July 29, 2025 • 45 mins
Energy Line with Nate Thompson and Julie Stewart-Binks open up the show talking about what Nate learned at broadcasting camp. They also get into Julie’s trip to Nashville. Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy then joins Nate and JSB. Cassidy discusses the offseason, Four Nations, the playoffs, adding Mitch Marner and the ending of his time with the Bruins and winning a title in his first season as head coach in Las Vegas.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Energy Line is a production of the NHL and I
Heart podcasts.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Welcome to Energy Line with Nate and JSB. I'm Julie Durbinks.
He's former NHLR Nate Thompson. Energy Line is a production
of the NHL and I Heart broadcasts. Excuse me, I
Heart podcasts. Wow, off to a real great start here, Nate.
And to get to a broadcasting Oh wow. I just
segued myself so hard right there. I wanted to know
(00:40):
about Nate's broadcasting camp, so I was thinking about it
a lot. That is the last time we were chatting
and you were doing year two a broadcasting camp, which
was unconventional, as we had discussed, as most people just
do one year.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
What did you learn from year two, Nate?
Speaker 4 (00:57):
Well, it's good to see you. It's been a couple
of weeks. Nice to be back on with you. It
was at Tripped, really and it was a lot of fun.
I did learn a lot in year two. I think
in year two, I don't know if I learned more,
but I think it was more of a review. I
guess you could say, you know, you know, there was
one module or station that we did with Eddie Oulchek
(01:18):
that was different this year and was newer, which by
the way, Eddie Edzo is like he's the best of.
Speaker 5 (01:26):
The best, and I know we talk about all the time,
but you know, we did a.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
Working with the telestrator, right like when he's in the
middle of a game and he's you know, drawing stuff
up and talking at the same time, and I didn't
realize how difficult that is.
Speaker 5 (01:39):
That is not easy to do.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
As he draws it up and he's talking during he's
he's smooth with it. So that was the one thing
I think I'm not too familiar with. I haven't used
a telestrator really that much or ever really in that matter,
and you.
Speaker 5 (01:55):
Know, ed Zoe's a Jedi with it.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
And so that was the one thing I did learn
that was different in the previous years. And then but
learning from guys and getting to like hear stories from
Steve Levy and Kenny Albert and I mean those guys
are just you know, they're unbelievable.
Speaker 5 (02:10):
And and then Jody Shelley was there this year.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
You know, Brian Bouchet wasn't, so Jody Shelley took over
and he was, uh, you know kind of teaching, you know,
between the benches and you know, asking questions, you know,
between periods and you know, things like that. So, uh,
it was a great trip, Julie. I learned a lot always,
you know, I did. I have to say, I did
(02:33):
use your joke about the Billy Madison thing.
Speaker 5 (02:37):
Yes, I did say.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
It was it was like post post camp and we
were all sitting there and whatever, and we're guys were
joking around about coming back next year, trying to you know,
figure out because when we want to have more guys
come and I want players, for more players, even current
players to you know, to know about this and and
maybe set themselves up for after after playing. And you know,
we were kind of talking and I joked around about
(03:00):
if I'm going to be here next year, that's doing
bad but.
Speaker 5 (03:05):
Passed. So I did steal your joke. Oh, but it
was great, Julie.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
It was.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
It was a great trip and I enjoyed it.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Okay, So I'm going to use some of my broadcasting
skills on you right there.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
I need examples.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Okay, I heard he had a great time there. What
did ed Zo say about the telestrator other than the
fact that you probably just have to keep doing it
to get better at it.
Speaker 5 (03:33):
So that's a very good question.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
And he said, and he knew from a player's standpoint,
when we're watching a play and you want to break
it down and you want to break it down live.
When we see the play, we see fifty fucking things
happening at once. That's just the way we all compute
it because we played. That's what we see. And he
(03:54):
knows that. And he would explain, he'd be like, he'd
be like, Okay, I know, you guys see twenty things
happening right now. He's like explained two things out of
those twenty things that you see.
Speaker 5 (04:06):
Explain to that's it. Just leave it at that.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
And that broke it down and made it way easier
because it was like, Okay, I don't need to explain
all of this. I just need to say this and
this and get it to the goal and that's it.
And adzo. You know, he broke it down like that
and made it so so much more simple. And I
mean that's why he's best of the best, right.
Speaker 5 (04:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
I think that's so great because most people watching, first
of all, their information intake in those situations is like
they just want to know why something happened, like they
don't know all the intricacies and they'll be overloaded by
like especially unless you are, you know, a deep hockey fan,
and even if you are, you don't necessarily take that
all in. It's like it's like anything in life, Like
(04:49):
you don't absorb information unless it's like hey, red light,
green light, amber light, like we only have three lights.
So that analogy I just made up on the spot, okay,
but still holds to say that, like we can only
absorb so much.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
So I think that's great. Okay.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
So as a host for myself, what did Steve Levy
say that you thought was good?
Speaker 4 (05:14):
His big thing was inform and entertain and he said
it used to be which was interesting. He goes, he
used to be inform and entertained and he's like, he goes,
I believe it's entertained and informed now, And that was interesting,
right he With with Steve Leevy, it was more of like,
you know, because we were in the studio, we did
a little fake mock you know between the you know,
(05:36):
between the periods kind of thing, and with him it's
he was just having fun with it. I mean, the guy,
he's just with his jokes. He's quick. But I think
with him. It was you know, really he said, He's like, listen,
you guys are the experts.
Speaker 5 (05:49):
You guys played, you.
Speaker 4 (05:50):
Know, have conviction with what you say, but have fun
with it, you know, use you know, talk about what
happened with you when you played, or you know an instance,
an example, things like that.
Speaker 5 (06:00):
I mean, Steve was he was great. He made it
very light, made it you know, made it very fun.
So uh but just so good right like he you know,
he tell it.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
He he told stories about Mess and PK and you
know in the beginning and.
Speaker 5 (06:13):
U Cellio's those guys. So he was great. He was.
He's super helpful.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
I think that's a great person to have to describe,
like the evolution of an analyst too, because you know,
when it was PK mess, Cellio's like getting them out
of their shells and then Mess and PK and then
you know, he get to the point where Mess is
chasing PK around the studio with the cup, which is
something I will never forget in my entire life. Smart
(06:40):
Messier running around ESPN studio with the cup because PK
obviously never won it and he was just like running
away from it.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
It was just such a it was great TV, and.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
I think that's an interesting shift in how hockey's being
broadcasted now. A lot of sports are going the entertainment route.
You can see that with you know, look at college
game Day, look at Pat McAfee, you know all that
kind of stuff. People are into what is what's going
to be fun and interesting and be like, hey, I
want to send this clip to somebody. Right, you don't
want to just think in clips, but like you want
(07:12):
to think at how you can get the most out
of you, right, Like, for instance, I was just gonna
segue into something that I realized was not gonna it
was was not going to get the best out of you,
but was going to get the best out of me,
laughing at the situation I would have put you in,
which would not be what Steve Leavey would say.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
It would be a good idea as a host. But anyway,
we're going to move on from that.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
I was going to go into my weekend in Nashville,
but I'm not going to because I need to get
a quick I mentioned this before. Happy Gilmore too came
out going to go into it. He's wearing a Bruins
jersey on the cover. We all loved Happy Gilmore who
no thoughts.
Speaker 5 (07:55):
I thought it was okay.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
I liked I liked how they they.
Speaker 5 (08:00):
They brought it back a lot.
Speaker 4 (08:01):
It was very nostalgic, like they brought back a lot
of old characters, like whether it was you know, the
guy that the guy that used, the guy that yelled jackass,
the guy would like jackass, you know when he was
trying to hit the fan that was always messing him up. Well,
they brought back a lot of like the sons of
those guys, so like the son of him would be yelling,
(08:22):
and the son of him happened to be Eminem, so
Eminem made a cameo, and then you.
Speaker 5 (08:29):
Know it was It was really good.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
I like how they you know, they definitely made the storyline.
The thing I didn't like it although, was the golf
part of it was like kind of hokey pokey. I
wasn't a huge fan of that, But all the other
stuff was good. I think they did a good job.
But at the same time, like, how are you going
to You can't top Happy Gilmore, like the first one.
It's just it's timeless, it's classic. You're not going to
get better than that. It's hard to do. I mean,
(08:54):
I love Adam Sandler though, I mean the guys, he's
one of the best. But it was okay, Julie, I'll say, okay,
I'll give it. I'll give it. I like, what is
it rotten tomatoes? Is that how they do it right?
Like rod Tomatoes is usually like percentage wise, I'll give
it like a sixty five percent.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Say it's a pass, but it's not ideal past. But
I'd say, I think when you go into recreating like
Happy Gilmore or creating Happy Gilmore two, you have to
know in your head and you're never going to get
close to Happy Gilmore one, like the first, the original,
the og is always going to be the best. I
don't even know a situation where I mean, we could
(09:32):
go into this another podcast, but when the sequel is
better than the original. I mean, there are some situations
where that has happened. Not a lot, but there are some.
And you know, I almost was an extra in Happy
gill Moore too, as a golf like one of the
golf people they're like, get to Bedminster at three am
(09:55):
and it'll be eighteen hours of being in the rain,
like at the golf course for like a hun undred
and eighty dollars or something, and I said yes and
they were like, sorry, actually no, we.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Don't need you.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
Oh well, do you know actually you know who was
really good? Actually I thought was Shooter McGavin. Shooter McGavin
character he was. He was actually really funny in this movie.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
He was And was it the o G Shooter McGavin.
Speaker 5 (10:26):
It was it was him, good good og Shooter McGavin.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
You need you need og Shooter McGavin.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Okay, I know that Dan Patrick's in it, which I'm
humped for him about because he's supposed to. He was
actually going to be in the first one. Yeah, he
told me all about it. I won't We'll have him
on the pod to explain that at some point. He's
he's a good friend of mine. Okay, that was just
me name dropping right there when you mentioned Eminem by
the way, as okay, so I said this. I tweeted
(10:55):
this when Eminem did the halftime show for the Super Bowl,
like if I was in a relationship and I was
at the time, like I would drop my boyfriend in
a millisecond if Eminem was like, do you want to
go on a date, Like Eminem is like, that's my
like maybe.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Not the top really top top, but Eminem.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Like if I was a date Eminem right now, I
would be so I would be like, oh my god,
like I have one, Like I would love.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
To date Eminem.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Who for you is like okay, okay, hold on, are
you just confused about that answer?
Speaker 5 (11:30):
Before?
Speaker 4 (11:31):
I'd be no, before I answer your question. So Eminem
is like your hall pass.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Yeah, i'd say, you know what, And a lot of
my my galpals we all agree Eminem has got it.
Speaker 5 (11:43):
I mean I don't I don't disagree with that he does.
He does have it. He does have it, and it's
really like.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
A bit more like like he's not as out there.
It's not like being like oh yeah, like I mean,
come on the Efron Brothers golf video, Like I know
it's not really our audience necessarily who's watching rewatching that,
but like.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
It's it's Eminem is not putting.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Himself always out there, which I kind of like, he's
like a bit mysterious.
Speaker 5 (12:11):
This is true he is and he's man.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
I mean, i'd say Eminem is top five, maybe top
three best rapper of all time too, I think, right.
Speaker 5 (12:20):
Yeah, what was your question again?
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Yeah, like who would be who would be I guess
you're like, right now, celebrity that would be like, oh
my gosh, that person I would drow whoever i'm dating
like a normy you're dating for that person?
Speaker 4 (12:36):
This is so I I mean I used to be
and she's older now obviously, but like I mean, I
used to love Jennifer Aniston.
Speaker 5 (12:44):
Yes, I like Jennifer Anison lot, but she's a little older.
I guess it's okay current probably.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
No Jennifer Andison. Okay, Jennifer Anderson looks like the same
as she did when she was on Friends.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Let's be honest, Like she does look the same in
the morning show.
Speaker 5 (13:00):
How old is jen now?
Speaker 3 (13:01):
I don't know, she's just maybe in her fifties. She
looks fucking amazing.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
How much older than me?
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Yeah? There we go like, yeah, friend, Like that's the thing.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
These people aren't that much older than us, which is
really sad when you think about it. Because I went
to I'm just going to look it up, but I
went to a birthday party this past weekend for a
thirty year old and I can't tell you how old
I felt. I was like, oh, yeah, Jennifer Anson's fifty six.
Speaker 5 (13:27):
Yes, was this in Nashville.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
No, this was in New York. I was like, I
gotta get out of here.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
So like, thirty year olds have this unwildly energy that
I just don't have right now. I was like, whoa, Okay,
I went to Nashville though, Yeah, I wanted to touch
on this. We have spent time in Nashville for when
the Anaheim Ducks are there, and I remember, you know,
we would go out, we go to Tutsi's, we do
(13:54):
all this fun stuff. Nashville right now is like ratchet.
It is like danger Zone. It is disgusting. It's people king,
it's people peeing, It's New York. Really, Nashville is like
New York and it's hot.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
And it was just like, oh.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Yeah, because it's like bachelorette parties, bachelor parties. We were
there for my friend's fortieth birthday party, which was also
like an interesting I mean, it was not the thirtieth
birthday party, but it's like the fortieth. Well, I'll say
is what I realized how much I hated by going
to Nashville was we used to plan bachelor and bacherette
parties a lot. I mean, I'm the only one single
(14:35):
in my friend group now, so they kind of have
just like they're like, well, that will never happen, Julie.
So we're done planning all of our Bachett parties. But
how annoying it is to like herd cats like to
plan group outings in Nashville is literally the worst thing ever.
And then you're like someone's like, well, I want to
(14:55):
go over here, and I want to go over here,
and then you realize everyone's just like a dog that
is kind of run away and you hope they come back,
like because you don't have their location necessarily on your phone.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
So I was just like it was just like a
little much.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
And also when girls bring ugly guys into the group,
I'm like, and or no value add guys won't say ugly,
But if you are with a group of friends, do
not bring people who don't add value to the group
into the.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
Group because then you get stuck with them. Somehow I
got stuck with talking to the.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Non value added guys and I was like, listen, I
don't know why were you're here, Like I didn't you
gotta go?
Speaker 3 (15:35):
Please leave?
Speaker 5 (15:36):
Do you add fucking value to this group? Or no
you don't. Okay, you're out.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
By what is the value that you add to this
is basically is basically what I gathered from that. It's
just like I don't know, Nate, I have I have lived,
I have lived a lot of lives on this earth
right now, and I just don't have time. I don't
have time. Guys, that will not add value to a situation.
(16:00):
Enough about all of us here, we are real pumped
to be able to welcome in a guy who's won
a Stanley Cup and who's won a gold medal and
he is an absolute butte and that is none other
than Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy. On the
other side, welcome.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
On back to the Energy line with Date and JSB.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
And we're very thrilled and fortunate to be able to
welcome on Stanley Cup winning head coach from the Vegas
Golden Knights and recently named to Team Canada's coaching roster
as an assistant coach for the Olympics in twenty twenty six.
That's none other than Bruce Cassidy. And Bruce, thanks so
much for taking the time to join us during the
summer during your time off. But I want to say
(16:47):
congratulations on making the Olympic team.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
That is huge. How does the field know you're going
to Milan.
Speaker 6 (16:53):
Well, it's quite an honor, be honest. We're hoping after
four nation's success it would be able to keep the
band together, so to speak, and we did so good
for cooping Army. Appreciate them picking me. So I've never
been out. I played in the World Juniors once in
eighty four, but that's it. So to be able to
go to the Olympics, it's a dream come true for me.
And it's actually in Milan. I played in Italy for
(17:15):
three years one hundred years ago and my journey as
a minor league player, and so going to go back
and visit the area.
Speaker 7 (17:22):
So that'll be nice too.
Speaker 5 (17:23):
Yeah, Bruce, thanks for coming on.
Speaker 4 (17:24):
You know, you're one of the few coaches that I
didn't play for, and I think that almost almost I
was going to say, I think I just missed you.
I I was on my way down to Providence and
I got picked up off waivers by the Islanders, so
I just missed you. You know, I always want to
know how you know, how you got into the coaching
scene all former players obviously, and I want to know
how that came about what brought you into coaching, What
(17:46):
was thing that really interested you in it?
Speaker 7 (17:48):
Well, I never really thought it would be my path.
Speaker 6 (17:51):
I was, you know, kind of a quieter guy and
thought coaches did a lot of yelling, and I didn't
think that would be me. But at the end of
the day, I retired and when I was twenty nine,
I love the game. It was either go back to school.
Speaker 5 (18:02):
I grew up in all to Us.
Speaker 6 (18:03):
I went to Ottaway U while I was still playing
years ago and finish your degree or coach.
Speaker 7 (18:08):
And I got an opportunity in.
Speaker 6 (18:10):
The East Coach Lake through Bob Murray was a GM
in Chicago and basically said, listen, they're looking for a
coach and you never know what to you try. So
I tried and uh never looked back. So that that's
how it happened. I mean, I love the game. I
figured I'd staying at some capacity. It turned out to
be coaching, and you know, it was a long road
but worked out well.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Man, you mentioned Bruce right there that you didn't think
you'd be a coach necessarily because of the yelling aspect
of it. Yeah, yeah, how would you describe I guess
your coaching style now.
Speaker 6 (18:41):
Well, I understand what frustrated the coaches. I played for
Brian Kilray, who was a great coach, great guy, Darryl Sutter,
I learned so much from Mike Keatan I had for
a little while. But you know, they weren't afraid to
let you, you know, let the guys know when they
weren't getting.
Speaker 7 (18:54):
The job done.
Speaker 6 (18:55):
So I think today's day and age, you got a message,
you know a little bit better, but there's still those
moments where I understand why they probably got excited.
Speaker 7 (19:04):
Behind the bench.
Speaker 6 (19:05):
So but at the end of the day, my style,
I think I'm similar to them. I, you know, want accountability.
I want players to play to their strengths. If I
don't think I pegged myself to one certain way. I
do believe in defensive structure helps you win. But if
we have an offensive team, then I get no problem
letting the guys, you know, go as long as they
(19:25):
remember there's two ends of the ice. So the end
of the day, that's probably the best way to describe it.
Try to let the guys play their strengths and still
be you know, with the team.
Speaker 7 (19:35):
Identity requires coaching.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
At the foreign nations, you know, getting to coach with
guys like John Cooper and Pete de Boor and Rick
talking those guys. There, anything you took from those guys
that maybe, you know, help you and your team with
coaching Vegas, that you know helped you throughout the you know,
the rest of the regular season.
Speaker 6 (19:50):
Yeah, I think with Coop, you know, he's a guy
that is very observant in the room.
Speaker 7 (19:56):
So there's certainly an.
Speaker 6 (19:57):
Area I took from him just sitting around at say,
you know, a team meal and who's interacting with who,
stuff that I would probably not have noticed a lot.
I noticed our guys in Vegas, they they if we
do have one of those they sit with whoever's kind
of beside them. They're not clicking at all. I did
notice that, But he noticed more just some different things
in those situations. Who's maybe speaking up in the room
(20:18):
during practice, some stuff that you know I'd probably be busy,
you know, going over the drill again or something like that.
So I thought that was good as a head guy
to be able to take a bigger picture of you
talk is just great Hall of famer. He brings something
to our staff that none of us, you know, we
didn't have the playing career he did, but he's very
really a humble guy for a guy that's been to
(20:40):
the Hall of Fame and had so much success as
a player, And so I enjoyed being around talk. He's
you know, interactive with the players, probably because of that
trade of his and pizza.
Speaker 7 (20:49):
Bit like myself.
Speaker 6 (20:50):
I think we will get into the x's and o's
and discuss, you know, how to keep the puck out
of our net and how to get going out of
our ends. So a little bit from everybody, A good
group of guys. I'll say we all got along from
day one. All have our own personalities in the way
of doing things, but we found a way to make
it work and not step on each other's toes. And
that's probably the biggest credit to Coop. He's the guy
that kind of is the orchestrator of it all.
Speaker 7 (21:11):
So you know, it's been good. It's a real nice
and learning experience being around those guys.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
It sounds a lot like he sort of put you
guys together in the same way that maybe he would
coach a team and having that cerebral, sort of maestro
look of the bigger picture. And I've always found John
Cooper to be such a fascinating coach because he does
pick up on all those different details, and I think
that comes with a lot of his different background, of course,
(21:38):
being a public defender before, and maybe having nuances and
interests and instincts that we might not necessarily have. And
so I think that's fascinating, especially for you to be
able to have that experience. And now I think this
is unique for a coach like yourself. You just went
through the Four Nations in a calendar year of the
NHL season, and now you're going to be going through
(22:01):
an Olympic year.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
What did you learn.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
About having to be an NHL coach with a break
that you can use for this upcoming season that you
might not have known had you not not coached in
the Four Nations.
Speaker 7 (22:16):
Yeah, it's interesting.
Speaker 6 (22:17):
We talked about it because we had six players I think,
originally going then Petraanglo got hurt and couldn't go, and
Theodore Goat knocked out early. But we tried to prepare
for Julie as best as possible with rest and even
asking the guys if they wanted games off. But then
you got to deal with the salary cap and your
roster size, so it's going to be a little bit.
We would have had to kind of rotate them in
and out, and then we thought, well, now we're dis
repped in the rhythm of the team.
Speaker 7 (22:39):
Later in the year.
Speaker 6 (22:40):
So I don't think I had we had a great
answer for it. In the end, we tried to manage
their time. We gave them extra days and hope that
that would be enough. I think our guys were fresh
in the playoffs. I don't think that's the reason, you know,
we didn't get past Edmonton. Only they could answer that.
But I don't think there's an easy solution. I really don't.
(23:01):
Sort of maybe sitting the all for a couple of games,
and as I said, you don't have the roster size
and the flexibility to do that. Most teams don't, So
I'll be curious to see if there's a better answer
out there with the other teams. But that's how we
tried to manage it. Like I said, we were cognizant
of it. But I don't know that there's an easy fix.
And I'll tell you the last thing. Our players didn't
(23:22):
want to They wanted to play. They want to play.
They don't want the rest, So it's like, hey, or
they're going to do this for it and like, no,
I'm playing, and so that that trumps everything.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
What about for yourself, Bruce, Like in terms of you
as a coach as a person, like not necessarily the players,
but you doing your job well.
Speaker 7 (23:38):
I think we're used to a busy season.
Speaker 6 (23:42):
Someone said that to me, has said this to me
a long time ago, coaching, Like every during the season,
every day is a Monday. And the off season, like today,
every day is a Saturday. So I'm in the pool,
I'm chipping.
Speaker 7 (23:54):
A button, driving my you know, kids around. So it's great,
but in the in the in the winter, you're just
used to working every day.
Speaker 6 (24:00):
I don't know that there's a coach in the league
that really truly separates. I mean, you go home and separate,
but you're there's always something going through your mind, whether
it's a line combination, the upcoming schedule to travel. Uh,
is there a story in the media that went sideway,
whatever it is, there's usually something going on.
Speaker 7 (24:16):
So I didn't do much.
Speaker 5 (24:17):
I enjoyed.
Speaker 6 (24:18):
I enjoyed their company, the coaches and the players, had
the whole experience because I thought it was awesome.
Speaker 7 (24:24):
I'm from Ottawa, so we're in Montreal.
Speaker 6 (24:26):
I got to see some of my family and then Boston,
where I'd spent a lot of time. So it was
in a couple of cities where I knew people, So
that helped. Because my kids were still in school. They
weren't able to make it this year, they're gonna go
to the Olympics. But that that was Uh, that's how
what I tried to do. But at the end of
the day, Yeah, we don't get a lot of rest
in season, and that's fine because we get lots in
the in the off season.
Speaker 5 (24:46):
That's right. Rest is a weapon in the off season,
that's right. Uh.
Speaker 4 (24:50):
As a former player, and you know, talking about Mitch Martyer,
now you know I always talk I always talk about
you know, when you when you play against a guy,
you know, you know how good he is. But then
when he's on your team, you know, you don't really
realize how good he is. And you you got to
be you know, you got to have him at four Nations,
you got to get familiar with them, and now he's
on your team. You know, going into the season after
(25:10):
free agency, is there is there something that jumped out
at you that maybe not everyone knows, you know, being
on his team, seeing him day to day at Four
Nations and now you're have him on your team Vegas.
Speaker 6 (25:21):
Yeah, I mean it was it was a quick tournament,
but he was a big game player. Scored overtime goal
right against Sweden. I believe, big player in the last
two goals we scored against the US in the gold
medal game. So he certainly rose up. Played with different guys,
moved him around. I think it was with McDavid for
a while. I was with Ciarelli and Hegel, so played
with different types of players didn't affect his game. But
(25:42):
I wouldn't say there was one thing Nate. He just
good kid around the guy, sense of humor. Seemed like
he was one of those guys that just wanted to
be at the rink every day. Love having those guys around.
I think he's going to be a really good fit
for us because I think it's what maybe we didn't
see the fact that leaving the Toronto market, you know,
(26:02):
might be from what I'm hearing, you know, happen, there
might be a good thing for him and just seeking
to take a breath and play and live his life
and worked.
Speaker 7 (26:10):
Out well for Jack Michael and you know, maybe that's
what Mitch needs. So we'll see about that part.
Speaker 6 (26:16):
But as far as the player goes, he's as advertised,
he's one hundred point guy.
Speaker 7 (26:19):
It's going to help us.
Speaker 6 (26:20):
He made those plays at four Nations, he'll make them
for us. We'll see where he best fits. I get
asked that question a lot. He's going to play with
ko is he not?
Speaker 7 (26:28):
He's going to get a look there, of course, and
we'll see. We'll just because we've got Mark Stones pretty
good right winner.
Speaker 6 (26:33):
Dori Fiev's the right winner to score thirty five for us,
So it'll be an area of strength for us, and
he'll go where her best fits might be.
Speaker 7 (26:40):
Jack might not.
Speaker 5 (26:40):
We'll see.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
That's a great coaches answer is just answering the question
that you know that someone is going to ad what's coming.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
Yeah, college football coaches are great at it.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
They'll take up the entire amount of time just answering
what they think is going to come. And Bruce, I
listened to a bunch of podcasts where you had addressed
that already, and I know that that's just gone, you know,
just just you know, as you said, you're just going
to answer it.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
Already, just to get it out of the way.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
When you mentioned Jack, Eigel, I thought it was it
was curious when you know him coming in from a
precarious situation, Mitch Marner coming in from a precarious situation.
I'm from Toronto, so I understand what he's been through.
It's it was a lot as a coach. How do
you approach a player just in general, that may have
(27:25):
come from an not ideal situation but that is now
coming into your locker room.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
How do you welcome them into the team.
Speaker 7 (27:34):
Well, with Ichel, you know, we didn't talk about Buffalo
at all.
Speaker 6 (27:38):
It was more about he was around our training camps
in Boston because he was a local guy, so we
skated with our guys. So I used to see him
over at Warrior and Saylo and his skating coach that
we ended up hiring.
Speaker 7 (27:48):
He had for a long time, so I knew a
bit about Jack. So Jack was.
Speaker 6 (27:51):
More about, you know, the culture, what kind of player
do you want to be? Do you want to be
You've been around paterse Bergrong. Do do you want to
have that kind of legacy going going? You know, build
that legacy where you're a winner you're a two way player,
still an All Star, all those things. So that was
a bit of what do you want Jack out of
your career and sort of looked forward, not back at Buffalo,
(28:13):
because I don't know, you know, it's just like you,
Mitch and Toronto. I don't know the ins and outs
of have everything there. I just know what you read
here and there. So the conversation with Mitchell be a
similar situation. Hey, Vegas has high expectations. We go in
every year thinking we have a good chance to win.
That won't be any different this year. So that's what
we're going to talk about. You know, what can we
(28:35):
do to you know, to make you a better player
in those situations?
Speaker 7 (28:39):
And what can you do to help us be a
better team? And we'll go from there.
Speaker 6 (28:42):
We'll see what Let him do the talking, you know,
it's coaches talk a lot, and sometimes it's it's good
to listen too, So listen and then we'll formulate a plan.
And like Jack, it's like, here, here's what you know
I expect as a coach.
Speaker 7 (28:56):
What do you need from me? Like what makes you tick?
Speaker 6 (28:59):
And then you hope you find common ground with Jacket
worked out very well he's a highly motivated player. Most
of the best ones are, and I see that in Mitch.
Maybe that's the answer to your question earlier, Nate.
Speaker 7 (29:08):
He's a highly motivated guy, I believe, and he wants
to win. So we have that in common.
Speaker 6 (29:13):
And now it's just the hard part of figuring out
how you're going to get there to the finish line.
Speaker 7 (29:17):
But so that's how we started with Mitch small conversation.
Speaker 6 (29:21):
He was in Vegas with his family after he signed,
so let him have his you know, personal time, find
a house.
Speaker 7 (29:27):
But we'll sit down again before the year starts and
go through some.
Speaker 4 (29:30):
Of that talking about Jack Eicel And you know, we
got to play against him as well, and you could
see it over the last two years, especially at Four Nations.
Speaker 5 (29:37):
What what is clicked in Jack?
Speaker 4 (29:39):
Where all of a sudden, I mean and not all
of a sudden, but he's he's turned in this two
hundred foot player. And I was, you know, lucky enough
to watch Four Nations and be there live and see
it and saw you know, for me, I thought he
was the best player for the US. And you know
what click for Jack over the last couple of years.
Now that you've you know been able to coach him.
Speaker 5 (29:56):
Well.
Speaker 6 (29:56):
I think he's come to value that part of the game,
the two hundred foot game, being a leader in practice.
Jack us to practice too, He's another guy that and
he's becoming more and more vocal. I think when he
first got there, you know, there was some veteran guys
that'd been there a while. And now he's he's grown
that part of his I shouldn't say grown.
Speaker 7 (30:15):
He's probably already always had it. He had it Buffalo,
but he's he's he's able to to uh use it more,
bring it out more.
Speaker 6 (30:22):
With guys like Marcia so were there as long time
as gone and Martinez was a great leader one Cup,
so he's able to do that and that just makes
them a more confident guy. But I just see a
guy that values that part of the game. And I
again I can't speak to Buffalo whether he did or
didn't there. I just know that that's what we needed
from him and he brought it. And and it's hard
(30:44):
when your best player is doing it every night for
the other guys behind him not too Right now, we're
fortunate we have William Carlsono's a great two way player.
Nick while was going to Toronto was value that part
of the game, so walked into our locker room where
that mattered. So that that's that's certainly easier for you,
for you as a coach, and I was fortunate with
Boston to get that leaders like you know, On and Shara,
(31:04):
So for me, I've been very fortunate and grateful for
those and I think Jack's gravitating to one of those
guys and good for us and Mitch. That's what we expect.
He wore a letter in Toronto. We expect him to
lead for us. But that'll be the difference. He can
come in here and just be himself right away. We
don't need you to be anything more than Mitch marn
or the player, a good teammate. The rest will sort
(31:25):
itself out as we go and over time we'll see
if there's more of a leadership role for you. But
that's that's where I'll start for.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
Mitch Bruce, speaking of leaders, of course, Alex Petarangelo has
dealt with his share of injuries this season, and his
last update he said about a month ago that he
was advised to remove intensity of hockey to see if
his body can improve so he can return to normal
quality of life, which is, you know, very hard for
everyone to sort of read knowing of course what kind
(31:52):
of player he is and what person he is too.
Without him on the team, I mean, maybe let me
rephrase it. What is it that Alex Petangelo brings to
a team that is unique that is missed when he's
not there.
Speaker 6 (32:08):
Well, we'll miss his competitive spirit and his accountability. He's
really good at going down the bench when things aren't
going well to get guys attention with it, you know,
in a positive way.
Speaker 7 (32:17):
Really good.
Speaker 6 (32:18):
So as a coach, you know what, you appreciate that
acause it can't always be the staff that's sort of
barking out the orders or reminding guys. It's great when
the players, the leaders, you know, will point out that, hey,
we got we just got to get better at certain
areas whatever that happens to be that night.
Speaker 7 (32:32):
So we'll miss that part of it.
Speaker 6 (32:34):
He's a big brother to every player in that room,
especially the young guys. He's really good at recognizing one
of the young guys maybe down a little bit and
needs a hug from a teammate.
Speaker 7 (32:44):
Again, different from when the coach is, you know, trying
to pick a player up.
Speaker 6 (32:47):
So those are the areas we'll miss with them, and
this competitive drive in the playoffs, he can he can
step it up. So Caten Korsak is going to you know,
is a young guy that will get an opportunity, is
a nice player for us, and we'll see where he
can go with that. But at the end of the day,
it'd be tough to replace Alex's the intangibles he brings.
Speaker 7 (33:05):
But you know, now we're bringing.
Speaker 6 (33:07):
In a guy like Mitch that's that's been around the league,
so there's a little room for, you know, for another
voice in there, and other guys will grow. We had
guys have career years this year, Cola Sars and the
Howden's and and and Dora Fiev. Those younger guys, maybe
we'll grow a little more and into that role. So
though that's just the circle of life, so to speak.
(33:27):
I feel for Alex because he's a highly competitive player.
But as he said, he's got four young children and
he wants to be able to get on the ice
with him and and you know, play t ball and
baseball and all those things. So I understand where he's
coming from. It's too bad, but you know, we wish
him well. We're gonna miss him just missing around the
locker room. It's a good guy, you know, he's he's
got personality, he's joking with the guys, and that's the
(33:50):
part you probably miss the most.
Speaker 4 (33:51):
Yeah, with the absence of a guy like Petraangelo and
obviously you can't replace him, it's more of a committee.
But you know, what does it mean for a guy
like Noah Hannafin, who's you know, I think over the
last couple of years is really you know huge for
you guys.
Speaker 6 (34:04):
Well, I guess in that part of it on the
back end, if you look at just take the defenseman.
You know, one door closes, another one opens for Hannafin
and Theodore for that matter, to be a little more
alpha alpha males in the back end, because that was
Petro and Martinez, right, they're very good at it.
Speaker 7 (34:21):
And now you know it's sort.
Speaker 6 (34:23):
Of the it's it's the passing of the baton, so
to speak to those two guys to because you know,
they've signed for long term. So we need those guys
to grab that part of the game and and love it.
Speaker 7 (34:34):
And run with it.
Speaker 6 (34:35):
And because they're mon Ice, there's they're great players. And
now's an opportunity to lead the next the younger guys
in our back end, the Corsax Loson's coming in some
of the other guys back there, that white cloud that
you know that they can be the guys that drive
the back end. So that's the opportunity for Handy Uh
in THEO and and we'll see how that goes.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
Bruce, we know that we're running short on time, but
I just wanted to ask you about winning the Stanley Cup.
Speaker 3 (35:01):
I made a TikTok about you.
Speaker 7 (35:02):
It was awesome. I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 2 (35:08):
Yeah, okay, but understanding the circumstances, you know, after everything
that went down with Boston and you know, not being
brought back there, going to Vegas and winning the Stanley Cup,
I likened it. If you watch Succession, kind of like
Kendall Roy in earlier seasons when he was or maybe
Tom Walmscams let's say that, because he kind of took
(35:30):
over the company at the end. Sorry for any spoilers
out there for people, but I really liked your character.
Speaker 5 (35:35):
Arc.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
Let's just say, how did it feel to have had
undergone this difficult situation with Boston and then to bounce
back and win the Stanley Cup.
Speaker 7 (35:45):
Yeah, I haven't seen that show.
Speaker 6 (35:46):
I'll be honest, I'm still I just caught up in Yellowstone,
just finished it this summer, So that's.
Speaker 7 (35:50):
How well I mean. It was obviously in a lot
of emotions.
Speaker 6 (35:56):
My kids leave, you know, the area that they're going
into high school, so there was, you know, the family
piece of it was tough at first.
Speaker 7 (36:03):
I remember my daughter barely talked to me during the year. Boston.
Speaker 6 (36:06):
We're thirteen and two and we're in first place. I'm like, Shannon,
I mean, come on, the team's doing pretty well.
Speaker 7 (36:11):
Well, look at Boston. Blah blah blah. I never mind,
It's all right, you know, it's a part of the business.
Speaker 6 (36:16):
Then as year went on and everyone got comfortable and
just I guess you know, the way it played out,
we were doing really well, Boston is doing it well.
I'm like, oh my god, what sh we meet in
the final? It's something interesting. But anyway, it worked out
well for us. We came together at the right time,
and there was no better feeling that summer a because
you know, you want your name of the Cup first
(36:36):
of all, no matter where you are. I was so
close in Boston. No one still Hurts in nineteen. But yeah,
it was a great year. It was a great transition
looking back the way it all turned out, to move
across the country and have success and sort of find
a home a second home in Vegas because we love
it here, I said, we still have a house in
Cape Cod. You know, I still have a ton of
respect for the Bruins organization. I was a fan growing up.
(36:58):
I worked in it for fourteen years, so but you know,
it's the business. You move on, and so it was
really satisfying, gratifying to win, but mainly because it's the Cup,
and I think every guy would tell you, every person
in the league, we'd tell you that that's the ultimate
and the dream.
Speaker 2 (37:15):
Well, congratulations on doing that, and also congratulations on the
gold medal against USA. I'm Canadian, as I mentioned before,
so you know, I like to make sure I bring
it up to Nate as much as possible because I
can't imagine a world where Canada didn't win in overtime,
just like in twenty ten Olympics.
Speaker 3 (37:32):
I just can't.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
I don't even know what it would be like to
be American in that regard. So good luck in the
upcoming Olympics. I'll be there covering you guys for CBC,
so I'll see you around the rink and good luck
for the upcoming season. We can't wait to see how
Mitch Marner does as a Vega Vegas Golden Night.
Speaker 6 (37:49):
All right, Well, thanks Julie, Thanks Nate. Having enjoy the
rest of your summer.
Speaker 7 (37:52):
We'll see us soon enough.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
All right. Well that was Bruce Cassidy, Stanley Cup winning
head coach of Vegas Golden Knights and also going to
be a part of Team Canada for the twenty twenty
six Olympics, and Nate we were just saying, I mean,
this guy is he is such a delight to talk to.
By the ways as a coach, I think they're everyone
is very different. But I'm really excited to see how
(38:21):
Mitch Marner does with Vegas. After talking with Bruce, I
feel like that's this. It feels like a very positive
situation for both of them.
Speaker 5 (38:28):
Yeah, this is a really good fit.
Speaker 4 (38:29):
And you know, you hear Bruce talk about him, and
he was so familiar with him, obviously have him at
Four Nations and seeing him, and I mean, we know
everyone knows what type of player Mitch Marner is. He's
a type of player that does make other players better.
He's good defensively. I mean, he's going to fit right
in with that Vegas roster, I think. And you know,
he talked about, you know, the two hundred foot game
(38:49):
and Jack Eichel and how he plays that way. But
you know, you look at look at their captain, look
at Mark Stone. I mean, the guy is you know,
up for Selkies every year right too. So I mean
it's it's gonna be a really good team and a
fun team to watch because you know, he has so
many options. Like when we were talking about what life,
you know he was talking about. Obviously we didn't even
ask him about what line he's going to play on.
(39:09):
He answered it for us and he just basically said
they and they do. He has so many options because
at wing they have so many guys.
Speaker 5 (39:18):
So it's going to be interesting.
Speaker 4 (39:19):
But I'm really excited and I'm excited and I'm happy
and you mentioned it. I'm happy for Mitch Marner, you know.
I mean, he's he's been a great leaf. But I
think this is going to be a really really good
fit in Vegas.
Speaker 2 (39:30):
Yeah, and I think the unique aspect of having Bruce
Cassidy deal with someone like Jack Eigell's situation too, really
lends a hand to having welcoming in like a star
player that might not have been in the greatest situation before,
but that you know, Toronto market is very different from Buffalo.
But also I like the Cassidy has you know, a
(39:50):
guy who was in Boston would have been you know,
saw him in the playoffs, saw how all that went down,
just like the whole dynamic of it, So it'd be
empathetic to it in that regard.
Speaker 3 (40:01):
And I think now that I keep now that I.
Speaker 2 (40:03):
Mentioned like the analogy to Bruce who didn't hasn't seen Succession,
and you know, apologies for spoiling the ending that happened
like three years ago, But did you watch it, Nate Succession.
Speaker 4 (40:16):
I watched a couple of seasons. I didn't finish it.
Speaker 2 (40:18):
I just don't understand how somebody couldn't finish Succession.
Speaker 3 (40:23):
I just like I couldn't. I couldn't not finish Succession.
Speaker 4 (40:28):
I know, I feel judged. It's okay, though it's okay,
I will finish it eventually. It probably was because Game
of Thrones is on at the same time, and it
just trumped that trumped Succession.
Speaker 2 (40:37):
Okay, Game of Thrones is a bit of a commitment.
I will say I didn't watch that show.
Speaker 3 (40:41):
I couldn't.
Speaker 2 (40:42):
I watched three episodes and I was like, I'm too
late to the cultural capital of this situation too for
this to be good. But I will just veer back
to Succession where I made this TikTok. I sent it
to our group chat last night of just like, okay,
I am whatever. I had all these random videos of
Bruce Cassie on my phone. Don't ask me why he
(41:03):
was uh coach at All Star Game. I had videos
of him like posing strong man, and then I saw
him at the Kannaka Bar in New York. I took
a video just sort of like of him there, just
like in the crowd. Now I feel like a real weirdo.
But whatever, I am a weirdo, so it's fine. And
then with him hoisting the cup, it was like just
very much like a his story.
Speaker 3 (41:22):
I loved it.
Speaker 2 (41:23):
He was like the as I mentioned, kind of kend
O Rolly season one two ish like and then Tom
wamscams at the end, so it's like, oh, yeah, good.
I love like a guy who's just like almost spiteless.
He's like Larry David, like he's getting back in Moga
Joe for whatever. Just the Bruins in that regard. Of course,
he didn't seem like he had that much.
Speaker 5 (41:43):
Now we're talking, Yeah, there we go.
Speaker 2 (41:45):
Okay, I'll do curb keruby enthusiasm and analogies instead. But yeah,
great guy and very scared about maybe a rematch of
like a Florida Vegas situation at this point, very very possible.
Speaker 4 (42:00):
I mean Vegas again is in you know, there in
cup tending mode still. They have been since they've been
in the league. It's just crazy. But they're poison ready
to go for another deep run this year and they're
they're going to be very.
Speaker 5 (42:11):
Good this year.
Speaker 4 (42:11):
I mean it's from I mean top to bottom goaltending,
the forwards there.
Speaker 5 (42:16):
They're set.
Speaker 2 (42:17):
And I also find it interesting just to go back
to the ad d I have of the Olympics with him.
I did let it out and like it's not public yet,
but I will be covering Team Canada and hockey and
doing hosting in Milan for CBC.
Speaker 5 (42:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (42:35):
When you like you threw that in there, I wanted
to be like, as you said it, you're going to
be there. I was like I wanted to be like, hey,
congratulations really by the way.
Speaker 2 (42:43):
Oh, it's like I'm saying like, oh, yeah, I'm having
a child, by the way.
Speaker 3 (42:47):
Yeah, I mean whatever.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
Well, no one will listen to this at all and
know that this is I'm sure CBC would rather them
put the information out there, but they don't. They're not
like NBC. They're way more like, you know, you do it,
you do you Julie, and you go have fun running around.
But they did say I would be doing Yeah. Like
I said to text to John Cooper, like hey, I
(43:10):
just want to let you know, like I'm gonna be
there in Milan with you guys, and he sent back
like this girl just sort of like screaming. And I
was like, I'm not sure if you're like happy or like,
I'm not sure if you're like, oh, no, Julie's.
Speaker 3 (43:25):
Gonna be here or you're like, yay, great for you, Julie.
Speaker 2 (43:28):
But uh, yeah, I'm pretty pumped. Obviously, I'm obsessed with
the Olympics. I need a restraining order from the Olympics.
So yeah, it'll be fun to hopefully be able to
see all those guys. I love the coaching staff a
Team Canada. I mean, who doesn't Little Talk Coop Cassidy.
I mean obviously Team USA as well. Equal opportunity employer here,
(43:52):
So we love Sully and everyone else that comes with him,
everyone else.
Speaker 3 (44:02):
All right, Okay, well sorry, that's great, Thanks Nate. I
appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (44:07):
You know, it's nice to have a professional win every
now and again. Okay, all right, but I will also
with this podcast I will be listening to and I
really hope I heart brings it back to guys. Five
Rings was and is one of the best podcasts I
have ever listened to in my entire life. Bow and
Yang Matt Rogers the funniest Olympic podcast ever. And I
(44:32):
think that's how I got this job, by the way, Yeah,
because I was posting about it during the Olympics so much.
I was obsessed with that podcast the point I was
screenshotting episodes and sending them to Matt Rogers being like, bitch,
where's the next where's a new episode? Like it's been
four days, get on the mic. I want to know,
I want to hear, and so yeah, I was. I
was the biggest stand That's what Bowen Yang was like, Hey, Julie,
(44:55):
thanks for being our biggest stand I was like, yeah, oh,
you bet your best podcasts. So I'm giving a little
love to our iHeart our Heart family right there, and
I'm going to give a little love to all of
you guys. Thank you for listening to episode thirty two
of The Energy Line with Nate JASB. Energy Line is
a production of the NHL and iHeart Podcasts. Thanks to
Bruce Cassidy for joining us. Thanks to Jake Brown for producing.
(45:17):
Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify or wherever you
get your podcasts, or listen on the iHeartRadio app. Give
us a five star rating, and please write a nice
review if you feel like it. I'm Julie Sharpinks, He's
Nate Thompson and we will be back with another episode
in two weeks.
Speaker 3 (45:31):
Thank you so much for tuning in.
Speaker 1 (45:38):
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 I
Heart podcasts.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Welcome to Energy Line with Nate and JSB. I'm Julie Durbinks.
He's former NHLR Nate Thompson. Energy Line is a production
of the NHL and I Heart broadcasts. Excuse me, I
Heart podcasts. Wow, off to a real great start here, Nate.
And to get to a broadcasting Oh wow. I just
segued myself so hard right there. I wanted to know
(00:40):
about Nate's broadcasting camp, so I was thinking about it
a lot. That is the last time we were chatting
and you were doing year two a broadcasting camp, which
was unconventional, as we had discussed, as most people just
do one year.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
What did you learn from year two, Nate?
Speaker 4 (00:57):
Well, it's good to see you. It's been a couple
of weeks. Nice to be back on with you. It
was at Tripped, really and it was a lot of fun.
I did learn a lot in year two. I think
in year two, I don't know if I learned more,
but I think it was more of a review. I
guess you could say, you know, you know, there was
one module or station that we did with Eddie Oulchek
(01:18):
that was different this year and was newer, which by
the way, Eddie Edzo is like he's the best of.
Speaker 5 (01:26):
The best, and I know we talk about all the time,
but you know, we did a.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
Working with the telestrator, right like when he's in the
middle of a game and he's you know, drawing stuff
up and talking at the same time, and I didn't
realize how difficult that is.
Speaker 5 (01:39):
That is not easy to do.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
As he draws it up and he's talking during he's
he's smooth with it. So that was the one thing
I think I'm not too familiar with. I haven't used
a telestrator really that much or ever really in that matter,
and you.
Speaker 5 (01:55):
Know, ed Zoe's a Jedi with it.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
And so that was the one thing I did learn
that was different in the previous years. And then but
learning from guys and getting to like hear stories from
Steve Levy and Kenny Albert and I mean those guys
are just you know, they're unbelievable.
Speaker 5 (02:10):
And and then Jody Shelley was there this year.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
You know, Brian Bouchet wasn't, so Jody Shelley took over
and he was, uh, you know kind of teaching, you know,
between the benches and you know, asking questions, you know,
between periods and you know, things like that. So, uh,
it was a great trip, Julie. I learned a lot always,
you know, I did. I have to say, I did
(02:33):
use your joke about the Billy Madison thing.
Speaker 5 (02:37):
Yes, I did say.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
It was it was like post post camp and we
were all sitting there and whatever, and we're guys were
joking around about coming back next year, trying to you know,
figure out because when we want to have more guys
come and I want players, for more players, even current
players to you know, to know about this and and
maybe set themselves up for after after playing. And you know,
we were kind of talking and I joked around about
(03:00):
if I'm going to be here next year, that's doing
bad but.
Speaker 5 (03:05):
Passed. So I did steal your joke. Oh, but it
was great, Julie.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
It was.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
It was a great trip and I enjoyed it.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Okay, So I'm going to use some of my broadcasting
skills on you right there.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
I need examples.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Okay, I heard he had a great time there. What
did ed Zo say about the telestrator other than the
fact that you probably just have to keep doing it
to get better at it.
Speaker 5 (03:33):
So that's a very good question.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
And he said, and he knew from a player's standpoint,
when we're watching a play and you want to break
it down and you want to break it down live.
When we see the play, we see fifty fucking things
happening at once. That's just the way we all compute
it because we played. That's what we see. And he
(03:54):
knows that. And he would explain, he'd be like, he'd
be like, Okay, I know, you guys see twenty things
happening right now. He's like explained two things out of
those twenty things that you see.
Speaker 5 (04:06):
Explain to that's it. Just leave it at that.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
And that broke it down and made it way easier
because it was like, Okay, I don't need to explain
all of this. I just need to say this and
this and get it to the goal and that's it.
And adzo. You know, he broke it down like that
and made it so so much more simple. And I
mean that's why he's best of the best, right.
Speaker 5 (04:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
I think that's so great because most people watching, first
of all, their information intake in those situations is like
they just want to know why something happened, like they
don't know all the intricacies and they'll be overloaded by
like especially unless you are, you know, a deep hockey fan,
and even if you are, you don't necessarily take that
all in. It's like it's like anything in life, Like
(04:49):
you don't absorb information unless it's like hey, red light,
green light, amber light, like we only have three lights.
So that analogy I just made up on the spot, okay,
but still holds to say that, like we can only
absorb so much.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
So I think that's great. Okay.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
So as a host for myself, what did Steve Levy
say that you thought was good?
Speaker 4 (05:14):
His big thing was inform and entertain and he said
it used to be which was interesting. He goes, he
used to be inform and entertained and he's like, he goes,
I believe it's entertained and informed now, And that was interesting,
right he With with Steve Leevy, it was more of like,
you know, because we were in the studio, we did
a little fake mock you know between the you know,
(05:36):
between the periods kind of thing, and with him it's
he was just having fun with it. I mean, the guy,
he's just with his jokes. He's quick. But I think
with him. It was you know, really he said, He's like, listen,
you guys are the experts.
Speaker 5 (05:49):
You guys played, you.
Speaker 4 (05:50):
Know, have conviction with what you say, but have fun
with it, you know, use you know, talk about what
happened with you when you played, or you know an instance,
an example, things like that.
Speaker 5 (06:00):
I mean, Steve was he was great. He made it
very light, made it you know, made it very fun.
So uh but just so good right like he you know,
he tell it.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
He he told stories about Mess and PK and you
know in the beginning and.
Speaker 5 (06:13):
U Cellio's those guys. So he was great. He was.
He's super helpful.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
I think that's a great person to have to describe,
like the evolution of an analyst too, because you know,
when it was PK mess, Cellio's like getting them out
of their shells and then Mess and PK and then
you know, he get to the point where Mess is
chasing PK around the studio with the cup, which is
something I will never forget in my entire life. Smart
(06:40):
Messier running around ESPN studio with the cup because PK
obviously never won it and he was just like running
away from it.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
It was just such a it was great TV, and.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
I think that's an interesting shift in how hockey's being
broadcasted now. A lot of sports are going the entertainment route.
You can see that with you know, look at college
game Day, look at Pat McAfee, you know all that
kind of stuff. People are into what is what's going
to be fun and interesting and be like, hey, I
want to send this clip to somebody. Right, you don't
want to just think in clips, but like you want
(07:12):
to think at how you can get the most out
of you, right, Like, for instance, I was just gonna
segue into something that I realized was not gonna it
was was not going to get the best out of you,
but was going to get the best out of me,
laughing at the situation I would have put you in,
which would not be what Steve Leavey would say.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
It would be a good idea as a host. But anyway,
we're going to move on from that.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
I was going to go into my weekend in Nashville,
but I'm not going to because I need to get
a quick I mentioned this before. Happy Gilmore too came
out going to go into it. He's wearing a Bruins
jersey on the cover. We all loved Happy Gilmore who
no thoughts.
Speaker 5 (07:55):
I thought it was okay.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
I liked I liked how they they.
Speaker 5 (08:00):
They brought it back a lot.
Speaker 4 (08:01):
It was very nostalgic, like they brought back a lot
of old characters, like whether it was you know, the
guy that the guy that used, the guy that yelled jackass,
the guy would like jackass, you know when he was
trying to hit the fan that was always messing him up. Well,
they brought back a lot of like the sons of
those guys, so like the son of him would be yelling,
(08:22):
and the son of him happened to be Eminem, so
Eminem made a cameo, and then you.
Speaker 5 (08:29):
Know it was It was really good.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
I like how they you know, they definitely made the storyline.
The thing I didn't like it although, was the golf
part of it was like kind of hokey pokey. I
wasn't a huge fan of that, But all the other
stuff was good. I think they did a good job.
But at the same time, like, how are you going
to You can't top Happy Gilmore, like the first one.
It's just it's timeless, it's classic. You're not going to
get better than that. It's hard to do. I mean,
(08:54):
I love Adam Sandler though, I mean the guys, he's
one of the best. But it was okay, Julie, I'll say, okay,
I'll give it. I'll give it. I like, what is
it rotten tomatoes? Is that how they do it right?
Like rod Tomatoes is usually like percentage wise, I'll give
it like a sixty five percent.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Say it's a pass, but it's not ideal past. But
I'd say, I think when you go into recreating like
Happy Gilmore or creating Happy Gilmore two, you have to
know in your head and you're never going to get
close to Happy Gilmore one, like the first, the original,
the og is always going to be the best. I
don't even know a situation where I mean, we could
(09:32):
go into this another podcast, but when the sequel is
better than the original. I mean, there are some situations
where that has happened. Not a lot, but there are some.
And you know, I almost was an extra in Happy
gill Moore too, as a golf like one of the
golf people they're like, get to Bedminster at three am
(09:55):
and it'll be eighteen hours of being in the rain,
like at the golf course for like a hun undred
and eighty dollars or something, and I said yes and
they were like, sorry, actually no, we.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Don't need you.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
Oh well, do you know actually you know who was
really good? Actually I thought was Shooter McGavin. Shooter McGavin
character he was. He was actually really funny in this movie.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
He was And was it the o G Shooter McGavin.
Speaker 5 (10:26):
It was it was him, good good og Shooter McGavin.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
You need you need og Shooter McGavin.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Okay, I know that Dan Patrick's in it, which I'm
humped for him about because he's supposed to. He was
actually going to be in the first one. Yeah, he
told me all about it. I won't We'll have him
on the pod to explain that at some point. He's
he's a good friend of mine. Okay, that was just
me name dropping right there when you mentioned Eminem by
the way, as okay, so I said this. I tweeted
(10:55):
this when Eminem did the halftime show for the Super Bowl,
like if I was in a relationship and I was
at the time, like I would drop my boyfriend in
a millisecond if Eminem was like, do you want to
go on a date, Like Eminem is like, that's my
like maybe.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Not the top really top top, but Eminem.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Like if I was a date Eminem right now, I
would be so I would be like, oh my god,
like I have one, Like I would love.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
To date Eminem.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Who for you is like okay, okay, hold on, are
you just confused about that answer?
Speaker 5 (11:30):
Before?
Speaker 4 (11:31):
I'd be no, before I answer your question. So Eminem
is like your hall pass.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Yeah, i'd say, you know what, And a lot of
my my galpals we all agree Eminem has got it.
Speaker 5 (11:43):
I mean I don't I don't disagree with that he does.
He does have it. He does have it, and it's
really like.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
A bit more like like he's not as out there.
It's not like being like oh yeah, like I mean,
come on the Efron Brothers golf video, Like I know
it's not really our audience necessarily who's watching rewatching that,
but like.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
It's it's Eminem is not putting.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Himself always out there, which I kind of like, he's
like a bit mysterious.
Speaker 5 (12:11):
This is true he is and he's man.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
I mean, i'd say Eminem is top five, maybe top
three best rapper of all time too, I think, right.
Speaker 5 (12:20):
Yeah, what was your question again?
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Yeah, like who would be who would be I guess
you're like, right now, celebrity that would be like, oh
my gosh, that person I would drow whoever i'm dating
like a normy you're dating for that person?
Speaker 4 (12:36):
This is so I I mean I used to be
and she's older now obviously, but like I mean, I
used to love Jennifer Aniston.
Speaker 5 (12:44):
Yes, I like Jennifer Anison lot, but she's a little older.
I guess it's okay current probably.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
No Jennifer Andison. Okay, Jennifer Anderson looks like the same
as she did when she was on Friends.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Let's be honest, Like she does look the same in
the morning show.
Speaker 5 (13:00):
How old is jen now?
Speaker 3 (13:01):
I don't know, she's just maybe in her fifties. She
looks fucking amazing.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
How much older than me?
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Yeah? There we go like, yeah, friend, Like that's the thing.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
These people aren't that much older than us, which is
really sad when you think about it. Because I went
to I'm just going to look it up, but I
went to a birthday party this past weekend for a
thirty year old and I can't tell you how old
I felt. I was like, oh, yeah, Jennifer Anson's fifty six.
Speaker 5 (13:27):
Yes, was this in Nashville.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
No, this was in New York. I was like, I
gotta get out of here.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
So like, thirty year olds have this unwildly energy that
I just don't have right now. I was like, whoa, Okay,
I went to Nashville though, Yeah, I wanted to touch
on this. We have spent time in Nashville for when
the Anaheim Ducks are there, and I remember, you know,
we would go out, we go to Tutsi's, we do
(13:54):
all this fun stuff. Nashville right now is like ratchet.
It is like danger Zone. It is disgusting. It's people king,
it's people peeing, It's New York. Really, Nashville is like
New York and it's hot.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
And it was just like, oh.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Yeah, because it's like bachelorette parties, bachelor parties. We were
there for my friend's fortieth birthday party, which was also
like an interesting I mean, it was not the thirtieth
birthday party, but it's like the fortieth. Well, I'll say
is what I realized how much I hated by going
to Nashville was we used to plan bachelor and bacherette
parties a lot. I mean, I'm the only one single
(14:35):
in my friend group now, so they kind of have
just like they're like, well, that will never happen, Julie.
So we're done planning all of our Bachett parties. But
how annoying it is to like herd cats like to
plan group outings in Nashville is literally the worst thing ever.
And then you're like someone's like, well, I want to
(14:55):
go over here, and I want to go over here,
and then you realize everyone's just like a dog that
is kind of run away and you hope they come back,
like because you don't have their location necessarily on your phone.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
So I was just like it was just like a
little much.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
And also when girls bring ugly guys into the group,
I'm like, and or no value add guys won't say ugly,
But if you are with a group of friends, do
not bring people who don't add value to the group
into the.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
Group because then you get stuck with them. Somehow I
got stuck with talking to the.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Non value added guys and I was like, listen, I
don't know why were you're here, Like I didn't you
gotta go?
Speaker 3 (15:35):
Please leave?
Speaker 5 (15:36):
Do you add fucking value to this group? Or no
you don't. Okay, you're out.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
By what is the value that you add to this
is basically is basically what I gathered from that. It's
just like I don't know, Nate, I have I have lived,
I have lived a lot of lives on this earth
right now, and I just don't have time. I don't
have time. Guys, that will not add value to a situation.
(16:00):
Enough about all of us here, we are real pumped
to be able to welcome in a guy who's won
a Stanley Cup and who's won a gold medal and
he is an absolute butte and that is none other
than Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy. On the
other side, welcome.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
On back to the Energy line with Date and JSB.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
And we're very thrilled and fortunate to be able to
welcome on Stanley Cup winning head coach from the Vegas
Golden Knights and recently named to Team Canada's coaching roster
as an assistant coach for the Olympics in twenty twenty six.
That's none other than Bruce Cassidy. And Bruce, thanks so
much for taking the time to join us during the
summer during your time off. But I want to say
(16:47):
congratulations on making the Olympic team.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
That is huge. How does the field know you're going
to Milan.
Speaker 6 (16:53):
Well, it's quite an honor, be honest. We're hoping after
four nation's success it would be able to keep the
band together, so to speak, and we did so good
for cooping Army. Appreciate them picking me. So I've never
been out. I played in the World Juniors once in
eighty four, but that's it. So to be able to
go to the Olympics, it's a dream come true for me.
And it's actually in Milan. I played in Italy for
(17:15):
three years one hundred years ago and my journey as
a minor league player, and so going to go back
and visit the area.
Speaker 7 (17:22):
So that'll be nice too.
Speaker 5 (17:23):
Yeah, Bruce, thanks for coming on.
Speaker 4 (17:24):
You know, you're one of the few coaches that I
didn't play for, and I think that almost almost I
was going to say, I think I just missed you.
I I was on my way down to Providence and
I got picked up off waivers by the Islanders, so
I just missed you. You know, I always want to
know how you know, how you got into the coaching
scene all former players obviously, and I want to know
how that came about what brought you into coaching, What
(17:46):
was thing that really interested you in it?
Speaker 7 (17:48):
Well, I never really thought it would be my path.
Speaker 6 (17:51):
I was, you know, kind of a quieter guy and
thought coaches did a lot of yelling, and I didn't
think that would be me. But at the end of
the day, I retired and when I was twenty nine,
I love the game. It was either go back to school.
Speaker 5 (18:02):
I grew up in all to Us.
Speaker 6 (18:03):
I went to Ottaway U while I was still playing
years ago and finish your degree or coach.
Speaker 7 (18:08):
And I got an opportunity in.
Speaker 6 (18:10):
The East Coach Lake through Bob Murray was a GM
in Chicago and basically said, listen, they're looking for a
coach and you never know what to you try. So
I tried and uh never looked back. So that that's
how it happened. I mean, I love the game. I
figured I'd staying at some capacity. It turned out to
be coaching, and you know, it was a long road
but worked out well.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Man, you mentioned Bruce right there that you didn't think
you'd be a coach necessarily because of the yelling aspect
of it. Yeah, yeah, how would you describe I guess
your coaching style now.
Speaker 6 (18:41):
Well, I understand what frustrated the coaches. I played for
Brian Kilray, who was a great coach, great guy, Darryl Sutter,
I learned so much from Mike Keatan I had for
a little while. But you know, they weren't afraid to
let you, you know, let the guys know when they
weren't getting.
Speaker 7 (18:54):
The job done.
Speaker 6 (18:55):
So I think today's day and age, you got a message,
you know a little bit better, but there's still those
moments where I understand why they probably got excited.
Speaker 7 (19:04):
Behind the bench.
Speaker 6 (19:05):
So but at the end of the day, my style,
I think I'm similar to them. I, you know, want accountability.
I want players to play to their strengths. If I
don't think I pegged myself to one certain way. I
do believe in defensive structure helps you win. But if
we have an offensive team, then I get no problem
letting the guys, you know, go as long as they
(19:25):
remember there's two ends of the ice. So the end
of the day, that's probably the best way to describe it.
Try to let the guys play their strengths and still
be you know, with the team.
Speaker 7 (19:35):
Identity requires coaching.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
At the foreign nations, you know, getting to coach with
guys like John Cooper and Pete de Boor and Rick
talking those guys. There, anything you took from those guys
that maybe, you know, help you and your team with
coaching Vegas, that you know helped you throughout the you know,
the rest of the regular season.
Speaker 6 (19:50):
Yeah, I think with Coop, you know, he's a guy
that is very observant in the room.
Speaker 7 (19:56):
So there's certainly an.
Speaker 6 (19:57):
Area I took from him just sitting around at say,
you know, a team meal and who's interacting with who,
stuff that I would probably not have noticed a lot.
I noticed our guys in Vegas, they they if we
do have one of those they sit with whoever's kind
of beside them. They're not clicking at all. I did
notice that, But he noticed more just some different things
in those situations. Who's maybe speaking up in the room
(20:18):
during practice, some stuff that you know I'd probably be busy,
you know, going over the drill again or something like that.
So I thought that was good as a head guy
to be able to take a bigger picture of you
talk is just great Hall of famer. He brings something
to our staff that none of us, you know, we
didn't have the playing career he did, but he's very
really a humble guy for a guy that's been to
(20:40):
the Hall of Fame and had so much success as
a player, And so I enjoyed being around talk. He's
you know, interactive with the players, probably because of that
trade of his and pizza.
Speaker 7 (20:49):
Bit like myself.
Speaker 6 (20:50):
I think we will get into the x's and o's
and discuss, you know, how to keep the puck out
of our net and how to get going out of
our ends. So a little bit from everybody, A good
group of guys. I'll say we all got along from
day one. All have our own personalities in the way
of doing things, but we found a way to make
it work and not step on each other's toes. And
that's probably the biggest credit to Coop. He's the guy
that kind of is the orchestrator of it all.
Speaker 7 (21:11):
So you know, it's been good. It's a real nice
and learning experience being around those guys.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
It sounds a lot like he sort of put you
guys together in the same way that maybe he would
coach a team and having that cerebral, sort of maestro
look of the bigger picture. And I've always found John
Cooper to be such a fascinating coach because he does
pick up on all those different details, and I think
that comes with a lot of his different background, of course,
(21:38):
being a public defender before, and maybe having nuances and
interests and instincts that we might not necessarily have. And
so I think that's fascinating, especially for you to be
able to have that experience. And now I think this
is unique for a coach like yourself. You just went
through the Four Nations in a calendar year of the
NHL season, and now you're going to be going through
(22:01):
an Olympic year.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
What did you learn.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
About having to be an NHL coach with a break
that you can use for this upcoming season that you
might not have known had you not not coached in
the Four Nations.
Speaker 7 (22:16):
Yeah, it's interesting.
Speaker 6 (22:17):
We talked about it because we had six players I think,
originally going then Petraanglo got hurt and couldn't go, and
Theodore Goat knocked out early. But we tried to prepare
for Julie as best as possible with rest and even
asking the guys if they wanted games off. But then
you got to deal with the salary cap and your
roster size, so it's going to be a little bit.
We would have had to kind of rotate them in
and out, and then we thought, well, now we're dis
repped in the rhythm of the team.
Speaker 7 (22:39):
Later in the year.
Speaker 6 (22:40):
So I don't think I had we had a great
answer for it. In the end, we tried to manage
their time. We gave them extra days and hope that
that would be enough. I think our guys were fresh
in the playoffs. I don't think that's the reason, you know,
we didn't get past Edmonton. Only they could answer that.
But I don't think there's an easy solution. I really don't.
(23:01):
Sort of maybe sitting the all for a couple of games,
and as I said, you don't have the roster size
and the flexibility to do that. Most teams don't, So
I'll be curious to see if there's a better answer
out there with the other teams. But that's how we
tried to manage it. Like I said, we were cognizant
of it. But I don't know that there's an easy fix.
And I'll tell you the last thing. Our players didn't
(23:22):
want to They wanted to play. They want to play.
They don't want the rest, So it's like, hey, or
they're going to do this for it and like, no,
I'm playing, and so that that trumps everything.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
What about for yourself, Bruce, Like in terms of you
as a coach as a person, like not necessarily the players,
but you doing your job well.
Speaker 7 (23:38):
I think we're used to a busy season.
Speaker 6 (23:42):
Someone said that to me, has said this to me
a long time ago, coaching, Like every during the season,
every day is a Monday. And the off season, like today,
every day is a Saturday. So I'm in the pool,
I'm chipping.
Speaker 7 (23:54):
A button, driving my you know, kids around. So it's great,
but in the in the in the winter, you're just
used to working every day.
Speaker 6 (24:00):
I don't know that there's a coach in the league
that really truly separates. I mean, you go home and separate,
but you're there's always something going through your mind, whether
it's a line combination, the upcoming schedule to travel. Uh,
is there a story in the media that went sideway,
whatever it is, there's usually something going on.
Speaker 7 (24:16):
So I didn't do much.
Speaker 5 (24:17):
I enjoyed.
Speaker 6 (24:18):
I enjoyed their company, the coaches and the players, had
the whole experience because I thought it was awesome.
Speaker 7 (24:24):
I'm from Ottawa, so we're in Montreal.
Speaker 6 (24:26):
I got to see some of my family and then Boston,
where I'd spent a lot of time. So it was
in a couple of cities where I knew people, So
that helped. Because my kids were still in school. They
weren't able to make it this year, they're gonna go
to the Olympics. But that that was Uh, that's how
what I tried to do. But at the end of
the day, Yeah, we don't get a lot of rest
in season, and that's fine because we get lots in
the in the off season.
Speaker 5 (24:46):
That's right. Rest is a weapon in the off season,
that's right. Uh.
Speaker 4 (24:50):
As a former player, and you know, talking about Mitch Martyer,
now you know I always talk I always talk about
you know, when you when you play against a guy,
you know, you know how good he is. But then
when he's on your team, you know, you don't really
realize how good he is. And you you got to
be you know, you got to have him at four Nations,
you got to get familiar with them, and now he's
on your team. You know, going into the season after
(25:10):
free agency, is there is there something that jumped out
at you that maybe not everyone knows, you know, being
on his team, seeing him day to day at Four
Nations and now you're have him on your team Vegas.
Speaker 6 (25:21):
Yeah, I mean it was it was a quick tournament,
but he was a big game player. Scored overtime goal
right against Sweden. I believe, big player in the last
two goals we scored against the US in the gold
medal game. So he certainly rose up. Played with different guys,
moved him around. I think it was with McDavid for
a while. I was with Ciarelli and Hegel, so played
with different types of players didn't affect his game. But
(25:42):
I wouldn't say there was one thing Nate. He just
good kid around the guy, sense of humor. Seemed like
he was one of those guys that just wanted to
be at the rink every day. Love having those guys around.
I think he's going to be a really good fit
for us because I think it's what maybe we didn't
see the fact that leaving the Toronto market, you know,
(26:02):
might be from what I'm hearing, you know, happen, there
might be a good thing for him and just seeking
to take a breath and play and live his life
and worked.
Speaker 7 (26:10):
Out well for Jack Michael and you know, maybe that's
what Mitch needs. So we'll see about that part.
Speaker 6 (26:16):
But as far as the player goes, he's as advertised,
he's one hundred point guy.
Speaker 7 (26:19):
It's going to help us.
Speaker 6 (26:20):
He made those plays at four Nations, he'll make them
for us. We'll see where he best fits. I get
asked that question a lot. He's going to play with
ko is he not?
Speaker 7 (26:28):
He's going to get a look there, of course, and
we'll see. We'll just because we've got Mark Stones pretty
good right winner.
Speaker 6 (26:33):
Dori Fiev's the right winner to score thirty five for us,
So it'll be an area of strength for us, and
he'll go where her best fits might be.
Speaker 7 (26:40):
Jack might not.
Speaker 5 (26:40):
We'll see.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
That's a great coaches answer is just answering the question
that you know that someone is going to ad what's coming.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
Yeah, college football coaches are great at it.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
They'll take up the entire amount of time just answering
what they think is going to come. And Bruce, I
listened to a bunch of podcasts where you had addressed
that already, and I know that that's just gone, you know,
just just you know, as you said, you're just going
to answer it.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
Already, just to get it out of the way.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
When you mentioned Jack, Eigel, I thought it was it
was curious when you know him coming in from a
precarious situation, Mitch Marner coming in from a precarious situation.
I'm from Toronto, so I understand what he's been through.
It's it was a lot as a coach. How do
you approach a player just in general, that may have
(27:25):
come from an not ideal situation but that is now
coming into your locker room.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
How do you welcome them into the team.
Speaker 7 (27:34):
Well, with Ichel, you know, we didn't talk about Buffalo
at all.
Speaker 6 (27:38):
It was more about he was around our training camps
in Boston because he was a local guy, so we
skated with our guys. So I used to see him
over at Warrior and Saylo and his skating coach that
we ended up hiring.
Speaker 7 (27:48):
He had for a long time, so I knew a
bit about Jack. So Jack was.
Speaker 6 (27:51):
More about, you know, the culture, what kind of player
do you want to be? Do you want to be
You've been around paterse Bergrong. Do do you want to
have that kind of legacy going going? You know, build
that legacy where you're a winner you're a two way player,
still an All Star, all those things. So that was
a bit of what do you want Jack out of
your career and sort of looked forward, not back at Buffalo,
(28:13):
because I don't know, you know, it's just like you,
Mitch and Toronto. I don't know the ins and outs
of have everything there. I just know what you read
here and there. So the conversation with Mitchell be a
similar situation. Hey, Vegas has high expectations. We go in
every year thinking we have a good chance to win.
That won't be any different this year. So that's what
we're going to talk about. You know, what can we
(28:35):
do to you know, to make you a better player
in those situations?
Speaker 7 (28:39):
And what can you do to help us be a
better team? And we'll go from there.
Speaker 6 (28:42):
We'll see what Let him do the talking, you know,
it's coaches talk a lot, and sometimes it's it's good
to listen too, So listen and then we'll formulate a plan.
And like Jack, it's like, here, here's what you know
I expect as a coach.
Speaker 7 (28:56):
What do you need from me? Like what makes you tick?
Speaker 6 (28:59):
And then you hope you find common ground with Jacket
worked out very well he's a highly motivated player. Most
of the best ones are, and I see that in Mitch.
Maybe that's the answer to your question earlier, Nate.
Speaker 7 (29:08):
He's a highly motivated guy, I believe, and he wants
to win. So we have that in common.
Speaker 6 (29:13):
And now it's just the hard part of figuring out
how you're going to get there to the finish line.
Speaker 7 (29:17):
But so that's how we started with Mitch small conversation.
Speaker 6 (29:21):
He was in Vegas with his family after he signed,
so let him have his you know, personal time, find
a house.
Speaker 7 (29:27):
But we'll sit down again before the year starts and
go through some.
Speaker 4 (29:30):
Of that talking about Jack Eicel And you know, we
got to play against him as well, and you could
see it over the last two years, especially at Four Nations.
Speaker 5 (29:37):
What what is clicked in Jack?
Speaker 4 (29:39):
Where all of a sudden, I mean and not all
of a sudden, but he's he's turned in this two
hundred foot player. And I was, you know, lucky enough
to watch Four Nations and be there live and see
it and saw you know, for me, I thought he
was the best player for the US. And you know
what click for Jack over the last couple of years.
Now that you've you know been able to coach him.
Speaker 5 (29:56):
Well.
Speaker 6 (29:56):
I think he's come to value that part of the game,
the two hundred foot game, being a leader in practice.
Jack us to practice too, He's another guy that and
he's becoming more and more vocal. I think when he
first got there, you know, there was some veteran guys
that'd been there a while. And now he's he's grown
that part of his I shouldn't say grown.
Speaker 7 (30:15):
He's probably already always had it. He had it Buffalo,
but he's he's he's able to to uh use it more,
bring it out more.
Speaker 6 (30:22):
With guys like Marcia so were there as long time
as gone and Martinez was a great leader one Cup,
so he's able to do that and that just makes
them a more confident guy. But I just see a
guy that values that part of the game. And I
again I can't speak to Buffalo whether he did or
didn't there. I just know that that's what we needed
from him and he brought it. And and it's hard
(30:44):
when your best player is doing it every night for
the other guys behind him not too Right now, we're
fortunate we have William Carlsono's a great two way player.
Nick while was going to Toronto was value that part
of the game, so walked into our locker room where
that mattered. So that that's that's certainly easier for you,
for you as a coach, and I was fortunate with
Boston to get that leaders like you know, On and Shara,
(31:04):
So for me, I've been very fortunate and grateful for
those and I think Jack's gravitating to one of those
guys and good for us and Mitch. That's what we expect.
He wore a letter in Toronto. We expect him to
lead for us. But that'll be the difference. He can
come in here and just be himself right away. We
don't need you to be anything more than Mitch marn
or the player, a good teammate. The rest will sort
(31:25):
itself out as we go and over time we'll see
if there's more of a leadership role for you. But
that's that's where I'll start for.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
Mitch Bruce, speaking of leaders, of course, Alex Petarangelo has
dealt with his share of injuries this season, and his
last update he said about a month ago that he
was advised to remove intensity of hockey to see if
his body can improve so he can return to normal
quality of life, which is, you know, very hard for
everyone to sort of read knowing of course what kind
(31:52):
of player he is and what person he is too.
Without him on the team, I mean, maybe let me
rephrase it. What is it that Alex Petangelo brings to
a team that is unique that is missed when he's
not there.
Speaker 6 (32:08):
Well, we'll miss his competitive spirit and his accountability. He's
really good at going down the bench when things aren't
going well to get guys attention with it, you know,
in a positive way.
Speaker 7 (32:17):
Really good.
Speaker 6 (32:18):
So as a coach, you know what, you appreciate that
acause it can't always be the staff that's sort of
barking out the orders or reminding guys. It's great when
the players, the leaders, you know, will point out that, hey,
we got we just got to get better at certain
areas whatever that happens to be that night.
Speaker 7 (32:32):
So we'll miss that part of it.
Speaker 6 (32:34):
He's a big brother to every player in that room,
especially the young guys. He's really good at recognizing one
of the young guys maybe down a little bit and
needs a hug from a teammate.
Speaker 7 (32:44):
Again, different from when the coach is, you know, trying
to pick a player up.
Speaker 6 (32:47):
So those are the areas we'll miss with them, and
this competitive drive in the playoffs, he can he can
step it up. So Caten Korsak is going to you know,
is a young guy that will get an opportunity, is
a nice player for us, and we'll see where he
can go with that. But at the end of the day,
it'd be tough to replace Alex's the intangibles he brings.
Speaker 7 (33:05):
But you know, now we're bringing.
Speaker 6 (33:07):
In a guy like Mitch that's that's been around the league,
so there's a little room for, you know, for another
voice in there, and other guys will grow. We had
guys have career years this year, Cola Sars and the
Howden's and and and Dora Fiev. Those younger guys, maybe
we'll grow a little more and into that role. So
though that's just the circle of life, so to speak.
(33:27):
I feel for Alex because he's a highly competitive player.
But as he said, he's got four young children and
he wants to be able to get on the ice
with him and and you know, play t ball and
baseball and all those things. So I understand where he's
coming from. It's too bad, but you know, we wish
him well. We're gonna miss him just missing around the
locker room. It's a good guy, you know, he's he's
got personality, he's joking with the guys, and that's the
(33:50):
part you probably miss the most.
Speaker 4 (33:51):
Yeah, with the absence of a guy like Petraangelo and
obviously you can't replace him, it's more of a committee.
But you know, what does it mean for a guy
like Noah Hannafin, who's you know, I think over the
last couple of years is really you know huge for
you guys.
Speaker 6 (34:04):
Well, I guess in that part of it on the
back end, if you look at just take the defenseman.
You know, one door closes, another one opens for Hannafin
and Theodore for that matter, to be a little more
alpha alpha males in the back end, because that was
Petro and Martinez, right, they're very good at it.
Speaker 7 (34:21):
And now you know it's sort.
Speaker 6 (34:23):
Of the it's it's the passing of the baton, so
to speak to those two guys to because you know,
they've signed for long term. So we need those guys
to grab that part of the game and and love it.
Speaker 7 (34:34):
And run with it.
Speaker 6 (34:35):
And because they're mon Ice, there's they're great players. And
now's an opportunity to lead the next the younger guys
in our back end, the Corsax Loson's coming in some
of the other guys back there, that white cloud that
you know that they can be the guys that drive
the back end. So that's the opportunity for Handy Uh
in THEO and and we'll see how that goes.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
Bruce, we know that we're running short on time, but
I just wanted to ask you about winning the Stanley Cup.
Speaker 3 (35:01):
I made a TikTok about you.
Speaker 7 (35:02):
It was awesome. I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 2 (35:08):
Yeah, okay, but understanding the circumstances, you know, after everything
that went down with Boston and you know, not being
brought back there, going to Vegas and winning the Stanley Cup,
I likened it. If you watch Succession, kind of like
Kendall Roy in earlier seasons when he was or maybe
Tom Walmscams let's say that, because he kind of took
(35:30):
over the company at the end. Sorry for any spoilers
out there for people, but I really liked your character.
Speaker 5 (35:35):
Arc.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
Let's just say, how did it feel to have had
undergone this difficult situation with Boston and then to bounce
back and win the Stanley Cup.
Speaker 7 (35:45):
Yeah, I haven't seen that show.
Speaker 6 (35:46):
I'll be honest, I'm still I just caught up in Yellowstone,
just finished it this summer, So that's.
Speaker 7 (35:50):
How well I mean. It was obviously in a lot
of emotions.
Speaker 6 (35:56):
My kids leave, you know, the area that they're going
into high school, so there was, you know, the family
piece of it was tough at first.
Speaker 7 (36:03):
I remember my daughter barely talked to me during the year. Boston.
Speaker 6 (36:06):
We're thirteen and two and we're in first place. I'm like, Shannon,
I mean, come on, the team's doing pretty well.
Speaker 7 (36:11):
Well, look at Boston. Blah blah blah. I never mind,
It's all right, you know, it's a part of the business.
Speaker 6 (36:16):
Then as year went on and everyone got comfortable and
just I guess you know, the way it played out,
we were doing really well, Boston is doing it well.
I'm like, oh my god, what sh we meet in
the final? It's something interesting. But anyway, it worked out
well for us. We came together at the right time,
and there was no better feeling that summer a because
you know, you want your name of the Cup first
(36:36):
of all, no matter where you are. I was so
close in Boston. No one still Hurts in nineteen. But yeah,
it was a great year. It was a great transition
looking back the way it all turned out, to move
across the country and have success and sort of find
a home a second home in Vegas because we love
it here, I said, we still have a house in
Cape Cod. You know, I still have a ton of
respect for the Bruins organization. I was a fan growing up.
(36:58):
I worked in it for fourteen years, so but you know,
it's the business. You move on, and so it was
really satisfying, gratifying to win, but mainly because it's the Cup,
and I think every guy would tell you, every person
in the league, we'd tell you that that's the ultimate
and the dream.
Speaker 2 (37:15):
Well, congratulations on doing that, and also congratulations on the
gold medal against USA. I'm Canadian, as I mentioned before,
so you know, I like to make sure I bring
it up to Nate as much as possible because I
can't imagine a world where Canada didn't win in overtime,
just like in twenty ten Olympics.
Speaker 3 (37:32):
I just can't.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
I don't even know what it would be like to
be American in that regard. So good luck in the
upcoming Olympics. I'll be there covering you guys for CBC,
so I'll see you around the rink and good luck
for the upcoming season. We can't wait to see how
Mitch Marner does as a Vega Vegas Golden Night.
Speaker 6 (37:49):
All right, Well, thanks Julie, Thanks Nate. Having enjoy the
rest of your summer.
Speaker 7 (37:52):
We'll see us soon enough.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
All right. Well that was Bruce Cassidy, Stanley Cup winning
head coach of Vegas Golden Knights and also going to
be a part of Team Canada for the twenty twenty
six Olympics, and Nate we were just saying, I mean,
this guy is he is such a delight to talk to.
By the ways as a coach, I think they're everyone
is very different. But I'm really excited to see how
(38:21):
Mitch Marner does with Vegas. After talking with Bruce, I
feel like that's this. It feels like a very positive
situation for both of them.
Speaker 5 (38:28):
Yeah, this is a really good fit.
Speaker 4 (38:29):
And you know, you hear Bruce talk about him, and
he was so familiar with him, obviously have him at
Four Nations and seeing him, and I mean, we know
everyone knows what type of player Mitch Marner is. He's
a type of player that does make other players better.
He's good defensively. I mean, he's going to fit right
in with that Vegas roster, I think. And you know,
he talked about, you know, the two hundred foot game
(38:49):
and Jack Eichel and how he plays that way. But
you know, you look at look at their captain, look
at Mark Stone. I mean, the guy is you know,
up for Selkies every year right too. So I mean
it's it's gonna be a really good team and a
fun team to watch because you know, he has so
many options. Like when we were talking about what life,
you know he was talking about. Obviously we didn't even
ask him about what line he's going to play on.
(39:09):
He answered it for us and he just basically said
they and they do. He has so many options because
at wing they have so many guys.
Speaker 5 (39:18):
So it's going to be interesting.
Speaker 4 (39:19):
But I'm really excited and I'm excited and I'm happy
and you mentioned it. I'm happy for Mitch Marner, you know.
I mean, he's he's been a great leaf. But I
think this is going to be a really really good
fit in Vegas.
Speaker 2 (39:30):
Yeah, and I think the unique aspect of having Bruce
Cassidy deal with someone like Jack Eigell's situation too, really
lends a hand to having welcoming in like a star
player that might not have been in the greatest situation before,
but that you know, Toronto market is very different from Buffalo.
But also I like the Cassidy has you know, a
(39:50):
guy who was in Boston would have been you know,
saw him in the playoffs, saw how all that went down,
just like the whole dynamic of it, So it'd be
empathetic to it in that regard.
Speaker 3 (40:01):
And I think now that I keep now that I.
Speaker 2 (40:03):
Mentioned like the analogy to Bruce who didn't hasn't seen Succession,
and you know, apologies for spoiling the ending that happened
like three years ago, But did you watch it, Nate Succession.
Speaker 4 (40:16):
I watched a couple of seasons. I didn't finish it.
Speaker 2 (40:18):
I just don't understand how somebody couldn't finish Succession.
Speaker 3 (40:23):
I just like I couldn't. I couldn't not finish Succession.
Speaker 4 (40:28):
I know, I feel judged. It's okay, though it's okay,
I will finish it eventually. It probably was because Game
of Thrones is on at the same time, and it
just trumped that trumped Succession.
Speaker 2 (40:37):
Okay, Game of Thrones is a bit of a commitment.
I will say I didn't watch that show.
Speaker 3 (40:41):
I couldn't.
Speaker 2 (40:42):
I watched three episodes and I was like, I'm too
late to the cultural capital of this situation too for
this to be good. But I will just veer back
to Succession where I made this TikTok. I sent it
to our group chat last night of just like, okay,
I am whatever. I had all these random videos of
Bruce Cassie on my phone. Don't ask me why he
(41:03):
was uh coach at All Star Game. I had videos
of him like posing strong man, and then I saw
him at the Kannaka Bar in New York. I took
a video just sort of like of him there, just
like in the crowd. Now I feel like a real weirdo.
But whatever, I am a weirdo, so it's fine. And
then with him hoisting the cup, it was like just
very much like a his story.
Speaker 3 (41:22):
I loved it.
Speaker 2 (41:23):
He was like the as I mentioned, kind of kend
O Rolly season one two ish like and then Tom
wamscams at the end, so it's like, oh, yeah, good.
I love like a guy who's just like almost spiteless.
He's like Larry David, like he's getting back in Moga
Joe for whatever. Just the Bruins in that regard. Of course,
he didn't seem like he had that much.
Speaker 5 (41:43):
Now we're talking, Yeah, there we go.
Speaker 2 (41:45):
Okay, I'll do curb keruby enthusiasm and analogies instead. But yeah,
great guy and very scared about maybe a rematch of
like a Florida Vegas situation at this point, very very possible.
Speaker 4 (42:00):
I mean Vegas again is in you know, there in
cup tending mode still. They have been since they've been
in the league. It's just crazy. But they're poison ready
to go for another deep run this year and they're
they're going to be very.
Speaker 5 (42:11):
Good this year.
Speaker 4 (42:11):
I mean it's from I mean top to bottom goaltending,
the forwards there.
Speaker 5 (42:16):
They're set.
Speaker 2 (42:17):
And I also find it interesting just to go back
to the ad d I have of the Olympics with him.
I did let it out and like it's not public yet,
but I will be covering Team Canada and hockey and
doing hosting in Milan for CBC.
Speaker 5 (42:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (42:35):
When you like you threw that in there, I wanted
to be like, as you said it, you're going to
be there. I was like I wanted to be like, hey,
congratulations really by the way.
Speaker 2 (42:43):
Oh, it's like I'm saying like, oh, yeah, I'm having
a child, by the way.
Speaker 3 (42:47):
Yeah, I mean whatever.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
Well, no one will listen to this at all and
know that this is I'm sure CBC would rather them
put the information out there, but they don't. They're not
like NBC. They're way more like, you know, you do it,
you do you Julie, and you go have fun running around.
But they did say I would be doing Yeah. Like
I said to text to John Cooper, like hey, I
(43:10):
just want to let you know, like I'm gonna be
there in Milan with you guys, and he sent back
like this girl just sort of like screaming. And I
was like, I'm not sure if you're like happy or like,
I'm not sure if you're like, oh, no, Julie's.
Speaker 3 (43:25):
Gonna be here or you're like, yay, great for you, Julie.
Speaker 2 (43:28):
But uh, yeah, I'm pretty pumped. Obviously, I'm obsessed with
the Olympics. I need a restraining order from the Olympics.
So yeah, it'll be fun to hopefully be able to
see all those guys. I love the coaching staff a
Team Canada. I mean, who doesn't Little Talk Coop Cassidy.
I mean obviously Team USA as well. Equal opportunity employer here,
(43:52):
So we love Sully and everyone else that comes with him,
everyone else.
Speaker 3 (44:02):
All right, Okay, well sorry, that's great, Thanks Nate. I
appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (44:07):
You know, it's nice to have a professional win every
now and again. Okay, all right, but I will also
with this podcast I will be listening to and I
really hope I heart brings it back to guys. Five
Rings was and is one of the best podcasts I
have ever listened to in my entire life. Bow and
Yang Matt Rogers the funniest Olympic podcast ever. And I
(44:32):
think that's how I got this job, by the way, Yeah,
because I was posting about it during the Olympics so much.
I was obsessed with that podcast the point I was
screenshotting episodes and sending them to Matt Rogers being like, bitch,
where's the next where's a new episode? Like it's been
four days, get on the mic. I want to know,
I want to hear, and so yeah, I was. I
was the biggest stand That's what Bowen Yang was like, Hey, Julie,
(44:55):
thanks for being our biggest stand I was like, yeah, oh,
you bet your best podcasts. So I'm giving a little
love to our iHeart our Heart family right there, and
I'm going to give a little love to all of
you guys. Thank you for listening to episode thirty two
of The Energy Line with Nate JASB. Energy Line is
a production of the NHL and iHeart Podcasts. Thanks to
Bruce Cassidy for joining us. Thanks to Jake Brown for producing.
(45:17):
Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify or wherever you
get your podcasts, or listen on the iHeartRadio app. Give
us a five star rating, and please write a nice
review if you feel like it. I'm Julie Sharpinks, He's
Nate Thompson and we will be back with another episode
in two weeks.
Speaker 3 (45:31):
Thank you so much for tuning in.
Speaker 1 (45:38):
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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