Transcript of Live from The Caesar Company with Kingston Frontenac Jacob Battaglia | The Steve Dangle Podcast

Steve Dangle podcast with your host, Steve Dangle, Adam Wild, and Jesse Blake.

Alright. Ladies and gentlemen, the Steve Dangle podcast is back at Kingston. Whoo. Baby, it's so good to be here. It's so good

to be here. Shout out to Caesar company and every all the staff that were working really, really hard here tonight.

Let's give them

a quick round of applause. Whoo.

Tip them well.

Yes. Tip them well.

Tip them well. So how is everybody? How are we doing?

Yeah. Feeling good? Okay. Okay.

Front 1.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's right.

Now we're gonna be joined by a very special guest in a couple of minutes here. But first, Steve, Jesse. Steve, Steve was an hour late today.

What? Oh, it was closer to 40 minutes.

Yeah. 40 minutes. That is so many minutes. That's up. So, Steve, do you

wanna tell everybody? Because it has to do with you and driving.

Yep. Yesterday, I had a book signing. I wrote a book. And, it's really good. It was in Ottawa, and, I stayed at a buddy's place in Kemptville.

Yeah. Kemptville. No. Home of a junior a team. I forget what it's called.

73. The 70 threes. Yeah.

Woo.

And, my friend had my friend had Here

you go.

Really good bacon and an adorable baby. So I left late.

Yeah.

That was that was it.

Yeah. I left late.

It's what it is.

So, Jesse, when we got the text that Steve was gonna be late. Nobody was surprised. No. But not not a single person was like,

oh, we

got the text we were all expecting. Yeah. Yeah. That's how it went.

Now, I gotta ask you because I've made a real effort to show up on time. Jesse called me out at 1 of our shows earlier in this year, and he said there

the 2 of them

are always late, so I have made a real effort. Have you noticed it?

I today, you were on time. Right? That is quite the accomplishment

thing for you. Teacher's pet. Yeah. Teacher's pet. What a suck up.

Oh, you're on time. K there, nerd. Were did you

get detention a lot in school? Were you a trouble kid?

You know what? Yeah.

Oh, yeah? Did you I didn't expect that out of you. I didn't expect

that either. I wrote I wrote word nerd. I wrote lines a lot. I wouldn't shut up. No.

Oh, that makes sense.

I wouldn't shut up.

Yeah. What what the what were the lines?

What would you write?

Like, I won't talk in class.

Yeah. I will keep quiet.

I will.

Stuff like that. But, I started to become like a detention vet. Oh. Because they would, I'd I'd get smart and I'd be like, well, there's there's a bunch of t's. So that's just a line down the paper and you cross it all.

And and you're right in all that. And then they started intentionally giving me things that didn't have a t in it. And I'm, like, well, there's an l

or Adam Adam, you knew Steve in high school.

Yeah. I did. And he wore a football jersey, like, every single day. Yes. Eddie George, Tennessee Titans.

Was he a bad boy? Bad kid? So so okay.

Alright. You gotta remember, we grew up in Scarborough, and hip hop culture was

the thing. And I enjoyed their music.

And Steve had exactly 1 outfit that would have worked in a Nelly video. Yeah. Yeah. And that was the Eddie George jersey and the the he had these jeans and I kid you not Let's go. No.

Carl can I? And they had a piece of metal right on the butt. And so whenever he sat down, it was like right across the plastic chair. Did you

just sag?

And I was

just like, that is so uncomfortable

to exaggerate.

But also I would go to my friend's house and just sit on their parents' nice wooden kitchen chairs and just rack them. Oh, no. Just carve a signature with my butt cheeks.

Yeah. Yeah. And then

and then the rest of the days he just wore normal clothes, but that was like, this is Steve trying to stand out day. It's peacocking Steve.

Yeah. Basically. It's Steve trying to figure

it out.

I'm still trying to figure it out. It's not going great.

But you weren't in trouble. You weren't No. Living in trouble a lot. You just kinda wanted to dress like the Saint Lunatics.

Oh, yeah. No. I was stupid. Yeah. Listen, Country Grammar was a big album.

And, I don't remember the Saint Lunatics album, but it was also quite good.

Right.

Yeah. Nellyville was a disappointment. Culture, it was it was big, critical acclaim.

Right.

But, wasn't my favorite.

Right. There you go. Yeah. So listen, we're gonna talk some hockey and we're gonna talk some hockey with a hockey player and somebody that you guys all saw today. Hey.

That's right. So ladies and gentlemen, please bring up, please welcome Kingston Frotneck, 2nd

round pick of the Calgary Flames, Jacob Battaglia. Alright.

So welcome buddy.

Yeah, it feels good. Good welcoming. Yeah.

How does it feel like? Are you cool now? Like we were talking backstage and you were all confident, how do you feel now that they're all looking at you?

Yeah, it's okay. I mean, I don't know, I like their faces, good smiles.

Yeah. There you go. Alright. What a charmer. That's awesome.

So so listen. I a couple of things. Greatness seems to hail from Mississauga because you're from Mississauga and so is Jesse Blake. Woo. So, any anybody else from Mississauga here just for We got 1.

What? We

got 1.

Hell yeah.

We got 1. I wasn't expecting anyone. Yeah.

So let let me ask you this. What have you loved about moving to Kingston from from Mississauga? Had you been Kingston before?

No. I've never been up here but, yeah. I came here about 2 years ago, my rookie year and, yeah. I mean it's pretty nice spot, like a lot of good spots downtown, like great people, great city. My billets are awesome so they made it pretty much like I'm living back in Mississauga.

So, yeah. Are your billets here? No. No. They're not here tonight.

But you know it's Richard.

Oh, is Richard like a big deal?

Oh, yeah. Yeah. He's a guy.

Just thought it

was like, wow. Is Richard like Get loud

for Richard. Yeah. Oh, he's gonna love that. He's gonna love that. You gotta

you're gonna have to show him that.

He's gonna love it.

So so listen, like, a couple of months ago, you're at Calgary Flames training camp. And I think everybody in this room that ever played hockey once would kill to be in that position, even if it was just an invite. Tell us what

it was like. Yeah. I mean, it's definitely a different level than the OHL. I think just how everything's run-in in the facilities and the coaches and the players is just I don't know. It's it's next level.

Way faster game. I think the guys are all massive. Like, their quads are the size of my head. Like, it's insane. It's like

Who had the biggest quads?

Is there anybody that sticks out

on that team?

Oh, probably Kevin Ball. He's a good soccer guy too, but, yeah, he's huge. Yeah. Rock a boy. 6, 67, like, 2 40, like he's just like nowhere near that guy whatsoever.

But Svelte.

Petites. Yes. Just tiny.

Yeah. It was

it was a pretty cool experience, all like a lot of OHL guys there, so they made it pretty nice. Like, you know, a lot of guys, like, they made the experience pretty cool. Like it's nice when you get to know and you can talk to guys and like feel comfortable that they're also in the same position as you are. So yeah, I know it was it was awesome.

So that that actually like kind of became a topic, with I I think it was Colby Barlow and NHL camp versus OHL camp. For for you, what was it like the transition from NHL camp and then did did you participate in France camp?

Or was it

straight to games? Yeah.

I was here.

So so what was that like? Because I know the feedback is that that's a lot of camp Yeah. Heading into a full season of games.

Yeah. It's a lot of a lot of practicing, a lot of working out, a lot of fitness testing. So, yeah, I mean it was it was pretty hard on the body, like go to Kingston, fitness test, practice, play some exhibition games, and go right to Calgary then you're just redoing everything, but I mean way harder, like way harder, way more intense, and then finally I came back, got right into the season, but yeah I mean it's just, yeah a lot of practicing, a lot of work, you know, it's pretty tough on you.

The the Calgary guys that you got to interact with in the locker room, some of the pros, all of them good dudes?

Oh yeah, they're, I mean they're just hockey guys right? So its like you're in the room with them like they just treat you like you're you're a teammate so yeah. They're they're awesome guys there. Really nice.

So 1 of the things that, we're talking to Jacob backstage before the, before the show guys and 1 of the things that, I thought was really cool, is that your dad comes to every single home game for the France to watch you play and has for now 2 and a half years.

Yeah. He,

And he lives in Mississauga. Yeah. I think it's a round of applause. Right?

Come on. Yeah.

That's a dad right there.

Was he the 1 driving you to 6 AM practice and

Oh, yeah.

And hall like like where would you go for tournaments when you're in the GTHL? Like how far would you go? Man I think we

had a spring tournament in Chicago and we drove there and then we had 1 in Boston we drove there too like he was just it was just something to look forward to because he put so much time and and effort and and money into me, he just like wants to go see the product. I mean, like, he was just like it's like an investment, so he just wanna see that that it was working. But yeah, I mean he he makes a trip all the time because he's like and he loves it. He looks forward to every Friday coming up, like gives him something to do, like, get out of the house, come up, watch watch me, talk to me after, see all the other dads that that come up as well. But, yeah, he makes it super special.

My mom likes to come to to the games that are a little closer because she's a she's a stay at home mom, she's always busy with my brothers and my dogs. So Are your brothers

good too?

No, no, no they're not, not at all, no.

Did they try to be good?

They were,

I don't know.

My older brother, like we started like so he started when he was 6, I started when I was 4, and he was so jealous of me, like, like, he'd, like, prey on my downfall if I scored a goal. Like, he'd be pissed after the game if I scored.

Well, that's what brothers are for.

Yeah. Right. Yeah.

That's where you get that competitive edge.

Yeah. But no, they were not even close to being good. Like, yeah. I don't know. They It's

not look. Look. Brothers are far

and off.

It is. Every time every time, like, a player makes the NHL and then they have a younger brother coming up, they're like, oh, no. But he's even better. Even if it's, like, wildly not true.

Yeah. Exactly. Not a fault.

No choice but to just accept it.

Just accept it. That

Miles better.

Yeah. Yeah. I know.

And I I can feel the room asking it even more. I can feel, everyone listening and watching online. Your dad's name is not Bates.

No. No. It's that's not my dad. I get it a lot. I've started to go along with it a little bit.

Yeah. Yeah.

But, yeah, no. It's that's not my dad. No.

No. No. So the name Battaglia, obviously, Leaf fans know it. If you're a Kane's fan, you'd know it. That sort of thing.

Yeah. Steve needs to ask the Italian question. How does your family say it? Like, I

don't know. My dad, like, it's like when you go to Italian restaurants, like, you speak in English and all of a sudden you order, like, oh, I'll get this spaghetti. It's like, go out. Like, settle down. Like, it's like my dad, like, when he says he, like, Battaglia.

But it's

like Oh, there you go.

Yeah. But it's like everyone just says Battaglia. Like, it's just easier. Like, it rolls off the tongue and

all that. They call you Bates for fun. Right?

Yeah. Just like just because of Bates Battaglia, I guess. Just threw that in there. But, yeah, I've had it my whole life so I just kinda stuck with it. Like, I don't I don't even get called Jacob ever really.

Like, it just just Bates. Yeah. It's just Oh my god. It's like my first

name now.

You can't escape it.

Well, I heard it in there. Like, you said, hey, Bates. Yeah. Look up. I'm like, but you're not.

No. I'm not. Not him at all.

You No. How did you You're related. How did you score that playoff OT winner for the Marlies for only 3? Like, oh my god. No.

That's, there's more than 1 Bataglia Yeah. Family. Wow. Wow. Good to know.

That's great.

No. We just we needed to check that because, you know, the Italians among us. Are there any Italian, heritage here? Any? Any?

Hey. It's it's Kenville guy and 1 of the bartender. And somebody find the bar. Yeah.

It's really important to Italians. You pronounce that name correctly.

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Well, if someone ordered lasagna, you'd look at them sideways.

So okay. So this year, you guys have a great team.

Yeah. Yeah. We do.

Do they not have a great team? That's a great team. Yeah. And I'm watching that power play today. It really was amazing cycle work.

Like, the fact is, like, you you gotta remember, like, I'm double your age. Right? Which is scary. I'm 36. He's 18.

Like, oh, my god. Kill me. And and, and watching you guys set up in cycle. I'm like, these guys were kids, like, 2 seconds ago. I cannot believe how they're moving it around.

And what's amazing about the way you guys run that power play is all of a sudden it's like, okay, we're done now. In Yeah. In on the net. This coach for you guys and and for those who don't know, he's the guy that took over for Luca Caputi name is?

Troy Mann.

Troy really changed the trajectory of your career. Yeah. And and I wanna know a little bit about that because, you know, at this age as we all know, we all have mentors and that sort of thing in our various lives, that 1 adult outside of your family can kinda change your life. Exactly. Yeah.

How has Troy done that for you?

Yeah. I mean, beginning of last year with Lucas still as a coach, I was kinda struggling, like, wasn't really getting the ice time I thought, like, I deserved and I thought, like, I knew I had always more to give at the end of games. I was, like, even if I had, like, a goal or maybe an assist, like, I was still, like, pretty pissed off because I knew like I had more, like I wasn't tired after games, like I I knew I had more to give, like I worked hard in the summer and I was like what was the point of that? Like I'm not using any of it. So, as soon as Troy came in, like he saw something in me and he believed in me just like having the coach to to believe in you just, like, made me play with so much more confidence, made me be myself, like, even around the rink, like, I was able to be myself, like, be a better room guy, like, you know, crack jokes, like, make the guys laugh.

So, yeah, he he was awesome for me and he still is, like, still believes in me, has a bunch of trust in me. So just having that game in, game out, even on practice days, like, just always believing in believing in me. And he's he's hard on me, which which sometimes he do does need to be when I turn over the puck, like, 6 times in the first period. So, yeah. He's pretty tough on me.

No. No. No. Today was a good 1. But, yeah, he's pretty tough on me, but I mean he's he's awesome.

He believes in me and gives me the confidence to play with, that that makes me

the player I am. So we know sometimes like NHL coaches what they do to punish guys when when they're upset. Right? What is what's an OHL coach do? Like, what's what's punishment when he's mad at at you you guys collectively as a team, as you as a player, you know, he wants to send a message.

How does Troy Mann do that? Cut to the chase.

Let me see your phone. Yeah.

Does he go through your picks? No. No. No.

No. He's not. No. No. Not that.

That was good. That's great.

Sorry. Adam's question was better. By the way, I love

I love how quickly you got there.

Yeah. Yeah. No. Yeah. I know I

know that 1.

No. It didn't

Really went under the radar story. Yeah.

That would I imagine that would that would register with hockey player. Go ahead.

Sorry. Yeah. I mean if we're having a bad practice, like, just get on the line, like, you just just go, like, bag skate.

Oh, yeah.

But it's never unjustified. Like, if if we're bag skating, it's like, wow, we were really bad today. But like, yeah for me it's more just like call me in his office just like talk me, show me some video, like rip me a little bit but he knows like I can handle it like he's pretty comfortable with like like getting pretty pissed at me and it's like I know like sometimes they even have to say anything I'll just look at him and be like yeah like that was shit, like you know what I mean? Like he just he knows, I know, but yeah if we're like if we're a bad collective as a group, just bag skater like a good old ripping, like an intermission, like just like turning purple, like just ripping us. Yeah, just like ripping us, like but, yeah, no.

He's pretty he's pretty good with that stuff. Like, he's usually pretty positive, like, even if we're having a bad game, but, like, when it's really bad, it's like, I don't even, like, hide your face, like, look down, like, you don't even wanna make eye contact with him.

Alright.

Yeah. What does the opposite ever happen? Like, Jacob, get in my office. Look how well you're playing. This is fantastic.

I

don't know.

I mean

So no?

No. I don't know if

that's ever happened, but, like, no. Like, I don't know. Like, if I if I'm playing well, like, he'll definitely, like, he'll tell me, like, like, you're playing great, like, we've got a couple minutes at the beginning of the year, like, he knows I was he knew I was playing well, like, I knew I was playing well. But, yeah, no, not really any of that because then he doesn't wanna pump my tires and then show up and I'm heads too heads too big. So, no.

He's pretty good with that stuff though.

The level of hockey that you're playing at, like, 99% of hockey players never reach it. So on a typical game day, can you take us through your entire routine, like, when you wake up, what you eat, how much you practice? Say it's like a 7 o'clock game.

Does Richard make you breakfast? No, he makes you pasta, him and him and my belt mom Tanya. They like to pass.

Love it, love it? Okay.

So Friday 7 o'clock game, I have a pretty strict routine, like feels really good when it, like, everything goes perfectly. Like, I feel, like, really, really proud of myself that it worked out. Yeah. I don't know. I'll usually wake up around, like, 9:30, 9:45, sometimes 10 if I snooze the alarm a couple times.

Hit the rink around 10:30, get a little ice bath in, stretch through some mobility stuff, get home for around 11:30, like 12, hit a quick nap like 2 hours or so, like, I love a good good long nap, like it's amazing after that. Wake up, eat the pasta my bill is made.

Yes. Chicken Alfredo?

They change it every time, like we change it every week, so yeah, I keep it pretty different. Sometimes it's pesto, sometimes it's spaghetti, like it's always different. Get ready, go to Starbucks, usually get held up there for about 20 minutes, so I have to plan for that.

Now is it the Starbucks that you're here?

Yeah. No. No. I I try I try to go for 1 that's like main street that you wouldn't think there's too many people, but it's always usually pretty jammed. So I gotta I gotta leave with a good hour to get to the rink, like, just so I can be on time and, like, still be pretty early to tape my twigs and stuff.

So, yeah, I'll do that then then head to the rink and then, yeah, I got a bunch of kinda superstitious stuff that I do. Nothing too crazy, but, like, just some things that like keep me in the routine for the game. You wanna hear it? Okay.

Can we can we hear it? Alright. He wants to hear the superstitious.

Actually, the rest of us do stuff. That's

some really weird stuff, like show up to the rink, like 4:45. We had to be there for 5 o'clock. Like, usually dance for about 15 minutes with with with my line mate Tyler Hopkins. Like, I'll hop on aux, and I'll just like Alright.

What do you what kind of music? What kind of music?

Like, house music, love a good, like, beat that we can dance to, like, maybe even some like joke music that's just like funny, that's like it's a terrible song but it's like pretty funny. Yeah, yeah, we do listen to Soulja Boy. Yeah, we heard that too.

Yeah, we

heard it. We listen to a lot of like joke music and then like even like after our team meetings and stuff like we'll go play sewer, like I'll play sewer for 30 minutes, like I won't even stretch, like I'll just play sewer. And like me and Hopkins still will just be dancing like well we'll get out early on purpose as we dance, like we're just dancing in the hallway so like

and if

you guys ever wanna see come see a dance party, like, just show up around like 5:45 and you'll come see us like just dance in the hallway. Yeah, that's really it. Like I don't really do anything crazy, just dance. Like that's really it.

I remember

I think it was Chris Draper that used to put the entire right side of his body on first right up to the elbow pads and then the left side. Really? Including the skates and he would slip his skate through the

That's weird.

Yeah. Which is weird. That's really weird.

Do you have

any, like, getting your equipment on, weird things that you do, chaining your stick, weird, anything like that?

Oh, I got a really weird tape job that I do. It's like, so I'll go like like thick tape, like goalie tape on the toe, like about half my blade, then I'll cut the tape in half like a regular roll and use like thin tape up to like that point. What? I

don't know.

I started doing it in Calgary and I kinda liked it, like stick handle on the heel, shoot off the toe. Just kinda I don't know. It gives me a better mindset of, like, what to do with the puck on my stick. I don't know. It didn't really work because I was, like, dash 3 1 game when I used it.

Changed it after that. But, yeah, I've kind of been getting back into it. I kinda like it, like, it feels pretty cool and, like, I don't know, I like, like, lining up on a face off and, like, kind of putting in the guy's face, and he kinda, like, looks at it, gets distracted, and I'll just, like, lift the sticks, steal the puck back off the draw. So, yeah, it's pretty good. Yeah.

Just a couple weird things like

that.

Just a couple. Yeah.

Just a couple, I love that.

I never thought about distracting a guy off of face off. You ever write anything on the tape job, like just before?

I used to, I used to use a Sharpie, just kind of like, I don't know, I wrote like my dog's name or something, or like my buddy's name. Like, it'd be like, hey, like, I'm writing your name on my stick tonight. Like, I text him before the game and I was just like, yeah. I do a couple weird things like that, but I usually like putting it putting my, like, blade of my stick right across their visor so it's like they literally can't see and then snap it down, win the puck back, and like yeah. I don't know.

I usually, like, poke at their legs or something like that, like, get them a little off balance. Just baller them a little bit.

I'm like, hey, do you ever write anything sneaky, like a limerick? And he's like, no, I actually just shove them out of the way. Yeah.

I actually kinda am just better.

I I think I understand why you were drafted so high. Yeah. And I wasn't. Okay.

I I wanna so we've been to the draft. Unless, did you have question?

No. Go ahead. Go ahead.

We we've been to the draft. We went to Montreal, went to Nashville, didn't go to Vegas last year. Now it's gonna be decentralized. But 1 of the things that if you actually sit down, and I know people in this room have done this, you sit down and you watch the NHL draft and you're there for several Lord of the Rings movies. Like, it's a long Yeah.

Oh, yeah. Long slog in round 1. Round 2, it's like, hey, you're drafted. Get the hell out. We got the next guy.

Yeah. So you're drafted round 2, 2nd day. Did you did you even get a chance to take a picture and celebrate or or get up? Like, how does that work?

Did you know who picked you?

Yeah. Were you aware? It's like,

Calgary Flames, get out of here, please. I

don't know. Like, first round, like, you're there for 4 hours. Like, I think it starts it started around, like, 6 or 5 and it's like, I think we got out of the building at, like, 10:30 because I was standing, like, at a couple of buddies that that had a chance to go on. I had 1 guy that 1 of my buddies that went to to Montreal in the 1st round. So staying there, it's just like dragging it on and on, and there's, like, TV timeouts, and you're waiting, and there's trades, and you're waiting and waiting.

Then day 2, it's like you show up, it's like right away, like 8:30, if it started 8:30 in the morning, like the first pick was 8:29, like it might have even started before. So it's like it flew by and it's like going and going, like I don't remember who had the pick before where I went like 61st, but it's like they just called their name, like, people are clapping and then, like, over the clapping and just hear, like, Calgary Flames, Jacob Teigen. I was like, oh, shit. That's me. And I was like, stand up.

You were like, yeah.

I was like, stand up and hug my family. It's like instantly walking down the stairs, like, meet all the meet all the the GMs and, and all the scouts and stuff, meet all the staff. Then they just take you straight over to media, take some pictures, and then, like, even that probably took about 2 hours. So it was, yeah, it was a lot of waiting around, a lot of standing around, like, my family's just waiting in the lobby, and, like, they're texting me, but I'm not going on my phone because I'm, like, meeting people and stuff. I'm, like, I'm not checking my phone right now.

Yeah. But yeah, it was pretty, it was it was a long day.

After getting drafted, what was your sorta I mean, you haven't played in the NHL yet, but what was your welcome to the NHL moment?

I don't know.

I think just, like, like, just putting on the jersey. I was like, holy like, this is like a real chance now.

Had your name had your number?

Yeah. Like, it was Where did they assign you number? They had they had, what did they have? A draft

year or

24 or Yeah. Actually, I don't know if they're yeah. I think it was 24 that they had on it for for 2024. But, yeah, it was pretty insane. Like, throw the jersey on, throw the hat on, you're like, wow.

Like, this is a reality. It's like, didn't even really have time to soak it in because, like, everything's moving so fast, you're going down, you're meeting people, and then it was like, finally, like, after I was done with all of it, I'm like checking my phone, like, seeing Instagram posts, I'm seeing flames guys post videos on, like, on their Instagram, like, hey, welcome to the team. I was like, wow, this is insane, this is a reality. So yeah, just bringing that all in after, like, after the after the day was, like, pretty insane.

Yeah. That's awesome. And do do

you just, like, go home?

Yeah. I just, like Like, what happens? Do they go

to a is there a team dinner? Like, what

do you do? Oh, I just I went out for dinner with my family and then just flew home the next day.

It's so anticlimactic. Yeah. Weird.

It it so the draft was in June. You were drafted by the flames. What's it like being interviewed by Julian Mackenzie?

I

don't even know who

that

is. Oh, we're sending him that clip. He's 1 of the hosts at our network.

Oh, yeah.

And he hosts

1 of the other shows and he was a flames b reporter. Do you know that

he interviewed him? No. I don't. No. You don't know that.

I don't. I'm just I'm Wow.

You really set Julian up for that.

I never did.

What a great guy.

Enjoy, Julian.

I wanna say that when I walked in here tonight, I I was paid a a great compliment. I'm gonna talk about myself for just a second here.

Oh, no.

This does

get to you. I promise. 1 of the the hostess at the front there who was lovely, said to me, she's like, are you 1 of the players? And I said,

oh, really? This body?

I don't think so. This is what the players look like. So listen, Jake, you have been awesome. Your stories are great and everybody in this bar is a fan of you. So thank you for for showing up here.

Thank

you. Yeah. Can we get a go, France. Go? Yeah.

Go, France. Go. Go, France. Go.

Awesome. Go, France.

Go. Appreciate it. Thank

you. Alright.

So much. Appreciate it. Looking forward to Jacob playing in

the show 1 day. Everybody root for Jacob. 1 more time for Jacob Battaglia. Man, what what a great storyteller. Right?

That's a talker and they say hockey players can't talk on mic. There's proof that you can.

Oh, it's a 100 I think that's an old thing. I don't think that's a thing anymore.

Or is it a Leaf thing?

It could have been a Leaf thing. My wife never watches Leaf's games with me. The other day was a rare 1 where she actually did. And we got to the post game. They won, but you couldn't tell because well, John, what'd you think of the game?

Oh, no. Well, you know, we were clowning around out there and then we figured out our game and we stopped clowning around out there.

And, yeah. So, we won the game and it was nice to win the game.

And she's just like, wow. Like she she never comments on anything. She just goes, nothing, Like, just hockey guy through and through. I I it's older generation.

Yeah.

Because I think

When when you hear a guy like Matthew Nye's talk, like, there's a lot of energy. There's a lot of excitement. There's there's multiple tones in his voice on, like, John Tavares. You know? Yeah.

So, yeah, I I think it's definitely an older hockey guy thing. The new generation doesn't really have that.

No. You're right. I mean, I remember when Mitch Marner first got there, what he was like a puppy. He was, like, so excited. Nizi feels like he he just enjoys everything about playing hockey in a big market and being a leaf.

And and I think, like, you know, I guess, you guys would have watched the Boston series last year. Right?

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Is there a Bruins fan? Oh, no. What's your name?

Brew. Boo Richard, everybody.

Boo. We're very

hot here too. We're hot and cold on Richard.

Yeah. Yeah. We got 2

We got Richard and not so good Richard.

That's crazy. What's with 2 Bruins jerseys right up front?

And a Marshand jersey.

Yeah. Marshand yeah. Oh, my god. Oh, my god. No.

The reason I bring that series up is my favorite part of it was David Pasternak going after 1 of the Leafs and then Nies grabs and it goes, go me, buddy. And then and Pasternak backs off and he goes, yeah. That's what I thought. Like, that is

And did nothing the rest of the series. Yes.

You know what's a good quote? Frasier Minton. Like, he's he's in there, and he's he's talking. He's yapping. Like, he's not afraid of anything.

Like, he'll stand up there and give you everything you need in those scrums.

Nikita Grubankin's a good quote. He barely knows English.

Like, he's the he's the best quote

in the

whole team.

That's awesome.

Yeah. Good point. I'm gonna read

you a Barubay quote. And it has to do with, Nick Robertson.

I bet it's positive.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, Robertson.

We gotta lie.

Stand up and show everybody. Show the room. Show the room so

we got the world's people. That's a Robertson Jersey.

Fan in the back.

So this guy has a Leafs Robertson Jersey, and he came to our Oshawa live show with a Pete's Robertson jersey and got booed very, very

much.

Oh, yeah.

So we appreciate you coming out and not getting booed this time. Yeah.

Yeah. He

watched he watched Robertson when he was on the p 2. Tell me about how Robertson played every facet of the game. He was on the p b, on the p k, and at 5 on 5, he was like Scored? He was he was an energy he was an energy guy, and he was just out there running around. So we haven't quite seen that, you know, with the Leafs.

Well, so I do wanna say first off, yeah, just he is a Pete's fan. Yes. How do we feel about that? Are we okay with that? Yeah.

Okay. Alright. Alright. Alright.

It's not as visceral.

Not as bad here. Yeah.

No. No. Here's what Barubay said. He said he just has to play better. That's it.

We all know that. I talked to him today about it. We'll figure it out. It's my job and the coaching staff's job to help him. It's his job to find a way to play better hockey.

He he's capable of it. Ability, speed, good shot. We have to find a way to get him going. He had a, a a sort of a bush league offside which led to a face off against the Capitals which led to him taking an offensive zone penalty. And that is a big no no, especially with a guy like Craig Barube.

Is this guy done?

Like, they Here. Done here. They're they're obviously I I could see him having success somewhere eventually. They're holding on to hope with this guy because he seems to score goals so effortlessly. Like, there's based on last year

Not this year.

Sorry. Not this year.

Last year, he had 15 goals.

Last year, like, on very limited time, and there was every reason to believe that, you know, he would take a step forward this year. And, the the leaves are missing 4 forwards, and he's not in the lineup. Like, I don't know. I I I never wanna talk. I never want to talk bad about any player.

Like, I want to cheer for the Leafs. Mhmm. Right? This isn't me going get this bum off my team. I'm cheering for them.

But, you know, it's getting late quick, and it's December. And they've played 4 straight not so great games, and they've lost the last 2 of them. And we need the bottom half of the lineup to produce, And he's 1 of the guys who hasn't done it. Right? Like, they're they're going for other options.

Like, camp comes back. Like, camp is obviously that's not where you go for offense. But we know his role, and I have every faith he can do his role better than what is Robertson's role?

Alright.

What even is it? Like, this team

What would you have him do, guys?

Score, but he's not doing it.

Yeah. His his whole

thing is I'm going to be offense, and if he's not providing the offense, then you get the question of what do you do here? With a healthy Leafs lineup, if everybody in their forward group was healthy, he's, the odd man out. Like, I don't see a place for him, because already, like, Minton's established himself, I think, way ahead of Robertson. Dewar's ahead of him. Yarn Croke, healthy, is ahead of him.

Camp provides something. You know what camp is. Like It isn't offense. It's not offense, but he's useful, you know, as a setter man. So, yeah, Robertson's just the odd man out.

So where does he go with this organization?

It says something to me that Grubankin sat and, like, I mean, he's the kid. He can be sent down. Mhmm. But Robertson sat too while Minton stayed in. Number 1 I mean, the positive we take from that is wow.

Fraser Minton, very good. But like Robbie, god. I I appreciate Baruvi saying that, but the direction very obviously seems to be he's not gonna play games here anymore.

Yeah. Oh, you you think that's it? You think he's not gonna play?

They're missing 4 forwards. He's not in the lineup.

Do you think it's just a set, get your mind right back in?

I hope so if I'm his agent. Okay.

Yeah. For sure.

And then he plays the next game and scores.

So here here's what I wondered. Right? Like, the the the Leafs play style, which I actually love to change. How do you guys feel about the Leafs this year versus last? That's Mhmm.

Yeah. It's It's

a lot.

It's good. Right? And listen, I haven't loved this week worth of games. I have not loved their game this week. But before this, it's been really, really good.

I wonder if the play style, the dump and chase, that sort of stuff, which is stuff they never did before Mhmm. Has affected his game because he seems like

a rush player. Well, it's it's up to you as the player to fit in the system that your coach wants to play, and the system that the coach is playing this year has been a very successful system. Like, the Leafs are playing really low event hockey, and it's established themselves to be in every game. Even when they're getting outplayed like in the Washington game, they're still in that game. Like, they had a shot to win because of how Craig Groover has them playing.

And with last night where, Alex Nylander comes in and Pacheretti comes back, the 2 guys that are squeezed are Robertson and Grubankin, and you see that and you're like, okay. He clearly likes what those guys can provide more, and Patches will clearly be in the top 6, and then Nylander didn't have a great game at all, but Alex or Willie? Alex. K. A, Nylander.

But it's still he got there in that lineup ahead of Robertson. So there's not really space for him.

You know, let's take this opportunity to trash someone. It's not a player. It's the Buffalo Sabers.

Because Alright. We can all agree on that. Right? Yeah. Alright.

Yeah. There's no palm trees.

I so I still haven't seen that.

Yeah. And don't watch it. We're gonna do a full breakdown of that press conference on Tuesday. There are

times where I intentionally stay uninformed But Adam can inform me. Yeah. But I there are times where I watch Alex and, like, if if I'm not wearing my glasses or I squint, I'm like, that's Willie. Mhmm. Like, the way he skates and, he can shoot.

And why did he do that? That wasn't smart. The Bucks go in the other way. That's not Willie at all.

Yeah.

And I can't help but like, they were both drafted top 10, 8th overall. 1 of them was in the Leafs organization, which is notoriously and historically very good. Why'd you laugh? Why'd you no. And no.

But then there's Buffalo. And and I wanna say, Alex Nylander was sort of drafted in an era where the Sabers couldn't do anything right. Like, they're they're slowly digging out of it, but I wouldn't have trusted the 2016 Sabers with a Tim's run.

Well, you got you got you had Jack Eichel. You had Sam Reinhart. You had Brandon Montour.

Gone, gone, gone.

All and all of those guys have won cups.

Yep.

And were huge parts of it. I mean, Reinhart's gonna score 50 goals again this year, assuming he stays healthy. You know, that you're right. That's an organization that's not great to be drafted into, I think.

And and what'd you get, for Reinhardt? A pick and a goal you're also ruining. Like, Devin Levi's a good goalie. He's a good goalie.

Wow. There we go.

Alright. So I don't know. Alex Nylander also hasn't established himself as an NHLer. And he's got plenty years post Buffalo to

do that. It was also 4 teams ago.

Yeah. Yeah.

Honestly I

just wanted to get my shots in.

Yeah. You're taking a lot of side shots at Buffalo.

Yeah. Because why not?

Let him.

Why not?

With with the way Nylander played last night, they're probably a use case for Robertson to come back in and just show what he has. So I don't think he's done with the Leafs. No. He'll probably get a couple more shots, but with a healthy team, like, I don't know where he plays.

So yeah. You know, you get 1 guy back. Let's say it's I don't know, Domi. I forgot about Domi. I know.

Domi's still he's a former man.

Who I also forgot was hurt.

Right. You know They're all apparently coming back this week like it's Yeah. Bob McKenzie was the guy reporting it to McMahon. Mhmm. Bob McCabe.

All those guys are coming back.

And I just winced. That's good news. Yeah. No. No.

That's good. It's just for this 1 guy who we're all cheering for, it's not working.

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Now I wanna I wanna bring up something. You guys were at the France game with us, so you probably missed this.

But today, Joey Decord could not play for the Seattle Kraken. So they had to sign an emergency backup goaltender.

He said did he forget his passport?

He did not forget his passport. Oh. No. He wasn't getting his passport. Apparently ill.

41 years old? No. Not 41. Not an employee of the team. Played college hockey at, University of Alaska Anchorage from, 2012 to 2015.

He's currently a sales associate at the Stonex Group in New York City. I looked them up. You ready? Okay.

This is what

this man does for a living, and he sat on the Seattle bench this afternoon.

Don't tell me that company makes Zambonis. I'm gonna be so pissed.

I don't I don't know what they do. I'll read this to you. You can tell me if you know what they do. We are an institutional grade financial services franchise that provides global market access, clearing and execution, trading platforms, and more Run. To our clients.

That that sounds like, well, I think if you ask someone, they might say that sounds like money laundering or something.

Like, I don't I don't know. I

don't know what that means.

The the reason I bring this up is that we are about 2 and a half months away from the 5 year anniversary of the David Ayers game.

Yep.

Yeah. Already half a decade.

Can you guys believe that? Half a

decade. That was a pivotal moment for the Leafs because Kyle Dubas said, this year's team sucks. We're not making any trades. And that's what he did. He he was gonna sign Zach Bogosian who had just been waived, and he called him and said, Zach, this isn't our year.

Go find another job somewhere else. That's a true story right after that game. Now, Steve, that was a pivotal moment in your career and a pivotal moment in what became STPN because it didn't exist yet. So tell me, 5 years on, how do you view that moment in Leaf's history?

It's I remember the night and I I I still I think calling a penalty on on Kyle Clifford was insane. I I don't know what he was supposed to do. I don't think a lot of people

would have been in the

middle of

the day. Penalty.

Yeah. Yeah. You David knows. There you go. David's like, what

the hell are we doing? So I believe it was I believe it was James Reimer couldn't go that night or he got hurt early on. Peter Mrazek comes into the game. Puck is, like, along the half wall in the Carolina zone. Mrazek, if you're a goaltender, get the zoomies.

And no. And he just he did not tend the goal at all. He came 20 feet out of his net to go get the puck or whatever it was. And Kyle Clifford, you know, a hockey player, tried to go and get it. And then he hit 1 the bigger 1 steamrolled the other.

And that led to a 5 minute major, and it also led to Mrazek leaving the game. Mhmm. David Ayers comes in, and I remember just being like, this is so surreal, and I want my team to win, but this is also very weird. They score on their first 2 shots against Ayers, which no 1 really remembers. John Tavares and then Pierre Engvall.

His only goal for, like, 2 months was against David Ayers. It's ridiculous. But those 2 goals made Ayers the the goalie of record.

Yep.

They were down 31 or no. 31. I think they made it 41 or whatever it was. Leafs come close. And as they're coming close, I'm like, hooray.

My team is gonna win. Also, this is an enormous controversy, and no 1 is gonna be happy about this if the Leafs win. Even a lot of elite fans are are gonna go into work tomorrow, and they're gonna be like, that was kinda bullshit. Right? Like, probably shouldn't have got away with that.

No. And then with about, I think it was 8 minutes left in 3rd, they're down 63. I'm like, they're really gonna lose this game. They're going to lose this game. 1, 2.

Oh my god. He's the goalie of record. They're gonna lose. He's going to win this game. My cousin texted me the next day, and he goes, David Ayers plays, in net for my team on Friday nights.

That's actually amazing, Kissel.

Didn't say it.

I love that.

He's a Whitby guy. My cousin lives in Oshawa. He played junior a and, just unbelievable. But what what's so interesting is and and I I barely remember this because it was around COVID, and, like, I got, like, COVID memory brain damage, like, from it's just that pocket of time, a year and a half that I barely remember. But I was doing book signings back then for my first book, and, like, people were bringing me Lego Zambonis to sign at the book signings because it was so funny.

And, like, people were discovering me for the first time. People, hey, man. I never heard of you. And then I was 1 of the 1,300,000 people who saw this. And he when when the NHL season stopped on March 12th, my 32nd birthday, he stopped being able to capitalize on it.

And I was like, damn. Like, this is the most momentum I've ever had, and it's just dead. And that's not actually what happened. He was he was going on like Stephen Colbert. He was getting sent all this free stuff, and he had like 2, 3 weeks to enjoy that before the valve completely shut off.

People, became familiar with me who had never known me before. And even though they stopped playing games, I was still making stuff. I was I was making historical hat picks, and historical dang it, and trade trees, and we were still doing the podcast. And I actually think the momentum from that video, was able to carry because we never shut it off.

Oh, yeah. That's awesome. Okay.

The the thing that bothered me most about the Leafs in that game is they played the whole 3rd period with errors in net. Right?

The whole 3rd period, and I think they got 6 shots the

whole 3rd.

That was the thing is that they they scored on the first 2 shots, and instead of playing the the next 20 minutes of just throwing everything at the net, they just kept passing around. Instead of shooting on this guy

who is your Zamboni driver and anything's gonna go through, they didn't shoot the puck. And your practice goalie. Like, people forget about that. This wasn't the first time they met David Ayers. When I met Ayers, it was again it was during COVID.

It was at Jeff Merrick's house at his backyard. First of all, he's getting his equipment on, and he's like, like, he's like grunting. And I'm like, y'all alright? He's like, yeah. My knee.

I gotta get, like, surgery on it. And I'm like, and his knee's bad.

And they refused to shoot the puck. And it was extremely annoying. They did it to themselves, really.

I I do think they literally did that. Yeah. So if I think if you gave the Leafs truth serum, if you got them alone, if you were like, this will never get out, the majority of the guys who were on the team that night didn't wanna win that game once he got Do you

think they felt bad? Like, when when they saw, like, oh, there's an e bug in there. We know him.

Elliott Friedman sort of gave away the plot accidentally when when he talked about when the Leafs put airs in net

Mhmm.

And scored 2 goals on him immediately, executives from around the league started going to him like, this is bullshit.

Right.

Like, forget that he's an e bug. Forget that he's 42 and his knee's shitty. Like, he collects an MLSE paycheck. He's their practice goalie. He's wearing Leaf

pads. Yeah. Yeah.

He had Leaf's and Marley's pads. It was like Casimir Casquisquois equipment or something like that.

He didn't even have his own equipment.

Yeah. Yeah. It was like Antoine Bebo's or or something like that. And then by the end of the game, they were all like, l m a o. Just texting Friese about how funny it was.

But the the story, that's a funny story.

Mhmm.

But the lesson I took from that is if they kept the foot on the gas, if Carolina wasn't able to hold the fort, if the Leafs win that game, that is 1 of the biggest on ice controversies the NHL has seen in a very very

tough change rules about e

dogs and all

that stuff.

Chance they don't change the rules. Especially because it

holds the Leafs.

I do wanna go back to you and your channel though, because this also led to the other narrative about you, taking off. Oh. Because everybody who watches you and kinda doesn't really know you a whole lot thinks that you root for bad things to happen to the Leafs because, like you just said, your channel and everything you do explodes when we get these meltdown moments. So this only perpetuated that narrative about you because you had never been bigger than when this bad thing happened.

I wish it hadn't happened still. Like like, the last if you missed

it on the audio recording, somebody's like, sure. But like even

even last night, like, listen.

That was good.

People people who are in front of a camera for a living are vain. And I know my numbers are they haven't been so hot recently.

They've been good? No leaf no. The Leafs have been good.

And I said to Drew, I go, what's going on? Because, like, right now, I'm barely on pace to even catch my, in 2024, I'm barely on pace to catch 2023.

Right.

And he's like, well Still still pretty good. I think Yeah. But he's like, well, first of all, they're too good. He's he doesn't cheer for the Leafs, so he's allowed to say that. I disagree.

I don't think they could possibly be too good. I want them to go 82 and o followed by 16 and o. And they should go Yeah. Woo. They should go undefeated.

The the Bruins fans

are not like that, though. No. They're not.

Yeah. But but also, you know what happened in 2023? And this goes this flies in the face of, oh, he wants them to lose. You know what happened in 2023 that didn't happen in 2024? They went to the 2nd round.

Yes. Yes. Oh. Yes.

What's this what's this 1 and a half 1000000 view blip that happened in the sprint? Oh. 0, they did a thing. Yeah. Finally.

Yeah. So Adam, you

I would like them to win. You've what you've

known Steve's high school. You watch all this stuff closely. Yep. You know about that narrative about him. Yep.

What are your thoughts on that?

Well, I think so so there was a lot and and we're all a little guilty of it because if you wear blue and white, you need to be. There was a lot of copium going on after the 2021 series against Montreal. There was a lot of, don't worry, they just need more time. It's only been 4 years of this. And now here we are 9 years of this, but but at that point, you know, there that that started to get that was it was interesting because, what people don't understand is, okay, the Leafs lose game 7, there's a huge spike in views.

What about the 2nd round? Oh, there's no LFR. So there's no views. There's nothing.

Yeah. You

know what's better than 1 spike? 7 more games. Yeah.

It'd be so great.

Yeah. And and so Oh, I bet they

could do it again.

Yeah. So Yeah.

Like in the 3rd and also 4th round, I think that'd be cool.

And and this is where for me I

have those.

I I was kinda like

I was like, hey, there

are things that people will say when you get to a certain level and you go, okay. Well, that'll pass. And I knew that was gonna pass because if if it's true, it'll hold. If it's not true, you go, well, that's what people are saying right now. Tomorrow, it'll be something else.

And and I think at that time, when you started doing those streams for Sportsnet, which we've continued at SDPN sorry, Sportsnet. They're ours now.

Set our phone to steal.

Yeah. Yes.

The the

the Yarm80 plus. That's what SDPN is built on. I just want to say, like, I I feel like, you know, it's it's 1 of those things that you just kind of go, okay, that's that's a thing that some idiot said. And what's interesting about it is those people that were accusing Steve of it at that time are the same people I see now who are the first to respond to a tweet, 1st to comment on Instagram. They are sometimes, weirdly enough, the most passionate people that you can get.

So while they might be saying something that offends your ego in the moment, you're like, wait a second. They cared enough to comment in the

1st place.

Well, it can't be

that bad. I also, like, took an opportunity over the last couple of years to, like, talk to those people, like, stare them dead in the eyes down the barrel of the camera and be like, hey, is this your second video of the year? You sick piece of garbage. And and, like, I can't tell you how many people in the comments, but also in person, like, they'll shake my hand. They'll be like, I'm that fan.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. But, like, I just like when you get upset. And I'm like, that's okay. That's okay, man.

It's, when I started, no 1 watched. So this is better.

Yeah. This is way better. This is being here in Kingston with you guys is way better. I'll tell you that. Now, it's it's kinda interesting because Steve's first video on YouTube, the amount of people that watched it would probably be less than is in this bar.

Easily.

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Easily. I I promoted it in my MSN status.

Wow.

Why hasn't this gone viral yet?

Yeah. So let

me ask you that we're gonna do a q and a here, because we always do on our live show. So if you have a question, raise your hand. I'm gonna try to get to everybody. Do we wanna do the mic or are we gonna get feedback? The, the

Oh, no. We can we can do that. Yeah.

Okay. Let's give Matty the mic here. Matty, do you have the mic or does Jesse have the mic? Okay. So just don't walk directly in front of those and then we should be good to go.

So Maddie's gonna find you if you're if she doesn't go to you, be mad at her. Okay? But not at us because we're the baby faces. So, Maddie, pick someone who who looks, charming and looks like they'll ask a very cool question.

If they pick you,

say, oh. I do my best.

Yeah. And if she doesn't pick you, go, oh.

Yeah. Yeah. You're on. There you go. Okay.

Yeah.

Here we go. Okay.

You I like your hair.

Okay, Matty. Let's not take forever. Let's not take forever here. Let's just get to the okay. Okay.

First off, state your name.

My name is Dylan.

Hi, Dylan. Hi. Alright. Dylan, what's the question, dude?

Steve, I'm a fellow Ajaxian at heart.

Is that what it is? Ajaxian?

Man, who cares?

Okay. Great point. Great point. You know what?

You know what? I think I picked really well. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Sorry. That's not even the question. Alright. Ajaxian. Go right ahead.

Okay. Anyways, Steve.

Out of all the

places in Ajax, what's your top eats? What do you like to eat, man?

Oh, man.

You're a big guy so,

like First off, Steve wishes they'd open. What?

Hey. Hey. I'm not I'm not judging. I'm not judging. I'm the big eater as well.

Side?

Right. Oy. Steve, fat guy corner but Ajax edition. Also, I think Steve's first answer is he wishes we'd open a caesar company in Ajax.

Yeah. Right?

Right? Yeah. My, my favorite is, the caesar company that they're building.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

What's your caesar company? Go ahead.

I have a story after I answer this question. Chicken and dough. Do you know chicken and dough? Exactly. So it's got a weird name, and it's in a giant tiger plaza.

That's how you know that place freaking

slaps.

Right near your dentist? Hell, yeah, brother. Hell, yeah, brother. Hot honey sandwich. The the Chickpea chicken tendies, I can't believe how good they are.

It's not quite as good as the Caesar company, but it's

real good. Ajax, you

won't believe our strip malls.

Yeah. Our strip malls are such good strip malls. They're really good. Do you remember hockey night in cinema in London? I of course.

Yes. Do you remember that I was stopped heading backstage?

Yes. And the dude's like, where are you going big guy?

Yeah. Hey. Hey, big chief. Where are you going? Hey chief.

That we were stopped going into our own show in London at Western University, was it? Yeah.

But it was definitely like a student

and he's

like, where you going big guy? Yep. And that was like £20 ago too. Yeah. Son of a gun.

That's the story?

That's the

story. Oh, okay.

So I'm very triggered by the name big guy.

Yeah. Yeah. Over here. Over here. Good.

We're changing it up.

Alright. Give him

We got Ryan here.

What do you think about his hair?

Hey, guys. How's everyone? Hey, Ryan. How are

you, buddy?

You can let Ryan hold the mic.

Yeah. Everybody say hi, Ryan. Hey, everybody. Alright. So 1 of the big things we heard was, we just got here.

Right? We just got here. All management.

We just got here. So all the upper management and the new moves up until this point in the season, how's your evaluation for the for those for those guys who that was their we just got here, you know, but now now they've been here.

No. They just they still just got here.

Only been 6 6 months for Peli.

Right? There's yes. It it won. He's the most just got here. I I honestly would say it, for the first time in a while, there isn't an undertone of infighting.

For the longest time with the Leafs, it always felt like like like, listen, you can disagree on stuff. It's fine. It's healthy even. We disagree on stuff all the time. But Babcock was very purposefully undercutting his boss.

Like he Kyle would be like, do this. Babcock would be like, let me see your phone and I hate you, and would do whatever he wanted. And that obviously drove Kyle up a wall. Then there was obviously friction with Kyle and Shanahan, and there was reason to be mad at the job that Kyle was doing. There was reason to be mad at Shani.

There was reason to be skeptical of the stuff Dubas did because you're like, does he even want to do this because his boss won't let him do other stuff? And now it just feels like it's a bunch of dudes who get along. Hey, should we make this trade? No. Alright.

I won't do it. Should we make this 1? Yeah. Go ahead. And I I think you it's good when everyone at the same company doesn't, like, literally intentionally screw with each other and set them up to fail.

It was a little succession y. Yes. A little succession y. They Yeah. Yeah.

Like as you know, there was Dubas and Lou and there was that was a weird dynamic and then Lou left and then Dubas and Shanny's relationship fell apart after Dubas and Babcock's relationship fell apart. And then Mhmm. Yeah. And then, you know, and then Dubas is gone. And Keef and Treliving don't see eye to eye.

And Wes Clark does not wanna draft the guy that Treliving wants. And Wes Clark's out. I'm going to Pittsburgh. And it's just like And

I'm gonna post tweets about it.

Yeah. That's weird.

Be sort of strange.

Yeah.

Like, I I just I don't know. It just I think it helps when you

like your job. By the way, you look familiar. Have you been in commercials?

I was here

last year.

You're in

a good year? I was

here last year. Why was that in a

TV commercial? What? Because there's like a hockey TV commercial. You look exactly like a guy. Yeah.

Alright. Well, great.

Why did

you ask the thing about commercials?

There's a guy in, like, a Canadian Tire commercial who looks exactly like you.

Is that

you? I looked at you.

I I saw you through stage. I'm like, that guy's been in commercials.

Never been in

a commercial big guy?

You could be.

Tell us about your favorite strip, small restaurant there.

The 1

thing I

don't know.

Guys I don't know if you guys remember this, but at when Dubas was fired, The Athletic did an article about how there was a bunch of Dubasites in MLSE who were, like, crying. And everything was melting down. And I look back on that now, and I don't think it aged too well. You know? I think it might have been, like, maybe Dubas and Spetsa and maybe Wes Clark.

And everybody else is kinda still has their jobs and everything kinda functions much better now.

To to

That they're gone.

To their credit

Mhmm.

From all accounts, he's a good guy. No. And so it might be No.

He said he's not.

A personal relationship thing. I hate that. I hate that.

Hold on. Hold on. Why do we have to qualify it?

When you have a work BFF and they leave, you're upset about it. Sure.

Right? Okay.

So that's where I I take that. Now, the people, and I won't name them, in the hockey community who didn't work for the Leafs who were also crying about it. In the real NHL? In the real NHL. Not in the real NHL.

This is not the real NHL. So the fake NHL.

I think that the crying about that which has continued, not in a actual crying sort of way, but a little bit of a, you know, oh, settle dick at your living here. Some of the thing. I'm like, guys, this team, needed a new set of eyes. It's very clear. This is the best I think it's the best hockey team we've seen in 20 years, easily.

And

So far.

Yeah. And and defensively, especially. I think you need sometimes sometimes you could be brilliant, but if you're too close to the painting, you can't see the whole picture. And and I think it was a time it was time to change. Now, time to move on to the next question, Maddie.

Hi.

Hi. Who do we have?

Hi, guys. I'm Victoria.

Everybody say hi, Victoria. Hi, Victoria.

She does

not seem ready for this. She is flustered.

Which is weird because I'm a professor, but I made notes. Oh.

0. Professor of what professor?

Wow. What is what are you professor of?

Health informatics.

Oh, yeah. How what what? I I don't know what that

What is that?

What is that?

We govern your health record, health record, health data, all that stuff in the hospital.

Are you about

to tell Adam what regression to the mean?

Are you Progression. Everybody's mad at you. Why don't that at all?

Everybody's mad at you. Anyway, you were saying. Sorry.

Sorry. So we gotta focus because this is a a little bit of a long 1.

Alright. Oh, okay.

But if the Leafs could bring back any player, retired or active, from their own roster history to play 1 more season, and you get that player in their prime, who are you picking and why?

Easy. That's easy. Easy. Easy. Easy.

They're on it, Lars. Jeff

Finger? Drink the rest.

I my answer is Matt Sundin. You put him at 3 c. Matt Sundin is our new 3 c.

This team's going to the top. Sorry. They're going to

the top.

Sorry. I gotta just say it.

Doug, man.

We're in Kingston.

Doug mother effing Gilmore. Alright? A 145 points. Doug Gilmore.

Come on. I want

more. I'm gonna say, Yannick Perot. You need you need face offs. I think it's really important. No.

I I don't know. It's a sad answer, but, Port Portia Salming. Absolutely incredible.

That's great.

Probably best defenseman they ever had.

Right here. Over here. Over here.

What's your name? Tanner. What is it? Tanner. Hi, Tanner.

Everybody say hi, Tanner. Hi, Tanner.

Yeah. That's alright. Well, 1st

and foremost, go since goal.

Yeah. Woo.

Woo and his kick him

out. Tomato, tomato.

Anyway, this is a

quick 2 parter, mostly for Adam and Jesse. Quick question.

You're out, loser. Why don't you go take a seat?

Yeah, big guy.

Hey, chief. You wanna go sit down?

Sorry. No. So you want me and Jesse, but not chief big guy? I like Yeah.

Exactly. Guy. I can't

believe the older I get.

So are you team Russell or team Max? That's the first part. And second, no 1.

Team Russell. Yeah.

Who do

you think is gonna win the drivers and constructors next year?

Okay. So, Jesse? Jacques Villeneuve. So you're yeah.

Is probably gonna win.

So hold on, Jared. First of all, I don't know how much you wanna dive deep into f 1. I don't know how many people

Oh, yeah. We got f 1 fans?

Oh, yeah. We got some f 1 fans. I am so happy that George finally called out Max on his nonsense. He's been nobody in in sports has been a bigger I don't know if I could say it's a bee baby.

Piss baby.

Piss baby is what I wanna say. Max Verstappen. Yeah. And finally, someone called him out on his nonsense. So, yeah, God bless George Russell for finally standing up to him.

It's been awesome to see this week. And, next year, obviously, Lewis Hamilton with Ferrari is gonna win the driver's championship. So there you go.

So, you guys all know that today, McLaren won its first, championship since 1998, baby. Yes.

And that is why I

am wearing this. Good year.

So that so I think next year, because I'm biased and I don't care. Lando Norris and McLaren are the answers.

Lando Norris. Lando Norris can't get to turn 1 with the Leafs. Hey.

He got it today.

Oh, wow. He left it in lap

1 to the end of it.

Yeah. When everything was over. Yeah.

I I think you Whatever, Jesse. You guys are sleeping on Mazda.

I I

think they're gonna do it this year. They're gonna

What are you driving? A Mazda 3?

Maddie, what's up? Yeah. Alright. Over here we have Martina who made the cookies of all your faces. Oh, Martina.

If you

wanna check

that out, it's on her Instagram story. She is so talented.

You're the best Martina.

Okay. What's your question?

Not you promoting our socials.

First of all, thank you so much for everything that you guys do. Like, the bond that this has made for my son and I watching you guys every morning has been, like, amazing. So thank you so so much. Thank you. Sears, I have 4 kids and the 4th 1 is the 1 I finally got to be a Yeah.

Let's go. That's right. A lifetime of heartbreak. Let's go, mom. So so I have a 100 questions, but I think, like, what is the biggest difference between Keef

and Barube? Like, what what what like, what's we think it's been fantastic that the change has happened, but what's been the the biggest impact do you

think has changed?

Good question. Good question.

I will answer that with a story. The, the house the street I grew up on had a bunch of yappy dogs in the neighborhood, and they would yap at each other. And it would go on all night until something interrupted it. Because Bolo, our neighbor's rottweiler, would just let out 1 of those. 1.

And it was over. Sheldon Keefe is not a tiny yapping dog. He it it was a scrappy player. He regularly turned purple when speaking to the officials very politely, I thought. But there was too much pleading in him.

I felt like he had to beg these guys, and it also didn't feel like he had the agency or the power to call them out the way he wanted to. Craig Barube comes in. He's carving guys in the media 1st week. Mhmm. And, yeah, it's chief.

Like, it's Craig Barube. You you don't tell him what to do. He's the coach. He calls the shots. And for the first time in a long time, it feels like the coach is in charge.

That's not a shot at Keefe. Like, I'm not calling him a weak leader, but it definitely felt like he wasn't able to be, the coach that he needed to be. I I stand by what I said about, like, I think he's a great match for the devils. I think they've done pretty well with them. But Barube right now is a 100% the team or the coach that this team needed.

1 thing from being at practice and talking to reporters, they say last year with Sheldon Keefe, there was never any time to breathe that the guys had when they're around him. It was always nonstop. Not not necessarily yelling, but, like, we're we're focused. We're doing hockey stuff. And Brube is actually a lot more relaxed in between times when he's trying to instruct the guy.

So they'll have their, like, downtime and things are kinda fun right now time, and then they have you better listen to chief time. And that dynamic where there's an up and a down has really opened the guys up to be more relaxed and then play hard when they have to play hard. But Sheldon Keefe was a 100 all the time. And when you're that all the time, it kinda wears thin, and people just drown you out.

Eventually, everyone's got a breaking point, and eventually, they're gonna blow up at you or just completely ignore you. I had heard rumors of the big guys, so I'll let you guess which 1. No. It's William Nylander. Like, he he he just, like, would be William Nylander at Sheldon Keefe, and Keefe didn't know how to handle it.

But William Nylander is a chill guy who you probably don't need to tell everything everywhere all at once. And I don't think he was shy about letting Keefe know that I don't need to hear this shit. I'm I'm William Nylander. Right? Like and that's not to say they didn't get along, but it is to

say There could have been there's professional tension, and that can be a good thing. Yeah. But but

he wanted more ice time. And Craig's like, okay. Well, you should probably play better then. And then he did. And the darnedest thing happened.

He got more ice time.

He's got more ice time than this in his entire career, this season. Okay. So so listen, Martina, there's 1 thing about that question. Those guys answered it perfectly, but the first part of it is I'm so glad that you use our show in your life for any sort of bonding. I just wanna say that to be a part of anybody's routine is all we can ever hope for.

And to be a part of yours, for you guys to make the journey to be here on a Sunday What a privilege. For all have work tomorrow. I just wanna let you know that we so appreciate you, so appreciate you being here. Without you, there is no us. And and I just and and so it is a it really is a pleasure.

And and just to prove it to you, I'm gonna buy you off by giving you dolls. We have McFarlane Toys here. This is a Jonathan Marchaso winning the con Smythe, but we're gonna do some trivia. Preds legend. Preds legend, Mark Jonathan Marchaso.

I just wanted to cheapen my sentiment here because I'm afraid of feelings, but, if we can if Steve, if you can can you just conjure up a trivia question that and and somebody is gonna Matty's gonna pick the person, you gotta put your hand up. Don't yell it out.

I'll be I'll be on the lookout first hand up. Yeah. Okay. You know? Okay.

Alright.

So, Steve, come up with a question.

A lot of Leaf fans don't know this offhand. What was William Nylander's first number in the NHL?

Right here.

29. It was not 29. No. No.

He had a number in the back 29. White hat backwards.

He didn't think

You gotta get an answer. What is you.

62 was his Marley's number.

Mhmm.

Ramsat. No answer. I thought it

was 60 Beautiful man. It was not 24. See, it's a good 1, A.

In the back. He's 39.

39. Woah. Everybody, that's Dave Owens.

Here you go, buddy. And we have to add

to that, there there was a significance behind 39. The reason Nylander wore 39 is Lou Lamoriello was his general manager and said, here you go, stupid. That was it.

So Steve, before we get to the next doll, what what could somebody who wins this doll, what could they possibly do with it? Like, what's the thing that you could do with this?

You could definitely, put, like, double sided Velcro tape on the back of it and stick it to your wall. Uh-huh. And you could definitely get 79 others and put them next to it. Yeah. In a room in your basement.

How much again did you pay for that James Reimer doll?

$60. $60.

Oh, it's a lot.

The the washer across the room

is just over.

I got the next trivia question.

Give it to us, Jesse.

What is Nikita Grubankin's current number?

Who's first, Jesse?

There you go. 71.

1 redemption. There you go.

There you go, buddy.

Well, we'll pass it

back. Thank you, Matty. For check.

Hire me for?

The paycheck. That's right.

And Steve you can, come up with the next 1.

0, no.

Last 1. The last 1.

It's a Jonathan Marshall so again.

Yeah. It's cool man. What? Okay. Nick Nick Antropov wore number 80.

Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan.

Sorry. Okay. Die.

He wore number 80. He did not always wear number 80. I believe he was number 11. Why did he change his number?

Right now. Right here. Red Hat.

Owen Nolan.

Owen Nolan got traded to the Leafs. Wow. There you go.

Oh, wow. You knew that

so quick. I saw your

hand up before you used it. I am the anthropop man.

Yeah. Alright. So, guys, I just wanna say another big shout out to everybody here at Caesars for hosting this event tonight.

Yes. Please tip them well. Yes.

Tip well. I wanna thank the Kingston Fronten for year 2 of an amazing partnership.

Woo hoo.

They kicked off everything. And by the way, I I it's it's a nice little segue here, but the Kingston Frontenacs are the reason that we get to do any other market as well. We also, for the first time, got highlights rights to the OHL.

Oh, wow.

So every every single week, and we're gonna work on the release date because the Friday night release date isn't working, but, it's not. It's not. It's buried on a who's watching a video on a Friday night except for Steve.

Me. So Now he's watching.

That's right. Steve's got he's gonna basically it's it's the hat

pics of the OHL. Woah. Woah. Woah. Woah.

Woah. Hey. Sorry. I forgot. My phone was set to steal.

Oh. Do you

guys I got that.

Do you guys think, oh, wow, is even sort of similar to happiness?

Oh, no. It's not. It's not. It's not.

No. No. Adam, so it's it's a it's a highlight video where I commentate on the highlights Oh. Of the Ontario Hockey.

That's so different.

It's extremely and not just goals.

That's right. Yep. Sometimes goalie goals too.

You know what, man? Yeah.

You know

what? How

dare you, Adam?

So so I just wanna say to finish that point, thank you to the Kingston Frontenacs for taking a chance on us because a bunch of other teams are now too. And thank you guys for showing up every single time that we're here. Really, really appreciate

it. Whoo.

Alright. We'll wrap it up there. Thank you so much, guys. Enjoy. I would like to get a picture if

that's okay.

Here before before wants to do something.

Before that, I wrapped it up perfectly. Let's continue.

I had I had 1 more question.

Was done.

No. No. I I had 1 more question. What's your name?

Trevor.

Trevor, is today your birthday?

Yes. It is. Oh.

Happy birthday to you. And that mic down Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Trav. That's him. Happy birthday to you.

The Steve Dangle Podcast. Follow the guys on Twitter at Steve underscore dangle, at Adam w y l d e, and at Jesse Blake. Connection is complete.