Dan Hinote

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
When I made this decision, I turned down a contract
with Columbus and didn't have any plan, so then moved
to Chicago with no plan, no job. I'm looking for
a job. But you know, when you go on indeed
and you put hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey thing.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
What comes up?

Speaker 1 (00:15):
There's a lot of intangibles and not much else. I
struggled for probably, and I, you know, I didn't want
to make my problems anybody else's problems, so God forbid
I should ask for help, so I don't. Three months later,
I'm going door to door for at and T trying
to you know, sell people on cable and a house
phone and doing all these things. And you had to
hit a hundred houses a day. If you got one

(00:38):
that said yes, that was a win.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
Welcome to Cut, Traded, Fired, Retired, a podcast featuring conversations
with professional athletes and coaches and a variety of sports.
My hope is for you to gain a strategy or
perspective for your own life on how to handle setbacks
and move forward. I'm your host, Susie Wargen. This episode's
guest had his site set on working for the FBI
after college, not a decade plus career in the NHL

(01:02):
and becoming a Stanley Cup champion. Dan Heinoe didn't think
he was good enough to play next level hockey, but
his dad did. The Big Chief, as Dan calls him,
told Dan consistently from a very young age that he
would play in the NHL. Dan was born in Florida,
but grew up in Minnesota, where skates and ponds are plentiful.
He was a natural on the ice, but wasn't recruited

(01:22):
heavily out of high school, so Dan figured he'd work
on his FBI dream by attending West Point and playing
on their hockey team for fun. That ended when the
Avalanche called and asked if he would leave West Point
if they drafted him. The first few years of Dan's
hockey career were spent in the Ontario Hockey League and
with the ABS then affiliate the Hershey Bears. He finally
made the show in the ninety nine two thousand season

(01:44):
and slowly figured out his niche to keep a roster
spot in the NHL defense and fighting at the right
time with the scars and injuries. To prove it, Dan
spent several years with the Avalanche Saint Louis Blues and
internationally with Modo and Sweden. After he retired, Dan went
straight into coaching with the Columbus Blue Jackets. After a
few years, he took a hiatus for family reasons and

(02:05):
had to dig deep when searching for a job outside
of hockey. He went door to door selling at and
T and became a stockbroker. These days, he's back coaching
in the NHL and loves helping young players find their
potential ladies and gentlemen. Danny high Note.

Speaker 1 (02:21):
Cut Traded Fired, Retired podcast with Susie Wargen.

Speaker 2 (02:27):
Danny high Note, how are you? It has been forever
we've seen each other.

Speaker 1 (02:31):
I know, But you know what that's been My favorite
part about coming back is a lot of the people
who I you know, became friends with, they're family with
over the season, you know, the seasons when you play here,
they're all still here. Yeah, you know, like when I
was walking into the rink, he got a lot of
the same security people, a lot of this game. You know,
the sweet people are the same, and you know the

(02:52):
trainers and you know, like you just get all these people.

Speaker 2 (02:54):
Yeah, it's good to have you back. We're in northern Colorado,
which is where you've been the last year, and you're
leaving us, but not for good. So and we'll talk
about that as we get to it, but I want
to just kind of go back and go through your
life a little bit. Born in Florida, but you didn't
stay there, end up going to Minnesota. What happened with
the transition there?

Speaker 1 (03:14):
So my dad, the big Chief, who will reference from
now on as that love it. Yeah, he had met
my mother. She was on a camping trip to Florida.
She was from Minnesota, and they hit it off whatever,
and there's more to that story, but she ended up
wielding the hammer. He was forty, she was twenty.

Speaker 2 (03:36):
Oh you know what I mean, dropped the cradle. Okay,
he was big chief.

Speaker 1 (03:40):
He was a big chief in many ways anyway. So
she wanted to move back where her family was, rightfully so.
And so that's how we ended up in Minnesota versus Florida.
But we still spent most of my childhood, you know,
back and forth. Okay, so it's like seventy thirty Minnesota.

Speaker 2 (03:56):
Had you grown up in Florida, do you think you
would have gotten into hockey?

Speaker 1 (04:00):
No, for sure, not Because my dad was always my
coach growing up. You know, he coached me in basketball, football, baseball,
like it basically everything. Yeah, in Minnesota, that's how it was.
You just whatever season it was, that's the sport you played.
But he was a huge football coach, like coach college.
He took a women's fast pitch softball team to the
national tournament. Wow, he coached, and he was like a

(04:20):
real good coach or whatever he coached. And so he
coached my teams right growing up. And then all of
a sudden, I turned nine. My babysitter who was you know,
back then it was the babysitter of the entire block,
right like this was this was you know, latch key central.
So parents are working until five, kids are home whatever,
and she finds a pair of skates in the back

(04:41):
of a garbage truck of a kid that she was
babysitting as well. In true Minnesota fashion, we had a
pond in between our houses that they all shoveled, and
so she threw these skates on me out of the
garbage and started pushing me around and realized I could skate.
Now I'm nine, so it's I'm starting late for Minnesota hockey.
But I'm also able to to skate right away because
I'm nine. What happened was as soon as my dad

(05:02):
got home from work, Tracy grabs him. It's like, you
got to come see your son, Like we got to
get him out of basketball putting him in a skate. Yeah,
he needs skates.

Speaker 2 (05:10):
Funny. And she was probably a Minnesotan, so she was
all into hockey and skating and knew what she was seeing.

Speaker 1 (05:15):
Well, she didn't know how to skate. That's what's so
cool about her. She was an unreelievable athlete. We're still
really tight to this day. She's now a really good skater,
a much better skater. But she didn't want to skate
when she taught me. Wow, which is really cool.

Speaker 2 (05:27):
Oh that is cool, And that's how you got into hockey.

Speaker 1 (05:29):
That was it. That's that's how it all started.

Speaker 2 (05:31):
Skating on the pond. And then when do you kind
of feel like, all right, maybe I could be good
at that. I mean, you know, when kids are nine,
every parent thinks, oh, my kids, you know, going to
go to the Olympics and be on the team and
play in the NHL.

Speaker 1 (05:43):
Let me, let me start you down that path. Because
so I didn't realize it until I got much older
and way after he passed away. But the big chief
was manifesting my career, basically my whole life. I was fast.
I could skate, and that was the one thing. He
was like, you can't teach that. You can't teach speed,
can't teach speed, can't which is true. But I was
never the best player any of the teams I played

(06:04):
for growing up orherever. But he was adamant whenever he
would introduce me, Yeah, it is my son, He's gonna
play in the NHL.

Speaker 3 (06:12):
Like that really, so he was that guy. He was
that guy, okay, and I was, you know, so much
worked out. Well, that's what I'm saying that this is
how powerful this man was. He was adamant that I
was gonna make it his whole life like and I
was like, I said, I was embarrassed. I was like Dad, like,
I'm not even the best player on my high school team, Like,
what do you mean I'm gonna make the show?

Speaker 1 (06:30):
And lo and behold he did. He did.

Speaker 2 (06:32):
But did he get to see that?

Speaker 1 (06:34):
He saw me get drafted? Okay, and you know what,
the year he passed away, he went down this checklist.
I'll always remember it because we were sitting in the
kitchen in Minnesota. It dawned on me that it was
a weird thing to do, but eventually I would equate
it to his death. He was sitting in the kitchen,
He's playing on the computer. He's like, you know, your
mom's got to a really good four one K. Your

(06:54):
sister's in Medica, she's getting her nurse's degree, and you're
gonna make the NHL. He's like, but he's in really
good shape. And literally, I don't know if it was
the day, but it was not far after where his
heart gave out and oh my god, and it was
over for him.

Speaker 2 (07:09):
But he checked his list off.

Speaker 1 (07:10):
But that's what he was taking better, that's it. And
that's what he did because he wasn't in great health, right,
Like he had met an alcoholic most of my childhood
and then like by eleven or twelve, you'd kicked it
and then never again. But that was it was, that's it.
He had gone too far down that road. You know,
by then he's in his fifties and sixties and and

(07:30):
I think he was sixty four when he ended up
passing away. But what had happened when he was younger
had caught up to him and there was just.

Speaker 2 (07:37):
No mid way, and that does happen. Yeah, so you
go to Elk River High School and out of high
school to West Point. Were there other colleges that wanted
you for hockey purposes? There had to do a bit.

Speaker 1 (07:49):
There were, But I had it in my I was
since I was a kid, I wanted to be James Bond. Okay,
That's how I grew up. And so I'd watch all
the FBI stuff, all the James Bond stuff, all the
CIA you know. That had followed me most of my
life to the point where I was like, well, maybe
I can use hockey to get me into college so
my parents don't have to pay We didn't have any money,
and I want to use it to go into the FBI.

(08:11):
That was the closest thing I could. I could figure
what your dad.

Speaker 2 (08:14):
Think about that, since he was so adamant about you
being an NHL player.

Speaker 1 (08:17):
West Point was like the other way, okay, Like he
was like, okay, fine, west Yeah, He's like yes. So
he was so excited about the idea of West Point.
West Point kind of hit it on all cylinders. It
was you get the military academy so you can go
in the FBI when you're done. It's a great school educationally.
Oh you know, you have a really good alumni when
you're done, as you've seen with two of the owners

(08:37):
in the NHL. Just one cops from West Point, which
is kind of cool. But yeah, so watching James Bond
as a kid kind of steered me into There were
other colleges, but none that were you know, I was
doing all my visits to Ivy League colleges. Okay, so
that was.

Speaker 2 (08:51):
Like the typical Michigan's and the dus and the ones
that are always in there, you know.

Speaker 1 (08:56):
Yes, and I wasn't good enough for them for those schools.
Really I would I was, and I wasn't on their radar.
It was actually really cool because after I got drafted.
So I got drafted right from West Point, and of
course I call home and you get like, I can't
remember what every two weeks you can call home or
whatever something like that. Wow, yeah, and your freshman year.
So I called home and my dad in typical big
chief fashions like you'll never guess who called, like I

(09:19):
told you so, like he had that voice going, I'm like, well,
who called? And he's like the Avalanche, mister Draper from
the Avalanche. And I was like what and he's like yeah,
like I've been telling you your whole life, you know.

Speaker 2 (09:30):
And so we ended up you didn't even know that
you had gotten drafted until you called home.

Speaker 1 (09:34):
I didn't know they were interested. So this was during
the school year, during the season.

Speaker 2 (09:38):
It's the entry draft. Ye. Yeah, you're still in school.

Speaker 1 (09:40):
And so after that first year gets done, I go
home for whatever the break was going to be and
they're like, hey, if we draft you, would you be
willing to leave because this point does it storm the
Gulf War? Like when you were leaving West Point, you're
going to war. And so they were like, we don't
want to waste a draft pick. Not wasted, but you
know what I'm saying, you don't want to draft somebody
that's not good.

Speaker 2 (09:59):
And things always change all the time. I see that
with guys that go to the academy that are in
the NFL, and they change it all the time as
to what they're going to commit you to after you're
done playing.

Speaker 1 (10:08):
So yeah, yeah, So back when we were looking at that,
it was you know, five years of service and you graduate,
and so I had agreed because I was like, yeah,
sure you guys draft me, Sure I'll leave, you know,
thinking that there's no chance. And then we were actually
in Florida on a family vacation, and even back in
those days, you had to call the radio station, you

(10:29):
know this because I wasn't going to be in the
first six rounds, you know, if at all, it was
going to be late. And so my mom calls the
radio station and they were like, yeah, Dan Heino got
drafted the seventh round by the Colorado Avalanche.

Speaker 2 (10:40):
That's how you found that. How this was nineteen ninety
six that that happened. So we don't really have cell phones.

Speaker 1 (10:45):
Written exactly, there's no social media, yeah exactly. Yeah, my
Space was like a twinkle in someone's eye.

Speaker 2 (10:53):
Did you have the option then to leave West Point
after that? Okay? You could? So is there a certain
amount of time that you can be at the Service Academy.

Speaker 1 (11:00):
As long as you don't start your third year?

Speaker 2 (11:02):
Oh okay, so you could.

Speaker 1 (11:03):
You could go too full and then that summer leave.

Speaker 2 (11:07):
Oh. Interesting, it's a little bit of a.

Speaker 1 (11:10):
Loophole, you know. I don't love talking about it. I
didn't I didn't even I don't even like talking about
leaving because of the sacrifice those people. Yeah, those guys absolute,
it's so so everything we're about as humans, you know,
the sacrifice for our well being. So I'm so grateful.
But yes, that's the rule.

Speaker 2 (11:26):
That makes sense. Yeah, so then you leave school, you
spend a couple of years with the OHL junior hockey.

Speaker 1 (11:31):
Yeah, before you get to the Mister Draper had a
connection and he had a contact in Oshawa and they
had a good team, good coach, and so it was
a perfect fit. Bill Stewart was the coach. Mark Savard
was the leading scorer in the league that year. We
we end up winning the OHL, going to the mem Cup,
getting all that experience. It was awesome. Plus all these
scars in my face, a lot of them were Yeah,

(11:54):
because I had to learn the hard way, like the
junior hockey. Like you know, playing in Minnesota high school
and going to college, you just run around like Kamakazi.
You got to cage on. There's no repercussions for your actions.
So I learned real quick because I was still trying
to play that way. It was the only way I know.
Guys didn't love that, so I took a couple of
punches in the face and learned how to fight real quick.

Speaker 2 (12:15):
Wow. So you didn't like fight at all high school?

Speaker 1 (12:18):
You do, like it's not your gloves on, Like you
don't really learn how to do it right. And then
your first time you're just swinging for the fences and
praying to hit. But if you're you know, versus somebody
that really knows what they're doing, they're going to kill you.
Oh yeah, and so I got killed. What was like?

Speaker 2 (12:33):
And not that I want to teach people how to fight,
but you know, I had Rick Berry on the podcast,
and that's kind of what he became known for was
somebody recognizing, hey, you know, you can kind of stand
up for people, and do you want to play that way?
And that became, you know, his thing. You kind of
carve out your little niche in there. So what was
it that you learned to be able to do that?
I mean, you're you are fast, you know, you're a
great defensive player, but then you could also go out

(12:54):
there and make some noise.

Speaker 1 (12:56):
Yeah, take some punches. So you learned from island error unfortunately,
and that's that's mostly likes, Yeah exactly, that's like oh,
maybe I shouldn't lean in when I'm punching and he's throwing, right.
So there's a lot of little nuances to fighting that
I learned after I got with Colorado, because Bob Hartley
would bring in guys to teach us how to fight.

(13:17):
Really yeah, and we're talking and not the bring in
well god like yeah, like no, like NHL really like
heavyweight tough guys. And they were teaching Scott Parker, they
were teaching myself, Brad Larson, you know, Rick Barry, like
Alex Tangay had to go.

Speaker 2 (13:33):
What do you call it? Is it fight club?

Speaker 1 (13:35):
Basically?

Speaker 2 (13:36):
You know back then, but the rule about fight clubbers
nobody talks about.

Speaker 1 (13:40):
Fighting exactly, I'm gonna walk out of here, and yeah, take
a couple in the parking lot for telling people. But
but yeah, so he would do that, and then then
you really start to understand that there's a lot more
to fighting than just swinging and duck it. And then
it becomes mental a little bit where you're like, Okay,
where do you grab, where do you put your chin?
Where's your body? You know, where's your weight differential? You know,
like all these things that you don't even think about.

(14:02):
Until you're with a guy that's doing it for a
job and he's like, no, no, no, that's wrong. You
got to grab here, here's why, And you're like.

Speaker 2 (14:08):
Oh really, then you got to think about that so fast,
and I mean, you know, there's no time to think.

Speaker 1 (14:12):
No, and the other guy he's not waiting for you
to get this right, you know, like, no, let me
get my stance. Yeah, your weight's off, let's square off
the right way.

Speaker 2 (14:21):
But yeah, yeah, So how long did it take you
to kind of learn and master some of those kind
of skills? Was that really what your junior hockey teo was?

Speaker 1 (14:31):
It was like midway through my pro career, Oh jeez,
I that where you can like grab or get grabbed
and actually breathe and think. I'd say the first five
or six years, I was just like holding my breath
and praying, you know, and then you do it enough
and you're like, okay, just breathe right, and then this
all of a sudden, you get through a fight and you
can actually breathe, and the next time you're like, okay, well, wow,

(14:52):
we're breathing. Let's think about maybe doing something with this,
you know.

Speaker 2 (14:55):
Would you watch film on your fights?

Speaker 1 (14:56):
Well, it'd be mostly you'd back then hockeyfights dot Com
was just knew and YouTube wasn't really a thing, so
he couldn't really but if there was old tape, like
everybody would gather around. Oh I watched this, but mostly
it was just trying to figure out who's righty and
who's a lefty because when you this was interesting. So
my very first game Madison Square Garden. Okay, so obviously

(15:18):
coming from West Point, I had a bunch of guys
in New York. Come We're down one nothing early and
playing for the Apps, and I line up next to
a guy named Dan Lacature. I'd known Dan from USA
Hockey Schools or whatever. I'd known him. He's a really
nice guy and he's a monster, but he's a college kid,
so I'm like, there's no way that he knows what
he's doing, so this would be perfect. He's bigger, but

(15:40):
he probably doesn't know it. Bigger doesn't really do you
any good if you know, so I'm like, hey, Dan,
it's one nothing in them, so it's really good for
me to try. And like Bob Harley was really good about,
like fighting when it's the right time. And I'm not
a fighter. At this point, I'm not. I never was,
let's be clear. I just took punches. But I go, Dan,
do you do you want to fight it all? And

(16:00):
he looked at me and he got all excited and
he's like, yeah, lets and I was like no, why
is he so excited? And so anyway, puck drops and
I start throwing and I'm unimpeded. So I'm like, wow,
this is fantastic, and my army buddies here, it's New
York City, like I'm winning the fight, and all of a sudden,
boom boom boom, I'm three laughs right to the face.
Now I'm ducking. He's lefty and I don't know it.

(16:22):
And what you find out in hockey fights is like
when you fight a lefty, it's all or nothing. It's
one of you are going to get punched, right, maybe
both of you, probably both of you, but for sure
one of you. It's your right versus my left or
vice versa. And it is just messy. So anyway, Jersey's
over my head, I'm looking everywhere, I am flopping around,

(16:42):
can't do anything. Just so like basically, worst case scenario
for what you wanted to show your college buddies. Yeah,
look at me now, oh man. But they were good
about it. Obviously, I still take heat for it.

Speaker 2 (16:54):
So I bet you you asked him if you wanted
to fight.

Speaker 1 (16:56):
Yeah, does that happen? Yeah, it did back then because
it was it was a you know, there were guys
in the fourth line that we're only going to play
for five minutes, seven minutes. You always knew who the
other guys were on the other team that were also
doing the same, and you kind of want to do
that to help each other. Yes, I know that sounds
hilarious by helping each other by punching each other in
the face, but no, it's the idea. Yeah, right, Like

(17:17):
you show that you plus you can change momentum. So
if we're down one nothing and let's say a miracle
happens and I win the fight, and now our guys
get momentum. And it kind of took their like little
momentum and scratch crowd gets quiet. We win the fight.
You know, their bench gets down a little bit, ours
gets up. You know, it's just a small thing, but
it's enough.

Speaker 2 (17:36):
To change a big thing. Well, and you're on the
fourth line, I mean, you do something like that and
you make a little bit of a stance and people
notice it. Things like that. You also could maybe move
up too.

Speaker 1 (17:45):
You got to be impactful, and this is what I
tell the guys all the time, especially here in Loveman,
you have to be impactful in the game. Otherwise why
would we keep you in. There's gonna be tons of
games where you don't score or get an assists. So
what else are you doing?

Speaker 2 (17:56):
What are you doing to help the team in the meantime?

Speaker 1 (17:58):
Exactly? You can't just do that, yeah, right, And that's
where they don't quite you know, these young kids, which
I love teaching. Yeah, it's like, find another way to
be impactful, find another reason we can't take you out.
Fighting is just one of them, right, And it's not
as prevalent as it used to be. So that's a
big one for guys now, blocking shots, hitting, We got
guys that are rats that can change the momentum that way,

(18:19):
being good on the wall, Like, there's a million little
ways to be.

Speaker 2 (18:22):
Impactful besides scoring and assists exactly.

Speaker 1 (18:25):
Yeah, So that's the key. So to your point, as
fourth liners, you're just trying to get on the score
sheet anyway.

Speaker 2 (18:30):
You can just want a little hashtags, send.

Speaker 1 (18:32):
Me the people on many to know I played exactly.

Speaker 2 (18:35):
Yeah, okay, what do you remember then you finally get
up to the abs. Let's see you make your debut
in ninety nine, two thousand, you swore your first goal
that year.

Speaker 1 (18:43):
I think, yeah, it's an interestumber, Well, it's an interesting story.
So I'm twenty six games in the season, no goals. Okay,
I've been up and down probably eight nine times. I
couldn't even tell how many, but it was one of
those years. So I'd come up for three, back down
for whatever.

Speaker 2 (18:58):
And up and down. You're going to Pennsylvania.

Speaker 1 (19:00):
Yeah, it's between.

Speaker 2 (19:01):
Yeah, it's like you're not like going out of the
springs or something.

Speaker 1 (19:03):
Yeah, exactly. It's a good three hour flight each time.
But we're playing the Islanders at home. I wrapped the
puck around hits a skate goes in, but they give
it to Adam Debmarsh because he was the one in front.
But it had hit I guess the d man skate
and gone in. But so that's of course that's my
first goal where yeah, I think I got these okay,

(19:24):
And then originally eventually they changed it, but like it
was at night that they changed it after the game,
so it wasn't like I celebrated thinking it was my
first goal. I was just happy to be on for
a goal. So I go to chop House, right, Chopouse
was the place. Oh yeah, and I'm young and I'm
single at that point, and I am by myself because
everyone else on the team, except for Peter Forsburg, which
is a different podcast. He's single, but he wasn't out

(19:47):
with me that night. I was still pretty new and
so it's just me at the bar at the chop House.
But that was pretty normal because yea, I had been
up and down so often and that's where I went
for food, and I knew all the people there, so
they knew it was my first goal. I didn't. So
I get to the bar, you know, they're sliding me
shots and they're like, that was your goal, you got
you got credit. Now it's my first goal night. So

(20:07):
all these drinks pushed on me because God forbid, I
could say, no, you know, God forbid.

Speaker 2 (20:13):
Well, you guys can kind of handle it most of
the time too. I think people know that, and that's
the problem.

Speaker 1 (20:17):
Yes, So yeah, my reputation preceded me, and so anyway,
fast forward about two hours deep, I still hadn't seen
Bill shalmos Or, who was the manager at the time,
who was one of my favorite humans about that and
one of the people that like my family away from family.
So anyway, two hours deep, I'm going to the bathroom
and he's coming out of his office and he's like dad,

(20:38):
and he's got his arms out wide. I'm walking to him.
It's slow motion like dirty dancing, you know, and and
I projectile vomit onto his like from the like I'm
on my way to him. He's on his way to me,
but we're not quite there yet. We're about six feet
but my my is good for four feet, easy off

(20:59):
the floor, onto him, onto his shoes, onto his pants.
Just wow, Yeah, that was my That was my first goal.

Speaker 2 (21:08):
And this is your bartender's fault. Oh my gosh, that's.

Speaker 1 (21:15):
Crazy, I know. So next day do we traveled to
I believe it was Chicago, and I get a call
in my room because there's no cells back then, phone rings,
which is like, oh my god, what does this mean?
So I pick it up and they're like, hey, have
you Bob's looking for you. And that's like the kiss

(21:35):
of death every way, because the head coach, especially him.
He had a very heavy hand in the way he
did things, which was what made me the player. I
was yes all day, but you certainly didn't want to
hear those words. I go to his room and all
the coaches are in his room and he's like, Danny,
come in. He ends up sending me down. But it
was because we had just traded for rape work and

(21:58):
uh Andrew Chuck, so can't really fight that way? No yet, guy,
I know, So I go. I'm walking in there, just
scared because now I'm like, does he have the footage
from chop House? Does he know I'm puking on people?
Like you know?

Speaker 2 (22:13):
Like, God, there were no cell phones back right, somebody would.

Speaker 1 (22:16):
Have caught that. That. My whole career was like that,
where I thank god we didn't have self kid.

Speaker 2 (22:22):
Yeah, all the days you guys were with the Stampede
and all those places.

Speaker 1 (22:25):
There was a day every day but Monday there was
a good place to go.

Speaker 2 (22:28):
That's why people loved you, guys, because you go out
and everybody would see you and hang out with the
average people and have fun.

Speaker 1 (22:35):
I was telling a great story, like we had such
a good relationship with the police, and well in the community.
It's always that way for hockey, especially good teams that
you know. And so it's Halloween. I couldn't even tell
you the year, but we like Scott Parker, Bradlars and
all the same group, Rick Berry, Johnny Lyles, like what
all that same group. We decide we're gonna go eighties
tennis for Halloween. Eighties eighties tennis. We go down to

(22:59):
Larimer Square and we're going we're bar hopping. But we
did bring a net him, you know, we had rackets
and maybe some balls. So anyway, my sister was with
us and her friends. They stretched the net across Larimer
and we start playing tennis. This is middle of the night,
you know, like nine pm, ten pm.

Speaker 2 (23:15):
Oh and this is the day when there were cars
that now there's not, but there were cars back then.

Speaker 1 (23:20):
I was going to say this was a busy street.

Speaker 2 (23:21):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 1 (23:22):
So then now there's cars on both ends honking stopped.
We're playing tennis, Scott, but we got Scott Parker, so
they're not really honking, but they're honking. And so anyway,
the police finally get around the corner, flip the lights on,
and then they come down to the game and this
guy who was right, And I feel terrible if this
if this guy here's the podcast. I am sorry, okay

(23:44):
that we did that, and I'm sorry for everyone caught
in that traffic. But he gets out of his car
and he goes to the cop and he's like, these
guys have been playing for nine minutes and blah blah blah,
and and he gets done with his tirade and we're
all kind of sitting waiting for him to be done
and waiting for the cop tell us to whatever. And
the cops like, well, what's the score. Yeah, We're like,

(24:05):
well it was four three, And he's like, well, let
him finish the game and then and then we'll get
it moved.

Speaker 2 (24:10):
Oh my gosh, damn. That's awesome.

Speaker 1 (24:12):
But that's what was going on in Denver in those days.
Like it's just fun. Yeah, Like the I would I
wish I knew what police offer this was, because like
that that's that's the world we were living in. And
I don't mean in like a disrespectful way. I just
mean like the community was so great and no one really,
nobody in the traffic really cared. No, he did. The
one guy did it, And I would have I would have too,
I would have been upset. So I get it.

Speaker 2 (24:33):
But once people also found out who you guys were
and that you're out having fun, I mean, then it
makes it, you know, very different. You know, you guys
were very, very connected to the community, which is great.

Speaker 1 (24:43):
We were and that and that that was that's what
made it so awesome.

Speaker 2 (24:46):
Yeah, like it really did.

Speaker 1 (24:47):
Yeah, we had a group of thirty people that we
would go out with, like thirty thirty not you wouldn't
always get thirty, right, but that's who would get theme.

Speaker 2 (24:54):
You better not say does somebody want to go out,
because you're gonna get fifteen of them that say yes
if you don't really want to go out, yes, exactly.

Speaker 1 (25:01):
Yeah, you knew you had you were committing once you
asked that question.

Speaker 2 (25:04):
That's crazy. Now I read something that when you did
get your first goal, that you were the first Florida
born player in the NHL to get a goal. Yeah,
which is crazy. Like, I know, are there not that
many guys from Florida?

Speaker 1 (25:16):
I guess probably not. Obviously they weren't very good if
I'm leaving that track.

Speaker 2 (25:22):
Yeah, that's funny.

Speaker 1 (25:23):
I know it was when I found it out and
I didn't know. I'd always kind of people had talked
about the West Point thing getting drafted from there, but
I didn't know the Florida thing until after and they
were like, dude, did you know you're.

Speaker 2 (25:34):
The first Florida born player to score a goal in
the NHL?

Speaker 1 (25:37):
Yeah, and I would that was news to me, and
I guarantee my dad would have been like, yeah.

Speaker 2 (25:40):
Of course he's planned it that way. I told him
in fifty times, but he'd be the first one. Yeah, Okay,
So two thousand and one Stanley Cup. I'm from here,
so when the Abs came here and they won the
Cup in ninety six, that was cool. And then oh
one was just unbelievable. Yeah, to be a part of
that team had to be something absolutely so special.

Speaker 1 (26:00):
Yeah, there's been a couple of things. I would put
the Landeskog game in Loveland coming back from then, and
you're right up there because it's a piece of history, right,
like you know, winning at all, but winning with Ray
and Peter and Joe and Patty and Blakey and Drew
like just that whole crew, right of Hall of famers
and just Hall of Fame humans. And like I said,
the city was the city back then, there was no

(26:22):
cell phone, like it was just a magical time to
be in Denver and everybody it was like everybody moved
here with the same idea, which was like, let's go
have fun, let's work our asses off, but let's not
get too serious about life. Let's go have fun and
be ambitious and do the work, but let's not take
life too.

Speaker 2 (26:39):
Serious, right and that you know what that's caught and
Rick Barry alluded to something like that where they were like,
you guys can go do your as long as it
doesn't affect what you're doing on the ice. Go do
what you're doing. Have fun. And there was a lot
to that because it didn't affect what was going. I mean,
you guys had so many, so many names, and the
talent was just unbelievable, but you still have to be
a team. There can't be somebody that's caused problems within

(27:00):
the team, which a lot of times you'll get big
names like that together and it and sometimes it doesn't work, yep,
because you just have too many egos and too many
people and personalities. Times most times.

Speaker 1 (27:10):
Most times there's just not enough pucks for that many
good plays.

Speaker 2 (27:13):
Yes, exactly. You know, how do you spread it around?

Speaker 1 (27:15):
Yeah, right exactly, and cared right, no, they as long
as we won, Like that was the best part. That
was the thing I learned the most from those veterans
was they didn't care about their individual stats. You know,
when I was amazed, I was just coming from junior
and the miners, where the stats are what gets you
to the next level. So everyone cares about that, yes,
and then you get to the show and like Patrick

(27:37):
Walld just wants to win, Peter Forstburg wants to win, Joe.
They might lead in every category you've ever heard of,
they don't really care as long as it equates to winning.

Speaker 2 (27:46):
And that's also I think part of NHL too. I
think there's that mentality where guys don't give a rats
about stats.

Speaker 1 (27:53):
Not asked and the right guys, you know, That's the
thing is every now and again you're going to stumble
upon someone that does. And usually those are the guys
that mercenaries and get bounced around team to team to
team to team, and that can get you fifty points. Right,
So they're always going to be attractive, but they're not.
They're not in it for the Cup. They're in it
for their career, and that's fine, but you know what
they are and you keep that arm's length. Yes, hopefully

(28:14):
you can keep them off your roster, right.

Speaker 2 (28:17):
And it's funny because there are those guys that look
like that and then when they get there, you're like,
whoa not a team guy, very much a me guy,
And that's not great.

Speaker 1 (28:25):
No, there's no secrets in the NHL. It's really rare
to be surprised.

Speaker 2 (28:30):
It's tight.

Speaker 1 (28:30):
It is tight. And your one degree literally away from
a coach you know, or a player he played with,
or the trainer he trained, you know that was his
trainer two years ago, and you call those guys up.
You want to find out about a guy called the.

Speaker 2 (28:41):
Trainers every great way because they see the other side
of everybody in that training room.

Speaker 1 (28:47):
Yeah. Yeah, Because you're always going to be good to
your teammates and you're always going to be good to
your coaches. You can't always trust those words, right, But
the trainers see everything.

Speaker 2 (28:54):
How do they treat the rest of the people that
work for the organization. Yeah, No, that's huge.

Speaker 1 (28:59):
It's massive. And I learned so much from our veterans
in Colorado on how to do all that stuff. That's
that's what went missing after the lockout in o for
all that little training that Greg DeVries and John klem
and and you know Aaron Miller and these guys Jeff
Rodgers and Brent Severn. You know, these guys are the
ones training you as young kids coming up on how

(29:22):
to you know, as does Joe and Peter and all
those guys. They're busy and they're.

Speaker 2 (29:25):
Business they're bigger names that may not they don't have
or want to take the time to help the younger ones.
But it's like those mid level guys that you can
learn so much from.

Speaker 1 (29:34):
My key for instance, right, and those guys they take
you by the ear and they're like, this is what
this is how you tip the tracks, this is how
you take them to dinner, this is how you take
care of them, all the way down from person a
to persons Z. And that's their right of passage because
they somebody did it for them. And that's how you know.
I go to Saint Louis and I end my career
in Saint Louis, but I have to do the same

(29:55):
thing now because that's what was given to me, right,
so now I get it to do it with Oshe
Kuran Bergland and Bacchus and all these guys, and then
they give it forward, you know. And then that's how
hockey just perpetuates being such good people, which they are.

Speaker 2 (30:09):
I tell people all the time, like the best people
are in the NHL. And I don't know if it's
from an upbringing standpoint, the fact that a lot of
guys were at you know, host families and so they
just they have like the different set of manners and
it's just a different it's a whole different thing.

Speaker 1 (30:23):
Yeah, And I think a lot of it is because,
like you said, it takes a village. You're not getting
there on your own, I don't care who you are.
Like McDavid's a perfect example, right, Like he has it
yet to win because it takes a team, you know,
and he's the best player you know, or up there
for sure, in the top three, but it takes more
than that, yes, you know, and Drysyttle you could say,
is number two or three. But yet the two best
players in the world still can't you know, Like you

(30:45):
need more. Yeah, in hockey, you need everybody. So I
think that's the thing is guys know that and are grateful.
So whether it's the guy you know you're getting your
coffee from, or the lady at the grocery store. They're
if they're fans, they're a part of your journey. And
the players know that, so they always are good about
giving back and being a part of it.

Speaker 2 (31:03):
Yeah, which is great. All right, So talk about when
the lockout happens and you go to Sweden. Incredible experience.

Speaker 1 (31:10):
Oh my god. Yes, following suit with our earlier conversation
about being young and stupid, Oh.

Speaker 2 (31:17):
Were you young and stupid there too?

Speaker 1 (31:18):
Dan, Well, no, and I mean or young and smart
depends how you look at it. Yeah, Forstburg was going
back to go to Moto and so he was like, hey,
and I was. I just had just the summer prior
had surgery on my shoulder, so I was in rehab
and I was in rehab until about Christmas. And so
he's like, hey, when you get cleared, come like everyone's

(31:39):
playing over in Sweden. Everyone's playing all these different places.
He's like, when you when you and if you go later,
I think there's a tax break or some some kind
of a weird loophole.

Speaker 2 (31:47):
Nice.

Speaker 1 (31:47):
So he's like, this will be perfect. Come over in
January and then you can finish the season with us.
And so that's what I did and lived with him.

Speaker 2 (31:54):
Oh you did, oh yeah?

Speaker 1 (31:55):
Oh wow? Yeah. And his coattails are heavy, like I
had to carry him.

Speaker 2 (31:58):
Oh I'm sure. And way a lot, don't they.

Speaker 1 (32:01):
And you know, like taking pictures, I had to learn
how to take use everyone else's phone, yes, picture, oh yeah, yeah, everywhere.
So it was and I got good at him.

Speaker 2 (32:12):
We get a picture, yeah, damn, right here, he'll take it.

Speaker 1 (32:14):
He's great at it, speaks English. Whatever you need, just
give him, Just give me your password.

Speaker 2 (32:19):
And he's just like he's like probably like Prince Charles
over there.

Speaker 1 (32:23):
Everywhere you go. And it's not like he's not a
noticeable guy, right, He's got the beard, he's got the
piercing eyes, he's got his aura, and he's the nicest dude.
That's the thing. His parents did an unbelievable job raising him.
Like he's an unbelievable human. And he is understands the
weight of what he like, he's atlass walking around like
he feels the pressure of the entire country.

Speaker 2 (32:46):
It's a lot.

Speaker 1 (32:47):
It is a lot. And I'm so grateful to have
been around him and watched you know like how he
did it, because he did it with grace and he
was so polite and just the b He was, in
my opinion at the time, the best player in the
in but you would never know when you hung out
with them, Like he wasn't that way, there was no
ego to that.

Speaker 2 (33:05):
That's so cool you got that time with him.

Speaker 1 (33:06):
Yeah, it really was. He's a special human and I'm
so grateful I learned. I've learned so much just being
around him and someone in that spotlight and watching him,
you know, kind of traverse that life. Was just cool
and awesome to watch someone do that from our sport,
because that's not always an easy thing to be the
ambassador of an entire country.

Speaker 2 (33:27):
No, not at all. I mean, who would it even
be from the US? Like there's no like you can't
even closes, Yes, exactly.

Speaker 1 (33:35):
That's how I when I when I tell people about
Peter and Sweden, I'm like, he.

Speaker 2 (33:38):
Was just a good analogy in Sweah. That's crazy. So
after Sweden you come back, you play with the Abs
for another year.

Speaker 1 (33:45):
Well wait, because for your listeners, you're going to want
some entertainment.

Speaker 2 (33:49):
Oh yeah, no, we need I took a million.

Speaker 1 (33:50):
Punches in a fight during the lockout against Chara, And
I'm not saying it like, hey, go watch me fight charge.
I'm like, I got destroyed by Chara, and I want
you to go see it because it's funny, because you
will lie.

Speaker 2 (34:04):
Oh geez, you might in one fight, but.

Speaker 1 (34:06):
The first time you may not laugh because you're worried
about me. Right. I know he's alive because we just
did an interview, but it doesn't look like he's going
to live during this fight. No. I did it last
I don't know six years. It felt like, oh geez,
seven Like by the time I was done, I had
I had so many He kept his gloves on too
for most of it, thank god, but he's like my

(34:29):
face was mangled. There's one point I jump in the
air and swing at him and I'm still four feet away.

Speaker 2 (34:35):
You watch it.

Speaker 1 (34:37):
I don't get a choice because my buddies.

Speaker 2 (34:38):
Love it, and so it gets brought up every.

Speaker 1 (34:41):
Time they think I might be feeling good about myself.

Speaker 2 (34:43):
It's it's like saved on their phones in the background
running all the time.

Speaker 1 (34:46):
And every team I've ever coached with, it's like one
of the first things they think, Oh my god, look
at you. Get killed.

Speaker 2 (34:51):
Okay, yeah, thanks, I'm gonna have to look it up.
It's been a while to.

Speaker 1 (34:54):
Do that because it's it's funny.

Speaker 2 (34:56):
All right, funny, it is funny now'n then yeah, okay,
all right. So then after you get your you know,
ass kicked, you come back and you're with the ABS
for a little while longer.

Speaker 1 (35:07):
Yeah, it's just a little And this was when this
was the kind of the transition, yere. So, yeah, Patty's retiring,
Peter had left, Pierre Laquais leaving, Yeah, you know, like
it just wasn't the same. And and then the rules
were different, like we were we were a pre cap
team because yeah we were the Yankees. We would spend
to make sure we had a chance at winning, and
all those Hall of famers, like on a cap system,

(35:28):
they can't all be together. So that's when things start
to kind of go left and right. Yeah, and then
that's when I went left to Saint Louis.

Speaker 2 (35:37):
Did the Avs ask you to come back? What happened?

Speaker 1 (35:40):
So I was a free agent. I went I was
old enough to be.

Speaker 2 (35:42):
A free agent, okay, and unrestricted and unrestricted and.

Speaker 1 (35:45):
Now you know the GM that comes in in his
defense doesn't know me, and he knows me, but he's
a guy. Yeah, I wasn't exactly there's there wasn't a
lot of history between us, so there's no like, well,
you know, you may not have been great last year,
but I know what you really are. It was more like,
this is what I think you're worth, and this is
what Saint Louis thinks you're worth. And there was too

(36:06):
big of a gap, and I, you know, I called,
and I was because I was a lifer for as
far as I was concerned. I didn't expect to leave ever. Yeah,
And I was like, can you get close to this number?
And he's like no, And I was like, okay, well
I get it.

Speaker 2 (36:17):
Okay, did you have an agent? Okay? All right?

Speaker 1 (36:20):
So it just worked out. But you know what, I
was supposed to go to Saint Louis and you know,
live that with you know, all that stuff that ends
up happening there, and meeting the people that I meet
and helping the players that I helped and learning from
the players that I learned from, you know, right, it
was part of your journey. It's it absolutely so always
going to happen.

Speaker 2 (36:39):
And how different was the Blues from the ABS, the
pre cap abs, Like how different was the experience because
I'm always curious to how different franchises are. And it
all depends. It's top down, you know, it starts with
ownership and GM and it all kind of goes down.
But I mean, Saint Louis is a great organization.

Speaker 1 (36:55):
It's an unbelievable organization and they really take care of
what they do best be in the league. And there's
a lot of this is credit to Kelly Chase is
their alumni is unbelievable. They've got it right. You know.
The organization does their part, they alumni do their part,
and the city embraces all of it.

Speaker 2 (37:13):
That's great.

Speaker 1 (37:13):
Yeah, it's really cool and I was. I had a
lot of time with Kelly Chase there and he's another
special human that I've learned so much from and just
love to death. But he spearheads that alumni through the.

Speaker 2 (37:24):
Blues organization or is it completely separate.

Speaker 1 (37:27):
It's separate, okay, because a lot of.

Speaker 2 (37:28):
Them have separated the alumni from the organization.

Speaker 1 (37:31):
Yeah, and they're separate, but they do four each other, yes,
And they have an unbelievable alumni box and there's like
an open bar and they have food in there.

Speaker 2 (37:39):
It's you're perfect scenario.

Speaker 1 (37:40):
It's crazy.

Speaker 2 (37:41):
Yeah, no, it is the projectile vomiting Okay, Dan, Well
I'm wiser now, right, Yes, I know to put a
couple of pieces of bread in there. Yes, yes, But
and then when you're done with the Blues, you go
to the Sharks just briefly, right.

Speaker 1 (37:56):
Yeah, that was so. I was at the end of
my career. My back was no good. I just couldn't.
But I wasn't quite ready to call her.

Speaker 2 (38:04):
Yes, Quitch of course you had shoulder and hip too, right.

Speaker 1 (38:06):
Yeah, all kinds of stuff. But I go to San
Jose just to give it a run, and they were
lacking some penalty kill and some whatever. So anyway, I
go through camp there. I actually stayed with Rob Blake
at the time, who was gracious enough to let me
stay with him for like a month, and his family.
That was fine. Oh there you want to talk about
a superhero family. Yeah, the Blakes are right up there,

(38:28):
just the nicest people, and so they took care of me,
but ended up not making you know, San Jose just
wasn't in the cards. And then I get a call
from Columbus or just a random number on my phone,
but it's Chris McFarlane from Columbus, and I was like, yes,
I'm back. So I call him back and he's like, hey,
you interested in coaching at all? I was like, oh

(38:48):
my god. That's when you know it's over.

Speaker 2 (38:50):
I'm old.

Speaker 1 (38:51):
That's when you know you're a free agent hockey player
and you get called about coaching. Oh, that's when you
know it's time to hang them up.

Speaker 2 (38:58):
That was your clue.

Speaker 1 (38:59):
That was it. I was like, okay, which is perfect.
I needed it. And so flew into Columbus, you know,
met with all their people and the next thing you know,
they they hired me to stay on with the big
club and that kind of so there was no gap.
It was like no right into coaching.

Speaker 2 (39:14):
So that same season you're with Columbus, right that you
get cut from not did you get cut or you
just didn't make the roster.

Speaker 1 (39:20):
I actually you say, yeah, you could say cut, Okay,
it's good for it's good for me.

Speaker 2 (39:26):
Right, Yeah. So what was the difference in what kind
of a mindset change was there from being a player
to them being a coach.

Speaker 1 (39:32):
It was hard because like Ethan Morale was with I
think Edmonton, the year prior and punched me in the
heead a couple of times. And now I'm his coach. Yeah,
like literally four months later, I'm telling him to get
in f one in the fore jack, you know what
I mean, And he's like, what are you talking about?
I just beat your ass. So that's in my head,
not in theirs. Right there, there was Chris Clark, Ethan

(39:55):
Moore on. There was one other guy whom we had
fought like throughout our careers at some point and now
their coach. But there, whether it's them or any other
hockey player, they'll treat you the same when you're a coach.
They're respectful, they listen, and they'll go through the wall
for you. They just will. But I didn't think that,
you know, Like it took me.

Speaker 2 (40:11):
No, you have to get over your own thing of
like how do I now show that I'm a coach
and not not their peer, but I'm their coach. That's tough.

Speaker 1 (40:18):
It's really hard. It's hard to find that that gray
area because right out of the gate, I was a
player again, you know, and I'm screwing around with the boys,
but I'm not separating myself properly. And I was the
eye in the sky didn't have a ton of responsibility
at that point yet, but enough to where you know,
Scott Arneil was the one that hired me, and you
know he was great because he was like, okay, now

(40:40):
you're you know, you have to start edging yourself away
from from being a player and now being insightful not
just comedic air.

Speaker 2 (40:47):
You know, can't just screw around. It's not just that.

Speaker 1 (40:50):
Yes, it's good that you do it because you want
to be close with the boys, yes, but they also
need to know you know what you're doing and that
you know that you can make them big time, especially nowadays,
these these young hockey players need to know you love
them before they'll do.

Speaker 2 (41:03):
Any oh my gosh.

Speaker 1 (41:04):
Yes, and not just hockey players, I mean age kids.

Speaker 2 (41:08):
Yes, yeah, you're like, oh my gosh, how much coddling
do you need? Know?

Speaker 1 (41:11):
And then and they do, and that's fine, but not
everyone wants to do it, you know, so you have
to spend the extra time with these individuals so that
they know you're genuine and then as soon as they
know that you really care about them, they're great soldiers, yes,
but after that.

Speaker 2 (41:27):
They will do anything for you. But you need to
know that you're that they're loved.

Speaker 1 (41:30):
That's it. And as soon as you can prove that,
they'll go through the wall for you.

Speaker 2 (41:34):
That's where some coaches, I think, like the hard old
school coaches have a very difficult time because they're just like,
what happened to these players? And it's across It's across
every sport. I see it in football all the time too.
I'm like, you got to show them that you love
them and care about them somehow. You don't need to
do it out in public, maybe do something behind closed doors,
but they just have to know that you care about them.
And these have been leagues that don't care about people

(41:57):
very much. So that's it's just a weird it's it's
a weird time. But that's the only way you're going
to get the young ones to respond.

Speaker 1 (42:03):
That's it. That's the coach nowadays is the one you
know like and John Cooper does it better than anyone.
He connects with the boys.

Speaker 2 (42:10):
That's huge.

Speaker 1 (42:11):
Yeah, it is, and they and they know that he
cares and then then you can say whatever you want
and then you can get the most out of them.
I think through fear you can only get about eighty
five percent out of someone and certainly not if that
and certainly not for very long. But if you can
get them to do it because they don't want to
disappoint you, then you can get them to one hundred
and eleven percent and they'll do it for ten years. Yeah,

(42:31):
because they know that they want to make you proud,
you know. And that was me with my dad. That's
every athlete with their dad or yes, mom or whoever
they want to make proud.

Speaker 2 (42:39):
It's they do not want to disappoint. That's the thing is.
How do you get them to that point where they
if they screw up, they don't just care because you know,
it's like, well, he's an a hole anyway, I don't care,
but because I don't want to have him think badly
of me.

Speaker 1 (42:52):
Exactly, coach wanted me to do X and I did.
Why What was I thinking?

Speaker 2 (42:55):
Like?

Speaker 1 (42:55):
Now, exactly set with me? You know whatever?

Speaker 2 (42:58):
Yeah, yeah, if you can get him there and you
can win, absolutely. Okay. So now you also were you
a stockbroker at one point? Did I read that you did?

Speaker 1 (43:06):
Okay?

Speaker 2 (43:07):
Yeah, what did that come about?

Speaker 1 (43:08):
So? I went through a divorce. So after four years
in Columbus, I went through a divorce. Okay, she was
from Chicago, so I was like, Okay, let's get out
of hockey. Let's move to Chicago where your family is,
will split custody. Yeah, exactly. And so that's so I
moved to Chicago. When I made this decision, I turned
down a contract with Columbus and didn't have any plan.

Speaker 2 (43:31):
Yeah, you know, it.

Speaker 1 (43:32):
Was just kind of like that's where I was in life.
It was like, all right, we're doing this. So then
moved to Chicago with no plan, no job. Like wow,
So now I got to figure it out. So my
mom throws her whole life into the blender, moves to Chicago,
buys a house for me to live in with her,
and so she can help with the kids, which was unbelievable.

Speaker 2 (43:52):
That's really cool.

Speaker 1 (43:53):
Yeah, now I'm I'm looking for a job. But you know,
when you go on Indeed and you put hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey,
what comes up? There's a lot of intangibles and not
much else. Yeah and so yeah, so Indeed, like that
doesn't do you any good. So it's gonna be who
you know. So I struggled for probably, and I you know,
I didn't want to make my problems anybody else's problems,

(44:15):
So God forbid I should ask for help. So I don't,
and I'm gonna do this myself. And three months later
I'm going I literally was going door to door for
AT and T trying to you know, sell people on
cable and uh a house phone and doing all these things.
Wow and uh yeah, and you had hit a hundred
houses a day. If you got one that said yes,

(44:36):
that was a win, that's a that's a win for.

Speaker 2 (44:37):
Your day, Oh my gosh.

Speaker 1 (44:38):
Yeah, which was great and so humbling for me and
great for ego death.

Speaker 2 (44:42):
I bet you got one at least I did.

Speaker 1 (44:45):
I bet I did.

Speaker 2 (44:45):
I'm a talker, yeah, I was that smile and everything.
Just you get anybody to buy anything?

Speaker 1 (44:50):
I bet.

Speaker 2 (44:50):
Yeah, there's a house wife and home, Like what else
can I buy from you?

Speaker 1 (44:54):
There was there was a string of like eight Polish
families that all have a T and T cable now
in Chicago. Oh my goshow. Yeah. So it was great though,
like it because then you're down, like you're in the.

Speaker 2 (45:05):
Bottom a lot about yourself exactly.

Speaker 1 (45:08):
Yeah. And I was being tested, right and I had
to get through it. So my mom, who was also
now working from Chicago. She goes into the office, comes
home and she's like, I know you're looking for a job.
She's trying to help me, and she's like, I stole
the Wall Street Journal from my work because we had
talked about like what athletes what like what jobs the
athletes even, you know, like in medical device sales and

(45:30):
the stock market. There's there's two and so I opened
up on the front page and I'm reading it and uh,
there's a quote from my college captain on the very
first page, like right in the middle. I was like,
oh my god, how have I not called this guy yet?
There's an Ian Weiner who was the captain at West Point.
Also the whole reason I got drafted because he was

(45:50):
such a good player. He was a senior. I was
a freshman, and he could pass like Mark Savard used
to pass, wow, Like he was unbelievable. I all I
had to do was skate to the net and he
would find me and it would go in. So I
owe him in many ways. So I call him and
I'm like, hey, do you know any I'm in Chicago.
He was in the locker room for Game seven when
we won, like he was him and I were that tight.

(46:10):
That's cool where I was like, come come to Game seven.
And then we win and he's on the locker room
with the boys. So I call him. I'm like, hey,
you got anybody in Chicago that could interview me? Like,
you know, anyone you got a connection. And he's like, well,
I just lost my stock trader last week. He's like,
come work for me. You can work out of the
Board of Trade building. We have an office there, you know,
which is like it's a home run.

Speaker 2 (46:31):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 1 (46:32):
So now I just got to get my licenses and
you know, work with him and he gives me a
mentor Steve Buyser out of Wisconsin. He teaches me all
the ropes. And you know, I had Joel Collina, who
was Canadian and very He was a good goalie out
of Jersey way back in the day. But anyway, these
guys all helped me in kind of.

Speaker 2 (46:50):
Mo Was it easy to learn or was it hard?

Speaker 1 (46:52):
It was hard because a lot of it's just technical math. Yeah,
and I hadn't studied in you know, over the West
Point thirty years. Yeah, you're you know, getting those muscles,
oh yeah, and then you also have to worry a
little bit about he just hired me off the street,
you know, like all these guys are business degrees and
blah blah blah.

Speaker 2 (47:11):
So oh nice you to bring your buddy in.

Speaker 1 (47:13):
Yeah, how convenient. And everybody knows when you're taking your test.
So I can't go in there as the athlete and
fail any of these tests because then it's really going
to make him look bad. I don't care how I look, obviously,
but I care really care.

Speaker 2 (47:25):
About wanting to disappoint somebody.

Speaker 1 (47:27):
That's it. Or yeah, exactly, he's gonna have to answer
to somebody if I don't do well. Yeah, And so anyway,
there was pressure that way, and so I had to
study really hard and make sure I got those on
the first crack.

Speaker 2 (47:36):
And so you did. Yep, are you still licensed? Are
you privately?

Speaker 1 (47:39):
You'd have to keep up. I still like when I
talk to the boys, it's not like I'm trading stocks
for them, but I'm like, hey, you know smart exactly,
And that's that's half the battle for me. And what
I like to do as a coach is build the foundation. Right,
So part of that foundation is finances.

Speaker 2 (47:55):
You know, it's a huge part who you hang out
with and how you spend your money.

Speaker 1 (47:58):
That's it. Everyone's going to have an uncle that wants
to open a bar in Arizona, you know, they got
and some guy that knows this, and you know what
I mean, And you just got to kind of keep
them aware that these exist, these people, and these opportunities
are lack thereof and it's easy.

Speaker 2 (48:12):
To fall prey to them because people do it all
the time.

Speaker 1 (48:15):
But we're also hockey players, are yes people. Yeah, like
we we don't want to disappoint anybody, right, We're like
a bunch of firstborns running around and what can I do? Yeah,
And you know, Larry, your second uncle from from the
other side of the family, wants forty grand open his bar,
and you're like, I got it, but do I really
want to throw it away? You know? And then you
don't want to say no because your mom and her

(48:36):
brother are tight. You know, there's like all these very
Oh my.

Speaker 2 (48:39):
Gosh, so you're all like firstborn Catholics.

Speaker 1 (48:41):
Yeah right, it's worst case scenario. It's our money, you know.

Speaker 2 (48:47):
Oh my gosh. The guilt factor huge. So how long
did you keep doing that?

Speaker 1 (48:51):
Then? For you?

Speaker 2 (48:52):
Okay? Four years? Wow?

Speaker 1 (48:54):
Years? Okay? And I was in Michigan. Now, okay, okay,
so follow me. And while I was in Michigan, I
was so a lot of trading in the stock market
is algorithms. Very little of it is human based, you know,
like you still to have the relationships, you still have
to be the one pressing button, you still have to
choose the algorithm. But eventually, like when I'm staring at

(49:15):
the screen, I'm like, this isn't at some point, humans
are not going to be important to this job. This
isn't sustainable. So and I'm certainly not sustainable in the
market with my resume. So how do I The one
market I am good in is hockey, So how do
I get back into it? So I started looking at
all the teams around and Michigan's obviously stacked with teams.
So the USA program, the NTDP is right there in Plymouth.

(49:38):
Ended up being like twenty minutes from my house. Oh wow,
And so I called. I called. I actually just drove
there one day and I started walking around the rink
trying to find somebody I could just say, hey, I
want to come volunteer, let me help you. And John
Robleski was there. We had known each other, he'd met
we had met and he was like, hey, you know,
you want to come skate with my team? He was
with the old ones. This is Jack Hughes, Cole Coffee,

(50:00):
Boldy Spencer Night like the team was ridiculous. And I
was like, yeah, if you don't mind. He's like, no,
come on out. And so I volunteer, volunteer, come out
skate just to be on the ice and also maybe
get my foot in the door. And then the next
year he lost his assistant called me up. He's like, hey,
would you be interested in coming to work here? And
so maneuvered my life so that I could do.

Speaker 2 (50:19):
That, and then you're back into coaching.

Speaker 1 (50:21):
Now I'm back in hockey, and now I'm with the NTDP,
which is all development, and you get the best players
from the United States playing against the best players in
the world. You become really relevant real quick. And you're
in a place where every college coach and every NHL
scout they're there and they're watching your team and they're
asking you questions, they're interviewing you, they're interviewing your guys.

(50:41):
So you go from nowhere to all of a sudden,
you're back on the radar everywhere. So a couple of
years doing that, and then you know, my kids were older,
because the decision when I left Columbus was I wanted
to make sure that I was a part of their upbringing.
I didn't want to just not.

Speaker 2 (50:55):
Be a start elementary years exactly, which is huge. That's good.

Speaker 1 (50:58):
And so now you know they're older and the NHL
starts calling again, I'm back in hockey, so let's get
back in hockey. And then John Hines brought me to Nashville.

Speaker 2 (51:08):
So you're in Nashville for four years, then you come
here to the Eagles and then now you're going to
go to Tampa Bay. Correct, But talk about your year
here with the Eagles and just after going NHL for
four years and then you come and you're with them,
I mean that has to help you as a coach.
I would think to be with those players that are
all hungry and wanting to get the move up.

Speaker 1 (51:29):
And that's it, and that's what I wanted. I wanted
to get a feel for that because I had never
coached in the A And my favorite part about coaching
in the NHL is the guys that wanted to.

Speaker 2 (51:38):
Project, the guys that are you, yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1 (51:41):
Guys that are up and down, that want to make
it a living, and a lot of it is just
a choice they have to make. Sometimes it's a hard
choice because it's going to mean you're gonna get punched
in the face, or you're gonna have to block this shot,
or you're gonna have to finish that check you don't
always want to, or take that check you don't always
want to. But when you find the right guys like
Key for sure, would last year two years ago, comes
up to me in Nashville and he's like, I'll do anything.

(52:04):
He's like, literally, I'll do anything. And I was like,
that's what I want to hear. I said, come with me,
Come with me, my friend, get under this wing and
let me show you the ways.

Speaker 2 (52:14):
Oh my god.

Speaker 1 (52:15):
But like Bob Hartley when he was training me, would
show me video of Tyson Nash. Tyson n Ash was the
epitome of the rat back in the day, and he's like,
look at how effective he is, Like how many penalties
he's drawing for Imagine if you could do that for
our power play, how many goals we'd score blah blah blah.
And so I was like, Keifer, you know what you
know what this team needs, you know, what every team needs.

(52:37):
I was like a little bit of a rat and
he's like, I'll do anything. I'm like, well, you're gonna
have these He wears these white gloves under it because
he's got he's got bad allergies on his hand allergy,
so he wears these. I'm like, you're gonna have to
ditch those gloves every now and again, and he's like,
I know, I know, but he's one of my favorite humans.
But anyway, last year, so he's up and down with Nashville,
finally has a really good playoffs against Vancouver, but he's

(52:59):
running around like he's doing everything he can. Right he
goes to free agency. Nashville doesn't want to give him
his money, and Vancouver does because they just hated him
for a full series. And then he last year destroys
the league record for hits individual hits, destroyed the record
like off the charts, destroyed it and that's cool. And
then signed a new contract with Vancouver and he's you know,

(53:21):
it's just awesome.

Speaker 2 (53:22):
And then you sit back and you go, oh.

Speaker 1 (53:24):
I sit back and I get chilled, I get goosebumps.
Because that's that's the why coach, you just want to
say that smile on these guys faces and and just
to to kind of let them see what they're capable of.
He was always capable of what he did, and I
didn't do anything. All I did was was kind of
give him the roadmap to how to best be him.

Speaker 2 (53:45):
They still have to do it themselves.

Speaker 1 (53:47):
And so he like two or three fights last year.
You know, he's blocking shots, he's on the penalty kill
like he's he's but he's an effective player. And now
he's he's going to be for the rest of his career,
be in the NHL, which is so cool. That is
cool because he had got into a place where he
was like, universe, Okay, like it's not me anymore, it's
not my ego.

Speaker 2 (54:05):
I'll do anything, And that, I think is with any
kind of job, any profession. You have to get at
that point sometimes you're like, just you know, you can't
be so hyper focused on one thing that you want
to do because you may not get there. You may
get there, but you may have to do some other
things along the way. I've had to do the same
thing in radio, where it's like sure, I'll go set
up a tent, I'll go schlep whatever I need to slep,
And that's just how I got to where I am.

Speaker 1 (54:28):
Exactly, and part of it when I talk to other
people about coaching with the way I like to reference
it is like a puzzle, and you don't know where
you're gonna fit in that puzzle when you get there.
But if you're but if you're down here, that puzzle
piece has to do X, Y and z, and you
may not like that, but that's where you fit right now.
Doesn't mean you'll always be there. There's other pieces that
will move out, and you can move up and whatever.

(54:49):
But if you're here and you're occupying this piece of
the puzzle, your job is to put up a tent.
Your job is to go get coffee for everybody. Right,
you have to be and you know the equivalent of
that in the NHL right as a four liner. Sometimes
it's six minutes. Sometimes ifs to fight, sometimes it's a
block shot. Whatever it is, you have to do the
dirty work right now. But eventually, you know, ideally you

(55:11):
would move up and your little piece of the puzzle
would change, and so would your job description, and so
would your paycheck.

Speaker 2 (55:17):
Yes, exactly, So it all kind of snowballs exactly.

Speaker 1 (55:21):
So that's what I try and teach these young guys
is you have to be okay fitting into whatever piece
of the puzzle they need you to fit in, and
then that's your job. You don't get to decide what
you want to do in the NHL. NHL is going
to decide for you.

Speaker 2 (55:33):
Okay. So now you're going to Tampa Bay, but you're
not gonna completely leave Colorado because you did the Kiss
of Death and you bought a house here, which always
means you're gonna move.

Speaker 1 (55:43):
I'd like to see the math on that. It's gotta
be six percent high high pers. Soon as you buy
in a city, you're gone.

Speaker 2 (55:50):
But you're not gonna You're not gonna. You're gonna summer
here and then winter in Florida.

Speaker 1 (55:53):
I'm gonna, yeah, but I'm not that far off. That's
the thing is now. I how I winter in Florida?

Speaker 2 (56:01):
Yeah? Yeah? How about that? Excited though, to get back
in the NHL?

Speaker 1 (56:04):
I am? I am? You know. It was great my
year last year. I had the most fun coaching that
I've had probably ever.

Speaker 2 (56:11):
Really.

Speaker 1 (56:12):
Yeah. We had a great staff, great team, great ownership,
great leadership, great management, like literally there.

Speaker 2 (56:18):
Was the landing thing comes in there, which is I'll
get out.

Speaker 1 (56:22):
Yeah, and let's talk about that for one second, just
because what I want people to understand about what he
accomplished is he changed the world because some kid in
Czech Republic who could be an unbelievable hockey player but
he's fourteen, has this injury, gets this surgery and now
knows I can come back and play hockey again. And

(56:43):
he will because someone in Colorado has done it for
the first time ever.

Speaker 2 (56:49):
It's amazing, which which.

Speaker 1 (56:50):
In the universe, Like once that happens, it will happen again,
and it'll happen again. It'll happen again.

Speaker 2 (56:55):
You just have to you know, there's somebody has to
set the presidents.

Speaker 1 (56:58):
Yeah, Jeffy, you know you talk about generational trauma. He's
said he's fixing generational trauma for the world. Absolutely right,
this can be done. And so that was the coolest
thing for me to just be on the bench and
like I'm holding my breath and mind you, I'm scared
every time he's taking a hit. Every so im like,
don't don't he fell weird? And he The thing is,

(57:19):
he doesn't know how to dip his toe. It like
he's diving for parks. He's battle and he's hitting first shift,
first game, you know, and we're all like, oh my god,
he's gonna get it, you know, Okay, he's okay, you know, liked,
but then he did it, He got through it. The
next game, he scores the game, tire. He's just a
there's just so many special people in hockey and he's

(57:40):
one of them.

Speaker 2 (57:41):
And speaking of good humans, he's one of them. I'm unbelievable.

Speaker 1 (57:45):
I can't even tell you how good he was for
all of the young guys there.

Speaker 2 (57:49):
Oh, I can't even imagine watching.

Speaker 1 (57:51):
Him come down, prepare, but act like no different than
they are. Right, He's an n HLD phenom, potential Hall
of Famer, and yet he's just like every It'll be like.

Speaker 2 (58:00):
When you were in Hershey and somebody had come down,
you know, Peter had come down to play three games
with you guys or something like that. At that point
you'd been like.

Speaker 1 (58:07):
Exactly, And that's what it's crazy. But he's he's got
such a presence, like he doesn't make you feel intimidated.
He's just special, not special, like scared, intimidated, scared, No.

Speaker 2 (58:17):
He's one of the guys. But you still know you.

Speaker 1 (58:20):
Let me teach you how to this league work. Yeah,
it was really cool.

Speaker 2 (58:23):
That's awesome. Okay, well I'm glad that you guys aren't
completely moving away from Colorado because it's been cool to
have you back here.

Speaker 1 (58:28):
So but let's wrap up, because my gosh, I know
I'm a talker.

Speaker 2 (58:31):
That's okay, I love it. This is awesome. So all
my guests, Dan I asked the same question at the end,
And you do this all the time with your coaching.
When you come across people that you know, I can't
figure out you know, how to make that next step
when they're down. You've been in your lowest when you
were you know, in Chicago selling at and t to
Polish families. What do you tell people so that they
can kind of get back up and get moving on

(58:52):
again to continue trying to get to that next step
or reinvention.

Speaker 1 (58:57):
The A Number one is you've got to figure your
stuff out individually. Like when I talk about the foundation,
I'm talking everything. So you can't move forward. I don't
think in life until you get your stuff figured out,
you can get older and the days can go by.
But you're not moving, You're kind of stagnant. So I
always say, handle your business in your foundation, right, how's

(59:20):
your finances, Like, let's get your debt in order? How's
your sleep? Are you staying up all night playing VIDs?
Are you are you rabbit holing till three in the morning,
like your body, Like, let's start with your sleep. You
just can't, right, So how's your sleep? That's another big foundation.
How's your nutrition? Are you eating processed foods? You know,
like are you Hamburger helpering? Or are you growing stuff

(59:41):
in your kitchen so that you can have control over
the calories that are going in your body? And then
you know works, what's your work looking like? And usually
though that's the area they want to fix, But if
you don't fix all the other stuff, and that also
includes relationships, relationships with your family, and relationships with your
significant other and your mom and dad, like all those
relationship ships. Do you have boundaries? Do you not have boundaries?

(01:00:02):
Do you? Are you this worse? And yeah, you have support?
Are you carrying them? You know that? Like all these
things are your foundation. If that's all in order, then
the world you're oystering. You just have to change your
mindset to be a positive one. So to me, I
always say, let's tackle the foundation. This is what I
do with the players. Let's go, let's go to your foundation.
You know, they're like, well, wait, I don't really know

(01:00:22):
what I'm doing with my money. Okay, let's take this
off the list. Because here's the thing about life. If
your foundation, if one of those things are messed up,
doesn't matter about the other things. Right, If your sleep's
no good, you know, the nutrition can only do so much,
or if work's no good, it's hard to sleep, right. Yeah,
Also hard to have a good relationship because some of
you's at work, you know, and if you're not present

(01:00:44):
at home, that's not going to be good. And now
home goes to shit, and guess what happens everything else.

Speaker 2 (01:00:48):
Goes for all connected exactly.

Speaker 1 (01:00:50):
So work on your foundation, get that straight. And it's
not easy, Like you're going to have to set boundaries,
which is a really hard thing to do. But once
you do it and they're set, you'll find out who
he belongs in your life, who doesn't belong in your life,
what belongs in your life, what doesn't belong in your life?

Speaker 2 (01:01:05):
And that that's hard. It's hard. For people to be
true to themselves and go, Okay, maybe this person isn't
a great person to have in my life, or maybe
I'm spending money on these things that I shouldn't be
spending money on, and so you really have to have
that that truthfulness with yourself to find that foundation.

Speaker 1 (01:01:19):
That's it.

Speaker 2 (01:01:19):
Yeah, great advice. Do the guys listen to you for.

Speaker 1 (01:01:22):
The most part. You Know. What I learned though, is like,
because I made so many mistakes, so I was like,
I was giving them lists and I'm trying to create
leadership this way, and I'm like, Okay, in this scenario,
do this, in this scenario, do this in this scenario.
Don't do this because that's what I did, you know,
and so on. But what happens is that that's just
situational leadership, right, Like that doesn't really help them because

(01:01:44):
if they memorize what I did, that doesn't help their
critical thinking when it comes time for them to make
a courage point. So I've learned to stay away from
giving them that list and be like, hey, when these
troubles arise, here are the tools you're going to need
to get out of it. It's not this is how
I got out of it, and this is how you
can get out of it. It's like, here are the tools.

Speaker 2 (01:02:03):
You're gonna do it yourself, exactly.

Speaker 1 (01:02:04):
You have to get like the universe is going to
keep pumping this problem into your window until you figure
it out. Not I can't figure it out for you. Yeah,
And so that's the kicker for me, is letting them
make their mistakes and then you know, helping them learn
through them and grow through them instead of keeping them
from making mistake because that's how millennials got built.

Speaker 2 (01:02:23):
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 1 (01:02:24):
Yes, So we don't want we don't we don't need that. Again.

Speaker 2 (01:02:27):
I saw me and other day, I'm like, I'd like
to put my kids in nineteen eighty five and see
how they survive. And I'm like, oh, both of mine
would just be floundering and they wouldn't even know, you know,
I know it's crazy.

Speaker 1 (01:02:35):
Well, I know. We were just talking about the other day,
Like I have a truck right now with a topper
on it, and that's how we used to travel.

Speaker 2 (01:02:41):
Oh yeah to Florida with no seatbelts.

Speaker 1 (01:02:43):
No, no, that Like me and my sister were in
the back of a pickup.

Speaker 2 (01:02:46):
From Minnesota to Florida.

Speaker 1 (01:02:47):
So yeah, for twenties whatever hours.

Speaker 2 (01:02:49):
A look at your hair. It's amazing, it is.

Speaker 1 (01:02:53):
That's of therapy and and scars.

Speaker 2 (01:02:56):
But oh my gosh, Danny, this was so fun. Thank you.
I know we've been trying to do it for a while,
and I'm glad I caught you before going to Florida Beau.
Otherwise I would have had to wait a whole other year.

Speaker 1 (01:03:07):
You would be yet, so no one wants to.

Speaker 2 (01:03:10):
Of course they do. Yeah, hey, good luck and let's
not lose touch and appreciate it and thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:03:17):
You're welcome. Thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (01:03:19):
Thanks Dan. New episodes have, Cut, Traded, Fired, Retired are
released on Tuesdays on nearly every podcast platform. Please follow, download,
and review this podcast wherever you listen to podcasts, and
remember you can get social and find out about new
episodes on Twitter and Instagram at ctf our podcast and
check out the website ctfurpodcast dot com. To find out

(01:03:40):
more about me, visit Susie Wargon dot com. Thanks for listening,
and until next time, please be careful, be safe, and
be kind. Take care,

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