Inside the NFL Owner’s Meeting + Gretzky on Ovechkin's Scoring Record, GOATs & NHL Playoffs | EP 141

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I've been hit all over the field on a football field.

The hardest I've ever been hit in my life is open ice on a hockey ring.

Like you get a hospital pass going where you're looking back, and the defenseman can have a clear run at you, man.

Oh my gosh, that is going to hurt.

That is going to hurt.

You never look back.

And secondly, you never have a defenseman that bad that passes a puck that bad.

Yeah, there you go.

There you go.

Welcome back to New Heights, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, a Wondry Show produced by Wave Sports and Entertainment and brought to you by Reese's and their new PB and J Cups.

All right, now.

Those things sound delicious, don't they?

You get them in grape and strawberry, Jason.

How about that?

We're your hosts.

I'm Travis Kellis and my big brother Jason Kelsey out of Cleveland, Heights, Ohio.

Heights, high alumni, baby.

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Jason, tell the people what we got coming up.

Oh, we got a great one for you.

We're going to have some recap of my time at the NFL owners meeting, answer some of your not-dumb questions.

Hey,

speaking of great ones, we're going to have the great one, Wayne Gretzky,

on the episode today.

You're going gonna want to hear that

stanley cups are coming to a to a uh was it coming to a forefront right with 14 flesh

stanley cup is almost here there you go it's almost here uh panthers one game away and uh yeah we got a we got a fucking heated battle between dallas and uh and edmonton right now I think that means it's time for a little bit of that.

New news.

New news.

Let's get right to it, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls.

ho, ho, wait, wait.

New news is brought to you by American Express.

Okay, now you can go.

Let's get right into it.

Shout out to American Express.

Jason, you saved the tush push.

Everyone in Philly has been saved.

You're like a fucking hero.

Stop.

You ever felt so heroic?

You feel

like you matter now?

No, I never feel like I matter.

Last week, the NFL owners voted and the vote to ban the tush push failed.

Jason, did you stand outside the courthouse with a sign that said, tush my push?

Like I asked.

Tush my push.

Push my tush?

Push my tush.

No, no signage.

I was in the courthouse.

I was

traversing and

talking with the

other owners and committees and people that were in the room.

What did you do you threaten them?

Did you threaten them with like something you would do if they banned the tush push?

No, I did not want to piss off any one of these individuals of immense power i was just there to

i was just there to offer my frame of reference on the tush the pushing of tushes man i haven't been in a courtroom since i got a jaywalking ticket when i was in middle school well how's a courtroom look in uh minnesota it wasn't a courtroom it was a conference room at the hotel that we were staying at ah the courtyard

the old courtyard it was less courtroom and more um like legislative room, if that makes sense.

Did they put you on the stand and ask you to so solemnly swear?

Well, there wasn't a stand.

They just had.

I did get up there and was able to.

Okay, let's fast forward.

The reason I was there, or flashback, I guess, was because there was a narrative out there that one of the reasons I retired was because of the play or that I somehow felt like the play led to more injuries or was injured because of it.

So I was really just there to offer my perspective on that stuff not being true and

the fact that I think it's a relatively safe play.

But

I did go up there and talk after Jeffrey Lurie kind of

started things off and got some things.

He kind of opened everything up.

And then

I kind of dispelled those rumors as well as,

you know, answer some questions about how the play was run.

But for the most part,

it was just awesome to witness, honestly, the legislative process of the NFL, how the owners vote on it, how these proposals come about.

I couldn't help but think, like, I can't believe I'm in this room right now, to be honest with you.

Like, there's just

hundreds of billions of dollars of wealth just sitting here.

Did you wear a suit?

I wore a blazer with

boat shoes and

slacks.

Okay.

Okay, okay.

That boy swagged out.

I was dressed.

I was looking.

You wear the collar shirt underneath or just like a regular?

His collar shirt, collar shirt,

white buttoned.

Listen, I'm not going to go in there looking like a slob.

Anyways, it was awesome to witness.

It was awesome to see how those things kind of take place.

And, you know, I really did

leave the room and the meeting feeling strongly about how these proposals come about, how the game has changed, and the thought that goes into it, the thoroughness that it that that happens

between the uh competition committees and the health and safety uh doctors and individuals and and roger and the owners there's there's a lot that goes into a lot of these decisions that are made and it was it was awesome to just kind of witness something that in my opinion uh has made the the league better in at least our time uh in the nfl so yeah when roger walked in the room did they all go all rise

Nope, no.

Once again, this is not a courtroom.

It was not a courtroom.

It was just, but there was a jury.

There's not a jury.

This is, again, legislative, not judicial.

Legislative, not judicial.

I forgot those.

This is more,

you know, they're voting on how they want to proceed in business.

Yeah.

That makes sense.

Yeah.

So this is a lot different than a Jaywalking ticket.

Much different.

Was there like one owner that kind of like

stood out to others?

Is there like one that was just kind of like.

I think the one that stood out the most was Jeffrey because, you know, obviously

he's passionate about this.

This play has been a big part of the Eagles' success.

Yeah, you guys don't win a Super Bowl.

I will say the.

I kid, I get, I get.

It's one of the greatest teams ever played.

The official proposal was not targeting the tush-push, so to speak, right?

It was a targeting.

They just wanted to add in the verbiage that used to be there that you can't assist the runner and push the runner, right?

That was a rule for 60 years.

They wanted to go back to that rule.

The reason they changed that rule back in the, I think, 2016, maybe,

was because

it was really hard for the officials to decide, like, you know, is this guy pushing an offender when it's a pile?

Is he pushing the pile?

Is he pushing the runner?

So they decided to just get rid of the rule of pushing and allow that to happen.

And that's when the tush-push started.

So the proposal was to go back to that.

So it's kind of all-encompassing any type of pushing.

Needless to say, I think that the main reason this is being brought up is because of the tush push and the success of it and the notoriety behind it.

And I think Jeffrey was just pretty passionate about trying to get his point across.

And I don't want to go into too much of what happened in that room because I don't think it's my place.

I think it was kind of crazy I was even in the room to begin with.

You are the tush push, Jason.

Yeah, but I'm not an owner.

It's not called the tush push meetings.

It's called the owner's meetings.

Did you really make someone cry?

Rumor alert.

Some NFL owners were reportedly moved to tears listening to Jason defend the Tushbush.

I don't know what account this is.

Well, it's NFL notifications.

I don't know what's going on.

NFL notify.

It's clearly, it's got a blue check.

It counts.

I can guarantee you that, no, nobody cried.

Nobody cried.

Okay.

I'm the crier.

Everybody knows I'm the crier.

So you cried in front of everyone talking about the tush push?

I did not cry in front of this because this was not a moment that warranted crying.

I think it's cool as hell that you did this, man.

Obviously, everyone listened to your words and the tush push is still in because Jason Kelsey went out there and defended the honor and

Philadelphia's legacy.

I don't know if anybody's mind changed at all.

They needed two more votes to ban it.

You need 24 votes for the proposal to pass.

Yeah, I don't know which of these teams are already in favor.

I mean, I know talking to a few of them,

even the day of, you could just kind of tell which teams were kind of in your corner.

And a lot of them incorporate the offensive lineman pushing downfield or just don't think that the play should get removed for the reasons that are being stated.

But listen, I think everybody has legitimacy in how they voted.

I think that the reality is this was a rule for a long time in the NFL that you can't assist the runner.

Both the competition committee and Dr.

Alan Sills

suggested that the proposal pass and the play be banned, one for health reasons and another for competitive fairness reasons.

So I think that there's,

you know, a, well, not competitive fairness, more just like they want to see that out of the game.

They didn't like the pushing of piles and stuff.

But I took away from this meeting that

all these owners have good intentions and not just in this proposal, in all the proposals.

You know, there was multiple things discussed throughout the meeting.

And it really did, it was really cool to witness how this process takes place.

The owners back and forth over the proposals,

things that passed, things that got tabled, things that didn't pass.

Like, I think at the end of the day, it was just awesome to witness and see how serious each one of these owners take all of these decisions and how it's going to affect the game, what could be byproducts of these changes.

It was cool to listen and be in the room with, because I don't think that in a million years I'll ever be back in that room.

I don't know.

It just kind of felt surreal being there.

Until you succeed Roger Goodell as the the commissioner of the NFL, Jason.

I think we can see by my background that that is not going to happen.

I can't even get the clothes off the

floor, let alone that background.

I thought you were talking about your

life background.

I don't really want to touch too much on it because, again, I don't know what's privy to share.

I don't, you know, listen, mom told us not to kiss and tell, right?

So, you know,

there's some things that, you know,

in the Eagles locker room and as a player, you find out like what's good to share.

And then as a, in this world, it's like, listen, I don't know.

I just wanted to go there and offer my perspective on the play and dispel some of the rumors that have been being said.

Do you get any cheese courage while you're up there?

I did not.

I was in and out, baby.

Unfortunately, I would have loved some cheese curds.

You're a spot of cow.

You're a foodie, dude.

You got to go in there and grab some courage, man.

Get some

Minnesota, whatever, dude.

You want to get a Super Bowl in Minnesota, dude.

I know.

Listen, I'm not going to lie.

I got some good vibes in Minnesota.

Dude, Super Bowl, freaking

all of America.

Went in the tush-push proposal.

There we go.

There we go.

What else?

What else?

What else are you going to do?

I had a layover in Minnesota once with Delta.

They gave me some service where they drive you to the next gate, and I didn't even ask for it.

I don't even know how that happened.

That's pretty dope.

That's pretty dope.

I'm not going to lie, though.

Like, walking through St.

Paul

airport.

I mean, that thing's pretty sweet.

They've got like a top golf thing where you can go and play simulator golf while you're waiting on your next flight, eat some wings,

take some hacks.

Did that with my guy, old David Glover?

Shout out to DG.

David Glover.

Yeah.

Trainer.

Trainer in Kansas City, legendary trainer.

Oh, nice city.

Nice, nice, nice.

Happy that it's going to be around.

But I even kind of said this last week.

I think at the end of the day, you know, if it gets banned or not, the Eagles are good at quarterback sneaks.

They're going to continue to run those at a high rate.

Yeah, I'm with you.

I think people make too much of a fucking buzz about this goddamn play anyways yeah it's a good play for you guys you guys do it well and it will it will continue to be a good play for you guys thanks trace one more year oh dude then you'll just have to go to the owners meeting again

i feel like the eagles should just not run it this year just to

i don't know if that's i don't know if that's good for the eagles

we were really good with it with cars i'm not saying they they wouldn't be a

qb sneaks it's just that much better of a play for you guys yeah but the push?

You can really see the surge when everybody gets behind him and pushes him.

I don't think so.

I think that surge is happening regardless of the push, usually.

We'll never know, will we?

No, we do know.

We can see it on the tape and we can see it in before it was a play.

Maybe.

Because the push never causes the surge.

The push just kind of like gets a little bit extra

yardage if it's all piled up.

Oh, no.

The surge is created by the O-line.

It is.

It is definitely.

The surge is started by the O-line.

But then it's got a nice little double surge in there.

I don't think so.

Yeah.

Were you there for all of it or just the tush-push?

Yeah.

Well, I was there for all of it.

Oh, that's sweet.

So you were there for

the Olympic flag football approval.

Very much so.

Nice.

So the NFL is going to allow players to be a part of the Olympic flag football team.

Yes.

We'll see how teams

individually choose to allow their players, but yes, that is a fact.

I think it's going to be embraced.

I think that everybody realizes this is an opportunity for the game to be on a global stage that it usually doesn't get.

And it would be awesome if some NFL players are out there representing the USA.

Oh, man,

I got to get hip to the rules, man, so I can start to get ahead of the curve.

Not so fast.

I don't know if you saw this, but

there is already a USA flag football team.

And apparently, these players.

That's what I know.

I got to get hip to the rules.

These players do not think that NFL players should be playing at it.

They think they should be playing at it.

Well, I mean, may the best players play.

That's my thing.

Here's a quote.

Let me read this quote first.

So from Daryl Dussette, he is the

quarterback of Team USA Flag Football.

This is a sport that we've played for a long time.

We feel like we are the best at it.

We don't need other guys.

Darrell Du Set, the third, USA flag football quarterback on NFL players potentially playing in the 2028 Olympics.

Is this guy afraid of competition?

It sounds like it.

Just have a tryout and the best players make the team.

Yeah, I don't know.

So, most teams are picked by

boxing out other people from joining the sport because they haven't played the specific style of football.

So, I will say, I think most other.

No, nobody from Canada can come up here.

We got plenty of guys.

Yes.

So, I think most other teams in the Olympics aren't tryouts.

They are picked by like coaches.

They like handpick the team.

So, tryouts are like more like

individual sports.

So like Team USA women's soccer, I don't think that they hold.

I could be way wrong on this.

I think that those teams are picked

accordingly.

I don't think that is as much of a tryout procedure.

I got you.

I kind of am on board with these guys playing.

Let's just have these guys play an NFL team that's picked and maybe the best team win.

It represents the USA.

Interesting.

Yeah.

Hmm.

What do you think?

I wouldn't even know.

I mean, if you're right, do they have tryouts for USA teams?

I did some perplexity.

Doesn't roll off the tongue, but I did it.

They do not hold open tryouts for national teams.

Well, you just did women's soccer.

I just did women's soccer.

I didn't do all.

We do every sport.

I just, can we get to a more cons

do they have tryouts for

teams as opposed to

individual sports?

I don't even know how to ask that question.

I think that's a good.

Do they have trials for Olympic team sports?

No open tryouts.

No open tryouts.

So yeah, like you're saying, so there's a coach and that coach picks who he thinks his best team would be.

I believe so, yes.

Oh, like you have a New York.

So there's Olympic trials, which is what I'm thinking of.

You're thinking of trials, which is more individual sports.

But that is also, it says the U.S.

is both individual and team.

Hold official Olympic trials.

There are high-level competitions where the best athletes compete for a limited number of Olympic sports.

For example, sports like swimming, track and field, gymnastics, and wrestling have, see, these are all individual sports that also have team components, though.

Like a relay component sort of thing, but keep reading, keep reading.

The trials are more, so for team sports, the process is often a combination of performance in trials, training camps, and coach selection.

So the teams are selected after the trials.

It's not like you do a trial to get into the team, though.

Yeah.

So So it's still, whenever it's a team, it feels like it's a pick.

But either way, back to what we're talking about.

Back to this made-up scenario that we're talking about in New Huds.

I think it'd be cool.

You've defined the whole show.

I think it'd be, I really do think it'd be cool if we have, let's just have a team of flag football NFL players play these guys and see if they can win.

May the best team win.

I think if I recall in three on three basketball for, because you know that was an Olympic event this year or this past year.

So three on three Olympic basketball, I think

they didn't take the best three.

They had like a tournament or something where

the USA team that ended up being like our represented team

was like the one that won that tournament, essentially.

How'd they do in the Olympics?

Jimmer Ferdett got injured.

Let's not copy that moment.

I could be off again, though.

None of this is

legit research here.

All I'm saying is,

I think a coach that is familiar with flag football should select an NFL represented team.

And that team should just play this flag football team that's been playing for a long time and feels like they are the best at it and they don't need other guys.

And then whoever wins.

This is like a mystery, Alaska.

Pretty much.

This is awesome.

I think it's the best way to do it.

Alaska won.

Because I do agree.

I do agree.

If these guys are the best, they should represent USA.

100%.

But I don't think that i i'm pretty i mean i've never i don't know anything about flag football i feel really confident they're not the best it's

we got just some crazy some guys that can do some crazy stuff with the ball in their hands man i understand even darnell watching darnell's highlights i he looks good

my bad my bad daryl or dar darrell

daryl

dug it damn it I think it's Daryl Dusset, if I'm not mistaken.

All right.

My bad, Daryl.

Even his highlights are fucking epic.

He doesn't look like Daryl, though.

He does kind of look more like a Darrell.

Or a darner.

Daryl's going to have a little bit more thickness to him.

You know what I mean?

Daryl's.

The Daryls and the Heights definitely had.

Yeah, you're a little bit stockier.

You know what I mean?

Darrell is more.

This dude, he could move around and slide around.

Yeah.

No, he's shifty as fuck.

He can play.

When we think of a quarterback, though, we think of somebody that can really sling it it around and i think somebody can do both i think of lamar jackson there's no chance

nobody's catching him his i want to know uh

lamar is more of a daryl

he's stocky now though that's i'm saying he's got a little bit of heft to him he's got a little bit of heft to him like what if we hold like a combine dude i don't i just think we have the nfl team play these guys and whoever wins goes that's it i don't even i mean if they're the best team they should represent us, but I feel like if we put Lamar Jackson and Tyreek Hills.

It's as easy as putting Tyreek Hill outside and having Lamar just throw a go ball to Tyreek.

I mean, I think that alone would probably be pretty effective, but I think that it's going to be also more than that because there's other players, too, that are going to be out there.

Like, I'm trying to like, the problem is I don't know flag football that much, and I don't know what skills you want, but I feel like just speed is usually pretty good.

And the NFL has speed.

Yes, yeah, Yeah.

Has a lot of it.

Yes.

The flag football game in the Pro Bowl, they kept blitzing.

Eli Steen just kept blitzing, and they couldn't stop it because they couldn't avoid the sack.

Like you don't have to beat a blocker, so you don't have to be big.

You just need to be quick and agile.

So linebackers aren't going to be on this team.

It's going to be

safety.

The defense is going to be very heavily.

Damn it.

Well, I mean, maybe not.

Maybe a big body receiver is a mismatch for some of these shorter, quick guys.

Maybe.

Do you have to play both sides of the ball?

Again, these are questions I don't know.

Good point.

Let's keep it moving.

We have a new award in the NFL.

We do.

We do.

And Jason, you actually won this award.

No, we did not.

Nobody's ever won the award because it's a brand new award.

No, but you won it.

I did not win the award.

You're definitely getting a trophy.

Nobody has ever won the award.

I do vote on the award.

I am one of the select members of the committee that will decide who wins this award.

Dude, you're like two steps away from being a commissioner.

Are you kidding me?

You're like,

you're trajecting in that direction.

Pretty sure that's not going to happen.

Dude, next, next is you'll be in charge of the fines.

Yep.

Yeah, not going to happen.

They said it doesn't fined anybody all year.

Yeah, it's fine.

Back to this, the protector of the year.

Do you have information on how this all began or how this all started up?

Well,

I'm pretty sure it started.

So Andrew Whitworth and Roger were on my late night show in season, and we talked about having an offensive line award.

And from that, they kind of put together a list of guys seeing if they'd be interested in helping kind of give this thing some life.

There's a lot of...

icons of the game and the position that'll vote on this and the NFL got behind it.

It's going to be called the Protector of the Year.

It went back and forth on the name.

I think at one point it was the Shield or something like that.

It's very tackle dominant, so they went towards the Protector of the Year being the offensive lineman of the year, essentially.

Very cool, man.

So this will now be at the NFL Honors.

It will be the Honor and Offensive Lineman, finally.

Yep.

Big Andrew Whitworth has been instrumental in

kind of like leading the charge on this.

So there have been 10 protectors of the year.

The last 10 years, they

did say who would have won these.

No, DraftKings just made some weird list.

This is not like an official thing.

Well, I think DraftKings should come to you and give you a fucking trophy because you were the best protector in 2021.

I mean, it's not even my best season.

My best season was 2017 by far.

So now you're saying you were better than Andrew Whitworth in 2017?

I'm definitely not saying that.

I think this is going to be an award that is heavily dominated by offensive tackles

because tackles are are more of the limelight of the position.

There's also a lot of people that are going to be making the decisions, former tackles.

And tackle is just a harder position.

Like, if you're dominating a tackle, you're freaking getting the job done now.

So it's one of the highest paid positions in the league.

Yeah, I mean,

it's very difficult.

And the guys that do it at a high level.

Guys, we're giving these guys way too much money.

We got to get an award for them.

Hey, should we give Jason Kelsey the protector of the year when he doubled a nose guard with the left guard for 80% of the snaps?

Or should we give it to Dlane Johnson who had to one-on-one block Von Miller?

Nope.

Nope.

You got to give it to the guy that's in the front of the tush push.

This play is unstoppable.

Why?

Because of big old 62.

Hard knocks news.

The Buffalo Bills will be featured

in Hard Knocks this year on HBO, their training camp.

And it's going to be exciting.

You know, finally, we get some inside access to what the Bills got going on over there with Josh Allen and the gang.

And the NFC East will be featured featured as the in-season edition so we'll get the entire nfc east do we like the picks yes of course i like all hard knocks picks you can do any fucking team in the in the league and it's going to be entertaining neither of us have done hard knocks no i haven't i don't think i've seen jason do it the only thing we did the one year amazon did something similar and i didn't interact with it because it was just like hard to really know what it was so i kind of like stayed out of it but hard knocks has not done, been done with the Eagles yet.

This will be the first year.

Just so everybody knows, each team has their version of what kind of what Hard Knocks is.

Like the Chiefs have

a YouTube series called The Franchise,

where they do a season-long kind of, they recap every single week and

you get inside access through that.

But Hard Knox is just, you know, the training camp ins and outs.

And I remember growing up, it's not as much this now but i mean you see guys get cut you see guys make the team it can be it can be a happy and sad story all in one so hard knocks is always uh always interesting you get to see the characters uh that that are the nfl like some of these coaches some of these you know equipment managers and trainers and stuff you get to see inside these teams um from a different point of view we do not have i don't know what the franchise is for you guys i wouldn't say the eagles have not had any type of exposure like like this in the middle of a season.

We have our own YouTube channel and stuff, but I don't, this is going to be a whole nother level of

a look into the inner workings of the Philadelphia Eagles, I believe.

It always depends on how open the team is to kind of allowing it.

And I haven't, I'll be honest, I haven't watched a lot of in-season hard knocks.

I've always been accustomed to the training camp one.

That's what I grew up loving, like with the Cincinnati Bengals, the New York Jets with Rex Ryan.

I think did the Lions do the the first in-season?

I remember watching clips of that.

I'm right there with you.

I've never watched the in-season one.

I've only seen clips of the in-season one.

They moved last year to the conference setup instead of just doing individual teams.

So last year was the AFC North, and this year it's going to be the NFC East.

And I think it's a good choice by the league.

I think it's going to be a competitive year for the NFC East, even though the Eagles are the favorites coming out.

Washington was really good last year.

They've improved this offseason.

The Giants had a really good draft.

And it's also just four major teams in huge markets that have a lot of history in the NFL and a lot of animosity towards each other.

So I'm going to watch it this year.

And I haven't watched, and I like the AFC North.

That's my conference, too.

That's what I grew up on in Cleveland, Ohio.

Come on now.

But I can't wait to watch this one.

I'm with you, dude.

A.J.

Brown is already out, unfortunately.

He retweeted NFL Films account when they announced that the NFC East will be

a part of the in-season hard knocks.

He just said straight up, nope, with a period on it.

And we know AJ isn't about this kind of thing.

He's very, you know, he's not for the flashy inside scoop stuff like

a lot of guys are.

But I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that.

He's just not, you could tell he's not a part of the, he's not about that.

Do you think he's saying nope because he's out on being a part of it?

For the battle for the the East.

For the battle for the East.

Yeah, that might be that.

I feel like he's kind of saying, like, yeah, there ain't no battle.

We're the reigning champs.

That's kind of the vibe I'm getting from it, but maybe not.

What do you think?

I think he both feels that there is going to be no battle for it and also that.

That's so good.

And that's new news brought to you by American Express.

All right, before we get to Wayne Gretzky, the great one.

Let's get to some no-dumb questions brought to you by Perplexity.

All right.

Discover fast and reliable search with Perplexity AI today.

Holly Halls.

If you could bring back one discontinued snack or food from your childhood and it would taste exactly how you remember it, what would it be?

I don't even know if I can remember a discontinued snack or food.

Here, I looked up a list.

I looked up a list on Perplexity.

Oh, nice.

There we go.

Perplexity.

Help us out here.

Notable discontinued 90 snacks.

That's a great, that's a great question.

Butterfinger, BBs, those are good.

PB Crisp, I don't remember those.

Choco tacos discontinued?

Sadly.

I was wondering why they stopped serving them in the ice cream trucks in Seattle.

I thought they just weren't selling enough of them.

Wait.

Why would they stop selling those?

Are you talking about the same tacos?

Choco taco?

The frozen ice cream treat?

Is that what it is?

Yeah, it's a frozen ice cream.

It's like an ice cream sandwich, but a taco.

No, it's not a Klondike.

It's this.

Yeah.

It's got like a hard chocolate shell, and then it's got like chocolate woven into the vanilla ice cream in the middle.

When did that stop?

I think that stopped recently because they, unless they had a bunch of them stockpiled in the fudgie-wudgy carts in Seattle City.

Discontinued in 2022.

See, I'm on top of the chaco taco lore.

Jesus.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Pies.

Don't even remember those.

Crystal Pepsi.

I think everybody's happy that's gone.

Oreos,

cereal.

Don't remember that.

Air Crisps.

Two.

I never remember that.

Dude,

the drink just took me back, dude.

Fruitopia.

Frutopia doesn't exist anymore?

I had fruitopia every day.

Every day.

In high school.

In middle school.

It was when I was chugging fruitopia.

They said it was discontinued in 2000.

Maybe I didn't have fruitopia.

I thought I had a fruit punch frutopia every day.

When was it discontinued?

I'll go back up.

Hold on.

It couldn't be 2000.

Or was it?

It says early 2000s.

Okay, so it was still there.

It was right before.

It was right before.

It was still there.

Okay.

Yeah.

I definitely had it in high school, too.

Dude, I'm going through Tobia.

I used to.

Dunkaroos don't exist anymore.

I just had those things like two years ago.

Dunkaroos are bangers, too.

Gosh damn.

Stopped in 2000.

They could have brought, I think they brought back Dunkaroos for like a limited time.

But yeah, they did stop making just the serving of frosting that we used to eat.

Planters, cheese balls, Keebler, munchums,

crispy MMs, swoops.

I'm not going gonna lie, I'm not hating that any of these are discontinued.

This probably is a really good thing.

Butterfinger BBs were really good.

They were good, but it's not like I'm that upset about them not existing anymore.

Well, you're an adult, man.

This is not that big.

Choco tacos, I'm kind of upset about because I tried to get one a couple years ago and they didn't have them, and I was a little bit upset about that.

They should bring back fritopia, though.

It's got real fruit in it.

It was healthy.

I remember going to my mom

and asking asking her in middle school because we used to get like school lunch

going to my mom in middle school and be like, mom, can I get like $5

a week so that I could get a fruit to every day?

Because the fruit to was a dollar.

And they had one like drink machine, like vending machine, and you could go and get a fruitopia.

And instead of like the milk or the water that they were giving us in the lunch line.

And it turned into

me just going and buying 50 cent uh honey buns like a ridiculous like five dollars worth of honey buns on monday so good and i came home one day with

like i like threw my book bag on like the couch or something yeah and mom was like what the is in this bag mom didn't swear but she's like what the hell is in this bag she opened up the bag and it was like a grocery are you stealing honey buns from the grocery from the store i'm like no mom i'm using the money you gave me for

i'm stocking up so i can have these all day every day that's great yeah and that's when my mom stopped giving me five dollars for four frutopias because i was turning into a big boy yeah she's like all right gotta love it shout out to mothers all right well what so what's yours i said frutopia was my uh

if they could bring it back.

What do you that I could taste right now too?

I could taste the fucking green one, man.

It's so good.

It's like a Kiwi strawberry or some shit.

What are you going with?

I don't know, man.

Dunkaroos are a close second for sure.

You're going Chaco Tacos, it sounds like.

Yeah, I'll go Chaco Taco.

There you go.

Way to get out of there.

That's it for Nodem Questions brought to you by Perplexity.

Let's get to this Wayne Greysky interview.

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This is the longest one I've ever had to do, so just be prepared, okay?

All righty, our guest today is one of the favorite athletes of all time for both of us.

This is a true honor.

15-time NHL All-Star, nine-time NHL MVP, 10-time scoring champion, two-time Con Smythe trophy winner, four-time Stanley Cup champion.

Still holds the records for most points and assists in a career, most goals, assists, and points in a single season, and nearly 60 other NHL records.

God damn.

He is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, member of the Order of Canada, the first player to ever have his number retired league wide.

God damn, these are a lot of stats.

Damn.

He is the star of the greatest hockey game Travis and I have ever had the joy of playing.

Please welcome the great one, Mr.

Wayne fucking Gretzky.

Hell yeah.

I didn't know what to say after that.

Dude, absolutely epic, man.

Exactly, I scripted it.

Well done.

Well, that felt like it took forever, but it could have taken so much longer.

I mean,

the amount of records you hold in the nhl record books is truly remarkable unbelievable do you have one that like you means the most to you like which of all of your records are you the most proud of if that's easy well rickton first of all hey it's a pleasure for me to be here on your show love you guys and uh it's an honor for me to be part of uh being with you guys for a day so thank you again very much oh my gosh the man as you guys know being a professional athlete is such a thrill and anytime you get any record, it's a thrill.

And it's an honor.

And so for me, each and every one felt the same.

But if I had one record that I cherish the most, it's the record that I think is going to be hardest to break.

And that was I scored 50 goals in 39 games.

And I think for somebody to get 50 goals in 38 games, as you guys know, the athletes get better every year.

The equipment's better, the coaching's better, training's better.

It's just sports is better today than it was, but that's not knocking what we did back in the 70s and 80s and 90s.

20 years from now, it's going to be better than today.

So I'm proud of all my records.

Heck yeah.

50 goals.

That is insane.

Oh, my gosh.

Did you just feel unstoppable that year?

I mean,

just everything you sent at the net went in.

So the record was 50 and 50.

And then Mike Barth came along and he tied the records 50 and 50.

He scored two goals in the last seven minutes in his 50th game to get 50 and 50.

Epic.

And I remember watching it and seeing his face and the jubilation and the joy he felt.

So I was driving to the rink with my roommate and I had 45 goals in 38 games.

And I was a little more edgy than normal heading to the arena.

And my buddy turned to me and he said, are you okay?

And I said, you know, I just thought of this.

If I don't get 50 and 50 now, people are going to say I choke.

So I'm thinking before the game, I'm thinking during the game, I'm like, gosh, I got to get to the 50 and 50 or I'm going to look like a miserable fool.

And so

there's no way.

I scored two goals.

I got three goals.

All of a sudden, I had 49 goals.

And I'm like, all right.

And I scored the 50th goal.

And my buddy turned to me and said, well, I guess you don't have to worry about that 50th anymore.

That's awesome, man.

Recently, and Alexander Ovechkin, ironically, just around the same amount of games, just, you know, passed you and most career goals ever scored.

and it was it was awesome to see you show that respect in that class to him when you set that record or at the end of your career in 99 did you ever expect that that thing could be touched

like it was mind-blowing that anybody is even around that realm man no no we all hope not but listen so i remember the night i broke gordy outs record or the night before i was having dinner with my dad and i said to my dad i said you know in some ways i'm kind of embarrassed because it's a different era and a different time from when Gordy played, and he was such an icon, and he was my idol.

In some ways, I'm feeling kind of guilty.

And I'll never forget my dad saying, Listen, you just have the same dignity and respect that Gordy Howe has for you because he's truly happy for you.

So, when somebody breaks your record, you be as classy as Gordy Howe.

And I remember I looked at my dad and I said, Well, can I just enjoy it for a little bit?

Already talking about getting broken.

I had so so much fun.

The NHL took care of my wife and I.

We flew up there.

We were at the game.

I remember saying, gosh, they're playing Chicago tonight.

He might get three tonight.

We got to go.

We got two goals and tied it.

My good friend is the assistant coach, Kirk Mueller.

We went for dinner after the game, and I said, why didn't Novetchkin go on the ice in the last minute?

You had the empty net.

You're one of the coaches.

Why didn't you put him out there?

And he said, we tried to, and he said he didn't want to break the record on an empty net goal.

So showed you the class that he has, which was wonderful.

So we got to go to Manhattan,

spend a couple of days there.

My son lives in New York.

So we spent a few days in Manhattan, got to see him play on the island.

And when he did score the goal, part of me was like, gosh, I was kind of looking forward to going back to Washington.

They were playing Thursday now.

It was fun going to hockey games.

You know,

stress, no pressure.

We knew eventually he was going to break the record.

And he's just a wonderful young man.

And I think that his ownership group, Ted Leonis, and the hockey club and the coaches and his teammates and all the teammates he played with over all his years, he's just, he deserves the record and good for him.

He's meant so much for hockey in Washington, for the NHL, and of course in his own country, Russia.

So I'm proud and privileged that he broke it, and I'm happy that I can say he's a good friend.

Man, that is such a cool story.

Just to hear how much class and respect is in the NHL.

And you guys have been doing it right.

I believe his rookie year, you were the coach of the Coyotes.

Yeah.

And Ovetsky, he scored the goal in 2006.

how crazy is that to come full circle somebody asked me the other day they said when did you realize that vetskin had a chance to break your record and he said when i was coaching it against i think his first year

really he went through the whole team twice and scored on his rear end on his back

i'm looking around going what what just happened and not did he beat players he beat some good players like some they beat some nhl guys and he beat a good goaltender so hey listen you know, that's what makes sports wonderful, right?

When you think, oh my God, can we get any better?

Then another guy comes along and you go, wow, that guy's phenomenal.

And then every sport's the same, whether it's football or basketball, hockey, baseball.

And we just sit back as fans and go, you know, this is wonderful.

This is great.

We get to watch, we have bleacher seats here and we get to adore these athletes.

Look at Caitlin Clark, how she's kept

just taking over the country and for that matter, maybe the world, and how she's

encouraged so many young girls now to participate in sports, whether it's basketball or soccer or volleyball.

My dad used to always say: the greatest thing about sports is that you learn so much about real life.

You learn how to be unselfish, you learn how to be dedicated, you learn how to work hard, you learn how to win, and then you learn how to pick yourself up off the ground when you lose.

And that's what life is all about.

And so, I just have so much respect for so many of these athletes that come along now.

And as a fan, I just love it.

Hell yeah.

Absolutely.

And I think we both can speak to this.

You know, we didn't really know what hockey was that much growing up at first.

And I think what you guys brought in that era, in particular, you, growing the game, I mean, it became so much bigger in the United States at that time.

And it caused both of us to start getting in.

I mean, we started making movies about it.

Slapshot came out.

Then they had the kids movie with the mighty ducks.

And all of a sudden, everybody's playing hockey.

Yeah, you know hockey has grown so much i would say this like gordy how and bobby hull and bobby or they were the sort of the golden age of the 60s and early 70s yeah and then you know the islanders were so special in new york and then you know i got traded to la and everybody goes you know like did you go to la to outgrow the sport and i i really didn't i went to la because i thought okay This is going to be really good.

I'm really excited about playing in LA.

I want to be part of growing a franchise and helping hockey.

But I didn't realize at the time when I went to LA that Steve Eiserman was in Detroit and Mario Lemieux was in Pittsburgh and Brett Hall was in St.

Louis and Mark Messier was in New York.

Legends.

Not only are all those guys really good players, but they were incredible off the ice too.

And they had charisma and they loved the game.

So we had this big wave that kind of went all at once.

And it was a perfect storm, right?

And then all of a sudden, the Mighty Ducks came in.

I'll never forget Michael de eisner having dinner with him one night and he said you know i'm gonna have an nhl team called the mighty ducks i remember looking at him going you got to be crazy

the mighty ducks my wife janice says to me you know he probably is the number one marketing man in the world i think he knows what he's doing yeah right

oh yeah nothing was better than the than the 90s though and seeing you guys the the names you just threw out there messier lemieu

i mean you name it man you guys had that thing rocking and rolling especially for two young young guys like us out of Cleveland, Ohio.

We didn't even have a team, so we were just fans of the game and the league

league-wide.

I played an exhibition game in Cleveland.

I can't even remember what year it was, but it was somewhere between 87 and 91.

We played an exhibition game.

Yeah.

The Gundarina?

Yeah, Gundarina.

Cleveland Barons.

Remember those days?

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

We know the Cleveland Barons real well.

Dennis Marook was their

go-to guy in those days.

days that's too good man how about shout out to the barons baby yeah uh we had we had a coach that actually played uh for the barons for a little bit we got to ask man do you have you have so many good nicknames do you have one that you just you you chuckle at or you like the most or

you got the great one we we found out that uh one of your early nicknames was the white tornado

because i wore white gloves Oh,

I was playing well, and I went to this tournament in Quebec City, and

they drew really well.

We were drawing 15,000 people game to watch us play.

And I wore white gloves and somebody wrote in French, she's the white tornado.

And

my dad hated that one.

He hated the gray one.

I think my favorite nickname is Doc.

And the golf world through Dustin and all his friends.

I'm known anywhere in a golf course as Doc.

And one of the things I said was, I became an honorary doctor to the University of Alberta.

Very cool.

And I remember I said to somebody one day, you know, Dr.

Buss wasn't really a doctor, but he's an honorary doctor, and they call him Dr.

Buss.

Can somebody call me Doc?

My kid is even called me Doc.

I love it.

So that's probably my favorite nickname.

That's a good one.

I'm going to forever call you Doc, big guy.

For sure.

Let's shift to the current Stanley Cup playoffs.

Right now,

four teams left.

We obviously, we got Edmonton leading 2-1.

The Panthers are up 3-0 on the Hurricanes.

Who do you think is going to shape up into the be the, is it going to be a finals rematch?

Well, listen, I want you to know I'm the only guy in TNT on that panel that picked Edmonton to get to the finals.

Are you?

Yay!

There you go.

I picked Tampa Bay from the East, but part of my pick at that point in time was to Chuck was hurt, and he's such a

big part of the success of the Panthers.

And I wasn't sure he was coming back, but he's such a great player and such a good team player for that team.

Tough guy, man.

Listen, you guys know how it is.

When you win a championship, it's hard to knock off the champions.

I mean, they know how to win.

They know what it takes.

They focus.

They know how to keep the distractions away.

Now, I will say this.

Edmonton learned a great lesson last year losing in the finals.

They'll be a little bit different, a little bit more prepared, and some of the things that won't be surprises off the ice.

But they still got to get through dallas because dallas is so well coached branton in trade this kid is a tremendous hockey player their goaltender oettinger is really good they're big uh they're well coached that series i still think is going to go seven games um florida looks like they're in a great position um

they win tonight they're going to get a nice break as you guys know you get those breaks

It's more mental than physical sometimes.

You get that mental break, right?

And so Florida, they'll regroup.

They know what it takes to win.

They'll know how many days they have off before they play the first game.

Again, they're well coached, well-managed.

I'd be hard-pressed not to think that it won't be a rematch in Florida-Edmonton.

The difference is this year, Edmonton would have homewise advantage, which in the playoffs, four to seven is a big difference.

Yeah, hell yeah.

I'll tell you what, man, that back and forth that they talked about last year going

seven games or whatever from Edmonton all the way down to Miami.

And like that time difference is like a seven-hour flight.

It's absolutely ridiculous.

It's crazy, but I'll tell you something even crazier.

Our times have changed.

In 87, we played the Soundica Finals, seven-game series, Edmonton, Philly, and we flew commercial, the Edmonton Oilers.

Oh, no way.

You're like, you're sending me coach, man.

The next morning, after game two, we flew from Philadelphia to Toronto, tried out Edmonton, went to the arena, practiced, but we didn't know any different.

We loved it.

Oh, yeah.

Like, you know, what else are you going to do?

We didn't think we were being treated any worse or poorly.

We loved it.

We were all together.

We, like, it was just part of our life, right?

We had no complaints about it whatsoever.

And in those days, if you sit in the middle of the airplane, you know, they had smoking sections in those days.

Proking their eyes, getting out on the ice.

But that was all the teams did it.

That's the way we, that's, we didn't know any different, right?

It was fine.

I'll tell you what, whenever we go, uh, whenever we go overseas or we do like an international game, a lot of the international like travel, you got to go through international customs.

So you're going through the main concourses of a lot of these big airports overseas.

And I'll tell you what, man, some of the best memories and stuff are after you win a game and you get to go enjoy walking through the concords joking around with all the guys i can i can i can see that being a hell of a time especially if you're in the if you're playing for the cup like it doesn't matter how you you get busted there and back you know no we we didn't we didn't complain one second we were loving it we're all together and i wouldn't have traded it into the world that's cool you're right florida emitton is a lot of travel it's crazy it's like an eight-hour flight and not to mention if florida gets off the plane they got to go against mcdavid and Dreisilo.

He's the fastest guys ever, yeah.

Peter, let's go, baby.

It's something different watching hockey in person than watching it on TV.

And I'll tell you what, I went to a Stars playoff game last year and

seeing the action and seeing how fast those guys are, man,

it's mind-blowing.

It is so unique.

I always say

our sport, if you watch it one time in person, you're going to sit back and go, oh my gosh, I didn't know it was like that.

When I retired in 99, we had two more children.

And about the age of eight, and we were in Thousand Oaks, California, not a lot of hockey out there.

And about the age of eight, my son said, can we go to a hockey game?

So I called my friend Luke Robotai and he got us seats on the ice, my wife and I and my son and a friend.

And that, you know, on the ice, how big and fast they are and like they run around and it's physical like your sport.

Crazy.

It's more physical than people even see or believe.

Oh, yeah.

My son got up and he turned to my wife and he said, be really honest, did my dad really play in this league?

It's a whole different level when you're there.

Oh, yeah.

The respect

that the players have for each other.

I don't know if you guys followed the Winnipeg-Dallas series really close, and it was physical, and you had to be a man to...

to play in that series.

And unfortunately, one of the players on Winnipeg's father passed away the night before game six.

But one great thing about our sports is the handshakes after a series, but the pure compassion that the players had for him and his family was incredible because they just spent the last six games trying to kick the crap out of each other and to see the emotions and the true emotions of, you know, hey, it's a game, but we're family and friends.

That's what's really important in life and in sports.

And so it was really great to see and and be part of it.

I was there and I thought it was so emotional.

Absolutely.

I mean, I can believe it.

There's two things you touched on that I think have always been true for me with hockey.

And one of them is I've been hit all over the field on a football field.

The hardest I've ever been hit in my life is open ice on a hockey ring.

Like you get a hospital pass going where you're looking back and the defenseman can have a clear run at you, man.

Oh my gosh, that is going to hurt.

That is going to hurt.

You never look back.

And secondly, you never have a defenseman that bad that passes a puck that bad.

Yeah, there you go.

There you go.

But I always said this.

I never played football,

but I always, I would watch the games.

My son played in California, and it was always fun because Joe Montana was always at the games.

His son and my son played together.

I could sit with Joe and nobody ever bothered me at the games because Joe was there.

Everybody wanted to talk to Joe, but just to watch the game.

And the one thing that I see the difference in hockey and football, they're both physical.

But in hockey, you kind of knew where the guys were.

In football, guys come out of nowhere to hit you from the side.

At least we know where the guys are.

There's only four of the guys coming at you or five guys.

And you guys, you got 11 guys that are trying to get you.

Half of them, you don't know where they are.

And that's what always amazed me about football.

That's right.

You got to have that head on a swivel.

Got to be

always.

You talked about the guys in the Winnipeg and Dallas series.

Hockey has

such a culture to it that is just everybody is is truly, I don't even know how to describe it, but I felt like it was like that way even growing up.

There's such a tight-knit culture to the sport, to the NHL.

Like you're waiting around to go to Ovechkin's time when he's going to break your goal.

And it does, it just, that's something I've always appreciated about the sport.

Even growing up, the parents, like, it feels like there's like just a culture to the sport that, that, that is inclusive to everybody.

And just, I don't know.

Yeah.

You got guys throwing haymakers on the ice at each other, then afterwards shaking each other's hand.

There's such a class and respect, but such a toughness to defending and being there for your teammates.

People ask me, sometimes I don't even have the answer because

I watch these guys, and a lot of them are, I'm very proud to say I don't have any enemies of players I played with or against.

And I would think that I would help to try to do anything for guys that were ex-players.

We're all eventually alumni.

That's the one thing we have in common.

I used to do a fantasy camp in Vegas.

I had a friend there one day and I had all these guys that I bring in 14 NHL guys and I put three two or three of them on each team so that the campers could get a chance to hang around with them, see how they work, see, get to know them personally.

And it was just remarkable.

And one day I said to my buddy I grew up with, I said, come here, I want to show you this locker room.

And I had like Chris Chalius in there and Marty McSorley and Shane Corson and all these guys.

Oh, man.

So cool.

And I said, you know, it's amazing.

Those guys fought each other for 15 years not like one time in their careers but they fought each other and whacked each other every time i see chris shelly i'll say how we doing i say well good my wrist isn't as sore as it was last time i saw you

without hockey you know you battling to try to win today

when it's all been done we're all on the same page we're all trying to help each other do things for each other and help this person's charity or that person's charity.

And that's what makes our sport so wonderful.

But that starts back in the 60s and 50s from guys like Gordy Howe and Bobby Orr.

And then they pass it on, right?

And the guys pass it on.

20 years from now, kids are going to be saying, yeah, I remember Crosby and Ovetschkin.

And I remember McDavid.

And, you know, those guys really showed me the way.

And that's the way hockey is.

Our culture has always been like that.

I'm very proud of it.

Absolutely.

That's awesome, man.

We mentioned that you were the coach for the Coyotes.

How much different is it trying to coach and not necessarily have the ability to go out there

and make things happen, but try and just

be a coach, be a leader?

What was the biggest difference in terms of leading a team in that aspect outside of just not being able to get out on the ice with the guys?

Well, listen, first of all, I loved coaching and I had a tremendous group of older guys like my captain, Shane Doan, and my goaltender was Curtis Joseph.

Oh, yeah.

I had guys like Andrew Polowski.

They were just wonderful guys.

I never one time ever said, Gosh, why can't you do this?

Or didn't you see that?

I didn't even do that with teammates.

I had one teammate who always said to me, Every time we came off the ice, he said, Gretch, you didn't see me.

I was wide open.

Gretch, you didn't see me, I was wide open.

Finally, I said, If I see you, trust me, I'm going to give you the pop.

I started calling him 7-Eleven.

He's always open.

That guy, I said, he's always open every time I come off the ice.

I want you to score as badly as you want to score.

So if I see you, I'll get you the puck.

So I never really overly concerned about it.

I wish that guy could do that.

I loved coaching.

I loved helping kids become better professional athletes and professional hockey players.

I truly enjoyed it.

It's,

you know, I've tried everything in hockey.

I was a player.

uh i i was fortunate enough to run team canada in 2002 we won a gold medal uh in salt lake city it was one of the great thrills of my life i played in the olympics in 1998 in nagano uh japan unfortunately we didn't win but it was such a great experience and and staying in the olympic village we had so much fun being with all the other athletes curdling uh figure skating i can only imagine man it was like going back to high school right so my point is if you get asked to be on the flag football team, do it.

You're going to love it.

Dude, I got

to find it.

Even if I'm just like an assistant coach or something, I got to get in there somehow.

No, no, no, no, it is the greatest thrill being part of the Olympic Games you're ever going to have.

I mean, it truly, it will be if you get a chance to play, if they ask you to play, do not turn it down, trust me, and stay in the village.

It's overwhelming.

It's so much fun.

That's awesome.

Noted.

All right.

We want to start here with

you growing up and your dad, because I speak for Travis and I.

Our father has been such a huge inspiration for us in our lives and was so impactful in us.

Just having joy for sport and competing.

Oh, man.

He was there every step of the way.

He was our baseball coach.

He fueled it.

So involved.

And the stories of your dad and his involvement and the backyard ice rink.

First of all,

how did the backyard ice rink come about?

Like, where did that even come from?

Well, it's interesting because everybody thinks that my dad built this backyard occupied from an NHL place.

That's a legend, yeah.

That's not true.

So

folks came from,

one came from Minsk, Belarus.

My grandmother came from Ukraine.

They met in Manitoba, Winnipeg, moved to southern Ontario, and they bought this farm in 1924.

The farm had a river that ran through the back.

And at two and a half years old, I started skating on this frozen river.

Well, my dad would take me out there on Saturdays and Sundays when he wasn't working, and I would skate all day on Saturday and Sunday.

So, then, as I got a little bit older, three and four, he'd take me to the park, they had these outdoor parks, and I would skate for hours.

Remember, at that time, I'm not in school yet.

He didn't start school until five years old or six years old.

So, my dad got mad one day, he was so cold that he decided, Look, I'm going to build a rake in the backyard, and I can sit in the kitchen and drink my hot tea, and I'm not going to freak.

So, every

late November, early December, when it first started to snow, my dad would say to my mother, listen, go over to Woco,

the store, and buy me a sprinkler head.

And my mom would say, you're an idiot if you think I'm going to go ask for a sprinkler head in December when it's snowing.

They're going to think I belong in the home.

My dad would go over and get his sprinkler.

And he'd put it in the middle of the yard.

And it'd go back and forth for an hour.

He'd move it, move it around.

He'd make the ice about six, seven inches thick.

We'd have the best ice and I'd I'd skate all winter on this backyard rink.

And it was just

out of necessity.

It wasn't to make me a better player or make me an NHL player.

But the ironic thing about it was he was the worst handyman around.

We know a guy.

We'd have the greenest grass and the thickest, greenest grass.

People would stop and say, Walter, how did you get your grass like that?

What are you putting on there?

And my mom would just shake her head.

And it just comes from freezing it in the wintertime.

And you're going to, I don't, for some reason, it works.

So that's how I started.

And like your dad, my dad took me to every practice, took me to games, and he did the same thing.

I had three sibling brothers.

He took my brothers, took them to practice, baseball.

I played box of crowds, track and field.

I don't think my mom and dad ever missed.

They were at something, one of them was at.

either a practice or a game 98% of the time.

That's so good.

One of the things you talked about, I think it was in the masterclass thing I saw you do about your dad was not only did you just play hockey, I feel like that's unique to a lot of hockey players now.

All they do is they just play one sport, but you played baseball, you played box lacrosse, like

you did everything.

How much do you think that that enabled you to be a better hockey player at the end of the day?

I don't think there's any question without all that, I wouldn't have been player Abbey King.

Oh, wow.

Track and field helped me build my endurance.

I used to be a long-distance runner.

Box lacrosse taught me how to avoid body checks and cross-checks or roll off of them.

Baseball, you know, baseball was my favorite sport as a kid, actually.

And you have to be such a thinking man.

You have to be one step ahead of that pitch.

You got to, you know, if you're playing shortstop or you're playing third base,

you got to know where you're going to throw the ball if it's hit to you.

If you're playing, if you're in first base and your guys bunting, you got to know when to go.

So you're always thinking and anticipating in baseball.

And I tell parents this all the time that all those sports helped my hockey.

Now, in those days, they didn't play as much hockey in the offseason.

And I feel bad for some of these kids because their parents are thinking they're getting left behind because their son, their friend's son is skating all summer.

That's not the case.

I think all these sports help you.

And then when you get to be 15, 16, you say, you know what?

I want to be a football player or I want to be a hockey player.

Then you make that decision.

Absolutely.

I don't think you just throw everything away at the age of 10, 11, concentrate on one sport.

I just, I'm not a big believer in that.

And I feel bad for some of these parents who can't afford to have their son or daughter play all year that think, that think they're getting left behind.

Trust me, they're not getting left behind.

They're going to be fine.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And it feels like a lot of times these parents get caught up in the moment.

And it's like, no, no, we're building this thing for the future.

Really, just not.

I mean, chances are nobody's going to play in the NHL.

We're just trying to build the most all-around athlete and well-centered human being, right?

Whoever's having fun doing this, yeah.

My boys grew up in California, and there wasn't a lot of hockey in Thousand Oaks area, but my son played baseball, and I would go to practice, and I, you know, you go to the games, and you saw these parents, and I'd be sitting there going, oh my gosh, just hope that your son turns out okay.

Just hope that maybe he gets a college scholarship.

This is one of the hotbeds of the baseball country.

There's about four kids that have made Major League Baseball here.

Right, right, right.

Let's not get too far ahead of it.

It's hard for a professional athlete.

And I know firsthand.

I went through it.

And you guys know firsthand.

It's hard to become a professional athlete.

And you got to learn to be a good person, be a good teammate.

And then if you can get a college scholarship, hey, after that, everything's gravy.

That's the way I look at it.

Absolutely.

Man, you keep mentioning not a lot of hockey out there in California.

And all I keep picturing is the Pro Beach Hockey League.

Do you remember when this thing happened?

Man, as a kid as a kid that was the one of the coolest leagues ever they had crazy jerseys they had the whole arena right there on the beach it was pretty cool i gotta admit they did a spectacular job i had some friends who were actually playing in that league no way and went on to watch a game one day and i said wow this is pretty good hockey rocket yeah i i was like uh very impressed about the whole

style of it, the whole sale pitch, the game itself.

I thought it was pretty cool.

You know, Chris Jelly was a Hall of Famer.

He didn't even ice skate until the age of 13.

He grew up inline skating.

Really?

Yeah.

That's crazy.

I would tell parents, listen, financially, it's tough to be a hockey parent.

At the age of eight, nine, and 10, if your son or daughter is inline skating, it's going to be fine.

You're not falling behind, trust me.

Oh, yeah.

My mom said that was one of the best decisions I ever made for her was in high school, instead of continuing to play hockey and her having to buy all this equipment and

especially at the rate me and Jason were growing.

That's right.

It was like mid-season.

We'd change out skates for a new size.

You guys went through two pairs of skates in three years.

And it's not even just the price of the equipment.

You got to wake up at like five in the morning to go to ice time.

You're traveling.

We went to Canada to go play hockey tournaments.

Not many parents can foot the bill for it, but it's a tremendous sport.

That's the hardest thing.

I see it in Florida because we live a lot of time there.

And I see it in California.

These parents are so dedicated.

These mothers, they don't get enough credit.

Look at Austin Matthews, his folks in Phoenix getting up four in the morning and practicing and then playing in the league.

Can you imagine at 11 years old?

You're in a league in Phoenix that you're playing against Detroit, Chicago, Dallas, Denver.

I'm like, they're traveling more than the Phoenix Coyote team.

It was crazy.

I'm like, oh, my goodness.

So the parents, they deserve such credit for like hanging in there and backing their sons or their daughters.

And just, it's incredible, really.

Our dad has always credited hockey with both of us, making both of us good athletes.

Oh, there you go.

Oh, yeah.

100%.

He's like the leg strength, the speed of the game, all of it.

He raves about it.

Understanding angles and, I mean, you name it.

And I will say some of the best football players at changing direction, because you get used to going on edges on the ice.

Those guys are always good at changing direction on a football field, too.

All righty.

We're going to ask a bunch of questions.

This is called We Got to Ask.

Feel free to not answer them.

Tell us to

fuck off, whatever you need.

All right.

All right.

Favorite parting with the Stanley Cup story?

Which one you got?

Oh, the very first one.

We're in the locker room.

Nobody knew what to do with the Stanley Cup

because nobody had ever won it before.

I was sitting there with my dad and my little buddy, the stick boy Joey, that's famous now in Canada.

Hell yeah.

And I said, what to do with the Stanley Cup?

And he goes, you guys want it, take it.

And so we took it everywhere.

And now every time I see Phil, who guards the Stanley Cup, I said, we got to do that job.

We made a living traveling around the world protecting the cup.

So that's probably my favorite Stanley Cup story.

That's so good.

Jason actually had the cup right there where he's sitting in his living room.

Yeah.

Oh, cool.

I was so freaking jealous, man.

Lord Stanley.

It's even more beautiful in person.

Did you eat or drink out of it?

Oh, yeah.

You always take a sip out of the Stanley Cup, right?

There we go.

Got to.

One of the great days I had was,

of course, times have changed.

In the 80s, I called the Hall of Fame one day and I said, hey, I'm at home in my hometown.

My grandmothers are coming over.

My mom's doing a barbecue in the backyard.

Can you bring the cup down?

And they drove the Stanley Cup down.

I don't even walk up there.

Nobody really was around except my folks and my family.

It was actually pretty cool.

That was back in the days where it was a little less crazy, right?

Sure, sure.

Should more sports include fighting?

No.

All right, fair enough.

We were talking about it.

Hockey is unique in that aspect where it's not going to just take over the game.

It's like, it's more of a, yeah, it's more of an out-of-respect thing and a tone setter than it is.

If you add fighting in other sports, I mean, guys, it's literally just going to get turned into a.

Trust me, you don't need it.

Somebody one time asked me, is fighting in the hockey real?

And I said, well, if it wasn't, I'd be in more of them.

We don't need the fighting.

No.

You said you were a long-distance tracking field runner.

Is that what you said?

Yeah.

Well, we had this clip.

Brandon, we got the clip ready.

I know what you're going to do.

This ain't a long distance race.

This is a long distance.

And you were out the gate.

I'm going to look now and...

Look at the white tornado go, baby.

Let's go.

Yeah, baby.

Give that man the football on a sweep, baby.

Let's see what he can do.

Hey, I'll tell you, funny story behind that.

You had to.

Viewer asked me to do this.

It was his charity and his thing.

And I said, oh, I'm awful of that stuff, but I'll come.

I'll do it.

And the other five events, I had no chance.

I think it was an obstacle course and whatever.

And I remember I said to my dad, was there, I said, geez, I better do well in this race because I'm going to come last in every other event.

Last in every other event.

I wasn't very good.

I think there was a bike ride and an obstacle course.

I can't remember, but I wasn't very good.

That's awesome.

That is awesome, man.

Yeah, you smoked them.

Well, we've got to give you a shout-out.

Have you ever played your game?

Me and Jason played this game our entire lives.

We still, still,

we call it Wayne Bruski now.

We'll play it and we'll make it a drinking game, man.

How did this even come about?

Did you like, were you, were you a video game guy or did it just kind of come to your table and you're like, yeah, let's do it?

Crazy enough, one of my really close friends.

A wonderful man who unfortunately passed away.

It was his company.

He came to me.

We played a lot of golf together.

And I said, honestly, I said, Jack, I don't know a lot about this stuff.

We, I think we won New York Times video game of the year.

He created such a cool game, and I remember thinking, Wow, that's pretty cool.

It's awesome.

And my boys at the time were eight and six, they loved it, they played it.

Oh, man, every day.

I'm proud that it was part of it, but look at the games today.

It's oh, yeah, no, it's it's it's I mean, I feel like I'm really playing hockey.

Yeah, the graphics are insane.

So,

well, we love that one.

We still play it to these days.

Thank you.

We got to know who your uh who your greatest of all times are in the NBA, the NFL, and the MLB.

Well, the NBA is easy.

23, that was pretty easy.

NFL.

Well, I'll go with you two guys, like one, two.

Let's go.

I'll take it.

Major League Baseball.

Listen.

To me, what Jackie Robinson did was incredible.

Babe wrote how he created the full baseball world.

But I'm going to pick George Brett as the greatest player I ever saw.

Here we go, baby.

Here we go.

Keep it in the M.O., baby.

I thought he was T-Dom, and he was such a force, and he was so good.

And then in your sport, I mean, how can you go against Tom Brady with all the championships, right?

TV.

You know, the great thing about sports, we sit around and we all argue and debate.

We don't have all the right or wrong answers, right?

Who's the greatest team?

Who's the greatest individual?

Who's the greatest player?

We don't know.

It's all opinion, right?

Yeah, sure.

Exactly.

You just sort of pat those guys on the back that have made a difference, not only what they did, but how they've helped their community, how they help charities,

how they get involved with their family, their cities.

So it's hard to go against the, I'm proud of the fact that I could say George Brad and Michael Jordan, Tom Brady.

And I got Bobby Orr and Gordy Howe in hockey.

Those are the two greatest players ever to play.

There we go.

You beat me to it.

If you were going to make a Mount Rushmore of NHL players, who would be on the Mount Rushmore?

So we got Gordy and Gordy Howe and Bobby Orr on it.

All right.

Who else is on this?

Lemieux

and Merc Messier.

See, Travis, the greats always leave themselves off of their own Mount Rushmore.

What are you talking about?

Travis infamously put himself on his own Mount Rushmore.

I didn't know it was.

I picked those poor guys anytime.

I always tell people, Merc Messier was the greatest player I played with.

Mario was the greatest player I ever played against.

And Gordy Allen, Bobby Or were the greatest two players ever to play our game.

That's awesome.

Oh, God, that's awesome.

Who owns the quote?

You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.

You or Michael Scott from the office?

Well, now I get pushy.

It's my quote, not his.

They go, Dad, you ever watch the office?

I go, I don't even know what you're talking about.

It's a pretty good quote.

And I looked at it and I said, oh, my God.

No,

that's fine.

I don't care.

That's too funny.

If he wants to claim it, go ahead and claim it.

I think that's all we got for you, Doc.

Listen, Doc, I love that.

I really appreciate you guys.

And listen, good luck to you this year.

Don't let them take your jersey away from you until you're absolutely ready to quit.

Make them rip it off your back.

Hey, hold on.

You're the best.

No doubt let me ask you though

i gotta ask you one more story yeah

so i have since been golfing with my brother right and he has the greatest head cover i have ever seen in my life

how did you let this knucklehead get this head cover what is the story behind that is the coolest thing on the planet to us so i'll tell you this so he was playing golf with a couple of buddies and my wife at troubadour

really hot that day and i said i i don't want to play and i was in watching TV or something with my buddy who lives on the course, Randy Bernard.

And

my wife texted me and said, We're coming through the hole that he lives on.

Come on out, say hello.

And I said, Okay, so I brought out this head cover and I brought out this head cover and I gave it to him.

I said, Here, this my son gets these made, and I this is mine.

It's so cool, too, man.

It's very cool.

But you know what pissed me off the most about the whole thing?

We took this picture, and everybody sent me letters and phone calls.

What are you doing golfing in bare feet?

Why are you golfing?

I want to take a picture.

I went out there to do a nice thing.

You got no shoes on.

I'm like, I'm not playing golf.

He's just hanging, man.

He was just hanging.

playing the golf not me oh yeah once it's out there on social media man everybody's gonna comment

you're the best though big guy i still i still got it on my on my driver today man no doubt it brings it brings me good luck

Good for you guys, and keep it going.

Have fun.

Thank you for everything.

Thanks, Doc.

My pleasure.

We just fucking, we just had one of the coolest conversations of my life.

That's pretty awesome.

I could have kept asking him questions.

I'm so pissed I didn't have my fucking Gretzky skates, man.

You have skates?

I have Nike Gretzky skates.

Yes, all white Gretzky skates.

The White Tornadoes.

Nike Gretzky skates.

The Docks.

The Docs.

What a fucking cool ass nickname.

It's pretty sick.

I'm wearing nothing but white gloves all year.

Ooh, love it, love it, love it, love it.

No, you're not, though.

That would increase your chance of holding.

Don't do that.

Don't do that.

You're right.

I'm out of there on that.

All righty.

That wraps up this episode of New Heights.

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Thanks to our production and crew for always making us look better than what we are.

And thank you again to all the 92%ers for tuning in.

Hope you guys enjoyed the interview with the Green One.

You guys hear that call?

Yeah.

Can you guys make out what she's saying?

I know.

Sounds good, though.

She's saying, I'm all done pooping.

That's the call for me to go wipe Elliot's ass.

Do you need to come back to us?

Nana just walked up there, thankfully.

I'm going to start doing that at home.

That's so.

I'm all done.

Lauren!

Lauren!

Gosh, it's the best.

She just goes, what?

Yeah.

You're not going to want to answer this question.

You don't want to be part of this bit.

This bit's not for you.

Don't worry about it.

All right.