Spittin’ Chiclets Episode 562: Featuring James Van Riemsdyk & Mike Modano

Summary

Spittin’ Chiclets Episode 562: Featuring James Van Riemsdyk & Mike Modano

Released on May 12, 2025 by Barstool Sports

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Introduction

In the 562nd episode of Spittin’ Chiclets, hosts Ryan Whitney, Paul Bissonnette, and Mike Grinnelli dive deep into the intense NHL playoff action, focusing primarily on the Toronto Maple Leafs' series against the Florida Panthers. Their conversations are laced with humor, candid insights, and sharp critiques, making for an engaging listen even for those who haven't tuned in.

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NHL Playoffs Update

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Florida Panthers

Game 3 Recap & Analysis

• Ryan Whitney kicks off the discussion by praising the Leafs' performance in the first two periods of Game 3, stating, “Period one and two. Phenomenal. Phenomenal hockey by the Leafs.” [05:07]
• Mike Grinnelli echoes this sentiment, highlighting Leon Draisaitl’s game-changing abilities and commending the Panthers for their resilience despite early setbacks: “They just couldn't find the back of the net. But that one... brutal fucking start.” [05:32]

Game 4 Breakdown

• The conversation shifts to Game 4, where the Leafs faced unexpected challenges:
  • Grinnelli criticizes Mitch Marner’s performance, noting his lack of impact on the 5-on-5 scenarios: “Five on five, he's not nearly as much of a factor... I really hope that Matthews is able to maybe hit the net a little bit more.” [08:14]
  • Whitney discusses goalie Kyle Petrovic’s controversial goal, emphasizing the Leafs' defensive lapses: “Joseph Wall finally looked like himself... That could have easily been their game.” [17:32]

Goaltending Concerns

• Paul Bissonnette and Grinnelli delve into the struggles of Leafs’ goaltenders:
  • Grinnelli points out the inconsistency of Stuart Skinner, stressing the urgency for him to secure wins: “What do you make of his post-game scrum?... Plug that fucking hole.” [20:48]
  • Whitney expresses frustration over Petrovic’s decisions, advocating for more disciplined goalie play: “Why didn't he just stay on the post?” [45:42]

Player Performances & Team Dynamics

• Bissonnette highlights the strength and grit of the Panthers, particularly praising their defensive lineup: “Carter Verhagi isn't a physical guy... He skates faster than 90% of the league.” [24:27]
• The hosts discuss potential lineup adjustments, including the possible removal of Matthew Tkachuk from the core four, arguing that his performance under pressure is subpar: “I think there has to be something that ignites the group... so plug that fucking hole.” [19:35]

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Guest Segment: James Van Riemsdyk & Mike Modano

Guest Introduction

• The episode welcomes James Van Riemsdyk, a Hockey Hall of Famer and Executive Advisor with the Minnesota Wild, and Mike Modano, providing listeners with expert insights from former NHL legends.

Playoff Strategies & Player Spotlights

• Van Riemsdyk shares his experiences and strategies for players to excel in high-pressure playoff environments, emphasizing the importance of puck possession and timing at the net: “One of the key things... is something I've tried to do again, especially with that timing.” [99:31]
• Modano reminisces about past playoff battles and the emotional roller coaster associated with high-stakes games, drawing parallels to the current series: “There is so much hatred in this series now. It's a best of three and that's why I love it.” [25:47]

Youth and Character Lessons

• A touching narrative unfolds as Merle recounts a flag football game between his son Ryder’s team and a teammate’s son. The story underscores the importance of character and sportsmanship, inspired by NFL legend Matthew Slater’s actions: “A man of character. I'm not winning like that... So Tricky Mickey was the hero.” [133:00-135:31]

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Personal Anecdotes & Highlights

• Business and Brand Promotions: The hosts promote their sponsors, including Pink Whitney Vodka and Noble Footwear, offering exclusive discounts to listeners.
• James Van Riemsdyk’s Backpack: A humorous segment highlights Van Riemsdyk’s eclectic backpack filled with recovery devices and coffee, showcasing his meticulous preparation for games: “I have some different, like, recovery devices and maybe some of the coffee that I like.” [108:38]

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Fan Engagement & Merchandise

• The hosts discuss their branded merchandise, including “Biz Idiot” shirts and Leaf-themed apparel, encouraging listeners to support the show by purchasing these items. Whitney humorously promotes the shirts: “What you haters out there, just remember you got to be the only ambassador hated by the fan base because ambassadors are legends.” [141:12]

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Closing Remarks

As the episode wraps up, the hosts express their anticipation for upcoming playoff games, particularly Game 5, while maintaining their signature humor and camaraderie. They also highlight ongoing projects and personal milestones, such as James Van Riemsdyk’s impending fatherhood and Mike Grinnelli’s ownership of the Greensboro Gargoyles in the ECHL.

Notable Quotes:

• Ryan Whitney on Marner’s performance: “If you think you're worth $13, $14 million in free agency and you don't have the hockey sense...” [17:26]
• Mike Grinnelli on Bob’s saves: “I actually thought they were snapping around pretty good on the first three. They just couldn’t find the back of the net.” [06:03]
• James Van Riemsdyk on playoff pressure: “It's key to just have that good sort of support system and try to block it out as much as you can.” [116:58]

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Conclusion

Episode 562 of Spittin’ Chiclets offers a comprehensive and spirited analysis of the NHL playoffs, enriched by expert opinions from seasoned hosts and special guests James Van Riemsdyk and Mike Modano. Through in-depth discussions, personal stories, and interactive segments, the episode delivers a multifaceted look at the triumphs and tribulations of playoff hockey, all while maintaining the show’s trademark irreverence and enthusiasm.

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You can listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. Prime Members enjoy ad-free listening on Amazon Music. For more details, visit barstool.link/schiclets.

Transcript

[Ryan Whitney]

Hey, Spit and Chiclets listeners.

[Paul Bissonnette]

You can find every episode on Apple.

[Biz Nasty]

Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube Prime.

[Ryan Whitney]

Members can listen ad free on Amazon Music.

[Paul Bissonnette]

Me and Ryan have been officially welcomed.

[Ryan Whitney]

To the jungle that is Barstool Sports. Our white whale, Sidney Crosby. Shave his head.

[Mike Grinelli]

Shave his head. Shave his head.

[Ryan Whitney]

Ryan Whitney.

[Mike Grinelli]

Paul Vincent.

[Ryan Whitney]

R.A. mike Grinelli. Spittin Chickfila.

[Mike Grinelli]

Foreign.

[Ryan Whitney]

What is up, everyone? Welcome episode 562 of the Spitting Chiclets podcast. We got Mur in Sweden. We got Biz down on his luck. And we got the big boy drum banging Keith Yandel, happy as a clam. He's got the stick still. Hey, guys. This episode presented to you by Pink Whitney. Vodka. Take your shot with Pink Whitney. I had moms sending me pictures of Pink Whitney their kids were giving them for Mother's Day. I said that on Friday. Good job, guys. That's how to take care of your. Your moms love, respect and Pink Whitney. Couple big bottles, couple little bottles and a couple just, you know, here, mom, take this nip. Take this nip. Not your nip. This nip of Pink Whitney and drink it and let's enjoy Mother's Day. Let's watch some hockey. And everyone did so shout out Pink Whitney. Take your shot with Pink Whitney. Guys, things have changed big time. We were on here Friday, what is that, 72 hours ago, basically, right? And biz, we were laughing, you and I.

[Mike Grinelli]

You might have been laughing. I knew we were still in one. I knew we were still in a series and that it was going to be the toughest two games that Toronto Maple Leafs, especially with that core group, has ever played. I said that. I just want that to be known, Mr. Whitney, as you adjust your new microphone. By the way, the stand looks incredible.

[Ryan Whitney]

Thanks, guys. I. I've had a lot of people tell me, like, get a stand. Why are you holding the mic with your hand? I said I like to. And now army set up the stand and I feel like a new man. I do feel a little, like, weird. Like, what do I do with my hands? But I'm ready to go. And yes, I was. I was talking a lot of shit, especially to Merles. I was very happy. But, I mean, you might have understood the assignment going forward for your Leafs. You were also happy, though. You're up two zero.

[Mike Grinelli]

You held. You held.

[Ryan Whitney]

You held serve at home.

[Mike Grinelli]

I did, yeah, we did.

[Ryan Whitney]

And then you just got worked. You just got worked.

[Mike Grinelli]

Yeah.

[Merle]

Don't forget, they were up three to one Friday night.

[Ryan Whitney]

Well, that was when Murr. Guys, that's When Murr, he sent out the tweet this asshole sent out.

[Mike Grinelli]

He's an asshole.

[Ryan Whitney]

He's being an from Toronto to Edmonton, talking about the Cup Final. So he's mushing you and he's mushing me while helping his golden knights.

[Mike Grinelli]

And not just the reverse mush of sending out the cheap flights to Toronto. He's like TMZ now, making up rumors that William Nylander and the boys are on the beach the whole day sipping margaritas. They were.

[Merle]

That there's not rumors.

[Ryan Whitney]

And.

[Merle]

And you guys were saying, oh, it's the blue pill that's good for you. Not when you're the road team and your pale skin isn't used to it.

[Mike Grinelli]

You're saying that going outside for 30 minutes just to get a little vitamin D is not good. Like, you're not supposed to get any type of sun.

[Merle]

I think it's too much of a shock from places like Toronto and Edmonton to come down.

[Ryan Whitney]

I agree with them.

[Mike Grinelli]

But. But here's the thing, though. You say that, and they were actually really decent in game three. Yeah, they had a few lapses, but they. They could have easily just as won that game as Florida. I actually thought they might have been the better team in overtime. Even had Bosky, who, by the way, it is a little scary and unsettling that he's back. You. You know what? You know when Bob gets that little pep in his step and he starts tapping his D man in the ass, thanking them for blocking shots and clearing the way, and he's seeing everything. And let's not forget, he's made. He made those two huge breakaways in overtime on KN and Nylander, and then the one on NY's to keep that game one nothing last night.

[Biz Nasty]

Do you.

[Mike Grinelli]

Do you remember that one? Just incredible.

[Ryan Whitney]

Sliding across with the glove. Now piss. So let's quickly say we'll get to the Oilers in a little bit. Miko Ronson. I texted the group. I think if I'm Chris McFarlane, I'm announcing my resignation today. We'll get into that in a little bit. We have Mike McDonald coming on. We got James Van Reems that coming on. Carolina, Washington, Carolina fans, your team is suffocating. Your team is a hell of a team. Frederick Anderson is a possible Con Smythe winner. Basin right now. That is the most boring series I've ever watched.

[Mike Grinelli]

Be careful. We're part owners, but just be careful.

[Ryan Whitney]

No, I. Hey, I just said your team's phenomenal, and it's really hard to beat them at home and get anything Done against them, the hockey. It's not entertaining, but we'll still get into it. But we're going to go to the.

[Mike Grinelli]

Board of Governors this. This off season. Yes, with them. And we'll give our two cents because we have ownership and we'll see.

[Ryan Whitney]

Exactly. Biz, talk to us. Because you kind of knew this was coming, in a sense. Game. I'll say this before you go. Game three, periods one and two. Phenomenal. Phenomenal hockey by the Leafs. Period three and the entire game four, you got some issues. Oh, something has switched.

[Mike Grinelli]

Yeah. I mean, if we want to go right to Game 4, like, probably the worst way to start a game on the road, especially playing the defending cup champs, like to take four minors. And listen, like, they, they did a good job killing the first three. And it was just at the end of that third one, like, they win that draw clean. And Oliver's been incredible. Yan's, you play with them like, unbelievable guy, you know, really transform his game after going down to Florida. And Monster on the penalty kill, he gets that. And I think that he thinks it grazes off of Morgan Riley. And that's why he looked a little bit upset about the call and kept shaking his head. But that went clean out. And then obviously on that fourth ensuing power play, Florida finally finds the back of the net. And I actually thought they were snapping around pretty good on the first three. They just couldn't find the back of the net. But that one, I mean, yeah, brutal fucking start. Nobody showed up. And you guys know more than anyone, when you get you on the kill four times in the first period, nobody's got their legs other than the Killers. So all those guys are sitting on the bench with their fucking dick in their hand being like, what am I going to get a 5 on 5 shift here to get my legs going? They're going to have to get fucking five spin bikes in the hallway to get the fucking legs going for the second period. So the one thing that really, really sucks is Joseph Wall finally looked like himself. He finally got acclimated to the speed of playoffs. Like getting used to the traffic and getting bombarded with all these shots. Like they waste. They wasted a stolen game performance from Joseph Wall. Like, that could have easily been their game. And like I said, credit to Bob, he made the big saves when he had to. I feel like over the course of the first two periods, like, it was light work for him because of how bad Florida came and fucking peppered him. But it was. It just felt like, like an uninspiring effort from, from the Leafs and the big guys. And that. That's what sucks. It was definitely a letdown from game three and. Yeah, but hey, listen, today's a new day. We're breathing the same way. Listen. The same way that Ekblad, after the first two games on the road, he was asked about it. He goes, yeah, they won their two home games. They held serve. Who cares? And then they went down there, and then they handed handled business on home ice. So, you know, I, I can't be mad. It's a split. We knew this was going to be a long series. I'm not going to fucking bitch and complain and throw the core four under the bus, even though I think a few of them can fucking be a little bit better and elevate their game, especially 5 on 5. I really hope that Matthews is able to maybe hit the net a, A little bit more with some of these opportunities. Ace talked about it on the broadcast, man. He goes, they've. He has the most missed nets so far in playoffs. Like, that's like, you know, they calculate that stat. What's so funny over there, Mer?

[Merle]

Nothing.

[Ryan Whitney]

Your photo, Ace.

[Mike Grinelli]

I love it. Like, I, I love it.

[Biz Nasty]

Ace know about all this going on about him?

[Mike Grinelli]

I, I, I think that he, like, he's become an Internet legend, and he's.

[Biz Nasty]

I know he's gonna, he's gonna embrace that.

[Mike Grinelli]

I asked him, I asked him if he wanted to come on, and he said he'd come on. So we can get him on this, this upcoming week. We can get him on the Friday show, and I'd love to talk to him about what he's seen in playoffs and the fact that he's Internet king right now.

[Ryan Whitney]

He's Ace. He's Ace here.

[Mike Grinelli]

Ace of spades.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yance. Yance.

[Mike Grinelli]

Yeah. Let's go to Yance, man. Like, good for you. That was an unreal, like, drummer boy effort. You know, the fact that you showed up on time and, you know, you get your clout chasing me. That's the best the drum and their logo has ever looked with my face on it. But I'll throw it over to you.

[Ryan Whitney]

Boom, boom, boom. See, they didn't originally show you hammering on the T shirt. That came out a little later.

[Mike Grinelli]

That's the best the drums ever looked. Yeah, it's the best the drums ever look.

[Biz Nasty]

Not true.

[Mike Grinelli]

What do you mean?

[Biz Nasty]

The best it looked was Friday night when big AJ and big justice were banging the drum. So having to go after those two guys, I was a little nervous. You know, you go with the The Costco Kings. Boom, boom, boom. And then I have to go after them. I'm not going to lie to you guys. I was a little nervous then. The pressure that kind of was on me all game for. For them to win. You know, you feel like you're the guy. You got to get them going. I thought I did. I thought the crowd really reacted well to business. Stupid face. And it was just nice to be around 20,000 people that all had the same goal of just hating biz for a couple. And it wasn't just Panthers fans. There were leaf fans in leaf jerseys and leaf jackets coming up to be like, we are so done with this guy. We don't want him. Can you take him, please? Just get him off our squad. I'm like, I know once you guys are done, like, out of the playoffs, they'll have another team. Don't worry. They're like, but he thinks he's an ambassador. I'm like, I. Guys.

[Mike Grinelli]

Well, I am. I was given a jacket by the organization. Like, they literally delivered me a jacket. This is just after last year's All Star game. They sent me, like, a bottle of wine with a signed card. Like, I mean, it's obvious I'm moving the needle in Florida. I got the whole building getting on their feet to celebrate me on the drummer boy stick there.

[Ryan Whitney]

Celebrate beating. Beating you. But, yeah, I mean, I don't know if they're celebrating you yourself. I think they're celebrating the downfall of you.

[Mike Grinelli]

Well, anything I can get, anything I could do to get the building rocking and sounding remotely like the yacht club. It's an honor. It's honestly an honor, that building.

[Biz Nasty]

I mean, I haven't been to a playoff game in Toronto, but that building was buzzing last night. And I think it's a tough place to play. But, yeah, just for the game. I thought Wall was unbelievable. Like, you said, Biz last night, he was amazing. Even Friday night, he played really well. Gave. Gives them chances to win. But I don't know. Something looks wrong with Matthews. I. I don't think he. I don't know if it's his wrist or his hand or something like that. It's. It's not looking good for him right now. But they. You just got to give a lot of credit to the Panthers for last night. Gutsy. Gutsy. When they held them, I think they had, like six shots in the first period or something, you know, low like that. And it was just a great. It was the most Panthers win that they've had this year in playoffs. I Think the first two games throw it out the window. Bob wasn't great last night. I was there in warm ups and the box that I was in was right behind the goal. And like you said, Biz, like, when he's seeing things in, like, even in warm ups, I. I was going to text Merls and be like, I take the under on.

[Mike Grinelli]

On for. You could see it. He was feeling it.

[Biz Nasty]

See it. He just making, say, even, you know, playing the puck, the way he was making passes. So I thought he was amazing. And I think it's a scary, scary time for you as a Leafs fan, for Bob to get hot like this, because if he's doing it even half as good on the road, it's going to be. It's going to be crazy.

[Mike Grinelli]

Well, Whit tweeted out. I mean, he had ptsd. It felt like that last game where they went Anaconda chokehold.

[Ryan Whitney]

I was actually talking about when they had it in the corner for 40 seconds.

[Merle]

Yeah, I thought the same thing when I saw.

[Ryan Whitney]

I literally. I started.

[Mike Grinelli]

Oh, you twitched.

[Ryan Whitney]

I was. I was twitching. I'm like, this is this. McDavid was all alone in front. Game seven. Am I making this about the Oilers? Yes, but they get it in the corner. Like, somebody just needs to come in and try to run whoever's pinching it. Was it Mikola? I think it was Mika. He's a. He's a monster.

[Mike Grinelli]

Oh, yeah. And you.

[Ryan Whitney]

I'm like, oh, my God. Now for the Leafs. I. I was thinking, just get one pass, bro. Bob, once they made it to nothing and, you know, the game's kind of the 50 seconds off, it's like, you're not probably winning this game or tying it up, but at least beat him. Because now it's like, oh, I'm Superman again. I'm Bob. Nobody could score on me. My team are a bunch of mutants and. And Biz. I want to quickly go to the core.

[Mike Grinelli]

5. Yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

Matthews has played nine games in the second round in his career. He doesn't have a goal.

[Mike Grinelli]

Right? Yeah, that's. That's a. Concerning.

[Ryan Whitney]

Marner. Marner didn't have a shot on net in Florida.

[Mike Grinelli]

Concerning. I don't even know if Marner had a shot on net the game prior. He did have the assist when he just sifted one through on the power play that was tipped. So obviously it's not considered his shot, but I don't believe he had a game. A shot in game three either. And no, since you're teeing me up for. For the Core five. Like, I want to go back to game three, right? And I talked about this on the broadcast. And as. As special and talented as Mitch can be, especially come playoff time on the power play, I would say maybe even so much in the Ottawa series, but definitely this series, I feel that five on five, he's not nearly as much of a factor when they're playing against teams of this caliber. Like, if you're just watching and you're watching the game about like you watch, nice play. Like he'll take the puck from his own end, get it to the other end and like, you know, create a cycle on his own and creates, create some sustained pressure where he has like shifts of. Where he dominates five on five. You know, a guy who's still on his entry level contract here we're talking about not a guy making eleven, eleven and a half million dollars. So the game was 3:1. They give up that 3:2 goal in game three. Okay, you know what? Shit. You know, lost a little bit of momentum. The crowd's now into it. I'm Craig Berube. I'm going to throw over the players that are making the big money and the guys that we trust, okay? And this is why sometimes I have an easier time giving it to Marner than I do Matthews. So the place starts out, it goes in the D zone. It goes D to D. Matthews comes low and slow. He's in perfect, perfect situation. Get gets a pass, it might even be a little bit far. But he cradles it on his backhand, gets it to his forehand and zips one to Marner. Cross ice perfectly on the tape for him to skate into. And he's got tons of time and space. Well, as Marner enters the offensive zone, it's clear that Florida is going to have back pressure and they have two D that are holding a pretty good gap. So it's essentially a one on four before Matthews, who went low and slow, can come and support him as he's getting into the offensive zone. What does Marner do with that puck?

[Ryan Whitney]

That would be a turnover.

[Mike Grinelli]

That would be a behind the back. No, look, pass to who he thinks Matthews coming up, turnover going back the other way. So there's so many things I'm fucking rattled about in this situation. And if I was a coach, I would be in the locker room and my fucking head would explode. Because you're trying to stop their momentum. This is a big shift after they just scored a goal. And you need to manage the puck properly. Not only because you just need to fucking Manage the puck properly. But also because your defense, who have been lugging a lot of the mail and taking a lot of fucking punishment, including, including Chris Tanev, who's taken now 80 hits as a defenseman in these playoffs, 25, 30 more than the next guy. Morgan Riley's taken about 50 as well. Maybe alleviate pressure from your fucking defenseman for one shift and go get a fucking sustained shift. Five on five in the ozone. No. So you turn it over so it goes back to the D zone and then another time it ends up going D to D. And then they, they goes to Marner on the far side wall. And obviously he's not going to have the wheels to get the puck out of the zone. He always punts it or makes it somebody else's problem. So Benoit notices that, that there's nobody on that side, so he charges there to get that puck off the line, like he's trying to force that puck out of the zone, which he is successful at. So JT and there's a scrum on the strong side now because Marner once again, he flipped it out near the blue line. Didn't get it out, but thanks to Benoit, got out. He's following the play up ice. He's this safety valve on the strong side as the defenseman because Benoit just went to clean up your dirty work. What the does Mitch Marner do as there's a battle going on with no possession.

[Ryan Whitney]

What does he do? Dude, what did he do? He just peeled off to the far boards.

[Mike Grinelli]

He peeled off before they got it.

[Ryan Whitney]

As he peeled off, I go, where's he going? Where's he going? Where's he going?

[Mike Grinelli]

Where the he going? Where the is he going? Where the are you going?

[Ryan Whitney]

I didn't. He just stay there.

[Mike Grinelli]

Hey, if you think you're worth 13, $14 million in free agency and you don't have the hockey sense of hopping over the board when it's 3, 2 for your team and they just scored and you're trying to stop the bleeding. And then you go the turnover, one on four at the far blue. And then now all of a sudden you make it your. Your teammate's problem at the blue line and you can't even fucking become a safety valve for him on the strong side. And not only do you wait for the battle, you don't wait for the battle to finish on the strong side. You look away from it and peel off as if though you're even going to go change. Or maybe if they end up winning the battle for you, they can Zip another one to you so you can turn it over the most part.

[Merle]

Then he didn't back check.

[Mike Grinelli]

Then he didn't back check.

[Merle]

He could have solved it all if he came back hard, which a normal hockey player would do when they make like.

[Mike Grinelli]

So, yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

Oh, I see. Because when Bennett slid it over, he could have got back. I know.

[Mike Grinelli]

He didn't fucking take a stride from the blue line. And you know what? He probably was thinking about going for a change because he was tired. Because I think by the time they put the puck in the back of that, he was out there for close to a minute and a half. So extended shift turnover at the far blue line. No. Look behind the back pass, making it your teammate's problem inside the blue, not becoming the safety valve when it's clear that you just made it your strong side defenseman's problem. And you're the guy who's supposed to be covering Selkie. All I keep seeing Leaf fans like, oh, he should be nominated for the Selkie. Selkie, my fucking dick. All right, Selkie, my fucking dick. And people are like, oh, you're picking on him. You're picking on him. You're picking on him. What do you mean, I'm fucking picking on him? I'm just saying, if you want fucking $12 million in free agency, I want to see you doing shit that Miko Rantinen is doing.

[Biz Nasty]

That doesn't sound.

[Ryan Whitney]

Forget that. Sorry, Keith, go ahead.

[Mike Grinelli]

But do you think. Do you think I'm picking on him or. I'm being blatantly honest, Keith, about what the fuck happened in that situation?

[Biz Nasty]

100% being honest. But my question to you is, are you taking him out of the core four and putting knives in it and keeping it core four? Are you keeping it five?

[Mike Grinelli]

That isn't even a fucking qu. You know. You know why I am, Keith? Because. Because at the end of the game when Max Domi ended up running Bark off from behind to send a message for game five, Matthew Kachuk was on the bench and he fucking was killed over the boards looking at the Toronto Maple Leafs bench, and he had a stick out. And he says, I'm going to get you. I'm going to get you. Talking to William Nylander.

[Biz Nasty]

Last time somebody hit Barov.

[Mike Grinelli]

Hey, I, I, I, buddy, you're. You're preacher to the choir. Who is the guy behind William Nylander? Going back at Matthew Tachuk, it was Matthew. Nice. He goes, oh, yeah, what are you going to do when I'm out there? Oh, yeah, what are you going to do when I'm out there? So do I put him in the core four? I would give him 14 million, like, in a split second before I gave it to Mitch Marner. And once again, there's still three games left. And I still believe that he can figure things out and get it done, because I have belief. But I ain't fucking wrong here in saying that you're the. You're a leader on this team. You're wearing a letter on your jersey. We're putting you over the wall for a reason. And you're a guy who commands a lot of money on this team. So we can't plug other holes. So plug that fucking hole. On the strong side, boy.

[Merle]

And for the. For the novice hockey people out there, this all goes down in the second period. And every single coach, every intermission before the second period, the coach says, we've got the long change. Forwards, be smart, manage the puck, get it deep so our D can get off.

[Ryan Whitney]

So it.

[Mike Grinelli]

It.

[Merle]

It's just a. It's an unfathomable mistake on that first one where he does that. When the guys have been out there. You got to take care of your D and get the puck deep.

[Mike Grinelli]

Agreed, Mer. Agreed.

[Ryan Whitney]

And going into last night, we. We're talking their best players. And you cannot win without your best players dominating. Like every single Stanley cup championship, the best players on the team perform the best. And Nylander has the puck in the neutral zone. Put the puck in the zone. There is zero reason in game four to try making that pass. You're. It's one nothing. It's a miracle that it's one nothing.

[Biz Nasty]

Somehow should have been six nothing. Wall was so good in the first.

[Ryan Whitney]

I told my dad, I said, I think Florida's going to win 5:1. And through two periods, I'm like, they should be up 5 nothing. But somehow you're alive. And I was tweeting Teddy KGB hanging around, hanging around. I'm like, there might get one here. Like, they. If they tie it up bud. And Nylander, just. Why. Why are you turning the puck over there? And Bennett's gone. And Bennett takes off. He makes it to.

[Mike Grinelli]

To be fair on Nylander, like, I think that he's probably been their. Their best overall. Between him and N, he's like, he's done so much positive that it's hard for me to rag on him negatively. I also tough situation on that two on one, because I thought that tan have played it perfectly. You're talking about the one where Bennett goes down and scores Correct.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yes. Like talking about how they got the two on.

[Mike Grinelli]

Correct. Yeah. Far blue line. Tough turnover. Brutal. Sam Bennett, folks, he's, he's going to be wearing a Toronto Maple Leaf jersey next year. We're going to be get offering him a nice contract with that money that we saved on maybe not handing to over other people. But on the two on one tan, plays it perfect, kind of angles it where he ends up taking away the backdoor pass. And he's pointing to McCabe, you know, grab Bennett, grab Bennett. And I think that McCabe was just tired, was putting his head down, not seeing him point. And then by the time the goal ends up going in the net, you got, you got McCabe and antenna right next to each other, bumping into each other. And Sam, the Bennett menace with just that patience pull around and that sealed the deal. So hey man, credit to credit to Florida like that game four, that was men versus boys, that one. There's no contest. They could have, they could have sealed this up in game three. They could have made this a three nothing series very easily. They let it slip from their fingers. And when you're playing a team like Florida, you can't give them life just the way I would tell you that when you're the Edmonton Oilers, you can't give the Vegas Gold Knights life. You can't make that play in the dying seconds and get it put in the back of your net biz.

[Biz Nasty]

Watching them live, being at the game, every single. And you, you mentioned it, the D getting hit. Every single guy finishes their check and you don't see it at the other end. You see pucks go down indeed aren't getting hit. It doesn't like. Carter Verhagi isn't a physical guy. For 82 games of the season once playoff starts, he is finishing every single check. He skates faster than 90% of the league and he finishes every single check. Barkov finishes every single check. It's not just, you know, the, the rats out there that are finishing. It's every single guy and it's fun to watch. I mean it gets the crowd into it, especially at home. It gets the team into it. It's, it's very impressive what they. How everyone kind of just checks their egos at the door and the way that they play and playoff.

[Mike Grinelli]

Well, I'll ask Gans and Wit. I mean girls, you weren't a D man but I'm sure you, you talk to your D man. We're on teams where who were facing a lot of punishment. Game five, six and Seven of a series. If you're playing a team like Florida, how you feeling about continuing to go back for pucks and getting fucking run through the end wall, you guys.

[Ryan Whitney]

It's brutal and it's. And with Florida, that was the most Florida last year. I've seen them like that was. That was exactly how they won the cup game. Game four. Like it was. I was like, oh shit. And it wasn't just Bob looking like him again. It was just overall the physicality. Bennett, Bennett, the pass he made in game three to Verheagy. Then the move he makes in game four. The Corey Perry runs Ekman Larson over his old teammate and Leafs fans like he's trying to take out another goalie. No whistle blows and I'm just going to bury my former teammate and just that's.

[Mike Grinelli]

That's where like, like for instance, like the Domi play. It's like this is like there's, there's scumbaggery going on both sides now. Like I think that Florida started it early on the series with obviously getting to the goalie. We saw the Ekblad elbow on wool. I sent it to the group chat like that bump Oliver Ekman Larson getting thrown on wool from Bennett. Like there's. There's dirt bag grease ball now going on in both ends. Like there's. There's going to be no friends lost here.

[Ryan Whitney]

No. God no.

[Biz Nasty]

Hitting from behind is a little different.

[Ryan Whitney]

The Domi hit. The Domi hit was. That's. I don't. Do you think he gets suspended? I don't.

[Mike Grinelli]

I don't think they suspend them.

[Biz Nasty]

I bet Florida says don't suspend them. I don't care.

[Ryan Whitney]

No, I don't. I don't.

[Merle]

Did you guys have a chance to take them out?

[Mike Grinelli]

Who's number seven again for them on D? Is it. Is it Kulakov? Yeah, Kulikov. Like did you see the elbow to the head on. On Marner by the bench? Like we're like. We're talking scumbaggery on both sides. So like you're all me. It's like ah. Like Kulakov's trying to take his head off like any. And he made contact. So no, no call there. You know, Domi gets what he gets. Like but like, like there's so much hatred in this series now. It's a best of three and that's why I love it. I think we could snap around a little bit more. Love to a few more Florida Panthers. Rodriguez. Yeah. Maybe a little bit of embellishment on the. The one. The Game before when he throws a stick, obviously takes a big hit from Oliver, Ekman Larson without seeing it. Not going to about that one. But he has been so noticeable. I thought he was flying in game for the plays that he was making the one shift bank pass to himself when he set up Reinhardt like that scoring chance they had. Like, who are some other Florida Panthers that have really stuck out to you guys that deserve some stick taps and love.

[Merle]

I think Marshawn's looked better. He's looked better the last couple games. Not just because my 55 to 1 OT winner, but he seems to be getting there. And I watched your interview on him. He was talking how, you know, he got here, he didn't feel too comfortable. But then the last couple games he started to feel more comfortable and just as it gets closer and closer, he's getting better and better and better. So I mean, he used to be the number one guy if it was the Bruins and he's not even talked about fifth or sixth maybe on this team.

[Mike Grinelli]

Yeah. And you, you. You had a chance to talk to him after the game, the birthday boy.

[Biz Nasty]

Yeah, I just wanted to go down, wish my old teammate a happy birthday and you know, just two guys that really despise you right now. So. Yeah, it was great to see him. Yeah, that whole lot, that third line mur. That's. That's got to be the best third line in hockey right now. Like they are. They look like they've been playing together for so long. And like you said about Marchie being a captain, being the guy in Boston, same thing with him. He's checked his ego at the door and he is playing the role of a third line guy, but he is coming up big. You can just tell too, even, you know, on the bench. He was miked up the other day, just like talking, getting the guys going. So the. His presence on the bench, I'm sure is just as good as it is on the ice. But that, that whole third line loose. Dorian and Lundell have been so good, two guys too, that, you know, finish every check they get in the zone. They're not trying to, you know, make backhand passes through the neutral zone. They're getting it in, getting their hits on their big dogs and wearing them down. And you're going to see it now. You got game five, six and seven coming up and they're d. Are going to, you know, you. You want to go back and like you said, you're going to have your head on a swivel and. But the thing with Those guys, I think they're okay with taking the hits. Like, Chris Taneb is a straight up warrior.

[Ryan Whitney]

This guy, he made a play. He made a play last night on the penalty kill in the first period. Do you remember that play? Protects the puck, beats a guy with a turn and then doesn't just rip it off the glass. Makes a beautiful pass. They almost ended up getting a chance shorthanded. That was like, something for me. I'm like, this guy's unbelievable. Not just. It's not without the puck either. Like, he is so calm with it as well. And I, I don't. I have no problem with Toronto's defense. I think every defense. But that was game three or four. Who did Benoit murder behind the night? I think it was last night. I think it was game four. Like, they're, they're. Yeah, right. Their D have been great.

[Mike Grinelli]

I agree with you. I said, yeah, it's your star forwards.

[Ryan Whitney]

That, that have to be better. And I, Yeah, that hit at the end of the game by Domi, it's. It's exactly something Florida would do. That's kind of how I looked at it. Like, I don't love the hit, particularly because, you know, ex. You know, he knew exactly what he was doing. The game was over, and he runs at him and from behind near the boards. It's scary, but I'm like, the Panthers would do that.

[Mike Grinelli]

Yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

So I, I almost respect it a little bit. Based on the Leafs just saying, like, so biz. You said it. Scumbag series.

[Mike Grinelli]

Like, people might be like, oh, my God, I can't believe they're saying that. Like, I would never throw that. I would not do that. But like you just said, like, desperate times call for desperate measures. End of the game, where you lay an egg like that, there has to be something that, like, ignites the group in a sense of like that. That Florida would do. They would do that to ignite their own group. So why wouldn't you do what they would do? They've been. They've been doing it since the start of the series. Like, that's the scumbaggery. You need to match that in playoffs.

[Ryan Whitney]

And here we are, so Matthew Tachuk turning over to Nylander and he's like, I'm going to get you. I'm going to get you. Now, if he were to do something to him, I believe that would add.

[Mike Grinelli]

Games on games to a suspense. No. $2,500 fine.

[Ryan Whitney]

You're like, maybe five grand. That's. We have the video proof. That's. That's premeditated. Matthew, we saw you say you're going to get him. So maybe it's just a little bit of trying to psych them out a.

[Mike Grinelli]

Little bit, but they should start doing true crime, true, true crime podcasts for, for the NHL. Just like pre meditate guys like threatening guys beforehand. Get Kirk Minahan on it.

[Ryan Whitney]

I can't wait. I don't know if the two days off between game four and five helps the Leafs based on just that market. Now none of these guys are listening to any of the nonsense that we are or sports radio is talking about, but may, maybe it's a good thing. Maybe you get to just get away that extra day. Maybe Matthews gets a little more rest, whatever he's battling. But if he doesn't score, you're not going to win. I mean it kind of sucks to, to look at it as a Leafs fan that way, but your best player doesn't have a goal in the series. Ber, Hagee scoring, Bennett scoring. Their best players are. So we'll see what happens. Game five. What would that be? Wednesday night.

[Biz Nasty]

Can I that that goal Barov scored game. What was it three when he hit that?

[Mike Grinelli]

He didn't hit that. It was Morgan Riley who put in his own net.

[Ryan Whitney]

I think Riley had three goals that game. Technically.

[Mike Grinelli]

Yeah, he had three goals. Two of them were on his own net. The one with Marchie. I mean, hey, like mixer, mixer, mixer. Merl. Mixer, mixer, mixer.

[Merle]

Season of the mixer for sure. Own goals, tip goals. It's incredible. Gotta get their T shirts back, G. Wait, you mentioned the.

[Ryan Whitney]

The mix.

[Merle]

I mean, game five there Biz. I'm hearing some rumors you could be doing something completely different for game five here.

[Mike Grinelli]

Boys. I'm gonna be. I'm gonna be going home for game five. Going back to Ontario.

[Ryan Whitney]

Wow. Now it's on the ground. Is there a drum you could beat with Keith's face on it? That's the only thing that might change this up.

[Mike Grinelli]

You know, I'm going to go back home to. Well, in Ontario where I grew up watching, where I fell in love with the game of hockey and where I started becoming a Leafs fan. And I'm going to go back to a very special place, my good luck place. And I'm going to watch that game and watch the boys to a five. A game five victory. I'm very confident they're going to take it down at home. It's going to be a big wake up call. And just like when Florida last year and the Stanley cup finals was leaking oil and they Lost three in a row to the oil and they were going back home. They got the two days off to reset. Leafs will do. So they're going back home.

[Biz Nasty]

Leaf going to Cancun.

[Mike Grinelli]

Stop.

[Ryan Whitney]

You should watch it with all Pauls that your sister have ever dated. Just get a big group of Pauls and just watch the game and just root on the Leafs. Just a Paul fest. I. I can't wait to see you there. And maybe. Well, I actually had somebody text me the outfits for the Leafs game. You're rocking on tnt. The guy, the guy said, is biz on a bender right now. I said, he's sober. He's sober, and that's how he looks. He's got a yellow shirt. He's got a. I believe. What is your pocket square? Is that a maple leaf?

[Mike Grinelli]

That's a maple leaf.

[Ryan Whitney]

That's a maple leaf. And you have tie undone. And the ambassador jacket. Maybe it's time for a wardrobe switch up. I don't know.

[Mike Grinelli]

Well, another thing too. We got coming out. Snoop Dogg. He wanted to collaborate with him and his team. My boy Kevin. Oh, Death row hockey. And obviously instead of the Toronto Maple Leaf, we have the weed leaf, the hemp leaf right in the middle of the crest there. And you got to believe. You got to believe. So this will be dropping in the next couple days and pretty, pretty cool. We get to collaborate with Snoop Dogg and hopefully if the Leafs pull off a Game 5 win, he'll join us. Come on the podcast. Give us a little rah rah speech to close thing out in. In sunrise.

[Biz Nasty]

So where are you watching the game biz?

[Mike Grinelli]

I'm not telling you. You'll probably have your fucking cronies from Boston go fucking bomb the joint.

[Biz Nasty]

No. None of them have passports.

[Mike Grinelli]

What's that?

[Biz Nasty]

None of them have passports. You're good, Morris.

[Ryan Whitney]

Before we move on.

[Mike Grinelli]

Oh, I was gonna ask. Yeah. Did it feel pretty cool to, like, do that? And then you're buzzing around the rink and everybody's pat you on the back and they got the juices flowing and. And sharing in your guys hate for me that it feels good.

[Biz Nasty]

That's what I do. I just. I do it for the clout. No, it was great. Saw a ton of good people. Saw Wayne talk, Walt Tkachuk, you know, Thorny. It was great. Obviously, it's great to be back. I don't go to a ton of games, but it's always fun to go back. And that Panther bar, everyone's been there. They just do such a great job at those games. The violas have really turned that around. Doug Sifo, it's been a me was great to be back. Yeah. And you know, with everyone hating you, it was even better.

[Mike Grinelli]

What. What's Walt saying?

[Biz Nasty]

A lot of our conversation was just how much of an idiot you are. We kind of talked about that for a while. No, he was just dialed into the game. It's so funny. Just, I was kind of standing behind just watching him watch his boy. It must be so cool for him. Like, just, he's just, you know, obviously played a million games, he's going to be a Hall of Famer. But just watching his boys, you just see it's. It's got to be the coolest thing in the world for him.

[Mike Grinelli]

No doubt.

[Biz Nasty]

He's the best.

[Mike Grinelli]

Merle, any. Any weird, fun facts about this series you have moving forward? You always got something like, weird and crazy to say at the end.

[Ryan Whitney]

Well, Biz, I wanted to explain. Oh, I have Merle's explain. You put out in a second period, Marsha. I think it was 3 to 1, Marshawn, overtime, 55 to 1, and you hit it. Maybe the biggest winner odds wise you've ever given out.

[Merle]

Oh, 100%. Yeah. He had chances early on in the game and ones that he always buries. So I was just like, I know he's going to get one at some point. And I could just like, Florida's not going down three nothing. I know how much Biz and him have been had their little fun war all year long on tnt. And it just came to me. I'm like, if this ends, if it gets ot, it's going to be Marshawn. That's who it's going to be. It's got to be him. And did it. And everybody got in. Everybody made a ton of money. Messages, messages I got from all over the world were incredible. So it really got out there was good. I took another shot last night and it lost. So I'm. I'm one for two on those. I. I think I'll put that in my back pocket now, but, you know, I should have probably left it one for one, but that was sick. A fun stat and try to tell you guys to keep your team out of the beach. Leafs are now 0 6. They're last 6 in Florida, I believe. So whatever they're doing down there, Biz, you gotta change the routine.

[Mike Grinelli]

I gotta get. Maybe they gotta stay in Orlando or something. Go visit Mickey Mouse. Stay on the other side, side of the state. Merle's. Merle's like, you're Talking like your Mother Teresa, getting messages from all over the world and. And people. People thanking you for what you've done for their families and paying off their mortgages and it's unbelievable.

[Merle]

Yeah, that was just the sickest night. I hit two other goal scorers that night. I hit some first periods. I'm. I hitting the world championships up that are going on in Stockholm and Denmark. It's. It's been a good weekend.

[Mike Grinelli]

Do you think the housework and the yard work has elevated your. Your like, your. Your like your brain in order to make these. These smooth picks?

[Merle]

I think it's the. No, the hockey gods, like, I'm doing all these good deeds. I was over helping the community pool out, trying to get that back and running. So it's just the good deeds. The hockey gods are paying me back.

[Mike Grinelli]

But you do like put chlorine in it, like. What do you mean?

[Ryan Whitney]

It's open three weeks a year.

[Merle]

Ripping up weeds, power wash and stuff, all that.

[Mike Grinelli]

Merle's kid took a dump in it, so he had to fucking fish it out.

[Ryan Whitney]

He's actually a Baby Ruth Caddyshack. Yeah, I mean morals. You've been doing amazing things in the gambling space. Great job. But now, before we talk about my hatred for you, I need to talk about game time. The playoffs are here. We've witnessed the playoffs being here. Crack hockey. And game Time is also here. It's the only place to buy hard to get tickets for the playoffs. The official ticketing partner of Barstool Sports Killer. Last minute deals, all in prices, views from your seat and their lowest price guarantee. Game Time takes the guesswork out of buying NHL playoff tickets. Prices on the app actually go down the closer it gets to puck drop. You could save up to 60% when buying last minute tickets. And I believe there's tickets going for around 166 bucks for the next game in Florida, Toronto. That's what Fish told me. So you want to go get tickets? Go use Game Time. The best way to see NHL playoff action live. What are you waiting for? What time is it? It's game time. And my last thing about game time, I'll say is if you download the Game Time app, create an account and use code chiclets, you get $20 off your first purchase Terms apply, create the account, use redeem code Chiclets and you get $20 off. What time is it? Game time. Download the app now. So, guys, I had a panic attack Saturday night. That was. That was one of. Now let me say as I dogged Carolina, Washington The Oilers playoff games, I'm going to keep saying it, are some of the most must watch TV in sports history. I don't care what sport we're talking about. You could talk about cricket. Those games go ON for like 25 hours, I've been told. Oilers playoff hockey is just, it's exhausting. It's, it's, it's a roller coaster of emotions. You're up, you're down. And we had a chance, we had a chance to bury him. We had a chance to bury Murrells, we had a chance to bury Vegas Insider. Everything about Vegas, they were going to be done. And what happened? Corey Perry. Corey Perry starts that game. The oldest oiler in franchise history to have a multi goal game. I believe he turns 40 in the next month or so. Or it might be this week.

[Biz Nasty]

10 days. Yeah, I think it's 10 days.

[Ryan Whitney]

This guy's going to turn 40. First he comes in and he has that little push of the puck. I, I think Juice BXA was talking about his shot's not that hard. He was saying it on the, I saw a clip. It's just about the release and it's about pushing it that extra inch. Similar to the way Matthews has scored so many goals in his career in the regular season, about just changing the angle and Perry buries the first one and then he gets a tip in goal where he's done all his dirty work for what seems to be 20 years and it's two nothing and we're laughing. Well, same thing guys. You let the game go. You let the game go and you give up two goals in a minute. Riley Smith, I mean he looks like Riley Smith when they won the cup. That is not good to see. We'll get to his second goal in a little bit. But he, you know, he makes it a tie game and it's like fuck that lead. And no lead is safe, guys. No lead in these playoffs matters. It doesn't even matter if you go up to, to nothing early. It's almost like I don't even know if I want to be up this early.

[Mike Grinelli]

It's like, you know, I remember at the point I sent out the tweet like nobody had done it for the first like week and a half. Nobody come back from a multi gold deficit. Now nobody can could keep a multi goal lead.

[Ryan Whitney]

No they can't. And, and I mean dude, to have Pickard be out, it was like oh my God, like what this guy has done and what we've seen him winning six games in a row. It's like, we do not need this guy being injured. And sure as shit, I don't think Hurdle's play was dirty. I think it was kind of fluky. But he finishes the game and they get the win and all right, but then we find out he's not playing and income Skinner and this guy just can't catch a break. He really can't. And I think a lot of it's on him, but a lot of it now is just bad luck. I mean, you have a guy who led you to game seven in the Stanley Cup Final, can't get a win in the playoffs. He's 0 and 3. He's 03. But you know what? After Carlson scored, and you want to talk about bad plays by core players on Florida, that third goal, William Carlson scored to make it 3 2. That is a change that you cannot have happen in peewee hockey, let alone the NHL. Game three of the second round, you have three guys blow the zone and change like it doesn't matter how tired you are. I think Leon changed. One of the defensemen changed. I don't know who else. And Carlson, who was the, I think the best player in this game. It wasn't just about the play with 8 seconds left. That guy is an animal out there. He's always moving. He's so good defensively and he makes a beautiful play. But they shouldn't have had that. It was like a four on two, right? Like, you can't have that happen. And it was with about two minutes left in the second period. And, oh, well, you know what? I knew they'd tie it up. I knew they would. That's oilers hockey. That's McDavid. And I think the save Hill made on McDavid before he tied up was his best save of the series. It was robbery. And after that happened, I believe there was a five minutes ago, I said, shit, I don't know if he's making those saves. It might not happen, but doesn't matter. We tied it up. You never stop playing though, boys, do you? You can't stop playing. And I admit as a fan, Carlson got the puck with 8 seconds, 9 seconds to go in his own zone. It's like he's going to run it out. Everyone from Vegas changed except for him. And what did he do?

[Merle]

He.

[Ryan Whitney]

He got his motor going and four Oilers players, one on four, couldn't stop it. And I think it started with McDavid, who was backtracking 45 miles an hour and kind of just let up. Don't really know why? Probably because he's thinking, as every other person's thinking, that he's just going to chip it in and we're going to OT Mind you, I wanted OT So bad.

[Mike Grinelli]

Everybody did.

[Ryan Whitney]

Oh, I had just set up my Mother's Day little presentation for the kitchen. I got three balloons and M O M. I taped him to the ceiling. I taped. I was standing on a. On a swizzle, on a swivel chair. I almost broke my back taping up the Mom. And then I had another one, World's Greatest Mom. And then I had the flowers, and I had a card. I had Ryder make a card. And I was done and I was ready for OT and no. The Mother's Day massacre of 2025. Mother's Day was ruined. I didn't even say happy Mother's Day to my wife. Seriously. We woke up in the morning, she said. She said, good morning, honey.

[Mike Grinelli]

I said, there's your balloons.

[Ryan Whitney]

Go downstairs. Look at what I did for you. How lucky are you to have me as a husband? When's Father's Day? The Oilers lost. Mother's Day Massacre. But I'll tell you this about Skinner. I say some bad breaks. That was so bad. And I've seen a lot of people say, how are you blaming Skinner? I'm not blaming Skinner, but he. When the goal went in, go look at the replay and press pause.

[Biz Nasty]

He's changing.

[Ryan Whitney]

He is.

[Mike Grinelli]

He was on the concourse getting popped.

[Ryan Whitney]

He's farther away than the end of the trapezoid line on the other side of the goal line facing the corner.

[Mike Grinelli]

I mean, if he was stuck in the camera hole, why did he do that?

[Ryan Whitney]

Why didn't he. Now, tell me, goalie people out there, gee, tell me what the chat's saying. You slide once. I get it. Why don't you just stay on the post? Why keep sliding? Why keep sliding over? I don't understand. And this has nothing to do with the fact that those four Oilers players stopped. I think it was. Kulak didn't go stick on stick. All he had to do was go stick on stick. McDavid stopped backtracking. He had to challenge the shooter since his team didn't. Dude, he challenges him once by coming out and sliding over to the right. He slid over three more times.

[Mike Grinelli]

Yeah, he pumped his left leg probably like three or four times. Like, he kept. He kept pushing out. And when you're pushing out like that, you can't really. You can't change your angle from going laterally to, like, close it off, essentially, on that post. Right. Like, the farthest farther you are away from it, you can't close it off. So, yeah, that. That was probably just a chirp. But, yeah, tons of breakdowns on that play, as you mentioned. Like, you can literally point to every guy on the ice and say, you know, they. I think it was McDavid and Darnell Nurse over back checking. Darnell Nurse once again leaving his feet at the wrong time, which is kind of a. A common theme in a sense. Yeah. And then just, it's. It's a. A lesson to be learned for any kid who was watching that game. Don't stop playing till the end of the whistle. That's it. Plain and simple. And like you said, Carlson was an absolute beast. Like. Like it. It found. It seems like the original misfits are the ones who are kind of keeping their life alive right now, because like you said, Riley Smith, he looks exactly like he did on his first tenure there. And then Carlson was probably their best player on the ice. Don't know if they could win this series if Stone doesn't come back, especially because of how good he's been in the net front for their power play. He's a defensive wizard. Merl's like, do they have any chance if he's not back?

[James Van Riemsdyk]

I don't know.

[Merle]

I. I kind of liked when he went out. They. They shuffled the lines a bit, and they. So they have the two big guys, Kolasar and Roy, and they had them split up finally. So there was a little muscle on all the lines, which I really like. So even if Stone does come back, I hope they kind of use that system, because I. I thought they had all the pressure on them once those lines got thrown in the blender. But another. Another coaching moment on that goal on the offensive side, it wasn't just a hope play. Carlson didn't just throw it blind. If you watch it, he does the shoulder check. So young kids at home, but before you get to the puck, you gotta be shoulder checking. He shoulder checks. He sees that Smith's the only one that can get to it. He flips it out there, it's in the net. And that's the only way to beat the Oilers. You have to score with 0.4 seconds left, otherwise McDavid and Draisaitl are gonna come back and shove it in their net. On that note, I will never bet against the Oilers once this futures is done. Once. I will never bet against the Oilers again in any fashion because it is too much anxiety when. When McDavid grabs it behind the Net and just starts going crazy. I can't handle it anymore.

[Ryan Whitney]

I like how you wrote down, I wrote down on, on my. When, when they have the D fired up to the wing and as the D's firing it up, you see McDavid loop low and then, you know, the Wings getting it to, it's, that's my most exciting moment in hockey. When you see McDavid swoop down low and it fires up to the boards and then, you know they're getting to him. Like you, I, I, I just sit up every time. And as I talked about Matthews, this is not even close to him with Leon, because what Leon's done in the playoffs, we've talked about it. It's, it's, it's game changing. It's hockey history. Like, what he's able to do. Leon right now is, especially in that game, that was not, not what we're used to seeing. I, I, he missed that goal late in the game. They ended up tying it up anyways. He always buries that. Now, granted, not many people can, but he missed the net there. A lot of times. He's protecting the puck as well as he ever has. But then instead of it being a perfect pass through a seam to somebody, it's kind of just like a lazy hope play in a way and all. Not all, but most of his passes are getting picked off. I expect an enormous game out of him tonight. I think he's going to answer. I don't know if he's battling anything. He doesn't look like himself, though, so you're going to need more out of him. But I expect it to come. It's not like a worry with the Leafs and their big guns. Like, will they ever bring it? This guy will and has, but in game three, I think even he would say, like, I gotta be much better. Pickard's out again, so we're going back to Skinner. The roller coaster continues. The guy just needs a win. He has to get a win. Like, at some point. What are you going to do? Like, you, you, you need this guy to get a win. Because if, if Picker can't go tonight, what's to say he can go game five? That's how I'm looking. I think this is Skinner's net now.

[Mike Grinelli]

Yeah, I, I got a question for you. So obviously you probably hated the first one where it was right to the blocker. Thought he had, or thought it was behind him. Look behind him, let it go, and then it's in the back of the net. I think Ross Scored that one.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah. And nobody was near him in front, so he's uncovered.

[Mike Grinelli]

Is that one and the last one. The only ones that you're not happy with. Were you okay with the Carlson one? It was a give and go and it was kind of fast off his blade. Not crazy about where it went in. I think it was low glove on the strong side. What did you make from a fan standpoint and somebody who probably wasn't crazy about that last one, not crazy with the first one and wants Picard net. What do you make of his post game scrum where he's like, yeah, you know, I got to give my team a chance to win. And I thought I did that.

[Ryan Whitney]

Like, I, I don't hate it. I don't hate it.

[Mike Grinelli]

You're. You're okay. All right.

[Ryan Whitney]

What did Cujo say on Friday? To never take the blame. Never take the blame. And, and if, if this guy, if this guy has a chance of getting a win in the playoffs, he doesn't have a win, what's he gonna do? Come out and just like, totally, like, blame himself and say how bad he played that. That final goal? It's like he did give his team a chance to win. I, I don't hate that at all. And some people were upset. Like, I want ownership. It's like, dude, the guy hasn't won a game yet. Let's try to have at least him believing himself because he has to understand that, like, the entire fan base is like, oh, my God, Skinner's in net.

[Mike Grinelli]

I thought Edmonton's fans were normally a little bit more lenient and supportive. I was actually shocked to see the amount of, like, outpouring of, of negativity in the comments under the clip.

[Ryan Whitney]

I, I think it's just not having a win. And those first two games in LA were a nightmare. And then he comes in and that goal just doesn't look great. And it wasn't just him, it was everyone. But, like, the fans have kind of had enough of, of their starting goalie not being able to get them a W, Right?

[Mike Grinelli]

Yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

Fair or unfair?

[Mike Grinelli]

That's fair.

[Ryan Whitney]

It's like you're in net and we lose. That's just kind of what it comes down to.

[Biz Nasty]

So it might be time to shave the mustache for him.

[Ryan Whitney]

I don't know. I know tonight is tonight. Tonight's scary. Now we'll see if Stone plays. I think Leon's going to be better.

[Paul Bissonnette]

But.

[Ryan Whitney]

But once again, Skinner's in net and the roller coaster ride will continue at 9:50. It says 9:30. But the game will start at 9:50 and then there we go. I'll just be sitting there in a full blown. I mean I need to put on one of those heart rate monitors during these games. I don't want to go up to nothing early. I'm sorry.

[Merle]

That's how.

[Ryan Whitney]

I don't want.

[Mike Grinelli]

We, we need to get you another whoop bracelet. You know who was probably sweating when McDavid tied that game up though? Gary. Gary.

[Ryan Whitney]

I think Gary hates me. He hasn't responded. He hasn't responded to a text.

[Mike Grinelli]

The thumb has a smiley face today. Not an upside down frown, a smiley face. Gary happy.

[Biz Nasty]

Gary happy.

[Ryan Whitney]

Gary's very happy. I just don't, I just don't. I don't see Edmonton losing this game though. As scared as I am they're going to lose both at home. I don't think so. I don't think it's going to happen. We'll see if Stone goes. I love Evander Kane's game so far. He's running people.

[Mike Grinelli]

Did you see how many buttons he had undone in this pre game interview?

[Ryan Whitney]

No.

[Mike Grinelli]

Oh, but he fucking literally had his shirt down to his belly button after driving in at home in the new Ferrari suv. So he's just on like a whip tour right now where he's, he's sampling the goods he's got.

[Biz Nasty]

Was there even one of those cars in Alberta?

[Mike Grinelli]

I, I have no idea.

[Ryan Whitney]

And I don't know. I don't know what exactly is going on with his financials. I remember a port report a couple years ago about him owing some money. Like I don't know if you want to be pulling up in like half a million dollar cars if there's like financial worries in your life. But I don't think he gives a fuck. I really don't think he cares. No.

[Mike Grinelli]

Creditors can't be pleased watching those clips.

[Ryan Whitney]

His accountant is like, yeah, give me a whoop bracelet. What the fuck's going on right now? But great series so far. I mean it, it. Eichel's been amazing too. Eichel is, is, is doing his thing. No surprise there. But I can't wait for tonight, guys. The excitement and biz. You texted the group the ups and downs of playoff hockey. Holy shit. How about this stat too? Leon draisaitl from Connor McDavid and Corey Perry in Game 2, the first overtime goal in NHL history featuring three players who had previously won the MVP trophy, the heart trophy for MVP. So that's kind of crazy. That's where we're at I don't know. Oilers fans let me know, what's your confidence level at Skin Skin or can the guy get a dub skin? Me versus Mer? I don't know. What do you think, Mer?

[Mike Grinelli]

Yeah. What do you see?

[Merle]

I feel good. I feel good. I was worried Saturday night at home. The beers were flowing. You see how crazy those Oilers were. I was thinking about that. Like home ice advantage. It kind of depends on which night. Like you see Monday night in Toronto. It can be quiet, but if it's Saturday night, everybody's boozing all day. It was crazy in there. That was Skinner's first home game of the playoffs. So I thought that was, that was going to be a good thing for him. I was, I was really scared as a Vegas guy. But after that game, I liked, I'm telling you, I liked when the lines got shuffled up there. I need those big bodies in there. Playing Panthers style, where you're banging bodies and then getting the skilled guys get the loose pucks. That guy, Dora Feev came back. He was our leading goal scorer. A lot of people don't know that he was injured the first two games of the series. He's back. He's only going to be better tonight. Hopefully Stone can come in and play, you know, even if he plays limited minutes. I don't know if it was a head injury or the wrist.

[Mike Grinelli]

Yeah, I was worried about him. I was worried about him. It looked like when Patty Maroon got Evander Kane, didn't it, with his arm out like that.

[Merle]

And everybody's been tight lipped. Obviously it's playoff time, but you know, he gets up and skates off on his own. So that was good. But then a guy like him, the Manitoba Maniac doesn't come back. It's usually something serious. But Cassidy Nab was back. That was huge.

[Biz Nasty]

Their trainer.

[Mike Grinelli]

Oh, yeah. So Jersey Mersey is. He was my trainer in Manchester when we won it.

[Biz Nasty]

You guys won the call.

[Mike Grinelli]

We won the Caller Cup. We just had our 10 year anniversary this past year in LA. You were there.

[Biz Nasty]

Oh, that's right.

[Mike Grinelli]

Remember it was the same when they did that, the charity game for the LA Fires. But Mersey, awesome guy, beauty. He's been in Vegas since the beginning. He texted me after. Can we pull up those pictures I sent you? G. I think I sent them to you on last night. Well, he ended up getting zippers up top and then he sent a picture with him and Hurdle where he's got a hockey helmet on. He goes, we've made up now and I'm sure that he had to get him a few steak dinners or at least a nice gift card for that fucking nonsense.

[Merle]

I think a Rolex is on the way.

[Biz Nasty]

Wow.

[Mike Grinelli]

Yeah, it should be a Rolex. G. I sent you that picture to the group chat last night. I don't know if you could pull up both of them and. And put them on here and.

[Ryan Whitney]

And Hurdle. Lucky for the Oilers, Hurdle's been brutal. Like. Yeah, I haven't. I. I haven't seen much out of him. And then on top of it. Oh my God. Then on top of it, he dummies his own trainer. Yeah, it reminded me of. Go ahead.

[Mike Grinelli]

No, he.

[Merle]

He lived on the power play this season in the bumper spot, and now both series teams are taking him away. Oh, there's a great picture there.

[Mike Grinelli]

It is.

[Merle]

Yeah.

[Biz Nasty]

Not just the players playing hurt here, guys. It's the trainers. It's PR people. Like everyone in trainer looks more like.

[Ryan Whitney]

An NHL player than Hurdle does there?

[Mike Grinelli]

Oh, I know Hurdle. He's. Have you ever seen his interviews, Hurdle?

[Ryan Whitney]

No.

[Mike Grinelli]

He seems like the nicest guy in the world.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, like just Larry de. Larry David sweater he's got on there.

[Mike Grinelli]

Yeah, that's a tough sweater.

[Merle]

But you had a finish on him. He's. He's the bumper in all year. They just down the stone into him. Goal. And during the regular season, the pre scouting isn't the same. Teams aren't like, you just got in late the Vegas, you're not really paying attention to the PK meeting and he was living on it. But in these two series they're taking him away. But that's why Theodore scored a couple and that's why you saw Olson get a couple on the flank. So yeah, he's not getting his cookies like normal, but he's still out there. He drives a line by himself. But that's why I want to see one of those big guys with him. Let them go in and do the dirty work. Get it to him. He finds Olson or Dorothy Ev. And we get. We get two lines of offense because right now Carlson, he's kind of on his own. And then Eichel, he's kind of on his own there. But I want, I want to get hurdles line going. Then we got a real chance because your D can't handle three lines of.

[Mike Grinelli]

Offense outside of Picard for you, Whit. But if there's one guy that you could take out of your lineups and then put one guy in, who would it be for your teams right now? Like who. Who do you feel maybe you're not Getting enough from where you're like, you know what? I think he needs a reset. I'd like to see this guy inserted, and I think that he could help our team win a little bit more.

[Ryan Whitney]

I actually, there's nobody where I'm like, get this guy out of the lineup. And I think Frederick has turned it on, but I kind of want to see Skinner. The other Skinner, Jeff.

[Mike Grinelli]

Yeah, same.

[Ryan Whitney]

Get another chance. I mean, over a thousand games regular season. He got one playoff game and he's been a healthy scratch. Maybe, I don't know, maybe he gets in the mix. Like, you know how hungry he'd be when he gets. There we go. Doug Waite, legendary oiler.

[Mike Grinelli]

Is he inside?

[Ryan Whitney]

Well, it's only 8:00am out there, so I don't know how he would know that.

[Mike Grinelli]

Well, that's Rick from Rid Deer's cousin.

[Merle]

Yeah, people want him in the chat boys. The chat? Like the rumor boys more than us.

[Ryan Whitney]

No, but, no, but I, I don't. I have our chat up the, the us on the pod. I haven't seen their say G saying the chat wants him in. So I, Jeff Skinner, give him a chance here. He can score, right? Get a little more offense in there. Frederick's been good, but I, I if you're looking to make a change and then maybe, maybe Emberson comes out, Stetcher comes back in. That's kind of nitpicking. It's just all about the goalie Stuart Skinner, boys. Can he get a win. And I'm rooting for this guy. Fuck. You don't want to see guys get tortured like that by a fan base. I've been there. I've been eating a steak at Earl's, having, having somebody tell me how much I stink. I've been there where Stuart Skinner is. I don't want this to continue. And I need them to get a win. And if they go back to Vegas. Two.

[Biz Nasty]

Two.

[Ryan Whitney]

We're in one. Before we get to Mike Madonna. Oh, he's ready. I didn't know if he was ready yet. So before we get to Mike McDonald, I want to talk about no Bull Biz. No Bull buddy. Your brand. Oh, shit. Noble is a footwear brand for training and for daily life built to support you in your pursuit of physical, mental and emotional strength. No Bull celebrates a no bullshit approach to wellness. Get the name Biz. No Bull.

[Mike Grinelli]

No.

[Ryan Whitney]

No approach to wellness. Options across training and lifestyle. Noble has options for everyone. Biz is a big fan of the outwork edge shoe. I like the all day rip. Stop there's the all day Knit the drive, Mesh the drive, Knit the regular Outwork or the Journey. Exclusively for Spit and Chiclets listeners, no bull is offering 30% off your order. Visit www.no. project Chiclets for 30% off. Going to spell it out. N O B U L L P r o j c.com backslash chicklets for 30% off. The guy we're bringing on now was a no guys in the Stanley cup playoffs. This is a guy who's a Stanley cup champ, hockey hall of Famer, a true legend of the game. I don't know where he is right now, but Mike Madonna is coming on to join and we have many questions him for a lot of them involving one of the most dominant playoff performances we've ever witnessed, and that is Miko Rontanen. They brought a horse into Dallas. He wanted to go to Dallas to shove it down Colorado's throat, and now he's doing it to Winnipeg. And for some reason, for some reason, Chris McFarlane didn't want to sign the guy. They've been over it. They needed more depth. But as you watch him now, all 6 foot 5, 235 pounds of them, you're just wondering who the hell would ever let him go. You're wondering it so much and wondering like, do I know anything about hockey? Maybe they should have kept him. I think they should have kept him. And then Nazem Kadri comes into the room, sent out a tweet. First rule, always keep the dogs. Now, I believe he's kind of mentioning himself as a dog, which he is. He was when they won the Cup. But it was more about Rantanen with another three points. I believe at one point he had points in 15 straight Dallas Stars goals.

[Mike Grinelli]

Is that true, Mikey?

[Ryan Whitney]

Mo.

[Merle]

What'S up?

[Mike Grinelli]

Look at that.

[Paul Bissonnette]

20, wasn't it? 17 out of 20.

[Ryan Whitney]

Mo, you did this yourself in the playoffs. You dominated for years and years. Do you ever remember seeing something like this, though, what he's doing now?

[Paul Bissonnette]

No. Mario Lemieux did it to us in 91, but that's been a long time ago.

[Mike Grinelli]

Yeah, that's how dominant it was.

[Paul Bissonnette]

Two games and, and put us to put us to bed in 91 against the North Stars. But I mean, I, I, I haven't seen a run like this. I, like you said the intro. I mean, Colorado, I mean, I, I had them at the start of the year penciled in to kind of make the final. I think if they had Ratan and Ranting in, you know, obviously they're Three big guys and their goaltender, they're good defense. I mean, I don't know. I, I, to go to Carolina and not want to be there and make it official that he didn't want to go there, that wasn't one of his spots that he wanted to go to and then they trade him anyway, so. But to send him back to the Central man, what a kiss of death. I mean, he just, he's just been a big horse. I mean, he's just been dominating, so, and he's got some guys around him. I'm like, there's no question in Dallas. It's just deep and they just got tons of guys. He can play with so many, so many, you know, skilled guys and just too much depth there in Dallas.

[Ryan Whitney]

I want to talk about the Petrovic goal in game three. I don't know your opinion. The, the rule is that if you kick the puck, no matter what it hits going into the net, it's, it's no goal unless it's one of your teammates that tips it in. Then it's just a pass, right?

[Mike Grinelli]

Well, they say if the goalie's going to make a, if he makes goalie makes a play on the puck, it, it, it's considered a goal. And that's what they deemed it, that he made a play on the puck.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, See, I think, I think he just deflected it in. I don't know. Mo, you're a Dallas Stars guy, so I, I, I'm guessing which way.

[Paul Bissonnette]

You like look like Heluck was trying to make a little bit of a save to it, a kick, you know, stick and, and leg save. So I mean, there must have been, obviously it was a gray area because they, they mowed that thing over for seven, eight minutes. They didn't know what to do. So, you know, so it was tough. I mean, that, those are, those are back breakers. But you see that all playoffs long. You just see bad bounces off guys where you just don't, you don't move guys away from the net. There's like, there's no early blackout. Everybody's around the net and you just throw stuff at the net. It was like Minnesota's deal with, against Vegas. They just threw stuff at Hill. It just was going off legs, carrying off stuff and it just, crazy stuff happens. If you don't eliminate guys and, and set an area around the blue paint and just push these guys away so at least a goalie can see it or you don't have an extra set of legs or two that it's going to go off your own guy like, like Gerard the other night in the Colorado thing. And you know, so it's just weird things happen if you don't, if you don't make some space for your goalie around that blue.

[Mike Grinelli]

I think it was the, the Harley goal right beforehand. You see Wyatt Johnson at the other end make that defensive play on Morrissey. Like what can you say about how young this kid is and the impact he's made on his entry level contract? I believe he played all 82 his first three years. I think that he hit the 30 goal mark every year or close to it. Like he's like a phenom in his own right and probably doesn't get talked enough because he's in Dallas. So what's it been like watching his evolution and continued success even in playoffs?

[Paul Bissonnette]

Well, it's just a skill. I mean you can see it just kind of just the hands, the quickness, you know, just, you know, the ability for young kids just to come into the league now and just make a sud, you know, automatic impact. These kids come from college right into the spring, they play college, they go right to, from the Frozen Four to the playoffs. They make an impact. McCard did that a long time ago with UMass. I mean, it's just the ability for these young kids to come in and make a, you know, a real big statement right off the bat is, it's remarkable. And the game, the game's changed. So you don't have this four or five year period where you kind of getting acclimated, you're trying to get some size and speed to your game to kind of get in. I mean it's right away these guys come in and Wyatt was one of those guys just, you know, the skill level, the hands, the quickness, his ability, the poise, the patience, you know, it's really kind of interesting to watch these young kids. But yeah, he's gonna, he's gonna have a hell of a bridge deal coming up to try to get into his long term deal. But yeah, he's, he's kind of the catalyst for a long time coming. But again, he's got just so many weapons around him. You know, he doesn't have to be the main guy. There's eight or nine other guys. He can just kind of go about his business. But I mean he's, he's scored some big goals, he's made some great plays and you know, he's had a big impact on this team the last couple of years.

[Merle]

So far I can Hear it in your voice because you are working with Minnesota now. I can hear the Zeve Buam reference in there. We're coming out of college and being good, so we're going to jump ship the Minnesota and talk a little bit about him. Is he everything that we think he's going to be? And with him and Faber, your D are lined up for the next 15 years.

[Paul Bissonnette]

Yeah, I think those two guys are going to be your catalyst guys and then, you know, you can sprinkle Brodine and, you know, Spurgeon if how much more longer those guys can play. But certainly those two guys are your catalyst. And Boam's just got some, you know, some poise, a lot of, like Hudson in Montreal. Maar just puck possession. Guys are able to exit the zone with possession, you know. You know, so that's really kind of what makes your skill guys up front even more. More of a weapon. When you can get the puck from the D and not have to worry about picking it off the boards or kind of getting it zone the zone out to the neutral zone, then chase it down again. When you come through that zone with 100 miles an hour in that neutral zone with possession and you get it from that D, that's going to make all the difference in the world for, you know, for Kirill and Boldy and those guys coming through the middle. So he's a great young kid. Just a lot of, like you said, a lot of upside to this boy, but he's. He's gonna be fun to watch power play. Guys just got a lot of patience, poise, can make the play. But like I said, it's just. It's just puck, possession, kind of moving up the ice with that puck and. And not have to worry about chasing it down at all.

[Ryan Whitney]

Mo, I have a question for you. Back to Dallas. Jamie Ben came in 20 years old. He had 22 goals. Give me your kind of memories of him as a young player. As a rookie. Did you see the career that. That he would have moving forward? Because I've mentioned I think of anyone in the playoffs, it's Brent Burns and him as guys like that don't have one that you'd love to see how you'd love to see get. Get that cup ring. So what do you. What do you remember about Jamie Ben when he came into the league and how his careers move forward to where he's at now?

[Paul Bissonnette]

It was funny. I think it was the first couple of camps he came to camp and I was just kind of. Les Jackson was our director Player guy and scouting in there. And so he's like, oh, you know, you need really take a look at Jamie. He's got some great hands and a big guy and you know, so I was, you know, at that time I was 27, 28 I think at the time, 29. And you know, so it's his first couple camps and, and really kind of struggle skating wise. Wasn't really the best skater in the world. So I was like, man, I go less the guy can't get up and down the ice. He looks like he's overweight, just not in shape. I was like, I don't know who, who is the guy who was working the Western Hockey League at the time to, you know, take a look at this kid. So. But yeah, so then he came in his rookie year. We played a lot together that, that first year of his and you know, so you could see some, you know, some kind of some craftiness there, some skills. You know, you never really noticed the toughness until later on in his career where he, you know, he acclim, you know, added that to his game where he could, you know, beat guys down. He was good on the draws, he was good in the corners. Heavy guy to move, but he had some great hands, good shot. Yeah. So you see this evolution of this game. But yeah, he's him and Burns, like you said, are, are two guys that, you know, you hope that get a cup before the end of their careers. But he's, he's really kind of carried that torch in Dallas for a good long time. So rightfully so if they can finish it off this year.

[Ryan Whitney]

Did he, did he like do some work with, I don't know, power skating coach, figure skating coach. Like so you noticeably, you noticed like a big time difference once he was playing in the NHL or even then, was it not. Not where it ended up being in his prime.

[Paul Bissonnette]

Yeah, I mean it got going as he got on. So I don't know what he did in the off season, but it really, it certainly improved the first four or five years of UTL and then he was able to kind of get up and down pretty good I thought. You know, he moved pretty well and he's got a big long reach, you know, sneaky shot. But yeah, he was, it kind of got better as he kind of off season training maybe just trying to working on some things to get some quickness and some, some work a little pounds off from juniors and uh. So. But uh, he, you know, it, it certainly kind of went from a total 180 with a skating. And that kind of made him even more of a. A big weapon up there as. As his career has gone on.

[Biz Nasty]

Mo I got just talking about the back end in. In. In Dallas and you look at your guys's roster, obviously led by Zubov, and then you had. I mean, you had Hatcher, you had Sador Ludwig. Like, do you see any similarities even with Heiskin and out, like, the fact that they're winning and playing well without him? Like, do you think you guys could have done that without Zuboff and like having Heistkin and out right now, like, it's not really affecting them as much as you'd see. You'd think it would be, right?

[Paul Bissonnette]

Yeah, I thought it would have been. Affected them really much more than it has. But, you know, it's a credit to them and, and certainly Harley, who's kind of taken over that kind of spot. It's kind of hard to, you know, compare that decor to our decor. I think that, you know, the rules obviously were a little bit different. Obviously, just, we just had some big heavy guys that just played nasty. But I don't think we would have had our success if we didn't have that one control guy who could run the quarter. The power play, five on five, just poised with Zubov, he just. He just made the game so much easier for all of us when we're on the ice with them. So certainly if we didn't have him, I don't think we make that run like we did in 99 and 2000. But, you know, you look at Dallas, I mean, Buchelle, I mean, just kind of guys that are just big, they just puck. Puck movers. But you see sometimes when they're getting their zone, they get running around a little bit. They kind of get beat from corner to the front net, side to side a little bit. So, I mean, that's kind of where you kind of hope to. Teams that do success against Dallas kind of wear them out in those corners front of the net. But, you know, they've been. They've been moving that puck away from them quick. You got Ottinger just kind of deflects things away and kind of control things as far as pace. And if they get bum rush down there, they can freeze a puck and start over. So, yeah, it's. It's been remarkable to see without his can and how they've been playing in.

[Biz Nasty]

Ottinger has been amazing. And I know it's been talked about on the broadcast and stuff like that, him going against Hellebuck and him fighting for, you know, not only to win a cup this year, but he's fighting for that Olympic spot next year. Do you, do you see a different gear that he had? I mean, he's been amazing in the regular season since he's been in the league, but this year it seems like he's really dialed it in.

[Paul Bissonnette]

Yeah, he's, he's kind of been the guy for the last few years and I think, I certainly think he's going to give, you know, hella buck a run for his money for the, the Olympics next year. But you know, you can see how Winnipeg has to play such a perfect game and Hellebeck just has to be so on to even be involved in these games. So you saw that in Winnipeg with the shutout, but you know, they're not going to have to, they can't rely on him to have a shutout every time they're going to get a win. So they need to come some scoring, they need some depth. Scheifele, you know, Ellers, guys that got to step up and play a little bit better offensively, but you know, that's a good match. Heler, you know, two great goalies, but Ottinger just seems to be really poised and calm and you know, he gets rattled a little bit here and there, but consistently he's been the more steady guy so far this series.

[Ryan Whitney]

So we were talking within our group chat about the ups and downs of playoff hockey. The emotional wins, the emotional losses and trying to stay even killed. So I looked up your 99 cup run, got out to leads in the first and second round, swept the first round. But third round against Colorado, you go down three, two, right? And then you're going on the road, I believe. Take us through like how it was for you when you were playing in, in having a, you know, a gut wrenching loss like the Oilers lost the other night, being able to kind of forget about that one and even the big wins, being able to push that aside and focus on the next game because I think that's the hardest thing for fans is, is the highs and lows and the emotional like roller coaster of it all. So as a player, what do you remember? Just game to game, blocking out everything that had happened prior.

[Paul Bissonnette]

It was funny. I think it was a lot like LA and Edmonton. We played Edmonton for four or five years in a row there. And I think our, our goal was when we played those guys, we're only going to make one trip to Edmonton. We don't want to make Two, we just, we, we hate going up there so we either get the sweep or we finish them in five. So that was always our goal against Edmonton because we felt like the longer that thing went on against the Oilers, the, the worse it was going to turn out for us.

[Mike Grinelli]

So.

[Paul Bissonnette]

But yeah, we, we ended up with those guys and then St. Louis, those guys were tough. Pronger, you know, God, Turon was there, they had a handful of guys. But I think the Colorado series, even 99, 2000, I think those two seven game series were some of the best hockey I think I've ever seen. You know, the matchup between us and them. But yeah, certainly three, the, the game five at home in Dallas, we got, I think it was like 6, 2, 6, 3. We lost and we had to go to McNichols. They weren't in the Pepsi center yet, so there still had the old McNichols barn. So we had to go in there and, and pull out game six. But yeah, there is so much highs and lows. I mean as a fan, when you're watching like, God, they, you see Winnipeg win, they're like, oh, Dallas, you know, Dallas is up against the ropes. They're never going to come back from this. They're never going to win the next game. And then, you know, you lose the game. Oh God, they're, they look dead. They're like, they're never going to rebound from this. It's like this high and low from in, in just a matter of 24 hours. You're like, you go to bed, you wake up, you try to refresh yourself, go over a little bit of game tape and just kind of let it go. You just have to have some short memory obvious. But yeah, it just goes fast. You got 48 hours to kind of get your, your body and your mind back together and get refocused. And we're always good at that. We're kind of good at letting it go. Even good, bad, you know, you win a game, you know, hey, you gotta, you gotta let that go as well. Gonna wake up, it's a new day. Everybody's gonna look at some making adjustments and kind of get ready for the next one. But yeah, then we went, came back for game seven and Mike Keane just was amazing. Scored two goals I think in game seven. You know, Zuboff's been, was remarkable in that series. You know, Patrick Wa. Eddie Belfort going at it. I mean it was just an amazing 77 gamer. Then off the Buffalo with Hashic. So we're starting to get battered up in that final in six with Buffalo, and we would have missed, obviously. Brett hall probably wouldn't have played game seven. Same with Benoit Hogue. I think we had guys that are just gonna on one leg. I think Holly's first shift in overtime was his game winner that year against Buffalo. So he just.

[Ryan Whitney]

And that was triple overtime, right?

[Paul Bissonnette]

Yeah, triple overtime. So Holly couldn't move. He just was dead. And so Verbeek was in his slot with me and Yuri Letton for a while. And then Hitch asked him, he says, guy, can you give me a shift or two? And you know, Holly said, yeah. So he went. Was out there and scores a winner. So that was.

[Mike Grinelli]

Come on.

[Paul Bissonnette]

It was amazing.

[Mike Grinelli]

That's so good. Hitch asked him. He goes, can you give me a couple of.

[Paul Bissonnette]

Yeah, how you feeling? He goes, you know, he was just. He was toast. I think his MCL was shot. He couldn't move and just went out there to the front of the net. It's just get to the front of the net and, you know, all hell broke loose and it started carrying around and then, you know, obviously the whole foot in the crease dilemma started for the next half dozen years of what the rule was on that one. But at that moment, we didn't care what the rule was.

[Mike Grinelli]

Oh, that's okay. Buffalo can get over it. They've had plenty of cheer recently.

[Merle]

We're still not over it. It's no goal. We're still not over it.

[Paul Bissonnette]

As a Bills fan, the bills in the 90s and everything else. So they're they hard 90s going.

[Merle]

But Mo, I had a question about your playoff experience too. We saw it last night. Matthew Kachuk kind of threatening Nylander back in your day, I'm sure, was even a lot worse than that. Is there any good stories you remember, like Rob Ray threatening you? Did it ever.

[Mike Grinelli]

Yeah. Who threatened your life?

[Paul Bissonnette]

I mean, you go down the list. In Edmonton, I think it was Luke Richardson, Ellie Bluckburger, Jason Smith. Oh, my God. There was just a handful of my cam. I make it Pronger. You know, he was always ready to spear your eyes out. Scott Stevens in. In New Jersey. I mean, it was just. It was just like, who could intimidate you and get in your head verbally and just kind of scare you into the corner? They're not playing, so it's hard to do that nowadays because guys are so well protected out there from the refs and the calls and everything else, but. Yeah, you mean, you get into those series back then, I mean, you were scared for your life. I mean, I was just, you know, we, we had a tough team too, but you know, you always thought these guys just got a bullseye on your back and, and certainly with Edmonton, I mean just the whole roster was just Mike Greer, R.E.M. murray, I mean, Billy Guerin was there. They were all just trying to just, you know, decapitate each other. It was just brutal hockey.

[Mike Grinelli]

Mo, I wanted to ask you about Auston Matthews. Like you were an American born phenom. So is he like, I feel like as playoffs has progressed in his career, it's been harder and harder for, for him to score. I mean this is a guy who scored 69 goals last season. Did you ever have your challenges early on in your playoff career where it was just like way different than the regular season where you were snake bitten and just couldn't find a way to get it back to the back of the net like the regular season? And, and what made it switch for you at a certain point where you were able to finally produce and be that guy to lean on?

[Paul Bissonnette]

Yeah, I mean you can see that's a little tough for him. He's not getting the space and you just, you don't normally get the space like you do in the regular season. 82 games, guys are like, oh, you know, they're going to play off you a little bit, not get on you as much, not close that gap in the, in the, in the offensive zone, in the slot where he kind of can make his hay. But you just, the time and space is gone. The, the school, the goals he scores in regular season aren't going to be the goals he scores in playoffs. I mean, it's just kind of, they're just ugly, just not pretty goals. They're not end to end rushes. It's nothing off. You know, not too many teams make mental mistakes anymore. It's just like, it's so puck management and they're just moving it away from the danger areas where you have to go into those ugly areas and just kind of hope that your D can walk the line and get that puck to the net and kind of something ugly happens where there's like a boom, boom play and then you get a rebound and a shot. Even on the power play, there's not much space. People are just know collapsing on these guys or taking away their time and space. So you just, you have to adapt, you have to find other ways to be effective. And he's, he's had some assists and he's got some, you know, some good five on five stuff. But for I. Yeah, because I was thinking the. For him in order Toronto to kind of keep moving on with this deal, especially now when Florida's coming. Now, he, he's got to make a statement. He's got to just, you know, have a complete game where, you know, he can get a couple in the net or be that main guy who can create some space for some other guys because he's gonna, he's the, he's the main focal point. He's gonna be focused on with these guys. Barkov is all over him. Ekblad. I mean, that's just, you know, he's gonna have to be. It's gonna have to get ugly for him the next little while here.

[Ryan Whitney]

Mo, you know how a lot of teams have ambassadors, right? Like guys who were legends for that team that once they retire, they, they're. They're in the mix, they're in the box, they're meeting, you know, ticket holders. Have you ever heard of an ambassador that didn't play for the team?

[Paul Bissonnette]

I don't know.

[Biz Nasty]

Yeah, the answer is no.

[Ryan Whitney]

So we have one. It's Paul Bissonnette with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Just.

[Biz Nasty]

I was just.

[Ryan Whitney]

Mo.

[Mike Grinelli]

Mo, they. They. When I was put on waivers by the Pittsburgh Penguins, three teams put a claim in for me. Toronto was one of them. They didn't get me because they finished higher in the standings of the year prior than the Phoenix Coyotes. So that's how I ended up in Phoenix. You know who the other team was? The Minnesota Wild. So we're back in your old stomping ground. So that is kind of the connection that I was almost there and I grew up a Leafs fan. And the fact since the post career has gone the way it's gone, they're probably looking for a few extra clicks to get their franchise value bumped up. So you're welcome, Toronto Maple Leafs. And here we are, I'm sure needs that. Yeah, that's what I mean. We're trying to get the, Trying to get that stock price up so he can cash out and buy the. By the yacht next to Bezos? But I was going to go back to Hitch because he was the coach when you guys won the Stanley Cup. Were there any moments throughout the course of that run where he had to maybe like, you know, give like a emotional speech? Like, was he that type of guy where he would give like a rah rah? I know that he would kind of ride his horses pretty hard. So sometimes you guys might push him out of the room and handle things yourselves. But were there any Moments where he like addressed the team and it was a pretty inspiring moment.

[Paul Bissonnette]

I think he had some moments but man, we had some guys who've been through the ringer at that point in their careers with Carbono and Mike Keane and Scrudland and Ludwig, guys that have seen probably a lot more in playoffs than, than Hitch. You know, Bob Gainey would address us once in a while. He just, you know, when he spoke everybody was just dead silent. Listen to every word that Bob said. Just because of his, obviously his, you know, skins on the wall and his history obviously was second to none. But yeah, you know, Hitch was, Hitch was not too rah rah. I mean he just would get preparation wise. We just do. We knew everything the other team was going to do at every moment of the game. You know, what, how they came out of the zone, what they did, what was going to be available, what not what wasn't going to be available. I think we had more. You know, sometimes when Hitch would come in and start getting into this thing, I think our older guys would tell, you know, hits to leave the room and you know, we, we would address the team ourselves and just have our own little meeting and you know, so Carbo was kind of the, the ringleader in that. So you would, you know, tell hits don't bother coming in. We, we got this handled. So it was you know, kind of a community I guess leadership in there with those old, those old renegades, guys that just been through the, been through the wall and you know, being young and, and hungry like we were, myself and Sidor letting in and guys had head and wind. You know, we're just licking our chops and just kind of going off everything these guys words they said. But it's funny, you can listen to these guys preach and sell you what it's going to be like and but until you emotionally and physically and mentally go through it, man, you just can't understand what they're talking about. Until you kind of go through that whole two months of playoff hockey is just, it's just a beat down.

[Ryan Whitney]

All right, Mo, we got last question presented by Roback. Use the code chiclets on roback.com for a generous 20% off your first purchase through the end of this week. C H I C L E T S on R H O b a c k.com 20% off all hoodies, joggers and more with code Chicklets. It's a two part question. You could be quick. Thank you for your time. And coming on first, who do you have in the finals and who's going to win. And second, as a guy who I've played golf with, the reason I don't wear a glove playing golf is Mike Madonna, who shot five under par at LA Country Club. With me without a glove on, I said, all right, I don't need a glove. If I just witnessed that. What's the best golf course you've ever played? So finals matchup, who's going to win? And your favorite golf course you've ever teed it up at.

[Paul Bissonnette]

Well, my finals was on my bracket. I had Vegas, Florida and Vegas winning two years ago.

[Ryan Whitney]

Oh, Jesus. But now I'm Jesus, Mo. I take it back.

[Paul Bissonnette]

Now I'm watching Edmonton get it going again. I'm like, oh boy, here they come. No one can stop those guys. I mean, I don't care who they put on these two guys. It's just, it's just another level like you never seen. Just the speed, just ferocious. I mean they're tenacious and they're just hard. When you have skill that high and you have the work ethic like those two dudes do, I, I, I just can't. You can't, you can't play with those guys. So now I'm kind of teetering. Vegas, Edmonton. But I still like Florida after last night, you know, getting a 2 to 2. I think they just look like they're just, you know, build for this time of year. Favorite golf course. Man alive.

[Ryan Whitney]

I don't know.

[Paul Bissonnette]

I have to go without.

[Ryan Whitney]

You got one round left. You got one round left.

[Paul Bissonnette]

I'm thinking the Hampton Shinnecock.

[Mike Grinelli]

I don't know what that is.

[Paul Bissonnette]

Your former teammate make our next golf trip is, is the Hamptons.

[Mike Grinelli]

You mean all of us national. Let's go, buddy. Let's go. We'll put it on the card.

[Paul Bissonnette]

Some of the best golf in the world in about a five mile radius there.

[Ryan Whitney]

And you're working ex teammate Brad Richards. Member up everywhere. You see that guy Seminole. The guy's everywhere.

[Paul Bissonnette]

He's a golf hound.

[Biz Nasty]

Wait, can you.

[Mike Grinelli]

He's got a membership at all these places?

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, yeah, and I think so. So there's like certain clubs that once you get in one, you kind of start getting in the others.

[Mike Grinelli]

Wow.

[Ryan Whitney]

And Brad Richards is like on that path. So. Yeah, he's just.

[Mike Grinelli]

So he has to pay the initiation fee at every place.

[Ryan Whitney]

I think he made 150.

[Biz Nasty]

Made 100 million.

[Ryan Whitney]

I don't think he's good to have.

[Paul Bissonnette]

All those buyouts he had. Isn't it.

[Mike Grinelli]

Getting paid to golf, baby?

[Biz Nasty]

I got one.

[Mike Grinelli]

Wait, wait, he's got a couple more. I got one.

[Biz Nasty]

Can you. After, can you just as thank you for coming on the show. Can you send us your address so we can get you some wine to put in that wine fridge? What the hell is going on back?

[Paul Bissonnette]

We're day drinkers. We go right through it.

[Ryan Whitney]

We'll get you 15 kids, Keith.

[Biz Nasty]

Oh, that's true. Yeah.

[Mike Grinelli]

We'll get you some pink Whitney cases to put up there. The real good rouge.

[Paul Bissonnette]

I'll send my address. Load me up.

[Mike Grinelli]

Yeah, that's awesome.

[Paul Bissonnette]

These eight kids, I do it through in one day.

[Ryan Whitney]

All right, well, thank you so much.

[Mike Grinelli]

I just had one more. So you're, you're. What's your exact title with the Minnesota Wild. And obviously it must be a blast hanging out with Billy G. And getting to talk with Billy G. Now all the time.

[Paul Bissonnette]

Yeah, it's the executive advisor.

[Ryan Whitney]

Oh.

[Paul Bissonnette]

You know, it, it's, it, it encompasses a lot of things. You know, it's a. It's a whole big umbrella, so. But yeah, Billy's been great. I love him. He's just such a great guy. Heinzi, the whole coaching staff. The owner, Leah Craig, is just beyond just a fabulous guy. And he's just wants nothing to do than bring a championship to Minnesota. Hopefully that that happens for him because he deserves it.

[Mike Grinelli]

Good for you, man. It's good.

[Merle]

That sounds like a title that you should actually get a jacket for a sports coat.

[Mike Grinelli]

Okay. Merle's has been giving me cheap shots all play. He's trying to reverse mush my boys, too. He's like fucking TMZ reporting that these guys are at the beach and shit.

[Merle]

I'm just trying to get myself to the beach for the finals.

[Mike Grinelli]

Hey, if they were at the beach, Murt as much as you say they are, they'd have a beautiful tan, just like Mo over here. Okay? They wouldn't be pale. They'd be. They'd have a nice tan, like Mo.

[Paul Bissonnette]

Minnesota tan right here.

[Mike Grinelli]

Well, we appreciate you for coming on, brother, and congrats on the new gig. And, and keep buzzing.

[Paul Bissonnette]

Yeah, you guys, too. All the best.

[Ryan Whitney]

What a legend.

[Mike Grinelli]

What a legend.

[Ryan Whitney]

Actually, I think I, I, I. You know, McDavid flying through the ice most kind of the OG jersey flapping in the wind, flying through the neutral zone. And even he is talking about how ridiculous it is watching McDavid. So we'll see what happens. I, I know, as he mentioned, Winnipeg comes back, wins four, nothing. You're like, all right, I still am. Like, I think I Don't know, five or six. I don't see Winnipeg able to beat Dallas specifically with hella buck back to, I mean, road.

[Merle]

Can we win on the road?

[Mike Grinelli]

So can we go into that. That, the kicking goal. But Petrovic, there's, there's the, the puck comes out. Petrovic kicks it with his left foot. To me, it's clear that he's trying to kick it to his stick. He's a righty. He's trying to kick it up to his, towards the stick so he can make a play on it. Baron, the defender goes stick on, stick on him and he's unable to make contact with it. At least it looks like he's unable to. It might have even actually deflected off him or Baron's stick like, like just a nick and the puck's going like, like back towards the slot. So not only is it going laterally, but it's going back towards the slot area. It's not going towards the net. Kind of like Leon's wasn't going any. Deflected it in. It was even a worst case scenario, in a sense of making the argument that he was trying to kick it in the net. From a Dallas standpoint, when Hellebuck makes that play on it to try to knock it in the corner once again, it's heading towards a slot. So that's in my opinion, why they deemed it a good goal and that he tried to make a play on it and not that he tried to make a quote unquote save. What was he saving it from? Going back to the slot.

[Ryan Whitney]

Okay, I actually think, no doubt about it, that's a goal. But, but as Scott Arneils said after, based on the way the rule is written, I don't think.

[Mike Grinelli]

But that's the thing. And then, and then they panned to Pete DeBoer and he's like, that's not how the rule's written. He goes, if the goalie tries to make a play on it, there it goes. A kick. Puck that deflects off the stick of any player. All right, that excluding the goal, that says. Excluding the goalkeeper.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, that was what you were talking about.

[Mike Grinelli]

Doesn't deflect. He makes a fucking swing at it. He makes a play on it. He makes a play on the puck. That's the rule. Like if that one says if it deflects, that it didn't deflect. He literally took his stick and he tried to swipe at it. You could see it in the replay. So they looked at it for six, seven, minutes and they ruled it a good goal. I I don't see any reason that he should be complaining that in the post game especially at the fact that they end up losing 52 and Miko rotten and went barred down down again because he got to walk through the slot with no one defending him. So they got bigger fish to fry. They're not playing their game right now. But I know we do have another special guest so I don't want to hold him any longer.

[Ryan Whitney]

We have another very special guest. Keith told a very funny story about. I think it was a tracksuit that. That maybe drip trip. The drip trip. The trip trip. When you guys wanted to just look nice going to games, being on the flight and jvr. I mean he went. He went over. Over what anyone thought he would. He went and bought a beautiful tracks tracks, you know. And we're going to bring him on right now. James Van Reems dyke. Is he wearing.

[Biz Nasty]

His hair isn't combed. Take that.

[Paul Bissonnette]

Oh my God.

[Ryan Whitney]

See the hair.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

I wish I could find that. Find that track. Seedo.

[Paul Bissonnette]

I was.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

I was looking through my closet. I think it's coming back. And all the stuff I'm shipping back from Columbus. But I was dying to find that thing.

[Biz Nasty]

I'm surprised you don't wear it to bed every night. That thing was money.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

For how much I spent on that thing, I should be what that run you. It was probably around five or so.

[Mike Grinelli]

Oh.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

I want to say and. And the part of the story I think Gans forgets is he was there next to me when we were shopping, egging me on like, oh, this one's. This one's pretty nice. But get the. Get this one. This one's a little bit better.

[Ryan Whitney]

What do you remember about sleeping? I mean, you big sleeper on the plane and just having Mike and Ike shoved in your mouth and then waking up not saying hello to anyone, just chewing them and going right back to sleep.

[Paul Bissonnette]

Oh my God.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

We had so much fun sitting next to each other on the plane that whole year, me and Yance and I think we were. If I was one, if I was number one, he was number two and hours log sleeping. So that was usually our thing. I don't know if it was just because we had again just that part of our routine down. But every time we'd get on there, I'd look over like pretty much before the plane be taken off. He'd be out cold and I'd be out cold right after that. And once we touched down, we'd look over and we'd have our iPad set up and neither of them were turned on. We were out the whole time.

[Mike Grinelli]

So that's where he had to catch up on sleep because yeah, you love like after games, even if we travel to the next city, we get to the hotel room, beers up to the room and you like the late nights, like that was your thing. That's when you like to get all the hot stoves going with the boys. Was that the case when he was playing with you? Jvr?

[James Van Riemsdyk]

Oh yeah, for sure. I think that was exactly it. I think just a lot of darts games back then in those days too and in Philly, but for sure catching up on a few Z's on every flight.

[Biz Nasty]

I know obviously with your brother playing, your brother playing right now, these, these Carolina Washington series, you might be the only person actually watching the games because they're just so boring to watch. But no, I, I, I want to give just a, a shout out to your brother too. The way he's been playing, it's simple, it's effective, he's been so good. But even their whole team all year, I know obviously you were playing but just keeping tabs on your brother, like what have you seen with that group this year and you know, especially to now during playoffs.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

Yeah, they definitely have a great group and I think I really realized that last year I was in town, we happened to be playing them the night before his, his little guy's first birthday party and I stopped by at his house for the party and like literally like almost the whole team was there. So at that point I'm realizing if you're going to a one year old's birthday party that you must, you must enjoy being around each other as a team. So they definitely have a tight knit group and a great group of guys and I, I think my dad especially is like a kid in the candy store, just like telling me stories about being in the family room and kind of having some interactions with Obi and stuff like that. So they've just got a special kind of buzz and kind of vibe around their team. It feels like this year, talk to.

[Ryan Whitney]

Me about and great season for you, man. It was, it was exciting, it was an incredible run. But just talking about this series, what makes Carolina so hard to play against specifically at home because you know it's all about getting shots on net and puck possession and things like that. But that crowd, I mean they're now four and oh, in the playoffs they were the best regular season home team. So going into that building in your career like, what have you found most difficult about it?

[James Van Riemsdyk]

Yeah, I think you said it with the way the crowd is there just. And they play that sort of where they feed off that energy, where they're. Their style play is certainly way different than almost anyone else in the. In the league with the way they kind of buzz around and throw pretty much everything at the net from a ton of different angles. So you could get bombarded right out of the gates if you're not ready to go. So that makes it pretty tough. So they definitely seem to feed off the crowd there. And like you said, I think on home, I remember a couple years ago, even in the playoffs where they had that one crazy series where they won every single home game and lost all the. All the road games. But yeah, they definitely have that whole nice advantage. I don't know if it's because. Because of their style too, where they do rely a lot on their kind of speed and that chaos, where having that being in that kind of hostile environment really helps them. But it seems. It seems to be that they're. They're really good there.

[Merle]

I got one for you. Your guy, major living around the net, and we're seeing this playoffs more than ever. The pucks bouncing off d, bouncing off forwards. What. What can you do as a player to like, get inside these big d. Something different in the playoffs to get those goals for your team like Washington needs to do, they need to find a way to get some extra goals.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

Yeah, for sure. I think the. The biggest thing is the timing of it. I think obviously you want to get there, but I think as far as just making sure you're keeping plays alive is not just getting there and kind of posting up there. I think you have to make sure you're coming from the right position and coming from when you. A time when you think a guy's actually gonna shoot the puck. So I think one of the key things, especially when it goes low to high, is if you can come kind of from below, below the goal line, from the end wall, so the guy who's boxing you out can't look at the puck. And you. And I think that that makes them have a harder time sort of, and they have to make a choice there if they're going to kind of let something happen behind them or give you an easier chance to. To get the net if they're going to try to front the puck. So I think that's something I've tried to do again, especially with that timing jvr.

[Mike Grinelli]

I mean, he just touched on how you Made your, your, your living at the net front. Like, how did you get so good at it? Like, and like when did you learn? Like, at what age were you like, okay, this is a, a part of the game. Oh, you want to jump in there.

[Biz Nasty]

Yance, I was just going to say when you finished. He worked on it every single day, the tipping, the, you know, he, you guys ripping pucks at him, his heart, he didn't care where you shot it, so he put the work in every single day. I don't know if you got to pump your own tires, but this dude put the work in like I've never seen.

[Mike Grinelli]

Yeah. Was there like a veteran, like early in your career? Did you learn it when you were in college? Like, yeah, like, like when did you get that work ethic and who'd you learn from?

[James Van Riemsdyk]

Yeah, as far as that part of my game, I owe a lot of that to Chris Pronger and Joe Mullen. So Prongs I remember just, I, I think it was really good for me actually. Just, just kind of being intentional about what I wanted to work on. So he would like grab me before practice. And you guys know how he is where like he's just out there and he doesn't care. And he was wiring pucks at like just full blown slappers and it seems like he. And closer. So he'd start out by like the blue line. He'd get to like the top of the circles by the time he was done shooting all these pucks at me. But yeah, just those sorts of things and plays like that with him. Then Joe Mullen will be out there after practice. And now I have kind of helped me develop my routine for that where just after practice every day now, just tipping everything and just making sure that part of my game is dialed in. Because like you said, I think at this time of the year, especially like those are how the goals are scored.

[Mike Grinelli]

It's.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

It's so tight out there, there's no room. You're trying to just get a stick on anything and someone's just trying to throw a puck in there for you. And again, I think that knowing how valuable that would be, especially as the year went on, I think just made it kind of clicked in my brain that this was something I could do, could do well, and I have a knack for it and just really making sure that that part of my game was always kind of dialed in.

[Mike Grinelli]

Are you, are you a bit of a hockey nerd? Like, are you watching it constantly even when you're not playing?

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, I love It.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

I try to watch as much as I can. I mean, now with having young kids at home, that the schedule is a little different. So I'm kind of in bed pretty fairly early now, but I'm. I'm watching a lot of the earlier games and seeing what's going on and, yeah, definitely enjoying this year's playoffs. Has been some pretty good series so far.

[Mike Grinelli]

Like, who. Who are a few guys that, like, stick out to you that are maybe a little uncommon? Like, not, like, not household names. Like, since you've been watching, who are you? Like, oh, this young kid's pretty impressive with. Just do all your. You're watching and scouting, per se.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

Oh, that's. That's a good one. I. I would say Protus from Washington. Even talking with my brother a little bit. He was just saying when he got hurt, like, like just saying how valuable he was to their team. He kind of touches a lot of different areas of the. Of the game for them, and just again, he's a bigger guy who flies too, so I've been impressed watching him. I'm trying to think from the other series who I've been, who I've liked watching.

[Mike Grinelli]

I like that McMillan kid, too. I mean, Merle's had him last game getting a goal just because he's been such a spark plug. He was brown to break through, right? McMichael. Excuse me, I called him McMillan. Jesus.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

I was wondering if I wasn't watching close enough and I'm like, who's that?

[Mike Grinelli]

I played with a McMillan. I think me and Yan's did.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

Yeah, no, he's. He's been. He's been pretty impressive too. Like, they've had a lot of guys, I feel like this year, where they've taken a big step, especially some of those. Those younger guys, and it was almost a little bit similar to our team, where we had some kind of more established veterans, but our kind of. I think the improvement or the growth of the team really came from kind of the younger guys taking a big step going forward. Yeah.

[Merle]

What about Fantilly? He's. He's over here now with Team Canada. He had a huge year.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, he.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

It was impressive with him. I mean, right away, like, he, like in the. Early in the season, he was a guy who really loved watching McKinnon and that style of play. And I think as the year went on, I think you could kind of see that sort of comparison, just how they're both really powerful guys and how they play and really kind of put the D on their heels and I think it started to click for him as the year went on. Just kind of went to attack and went to kind of take a guy one on one versus one to kick it out and. And use your teammate. And I think that balance of that really opened up a lot of space for. For him and for the other guys. He's just. Because he puts the other players on their heels so much with how well he can skate and how talented he is.

[Mike Grinelli]

Yeah, I was watching a game there, Whit, against. I think it was Washington, when he lit up, Ryan Leonard didn't even score.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

He's not scared to throw his weight around out there.

[Mike Grinelli]

What's. What's that?

[James Van Riemsdyk]

Yeah, he's not afraid to kind of throw his weight around out there, I think. I think he had Olivier kind of in his ear for the whole year and realize how big and strong he has to do to do that sort of thing. And he can definitely impact the game that way too, just because he gets everywhere, because he skates so well. So now he's finishing hits like that. And he added a completely other element to his game, which is great.

[Ryan Whitney]

So going back to Carolina, Washington, you had the chance to play with Freddie Anderson. He's in a zone right now. 9:40 Save percentage in the playoffs so far. What do you remember about him? I know him and Matthews are really good buddies, but did you see how good he was going to be or how good he was in Toronto and. And what type of guy was he to play with?

[James Van Riemsdyk]

Yeah, he's awesome. He's one of my best friends in the game, and I'm really happy to see the success that he's having there. Just. Just the amount of time and work and thought he puts into kind of his craft is definitely impressive to see. He's always kind of tinkering with different stuff, whether it's training treatment, just stuff within the goalie world that I have no idea about. But he's always out there on the ice, kind of working on his game. And those are the guys that you always root for just because of how much he cares and how much it means to him. So he's out here actually in Minnesota now for. For the summers, so I get to see a lot more of them, which is great. But, yeah, really happy for him. And you could, again, he's.

[Biz Nasty]

He's a.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

He's a huge human and just takes up so much of the net. But I think, again, he's had all this longevity now just with all the work that he puts in and, yeah, I'm really happy to see all the success that he's having.

[Ryan Whitney]

And going back to your time in Toronto, kind of. Not many people can, you know, describe what it's like to. To be on the Maple Leafs in the playoffs. And right now you're hearing a lot of talk about Austin Matthews isn't scoring. You know, Marner maybe has some moments when the. The fan base isn't. Isn't thrilled with his game. How did you approach playing there once the playoffs came? Once the pressure gets ratchet up, like when the noise comes without you scoring, like, what was it like for you as a Maple Leaf in the playoffs?

[James Van Riemsdyk]

Yeah, I think that's where it's really key to just have that good sort of support system and try to block it out as. As much as you can and not ride the roller coaster because the. The highs can be higher and the lows can be. The lows can be lower there. So. Yeah, I think that's. That's obviously the key part. I mean, still to this day, I still get goosebumps when I see that. That Maple Leaf Square out there, the crowd going nuts when they score a goal in the playoffs. So that's. I can only imagine how much fun that those guys are having. And I think it's just trying to properly kind of enjoy that and channel that, because again, there's nowhere quite like playing there, just with the. Again, kind of the magnifying glass that you're under and how much people care. And you could feel that, especially on game day, walking to the rink or walking into the rink. And I think that if you can channel that in a. In a good way, I think it just helps. Even gives you that extra juice and a little bit extra energy as it can be, again, a grind going through the playoffs. But again, those two guys that you mentioned, they've been dealing with it there for a long time. They've played there for what, like eight or nine years now. So they're definitely accustomed to dealing with sort of the. The ups and downs and the things that can come of playing there. But I think, again, those are two guys I would never bet against.

[Mike Grinelli]

What's up with this backpack? G's asking about in the chat? This infamous backpack like that. You.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

Yeah, and call me Dora.

[Mike Grinelli]

Dora the Explorer.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

That's what he dubbed me in Philly. Yeah, no, that's just got my. Just bag of tricks in there. So I got some. Some different, like, recovery devices and maybe some. Some of the coffee that I like. Just stuff like that.

[Mike Grinelli]

We're not. We're not just gonna skim by it.

[Biz Nasty]

Like it's Louis Vuitton, by the way, Biz, like, Brent Burns has, like, a Carhartt one, and James Van Doofy has a.

[Mike Grinelli]

So when you say a recovery device, what are we talking here?

[James Van Riemsdyk]

So I have, like, therapy red light thing. Yep, I got that in there. I've got this little kind of breathing thing to just help with, like, strengthen your breathing muscles and loosen up your ribs a little bit. So those are the two main things that. I got my iPad in there. So I. So when I'm on the plane, I can sleep and not watch it.

[Paul Bissonnette]

But.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

But yeah, just stuff like that pretty much.

[Mike Grinelli]

And I. I like coffee. Are you a big coffee connoisseur? And, like, where are you getting your beans from? Like, what's so special about what you're drinking?

[Paul Bissonnette]

So I've.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

I've gotten into that a little bit. When I tend to dive into something, I get probably too far down in the weeds on a lot of these things. But for that, I'm. I'm just starting to learn about it a little bit. So for the. For the road, I have this. It's called King Coffee. It's like this kind of, like, mushroom coffee. So like, that's like, all organic and whatever. So they have these little, like, instant packets that I can make it easily on the road. So rather than drink the stuff that we get in the locker room, I can bring some. Some decent stuff for that.

[Mike Grinelli]

Oh, that stuff. Like batteries.

[Biz Nasty]

By diving. Diving into it. Biz, he'll buy like a. A ranch and like, Cuba to farm his own beans. That's how insane this guy is.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

A little bit of sick in the head, I think you.

[Mike Grinelli]

Did you actually buy a ranch in Cuba?

[James Van Riemsdyk]

Yeah, me and Yans are looking at some property down there, so maybe.

[Mike Grinelli]

Well, I mean, maybe. Yeah, you guys will start like a. Like a mushroom retreat too. The mushroom coffee. What. Like what. What does the mushroom in the coffee do?

[James Van Riemsdyk]

I think for this one, it's. For this one, it's supposed to not make you as jittery and be a little better on, like, your gut. So.

[Mike Grinelli]

Okay.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

I just. Yeah, I've been using that for. Yeah, maybe like five or six years. I like it. Like it a lot.

[Mike Grinelli]

That's awesome.

[Merle]

I just got a question. Where do you think that backpack is gonna end up next year? I see that you're donating a lot of money and supplies to unh recently. Is that something that's going to happen down the line? What's in your future plans?

[Mike Grinelli]

Well, I think it's too old to play there.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

I got two years of eligibility left. So I'm just waiting for them to change the rules and maybe I can sneak back in there.

[Mike Grinelli]

You could probably make more with what you're making in the show now with these league minimums.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

Exactly. Paying to play now.

[Mike Grinelli]

Yeah, yeah.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

But I don't know. We'll see. I really enjoyed it in Columbus and felt was a great fit for me there. So that'd be something I'd be interested in maybe going back there. But again, we'll see what free agency in the summer brings. But obviously with how much I love the game and things like that, like you mentioned, the project at at UNH is something I'm trying to help with now. Just get them with. With some fundraising type stuff and just helping with their recovery related and performance related things. So I've gotten some, few, a couple brands to help donate some stuff to help the guys with. With that with their stuff there. So I don't know. We'll see. So that's kind of the few of the things that I guess I've had on the go more recently. But yeah, we'll see. Obviously I love the game and there's lots of different ways to be a part of it, I guess.

[Mike Grinelli]

We got a team in the echl, the Greensboro Gargoyles. I mean, I don't know if you have any interest. We throw the C on your jersey. We have great jerseys, great place to live. So if you're looking for a gig, at least in the meantime until you have one. And we could probably talk to Rod the Bod and get you with your buddy Freddie Anderson, considering we're owners of the team.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

Yeah, there we go. Maybe director of recovery or something or director of Mushroom Coffee Biz wants a.

[Merle]

Different kind of mushroom. But yeah, 16 goals last year is nothing to shake a stick at. If you guys didn't make the run, you would have probably been one of the top candidates at the, at the deadline because of we're seeing it this year more than ever. The, the mixer goals are going in and a team's definitely going to want you in a playoff run if you don't make it next year on your own team.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

Yeah, you know, that's, I think for me too that's been kind of assuring to see as you see guys like again like a Max Pacioretti or Corey Perry guys are a little bit older and I think maybe play sort of similar roles to what I envision for myself. So it's, it's again Nice to see guys like that having some success and me now going to the summer and realizing that there's still kind of value in that type of player at that time of year too. So. So yeah, that's always. That's been fun for me to watch and see as well.

[Mike Grinelli]

Jvr. Last one for me. We're both Toronto Maple Leaf alumni. Will, what do you make of these young guys that you played with this young core group trying to get it done. And what do you think their chances are against the Florida Panthers in this now? Best of three going home?

[James Van Riemsdyk]

Well, first things first. What's with the yellow shirt? With the alumni or the ambassador jacket? I, I didn't, I never got sent one of those. I have the. I actually do have a jacket like that that we wore for an outdoor game, but I didn't get the yellow shirt. So is that just your yellow shirt?

[Mike Grinelli]

My lucky, lucky shirt. I went to a, a bachelor party this summer. I did a jersey swap with a buddy. I wore it out and I won't get into details, but it was a pretty good night. You know, usually it's pretty decent when you get the sucked off your torso. So I mean, you know, that's just, you know, that's my. I got the lucky tie now they have the Ambassador jacket. So I just figured I'd go with it considering it's brought us luck, brought me luck last summer, it's brought us luck this season. So. But back back to you. Like, whose chance. Who do you think has the best chance of winning this series?

[James Van Riemsdyk]

Geez, I mean like I said before, like I have such a soft spot for, for the Leafs and just that like just seeing the vibes, like I can only imagine how much fun those guys are having just with how crazy it gets there during playoff time and, and, and especially in a series like this now where they, they have so such a good rivalry now with, with those guys and, and how hard fought the games have been. But I. It seem seemingly this year just watching it seems like there's a different sort of vibe and a feel to, to the team for whatever reason. I don't know if it's maybe some of the guys they picked up at the deadline or it's seemingly a. A team that's a, a little bit more maybe balanced. I don't know. I think getting a guy like our Jens and my buddy Scott Laden, I think that was a big get for them. But yeah, I think just for them going through some of the scars and the pain of, of having all those disappointments and maybe underachieving a little bit. And it just goes to show how hard it is that this time of the year. But it seems like this year, like with how they're playing, like I think things are starting to click and what it takes. And a guy like Chief too. I played for him my first couple years in Philly. I think he's kind of pushing the right buttons and he's a guy that's. He's got a perfect kind of temperament and, and balance not only for playoff hockey but for just kind of I think handling being in Toronto and everything extra that. That comes with that. So again, I'm always rooting for those guys to, to do well just because of all the history there. So I'd like to see them go on a run and, and kind of pull the series out. So I guess we'll, we'll see what happens.

[Mike Grinelli]

Any funny. Was Willie there when you were there?

[James Van Riemsdyk]

Yup, Yup, Willie. I think the only, the only guys left are Willie, Morgan, Austin, Mitch and I think that might be it at this point.

[Mike Grinelli]

So like any Merles was going full TMZ about Nylander being at the beach before game three. Do you have any funny stories about just how laid back he was as a young guy? Like, like this guy doesn't give a.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

But yeah, he's got just the posture that he has. Like you could tell like everything kind of just rolls off his shoulders and that's like the perfect temperament you need to play in a place like Toronto. Like he loves kind of that. That stage like that you could tell. I think Kali too, just because his dad played and the markets that his dad played too. Like what he. This is like as the. As high profile as it gets playing in a place like Toronto. So I think he's got the, the right vibe there where he kind of just lets the. Lets a lot of stuff just roll off his back and just goes about his business and comes out with his shirt off for the post game interview in the locker room and just that, that sort of calm confidence I think is important to have especially there and one of your best players. I think it can help just kind of kind of settle the minds of everyone else in the room. So I'm trying to think of some good ones from when he was first coming in. But I think just the one thing that sticks out is just kind of that posture that he has where he's walking around like kind of like very, like just laid back but very Conor McGregor pretty much. Yeah. Just right when he walked in Right from day one. So. And he said that same, same sort of swagger to him right away. And I don't think anyone was gonna knock.

[Biz Nasty]

Even Babcock couldn't beat it.

[Ryan Whitney]

On.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

Yeah, I was just gonna say no, no. If he can't get it out of him, I don't think anyone can. So. Yeah, no, it's, it's, it's, it's. I'm glad to see him doing well too, because he's another guy. Like you talk all his talent that he has too, but he grinds to. To be a. To be a player. I think all those guys there, they don't get enough credit for that.

[Paul Bissonnette]

They.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

They work at it. They treat it like a craft and like, like a job and how they approach it and they're always trying to kind of reinvent themselves a little bit or add new tricks to their bags. And I got to see a lot of that firsthand. But yeah, it's nice to. Again, nice to see the growth that those guys have had since when I've been there. And now they're all superstar bonafide superstars and guys that any team would love to have.

[Ryan Whitney]

So my. My last thing for you, looking back and thinking of you in Toronto, does. Does any funny Phil Kessel memory just pop into your head?

[Mike Grinelli]

Oh, crazy.

[Biz Nasty]

He does the best.

[Mike Grinelli]

Phil, we might have to start a new podcast, send out a new link.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

G. Oh my God. That's literally like when I was playing there, that was like, no one would even ask me like, how my buddies that would like, like, they text me, be like, what. What's the latest thing with Phil? Like, let's see, let's see. What do you do today? Even the same this year with the guys, like the guy they. Anything. Everything about Toronto was only about Phil. Geez. I'm trying to think of ones that maybe I haven't told you guys before, but yeah, he was just. Every day, it was just full on, full on comedy with him. Just like, just as like, just like the Voice. He's chewing like six pieces of gum in there too. And just like, just like he's the. He's the epitome of just, you know, how we all are where we like to complain about everything. Like, he. He definitely gets the. Oh yeah, the juice is going for that. And then. But again, it's like not in a way that's like negative. It's like it kind of makes it funny and brings the guys together.

[Mike Grinelli]

So yeah, like, wit. Yeah. I feel like Whitney Yans are like they bitch and it's like sometimes it's like, oh, fuck, they bitch a lot. But fuck, like 95% of the time.

[Biz Nasty]

It'S like hilarious coming from the guy bitching that he worked 15 days straight and stayed at a Four Seasons and ate at fucking Nobu every day. Yeah, we really complain a lot. What was the. What was the one. Didn't he have one where when you were playing against him, he's like, don't fucking forget who made you remer.

[Mike Grinelli]

Yeah.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

Oh, that was, that was. That's one of my favorite ones.

[Ryan Whitney]

Where.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

Or at the first time playing against him in Pittsburgh, like, I gave him a little whack on the, on the top of the laces and he looks over at me, he goes. He goes. He called me James. The only guy who ever calls me James. Everyone's JVR Reamer, but he goes, james, don't forget who made you a player in this league. So he was this. He was just all time. We had actually Christian Fisher who got. We picked up after the deadline and he, he's really good buddies with Phil. So we, we. We check in and we actually talked to him for the first time in a while. He's usually. He ghost my text now, so I don't know if he's gotten too big time for me, Phil, but. But I got to talk to him on a couple of times and just, just laugh a minute with him. So he's all time.

[Ryan Whitney]

Well, dude, he. He is a legend. So are you. We appreciate you coming on, man. I think you. You'd probably pick your brother's team to get it done. So I don't think it's fair if we ask you who you think is going to win because, you know, family comes first. But we appreciate you coming on, dude. And good luck. Good luck the rest of the summer finding a new team. Hopefully you're back in Columbus maybe. But we appreciate you taking your time.

[Mike Grinelli]

To join us, buddy, and maybe do a little trip one time. Maybe he doesn't.

[Biz Nasty]

This guy.

[Mike Grinelli]

You don't golf?

[James Van Riemsdyk]

That's. When I retire, I'm gonna. I'm gonna learn how to play. I'm awful, so I don't even waste my time out there, but my brother's awesome. Three handicaps off. They get on with him. Maybe we'll have to do something. He's. He'll. He'll carry me around out there.

[Mike Grinelli]

Maybe we all go to the. The cause. Merle's and game notes guys, they go to the NCAA Frozen four. Maybe we do like a drip trip with all the boys, we do like a track Seedo trip and we. We all get the band together.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

Send me the link that I'm ordering.

[Mike Grinelli]

I'm there. All right, let's go.

[Biz Nasty]

Reamer's got twins coming too, so good luck this summer.

[Mike Grinelli]

Wow.

[Paul Bissonnette]

Yeah.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

Oh, yeah. It's gonna be pure chaos. Twin boys coming in September, so.

[Mike Grinelli]

Oh, that's awesome.

[Ryan Whitney]

They're like, yeah, you can' Blanket wrapped around the. The baby.

[James Van Riemsdyk]

We're going to be pushing the limits on that, so we'll see.

[Mike Grinelli]

Could you imagine the diaper with the diapers are filled up with the mushroom coffee.

[Biz Nasty]

They'll be wearing his diapers.

[Ryan Whitney]

All right, see you, bud.

[Biz Nasty]

Love you, Reamer.

[Ryan Whitney]

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[Mike Grinelli]

I've heard of him.

[Ryan Whitney]

And in Miko Rontanen's last six games, he has 17 points, nine goals, two hat tricks, two game winning goals. He's the first player in NHL history with a hat trick in the third period of a game seven. And the first mystery first player in NHL history with four point periods in back to back games. So that's, that's courtesy of Liam Blutman right there. So I, I just, I'm amazed at what we're watching. It's. It's out of control. And Pete DeBoer, he said this is scary. He's just getting started. That's all he's doing. He's just getting the engine going. He's just warming up. He's a man on a mission. That's coming from his coach. So Winnipeg fans are scared. They're worried.

[Merle]

One thing while you're talking about Pete DeBoer, I happen to fall into this on YouTube. There's a little video him and Paul Marie sharing a coffee and I think it was when they were in Finland at the world Games. Really great story how they, they played together in junior and then just their whole coaching philosophies and you see why both these guys have awesome teams. But they could be on that collision course for the final.

[Ryan Whitney]

That would be an un. Real final. That really would be. I don't know if Gary Bettman would be the biggest fan, but Mer would be back at.

[Mike Grinelli]

I mean if you're thinking about growing the game in southern United States, I mean those are two like, like the, those buildings are rocking. Like if from a visual standpoint I would put Dallas on par with what. With that, with what Edmonton's got going on at home. Like it's just like the people are on their feet for part of the games. Like the, like the disco lights going, they got the lime green lights on the staircases, people losing their minds. Like I feel like as far as fan engagement, that's one of the best in, in the league at this point. So yeah, that could, that could definitely be a final. We did have some other hockey chatter to get to. There are a few other wizard that we have quick hits with.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, part of the quick hits was talking about the Worlds. Very bizarre to see Nathan McKinnon wearing number nine and, and it's pretty cool. Flurry comes over. Flurry made this Insane save the other day. It was it against Latvia. The guy look like. I think Bucci tweeted, like, he should not be retiring. I get it. But he still has so much game. But seeing sid there and McKinnon and just that Canadian roster. Ryan O'Reilly's there as one of the assistant captains as well.

[Mike Grinelli]

They're on a. A Flurry retirement tour right now over there on the. On team Canada's dimension. Getting some W's. But come on, we. We all know what's happening here, don't we?

[Merle]

Yeah, interviewed, I think it was Sid after the game on Saturday. They said, oh, what's going on now? After the big win, he's like, nah, we're just gonna take it easy. We play again tomorrow. And then he kind of left it at that. So then they. They dummied a team yesterday. 6 nothing. I'm sure they had a night last night.

[Mike Grinelli]

We're probably getting in right now.

[Ryan Whitney]

Are they in Stockholm?

[Merle]

Stockholm? Yeah, half of it's in Stockholm. The US Brackets in Denmark.

[Mike Grinelli]

Oh, Stockholm is just. You walk around there. I mean, everybody's fit. The women are just. It's a joke. They're not even human beings. They're fembots. They're fembots.

[Merle]

Fantasy.

[Mike Grinelli]

I had a 9 stalking me at the, at the games. When we were there for the World Premiere Games. The guys were. They were loving it and losing it on me. I remember Brooks Orping, hey, your girlfriend here on the glass World premiere sweater. But every time I'd skate by, she'd be banging on the glass. I'm like, oh, my God.

[Merle]

The original glass banger.

[Mike Grinelli]

Yeah, the original, yeah. What happened to Yance?

[Ryan Whitney]

I think he had to go. You talked about Dallas's home crowd. Those missiles behind the bench. She kind of looks like a Swedish fembot. I wonder if we'll see her again in the series. She might just wait till game sevens. Only that might be the problem with her.

[Mike Grinelli]

Do you think that if they get to the conference finals, we see Glass banger? Apparently his. His exit date from prison is May 15th.

[Ryan Whitney]

You gotta think that you know what his parole officer should be like, no Stars games. Like, you can't be going to the Stars games because what do you think he's doing at the Stars games? He's doing drugs, drinking like a fish, and he's going to be on parole. So Glassbanger might be done. If he actually was a true fan. The way they're going, he wouldn't show his face.

[Mike Grinelli]

That's what I mean. That's What? I mean, but he doesn't think like that.

[Ryan Whitney]

He's a dirtbag.

[Mike Grinelli]

No, he thinks that like adding. He thinks adding him in the conference finals if they get there is like them picking up Ran at the deadline.

[Ryan Whitney]

No, he's like, we don't need Heskin and back. We just need me banging on the glass. That's what'll get us to Stanley.

[Mike Grinelli]

He's like, especially, especially if we wanna. If we wanna match Florida's forecheck. You're gonna need me in there banging up against the glass. And we're fighting below the goal line. For bucks.

[Ryan Whitney]

The other hockey news was Gavin McKenna. His. His point streak was snapped at 54 games.

[Mike Grinelli]

Oh, okay.

[Ryan Whitney]

54 games. He had right over this historic run. He had 129 points. What the fuck?

[Merle]

Insane.

[Ryan Whitney]

129 points in 50. 54 games in a row. November 2nd of 2024 was the last time he didn't score a point.

[Mike Grinelli]

Yeah, so like three weeks into the season, four weeks into the season, that's.

[Merle]

Offered him up like three months ago from like to live in my basement next year, play at rbi. No money, just. He gets to live in my basement. Free food.

[Ryan Whitney]

Just being your yard work.

[Mike Grinelli]

Did you DM him?

[Merle]

No, no, I just put it out in the Internet.

[Mike Grinelli]

Oh, okay. The interwebs.

[Merle]

Yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

You got a restraining order against.

[Mike Grinelli]

I tried to recruit him to Davenport University where I was. Went to and when I was in Saginaw, Michigan. Didn't get a reply back. Left me on red.

[Merle]

Yeah, he's something else. And then I guess there's this other prospect out west. Schultz or something. Maddox Schultz. And he's doing the same type of stuff, just a year younger. So insane, insane prospects coming out of the Western League, which gets army all horned up.

[Ryan Whitney]

I know. I think that kid might even be two years younger. They just got these Western kids. What are they doing out there? What's happening to Ontario biz? Where are your 14 year old superstars?

[Mike Grinelli]

Usually they're just going to the OHL as double underagers if they're that good. I think Grinnelli just posted in the chat here that Landon Dup Dupont. Yeah, we. Yeah, we played with Mickey. He's a. He's a stud too. What was I just going to get to? Oh, they. They also had the little fun fact there. Do. Do players at the double IHF tournament now have to wear neck guards?

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah.

[Mike Grinelli]

Okay, so I guess Sid busted out his neck guard from when he was 14 years old.

[Ryan Whitney]

I saw that tweet is that actually his.

[Mike Grinelli]

From then it looked like it. It looked like one of those old high tech ones.

[Ryan Whitney]

If anyone would do that, it's him.

[Merle]

He called his old man like, hey, can you go in the garage, go underneath that mouse trap and find out my old gear, get that neck guard, ship it to Sweden overnight.

[Mike Grinelli]

All right. Real.

[Ryan Whitney]

Oh, boys, I'm nervous tonight. You are nervous, Mer. So it'll be a. I think I'm 3:50 in the morning. Puck drop. What are you gonna do?

[Merle]

I'm going to bed early and I'm getting up for that game. I'm not gonna. I'm not wasting my time with the Carolina game. I'm gonna get a few hours in. I'll be up at 3:30. I got a new prop for tonight.

[Ryan Whitney]

Oh, oh, new prop.

[Merle]

EBR chain.

[Ryan Whitney]

So Murr, let me ask you this. You did not watch game three though.

[Merle]

That's what I know. I know.

[Ryan Whitney]

So I watched the morning.

[Mike Grinelli]

This is the fan stuff. I'm talking about what you do.

[Ryan Whitney]

This is the fan stuff. So yeah, I'm happy to hear that you'll be awake.

[Merle]

How about this? I'm gonna get up if it's bad after the first and I'm going back down and then I'll just play it. Play it by the year. Is it play it by ear or play it by ear?

[Mike Grinelli]

No clue.

[Ryan Whitney]

I. I have. I mean, I just say both. You know who you're talking to?

[Mike Grinelli]

I rotate.

[Ryan Whitney]

He says worldwind.

[Mike Grinelli]

I rotate.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah.

[Mike Grinelli]

Play it by year. Play it by ear. Play.

[Ryan Whitney]

So you know, hey, how about this story? How about this story from this weekend? This is, you know when they talk about character and who you are.

[Mike Grinelli]

Yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

And as a, as a parent or a father or a mother, what you need to teach your kids is lessons, right? You guys know. I know Merle does. You know who Matthew Slater is?

[Mike Grinelli]

I. The name sounds familiar.

[Ryan Whitney]

So he played on the Patriots for a long time, I believe. One of the greatest special team players in NFL history. And people that know about the NFL would, would know way more. So my son Ryder plays in a flag football league. Now this is all first graders. So they had a big game this weekend where the two top dogs from first grade are playing against each other. There's a kid Will on my son's team and there's a kid, lj, my buddy's son on the other team. This is Falcons versus Buccaneers. Flag football. It's phenomenal right now. These two kids, they're always the captains at recess and soccer, they're the top dogs. And they were going head to head. So we get to the field, this is yesterday morning, Mother's Day morning. And, and Will's not there yet. So Ryder's team. Where's Will? Where's Will? Where's Will? LJ's already over there. He's down the other end. This is the, this is the matchup that they've all been waiting for. And they're all going to be talking about today at school, right? Sure. As, as the game goes on. Will 99 yard touchdown run. LJ pick six, 99 yards back the other way. Will another 90 yard touchdown run. And there's no tackle. They can't even get the flags off these kids. LJ another runs it from the end zone down. Boom. So somehow, Riders team, the Falcons, they got a four point lead, all right? But the Bucks get the ball back and LJ's ready. I ain't going.

[Mike Grinelli]

Last play of the game, like last sequence.

[Ryan Whitney]

There's got to be a minute and a half left.

[Mike Grinelli]

Okay? All right.

[Ryan Whitney]

And the Buccaneers drive down the field. LJ rumbling, stumbling, and Will's making tackles. And it's one on one. It's six on six, but it's one on one. Will versus LJ, king of first grade at Glover School. LJ's team runs one in with about 10 seconds left for the win. Okay. Ah, shit. You know the Bucks, the Bucks are rattled. I mean, the Falcons are rattled. Riders over there crying. It's not good. Well, all of a sudden, Matthew Slater, legendary NHL, NFL player, the coach of the Buccaneers, the team who just scored. No, no, no, no. My player ran out of bounds. No touchdown, no touchdown. His team's celebrating, but it's like, wow, he did run out of bounds. But the coach. And they had one play left. But the coach said, I'm not winning like that. A man of character. I'm not winning like that. He was out of bounds. The ref called touchdown, but they reversed it. There's an NFL legend stand.

[Mike Grinelli]

Ref's like, okay, we argue with the other coach. You just wanted to.

[Ryan Whitney]

And that's honorable, right? Like this guy, it's his team. All right, we'll call it back. We'll call it back. So they come down to the last play of the game. Now there's a kid Ryder goes to school with that's on his team, Mickey. We're going to call him Tricky Mickey. Ryder calls him Tricky Mickey. I don't know if just Ryder calls him Tricky Mickey, but he says he's always playing tricks. Now also a little description of Mickey this kid is going places in life and I'll tell you why. This kid came home, he's six years old, for two weeks, his mom said, hey, any homework? You got any homework? He's like, no, mom, the school ran out of paper. She's like, really? He's like, yeah, it's crazy. I don't know. There's a big paper shortage. He was stuffing his homework in his locker for two weeks and then telling his mom that there was a paper shortage. Six years old, that's a kid you knows going far. Tricky Mickey.

[Mike Grinelli]

Tricky Mickey, I love.

[Ryan Whitney]

Last play of the game. QB drops back. Bucks are trying to get the win after Matthew Slater took back their own touchdown. Tricky Mickey comes flying off the side and bats down the pass, going to LJ for the win. Team jumps on him. They're going crazy.

[Mike Grinelli]

Wins.

[Ryan Whitney]

Riders. Just a legendary ending of a flag football game with character being shown by a head coach. How many youth coaches out there are going to say, no, no, no, my guy ran out of bounds. So Tricky Mickey was the hero, the big dog. Will got the win. I'm sure today at recess, soccer games going to be Will versus lj. We'll see. But it was very impressive as a parent and a coach to see that's what it's all about, right? You want to play by the rules, you want to have and live with character. And I saw Matthew Slater do it, so no wonder he was such a, I think a three time super bowl champ. But Tricky Mickey came through in the clutch.

[Mike Grinelli]

Oh, man, this Tricky, if he's ever up for adoption, let me know. That's the type of kid I'd adopt.

[Ryan Whitney]

No, they ran out of paper, Mom. What a move. Kid's gonna be a CEO or something.

[Mike Grinelli]

Yeah, exactly.

[Merle]

On that note, I got my. I got Lily's first ever soccer practice tonight.

[Mike Grinelli]

He's gonna get in politics.

[Merle]

Hoping she, she loves to run, she loves to kick the ball. Let's see if I got. Got a super.

[Ryan Whitney]

Are you coaching?

[Merle]

No, no, no. Swedish, Swedish, Swedish. Soccer. I wouldn't be the best communicator with the five year olds.

[Ryan Whitney]

He's like, Ah, I got a plus 7,500 first goal score. The girls are looking at you like, what's wrong with this guy? All right, we got hockey tonight. We're looking for a little more excitement out of Carolina Washington. Washington's got to answer the bell. I think they do. I know Carolina hasn't lost at home, but I think we get that series at 2:2 and then it's me versus Murr, I'm glad you're going to be awake, Mer, because we can be texting, going back and forth on the group chat biz. Great show.

[Mike Grinelli]

Yeah, thank you.

[Ryan Whitney]

You're in one. I mean, you're in one right now. But I like, do I.

[Mike Grinelli]

Was I complaining about 15 days of work that hard? Like, was it like, did I say what Did I say that? Was that really set you guys up.

[Merle]

One time and Yan. Yan's picked it up and then I just been going with it too.

[Mike Grinelli]

Okay, so if I work. If I. I mentioned working 15 days in a row, it's complaining. Okay, I got noted.

[Ryan Whitney]

No, I think you were just like, yeah, I'm really, really tired. You know, stuff that's normal. Which you were.

[Mike Grinelli]

Yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

But then I think people listening who are doing like manual labor are probably like, yeah, you know, as.

[Mike Grinelli]

As that's fair.

[Ryan Whitney]

As would be expected, but that's fair. Buddy. You're in the entertainment game. Sometimes people look at, hey, he's working for a couple hours doing a game. Well, your brain's got to be on. You got to be making content hours.

[Mike Grinelli]

Yeah, eight hours. And then like we had the 14 hour days where we had to do the whole day slate of games. And you know, you're also going to the wee hours in the morning. Your sleep patterns are off. Then I had to fly back to Arizona. We're talking about time change. Like I'm 40 years old, guys. I'm not on the t. Maybe I should get on it. Maybe I should get. Should get like a naturopath to get me on some more supplements so I can last through these. These grind days. But Mer, good luck to your team tonight. Also, good luck to you. Thank you guys for not torturing me too hard. But, hey, we got a series.

[Ryan Whitney]

Well, it's 2. 2. You're not down 3 0.

[Mike Grinelli]

Well, I got my head beat in on a drum last night on national television. So thank you two for not taking it to that level.

[Ryan Whitney]

Those. Those shirts are for sale. So if anyone out there can't stand biz and wants a shirt where he looks like an idiot that I drew on my phone with my fat finger, they're for sale.

[Mike Grinelli]

That might be our highest grossing shirt of all time. And the fact that you are the artist on it is just like. It's like the chef's kiss, right?

[Ryan Whitney]

It's so exact.

[Mike Grinelli]

It's so Chiclets.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah.

[Mike Grinelli]

Can we pull up the shirt? Can we pull it up what it would look like if people bought it? Did we get a visual of it.

[Merle]

I saw it on the Twitter on X today.

[Mike Grinelli]

Maybe we just show the people to close out the live stream the business.

[Merle]

If I need to rally, I'm back here, back home. I got the shooters to rally us.

[Mike Grinelli]

But listen, thank you to our crew. Nick, we got g, Fish, Pasha, all the boys behind the scenes. You guys make it work. Also people who are what. When we post it to YouTube. Now when we get off, it takes about 15, 20 minutes to recalibrate. So it starts at the start of the show. So you don't need to go in the comments and be like, the show's off, the show's off. The show's off. We got it. It's going to recalibrate 20 minutes from now. And to close it out. That was the original one.

[Ryan Whitney]

I want. That's not the one people want.

[Mike Grinelli]

That's the original.

[Ryan Whitney]

That's the original.

[Mike Grinelli]

Last night.

[Ryan Whitney]

Can we sell biz idiot too?

[Mike Grinelli]

We sell them all. We got the biz idiot and we got the leafs win.

[Merle]

I don't know. It's a lot of design work to change that. That just epic drawing, you know, with. I don't know.

[Ryan Whitney]

That's.

[Mike Grinelli]

That's g. Is. Are the biz idiot ones available? Just like the leafs wins, the biz.

[Merle]

Idiot shirts are available in u. S and Canada. And I think they are moving right now.

[Biz Nasty]

So.

[Mike Grinelli]

All right. They're.

[Merle]

Hey, I'll play the I want more games. I want. I want to go to Florida is the only reason I'm against the Leafs.

[Mike Grinelli]

I'm a better heel than John Cena.

[Ryan Whitney]

I'm the most hated. What I saw some tweet about this is why Vince McMahon never made him the heel. Like, I. I don't follow wwe.

[Mike Grinelli]

It's because he's not a good heel. I'm a good heel. I got the whole hockey world outside of leaf. I got Leafs fans hating me. I got.

[Ryan Whitney]

That's when you.

[Mike Grinelli]

That's. That's when you know you play a good heel. So all you haters out there, just.

[Ryan Whitney]

Remember you got to be the only ambassador hated by the fan base because ambassadors are legends.

[Mike Grinelli]

Hey, all you haters out there, ok.

[Ryan Whitney]

Sign us off like Mike.

[Merle]

Thanks to Mike Madonna at italistars. That's.

[Mike Grinelli]

That's an ambassador, Sam.

[Ryan Whitney]

It.