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- [00:00]
Whitney
Hey, Spit and Chiclets listeners.
- [00:02]
Hockey Illuminati
You can find every episode on Apple podcasts, Spotify or YouTube Prime. Members can listen ad free on Amazon Music.
- [00:11]
Yan
Me and Ryan have been officially welcomed.
- [00:14]
Whitney
To the jungle that is barstool sports.
- [00:16]
Biz
I brought it toward the coyotes and I asked them if it was okay if I joined the Spit Chicklets podcast full time.
- [00:23]
Whitney
Ryan, Whitney. Got a Pink Whitney out there now.
- [00:27]
Biz
Sandbagger. Get that on camera.
- [00:29]
Tom Brady
The song clan.
- [00:32]
Whitney
Is a full time member Marley just got from Chris.
- [00:36]
Yan
Whoa. We're buzzing right now.
- [00:41]
Whitney
What is up, folks? Welcome to episode 611 of the Spitting Chicklets podcast. And we're on Netflix, boys. This is on Netflix. 611 episodes. The first one on Netflix, but not the first episode where we're going to talk about Pink Whitney. Pink Whitney, New Amsterdam zone. As you see, Keith Fake chug that bottle. And let me tell you, NFL playoffs were electric this weekend. And last night, the New England Patriots, Sunday night, excuse me, they had an amazing win. I had pictures of Pink Whitney nips all over the tailgates, people dummying them. So maybe we could say Pink Whitney had something to do with Drake May getting his first playoff win. NFL fans all over the place. They love pregame with Pink Whitney. It's one of those drinks that gets you fired up. It warms the soul before a cold playoff outdoor game. So thank you to everyone who watched NHL, NFL. Doesn't matter what you're watching as long as you're drinking Pink Whitney. Shout out, New Amsterdam. Shout out Pink Whitney. And shout out, you two guys. We're on Netflix. What's going on, boys? Can you believe it?
- [01:43]
Biz
No, I can't believe it. No.
- [01:44]
Whitney
Okay, okay. I like that.
- [01:46]
Biz
I like a lot of hard work that went into this, but I still can't believe it. And I still can't believe the fact that we've had now two goats on this podcast. Wayne Gretzky and now the football goat, which he's. Tom's getting his tires pumped on the Internet like crazy right now with that breakdown of how you throw a spiral in the wind and people just loving him. Maybe on the wrong side of it, Tony Romo. I didn't listen to the game that he called. People saying he sounds like he's on Quaaludes or something. I don't know. I don't. I didn't. I didn't watch that game. But we are a hockey podcast. But I would say that that NFL definitely took over the weekend, especially on how exciting all those games were.
- [02:26]
Yan
They were amazing. They were all Good games too, right? Like every game when you have playoff games, you got some upsets, you got some down to the wire games. You got good defense in the Patriots game last night, you got a little bit of everything, ton of offense in the other game. So it was an unbelievable day. I, I watched it with my Buffalo friends. I watched the Bills game with my Buffalo friends.
- [02:46]
Whitney
Were they.
- [02:47]
Yan
Oh, it was unbelievable. Unbelievable. They start, they started drinking three hours before the games because the nerves got to them. So was a lot of fun, a lot of yelling. You know those Buffalonians, they don't play around, right? So it's. It was a fun day. Got the endorphins going. Busy.
- [03:01]
Biz
Oh, yeah.
- [03:02]
Whitney
Merle's Biz. I don't know if you saw this before Carolina la, which was the first game of the playoff Saturday, he put a little parlay in through the DraftKings app. He had Colby Parkinson to score a TD in that game, D.J. moore to score a TD, and Packers, Bears, Dalton Kincaid to score a TD. In Bill's Jaguars, Dallas Goddard to score a TD, 49ers Eagles, and Stefan Diggs to score a TD. Charger.
- [03:28]
Biz
Come on. He had five guys.
- [03:30]
Whitney
The first three guys got one. All in the fourth quarter of those games, right? So then he looks in the cash out option on a $100 bet. This would have paid 58,481 bucks, $100 bet. The cash out option after the third one was 5,500. He said, what do you think? What do you think? I said, Buddy, it's $100 bet. You got to let it ride. What happens in the Philly game? Goddard scores early. He's now one Stefan Diggs TD away in the late game for 58 grand. His cash out then changed to 15,500.
- [04:04]
Biz
Got a cash.
- [04:04]
Yan
Got a cash out. Good, good. Didn't take.
- [04:08]
Whitney
Here's the thing, you know, Merls, he might have taken it. He told me he took it, but I said, what's going to happen is he. If he takes it, he's going to score, which he didn't so luckily, and he'd be furious. And if he doesn't take it, he won't score. He didn't score. So a great cash out as long as he took it. Now, sometimes when Merles is drinking, celebrating a Bills game, I don't know if he knows what he's saying to me.
- [04:27]
Biz
Did Diggs end up getting a touchdown?
- [04:29]
Hockey Illuminati
No.
- [04:30]
Whitney
No.
- [04:31]
Biz
What? A cash out now is, Is that the one who's with Cardi B now?
- [04:36]
Yan
Yeah. Oh, yeah.
- [04:37]
Biz
Wow. And sitting up in the press box with Kraft and stuff. This is fucking wild. Taylor.
- [04:44]
Whitney
She's electric. I. I believe he, you know, he has several children with several women. But as Cardi B said, like he come back to my bed. So I believe when he spent Christmas with another one of his baby mamas, like she mentioned, like, what do you want me to do? Put my baby back in my. That was an exact quote. She's very electric. Very electric. Very electric.
- [05:05]
Biz
He's legit Santa going from house to house dropping off gifts. Eh? Like six, seven different addresses.
- [05:12]
Whitney
The only thing I have to say besides the excitement of the Pats and Drake May I'm such a mush. It's incredible. And I think people who watch Pardon my take and have watched Chiclets know my hatred towards the Bears and the commanders based on PFT and Big Cat's hatred of Connor McDavid, which is so weird, like how enjoyable he is to watch play. But they, because I like him, don't like him and root against him. It's real scumbag behavior. Real bad guy, bad people. So I was just loving life as I got home Saturday night and I look and the Bears are getting worked and Caleb Williams passurating at this point, I think in the third quarter, maybe later was 45. He was horrible. And this guy, this man all season, this guy in the fourth quarter turns into prime Tom Brady and the. And I. And I tweeted out, Wow, 45 passerate. Looking good big cat. And in the next like 12 minutes they came back and won the game. And I got buried online like. But I was like, oh, it's unbelievable. When I say. Say things, it's like the exact opposite happens. It's crazy. It's crazy. And it felt like, and it feels like even shittier today knowing that I kind of had something to do with the Bears winning that game.
- [06:23]
Biz
So I don't really know a lot of guys names. I know Caleb Williams, like all the guys for TDs you mentioned. Stefan Diggs was the only name I knew because he's dropping loads inside of Cardi B's puss that like the coach for the Bears, watching his post game speeches in the locker room and the way that that team interacts like buddy, I was getting fucking goosebumps. Like I. I was getting a little emotional because I watched it while I was on a flight.
- [06:47]
Whitney
So yeah, that's a crying thing.
- [06:49]
Biz
That's a thing. That's the thing. I don't know. All you people listening know that you get more emotional when you, when you watch emotional things on flights like you. I remember when I watched football game, the Justin Bieber documentary or movie about his come up. Like I was fucking in tears on my way to Saskatoon. But I digress. Like you guys have obviously seen the interaction. They've been going on all year. I just felt like this one felt even more special given the Packers Bears rivalry is fully back on.
- [07:17]
Whitney
Well, they always lose to the packers too. The packers own them. And it switched.
- [07:22]
Biz
Yeah. What did you, did you guys watch that interaction with this with his team in the locker room?
- [07:26]
Yan
Yeah, I think football too. And biz, I think you would be a good football player because like the way that they fire the each other up, the way that the coaches come in the speeches, like you don't really get that in hockey. Right? Like maybe a little bit in playoffs, but like you're not having a coach coming in head button players like Mike Vrabel or chest bumping on like the Chicago coach. So I always, I always think it's hilarious to see these grown men just like yelling at each other before or after a game. But it definitely is, it's emotional for them. But it's probably like we were talking about the other day, the life expectancy of a coach. Like every game must be a do or die. Like where you're, you're next on the line. So the emotions are unreal. And to be able to see them when they have the cameras in there is so fun.
- [08:08]
Biz
I think that you're, you're playing one game a week. So for hockey, you don't want to go too high, too low. You got to stay more even keel because the amount of times you're playing. But also I think that just with football, the short bursts, like you're like you're all on for six, seven seconds and then you get to relax all on for six, seven seconds. So it's a way different temperament. Just from my observation, the, obviously the throw from Caleb Williams is the one thing that everybody's talking about where he didn't have any feet on the ground and he just somehow figured out that 4 and 10 another. It's crazy though. I, I was watching that game in the second quarter and then I fell asleep right before half and then woke up to the end of the game.
- [08:50]
Whitney
And then like how much time left? Like you saw the last like seven.
- [08:53]
Biz
Minutes legit watching the coach sprint onto the field and then kind of give the Matt LaFleur a shitty handshake.
- [09:00]
Whitney
Yeah.
- [09:00]
Biz
What did you make of that? That, that someone was saying he had a security guard next to him so the Bears coach couldn't hit him with the clip more on the back being like, good job.
- [09:09]
Whitney
There was, there was some shit talk coming out of the Green Bay's locker room apparently during the week leading up, like, we want them or I, I, I don't know the exact quote, but almost like, hey, we're going to go take care of business in Chicago. Paraphrasing. And, and he, you know, Ben Johnson remembered that on the handshake. I almost think if, if a team's giving you bulletin board material and then you get the meet up at the 50 with the other coach, I'd rather sit there for a long time and almost be like, oh, buddy, what a game. We got you. It was a good giveaway, but we ended up getting you. But good effort, but we got you at the end. And just instead of like quickly, you know, shrugging him off, I'm sitting there and making him leave.
- [09:51]
Biz
First you're giving him, you're get, you're giving him that stiff handshake and you're pulling him in almost like you son.
- [09:57]
Whitney
Yeah, like you had us. You had us. You're up 213 and then you were up 11 with like seven minutes left. You had us, but you didn't. And then he finally gave him like.
- [10:05]
Biz
The knuckles and was like off the other knuckles.
- [10:08]
Yan
Yeah.
- [10:09]
Biz
Another Yan's, Another coach that ended up making headlines was the Jaguars one. And for, for good reasons, in my opinion. Certain reporters were losing their minds about this, calling it unprofessional and you're, you're supposed to say unbiased. But there was a woman reporter in, in Jacksonville. Is it Jacksonville Jaguars?
- [10:32]
Yan
Yeah.
- [10:32]
Biz
And she complimented the head coach basically being like, you brought a lot of joy and it was a hard year fought and, and, and you know, congratulations on the success and we'll see you next year. And then all these cranky reporters who have no lives just started fucking feeding in dimensions. What do you guys make of that?
- [10:49]
Yan
I, I thought I loved what she said. It's so like, you never hear anything like that. Right. And I'm sure like, she's been around the team, I would imagine, for a while. They haven't been good for a long time. He comes in, turns their team around, they make the playoffs, they lose the game, but they have a good game. Right. It's, it's giving somebody their flowers. It was a very nice gesture. And the fact that people are pissed about it just shows you how miserable people are in their lives. Like just be happy for someone for one second. He's going to answer the hard questions before or after. But like why can't somebody get a compliment for doing a good job? Which he did.
- [11:24]
Biz
Well said, Dan.
- [11:25]
Yan
Thank you.
- [11:26]
Biz
Well said.
- [11:29]
Whitney
I love that guy. Since that moment. And I thought they, they after that I was like, this could be a 1 in 16 team for eternity. And he turned it around and I, yeah, I didn't really understand the, the anger about that. I mean I don't. Was that at the end, the beginning of the press conference? Like if, if he was asked 10 questions, what's the big deal if one lady's like, I don't know.
- [11:51]
Biz
But he needed a little love. You could tell he was down in the dumps. And he changed that team around. He deserved a nice little tire pump. I don't know how much other football we need to talk about. Boys. Is there anything else that caught your eye before we move on here?
- [12:03]
Yan
The only thing with. I meant to mention it to Dave the last night. Like he must have felt a little stress in that Patriots game. He was. He did a pizza review with Drake May's wife the week of and I think he. They did like a baking show or something together. Like if he loses, if they lose, you know, people are coming after after him for that. So he must have been stressing watching that game.
- [12:24]
Whitney
Well, he says Herbert's horrible. I'll tell you one thing about Justin Herbert. That guy's tough, man. Like he. I think he had a broken hand. I. He was getting crushed at least at the end of the game. And he was standing in there. I don't know how good of a QB he is, but respect to how he's able to like battle through a lot. But yeah, that's kind of it.
- [12:45]
Biz
Biz last week he's dating Madison Beers. He'll get over it. I mean, fuck, I know. Makes 50 sheets. Unreal player. Probably in a Pro Bowl. Madison Beers. Like some guys got it all. Hung like a horse.
- [12:57]
Whitney
Yeah.
- [12:58]
Biz
What else do you want the guy to have?
- [13:00]
Whitney
He'll get a good looking cat. Tall, tan biz. Last thing before hockey. It's incredible. I went, I went over Mincy Shenanigans. You, you described everything. I mean the man is such a. Such a scumbag. He pretty much ruined the paint job in your guest bedroom.
- [13:17]
Biz
Yeah.
- [13:18]
Whitney
And those were piss stains on the floor in the bathroom.
- [13:21]
Biz
Oh yeah, yeah.
- [13:22]
Whitney
Okay.
- [13:23]
Biz
One of the barstool guys goes, was he pissing Worcester sauce? Is that what it's Called Worcester. Worcester.
- [13:30]
Whitney
Yeah, I've seen it. I don't know how to say it. I won't even try to say it, but I know the word you're talking about.
- [13:36]
Biz
That's a tough one. But, so we. I thought that the whole Miny fiasco was over and done with. I said goodbye in the midst of recording our last podcast. Like, I have a window that looks out to my front, and I could see him leaving. So after we were done the pod, I had a bunch of other stuff to do. I had to line up a cleaner. You know, yada, yada, yada. So fast forward to. I think it was that night, or even the next day. I can't remember right now because my brain's a little scrambled.
- [14:04]
Whitney
Night.
- [14:04]
Biz
It was that night. It was that night. So Ohio. Ohio. Tate finally sends out a tweet saying, it's over. Mincy's leaving. I'm. You know, he's going to his friend's mansion with the Lazy River. I'm actually catching a flight out of town. And then underneath, there was an encore tweet. And I don't know who sent it to him, but it was about Mincy leaving one of his Lucy pouches on somebody's nightstand. So as soon as I read that and see that, my light bulb goes off. I'm like, I haven't been to Mince his room yet. So I walk over, I look right at the nightstand around the corner, and then, sure enough, there's a little Lucy pouch on the ground. And you know what? I'm like, that's not bad. It looked like it was a freshie, like he'd just taken it out after he put it in. Not a big deal. It wasn't stuck to the floor. I can put up with that. Well, I pull my head up to go around to go see, like, the closet, if anything's over there. And then you look at my window seal, and the Portolo paint is what it's called. It's completely ruined. This fucking guy jumped in my chlorine pool, came out, took his wet boxers, and maybe he had socks on. I don't know what else he put on there, but puts it on the window seal and completely ruined it. And he. He ended up calling me. It took him a little over 24 hours to call to apologize, especially at the fact that he probably saw all this going on online. But his rebuttal was, is, I didn't know you couldn't put wet stuff on. On. On, like, drywall.
- [15:32]
Whitney
So neither does Wyatt. And he's five.
- [15:34]
Biz
Yeah. So I was like, Mincy, don't worry about it. Because at the end of the day, the amount of joy and laughs that that whole crew brought me over the course of the few days, it was worth the ruined wall. So this guy is an all time fuck up, but you can't deny the numbers that he put up over a 48 hour span with Ohio Tate. They sent out Ohio Tate did a 10 minute breakdown of his full 48 hour experience.
- [15:59]
Yan
It was amazing.
- [16:00]
Biz
It's Emmy worthy. And yeah, that's. That's pretty much the end of it now. But I do hope.
- [16:06]
Yan
Do you know like, if you're taking off anything wet, it goes into the bathroom. I don't care if you put it hanging in the shower, even on the ground in the bathroom, you did not put it on a windows. And that paint biz, I know that paint, it's expensive paint.
- [16:21]
Guest Analyst
That's what I was gonna ask if I. You don't have to say the exact price for what it's going to cost to get fixed, but if I set the over. Under at $5,000.
- [16:29]
Whitney
Over? No way.
- [16:30]
Biz
I would say under. I think the whole room costs like close to 10. Some people might say like, why are you painting your room like that? It's. It's kind of a finish that I think was popular back in the day and it's coming back now. And some people go like over aggressive on it and do their whole house in it. I just. All my walls are basically like an off white throughout the entire house. And that was the guest. The smallest guest bedroom. And the designers were like, hey, why don't we try something different? It gives it a darker feel in there. And then when you close the window shades, it's like pitch black in there. So I was like, sure, let's do it. So that I would assume to prepare is probably going to cost about 1500 to 2 grand. I don't care. I don't need the money. Like I said, Mincy in the crew brought.
- [17:13]
Yan
You weren't going to get it.
- [17:14]
Biz
What?
- [17:15]
Hockey Illuminati
No.
- [17:16]
Biz
He called and offered now what would be cool. And we have saw we have hockey Illuminati coming on soon to talk about and give tribute to a guy named Kevin, who's a suit, who was a super fan for the Toronto Maple Leafs. A heart heartbreaking story and big cat throughout that 48 hours with Chris, who was introduced to us, who has brain cancer. They did that Mincy shirt where they raised money. I thought maybe it would be a good deed where if we did the print of him up my wall. And instead of you guys remember or I've heard of Banksy.
- [17:48]
Yan
Yeah, yeah.
- [17:49]
Biz
Banksy is just like underground artist. I don't think anybody's ever seen what he's looked like. And he all of a sudden will do these portra on the side of buildings or wherever, impromptu, and he'll sign the Banksy. And they're, you know, everyone's tweeting about it. It's the rage. To me, that's Miny Playoff of Banksy. That was his mark that he left on my house, which I won't be getting fixed. I'm going to leave it like that. Oh, and it'll be now known as the Miny Quarters. If we could put that on a shirt and make them where all proceeds help out this, this fan Kevin and, and, and his wife who, you know, who's. Who's still around. That to me would be. That would be the only thing that I would ask for and hope that Mincy would, would promote it. And I mean, we'll, we'll. Once you guys hear the story from hockey Illuminati, I think you guys will understand a lot more about why it would be fun and an amazing thing to raise some money for, for a family in need. So that's pretty much that.
- [18:46]
Yan
You need Minxy to come back and sign it, though.
- [18:49]
Biz
That's. That's kind of what I want. At some point he's going to have to come sign it. But for now, if we print the shirts, we want to do it like a fun little calligraphy or, or however it should.
- [18:57]
Whitney
Maybe he puts the wet bathing suit over his finger and signs it like with a wet bathing suit. So it's, you know, it's similar to the stain now also, I love like along with. I think it's rocket Scientologist. You say World Wind. I love window seal instead of window sill by you. That was a good one. Yeah, I like window seal though. I'm going to be using that.
- [19:21]
Biz
I thought, I thought it like, like the window is sealed. The Nazi was windows.
- [19:26]
Whitney
It is. That's why I love it. That's why it was Okay. I love it. It was sealed.
- [19:31]
Biz
Okay, now I get it.
- [19:33]
Whitney
The other final thing for me is Quigs, one of the most talented men at Barstool. He worked for NASA. Like I. I've been told he is a legit genius. He does all the behind the scenes on sports advisors. Very creative, funny. Twitter, he made an Ohio State Sentel which was just a fake. Did we talk about this last episode.
- [19:56]
Biz
Yeah. What. Go back and describe what the Sentinel is. It's like a humorous Twitter account, right?
- [20:01]
Whitney
It's NBA Senthil. I don't know if I'm saying. Right. Sentel. Where it's. It's just fake stuff. Yeah, it's like a complete parody account. Ironically, the NBA one, I think has like called a couple trades and signings like far in advance of it actually happening. So people think it's a joke and then it actually goes down. But he made the Ohio State one. He put a picture of apparently Minty eating sunflower seeds and there was no less than 800 shells on the guy in front of them, like. And so many people thought it was real. That was incredible. I was dying laughing. That one was great. There was another one where I think he was talking to Chris. This is obviously parody about the money that was raised to help him in his fight of brain cancer. If he could maybe give him some of that for a flight to Miami for the. Or wherever he was going.
- [20:51]
Biz
The national championship game.
- [20:52]
Whitney
Yeah, I don't. I. It was just amazing stuff.
- [20:54]
Guest Analyst
Did you see the one where he put the veterans hat on him on the flight and he's like, yeah.
- [21:01]
Whitney
There was awesome content. But yeah. So a great.
- [21:04]
Biz
Another to it is, is all jokes aside, Big Cat was who had the idea or somebody at the office. And Big Cat was the one who called about it. It was in order to print those shirts that Chris showed up in with Mincy passed out next to him on the flight. I believe at this point right now it's raised just about $150,000 for Chris and his family. So this guy is going through a lot bi weekly or bi monthly treatments on brain cancer, having to do these cross country flights. So this guy's going through a lot, folks. And. And through all the chaos and hilarity in what barstool is, there's obviously a soft spot as well. And. And we got to thank the fans who followed all along and support causes like this. You know, sending Mincy on a bit of a rat race, but then raising $150,000 for a guy who's got brain cancer. Like, I feel like Everybody really went 1:1 in the over that 48 hours.
- [22:00]
Whitney
Yep, yep. That's so true. Getting to the NHL.
- [22:04]
Biz
Yep.
- [22:05]
Whitney
The new Jersey Devils boys.
- [22:07]
Pasha
Oh, God.
- [22:08]
Biz
Oh, God. Let's get the drama going.
- [22:10]
Whitney
Do they stay in the news some more? Some more info and. And Pasha, our resident insane Devils fan, who let me tell you, was the cockiest motherfucker of all time. After nine games this year, I believe the team was 8 and 1. They were cruising along until the Chicago cut rookie party dinner in which Jack Hughes caught himself. Accidental disaster. He goes out the team is, is a joke. Now. Pasha was all over Dougie Hamilton and some others for not waiving their no move clauses which they had rightfully so deserved and signed and Tommy Fitzgerald had given them. Dougie Hamilton being one. It came out that the San Jose Sharks had a trade in place for Hamilton. He said no over the summer. I don't know if it had happened again where they went to him again in recent weeks before the Quinn Hughes to Minnesota deal, he, he might have, he might have scratched off another trade that, that they could have sent him out of town with. But now the team has decided, okay, and you know what? This was kind of the only play they had left. It is now Dougie Hamilton is not playing. He is out of the lineup. And Doug Hamilton's agent, I believe it's JP Barry, came out and had a quote saying, I, we do not believe this is because of his play. This is business. This is them trying to basically force Dougie Hamilton out of town to accept a trade. Now this is business. He's right about that. And if he won't accept the trade, I think this is what Pasha was saying in terms of like, do something. He was mentioning attaching like high draft picks with Dougie Hamilton just to make sure a team would take him. But that still didn't fix the fact that Dougie Hamilton could, could say no. So at this point they're saying, all right, buddy, you want to play hockey, you're going to have to accept the trade. Biz, what do you think about this?
- [24:00]
Biz
I think you did already mention 10 team, no trade list, right? So San Jose being one of them that he declined to trade to this summer. I believe Pasha mentioned that. I'm not sure where he got that info. I, I think it's all fair for them to do that, right? And, but in the same breath, like, I don't know why Pasha, in his brain, he thinks that like, even though Dougie Hamilton, when he negotiated the contract, he got that 10 team, he negotiated what he wanted out of that deal and he has a right to nix it. And I think that even going back to the Truba situation, I feel like he had that same type of energy where it's like, they don't want you just wave it and move on. Where it's like, no, no, no, no. At least slow things down and get the pick. Where you can be happy next. Given the shit show that has transpired and how you've been treated in New Jersey, you want to make sure the place you're going next is maybe on the rise has a great group of guys where you're going to fit in. All of a sudden you're Dougie Hamilton. Not going, oh yeah, you're trying to trade me to a team that's got two guys on my side who they view as just as offensive if not more and they're their prospects and they're going to be around for much longer. So I'm not playing power play anymore. Now I find myself in a shitty situation out of the lineup there and not happy. So why would you do that? So they, but in the same breath they have a right to healthy scratch him and try to make his life as miserable as possible for them. New Jersey. And I believe it's like quoted where they're saying this is not like this doesn't have anything to do with the trade situation. This has to do with his play. I don't know. I'm going to call bullshit on that. Like that's fucking bullshit. So I get that you don't want this guy in your lineup anymore. If anything you should try to be prop him up in order for other teams to maybe want to trade for him. But I, I agree with the having to throw in high end picks to probably get him off the books. If you want him gone, you're probably going to have to maybe give up a prospect, a good draft pick and then maybe in, in, in some case eat salary. In a perfect dream world they would give up two high end draft picks and just get rid of that salary and then be able to add and figure things out from there. But kind of bullshit from the team but also a gm, a coach, an organization that is scrambling so hard right now. And one other detail you missed out from the Chicago cut. How much onus is Frank the Tank putting on himself for being there and taking that photo? He's the one who's at the top of the mountain screaming the loudest even louder than Pasha. I don't even think we're allowed to play his rant on Netflix. Like we would get kicked off of Netflix. We would lose our contract if we played that rant in which he lost his mind on, on Fitzy. On. He calls him Queef. Sheldon Queef. Not Keith.
- [26:54]
Whitney
That's dirty.
- [26:54]
Yan
That's.
- [26:55]
Biz
That's dirty shit.
- [26:56]
Yan
And he's a tough dude too. I wouldn't be saying that.
- [26:58]
Biz
I Wouldn't be it either. Ask Merls what the result is of going after Sheldon Keefe.
- [27:05]
Yan
Yeah.
- [27:05]
Biz
Gouge your eye out now.
- [27:06]
Yan
Like, if they do, if they are able to get a trade, like, every team knows that their hands are tied, right? There's 22 other teams, right? He's got a 10 team, so there's 21 other teams that are like, okay, we're just going to wait. They're going to get such a bad offer. They're not going to be able to trade anything for him. And then Jersey fans are going to be pissed about that. So it's like, I agree with you where you got to play the shit out of them, make them, you know, feel good, have him playing good, and then you can trade them and then maybe get something or at least somebody want them.
- [27:35]
Whitney
Can Pasha come on here quick? Cause I have a question for him and Whit.
- [27:38]
Biz
Are you writing off this season? Are you writing.
- [27:43]
Whitney
No, we don't want him to this year.
- [27:45]
Yan
He wrote off the Buffalo Sabers. Don't write him off with.
- [27:48]
Whitney
Yeah, but, but, but, but. I was rooting for Buffalo deep in my heart while writing them off. I'm writing the Devils off while also just hating everything about them because of the man you see in the picture. Now, Pasha, I forgot to mention the reason that this is all kind of going down now is Kovacevic's back in the lineup. Cool quotes from him. He said he's just, like, so happy to be back playing again. He just almost can't believe it. Like, I'm finally back. You're finally doing what you love. Love to hear that, but I'll disagree with these guys, Pasha, and agree with you a little bit. The healthy scratch, I could see it being because of his play. He's not getting any points. Right. He's not physical. He's not great defensively. You need the 60, 70 point Dougie Hamilton. So are you now on board or are you agreeing with the fact that it is his play, not just we want him to finally say, okay, I'll leave.
- [28:37]
Biz
And one question. Have they healthy, scratched Luke Hughes ever?
- [28:43]
Pasha
Just before we get to that biz, you keep bringing up this fucking Truba thing. I wasn't sitting there being like, oh, Truba wave, they don't want you. I was hoping Truba would stay there because he fucking sucks. So that's bullshit. I don't know what you're.
- [28:54]
Biz
I don't think he sucks. I think he's an effective player.
- [28:56]
Whitney
I mean, I believe he might have more goals this year than Any defenseman on your team.
- [28:59]
Biz
Let's Google it.
- [29:01]
Whitney
You, you're talking about.
- [29:02]
Pasha
Oh, Dougie, like, he wants to control, like, go somewhere good. Up and coming. Yeah. Is San Jose. Not exactly that. San Jose doesn't have much on the right side. They're an up and coming sick team.
- [29:11]
Yan
So I bet if you asked him to go there right now, he would say yes. But over the summertime, nobody, nobody, nobody gets the future.
- [29:19]
Biz
Thank you, Yans, for talking some sense into this idiot.
- [29:21]
Yan
You're welcome.
- [29:22]
Biz
Keep going.
- [29:22]
Pasha
Your question, Whit. I do think. I mean, it's for sure, 100%, like, trade related. Like, we're going to force a trade here. But I think the fact that his on ice play isn't great makes that an easier decision. I think if he was just, you know, lights out. If he was lights out, they wouldn't be in this fucking predicament.
- [29:39]
Whitney
But I mean, I.
- [29:40]
Pasha
Regardless of what Fitzy says, which it's nice to see him, put out a statement. I mean, we hadn't heard from the guy in months. It's definitely, it's definitely.
- [29:48]
Biz
I think he was in St. Bart's.
- [29:50]
Whitney
It was celebrating the new year text that he sent to a reporter describing the situation with Dougie. But Pasha, like, forget Dougie Hamilton. I mean, this team that lost to the Jets, I mean, this team, I'm disgusted is so bad. And I, I don't really. When I say I'm writing them off. Yeah. I mean, I made the 500 bet with Pasha. I think he'll owe me around 7,500 when they missed the playoffs. He's just in the hole. The guy can't win a bet against.
- [30:18]
Pasha
Are you already counting the five grand for Anaheim? Who's lost nine in a row?
- [30:22]
Whitney
Oh, we. We can get into them later. That has gotten ugly. No, I'm not. I was exaggerating on the money right now. I was exaggerating on the money. But I'll ask you, like, I think we made that bet, what, five days ago? Like, you have to go.
- [30:35]
Pasha
A lot changed in that week.
- [30:37]
Whitney
There has been a lot that's changed and there has to be a. A big party. Who's thinking. There's no. There's no way we're getting in. I don't. I don't see it.
- [30:46]
Pasha
I just want to go back to Dougie quick. It's been reported this morning that Anaheim, Vegas, Detroit, San Jose again, Utah and Toronto have interest in Dougie.
- [30:55]
Whitney
So that's really.
- [30:57]
Biz
Yeah, the. The Toronto thing, like, right. We'll get to Toronto later. The, the, the culture in the locker room there, whole it's buzzing right now, busy fucking buzzing.
- [31:10]
Hockey Illuminati
Phase.
- [31:12]
Biz
But I, I mean that would scare me a little bit. You don't want to shake things up too hard. But talking about when he's at the height of his game when it comes to power play, that's one thing that they could use, alleviate a little bit of pressure off of the other guys who, I mean, Oliver was probably a PP1 guy at a certain point in his career. If you evaluated him across the league as far as like what you would, like where you would slot him, I would say you'd say a PP2 guy. Yan, is that fair?
- [31:40]
Yan
Yeah, yeah, I agree with that.
- [31:42]
Biz
So all of a sudden, no tan ev. At least for the rest of the year it's looking like now all of a sudden they got a. Their decor is looking even fucking better. And I don't, I personally don't believe that a guy like Dougie Hamilton, maybe with some of the things you've heard and maybe how he doesn't gel necessarily with. With certain teams or certain cores, I feel like there's no one that could go in right there into Toronto right now and things up. I think that they would embrace him with open arms and Frank the Tank.
- [32:09]
Whitney
If he became a fan.
- [32:11]
Biz
We ain't taking Frank the Tank. He's been fought. I don't even think you need to get into Canada at this point. But I would, I would definitely entertain to see what, what they could get as far as taking on that. But then they would have to get money off the books. Like I don't know even know how that would work. But definitely something I would entertain. But going back to you, Pasha. So you're not writing off this season like you think the, like what percentage do you think that they're going to make the playoffs at this point?
- [32:37]
Pasha
Well, it's interesting you said Toronto, the word Toronto and shakeup. I mean look what's happened since they fired Mark Zavar. The turnaround, something like firing an assistant coach has, has sparked a change. TSN turning point, if you will. The lack of action from the Devils is fucking despicable. And another thing that's actually come out this morning, this theory, people seem to think that Keith is being forced to play a system that Fitz is forcing him to play. I don't know.
- [33:03]
Whitney
I saw this thread. I saw this thread.
- [33:05]
Tom Brady
I don't know if this, but we.
- [33:06]
Whitney
Don'T know if this is legit.
- [33:07]
Pasha
I have no idea if this is legit, but it Seems to be that like these people that are in the know have been talking and certain kind of devil's reporters have been getting messages about it. I have no clue if it's true, but Keith is playing a different system that he played in Toronto. So I don't know. I mean, Fitz has assembled this roster. He kind of changed it from a really fast run and gun roster to more of like a let's try and play Florida style, which is neutered their offense. If that's true, that's a fucking complete joke. If I was on the Fitz fire Fitzy train before, I am now running up to the front of it and I'm putting the conductor hat on and I'm leading that fucking charge because this is a complete mess, a complete disgrace. The team is in. Everyone needs to go. I, I, I, But Dan.
- [33:50]
Biz
Well, you're saying a shake up. They fired Savard because the, the power play was atrocious. If you looked at special teams, their, their power play, the, the devils is at 22%. The penalty kill is maybe what's hurting him a little bit. It's clicking at 77, but nothing like insane to where you're pointing the finger at one guy. So you're obviously saying, Keith, get him out of the chair right now.
- [34:12]
Pasha
Like, are you anyone out of the chair?
- [34:14]
Hockey Illuminati
Yes.
- [34:14]
Whitney
Get Keith. I just want somebody fired.
- [34:17]
Pasha
Yeah, I just want to shake. Get someone out of there. Do something. The benching Dougie was like a nice first step, but like, this should have taken action a long time ago. This team has been broken for a calendar year. The fact that there's been no shakeup of any sort. I don't care who it is. Something's got to give. Something needs to change. It's fucking, it's crazy.
- [34:36]
Hockey Illuminati
It's.
- [34:36]
Pasha
I can't believe what I'm watching.
- [34:38]
Yan
Pasha, I don't know how you can blame a GM when they've got scored on 27 times in 45 games. They've got scored on first 27 times. Like, you got to put some onus on the players on that more than the coach. Like, if your team's going out and not giving you much, even in the Winnipeg game, like they scored, there's no fucking life. Like, no one's even happy. Like, you can just tell it's just misery over there.
- [35:01]
Hockey Illuminati
I agree.
- [35:01]
Pasha
But I think that's like, I think that Keef has lost the room. Slash the team has quit on Keef. And I think that's, that's a big part of it. Like, I Mean, under Keef's tenure, not showing up on time has been a trend that runs back to last season. Giving up the first goal. So I don't know what that is, is just, is he not getting them ready? Obviously, some onus is on the players, but I think right now they're just, they've, they've quit on Keef. He's lost the room. So, yeah, I mean, I think Keith needs to go. Maybe ownership is not letting Fitzy fire Keef because they're like, dude, you hired him a year and a half ago. He's your guy, right? You're gonna fire him like, you know, the, you know, the gun points at you next type thing. I don't know. Yeah, but like, regardless of why there's been no change or, you know, all this inaction, it's a fucking disgrace. I can't believe what I'm watching on the ice.
- [35:45]
Hockey Illuminati
It's.
- [35:46]
Biz
I don't know enough of what goes on the locker room. Like, I don't pick information. Sometimes I hear about stuff. When he was originally hired, people were that I talked to were a little surprised or like, he couldn't really get through to a young core and figure that out in Toronto. Why would all of a sudden he get this, like, young up and coming? Maybe a little, maybe you would have considered them a little bit more established. I would say pretty much. Right. Even.
- [36:10]
Whitney
And also, I like the hiring.
- [36:12]
Biz
I, I, yeah, you view it more on the players then witness.
- [36:18]
Whitney
Yeah, I do.
- [36:19]
Biz
I don't know.
- [36:20]
Whitney
I look at those Toronto teams Keith had. Yeah, the playoffs weren't great, but, God, they were good in the regular season. And I looked at like, the skilled Jersey had. Pasha, you liked the hiring, too?
- [36:30]
Pasha
I did like the hiring. And last year before the injuries and the wheels fell off, they were playing great. And once again this year, before the injuries and the wheels fell off, they were playing great. So again, like I said last pod, like, I wouldn't just fully say, like, oh, I hate Keith. He's a bad hire, he's a bad coach. Fire him. But it's just, it's as a result of just the losses. Like, something has to give. The team just doesn't look engaged. So, like, you know, a sign of.
- [36:54]
Yan
A bad team, like, if one player goes down, you can't lose every game. Like, you gotta have other guys.
- [36:59]
Pasha
More than one player?
- [37:00]
Hockey Illuminati
It was a lot more than one player.
- [37:01]
Whitney
Well, it's just incredible because I said, oh, what does Jersey have coming up here? And I didn't even know.
- [37:07]
Biz
Oh, no.
- [37:07]
Whitney
Strength Biz. And I don't even think, you know this biz. They're in Minnesota. They're in Minnesota. And if. If we've seen some angry Devils fans, if. If they go into Minnesota tonight and Quinn Hughes puts up basically his standard two to three points.
- [37:26]
Pasha
No, he's getting four points.
- [37:28]
Whitney
And the Wild trounce them. It's gonna be me sitting on my nice chair next to my fireplace reading Devil's Twitter with a Permagren on like this.
- [37:39]
Pasha
I, I, I might fly to Jersey for Wednesday's home game. I, I hope it's a bloodbath in there. I hope there's fire. Fitzy chance.
- [37:47]
Biz
Oh, you're vicious, dude.
- [37:51]
Whitney
And they lose.
- [37:52]
Pasha
We're at a breaking point. We're way past a breaking point here. This is unacceptable. It's been going on for way too long. I hope they're booing the whole time, and I hope. Yeah, I am beyond done with this. There's something's got to give.
- [38:05]
Hockey Illuminati
If.
- [38:06]
Biz
If you could pick one of these. Dougie gone. Fitzy fired.
- [38:11]
Pasha
Dougie gone. Dougie gone.
- [38:12]
Hockey Illuminati
Dougie gone.
- [38:13]
Pasha
First.
- [38:13]
Biz
That would be the first move.
- [38:15]
Pasha
Yeah. Because then that will allow Fitzy, I'm sure, because he's got all these trades I'm sure he's been talking about on the table. It'll allow him to shake up the roster. He can't shake up the roster with Dougie on it. So I would imagine if and when Dougie waves, because I think at this point, it's a matter of time. There will be another trade or two trades following shortly to bring in a winger, to bring in a 3C. So, yes, first. That has to be the first domino.
- [38:38]
Biz
Dougie, would you rather see Keef or. Or. Or Fitzy gone?
- [38:44]
Pasha
I think at this point, Fitzy, I. I mean, I think Keith would have a bigger on ice, immediate impact. So maybe that. But I think in terms of genuinely, who's to blame Fitzy, what do you.
- [38:56]
Yan
Even think of the future right now?
- [38:57]
Whitney
It's so crazy, Keith, that I'm not worried about. Where were we when we were at a game and we're hanging with Fitzy in the. In the suite? Pasha was.
- [39:06]
Tom Brady
It was.
- [39:07]
Whitney
It was like a young kid meeting his. His hero.
- [39:09]
Biz
Yeah.
- [39:10]
Whitney
And he was looking at him and he was asking him questions, and he was smiling and he was nervous, and now he's on Netflix calling for the guy to be fired.
- [39:18]
Biz
You know what would be even crazier? If they're in the Eastern Conference finals and Pasha showing up to games and they turn around, but yet they kept everybody. It's Keith still there?
- [39:28]
Hockey Illuminati
I hope so.
- [39:29]
Pasha
I'll put out a statement. I'll apologize to his face. Yeah, it is sad. I. I really, I hate that we've gotten to this point because I loved his body of work up until, you know, not too long ago. So it is sad. But let me ask you guys a question. I sent you that chart. The Devils have the lowest goal scored above expected in the NHL by more than double. It's like minus 22 goals. The next team's the Rangers at like 10 goals. How much of that is just a lack of talent and finishing touch versus like a mental thing, like an. Or a luxury thing?
- [39:58]
Biz
Mental. Yanz, I'll let you answer this one.
- [40:01]
Yan
Yeah, I mean, there's ebbs and flows during a season where, like, you can't buy a goal. Like, just like you. There's no puck lock. Like, you know, pucks are flopping up on your stick as you're going to shoot. But usually like, the good teams can shoot their way out of it. I, I don't see it happening anytime soon there. But, yeah, I'd say it's more. It's just kind of like those lux of a season, right? There's nothing you can, you know, because sometimes they do go in for a guy and sometimes they don't. So I, I don't know. There's. It's really nothing you can.
- [40:29]
Whitney
It is a very, very unlucky team the past few years. Yeah, I'll say that. The injuries. That is like, I mean, dude, it's, it's, it's all luck. When you look at injuries, maybe you talk about guys being smaller or more injury prone, but when you're looking at the devil's luck the past two, three years, I mean, it's, it's, it's probably the worst luck of any team I've seen that's off the top.
- [40:52]
Pasha
Which brings me to my point of view. That Jesper brat doll sitting in your office biz. I might fly to Arizona today and it. I have to, I have to do something.
- [41:01]
Biz
I think you have to try to take a. You, you have to try to make a difference at this point. If you're that much of a hardcore fan. I. Have you ever. Have you reached out to Frank the Tank to ask what he thinks of a solution, like an actual one, as opposed to yelling at his.
- [41:16]
Yan
Yeah, why don't you guys. Why don't you guys try some positivity in your life?
- [41:20]
Pasha
Hey, I have been the most fucking positive Devils fan, even to a deranged point. For my whole fucking life, ok? This is like the first time I've genuinely been very negative about them. So don't talk to me about positivity. But I have a solution, Frank. Because of what he caused that night at dinner, it is now on him. He needs to do everything in his power to get Arnold to come and coach this fucking team. Or at the very least give some pregame speeches. Because the Devils need the power of Arnold.
- [41:51]
Biz
I love that idea. Schwarzenegger in the Devil's. What if they hired him as coach?
- [41:56]
Whitney
I would love that.
- [41:58]
Biz
Everybody's playing the same systems anyway. Who gives a shit?
- [42:01]
Yan
I mean that's Kevin Stevens 2.0.
- [42:05]
Whitney
All right, Pasha. That's devil's talk.
- [42:07]
Hockey Illuminati
All right.
- [42:08]
Biz
I would say though, boys, a lot of it does have to do with like that quote unquote feng shui and, and the puck luck. Like yeah, I remember that year where when we went to the conference finals with Smitty, like he was playing unreal. So we were getting the saves and all those close one goal games. It just feels like we had so much, like we had so much camaraderie in the locker room that it was carrying over to the ice. Then the following season, the lockout happened. We missed that half the year and then it, it felt like we didn't have any of that the next year. Like you know, we'd hit that post, we'd lose that one goal game. We, you know, that, that, that squeaker would go by on Smitty. So I think it just has a lot to do with, with juju and, and you know, creating that positive energy inside of a locker room, especially in hockey. Like I think that that can't be more overstated how important that is.
- [42:58]
Yan
Yeah.
- [43:00]
Whitney
And, and just quickly just a nightmare for another metro club in the New York Rangers who, who took one of the worst beatings I've seen this year at the hands of the Bruins, who aren't necessarily an offensive powerhouse. Ten to two on a matinee game Saturday afternoon, Pasta had six assists. Who's is it? Kuznetsonov? He had four goals. I can't say, I can't say his name correctly. Zaka with his first ever hat trick. And just another, another post game New York Rangers media session. Like I've seen J.T. miller I think five or six times say this is so unacceptable. I have to be better. Trocheck looked like a beaten dog at the end. I don't know what the Rangers do. You got to think Panarin's getting traded in the next month. Obviously that that has come to an end. Who else do you look to trade? I would say that any single player on the Rangers could be traded besides Shusturkin who's injured. So a disaster for the Devils and the Rangers. And who would have guessed that at this point in the year of the Devils, the Rangers and the Islanders that the Islanders would be the club. You talk about good juju biz. You talk about a hell of a team to watch play. A fun team. They get Schaefer in and what are they doing as the Devils and the Rangers are trying to put out fires and, and just talking about disaster after disaster. They're playing hockey in Minnesota on a pond with their entire team. They got Anders Lee and his old Adina captain number nine jersey, Schaefer and Barzell buzzing around. That is a team. That's a team and some good vibes. So shout out the Islanders and the Rangers and the Devils fans. I feel sorry for you, I really do. This is a disaster of epic proportions.
- [44:40]
Biz
And it goes back to what both you guys said. Like other teams are dealing with injuries. They lost the top four defensemen, if not top five and Romano and then Paul Mary, man, like they like every team has dealt with it, especially with this condensed schedule. So credit to what Patty Wa and Darsh have done there over the last whatever. I mean Patty Waugh had basically all of last season to figure things out. Another thing too I've, I've talked about before like Duclair playing like himself again out there, buzzing around and at the end of last year I think it was Patty Wall healthy, scratched him and maybe used the media a little too aggressively to try to get to his player where Patty Waugh, I think he traveled to Montreal this offseason to go talk with him face to face. Like that is that those are the types of details and things you have to do as a modern day coach in order to get through your players and get them going as hard and as balls to the wall night in, night out as possible for you. So it's, it's awesome to see dude. And another thing too, like the Mike Kelly with the analytics, he'll back it up like they're one of the team. The, the fewest dump ins in the league per game. Like they're carrying things in, they're making plays over it. Like they're, they're, they're a fucking fun team to watch all of a sudden. And all the analytics back that up under the hood bitch.
- [45:56]
Yan
Yeah. And you get to see, you get to see, like we've talked about it, you get to see more of these guys personalities with the new coach and new GM in there. It's, it's been a ton of fun watching this team. And just the Shaffer effect, man. Could you imagine, could any Islanders fan imagine that an 18 year old demon will come in and just absolutely turn your franchise around?
- [46:15]
Biz
It's a good question for you two guys too. You came in as offensive defenseman, he really possesses it all. Even though you guys were a little bit older when you made your debuts and stuck around the NHL. Where did you feel that first season? Maybe where you hit the wall a little bit where you're like, oh my God, 82 games, night and night out, the best players in the world. You know, you've been playing 18, 20 minutes. Like when did you guys really be like, oh man, this is a, a different beast.
- [46:44]
Whitney
Man.
- [46:45]
Biz
I think Schaefer hasn't hit it yet.
- [46:47]
Yan
Yeah, I think when you're that young you're just like so excited to be playing like the games, especially the games. I always just loved playing in the games. Like the practice shit that was kind of where you, you hated it. But like the games, it was so much fun. And if you're him and we weren't him with like, it would be even way more fun if you're just out there snapping it around, getting up in the, dominating, making a difference every single night, being the talk of the league, you know, being talked about being on the Olympic team as an 18 year old. So I don't know if he's even going to hit that wall. Especially like you said with this condensed schedule. He hasn't, he hasn't seemed to hit a wall yet. He's going to get a little bit of a break for Olympic break. He's going to come back flying. But yeah, for me it was more so just like being so nervous, like my first training camp. But like we interviewed him before, he didn't seem like a kid that went into a training camp nervous. Like I didn't even want to look at anyone. I was so scared of these guys. But he doesn't seem to have that. He knows he's the man and he's going to continue to do it.
- [47:48]
Whitney
I, I, I was 23, I think and I didn't make the team out of camp, got called up. I think I played 68 games my rookie year. Never felt a wall. Right. I, I, I think I was playing with Sid like it Was not. And then the next year had a. Had a real good year. My best year I had. And I didn't hit a wall that year either. It was playoffs. It was playoffs where. Not necessarily a wall, but more like this is so much harder. Right. So maybe if the. If the Islanders get in, which I think they're. They're a point or two back from first place in that division. Maybe a little bit more from Carolina, but that could be when you see, like, whoa, like, he. He's not completely dominating every shift. He's not able to run and gun because of how much the game changes. So we'll see.
- [48:30]
Biz
Was that against Ottawa with that series you were talking about?
- [48:33]
Whitney
Shot 20 nothing in the first period of game one? No, that was Ottawa.
- [48:37]
Yan
Yeah, that's.
- [48:39]
Biz
Did you book your Expedia trip after that game?
- [48:42]
Yan
They beat him in three.
- [48:44]
Whitney
Yeah, they. Yeah, no, we got a game we actually won. I think game two in Ottawa. But going to the. Going to the Atlantic right now, the Atlantic is buzzing. It's incredible what's happened with this league. I was reading an article where Breezeball GM in Tampa was talking about kind of what's happened with this division. It's pretty cool that all the powerhouses for the past few years, right? You think of Tampa even before Florida, then they come in. Boston's been good forever. Toronto's had really good teams forever. And then it was Detroit, Ottawa, Buffalo. Who am I forgetting?
- [49:19]
Biz
Philly, Montreal.
- [49:21]
Whitney
Montreal, that were kind of, you know, in the rebuilding, figuring out stages now. All of those teams have improved so much, but somehow the top dogs still remain. I mean, Boston maybe not right up there with. And Toronto not right up there with Tampa and Florida, but they're still around. But Buffalo is the one that is just. It's an incredible story and biz. I'm so excited to watch you in between the benches in the Key Bank. And that place, let me tell you, that place right now is as electric as I've ever seen it. Going back to 06 or 07, whatever that year was. Saturday night, that game. Josh Doane and what he's doing. He fights Ryan Strom with six minutes to go in the third period. He'd already had an incredible assist on the second goal. Second where on a back check, he lifts the stick of. I think it was Walsh.
- [50:08]
Hockey Illuminati
Walshy.
- [50:09]
Whitney
I don't know how to say his name. And then Krebs comes in, picks it up, feeds Tage Thompson for a goal. They go up to nothing. You even have to look at the empty netter that Josh Norris scored biz. I don't know if you saw that. Alex Tuck completely dominates whoever it was behind the Nate, behind the net, crushes him, gives it Norris. The place was going bonkers. And after the Josh Stone fight, it was crazy for a soft spoken kid. I guess Shane's the same way. You saw the crazy Shane Josh.
- [50:38]
Biz
Oh yeah.
- [50:38]
Whitney
He looked back to the bench or he was looking at Stroman. It was. It looked like his dad who just would lose his mind in games and was competitive as anyone. This is special man. They've won 13 of 14. Everything's clicking and it's just I never saw it coming as you know by me saying a 0.00% chance of getting in. They are right now sitting in a wild card spot.
- [51:00]
Biz
Yeah, I'll never, I'll never forget that game in LA when Donor was mad. Do you remember that one game when.
- [51:06]
Yan
He chased Brian Boyle into the other team's locker room after the game they got like kicked. They both got kicked out of the. The period. Say There was like five minutes left. They both got a 10 and they got kicked out. And he chased a member in la. You could.
- [51:22]
Biz
I wasn't on the team when that happened.
- [51:24]
Yan
It was unbelievable. Ask Boiler about it. He was like. I was horrified. I think Boiler was right out college too. Like just came out of college.
- [51:31]
Biz
That was before I got there. There one time. I'm talking about, I think like Dustin Brown had done something and then Tip. Remember they had that point system. If you get a shot, you get a point. If you get a hit, you get a point. Tip kind of called out Donor and I think donor had like 18 points on this, on the point system. I think Donor finished the game with 12 hits, two goals, an assistant, eight shots. So you talk about that switch that the domes possess. They're very kind, light hearted people, very into their faith but when the wires cross we're talking full fledged Ned Flanders. So I would imagine that, I would imagine that Josh has a little bit of that in him. And boys, when they made that trade, I'm like God, it doesn't really make sense because I would have assumed that Josh would have needed probably another year or two to really get his feet wet and playing in a responsible top six role. Yeah, but Turka, although maybe not as reliable defensively, he has that speed. He's kind of played in that situation for a little bit longer. I am blown away at the. Not really the opportunity that he's been given but what he's done with it and how his, his hockey sense in his hockey smarts are on full display. Like you, he's not as fast or as big of a bully as Donor out there. Like, I'm not saying he's not physical, but just as far as like body position, you know, always making the right play, his vision, like playmaking abilities. One thing that Donor must have taught him is his net front play because his ability to tip pucks and, and take abuse and still find it and make plays, it's been remarkable, dude. And that's been obviously in my opinion probably outside of Matthias Samuelson, like the brightest, the biggest bright spot on the season so far.
- [53:19]
Yan
Byrams look good too.
- [53:21]
Whitney
Byram.
- [53:22]
Yan
Byram's been really good. I think he's got 10 goals.
- [53:25]
Biz
10 goals.
- [53:26]
Whitney
Now that's his career high too. So he's tied that and Kesselring, who I think he re aggravated an ankle sprain so he'll hopefully be back soon. But he was saying, I think it was that just Josh Stone didn't get the chance like didn't get the opportunity in Utah. I don't think he was saying it in like a bad way. Just he's gotten more of a role here and I, I think he's basically saying I think he could have done this in Utah too. It was just a matter of time if you gave him the ice time. But that, that fight, it was awesome. I mean it was just like the, the. The arena is so electric and we talked about how many people you know weren't going to games and why would they for so long. Now I bet you that tick that Wednesday night biz is going to be insane in there. I bet you you're going to be blown away at what you're seeing from those fans and Byram. So Byron's taken over the second PP role from Owen Power and G has in the outline here that Nick Kyprios was saying that the Sabres have some good young prospects, depth in the system and could be a sleeper team to not only be buying at the deadline but also sign Alex Tuck. Right. I talk about like what he means to that team. You gotta think that they are looking or at least listening on Owen Power deals. I know a young, enormous first overall pick, he can move. You do not want to give up on him. But if you think you're going to have Byram for a while and you have Darlene, like maybe that is something where you're going to net an enormous return. So that's probably something that Sabers fans, I bet you they're arguing about, like, hold on to Power, he's so young, still be so good, or let's see what we could get for him. I don't know. That's just definitely. I, I, There has to be teams asking about him.
- [55:08]
Yan
No, I was just going to say, like, when a team's going like this, though, you don't want to shake up too much. Right? Like, what do you think they need to get to that next, next level where if they were going to get rid of Power, which is he was first overall pick, wasn't he? Like, you're getting rid of a guy like that, you're going to get some good return. Great return. Right. But what would you want back if you were a Sabers fan?
- [55:28]
Whitney
I know.
- [55:29]
Biz
I mean, I feel like you're, I feel like you're okay on D. I think, I think you need to, you need to add up front. But here's the thing, though. As critical as I've been on Power, I think now that they got Byram clicking the way that he's clicking offensively, it now is one less thing for Power to worry about. If I'm them, I try to get through to them and say, just get your base. We need you to be. And I think he's been a lot better like people expect because he got paid what he, what he got paid because what he was when he came in drafted first overall. They're expecting this. They're expecting, they're expecting Darlene, they're expecting, expecting Victor Headman where maybe that's not him ever, but it's definitely not him right now. So let him play five on five, let him kill penalties. Let's see if he can find a little bit more. Worry less about the offensive side, worry more about finding a little bit more aggression in your game. Take more time and space away from forwards, worry more about your gaps and, and, and, you know, 45 second shifts, hard and off be a piece of. And a pain to playing, to play against, especially in front of your own net. And like I said, I think over the course of this stretch of games here, this last 15, I think he has done a better job of that. I personally, as hard as I've been, I would not give up on him this early because if, even if you get what I just said, at $8 million, as big as he is, as good of a skater as is, as much ice as he takes up, I think he could be a very valuable asset moving forward. So, so let's hope he's just slotted in properly and with all that and with maturity, maybe in three years, two, three years, he is like running the second power play. Maybe he is playing 22, 23 every night and mind you, he's still kind of doing that now. So they have a lot of good defensemen. They're getting solid goaltending. As Yan said. I would not shake that up right now because he seems also like a very likable guy in the locker room as well. So. So let's hope he can kind of find that next level much like Samuelson have. Byram, Darlene and the list goes on.
- [57:38]
Whitney
And you, you do see and we talk copycat league and the giant big defenseman that you've seen Vegas win with and Florida win with and then even Ryan Wasofsky and San Jose was talking about it after their game. So hey, this is a giant enormous defense and that we have signed long term, that we picked first overall. We know how good he's going to be. So yeah, just I think it's definitely a, a discussion though between Sabres fans. Maybe ask around biz when you're in town.
- [58:05]
Biz
Here's one for you. Like what about the way that Bowmeester played when he was with St. Louis when they won it like that to me is what I would like to see out of Owen power. Like I hope that it's being communicated to him where it's like, hey, we don't need this 60, 70 point defenseman. We got that with dollar and we almost got it with Byram. Now this is where, where you can really help us out. You got your money, you don't need any points to get paid. Play this solid 20, 22 minutes a night and we're going to be a winning playoff hockey team.
- [58:36]
Yan
Great point.
- [58:38]
Whitney
So now we're going to, we're going to go to Tampa and I biz, you've brought up the no Jack Adams, John Cooper thing for years. It's, it's, it's looking right now like it, it's finally going to change. I mean what they've done, they've won nine straight and the most incredible thing you guys talked about and Pasha's blaming the injuries and I'm talking about the bad luck and you talk about the Islanders grinding through injuries. Nobody's had to deal with it like Tampa, they've played a lot of this year without Hedman, McDonough and Cernac. Three of your top four D out for long periods of stretch and they are just the class, the class of the Atlantic. They're not in first right Now Detroit is. But they have, I think, maybe four, if not three games in hand. Kucherov is at a completely different level. He's a freak. Did you see the game against Philly Saturday? You see his first two goals? The first one, Point gives him a sick backhand pass. He's literally in the crease. One of his feet might be touching the crease. He takes a full clapper from four feet away from the goalie, and it goes shelf. There's one. The next one, he's. He's wheeling out of his own zone. He gives it to point, who makes this sick little move to the middle, gives it back to him, and then Kucharov just wheels around the side and snipes one with a snapshot from like, top of the circle, even a little outside that. And they go on to put up seven. You can't beat them right now. They're built. I don't. I don't even understand how they're built with. They have no.
- [60:08]
Biz
They.
- [60:08]
Whitney
Every year they're all in, right? Last year, they get. They get Bjorkstrand, they get Gourd.
- [60:12]
Tom Brady
They.
- [60:13]
Whitney
They're coming off three first round exits. So there's worry, right? There's worry. But the people who said their window was closed, I think I might have been one of them. Were.
- [60:21]
Yan
Were.
- [60:22]
Whitney
Were very, very wrong.
- [60:24]
Yan
Once again. It honestly just looks like this team is like, okay, we've had enough with Florida winning. We've had enough with every other team beating us. And it's our time to fucking show who we are again. Like, we still have all these guys. We still have guys that can win. We still have John Cooper coaching us. We still got Vassy and that. Like, it's almost like they look themselves in the mirror like, boys. We're still the fucking, you know, Tampa Bay Lightning that we know we are. And they're playing like it right now, and it just looks fun, right? Like they got guys like Radish, like, no one ever heard of him. He's got 12 talks this year. He's coming in. He probably would have got. Wouldn't have gotten the opportunities that he's getting without those injuries. But he is fucking taking it and grabbing it. He's going to set himself up this summer, but it's just finding ways to win games when guys are out and they're doing that. They look like they're having so much fun. They're scoring it well. They're playing hard. Like they're still that piece of shit team, and that's a good Thing in hockey people, if you're a piece of shit team, that is a really good thing. And they got that in them. They got it in them. They'll put their bathing suit on your wooden table.
- [61:32]
Biz
I would say like you guys said like there's like eight to ten games a year where you see them getting in like full line brawls where guys have their gloves off. It's they, they are dogs. And it's funny that we got Tom Brady on this one and he, I think the, the term he used, he said At 25 I was good. At 30, I was great. At 35 I'd basically mastered the craft. That's where I feel like where Kucherov is at. Like he, he's an assassin. He's cracked the code in his brain. He knows exactly what he's going to do with the puck before he gets it. He knows where his line mates are going to be. He knows exactly what to do on the power play. And it, it all starts with him. And like I'm just going to go over his numbers here and this is, there's two years in between this where he didn't play a full slate. He, the year that the first cop, he played 68 games. The year after that he didn't even play in the regular season. And actually I'm going to go three years. The year after that he only played 47 regular seasons. So let's take the two years before that he hit the 100 point mark for the first time. Then the year following that he was 128 and then, then the, the next time he played a full season, full 82, 113 points. Then he had the 144 season. Last year it was 121. And now in 39 games this year he's got 65 and he's probably going to get well over 100 points. Like this is, this is a guy who's going to go down as, as one of the best wingers of all time. Like I would say probably top easily top 10 all time.
- [63:02]
Whitney
I, I, I can't think of like all the great, I mean that's, that's a big time statement. But what, what he's doing now, he's not slowing down. I mean he's played what, 830ish games, has over a thousand points, maybe, maybe less games.
- [63:15]
Biz
Dude, he's got 8.2 games over a thousand points. Thousand fifty nine at this point when.
- [63:22]
Whitney
I brought up McDavid and needing and waiting for him to go on the 40, 20 game 40 point run, which I believe right now it's 18 games, 43 points on his longest career point streak. 18 games, 43 points.
- [63:35]
Biz
That's fucked.
- [63:35]
Whitney
But dude, Kucherov in his last 21 has 46 points. So you always talk Draisaitl and McKinnon and McDavid and I do it more than anyone. And he just sits there in Tampa and not many people talk about him and he fucking dominates every single season. And then he gets in these modes where it's crazy and you talk about Mincy mode. Piece of shit. He's a complete piece of shit. He's probably, probably the dirtiest skilled player in the NHL. Like he is. He will spear you, he will cross check you, he will elbow you, which hey, probably creates more room for him. He does not give a fuck. I never knew until I think Pat Maroon might have been the first guy that told me how insane, like dedicated he is and how every single day in the summer he's on the ice alone. Like the same traits as the other greats. But watching him play, it's, it's, it's. He is so smooth. It's complete silk out there. And then add that in with like a kind of a prick switch that he can flip. It's incredible. And points back and points now doing his thing. But just to not have those 3D I mentioned off the hop, it's wild to see. And Breezeball talks about not having draft picks. Like, I don't care. Like our window, we don't believe it's closed like that is years down the road. We're trying to win. I'd rather have really good hockey players on my team than draft picks. And every organization's different in what they're looking for in certain times. But this has been a long run for them. Dude, you go back to when they lost the cup final with Coop to Chicago. What was that? Was that 15?
- [65:13]
Yan
15? Yeah.
- [65:14]
Whitney
I mean that's 11 years ago. They've been in the mix. One of the years they set the record that the Bruins then broke and lost in the first round. They still have two cups, so. Incredible stuff.
- [65:23]
Biz
And just to go back to that stretch, right, I gave you those three years, he didn't hit the 100 point mark. The year he had 68 games played, he had 85 points. So well over a point per game. He sat out that full next season, decided, hey, let's put the gear back on for playoffs here. When they won another Stanley cup, the back to back, and he had 32 points in 23 games after not playing one goddamn regular season.
- [65:47]
Whitney
And, and, and that was the. And that was. Did he. Didn't he have the T shirt on? What did he say after that cup? About as I couldn't understand. Crippled. He was shit faced.
- [65:57]
Yan
Yeah.
- [65:57]
Whitney
Just mocking. Everyone that was furious about the ltir. They pretty much began that ltir madness that Vegas then took over as the Kings with the Mark Stones.
- [66:07]
Yan
We played them that year, first round. And that was. That was during the COVID where you kind of. You'd play a team like three times in a row. So we were in Tampa for like a week and he wasn't skating. He'd just go out there and practice after. And everyone was like, oh, he's not even gonna play in playoffs. I'm like, he's gonna play. He was just out there by himself, dominant, like, just looking so nasty. Like it was so effortless for him. Then he comes into a playoff situation where that series was one of the best series ever. And he just absolutely dominated. It was like he'd been playing all year and nobody else had been playing all year.
- [66:41]
Whitney
Forsberg did it. Forsberg and him, they could. I. I think they're the only two that missed the whole regular season then let led the playoffs in scoring. It's alien stuff.
- [66:49]
Biz
Yeah. Anytime you're being mentioned in that conversation. But just going back to Breeze, Bois, their scouting staff, how they're able to reload. And then of course, Coop, like with the 3D being missed for majority of the time and them still doing what they're doing. Nine in a row. Like Coop has to be way at the top of the list to finally crack his first Jack Adams. That's the one takeaway from all this that has to get hammered down.
- [67:13]
Yan
Yeah, I'd say it's Coop and Warsovski. One and two for me right now for. For Jack Adams.
- [67:18]
Tom Brady
Yeah.
- [67:19]
Biz
Celebrity might win the Jack Adams.
- [67:21]
Whitney
Fuck celebrity. Just quickly. He has 70 points. The next closest is two guys with 32. So if they're in the playoffs, I don't care if McDonald's 155. He's winning the heart. This is an Atlantic. This is an Atlantic kind of show. Today, last thing on Buffalo. I forgot looking at my notes. Josh Stone leads the NHL and takeaways. Forgot to mention that one.
- [67:47]
Yan
That's a pretty sad, unreal style style.
- [67:50]
Whitney
Datsuk style. So where are we going next?
- [67:54]
Yan
And that's all effort. That's all that is, is effort. Right. Like he's getting on the back check. He's good in the corners, putting himself in bad. The tough positions. But that's all effort. And anyone can do that.
- [68:05]
Whitney
Grinelli. Grinelli. Two things he wants to mention Josh Stone.
- [68:07]
Tom Brady
He.
- [68:08]
Whitney
Grinelli guarantees on Team USA at the next Olympics. The Grinelli guarantee. I gotta guess that thing's hitting at a maybe 7%.
- [68:16]
Yan
Yeah. Cancel out. Cancel out.
- [68:17]
Biz
They'll be playing for Latvia.
- [68:20]
Whitney
And then Grinnelli also says that. And I kind of like this. I. I see this guy in their system is Canucks going full rebuild. Tampa, Connor Garland. That is something that they could pull off. That is something that I could see them.
- [68:35]
Biz
No, no, no, no, no, no. I. I bet you they go after Sherwood before they go after Connor Garland.
- [68:41]
Yan
Yeah, he.
- [68:42]
Biz
He reason why. Wait, the reason why Garland might make sense is because he's got term left on his contract?
- [68:48]
Whitney
Or is he always like the term.
- [68:51]
Tom Brady
Because Garland just recently just signed.
- [68:53]
Biz
Yeah, but where Keefer Sherwood's making a million and a half this year, so to be able to slide him in and also sign him, that. That could be a potential.
- [69:03]
Yan
They might not have the draft picks, though.
- [69:06]
Guest Analyst
So someone who does have the draft picks and what the team I actually meant by that is Buffalo Sabers. I think Connor Garland is a perfect fit in Buffalo. They have tons of draft picks, tons of prospects. They have all the cat. Canucks ownership came out yesterday and said, we're going full rebuild. It's time.
- [69:21]
Whitney
They did.
- [69:22]
Guest Analyst
Yeah, they did. Rutherford. It was. I think it was Rutherford. And Alvine came out and said, it's time.
- [69:27]
Yan
I don't believe it.
- [69:28]
Hockey Illuminati
Until.
- [69:29]
Yan
What the.
- [69:30]
Hockey Illuminati
What the.
- [69:31]
Yan
Unless he says it, I don't believe it.
- [69:36]
Whitney
So in the Atlantic still Detroit, buddy. This whole division, seven two and one in their last 10. John Gibson boys on fire.
- [69:45]
Biz
Was he won 12 of his last 14.
- [69:47]
Whitney
Yes, 12 of his last 14. Big win against Montreal Saturday night. Four nothing. I think the coolest thing that's happened with Detroit in this past week is JVR showing up. Officer Doofy, as Keith calls him in a full Batman costume. It was the same costume I believe I had on for Halloween because it was his son's fourth birthday and he said, dad, I want you to dress up as Batman. Somebody tweeted this is why they made the. The no dress code rule in the NHL for moments like this.
- [70:19]
Yan
Well, I thought I texted him. I thought he was like, late for the bus because I know he usually sleeps in his Batman pajamas, so I thought he just like rushed to the bus and forgot to put his suit. But did you guys see the video that he. They Made for the first son. They made a video with like three of the other guys addressed as dressed as superheroes. It was unbelievable. I'll send it and have them post it, but it's so cool. But this team, and just speaking of Reamer with that, like, they got the perfect amount of veterans, right? They got good older guys that can be around, teach these guys, like JVR his, you know, been around forever, knows what it takes, Kaner knows what it takes. And the young guys are helping each other and the older guys are there for them. So I love the makeup of this group. And like you said, John Gibson is playing like he did in Anaheim in 2010. It's been. Been awesome to see.
- [71:10]
Biz
Yeah. You have to give a lot of credit to Steve Eisenman for remaining patient, especially when the entire fan base was ready to lose their minds about the lack of playoffs and, and what has it been, 11 years now? Maybe 10, 11. But one of the, yeah, one of the issues that he had to address was goaltending and Talbot was, was fine. It was just sometimes if he would dip off, who was the guy that you went to? And now the fact that they got those two guys and, and Gibson didn't also have the best of starts this season where Talbot actually had the net more. So great to see that tandem working together. And hey, you ride the hot hand. Gibson's been buzzing. He's been rejuvenated. And I don't think you can say enough. I mean, just like we pump breeze bois tires and their, their staff or the way they draft, develop, they retool. I mean, so far, a lot of these young players for Detroit are looking good. And I know that, that Quinn Hughes trade might have been looking very enticing to them and to rush things and get it done, but it didn't. It didn't feel right at the right time. So. But yet they keep on chugging. So credit to Detroit and, and also to me. It was also part of the juju that they created at the start of the year with the fact that Sergey Fedorov's number was going to go to the rafters. And it just so happens that it's happening tonight in Detroit. Some very funny content. Darren McCarthy. McCarthy is. McCarthy has been documenting it, taking selfie videos. They had like the master's lunch or dinner yesterday style with. With celebrating whatever he wanted to eat. They had the Russian caviar out. So. So it's, it's a lot of things looking up right now in Detroit, and it's a fun Fan base to follow when that's the case.
- [72:52]
Yan
Ever since the eyes are your eyes are the eyes. Ever since then they've been hot, man. And it's. You should take a little bit of the credit.
- [73:03]
Biz
Yeah, I will.
- [73:04]
Yan
Okay.
- [73:04]
Hockey Illuminati
I will.
- [73:04]
Yan
But even I think Gibson is first game with Detroit. He got pulled in the first game. Like, just the resiliency from him playing so well. But I played with Talbot in New York. He's an unbelievable backup. Like, he can come in and get hot for you, right? Like, if Gibson's struggling at any point, he can come and take the net for four or five games and be unreal. But this team's unreal. Like Lucas Raymond. How good is this kid Dylan Larkin? Like, Dylan Larkin is playing. He plays both sides of the puck so hard like you're going to see it, see it on Team usa. He won't be playing, you know, a top six role probably, but just like what he brings to that team, you can tell he is sick and tired of not being in the playoffs. And, you know, they're showing it every night. They're. They play hard. They play for each other. And you know, Whit always says that when Detroit's in the playoffs, the league's in a better place.
- [73:51]
Whitney
I love Detroit. They got the Cane magic. Also Biz you mentioned like the goalie and how he had to go out and do something. Now, like they got Augustine at Michigan State and then they. The Sebastian is a cost CASA coast. He's 17 and 1 in the AHL with a 168 goals against and a 937 save percentage. So they got like, they want to bring a guy in that's one of those guys could get moved out. Right. You bring in a big A team who needs a goalie. And the Fedorov thing. Sorry to just get up quick. Just the coolest guy of all time. The biggest. And my question about Fedorov was who to you is a current Sergey Fedorov? Like, who compares to Sergey Fedorov?
- [74:37]
Yan
I would say Austin probably just like Auston Matthews with the Andy's.
- [74:42]
Whitney
Good defensively.
- [74:43]
Yan
Good defensively. Okay.
- [74:44]
Whitney
I like that one.
- [74:46]
Yan
Just like the style, the swagger that he has.
- [74:48]
Whitney
Gee, it's not pasta. Pasta is never winning the Selkie trophy the same year he wins mvp. It's not pasta G. That's a granoli guarantee. But he.
- [74:57]
Yan
Maybe the swagger part I can see a little bit like the way. But the. You meant the whole game and everything.
- [75:02]
Whitney
I just meant as a hockey player.
- [75:04]
Biz
I would say Josh Dong Yeah, same.
- [75:07]
Yan
Yeah, I'd say big Poppy.
- [75:10]
Biz
That's a great. That's a great call. I mean, it's hard. It's.
- [75:16]
Whitney
Because when you're not bad.
- [75:18]
Yan
But he. Yeah, Fedorov was a little bit faster, maybe.
- [75:21]
Biz
Yeah, he's flashier.
- [75:22]
Yan
Yeah.
- [75:23]
Biz
I don't. I wouldn't say Capri soft. Is that unreal defensively, but.
- [75:28]
Whitney
But like the Russian aspect.
- [75:30]
Biz
But the Russian aspect, the offensive flair, how he can wheel on his own in the offensive zone.
- [75:35]
Whitney
Cooch. Cooch is carrying it up the ice. Looks similar.
- [75:38]
Biz
Yeah, Cooch can be a little bit lazadaisical in a sense of like on the way back. But hey, fuck who he's. I just rode you off his numbers. I let him bang my old lady if he was on my team. If you're putting up those numbers, fuck.
- [75:52]
Yan
And take your dog.
- [75:53]
Biz
Yeah. Antique. Hey, but you were saying that we're heavy on the Atlantic and this is. I don't know if this is exactly up to date, but this is why it's so hard to make up any type of ground. Detroit 72 and 1, Tampa 9 and 1. Montreal dealing with all the injuries they've dealt with. And we could talk about Demidov and where you think he ranks as far as the rookie of the year.
- [76:17]
Whitney
He might be fedorov.
- [76:19]
Hockey Illuminati
Yeah.
- [76:20]
Biz
They're 6, 2 and 2 in their last 10. Buffalo. By the way, Buffalo is still a wagon. You have to lose back to back games to lose wagon status. And they have not done that. Every time they've faltered, they've won the next game. So they're nine problems.
- [76:32]
Whitney
You're coming into town. That's a worry.
- [76:35]
Biz
That's a little bit of a worry. And then Toronto. Don't even get me started. 71 and 2 in their last 10. So. And we haven't even mentioned Boston. You know, I don't. It's. It's fucking crazy what's going on in the Atlantic. The toughest division in the league right now.
- [76:49]
Yan
And we were the worst division for a while, right?
- [76:53]
Biz
Yeah.
- [76:54]
Hockey Illuminati
Yeah.
- [76:54]
Whitney
I mean, yeah, it was like Buffalo even before Florida got real good. It was just Boston, Toronto, Tampa, Florida came and yeah, those other teams. Now the only team that is. Is going through it is. Is Ottawa. I want to shout out Brady Tkachuk's answer and discussion to the media when addressing those rumors, like, talk about a guy you don't want pissed off. He was fuming. You could tell. I think he said it's fucking bullshit. I think he said that a few times, almost like, do not ask me this again. This is a fucking joke. You wanna, I like how he said you wanna, you wanna critique us for our play, you wanna critique us for our losses, no problem. But that stuff was fucking bullshit. So he made that clear. And Ottawa continues to struggle. So that's the one team and man, 97 points last year. They give the Leafs a good goal. They were down 3 0, but they made it a series. I was expecting big things and it's just been a disaster. So I don't know what Ottawa's gonna do. I don't know if they could figure it out. But Biz, you said it like you can, you just can't gain ground. It's so hard. Every game seems like it goes to overtime or a shootout. You know, everyone's getting points. It's, it's nuts. And last thing on Detroit. Sorry, this was a tweet I saw. Just wanted to mention maybe get your guys opinion. The 2021 NHL Draft, if you look at it, it was, it was a tough draft similar to mine. 2002, there's a lot of Detroit fans saying Simon Edmondson, who went sixth, could be the first overall pick if you redrafted it right now. Now I'll give you some names quickly. It was Owen Power went first, then Benirs went second, Mason McTavish third, Luke Hughes fourth, Kent Johnson after that, man, Wyatt Johnson's down there. That's a possibility. But, but I think. And Dylan Gunther was ninth. But I kind of could see the argument from Detroit fans on what Edmondson looks like, how young he is, how good he's going to be as being a guy. If you went back and did it, could go first overall in that. So it's not just cider biz. You now get the chance to talk about the Leafs. I, I, I, I. It sucks. It really hurts that I can't be the one laughing. And it's your time. Keith took the headphones out. He's not listening, but go ahead. It's been impressive.
- [79:12]
Biz
Well, this could be a discussion, boys. I mean if you want to start with the power play since unfortunately, since Savard let go, like that's a tough thing right before Christmas. But Sullivan takes over and they're clicking at 40%. Like that has alleviated a lot of pressure off of them as far as their offense. And remember they're still one of the higher scoring teams in the league per game. I want to say that they're in the top eight right now. Penley kill you. Actually, if we're talking about the full Atlantic. I think that four of the four of the top teams in the top six in the league are from the Atlantic Division. So all of them are buzzing right now. That's been the one bright spot. Derek Lalonde took that over and they have been humming despite the injuries of missing your. Your best defensive defenseman in Tanev and then having Carlo out as long as he's been out since Carlo's been back, buddy, like, it was a very difficult start to the season for him, but he has now filled that hole of Ms. Santana where he's been a beast. I think he got the belt the other night in the locker room. Immense amongst all the commotion and celebration with the mojo that they got going on. Domi fighting in that game against Vancouver and like taking on a little bit more of that aggressor role like Berube was, was loving it. Obviously. Matt, could we not agree Matthews is just simply back to normal? Yeah, we could stop.
- [80:35]
Whitney
Great for us in Italy. Awesome timing, buddy.
- [80:38]
Biz
You could throw the, the potential back issues out the window, which I didn't know if they were going on because I agree with a lot of people in the first half of the season maybe didn't look exactly like the Pablo we're used to seeing, but getting used to new line mates. Speaking of like Michelle, like world, World of difference, guys. And I know that you guys threw a couple insults my way. Like, oh yeah, they're going to replace that they missed with Marner with the, you know, two extra, two, three extra guys that they brought in. Can we not agree that if Michelle keeps playing the way he's playing, like I'm okay with saving some money and having him on the wing. Like, I don't know.
- [81:13]
Yan
Marner was.
- [81:14]
Biz
Come on, buddy, you gotta. You have to snap the money around and plug holes in other areas and that's what they've done. Like McMahon's been fucking unbelievable. We're going to get. Get the HID's tribute soon. The Dakota Joshua, I think like goaltending. I mean Hilda, Beast and Wall, despite the injuries and in and out and the goalie rotation, like each goal, he's obviously played some substantial time this season. But between Hilda, Beast and Wall, they're fucking kicking right now and that's huge. And I've talked about how strong they are in that. Why you have a blank stare in your face, Whit. You don't seem too impressed.
- [81:49]
Whitney
No, I'm, I'm, I am.
- [81:51]
Yan
I am impressing all the info.
- [81:53]
Whitney
I'm. I'm taking playoffs that's kind of what I was. Look. I was actually looking at the standings while you're talking. That explains the blank face. Also, like, you know, not very very smart sometimes. So I think my blank face is just like me, like trying to like, process. But yeah, out of the playoffs. But. But hey, one point out of the playoffs and it was a lot uglier before. So. Everything you're saying is true. Everything you're saying is true.
- [82:15]
Biz
And then Wheel and Nylander comes back after injury and. And having his tits out in the press box. He had what, one and two the other night? So. So it's just like. It's good vibes in Toronto. I love seeing the clips of inside the locker room. And it's more about. It's more about the fact that lately I've just been like a. Like a proud fan watching them because, like, maybe the expectations aren't as high as. As they were in years past without having Marner and figuring out things without him. But I would say over the last 10 games, man, like, that's the identity I want my team playing with. And if they end up snake sneaking a wild card, that's all I've asked for. If they make playoffs and they're playing the way that they're playing now, I think that they're a dangerous team. There's nobody in the east that scares me. This is not the. This is not the Western Conference. There's no Vegas, there's no Edmonton, there's no Dallas, there's no Colorado, no. No Minnesota. We're talking about an even playing field here in the East. Maybe not as strong in the west, but, buddy, you just got to keep clawing away and get there. And I got hockey Illuminati coming on right now, boys. And I know like normally he comes on and he's fucking telling you all the these crazy things about why we think it's our year. Although we still.
- [83:27]
Yan
I'm sure he will have some of those.
- [83:29]
Biz
It's more about to break down what he saw and to specifically talk about this gesture from. From Bobby McMahon. So, Hockey Illuminati. Look at the Stanley cup behind you.
- [83:39]
Whitney
Cannot have that cup in your room.
- [83:41]
Biz
Illumina.
- [83:41]
Whitney
Illuminati.
- [83:42]
Biz
Why not?
- [83:42]
Whitney
Because.
- [83:43]
Hockey Illuminati
Fellas, did you miss me? The Illuminati has dropped in from the portal. Okay. I really thought the last time I was gonna. Or last time when I signed off with you guys, I thought the next time I'd be coming on, we'd be teeing up Leafs, Carolina, Eastern Conference final. That did not work out, obviously.
- [83:59]
Biz
Nope, Nope.
- [84:01]
Hockey Illuminati
And with the Stanley cup in the background. Okay. What you got to understand is there's. I figured I'm gonna use the cup as a planter this year.
- [84:08]
Yan
Okay.
- [84:08]
Hockey Illuminati
This is a plant that I picked up from the region of our year.
- [84:12]
Yan
Okay.
- [84:12]
Hockey Illuminati
And I was told by the botanist that the flowers would start blooming in the spring. So this is what we're doing this year. We're planting the seeds early for the.
- [84:20]
Whitney
That's like golf courses. Ironically enough, that's what happens at golf courses.
- [84:25]
Hockey Illuminati
Exactly.
- [84:25]
Whitney
Flowers and you're. And you're loving.
- [84:28]
Hockey Illuminati
Yeah.
- [84:29]
Whitney
I'm on vacation.
- [84:30]
Hockey Illuminati
Yeah. Hey, listen, this year it's. It's been a very, very weird different year. We knew it was going to be a transition, that it was going to be. Things were going to look and feel a lot different without Mitchie, and we had more injuries than anybody else beginning of the year. And it was. It was really ugly. And the sky was falling every other day here in Toronto. But thanks to Austin Matthews, that's what really sparked this. I mean, we're talking about Savard and whatever that caused. Maybe the boys felt bad about one of their lads losing a job right before Christmas and that woke them up. But really, this turnaround started with Matthews showing some spunk. And that's what it has to be. It's from the top down. It's from the top down. And all of a sudden we started to see, hey, there's that old vintage Poppy that we know and love. And when he's on his game, he's one of the best. And we've just seen the trickle down effect. And, you know, Biz, you mentioned the glue. Guys like, like Lawton and. And Domi are making this feel like more of a team. Troy Stetcher has been such a revelation for this team, you know, and like, what we've seen him do this year, winking into the camera, doing the Maximus gladiator, pumping the crowd up, these may seem like little things, but Leaf fans are not used to seeing their players acting like that. You know, the guys are in bubble wrap in Toronto and it's little things like this that. That are bit by bit, maybe changing the culture. Like we saw the guys making fun of Easton Callan when he was doing his postgame interview the other day, and Riley popping out, they're teasing Cowan. It looks like a team. And to your point, Biz, all we want in Leaf Nation is we just want to be proud to be Leaf fans and we want to see the boys empty the Tank and show the fan base they know how sacred it is to play for this team.
- [86:14]
Yan
Oh, that's all you guys want?
- [86:16]
Whitney
Yeah, they want respect from the players, Keith.
- [86:18]
Hockey Illuminati
Yeah, we want lower ticket prices. We want our arena to be a little louder. You know, there's a lot of things we want.
- [86:24]
Pasha
Yeah, there's a lot of things we really want.
- [86:25]
Hockey Illuminati
To beat your, your Panthers last year. I'm still dealing with that trauma and I will be probably for the of my life.
- [86:29]
Biz
How cool was it seeing Lawton come out the in pregame skate and offer up the boys250 to the MVP of the pregame skate? Like the ANS is Leanne's play with him in Philly and adding character, guys like that and guys who really make a long 82 game season, especially when it's condensed and maybe the body and mind are worn down a little bit. Having a guy who's bringing that much humor and, and, and, and levity to a locker room is the world of difference. And Yan's like you, you saw it firsthand.
- [86:59]
Yan
Yeah. I mean it. He told the story when he was on the other day. Like you may show up to the rink and he's in the hot tub with the team chef. Like it's, it's little things like that. But like you said throughout a 82 game season, you need some, you need some clowns in the locker room. You need. But he's also a guy. Like he's a clown in the locker room, but he's probably playing with a broken foot, a broken hand. Like the guy's a complete warrior. He's given 110% every night and he's from there, right. So he's got that extra, you know, sense of pride to be putting on that jersey every night. You know how, how important it is to that group and you see it, right? Like their locker room stuff that they got going right now is so cool. Chief looks like he's ready to he kill anyone he wants to. But just a fun group to watch right now. As much as I hate to say it, especially with you on here. Illuminati.
- [87:43]
Hockey Illuminati
Yeah. And so that warms my heart, buddy. I know you were really excited to have me come on today, you know, and, and I know you were, Whit. I know you got a soft spot for the leaf somewhere in your heart, buddy. I know it's there.
- [87:54]
Biz
Before, before Whit goes on. Well, I was going to ask you about, well, you mentioned Scotty Lawton and, and the gladiator move. Was that something that you Think really galvanized the boys. Illuminati.
- [88:06]
Hockey Illuminati
It got not just the boys, but the fan base. You know, like again, the yacht club is a real thing. That's a real thing. The rig is a joke. Okay? The atmosphere, man, I was there on Saturday and even though this big fiver thing, win versus Vancouver, man, that's a big problem. And, and it's. It's little things like that that galvanize not just the players but, but the fans. And again, we're not used to seeing our players necessarily act like that, especially, you know, in the, you know, this.
- [88:31]
Guest Analyst
Era, we'll call it.
- [88:32]
Hockey Illuminati
So that, that does, that does do a big thing. And you know, Max Domi, man, Max only dropping the gloves the other night and scrapping someone twice as big as him with a smile on his face. Max is such a key facilitator of passion for the team and the span base because of obviously whose dad is, but man, like he's. I always joke that like Max Dalmi is like the best, worst player. Like sometimes you won't notice him. And then there are other nights where he's like, wow, like this guy is unbelievable when he's on his game. And we need him locked in every single night. We need Nylander locked in every single night. And like half a season left. Let's get into the playoffs and see what happens. That's all we want this year.
- [89:10]
Whitney
All right, everyone, listen up. Rollback is back for another year. We rocked their gear so hard in 2025, they basically had no choice but to run it back. Couldn't keep us out of the merch room. Let's start with the Roback Delta pants. These things are absolute wagon makers. They even make it look like I kind of have a butt. My pizza box butt looks great in the Delta pants. The Roback Delta pants. I'm telling you, they make the caboose look like you've actually been training. They're comfy, they stretch, and they've actually got room in the thighs for us hockey players. Players, just an unreal fit. Next up, the Roback sprint joggers. These beauties, soft, stretchy dialed. Perfect for lounging, traveling, pretending you're working from home, or just crushing some pink Whitney on the couch. If you're due for a new pair of joggers, don't overthink it. Grab the Roback Spring joggers. So use code chiclets on roback.com for 20 off your first purchase through the end of the week. That's c h I c l e t s on r h O-B-A-K.com 20% off all pants, joggers and more with code Chiclets. Give me the Illuminati breakdown for what you picture Easton cowan in. In three, four, five years. Like you think he's a first line NHL or second line, you know, 60, 80 point guy. What do you picture? What is the goal for you with him? Because it seems like the boys like love this kid. Seems like he's a fun guy cowboy. So I'm wondering, do you. Do the Leafs finally have a new age prospect after the Nylander Marner Matthews class?
- [90:43]
Biz
Well, timeout Matthew. Nice. Is. Is a. Is. Is that very true. He definitely progressed into that and I.
- [90:51]
Whitney
Also forgot him in the 2021 draft, so. Very true.
- [90:55]
Hockey Illuminati
We also forgot him on the Olympic team.
- [90:57]
Whitney
I. Hey, I, I would have been. Been completely fine with that. I think if that team started off better. Like I know he had moments. He had that one goal when we were doing against Carolina that was incredible. I would have been fine with that.
- [91:11]
Hockey Illuminati
So he's a horse man and he's only 23 and he's still, he's had a good season, but yeah, he's had a good season, but he's still got room to grow, man.
- [91:19]
Whitney
Like he would have needed to light it, right?
- [91:21]
Hockey Illuminati
Yeah.
- [91:22]
Whitney
To get on that power forwards.
- [91:23]
Hockey Illuminati
I don't know Biz with Colin. What do we think? Like, it's hard to. It's hard to judge a teenager, you know, like, like all, all I know.
- [91:30]
Biz
Right now is he's bringing the passion and that move he had the other night where he dodged the, the. The four checker for Florida and then ended up starting the whole playoff and then finished it off at the other end. I, I've just been so proud of him and the way that he's progressed. Robertson's been awesome, especially with the opportunity he's been given. And I, I know we spent a lot of time in the Leafs, as we always do, because I'm a hardcore Leafs fan and you are, but the main reason why I brought Illuminati, who's one of the biggest Leafs fans out there on today, was because of a gesture that sparked the conversation I had with Illuminati yesterday. I was, I was. I never expected yesterday to be full on bawling my eyes out, but I guess I'll start the story here. So you posted to your Instagram a tribute to a gentleman named Kevin who worked at the Loblaws in Toronto near where you live. And you would go in there all the time and you guys had obviously gained friendship and would chat about the leaves, take pictures together, joke around about the highs and lows of being a Leafs fan. And it also just so happens that Bobby McMahon doesn't live too far from where you guys are at and also attends the same Loblaws. Well, it's tragedy struck, guys, and Kevin ended up losing his life. And after that tribute that you posted, Elliot Friedman then posted it to Hockey Night in Canada with Bobby McMahon walking in with a vest that Kevin would wear at work. Probably because when you're grabbing all the carts, sometimes it's dark, it's a reflector on it, just so you know, you don't get ran over. And that was kind of, I guess that was his like signature vest. Right? Everybody knew him always wearing that. So Bobby McMahon pays tribute by walking into the rink with that, that vest on. It's on hiking Hockey Night in Canada. And then I think yesterday. Well, I'm going to call, I'm going to call Illuminati. I actually saw that on his timeline a few days ago. And then I'll throw it over to you. Illuminati. Like this. This is the conversation we ended up having and what eventually led me to tears. So.
- [93:28]
Hockey Illuminati
Yeah, and, and now it's being picked up by CBC and Global and all, all the hockey pages on Instagram are reposting. And, and you know, what I want to do is just add some context to who this guy was and why he was so special. Right. And, and I really appreciate you inviting me on to shine the, the Chiclets platform light on this, on this fellow who was one of the kindest, sweetest men I've ever met. And Leaf Nation. No hockey team has more fans than Leaf Nation. I can legitimately say Kevin was one of the biggest, most die hard fans and the most optimistic guys there. There was. And he passed away at only 48 during the Flyers game. Leafs Flyers during the game last week. So I'm gonna try. I'm gonna. And I'm not, I'm not, I'm not gonna lay anything on here for theatrics or to make this, you know, a compelling story. I'm going to rip it raw right now with what happened and what I experienced last week. So I've been living in Fort York here in Toronto for the last four years, and I start going into the Loblaws when I moved in here, across the street at Lakeshore and Bathurst. And I'd always go in and see this, this sweet Guy in his vest and leaf gear, pushing the carts. And our relationship started with just little head nods on game day, like, hey, big, big one tonight. Let's get a little fist bump. Big one. You know?
- [94:45]
Whitney
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [94:46]
Hockey Illuminati
And that slowly started to develop into. Okay, you know, it seemed we're talking about the games. Oh, did you see last night, man? We'd have our own little segments, you know, and. And that developed into. Into a legitimate friendship. And, you know, eventually he found out that I was, you know, the Illuminati and the social media guy, and. And I could tell he was really just. He loved talking to me. And. And I always made time to make him feel like he was special. And Bobby McMahon, who also is a frequent at that Loblaws. He lives in the area. Same thing. You know, I think Bobby recognized that Kevin, that not only is your sweetheart who wears his. Wears his heart on his sleeve, loves the Buds. Kevin was. Kevin was born slow. He was on the spectrum. He was Ontario disability. On Ontario Disability. He should not have been working his doctors or, you know, the. The government had suggested, hey, maybe you shouldn't be working. But Kevin said, no, I can't sit still, and I need to be. I need to be out and, you know, with my people and. And. And working. Okay, so these are some of the little details I started to learn about his life as. As time goes on and. And we really developed a real friendship. And, you know, sometimes I palpat the lav Lodge during intermission during a Leaf game, and he'd be like, oh, I'm taping the game. Don't tell me the store. Don't tell me the score. This guy worked five, six days a week. He didn't often have a chance to watch the Leaf games live. He would have to record them and then take the bus home and watch them later at night. You know, sometimes I'd be shopping. I'd be in the aisles that I. And I'd hear. I'd hear him at the end of the aisle. Holy mackinac. Did you see the go from Matthews last night? Illuminati, you know, just little things like that that made the grocery shopping experience fun. You know, not just me, but for other people that were Leaf fans. And this is just my story. There's a lot of people in the Fort York community who are Leaf fans who would probably share similar things.
- [96:43]
Tom Brady
But.
- [96:44]
Hockey Illuminati
But Kevin, you know, sometimes I put them on my. On my Illuminati channels on my story in fun ways, and he had a goofy, funny sense of humor. And, oh, Bobby McMahon's in aisle seven. He's buying macaroni, you know, so, yeah, we. We developed this beautiful, almost like, brother bond. And I always took time to make him feel like he was special because I knew he looked at me in the same light as one of the players, even though I'm certainly not that. But, you know, being the social media guy. So last week I got a call from his number. You know, we would often text, you know, after the game or whatever. Oh, big win. It was his wife calling to tell me that he had slipped into a coma and, and had passed away. And it. It hit me like. It hit me like one of Max Dummy's punches to whoever that was. Last week, he was fighting to the face and, and his wife. His wife asked me, his wife, who's also on. On disability and currently in a wheelchair, said, can you, can you get down to the hospital for me to take a photo of him? Because I'm going tomorrow and I need to mentally prepare myself for what I'm going to see. Oh, so. And again, I'm not. I'm not. Fellas. If you had told me, if someone had told me last week that I'd be telling what I'm about to tell on Chiclets and that this would be being picked up. I've seen. No way. Come on. So I'm. So. Anyways, I. I said, of course. So I hopped on my bike, I biked to save Mike's hospital, which is not far, and went to the icu, and there he was. And. And I talked to the doctor for a moment. I said, I said, what's going on? He said, he slipped into a coma five days ago and he's. We're just keeping him alive right now. We're just keeping his heart alive. You know, we have to pull the plug. He's going to be a vegetable. And I said, I said, doc, I said, has anyone come to visit him in the last five days? He said, no. And I found out later in talking to his wife that Evan was really badly abused as a kid. And his family, you know, either abandoned him or didn't have the capacity to take care of him because he came from a broken heart home. So. Poor guys sitting there and. And so I sat down beside him and I brought a little leaf sticker and I put a little leaf sticker on his. On his wristband. And. And the doc said, you know, he's in a coma. He. He. He can't hear you, you know, but his heart is alive. His heart's still bumping. And I said, well, I said, if his heart's still pumping, then he's not. He's not gone. Okay? He may be. His brain may be dead, but. But you can. You can speak from the heart. You can also listen from the heart, okay? And wherever. Wherever our consciousness, wherever our awareness, wherever our soul goes, when we pass on, it sees what's happening down here in moments like that. And I. I sat. I sat with Kevin, and I. You know, fellas, I'm not making this up again. I'm not making this up for theatrics, I promise you. I. I sat there and I put on the highlights from the night before against Philly, the Joe Bowen highlights. And when I put the highlights on, I put the phone next to his bed. And fellas, I. My head to God, what. I. What I did that. And. And the highlights started. His hand jerked.
- [100:19]
Yan
Wow.
- [100:21]
Hockey Illuminati
And the. And. And I said, doc, did you see that? And he said, oh, that's just a reflex. That's just a natural reflex. Well, there are some things. Conventional medicine, you know, we. We can't explain everything with science. And. And I. I don't believe that that was just a reflex.
- [100:39]
Yan
And.
- [100:41]
Hockey Illuminati
And again, you know, I left and. And never thought I'd be sharing what I went through last week on. On triplets. And now. And then in speaking with his wife, just to wrap up. Up, you know, learning more about his life. You know, I've been helping his wife out with funeral arrangements, things like that. And. And Kevin, all she said to me, she said, all Kev, all Kevin ever wanted was to see the leash from the cop and to have friends. That's all he wanted, she said, and that's why he went to Loblaws. And I'll never forget, there was one day he asked me, like. Like, almost like he was asking me to, like, be his girlfriend. He was like, frank, will you be my friend? Like, of course I'll be your friend. What kind of question is that, buddy? I love you. And. And he. He did the same thing with Bobby McMahon. At one point, he asked Bobby, he's like, bobby, you'll be my friend? And Bobby said, yeah, you know, and it. And he. And I know this because he told his wife, and his wife has been recounting now some of the things that. The conversations they would have in private, right? And that's why she reached out to me, because she was going through Kevin's phone looking for a friend. There I was. And it happened to be. It happened to be me. And and you know, Bobby McMahon is a bot. Is a McMahon of the people for what he did. And Kevin had big dreams. He wanted to be a social media star. Once he found out I was one, he wanted to play for the Leafs. He was a goalie. He played hockey growing up. And he used to tell me sometimes the law lies. Do you see the way the Leafs played last night? Put me in that. I can do better than that. And he like, genuinely believed he could go in that, that, you know, like, he was like, put me in. I can do better than Wall did last night or whatever. And I just, you know, I know that the tribute that Bobby did in the, in the reaction from the hockey community and especially Leaf nation, man, it's, it's. I'm, I'm. I'm blown away and, and like, I've, I've been, it's been hitting me in strides the last couple days and find myself crying and, and right now we're trying to raise money for his widow, who again is also on disability. And yeah, we have a GoFundMe going on right now. The link is in my, in my H on Instagram bio for the GoFundMe. And I just, I know that Kevin's looking down right now and smiling and. You know, one last thing I'll say about Bobby McMahon. You know, somewhere, somewhere I've been a Leaf fan my whole life. And somewhere along the line, maybe somewhere in the, in the 2010s era, somewhere in that era, a disconnect kind of started between the organization and the fans, where they became two separate entities. You had the team and the players and the fans, and they were separate.
- [103:13]
Tom Brady
Sprint.
- [103:14]
Hockey Illuminati
Somewhere, somewhere along the line that happened. And I, I feel like, you know, Bobby doing it, making a gesture like that, man, that's, that's bridging the gap a little bit that we need there, There is a, there has been a disconnect between the fan base and the players organization for a while now here. And Austin Matthews the other week went to. Went to a middle school here somewhere in Toronto and surprised some kids. You know, you guys are having a lot of Leafs on this year. Hell, it's been your best season of Chicklets, I think with all the Leafs you've had on.
- [103:42]
Whitney
You know, Great.
- [103:43]
Hockey Illuminati
Keep coming, keep coming, boys. You guys are doing a big thing as well there. So, so it, this is about, this is about paying tribute to Kevin. It's about, it's about raising awareness and, and firing up Leaf's passion. And the last thing I will say, the Last thing I will say is that I wish, looking back now, I wish there was more I would have done for him. Him, you know, like, I was trying to take him to a game, and the guy was always working. It was difficult. One time I did have tickets, he was sick and couldn't come. There was another time, like, I'd been trying to do it, and I'm thinking myself, like, I should have just went to the manager and been like, no, he's not working tonight. I'm taking the game. You know.
- [104:23]
Biz
Oh, buddy, now.
- [104:25]
Hockey Illuminati
Now I'm feeling guilty and. And the overarching messages, man. If there's someone that you love, if there's someone that you want to do something with, maybe you haven't talked to in a little bit, don't wait. Don't wait, because you might get that. That same call the next.
- [104:40]
Whitney
I really hope you don't feel. I. I know what you're saying.
- [104:42]
Hockey Illuminati
Feeling.
- [104:42]
Whitney
Yeah, but, buddy, you're. You're a great guy. I mean, imagine what your friendship meant to him. To get to talk to a social media guy about the Leafs. That's all he wanted. And I think it's really cool, too, that, you know, before Elliot's tweet and your Instagram or even people who didn't see, like. Like, people probably saw McMahon and was like, oh, what's that? You know, and, like, now the story's out, like, just to get to hear about him. So. You're a good person, dude, and we.
- [105:08]
Biz
Appreciate you coming on and sharing that. I know that's not easy, man.
- [105:11]
Yan
And.
- [105:12]
Biz
And. And, you know, for Hockey Night in Canada to post that as well, to, like, get the conversation started. That's. That's so huge. And we're gonna do everything that we can in order to help you and. And. And his. And his wife out and. And figure out all the funeral arrangements, Buddy. So obviously, we'll keep in contact, but. But thank you so much for coming on and just shedding light on an amazing human being and. And right back at you, buddy. Everything you did for him and Bobby, it's. That's, you know, it's. It's. This is what it's about, right? This is what it's about.
- [105:42]
Whitney
Yeah.
- [105:42]
Yan
Yeah. It just goes to show you how much, you know, hockey brings people together, you know, brings bonds and friendships together. And if I know the hockey community, like, I do, and, you know, we've all had shit that's happened in our lives, and the hockey community's been there, they'll take care of his his wife and, and she'll be fine. And, you know, we're gonna do whatever we can do. But, yeah, like Whit said, I. You shouldn't feel any, Any sense of. You should have done more like, you got that phone call. You stepped up when you had to. You. You. You proved your friendship to him and, and you're gonna continue to talk about him and leave his, his legacy in a. In a better place.
- [106:18]
Hockey Illuminati
Yeah, no, I, I. Guilty's not the right word, but, you know, that's where the mind goes. You start thinking about the. What the last couple years have been like and. Oh, I could have done that. I could have done. Yes, but. Yeah, no. Guys, I really appreciate the opportunity to shed some light and some context on this story, which a lot of people probably don't realize, like, oh, why is this such a big deal? And the Buds are going to get into the playoffs for Kevin this year. They're going to squeak into one of those wild cards for, you know, let's just get into the playoffs. Let's just get into the playoffs and, and let's just see what happens from there.
- [106:52]
Yan
Yep.
- [106:53]
Biz
You're the best, brother.
- [106:54]
Yan
Well said.
- [106:54]
Biz
Appreciate your time, man. We'll talk to you soon, bud.
- [106:58]
Whitney
That was great. Yeah, that's emotional. Crazy story. Feel so bad for Kevin's widow now, but good for Illuminati. He is a good guy, man. He's a good, funny bastard. A good person. So moving along, getting out of the Atlantic, the Aves continue to do their thing, right? Like we keep talking about them. They keep winning at home. They're unbeatable, it feels like. Have they lost a home game? Maybe.
- [107:23]
Biz
I think they've won 17 in a row now at home.
- [107:26]
Guest Analyst
An interesting point, actually, on 32 thoughts today, Elliot Friedman said that Artemi Panarin is a name to keep in mind when it comes to the Colorado Avalanche and the trade deadlines.
- [107:36]
Biz
They got enough guys, for fuck's sake.
- [107:39]
Guest Analyst
I know.
- [107:40]
Biz
Jesus Christ.
- [107:41]
Guest Analyst
I know.
- [107:42]
Yan
They get Panarin before the Olympics. They should just play as a team in the Olympics.
- [107:47]
Whitney
They, they, they play with so much pace, though. Like, I don't. Yeah, obviously Panera will work anywhere. I guess I'm just trying to get him not on in the West.
- [107:58]
Guest Analyst
Yeah, I guess they made a strong push for him two, three years ago. They made a real strong.
- [108:03]
Biz
Yeah, I think that they said that they offered him a, A, a shorter term deal is what Elliot said at in like the 13, 14 million range right before McKinnon signed his big extension. So they, they've targeted them in the past, but. But agreed with you with. They do play very fast. Curious to know how hard of an adjustment that would be for them to make a big move, maybe even potentially come off of a roster player. If not maybe a few in order to land a big piece. Where. I mean, you've seen how hard it is to go there and all of a sudden like get up to speed. You saw it with. Although it was at the start of the year. Who's the guy who came over from Middlestad. He was never able to do so. I think that most people would say that Brock Nelson is a way better version of himself this year compared to last year when he came over and what he was able to do in that lineup. So, you know, buyer beware here.
- [108:58]
Tom Brady
They.
- [108:58]
Biz
They got a lot of good things going. I'm not saying that you can't improve your team despite how good things are going. But. But like you said, with the pace of play would definitely concern me and. And playoff performance.
- [109:09]
Yan
There's only one puck out there and.
- [109:11]
Whitney
Yeah, I mean, like his first lazy back check. Like McKinnon's ripping the Borsch out of the locker room. Like he's fucking.
- [109:19]
Tom Brady
He's.
- [109:19]
Whitney
He's learning Russian just to yell at him. Possibly, yeah. But the AVs, the record is 23 in a row at home by the 201112 Red Wings. The ABs are 19. Oh, and two. So they got two. They don't have a regulation loss yet. And their 21 game home point streak is second in team history. 21, 22. They had 22 games. So yeah, they continue chugging along.
- [109:44]
Yan
The Sharks home game is versus the Leafs too.
- [109:48]
Whitney
Is that. Is that tonight?
- [109:49]
Biz
That's tonight. That's tonight in. In Colorado. Yeah. Big. There's a big Monday night sleep.
- [109:56]
Whitney
Yeah, I know, it's great. The Sharks, they've won six of eight. Beat Dallas and OT Saturday. They got smoked Sunday by the Golden Knights, but on a back to back. And Celebrini, his point streak, it ended at 13 games, but it's the second longest run in Sharks history behind only. Who? You guys? No.
- [110:17]
Yan
Chichu?
- [110:18]
Whitney
Nope.
- [110:19]
Yan
Patty?
- [110:20]
Whitney
Nope.
- [110:20]
Hockey Illuminati
Nope.
- [110:21]
Yan
Brian? Dan boyle.
- [110:23]
Whitney
Nope. 14 games point streak for someone.
- [110:27]
Biz
San Jose.
- [110:28]
Hockey Illuminati
Pawalski.
- [110:29]
Whitney
No.
- [110:30]
Yan
Hurdle?
- [110:31]
Whitney
Nope. Jesus Christ.
- [110:33]
Yan
I've named everyone.
- [110:33]
Biz
We're really going down the list.
- [110:35]
Yan
Doug Murray.
- [110:36]
Whitney
Doug Murray. Not Burnsy either. Nope. Not Doug Murray.
- [110:39]
Yan
Hold on.
- [110:40]
Biz
Can you give us a clue?
- [110:41]
Whitney
What?
- [110:43]
Yan
Not Dan Boyle.
- [110:45]
Whitney
No.
- [110:45]
Yan
Classic.
- [110:46]
Pasha
Nope.
- [110:49]
Biz
Oh, Carlson.
- [110:50]
Yan
Carlson. Oh, shit.
- [110:51]
Whitney
Kind of crazy.
- [110:52]
Yan
I know when he had 100 points. Nice job. Biz. We named everyone in Shark's history.
- [111:01]
Biz
We can't download this to Netflix.
- [111:03]
Hockey Illuminati
We've.
- [111:03]
Biz
We've exceeded our time limit. But if we're talking Pacific, are we talking Seattle too?
- [111:10]
Whitney
So we. Yeah, that was last. And, and I don't get it. They don't have anyone even sniffing a point per game. They got Montour injured. They were, they're still on my no watch list. I'm sorry, I don't get this credit to them. It's incredible but I don't get it. And I, and I don't think it's gonna last.
- [111:32]
Yan
Goaltending, that's all it is.
- [111:34]
Biz
Cord was, was carrying the load majority at the beginning of the year when they were getting their winning done. And that group hour has been on fire lately. Like if you look, go look at his numbers right now. So a collective of unbelievable goaltending. But you're right, win. It's kind of an anomaly. It doesn't make a lot of sense. I want to say their penalty kill is the worst in the league at maybe clicking at 70%. They don't score a lot. One positive element is, is McCann was injured for, for a hot minute and he's back. And since being back, I want to say he's got, that he's been scoring. And then also Maddie Benirs. Maddie Benirs has six goals in his last six games. A guy who's not. No. I'm always curious to know if he's ever going to ramp it up to the next level offensively. Right. Like he doesn't.
- [112:17]
Whitney
I thought after the rookie year he, I was like, all right, yeah, this is a 90 point guy in the future and it's, it's been slower.
- [112:24]
Biz
What I would hope, I would hope that he turns into Dylan Larkin. That would be my ceiling for Matty veneers, a great two way centerman who can still put up 30, 35 goals every year, but yet be a first line center. He's not going to be a world beater as far as the numbers are concerned. But when you're playing the way that Dylan Larkin's playing, you don't need to be.
- [112:44]
Yan
Especially when you've raw. I mean no offense to their roster. They don't have like the superstars that other teams have that you're gonna get, you know, 15 to 20 points that you don't deserve. Like just handing it off to Kucherov and getting an assist or something like that. So he there, he's earning all those points, right? He's got, got 28 points in 43 games. But those are hard points to get there. They're earning them, right? Like it's not. No, no goals that they're scoring are easy. Like it's, it's tough grinding it, trying to get a point every single night.
- [113:11]
Biz
What a weird year for them.
- [113:13]
Yan
I don't know.
- [113:14]
Whitney
They were, they were so bad and now it's completely turned around.
- [113:18]
Biz
Lane Lambert wouldn't even talk to the media for, for after the one game. I think that's what turned it around. He shut them out.
- [113:26]
Whitney
Oh yeah. He was only talking to like.
- [113:30]
Biz
Kim Jong Un, North Korea shit going on in Seattle.
- [113:35]
Whitney
Oh my God. But the Kraken. The Kraken are buzzing. So with that, I think it's time to throw it over to the goat, the man we went down to Florida to interview. TB12 Tom Brady. Boom. Guys, let's take a quick moment and talk about skills. Spit and Chiclets launched new co branded hockey training aids with Skillz, the leading sport skill training brand. Now you can go to Dick's Sporting Goods and Pure Hockey locations and see Spit and Chicklets on the shelves. We release training aids for players of all ages and all skills. We have the Universal Shooting Target, the Hockey Shooting Trainer and the Foam Shooting Targets. Perfect for the driveway or on the ice place, these products will help your offensive game in a big way. The Universal Shooting Target builds a visual focus to improve shooting accuracy. And the Hockey Shooting Trainer features five target areas and helps build the vision and muscle memory needed to increase scoring percentages. And the Foam Shooting Targets have a quick hook and loop attachments for multiple shot locations. Go get the brand new Skills and Spit and Chicklets hockey training aids now available online or in store at Dick's Sporting Goods and Pure Hockey locations.
- [114:48]
Biz
All right gang, before we move any further, this episode is brought to you by. Yeah, you guessed it. Noble. Noble is a footwear brand built for training. It's a brand for anyone who strives to be better every single day. And as the official training footwear of the NHL, Noble is quickly becoming the go to shoe for hockey players and fans in and out of the gym. They've got great options across both lifestyle and training. And guys, I was down at the the Winter Classic with Tom Brady and the whole Noble gang. They do an unbelievable job. I love their gear. Their, their T shirts are so thin and comfortable. Unreal for training. Their shoes extremely versatile. We mentioned the, the different types they have like the cross trainers, more of the lifestyle as well. And another little fun fact here. They just announced that they have brought Matthew Schaefer. Yes, the the top guy right now for the Calder trophy is Rookie of the year. The 18 year old stud defenseman is now part of the Noble crew. So welcome aboard Matthew Schaefer. And exclusively for Spit and Chiclets listeners, Noble is offering 35 off your first order. That is crazy. 35%. Visit www.nobleproject.com that's nobleproject.com and use code Chiclets for 35 off your entire first order. That's www.n O B U L L P R-O J-E-C-T.com and use code ChicleTs for 35% off the official training shoe of the NHL Noble.
- [116:34]
Whitney
Well, we had number 99 on. That's a goat.
- [116:38]
Biz
Yep.
- [116:39]
Whitney
And now, right we are joined by seven time super bowl champ, five time super bowl mvp, the record holder of every record a QB could have in the NFL. Tom Brady.
- [116:49]
Tom Brady
What's going on, fellas?
- [116:50]
Whitney
Thank you very much for joining the show. We, we're going to talk ball. We're junior ball knowers. Yeah, but like what's your puck knowledge? Do you know puck? This is a hockey pod.
- [117:00]
Tom Brady
Is that why I'm here?
- [117:01]
Whitney
Yes, exactly.
- [117:02]
Biz
We're just going to break down. Yeah, break down the range. Like four checks, breakouts and Panthers matchup tonight.
- [117:07]
Tom Brady
Yeah, it's I follow it kind of on the periphery. I don't probably have as much knowledge as I used to have. I think when I got into my football career there's just a lot of things you lose track of over time. But I was in like in college I was in Ann Arbor and the Red Wings were on fire and I had a lot of friends that we went to a lot of games. Then I was in Boston and the Bruins were amazing. And then being in Tampa for three years, the Lightning were winning and then coming here and the Panthers are winning. So it's like I've kind of been around it and obviously I've got a lot of friends that have played but I just don't have the same knowledge I had when I was a kid because you know when you're a football player, it's like 12 hours your day is all football. And then I didn't even get to follow much baseball or basketball. But I'll turn the games on for sure because I love and I love hockey. I love the sport. It's a lot like football to me in terms of the toughness and the resilience and the physical nature of the sport. I think the demands of the sport of like having to respect your opponent and having to prepare your body because of the physicality. Like if you don't prepare, you pay the price. And it's not really like that in basketball and it's not like that in baseball. But in hockey it's same as football. Like, you have to, you're not going to cheap shot that guy because you know that it's coming back your way too. So you play hard, you play tough, there's so much skill. But there's also this disciplines of the sport that probably you don't find in the other two major sports and you.
- [118:31]
Whitney
Got to play injured, which like, that's probably the biggest part of football. I mean, I feel like it's like so much luck now in, in football where who's going down for the season, then who can keep playing?
- [118:40]
Hockey Illuminati
Yeah.
- [118:40]
Whitney
And hockey's similar, I'd say.
- [118:42]
Tom Brady
Yeah, it's just you, you better have a good team and you better have good values and you better have good veterans that kind of pave the way for the young guys because at some point everybody's going to be out there playing and it, you just can't rely on the starting five like you can maybe in other sports. It's, it's, it's a great sport. I mean, it's just, it's so fast. And I think when you go to the games live, you have such an appreciation for the sport and you see how hard it is to score. Yeah, like I'm always like amazed when I go to the game. I'm like, God, they had no chances. And it's just so difficult to get, you know, that puck in the back of the net. And, and look, I was at Michigan too. Don't forget that. The Wolverines had an incredible hockey team.
- [119:21]
Biz
Who were the studs there playing hockey when you were there?
- [119:23]
Tom Brady
We had. Marty Turco was a great goalie.
- [119:26]
Biz
Yeah.
- [119:26]
Whitney
Brandon Morrison, I think was there.
- [119:28]
Tom Brady
He was there. He was unbelievable. We had a, we had a great program and even through the five years that I was there, but we always supported kind of the other sports as well. Football players. We'd love to go to see hockey games and a lot of that. We take a lot of recruiting kids that would come to that were recruited by Michigan, we take them to hockey games. So it's been a part of my life forever.
- [119:46]
Biz
Yeah, you're not the first patriot we've had on. We actually had Gronk on the pod and one of the more famous stories he told that went viral was he slept through his draft meeting or parts of his draft meeting. Were you aware that that happened?
- [119:58]
Tom Brady
I'm not surprised hearing that.
- [120:00]
Yan
It's. It's.
- [120:01]
Tom Brady
I don't think I should be surprised, guys. He. The amazing part is he could get away with basically anything. And there's nothing malicious about Gronk. So I think even if he falls asleep, people, like, think it's cute. Oh, my God. You know, he's so fun loving and. And he's just not afraid to be who he is. So he's. He's a special guy. He's one of my favorite teammates of all time.
- [120:21]
Biz
I think at that point you were the starting quarterback, so do you follow the draft? Like, are you watching? Hey, what. What weapons are we picking up? Like, did you see when he was drafted and. And that whole ordeal that went down.
- [120:31]
Whitney
The brothers on stage?
- [120:33]
Biz
Were you, like, what were in your head when you saw that?
- [120:35]
Tom Brady
It was. It was. It was great for our team to have that and to have. So got like, that comes on and we had had success with the club for a period of time before Gronk had got there. And I'd say, like, when he got there, it kind of became Patriots 2.0. Like, the old guard was kind of had left. The guys who were part of, like, the first group of championships we won, and then we kind of had to reinvent ourself. And when you're winning, like, we were. I would say the mood for our team got pretty serious because the expectations were so high at the beginning of the year. And even the media would say, like, as training camp started, well, who do you think you guys are going to be playing in the AFC championship? Yeah, it's like, whoa, you know, it's kind of like, that's not really fair. But it's also kind of the way the fans saw it and the way the media saw it. So you get less. You get a little bit just because the high expectations, it just gets serious all the way around. And it was a really good thing because it kept us focused, but it was also. We needed some, like, levity at some point. And like, Matt Light used to bring that a lot, and he was so fun to have around. Mike Vrabel was a fun guy to have around. And then there were really, like, serious guys. And then all of a sudden, we get Gronk and it's like, all the boys, the brothers on stage jumping. And I'll never forget, Wes Welker texted me right away, and he was like, did you effing see this? And I Was like, of course. He goes, this is amazing.
- [121:57]
Whitney
This is what we need.
- [121:58]
Tom Brady
This is exactly what you guys are firing it up.
- [122:00]
Whitney
That's awesome.
- [122:01]
Tom Brady
We loved having him. And then he brought like a total new life and energy to the program and it was like we needed like people that could, like I said, just break us out of this kind of really serious place we were in and bring like the joy of the sport back. And he had that. And then like I just remember some plays that he made early in his career that were just absolutely absurd. I remember one on the practice field. Grun's a big guy, like 6, 7, really fast, long arms, long legs and you know, he's, he's straight line speed, was elite. Certainly when he was younger. I threw him a ball in practice. He was running straight down the middle of the field. I kind of made a, not a great throw. It was like basically at his ankle bone and he was running full speed down the middle. I threw balls coming down this way. He reaches down with his hands two handed. I'm the mic like that. This looking backward. The ball was one inch from the ground. Caught it in stride and kept running. Just the ability for him to see the ball, track the ball, drop his hands, catch it and I was like, holy, it was unbelievable. And then he made so many incredible catches over the years and then it was just you have that type of performer and you have that type of like guy that he is, which is just so fun loving. Brought the joy for everyone and it was like just an incredible teammate and in a hall of fame career. Now I'm his teammate at Fox and we have the best time every time we see each other.
- [123:27]
Biz
That was going to be my next follow up. Before we really dive into your career and your come up was how are you liking the different side, the media side of things and is it hard for you to be critical of guys off the hop? Like what's been the hardest adjustment?
- [123:39]
Tom Brady
Yeah, I don't consider myself a media guy. I guess I, I just, I'm not like a reporter. I'm not trying to investigate anything. I really am like, like hopefully I'm an ambassador for the sport of football. That's really how I see my role at Fox. I get to go on there and talk about what I love to do and what I love to do and why it was successful. And then the programs that I'm looking at on the field, like why they're successful, why they're not successful, how they can be more successful. And I think when you're Doing a game, what I hope for every game is just a good, clean game. Not a lot of penalties. I want the quarterbacks to play well. You know, I want some great plays by the receivers. I want good decisions by the coaches. I would find it really hard, and I'm very blessed to be on, you know, the A crew at Fox, where they typically try to give us one of the best games.
- [124:27]
Whitney
Yeah.
- [124:27]
Tom Brady
And we get it. So I get to talk about a lot of it. I think it'd be really hard to be, you know, a crew that has to do some of the games where the teams aren't winning as much, because you really just want to be positive. You know, you want to show the fan bases, hey, this is how you should be hopeful. This is why you should be hopeful, and this is what you should expect from your team. So I think that's what I enjoy most. I leave the game a lot of the times, and I'm, like, really fulfilled because we made a lot of really good points about, you know, these clubs. And I think the fans now see me in a different light, that I wasn't out there beating their teams anymore. I was out there as, like, a fan of their team. And I'm a fan of people doing it the right way. I don't really enjoy the people or the organizations that I don't think do it the right way.
- [125:10]
Hockey Illuminati
Way.
- [125:10]
Tom Brady
You know, I think I'd love to see 32 teams in the NFL, you know, kind of go about their business in a successful way that I think ultimately makes the league the best possible league it could be.
- [125:22]
Whitney
Yeah. Which right now doesn't happen.
- [125:23]
Yan
No.
- [125:23]
Whitney
I mean, there's some teams and organizations. You're just like, what is going on? We were talking before about, like, you mentioned seeing good QB play, and I don't know, like, I don't know a lot about the sport, but it seems like it's so hard and some of these guys with all this potential are drafted so high, then they end up, like, hitting it at another spot like Darnold right now or so. What. What are you seeing? Because Aikman was talking the other day about, like, I don't Even blame the QBs as much as some of the organizations putting them in spots.
- [125:50]
Biz
Yeah.
- [125:51]
Whitney
Why now is it so hard to find a good qb? Like, you know what I mean?
- [125:55]
Tom Brady
Yeah. And I think, you know, kind of in my era of quarterbacks, we had, I would say, more depth and quality than there is now. Now, I think from a physical skill standpoint, there's a lot of kids that are developed, they can throw the ball well, they're athletic, they've trained their whole life, they're strong. But at the same time, there. There's a process, too, where they're so focused on their physical skill set, they neglect the mental and emotional skill set as well. And I think that part of why I was really successful over time was I had a baseline of physical skills. I was obviously, I could make any throw on the field. I had enough athleticism in the pocket to move and avoid the rush and buy myself a little time. I was never going to be someone that could get out of the pocket and. And create this. These magical plays outside the pocket. But I really learned to use the mental and emotional parts of who I was to elevate my. My total play style. And I think if you want to be the best you can be, if you want to be truly a peak performer, an elite athlete, you have to be at your best physically, mentally, and emotionally. I think you go into the NFL draft and everyone's like, look at this guy's skill set. He's really fast. He's really big. Look how strong an army throws. Oh, my God, he was on his knees and he threw the ball 70 yards. But I'm like, who cares? Okay, like, what does that mean? Is he. Is he mentally, you know, is he smart enough to take an information, process it and use it on the field? Does he know. Has he mastered the playbook? Does he know how to study? Does he know how to learn from his mistakes? And then emotionally, is he competitive every day? Is he really volatile as a leader? Does he know how to deal with adversity? Does he know how to deal with competition? How does he react when things don't go his way? What's going to happen when he throws four interceptions a game? How's he going to respond to that? So if you don't have those. Because as you guys know, when you play sports, adversity is coming. It may not be your first year, it may not be your second year. It will come at some point. And the best players I've ever been around, they know how to deal with all parts of those emotions. They know how to. They know how to study. They're going to learn every single year. They're going to be a little bit better. When you become mentally and emotionally a master of yourself, my belief is you do get better as you get older. The people who are only focused on their physical ability, over time, you get worse. If you don't ever master the mental Emotional part. To me, you're a declining asset from the day you're drafted. So you have this great rookie year and everyone's like, oh, my God, there's great potential. Except that that's the pinnacle of where you're at. And now you start to, you know, decline over time because maybe that organization that Troy was alluding to isn't teaching you the right values, what really matters toward your success. And you're right. I don't think there's a lot of programs. And now it's starting more, even in high school and college, where there's less development in those areas, because in college there are real no programs anymore. There's teams, there's no programs. We grew up with programs. I went to Michigan. I was playing pro football when I was in college. We were playing the best teams who had great teams. We well coached, we ran pro style offenses. I had five years of training. Then all of a sudden I got to the pro level. I had one year learning the system and I was like, man, I can compete with anybody now so that I end up getting my opportunity in the second game of the year. And I said, if they ever put me on the field, they're never going to take me off the field. Because I learned to compete. I knew how to be resilient. I knew how to be competitive. I learned playbooks, I mastered playbooks. I trained hard because physically I was actually way less developed than a lot of other guys. So I had to work my ass off to try to make up that ground.
- [129:36]
Pasha
Ground.
- [129:36]
Tom Brady
And finally when I made up that ground, I thought I was really well rounded and my ability to compete was at a much higher level. So now I got my chance. And then as I got better, physically, through the course of my career, mentally, emotionally, I was awesome. Well, there I got to be, you know, in my. At 25, I was. I was. I was good. At 35, I was great. At 45, I was a master of the sport.
- [130:00]
Yan
Yeah. Now, is that back?
- [130:02]
Biz
That's a hell of a breakdown.
- [130:03]
Tom Brady
I mean, it just.
- [130:05]
Biz
Yeah. I mean, mean, are we good?
- [130:07]
Yan
Yeah. Thank you. But even the, like, your famous quote, when you got drafted, you said to Mr. Kraft, like, you, you're never going to regret this. Did you have that confidence or you, you know, obviously Drew was there too. Right? Like, you probably knew you weren't going to start right away, but like you said, you were going to learn the playbook a little bit, learn how to figure out the game. Did you. Was that more confidence or just in your ability.
- [130:30]
Whitney
Craig Patrick, this is the best decision ever made.
- [130:33]
Tom Brady
I didn't say that, first of all, I didn't say that. I said, you're never going to regret picking me. But I think the point is. And you said it like. And I, I, I, I wrote about this last week. I do this really cool newsletter that I send out in in an email form and we talked about the ability to figure things out and what a great skill set that is for an individual. And I was in college and my college career was pretty tumultuous. It was difficult. I went to, I went as a freshman to Michigan, chose a hard school, great competition, and there was no easy path to success there. So I was the seventh quarterback on the depth chart when I started. By the end of my first year, I was fourth. I registered my first year, my second year, super competitive. I kind of battled to basically be like the third or fourth quarterback. On game day I thought about transferring. I didn't transfer, thank God. My third year, I got an opportunity to compete to be the starter and I lost the job to Brian Grease. We went undefeated that year. It was hard. There was no, like, hey, you're going to come to Michigan and be the starter. You're going to come here and don't worry, you're going to be, have a great position to start. We're going to promise you a chance to play. I had to battle for three years against other great competition to even see what I was all about. I was a long way from home. My parents were in California. This was not the era of cell phones. I couldn't call home and go, mom, dad, what do I do? I was like on an island trying to figure it out. And I had to work through a lot of different emotions about doubt in myself, lack of confidence. Is this the right place for me? What do I do when I feel like I stagnate at certain levels? And I had to get better physically, I had to work with a sports psychologist. I had to work physically on my skill set every year to improve. Finally, I get a chance to compete in my fourth year. The fans didn't even want me to play. I lost my first two starts as a fourth year player. We finished that season, I think 10 wins and three losses and we were like 12th in the country. I went back for my senior year and then five days before the first game, the head coach is like, you're gonna basically platoon for the first half of the game with another quarterback. Yeah. So I'm like my fifth year name team captain by all my Peers, Yeah. Started every game the year before. And I got told, well, okay, we're going to start you, but Drew's going to play in the second quarter, and then whoever has the hot hands going to play the rest of the games. The rest of the game. And it was like a kind of like, holy, that's not what I want. But, oh, well, at least I'm playing. I get a shot. Let me go. All right? And I learned to compete. I learned to figure it out. By midway through the year, Coach Carr finally said, okay, not, we're done with that. You're playing the rest of the year.
- [133:08]
Biz
Year.
- [133:08]
Tom Brady
We won every game after that. So now I go to the Orange bowl, my final game, have one of my best games in my career, and I'm thinking, I'll be a second or third round pick. I had developed a lot of confidence in myself through a lot of failure, through a lot of competition. It wasn't easy for me in college. I had to grow. I had to grow the up. I had to learn how to compete. I had to learn how to deal with my failures. My first college pass, I threw an interception return for a touchdown. They put me in. I threw a pick six.
- [133:36]
Whitney
Oh, shoot.
- [133:37]
Tom Brady
I was like, I don't think I'm ever gonna play here again.
- [133:39]
Hockey Illuminati
Again.
- [133:39]
Tom Brady
Like, you go into the team meeting room the next day and the coach is like, brady, I don't think we're ever gonna put you on the field ever again. So it's like you break yourself down, then you figure out how to build yourself up. So now I go to the pros. Drafted in the sixth round by the Patriots. Fourth quarterback on the depth chart my first year. Sometimes I moved up to three. Didn't play go into my second year. But I was battle tested. And no one could really see that. They couldn't see what was. Yeah, Mentally understood everything. Knew, okay, fuck it. Like, doesn't go my way. Don't worry, I'm gonna figure it out. Didn't start right. I'm gonna figure it out.
- [134:09]
Hockey Illuminati
Out.
- [134:09]
Tom Brady
Didn't learn the playbook. I gotta figure out. Don't know how to throw that pass quite yet. I'm gonna figure it out. Never losing confidence in what I was able to do. Because what I had learned through all my failures was that if I work hard at applying new things to my skill set, new ways of throwing the ball, new ways of footwork in the pocket, new ways of studying new ways of film study, new ways of developing confidence in myself, then when I'm challenged, I can Rely on those fundamentals that I learned, apply them, and then things got better. So now I go to the pros, and I'm in my second year. I win this. I win the backup job to on the Patriots. Drew gets hurt in the second game of the year. And I was like, I'm ready to roll, boys. And I said, and I told all my buddies, they put me in the game, they're never taking me out. And then 22 years later, they never took me out.
- [134:56]
Whitney
When you. When he got healthy that year, were you really confident you'd stay in or were you like, I have no idea what. What way this is going to go?
- [135:03]
Tom Brady
Yeah. So I. I would say. I mean, there was. There's one part about me which is, I'd say natural and normal and a bit of a blessing was I was very naive. Like, you don't know what you don't know. So you don't even know, like, what you're up against. You're just like, yeah, of course I want to go to Michigan and play. Like, why would I not? I didn't realize how hard it would be, how cold it was, the type of challenges I was going to face. Then I get to the Patriots, and I'm like, yeah, like, my agent called me, like, three weeks before final cuts in my rookie year. I'm the sixth round pick. There's three other quarterbacks on the depth chart. And I'm like, hey, I'm gonna buy Ty Law's house. And he's like, you haven't made the team yet. And I'm like, of course I'm gonna make the team. So I buy Tyler's house.
- [135:50]
Biz
Swear to God, in camp?
- [135:51]
Tom Brady
Yeah, like, just as camp sending. So I make the team, and then, you know, I'm like, yeah, of course I'm going to compete, you know? And so I go into my second year and I'm like, of course I'm going to, like, win the backup job. And of course, they signed a free agent. Who they? Damon Heward, who's a great buddy of mine, who they wanted to be the backup quarterback. So then I'm like, going in and I start playing, and I'm like, I start playing well. And I'm like, well, yeah, I mean, of course I'm going to play well. I always kind of do that, you know? And then Drew comes. Drew is. Gets. Gets healthy. But in my mind, I'm kind of like, I'm going to keep playing. Of course I'm going to keep playing. Like, not even realizing, like, there's totally another view of this, but it wasn't like, in my nature to think about that. So then, like, we go to the super bowl, everyone's like, are you nervous? I'm like, no, of course we're going to win. And it was like, it's just, it's, it's naive. It's not smart. It's naive.
- [136:38]
Whitney
And I.
- [136:39]
Tom Brady
Maybe that blind confidence in some things has really been an asset for me, that maybe, like, you know, I could look at different people that have been around where they, they kind of know too much and they look at all the challenges and they're like, man, that's going to be really hard. I'm like, when you don't see that as really hard, you kind of jump with both feet in and you're all in. And in some ways, it, it finds its way of working out.
- [137:04]
Biz
Other than yourself, obviously. Who, like, who do you thank for, for like, having that, like that, that type A where, you know, you, you dealt, you went to university and you kind of dealt with that adversity. Was that something that was instilled to you from your parents?
- [137:16]
Tom Brady
Like, how did you. Where was that developed Such a great question. I think there's, there's, there's, there's the natural thought, is it nature? Is it nurture? You know, and I think the, the me being born into the family that I was born into with three older sisters that were all very competitive in sports. My dad got drafted to play professional baseball. My mom's a great athlete, so athletics was in my blood from the time I was, I was at. I was at my sister's soccer and softball games my entire childhood did. I probably had as many meals at the ballpark from the, the snack shack than I did at my house. And I had this foundation where my parents were all in on all of us kids. They wanted us to succeed. They were going to do everything they could to help us be the best we could be. So this, like, the unconditional love and support of my family, regardless, win or lose, like, that had the best foundation growing up. And then, and I had my dad, I was like, hey, you know what do you think? I'd like to go to Michigan. He was like, absolutely. That's what you should do. And it kind of broke my dad's heart because I was his only son, and I'm going all the way to the Midwest, and it's hard for your dad. But even when I wasn't playing, hey, you're the best. Don't worry. You keep going and you're, you know, I love the way you're working just that support and then meeting a lot of people along the way. You know, I, like I mentioned, I learned how to throw the football by a guy named Tom Martinez. He was the College of San Mateo Community College. Julian Edelman actually went to school there, but it was two miles from my house. He taught me how to throw a football, so it wasn't me like just naturally picking up a ball. And yeah, I had a good arm, but he taught me and I was receptive to that. I mean, I love to learn. I love to learn from people. I go to Michigan and I had a really self defeating attitude where at first I was kind of like pissed off that I wasn't getting all the opportunities other guys were getting. And there was a sports psychologist named Greg Harden and God rest his soul, he passed away earlier this year. He was one of the greatest mentors in my life. And he was like, why don't you quit bitching about all the things you're not getting? How about you focus on the things you are getting? If they put you in on the scout team, you run that scout team like you're the starting quarterback. When they put you in with the guys, the backup receivers, who gives a. Do the best with the three reps you get. Go in there with enthusiasm, show your teammates that you're committed to them. Show your teammates that you're enthusiastic and you can lead them no matter what.
- [139:35]
Whitney
What?
- [139:36]
Tom Brady
So like, okay, that was a new approach. I never learned that before. So I went out there and I started treating practice like a game and naturally it elevated my play. I didn't have to wait for the game to prove to my teammates that I was ready to go, that I knew the playbook, that I could execute the playbook that I could make the throws, that I was confident in what I was doing. So by the time I got to playing, it was just an extension of me practicing, but I had to learn those things. Then you're going up in college, I got Charles Woodson in my, in my class. I get to watch him and I'm like, dude, that's a man.
- [140:06]
Yan
Yeah.
- [140:06]
Tom Brady
I'm looking at my body and I'm looking at him. I'm like, okay, I'm so far not in his league, you know, but like the inspiration from a teammate to make me better. Then I had Brian Greasy, who was two years older than me. He went on to play pro football. He led our team to a national championship. He was an incredible leader for our Team, like, incredible. I had another quarterback, Scott Leffler. He's the quarterback coach for the Philadelphia Eagles now. He tore his rotator cuff during his rookie year. He ended up being. He was. Even though he's two years older than me, he kind of became like, even though he was still on the team, he was more of a coach. But he really took a liking to me because he saw how hard I was willing to work. So he and I became like. He became like my coach. And he was mentoring me in my throwing mechanics when I was away from Tom Martinez. And then I go to the pros and I. Bill Belichick's my coach. And in a crazy way, after my first season in training camp, our quarterback coach, Dick Rabine, who was really responsible for drafting me, he passes away. And Bill Belichick, the head coach, the greatest defensive coach of all time, has to assume a quarterback coaching role to fill the void. So now I'm learning defenses from Bill Belichick. And then. And then my body's, like, starting to hurt because now I'm 25 and I'd been through, like, a lot of workouts, a lot of training, a lot of hits, like my third year in a league, and I have really bad elbow pain. And Willie McGinnis, one of my teammates, first round pick for the Patriots, I think in 1993, he's like, Tommy, I need to introduce you to my boy Alex. He's going to take care of your. Arm's never going to hurt again. So I meet Alex Guerrero, who I worked with for 20 years, my best friend. He's treated me through everything, every injury. Broken ribs, concussions, separated shoulder, ACL injury, high ankle sprain, you know, broken fingers. Never missed a game. Taught me how to take care of my body so that every time I took the field, I was prepared as I could be. Never missed a game outside of an ACL tear in 23 seasons. So it's like, there's a lot of us that have to be born with certain things, and we have to be born with a certain level, like I said, maybe a baseline level of physical ability and intelligence to play based on the quarterback position or depending on the sport, might require some different things. And then there's other things where you have to develop. And I believe that we always should be a work in progress. We should always be open to people who know how to do things better than we do. We have to be really receptive to those things because that's how you stay ahead of everybody else. You can't ever Rest on your laurels. And I think the challenge with people who are really physically developed when they're young and they're ahead of the curve, they never have to develop the mental, emotional, because with minimal effort, they're still better than everybody else. And they're told how good they are by everybody, their coaches, their parents, even though they're not fully developed, but because they can go out on the ice or the football field or the baseball field and be better than everybody else, they never have to put in the extra work. Like, I wasn't better than everybody else, so I had to do the extra work. So now I get to the. The pro level, and I'm still doing the extra work. I'm still doing more film. I'm still staying after practice, working with the other players. I'm still in the off season, training harder than everybody else. Then I changed my. The way that I ate. Then I changed the way that I trained. Then I trained, changed the way that I rehabbed. Then I had, you know, just the right things over a long period of time that allowed me. Me to play as long as I could because my body was my asset, and I had to take care of it as well as I could in order for me to achieve the dreams that I had set forth.
- [143:47]
Biz
Unreal.
- [143:47]
Whitney
Yeah, that's like, at least being down in Florida. Like, Bobrovsky's the goalie of the Panthers, and so they win and they've won back to back. Now it seems like right away he gets back into, like, training. Like, there's no time. There's no, like, resting on anything.
- [144:00]
Biz
Yeah.
- [144:01]
Whitney
You won your first one, you know, relatively unknown, and then, like, this fame became just insane. Like, so I imagine it was hard. All of a sudden you're asked to do so many more things. But were you right back into getting ready that next year or when you were young? Were you celebrating for a while and then it took you longer to. All right, I don't care if we win. Like, I'm on to next year.
- [144:19]
Hockey Illuminati
Yeah.
- [144:19]
Biz
Normally I would take a month off where.
- [144:21]
Whitney
Yeah, we would. Yeah, we wouldn't do anything.
- [144:24]
Biz
I'd be hitting the bottle, obviously. Go and celebrate with my buddies.
- [144:26]
Tom Brady
Yeah.
- [144:26]
Biz
Have a fun off season.
- [144:27]
Yan
So.
- [144:27]
Biz
Yeah. Were you, like, right back into it?
- [144:29]
Whitney
Yeah.
- [144:29]
Tom Brady
I love you hockey players.
- [144:30]
Biz
Oh, yeah, we like to. We like to have a good time. Probably drank my. My way out of a few more years, but what are you going to do? Thank God for podcasts.
- [144:39]
Tom Brady
I think things worked out pretty good.
- [144:40]
Biz
Yeah. Not bad.
- [144:42]
Tom Brady
That's, you know, It's. It works in hockey. I watch Strange Brew. You know, I've seen all the hockey movies, so, you know, I feel like it's part of the culture. I love slap shot.
- [144:52]
Biz
That's the goat right there.
- [144:52]
Tom Brady
One of the best. But, yeah, I think it's. I just. For me, like, I was really focused. You know, I wasn't. I was never, like, a big drinker, so that was not hard for me. Like, of course, like, we love to go out and have a great time. And when I was younger, I did a lot of that. As I got older, it just became less and less and less. And the training part, I actually enjoyed. It's kind of like throwing a football. You guys play golf?
- [145:16]
Whitney
Yeah.
- [145:17]
Tom Brady
Okay, so, you know, like, when you hit, like, a perfect seven iron and you're, like, on the range, and you're like, wow, how do I do that again?
- [145:23]
Whitney
You don't even feel the ball in the club. It's gone.
- [145:26]
Tom Brady
And the feeling that you're like, I just want to repeat that. That's how it is to throw a perfect spiral. And when you're addicted to throwing a perfect spiral, that's all I needed.
- [145:36]
Whitney
That's all you wanted to do.
- [145:37]
Tom Brady
And I just like, let's throw. And then when that ball would come out of my hands and it would just be the perfect pace with the perfect amount of rotation with the perfect location, it was euphoric. And I would just go, I want to do that again. How do I do that again? And I would just work on it. So it was a sickness. I mean, it was just in a positive way. It was a way. It was an addiction. That is just all. It's hard to explain to people who maybe have not experienced that before, but when you do it once and you're like. And I would say in a football season, I would throw 700 passes. 600 to 700 passes. If you look at the stats, I would probably throw out of the 700, how many do you think I would throw that way?
- [146:21]
Yan
Perfect.
- [146:22]
Tom Brady
Yeah. Like, in my mind, four.
- [146:24]
Biz
I would say 40% perfect.
- [146:26]
Yan
Yeah, I'd say 100, maybe.
- [146:29]
Tom Brady
Yeah, I'd say out of. Out of 700 throws, maybe 20 of them did exactly what I wanted to.
- [146:34]
Whitney
Oh, you're gonna say 6.99 for a second?
- [146:37]
Tom Brady
Like, no, dude, no. I would say 20. That.
- [146:39]
Yan
Yeah.
- [146:39]
Tom Brady
I was like, you know what? That is exactly how I wanted that ball to come out. And it's just. So my misses were still pretty good because I was really focused on those 20. And if I could make. Like, if I was aiming right for your nose and I hit your right ear. Now, you may not know that, right. But I knew where I was throwing it, and if it came in a little softer, you didn't know. I knew how much arm, how much pace I was trying to put into the ball. So when it really would jump out of my hands and go exactly where I wanted to, you couldn't probably tell the difference much. I could tell the difference. So that's just what I was after.
- [147:10]
Biz
So was it a case of you didn't really want to get out of that rhythm where like a month or a week after the super bowl, you're. You got guys lining up and you're doing routes and throwing?
- [147:19]
Tom Brady
I would probably. I would probably wouldn't do as much of that, because what happens is during football season is you kind of train in the off season to build your body up maybe a little bigger, a little stronger, probably a little more weights. And then when you get into the season, I would not do a ton of weights. I would do a lot more band work. I never wanted to be really bulky. I wanted to be able to be, like, maybe a little thicker to withstand the hits. But I was not like, you know, I wasn't gonna, like, get all cut up just because, you know, that would get. I always believe that really tight, stiff muscles are the ones that get injured. And over time, there's less fluidity in the a. In a quarterback has to be a really fluid movement. A lot like a baseball pitcher. There's a lot of energy. You're transferring the ground. It's coming up through your hips, through your shoulders, to your arm, to your elbow, to your fingertips, and then the ball pops out of your hands. The more strengthy you are, the less effective you can generate the power through the entire kinematic sequence. So to me, it's all flow. So the more relaxed I could be, the more my muscles were really pliable, the more I could rotate quickly and then torque my body. And the more relaxed my arm was, the more the ball pop out of my arms. So over the course of the season, I would work way more on my pliability and less on my strength. So then when the season end, I would kind of back off the pliability training. I and I would do more strength training, which would get you a little stiffer, because when we lift weights, our muscles are getting a little bigger, a little stiffer, and more dense. But then that's not good for throwing a football. So now I end up Being a little bit more pliable, which is great for football, which is what the goal was this year.
- [149:00]
Whitney
You said at 45, it was mastered. Like when Rivers goes in, you're like, I could still play.
- [149:04]
Biz
Like he's got a barrel.
- [149:05]
Whitney
Like they had to be a part of you. Like I, I could easily be doing.
- [149:09]
Tom Brady
Why aren't I doing this? Yeah, because Fox does a great job of keeping me really happy. And I'm tired of like getting.
- [149:16]
Biz
They're paying quarters quarterback prices.
- [149:17]
Whitney
Yeah, they are.
- [149:18]
Tom Brady
And I'm tired of getting hit by Aaron Donald and J.J. watt and.
- [149:21]
Biz
Yeah.
- [149:22]
Tom Brady
You know that, that time is like, when I look back now, I'm like, man, we put our, ourselves through a lot. So like the risk reward of.
- [149:29]
Whitney
Yeah, but we, we've talked to a lot of hockey players. When we were done. It's hard, right? Like it's. You played way longer than we did and you're the, you missed the locker room. Was that first year for you, like, pretty difficult? Like you're like, oh my God. I'm just missing something that I've had forever over.
- [149:44]
Tom Brady
So the best, I would say the best part for me was I played so long. I finished my career.
- [149:51]
Whitney
Yeah.
- [149:51]
Tom Brady
I didn't stop playing. I finished the book ended and it was like I had a goal. 45. I made it. I really wanted. My kids were getting older. My oldest son Jack is in New York. I wanted to be there for his games. I said, you know what? Like, it's enough of them coming to my games. I want to be at their games. And I was at their games anyway, like as much as I could. I. But you know, there's just a regiment to our football season that doesn't allow you to be at weddings and funerals and birthday celebrations and you know, we got games. So it's just a commitment you make when you're playing. And the beautiful thing about football, it's only a five month season and to be honest, we only work like 40 hours a week. It's not like it's a 90 hour a week desk job. You know where you're now at home. I had to do extra work because I had a lot of film study.
- [150:38]
Whitney
But.
- [150:38]
Tom Brady
But I mean, for a football player, I think in many ways we have the best schedule of anybody. We're only gone eight nights a year from our families. We're not gone. You guys play 82 games, you're gone half the time. There's a lot of nitro on the road. We're gone Saturday nights eight nights a year. And then we're home basically all the other time. So we're there. It's just, it's, it's, it's a great profession. And the physical toll it takes on you, that's the issue is just, you know, again, it's such. I took more hits than anybody in the NFL. I got sacked more than anybody outside. I think Aaron Rodgers, you know, broke that record. That's not the record I really wanted, but, you know, you play long enough, you get hit a lot, you get sacked a lot and, you know, you take a lot of hits. And then I just had to work really hard as I got older to make sure I could recover from getting hit. You know, broken ribs was in my second to last year, I separated my shoulder, maybe it was my last year, second to last year, I separated my shoulder and it was like, I had to play like the last seven games with a separated shoulder, right shoulder. So it's just the daily maintenance to make sure I could practice and then play. That's, it's just taxing. And you just get a little like, okay, this. I think I'm good.
- [151:49]
Whitney
Yeah, this is over.
- [151:50]
Tom Brady
Yeah, I think I'm good.
- [151:51]
Biz
Was it, was it ever hard the older you got maybe to relate to some of the younger players in the locker room room? Because by the time you're end of your career, there was such an age gap. So. Yeah. What was, what was that like and how did you manage that?
- [152:02]
Tom Brady
So I, I actually really enjoyed that because quarterbacks naturally have to be the, the vocal communicator and, and to hold people to a standard, whether it was at Tamper, whether it was at the Patriots. I was, you know, I was older for a long time. You know, once I got to about 35, I was kind of older than everybody anyway. And then I have another 10, 11 years of playing where I could be kind of the mentor that, that the Willie McGinnis was to me or that the lawyer Malloy and Ty Law was to me and that the Drew Bledsoe was to me. So I wanted to see other people achieve their dreams, too. So when you get to like, after my third Super bowl, it was 2004 season, it was so gratifying that we would sign free agents and we would sign, you know, we would draft rookies and they would come in to the, the program and be like, I just, I'm here because, like, you guys are the Patriots. You know, we just, I just want to win. And then we'd win. And you see how their life would change because Your life was already changed. You know, you already were a champion. You already did get to experiences the fruits of your labor. You got to go to the White House, and you got to do the parades after you've done it a few times. It's better when you see other people do it. So now you got all these new teammates in that had never experienced any of those things, and you're a part of something and bringing something to their life that they had never achieved before. So that became a really motivating thing for me. And then we lost in 2007 to the Giants, then we lost in 2011 to the Giants, and then we went 10 years between winning Super Bowls, and then we win it in 2014, then we win it in 2016, and we win it in 2018. Then I leave the Patriots and I go to Tampa. And that was the losingest organization in the history of the NFL, Tampa Bay Bucks. But I chose there for a lot of great reasons. I love the coach, love the gm, love the ownership, love the receiving core, you know, love the warm weather. It was so many reasons. And then we go down there, we commit to each other as a team, we work our ass off. We all believe in one another, and then we go on a historic run and we win the Super Bowl. And it was like we. I just remember that boat parade. I'm kind of remembering boat parade.
- [154:09]
Hockey Illuminati
Smothered.
- [154:09]
Biz
Yeah. Is that the one where you're banged up off.
- [154:14]
Tom Brady
Hockey player on that day? Yeah, that was then you should have.
- [154:16]
Biz
Your own tequila company after that one, buddy.
- [154:18]
Tom Brady
That was pretty good. And just like to see, like, I think quarterbacks, like, it's always about relatability and how you relate to your teammates, not how your teammates relate to you. And I think you ask a lot when you. When you think of yourself as an older player. It's like you're a parent, and you're not a parent because you're not, you know, they're not your kids. But there's a younger. There's a big age gap. And you, as a parent, you don't look at your kids and go, come on, kids, listen to my music. Come on, kids, watch the show that I want to watch. As a parent, you go, what do you guys want to do today? I want to go to the playground with you. I want to watch the movies you want. I want to read the books you want to read. That's what relatability is, your ability to relate to somebody else. And as a quarterback, that's what I, you know, when I Look at other quarterbacks in the league. You could see on. On game day who gravitates to the quarterback and who doesn't gravitate to the quarterback. And if they don't, it tells me that that quarterback is not working hard to relate to his teammates. It means that he's asking them to come to him all the time. And it's as simple as when I would meet people in the locker room. I give shit. If you were a rookie, if you were a free agent. I walk down there and I'd say, hey, how you doing? So and so, I'm Tom Brady. Nice to meet you.
- [155:34]
Whitney
You.
- [155:34]
Tom Brady
I didn't wait for them to walk to me. It's intimidating. Yeah. This kid's 23 years old. He's been watching me for 15 years. I'm 38. I still got goals, but I need this guy, and I want to go and I want to make him feel comfortable. So the first thing you do is tell him your name, ask him about him. Don't say, wait for him to come talk to me. He's scared out of his mind.
- [155:52]
Yan
Yeah.
- [155:53]
Tom Brady
So go be a good teammate. And then the teammates love that. Go relate to the lineman. Go drink beers with the lineman. Go be one of them. Don't pull up in your Rolls Royce. Pull up in your pickup truck. That's what they're driving, you know, and I think, like, a lot of people miss that. They think, you know, oh, I'm older. Like, I deserve all this. I'm entitled. I did it. Everything you do in the past in sport doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that team, that year, that day of practice, that period in practice, that play in practice, that's what you have to get right. And I think focused on those small details from a leadership standpoint, from a quarterback position or any position where you're in a position, authority, you're a CEO of a company, you're, you know, whatever. Go relate to the people that you know, haven't had the experience that you've had. Provide the wisdom. Because that's what I learned from the people that I looked at, that I really looked up to.
- [156:43]
Yan
Yeah. When I talked to David Andrews, undrafted guy, played for the Patriots with him and love him. He said that about you. He said, whether you were on the practice squad or a superstar, Tom made time for you. And was that more just like you being a good person the way you were brought up, or it's like, okay, this is. I need this guy to be good for me to win. I Need this. Got to be comfortable, you know, here in the locker room, around. Because when you're a superstar, especially who you are, like, it's got to be tough, right, to play with. Like in hockey, guys aren't on that pedestal. If they are, like, there's Sid Crosby, but those guys are like you. They're taking time for everyone. But in other sports, I feel like it's not like that.
- [157:17]
Tom Brady
Yeah, it's just the values that you have too, and what you, how you see yourself become in. And. And I think there's a lot of it. Like, I don't know, I never saw myself any different. I still don't see myself any different from the kid that grew up in San Mateo, California. I see myself as the same kid. I'm still the, the youngest brother of three amazing sisters. I'm still the son of two amazing parents. I'm the, I'm the dad of three amazing kids. That's really the values I have too. Like what I've experienced and being blessed to win Super Bowls has just allowed me to have maybe a bigger voice and try to communicate to others, like, hey, this is what I really think is really valuable too, as people go through their career, because we all want to experience degrees of success. So a lot of people, the only reason I got to experience the success that I had was other people poured into me. One of my idols in football, you know, Steve Young, he said something to me a while ago, he said, hey, man, you always got to pay it forward. Go out there and do things in advance, you know, pay the price for people in advance, pour into them. And that's what you get out of it. I mean, giving rewards, the giver, you know, so you just go give to others and you'd be amazed in life how it comes back to you. So it's just, just, I don't know, the circumstances of my life have changed, you know, but who I am and the values I have have never really changed.
- [158:33]
Hockey Illuminati
It's awesome.
- [158:34]
Whitney
So you had that 10 year window with two heartbreaking losses between Super Bowls, right?
- [158:38]
Tom Brady
Yeah, let's talk about those.
- [158:39]
Whitney
Well, no, I'm wondering as a leader and being positive, like, were there times throughout those, those years where maybe you and Belichick or you would.
- [158:47]
Hockey Illuminati
You.
- [158:47]
Whitney
You'd be like, harder on teammates or almost like, all right, I'm frustrated right now. It's been a while since we won one. Yeah, like, I gotta switch back up to who I was earlier. Were you always pretty constant on how you, you approach, like, leadership?
- [158:58]
Tom Brady
Always, always very Constant with my leadership. And. And my leadership was always about, you know, how do I. How do I first of all, lead by example? You know, how do I, you know, you can't ask anyone to do something you're not willing to do. You know, you gotta, like, be the first one there in the morning. You gotta be one of the last to leave. You have to be the most prepared, you have to be the most focused. You have to, you know, drive the culture of what a winning culture really looks like. You could, you know, Bill always had to say no days off. You know, when you're a leader, it's hard to just show up. You know, you're. You just being in attendance. Doesn't matter. I always would say, like, you gotta bring the juice. You know, bring the juice. You. You kind of practice, let's go. You know, we're out here to get better. You know, we're not here to just punch the clock. So, like, do you care about your teammates and do you care about what you're trying to accomplish? That's leadership to me. And your teammates could be in anything, could be in business, could be on the show, you know, could be wherever. And the motivation was, how do I not let my teammates down? Like, what's. Jerry Rice told me that, too. And I was like, wow, that's so true. You know, that's. I didn't want to, you know, I didn't want to let Joe down. You know, Joe made a perfect pass and I dropped it. Man, he worked so hard to throw that perfect ball to me. I never wanted to drop a pass for Joe Montana. I never want to let the 49er organization down. They drafted me in the first round from Mississippi Valley State. That's what the best teammates, competitors. That's the motivation. It's not Super Bowl. It's not making money on a contract. It's not, you know, buying this person house. Because what happens when you do that and those motivations go away? Well, then what are you. To me, it's like, how do I not let you down? I show up every day with an attitude to win for you and for this club. And, like, we just got caught up in such a society lately, which is a challenge for a lot of these younger players, younger athletes, where it's about them. Them, it's about their brand, their following, their money. Like, money has now become the end all, be all for everybody. Like, the quality of your life depends on how much money you have. And every decision is made on who's going to give you the Most. Whereas, like, young, too. Yeah. With college now. Yeah, I mean, young and, and parents. Young parents don't know how to deal with that. But like, you go to a pro and you become a free agent, you know, and it's like, okay, who's got, who's going to pay me the most? Oh, is that the only decision? So, like, you sign a contract to go to a team where you really probably don't fit, and it may be not the best quality or the best coaching or the best, you know, teammates that are associated with what your skill set is, but you still go there because it's $1 million more a year after taxes, just 500 grand. And that's really going to change your Life on a $20 million contract? Or should you look at it and go, hey, what are all the things that really matter to me? What, what if, as I choose a destination, what should be the most important thing? And if you choose that right, well, you have a great, fulfilling life because no one really cares. I mean, at the end of the day, like, hey, what was your contract? You know, it's like, no, I'd like, were you successful? Did you, did you, you know, do you have great teammates? You have great friends from your playing days? Did you connect with those guys? Like, who are the guys you call on when you later on in your life when you really are looking to hang out with guys that guys are going through the ups and downs of life and things. Some things come your way and some things go your way and it just doesn't. Everything don't work out, but it, you know, life is about who our relationships are. What really matters is the memories and the relationships of the people that matter most to us and how do you pour into them and then how do you continue to grow and thrive in those areas when it's not about, you know, the last dollar? And why did that become so important to us, you know, in the last 15 years?
- [162:26]
Biz
Well, I mean, yeah, you took a lot of team friendly deals too. And, and with the Patriots, that was kind of the Patriot way. Going back to your relationship with Belichick, I feel like, like football, there's so much strategy involved. Way more so than probably most of the other major sports. Like, how fun was it with him? Just like cooking up these, like, ideas and you know, how you guys were going to continue to win football games because I would imagine as you did, so people would see what you guys were doing to win and then they would make the adjustments. So you had to kind of keep like evolving And I'm sure it was so, so fun chopping it up with him all the time.
- [162:57]
Tom Brady
Absolutely. So he's the best coach to ever coach in the NFL. He's the one of the greatest motivators. There's so many things that are just uncanny about his coaching style that he had such high expectations for us and he never let off the gas like it didn't matter if it was March. March was really important because March led to April, and April was really important because it led to May and so forth, all the way up to the start of the season, all the way up to the final games of the season to prepare us for the playoffs. And then if we were fortunate enough to make it to the last game, we were so prepared because every day was important. There was never a day where, you know, you could go in there and underperform on a practice and him not call you out. And that's hard. You know, it's hard to live up to that standard every day. But when you look back, we all appreciate the coaches that got the best out of us. Not the ones that made it easy for us. The players coach, how much did he like me? You know, it's fine, you know, but I think my relationships were more with the players anyway. But it was really like, how did he motivate me to get the best out of me? And some people are motivated. They're. You're motivated by, you know, different things. Some, you know, are motivated by the carrot, and so we're motivated by the stick. You know, it's a little fear and sometimes it's a little reward. And I think there's a healthy balance between both. Yeah, you want, you want to win the super bowl, but you don't want to get cut. You know, you want to make a Pro bowl, but you don't want to disappoint your teammates. So I think, like, there's good coaches always have the ability to go between both. Like the ones that have a big presence and they walk in and the coach walks in and everyone's got to sit up a little bit more. That's a good coach. Yeah, that coach who comes in and like, oh, you know, Joe's here. He just wants to bullshit with us all the time. Like, like probably not going to have the most success, you know, because quick.
- [164:50]
Whitney
Maybe, yeah, you get a players coach in and after a year or two, it's like this. They, they, they, they need a disciplined guy again.
- [164:57]
Tom Brady
Absolutely.
- [164:57]
Whitney
That's at least with hockey. But I'm sure early in your Career.
- [165:00]
Tom Brady
But why do we need these coaches that are like, the players? I hear this now because I. Let's talk to a lot of coaches in the NFL and they're like, I always point out first, like, all the mistakes I made, and I'm like, Jesus Christ.
- [165:11]
Whitney
Because of the young kids now. And like, but why is that?
- [165:14]
Tom Brady
Why is this generation so. Well, they're just, like, unwilling to take criticism for lack of performance. Like, why do we allow this with parents? Why do we allow in schools? Why do we allow with coaching where it's okay to mess up and screw up in front of your teammates because you're not prepared or you didn't put the effort in? Why can't we call people out on that? Why do you have to apologize for trying to get the best out of somebody? Yeah, that's what needs to change. And I think that swung to a certain point, and now it's swinging back where you're like. Like, if you want to be a high performer, there are no days where you can underperform or you're just average. Because if one day is great and the next day sucks, you're average.
- [165:52]
Whitney
You got to get called out if you weren't doing it.
- [165:54]
Tom Brady
Exactly.
- [165:54]
Whitney
Yeah. And. But like, when you were young, I'm. I'm assuming Belichick's telling you things and you're, you know, you're just taking it all in. But at what point were you able to kind of go back at him? Like, I don't agree with this.
- [166:04]
Tom Brady
Did you ever do that?
- [166:05]
Whitney
You must have had some legendary kind of.
- [166:07]
Yan
You matches.
- [166:08]
Biz
Yeah, that's what we call them.
- [166:09]
Whitney
Right. Like, do you remember one in particular or do you remember when you were able to finally speak back?
- [166:14]
Yan
Good coaches in hockey love that when.
- [166:15]
Whitney
You go, yeah, they do.
- [166:16]
Yan
If you're right, and you clear their.
- [166:18]
Biz
Desk off their laptop, smash it over your knee, they like that fire out of you. Yeah. You ever smash Belichick?
- [166:25]
Tom Brady
I never did that.
- [166:25]
Biz
I never did that.
- [166:26]
Tom Brady
That would be extreme. I think there was a healthy enough respect where if he felt really strong conviction with certain things, I would listen. And if he knew that I felt that I had a really strong conviction, then he would listen to me. And there was a very few times over a 20 year period where, you know, we got really pissed at one another. Very, very few. Like, fewer than you could ever imagine. You know, there was just a lot of respect that he knew that I was always trying to do the best I could for the team. I knew he was always trying to do the Best for a team. Did every decision he make, was it perfect? Absolutely not. Did every decision I make, was it perfect? Absolutely not. But it's that. That's what teams are all about.
- [167:05]
Hockey Illuminati
Out.
- [167:05]
Tom Brady
Like, I can ride with guys if I know you're giving everything you got. Well, like what I think you're gonna make every play. Of course not. There's a game of skill. It's the hardest. You know, you guys, so hard to play hockey.
- [167:16]
Biz
Yeah.
- [167:17]
Tom Brady
So hard to hit a golf ball. So hard to. To catch every pass or make every tackle or make every block. But don't worry, I got your back. You mess it up, don't worry. We're gonna get the next one, and I'm gonna mess up, and you're gonna mess up. But you know what? We're gonna mess up together, and we're gonna support each other even we do it. I mean, how bad is it? Teams where, you know, you're always pointing the finger at somebody else and look into, again, today's culture. You lose a game, you pick up your phone, you open your social media. Who do we blame for this? Or your parents? Oh, so and so's you know the reason or you know, your agent. Oh, man, he's the reason why you're losing. And it just fractures this team. Like, these people aren't involved in your team, right?
- [167:57]
Whitney
Yeah, they don't know.
- [167:57]
Tom Brady
They know nothing. They know zero. They don't know anything.
- [168:01]
Hockey Illuminati
You.
- [168:01]
Tom Brady
Who knows is the guys you're in this with. So you're in this with these guys, except now you got other people just trying to break you up. Because why? Because they want to feel like they have some authority over you or they want to feel like they're supportive of you. Like, we need to develop these team, you know, the goals of the team. That's what's most important. So I think, like, this part of, like, social media is the dangerous part, too, because it does fracture teams, and it creates the wrong values for really good guys. You know that, like, okay, we're not gonna let any of that shit in the locker room. And Belichick's term for that was ignore the noise. There's gonna be noise. You win, you lose this, ignore it. It doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is what's in here. Now, if there's agendas within the locker room or there's people that, you know are politicking, like, that's too. Like, there's got to be a wholesome part of the locker room that you bring in, people that truly do care about one another, that do care about trying to do the right things to put you in a position to succeed.
- [169:01]
Guest Analyst
I just want to jump in and ask one question.
- [169:02]
Tom Brady
Yeah.
- [169:03]
Pasha
I love you.
- [169:04]
Guest Analyst
The whole city of Boston loves you. You've given us so much to be happy for over the past 30 years. Do you have any message for the people back?
- [169:11]
Biz
Wow. Good.
- [169:11]
Hockey Illuminati
I like that.
- [169:12]
Tom Brady
Yeah, for sure.
- [169:12]
Biz
On a T for you.
- [169:13]
Tom Brady
Yeah, I love it. I mean, I. For me, I. I had 20 magical years, you know, two decades in one place. I built.
- [169:19]
Yan
Built.
- [169:20]
Tom Brady
I built a career there. I built a family there. I built a business there. I built lifelong relationships with that community and my teammates. And, you know, it's. It's one of the greatest cities in America. And the sports are just. They take kind of pole position always. And the support from all the states of New England, it's really unmatched. And there's a. There's a wholesomeness to that area. Growing up, it's all about community, you know, and supporting each other. And it's tough and it's demanding, but that's how it should be. But I. I couldn't have imagined. You know, I grew up in California to Michigan. I went to the exact opposite part of the country in every way, and I think it shaped me in such a positive way. I have so many of my great friends still live there, and it's just an amazing career, and I'm grateful to everybody there who supported us.
- [170:12]
Whitney
And Drake Mayo got us another one.
- [170:14]
Tom Brady
Let's see.
- [170:15]
Whitney
Like, Drake Mason.
- [170:16]
Yan
I love him.
- [170:16]
Tom Brady
Yeah. Okay.
- [170:16]
Yan
I love him.
- [170:17]
Tom Brady
He's got all the rest right. He's got all the right traits. And I'll tell you, I like. I love Mike Rabel. He's a teammate. He's a Buckeye, so, you know, they kind of know it all. And he's got every answer when he.
- [170:25]
Whitney
Played right in practice and stuff.
- [170:26]
Tom Brady
Yeah, a little bit. He was kind of an average player anyway, so here we go. He was great. He was great. I love Mike, but he's. You know, they've got a great program going, obviously, Mr. Kraft is. Is just awesome. And. And Josh McDaniels, one of my best friends, he's coaching Drake May. And they've just. They. They never. They're not straying from what really matters. They're kind of trying to recreate what it really should be like. And that's why they. I think they're. They have an advantage on the field every year because they're teaching the kids how to develop and do the right things, the right practice habits, the right study habits, the right team culture. They're playing for one another and then they're performing at a high level because the coaches are giving these players tactics to succeed. Like if you're a player and the coach is like, okay, this is what you should do, and you know it's the wrong thing, or maybe you don't know because you're too young, but you try it and it doesn't work. Like, there's a tactical issue. Good coaches tactically are trying to give their players the right angles, you know, the right routes, the right depths, constantly, over and over and again. They're not perfect either. But to me, the coaches that are really in it, that dig so deep, they just needle through everything every single week to try to put their players in the best position.
- [171:38]
Biz
Those are the best coaches in your post career. You've become like, well, even while you're playing, but more of an entrepreneur in your post career career. I mean, Noble. Do you want to talk about it just quickly and why you got on board?
- [171:48]
Tom Brady
Yeah, I, I was about three years ago, I had a TB12 business. I had a Brady apparel business. And I was looking to grow and we really needed great leadership in order to, to, to. To move forward with our beliefs in these businesses. And I found the best partner in Micropoli and we worked to acquire Noble and combine it with TB12 and with. With my Brady brand. And, you know, we're just doing incredible right now. And it's just, it's really so much about, yeah, it's product, but it's really a mentality, you know, and, and Mike calls it the no mentality. It's like no excuses. Nobody cares about them anyway. No complaints. Let's just go offer solutions, you know, that's the values that, you know, great sports teams have. That's great businesses have. Make no excuses. Show up your best. Show up and give your best every day for everybody. No bullshit. This is what it's all about. Create great products, market them well, reach the masses, and then we can make a great difference in this world.
- [172:46]
Whitney
He's got a name, a horse.
- [172:47]
Biz
Noble.
- [172:47]
Whitney
Yeah. Always at the track. He's a horse guy, right?
- [172:49]
Tom Brady
He's a horse guy. He's an everything guy. There's nothing that Mike doesn't have knowledge about. And he'll tell you that too, believe me. Mike, you know, Mike. Mike's one of the smartest, toughest entrepreneurs that I've ever been around. His track record of success is truly unmatched and and he's one of the most unique personalities you've ever met in your life. And I would never bet against him. He is absolutely full steam ahead on everything he does. He is just very inspiring for me. And again, when you talk about people that I met in my post career, Mike's one of the most impressive people I've ever been around. He has a a knack for making things work and figuring it out.
- [173:29]
Biz
Awesome.
- [173:29]
Whitney
Well, thank you so much.
- [173:30]
Biz
This was incredible, dude.
- [173:32]
Whitney
Congrats on everything, man.
- [173:33]
Tom Brady
Appreciate it. Thank you guys. Good luck to you guys and congratulations on all your success and keep it rolling, boys.
- [173:39]
Biz
And hopefully the next thing we get in a sand a sandbagger. We do the golf video. So we'll see. Okay, maybe you, Wayne and someone else.
- [173:46]
Tom Brady
That'd be pretty dope.
- [173:47]
Whitney
All right, let's go.
- [173:48]
Tom Brady
Awesome.
- [173:53]
Whitney
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Biz
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- [174:59]
Yan
Of Booth in Kansas.
- [175:00]
Biz
Wager tax pass through may apply in.
- [175:02]
Hockey Illuminati
Illinois, 21 and over in most states.
- [175:04]
Yan
Void in Ontario.
- [175:05]
Biz
Restrictions apply.
- [175:05]
Yan
Bet must win to receive bonus bets.
- [175:07]
Biz
Which expire in seven days. Minimum odds required. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see DKNG Co Audio limited time offer.
- [175:14]
Whitney
This episode of Spit and Chickles is brought to you by Body Armor Flash iv. If you're hurting, if you need to be hydrated, there is no other option besides body armor Flash IV. Flash IV delivers faster, longer lasting hydration with over 2000 milligrams of electrolytes and no artificial dyes, flavors, or sweeteners like those other drinks. It tastes great. It works. It works fast, and it looks cool in the bottle. So whether you're training, traveling, or just feeling the heat, work hard, hydrate hard with body armor flash IV, and grab yours today at a local 711 convenience store. Thank you so much to Tom Brady. Yeah, it's a little different watching a game, him doing the color than it is Romo. Romo was hot out of the gates. Go ahead, biz.
- [176:06]
Biz
No, I was saying. Yeah, just a bit. Just a wee bit.
- [176:12]
Whitney
Usually that means I got something to say quick. Yeah, no, it's. There's a. There's a giant difference. I'm being sarcastic right now. I'm biz now.
- [176:18]
Hockey Illuminati
Nasty.
- [176:19]
Biz
I. I just thought it was fascinating that, like, when you. Even when you asked him questions and him talking about, like, the process and how he got to where he did, like, it just seemed like his mind would always just go to the positive place.
- [176:32]
Tom Brady
Right.
- [176:32]
Biz
Even when I asked him about bridging the gap between him when he got older and the young guys. And for him to be like, no, that's like, my job to go out and. And say hello to them and make them feel comfortable and really, really adapt to what they're into because, you know, I'm not going to be here in a few years, and it's. It's really them coming up, and it's going to be their team. So just. Just the way that, like, his. His. His mind worked and. And giving us that information, like, I left that interview, like, wanting to be a better person and wanting to. To try to achieve more and. And having a little bit of a different perspective. So I can't thank him enough for his time. And to get that just. Just him for an hour sit down was incredible. So I don't know what you guys took away from it, but just hearing the way that he. He views life and. And.
- [177:19]
Tom Brady
And.
- [177:20]
Biz
And how he processes things was crazy.
- [177:22]
Yan
Yeah. I think for us, me, whit g like, growing up, having him be the quarterback of the team that we all love, to be able to sit down with him was just such a surreal thing. And then, you know, he posts pictures of us after you're getting so many texts of people like, holy. Like, you realize then, like, how cool it is. And I was so fucking nervous talking to him, like, just even being in the same room with him. Right. Just greatness, but just a gentleman, too. The way that he sat down with us, embraced us, talked with us, before with the cameras were on. Talked to us after. He hung out with you for a little bit after. Just like a true gentleman that you can tell, just loves sports, loves being a part of a team because you know, at the end of like what we're doing, we're part of a team and he understands that. So it was so cool for me to, to even be in the same room as him.
- [178:08]
Whitney
That guy just loves to compete. And. And I took away that after we got word he's down for a nine hole sandbagger. So if we could ever beat him in a sandbagger, I might be done. That might be it.
- [178:20]
Yan
Yeah. Shut it.
- [178:21]
Whitney
Beat him in an athletic competition. So. Thank you. Thank you once again. I want to go now. Broberg, Philip Broberg. Kind of crazy how this all went down, but he signs a nice ticket.
- [178:35]
Yan
It.
- [178:35]
Whitney
8 year extension, 6 million a year. 48 million bucks from the Blues. Yeah, I mean, looking at McLeod in Buffalo and Broberg and St. Louis, you know, there's. There's things that the Oilers really miss. Broberg's probably the one guy you wish was still on that team. And unfortunately that night after signing the extension, he. He got injured. I don't know how serious it is. Kind of a questionable hit by Mark Stone. It looked like that his, his foot almost. His leg got kind of behind him, you know, like kind of gives him that type of hit against the boards. It was upper body. But what was impressive was Braden Shen came right over and said, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. And the Blues, it's a struggle. Just been a disaster season. But that guy's an animal. And Stone credit to him, too good for him. I mean, that's not his game. That's not what he does. But squared off with him. Took a little bit of a beating. I don't know if you saw the hit either guy. Did you think that that was dirty or was it more just kind of bad luck for Broberg? Did you see it?
- [179:37]
Yan
I don't like when the legs are involved, but the leg behind.
- [179:41]
Whitney
Yeah, like the, the slew foot.
- [179:42]
Yan
It's like the Darian Hatcher. Remember Darian Hatcher used to get guys like that and. Yeah, it's almost like a little bit of a. The old school can open a slew foot, but it just, it opens up, you know, stuff for injury, hitting your head. That. That's it. Like the stuff. When you see that stuff now and the guy goes back and hits his head, that.
- [179:59]
Hockey Illuminati
That's.
- [180:00]
Yan
That's the stuff you don't like. To see. But I, I credit to both them for answering the bell with, you know, Shen, obviously, he. He's a guy that does that. He wears the. That C for a reason. He's a leader. And then, and then Stone had to pay the piper and he did. And you know, I'd loved it out of both of them.
- [180:15]
Biz
So you guys would obviously say that there's no way that St. Louis is making playoffs. I feel like there's one of the teams that we can cross off the list. They're sitting at 42 points right now. I would say Columbus may be the only team in the East I don't trust. And I would completely write off the.
- [180:32]
Whitney
Rangers with Shusterkin out and the Devils. Cause Posh is a fan, but.
- [180:38]
Biz
I know, but we've. We wrote them off early.
- [180:40]
Yan
I'm not going to rip off 10 in a row biz.
- [180:43]
Biz
I'm not going to write. I'm not going to write off the Rangers quite yet. I'm going to write off Columbus, Calgary, St. Louis, Winnipeg and Vancouver. Winnipeg being probably the biggest surprise of how. Shit they've been 39 points. Second.
- [180:59]
Yan
They won the Toilet bowl against New Jersey.
- [181:02]
Biz
Yeah, this. Yeah, that's. That's as. That's as ugly as it gets as far as expectations to where they are now in Winnipeg. So those are the five teams I've written off. We briefly touched on Anaheim who have lost five in a row where they've fallen off a cliff. They're 500. They're 21, 21 and 3 right now with 45 points.
- [181:21]
Whitney
So. So they've lost eight in a row.
- [181:24]
Biz
You talk about. Oh, really? Okay, maybe that's like with an OTL with where they got a point. It's got the 5.5regulation losses in a row. But you talk about hitting the rookie wall. They have a lot of young players that had very strong starts and now I think that they're. They're feeling it. So a lot to still be optimistic about, but off of a cliff right now.
- [181:47]
Whitney
Yeah, they were. I mean they were 11, 3 and 1 and they were to start the year. They were 19, 10 and 1 as of December 9th. Now it's, it's ugly. Carlson, he only had one assist in his last nine games. So they lost against Buffalo. He had a goal and an assist. So maybe that kind of gets him going. But he was, he was like, whoa, on pace for 100 points. He slowed down a little bit bit for Toronto is injured now. He was, he was struggling. Strom's been a healthy scratch at times. So that hasn't been good. So it's like not just the young guys. Maybe some veterans haven't played great. I know. I think Kaloren has four goals, so it's kind of weird that it looks so good. And then Lucas Dostall, he hasn't been good and he looked awesome earlier, so everything's kind of switched. I'm not. I'm not writing them off yet, though, so we'll see what happens there. But it did look way different. I was. I was loving that action I had with Pasha.
- [182:46]
Yan
About.
- [182:46]
Biz
This is a weird one. Gran Ellis reporting. They're 07 and one since they removed the Mighty Ducks wild wing statue from outside the arena. Now, why would they have Mighty Ducks wild?
- [183:00]
Whitney
That's team history.
- [183:00]
Guest Analyst
So they temporarily relocated it. So all the Ducks fans right now online are saying, bring it back, back, bring it back, bring it back immediately. Because they had this statue. It's been outside for this whole rebuild. The team starts buzzing. They get rid of the statue to put it away because they're doing some renovations and now everything's gone weird.
- [183:18]
Biz
Time to move it. I agree. Somebody should pay the price and get canned for that.
- [183:23]
Whitney
Yeah, that's not. That's not.
- [183:24]
Biz
That sounds like a Chicago cut incident, in my opinion.
- [183:27]
Whitney
If you're buzzing along, you don't change a thing, guys. Nothing change things when. When it gets ugly.
- [183:32]
Tom Brady
Ugly.
- [183:33]
Biz
You don't change your underwear. You don't shower.
- [183:36]
Whitney
You put your bathing suit on the window seal.
- [183:40]
Biz
Yes, you do.
- [183:40]
Whitney
It's like, come on, guys. Come on, Anaheim. Did you guys see the assist? Gee, what is the girl's name? Abby from Minnesota.
- [183:49]
Guest Analyst
Abby Murphy. She's going to be on Team USA at the Olympics as well.
- [183:52]
Yan
That was incredible. Insane.
- [183:54]
Whitney
I think that's the one of the best assists I've ever seen in hockey.
- [183:57]
Yan
Yeah.
- [183:57]
Whitney
Anyone who hasn't seen it, I don't think we could play the clip.
- [184:00]
Biz
It looks like it was AI generated. It doesn't look real with the angles they have of it. Why don't you describe it with.
- [184:07]
Whitney
As a defenseman who, you know, was walked many a time like this one hurts, but I don't think I was ever walked like this. She comes over the blue line. She's a righty. She on the left side. She flicks the puck up in the air as the defenseman kind of reaches out like, what's going on? She knocks it down out of midair through the defender's legs. Then while getting a little ahead of her, the puck, she reaches out with one hand and slides it over. I don't know the goal scorer who just taps the thing in. I watched it 10 times. It's. It's one of the most impressive assists I've ever seen. Just to think to flick it to yourself, knowing I'm batting it down after that, batting it between the legs of the defender and then with one hand, sliding it over. That's the. Might be the play of the year so far.
- [184:55]
Yan
It looked like Connor McDavid and Allen Iverson in the same person. It was insane. Like, the fact that to even think to do that is so wild to me, the Demon was probably like, what the hell is going on? Oh.
- [185:07]
Whitney
Oh, yeah. Oh, no. Oh, no. That's viral.
- [185:10]
Yan
No. Yeah.
- [185:11]
Biz
Oh, look at this puck right here.
- [185:12]
Hockey Illuminati
Yoink that, Lee.
- [185:13]
Yan
That the. The league, man. Like, some of the hockey has been unreal. Like, there's been chippy games, girls getting absolutely killed cutting through the middle. Oh, yeah, there's been some. That hockey is unreal to watch. It's been fun. But that goal right there, it could be the. The goal of the year in men's and women's hockey.
- [185:29]
Biz
Yeah. So the one watching got kicked out for that big hit. She laid in the neutral zone. That was a big topic of discussion, and we've mentioned it before on this podcast. I've gotten word that I think that the girls would invite contact. Like, I feel like if. If they had a league vote, they would actually want it to be added, which I tell you what, like, the hockey's been incredible and exciting. Aside from that, if they added contact, I think I would be tuning into, like, every game. That would be fucking unreal to watch. And going back. Yeah. To that goal. That. That should definitely win an sb. And it just reminded me of the semi pro. That's. That's two fouls. That's two fouls.
- [186:08]
Whitney
Sarah. Sarah. Nurse said to us that they want hitting, I think, along the walls. It's. It's allowed. Encourage. It's. It's more the center ice. Like, open ice. Enormous hits.
- [186:20]
Biz
Yeah. You're allowed to rub out. I don't think the open ice contact is what they're. They're allowing.
- [186:24]
Whitney
Yeah, that would be electric. Maybe someday. The arena in Italy, boys.
- [186:30]
Hockey Illuminati
Oh.
- [186:30]
Whitney
So the ice was tested. They. They had the test games. I believe they're playing, like, seven games in a couple days, kind of just to see how it all holds up.
- [186:40]
Hockey Illuminati
Up.
- [186:41]
Whitney
Now, what went viral is right off the hop of the first game, there was a hole in the ice so that it wasn't a bad look. It was like, oh my God. Like really? There's a hole in the ice in the first game. But I read quotes after somebody in the game mentioned, hey, they fixed the hole in five minutes and the ice was actually great. So as a lot of people have said, this is going to work out. It's going to be amazing hockey. The fans may get host a little bit. I think it went from 14,000 seats to 11,000. The locker rooms aren't all done. I think the four locker rooms in the arena are done, but they got like 10 more on the outside or whatever those. I think it was Chris Johnson day.
- [187:20]
Biz
This is crazy guy. We're a month away, man.
- [187:22]
Yan
Bringing their bags back to the room to air their gear out. Like minty in your bedroom, boys.
- [187:27]
Biz
This is a fucking joke. I asked Bettman at the outdoor game about how he felt about this. He seemed like he was pissed off. The fact that Buddy.
- [187:36]
Yan
Word.
- [187:37]
Biz
The, the NHL owners in the league are allowing their highest price resources to go over there and they can't even have the common decency to have the fucking arena ready. It's a, it's a construction site. Look at the videos that Chris Johnson has has posted to his social media about how unfinished this arena is. I'm happy that the, the ice is good. Are, are the stands going to be that far away from the boards the entire time? Him.
- [188:04]
Whitney
It's a joke, dude.
- [188:06]
Biz
It's a joke.
- [188:07]
Tom Brady
Come on.
- [188:09]
Whitney
They all. Dude, they found out in 2019. So it's come on. Like they've been putting this together quick.
- [188:15]
Yan
I could have built the rink by.
- [188:16]
Whitney
Now years ago, man. Like, come on, give him a break.
- [188:20]
Biz
Are you, you're be obviously being sarcastic. We're talking about six years to build an arena. I think in North America it takes about two, maybe three years max.
- [188:28]
Yan
I think there's a Ritz Carlton being built down the street that's 40 stories high. That's about to be done. It's been two years.
- [188:37]
Biz
How long did it take to build the Bill stadium that's going to be.
- [188:40]
Hockey Illuminati
Ready for next year?
- [188:41]
Yan
An hour.
- [188:41]
Biz
This is. I just feel like it's very disrespectful.
- [188:44]
Whitney
The workers, they gave him the bat blue. That was it too. They got it done. They got it done in a couple months, man.
- [188:50]
Biz
I just, I think it's a joke. I think, I think, I think they should fucking tell them to fuck off and play the games over here. But who am I.
- [188:57]
Whitney
The players are going to like, I, I, the, the village is the Olympic Village is. It's, it's going to be. Yeah, they're not going to be. Be used to like, the, the situations, the, the living arrangements, the locker room, the, the perks you have from playing in the best league in the world. This is going back in time, which, hey, who's mentally tough enough, who's doesn't care? Who's like, the dog? You guys have the dog on Canada. We're going to need the Americans to not give a shit. We need the Americans to say, this is fine. You can put us in a trailer outside. I don't care there. We're here to win a gold medal. I'm just happy that the players that played in the game said that the ice was good and that they even have another month to really get it even better.
- [189:37]
Biz
So it's like in Dumb and Dumber. I think we should trash a place. I don't think they're going to get the message.
- [189:46]
Whitney
Boys. That about wraps it up. Bedard's back two apples in his second game back in Nashville. The Blackhawks won. They've been abysmal since. Since he went out, so maybe they can get it going again. We're back, guys. Little different outfits possibly. So you may be wondering what's going on. Well, breaking news in the National Hockey League after we recorded Dean Evanson fired by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Very surprised. I don't think anyone had him as the first coach to be fired this year in the NHL. I mean, last year I feel like we had like six firings at this point in the year, but nobody until this moment. Today, Dean Evanson let go. He was in his second season, only coached for a year and a half. I believe had another year on his contract. Biz, I'll start with you. What do you think?
- [190:40]
Biz
I, I was a little surprised, especially at the, like, the headway they made last year and how hard they fought. Given the circumstances, I thought that that would have been probably like a, A, a really good bonding experience for a coach to come in and be able to connect with the players with. So, yeah, I guess I was. When I read it, I was kind of like, shocked. I mean, I said earlier on this pod, like, they're out of playoffs. I, I don't think there's any chance they're the one team in the East I'm writing off. Well, my, my opinion, like, is changing and. Okay, so. Because of Bones. So first off, I don't know why he was let go. Let's say for the reason of, like.
- [191:18]
Whitney
Ah, they're in Last place.
- [191:21]
Biz
I know Whit, but like normally I don't think, I don't think expectations last year were that high. They over exceeded them. And yeah, they've been off to a tough start. I would assumed he would have had a longer leash than that as well. Everybody else, because you just finished saying I don't think anybody had this guy being the first guy to go. So obviously they probably know something more that we don't. Maybe there's a. There's not great communication to the young guys and they're not crazy about how they're developing, which would probably be in my opinion the biggest focus and maybe not even getting to the group overall. And that's what they've seen. If you look at any coach available for a cheap dollar amount, I'm assuming what type of guy who's emotionally intelligent were at the worst. If he's just brought in for this year, even if he doesn't somehow turn around and hit all the right buttons where they end up sneaking in playoffs, whatever, but at least be able to bring to management and like to the, to organization. This is what I've seen in the half a year that I've been here. I think that this, this, this, this needs fixing. I think this, this isn't good. Here's the information. And then now they can go do what, what they will in the off season. But for a guy as cheap as Bones is, who's been around as long as he is, man, that's a fucking pretty good quick solution. I never even considered him as a hire.
- [192:44]
Yan
I thought he was, I thought he was done.
- [192:46]
Biz
Yeah, I thought he was done. And when I say that, I feel like, like. Do you agree that he's an emotionally intelligent coach? I always feel like he has the right pulse team. What he, yeah, what he did in Dallas, what he did in Winnipeg, the way that his players when they address him when he's on the broadcast. Like Lowry was crying last year when he, when he saw him on the broadcast. So shocked. Feel bad for Evanson, especially with the connection and what happened last year. Wow. Excited to see what Bones can do with this team.
- [193:18]
Yan
Yeah, I agree with you and I think just thinking quickly. Obviously didn't read too much about why or how Everson would get fired so quickly, but found a couple of things that, that their third period losses, they have nine third period losses with blown leads and they're a minus 20 in the third period. So. So that might be something where it's kind of like, okay, that's coaching kind of like we talked about earlier with the New Jersey, like, bad starts, bad finishes. You can kind of put that on the coaches. So maybe that's one reason. But usually you don't see a co. Usually a coach gets more than a year and a half shake, right? Like, it's kind of a quick turnaround, especially for the head waves they made last year. But I, I, I think bringing in Bones is the, is a great call. Like you said, I didn't realize he was even available. I think if you're looking for a guy that's going to help get your team to where you want him to finish, at least, like, getting, you know, some good momentum into next year, I think he's a good guy for that. Unbelievable guy. I got to know him a little bit, but just a awesome, awesome guy. I think because he was a assistant coach for so long, he probably knows how to, you know, relate to the players a little bit more. And I think that's kind of the new, the new wave era of kind of the communication with the players. And I feel like Bones is, is really good at that, and that's probably kind of something that they're looking for. But, but yeah, you hate to see anyone get fired. And then what was the assistant coach's name? McCarthy. I think they let him.
- [194:43]
Whitney
McCarthy. I remember he played.
- [194:44]
Yan
He's been there forever, right?
- [194:46]
Whitney
He'd been there five years, I guess. Now I, I would say that I would love to look like bones at 70, but he already looks better than me and I'm turning 43 in a month. I had no clue he was 70 years old.
- [195:01]
Biz
Yeah, he looks great.
- [195:02]
Whitney
I should have based on the fact that he was a head coach, I think in like 88. Like the guy's been coaching for 50.
- [195:08]
Biz
Years, but, oh, the evolution of tracksuits that he has on his, like, pictures on Google image. And like to see where they're at to now is, it's pretty wild.
- [195:18]
Whitney
So last year, man, Evanson going in and with what happened with, with Johnny and they missed the playoffs by two points. They won the last six games of the year. And the vibe going into this year, I don't remember what we all said in, in the, what is it called? The preview previews. But I know I was almost willing to bet Pasha, like, hey, I kind of like Columbus more than Jersey. I think I picked them to make playoffs, if not barely miss.
- [195:47]
Biz
Well, they still might end up better than Jersey.
- [195:50]
Whitney
Yeah, I know. Which is. I think they're only three points back of them, but just seemed like, oh, My God. Fantilli, second year. They got the Russian mafia. They got the. The. A top three defenseman in the league.
- [196:01]
Hockey Illuminati
League.
- [196:02]
Whitney
You know, people say he's behind Quinn Hughes and Makar and Morensky. Maybe not. I mean, you look at the guy, he just leads his team in scoring. How many goals does he have right now? It's.
- [196:11]
Biz
It's who it's got with Marchenko and Veronkov. They're all at 16.
- [196:17]
Whitney
So he's leading the team in points by 10. He's tied for the lead in goals. He's just absolute superstar. And then Fantilli and then Kent Johnson last year and everyone besides Morensky has. And maybe Marchenko has taken a step back. So you look at it like, is that the coach? Is that the player? And then I read a quote by Waddell, who did an interview last week, few days ago, where he was asked about Dean Evanson's job. And he said, it's my job to kind of look at everything right now. I've been trying to figure out, are we losing because of the coach or because of the players? And pretty much mostly what I see is because of the players. It's players making mistakes. Like almost saying, like, his job's kind of safe now. Things change. He's maybe not, you know, giving out what he really feels at the time in an interview, but, yeah, shocking. I do feel bad for Evanson. It goes back to how emotional it was for Billy Garrett to fire him. You could tell Billy loved him in Minnesota. And then his quote a couple weeks ago, like, I wouldn't have minded if he traded for Quinn Hughes when I was coaching the Wild. So now he gets fired again. And it seems as though if you get. You get let go by Mini and then you only get a year and a half with Columbus, sometimes it's. It might be hard for him to ever get another head coaching job. I hope that's not the case because, I mean, he seems like a good coach. He seems intense. I don't know if he's really difficult. I don't know if he's hard on guys. And maybe Bones isn't as. Isn't his. Isn't like that a little bit more.
- [197:43]
Biz
I feel like those guys will always get a shake like you, like. Like Lane Lambert, like, he gets a job in Seattle.
- [197:49]
Whitney
He got his second job, though. This was his. This was Evans.
- [197:53]
Biz
Yeah, I feel, yeah.
- [197:54]
Whitney
I mean, for a, For a. For a league that's just old boys.
- [197:57]
Yan
Club, you think that the guys usually get two cracks at it to Kind of prove themselves or guys without real long.
- [198:04]
Whitney
Like La Violettes had more than that. Mike Sullivan's had more than that. You know, there's some guys who are going to get three, maybe four tort how many torts had. But I don't. And I hope Evans it gets another chance. But sometimes you wonder, right? Like, is. Is too kind of of the stopping point for certain guys.
- [198:19]
Biz
Yeah. I mean, G. Just put it here. It's basically kind of what Whit said. It's like overachieving last year might have like, in fact done him in. Right. When you talk about all these guys having these career years, like Olivier. Did you mention his name in that group of guys? Fuck. He had 20 goals last year and.
- [198:36]
Whitney
He'S been out injured. That sucks.
- [198:38]
Biz
From a fourth liner. Right? So, yeah, it just seemed like everything that possibly could have went right, went right last year. And maybe the opposite case where with guys regressing a little bit and then he's the victim of circumstance. And buddy, honestly, like, sometimes it's like it's not even the quote unquote coaching element. It's just they need a new guy on there patting him on the back, saying, hey, you know, let's little. Little good momentum, good juju, new relationship. And. And it. And it turns things around. So it's just like he's a. He's collateral damage. I guess. So that sucks. But hey, a cool story and opportunity for Bones to step in and see if he can work his magic. And. And do you guys agree with what I said? Like, maybe I don't know if there's a. A connection of. Between Waddell and. And Bones, but sometimes if there's a coach that you trust, at least he can go in there, figure out what the culture's like, what the room's like and what needs changing, and then bring him that information back. And if he didn't think that Evanson was going to be good enough to turn it around for this year and he wasn't bringing him back, why not bring a guy that you trust more in to get that information faster? Talk. Rick Talkett had a half a year to prepare before the year he won the Jack Adams in Vancouver. So he as a coach was able to gain that knowledge to prepare himself for moving forward. So I feel like sometimes that half a year is valuable and it's not used against you from your. Your clock is ticking.
- [200:06]
Yan
Maybe it's kind of. I mean, they're only seven points out, right?
- [200:10]
Whitney
No, but that. That's so sneaky when everyone's in front of you.
- [200:15]
Yan
Agree. But. But maybe it's one of those things that Columbus, the management is like, hey, maybe we do it now and catch lightning in a bottle and can go on.
- [200:23]
Whitney
They pretty much said that.
- [200:24]
Yan
Did they?
- [200:24]
Whitney
Yeah, yeah. Almost.
- [200:26]
Biz
Look what it did for buddy.
- [200:28]
Yan
Yeah, look at Buffalo.
- [200:29]
Biz
Same thing with Yarmo. It's a stepping in. Like he looks like a God. It's like he's literally just. He just changed the name plate in his office. He got the better room.
- [200:40]
Whitney
You got the corner suite and told everyone like, you might get. You might get traded. Like nobody's safe.
- [200:45]
Biz
Nobody's saf. Thanks, Tips. Neither are you.
- [200:50]
Yan
No one is.
- [200:51]
Biz
None of us are safe here.
- [200:53]
Yan
Let's figure this off. His kids aren't even safe.
- [200:56]
Biz
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. But I mean, yeah, crazy, crazy unexpected news to drop. And we're able to also come back on and talk about Fedorov's speech jersey retirement, how classy the rollout was bringing.
- [201:12]
Whitney
Them, how he got on the ice.
- [201:14]
Biz
The Corvette is there. The Corvette.
- [201:16]
Whitney
I didn't know if it was a core. I didn't know what kind of car it was. Like, I just saw the video at the beginning of the video in the front. Either way, it was a red sports car for a rock.
- [201:23]
Biz
It might be like an old school Ferrari because apparently he was really into the cars.
- [201:27]
Yan
You're in Detroit, dude. They're going American. They ain't going a Ferrari.
- [201:31]
Biz
Oh, I know, but he's hardcore. I mean, he wore white skates. A guy might be driving around a.
- [201:35]
Whitney
Bentley who knows the team in. In the old Nike skates cover. And I kind of looked at the picture closely on Chico. It looked like almost tape covering or whatever that is. That is the chef's kiss right there to do that. And I'm guessing it was the equipment manager. I'd love to know who thought of that. It was a Corvette. Jesus said it was a Corvette.
- [201:58]
Yan
American.
- [201:58]
Whitney
Just, just an amazing touch because as we said before, those skates, the commercials, he was in the. The flare, the dramatic Sergey Federev. One highlight popped over my Twitter today of him scoring every goal in a 5, 4 OT win against the Capitals.
- [202:15]
Biz
Like, okay, so that was the game Stevie was talking about. It wasn't playoffs. I had you guys looking high and dry. That was a regular season game, right?
- [202:25]
Pasha
Oh, yes.
- [202:26]
Biz
I had you guys looking high and dry last year saying it was a playoff or eyes are pan. When I brought it.
- [202:30]
Whitney
Brought it up then, oh, the eyes are panned. But I guess he said, like, it was A big mistake ever leaving Detroit. And Keith made a good point. I forgot too. Like he went to Anaheim from Detroit. I didn't. I don't know. I. I kind of forgot where he went, you know? Cause I knew he ended up in Columbus. And he did say though, you know what? It ended up being a good thing. That's how I met my wife. She gave me these beautiful children. So it all. It all worked out pretty well. I mean he won. What'd he get? 97, 98. And then O2. So he got three. Got three titles.
- [203:05]
Biz
He actually won two Selkies. I thought he only won one. He had two of them.
- [203:10]
Yan
Wow.
- [203:11]
Whitney
I would argue that we'll never see a Heart trophy win the Selkie in the same season ever again. It's not a great argument. It's not. Who is the goal? Was it Glenn hall who we just talked about? Who passed away? God.
- [203:24]
Biz
Although there was one was in Philly.
- [203:29]
Whitney
I know Glenn. Holy. It was Glenn Hall.
- [203:31]
Hockey Illuminati
Yeah.
- [203:31]
Whitney
And. And he.
- [203:32]
Hockey Illuminati
He.
- [203:33]
Whitney
I think you were off biz. It was when we were doing Ra Ra's world. The 510 consecutive starts like that is the number one never be broken record. Maybe in sports.
- [203:43]
Pasha
Yeah.
- [203:44]
Whitney
But that's it. I don't know. Selkie and Selkie and Hart. We might not see that again considering every Heart trophy winner gets 120. 20, 30 points. Now, now, are any of those guys going to be in the conversation for Selkie?
- [203:58]
Yan
Is he. Is he the only guy that went from forward to D? I know like Brent Burns in Bufflin.
- [204:07]
Biz
Gauntar played forward.
- [204:08]
Whitney
He started in the NHL.
- [204:10]
Biz
I'm pretty sure that Gantre.
- [204:12]
Yan
But he was a defenseman that went to. Any defenseman can play forward. Forward you can.
- [204:15]
Whitney
I don't think Gauntar ever played forward. But all I know is Sergey Gonchar, the first time, first game I ever played with him, when he's like sitting on his knees in the locker room drinking a warm cup of tea, taping his stick in between.
- [204:32]
Biz
Oh yeah.
- [204:33]
Whitney
Talk about being relaxed.
- [204:34]
Biz
Just calm, cool, collected. Russian assassin. Yeah.
- [204:39]
Whitney
So sick on the.
- [204:41]
Biz
He kind of looks like like a grown up version of Stewie Griffin. But like, like I wouldn't say that to his face because I have so much respect for him and I hope he wouldn't be angry if he heard me say that. Do you agree?
- [204:52]
Yan
No.
- [204:55]
Whitney
No. Sergey Gonar is an absolute legend.
- [204:58]
Biz
He's a legend.
- [204:59]
Tom Brady
I'm just saying he.
- [204:59]
Whitney
I will not sit here and compare him to.
- [205:02]
Yan
I will not put that smut on.
- [205:04]
Biz
His name and he pursued hockey. And Peter was very supportive. Drove him. And he turned out to be a. A somehow got rush in and turned out to be an NHL superstar for sure.
- [205:13]
Whitney
Getting a fight. Like kicked out of the game by a ref at youth hock.
- [205:17]
Biz
Yeah.
- [205:18]
Whitney
Piece of trash.
- [205:18]
Biz
Yeah. Yeah. Quagmire's there checking out the hockey moms.
- [205:22]
Yan
Diggity.
- [205:23]
Biz
Yeah. The who. Who's the neighbor? The brown, the black neighbor?
- [205:27]
Yan
Cleveland.
- [205:28]
Biz
Cleveland. Cleveland's like, I don't know the rules.
- [205:32]
Yan
Then Joe who was the handicap? The handicap guy.
- [205:39]
Whitney
Oh, jvr first goal. Red Wings up one nothing against the Hurricane six minutes into the game.
- [205:45]
Pasha
Game.
- [205:45]
Biz
Oh, he scored a minute in bringing up the Russian five. And. And Konstantino being there and like the him on the Jumbotron and getting that huge ovation. Obviously, like that's a pretty unbelievable nostalgic night for the Detroit Red Red Wings tonight.
- [206:02]
Whitney
So that was long overdue.
- [206:03]
Yan
That's one of those teams when. When you get your jersey retired there, you're in the elite of the elite. Like you look up in the rafters there. It's the who's who of hockey. It's. That's. That's great company up there. And he deserves to be up there. Yeah.
- [206:16]
Whitney
That's of retired jerseys up there.
- [206:19]
Biz
Oh, and that. Those jerseys that. The Detroit jersey is so beautiful. I would put it right there with.
- [206:27]
Yan
With.
- [206:28]
Biz
With Chicago.
- [206:29]
Whitney
The. The. My. It is my most memorable Christmas gift. The red. Detroit Red Wings Iserman jersey with the C on it. I like the way the best patch the league has ever.
- [206:44]
Hockey Illuminati
I'm not.
- [206:45]
Biz
I mean, come on, don't laugh.
- [206:46]
Yan
Wit.
- [206:47]
Whitney
That's boys. Although that's. That's arms crossed genius.
- [206:54]
Biz
He's a fucking genius, baby. That can talk more intellectually than I can. It's not an insult.
- [207:00]
Whitney
He would kind of sit like this during meetings, though.
- [207:02]
Yan
Lois. Lois.
- [207:04]
Biz
Yeah, Gino. Gino.
- [207:07]
Whitney
I know we chatted earlier, but we did put out the T shirt shirts on sale for Kevin.
- [207:13]
Yan
Oh, we did. Nice.
- [207:14]
Whitney
So those are out biz and I saw you on the Yak today explaining that and Big Cat wanted to go fund me out there. So. Awesome. That we hopefully can raise some money for. For his wife.
- [207:26]
Biz
Yeah, no, I appreciate the. The whole barstool team putting this together so quick. And. And I thought it was a great idea through when Big Cat did it for Chris and it obviously raised a ton of money for him. So anything we can do for Kevin and his family? Like, I don't know, the funeral might be next week and. And I'm actually going to be home visiting my parents so maybe I can attend it and and give condolences on behalf of the podcast. But like I said this is one of those things where called to check in on on and on Frank and say hey, how you doing? Sorry you lost your buddy and then this story comes out. So I don't know I felt like it was something that we should bring to light boys. Because like no, I'm sure there's a lot of things that people are going through on this call. Not many worse than than that and that was one of the saddest things I've ever heard and appreciate for hockey Illuminati acting on it and and basically being like a frontman for for this now and and and not knowing about it a few days ago. So that wraps it up.
- [208:25]
Whitney
Store it's store.barstoolsports.com and 100% of the proceeds will go to Kevin's family. So yeah yeah. Sucks for Evanson.
- [208:35]
Yan
Cool for Rick.
- [208:36]
Whitney
Bonus see if the Blue Jackets could get going. And once again, congrats to Sergey Fedorov, a legend of the have a great one. But again, a bad habit worth breaking but it's taking time.
- [209:04]
Biz
I don't know.
- [209:05]
Yan
Don't let it.
- [209:07]
Whitney
It's going to happen.
- [209:08]
Biz
It's going to happen again.