Spittin’ Chiclets Episode 591: Featuring Ryan Smith, Bob Heethuis & John-Michael Liles

Summary

Spittin’ Chiclets Episode 591 – Featuring Ryan Smith, Bob Heethuis & John-Michael Liles

Date: October 28, 2025
Hosts: Ryan Whitney, Paul Bissonnette, Rear Admiral (RA), Mike Grinnell
Guests: Ryan Smith (Utah Mammoth Owner), Bob Heethuis (“Heater”, Utah Mammoth Play-by-Play), John-Michael Liles (Colorado Avalanche Analyst)

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Episode Overview

Episode 591 of Spittin’ Chiclets opens with a somber tribute to two members of the Barstool community who recently passed away, before pivoting to the usual irreverent, insightful hockey banter. The episode features timely NHL talk—highlighting the surprising early success stories, in-depth analysis of the Utah Mammoth with owner Ryan Smith and play-by-play voice Bob “Heater” Heethuis, and an extended segment with John-Michael Liles on the Colorado Avalanche’s season. The show’s typical blend of offbeat humor, inside stories, and candid takes on the hockey landscape is present throughout, with several notable memorable moments.

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In Memoriam: Nick Mangold and “Barstool Beef”

[01:11–08:07]

• The episode begins on a somber note, as Ryan Whitney and Yan Stastny share heartfelt thoughts about the recent passing of two friends of Barstool:
  • Nick Mangold: Former New York Jet, admired for his kindness and “giving people the shirt off his back” ([06:59] Keith Yandle: “It’s a lot easier to be a nice person than it is to be a... and those guys did it the right way.”).
  • Cody “Beef” Frankie: Foreplay podcast’s “nicest guy in the world”, beloved for his humility and warmth.
• The hosts emphasize the importance of kindness and perspective:
  • Yan Stastny [05:08]: “You gotta live every day to the fullest, guys. You never know what’s coming. It’s brutal.”
  • Ryan Whitney [05:49]: “It puts everything into perspective in a crazy, sad way…live every day to your fullest.”
• A moment of acknowledgment for tough days and the Barstool family’s loss.

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RA’s Return & Classic Chiclets Banter

[08:07–16:25]

• Celebratory return of Rear Admiral (RA) to the show, with gratitude from the hosts and stories of personal struggle and support.
  • Ryan Whitney [08:30]: “Especially I am…this show began with me and RA on his couch, sharing a microphone…everyone’s going through something.”
  • Keith Yandle [10:53]: Shares a moving story about RA’s mom supporting someone in recovery: “Just goes to show you what type of family he comes from.”
• Playful debate about “birthday weeks” and yoga mishaps.
• Favorite RA memorabilia stories, including:
  • Old wrestling photos with Andre the Giant
  • Iconic Rolling Stones concert photo
  • Crusty the Clown figurine and Simpsons references ([15:13] Yan: “His Simpsons stuff is…above and beyond with some of our listeners.”)
• Running joke about Pasha’s harrowing car ride with RA ([16:48] Ryan Whitney: “He just ripped right through the stop sign…”), spawning the idea for “RA Cab” trivia.

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Quick Hits: MLB World Series, Toronto Sports Scene

[18:27–24:34]

• Excitement over Toronto’s electric World Series atmosphere, comparisons between MLB/NHL playoff formats, and animated discussion of stadium vibes.

• Tom Green shoutout—Biz will film a segment on Green’s ranch. (“Legend,” [23:25] Yan Stastny.)

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Utah Mammoth: “Wagon” Status and Team-Building

Segment Start: [25:46] | Guest: Ryan Smith [41:00]

Bob “Heater” Heethuis on Mammoth’s Hot Start

• Utah sitting atop the Central Division, winners of seven straight, driven by young stars Nick Schmaltz, Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther, and a dominant Karel Vejmelka in goal.
  • Heethuis [26:54]: “They are unstoppable during this seven-game winning streak…Schmaltz is co-leading the league in scoring with 16 points…career year incoming.”
  • Ryan Whitney [29:54]: On Guenther: “A straight up sniper…leads the league in one-timers. Like Brett Hull-esque.”
  • Keith Yandle [29:54]: “11 of his last 17 goals have been game-winners. He’s scoring huge goals.”
  • Praise for the “two first lines” dynamic and Barrett Hayton’s “lunchpail” contributions.
  • Areas for improvement: More depth scoring, especially with Kerfoot’s injury.
  • Stability in Salt Lake—players and families now settled after the franchise moved from Arizona.

Ryan Smith Interview [41:00–59:13]

• Owner’s perspective on the team’s meteoric rise, stadium renovations for NHL hockey, and embracing hockey’s immersive experience.
  • Ryan Smith [41:29]: “The wagon is open for anybody and everybody. We’re young, it’s going to be this way for a long time.”
• Inside Tusky, their lovable new mascot: Smith’s hands-on nervousness pre-unveiling and the importance of nailing branding for “the kids.”
• Locker-room culture: Smith and wife Ashley treat players in both Jazz and Mammoth systems “like family.”
• Synergy: Mammoth and Jazz athletes practice side by side, supporting each other’s games and groundbreakings.
  • Ryan Smith [48:41]: “Hoops is my first love…but hockey’s just different. It’s a little more rowdy. Bringing that experience to Utah—there’s nothing else like it.”
• Forward-thinking: Discussion of making hockey more “mobile-friendly” for new fans—non-traditional broadcast angles, alternate digital viewing options.

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NHL Notables: Around the League

Kraken, Avalanche, and Standouts
Segment Start: [38:44, 64:47]

Seattle Kraken Surprise

• Start strong, despite lack of scoring stars ([39:46] Heater: “They are scoring by committee...six players with at least five points.”)
• Joey Daccord—“stealing games” in net.

Colorado Avalanche Deep Dive (John-Michael Liles) [64:47–90:59]

• Liles details Colorado’s dominance, especially their “throwback” Nordiques jerseys ([65:17]).
• Power play struggling (“clicking at like 11%”), but their five-on-five play and defensive depth is elite.
  • Liles [68:20]: “Teams are just going right at Makar and McKinnon, saying, ‘we’re not gonna allow them to dictate.’”
• Roster movement: Adjustment to losing Mikko Rantanen, new addition Marty Necas; value of Artturi Lehkonen (“wins every battle” – [72:29]).
• Brent Burns signing: Veteran stability and presence.
• Malinsky—a solid undrafted “late bloomer” on D.
• Goaltending: Blackwood dealing with injury, Wedgwood a “1B, not a backup.”
• Liles opines on trade rumors, Nazem Kadri’s potential return, and the Avs’ playoff needs.

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Quick Team Check-ins & League Trends

[92:06–109:47, 119:11–122:46]

• Penguins Turning Back Clock:

  • Malkin and Crosby producing at near-peak rates; Malkin 14 points in nine games.
  • Yan Stastny [108:47]: “If they get goaltending, Pittsburgh can be a playoff team if these guys play the way they play.”

• Oilers’ Malaise:

  • Lethargic, “uninspired” start, lack of jump.
  • Questions about Bouchard’s contract; “wait until January to talk about the Oilers.”

• Montreal Canadiens Youth Movement:

  • Demidov comparisons to Kaprizov and Kucherov; Matheson praised as top D-man.
  • Keith Yandle [97:07]: “The vision he [Demidov] has, the poise—especially in tight…Anytime he’s on the ice, you need an iso-cam.”
  • Canadiens’ pipeline highlighted: Zarovsky, Haig as future stars.

• Maple Leafs Reality Check:

  • Yan admits Leafs are “in the back half of their Stanley Cup window,” but feels bullish about current roster and goaltending.

• Rangers Struggles:

  • Defensive structure strong, but lack of scoring.
  • Lafreniere under scrutiny among Ranger fan base.

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Memorable Quotes & Comic Moments

• On kindness:
  • [06:59] Keith Yandle: “It’s a lot easier to be a nice person than it is to be a… and those guys did it the right way.”
• On mascot anxiety:
  • [46:23] Ryan Smith: “I was like, so no one in here has seen the finished version?…I own the team. Have to be a little careful with that creature.”
• On family culture in sports ownership:
  • [52:49] Ryan Smith: “We don’t have a playbook. We just treat them like family… It’s worked for us.”
• On fans and viewing hockey on mobile:
  • [55:58] Ryan Smith: “We signed an $8 billion deal annually for hoops…look how easy basketball is to watch on your phone. Hockey, we need to figure out a new way.”
• On being new to hockey:
  • [44:47] Ryan Smith: “With these 21- and 22-year-olds, we gotta be smart. Gotta stack good decisions.”
• Comic banter:
  • [16:59] Pasha’s infamous car ride with RA – “He just ripped right through the stop sign…”
  • [131:02] Yan describes his “genie” belly shirt and restaurant antics.

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Notable Timestamps

• 01:11–08:07 – In memoriam openings, Nick Mangold & Beef
• 08:07–16:25 – RA’s return, birthday/yoga/gag gifts, Simpsons references
• 25:46–41:00 – Bob Heethuis on Utah Mammoth’s season
• 41:00–59:13 – Ryan Smith (Utah owner) interview
• 64:47–90:59 – John-Michael Liles (Colorado Avalanche analysis)
• 92:06–109:47 – NHL team check-ins: Penguins, Oilers, Habs, Leafs, Rangers
• 119:11–122:46 – Ovechkin’s 1,500th game, Capstone
• 131:08–136:25 – Barstool family shoutout, support for Ebony

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Closing & Support

• The hosts underscore the value of family—both Barstool community and in hockey.
  • [136:14] Keith Yandle: “Tell your loved ones and family members you love them—you never know what’s going to happen.”
• Shoutout and support for Barstool staffer Ebony, who tragically lost her sister. The show encourages listeners to support her OnlyFans/Venmo (OnlyFans.com/securedeez).

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Final Notes

• The episode blends thorough hockey analysis with trademark Chiclets humor, poignant moments about loss and community, and authentic, unfiltered insight from insiders and alumni.
• Must-listen segments: Ryan Smith on ownership, John-Michael Liles Avalanche breakdown, and heartfelt tributes at the top of the show.

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For a full, unfiltered ride through the state of the NHL, Barstool family moments, and the latest locker room scoops, Episode 591 is quintessential Spittin’ Chiclets.

Transcript

[John Michael Lyles]

Hey, Spit and Chiclets listeners. You can find every episode on Apple podcasts, Spotify or YouTube Prime. Members can listen ad free on Amazon Music.

[Keith Yandle]

I'm not going back to college to be your friend.

[Yan Stastny]

I'm going so I can get Uber one for students. It saves you on Uber and Ubereats.

[John Michael Lyles]

I'm there for zero dollar delivery fee.

[Yan Stastny]

On cheeseburgers, up to 10% off smoothies.

[John Michael Lyles]

And 6% Uber credits back on rides. Just to be clear, I'm there for.

[Yan Stastny]

Savings, not whatever you think college is for.

[Ryan Whitney]

Get Uber one for students a membership.

[John Michael Lyles]

To save on u Uber Eats.

[Yan Stastny]

With deals this good, everyone wants to be a student.

[Keith Yandle]

Join for just $4.99 a month.

[Ryan Whitney]

Savings may vary. Eligibility and member terms apply.

[Keith Yandle]

I'm not going back to college to be your friend.

[Yan Stastny]

I'm going so I can get Uber one for students. It saves you on Uber and Uber Eats.

[John Michael Lyles]

I'm there for $0 delivery fee on.

[Yan Stastny]

Cheeseburgers, up to 10% off smoothies and.

[John Michael Lyles]

6% Uber credits back on rides. Just to be clear, I'm there for.

[Yan Stastny]

Savings, not whatever you think college is for.

[Ryan Whitney]

Get Uber one for students a membership.

[John Michael Lyles]

To save on Uber and Uber Eats.

[Yan Stastny]

But with deals this good, everyone wants to be a student.

[Keith Yandle]

Join for just $4.99 a month.

[Ryan Whitney]

Savings may vary. Eligibility and member terms apply.

[John Michael Lyles]

Me and Ryan have been officially welcomed to the jungle that is Barstool Sports.

[Yan Stastny]

I brought it towards the coyotes and I asked them if it was okay if I joined the spit Chiclets podcast full time.

[Ryan Whitney]

Ryan Whitney got a pink Whitney out there now.

[Ryan Smith]

Sandbagger.

[Heater]

Get that on camera.

[Ryan Whitney]

Eth Yandel the Sonk man. Kate is a full time member. Marley just gotten from Chris Be.

[Keith Yandle]

Whoa. We're buzzing right now.

[Ryan Whitney]

What is up folks? Welcome to episode 591 of the Spitting Chicklets podcast. Tough show. I mean we had, we had some devastating news that, that just hit. It kind of started this weekend. Nick Mangold, I know he's a legendary football player for the New York jets and an all time guy from, from everything I've heard that was a part of Barstool Sports. And in different ways here and there, he passed away. He had let the world know he needed a kidney transplant. I didn't know if it was immediate or not. And then he ends up passing away. Horrible, horrible news. And then we just find out. I mean, 20 minutes ago I opened up my phone and we see that Cody Frankie, known as Beef passed away this weekend as well. So just. It's kind of hard to do these shows right after you hear these news. For people who don't know Beef, he joined the Foreplay golf podcast and brand with Barstool. I don't know, a year ago, maybe longer. And just a gentleman, like the nicest guy in the world. I don't know if people have seen clips. Every time he met someone, he took his hat off. He was at the Internet invitational that was supposed. Hats off for. For Beef. And yeah, it's just. Just shocking. I. I just opened up Twitter. I was like, what the fuck? And it's just heartbreaking. So we. We have to. We have to shout that guy out. Thinking of all the Foreplay guys, everyone at Barstool seen tweets from. From everyone just talking about this guy was the nicest person you ever meet. I. I'm not even joking right now. I met this guy for the first time and asking me about Chiclets, how it began, about, you know, how much I love golf. And Frankie wrote something about. He had. He had taught golf, was an instructor, and was brought on by. By Portnoy. And the guy just was happy seeing people enjoy golf and meeting people and it's just a shitty day. Really shitty day to see that. So Biz, I know you got to meet him, Keith. You got to meet him at. In the Ozarks as well.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah, yeah, Golf him at the Ryder Cup. Just like everything is described, man, like the. The nicest guy in the world. Such a kind heart, loved, obviously playing golf and funny guy, you know, he just. Yeah, lit up a room. And there's no wonder why the Foreplay guys added him because he's such a beauty. The common man you mentioned, like, every time he would meet someone, he would take his hat off and shake their hand, look them dead in the eye and just. Yeah, the. The common man, right? And going back to Nick Mangold, like, obviously this weekend it had happened, right? And you just see all. All the Barstool crowd. Like, I don't think he ever worked hand in hand with Barstool, but the amount of times he would come into the office and collaborate and just like this, you know, all pro football player giving people a Barstool, not only the time of day, but like, you know, befriending them. And you could see how much he meant to the Barstool family and community as well, just from, like reading everybody's messages. So just like the weekend kind of with that happening and then waking up and. And reading the Beef news, like, that's just a. You know, Barstool is A big family and a major, major component to, like, the why spitting Chicklets even exist. So we feel like we've lost two very important family members over the last few days. So brutal.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, Gone.

[Yan Stastny]

Gone. Way too young. Mangold. Four kids. So it's. You gotta live every day to the fullest, guys. You never know what's coming. It's brutal.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah. And that, I mean, that's an amazing way to put it. Like, I know I've said this, and we've talked on this show before about people passing away and whether it's a friend, a relative, and someone you barely know. It's like you wake up and something's bugging you at work, and then you feel bad. You're. You're taking something out on your kids, and then you're just like. You see something like this, you're like, Jesus Christ.

[Heater]

It.

[Ryan Whitney]

It puts everything into perspective in a crazy, sad way. And, and like you said, you live every day to your fullest. You got no clue what's coming tomorrow or, or, or later that day. And it's just. It's just so shitty. So shitty. To see him come into Barstool make a immediate impact with Foreplay and all the videos they do and all the, the, the enormous reach they have all over the Internet for people who love golf. And everyone liked the guy. He was just a friendly, friendly, good person. Like what you. You know, a guy you'd want to work with. And it's so. It sucks. And we want to shout out his family and, and all his. Is his work family. And it's just. It's a tough way to start the show. And, you know, we have a long show, a lot of stuff to get to. It's hard to kind of get right back into things when, when you're discussing like this, but something like this. But there was no way we weren't going to lead the show off.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

With kind of remembering or trying to discuss two guys that. That meant a lot to. To so many different people in this world. So. Rest in peace, Nick Mangold. And, and as well, Barstool Beef. It's. It's going to be hard for Foreplay to get over this, obviously. And we're thinking of those guys, so.

[Keith Yandle]

And I think everything too, that is said about Nick and Beef is how good of people they were, how they treated other people. And I think we can all take from that. Right. It's. It's a lot easier to be a nice person than it is to be a. And, and, and those guys did it the right way. I didn't know Nick Mangold. Obviously big fan of what he did. He was an amazing player. But, you know, when you see, like, Rex Ryan the other day talking about him, he didn't even mention him as a. As a player. He just mentions them, how good of a person he is, give you the shirt off his back type of guy, and then Beef who, you know, we got the chance. I got the chance to meet him twice. And like you guys said, man, salt of the earth guy just wanted to be around people. And you could tell him being a part of the barstool family and with the foreplay guys, like, he was at home, like, he was a part of something that was, you know, his love was golf. His love was, you know, given back to the game. And he did that, and he did it with a smile on his face. So I think we all got to take a little of that from those guys and just be happy that, you know, we're here, we're doing what we love, and just continue to be great people.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yep. The golden rule. Treat others the way you want to be treated. And. And you know that those two guys live that way from everything we've heard about Nick and. And from meeting Beef. So, you know, moving on. As weird and hard as it is, I was very, very happy. On a. On a good note here. All right. He sounded better than he hasn't.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

And. And I want to thank everyone listening. Whether you like RA or don't like RA I think everyone was really happy for him. And that's, like, a pretty cool thing to see, because the. The clearness in his voice and just having him back means a lot. And I guess, like, something like this, it kind of makes you think even more how grateful, especially I am, because, like, this show began with me and Ra on his couch sharing a microphone, and every single person, you know, is going through something. Like, it doesn't matter if. If. If you know what they're going through or you don't. Everyone's battling something. RA Had a tough go of it for a while, and there was no chance that we were gonna, you know, leave him hanging. And it's pretty cool. Now he comes on, he gets to talk about what he wants to talk about. And I really appreciate everyone kind of understanding where. Where we're coming from and what RA Was going through and being able to just be happy for the guy back doing what he loves to do, because he does love doing this. And the whole time, we knew that it was just fighting other battles that was making that hard for him. And I was very excited to have him back and get to move forward with his RA's world on Friday's episode. And so I'm really happy and I, I'm sure you guys were pumped to get him back on and chat with him, right? Bizarre. Oh, buddy.

[Yan Stastny]

It was awesome. Like, I've said it before when, like, ra's in the mix and, and you know, he's the best version of himself. Like, this is, that's when we're all at the, at the, at the best of our capabilities and he's the founding father. And yeah, I, I, I think that, like, ultimately you kind of touched on it. Like, you have to be happy for someone who, who's just in a better place. And he clearly is, and he's thriving and, and he's going to continue to do so, and it's awesome. Like, I couldn't be happier for him. And like you said, you could just, you could just see it in, in his face and hear it in his voice and, yeah, and, and thank you to everybody who was very receptive and who reached out to him, whether it was via DM or on Twitter. Like, that means a lot to the guy. Like, he, like, it's hard. Like, like, you know, this is, like, away from his personal life. Like, this is his identity. It's who he is. It's where he likes to express himself. And like, people, people need that and they need that void in their life. And I'm just happy that he mix. Loving hockey, following hockey, and, and, and back. Back buzzing again. What about you, Yance?

[Keith Yandle]

Yeah, I mean, obviously I've known Ra a long time. His dad and my grandfather were firemen together. Actually, good little story. When we were at, at Chiclets cup, one of the guys on my team, I don't know if you'd want me to say his name, but he was having some troubles, you know, getting clean and sober, and he, he went into a halfway house and, you know, he's good now, but Ra's mom walked in and he was like, he was like, who is that? I'm like, oh, that's Ra's mom. He's like, holy. He's like, that woman saved my life. If it wasn't for her. She took me in, took care of me. He, he was like, I was so bad, but she stuck with me. I, I think she ran like an outpatient house or something like that. And he was like, if it wasn't for her, I, I'd be gone. So just goes to show you what type of family he comes from. His dad's an amazing guy. Leo is the man. And. And yeah, like you guys said, seeing him, seeing him the other day, just talking, laughing, you know, just being on the pod. Right. Because at the end of the day I was a fan before, you know, you guys let me in here. But. And you know, I missed having him on here just like everybody else and just to see him back, happy, talking, talking his talking about, you know, I don't know how he thinks Charlestown is. Has the most influential place for music. I'm not sure how did we not say anything? Roll first day but next time.

[Yan Stastny]

I also agree with him on the birthday week thing. I agree with him coming from the.

[Keith Yandle]

Guy who threw a month long party. Okay.

[Yan Stastny]

Oh yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

Also one weekend.

[Yan Stastny]

See you later. Bye. Bye.

[Ryan Whitney]

I know. I don't know any guys who do birthday weeks. I know that's a girl thing. Birthday months even. I'm not a big guy. I don't know any guys who are like.

[Yan Stastny]

I'm not getting accused of doing a whole week, am I?

[Ryan Whitney]

No.

[Keith Yandle]

Weekend.

[Yan Stastny]

No, no, no, no, no. But I'm not the weekend traveling from Vancouver. Yance, are you. Are you accusing me of being a weak birthday guy?

[Keith Yandle]

Weekend.

[Ryan Whitney]

Raincoat.

[Yan Stastny]

Where do you sit with the weekend?

[Keith Yandle]

Oh dude, I love birthdays. I love. But I actually, I like other people's birthdays more than mine because it gets a little.

[Yan Stastny]

Absolutely.

[Keith Yandle]

But I'm a huge birthday guy. I love birthdays.

[Yan Stastny]

All right. I just, I thought that. I thought that was a shot.

[Ryan Whitney]

Remember biz? All right. I mean. No, no. The topic of yoga came up and. And he said there's a wicked lot of fat during yoga. Right? Like that's what he thought about yoga. That's when you know you have a one of one human being that you're dealing with when you think of fatten with yoga. So shout out. All right.

[Yan Stastny]

I did go to yoga yesterday and I did let a few squeakers out. So I think that RA also has there.

[Ryan Whitney]

Okay, now, now you're diving too deep into just the agreeing with RA thing. Like I know you're not dropping bombs on purpose at yoga and I don't even think you went to yoga.

[Yan Stastny]

We discuss everything that he's going to talk about.

[Keith Yandle]

We have to do whatever he new show.

[Ryan Whitney]

Just knock.

[Yan Stastny]

Why you think he picked the leafs? I'm in his ear, baby.

[Heater]

I got.

[Yan Stastny]

I'm the little puppeteer. No, no. He's his own human. He's a f. I also love his new background. Too. He's got going, like all the ladies room thing.

[Ryan Whitney]

A little weird ladies room thing.

[Yan Stastny]

I mean, but, hey, that's what we like around here. We like our weirdos. But no, everyone has to give their.

[Keith Yandle]

Favorite thing in his background.

[Yan Stastny]

I'll. I'll say my favorite. I don't think it was in the background. But my favorite thing about RA and I think it's still his Twitter profile picture is when he went to a wrestling event when he was a kid and he had a Polaroid camera. And I guess Andre the Giant loved, like, he would always make extra time for the kids. It was all about the kids. And he went up to RA and RA snapped this picture of Andre the Giant as he's keeled over him. And it's. Could we pull it up, like. And then. And then also RA I think he had a disposable or was in a photo that was taken at this venue where the Rolling Stones were very early in their career. So RA has kind of found himself in these very iconic photos. Are we able to bring up the. The. The photo of him and Andre the Giant?

[Ryan Whitney]

Did you see the crust? He didn't even mention the Crusty the Clown, like, figurine up top was classic.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah, I would say 25 of my DMS I get about RA are. How did you not get this Simpsons reference? How do. Oh, we need RA Back because we need more Simpsons talk. So his Simpson stuff is.

[Ryan Smith]

Is.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah. Above and beyond with some of our listeners now. What. What. What did you see on there, Yance?

[Keith Yandle]

My favorite one was in because he's from Charleston and people from Charleston love being from Charleston, which it's. It's the best. He had a printed out picture of the monument with a flag instead of, like, it was just on a piece of paper instead of, like, getting it actually printed out from an actual place. Oh, that's unbelievable.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, that's okay.

[Yan Stastny]

That's one of them. But I think that his. He has another one where he ended up snapping it. Where? Look, that's RA right there, bottom right. That's how young he.

[Ryan Whitney]

Boston is. That kid in the Boston shirt.

[Yan Stastny]

Oh, yeah, that's a Boston race.

[Keith Yandle]

Snuck in there. He didn't even know those other kids. He just snuck in.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah, we'll get the other photo.

[Ryan Whitney]

And if not even at that age, RA, like, stole one of his beers. Andre the Giant, like, the beers look like this big in his hand. He's like, where's the 37 drinking it?

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah, they look like Tic Tac, so. Oh, my God.

[Keith Yandle]

He snuck into a Oasis concert right on. On his.

[Ryan Whitney]

No, I know he had tickets to that. They were VIP and he didn't know it.

[Yan Stastny]

That. Okay, that's pretty iconic that RA Snapped that.

[Ryan Whitney]

I know.

[Yan Stastny]

It's a sick photo. He should be a photographer. So that's my favorite thing about him. He also doesn't have his license, right?

[Ryan Whitney]

No, he does because he drove Pasha once, and Pasha went to therapy after it because it was like an eight minute ride, too. I think he was, like, filming it too. Ripping. He's like, all right, that was a stop sign. He just ripped right through it.

[Yan Stastny]

Can we get Pasha on to not talk about the Devils? I don't want to hear about that. We need a week or at least an episode break of Pasha. His nonsense of the crop. The Crosby thing obviously went viral. But can we have posh on just to talk about the ride he had with RA behind the wheel?

[Ryan Smith]

Oh, yeah. Like Whit said, I'll never forget it. This guy was honking at people. One stop signs like, I'm like, Jesus.

[John Michael Lyles]

All right, like, where is this coming from?

[Ryan Smith]

We were driving from Fenway back to, like, the hotel that we were staying at where this was in Boston, obviously.

[John Michael Lyles]

And yeah, it was like a 15.

[Ryan Smith]

Minute drive, but changed my life.

[Yan Stastny]

We should do a show where Ra. What's the one where they did the trivia in the back of the taxi?

[Ryan Whitney]

Oh, the cash cab.

[Keith Yandle]

Cash.

[Ryan Smith]

Yeah.

[Yan Stastny]

You should do an RA but he has to drive and ask the questions.

[Ryan Whitney]

And if you win, you don't get money. You get, like, memorabilia from his house. So you'll get, like, toilet paper Pedro used.

[Yan Stastny]

I bet we would get some Looney Tunes signing up to do that. Oh, but it's all hockey trivia.

[Keith Yandle]

No anything, because he loves who's the.

[Ryan Whitney]

Greatest passer of all time. You're like Wayne Gretzky's like, phone a friend.

[Yan Stastny]

You. You film or phone a friend. But it goes to Gigi. Only goes to that gg.

[Ryan Whitney]

It just goes to Coop. And Coop's like, who the keeps calling me? Hey, Lightning. Lightning. Two in a row. They got Vegas yesterday. So.

[Heater]

Last.

[Ryan Whitney]

Last cleaning up quickly is that the Internet invitational is actually going to start tomorrow. So it was delayed a day. And so check that out. Starts tomorrow. And before hockey biz. What an. What a. What a baseball city you got in Toronto, huh? I mean, I know it's 1 1. And that Yamamoto, I believe his name was. Was insane on. Oh, God, that was last.

[Yan Stastny]

He's doing. He's doing sudoku puzzles in the dugout. And just going out and throwing gas. Like, you can't.

[Heater]

No.

[Ryan Whitney]

I think he's kind of like Matthew Fitzpatrick. The golfer for about six years now has written down a description on every single shot he has hit. Range, tournaments, rounds, for fun. He literally hits a shot and then writes down what it felt like, the feeling. And that's what that guy does in between innings. He's writing down how. How his arm felt, how. What pitches he likes. He does the same exact thing, I guess, and that's what he was doing in the dugout there.

[Yan Stastny]

Does he reread it, or is it more just to, like, allow him to, like, let it go?

[Ryan Whitney]

I think Fitzpatrick goes back to it a lot. Like, if he's struggling, he'll go back to, like, feels and thoughts he had. I don't know about Yamamoto's because I'm guessing it's probably in Japanese, so nobody knows besides him and his buddies and maybe his agent. But it's pretty cool. Like, people do things different ways. That guy was a. He was an. And in classic. Classic Yankees, I think they. They. They wouldn't go above 300 million. It was like another 25 million or maybe 50 they had to spend, but who cares? At that point, they could have had that guy. He's a machine, Ab.

[Yan Stastny]

I thought he was just doing, like, the, like, the crossword puzzle out of the, like, the. The newspaper. Like, I'm just throwing gas. Like, I'm a little bored with these guys. These bats right now, but. Shout out to Toronto. I mean, you. Game one. I watched the full game, and it was electric. A lot of ups and downs. They were down early, and then the bats came alive where. I mean, not too often in a World Series will you see. I think it was 12 batters. They got two in one inning, 11 or 12. So anytime you're seeing the same guy up twice, that's usually a good sign, right?

[Ryan Whitney]

Oh, yeah. And that city is. Oh, that. That. That place seems bonkers.

[Yan Stastny]

Like, yeah, it's one of those stadiums where I feel like they spend enough and they're relevant enough, where, you know, it looks pretty full. Most games, at least, like the Canada Day game, the first series, they have to kick things off, but when it's not fully packed, it doesn't really. You're kind of like. But when that place is packed and with the CN Tower and the fact that the roof can come, like, I know it's old, but it's. You know, I think it's an iconic stadium. And, you know, that's where that's where Carter got it done. And they. They won two World Series, so they're in one, though. This team is incredible. Right. So I would actually be at game seven if it went to game seven.

[Ryan Whitney]

No way.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah. So I'm really pushing forward. What's that?

[Ryan Whitney]

It's going to five if they get one. If they get one there, it's going seven.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

They'll come back down. Three, two, and they'll win game six.

[Keith Yandle]

It's three on the road, right? They have to play three in LA right now, by the way. I like two, three.

[Ryan Whitney]

The NHL has to do that.

[Yan Stastny]

No, but they don't.

[Ryan Whitney]

Because I don't know biz like they were doing that. Edmonton to Florida, Chiclets air disaster. I would have loved 2, 3, 2.

[Yan Stastny]

I know, but owners would never go for it because of the gate, right? You. You want. If it goes to game five and you don't. If you're the owner and you have home ice and you don't get the gate, that is. I mean, some of these buildings, man, I bet you Edmonton's popping 8 million a playoff game.

[Ryan Whitney]

10 million, I bet.

[Heater]

Yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

So you're giving away league. You know what I mean? I guess maybe their gate is so much bigger throughout the year that it doesn't affect them the way. But still, it's. It's a. I mean, no, actually it would affect Toronto even more considering a lot of their games, it's half full. Right. Maybe. I'm not saying that it feels that way. So if they could get a game five, you think they wouldn't want this either. But the travel is better on the bodies and maybe the level of play for Hawk.

[Yan Stastny]

I agree with that.

[Keith Yandle]

That standpoint, actually, in the finals, they should do it.

[Yan Stastny]

I hate. I hate to bring it back to the Calder cup that I won. Not a big deal. But we did 2, 3, 2. Luckily for us, we won the first two games in overtime at home. But you drop one of those, man, all of a sudden, o. I gotta go three on the road now. So, I mean, they did it against Seattle, right? They. They actually dropped the first two and then went there and got two of three. So I. I just hope that it goes to seven and I'm. I'm there for it. And before I could, I could have gone to Game 6, but something pretty cool popped up. We've had Tom Green on before. Some of our younger listeners might not know who Tom Green in, but he's a legend. A Canadian legend for sure. Pretty much originated, like the jackass concept. Yeah, that that ended up evolving in the United States. Like, he was doing that stuff early, early days.

[Ryan Whitney]

And like, I didn't miss any of the shows. They were incredible.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah, like the. The. The mo. The craziest one to me was when he. He. He had a professionally painted. A woman completely spread eagle on. On the hood of his father's car. And the father came out to drive to work and obviously he's like, he was so mad. Like, wouldn't he.

[Ryan Whitney]

Parents would lose his home, the father.

[Yan Stastny]

Would refuse to speak to Tom Green. He'd had it walk to the bus stop and Tom Green's got the mic in his face and the camera crew there at the bus stop. And then he drove the car over to the bus stop to be like, here's your car. Just drive to work. So he was ahead of his time. He invited me. He's doing this new show where he. He films it all on his ranch. So he's got some ranch. I believe it's in between like Toronto and like an Ottawa area, like in that pocket. So gonna go film with him. And I'm doing that Friday and then into Saturday morning, and then I'm flying there on. On Saturday. So hopefully there's game seven going on. But I just thought I'd let people know, like, I think Tom Green's a legend. We got a lot of Canadian listeners, so look out for that. And I don't know how we even got there.

[Ryan Whitney]

I don't know. Toronto. And last thing, me, I just picturing myself in the past rooting for a blue and white team from Toronto in the playoffs. It's crazy, but I'm all in on the Jays. And I will say their logo of the little. The little maple leaf is. Yeah, that is stunning. Looks so good. It looks so good. So go, go, Blue Jays. Get it done. Let's bring. I think we should bring on Heater. Heater, what's going on? Hey, I gotta tell you, different people have reached out to me. They loved you. The first time you came on, you crushed it. That story of being told to put the entire team on waivers was an all time classic.

[Yan Stastny]

We're gonna.

[Ryan Whitney]

We're about to do it. You're not doing it.

[Yan Stastny]

We're about to do it in Greensboro.

[Keith Yandle]

You gotta call everyone in Greensboro. Heater.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah. We need a win.

[Heater]

Well, I'm glad that the first appearance was received pretty well. I guess I have a lot of friends and relatives around that. Your audience that saw that and told me that they said it was good. So I appreciate that. And first of all guys today. I understand that, you know, you guys have suffered a tough loss today and I'm sorry about that and certainly my thoughts are with you.

[Ryan Whitney]

Well, thank you so much.

[Yan Stastny]

You're the man.

[Ryan Whitney]

You know, you know, you know the league, you, you know the Central Division, you really know the, the Utah Mammoth. And it's incredible what's happening right now. I mean, whether you want to talk about Logan Cooley. On the hottest stretch I've seen, we got Nick Schmaltz, Clayton Keller's an incredible captain. And then the biggest thing that seems to not get mentioned because of the goal scoring, but this Vamelka, he is lights out. Like, what's your takeaway on what they've done so far? And do you see this kind of continuing as we've seen so far? And shout out also Ryan Smith, who is just hammering the glass when they score big goals at home.

[Yan Stastny]

He's a glass banger.

[Ryan Whitney]

He's a glass banger.

[Yan Stastny]

That's okay. If you drop a billion, you could be a glass banger.

[Heater]

You can do whatever you want. If you drop a billion dollars, even put the whole team on waivers.

[Yan Stastny]

Okay. All right.

[Ryan Whitney]

All right.

[Yan Stastny]

Well, Heater, like to, to throw it over you. Like, I was on the fence about going Utah Mammoth in the playoffs, but you came on, you glazed them so hard. I'm like, I'm all in. I for sure they're at least getting a wild card. What have you seen so far? Because you're all eyes on them all the time.

[Heater]

Well, you know, they're making me look good in October. I'll tell you. They, they're really hot right now. Obviously have won seven in a row and they've risen to the top of the Central Division and tied in points overall with New Jersey. And it's a big season for them. The last time we talked, you know, we were all going back and forth. You know, they really need to make the playoffs. Are they going to do it this year? There's still a long way to go. But you sure like what you see out of this Utah team and particularly in their top two lines. I mean, they are unstoppable during this seven game winning streak. You know, the Cooley and Paterka and Gunther line, one of the fastest lines in the league. And they just continue to pour out points. In the first three games when Utah was held down offensively on that opening road trip where they went one and two, top line wasn't really getting into it. But since they started this seven game homestand or four Game homestand, seven game winning streaks. Now both of the top lines are unstoppable. You know, Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz. Schmaltz is co leading the league in scoring with 16 points and he's in the midst of putting up eight points in his last nine games. And it's been unbelievable actually a seven, a seven game point streak. I beg your pardon, for 13 points. So 13 of his last 16 points have been during this winning streak. So Nick Schmaltz, as we said earlier in a contract year, he's always been a guy that is loaded with skill. He has had injury problems throughout his career, some bouts of inconsistency, but I'll tell you what, he played 82 games last year. He was healthy at a career high 63 points and this year hopefully he'll be healthy throughout and, and the sky's the limit for him because he's a really, really skilled player and he and Keller just work so well together.

[Ryan Whitney]

I love, I love you bringing up that line of Paterka, Cooley and, and, and Gunther because if you go back to the winning goal, yes, I believe it was yesterday against Winnipeg. Paterka is insane on the forecheck, causes a turnover. Cooley gets it, has one of the sickest passes of the season so far. For anyone that wants to go check this goal out, no, look behind the back. Gets it to Gunther who buries a one timer. I saw a tweet by Mike Kelly that mentioned Gunther leads the league in one timers attempted with 29 one timers on net with 19 shots on net and four one timer goals. You go back to the world juniors when he had seven goals that year, they won it all. Seven were one timers. And you mentioned his shot. So did Bedard a couple times in interviews too. Even though they don't obviously play together in the NHL. But this is a guy who's just a straight up sniper. And if you have Cooley being able to dish like that, like I really don't see many times that they're going to get kept off the score sheet. Throughout this season, 11 of his last.

[Keith Yandle]

17 goals have been game winning goals like Annie's. Scoring huge goals for the team.

[Ryan Whitney]

It's insane. And what a bargain.

[Yan Stastny]

Oh, that was a great contract. I don't know if they're going to get the same with the guy setting them up, Logan Cooley. Day by day, him and Schmaltzy got Ryan Smith by the big old ball bag either biz.

[Ryan Whitney]

What's that small is ufa too.

[Yan Stastny]

So that's. Yeah. So I guess that's part of the dilemma then. We'll talk about a little bit of that later. But going back to Gunther, I think it was Bedard who was saying it's like you can't give him a bad pass either. His. His range, his bubble is huge. It's almost like. It's almost like Brett hall esque. Like Brett hall esque. He was able to one time, everything. He had that big flex on it. I ain't saying he's Brett hall, but he's on a hell of a trajectory the way that he can fucking shoot the pill. And going back to, like the. The. The top line there, too, of Barrett Hayton, who was a fifth overall pick. And he had a couple shaky years up and down. They weren't really sure where he was going to fit in. But I feel like he has pretty good chemistry with Schmaltzy and. And Kels as well. So they kind of are in a situation like Dallas where, like, statistically, they have two first lines. You could go to either of those lines to be your first line at.

[Heater]

This point, no question. You know, when you talk about Barrett Hayton, he's kind of the lunch pail guy on that line where Schmaltz and Keller. But they played together for the last few years now, and they have great chemistry together. Peyton's good on the face offs. You know, he'll mix it up physically in the corners, he'll go to the front of the net. And I believe last year he scored 20 goals, so he's capable of scoring. He started the season injured, and it's the first couple games, so he's just kind of getting into it offensively. But that line is great. And going back to Gunther, one more thing about him, you know, when he sets up in that left circle, it's just unbelievable how quick he gets the shot off and how accurate it is with the velocity that it gets. And he says that he wants to get even better. He says that, you know, teams are kind of figuring him out a little bit, he thinks. So he's moving to different areas of the ice to get that one timer off and not just to, you know, be pigeonholed to shoot it from the dot in the left circle. And he also says he wants to go to the net more. He feels like he's capable of not, you know, being kind of a perimeter player, but going to the net and scoring more goals that way. And if he can do that, I mean, the sky's the limit. I Think this kid, you know, maybe not this year, but in his future, easily 40 goals, maybe 50, because his shot is so quick, and he gets it off so quick, and it's so fast. And it's. The accuracy is uncanny, too.

[Yan Stastny]

Was. Did you guys like the Brett hall comparison, or should I walk off stage?

[Ryan Whitney]

No, no. I, I, I see a guy who you could put it anywhere, and he's adjusting and being able to get a quick shot off. Also, that picture, if you want to throw it back up quick, it's crazy to see how far his top hand is off his body there. I know that's like shooting and, like, the way you shoot has kind of changed over the years, but, like, to be able to have it that far out, I think that's what allows him to kind of get it wherever it is. If it's front foot or back foot. That and the amount of practice he's done over the course of his life, just mastering this snapshot, one timer. So it's crazy. It's. It's a, It's a fun team to watch that. I'm getting my list ready to release Heater. I have a list of teams that I love to watch, and then teams I don't want to watch, then teams I would never watch kind of thing. Utah, they're flying. They're flying up there, and I love being able to kind of give it to Pasha a little bit, because if you forget or remember, the Devils. The Devils passed on Logan Cooley. They. They decided to take Nemec second overall that year.

[Yan Stastny]

Whoopsie.

[Ryan Whitney]

Pasha's. He's doing the old, like, oh, we already had all our centermen. We were all set. It's like, buddy, I don't know, man. I see this.

[Keith Yandle]

I can't have enough.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

No. Yeah.

[John Michael Lyles]

Who.

[Yan Stastny]

Who would want too many good centers, right?

[Ryan Whitney]

Cooley would look down the middle.

[Heater]

Pretty good with. Hey. With Hughes, huh?

[Ryan Whitney]

Oh, my God.

[Keith Yandle]

Either the big, big question for me, and I know they got a big goal last game. Yamamoto made a great play to Siron, but their bottom six just hasn't been. I mean, they haven't had to because the top six has been so good, but. And then they lost Kerfoot. He just had surgery. So it almost. It's like they gotta go out and do something now. Way before the trade.

[Yan Stastny]

I don't know, man. I. That maybe McBain in the third slot, but I, like, he's a piece of to play against.

[Heater]

He's tough.

[Yan Stastny]

He'll fight anyone. Like, he's one of those guys that seems like he's grumpy, showing out, showing up to the rink. But that's not the worst thing. Heater, I love Krauser. I wish that he had a little bit more of that meanness. But he skates like the win. He forechecks, he can get hot. He's a 20 goal guy. I like how they brought in Tanev. Like I think that they're, they're like a few little moves away from being like at least for sure a playoff team if not being able to go on a little bit of a run.

[Heater]

No question. Biz, and going back to what Yan said, I think that's a great point that you brought up. As good as the Utah Mammoth are right now, and as much as they're scoring, I still believe to get where they want to go, they've got to get that third line a little bit more involved offensively. And you talk about Lawson Krause, Jack McBain and Michael Carcone, although Carcone scored the second goal last night in Winnipeg. But they play a really physical game. They play really well defensively, but they're capable of a lot more offensively, you know, as Biz said, Lawson Kraus was a 20 goal scorer. He scored I believe at least 20 or more in the last three seasons in Arizona. Jack McBain had his best offensive year last year, got into the the teens and scoring goals and carconi was a 20 goal scorer the last year in Arizona. So those guys can really contribute offensively and I think they're going to have to start doing that as the season goes on and you know, it becomes a grind.

[Keith Yandle]

How much do you think this start? Like because last year, like it's kind of last minute thing, they're going to Utah, they got to move their families. Like it's small things like finding a place to live, finding schools for your kids. Like it's a whirlwind of a year. Like it took them till I think Thanksgiving to get four home wins and they've already done it now. So like how much do you think of just being settled for one year has helped them?

[Heater]

I think it helps them tremendously. I mean they know everything like you said about the city, about where they live. You know, they get great, great treatment from the, the ownership and the hockey operations staff. They have that brand new practice facility that's state of the art and the fans just love them there. And I think it's a very comfortable situation this year for the Mammoth in year number two. And they have so much potential. I Think they're starting to believe that they have that and can continue to have a strong success now again, we're only at the end of the October. You don't know about injuries, you don't know about, you know, slumps. And everyone goes through some things, as you guys know, as the season goes on, but you really have to like the way that they play. They, they, everyone wants to play fast. Well, Utah plays about as fast as anyone in the league. Their D are able to really move the puck up out of the zone to the forwards, you are so fast and they break out. They play really good team defense. In fact, I think they're number one in the NHL in defending off the rush. So that tells you that, you know, the forwards get back and, and help defensively. There's a lot of turnovers being created, you know, at their blue line, in the neutral zone and they play really well team defensively. In fact, they're number four overall right now in the league defensively or two, I should say, and four offensively. So I mean they're really high in both categories only allowing an average of 2.4 goals against per game. And as Whit said early on, you know, it starts with Karel Vamilka. He was a guy that had a great season last year. Got himself a five year deal, didn't have a great preseason. I looked at his numbers and wondering, you know, is he going to be able to really continue what he did last year? Well, you know, silly me, preseason means nothing. Veg has been really, really good. And his backup Vanek has come in and won two out of three starts. In fact, Vimuka leads the league in wins with six. And so right now everything is going well for Utah. The only thing maybe that the PK is a little bit. They're like in the 72 range. They'd like to get that better and maybe some more consistent defensive zone defending. But you know, what can you quibble with when you're eight and two and they're holding seven straight and you're flying high.

[Ryan Whitney]

Another team out west that has really surprised and they are nowhere near the top of my list and fun teams to watch, but I gotta give them credit is the Seattle Kraken. I mean they beat the Oilers, they dusted the Oilers. Eberly couple one, Snipe Bouchard. Another Bouchard special night for the oil. He was really good against Vancouver Sunday night. But wait, if I have, if I.

[Yan Stastny]

Have any bit of advice, just don't run them out of town. Just don't hey, buddy.

[Ryan Whitney]

I'm not, I'm actually. We'll. We'll talk. It's every, every text I'll talk about. I'm not worried at all. No worries.

[Yan Stastny]

But Seattle, learn from my mistakes. Please trust me.

[Ryan Whitney]

Peter. Seattle, they got Schwartz and Eberle are eight points in nine games. But they don't have a guy over a point per game. They're just kind of doing it, doing it the way they did it a few years ago by committee. I don't think it's going to continue. But anything there that that makes you think that this might be not just a mirage earlier in the year.

[Heater]

Well, they got off to a really good start, you know, after two non playoff seasons. They fired their coach, Dan Bilesma after one year. And I brought in Lane Lambert who was assistant with business team in Toronto last year and of course former head coach of the New York Islanders. And they started out 3, 0 and 2. So you know there's points in their first five games. They're 3 and oh at home. And like you said, they are scoring by committee. I believe they have six players with at least five points in nine games. And right now their top goal scorer is injured in Jared McCann. He's missed the last four games. But like Utah, they're getting outstanding goaltending from Joey Decord, former ASU star. Got to give Arizona a little bit.

[Yan Stastny]

He got his jersey retired this year.

[Ryan Whitney]

Academy too.

[Heater]

Yes, he did.

[Keith Yandle]

To the same high school I went to.

[Heater]

Oh yeah, There you go.

[Yan Stastny]

That's a good one.

[Heater]

Didn't know that one. But he's off to a great start and I think that's one of the reasons that Seattle is doing so well.

[Yan Stastny]

Okay, so we lost Heater, which sucks because I actually had a surprise for all three of you and our next guest since we were covering Utah so much. Owner of the Utah man.

[Ryan Smith]

What's up, fellas?

[Ryan Whitney]

I just wanted to make sure the shoes were behind you.

[Yan Stastny]

That's.

[Ryan Whitney]

That's the most boss layout we've ever had on this show.

[Ryan Smith]

Hey, it's actually cheap art. Like.

[Ryan Whitney]

That'S what my wife tells me too when she buys a new pair.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah. Is one of the biggest Jordan fans in the world. He's always got the Jordan kicks on. So I bet you he's got close to a rivaling shoe collection.

[Keith Yandle]

Different tax brackets. Business. I got a couple pairs.

[Ryan Smith]

What's up?

[Keith Yandle]

But luckily me and, me and Ryan are members at Jordan's course, so we're able to get our, our hands on some good ones.

[Yan Stastny]

Well, we Wanted to get you on to talk about this unveiling of. Of Tusky, the mascot and the fact that he's seven and. Oh, and things are ripping pictures of you on the glass. Going crazy for JJ Paterka's first goal as a mammoth. Things are. Things are looking great for you guys right now.

[Ryan Smith]

Oh, like, it's. It's a vibe, for sure. And the wagon. The wagon, like, it is open for anybody and everybody. So that's. That's first and foremost, like, you're launching a new brand, you're launching a new team. And, you know, the boys have come out and responded. They're feeling it. And the best part about it is get used to it because we're young. It's going to be this way for a long time. And I think that's what's exciting, is you're always hoping to build up and credit to Bill Armstrong and the guys. I mean, they've been through it, and it's pretty cool for me to kind of get the makings of what we've had and try to put in a couple pieces and, you know, I'm sure it's not all going to be like this, but I've learned in sports that, you know, celebrate the wins, man.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, they're hard to come by, and it's been a great start for you guys. Curious. I'm curious. I think this off season was step one of three in making the building a little bit better for NHL viewing. Have the early returns on that been. Been positive from the fan base?

[Ryan Smith]

Yeah, if you think about it like, we were. We were a very tight arena for hoops. In the challenges, you can see, like, I was watching a little bit of the Wizards game yesterday, and you could see that it was clearly a hockey rink with a couple, like, seats and sections that were flat on the floor, and then a basketball hoop. And that's what we didn't want to do. And no offense to Washington, but you don't want this for hoops and this for hockey. And so we had a challenge to basically say, hey, how do you make both a pretty elevated experience? And I think that's what we've done with these. These riser systems. And it's. It's gnarly. Like, if you. If you fall down. If you were to fall down the steps, coming down behind the goal, you're going to be playing defense like, it's. You're going to be on the ice because it's like a double black diamond.

[Ryan Whitney]

That's Montreal, though. If you've Been to a game at the Bell?

[Ryan Smith]

Oh, no.

[Ryan Whitney]

It's the best part of the building that it's like this.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah, you should promote them like that. The double black diamond seats a double black diamond.

[Ryan Smith]

And that's literally like people came to us and we were like, hey, you know, that'd be, that'd be sweet if we promoted that. The double black section sponsored by Snowbird or Deer Valley.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah, yeah, that's the way to go. You're already thinking ahead. I love that. Okay, so you might need some of that sponsorship money from those places to pay Logan Cooley as a young owner and, and you're new to hockey and all of a sudden you're like, oh my God, like, we have a complete stallion, but we also have to lock him in. Does it make you nervous? Uneasy? Are you? Like, just get this over with. Like, how do you feel? I'm sure you're going to say just hand her over to Bill, but you have to.

[Ryan Whitney]

NBA guys, I know this is nothing.

[Keith Yandle]

You don't give a shit.

[Ryan Smith]

No, like, look, I've talked with Logan a bunch and like, what, what matters to me most is that he wants to be here and he's locked in and he loves his teammates. And if you didn't see that last night with that. No, look past the Dylan Gunther and those two huggin, like, like think about how long those two are going to rally together. And that's, that's pretty, that's a pretty cool option to have. So these are moments you hope that you're in. I mean, if these are problems, these are great problems to have, but there's no, there's no problem. I talked to Logan and we're, we're, we're, we're all aligned and so it's going to be, it's going to be a good thing. Now look, I mean, you know, we got a couple 21 year olds, 22 year olds that, that could be doing this for a while. And we've got to be smart and we've got to plan because you got to stack good decisions.

[Yan Stastny]

I was going to move it a little lighter. Yan's, another addition to your team, probably the best one in the off season. Tusky. Whose idea was that? How did that come about? I love him.

[Ryan Smith]

Obviously it was a, it was an evolution. I mean, you got to be a little careful with that mascot. Like, I mean, you've really got to check out. I mean, here, here's what's crazy. Opening night, it was coming out, I hadn't seen the finished version I go to Chris Armstrong. I was like, bro, have you seen the finished version? He's like, no. I was like, so no one in here has seen the vision. Finished version? And I was like. He's like, why do you care so much?

[Ryan Whitney]

I was like, well, I own the team.

[Ryan Smith]

Have to be. Do have to be a little careful with that creature.

[Ryan Whitney]

I.

[Ryan Smith]

We don't want to be the meme going around. And so, literally, we're sitting in our suite, our governor's there, and I was like, we've got to go check out Tuskegee before we roll him out, because, you know, we're Tusa, not other things. So, like, we've got. We gotta make it go right? And legitimately, we. We saw that. We're like, all right, good, right? Trunk link. We're there. Everything's good. And it came out way, way better. And, you know, if you. If you take somewhere in sports, we lose. This is for the kids. And I have the video of my kids seeing Tusky for the first time. I don't care what an adult thinks. The kids freaking love him or her or whatever it is, right? Like, they love that mascot, and that's all that matters. The unveiling was so dope. Like, that was just like. Like, that's. It couldn't have gotten better.

[Yan Stastny]

We're like a miniature version of you. We just helped purchase the Greensboro Gargoyles, and we released ours. Doyle. And they must have sold, what, a thousand dolls. Night one, people absolutely loved it. The kids were going crazy. So it's a great feeling when you nail it on the mascot. It's everything.

[Ryan Smith]

Yeah. And this team, they've nailed the branding, they've nailed the name, they've nailed the mascot. It's so freaking hard to do right now because it's like, almost like every name because of Shopify has been taken, every trademark. It's. It's like to thread the needle on all of this and even do it with a fan vote, which I'll never do again. That was insane. Bettman kept calling for the name. Wait, where's your name? Where's your name? Where's your name? I'm like, gary, just wait. It's February. I'm at least 50% sure we have one, right? We'll get you one in March. We got to order jerseys, so this is awesome.

[Ryan Whitney]

Would you be willing to maybe go on record and tell us if you could be there in the building, which you are, for a Utah Jazz game winning shot at the buzzer, or a mammoth player burying a breakaway in overtime? Like, which one maybe fills you with a little bit more excitement, a little bit more passion? Or is it, is it owner answer here and you can't give us one?

[Ryan Smith]

No, I mean, the typical owner answer would be, hey, you've, you've got two children and you can't choose with them. But, but like, it's way more nuanced than that, right? So hoops is my first love. Like, I got into sports because of hoops. There's nothing like sitting on the floor courtside. You guys know it, our players know it. It's physical, it's great. Hockey's just different. It's not like you could compare them. I think the coolest thing that I have been a part of in the last couple weeks was we, we announced we have our new hockey practice facility and we just announced that on the second floor and kind of over a couple hundred yards is going to be our basketball facility. So I come in in the morning and we're doing a groundbreaking last Tuesday, a week ago tomorrow, right? So I come in at 8 o' clock in the morning. We got, we got a game that night for hockey and practice at 10 o' clock for hoops. So we got a short time window. And I walk in, I'm a little late, and I walk into this big long table where all of the boys are eating and they normally eat and hockey eats together. And all of our hoop guys are sitting down with them. And I'm like, oh my hell, this is the collab I didn't know we needed. Like, just watching. I'm watching George Niang who grew up in Boston, talking to Tom Marino, who was in Boston. And I kind of circled back with both groups and then we did a groundbreaking and every hockey guy was there for the hoops. Groundbreaking. And so for us, the synergies between the two is like, hopefully they're motivating each other. And if you don't think hoops is noticing the run hockey's on, I mean, my group text threads like it's all together in the, in the vibes or Sergey, Sergey texting me, you know, last week going, hey, Simischev and I, and they're living together, like, are going, want to go support the boys? And he comes in and like a jazz jacket and they're sitting courtside just to support the guys because those guys are supporting him. When we had opening night of hockey, like on the glass, every one of our hoops guys were there. That's when Paterka hit that shot. I'm next. Isaiah Collier, he's dressed up in like, a beanie and gloves for the hockey. The hockey match. And I was like, bro, have you ever been. He's like, no. He was so into it. But then in the suite, you've got Nurkic and Kevin Love and all these guys that are there going, this is a vibe. And so it's different. It's a little more rowdy for hockey, but it's. I feel like the answer is yes to both because, like, you experience one and it's like, one, you're like going like this. The other one you're like high fiving and chest bumping the whole section that's around you. And I think it's for us, like, not having that hockey experience in Utah, it's probably the coolest thing on the planet to like, be able to be a part of, bring it there. And then kind of sitting back and watching the fans just take it. It's like weighing, like, of something they didn't know they needed. So that's a long. That's a long answer, but no, it's awesome.

[Keith Yandle]

You're going to be reaping the benefits too, because the youth hockey is going to be. Be blowing up. You're going to be seeing kids from Utah in the NHL in the next 15, 20 years. So props to you guys for doing that. But I wanted to ask you, you and your wife, actually, everyone that I talked to, it just seems all they say, it's like a family here. And. And I played on a few teams. I'd say Vinnie and Teresa Viola, it. They treated us like family. They brought us places. They were really good to us, but not a lot of ownerships are like that. Is that something that you guys talked about? Like, hey, we want to treat these guys, whether they're on the Jazz or the Mammoth, like they're our own.

[Ryan Smith]

Yeah. Biz. I think we talked about this a little bit before. It's like, when you come into the spot, everyone says, like, what are you going to be like? I'm like, what do you mean? Well, like, especially hoops, are you going to be like Mark Cuban or Steve Ballmer or this? And it's like, look, I'm mid-40s, I've got five kids, I'm into my wife. Like, you know what? Like, we're just going to be our family and, like, we're going to keep doing what we've done.

[Ryan Whitney]

Sneaker shopping. Yeah.

[Ryan Smith]

And in. So I think. I think there's no real playbook to this. I think the playbook is just Be authentic and be you. And this is what I learned a long time ago. I'll never forget when we took a bunch of venture capital at Qualtrics. Like, I was made the CEO. I was a founder, but we kind of weren't divided up as to, like, CEO. I was a CEO and I went into the first four board meetings and I'm with Sequoia Capital, gave Ski jobs his first money. I'm Excel Partners, who just funded Facebook. And we'd go into these board presentations and all the analysts would, like, put everything together and they'd be like, here's a presentation. So I go up there and I do it all and kept leaving going like, this isn't me. And then like, I got so sick of it. One day we're preparing for the board meeting. I was like, guys, get out of here. I start preparing presentations. Got like a picture of Tiger woods and golf on the first one. And it was like a high stakes board meeting. And everyone from the board's like, how do we get more of that, Ryan? How do we get more of you? And so it was a lesson around, just be yourself and be yourself with the guys and involve them with what you're doing. And. And it works. The hard part is when you're trying to be something that you're not. And I guess I learned that lesson in business early on, is for all my strengths and weaknesses, you're going to get Ryan and Ashley. And then there's only one story. We don't have to think about something else. We've said it's just one story about who we get.

[Yan Stastny]

We actually, before we had you on, we had Bob Heathouse, who was with the Arizona Coyotes, but just from a former Coyote, it's great to see that, like, an awesome owner ended up taking control of it and is treating the guys the way that they should be. And everything's kind of running the way that it's been ran so far. So continued success. I was going to bring it back to one final discussion. We had it at Houston's, and I'll bring it up to. To Yan's and Wit, you talked about being new to the sport and maybe how sometimes, you know, the puck's not the easiest to follow for maybe basketball fans who want to transition into hockey when they're consuming it, whether it's on their phone, on our television, where you were like, I wonder if there's like a, like a new development where it could be viewed from a different experience or you could still. Hockey fans and hockey people are Traditionalists, right? They like to view it the angle that it is now, and they have tried different things. Yan's and Wit, did you have any, like, thoughts as to, like, maybe how differently they could film it or make it easier for, for like non hockey fans to all of a sudden start watching on their phones and be like, oh, wow, this is a lot easier to follow and understand, more so than it was before. Do you remember that conversation we had, Ryan?

[Ryan Smith]

Yeah, because, like, one of the things, if you look at the TV contracts right now, I mean, we signed an $8 billion deal annually for hoops and the next one's football. Well, what do they have in common? Like our basketball. Look how big that is. Right? Look at, look at a football. Those are two of the easiest sports you can watch on your mobile device. So we're in a deal with Amazon. They've got 300 million subscribers. Whatever it is, they're going mobile. And sometimes we're still thinking that everyone's going to be in this situation. I mean, throughout a hockey game, I'm, I'm on like three different devices between the game, in my car, doing carpool. Like, very rarely am I sitting in the same spot. And so I think that without like offending or targeting or not targeting the power user, which is everyone in Canada who's grown up watching and all of this, or everywhere else, there's a whole nother part of the world that's growing the game. And we, we've seen it in golf where just taking it further. And I don't, I don't have the answers, but I think it would be an incredibly worthy cause.

[Ryan Whitney]

You would think with like, AI and all this, there would be maybe something I'm like you, though. Like, I, I, I have no clue. I'm not very original in, in terms of stuff like that or anything in my life, but I do, I, I do always get shocked because just growing up, you're just so used to watching and following the puck and, and people really are like, I, I got no clue. Like, yeah, I really don't. What is going on right now? Why are they skating over there? So I get it. It's just, I wonder how they approach it because the Fox track thing from 2000 or whatever didn't work, that you.

[Yan Stastny]

Don'T want it back with.

[Ryan Whitney]

No, I don't. Although maybe with AI it would be like, sick now. I don't know.

[Yan Stastny]

But you would still offer the traditional viewing experience. It would just basically be like an alternate viewing experience where you could probably link the, the Voice, too. Right. So you could still get the commentator doing it for both viewing experiences. But I just thought it was interesting you saying that, because I think, like you said, Whit, we grew up playing hockey, so we just kind of know with the momentum of their body, exactly where he's going to snap it to. And it comes second nature where, if we're thinking of broadening the game and opening it up, making it, I guess, a little bit easier to consume, especially where. Where a lot of people are consuming it is probably something we should look toward. And I remember you brought that up, and I'm like, well, I just don't know how they would angle the camera or film it.

[Ryan Whitney]

I. I just.

[Keith Yandle]

I mean, anytime someone I talk, especially living down here in Florida, a lot of people haven't been to hockey. My biggest thing was you have to go to a game because live, I think it's the best sport. So doing something on tv. Yeah, that. That would take a lot of. A lot of, you know, smarter people than me to figure out. But, yeah, I. I think personally watching it live is the best. Like, TV kind of doesn't do it as. As good as justice. But, yeah, I. I wouldn't be in that position to figure that out, Paul.

[Ryan Smith]

Which, you know, the fact that we're saying that means that there's an opportunity, right? Because we know that. We know that live is. I want that mobile experience to be as good as it can, almost live.

[Ryan Whitney]

We appreciate you coming on, man. Congrats on the amazing start. It's awesome. I cannot wait to get out there for a game. The vibe, as the NBA guy said, is it looks electric. So thank you very much for joining the show.

[Ryan Smith]

All right, fellas, have fun.

[Yan Stastny]

You're a legend. Thanks for doing that.

[Ryan Whitney]

One thing I. I got a couple ads. One thing I wanted to mention, because before we lost Heater, we brought up Seattle and their awesome start, for sure. I just want to shout out Brandon Montour. He lost his brother. He gave a really emotional kind of little press conference there to ALS and just. You go back to Pete Freddy's and what he did in the ice bucket challenge and feel, yeah, we could actually play the video of Montour. Yeah, I'll just start. Obviously, a rough week.

[Heater]

It's already.

[Ryan Whitney]

He's gonna love me talking about, sorry. Yeah. So my older brother's been dealing with ALS for three, four years now, and, you know, it was a rough week and, you know, very proud, very happy to be as his brother, somebody that I've looked up to since, obviously, day.

[Keith Yandle]

One and.

[Ryan Whitney]

You know, a great son, brother, best friend, father. I know he's got two baby girls, but, you know, he, he battled hard. I gotta put, you know, everything in perspective with, you know, the highs that, you know, I've had in the last couple the years with winning and, you know, hockey and having babies and creating my own family. He was at home battling and, you know, right till the Monday when it happened, you know, he was smiling and he was ready. So again, proud of him. You know, the family's having a tough go. Obviously you lose one.

[Heater]

So close.

[Ryan Whitney]

But to have everyone together and, you know, for the week was good. And being back here in Seattle and seeing my kids and being a part of this again, you know, keep my mind off, you know, other things which would be good, but miss them. And again, he's probably smiling and chirping me up there, you know, for crying, but love them. And that was a tough week. So that's, that's, that's just brutal. Just a horrible disease. And we're thinking of Brandon Montour and can't imagine what he said, like all the success I'm having and my family and like knowing he's battling. So that's brutal. That's absolutely brutal. And we're thinking of him and anyone who's ever lost someone to als. Just a. A horrible disease. So kind of hard to go go to an AD after that. But we got to talk about game time. And there's. There's nothing like the start of hockey season. That first blast, the cold air as you walk into the arena, the roar of the crowd after a big hit or a breakaway goal. It's electric. But getting there is quite another story. The cues, the price jumps, getting logged out mid click. All you want is to be there, beer in hand, losing your voice at the crowd and the game time at gives you the advantage back to the fans. It's the hack for unlocking amazing tickets and experiences in a few taps. It's incredibly easy to use. And the game time guarantee means you can Trust you'll get 100% authentic tickets on time and at the best price. Plus fees are always included. So what you see is what you pay. I was looking at tickets. Islanders are at the Bruins tomorrow. Tuesday night. Game time deal right now. $42 to get in. That's how bad the Bruins are. But you can watch Matthew Schaer live. 42 bucks on game time. Take the guesswork out of buying NFL tickets or NHL tickets. Excuse me. With GameTime, download the GameTime app. Create an account and use code Chiclets for 20 off. Your first purchase terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code C H I C L E T.S. for 20 off. Swipe, tap, ticket. Go download the Game Time app today. And if you need a haircut, Sport Clips is where you need to go. Sport Clips. Classic rookie mistake not going to Sport Clips. Haircuts. Guys come in looking like they've just been sacked by a 250 pound linebacker, but walk out looking like a first round pick like myself. Not a big deal. Sport Clip stylists have the playbook for a clean cut. They've mastered the X's and O's of men's hair. And with the MVP haircut experience, you get a hot steam towel, a massaging shampoo, and the precision cut. It's the whole nine yards. When you step into Sport Clips, you're walking into a zone for guys. The games are on. The stylists just get it. This is the place designed for guys to win and walk out with a haircut ready for a highlight reel. So G has a big wedding coming up next fall and I know he'll be going to Sport Clips for the big day. Sport Clips, it's a game changer, guys. Another friend we're going to bring on here to talk about a wagon of a team is the Colorado Avalanche. And that is our guy. The smoothest man in the game. He definitely goes to Sport Clips. John Michael Lyles.

[Keith Yandle]

Look at that Nordiques jersey.

[Ryan Whitney]

Was that jersey the other night, dude.

[John Michael Lyles]

So, So I don't know if you saw our broadcast. They gave each of us our own jersey. So they made up a Lyle's one. And it is. They are so sweet. And against that, the Whalers jersey. Like that whole game I was doing color up top. Like it was. It exhausted me because it was just so cool and so exciting to see these two teams wearing those jerseys. Just throwbacks. But they, they look amazing in person too.

[Yan Stastny]

What do you make of the people saying stolen valor? Like, shut them.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah.

[Keith Yandle]

Jason Demirs was not happy.

[John Michael Lyles]

I mean.

[Yan Stastny]

Oh really? He wasn't a fan of it.

[Keith Yandle]

Yes, he's from Quebec.

[Yan Stastny]

Oh, that makes it like.

[Keith Yandle]

I mean, can we get a picture of, of John Michael Lyles at the desk wearing a jersey? Because that made me laugh. That made me laugh.

[John Michael Lyles]

Listen, I, I don't know. I mean, listen, it's, It's. It's been 30 years, right? And yeah, like it's a, it's a. Like you're paying, paying tribute to, to the past, to the roots And, I mean, I thought it was cool as hell. I get it. Like, you're from Quebec. I'm sure there's still, you know, there's still some. Some bad blood or whatnot that. That, you know, the Nordiques ended up moving.

[Yan Stastny]

That was our Stanley Cup.

[Ryan Whitney]

They took our cup. Stan Lehman.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah.

[Keith Yandle]

And. And.

[John Michael Lyles]

And winning it in the first year that they go to Denver. Right. I mean, I guess that's probably a little bit like, you talk to all those guys. Like, we had Sakic on the broadcast. We had Goulet on the broadcast. Like, they. They love their time in Quebec City. Like, nobody ever bad mouths Quebec City. Like, it's just. I mean, listen, it's a business, right? And so, you know, it ends up coming to Denver. You win the cup in the first year, but to me, it's. It's like a. It's like a little tip of the cap, right? Like, yeah. He's like, yeah, awesome.

[Yan Stastny]

Do you get a little more nervous having Sakic on the broadcast? Like, you. You pucker up a little bit more?

[Heater]

No.

[John Michael Lyles]

Joe was my roommate my rookie year. He's still one of my good buddies. And so, like, I. He, like, I can. I can shoot the. With him pretty easily. And it's. It's all. Because we'll get off the air and he'll. And he'll just give it right back. And. And that's the. That's the beauty of it. I mean, like, he's a legend, but I. I, like. I don't know.

[Ryan Whitney]

I mean.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah. Why did he. Why did he have a roommate? He must.

[John Michael Lyles]

Back in three, man zero three. Like, that was. Everybody had a roommate. Like, Blake and foot room together. Blakey and footy room together. It was the freaking biggest disaster of a room.

[Keith Yandle]

Like, shut the TV off.

[John Michael Lyles]

Time for bed.

[Ryan Whitney]

Joe.

[Yan Stastny]

What time was he in bed by?

[John Michael Lyles]

No, he was.

[Ryan Whitney]

He was.

[John Michael Lyles]

He was. He was. He was awesome. He gave it to me pretty good. I had to do the curtains, and I had to, you know, make sure that I had to get all the room service. And. And he was, you know, he was watching American Idol and enjoying his time with a rookie as his roommate. He had Paul Korea first, and he didn't like Korea because Korea would meditate and Korea would try and tell him like, hey, we got to turn the TV off at 8:30. And Joe was like, nope, I'm done not doing this.

[Yan Stastny]

That is unreal.

[Ryan Whitney]

So, Johnny, like, as a. As a former silky power play quarterback yourself, things are going great for the abs, except for the power play and and it's kind of scary. I think for the rest of the league. I was a guy who said I wasn't scared of the abs. I might be looking to walk that one back a little bit. But they're winning and playing this well without their power play doing anything. Like, what do you see as the problem right now on the power play?

[John Michael Lyles]

Listen, it's. You've got, you've got a ton of skill out there and, and sometimes, you know, it just ends up being simplification. Right? They're clicking at like 11. They scored a power play goal every game. I think the first three or four games of the season, then they went kind of cold. And yeah, I mean, listen, you've got Nathan McKinnon, you've got Kale McCarr. What I see, like a lot of teams doing right now is they're just going right out at Makar, like he's got virtually no time. And they're saying, we're like, if you want to try and beat us down low, then you can beat us down low. But Makar's not dictate. Like, they're just saying, we're not going to allow McCarr to dictate. We're going to pressure the hell out of him, pressure the hell out of McKinnon. And if you want to try and three on two us, you know another way, then that's fine. They scored against Hartford. They got eight power plays against, against Hartford, North Carolina. We were on the broadcast, we were calling them Quebec and Hartford. So I'm still going with the Hartford thing. But, but they scored against Carolina. They had eight power plays. They scored in the third period to tie the game on their eighth one, I believe. And it was one of those ones where McCarr, they're pressuring him out high. If three guys pressuring out high on McKinnon, Natures and Makar and Makar fires a seam pass to Olafson and it's a two on one in front. Now it's a bounce off of their defender that Anderson fights off and Nicholin cleans up the rebound. But that's kind of what teams have been doing the last little while is saying, hey, we're gonna, we're gonna just take our chances with maybe, you know, these guys down low and not allow McCarr and McKinnon to really dictate and fire the puck and, and, you know, get, get those, you know, heavy shots from, from, you know, point or, or the flank.

[Yan Stastny]

Had you noticed other teams that were like, noticing that and good at it. Where do you feel maybe the book is out and every team has taken that approach and probably not a bad thing for them to, to figure out early either because if somebody sends it that their wager and playoffs, at least they're like, all right, the three guys down low, you guys got to figure this out.

[Ryan Smith]

Yeah.

[Heater]

Yeah.

[John Michael Lyles]

And I mean, last, last year in Dallas, you know, seven game series, Dallas did a really good job. They got, you know, they had a few power play goals. But I go back to like games, you know, game, I want to say game two, they had a power play at the end of, end of the game with the game tied, chance to win, losing overtime. Game three, they had a four minute power play at the end of regulation and overtime and didn't score and they lose at home, you know, to go down two to one. Now they forced game seven. But you know, in the end, like those can, those can add up. And Dallas did a really good job on the, on the penalty kill. And we all know power plays go through hot streaks and, and cold spells and right now they're in a bit of a cold spell. But if you're going to go through it, I'd rather go through it right now because listen, they're 5:1 and 4 at an 11 power play. Like, if you scored three or four more power play goals, you're looking at, you know, probably 8 and 2 or 81 and 1 at this point. So, yeah, they're working on it. And you know, they brought in Dave Hackstall as an assistant coach this year to really kind of focus on the power play. They're definitely given some different looks, a little bit more movement, just hasn't really quite clicked yet. And they've, they've kind of experimented with some personnel. Victor Olufsen has been up and, you know, kind of up on that top unit. They move Val Nachkin in, who's a big body in front. So he's, he's definitely helped a bit with the puck retrievals. But once again, like I kind of go back to simplification when you have Nathan McKinnon and Marty Natures on the flanks and there's a shot, like if those guys can crash the net and you've got, you know, you've got those two plus Val Nachkin and call it, you know, Arturia Leckin or whoever else is the fourth guy, like you're gonna win a lot of battles.

[Ryan Whitney]

What a start for Lekin. And two, Merle's his favorite player. He's just, he's so good around the net and it makes.

[Yan Stastny]

What a sneaky trade that was.

[Ryan Whitney]

Oh my God. Yeah, but it makes sense with, with, because when McCar walks the line 100 miles an hour, that's when everything completely falls apart for pk. So I get it. Like teams like forget this, like, I'm not letting him get to the middle, take that route of the ice away and then. But, but they will figure it out. But in terms of like other storylines, I think the Nexus contract situation will get louder and louder.

[John Michael Lyles]

Yeah, there's PTSD there from the rant and trade, I would say.

[Ryan Whitney]

Exactly.

[Yan Stastny]

What's he asking for?

[John Michael Lyles]

Oh, God, I don't know. I mean he started out hot. He had eight game point streak to start the year and he looks good. Like him and McKinnon are reading off each other really well. They're both so fast. And like, you know, one of the things we talked about on the broadcast, like we got Nate post game a couple games ago and you know, nature's pulling up and Nate almost coming in like a D man, but Nate just draws two guys to him. And all of a sudden Nate has so much space coming in the zone late. And Nate always, like you mentioned lecking and Nate always gives props to lecking and because lecking, I mean, and he's 511, like 183 pounds and he wins every battle. Yeah. Like, and he's in front of the net every time and like if there's a one timer, like it's either going into the net or he eats it off his ankle. And like this guy just, just gets up, you know, like half smile on his face, goes back to the bench, right back in front of the net every time. And, and Nate and natures are doing their thing and he's just such a smart player. And yeah, you mentioned like just a sneaky trade that, that 22 year. And, and he has been, he has been so good especially on that top line with Natures and McKinnon.

[Yan Stastny]

So like now that like sitting back and evaluating the trade, what are maybe some things that like he doesn't provide? What you're missing from Renton and what did you make of the fact that never even got done with Ran? And I don't know if we've had you on since. I feel like that was a, a lack of communication between everybody involved. And as Kadri posted, like, you don't let, you don't let the dogs go. You don't.

[John Michael Lyles]

Yeah, I listen, I mean it was, it was pretty much worst case Scenario with Miko getting a hat trick in Game 7. But, I mean, once again, like, his first goal was unreal, right? Like, in that game seven in the third period, like, you know, he comes in, he rips one top shelf. The second goal, like, it's on the power play. He loses a wheel going around the net, and it, like, banks in off a D man and throws. Third goal is an empty net. So it's not like. It's not like you torched them for, like, everything they're worth, right? Like, it's.

[Ryan Smith]

It's.

[John Michael Lyles]

I mean, like, I played golf with Mikko this summer, and, like, he's just, you know, he's just. He's just po.

[Heater]

Hum.

[John Michael Lyles]

Like, you know, I'm. I like Dallas. It's great. It's a nice change, but, you know, whatever. And I like the way that I've heard it from multiple places is like, he was asking for this. The ABs only wanted to go to here. ABs didn't think that he was gonna budge or, you know, whatever. There was some miscommunication. Who knows? And so abs made the trade. He was still asking for this in Carolina. Carolina didn't want to go there, so Carolina dealt him, and then he's like, okay, well, I guess I'll take this in Dallas is kind of the understanding that I have.

[Keith Yandle]

Wow.

[Ryan Whitney]

Once again, okay.

[John Michael Lyles]

All word of mouth and, like, not.

[Keith Yandle]

Breaking both of them.

[Yan Stastny]

No, I mean, I. I thought that Carolina was willing to give him whatever he wanted, like, essentially.

[John Michael Lyles]

Well, yeah. I mean, I guess they pro. They probably were, but I don't know if the. The fit was right. But anyways, that's. The Colorado part is kind of the way.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah.

[John Michael Lyles]

We didn't talk contracts when I played golf with him. It was. It was me, him, and dj. Yeah. Yeah, it was there.

[Heater]

Yeah.

[John Michael Lyles]

Playing golf with Nate's intense. It's.

[Ryan Whitney]

He launched a brand for us.

[John Michael Lyles]

Yeah, I know.

[Ryan Whitney]

I know.

[John Michael Lyles]

But, yeah, I mean, listen, it's that. That caught. Like I said, there's some PTSD with the ranting and stuff, and I think everybody's focused on it. Like, I. I still love the fit. I think he's an unreal player. But, yeah, he's different than Miko. He's always going to be different than Miko. It's a completely different player. Right. You know, Miko's 6 4. Like, natures is, you know, 6 2. Nature's his speed and skill, and Miko, he's skill, but, like, heavy shot. Just completely different players. And so, yeah, I mean, there's. There's definitely been some adjustment there, I would say, for when you look at, like, what Nate has had to adjust to with, with nature compared to Miko, and nature's adjusting to Nate as well, because they both want the puck, but now I think they both understand that if one has it or the other has it, like, the reads that they make off of each other are starting to be really good. And, and they can, they can control the play for, you know, minute plus in the offensive zone. And I mean, even against Boston the other day, they lost the game, but they dominated that first period. Swayman made some big saves and like, they had times where they were just hemming Boston in and yeah, I mean.

[Yan Stastny]

Like, that's, that's what started that Nate McAvoy fight there. That was. I love when the big dogs go at it.

[Ryan Smith]

Yeah.

[John Michael Lyles]

You know, I, I listen, there's a scrum. I think there was probably some frustration, you know, Nate and like a, it's a battle.

[Ryan Smith]

Right.

[John Michael Lyles]

Like in McAvoy is the same. Like, I played with both those guys. I played with Chucky, you know, right when he came in the league when I finished in Boston. And, you know, I mean, I didn't play with Nate, but I know Nate well enough. Like, there's, there's, like, they're just, they both have a fire and, and Nate kind of was, I think, probably a little frustrated there. And, you know, he gave it to McAvoy. McAvoy gave it back. And I mean, we all know, like, it's not afraid to drop the gloves, right? Like, like, he, he is so strong. And I mean, if you go and look at his fights, I would say like 90 of the time he ends up body slamming the guy in one form or another.

[Yan Stastny]

He's got, he's got a quick too, right? He's got a quick.

[John Michael Lyles]

Yeah, yeah, exactly. So, I mean, you don't like seeing McKinnon fight, but I always say on the broadcast, like, angry Nate is the best Nate because that's when he is, like, determined that they are going to win and he is going to jam it down your throat.

[Keith Yandle]

Yeah.

[Yan Stastny]

This is, I don't want to say a generic one, but I believe since they won the cup, Colorado has not been back to the Western Conference finals. I think with that type of roster. Yeah, that would. It's safe to be, say there's a little bit of pressure coming in this year on Bednar.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah.

[Yan Stastny]

Pretty good start so far. Like, what, what was different about maybe his approach or his message to the guys coming into this one? Or was it the same laid back, awesome players coach that we know?

[John Michael Lyles]

Well, I would say like he's not like, I don't think he's changing his coaching philosophy, right? Like you, you're, you've been in a place for 10 years, right? And you've got some, some guys that like, like Nate, like Nate is, he's super intense and so I think he's got a great relationship with Nate. If you don't have a great relationship with Nate, you're probably not lasting very long. Let's just be honest, right? Like it's, I mean he is, he's the alpha in the room. And like, what I'll say is, first of all, Gabriel Landiscog coming back is a huge, huge ad, right? Like coming back in the playoffs, you're running on full adrenaline now. You're back in the daily grind. But having him in the room on a daily basis just makes it. Everybody else can take a breath, Kale can take a breath, Nate can take a breath. Like they're not the guys that everybody's looking at for the, the, you know, the verbal kind of, hey, this is what we're doing today. But bedsy like camp to me, it was high paced. Like he was pushing guys. He was, I mean they were working on, I think they were trying to figure out like power play units and what might work. They were looking at possibly two more units or sorry, two units so that you kind of have a different look. You know, the hard part is with, with Nate and Kale and those guys and the shape that they're in, like they can push a minute and a half, a minute 40. So if you're on the second unit, you're looking at 15, 20 seconds, which isn't always easy, especially when you're, you know, you're a power play guy, you want the puck on your stick and if you're not getting it regularly, you're not getting more than 20 seconds, like it can be tough to really get in that offensive rhythm. And I look at guys like Brock Nelson scored his second goal of the year last night in Jersey or yesterday in Jersey. And you know, he's kind of been on and off that, that first power play unit. When you're not getting those regular power power play reps, it can be tough. But I mean bedsy, like we've, I've golfed with him a bunch over the, over the years and like he's, he's really, really, he's very well thought out, very well spoken. And so like when you Talk to him after the season's over and whatever you're, you know, golfing and it's like, okay, like, what do you do after the season, like, if you don't have success? And he's like, I, I, he's like, I always make a list of the things that, like, I felt weren't good enough. What we need to work on, how I want to approach that. He's like, I always, I always revisit that through the summer. And then like, I, you know, I'm making notes is okay, how do we, how do we address this come training camp time? How do we improve on it? You know, all these different things. And it's cool to kind of pick his brain in that regard and just, you know, hear how he looks at, you know, they had that success in 2022 and they haven't been back there since. And I mean, listen, there's a lot of factors, right? Like the cap, you know, the cap was a factor. You lose Kadri, you lose Kemper, you know, like your, your depth maybe wasn't quite as good as it was for that cup team, but now looking at this team right now and the depth that they have, you signed Brent Burns, like, that's such a huge signing to me. Like, he's, he's just an animal, right? Like 1500 games, he's so good at what he, like, he just, he's just good at what he does and how he approaches the day to day. It's, it's pretty cool. And what he's brought to the back end and, and then like the little things like that Victor Olufsen signing. Jack Jury's been really, really good as the third center. And I think some people were questioning, you know, whether or not he was a three center because I think he's been a four for so long. I think he's been awesome as a three.

[Ryan Whitney]

I'm looking at their, their D and you mentioned Brent Burns. I'm glad you brought him up. This other guy, this Sam Malinsky. Yeah, he, he was 21 years old as a freshman at Cornell. Played three years there, undrafted. And then his rookie year, he spent like, like part of the year in the AHL, but part of the year in the NHL. And then this year, five points in 10 games. Puck mover, skates well. Like, must have been a late bloomer based on not being drafted right and being old as a freshman. What have you seen from his game?

[John Michael Lyles]

Listen, he's solid. He's, he's a really good puck moving defenseman. Like it's kind of funny. He looks a little bit like Kale at times, just being that righty. And the way that he sets up, the way that he's SK Gates now, nobody does what Kale does, right?

[Ryan Whitney]

But.

[John Michael Lyles]

But, like, Sam watching Kale and seeing some of the things that Kale does, like, it's. It's cool, because then you ask him a question like, hey, what do you take from Kale? You know, skating with him in practice every day? And, I mean, we all played with great players. Like, I played with Rob Blake. I tried to watch every single thing he did in practice and just, like, learn from it. And. And he said, like, Kale's just so good at the way that he. You know, he.

[Ryan Whitney]

He.

[John Michael Lyles]

He maneuvers his body the way that he's always got his feet moving. He's looking for angles just to create a better. A better shot. And, you know, 30 goals last year for Kale.

[Ryan Smith]

Like, yeah, you're.

[John Michael Lyles]

You're learning from that all day. And I think Sam's been really steady, dependable, and just, you know, just an awesome. An awesome addition, and, like, you said, late bloomer. So, you know, it's. It's. You got to give credit to the scouting staff. Brian Wills, he's a good buddy of mine. He's. He's a. He's an awesome guy for. For their scouting staff. And. And, yeah, I mean, signing him as a free agent was a. Was a big addition.

[Keith Yandle]

Is Makar one of those guys who's. Is he out there helping out these young. I mean, he's still young in the league, too, right? But is he one of those guys that's helping guys and, you know, bringing them along and showing them the way?

[John Michael Lyles]

Yeah, I think he is. Like, listen, Kale's not, like, like, overly verbal just from watching him. Like, I'm not on the ice with him every day.

[Ryan Smith]

He's not.

[John Michael Lyles]

Like, I don't think he's sitting there, like, hammering on guys, but, like, he's. He's still. He talks. And, like, I think he's. He's just. He's just like this, right? Like, he's just. He's steady. He's. You know, what you're getting every day. And that's the. Yeah, exactly. Right. Like, it's just. And that's. We always joke, like, Devon Toews is kind of that way, too. Like, he's. He's like, I would. I always call him a poor man. Poor man's lidstrom because he's just so steady and, you know, exactly what you're getting from every night. It's 24 minutes from TAVES and it's going to be no turnovers and it's going to be, you know, an assist probably plus 2, 0 mistakes. The smartest guy on the ice at all times. And like Kale's kind of like that too, but just with a little bit more flair, I would say. And like, listen, we all make mistakes. It's going to happen. But like, having those guys as your top pair is a crazy luxury that, you know, ABS fans should really enjoy right now.

[Keith Yandle]

And then with Calgary being, you know, kind of shitty this year, you've hear some rumblings maybe Kadri coming back there, is that. Have you heard?

[Yan Stastny]

Wow, you're the rumor guy. I was going to bring that up.

[Ryan Whitney]

All right.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah, all right.

[John Michael Lyles]

I, you know, I don't know. I mean, listen, who would love to have Nazam Kad on their team? I played with him in Toronto. Like, he's, he's an unbelievable two way centerman. He was so good for the ABs in that cup run, even when he came back from the thumb injury. I mean you just think about like the fire in the St. Louis series and just the, the like he's just a competitor, right? Like he competes. He, he, he hates to lose. He hated to lose when we were in Toronto. He hates to lose battles. He wants to be the guy and like that's, those are the guys you want on your team. Those are the guys. Like he said it like you don't trade the dogs, right? Like, I'm not saying I agree with him on the rant and thing, but like those are the guys like, like NAS or the, like guys like that are the guys that, that help you win cups when you have the right team and the right makeup. And for, for us, like number two center, he was the perfect fit. I think he had 91 points that year in the regular season. Like he was, he was crazy good.

[Ryan Whitney]

I know. I wonder if like with nature and how good he's been with Nate, like you'd almost rather nause him back than rotten it in a weird way with how that team's makeup is. But Rollback. Last question. JML use code Chiclets on roback.com for generous 20 off your first purchase through the end of the week. That's C H I C-L-E-T S on R-O-B-A-K.com 20 off all polos, hoodies and more code Chiclets. So Mackenzie Blackwood, he's battling something he has been playing. But Scott Wedgwood, man, like, talk about a big time backup.

[Yan Stastny]

He's always been a guy. He was a gamer in Arizona, everywhere. Yeah, was, Wasn't he in Dallas too?

[John Michael Lyles]

He was in Dallas. He was in Nashville.

[Ryan Smith]

Yeah.

[John Michael Lyles]

I mean, listen, he has been awesome. Like first of all, his attitude, he's the perfect backup. Like, I don't even call him a backup. I call him the one B, right? Like Blackwood. Right now, Blackwood's out. So he's, he's the starter. But like he's a 1B. You can put him in any game and he, he could win you the game. Even if it's a back to back, he could win you the game. And you know, the, the way things worked out is he's the starter at the beginning of the year because Blackwood's kind of still dealing with something. It sounds like he's getting close, but I mean the, the way that he played to start the year and just like he was so solid. Like he was making saves. Like he made, he made a couple like amazing saves every game, but he was just solid. And I go back to last year, like the goaltending that they have started with, like they started 5 and 5. They didn't get over.500 till mid November last year. Right? They. And then they, I think they were 16 games over.500 from like December 1st on. Like, that just kind of shows you where they were. They traded Eustace Annan to Nashville for Wedgwood and then they traded for Blackwood after that. And that wasn't even the plan. It was more just a solidified kind of the backup. Because you had Georgiev who was struggling a bit, and then you had Anon who was young, and they felt like they needed more of a proven backup to help Georgiev. And then all of a sudden the Blackwood thing kind of came about after the, the Wedgwood, we call them the lumber yard because there's friggin, you know, woods everywhere.

[Keith Yandle]

But.

[John Michael Lyles]

But yeah, so anyway, so he, he's been awesome this year and we've had him like on the postgame a couple times. Like our post game's kind of like a talk show set at ball arena. And so they'll bring a player up after, after the ABs win, which is pretty cool. And we've had him up there and like, he's, he's awesome. There's zero canned answers from that guy. Like, he's the guy. When he, when you, when you picture a backup, you're like, that's my guy, right? Like, is he calling.

[Ryan Whitney]

What's.

[John Michael Lyles]

What's that?

[Keith Yandle]

Is he calling out teammates like some other goalies around the league?

[Yan Stastny]

Oh, here we go. Yeah, it's just the shut the up and stop the puck guy. We got. We got Wolf in Calgary and then stole ours so far.

[Keith Yandle]

Keith Kachuk put the up and save the buck.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, I. I love the.

[John Michael Lyles]

The Tyson Berry retirement ladder. I couldn't get a save. I was minus. Minus 70 or something. Couldn't get a save in my career. I was like, dude, that is the perfect line. I'm just gonna use that for the rest of my career. Whenever anybody says anything about my plus minus, Where.

[Keith Yandle]

Where did that Minor kid come from? Because he's been good, too, this year.

[John Michael Lyles]

So he's been with the organization four or five years. I want to say. I think he came out of the dub. I want to say he played in Vancouver in the dub. I could be wrong on that, but I'm pretty sure that's. That's right. And he's just. Yeah, like, he's been good. He got in against Carolina the other night when. I mean, like, it was some tough bounces and couple turnovers. Like Wedgwood. I would have said, like, he. He would have wanted maybe one back. They were down four to one, like, 10 minutes in, and Minor came in and made 20 saves and then gets the loss in a shootout. So, yeah, it's. He's been solid. Like, he's a great guy in the room. He's been unreal with the Eagles and the AHL as well. And. Yeah, just like. I mean, like right now. I mean, they started him against Jersey. I thought he played pretty well last night. Like, maybe one. He would want back the. The Hughes first goal, but other than that, like, I mean, I can't complain.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, Johnny, thank you so much.

[Yan Stastny]

I just had one final one, and it's kind of like a. A package question with. If you could address one issue right now that you think you're gonna need to address moving forward for the playoffs and to compete for a Stanley cup, what position do you think that is? And also, you kind of answered it with, like, who's stepping up like the Wedgwood, but, like, who's a name that people aren't familiar with on this roster where you've been really blown away by the way they started the season?

[John Michael Lyles]

What I'll say is Gavin Brinley has been really good. Yeah, for the abs. Yeah, he flies. Not big. He's five, eight. He's on the fourth line right now, but his minutes are ticking up and he's super skilled. Played at Michigan. As much as it. It pains me to say it.

[Ryan Whitney]

He.

[John Michael Lyles]

Listen, like, he's. The skill on this kid is so good. And now you're starting to see him get a little bit of power play time. Like, they're like Bednar's working his minutes up and it's. It's cool to see because he wasn't like necessarily on the radar for the team, I would say, in training camp. And now it's like, okay, like, this kid can play. He's smart. Like, I mean, it's growing pains for any young kid. He had a tough year last year, I think with the Blue. Blue Jackets organization, but now, like, there were some injuries. Now it seems like he's in a good place, I mean, as far as a position to address. Like, maybe there's, you know, maybe. Maybe a D man, like, maybe a bigger D man to add back there. Like Josh Manson, I think is playing some of the best hockey. He's played like Brent Burns. That addition's awesome. Josh Manson's been so good. Devon Taves has played unreal. And he got his first point of the. The year last night or yesterday in the 10th game. And he's been playing crazy good. So I, I mean, that would be like, maybe. But yeah, I mean, listen, like, it's a long year. We'll see. We'll see what it looks like come trade deadlines on.

[Yan Stastny]

Appreciate you, brother.

[Ryan Whitney]

All right, Johnny, you're the best, buddy.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah, Keep doing your guys thing over there. Like EJ's in the mix now. You guys got such a fun crew in Colorado at the altitude.

[Keith Yandle]

And are they gonna wear those jerseys again? Sorry, biz.

[John Michael Lyles]

Yeah, they've got six. Six more. Six more games.

[Keith Yandle]

Yeah.

[John Michael Lyles]

So when they go back to Raleigh, I think there's. Against Montreal, they're gonna wear them. Like there's some. There's some cool, fun ones. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Ryan Smith]

It's.

[John Michael Lyles]

Yeah, it's pretty real.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, that's good. That's a game that. That. That should have some crazy numbers watching those two teams.

[Heater]

That's great.

[Ryan Whitney]

So, Johnny, have a great one, buddy. We appreciate it. This episode brought to you by Boom. Body Armor, the official sports trick of the NHL. Body armor has great tasting flavors like strawberry banana. It's my go to. And peach mango with no colors from artificial sources. All the junk is not in body armor. Bold new look with the same great taste. And now available in Canada. I've been told it's been available in Canada. But that's part of the ad read. So it's can. It's in Canada no matter what. So whether you're hitting the ice, the gym, or just need something refreshing, grab body armor today at Walmart or a local grocery store near you. Body armor. Choose better.

[Yan Stastny]

Boom.

[Ryan Whitney]

Guys, I gotta address the the Edmonton Oilers. We'll go back to the game against Montreal. I don't know if you saw me on Twitter that night. Bizarre. The Montreal Canadians, which by the way, I love this team. I love them. They're my number one team to watch after the Oilers. And even this year they're probably surpassed them. It's all Demidov, it's all Hudson. It's just straight excitement. But their fans can be real. Let me tell you some real.

[Yan Stastny]

It's not just me getting at it with people online. Fan bases across the league.

[Keith Yandle]

They had the right to be pissed.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah, they got hosed on a couple calls.

[Ryan Whitney]

Okay. They got host on one call. They got host on one call. That Slavkovski penalty boarding was an all time horrific call. Like legit trash. He basically like barely pushed him with his pinky finger into the boards. And they called the penalty. The Oilers score. Now the Josh Anderson one. I. I want your guys opinion. Did you see what he did? Did either one of you see it?

[Yan Stastny]

No.

[Ryan Whitney]

The goal scored on the power play on the Slafkovsky penalty. He turns around, actually hilarious veteran player turns around and skates at the ref banging his stick like, great call, great call, great call.

[Yan Stastny]

Give it to him.

[Ryan Whitney]

Dude, that's a penalty. They call it every time, man. When you show up refs, you can't show up a ref like that. And so they immediately. They go back on the power play, they tie it up and they win. And, and listen, the Canadiens fans, they were, they. They're a vocal, passionate crowd. That's why we love the Canadians. But they were being ridiculous because every single team gets hosed by the refs. Like that is a fact. Now, was I a little embarrassed when there was Canadian Twitter fans pulling up maybe seven to eight tweets I've had complaining about the refs during Oilers playoff games? Yeah, probably a little embarrassed at that.

[Keith Yandle]

But it wasn't game seven.

[Yan Stastny]

Habs fans do CI work.

[Ryan Whitney]

Oh, they did crazy PR work. They had. They had tweets from me when the Oilers lost in the conference finals to Colorado, talking about the. Talking about the ref. So I get it. But. And I think part of it was when the Oilers went up three to one or whatever it was. I tweeted welcome to a true Stanley cup contender. Montreal. You got a nice team, but this is what the big boys look like. Next thing you know, it must. I think it was like two minutes. They were up four to three. Caulfield put on an absolute clinic. And then it was just. It was Edmonton's night. It was Edmonton's night. The refs screw everyone.

[Yan Stastny]

Guys, with as much as you were complaining online or going at them online, you've been.

[Ryan Whitney]

No, I said you should be happy. I didn't go to sleep, Oilers fans, because I told. I told everyone I was going to sleep. I didn't go to sleep.

[Yan Stastny]

But you've also been very complimentary of how exciting Montreal is to watch.

[Ryan Whitney]

And I love them.

[Yan Stastny]

Are all you're. You're sleeping in Demodov PJs at this point.

[Ryan Whitney]

He's quickly my favorite player in the league. Did you see him in Vancouver the other night? Himadov Demagod. Did you see him in Vancouver? Biz first and. And all you young kids out there, we've talked about this before. You look at the best players in the league, and some of them are lightning fast. Some of them have amazing shots. Like, some of them have it all. But there's one thing that every great player has, and it's the ability to give false information. It's all about false information. And there's an article today in the Athletic talking about what he does with his eyes. And I think the quote was, if he's looking at you, no, you're not getting it. And that is the sickest quality for a hockey player to have. And all those backdoor tappings I got from Sid, never once was he looking at me and Demidov. The first goal he set up, he just fakes a clapper in the slot and stuff. Slides it over to Suzuki, like, no chance for the defense. Then a puck comes to him and any other player. Most other players in the NHL are whacking the rebound. He like taps it over to the side. It might have been Slavkovski. I don't know who exactly. Another tap in and then his goal. Just a one timer now. It might have hit a stick, but this guy, dude is. He is so fun to watch. His edge work and his ability to just fake you out with his eyes is. It's. It's like I'm obsessed with watching him play and go ahead, Keith.

[Keith Yandle]

I couldn't believe that was his first game on the. On the first power play unit. I know Marty did that last year with Hudson. He didn't start on PP1 right away, kind of let him see the game. And I saw an article at Marty said I wanted to make sure he can do it on. On the far side, but it's actually insane to me, the vision that he has the poise, like, especially in tight. The second pass that he made to Slavkowski was just. Just like you said. Everyone else is banging that into shim pads, but the coolest thing that you see is him working on this stuff in practice. Like, nowadays you get to see video footage of what guys are working on in practice and then translating it into their games. It's. It's amazing. But he isn't just bringing it on the power, but like he forechecks like a bastard. He's stick on puck everywhere.

[John Michael Lyles]

He's.

[Keith Yandle]

Anytime he's on the ice, you have to have an ISO cam on it because he's doing something special. I love him, but my favorite player for them so far this year is Mike Matheson. Contract year.

[Yan Stastny]

He's so fast.

[Keith Yandle]

Him and Dobson have been unbelievable. I think Matheson's plus seven playing against. I think he's got 10 or seven points or something like that.

[Ryan Whitney]

All first line matchups, too.

[Keith Yandle]

All first line matchup playing. Unbelievable contract here. He's gonna get paid. You can just tell he's comfortable there. He's from Montreal, he's. He's bilingual. He can talk to the French media. Just a of piece. Perfect fit there. So I. I gotta give him. Him and Dobson a ton of credit for just the way that they've been shutting down the big boy lines and. And feeding, you know, these young studs, man, like, they've got some absolutes. The goal that Caulfield scored in in Edmonton, the quick when he looked like he was going behind the net and just like tapped it in. That was insane.

[Ryan Whitney]

He looks great. And Demidov getting up to the first unit, it kind of related to. And it's brutal news for Lione, but he's owed three to four months with, like a core injury. And St. Louis mentioned that, like, once he wasn't on the second unit with the injury. Like, it makes no sense to have Demidov there because he was almost there setting up line a, and now it's like, all right, let's get him up front. But his hands are disgusting. And who would you compare them to?

[Yan Stastny]

Like, when they came in, like, who were. Dude, like you said, a little bit of Krill, a little bit of Kirill.

[Ryan Whitney]

Kucherov. I.

[Keith Yandle]

He's almost unbelievable. He's got Like Kirill. But he's like, he's intense. Like, Sid is too. Like, anytime there's a loose puck, like he's battling his ass off. Like, he's got that gear in him where he's.

[John Michael Lyles]

It's.

[Keith Yandle]

There's no quit in his game. He's battling his dick off every single time he's on the ice. So he's got a little bit of Sid and a little bit of Kirill in him for me, which, you know, two future hall of Famers. So.

[Yan Stastny]

And that you guys talked about the, like putting it to shin pads or just like calmly sliding it over to the guy where you process that information. Like, in my head, it's like you're, you know, you're. You're a war zone, right?

[Keith Yandle]

Yeah.

[Yan Stastny]

Where him.

[Keith Yandle]

It's just.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah, he knows where everybody is. Just calmly makes that move or in some cases, Tapas taps it to himself. And the deception thing, too, you're talking about, like, goalies are so good at the National League level. So when he gets it and he puts his hips towards the net and he's looking as if he's going to shoot, that goalie has to truly slide over and honor what he's. What he's about to do. So then when he slides it over, it's buying his shooters that, well, sometimes the goalies don't even get over in time where you have the whole net to shoot at. Or if they do, you still have half the net if you can get it off in that window. So, like, you guys talked about a lot of subtleties to his games or game where you're seeing like, holy. They've all of a sudden got this guy who's coming in his first full year, who's contributing the way he is. That is just. They're. They're all systems go. And the Matheson thing, like, I think that was a hex doll move. Like, he was so good for Pittsburgh. They should have beat the Rangers that one year in playoffs.

[Ryan Whitney]

And he was a.

[Yan Stastny]

He was a key guy back there. And then they were down to their third string goalie where I don't know if, when he came in, he thought there needed to be all these moves made where Matheson ends up getting. I think it was for Petrie, wasn't it?

[Keith Yandle]

Yeah, I think you're right. Yes.

[Yan Stastny]

Like, bro, Matheson's making home like an absolute bargain deal. And the way that he's able to skate and move around like he is. He is so good. He is so good.

[Ryan Whitney]

Another scary thing, Keith quickly For people who don't like the Montreal Canadiens. Have you heard of this Alexander Zarovsky?

[Yan Stastny]

No.

[Ryan Whitney]

Dude, they picked him in the second round last year. The 34th overall pick. His numbers right now are exactly what Demidov did in the case.

[Keith Yandle]

Wow.

[Ryan Whitney]

So, like. And they have this kid Haig at Michigan who's a complete stud. They took in the first round, big righty center. Probably be Demidov center at some point. Fizz. The Montreal Canadiens this year and in the future are going to work the Leafs over. Like I. It makes me. My plums. I could feel it in my plums how much better they are set up for the future than your Toronto mavens.

[Yan Stastny]

The Montreal Canadiens.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yes. Yes.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah.

[Keith Yandle]

Who wins a cup first?

[Ryan Whitney]

Why the.

[Yan Stastny]

Are you bringing it back to start an argument with me about the Toronto Maple Leafs? You. You always.

[Ryan Whitney]

That was a low blow.

[Keith Yandle]

That was a low blow. I appreciated it, but it was a low blow.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah. Hey, I guess I could safely admit that. Yeah. Toronto's kind of in the back half of their opportunity to win a Stanley Cup. Like, they've had the last three, four years of like. Why are you looking like that?

[Ryan Whitney]

What did you.

[Yan Stastny]

What is this?

[Ryan Whitney]

When I thought about before the show, maybe bringing this back somehow to Toronto, I couldn't have dreamed of a response like this. This is just what I wanted, baby.

[Ryan Smith]

Yeah.

[Yan Stastny]

And what did you think I was gonna be like. Like a pasha in denial? Like, you think I'm.

[Ryan Whitney]

That no to expect. And I'm. Listen, hey, to get ahead of this, I'm also kind of deflecting from the Oilers, just looking like trash. So maybe I'm. Maybe I'm kind of. What's the word when you just deflecting? Is that you're deflecting and I'm not.

[Yan Stastny]

Going to take the bait. And I think so. So if we're going to talk about the Leafs. Big, big win against the Buffalo Sabres. So if they wouldn't have won that one, they would have went. They would have lost. What'd you say?

[Keith Yandle]

Congrats. You beat the Sabers.

[Yan Stastny]

They won four. Their last five before that. Yeah, they're playing great, buddy. We just had Shane Dona on to talk about Josh. Show some respect, bro. Jesus. God. You got me. Okay. Going back to the Leafs. They lost the. The home and home against Detroit. You can't lose the home and home against Buffalo. That would be a very devastating start. Although every year they're not the best of starters. Kind of like we talked about Edmonton, they go about 500 through 12 to 15. Games and then everybody's trying to create drama and, and, and now obviously I saw a little bit of a, like a, an issue as far as team morale when they weren't sticking up for. For stall ours. That's okay. We addressed that. That's a good thing to learn early. Much like we talked to JML about them working out their power play issues early on in the season. We knew Marner was going to be a tough hole to fill and guys would have to take on new responsibilities. I was very happy with Michelle in preseason. That's not regular season hockey. He's starting to play a little bit better. Dakota Joshua, he's starting to find his groove and rhythm over the past few years.

[Ryan Whitney]

Right against Buffalo.

[Yan Stastny]

No, I believe that JT got the winner in overtime. I think.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, I think he scored one.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah, I think he scored in back to back games as well. First as a Toronto Maple Leaf. So there's some. There's some things and holes that they're gonna have to figure out. But I think that everybody could agree that in order to have success in playoffs, the money had to be spread out into different areas where those guys are going to have to find their groove and they're going to have to click for the trip for Toronto Maple Leafs to have success. But we got our goalie, we got a solid back end where I hope that we can improve at the deadline and we got a really good four group that I hope we can improve. Maybe a little twinkle 2 or at the deadline. So I'm. I'm gucci as a Toronto back. We don't walls back.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah.

[Yan Stastny]

And we also don't have any horrendous contracts like the Edmonton Oilers. Like you guys. We don't allow guys. We don't allow guys.

[Ryan Whitney]

I'm gonna pee while you talk about the Oilers.

[Yan Stastny]

No, we don't allow our guys to get ran away. He just ran away. Biz that tells you exactly what you need to know. He deflects just like the Oilers and I. I back up my team and then I put it into his plate or on his plate and he off and goes and takes a dump just like his goddamn team.

[Keith Yandle]

Like, just like the Oilers have played this year. Like Wit uninspired to be part of this conversation. They are uninsp. They look like they don't give a man, buddy. Like, I was texting all.

[Yan Stastny]

I go ahead.

[Keith Yandle]

Sorry, I was just. I was texting Wit during the Montreal game. I'm like, man, they just look like they're. I don't know if they're just, like, waiting for playoffs to start, but how.

[Yan Stastny]

Many for the ref to make a call in their favor as well, what they're doing.

[Keith Yandle]

Exactly.

[Ryan Whitney]

But even.

[Keith Yandle]

Even, like, when they're scoring goals like Bouchard scored the other night, who hasn't had the best start? Like, they're not even that excited. They're just like, okay, all right. It's like, guys, we got to get excited here. And I know they played a lot of hockey in the last few years, but, like, at the end of the day, you got to be inspired to go out and win games every night, and especially when you're a team that's a cup of contender this year going into the year. Right.

[Ryan Whitney]

Hey, guys, that was the quickest P ever. Bad news in Pittsburgh. Ricard Raquel, surgery on his left hand. Supposed to be six to eight weeks. That kind of sucks. But they've been surprisingly really good. I mean, like, I never saw this coming. I don't think it's gonna last. The entire hockey world, except for the city of Pittsburgh, doesn't want it to last because they somehow want to see Sid on another team. That would just be the ultimate content machine for the game. But Malkin looks like 10 years ago. He's dominating. Crosby looks great and looks great. Ryan Shea. Shout out Ryan Shea. Talk about grinding it out and earning it. He had a beautiful goal against Columbus the other night. He's playing a shitload. Looks awesome. Very happy for him. He's got connections to me and Keith through his dad and. And being from. From Milton. Awesome kid, Great player. I'm very happy for him. But it is pretty cool seeing the Penguins play this well. It's. It's early, but I didn't see it coming at all. And I'm happy for. I'm happy for Dan Muse as well. Yeah, right.

[Keith Yandle]

Gino, 14 points through nine games is insane. I. I think I said it a couple episodes ago. Like, he must see this money that the guys are getting. He's like, I'm gonna bring it this year. Sign a two year, whatever, 10 million, 12 million deal.

[Yan Stastny]

Marshaw's playing till he's 48. He might as well.

[Keith Yandle]

Yeah.

[Yan Stastny]

Guys, I will say that this is the first inkling of. Of like, being a Dubus believer in what he's doing in. In. In Pittsburgh.

[Ryan Whitney]

Really?

[Yan Stastny]

I. Yeah, I think that I was. I'm still critical of the Genel move because if you want to win now or. Or in this next window, if you're not going to move on from Crosby, like, if. If Crosby And Malkin and Latang play the way they've played and they get goaltending. There's a few moves to be made where I trust this team to go on another run. I could. I could see it. Hey, what do you mean, bud? Listen, Whit. I. You look at me like I'm crazy. I think they got a better chance than your Oilers.

[Ryan Whitney]

Now I know you're just.

[Keith Yandle]

You're just.

[Ryan Whitney]

No, no.

[Yan Stastny]

That I was obviously for around. That was a shot at you for going to take a quick deuce and avoiding the Oilers talk and a few of those bad contracts. He was saying how they look uninspired a little bit and I could see where a team has been. Finals back to back years are like first 20 games of the season off.

[Keith Yandle]

Yeah.

[Yan Stastny]

You know, text me in January when starts mattering. So although I can defend you. But I. If they get goaltending. Pittsburgh can be a playoff team if these guys play the way they play. Like. Like the Crosby's the Malka.

[Ryan Whitney]

No. Yeah. Yeah, I think so. Now can Brazo continue this like if he does big. If yes.

[Keith Yandle]

And they got hazy will come back at some point.

[Ryan Whitney]

He'll come back. The Raquel injury sucks.

[Yan Stastny]

Brutal.

[Ryan Whitney]

He's nice but happy for Penguins fans. I would never get anything.

[Yan Stastny]

Sure. I would never count out those three guys if they were to get in the playoffs and they were to get.

[Ryan Whitney]

Solid goaltender Chris Latang, 600th assist in the National Hockey League. Only 20 defensemen have done that.

[Yan Stastny]

Is he a Hall of Famer?

[Keith Yandle]

I think so. Do you ever win a Norris?

[Yan Stastny]

No.

[Ryan Whitney]

No, I don't think so. I. I think he'll. I think he will get into the Hall.

[Yan Stastny]

Keep in mind Pittsburgh's got $12 million in cap space for the deadline. I know you can go get Gensel back.

[Ryan Whitney]

I don't even know if they have much to deal to get anything. Guys. After we recorded Thursday, unfortunately Celebrini and Will Smith put on an absolute clinic at Madison Square Garden. I tweeted out the big dogs always show up at msg. That was electric. That was like. And that was after their interview on the street with this Judy Jupiter lady or whatever her name is. Just. I saw one comment looking like she's got him held hostage. The funniest thing was in her. In her post on Instagram she mentioned it was the third take. She had done four takes with fourth take. Did she get Will Smith at another bar?

[Yan Stastny]

No.

[Ryan Whitney]

She's like, stand up.

[Keith Yandle]

Turn around.

[Yan Stastny]

Turn around.

[Ryan Whitney]

Let me see your ass.

[Yan Stastny]

I think we could all credit the head coach for saying that he would give up one of his children for a victory. That's what the catalyst was in order to get this party started.

[Ryan Whitney]

Now, did he give up a kid?

[Yan Stastny]

Yes, he did.

[John Michael Lyles]

No, no, no.

[Ryan Whitney]

He kept them all. He was able to. He's able to.

[Yan Stastny]

He did.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah.

[Yan Stastny]

Okay. I heard a conflicting rumor department.

[Ryan Whitney]

Big news right there.

[Yan Stastny]

I heard it was a little bit of a stress reliever. He was able to figure things out for the power play, make some adjustments with not being as stressed, and bingo, bango, the young bucks light up. Msg. Now, the Rangers, they're.

[Ryan Whitney]

They're legit horrible.

[Yan Stastny]

They.

[Ryan Smith]

They.

[Yan Stastny]

I do not want to watch them play hockey.

[Ryan Whitney]

No. Oh, they're on that list. They're on that. The Flames looked like the 88 Oilers against them Sunday. It was pathetic.

[Keith Yandle]

My only thing is, like, they're. They're really good defensively. Like, their defensive numbers. And Shusturkin's been unbelievable. Like, do you think Sully, like, this is the way he's trying to get them to play, and then the goals will come, because defensively, on paper, it's pretty good. Like, I talked to a Rangers fan, actually, when we were in Greensboro, and he was like. He's like, I know they're not winning and not scoring, but I. I like the way that they're playing. Like, if they can get into the playoffs, they could win playing like this. So I just don't know if it's Sullivan, if this is what he's trying to get them to play. Like, yeah, it has to be right. But at some point, to keep the guys happy, you have to score goals.

[Ryan Whitney]

Make plays.

[Yan Stastny]

I think that if you're getting buy in from everyone and they see how, like, well, they're playing overall as opposed to, like, allowing all these 10 bell opportunities. Like, I think the biggest criticism over the last, like, three, four years was the amount of opportunities. Not only they give up high danger, but also a lot of east to west. Like, they're allowing these scene passes where you're like, holy, this is just like pond hockey. Essentially. I. I think that if the coach is being positive with them and being like, boys, like, I'm not gonna ride you or be mad at you because we're not winning every game. I think it's more about the morale in the locker room. Like, if they're feeling good about themselves and I maybe know that they're not scoring and, you know, everyone feels great when they're leaving the rink after a W and they've got one and One, you know, and they're all of a sudden going to Hell's Kitchen for the best food they've ever ate. Right. Like life. Isn't that a place in New York?

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, yeah.

[Yan Stastny]

They're going for some of the finest cuisine. But I think if, if, if, if Sullivan's going in there and being like boys, like keep at it. This is going to translate to wins. And they're not getting harped on night and night out and, and the fans are recognizing their efforts. I think that's, that's a solid thing in the locker room. But I'm just saying for me to watch them and like for my expectations. I don't think they're a playoff team, but agreed on all fronts. If they're playing well defensively and they're getting timely scoring, you can ride a guy like Shusterk into like a conference final.

[Keith Yandle]

Yeah. Because all their, all their defensive stats under the hood Pasha stuff. They're top 10 in the league and everything defensively. But offensively besides face offs, they're bottom the league like in the 20s to 30s. It's bad.

[Ryan Whitney]

They are way more likely if I more likely to deal Panarin not make the playoffs than they are go to the conference finals.

[John Michael Lyles]

Right.

[Yan Stastny]

But if I had a genie in a bottle and I rubbed it and it came out and granted me three wishes, I would burn one of those wishes on the New Jersey Devils meeting them in the first round and the Rangers beating him.

[John Michael Lyles]

Yeah.

[Keith Yandle]

Hey, thank you for that.

[Yan Stastny]

I would waste one of those wishes on having that guy have to come on this goddamn zoom or whatever you call these stream yards and defend his New Jersey Devil.

[Keith Yandle]

So what would your other two wishes be?

[Yan Stastny]

I would save them. I would save them. Obviously Leaf square going on a run like I, I obviously winning a cup. But I feel it would be fun to say just give me Leafs Oilers and let's let the boys figure them out themselves.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yes. That would be more podcast awesome. I don't have a job.

[Yan Stastny]

That would be number two. That would be a hockey genie if we're keeping it strictly hockey.

[Ryan Whitney]

And then if I watch. Hope is for these Rangers fans because they are really starting to turn on lafrenier. It is, it is. It is starting to like kind of.

[Yan Stastny]

Like the Leafs man.

[Keith Yandle]

There's always have turned on him before too.

[John Michael Lyles]

No.

[Ryan Whitney]

Right. Not really. It's been like still young. Still young. And I haven't seen real. When they lost to Florida. He was incredible in that conference final. I'm stuck. I don't know. It's gonna get louder and it's gonna get louder and it's gonna continue. As much as he plays the way he is right now, when we were.

[Keith Yandle]

Just in New York, in walking around the city, I mean, we were right outside of msg, how many lafrenier jerseys did we see?

[Ryan Whitney]

I know, but they thought they were getting like a Matthews like first overall pick.

[Yan Stastny]

And I, I haven't seen too much of the hate. Maybe it's just not in my for you section. It's more so reading Edmonton, others fans about the Bouchard contract. That's more in my for you.

[Ryan Whitney]

Richard has the the second most points per game in the history of the playoffs by a defense and the only Bobby or so wait till January to talk about the Oilers. That's all I'm saying. I, I, the contract right now looks horrific.

[Yan Stastny]

Can I ask you if, if I gave you two collectively my third wish out of the hockey genie bottle, what would you say? And you can't say a Stanley cup.

[Ryan Whitney]

For you or for us, like, if we're you guys.

[Yan Stastny]

I would say that Crosby goes up. What?

[Ryan Whitney]

You can't win a cup?

[Yan Stastny]

No. You could like, you could say I would want Oilers back three the third time. I want the trilogy of them in the finals against Florida. I feel like winning a Stanley cup is too easy. You have to ask for like a scenario.

[Keith Yandle]

I would like me, I would take with my first wish Brady Kachuk to come to the Florida Panthers.

[Ryan Whitney]

That would be, that would be what I don't even want.

[Keith Yandle]

I don't even want two more wishes. I just want that one.

[Ryan Whitney]

If you can't get a title with the wish, just give me US, Canada and Italy in the gold medal game. If I can't wish to win, just give me that. Give me that again and give me like the, the, the knots in my stomach.

[Keith Yandle]

Yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

Watching that game at whatever it'll be.

[Yan Stastny]

And make sure it's overtime. Oh, four, three, overtime.

[Ryan Whitney]

Oh, Crosby gets it.

[Yan Stastny]

Holding goal. Pasha would be in shambles on a Jack Hughes turnover. Could you imagine that? And then the first on behalf of the New York Rangers, when, when Devils probably win the division. Oh, my God. Give it to me, Hockey Genie.

[Ryan Whitney]

I don't see a world with Celebrini not on team Canada. He looks that dominant right now. Five goals, five assists in his last four games. Involved in two OT winners. So just an incredible player. And we got to talk about DraftKings right now, guys. Hockey's back this season. DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NHL brings you all the speed, skill and false information. Like demigod, all the action you love. DraftKings sportsbook delivers the unmatched intensity of the NHL right to your fingertips. From player props to the thrill of live in game betting, every drop of the puck is your shot to win big. New customers. This one's for you. Bet just $5. If your bet wins, you get paid out 300 in bonus bets. Instantly light the lamp all season long with DraftKings. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use code Chiclets. That's code Chiclets. Turn five bucks into 300 in bonus bets. If your bet wins in partnership with DraftKings, the crown is yours.

[John Michael Lyles]

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[Ryan Whitney]

So, guys, I got a little question for you. Little trivia we've done.

[Yan Stastny]

Okay, well, before we get there, Whit, I just got a text from a listener. They think that Hockey Genie should be a segment every month. What would be your hockey wish? This one. I'll even dress up in a genie outfit. A little belly shirt.

[Ryan Whitney]

I was gonna say belly shirt. Oh, everyone that's watching this right now, that's what this dude does at dinner. He lifts his shirt up and scratches his belly. And you're looking at his bare chested, hairy. I'm a man. Getting scratched in the middle of, like, Nobu. It's like dude grabbing.

[Yan Stastny]

I'm a man. Get me a glass of milk.

[Ryan Whitney]

That's what he does. This is at restaurants. It's crazy. No crazy, guys. Obi. Obi played his 1500th game in your appetizer. Can you guys name the other seven players that played 1500 games with one organization?

[Keith Yandle]

Ray Bork, Patrick Marlowe, Nick Lidstrom, Gordie Howe. Calvecchio.

[Ryan Whitney]

Del Vecchio.

[Keith Yandle]

Del Vecchio.

[Yan Stastny]

There's two more. Or one more.

[Ryan Whitney]

I can't believe you guys have Ray Bork. One of them. There's two more.

[Yan Stastny]

I cannot believe you Already say Ray.

[Keith Yandle]

Bork, Stevie.

[Yan Stastny]

Donor, he was going on a run there, so I didn't want to interfere with his run.

[Ryan Whitney]

I thought Don would be first. He was on last episode, for Christ's sake.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah. What the sake?

[Ryan Whitney]

For frig's sake. So, yeah, the OV story started off a little slow, actually. Keith, somebody asked us on our group chat, do you think this is Obi's last year? I kind of forget. I think it is, too.

[Yan Stastny]

Yes.

[Ryan Whitney]

Well, considering that the worker for the Capitals told us it was, yes.

[Yan Stastny]

And I feel like he, like, last year wasn't a distraction. He seems like a type of guy where he just wants to, you know, be a part of the group and not have to have all the focus on him all the time. I feel like last year, with the lead up to the goal Chase, like, that's probably a lot on him. So if he announces that it's his last year, he has to go through that again this whole year where that could be emotionally draining. So if it is and they are keeping it in house, I completely understand why they're doing it. And once again, he seems like the type of guy where he's like, I get. I have to do this and talk about this for the sake of the game. And I'm. I'm grateful I'm breaking this record. But he also seems like, I don't want all the attention type guy.

[Ryan Whitney]

And I had it all last year.

[Yan Stastny]

And I had it all last year after Olympics.

[Keith Yandle]

He announces it or something that.

[Ryan Whitney]

That could be like, you know, they're like, sitting in a playoff spot, which I think they will be. It's like, I know people hate when.

[Yan Stastny]

I say this, but the fact that if it is his last year and it is Malkin's last year, man, like, it would have been nice to see. To see him in the Olympics.

[Keith Yandle]

Use one of your wishes for that.

[Yan Stastny]

I. We can't. I don't want to go there.

[Ryan Whitney]

Belly button lick got into the bottle. It's not.

[Keith Yandle]

Did you guys see the video that Ray Bork, Lidstrom, Patrick Marlowe, Stevie Y, and and Donor did for ovi? Just about, like, you know, being on, playing for the same team, 1500 games, it was pretty cool. Yeah, it was awesome. I don't know.

[Yan Stastny]

Is it like, did you get it sent to you or is it on the Internet?

[Keith Yandle]

No, they just sent it to me. I don't know why they sent it to me and not ovi. It was weird. Yes, it was on the Internet.

[Yan Stastny]

Oh, okay. Sometimes they keep those things, like, private, where they get. That's not with how the hell. That wasn't a stupid question, Chad.

[Keith Yandle]

If that was a stupid question.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah, buddy. The. Some of those videos that those guys get are for personal, especially of guys of that stature. Like Stevie Y. Is not a guy who like wants being seen public all the time. So I don't think I. I thought. I thought the fact that you would have gotten your hands on that and not the public eye is not that crazy. Why are you making that face? Stop making that face.

[Ryan Whitney]

He hates that face.

[Keith Yandle]

When you do that with.

[Ryan Whitney]

Hey, hey.

[Keith Yandle]

It's like when you do it with Dave and Kurt.

[Ryan Whitney]

When you know what bothers somebody. That's like a super. That's my wish from the genie. I got it today. Knowing that my face can make you explode in anger when your lip quivers. Screen go habs go the Another Russian making waves.

[Yan Stastny]

Cooch.

[Ryan Whitney]

Thousand points legend stud gamer. Do you see his celebration on the. On the goal? He's like this because they'd called back a goal earlier.

[Keith Yandle]

So good.

[Ryan Whitney]

Good. Cooch doesn't give a. Disgusting. At hockey. Incredible player. A thousand points. The Canucks traded for Lucas Reichel for a fourth round pick. Kind of a funny. Oh, easy.

[Yan Stastny]

We can't hear him. You got to put the thing up to the mic, you dummy.

[Keith Yandle]

Say hi, James.

[Ryan Whitney]

8. Say hi, James. Hazy, how you feeling?

[Keith Yandle]

Feeling great.

[Yan Stastny]

Goo Gol with this kid right now.

[Ryan Whitney]

Oh, he's hell yeah rubbing a bottle right now.

[Yan Stastny]

Why doesn't he hop on the stream yard?

[Keith Yandle]

All right, later.

[Ryan Smith]

What?

[Yan Stastny]

Tell him to hop on the stream yard.

[Ryan Whitney]

I. What else did I have? Oh, G said he loves this trade for Vancouver. G, can you hop on and tell us why you love this trade of Lucas Reichel?

[John Michael Lyles]

I didn't say I love it. I just said I like it.

[Ryan Whitney]

I think you said I love it.

[Keith Yandle]

Minus two is first.

[John Michael Lyles]

No, I just said I liked it. I think it's a. It's a high risk. A kid who was. I mean a low risk, high reward. A kid who was drafted in the first round has all the skill to be good. It's just maybe he needed a new fit, a new change of space. He requested the trade too.

[Ryan Smith]

So.

[John Michael Lyles]

I don't know. I think it could just be a. I love the. The idea of low risk, high reward deals like that.

[Yan Stastny]

And they fourth rounder. He obviously plays center, right?

[John Michael Lyles]

He can play a center left wing. But a lot of people are saying he's really not a center center.

[Yan Stastny]

Well, that's what they're going to need, some help.

[John Michael Lyles]

Although that's why they're looking at Pavel Zaka. You're hearing all the rumors about that.

[Yan Stastny]

Okay, so. Well, he can't play center either. The. Early in the season, Petey wasn't putting up many points, but from a few of the games that I watch, I was very impressed with the way that he's, like, laying out, blocking shots, competing, like. So I. People might argue, is he playing up to eleven and a half million? Maybe not. But I just. I really like what he's brought in so far from an overall game. Now, I'm not saying he was always pretty solid defensively. I think at one year, he even got, like, strong consideration for the selkie. But laying out and eating pucks when you're. You're. You're tied or up a goal late in games or even down a goal and just him laying out, putting it on the line. Something Yan's obviously never did. Something never. You never did either with. So I just wanted to make sure that he got the record. Ignition.

[Keith Yandle]

I. I like the fact that he's shooting more. It looks like he was when he first came in the league. Like, he's looking to shoot, especially on the power play, hitting more onetimers. Blocking shots is for the Birds. He doesn't need to do that.

[Ryan Whitney]

So always have pads for a reason. Yeah.

[Keith Yandle]

Yeah. I. I like. I like the way he's going offensively more than defensively, but obviously you got to bring both. Both parts of the game.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

Brendan Shanahan's back with the NHL Hockey operations department. Saw that news hit the wire. Shanny. He promised us he'd come on. Or was it if the Leafs won the cup, he'd come on?

[Yan Stastny]

I texted him. He. He said he's. He's thinking about it, so we'll get.

[Ryan Whitney]

Him a buddy of his who at a golf tournament, and they're very good friends for a long time, and the guy's a huge Chiclets fan. Great dude. He said, I will get on him. I will relentlessly be on him to come on the show.

[Yan Stastny]

Where. Where would you like to.

[John Michael Lyles]

Or who.

[Yan Stastny]

What team do you think could use him in management? Like, if you could pick a place for him to go where it's. It's a team, an organization. You're like, I feel like they could use him right now. Where do you think would be a good fit? Oh, somebody just.

[Keith Yandle]

Carolina.

[Ryan Whitney]

No, Chicago.

[Yan Stastny]

Carolina.

[Ryan Whitney]

They.

[Yan Stastny]

They love Tulski, and he's done a fairly good job. This is a great answer from Pasha. If they let he goes. Well, it's time to let Chris Drury go. That's Posh's comment.

[Ryan Whitney]

I don't sign on that.

[Yan Stastny]

I don't co sign on that yet either.

[Keith Yandle]

Stay on the other side of the Hudson. Pasha.

[Ryan Whitney]

Pasha's unbelievable. Like this guy, like the devils are 8 and 1. He actually is acting like they won the cup, like it's a joke.

[Yan Stastny]

Getting very cocky. Very cocky. That's what he does though.

[Ryan Whitney]

Do you not remember every other year how long these seasons are?

[Yan Stastny]

Like, he's talking about this one kid who's been playing really well for him, a forward. And he's like, oh, like this guy's the real deal. And I said, you also said that about the Russian kid last year, the defenseman. But he backed that up too. Basically saying, oh, he was one of the best defensive defensive in the league last year. His under the hood stats say that he is.

[Ryan Whitney]

He's an idiot.

[Yan Stastny]

He's a moron, a clown. And I love that he can't come on and say anything without saying this.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, saw this tweet and. And it's early, right? We're saying that's how stupid Posh is. But if the playoffs started today, Utah would be the top seed in the Western Conference. Montreal would win the Atlantic. Pittsburgh, Seattle, Chicago, Detroit would make the playoffs. Edmonton, Toronto and Tampa Bay would miss. So a fun start to the year.

[Yan Stastny]

Just the way we want.

[Ryan Whitney]

Kind of crazy, kind of crazy, random.

[Yan Stastny]

Thing that popped in my head quickly is Mason Marchman. Did you see him do the fake punch and then laugh at the guy? As somebody who's fallen for that many a times, I don't think that was that nice.

[Ryan Whitney]

And I also. It's kind of. It's very funny. But like, who isn't gonna flinch? Like Kobe.

[Keith Yandle]

Kobe's the only person to ever not flinch. Remember when Barnes faked the ball on his face and he just stood there?

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, I forgot.

[Yan Stastny]

He's the only guy, I think Percy, if you do that, that's a one game suspension. As somebody who's fallen for the fake punch.

[Ryan Whitney]

Who got you with that, Paul?

[Keith Yandle]

Who me in practice.

[Yan Stastny]

Who didn't get me with that.

[Ryan Whitney]

I can't even get my kids. My kids. Look at me. Wyatt headbutts me.

[Yan Stastny]

It's an embarrassing moment. I think it was Logan Stanley huge. And he's like 6, 7. So makes it look even worse. But also I agree with you. Like who's not gonna flinch? And especially when it's Mason Marchmont. Like he plays on the edge. So I'm thinking that's hit Me right on the button. I have no clue that he's not going to do it and then giggle at me.

[Ryan Smith]

Me out.

[Ryan Whitney]

Like, maybe one of my wishes would be two for flinch. And not being a term because I've had it happen to me so often. I don't want to be made fun of every time. So, genie, get rid of the first person to ever say two for flinching, okay? Because everyone, if they're normal flinches.

[Yan Stastny]

You've now used up all three of your wishes, Yan.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, but I got a gold medal.

[Keith Yandle]

I have two left.

[Yan Stastny]

What do do one more for the. For the crew before we sign off.

[Keith Yandle]

Pasha can never watch a devil's game.

[Ryan Whitney]

Oh, my God. I love that. Wow. We made AI. They made a quick. The only problem is, if that's Biz with the beard, the Stanley cup should not.

[Yan Stastny]

No, it should be a picture of me going the belly shirt.

[Ryan Whitney]

Seeing him scratch that in a restaurant.

[Yan Stastny]

Sprinkle my lint. My belly button on your.

[Ryan Whitney]

Before we wrap up, I want to shout out breast cancer. And the merchandise we have 100% of all the proceeds go to 540. Buy some ladies, some wigs, and biz. I believe you had some. Something you wanted to say for Ebony at the bar stool office.

[Yan Stastny]

Oh, okay. Yeah, this is a tough one. I'm gonna have to download. I know we're live, so I'll be very quick. But Ebony. Ebony, she lost her sister. Unreal. Like, full of life. She's right at the door when you walk in the barstool offices, and every time we get there, she greets us. She's funny as, like, her sense of humor. Like, very vulgar. Like, she's the best, right? So I ended up getting a DM from her the other day, and we actually saw her, and we were there to work, so we didn't get a chance to talk to her as long as possible. And she didn't even, like, mention this while we were at the offices. She waited to. To send me a message after I had gone. Now, she lost her sister in a car accident, unfortunately, a few weeks ago, maybe a month. And. And she had to take on her sister's kid as well. So she's raising four kids right now, and, you know, times are a little difficult. Like, I'm gonna send her some money. But she also said, biz, I don't want to hand out. Like, I would like people to come support my only fans. And some people might be like, oh, like. Like trying to be judgmental, but I'm not gonna knock anybody doing what they can in order to put food on the table for their kids. And I. No. And she's such an awesome person. When she asked to do this, I said, absolutely. So we're gonna post her only fans, like on. And I don't know if you have it or how exactly to do that, whether it's in the chat, whether it's on over the screen here, once it goes to YouTube. But we're gonna promote her only fans and. And anybody who is into that and wants to go support that. She's an awesome people chick, like I said. And, you know, or just. Or just like send her some money because you feel a lot, going through a lot and for the situation she's in. So my apologies for kind of stuttering through this because I totally forgot about it at the end of the show here. And I'm trying to, gee, can you help me out or something?

[Keith Yandle]

Biz, you think?

[John Michael Lyles]

Yeah. So it's OnlyFans.com secured and I just want to echo what just an awesome name. But I do want to echo.

[Ryan Whitney]

What Biz said is like, she is.

[John Michael Lyles]

The best person in the office. Like when Alana was going through all of her stuff, she was the one texting me, Instagram, messaging me. So she's. She's one of the best people in that barstool office. And. And like Biz said, we're not going.

[Ryan Whitney]

To judge at all. Get me her Venmo.

[John Michael Lyles]

I'll get you her Venmo. We'll post her venmo. OnlyFans.com SecureDes is the.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah, we're gonna send her money on behalf of Chiclet. So anything you can do to help her out. And I sometimes I. I like, I completely log out on my Twitter and Instagram just to kind of get away. And I'm gonna.

[John Michael Lyles]

Yeah, Very unfortunate situation with their sister. I believe it was a car crash, I think.

[Yan Stastny]

And her sister was pregnant as well when she got in this car accident. So just. It was about three weeks ago. And. And yeah, like I said, anything you guys can do to help. She's an incredible person, going through a lot and we're gonna send her some stuff and then as well. And that's only fans slash secure Ds, that's S E C U R E D E E Z. Like as in like secure D is nuts.

[Ryan Whitney]

Like so you the other day.

[Yan Stastny]

Who.

[Heater]

Nuts?

[Yan Stastny]

That's what I'm saying. And. And that's what. So. Two for flinching. Two for flinching.

[Keith Yandle]

Hey, Biz, she rem. I mean, I've only been to that office twice, I think. But she reminds me of, like, a. The trainers at a hockey rink. They're always in a good mood. They gotta, you know, they're the first person you see when you get in. They gotta. They're making your life a little bit happier. That five seconds you're walking by, say hello. So I definitely support her. And, you know, she's doing the right thing by her family.

[Ryan Whitney]

All right.

[Yan Stastny]

Yeah, you hit it out of the park. And for the same reason we talked about at the beginning of the podcast, when, you know, Nick Mangold, like, seeing all the messages from the entire Barstool family, Like, Barstool is a family. So when we're on the road, whether it's in Chicago or New York, like, when we walk into an office before about to work, like, just seeing those familiar faces and those people who are just, like, close to us, it matters. It matters. So, Ebony, we love you. We're so sorry for what you're going through, and I hope that you get the support you deserve from all of our fans and. And of course, from us, girl. And we love you. And that's somebody that we should, when we're close there, going to a hockey game, we should bring her for that experience. Watching her live reaction to what's going on in the ice would be comedy.

[Ryan Whitney]

That would be electric.

[Yan Stastny]

So.

[Ryan Whitney]

So a long show. Thank you so much to Heater. Thank you so much to John Michael Lyles. And a tough choice, right? You know, we're talking about hats off for Beef, right?

[Keith Yandle]

I just want to say I love you guys. I love our fans. Tell everyone, tell your. Your loved ones and your family members, your friends, tell them that you love them because you never know what's going to happen.

[Yan Stastny]

100.

[Ryan Whitney]

Well said. So everyone have a great week and.

[John Michael Lyles]

We'Ll talk to you on.

[Yan Stastny]

Happen.

[John Michael Lyles]

Won't happen again.

[Ryan Whitney]

It won't happen, Won't happen, won't happen again.

[Ryan Smith]

A bad habit worth breaking, but it's taking time.

[Ryan Whitney]

I don't know it. Don't let it. It's going to happen. It's going to happen again.