October 28, 2025 • 43 mins
On this week's episode of Energy Line Nate and JSB talk:
- The development of young players in the NHL, as we watch the likes of Macklin Celebrini and Matthew Schaefer turn into superstars before the age of 20.
- What stars have to align for a player's development to go well? Is it luck? Is pure skill enough?
- Also, for Celebrini and Schaefer specifically, should they be considered for Team Canada's olympic roster?
Next, Julie and Nate were joined by jeweler to the pros Larry Flowers who talked about:
-
His rise to prominence within pro athlete circles.
- Some unique pieces he's made for some of the biggest athletes in the world.
- His love of the Flyers, and how he feels about the team this season.
- His relationship with Sidney Crosby.
And much more!
Enjoy, and we'll see you right back here next week, for more Energy Line.
Energy Line is a production of the NHL and iHeartPodcasts.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Energy Line is a production of the NHL and iHeart podcasts.
Welcome on into Energy Line with Nate and JSB.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
I'm Julie Stewart Binks.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
He's former NHLer Nate Thompson. Nay, We've had so many
interesting storylines to start the season. But the kids they
are and fuego right now. And I'm talking about maclin
Celebrini first and foremost. There's a lot of other guys,
But I want to get your take on the fact
that we have seen a lot of these young guys
rise to the occasion. But that always hasn't been the
(00:50):
case for a lot of early first round draft picks,
second or second overall, any of those guys. Sometimes you
look at Capocco or Alexi Lafronir, but let's look at
the guys that are really popping right now. What does
it take for a young guy in the league to
be successful early on in those early days.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Well, I think it takes a culmination of things, Julie.
I think it also it takes guys. It takes a coach, consistency,
the right players, the right teammates, the right linemates, all
those things. But I think it's you know, getting an opportunity,
but being put in the opportunity to succeed. Like so
if you're a Macklin Celebrini or a Matthew Schaeffer, like
you need to be playing all the important scenarios, whether
(01:34):
it's powerplay, penalanty and all these things right and even
you know, there's nothing wrong too with guys young players
in the league playing in the minors too, Like there's
no issue with that. Like, I don't see any problem
with a player playing in the American League. It never
hurts them. It's not going to hurt him going down
the American League. But if you're a guy like Macklen Celebrini,
(01:54):
it's a little bit different story.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
You know.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
I think when I look at him right now, Julie,
he is separating himself from you know, really really good
players are a star player and an elite player right
Like he's putting himself. I think if he can continue
to do what he's doing, he can put himself in
conversations with you know, McKinnon and Koucheroff and these guys
(02:17):
that we talk about as the elite elite of the league.
And I think Celebrini has that.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Now.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Not every player is going to be generational like a
Crosby m McDavid. You know, these guys are kind of
one of one. You know, sometimes they don't need the
development of other players throughout the league that maybe need
a couple of years, you know, like you we've talked about,
you know, like you said at Capol Coco Lafurnier, you know,
these guys that were high picks, but sometimes it takes time.
(02:47):
Sometimes you have to trade him. Sometimes you have to
realize that, you know, maybe they're not going to develop
into the player that you thought they were, but maybe
Lafrenier or these guys could be a serviceable third line
winger or center that plays over a thousand games. You know,
there's different different ways to look at it. But I
(03:07):
think with a guy like maclen Celabrini, you know, we're
seeing we're seeing something really really special here that I think,
you know, he's he's he's the future of our game.
He is the future of hockey right now.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
I love to hear that. I think that there's so
much with him to talk about. But I want to
track back to something earlier on that you were talking
about with you know, some guys go down play in
the AHL and maybe that's an ability for them to
cook a bit more right before they are able to
come back up and maybe be the player that a
team expects him to be. But how does a player,
(03:43):
like a young player, get the trust of a coach
to be able to have more minutes on the ice,
to be able to showcase what they're capable of doing.
Because some of these guys come in and when we
had talked with Mark Messia, he'd said he really gave
credit to guys that only get five six minutes a
night because they have to prove themselves every single second
and they're on the ice. But when you don't really
(04:06):
get the opportune time for your time on the ice,
it doesn't put you in the best position to succeed
up top. So how how is that It's like a
chicken in the egg situation where it's like a coach
has to trust you, but you have to be able
to be out there first. So for younger guys, that's
got to be really difficult.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Yeah, that's a great question, though.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
I think you have to allow these young guys to
fall on their face a little bit, you know, and
you have to see how they react, you know. I
look at a guy like Quittin Buyfield, you know when
I was when I spent my time in Ontario with
American League. You know, he came down there with us
and he was you know, he had to learn different scenarios.
He played center, he had to take certain face offs
and and you know, situations that he wasn't used to
(04:48):
in the NHL. But these are things that you know,
how repetitions and things that you these players they need
to get better out or they need to experience. And
I think for a guy like Quentin Buyfield, we're seeing now,
like right, like that development certainly didn't hurt him. You know,
he looks pretty good and he he's definitely trusted upon
him by his coach and Quentin Bifield is a second
overall pick, and it's taken a little bit of time,
(05:09):
but we're seeing what's coming to now.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
So I think.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
For for young guys especially, they have to get this opportunity,
but you have to allow them to fall down, make
a mistake and let them see what happens after that, right,
and see how they react. But I think the biggest
thing for these guys, these young guys is you know,
they're they're they're kind of the face of our league
and where our league is going. It's definitely a young
(05:35):
man's game now. And you know, I think these guys
they have to have that opportunity to fail, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Because you've got to see how they can get back
up or if they can get back up in those situations,
because a lot of them have been in probably pretty
good situations if they've been drafted high to be able
to get to that point. So maclen Celabrini, before we
go into the next topic, got to get your thoughts
on it happened last week, but this and Juni Juniper
(06:04):
who interviewed MacLean, Celebrini and Will Smith who were in
the West Village in New York. She's an online presence
interviews people I guess about fashion and their life and whatnot,
and sees Celebrini and Smith at some coffee shop or
bar whatnot, and she asks some tons of questions and
they go along with it. And so many people I've
(06:25):
talked to you said, why did these guys just keep
sitting there and answering her questions, like what did you
make of it? As as a guy who's been in
the league and you're seeing these young guys kind of
just go along with it.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
They were great sports about it.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
I was laughing the whole time, and you could see,
like Will Smith and they were just kind of going back.
You could see they were just having a great time.
And it was great timing because obviously the next day
they both went off and had a big game against
the Rangers, so a bump for her. I thought it
was great, And these kids are great for the league.
I mean you look at Macklin Celebrini and how much
fun he's having, how much Will Smith is having. These
(06:59):
guys are kind of NonStop comedy all the time, must watch,
So it's great for the league seeing stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Yeah, it just kind of felt like they they aren't
as They're not that up tight, right, Like they're just
kind of going with it. And maybe that's how they're
having success on the ice too. Is there just sort
of free flowing enjoying things.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Yeah, you can see.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
You can see when when they're playing, you see how
much fun they're having, Like they're laughing, they're having a
good time after they score, they're jumping on each other.
I mean, it's good vibes in San Jose. Even you
know they're rebuilding. We talk about you know they they
had a struggle to start the season, but you know
what they're building there and building around guys like maclan
Celebrity and Will Smith, I think is something special.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
So she says one thing, you guys look like Olympians.
In my first instant reaction was just looking at maclan
Celebrini because all eyes as we are almost one hundred
days out from the twenty twenty six Milan Olympics, is
whether or not maclan Celebrini is going to be on
that team Canada roster. If you were making that decision
(08:05):
right now, do you think he would be included?
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Yes, I do, with the start he's had, and I
believe he's going to continue to keep this going. I
don't think it's a matter of if mclin celebrity makes
a team. It's a matter of where he's going to
play on the team. I think that's a big argument
now is what line is he going to play on?
Who's he going to play with? And you look back
(08:29):
at like we were talking about it, right we look
back at the Olympics in twenty ten, like they had
some young guys on that team and some veteran guys
that we are pretty aware about now Hall of famers
Chris Ponger, Scott Needemyer. But then you add young guys
like Drew Dowdy, Sidney Crosby. These guys were I believe
(08:50):
teenagers at the time or maybe just out of there
right So I think inserting youth into the Team Canada
this year could be something that's very, very possible.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Well, that's that's some great stuff right there, because we
know how competitive is to get onto that Team Canada roster.
And you also touched on the fat Matthew Schaeffer. He's
come in eighteen years old, arguably one of the best
defensemen in the league right now. He's really succeeded. Would
you feel that he could be someone that could be
(09:22):
thought of for Team Canada this early?
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
I think he's put himself in that conversation and you
hear it from his coach, Patrick Waugh. It's he's basically
says it. He's like he's he should be playing this
much every single night. And I'm pretty sure that anyone
from Hockey Canada has has him on, has him into
the conversation to make that top six, because, like I said, again,
(09:50):
you look back at twenty ten and how important Drew
Dowdy was to that twenty ten Olympic roster on Team
Canada and then winning the gold medal. I think there's
a there's a scenario where Matthew Schaeffer could be that guy.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
For Team k editor this year.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Is that kind of crazy to think about? If you
even just went back, let's just say a couple of weeks,
even the start of the season, and you said, hey,
you know, Matthew Shaffer's in the conversation for Team Canada,
would you be surprised?
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Oh? Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
If we were talking about that pre training camp, pre season,
I would have been like, you're you're fucking crazy. But now,
after watching him and seeing you know, his body of
work early, it's not out of the It's not out
of the question. I truly believe that Matthew Shafer and
Maclin Celebrina could both be on Team Canada at the Olympics.
Speaker 4 (10:38):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
I mean, I'd love to hear it for the future
of the Olympic teams, the future of the NHL, because
we were talking also beforehand of the idea that I mean,
four nations just happened last year and you kind of think, well,
maybe there's a lot of guys that come back from
that situation, because both Team USA Team Canada did very
well in that regard making it to the final. But
(11:00):
then you think the Olympics hasn't happened with NHL players
since twenty fourteen. It's been twelve years. So it always
makes me curious of what the mindset is of each
general manager, each team, each organization in how they approach
the games. Do you want to win with the best
players right now or how much do you need to
mix in the future to think about the next Olympics
(11:22):
down the road.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
At this point, well, I think you go with the
best players right now, and obviously you have guys that
have been around that you're gonna need veteran guys in
the lineup. But I think if we're going off best
players right now, I think Macklin, Celebrina and Matthew Shaeffer
are those players in the league that have been the
best player. So I look at and you talk about
the Olympics too, right like, this is a different This's
(11:44):
be a different game than four Nations. It's gonna be
big ice and Matthew Shaefer can skate pretty good. He
can skate really well. Same with mackin Celbrina, so it's
Macklin Celbrina, Celebrini. You know, these guys, these guys, I
think not only will they help the team, but I
think they'd be impact players on team this year.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
That's how good they are. I really do truly believe, Julie,
these guys are different.
Speaker 4 (12:08):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Okay, Well, we're lucky to be able to witness them
as they really start to flourish and pop off, and
we'll have to see where they end up making themselves
a name for in the league as they already have.
And I know that we talked about Schaefer and his
skating skills and kind of being like that cal mccarr aspect,
but the big ice really is something that you have
to think about with the Olympics in that regard. And
(12:31):
I think when we talk about how exciting it is
to watch some of these Santosi Sharks, guys like Celebrini,
just that that ease of playing without maybe the burden
of years and years of whatever a team has gone through,
Like they're playing with more freedom, excitement, like there's not
so much built up in your brain. But I want
(12:51):
to just finish off this Olympic topic with the fact
that our guy Patrick Kane, who proved to you and
I in the player media tour just how much he
wanted to be a part of tam USA, really has
transferred a lot of that to the ice. Now we
know he had been injured a little bit. I'm not
sure exactly status at this point of recording right now,
but even the older guys are still trying to be
(13:14):
part of this team. You got, you got the top,
the older guys and the younger guys all battling to
be part of it.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
You love to see it, Oh, you love it.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
I mean everyone, everyone is making them, making their names
very loud for this, for these Olympic teams US and Canada.
I mean, you look at the the veteran players, some
guys that are playing really good. I mean, I mean,
obviously Sidney Crosby is Sidney Crosby, but look at look
at how he's playing right now. Look Look at these
veteran players throughout the league. I mean, I look at
even Team USA. You talk about Patrick Kane, and you
(13:43):
see these guys and how and how much they want
to be a part of it. I mean, it's it's
a special year. It's a it's a top season as well, though, Julie,
because of because of this Olympics and this condensed schedule
and and a lot of back to back, so it's
an exciting time. And I think that I really hope
Patrick Kane makes the team. I think you I'm still
(14:04):
gonna I'm still gonna put put my take out there
and say he's going to be on the team. But
it's fun to see him doing well and seeing Detroit
off to a good start because that's only going to
help him, especially for the Olympics.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Right, And some of those guys that we were we
saw on the four Nations squads haven't maybe had the
best start, and I am always fascinated. I was watching
Brandon Hagel this weekend. He was able to get his
first goal, but he also was able to get his
three hundred point as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning,
and he kind of saw just like the just the
(14:37):
the like all that pressure taken off of him of
just scoring that finally, that first goal, because Tampa had
gone through losing six of their first seven, which felt
uncharacteristic for this team that has been so dominant. But
I always I then was singing in the back of
my mind. Well, this is a guy probably who's also
got a little bit of that Team Canada mindset of
like I I gotta I gotta pick it up here
(15:00):
if I'm going to be a part of this, right
And that's act.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
A really good point to I wonder too, you know,
for a guy like Maclin, Celebrini and these younger guys
that maybe don't have the expectation of making Team Canada
where it makes it almost easier where you're just going
out there and playing. Where a guy like Brendan Hagel,
Travis Connectney, these guys that were on you know, four
Nations roster last season, it's like, Okay, now I'm expected
(15:24):
to be on the team.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
I got to play.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Well, maybe you're gripping the stick a little bit tighter.
And both those guys I think have a little bit
they've gotten off to a slow start, so you know,
I think there is a little bit of that where
you don't maybe don't have expectations. And now, like you said,
Brandon Hagel, like he's not only is he playing for
the Tampa Bay Lightning and John Cooper, but John Cooper's
also the head coach of Team Canada, So you know,
you're kind of playing for two different things there, so
(15:46):
that that does make it a little bit more pressure.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
But at the same time.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Uh, these guys are looking at as an opportunity to
write like these guys have an opportunity to be on
Team Canada, Team USA Olympic rosters.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
I mean that's something pretty special.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Yeah, it's an extra push, extra level of motivation where
you don't need it, but it certainly adds to every
single game. We are very pleased to have a different
type of guest here on the show today, which is
none other than Larry Flowers, who is trusted Jeweler to
the pros and we're going to learn so much more
(16:20):
about what some of these guys like to wear, buy,
and showcase in terms of jewelry and Larry as a
fan of the game. When we return here on Energy
Line with Nate and JSP Welcome back into Energy Line
with Nate and JSB, and now we are very fortunate
(16:40):
to be joined by someone that both Nate and I
know in various different capacities, but that is none other
than trusted Jeweler to the pros from MLB to NHL
and just overall a really good guy and a fan
of the game, none other than Larry Flowers. Larry, thank
you so much for taking the time to join us
(17:00):
here on energy line.
Speaker 4 (17:02):
It's a pleasure, pleasure to be here with you guys.
Tom and I go way back and Julie you're you're
you're amazing, and it's a really privilege to be here.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Yeah, Larry, it's good to have you, buddy.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
I mean we we were literally just sitting on the
couch together, Julie watching the Birds with Wilder, myself and
him and his little dog, Rocky.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
So it's nice to have you here, buddy, really nice.
Speaker 4 (17:25):
This is great. What what a sunday we had. Wilder
is a very special young lady.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
What a face?
Speaker 4 (17:33):
Uh kind of face? She's face you want to just
you want to grab her and you want to squeeze
her and you want to bite her. And she's not
that face.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
She is.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
She is so sweet.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
You're blessed, buddy, Thank you. And she's a Birds fan
number one, right, she's most importantly, you did a great
you did a great job. You're you're at that's what
you call great parenting?
Speaker 4 (17:57):
Are you from the Double Valley which is the Philadelphia area,
we call that great parenting.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
All right, So Larry, let's get into some stuff. First
of all, they know each other well. I me at
Larry backstage at a Nickelback concert. Just wanted to get
that out of the way first and foremost, so which
was a highlight of an interesting time of life. But
let's get into the fact first and foremost. Tell people
what you do in terms of the jeweler aspects of
(18:23):
your life with these NHL players, Like what do guys like,
what do they want? What do they come to you for?
And especially right now, like what's hot? What's the hot trend?
Speaker 4 (18:32):
Yeah, I own a jewelry company. I saw a manufacture
high end, designer quality jewelry direct wholesale. I saw big
diamonds engagement rings. I make sure that my clients are
buying quality, good diamonds, not just color and the carrotway
and clarity, but good quality makes measurements. I basically protect
(18:55):
my clients and make sure that they're buying really, really
smart diamonds. I also have a massive watch business role
ax AP, pat Tech, RM and other big brands.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
You know.
Speaker 4 (19:08):
I have about three four hundred Washington Stock. I have
the luxury of working with so many guys in the NHL,
Major League Baseball, other sports I've got. I've got incredible
people that I've worked with on a daily basis, and
basically I've had the privilege of, you know, through friends
like Nate and others in the NHL world, which is
(19:31):
where I began going back fifteen years plus, just meeting
guys and living in LA for twenty three years, taking
guys out to dinner when they're in town, playing against
the LA Kings, and just building relationships and that led
to you know, obviously future business. Obviously my relationship with
the Saint Louis Blues and that whole story. We can
(19:52):
or cannot get into that two guys, but that's the
whole thing. Really helped catapult my name and my business,
especially in the NHL world. That was an incredible moment
my life. In twenty nineteen when the Blues wont to
stay on Cup. I was part of the play Gloria thing.
I kind of helped invent that whole theme when they
were down and out, and then they kind of ran
(20:13):
with it and claim climbed out from the bottom of
the league, crawled into the playoffs and went on an
incredible run one Stanley Cup. They put me in the parade.
I'm just nice doing the short version. It was incredible.
But the point of that is that it really helped
build my name more than just with the players of
the NHL, but with the fans of the league, and
(20:35):
it really catapulted my business wor it is today and
I have incredible business. Larry Flowers Jewelry worked really up
to make sure everybody gets taken care of properly. Make
sure you're getting the best price on market. Make sure
everything is proper from A to Z, whether you're buying
engaging rings, Tustle jewelry, at war watches. And that's my business.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
That's amazing, buddy. And we do go back fifteen years.
I met Larry when I was playing for Tampa and
we were on the road here in La met him there, Yeah,
I ever forget it.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
We had a good night.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
But you know, Larry, I guess I want to ask,
because you know, I've known you for yeah, fifteen years. Now,
you know what got you into the hockey world, Like
how did you, you know, get into it? You know,
immerse yourself and really now you are, like you said,
you are the jeweler of the NHL and professional sports
a little bit.
Speaker 4 (21:28):
Yeah, So after my third or fourth year living in
Los Angeles, I moved out here after college. Originally from Philadelphia.
Moved out here after college, and about three or four
years after moving here, I met a guy at a
poker games. It was a really funny story, but anyway,
(21:48):
I'm sitting there watching this I don't even know. No
one really knew each other, and this one guy was
sitting there and he's sitting next to this other guy,
and a buddy of mine was playing. This guy's just
sitting there playing poker, and there's a guy next to
him who's not the best looking guy, but he's got
his girlfriend with him who's behind him giving him massage,
and his girlfriend was beautiful. And no one knew each other.
(22:10):
The game was stale. I was just there watching because
my other buddy was there. And this random guy that
I don't know literally looks over to this guy in
front of the whole table and says, holy fuck, buddy,
did you overachieve? And the the table flips upside down.
I fall off my chair. I'm like, I'm like, who
says something like that? Anyway, they take a break, I
(22:31):
walk up to this guy. I'm like, who the hell
are you? Like? He's like, what, I'm like, who the
hell are you? He says to Marina's coody, I fear
where you're from? Toronto. I said, that's the funniest thing
I've ever seen in my life. I said, Oh, no way.
I used to play hockey in Toronto growing up. He's like,
no way. I played for the Toronto Top Guns, he says.
I said, no way, that's the tournament I used to
play in. His dad started the tournament. We knew each
(22:52):
other's names. We became friends. He said, let me pick
you up tomorrow night. We'll go to dinner. Anyway. He's
really connected with the NHL. He played at a high
level Triple A junior's good player. But really, really he
was just a wealthy guy from from Toronto and knew
a lot of guys in the NHL, and he started
(23:12):
taking me out. Teams would come to LA and he
would take them out to dinners and stuff and kind
of host them, you know, on a weekly basis. Every
time teams would come in. He had a bunch of
buddies and he would basically just host the whole team.
He's really, really wealthy guy, so he can afford to
do these things. So but he just kind of brought
me along as his wing man. We both love hockey,
and we we knew each other playing growing up against
each playing with each other, and so he would just
(23:36):
take me out with them and host these teams at
these big lavish dinners. And eventually it became to it
became to the point where he's like, hey, like, here's
my card. I don't want to do this anymore right now,
I'm busy. He was married take these teams out. So
I started taking teams out on my own every time
they were coming into town to play the King. So
I just started meeting all these guys and then I
(23:57):
became real good friends with like Mike Comray. It was
me Mike Comray, Sean Horricoff, Ryan Whitney, Sheldon Surrey, we
had his whole crew in LA and it just continued
to you know, I just continue to build these relationships,
and you know, they tell they tell teammate about what
I do for a living, and I get that business
(24:17):
and it just snowballed. And that's basically how I kind
of embedded myself in the NHL world.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Well, that's I love how it starts from a poker game. Really,
I mean, you never know what's going to happen any
given day. I think to your point about what when
you're doing jewelry, I've started to notice it so much
more on a lot of players and what you know,
just necklaces a lot of the time. You know, you think, watches,
you think obviously you mentioned engagement rings, but and watching
(24:45):
the World Series noticing a lot of jewelry there. Noticing
Miguel Rojas with Van Cleef during Game three.
Speaker 4 (24:53):
I was just like, why is this guy wearing this?
Speaker 1 (24:54):
They just felt a little out of place. I'm not
gonna lie, but in your opinion, maybe what's what's been
the most memorable piece of jewelry that maybe unconventional or
interesting that you can share to us about that you've
you've worked on.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
You know, people ask me that all the time, and
it's a hard it's a hard answer because there are
so many. But I will we'll reference back to the
major leagues and in fact the World Series. Max Scherzer
is an amazing client of mine. He's an amazing human
being with a beautiful family, and I made him for
his wife. I made him a custom red white and
(25:33):
blue with different colored shaped stones. This has going back
years now, but it was a very special piece for
an anniversary for his wife, and it symbolized how many
years they have been married and how many kids they had,
and there was like each diamond was for each child,
and then each stone represented a year, and there was red,
white and blue because they're red patriotic, and there were
(25:55):
different shapes and it was just a beautiful bracelet, custom
bracelet that I built that we worked really. It wasn't
like something that he's like, hey, I want this build it.
It was like, like, you know, it took a month
to figure out really what we wanted to do and
creating CAD designs, but it came out magnificent and his
wife wears it all the time to this day. It's
been years since I built that, but that that's one
that comes to mind, and it was really uh yeah,
(26:18):
it was a really really nice piece, very special piece.
And you know, Max is also a big reason why
I do so much work in major leagues. It was
it was a cool experience to be able to do
that piece.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
That's amazing. I mean, and a guy like Max sus
or two Larry, like not a bad ballplayer, you know,
he's not bad at all.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
And this was like, this was like in this is
absolute prime. So like, you know, look, I like to
think that I'm not one of those guys that gets
like starstrucked often, but like you know, when he reached out,
I was like, this is Max Scherzer. He's no. I mean,
we're talking about a sure fire first ballot Hall game.
(27:02):
Like this guy's this guy's the man. Yeah, but you
know what, he was incredible to work with. What a gentleman,
so kind, amazing guy.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
Yeah, Larry.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
Now you know, we're not quite a Jeweler or baseball
podcast yet, but maybe one day. Since we're here for
hockey and being a Philly guy, you know, we talked
a lot about it on the couch on Sunday. You know,
where your Flyers are at and where they're headed, and
I kind of wanted you to give us your opinion
on that.
Speaker 4 (27:34):
Look, So, first of all, I am I'm a diehard
Flyers fan. So some may say or believe that my
opinions are a little bit way based on that, and
it may be true. However, I don't miss a Flyers game.
I never have I watched every single Flowers game being
(27:56):
away in California for twenty three years. Look, the Flyers
have an incredible history and a incredible past and a
way that they like to run their organization. Things obviously
changed drastically when they lost their owner, Dan Sneider, and
so they've kind of like been trying to find their
new identity, especially in the last three four years. But truly,
(28:17):
I think the Flyers are on the right track. That
they have a really good young team that like every
team in the NHL, I think they need another really
good like superstar center. But who doesn't. I'm a huge
fan of Sengkatria. I think he is the quintessential Flyer.
He's played a lot of games for his age. You know,
(28:39):
look he's so far. He looks really good this year.
Apparently he's had an incredible offseason and really wants to win.
Being the captain of the team, he really really wants
to win, and he put in the effort and put
in the work this this offseason. From everything that I've understood,
from everything that I've heard, I think the Flyers are
on the right path. I still think there are a
couple pieces away. Again, like so many teams in the NHL,
(29:02):
there's only one or two guys that can change a
dynamic of a team. I think goaltending is a little
bit better than people give him credit for. I really
do uh of Ladar is actually a good goalie. He's
capable of being the number one if he needs to be.
You know, he's not a superstar name, but he's actually
pretty good. I think the d is better than people
(29:23):
give him credit for. They've they've been pretty good this
year so far. A little bit disappointed in Mitchkoff. I
think Mitchkoff looks to me like he's a little slow,
looks from what I've from what I've read, looks came
into camp a little bit out of shape, which is
disappointing coming into your second year after having the run
(29:43):
that he had last year and being up, you know,
for a Rookie of the Year. But I think the
Flyers again, they with Rick tocket Behind in charge of
that team, I think they're on the right track. He's
the perfect guy to be in Philly. He understands the city,
understands the team, and it's exciting moving forward right.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
We were fortunate enough to talk with Travis and I'm
at the Player Media Tour, and you can tell he
is really on the up and up, especially mentally and
with his opportunities with Team Canada. Also on that note,
in state rival the Pittsburgh Penguins, Sydney Crosby, averaging a
point per game reaches the elusive seventeen hundred point mark,
(30:23):
ninth player in history to do it. Knowing Sidney Crosby
everything he's done, He's a part of a team that's,
you know, not the Flyers. How do you view him
in sort of the I don't know, in your bigger
view of the NHL. How much respect or little respect
do you put on his name?
Speaker 4 (30:45):
Well, that's an interesting question for many reasons. First of all,
I'm actually friends with Sid. I've known sid for a
long time and I can tell you he's and I
tell my friends from Philly all the time, he's one
of the funniest, greatest guys I've ever met in my life.
We have played a lot of golf together, We've played
(31:06):
a lot of tennis together. In fact, I've got a
jersey upstairs and he personally sent me randomly last year
with a little funny joke. Because that's what he does.
Takes little jobs at things because he's so competitive and
there's a little sports jab in there. But people in
Philadelphia truly did not like Sidney Crosby, and he didn't
(31:28):
like Philly either. He still doesn't. But it's funny because
in the last in the last game, the last Flowers game,
they were talking about sid and they were saying, how
it's funny how the people in Philadelphia have changed from
hating Sidney Crowseby to appreciating him in his last you
know how many years as you have left. But as
far as a player, look, Nate, you and I talked
(31:49):
about this, there's not a single bit of down my mind.
And I'm talking about current players and going back to
Frosby's prime, which you could almost make an argument he's
still kind of there almost. He's the best player of
this generation all respect Econo McDavid, who I'm also friends with.
I think Sidney Crosby is prime over anyone in the
(32:12):
NHL in the last twenty years. It's the little things
that he does that are so special. It's the way
he thinks the game. You know, there's some guys in
the NHL that are just that, that can just fly,
and I mean fly the conom McDavid, the mckinnons. They're
(32:32):
there are guys that can absolutely fly and they're superstars.
Don't take I'm not taking anything away, But there's other
guys that when you really watch them play, and if
you really know the game, and you played the game
your whole life, and you've watched the game your whole life,
and you've watched Sidney Crosby play, it's the littlest things
that he does that enhances everybody else around him and
puts other guys in the right spots, the little tips
(32:56):
and the work on the end walls, and it's the
smallest things he does that makes his team so much better.
I've never seen anything like it in my life. I
guys say he's maybe number five best all time. I
would almost put him top three, considering he's playing in
the fastest era in the history of the game, and
(33:17):
he can still fake the game and slow the game
down the way he does and still you know, get
a point of game at least, and he's just Tinny.
Crowsby is my favorite player of this generation, and that's
coming from a Flowers fan. So I should tell you
everything you need to know about the way I think
about sid He's an incredible player, and he's told me
some great stories about things in Philadelphia and the reason
(33:39):
why he doesn't like Philadelphia and our fans. But it's
when a guy like that becomes such an icon in
the sport of hockey. The cool thing about sports is
eventually with with with the city that you have such
you know, camaraderie or hatred with you start to find
(33:59):
this like random, weird respect for you each other, Like
the if you were to walk around the city thought
out here and go to every Flower stand and ask
him about Sidney Crosby, he may I don't like Silney Crosby.
Actually he's probably the best player I've ever seen play.
And you know, it's there's become there's there's there's now
a point where they respect each other. There's a at
(34:21):
some level, and it's cool to watch, you know. So
as the Flowers fan, I've been able to watch that
progression throughout the years. It's been cool.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
I couldn't agree more, Buddy. I I put sid in
my top three as well. I think he's, like you said,
he makes everyone around him better always. And now is
there a young player uh in the league or a
person you've met, where you've you know, done business with
the jewelry that you've been impressed with over your time
(34:50):
a young person, or maybe a jewelry story you have
with a player that you know, that that that you
just can't forget.
Speaker 4 (35:00):
Man, that's a that's a tough question to put me
on the spot because there's so many. There really is
so many, you know what, you know what, I'll let's
go Travis Sandheim. So I did Travis Sandheim's engagement ring.
But usually when it comes to the NHL, it's I'm
(35:21):
usually referred to by another player. I think Travis just
kind of saw me on Instagram and felt comfortable with
me and reached out to me randomly in a DM,
and I was just so impressed with how like polite.
First of all, the NHL is a special league. The
guys are just such good people. The majority of the
(35:44):
guys are just well spoken, polite. You know, even if
they're animals on the ice, they're just such good people
off it. And Travis was no exception. He was just
such a polite, good guy. It was a pleasure to
work with him. He almost made me feel like he
was privileged to work with me, which in my opinion,
people are privileged to work with me. But he made
(36:04):
me feel that way, which was really it was a
special moment to work with him and he knows that
I'm a diehard flyer stand and and then the cap
that off. You know, About a couple of months after
he got engaged, I got a random jersey in the mail.
Uh started to my office and it was an awesome
personally signed a jersey from Travis Game wore jersey from
kind of Stanaheim, which was really cool, Uh, which is
(36:27):
part of my collection. I've got a sick collection, tom Or.
You're not even in that collection?
Speaker 2 (36:30):
Are you? I should be How does that happen? That
shouldn't be possible.
Speaker 4 (36:35):
If it makes you, if it makes you feel any better,
I don't have a loophole. I don't have an O'Brien.
We're like also, we're all so tited, just like yeah,
but I've got you know, I've got a really incredible
collection and personally signed jerseys that I'm putting in put
the new office from guys that I've worked with and
people that I know. But Travis Sandheim is an incredible
guy to work with, especially because he's a flyer and
(36:57):
he reached out to me completely randomly. It wasn't like
somebody was like, hey, you got to call flowers. So
that was a really cool sting or instrument.
Speaker 1 (37:05):
Love to hear that. Now with you talk a lot
about the engagement rings and the jewelry for the wives
players or things like that, but I want to know
about the guys. Like I'm seeing the chains hang flying
out there. You know, we know that BIZ talks a
lot about the leafs and the chains that they're wearing
and all that, but like, what's a piece of jewelry
that NHL players are coming to you and they're wearing
(37:28):
it while they play, which I find is unique.
Speaker 4 (37:32):
Well as far as jewelry in the NHL. Like, I've
sold a lot of chains to a lot of guys,
But the beauty that guys in the NHL is they're
they're less flashy anything. If anything, The majority of the
guys that I do business with in the league, other
than engagement rings of course, and other than jewelry for
their girlfriends or wives, the majority of the guys when
they're shopping for themselves, they like to buy nice time pieces.
(37:54):
You know, it's a gentleman's league and Rolex and automor
Piguet and pet Tech Philip or Gentlemen's watches, and so
I do a ton of business, uh with time pieces
in the NHL, with with guys and and and that's
really I love doing engagement rings. It's such a it's
such a sentimental experience and a personal experience to work
(38:16):
with people. This is a big deal, you know, this
is this is the ring that they're going to propose with,
and that's a really special moment. But when you're working
with guys and guys guys and they want a nice
time piece for themselves, you know, that allows me to
really be myself and and advise guys properly based on
my professional expertise on what I think is the right
(38:38):
time piece or some options based on what they're trying
to do. You know, do they want something really classy,
do they want something with the wear with a suit.
Do they want something that's casual. Do they want something
that says that screams like I'm a big boy watch owner.
There's a lot of different there's layers, there's a lot
of levels and layers to the watch game. So that
that that's the majority of the business that I do
(39:00):
in the NHL. Again, other than live stuff is watches
when it comes to guys. But I feel like when
guys buy chains from me, it's usually pretty simple, you know, gold,
white gold, rose gold, yellow gold chains. The guys in
the NHL are not that flashy except for that right
there there you go. I remember that piece. I remember
(39:21):
that piece. What are you showing?
Speaker 1 (39:23):
I say, tell everyone who was listening.
Speaker 3 (39:26):
Yeah, Larry, Larry set me up with this one right here,
the one I went around my neck. This is this
is Larry Flowers right here.
Speaker 4 (39:32):
It's like the white gold. That's the white gold dog
Tai with a special encryption in there was still key
between us. Tommy, you're such a Tommy, you're such a beauty.
Speaker 2 (39:47):
Well, we're not done with you yet, buddy.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
I want to know with with with the league right now,
there's a lot of you know, teams that are better
on a heater right now than teams that were not expecting,
like Utah, New Jersey.
Speaker 2 (40:01):
Maybe not New Jersey, but Utah especially. What are you.
Speaker 3 (40:04):
Seeing throughout the league? What are you seeing throughout the
league as far as young players too? With Utah and
you know, is this a team that maybe could make
the playoffs.
Speaker 4 (40:16):
All So, Robert Bortuso, who's one of my best friends,
played for them last year, last year of his career,
and he would not shut up about this What his
name is Gunter?
Speaker 2 (40:25):
Go to Dylan Gunter.
Speaker 4 (40:27):
Dylan Gunter. Yeah, he would not stop talking about this kid.
And he was saying he would say to me every day, Flowers,
you got to see this kid snap the puck. I
have not I've been in the NHL for a long time.
I have not seen a lot of guys that can
snap the puck the way this kid does. They've got
a really good young team, and I think Tom or
you and I were sitting here on the cast watching
the Eagles game talking about that team. They're They're a
(40:48):
good up and coming team. They've got an incredible new
owner who spends a lot of money, who does not
hold back. They are spending He's spending a fortune just
building the best of the best practice ranks and their
home ices. They have something very very special going over there.
Bortusa loved playing out there, he said the fans. Obviously
was their first year, so there's a lot of excitement.
Speaker 2 (41:10):
But.
Speaker 4 (41:12):
He really really enjoyed it out there. So I do
talk to him quite a bit. He's working for the
Saint Louis Blues now, he's scouting and in that world.
So he's really got his ears and eyes open on
a lot of different teams. And he reiterated to me
last time I spoke to him last night, they've got
a good squad. Do I think they may be a playoffs?
You know, honestly, the West is tough. It's always really
(41:35):
really tough. They've got a shot to They're a good
young team. We'll see. But that Dylan Guvter is a
very special player, right.
Speaker 1 (41:45):
And you make such a great point with Ryan and
n Ashley Smith and their entire entertainment group really trying
to make this a really quality organization top to bottom
and having as you mentioned, the practice facility, putting a
lot of money into it, the whole game day operations,
people chugging out of shoes like they're creating a culture
there which is fun and I can't wait to go
(42:07):
watch a game there at some point.
Speaker 4 (42:09):
Yeah, And that it's very very important to do with
these new franchises, you know, Seattle did it, Vegas did it?
You want to come out of the gate really hot,
and you want to create a brand new culture that
will that will last forever, and they clearly have done that.
They've clearly got amazing young talent. They've got all the
pieces in place to be a really good organization for
a long time.
Speaker 1 (42:30):
Well, Larry, we appreciate all of your insight on the
league and insight into jewelry and everything beyondes. You know
you have great stories to tell that you can't tell
here on this podcast, but you've probably hopefully you write
a book someday about all of your interactions with some
of these hockey players. Would love to know. Nobody knows
anything about Sydney Crosby. It feels like, but it feels
like you know a lot. So we appreciate you coming here,
(42:52):
taking the time to be here on the Energy Line
with Nate and JSB.
Speaker 4 (42:56):
I very much appreciate you guys are awesome. I love
the podcast and thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (43:00):
Thanks buddy.
Speaker 1 (43:04):
Well, we want to send a big thank you to
Larry Flowers for joining us here on Energy Line with
Nate and JSB, as well to our fearless producer Matt
Heava for putting up with us and putting on this show.
This is a production of the NHL and iHeart podcasts.
Please like, subscribe, Feel free to share this and give
us a review, and send us any questions you want
(43:25):
tweet us dm us. We love to hear from people
and love to talk about what you are interested here
on energy Line with Nate and JSB and we'll see
you guys next week. Energy Line is the production of
(43:53):
the NHL and iHeart podcasts. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
your podcasts
Energy Line is a production of the NHL and iHeart podcasts.
Welcome on into Energy Line with Nate and JSB.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
I'm Julie Stewart Binks.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
He's former NHLer Nate Thompson. Nay, We've had so many
interesting storylines to start the season. But the kids they
are and fuego right now. And I'm talking about maclin
Celebrini first and foremost. There's a lot of other guys,
But I want to get your take on the fact
that we have seen a lot of these young guys
rise to the occasion. But that always hasn't been the
(00:50):
case for a lot of early first round draft picks,
second or second overall, any of those guys. Sometimes you
look at Capocco or Alexi Lafronir, but let's look at
the guys that are really popping right now. What does
it take for a young guy in the league to
be successful early on in those early days.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Well, I think it takes a culmination of things, Julie.
I think it also it takes guys. It takes a coach, consistency,
the right players, the right teammates, the right linemates, all
those things. But I think it's you know, getting an opportunity,
but being put in the opportunity to succeed. Like so
if you're a Macklin Celebrini or a Matthew Schaeffer, like
you need to be playing all the important scenarios, whether
(01:34):
it's powerplay, penalanty and all these things right and even
you know, there's nothing wrong too with guys young players
in the league playing in the minors too, Like there's
no issue with that. Like, I don't see any problem
with a player playing in the American League. It never
hurts them. It's not going to hurt him going down
the American League. But if you're a guy like Macklen Celebrini,
(01:54):
it's a little bit different story.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
You know.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
I think when I look at him right now, Julie,
he is separating himself from you know, really really good
players are a star player and an elite player right
Like he's putting himself. I think if he can continue
to do what he's doing, he can put himself in
conversations with you know, McKinnon and Koucheroff and these guys
(02:17):
that we talk about as the elite elite of the league.
And I think Celebrini has that.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Now.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Not every player is going to be generational like a
Crosby m McDavid. You know, these guys are kind of
one of one. You know, sometimes they don't need the
development of other players throughout the league that maybe need
a couple of years, you know, like you we've talked about,
you know, like you said at Capol Coco Lafurnier, you know,
these guys that were high picks, but sometimes it takes time.
(02:47):
Sometimes you have to trade him. Sometimes you have to
realize that, you know, maybe they're not going to develop
into the player that you thought they were, but maybe
Lafrenier or these guys could be a serviceable third line
winger or center that plays over a thousand games. You know,
there's different different ways to look at it. But I
(03:07):
think with a guy like maclen Celabrini, you know, we're
seeing we're seeing something really really special here that I think,
you know, he's he's he's the future of our game.
He is the future of hockey right now.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
I love to hear that. I think that there's so
much with him to talk about. But I want to
track back to something earlier on that you were talking
about with you know, some guys go down play in
the AHL and maybe that's an ability for them to
cook a bit more right before they are able to
come back up and maybe be the player that a
team expects him to be. But how does a player,
(03:43):
like a young player, get the trust of a coach
to be able to have more minutes on the ice,
to be able to showcase what they're capable of doing.
Because some of these guys come in and when we
had talked with Mark Messia, he'd said he really gave
credit to guys that only get five six minutes a
night because they have to prove themselves every single second
and they're on the ice. But when you don't really
(04:06):
get the opportune time for your time on the ice,
it doesn't put you in the best position to succeed
up top. So how how is that It's like a
chicken in the egg situation where it's like a coach
has to trust you, but you have to be able
to be out there first. So for younger guys, that's
got to be really difficult.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Yeah, that's a great question, though.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
I think you have to allow these young guys to
fall on their face a little bit, you know, and
you have to see how they react, you know. I
look at a guy like Quittin Buyfield, you know when
I was when I spent my time in Ontario with
American League. You know, he came down there with us
and he was you know, he had to learn different scenarios.
He played center, he had to take certain face offs
and and you know, situations that he wasn't used to
(04:48):
in the NHL. But these are things that you know,
how repetitions and things that you these players they need
to get better out or they need to experience. And
I think for a guy like Quentin Buyfield, we're seeing now,
like right, like that development certainly didn't hurt him. You know,
he looks pretty good and he he's definitely trusted upon
him by his coach and Quentin Bifield is a second
overall pick, and it's taken a little bit of time,
(05:09):
but we're seeing what's coming to now.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
So I think.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
For for young guys especially, they have to get this opportunity,
but you have to allow them to fall down, make
a mistake and let them see what happens after that, right,
and see how they react. But I think the biggest
thing for these guys, these young guys is you know,
they're they're they're kind of the face of our league
and where our league is going. It's definitely a young
(05:35):
man's game now. And you know, I think these guys
they have to have that opportunity to fail, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Because you've got to see how they can get back
up or if they can get back up in those situations,
because a lot of them have been in probably pretty
good situations if they've been drafted high to be able
to get to that point. So maclen Celabrini, before we
go into the next topic, got to get your thoughts
on it happened last week, but this and Juni Juniper
(06:04):
who interviewed MacLean, Celebrini and Will Smith who were in
the West Village in New York. She's an online presence
interviews people I guess about fashion and their life and whatnot,
and sees Celebrini and Smith at some coffee shop or
bar whatnot, and she asks some tons of questions and
they go along with it. And so many people I've
(06:25):
talked to you said, why did these guys just keep
sitting there and answering her questions, like what did you
make of it? As as a guy who's been in
the league and you're seeing these young guys kind of
just go along with it.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
They were great sports about it.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
I was laughing the whole time, and you could see,
like Will Smith and they were just kind of going back.
You could see they were just having a great time.
And it was great timing because obviously the next day
they both went off and had a big game against
the Rangers, so a bump for her. I thought it
was great, And these kids are great for the league.
I mean you look at Macklin Celebrini and how much
fun he's having, how much Will Smith is having. These
(06:59):
guys are kind of NonStop comedy all the time, must watch,
So it's great for the league seeing stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Yeah, it just kind of felt like they they aren't
as They're not that up tight, right, Like they're just
kind of going with it. And maybe that's how they're
having success on the ice too. Is there just sort
of free flowing enjoying things.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Yeah, you can see.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
You can see when when they're playing, you see how
much fun they're having, Like they're laughing, they're having a
good time after they score, they're jumping on each other.
I mean, it's good vibes in San Jose. Even you
know they're rebuilding. We talk about you know they they
had a struggle to start the season, but you know
what they're building there and building around guys like maclan
Celebrity and Will Smith, I think is something special.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
So she says one thing, you guys look like Olympians.
In my first instant reaction was just looking at maclan
Celebrini because all eyes as we are almost one hundred
days out from the twenty twenty six Milan Olympics, is
whether or not maclan Celebrini is going to be on
that team Canada roster. If you were making that decision
(08:05):
right now, do you think he would be included?
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Yes, I do, with the start he's had, and I
believe he's going to continue to keep this going. I
don't think it's a matter of if mclin celebrity makes
a team. It's a matter of where he's going to
play on the team. I think that's a big argument
now is what line is he going to play on?
Who's he going to play with? And you look back
(08:29):
at like we were talking about it, right we look
back at the Olympics in twenty ten, like they had
some young guys on that team and some veteran guys
that we are pretty aware about now Hall of famers
Chris Ponger, Scott Needemyer. But then you add young guys
like Drew Dowdy, Sidney Crosby. These guys were I believe
(08:50):
teenagers at the time or maybe just out of there
right So I think inserting youth into the Team Canada
this year could be something that's very, very possible.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Well, that's that's some great stuff right there, because we
know how competitive is to get onto that Team Canada roster.
And you also touched on the fat Matthew Schaeffer. He's
come in eighteen years old, arguably one of the best
defensemen in the league right now. He's really succeeded. Would
you feel that he could be someone that could be
(09:22):
thought of for Team Canada this early?
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
I think he's put himself in that conversation and you
hear it from his coach, Patrick Waugh. It's he's basically
says it. He's like he's he should be playing this
much every single night. And I'm pretty sure that anyone
from Hockey Canada has has him on, has him into
the conversation to make that top six, because, like I said, again,
(09:50):
you look back at twenty ten and how important Drew
Dowdy was to that twenty ten Olympic roster on Team
Canada and then winning the gold medal. I think there's
a there's a scenario where Matthew Schaeffer could be that guy.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
For Team k editor this year.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Is that kind of crazy to think about? If you
even just went back, let's just say a couple of weeks,
even the start of the season, and you said, hey,
you know, Matthew Shaffer's in the conversation for Team Canada,
would you be surprised?
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Oh? Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
If we were talking about that pre training camp, pre season,
I would have been like, you're you're fucking crazy. But now,
after watching him and seeing you know, his body of
work early, it's not out of the It's not out
of the question. I truly believe that Matthew Shafer and
Maclin Celebrina could both be on Team Canada at the Olympics.
Speaker 4 (10:38):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
I mean, I'd love to hear it for the future
of the Olympic teams, the future of the NHL, because
we were talking also beforehand of the idea that I mean,
four nations just happened last year and you kind of think, well,
maybe there's a lot of guys that come back from
that situation, because both Team USA Team Canada did very
well in that regard making it to the final. But
(11:00):
then you think the Olympics hasn't happened with NHL players
since twenty fourteen. It's been twelve years. So it always
makes me curious of what the mindset is of each
general manager, each team, each organization in how they approach
the games. Do you want to win with the best
players right now or how much do you need to
mix in the future to think about the next Olympics
(11:22):
down the road.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
At this point, well, I think you go with the
best players right now, and obviously you have guys that
have been around that you're gonna need veteran guys in
the lineup. But I think if we're going off best
players right now, I think Macklin, Celebrina and Matthew Shaeffer
are those players in the league that have been the
best player. So I look at and you talk about
the Olympics too, right like, this is a different This's
(11:44):
be a different game than four Nations. It's gonna be
big ice and Matthew Shaefer can skate pretty good. He
can skate really well. Same with mackin Celbrina, so it's
Macklin Celbrina, Celebrini. You know, these guys, these guys, I
think not only will they help the team, but I
think they'd be impact players on team this year.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
That's how good they are. I really do truly believe, Julie,
these guys are different.
Speaker 4 (12:08):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Okay, Well, we're lucky to be able to witness them
as they really start to flourish and pop off, and
we'll have to see where they end up making themselves
a name for in the league as they already have.
And I know that we talked about Schaefer and his
skating skills and kind of being like that cal mccarr aspect,
but the big ice really is something that you have
to think about with the Olympics in that regard. And
(12:31):
I think when we talk about how exciting it is
to watch some of these Santosi Sharks, guys like Celebrini,
just that that ease of playing without maybe the burden
of years and years of whatever a team has gone through,
Like they're playing with more freedom, excitement, like there's not
so much built up in your brain. But I want
(12:51):
to just finish off this Olympic topic with the fact
that our guy Patrick Kane, who proved to you and
I in the player media tour just how much he
wanted to be a part of tam USA, really has
transferred a lot of that to the ice. Now we
know he had been injured a little bit. I'm not
sure exactly status at this point of recording right now,
but even the older guys are still trying to be
(13:14):
part of this team. You got, you got the top,
the older guys and the younger guys all battling to
be part of it.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
You love to see it, Oh, you love it.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
I mean everyone, everyone is making them, making their names
very loud for this, for these Olympic teams US and Canada.
I mean, you look at the the veteran players, some
guys that are playing really good. I mean, I mean,
obviously Sidney Crosby is Sidney Crosby, but look at look
at how he's playing right now. Look Look at these
veteran players throughout the league. I mean, I look at
even Team USA. You talk about Patrick Kane, and you
(13:43):
see these guys and how and how much they want
to be a part of it. I mean, it's it's
a special year. It's a it's a top season as well, though, Julie,
because of because of this Olympics and this condensed schedule
and and a lot of back to back, so it's
an exciting time. And I think that I really hope
Patrick Kane makes the team. I think you I'm still
(14:04):
gonna I'm still gonna put put my take out there
and say he's going to be on the team. But
it's fun to see him doing well and seeing Detroit
off to a good start because that's only going to
help him, especially for the Olympics.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Right, And some of those guys that we were we
saw on the four Nations squads haven't maybe had the
best start, and I am always fascinated. I was watching
Brandon Hagel this weekend. He was able to get his
first goal, but he also was able to get his
three hundred point as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning,
and he kind of saw just like the just the
(14:37):
the like all that pressure taken off of him of
just scoring that finally, that first goal, because Tampa had
gone through losing six of their first seven, which felt
uncharacteristic for this team that has been so dominant. But
I always I then was singing in the back of
my mind. Well, this is a guy probably who's also
got a little bit of that Team Canada mindset of
like I I gotta I gotta pick it up here
(15:00):
if I'm going to be a part of this, right
And that's act.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
A really good point to I wonder too, you know,
for a guy like Maclin, Celebrini and these younger guys
that maybe don't have the expectation of making Team Canada
where it makes it almost easier where you're just going
out there and playing. Where a guy like Brendan Hagel,
Travis Connectney, these guys that were on you know, four
Nations roster last season, it's like, Okay, now I'm expected
(15:24):
to be on the team.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
I got to play.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Well, maybe you're gripping the stick a little bit tighter.
And both those guys I think have a little bit
they've gotten off to a slow start, so you know,
I think there is a little bit of that where
you don't maybe don't have expectations. And now, like you said,
Brandon Hagel, like he's not only is he playing for
the Tampa Bay Lightning and John Cooper, but John Cooper's
also the head coach of Team Canada, So you know,
you're kind of playing for two different things there, so
(15:46):
that that does make it a little bit more pressure.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
But at the same time.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Uh, these guys are looking at as an opportunity to
write like these guys have an opportunity to be on
Team Canada, Team USA Olympic rosters.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
I mean that's something pretty special.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Yeah, it's an extra push, extra level of motivation where
you don't need it, but it certainly adds to every
single game. We are very pleased to have a different
type of guest here on the show today, which is
none other than Larry Flowers, who is trusted Jeweler to
the pros and we're going to learn so much more
(16:20):
about what some of these guys like to wear, buy,
and showcase in terms of jewelry and Larry as a
fan of the game. When we return here on Energy
Line with Nate and JSP Welcome back into Energy Line
with Nate and JSB, and now we are very fortunate
(16:40):
to be joined by someone that both Nate and I
know in various different capacities, but that is none other
than trusted Jeweler to the pros from MLB to NHL
and just overall a really good guy and a fan
of the game, none other than Larry Flowers. Larry, thank
you so much for taking the time to join us
(17:00):
here on energy line.
Speaker 4 (17:02):
It's a pleasure, pleasure to be here with you guys.
Tom and I go way back and Julie you're you're
you're amazing, and it's a really privilege to be here.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Yeah, Larry, it's good to have you, buddy.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
I mean we we were literally just sitting on the
couch together, Julie watching the Birds with Wilder, myself and
him and his little dog, Rocky.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
So it's nice to have you here, buddy, really nice.
Speaker 4 (17:25):
This is great. What what a sunday we had. Wilder
is a very special young lady.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
What a face?
Speaker 4 (17:33):
Uh kind of face? She's face you want to just
you want to grab her and you want to squeeze
her and you want to bite her. And she's not
that face.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
She is.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
She is so sweet.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
You're blessed, buddy, Thank you. And she's a Birds fan
number one, right, she's most importantly, you did a great
you did a great job. You're you're at that's what
you call great parenting?
Speaker 4 (17:57):
Are you from the Double Valley which is the Philadelphia area,
we call that great parenting.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
All right, So Larry, let's get into some stuff. First
of all, they know each other well. I me at
Larry backstage at a Nickelback concert. Just wanted to get
that out of the way first and foremost, so which
was a highlight of an interesting time of life. But
let's get into the fact first and foremost. Tell people
what you do in terms of the jeweler aspects of
(18:23):
your life with these NHL players, Like what do guys like,
what do they want? What do they come to you for?
And especially right now, like what's hot? What's the hot trend?
Speaker 4 (18:32):
Yeah, I own a jewelry company. I saw a manufacture
high end, designer quality jewelry direct wholesale. I saw big
diamonds engagement rings. I make sure that my clients are
buying quality, good diamonds, not just color and the carrotway
and clarity, but good quality makes measurements. I basically protect
(18:55):
my clients and make sure that they're buying really, really
smart diamonds. I also have a massive watch business role
ax AP, pat Tech, RM and other big brands.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
You know.
Speaker 4 (19:08):
I have about three four hundred Washington Stock. I have
the luxury of working with so many guys in the NHL,
Major League Baseball, other sports I've got. I've got incredible
people that I've worked with on a daily basis, and
basically I've had the privilege of, you know, through friends
like Nate and others in the NHL world, which is
(19:31):
where I began going back fifteen years plus, just meeting
guys and living in LA for twenty three years, taking
guys out to dinner when they're in town, playing against
the LA Kings, and just building relationships and that led
to you know, obviously future business. Obviously my relationship with
the Saint Louis Blues and that whole story. We can
(19:52):
or cannot get into that two guys, but that's the
whole thing. Really helped catapult my name and my business,
especially in the NHL world. That was an incredible moment
my life. In twenty nineteen when the Blues wont to
stay on Cup. I was part of the play Gloria thing.
I kind of helped invent that whole theme when they
were down and out, and then they kind of ran
(20:13):
with it and claim climbed out from the bottom of
the league, crawled into the playoffs and went on an
incredible run one Stanley Cup. They put me in the parade.
I'm just nice doing the short version. It was incredible.
But the point of that is that it really helped
build my name more than just with the players of
the NHL, but with the fans of the league, and
(20:35):
it really catapulted my business wor it is today and
I have incredible business. Larry Flowers Jewelry worked really up
to make sure everybody gets taken care of properly. Make
sure you're getting the best price on market. Make sure
everything is proper from A to Z, whether you're buying
engaging rings, Tustle jewelry, at war watches. And that's my business.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
That's amazing, buddy. And we do go back fifteen years.
I met Larry when I was playing for Tampa and
we were on the road here in La met him there, Yeah,
I ever forget it.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
We had a good night.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
But you know, Larry, I guess I want to ask,
because you know, I've known you for yeah, fifteen years. Now,
you know what got you into the hockey world, Like
how did you, you know, get into it? You know,
immerse yourself and really now you are, like you said,
you are the jeweler of the NHL and professional sports
a little bit.
Speaker 4 (21:28):
Yeah, So after my third or fourth year living in
Los Angeles, I moved out here after college. Originally from Philadelphia.
Moved out here after college, and about three or four
years after moving here, I met a guy at a
poker games. It was a really funny story, but anyway,
(21:48):
I'm sitting there watching this I don't even know. No
one really knew each other, and this one guy was
sitting there and he's sitting next to this other guy,
and a buddy of mine was playing. This guy's just
sitting there playing poker, and there's a guy next to
him who's not the best looking guy, but he's got
his girlfriend with him who's behind him giving him massage,
and his girlfriend was beautiful. And no one knew each other.
(22:10):
The game was stale. I was just there watching because
my other buddy was there. And this random guy that
I don't know literally looks over to this guy in
front of the whole table and says, holy fuck, buddy,
did you overachieve? And the the table flips upside down.
I fall off my chair. I'm like, I'm like, who
says something like that? Anyway, they take a break, I
(22:31):
walk up to this guy. I'm like, who the hell
are you? Like? He's like, what, I'm like, who the
hell are you? He says to Marina's coody, I fear
where you're from? Toronto. I said, that's the funniest thing
I've ever seen in my life. I said, Oh, no way.
I used to play hockey in Toronto growing up. He's like,
no way. I played for the Toronto Top Guns, he says.
I said, no way, that's the tournament I used to
play in. His dad started the tournament. We knew each
(22:52):
other's names. We became friends. He said, let me pick
you up tomorrow night. We'll go to dinner. Anyway. He's
really connected with the NHL. He played at a high
level Triple A junior's good player. But really, really he
was just a wealthy guy from from Toronto and knew
a lot of guys in the NHL, and he started
(23:12):
taking me out. Teams would come to LA and he
would take them out to dinners and stuff and kind
of host them, you know, on a weekly basis. Every
time teams would come in. He had a bunch of
buddies and he would basically just host the whole team.
He's really, really wealthy guy, so he can afford to
do these things. So but he just kind of brought
me along as his wing man. We both love hockey,
and we we knew each other playing growing up against
each playing with each other, and so he would just
(23:36):
take me out with them and host these teams at
these big lavish dinners. And eventually it became to it
became to the point where he's like, hey, like, here's
my card. I don't want to do this anymore right now,
I'm busy. He was married take these teams out. So
I started taking teams out on my own every time
they were coming into town to play the King. So
I just started meeting all these guys and then I
(23:57):
became real good friends with like Mike Comray. It was
me Mike Comray, Sean Horricoff, Ryan Whitney, Sheldon Surrey, we
had his whole crew in LA and it just continued
to you know, I just continue to build these relationships,
and you know, they tell they tell teammate about what
I do for a living, and I get that business
(24:17):
and it just snowballed. And that's basically how I kind
of embedded myself in the NHL world.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Well, that's I love how it starts from a poker game. Really,
I mean, you never know what's going to happen any
given day. I think to your point about what when
you're doing jewelry, I've started to notice it so much
more on a lot of players and what you know,
just necklaces a lot of the time. You know, you think, watches,
you think obviously you mentioned engagement rings, but and watching
(24:45):
the World Series noticing a lot of jewelry there. Noticing
Miguel Rojas with Van Cleef during Game three.
Speaker 4 (24:53):
I was just like, why is this guy wearing this?
Speaker 1 (24:54):
They just felt a little out of place. I'm not
gonna lie, but in your opinion, maybe what's what's been
the most memorable piece of jewelry that maybe unconventional or
interesting that you can share to us about that you've
you've worked on.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
You know, people ask me that all the time, and
it's a hard it's a hard answer because there are
so many. But I will we'll reference back to the
major leagues and in fact the World Series. Max Scherzer
is an amazing client of mine. He's an amazing human
being with a beautiful family, and I made him for
his wife. I made him a custom red white and
(25:33):
blue with different colored shaped stones. This has going back
years now, but it was a very special piece for
an anniversary for his wife, and it symbolized how many
years they have been married and how many kids they had,
and there was like each diamond was for each child,
and then each stone represented a year, and there was red,
white and blue because they're red patriotic, and there were
(25:55):
different shapes and it was just a beautiful bracelet, custom
bracelet that I built that we worked really. It wasn't
like something that he's like, hey, I want this build it.
It was like, like, you know, it took a month
to figure out really what we wanted to do and
creating CAD designs, but it came out magnificent and his
wife wears it all the time to this day. It's
been years since I built that, but that that's one
that comes to mind, and it was really uh yeah,
(26:18):
it was a really really nice piece, very special piece.
And you know, Max is also a big reason why
I do so much work in major leagues. It was
it was a cool experience to be able to do
that piece.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
That's amazing. I mean, and a guy like Max sus
or two Larry, like not a bad ballplayer, you know,
he's not bad at all.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
And this was like, this was like in this is
absolute prime. So like, you know, look, I like to
think that I'm not one of those guys that gets
like starstrucked often, but like you know, when he reached out,
I was like, this is Max Scherzer. He's no. I mean,
we're talking about a sure fire first ballot Hall game.
(27:02):
Like this guy's this guy's the man. Yeah, but you
know what, he was incredible to work with. What a gentleman,
so kind, amazing guy.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
Yeah, Larry.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
Now you know, we're not quite a Jeweler or baseball
podcast yet, but maybe one day. Since we're here for
hockey and being a Philly guy, you know, we talked
a lot about it on the couch on Sunday. You know,
where your Flyers are at and where they're headed, and
I kind of wanted you to give us your opinion
on that.
Speaker 4 (27:34):
Look, So, first of all, I am I'm a diehard
Flyers fan. So some may say or believe that my
opinions are a little bit way based on that, and
it may be true. However, I don't miss a Flyers game.
I never have I watched every single Flowers game being
(27:56):
away in California for twenty three years. Look, the Flyers
have an incredible history and a incredible past and a
way that they like to run their organization. Things obviously
changed drastically when they lost their owner, Dan Sneider, and
so they've kind of like been trying to find their
new identity, especially in the last three four years. But truly,
(28:17):
I think the Flyers are on the right track. That
they have a really good young team that like every
team in the NHL, I think they need another really
good like superstar center. But who doesn't. I'm a huge
fan of Sengkatria. I think he is the quintessential Flyer.
He's played a lot of games for his age. You know,
(28:39):
look he's so far. He looks really good this year.
Apparently he's had an incredible offseason and really wants to win.
Being the captain of the team, he really really wants
to win, and he put in the effort and put
in the work this this offseason. From everything that I've understood,
from everything that I've heard, I think the Flyers are
on the right path. I still think there are a
couple pieces away. Again, like so many teams in the NHL,
(29:02):
there's only one or two guys that can change a
dynamic of a team. I think goaltending is a little
bit better than people give him credit for. I really
do uh of Ladar is actually a good goalie. He's
capable of being the number one if he needs to be.
You know, he's not a superstar name, but he's actually
pretty good. I think the d is better than people
(29:23):
give him credit for. They've they've been pretty good this
year so far. A little bit disappointed in Mitchkoff. I
think Mitchkoff looks to me like he's a little slow,
looks from what I've from what I've read, looks came
into camp a little bit out of shape, which is
disappointing coming into your second year after having the run
(29:43):
that he had last year and being up, you know,
for a Rookie of the Year. But I think the
Flyers again, they with Rick tocket Behind in charge of
that team, I think they're on the right track. He's
the perfect guy to be in Philly. He understands the city,
understands the team, and it's exciting moving forward right.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
We were fortunate enough to talk with Travis and I'm
at the Player Media Tour, and you can tell he
is really on the up and up, especially mentally and
with his opportunities with Team Canada. Also on that note,
in state rival the Pittsburgh Penguins, Sydney Crosby, averaging a
point per game reaches the elusive seventeen hundred point mark,
(30:23):
ninth player in history to do it. Knowing Sidney Crosby
everything he's done, He's a part of a team that's,
you know, not the Flyers. How do you view him
in sort of the I don't know, in your bigger
view of the NHL. How much respect or little respect
do you put on his name?
Speaker 4 (30:45):
Well, that's an interesting question for many reasons. First of all,
I'm actually friends with Sid. I've known sid for a
long time and I can tell you he's and I
tell my friends from Philly all the time, he's one
of the funniest, greatest guys I've ever met in my life.
We have played a lot of golf together, We've played
(31:06):
a lot of tennis together. In fact, I've got a
jersey upstairs and he personally sent me randomly last year
with a little funny joke. Because that's what he does.
Takes little jobs at things because he's so competitive and
there's a little sports jab in there. But people in
Philadelphia truly did not like Sidney Crosby, and he didn't
(31:28):
like Philly either. He still doesn't. But it's funny because
in the last in the last game, the last Flowers game,
they were talking about sid and they were saying, how
it's funny how the people in Philadelphia have changed from
hating Sidney Crowseby to appreciating him in his last you
know how many years as you have left. But as
far as a player, look, Nate, you and I talked
(31:49):
about this, there's not a single bit of down my mind.
And I'm talking about current players and going back to
Frosby's prime, which you could almost make an argument he's
still kind of there almost. He's the best player of
this generation all respect Econo McDavid, who I'm also friends with.
I think Sidney Crosby is prime over anyone in the
(32:12):
NHL in the last twenty years. It's the little things
that he does that are so special. It's the way
he thinks the game. You know, there's some guys in
the NHL that are just that, that can just fly,
and I mean fly the conom McDavid, the mckinnons. They're
(32:32):
there are guys that can absolutely fly and they're superstars.
Don't take I'm not taking anything away, But there's other
guys that when you really watch them play, and if
you really know the game, and you played the game
your whole life, and you've watched the game your whole life,
and you've watched Sidney Crosby play, it's the littlest things
that he does that enhances everybody else around him and
puts other guys in the right spots, the little tips
(32:56):
and the work on the end walls, and it's the
smallest things he does that makes his team so much better.
I've never seen anything like it in my life. I
guys say he's maybe number five best all time. I
would almost put him top three, considering he's playing in
the fastest era in the history of the game, and
(33:17):
he can still fake the game and slow the game
down the way he does and still you know, get
a point of game at least, and he's just Tinny.
Crowsby is my favorite player of this generation, and that's
coming from a Flowers fan. So I should tell you
everything you need to know about the way I think
about sid He's an incredible player, and he's told me
some great stories about things in Philadelphia and the reason
(33:39):
why he doesn't like Philadelphia and our fans. But it's
when a guy like that becomes such an icon in
the sport of hockey. The cool thing about sports is
eventually with with with the city that you have such
you know, camaraderie or hatred with you start to find
(33:59):
this like random, weird respect for you each other, Like
the if you were to walk around the city thought
out here and go to every Flower stand and ask
him about Sidney Crosby, he may I don't like Silney Crosby.
Actually he's probably the best player I've ever seen play.
And you know, it's there's become there's there's there's now
a point where they respect each other. There's a at
(34:21):
some level, and it's cool to watch, you know. So
as the Flowers fan, I've been able to watch that
progression throughout the years. It's been cool.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
I couldn't agree more, Buddy. I I put sid in
my top three as well. I think he's, like you said,
he makes everyone around him better always. And now is
there a young player uh in the league or a
person you've met, where you've you know, done business with
the jewelry that you've been impressed with over your time
(34:50):
a young person, or maybe a jewelry story you have
with a player that you know, that that that you
just can't forget.
Speaker 4 (35:00):
Man, that's a that's a tough question to put me
on the spot because there's so many. There really is
so many, you know what, you know what, I'll let's
go Travis Sandheim. So I did Travis Sandheim's engagement ring.
But usually when it comes to the NHL, it's I'm
(35:21):
usually referred to by another player. I think Travis just
kind of saw me on Instagram and felt comfortable with
me and reached out to me randomly in a DM,
and I was just so impressed with how like polite.
First of all, the NHL is a special league. The
guys are just such good people. The majority of the
(35:44):
guys are just well spoken, polite. You know, even if
they're animals on the ice, they're just such good people
off it. And Travis was no exception. He was just
such a polite, good guy. It was a pleasure to
work with him. He almost made me feel like he
was privileged to work with me, which in my opinion,
people are privileged to work with me. But he made
(36:04):
me feel that way, which was really it was a
special moment to work with him and he knows that
I'm a diehard flyer stand and and then the cap
that off. You know, About a couple of months after
he got engaged, I got a random jersey in the mail.
Uh started to my office and it was an awesome
personally signed a jersey from Travis Game wore jersey from
kind of Stanaheim, which was really cool, Uh, which is
(36:27):
part of my collection. I've got a sick collection, tom Or.
You're not even in that collection?
Speaker 2 (36:30):
Are you? I should be How does that happen? That
shouldn't be possible.
Speaker 4 (36:35):
If it makes you, if it makes you feel any better,
I don't have a loophole. I don't have an O'Brien.
We're like also, we're all so tited, just like yeah,
but I've got you know, I've got a really incredible
collection and personally signed jerseys that I'm putting in put
the new office from guys that I've worked with and
people that I know. But Travis Sandheim is an incredible
guy to work with, especially because he's a flyer and
(36:57):
he reached out to me completely randomly. It wasn't like
somebody was like, hey, you got to call flowers. So
that was a really cool sting or instrument.
Speaker 1 (37:05):
Love to hear that. Now with you talk a lot
about the engagement rings and the jewelry for the wives
players or things like that, but I want to know
about the guys. Like I'm seeing the chains hang flying
out there. You know, we know that BIZ talks a
lot about the leafs and the chains that they're wearing
and all that, but like, what's a piece of jewelry
that NHL players are coming to you and they're wearing
(37:28):
it while they play, which I find is unique.
Speaker 4 (37:32):
Well as far as jewelry in the NHL. Like, I've
sold a lot of chains to a lot of guys,
But the beauty that guys in the NHL is they're
they're less flashy anything. If anything, The majority of the
guys that I do business with in the league, other
than engagement rings of course, and other than jewelry for
their girlfriends or wives, the majority of the guys when
they're shopping for themselves, they like to buy nice time pieces.
(37:54):
You know, it's a gentleman's league and Rolex and automor
Piguet and pet Tech Philip or Gentlemen's watches, and so
I do a ton of business, uh with time pieces
in the NHL, with with guys and and and that's
really I love doing engagement rings. It's such a it's
such a sentimental experience and a personal experience to work
(38:16):
with people. This is a big deal, you know, this
is this is the ring that they're going to propose with,
and that's a really special moment. But when you're working
with guys and guys guys and they want a nice
time piece for themselves, you know, that allows me to
really be myself and and advise guys properly based on
my professional expertise on what I think is the right
(38:38):
time piece or some options based on what they're trying
to do. You know, do they want something really classy,
do they want something with the wear with a suit.
Do they want something that's casual. Do they want something
that says that screams like I'm a big boy watch owner.
There's a lot of different there's layers, there's a lot
of levels and layers to the watch game. So that
that that's the majority of the business that I do
(39:00):
in the NHL. Again, other than live stuff is watches
when it comes to guys. But I feel like when
guys buy chains from me, it's usually pretty simple, you know, gold,
white gold, rose gold, yellow gold chains. The guys in
the NHL are not that flashy except for that right
there there you go. I remember that piece. I remember
(39:21):
that piece. What are you showing?
Speaker 1 (39:23):
I say, tell everyone who was listening.
Speaker 3 (39:26):
Yeah, Larry, Larry set me up with this one right here,
the one I went around my neck. This is this
is Larry Flowers right here.
Speaker 4 (39:32):
It's like the white gold. That's the white gold dog
Tai with a special encryption in there was still key
between us. Tommy, you're such a Tommy, you're such a beauty.
Speaker 2 (39:47):
Well, we're not done with you yet, buddy.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
I want to know with with with the league right now,
there's a lot of you know, teams that are better
on a heater right now than teams that were not expecting,
like Utah, New Jersey.
Speaker 2 (40:01):
Maybe not New Jersey, but Utah especially. What are you.
Speaker 3 (40:04):
Seeing throughout the league? What are you seeing throughout the
league as far as young players too? With Utah and
you know, is this a team that maybe could make
the playoffs.
Speaker 4 (40:16):
All So, Robert Bortuso, who's one of my best friends,
played for them last year, last year of his career,
and he would not shut up about this What his
name is Gunter?
Speaker 2 (40:25):
Go to Dylan Gunter.
Speaker 4 (40:27):
Dylan Gunter. Yeah, he would not stop talking about this kid.
And he was saying he would say to me every day, Flowers,
you got to see this kid snap the puck. I
have not I've been in the NHL for a long time.
I have not seen a lot of guys that can
snap the puck the way this kid does. They've got
a really good young team, and I think Tom or
you and I were sitting here on the cast watching
the Eagles game talking about that team. They're They're a
(40:48):
good up and coming team. They've got an incredible new
owner who spends a lot of money, who does not
hold back. They are spending He's spending a fortune just
building the best of the best practice ranks and their
home ices. They have something very very special going over there.
Bortusa loved playing out there, he said the fans. Obviously
was their first year, so there's a lot of excitement.
Speaker 2 (41:10):
But.
Speaker 4 (41:12):
He really really enjoyed it out there. So I do
talk to him quite a bit. He's working for the
Saint Louis Blues now, he's scouting and in that world.
So he's really got his ears and eyes open on
a lot of different teams. And he reiterated to me
last time I spoke to him last night, they've got
a good squad. Do I think they may be a playoffs?
You know, honestly, the West is tough. It's always really
(41:35):
really tough. They've got a shot to They're a good
young team. We'll see. But that Dylan Guvter is a
very special player, right.
Speaker 1 (41:45):
And you make such a great point with Ryan and
n Ashley Smith and their entire entertainment group really trying
to make this a really quality organization top to bottom
and having as you mentioned, the practice facility, putting a
lot of money into it, the whole game day operations,
people chugging out of shoes like they're creating a culture
there which is fun and I can't wait to go
(42:07):
watch a game there at some point.
Speaker 4 (42:09):
Yeah, And that it's very very important to do with
these new franchises, you know, Seattle did it, Vegas did it?
You want to come out of the gate really hot,
and you want to create a brand new culture that
will that will last forever, and they clearly have done that.
They've clearly got amazing young talent. They've got all the
pieces in place to be a really good organization for
a long time.
Speaker 1 (42:30):
Well, Larry, we appreciate all of your insight on the
league and insight into jewelry and everything beyondes. You know
you have great stories to tell that you can't tell
here on this podcast, but you've probably hopefully you write
a book someday about all of your interactions with some
of these hockey players. Would love to know. Nobody knows
anything about Sydney Crosby. It feels like, but it feels
like you know a lot. So we appreciate you coming here,
(42:52):
taking the time to be here on the Energy Line
with Nate and JSB.
Speaker 4 (42:56):
I very much appreciate you guys are awesome. I love
the podcast and thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (43:00):
Thanks buddy.
Speaker 1 (43:04):
Well, we want to send a big thank you to
Larry Flowers for joining us here on Energy Line with
Nate and JSB, as well to our fearless producer Matt
Heava for putting up with us and putting on this show.
This is a production of the NHL and iHeart podcasts.
Please like, subscribe, Feel free to share this and give
us a review, and send us any questions you want
(43:25):
tweet us dm us. We love to hear from people
and love to talk about what you are interested here
on energy Line with Nate and JSB and we'll see
you guys next week. Energy Line is the production of
(43:53):
the NHL and iHeart podcasts. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
your podcasts
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Nate Thompson
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