The Condor Lands: Erik Johnson Talks Retirement, ESPN Role, and Winning a Cup with Colorado

On this episode of Energy Line with Nate and JSB...

Former NHL veteran and Stanley Cup champion Erik Johnson joins the show to discuss his decision to hang up his skates after 17 seasons. Johnson opens up about arriving at the decision to retire and starting a new chapter as an ESPN Analyst, 

EJ also reflects on his incredible career, including his silver medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, winning the Cup in 2022, and his special bond with Gabriel Landeskog. Plus, EJ explains how he got the nickname "The Condor," weighs in on what Patrick Kane would add to Team USA's Olympic squad, and gives us his dark horse Stanley Cup prediction for the season!

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This episode also covers:

• Early NHL Season Surprises: Thoughts on the Boston Bruins' strong start and the struggles of the Islanders and Sabres.

• Rookie Watch: Matthew Schafer's impressive start and Michael Misa's NHL debut.

• Nate and Julie's Star of the Week Predictions: Nate's belief that a certain Leafs goal scorer is "due."

Energy Line is a production of the NHL and iHeartPodcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Energy Line is a production of the NHL and iHeart podcasts.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
Welcome on into Energy Line with Nate and JSB.

Speaker 1 (00:28):
Energy Line is the production of the NHL and iHeart podcasts.
I'm Julie Sharp Banks and I'm joined by former NHLR
Nate Thompson. Nate has been a man about town on
NHL Network, making his debut as an analyst congratulations and
being on multiple podcasts. So we're glad that you're still

(00:49):
with us here. You know your OG teammates will lend
you out for a couple of tourneys here and there,
but you know that you're coming back to the minors
with us, all right. I just want to make that clear.

Speaker 3 (01:01):
We're not in the minors. What are you talking about.
We're in the show. Thank you way, thank you for
that introduction, Thank you for the congratulations. No, I and
I know where my roots are at. It starts with
the Energy Line with Nate and Jesse. We are not
in the fucking miners. We are in the fucking show. Okay,
We're in the show.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
And we're in the show to welcome to the show.

Speaker 1 (01:25):
And Nate got to ask you before we jump into
a wild first week of the NHL. What's what's the
the coolest thing on your that happened to you this
week or that happened in general, Like what's your top line.

Speaker 3 (01:40):
I think it's got to be NHL Network yesterday. I
think my first show being on NHL now, I think
that was something I've been looking forward to and it
was a highlight. It was a lot of fun. I
was on there with Michael Dilzatto and Catherine Tappan and
it was it was great. It was good to be
on there talk hockey and just have fun with it.
Like they say, Julie, you know.

Speaker 2 (02:01):
Were you nervous at all?

Speaker 4 (02:03):
Little bit?

Speaker 3 (02:04):
But like exciting nerves. I did it right when I
did it once last this past year and was it
March or February? And it was fun. I mean I
think it helps, as you know, like being familiar with
both people like I've known I've known Catherine for twenty
years and it's because when I was playing for the

(02:26):
Providence Bruins during the full lockout season, she was covering
Providence sports at the time. Wow, And fast forward Jay Leech,
who she was married to was with she was dating
him when we were playing for the Providence Bruins, and
at the time she was on Nesson covering the Red

(02:46):
Sox and Patriots, and when she started dating j like
she was coming down and hanging out with us. She
was actually learned hockey being with us watching hockey all
the time, and then fast forward she ends up being
with the Bruins and then the rest is history. So
I know that was long winded, but I mean I've
known hat for a while, so having that familiarity with
her and Delzatto it definitely made things easier and a

(03:08):
lot of fun too.

Speaker 1 (03:10):
Yeah, you guys almost like you came up in your
respective fields together in a way. But then now I've
made it full circle while you're while you're dipping your
toe into the broadcasting world, and then we're gonna get
Catherine on the ice to be playing in the NHL,
just to even even the score here.

Speaker 3 (03:28):
But you did walk to get her on the energy
line too.

Speaker 1 (03:30):
Oh, of course I would love to have Kati on here.
I mean, yeah, like she is, she is one of
one you know in the industry, and just like having
been I remember Darren Dreger introducing me to her when
I was living in Regina, Saskatchewan, because I was like,
you know, how do I get out of Regina basically,
like how do I get better at this job or

(03:52):
like you know, kind of picking people's brains? And he
was like, you should really talk to Catherine Tappan and
she was really kind to you know, give me time
for giving me advice and all this kind of stuff,
and it was it was just great. And she's been
you know, she's uh, she's one of those like what
would you call stay at home defenseman in a way,
someone I know I can trust, who's like if I'm

(04:15):
if I'm a goalie, I know that, like they got
my back, like always yeah, yeah, no matter what, Like
she's going to be on there with you and always
have you, like very in a very good position for
an analyst. At least that's what I imagine if I
was an analyst, right.

Speaker 3 (04:33):
You your spot on you, She's she's one of the best,
for sure.

Speaker 2 (04:36):
I think, Okay, we love that.

Speaker 1 (04:39):
Also, something cool that happened to me this week, Nate
was well, first of all, I won an award for
being on air game changing on air talent. But I
think we should start our own award show because it's
a very profitable industry. So we do that for podcasts,
we'll be we'll be raking it in.

Speaker 3 (05:00):
Yeah, it's a good idea, Julie. I mean we could
add that would add to the pot. And what kind
of awards are we giving out?

Speaker 1 (05:07):
I mean, listen, endless people want to win awards. People
want to win awards, but anyway won this award. Then
I went right home as soon as I could to
watch the J's beat the Yankees.

Speaker 2 (05:21):
The Yankees lose.

Speaker 1 (05:24):
Just watching Flat Junior and Big Poppy do that little
back and forth was Chef's kiss. I absolutely was well
and that we producer Matt and I were just talking
about it. The cutaways to both Jeter and a Rod
sitting there so good, Like I want to know who
was directing that. I think I might know who it was.

(05:45):
It's just that's why I tweeted it. I was like, director,
shout out, deserves an Emmy in this moment so perfect.
The J's are going to get there, They're already getting
their asses kicked. If whenever you listen to this, the
J's will be out of the playoffs at whatever point,
because they pretty much are right now.

Speaker 2 (06:01):
But it was a nice Momentlie.

Speaker 1 (06:04):
Listen, I'm from Toronto. Don't try to sell me on
this hope bullshit. When you're down to nothing in a series, Okay,
don't even give me one win, not especially not in
game three. I do not want to see in game three.

Speaker 3 (06:19):
You know they're going to win the next one. You know,
That's just what Toronto.

Speaker 1 (06:23):
Teams do, right, like playoffs last They might.

Speaker 3 (06:26):
They might even tie it up too. They might even
tie it up to.

Speaker 2 (06:30):
You send this one. They tie it up.

Speaker 1 (06:32):
I literally killed them because then they got us rope
back in. And I did end up going to the game,
as you saw. I said I wasn't going to go
to the game, and I went, and it was unfortunate
because being a visiting team fan was.

Speaker 2 (06:51):
Not ideal at Yankee Stadium.

Speaker 3 (06:53):
I'd say, not, no, not not not the best spot
to be opposing team when you're.

Speaker 1 (07:01):
Like, the Blue Jays lost that game and people were
still yelling at me f Canada, and I was like,
you won, like.

Speaker 3 (07:08):
Go so you were obviously wearing Jays. You were wearing
J's stuff.

Speaker 1 (07:13):
I wore a Jay's hat, ballsy because I don't usually
wear a team's any team gear, just to be professional,
but I don't wear hockey gear anywhere, except for when
the Islanders made me a jersey and made me sit
behind the goalie and I was wearing an Islanders jersey

(07:34):
and I was like, please do not put me on TV.
This will killed me. Okay, let's get into some good stuff.
We want to have some quick thoughts on the week,
and I think we might be talking about one of
the teams I just mentioned right now. But what has
surprised you about Week one of the NHL.

Speaker 3 (07:52):
I think the biggest surprise is maybe the Boston Bruins.
I think everyone expected different and they start off three
and ozero. Obviously, they lost yesterday to Tampa, but I
think that the way Marco Sturm has them playing, it's
pretty impressive, like defensively, and they did give up a

(08:13):
lot of shots, and you know, first few games, goalies
played exceptional. But I think the Bruins they just look
a little bit different, but in a good way this year,
and they for me, is kind of a surprise, I think,
unlike any anyone else thought for.

Speaker 1 (08:31):
Sure definitely well, as you mentioned, Marco Sturm, friend of
the Pod, was on our show earlier this year, and
as you mentioned, don NHL Network, how he is able
to relate to players so well because he's played so
many places played like he's just you know, I think
people that have had to get up and go and
move and be in lots of different places, lots of

(08:51):
different countries, lots of teams. You have to learn how
to have chemistry with random people all the time, right,
So you have to learn how to have a connection,
motivate people, and it's not always going to be come.
So I always give a lot of credit to people
like that, like you, for example, you had to get
up and go in a lot of different teams and
find a way to fit in or to figure it out. Right.

(09:14):
Do you think that like maybe having had to go
to all those different places that you played made you
a better player in person overall?

Speaker 3 (09:21):
Oh one percent? I think you have to learn to change,
You have to learn to accla made, you have to
learn to get outside of your comfort zone, right, And
I think if you get outside your comfort zone, you're
going to get better, You're going to improve. And I
think with Marco Sturm, the thing that jumps out is
he has done so many different things that different levels

(09:42):
of hockey, whether it was playing on a fourth line,
third line, second line, first line. Like he's had all
those experiences throughout the course of his career. He's played
with guys like Patrise Bergeron. They were playing on the
same line together for six seasons. You don't think he
learned a bunch from playing from Patrice Bergeron. I think so.
I think having all of those experiences these players, you know,

(10:04):
he can relate to every single one of them in
some capacity, and I think that that goes a long
way because these guys they want to play for him.

Speaker 2 (10:14):
M hmm.

Speaker 1 (10:14):
And a big surprise, as you mentioned, I think not
a lot of people had them high up on their
bingo guard.

Speaker 2 (10:18):
It is still the first week of the.

Speaker 1 (10:20):
Season, folks, but it's Canadian Thanksgiving, which means that you know,
it's not American Thanksgiving, but still a barometer of sorts, okay.
So I was going to say, as a bit of
a surprise was the fact that Matthew Schaeffer is on
a three game active point streak at the time of
recording this, which he is the youngest defenceman He's under

(10:45):
eighteen years old to have an active point streak of
three games or more in the NHL, and he's averaging
in the last two games over twenty five minutes. Could
you have seen this one coming? Also, especially on an
Islanders team that is currently zero and three right now.

Speaker 3 (11:01):
I didn't expect him to have this big would impact
us early. I had had an inkling after Matt Barzel
came out and said that he is the real deal.
And this is before the regular season started. So from
what I've watched, he's different. He is the way he skates,
his poise, just his overall presence, I think, and I

(11:24):
think the biggest thing that impresses me Julie is his
maturity and his character. I mean, we all know what
he's gone through in the last year, and you know
how he conducts himself every every single day, you know,
and how he goes about it, and you can just
see he just loves being around the rink. He's grateful
and he's just happy and he's just soaking up every

(11:45):
single moment. And this kid has a bright, bright future
in the Islanders. They hit that, they did, I mean,
obviously they hit the lottery. They literally hit the lottery
with Matthew Schaeffer, who I think is kind of the
NHL's darling right now. The way he's playing and coming
out as you know, the first overall pick that, uh,

(12:07):
I think he's exceeded expectations.

Speaker 1 (12:11):
Yes, one percent agree with you on that, and I
think that yeah, you can really you can really find
something to cheer for with him as a person as
you mentioned a lot of stuff that he's gone through
personally and being able to be in the position he's
in right now on a team that has not been
doing well. So let's take a closer look at the
Islanders as we move into our next topic, the race

(12:34):
to debor and it is sorry, I'm sorry in advance
to what we're about to talk about. So the Islanders
are oh and three, the Sabers are oh and three,
not at all that's surprising. But when you're the Sabers
and you had a good preseason, but that doesn't matter

(12:55):
because that's preseason. But Tage Thompson said they need a
mindset change and it's not really that big a deal
also because blah blah blah, it's.

Speaker 2 (13:01):
Only the beginning.

Speaker 1 (13:02):
But like when you see the Savers who need to
have a better season and they're just like they're there.
I mean, obviously they've had injuries and it's not really
necessarily going to be getting better, Josh Norris upper body
could miss eight weeks. What do you think? What do
you think about like the trajectory of these two teams,

(13:23):
Like is it potentially going to go up or do
you think that maybe this these two teams could be
the ones facing the first coaching change.

Speaker 3 (13:34):
I think the Islanders are have a better trajectory of
going up than Buffalo Sabers right now. I just think
the way the Islanders have lost games has not been
the same the way Buffalo's lost games. You know, Islanders
have been in a couple of games. I think they've
kind of shot themselves in the foot a couple of times.
The Islanders, you know, maybe probably will be a playoff team,

(13:57):
but they're not going to be a bottom dweller. I
don't believe Buffalo Sabers a whole nother, whole other thing. Juliet.
This is it. This is sad in a way because
we talk about this every single season. We talk about
the start of how bad they've started, and we talk
about the end, and we joke around about the Buffalo Sabers.

(14:17):
But it's like uncle already, Like it's it's enough, Like
you guys are dealing with the same things over and over,
and you heard Taje. Thompson talk about is you know
how frustrated and mindset change and all those things. But like,
I mean, they need I don't know whether it's ownership,
it's management. You know, I don't know where you go.
I've talked about this in nausea because it's we talk

(14:40):
about this over and over. But you know, at the
same time, do you do you change it? Because you know,
these players haven't had any consistency over the course of
their career, right because they've had different coaches, they've had
different gms. So it is not good in Buffalo. This

(15:01):
is his second season, I believe second thirteen. Don't on
that one.

Speaker 1 (15:06):
It's like kind of a weird time warp, like the
Buffalo Sabers. Also because they're just kind of, you know
it in the middle of Canada and New York area.
They're kind of just there on like Gary, You're like, okay,
the Sabers, out of sight, out of mind. Sometimes they're like,
oh yeah, the Buffalo Sabers. When you then look at

(15:27):
the standings and you see them like at the bottom,
you're like, oh yeah, Buffalo Sabers. Sabers fans listening to
this and be like, I'm gonna go get Julie right now.
But really, like it is kind of one of those
teams where you expect them to be bad, and it's
like that's unacceptable for any kind of organization. So I
don't know, I mean, a mindset change. I think at
this point it feels as though when you have guys

(15:48):
at the beginning of the season already kind of like
hunched over, they're feeling the burden of years past, Like
they're not just carrying this year, They're carrying every year.
They're carrying like it's like the leaves right sometimes, like
they carry a lot of the past with them. Like
does does making a coaching change change that?

Speaker 3 (16:09):
Maybe? Maybe? I mean I also think of it too, Julie,
Like what if Dubor he might not want to go
coach in Buffalo. He might wait, yeah, right, you're right,
Like he might have that option, but he might be like, no,
I don't, I don't. I don't want to deal with
that right now, Like I'm turning that down. I'm waiting
for a different organizations. So I mean, that's where the

(16:29):
Buffalo Sabers are at right now. So that's a problem
when you're having coaches. I just said, no, I'm good.
I don't want to deal with that.

Speaker 2 (16:36):
I'm good.

Speaker 1 (16:36):
I think, yeah, that's a great point. We don't talk
about that, like, hey, this is Pete de Boor's new job.
He's like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I'm
not going there.

Speaker 3 (16:45):
No.

Speaker 2 (16:46):
Yeah, yeah, I don't have to take that job.

Speaker 1 (16:48):
What do you think I want to be like in
and out again, like Grandpa Simpson walking in and out
of a team like that. No, you want to go
somewhere you know you can potentially thrive. Or if you
really needed the job because you needed money or something
like that, or you just needed to get out of
the house, let's go to the Rick Talcket Era in Philly,
your old team. Trevor Zegris, he said that he you know,

(17:11):
he's got to get his swagger back. He did have
an assist after he said that. He said out on
Spit and Chickle's great interview by the way with talk
It and them talking about him doing the Michigan and
if he if it, like if he scores, it's good,
but if he doesn't, you know, there's gonna be a problem.

Speaker 2 (17:31):
If he's doing it.

Speaker 1 (17:32):
For clicks, right, Yeah, I love that, like for clicks
or for goals, like at this point for a lot
of guys, like they're kind of the same sometimes jokes.
I mean, guys obviously want goals first. But what do
you make of sort of what's going on in Philly
early on talk it with Ziegret talking about Zegres and
then also with meach Koub as well.

Speaker 3 (17:53):
I love what's going on in Philly. I think they're
trending in the right direction. Even the games that they lost,
I thought they were right in They were really good
in both games, and then last night they played great
uh and the And to talk about Zegris, his assist
last night that he had was, I mean, it was
all world that he had two guys almost kill him
behind the net and then he makes this like I

(18:14):
don't even know how he got the past to Cuturier.
But Katurier had a one time or open like almost
back door in the slot, and it was it was
it was beautiful. Like Brian Bouchet's reaction after the goal
talking about it was he was flipping out. It was
that nice. So I mean I think that I believe
with talk there, it's been good and and Cuturi. We

(18:37):
got to talk about Sean Coturier the captain, like he
had a huge night last night and people don't talk
about that. Is like talk not just Zigris. Is he
going to have an effect on But it's going to
be other guys too, like Coaturier, Connectne Sandheim, Tyson Forrester
that who was supposed to have a big year, who
had a goal last night as well. Like these guys,
it's all gonna affect them in a positive way. Having

(18:58):
a guy like Rick Talckett behind the bench, so they're
trending up now. For Mishkoff, you know, I know he
had he had an ankle issue. It's also been talked
about that it's been a bit of a combination of
because of the ankle issue, his conditioning has you know,
has a little bit setback there, So that could be

(19:19):
a part of it, uh talk. I read a quote
he came out and said, you know they're they're tackling bolt.
It has to do with the ankle, but they're addressing,
you know, the conditioning part of it as well. So
I think Mischkoff he's going to be fine. He's so talented.
They have other good guys there that he's playing with.
So I really like how the Flyers are coming together here.

(19:41):
They could be a team that you never know they
could be in the playoff mix down the road here
in the season because they're not expected to make the
playoffs here. I don't think they should be expected to
make the playoffs, but I think they're going to be
a real hard team to play against for other teams.

Speaker 1 (19:56):
Big news today. We're obviously recording this on a Tuesday.
Michael Misa debuts tonight, second all pick from the twenty
twenty five draft, with the Sharks adding him to that group.
What are your expectations in his in his debut game,
but also just of him entering the league.

Speaker 3 (20:17):
Yeah, I think I don't have any expectations for him tonight.
I'm not going to put any expectations this first NHL game.
I haven't looked at the lines. I got to see
the lines, but I'm curious of how Worsoski uses him tonight.
I mean I would I would expect he plays and
you know, in a role where he has a chance to,
you know, play with some skilled guys, maybe plays with

(20:37):
Will Smith or celebrity who knows, and then get some
power play time. I think all those things make a
huge difference in a first NHL game, like let the
kid let me lines. Yeah, I have a little bit
of a runway and that way you playing in your
first game, you don't want to go ahead.

Speaker 1 (20:56):
Sorry, we have a wild delay right now. This is
my mom's internet's fault. I was just interrupting you to say,
looks like he's playing on the third line right now
with Tye Dell Andrea. Sorry I forgot that wrong or right,
and then Philip Khrushev.

Speaker 3 (21:10):
Yeah, so that's perfect. I kind of protects him. He
plays in the third line. He's not going to get
you know, the first D pairings of the other team, right,
He's not going to be playing against the top D
pairing and not that thing. It's the top checking line.
So that that helps him in a way. It protects him,
and I think he'll probably get some power play time.
So I'm expecting him. You know, it's his first NHL game.
You just want the kid to have fun and enjoy it.

(21:32):
You know, he's eighteen years old.

Speaker 2 (21:34):
It's so it's fine.

Speaker 3 (21:35):
Just go out there, have fun. I mean, Paul Reese,
you see Paul Mariice. I don't know if you guys
ever seen that seen that clip of him talking about
I don't know whose first NHL game it was, and
he's like, I don't want to tell him anything. I
don't want to tell him any I want him to
go out there and have fun and enjoy it. It's
you only get to do it one time. That's it
one time. So go out there and enjoy it. Who
cares what happens. I think that's the expectation I have

(21:56):
for Michael Misa. It's his first NHL game.

Speaker 1 (21:58):
Go enjoy it, kid, Yeah, because you know, he's already
overthinking everything, as we've talked about in the playoffs, playing
the game. Before the game, you're already thinking, you know,
I mean, it's a big it's a big bright lights
to be under. Also, when you look at the Sharks lines, you're.

Speaker 2 (22:14):
Like, Wow, what a wow. Wild team they got here.

Speaker 1 (22:19):
Just sometimes a little bit of a island of uh
uh misfit toys in a way that kind of got well.
Just down the lineup, I'm like, oh, yeah, there's Barkley
Goodrow and Ryan Reeves and you know, you got.

Speaker 2 (22:35):
Jeff Skinner just obviously got there's are very good players.

Speaker 1 (22:38):
But I was just looking at being like, oh yeah, sorry,
I'm on the East coast so sometimes I miss all
of the West coast action.

Speaker 3 (22:47):
No, it's okay, And it's a good test for the
kid too. I mean they're playing against the Carolina Hurricanes tonight,
so like it's not a you know, uh, you know,
you're just you're basically you're getting thrown right into the
fire playing against a team like that, So I think
it'll be a good.

Speaker 2 (22:59):
Test for him too, totally.

Speaker 1 (23:02):
Now, speaking of being thrown into the fire, it looks
like Brady Kachuk is going to be out for about
a month. It seems like with an upper body injury
that he sustained against the Predators. For a team like
Badawa Senators, obviously they rely on Brady Kachuk immnseally. In

(23:23):
what way do you think this is going to affect
them over the next few weeks.

Speaker 3 (23:29):
This is a big concern for me with the Ottawa
Senators because I think Brady has such an impact for
their team on the ice and off the ice, and
as we know, and when you're injured, you're not around
the team as much, and I think he's that guy
for them. That is, he's an everything leader for that team.
Like he leads by emotion, he leads by his play.

(23:52):
He like everything he does exudes leadership and and him
being the captain. So I'm a little worried for Ottawa.
I think it's a good test for their depths. And
you know, they do have other guys that have been
around there that have leadership, that been you know, that
have seen everything. Guy like Claude Drew, David Perron, these
guys that have seen everything that's happened in the league.

(24:15):
So I'm a little concerned. But we'll see if Ottawa.
I mean, Outawa was a very good team. I really
liked the way they're playing so far and minus their
game last night. But I think that this is going
to be this is going to be interesting.

Speaker 1 (24:30):
I was watching the face off Amazon Prime stuff with
him and Matthew could Chuck and just everything how it
went through everything with foreign nations. I didn't realize that
Matthew Could Chuck was such a little shit to Brady
when they were growing up. Like all the video they
have is like him just like pushing Brady like down
the stairs or just like cause he was you know,

(24:53):
a couple of years older than him, and it was
just like, man, I didn't know Brady was dummied by
Matthew the whole time. Like God, And then now I'm
way team way more team Brady now after seeing that,
I want Brady to win a Cup. Not for Ottawa though,
but like I would like him to win a Cup
because it would be nice because he's seen his brother
win it twice now, but also them together of course

(25:15):
with Team USA and how they had his dad, yeah,
gosh Keith, Uh what's his nickname? Well, yeah, in the
crowd and they and like how he knew that the
two of them were going to do something at the
beginning of that Canada game, like after the first fight,

(25:36):
he's like, oh, it's not over, Like after Matthews fighters said, Kate,
Brady's gonna go, Like he knew anyway, we.

Speaker 2 (25:41):
Need them back, We need Brady back.

Speaker 1 (25:45):
Curious though, what you think this means for someone who's
been doing really well to start the season, and that's
Shane Pinto. I think that this either helps her or
hurts him.

Speaker 3 (25:59):
I think it helps. I mean, you're just gonna get
more opportunity and and he's been a guy that's taken
advantage of that he's been so good. I think, uh,
you know, I picked him a couple of years ago
to have a breakout year. He didn't do it. But now,
I mean, this kid is poised and he's he's up
for contract too, so like it. You know, there there's
that motivation as well. But I think him stepping in,

(26:21):
Like I said, how they have other guys, you know Bathston,
you know, Dylan Cousins, other guys that can hopefully step
up in Brady's absence and hold the fort because they're
going to need to because this is that Atlanta Division's
prey stacked.

Speaker 1 (26:38):
Right Okay, staying in the Atlantic. Are you freaking out
about the Leafs?

Speaker 3 (26:44):
No? Are you?

Speaker 1 (26:46):
Caden Primo gets to start on Tuesday night because Joseph
Foil's absence. Of course, also there's no one to feed
anyone in the puck right now. They lost the last
two games against Detroit. When do you start freaking out out?

Speaker 3 (27:05):
You don't, You don't freak out. Toronto is a good
hockey team, and I think like the game against the
first game against Detroit, Okay, didn't play great. Last night,
different story. I thought that Toronto controlled that hockey game.
It wasn't for Cam Talbot, that would have been a
completely different game. So right now, you can take the

(27:29):
moral victories. And I think that was a moral victory
for Toronto, even tho they lost the game, I thought
they played very well. An it's October hockey. It's October.
It's October. There's what three games in. You can take
the moral victory for game three or game four.

Speaker 2 (27:47):
It's okay, Okay.

Speaker 3 (27:48):
I don't think you can bash on the Leafs yet.
They're they're okay. I really loved the Leafs in their lineup.

Speaker 1 (27:54):
Most of Toronto wasn't even watching because down the street
the Jays were playing, like right, Honestly, if it wasn't
my grandma's ninety fourth birthday on Monday, and I'm so
glad I was able to attend that and be there
for her and that she's here, I would have gone
to the Leafs game and then to the Jay's game
right down the street, and I would have come home

(28:16):
more broke and more upset because both of the Toronto
teams lost. But in theory, that sounded like a real
great day to go do a nice little doubleheader like
that on a holiday in Canada. But not a holiday here.
We're gonna predict three stars of the upcoming week. Okay,
So I'm gonna go first, because you've been doing a

(28:39):
lot of your own. First of all, can we give
a little shout out to Beckett Seneke two goals surprise.
I would have been wearing my Beckett Seneke shirt if
I had it with me here in Toronto, but I
obviously did not pack that.

Speaker 2 (28:53):
What the duck.

Speaker 1 (28:54):
I bought it after he was drafted, and we all
know what happened when he was drafted and what he said.
I would say my breakout predictions for this week just
based off of pretty much watching you know, the first
week of the NHL.

Speaker 3 (29:08):
Well.

Speaker 1 (29:08):
I do like Matthew Nies by the way, we'll put
a Leafs star on there. I think he's obviously got
a lot there. Uh Leo Carlson, very very good hockey player.
I already did give a little bit of flowers to
Shane Pinto, and I think Luke Hues, what about you?

Speaker 3 (29:25):
I like those those are good. I'm going to go
with Quentin Buyfield first, oh okay, Quentin Buyfield, Igor schusterkin.

Speaker 2 (29:36):
Okay, okay, okay, okay, and then third one.

Speaker 1 (29:39):
Obviously, he's going to be a star because he's the
only one who's the starring on the team right now.

Speaker 3 (29:45):
Yeah, I know, But why I can pick him to
be Star of the week and then the third one
you're not, I mean, you're going to be I don't know.
Is awesome Matthews?

Speaker 1 (29:52):
Why why do you think he will be?

Speaker 3 (29:54):
Because he's due. He's due goal scorers. And when goal
scorers are due, it means that they're they're going to
score and they're about to breath, bust out. He's in
a bus out this week.

Speaker 1 (30:06):
Yeah, but a goalscorer is due, you know, he's going
to score. Nate Thompson. So coming up after this short break,
we're going to have a guy who just recently ended
his NHL career after seventeen seasons. He won a Stanley Cup,
he has an Olympic medal, and that is none other

(30:27):
than Eric Johnson. So stay with us here Energy Line
with Date and JSB. Welcome back to Energy Line with Dayton, JSB,
and as promised, we are so fortunate to be able
to welcome on a man who just retired from the
NHL after seventeen incredible seasons, most of them with the

(30:49):
Colorado Avalanche where he won a Stanley Cup, also an
Olympic medalist, and now just today, on this Tuesday, was
announced that he is going to be an analyst for
ESPN and that is Eric Johnson. Thank you so much
for joining us here today and congratulations on such an
incredible career but now also starting this new journey. And

(31:11):
before we get into that, just would love to ask
you when you what was it like when you decided
to retire, and then tell everyone when you were retiring,
what's that? What was that whole process like?

Speaker 4 (31:24):
Yeah, Julie Nae, thanks for having me on first off,
really appreciate the time and the opportunity to be on this.
So yeah, to get started, I would say, the first
thing that kind of went through my head all summer
was I was planning on playing this year in the NHL.
I skated and trained like I was playing, fully knowing

(31:44):
that possibly something might not come up and I was
going to have to retire. So I would say the
toughest part of the summer for me was that first
week or two in July where I didn't really have
anything substantial to sign, so I was kind of mentally
in a complete blender, thinking that, you know, I'm not
going to play this year. What am I going to do?

(32:05):
But I had a great support system around me, my parents,
my wife, everybody was so awesome, just saying stay ready.
If nothing pops up, you'll find something. You'll land on
your feet. Because I knew I wanted to stay busy,
and I wanted to not just golf every day. I
knew I would just go crazy. I'm kind of like
a busybody, so I wanted to have something to do.
So that was kind of a scary position to be

(32:28):
in with the unknown. Right So, as July crept into
August and August crept into September, I had some PTOs,
some professional tryouts. Probably three or four teams called my agent,
and I just wasn't really in the mental position to
do that. After the career I had had and how
long I had played, I just didn't want to. I
just wasn't. It wasn't against anyone that takes PTOs, Just

(32:49):
for me personally, I was not interested in doing that.
So I was still skating kind of into the first
week of the season or so before it started. That's
when I was kind of like, Okay, I'm ready to
be done, and I feel really good about it. Mentally,
I'm still young enough that I can still do things

(33:10):
with my life that I've never been able to do
before since I've been playing hockey. So from that standpoint,
I just felt like it was time and I felt
really really good about it. Mentally, I feel so good
about it. There's a lot that goes in tom ras,
you know, to being an NHL player, and it's not
even the playing part. It's getting ready to play. It's
the stuff behind the scenes, just the anxiety that you

(33:33):
have to get ready, the anxiousness. I mean, I hated
waiting to play all day on game days. I just
wanted the game to get there and play, and that
was the best part. It was just the lead up
and all that that went into being a player that
really kind of wore on me. And I loved every
minute of it while I was playing, but mentally, I
was so ready to be done, and I'm really happy

(33:55):
with my decision. I'm grateful for the career I've had.
Would sign up for it one hundred times over if
I was asked the opportunity, but for me, for me,
I'm just really grateful for how it all shook out
and I'm really happy to be done. I think the
timing was great and I feel awesome about it.

Speaker 3 (34:11):
I can totally relate to that, EJ. Especially the retirement party. Especially,
I think when you talk about not wanting to do
the PTOs, like I did a PTO to finish my career,
and I totally get that, and I know the feeling
of like when you're mentally you're mentally you're just tired.
You're like, Okay, I just I don't want to do
this anymore, you know, going into retirement for myself, and

(34:32):
I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do. I
coached after I was done and then now got into
the media. Was was being on the media side? I
think always something you were looking to do when you
were done playing hockey.

Speaker 4 (34:43):
Yeah, good question, tom Or For me, this year is
still kind of exploratory for me. I just did a
one year with ESPN, and I'm doing some local stuff
in Colorado with the Avalanche since I live in Denver,
so that's really easy and the progression is supernatural. So
I'm also kind of interested in maybe management side of

(35:05):
the game. I don't think I want to coach, just
the time commitment those guys the video and as you know,
I mean, it's just never ending, I feel like, right,
So I kind of ruled out that. And I have
a really really good relationship with Danny Breer who's the
GM in Philly, and Keith Jones there. So I played
with Danny his last year of the NHL in Colorado.

(35:26):
He traded for me at the deadline two years ago,
so I have a great relationship with him. So there's
a possibility of maybe getting into some management and learning
that side of the business from Danny and Jonesy. So
I'm kind of keeping this year open and just seeing
what I really like. I knew I just didn't want
to sit on my ass and do nothing. I wanted

(35:46):
to continue to evolve as a person and just see
what was out there. So for me, that's kind of
where I'm at. The other thing would be I really
never got to enjoy this time of year as a
player while I was playing, So I want to do
things this time of the fall season that I was
never able to do while I was playing, whether it's traveling.

(36:09):
I really like to duck hunt, I like to pheasant hunt,
just to do stuff like that. I was never able
to do while I played.

Speaker 1 (36:15):
Wow, it's amazing when you think about it, how you realize, Oh,
you guys have never done all the basic fall stuff
like apple picking and whatnot. So that's good and you
can do that with your family. But I think it's
amazing that you were able to get. First of all,
I know you've been, you know, a staple in the
Colorado Avalanche community, been on TV.

Speaker 2 (36:37):
People have seen your interviews.

Speaker 1 (36:39):
They you know, you know when someone is going to
be innately good at media. But take us through how
someone in your position is able to get a job
at ESPN arguably you know the national level. It's like
you went, you went from junior hockey to go play
in the show, and how did you How did that

(37:01):
come about? How'd you land that?

Speaker 4 (37:04):
Yeah, great question, Julie. So I would say the last
couple of years, people with Altitude, which is the network
that covers the Colorado Avalanche, kind of approached me and said,
whenever you're done, you should really think about doing TV.
You should really think about doing media. So that kind
of got me started down that road of would this
be something I'm interested in? Would I want to travel?

(37:27):
Would I have to move all those things that go
into being in the media. And the number one thing
I've kind of found was I did not want to move.
I want to stay in Denver. That's kind of the
non negotiable for me. So how do I capitalize on
that and stay in Denver. So the first thing I
did and Nate was there was the NHL Media Camp

(37:50):
in New York. That kind of opened my eyes. The
NHL put on a camp. They invited whoever really wanted
to go because it was the first year they did it.
The NFL has done it for years, and they basically
turned people away because it's so popular. So the nh
J just did it for the first time in the
summer of twenty twenty four. So there was what Nate
six seven, eight guys, former guys, current players. So they

(38:13):
brought in Steve Levy, they brought an Eddie Oldchick, Kenny Albert,
Brian Bouschet, the list goes on, and we got to
basically sit down in little group sessions and ask them
questions and have them talk to us and learn about
the media. So I really enjoyed that. We did a
mock studio session with Steve Levy like an ESPN MOX

(38:34):
studio set session, we did a MOX sideline reporting session.
So we did all these things, and you develop contacts
and relationships with these people at the NHL and at
these networks. So over the course of the last year,
I just kind of kept in contact with people and said,
you know, keep my name in the hat. And I
had a really good relationship with Steve Levy, Emily Kaplan,

(38:59):
Ray Ferraro, ESPN. So when I was getting ready to
announce my retirement, they kind of said, hey, if you're
interested in doing this, you should get an agent. Your
agent should talk to networks. And so August rolled around
and the GM of Altitude Matt Croll reached out to
me and said, would you like to do color in
the booth for the ABS alumni versus the Denver University alumni.

(39:23):
And at first I was kind of I don't know,
I don't want to do color. I want to do studio.
So I ended up saying yes. I did the color
for the game. I absolutely loved it. I thought it
was so much fun. I thought I would just want
to sit in studio and do that, but I really
liked being in the booth and doing color. You feel
the action in the atmosphere of the games, you just

(39:44):
talk about hockey and say what you see. And I
hated how I sounded. I thought I did awful, but
I had really great feedback. Everyone said you sounded great,
you did great, So that kind of stuck in the
back of my head. And then once I announced my retirement,
I started doing some ABS radio just to get more
rep some apps studio, and then I'm also doing color

(40:07):
for some Denver University Air Force games. So I got
a real put together, got an agent, and the agent
got in touch with all the networks, and then I
got a call from my agent saying that ESPN would
like to bring you on. And I'm really excited. I
don't know if I'm gonna love it, if I'm gonna
hate it. I think i'm gonna love it, but I
know i'm gonna give it my all, and I'm hoping

(40:28):
to be really good at it and hopefully make make
a career and a future out of it. Sorry for
the long win it adds er If that's too much information,
but that's what I wanted to share.

Speaker 3 (40:41):
Don't be sorry. Yeah I was. I'm not surprised. One
bidj from the time we you know, play together World
Championships to get to know you over the years, you know,
and even at the broadcasting camp, I knew you would
be good at this. You're very articulate, very very well spoken,
and you know the game better than anybody. So it'll
be awesome. I know it's gonna work out, and I
would you know, we were talking about a jels we

(41:03):
played together World Championships for Team USA and talking about that,
you know, being an Olympic year. You know, you won
US silver medal with the you know at the Olympics
in twenty ten. Uh, talk about that experience, you know,
leading up to it, and also what it'd be like
for these guys, you know, leading up to this experience
Olympics coming up here in February.

Speaker 4 (41:24):
Yeah, Nate, I remember wanting to make that team so bad.
Uh oh nine ten season. It was such a bucket
list item for me. I was only twenty one years old,
so I didn't really know the possibilities, and I was
hurt the whole year before, so I wasn't sure what
my chances were. But I remember watching the reveal on

(41:45):
The Winter Classic and just thinking it was the most
amazing thing and just so proud of it to represent
your country at the highest level. So me and Patrick
Kine were really good friends. We played with the development
program together, and just to make that team with him.
We were both really young, only in our third or
second year in the NHL, So just that whole lead

(42:07):
up where you have constantly people watching you every night,
not only on your own NHL team, but from USA
Hockey as well. So to be named to that team
was amazing. And then to have the run that we had,
led by Ryan Miller, who was so good in net.
I mean, he just he was the performance of really
an Olympic performance of all time is what Millsey put

(42:31):
on there for us. And to make that team and
beating Canada in the preliminaries and then to losing to
them in overtime, I still honestly will lose sleep about
that at night, just not beating Canada in overtime for
the gold medal, but thinking thinking that the team that
Canada had, Canada probably had eighteen future Hall of famers

(42:55):
on that team for sure, first ballot Hall of Famers,
no doubt in my mind we might have had two,
maybe maybe two, I think three at the most. So
definitely underdog team, but we really had a great team
and it was built by Brian Burke, who did such
an amazing job. We had guys that filled every single

(43:18):
role and we just came together really quickly, and I
think that was the biggest thing. And to almost beat
Canada and overtime in the gold medal game in Vancouver
would have just been ultimate feather in your cap as
a player. But it's still pretty cool to talk about
and have an Olympic medal, and you know, to be
a goal away from gold is pretty amazing and just

(43:38):
to have an Olympic silver at home is a pretty
special accomplishment.

Speaker 1 (43:42):
I'm really proud of, right, and you should be extremely
proud of that. As you mentioned that that game could
have gone anyway at the other end, you know, guys,
of course, but the fact that you got to play
in one of the biggest games that everyone.

Speaker 2 (43:57):
Who is you know, I guess who's watching.

Speaker 1 (44:01):
Everyone who was a hockey fan watched that game, you know,
and it's like you were part of history. And we
have Patrick Kane on our podcast at the Player Media
Week and we had him tell us why he should
be on Team USA.

Speaker 2 (44:16):
And you know, you've played with.

Speaker 1 (44:17):
Him, you see him, you see him that he's obviously
still in the league right now playing for Detroit.

Speaker 2 (44:24):
What kind do you think, what kind of.

Speaker 1 (44:26):
Role could he play for Team USA and in what
way could he enhance this team if you were picking
him or not picking him.

Speaker 4 (44:35):
Yeah, for me, I just think he's such a canter,
is such a USA hockey legend. I mean, you got
to rank him in the top three of all time.
Some might have him, might have him at number one,
and just maybe the smartest player to think the game
and just see how it evolves and how plays evolved.

(44:55):
He just sees things happen three four steps ahead before
anyone else does. And I think it would be a
huge boost for USA to put him on that team
just because everyone and just sees him on this pedestal
and to have a guy like that that's been around
and I mean what's missing from his resume really is
just an Olympic gold. So I think that'd be really

(45:15):
cool and kind of like a winning for Ray Bork
type thing when Colorado did in two thousand and one.
I think it'd be similar with Kaner and the Olympics.
So I think all those guys really look up to him,
and not only players, coaches, fans, everybody. He's such a
great ambassador for our sport and to see him playing
at such a high level still makes me super proud

(45:35):
of him. I know what he puts in behind the scenes,
and I've known him over twenty years now, so just
I think would be a no brainer to be on
that team. And it's a tough choice, but if it
was my pick, I would have him on there.

Speaker 3 (45:52):
Speaking of tough picks and elite players, you know you've
talked about Cale mccarr being, you know, one of one.
You know you played them with him, McKinnon. You know
so many elite players and I'm not ready to compare
them either yet. I've been asked a few times, but
you know this Matthew Schaeffer that's just stepped into the
league now and he's been pretty incredible so far. Do

(46:15):
you see any similarities between him and Cale? I know
you've talked about Cale being one of one, so let
me know.

Speaker 4 (46:23):
Yeah, I think date. For me, Cale has a consmythe
he has a cup, he has two Norrises, he should
have three. He'll be in the conversation every year for
the next eight years, maybe more so he's won the
big trophy, and that's what sets him apart for me.

(46:45):
I mean, he can kill penalties, he can play the
power play. He's out there when you need a goal
with a minute left, He's out there when you're down
a goal, when you're up a goal. So he's out
there in all situations. He has won everything you could
possibly win, and I just see him to continue to

(47:06):
get better. And what's crazy to me is he's not satisfied.
He wants more. And a great quote our coach Jared
Bednar said, it's hard to be hungry when you're already full,
and he's not full. Those guys want more, and Kale
wants more. And he's just so humble, he's so put

(47:26):
together mentally. He just thinks the game on a different level.
And he's a special guy to be around, special player
and really was a pleasure of mind to play with
him for six seven years. So if I could say
that there's any similarities to Matthew Shaeffer and him, I
just think their ability to skate and escape plays. Their

(47:47):
edges are so good. They get in and out of
trouble so quickly because they skate so well. Kale's obviously
more mature and put together. Shaper still seems immature and slight,
and he's only going to get better with that with time,
but man, he's doing it. Eighteen is just incredible. I mean,
what a fun player to watch. Definitely definitely be fun

(48:08):
to watch those guys in three on three at the
All Star Game one day. That's going to be pretty
fun to watch.

Speaker 1 (48:14):
Yeah, great, great analysis on both of those players. And
speaking of Cale mccarr during the Stanley Cup final that
you guys had against Tampa. During one of the media days,
or like the media day where you guys do all
the interviews with everyone, I interviewed Cale and asked him,
because The Office is his favorite show, if he could

(48:35):
cast his teammates as like the Office characters, and he
said that you were most likely to be Jim, which
I think is pretty complimentary. He also said that Pam
would be Gabriel Landiskog because you guys are like best

(48:57):
best best friends, and obviously I know you have a
horse named Gabriel Landskog.

Speaker 2 (49:02):
So tell me about.

Speaker 1 (49:04):
Your relationship with Gabe and kind of what makes it
unique and so strong.

Speaker 4 (49:13):
Yeah, so I have to admit I'm not the biggest
Office fan. So I don't really even know who those
characters are.

Speaker 3 (49:19):
I know, oh no, it gives me so much.

Speaker 4 (49:21):
I know my wife watches it like every day. I
feel like and she's like, you gotta watch the Office.
I don't watch The Office, So I think I know
who that is. But a great compliment, right, I think?

Speaker 2 (49:31):
So, Yeah, he's like a cool guy in the office.
Really yeah, perfect, that's that's me.

Speaker 4 (49:37):
That's me then. But no, me and Gabe, we just
have been friends a long time where roommates his rookie
year in twenty eleven. He was drafted second overall at
I was kitch, sure of the Ohl. Just a super
special guy to me. This is a great picture. He
got me pencil drawn. That's me and him. He passed

(50:02):
the cup to me first after one in twenty two
so that's a really cool gift that he got me.
So we just have a great bond and we've been
to teammates for so long, and just to have him
be a sounding board for me. Even though I'm a
few years older than him, I still see him as

(50:23):
a mentor and I'm sure he probably says the same
about me. We have a great relationship where We were
together through a lot of bad years in Colorado and
we stuck through it and came out on the other
side and we're ultimately championed. So that just strengthens I
think that bond over time, and we just when you
meet someone you know for the first time and you

(50:44):
just kind of feel like you're going to be friends
with that person, That's kind of how we were when
we met. So just to have that type of person
in your corner, supporting you, always checking in. I always
checked on him during his rehab. He's checked in on
me my first couple weeks to retirement. Hey, how you doing, man,
You holding up? Let me know if you need anything. So,
you know, he's a busy guy, family man in his

(51:04):
own right. So just to have him in your corner
means a lot to me and vice versa for him.
So we've just been through a lot, a lot of good,
a lot of bad, and to be able on the
other side and ultimately ultimately win together just strengthened that
even more.

Speaker 3 (51:18):
Yeah, and you named a horse after him too, right,
you named him? Uh it was it was Atlanta Sko right, Yeah,
And yeah, I mean obviously, Yeah, you guys are close
and we know about the relationship, but I want to
get in. I guess the horse racing now you use
so you name Gabe after you named a horse after Gabe,
And you know we had we had edzo On earlier

(51:41):
before and he talked about his horse racing and we
know that you're involved too, So talk to us about
how you got involved in that and if you're still
involved and if you're going to continue to do that
post playing too.

Speaker 4 (51:51):
Yeah, I'm still involved. So yeah, I had a horse
a couple of years ago, probably like five years ago
now named Atlantiskog, really really fast, good horse was going
to run on the Breeders Cup and got hurt the
day before, which is super unfortunate. But yeah, so these
are these are some of the actual saddle towels. These
are what the horses wear underneath the saddle. So that's comical.

(52:13):
She won a big race up at Saratoga probably six
years ago. This is Bowie's Hero. He won a Grade
one at at Keeneland in Kentucky. So those are big,
prestigious races and I just really have fun with it.
I'm more in in the breeding side. I buy mayors,
I picked the stallions, I look at the bloodlines and

(52:34):
the breeding and the lineage, and you try and have
the resulting foll be the best cross of all the
lineage and the bloodlines. And I'm a seller. I sell
horses at at auction and try and turn a profits.
So I just have fun with all my friends. I've
made so many friends over the years out in Lexington.
I love you out in Lexington. Go to the races,
go to the sales. Just has great energy. The adrenaline

(52:57):
that you feel when your horses down the stretch about
to win is like having an ot winner in the NHL,
which Tom Ray, you know what that feels like, scoring
a game winner at home in front of the cry.
It's like you just if you could bottle that feeling
up and just save it forever on a bad day,
it would be the best thing ever. So that's what

(53:18):
horse racing feels like. I love it. I'm still going
to continue to be involved in it.

Speaker 3 (53:22):
Yeah, ge, I totally understand now. I went to the
Kentucky Derby for the first time this past Remember that
was and the feeling right before the race when everyone
is sitting there, it was something I've never felt before.
But I know exactly what you mean now after witnessing
the Kentucky Derby.

Speaker 4 (53:42):
Yeah, just to touch on the Derby, My first year
was actually when American Pharaoh won the Derby and then
he ended up winning the Triple Crown. So the day
before the race, I know Bob Bafford pretty well, and
Bob the trainer, the horse trainer, he'd let me go
see American Pharaoh, so I have a cool picture with
American Pharaoh before he won the Kentucky Derby and then
obviously went on to win the Preakness of Belma on
the Triple Crown Cup Classic, so really cool. And then

(54:06):
a horse racing budy of mine also owned Niquist. He
was a huge Detroit Red Wings fan. He's from Windsor,
Ontario's name's Paul Readham and I went to your Niquist
one when Paul owned him, so that was pretty cool
as well to see Niquist win. And now he's one
of the most successful stallions in the world. He stands
for one hundred and seventy five thousand dollars per breeding,

(54:28):
so he breeds two hundred meres a year at one
hundred and seventy five thousand a pop. So Niquist is
doing well on the farm.

Speaker 1 (54:37):
I mean it sounds like a really good business to
get into because if you're researching.

Speaker 3 (54:41):
All the bloody losing money.

Speaker 1 (54:43):
Yeah, well, I mean I didn't mean that part, but
like the at least the horse breeding part seems like
a good one to be into. But yeah, as yeah,
I'm a big I'm big into the ponies as well.
I've I've gone to a bunch of the I mean
I used to have a horse racing show randomly during
the pandemic, which was wild. We did a ton of stuff,

(55:04):
so Edzo and I talked about doing Pucks and Ponies.
So if you want to be a part of our
Pucks and Ponies show, where we're just I think going
to talk about hockey and horse racing essentially. But what
you said with the having a horse in the race, though,
you got to want to get back into owning one right,
like not just dealan.

Speaker 4 (55:25):
Yeah, I still have I still have an interest in
a few two or three they always get hurt. Yeah.
We actually have a horse named Captain Gabe, and then
we have a horse named Malarchuk after the old Buffalo
Sabers Goalie, and we have one more running out in California,
so still have a few, And I went to the

(55:47):
Keenland auction in September and bought some pinhooks to flip
down later in the spring sales. So it's kind of
it's a fascinating world. It's so different than anything you've
ever experienced before. And I kind of compare it to
when you join a golf course. You're losing your initiation
right off the bat, right, You're not getting that back

(56:08):
ever again, and every month you're paying for the dues
and all that. You're losing money doing that, but what
are you getting. You're getting the enjoyment of playing golf,
hanging out with your friends at the club, and all
that goes into joining a country club. It's kind of
the same thing with horses. When you buy it and
you pay for the monthly feed, you go to the
races with your friends, You watch it race, you watch

(56:29):
a train and hopefully you get lucky and it's a
good horse. But that's kind of how I compare it.
You have to have a passion for it, otherwise you're
just going to be paying bills and be miserable.

Speaker 1 (56:38):
Hey brings you joy, right, Like, that's the biggest thing
at the end of the day, there's no price for that.
Just a quick follow up on the horse racing situation.
How does Gabriel Landeskog feel about the fact that you
have named two horses essentially after him.

Speaker 4 (56:54):
I've named them after a few guys actually. So we
had McKinnon who ran third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile,
he lost by a half line length. That was probably
four years ago. We had we had ranton In, we
had macar, so we've had We've had a bunch over
the years. They've actually all won. I would say McKinnon

(57:16):
was the best. Landes God was the fastest. Ranton In
won some races, mccar wasn't very good. But we've had
a bunch of different ones. So it's fun to just
do it. And the guys like to follow when they
know they have a horse named after him, So it's
it's really fun, and just the relationships and the people

(57:37):
I've met and the experiences I've got to do through
horse racing has been worth it for sure.

Speaker 3 (57:43):
Was there ever a horse named Condor, because that seemed
to be that's your nickname, right, what's the story behind that?
The nickname Condor?

Speaker 4 (57:51):
So Condor came from the late great Peter McNabb, who
is the ABS color analyst for a long time on Altitude,
and he passed away a few years ago, but Pete
was a avalanche pillar in the community and he was
awesome on TV. And probably ten years ago, I was
having a my rare, very good game and I was
flying around the ice and Peter McNabb said on air

(58:14):
that I was flying around like a giant condor. And
then I walked off the ice at intermission and Kyle Keith,
who's the great studio host for Altitude, said, Peter McNabb said,
you're flying around like a condor. And then after that
it just stuck. All the fans around town will stop me,
and you know, they don't call me ej or Eric.
They say, hey, Condor, how you doing. So all my

(58:35):
teammates make fun of me and jokingly call me the Condor.
So that's kind of how it happened, and it's stuck
a little bit over the years. The fans love it,
which is great for them. They have fun with it,
so I'm not going to complain.

Speaker 2 (58:49):
Yeah, that's a great story.

Speaker 1 (58:50):
I guess now you know when you're going to be
calling games that if you use in a unique analogy
or something that that could really stick with the guy
for the rest of his life. So maybe something maybe
something to noodle line. You could really give a guy
a really cool nickname if you put it in a really.

Speaker 2 (59:08):
Or a really bad one.

Speaker 1 (59:10):
Yeah, yeah, that would be unfortunate. You never know what's
going to come out of your mouth when you're on air.
Sometimes I know that, well you just a quick last
one for me really, just looking at the season. I
know we are only a week in, but who do
you think might be, Hey, let's bring in horse racing
to tie this one up. The dark horse for you.

(59:30):
That could be the one that is going down the
stretch at the end that might have not been anyone
in your trifecta or exacta bet or anything like that.

Speaker 4 (59:43):
I think Nashville will be better than they were last year.
I think they were hit with maybe unrealistic expectations when
they signed Stampcos and Marshasso, and then I just don't
think they ever really got their footing. I think they're
going to be better this year. That would be my
team in the West that's going to be better. I
think Anaheim will be better I really like Joel Quinville.

(01:00:06):
I think he's gonna do a great job with that
young team. They have a ton of young skill, They
have some great veterans they brought in. Their goaltending is solid.
I think they're going to be They could sneak in
on the East. I thought Buffalo was going to be
better this year, and it's tough. Tough start zero and three,
really tough for them to dig out of that hole.
With all the losing in the last few years. That's

(01:00:27):
going to be a tough one for them. But they
have a good team. Just a matter of time, I
think until they're good. Those were kind of my three.
If I was to pick one more team in the
Eastern Conference. I like Ottawa. I thought they would make
it last year. I thought they'd give Toronto a little
bit more of a run for their money, but they did.

(01:00:48):
They took them to overtime in a handful of games
that could have gone either way. I like Ottawa though,
but I really think Nashville and Anaheim will be better
this year.

Speaker 3 (01:00:59):
Why will they Colorado Avalanche win the Stanley Cup this year? Man?
They have.

Speaker 4 (01:01:08):
They have it all. They have it all. They have
the best goaltending tandem that they've had since twenty twenty
two when we rolled out Kemper and Franco's we had
a great one A, one B when we won that year.
Blackwood's hurt right now, but Scott Wedgwood has been unbelievable
these first three games. I mean he's arguably been their MVP.
Blackwood's down reconditioning in the AHL on a conditioning stint.

(01:01:29):
He'll be back within a week or two. So when
they have the lumber Yard as they call out of
Blackwood and Wedgwood, I just think their goaltending is going
to bring him to New Heights. Just it's so solid
and it reminds me of the year we won the Cup,
if not even better. And then just the depth they
have up front McKinnon, Natus Lekkinen, and then they have Nelson,

(01:01:52):
na Chushkin, Landeskog. I mean that second line could be
a first line on a lot of teams, and they're
seeing what Jack Drury can do is a third center.
I think he can do that job. He's a really
really good player, bonsible defensively, he's got some offense to him.
And when you roll out Taves and Macar on the
back end. I mean, that's the best deep pair in
the league by a mile, and Manson's been really, really good.

(01:02:15):
They just have a ton of depth, and their depth
will need to carry them through because, as you know,
injuries are always always relevant. They always end up upending
you at some point, and you just need to get lucky.
And if the Apps can get lucky and stay healthy,
they're going to be really tough to beat.

Speaker 3 (01:02:33):
Right.

Speaker 1 (01:02:33):
You make such a great point there, with a lot
of the depth and a lot of those guys having
one in twenty twenty two and still being hungry, probably
because they won when they're pretty young too for some
of them, like a Macar, and then being able to
bring that kind of DNA and culture continue it on.
And of course the additions of guys like Natchus just
absolutely huge this year starting off.

Speaker 2 (01:02:55):
So we'll have to see that prediction is pretty good.
A's e down the stretch, but as you've.

Speaker 1 (01:03:00):
Mentioned, a lot into injuries and staying health the Nate
are you are you got any more?

Speaker 2 (01:03:06):
Are you good?

Speaker 3 (01:03:08):
That's it? I just wanted to hear that one. I
love it. I love it.

Speaker 2 (01:03:11):
That's gat. That's good. You set him up.

Speaker 1 (01:03:13):
You had a nice assist on that one, Nate, I
appreciate it. Eric, thank you so much for joining us
here on Energy Line. It's been a pleasure to chat
with you. It's great to get to know your personality more.
And you can just tell you're going to be fantastic analyst.
You have great analogies and you have great insight and
analysis into the game. So we can't wait to watch

(01:03:34):
you on ESPN. And congratulations on such an incredible career.

Speaker 3 (01:03:37):
Two.

Speaker 4 (01:03:40):
Thanks, I really appreciate you reaching out and having me on.
Anytime you want to chat, I'm happy to jump on.
Thanks a lot.

Speaker 1 (01:03:49):
Well, that was Eric Johnson's seventeen year NHL VET Stanley
Cup champion, Olympic medallist and now ESPN analyst. And you
can just tell us Nate and I we're talking. I mean,
as soon as he start he opened his mouth to
describe why he retired and everything like that, I'm like, Okay,
this guy is extremely well spoken and very eloquent, and

(01:04:11):
just I can see why ESPN would hire him like
sight Unseen, so he's gonna inevitably be And then analogies, Wow,
analogies are great. And the horse racing just it's gonna
make for an interesting analyst on TV. And who knows
then what happens when he if he decides to pursue
a career in management too.

Speaker 3 (01:04:32):
Yeah, the sky's a limit for Eric Johnson. I mean
he I kind of saw it right away broadcasting camp
when I was with him, you know, just in playing
with him World Championships. He's so you said, he's so
well spoken. He kind of reminds he actually like kind
of reminds me of like a little bit of a
younger ed Zoe a little bit right, Like, he's he's witty,
he's you know, he's informative, he's funny, he's just kind

(01:04:55):
of got everything. So he's gonna he's gonna flourish in
that position. I think. I think he's just one of
those guys that kind of flourish in anything he does.
You know, he's he's got it.

Speaker 1 (01:05:06):
That's it for us here on Energy Line on Nyton JSB,
Energy Lines of Production of NHL and iHeart Podcasts. Please
make sure you like, subscribe, share this episode. Make sure
you share it because Eric Johnson was on it and
he's a really big deal, so you want to share
it because of that reason pretty much only you guys
can join us and listen to us on anywhere you
listen to your podcasts, and make sure you catch us

(01:05:27):
next week here Energy Line with Nate and JSB. Energy
Line is the production of the NHL and iHeart podcasts.

(01:05:51):
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