March 25, 2025 • 52 mins
Energy Line with Nate Thompson and Julie Stewart-Binks open up talking about Julie’s trip to Bali. They also discuss Alex Ovechkin and The Gr8 Chase and whether he will break the record before the season ends. Wild GM and Hockey Hall of Famer Bill Guerin then joined Nate and JSB. He discusses playing against Nate, getting into the GM role and being the GM for 4 Nations Team USA and how they can improve moving forward. Guerin also talks about Alex Ovechkin and the Gr8 Chase, playing with and coaching Sidney Crosby, reacting to Pat Maroon retiring, the playoff push and how important Marc-Andre Fleury has been for the Wild this year.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Energy Line is a production of the NHL and iHeart podcasts.
Welcome on into Energy Line with Nate and JSB. I'm
Julie Stuart Binks. He's Nate Thompson. Coming up later on
(00:24):
in the program, we will have the general manager of
the Minnesota Wild US four Nations, General Manager, NHL legend
and Hall of Famer Bill garn Is going to stop by.
But first Nate. Great Nate, Great to see you back
here on the show. After I took a sojourn across
the world to Bali, Indonesia, which I appreciate, Nate messaged
(00:49):
me on Instagram and said, sorry that I told everyone
you were in Bali, and I'm like, I've literally put
up a thousand Instagram stories that I'm in Bali.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
I realized that after I said that, I was like,
I guess she's been posting this.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Nod stop, I'm across the world. Don't tell anybody I'm
on vacation.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
So let's talk about that. How was your trip?
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Honestly, it was one of the most like people would
this is what I had expected. I would have said
coming back, Wow, like Bali was so zen.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
It changed me. I feel like very calm.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
I mean, some of those things are true, but I'd
say Bali was an absolute shit show, and not in
necessarily the greatest of ways. Every day had like its
own plot. I told people I wasn't on my phone
or checking email. That's because I had to be so
present all the time. I couldn't look at my phone
(01:49):
because like I don't know, there was just a lot
of chaos going on pretty much everywhere. And also there's
like if you've ever been to Bali or Thailand or anywhere,
it's like very dangerous walking around the streets. These like
the like scooters, mini bikes everywhere can just literally flatline
you in one second. My friends were all going through
(02:11):
chaotic breakdowns of their life, like I mean talk or
life talk and real shit life stuff, and you're like, okay,
I guess.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
We aren't going to be going to the beach.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Club today and getting you know, shit faced. We're going
to be like working through some trauma.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
And also the yeah, we you know, to be honest,
it was, it was.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
It was life changing in that like had a lot
of experiences I documented. I put it up on Instagram,
just like as I as one does, Like I got
really sick one night with with a parasite and e
coli just a lovely thing to get when you're there.
(02:55):
Bali is very you have to be very careful with
the water and the food. You can't like eat any
fruit or vegetables. And if the fruit unless the fruit
has been peeled, like you can have a banana in,
but if it's been unpeeled, don't because also the water
there and then people like don't wash their hands, but
like if they do wash their hands, they still.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Need to sanitize them.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Like that place is not good if you are a
germ freak or hygiene at all.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
It's like it's just not good.
Speaker 4 (03:24):
It's not a good place to go if you're freaking
out about germs basically, yeah, because.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
It's just like what, you're gonna wash your hands and
then you're gonna purell your hands. After that you're gonna
your hands is just gonna be like raw. Also, they
not sure how you feel about this, but I I'm.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Not a bat girl. I cannot stand bats.
Speaker 5 (03:44):
What are your thoughts.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
There are a lot of bats over there big time.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Really, I'm not a batperson either. They kind of freak
me out too. Yeah, good, I'm not I would not
be good with that.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Yeah, because a lot of people are like, it's fine,
They're kind of just like pigeons of the night. I
was like, that makes it worse, like pigeons are like
drunk rats, Like you know, I don't want a bat
flying into me. Like I just it was, yeah, if
you're I just felt like I always had to be
like I was like, a.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
What is it like? I just was always like on
the defense. I just like what you had your head
out of swivel, constantly constant hit on a swivel.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
A volcano erupted at one point, like one time a
tree fell down like right across the highway right in
front of us. Like it was just there's just a
lot of like final destination stuff that went on, I guess,
and thankfully made it back in one piece.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
Oh you're here. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
And also, by the way, guys, it's twenty seven hours
away when I I so, I won this trip in
a silent auction one quote unquote, I bought it and uh,
I did not know where Bali was when I did that.
I thought it was just off the coast of somewhere
(05:02):
that happened to be Indonesia.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
That's on the other side of the world.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
So anyway, I had to use it before the end
of March twenty twenty five, which is why I went
away and took a vacation at that moment.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
I didn't want to, but I'm glad I did.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
And yeah, I came back with absolutely no tan whatsoever.
I think I'm actually like more pale since coming back.
But Nate, I digress. What kind of crazy shit annigans
went on here while I was gone.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Not a whole lot of crazy shanigans. It was my
daughter's birthday this last weekend. She just turned two.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Oh happy birthday.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Yeah, happy birthday in a while there, so she actually
I took her to her first hockey game on Saturday.
The Kings played the Carolina Hurricanes at like one pm,
which is perfect for her. It's not at night, you know,
it's after a nap, so she can go and enjoy
the hockey game.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
And yeah, she had a blast.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
I was actually working the radio that night or that
afternoon as well, so my family came and she enjoyed
the game, and Wilder got to witness her for.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Hockey game, so like, what does that mean? She lasted
five minutes and then was like, I want to go.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
No, she actually no, she loves it and we and
luckily I was able to finagle a sweet so I
had a bunch. She had a bunch of room in
there with my family and no since since that La
Charity game I took her to that I played, and
she's like obsessed with hockey.
Speaker 4 (06:23):
Now.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
It's oh, it's hockey all the time. I had to
buy like the mini sticks in the mini.
Speaker 4 (06:28):
Net in my house. Yes, yes, I know.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
I guess it's inevitable with how much hockey I watched too,
or she's just constantly looking at the TV saying hockey, hockey, hockey,
So I mean it is what it is.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
It's fun.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Hey, that's great.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Get her hooked on hockey so you don't have to
watch like Bluey or whatever like people watch it.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
Oh no, no, no, we watched that too.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
We watched Mini Mouse's uh Mini Mouse basically lives in
this house too.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
I love it. I saw the Instagram videos you have.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Of your daughter scoring goals and I was like, damn,
this is so great. Just start that prodigy, the prodigizing
right now with her. She's just turned two. You're like
Tiger Woods's dad right now. So I think that This
is great. Also, I was going to rass you about
your Instagram because you put up all these videos of
you and your daughter and they're like thirst traps basically
(07:20):
for like women who are like, oh my god, me
is such a good dad.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
I don't know how I reply to that is that,
I guess from that point of view.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Come on, this ain't the first time you've heard it before.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Of course I've heard it before. But at the same time,
I'm not doing it for the first trap. I'm doing
it because I love my daughter.
Speaker 4 (07:40):
No.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
I know you're like, hey, okay, well they're setting up
your tripod like I need to. I need to get
some good content out there, all right, where daddy's at
work as well.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Like content is part of my job, all right.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
Why let's do a let's do a fake one. Let's
do a f.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Yeah, now be sad, now be happy, all right, where
we'll figure out which edit works best with what kind
of trending music we have. It's funny because there are
people out there that do this kind of stuff with
their children. Okay, but you guys were watching a lot
of hockey and I told you this when I was gone,
like because I didn't I didn't check one score because
(08:19):
I was worried about bats the whole time. I couldn't
have my phone out and was like, maybe Nate, you
could tell me as if I'm like Austin Powers being
cryogenically unfrozen. What's like I do know some of the
I know what happened last week, but like, but what
would be your biggest headline of like what would you
(08:41):
tell somebody who just like came to planet Earth like me,
that what happened last week or this week?
Speaker 2 (08:50):
I mean, I think the big thing that we're all
watching and I had to continues is the chase with Ovechkin.
I think every night, you know, whatever Washington's plan, everyone
is just concerned and checking the box score to see
if he scored. And I think, to me right now,
is that's like kind of the leading headline because yeah,
playoffs is coming up around the corner. But I think
(09:11):
everyone is keeps checking how many games are left because
of you know what, is he seven goals away now?
And I can't how many games exactly? Is a twelve
or thirteen some something around there? It's tight, It's tight,
It's going to be close. It's going to be very close.
And I think right now, that's that's the talk. I mean,
I think the fact that he could beat Wayne Gretzky's
(09:33):
record this season and do it before the playoffs, before
possibly the Washington Capitals win the President's Trophy too, It's like,
this is storybook stuff, and I think that's the lead
headline right now.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
So how do you think guys on other teams feel
when they're facing ov at this point?
Speaker 4 (09:53):
It's funny you bring that up.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
And when the Kings played the Capitals a couple of
weeks ago, one of the reporters asked filled to know
and he said, you know, I would love for Ovi
to score, you know, just not tonight, not on us.
But I but I think everyone is really rooting for like, yeah,
player players throughout the league.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
They want him to break the record.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
And I don't know if it's you know, to the
point where they're like, oh, yeah, you can score on us,
but I think every single guy is like, yeah, I mean,
this is this is unbelievable. I think everyone like me
and you are fans just like the players are.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Okay, hypothetical, last game of the season, he needs like
one or two goals up against a non playoff contending.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
Team Pittsburgh I believe too.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Okay, well they're like.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
I think Pittsburgh's. I think Pittsburgh's. There is the last
game of the season.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Oh wow, the NHL scriptwriters have done this one real wow.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
Against his buddy Sidney Cross.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
OVI and sid just just the perennial highlights of this league.
Because I was just thinking, like, well, what if you
were like as a team, like, hey, are we all
going to band together and just like let this Like no,
he has to earn it. He has to earn it,
but you can't. It's like it's so close, it's like
(11:13):
come on, just like come on, you know, just let
in a softy.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Well, Ovi, if he just gets ah, he needs to
get a hat trick, just one hat trick. He can
get one hat trick in these last however many games,
then it becomes a lot more interesting. You're like, Okay,
he's he's gonna get it. I think if he gets
one hat trick, maybe it's tonight who they play Jets.
Maybe it's tonight against Jets.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
I don't know about that one.
Speaker 5 (11:39):
Never know.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
OVI plays big and big games, do you know. I'm
so checked up here? I want him to break it.
So because I picked him to break it this year,
you know, or he got hurt.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
So do you put any money on that one?
Speaker 4 (11:55):
No money, But I'm all in on it though. I'm
all in.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
I'm at the point of this season right now where
I'm excited about stuff, but I also need to put
money on things to keep myself engaged. And I think
that's also like an attention deficit sort of thing.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Or else. I'm like, all right, like, I don't know.
I think, yeah, I very much. I know we're yeah,
Like I love I love betting on games.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Do you know your boy Kevin Fiala did me real
dirty one time. I almost won like seventeen thousand dollars
if he had just scored that.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
In one game.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
I was like, what he didn't score?
Speaker 3 (12:38):
No, and I won't forget it obviously.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Yeah, Okay, we're our Our producer Jake Brown has just
mentioned shot on goal parlays.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
Would you like those?
Speaker 4 (12:52):
Uh?
Speaker 5 (12:54):
I'm not.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
I guess I've never bet hockey before, So what I
haven't I haven't well I haven't really wow.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Well all right here, well step into my van. I've
got canned for you.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Okay, I mean I think I've I've given advice to
people that have asked me like, hey, what do you
think do you think the over on two and a
half shots D I'm like, yeah, I take the over
on that.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Well, yeah, it's because it comes down to stats in
the game really percent.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
But remember I just stopped playing like two years ago.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Right, and you were like you're you're trained. Your brain
is like, I'm an athlete, I can't bet.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Well yeah, and I'm like I think I have Like, yeah,
it's fear of like, oh what am I. I know
I'm allowed now, but it feels like I'm still not allowed.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Yeah I get that. I get that. Yeah, yeah that
makes sense.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
There's so many good analogies I want to use, but
I don't want to get fired. So but I think,
like you can you can't bet on games that you're working,
you know, no, like L A Kinks.
Speaker 4 (13:55):
For instance, I can't. I can't do that.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
Yeah, I know that.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
I'm saying like just to the general population, I'm not like, well,
I I was just repeating.
Speaker 4 (14:04):
It because I wanted to make sure that I knew.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Hey, tips, Yeah, that's same with I mean listen, like
as reporters and stuff. When we would be in the
locker room and you're or you're on the plane and
it's like you see someone with their arm in a
sling or something like that, Like, uh, you know, I
work also for a betting company. But like whenever they
asked me, say, went Tall Star Game last year, I
went for s n Y, another company I work for.
(14:28):
I'm just like, I'm such a media whore. I'm like, Okay,
I'm working here, but I can't work for the betting company,
but I have access from the other company. So I
told them I can only give you information that I
could get that this credential would allow me to get
as a betting thing. Like if I saw, you know,
(14:48):
someone with an injury, you don't get that information.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
That's very hard for your brain. I'm going to say,
that's a lot.
Speaker 4 (14:55):
That's a lot to compute.
Speaker 5 (14:56):
That is.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Yeah, it's surprised. It's surprising. I haven't a cross wires
more or now I've learned and nate anything. If you
have information, it's almost worse to have it. Like I
listened to the Insiders. I saw Elliott Friedman almost like
he was like weekend at Bernie's after the NHL trade deadline.
(15:23):
He was dead, and I was like could that guy's
working his tail off, right, and it's not fun breaking
news because everyone hates you.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Did you see the clip that I think they are
interviewing on TNT and he said in one day he
had twenty hours of screen time on his phone. Twenty hours.
That is absurd in one day. So he was on
his phone like twenty hours in one day during the
trade inline, So people give some respect to Elliott Freeman.
(15:56):
That guy is a dog. That guy Wow, impressive.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
That guy's a dog.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Het to you, fridg Yeah, okay, all right, Well we
got to get to our main event here on the show,
and that is the fact that we were able to
fortuitously get a great amount of time with the one
and only Bill Gharon GM from Minnesota Wild GM of
(16:22):
the USA team for four Nations and two times Stanley
Cup champion.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
So don't go anywhere. We have that right after this.
All right, welcome back in.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
We are extremely thrilled and pleased to welcome in Bill Gharon,
Minnesota Wild General Manager. He played eighteen seasons in the
NHL from ninety one to twenty ten.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
He's a twenty.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Thirteen US Hockey Hall of Famer, two time Stanley Cup Champion,
general manager for the US at the Four Nations and Bill,
thank you so much for taking.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
The time to join us here today. We know us.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Ahead of our recording, you and Nate were discussing your
playing days together, which is wild to even imagine the
fact that you two were even on the ice at
the same time. You got to tell us what's what's
what's it? What's Nate like? What's your relationship?
Speaker 6 (17:20):
Like?
Speaker 2 (17:21):
I don't know if we were ever on the ice together,
cuche tu Shae as you were.
Speaker 6 (17:32):
We Uh, well, we had a lot of fun playing together.
I can tell you that it was awesome and they was.
I was old, Nate was young. But we hit it
off and he was an easy target for me and
Dougie Waite like just but you know what, if you're
not being made fun of, that that's that's a problem
in the NHL. If you're being made fun of and
(17:53):
poked at and stuff, that means you guys like it.
So Nate was always always just a great kid.
Speaker 5 (17:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
I remember walking in every single day and Billy and
Dougie probably they had something to say to me every
single thing. It was like right away I'd walk in
to be like what's up, guys, and the right of
the like, oh what's up, what's up Nate? Every single
day it didn't matter. Yeah, Billy, it's it's it's awesome
to have you on. And I was my first question,
I guess is after retiring from playing, what interested you
(18:24):
in the management side?
Speaker 6 (18:27):
Uh, that's a good question, you know. I had to
kind of figure it out first, you know, Ray Shiro
was was Uh, it was good enough to let me
kind of did my tone and and see a lot
of different things. You know, I worked part time, well,
I took about three months off and then from Christmas
(18:47):
time on to the end of the year, I worked
kind of part time, no pay, just covered my expenses,
and I saw a lot of different things. I saw scouting,
I saw player development, I saw American League, a lot
of American League stuff and.
Speaker 5 (19:01):
Figure player player development was kind of the.
Speaker 6 (19:03):
Path that Ray suggests that I go down, and I
ended up doing that, And I think that's one of
the best jobs in hockey, especially when you're starting out,
because you're exposed to You're exposed everything.
Speaker 5 (19:13):
You scout, you help prospects, you deal with.
Speaker 6 (19:16):
The American Hockey League, you're in pro scouting meetings, amateur meetings.
So but then again, there's a natural draw for players,
I think to coaching because that's as close as you
get to the game and the players. And it was
just something I saw the management side of it and
putting all the pieces together that that really was the
draw for me to managing. And yeah, it took, you know,
(19:41):
it took a little while to get there, but it
was worth it. I cherished the years that I was
driving all over the place and flying and dealing with
a lot of great people, and it really.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Really helped me rank because you've really got to put
in so much time, especially I mean getting to a
general manager position, regardless of your hockey background and career.
Just seeing a lot of the scouts go into the
small towns, just really hustling so much of probably what
your younger years in the sport were like. I guess
just to follow up on that, for guys that are
(20:15):
retiring who might not be like a broadcasting star like
Nate or who you know might not be weighing Gretzki
as a broadcasting star, what advice would you give them
if they were maybe potentially looking at being in management
or front office don't wait.
Speaker 5 (20:37):
Don't wait.
Speaker 6 (20:38):
You know, it's really hard because you know, as a player,
you don't really pay attention, you know, to everything that
goes along. So don't wait. Get get involved as soon
as you can, because once you're out, you're out, and
it's hard to get back in. No matter who you are,
you got to be willing to work. It's not a
glamorous job. It's not a cushy job. And you don't
(21:01):
just learn, you know. And I think one of the
one of the things I really wanted to do, Like
I knew the guys, like when I say to guys
like the Scouts, the you know, the pro scouts, the
amateur scouts, I knew they respected my playing career, but
I really wanted them to respect my post claim playing career.
Speaker 5 (21:22):
And and my work ethic.
Speaker 6 (21:24):
And I wanted to prove to them and show them
and earn their respect in a way that I had.
Speaker 5 (21:33):
I had to put the work in.
Speaker 6 (21:34):
So if you're not, but if you're not, if you
want race here always said the biggest thing that scares
me as a former player that wants a business card
and office and a paycheck and not do the work.
And those guys I mean, they get weeded out pretty quick.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
That's good to hear, because I I've I've definitely learned
a lot since being done and not playing anymore and
now getting into for you, Billy, now getting into Minnesota
Wild and since you've you know, taken over, as you've
seen just the transformation of the team and where do
you see where do you see the development of the team,
And since you've taken over, are you happy with where
(22:09):
you're at right now with with with the Wild.
Speaker 6 (22:12):
I'm really happy with where we're at. I've seen a
lot of growth, you know, I think we've really developed
a strong culture here. You know, it's we we had
to change a lot when when I first came in,
and you know, the players that we still have from
those days, the players that we brought in have really grasped,
(22:33):
you know, the importance of culture.
Speaker 5 (22:35):
And and building something. I think.
Speaker 6 (22:39):
We've made steps as players, you know, we you know,
guys like Boldie and Favor and ROSSI, you know, taken
big steps.
Speaker 5 (22:48):
Yeah. I like the way it's going.
Speaker 6 (22:50):
I mean, you know, everything that we've had to deal
with over the last four years with you know, the
empty they're the dead cap space. We've had tons of
injuries the last two years. We're still performing at a
at a at a at a good clip up and
you know, I think, you know, the coaches and the
players especially have done an awesome job. I like where
(23:11):
we're headed, and you know, it's it's it's been a
lot of work and a lot of sacrifice, but from everybody.
Speaker 5 (23:18):
But I really think we're going in the right.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
Direction, right And Bill, you had mentioned that you had
a five year plan of things. I think you're in
is a year two of it?
Speaker 6 (23:30):
We're probably uh uh, well, we're in the fourth year
of our dead cap space, so we're coming out of
that after this season, So things will things will take
a we'll go in a different direction with kind of
how we've been operating. We'll have a lot more flexibility,
uh and what we're able to do. So the way
(23:51):
I look at it is that after this season, we're
going to be able to take another step. And you know,
I think we should probably avoid numbers just for Nate,
see well, I mean.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
For Nate, And I was like, what what year is
this in the when did the five years begin? But
just to follow up on that point with just the
idea where you mentioned that you will have the ability
to go in a different direction or or do something
different because of the cap. What's maybe something you would
(24:23):
like to do different with this team that you think
could could help improve it.
Speaker 6 (24:28):
Yeah, to be honest with you, I'd just like to
the flexibility is the biggest thing for me. Like you know,
we we've had we've had to operate under some pretty
tight constraints, you know, with our salary cap issues, and
it'll be nice not to have to do that, to
just have that flexibility, uh, to be able to add
(24:48):
players without subtracting. You know, for the last couple of years,
it's really been dollar in, dollar out type of deals
that we've had to do.
Speaker 5 (24:59):
So it'll be nice to to to add players without
having to subtract.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
D thing switching gears into now four Nations I really
want to ask about that. And you know, you played
on the you know, the ninety six World Cup team,
and when you constructed the four Nations team, were you
trying to maybe have some similarities between both teams.
Speaker 5 (25:20):
No, honestly, I wasn't.
Speaker 6 (25:23):
Well, you look at the first of all, the coach
has a lot of input in situations like this because
you know, I talked to Mike, like, how do how
do we want to play? What's our what's our game
plan going to be?
Speaker 5 (25:35):
How do we want to construct your team like this
team that you're going to coach, And then we go
out look at the type of players that we have
available to us, and it just so happens that a
lot of our players are they've got some sandpaper to
their game.
Speaker 6 (25:51):
They're abrasive guys, and and that's just the way it
kind of turned out. But they're also highly skilled and
can produce. You know, I just think it would have
been like ninety six was nineties and that was awesome.
That was a totally different era of hockey. And you know,
today's game is played with pace with skill. You know,
(26:13):
you have to be able to check, like as you
saw the games, they were so close all and there
was no space, so you have to be able to
play both ends of the rank.
Speaker 5 (26:22):
It's it's just a different game.
Speaker 6 (26:24):
So I wanted to just construct a team with good
balance that could kind of play any way you wanted
to play.
Speaker 5 (26:30):
And you know, I think we I think we did.
We came a little bit short in that, but it was.
Speaker 6 (26:35):
A I mean, I'll tell you what an unbelievable experience
and great for the game, and it was it was
just awesome to be a part of.
Speaker 5 (26:42):
And I think it's such a great lead into to Milan.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
Now, going into Milan, like you know, going to the Olympics,
What does that process look like now for picking the
team and does a team look a little bit different
now because the game is a little bit different, you know,
being I h HF not NHL rules like it is
was with four nations.
Speaker 5 (27:01):
Yeah, definitely. I think there's always adjustments we can make.
Speaker 6 (27:05):
You know, we're we know we're not going to be perfect,
but we can always try to get better. You know,
We've had a couple of meetings in the last few
weeks of kind of like debriefing and just kind of
going over it, and yeah, there's always things that we
can improve on, improve on. There's there's going to be
other players, you know, taking a step in their career
and guys that were close this time that didn't make it.
Speaker 5 (27:28):
Maybe they're you know, maybe they're going to be better
than than.
Speaker 6 (27:31):
Some guys that we're on the team and we take
them so we don't know, we have to kind.
Speaker 5 (27:36):
Of let it.
Speaker 6 (27:37):
You know, time will tell I guess we'll get through
the rest of this year, start playing next year and
see see how guys are doing.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
Yeah, it's a fascinating timeline to have something like this
that's an NHL event and then swiftly in just you know,
under twelve months, have a double IHF Olympic event and
trying to figure out kind of the differences in playing.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
But it's it's great.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
As you mentioned for the game, I'm curious from your
vantage point. I was at the games in Montreal, and
you know, the place was just those fights I'll never
ever forget for the rest of my life, and all
of us were just like, oh.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
My, oh my god, oh my god.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
You know, I think everyone, Nate, we were both there.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
We were just like, Wow, what was that like for you?
Speaker 1 (28:21):
From a general manager perspective when you see a game
start with three fights in nine seconds?
Speaker 5 (28:28):
I thought it was awesome. I loved it.
Speaker 6 (28:30):
I mean, I was, you know, honestly, I'm pretty uh,
I'm pretty relaxed during our games here in Minnesota, and
I don't I don't. I got heated every once in
a while, but not a ton and and.
Speaker 5 (28:44):
Those games were tense, Like I was, I was, I
was pretty tight.
Speaker 6 (28:49):
For those and then when that happened, I'm like, holy jeez,
look at like this is.
Speaker 5 (28:53):
I couldn't believe it.
Speaker 6 (28:54):
And I like, it's not just the Americans either, They're
like the Canadian guys too.
Speaker 5 (29:00):
They're all just playing so hard for their flag. And
that's what made it great, Like it was just the.
Speaker 6 (29:07):
Players made that tournament, they made that game, They made
that whole thing possible because they put it all out
there and I loved it.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Yeah, I think I think everyone just it really captured
so many people who weren't even hockey fans ahead of time.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
I found.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
I just loved hearing from people who were betting me
on the on the final game and they'd never even
really watched a hockey game before.
Speaker 3 (29:31):
I said, this is a win, regardless of what happens.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
You mentioned the flag, you mentioned the guys really really
being patriotics, standing up for whatever side they were on.
I'm just I'm curious from your from you know, your standpoint,
when when you hear the booing from the Canadian fans,
how do you think that, like, what kind of influence
(29:56):
do you think that had on the guys on the bench.
Speaker 6 (29:59):
I think everybody just understands and just deals with it.
Speaker 5 (30:03):
There's nothing you can do.
Speaker 6 (30:05):
It's I think, to be honest with you, I think
that had something to do with you know, there's a
little bit of a political kind of flair to this one,
and I think that's just not a heighten the importance
of it. And no, I think that all just kind
of added to it. I don't think there's any The
(30:27):
Canadian guys and the American guys all play together too,
you know, or against each other. We're not involved in
politics for playing hockey. But I think I think it
just added to it.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
It's good that you mentioned that because obviously that was
that was part of what was going on. I think
that you can't really ignore it at that point. I'm
just I'm wondering when you guys were heading into this
and you're in Canada and you hear the booze and
you're against this team, and were you aware of all
(31:01):
the fifty first state rhetoric?
Speaker 4 (31:04):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (31:04):
Yeah, I mean I think everybody is, and I agree
with it or not. You're you're you're aware of it.
But that had nothing to do with it.
Speaker 6 (31:15):
We were we were playing a hockey game, and that's
all it was. We wanted to win a hockey game.
We're not trying to make political stances.
Speaker 5 (31:23):
Or anything like that. It's just all about the hockey.
Speaker 6 (31:26):
And like I go back to it, like the players
on all four teams made the tournament. They made they
made hockey probably the most popular sport in the world
for a couple of days. And like everybody, everybody, everybody
was talking about hockey and it was just and it
was just awesome. And I, like I said, I can't
(31:48):
give enough credit to all players on all four teams.
Speaker 5 (31:52):
It was spectacular.
Speaker 3 (31:54):
Mm hmm. They definitely. Everyone was extremely into it.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
And I just have one last question, Nate ending me
the gears here because I got the three oscars behind
me right now. Yeah, you know, I I'm was fascinated
by it.
Speaker 3 (32:09):
All I found.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
I found the fact that we actually had people like
yourself talking about hockey, talking about you know that this
this game didn't happen in a vacuum. Of course, like
it there was. There was, as you mentioned, an added
element of what was going on in the world. When
you invited Trump to the game and for the final
(32:33):
and you know, you guys had that that call from
him ahead of the game.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
We saw it on ESPN.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
Did you maybe know at all what that maybe might
have meant to Canadians just based on what we talked
about with the tensions at the time.
Speaker 6 (32:50):
No, And you know what, like I said on other interviews,
like you know, and I guess I took some some
heat for it.
Speaker 5 (32:58):
But I've been fortunate to go to the White House
four times.
Speaker 6 (33:02):
I think now I've met Bill Clinton, President Clinton, President Obama,
President Trump. I don't care who's in office. If the
President of the United States is calling, I'm picking up.
I don't care who it is, a Democrat, Republican, whatever,
it's the office. And I'm a proud American and that's
(33:23):
that's it. People can try to.
Speaker 5 (33:25):
Spend it politically either way they want.
Speaker 6 (33:28):
I'm not buying it. It's just a bunch of bs.
I'm taking the call right.
Speaker 4 (33:33):
Well.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
I appreciate you talking about this kind of stuff. I
think that's really important because a lot of people kind
of try to they make it.
Speaker 5 (33:41):
People want to make it a story when it's not
a story. It's they want to make it.
Speaker 6 (33:45):
They want to get clicks, they want to cause, they
want to cause chaos and havoc so they have something
to write about.
Speaker 5 (33:52):
It's just not that.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
Did you feel like there was chaos and havoc after
because of that?
Speaker 5 (33:58):
I don't read it. I don't read that. I don't
read anything, so I don't care.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
I was going to shift to back to the hockey
part of it, which is, uh, you know Alexander Vschkin.
Obviously he's chasing his goal scoring record and you got
to play with you, Sidney Crosby, and you got to
witness what he did at four Nations and you got
to see what he.
Speaker 4 (34:18):
Did when you played with him.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
Are you a little surprised at what's going on with
both of them and with the goal scoring record and
how sid is still performing at the way he is
after playing with him for so long ago.
Speaker 5 (34:29):
No, I'm not surprised at any of it, to be
honest with you.
Speaker 6 (34:32):
I guess with with with I'm not surprised that they're
both playing at such a high level.
Speaker 5 (34:38):
I mean, they're great players.
Speaker 6 (34:39):
They I am, like I just I never thought that
record would be broken. Wayne's Wayne's record and Ovi is Ovi's.
He's a machine like it's It's incredible. And the thing
I love about it is, like you you would think
it would become old hat, you know, like scoring all
this one.
Speaker 5 (35:00):
He still gets.
Speaker 6 (35:01):
Jacked up for every single and he celebrates and he's pumped,
and that's that's what I love. And I think, uh, yeah,
it's incredible. It's incredible that that he's chasing down that
that that record. I just I never thought that'd be broken.
And and Sid, I don't think he's slowed down. He's
still producing at a high rate. But he's so far
(35:24):
ahead of the game. He's so far ahead of the
play in his brain, he knows what's going to happen.
You know, I've seen him play a bunch this year
on TV, and it's just he makes simple, subtle little
plays that open up the ice or create scoring chances
for other guys or defensively, you know, he's he's smarter
than he's ever been. Like, it's it's actually incredible. Yeah,
(35:45):
it's it's amazing to see what those guys have done.
Speaker 5 (35:48):
But they're they're they're great, they're legendary. So I don't,
I don't, I'm not really surprised.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
Yeah, we're so lucky to be able to watch them
and to continue to see them elevate their game. When
I assume many a couple of years ago. We would
have thought at this point in their careers they would
have been on the on the downward trajectory, but they
just continued to elevate it. When you played, did you
ever have a guy going for a record? We asked
(36:15):
this to be ex a couple of weeks ago and
just wondering if you've ever had someone that that had
a milestone or had a record that they were going
for that was on one of the teams that you
were playing for.
Speaker 6 (36:27):
Yeah, yeah, And people were following us around. Nate Thompson
was trying to get his sixth.
Speaker 7 (36:34):
Goal of the season, and it was it was really
a tense moment. When's he going to do it? Is
he going to do it tonight? And it went on
and on and on the thirty.
Speaker 4 (36:48):
Games and then and then we had a hell of
a night after I scored that goal.
Speaker 6 (36:52):
Yeah, sixth goal, new new career high, and we we
we had a bunch of beer celebrating that.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
Those good delivery. That was really good delivery.
Speaker 5 (37:05):
You know what? The record, you know what I remember,
we still know this one.
Speaker 4 (37:11):
Dougie got his thousand points, I was sticking the same thing.
Speaker 5 (37:14):
Yeah, that was that was that was awesome.
Speaker 6 (37:17):
Like that was that was great? That was when Doug
Wade got his thousand point That was really the one.
No NHL record or anything like that, but you know,
one of my very best friends getting his thousand point
and uh, you know, being able to be on his
team for that was was awesome.
Speaker 2 (37:36):
I guess that's my next question, Billy will like to
be able to play with Dougie and I got to
be with you guys. I mean I felt lucky to
be able to play with you guys, and and you know,
we weren't a very good hockey team, but we had
a good We had a good group of guys.
Speaker 5 (37:48):
And we had fun.
Speaker 4 (37:49):
But what was it like for you?
Speaker 2 (37:51):
You know, I know it was towards the end of
your career, but to be able to play with Dougie Waite,
you know, and I know you guys.
Speaker 4 (37:57):
I think lived next to each other too, didn't you.
Speaker 5 (37:59):
No?
Speaker 6 (37:59):
No, no, we we god yea, we lived a little
ways away, but we were together all the time, so
it was almost like we're neighbors. But it was you
know what to So played on three NHL teams, with
three Olympic teams, two World Cup teams and he's just
(38:21):
the best. And like, honestly, it was especially late late
in our careers to have that. It was it was
good to have, you know, somebody that knew me so
well to it was like you said, we weren't very good,
so we had to have a good time to kind
of stay sane and like but still like behind the scenes,
(38:42):
it was really frustrating when you're thirty six years old,
you see the the end's coming and you're just not
good and you can't perform, like the team stinks. You
can't do the things you used to kind of pull
them out.
Speaker 5 (38:57):
So it was good to.
Speaker 6 (38:59):
Have that that that I was going to say, somebody
you know to listen to you, but it was more
of a shoulder.
Speaker 5 (39:06):
To cry on or or to pass me another bud
light like this get me out of this.
Speaker 4 (39:15):
Yeah, but it was but it was great.
Speaker 6 (39:16):
And I'll tell you what to Nate, like you know,
And it was in Long Island and it was in
Pittsburgh too.
Speaker 5 (39:20):
For me, the young guys.
Speaker 6 (39:21):
On the team, we're we're equally as important.
Speaker 5 (39:26):
There were you guys are all you know, young energetic
guys came to the rank excited.
Speaker 6 (39:32):
You didn't you didn't have the experiences that that we had,
but in a good way.
Speaker 5 (39:36):
You were kind of like wet behind the ears. You
didn't know as much that was going on, and that.
Speaker 6 (39:41):
Was great because that that gave us energy too, that
that put a smile on our face. We wanted to
hang out with you guys because there was there was
good energy there and positive energy. So the young guys
really really helped us out too.
Speaker 1 (39:54):
We'd be remiss to not ask you about Pat Maroon
announcing his retirement. We know, you know, Nate obviously played
with him, he played on the while before. But for
a guy like that who has a unique skill set,
but who's also won three Stanley Cups, like what maybe
stands out to you about Pat Moroon's career as an
(40:15):
NHL hockey player.
Speaker 6 (40:17):
Honestly, he's an unbelievable teammate. Like I've seen Patty operate
and you know what, you know, it's great about Patty's
story too.
Speaker 5 (40:25):
It's like how he kind of got himself there, Like.
Speaker 6 (40:30):
You know, he's kind of a mess when he was younger,
like you know, like it wasn't the smoothest road for him,
but he kind of matured and he built himself up
and then he just became this unbelievable teammate and effective
on these great Stanley Cup winning teams. And but man,
what a career he's put together. And uh, he's just
(40:52):
an awesome guy. Like and I think anybody that played
with him, I mean I had him as you know,
one of my players. But I love the guy. He's
just willing to do whatever it takes to win. And yeah,
he's just fantastic. What what a what a great career.
Speaker 2 (41:08):
Yeah, he was definitely one of my favorite teammates, Patty Patty, Uh,
the big rig has got.
Speaker 4 (41:16):
He's a character, that's for sure.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
But yeah, you're right. I mean you go back to
how he started, how he came in the league. He
Patty had to he had a battle, and like you said,
I mean the career he had three, three Stanley Cups,
how important he was to every single team. I mean,
you know, I I texted him at the other night
after you know, after he announced or whatever, and you know,
of course he gets back to me and you said
(41:38):
it he was just a great, great teammate.
Speaker 6 (41:40):
Yeah, yeah, and he you know what it's Yeah, it's
just awesome to see you know, Like I said, you
come in contact with a lot of great people in
the game.
Speaker 5 (41:49):
Uh, Patty. Patty is one of those guys. He's an
ultimate teammate and I love him too because there's no.
Speaker 6 (41:55):
There's no bss right to the point. He says what
he says.
Speaker 5 (42:00):
He says what he's thinking or what he believes to
be true, and that's just it. And you know, you're
either a big boy and he can take it or
he can't. And I love that of all.
Speaker 1 (42:09):
Yeah, when he played for the Ducks, I just remember Nate,
as you were talking about and Bill that you so
appropriately mentioned, he did have to work really hard for it.
There were times when he was really just kind of
a role player there that I could have never imagined
he would have won three Stanley Cups at that point.
Speaker 3 (42:25):
And then he went on and he was.
Speaker 1 (42:27):
Able to find find what kind of player he had
to be on different teams, and really I think he's
a great role model in that regard, and also for
teammates and and the glue guys are so important. I
think they're just there's sometimes overlook we look so much
at like skill and scoring and all that, But Nate
glue guy over there, I know that he helped out
(42:47):
the team a lot too. Just before we let you go,
NHL playoffs are upon it, coming up, coming up soon.
What are you what what storyline or what what aspects
of how things are going in the NHL other than
of course things like Ovechkin and all that kind of stuff.
Are you excited about? What sort of peaked your interest?
Speaker 6 (43:09):
You know what the the deadline was really was really
something this year, some of the big moves that were made,
how teams kind of loaded up again. We're playing Vegas tonight.
That's what I'm thinking about, Like we just we just
got to keep our head above water and keep playing
and get in. But I think the league is in
(43:30):
a really good place right now where you know, especially
for fans, like your team's never really out of it
and all eighty two games are important now.
Speaker 5 (43:39):
So I'm really looking forward to the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (43:42):
You have Mark Andre Fleury and he's announced it's his
last year. How important has he been not just for
your team but obviously your locker room of players since
you've had him.
Speaker 5 (43:53):
I'll tell you what he's been. He's been so important
for us.
Speaker 6 (43:58):
You know, when we brought him in, I just thought
it was really important.
Speaker 5 (44:03):
To have a guy like him around.
Speaker 6 (44:05):
Like he's again kind of like Patty. This guy's the
ultimate teammate. If he's unhappy about something or whatever, he'll
never let it show. He'll deal with it. But he's
always supportive, he's always in it. He appears to be
in a good mood. But the thing is, I love
it because Flower is a Hall of Fame player and
a Hall of fame human being. And when our young
(44:25):
players are looking at how he prepares, how he practices,
how he competes, how he plays in the games, how
he handles adversity, how he treats other people, fans, waiters, waitresses,
bus driver, flight attendants, whatever. He makes everybody feel like
they're the most important person in the world. And I
think for our players, you know, young and old, to
(44:48):
see this hall of fame or how he operates important
and impactful and powerful. I think that's what I'm trying
to say, is he's been so.
Speaker 5 (44:57):
Good for us. And what a career. What a guy.
Speaker 1 (45:01):
Right, All those little things tell so much about the
character of somebody, and I'm sure rub off on the
entire locker room and how they treat people, and then
how they are professionals on and off the ice.
Speaker 3 (45:11):
But we'll let you go. Vellie. Really truly appreciate your time.
Speaker 1 (45:14):
Thank you so much for joining us here on the
Energy Line, and good luck tonight and the rest of
the season.
Speaker 5 (45:19):
Yeah, thanks for having me on, and good luck working
with Nate. He's one of the best, one of the best.
Speaker 3 (45:25):
He tries hard, he tries hardy.
Speaker 5 (45:27):
You know, Nat, you know I love you, buddy.
Speaker 4 (45:29):
I love you too, Buddy.
Speaker 1 (45:36):
All right, So that was Bill garon Six Degrees of Separation.
Nate Thompson literally has a connection with every single person
in the entire world.
Speaker 3 (45:44):
Sure or false?
Speaker 4 (45:45):
Probably true with how many teams I played for, right.
Speaker 1 (45:48):
Yeah, and that you've been on the Real Housewives of
New York.
Speaker 4 (45:52):
I have a finale I believe it was, and it
was what I don't know what an episode it was,
but season finale. I'm pretty sure season finale. Yes, I was, Yes, But.
Speaker 2 (46:01):
That was awesome to have Billy Garret, my former teammate.
What a guy, but serious though, he is the best.
Speaker 1 (46:09):
Glad he answered my hard hitting big j jour no questions,
because that's what we do here on the Energy Line.
We bring it any different way we want because that's
what energy lines do. Okay, So we wanted to give
our flowers to some people and.
Speaker 2 (46:24):
Nate Kirsten Simms of Wisconsin. They just had a national
championship gaming inst Ohio State. There was eighteen seconds left
in the game Ohio State. One of the girls covered
the puck with her hand over the crease. Well, Wisconsin
gets awarded at Pelly shot. Well, they can elect to
either have a man advantage or get the Pelly shot.
Speaker 4 (46:46):
Well.
Speaker 2 (46:46):
Mark Johnson, who's the head coach, alects a Pelly shot.
Kirsten SAMs raises her hand and says, I'll take it.
Speaker 4 (46:52):
There's a qu wow. There's a clip of her take.
Speaker 2 (46:54):
She says, I'll take it, goes and it is the
sickest move like these hit like her hands were ridiculously
moving fast like Patrick Cane style. Deeks the goalie so
bad open that and then over time she scores the
game winner to win the national championship. So damn, Kirsten Sims,
(47:15):
my flowers go to you yaps. Snap Snap, Snap snap.
I hope you girls had a great time after that game.
I'm sure you did.
Speaker 4 (47:23):
Wow. Kerson Sims, Bravo.
Speaker 1 (47:25):
I love that she just like put her hand up
like yeah, I want to be Kobe in the clutch,
give me the ball with three seconds left.
Speaker 4 (47:33):
You can you can read the coaches were his lips,
and he says, who wants it? And you just see
her hand like in the back go up like this,
and you're like, wow, this girl's got some.
Speaker 3 (47:42):
Guts, Like yeah, I can't imagine like national.
Speaker 2 (47:45):
Championship on the line. It's on the line, like if
she hadn't scored, they're done. Ice in her veins, peeks
the goalie out, and I mean, so Kirs and Sims,
all the flowers.
Speaker 1 (47:58):
You got to have a little axe murderer gene and
you to be like, yep, give me that.
Speaker 3 (48:03):
I want that.
Speaker 1 (48:04):
And also that's I mean, yeah, that's great. What a
great example love. And also I have my flowers. I'm
giving to another women's hockey player, Abby Rock. I'm sure
you guys have seen first p WHL player.
Speaker 3 (48:18):
To do score Michigan goal. Loved it.
Speaker 1 (48:22):
She's with the New York Sirens. She's also just like
a badass. And so I covered the New York Sirens
for the PWHL. I wasn't I didn't cover this game.
But like she's incredible and the fact that she I
think the goalie like was just like I think it
was em Emerates smash Myron goal.
Speaker 3 (48:39):
I'm not exactly sure, but she just like like where
did it?
Speaker 4 (48:42):
Wait?
Speaker 2 (48:42):
What?
Speaker 3 (48:42):
Like what.
Speaker 4 (48:44):
I watched the replay? You saw reaction, like what did
that just happen? You really just do that? To me?
Speaker 3 (48:51):
I love it?
Speaker 1 (48:52):
And then it was great because then like NHL Network
and everywhere is having her on, and I was just
pumped because it's just another like we're trying to get
women's sports, women's talk hockey to have the platforms, and
it's first of all, it's people like us talking about it,
but it's like the NHL, NHL Network acknowledging that MSG
(49:13):
putting that on, like all these different entities, Like you
can play as much hockey as you want, but if
you don't have people supporting it and helping it to
a platform, then it's just a it's it's just no
one's ever going to see it. So then you see
someone like Chris and Simms or Abby Rock doing that,
You're like, wow, maybe I could do that someday, you know,
like maybe I could be one of those players. I
(49:34):
unfortunately never had that as.
Speaker 4 (49:36):
A kid, Angelie, I love that.
Speaker 2 (49:38):
I mean my daughter, I mean, like I said, she
loves hockey and for me to see those girls do
these things, I mean, it's it'll be fun for her
to hopefully watch it and maybe do the same thing
one day.
Speaker 1 (49:47):
Yeah, sit her right down. Have her watched that those
highlights on repeat. She's too This is a perfect time
to get her brain trained. I'm not joking.
Speaker 3 (49:59):
Do you know why not?
Speaker 1 (50:01):
If I ever have children, boy will they be prodigies
of my failed dreams. But I did want to say
one last thing we were discussing before we go, just
about a really fascinating thing I wanted to run by
you when I went to Bali that I forgot to mention,
because that's my entire personality right now, is that I
went to this energy healer guy because okay, so I
(50:23):
missed this like cool waterfall temple blessing thing. I know
you can be like whatever, woo woo, girl, but like
that's the kind of stuff they do in Bali. It's
the healing capital of the world. So I missed that
because I was I was so sick. I had like
e coli whatever, all this stuff. I think I'm fine,
Now I don't know. So I went to this energy
healer guy. He didn't know who I was because I
didn't even have an appointment.
Speaker 3 (50:44):
I just like walked in. He told me a lot
of cool stuff about myself. I told you, you.
Speaker 1 (50:47):
Told me I was really powerful and like anything. But
the one thing that he said was he goes, put
your legs out, like I'm sitting on this pad on
the ground. He goes, put your legs out and he
grabs my calves. And my calves are so tight and
in pain. I was a sprinter when I was in college.
That was those twenty years ago. I had stress fractures.
(51:08):
And he grabbed my calves like so hard, and he
was like does this hurt?
Speaker 3 (51:11):
I was like yeah, ah.
Speaker 1 (51:13):
He presses on my ITB band and he's like does
this hurt? And I'm like god yeah, oh, Like I
mean like he's he's putting his fingers right in the
ITV band and then he goes to my hips.
Speaker 3 (51:23):
I'm like, no, it doesn't hurt, and then my back.
Speaker 2 (51:25):
No.
Speaker 1 (51:25):
Then he goes does the exact same thing on my
legs on my ITV band as hard as he can.
He's like, does this hurt? And I'm like no, And
then he does it on my calves. He grabs them
as hard as he did before. No pain whatsoever. I
have no pain where I've had pain for twenty years.
Speaker 4 (51:41):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (51:42):
I don't know what to say. I'm speechless. I mean,
that's some that's some crazy shit.
Speaker 4 (51:45):
It's crazy shit, crazy healing shit.
Speaker 2 (51:47):
But that's crazy healing energy shit, which is great because
you brought the energy to the energy.
Speaker 1 (51:52):
Oh, Nate, that's why they pay you the big bucks.
Oh God, bravo, bravo, and thank you. And on that note,
we are healed here with the energy. Thank you guys
so much for listening to episode eight of our new podcast,
Energy Line with Nate and JSB. Energy Line is a
production of the NHL and iHeart podcasts.
Speaker 3 (52:14):
Thank you to.
Speaker 1 (52:14):
Minnesota Wild general manager Bill garn for joining us this week.
Thank you to Jake Brown as always for producing the show.
And you can subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify,
or wherever you get your podcasts. Give us a five
star rating and please write a nice review. You can
also hear us on the iHeartRadio app. I'm Julie stoor Binks,
He's Nate Thompson. Nate and now I will be back
with another episode with another big guest next Tuesday. Thank
(52:36):
you so much for tuning in to the Energy Line.
Speaker 3 (52:40):
Chat with you next week.
Speaker 1 (52:45):
Energy Line is the production of the NHL and iHeart Podcasts.
For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
Energy Line is a production of the NHL and iHeart podcasts.
Welcome on into Energy Line with Nate and JSB. I'm
Julie Stuart Binks. He's Nate Thompson. Coming up later on
(00:24):
in the program, we will have the general manager of
the Minnesota Wild US four Nations, General Manager, NHL legend
and Hall of Famer Bill garn Is going to stop by.
But first Nate. Great Nate, Great to see you back
here on the show. After I took a sojourn across
the world to Bali, Indonesia, which I appreciate, Nate messaged
(00:49):
me on Instagram and said, sorry that I told everyone
you were in Bali, and I'm like, I've literally put
up a thousand Instagram stories that I'm in Bali.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
I realized that after I said that, I was like,
I guess she's been posting this.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Nod stop, I'm across the world. Don't tell anybody I'm
on vacation.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
So let's talk about that. How was your trip?
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Honestly, it was one of the most like people would
this is what I had expected. I would have said
coming back, Wow, like Bali was so zen.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
It changed me. I feel like very calm.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
I mean, some of those things are true, but I'd
say Bali was an absolute shit show, and not in
necessarily the greatest of ways. Every day had like its
own plot. I told people I wasn't on my phone
or checking email. That's because I had to be so
present all the time. I couldn't look at my phone
(01:49):
because like I don't know, there was just a lot
of chaos going on pretty much everywhere. And also there's
like if you've ever been to Bali or Thailand or anywhere,
it's like very dangerous walking around the streets. These like
the like scooters, mini bikes everywhere can just literally flatline
you in one second. My friends were all going through
(02:11):
chaotic breakdowns of their life, like I mean talk or
life talk and real shit life stuff, and you're like, okay,
I guess.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
We aren't going to be going to the beach.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Club today and getting you know, shit faced. We're going
to be like working through some trauma.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
And also the yeah, we you know, to be honest,
it was, it was.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
It was life changing in that like had a lot
of experiences I documented. I put it up on Instagram,
just like as I as one does, Like I got
really sick one night with with a parasite and e
coli just a lovely thing to get when you're there.
(02:55):
Bali is very you have to be very careful with
the water and the food. You can't like eat any
fruit or vegetables. And if the fruit unless the fruit
has been peeled, like you can have a banana in,
but if it's been unpeeled, don't because also the water
there and then people like don't wash their hands, but
like if they do wash their hands, they still.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Need to sanitize them.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Like that place is not good if you are a
germ freak or hygiene at all.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
It's like it's just not good.
Speaker 4 (03:24):
It's not a good place to go if you're freaking
out about germs basically, yeah, because.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
It's just like what, you're gonna wash your hands and
then you're gonna purell your hands. After that you're gonna
your hands is just gonna be like raw. Also, they
not sure how you feel about this, but I I'm.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Not a bat girl. I cannot stand bats.
Speaker 5 (03:44):
What are your thoughts.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
There are a lot of bats over there big time.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Really, I'm not a batperson either. They kind of freak
me out too. Yeah, good, I'm not I would not
be good with that.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Yeah, because a lot of people are like, it's fine,
They're kind of just like pigeons of the night. I
was like, that makes it worse, like pigeons are like
drunk rats, Like you know, I don't want a bat
flying into me. Like I just it was, yeah, if
you're I just felt like I always had to be
like I was like, a.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
What is it like? I just was always like on
the defense. I just like what you had your head
out of swivel, constantly constant hit on a swivel.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
A volcano erupted at one point, like one time a
tree fell down like right across the highway right in
front of us. Like it was just there's just a
lot of like final destination stuff that went on, I guess,
and thankfully made it back in one piece.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
Oh you're here. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
And also, by the way, guys, it's twenty seven hours
away when I I so, I won this trip in
a silent auction one quote unquote, I bought it and uh,
I did not know where Bali was when I did that.
I thought it was just off the coast of somewhere
(05:02):
that happened to be Indonesia.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
That's on the other side of the world.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
So anyway, I had to use it before the end
of March twenty twenty five, which is why I went
away and took a vacation at that moment.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
I didn't want to, but I'm glad I did.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
And yeah, I came back with absolutely no tan whatsoever.
I think I'm actually like more pale since coming back.
But Nate, I digress. What kind of crazy shit annigans
went on here while I was gone.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Not a whole lot of crazy shanigans. It was my
daughter's birthday this last weekend. She just turned two.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Oh happy birthday.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Yeah, happy birthday in a while there, so she actually
I took her to her first hockey game on Saturday.
The Kings played the Carolina Hurricanes at like one pm,
which is perfect for her. It's not at night, you know,
it's after a nap, so she can go and enjoy
the hockey game.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
And yeah, she had a blast.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
I was actually working the radio that night or that
afternoon as well, so my family came and she enjoyed
the game, and Wilder got to witness her for.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Hockey game, so like, what does that mean? She lasted
five minutes and then was like, I want to go.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
No, she actually no, she loves it and we and
luckily I was able to finagle a sweet so I
had a bunch. She had a bunch of room in
there with my family and no since since that La
Charity game I took her to that I played, and
she's like obsessed with hockey.
Speaker 4 (06:23):
Now.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
It's oh, it's hockey all the time. I had to
buy like the mini sticks in the mini.
Speaker 4 (06:28):
Net in my house. Yes, yes, I know.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
I guess it's inevitable with how much hockey I watched too,
or she's just constantly looking at the TV saying hockey, hockey, hockey,
So I mean it is what it is.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
It's fun.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Hey, that's great.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Get her hooked on hockey so you don't have to
watch like Bluey or whatever like people watch it.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
Oh no, no, no, we watched that too.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
We watched Mini Mouse's uh Mini Mouse basically lives in
this house too.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
I love it. I saw the Instagram videos you have.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Of your daughter scoring goals and I was like, damn,
this is so great. Just start that prodigy, the prodigizing
right now with her. She's just turned two. You're like
Tiger Woods's dad right now. So I think that This
is great. Also, I was going to rass you about
your Instagram because you put up all these videos of
you and your daughter and they're like thirst traps basically
(07:20):
for like women who are like, oh my god, me
is such a good dad.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
I don't know how I reply to that is that,
I guess from that point of view.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Come on, this ain't the first time you've heard it before.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Of course I've heard it before. But at the same time,
I'm not doing it for the first trap. I'm doing
it because I love my daughter.
Speaker 4 (07:40):
No.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
I know you're like, hey, okay, well they're setting up
your tripod like I need to. I need to get
some good content out there, all right, where daddy's at
work as well.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Like content is part of my job, all right.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
Why let's do a let's do a fake one. Let's
do a f.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Yeah, now be sad, now be happy, all right, where
we'll figure out which edit works best with what kind
of trending music we have. It's funny because there are
people out there that do this kind of stuff with
their children. Okay, but you guys were watching a lot
of hockey and I told you this when I was gone,
like because I didn't I didn't check one score because
(08:19):
I was worried about bats the whole time. I couldn't
have my phone out and was like, maybe Nate, you
could tell me as if I'm like Austin Powers being
cryogenically unfrozen. What's like I do know some of the
I know what happened last week, but like, but what
would be your biggest headline of like what would you
(08:41):
tell somebody who just like came to planet Earth like me,
that what happened last week or this week?
Speaker 2 (08:50):
I mean, I think the big thing that we're all
watching and I had to continues is the chase with Ovechkin.
I think every night, you know, whatever Washington's plan, everyone
is just concerned and checking the box score to see
if he scored. And I think, to me right now,
is that's like kind of the leading headline because yeah,
playoffs is coming up around the corner. But I think
(09:11):
everyone is keeps checking how many games are left because
of you know what, is he seven goals away now?
And I can't how many games exactly? Is a twelve
or thirteen some something around there? It's tight, It's tight,
It's going to be close. It's going to be very close.
And I think right now, that's that's the talk. I mean,
I think the fact that he could beat Wayne Gretzky's
(09:33):
record this season and do it before the playoffs, before
possibly the Washington Capitals win the President's Trophy too, It's like,
this is storybook stuff, and I think that's the lead
headline right now.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
So how do you think guys on other teams feel
when they're facing ov at this point?
Speaker 4 (09:53):
It's funny you bring that up.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
And when the Kings played the Capitals a couple of
weeks ago, one of the reporters asked filled to know
and he said, you know, I would love for Ovi
to score, you know, just not tonight, not on us.
But I but I think everyone is really rooting for like, yeah,
player players throughout the league.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
They want him to break the record.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
And I don't know if it's you know, to the
point where they're like, oh, yeah, you can score on us,
but I think every single guy is like, yeah, I mean,
this is this is unbelievable. I think everyone like me
and you are fans just like the players are.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Okay, hypothetical, last game of the season, he needs like
one or two goals up against a non playoff contending.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
Team Pittsburgh I believe too.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Okay, well they're like.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
I think Pittsburgh's. I think Pittsburgh's. There is the last
game of the season.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Oh wow, the NHL scriptwriters have done this one real wow.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
Against his buddy Sidney Cross.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
OVI and sid just just the perennial highlights of this league.
Because I was just thinking, like, well, what if you
were like as a team, like, hey, are we all
going to band together and just like let this Like no,
he has to earn it. He has to earn it,
but you can't. It's like it's so close, it's like
(11:13):
come on, just like come on, you know, just let
in a softy.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Well, Ovi, if he just gets ah, he needs to
get a hat trick, just one hat trick. He can
get one hat trick in these last however many games,
then it becomes a lot more interesting. You're like, Okay,
he's he's gonna get it. I think if he gets
one hat trick, maybe it's tonight who they play Jets.
Maybe it's tonight against Jets.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
I don't know about that one.
Speaker 5 (11:39):
Never know.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
OVI plays big and big games, do you know. I'm
so checked up here? I want him to break it.
So because I picked him to break it this year,
you know, or he got hurt.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
So do you put any money on that one?
Speaker 4 (11:55):
No money, But I'm all in on it though. I'm
all in.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
I'm at the point of this season right now where
I'm excited about stuff, but I also need to put
money on things to keep myself engaged. And I think
that's also like an attention deficit sort of thing.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Or else. I'm like, all right, like, I don't know.
I think, yeah, I very much. I know we're yeah,
Like I love I love betting on games.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Do you know your boy Kevin Fiala did me real
dirty one time. I almost won like seventeen thousand dollars
if he had just scored that.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
In one game.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
I was like, what he didn't score?
Speaker 3 (12:38):
No, and I won't forget it obviously.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Yeah, Okay, we're our Our producer Jake Brown has just
mentioned shot on goal parlays.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
Would you like those?
Speaker 4 (12:52):
Uh?
Speaker 5 (12:54):
I'm not.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
I guess I've never bet hockey before, So what I
haven't I haven't well I haven't really wow.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Well all right here, well step into my van. I've
got canned for you.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Okay, I mean I think I've I've given advice to
people that have asked me like, hey, what do you
think do you think the over on two and a
half shots D I'm like, yeah, I take the over
on that.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Well, yeah, it's because it comes down to stats in
the game really percent.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
But remember I just stopped playing like two years ago.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Right, and you were like you're you're trained. Your brain
is like, I'm an athlete, I can't bet.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Well yeah, and I'm like I think I have Like, yeah,
it's fear of like, oh what am I. I know
I'm allowed now, but it feels like I'm still not allowed.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Yeah I get that. I get that. Yeah, yeah that
makes sense.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
There's so many good analogies I want to use, but
I don't want to get fired. So but I think,
like you can you can't bet on games that you're working,
you know, no, like L A Kinks.
Speaker 4 (13:55):
For instance, I can't. I can't do that.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
Yeah, I know that.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
I'm saying like just to the general population, I'm not like, well,
I I was just repeating.
Speaker 4 (14:04):
It because I wanted to make sure that I knew.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Hey, tips, Yeah, that's same with I mean listen, like
as reporters and stuff. When we would be in the
locker room and you're or you're on the plane and
it's like you see someone with their arm in a
sling or something like that, Like, uh, you know, I
work also for a betting company. But like whenever they
asked me, say, went Tall Star Game last year, I
went for s n Y, another company I work for.
(14:28):
I'm just like, I'm such a media whore. I'm like, Okay,
I'm working here, but I can't work for the betting company,
but I have access from the other company. So I
told them I can only give you information that I
could get that this credential would allow me to get
as a betting thing. Like if I saw, you know,
(14:48):
someone with an injury, you don't get that information.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
That's very hard for your brain. I'm going to say,
that's a lot.
Speaker 4 (14:55):
That's a lot to compute.
Speaker 5 (14:56):
That is.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Yeah, it's surprised. It's surprising. I haven't a cross wires
more or now I've learned and nate anything. If you
have information, it's almost worse to have it. Like I
listened to the Insiders. I saw Elliott Friedman almost like
he was like weekend at Bernie's after the NHL trade deadline.
(15:23):
He was dead, and I was like could that guy's
working his tail off, right, and it's not fun breaking
news because everyone hates you.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Did you see the clip that I think they are
interviewing on TNT and he said in one day he
had twenty hours of screen time on his phone. Twenty hours.
That is absurd in one day. So he was on
his phone like twenty hours in one day during the
trade inline, So people give some respect to Elliott Freeman.
(15:56):
That guy is a dog. That guy Wow, impressive.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
That guy's a dog.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Het to you, fridg Yeah, okay, all right, Well we
got to get to our main event here on the show,
and that is the fact that we were able to
fortuitously get a great amount of time with the one
and only Bill Gharon GM from Minnesota Wild GM of
(16:22):
the USA team for four Nations and two times Stanley
Cup champion.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
So don't go anywhere. We have that right after this.
All right, welcome back in.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
We are extremely thrilled and pleased to welcome in Bill Gharon,
Minnesota Wild General Manager. He played eighteen seasons in the
NHL from ninety one to twenty ten.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
He's a twenty.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Thirteen US Hockey Hall of Famer, two time Stanley Cup Champion,
general manager for the US at the Four Nations and Bill,
thank you so much for taking.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
The time to join us here today. We know us.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Ahead of our recording, you and Nate were discussing your
playing days together, which is wild to even imagine the
fact that you two were even on the ice at
the same time. You got to tell us what's what's
what's it? What's Nate like? What's your relationship?
Speaker 6 (17:20):
Like?
Speaker 2 (17:21):
I don't know if we were ever on the ice together,
cuche tu Shae as you were.
Speaker 6 (17:32):
We Uh, well, we had a lot of fun playing together.
I can tell you that it was awesome and they was.
I was old, Nate was young. But we hit it
off and he was an easy target for me and
Dougie Waite like just but you know what, if you're
not being made fun of, that that's that's a problem
in the NHL. If you're being made fun of and
(17:53):
poked at and stuff, that means you guys like it.
So Nate was always always just a great kid.
Speaker 5 (17:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
I remember walking in every single day and Billy and
Dougie probably they had something to say to me every
single thing. It was like right away I'd walk in
to be like what's up, guys, and the right of
the like, oh what's up, what's up Nate? Every single
day it didn't matter. Yeah, Billy, it's it's it's awesome
to have you on. And I was my first question,
I guess is after retiring from playing, what interested you
(18:24):
in the management side?
Speaker 6 (18:27):
Uh, that's a good question, you know. I had to
kind of figure it out first, you know, Ray Shiro
was was Uh, it was good enough to let me
kind of did my tone and and see a lot
of different things. You know, I worked part time, well,
I took about three months off and then from Christmas
(18:47):
time on to the end of the year, I worked
kind of part time, no pay, just covered my expenses,
and I saw a lot of different things. I saw scouting,
I saw player development, I saw American League, a lot
of American League stuff and.
Speaker 5 (19:01):
Figure player player development was kind of the.
Speaker 6 (19:03):
Path that Ray suggests that I go down, and I
ended up doing that, And I think that's one of
the best jobs in hockey, especially when you're starting out,
because you're exposed to You're exposed everything.
Speaker 5 (19:13):
You scout, you help prospects, you deal with.
Speaker 6 (19:16):
The American Hockey League, you're in pro scouting meetings, amateur meetings.
So but then again, there's a natural draw for players,
I think to coaching because that's as close as you
get to the game and the players. And it was
just something I saw the management side of it and
putting all the pieces together that that really was the
draw for me to managing. And yeah, it took, you know,
(19:41):
it took a little while to get there, but it
was worth it. I cherished the years that I was
driving all over the place and flying and dealing with
a lot of great people, and it really.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Really helped me rank because you've really got to put
in so much time, especially I mean getting to a
general manager position, regardless of your hockey background and career.
Just seeing a lot of the scouts go into the
small towns, just really hustling so much of probably what
your younger years in the sport were like. I guess
just to follow up on that, for guys that are
(20:15):
retiring who might not be like a broadcasting star like
Nate or who you know might not be weighing Gretzki
as a broadcasting star, what advice would you give them
if they were maybe potentially looking at being in management
or front office don't wait.
Speaker 5 (20:37):
Don't wait.
Speaker 6 (20:38):
You know, it's really hard because you know, as a player,
you don't really pay attention, you know, to everything that
goes along. So don't wait. Get get involved as soon
as you can, because once you're out, you're out, and
it's hard to get back in. No matter who you are,
you got to be willing to work. It's not a
glamorous job. It's not a cushy job. And you don't
(21:01):
just learn, you know. And I think one of the
one of the things I really wanted to do, Like
I knew the guys, like when I say to guys
like the Scouts, the you know, the pro scouts, the
amateur scouts, I knew they respected my playing career, but
I really wanted them to respect my post claim playing career.
Speaker 5 (21:22):
And and my work ethic.
Speaker 6 (21:24):
And I wanted to prove to them and show them
and earn their respect in a way that I had.
Speaker 5 (21:33):
I had to put the work in.
Speaker 6 (21:34):
So if you're not, but if you're not, if you
want race here always said the biggest thing that scares
me as a former player that wants a business card
and office and a paycheck and not do the work.
And those guys I mean, they get weeded out pretty quick.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
That's good to hear, because I I've I've definitely learned
a lot since being done and not playing anymore and
now getting into for you, Billy, now getting into Minnesota
Wild and since you've you know, taken over, as you've
seen just the transformation of the team and where do
you see where do you see the development of the team,
And since you've taken over, are you happy with where
(22:09):
you're at right now with with with the Wild.
Speaker 6 (22:12):
I'm really happy with where we're at. I've seen a
lot of growth, you know, I think we've really developed
a strong culture here. You know, it's we we had
to change a lot when when I first came in,
and you know, the players that we still have from
those days, the players that we brought in have really grasped,
(22:33):
you know, the importance of culture.
Speaker 5 (22:35):
And and building something. I think.
Speaker 6 (22:39):
We've made steps as players, you know, we you know,
guys like Boldie and Favor and ROSSI, you know, taken
big steps.
Speaker 5 (22:48):
Yeah. I like the way it's going.
Speaker 6 (22:50):
I mean, you know, everything that we've had to deal
with over the last four years with you know, the
empty they're the dead cap space. We've had tons of
injuries the last two years. We're still performing at a
at a at a at a good clip up and
you know, I think, you know, the coaches and the
players especially have done an awesome job. I like where
(23:11):
we're headed, and you know, it's it's it's been a
lot of work and a lot of sacrifice, but from everybody.
Speaker 5 (23:18):
But I really think we're going in the right.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
Direction, right And Bill, you had mentioned that you had
a five year plan of things. I think you're in
is a year two of it?
Speaker 6 (23:30):
We're probably uh uh, well, we're in the fourth year
of our dead cap space, so we're coming out of
that after this season, So things will things will take
a we'll go in a different direction with kind of
how we've been operating. We'll have a lot more flexibility,
uh and what we're able to do. So the way
(23:51):
I look at it is that after this season, we're
going to be able to take another step. And you know,
I think we should probably avoid numbers just for Nate,
see well, I mean.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
For Nate, And I was like, what what year is
this in the when did the five years begin? But
just to follow up on that point with just the
idea where you mentioned that you will have the ability
to go in a different direction or or do something
different because of the cap. What's maybe something you would
(24:23):
like to do different with this team that you think
could could help improve it.
Speaker 6 (24:28):
Yeah, to be honest with you, I'd just like to
the flexibility is the biggest thing for me. Like you know,
we we've had we've had to operate under some pretty
tight constraints, you know, with our salary cap issues, and
it'll be nice not to have to do that, to
just have that flexibility, uh, to be able to add
(24:48):
players without subtracting. You know, for the last couple of years,
it's really been dollar in, dollar out type of deals
that we've had to do.
Speaker 5 (24:59):
So it'll be nice to to to add players without
having to subtract.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
D thing switching gears into now four Nations I really
want to ask about that. And you know, you played
on the you know, the ninety six World Cup team,
and when you constructed the four Nations team, were you
trying to maybe have some similarities between both teams.
Speaker 5 (25:20):
No, honestly, I wasn't.
Speaker 6 (25:23):
Well, you look at the first of all, the coach
has a lot of input in situations like this because
you know, I talked to Mike, like, how do how
do we want to play? What's our what's our game
plan going to be?
Speaker 5 (25:35):
How do we want to construct your team like this
team that you're going to coach, And then we go
out look at the type of players that we have
available to us, and it just so happens that a
lot of our players are they've got some sandpaper to
their game.
Speaker 6 (25:51):
They're abrasive guys, and and that's just the way it
kind of turned out. But they're also highly skilled and
can produce. You know, I just think it would have
been like ninety six was nineties and that was awesome.
That was a totally different era of hockey. And you know,
today's game is played with pace with skill. You know,
(26:13):
you have to be able to check, like as you
saw the games, they were so close all and there
was no space, so you have to be able to
play both ends of the rank.
Speaker 5 (26:22):
It's it's just a different game.
Speaker 6 (26:24):
So I wanted to just construct a team with good
balance that could kind of play any way you wanted
to play.
Speaker 5 (26:30):
And you know, I think we I think we did.
We came a little bit short in that, but it was.
Speaker 6 (26:35):
A I mean, I'll tell you what an unbelievable experience
and great for the game, and it was it was
just awesome to be a part of.
Speaker 5 (26:42):
And I think it's such a great lead into to Milan.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
Now, going into Milan, like you know, going to the Olympics,
What does that process look like now for picking the
team and does a team look a little bit different
now because the game is a little bit different, you know,
being I h HF not NHL rules like it is
was with four nations.
Speaker 5 (27:01):
Yeah, definitely. I think there's always adjustments we can make.
Speaker 6 (27:05):
You know, we're we know we're not going to be perfect,
but we can always try to get better. You know,
We've had a couple of meetings in the last few
weeks of kind of like debriefing and just kind of
going over it, and yeah, there's always things that we
can improve on, improve on. There's there's going to be
other players, you know, taking a step in their career
and guys that were close this time that didn't make it.
Speaker 5 (27:28):
Maybe they're you know, maybe they're going to be better
than than.
Speaker 6 (27:31):
Some guys that we're on the team and we take
them so we don't know, we have to kind.
Speaker 5 (27:36):
Of let it.
Speaker 6 (27:37):
You know, time will tell I guess we'll get through
the rest of this year, start playing next year and
see see how guys are doing.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
Yeah, it's a fascinating timeline to have something like this
that's an NHL event and then swiftly in just you know,
under twelve months, have a double IHF Olympic event and
trying to figure out kind of the differences in playing.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
But it's it's great.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
As you mentioned for the game, I'm curious from your
vantage point. I was at the games in Montreal, and
you know, the place was just those fights I'll never
ever forget for the rest of my life, and all
of us were just like, oh.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
My, oh my god, oh my god.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
You know, I think everyone, Nate, we were both there.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
We were just like, Wow, what was that like for you?
Speaker 1 (28:21):
From a general manager perspective when you see a game
start with three fights in nine seconds?
Speaker 5 (28:28):
I thought it was awesome. I loved it.
Speaker 6 (28:30):
I mean, I was, you know, honestly, I'm pretty uh,
I'm pretty relaxed during our games here in Minnesota, and
I don't I don't. I got heated every once in
a while, but not a ton and and.
Speaker 5 (28:44):
Those games were tense, Like I was, I was, I
was pretty tight.
Speaker 6 (28:49):
For those and then when that happened, I'm like, holy jeez,
look at like this is.
Speaker 5 (28:53):
I couldn't believe it.
Speaker 6 (28:54):
And I like, it's not just the Americans either, They're
like the Canadian guys too.
Speaker 5 (29:00):
They're all just playing so hard for their flag. And
that's what made it great, Like it was just the.
Speaker 6 (29:07):
Players made that tournament, they made that game, They made
that whole thing possible because they put it all out
there and I loved it.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Yeah, I think I think everyone just it really captured
so many people who weren't even hockey fans ahead of time.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
I found.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
I just loved hearing from people who were betting me
on the on the final game and they'd never even
really watched a hockey game before.
Speaker 3 (29:31):
I said, this is a win, regardless of what happens.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
You mentioned the flag, you mentioned the guys really really
being patriotics, standing up for whatever side they were on.
I'm just I'm curious from your from you know, your standpoint,
when when you hear the booing from the Canadian fans,
how do you think that, like, what kind of influence
(29:56):
do you think that had on the guys on the bench.
Speaker 6 (29:59):
I think everybody just understands and just deals with it.
Speaker 5 (30:03):
There's nothing you can do.
Speaker 6 (30:05):
It's I think, to be honest with you, I think
that had something to do with you know, there's a
little bit of a political kind of flair to this one,
and I think that's just not a heighten the importance
of it. And no, I think that all just kind
of added to it. I don't think there's any The
(30:27):
Canadian guys and the American guys all play together too,
you know, or against each other. We're not involved in
politics for playing hockey. But I think I think it
just added to it.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
It's good that you mentioned that because obviously that was
that was part of what was going on. I think
that you can't really ignore it at that point. I'm
just I'm wondering when you guys were heading into this
and you're in Canada and you hear the booze and
you're against this team, and were you aware of all
(31:01):
the fifty first state rhetoric?
Speaker 4 (31:04):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (31:04):
Yeah, I mean I think everybody is, and I agree
with it or not. You're you're you're aware of it.
But that had nothing to do with it.
Speaker 6 (31:15):
We were we were playing a hockey game, and that's
all it was. We wanted to win a hockey game.
We're not trying to make political stances.
Speaker 5 (31:23):
Or anything like that. It's just all about the hockey.
Speaker 6 (31:26):
And like I go back to it, like the players
on all four teams made the tournament. They made they
made hockey probably the most popular sport in the world
for a couple of days. And like everybody, everybody, everybody
was talking about hockey and it was just and it
was just awesome. And I, like I said, I can't
(31:48):
give enough credit to all players on all four teams.
Speaker 5 (31:52):
It was spectacular.
Speaker 3 (31:54):
Mm hmm. They definitely. Everyone was extremely into it.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
And I just have one last question, Nate ending me
the gears here because I got the three oscars behind
me right now. Yeah, you know, I I'm was fascinated
by it.
Speaker 3 (32:09):
All I found.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
I found the fact that we actually had people like
yourself talking about hockey, talking about you know that this
this game didn't happen in a vacuum. Of course, like
it there was. There was, as you mentioned, an added
element of what was going on in the world. When
you invited Trump to the game and for the final
(32:33):
and you know, you guys had that that call from
him ahead of the game.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
We saw it on ESPN.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
Did you maybe know at all what that maybe might
have meant to Canadians just based on what we talked
about with the tensions at the time.
Speaker 6 (32:50):
No, And you know what, like I said on other interviews,
like you know, and I guess I took some some
heat for it.
Speaker 5 (32:58):
But I've been fortunate to go to the White House
four times.
Speaker 6 (33:02):
I think now I've met Bill Clinton, President Clinton, President Obama,
President Trump. I don't care who's in office. If the
President of the United States is calling, I'm picking up.
I don't care who it is, a Democrat, Republican, whatever,
it's the office. And I'm a proud American and that's
(33:23):
that's it. People can try to.
Speaker 5 (33:25):
Spend it politically either way they want.
Speaker 6 (33:28):
I'm not buying it. It's just a bunch of bs.
I'm taking the call right.
Speaker 4 (33:33):
Well.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
I appreciate you talking about this kind of stuff. I
think that's really important because a lot of people kind
of try to they make it.
Speaker 5 (33:41):
People want to make it a story when it's not
a story. It's they want to make it.
Speaker 6 (33:45):
They want to get clicks, they want to cause, they
want to cause chaos and havoc so they have something
to write about.
Speaker 5 (33:52):
It's just not that.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
Did you feel like there was chaos and havoc after
because of that?
Speaker 5 (33:58):
I don't read it. I don't read that. I don't
read anything, so I don't care.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
I was going to shift to back to the hockey
part of it, which is, uh, you know Alexander Vschkin.
Obviously he's chasing his goal scoring record and you got
to play with you, Sidney Crosby, and you got to
witness what he did at four Nations and you got
to see what he.
Speaker 4 (34:18):
Did when you played with him.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
Are you a little surprised at what's going on with
both of them and with the goal scoring record and
how sid is still performing at the way he is
after playing with him for so long ago.
Speaker 5 (34:29):
No, I'm not surprised at any of it, to be
honest with you.
Speaker 6 (34:32):
I guess with with with I'm not surprised that they're
both playing at such a high level.
Speaker 5 (34:38):
I mean, they're great players.
Speaker 6 (34:39):
They I am, like I just I never thought that
record would be broken. Wayne's Wayne's record and Ovi is Ovi's.
He's a machine like it's It's incredible. And the thing
I love about it is, like you you would think
it would become old hat, you know, like scoring all
this one.
Speaker 5 (35:00):
He still gets.
Speaker 6 (35:01):
Jacked up for every single and he celebrates and he's pumped,
and that's that's what I love. And I think, uh, yeah,
it's incredible. It's incredible that that he's chasing down that
that that record. I just I never thought that'd be broken.
And and Sid, I don't think he's slowed down. He's
still producing at a high rate. But he's so far
(35:24):
ahead of the game. He's so far ahead of the
play in his brain, he knows what's going to happen.
You know, I've seen him play a bunch this year
on TV, and it's just he makes simple, subtle little
plays that open up the ice or create scoring chances
for other guys or defensively, you know, he's he's smarter
than he's ever been. Like, it's it's actually incredible. Yeah,
(35:45):
it's it's amazing to see what those guys have done.
Speaker 5 (35:48):
But they're they're they're great, they're legendary. So I don't,
I don't, I'm not really surprised.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
Yeah, we're so lucky to be able to watch them
and to continue to see them elevate their game. When
I assume many a couple of years ago. We would
have thought at this point in their careers they would
have been on the on the downward trajectory, but they
just continued to elevate it. When you played, did you
ever have a guy going for a record? We asked
(36:15):
this to be ex a couple of weeks ago and
just wondering if you've ever had someone that that had
a milestone or had a record that they were going
for that was on one of the teams that you
were playing for.
Speaker 6 (36:27):
Yeah, yeah, And people were following us around. Nate Thompson
was trying to get his sixth.
Speaker 7 (36:34):
Goal of the season, and it was it was really
a tense moment. When's he going to do it? Is
he going to do it tonight? And it went on
and on and on the thirty.
Speaker 4 (36:48):
Games and then and then we had a hell of
a night after I scored that goal.
Speaker 6 (36:52):
Yeah, sixth goal, new new career high, and we we
we had a bunch of beer celebrating that.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
Those good delivery. That was really good delivery.
Speaker 5 (37:05):
You know what? The record, you know what I remember,
we still know this one.
Speaker 4 (37:11):
Dougie got his thousand points, I was sticking the same thing.
Speaker 5 (37:14):
Yeah, that was that was that was awesome.
Speaker 6 (37:17):
Like that was that was great? That was when Doug
Wade got his thousand point That was really the one.
No NHL record or anything like that, but you know,
one of my very best friends getting his thousand point
and uh, you know, being able to be on his
team for that was was awesome.
Speaker 2 (37:36):
I guess that's my next question, Billy will like to
be able to play with Dougie and I got to
be with you guys. I mean I felt lucky to
be able to play with you guys, and and you know,
we weren't a very good hockey team, but we had
a good We had a good group of guys.
Speaker 5 (37:48):
And we had fun.
Speaker 4 (37:49):
But what was it like for you?
Speaker 2 (37:51):
You know, I know it was towards the end of
your career, but to be able to play with Dougie Waite,
you know, and I know you guys.
Speaker 4 (37:57):
I think lived next to each other too, didn't you.
Speaker 5 (37:59):
No?
Speaker 6 (37:59):
No, no, we we god yea, we lived a little
ways away, but we were together all the time, so
it was almost like we're neighbors. But it was you
know what to So played on three NHL teams, with
three Olympic teams, two World Cup teams and he's just
(38:21):
the best. And like, honestly, it was especially late late
in our careers to have that. It was it was
good to have, you know, somebody that knew me so
well to it was like you said, we weren't very good,
so we had to have a good time to kind
of stay sane and like but still like behind the scenes,
(38:42):
it was really frustrating when you're thirty six years old,
you see the the end's coming and you're just not
good and you can't perform, like the team stinks. You
can't do the things you used to kind of pull
them out.
Speaker 5 (38:57):
So it was good to.
Speaker 6 (38:59):
Have that that that I was going to say, somebody
you know to listen to you, but it was more
of a shoulder.
Speaker 5 (39:06):
To cry on or or to pass me another bud
light like this get me out of this.
Speaker 4 (39:15):
Yeah, but it was but it was great.
Speaker 6 (39:16):
And I'll tell you what to Nate, like you know,
And it was in Long Island and it was in
Pittsburgh too.
Speaker 5 (39:20):
For me, the young guys.
Speaker 6 (39:21):
On the team, we're we're equally as important.
Speaker 5 (39:26):
There were you guys are all you know, young energetic
guys came to the rank excited.
Speaker 6 (39:32):
You didn't you didn't have the experiences that that we had,
but in a good way.
Speaker 5 (39:36):
You were kind of like wet behind the ears. You
didn't know as much that was going on, and that.
Speaker 6 (39:41):
Was great because that that gave us energy too, that
that put a smile on our face. We wanted to
hang out with you guys because there was there was
good energy there and positive energy. So the young guys
really really helped us out too.
Speaker 1 (39:54):
We'd be remiss to not ask you about Pat Maroon
announcing his retirement. We know, you know, Nate obviously played
with him, he played on the while before. But for
a guy like that who has a unique skill set,
but who's also won three Stanley Cups, like what maybe
stands out to you about Pat Moroon's career as an
(40:15):
NHL hockey player.
Speaker 6 (40:17):
Honestly, he's an unbelievable teammate. Like I've seen Patty operate
and you know what, you know, it's great about Patty's
story too.
Speaker 5 (40:25):
It's like how he kind of got himself there, Like.
Speaker 6 (40:30):
You know, he's kind of a mess when he was younger,
like you know, like it wasn't the smoothest road for him,
but he kind of matured and he built himself up
and then he just became this unbelievable teammate and effective
on these great Stanley Cup winning teams. And but man,
what a career he's put together. And uh, he's just
(40:52):
an awesome guy. Like and I think anybody that played
with him, I mean I had him as you know,
one of my players. But I love the guy. He's
just willing to do whatever it takes to win. And yeah,
he's just fantastic. What what a what a great career.
Speaker 2 (41:08):
Yeah, he was definitely one of my favorite teammates, Patty Patty, Uh,
the big rig has got.
Speaker 4 (41:16):
He's a character, that's for sure.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
But yeah, you're right. I mean you go back to
how he started, how he came in the league. He
Patty had to he had a battle, and like you said,
I mean the career he had three, three Stanley Cups,
how important he was to every single team. I mean,
you know, I I texted him at the other night
after you know, after he announced or whatever, and you know,
of course he gets back to me and you said
(41:38):
it he was just a great, great teammate.
Speaker 6 (41:40):
Yeah, yeah, and he you know what it's Yeah, it's
just awesome to see you know, Like I said, you
come in contact with a lot of great people in
the game.
Speaker 5 (41:49):
Uh, Patty. Patty is one of those guys. He's an
ultimate teammate and I love him too because there's no.
Speaker 6 (41:55):
There's no bss right to the point. He says what
he says.
Speaker 5 (42:00):
He says what he's thinking or what he believes to
be true, and that's just it. And you know, you're
either a big boy and he can take it or
he can't. And I love that of all.
Speaker 1 (42:09):
Yeah, when he played for the Ducks, I just remember Nate,
as you were talking about and Bill that you so
appropriately mentioned, he did have to work really hard for it.
There were times when he was really just kind of
a role player there that I could have never imagined
he would have won three Stanley Cups at that point.
Speaker 3 (42:25):
And then he went on and he was.
Speaker 1 (42:27):
Able to find find what kind of player he had
to be on different teams, and really I think he's
a great role model in that regard, and also for
teammates and and the glue guys are so important. I
think they're just there's sometimes overlook we look so much
at like skill and scoring and all that, But Nate
glue guy over there, I know that he helped out
(42:47):
the team a lot too. Just before we let you go,
NHL playoffs are upon it, coming up, coming up soon.
What are you what what storyline or what what aspects
of how things are going in the NHL other than
of course things like Ovechkin and all that kind of stuff.
Are you excited about? What sort of peaked your interest?
Speaker 6 (43:09):
You know what the the deadline was really was really
something this year, some of the big moves that were made,
how teams kind of loaded up again. We're playing Vegas tonight.
That's what I'm thinking about, Like we just we just
got to keep our head above water and keep playing
and get in. But I think the league is in
(43:30):
a really good place right now where you know, especially
for fans, like your team's never really out of it
and all eighty two games are important now.
Speaker 5 (43:39):
So I'm really looking forward to the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (43:42):
You have Mark Andre Fleury and he's announced it's his
last year. How important has he been not just for
your team but obviously your locker room of players since
you've had him.
Speaker 5 (43:53):
I'll tell you what he's been. He's been so important
for us.
Speaker 6 (43:58):
You know, when we brought him in, I just thought
it was really important.
Speaker 5 (44:03):
To have a guy like him around.
Speaker 6 (44:05):
Like he's again kind of like Patty. This guy's the
ultimate teammate. If he's unhappy about something or whatever, he'll
never let it show. He'll deal with it. But he's
always supportive, he's always in it. He appears to be
in a good mood. But the thing is, I love
it because Flower is a Hall of Fame player and
a Hall of fame human being. And when our young
(44:25):
players are looking at how he prepares, how he practices,
how he competes, how he plays in the games, how
he handles adversity, how he treats other people, fans, waiters, waitresses,
bus driver, flight attendants, whatever. He makes everybody feel like
they're the most important person in the world. And I
think for our players, you know, young and old, to
(44:48):
see this hall of fame or how he operates important
and impactful and powerful. I think that's what I'm trying
to say, is he's been so.
Speaker 5 (44:57):
Good for us. And what a career. What a guy.
Speaker 1 (45:01):
Right, All those little things tell so much about the
character of somebody, and I'm sure rub off on the
entire locker room and how they treat people, and then
how they are professionals on and off the ice.
Speaker 3 (45:11):
But we'll let you go. Vellie. Really truly appreciate your time.
Speaker 1 (45:14):
Thank you so much for joining us here on the
Energy Line, and good luck tonight and the rest of
the season.
Speaker 5 (45:19):
Yeah, thanks for having me on, and good luck working
with Nate. He's one of the best, one of the best.
Speaker 3 (45:25):
He tries hard, he tries hardy.
Speaker 5 (45:27):
You know, Nat, you know I love you, buddy.
Speaker 4 (45:29):
I love you too, Buddy.
Speaker 1 (45:36):
All right, So that was Bill garon Six Degrees of Separation.
Nate Thompson literally has a connection with every single person
in the entire world.
Speaker 3 (45:44):
Sure or false?
Speaker 4 (45:45):
Probably true with how many teams I played for, right.
Speaker 1 (45:48):
Yeah, and that you've been on the Real Housewives of
New York.
Speaker 4 (45:52):
I have a finale I believe it was, and it
was what I don't know what an episode it was,
but season finale. I'm pretty sure season finale. Yes, I was, Yes, But.
Speaker 2 (46:01):
That was awesome to have Billy Garret, my former teammate.
What a guy, but serious though, he is the best.
Speaker 1 (46:09):
Glad he answered my hard hitting big j jour no questions,
because that's what we do here on the Energy Line.
We bring it any different way we want because that's
what energy lines do. Okay, So we wanted to give
our flowers to some people and.
Speaker 2 (46:24):
Nate Kirsten Simms of Wisconsin. They just had a national
championship gaming inst Ohio State. There was eighteen seconds left
in the game Ohio State. One of the girls covered
the puck with her hand over the crease. Well, Wisconsin
gets awarded at Pelly shot. Well, they can elect to
either have a man advantage or get the Pelly shot.
Speaker 4 (46:46):
Well.
Speaker 2 (46:46):
Mark Johnson, who's the head coach, alects a Pelly shot.
Kirsten SAMs raises her hand and says, I'll take it.
Speaker 4 (46:52):
There's a qu wow. There's a clip of her take.
Speaker 2 (46:54):
She says, I'll take it, goes and it is the
sickest move like these hit like her hands were ridiculously
moving fast like Patrick Cane style. Deeks the goalie so
bad open that and then over time she scores the
game winner to win the national championship. So damn, Kirsten Sims,
(47:15):
my flowers go to you yaps. Snap Snap, Snap snap.
I hope you girls had a great time after that game.
I'm sure you did.
Speaker 4 (47:23):
Wow. Kerson Sims, Bravo.
Speaker 1 (47:25):
I love that she just like put her hand up
like yeah, I want to be Kobe in the clutch,
give me the ball with three seconds left.
Speaker 4 (47:33):
You can you can read the coaches were his lips,
and he says, who wants it? And you just see
her hand like in the back go up like this,
and you're like, wow, this girl's got some.
Speaker 3 (47:42):
Guts, Like yeah, I can't imagine like national.
Speaker 2 (47:45):
Championship on the line. It's on the line, like if
she hadn't scored, they're done. Ice in her veins, peeks
the goalie out, and I mean, so Kirs and Sims,
all the flowers.
Speaker 1 (47:58):
You got to have a little axe murderer gene and
you to be like, yep, give me that.
Speaker 3 (48:03):
I want that.
Speaker 1 (48:04):
And also that's I mean, yeah, that's great. What a
great example love. And also I have my flowers. I'm
giving to another women's hockey player, Abby Rock. I'm sure
you guys have seen first p WHL player.
Speaker 3 (48:18):
To do score Michigan goal. Loved it.
Speaker 1 (48:22):
She's with the New York Sirens. She's also just like
a badass. And so I covered the New York Sirens
for the PWHL. I wasn't I didn't cover this game.
But like she's incredible and the fact that she I
think the goalie like was just like I think it
was em Emerates smash Myron goal.
Speaker 3 (48:39):
I'm not exactly sure, but she just like like where
did it?
Speaker 4 (48:42):
Wait?
Speaker 2 (48:42):
What?
Speaker 3 (48:42):
Like what.
Speaker 4 (48:44):
I watched the replay? You saw reaction, like what did
that just happen? You really just do that? To me?
Speaker 3 (48:51):
I love it?
Speaker 1 (48:52):
And then it was great because then like NHL Network
and everywhere is having her on, and I was just
pumped because it's just another like we're trying to get
women's sports, women's talk hockey to have the platforms, and
it's first of all, it's people like us talking about it,
but it's like the NHL, NHL Network acknowledging that MSG
(49:13):
putting that on, like all these different entities, Like you
can play as much hockey as you want, but if
you don't have people supporting it and helping it to
a platform, then it's just a it's it's just no
one's ever going to see it. So then you see
someone like Chris and Simms or Abby Rock doing that,
You're like, wow, maybe I could do that someday, you know,
like maybe I could be one of those players. I
(49:34):
unfortunately never had that as.
Speaker 4 (49:36):
A kid, Angelie, I love that.
Speaker 2 (49:38):
I mean my daughter, I mean, like I said, she
loves hockey and for me to see those girls do
these things, I mean, it's it'll be fun for her
to hopefully watch it and maybe do the same thing
one day.
Speaker 1 (49:47):
Yeah, sit her right down. Have her watched that those
highlights on repeat. She's too This is a perfect time
to get her brain trained. I'm not joking.
Speaker 3 (49:59):
Do you know why not?
Speaker 1 (50:01):
If I ever have children, boy will they be prodigies
of my failed dreams. But I did want to say
one last thing we were discussing before we go, just
about a really fascinating thing I wanted to run by
you when I went to Bali that I forgot to mention,
because that's my entire personality right now, is that I
went to this energy healer guy because okay, so I
(50:23):
missed this like cool waterfall temple blessing thing. I know
you can be like whatever, woo woo, girl, but like
that's the kind of stuff they do in Bali. It's
the healing capital of the world. So I missed that
because I was I was so sick. I had like
e coli whatever, all this stuff. I think I'm fine,
Now I don't know. So I went to this energy
healer guy. He didn't know who I was because I
didn't even have an appointment.
Speaker 3 (50:44):
I just like walked in. He told me a lot
of cool stuff about myself. I told you, you.
Speaker 1 (50:47):
Told me I was really powerful and like anything. But
the one thing that he said was he goes, put
your legs out, like I'm sitting on this pad on
the ground. He goes, put your legs out and he
grabs my calves. And my calves are so tight and
in pain. I was a sprinter when I was in college.
That was those twenty years ago. I had stress fractures.
(51:08):
And he grabbed my calves like so hard, and he
was like does this hurt?
Speaker 3 (51:11):
I was like yeah, ah.
Speaker 1 (51:13):
He presses on my ITB band and he's like does
this hurt? And I'm like god yeah, oh, Like I
mean like he's he's putting his fingers right in the
ITV band and then he goes to my hips.
Speaker 3 (51:23):
I'm like, no, it doesn't hurt, and then my back.
Speaker 2 (51:25):
No.
Speaker 1 (51:25):
Then he goes does the exact same thing on my
legs on my ITV band as hard as he can.
He's like, does this hurt? And I'm like no, And
then he does it on my calves. He grabs them
as hard as he did before. No pain whatsoever. I
have no pain where I've had pain for twenty years.
Speaker 4 (51:41):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (51:42):
I don't know what to say. I'm speechless. I mean,
that's some that's some crazy shit.
Speaker 4 (51:45):
It's crazy shit, crazy healing shit.
Speaker 2 (51:47):
But that's crazy healing energy shit, which is great because
you brought the energy to the energy.
Speaker 1 (51:52):
Oh, Nate, that's why they pay you the big bucks.
Oh God, bravo, bravo, and thank you. And on that note,
we are healed here with the energy. Thank you guys
so much for listening to episode eight of our new podcast,
Energy Line with Nate and JSB. Energy Line is a
production of the NHL and iHeart podcasts.
Speaker 3 (52:14):
Thank you to.
Speaker 1 (52:14):
Minnesota Wild general manager Bill garn for joining us this week.
Thank you to Jake Brown as always for producing the show.
And you can subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify,
or wherever you get your podcasts. Give us a five
star rating and please write a nice review. You can
also hear us on the iHeartRadio app. I'm Julie stoor Binks,
He's Nate Thompson. Nate and now I will be back
with another episode with another big guest next Tuesday. Thank
(52:36):
you so much for tuning in to the Energy Line.
Speaker 3 (52:40):
Chat with you next week.
Speaker 1 (52:45):
Energy Line is the production of the NHL and iHeart Podcasts.
For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hosts And Creators
Nate Thompson
Julie Stewart-Binks
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