Bottle Rocket with Alena Sycheva Episode 45: Rick Vaive Interview

Stories from Rick’s career, thoughts on the modern NHL, and plenty of classic hockey conversation with Alena, Mave, and Jerry.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:04

Yeah yeah yeah yeah welcome back to bottle rockets i'm Elena here with Maven Jerry hey guys I uh I have a question for Jerry because I've been reading this wonderful book called Rebel League Rebel League whatever I'm sorry whatever uh and and uh I gather that our guest to be and I will ask I read standing on my head but I read that um I'm gonna have to ask this to Rick that Harry he didn't like Harry Neal.

SPEAKER_01 0:51

Now my image, my my interplay with Harry Neal was that this guy was the funniest guy in hockey. He had great one-liners, all one great one-liners. What was one of his famous ones? You know you've made it in hockey when you look up at the out-of-town scoreboard and there are no other games. And um a lot of other a lot of other good lines. So I'm wondering what you know uh now we we know, right? We know that the nicest guy in the world we had on the show last week was Tom Rennie, right? I don't know anybody who ever had a bad word to say about Tom Rennie. I would have if he didn't laugh at every one of my jokes, but he laughed at every single one of my jokes. So he's a he was a gentleman and a humorous at the same time. And the other thing I should have asked Tom, and I hope we have him, are we gonna have him back again?

SPEAKER_03 1:52

Oh yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 1:55

I'm a big guy on shoes, and Tom Rennie was wearing the most good-looking shoes game after game after game, and I think he got them at Floorsheim song. That's gonna be one of my Tom Rennie questions. So uh what was your impression, Jerry, of uh Neil?

SPEAKER_00 2:14

Harry Neal, well, he was responsible for the very first success of the Canucks, uh, 74-75 when uh Gary Smith uh had an MVP type season and got us into the playoffs for the first time. That was Harry Neal. So it uh you know he's he's a legend in Vancouver, and and you're right, he he was the first coach to speak to the media after every game. There was no other coach in the league that would do it at that time, and so he was the very first. So some nights it was a tough show to do, and he he'd come out and uh and he'd say some inappropriate things, but you know, and then uh he'd get fined for it. But you're right. He my favorite line was that uh he said that um we can't win at home and we can't win on the road. My only fault as coach is I can't figure out any other place to play. So he he was great. Uh and after his coaching career, he became an analyst and and he was great at that. And uh yeah, he you know, I got nothing bad to say about Harry Neal. He he he cared deeply about the Canucks and he brought some pride to the to the city, you know, with the way the Canucks played. Do you read the Vancouver? I gotta say, I gotta say too, he I'm not sure it wasn't he wasn't responsible. I think it was the upper echelons of the, but they brought in uh a junior coach, uh Bill something, had great junior coach, and and he he hired him as the as the coach, and it was just oh, it was the most brutal. He tried to bring junior tactics to the NHL and it just just didn't work. It was an unmitigated disaster. And uh yeah, uh I wish I could remember his name now, but uh he brought this PHD hockey pride, hustle, desire, and he made players run around outside in their equipment, and and he just just it was it was horrible. Yeah, but but you know, like I say, I don't think Harry was responsible for that. That was uh a decision made by people above his pay grade.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

Do you read the uh Vancouver papers now?

SPEAKER_00 4:38

Uh not not regularly, but uh uh you know when we can afford one.

SPEAKER_01 4:45

Who's the new who's the big shot hockey writer?

SPEAKER_00 4:48

Um Patrick Johnson is uh beat writer for the Canucks, and uh he's excellent. Yeah, he's really good. He he lets them have it when they deserve it. So that's what I like. You know, like you know, you you don't want your reporters just repeating the the hockey team's press releases, you know. You know, you gotta dig deep and and and you gotta have an opinion, you know. You can't be afraid to have an opinion. What is his opinion of the mess? Um well, I'm sure Bo Bouchette is regretting going there, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_01 5:28

Uh and what what uh what's happening with Toronto? Did they pick a coach yet?

SPEAKER_03 5:33

No, not yet. Yeah, who do you want?

SPEAKER_01 5:36

Who do you want? You live there. Well, who do you want?

SPEAKER_03 5:38

Oh well, I I want Cooper, but he's not available.

SPEAKER_01 5:43

He might be.

SPEAKER_03 5:44

You never know. Yeah, there's rumors going around, but um, you never know.

SPEAKER_00 5:50

But he's been there a long, long time. So it that's true, it doesn't surprise me. You know, they they had a first round exit where you know they they lost to a team that finished below them in the standing. So, you know, it look I think it will look look at Ted Nolan. He won coach of the year and got fired. So, you know, stranger things have happened.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

That would be that would erase all the negativity that they had at the opening press press conference when uh Steve Simmons nailed him right at the big that would because not only is Cooper competent, a winner, but he's got a wonderful image, he's got a way about him that I don't even think Steve would find. Well, Steve might find a flaw in him because nobody's perfect, but he would bring them the best by being himself. He'd bring them more positive uh publicity than any PR firm they would have, they could hire. So it would and I'm sure he'd bring some some of his uh uh Tampa Bay people with him. And you know what? It would be a good thing for the franchise.

SPEAKER_03 7:14

Absolutely important.

SPEAKER_01 7:15

I mean, a good I would be a good thing for Tampa. I mean, you know, you have a guy for almost a dozen years, you need somebody, just you need a fresh face.

SPEAKER_00 7:28

Sometimes, yeah, you need a fresh voice in the locker room, you know. And uh it can get stuff. Every coach has a show flight, you know.

SPEAKER_03 7:36

Yeah, I just think I hope the leaves act fast if Cooper becomes available, because they're not exactly known for making quick decisions, they tend to wait around a little too long.

SPEAKER_00 7:48

Well, the thing is, though, Cooper would uh the man is here.

SPEAKER_01 7:53

Hello, the man is here.

SPEAKER_03 7:56

We have Rick Vive today. Thank you so much for joining us.

SPEAKER_01 8:00

Rick, are you ready for questions? Go ahead, shoot. Okay, I want you to answer this. I'm gonna give you a name and I'm gonna say good or bad, and you have to give me a good or bad about the guy. And the first guy is Harry Neal, good or bad. Uh so so that's that's a Harry Neal answer. That's a great one. Okay, Jerry, it's yours, your trade.

SPEAKER_00 8:38

Hey Rick, it's uh great to meet you. I'm wearing my Minnesota Fighting Saint shirt in your honor because you played in the WHA. So um, that's right. I'd like to know about your uh junior career. Um you played in uh Herbrook, is that right? Yes, yeah. And you your first year there, you played with Jerry Gillis, who was also a Kenark's first round drop pick. I'm what I'm wondering if you were surprised that uh Jerry Gillis didn't have a more uh substantial NHL career because he sure was uh he sure was a hot shot in in junior.

SPEAKER_02 9:18

Yeah, no, I I was surprised. Uh I think he moved around a little bit and then he I think uh after that he was uh stunt man in in Hollywood. Which is not surprising. He's a big, tall, good looking guy, so he could he could get that job.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

What was more fun playing in the crazy WHA or NHL? Fun.

SPEAKER_02 9:57

Oh I had a lot of fun in Birmingham. There's no question about that, but I would say the NHL was much better to play in and was a lot more fun. Uh well, and with the exception of Harold Ballard.

SPEAKER_01 10:16

As a player, how did you deal with a crazy guy like that? How did you handle him?

SPEAKER_02 10:24

Uh I just I just went about my business. Just I mean, uh uh my job was to play hockey, not to run a team or anything. So that's all I did was I went out and I did my job.

SPEAKER_03 10:39

You were the first leaf ever to score 50 goals in a season, and you did it three times in a row. Did you realize at a time how historic it was?

SPEAKER_02 10:48

No, uh it's funny because when I got to about 45, uh the press started asking me, like, what will it be like to be the first Maple Leaf to ever score 50 goals? And I I thought, well, with all the great players they had before, I thought someone must have done it, but obviously they didn't. So um I was the first. And uh I guess that's one thing they can never take away from me.

SPEAKER_03 11:19

That's amazing. And um, what did it mean to you to wear the captain's sea in Toronto?

SPEAKER_02 11:28

Uh it was pretty cool. Uh but at it it was a young age. I remember Harold Ballard, who was after Daryl Siddler got traded to Philadelphia, and he just came up to me and he poked me in the chest and he said, You're our captain. And I'm thinking, oh, wait a minute, I'm only 22 years old. Uh, I'm not sure I could do this, but I figured if I said no, he was gonna trade me. And so I said, Yes, no problem.

SPEAKER_01 12:00

When you were when you were a kid, when you were 10 years old, which NHL team did you root for and why?

SPEAKER_02 12:08

Uh well it was it was a combination of the Boston Bruins and the Leafs because hockey night in Canada, but we also got a lot of Bruce games in PEI. They would show a lot of Bruins games, so it was kind of I was kind of torn between the two teams.

SPEAKER_03 12:29

And which player did you look up to when you were growing up?

SPEAKER_02 12:33

Actually, uh well, the only one that I really looked up to big time was Jean Belleville. I just thought he well, and I got to meet him a few times. He's such a gentleman, and but not only that, he was a great hockey player. So I kind of I like both things that that he was a great hockey player and and he was a great person I wanted to be.

SPEAKER_01 12:59

Over the years, but particularly more recently, Rick, uh, there is this aura about the Toronto media being very, very tough, right or wrong. That's the that's the uh uh the feeling, that's the thing that supposedly disturbed uh Mitch Warner. Uh, how tough was the media when you were a leaf star?

SPEAKER_02 13:26

Um, it was still pretty tough, but at the same time, I mean, we didn't have TSN, we didn't have SportsNet, all those outlets that you know put shows on to talk about the leafs and everything. So we never had that, but we did have the newspaper, and I got the newspaper every day, every morning, and read it. There are sometimes things I didn't like what they said about me in the paper, but it didn't bother me because, like I said, I just went out and did my job.

SPEAKER_01 14:00

Did you remember? Was there a guy writing at the time named Dick Bettos? Yeah, and he also, I think he did a I think he did a show on uh in Hamilton, uh, I believe.

SPEAKER_02 14:16

Uh I'm not 100% sure, but he had a TV thing that he did as well.

SPEAKER_01 14:21

He was one of my favorite hockey I like the guy.

SPEAKER_00 14:25

I like him. Well, what was it like playing hockey in Alabama?

SPEAKER_02 14:29

He was okay. I it was uh it was a little crazy. I mean, we probably averaged, I don't know, 10, 11,000 a game. And then of course, when they had Bear Bryant night, it was sold out because he was such a legend in Alabama, and uh so it got sold out that night, but uh I'd say 11,000, 12,000 on average, and it was kind of different. I mean, you're in Alabama. I mean, you know, what you think about it, playing hockey in Alabama that's a little crazy, but it was fun. We had a good time. John Brophy was the coach, he kept everything pretty light, and uh and yeah, it was you had a bunch of other uh for me. It was yeah, there were six of us, and uh there were well Michelle Goulet was 18 and the rest of us were 19, the other five. And uh so that was kind of nice that we had guys our own age. It it kind of helped out quite a bit.

SPEAKER_01 15:45

Team had a reputation of having some crazy guys. Uh can you name one?

SPEAKER_02 15:52

Um I'm trying to think of his name. Uh Frank Beaton. Yeah, seldom beaten was from uh Nova Scotia and he was always named Frank, never beaten until someone beat him one night, and then he was hardly ever beaten.

SPEAKER_03 16:22

Who was the funniest teammate you ever had?

SPEAKER_02 16:25

Oh Bill DeLago by a country mile. He was uh he was the best man at my wedding, and he was hilarious. Like he would, I remember one time uh John Brofi was coaching us, and he Billy was coming back from an injury, and he told him, Go in and ride the bike. So Billy got on the bike and he had a cup of coffee in his hand. And Balked in and he said, If you're not gonna try, he says, You may as well leave. He said, Okay, he got up, walked out, and he said, I'll see you tomorrow.

SPEAKER_03 17:06

Me and Jerry were just talking. Uh, that you got drafted by Vancouver, and Jerry is a Vancouver Canucks fan, and he was like, No, Rick belongs to Vancouver Canucks, and I was like, No, he's a Van former Canuck.

SPEAKER_00 17:18

We we drafted him, we own him.

SPEAKER_03 17:22

I said, No, Rick is uh leaf.

SPEAKER_02 17:27

Um, yeah, it's funny because I I didn't even last a year there. I got traded in February of my first year to Toronto, and uh it was a deal that traded me because our GM was in the hospital and he kind of took over that role. And I it's funny because I remember uh there was no apartments available in Vancouver when I went there, so I lived with Glenn Hanlon in Burnaby or wherever it was, not Burnaby, whatever I can't remember the name of the town. And then we finally got an apartment with my roommate and I, and it was in the building that was next door to Harry's building. So we had a little apartment warming party, I guess you would say, and uh so the next morning at about six in the morning my phone rings, and I'm thinking, we don't even have our phone hooked up, but why is my phone ringing? So I picked it up, and on the other end it said it Rick, it's Harry Neal. Would you open the door to the apartment complex? So I pushed the button that I thought was the one that opened the door. Obviously, I pushed the wrong button, and uh I because I thought they were just pranking me, and uh then second call, and then I realized it was Harry, so I pushed the button and again I pushed the wrong button, and then uh the third call, and he said, Rick, just come downstairs. So I went downstairs and he told me this was six o'clock in the morning, and he said, We just traded you to Toronto, and I had to get a one o'clock flight to Toronto and stayed there that night, and then we uh we went to Long Island because they were on the road. So Billy and I flew to Toronto, his wife dropped us off at the airport, we drove there or flew there, and then uh flew to Long Island the next day. So, but when Harry called, we were running around putting all the beer bottles in the cupboards and everything, and you know that so that when he came up, he wouldn't see them.

SPEAKER_01 20:12

How uh challenging, how challenging was this for your wife as a wife of a key hockey player in a big town? How did she handle it?

SPEAKER_02 20:24

Well, we weren't married when I was in Vancouver, uh, but then I got traded to Chicago, and then I got traded from Chicago to Buffalo the day after Christmas, and her parents were in town from Prince Edward Island for the holidays. She was pregnant, we had a two-year-old, and I had to leave at one o'clock on a flight that day. I was supposed to play in Buffalo, but I didn't make it because it was a snowstorm, and uh I didn't see them until February 4th, so that was very difficult. She she had to do everything on her end. I mean, it's a lot different now, they do everything for you, but she had to get the realtors, she had to get the movers and all that kind of stuff, so that was uh a little bit difficult, and of course, not seeing them until February 4th wasn't great either.

SPEAKER_00 21:26

So your first year in in Toronto, um, I remember this. I remember watching it on the news. The the Leafs signed uh Stan's friend and 40-year-old defenseman Carl Brewer. Do you remember that? Him coming in halfway through the year and uh uh 40 year old defenseman. What uh what did you think of that at the time? And and and how did he uh how did he mix in with the guys?

SPEAKER_02 21:56

Well, first of all, he was a great skater, so he was He was still one of the fastest guys on the ice. Uh, but a lot of the guys thought that he was Harold's guy that would tell him all kinds of things that happened and all that. I didn't think it was, but uh nonetheless, uh everybody thought that. And I remember uh Ian Turnbull went one practice, ran him into the the net and hit his head on the goal post and cut his head open, and there was actually skin on the golf on the goal post from what he said.

SPEAKER_04 22:39

Oh man, crazy.

SPEAKER_03 22:42

We were discussing the coaches. Ruby got fired from the leaves. Uh, who do you think should be the next Maple Leafs coach?

SPEAKER_02 22:52

Me? No, I'm just kidding.

SPEAKER_03 22:57

You can start on my you know what?

SPEAKER_02 22:59

I think the the big the biggest thing they have to do is they gotta match the coach to the type of team at. And they didn't have that with Craig Barube. He wanted to play a uh style where you get in on the four check, finish checks, and all that. Well, they they don't have that type of team, so they have to fit a coach to the type of team they have, and I think that's probably what they're trying to do. But who knows? I mean, it's uh there's so many names that have been thrown around to be the new coach, and uh it's just kind of crazy. They have they they asked to speak to uh uh Bruce Cassidy, and Vegas would not allow them to. And uh oh, and then the other guy got fired in Edmonton Knoblock as well. So they've been trying to get Cassidy and Vegas just said, no, you're not talking to him, and uh it was which I mean I understand it because he's under contract still, but at the same time, it's kind of like you know, why would you hold him back? You know, I mean, and if he signs with another team, then depending on how much he signs for, then they're not on the hook for his entire contract. So how did you like coaching? Were you were you were you a good coach? Yeah, I was a great coach. The one thing I did as a coach was when I was in Charleston, South Carolina, I I I picked three guys every day that I was gonna have a conversation with and wasn't necessarily about hockey in particular, like we supplied the apartments for the players. So if someone had a a wife or a girlfriend, um, I would always say, you know, is everything okay? Is she happy with the apartment? Is there anything I can do to make things better? And you know, that was kind of the approach I took to make them feel like okay, he cares about us. And that was my biggest thing was that I wanted the players to know that I I did care about them, and so it it worked. I mean, my the the players were fantastic. I mean, we won a championship one year and we made the playoffs all five years that I was there, so obviously it worked.

SPEAKER_01 25:48

How different was it in Dixie? Uh you were in the heart of the uh South. How did the fans take to the game and uh where you were when you were coaching there?

SPEAKER_02 26:00

Uh we had great crowds in in Charleston. It was unbelievable. Like uh, and then when we won the championship, uh it was in uh Louisiana, and we were we bust home after. And no, we stopped, we stayed, we stopped on the way home, and then we didn't get home until the next day. There were 7,000 fans in the rink when we pulled into the rink. Wow, that's how good it was. Wow, that's terrific. Yeah, it was uh it was pretty crazy uh there, and but the fans love the game, and and uh and then of course five years I was there, and then uh Rick Aduno was my assistant, and then he took over as head coach, and Jared Bednar was his assistant, and then Jared took over as the head coach later on, and then he went to the American League, and now is with the Colorado Rock uh Avalanche.

SPEAKER_03 27:04

Do you still play hockey?

SPEAKER_02 27:06

I still play a lot. Yeah, I play yeah, I play about 50, 60 games a year, different charity tournaments, our alumni games. Uh I play them all. So yeah, probably 50 to 60 games a year. And uh I still love playing, so I mean even at my age, it it's I I don't uh like I don't get sore, I don't it doesn't bother me, so and I can still score goals. So why not play?

SPEAKER_01 27:47

Hey Rick, do you uh do you do you do you back check anymore or did you give that up at a certain age? No, I don't back check anymore.

SPEAKER_02 27:55

That's kind of uh I'm uh I'm uh I just covered my point man and that's it. And then if we get the pu if we get a hold of the puck, I'm gone and looking for the stretch pass.

SPEAKER_00 28:11

I remember you having uh an absolutely wicked slap shot. So um is it frustrating for you playing those games that you can't wind up and let one rip?

SPEAKER_02 28:21

No, well, I mean the the I I don't use the same wooden sticks, so the new sticks are quite a bit different, and taking a slap shot with those probably isn't the best thing anyway. So uh just a wrist or snapshot, whatever. Um, because when I had that slap shot, I had that big Titan that was that weighed about 11 or 12 pounds, and uh it was solid and it never broke. But I think if I tried it with these sticks, I think they would I'd probably break quite a few.

SPEAKER_01 29:04

Who was the uh who would you consider the greatest goalie that you faced when you were playing in the NHL?

SPEAKER_02 29:13

Um I probably Patrick Waugh, I would think. And and ironically, I scored my 400th goal against him. So that was kind of nice that I was able to score that against Patrick Waugh, but he he had my number uh most of the time. But I got a few on him, and of course the 400th was pretty big, so that was good.

SPEAKER_03 29:41

Who was the toughest defenseman ever play against?

SPEAKER_02 29:47

I mean, uh back then the game was so different. I mean, you could they could hook you all the way down the ice, cross-check you in front of the net. Uh, they could do whatever they wanted, slash you, whatever, and there hardly ever there was there a penalty called. I remember when I was in Buffalo, we played Montreal in a six-game series in uh playoffs, and I was always in front of the net in the power play, and I had Chelios on one side and Ludwig on the other side. So if the puck went over there, Ludwig would come in and cross-check me, and then if it went over on that side, Chelios would come in and cross-check me. And at the same time, Patrick Wadd would be whacking me in the back of the leg with his goalie stick. So, and I looked at the referee and he goes, No, no penalty.

SPEAKER_00 30:40

Can you uh tell us? I almost hate to bring this up, but apparently playing against Edmonton, you were got into a chirp fest with Glenn Saylor, and Saylor sent some anko out to to take you out. Can you can you tell us about that?

SPEAKER_02 30:57

Yeah, it was a face-off right beside their bench. And of course, I'm in the right winger, so I'm right beside the boards, and he started chirping at me, and I told him to shut up and several times, and then he said, I'm gonna send some anko out to you, so he did. And I was back checking on Samenko, and it was offside, and we turned and he suckered me and knocked me out, and we were in a I think the next night or two nights later, and uh I didn't go to Winnipeg because I had about six feet of cotton battened up each nostril from a broken nose, and uh, but then we came back to him and played them again, and the same thing happened, and then he said, I'm gonna send some ancho out to you. And I said, Go ahead, he already knocked me out once, what's one more time? So he sends him out, and I got the puck against the boards, and I see him coming, and he's coming pretty hard. So I get out of the way at the last second, and he hits the boards and he falls, and he didn't wear a helmet, so I gave him a little smack in the head and cut him open a little bit, and then I leaned down and I said, If you ever do that again, I'll cut your head off next time. And I'm thinking, okay, he's not he did he has no idea what I'm capable of doing, and he never came near me the rest of my career, never bothered me. So it worked.

SPEAKER_01 32:35

How how difficult was it to write a book?

SPEAKER_02 32:38

Actually, it wasn't that bad. Uh Scottie Morrison was fantastic. He uh we talked on the phone pretty much every second day for about a month, and uh I mean he did all the the heavy lifting. I mean, I just all I had to do was talk to him on the phone and fill him in on everything, and then he he did the writing.

SPEAKER_00 33:01

What is it about number 22 that uh that you like so much? And then uh when you got to Toronto, uh Tiger Williams was 22, so yeah, he was very, very popular in Toronto. Did you have any any reticence about taking the number?

SPEAKER_02 33:17

No, I I wore it in midget, uh tier two junior, and I wore it in the junior in Sherbrooke. Uh I loved the number, and when well he got traded for me to Vancouver, and I wore 20 first because we were on the road, and when we got back home, I asked him if I could get 22 because I loved the number ward for quite a few years, and I figured why not? I didn't think I didn't worry about Tiger Williams or anything like that, or him wearing that number. I know he was a popular guy in Toronto, but that didn't bother me one bit.

SPEAKER_03 34:01

What advice would you give to young players trying to handle the pressure, criticism, expectations in Toronto or anywhere else?

SPEAKER_02 34:09

Uh I think the biggest thing is just go out and do your job. Go out and and do what you need to do. Whatever your role is, I mean, you got bottom six forwards, you got top six forwards. If you're top six, you're probably there to score goals, make plays. Uh, if you're bottom six, you're there to check and and play physical. And so whatever your role is, just quote and do what's expected of you and uh obviously listen to what the coach tells you that he wants you to do, and and just quote and do it. I mean, it's you know, there's a lot of young guys coming into the league now that are like 18, 19. When when I played the draft was 20. Now you got 18-year-olds coming in to play in the National Hockey League. So, I mean, you you gotta be ready for it, and you just have to go out and and be the best possible version of yourself every day.

SPEAKER_01 35:19

What is your I'm sorry, what is your memory of the Great Islander teams who you played against? Do you have any particular player you remember most? No, they were very good.

SPEAKER_02 35:30

They were uh, I mean, we played them one platform, it was the best three, and we won, we lost two straight. But the one thing I do remember about Long Island was I love that building because I scored every single time we played there. Whether it was Billy Smith, Chico Resch, didn't matter. I always scored.

SPEAKER_01 35:56

They had pretty good coach in Al Arbor. He's a guy who hung around a long time. Everybody loved him.

SPEAKER_02 36:06

Well, they they had they they had a hell of a team. I mean, they Mike Bosse, I played against him in junior, he played in Laval, but he was probably the most, probably the best goal scorer in the NHL, maybe in in the history of the NHL. He was just, I mean, he could just he could score goals like crazy. And I think he was probably the best goal scorer that maybe ever played the NHL.

unknown 36:35

NHL.

SPEAKER_02 36:36

Pure goal scorer.

SPEAKER_00 36:37

When I first started playing uh ice hockey, I was 18, and uh a word of advice that I got from one of my defensemen was just play like Mike Palmeteer, just balls out, and uh what was it like playing with the real Mike Palmateer?

SPEAKER_02 36:53

It was pretty cool. It was uh Mike was a pretty funny guy, and uh I played with him twice actually because he he got traded to Washington and they traded him back to Toronto, so I got I played with him twice. Uh, I think the funniest thing I remember about Palmy is Yuri Syrah came in as one of our goalies, uh, and he's from Czechoslovakia, Russia, wherever he was from. And the coach told him that he was gonna play the second half of the game. So it was roughly right about 10 minutes into the second period, and Paul Mateer came to the bench for a delayed penalty, and he started climbing over the boards, grabbing his gear and getting ready to. He thought they were changing on the fly.

SPEAKER_03 37:43

We talked about the draft. So the Maple Leafs won the number one pick. Do you think they're gonna go with McKenna? Or do you think they'll trade the pick? And what's actually the smart move for them? What would you do?

SPEAKER_02 37:55

Well, I think the I think that what they should do is trade down to four or five and get some draft picks from that team and maybe even some young players, and then take a puck moving defenseman for at four or five, because there are three or four defensemen that are really good puck moving defensemen that are sitting in the four or five, six range, and uh that's what I would do. I because I mean, because they don't have one of those type of players, they don't have a uh Lane Hudson or one of those type of players uh on the blue line. So I mean, if if I if I was running it, that's probably what I would do.

SPEAKER_01 38:39

What was it like to play in the Montreal Forum when uh the Canadians were really good? What was the atmosphere like? Uh pretty crazy.

SPEAKER_02 38:49

It was uh loud, um, probably not as loud as a Bell Center is now, but uh nonetheless, and I played there in junior, they had a junior team in Montreal, and they played in the in the Montreal forum as well. And uh so I I remember my dad coming up a few times, and uh but he was a Habs fan because he was from Gatineau and uh diehard Habs fan. So whenever he came up to watch us play, I think he he was hoping that I'd score two goals and we'd lose.

SPEAKER_03 39:26

And yeah, it probably was hard for your dad to watch you play for the Leafs against the Habs.

SPEAKER_02 39:32

Yeah, I don't think he uh he didn't well and the funny thing was whenever he came to a game, he never sat in his seat, he always went into the hot stove and just sat there and drank and watched the game on TV. So at the end of the game, you go to the wives room and he'd be three-quarters hammered. And uh it wasn't uh greatest thing in the world to go down there and see that, but I mean it is what it is.

SPEAKER_01 40:08

What was your uh what was it like to play against Gordy Howe? Uh elbows and all.

SPEAKER_02 40:15

Well, he that was my introduction to Gordy Howe when I played in Birmingham. We played the Whalers, and uh John Brophy used to use me to take face-offs in our zone if we were like up a goal or something on the right hand side because I played center before I played right wing. So I win the face-off, we throw it out the glass, and I race down the ice and I beat out the icing. I come around the net and I turn to put it in the empty net because they had pulled their bully. And the next thing I know, I'm on the ice and I'm crawling to the bench, and I didn't realize what happened until the next day. I looked at the video and it was Gordy Howe coming by me, and he just put his elbow up and hit me in the back of the head, and I just went over ass over tea kettle, and uh got on the or was on the ice and I started crawling to the bench. So that was my introduction to Gordy Howe.

SPEAKER_01 41:24

Give it a try. Did you ever get try to get even with him? No, that wouldn't have been a smart thing to do.

SPEAKER_00 41:31

When you were playing in uh Sherbrooke, uh Richard Sauvigny was one of your goalies, and then he ended up playing in Montreal. Did you ever get a chance to play against him?

SPEAKER_02 41:41

Yes, I did. Uh played against them several times, and um I'm not sure if I scored against him or not. I think I'm well I probably scored a couple against them. Uh because I mean I played against him for I think five years or six years when he was in Montreal. So I must have scored a few goals against him.

SPEAKER_00 42:03

Did you chirp him?

SPEAKER_02 42:04

No, no. I mean, he was my team maiden junior, he was a good guy, and I wasn't gonna do anything like that.

SPEAKER_00 42:14

Guys I played against that. I knew they would they would chirp, they would let me know they scored.

SPEAKER_03 42:21

Which play was the best at chirping ever that you ever played with?

SPEAKER_02 42:27

Uh trying to think probably uh Ian Turnbull probably was the best. Big defenseman. He wasn't worried about getting in a fight or anything, so he loved to chirp. And uh uh he was very good at it.

SPEAKER_03 42:43

Like Sean Avery said in his book, chirping is all about getting under a player's skin.

SPEAKER_02 42:47

Yeah, well, he I think he was probably one of the best at it ever uh in the in the National Hockey League. He he he just he was uh he was just a nuisance, complete nuisance.

SPEAKER_00 43:01

So you got to play in the uh Memorial Cup uh one year. Um and uh the newest minister Bruins ended up yeah, it was in Vancouver, that's right. And uh the New West Bruins ended up winning a uh legendary coach Ernie Punch McLean, who who just passed away in this past week. Um, what can you tell us? What were your memories of that?

SPEAKER_02 43:25

Uh that Memorial Cup. Well, we never won a game. Uh, but actually it was Ottawa that won it. It wasn't New West, it was Ottawa that won it that year. Uh the 67s. They had Doug Wilson. Um who's the guy that uh Bobby Smith? Uh I mean they had a real good team, and and actually they they beat New West in the final.

SPEAKER_01 43:52

What was it like for a guy from a small area coming to come to New York City and play a Madison's? Square Garden. How special was that?

SPEAKER_02 44:02

I hated New York City. I just like, I mean, when we stayed there overnight, the hotel, you could hear so much noise outside. It was incredible. Like, I mean, good luck trying to fall asleep because sirens and the the big garbage things in the in the alley outside the hotel, and they'd be banging all night. I hated going to New York City. But playing at the gardens was pretty special. It was uh it was a pretty special place to play. Knowing the history of that building and everything, it was it was awesome. Except walk up to the dressing room because when you got there, you had to walk up the ramp all the way up to the dressing rooms because the rank was like probably on the third or fourth story, and you had to walk the up the ramp all the way up. That did that wasn't fun.

SPEAKER_01 45:05

The ramp is still there. Yeah, the ramp, the ramp, the ramp usually gave the rangers one goal extra in the in any game that ramp. The ramp was combined with an elevator that was from the 10th century. So between the two, you had to walk up the ramp. That's the way it was. And that's the way it is. That's the way it is.

SPEAKER_03 45:32

Rick, are you watching the playoffs right now?

SPEAKER_02 45:34

Uh who is the team that you cheer in for and well uh first of all, I'd like to see Montreal beat Buffalo, even though I played in Buffalo, because I coached Martin St. Louis for two years in St. John in the American League. And he's just a great person. He was the hardest working guy, every practice, every game. So I'd love for him, I'd love to see them move on. But at the end of the day, I I really hope uh Colorado wins the Stanley Cup because Jared Bednar, their coach, played for me in Charleston. I actually made a trade for him and another guy, and uh that was the year we won the championship. And uh he's just such a great person and uh and a good coach, obviously. And so I I would love to see them win the Stanley Cup.

SPEAKER_03 46:30

Do you think Vegas is gonna be a threat to the Avalanche?

SPEAKER_02 46:34

Well, I mean it's it's probably gonna be a close series. I would imagine it'll go six or seven, but I'm just hoping that Colorado can uh can win because uh I mean they they have such a great team and uh they're big. Uh they they play extremely hard and and uh they're they're fast. So I mean I think Vegas will have a tough time with Colorado. I really do. Um playing against the Ducks, it was well the Ducks have a fast team and and uh a lot of young players, but uh Colorado are well really well put together team.

SPEAKER_01 47:24

Uh my money is on Vegas, six games, and the reason being that uh your guy is gonna be out coached by my guy, Tortorella. That's my prediction. So when you come back in a couple of weeks, we'll see who's right.

SPEAKER_02 47:43

Gotta go right. Well, yeah, Tortorella was my assistant coach in Buffalo. Rick Mellon, Tortorella. He was okay as an assistant because he didn't say hardly anything. Now, as a head coach, he has a lot to say and he does a lot of crazy things, but I don't know. I mean, I just hope it's gonna come down Colorado.

SPEAKER_00 48:11

I think it's gonna come down to Kale Kale McCarr. I think Kale McCarr puts Colorado over the top as Vegas doesn't have that stud defenseman anymore since uh Peter Angelo's not there. So, you know, I think that's the no that's right, yeah. As Stan would put it, that's the unseen hand. So, you know, that I think that puts Colorado over the top, but uh um yeah.

SPEAKER_03 48:38

I do like the way Tors brings out the best in Marner. Look at him, he's playing like an absolute playoff beast right now.

SPEAKER_02 48:44

Yeah, I mean, yeah, he couldn't do anything in Toronto in the playoffs, but for some reason he seems to be playing a little freer and and what have you in in Vegas, and uh yeah, he's having a heck of a playoff.

SPEAKER_03 49:00

Do you think it's starts?

SPEAKER_01 49:02

Good for him. I mean, I'm happy. It may be it also may so it may be that his Toronto uh line mates were not good for him. Uh, I think it was more like in the playoffs.

SPEAKER_02 49:17

He he just he never really did what he's doing in Vegas because uh he couldn't handle the pressure of playing in Toronto. So I think being going to Vegas, I think he's playing a lot freer. And uh I think that's one of the reasons why he's having success.

SPEAKER_03 49:35

Maeve, do you want to uh close the show with the joke? Do you have one for us?

SPEAKER_00 49:40

Can I just say one more thing? Uh Rick, I I think it's an absolute travesty that the Leafs have not retired your number. Um, being the first 50 goal scorer, doing it three times, being the you know, being the face of that team for so many years. Uh and I think it's just because the time that you played, uh the the Leafs just had a terrible team, you know.

SPEAKER_02 50:07

And so I I'm hoping for the day that you're gonna have a great team, that's for sure. That would be awesome. I mean, uh it would, yeah. I I mean I I don't disagree with you. I I I totally agree with you. I mean, you know, you look at some of them that are up there, they never did the the types of things that I did when I played there. Um but at the end of the day, it's I don't have control over that. And uh if they decide to do it, that'd be fantastic. Get my family there, and maybe even my grandkids and that sort of thing, and and and have a real nice evening on the ice. I think that'd be fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 50:53

I'll tell you what you need. And uh Jerry is right. This is this is a wrong that has to be made right, but you need a press agent, meaning somebody to get behind this and round up enough people, and then you wake these guys up who run the damn team and say, look, you want to do something nice? Here's a guy who deserves to have this adulation and have the thing up there for what he's done. But you gotta have, and you know something, Elena? You should get on this thing right now. No, don't give me a smile. We could this this is this should be. No, no, you know, you're on. You're not alone. The three of us should get after them. You come back in a month and we'll give you a report. And if it's not a good report, we dissolve the show. Okay? That's it. That's that's the end of my joke, okay? There's not a no joke. This is serious stuff. No laughing, no laughing. Okay, and you're a witness, right? Mr. Vibe, you're a witness. You gotta get after us in a month.

SPEAKER_03 52:10

I agree.

SPEAKER_01 52:12

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_03 52:13

Thank you so much, Rick. Thank you for joining us today, and thanks to everyone watching and listening to Bottle Rocket. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow us for more hockey conversations and interviews. We'll see you next time. Thank you so much for letting me welcome.

SPEAKER_01 52:30

Thank you, everybody.

SPEAKER_03 52:31

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 52:35

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.