Offside with Hawes and Maguire
Offside: with Hawes and Maguire is not your typical hockey show. This weekly
45-60 minute show is a potent combination of humour and genuine hockey insights that pushes the envelope.
- Liam is renowned for his photographic memory, lively storytelling, vast hockey knowledge and sometimes over-the-top passion for the game of hockey.
- Chris is known for his unrehearsed humour, contagious laughter and uncanny ability to make even the most serious debates end in boisterous guffaws.
Between the two, there is an infectious enthusiasm and professional chemistry that is evident from the outset. It can only be described as lightning in a bottle.
Offside with Hawes and Maguire
Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner! Northern Lights and Playoff Predictions
Join the victory lap of our hockey pool winner, a first for Offside with Hawes and Maguire, as we navigate the crossroads in anticipation of the playoffs. In the latest episode, we touch down on the heated topic of free speech in sports broadcasting, where the ice is thin between strong opinion and sparking controversy. Immerse yourself in Liam's Alaskan adventures and hear tales from local bars to hockey games against spry talent, and get a taste of the camaraderie that fuels our legendary lives off the rink.
The playoffs are upon us, and with that comes our unfiltered forecasts and dissection of the matchups set to carve this year's path to the Stanley Cup. We take sides on the Leafs' prospects against the Bruins and delve into the Florida rivalry with gusto. But it's not all puck talk; we weave in our guest's enthusiasm for family celebrations and the lure of Northern Ireland's golf greens, blending the love of sport with the beauty of life’s other passions.
Strap in for a whirlwind tour from the safety of bears in the Yukon to the charm of Port Stewart's Strand, with an episode rich in storytelling and bold predictions. We pull the curtain back on the NHL's playoff stage and dissect our fantasy hockey strategies, proving it's not always the strongest players but the shrewdest choices that reign supreme. All in all, it's an episode packed with the spirit of competition, the warmth of distant lands, and a reminder of the redemptive power of second chances.
it's offside with haas and mcguire. Are you ready? I'm ready, okay, oh, it's offside with haas and mcguire. I'm haas, I'm mcguire. Welcome to. This is the final episode of the regular season. As a matter of fact, this is the end of the regular season. Regular season's over, regular season's over.
Speaker 1:Yeah, big, big, big announcements coming out of today's show yeah, yeah, we are announcing the winner. We got a winner, the winner of the hosie and brown Offside with Hazel McGuire. Yeah, hockey pool yes, sir, okay, which was close. I got to tell you I'm excited about it. We're going to do this later because we're going to actually have the winner as a guest with us today, and so this is really our first non-NHL legend that we're actually going to have interviewing on the show. Yeah, very cool, okay. So that's the first thing We've got that we also have a lot of stuff, because obviously, it's the end of the season. Everyone's pumped for the playoffs.
Speaker 1:There's a few things I want to talk about, though, liam. Incidentally, this is a good time, though, while I'm just going to gear into this, to thank our sponsors over the whole year for everything, in case we forget things. So the first thing, the first sponsor I want to thank is. You know, it's a personal sponsor, okay, and, but it's Redneck Lager, okay. Owners of the Redneck Bistro up in Calabogie, and my good friend Ken, who has graciously supplied me with with beer for the show. And then we also have, of course, hosey and Brown Hosey and Brown yeah, came on board in a huge way.
Speaker 1:In a huge way, which basically enabled our hockey pool to have the prize that it has. Yeah, right, yeah. And then we also have the Patterson Group of Companies Yep, okay. Who sponsored this past season's interviews with our NHL All-Stars called Shooting the Shot Right With Haas and McGuire. That was you know we got. Did you see the logo that I did?
Speaker 2:I did, man, we're getting more professional, I'll tell you. I'll tell you, it looked fantastic.
Speaker 1:You know, and someday we're going to have some sort of pullover or golf shirt, apparently. We'll wait and see if that happens, but we're working on that. Uh, we're uh working on that. Maybe with Ottawa Valley Uniform it could be sponsoring that. That's where that's the hope, right, uh. But the alternative is my neighbor in Arizona has a sports company, okay, and so he actually offered. Oh yeah, but I mean, you know he's in Arizona, it doesn't do him much good, yeah, unless we go to Arizona for a big interview session and then he gets to meet a couple people. Maybe we'll do the interviews at my place in Arizona. That'd be cool, right, yeah, they can all come over there. We can have an interview party, yeah, right.
Speaker 2:Like.
Speaker 1:Wayne and the boys. Yeah, exactly An interview party.
Speaker 3:Oh, no regrets.
Speaker 1:Exactly what canris get you? Exactly, okay, listen, you know what. You get us down these holes, leo, you drag us down these holes, okay, so here's what we're going to talk about. The first thing I want to talk about is you. I don't know if you were in town or if you had already left for Alaska, which we're going to talk about. Yeah, okay, bobby Ryan got himself into some trouble On Twitter. On Twitter.
Speaker 2:Yeah, did you hear about this? Oh, yeah, yeah, I was still here when that broke. Oh, were you? Yeah, okay, yeah.
Speaker 1:So your thoughts.
Speaker 2:What he said was ridiculous, obviously. What do you mean? What he?
Speaker 1:said was ridiculous. Like what did he say? He offered his personal opinion on something.
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah, let me clarify because you're right. I mean freedom of speech and all the rest of that jazz. But the comment that he made which man? Look, this is now 10 or 12 days old or whatever, but inferring that nobody's watching the women's sports, right, right, I mean, uh, let's, let's cut right to the chase.
Speaker 1:he was inferring nobody's watching, yeah, and I think they're well, which which, ironically, for the first time ever, women were watching. Women and people, people, people were watching. Yes, women, people, people were watching.
Speaker 2:I don't know the demographic that broke down, but they certainly set all sorts of records. The NCAA women outdrew the NCAA men in the Final Four, all because of Caitlin Clark Largely because of her, and who knows the sustainability. It doesn't matter, they are watching. The professional women's hockey has actually had a banger for a season in terms of attendance and things of that nature. We'll see how it works going forward. I just thought he made whether it was off the cuff, off whatever a condescending remark. I didn't think it really.
Speaker 1:It did not merit the type of outrage that it got, in my opinion, well, in 2024,?
Speaker 2:yeah, it did. We're in a woke world. We're in a woke world, Chris. That's the world today.
Speaker 1:But that doesn't have to be the world. We don't have to kowtow to the special interests of individuals who are going to be insulted by something that you say or that you have an opinion. Right, and this is what I think. And I'm calling out fucking Yorkie, okay, I'm calling out fucking Yorkie. Okay. I'm calling out Jason York and I'm going to see him at an upcoming golf tournament. Yeah, okay, okay, I'm calling him out because I'm really disappointed that they turfed him from that podcast. Yeah, okay.
Speaker 1:And I don't care if you agree with what somebody says. I don't care if it's a, you know, but everybody has the right to have their opinion, even if they're an idiot. They're unable to do it. You can say well, I'm not going to listen to that guy, he's an idiot, or blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. He's an idiot, or he's wrong, or I disagree with it. All they have to say is you know what Disagree?
Speaker 1:The women were great, okay, we'll see. Like you said, we'll see. About the sustainability, all of those things, yeah, okay. And I'm not defending what bobby wright said, what I'm what I'm most upset about is the lack of free speech that we have in our society today and, just like you said it's a different world. You can't say that. No, I say outrageous things, you know that. And I do that to poke the bear and to push that line, because, as a comic or former comic, that was one of the things that you do, yeah is you push that, you go to the line and then, you know, kind of step over it without being you don't want to be hateful, you don't want to be, uh, you know, abusive to people, but you also want to make sure that you are maintaining that front.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I think Jason York. You know, I think he should. It wasn't just him, it was Brent Wallace too.
Speaker 2:So it was Wallace who made the first comment on Twitter against Bobby Ryan, saying listen, I don't agree with what Bobby said. I'll have more to say about this later. Obviously, they had to confer as to what they were going to do and then decided to, you know, exit stage door left from their podcast. So that is what it is, man.
Speaker 1:But that's you know what? I think that. So you've got a podcast where you're talking and you're giving your opinion, you're giving your insight, and now you're not going to acknowledge or respect another person's opinion, Whether it's right or wrong. You have to respect it and you have to give them that opportunity to have that opinion.
Speaker 2:We should have gone and got the original tweet. Um, I I certainly I forgot all about the fact this was uh gonna be on the docket. I'm glad it is, because, uh, it, it, it certainly was a.
Speaker 1:It was like twitter has something every other week, right, yeah, no, exactly, you know.
Speaker 2:Tomorrow will be something else, Next week something else. But that was. It was big, because women's sports has never had a. Women's sports in general hasn't had anything like the last 12 months. No, no, no, and it's been great and let you know what.
Speaker 1:And let me say that I think that what the Professional Women's Hockey League has been able to do, yeah. Okay, and the fact that there are so many young girls excited about hockey. We're talking hockey, but in this case, with the NCAA basketball thing, you know that there's that many people. Now I don't know how many young kids were excited. I do know that the out-bet the women you know the betting, betting lines were, you know, yeah, a little better control interest is there across the board?
Speaker 2:Bobby was 100%, categorically incorrect in what he said, but I need to go back and revisit, not only because I know he doubled down and he got into a few people individually and it continued probably longer than it should have and, the end of the day, there is freedom of speech and and and all of those things, but there there is a line and he, he, he got caught on it circa 2024, where you do. I mean we've said some things mostly you things that I wouldn't say, because I have spent the better part of four decades in front of a camera or on a microphone Right by mainstream media.
Speaker 1:And myself included. I'm conditioned that way, but I'm, and I've spent the better part of that in front of a microphone, but Not like me though.
Speaker 2:No, no, no, you've been doing something that's been encouraged almost to push the envelope across the line. Be risque? I have not. That's right.
Speaker 1:No, no, no, that's what I'm saying, but you know what you need.
Speaker 2:That well, how to work for Don Cherry.
Speaker 1:Hey, wow, okay it worked very well for Don Cherry for 30 years.
Speaker 2:How'd it work for Don Cherry at the?
Speaker 1:end. That doesn't mean that it's right that they canceled them. Well, no, I just yeah, it does unfortunately, I disagree strongly.
Speaker 2:And grapes is a personal friend of mine I don't think you and Grapes is a personal friend of mine. I don't think you've ever met him. He's a personal friend of mine going back to 81, and I wrote this. I wrote the most extensive thing written about the entire thing with Grapes. I wrote about it. It's a two-part thing. If anybody watching this wants it, I'll email it to you. If you're watching this and you'd like to read what I wrote, where I said unequivocally, in my opinion, what he said and how he said it was wrong, and what Bobby Ryan said and how he said it was wrong, I mean, you're entitled to free speech, but then you're also going to have to pay the piper, but okay, so circa 2024, so they punted him from the podcast.
Speaker 2:So so are you more upset about the reaction from the general public or the fact that jason york and brent wallace let him?
Speaker 1:absolutely the jason york brand okay, because here's the thing, and I say this okay, first of all, the fact that he tweeted that and he said that caused a kerfuffle, everything like that. Yeah, that's actually good for ratings. Okay, that would be. The next thing is I want to hear what this guy has to say about or? Or I want to hear this. You have, and I'm not saying that it is, but that's what it is. It is a bit of ratings, uh again immaterial in my view.
Speaker 1:No, but you're talking about the audience at that point i'm'm not.
Speaker 2:No, I am looking at this 100% at face value. It's one thing to have an opinion. It's another thing to be so incredibly factually incorrect that it smacks of misogyny or whatever you want to call it, and that's just the reality of it.
Speaker 1:That's why you got bounced, Chris. Do you know what? Here's the thing, and I disagree with that. I think that everybody, one okay is entitled to a mistake or to be wrong, Okay. And people would say and you have the choice of, especially when it comes to broadcasting, of tuning in or tuning out, Okay, yeah. Now with.
Speaker 2:What about Jeremy Roenick? What got him fired? Do you remember that?
Speaker 1:I don't remember the details of it, okay, and so to that end, I don't want to comment specifically. What I'm going to comment about is that, do you know I'm going to say in 1924. Yeah, pabst won the cup Right. Okay, women were not allowed to have an opinion. Okay, no, no, okay, that was the time that's the time. Was it right? Of course, not Of course not.
Speaker 1:And now, with people not being able to have an opinion? As right or wrong as it is, it's still not right. It's as wrong as not giving women the opinion. Giving a stupid person or not allowing a stupid person to have an opinion is wrong too. If you're going to claim that we live in a free society, then you have to accept that there are going to be people who say things that you do not agree with. It fucking happens every day.
Speaker 2:Chris, I'm sorry, but the horses are out of the barn, like the ship has sailed, however you want to phrase it, you know what, and so? It's just unfortunate. I don't disagree strongly with you in the overall body of what you're saying that you should be entitled. First of all, he was. Not only was he entitled, he did it, he said it, and then he doubled down on it, he went on about it for a day or a day and a half, if I remember correctly.
Speaker 1:I mean, I was prepping to go out, and so how did that hurt the coming in hot brand?
Speaker 2:You know, I mean you'd have to have Brent and Jason sitting here to. They probably figured that whoever their sponsors are, fuck them. Well, they didn't feel that way.
Speaker 1:No, no, I know that. But here's the thing Jason York doesn't have enough money, come on. So you're going to give away? No, you're going to give away your personal integrity. You're going to sell a friend down the river. You're going to give away your personal integrity about freedom of speech because, uh, fucking joe's uh pizza hut, who's fucking uh sponsoring you is offended by something that the guy said who he had every like. I'm not saying he was right. I'm saying unequivocally I disagreed with his comment. But what I am saying is I would defend his right to make that stupid comment 24-7.
Speaker 2:Well, he had the right to say it. He never got anything in terms of other than a court of public opinion, which on social media is. I mean, there's no quicker and more forthright jury in the world than social media.
Speaker 1:And who's on social media, though. Really Losers are crackpots.
Speaker 2:Exactly. Yeah, I would say probably as much as 80% of all people who comment on something. Uh, first of all, they're. They're almost all anonymous. Yeah, you know they anonymous. They're Joe and a bunch of letters for an account, and the comment about a lot of them are in their mom's basements is probably not that far from the truth.
Speaker 2:I say all the time, if you go to a Sens game and it's a full house and there's 20,000 people, I always say to people I think I mentioned this to you one time, I said how many of them are and these are hockey fans. They've paid to go to the Sens game. How many of them are actually on Twitter? What percentage of the people in the building tonight? Is it even 50? I don't even think so. It's I don't even know. Yeah, no, probably not. I think it's probably those that are in the building Now. They may be on. You know another form. They maybe do some Facebook stuff. There's a lot of people.
Speaker 1:They like the Facebook. That's a very personal thing.
Speaker 2:You're putting out a lot of personal stuff, usually on Facebook. Twitter is where you attack. Twitter is an attacking social media site.
Speaker 1:I'm glad I'm not on Twitter.
Speaker 2:Oh, it's venomous. It is absolutely a cesspool on Twitter. It's a cesspool. I stay on it, partly because I do. I do love it. It's tremendously entertaining if you have an hour or two to kill sitting at an airport, which I feel like I've been doing Right and we're going to get to.
Speaker 3:I'm sorry.
Speaker 2:No no, that's. That's fine. This is a good point. You want to bring it up. I know you're passionate about it and and I'm not saying I'm'm not but at the end of the day, in 2024, or you turn the clock back just a few years to don cherry 2019 um, you know they paid the price for the way the world is today because their comments are reflective of them having a a paid public opinion where you can still have that opinion, but then you have to pay the price if you cross this woke line that exists today.
Speaker 3:Yes and if.
Speaker 2:Greg's did, and so did, so did Bobby Ryan, and he wasn't even on mainstream.
Speaker 1:This is just a podcast, but the question where you should have Kurt Blanche, but Jason and Brent didn't feel comfortable having him on the air.
Speaker 2:Clearly, chris. Well, and that and that having, him on the air. Clearly, Chris Well, and that that's their opinion.
Speaker 1:Do they not have the right to do that? No, no. But the question is okay, I mean from what we can see. Okay, listen, if Bobby Ryan slept with Yorkie's wife, then I say kick him off the podcast. Yeah, okay, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2:There's a lot of reasons why they do that. But if they should have the right to do that, they don't want him on, where's their right? Well, you know, but yes but they're.
Speaker 1:You know what they said. They let him go because of his opinions. They disagreed with what he said and so they let him go. Personally, I think that is a violation of his rights to have an opinion, which was outside of not being on the podcast. I know he's a part of it, but it was on his own personal Twitter account. Second of all, if you're going to have it what a great podcast have it out on the podcast about why, let's face it. And I say the same thing about Don Cherry in this circumstance and I'm not condoning his verbiage what I am saying is that an executive or group of executives at CBC decided that that was it. He was done Rogers or Rogers, okay, yeah, at Rogers' time decided that was it for whatever reason. And they made that decision based on what? Not on the public outcry, because I can tell you that there was a far bigger public outcry about his being turfed than there was about his being pretty close.
Speaker 2:No, no, they shut down the phone system, for God's sake. They certainly didn't do that clamoring to get him back. So no, he got caught. Grapes got caught in the woke world, man, this woke world that has transformed in the last decade or so. If you think about it, it was like a whirlpool. They call it fascism.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah it's fascism? Yeah well, I guess it's leftist fascism.
Speaker 2:It's a sense of it, for sure, I mean minus some of the other things that came with that when it really came to the fore decades. Well, we're not there yet, though. We're only in 1932. Yeah, okay, we're only in 1932.
Speaker 3:You may be right.
Speaker 1:You wait because they'll be coming to your door because you're an Irish Catholic heterosexual male over the age of 60. Yeah, Basically there's I'm in the minority. Wow, not to mention that is that you're as you're, as evil as they come, my friend, yeah, okay, yeah, um, so anyway, well, let's move on from that just to finish on just a quick little sidebar, uh, digression, but on the same sort of topic.
Speaker 2:If you look at the heat that logan may you because I I wrote a tweet supporting him uh being re fully reinstated. You know, we've all known for the entire year, once he suited up in the American Hockey League he was going to get rubber stamped to the NHL. Obviously, molson reached out and said we want to address him for the last game, so can you make it official? Yeah, and, and they did, and and uh, I believe it was Eric Engels who put up. Uh, I just chose one of them to comment on. So I wasn't even, I didn't even put up a singular tweet myself.
Speaker 2:I just commented on the tweet and spent 48 hours in the middle of a firestorm. Now, the majority, uh, based on you know the sheer volume of eyeballs that I got on this thing and the comments that I got on it were a thousand percent supporting me. But the percentage, the the small percentage of of people, yeah, who probably know nothing about what actually happened. They don't, because some of them even even have the facts wrong. It's just he's guilty by the fact that something happened. It was sexual misconduct in nature. Um, he's a male white hockey player. Therefore, ergo, he must, ergo he must be cancelled, right, he?
Speaker 1:must be cancelled, and you know what? And that, too, is wrong. And don't get me wrong. Okay, we all know them. Okay, there are some fucking dicks out there who don't have respect for women, don't have? You know what I mean? And, frankly, you know the Donald Trump locker talk, right? Yeah, whatever you want to call it, okay, frankly, I think that you know what an 18-year-old boy okay.
Speaker 3:He was 17. He was 17.
Speaker 2:17 years old. Okay, so first of all, 17 years old, he was a minor. She was of age, Right.
Speaker 1:He should have been protected. Okay, because he was a minor. They shouldn't. Even if that's in Ontario, we don't even hear his name, that's right. Okay, in Canada, that's the first time. But he made a mistake because he snapped a picture of a girl giving him a hummer. Yeah, okay, and he sent it to his buddies. Not, he never posted it on the internet, he just sent it to his group chat. Yeah, from the hockey team he goes. Oh, my god, you know he's a 17 year old boy, like. I don't know if you, if anybody out there, remembers being a 17 year old boy. Some of you new women might, okay, but I'm telling you that a 17 years old and some older attractive woman. We didn't have phones, but you're going to call your friend and you're not going to fucking believe what happened to me last night.
Speaker 2:What he did was a hundred percent wrong.
Speaker 1:It was wrong, but it was not unnatural and it was not something that a 17 year old boy yeah.
Speaker 2:But that's not the. You're 17. I know, but that's not the point. The point the point is he was, he was charged, he was convicted, he paid a fine, a fine, he got suspended. His career basically got shut down through COVID and through this for 18 months and and then he's gone through all of the steps that have been required by North.
Speaker 2:American hockey standards to get accepted back in, to be allowed to play, first of all junior, secondly the American Hockey League and now, finally, the NHL, where, not only that, he picked up his first point, which I was thrilled for him, and, and, uh, I wish him well. I mean, he's on Montreal, whether he stays there or not, I don't know, but I mean he, he had an outstanding rookie defense in the American Hockey League. I mean, he, he, uh, he improved in leaps and bounds from Christmas on and he's, he's got a cannon for a shot anyway. All that to say is that he also, um, like Bobby Ryan and Grapes before, and many others, if you think about it, in the last half dozen years or so, there's been a lot of people that have been thrown under that cancel culture. It's like they're waiting out there to pounce. Okay, listen.
Speaker 1:I'm going to say something even more fucking controversial. Okay, I'm going to quote somebody. Okay, this is my thing. Controversial, okay, I'm going to quote somebody. Okay, this is my thing. Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone. Motherfucker. I know I'm paraphrasing. I don't believe Christ said motherfucker. Okay, but you know what, if you are without sin, go ahead, throw the rocks. That's all I got to say. Let's move on. We're going to move on. Okay, move all. Right, okay. So, speaking of, uh, of throwing rocks, okay, uh, I, I, I, I've actually thrown rocks in alaska. So you were in, I have, I've been on the side of the glacier and skipping water, you know, anyways. But so you were out in alaska, I was. So tell us about the trip. Yeah, who was on the trip? Who you got to chat with? Yeah, uh, you know what I mean, all that stuff I want to hear. And then you went to the yukon, yeah, okay which is spectacular, white horse yeah, yeah, and and so I mean.
Speaker 1:So let's hear all of that well, first of all, sarah paling.
Speaker 2:Um, I had a great opportunity to catch up with her and say look, I was the guy with chris hawes that was in ron's house, that you know very well, and we were really sorry and disappointed to miss you. If there is an occasion where we're back or anywhere and you happen to be there, would you do an interview with us? And she said absolutely Absolutely she would. So at some point, hopefully, chris, in our future. I can tell you that when we flew into Anchorage we went right to the bar you know went in Rome or went in.
Speaker 3:Anchorage, I mean there's got to be a bar serving somewhere.
Speaker 1:I mean, it's a three-hour time change.
Speaker 2:I had some time to make up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're right, you know what? How silly of me not to realize that that would be where you go.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we hit a couple spots. That was just called Buffalo Wings or something. Then we went to this place called the Carousel that had the old 32-ounce drafts, which was awesome. I was pounding those back with Darian Hatcher and then we got down to business the next day. Yeah, you know, got down to business the next day. Yeah, you know, got down to business and we had a game to play and first time at least since I've been with them, the alumni guys lost. They lost 8-6 to a team made up of East Coast Hockey League and American Hockey League guys and young guys.
Speaker 2:Well, they were in there. Most of them were around 50.
Speaker 1:Oh, really Okay Late 40s to 50.
Speaker 2:And they won 8-6. It was a great game. We didn't have like a Dale Weiss, we didn't have a game breaker, but Bernie Nichols played lights out, ron Duguay's son played. Noah was outstanding to have him there. Our, our goaltender was um Scott Veal. He's a Canadian military. He paid to come on the uh on on the trip, so he was our goalie for the whole trip. And yeah, man, I mean, and Sarah was there. She came to the game. She actually stood on the bench for the alumni team and they had a great crowd, a couple thousand people in the Sullivan Arena, which is where the Alaska Aces used to play. They're hoping to get a team back, if not East Coast League, one of the other pro leagues that permeate, you know, the west coast. They're hoping to get a team back there.
Speaker 1:The last, it's just a high cost, right like they've got to fly in fly out right, it is.
Speaker 2:It's exactly that. It's largely that. But that sullivan arena is a really, really nice rink yeah, really nice rink and and the crowd were super friendly. We had an amazing reception after and then we, uh, then we went to these, um, this bar, hang on, okay, say that again. I went to a licensed establishment and the nickname of it is called the coots. Now we have the coots. The coots. It has a longer name, I can't remember it right now, but we have a mutual friend, mike leblanc. Yeah, mike leblanc's wife, tammy, is from Anchorage right and I put a
Speaker 2:post up on on social media from the first day. I've got to catch up and finish up, but put a post up and Tammy messaged right away. Liam, I know that bar, you know, and it's one of those ones, chris. It's like the Irish village in Ottawa, okay, where you go in and there's like six different bars right and they've all got their own theme. Like it's amazing, you go through this catacomb of hallways and you're in a whole brand new bar and there's one there called I want to say it's called the Bluebird, I think, if I remember the name correctly and they replicated it from after the original was damaged in an earthquake and a fire, so the bar itself is tilted. It's like this If you put your pint here, it's coming down yeah you just got to grab it.
Speaker 2:You just stand at the end. You just stand at the end, guys. Yes, slide me another one. You stand down at the end. I went there with Aris Brumanis and his wife. Aris played over 100 games in the NHL. Okay, with the Flyers, anaheim, new York Islanders and another team. This escapes me right now, and he lives there. He lives there, his wife's from there, he lives there. He was basically one of our hosts, anyway, did he not?
Speaker 1:play.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he played for the alumni guys. Yeah, he did. Yeah, he played for the alumni guys. Yeah, he did. He's still in good shape too. He won a championship in Germany in 2010. He went back and played in Switzerland and Germany after he left the NHL. He's Latvian, but he was born in the States, but his dad, his ancestry, is Latvian. I was drinking with him and his wife a good chunk of the time at his bar. He's just one guy. He played in the NHL. Most people wouldn't know his name. What an incredible backstory he has Unfreaking, believable. I really, really enjoyed that.
Speaker 1:Well, so he's another interview, then how about that?
Speaker 2:Every single person we talk to will do our show. Anybody and everybody that we can get to will do our show.
Speaker 1:So, just so we know, because it's a new season, we're going to be pushing into the new season. Yeah, a, it's a new season, we're going to be pushing into the new season. Yeah, so we are just that. We are looking for well-heeled uh sponsor who doesn't mind if I say the odd thing to push the envelope. Just so you know. Okay, I'm not going to say anything abusive or hatred based.
Speaker 2:If we haven't been slapped at this point with anything, I don't I think we're okay because you've you've pushed the envelope big time and and, uh, and, and. That's good, that's that's you. That's that's you. I am not comfortable doing it and, um, that's probably got just too many years on, mainstream. So I'm just not as comfortable, but I have.
Speaker 2:I have loosened up a little bit and I'm dropping the odd f-bomb there you go but, uh, but, and I'm certainly no, uh, shrinking violet when it comes to opinions, right, but I, I just, I, I just never would have made a comment I know we're not talking about it anymore I know, I know I just never would have made it.
Speaker 2:But, regardless, anchorage, we got on a bus. We go to sarah palings we had a great big coach bus driving us around went to sarah's house by lake lucille, in in uh, in wasilla okay, it's about 30 minutes outside of anchorage, yeah, and we had an afternoon there that you know would would have been a couple. A scene out of a hollywood movie is we're all out there dressed in in uh, no jackets or anything, and yet that lake is 1000 frozen, like it's two feet of ice still, and you've got the alps and glaciers and mountains right there. And they brought out a four-wheeler and a sled and jay miller, from your boston bruins, was the first guy to go out there and he says he's crazy, aj, he's crazy, he's still crazy, he's crazy when he played, he's still crazy, and he's booting around on the lake.
Speaker 2:And so I ended up going out there too in the four-wheeler and driving with some of Sarah's friends, which was a lot of fun, and, uh, we had pints going, the tunes going, I mean, I was out there for like half an hour. It was amazing, yeah, absolutely amazing. And Sarah had a great big spread of food, full table, full table of booze, and we drank every single bit of it.
Speaker 1:Uh, you know what? Those are the moments, those were the moments, those were the heartwarming moments. Met her dad.
Speaker 2:Her brother played on the team with us in the game in Anchorage.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, chuck, chuck Heath, and met her father, chuck Senior, an unbelievable man, elderly now but incredibly well-known and respected in the Anchorage area for his trapping and hunting and fishing skills. He's a woodsman of like unparalleled we're talking Jeremiah Johnson type stuff Like this guy actually was hired by the government back in the day to you know he's climbed every mountain. He's one of these guys does distance running. You know where you're, the hundred mile races where you're're just, you run every day for miles and miles and miles and miles and then you get up the next day and do it again yeah
Speaker 1:as a race like not just oh, I'm gonna do this you're not just a postman in the rural area.
Speaker 2:No, running from you know we were. We were in town at this, at this it was called the A-Loft or something. And just right down at the end of the street is this great, big, freaking mountain and you know people were walking down. It was like less than a kilometer right. And you get down there and there it is Like it's right there and the tendency is, well, let's go a little further, take some pictures or whatever. And everybody said, hey, bears are coming out of hibernation. We'll have incidents here in the city, do not screw around, watch out for that. And then, even later on, when we got to the Yukon I'll just finish this up now we took the bus across and we stopped overnight at about halfway before we hit the Canadian border. So we're still in Alaska. Imagine we traveled about six hours by bus just through the mountains.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you know like we're, we're on a road, chris, where we looked over a couple times and we saw vehicles down there. Yeah, they like whether they got pushed there or they were seen in an accident yeah, uh, and, and they just were able to extricate the people and left the vehicles down there, which may have what happened in some of the cases, but we saw vehicles down there, we saw wildlife.
Speaker 1:It was it triple wildlife driving vehicles, because that can be the cause of them going off the road, because those fucking deer are horrible drivers. I don't want to be, I don't want to be stereotypical. Yeah, oh, my god, the the deer, oh, it's like a deer in the headlights. That's what happens that's what happens?
Speaker 2:yeah, you know didn't see any't see any deer. We saw elk and moose. Didn't see a bear, obviously, but, and so we had a white horse. And then we spent a day up at a First Nations settlement Okay, called Little Salmon, carmax First Nation and that's where we played the second hockey game and that was in the Yukon that was in.
Speaker 1:That was in uh yeah, in Canada, yeah, we're on.
Speaker 2:Canadian soil there now and it's the first uh nation settlement of 600 people got a brand new arena. Um, it was a fantastic hockey game. The ambiance, uh, we met everybody there from their council. Uh, it was incredible. Just two days before we arrived, a pack of over 50 timber wolves had been spotted, oh really, within a mile of uh of the main part of the settlement. So again they were. They were advising us do not wander too far.
Speaker 2:Think you're going to go over that, over that hill and dale and uh yeah and and get some wild berries or something you may become the uh yeah, no, no. That being said, I, I, I could be very wrong, but, as a general rule, wolves do not attack humans I would say you're probably right there, but the fact that they were the proximity, yeah, to uh, to the settlement, and the fact that we're all tourists, uh, doing touristy things, and probably just a recommendation, oh, absolutely. Yeah, you never want to put yourself in danger, but yeah you know, I don't think it'd be like you'd go over there.
Speaker 1:The wolf's a dog and the dog's man's best friend, you know you get there and then the wolf to. Ah, you know, I know that guy, you see he's not he's not my best friend, but we used to be close. You know what I mean Spectacular.
Speaker 2:So then you went to Whitehorse. Yeah, we were in Whitehorse and we had nothing actually formal there other than some luncheons, oh yeah.
Speaker 1:So you never played a game in Whitehorse.
Speaker 2:We did not. Oh, you have to go back and play a game. Well, we will. Okay, we will.
Speaker 1:I'm now the agent for the NHL Legends. It looks good.
Speaker 3:No.
Speaker 2:Steve Walton and Ryan Mumford, who ran the operation just outstanding, my third tour with them. As you know, I've done New Brunswick, I did Newfoundland, st Pierre and Michelon, and now Alaska and Whitehorse, and I'm just hoping that they keep calling me because it's uh, it's been um, it's uh, it's been incredible.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Travel's tough, there's no doubt about it. You do way more than almost anybody I know. So you know this and you and I had our own experiences in Florida, getting there and back and and, uh, how challenging it is right now in the airs. It's unbelievable. Of course I had delays, cancellations, rebookings, all over the place. Uh, getting home, but um, uh was. And getting getting there, um, it was just delays. You know, just just just delays, flight delays, flight delays.
Speaker 2:But but the overall experience once you get there, seeing some of the guys who have been going now a number of times, you know Lucien Deblois, ron Duguay, brian Scrrooglin, darian hatcher now has been two or three, like most these guys, like duge and deblois, been on all three that I've been on. The other guys been on two. And you know, meeting jay miller I never met jay miller before, yeah, you know. Uh, bernie nichols now has been on every one of them and and, uh, you know, it's just, it's, it's just, it's just pretty cool stuff, man, it's pretty cool stuff. Do you know what? Very thankful Hell of a trip, just a trip of a lifetime.
Speaker 1:Listen, not only are you getting to hang with guys, but you're also getting to see places that you otherwise would not have been right, Never would have had a chance. Chris, you know exactly, I think for a lifetime.
Speaker 2:Maybe one of those guys sit in the middle, go on and say what's your bucket list? Oh, because I don't know how many people said to me or wrote to me or something after I put the post up and said, oh, that's my bucket list, I want to go to alaska. I want to go to alaska and I was going. I would have been one of those guys, yeah, writing it down. You know whether it's something you've seen in the movie or you read about or you saw much, and you know we're not on our own time, but I'll tell you that experience at sarah's. I mean, you can imagine the uh, the dwelling is they got a huge guest house and a huge main house and, yeah, just the spread and how they took care of us, their hospitality there from her family and her friends very nice friends and uh yeah, it was uh just a whole thing, how's?
Speaker 1:he going yeah, leo mcguire from the cars road you ever heard of that that's his opening line, ladies, that's how he opens with that, and so you know what, what a wonderful trip. And you got to thank uh, uh, what's his name? Uh, john boy walton.
Speaker 2:Yeah, steve walton, yeah, we nicknamed that we call him that stevie's great and uh, and ryan mumford his, uh. His assistant now has been on two of the three trips. I've gotten old ryan very well Ryan's from St John's, newfoundland, steve is from St John, new Brunswick, okay so, and they're both intrinsic in their own communities. They work together on this NHL legend brand and Steve heads it up and boy oh boy, I'll tell you it is something. It's something to see the reaction from the kids when they get to meet these guys. Darius Kasparaitis, you know he's another guy, was he on the trip?
Speaker 2:Yep, okay, yeah, yeah, he's been on two of the three. In fact, I was this close to having Darius join the boys in Florida for a game.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, because Rocket's down there now.
Speaker 2:Because Rocket and all the guys are all down there, right now Bubba and a bunch of them, but but he couldn't do it. But it looked, at one point, like he was going to maybe be able to, which would have been a thrill for them to have him join them. I played hockey with him.
Speaker 1:I know you.
Speaker 2:You told me that.
Speaker 1:And that's what led me and Terry Kelly. It's a part of the same group.
Speaker 2:Terry Kelly. Terry is a local legend here, for sure.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about end of the season, beginning of a rebirth. Okay, yeah, unless there's something else you want to talk about. No, I don't think so. Playoffs we're on to playoffs.
Speaker 2:I mean we may as well get on to the playoffs, yeah.
Speaker 1:I was going to bring up.
Speaker 2:Kucherov won the Art Ross. Yeah, I think he's going to win the Hart. You know Bedard's going to win the call. They're going to walk. So, the rest of it, not Rempe. Rempe is being arrested. Now we're going to see how much ice time will Rempe get. How much ice time will Ryan Reeves get.
Speaker 1:Well, you know what I'm going to tell you right now, and I know there was a bit of a kerfuffle because I wanted to. You know, ottawa, this non-hit. He let up, he just nudged the guy. He just nudged the guy, the senator McEwen, and then the Ottawa guy who had been called up, whatever wanted to go home and he didn't, which was the right thing to do, because you're heading into the playoffs. You don't want to break your hand. You know what I mean. You have a role to play in the playoffs and I'm sure he was read the riot act Do not be baited into a fight. Okay, so, which leads us now into the playoffs? Yeah, and how guys are going to contribute at that level, at whatever level they can, yeah, okay, and based on the matchup. So let's start with the first matchup, okay, yeah, the one that's going to be played first, which is boston toronto, right, yeah?
Speaker 2:well, carolina islanders, technically start I mean, there's two games tomorrow.
Speaker 3:Right, that's worth taping.
Speaker 2:There's two games tomorrow, there's four on sunday. So I mean, regardless of what day, it is right you've got. You've got eight series that are on the verge of starting here in the next 72 hours. And um uh, you know what, chris, we said on a previous show yes, what would it be like if you did one versus eight, yeah, or if you went way back to the early 80s and did one versus 16 right if it's one versus eight.
Speaker 2:Let's just say, hypothetically, they just took the top eight teams in the conference. Okay, okay, yeah, now I, now I only did the.
Speaker 1:East. Yeah, that's all that matters.
Speaker 2:I just realized that now that I didn't do the West.
Speaker 1:You're only thinking about the East. What are you, trudeau? But yeah.
Speaker 2:But I did the whole league for the one versus 16. Okay, Perfect. So if Eastern Conference would be Rangers versus Detroit, Detroit would actually make the playoffs. Yeah Right, I mean they got screwed because, of how the division worked out. It would be Carolina versus Washington. I mean, these are all matchups that could happen anyway. It would be Boston versus the Islanders and it would be Toronto versus Tampa Bay. Like there's nothing really that far outside the box.
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:And this is why it should be that way. But what difference does it make?
Speaker 1:Well, so the difference that it makes is that now you've got Boston, Toronto.
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay. So here you got. Boston and the New York Islanders yes, but the point is yeah, sure. That means Boston doesn't play Toronto, but I mean that's right. But whatever, no, no but my point is. My point is you've got good teams playing good teams. Oh yeah, no, no, no.
Speaker 1:Okay, yes, you are correct, but it's not the way it should be slated, Because you've got Boston playing Toronto. So one of those teams I'm assuming Toronto will be eliminated. Yeah, but you'd have. Boston or the Islanders eliminated.
Speaker 2:No but here's what you know, what Washington or Carolina?
Speaker 1:So who would Toronto play? Toronto would play Tampa Bay, so it would be a big one If they knocked off Tampa Bay.
Speaker 2:Well, they beat Tampa Bay last year. They played Tampa Bay last year and beat them.
Speaker 1:But my point is what's the difference? No, it's not. There is a difference, because you're not playing the easier team.
Speaker 2:But there's no easy team. Why should?
Speaker 1:Boston have to play the Leafs when they could play Detroit.
Speaker 2:Well, there's no thing in here where they could play Detroit.
Speaker 3:You there's no thing in here where they could play Detroit.
Speaker 2:You want to know the funny thing? It was one versus 16. Yeah, you know who Boston would play, who Toronto.
Speaker 1:Okay, well then that. But that's fine. But my point is no, here's the thing People are freaking out over nothing. No one's freaking out.
Speaker 2:No, there are Go online, you're not online. Oh, I know, I know, you know what People are freaking out online over the playoff format?
Speaker 1:Well, because they're Leafs fans and they know they're going to lose. Oh, there you go.
Speaker 2:And my point is that with 16 teams out of 32 eliminated, leaving 16, you've got 16 good clubs.
Speaker 1:Oh, absolutely no question. Eliminated, leaving 16, you've got 16 good clubs? Oh, absolutely no question, no, no. And this, and you know what, and good clubs, just missed it too right well, for sure, I loved that last week. It was so exciting and you know what, you know who I feel for. You know you gotta feel for, uh, for detroit.
Speaker 1:Well, I know I feel for I, I feel for sydney crosby big time. Oh yeah, and I was really, and I'm not a Pittsburgh fan, but he wanted that bad. And you know what, if he had, getzel probably would have made it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean they have to be second guessing. Which is all on Dubas, yeah, and you know going out on a limb to bring Carlson in and yet you know he played okay down the stretch. But this whole thing was Sid. This whole thing was Sid. Everybody knows it. Sid had one of his best seasons. The guy's 36 put that team on his shoulders, basically from the trade deadline on. It's almost like he took the uh Gensel trade personally oh, I think he did.
Speaker 1:That would be my show you what we could do right now.
Speaker 2:Imagine if we had him and, uh, and, and, and. Now obviously they miss. I I mean that this is the case every year. Somebody misses by a point or two. There's nothing uncommon about that, so it is. It is what it is, it's just. Yes, online there was a tremendous uproar, uh, more so about the western conference, because with vegas losing last night to anaheim, this has changed the entire complexion of what's going to happen now in this first round.
Speaker 1:Now let's talk about those playoff things first. Yeah, okay, so let's do our predictions. Sure, okay, yeah, so I'm saying Boston in six.
Speaker 2:Yeah, sounds fair.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, and that's only because I'm a Boston fan, yeah, and I hate the Leafs and all that stuff. Okay, so your thoughts?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'll go with that. I think that's a fair call. I think this is the best Leaf entry in the Austin Matthews era and I think the Bruins are. It is ripe for an upset. It really is the Leafs. If they can get any goaltending here early on, it's just. You know the Bruins goaltending should be better.
Speaker 2:But fresh in their mind is the fact that Bruins have lost in the first round three to the last four years. They've hit a bit of a wall come playoff time. That doesn't get talked about a lot because their regular seasons have been so strong and their goaltending tandem have had back-to-back years that rival almost anybody in NHL history. So you know what all marked success last year in the regular season, it's Waymans. This year, so it's, it's, it's uh, I still think they're, they're, they're well, I don't think. I know. You know they're favorites to win this series. They should win this series. I think six is a good call. And and uh, yeah, it's just unfortunate that Toronto I don't know who else they could play in the East. That would be an automatic for them to advance. I don't think if they played Tampa in the first round it would be any more automatic than it was for them last year.
Speaker 2:They played Tampa last year in the first round and they beat them before Florida dismantled them in the second round.
Speaker 1:So, moving on to our next matchup, okay, you mentioned Florida, so Florida is. Who's Florida playing? Battle of the State?
Speaker 2:Okay, battle of the State, florida, tampa Bay and I think the Panthers will win the series. Yeah, I think they will. I don't know what you think, but I mean.
Speaker 1:Well, I think they're the better team.
Speaker 2:I think Tampa's had an outstanding last third of the season here to get themselves back in the race and it's going to be a great series. I mean, you've got the state battle, you can't go wrong. It's a good rivalry. But I think the Panthers will beat Tampa Bay.
Speaker 1:Okay, and now moving on to the New York.
Speaker 2:Rangers. Yeah, Rangers-Washington. I think will be the shortest series.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I can't see it going past five games.
Speaker 2:I think so. Yeah, I did write both Tampa and Washington off from the trade deadline on. I figured neither one of them would make it and they both did. However, now you're in the playoffs first round, I can't see them beating the rangers. I think the rangers are poised here to uh to make some noise and we, we, we could see, I think we should see a ranger florida final in the east. Yeah, is what is. Is where I think we're headed. We'll have to see carolina islanders in the next one. I just have nothing. I think carolina beats the islanders and I I think Carolina is just a team that to me. They're just a latter-day version of what the San Jose Sharks were and even, to an extent, the Ottawa Senators Right For a good chunk of years. They're a very nice team with a lot of really pretty players.
Speaker 1:Right, but they're not getting there. No, no.
Speaker 2:Who the hell's on Carolina that's going to really get into the trenches and turn and burn. They got nobody. And the same thing's going to happen to Vancouver, in the West they got nobody.
Speaker 1:And maybe you get around, I'm going to disagree with you on the Vancouver comment, which now leads us out to the West, because we've done the East, okay, so Vancouver, la, let's start with Vancouver, la, vancouver wins that series.
Speaker 2:No Edmonton's playing LA.
Speaker 1:Oh sorry, edmonton's playing. Yeah, okay, sorry, that's my point.
Speaker 2:last night With Vegas losing changed everything. Oh, okay, it changed everything in the matchup.
Speaker 1:Okay, so hang on. So Edmonton's playing LA. Yeah, that means that Vancouver plays.
Speaker 2:Colorado peg okay, and dallas is playing vegas okay, which is going to be the number one match up in the first round, in my opinion they'll be. It's going well. They're two. They're two great teams, two great defending stanley cup champion and I think the team that is likely to win best poised. Yeah, in terms of the makeup of their team. If you look at, that is their, their biggest question mark, and it is on so many teams. Chris is going to be goaltending.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, it always is. It's going to be goaltending In the playoffs. It always is. You need a goalie who's going to stand on their head right. You need somebody to step up. You need a.
Speaker 2:Patrick Wilde. You no one even knew who he was at the start of the season last year.
Speaker 1:Everybody knew who he was.
Speaker 2:He won the Consmite, didn't he? No, didn't he Marsh, or so did.
Speaker 1:Oh, he did right.
Speaker 2:But Aiden Hill got himself a real nice contract.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Based on and there's a lot of talk that he's going to get he's probably going to be one of our three goalies in the Four Nations in February, right, I think there's any doubt about that. It would be one, unless he falls right off the turnip truck, but I think he's probably going to be one of the three. But that to me is the first, notwithstanding the interest we're all going to have in boston, toronto, right. But you know that's an obvious one because of here, the leafs, your bruins. You know the matchup and this is our fourth, fifth time in the last 12 years the, the, uh, the, the bruin comeback in.22 to go down 4-1, set the record, you know, greatest comeback with the least amount of time left in a Stanley Cup playoff game, and it happens to be a Game 7 and Boston beats Toronto. The Leafs have gotten so creative with how they've lost. But Dallas, vegas, first round. So who are you calling? This is the one man I'm calling the Dallas Stars.
Speaker 1:Are you calling this is?
Speaker 2:the one man I'm calling the Dallas Stars. Are you calling Dallas?
Speaker 1:Yeah, all right, I'm calling the Dallas Stars Well and I'm not going to disagree. To be honest with you, I've been watching a few Western games. We don't get to see that. I don't get to see it. It's late, but lately I've been watching a few games and I have to tell you, wow, they're a fast freaking team, like, I mean, all the West is fast, but you know who is a great game.
Speaker 2:Let's just see if one versus Edmonton-Dallas, if that would that. Well, Edmonton's going to beat LA, I think.
Speaker 1:I was just seeing who would LA, so who is Vancouver playing now? Then?
Speaker 2:So it would have been Colorado Edmonton in the one, versus 16. It would have been Vancouver, nashville okay, well, it is not. It is yeah so in one versus 16, it would have been Boston, toronto and Vancouver Nashville right in one versus 16, right, if you were still doing it like they did in the early?
Speaker 1:sos. So here's the thing. So Vancouver, I think, takes it in 5. In this first round they have an easy first round. They're well rested, they don't have anybody injured and they get a great. Then their second round, that's going to be the big one.
Speaker 2:I'm going to call Nashville to beat Vancouver and I'm going to call Are you just doing that?
Speaker 1:just to be fucking contrary?
Speaker 2:I think Vancouver is the western version of the Carolina Hurricanes.
Speaker 1:All right, no, you said that and I'll give you the Listen. You are entitled to your opinion, even if you Okay.
Speaker 2:I'm hoping for.
Speaker 1:Vancouver. You see what I did there, jason York. I allowed him to say something I thought was stupid, right, and then I didn't. I'm not kicking him off the podcast, that's all. I'm saying yeah, okay, uh, so, okay. So we got edmonton winning, we got, uh, dallas winning, we've got. I do, I do, yeah, you do, yeah, okay, yeah, uh, we may feel different, we, we split on the Vancouver-Nashville thing, yeah, okay. And Colorado-Winnipeg, and Colorado-Winnipeg, you got to take Colorado, I'm taking.
Speaker 2:Colorado in that series as well, yeah. Okay, I think they'll have their hands full with that Jet team. Like, that Jet team is kind of just a poor man's Dallas Stars, I think. I think everything Winnipeg is, Dallas is a little bit better, you know again. And Hellebuck just won the Jennings.
Speaker 1:Yeah well, he's a Hellebuck of a player. He's a Hellebuck of a player. He gets the Jennings.
Speaker 2:They've got the best holes against, and again, a lot of great vets on that team. And look, this is the best two weeks in sports, the first round of the NHL playoffs. There's nothing like it. There's absolutely nothing like it. You've got hockey every night. You've got great games every night, afternoon and night, and the weekends, every night there's going to be games and all your choice has to be is what bar am I going to drink in?
Speaker 1:Well, you know what?
Speaker 2:That's a difficult choice for me because I'm going to be in Belfast.
Speaker 1:You're going to be in Ireland, so I leave on Tuesday and I'll be in Belfast.
Speaker 2:You've got three of us in this room right now.
Speaker 1:Which is a great way to jump off right. It is, isn't that a good segue? It is, so I'll be looking for a pub that will put the hockey game on, or I'll have it streamed on my computer. You'll probably end up having to do that.
Speaker 2:I'm going to have to do that.
Speaker 1:Well, with the time change, With the time change, it's five hours, five hours.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's five hours so I had, so you're not going to. There'll be no pubs showing the games.
Speaker 1:No, it'll be closed. Yeah, it'll be closed. Yeah, you're right.
Speaker 2:I go with you.
Speaker 1:We know the answer to that.
Speaker 2:That's right.
Speaker 1:Okay. No, I don't have a home, so okay. So now we are going to talk about this is something that is so exciting. Okay, you talk about the, the run up to the playoffs and teams not you know, thinking, oh, who's going to make the playoffs? Yeah, we had our own run, yeah, run, yeah. Okay, in the last two weeks was crazy. Things shuffled back and forth, like you know. It was like a, a good marathon. The Kenyan runner was out there.
Speaker 3:You know, you see how I'm doing that best. That's pretty good man.
Speaker 1:I know it's because I run on the beaches well, yeah yeah, no, no shoes. Great physical condition, absolutely, uh. So we had leader. Then it dropped back and then so at one point my brother-in-law mark was in the lead, or within a few points of the lead. Yeah, wow, I, he was very excited. Okay, uh, I was excited because I was excited for him sure, okay and then you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:It bounced around and everything so. So I'm going to go through how this thing worked out at the hockey pool. Okay, but I want to point out a couple of key things that are interesting tidbits of information. Okay, so between first place and 10th place, yep, okay.
Speaker 2:Less than 100 points. 99 points, 99 points, 99 points. That's crazy. Over 82 games. Yeah's, that's it.
Speaker 1:That's so. When, then, when you divide up on the number of players, all that stuff, literally it's a new york ranger, uh, new jersey devil hockey game. That's what. That's what decided it line brawl. Okay, you know. So. So it, I knew I love this hockey pool, you know it was. It was great, came down a penalty minutes probably but, so so I'm gonna go from the top five okay yeah, all right, and so in um, fifth, in fifth place, yeah, okay, which, uh, and?
Speaker 1:and I, you know what, to be honest with you, I don't know this guy. Uh, I I think he's a, uh, I think he comes out of montreal, it's of Montreal, it's you? It's you, my boy blue? Okay, and I think he's a guy out of.
Speaker 2:I thought maybe that was Jason Lemieux but could I?
Speaker 1:but maybe not yeah, and I don't have his name.
Speaker 2:I know, I know everybody else here and I failed to look up and I could be totally wrong, but but that's one of when Jay and I talk on the oh okay, that's kind of a saying that he uses a lot oh is it okay?
Speaker 1:well, maybe that's it, but I could, it could totally not no, no, no, no. I I mean, uh, who else would be, you know?
Speaker 2:I mean, it's like you know and he's a very, uh, a huge, huge sports fan.
Speaker 1:Okay, well, is he living montreal?
Speaker 2:he does not, though but if there's a, oh, no a, but there's a Montreal address no, no, I don't know.
Speaker 1:I have no idea. I just I for some reason when I went through it. He's a guy, I don't know. He's not a personal guy.
Speaker 3:I know.
Speaker 1:So that could be very much it. Yeah, so he's in number five spot. Okay, okay, in the number four spot is my brother-in-law yeah, okay, good year. And uh, he had a very good year and right up until the end it was very close. Yeah, okay, and then you know. So in third place yeah, okay, is um tim jones. Okay, blades of steagle okay, okay, he was winning for a while and he was battling it out for uh with chuck. Yeah, for the longest time, chuck chuck's all down he's.
Speaker 1:He's not even on the list. Where's Rory?
Speaker 2:He's in the top ten Rory's in eight, eight, eight, yeah, so he had a good year too.
Speaker 1:And Chuck's number nine Chuck's nine. Okay, so sorry, chuck, you're going to have to go to your son's wedding.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:It's a tough one, chuck. So anyhow, that being said, so, blades of Stiegel. Number three yeah Okay. Number two yeah Okay. This fella okay. Zix Picks.
Speaker 2:Yes, okay.
Speaker 1:And this guy, dave Zivkovic. Yeah, okay, I fuck up the name all the time, right, okay, yeah, but so, anyway. So Dave in second place, but now we're going to announce the first place team, but first I'm going to tell you that Dave put in two teams, right, okay, in this thing. Okay, the first team he put in under his name, dave Zivkovic. The second team was the Zivks picks. He finished one-two and he finished one-two, yeah, so the winner of our Hosey and Brown hockey pool and the winner of a um, All expenses except alcohol, a trip to Ireland, okay, golf Sites, All the entrance to sites, everything like that.
Speaker 1:Two meals a day. No other pool has ever given this away. No.
Speaker 2:Nobody else has given away anything like this.
Speaker 1:So the winner of that is Dave Zipkiewicz. Yeah, and so we actually have him here. Okay, and we are back with our special guest, our Hosey Brown Hockey Pool winner, dave Zivkovic. Right, you got it there, I pronounced it. I have a hell of a time, and Dave and I actually were on the same men's league team this year, but you're wearing a that's a really nice looking Irish jersey. Knights of Columbus.
Speaker 4:Wow, but you're wearing that's a really nice looking. That is man. Irish jersey. Knights of Columbus. Wow, it was a team I played for in Kirkland Lake and we had a reunion in 2019 of the history of the team, so I was on the organizing committee and this is one of the things, anything on the back?
Speaker 2:well, you got your name. Yeah, is there a number? Number 10, number 10. Well, you know what? Here's the thing.
Speaker 1:Nothing says like that's a very, you got a shamrock there, it's green, like you know what I mean. Like nothing says more Irish than the name Zivkovic.
Speaker 4:Well, hugh Graham said I should put the O back there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah the.
Speaker 1:O-Z, O-Z. So you won. How do you feel? How does it feel? I mean winning a trip valued at millions, Okay, Valued at. You know what I mean. But to come to Ireland with Liam and myself.
Speaker 4:Well, guys, I've been telling my friends. I didn't want to jinx it at first because you know, when I was getting down at the wire there, I said I have a pretty good chance, and they said what's the prize?
Speaker 2:And I told chance. And they said what's the prize? And I told them they said come on, like who would give away a prize like that. I know, I know we were the best kept secret. We next year, when we run this out the entries will be tenfold.
Speaker 1:Well, that, that is the hope we're gonna. Actually, we're gonna start the entries for the pool early, right, because we're gonna be in ireland. Yeah, okay, as the run-up to the new season.
Speaker 2:Well, I think we'll get back, probably just before the season starts, just before the season starts.
Speaker 1:but we need people. People will want to be picking their teams, yes, all that stuff. So we're going to actually try and open that up as early as we can for that and get on with that so that people can have the teams for next year and next year's trip. That people can have the teams for next year and next year's trip is also going to be that the plan is right. It's going to be Ireland, okay, yeah, but it's going to be the Republic of Ireland on this time. So a very different trip. So if you win again, you get to see yet another part of Ireland.
Speaker 4:I'll take this for now. Yeah, it's amazing. It's amazing to have your'll take this for now. Yeah, don't worry about that.
Speaker 2:Okay, so it's amazing.
Speaker 1:So tell me about it's amazing to have your teams finish 1-2.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's incredible. So what?
Speaker 1:was your? Like? You know, while you're picking the teams right and you know the parameters for the thing, but like, how did you pick your guys?
Speaker 4:How did you pick your team? Well, for starters, um, this is a pool that when I, when I first looked, at it was difficult for me because of the penalty minute factor. Yeah and uh, I'll be honest with I stayed away from most of the the tougher players you couldn't score in that. Yeah, I picked a few.
Speaker 4:Like no brainers are the kachuk brothers because they could do both right yeah but, um, when I first sat down and made my team up, I said I was going to pick guys that are on strong teams, that have had steady years. In other words, they're plus minus. So I went with quite a few dallas guys and, like, some of them came through, like wyatt johnson, for example. He's an amazing young player. Yeah, he really came on. And then I picked some carolina guys and I took a flyer on seth jarvis, yeah, who wasn't doing much at the start, yeah. So I'll be honest with you, when I first looked the first few months, I said, oh Jesus, there's no way I'm going to win this, because first place was ahead of most guys by easily 100 points, right, yeah.
Speaker 4:And then things happened. One for starters, you need a lot of luck. There's so much luck involved with injuries, um, so that I was pretty lucky. I lost Blake Wheeler, I think it was. I took him as one of my low, low price guys, yeah, and he he was gone for the last three months, but it didn't hurt me. Um, I think patience is a is a big thing, cause I know most guys are into it. It's like March Madness at the start.
Speaker 1:You got a chance right.
Speaker 4:Then they start panicking because they see themselves dropping, so they start trading their players. But I think if there's any wisdom out there, if you got a healthy guy, don't drop him right away, because the way you guys set it up, you were only allowed three traits Right. So that was key. And when I picked I was telling Q actually he was asking me at the mill a couple of weeks ago.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4:He says Zivvy, like what were you thinking when you? And I told him? I said you know, when I picked my higher price guys, I put them in a bunch and I made sure one of my reserve guys was a higher price guy, because if one of those guys was gone you could replace them with a similar salary. You know Right, and then that's what I did. I tried to put guys in groups so if one of them went down I can get a guy that's Comparable, comparable yeah.
Speaker 3:Smart, very smart yeah.
Speaker 4:So, so, yeah, so again. Um, it's just funny how it worked out, I think after the trade deadline, that's when I noticed, like when carolina made that move yep, like jarvis just started taking off with gunsel and um, yeah, uh, who was the other line mate there? Oh yeah oh yeah, sebastian, yeah so, uh, you know it's been a hobby of mine since I was a kid.
Speaker 2:It started in high school, yeah, when we got together in high school and made some really bad draft picks, especially around playoff pools, right, yeah, who hasn't? But you're right, there is luck involved with injuries, yeah, and especially a playoff pool, because the matchups will. You can get upsets and just throws everything into a tizzy and sometimes you get fortunate, you've picked good guys, teams that you think will win. You go through. This is different. Well, it is. This is 82 games.
Speaker 1:Well, and here's the thing that is more impressive Is because your teams were not mirrors of each other. Yeah, okay, they were not the same team. Yeah, like you know, know, you could say off one and two well, he's had all the same guys. He didn't have all the same guys. Yeah, you, you probably had more than 60 percent different well, I looked at it this morning because you didn't ask me that um my two teams.
Speaker 4:it was um a 40 percent difference, a 40% difference.
Speaker 1:Okay, I reversed, I flipped it, I had eight different guys in my first place team, but I think the difference was what?
Speaker 4:10, 15 points, I can't remember.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it wasn't a lot. It wasn't a lot, but when you consider that, you know what I mean that's a huge. You know that in itself is a huge feat. If I could, I would give you the second prize.
Speaker 4:Which just so happens to be a redneck lager. I was waiting for that to come out.
Speaker 2:Have you ever been to?
Speaker 4:Ireland? No, I haven't. I've been to England quite often because my sister lives there. So, I was on the phone with her a couple of weeks ago and I told her what was going on. She goes, oh my God, she goes. You know what? We've never been to Ireland, so maybe we can hook up and meet you there.
Speaker 2:Oh, wouldn't that be awesome. Yeah, you think there's a chance?
Speaker 4:Oh yeah, there's a chance yeah. They're going to come they're going to Oxford, england, in five weeks because our oldest boy is getting married there in London, so we're just going to stay around England.
Speaker 3:So my wife's a little upset because she saw the video and she says oh, my God, I can't believe you're going to help me.
Speaker 1:I said well, I can Sorry baby.
Speaker 2:Well, you know what? I'll bring you back to Leprechaun.
Speaker 3:We can figure out a way to find you a wife while you're there, a room to yourself, right?
Speaker 1:The goal of this trip and I'll run the video on top of this so that everybody sees what we're actually doing and what the prize was and everything like that and so. But at the end of the day, both the hockey pool, the actual Offside with Hazem Maguire podcast, or whatever you want to call it and this trip are all fun. They're all for fun. At the end of the day, if we're not having fun, we're not going to do it. Right, yeah, okay, and the goal in this is and Dave expressed to me, he goes well, I'm not the greatest golfer in the world and the fact of the matter is that's better, because we can make fun of you.
Speaker 1:Two minutes for slashing. That's right, exactly, no, I mean. The point is is that we're all going to go there. We're going to have a fun, fun I'm, I'm headed over there on a. I've got to take care of logistics ahead of time and everything, because I want, I want, to be able to enjoy the trip. Liam, Liam, he's up for a good time, I guess I don't know if anybody has any previous experience with that and that's the key, right.
Speaker 3:Shocking news right now.
Speaker 1:We're going to have a great time, and you know what I mean. We'll talk off camera about all the other stuff, but at the end of the day, man, I'm really happy. First of all, next year, in the dressing room, I don't know if we'll be on the same team or not, because we have a draft right, but if we are, you're going to be in the dressing room and say, well, I'm going to, I'm going to Ireland for free.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay, because you entered a hockey pool Because of the hockey pool and people go well, how much was this hockey pool? Yeah, and how much was the hockey pool? $25. $25. What?
Speaker 2:we did here and Hosey stepping up and Hosey and Brad stepping up.
Speaker 1:It was you.
Speaker 2:Chris that decided we could have done a lot of different things with that money. But you said you were the one Give the credit where it's due. You were the one who pushed the concept. Of course, I jumped on very quickly once you suggested it and said hey look, we're going to get this money from Hosey. How about we don't take it, how use it and we pay for somebody to go? And that's how it how?
Speaker 1:it. Yeah, so that you know what we are so excited to be able to do this. I I you know what. Congratulations, dave, I I'll you know. Yeah, very good official there.
Speaker 3:I wish I had a big check I could give you or something like that, but but you know what?
Speaker 2:uh well, the video running will be enough video running so you know what we're going to do.
Speaker 1:We're going to sign off. We're done. We have nothing else to talk about. We're done and you'll get us back in the playoffs, but right now this has been Offside with Haas McGuire. I'm Haas, I'm McGuire, and.
Speaker 1:I'm Zivvy, Ha, ha ha take off with haas and mcguire on a golf adventure to last a lifetime. We will arrive in ireland jubilant and refreshed. Okay, it could look a little more like this, but regardless, follow our fearless leaders aboard a luxury motor coach that will take us to our first golf destination Sea Point Golf Club in Trujillo in the Republic of Ireland. Sea Point is a beautiful links course overlooking the Morne Mountains and the Irish Sea. A fun course to play, with forgiving and firm fairways, excellent greens and an abundance of natural vegetation. Wonderful dunes await any errant shot, stunning views overlooking the sea and waves can be heard throughout your round. This course is a hidden jewel. Following a post round dinner, we head to Belfast and check in to the boutique 10 Square Hotel, which will be our home for the next few days. Mornings you'll be treated to a full Irish breakfast.
Speaker 3:Good morning.
Speaker 1:Today we see the sights. We start with the Titanic experience. You'll discover sights and sounds and stories of the people and the city that made this magnificent ship. From there we head on a world-famous black cab tour to learn about Belfast during the Troubles. A quick stop and tour of Crumlin Jail before ending our busy day with a rare opportunity to stop at the exclusive Felons Club for a pint and a bite.
Speaker 3:Well as McLareys, O'Leary's, O'Haggarty's, Ketty, McGee's. The Pum, the Groh, the Hallow and Twine was hot by all Down where the beer and whiskey flew.
Speaker 1:Good morning. Scrabble Golf Course is set in the shadow of its famous tower. The course has its own personality, challenge and charm. Scrabble is a favourite with Northern Ireland golfers, with magnificent views of the Morne Mountains, staford Loch and, on a clear day, scotland. In the afternoon we head back to Belfast Centre for an illuminating walking tour of the city's architecture in history, and in the evening there's the always optional pub crawl, part deux Good morning.
Speaker 1:The Royal Belfast Golf Club, the oldest golf club in Ireland. Not always on the tour agenda, but this is one of Northern Ireland's premiere inland courses. That just happens to be along the shore, With impeccably groomed fairways, a stately clubhouse that's steeped in history and refinement. This is also the home club of none other than Rory.
Speaker 3:Matalow, we all went into Lannigan's, but for we're a jolly crew, we all went into.
Speaker 4:Lannigan's for a final drink or two Lannigan's, flannigan's, milligan's, gilligan's, rafferty's, cafferty's, dilla's, mcquillan's.
Speaker 3:McLeary's, O'Leary's, O'Haggarty's, Kitty, McGee's, upon the grove. A hell of a time was that by all down where the beer and whiskey flew. Good morning.
Speaker 1:Today we travel north through the land of the Game of Thrones and to our new home base at the Golf Links Hotel in Portrush, where we drop our bags and head directly to play Castle Rock. Castle Rock, situated on the stunningly pretty Derry East Coast, it's a classic links course set amid towering sand dunes. Its scenic qualities embrace the river bond flowing into the Atlantic Ocean, eye-catching views of Donegal. Castle Rock is one of the most welcoming clubs in all of Ireland and it's no less intoxicating than either both Port Rush or Port Stewart. Castle Rock is simply beguiling.
Speaker 1:Day 6 we take a needed day off from golf to travel the north coast and experience what Northern Ireland's beauty has to offer. Care to read Bridge. His testimony demands ingenuity and his fortitude to succeed. Do you have the stones to cross the bridge? We then delve into the legend of the Giant's Cosmo. It tells of a giant who, answering a challenge from across the sea, was determined to traverse it. But seeing no passage, he built a crossway where none existed. How can we not visit the world's oldest licensed distillery? Ah, day seven Our last full day in Northern Ireland and our last round of golf. We are set to conquer Port Stewart, the Strand dubbed the Sleeping Giant. This is a true test of golf the views magical, the course spectacular and the experience unforgettable. Drink up, men, because tomorrow we fly Eight days. We'll have done a lot, we'll have seen a lot, we'll have experienced more than you can imagine. This is just a taste of what Northern Ireland has to offer. Join Haas and McGuire and experience the trip of a lifetime.
