Ryan Whitney (1:14)

And experience the craftsmanship behind every bite.

John Feidelberg (1:20)

Me and Ryan have been officially welcomed.

Vincent Damphousse (1:22)

To the jungle that is Barstool Sports.

Paul Bissonnette (1:24)

Our white whale, Sidney Crosby. Shave his head. Shave his head. Shave his head. Ryan Whitney. Paul Vincent Ra Mike Grinelli. Spittin Chicklets. What is up, folks? Welcome to episode 579 of the spitting Chicklets podcast presented to you by Da da da da. Keith's got the shirt on. Pink Whitney. Labor Day is coming. Biz. Is there a Labor Day in Canada?

Ryan Whitney (2:00)

I have no clue.

Paul Bissonnette (2:01)

Ok, well, either way, you can celebrate our Labor Day with some Pink Whitney up north, in the States, in Mexico, wherever you can get it, wherever you can drink it. Enjoy. The end of the summer. Kind of the official end of the summer. I don't think on the calendar it's the end of the summer, but the official kids back to school NFL and college football starting end of summer. So Pink Whitney is where it's at. We got the shots, we got the nips, we got the big bottles, we got the little bottles, we got it all. Keith's got the merch, we got great hats. Go check it out if you haven't. And Canada does celebrate Labor Day first Monday in September. Okay, so shout out Labor Day in both countries and shout out Pink Whitney. Guys, what is going on? How you. How you guys doing?

Whitney (2:44)

I'm Great. Back in Florida, kids.

Paul Bissonnette (2:49)

You're back, dude.

Whitney (2:50)

Which I think, speaking of Labor Day. No school should start before Labor Day, but they do down here. Florida, which brutal. Which stinks. Takes away from my last. You know, every week in Nantucket means a lot. You know that wit, right?

Paul Bissonnette (3:03)

Yeah.

Whitney (3:05)

I think it'd be nice to be coming back next week, but I've been here since last Tuesday, so it's. It's been nice to get back. Sitting out here talking to you guys just kind of reminds me that hockey season's coming soon. Yeah, I know. It's not as soon as football season. You know, we got a couple weeks of that before we get training camp and everything going. But I'm excited. Excited to be chatting with you guys. Busy. Just coming back from his tennis match, so that'll be fun to talk about. Here we go.

Paul Bissonnette (3:35)

Tennis biz. I see a tennis racket over there.

Ryan Whitney (3:37)

I. I've had this tennis racket for like four or five years. Event for the Coyotes when I was working with them and I had to buy one. So I just figured every summer when I come up, who knows, maybe I'll get asked to play tennis. And it doesn't seem like it's that hard to lug around, so I just throw it in the truck and. And I bring it up. So that's so not trying to be.

Paul Bissonnette (3:54)

A hardo, but I would play you in tennis and, like, you smoke me.

Ryan Whitney (3:59)

You would smoke me. I can't. I can't figure out the process of, like, the. Where you meet the ball in tennis. So every time I hit it, it just goes into orbit where ping pong send it you.

Paul Bissonnette (4:10)

Like.

Ryan Whitney (4:12)

The only racket sport I'm good at is pickleball, but I feel like everybody in their grandma is good at pickleball, so it's not like you're that skilled, but you would get at least most of the time hit it over the net and you get a good aerobic workout. So to me, pickleball is the way to go. And then if not that, a little bit of ping pong. But I was going to throw it back over to you, Yans. I saw you were rubbing elbows with Caesar Big cease down in Florida. Where'd you see him at?

Whitney (4:39)

It was a autograph. Like an autograph. Like a card. Comic con type thing. Like a card show.

Ryan Whitney (4:46)

He's getting card gigs now.

Whitney (4:48)

Oh, dude, you think he wasn't. You should have seen his line. You should have seen my line. It was a joke. But yeah, yeah, obviously great to see him. Just A class act. And he's always wanting to chirp you. But it's called the hobby. The hobby card show is the guys that put it on. Unreal guys had everything dialed up for us sitting there, you know, you take pictures, sign some autographs. Who was there? Oh, your boy.

Ryan Whitney (5:14)

Upper deck should make.

Whitney (5:17)

Yeah, they did.

Ryan Whitney (5:19)

Did they actually.

Vincent Damphousse (5:20)

Yeah.

Ryan Whitney (5:20)

Come on.

Whitney (5:21)

No, no. I don't know.

Ryan Whitney (5:22)

They got.

Paul Bissonnette (5:23)

They should have a card.

Whitney (5:24)

Yeah, I know.

Ryan Whitney (5:25)

They should have a super fan section for, like. And then, like, make them all like. Like, what do you. When you. When they. When you tilt them, they're a different color. How do you say that?

Paul Bissonnette (5:33)

Like a hologram.

Ryan Whitney (5:35)

Yeah, like a hologram.

Vincent Damphousse (5:36)

Yeah.

Ryan Whitney (5:37)

Special super fan holograms. Oh, how about that? Tongue twister. I should be fucking working for upper deck over here.

Paul Bissonnette (5:43)

Say it again.

Ryan Whitney (5:44)

The superfan hologram, bitch.

Whitney (5:47)

Super fan hologram.

Ryan Whitney (5:48)

Oh, here comes big ceeze on the super gram hologram. Oh, no. Super fan. Superfan. Not super. Graham.

Paul Bissonnette (5:54)

Just, like, busy.

Ryan Whitney (5:56)

Yeah, he's wheeling. He's wheeling, and it's, like, got flames in the back of his tires.

Whitney (6:00)

He told me he gets 21 miles on his. On his wheelchair. It's unbelievable. He said he used to drive it to the game from his host. He must have lived, like, five miles away, and he would drive it to.

Ryan Whitney (6:13)

How fast can it get?

Whitney (6:15)

I didn't ask that, but he was. I was just chatting with him quick, like, how's your summer been? Like, how is the Stanley cup parade? All that stuff. He was like. Like, still just in shock that, like, he was a part of it. The guys just drew to him. Obviously, very complimentary of you guys, just, you know, getting them in there and being a part of the celebration and everything, but he just. You would have thought they just wanted a day before with, like, how excited he still was about it. It was. It was great to see.

Ryan Whitney (6:39)

That's awesome.

Whitney (6:41)

Yeah.

Paul Bissonnette (6:41)

Dude. If he could ever smash you again, this. This upcoming playoff, it would be, you know, you should have to go, like, live with them or something. If. If. If he dumb as you again.

Ryan Whitney (6:51)

He is his. His butler.

Paul Bissonnette (6:53)

Yeah.

John Feidelberg (6:53)

Yeah.

Ryan Whitney (6:54)

Driving. Driving. The games dropped.

Vincent Damphousse (6:57)

Yeah.

Paul Bissonnette (6:57)

Do all the stuff that he doesn't feel like doing for a month.

Ryan Whitney (7:01)

I could be Caesar's. I think a week would be sufficient. I think even from last year, I. I should have to go drive and be his butler for game one. We're getting a season ticket this year. We. That was. That was part of the biz. Idiot.

Paul Bissonnette (7:15)

Forgot about that.

Vincent Damphousse (7:15)

We.

Ryan Whitney (7:16)

Yeah, we're getting a season ticket. So I should have to be his bitch for game one. We'll talk to him about that. Yeah, they should give him. They should at least give him like a special parking spot for when he gets to the game. He must have like a section where they do a. Like a tailgate beforehand.

Whitney (7:30)

Yeah.

Ryan Whitney (7:31)

Do they do a lot of those down there?

Whitney (7:33)

Yeah, they do. Especially during playoffs. They do. I don't know how much during the regular season, but I know in playoffs it's buzzing out there and kind of like Raleigh how North Carolina is, but yeah, they get it going.

Ryan Whitney (7:43)

Who just had their. Oh, yeah. So Sam Reinhardt had his cup party. Oh, is Pasha on? Pasha went to Sam Reinhardt's cup party. He got buckled with him.

Paul Bissonnette (7:52)

Of course he did. And he just rubbed. He just like rubbed the devil's names from their three cups the whole time. They're like, pasha, come have a drink.

John Feidelberg (8:00)

He's like, babe, look at this.

Paul Bissonnette (8:02)

Rubbing Ken Danico's name on the cup.

Ryan Whitney (8:06)

What was it like? What was it like being at. At Reinhardt's party back to back? It felt like he was doing a lot more things publicly too. Like he was in the news a little bit more with it.

John Feidelberg (8:16)

Yeah, definitely. I think, like just kind of more like you said, more public facing. Last year, the party was at the family house, and it was an amazing time. So we were all kind of wondering how that was going to get topped. And then this year, a family friend of our family friend of theirs, like one of the big, biggest developers in town, hosted the party on the water at his shack. It was just like insane house. So hell of a party. And as you saw in that video business, he sent couple cocktails were had. Sammy was, you know, rightfully letting his hair down, having a good time.

Ryan Whitney (8:47)

Well, they had him cutting like a hockey hall of fame promo, and he's buckled. He's been drinking all day. Probably went out the night before marble, and he's. He's keeping it on the rails. Just like he was in that chicken ad that he did right afterward too.

John Feidelberg (9:00)

Because all of them were the next day, raising canes.

Ryan Whitney (9:03)

Yeah. What's it called? Raising canes. Yeah, they got these guys doing DQ and raising cane's ads. They can't even see straight.

Whitney (9:11)

They sound like Vegas.

Ryan Whitney (9:13)

Yeah, the Stanley cup hockey hall of fame video. They come in at the hockey hall of Fame.

Paul Bissonnette (9:17)

But that's like authentic, right? Like that. You're watch. You're watching a legit legend of the game in the past few years be crippled announcing, like, come on down to the hall of Fame. Get a picture with me. Couple years I'll be living outside this place on the street. But I won that those couple cups. The guy has backto back game winning game, Stanley cup, clinching goals like he should be.

Ryan Whitney (9:45)

I. I didn't have every single one of them in game six this year. Yeah, a guy pass the puck for Christ's sake.

Paul Bissonnette (9:52)

Any other Panthers there? No, no.

John Feidelberg (9:55)

It was actually nice though because Sam's name lined up literally side by side from the last two years. And it was nice kind of seeing the empty patch beside it where Nico Heer and company's name is going to be next.

Ryan Whitney (10:05)

Oh yeah, there you go. Way to write a story.

John Feidelberg (10:10)

You know, I had to mention the devil somehow.

Ryan Whitney (10:12)

Who is the drunken drunkest brother because they got three Reinhardt boys.

John Feidelberg (10:17)

Definitely Sam. Definitely.

Ryan Whitney (10:18)

Oh, what's Sam?

Whitney (10:19)

Good.

Ryan Whitney (10:19)

Okay. Griffin and Max kept it together, keeping.

John Feidelberg (10:22)

It free on the rails. It was nice. The night before it was like a more intimate dinner at the spot Giardino's in town, kind of like an OG Italian spot. So that was like probably 20, 30 of us. That was nice getting to actually hang with him because the next day at the party there was, I don't know, 100 under 30 people there. So he's getting swarmed. He's just doing photos non stop and they're doing the espresso martini shots out of the top of the cup. So like no wonder he was fucking cross eyed because like everyone is coming up. Let's take a photo, do a shot. So yeah, it was great. It was because of the Air Canada going on with the strikes. He ended up getting it for two nights instead of like one. So it was, it kind of worked out.

Ryan Whitney (10:57)

Oh yeah. Did you hear about the strikes?

Paul Bissonnette (10:59)

Air Canada, something else. Biz and Pasha, you too, as, as that being your country's airline. What a joke, man. You guys are, you guys are laughed out of the building in the airline space.

John Feidelberg (11:10)

It's a disgrace what is going on there.

Ryan Whitney (11:13)

I think that they, I think that they need more options in Canada. It seems to be.

John Feidelberg (11:18)

It's a monopoly.

Ryan Whitney (11:20)

Yeah, it's not a monopoly. It's a by. By monopoly. Because there's two airlines. Like west has a. I'm, I'm saying it wrong, but West TR has a strong presence. Air Canada being the biggest, I would say the biggest gripe that I agree with the, the workers on is they don't get paid until the plane takes off. So if you're sitting for four hours on the tarmac, you ain't Getting paid. That's.

Whitney (11:46)

That. That should make them want to take off and not us sitting on the tarmac for four hours.

John Feidelberg (11:50)

Fair point.

Ryan Whitney (11:51)

That ain't their problem. They're just there to serve you, serve you drinks and smell your farts. That's what hands would call them fart sniffers.

Paul Bissonnette (12:01)

Elliott tweet cracked me up like this. There's some absolute jackass pilot out there that's been rooting for the Leafs since he was born. He's like, welcome to Toronto, the home of the future Stanley cup champs. The whole plane's like, buddy. Even Leafs fans on the plane are probably like, bro, Biz is flying this fucking plane right now. Like, imagine Biz flying a plane and, like, swiping right on.

Ryan Whitney (12:25)

Ryan, buckle up your seatbelts. Buckle up your seatbelts.

Vincent Damphousse (12:29)

It's our year.

Paul Bissonnette (12:32)

It's Paul business.

Ryan Whitney (12:34)

Turn all of your technology off. And we're about to land.

Vincent Damphousse (12:38)

None of the lavatories work.

Whitney (12:39)

Just pee in your bed.

Ryan Whitney (12:41)

Yeah, I'll hold your for you. Just empty it up front over here in first class. Where were we? We were talking.

Vincent Damphousse (12:49)

Yeah.

Ryan Whitney (12:49)

Air Canada striking. Obviously, we can blame it. I mean, I think a lot of people called it, but I just felt it was coming.

Whitney (12:57)

That's a good sign for the Leafs.

Ryan Whitney (12:59)

That's why I'm back on the Leafs train, getting it done this year. I said. I predicted that a few weeks ago. I said, tommy's going to get it done. Did I know he was going to get it done at the Tour Championship with. For the half golfers who listen to our podcast who don't really know what's going on. This is kind of like the finals of the full season now. It used to be called the FedEx cup, is it not the FedEx anymore.

Paul Bissonnette (13:21)

I think it still is. Yeah, it is. It is it.

Ryan Whitney (13:24)

It's only a certain amount of golfers who have accumulated a certain amount of points where there's only a third of 30 golfers, and the winner of this tournament gets paid, what, four to three to four times more than any other tournament, paid out the entire season long.

Paul Bissonnette (13:38)

I think he got 10 million.

Ryan Whitney (13:41)

I thought it was 15 million.

Whitney (13:43)

Is that the tournament where, like, so Scheffler would have started? Like, minus 20 or whatever?

John Feidelberg (13:48)

Like, they get, like.

Paul Bissonnette (13:48)

So it used to be they. It's. It's a kind of a goofy way that they do it. I. I hear a lot of different ideas for how you could maybe change it. Kind of like match plays like the one you hear most, but for a while, they made it, for a while it was. You could win that tournament, the Tour Championship, but then there'd be a different FedEx cup winner. So that was kind of like, we don't want like two winners. You know what I mean? Like, and then they went to the, the, the handicap system where if you were number one, like Scheffler, you start at minus 10, and then the next guy's minus 8, 7, 6, 5 and so on and so forth. And then that was kind of even more ridiculous because it's like, all right, what are we doing here? And then they went. This, this was the first year of just top 30 guys go, whoever wins wins the FedEx Cup. But it is crazy that Scheffler literally just dominated everyone and didn't win the FedEx Cup. So it's like, I don't think there's a way to make everyone happy because even if you went to match play, you're still. And that guy loses first round if Sheff. It's like, well, Sheffler still was the best player this year. So I don't know. But Fleetwood Biz. I played golf with the guy who. He, it was Crow Keith. He's like, hey, I was listening to the pod. They were up in Lake George. That place sounds sick, by the way, in New York, near Saratoga. And I was listening on the way home. And it was two weeks ago when you were like, yeah, he's getting one the next couple weeks. You did call it now, he'd been all over the, all over the, the leaderboards and top of the leaderboards and kind of collapsing, but you called it. And I do think even those 30 guys, it's the best 30 guys of the year.

John Feidelberg (15:29)

Oh, yeah.

Paul Bissonnette (15:30)

And I don't know, like, to me, I consider that and it being the FedEx cup championship, that's a legitimate win for me.

Ryan Whitney (15:36)

Yeah. And for a little bit more context for you non golfers like this Tommy Fleetwood. He's 34 years old. He's currently ranked now after winning at maybe sixth, maybe he was sixth even before going in. But one of the top money earners on tour so many times has he finished in the top five. I believe 11 more in the last 30 or last 40 years than any other player without winning a tournament. So and so many times recently, he would have the lead going into the final day and he would have it going into the back nine and he would choke. Triple bogey, couldn't make a five footer to extend for a playoff. Like just these crazy scenarios. And obviously the last term of the year where it's worth the most money and all eyes are on the whole tour, he ends up pulling it off. And he had a great week. He had a share of the lead, I believe, going into his last day. I even looked like. He's obviously never won a major, but he's finished top five in every single major. Like, going back to, I think, 2018, he finished, like, second at one third, at another one third at another one, and then fifth at. At the. The. The fourth. So the fact that he's even finished top five in all four of the majors is so impressive. And. And what he's been able to accomplish in golf, other than obviously winning a tournament, so just kind of crazy that he ends up getting it done with and. And battle through all the adversity and the mental grind of. Of having to deal with all those.

Paul Bissonnette (17:01)

Choke jobs and the PGA Tour season. It was kind of crazy. Like, Rory got the Grand Slam.

Vincent Damphousse (17:08)

Yeah.

Paul Bissonnette (17:09)

Sheffield crushed everyone, you know, throughout the. The rest of the year. And then Fleetwood gets a win. It was. It was pretty sick in terms of, like, different storylines throughout the year, but the Ryder Cup's my favorite thing. And now that's, like, front and center. Same weekend as Chiclets Cup. So we'll be battling. Keith and I will be battling. You and us will be battling Europe.

Ryan Whitney (17:31)

Yeah. I mean, next is Goodell, too. We're going after the pga. We're going head to head. And then Goodell after that Sunday.

Paul Bissonnette (17:37)

Exactly. Yeah. We're going to do our next Chiclets cup on Super Bowl Sunday. It's going to be sick tomorrow. Sick.

Ryan Whitney (17:44)

But also, I think one of the things.

Paul Bissonnette (17:47)

Go ahead.

Ryan Whitney (17:47)

I think one of the things that people are emphasizing, too, is. No, just going back to Tommy, though, is. Is the way he's handled these losses, too. Some of these golfers can get a little bit poopy pants.

Paul Bissonnette (17:58)

A little bit.

Whitney (17:59)

He's a class act, and he's.

Paul Bissonnette (18:00)

They don't even talk to the media after.

Ryan Whitney (18:02)

Yeah. And. And he's kind of handled it with complete grace and class throughout all those. Those hardships. Right, Whit?

Paul Bissonnette (18:10)

Oh, big time. Like, every time he's like, I'm going to get it done. Like, staying real positive. The. The old saying, my dad said it to me about coaching rider, like, relentless positivity. Like, just kind of like, even when. Even when you think it's like, hey, I gotta be negative here. Like, it seemed like Fleetwood always was just like, I'm gonna get one. I'm gonna get one. And you think at one Point maybe he would leave those interviews and just be staring at out the window on the ride home. Like, in shock, but at least like public Persona wise. And how he would come off to everyone, it's like, dude, like, how do you not root for this guy? He keeps having all these heartbreaks and he keeps just being positive about it after. I think you could learn a lot in any sport watching him in defeat. Like, gracious in victory, gracious in defeat. The guy is. Can't get a win on the PJ Tour. That was his. He had before he won. He had 30 top fives in 160 starts. Like, that's fucking crazy to not. To not have one of those go your way. Did you watch biz the final round? Where were you out and about or were you sitting down?

Ryan Whitney (19:13)

I was on a boat and then we ended up watching the last few holes.

Paul Bissonnette (19:17)

Did you watch Can't Lay and how slow he plays golf?

Ryan Whitney (19:19)

Yeah. So I was just gonna ask you about that as a follow up. That seemed to be the other big conversation and how many times he wiggles. And that's probably like, like a mental thing, right? What's the problem? I mean, he's front and center going against Fleetwood, neck and neck. Right. So obviously it was on display. It became the conversation online. What's the ruling on that? Like, what's the shot clock?

Paul Bissonnette (19:41)

I think technically, if you, like, went by the rules, he could have been like, put on the clock or, or given a penalty. I don't know. I just more know that you're standing there and you wonder, like, is this guy trying to, like, ice him out and be even slower? He's known to be slow, but then the other aspect is, like, if you're taking that long and you're that good, like, you can't really say that much. You know what I mean? If you're playing golf with somebody that was literally standing, one of they counted. It was like 30 different, like, feet shuffles before he hit the ball.

Ryan Whitney (20:14)

36. I think Phil Mickelson was commenting on it.

Whitney (20:16)

50 seconds it took him to hit.

Paul Bissonnette (20:18)

The ball from the time he addressed it.

Vincent Damphousse (20:20)

Yeah.

Paul Bissonnette (20:21)

So. But here's the thing. If you're with somebody that's doing that, I'd lose my every single shot stripe down the middle.

Ryan Whitney (20:29)

It's like, that's what I'm saying. Yeah. I bet you through the course of a whole round, the time that you spend looking for your ball is the same amount of time he's wiggling.

Vincent Damphousse (20:42)

Yeah.

Paul Bissonnette (20:43)

Or, or, or, or, or like three putting or The.

Ryan Whitney (20:46)

Yeah. Or the extra shots that you have to take. So like you said, when, if he's striping it every time. At least for me. But then you're on tour, so every guy is striping it.

John Feidelberg (20:54)

Yeah.

Ryan Whitney (20:54)

And he's. Is he the slowest? Undoubtedly wears the crown, I think.

Paul Bissonnette (21:00)

Yeah. I think Harmon's very slow. Harmon does the waggle with the club. Cantley does the movement of the feet. I saw something that if, like, Harmon ever made the Ryder cup team and you paired those two together, like, the team from Europe playing against him would, like, quit.

Ryan Whitney (21:16)

They be like, I want to see it now. I want to see it.

Paul Bissonnette (21:20)

Like they're just like standing there, like, hit the ball, hit the ball.

Whitney (21:24)

I don't think anything is more aggravating to me than slow golfer.

Paul Bissonnette (21:29)

Yeah. And you can like. Yeah, I know. I, I, I, I think that it's, it's probably Taras a big issue if you, Except Taraski took that. He took that and just he's like, you ain't playing slow in front of me, buddy. And you ain't being crippled and playing slow in front of me. I'm a chuck you in a pond twice.

Whitney (21:48)

Fleetwood should have hired Tarnasty for the.

Ryan Whitney (21:51)

Final round cameo that actually you brought up the, the Writer cup being your favorite event now.

Paul Bissonnette (21:58)

My favorite sporting event.

Ryan Whitney (22:01)

That big. Okay. Yeah, I guess. Fuck you, Stanley Cup.

Paul Bissonnette (22:06)

Yeah, Cup's cool. Yeah.

Ryan Whitney (22:08)

It's your buddies with Keegan Bradley. The question is, should he play and be captain? I don't see a reason why not. Is this being made out to be a bigger deal than it is?

Whitney (22:17)

I think he should. Like, if you earn a wit would know more than me. Like, he's earned like, the, the way that he's played. Right. Like, he would be like, he was in the talks last year. I remember from that show. Like, he was in the talks of being on the team and then this year getting the captaincy. I don't.

John Feidelberg (22:32)

Has that ever happened?

Paul Bissonnette (22:34)

Not in a long time. I know, like, Arnold Palmer did it in, like 1960s or something. It, it. He would be getting picked if he wasn't captain. So that, and so maybe the guys.

Whitney (22:48)

Tell him be like, hey, dude, like the first two guys back put. You got to put yourself.

Paul Bissonnette (22:51)

I think some guys have told him that. I think it's pretty evident he's going to pick himself. And I mean, my thing is it only makes it more entertaining. Like, it only makes the storyline of the tournament that much.

Ryan Whitney (23:02)

Do you think Rory was saying what he said? Basically, like, I don't think it should be done, or I couldn't do it to fuck with him.

Paul Bissonnette (23:10)

No Europe would ever do it. I think Europe is. Europe's, like, been. How do you word this? It's. I think it's pretty well known that the European team in the Ryder cup is, like, more cohesive. Like, I don't. I don't. I don't know if that. Everyone would agree with that, but I kind of sense that.

Ryan Whitney (23:29)

That, like, you're saying better camaraderie and communication and more about the team more than the individuals.

Paul Bissonnette (23:35)

Yeah, a little bit. I do think that.

Whitney (23:37)

And it almost seems like, you know, when, like, Canada and USA go and play in the Worlds at the end of the year, like, those Sweden teams and the Finland teams, they're more of like a. Hey, we gotta. We gotta win this. You know?

Vincent Damphousse (23:47)

Right, Whit?

Paul Bissonnette (23:48)

Yes. And. And I. I think. I'm not saying it means more by any. By any means, but it. It seems like they're just more together as one than the US Team has been in the past, although now it seems in this tournament that the home teams just win. So you set up the course the way you want to set up. You get to. So, like, they've widened the fairways. They'll cut down the rough because US has guys who bomb it. I mean, so does Europe, but you set. And then they went to France few years ago in Paris, and they made the fairways tiny because Europe hits it straighter and, you know, little things like that. So it seems like you need.

Vincent Damphousse (24:25)

You need.

Paul Bissonnette (24:25)

You probably need an away team to win one of these, to get the juices going even more. But the Ryder Cup's awesome. The Keegan Bradley thing's nuts because it's one way or the other, he picks himself, and even if he doesn't play good and they win, he was still a playing captain on a victorious Ryder cup team. Like a legendary story. If he picks himself and they lose and he plays bad, he'll be the most hated Ryder cup captain of all time.

Ryan Whitney (24:53)

Oh, that other guy would know.

Paul Bissonnette (24:55)

He would overtake Zach Johnson as the most hated.

Vincent Damphousse (24:57)

No.

Paul Bissonnette (24:58)

Yeah, for sure.

Ryan Whitney (24:59)

So, wait.

Paul Bissonnette (24:59)

Plays bad.

Ryan Whitney (25:00)

Timeout.

Whitney (25:01)

I know.

Ryan Whitney (25:01)

Why would they put him in this situation?

Vincent Damphousse (25:04)

That's.

Paul Bissonnette (25:05)

That is what everyone's saying.

Ryan Whitney (25:06)

This.

Paul Bissonnette (25:07)

The fact that they lost in Rome. Biz. They lost in Rome, and they. They kind of just wanted to flip the script a little bit. We always get these guys who played in a Ryder cup that are 50 to 60 years old or, you know, 45. They're out of their Prime. And they were like, let's go with a guy that's on the tour that, you know that that's just more in the mix. But they probably. Or maybe this is all big brain theory. And they were like, he could be in the mix. And then that adds another storyline, even better ratings. But I'm with you, Biz. Like, yeah. To be in this scenario, it's kind of like he almost. He's. He's played in two Ryder Cups, and he's probably like, oh, I would have made it this year if I wasn't captain, so I want to play again, too.

Whitney (25:51)

Fuck, yeah.

Ryan Whitney (25:52)

So.

Whitney (25:53)

And he was essentially like, last cut last year. At least that's the way they made it seem on tv.

Paul Bissonnette (25:58)

They did make it look like every two years.

John Feidelberg (25:59)

Years.

Paul Bissonnette (25:59)

Don't they, Thomas? They. The show was like, it was him or Justin Thomas.

Whitney (26:04)

Yes. And then him and Zach. Zach Johnson were boys, so we took him. Right.

Paul Bissonnette (26:09)

That's how it. That's how it kind of.

Whitney (26:11)

That's how they proceed.

Ryan Whitney (26:12)

Why don't they just make a guy like Fred Couples, the coach? Like, what's wrong with him?

Paul Bissonnette (26:15)

I actually don't know why he's been.

Vincent Damphousse (26:18)

Hasn't.

Paul Bissonnette (26:18)

He's been President's Cup. Like, he hasn't been a Ryder cup captain. I don't really know why.

Ryan Whitney (26:22)

Team Tiger.

Whitney (26:23)

Tiger.

Paul Bissonnette (26:24)

He's just too cool, maybe. Tiger. Tiger.

Ryan Whitney (26:26)

It's like almost too much of a distraction. Everyone just wants to hang around and watch him.

Paul Bissonnette (26:31)

Oh, he'll be one for sure someday. For sure. And Phil Mickelson would have been one. And he's. He's with the Saudis now, so I don't think he's ever going to be one again. We've never be one.

Ryan Whitney (26:43)

We've talked a lot about.

Whitney (26:44)

Those guys can play, right? The live guys?

Paul Bissonnette (26:47)

Yes, they can.

Whitney (26:48)

Yeah.

Paul Bissonnette (26:49)

So it's Bryson for USA is the only one. And then it'll be Rahm and Hatton for Europe. It's only three guys.

Whitney (26:58)

We've talked a lot about Luke Donald, the captain. Sorry.

Paul Bissonnette (27:01)

Yeah.

Ryan Whitney (27:02)

Oh, go ahead.

Paul Bissonnette (27:03)

The Luke Donald story. When. When Keith was hitting the sickest bunker shots I've ever seen, and I was like, dude, how did you get so good out of the bunker? He's like, I don't know. Some PGA Tour guy at the Grove just, like, saw me and gave me a lesson. I was like, what?

Vincent Damphousse (27:17)

Really?

Paul Bissonnette (27:17)

Who? He's like, luke Donald. I was like, oh, he's known as the best bunker player, like, ever in the game.

Ryan Whitney (27:23)

What was the tip?

Whitney (27:25)

Not telling.

Paul Bissonnette (27:25)

Shut Your eyes.

Whitney (27:26)

But I also got putting lessons from Brad Faxton one time, too. And you've seen me putt. So it's not like.

Ryan Whitney (27:35)

Oh, I texted you this wit. I feel like Liv is just lame and dead.

Paul Bissonnette (27:41)

Yeah, yeah. It never. It just never caught on. It just. It's the broadcast. It's. It's the lack of, like, meaning anything. Do you know what I mean?

Ryan Whitney (27:51)

Like, oh, it's got no soul.

Paul Bissonnette (27:53)

Yeah, there's no soul. It's just a money grab. But you know what? Like. Like we said, like, those guys, awesome, dude. You're making millions and millions. But in terms of fans engaging and being into it, it's like, what does any of this mean? Oh, live stop tour. Live Tour stop number five in Chicago. Guy wins 10 million. Go to the next week.

Vincent Damphousse (28:17)

It.

Paul Bissonnette (28:18)

I mean, I think it'd be cool to go to one, though.

Ryan Whitney (28:21)

I still think that Fleetwood actually out earned rom as far as, like, tournament play money.

Vincent Damphousse (28:27)

Really?

Ryan Whitney (28:28)

Fleetwood made eighteen and a half this year, I think. Wrong. Ron made about ten. Ten and a half or something. But he gets. Didn't he Sign a crazy 350 million? 350 million to come over? So what's the punishment for when those guys head back over?

Paul Bissonnette (28:45)

Nobody knows. And nobody knows if they'll ever. That's kind of a question that's been going on for, what, three years, two years? Nobody knows. Maybe. Maybe make him go to Q school. You're that good qualified through Q school, you're back on the tour. You got to have some sort of, like, you can't just, like, walk back in.

Ryan Whitney (29:04)

I don't think we talked about you guys. Anything else on golf?

Paul Bissonnette (29:08)

No. No. Oh, we can announce, though. We're not going to give names, but so many people have been asking. They've been missing sandbaggers. Right. We got two scheduled, and they're both bangers. So at some point, we got two coming to you. I know it'll take a little while. We're doing both of them in about three weeks. Three to four weeks. So say two, three months. Right. Pasha's probably puking as I say that, but two to four months, we'll have two more sandbaggers coming at you.

Ryan Whitney (29:40)

We talked about naming a captain for the Ryder Cup. How about name the mascot the Gargoyles just unveiled not only their new jersey.

Paul Bissonnette (29:49)

What do you see when you see that mascot?

John Feidelberg (29:55)

I don't know.

Ryan Whitney (29:55)

I was kind of thinking of something stupid, like batshit crazy.

Paul Bissonnette (29:58)

Yeah. Everyone's saying we got the same ears. Oh, I feel like it was a Shot by the rest of the ownership group of the Gargoyles. Hey, witness, we're gonna. We're gonna give you.

Ryan Whitney (30:11)

Yeah, that's pretty close.

Whitney (30:12)

Hey, you're a very, very good mascot.

Paul Bissonnette (30:16)

Yeah. You guys have seen me at the pink Whitney Solar Bears game.

Ryan Whitney (30:23)

Tape. You want to put in some game tape to maybe jump in when we're there for the home opener?

Paul Bissonnette (30:28)

For sure. Jump in. Although maybe they're guys like, he ain't coming in. Grinelli's writing. Grinny the Gargoyle. I kind of like biz. Is Doyle the Gargoyle?

Ryan Whitney (30:36)

No. Somebody posted that on our Instagram.

Whitney (30:39)

Doyle's amazing.

Ryan Whitney (30:41)

Doyle the Gargoyle.

Paul Bissonnette (30:42)

Doyle the Gargoyle, Come on down.

Ryan Whitney (30:44)

What do you think, Yance?

Whitney (30:46)

I like Doyle a lot.

Vincent Damphousse (30:48)

He.

Whitney (30:48)

I mean, he looks like a Doyle. He should have a sidey backy. The hair. Like, hair in the back, nothing on top. Yeah, he's a great mascot, I'll tell you that.

Ryan Whitney (30:56)

For Skullet.

Vincent Damphousse (30:58)

Yeah, the sidey scoring's got going.

Whitney (31:01)

Yes. I don't want that smoke with Butch, though, like the Homer Simpson.

Ryan Whitney (31:06)

Should we do. Maybe we should do a scullet where it's. It's got the, like. It's also a mullet in the back.

Paul Bissonnette (31:12)

Yeah.

Ryan Whitney (31:12)

Kind of like Hulk Hogan. RIP all my.

Whitney (31:15)

All my buddies that come up to the games that we go to in Orlando, now that we're with Greensboro, they're all asking when the. The home opener is because they're going to be coming up with us.

Paul Bissonnette (31:26)

Did you see there's another East Coast Hockey League team?

Whitney (31:30)

Atlanta.

Paul Bissonnette (31:30)

Atlanta, I think. Is it. Tim Tebow was the owner.

Vincent Damphousse (31:33)

Yeah.

Paul Bissonnette (31:34)

Pretty sick.

Ryan Whitney (31:36)

Where did you say, Yance?

Whitney (31:37)

Augusta, I think.

Ryan Whitney (31:39)

Oh, I think Augustus popping up. I heard also Lake Tahoe.

Whitney (31:44)

No, this was somewhere in Georgia.

Paul Bissonnette (31:45)

Yeah, I thought it was Augusta.

Whitney (31:47)

Maybe it was Gwinnett. It was either Gwinnett or Lake Tahoe.

Paul Bissonnette (31:51)

Already has a team.

Ryan Whitney (31:52)

I think Tebow is actually already involved in that one, too. In the. In the echl, you can own up to three teams.

Paul Bissonnette (31:59)

That's crazy.

Ryan Whitney (32:01)

What do you think? You think we're not going to have three by the time we're done?

Paul Bissonnette (32:06)

Jerry Jones own three NFL teams.

Ryan Whitney (32:08)

We. We should. We should each have our own team and just battle against each other.

Paul Bissonnette (32:12)

Yeah. Oh, if one of our shit. We're getting the shit kicked out of us by Doyle.

Whitney (32:20)

Hey, speaking of. Speaking of teammates, one of my fucking big dogs went down with an Achilles injury.

Ryan Whitney (32:26)

No training.

John Feidelberg (32:30)

No.

Whitney (32:31)

On the job. He's a fireman. Yeah. Sorry, Scotty. Thinking of you, man. Hope you get.

Ryan Whitney (32:39)

Yeah, this is one of the Boston Stranglers you're talking about. What position did he play?

Paul Bissonnette (32:45)

No, it's a guy in the Gargoyles. Dude. Yeah, it's a Boston Strike.

Ryan Whitney (32:48)

Well, I know we need to clarify for people listening, being like, where the. Are they hopping in conversation, they'll be like, what do you mean? What do you mean? Who the. This guy talking about firemen playing for the Gargoyles. Not happening.

Whitney (33:00)

Yeah, one of the guys for the Stranglers. One of my key guys. One of the first two guys I thought of when I sent out the text. He was. It was. It was Scotty Simpson and Brendan Collier with my two guys that I sent the text out to. And, yeah, we lost one of them. But he'll be there. He'll be on the bench with you, with, you know, supporting the boys. He still has a key role with the team, with helping, picking out the team. He's, you know, handpicked all these guys to bring Biz and his clown show down, so he'll still be there.

Ryan Whitney (33:27)

I wouldn't be shocked if. If we play you twice. Mer. Mercy you both times. That's how good our team is.

Paul Bissonnette (33:33)

Mercy rule.

Ryan Whitney (33:35)

Mercy. Mercy.

Paul Bissonnette (33:36)

You think.

Whitney (33:37)

You think a team, Mel C. If.

Paul Bissonnette (33:39)

We announced who's on your team at all?

Ryan Whitney (33:41)

Me. Me, personally.

Paul Bissonnette (33:42)

No, Keith's team.

Ryan Whitney (33:44)

I don't think he wants to talk about it. I. I'm going to mention it when we do our. Our jersey unveiling.

Whitney (33:49)

Yeah, I think we do it like a week before.

Vincent Damphousse (33:52)

Right?

Ryan Whitney (33:52)

Maybe.

Vincent Damphousse (33:52)

I don't know.

Ryan Whitney (33:54)

I think in the next couple weeks, you can. You can let everybody know who's on your team.

Paul Bissonnette (33:58)

Okay.

Ryan Whitney (33:59)

And then. And then I'll even tell you who's on mine. You're gonna recognize a lot of the names because they're all, like, former world champions in ball hockey, and they're gonna run circles around you, and you don't. You won't know what the fuck hit you in your own hometown.

Paul Bissonnette (34:11)

But we still have the guy that you showed me that Biz doesn't know is on your team.

Whitney (34:16)

Yes.

Ryan Whitney (34:20)

What. What am I going to be afraid of? Is it. Is it nose face? That's like the. The worst possible thing that you could bring, you know, as far as skill and ugliness, you know.

Paul Bissonnette (34:29)

You know who brought fear into certain defensemen and goalies in the NHL was Vincent Danfus. I think it's time we throw it over to this legend. Incredible story. We sat down with him. God, this was a long time ago, but truly an Evergreen interview up in Montreal where he's a legend, former captain of the Montreal Canadiens. I think we throw it over right now to Vincent Danfouse. Guys, it's wit and I need to talk to you about DraftKings. The rivalries, the marching bans, the upsets. Saturdays just got way more fun. College football is back. You think you know the game? Put your college football knowledge to the test with DraftKings sportsbook and turn your picks into big payouts. From live betting during the game to rivalry week, odds boosts and so much more, DraftKings sportsbook has everything you need to stay in the action from kickoff to the final whistle. Whether you're betting on your go to team or making moves mid games as the momentum shifts, Saturdays are yours to own with the DraftKings Sportsbook. Here's something special for first timers. New customers bet $5 and get $300 in bonus bets instantly. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use Code Chiclets. That's Code Chiclets for new customers to get $300 in bonus bets instantly. When you bet just five bucks in partnership with DraftKings Sportsbook, the crown is yours.

Vincent Damphousse (35:56)

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Paul Bissonnette (36:25)

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John Feidelberg (36:46)

Simple as that.

Paul Bissonnette (36:47)

If you're not a college football fan, do not worry. They still have the most comfortable hoodies in the game. With fall approaching, load up now to make sure you're ready. So use code chiclets on roback.com for a generous 20% off your first purchase through the end of the week. That's C-H I C L E T S on R H O-B-A C-K.com 20% off all polos, hoodies and more with Code Tricklets it's an absolute pleasure right now to be in Montreal where this man is from, and a true legend. A member of the last Canadian team to win a Stanley Cup. Former sixth overall pick, over a thousand points. Vincent Danfuz. Thank you so much for joining the show.

Vincent Damphousse (37:32)

Hi, guys. Thanks for having me. It's a pleasure.

Paul Bissonnette (37:34)

We appreciate it. And we kind of want to start it off. Biz missed out, but yesterday, Merles, myself and Grinnell, we went over to you own this Scandinavian spa.

Vincent Damphousse (37:44)

Is that. Yeah. What, two blocks from here?

Paul Bissonnette (37:46)

Oh, my God. When did you decide to do that? It's got sauna, steam room, cold tub, hot tub. Silence. Silence is mandatory.

Vincent Damphousse (37:55)

Reinforced. We don't want to hear you guys.

Paul Bissonnette (37:57)

We got yelled at, us rude Americans. They came over. So stop talking. Stop talking.

Vincent Damphousse (38:01)

It's good for you. Once in a while. Silence for an hour.

Ryan Whitney (38:04)

That's why I didn't get the invite, because I don't shut up.

Vincent Damphousse (38:06)

Yeah, exactly.

Paul Bissonnette (38:07)

But I didn't know when did. Did you just open that recently or.

Vincent Damphousse (38:10)

What a cool story.

Whitney (38:11)

No.

Vincent Damphousse (38:11)

So, yeah, that's. That's a Great story. In 1998, I was playing for the Canadians and I had bought a piece of land in Montrembla and I was starting to build my house where I was going to spend my summers there while I was playing hockey. And there's two guys that wanted to talk to me to present a project to invest and to be a shareholder. And it was actually a kilometer from where I was going to build in Trombles. So I thought the idea was great, but I'd never been to a Nordic spa before. So the only one in Quebec that was. That was open at the time was called the Polar Bear in Saint Silver. So I went and tried it and I fell in love with it. I thought it was a great idea. And I liked the two guys that were pitching the idea because they were going to run the business. So I had to be at that confidence in them while I was playing hockey. And I thought the risk was worth. After 12 years playing hockey, the risk was worth it. And if I lost that money, well, it was be a good experience. And so it was kind of getting introduced to my after career as I was playing. I was 30 years old. And it just took off. It took off in Tromblant. It was our first one. We just celebrated our 25th anniversary. No way.

Paul Bissonnette (39:28)

And now it is, because this is now getting huge. In the last.

Vincent Damphousse (39:31)

Yeah.

Paul Bissonnette (39:31)

Years. You guys were way ahead.

Vincent Damphousse (39:32)

Yeah. So we just celebrated 25 years after skiing in Tromble it's the. It's the most popular activity in. In Mont Trembla. And in 2009, we opened Scandinaval Montreal, where you went. And 2010, we opened Scandinavia Whistler. And in 2006, there's one in Ontario as well, the Scandinav Blue Mountain. There's four locations.

Paul Bissonnette (39:57)

That's a cool example of while playing, looking towards the future. Right. And like, that's. That's a pretty cool story because the place was awesome. It was.

Vincent Damphousse (40:04)

It's our only indoor one. So I'm glad you went. Oh, really glad you enjoyed it.

Paul Bissonnette (40:08)

Yeah.

Ryan Whitney (40:09)

Were you pretty turned on to that type of stuff when you were playing with the recovery and all that, or, like, I wasn't.

Vincent Damphousse (40:15)

It just. It just kind of happened. The timing was great. I was more involved in the business side of hockey because I was VP of the Players Association.

Ryan Whitney (40:24)

Right.

Vincent Damphousse (40:24)

In 2004, when we negotiated the. The new CBA with the lease, I was involved with the business side of hockey, and I was always wanting to be an entrepreneur and start something, but I thought the idea was cool. Okay. I got those two guys that can run the business while I get my feet wet.

Ryan Whitney (40:41)

Yeah.

Vincent Damphousse (40:42)

And there's a lot of things to learn, but we have 400 employees now throughout the sites, and it's been. It's been great.

Paul Bissonnette (40:48)

Good for you.

Vincent Damphousse (40:49)

Yeah.

Paul Bissonnette (40:49)

Good for you.

Ryan Whitney (40:50)

I. I just want to quickly ask. There was a viral moment about people wondering what you gave Sid as far as a gift for Player that game. People thought maybe it was a scented candle. I think they were a little thrown off by the bag and, like, the. The garnish on top.

Vincent Damphousse (41:03)

What.

Ryan Whitney (41:03)

What was in there?

Vincent Damphousse (41:04)

It was two.

Paul Bissonnette (41:04)

Access to the Scandinavian right now.

Ryan Whitney (41:10)

Yeah. Yeah. I like.

Vincent Damphousse (41:11)

No, actually, they told me there's a watch in the bag. So. It's funny because you're not the only one that asked me that question. I had, like, 10 guys asked, oh, what was in the bag? But it was a watch. I didn't even see the watch. I don't know.

Ryan Whitney (41:23)

Okay.

Vincent Damphousse (41:24)

You didn't get the. Didn't get the.

Ryan Whitney (41:27)

Let's hope they're taking care of the players. And it's not like a. Like a maybe. It's a maybe. Hopefully it's a Rolex maybe.

Vincent Damphousse (41:33)

Yeah, probably. I'm sure Sid got a nice one.

Paul Bissonnette (41:36)

Once Sid got Player Game, they might have switched it up too. Been like, oh, we can't give him this one.

Vincent Damphousse (41:40)

But I was stoked. And then they asked me the. The day before the game that I was going to Present the player of the game. And I saw Sid have two assists. First periods. I was like, oh, it could be. Oh yeah, it could be Cindy Crosby. I'm still a fan, you know, like I never met Sid. So yeah, I was happy to shake his hand and take a picture with him. And my son was 17 year old, was in the hallway. He was. He filmed the whole thing. So that's pretty cool. It's pretty cool for me.

Ryan Whitney (42:05)

Yeah, because like going back, you played the 96 World cup, so this has kind of the same feel to it. I know it's only the teams with the four nations, but does it make you reflect back on your time representing?

Vincent Damphousse (42:16)

Oh, absolutely. The only time in my life that I represent my country was in 1996 when I was made world juniors. I was in Toronto playing for the Leafs.

Paul Bissonnette (42:25)

You were already in the show.

Vincent Damphousse (42:26)

They didn't let me go to play that.

Paul Bissonnette (42:27)

That's a flex.

Vincent Damphousse (42:30)

So. So I didn't get that chance when I was 18 and in the late 80s, early 90s, I was young and it was a powerhouse of Edmonton Oilers with the Gretzky, Messi, Anderson, all these gu. Was a lot of talent. Very hard to crack that lineup when you think about it. And in 1996, Glenn Sater was involved and I played for Edmonton for Glenn. So he knew me. And I think that's a bit of an advantage once you, once you have a connection somewhere, you can, you could get the lineup, you could get some ice time. So he put me with Gretzky the first, first practice of like, whoa. So I had Gretzky and Eisenman or Gretzky and Lyndon. So that was our line for the whole tournament. So was. It was amazing. It was amazing for me to get that opportunity and have great memories.

Ryan Whitney (43:21)

I think Sather was quoted as saying, outside of Gretzky and Lemieux, at the time, he thought that you were the most skilled forward in the league. And that's why he made the move for you. I mean, that's some high praise.

Vincent Damphousse (43:30)

That is. I wouldn't go that far, but I always felt that he had my back and he. And he liked me. And that's. That goes a long way when you're a player, when you feel that the organization is. Is really likes you. And, and they gave a lot to get me in Toronto. There's a big trade. Seven guys were involved and I was the youngest at 23. So when I went to Edmonton, it was the first time in my life that I got traded. So he sacrificed a lot and he took a big, big risk on me. And so I wanted to make sure that I gave everything I had for Glenn and the organization.

Guest Host (44:05)

When you played the All Star Games were exciting, they were fun. We all wanted to watch them. They were competitive. Obviously, the last few years, that's fallen apart. This was a great event. What other ideas do you come up with that we could maybe replace the All Star Game with? Because after this weekend, it's going to be tough to go back to that.

Vincent Damphousse (44:23)

Yeah, it's impossible to go back to think that an All Star Game will get that kind of intensity from the players when you represent your country. And I lived it in 96. It's. It's a different ball game. It's. And with everything that's going on now politically, I think think the game tomorrow against the US Is going to be fantastic. I mean, every, the, the, the fans, the fans are gonna love it. I mean, the players can't wait to play. And I was there for the first game and I'll be there tomorrow with my three sons. And the intensity is going to be off the charts. And you can't get that in the All Star Game. It's just, even if they, if like, it's too bad there's no dry side olds. Too bad there's. We were saying other guys, but if you put a team that the rest of the world team, it's. It's not going to be the same. Yeah. You got to represent your country to get. To get that intensity from the guys. So.

Paul Bissonnette (45:15)

Yeah, in 2016, they did it with the team.

Ryan Whitney (45:19)

They did North America, Europe.

Paul Bissonnette (45:21)

North American was the young guns, but yeah, and they did pretty well. It's just not, not really the same. That's why the Olympics will be great.

Whitney (45:27)

Yeah.

Paul Bissonnette (45:27)

But you know, with this legendary career, like your numbers and stats, Stanley cup, like we kind of love starting at the beginning and being a kid from Montreal with the legendary Canadian, like, what was your, what was your beginning of the game? Like, how did you fall in love with it? How did you get into it? Did your dad play? It's kind of the old story. We ask everyone, but.

Vincent Damphousse (45:46)

Well, no, my dad didn't play. He was the last of 21 kids. So, yeah, he was. He lived on a farm. He was raised sisters. And so he didn't have that opportunity. They didn't have. Didn't have money. They were living, you know, by the farm. And my dad's actually the only one that went to university, so he had that chance to kind of leave home and, and settle In Montreal and with my mom and. But as soon as we bought our first house when I was eight years old, there was a little backyard and my dad wanted us to, to skate and he loved hockey, but he loved it. He didn't play. He would put his boots on and he would, would pass us the puck, but he would have this great ice in the backyard. He would spend hours watering the. The backyard had some little boards in the back and my brother was a year and a half older than, than me and I were playing every night until my mom called us in for to go to bed.

Paul Bissonnette (46:49)

That's unreal.

Vincent Damphousse (46:50)

That's how we started. But I always liked all sports and because my brother was competitive and older, I was always playing with his friends, chasing him around, chasing him around and was playing with better players than me. So I, I improved because of that. And we were always together. So every second year we're on the same team.

Paul Bissonnette (47:11)

Oh, that's awesome.

Ryan Whitney (47:12)

How did you get your first pair of skates?

Vincent Damphousse (47:14)

I don't know. I don't remember. I know I started skating. I was three and my dad was in charge of the schools in the area and he had the key to the arena. So we would go. He would wake me up at 5:30 and we would go to the ice at 6 by ourselves. My brother and I, before the ice was rented out, so we had that opportunity the, the ice outside and my. I don't remember my parents really taking trips. Really the money that they were, extra money were going to us and always felt fortunate to have that chance. We always had new skates, new equipment, new sticks and, and I know they didn't have a lot of money, but they, they provided us with everything we needed to perform as a hockey dad.

Paul Bissonnette (48:01)

As you got older and better, like, was he just very supportive? Would he, would he talk to at times, be hard on you? A little bit. Like, what was it like? I guess with him not playing, it's a little different.

Vincent Damphousse (48:10)

Yes.

Paul Bissonnette (48:11)

Because he can't really like give you what, what stupid hockey dad's like, do this, do that.

Vincent Damphousse (48:15)

Yeah.

Paul Bissonnette (48:15)

You know, he had none of that, I'm guessing.

Vincent Damphousse (48:17)

No, he didn't. He didn't have a lot of tips to give me as far as hockey, but he was very supportive and both my parents were very supportive and I didn't feel any pressure or interference from him or nothing. It was just always there finding every game for anything, for a ride for. He was always there at the games. I asked him the other day, I said, did you miss any of My junior games, like in Laval, because we're playing, you know, 35 games at home in Laval. When I played junior, he said, no, I don't. I don't remember missing one. So.

Paul Bissonnette (48:48)

So that's awesome.

Vincent Damphousse (48:49)

So it's great. I knew they were there. I knew where they sat and always had that. They always had my back. It never, never criticized. It was always. If I needed them, they were there.

Paul Bissonnette (49:00)

And. And who was your, like, guy growing up watching hockey? Like, did you Lafleur?

Vincent Damphousse (49:07)

Oh, yeah.

Paul Bissonnette (49:08)

Every kid your age from Montreal? Pretty much.

Vincent Damphousse (49:10)

Yeah. Well, I was listening to Mario Lemieux came. He was presented, and they asked him who was his favorite player. And it was Gila Fleur. So I think, like all our age group. Gilafrer was the guy. He was like the best player in the world. So it was easy to fall in love with him. With the hair and the.

Paul Bissonnette (49:29)

Yeah, the flare.

Vincent Damphousse (49:29)

That flare. Yeah, it was. He was amazing. He was a spectacular player.

Guest Host (49:34)

So you can tell he works in media. He set us up twice now to get to Laval, and then we didn't jump on it, but now he set us up with Lemieux.

Ryan Whitney (49:42)

Oh, man.

Vincent Damphousse (49:42)

Oh, you guys can go anywhere.

Guest Host (49:44)

First year in the queue, you get to play with Mario Lemieux. And what do you have? 250 points or something. What was that season?

Vincent Damphousse (49:50)

Like, 282 points. That's four points a game on average. Think about that for a minute.

Paul Bissonnette (49:56)

It must have been insane.

Vincent Damphousse (49:57)

Like, it was insane. What you were witnessing is like. It was like. I was 15. I was the youngest player in the league, and I made that team. They had 17 veterans coming back in Laval, and I cracked the lineup and I was third line center. I was center at the time. And Mario was playing like 42 minutes and I was playing six, but it didn't matter. Watching him every night was like. It was like going to school. It was amazing, the stuff that I learned watching him. And he was, I think, a week too young to make it to the draft, so he had to play an extra year in junior, but really he was too good. It was four points, seven points, three points, eight points every night. I think he had like 70 games in a row with at least one point. And it was. He was just like, too good to play junior. So we won everything in Quebec. The only time we struggled as a team, I think we won. I think in the playoffs, we won in 18 games with or 16 and two in the playoff. But at the Memorial cup, we didn't. We didn't win a Game we lost games in a row. That's when we were struggling in Quebec. And Adam Creighton with the Ottawa 67s. Yeah, 67s one.

Ryan Whitney (51:17)

He was a beast too, right? So he was probably just as big.

Vincent Damphousse (51:20)

He was playing against Mario and everybody had a strategy to try to stop him. It never worked before, but that's the only time that I saw Mario not perform when the, when the game was on the line. Because every time in. And the best story I have of Mario is the last game of the season. Regular season. He was three goals shy of Gila Fleur's record for goals in the queue. He had 130 goals and Gila Fleur at 133 goals. So the building was packed. I think Gretzky was at that game because they were, they were in Montreal and Mario had six goals, five assists that game just like unbelievable.

Ryan Whitney (52:04)

He just, he probably.

Paul Bissonnette (52:05)

11 points.

Vincent Damphousse (52:06)

Yeah, 11 points. And again he just like, like off.

Paul Bissonnette (52:10)

The charts, I guess. We, we've said that Gretzky's record would never be touched and ov's gonna break it. I don't think 136 holes in a Quebec will ever be touched. If that's touched, then God help us for whoever's coming. But when you were so when you got there and you're 15, so he's 18. When you were like 10 and 11, even without the Internet and stuff. Had. Had everybody heard of Mario in the Montreal area? Like did you already know about him when he was young?

Vincent Damphousse (52:35)

I was not aware of much at 10 years old I wasn't. Wasn't. You know, there was nothing. No, no access to information really. The only time I really even for me, like I didn't. It was hard to compare myself. I knew I was good in Montreal where I grew up, but am I good against guys in Ontario or even the rest of the province? And the only where I started to kind of say okay, this I might have a shot is Jonah Lamorial. When I was playing Midget AAA at this mid season ranking of the the prospects from 1 to. To 25, I think. And I was number two in the.

Paul Bissonnette (53:16)

Province for the Quebec League.

Vincent Damphousse (53:18)

Yeah, Patrick was brother Stefan was number one. And that was like my, my dad showed me that and I was like oh, that's amazing. Like so I, I knew then that I had a shot. And it was after that it was up to me to kind of keep performing into when I had to do to kind of get to the draft.

Ryan Whitney (53:38)

And is that the first time it clicked in Your head that you can maybe make it a living playing hockey.

Vincent Damphousse (53:43)

That's the first time really, that. Okay, it was rain. My face. Okay. People kind of no way. And know who I am, and they kind of rate me. And now it's. I mean, there's ratings. Guys are Adam and there's ratings on.

Paul Bissonnette (53:56)

I know it's hard. Like, you have three boys, you said. It's probably. It's almost better that you didn't know. You just played. And now kids know every single thing. Their team ranking. And it gets a little harder, I bet.

Ryan Whitney (54:07)

Were you still doing the Backyard Pond? Like, even as the years went on, when you got closer to being in junior, like, were you honing your skills?

Vincent Damphousse (54:16)

Well, not as much as guys do now. I mean, I remember even my training when I started playing in the NHL, I was. It was in 1986. We had four guys smoking in the room between periods. We had one gym that was as big as this room here, and one bike and one bench press. And so totally. It totally changed. But that the way I was training in my junior years and beginning of my career was not enough compared to what the guys are doing today.

Ryan Whitney (54:48)

So I was gonna ask about Mario, like, hack and darts, and you just mentioned, was he doing so in junior at 18?

Vincent Damphousse (54:55)

He wasn't.

Ryan Whitney (54:55)

Okay.

Vincent Damphousse (54:56)

No.

Ryan Whitney (54:56)

Do you think that it was like.

Vincent Damphousse (54:57)

Well, if he was, I wasn't. I wasn't aware.

Ryan Whitney (55:00)

Wasn't aware. Do you think that maybe that was part of the Gila Fleur? Like that. That aura? Like the fact that, you know, he could do what he was doing, but yet he was still, like, hacking darts? I heard he was, like, hacking darts on the bench, too, between shifts.

Vincent Damphousse (55:12)

I know that's. That was shocking to me. When I made it to the NHL, I wasn't speaking English, so I was just, like, watching. I was looking and. And soaking and soaking in what? All the information that I could get. And so I'm in Toronto. I'm in the dressing room with the Leafs, and between periods, guys would rush to the skating. The trainer where he sharpened the skates, and they were sitting there, four guys, and just smoking darts quickly so they could get back in the room. And so it's just the way it was.

Paul Bissonnette (55:43)

The way it was.

Vincent Damphousse (55:44)

Guys weren't ready in training camp either. We had had long training camps, a month and a half, 11 games in the preseason. And guys were not all in shape like they are now. Just everything is just top level from early age. And if you're not. If you're not training or if you're not putting the work, you're not going to make it at the end. There's, it's too competitive now.

Paul Bissonnette (56:08)

Too many people play.

Ryan Whitney (56:08)

Yeah, I was just going to ask, as a, as a French kid, was it common for the Toronto Maple Leafs to pick a French kid? And when that happened, how many times did it happen before you?

Vincent Damphousse (56:18)

And I was the first.

Ryan Whitney (56:20)

Were you reluctant to maybe even go?

Vincent Damphousse (56:22)

No. Well, it's funny because that's the question I got right off the bat. But that was the first, first round pick by the French Canadian by the Toronto Maple Police during the Ballard years. Imagine that.

Ryan Whitney (56:34)

Oh yeah.

Vincent Damphousse (56:35)

But one of the first question they asked me is, are you disappointed to be drafted by the Leafs? And I said no. I thought it was a great opportunity for me because I was thinking about my parents. The next team after Toronto, I think was Winnipeg and after that it was Vancouver. And I thought, okay, Toronto, they could drive five hours and come and see me when they want. So for me that was important, that they could still come in and watch me play if I made the team. And it was a storied franchise and I thought it was a great opportunity. So to me I was happy. I just didn't speak English. The only issue had to get there.

Paul Bissonnette (57:13)

Before we go to Toronto. The last thing. So you as a 15 year old in the Quebec League, you had 65 points in 66 games. Like Mario had 220 more points than you. That's just insane. But so when you were picked and, and then you go in, you end up making the team. Like, did you, did you think you would like. Was that your expectation going to camp? Yeah, I thought, nice.

Vincent Damphousse (57:34)

I, my expectation was to do the best I can, but I never had really plan Bs when I went to any training camp. To me it wasn't, if I don't make it, where do I go? I always showed up at camp expecting to make it in my head. And it worked out. I mean, I was lucky to make that team because it was very competitive. But to me playing third line center and we, we were scoring five goals a game and we had a lot of veterans, a lot of offense. I was surrounded with a lot of quality people. And so I did have a good year, but I was probably 12th and scoring on my team just because everybody was so powerful.

Paul Bissonnette (58:17)

Yeah, I mean you were, you were, you were eighth in scoring, but the guys on the team, like that was Wendell Clark's second year at 271 penalty minutes, 37 goals. So you're Seeing, like, some young guys. I mean, Russ Courtney.

Vincent Damphousse (58:31)

Yeah.

Paul Bissonnette (58:31)

And he's 21. It's like there was some. There was a pretty sweet group of young core here to, like, build something well in Toronto.

Vincent Damphousse (58:39)

When I got drafted by Toronto, I was drafting sixth overall, but they had the second worst team in the league because at the time there was a division, and if you made playoffs in the division, you were picking after the teams that didn't make the playoff. So we were second worst in the league. But Toronto made the playoffs because Detroit was so bad. They were first overall. So all the other undrafted unplayoff team went 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 was Toronto because it was the first team that made the playoff with the worst record. I don't know if you follow me.

Paul Bissonnette (59:14)

But kind of a broken system.

Vincent Damphousse (59:17)

Well, it's like that. It's the team that don't make the playoff, that pick first. So anyway, so there was a lot of help needed in Toronto. So I knew that going into that training camp that I could make it if I perform well in. In. If they gave me opportunity in. In the preseason.

Paul Bissonnette (59:33)

Yeah.

Vincent Damphousse (59:34)

And if I perform well. And sure enough, I played all 11 games in preseason, no break. It was like, let's go.

Ryan Whitney (59:42)

So not only you mentioned the Ballard era, the fact that you don't speak any English, going to training camp, and then you also have John Brophy as a head.

Vincent Damphousse (59:49)

Oh, yeah.

Paul Bissonnette (59:50)

Oh, my God.

Vincent Damphousse (59:50)

Chef bombs. Every third word and, well, might have.

Ryan Whitney (59:53)

Been a blessing in disguise. You didn't speak English. Right. What was that your first experience? Having a coach that intense where I. I don't know if the. The mind games is the right words to describe him, but, like, obviously testing you day in, day out and really pushing your buttons.

Paul Bissonnette (60:07)

Yeah.

Vincent Damphousse (60:07)

John Broy is a legend as far as this hockey career in the minors and how tough he was. And he was very good to me, I got to say. Like, he. Not that he left me alone, but maybe because I didn't understand what he was saying, that he didn't speak to me much, but. But I felt like he gave me the ice time. He had confidence in what I could do, in my skills, but he didn't play any games with me or nothing. I played all the games the first year. Dan Daoud was my only teammate that could speak French. I really. Dan Daoud took me under his wing and took care of me and helped me out. I was standing behind at the end of the line. I was watching the drill I was doing. I. I paid a lot of attention because I didn't want to screw up, but Dan was there. A coach was very, very good to me. I have nothing bad to say about John. Very intense guy when things don't go his way. But that's okay. I don't mind that if he's tough, but he was fair to everybody.

Ryan Whitney (61:05)

Were there things that you saw and experienced where you were like, holy, this is like a different level and something that you'd never seen as far as like a interaction with a player or things that were happening from a coach standpoint in the locker room?

Vincent Damphousse (61:16)

Well, no, I think it was. There was some rivalries that were pretty intense and there was a lot of fighting and a lot. There was no maximum amount of players that you could carry on your roster. So we had 27 guys and five of them that didn't play one game were all like super tough guys. And if we played Detroit, they were in our division or played Chicago, they were in our division. Then you would dress all these guys and it was a. Oh, I didn't know. It was pretty intense.

Paul Bissonnette (61:45)

I didn't know there was no cap, so.

Vincent Damphousse (61:47)

Oh, wow. You can carry as many players as you wanted. So what are we talking here?

Ryan Whitney (61:52)

Like, they guaranteed there'd be like six, seven fights every day.

Vincent Damphousse (61:55)

And then I remember one game against Chicago was all. All the players on the ice were kind of going at it, and it was something that. It was bad in junior, but it was like a different level when it was very intense rivalries because there was less teams and you would play nine, ten times against the same team, AHL style.

Guest Host (62:17)

Do you. Do you remember your first fight?

Vincent Damphousse (62:19)

I do. It was Doug Gilmore. Doug Gilmore, Calgary.

Ryan Whitney (62:25)

Tough guy. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

Vincent Damphousse (62:29)

I don't know what happened. I was in. I was in Toronto, he was in Calgary. And it's gonna look at each other. I don't know. I don't know what happened, but it was my first fight. I have. I think I have three fights I've won with. Against Joe Sacco as well that. When I was in Montreal, I was just kind of defending one of my guys and so it wasn't my style. But since I think I fought twice.

Guest Host (62:52)

Not. Not your game.

Vincent Damphousse (62:52)

Two tough guys.

Guest Host (62:53)

When. When I first click on the Maple Leafs roster. Your rookie year first name comes to out of my. My site is Bjora Salmoning.

Vincent Damphousse (63:00)

Yeah.

Guest Host (63:00)

I've never heard a bad word said about him. Can you give us a few stories on him? I don't think he was one of the guys smoking cigarettes.

John Feidelberg (63:06)

No.

Vincent Damphousse (63:07)

Boria Solming was super Fit. He could skate like he was flying and he was jumping on the ice. And Boreas Alming thought me how to use my backhand. And I practiced my backhand throughout my career. I would drop pucks before everybody went on the ice. I would drop a bucket of pucks, 50 pucks, and I would shoot five feet from the net. I would shoot backhands. Bar, bar down, bar down. I would practice that. And Boreas homing is the one that, that, that I saw making passes, snap passes on the back end, from one end to the other right on the tape. And I was like, whoa, what is that? Then he was shooting pucks on the back end. And I watch him in practice how we. We practice that. It's. It's a skill. Not everybody uses the back end big time to pass much or to shoot. And for a goalie, it's very difficult to know, okay, where's that puck gonna go? Because you don't. You don't really look at the net when you shoot your backhand. So I learned that from him. And one of the scariest moment that I saw in my hockey career was when Boria Salmon got. Somebody stepped on him. And he had 250 stitches on his face and ugly. I remember that. And I was like, the next morning he was. He's having breakfast. And I was like, that's. His face was up to here.

Paul Bissonnette (64:27)

Yeah, the picture.

Vincent Damphousse (64:28)

Very scary. Yeah, Very, very.

Ryan Whitney (64:30)

Toughness was like. That's one thing that people talk about.

Vincent Damphousse (64:33)

Yes. Because when he came in, there was no Europeans. He was the first one with another Swedish players. I forgot his name, but they were abusing him, you know, because they didn't want, you know, you're taking our jobs. And that was the mentality back then, you know, you. You're taking jobs from a Canadian kid. So they had it super tough. And yes, he was tough. He was tough on his body. He was. He was tough playing scared of no one. He wasn't a fighter, but he'll show up. He'll show up on any.

Guest Host (65:05)

Yeah, it was Inga Hammerstrom, I think, who he came over with, and he was a smaller, finesse player. And that's why he didn't last as long as. As Bjoria, because Bjork could handle the abuse.

Vincent Damphousse (65:14)

Salman was at the end of his career when I came in, but he was a. He was a superstar. I mean, he was a all star player. Yeah, so that's one of the guys that were that. That I learned a lot from.

Paul Bissonnette (65:26)

That's cool about your, you know, Your IQ for the game. It wasn't necessarily him telling you to work on your backhand. It was just you noticing him doing it. And then you decided like, based on just what you were seeing, to get into that practice.

Vincent Damphousse (65:38)

Yeah, I think you have to be aware when you're a young kid, it's not just put the time in and practice and go through the. You need to watch the best players. If I was playing with Connor McDavid, I want to know what he's doing. You know, I just. There was a, there was a proc. Optional practice after the Canadian game and it was. Who was on the ice? It was Crosby and McKinnon and three quarters of the team were, were at the hotel room. It's not something that you could, when you're the top guys, do more than the regular guy. So you just have to watch what they're doing and, and you'll not, you're not going to get to that level. But you could, you could do what they do you off the ice or quickly.

Paul Bissonnette (66:19)

Not speaking any English, was it, was it just being around the boys in the room that helped? Was it tv? Sometimes people say watching tv, like what, what made you learn it? Just over time being with.

Vincent Damphousse (66:29)

Well, I watched the Price Is Right when I was a kid, so I knew all the games.

Ryan Whitney (66:32)

Bob Barker taught you English.

Vincent Damphousse (66:34)

Little skinny Mic Bob taught me a little bit of English. But when I, when I made the team in Toronto, there was a, a piece in the Toronto Star. So there was a two pager in the Toronto Star. And one of the things that I mentioned in there is that I didn't want to go in an apartment. I wanted to live with a family. So a family in Toronto read that, called my agent and I met them and I ended up living with them for a year and a half. So that really helped me with my English kind of having dinner with them. And so they, they had a beautiful house in Rosedale, which is like high end in Toronto. And I, Ally Afridi would pick me up with his Mustang jacked up in the neighborhood that he was like, who is that?

Ryan Whitney (67:19)

Did he have a mullet at the time?

Vincent Damphousse (67:20)

Oh yeah. He was like, he didn't fit in Rosedale. But anyways, he would pick me up every morning and he was great and no car. And the only thing I did was sleep, go to the rink and eat and try to learn. And I bought a tv, I think. And that was all I had the first year. And, and I learned pretty quickly from being in a family, being in the English environment every day. I think the best way to learn a language is not to have other.

Paul Bissonnette (67:50)

Like, lessons or anything.

Vincent Damphousse (67:51)

Yeah, you're. You're. Every day, all day is. Is English. And I was speaking the danda. Ooh. In French. But other than that, it was like, all English. So you absorb pretty quickly. You understand, and after that, it's. Speaking is a little harder because you. Especially in an environment where there's a lot of noise and you don't understand much. So you're. You're a bit of an outsider at the beginning. It's not easy and then. But I went through it, and Daniel Marwa came in my third year, so I was kind of helping him, and Dandy was helping me. So it kind of. That's how it works. It's always easier for a Swede, a Russian, or if you got an older player that speaks your language to have somebody help you out, show you the ropes. It's easier.

Ryan Whitney (68:36)

It's like, why Kuzmenko went over to help Michkov off in Philly. Philly. They just made that trade because it feels like he was probably on an island where, like, Torts is sometimes getting frustrated trying to communicate to him. You just need that. That older guy to help and. And help with the language barrier. I want to go back to the Price Is Right. What were your favorite games? Like, where you just dialed in everything.

Vincent Damphousse (68:55)

Do you remember the Climber?

Paul Bissonnette (69:00)

Totally. It's important. We always talk about the gambling.

Ryan Whitney (69:03)

That was your favorite.

Vincent Damphousse (69:04)

That was my favorite game. It would come out once a week or something. They kept that to the side. But that was. That was the game I liked the most.

Ryan Whitney (69:11)

And so I would imagine in the queue, you guys were always busing everywhere. What was it like getting a fly commercial with all the guys and always being around? Like, was there a lot of pranking going on? Were you a prankster yourself? Like, what were your. Your fondest memories from all the.

Vincent Damphousse (69:25)

In Toronto? Yeah, in Toronto, we didn't have charter flights. We were flying. Actually. We were flying Air Ontario, so those two propeller planes. And I was sitting. Sitting in the back, trying to play some cards with the guys. But sometimes I could, sometimes I couldn't because I was a rookie. But I was a sleeper. I like to sleep and get a lot of naps. And so I woke up one time and I had half my. My toes were coming out of my. My socks, my tie was cut, and I was like, okay, this is. Welcome to the NHL. So that was. I wasn't the prankster, but I was a Lot of people were doing stuff to me because I was the only rookie that years.

Paul Bissonnette (70:06)

Oh, a rookie. A rookie asleep in. In 1990 or 87.

Guest Host (70:11)

You get your ticket too. You're like, oh, sweet, I got a window seat. No, some veteran. You're in B, buddy.

Ryan Whitney (70:17)

Well, the.

John Feidelberg (70:17)

There's no.

Ryan Whitney (70:18)

There's no like. What do you call those PlayStations or whatever they got your entertainment was messing around with one another. Right. So that's. That's too funny.

Vincent Damphousse (70:27)

No, there was. That was the only rookie, but the guys were great. There was. I don't remember paying a rookie meal, so that's pretty good.

Paul Bissonnette (70:34)

Really?

Vincent Damphousse (70:34)

Yeah. I don't think they. I think paid around some bar or something and they left me alone.

Paul Bissonnette (70:41)

So was there a. Was there a building on the road? Like. Like your first few years, you just kind of fell in love with playing like people say the old Blackhawks arena or like where did you love once you got there or. Or play really well in for other cities?

Vincent Damphousse (70:55)

I played really well and I love playing here in Montreal in the old Forum. Yeah, I always had good games in with the. In Quebec because of new. A lot of people from my side. The family was going to be there, my parents were going to be there. So I had a lot of success against the Nordics and a lot of success against Montreal over my career. But I like. I like playing in. In Chicago.

Paul Bissonnette (71:16)

It was cool, huh?

Vincent Damphousse (71:17)

The. The national anthem is just unbelievable. The noise and the building and they're right on top of you. And the loudest building in the league. When I played the old Chicago Stadium.

Paul Bissonnette (71:29)

Yeah, that's what a lot of guys have said.

Vincent Damphousse (71:32)

The All Star Game. First All Star Game that I played in 1991 was in Chicago and they were gonna. They're talking about canceling the game because of desert storms, there's a war and in Kuwait. Do we have the game? Do we not have the game? Eventually we played. But the national anthem, the flags, the. The.

Paul Bissonnette (71:52)

I've seen that on YouTube.

Vincent Damphousse (71:53)

Oh, my God.

Paul Bissonnette (71:54)

Crazy.

Vincent Damphousse (71:54)

Like unbelievable. You could even speak to the guy next to you on the bench. It was sold out. And so that was a great experience as well.

Ryan Whitney (72:01)

You were MVP of an All Star game.

Vincent Damphousse (72:03)

Was it that one? Wow. That was my first. First game. I was in Toronto and they picked me to play. And yeah, I had four goals. I tied Gretzky's record and Mario Lemieux record at the time. Now I think there's 12 of us that have four goals. But. And I remember Muckler was the coach and he Put me on with Gretzky at the end of the game to try to get my fifth to beat him. And Wayne was, like, feeding me the.

Paul Bissonnette (72:31)

Who was your line earlier in the game? Do you remember?

Vincent Damphousse (72:33)

It was Adam Oates and Steve Eisenman.

John Feidelberg (72:35)

So I was like, yeah, wow, that's.

Vincent Damphousse (72:37)

What a line.

Ryan Whitney (72:38)

That's incredible, man.

Vincent Damphousse (72:39)

Yeah, I was super lucky to have Adam Olson, one of the best passers.

Paul Bissonnette (72:43)

Oh.

Vincent Damphousse (72:44)

In the game. And he fed me, like, through all night. So a lot of four goals, but tons of chances to get more in Toronto.

Paul Bissonnette (72:54)

Like you, you really grew as a player. You came in young, and then by your fifth year, fourth year, you got 94 points. Following year, 73 points. And all of a sudden, boom, an enormous trade, and you're going to Edmonton in a huge, I think, seven players.

Ryan Whitney (73:08)

You said, yes, like, Grant Fuhrer was a part of that one.

Paul Bissonnette (73:12)

Glenn Anderson. Glenn Anderson, part of it, like crazy to see. And I think a lot of times players say the first time you're traded, there's just shock and. And you were picked so high, and we're a hell of a player. Like, what did you think? How did you find out? And did you hear beforehand it might happen?

Vincent Damphousse (73:28)

There was rumors. And, yes, I was shocked because it was the first trade. And, yeah, you know, you start in the NHL at the time, as, you know, first year, you make 90, 000 Canadian. So it's different in. In. You had to really. I couldn't get it a. A place downtown. I eventually bought a place way outside Toronto in Pickering, at my house. I was settled slowly. It was getting my. Comfortable, comfortable, and then. And then boom. But I understood because Cliff Fletcher had just gotten the job in Toronto and he wanted to win right away. And we were kind of a. Somewhat of a rebuild in Toronto and in Edmonton had, I think, seven guys holding out. You don't see that now, but back then, the only. The only thing you could do to pressure the team to sign you was to stay home. So Messier was home. Esset was home. Craig Simpson was home. Fear was home. Wow. Glenn Anderson was home. So all these guys held out.

Paul Bissonnette (74:29)

Couldn't pay them all.

Vincent Damphousse (74:30)

Couldn't pay them all. Didn't want to pay them all. Whatever. And. And Cliff Fletcher wanted to win right away. He was looking for a goalie, and he was looking for a veteran player up front, and. And we were the young guys just being sacrificed, which is. Which is fine. I understood it. I went to Edmonton and like I said, when I was in Toronto, it was at the end of The Ballard years and then they had new owners. But. But it was a bit. It wasn't the best situation as far as top to bottom. How to like hectic A little, yes, very hectic. You know, we're taking team photos and we had to wait for Puck, the Ballard's dog, to turn his head on the team picture with the leaf. I mean, think about that for.

Ryan Whitney (75:16)

I love.

Vincent Damphousse (75:17)

Look, look at the late 80s picture and you get this dog in the, in the center. And it took, it took hours to get the picture done because the dog wasn't behaving. So you're with the Toronto Main Police.

Ryan Whitney (75:29)

Remember the dog's name?

Vincent Damphousse (75:30)

Puck.

Ryan Whitney (75:34)

Oh, this is too good.

Paul Bissonnette (75:36)

And then.

Vincent Damphousse (75:38)

So when I got to Edmonton, I was shocked to see how the cup was present in. On the door when you walked in, there were stickers of all the, the win. Every time they won in the playoffs, they put a, they put a sticker of the Stanley cup. And after 16, when they, when you win the Cup. When I got there in 1992, they had won five cups in the past eight years.

Paul Bissonnette (76:02)

Yeah. Geez.

Vincent Damphousse (76:03)

So that's all they talked about. And to me it was, it was a shock to see how, how you do things a certain way. And you. I was, I think I was third after the goalie coming out of the room in Toronto. So I try to go third after, after Ranford and nope. Kevin Lois. No. And then, and then the next guy's no. So I ended up being like 10th in the line because it's the way it worked.

Paul Bissonnette (76:28)

Yeah, they had, they had their system.

Vincent Damphousse (76:30)

They had their way to do things and he had to follow suit and he had to, he had to. And if you weren't, it wasn't the coach that was telling you you're not doing things right. It was Kevin Lowe, it was Essa ticking and it was Greg Simpson, their coach, Bugberger blocking shots and, and doing what it took to win. And that's, that's what I learned when I was there. It was very tough transition because like I said, I was comfortable in Toronto. But looking back, my year in Edmonton thought me out of win. I won in Montreal. But I really, my work ethic, what it took to, to get to the next level, I learned from Kevin Lowell, my captain over there and his sacrifice that he did game in, game out. He's the toughest guy that I saw play against Wayne Gretzky and they were best friends really. When we played LA in the playoff, he was always on the ice against Gretzky and he Would cross check him and beat him up in front of Neth. And he didn't care. He wanted to win. And Gretzky was trying to beat him and. But I was impressed. Yeah, that's his best friend. Yeah, he doesn't give a no. He wanted to win and he knew that if we're gonna beat. Beat LA and Gretzky, that's the way we got to play against them.

Paul Bissonnette (77:43)

And that year, I mean, you lit it up. 89 points, 38 goals, and you guys went to. Was it the conference finals? Because.

Vincent Damphousse (77:50)

Yeah, we lost in the semifinals against Chicago.

Paul Bissonnette (77:53)

Wow. So, like, all of a sudden you're out of there too. Like, it's just crazy that it would have been almost like, wow, this guy's coming in. He's young, we can build around him. But it only lasted a year.

Vincent Damphousse (78:04)

Yeah, you have to invite Glenn Sater to Noble. I don't know what happened there, but I had a. When Bernie Nichols got traded for Messi at Christmas, like I said, all the guys were holding out. Then Messi got traded at Christmas to the Rangers, and we got back Bernie Nichols, which is a super underrated player, and he ended up being my center. I was on left wing and Joe Murphy was on the right wing. Joe was the number one pick in 1986, my draft. And we lit it up after. When he came in, it was unbelievable how we connected, how we had a chemistry in the playoff. We did great. And what happened after that in the summer? I don't know. I played.

Ryan Whitney (78:47)

Wow.

Vincent Damphousse (78:47)

I was there for a year, but I was happy to come home.

Ryan Whitney (78:52)

Was it. Was it a trade or was it just. They just didn't sign.

Vincent Damphousse (78:54)

It was a trade. I got traded for Corson.

Ryan Whitney (78:56)

Okay.

Vincent Damphousse (78:58)

Vu Tec, a young player that played about 100 games, and Brent Gilchrist.

Ryan Whitney (79:02)

Okay.

Vincent Damphousse (79:03)

So that was the trade again in August of 92, when it came in. In August, in 91, in. In Edmonton. And when I got to Montreal, I was in my brother's office. He's a denturist. And I was sitting talking to him and I knew there were some rumors. And when I got the call from Pierre Laqua, my agent said, you're traded to Montreal. No disrespect to the Oilers in Telementon. I love my year there. But I was like, yeah, coming home.

Paul Bissonnette (79:29)

What a phone call? Yeah.

Ryan Whitney (79:31)

Like the cry.

Vincent Damphousse (79:33)

I didn't cry. I was super happy. I was emotional. But I. I was. I was very happy. And my. The way I felt was like, okay, I need. They gave a lot. Same as when they Glenn Sater got me. When Serge Siovar made that trade, I said, okay, I'm gonna do my best to kind of show him that he did the right thing.

Ryan Whitney (79:58)

Wrap it up.

Vincent Damphousse (79:59)

So.

Paul Bissonnette (80:00)

And like, the pressure's on now. I'm. Because that was kind of one of our questions is like the being a French kid playing for the Canadiens, it's. It's incredible. And also the pressure's wild. Like you must have known going in, like, I'm gonna have a lot of like, not just eyeballs on me, but pressure on me to perform.

Vincent Damphousse (80:17)

Of course, it's an interesting question because I've. I'm masked out a lot. And I'm in the media now in Montreal, and there's a lot of people that talk about pressure. And it always in a negative way. Seems like, like is must be hard. There's a lot of pressure. But think about it. We play all our lives, starting at four to get to that level. And when you get to that level, I played for Toronto and Montreal, arguably the 2 biggest franchise in hockey. And it's the same question, like, is there a lot of pressure? Well, I, I worked all my life to get there. Yeah, there is pressure. But it's how you handle that pressure, though, that will separate the guys that make it and guys that don't make it. It's not for everybody. But why is it the Lemieux and Gretzky and all, all those guys, and even the guy Gila Flora played in Montreal, how come he can perform? And so it's how you, how you prepare, how you handle it. And when I got to Montreal, I was at the peak of my career at 24. I was like. Like I had lived six NHL years Toronto. I was a media everywhere and in all Canadian markets. So I was prepared to live that challenge, to come to Montreal and be the guy. And my best years of my career, the seven years I was in Montreal, as far as stats, and sometimes it was hard, but I wouldn't change it for anything. I mean, my years in Montreal were great.

Ryan Whitney (81:48)

I think that's the best regular season, your first year that a Canadian's had since.

Paul Bissonnette (81:51)

In 30, 35 years, nobody's had that.

Ryan Whitney (81:54)

What is it, 97 points you had that year?

Vincent Damphousse (81:56)

97 points. My first year in Montreal, I started.

Paul Bissonnette (81:59)

What a way to come.

Ryan Whitney (82:00)

Oh, man, pressure's off. A Stanley Cup. Your playoffs is unreal. That must have been just a magical season.

Vincent Damphousse (82:07)

Is my best season of my 18 year career as far as how I felt. Obviously winning the cup, the best memories That I have of my career are the 92, 93 season from, from coming to Montreal, to the, the my teammates, to what we lived through in the playoffs and how we got to the, to the cup with 10 overtime wins in a row. It was, it was unbelievable. Unbelievable. So yeah, it's great experience.

Guest Host (82:38)

I gotta admit. I was a die hard Islanders fan during that season because we had their AHL team at home and I went to a couple games, one game, Montreal in the island and my dad brought me up to one in the Forum. But you broke my heart. You broke all us Islanders fans heart. But I'll never forget the atmosphere in that Forum during those playoffs runs. The atmosphere was great the other night, but that playoff run, it was, it was magical in there.

Vincent Damphousse (83:00)

Yeah. It's funny because we were always at the hotel the day before our home games, which is kind of new. I mean Serge Savar and Jacques de Meura said, okay, before we play tomorrow at home, everybody at the hotel would go for dinner, go to the hotel and go to the rink the next morning to practice and play the game. And even the pre game nap was at the hotel. Our home games. And before the Islanders beat Pittsburgh, which was the powerhouse, he had 1 in 91, 1 in 92 with Lemieux and Francis and Stevens and, and talk it and Jagger and all those guys. We expect to play Pittsburgh. We expect to fly and go to Pittsburgh and play our first game over there in the semifinals. But game seven, we're all watching at the hotel, waiting to see what our fate's going to be. And when Volek scored in overtime in game seven, we're all running up and down again. No disrespect to the Islanders.

Paul Bissonnette (84:03)

You wouldn't have said it public publicly.

Vincent Damphousse (84:05)

No, but the team doesn't matter who we play.

Guest Host (84:09)

I was in. I was actually in like four glaces for a youth hockey tournament watching that game and, and the whole place went nuts. I was going nuts. As an Islander fan, it was all the Montreal fans, everybody knew. No, no, Mario.

Vincent Damphousse (84:21)

Yeah. And remember Dale Hunter kind of at that game too. Well, Terjon scored in overtime and he couple seconds later I think gets suspended 21 games for that. That hit. Yeah. Blew Pierre Turjon's shoulder. So that gave us an advantage too because at the beginning, Piero, obviously I don't think he was playing and then he wasn't 100% so.

Paul Bissonnette (84:41)

Well, we interviewed him a few weeks ago and we were talking about it and he actually told us he was out the whole series, but he dressed for Game 7, when Volek scored and then he was. He was going to take a shift. Remember, he was telling us game seven ot, he was going to take a shift. And then Volek scored, he was like. Like, I was ready to go out there and try to do something. But, yeah, it was like without him.

Vincent Damphousse (85:03)

You know, not the same.

Paul Bissonnette (85:04)

Yeah.

Vincent Damphousse (85:05)

That year he had, I think, 123.

Paul Bissonnette (85:07)

Yeah.

Vincent Damphousse (85:07)

Or something. So he was a big part. He wasn't 100%, but we really felt like we won in 20 games. So we had 16 wins, four losses, and two of them, the first two against Quebec. So we felt very strong about our chances to beat anybody. So it would have been fun to play Pittsburgh and see who knows. Right. You don't know, but, yeah, you had something special going.

Paul Bissonnette (85:31)

You never know.

Vincent Damphousse (85:32)

You look at that lineup today and. Because back then it was like, okay, Quebec with sack kick, Sandin against. We weren't really favorite right off the bat, but you look at who played on that team in 93. I mean, John LeClaire was 22, didn't really have good seasons. You had 20 goals, and then he. Boom, he goes to Philly and becomes a superstar. Yeah, Eric Desjardin was like a good, solid defenseman, but he ends up playing for Canada and a great career.

Paul Bissonnette (86:03)

He was amazing.

Vincent Damphousse (86:04)

Amazing career. You know, Matthew Schneider and Breeze Bois and all these guys that were 21, 22 that you say, okay, that's okay. Lineup. They end up being the players that we know today.

Ryan Whitney (86:15)

Like, it was almost like the perfect storm. Like, everyone was just sort of clicking at the right time, eh?

John Feidelberg (86:21)

Yeah.

Vincent Damphousse (86:21)

And everybody had a role to play. And that was the beauty about Jacques Demers, is that he could really get the best out of everybody. My best coach in my career, really a player's coach, but he could get his point across when it was time. But he was. He was very good at getting everybody to believe. And he could find roles with. From the top guy to the guy that would give you four minutes. You could really get the best out of him as well.

Paul Bissonnette (86:49)

And then that series. Oh, sorry, Murder. You have something. Oh, that series against. Against LA in the final. Like, did you know that he was gonna call for the McSorley illegal stick? Like, did that just come out of nowhere? Was that the team had talked prior, like, hey, his stick's illegal. Like, we might have to hop on that.

Vincent Damphousse (87:05)

Well, there was a. There's a lot of rumors that we knew that the who was illegal and that we had stolen sticks, and that's not the case. I mean, I was playing with illegal sticks. Really? After league, we were playing with illegal sticks. It was because of the curve or the. It was so easy to be illegal, right?

Paul Bissonnette (87:21)

Yeah.

Vincent Damphousse (87:22)

Heated up, right? Yeah. I was playing with a big hook, but I had six sticks on the bench. You had three that were illegal if I break them during the game. But I knew that with 10 minutes to go up by a goal or two, I'm switching. Yeah. I'm not taking a chance in the playoff.

Paul Bissonnette (87:37)

Yeah.

Vincent Damphousse (87:37)

Everybody was doing. Were you doing it?

Guest Host (87:39)

Yeah, I did it. I had to do it for the thickness and for the curve.

Vincent Damphousse (87:43)

Yeah.

John Feidelberg (87:43)

So it was.

Guest Host (87:44)

That's how old I am, Damn it.

Vincent Damphousse (87:45)

Yeah. So look younger. So if we're up, I'm changing my stick, everybody. And. And you could tell at the beginning of the game that McSorley Robitaille had illegal sticks. But you need the balls as the coach to make that call. So usually they don't do it early and don't. They don't do it at the end because if you're wrong, you get a penalty. Then you look like it, like an idiot. So Jacques relied on. On Guy, and he asked him on the bench, he said, who has illegal sticks? This is Mixoli Robitaille. He needs to be on the ice at the end of the game, and he needs to have the same stick. So it was. It was risky.

Paul Bissonnette (88:21)

Yeah.

Vincent Damphousse (88:22)

McSoli is on the ice, we're down by one, and he makes the call. And McSoy didn't switch his stick. So he's got a penalty. He's sitting on the bench, and usually he's the. The first guy on the fence to play in a penalty kill. He's not there. And the second thing that he did with about two minutes to play back then, he didn't pull your goalie with two minutes. Now they do, but now they do it again. It was a minute.

Paul Bissonnette (88:46)

Oh, okay. You'd wait.

Vincent Damphousse (88:47)

So we have the face off in the offensive zone, and Jacques decides to pull out Patrick and put six attack six guys against four, like, way earlier.

Ryan Whitney (88:56)

Than ever before at the time.

Vincent Damphousse (88:58)

So with two minutes, we have a power play and we start. Start working the. The puck around. And LeClaire is in front of net, and Desjarding already had the one goal. It was 2:1. So I give him the puck at the blue line. One timer goes right through LeClaire's legs and we tie the game. So it's 2:2. And in overtime again, we had won eight in a row or seven in a row at that time. And Eric again scores in overtime. Hat trick in the Stanley cup final for a defenseman. And we went on to LA and John Leclaire got the two goals in overtime there. Number nine, number 10. And we won the fifth game at home. I think it was a 5:1 or.

Paul Bissonnette (89:41)

It's just wild to see, like, you lose game one and then you're down game two. Like.

Vincent Damphousse (89:45)

Yeah.

Paul Bissonnette (89:46)

And all of us like that game. That's. And then even the overtime wins in la. Like, it was a way better series than you look in. In the record books now and see five games.

Vincent Damphousse (89:54)

Yeah. Even against Buffalo, all the games were four, three. We won by one goal every game. Against the Islanders, I think we won three in overtime. And you're right, a lot of games were tight, but we had the best goalie in the world, we felt. And he was very confident, borderline cocky. And that's. That's the strength of Patrick. I mean, he. He transpired the confidence. And you guys, guys, don't worry, I'll stop the puck. You guys.

Ryan Whitney (90:23)

He'd be saying this as a role in the locker room.

Paul Bissonnette (90:26)

No, he wasn't a rookie. Yeah, he won it as his rookie too, though.

Ryan Whitney (90:30)

Yeah, yeah, okay.

Vincent Damphousse (90:31)

In 86, he was the rookie.

Ryan Whitney (90:33)

That's right.

Vincent Damphousse (90:33)

And he was. He wasn't speaking. He couldn't speak English either when he was young.

Ryan Whitney (90:38)

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Vincent Damphousse (90:39)

But in 93, he was the guy.

Ryan Whitney (90:41)

Yes, yes. My apologies.

Vincent Damphousse (90:43)

He had a very average season, but in the playoff, he was amazing. And we all felt. We all felt cocky, we all felt confident because that's what the. Remember the wink against Sandstrom in the la like, he made a huge save. The Sunstrom comes around and he just gives him the wink that was caught on camera. So that's how confident and comfortable these.

Ryan Whitney (91:09)

Legendary French hockey players. I feel like Mario Lemieux is the greatest winker on the planet. Like, he came out the other night and they caught it perfect on camera. Even in training camp when I would be in Pittsburgh, he'd just give me the wink and he'd be like, oh, my God, he winked at me.

Vincent Damphousse (91:24)

Nothing bothers him.

Ryan Whitney (91:25)

No.

Vincent Damphousse (91:26)

Well, that. That's the thing about pressure I was telling you about earlier. I mean, some guys are at their best when the pressure they thrive on is that they need it peak. And why is it that Patrick wa. Was able to perform so well in the playoffs throughout his career, and some of the guys can't. Well, that's. That's not for everybody.

Guest Host (91:45)

You have. Patrick was still. It makes sense that he's the one that started this early goalie pulling when he was the coach in Colorado.

Vincent Damphousse (91:52)

Yeah.

Guest Host (91:52)

He was the first one to start pulling them with three minutes, four minutes. So I wonder if it goes back to that legendary goalie poll.

Ryan Whitney (91:58)

I also heard they never used to do it if a team was up by more than one goal, too. So if it was like 3:1, they wouldn't even bother pulling the goalie, which is crazy.

Vincent Damphousse (92:06)

Yeah. Now they're down by three goals. They pull the goalie out with seven minutes.

Ryan Whitney (92:09)

Yeah. Yeah.

Paul Bissonnette (92:10)

Elio loves it.

Ryan Whitney (92:14)

We had somebody on from Colorado and when. I think it was. He was talking about how Adam Foote and Patrick Wall room together, and they'd never seen a goalie discuss strategy like Patrick. Like some goalies, they just worried about stopping the puck, but he would, like, move positionally. The defenseman tell you where to stand. Hey, don't go here. Was it like that when you play with him when you won a Stanley Cup? Like, had you ever seen a goalie kind of talk about the game the way that he did?

Vincent Damphousse (92:41)

He would. He would talk to his defenseman. He was very specific in what he wanted with his defenseman. Like you, he. He wanted the shot. He wanted the defense to take the pass, which is what you learn as a. As a. But he was really stressing that, like, give me the shot. Worry about the back door to his defenseman, and he wanted that. He wanted to see the puck so clear the front and. But as far as. For me, Patrick was. When I was slacking, when I was playing, wasn't playing my best. It was more like. It wasn't. The coach. The coach would. Would tell me some stuff, and I knew it, but Patrick would say something right in my face. Not to be condescendent, but today, Vinnie, we need you. Like, let's go wake up or something like that. Where. And he was right. I mean, I wasn't pulling my weight or it was. And he expected that from himself. But he would.

Paul Bissonnette (93:34)

He.

Vincent Damphousse (93:35)

No. No problem telling anybody in the room.

Paul Bissonnette (93:38)

And not even a defenseman. Right. Who he's dealing with more.

Vincent Damphousse (93:41)

No, no.

Paul Bissonnette (93:42)

He's a forward. Like, hey, they matter.

Vincent Damphousse (93:45)

He knew how everybody was performing, and he was very aware of what was going on on the ice. And he wasn't afraid to. He wasn't a goalie that was like very quiet or he would. He would do his thing. He was very superstitious.

Whitney (94:00)

He was.

Vincent Damphousse (94:00)

Do his thing before the game and that. But he could be very vocal once in a while, not all the time.

Paul Bissonnette (94:07)

We asked Pierre Terjean about. About the night it kind of all ended, right. Like the night against Detroit and how you didn't have the glass with the owners behind you. And he actually mentioned he'd been driving to the rink with him, I believe, and he kind of knew, like, he's not happy. But did you know that, like, were you as shocked as everyone else that night it happened? And what are your memories of him.

Vincent Damphousse (94:28)

Being traded well, that day? Well, first of all, the. The. The relationship between Mario and Patrick was good when they played together, but it started off kind of rocky at the beginning of their relationship when. When Mario got hired as the coach and. But we won like, I think seven games in a row when Mario came in.

Paul Bissonnette (94:50)

So it was pushed back.

Vincent Damphousse (94:51)

It was pushed back to the side, and it was just a matter of time before it came out and went out of control. And that day, it was against Detroit when. When he got scored on and scored on and scored on and he was. He was kept in the. In. In the net. And I was sitting on the bench when Patrick was pulled finally and he was. He walked behind and he talked to Renault. Corey said, I played my last game here. I was. I was with my stick and I was looking straight ahead and it was right behind. So I had no idea. No. No idea what was going on.

Paul Bissonnette (95:24)

Okay.

Vincent Damphousse (95:25)

No idea what was going on until later on that night. And I understood the. I understood the trade. We didn't. And, you know, obviously we didn't get enough for him. And they put Mike Keane, which I thought was a. I won't stop with Mike Keem. Mike Keaney was my line mate. I have tons of respect for Mike. One of the most underrated player. They threw him in that trade and he did wonders. He won the cup in Colorado, won the Cup, I think in Dallas as well. Super player that we put in that trade. But Pierre was smart and he felt like there was an opportunity and he came in and. And Su. Patrick and. And Mike Keane. I mean, I love. Rosinski is one of my best friend in hockey, but obviously we didn't. We didn't get enough. No disrespect for Tebow or. It's a tough situation for him to come in and try to replace Patrick and Kovalenko and. And Ruzinski obviously should have got a psychic or Forsberg.

Paul Bissonnette (96:22)

Yeah. When you're looking at Patrick. Well, I played with Tebow, though. Great guy. Yeah, he's an awesome shirt.

Vincent Damphousse (96:27)

It was tough for him to come in.

Guest Host (96:28)

Yeah, I just want to go right back, put a bow on that 92, 93 cup. We know Odaline, he told us the week after you he won the cup, he rented a limo and lived out of it for the whole week.

Ryan Whitney (96:40)

What was your like Noonan. But he didn't have to pay for it.

Guest Host (96:43)

What was your cup experience like winning in Montreal?

Vincent Damphousse (96:46)

I was with Lyle Odaline quite a bit. I was single and he was single. And I love Lyle. What a, what a guy. I mean, he was one of the only guys that would go east of the Forum that said the French part of town. So he would come out the, the bars with me, we would go out and he was, he didn't speak a word of French, he didn't care in there and sipping his little cocktail. It was great. I kind of related to that when I was, my early, early days when I couldn't understand English, so. But Lyle was great. We went out like every night and obviously guys with families getting would, would, would kind of leave the, the, the caravan, whatever you call it at the beginning. Everybody's there. But yeah, it's understandable. But for me, I don't remember much of the two weeks after we went. I remember the parade that was.

Ryan Whitney (97:38)

Oh my God.

Paul Bissonnette (97:39)

That was.

Vincent Damphousse (97:39)

Parade is an eye opener of how many people you impact when you win, right? Because we, like I said, we were in the hotel before the games. We were in our bubble. But when you win, you don't really know. Okay, you celebrate. The Forum was. The dressing room was packed with family and friends, but, but the parade was like, we were on 18 wheeler platforms and there was people as far as you can see ahead of us, as far as you can see behind us. And we were celebrating with, with the, the whole city. It was, it was amazing. It was like two days, two, three days after we won. And so that was the beginning of the kind of the partying and celebrating and the. So it was great.

Ryan Whitney (98:22)

As a French Canadian kid, it must have been like, must have felt so cool to deliver another cup to Montreal and like be around the, the other legends who are at that point probably retired who delivered what 6, 7, 8 Stanley Cups in some, in some fashion. So just having them around and being able to deliver that, like, was that probably the most satisfying feeling of your life?

Vincent Damphousse (98:41)

Yeah, it was a whirlwind that year for me. I mean, I just came in in the year before, in, in August and I won in June of the following year and my life totally changed and I'm home. I'm. I'm playing for the Canadiens. I win the Cup I have a great season and it's like, like fairy tale unbelievable and. But you don't, you don't feel that impact like right away. I feel it more now because people talk to me about that cup 30 years later.

Paul Bissonnette (99:09)

That's so cool though.

Vincent Damphousse (99:10)

You know, you're a winner for life and you, you realize that when you, when you, you know, you're around the city, they're craving for another team to kind of come up and, and make the playoff and be successful in that. And, and we're the last ones. We just had our 30 year anniversary reunion and it's great to see all those faces. These guys are like brothers to me. You know, it's like when I say I remember that year more than anything, it's because we went to trenches together, we won together, we did something that a lot of players are not able to do in their career for different reasons. The wrong team, you know, it just doesn't happen. It's very difficult to win. It's going to be even more difficult now with 32 teams. So. So if you have an opportunity to win it, you remember the guys you're with. You get flashback of different situation where it made the difference over time. He could go one way, could get the other, and then. So it's great memories. And these guys are like brothers. And when we met a couple years ago to celebrate, I mean, we all had. Had different memories. Things I didn't remember that somebody else remembered. And we all told stories and we all like had a great time. It was a special night and Sir Savara was there and, and all our players. The only one that passed away was Todd Ewan. So we had a, we had a great night. Great night.

Paul Bissonnette (100:40)

Yeah.

Guest Host (100:41)

That team deserved more than one night together, it seems like. I gotta ask why you were in Montreal? Because I played a lot in Europe. I see a stop in Germany. Germany just for 11 games. That reeks of like a paid vacation to go to Oktoberfest. What were you doing over there just for 11?

Vincent Damphousse (100:55)

I didn't go to Munich. I was, I was Northwest, but that was the lockout year. We were 100 days without hockey. And in November, I told my agent, I gotta get out of here. I wanna, I wanna play. And can you find me a spot? And there's some, some guys were kind of going in different leagues in Switzerland and I was lucky enough to go to Ratingen Lions and I played 11 games and it was a great experience. I loved it. I got there and guys were kind of looking at me Funny. And I wasn't in perfect shape, but it was a great, great hockey, surprisingly. Like I was playing against Tony Tanti and Shabbat was there and all guys that I. That I saw when I was younger and they were at the end of their career playing there and. But really, I thought it was going to be a walk in the park, but I had my hands full. It was. It was a tough competition. Good hockey and great experience to see another country. And how they. How they see a game. Like half the building is screaming and singing and drunk and standing up. They don't sit the whole game.

Paul Bissonnette (102:05)

They're there in a really cool.

Vincent Damphousse (102:06)

The soccer and the other side, they're. They have season, they sit. But the one side, these. The whole game, they just like sing.

Paul Bissonnette (102:15)

You played in 40 countries hanging the drums.

Guest Host (102:19)

The chance, it is special.

Paul Bissonnette (102:20)

It's great.

Guest Host (102:21)

You win, you stay on the ice, you chant back at them. It is. It's really exciting. I loved it.

Vincent Damphousse (102:26)

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Guest Host (102:27)

After that, you come back Montreal to finish up and next, you know, you're captain of the Montreal Canadiens. What an honor.

Vincent Damphousse (102:33)

Yeah, that was a great honor. When Pierre got traded, we were in Detroit and Mario was the coach. And Mario and I had a good connection and I knew he relied on me for. For a lot of things. I was kind of helping him because he was a rookie coach. So the changes and all that, how everything worked. As in. Mario, you can wait at home before you send me against Pronger. You know, you could.

Paul Bissonnette (102:59)

We have last change. We have last change.

Vincent Damphousse (103:01)

So anyways, before the game, he. He calls a meeting and he's. He's got my jersey and it's. The new captain is Vincent Damfoose. And the. I. I see the sea in front of my jersey and he present. Presents me in the jersey in front of all the guys. And I felt ready. I felt very sense of pride. And I couldn't believe it. It was a bit of a shocker, but I was ready for it. I was hoping it was me because I'd seen Guy Carbono, I'd seen Mueller, I'd seen Keane, Pierre Turjon, and I felt it was my turn to get it. And I felt I had the confidence from the guys in the room. I felt comfortable with everybody. El was my assistant and he was super. I knew I had the backing from the veterans in the room, so it was great.

Paul Bissonnette (103:52)

Yeah, that's like you'd seen so many leaders and learned that, like you knew what it took to be a leader. Whereas now, you know, guys are giving The C a little bit younger. And a guy like Sid, it makes total sense. He was that driven and crazy as a young guy. But you, you could. You probably never would have wanted it even four or five years earlier than that. Right?

Vincent Damphousse (104:11)

Like, I don't think I was ready to. To. I was. I'm not a very vocal captain. And then I, I tend to lead by. I, I try to do what's right on the ice and in practice. And it was all. Most of the time was one of the first guys on. I want to practice on different things. So that's what I relate to when I watch somebody as a leader, to me is like, doesn't have to be the loudest guy. It's what you do game in and game out or every day. Not just on the ice, off the ice. You present yourself, you deal with media, which is very important in Montreal and Toronto and the Canadian markets. You represent the franchise, you represent. You represent the owners, you represent the players. You're the link between the players and the coaches. So there is a lot of responsibility, but you don't have to change. I look at Suzuki, first thing I told him at the, at the golf tournament and I went to him, I said, congratulations, you were my pick. I'm glad it's you. And I said, you don't have to change. I know you're quiet. I know it's perfect.

Whitney (105:15)

Just.

Vincent Damphousse (105:16)

Yeah, just don't change because you're the captain. Just keep, Keep doing what you're doing and you're doing fine. And he was young. I mean, he got the captain, see, in his early 20s, so. And he is doing good. He's improving every year and it doesn't affect his play and, And I think he's well respected.

Ryan Whitney (105:35)

Classy kid. Like, he ain't. There's no. With him exactly. Narrow.

Vincent Damphousse (105:38)

We could still. You could tell he's respected by the rest of the guys too. I think he's. He's got that room. He's got some veterans that help him out, but he's well respected. He's, you know, clean cut. He does his things right. He represents the brand well. He represents the team well. He's a perfect fit as a captain for the, for the franchise. So that's a bit how I was. It was more on a quiet side, but I remember at some point I needed to say something because as the captain, sometimes you need to shake things up when you need to. Everybody's looking at you like. Like I wasn't doing well personally. The team was in a slump and I remember we were at the Molson Brewery and we had a. An event and I went to Gila Fleur. I said, gil, I got a problem. I said, I don't know what to do. So I'm not doing well personally. I feel like if I say something, I'm bullshitting because I'm not performing well. And he said, vinnie, just go for it. Go for it. The guys will need you. If you need to say something, guys will understand. Go for it and put more on. On you.

Paul Bissonnette (106:43)

Yeah.

Vincent Damphousse (106:43)

Like, okay.

Paul Bissonnette (106:44)

Yeah. No, I would think the same though. Like, if I'm not playing good, how am I gonna say something?

Vincent Damphousse (106:48)

Yeah. So I'm in Pittsburgh and I call a meeting and that's not usually I kind of follow up on, on the captains, what he says, but I'm the captain, so I gotta start the meeting. And I'm saying, guys, we gotta. Gotta look at ourselves in the mirror and you gotta stop looking at the other guy. And. And I said, I'm gonna play better. And it starts today. And for some reason it just clicked for me and clicked for the team. So it was a great, great lessons from GI. Just put more pressure on yourself to perform. And if you know that's. You can only try.

Guest Host (107:24)

I feel like in Montreal there should be a special club for you guys. Like an underground. Like there is, and it's like Old Montreal. All the captains, you guys are always meeting there and helping smoke ocean whiskey.

Paul Bissonnette (107:38)

But it was a wine cellar.

Vincent Damphousse (107:40)

Yeah, that's one of the big difference that I saw from the Leafs to the Canadians was the history in Toronto was there. But when I played, there was nobody around. It was the. Dave Keon wasn't around, the older players weren't around. And when I got to Montreal, they had an old timers room in the. In the new building. And Maurice Richard was always around. Jean Billy Vaux, Gila Fleur.

Paul Bissonnette (108:06)

Wow, that's awesome.

Vincent Damphousse (108:07)

And you walk in and you're like unbelievable. Like you don't have a choice but to perform or try to give your all for that.

Ryan Whitney (108:17)

Did they make another locker room in the new building where it's all the legends of the Montreal?

Vincent Damphousse (108:22)

Yeah, we have old timers room and we have a place where we have a. We have food, we have a bar, we have stools, we have a. It's beautiful. And every game that I go, I stop by there and there's at least five guys that play for the Canadians that are there with their family, grandkids and.

Ryan Whitney (108:45)

So cool, man.

Paul Bissonnette (108:47)

The history of that.

Ryan Whitney (108:48)

Yeah, maybe we get A key to.

Guest Host (108:50)

That room for Saturday night.

Ryan Whitney (108:53)

Yeah, you ain't getting left there. So at that point you'd played Toronto, Edmonton, Montreal, only Canadian markets. And then finally the trade happens. You go to of all places, the San Jose Shark.

Paul Bissonnette (109:05)

Quickly before you go, sorry, because I looked up. No, no damn foos trade to San Jose. And the first thing I see is worst trades in Montreal Canadian history. And then it actually mentions that you, you, you guys were on a flight, you were up in the air and you found out. I don't know if that's true.

Vincent Damphousse (109:21)

Yeah, no, that's true. That's a funny story where Raja is a great man, okay? He's, he handles the, the alumni room and he's been. I see him all the time and he traded me, but I got, I got a lot of respect for him and he was put in a position. It was very difficult. The franchise were one. Molson's wanting to sell the team at the time and they weren't investing in their players. I was becoming free agent at 31 and we had a meeting couple months before to see if they want to extend my contract. And it was clear that it wasn't going to happen. So I knew that my days were doomed. It was just a matter of time. But the deadline was at 3 o' clock on March 23rd and we had a flight at noon on March 23rd to go to Edmonton. So the day before, he brings me and Quintal in his office and he says, guys, I'm going to try to trade you. I just want to bring you in here to thank you for the time that you spent for the Canadians and for this franchise. But it's just business. I'm going to try to trade you. So Quintal says, well, what about the flight tomorrow? Are we going on or are we staying at home? And he was like, no, no, you guys go on that flight. So the next day, the next day, no trade in the morning. So it's noon and we're fly out to Edmonton. And at the time there was the coaches and Rajan was in Montreal in his office working the trades. But the coaches were in front, media was in the middle. And I was playing cards with Rosinski and Savage and my buddies and just like we always do, we're just in the back and playing cards and they had those phones, you know, with the.

Paul Bissonnette (111:05)

You could call in Air Force One style.

Vincent Damphousse (111:08)

So I would go every hour to the media. Some, some of them were my friends. I said, said the. Have you heard anything yet or. No, Nothing yet. So 1 o' clock passes, 2 o' clock passes, we're over Winnipeg and you're.

Ryan Whitney (111:21)

5K in the hole because you've been going all in every hand.

John Feidelberg (111:23)

I'm never gonna see these guys again.

Ryan Whitney (111:25)

Yeah, I get the blue light right there. Blue light me.

Vincent Damphousse (111:28)

So at 5 to 3, I see Gaetan Lefebvre, our medical guy, come, comes up down the back of the alley and he taps me on the shoulder. He said, coach Vigne wants to speak to you. So I go up, up past the media and I said, what's. What's going on la? I said, well, we just traded you. I said, okay. Where? He said, you're going to San Jose. I said, okay. Is there anybody else on the team or. No, you're the only one. So I said, what do I do now?

Paul Bissonnette (111:57)

I'm in Edmonton with one bag.

Ryan Whitney (111:59)

Well, that's a parachute. Good luck. No, open up the exit.

Vincent Damphousse (112:03)

You said, I don't know, speak to. Forget the name of our. Our media guy. So he tells me that I need to stay on the plane when we get to Edmonton because San Jose is playing in Toronto the next day. So I'm. We land. So I go back to my seat and I'm emotional because I am traded for Montreal and that's not what I wanted. And so a lot of emotions comes, you know, come. Comes up and. But after 10 minutes, the guys. I'll come and say. Say a few words, but after a while you're like, okay, deal him up. Let's go, guys. Get two more hours.

Guest Host (112:44)

Do I like this guy?

Paul Bissonnette (112:45)

Check, check.

Vincent Damphousse (112:47)

So we land. Finally, we land in Edmonton and I stay on the plane. Everybody, everybody leaves. I'm by myself with the stewardess and the pilots. They fuel up and I feel like a king in. I fly back with this huge plane by myself back to Montreal because the plane was going back. So I stayed with them. They went back to Montreal at time to make a couple phone calls, pack my stuff, I'm coming to Montreal. So I flew 10 hours that day, got all my clothes, flew to Toronto, and that was the beginning of my career with the sharks. We won 85. I got two goals at the nice. Not building easy start. Daryl Sutter, I went to meet him in Toronto. I said, hi, Daryl. Is there anything I should know about the system or how do you guys play? He said, no, just like, just go do your. Put me on the ice with Owen Nolan and Jeff Friesen. And that was my line for a while over there, and it was great.

Ryan Whitney (113:44)

And how. How many Years had Patrick Marlowe played at that point. I feel like that group beginning. Yeah, that group was a pretty young core, and I'm sure they wanted your leadership.

Vincent Damphousse (113:54)

My first year was a mix of guys. It was. Vernon was the. The. It was Suitor Vernon, Lowry.

Ryan Whitney (114:02)

But that was kind of the start of that culture there because they went on to. To have success for years and years and years.

Paul Bissonnette (114:07)

You had some good teams there.

Vincent Damphousse (114:09)

We had some.

Paul Bissonnette (114:10)

We had some second round twice, conference finals once.

Vincent Damphousse (114:13)

Yeah, I think my first year or second year, we beat St. Louis, who was number one. So we beat him in seven, where eight beat number one, which is a great upset. But, you know, looking back, you get traded sometimes. It's. It's difficult, but they're always great experiences. Like, you got to make the best of it. You gotta. That's something that I learned from myself, that I. I've been good at, is adapting to new environment and adapting to new teams and you meet new people, you make new friends, you meet new teammates, and they're all. I mean, guys are all. For the most part, they're all good guys. So you just meet other guys and you just make other connections. And so it was five really great years for me. I finished my contract, finished my, I think 11 games in the season playoffs. And Wilson, Doug Wilson, tells me, vinnie, you're our number one priority. We want to resign you. So it was refreshing to me to hear that I didn't have to. I signed on June 20th. Five years in San Jose, but I was 10 days. I was 10 days from being free.

Paul Bissonnette (115:25)

Agent for the first time, too. Right.

Vincent Damphousse (115:27)

For the first time in my life after 13 years in the NHL. But there's something to say about taking care, saying the right things to your player. Like when you have a star player, you got to be careful how you handle that negotiation. Because, you know, sometimes you want to play hardball. But if you tell them, that's the way I felt anyways, if you tell him, you know what, we want you back. You're a key guy. We want to build around you. If I'm hearing that from my gm, and he doesn't want to bullshit me and he wants to tell me straight up, I think that goes a long way.

Ryan Whitney (115:58)

Yeah. In a sense of maybe leaving a little bit on the table, maybe.

Vincent Damphousse (116:03)

But, but, but, yeah, for me, yeah. I didn't know. I didn't know it was like the unknown being free agent. But I could have said, you know what? I'm gonna wait and I'm gonna see what's out There. But I was happy in San Jose. I was gonna say the organization were great to me for the month that I was there, plus playoff. And I was like, okay, I'm in. Let's go.

Ryan Whitney (116:25)

Given the strength of the league and where it was headed, was that obviously your best financial contract?

Vincent Damphousse (116:30)

Yes.

Ryan Whitney (116:30)

Okay, great.

Vincent Damphousse (116:31)

Of course. Yeah. I caught the wave at the end of my career where everything changed and everything was like. And I was. I was becoming more involved with the pa. I became vice president. That was voted by the players to kind of represent them. And I knew that was coming. So I signed my contract to where the CBA was going to end. That's where I wanted to go and see where it took me. After I was 36, when the lockout hit, I was very involved with meetings, and that was my university. I had my SPA business, but really where I learned a lot of stuff, a lot of the business parts and the pressure of time and pressure and all that from the players that were holding out, that wanted to play from what I thought was right, from what, you know, Bob Goodnow was telling us and all. I had to make sense of all that and give my opinion. That's what I was there for. It's not just a yes man. It's like, I think we should do this or I think we should do that, and there's consequences to both. But I was 400 days in lockout with the rest of my 700 guys, and I was representing them in front of Bettman, the league, the lawyers, the. Sitting in a room for hours. And it was going to university for me. It was. It was unbelievable. Very intense, but I'm glad I did it.

Ryan Whitney (117:52)

That's amazing.

Paul Bissonnette (117:53)

And you. You played 82 games the last three years of your career, and. And then the lockout comes. Did you just kind of know, like, that's it? Like, I don't. I don't have the passion anymore. I don't want to play anymore.

Vincent Damphousse (118:05)

Or like, no, I didn't know I wanted to come back to. I remember when we lost to Calgary in the semifinals my last year in San Jose. I was sitting in the Groom, and I looked around, I said, this could.

Paul Bissonnette (118:16)

Be it, but it already entered your mind.

Vincent Damphousse (118:19)

Because I knew the lockout was coming and it was going to be long. I knew they were prepared. I knew it was. The cap was going to maybe come in, maybe not. And I looked around and said, okay, take it in, because this could be your last game. That was April 2004. And then the lockout hit, and when we signed the following year, the cba, half the guys weren't signed, half the guys had no contract because the. The owners prepared the contract so that everybody ended in 04. A lot of guys didn't come back, and I was one of them. But when we resigned, I was interested in coming back to Montreal or going back to San Jose, and neither organization was ready to give me a contract because it was the unknown. They were more signing the young guys, the cap. But I wasn't ready to retire yet. So that's June and then July. So one day I'm training hard. The other day I'm like, I got enough of this. And then one. Another day I'm going up the mountain in Montreal Blanc and training. And so that was back and forth in my head like that. What do I want to do? Motivation was kind of off and on. And then I get an offer from Washington in August, late August, Oveschkin's first year. They're at the. They're under the floor. Remember, there's a floor, there's a cap.

Paul Bissonnette (119:42)

It was 6 million bucks.

Vincent Damphousse (119:45)

39 million was the cap. Yeah, that's 22 was the floor. 23. And they needed to sign somebody to. To get to the floor. They had finished last the year before. And Washington offers me this contract for one year, and I'm like, I'm. I think I'm done. So I tell my agent, tell him no. And once you say no to one team, it's like, finished. Right. So I announced my retirement two days later. But that offer forced me to make a decision, and I never, never look back. The only regret I have is I never play with a veteran.

Paul Bissonnette (120:21)

You might have another center.

Vincent Damphousse (120:25)

I would have been a center. When I said no, they said to sign Andrew Castles the next day for the same contract he offered me.

Ryan Whitney (120:30)

No. Wow.

Vincent Damphousse (120:31)

And Andrew played with Ovechkin his first year. I think he had 52 goals first year.

Paul Bissonnette (120:36)

Holy.

Ryan Whitney (120:37)

Do you have a strong opinion on, like, the way that the, the. The CBA has been handled up into this point? Are you happy with where the game is at and how the players are being treated compared to maybe when you first entered the league? Like, where do you sit on all that? And are you still, like, heavily involved in a sense of paying attention to where it's all moving?

Vincent Damphousse (120:54)

Well, I'm involved not with the pa, but I'm involved with media. So now I'm. When I speak on TV about a contract or somebody, like, I have the knowledge of, you know, how much space the contract will take under a team's cap. And I, I can kind of have an opinion based on what I went through and I'm very happy. Like, the cap was 39 million the first year. Some people were afraid that it was going to come down. Like, we didn't know. We didn't know what we were getting into. It's a partnership of the league. We're trying to grow the business together. We get half and then the owners get half. And their franchise, yeah, it went up to the roof. But good, good for them. Good for, I mean, the players. There's always going to be issues, but I think overall the game has grown unbelievable. There's more franchises, they're more solid markets and the players are getting their share. They're making, they're signing big contracts earlier. I think the difference is if you perform at a young age, you'll get quicker. They're set. I mean, you look at Lane Hudson in Montreal, he's going to sign a big ticket probably this summer. Good for him. You perform, you make the money. When I played, it was like, you had to wait Till I was 31 years old to become free agent and you had to grind and perform and you were paid for past performance. Now you're paid. You perform, you're going to get paid. If you don't perform, you're going to get pushed out quicker. So there's less.

Paul Bissonnette (122:20)

You get paid actually, for potential. A little bit you get paid for, you know, what you've done. But it's also like, all right, he's only 23.

Vincent Damphousse (122:29)

Yeah.

Paul Bissonnette (122:29)

And we've seen this. Whereas you had to do it all and then they take care of you when you played.

Vincent Damphousse (122:34)

Yeah, I think there's all. There's always a risk. I mean, if you sign a player eight years and it could be, it could. If he doesn't perform, it could be heavy on your cap for a long time. So there's always that risk. That's why you need to really know who you have and evaluate your player properly. And. But it's. There's no guarantee. I mean, a lot of things can happen. Injuries or. And. But it's interesting to see how GMs adapt to year, year in, year, out to how they construct their team and what decision they make. It's, it's, it's fun to watch, I think. I think the game has never been better. The guys are, are fast. I mean, fast. They're good, they're. There's a lot of talent. A lot of countries are now coming up with some, some quality players. So Yeah, I like. I like what I'm seeing. I hope there's going to be labor peace the next time around. Seems like they're.

Paul Bissonnette (123:28)

I think there's too much to lose now.

Ryan Whitney (123:31)

Right. Yeah. And it kind of alludes to a point that we've been talking about over and over since being a little bit more involved with Glenn Healey and the alumni, just paying more attention as the older we get. Like. Like the insurance aspect for the older players that maybe weren't treated as good as these younger guys are now. Do you think that that's a possibility, that these guys get all their insurance and medical bills taken care of?

Vincent Damphousse (123:51)

Well, I hope. I hope that the players now in the. The Players association look at that. And I. I work at the Players Association. After I retired, that's one thing that I did. I worked for a year and a half, and I. One of my project was to give back some of the surplus money that was available from, I think, 89 season to 96. And I was calling guys that were in trouble, calling guys. I said, there's a check coming for you because all the surplus, if you played in those years, you'll get something and want to send it to the right address. And that was up to 96. But there are some guys that are struggling even if they play in the 90s and if. Even if they made some money, the reality is still that guys play an average of four years and then you're out and you got. A lot of them don't have schooling and they. They're. It's difficult to go from playing in the NHL to sometimes nothing, and they try to find a job. I mean, you know how hard it is. It's a grind. There's always guys trying to take your job. So, yeah, alumni players need help, and I know the league and the PA are helping, but as far as insurance and all that, I'm not in the details now, but Glenn Healey is very good, and I'm sure he's going to do the right thing.

Guest Host (125:14)

Just got to say one more thing before we wrap up. We share a same birthday. So when I first saw your hockey card, you became one of my favorite players. But then when you beat the Islanders, you dropped out.

Ryan Whitney (125:25)

You ripped it up.

Vincent Damphousse (125:26)

Yeah.

Ryan Whitney (125:26)

Now bend the corners.

Guest Host (125:27)

Yeah. But now with the story about being traded and you still went back to the plane and said, let's keep playing cards.

Paul Bissonnette (125:33)

This is your guy.

Guest Host (125:34)

You've moved back up. You're back there.

Vincent Damphousse (125:36)

There you go.

Guest Host (125:36)

So, yeah, if you help us with this health insurance, Then you're definitely gonna.

Ryan Whitney (125:39)

Be my number one at the top of the list. And we're gonna do a content piece where you go play blackjack with Merles and a wit.

Paul Bissonnette (125:46)

This was unreal. What a pro you are and hell of a career. We thank you very much, Legend. Congrats on everything.

Vincent Damphousse (125:52)

Thank you for having me, guys. We're big fans in the family. My boys love you guys.

Paul Bissonnette (125:55)

Yeah. Good luck to the day you didn't.

Ryan Whitney (125:57)

Get a scented candle like Sid.

Paul Bissonnette (126:04)

Guys, we got big news in the Spit and Chicklets world. We just launched our co branded hockey training aids with Skills, the leading sports skill training brand. Now you can go to Dick's Sporting Goods and see Spit and Chiclets on the shelves. We just released training aids for players of all ages. We have the universal Shooting Target, the Hockey Shooting Trainer and the Foam shooting Targets. Perfect for the driveway or on the ice, these products will help your offensive game in a big way. You'll be sniping after you get the skills in the Spit and Chiclets combo. The universal Shooting target builds a visual focus to improve shooting accuracy. The Hockey Shooting Trainer features five target areas and helps build the vision and muscle memory needed to increase scoring percentages. And the foam shooting targets have quick hook and loop attachments for multiple shot locations. So go get the brand new Skills and Spit and Chicklets hockey training Aids now available online and in store at Dick's Sporting Goods. Guys. This episode is brought to you by Body Armor Sports Drink. Right here I'm holding a strawberry banana, my favorite flavor. Body armor has great tasting flavors like the one I just mentioned. And orange mango. No artificial dyes, flavors or sweeteners. None of the crap, none of the stuff that your body doesn't need. Just hydration and amazing tasting body armor sports drink. I'll tell you right now, Strawberry Banner is the only, the only one I drink. I'm just obsessed with. That's how I used to get smoothies. That's how I drink my body armor. And now in a bold new look with the same great taste. Get your body armor today at Walmart or a local grocery store near you Body armor. Choose better. Thank you so much to Vincent Danfoss. Awesome time hanging out with him in Montreal. So we appreciate it. And we have another interview that is Barstool Sports owned John Feidelberg. Great guy. Have known him for quite a while now. And biz, you were all over the new show he has with Tommy Smokes and and Lil Sass. Where did you even see it or.

Ryan Whitney (128:08)

Hear about It, I think probably a few months ago is when people were talking about the fact that Barstool was going to release its first series and then obviously the trailer came out and you know, I think that lured a lot of people in and engaged people's interest. And episode one ended up coming out last week and it was great. You know, it's, it's, it's a hard thing putting something together like that they did on the out of order YouTube channel. They released like an actors on Actors where they talk about how it came to be. Pabs and Owen are like the directors and writers of it and the out of out of order guys like Feidalberg, Sask, KB no Swag, Nick Tierney and Tommy Smokes and many more Barstool employees who get in the mix. Like Gruden was involved in a skit for Gruden Bull. They finally just all got together and did this show, Le Mascots. It's going to be seven episodes. Episode one dropped. And then today, later tonight, 8:00pm Eastern Time on the out of Order YouTube channel, episode two will come out.

Paul Bissonnette (129:08)

So 200,000 people have already watched the first episode.

Ryan Whitney (129:11)

Yeah. So it, it got rave reviews. They did this with I, I hope we're out to say it. A twenty thousand dollar budget, guys. The fact that they were able to put this together for 20 grand is absolutely ridiculous. So credit to them putting themselves out there and releasing the first ever series slash sitcom that Barstool's done. And great dudes KFC Radio with Feidelberg. I mean they've been doing it forever. So. So a few OGs mixed in with, I mean little Sask who's been with the company I think five or six years got together and did this awesome project. So we'll throw over to fights right now to talk about how it came to be and a lot of situations that came up over the course of filming it. And I hope a lot of you guys check it out because it's, it's great. And there's six more episodes coming out.

Paul Bissonnette (129:58)

John Feitlberg. We are now joined by good friend, good friend of the show and star actor in. I actually asked him is it called Les Mascots or Les Mascots? He goes, your guess is as good as mine. John Feidelberg, the Cookie Monster. What's up buddy?

John Feidelberg (130:19)

What's up boys? It's a, it's an honor to be here. I guess Biz can probably answer that for us with how it's pronounced. I think it's lay.

Paul Bissonnette (130:25)

But yeah, Biz getting points on like I was like, like, I've saw, I saw Tommy Smokes talking. Everyone's like, is Biz being paid by you guys? No, he just loves it.

John Feidelberg (130:35)

He's. Dude, I mean, Biz, I, I've loved you forever, man. I can't love you more than I do now, dude. You're just.

Ryan Whitney (130:42)

Buddy. I could only imagine the, the time and energy that went into putting this together. I watched the actors on Actors while I was waiting for episode one. I thought episode two was coming out tonight, so I watched that leading up to it, the remainder of the actors on Actors. So just to hear that, you guys were writing that thing for about 18 months, right? That's how long it took you guys to put this together.

John Feidelberg (131:04)

We were, we were like, writing scripts for like 18 months. We, we wrote like two movies that we kind of just got like a hundred pages into or whatever, and like, ah, this isn't really working. So we kind of, we, we wrote for that long. But Les Mascots itself, Owen had the idea probably a year and a half ago, so I guess, yeah, that is 18 months. And then the, the actual writing, like, when we really got down to brass tacks of it was probably, I don't even remember, let's call it three months just to be safe. Three, four months, something like that.

Ryan Whitney (131:37)

So it was kind of Owen and Pavs who spearheaded this, and I would assume that they're heavily involved in the out of Order and how all the skits began. Because my understanding from the actors on Actors 2 was you guys were approached early on where it was you and Sask who were the OGs of the out of Order, where you guys had barely spoken, really barely met each other. And all of a sudden you guys were put together to do this kind of like, skit project.

John Feidelberg (132:03)

Yeah, that, that's kind of how it happened, really is. I, I, I would guess Owen and Pavs talked behind the scenes and were like, these two will probably do it because they wanted to do something. I don't, I don't, I honestly don't really remember how it all came together, but it was definitely Owen and PAV's like, like 100 them behind it. How, however it went about whoever they asked first or whatever, whatever the situation was, Owen and Paz are behind the whole thing from start to finish. Mascots.

Paul Bissonnette (132:27)

How, how long, like, did the filming take? Like, how was it hard for you to remember the lines? I've actually been told by people at barstool that you're a legit, very good actor. Like, have you kind of always Been into that.

John Feidelberg (132:40)

Literally. Never with like. Like, I mean, I've always liked movies and television. Don't get me wrong about that. That. But I've never done anything like that. Never wasn't like a high school play, Never was in an elementary school play. I just. I just like movies and tv. And that's, I guess, why I'm okay at it. I don't really know, but it is. It's fun. It's that. That's, like the. It's really, really fun. I always. You guys could probably relate to this. I always. Or I've been saying that it's. It's the most I've ever felt on a team since I was on a team. Like, you know, we've done podcasts and you have partners and stuff like that. But this is like, there are 10 people who have a role, and to do a good job, everyone better do their role every day better. Come prepared. And it's been very, very cool to. To get to experience that kind of, kind of, like, honestly, kind of locker room camaraderie again, like, getting jacked up for each other when we nail a line. It's pretty lame to say it about.

Ryan Whitney (133:36)

No, great.

John Feidelberg (133:38)

Like, it is the way it kind of works out where we get, like, jazzed up with someone nails something. So it's just. It's been, like, just an incredible experience. I'm very, very lucky. We've had it.

Ryan Whitney (133:47)

You could tell by the actors on actors that you guys were very close. You enjoyed the whole process. You were kind of nervous together, I guess, before it came out and how it would be received. That's probably the worst part. And then obviously, when it comes out and you see all the positive feedback, it's like, oh, man. You could take a deep breath and. And. And really, you know, kind of celebrate biz.

John Feidelberg (134:08)

That's what I thought. I wasn't nervous until the first one came out. And now I've just been in a state of panic since.

Paul Bissonnette (134:15)

What, people wouldn't like it?

Ryan Whitney (134:17)

I feel like it was extremely well received. Like, it was an. It was an awesome job. I love the way it begins. So you're like, okay, this thing ends up winning an award, so you're kind of drawn in right away. Then you get the. The. The perspective of, like, just watching it. And then you get. It's Dustin, right?

John Feidelberg (134:33)

Right.

Ryan Whitney (134:33)

His little sass.

John Feidelberg (134:34)

Yes, sir.

Ryan Whitney (134:34)

Yeah. Do you call him Dusty in it?

John Feidelberg (134:36)

Call him Dusty, of course.

Ryan Whitney (134:37)

Oh, yeah, yeah. So then you get his recording point of view, and then it draws it back at the end of the episode to, like, going back to the award. So you're seeing, like, different points of view. And the pie in the face kind of leaves you with a cliffhanger. Episode one where you're like, okay. And another thing, that new spot that you showed up, I liked it because it seemed way less chaotic. So it seemed like almost this, like, new sanctuary. And then you get the pie in the face. It's kind of like, okay, what's going to happen next?

Whitney (135:06)

Spoiler alert. You should have said spoiler alert.

Ryan Whitney (135:09)

No. If you haven't watched episode one by now, knowing that he was going to be on you're a. So you could reload with episode one and then episode two, which will be coming out tonight when this is dropped on Tuesday night. Although I just tweeted it was coming out tonight on Monday. I was a little too excited.

John Feidelberg (135:25)

No, the episode two comes out tonight. And I was saying earlier that we're more nervous now because it was. If it came out and it sucked and it was a dud, then we can all be like, all right, guys, we tried something. Let's go back to our podcast and stop pretending we're active. But now that it's successful, now it's like, well, now it's not. People like it. It's like, now I don't want to let down the people who like the first episode. Right now. We're like, well, we better not suck in the next six. But I do genuinely believe that it only gets better. I think I. I truly believe that it is a good show that only gets better. And I think people are really going to like it as. As it continues to come out.

Whitney (136:05)

Fights. I know that you're hooked up with a lot of those. The comedians nowadays, and it feels like a lot of those guys are putting their specials out on YouTube. Even you think of Shane Gillis putting out tires, kind of doing that. Kind of like how you guys did it, like gorilla style. Is that kind of, you know, not having to go through the networks anymore? Is that kind of something that you guys learned from those guys where it's like, okay, we can just do it ourselves and put it out there?

John Feidelberg (136:29)

Well, it's funny you say that, because we actually did have not interest from networks, but we had, like, I got buddies who are like agents or have agents in LA and stuff like that. And we showed the script to them before we'd started filming, and we showed to a couple of them and they all basically said, said, this is worth shopping. This is good. And we were. We obviously Got that gets us juiced up. You know, that's. Yeah, that's the dream. If you're writing a show, the dreams to sell it to a streamer. And then we kind of had conversations. We had a few texts with, like, Dave and. Which were never reciprocated, so we never really had the conversation. But, like, we were trying to figure out, like, is that even something we can do? We literally don't know, like, if we're allowed to have a show on net with our contracts and stuff like that. So we just really never figured it out and never got to the table for that. But I think there was a part of me in the back of my mind that when we were having those conversations, was always going, I don't know, I think it might be better just to put it on YouTube. And I don't know why I thought that, because we've had interviews throughout KFC radio history where people come in and they kind of give us that spiel with, like, yeah, we wanted to put it right to YouTube. We didn't want it on streaming.

Paul Bissonnette (137:45)

You're like, all right, buddy.

John Feidelberg (137:47)

I found myself rolling my eyes a bit going, yeah, I fucking bet you wanted it. You don't want it on streaming. But then once we got, like, three months into that uncertainty of, like, are we gonna even have a meeting about this? We were like, you know what? Fuck it, let's just put it out. And I. I truly think that was the right move. Well, I could be proven wrong in the future, but I just think that. I think that would have changed vibes around it. I think that would have changed expectations. I think. I think going right to YouTube was the right move to. To kind of show people what we've.

Ryan Whitney (138:17)

Done and how much, like, the streaming services maybe want to have their input. Okay, you can't say this joke. Can't do this. We need to get this put through legal. And you're like, nah, man. Yeah, because so they want to pass.

Whitney (138:29)

On it their buddies. Like, they want Tommy Smokes out of there, like, if you know what I mean. It's like, you don't know what networks are going to say.

John Feidelberg (138:36)

We. We got down to, like, we weren't really positive what was going to happen with the show. It came out, started in August, late July, early August. We still weren't really sure what was going to happen. And then it kind of came to a point where someone said, like, look, if we get this meeting with the streamers, it's not coming out anytime soon. And that was when we were like, well, fuck it, I don't want to wait a year and a half for maybe 20 grand. Like, that's insane. You know, once you get down to like what the breakdown of what everyone gets is going to be and what it streaming gives a first time contract, we're like, why the would we wait a year and a half to find out if we even make money?

Paul Bissonnette (139:12)

When you guys filmed in, in downtown, do you need like permits and stuff for that?

John Feidelberg (139:17)

The only, the, the rule that we kind of came to understand is basically, if there isn't a tripod, you're good. And we were literally nowhere we went where we ever hassled except for Grand Central Station because we did have tripods and cops came up and they were very cool. They were like, hey, you guys need a permit? Come with us, we'll help you get one. And then that was. That was the end of that. But no, honestly, everywhere we went, I've kind of been attributing it to the fact that like everyone does like selfie videos everywhere now that people were full on excited to see us. Like, I think they were just like, oh, thank God it's not someone doing a fucking tick tock dance. Like people were jacked up. They thought it was cool. They thought like everyone was very obviously you know, biz in the company as a whole. But basically everyone I've talked to throughout this whole process, be it a stranger in the street or Paul Bisonette has been so supportive. It's been unbelievable.

Whitney (140:07)

Me and Whit loved it too when.

Paul Bissonnette (140:11)

We just didn't tweet about it non stop. But I will. I'm gonna, I'm gonna bump Biz's tweets like off the algorithm.

Ryan Whitney (140:17)

When you got fired in it and you took your head off, were those real shots of people like antagonizing you on the walk?

John Feidelberg (140:25)

Oh yeah. Those are kids. Those. Honestly, those kids, those weren't actors.

Paul Bissonnette (140:28)

Those are.

John Feidelberg (140:29)

And who would have guessed that they would start yelling back at me? Like, that's just. Yeah, if you get in New York that seven year olds will start screaming at you for no reason.

Vincent Damphousse (140:37)

Yeah.

Ryan Whitney (140:38)

I was looking at the out of order YouTube when you guys got put together and it all started. We mentioned it was the skits you guys were doing. You guys have done ones with Gruden along the way. Was the first one you guys ever did, the Babcock one. Because I rolled down and I went all the way down and I. That was the first video that was like popped up.

John Feidelberg (140:57)

I think that was our first. So when we first started it three years ago. Now. We originally did it in, in episode form. Instead of like just weekly tweeting out the sketch, we would do a half hour, like sketch episode on, on YouTube. So technically those are the first ones, but I think Babcock was the first one that we put out as a solo. Like the other ones, we would group like five of them together and put out an episode. I think Babcock was the first solo.

Paul Bissonnette (141:26)

The cruden one is, is incredible. Like, it was watching. What was it watching the super bowl with him?

Whitney (141:34)

Yeah, that was the girls coming in.

John Feidelberg (141:37)

He was, he was incredible. As good as you could possibly be. And the night before, the night before, I was out to dinner with Jake Malasek, who is Rudens guy down in Tampa. If you guys don't know him, he's the best. And we're out to dinner and he goes, what are you gonna do if he doesn't want to do it tomorrow? And I was like, malice, what do you. That's why I'm here, bro. What is your job? I thought this was all cleared. Like, the reason I'm in New Orleans is to film this sketch. There's no other reason for me to be here. And he's like, I don't know, sometimes he doesn't want to do or. I forget what he said, but Gruden came in the next morning. Couldn't have been happier to be there and couldn't have been a cooler guy.

Ryan Whitney (142:19)

Just he looked like he'd been acting for 20 years. I know, he was incredible.

John Feidelberg (142:24)

He was just such a genuine guy. I don't know dick about acting, but, like, in my experience, people who are good at acting are just like, good guys or genuine people who are down to around and can go with the flow. And we have a lot of those here at Barstool. So that's why we've been so lucky with like, like everyone we talk to or everyone we need for a role, be it big or small. Like, everyone knocks it out of the park, you know, Wait, you said, I'm good. Has there been someone who's bad?

Paul Bissonnette (142:51)

Yeah, I, I, I actually Gruden at the, at the Internet Invitational, right? When I saw him, he's like, I got you a package, man. I got you something, man. And he was like, you're gonna love it. And it said to my house, I gotta go open it. I gotta go. I have no clue what it is.

Whitney (143:07)

But you have it right now.

Paul Bissonnette (143:09)

I have the, I have the packet.

Ryan Whitney (143:11)

I gotta, I think we should do it.

John Feidelberg (143:12)

Yeah.

Ryan Whitney (143:12)

Yeah, I'll ask White's another question. You go get the package right now.

John Feidelberg (143:17)

Yeah, I got.

Whitney (143:18)

I got one for him. Yeah. So said, like, you were saying, you know, just being nervous about the first one coming out. Like, are all the episodes done? Like, say the first one didn't hit home and whatever, people didn't like it. Would you guys have the ability to change up episode two or. Everything's done.

John Feidelberg (143:36)

Everything's done. I mean, we. We can make like. Like, nothing that hasn't come out yet is, quote, unquote, locked. I would say, like, you know, we're still tinkering with stuff. And by we, I mean pavs. But, like, there's really no way to. To make any grand changes. You know, you could. You can flip. Make this joke over here or something like that, but basically, I would say we have, like, three scenes left to shoot in the whole season, and they're all, like, very minor things. Actually, today, right before we finished this, we finished, like, basically. I'm sorry, before you started this, we finished basically, like, our last major shoot day. So now, like, we have a couple of quick little things, but it's essentially done. My job is essentially done. Mikey having Ellie still has a lot.

Ryan Whitney (144:20)

Of work, but you keep chirping yourself like, I'm not an actor. I'm not an actor. Because you never really did it growing up. But you got to start somewhere. You're doing it with these skits. And now the leap into this. Like, where are your nerves at before you start filming a project like this? And, like, how were they towards the end? Because, like, sometimes when, like, I gotta do even little to try to, like, remember your lines, like, your facial reaction, trying to say it naturally, like, how much did you improve throughout the course of the filming of this? And, like, yeah, like, you had to act because that was a different person than the skits, right?

John Feidelberg (144:53)

That is a great question, Biz. I actually. I say, I said something like this after the premiere because at the premiere, we showed the first two episodes, and I was so uncomfortable watching myself because I knew how uncomfortable I was filming. I was, like, so nervous, so scared, felt so unprepared, all that stuff. And I don't know how I look in the later episodes, but I do know I don't feel that anymore because, like, we got like, a week or two into filming, and then I thought I had the realization, like, ooh, oh, I should probably learn how to act. So I started, like, trying, trying to learn. You know, I watch Inside the Actor Studios and master classes and Read some books and, you know, I probably can't pick up too much knowledge, but I know more now than I did six months ago when we started.

Ryan Whitney (145:38)

Like what? Like, as in, like, when you're not, like, on. On camera staying in character a little bit? Like what little things, like.

John Feidelberg (145:48)

Samuel Jackson was talking about. It's actually a really cool clip. Samuel Jackson has a master class on acting, and he's just the man, obviously. And it's. It's so cool watching actors talk about acting because, like, it all comes down to, like, basically all the advice is like, I don't know, dude, pretend like. That's really all the advice you can give. But he just. He was given little notes, like, where voices come from. And when I heard that, I realized, like, when I talk, my voice comes from, like, down here. But when Henry talks, it's like the back of my throat. And then he was saying other cool things, like, I don't know how familiar you guys are with Samuel L. Jackson's catalog, but have you seen A Time to kill with Matthew McConaughey? A great movie.

Ryan Whitney (146:33)

Oh, yeah, that's so. Oh, that's a unreal one where his daughter gets. Yeah. And then he. Yeah, okay.

John Feidelberg (146:39)

Yeah, exactly.

Whitney (146:40)

This is gonna ruin another movie.

Ryan Whitney (146:42)

No, that's why I held myself back. You.

John Feidelberg (146:46)

But he was talking about that one where he, like, he's like, you know, you gotta find the character and just. This is his own advice. He's like. And just think of, like, who. Someone, you know, who they remind you of. And he was referencing a Time to Kill him. He's like, that reminded me of my dad. My dad kind of worked the fields in Alabama or. Or wherever it was he grew up. And he's like. So I just moved like him, and that helped me keep staying character.

Ryan Whitney (147:08)

I'll go down like Daniel Day Lewis rabbit holes when he's talking about his roles and stuff. Just to. To. Just to hear them break down how they get into that character, whether it was Lincoln or. Or the guy and There Will Be blood, like, how he changes his voice up for that. That time of. Of when that was all going down. It's nuts how these people do it. It's crazy.

Paul Bissonnette (147:28)

Really.

John Feidelberg (147:28)

It's really, really cool. I. I don't know. No, I hope to figure out how they do it better, but it's just. It's very fun. I don't know. I guess play with the human mind a little bit. I don't know.

Ryan Whitney (147:39)

Yeah, life gets a little boring, right? You got to change it up and. And Want to be someone else once in a while.

Paul Bissonnette (147:45)

Who.

Ryan Whitney (147:45)

Who was the most intimidating person in this to be on camera with? I feel like Sask is pretty natural as far as, like, his ability for. With expressions and how to act. There was the guy who's the comedian off the hop. Is it Ari something?

John Feidelberg (147:59)

Ari Shafir?

Ryan Whitney (148:00)

Yeah, Ari Shafir. He's a big deal. And then the other guy who hits you guys on the head when he was coming to fire you, that's Ben Bailey.

John Feidelberg (148:07)

If you guys know Cash Cab, he's the cash cap driver.

Ryan Whitney (148:10)

Oh, that's okay. That's where I recognize him from. Okay. He looks like he's a little bit more beefed up now.

John Feidelberg (148:15)

Yeah, yeah, he's been hitting the gym. He's actually a rock climber. He's. He's a mountain climber. So that might be where it's coming from. But yeah. To answer your question, Biz about who was the most intimidating for the, like, nobody, honestly. Again, I, it almost feels like I, I've, like speaking from like some fantasy, but like, it was just a ton of fun. Everyone just was like down to have a blast, you know, like, there were occasional little arguments, but, like, no big fights. No big, you know, anything really. So I, I don't know. I, I don't really think anyone was intimidating. I like working with Tommy the best. I think Tommy's amazing. He's really. I don't know, I love, I love Marlon. And I think Tommy did a great job with that character.

Ryan Whitney (148:58)

So I was wondering if he was gay until I watched the actors on actors.

John Feidelberg (149:02)

He's. He's. Who knows what he is. He's just, he's Marlin fights.

Whitney (149:08)

I know obviously you're a quick witted, funny guy. Like, how much of it is like the improv? Like, are you guys improving everything or everything's written down at this stage?

John Feidelberg (149:16)

Like, when we, when we started doing the sketches, I would say those were more of like an idea.

Vincent Damphousse (149:22)

Yeah.

John Feidelberg (149:23)

And then we just start filming and hope we figured something out. And then as that, like, you know, that was episode one. That was how sketches went down. And then we were like, you know, starting to learn stuff and figure things out. And then probably halfway through the sketches, those became pretty scripted. And then now the show is. I mean, we have some improv lines, of course, but we're. We're 95, 99 on the script, maybe higher than that.

Whitney (149:48)

Are you guys writing for yourselves or you have other people writing and you guys are helping each other out or you're Specifically writing for Henry.

John Feidelberg (149:56)

No, I, I, I wrote very little for Henry. It's same thing. The show is extraordinarily largely written by Owen Roeder. I helped out with an episode or two. Episodes two and five, I think, were the ones I helped out with. Tommy helped out with a couple. But I mean, this is, this is Owen Rotor's brain, baby. This is, this is him. Soup to nuts.

Ryan Whitney (150:16)

If you could summarize it in, like, a minute, how would you describe, like, what the story is?

John Feidelberg (150:22)

I would say it's a blend of Entourage and Always Sunny in Philadelphia are the two show concepts that I think ring through the most. And then it is. It's a college film student goes to make a documentary about his famous uncle, only to learn that he's been lying. And he's an aspiring actor working as Times Square Cookie Monster and lives with his roommate. Times Square know. And then, and then hijinks ensue. We're, we're so we're trying to raise money to put on a play that we've been working on our whole lives, and we're out there trying to collect money is basically how the show goes.

Ryan Whitney (151:03)

I just got one quick thing. So what's given away at the beginning, it ends up winning some award at a short film festival. The SES is that film festival.

John Feidelberg (151:13)

I don't know that it's an actual film. I believe that it is certainly, certainly a real place. Susclana. I think it's a real film festival, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

Ryan Whitney (151:22)

Okay.

Paul Bissonnette (151:22)

I'm being told that you were told there was going to be a scene with your shirt off and silently not telling Anyone you lost 20 pounds only for the scene to never be used.

Whitney (151:35)

I'm going to tell myself that that's true.

John Feidelberg (151:38)

We're doing Chiclets shirts off this year, so, so, okay, so this is back in, like, January, February, probably. We're going through these things that are called character worksheets, which are about a hundred questions that you have with each character, and you kind of sit around at the table and just answer them, and they really don't ever come up in the script. It's more for the actor to kind of just know what this dude's all about. And it's like, what's the relationship like with your parents? Where'd you go to high school? Where'd you go to college? What's sports reading through as a kid? All kinds of like that. And one of the questions was, what is the character's relationship with his Body. So I asked that question to, you know, Tommy and Owen and Pavs and Sass and. And they all kind of just chuckled at me, and they were like, well, you're Jack. And I was like, I know what you're saying. I, I, I understand what you're saying. I'm not. I have muscles. I agree with that.

Whitney (152:30)

I get compared to them. You're Jack.

John Feidelberg (152:32)

Yeah, but. But I don't have the kind of body that, like, on screen is going to be like a Jack dude. Like, I'm kind of more fat than Jack. So I was like, I think it would be a funnier thing if my character thinks he's Jack. But you guys all make fun of him behind the scenes being like, he's a fat guy, because that's how I look, and that's what I will probably look like on screen. And they were just like, nah, you're an idiot. You're fucking. Stop. Like, trying to get compliments out of us. Shut up. Like, you're Jack, and that's your relationship, your body. And I was like, whatever, fine. It's not really gonna come up. So, like, who cares? I'll just move on. And then two weeks later, Pavs wrote a scene where I was shirtless and they call me the. The Pink Hulk, and I have very pink skin. If you don't know that.

Ryan Whitney (153:16)

So does Win. Look at him. He's more pink than you.

John Feidelberg (153:19)

So, like, I heard that got written, and I was like, these fucking guys. I just fucking told them I don't look like that.

Ryan Whitney (153:27)

That.

John Feidelberg (153:28)

And I was like, whatever. I don't even feel like having the conversation again. I'll just lose the weight, and I'll make myself look like that. And so for, like, three. Oh, and sorry. This was a part of that needle in his ass.

Whitney (153:39)

Every morning, you're taking.

Ryan Whitney (153:40)

You're on the tee.

John Feidelberg (153:41)

I did. No, I'm.

Paul Bissonnette (153:42)

Dude, this is.

John Feidelberg (153:43)

This is clean.

Ryan Whitney (153:44)

Oh, natural. All right.

John Feidelberg (153:45)

I was like, I, I, I. When. When Paz wrote. When Paz wrote that scene, we had, like, two months left to film, maybe a month. And so I was like, all right, I'll just do what I can. I'll clean it up a little bit for the next month, and I'll look as good as I possibly can for that scene, but we'll see. But filming took so long that that kept getting pushed. So we ended up filming that four months later. So for four months, I was just getting up every morning, going on the treadmill, the 13, 3, 30, whatever the it is, and just eating cottage cheese and I dropped. I dropped 25 pounds. I was 231, and I'm weighing at 2060.

Paul Bissonnette (154:23)

You were up to 230. You could. You carried 231 pretty good.

John Feidelberg (154:27)

Yeah, well, I was big. That's what I mean. I was big. I had a lot of muscle. I was big, but I had, like, a lot of fat on top of it, too. And then. So I dropped £25 or whatever it was. And we go up to Lake Placid to film this. This whole episode. One whole episode takes place in Lake Placid. And we're at the lake, and I'm kind of just looking around thinking, like, boy, when are we gonna film this pink Hulk scene? And then 20 minutes later, they go, all right, boys, that's a wrap for the day. We're done. Episodes long. I was like, where's the pink hook scene? Why did I lose any of this weight?

Paul Bissonnette (154:58)

Four months, bro.

John Feidelberg (155:00)

I lost 25 pounds to play Cookie Monster.

Ryan Whitney (155:05)

That's diving deep, man. That is. Who. Okay, so you said that there was a couple battles. Was one of them over keeping the. The moth with asthma scene? And who's. Who's that ever a battle? Who's. Whose idea was that one?

John Feidelberg (155:21)

I believe that was Owen roeder. No, I'm 99 sure on that. And that was never a battle. That was. That scene was 100 of the time our favorite scene.

Ryan Whitney (155:33)

Okay.

John Feidelberg (155:33)

But we did have no idea how the audience was gonna react. Like, we were like, they might hate it.

Ryan Whitney (155:39)

Makes for a hell of a meme. I'll talk.

Paul Bissonnette (155:41)

Yeah.

John Feidelberg (155:41)

When he's pulled his dick at the end, like. Like an angry monkey. Like, just. If you guys haven't seen the episode, Tommy's, like, in a leotard, pretending to be an asthmatic and whatever. None of this is going to make sense to you. Tommy pulls his dick for no reason. Just instinctually, while he's yelling. Like a scared monkey. Just starts hugging at his dick.

Ryan Whitney (156:00)

Unreal.

John Feidelberg (156:01)

It's a great scene. It's a great. I'm really pitching the show high here.

Paul Bissonnette (156:04)

Watch in that. Did you say that he's in a.

John Feidelberg (156:09)

I. I don't know if leotard's the right words. I think a leotard might expose the legs. Piece of a. It's a black one. Piece. His legs are covered, too.

Ryan Whitney (156:17)

We haven't even talked about Nick and kb no swag being in it, too. So they haven't really. In episode one. They were barely in it. Right. He's the agent, Nick.

John Feidelberg (156:25)

He's the agent.

Ryan Whitney (156:26)

KB's what? Some. Some vaping tick tocker.

John Feidelberg (156:30)

KB's like his tick tock. Like, he's a client. He's a tick tocker. He's like, you know, if. If that's. If. If KB is. I'm sorry. If. If Nick is re gold, KB is. Is Vince, Whereas we are the other guys.

Paul Bissonnette (156:44)

You're Johnny Drama.

John Feidelberg (156:46)

We're exactly. We are. That's. Honestly when we were. When we were, like, kind of not. Not coming up with the concept because Owen had that fully fleshed out, but when we were still talking about, like, the idea of the show, at one point, Pav said, oh, it's just. It's Entourage, but Vince doesn't exist. It's just what would happen if Vince wasn't Exit didn't exist. And we were like, oh, my God, what a tagline. Entourage with no Vince. And that was. Honestly, Pavs. Coming up with that line is probably what made us go like, okay, there's a show here. Like, that's a show we can pitch.

Ryan Whitney (157:21)

What did you get in the box with? All right.

Whitney (157:25)

Oh, yeah.

Ryan Whitney (157:25)

What's going on here?

Paul Bissonnette (157:26)

Because I got a package for you, man. That look in his eye, it's all Fidelberg's.

Whitney (157:31)

Used steroids, needles.

John Feidelberg (157:37)

I was never on the. I was never on the needle. I just took the box within the box.

Ryan Whitney (157:40)

No, no.

John Feidelberg (157:42)

Oh, no.

Whitney (157:42)

If it's just a bunch of boxes.

John Feidelberg (157:43)

He'S the guy ever.

Whitney (157:45)

Yeah, he's got to be something.

Ryan Whitney (157:48)

UGA and fights. We could talk to you about the Bruins a little bit too.

John Feidelberg (157:52)

Oh, well, I was actually. What do you got here?

Ryan Whitney (157:56)

What? Stools out.

Paul Bissonnette (157:58)

Stools out. The tattoo. Big cat eft myself.

Ryan Whitney (158:04)

All right.

Paul Bissonnette (158:05)

It says wit on it.

John Feidelberg (158:07)

What the hell is. What's that?

Ryan Whitney (158:08)

It's almost like a build a bear, but it's.

Paul Bissonnette (158:10)

Oh, it says the real autograph. A couple things in here.

Whitney (158:14)

Gruden was in there.

John Feidelberg (158:16)

What is that box?

Vincent Damphousse (158:17)

That a football helmet?

Paul Bissonnette (158:19)

Holy boys.

Ryan Whitney (158:22)

It is a helpful helmet. What is it?

Whitney (158:24)

Oh, my God.

Ryan Whitney (158:25)

What team is it?

Whitney (158:25)

Yeah.

John Feidelberg (158:26)

Is that a Patriot?

Paul Bissonnette (158:28)

Dude, that's a signed Gronk helmet.

John Feidelberg (158:30)

Shut up.

Whitney (158:31)

Oh, dude, wear that for the rest of the episode.

Ryan Whitney (158:34)

What a gift.

John Feidelberg (158:36)

Pop it on.

Ryan Whitney (158:37)

When could they ever wear those?

Paul Bissonnette (158:38)

Wait, you look nasty.

Ryan Whitney (158:40)

Yeah, you do.

Paul Bissonnette (158:41)

Dude, this is a sign. Hold on, there's more.

Whitney (158:44)

That's all you need.

John Feidelberg (158:45)

Don't look pink anymore.

Whitney (158:49)

His tan finally came in.

John Feidelberg (158:51)

Yeah.

Ryan Whitney (158:54)

Who signed the ball?

John Feidelberg (158:55)

He signed that ball. That's a Brady football.

Paul Bissonnette (158:57)

Oakland Raiders. There's an autograph on there, but that doesn't look Like Tom Brady to me.

John Feidelberg (159:05)

No, it doesn't.

Whitney (159:06)

See.

Ryan Whitney (159:08)

Well, that's a hell of. Hell of a gift there. What did you do for Gruden?

Paul Bissonnette (159:11)

There's another thing in here.

Whitney (159:13)

Dude, that helmet is so badass. Dude, I would never take that off.

Paul Bissonnette (159:16)

This is fights.

Ryan Whitney (159:17)

His interview got hijacked by Gruden.

John Feidelberg (159:19)

Oh, my God, boys, I'm enraptured right now. There it is. I knew there was a Brady something up, didn't you? Shut the up. What the.

Paul Bissonnette (159:28)

Coach Gruden. Tom Brady. 7,753 completions, 649 touchdowns. 41 of 50.

Whitney (159:38)

That's a game used. A game used jersey, I don't think.

Paul Bissonnette (159:43)

No, it's not game used. This is not. Yeah, that's the coach, John Gruden, guys, thank you.

Whitney (159:49)

Some clicks for Gruden, I guess.

Ryan Whitney (159:53)

I guess my box didn't make it.

Paul Bissonnette (159:54)

Hey, Charles Woodson autograph ball. Gronk autograph helmet and Tom Brady autograph jersey.

Whitney (160:01)

Like hall of Famers.

Ryan Whitney (160:03)

Yeah.

Whitney (160:05)

I might give out my address on this episode. So he sends me something.

John Feidelberg (160:09)

Dude, this guy I love. Biggest legend you'll ever meet.

Ryan Whitney (160:13)

Yeah. Okay. Fights. Yeah. So you. You told us the one experience you had with them.

Paul Bissonnette (160:20)

How.

Ryan Whitney (160:21)

How are you feeling about the Boston Bruins coming into this season?

John Feidelberg (160:25)

You know, what a downer after what I just opened. Well, you know, biz, I was telling the guys before you came on that I. I got prepared pretty well for this episode. This weekend, I went to Greer's wedding. I don't know if you know Greer, but he's from. He's got it on various.

Whitney (160:42)

He's got it on backwards.

Paul Bissonnette (160:43)

Kids.

Ryan Whitney (160:44)

Aj. AJ Greer.

John Feidelberg (160:47)

No, no, no, no. Mike Greer. He works at bar. Not. Not the other Mike Greer, but he's from Guelph, Ontario, so a lot of his buddies came to the wedding, obviously. And I'm sure, you know, plenty of you guys have been around those kind of weddings where you're like, as the drinks start flowing, I know more guys are going to be coming up to me. And as the night went on, a lot of Torontoans, I guess would we call them coming up to me. And I'll say this, if ever was, there was a year for them to have confidence. This is the year. And they did not have confidence. Every. Every Leafs fan was coming up to me, like, fight spot. What do you think about the Bruins this year, kid? And I'm like, I don't know. It's going to be a tough one. Like, they look like. I don't. Our bottom six is 12 guys somehow. And, and they would all go, yeah, but you're probably still going to beat our ass. And I was like, really? The of all. Of all years, these fans still can't have it this year.

Ryan Whitney (161:40)

No Leafs will be better than the Bruins this year. Yeah, I mean, could I get some back up here?

Whitney (161:44)

Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure. They would just be in Canadian. Nice. They were trying to get you to say, no, you guys are going to win the Cup. Which you would never say because you're not a lunatic. But, yeah, that for sure. They would just say enough to say it.

John Feidelberg (161:58)

I, I don't know. I don't know what to do about the Bruins. I like, they, I don't know. They're, they're, they're, no, they're the worst place to be because they're not bad enough to tank. Yeah, I, I don't, I personally don't think so. I don't think with Swayman McAvoy pasta you could be that bad, but they're not good enough to be good either. So I, I, I don't, I don't really know it, it's, but do you.

Whitney (162:21)

Think the people of Boston are even okay with a, a rebuild? Like a, you know, tear this thing down to the studs?

John Feidelberg (162:28)

I said, once they moved Marshand and I, I was pretty sure Stern with my warning here, where I was like, if they get rid of Martian, like, I have to reevaluate my relationship with this team. Like, Martian was my guy. I don't know, particularly with a trade to Florida. And I, I, I said, and I still think I wouldn't, I wouldn't fault David Posternak for shooting his way out of town. I don't think he will. That's not the kind of guy he is. But I wouldn't fault him at this point if he's like, get me the out of here. Like, this is. And I know there were the rumors earlier by the around the draft that like, like Florida wanted them, which I don't see how that's possible, but I don't think, I don't think. Well, I can't speak for the town, but I can speak for myself. I'm not in, in, in for a rebuild. I, I, I really. Why?

Paul Bissonnette (163:16)

Noted.

John Feidelberg (163:17)

Because, because we can't.

Whitney (163:18)

You got three stars build with David.

John Feidelberg (163:20)

Posternach on the team, and I don't want to trade him. You get like, like pasta, you can, you can reload with pasta on T, but you can't, you can't do a full Rebuild and waste.

Ryan Whitney (163:27)

You got a D, you got a four and you got a goalie.

John Feidelberg (163:29)

Four years.

Paul Bissonnette (163:30)

Yeah, this is Granelli's take too. He's like, you can't with the, those three guys, like how could you?

John Feidelberg (163:38)

Can't even, even if you try, like let's say, let's say a rebuild. Full on rebuild. Not retool, not reload, whatever. They like to be fancy with. Full on rebuild. What does that take? Three years at least.

Paul Bissonnette (163:49)

Oh, I mean it took The Oilers like 15 you hope for and they.

Whitney (163:53)

Got first overall every year.

Paul Bissonnette (163:55)

It is.

John Feidelberg (163:56)

And I guess in your situation, are they rebuilding with David Poshnach? Are they getting rid of them?

Paul Bissonnette (164:01)

Yeah, I think you could rebuild with them until he's like, hey, I'm not down for this.

John Feidelberg (164:06)

But even if you're rebuilding with him and he's down, you're wasting three years of his prime for no reason.

Vincent Damphousse (164:12)

I know.

John Feidelberg (164:14)

So like, so if you're gonna rebuild, you might as well move him because he's not going to be any help.

Whitney (164:20)

Yeah, he's gonna win you games. He's gonna come in, you know, 20th place every year and not have a great draft pick. And yeah, they're going to be on the cut the, they're going to finish like 10 points out of playoffs for the next four years, I think.

Paul Bissonnette (164:32)

But they might win the lottery because it's an Original Six franchise and they'll give them McKenna.

Ryan Whitney (164:37)

Hey, they're convinced that McKenna is going there. Is that, is that who you guys thought was going to go there?

Paul Bissonnette (164:43)

Yeah, I said then, then the one episode I said it, I switched it to Pittsburgh though, because it was be 20 years Lemieux, 20 years, Crosby, 20 years, McKenna. So it'll probably be a, a, a, a black and yellow team.

Whitney (164:55)

We'll say that Eastern Conference, they want him on the east coast.

Guest Analyst (165:00)

I think best case scenario with this Bruins team is they overperform in the first half of the season. Some guys that you probably could get something for you trade at the deadline cause they overperformed maybe like a Casey middle stat and then you tank the whole second half of the season in an attempt to get Gavin McKenna. I think that's all you can root for as a Bruins fan at this point. Competitive hockey until the Olympic break. After that, throw in the towel and let's go for Gavin McKenna.

John Feidelberg (165:24)

But like I, I just even was like with Swayman, I assume he's not going to have a year like he had last year, so I assume he's going to be better. I just don't think they're not good. I don't think they're a good hockey team, but I don't think they, they're within striking distance of tanking. I think they're just a little too good just place to be.

Whitney (165:43)

Would you be more shocked if they came in last or if they made the playoffs?

John Feidelberg (165:48)

I would be more shocked if they came in last.

Vincent Damphousse (165:50)

Yeah.

Whitney (165:50)

Same.

Paul Bissonnette (165:51)

Oh, I disagree completely.

Guest Analyst (165:53)

I disagree.

John Feidelberg (165:54)

I'm.

Guest Analyst (165:55)

I completely disagree.

Paul Bissonnette (165:56)

I could see them finishing last way more than I could see them making the playoffs.

Guest Analyst (166:01)

See, it's one injury. If, if, if I. You hate to say that, but if, if one guy, if one of their big three in Swayman, Posternache and McAvoy gets hurt, they are the worst team in the NHL. Like, no question about it.

Ryan Whitney (166:15)

They have no centerline.

Paul Bissonnette (166:18)

Prospects. That's the kick in the dick.

Ryan Whitney (166:20)

You don't even.

Guest Analyst (166:20)

I know they got prospects now. I think they have process.

Whitney (166:23)

Bergeron's been skating too.

Ryan Whitney (166:25)

Oh no. Eh.

Paul Bissonnette (166:28)

Who's their number one prospect?

Guest Analyst (166:30)

James Higgins. They just, they got that kid Will Zeller.

Paul Bissonnette (166:33)

I forgot about the draft.

Guest Analyst (166:35)

They got, they got that kid Will Zellers in the, in the Charlie Coil trade. They have Will Moore, second round draft pick from bu. Like they definitely have some picks. I think it's going to take some time. They're not going to be ready for a year or two and two, probably three. But they definitely have prospects. I think Don Sweeney's done a good job in rebuilding that.

Whitney (166:53)

What if they over perform in the first half like you said and then go out and make trades to try to make the playoffs?

Guest Analyst (166:58)

I just think that you're going the wrong way.

Whitney (167:01)

Yeah.

Guest Analyst (167:01)

Because they already have Toronto's first round pick. They have the Toronto first round pick.

Ryan Whitney (167:05)

Bring it back to the out of order stuff. What's next for, for like the group? Like you're gonna release this the next six Tuesdays. You have six more episodes coming out after that. Is it kind of back to the skits as well? Like.

John Feidelberg (167:18)

No, I, I think again speaking for myself, but I think for the team a little bit. I think, I think we've realized this is our, our goal goal. This is what we want to do. I think I, I think no matter what, we're getting a season two of mascots. I don't know. Yeah, I, Dave doesn't seem to care. So like I think we can just do it again. So I think, I think a season two of mascots is definitely our, our dream. And as long as the response sticks on what it Seems to be. I, I can all but guarantee.

Ryan Whitney (167:53)

Oh, it's awesome.

Whitney (167:55)

Biz was a mascot. Biz was a mascot for the Coyotes and he a good actor. You should have him come in.

John Feidelberg (168:01)

Let me tell you what. Yandel Paul Bissonnette has found himself a role in Lay Mascots. If Paul Biz wants to be in Lay Mascot season two, he's in. That's a problem.

Ryan Whitney (168:11)

Yeah, that's, that's, that's a little out of my range right now. I'd have to do a lot of practicing. It would be sick to come.

John Feidelberg (168:17)

I've seen that. That Soros. Not Soros. Yeah, the Soros. Player safety sketch I've seen.

Ryan Whitney (168:23)

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Whitney (168:24)

George, what about the commercial? Every other.

John Feidelberg (168:28)

Soros.

Whitney (168:29)

Yeah, I was thinking the goalie for Nashville.

Ryan Whitney (168:33)

Isn't that the guy funding the Democrats? Yeah, or, or at least the Internet says that.

John Feidelberg (168:38)

Yeah, I'm up behind the riots.

Whitney (168:44)

This is comfortable. Taking his shirt off too, so.

Ryan Whitney (168:46)

Yeah, yeah.

John Feidelberg (168:47)

You don't have to lose the weight.

Ryan Whitney (168:48)

Yeah. And then I was going back to that. Actors on actors. Sass said the best episode was episode six. Would you agree with that?

John Feidelberg (168:56)

That I would. That's the link. Placid episode.

Ryan Whitney (168:59)

Okay. All right.

John Feidelberg (169:00)

I would agree that that's the best one because that was like. We all went to a cabin, like 10 of us, 12 of us, whatever it was, went to a cabin for like four days. And it was just, we just shot and wrote and had a blast. And. And I think that's gonna come through in the episode. We had a lot of fun up there.

Ryan Whitney (169:17)

Were you guys playing guilty? Were you guys drinking most nights while you're, you're writing and having the fun.

John Feidelberg (169:23)

Fun creative experience Biz, I'm like you, I'm, I'm more or less off the piss these days. So I, I, I was, I was keeping it clean. But yeah, guys, they were, we were letting them flow a little bit.

Ryan Whitney (169:36)

Okay. And then you mentioned. Oh, go ahead.

Paul Bissonnette (169:39)

Just reading here, Biz, that Pav's text g that you were punched in the face multiple times by a homeless man during filming.

John Feidelberg (169:47)

Yes, I was. That is, that is true as well. With the helmet on. With the helmet on. That actually we used the footage in episode one. The. There's a point where we were in Times Square and Owen was like, he's like, hey, go get in like a three point stance in front of King Kong. And he's like, it should be a funny little clip. And I was like, all right, so I get the three point stance in Front of Kong. And he's not biting. He's not. I was thinking he was gonna get down and we were gonna have like a fun little fake football thing. And he's not biting. So I was like, all right, he's standing next to Batman. I was like, I'll get in a three point stance in front of Batman. He'll be down the around. So again, the three point stance. But when you're in the mascot head, once you look down, you can't really see anymore. So I'm like, in the three point stance, I can't really see. And I feel someone pushing me. And in my head I'm like, oh, Batman wants the smoke. All right. So I start pushing him back, and then he starts pushing back a little harder. And I was like, all right, all right, Batman, relax a little bit. But I give him one more push. And then I just feel across the side of my head, just a full clock. And I had the Cookie Monster helmet on, so it was absorbed very, very well. But you could feel the intention behind it. And I was like, what the fuck was that? And I backed away and pulled my helmet off. And there was just a homeless guy, head down, swinging at me.

Paul Bissonnette (171:02)

He's like, I like Oreos, you know, and then.

John Feidelberg (171:05)

And then I'm trying to walk away. And the people behind the camera and Owen and Paz and stuff are like, like, he wants more. Go back in there. Like, he might want more. Dude, I don't want any more of that.

Whitney (171:16)

I've been eating in four months.

Ryan Whitney (171:22)

Yeah, I went down a few weight sizes. Well, fights, congrats on everything, buddy. Like, it's. It's awesome. I'm looking forward to episode two and, and, you know, unreal job by you guys for putting yourselves out there and also creating the first ever series like this that Barstool's ever done. Like, this isn't like your, you know, typical tick tock stuff. This takes time and energy and putting yourself out there. So incredible job on crushing it and look forward to more, including season two.

John Feidelberg (171:48)

Thank you very much. They all, all thanks go to Mikey Pavanelli and Ellen Rotor. They are unbelievable, unbelievable talents, and we're just lucky to get to work with them. And thank you very much for you guys for having me on. Because I was thinking the other day when, when. When Biz and Grinnell, you both texted me, I was like, one of my first, like, really cool moments at Barstool was when Biz followed me and I was like, I remember tweeting something. Like, I remember I was Sitting in my fucking bedroom in South End in Boston, and I got the notification that biz followed me, and I just tweeted like, holy shit, Paul Bissonnette knows who I am or knows what barstool is or something like that. And then Whit replied, everyone does, you fucking idiot. Or something like that. I was like, oh, my God, Paul Ryan. Wendy knows, too. This is crazy. So it's. It's a true honor to be on here with you guys, and thank you very much for having me.

Ryan Whitney (172:39)

Oh, of course, man. Barstool OG thank you.

Paul Bissonnette (172:42)

You're the best, buddy.

Ryan Whitney (172:43)

You're the best.

Paul Bissonnette (172:44)

Oh, last question. What are the chances Dave even knows what lit mascots is?

John Feidelberg (172:49)

Okay, I can answer that, because in the lay mascots group text, we got a clip the other day from Tommy Smokes Caps Locks. We've been mentioned. And it was a clip of Dave at that Saratoga thing this weekend, and he was asking the. The rest of the table, which was, I think Dan and Elio and Megan making money. Maybe he. Rico was there as well. He said, has anyone watched that show we did? I think it's Les Mascots or something. So he knows what it's called, Kind of. Okay, yeah, that's a win.

Paul Bissonnette (173:23)

That's a win.

John Feidelberg (173:24)

That's a. It's a win. It's a win.

Ryan Whitney (173:26)

Instead of paying for another load from a horse that won a race, maybe he'll fund another season of Le Mascot. That's probably the same money, right? The horse races.

John Feidelberg (173:37)

That is honestly one more thing I want to give the guys credit for, because we. And again, I mean, they did this with such a low budget. Like, we. We. We got money. I'm not. I'm not crying for anything like that, but, like, when we were talking to people in Hollywood and it. And they were like, so how much did it cost to make this? And we would tell them they would be stupefied. Like, it was like 20 grand or something like that. Like, it was. I don't know where our actual budget ended up. I haven't been monitoring, but it's. It's somewhere in that realm, that's all. Yeah, it's not.

Ryan Whitney (174:08)

That's not a lot to work with.

John Feidelberg (174:09)

Not a big financial lift. It's a big lift for Owen and Pavs, but for the rest of us, it's pretty. Pretty manageable.

Paul Bissonnette (174:16)

Wow. And now that Dave knows what it. It is, you just need to not see a text. Like, this show sucks. You know what I mean?

John Feidelberg (174:23)

Oh, he's gonna. He, like, it's actually. I Don't know when we. I told this story on. What podcast was I on? I forget. But I told the story on podcast that, oh, it was drop a pin. You know, I, I've talked to him occasionally, you know, like once a year. And I've. I've mentioned to him a couple times like, yeah, we have goals of doing either a show or a movie or something along those lines. And, and he was always like, yeah, whatever. But I always did make clear to tell him, like, it's not going to be your speed because, yeah, I don't, I don't think. But then now that, now that this is the show, I don't think Dave would hate it. I don't think it's not his speed and he wouldn't like it. But it's not as like, I don't know, not like horny at all. Yeah, it's not corny. It's. It's. It's pretty heartfelt and it's. I think it's. I think it's a good show and so. And I think Dave likes good tv, so I don't think he'd hate it, as I once said. But it's not his speed either, so I'm not, I'm not waiting for the review.

Paul Bissonnette (175:23)

All right, fights, dude, you're the man and everything.

Ryan Whitney (175:26)

Thanks for joining us.

Paul Bissonnette (175:27)

We'll be tuning in tonight. Episode two. Thank you so much to John Feidelberg. Great first episode. Everyone, please check it out. Leave a comment subscribe to Out. Out of order out of order on YouTube and guys, Jon Gruden, I. I gotta think about what I'm sending this guy. I mean, are you kidding me?

Whitney (175:52)

I think you just put him in your will.

Ryan Whitney (175:53)

I think you need to give him a blowjob.

Paul Bissonnette (175:55)

He's already in it.

Whitney (175:56)

Oh, he's in it.

Paul Bissonnette (175:57)

Yeah. I did it quickly while we were interviewing fights, I. I got online. I changed my will. Kids don't get anything now. John Gruden sending me this. I mean, I gotta pack it. Package for you, man. And did he ever. What a guy. I just got his address actually, from Malisek. So I'm gonna figure out what I could. I mean, what could I ever send the guy to repay him for this?

Ryan Whitney (176:19)

I'll sign a jersey for you.

Paul Bissonnette (176:21)

This Gronk helmet, by the way.

Whitney (176:23)

Strangler's jersey.

Paul Bissonnette (176:24)

I look sick in an NFL helmet.

Whitney (176:26)

Like, I. Dude, you look like a legitimate DN or a tight end.

Ryan Whitney (176:30)

Randy Moss. Those skinny ass legs.

Paul Bissonnette (176:32)

Yeah, I flew too. Oh, that actually reminds me when I mentioned on A recent episode that I ran a 29 minute, 32nd five mile test for BU hockey. There was numerous, countless people calling me out, sending me messages. You're lying. Oh, I ain't lying one fucking second about that. I flew. Absolutely flew. And my VO2 was nails and my wingate wasn't great because that's all power in the legs. I didn't have that. That. But don't you ever come at me and say I didn't run that five mile test. 29, 30. Suck it.

Ryan Whitney (177:09)

So you're, you're saying you were running your miles sub six minutes?

Paul Bissonnette (177:12)

Yes.

Ryan Whitney (177:13)

Where do you think I can back them on that?

Paul Bissonnette (177:15)

I have, I, I, I, I will have anyone on and, and that that was there and they will vouch for me. And little did I know that I could have been a wide receiver too.

John Feidelberg (177:26)

Look at my look.

Whitney (177:27)

I know.

Paul Bissonnette (177:29)

Actually, you look way.

Whitney (177:30)

You look way more comfortable as a football player than you did in your Easton helmet.

Vincent Damphousse (177:34)

Helmet.

Paul Bissonnette (177:35)

Yeah, I had some bad helmets. I had some bad helmets.

Ryan Whitney (177:41)

You mentioned to me on the phone about this Dallas Cowboys documentary, which is a perfect segue considering you have a football helmet on. You said it's unbelievable. I, it has a lot to do with Jerry Jones and who's the handsome coach? Jimmy Johnson.

Paul Bissonnette (177:57)

Yeah.

Vincent Damphousse (177:57)

Yeah.

Paul Bissonnette (177:58)

Wow. Yeah, he was a handsome fellow.

Vincent Damphousse (178:00)

Unreal.

John Feidelberg (178:01)

Unreal.

Whitney (178:02)

Hair.

Ryan Whitney (178:02)

Tall. That's solid.

Whitney (178:03)

It's still Lego head.

Paul Bissonnette (178:04)

I didn't know how crazy he was. But biz, it's, it's an eight episode documentary. Really cool. Like, I really am a big fan of these Last Dance type documentaries. Like I want one on every Dynasty ever. We could do.

Whitney (178:19)

I want one on every team.

Paul Bissonnette (178:20)

We could do one on. The lack of Dynasty from the, the big deal selects. Maybe it's like an opposite. It's just failure after failure. But the. I've watched three episodes. Phenomenal. First one goes into kind of who Jerry Jones was. Had no clue. He's not from Texas. I mean, he's from Arkansas. I never ever imagined Jerry Jones wasn't from Texas. And that's a big deal. That's kind of part of when he bought it. The fans were furious. They were calling him a country bumpkin. They were saying, this guy's got no business. Dallas had already been America's team. They were struggling. He came in, he traded Herschel Walker. Then it goes into drafting Emmett Smith, drafting Troy Aikman, drafting Michael Irving. So it's. I'm three episodes into eight. It's awesome that I still got five more. I highly recommend getting rid of Tom Landry, 42. Yeah. Biz, he fired like the Scotty Bowman of the NFL.

Vincent Damphousse (179:15)

Yeah.

Whitney (179:15)

Or Belichick.

Paul Bissonnette (179:16)

Yeah, Belichick of the NFL. Like, and just was kind of like, you know, and this, this may come off bad because I don't mean it. It off the field. And I don't really know what Jerry Jones got into, but he kind of has like, Vince McMahon aura. Like where he didn't give a. He didn't give a flying. What anyone else said.

Ryan Whitney (179:36)

Yeah. Billionaires who don't think the rules apply.

Paul Bissonnette (179:39)

Yeah. Kind of rules for thee, not for me. Unless you're wearing a signed Gronk helmet and a signed Brady jersey, I got no rules. But Biz, he, he bought this team.

Whitney (179:48)

And he was in debt. Like, he didn't have any money. Like, and, but whit. My only thing with that, what you just said, like, maybe now because it's all come to fruition, like, he can say that, but like, do you think that was his plan going in? Like, all right, I'm. This is how I'm going to do it.

Paul Bissonnette (180:03)

I think he was always like, I'm doing it my way. Biz. The first episode, I mean, it's a spoiler, but not a spoiler. He was in debt 50 million, right. He was an oil man and these oils were all dry. He was just striking out right and left, left. And he put everything he had. I mean, I don't know how he had anything being in debt. He got a huge loan and he went for one more big ass oil rig and he fucking made a hundred million from it. Got it just exploded. He said there was oil everywhere and boom.

Whitney (180:37)

The way he describes it is like, yeah, it's awesome.

Paul Bissonnette (180:41)

He's very.

Ryan Whitney (180:41)

Oh, man. That's his. That's his life. And then, and then when he was going to buy the Cowboys, they were off by $300,000 and ended up flipping a coin. Over. Over the 300, man.

Paul Bissonnette (180:51)

Yep. On here for a second.

Whitney (180:54)

What was the, what was the old owner's name? He had such like a Dallas and he was like Bob or something. He had like a southern name. Yeah.

Paul Bissonnette (181:03)

Oh, Doyle the Gargoyle.

Guest Analyst (181:05)

I, I thought the craziest part of all this, though was like, how good Jerry Jones has been for modern sports. Like the way he structured and completely changed how leagues like, like structure their TV deals to be making so much money. That's one of the episodes. It's so interesting, Biz, I think that's an episode you really like. Just because, like, the leagues weren't making a ton of money off their TV deals before he kind of went in and was like, all right, we're going to do things radically different. He did it with bringing in Nike when the whole league had Reebok merchandising deal. He signed with Nike when the whole league had a Coke sponsorship. He named his stadium Pepsi Stadium. Like, he just went the other way. And now he's old, he's a little crazy. Like, but at the time he was. He's so responsible for the way like.

John Feidelberg (181:54)

Modern sports are in North America.

Whitney (181:55)

The way, the way he let go. Like he had. Michael Irving was one of his first guys. He let him like be the way that he is. Like, act crazy. But that was before the NFL. Like, celebrating a first down or a touchdown was like very, very frowned upon. And like his teams were like doing crazy celebrations. He loved it. He was like, like, it's more eyes on my team, bringing in the cheerleaders, all that stuff.

John Feidelberg (182:16)

Like, did you get to the episode.

Guest Analyst (182:17)

About the White House?

Paul Bissonnette (182:18)

Yeah, I can't wait for that.

Whitney (182:20)

Yeah.

Guest Analyst (182:20)

Oh my God. So they talk. I don't want to spoil.

Vincent Damphousse (182:23)

No.

Whitney (182:23)

Yeah, yeah.

Guest Analyst (182:24)

The Cowboys players had this White House. Michael Irvin was.

Ryan Whitney (182:27)

Oh, I've heard about this in the book where every. They would basically go there after they would win Sunday and they'd be there for 24 hours just ripping it.

Guest Analyst (182:36)

He's like, in one room, it's like poke and ecstasy. The next room, it's weed. He's like, in every single room there's just naked women and you just bop.

Paul Bissonnette (182:43)

The room to room.

Guest Analyst (182:44)

And no guy would spoil Coop besides Michael Irvin. No guy would say like, who was involved in the house. They're all steel traps.

John Feidelberg (182:51)

It's pretty cool.

Ryan Whitney (182:52)

Oh, so Irving was just. Oh yeah, this guy was in there doing that. This guy was.

Guest Analyst (182:56)

He wouldn't throw any names under the bus either. Irvin was like, you know what? I was the president. But then at montages like them asking like 15 cowboy players, hey, what's up with the White House? They're like, I don't know nothing about the White House.

Ryan Whitney (183:09)

Oh yeah, in the vault.

Whitney (183:11)

Hey, they were a tight knit group too.

Paul Bissonnette (183:14)

Give me your guys. If you could see a six to eight episode documentary on. On a team or a dynasty, who would you want that we don't have?

Whitney (183:28)

I'd probably go with the Red Wings. Just because being such like a lid from fan and the whole like Datsuk and Zetterberg, like them finding those guys like Holmstrom, like that kind of era and you could bring it back to even a little bit before them.

Paul Bissonnette (183:44)

I. I would probably say the 80s Oilers.

Ryan Whitney (183:47)

I know, yeah. That. I think that's. I'm not trying to get everybody excited, but I'm pretty sure there's something that's happening right now where that's going to come out that, that five year stretch. I would imagine at some point with. I mean, I don't know. Right.

Whitney (184:02)

Even the Islanders. The Islanders would be cool, I was gonna say too.

Ryan Whitney (184:07)

I feel like with Wayne involved with the Oilers, that would be so badass. They did have camera crews following around. I want to say they had one called like Boys on the Bus.

Whitney (184:16)

Yeah, that's a great, great document.

Ryan Whitney (184:18)

So they have a lot of footage already. And yeah, that would be. That would probably be my number one.

Paul Bissonnette (184:24)

Hey, imagine the. Imagine they covered the leafs the last 58 years and the episode was one minute long. They're like, oh, we got.

Ryan Whitney (184:35)

It would be interesting to see what the. What the Canadiens players were getting away with in their heyday.

Paul Bissonnette (184:40)

Oh, my God.

Ryan Whitney (184:41)

When they were winning all those ships because they were gods in Montreal. But there's probably not a ton of.

Guest Analyst (184:48)

Those on the 1996 World cup of Hockey. Like Team USA like that. They were just so loaded. Like, imagine them going out like in that tournament. All the stories that they have.

Whitney (184:59)

That's a good one.

Ryan Whitney (185:00)

But that couldn't be six to eight episodes. It has to be a dynasty.

Paul Bissonnette (185:05)

Yeah.

Ryan Whitney (185:08)

Is. Is Team Canada and just how much they work. The United States and all the other countries in international play. That would be a cool one.

Paul Bissonnette (185:16)

Speaking of international play, it would just never end.

Ryan Whitney (185:19)

It would be the never ending movie.

Whitney (185:21)

Yeah.

Paul Bissonnette (185:21)

Can you guys explain to me why Goosebumps or were you as shocked as me when Lane Hudson wasn't one of 16 defensemen invited to the USA camp?

Whitney (185:33)

He wasn't 16.

Paul Bissonnette (185:35)

D they invited. He didn't like. And I get you have Quinn Hughes. Like, I get you that he's taking off. He's probably not on the team.

Ryan Whitney (185:43)

Who are you taking off with?

Paul Bissonnette (185:45)

Let me find the list. Tell you who I'm fucking taking off, kid. Me. What do you think I'm going to be afraid to take someone off?

Whitney (185:52)

He's got a fucking football player. You don't care.

John Feidelberg (185:55)

I mean, I, I would have.

Guest Analyst (185:56)

I would have had him over Jackson Nicole. I think Jackson Nicole is awesome, but he is a guy that isn't making this team and he's on for the potential next Olympics or next World cup of Hockey. So if that's the case, if you're bringing guys for that reason. I don't understand why.

Ryan Whitney (186:12)

Wow. Okay. I mean, that kid had a big year in Anaheim.

Vincent Damphousse (186:15)

He's big.

Ryan Whitney (186:16)

He can move.

Whitney (186:17)

He's great.

Paul Bissonnette (186:17)

I'm not taking him off. Off. All right. Brock Faber. No. Fuck. Adam Fox. See ya.

Ryan Whitney (186:24)

Yeah.

Paul Bissonnette (186:24)

Luke Hughes. No. Quinn Hughes. No. Noah Hannifin.

John Feidelberg (186:28)

No.

Paul Bissonnette (186:28)

Seth Jones. No. Jackson lacombe. No. I'm fine with him. He's young. He'll be on the next team. McAvoy. No. McDonough. See ya, Brett Pesci. See ya, Neil Peonk. See ya. This is all for Lane Hudson.

John Feidelberg (186:40)

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Ryan Whitney (186:41)

You're taking off Ryan McDonough for Lane Hudson.

Paul Bissonnette (186:46)

Well, here's the thing, Biz. I know Hudson, because of Quinn Hughes, won't be on the team, but if we're talking future and 16 guys, those are guys that. I'm inviting Lane Hudson over because this isn't just about this team. It's about.

Ryan Whitney (187:03)

So. So you don't think. So Ryan McDonough is not going to make the team.

Paul Bissonnette (187:07)

No.

Ryan Whitney (187:08)

Okay.

Paul Bissonnette (187:09)

And I love Ryan McDonough.

Ryan Whitney (187:10)

No, I'm just. I'm just asking. I would probably base on what he's done for. For And.

Vincent Damphousse (187:15)

And.

Ryan Whitney (187:16)

And championship hockey and.

Whitney (187:18)

And USA Hockey.

Ryan Whitney (187:19)

USA Hockey. I feel like he's. I. I kind of feel like he's earned the right as opposed to like giving it to somebody for the future.

Whitney (187:25)

I mean, I agree with that.

Ryan Whitney (187:27)

So. Okay. But that's okay. Any other name? Adam Fox. I feel like he did not have a good Four nations tournament. I heard he was injured last year. He had a lower body injury. So. So he. He also has finished top three in Norris voting, so it's hard to say. Like, he's also proven.

Paul Bissonnette (187:45)

I was told. Biz. I was told that because he's like a genius hockey IQ wise. Right. Would you kind of agree? Adam Fox is.

John Feidelberg (187:54)

With.

Paul Bissonnette (187:54)

With his skating ability being what it is?

Vincent Damphousse (187:57)

Yeah.

Whitney (187:57)

You got to be able to think.

Paul Bissonnette (187:58)

The game, the times he's dominated. Like his mind is at a different level and his. His head fakes and all these different skills. But I guess he never really. Now this is what I've been told. So I don't know if it's true, but he never really was like, training that hard. Not. Not training, but. And I think this summer apparently he's like, all in. So let's see if may. Maybe he realized a couple injury seasons, he's like, all right, I got to kind of switch things up. Which happens a lot. Apparently this summer he's Been completely crushing it. Working out. Oh my God.

Ryan Whitney (188:31)

Rangers fans are just beating their meat to you Talk about this in a.

Whitney (188:36)

Brady jersey with a football helmet on.

Guest Analyst (188:39)

We did kind of take an el to Pasha. We did say that Steve Bouilliam has just a good chance as. As Luke Hughes.

Paul Bissonnette (188:45)

No, that conversation and Pasha's drinking in Montreal has led his memory to be completely ridiculous. We were talking about like young up and coming D man and we were basically trolling him a little bit in terms of him saying Luke Hughes is going to win five Norris trophies. And then I said a guy like Z boomiam could come in and dominate the first half next year and be on the Olympic team over Luke Hughes. And he had a meltdown. He was crying in the lobby of the hotel.

Ryan Whitney (189:13)

I don't think either of them make it though.

Paul Bissonnette (189:15)

No, no, me neither. Me neither.

John Feidelberg (189:18)

Wait, is.

Whitney (189:18)

Is Zev going to the camp?

Paul Bissonnette (189:21)

No, no, no.

Guest Analyst (189:22)

I didn't get the invite but like.

Paul Bissonnette (189:24)

Brady Shea's on there. Would you have invited Lane Hudson or.

Whitney (189:28)

Brady Shaban is probably Brady because they got enough, they got enough skill guys.

Ryan Whitney (189:35)

It's.

Paul Bissonnette (189:35)

It's hard. 70 points last year.

Ryan Whitney (189:38)

No, I understand, but I'm with you.

Whitney (189:40)

I'm with you. I think you should be there.

Ryan Whitney (189:41)

You guys did mention like with Quinn there, you're not getting those exact same touches. It's like you have to. You have to bring the right personnel like who's gonna play, who's gonna kill penalties and, and play second unit power play as a reliable guy who's going to get it to even better players in Lane Hudson. Like yeah, I'm looking forward to watching him this year and seeing with where he's at because he's one of those guys that if he has just as hot of a start as he had all of last year and there's an injury here or there, he could easily find himself on that list. And those guys are completely psycho for hockey. So I would imagine the trajectory and how good they get over even just a summer strength wise. I try to talk about his defensive play but was quickly shut down on like he can close on guys and play well defensively. So let's see, let's see, let's see what he's got. I don't necessarily agree with him replacing McDonough and or Fox, but the first half of the season will tell me everything I need to know. Whether is there another camp before they go over or do they have to just submit the roster as is?

Whitney (190:47)

He's probably on the list, I would.

Paul Bissonnette (190:49)

Imagine right well, no, I mean, they invited 16D and he didn't get invited. So I. By the way, like, how many amazing D are on that? Like, I get it.

Whitney (190:59)

It was just.

Paul Bissonnette (191:00)

I just. I was just surprised that. That he wasn't invited to the camp. But that was our hockey talk on our hockey podcast. Shout out Jon Gruden. Shout out Vincent Damfoose. Shout out John Feidelberg and le Mascots. Great catching up with you guys. I can't wait for Chiclets cup. Have you seen the weekend of sports? Chicklets cup week? It's like Georgia, Alabama, the Ryder cup, the last weekend of major league baseball. There's like a bunch of other games. So we got a special weekend brewing in Boston. End of September, boys.

Whitney (191:34)

See how we do.

Ryan Whitney (191:35)

Can't wait.

Paul Bissonnette (191:36)

All right, Love you guys.

Vincent Damphousse (191:37)

Love you, Sam.