Welcome to the.

[C]

Hi, guys. Dan. What's happening, guys?

[A]

We are pumped.

[B]

Pumped.

[C]

Good morning.

[A]

This is amazing stuff, I gotta say. I mean, Obviously the, the 1980 Olympic gold is unreal, but a Bean Pot MVP is a special, special thing to have.

[C]

Yeah, well, you know, those things, you never know who's going to get those. I mean, I think the first two years I was in it, I think I got it on my junior year. And the first two years I was in it played great. We were the best team. We should have won. And the MVP was like, one year it was the Boston College goalie and the next year was the Harvard goalie. So anyway, you run a little hot goalie in there in that tournament, you know, anybody can win. It's like the Olympics. But yeah, it's a fun Boston tournament. I'd been going since I was a little kid because I only grew up about, I don't know, half a mile from the Boston Garden. So, you know, we'd go over there all the time. Parents, you know, you go there when you, you're a seven year old. So I knew that tournament really well. It was really fun to be able to play in it and then, you know, win it a couple times and then, you know, obviously get that and then I, I, yeah. Anyway, we started a company when we got out to Chicago, me and Harvard, old Harvard hockey player, we called it Bean Pot Financial Services, which is pretty funny. Yeah.

[A]

Anyhow.

[B]

Well, Jack, no, people from a New England don't realize what a big deal that tournament is.

[C]

Yeah. You know, I was just there. I was there Monday night. I went out. We go out every year for the first night. It was fun. It's just different, you know, I, I mean, there's empty seats everywhere. Like, like. And I'm sure next week the finals will be bigger, but you know, BCBU final probably fill the place. But I don't know, I, I always remember it as being packed to the gills both nights. But you know, these, the way they do these things now, it's like they're clean on the ice all the time. Yeah. You know, they're taking time, commercial timeouts, they're shoveling snow. You know, every game takes three, three hours, you know, by the time we get out of there. The other night, it was almost midnight and you know, like, Jesus, things started, let's get out of here at 9:30.

[B]

You know, Jack, was it more spread out when you were playing? Like, was it not the two Mondays in a row? No, I was looking up it's always.

[C]

Been the first, second Monday in February since I don't know when they started it. Like the 50s, I think.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome.

[C]

Yeah, no, it's great. You can always count on it. And, you know, there's the other thing I like. We like doing this thing we do. We just invite a bunch of people and get a couple boxes and.

[D]

And.

[C]

And I like it on the first night just because everybody's in it. Right. Like, the first game was bu. Was it BC Harvard? You know, they think they're in it, right? I mean, BC beat them, but, I mean, you know, you think people would show up and then, I guess then, like, the BC crowd, you know, they might stick around for a little while, but then they're gone. Right. They don't want to watch Northeast and what. They might. But again, takes too long. So. Yeah, by the end of the game, I mean, the place is half full, you know.

[A]

Yeah. Well, speaking of Harvard, I mean, you, obviously, you had an unbelievable career at bu, but we heard the amazing story that you kind of were between BU and Harvard.

[C]

Oh, yeah, when I was a kid coming out of high school, yeah.

[A]

You picked BU over Harvard. What was that story like? Was that a tough decision for you, or was it just like. Well, getting after it With Jackie Parker, it was a no, no.

[C]

You know, I mean, just where I grew up, where I went to high school, you know, it was all about academics. Right. I mean, that's the whole thing. My generation, our parents, you know, they came out of, like, World War II. You know, my dad was Korean War vet, but, I mean, everybody, you know, you looked after your kids. It was usually like mom and dad at home. You know, mom, dad worked. Mom stayed home, and my mom always worked. But, I mean, that was kind of those traditional families where parents are, you know, on top of their kids. So academics is a big part of it for me. I went to Catholic school and all that stuff, so. So just coming out of Latin, I just always wanted to go to Harvard. That was a quick. That was the best route to go. Boston Latin School. And it was, you know, this public school in Boston. You take a citywide test. It was great. And I was doing well enough. It wasn't like I was Einstein or anything. I mean, I was. There was so many smart kids there. It was, you know, just a great school and great teachers and six years of public education. You know, lots of languages was really great. And yeah, when it came time to. To me to apply to colleges, I mean, it was pretty much I wasn't going. It was weird. I was getting phone calls from places like, where's Michigan? You know. You know, people call me from these like places and, and I just like. I mean there's plenty of colleges in Boston. Why would I want to go anywhere else, right? So. And Harvard was right there. You know, I was about to gonna apply to Dartmouth. I applied to Brown, applying to Brown, Harvard and Dart Dartmouth. And you know, I get into all three of them and yeah, then it was, you know, I mean, I could have get in academically. I deserve to get in all three of them. I mean I had good scores and all that stuff. But then the hockey thing and. Yeah, I don't know, I just kind of felt more comfortable with Parker, you know, and, and my friend was there, kid I grew up with in, in Charlestown, this kid Mike Fiddler. From a family of three great hockey players. I mean Mike was. His brother Joey played at bc. He was done playing. And Mike went to bu. He was a great, great player. Ended up playing in the NHL for the North Stars and the Cleveland Barons. And then Mike's younger brother Mark came, joined us at BU when I was a junior and Mark came in as a freshman. And that's the year we won the nationals.

[A]

Oh yeah.

[C]

So, you know, the Fiddlers were neighbors and we hung out together. We were in the same crew and all this growing up in Charlestown. But yeah, Mike was like, kind of gave me some good advice. You know, he's like, you need like BE is just. It's a great school. He goes, you do what you want. I wasn't trying to convince me at all. And he just was like, you know, I know that Parker, we can trust him, you know, and it wasn't like he couldn't trust Billy Cleary. But I don't know how. We're just a different vibe. And, and they weren't really, you know, they almost felt like. Made it feel like I should be so honored that they were actually offering me like an admissions to their great school. And I'm like, just college. I mean, I don't, you know, I don't care. Just because you're Harvard, you know, you might be self impressed, but you know, there's plenty of bozos that come out of Harvard too, you know.

[A]

Yep.

[C]

Right. It's so the hardest thing is getting. The hardest thing they say about Harvard is getting in. I already did that. So, you know. Right.

[B]

Check.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

And then, and then, and then Parker was just. Yeah, I mean BU Parker, Jack Parker and Don Cahoon who was one of his recruiting recruiters to, you know, Toot Cajon is his nickname. Yeah, he was at all my games at high school games, you know, and I knew the Harvard guys. Timmy Taylor was the assistant. Great guy. I was friends with him till the day died. And, you know, they weren't really around. You know, they were trying to, like, figure stuff out, whatever, man. It just was weird. Even though I had the acceptance and they. They eventually couldn't believe that I didn't go there. They just kind of took it for granted maybe a little bit. And the BU guys were all. All around with my family, you know, sitting in the stands watching us play, you know, that kind of stuff. And then I had a friend on the team, and it just was an easier. An easier fit. And so it worked out great. And I got to play. I got to play with my friend Mikey Fiddler for a year. Then he signed and left. And then he left. And it's like within two years, his brother Mark was there, you know, so when I knew Mark and we were friends, too, so. Yeah, it was great. It was.

[A]

It was perfect. Worked out great. Like, you said that junior year, you guys were a wagon, you know, 30.

[C]

We were wagon every year. I'm telling you.

[A]

We.

[C]

We were wagon every year. Yeah.

[A]

I love it. I mean, but you had the 21 game streak your junior year.

[B]

You.

[A]

You pummeled BC and Harvard in the bean pot, beat BC again in the Natty. Most penalty minutes in a National championship game.

[B]

So epic.

[A]

How. How crazy was that game?

[C]

Which one?

[A]

The. The Natty game against again, the national.

[C]

Championship game against B.C. you know, it was. We. It was the fifth time we played them that year.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And of course, me and my big mouth. I think I remember saying something stupid, like after the game was over, it was something like. Yeah, it was kind of weird playing on the fifth time. You know, I was thinking, like, would have been fun to go down here, maybe play, I don't know, somebody else. The National Championship.

[A]

Yep.

[C]

I mean, and then I. And then it came out of my mouth and I go, you know, we can beat BC anytime. Yeah.

[B]

Right.

[C]

I said that, like in Sports Illustrated. And I still had a year to go in college.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

Like, oh, they came at me like freaking wild men. The next year, they were going to spear me in the freaking head. And. And I think at the end of the year, they weren't in the playoffs. They were out because they didn't have a very good year the next year. And we were. It was sort of the Beginning of our. We, you know, we kind of fell apart towards the end of that. And I remember playing BC I remember Parker saying, listen, man, they're going to come at you like crazy. You can't, like, do anything. You can't retaliate. I'm like, what do you mean? Yeah, like. He goes, because you could. Because they don't care. This season's done, like, tomorrow. He goes, you're still playing. He goes, you get involved in something, you'll get suspended. You could get suspended for two games and the playoffs, like, right there, you know? So I go, what am I supposed to do? I mean, I can't stand out here and, like, you know, let guys just crack me over there with their sticks. So it was a weird night. I didn't like it. I created a bad vibe. I don't like the feeling, you know, I. I had to kind of just stand out there and take from guys and. Yeah, I don't know. I remember that game and I. It was all went back to me and my big mouth, you know, so it was probably a good lesson.

[A]

Well, I mean, listen, you. I need to know, did things get more testy on the ice in games like that or more testy when you were bartending at the dugout with.

[C]

Oh, yeah. You know, the thing is, when I went over there my freshman year and I knew about it just because, again, my. One of my closest friends was a freshman when I was a senior in high school, so. And they would talk about this, like, little sort of joint on the campus at Bullet, and then some of my, you know, friends would go there. I don't think. I. I don't really recall ever going there when I was a, you know, senior in high school, but so I had heard about it. And then when I got there, I mean, you know, you. You got to get a job in college, right? I mean, you got no money, right? You work in the summer, you save up your money, then what are you going to do? You're going to go to your parents and get 10 bucks, right? So anyhow, I needed a job. I want to get a job. I wanted my own cash, maybe buy a car even. And so, yeah, I got to know those guys down there my freshman year. And, you know, right away I started talking to this guy, Billy Crowley, and, you know, he gave me a shot. I mean, everybody wants a job in college. I mean, that's a pretty good job if you're a bartender in college, you know, it's pretty awesome, right? I mean, because you're there People are coming and going, you know, they're drinking, they see you. You get to kind of sit back and kind of watch people and talk to people and, and, and the dugout also, it had kind of like the. The college vibe started at like 5 o', clock, you know. And then prior to that, man, it was all these old time, like guys from Cambridge and Brookline, you know, these old union guys, like these iron workers that were retired, they came in, you know, they would do they just go day drinking, right? So it was awesome. And I knew all these guys, these old guys with the scally calves sitting in there freaking drinking, you know, some of the whiskey or they were drinking beers or something like that. And I mean, it was like, it was such an education for me and I loved every minute of it. I did it for three years. I. And the other thing is, I lived in Boston, so I. In the summertime, you know, I'd work in the summertime, they. They don't. A bar took down towards Fenway, so I'd kind of get on there sometimes too. You know, the Red Sox are in town, you're around Boston, it's sunny, you know, I get working, whatever. I think I used to work Sundays, Tuesdays and like Fridays or Saturdays or something like that. It was a blast. It was a great job. And yeah, there's a lot going on in there, you know. I mean, a really famous guy, Jimmy O' Keefe started it probably in the 40s or something. And Billy Crowley was a great old, well respected ex Harvard football player. A lot of good stories, man.

[A]

And yeah, we heard Jimmy o' Keefe was a bookie. Ever get any action on the socks?

[C]

So, no, I, I was. I've never really been a gambler that way, but, but Jimmy and I don't. You know, Jimmy started. I think that was what he did back in the 50s and 60s, probably 40s and 50s or whatever. Yeah, he used to take bets. But, you know, back in those days, I mean, that stuff was like, you know, illegal. Right, But I mean, everybody. Yeah, but Jimmy was just a terrific man. A legendary Boston restaurant guy, old timer by the time I met him. Just, you know, there were people in Boston, politicians, business people would come in and see him. I mean, he knew everybody at every level of society. He was just that kind of a person. And he had, he commanded so much respect. But he was also the sweetest, nicest person that would do anything for you. So I just love the guy, you know? Yeah, it's like he had a waitress in there. I don't know. Her name was K. We actually had a waitress in the dugout, believe it or not. She's an older woman and she was friends with Jimmy or something, I don't know, younger. But, you know, Jimmy lived right upstairs from the bar, right?

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

So. Yeah. Oh, yeah. He'd walk upstairs and walk downstairs. And so I remember there was. Kay was a bartender. She was an older one. She was a terrific lady. And. And this German shepherd started sniffing around out back. There was an alley back there, like, kind of where the garbage barrels and stuff were behind the building. And so this German shepherd sniffing around out there, you know, And Jimmy's like. He's like, what's up with you, dog? You know, he's calling him dog.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And. And he starts feeding him. And so now he can't get rid of the dog.

[A]

Dog.

[C]

Next thing you know, dog's kind of there and he's like, all right, well, come on. And he'd take him in the bar. It was cold, you know, he'd sit the dog and sit over. He's a good dog. He'd feed the dog. He didn't know what to call the dog, so he called the dog KK because he had a bartender. He must have loved the name K. Yeah, he already. He had K. And then now the dog was K.K. it was unbelievable. The dog would walk around the bar the whole time. He'd always be there. And then. And until Jimmy went upstairs to bed at, like, you know, six o', clock, he went up to his apartment. Apartment? Yeah. K.K. go with them.

[A]

There you go.

[C]

It was. It was like the stuff of legends, you know, you can't, like, you couldn't possibly have it in this day and age. Or maybe you could, but not in downtown Boston, you know?

[A]

Yeah. I mean, like, you can't make this up anymore.

[C]

No, that's.

[A]

That type of stuff isn't happening anymore. Those are like the. The legends of old in Boston.

[C]

No, it was. It was like, cool as hell. And then, you know, hockey games. People would all come in after hockey games.

[D]

But.

[C]

But, you know, we only played. What do we play, 15 home games or something, so.

[B]

Yeah, right, true.

[C]

You know, there were a lot of nights when they. Believe me, it was just people. Like, the library was across the street. So, you know, you get a lot of students coming in. You'd get professors coming in.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And. And then you'd get guys from other sports coming in, you know, some. And then there was always, like, you know, sports writers coming in. Peter Gammons would come in sometimes. I mean, there were guys from the Globe, from the Herald would always be in there. There. Yeah, it was. It was just that kind of place. You know, it just brought. And because it was so close to downtown Boston, Right. It's, like, right outside of Kenmore Square, so it's pretty close to Fenway. A lot of activity, man. Really fun.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. O.C. you said you had mentioned the. The 1979 World cup of Hockey was a hell of an experience for you.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Herbie and everything. Were you guys able to go? I mean, because you. You were like, the KGB's following you around. It's chaos over there.

[A]

There.

[B]

Were you guys able to go out and, like, you know, hit the town while you were there, or was it just like, Moscow? Yeah, that's what I mean. Yeah.

[C]

Like, hit the town. It's, like, over your shoulder, man. I mean, they. There was a story over there. So I guess, you know, we trade money, right? Like. So you go, like, on the exchange rate, I think it was six. It was six rubles to buy a dollar, basically, right? So one to six. Yeah, but these people want hard currency so bad. You go out on the street, you get in the subway, and then people know you're from the, you know, out of the country, and they want to buy your. Your free, free world money so they can get the hell out of there, right? They can't get out of there. They don't have any cash. Yeah, well, they pay you 45 rubles for a dollar.

[B]

Holy.

[C]

Right. So I got, you know, I was a history guy anyway. I got a pretty good understanding of what was going on over there. And, yeah, so they. They're like, you know, 45, you know, 50 rubles for. Give you, you know, a doll. So you're walking around these stacks of rubles, and so there's a lot of that going on. Or people bringing, like, jeans. Levi jeans. You could sell Levi jeans over there. Because they couldn't get any of that stuff, you know, because it was Russia, right? It was all very limited, if at all. And, yeah, it was like they supposedly. You know, I never saw it, but I heard that they. Because they know what you're doing, and they've got undercover, like, they had. They had undercover sort of KGB people, you know, posing as waiters in our restaurants, in our hotels.

[B]

Nuts. Yeah.

[C]

Oh, it's. It was unbelievable, man. You had. I mean, look, you had to go through, like, Checkpoint Charlie and stuff to get in there.

[D]

Yeah, yeah.

[C]

It was spooky, right? And so. But Anyhow, supposedly, like one, you know, there's some Swedish guy or Finnish player, hockey player, was out, you know, trading rules or something. I don't know. They grabbed him and I guess they freaking beat his ass. They shaved his head. They stripped him.

[A]

Come on.

[C]

Oh, yeah, yeah. And then they just kind of dropped and they, they kind of threw him back, as in his underwear or something in the hotel where they were staying or something like that. And they were like, we're watching.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And so the word got around, and all of a sudden it sort of, like, kind of settled down a little bit. And it was a funny story. This guy Kurt, Ben Summit was on my team. And Kurt went to Brown. He grew up in Providence. He, he was a great guy. And his brother Harvey, I think they both played at Boston College. And Kurt played, they both played professionally. Kurt played a little bit for the Atlanta Flames, and, you know, he was like, Went to Brown. I don't know. He kind of spoke Russian a little. So anyway, one night, Kurt, Kurt comes back. We see him the next morning, and he's got one of them stupid Russian hats on, you know? Right, yeah, like a stove pipe. Yeah, yeah, Right. So he shows up in the locker room next morning. He's all fire, you know, he's like, no, he's a little older than me, too. I was probably, he's probably four years. I don't, I don't think I played against McCall. So he's at least four years older than me. Five years older than me. So he's like 26, seven at the time. So anyway, he's all excited, you know, he's got his stupid hat. And then he's like, look at this. I, I, he goes, I got like, I don't know, I got like 40 to 1 rubles. Look, I got, look at this. I got a th000 ruble note only, you know, I paid like, whatever, 100 bucks for us to cash. So we had a Russian interpreter with us. He goes, let me see that thing. Yeah. He goes, we don't have thousand ruble notes. He goes, I don't know. This guy must have made this up at home. It's Monopoly. Yeah, he was counter. The look at his face, man. He was like. Because he thought he was like, Joe the Russian guy, you know, he could communicate and all. They totally screwed him. And so even he started laughing after a while, but he was not happy at first. Oh, God, there was so many stories, man. You go, you know what? In those days, look, I, I was really excited to play on that team, you know, as much as anything, just to go to Moscow and just to experience, like, inside the, you know, the curtain, the red curtain, or the Iron Curtain they used to call it.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[C]

And, yeah, just to see some of the things and, you know, what it was all about and. And sort of, you know, it all sounds. The thing about socialism and communism. I mean, it all sounds great on paper, right? Oh, everybody's happy. Everybody shares everything, you know, Everybody's wonderful, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Capitalism. No, no, you know, communism. Oh, it's so wonderful. And then. And then what happens is when they put it into practice, it's like the most. It's horrible and awful and people starve and die and they kill people and, And, And. And no one has a job and no one has food and no one has water because, you know, you can't do that. Right. You have capitalism. On the other hand, you know, people, it's like, you know, if it. If it makes sense, you invest in it. If it doesn't, you don't do it.

[A]

Right.

[C]

I mean, I remember going over there and I was like. I saw. I remember seeing this. This lady, man, she had to be 90, and she's out. She had this old broom. It looked like something off of, I don't know, some old movie, you know, with, like, the thatch coming out of the broom with, like a stitch stick, you know.

[B]

Yeah. Fly away on it.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, Like. Yeah, but that's. But that was the kind of brooms they had. You know, even though it was 1979, they were still using 1890 brooms. So anyway, this old lady is white here. She's out there and she's kind of sweeping away and she can barely move, and she's like this. And I was like, well, full employment, right? Everybody's gotta work, even if you're 90.

[B]

You wanted this.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you like it here, I guess. And so, yeah, it was the same thing. Like in the restaurants, you know, full employment means, you know, 10 tables, you know, 45 waiters, all doing nothing.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[C]

You can't get a glass of water, and there's 10 of these guys standing over there talking to each other like, oh. You know. Because again, they all got jobs. They're all making, like, probably 4 cents an hour, so they can't even afford to buy food. But they're all working. So, I mean, it's stupid. Like that. That kind of stuck out in my head, but it was really a great experience. You know, the hockey was fine. Good and it was great to play, you know, in Moscow in that arena. Like, Brezhnev came to all the Soviet games. It was really fun to watch the real Russians play hockey. I mean, those guys were unbelievable. And plus, it was in Moscow, so they were rolling. Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

That's when Bob. That's the tournament where Bob Murray calls after and is like, hey, her. You know, you're going to be on the team. For the most part.

[C]

Yeah. Yeah. You know, that was like Kirby. That was sort of a. You know, I actually saw Jack Parker at the Bean Pot last week, and he. I don't know, just talking about stuff and. And, you know, he told me that Herbie had called him 20 times, like, in the lead up to picking a team. So I was surprised because. Anyway, so Jackson. I talked to him a lot. You know, he was actually a pretty good guy guy. So. But I mean, 20 times. I mean, Herby was really thorough.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

But he didn't really know guys, but he did do. He really did his homework. So I'm sure if he called Jack 20 times on the BU guys. I mean, he was also calling, you know, Billy Clary about Jack Hughes, and he was calling Charlie Holt about Rally Ralph Cox, you know, all that kind of stuff. So. But this is a time to be on the ground with Herb, so it was great. You know, I mean, it was good to see him. And plus, you know, it was time to move on. Right. I wasn't a BU terrier anymore. Now I was kind of trying to make an Olympic team and trying to decide what I was going to do the rest of my life, so. It was really fun, man. It was great.

[A]

Oh, for sure. I mean, listen, you're doing the rest of your life, obviously, you. You then get on that team with Herb. The doc that came out was unbelievable, and there were so many fun little tidbits.

[C]

The Netflix documentary. Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Like, so good. The one that stuck out to us was the 61 games part. Like, you guys. Yeah. 61 games before those.

[C]

That's insane.

[A]

That's absolutely.

[C]

I mean, I swear when this came out, I have a picture on my phone. I gotta find it. I don't know. I took so. So all those pictures that were in the documentary, like the still photos where we're at a Christmas party. Some. Those are all my pictures.

[A]

No way.

[C]

Yeah. I had six photo albums that. Going back to the world to the. The sports festivals of Colorado, because I don't know, man. I took a photography class BU one time, you know, so I. I bought a camera. I Had like one of these old Canon, you know, cameras. I kn. Use it, right? You had to have all, like, the F stops and all this stuff.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

It wasn't like you take your phone out, right? So I had this camera and I. I like taking pictures just because it was, you know, something fun thing I was doing and so. But no one else had a camera. So, I mean, I had my camera in Russia. I. I took. I mean, I got three photo albums of me in Russia playing those games.

[A]

And.

[C]

And. And so anyway, when the movies and all that stuff started, they were asking about pictures and stuff, and, like, no one has any. Just, like, no one. No one had a camera on the team. And so I'm like, I got a ton of pictures in the. Like in the movie. It was important because they wanted to see old pictures so they could see how people dressed, you know, funny, like, hey, what did Billy Baker dress like?

[A]

I.

[C]

Well, you know, Billy Baker's from freaking Grand Rapids somewhere up in, like, northern Minnesota. So he probably wore flannel shirts and boots because that's all they sold up there. And, you know, Canadian Tire or the hell they shop. Yeah, Roebuck. Anyhow, so, you know, but it was kind of neat when they started because I just. I kind of scanned all the pages and sent them to them and said, you know, whatever, but they used them all. And then I did the same thing for this Netflix thing. So they used a lot of them where you could see us doing things off the ice. And then it was kind of neat with the Netflix thing. Even someone. A couple people have told me how, you know, showing the pictures of, like, then and now kind of pictures, you know, this just the comparisons of it all. So, yeah, there's. There was just a lot of good things in that Netflix documentary. They did a terrific job. They were really great to work with nicest people. And, you know, one of the. One of the producers was also a producer on Miracle, I think, so he's might have been one of the guys that brought it to their attention. Or maybe he was there to kind of work with us because he knew a lot of us. I mean, I'm kind of friendly with him, so Rizzio, and he's kind of friendly with him.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

So it was. It came out great. Everybody I'm getting, you know, obviously we're doing this and getting a lot of calls and do stuff like this and. And yeah, it's pretty fun.

[A]

No, it's amazing. Did you feel like those 61 games, like, really helped you guys? I mean, again, Yeah, I forgot the question already.

[C]

So, the 61 games. Anyway, and one of the things I started telling you about this picture, I. We had. We had this locker room in St. Paul Civic Center. And there was a. There was like this big white. White thing that Herbie had taped together. And it had every game we were playing. Like, we get in there. It's like every game. And every game was color coded. This is what this guy thinks, right?

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Every game's on the world and it's like, who we're playing and then the, you know, boxes to put the scores in. Right?

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And then they were color coded now, so the gold games were games we had to win. Like non negotiable, must win games.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And the other games were like, yeah, this game doesn't really matter. So they. Maybe that was like. I don't know, maybe it was like, green. Yeah. And then games that, like, we really wanted to play well on, they were like, red. So, I mean, we got 60 games. Like 61. I don't know how many games. And the last game on that list was like, USSR NASA Square Garden. Right. So we knew that in the beginning. But it was funny, he said to us, the only gold games on the whole board were the last seven games. They were gold. He's like, you know, we gotta win those. That's what this is all about, right?

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And the other gold games, every time we played another college hockey team. Oh, that's because we played Harvard, we played Wisconsin, we played Minnesota. I don't know who else we play. We probably played about six college teams.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And Herbie's like, they were gold games. Because he goes. He goes, you guys are supposed to be, like, the best college guys around. And so if you guys can't beat a college team, he goes, I'm blowing up the whole team.

[B]

Yeah, I'll take them.

[C]

Yeah, I'll take them instead of you guys. So those games were goal games. So, yeah, we'd have a big game against, you know, some minor pro team. It was, you know, in their league and all this. It wasn't even half as important as, like, playing Harvard. Like, we lose to Harvard, we're all getting shipped out. So. But it was great. You know, the great thing about it was we could see the games coming. We played. So back then, you know, you guys know how the American League works. It's like AAA baseball, you know, the call to cup, you know, obviously. And so back then, there were two leagues. The American League was, like, in two leagues. There was a Central League that was kind of out more west where the, you know, Salt Lake City Golden Eagles, that was St. Louis's farm team, you know, Fort Worth Texans, Dallas Cowboys, you know, Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Blackhawks, minor league team. So. And then Birmingham, like something or other. That was at Atlanta's team. So. And then over here on the. In the American League, it was the old, you know, Springfield Indians, New Haven Nighthawks, Portland Mariners, you know, so a lot of those, you know, so there were two teams, right? Two leagues, but they were all AAA baseball. So we played like 36 games. It was a home. And home against every team in the Central League. So that's like one step below the NHL.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

So say we played. I don't know, man. Maybe it was 26 games. It might have been 32 games, but either way, I mean, we. I think we only lost three games and maybe tied two. So we had like 28 wins against that. That level of hockey. So, I mean, that's how good we were. And the thing is, those games, the way they did it, every time we played a Central League team.

[A]

It was.

[C]

For two points in their standings. So it wasn't an exhibition game where they could just go out, interesting, nail it in and start stabbing guys in the face and, you know, trying to get thrown out of the games they don't have to play. You know, they're already playing 82 games. This last thing is an exhibition game. A bunch of college pukes, you know, so. But when the game matters for two points, they become really good hockey games. Right. Because it's in their standings. Right. So. So they were great games and, you know, played. You know, they were rough, really rough games, fun games, great games, you know, good hockey. And that really helped us prepare.

[B]

Hell, yeah. Jack, you mentioned that, that Soviet game at msg, and that's when you picked up the knock and. And I know you had said the. The movie makes it look more. You know, you're. You kind of missed two games, I think. But were you.

[C]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

Was your knee, like, were you playing. How much pain were you in when.

[A]

Like, did that freak you out?

[D]

Out?

[A]

Were you like, I might not make playing these games?

[C]

I don't know. I mean, I didn't think it. There's a story. There's a scene on that documentary in Netflix where they're showing me talking. I got a yellow Swedish jacket on and a hat. And I say something like, I would have given. I would have given a million dollars to play on this team and represent my country. And I was watching that and I was like, I remember that interview, but I. I don't know if I'd ever seen it.

[A]

It.

[C]

So at that time, I thought I was off the team because. Real.

[A]

For real.

[C]

Wow. Yeah. Because. Because, you know, I get hurt in Saturday, we get back to the. You know, we're playing the Russians. I get hurt, we fly back. So it's pretty much Herbie kind of tells me. He's like, we'll get a look at, you know, your knee, Jack, tomorrow when we get up there and everything. But, you know, I'm gonna have to start making some calls. I go. And I'm like, I know. I mean, I know even, too, right? Hopefully. He goes, I hope you're okay. He goes, but, you know, gotta prepare. Great. So the next morning when I came in, I had these three doctors there. They're great doctors, and I'm the first guy hurt. So I'm getting all the attention, right? So these three doctors there, they. They all check my knee out there, pulling and tugging and kicking and pushing and all this. What? They weren't really doing a lot of that, but they were like, oh, he's done. He's done, he's done. So. So Herbie kind of, you know, pulls me aside and says, basically, I can't keep you. I've already made a call. I don't know who he was gonna bring in. It was probably either Jackie Hughes or. Or this guy Les OJ Who's a Minnesota kid. But, you know, so he goes, but, you know, he goes, I'll get you a hotel up here. You know, I'll get you some credentials. You can come to games. I mean, I was gonna be a fan, but he goes, I'll kind of keep you around because you can't stay in the Village because we only got 20 bits beds, so all that stuff. So he's explaining to me how he visualized it, me not being on the team, but he's still wanting me around. And so I was like, okay. And so then. That's what I'm thinking. And so then I kind of go back anyway, so this guy walks in to the. To the medical area. And at this point, I got three doctors telling me, no way.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And it was. This guy's name was Dick stedman. You know, Dr. Richard Stedman from the Steadman Clinic in Vail, Right? Famous guy, guy. Young guys, 46 years ago. And so when he walked in, I. I saw the look on the doctor's face. They're like, oh, hi, Dick. Oh, they're like, oh, like it was like, oh, somebody walked in that. They were like. I could see he intimidated these guys, right?

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[C]

So anyway, he's like, what's going on here? And he's a good sized guy, you know, I mean, you know, he's just like a. He's a kind of a thick guy. He's like. He takes his jacket off, you know, and he's like, what's going on here? And I was like, oh, yeah. And then I think Tony Daly's like, like, oh, his ligaments are turned. He's done. Yeah. And then the other guy goes, yeah, yeah, he's done. His legs. Yeah, his knees toast. So Dick goes. I can see right away, he's like, is that right hand Goes, well, you mind if I take a look? And they're like, oh. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, of course.

[B]

Anything you say, Dick.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[C]

It was unbelievable. So he changed the whole program. And so once he started looking around, he had this idea that I could actually recover enough in the next 30 hours, you know, might be a long shot, but he goes, because of the fitness levels, et cetera, et cetera, it's a bit of a story, but if I do what he says, I do this and that. So anyhow, he basically gave me, like, a very small chance of recovering if I did what he said I had to do. And I had to do it in 30 hours. So it was like, from 9 o' clock Saturday morning till 5 o' clock Monday, I had to do this program where I'd rehab and train for an hour, then take a nap for an hour, then do it again for an hour, then get up and get sleeping. Up and go sleep. This is for 30 hours with another trainer. But that morning after that, I watched the team practice. I was actually outside the rink or at the rink when they had that interview. And then during that interview, Herbie said, he goes, jack, this is such a long shot. Buddy goes, you know, do what the doctor told you. He goes, I'll tell you the only thing, the only deal he made with me. He goes, I'll wait on making a decision until 5 o' clock tomorrow night because the roster has to be finalized by six. So all Steadman did was buy me time.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[C]

I called my parents and said, I'm not gonna be on the team. Holy hell. And probably just got hung up the phone when they did that interview. So that's why I was like, so in that moment, I thought I was done. And then it wasn't until after this 30 hour period when they brought me back in, and Steadman gets down. He goes. He looks right at me. He goes, all right, man. He goes, let's see how you did. Because he believed in me, but no one else did. He gets down there, and he kind of messes around my knee and put kick and pull and all this. And he looked up at me, and he gave me this kind of smile, like this little between him and I smiled. He goes, I knew you could do it. I knew it. He turns around, he says, the other guys, he goes, check this out. Because it was his theory that, you know, highly trained athletes with injuries, you don't treat them passively, you treat them actively. You know, that was his theory, but it hadn't been proven. And so I kind of helped him prove it a little bit. And. And these guys, they were shocked how much I. And then at that point, it was like, okay, now I'm still hurt, you know?

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[C]

So now it's like. Herbie's like, well, so now they go stand out in the snowjack while I talk to the doctors. And then when I came back in from the snow, he sent the doctors out in the snow, and now her and I talk. Herbie never went in the snow. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

So that's when he told me that he's going to keep me in the team. And he's like, you know, I don't know if you can play or not. He goes, but keep your training up. Keep doing. He goes, hopefully you only miss a game or two, but you might be the more. And he goes, and you're not going to play as much as you normally play.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

So I. I can't get. I can't have any nonsense from you if you're not playing. I need you to. I need your help with this team, and I need you. I need you in so many other ways. I need you on the ice, too. But he goes, I also need you in the locker room. I need you on the bench, and I need you here, and I need you, like, you know, not. Not bitching and moaning if you're not playing. I mean, he didn't know we were going to win the gold medal. He probably thought we, you know, lose to Sweden. I mean, you know, I'm gonna start bitching and moaning on Wednesday.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[C]

He's like, you're gonna be a pain in my ass, Jack. You know? Holy. Yeah, it all worked out. Yeah. I missed. I missed two games.

[B]

It's incredible.

[C]

Sweden. Check. But I. I played the other five. Didn't play as much as I normally did, because, you know, I mean, you think about it, I. I had probably as many points as more than any other defenseman because, I mean, I was a D man all year. Davey Christian played most of the year at forward. You know, I led the league team. I mean, led the team in penalty minutes. I played a lot. I did a lot of stuff. And all of a sudden, you know, I'm kind of out of there a little bit. I'm still playing, but not a lot. It gave. It allowed. The beauty of it is it allowed Davey probably to get even more ice time. And, you know, he had an amazing Olympics because he's such a great player there. And. Yeah, I mean, he. His speed and his ability to make plays, you know, I was. I mean, look, it all works out for something. It was all, like. It was kind of faded and scripted that maybe I hurt my knee so Davey could play more and. And we could win a gold medal. Who knows? If it was just me out there trying to do what Davey was doing, we probably wouldn't have won anything.

[B]

Yeah. No, it's amazing.

[A]

One of the. The best stories with the Chiclets guys was when. When you. You admitted that you actually weren't on the ice during the Herbies and after the. Yeah.

[C]

Oh, is that right?

[A]

Yeah. Which is so funny. But I do want to know.

[B]

You know, you had said that the.

[A]

From the movie Miracle, that. That little moment where Ruzioni says where he's from, he plays for Team usa Didn't happen. I want to know if you remember sitting on the bench. What. Why did it stop? Like, was there any moment that made it stop or did.

[C]

So. Yeah, I mean. Well, what would happen? So anyway, you know, I mean, you heard the story probably where. Yeah. We come down. I mean, I'm. I didn't.

[D]

Didn't.

[C]

We didn't dress me and five other guys. We knew we were going to not play that night. So anyhow.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

I mean, Craig Patrick said, I go, hey, man, we're gonna go put our stuff on, because, you know, if they're skating, we're skating, whatever. But, you know, here we. And Craig's like, you know, Craig didn't know it was gonna happen. He's just like, you know, Craig's like. He had played professionally for, like, seven years. He's like, I don't know what this knucklehead's doing, Jack, but, you know, whatever. I haven't seen stuff like this since I was in high school, okay? That's what.

[A]

That was.

[C]

His attitude Is, I don't know what the hell's going on over there. But just, he's like, just go over there and stay out of his way. If he wants you to put your stuff on, he'll tell you, but let him see you, you know, so he knows you're here. So I'm like, all right, so we go over, you know, I'm staying. I don't know if the other guys were, I mean, I was there on the bench next to him and you know, he's, he calls everybody over and bang, they're there. And then when that whole thing happened, when the guy, you know, and then people stuck around, they were watching us, they thought we were putting on like an exhibition.

[B]

Wow.

[C]

The crowd like, whoa, wow, look at this. And then they see us going like, like this. Right, right. And I just, and I'm like watching these guys and all a sudden they're like, they just start peeling off, right? So then now there's nobody there. And then before you know it, like the guy that runs the rink who doesn't speak a word of English, he's speaking Norwegian or something, you know, he comes over and he's kind of whatever with the doctor. Well, they, you know, who could speak languages. And that's when it came that the guy wanted to leave. Cuz he had to get home. It was probably 10 o' clock at night. And yeah, so the guy wanted to leave. And he's bitching at Herby and Herby's screaming at these guys. And I'm standing there going like, man, I'm so glad I'm sitting here watching this. This is a blast. And then, and what happened was when he turned the lights out because the guy wanted to leave and then Herby's lying. I swear to God, I told the guy, I told Gavin o. Conor in the movie. When I told him about this whole situation, it wasn't in the original script. I was like, you know, the guy saw like the, the, the, the, the doctor's like, he, Herb, he wants to leave. He wants to get home to his family. And Herb never even looked at him. He's still looking on the ice. And all he said. And I'm standing to his right and without even looking at me, he goes, tell him to leave me the keys. I'll lock up. Yeah. And I'm like, I'm thinking to myself, these guys are going to be out here for a while.

[B]

Yeah, you're going all night? You're going all night.

[C]

It's great, right? So, so the guy, the Guy, he was a good sized guy. He stormed away. He was pissed off.

[A]

Wrist.

[C]

And next thing I know, he. Bang. I hear this little click, you know, from the electrical, whatever, everything.

[A]

All.

[C]

He killed the power in the ring. Not just the lights. The power. Okay. And it's like powers down and. Yeah. And then the lights go dark. And then when it was dark and Herbie couldn't see, guys now. Now guys like, you know, you and, you know, banging their sticks because they're doing. He's like. He's screaming in the dark like some kind of psycho. And guys. And at that point, guys are banging their sticks. And I think that's what ended it. You know, I think Herbert was finally like, all right, because, you know, when I saw Mark Johnson get mad, he might have yelled something. That wasn't Mark's character to do that. And the last thing where you want to do is piss off Mark. So maybe that's why it ended.

[A]

Oh, that's so good.

[B]

Yeah, you start losing Mark and.

[C]

Pretty funny. Yeah, it was awesome. And then. And, you know, it was. It was kind of wild the next day where we're in the locker room and we were fit, you know, we were great. We were punchy, though, man. It was sort of the end of a three and a half week, kind of 10 or 12 day, you know, hockey game. 10 or 12 game. Three and a half week trip. Yeah. I mean, we were in Finland and Amsterdam and Norway. And we're on the bus, off the bus, you know, dragging stuff and. And everything else. And so we were kind of punchy and so goofy, you know, you get kind of goofy, punchier, right? And so the next day when we played him, and, you know, Mike mentioned it in something how we. Seriously, the next morning we played him, now we got six. The guys are out of the lineup. We're in the lineup. The six guys are, you know, six guys move out. Six guys move in. So I played that game and, you know, not that, like, that mattered or anything, but obviously we had to go out and play, you know, Joe up. So we. And we did beat them something like nine to one or something. We just. Just smoked Book Norway. And then afterwards, we're all sitting there thinking, like, okay, we just showed Herbie that if he. If he beats our brains and we'll play better.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

So that was. That was. But that was the day that. That was in that locker room after that game when John Harrington started talking about the funny things that Herbie would say, like, you guys are playing, you know, worse each day, and Today you're playing like it's next week, you know, like, he had these stupid sayings. Right, right.

[B]

Y.

[C]

That he would always like his. Go to sayings. And. And so Harrington, he had set a couple that. In the locker room. And so Harring takes. He takes out a piece of tape, a white tape, and he writes. And he writes the saying on the tape. Then he rolls it up into a ball. Oh, yeah, he said this, too, the other day. Writes in the locker room, writes it down. So he writes it down, rolls it into a ball, and he throws it in his bag. And that was the beginning of, like, the ball. And so by the end of the season, the freaking ball was this big.

[A]

Big.

[C]

Yeah. So. And it would be like, we'd be in the locker room like this, you know, playing tough game, and everybody be sitting there. Herbie would come in, and he'd be like, you know, this, that, the other thing, this, that. And then he'd throw out one of these sayings, you know, like, whatever. Some goofy. Some. One of those sayings that he would say.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And we'd be sitting there like this, and then he'd walk out of the locker room, and someone go like, hey, you got to put that on the ball. Okay. Yeah. And you get a roll of tape, and he'd write it down, what he just said.

[A]

And then he wrote.

[C]

He'd take the ball out of his bag, and he'd roll it around.

[A]

Around.

[C]

And he tape it around the ball, throw it back in. The freaking ball was growing like this all year. It was.

[A]

I don't know.

[C]

I don't even know if he still has it. But that's why, like, in the dock, when they called him up and he was saying those things.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

He had them all memorized from the.

[C]

Well, because he. No, because he was the. He was the keeper of the stupid sayings, I guess.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

That is incredible, dude.

[C]

This is how. This is like another part of the team building we had that really kept. Helped us because, you know, even though he would come in and we listened to him, we had nothing, you know, tons of respect for him as a coach and a person and everything else, but, you know, you got to have something that's yours, right? And as a team. And this was, like, a funny thing that guys did, and they were, like five or six guys that were really into it with. With John Harrington. His nickname is Bah. Bah. Where the hell I got that thing? But everybody calls him Boss, so anyhow, so Bob was, like, the keeper of the quotes, and There were five or six guys that were like, hey, you know, I was having breakfast with Herbie this morning. What did I tell you? What he said? Herring's like, oh, I'm putting that on the ball. You know, you write it down. You know, no one ever really talks about that, but that's. That also started in that locker room in Norway before we got organized. And actually, that's when we flew back to Lake Placid and got back to.

[B]

The States and then got dialed then.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, no, we got dialed, all right. We went back and played. We played the Atlanta Flames, the Minnesota North Stars. They didn't just beat us, they beat the. Out of us. And then we played Atlanta, we played Minnesota, we played the Washington capitals, played the St. Louis Blues. They beat us, like, 9 to 2.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Yeah. We played the NH5 NHL teams. We tied the Capitals, but every other team killed us.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Jesus.

[B]

Just torture. Yeah, maybe you needed it. But so. So, Jack, the. The run is awesome. Obviously, with the tie against Sweden, you beat the Church, which I know was such a huge game because you're like, that's the second best team in the world.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And you guys show up there, and then a nice little run ending with that West Germany game. And you told the cool story about how it was, you know, you're second in your group, so it's with the point in the goal diff all that matters. And that's how you get the Soviets. Were you guys. Legitimately, obviously, you know, you guys have beaten the Czechs, and you're. You go from Charlestown, you got fighting you. You know, but going into that Soviet game, were you like, this is. Or was. Was there actual belief in that locker room? Like, we can skate with these guys?

[C]

It was 100 belief in that locker room. I mean, no, there was no way. I mean, I think the. The game in Madison Square Garden, because it was like a. You know, it's an exhibition game. For all intents, Brian, it's exhibition. It didn't mean anything. It was just us going out playing them. There was really nothing on the line. So, I mean. Yeah. I mean, at that point, we had already made the team.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[C]

You know, he had just kind of. You know, I mean, so when it came down to the end, we had two players that we. We. We had 22 guys right at the end, and they were both released at the same time. I mean, every. The focus is always on Ralph. The last guy cut. Cut.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Because it's very dramatic with Herbie being the last guy cut and all this, and it's a great story. And maybe in Herbie's mind, you know, because Ralph was a forward and Jackie was a defenseman, you know, there's just a lot more connectivity with sort of the Ralph story and the Herbie story if you. If you link those.

[B]

So.

[C]

And, yeah, so. And, you know, and obviously, Ralph and Jack with different players and. But what have you. But the reality is we had 22 guys, and there were two guys released on the day before we left for the Russian game. Basically, we went to Lake Placid first, and so those two guys were Jack Hughes and Ralph Cox. And so we had this. When they announced the Olympic team, These are the 20 guys going. They did it at a dinner in some hotel in Minneapolis. And it was honestly, we take our. We. We had all of our apartments packed. Everything that we were shipping home was shipped. We're done. Gave back all the furniture that we rented and everything else for our apartments, and then now we're going to this luncheon. This. This, you know, whatever. It might be some kind of, like, you know, club type business, you know, Executive Club of Minneapolis. Big lunch, and they're going to announce the 20 guys. And that's when he called Ralph and Jack and said, yeah, I got to talk to you guys before the lunch, because, you know, so Ralph and Jack both gone. So at this point, we're playing the rushes. Then we're.

[A]

Then we.

[C]

After the lunch, and we go to Lake Plass and get checked and get all our stuff. Then we fly down to New York to play the Russians. So. But at that point, we already made the team. Like, the pressure's off.

[B]

Dynamic. Yeah. Yeah.

[C]

Cool.

[B]

I didn't know that.

[C]

We're just playing these guys as an exhibition game. It was, like, fun to go watch, see them, and play against them. You know, we didn't think they were just gonna slap us around, you know, I mean, they freaking slap us around, man.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And so, you know, guys are getting banged up and getting. We're getting, you know, getting smoked on the scoreboard.

[B]

We're getting.

[C]

Getting pushed around all over the place. But, you know, so that was just for us. It was, I think, part of the learning process, you know, that's it. And then once we get back to Lake Placid, I mean, now the games are for real. I mean, it was a different mindset, you know, and, you know, Herbie pulled that thing with Robbie after the first period of the Sweden game, which was crazy.

[B]

So crazy.

[C]

Yeah, crazy. But anyhow, by the time we get around to playing the Russians, which was, you know, a week, A week or eight days later from the first Sweden game.

[A]

Game.

[C]

You know, I mean, we're playing, we're on a roll, we're into it. You know, if these games are for real, it's not like the last game we played on was an exhibition game. And. And we're rolling and we're playing and we kind of learned some things. You know, we learned that we just couldn't get behind from these guys. We had to keep it tight. And, you know, the way the game went on really favored us just because, I mean, we tied it up late in the first period. So we're going at the end of one period. It's two. Two. So now it's a two period game, right?

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And then.

[B]

And Jack, you noticing Michigan was crazy.

[C]

I noticed right away.

[D]

But.

[C]

But, you know, you think about, you think back to Mike Keenan in the NHL, right? I mean, he was notorious for pulling his goalies, but I mean, it's definitely a coaching strategy is if your team is sort of not where they need to be, you know, mentally, emotionally on the ice or competitively or something a little flat and you pull the goalie like at the end of a period or something like that, that it. It wakes your team up. I mean, that's the theory behind pulling a goalie, obviously, if he lets in 10 goals, different story. But yeah, a lot of times, you know, like, Keena would pull the goalie just to change the mojo and I think ticking off, because look, Michigan was the second best goalie in the world.

[B]

You know, I mean, it's like, shut out, shut up. All Stars, right?

[C]

I mean, sure. It's like you pull Patrick Wire and you put Richard, you know, you put Marty Riddure in. Oh, great.

[B]

Exactly. Yeah, yeah.

[C]

So much easier, you know? Yeah, yeah. It wasn't like he put a duffel bag in there. You know, he put Michigan in there and so. But I think, you know, I think he did it. Pulling trade Jack was a statement to his team. Like, wake up. Yep. Okay. And they woke up. Yeah. And we survived that second period. They came at us like, they came at us like hounds and they. It was the real Russians then. And then. And, you know, we just. We were. We were very fit, strong, good team. And Jimmy played great. Made a lot of, you know, big saves. You know, we cleared rebounds. We were pretty good at clearing rebounds and we didn't give up a lot of rebound goals. So we're pretty tight down our own end that way. And Jimmy had A strong period. And we just hung in there. And we were down a goal. Yeah. And we had talked about it if we could be down. Down a goal, tied going in the third period, man, 20 minute game. We got a shot at these guys. So. So, yeah, you weren't feeling, like confident, but we were kind of where we needed to be, you know, and then our fitness took over, you know, in our pace, in our fitness and our training and all these things we had done over the year. You know, all this off ice training, all these off ice training, all these, like, these skating drills that Herbie make us do, you know, blue back, down and back, red back, blue back down and back. 43 seconds again. Bang. You know, I mean, it was hard as hell, but they got easier as the year went on because, you know, we were doing it and we weren't like, we weren't mailing these in. I mean, we were racing down the ice because yet, I mean, he had this guy Jack Blatherwick out there. He was an exercise physiologist. He was on our staff. His nickname was Cardiac Jack. He'd be healthy with his freaking. He'd be healthy with his, like, stopwatch.

[B]

Stopwatch, you know, and if you.

[C]

46 seconds, he'd be like, that was 46 seconds. And Herbie be like, it was 46. Like, Jesus Christ, the guys are dying. You know? But, I mean, we did that all year. So when we got 20 minutes to play in February against the Russians, man, you know, like, our heart rate hadn't even started moving yet, you know, so we were ready, and we had a great period. And then the Russians, they're the ones that got little twisted up, you know, they weren't. They don't know how to handle it. Like, being playing against a team that was getting stronger as the game goes on. Not a team that they wore down like they would usually do. So we were getting stronger. They were uncomfortable, so they. They got outside their comfort zone in the third period, and we were. We were right in our wheelhouse, man.

[A]

Was.

[B]

Was the crowd they make. They say this in the movie, but it was in the dock a little bit, too. Was the crowd insane when Rizzo scored?

[C]

Yeah, well, yeah, it was funny, you know, it was insane, but nervously insane. It was.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[C]

You know? Yeah, because you never know, right? I mean, they were like. It was this, like, intensity. Everybody was just like, you know, like that. I mean, as opposed to screaming, but they were cheering for things. But I think, obviously, once the buzzer went off, it was really loud. Everybody was going really wild then against the Russians. But we were talking the other day about the Finland game, and someone was, you know, we're talking about this a lot lately. So someone said how the first two periods of the filling game, it was quiet, like, because.

[B]

Wow.

[C]

Because, again, it was like everybody was sitting on the age of seat going like, oh, my God, they're gonna blow this. You know, and they don't want to cheer. It was. It was. It was quiet for two periods. Yeah. It was just like, oh, they're gonna blow this. And we were losing two to one, and we weren't playing great. And, you know, and then, you know, we come out in the third period, man, and we just. We came out out, like, seriously, we came out on fire. It was. We all. It's kind of become a thing with us every now and then, just. Just to kind of mention it, someone will bring it up and go, like, you know, got to give Herbie a lot of credit in. In the way he, you know, he. He planned and prepared and the way he prepared us, because, like, if there was. If. If you're preparing for one thing, and you got nine months to do it, and you're preparing for one thing, that one thing thing is you got 20 minutes left for the gold medal, and that's why you go to bed at 9 instead of 10 in November. That's why, you know, because the stuff you did back then is because of this. 20 minutes.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

Right. And it was almost like that.

[A]

It.

[C]

It feels like that. It felt like that. It's like, here we are. We got 20 minutes. But the fans outside were like, oh, no. Like, oh, they're gonna lose, you know, and, like, we're in the locker room just pasting like, freaking Lions, you know? And then that third period, I mean, you look, Mark Johnson's going to make it 4:2. And he looks at the camera and winks. There's still four and a half minutes left. Yeah, that's how good we felt, you know? I mean, that's how good we felt. They didn't touch the puck, so. Yeah, that was really, really awesome, that third period.

[A]

Speaking of that moment, though, O.C. another one of those unbelievable moments in the dock was the story that between the second and third, Craig Patrick goes in, and you were like, get the out of here.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Were. Were.

[B]

How fired up were you?

[A]

Like, it was that moment real.

[C]

Like, it doesn't take much to get me. Oh, that moment was incredible. It was ab. Absolutely real. And I. You know, I don't really like, to. I mean, I felt a little weird. I mean, to me, it was just me being me, and just. That's just who I am. I mean, I. I. You know, look, I'm. I'm. It's a long time ago, but, I mean, I know what I was like back then, and, you know, there was no way I was just going to come in there and sit around and go, like, all right, we got to go out and play hard. Mean, what are you. Me. You know, I mean, 20 minutes, this is it. And it's like, there. You know, there's no way. And, you know, I mean, I wasn't. I was just like, yeah, what can I tell you? I don't know what I was. I mean, I was just on fire. So. And I was kind of talking to everybody and kind of, you know, it's just us in the locker rooms, nobody else, and just the team, and, you know, guys are taking this stuff off, and, you know, it's. It's frustrating. You're down 2 to 1. Nothing's really going our way. And then I just. Just was kind of pacing, you know, and. And talking and whacking guys and kind of pacing and whacking guys and, come on, you got, you know, blah, blah, blah. You know, whatever. I was. And then I remember Phil Voda was like, you know, stood up, and, you know, as this was going on, and he was the same way. He was like, he. Jack's right.

[A]

And then all.

[C]

And then Phil was like, now he's on fire, you know, and then. And then Patty comes in, and I was like, patty, get. You know, get the hell out of you. So he's like, whoa, okay, so throw him out. And the next thing you know, there's like, there's another guy standing up. He's like, let's get our stage on. And now, at this point, there's, like, foam coming out. I mean, seriously, it just.

[B]

It's.

[C]

The locker room just ramped, you know, it amped and ramped. And then we're kind of like this. And like this, right? And it was like, we came out of the locker room, no one was even looking at anybody. They were like. Just, like. Was the door. Get out of our way. Like, get out of our freaking way. Like, you know, hey, let's go. Shut up. Get out of my. I don't even see these guys. And then. And seriously, we went on that ice, and it was a two A man. Everybody, we. There was. We were just incredibly determined. There was not. No way in the world we were losing that game. We were 100. Winning that game. Absolutely.

[B]

Yeah. It was incredible. Do you.

[C]

Yeah, it was really. It was an incredible moment for our team. And as it's been being talked about more and more, you realize that guys do remember it and they. We all remember it the same way. And. And we all look at it and go like, that's the crowning achievement of that entire nine or ten month period. And, you know, because we were ready for that 20 minutes when we. When we needed it, we had it and we. We brought it. It was freaking awesome. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. That's incredible. Did you. Do you remember the Bunker Hill comment in real time, or were you.

[C]

Yeah, of course I did, Bump. They had bumper stickers back in Charlestown with it. With it.

[B]

That's awesome. No way.

[C]

Oh, yeah, man. We want to bunk a hill and we want it like Classen.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

I mean, it's a great line. And then I get some knucklehead telling me they didn't win there. And I was like, well, check your history. I know they took the. I know that the Brits took the hill, but only because the colonials ran out of bullets. You know, that's why I was like, don't shoot till you see the whites of their eyes, because we don't want to waste any bullets. We only got like 10 left. So, you know, and it was the kind of thing where even though the British kind of took the hill, I mean, what they paid for that victory, I mean, they. The colonials ran away. I mean, they had their casualty levels and they were losing all these field commanders and these generals. They were screwed. They went back to Boston and they never left Boston. They were hoping for reinforcements. But you think about it, guys, and you guys have New England backgrounds. March 17, of course, is St. Patty's Day. Not in Boston. I mean, it is a St. Patty's Day because it's St. Patrick's birthday, but. But it's evacuation day. So. March 17, 1776, was when the British evacuated Boston and never came back.

[B]

How do I not know that? That's crazy.

[C]

Well, it's evacuation day, and it was because the Battle of Bunker Hill, first of all, April 19, 1775, the Brits go marching out to Lexington, Concord. It's like a guerrilla warfare. The colonials are in the trees, you know, shooting them, like kind of sniping them. They were running back to Boston, and then all of a sudden, two months later, June 17, 1775. Think about it. The colonials on top of Breed's Hill. Here they come Here come the Brits. We got to get them out of there. They blast them down the hill twice, and the third time they take the hill and they run away. But that was the first time an open field battle that you'd. They had seen the Brits and the Brits had seen. We have. With like, no, nothing. No ammo or anything. But then the Brits were so beaten up and so many casualties and deaths, they went back to Boston like this. And during that time, I know this history. So Ethan Allen, these Vermont boys, they went up to Fort Ticonderoga and where it was a sort of a lightly defended British fortress, and they stole all their cannons and they brought all their cannons down. It took them like months and months to forge these cannons, like from. From basically upstate New York all the way to Dorchester to the mouth of Boston Harbor. And they put up up at Boston harbor all these cannons, like, maybe probably in, I don't know, maybe January. And they were like, they would point out, and then they kind of went in with the truce flag. The general, how the God British commander. And they were like, look, up on the hill. See that? He's like, yeah, you know what they are? He goes, yeah, they're. He goes, what are they? He goes, they're the. Can your cannons that used to be in. They're pointing at you. You got three months to get out of Boston and, oh, we're gonna blow you guys to bits. Yeah. Three months later, they evacuated. So, yep, it all started. Battle Bunker Hill, babe. Sorry. Hell, yeah, it was a victory. That's my point.

[A]

I agree. It's funny. Like, that line is so good, but the follow up was even better. Yeah, I don't want to hear that.

[C]

I'm like, yeah, well, there was probably more than that. They cut it all.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

The funny thing is, man, I'll tell you the funny story of the whole thing is, is that, you know, John Harrington, then after me, he gets up there and he's like, you know, he tells some of the herby things that he wrote down. And then even when they go to him real time, he goes, yeah, I probably had a few too many beers.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[C]

So here's the problem with that. I'll tell you the story. It's really funny, is that when we came off the ice after we win the gold medal, me and Harrington, they grabbed two guys randomly for drug testing. So they grabbed me and Harrington, like the whole team. We just won a gold medal. Then the team goes to the locker room, Harrington and I go to drug test and we hadn't seen the whole team yet. We still got our skates on. Yeah. And so I had gotten tested against the Swedes. I wasn't even dressed. I'm on the bench, like, street clothes. I got randomly selected. What a shocker. And thinking I'm shooting stuff in my knee, probably.

[B]

Right, right, right.

[C]

But anyhow, so Herring is like, what's going on here? I go, we just go in. You got to pee in a cup. You know, it's no big deal, but we just want a gold medal. Well, yeah. And I go, but I was in here, like, against the Swedes, and I gotta tell you, there's a cooler right there full of Kieran beer on ice. Yeah. So I go, let's just go and have a few beers and, like, hold it as long as we can.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

We just want to go about. Right. Pounding beers, and we're hugging each other and laughing, you know. And we had played the Fins, and they're in there, they had a couple Finn guys. They're having beers with toast, you know, places. And so we pounded, like, three beers, like, in 20 minutes, 25 minutes. And then we grab one for the road. And so then we go back to the locker room. The team's all gone. So we. Where is everybody? At the. At the press conference across the street at the. At the high school. So we take off our skates, and then we got to go across the street, like, out the bill, out of the building, across the street, through the crowds, into the high school, you know, with, like, walking with. With beers, you know.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

It was hysterical.

[C]

Everybody. No one cared. And so then we go. So by the time we got to the press conference, we hadn't seen our teammates since the game ended, which is why.

[A]

Crazy.

[C]

We come in so hot. I come in hot. I mean, I come in, I jump up on the table, and I'm, like, dancing around on the table.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[C]

Number one, because I was excited to see everybody. But number two, because I'm, you know, kind of half lit, you know.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[C]

And so that's why when I did that, like, they asked me that question about, like, the first guy from Charleston, I was like, like, yeah, what can I say? And I'm like. And then, you know, and that's when I said in the thing, I go, I think I had too many Kieran beers. And then Harrington gets up there and he's like, yeah.

[B]

You're like, take the mic from him. Holy. Yeah.

[C]

And then he goes.

[A]

He.

[C]

They go back to him, real time. He's like, yeah, I think I might have had too many beers. Well, it was him and I. Him and I were in drug testing. That's why we had had a few. That's for sure. Funny man.

[A]

Jesus, that's a ride it last check the. I mean, we talked about the doc, how amazing that experience was for you.

[B]

You know, you.

[A]

You'd mentioned Gavin o' Connor a few times, and you worked a bunch, you know, getting ready for Miracle. I. I'm curious, what was your reaction when you did finally see that movie in 2004 and like Miracle, you know, we had never really thought about it. Must have been kind of emotional for you guys. Like, that was a real unbelievable Hollywood production reliving those moments. Like, did it feel very true to the story for you guys? Did you love the movie when you saw the premiere?

[C]

Yeah, you know, I thought. I think we all agree that it was a great movie with. And. And I, you know, I got to know Gavin just because my character was in the script a lot. So they were like five of us. You know, they have certain rules in Hollywood, right. They can't in a movie, you know, this. A lot of it's SAG union rules, you know, screen actors, stuff like that. Like how many.

[A]

Many.

[C]

How many minutes on air? You know, so they're dealing with a lot of those issues, you know, behind the scenes that you probably don't realize. So that's why maybe in the movie there's. They highlight. Maybe fewer guys, even though there's more guys. And, you know, you can't tell everybody's story. It's not a miniseries. Right.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

So anyhow, we get to go to some things. It was like me but Robbie, Mike Craig and Buzzy Schneider. Five guys, right?

[D]

Right.

[C]

Yeah. So anyway, you know, we got to go some of the filming in Vancouver. We got to go to the Hollywood Foreign Press screening, Met. The Met the staff and the cast a few times. Stuff like that. Right. So by the time we got around to the premiere, there were five of us that had seen the movie a couple times already, you know, but there were 15 guys that hadn't seen it. However many guys. I mean, I don't know how many guys are there. Probably close to all of them. Them, but so they hadn't seen it, you know, and. And I think to a man, you know, it's a little different because not everybody's in the movie a lot. Right. There's some guys that are in it more, and that's. Can be frustrating for certain guys that, like, they look at the movie and they realize, you know, it's almost like I wasn't even part of it. So some guys can feel maybe a little left out. I. I respect that. I mean, but it's a movie and, you know, the deal was we were treated as a team. It wasn't like, you know, certain guys were getting more than others or anything as far as that goes, so. But it was a little tough, you know, for some guys to feel a little left out. But on the other hand, I think Kenny Morrow said it right then. He was like, that's a great movie and people are gonna love it. And I think it was really great that, you know, the way Kurt Russell portrayed Herbie was awesome and the pace of the movie was great. The fact that they hired hockey players and taught them how to act. So the hockey scenes were very scripted right from the real scenes. I mean, I'd seen some of that where, you know, they'd have a camera guy out in the ice. He looked like a roller derby guy, you know, with the elbow pads and he had this camera. He's right in the middle of stuff. So they had really great hockey scenes and they were scripting the actual plays on goals or certain things. So the plays you see in that movie, Miracle, the hockey plays are recreated. Actual plays, you know, that really were plays. So they put a lot of thought into it. It was a real Hollywood production. And obviously Gavin's a, you know, he's a class A director. Disney put a lot of resources behind it. Even Gavin told me, he says, jack, after they started seeing some of the dailies, Disney drove more money into it because they saw it coming. They ended up. And that's when they hired a really top level music producer, this guy Mark Isham.

[A]

All time.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

So. So Gavin said, you know, it was a great story. He goes, it could be a miniseries. It goes, I got a four. It could be Apocalypse Now. You know, there's so many stories around this, but they were adamant it had to be right around two hours. And yeah, you'll. You'll never hear. I mean, every guy to A man on our team thinks the movie's awesome. And I think it's become a little bit of an iconic movie because younger kids keep coming up and watching it.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

You know, if you're a little hockey player, like, you know, you're sick. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. By the time you're like 8 to 9 years old, it's like, that's your miracle experience. You know, you get to watch the movie and Then next thing you know, you're in a tournament in Lake Placid and there's, you know, statue. They're going to build a statue of us, and you're in this living museum and you watch the movie. I mean, it. It's all coming together pretty good. Except we're getting. You know, we're as old as dirt now, so I don't know how many it was still going to be around, but before you know it.

[B]

Yeah, that's perfect, man.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Oh, see, we'll let you get out of here, but I just wanted. Yeah, we could. We could do an entire. Another app for the post. For the post days for Ahl. Stories are killing me. So before you go, can you tell the Mel you.

[C]

No, I can't. I. I can't. I'm not gonna tell that. I. I like Mel. I shouldn't have told her the first time. I mean, I don't blame the guy. I mean, when you're going away and your dog dies, I mean, what are you gonna do? I guess back now I know what you'd do, but I mean, this is back in 1981. I mean, there's no cell phones and there's no, you know, I mean, I don't know. You got neighbors. I don't even know. I mean, I think he made probably. He made the only decision he could make.

[B]

I agree. I agree completely.

[C]

I thought it was actually pretty smart, you know, I mean, you think about it, and at least he. He didn't just leave him there. He put him in the freezer. I mean, mean, you can come home and you could deal with it in the vet and, you know, the burial and all that. But, you know, it was actually, when I think about it, it sounds really funny, but it was actually a genius move by Mel, so he was a lot smarter than people gave him credit for.

[B]

Completely agree. Completely agree. Yeah.

[A]

It's a crafty vet.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Let's be honest.

[C]

The crafty veteran move, man. You know?

[B]

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Right? Dude, that's incredible, man. My God.

[C]

Yeah. Anyway, guys, great talking to you guys. Thanks a lot for the time. Enjoy the. The weather out there on the west coast, okay?

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

Well, you. You enjoy some golf. It's great stuff. Is there. Is there. You know, we. We do this with every guest. If, if there's anything you want to shout out, anything you want to plug.

[C]

No, no, I'm fine. No, I'm good, man. I appreciate it. Thanks a lot. I know, it's just fun to have this, you know, the memories of the Games from us in the miracle experience in 1980 Olympics with, you know, even Eric Hyde and me being up there last week, week. Lake Placid is a. It's. It's truly a living museum. You know, I think you bring people up there from 32 that would walk down the street and say, I remember that building. Oh, it used to be a tea shop. I mean, it's the same building, it's the same street, it's the same lake. It's so wonderful. And, and we're. I'm excited. This is a Herby Brook statue there now. You know, it was so fun to see us walking through Lake Placid and the cars stopping. And then in the documentary, how then they'd show us like a 19, the summer of 1980, on that wagon bus going through Lake Placid, you know, like. And then now we're here in our freaking 90s. But anyhow, you know, I mean, I just think, yeah, Lake Placid, the Herbie statue that they just put in this documentary that Netflix did, which is really great. And you know, now that they're raising money to build a statue of our team and the statue is all of us crowded on. On the metal stand, which is sort of like way. The way America has to be, right? All for one, one for all, right? I mean, it's like with the three Musketeers, only we were like the twenty Musketeers Miracle team. But thanks, fellas. All right, good talking.

[A]

Huge shout out to Jack o'. Callaghan. We. We said to him, he's gonna come on more times because I could have just listened to this, this, this guy for four hours and days and days. That was unbelievable. That doesn't get you pumped up for the Olympics. I don't know what will. Let's hop into another ad break and then we will get into college hockey and wrap up the show. We've got the Olympics coming around the bend here, folks. We are currently in the air on the way to Milan as you are listening to this. So if you need to get pumped up for the the Olympics, there's one thing to do. It's watch Miracle. Everyone knows that and everyone thinks of that one scene where they're doing herbies, they're going up and down the ice, stopping, starting, and you know how you do that with a shark. And the best way to get that right now is with the Bauer unbelievable delivery. Pro sharp advantage. The Bauer pro sharp advantage is your in home skate sharpening tool that is revolutionizing the game. There's nothing like having clean, sharp edges when you're playing hockey. There's also nothing like knowing how convenient it is to get your wheels sharpened. It is the worst when you're headed to beer league, you're headed to your high school college game, whatever it is, headed to practice and you go, I haven't sharpened my skates in a while. Boom. Boom. The prosharp advantage takes care of all of that. You get a pro level precision blade at the touch of a button. You can sharpen it anywhere. This thing goes on any table, any flat surface. You plug it in quickly. It is so easy to use. It's got Bluetooth connection with an app that you can check out. Make sure everything is to your exact parameters and your exact likings. Take away the headache of getting your skate sharpened and get the Bauer prosharp advantage in your house today day. It's going to change everything and it's going to make your life so much simpler. Just like Bauer has been doing since the beginning of time. We are back and it is time for Netter's college puck drop. Gonna rip through the college action because let's be honest, our minds are on the Olympics. But the college game keeps wheeling. My boys in blue, number one Michigan versus number two Michigan State. Everything on the line Friday night in Ann Arbor. Michigan State takes a 31 lead going into the third period. But wouldn't you know it, Michigan climbs back in, they tie it on a shorty and then win an OT on the peeper. Yost was blowing up. It was unbelievable. But got to admit, Saturday we go to the duel and the D at Little Caesars. Michigan state goes up four nothing. They never looked back. 152 Porter Martone on the score sheet. Just a couple of splits for these guys. It's not really going to change the rankings that much. I don't think think. But I gotta say, more impressed with Michigan State this weekend than Michigan. Hate to admit it, but that's just how it was. Both these teams are nasty.

[B]

Yes, Dan. My God. It just feels like they're going to careen into each other again.

[A]

It's going to be insane.

[B]

Okay, number nine, Cornell. They beat Colgate 52 on the road on Friday, but then they lost 32 at home on Saturday. I swear we're seeing a lot of that this year, dude. Where there's a home and home and the road team wins twice. Kind of insane. And then Quinnipiac number five five beat Brown nine one at home on Friday. And then Yale came to town Saturday and they pounded them eight Nothing. You've been on Quinnipiac hard all year, and it's weekends like this where I'm like, holy fuck, you are right.

[A]

Genuinely, like, how does that even happen, though? You know, it's like unbelievable. They're. They're just like, they're so good. It's crazy. Number seven, Providence, climbing up the charts. They go. They go to UNH. They win 71 on Friday. Then they hosted Vermont on Saturday and beat them 6 1. Also a team that's doing really well. Dartmouth saw them drop a little bit. Number 14, they beat Harvard at Harvard 31 on Friday, so they're trying to climb again. And then number 12, Yukon, beats Northeastern on the road two zero on Friday. Northeastern kind of like Clarkson for me. They're not ranked right now, but they're a good team. So happy win for Yukon.

[B]

BU beat number 18, ME, 32 and OT at home on Friday. And they had won their bean pot game last Monday, 32 over Northeastern. So, yep, they're in the bean pot final tonight. You're listening to this Tuesday. So will have happened. But how many times I've said this? Cole Iserman said the bean pot turned their whole year around last year. If they can get a bean pot win and they just beat Maine ranked Maine, these, those, these are the first good wins I've seen from BU in a long time. So that's huge. Number 11 BC on the other hand, lost to Vermont 61 at home on Friday, which is a nightmare loss. But they beat Harvard in their bean pot matchup. They're playing bc. They're playing BU in the final tonight again Monday night. So. So I know how much those Boston teams care about that. I loved watching the beatbox growing up. Huge tilt for them tonight. You know, they want to clip BU and they'll be all right.

[A]

Yeah. Headed to the west, to the central, whatever you want to call it. Number four, Western Michigan, lost to Miami Ohio on the road three two and OT on Friday. They bounced back and won three one on Saturday. But it's like, Chris, you've been talking about them all year, how they just.

[B]

Two weekends in a row now they've.

[A]

Stormed back and been like, we're legit. And then, yeah, just a couple of tough losses. Number 20, Michigan Tech beats number 16, Augustana, 32 and OT at home. And on Friday, they won 43 or 43 on Saturday. So a nice, nice weekend for Michigan Tech. And then number 15, St. Thomas goes to Bowling Green. They beat them 32 and OT on Friday, but then lost 31 on Saturday. I keep talking about these teams. Augustana, St. Thomas, 16 and 15 in the country, like, being a little sneaky. But losses like that is where, like, you're not sneaky anymore. You're going to fall out of it. So. So tough losses.

[B]

Exactly. UMass Lowell beat number 19 UMass at home 31 on Friday, and then UMass hosted Saturday and 15 2. That split makes more sense to me. The home teams get done.

[A]

Agree.

[B]

And then number 13, Wisconsin, beat Notre Dame 65 in OT at home on Friday, and then 54 on Saturday. Electric weekend in Madison.

[A]

Electric weekend. And it's also kind of like a grit your teeth weekend. It's like we. Wisco has been slipping, right? We. We had them like fourth in the country a couple weeks ago, and now they're 13. They've had bad losses. And Notre Dame unranked, but not a. Not a. Not an easy slouch. Not a slouch. So two kind of like ugly wins. You're giving up too many goals, but it's like, well, you took care of business. So there you go. And then we got number 10, Duluth, beat number 3 Nodak at home 32 in OT. Zam Plant had the second goal to go up 2 nothing and the OT winner. But then Nodak got a nice 41 road win on Saturday. So not a complete disaster. That's good for Duluth. Duluth, who we've seen slipping a bit, getting a win over that number three team is huge. And then to round things out, number eight, Denver, tied Colorado College 22 on Friday at Colorado College. But then Denver won 41 at home on Saturday. Colorado College, dude, still causing fits. They always have, dude.

[B]

It's incredible, Dan. It's absolutely incredible. All right, our new rankings. Are you willing to go Michigan State 1 1? Yes, I think so. They lost an OT at Michigan and then beat him in. In Little Caesars.

[A]

As a Michigan guy, like, I. It would be easy for me to go. Absolutely not. Are you crazy? But I'm kind of like, no, dude, like, yeah, that. That is totally acceptable because it was an OT game on the road and then a very, very dominant win in the dual. Indeed. Michigan State number one.

[B]

Okay, State one, Michigan two. And then I want to go Quinnipiac three or maybe Providence.

[A]

Wow. Let's go.

[B]

I like Q U, Qinnipiac 3, Providence 4.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

Then I want to go Western Michigan and no DAC because they both, both deserves. They both deserve a little pee pee whack. Maybe no dak next. Because Duluth is good.

[A]

Yeah. Okay.

[B]

So. So State Michigan. Qu. Providence. No. DAC 5.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I would go Western Michigan 6.

[A]

Yep. I agree. And then Penn State has to be like, oh, yeah. Like we're. We're almost like. No, no, I like Penn State.

[B]

Me too.

[A]

There.

[B]

I like. I would go Duth at 8 to reward them.

[A]

I'm pumping Duth up to 8. And then we've got Denver, Cornell, BC, Yukon, Wis. Wisconsin's not in there yet for me. Dartmouth's not in there for me yet. I think it's got to be Denver for me next.

[B]

Yeah. Denver nine. And then maybe Yukon.

[A]

You want Yukon over?

[B]

BC got pumped to Vermont. Yeah.

[A]

BC lost. You want them over Cornell. Like you're Cornell.

[B]

Cornell lost too. Cornell lost. They lost at home to. To fucking Colgate, right? I think we go Yukon, dude.

[A]

Yeah. Yukon 10.

[B]

Yukon 10.

[A]

Done.

[B]

Game of the week, the bean plot finals tonight. You're gonna miss it, but I hope you're watching. And then we're taking the Wolverines again. I hate to do it, but we have to do it because on Michigan they are hosting hockey's bad boy Gavin McKenna for a Friday Saturday series. It's going to be incredible. Go, go tune into that one wherever you can. Love me. Some college hockey weekend. Let's take an ad break and we'll be back. All right, team, get ready to cheer on USA Hockey with some officially licensed apparel from Low Sport. From the replica jersey hoodie to performance gear, vintage looks, hats and more. Low Sport has you covered for the gold medal run. You use code empty netters at checkout. That's E, M P T Y N E T T E r at checkout for 10 off your purchase at lowsportgear.com. that's L-W-S-P O-T G E A R dot com. Okay? They've got the replica jerseys worn by the 2026 US Men's and Women's Hockey Team as well as the 1980 Miracle and Ice hockey team. They sent this fire hoodie. It's got 80 and Miracle on the back. This thing is incredible. They specialize in the high quality performance gear and vintage embroidery hoodies for you to rock this whole run. Okay? And they've got toddler sizes all the way to 5x and it ships so fast. So if you're like, oh, God, they're about to start. I'm not going to get it in time. You are. It's incredible. This business was started by a hockey guy, Gary Lowe. He was at the Miracle on Ice hockey game and the gold medal game. He was 19 years old. Unbelievable core memory for life. Last weekend he unveiled the life size bronze statue of Herb Brooks at the Olympic center at the Herb Brooks arena in Lake Placid. You cannot get more dialed in win than this so go check out lowsportgear.com use that promo code empty netters at checkout for 10 off your purchase of incredibly fresh merch just like this.

[A]

Imagine a world where the state of Olympic hockey got so bad that they had to send a super hockey player back from the future to fix it. And instead of that they sent me. That would be complete mayhem. That is what you are about to get. Yet with good luck, have Fun, Don't Die. From the completely unhinged mind of Gore Verbinski comes this year's must see film. Good luck, have fun, don't die. When a man from the future arrives at a Los Angeles diner, chaos ensues as he recruits a group of unlikely heroes on a one night quest to save humanity. What happens along the way will keep you guessing until the mind blowing end. Starring Sam Rockwell. Critics are calling it absolute chaotic perfection and ridiculously entertaining. This movie is going to be the banger of the year and we all know it.

[B]

Dan Sam Rockwell is my dog. You can put him in literally anything and he's been in such good stuff the way way back. One of my all time favorite movies. Truly ever. Three Billboards, JoJo, Rabbit Moon. He's incredible. But he is my absolute dog and I can't think of a cooler role for him to do like he was. He was born. You were born to be hockey players and he was born for this role there.

[A]

It's unbelievable. Gore Verbr. Brinsky is bringing us Pirates of the Caribbean, the Ring, Rango. Just so much good stuff. You just mentioned Sam, but we also got Haley, Lou Richardson, Michael Pena, Zazy beats, Juno Temple. This movie's rated R so you know it's going to be a true time and a half. I can't wait for it. In a world where we are drowned out with inauthentic, unoriginal content. Sequels, prequels, remakes, all of that stuff, we aren't getting great original content like this and that's why this movie is so important. And so again, good luck, have fun, don't die. Rated R under 17 not admitted without a parent. This Friday 13th February, only in theaters. Tickets are on sale now. Snag it and go bag it. Enjoy the movie.

[D]

We are back.

[A]

Let's jump on in to a beer league hotline. Evan, hit us baby.

[D]

All right. The commissioner of our league met my girlfriend when I brought her to a game the other night. Then at 3am that night, he liked a bunch of photos on her Instagram from when she was 15 years old.

[A]

Who.

[D]

She's 27 now. I called him out on a group chat and then he had me kicked off the team. He lied to the boys saying he liked all those photos when he was 16, but I know that's not true. I have the receipt of seats. Should I expose him?

[A]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, indeed.

[D]

Call the New York Times.

[B]

Whoa, indeed. Yeah. Aren't there are files for things like this? Aren't there? I believe there are files or things of this nature.

[A]

I bet. Given this guy's the commissioner, I bet this team is called the Islanders. And I bet this dude's last name is Epstein. Get this, this fucking criminal off the team right now. Are you out of your mind? I, I. The fact that you called him out and then he immediately booted you tells you everything you need to know. This dude is a scumbag.

[B]

And, and is it the commissioner? It's the league commissioner.

[D]

Corruption goes up to the top.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. So like he's literally. I can't even believe he has the power to, to remove people from teams, Dan. Like, imagine if our league commissioner was like, hey, this guy's off your team. A dude be like, what?

[A]

He called him out and then he had him kicked off his team? Yeah. I don't even get how you have the ability to do that. He must have like pulled his USA Hockey card or something. I mean, this is crazy.

[B]

So is the commissioner implying that he even knew? How would he even know this girl when he was 16? How could he have even liked these photos when he, when they were 16?

[D]

How old is the commissioner now? That's what I want to know. Like, was he?

[A]

Yeah. What's tough is it literally doesn't matter. It's like, unless the commissioner is 15 years old. Yeah, it doesn't matter.

[B]

That would be sick. Little big league dad. Like this guy, he's a phenom. He's a phenom.

[A]

Get out of my league. The corruption goes so deep here. But like, Buddy, are you fucking crazy? Yes. Expose him yesterday. This is, this is the biggest no brainer. What? Why in the world would you not expose him? This guy is a pervert. He's a pervert and also he is, he's, he's doing illegal things in the league and he's got you kicked out of. You can't play beer league anymore.

[D]

He can't seems on a heater. Team's on a heater. He can't expose him. He's like, wait till the season's over.

[B]

This man, this man. This man loves two things. Beer, league, hot, like hockey, and his girlfriend. And the commissioner is about to take both of them. He's about to take both of them.

[A]

Dude, I thought you were talking about the commissioner right there when you said this man loves two things. And I was like, watch, careful, don't go there.

[D]

Don't make me.

[A]

Christ that.

[B]

Also, also, I have a question. Do you think. Do you think he only liked the photos from when she was 15, or did he like them all the way down? Because if he liked them all the way down, you could maybe be like, I don't know. I was just Hammer. I was just Hammer liking him at 3am Crazy. But if you scroll, if you skipped the present day photos and got to the young ones and only like those, we have a real issue.

[A]

You both are utterly atrocious and you have a very real issue no matter what. But if he went all the way down to just like those, then this man, like lethal injection immediately. This is fucking crazy. This dude. This is horrifying.

[B]

Oh, good.

[A]

We skipped over the fact that she's 27 now. So I don't know how much this gal posts, but the fact that we had 12 years to go through to get down there.

[D]

Instagram started in 2010. Right?

[A]

Right.

[D]

So that's.

[B]

I guess that's enough time. I was going to say maybe she's posting like, maybe last year she posted young pictures of herself. Right. Like the post could have been from last year, but. But they also could have been. Instagram is old enough that it could have been for real.

[D]

Like, but if he's saying he liked him when he was 16, then yeah, right. That means he's at least how many.

[A]

Such an insane lie. We got him. We got him. It literally says that they met. They met at a game and then he's like, dude, I like these all the way back when I was 16. Again, again. Unless there's a little big league situation going on here, which there certainly is not, this dude is belongs behind bars. So expose him for sure. This is nonsense.

[B]

Absolutely, 100%, absolutely unacceptable. Okay, let's take it to a Bauer Hockey Blind ranking. We love our friends at Bauer. They have us hooked up with the pulse, with the skate sharpener, with incredible Olympic interviews. They are the goat and blind rankings are the goat. Evan. So for the people, for the listeners, a lot of our producers in the past, including the lovely Sean. Don't. Aren't hockey people. So we're always making up blind rankings for them to do. And Evan was like, dude, I can make up. And I was like, that would be dope. So Evan has crafted some blind rankings for us, and in honor of our Italy trip, I think he has one very special. So what do we got, Ev?

[D]

We're gonna pick the best Italian foods. Now, what I want to know.

[A]

And.

[D]

And I'm trying to go authentic Italian, you know? Sorry, no parmesan.

[B]

Okay. But that's how you know Dan.

[D]

But a lot of these, you can.

[B]

Give something number one without having to fear that you. Chicken parm. Yeah.

[A]

This is great.

[D]

Yeah. There are.

[B]

So it.

[D]

But in your head, you could choose to envision or smell the Americanized versions of these.

[A]

No.

[B]

Or.

[D]

Or you could go authentic.

[A]

We're going to Italy. This is authentic. I love it. Authentic Italian food. Let's go.

[D]

All right, the first one, fruta de mare, which is fruit, fruits of the sea. It's basically seafood pasta.

[B]

Oh, okay. I was gonna say you're gonna tell me what these are. Every time I go to a real Italian restaurant, I can't even order because I'm like, this is the only.

[D]

This is the only one that's gonna be confused.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

This one is such a good start. I know.

[B]

And, Dan, I don't know what you think, but sometimes this, like, a linguini. A clam. Linguini can be so amazing sometimes, but also not that good sometimes. Like, I actually think it's a pretty volatile dish.

[A]

Fruta de mare is so good. We're going to get a lot of muscles in here when you order fruta de mar.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

And I. I love them. And a muscle with a red sauce is just.

[B]

Just little bread. Little. Little, like little non American bread, too, you know, like proper bread. That's not, like, going to kill you that. A little. You get the dip going. That's all time. I could go actually high here, Dan, now that I'm talking about it, now that you got me cooking on this, I could go pretty high here.

[A]

So, you know what's funny is fruta de mare, I love. I love a vongole. Like a. A linguini and. And clams is probably a little higher for me. I love a vongole, but this isn't vong. This is fruta de mare. I. I like a 3 here. This is a really delicious dish.

[B]

Okay, okay, Okay. I could do three.

[D]

Lock it in three.

[A]

Yep.

[D]

All right. Spaghetti bolognese.

[B]

Probably better there. But I would pretty much never order that.

[A]

Every Italian just died inside that.

[B]

You.

[A]

You hit him with a probably better there.

[B]

Everything is better there. But what I mean by that is I would consider ordering it there, whereas if I see it on a menu here, I pretty much would never.

[A]

You know what's tough is this is a pretty much never order for me, too. And it's.

[B]

I'm trying because I like so much so many other things more. That's what I mean. Like, it's not because I think of.

[A]

Something that I would compare it to that it's like, it's fantastic, and if it's on the table, I'm going to eat it. But I think I'm always trying to get a little more adventurous. But it also, it earns so many points for how comforting it is. And when it's done right, it's done so, so well. There's a reason it's a classic. So I would hear. I would hear people giving this one.

[B]

And I'm gonna go five. I want to go.

[A]

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm willing for. For. For what we're talking about of getting a little more. A little crazier. Let's go four. Because it deserves four. Like spaghetti bolognese being four. Lovely for its classic appeal is that works for me.

[B]

Okay, four.

[D]

Four spaghetti carbonara.

[B]

Okay. See, I like this. This is interesting.

[A]

This is. This is potentially one for me.

[B]

Oh, shit.

[A]

I mean, carbonara with the guanciale.

[C]

Here we go.

[A]

This guy with the toasted peppercorns.

[D]

You're getting a little toochy on us. Getting real Stanley tooch.

[A]

I'm. I'm. I really, really, really love a red sauce. Like, that's. That's my go to. But when you get the egg yolk going, you get the parmigiano reggiano, and you make that delicious sauce, and you have it with the guanciale fat. I'm not really sure there's any. As far as a pasta that can't be my one.

[B]

Would you entertain, too?

[A]

Would you?

[B]

Would you entertain, too?

[A]

I. I would, and I'm telling you, I don't know what is going to get up over there for me, so.

[B]

Okay, then maybe we got to go one.

[A]

You better.

[B]

I don't even know what's coming, Dan. This is so foreign to me. Quite literally. Quite literally. This is so foreign to me. Yeah, I'll go one. I'll trust you, dude. You're going to. I trust the tooch at all. Times.

[A]

Never upset. I've never, I'm never upset if a carbonara is at one.

[B]

Okay, let's go one.

[A]

Okay.

[D]

The only place my wife and I ever went to twice when we were in Italy, was a place that had the best carbonara we've ever.

[B]

Okay, this is a worthy one.

[A]

And I, I bet it made your balls soaking wet. Evan, like, don't lie to me.

[D]

It was also summer in Rome, so I was already pretty sweaty.

[A]

But yeah, yeah, it's true. Yeah.

[D]

Okay. Margherita pizza.

[B]

Ooh, great inclusion.

[D]

And I got specifically that kind of, that kind of.

[B]

Yeah, that's a wrinkle, dude, because I, I, I respect a margarita so much and they're delicious and fresh and so like, I'm like, I could see it too, but because of fear of what might come of an incredible pasta dish, I almost want to go this five to be like, well, I had to save it for something epic.

[A]

All right, so let me say this. You've not, you've not been to Italy, right?

[B]

Hell no. Hell no.

[A]

No. So this is going to be a first for cp, which is exciting. Chris, I believe you're similar to me when pizza is being ordered. I am, I am a very anti cheese pizza guy. And yes, please, please, everyone calm down. Don't, don't jump down my throat. I know margherita is not cheese pizza, but they're, they're close. So let me explain. I, I really appreciate some stuff going on on my pizza. I prefer a protein of some kind. At least I'm not a big overload guy. Like, if we're talking bar pizza, you know, big New York pizza, I'm not really a meat lovers guy. Like, I like one. Give me, give me a pepperoni mushroom. Give me a sausage and pepper. Give me combos like that. So I'm usually getting some toppings on there. Now a well made margarita is so fresh and delightful. And in Italy, it is genuinely next level nothing in the States. I don't care if they're making Neapolitan style. Whatever it is, it doesn't come close. But we're talking like our best meals and our best foods. I can't go to here. I've got.

[B]

Okay, yeah, I think I'm alive. Just because, just out of fear.

[A]

This is a starter. This is a shared plate for the table.

[D]

Would it change things if I said you could throw prosciutto on top?

[A]

Yeah, it would probably it would. But, you know, I guess that's technically.

[D]

Yeah. Yeah. You know what? You didn't say I rescind my offer. No prosciutto for you. We're going five.

[A]

I'm. I am going to go five. And unless Evan goes nutty, here I am. I'm going to. I'm going to pre call that. We are back.

[B]

And this is a very greatest list of all time. All right. Okay. What's two?

[A]

What is. What is locked in at two?

[D]

Lasagna. Are you back?

[A]

We are so back. Yeah. Lasagna. Another classic right in there with spaghetti bolognese. Lasagna. I also love.

[B]

What was three again? What was three? Oh, the. The fruit of.

[A]

The fruit of demar.

[D]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

This is a good list.

[A]

This is a great list.

[D]

It goes carbonera, lasagna, frutta de mare, spaghetti bolognese and margherita pizza.

[A]

This is a great list. Great.

[D]

Sadly not. I. And I used all of Italy. I sadly couldn't just do. You did region.

[B]

No, that was great.

[A]

You did go all over the place there. That was well done.

[D]

We went on a little tour.

[A]

We went on a tour of Italy. This was very. This was very tucci of you. I appreciate what you've done.

[D]

I'm too chin just thinking about it.

[A]

Wow, that was fantastic. All right, that was it for our blind ranking. That is it for this episode. Hopefully you enjoyed Jack o'. Callaghan. Hopefully you enjoyed all of it. Guys, we're so psyched for what's to come. Do us a favor. Pop on Spotify, pop on Apple. Give us a five star rating. Show us some love. Keep supporting us so we can keep doing this for you all. We love you guys so much. We've got nothing without you. Truly, truly, truly Olympic merchant. Make sure you snag some Olympic merch so you can support us. Canada, wherever you're coming from, subscribe to the YouTube if you're not already. We got a ton of fun stuff. A lot of great coverage coming out for these Olympics. While we're in Milan, we're going to show you a bunch of the city, do some really great things. It's not just going to be hockey. We're going to get as much of the Olympics as we can as well as the city and the country. It's going to be wonderful. Join us on the ride. We will see you next episode when we are in Italy. And until then, skate hard.