The Kings Try To Save Their Season Before It’s Too Late w/ Mark Streit

Welcome to the Empty Netters Podcast. Can you believe what this has become? There was a full 48 hours where I felt like I was like literally Superman. Jumbo loves playing Fortnite, so he gets on the sticks. Did TR show you the sauna cycle or was that all you? No, I invented that. Almost a year now that I haven't taken a body check. That's kind of nice. So we are back. We are horned up. And we are going deep. Finished tonight with some chicken fingers and a few Guinnesses ran into you guys. I know. Let's see what this pod came to life. Ice is ready, and we are back with another episode of the Empty Night's Podcast, brought to you by BetMGM. I'm your host, Dan Powers, over here on the sticks. His edits of our Italian food reviews could get us on the food channel. Agree. That was the goal. Legitimately. Evan, how are we, baby? We're doing fan-flippantastic. Come on. And then over here to my left, a guy I would normally make fun of, but not today. because believe it or not, he's, he is getting married. Chris Powers. J-Bone, J-Bone is getting married. Bum, bum, bum, bum. What an idiot. What an idiot. You're not proposing, are you? Dude, oh, that would have been funnier gift. The over-under of the Frank the Tank gifts I was sent yesterday. Really? It was very high. That's pretty sweet. Everybody. Who, who sent it first? Good question. I gotta go through. Dude, I have, not to fucking brag, but I have a lot of text, unanswered text. I believe that. I got a lot of, I posted, Sandra put up a lovely post, and I shared the post, and I got a lot of DMs of people mad at you for finding out through a social media post. What am I supposed to do? Go text everybody? That's what I'm saying. I'm actually on your team. I got to go text everyone? You don't text anyone ever. Ever. I don't text you anyway. Nope. Uh, also, I had a thought that do guys, I don't like rings, like the literal thing of them, to the point that I was like, I might even get a tattoo of a wedding ring. Because I'm like, I just don't, I don't like it on my finger. Careful with that. They, the, apparently the ring tats fade pretty easily. Something about it being like on your hand. Yeah. We get a touch up. Maybe it's with a celebratory touch up every time. Any of the tat people, uh, let us know. I think hand tats, I don't know. Tons of people have hand tats. I think it's because you're exposed to the sun a lot. And also, you're probably, like, washing your hands a lot and doing stuff with your hands. That can't help, right? Why do you not like rings? I don't know. I find them uncomfortable. Yeah. I just find them uncomfortable. You're afraid to get your finger ripped off? Yeah. That sounds cool. Yeah. It can happen. So, I was like, I certainly don't want a ring ever. but I was like oh man it's I I wish guys got something in this moment in your life like the girl has a ring on now and she's like showing all her friends and stuff I'm like why don't I get like a sick watch like how come I don't they're not like boom that my wife gave me a sick watch yeah but that was a wedding day gift though okay but you that's tradition you I think they do get you some kind of gift I want an engagement watch I want to be like boom and then and then it should be a thing though like every guy at a bar like I want it to be like a girl a bunch of girls out at the bar and they see you out there and they're like, oh my God, he's so hot. And then they look down and they go, fuck, watch. He's got an engagement cock ring on him. Yeah. Or the reverse, you know? Oh my, like looking at the balls. So I, when I propose to Alice, I get a ring as well. Really? It's like a Swedish thing. Like throughout our engagement, I will also be wearing a ring. See, that's what I'm screaming. I don't want a ring. But you don't want it. Yeah. I want something. Maybe, what if you did, you put the ring on your necklace? That'd be cool. Oh, like Proto. Be like Proto. Sorry. Then all of a sudden, it's because he's sucking his life force out. He looks like an absolute gremlin. You've got to carry him up the mountain. And people are like, man, I don't think Chris is that happy about getting married. But we're like, well, it's actually. It's like on the wedding day. No, that's the thing. You take the ring off on the wedding day. And then all of a sudden, you're like, oh, God, it's the best day of my life. You look so much younger again. Yeah, there you go. I like that a lot. I like that a lot. Yeah. Okay. I think that's a good idea. We need. Could be a ring on this necklace. I mean, listen, it's, it's, uh, I, I say a lot, uh, men need, I, I get flowers every single week. Every Monday I go to the grocery store and I buy flowers and I put them in my apartment. No shit. I do. Wow. I think they smell nice. I think they look nice. And I'm, I'm heavy on give men flowers more. Yeah. Flowers are lovely. There is nothing, I mean, there is something feminine about flowers, but there's nothing exclusive about flowers being a female thing. Totally. We can have them too. They're great. So let's also, let's get you an engagement jewelry. Let's get me a ring for my necklace. You could do a ring. You're a big bracelet guy. I love a bracelet. What if you did an engagement bracelet? Okay. And it's just a, it's a nice silver bracelet and it says, back off. Yeah. Yeah. That's what I want. That's what I want. All right, I'm in. There we go. Engagement bracelet, done. Got a big episode coming for you. We've got hot ice. NHL stuff's back. We've got a lot of things to talk about. We have the trade deadline on Friday. We've got Mark Streit on the podcast. Stanley Cup champion. Swiss legend. And now, watchmaker. Watchmaking legend. Unbelievable. Kind of Olympic legend, too. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, he's genuinely a Swiss legend. Yeah, it's fantastic. Can't wait for you to hear that. We're going to get into some fun night ice stuff. Beer league hotlines. Let's get it cracking in hot ice. Jim Hilliard's been fired. Go Kings go The Is that A good PR move Whenever there's like a Terrible announcement you just throw in your Team's tagline try to distract it Jim Hill or fire go Kings go And everyone's like oh yeah alright Yeah DJ Smith Taking over as the interim head coach This is now the back to back Kings Coach firings where the interim takes over We'll see if that works or if this should have been a situation where maybe we had Pete DeBoer waiting in the wings. I don't know. I don't know if we'll have enough time. So this is why this is interesting to me because we, I think, there's been, we had an enlightening conversation that I can't reveal the sources, but we had an enlightening conversation about how overreactionary sports teams can be, sports franchises can be with, oh, we didn't win the cup this year. let's fire the coach. And it's like, is he a good coach? Because if he is, just keep him. Like they don't need to be firing people left and right just because of an immediate coin flip. So I'm now framing my brain around stuff like that where I go, maybe keep guys. But also we've seen way, way earlier firings that I actually was like, that was kind of crazy. And then it completely turned a season around. So read the Edmonton Oilers two years ago. Yeah. or whatever. To the point that the timing of this firing is what I find weird. It's not, and we never want anyone to lose our jobs on the show. We never say that. I didn't want Jim Hiller to be fired, but if we're firing him, I cannot believe we took this long to fire him. I agree. We are a positivity and goofy and silly boy podcast, but I will be slightly spicy here and say, I think that this had to happen. Yep. Never want someone to lose their job, but I think that This had to happen. I think with everything going on with the Kings, with it being Kobe's last year, how much talent is on their team that's not performing as they should, I'm kind of like, we need a new system in here. Could not agree with you more that I am utterly shocked that this happened in fucking March. Dude, when I got the alert, I was like, this is a mistake. I was in the building, the practice facility in, I think it was November or December, And it was after a stretch where I was like, he will surely be fired. Yeah. I mean, I can't remember the last time that a team was talking about firing their coach for such a long time. Yeah, yeah. And then did it. I mean, it's shocking that it happened this late. But at the – I know a lot of Kings fans are going too little too late. I don't think that that's true. I think we were, I was looking at the standings today and, excuse me, the Oilers are third in the Pacific with 66 points and the Kings have two games in hand on them. So the Kings win two games in a row. They are tied with, for third in the Pacific. Like it's, it is definitely not too little too late. Don't you think it would have made more sense to fire him before the Olympic break? Then you have two, three weeks at the coaching staff up to date. I mean, why, why do it at the end of the break? I cannot fathom this decision, the timing of the decision. The decision? Yeah. But you also had, like, you had that week where guys were on the ice practicing. The last week of the Olympics, guys were back practicing. Absolutely. And you could have had a new coach there to do that. But instead, you come back and lose an absolute shit stomp or shit storm performance against Vegas. And then you get pistol whipped by Edmonton. Like, it was two. Is that? Are those? Yeah, so they lose to Vegas at home. In, like, such a bad game. Pissed to whip by Edmonton, beat Calgary, and they go, you're fired. Yeah. And I go, what, dude? I mean, it's classic. It's the same thing with Jim Montgomery in Boston. It's like they lost a couple games, then won a good one. It's like the decisions made before the Calgary game. Yeah, right. But, yeah, I mean, had to happen. I, again, I understand it's almost even harder, probably, to hire a new coach this late in the game. Yeah. It's like that's probably why I think it's so crazy that you waited this long because now you're in March and you're asking a guy like Pete DeBoer, like, yo, do you want to be the coach of the Kings now? And he's like, it's March. What are you talking about? I just planned a Greece trip. Like, what? Are you nuts? So it's like I feel like any eligible coach is probably like they were almost like, no, this is so late in the game. I'm going to wait until the end of the season or something. But I'll have plenty more options. Yeah. I think the biggest thing for the Kings here that make this crazy to me is you, we obviously see Todd McClellan doing well now, but I think the issue with the Kings is the system. I think it's way too defensive of a system. I think it's way too neutral and cautious of a system. When you have guys, we've talked about this with the Kings, and I know we have injuries, but I'm going to include the injured players. When you pre-Panarin trade have guys like Kevin Fiala, like Anja Kopitar, like Adrian Kempe, like Trevor Moore, Andre Kuzmenko, Quinton Byfield, Alex LeFarrier. You've got guys on defense like Drew Dowdy and Brent Clark who can all contribute offensively very, very well. Trevor Moore is like a 30 goal scorer. He did it. And you've just got every single one of these dudes playing. Fogle, too. Fogle, as well. You've got every one of these dudes playing such a cautious defensive style of like neutral zone trap hockey. That is what needs to change because this team needs to score goals. We've talked about it. Their defense is pretty good this year. They don't give up a lot of goals. Kemper's great. They need to score. So you hire the coach and then go, the associate coach is now the head coach. And I'm always like, how much is possibly going to change? This is the guy who was in this coaching department. Is he going to go, I've actually hated every single thing that was going on. I'm going to flip this shit on his head. He could. He could. He could be like, I've been sitting here. I've been sitting here screaming, pulling my hair. Chomping at the bit. Yep. Waiting for, I'm like a, I'm a horny caged dog. Let me out. Let me start humping. Maybe. That'd be great. Yeah. But I just don't know if that's going to happen. I just think too, that it's the, the devils, the devils of the early 2000s were playing that trap shit, you know, and different league then, honestly, but they were winning. You know what I mean? Sure. And I know it's hard. It's hard to win a cup, but it's like, I'm sure Patrick Elias could have scored way more goals if he was in the system. But it didn't matter because they were winning cups. Yes, and also a different league. It was a different game. But this Kings team has been pumped in the first round for the last decade straight. So I'm like, you're not winning. Do something different. Do me a favor and say that again for the people who are listening in their car and not totally paying attention. Say that playoff stat. The Kings have been pumped in the first round for the last decade straight. Great. So the Los Angeles Kings are such a successful franchise and I think are often brought up in conversations about some of the most well-run organizations in the NHL. They have not advanced past the first round since 2014 when they won the Stanley Cup. People forget that. Zoinks. Like, hey, Scoop. It's been 12 years. Can you say that again for the kids in the back who are like, love Scoop. Say that again for the kids sitting in the back of that car that weren't paying attention. Dude, isn't it funny when we see young kids in the public? And they're like... Dude, I actually think it's the least funny thing in the world. Their dad's like, oh, my boy's a huge fan. Can you get a pick? And I'm like, he's eight, sir. And this is an inappropriate show. You should probably not be listening to me. Because I love beer league hotline. They're like, oh, no. So, yeah, I'm hopeful that the Kings get a new coach bump and make the playoffs. because it'll be a fucking tragedy if they miss the playoffs. Agree. In Kopi's last year. That would be a nightmare. Agree. Do you think there's a chance that Kopi un-retire retires? Honestly, absolutely not. But... I think there's a chance. I don't think it's likely. I'm just saying it's a non-zero chance. Well, it depends. So we're going to get back into the Kings in a little bit as we talk about the trade deadline, so we can move on. But it is just so crazy how Holland makes that swing for Panarin and then Fiala breaks his leg in a million places and is done for the year and now Kuzmic. also had a meniscus surgery. I'm like, oh. So, again, we'll get into it, but they have to make a pretty significant trade again. Yeah. So, I have thoughts. Okay, we'll get there. We'll get there. Speaking of offense that is needed. Yes. You don't need any on the island. Yep. Because Matthew Schaefer, who is only 15 years old, has scored 20 goals in his first season as a defenseman. He doesn't even have his driver's license. He doesn't even... You don't need one in New York. Yeah. He can. He's going to be on the island. On the island, though? Yeah. I think the island's even more crazy. The island has no laws at all. Yeah, you need your boating license. That's it. Yeah. That's all you got over there, dude. Schaefer can't even go see an R-rated movie. Yep. And he's got 20 goals. Listen to these rips here. Good. Schaefer, 20 goals this season, the most by an 18-year-old defenseman in NHL history. Come on. He had two against the Habs and then two. So he scored two against the Habs to break Phil Housley's NHL record for 18-year-old defenseman. And then he scored another two against the Panthers on Sunday, which became the first time a defenseman, the first rookie to reach 20 goals in a season. The first time a defenseman became the first rookie, which is insane. He also tied Housley's record for the most multi-goal games by a teenage defenseman in the season in NHL history. They each have four. He could break that. He became the youngest defenseman and sixth youngest skater in history to score 20 goals in a season. And his two goals against the Canadiens on Thursday came 55 seconds apart, making him the first 18-year-old defenseman in history to score twice in under one minute. the last 18-year-old player to accomplish that feat was Happy Gilmore. Was Sidney Crosby. Two goals in 44 seconds on December 23rd, 2005. He's doing Crosby shit. From the blue line. From the blue line. He might score fucking 30 goals. We were stroking ourselves off to Cale scoring 30 goals last year. And Shafe Daddy is 18. He might do it. Butch tweeted something today, I think this morning. And he was like, my Norris, he has to be a Norris voting. Yeah. Let alone Calder. Yeah. He has to be a Norris voting. It's crazy. I think that's correct. This kid is, he is as game-changing as we've seen in a long, I mean, I don't want to say a long time because I believe Macklin last, there are some people who are being like, Macklin's jump didn't really start until this year. You're dumb if you think that. Macklin, yes, like they didn't make the playoffs, but for a team that finished last place again, everything changed last year in San Jose. People were legitimately like, I am not going to games. Yeah, yeah. Diehard Sharks fans were like, I'm not going to games. We're so bad. Macklin and Will showed up, and everything changed about the vibes of that team. And if you don't think that that also leaked into tons of people being like, I would go there. Like, Tyler Toffoli comes to that team because he is like, they drafted Macklin. Like, that is a big deal. So that is a, I mean, Macklin's in that conversation, but this is comparable to Sid and Ovi. So, you know, we're showing up in Pitt and Washington and being like this, and everything is now different. Yeah. The Islanders are their fucking party, dude. Oh, my God. That place is a party. We're partying on the island. It's a great place to party. I had some other stats for you here. Matthew Schaefer for defensive ranks. In the league. In the league. Yeah. Not rookies. Defensive ranks. In the league. Puff possession. Per game. 16 minutes. Or, excuse me. In the season. 161 minutes, 31 seconds. Third in the NHL. Zone exits. 431 second in the NHL. Zone entries 223 second in the NHL. Openized Deeks 143rd in the NHL. Goals 20 tied for second in the NHL. For all defensemen in the league. Outrageous dude. It brings us into I wanted to bring up Beckett your boy because this came up on Hockey Talk yesterday someone was like is Beckett the leader for Calder. He is leading rookies in points with 49. I think Shafe's 3 behind him or five behind him. Maybe Schaefer's like 44, 47 or something like that. But the answer is no. He is absolutely my number two. Yeah, Schaefer's 44. I think credit to Demidov. Demidov's great, but I always get a little bit uppity about he played a little bit last year. So I'm always going to factor in my personal voting. I see, yep. Beckett's been unbelievable. I mean, I'm talking, you want to get fired up about Leo Carlson, as you should, get equally fired up about Beckett. I mean, like, Beckett and Leo, what a pick. Oh my god! What a pick, dude. After that, are you fucking kidding me? PVB! Like, that is such a brass balls pick. Insane, dude. Easy. Crazy. So, I find it my duty to bring up Beckett and give him a tap on the head for how good he is, but all that to say, I just still think it's, I don't know how you can pick anyone but Shafer. I think that's, I don't think, I know that's correct because of what Schaefer, everything we just read. Like the stats are, he's doing Bobby Orr shit, he's doing Sidney Crosby shit, it's a joke. And the Islanders are firmly in the playoffs right now. Yeah. The Ducks, after their huge dip, are one point back from Vegas right now with a game in hand for first in the Pacific. Yep. I think if the Ducks, where they spent most of the year. Can we just hold on? How fucking awesome is that? It's amazing, dude. Quack, quack, quack. Can we talk about that for a second? It's your show. Go for it. The Anaheim Ducks are one point back with a game in hand from first in the Pacific. With Mitch Marner, Jack Eichel, Vegas Golden Knights. With 60 games. Yep. And they were missing Leo for so long. I think if they finish first, it also helps Beckett's case. People forget that we saved their season. Correct. Yeah, take flight, baby. If they finish first, it helps Beckett's case. but I think Beckett would need to make a, right now he has a five point lead over Schaefer. I think it would need to significantly, he would have to get high. Double digits. Has to be double digits. Oh yeah, I was going to say like 15 points more. If he does that, then I go, as good as Schaefer's been, Beckett on the first place ducks with 75 points on the year. If he gets, you know, if he goes crazy, I'll be like, okay, you're in the conversation. And what fucking kills me, dude, and this always happens, we should get Dr. Locks in here. This always fucking happens. I went to the Ducks, we went to the Ducks home opener, and I went like this, damn, Beckett is so good. Nasty. Yeah. So I went on betmgm.com, and he was 16 to 1 to win Rookie of the Year, because he was so low behind Ryan Lerner, behind everybody, and I was like, yes, Beckett is going to win Rookie of the Year. I am placing $100 bet on this. I'm going to win $1,600, because I know ball. and now he's going to lose to Schaefer, but he's going to finish second. And I feel as though it was the right bet. I did everything right, and I'm now going to get nothing. You lose a good day. You're going to get Schaefer. Yeah, I'm going to get Schaefer. And it fucking enraged me because now I'm like, damn you, Schaefer. Instead, I could just be like, I love you. You should be reveling in how amazing it is. It's like, God damn it. At the beginning of the season, Chris and I put a bet on Dorofiev on Vegas to win the Rocket. Because he was just scoring at will. You're like reactive to three games. And I felt so good about it. And Skorofiev's like not even in top ten now. Bro, he might never score Ophiev again. What do you mean? He just scored the other night. No, he never scores. He never scored again. He'll never score. Skorofiev is 21st in the league with 28 goals. Puke. Puke. What a bad bet by him. Duke. People want to know if we take accountability. Beckett. That was a terrible bet. And I'm sorry if anyone fault us. Beckett. Incredible bet. You can do it. You can still do it. Incredible bet. Speaking of betting. Come on. Let's take a quick ad break. Talk about BetMGO. There is no better place during March Madness than Las Vegas. We're going to be there. We're going to be in Vegas for March Madness. We always go to Vegas for March Madness. And this year, college basketball fans can win a VIP trip to the Court of Legends event. which sounds incredible, featuring the Cavender Twins. All you have to do to do this is simply place sports bets, which you're already doing anyway, so that sounds easy. And your position on the leaderboard of Court of Legends will determine if you win one of the 25 grand prize packages. You just sign into your Betting GM account and opt into the promotion and then start placing those bets, baby. At least $10. They have to be at least $10 to count. That way you climb the leaderboard and then you can make this march. One to remember, join the Court of Legends leaderboard and make it legendary. We're back and we're talking trade deadline. We're going to talk about this all week. Is it Friday? Yeah. It's on Friday. Trade deadline is Friday. So we're obviously, we're going to get all into it in the Thursday episode as well. Hopefully some more stuff will be going down. We're hearing some rumblings already. There were some quick hitters that I wanted to discuss. We got to always remember that LTIR is different this. Yes. So there's a lot of teams like Dallas, for example. Tyler Sagan has been shut down for the year. but that like that LTIR well that's different he's not coming back well as I say you can use it so he yeah you just can't you just can't then go to playoffs and be like bring guys back yeah yep so there are some big names that could be dealt and I want to talk about a bunch but I want to talk about I don't know when this first came up with us and tell them check me if I'm self-boosting us. Okay. I think this was an original idea. Doubt it. I'm not saying me, I'm saying us. Yep, still doubt it. Yeah, you're probably right. First, I'm going to get us off the jump here. The Florida Panthers are in a tough spot. Yes, they are. They're in seventh in the Eastern Conference wildcard ranking. Seventh in the wildcard. I think they might be dead. I think they are dead. That's insane. If I learned anything last year, you never doubt them. I would want to be dead if I were them. That's kind of where I'm at. I'm almost like I think it might behoove you guys to shut her down, get healthy, and get Barkov back, and then come in next year and win a cup. Here's my hot take. You ready, Ev? I'm ready. I think that this is a brilliant idea. If I were the Florida Panthers, and it feels like we're toast here. Oh, this is insane, dude. I think that the Florida Panthers should 100% trade Sergei Bobrovsky to a contender, let him go chase a cup with a team, and then re-sign him this summer when he becomes a free agent. I don't think there's any world where Bobrovsky plays in the NHL after this year for anyone other than the Panthers. I agree with that. And if you're going to miss playoffs and you know this dude is resigning, go fucking trade him and get a ridiculous haul back. You can get a first round pick for him easily. I think you could. Do they have picks coming up? No. They've been dishing picks. So they would like that. You can get a first round for Bob back, let him go play, try to win another cup, and then you know he's coming back because you do. That's good business. Yeah. But Bob's got creaky knees, bro. And I think you go, I don't want you. You're telling me you think that Bob can't go on a cup run this year? No, he can, but wouldn't, if you're the Panthers, for your cup run next year, wouldn't you rather he had the summer off? Yeah, that'd be four years consecutively. I get what you're saying. I'm like, Bob, go. In fact, I wouldn't trade Bob. I'd fucking cut Bob. I'd go, you're fired, dude. And then I'll just re-sign him at the end of the summer. literally stop playing hockey go away the fans heads will explode yeah I think they would love it I think the fans who don't see that they're eliminated would get mad but like you're telling me it's good business that is fair I actually get that take but like I look at Carolina who has 8.8 mil encapsulation and I'm a bussy believer Yes, me too. And Carolina also is carrying three goalies, I think, at the moment. So it would have to require a bit of movement. But with how open the East is, if you're telling me that there wasn't an opportunity for Carolina to be like, yeah, well, I mean, I'd take Bob. Like, what about Pitt, dude? Go to Pitt. Well, are they going to make the playoffs? Pitt? Pitt is chilling, dude. And, like, what about, they don't really have the cap space, but, like, what about Montreal? Does Montreal play in Fowler? Do they believe in Dobesh? Like, what are we doing here? What if the Oilers got him? What if the Oilers? They need it. Yeah, that's honestly. He's ripped their soul out two years in a row. And he goes, This guy needs to be put into it. He goes, yo, I'll just win you a cup. What if, hey, Carr? That. And then they just go right back to Florida, and then Florida beats the Oilers next year in the cup. What about that? And Foster's like, okay, all good. What about Utah? Yeah. I mean, yeah. I don't know. I think it is, I think it would be the sickest move of all time. It would be insane. I would fucking love it. I mean, again, I'm a bussy believer. Yep. But if you're telling me if all of a sudden the Carolina Hurricanes added Sergey Bobrovsky in their net for this cup run, that people wouldn't be like, holy shit, they are the number one contender. Yep. I don't know. It would be pretty cool. That would be extremely cool. Okay. Some people I want to talk about. Rasmus Ristolainen. Yep. First of all, actually, I jumped ahead. Sorry. Stamkos said that there is, quote, zero chance he's waiving his clause. Yeah. What do you think about that? I'm surprised. Didn't he just recently say, no, I probably won't, but I would go to these three teams. No, someone made, I don't think there was any Stamkos quote, but someone was like, if he were to move, it would only be for so-and-so, so-and-so, and-so. They're not, and I feel so validated on this one, they are firmly not dead. Correct. This year, I was like, they're going to be back, they'll make playoffs this year, and And I felt like an idiot fool for 30 games. I was like, oh, my God, they're terrible. But they are firmly not dead. So if the Nashville experiment had gone better from the start for him, I was in full support of that move. I never wanted him to leave Tampa. But if they were going to be dicks, then I was like, I love Stephen Samkos. Go to Nashville, which is a place I love. That's a great team. You will win a cup there. It's just gone so badly. So if you could almost just in a vacuum go, you're in playoffs. I go, yeah, why would you, Abe? You're in a fucking awesome city. or a great deal, a place that loves you, and you're going to try to win a cup. It's just hard to erase the last year and a half. What if Sam Coates just doesn't like country music? Yeah. And he's like, I can't. I think it sounds like he loves it. Maybe that's it. The fact that he's being like this, there's zero chance I'm waving. I'm like, I think he actually starts, he's loving it. That's what he wants to say. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll send you to the AFS. You can win a cup. And he goes, no country music there. I went out. He was a hard pass. hard pass i will not leave speaking of colorado i just quickly have to say the denver airport is like the worst place i've ever been in my entire life it's crazy it has a bunch of um it's too big well you know this is like a conspiracy theory there's all that stuff in there there's like a demon horse and we're talking about conspiracy theories later on the pod okay this is exciting this is a really exciting pod yeah a lot of stuff there's been a lot of um foreshadowing yes in Today's pod. Yes. Okay, so Stamko's out. Rasmus Ristolainen. He has come up like every single year. Just had a great Olympics. He was a plus... What? You think so? Oh, yeah. Okay, so he's a plus nine with Finland. He's on year four of a five-year contract, making 5.1 million a year. He's 31 years old. I think he's got like six or seven points, but that's not the guy he is. He is like a, I'm a good defenseman. There's a lot of defensemen that are coming up for me. I'm going to add to the Ristolainen watch. Okay. This is VP's big board. Yeah, yeah. Okay. I'm adding Justin Falk. Mm-hmm. I'm adding Mackenzie Weger, friend of the program. I'm adding Tyler Myers. Yep. And I'm adding Dougie Hamilton. All names on DP's big board, as in guys who could go. Guys who could go and, how about this, should go. Should go. Got it. All those guys, I'm looking at teams like Detroit. You could use some defense. there's so many teams that I'm looking at teams like San Jose could use some defense Seattle Kraken could use some defense even the Duckies you could add a body I love the Duckies decor but you could maybe add like a defenseman yeah sure sure but I I think literally every one of those guys should move I think you get I think we get Tyler Myers, Justin Falk, and Ristolainen. I could see Wiggs being the man and being like, no, I'm sticking it out here. But I'm like, Wiggs, I need you in the playoffs. Dougie is just such a – it's tough that he's been injured. But the Devils are eliminated. I mean, I said this summer Dougie should be traded. I haven't seen Dougie Hamilton should be traded. Remember, Dougie Hamilton was supposed to be a shark. He said no. Yeah. I'm like, whoops. Whoops. I mean, they're not that good still, but yeah. That wasn't a career under. Adding to the Blues, who are dead, by the way. Blues are dead. Blues are dead. Blues are eliminated. Robert Thomas and Jordan Cairo. Did you hear the talk of Robert Thomas to Toronto and what the ask would be? No. Matthew Nyes, Easton Cowan, and a first-round pick. For Rob Thomas. For Robert Thomas. And I love Rob Thomas, and I will not have Rob Thomas slander on this show. There will be zero Robert Thomas slander. I think he's underrated. Robert Thomas is a phenomenal center. Yep. But that is an inappropriate return. You know who I could see Robert Thomas going to? Matchbox 20. I was going to say. Yeah. Isn't that the Santana song, too? Yeah, yeah, yeah. He could be going to an alt-rock band. Yeah. And making great music. And then Stamkos can join a great thing together. Oh, my God, dude. Get him to Nashville. Get him to Nashville. Get him to Nashville. Can't make Steve start having more fun. I could see Robert Thomas being a L.A. King straight target. Yep. That is a massive center. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That is massively helpful. Interesting, interesting, interesting, interesting. Did Codri moves? I don't know. Caudry's in the same camp as Dougie Hamilton's for me. It's just like a name that comes up all the time. And I'm like, you should probably move. You should move. And he's like, no, I'm good. And I'm like, okay. I think the Rangers are not done blowing it up. Oh, yeah. Oh they fire sales Oh 100 And I think it is your fiduciary responsibility to fucking trade Vincent Trocek and Mika Zibanejad And if you don't, you have failed, Chris Drury. Yeah. Because you want to just go, we're building around Chesty and Laugh. Not Laugh. Laugh is a part of that team, but I don't think that you're building around Laugh. I think you're building around Chesty, Adam Fox, and Gabe Perreault. Yup. Okay. And Will Cooley. And JT Miller. Nope. You want him gone. Nope. I just don't think you're building around. He's your captain. A guy in his 30s. He's your captain. Yeah. I have a message for Trocek. Go. Come home. Come home to Pitt. Yeah. That'd be really nice. You just need to come back home. That'd be really nice. Dude, I really actually like that. It's not going to happen. But I don't, yeah, I don't. You know who I really do like, though, is Minnesota. Oh, yeah. I think Trocek, just like... That'd be really good. Yeah. Trocek joining that Minnesota team is... Imagine if Minnesota goes on a fucking cup run. I can think a few things that would be more fun. That'd be sick. We can go there in June. Don't break your laptop over. Go there in June, be on the lake, snap your laptop in half. God, that'd be so sick. If Minnesota wins the cup, I'll smash my laptop on the pod. Okay, and then my last thing on trade deadline. Again, we're going to get horny for the trade deadline over the course of this week, but my last thing is Austin Matthews. You are such an asshole. You're a fucking pig. I didn't say anything. I just brought him up. Here's the thing, dude. He is a fucking champion. He's an Olympic champion. I know. He's an Olympic gold medalist, and Toronto can get fucked. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. We're not lumping everyone in Toronto media and Toronto fans into certain people. Did you see that headline? Yeah, it was absolutely ridiculous. I know. What is it? It was a headline that said, in the Toronto Star or whatever. It was like Austin Matthews values the president and something over playoffs. And something, and like a parade over playoffs. The Olympics over playoffs, yeah. Yeah, yeah. And I was like, dude, first of all, you guys blow. Second of all, shut the fuck up. He just won the Olympic gold medal. He just felt like a crazy animal. He's going to win with the team for this. They're going to get, yeah, outrageous. uh he i am though you said this i am on what is it 2028 yeah i am on 2028 austin matthews returns to the states watch here yeah because it just feels like this isn't going well and sometimes it does take a year right like the marner thing is such a shake up sure oh this is easy and it just wasn't that easy it can take a year you know you can retool in the offseason but like they were going, we'll be fine. And you stink. And you're about to miss playoffs. I know. Listen, I didn't say anything. I just brought him up. But they're not going to actually move him this year, right? No. In my opinion, there is absolutely zero chance that he is dealt this year. But I think it is worth discussing. Next year he goes, I'm not resigning. Yeah, and it's also just worth discussing a can you benefit each other? Maybe, you know, I don't know, Austin Matthews, maybe he's thrilled in there and he's like, no, we're going to fucking figure this out. I bet he is. But maybe there's a world where Tree Living sits down with him and is like, dude, like maybe we need to shake things up here. And he's like, I'm open to it. Yeah. And maybe you make a huge trade with Utah or something, and you get multiple first-round picks and a great player back or something. I don't know. I don't know. Just that. Then they move back to Arizona, and then everyone's happy. Yes. They play for the Coyote. Wait. Coyotes aren't there anymore. Oh, no. Oh, shit. What? Well, like we said, we're going to stay horny on the trade deadline all week. We'll do some predictions for the next step. We'll be keeping you updated stuff. We'll get predictions next step for sure. Let's take an ad break, and then jump on back in. 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This is my favorite set. Cover of the Swiss version of the NHL game in 2008 and 2011. Absolutely amazing. An NHL All-Star in 2009. A Stanley Cup champion with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2017. A four-time Olympian in 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2014. Serving as the Swiss captain for three of those trips. and co-founder of Norcane, the sickest Swiss watch brand in the game, Mark Streit. Welcome to the Engineering Podcast. Good morning, and thanks for flowers. Pretty good hit list right there. Yeah, not bad. Chris did want to know one thing. It's probably the most important thing of all the accolades you have. Are you friendly with Roger Federer? I met him a few times. There you go. Yeah, yeah. There you go, buddy. So you are now one step closer to Roger Federer. Yeah. A tiny one. Incredible. No, I had the opportunity to meet him in New York and see him play in New York. And then I went to Wimbledon one year, actually with Nino and Roman. Oh, wow. What a trip. And another Swiss buddy that plays in the Swiss League. So we were in Wimbledon. We met him. We met him after the game. And, yeah, it was amazing. Very impressive guy. And, yeah, such a humble person. It's incredible. Yeah. I remember when he was starting out. He feels like a perfect human. It's unbelievable. When he was starting out, I swear to God this is true. I'll have someone factored this because Chatsky knows. But when he was starting out, there was on his website, there was an address, not his parents' house, but there was some address that his parents had access to that was like, if you mail something here, I'll sign it and mail it back. And I was like, what? It's just his mom and dad's house. That eventually got real dangerous. But, Mark, as you know, we were looking up, doing research and everything, and I think it was when you signed the Islanders deal. It was like you were the second highest paid Swiss athlete in the world behind Roger. And I was like, oh, does he know Roger? It's like, wow, I got to ask. I got to ask. Another good title. Yeah, it's amazing. Well, I mean, as Chris listed at the top, incredible NHL career, but super unorthodox beginning for you. You were drafted in the ninth round, which isn't even possible now. And I think a ton of people don't know who are familiar with you. You were like 26 years old when you got drafted. And I think in your day, the sort of small mobile defenseman wasn't as popular as it is now. Do you feel like, when you look back on your career, do you regret not trying to get into the NHL faster or earlier in your career? Or do you think it actually ultimately really helped your career? Well, I think there were different reasons. First of all, as you mentioned it, when I was 18, 19, I played the World Juniors twice for Switzerland. I had pretty good tournaments. And every year, every summer, I was really excited for the draft. I was following the draft every year and really disappointed that I didn't make it. But, you know, back then when you weren't six or six foot one, you had no chance. And I think with the changing of the rules, you know, the teams looked at smaller-skilled defensemen. And at the time you had Sid Licky, Rafalski, and those were European players that went to the NHL when they were 25, 26. So later on, so I fell into that category, and I think the year I got drafted, I didn't even check out the draft. At one time, yeah. Yeah, you ruled it out. You're like, you know what, fuck this. I'm not even going to watch. And bang. It's actually a pretty funny story. It was a Sunday morning. The draft was on Saturday, and I was in Zurich, and I had a good night with my buddies. So at 10 o'clock in the morning, the phone rang, and I woke up, you know, a little bit. Sure. Come over. Yeah. And then there was this journalist, a Swiss journalist, that said, hey, congrats. And I'm like, congrats. I must have missed something last night. No, and then he said, well, you got drafted. I'm like, oh, wow, really? That's amazing by you. And then, you know, he said Montreal Canadiens. And I was, I mean, the happiest person in the world and so excited. It took a little bit longer, but it was just, you know, the NHL changed the rules. It was like more of a skilled game, less bigger guys and more skilled and had the ability to skate. That was one of my forties. So it took a little bit longer, but once I made it, I mean, it meant so much to me. Like it was incredible. Of course. And it's also, it's amazing. You had an amazing world championships tournament. That was like, that was the year before that definitely put you on more people's maps. And it's awesome how those tournaments can ultimately really lead to people getting drafted and getting their shot in the NHL. Absolutely. And, you know, there's the lockout year, too. You had a lot of NHL players in Switzerland, in the Swiss League, and then the World Championships in Austria had a good tournament. And I think it was Gauthier. Yeah. I think he was the assistant GM. He was high on me, and he was the reason I got drafted by Montreal. So I met him at camp after in the fall, and I talked to him. And, yeah, I mean, it was a huge adjustment. I mean, when I came over and, you know, I saw the practices that I skated with the team, and it was just the adjustment was humongous from the Swiss league, just the speed, the intensity, and the physicality. Yeah, even with the shift in smaller defensively, you know, you're still like, oh, wow, this is a step up. Well, you know, I felt like I'm staying at the German Autobahn, you know, watching the practice and being on the ice. And then back then you still had the bigger guys. You still had the fighting in camp and there's always some fights. So it was a huge adjustment. But you know what? Credit to the Canadians. They gave me the time to adapt. And that's what I needed. It took a little while to get used to the speed of the game, the physicality, the travel, and to feel comfortable and have the confidence to actually play your game. Was that weird for you? Because you were kind of a veteran already. You're in your mid-20s. And was there a part of you when you got there that was like, oh, shit, maybe I shouldn't have come here. This is insane. Or were you like, nope, I finally made it. I'm going to make it work. Yeah. No, that was always my dream. And that's the thing I wanted in my life and my career. But you were right I was a Swiss captain I played a few world championships A few Olympics, international career And you felt pretty good about yourself Because you're confident, you're a good player But you play in Switzerland The Swiss, kind of in a bubble And then you go to the big world And the big guys And it was just a huge For me Adapting to the game And to everything You play in the Bell Centre the 21,000 people, the media, the TV, everything, the pressure in the city. I think back then in Montreal, it was one of the most difficult markets to establish yourself in the league. Wow, great call. I believe that. Did you and the boys run it back Sunday to celebrate the draft? You're coming off a big night, but I just feel like you must have done something. No, we didn't go back to back. Mark falls like the hair of the dog. I was going to draft it. Let's go again. they're like we didn't dude i'm dying that's awesome that's amazing okay so um in your career you i think mostly with montreal but you played roughly 60 games as a forward obviously the majority of defensemen and when i'm reading about that i'm like yeah i do that in beer league depending on who shows up i can go up go back to the nhl at the bell center that's a different story so first i just want to know what even went into the preparation for something like that when they They were like, hey, you're going to play up tonight. Well, the good thing is I didn't have a whole lot of time. It was basically after warm-ups that Guy Carbonell came to me and said, hey, can you play up front? I'm like, for sure. Yeah, I always do. So I never played forward, you know, before. And I just realized, you know, obviously as a player, you need to find a role on the team. And I realized, you know, if you want to play in the NHL, that's what you've got to do. And I played as a winger, but also three games as a center. No way. And so one of my first face-offs was against Mike Fisher. Oh, God. And I never had a face-off before, so I was 0-6. But I was a face-off. He don't. He don't. They're pulling him out. So checking the game notes after that one, they're like, maybe not center. So, yeah, it was, you know, a thought process. But I think as a defenseman, you kind of realize a little bit everything from behind, what you need to do as a forward. And, you know, honestly, I just, as a forward, I just, you know, I part myself in front of the net. I don't know how many goals I scored just getting pucks off my ass, off my hands. I just went to the net. I mean, obviously, you have to pay the price. But that's where you score the goals. That's why today I can understand when forwards don't go to the net. Because those are easy, free goals. Yeah. Yeah. And everybody's playing on the outside. It's so much on the perimeter now, right? It's like sometimes we watch power plays and no one's in net front, and the power play's struggling, and I'm like, God, but someone in front, it's crazy. That is funny. Whenever I was a defenseman as well, and whenever in the cycle of play I got caught in a rush and I was in front, I'd be like, I'm going to get in front, maybe get a tip on the puck here. It works. It's great. Yeah, you want bread going to the bakery. You want goals going to the net. It makes perfect sense. That is true. You obviously preferred being a defenseman, but were there any parts of forward that you were like, that's kind of fun? I mean, for my skill level, skating and everything, it was a blessing. And obviously mentally it was tough because some games I played on the back end, I played up front, I killed as a forward, the PP on the point. So mentally, you know, you have to get into it. But I took it as a challenge, and it just gave me a possibility to establish myself in the NHL. But at heart, I was always a defenseman. That's why when I had the opportunity to go into free agency or stay with the Canadians, for me, one of the main goals was to sign as a defenseman. Oh, interesting. That was talked about. You would say that to teams, like, hey, I'm playing D now. 100%. Obviously, when I started in Montreal, I wanted to stay there, But with the salary cap and circumstances, it just didn't work out. But I knew that the Islanders, you know, they gave me an opportunity to play as a full-time defenseman, take a lot of responsibility, play a lot of minutes. So that's why I chose to go to the Island. And for me, I mean, it was great. I played a lot of minutes. After two or three years, I was the captain. I was able to go to the All-Star game. And, I mean, it was great. But, you know, as a team, we weren't really successful. That was kind of the downside. or rebuilding many young guys, great players, but you could just feel that it's going to be really tough to make the playoffs. And as a player, when you're in your prime, that's frustrating. Well, so on that journey, it's a perfect transition. This guy could do our job. He's a pro. You get to the Islanders, and that's a really unbelievable, productive stretch for you in those four years with the Islanders from 2011 to 2013. You're named the captain of that team, which is amazing. First Swiss captain in the NHL of all time. And you're also just a very beloved Islanders players to those fans, which is to have that honor and that presence in the hearts of those fans in, like you said, a lot of rebuilding years where you're not really competing. A lot of things have to go right, and a lot of things have to kind of feel good for the fan base for that to be the case. And you had a young John Tavares on that team, a young Kyle Ocposo on that team. How cool was it? And as a player who wants to compete and wants to try to win Stanley Cups when you're not really in the playoffs. What were the things that made that such a good time for you, being on that team, being with those young players and with that fan base? I mean, the team was fun. The guys were great. The organization was great. And the fans, you know, a lot of diehard fans on the island. Oh, yeah. I mean, the times were tough. You know, we were a losing team. Like sometimes around January, you basically knew you're not going to go into the playoffs. But fans still showed up. And it was kind of bittersweet. Sure. At one point, I was happy with my role, and it was great to work with the young players. On the other hand, you're in your prime, and you want to go for a cup. And, yes, the years sometimes were long and a little bit frustrating because you just, you know, you want to go to the playoffs. It was a later start, too, in your career. I was just kind of processing that where you're like, I don't have this huge runway. You're like, oh, we'll get one. Yeah, that's interesting. And you're not, you know, if you're captain of a team, you know, you're like, you don't want to ask for a trade. You know, it's kind of one of those loyal things that they gave you an opportunity. They gave you a nice contract, the responsibility to evolve as a player, as a person. And you don't want to be the guy that kind of leaves the ship. So I think the last year was kind of a great story. We made the playoffs. I mean, the Coliseum was just almost exploding. Yeah. We had a great series. We lost 4-2. But this, to have it at the end of my Islanders time, it was a gift. It was a great experience and a happy ending to a great time in New York after all. Yeah, I mean, I was curious, how long did it take for the island and that area to feel like home for you? Because coming from Switzerland, being in Montreal, you're going around a lot of different places in the league. But every time we've heard you speak about the island, and there's a lot of love that you have for that area. How long did that take? Easy. I think, you know, for me, I think the process was good, going to Montreal, a very European city, you know, like easy to adapt lifestyle-wise. And then New York is, you know, the big city. But, you know, on the island, I lived in Garden City, a nice little town, beautiful. And as I mentioned, there were so many great guys on the team, like Trent Hunter, John Sim, Brendan Witt, Billy Chee, Dougie Wade, Nick Sillinger, all the young kids. Nino came along. So the team spirit was always unbelievable. It's just, you know, we just didn't have enough depth to go into the playoffs. That was the only downside. But living-wise and the team, the team was great. The guys were unbelievable. So it was always fun to go to the rink. Even we had a hard time. So that's why I felt comfortable right away. And the organization, the people working, you know, the office, team manager, media guys, coaches like Snowy, Kerry Gwider, everybody were just so happy and the alumni too. The guys from the one four in a row, I mean the guys, you know, they came to the game, they were so great with the guys, even the times were tough but it was like a real family in a tough NHL business. That alumni network's been good still for you too, you know, those captain's trips and everything and just coming back like that's that's pretty awesome yeah i think they do a hell of a job inviting the guys you know almost every year you know i can't go every year with three kids at home and and the busy schedule i have but i love going back and seeing the guys i mean this they do a fantastic job like a weekend you get to see the guys you go to a game and uh that's incredible so it's a lot of they honor the the you know the the players from the past and which is great yeah no doubt it's great no doubt insane and then obviously watching a we were talking uh two days ago whatever but watching you know a young matthew schaefer go over that organization possibly a future captain of that team maybe someday um how nuts has it been watching the transformation of that franchise over the last few months just having him be an 18 year old phenom yeah incredible i mean there's so much fun to watch and uh you know i had the opportunity to meet the owners a few years ago John Ledecky and what's the other guy's name we'll come back the two main owners basically and they were actually when they started I met other of them they talked about hockey and wanted to get a feel because they weren't from hockey so they approached me and had a nice actually dinner with them in London with Ralph Krueger together. So we had a great talk. And it was amazing. So I kept a tight connection with the elders. Throughout, even when I retired, I love going back. So it's a great organization. And seeing them now with the new building, UBS Arena, which is an amazing arena, having a great team that can compete. I'm really happy for the fans because the fans are unbelievable. they're so dedicated to the team and so supportive even doing the rough times and it's cool, cheese is on that area that they're building everything that they're doing I feel like the Islanders are kind of rebuilding back up right now around Schaefer with so many new people in the organization they just released a new cool hype video you can feel the Islanders' vibes are getting way way up there which is exciting for sure and it sounds like everyone who played for the Islanders It's like with Clutter. It's like, you know, with Martin, too. Everyone loves staying in the Islanders family. That's so telling. When guys want to stay around the area and keep doing stuff with the team, the Islanders are back. Yeah. It's crazy. I think it's always a great sign if, you know, guys that play, they love going back or even love going back or live there afterwards. I mean, the area, the lifestyle and everything is fantastic. You know, you have New York City, but you have Long Island, you have the Hamptons. It's great schools, great for kids to grow up. So, yeah, it's an amazing place. Yeah, for sure. Okay, I want to flash forward to March 1st, 2017. You wake up in your bed. You're a Philadelphia Flyer. Hungover in Zurich. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You get a phone call. You've been traded to Tampa Bay. And then, bang, two hours later, you're traded to Pittsburgh. What did you know ahead of – when you got the Tampa call, were they like, and you're going to move again? or do you think I'm going to Tampa for real? Talk me just through the whiplash of that day and if you even knew you were going to move for sure before the deadline, all that stuff. Well, it started in the morning. You know, I knew it's March 1st, trading deadline just around the corner. And, you know, actually I thought maybe I might stay. Oh, okay. But then once I got to the rink, you know, I got the call from Hexy. Yeah. He's like, you know, come up. I'm like, uh-oh, it's not good. So I think there was another team that was interested on the West Coast. Okay. But it wasn't on my list. Nice. So I was like, and it was not a team that's probably going, you know, far in the playoffs or even into the playoffs. So I'm like, you know, I don't want to go there. Yeah. If I want to get traded, I want to go to a team that, you know, can compete. Hang on the list. Yeah. Can compete. Good question. Is that an awesome feeling when there's, like, a team that wants to trade for you but is on your no-trade list and you get to be like, yeah, I don't want to go there. Sorry. And it was a team that would trade and sign. Yeah. So, oh, interesting. Oh, shit. Yeah. Can you say who was or no? No, no. We don't need to do it. They were just bad that year. It was not their fault. Still, still. We don't need to stop. It's the West Coast team. And then I said no Because the other reason was We just had a daughter Three months old You know Across the country That's hard That's hard If you have something Yeah Maybe you say Okay I don't want to go there So anyway He said Okay Go skate And then I keep you posted So I went For skating We had a short skate Half an hour But it's just the feeling It's so odd Oh yeah You're out there You're looking If the trainer Is coming to the Coming to wave you over. Waves you over. But it didn't happen. And then after practice, I went back to Hex. And he said, you know, right now, there's nothing going on. Just go home. And then I actually had my parents in town. Oh, wow. And a couple, friends of mine. So we were having lunch at the time. Did you tell them all? Were you like, what? Well, I knew. Okay. And then it was like 2.45. And then I saw Hex go. I'm like, okay. I'm done. So I pick up the phone. He's like, hey, thanks a lot for your services, and I wish you all the best. You're going to Tampa. So I'm like, Tampa, great organization, great team, but weren't in the playoff mix. So I'm like, this is going to be a tough one. You know, obviously, you know, we go there for a few months or a month, and then the season is over. You're basically probably going to be retiring. And then shortly after I got the call from Hex, Pat calls me. He said, hey, hang on, we might get you to Pittsburgh. Oh, wow. So I'm lost. So I was for, I don't know, 10 minutes a lightning. You were lightning. You remember the damn bay lightning. Just before the deadline, a few minutes before, I got traded to Pittsburgh, and obviously that was a blessing to be on a team that can compete for the Stanley Cup. Also kind of an easy move. Yeah, easy move. With the young daughter, your wife must have been like, let's go. yeah it's easy no that was for me it was uh just uh yeah i was really happy and i mean nervous excited because it's a rivalry and i had the pittsburgh i didn't have him on the list so i had to add him on the list oh wow okay out of respect as a flyer i didn't put pittsburgh on because yeah yeah yeah oh massive you don't want to you know you don't want to do that yeah then when you get trade you get trade you're like okay i want to take every opportunity you can get so I added them to the mix, to the list of teams that I could get traded to, and, yeah, it worked out great. Yeah, sure did. Didn't you play Tampa first game? Like when you got to the first game? Yeah, yeah, yeah. They did something. They did a tribute video. Did you? They did something on the board. They were like, thanks. One of the great Tampa Bay Lightning. Welcome home. It's so funny. It's like a tribute video. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's so good. It's incredible. Okay, so you go through the world going to, all right, this is all happening and whatever. And now, you know, because that was, they'd already won, right? They're going, they're the defending champs. Yeah. Crosby's here. Malkin's here. Letang's here. Were you, you mentioned nerves a little bit, but what was that like? Because they are, this is everything you want. This is a defending champ team in the mixer. Here you go. They need D help. Let's go. Were you like, all right? I mean, it was overwhelming, you know, the organization. I knew Sidney a little bit from Pat. But the guys like Flower, Tanger, all the guys, they were all super nice. It's a great organization, so professional. The practice facility, just the setup, you just could tell it starts to sit and then it just tingles down the organization. For me, it was really impressive and awesome. And I can maybe tell you, it's probably my best story in hockey. this is why we do it so this was the first practice with the team okay so you know you have all you know in every locker room you have like the nice carpets yeah yeah so i'm getting dressed and i have two pairs of skates and i used to change the seals and the trainer usually did it for me yeah so you'll probably see what's coming yeah so first skate i you know i dress up it's me and uh phil kessel last two guys yeah phil goes on the ice i go right after i hit the ice i just wipe out yeah first day first day yeah yeah sted and gino are looking over like who's this guy i literally i slid in the middle of the ice yeah i couldn't get up yeah i had no steel yeah So I was on my old force trying to get back to the bench. Guys were looking at each other like, what the hell? What is happening with this guy? Who did he pick up here? So that was the most embarrassing feeling. Straight up just no steel in your tubes at all? Yeah, no steel. That's unbelievable. No steel. You didn notice it when you were walking out You know first practice you nervous Yeah true true Usually the trainer he didn know in Pittsburgh that he changing steals So I just, carpets, you don't feel it. You don't hear it. I wanted to skate. A white ball, a yard sale. And then it was just, that's how it started in Pittsburgh for me. Remarkable. It finished incredibly. You go to the playoffs. And I did want to ask, because that Ottawa series was wild, and you had three games in that series. What was it like going through an insane playoff run like that, not playing as much as you obviously wanted, but also being a part of this epic journey? Talking to the emotions of that. Also, joining a team that's kind of in this dynastic run. Crosby's building a catalog of cups here, and now you're a part of that. I mean, incredible experience And you just You could tell why they're so successful Yeah It starts with Sid, his leadership, professionalism What he does every day You know, from the morning, before practice During practice, after practice It's just incredible how he works Sure And it just, it tracks everybody It's contagious Contagious, sure And it was not, for me, not a surprise That those guys were unbelievable And I think for me, it was a great experience but also a tough experience because I got there, there were a lot of injuries. I played for 20 games, and then all of a sudden the playoff starts, and I was a scratch. And to be honest, it was kind of tough because the coach, he didn't talk to me for seven weeks. Damn, yeah. And, you know, I'm 39 years old. If he pulls me over and says, hey, Mark, you're not going, this is the reason, it's one thing. But not saying a word I thought I was like classless Yeah You know it's a tough job As a coach But have the courage to tell the guys Have the conversation I went to the rink I had to make a decision You want to play You want to be part of it But then at one point she said I work as hard as possible I'm professionalism at the rink I support the guys I'm in a good mood, good spirit because if you go to the rink and you're miserable, you're just not helping anybody. So I just try to stay mentally in it because maybe I'm going to get a shot. I'm going to be playing. You never know. You have to be ready. And if you're just sour and bitter, you're not going to be able to step on the ice and perform. So I made the decision, you know, you're positive. You work hard. You do all you can do to support the guys and be part of it. And then obviously not playing for several weeks. and then all of a sudden you play the Senators who are like a fast, like even a pretty physical team. So the first games, like it was tough. Yeah. Because you don't practice, you know. Yeah, yeah. You just play. Yeah. And then you get thrown into that. And that's why I was really happy that I stayed focused. I was, you know, a pro about it and ready to, if I got my chance, I got it. I played three games. and obviously not playing in the final again was, you know, it's just hard. It's just hard, but I had a part of it, a small part, a difficult part mentally, but I think I did everything possible to support the team, the organization, and the guys. And, you know, at the end of the day, I had the experience, and I think winning a Stanley Cup, it doesn't matter which role you have. You're part of it. Your name is on the cup. and I'm very thankful to the organization and, you know, the Pittsburgh Penguins. Like, it's just Rutherford was an unbelievable guy, an unbelievable GM, a gentleman, a class act, and a very smart GM. Yeah, damn right. And obviously seeing Mario Lemieux at the cup party and seeing him walking around, it's just, you think you're dreaming. Yeah. It's just, it's awful. So real. So real. What was that night like and what was your day like with the cup? What did you get up to? Well, when we won it, we had a few parties. Obviously, one was at Sid's home. That was probably not bad. Probably not bad. And I have a nice picture with me and obviously with all the guys and Sid, but I have one with Mario. Oh, no way. Yeah, that's awesome. And having the car in the pool as well. Before it sank to the bottom of the pool, yeah. So, yeah, and then when I had the opportunity, I think it was 2nd of August I had it in Bern. Yeah. You know, I had a whole day. I took it to the government, took it to the mayor, prime minister, and we had like a reception. We had like some juniors coming, like, you know, like seeing the cup and getting autographs. And then from the afternoon on, we just took over a restaurant right at the River in Bern. Yeah, amazing. We invited like 100 guests. And, yeah, I mean, that day is just, it's so cool. For you, for the family, for the friends. And, obviously, the great thing is now with Norcane and our partnership with the NHL, I get to see the cup a lot. Yeah. So, lately, it's pretty cool. It's a privilege. Yeah. I mean, every time when you see the cup, you're like, man, this is the best trophy in the world. You did say that in Tampa. You were like, it never gets on seeing this thing. It's amazing. It's just an amazing feeling Every time you see it And you see the teams, the names And you just feel the history And just the blood and sweat and tears That's behind it That's why I think hockey is the best sport in the world NHL is the best league in the world The guys are amazing The product is great The league, the players association I mean it's just I'm really happy to be kind of back into it Because once you leave the NHL you miss it. That's one of the toughest parts when you retire the travel, the guys, the locker room. Everyone says that. And the buildings, the playoffs being in that atmosphere and having that kick that rush when you play those games, even though the Olympics that's the moment you're like damn, I still love to play. I can make some up right now. You mentioned Norcane and I want to get into Norcane and the fact that we're here at Verga 1947, which is the exclusive watch store that has the Adventure Chrono NHL Limited Edition Norcane watch. We're going to get all into that. And also thank you for letting us be. It's unbelievable. But, you know, we're here in Milan, like you mentioned, for the Olympics. And just quickly, so many unbelievable Olympic memories for you. You went to four, which is a Swiss hockey record. Unbelievable. Nine points in your time. You were in Salt Lake City, Vancouver, Sochi, Torino. I mean, all of these unbelievable memories. And now we're here at the Olympics. Does it bring back all those crazy memories? And can you even put into words how cool it is to be able to represent your country on that biggest stage? Because, you know, you had two unbelievable quarterfinal appearances in your time, like such great runs, beating Canada 2-0. Come on. I gave, holy shit. I mean, a lot of great memories. and I'm really excited I'm really happy the NHL is back the guys I'm really happy for the players because you know those memories Olympic Games I mean World Championship is great too but you're in a hockey bubble and the Olympics it's just you know all the sports going on different athletes the Olympic Village opening ceremonies there's just so many things to enjoy and after you take with you in your career or after your career and for the families and friends to be part of it I mean it's awesome Milan is a great city And you know for me Playing forward, looking back It's tough to put into words Because when you just go Everything is so fast You play, the season is long It's hard, then you go to the Olympics You play quick It's just, I mean especially Torino, which we had like the 20 years Anniversary of beating Canada And then Czech Republic Where I got to score The game winner Top shelf on Vokul. How are you? I still watch it sometimes. Suck it, Vokul. Yeah, great memories. And then especially Torino, you know, we lost against the Swedes. 6-2. Tough game. They won gold. They had a hell of a team. Great, great experience. And then obviously Vancouver playing Canada, losing in shootout. Yeah. Scoring against Hiller. That's a moment I'll never forget. Of course. In Vancouver. like the people like all hockey and the olympic village downtown i mean those games for me were just it was incredible everyone talks about the vancouver olympics as being one of the most electric atmospheres ever especially with the hockey games too like that makes sense it's just you know even and the great thing was as an athlete or hockey player olympic village you took the train or you know into downtown yeah and if canada played it was like the streets were empty every bar every restaurant was like packed yeah and it's just uh you know the love for hockey that you know they have in in canada and it's just a passion it's remarkable and everybody's so nice and when you were you know wearing your gear to swiss you like everybody's like hey how you doing enjoy good luck and it was just that those two weeks were just magic absolutely magic yeah i love it god i love it that is amazing all right let's get into norcane okay so like you said when you finally retire, you've got to figure out some other way to spend your time. And actually, pun intended, because you decided to get into the watch game. So talk to us just a little bit about the origin of you and Ben trying to take on this challenge, which is no easy task to launch a new watch brand in a really competitive market. So how did that get started? I mean, I met Ben at another watch brand, which was an ambassador. I don't want to name the brand, but I met him, you know, I think it was maybe in 2011, 12 or even before that and i was you know he was in charge of the myself you know at events and i got to know him and then you know the company got sold and he was looking for a new adventure new challenge so he quit the the brand he left and i retired at the same time so he basically came up to me and said hey you know i like to you know found a new watch brand and i was always passionate about watches i love the swiss you know the history yeah of course part of our dna and you know so i said yeah i mean let's do it roman was part of it too you know we we decided that in the summertime at the barbecue having uh you know creating a new watch brand so i said yeah perfect timing you know i'm retiring you're looking for a new challenge let's go and uh you know one of the first experience in this industry was the Basel watch world. Yes. So we went together with Ben. We didn't have any product, but we have designs. So we talked to different retailers about our ideas and creating a new brand and everybody was like, good luck. So on the way back, Ben is a little bit quiet and not discouraged, but he's like, we didn't get a whole lot of love. And you know I kind of said You know Ben If I made it into the NHL From Switzerland We can do this We can do this It's just the passion, the commitment The hard work, the dedication All those values You just bring them along And I wouldn't have done it If I wouldn't have been convinced in Ben Ben is an unbelievable guy He's very passionate And he just has this thing that he pulls everybody with him. Yeah. Like he's just a leader and always in a great mood, hardworking, and had a clear vision what he wants to do. And seeing him, you know, the last few years, how he grew as a CEO, as an owner, a founder, it's incredible. And I think the story is remarkable because the industry, it's tough. It's challenging. And the world we're living in, the markets, the wars, COVID, In inflation The currency Like we hit so many challenges on the way It's like in a sports career Injuries, loss, defeat You get traded It's just like this, it's a roller coaster But he kept his calm He's a really smart guy And he always had that He brings everybody along He pulls everybody with And he's demanding too He's demanding, he could be a good coach Because he's very empathic And, you know, a lot of passion. Definitely. But at the same time, when it's time to have a good talk, he speaks the right words and the hard words sometimes. And he makes decisions sometimes that are hard, but he has a big heart. Yeah. A huge heart. And if you work hard, you're passionate about the product. If you're an orcaner, you know, you have all his love. And that's why, for me, it's been an exciting project to learn. And, you know, after hockey to dive into a new business, new industry, and obviously now partnering up with the NHL for me, it's like I'm back in the show. Yeah. Getting to see the cup. But it's like that passion you're talking about. You can see it in the execution. And, you know, we've been so lucky to be able to work with you guys and see the way everything's rolled out. And it's been this run and becoming an official partner and now being at an establishment like this, Fergan 1947 in Milan, with this unbelievable setup, with that exclusive NHL watch that you've made, seeing it all unfold has been remarkable. And it's clearly so well executed. There's so much thought and care and passion behind it. And that must feel incredible, this new thing that you've poured yourself into, to see it unfolding like this and be received so well. It must be such a fulfilling feeling. Yes, it's unbelievable. It's been a great journey. And I think the beauty about it is it's a team effort. Yeah. I think the culture we have at North Kane, it's just remarkable. There's a lot of young people, very innovative, very creative, and always, as soon as we accomplish something, we want to go to the next level. And it's like playing hockey. You know, and that's the difference between the great players and maybe the average players. At one point, guys get comfortable. You know, they're like, okay. You're right. You know, I signed a nice deal. It can happen. It doesn't happen a lot, but it's the nature of you and being. And I think the comfort zone, getting out of the comfort zone, is a big theme in hockey, but also in business. You always, and that's the thing, when you had a good year, in January the clocks are at zero. Yeah, for everybody. It's like having a hell of a season or winning the cup and then go through the summer and then as soon as you go to camp, It's just you have to do it again and again and again. And it's hard work, a lot of dedication. And I think that there's a lot of similarities between, you know, pro hockey or sports and the business side of it, which is really cool for me. And that's where I can, you know, I can chip in as well. Definitely. Did you lay the groundwork to get Sid involved in the pool at the hot party? I mean, we always kept in touch. Yeah. I mean, he's just a fantastic person. And he has this thing for Switzerland. You know, he likes to come to Switzerland to travel. So, met him a few times there. You know, we kept in touch also through Pat. And we kind of approached him with the brand. And I think for him, too, he likes the story behind it. Yeah. You know, he's invested. He's an ambassador. He's a testimonial. But for me, it's just an incredible athlete. You know, it's just that the way he carries himself, I mean, the story, like the success he's had, all the trophies, the Stanley Cups, the hard trophies, like it's just incredible. But he, you know, he's a very humble guy, great family, great parents. And it's just amazing for us to having him on board. And, you know, right now you can see, like, how focused he still is. Oh, yeah. About his career, about being successful, about winning a fourth possible cup. Yeah. I know. It's crazy. All right. Well, we've got to open the shop up here soon. But should we close Mark out with a few pass shoot scores? All right. So every guest we have, we do a game called Pass Shoot Score where we give you a few things that we know you're passionate about. And you've got to rank them pass shoot score. Pass is going to be your least favorite of the three. shoot is a little bit better, obviously, and then scoring is the ultimate goal. So it's basically, yeah, basically just a ranking system. So your first one, I know you're a big golfer. Your first one's going to be golf courses, okay? So it's pass, shoot, score. I'm going to do my best to pronounce some of these. St. Andrews. That was an easy one. Cranco Sierra. And the Grand Resort Bad Ragaz. Well, St. Andrews. Is your number one? That's going to be score? Yeah. Okay. So I had the opportunity to play St. Andrews last summer. Unbelievable? It's just... I don't know. It's just... You're at T1 there and you look around and you just go like... Yeah. Don't slice this, please. It's just... If you love golf, if you're passionate about it, I think it's bucket list for sure. Yeah. Like, it's just... The history and the feeling, it's magical. It's like the Stanley Cup. Yeah, yeah. You can't like it. But you can have a good time. St. Andrew's officially the Stanley Cup of golf courses. All right, so what's your shoot and what's your pass of the other two? What was the other two? The other two were, oh, God, I'm messing this up. It was the Omega European Masters at the Crancer Sierra. Oh, this might actually fall all of a sudden. I mean, I had the opportunity to play there at the Pro-Am the last few years. And I mean, the course, I mean, it looked insane. You know, like talking about history and the golf sport and St. Andrews, but talking about most beautiful golf course with the views, the scenery. Yeah, it might have been that one. Grand Cicier, like for sure. Damn, okay. It shows facts. So you've got to try your race here. Yeah. That's great. I like it. I like it. All right, here's your next category. I'm calling this, I was going to call this category hobbies, but I'm now going to call it just like a perfect sunny day. Okay? Perfect weather, perfect sunny day. Pass shoot score, what you'd rather be doing. Perfect bluebird day on the Alps skiing. Perfect bluebird day out on the golf course golfing. Or perfect bluebird day crystal clear out on the lake fishing. I used to fish a lot back in the day I don't have time anymore but I still love it so I will go golf, ski, and fish golf won golf is won I like it I thought ski was going to sneak up there I know as much as I love skiing I feel like the perfect day on the golf course is so hard to beat it's so hard to be and this is a little bit because my wife probably is going to hate me you know golf I'm usually you can't do it well not yet we will do it in the future with the family the kids are too young so right now golf is usually with the boys mostly with the boys but my wife started too which is great and then skiing we do it as a family so it's kind of it's like your different worlds This is nice. There's different worlds. There's maybe tough to say a one, a two, and a three. But skiing with the kids, if it's a blue day, I mean. Yeah. And the kids, they ski. They know how to do it. Like, it's, I mean, it's incredible. And it's summer, winter, you know. It doesn't kind of get into each other. So that's a tough one. We've got to get the golf hooks in them early. Then it's a family day golfing, too. Yeah. They're in it. They're in it. Okay. Your last one, and then we'll wrap you up. This one might be tough. this is going to be, the category is the Old Boys Club trips. So the three trips you got are Budapest, Naples, and Ticino. I would say Naples, Budapest, and Ticino. Wow. Because Naples, I went there as a kid. with my family. I have a lot of memories and my parents both passed away in 2019 so going back to Naples is kind of emotionally definitely, there's an investment there they don't say it belongs to Italy, especially the people in the north but Naples with the soccer team, Maradona the Spanish quarter the Fesuv, the Pompeii the history, I mean I was amazed yeah yeah it's just yeah that's that's Naples Budapest and Tichino but the good thing is it's always the same boys tell people about the old boys but who is this squad so it's actually it's all guys from my time in Zurich okay and you know like from a team perspective the five years in Zurich were unbelievable we were a great age we used to go you know back in the day there's no cell phones or nothing so we had a pretty good time so once I left and the guys were about to retire we decided okay we have to find a way seeing each other because if you don't plan anything it's impossible so we decided to swap it's a few guys that played on the team a few friends that were close to us and then it's good we have the team doctor of Zurich so it's important to have a doctor and he's bringing a doctor on the group trip He's so smart. It's incredible. Yeah, he comes along. And so we have this club. Everybody organized. We pull out of the hat, like numbers. And then one guy gets to organize the trip. Nobody knows where we're going. You just go to the airport. You bring her back. That is so awesome. Does he give you a climate at least? Does he pack warm, pack cold? It's just about the temperature. Shoes maybe. Yeah, yeah. Nice clothes. That is so awesome. Was Istanbul... Yeah, yeah, yeah. Bring a lot of that. Was Istanbul an Old Boys Club trip too? Yes. Nice, okay. Istanbul was... Like the trips, like... We did so far. But Istanbul, Budapest, like Dublin. Yeah. Went to Manchester, saw the soccer game. I saw the menu game. Yeah, I saw it. So, and Naples. And this year, I don't know, some guy's planning it, so we have no clue where we go. Always the third or fourth weekend in June. Yeah. Okay. And Split, we did one time, too. Nice. I think we all need an old boys club. You should. This is genius. Who's planning it this year? It's Edgar Salis. He used to be a defenseman in Zurich. Okay. Big stay-home defenseman. We love that. Physical. Love that. Great guy. Really good at the bar. What was the last one you planned? I did Manchester. Nice. Do you have any guesses for Edgar? I have no clue. Yeah. And you know what? The good thing is, like, we always need to fund cities. Yeah. But Edgar, the last time he organized it, we went to, which is tough, we went to Croco. Oh, yeah. Sure. And as a kind of a cultural. Yeah, yeah. And that was a tough one. Yeah. I mean, it's great to learn about the history, but when you walk in there through the gates and you realize what people are capable of doing, the guys were just done for two hours. I believe that. You walk out there. It's emotionally taxing. So, you know, obviously it's a fun trip and you go for dinners and drinks and stuff, the whole nine yards. But we also, you know, we do like some cultural stuff. I think it's great, and it keeps us really close together. We're such a tight group. I can recommend it to everybody to have my disc club, then I have a few other clubs and all things. The picking, the numbers is incredible. I feel like Edgar's going to swing the other way now. This year is Vegas. He's going to be like, this is the surprise we're going to Milan. I've got to level out. And Europe is great since like... Oh, it's the best. I think it is my 3 hour flight Yeah yeah That's cool So No this This club means a lot to me And it started in hockey Yeah Just a great group of Guys Friends And Because the The swithing too Used to be After every season We used to get Team trip Yeah So for a week We went to Mallorca Spain Or Gran Canaria Mykonos So it It came out of that Yeah And that's like If you go 20 guys. I mean, this is, it's incredible. It's incredible. So much fun. All right, well, this has been incredible, Mark. Thank you so much for coming on. I want to give another huge shout out to Verga 1947. If you're in Milan, come stop by this unbelievable establishment. It is the only place you can get the NHL limited edition Norcane watch. Before we let you go, is there anything else you want to plug or shout out or give a call out to? No, thanks for having me. It was a lot of fun. I really appreciate it. We can do that more often. I think there's more topics Oh yeah I'm certain I mean it's great It's a great experience in Milan I think I'm just happy Hockey is here It's back with the NHL guys And I mean The quarterfinals Yesterday It's just Like for hockey I mean it's It's tough for the The losing teams Like the Swiss team Yeah Definitely Which played a really good game But came up short In OT But Definitely great for our sports And it says How awesome the athletes the players are. Yeah. And the fans. Yeah. And the fans. It's amazing. All right. Well, let's jump back into it. Let's go. Here we go. Huge thank you to Mark Strait. Nothing ever in any interview we've ever had has affected me more or impacted me more than the Old Boys Club. Oh, my God. I have been spending the last two weeks since that interview thinking about, I've been putting together an email, and I'm thinking about who needs to be on it and send it to you and go hey you are my old boys club we should plan a trip every year and it would be cool friends of mine if you don't get an email soon you're not my friend i feel really legitimately i feel really dumb that i just said this on the pod because like there are gonna be you want me to cut that out there are gonna be people no we gotta keep it in i gotta keep it honest but there are gonna be people really like well i didn't get that email it's okay yeah that's okay and that's okay we're friends you're just not one of my old boys yeah and yeah what a dude also um impeccably dressed always. Yeah. Every time I see Mark, I'm like, he's, uh, I, I don't know that Mark wears t-shirts. Yeah. He's always looking so good. And I do feel as though the majority of the time we see him, we're at events together. But then again, not really. We went to an NHL game and he still looked like a five million bucks. Amazon. He's your new James Bond. Yeah. Yeah. Oh dude. Mark's, Mark's hot too. He's a fucking hot dude. He's a hot dude. Fuck. Well, I hope you enjoyed that. He's the best. All right. Let's get into some not ice. Yeah, because you promised this last week. I promised this. We got to talk skiing. Yep. So, CP and I are big skiers. We go skiing every year to various different places. And for the first time, we got the experience to ski the Italian Alps. Yep. We took a couple of days off after the Golden Metal game, as you know. Went skiing. and I had such a unique experience and it was not at all the experience I thought it would be. So. Why? Let's, yeah. I'd love to tell you why. Please. I've been skiing in Europe before and I found it lovely. Where'd you go? I went skiing in Åre in Sweden. Okay. It was great. I have not yet skied the Alps. So here we go. It's lovely. We have been told and have seen skiing in Europe is more about groomers and, you know, skiing down the Austin trails rather than. Can you explain that to somebody who doesn't know skiing and thinks that what you just said was about. Yeah. The other kind of groomers? Yeah. No, groomers are when you just take like the main trail and you're just cruising down. Got it. And I think it's called the Piste there. Piste. Yes. Piste. Yeah. And we're big ski the trees guys in the States, in like the Rockies and stuff like that, in the Sierra Nevadas. So this, I was excited to just be ripping yours. We get to this place in the Dolomites, and it's like one of the biggest resorts in the world. I think it's the biggest. I think it might be the biggest. And our friend had told us to, or told Chris, credit to you. Yeah. Chris did a lot of planning for this. Now, we knew this was going to be at the end of the Olympic run of being on the road for like three weeks. And I was big on being like, should we do this? Because it wasn't easy to get there from Milan. We had to take multiple trains. And then the trip back, our trip back was a 5.30 a.m. 40-minute Uber to a train station where we then took two trains and three planes to get home. It was a 28-hour travel day. Yes. Fucking. Which one of you is Steve Martin? Which one is John Candy? that's what i'm uh i'm john candy yes and i can see it yep and dude it was incredible because i i kept dude ev i kept literally going i'd just be on something plane or train or uber and i would just fall asleep and then i'd kind of wake up and then there'd be a flight attendant like do you want some food and i'd be like yeah and then i would eat it and then i have to tell and then i'd like fall back asleep and then she'd be like you want some food i have to tell the story of the denver flight i totally forgot about what i did on the denver flight when we i'll get i'll get to it but um so chris does all the planning for this which i commend him for but we get there and like even when we we logged off social media we just were like all right let's enjoy it i was so fucking tired and i was like i can't believe we're going skiing like this is such a bad decision it's exhausting but we get there and we get to this hotel everyone's amazing at the hotel we get to get to the mountain our buddy told chris that we need to do this run it's called like the celirana run and it is basically there's signs everywhere you get on any lift any gondola when you get off it's like celirana this way and it's basically a massive loop that if you do the full thing it will bring you right back to where you started and it touches every mountain and every village on the resort but it takes the entire resort it takes like four and a half hours so it was like if you want to see the whole thing do the Celerano run and to not sewer our boy he is he wasn't like you have to do this but he is part of this huge ski club he's a huge skier and they had done this trip two years ago and the the guy the local there was like I live here I know everything and in he sent me like a 30 page doc that was like here's the things that people think are cool the tourists think are cool that's terrible skip that skip this like you know it was a the most detailed package you could ever get of how to ski the Dolomites. Correct. So we get there and we rent skis because we didn want to fly with our skis We rent our skis we get on the mountain and we start going Let me be clear This place fucking rocks. It's just so, it's such an amazing, we're in Italy, but it's so close to Austria and Switzerland. There's Swiss and Austrian people everywhere. There's Russian people there, Italian people there. and I have never in my life seen as many high quality, and I don't mean Michelin, but I just mean high quality bars and restaurants all over the mountain. I'm talking whatever lift you take, there's a bar or restaurant with a different name and a different vibe, unbelievable music. We stopped at one place, I forget the name of it, but we got off one lift and there was this outdoor opre bar and there was like three strippers dancing on the bar in like fur coats and bumping to music and all these people, like married couples, like dancing on the tables. And I was like, this is unbelievable. It was a Tuesday. And they do it Tuesdays and Thursdays at that place. And it was very special. It was very special to witness. It was fantastic. It would be freezing those poor people. Yeah. Well, it's funny you say that. The conditions were not great. Oh. We're going up lifts and you can see grass and dirt and mud on many of them. Okay. So the conditions, not great. Great for stripping, not good. Great for stripping, not great for skiing. also it became clear after about an hour into said celerano run that if you do this and this place you got to be operating like this i would recommend if you go to the dolomites you go with a group of five or more like this was clearly if you want to have your best life skiing here it's meant to like do a couple runs and then stop at the next bar have an aperol spritz have a some wiener schnitzel and enjoy yourself. We were just gassed and not talking because we had just been together for fucking three weeks doing this Olympic shit. We're also getting on these gondolas and everyone's like, everyone speaks 50 different languages so no one's speaking. Dude, it was some of the worst time I've ever had in my life. Like it was, we, first of all, doing this full run, you spend 60 to 70% of the time on lifts and gondolas and then the skiing was subpar because of the conditions and there were just like man-made moguls everywhere because everyone's chilling no one's like ripping on this mountain they're operating yeah so you've got all these families with kids and every section of the mountain you get to where there's like a good little steep drop you would get to the edge and there's a hundred people as slowly as humanly possible navigating the man-made moguls to get through these patches so like we couldn't even really ski that hard and i was just like every time we would ski have to stop have to navigate these people you then get on another lift that's fucking 15 minutes and you get to the top of that gondola ride and you ski 20 seconds to the next lift to go up another lift and i was just like what are we doing it was insane he's 100 right about the opre being and dude the document was like plan on a nine hour day like take a three hour lunch i do it highly recommended stopping 50 times it wasn't like put your head down and correct it was like it was highlighting all these right it was like if you don't stop at this restaurant you're an idiot and we were just like we got to just get through the day and ski because we had to come back and we had to travel stuff before was this right before you were coming back so we did two days and the second day we did that celerano run the first day Okay. At least you have the next day to chill. Well. Okay, maybe not. We go out the second day, and I was like, what are we doing today? And Chris was like, I want to see this glacier. There's a glacier. It's like World War I, massive war fought here. Austrian troops dug into the trenches. It's like one of the coolest, most famous. Apparently every year as more of the glacier melts in the summer, new bodies from World War I surfaced and stuff like that. I'm like, dude, we have to do this. Like, I'm not flying. I'm not training all the way up here and then not getting to see that. So I go, great, where is this great glacier? And at this place, there's one Celerana run that is labeled with orange signs, and there's one Celerana run labeled with green signs. And Chris goes, it's on the green Celerana run. And I go, it's on both because they do the same thing. Yeah, they intersect. But he's like, we've got to follow the green Celerana. And I was like, how long? And he was like, I don't think that long. Day two, we do the full green Celerana run. It was another five and a half hours straight day. And all I said was, can we please at like one fucking stop somewhere and have a beer and have food? And we did not do that, sir. And in fact, we got stuck in one tram ride that was like an hour and 45 minutes line. And I was like, I felt like a child. At the end of the day, we were like skiing. We would get to a lift and I'd be like, if this isn't the fucking last lift, I'm going to lose my mind. And we would get off it and then look for the screen cellar sign. And it was like, get immediately on this lift. And I kept looking at him, and I was like, I'm going to kill you. I'm going to actually – Give me one of those dead World War I. I'm going to stuff you into the glacier, and you will be found decades later with Austrian troops. Dude, when you're traveling overseas and you miss your shot for food, it's devastating. You don't know when it's going to happen again, right? Yeah. It was just – it was such an awesome mountain, and everyone there was incredible. Every restaurant, bar was incredible by the looks of them. Yeah. We just didn't – it was a perfect storm of being so tired after the Olympics, only being two of us and not in the mood to opere and rip it. So it was just a night. I had way more fun than he did, to be very clear. I thought the first day was great. It was. The second day was a bad because, like, the glacier took so long. And wasn't that cool? Did you see any World War I? No. I don't even know. I was looking, though. Yeah, I don't even know we rent the wrong place. I just thought it was going to be more like, here's the hut where they fought, and here's a literal glacier. and it was just kind of like a run. And I was like, oh, is this it? And they were like, yes. But you are really high up. The views are amazing. The views everywhere were amazing. We were so high up. I was actually, for the first time in my life, on the tram. I was not loving the heights. I was like, holy fuck. We were way up. Fucking windy. Dude, I was like, yo. But my experience, I'm glad we did it. I wish we had stopped to booze more. So the problem is, I'd like to echo that. Could not agree more. I'm so glad we did it. High recommend would go back. as crazy as that sounds maybe not after two weeks of the olympics yes because i think we were so my boy who did this was with these people who knew their shit and how to get around because there was a few moments where we're like are we going the right way because dude if you don't finish the loop you you now the lift shut off and you are yeah on the wrong side of the biggest mountain range in the world so you're like my 30 minute drive back to my hotel is now a four hour drive because I'm on the wrong side. The only way out is through. So we were freaking about making sure we finished. And I think if I had done this before, I would have known. We're good. We have plenty of time. Well, yeah. And you know when you're like going on a hike and like going the one way, you're always like, and it feels so long because you don't know what it is. Exactly. And then when you come back, oh, this is 20 minutes. It's not that bad. Yeah. But in your head, it feels like it's forever. Yeah. So I was tweaking about that, which hurt our chances of stopping. So we were just in the unknown. We were lost. Yeah. But my takeaway, dude, was that – and we ski a fair amount. But in the States, dude, or in North America, I guess, people are rarely on runs that they shouldn't be on. You know, there's – very rarely are there people on blues or blacks that are very new to skiing. They're like, I'm not going over there. I can read the signs. In Europe – or in my one experience in Europe, it's like I think they think the signs are just for show. The colors are for – they're like, oh. Do you see people eating shit, though? Bro, everywhere we went, I'm on these, like, insane black runs, and people are, like, it's, like, small. No, it's crazy. I'm, like, why are you on this trail? There were people who were just more or less sliding on their butt down the entire run, and I was, like, why are you here? Yeah. And, dude, they were trying to go to the strip club. I also, there's no etiquette. Dude. The Europeans here are fucking terrorists trying to get on the lifts, get on the gondolas. They're just, like, cut. Everyone's cutting everybody. No one cares. And I'm, like, is there a lie? It was kind of lawless. I agree with that. Dude, I was like, what is happening? That blew my mind. And, dude, we had these, you've seen them, these really official Team USA backpacks that they gave us, which was awesome. But, dude, I don't know if it was that or what, but we, it's like we had the fucking plague. Everyone's pounding into gondolas, and then finally a gondola would get to first line, and Dan and I would get in it, and everyone would just stand there and let it go with just us in it. And I was like, do you, I was like, what the fuck is going on? It was very weird. I was like, oh, fuck. It was insane, dude. I was like, are you intimidated? Do you hate the U.S.? Possible. Are you intimidated because you see our shit and you're like, oh, I think they're like... Were you guys taller than most of us? Oh, yeah, most, yeah. Yeah. It was so funny. We'd get on like six-person chair lifts alone. I do think that there was an element of like, given that we had the same backpack on, it almost... You know how sometimes you're on a mountain and it looks like two lifties are doing something and you're like, I don't know if they're working. I kind of want to let them do their thing. There was a world where people were like, are they training? No one would touch us with a 10-foot pole. I mean, it's kind of nice. Yeah, I was like, okay, sounds good. You guys smelled bad racing so hard. Very possible. I feel like I've seen these guys. So true. So long in three hours. It was insane. Yeah, I mean, listen, I just think, I think Opry is the move in Europe, especially in the Alps, and it was a... I thought orange was way better than green, too. Completely agree. Because you can go either way, you know? That tram was one of the worst experiences of my entire life. Yeah. That we didn't need. That was the side quest. That sucked. The line was just so. Super crowded on a Wednesday. Yeah. I thought I was. There had to have been a bunch of post-Olympics. Yeah. Yeah. It's crazy. Yeah. Yeah. Could have been. There could have been. I almost nuked an, like, eight-year-old girl. Okay. Before we get into. It was insane, dude. Yeah. Oh, that was. Oh, my God. You almost got somebody? Bro. Evan. Did you pick them out? It was. Was that a little bit? It was on the glacier run, and it was kind of the first time where we had a lot of space to really go. Talking about no etiquette, this woman and her daughter, I assume, were going down, and they were just cutting all the way across the trail. Which was like fine. Left to right. But Chris is just bombing. Bombing. And this girl and this woman are just coming. and like she stopped for a second and chris was like okay i have a lane so we just kind of tucked and went and then she's like no i'll keep going and it was it was truly like a dude i saw it oh my god because i was i was scanning because i was skiing fast but i saw it happening and i was like okay like dan said i was like we're good because they've been over here and once you committed i and she then kept going i was like there's no way to stop it so i was like oh that's what happened she kept going and i i was still pretty high up but i was just going so fast and i was like i don't I can't stop. Yeah. So I just, like, dug in so hard, and I was like, like, I'm bouncing. Dude, she, at any moment she turned back, it would have been completely fine, but she just kept coming, and I was like, oh, my God. Yeah. And then it was like, I think your skis clipped. It was so close. I was behind him, and when it happened, I audibly went, oh. I was like, that was almost, dude. We almost added a body to the glacier. It was so scary. I also kept going so far and fast because I wanted to be just a bit. Get away. I don't want anyone to be like, fuck you. Get away. Get away from the scene. Go, man. Go, go. Fucking USA. Holy hell. You know, they're like these bricks. It's like when you cut somebody off in traffic. You're like, I just got to go as fast as possible now. That's definitely me. So, okay. So, my last thing before we get into a fun little topic. I mentioned the flight from Denver. So, we flew from Venice to Munich, Munich to Denver, Denver to L.A. the uh munich to denver flight i i only slept for an hour and a half at the end of that 10 and a half hour flight because it was like our normal day as far as you're remembering what happened as far as italy time it was like it was a i think when i fell asleep it was like 11 p.m so like you know i didn't like take any sleeping pills or anything i was just awake on that flight and then I slept for like an hour and a half to end it. We then get in Denver. We like sit in the lounge for a second and then we go get on our flight. Dude, that is like a two hour flight, Denver to LA, maybe a little bit more, three. I fucking passed out on that flight harder than I have maybe in my entire life. I had my eye mask on. I had like my hat pulled down and I got upgraded to first class on this flight. And it's like not that big of a plane, but I'm in like the second row. But also importantly, he got upgraded post having sat down. So already on this flight, someone has approached him and been like, hey, you can come up here. So he was like, oh, okay. And then like, yes, it's just you can move up. So I fall asleep on this plane. And I don't even like realize. I mean, obviously, I put my eye mask on. But I was like, I don't know if I'll fall asleep. And the next thing you know, I was in a coma. I wake up to a flight attendant ferociously hitting my shoulder. Like she's hitting me because I'm clearly so asleep. And I finally come to and I like take my hand up and I lift my mask up. And she's going like this at me. She's like beckoning me. And I'm like, what the fuck is going on? And I'm so out of it. and I'm looking at her just waving at me, that I fucking unbuckle my seatbelt, and I legitimately was like, she's bringing me up in the cockpit. I was like, is she bringing me into the cockpit? They're like, hey, sir, you've been upgraded to first class. We want to give you the full flight experience. So I was just so out of it that I stood up, and I walked up to where the cockpit is, and she's like, sir, sit down, we're landing. And I was just like, oh, she was literally going, bring your seat up. And I was like, oh, fuck. All right. Sorry. Dude, I turned around and sat down and the guy who was sitting next to me was looking at me like, are you about to hijack the plane? Yeah. Dude, what the fuck are you doing? You take your pocket for box cuddle. I can't remember the last time I was that delirious from being tired. I was like, what is happening? You had to have been so deep into that sleep. Dude. Because you're what, two, three hours in? Yeah. Yeah. And I, dude, I was ready to like make a speech to the plane. I was like, I have no idea what this woman wants, but I'm ready to go. Whatever you need, babe. Like, here we go. Oh, it was fucking hilarious. I was laughing the whole time we were landing. It's awful. I'm moron. Okay, before we get into a beer league hotline and a blind ranking to close out this episode, needed, especially with you, Ev, we've got to talk about the appearance from supposedly Jim Carrey this weekend. So, have you seen any of this? Yeah, I've seen the rumors going around. So, all I saw, because I'm usually not tuned into this shit, But all I saw was that they were like, oh, man, Jim Carrey got so much Botox. They replaced Jim Carrey. And this happens. It's Hollywood, right? Like the Brian Gosselin showed up for the fucking fall guy thing and had a bunch of fillers in, you know, and you're like, damn it, dude. Like, and it goes away or whatever. But I was just like, fuck. So I heard Jim Carrey does the shit. I'm like, whatever. I didn't even look. I just heard the rumors. Then I started to see a bunch of shit on my feeds of someone being like, Jim Carrey is left handed. and then if you watch this event from this weekend was it sag awards is that where he was no he was at some award show in france yeah he's speaking french famously i'm assuming because he's canadian you know yeah at least so he's in paris walking out signing a ton of autographs right-handed and they're like oh i didn't catch that dude and i'm like what the fuck and then and again this is all the things i've seen yeah and then they start doing the like yeah dude literally like the government has replaced them for speaking out against you know the illuminati and fucking pedos and all that shit yeah today which is another reason why he's the fucking best yeah and then today this makeup guy have you seen this no this makeup artist today has come forward being like yes it was me like i i went he does this but he's done this many times he does um incredible prosthetics and impersonates real people and he's like yeah it was me like it's on his Instagram page now. He's like, look, I was doing Jim Carrey. Is this like, you know, when he did Man on the Moon and he would go out as Tony Clifton? The Andy Kaufman thing? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He would go as Andy Kaufman's alter ego. Right. So maybe he's doing that in real life now. So he showed a picture of the mask he made. He's like, it was me. But now people are going, the government did replace Jim Carrey, but we now all caught them. So then they paid this guy to go, yes, I was impersonating him. When actually Jim Carrey is dead and has been, don't say that. So now people are going, oh my god it was him but then all the comments on that one are going until the real jim carrey shows proof of life i don't believe it have we considered that he's simply wearing the mask god can you imagine okay so here's what i'm here's i i i am i have not been privy to this suit but i started seeing in the comments people were going they got him yeah and i was like oh they're saying that he's like been killed and this is an impersonator But then I started seeing all this clone shit. Yeah, they cloned him. And have you ever heard of this? The concept of cloning? Well, apparently it's like a big Hollywood conspiracy. Oh, that people are being cloned? So I Googled it, and I was like, Hollywood cloning people? And apparently people think this happened to Selena. Yep. I think, remember Soulja Boy? Yeah, they cloned? There are a bunch of people who think that Soulja Boy has been cloned. Kanye has been said to have possibly been cloned. Well, he got cloned and it made him nuts. Yeah. Well, it's like I... He didn't get the brain right. The conspiracy is that some of these people start speaking out against stuff, and then they come and take you and they clone you so no one knows any different, and then all of a sudden you stop speaking out about stuff. But I've seen a bunch of clone stuff. Like, his eyes look different. Dude, what... I just think it's plastic surgery. Come on. I think... Come on. But as a guy... I saw someone say this. As a guy who's made his entire living off of his facial expressions. Rubber face? Yeah. Yeah, right. Like, he's so good at that. and then also spoken out so much against being superficial. But I always hate that take because I'm like, we don't fucking know Jim Carrey. Everyone's like, this Jim wouldn't do that. And I'm like, you don't know Jim. He might. He might. I think the sad truth is there's just so much pressure to appear to be young. You're going to get the surgery. You wake up one day and you've got a turkey neck, and you're like, if I have the money, I would do it. Maybe I'll change my tune on plastic surgery. That's what happens. But I think that this whole thing has been so interesting. And if we've got clones walking around, that would be crazy. I mean... And I'm always so curious on these conspiracy theories because let's be real. I feel like we've seen some conspiracy theories over the last 15 years feel like they're very real today. And that fucking sucks. So I would suck to find out that this is real. Well, to me, the part of this conspiracy theory that I think does make it a little hard to swallow is sort of the science fiction aspect of it. Yes. But, you know. Who knows? Who does know? All I know is I miss Jim, and I love Jim. I think Jim's the greatest comedian of our time, and it would suck if he got snatched. Thank you. Like, that would suck. But sometimes he does those interviews, like that Kimmel interview he did or episode he did, and then he had another one at some award show where when he was like this is the most meaningless thing i thought i asked myself what is the most meaningless thing i could come to and it's this wow but it's all about like he's like hollywood is terrible and he spoke out on like vaccines and stuff and the medical industry like the guys he's a fucking he's got morals yeah i might have snatched him for it dude i'm telling you so this guy this is the dude who does um like this is the guy but he he's actively saying that that was him he does these masks and and yeah and he goes like this the masks we wear he goes here's me as jim and he's like here's the mask i made oh my god i'm oh he's like he's genuinely actually like it with me yeah and he's like i it was me i was there and then people are like unless jim carrey himself says something i don't fucking believe this but how would you even know to believe that also with ai and like why would he have a jim carrey mask the right-handed left-handed thing is actually the craziest thing so far that i've heard could Wouldn't that just be, though, somebody flipping their image when they edit horizontally flip? Good point. Could have just been a video flip. Yes. Very good. Very good. Very good. Maybe the plastic surgery affected the nerves in his hand, and he had to use his other hand. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It would be that. Clones. I have identical twins. Do you think clones are real? I think... They cloned a sheep in, like, the late night. Yeah, yeah. What are we talking about? We can clone a sheep. The Scottish people have been really fucking quiet about that. Yeah. I feel like they were on it for a while, and then all of a sudden they stop talking about it. And that's usually a sign of, like, did you figure it out and they're not selling us? Yeah, somebody took the tech, and now they're using it in a government conspiracy. I fear every day that so much of that technology and aliens and cloning, we're just way more advanced than the general. Oh, aliens are real. They had that interview with Obama, and he's like, aliens are real. Oh, yeah. And he was like, didn't he say he was like, they're not in Area 51? No, they're not, yeah. That's so awesome. Why don't we talk, of all the shit that we get obsessed with online and start talking about, how is President Obama going, aliens are real, by the way, why didn't we get fucking, why aren't we all talking about that? That's awesome. We've got to start talking about fun shit more. That's a fun topic. Hey, Instagram and TikTok algos, let's talk about Obama going, aliens are real. That's a fun topic. Fucking Jesus. Oh, my God, dude. I need that. Release everything. All right. Let's wrap this episode up. Get us into a beer league hotline. We have a teammate with a French onion dip obsession, okay? Hold on. Want me to repeat that? Nope. I just want to say I'm about, this is about as in as I can get this early in a beer league hotline. Like, I don't, I'm not even sure if anything can get me off of this guy's side. Keep going. He hid his obsession from his wife. Still on his team. The other night he fell asleep at 2 a.m. with a tub of French onion dip resting on his stomach. His wife caught him, and now he's no longer allowed to eat chips and dip, which has really hurt his morale. But he was our leading scorer before his life blew up. Okay. Do we keep him on the team despite this problem? And if so, how do we help him get through this? Oh, wow. Dude. His life has blown up. His life has destroyed. To be clear. Dude, he's out now. You'll never get to eat that again. His wife has imploded. Dude, you will never get to eat that again. This is one that I'm like, this cannot be real. But I need to believe that it is. Let's assume they're all real. How? Falling asleep with, I also love the use of tub. Because I want to know how big that tub of French onion dip is. Like, do they sell tubs? Like, did you go to Costco and get, like, a family-style one, and that's what you're eating? It doesn't know how big the guy is. Yeah, is this dude not fat-shaming here, but is this dude huge? Like, is that why it's a problem? Or is this, I mean, this guy's playing beer league. He's active. He's the leading scorer. Is it just to the point where his wife is like, dude, you eat so much French onion dip, it's a problem? Yeah, well, I think she's just finding out how much of a problem it is. She didn't even know. And she goes, oh, honey, did you fall asleep with the tub? And he goes, but then I think it was like everywhere, you know, like it was like, he was our leading winning the winning the winning the winning the winning. Yeah. He's just spooning it with his hand. That's a problem. He was our leading scorer before his life blew up. Do we keep him on the team despite this problem? Yes, of course. We keep him on the team. We need to support our friends. But guys, I think this is the most cut and dry, easy answer beer league hotline of all time. You just bring chips and French onion dip to the game. Yeah. So when you have post locker room beers, he also gets, that is where he enjoys his French onion dip. Don't you think that if he goes home breath reeking like a French onion and his wife goes, have you been eating dip? And he has to now, now you're making him a liar again. And you blow up his marriage. You, she's been banned from eating dip. You got to give him some, give him some mouthwash. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. There are ways to combat the breath. Yeah. And also what say in the room, stay in the room. We don't need to call him a liar for enjoying some post game French onion dip. And also, it's like having post-game beers. You just burned a lot of calories playing the game. You deserve a treat. Yeah. Okay. Does he have high cholesterol? Why is she so upset? Well, if he's obsessed, I mean, I get it. I think that this might go, this might be a bigger issue than we could ever possibly imagine. This goes deeper. I think that this, I think that this woman is not a tyrant. I think she sees a legitimate issue here. And we're now enabling this issue. But we got to get the stats back up, brother. This is the beer league hotline. This isn't the fucking cholesterol hotline. It's true. Yeah. But the thing is, if you make a rule where it's like, okay, no French onion dip unless you're at beer league, then I think that's a nice compromise. That's a compromise. Because then it solves her issue and the team's issue. Likely it's once a week. Yeah. Yeah, you know, that's cutting back. That's marriage. You can't go cold turkey. Yep. You know, we got to go cold French onion dip. Yeah, yeah. Once a week in the locker room with the fellas. Okay, keep him on the team. Encourage him to get a compromise with the missus about, I will only eat French onion dip at Beer League. Yeah. And you can even start it out with, and only if we win. Because that is going to incentivize him to score more. Yeah, okay. The one alarming thing here is no one has mentioned chips at all. Yeah, dude, right. He's just eating it with a spoon. That's what I'm saying. I think he's Winnie the Pooh-ing it. Yeah, if this is, like, you know there are those people who love ranch so much that they're just borderline drinking it. Psycho. I worry that this guy might be that style. Like, he might be eating this with a spoon. Our buddy Shane calls pizza a ranch shovel. Oh, God. Disgusting. I have a friend like that, too, and I love him. But every time he puts ranch on stuff, I'm like, this is not meant to have ranch. I'm so sorry. No, man. I got into that rhythm in college. I would put – you would get pizza and be like, and ranch, obviously. And then I got out of college and I was like, why in the world was I ever doing that? And I would go as far as to say, and I'm not ranch shaming. We don't shame on this podcast. I don't know that there's anything that I love ranch on anymore. You grew out of it. If I'm getting tenders, I'd rather honey mustard. I'd rather barbecue. Barbecue, baby. People who dip their fries in ranch, I'm like, what are we doing? I don't think I like ranch on anything. What's the garlic mayo fucking? Aoli? Yes, garlic aioli. Come on. That beats ranch every time. Of course. Of course. But I am a purist. We're getting off topic here. I am a purist when it comes to fries. I know a lot of these bougie restaurants in L.A., they like to give you some sort of garlic aioli. Oh, yeah, you don't like that. I'm like, just give me Kynes ketchup with my fries. I'm a psycho. I can eat fries with nothing. If it's the right fry, I'm with you. Yeah. Yeah, I like it. All right. We're digressing. Let's close out this ep with a nice blind ranking. Okay. What do we got? We are doing Team USA players. Okay. Team USA hockey players at the Olympics this year. And I think it's their Olympic performance. Yeah. Like how you felt about them at the Olympics. Okay. Team USA men's Olympic performance blind ranking. And I'm not adjusting anything about this. You have your five. Yes. Okay. Ready? Yes. Jack Hughes. Dude, hard not to go one because of the... Jack thought he was the best in the group stages. Like, in the group stage, I was like, he's incredible. He's having an incredible tournament. And then a little quiet maybe in the... Or no, he had two sick goals in that Slovakia game, right? Yeah, he had the sick, like, bank off the back of the goalie. Yeah. So I'm like... And then the golden goal, obviously. There's someone who had a better performance in one game, obviously. I'm not saying names yet. But overall tournament, I think it's crazy for you to limit that to one game. He was just especially incredible in that one game. I could go as low as three here. What? Whoa! I could. I think Jack would agree, too. No, he wouldn't. I think he would. I'm happy to go two. I will not go three. Okay. Two. You got his fucking teeth smashed out. He sure did. For the golden goal. He sure did. Two. Two. Jake Gensel. I could go five. It's not higher than four. It's not higher than four, so I'm with you because it could have been better. But he had a few good moments. He also got fucking murdered. Interferently hit, which was fucking insane. That's one of my funniest memories of the whole tournament was Jake Essel just getting fucking blindsided without the puck for ten seconds. I was like, Jesus, dude. I don't want to go five. I'm so good at the sports. How about a four? How about a four there? Yeah, I could be happy with four. Let's go four. Okay, four. Vincent Trocek. I think I have to go five now. I think that you... We need to save. Yeah. But I'm not sure that Trocek was necessarily much better than Gensel. I think Vinny was a fucking Swiss Army, and I did everything they asked him. He got a ton of ice time. Yeah, I want to ride for Vinny Trocek hard because he was such a role player and played his role perfectly. I think he should be very proud of himself. He should be. He is. But I'm fine to go five here because you have put us in a bad spot. But you're not that mad. If Gensel was five and Vinny was four, you wouldn't, like, whatever. We're splitting hairs. Yeah, we're splitting hairs, so five. Yeah, I feel bad about that, but I want to put them all one. there are no losers on this list. Yes, correct. Because they won. We all won the list. They literally all gold medalists. Okay, Brock Nelson. Okay, Daddy Brock. Three. I think we have to go three just out of fear, but I want to give so many flowers to Brock, I thought he was fucking money. He is literally, he is, he has a heritage of gold. It's incredible, dude. And he, after Four Nations and this tournament, I just cannot say enough nice things about Brock Nelson. And if he better be on the team in four years, and then he better get going on kids, and nephews and nieces because we need we need Brock Nelson's lineage in the men and women's team for the rest of time. Three. Who's our one? Oh, we only have one left. Okay, yeah, who's one? Sam. Austin Matthews. And dude, actually, Austin had a way better Austin was fantastic. Like everybody, including me. Austin was fantastic. I remember when we did this blind ranking after Four Nations with Oshie and he put Austin pretty low. We all did because we were like, he just, you know, he didn't have the best tournament. He's still great. He didn't have the best tournament. Austin Matthews had a great fucking tournament. And do I think he should be ahead of Jack Hughes? No. No. But he was fantastic. I don't feel bad about this at all. Don't feel bad about that. He captained them. Captain America fucking won a gold medal, dude. And you ask the boys, they say he's our leader and he's a winner. That's my one any day. Boom. I'm fine with that. There you go. Good stuff. Wow. All right. That wraps it up for this episode. Hope you enjoyed Mark Streit. Unbelievable guy. We're going to be dialing to all of the trade deadline stuff coming up this week. We've got some great interviews coming up with some of our Olympic medalists. It's going to be amazing. Guys, do us a favor. Go toss some five-star reviews on Spotify and Apple. Subscribe. Do all the things. We love you. Can't wait to see you for the rest of the week. It's going to be some fun, fun stuff. And until we see you next episode, CP, tell them what to do. Skate hard.