EP.141 - Leading on Ice: Brian Skrudland's Journey from Undrafted to NHL Champion - Up My Hockey with Jason Podollan

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You know I always knew my work hat had to go on
first before my skates.
That was one thing that I knewfor a fact.
And you can never beover-prepared.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
That was two-time Stanley Cup champion Brian
Scroodland, and you arelistening to episode 141 of the
Up my Hockey podcast with JasonPadolan.
Welcome to Up my Hockey withJason Padolan, where we

(00:35):
deconstruct the NHL journey,discuss what it takes to make it
and have a few laughs along theway.
I'm your host, jason Padolan, a31st overall draft pick who
played 41 NHL games but thoughthe was destined for a thousand.
Learn from my story and thoseof my guests.
This is a hockey podcast aboutreaching your potential.
Hello there and welcome back,or welcome to the Up my Hockey

(01:00):
podcast for episode 141.
And today we are speaking withBrian Scroodland.
For some of you older listeners,you should know the name Brian
Scroodland, and for some of you,younger listeners, I am going
to set the table here a littlebit.
I usually don't go down thestat line for my guests, but I

(01:24):
will for Screwy, just because heis a name that like.
Again, if you are a hockey fanin the 80s 90s, you will
probably recognize him.
But he wasn't a starnecessarily.
He wasn't somebody that madeall-star teams.
He never scored more than 15goals in an NHL season, but he

(01:46):
was the core of many teams.
He was a guy that wore an A ora C on NHL teams and he was the
captain of the Florida Pantherswhen I was a part of that
organization and Screwy was agreat embodiment of what a

(02:09):
captain is, and we do talkleadership a lot on this
upcoming conversation thatyou're going to listen to.
But you know, brian was ahardworking guy, born in Peace
River Alberta but, I guess, wasraised in Saskatchewan, played
for the Saskatoon Blades andwasn't drafted.
He wasn't drafted in the NHL,although he said that he thought
he was supposed to be or shouldhave been, he was told that he

(02:33):
was going to.
Never got drafted, got passedover Use that as a chip on his
shoulder and from that point onended up turning into geez.
I can't even count the seasons,but 881 games 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.
Wow, like a lot of seasonsPlayed for the Montreal

(02:54):
Canadiens.
Played for the Calgary Flames,the Florida Panthers, the New
York Rangers and the DallasStars, winning two Stanley Cups
One in his very first seasonwith Montreal uh, against the
Calgary Flames, where he scoredthe overtime winner in a Stanley
Cup final game nine seconds, inwhich is still the standing
record for fastest overtime uhgoal scored and one with the
Dallas Stars at the end of hiscareer and again, like I said,

(03:17):
went to the Stanley Cup finalstwice, uh and not one, and
didn't win once with Montreal,uh, and once with the Florida
Panthers.
Panthers, and uh, yeah, and andhaving screwy on is really an
honor for me, uh, being able to,you know, interview now
formally interview uh, a formercaptain of mine and to be able

(03:38):
to ask some poignant, uh, indepth questions about leadership
and about him and how he wentabout his day and his role and
how he provided value to theteams that he played on.
This guy, like Brian Scrutlandanyone who knows him or played

(03:58):
with him he was fun to be around, just plain and simple.
But he was fun to be around,just plain and simple.
But he was fun to be around inall the right ways, meaning like
, his sense of humor was onpoint, but it was not in a
degrading or demeaning way.
It wasn't in a cynical way.
He rallied the troops all thetime.

(04:20):
He wanted the guys to do thingstogether and he always showed
up to work.
He always showed up to work, healways showed up to work, and I
think that there is a quote thathe uses in this, in this
discussion, that he says healways knew he put his hard hat
on before he put on his skates,like that came first that he had
.
He knew that he was going towork that day, whether it was
practice or whether it was agame, and that was totally true.

(04:43):
But the thing was, was hebrought that same level of
attitude like a good attitude, agood positive, energetic,
enthusiastic attitude to thework and to the competitiveness
and had a great time while doingit?
And I think that there can be amarriage there between working

(05:08):
hard something that is difficult, something that may hurt, and
having fun, and doing it with asmile on your face, competing in
practice against your teammatesin a way that makes them better
and is serious in nature,because the battle is serious
but there's also fun at the endof the set and at the end of the

(05:29):
rep Uh.
I thought that he embodied thatabsolutely perfectly.
He was, uh, a workman like guy.
You know he had 94 points injunior and this guy could score
Uh.
But as he says in thisinterview, I mean, at the NHL
level you have to fill differentroles and there are guys that
are potentially going to bebetter than you at certain
things, and, uh, and he foundthat niche.

(05:51):
You know, to play as long as hedid to be a winner, to be
valued as a winner, tounderstand what it took and to
and to really embrace the ideaof effort and character, uh, and
made a career out of it.
You know, quite simply, uh, andand, yeah, and, and.
Once you see that, once youwitness that, uh, as an, you
know, as an onlooker, and that'skind of what I was with Florida

(06:13):
.
You know, I was never really apart of that team.
I was the year after the cupwhen he was there and played my
19 games there and was aroundthem and was around him for, you
know, multiple training campsand, uh, and got to see how, how
he operated during that Stanleycup run.
Uh, but I was, wasn't a part ofthe team.
I wouldn't consider myself, youknow, a part of that whole

(06:33):
thing.
And it was me as a bystander,kind of watching and taking it
all in and and not knowing atthe time how brilliant he really
was at the leadership role, uh,how he was such a, was so
gifted at making that room feeltogether, uh, have a laugh
together as a group, um, makingevents mandatory as the group,

(06:59):
uh, making the bus trips, the,the flights uh enjoyable
experiences.
Uh, he, he had a, he had a giftfor doing that, and yet he
would be the first one on theice and the hardest one working
on the bike or, you know, in theskate or whatever it was, and
he always brought it.
He just always always broughtthat level and that standard and

(07:21):
that was such a great uh, thatwas such a great standard to set
and I think it was infectiousfor those guys who who played
with him and uh, and just thelevity in the room that he
brought uh made it a moreenjoyable experience.
And there are, like those aretwo lessons right there before
we even get into the discussionthat I hope sits with you who
are listening right now.

(07:41):
Especially if you're a player,uh, being somebody in the locker
room that can bring peopletogether and that can make it
fun is a gift, it is a skill, itis something that makes you
valuable and it also issomething that makes you
respected, quite honestly, uh,but the beauty is, is that to be

(08:03):
that player in the room and toget the respect uh of the guys
to follow you, like to arestaurant or or to some social
engagement or whatever the casemay be.
You also have to be somebody onthe ice that they respect and
you have to have a standard whenit comes to to what it is that
you're doing, and that's whereBrian Scruton brought that.

(08:23):
So your personal standards whenit comes to your effort and
your uh and your preparation andyour compete and your desire to
win, those aren't faked right.
Those are, those are somethingthat you arrive with, that you
have intention about, that youcan create a standard for, and
when you bring that, you nowhave a layer of street cred in

(08:45):
the locker room that you can bea guy that is now able to joke
Like if the hardest working guyon the ice, who is one of the
most competitive guys, can alsocut a few jokes in the room and
make guys laugh and and and addsome level of of humor and
enjoyment to things.
Uh, that really opens up theopportunity for other guys to be

(09:05):
themselves, to realize that noteverybody has to be serious.
Uh, that really opens up theopportunity for other guys to be
themselves, to realize that noteverybody has to be serious
necessarily, or that there isrequired a level of enjoyment,
uh, for for the, for the game tobe, you know, fun and something
that we look forward to comingto the rink.
And Brian really, really didthat and, uh, it's not an
accident that he won.
I mean, you want to callder Cupas the captain, as a second

(09:25):
year pro, the captain of a teamin Sherbrooke with the Canadians
.
He won the Calder Cup, followedby a Stanley Cup the year after
, like he talks about a crazytwo years.
What a start to pro hockey.
And then to finish his careeroff with another Stanley Cup
with Dallas.
Just a phenomenal career.
You know, 881 games at the endof the day.

(09:45):
That was through a couple oflockouts and through a couple of
strikes.
You know he would have made athousand games if, uh, if, the
league would have ran, uh, youknow, fluently and consistently
and had 124 goals, uh, 219assists for 343 points, uh, so
you know, like I said, very,very respectable numbers,
especially, I said very, veryrespectable numbers, especially

(10:06):
with the games played.
But from the points standpoint,you know respectable numbers,
but not a star, just a guy thatkept showing up and kept getting
the job done and embraced hisrole and made an awesome career
out of it.
But the other thing that standsout is the 164 playoff games
right, 164 playoff games with 61points Was able to elevate his
game when it mattered, uh, andwas able to be a part of some

(10:28):
some amazing, amazingchampionships and some amazing
memories.
So I hope you enjoy this.
Uh, this conversation.
Screwy is super entertaining.
He has some great stories.
He uh, he tells a few from backin the Florida days and, uh, I
know I got a chuckle a few times.
This guy's a funny man and Ithink you can imagine him in his
20s and 30s.
You know how he would control adressing room and how he would

(10:51):
bring the level of joy up in anenvironment like that.
So, without further ado, Ibring you two-time Stanley Cup
champion, one-time Calder Cupchampion and former captain of
the Florida Panthers, mr BrianScroodland.
All right, here we are with myformer captain for episode 141.

(11:11):
Pleasure to have you on, mrBrian Scroodland.

Speaker 1 (11:15):
Wonderful to join you , Jason.
It's been a while and I've beenlooking forward to this since
you contacted me.

Speaker 2 (11:21):
Yeah, it's been.
It's a pleasure, absolute honor.
It has been a long time.
My gosh I was.
I was just trying to look atthat.
I mean 96, 96.
Well, I mean we crossed pathsbefore that in camp and then
actually became teammates in 96,so you mean that's uh, that's a
heck of a long time ago.
And we have Terry Ryan to thankfor uh, for putting us together

(11:41):
, because I saw you on hispodcast and he passed along your
number.
So thanks so much for wantingto come on and do this,
appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (11:48):
Awesome, my pleasure.

Speaker 2 (11:51):
I want to go back.
I mean, there's so many placesto start.
I mean part of what we do hereon this podcast is, you know, we
celebrate the careers ofplayers right, and the ups and
downs and the highs and lows ofthat.
I find that the adversity andthe challenges is really usually
the identifying pieces thatmake the player.
So I do like digging into thatmore than necessarily the

(12:13):
highlights.
But I think it's pretty wildwith you to be like your second
year of being a pro, you win achampionship and your third one
followed up with anotherchampionship and the biggest cup
you could ever win.
Can you take us back to thattime, 83, 84?
I mean coming out of the WHL.
What was that transition, likeyou know, from being a junior at
that time in that era tobecoming a pro?

Speaker 1 (12:36):
Well, first of all, a real disappointment for not
being drafted.
I did have a couple of reallygood years and uh, so that was a
bit of a.
That was one of thosechallenges for me to start with,
that I not only my skating, butnow I had challenges to even
get there.
So it was uh, you know, and andwe had some really good junior
hockey teams.

(12:56):
I think winning is what it'sall about, and people, you, you
really draw a lot of attentionwhen you're a winner and and uh
never had that opportunity.
Well, had lots of opportunitybut never got over the finish
line with that side of it until,uh, my second year in the
minors with Sherbrooke Canadiansand and uh, man everything I've
heard, like once you, once youwin, you just want more of it.

(13:19):
And that's exactly what happened.
And if you could imagine, Imean we were on top of the world
, winning that American HockeyLeague championship, which is,
you know, a pretty hard trophyto win.
And the next year, boy, therewas seven, eight of us that went
up from Sherbrooke intoMontreal and then to carry that
cup on May 24th of 1986, thatwas the biggest thrill of my

(13:42):
life.
Well, I shouldn't say that incase my wife watches this
podcast, because we did getmarried in between championships
.
So that was a pretty good twoyears.
Let me tell you wow, that'scrazy.

Speaker 2 (13:54):
Well, yeah, well, let's.
Well, I didn't realize that, soI didn't.
I didn't do the homework onthat.
I saw that you had 94 points asa blade there and it was in 71
games, which is hell of a season.
Uh, you know, with thesaskatoon blades, what year was
your draft year?
Do you remember what year thatwas?
uh, that would have been, uh,1981 81 so in 81 42 points

(14:15):
didn't get drafted, could havegot drafted the next year.
Didn't get drafted, so you gotpassed over twice at that.
Uh, at that era, like how?
So let's talk about that,because there's players that are
going through that right now,right, and there's and there's,
and a lot of guys pack up theirbags and say you know what, it's
not for me, I guess I'm notgood enough.
What was your mentality withthat at that time?

Speaker 1 (14:35):
Well, I had an opportunity with the Canadian
Olympic team and so that wholesummer was training and and two,
three different tryouts, uh,winnipeg and then two the next
tryouts in calgary, and I wasone of the last cuts.
But in the winnipeg tryout, uh,dell wilson, who was a scout
for the montreal canadians, cameto see me.
He had a contract in his hand.

(14:57):
Uh showed it to me.
We sat, we had a coffee.
He showed it to me.
He says now we want you to makethe canadian olympic team, but
we also would would like you torespect the fact that we have a
contract here for you and brian.
If it doesn't work out, we'dreally like you to become a
montreal canadian.
Uh, everybody that was on myteam, uh, friends, family,

(15:18):
coaches, gms and etc.
We're going well, you're.
You're the furthest thing froma flying frenchman in the entire
world.
So we're not quite sure aboutthe Canadians.
However, man, that made me feelgood and it just took a little
bit of something off, because Idid have, when I was cut from
the Canadian Olympic team beforethey went over to Europe, I did

(15:40):
have four other teams contactme for tryouts.
One other had a contract, but tobe honest, I was a Habs fan
when I was a kid, so this is thestart of a real dream come true
.
And I just knew theorganization, who was in charge.
I knew they were turning over abunch of Leafs, the older guys

(16:01):
were on their way out and sothere was going to be some room
if a guy could make it.
And, uh, I was pretty proud ofa Doug Wickenheiser out of
Regina.
That was there, uh, which quitean inspiration.
And even though Doug had alittle bit of a hard time to
start with, um, you know, I didhave a training camp with him
and and just some wonderwonderful memories of uh, of my

(16:22):
first couple of years there.
And, of course, when you win uhyour first year in the national
hockey league, you never forgetit and never forget those
teammates as well.

Speaker 2 (16:30):
Yeah, no for sure.
So, from a personal standpoint,the, you know the
disappointment of not hearingyour name called in the draft
and you know the the coveragethen even the coverage for mine
is way different than it is now.
I mean, so the eras weredifferent.
I mean, so I don't know whatthe expectation was if there was
a draft list, if you thoughtyou were going to go and then

(16:50):
you didn't Like what was thenext year.

Speaker 1 (16:54):
I was told if I was available, if I was available in
the second round, Jason, that Iwas going to the Boston Bruins.
And then all of a sudden, thatsecond round comes around, third
round, fourth round, and I andI just it just never came to
fruition.
So very disappointing I, I, Iat one point in time thought,

(17:14):
man alive, I've really got tobust my ass and make this
Canadian Olympic team, becausethis was the only thing I wanted
my whole life was to become aprofessional hockey player and
and going to make that dreamcome true.
And thank God it happened.

Speaker 2 (17:26):
Right.
So then that was so.
That was like you kind ofdoubled down on it, it wasn't.
You know, there was the momentof disappointment.
You let yourself feel that, butthen you realize that well,
pitter patter, let's get at herRight Like obviously I need to
do a little more to make thishappen.

Speaker 1 (17:41):
Well, and number one was my skating.
So I got to really work on thatand that was the biggest thing.
Now, once I had become madethat decision to become a
Montreal Canadian, I got totraining camp.
A wonderful experience that was, but I knew I wasn't ready.
I just like, no, thank you, I'mnot ready.

(18:02):
Let's get to Halifax and let'sget this thing going Well.
I got to Halifax and we had abunch of old veterans there and
they weren't very happy that Iwas one of the last guys sent
down.
So when it came to initiationday, I was glad that about four
of them got picked up in theexpansion draft that year, Four
real big old, tough guys.

(18:22):
You know Jeff Brubaker, DwightSchofield and for some reason
they really never liked this kidfrom Saskatchewan.
So anyway, I persevered.
We had John Brophy as a coach.
Couldn't ask for a better coachat that point in time.
He was just exactly what Ineeded with our group.
But you know, Andre Boudre wasthere.

(18:44):
Andre spent a lot of timeworking on my skating with me as
as time went on.
So did Jacques Lemaire inMontreal and and uh.
So I really felt like I was.
Uh, I I definitely had adifferent style of skating, but
I felt like I could get to A andB as quick as anybody.

Speaker 2 (19:00):
So, uh, that confidence part of it was really
built up within theorganization and so when you,
when you talk about that becausethere's, you know there's
there's multiple athletes rightnow hockey players.
Skating has always beenimportant, but I think now it's
more important than ever youknow, essentially, they say you
can't skate, you can't playright now.
You know, right, um, what didyou do?
So I mean as a nine, I mean asa 20 year old player, now,

(19:23):
knowing that you still had towork on your skating.
What was that like at that, atthat time, what were you doing?

Speaker 1 (19:30):
well, claude durell, uh, coach for the montreal
canadians for years, a legend.
Um I I went in there in thesummertime and claude, his
favorite word to me was okay,westerner, jump, jump, jump,
jump, jump.
So I jumped and I jumped a lot,let me tell you, but it was
really just getting that.

(19:51):
My and and leg strength.
That was the one thing that wereally worked on in the gym.
Uh, I wasn't much for.
Gym to me was spelled jim, itwas a friend of mine or
something, not gym, and Iprobably spend more time in the
gym today than I ever have.
So yeah uh, you know that thathealth is so important and and
uh, but getting there, I justhad the greatest support and uh,

(20:14):
I haven't even mentioned myfamily support yet.
Uh, with all these coaches andeverything else was phenomenal,
uh, not to even mention thefamily yeah, definitely need a
support cast for sure to getanywhere, and a good one of that
.

Speaker 2 (20:28):
One of the things I work on with the guys that I'm
working with is like the abilitywhich I think is a skill of
being able to raise your handand ask for some help in some
areas, or at least ask what Ican do.
I know for me that was onething that I wasn't great at
asking those questions thatcould benefit you and kind of
feel like you're the lonesoldier, uh, anyone that seems
to have had any level of, likereal success.

(20:50):
There's a team around them insome capacity, you know.
Yes, uh.
So those coaches that wanted towork with you was that them?
Whatever kind of feeling likeyou know I want to take this kid
under their wing.
Did you make yourself availablefor that to happen or how did
that interpersonal relationshiphappen?

Speaker 1 (21:06):
my I was 24 7 available for those guys, uh,
they were going to help me makemy dream come true and uh, you
know both of them, uh, andrebudra and jacques lamere, both
had wonderful careers and, uh,and both of them were really
good skaters.
So I got a chance to listen toevery word they said.
Claude Durell was just a bonuson top of that and he got us

(21:30):
ready for the preseason which,to be honest, back in our day,
when I first started, if youspent a little bit of time in
the offseason training, you wentin with the leg up on the older
guys, because really thattraining camp was for getting
into shape and getting back.
And you know a lot of guys Imean I'll never forget my first
camp.
A fellow by the name of GuyLafleur was going to be my right

(21:53):
winger and he came up to me andbeforehand, before the very
first skate, and he says Brian,welcome aboard.
He says I hear you're my centerHeisman.
He says you put the puck on mytape.
I get you to assist.
You put the puck over here, goget it again, bring it back, put
it on my tape, I get you toassist.
I hit him in the head, I think,or shoulder with my first pass,

(22:15):
in the ass with my second pass,and then that was it.
I no longer had Guy Lafleur asfurs or right.
So it was.
It was learned by learningfairly quick.
But you know, those guys, theynever, they really never, skated
in the summertime, and so thatwas a leg up for us to maybe
impress the brass right off thehop.

Speaker 2 (22:35):
Yeah, well, you gotta do what you gotta do, right.
And it's, I mean, and it justseems like everyone's in this
day and age, everyone's lookingfor that extra edge now, and
it's, you know, if you're not inshape, you're done right.
You have to show up in shape.

Speaker 1 (22:48):
And when you, when you first started, were we two
days in training camp, or justone a day.
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (22:53):
Okay, that was Roger when I was there, so that was
like when the 20 mile bike orthe 10 mile run or whatever we
had to do, remember like allthat stuff, like it was pretty
good, crazy.

Speaker 1 (23:03):
My fondest memory of our very first training camp
down there maybe not first,because Steve Washburn and you
the same year.

Speaker 2 (23:14):
One year before me.

Speaker 1 (23:16):
One year before you.
So Steve came to camp wonderfulshape, great hockey player and
after our first session he wentout in the sun and fell asleep
and burnt himself so bad that hecouldn't get his hockey gear on
.
So they sent him home.
I felt so bad for the kidbecause I think you truly had a
chance, you know anyway, he was.

(23:37):
Uh, it was quite an experience.
That was another one of thoseexperiences of playing in the
sun that we, we all, got to sortof enjoy or not enjoy for that,
those few years, yeah, for sure, for sure.

Speaker 2 (23:49):
That was a wild place to be, uh, to be a first year
pro, and especially in that runthat you guys went to, which
we'll, we'll get.
We'll get to that for sure.
Just going to take a shortbreak from my conversation with
brian scroodland to give a shoutout to my friends at elite
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Now let's get back to ourconversation with brian
screwedland.
So you guys switch from fromnova scotia to sherbrooke.

(25:16):
Sherbrooke, like you said, youhad, you know, a winning team
and you talked about the idea ofwinning.
And once you get the taste ofwinning, like you, you know one
you learn how to do it, which Ithink is is super important.
You understand the feeling of it, but it also attracts other
people that want you to be apart of things you know, and I
think that that's establishesyou right off the bat.
What did you, how did that teamcome together and what role did

(25:39):
you play on it, and what didyou learn from that season?

Speaker 1 (25:42):
well, I was the captain of that team, so it was
my second year.
Yep, they made you captain thesecond year pro I was and, uh,
and what an honor that was beingchosen by teammates.
We were mixed with winnipeg atthe time, montreal, winnipeg, so
I think winnipeg only had aboutseven or eight players on the
roster, montreal had the themajority of the players.

(26:03):
But we had a pretty toughseason.
I mean all season long.
It was.
Uh, we had some injury bugs, wehad some goaltending problems,
we had, uh, just some thingsthat went down.
But once again, coaching, pierrekramer was our head coach.
Jean hamel was our assistantcoach.
Jean hamel just lost his eye,uh, the year before, two years

(26:23):
before, in the great big quebec,uh, montreal, battle of quebec,
and um, so john, as anassistant coach, put his gear on
every day.
Now, this was a man of 30.
What was john b at that time?
34, 35, but one of the most,one of the greatest shape

(26:44):
athletes that you've ever met.
Yeah, so he, when he came topractice, he came to practice
for real.
And now we were I mean, youknow not to say that ted foss,
at six foot four, uh, 220 pounds, wasn't a big guy, but he was
also 21 years of age, or youknow, he wasn't 35 man strength
yeah so, uh.
So that was really interestingfor Jean to be able to do that

(27:06):
all season long.
And then at the end of the yearwe had a couple injuries
Goalies get injured and a fellowby the name of Patrick Waugh
happened to join us.
His junior team lost out, asdid another fellow right winger,
stéphane Richer, as did anotherleft winger, jean Kordick, or
right winger with Portland, youknow.

(27:27):
So all of a sudden we had allthese young guys coming in nice,
influx a little bit of teamdepth, and Patrick stood on his
head and next thing, you know,there we were in the Calder Cup
Finals.
Wasn't expected, I think.
We snuck into the last spot tomake it two, three days before
the final game of the season iswhen we solidified our playoff

(27:50):
spot.
So, yeah, we really did get hotand we went on a run and
Sherbrooke was great for that.
We had, you know, leavingHalifax.
I got to tell you it was reallydisappointing for a lot of us
because we did fall in love withthe Maritimes.
I, when I arrived in halifax, tobe honest with you, jason, I
said okay, and this is my firsttime away from home because I
played junior hockey insaskatoon where I grew up and um

(28:12):
.
So now I'm on my own and I'm inhalifax and I was only there
for four days and I said, okay,if I don't move to dartmouth I'm
gonna end up being the world'sbest bartender.
So yeah, I got my ass over toDartmouth and took the ferry
every day, told the boys Icouldn't stay after the game
because I got to catch the 11o'clock ferry, and I didn't tell

(28:34):
them that I bought a 75 FordPinto station wagon with wood
paneling.
But one day I was crossing theMcKay Bridge and, sure as shit,
one of my teammates went by me.
You know, give me a honk, whatthe heck?
So I got to the rake was free.
You got an old pinto.
I said no, no, I was justborrowing it.
I didn't want to get in any inany extras curriculars after,

(28:56):
after games or practices.

Speaker 2 (28:58):
So I usually got my way home, but uh about that
mature decision, like toexperience the four days in
Halifax and anyone who's been toHalifax knows the Maritimes and
the people in the Maritimes.
They love to have a good time,there's never a dull moment, and
what a great place really to be20 or 21 years old and playing
pro hockey.
But you're like, hey, I thinkthis is clashing with my idea of

(29:19):
becoming a pro hockey playerand I'm going to move away.
So I have an excuse that Idon't have to be partying.
Like, just walk me through that.
Like that must've been a prettybig decision for you.
Well, it was.

Speaker 1 (29:29):
And, and you know, I, when I left, uh, I really had,
uh, full blinders on that.
Hey, this is all about hockeyand and, uh, this is I want this
to be my career.
And back then you looked at itfinancially it was going to be a
big boost.
All that stuff, the notorietyof playing in the National

(29:54):
Hockey League, the idea ofmaking some decent money this is
a kid's dream come true Today.
I don't know what the heck theycall it, because that's real
money.
It was real, come true Today.
I don't know what the heck theycall it, because that's real
money, but you know it was, itwas, it was real.
I had a couple other young guysthat were moving in with one
another.
I didn't want that scenariobecause I didn't want to be

(30:16):
babysitting and I didn't want tobe, you know, feeling like I
had, you know, to take care ofsomebody, because I knew I was
going to take good care ofmyself.
But then I thought, well, I'lljust look over into Dartmouth
and I spoke with a couple of theolder guys as well that I

(30:36):
really liked on our team, DaveAllison being one of them, and
Redsie said oh gosh, there's amillion places over there.
Screw you, you can findsomething real cheap and it's
probably a great decision foryou.
So, anyway, I had great supportagain from teammates, but but I
really I, I, after my firstcouple of days in Halifax, I
thought, wow, privateers is apretty fun spot in the upper and
lower deck and I was getting toknow them all.

(31:00):
It just was a ritual.
That's what you did afterpractice, right, you went with
the guys and and I always did Ididn't stop going with the guys.
It was just, hey, I gotta gethome on the ferry, right.
You know, like I got a prettygood reason or excuse to get out
of there and uh and do what Ireally wanted to do, which was
just focus on hockey right, yeah, and so you mentioned, as a

(31:23):
second year pro, to get voted byyour teammates as the captain.

Speaker 2 (31:26):
I'm glad you brought that up because I had no idea.
I knew you were my captain, youknow with florida, and I knew
that you were recognized as aleader in the nhl.
But I mean, that's a, that's ahuge honor and what a compliment
.
You know and, and walk methrough, like, what about you?
Do you think?
Obviously you have to, you haveto guess, you know, but what
about you do you think made youcaptain worthy as a second year

(31:47):
pro in the eyes of a lot ofthese guys that were much older
than you?

Speaker 1 (31:51):
we had a wonderful.
We actually made it into thesecond round of the playoffs
that year in Halifax and andplayed a team from Maine, older
guys.
Uh, I think that was a real,real good challenge for us.
And, geez, geez, my, my gamejust kept getting elevated and
elevated and and, of course,when that happens, you get put
into positions to win and orsucceed and and maybe even more

(32:16):
challenges than were expected atthat point in time in my career
.
But I surpassed a couple ofteammates that were goal scorers
but they weren't scoring goalsand I was scoring goals and I
was still doing the other sideof the puck as well.
So, uh, I think you gained alot of confidence through the
coaches and and.
So then off to um, off toSherbrooke, and we had a lot of

(32:39):
veteran guys that were eitherpicked up in, uh in an expansion
draft or uh, uh waiver draft atthat point in time.
Uh, so we had a fairly youngteam and, uh, when it started to
I don't know, I guess I wasprobably one of those vocal guys
.
Uh, definitely had the guysover to, to the chalet a couple

(33:02):
of times.
Mike Lawler and I rented achalet on a small little lake
just outside of Sherbrooke,quebec, say once again not to
stay in town to get into trouble.
Uh, so that was kind of goodand uh bought ourselves a skidoo
and we had the boys out thereall the time.
So it was uh, it was a lot offun.
But uh, those experiences, uh,uh, the idea of my game getting

(33:24):
better, I think that just builtconfidence and confidence in me
and the people around me.
So that gave me an opportunityto get that C on my jersey and,
of course, then winning withthat C on your jersey.
And the Canadians hadn't had anyhardware since 1979.
Serge Savard is only a two-hourdrive away.

(33:45):
He never missed a home game,let alone did he not come on the
road with us, which wasincredible for all of our team,
and I mean just showing thesupport.
So when we won that year, jason, I was the captain.
The game's over, we're going tothe party, the captain takes
the trophy.
Well, as Serge said to me,wherever the trophy goes, serge

(34:06):
goes.
So he says I guess we'rehanging together.
So it was kind of funny becauseas we're driving to the
function afterwards he said bythe way, you come into camp next
year in great shape and you'reready to go, and I can almost
guarantee your roster spot, andhe said that to a couple of
people, and, and uh, sure asheck, there's a man of his word.

(34:29):
Uh, we had a new coach in JohnPerron who believed in a lot of
us young guys, gave us a lot ofopportunity.
Uh, as I say, on whatever date,it was May 15th and our it was
a second game, the stanley cupfinals, and we're into overtime.
What the hell is brianscroodland on the ice for

(34:49):
starting the overtime when hehasn't even scored a goal yet?
However, our line did have, Ithink we had 12 at that time,
mcphee had five and lemieux hadseven or something.
So so, anyway, and uh, the resthistory.

Speaker 2 (35:03):
Nine seconds is all it took, and so it was really
really, really funny how it allevolutionized and worked out for
me the way that it did, to behonest, yeah, Well, I mean,
obviously you're doing somethingright there, and your answer to
that was, you know, kind of ahockey answer, meaning that you
were putting a lot of theemphasis on your play, and I
have no doubt that that hadsomething to do with it.

(35:24):
I mean, you do need to be ofsome level of hockey player
right to get the attention of ofyour teammates.
Um, I I find more so in thisday and age it seems like you
have to almost be the starplayer to have the c on your
chest, uh, which I don'tnecessarily agree with, but I I
do think that there's an elementthat you're probably not

(35:45):
talking about, and that's justlike the human character element
of you.
Like there had to be somethingthat you did, something that you
embodied, that garnered therespect you were on a bus or two
with me.

Speaker 1 (35:59):
Yeah, I was.
For a few long bus rides.
So you knew that we did have alot of fun during those bus
rides.
They certainly weren't boringand it wasn't because of the
movies that we were watching,but you know, we had a lot of
fun.
We played a lot of tricks onone another.
I think there were healthytricks as well.
You never wanted to demean ateammate and make them feel that

(36:22):
they weren't worthy or wanted,and I think that was one of the
things of my character.
My parents had brought me up inthe idea that, hey, make
everybody feel better aboutthemselves and at the end of the
day you're going to be muchstronger, and that's the kind of
family I grew up in.

Speaker 2 (36:37):
So yeah, no, I love that.
I mean that is and I thinkthat's the testament of being an
amazing hockey player as wellis you're being able to make
your line mates, whoever you'rewith, be better right on the ice
.
I think that's different, beinggood and being great, and then
if you can do that same thing inthe locker room, now you're
onto something from a cultureside, right?
Well, do you remember how hardwe practiced.

Speaker 1 (36:59):
You know, like I played on a few teams that they
didn't know how to practice.
And a man alive, that was onething and I think that was a
reason for our success inFlorida.
And I learned that in Montreal,continued that on my way to
Calgary, florida and the rest ofthe way.
And you know, it was just, Imean practice.
You're never going to want toembarrass yourself in front of

(37:22):
18,000, 19,000 people, so you'realways busting your ass in a
game, even though we have seen afew games where that hasn't
been the case in a game, eventhough we have seen a few games
where that hasn't been the case.
However, you know, in practiceit's all about your teammates.
It's all about impressing yourteammates and making them work
harder and challenging them.
And it was sort of funny.

(37:43):
But I got here into Calgary as acoach and I you know, believe
it or not, but one of thegreatest right wingers of all
time, number 12.
And when I went up to him oneday and I said, hey, jerome, you
know what you you've got topick it up a little bit in
practice because, uh, you gotguys that are skating with you

(38:04):
and I know they shouldn't evenbe close to you.
So if you can pick that pace upa little bit, you're going to
make them even better, becauseright now they're sticking with
you and that's all they need todo and they're feeling pretty
good about themselves.
And boy oh boy, when DarylSutter came in and really
started pushing these guys, Iwas an assistant coach.
You can only do so much at thatin that position.

(38:25):
But Daryl came in and I'll tellyou he whipped the boys into
shape and and practice was hardand he made it hard.
And if it was only 20 minutes,well it was a 20, it was a
hardest 20 minutes you're goingto be on the ice for.
But you know it was somethinghe was going to get out of you.
And, uh, once that was realized, I mean, there they are in the
Stanley cup finals in 2004.
Uh, you know, I mean it really.

(38:48):
The, the, the uh proof was inthe pudding there.

Speaker 2 (38:50):
Right.

Speaker 1 (38:55):
How did Jerome take that message?
Well, you know, that's thething about Jerome is.
Uh, you know, you, you didn'treally want to tell Jerome a lot
of things because Jerome dideverything right.
Uh, you know, he was just aboth on and off the ice.
I mean, you couldn't ask for abetter human being or a better
athlete and tough as nails andcompetitive, and so he didn't

(39:16):
take it exactly the way that youmight think, but at the same
time, he took it and he turnedaround and I'll tell you I truly
believe that was a huge, hugechange in the Flames and that
organization moving forward.

Speaker 2 (39:35):
Right, yeah, there's something to be said, right,
when your best player is alsoyour hardest worker and most
competitive, like I think you'reonto something Big time, big
time.

Speaker 1 (39:41):
And we had a couple of them Larry Robinson, bob
Ganey.
When I first started I wasamazed.
And there again, jason BobGaney, taking the time after
practice just working on littleflip outs.
You know, puck in the corner.
We'd put 150 on each side onthe dots.
Just put them in the corner, go, get them as quick as we could

(40:01):
Turn around and flip them out ofthe zone.
You know, it was little thingslike that that we worked on
constantly that made me feel sogood.
Today those guys don't reallyhave the time to do that.
They don't have that extra icetime to fool around.
They go from the rink on theice over to the video or to the
gym.
Uh, you know, it's more or lesstwo hours of really planned

(40:25):
stuff, as where before we usedto practice, have a little video
, maybe, uh, maybe have ameeting, but really practice was
practice, and then you're,you're on your way home.

Speaker 2 (40:34):
So lindy ruff was awesome with that.
With us in florida, too,weren't playing.
Yeah, he did a great job withthat.

Speaker 1 (40:40):
Awesome he was also a bit of a pain in the ass if
your shoes went missing yes, oryour pockets got sewn shut or
any of those things, yeah you,you went and found some shaving
cream and stuffed it in yourright front pocket.

Speaker 2 (40:54):
Yeah, you talk about practice and that is something I
mean.
I'm not coaching this year.
Well, I did actually coach aspring team, but I haven't
coached a minor hockey team in acouple of years.
But I was coaching my boys andI really enjoyed it.
And one of the things that Itried to emphasize, you know, as
being the bench boss, was thatattention to detail that you're

(41:16):
talking about in practice, thatyou're pushing Right and and I
and I think to me and evenwatching now, like as as the
kids get older and I'm able towatch junior camps and I'm able
to see kind of the ecosystem ofhockey I think that the

(41:36):
competitiveness of practice hasdrastically changed and what
that actually means.
I'm not saying that obviously,eight-year-olds and 10-year-olds
aren't going to fight inpractice, but in junior, that
was a thing.
I mean, I know in pro it was athing too, and it was a healthy
thing.
On the healthy teams, right,the teams that really pushed
each other you're competitivesobs out there, right, and
you're pushing that guy and he'spushing back and at some point,

(41:57):
you know, the wires cross andsomething happens.
It's all good.
Afterwards you celebrate it.
I'm not saying there needs tobe fights in practice, but do
you, did you see that, like fromthe time that you were involved
as a player to the time youwere involved as a coach, like
was there a bit of a separationalready happening when it come
to the competitiveness inpractice?

Speaker 1 (42:12):
oh, yeah, I just uh, you know it was all in.
I guess at the end of the day,we didn't rely uh, for my era of
hockey player, we never reallytruly relied on the coach to set
the pace or have to come outand and be screaming and yelling

(42:33):
and and uh, we took it uponourselves and and that was one
thing I was really.
You know, there were days thatyou just practice just didn't
work out, as I, as I showed upinto Dallas and the boys are
saying, uh, okay, um, we screwup in a couple of passing drills

(42:53):
early in the practice and Hitchjust blows a whistle and brings
us in and tells us to get ourheads on ready and be ready for
tomorrow.
Because this is BS and this isunacceptable.
Get the hell off the ice, havea little bike ride.
But that was it.
Well, keener's on my day one.
There we show up and medano,new and dyke and letnan are the

(43:15):
first three guys to go in adrill.
Well, they screw up every pass.
So hitch blows a whistle.
I'm thinking, oh, right on,because I gotta go find a place
to live.
This is going to be great.
Well, he says everybody on thegoal line.
So I said hang on here a sec.
I put my hand up like I wasback in elementary school or
something and I said Hitch, herehe goes, what do you want?
And he's like I'm just, we'rejust newly arrivals.

(43:38):
And I said well, the boys aretelling me that usually you blow
the whistle and you send themhome.
I said you're not doing thisfor me, are you?
He said you're skating withLetnan and uh and madano, so you
know they're down back and I'mstill halfway going down there.
Those guys could skate so good.
So anyway that.
But that team, we knew how topractice.

(43:59):
And uh and man alive.
That was probably the only timethroughout my professional
hockey career that I said okay,this team's team's going to win
a Stanley cup, and that was 1999.
Would have happened in 98 aswell If it wasn't for a couple
of injuries uh, new and andMedano both went down but uh,
but I was really confident inthat hockey team.

Speaker 2 (44:20):
I believe it.
And where does thatcompetitiveness come from?
Do you think uh, you know, inin practice?
You mean, you said that it cameinternally from the boys before
it kind of shifted, maybe to bemore directed by the coach.
I think that probably a cultureof winning or having been
experienced that in somecapacity now breeds that a
little bit more.
But like, where do you thinkthat that comes from?

(44:41):
Is it just the people involved?
Essentially, it is.

Speaker 1 (44:44):
Number one.
Well, okay, I'll give you aquick example.
Chris Nyland, day one ofMontreal Canadiens, I think we
had nine rookies to start theseason and you know, back then
it wasn't a 23 or I think it wasa 26, 28 man, or was there even
a list of how many guys youcould have, right, or a number
of a max?
So I think there were nine orten of us in that room.

(45:06):
Chris Nyland called us all intothe video room, more or less
threatened us with their lives.
First of all, you're the firstones on the ice.
You're the last ones off theice.
You're showing up early to tellall those old guys stories of
what you did the night before.
Like, you got to make itexciting for us, right.
So that was part and parcel ofbeing a Montreal Canadian, and

(45:31):
Chris said that right off thebat.
Larry showed it by example, bobshowed it by example, rick
Green, I mean Chelios we had abunch of guys that really, every
day, they worked their ass offbecause we knew that would make
us better, and so I think, yeah,it's a winning culture, but
it's also individually.
I think that's how some guysChris Nyland, being on top of

(45:52):
that list, uh, not only motivatehimself, but motivate us to be
better as well.

Speaker 2 (45:57):
Right, yeah, I mean, I love that when, when they
start to get it and the youngerages, it's fun because it is
like a little bit of like alight switch, because I think in
this day and age, even withkids and everyone's taught to be
like, so nice to each other,right, like, and there's nothing
wrong with being nice, but itis wrong when you're on the ice
and and you feel that competingfor a puck and knocking somebody
over might hurt somebody'sfeelings, you know, and it's

(46:18):
like that's where you can kindof change the rules a little bit
and allow them to understandthat no, this is actually like
you're doing him a favor byknocking him over yeah, you know
like you're actually bringingthe best out of him and making
him get up and come at you again, and I think that there's a lot
of power in that right now.
I mean for players that do getit, that have that internal
fortitude to want to compete,and you get a group of them

(46:39):
together on one team and I thinkyou can be a world beater in
this day and age right now.

Speaker 1 (46:43):
Well, they can you know, and these kids today, they
turn it on and off, I mean justlike a switch.
I don't know if I had thatcapability.
I, I, I had it on, right, itwas on.
I mean, I'm not stretching evenbeside my brother and warm up,
cause I'd probably want to killhim.
Uh, you know, I mean that justand and to watch that as as time
went on, it drove me absolutelynuts.

(47:05):
So something as a coach and ifI wanted to stay in the game and
I eventually became director ofplayer development with the
Panthers, uh, I had to change inways to become better and and
realize that these young guysit's a different era out there
and and try and, I guess, acceptwhat they're doing and
understand it better, so that Icould be better at teaching them

(47:27):
, maybe even some of the oldways as well that I felt were
still really strong and andfully in existence, uh, in
today's society and uh, andsport yeah and relevant, right.

Speaker 2 (47:39):
I mean that's the kind of thing that I'm.
Yeah, I'm totally trying tochow with these guys about that
and I hear you okay.
So like the whole picture andwarm-up thing, like that is like
now completely accepted.
And I know torts went on a ranta few years ago with, like guys
chatting before a face off andall that stuff, right, like that
would fire me up too.
But again, like I think it'sprobably the dinosaur and both

(48:00):
of us saying, okay, we have tolet some of that go.
Right, the game is changing.
Okay, but there still should bea standard about the
expectation of competitiveness,you know, and, and what compete
looks like.
How did you find that line asdirector of player development?
Like what was your demand orstandard for the guys you were
working with?

Speaker 1 (48:17):
Uh, that, uh, number one, that they work their asses
off, that I never, ever oncewanted to hear from their
coaches or their trainers oranybody that they weren't you
know, or maybe even theirteachers or their parents.
I mean, you know, as a directorof player development, I wanted
to know the family.
I guess that's where it allstarted, so that I could really

(48:40):
get into the head of that kidand help him out if times are
going to be tough and hopefullythey never were, I mean but at
the same time I was alwaystrying to prepare myself, have
that chat with dad, find outwhat really pushes this kid, and
then have the chat with the kidnot to, you know, just compare
the notes of what dad thinkspushes him.
And I mean, I just love thatposition and it was fruitful in

(49:06):
a lot of ways fruitful for meand hopefully fruitful for a lot
of the hockey players that Ihelped to get to that next stage
as well.

Speaker 2 (49:14):
You touch on something there that I think is
super interesting and I believethat that's like, as far as high
performance is concerned andlike having your players reach
their potential is the biggestkey and that's the psychology of
the player.
I think, more often than not,most of the guys that come to
your table or who got drafted inwhatever round, like how many

(49:35):
things do they have to work on ahockey player?
Yes, of course they have towork on their hockey skills in
some capacity right to get tothe pro level, but for the most
part, like they are there now,it's like how does the
psychology work in thatenvironment to get the most out
of them?
Where are their pain pointspoints?
Where are their mentalweaknesses?
How can you breed thatconfidence right To show up at
the proper time and on thebiggest stage?

(49:55):
It sounds like that's whatyou're talking about when you're
saying, like, get into the headof these guys, like, how, how
important was that to you to, to, to be able to push those
buttons?

Speaker 1 (50:03):
Very important and uh , and I think what it did as
well was built a lot of trustwithin us.
I shared a lot of stuff withthem and personal stuff to try
and let them know, hey, we'reopening up to one another here.
This isn't going anywhere elseother than you and I.
Maybe to your mom and dad.
A couple of things, you know,if I feel like they would be

(50:24):
helpful.
Other than that, it was justbuilding that relationship and
building that trust.
Other than that, it was justbuilding that relationship and
building that trust.
And you know, if anyone, as Ifelt strongly, if anyone knew
what it was to be a FloridaPanther, I thought I had a
pretty good idea of what it wasgoing to take and especially
with what we accomplished therein three years getting to the

(50:46):
Stanley Cup finals, that was alot of hard work and you were
part of that.
And you know all these youngguys that came in pushed us.
Old guys I mean I was near theend of my career, so were a few
other fellas, and so you know wekind of I wasn't Chris Nyland
to you, jason, where I took youinto the video room and
threatened you with your life,but hopefully I said some good

(51:07):
things along the way that uh,cause I know you guys, you know
we were really inspired by theyoung guys, and especially down
in Florida.
I mean, here we were playing inMiami.
For God's sake, we weren't upin, uh, fort Lauderdale, we went
down to Miami.
That was just a hoot and aholler.

Speaker 2 (51:22):
So yeah, yeah for sure.
I mean there's.
There's a lot of things where Iwant to chat with you about
there.
The idea of I mean I want tobacktrack just a little bit.
So now you're a captain of 21or 22 years old, you've won a
Calder Cup.
You said six or seven guysadvanced on Like winning.

(51:43):
I say that I try and say thatto players, I mean at the
younger level.
It's hard for them tounderstand.
Once you get to junior it'seven a bit hard to understand
because everyone wants to be afirst or second line guy or be
on the power play and if they'renot, there's this individuality
like they feel hurt orembarrassed or they're not
getting what they deserve.
Yet If you are successful on awinning team, in whatever role
that is, those guys more thanoften will move on.

(52:05):
Somebody wants them somewhereelse.
So can you speak to that alittle bit?
Like you said, seven guys froma minor league team end up going
to play for an NHL teamafterwards Like that's because
you guys won and probably noother reason under than that for
a few of those guys, a hundredpercent a hundred percent.

Speaker 1 (52:21):
And you know, you, you brought up something
interesting.
So we all have a role.
On a hockey team or on a teamProbably doesn't even matter
what sport we're talking about.
Everybody has a role.
So we all define that role.
Yet at the same time, we knowin hockey, or in a lot of these
sports, if you get a chance toscore, well, if you're not a
scorer, we still want you toscore.
And you know, if you're not achecker, well, come playoff time

(52:45):
you've got to be a checker ifwe're going to win, so we, you,
you're working on those basicsright off the bat.
And a lot of guys go from juniorhockey.
They've been the star.
They go on to the AHL, nhl, butthey've had to adapt.
They're no longer that scoringguy.
The only way they're going tomake this team is if they play

(53:05):
two-way hockey, if they and thatwas you know, not that I was a
really offensive, big, bignumber offensive guy, but you
know I did score, put up somepretty good points in junior.
But I knew if I was going tomake the Montreal Canadians, I
wasn't Doug Wickenheiser and Iwasn't the other fellows that
were in front of me, the JeanChabats and everybody else.

(53:26):
But I knew that if I could playa good strong two-way game,
that I had an opportunity.
And I watch man.
There wasn't a Saturday nightwhere I didn't watch hockey.
I mean that was just it's partof the passion, right, and
that's what I tell kids.
I said if you love it and youknow, if you're a center iceman,
make sure your favorite hockeyplayer is a center iceman.
I don't know why it, just youknow I've always felt that way,

(53:49):
even though I was a centerIceman and Bob Ganey and and
Trombley were my and they leftand right, where's where my uh,
a couple of favorite players,antonio Esposito, uh, but you
know it's.
It's kind of funny.
I always say and then you wantit to emulate somebody?
Uh, there was the other thingof well, if somebody made it to
the NHL and that guy's name wasBrent Sutter, back in my day I

(54:13):
played against Brent and I loved.
I thought, man, we've even gotthere's a little bit of
similarities in skating stylehere.
I would like to adapt more ofhis skating style because
obviously it's okay.
The guy's gone on to a greatjunior career, won a couple of
Stanley cups, first couple ofyears in the in the NHL.
Uh.

(54:33):
So he was one of the guys thatI tried to emulate and and go,
wow, like I can do this.
I think I can do this and uh.
So it was just things like that, that that I, I sort of.
I was always interested in thattype of stuff along the way.

Speaker 2 (54:52):
Yeah, student of the game, I guess Right, and looking
, looking to get better.
Going to take another shortbreak from the conversation with
Brian Scroodland to give ashout out to title sponsor of
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(55:57):
Now let's get back to ourconversation with Brian Scruton.
When it comes to leadership andI know that I told you before we
started I want to talk aboutthat, um, and it just seems so
natural for you, you know, andthere's a lot of guys that uh,

(56:18):
especially athletes that workwith me that they want to be
leaders.
Right, they want to have aletter on their chest.
Uh, maybe it's not quite asnatural for them and, and you
know I try and work with them onsomebody's leadership.
You know attributes and I thinkeveryone has their own way of
leading as well.
You know you said you were avocal guy.
I think a lot of the youngerplayers feel that they have to

(56:38):
be vocal to be a captain.
I tell them that's amisconception.
Some of the best leaders I hadweren't vocal.
But when you were in thatposition, just to put the
spotlight back on on you, wereyou trying to be a leader or
were you just recognized as one?
Was there?
Was there a conscious, uh,attempt to be the captain?

Speaker 1 (56:57):
uh, gosh, you know that's a really interesting
question.
I think somewhere in thesubconscious it meant something
to me, but really, for it to behere on the jersey, I had an A
on my back, a ScrudlandS-K-R-U-D-L-A-N-D.
I wish it was S-C-R-U-D,because then I could have you
said C and an A, you know, butthat it was all by example.

(57:21):
If there was one thing myparents told me you lead by
example and it's sort of likethe other thing was well, you
know you're guilty as those youhang with, type of thing, you
know.
And so I guess I looked at thatleadership thing.
I looked at the guys that Ireally loved as teammates and

(57:43):
players.
They just it just was natural.
You talk about a Bob Ganey.
Well, he always had time forpeople before, after, during,
whatever.
Uh, bob would take the timewith you and uh, and he was sort
of EF Hutton, you know, whenBob spoke you listened.
Uh, we really, I really enjoyedmy time with Bobby.

(58:03):
He took Atlanta and I under ourwings to start uh with we were
just married and you know we'reat his place for Christmas His
wife Kathy.
I mean, we had so many goodteammates, you know, lots of
dinners and lots of stuff thatwe did together.
So, but there was a lot of it.
I think a lot of it just wasthrough the.

(58:24):
It was just my character.
That's just the way that I was.
I was always, um, uh, I guesswhen I was younger I was always
trying to be more of the funnyguy than I was to be, and then
when it came to hockey man, itwasn't funny anymore.
This was serious and, uh, Ieven gave a few teammates shit
during uh, I think it was bantampeewee midget, you know,

(58:46):
laughing in between periods whenwe were down a goal, like what
are you doing?
They had no cell phone to lookat.
No jokes, nothing.
Anyway, you know, sometimes Iwas a little too serious as well
.
When I look back on it Iprobably go well, but that I I
think that helped me in the longrun as well.
But uh, sometimes, sometimes wecan take ourselves too serious.

(59:10):
My first year in the minors Iscored on our own net late in
the game.
It was an over, gave the puckaway.
I had trouble with that man,did I have trouble with that?
And you know a few teammatesthat I could tell, you know and
back then I mean your teammatesbut at the same time, everybody
wants to go up to Montreal, sothere is competition from within

(59:32):
as well.
And uh, and I thought, man, Ithink those guys are kind of
mocking me a little now.
So that changed that idea that,hey, no more sulking.
Uh, you pick your feet up, getyour head up in your chin up and
let's get back at her.
And uh, and you know, for thosewho were laughing, it, uh, it,

(59:54):
it wasn't a funny matter to meand I, I took it very seriously.
I took this game very seriously.

Speaker 2 (59:59):
Yeah, you know, what you did great, I mean, I I think
is is balancing what you justsaid there of being like you
were serious and when you saidsomething and your tone changed
like people would listen, right,because the other three
quarters of the time you werecracking a joke or making people
laugh, right.
So I think that that was areally interesting composition

(01:00:21):
for you and why I think that youwere such a strong leader in
you know, for my young career.
To see that and to see that inin a first year, my first year
in the NHL and the success youguys had, and to see the way you
you acted in that environment,I thought that was a pretty
powerful thing.
And and you mentioned example Imean, that's the one thing that
I do try and tell players.
I'm like, if you can't leadyourself, then you can't lead

(01:00:42):
anybody else, right?
So like you have to have yourown house in order.
And what does that mean?
Right, that means preparation.
That means, uh, you know your,your seriousness, your level of
attention to detail and practice, how hard you're going to work,
like that, those types ofthings, and I think that you had
that in spades too, so maybethat was something that wasn't
necessarily conscious for you,right, that was.

(01:01:03):
Maybe the character piece isthat every day you came to work
and everyone saw that, becausethat's a difficult thing to do,
come to work every single day.

Speaker 1 (01:01:11):
Yeah, and and come with a good attitude and come
with the you know be beingprepared, and uh, you know, I
mean that that that held a lot.
There was the odd day when Iwasn't a hundred percent
prepared.
We might've done a stayed outand missed curfew a little bit.

Speaker 2 (01:01:31):
But you'd be the guy that would come though and work
your tail off and I'm sure, andsweat it out and, like you said,
come with that good attitudeand like still show up though.
You know, I mean like you'restill showing up, and I think
that there is such a value tothat, because that you know I
know I'm repeating myself here,but that it's easy to show up on
the good days.
Everyone can show up on thegood days, especially as a pro,
right, but's going to be a lotof days where you don't feel
like it, you don't want to, andthen, if you still bring it and

(01:01:52):
you're that fountain instead ofthat drain boy like now, all of
a sudden you're in theconversation as one of the
leaders.
For sure, if you can do that,you bet Good point.
Well, thanks for that, colin.
No, I mean, it's fun Like Ilove the, I love the reflection,
you know, especially, you knowI played 10 years pro not as
many in the NHL as I wanted to,as many games, but I mean being
around a lot of really good prosin different leagues.

(01:02:15):
You know you have theopportunity to see guys that
figured it out kind of right, orguys that you remember as being
good at what they did.
And you know it's nice to beable to celebrate you and what
you did do there, because Ithink that there was a you know
there was.
There was something specialabout that Florida Panther team
that year, for sure, right,obviously, I mean to do what
they did and to get to where youguys got to.

(01:02:35):
Uh, a lot of things have to goright and and you know you have
and you're seeing the chest forthat whole thing was, was, was
you?
I mean, you were a big piece ofit, for sure.
Uh, the one thing I'm going tobring up now that I think of it,
now we're at the florida thinguh, you might not remember this,
but talk about the power,because you guys were an old,
like an older core.
Right, for sure, there was anolder core there and, as you

(01:02:57):
already mentioned, there wassome of us younger guys coming
up and um, and the one yearwhere I got drafted this was
like after week c and washburn,and there were some good guys in
those drafts too.
But then I was the draft thathad ed jovanovsky, ryan johnson
myself.
Ret warner was part of thatdraft too, right, and those were
all like those four picks wereall in the first two rounds,

(01:03:19):
right.
So like some pretty, you knowcredible prospects that were
coming up and that were, youknow, trying to make it, trying
to make the show.
The funny thing was, and likefor me, like the naive naivety
of me at that point, was likewhen you're getting asked
questions or in the paper andyou're trying to make this team
was like that balance of that,yeah, if I do show up, that

(01:03:40):
means somebody else is probablyleaving, like you already said.
That right, you mean like therewas a room when you came to
montreal some of these olderguys were leaving, yeah, and I
was quoted in the paper assaying, yeah, I'm excited to be
here.
It looks like there's maybe achanging of the guard that's
happening or something alongthose lines.
That's all confidence, wow, andstupidity.

(01:04:01):
Kind of too right and notreally even really understanding
that aspect of the game.
And I remember showing up topractice the next day and didn't
even remember that I said itZero consequence to me, and uh,
and obviously you guys had readit right, it was in the florida
whatever.
And uh and you and I think itwas pie as I came through like
the dressing room door likesaluted me, right, you guys were
saluting me and uh and I had noidea why I didn't get it.

(01:04:25):
I was gonna apologize forsomething today no, no, but it
was beautiful Like it was.
It was kind of in your style,right Like it was.
There was a seriousness to it,right, there was a seriousness
to it.

Speaker 1 (01:04:35):
We were sending a message.

Speaker 2 (01:04:37):
Yeah, you sent a message, but it was in a I mean,
it was in a constructive way,that had some humor to it, and
um, and the message was sent,you know, was like, oh my God,
like that was so dumb and sodisrespectful really.
You know what I mean To to tosay that and uh, but anyway, so
do you remember that at all?
Probably not.

Speaker 1 (01:04:56):
Hey, like man, as as since you've phoned me yeah, you
know, it's amazing.
It's amazing how that braingoes back into, like it's crazy,
some of this stuff, like okay,greensboro, north Carolina, were
you at that training camp?
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, sothat was, was that year two?

(01:05:18):
I think that would have been 90, like gee whiz, no Cause you're
saying 95, 90, 94, 95 was yourdraft year 94.

Speaker 2 (01:05:29):
No Well, 94 was your draft year 94.
No 94 was my draft year and Ialmost made the team the second
year.
I was the last guy cut.
And I think that would havebeen the year, probably the
second.

Speaker 1 (01:05:39):
The second year because I stuck around, yeah, I
think that was the one.
So we're on our way to trainingcamp.
Well, we're there.
We're all in our own vehicles,or I forget exactly.
Well, I knew I had my ownvehicle and a couple of guys
with me, but I'm driving by theHooters in Greensboro, north
Carolina there's a great bigsign up bikini contest seven,

(01:05:59):
seven till 9 PM, blah, blah,blah.
Well, my car just pulls rightin there, right, and this is at
eight, 30 in the morning.
Anyway, I said so, is anybodyhere that's in charge of that
bikini contest tonight?
And the gal comes out and saysI am.
I said well, my name is BrianScrudlin, I'm with the Florida
Panthers Hockey Club.
And I said we've got 30 youngguys and you've never seen 30

(01:06:22):
better looking young guys intheir tight little underwear in
your life than what you'll seetonight, if they can all come on
stage.
So that's how I set that upthat morning.
And then I think there wereonly five or six of you that
went out, but it was, I mean,and everybody put on their
favorite dill pickle underwearor whatever you guys had, you

(01:06:43):
know, in your wardrobe back then.
But you know, I guess that waspart of when you talk about the
mental part of the game, orbuilding character, building a
team.
My brain was always onoverdrive for that sort of stuff
because I always wanted to bedoing something with the whole
team.
Lanny used to get so mad at mewhen we'd come off a 21-day road

(01:07:06):
trip and I'd say, well, we'reall getting together tomorrow
night.
She'd go, no, you're not.
It's like, yeah, we have to.
And uh, I said we've been awayfor three weeks, honey, we got
to get down to our favoritetavern here in Florida, so, uh,
but that sort of stuff, you know, I, I, I just don't forget that
sort of stuff.
We had so much fun with it andthe young guys had so much fun,

(01:07:37):
so that was our rookieinitiation that year, I think.
Yeah, that's all we did, wasthat it was kind of fun.
And you guys, I know, and Iknow for a fact, uh, there were
at least 10 beautiful women inthe back there that you were all
changing with, which you allthanked me for at the end of it
also, that was kind of funny allI know is that I won.

Speaker 2 (01:07:50):
So you know, let's just, let's just leave it at
that.
That was the dill pickleunderwear I was talking about oh
, but you know what, like that'sactually interesting because,
like, again, the hazing and allthe bullshit that people I mean
that some of these stories thathave come out I was never a part
of anything like that.
I was never in a team like that, thank gosh, so never had that

(01:08:13):
aspect of it.
But the stuff that I wasinvolved with, like getting
changed in the bathroom on a busor whatever right, like a like
that rookie thing you're, you'reall go in there, buck naked
with the clothes, like thatwould be taboo now today and
probably shouldn't be done.
But like those types of thingsand the thing you talked about,
you mean being in your underwearin front of a bunch of people
you know on stage like there isa mental like it's uncomfortable

(01:08:35):
, right, like it's uncomfortable, sure you, there's a level of
resiliency and mental toughnessthat has to go along with that.
You also have this requirementof like team responsibility at
least I felt that right, likethe older guys want me to do
this, which for me I thought wasall like.
I think it's healthy, like I, Ithink that there's a piece of

(01:08:55):
that that like bonds it.
I think that's a piece of thatthat like I don't know,
galvanizes I don't know what theright word is but like there
needs to be a level, like anentry level, like there needs to
be some type of a creed or sometype of uh, I don't know like
well, the guys I'm saying likeit's not good either yeah, well,

(01:09:15):
and the guys are getting alittle more creative.

Speaker 1 (01:09:17):
Today I or at least I , I've heard some stories of
some stuff that they're doingwhich I think is kind of neat.
I mean, we all watched, uh,when pittsburgh was on their run
winning the stanley cups andflurry, and all those guys were
always doing something to someteammate's room.
You know that I mean that wassort of fun.
You know Russ Portnall cuttingthe armpits out of Gerald

(01:09:39):
Diddick's in Montreal, GeraldDiddick's dress shirt, but they
were all so yellow from here tohere it was time for them to go
and Gerald knew that.
So there was no no, you knowthere was no hurt that that that
went that way.
But then Russ always wore thenicest shirts in the world and

(01:10:00):
Gerald didn't want to cut hisarmpits off and get, even
because Gerald's was for thegarbage, but he took every one
of Russ's beautiful buttons offof his shirt.

Speaker 2 (01:10:09):
So after the game, of course, now Russ is just out
with his shirt wide open and noRuss love that.

Speaker 1 (01:10:16):
So you know, this sort of stuff we had we had so
much fun with.
I did have one instance, so ifI may share with you, my, mine
was the worst.
I, I told my mom and dad.
When I got home I dropped mypants, took my shirt off.
I stood there in my underweareven though if I was to take it
off there was more damage therethan oh, like it was just I was
bleeding all over and it wasterrible and I said I will never

(01:10:39):
, ever initiate anybody.
I don't care, blah, blah.
Well, it was a year later and weget this young rookie by the
name of Joey Kosher.
He comes into Saskatoon and hewas a pretty confident young guy
, but I.
Now they got him on the table,he's blindfolded the whole bit
and I'm going oh man, likeKosher will kill all of us when

(01:11:00):
this is all said and done.
But I thought he was just alittle too cocky and too big for
his bridges right now.
So I went in.
I took the blindfold off.
He and too big for his bridgesright now.
So I went in, I took theblindfold off.
He says screw you, I'm going tokill you.
And I said I'm just taking halfof your eyebrow.
And every day you look in themirror.
I want you to realize don't beso cocky, Come in here and just
be one of us.
You don't have to be the kingevery single day.

(01:11:22):
And so, anyway, he says youtouch me, I'll the eyebrow.
So, anyway, took half theeyebrow, put the blindfold back
on.
The other guys did what theywere doing, whatever.
He came in the next day, Giveme a wink.
I thought oh, game on, I betterbe ready.
And I got a good sleep thenight before because I figured

(01:11:44):
for sure he's coming.
Anyway, it goes to four yearslater and I'm with Montreal.
He's in Detroit, we're in theoffensive zone taking a face off
and I hear screwy, screwy.
And I look over and there's Joe.
He's got his glove under hisarm.
It's going like this to meEyebrow, Half an eyebrow.

(01:12:05):
Well, I won the face-off backto our defenseman.
I was off the ice before thepuck even got to the defenseman.
That's what I tell people.
And Kosher says I've neverheard that story until last year
.
We had a function, a fundraiser, that we were doing together.
That's funny 100% true story.

(01:12:25):
It was funny as hell yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:12:29):
Do you?

Speaker 1 (01:12:30):
think he would.
The boys on the ice, of course,go.
What the hell coach?
What's this?
So he had to tell the story.
Yeah, yeah that's wild.

Speaker 2 (01:12:39):
That happened, yeah.
I mean that, I don't know.
I mean that whole thinghappened to me and that was the
worst thing that happened to me.
It was in, it was in uh juniorin penticton and like, naked on
the dressing floor, strung out,but they never did anything,
though, but like that was likeeven that, though right, like
that, would not get good presstoday at all.
You know, like being like that,having the blindfold on, being

(01:13:01):
super exposed and vulnerable,like you know, that was the
worst thing to happen, and itwasn't, I mean, whatever.
I guess we're from a differentera.
Like that in of itselfshouldn't happen, but there was
something about that too that Ileft feeling, actually feeling
more confident in some weird way, you know.
I mean that I was able to like,do that or whatever.
So I don't know, but well forme to even go to the rink.

Speaker 1 (01:13:21):
The day after it happened to me, I was pretty
impressed.
Impressed with myself, Cause Ithought, oh, and not only that,
but I was.
I was playing junior footballat my high school back then.
So I had to go into the gym and, like you know, I baldered in a
popcorn fart all over the placeand nothing's changed there,
but still it was like my goodLord.
So hockey.

Speaker 2 (01:13:43):
Yeah, hockey Boys will be boys.
Yeah, and it's growing.
I mean it's evolving.

Speaker 1 (01:13:47):
I think it has.

Speaker 2 (01:13:48):
I mean a lot of good ways, you know for sure and, um,
thank god, yeah, exactlyexactly where with that Florida,
with that Florida team.
So I mean I don't want to fastforward past your Montreal
Canadiens because I mean, as afirst year, to win, that is
super cool.
But I think that there is adifferent perspective.
Obviously, after one right andhaving now an nhl career and now
getting back on an expansionleague team with a c on your

(01:14:10):
chest and to experience that runagain, you mind you mean
obviously didn't win but likewhat a crazy, crazy ride that
was.
Um, what was special about thatteam?
I mean, I said, I said it wasspecial, but what to you was
special about that team?
That that made you guys be assuccessful as you were?
Well, it was special.
But what to you was specialabout that team?
That that made you guys be assuccessful as you were?

Speaker 1 (01:14:29):
Well, it was no secret that that, uh, when, uh,
bobby Clark, roger Nielsen, thatcoaching staff, the management
team all got together andselected each and every one of
those individuals that startedthat season, uh, or or just in
the expansion draft.
Um, I looked at that list and Ithought, wow, I hate all these
guys.
So I knew right off the hopthat we were going to be a

(01:14:51):
competitive team.
And it started day one oftraining camp.
We had a hoot and a holler thatsummer just to get things going
in Florida, which really, Imean that just got us all just
so excited.
What a place to want to playhockey.
And I mean, you know, I we hada couple of young kids at the
time so, hey, we might not evenhave to put a snowsuit on this

(01:15:13):
winter, you know, I mean,there's a bonus for the misses.
Uh, so, and that was anotheranother thing we really looked
at, but you know, it was justultra competitive, uh, super fun
.
Roger Nielsen made coming tothe rink every day a joy, an
absolute joy, as much as wealready did as players.
Uh, bobby Clark, uh, reputationstood for itself.

(01:15:35):
And Bobby from day one, uh,never forget that first comment,
but it was like hey, we're allNHL players, just like every
other team.
So what, why can't we win rightnow?
You've all played, you've allplayed on good teams, you all
have a new start.
Why can't we win right now?
And there's no reason why weshouldn't.

(01:15:58):
And it was uh, I think it wasthat you know.
And then Clarkie was gone.
Uh, he called me up and and uh,halfway through this, well, I
guess it wasn't even halfwaythrough the season.
But he called me up and and uh,halfway through this, well, I
guess it wasn't even halfwaythrough the season.
But he told me you know, can wemeet for a coffee?
We did.
He was our general manager.
He says listen, I got a chanceto go back to philadelphia.
I, I'm taking it.
And, uh, I actually told himyou're going to regret this,

(01:16:21):
sure as shit.
We beat him in in 96 and he cameinto our dressing room after we
beat the flyers and uh, andcongratulated each and every one
of us on, on, uh, on what wewere doing, and asked me to come
outside the room for a second.
He says you're a man of yourword.
And I said geez, you stillremember that.

(01:16:42):
You know, I was only justpraying to god I was going to be
right, but it was just man andWayne Huizinga, I mean, you
couldn't ask for a better owner,to be honest.
I mean this guy was just, hewas on the sidelines of
everything, but he was front row, center and and uh, we just
loved him to death.
Each and every one of us guysgot a chance to rub shoulders

(01:17:04):
with the owner and and get toknow him a little bit and he was
just such a nice person and hiswife, marnie, treated our wives
like like a gold.
It was just a beautifulsituation.

Speaker 2 (01:17:14):
That matters too.
I think it really matters.
Yeah, I think that matters alot.
Obviously he doesn't know.

Speaker 1 (01:17:20):
The Viola family's probably doing that now and and
taking over for the Huizingafamily.
And there they are with theirStanley Cup.

Speaker 2 (01:17:27):
So I'm excited for them, yep.
How, um, I want to just gettouch on, I mean.
Obviously, beezer was a hugepart of that run.
You know his personal success,right, he caught fire at a great
time for everybody, and he was,uh, you know, to knock out
Pittsburgh that year and MarioLemieux and you know everything
else that had to go on there.
With the juggernaut that theyhad, a lot of things were going

(01:17:50):
right.
Beezer himself, though, wassuch an interesting guy to me
because he was in Again, there's20 personalities in a room,
right, like Brian Skrudelan andJohn Van Beesbrook are both pros
in their own way, but they'revery, very different, right, and
his approach to the game waswas one that was quite
intimidating as a young guy,especially his approach on game

(01:18:12):
day.
Uh, just maybe talk about that.
Like your experience with, likeI mean, different personalities
in the locker room and how ittakes, you know, different
people to come together and therespect required, you know, in,
in respecting other guys'preparation or the way they are.

Speaker 1 (01:18:27):
Well, that's a huge part of it, and you use the
right word respect.
You got to acknowledge respectwhat they're doing.
If it works for them, well, hey.
And if you're not, if you don'thave something that's working,
well, have a look around and seewhat all these guys do.
I mean, hockey is a verysuperstitious sport, as well, as
you very well know, some guys.

(01:18:48):
What the hell is he doing thatfor?
Again, you know, but he's gotto go over that line five times,
or he's got to, you know,scratch his head four times
before he goes into the face-offcircle.
You know it's crazy.
So, but we do.
We had a immense amount ofrespect for one another and our
families.
We tried to do a lot of stufftogether as as families, um and

(01:19:08):
uh.
I think it just went a long wayfor for understanding what each
and every player was, and andand if they did it that way, you
didn't get in their way, unless, of course, as we found out two
months into the first season,roger Nielsen comes into the
room and says, okay, lastnight's game was absolutely

(01:19:31):
terrible.
Six guys went golfing yesterday, or not yesterday, the day
before.
So those six guys know who theyare, and I don't think five of
those guys played worth a shit.
So you guys have to policeyourselves whether you're going
to be golfing or playing hockeythis year.

(01:19:52):
Well, we had a couple of guysthat loved golf.
Right, as soon as practice wasover, it was right to the golf
course.
Well, they realized they couldnot play the day before a game
and they made that sacrifice, asthey should have rightfully so,
for their job.
Yet at the same time, you know,there was no fooling around.
Those guys were making thesacrifice.

(01:20:13):
They weren't going to be theweak cog in the link.
This was just going to.
We were all going to.
We were going to make thatchain as strong as we possibly
could, and Roger had a lot to dowith that, as much as Doug
McLean came in.
But Roger had a lot to do withthat as much as Doug McLean came
in.
But Roger had a lot to do that.
He planted a lot of great seatsand for a lot of young players.
He was very supportive.
I mean they called him captainvideo, but man, I could watch

(01:20:35):
his videos all day long.
He made them fun.

Speaker 2 (01:20:37):
Yeah, that's cool.
When it came to like justgetting back to Beezer, like he
was super serious, right, like,like didn't want to socialize.
I mean I didn't go near him ongame day.
Um, was that the same way foryou guys?
Like in the room there, did you?
Did you give him his face too?
Is that just the way youhandled it?

Speaker 1 (01:20:54):
Yeah, that was just the way he was.
John was uh, you know, Jason,goalies are different.
I mean, I don't care whatanybody says, We've always said
it, but they do.
They've got their ownpreparations and you know it is
a position all by itself.
I mean, as much as they're partof the team, they are the last
line of defense and without Johnwe don't have that story.

(01:21:14):
Let's face it.
I mean, you know, you justbring up Mario and Jagger and
the Penguins, but to start offwith it was Bork and Neely and
the Bruins, and then it went toEric and the Legion of Doom with
the Flyers, and then we gotMario, and then they decided to
bring in the dehumidifiers intoSouth Florida and make our ice

(01:21:35):
the best ice in the NHL.
For Forsberg and Sackick I saidno, put the ice chunks back out
there, Make them work throughit.
Anyway, that's understandablethat four sweep.
But we, uh, we did we, wereally we pushed one another.
Yet at the same time I alwayshad a little bit of fun with

(01:21:55):
Beezer.
I was one guy, I think thatcould you know every now and
then throw one item and get awaywith it.
But really I I understand whereyou're coming from.

Speaker 2 (01:22:04):
Yeah, the um as far as being like that separation or
from preparation I think is oneof the biggest differences from
you know, junior ranks, evenmaybe AHL to NHL, regular, the
consistency required at the prolevel right To bring a game
that's you know best in theleague worthy.
How did you find thatpreparation, like did it?

(01:22:26):
Did it come with you inherentlyor was it things you had to
find out as you became a pro andentrenched in the game that
like became part of you andthings you knew you had to do?

Speaker 1 (01:22:36):
Well, it was.
Uh.
The nutrition side of it hasnever changed.
My wife was a wonderful cookstill is.
Uh, the rest the night beforethe game was so important to me.
And then my pregame naps werereally important and Lana will
tell you how important they werebecause we had a water running
down the inside of the walls oneafternoon and I said, honey,

(01:22:56):
I'll get at it tomorrow, justlet her run.
I got a big game today.
She wasn't very impressed withmy response, but you know,
that's just I mean, and she wasso supportive.
I mean.
There's another thing you'regonna get married to somebody.
Well you gotta.
I couldn't have asked forbetter support.
And this was a gal that I'dloved since I was 13 years of
age.
And here we were now, uh,playing pro hockey and and

(01:23:21):
raising a family and living allby ourselves out in montreal or
dallas or florida and and uh,and loving every minute of it
and just totally supporting eachother, cause we had a pretty
important team at home as well.

Speaker 2 (01:23:33):
Yeah, no for sure that matters.
Maybe we'll finish on the lastone.
So I mean we talked about beinga winner.
You mean you step into theleague, you win a Stanley cup,
you, you play for a grid like ahistoric Montreal Canadiens team
.
You end up going to Florida,getting to the final wearing the
C again.
Do you think that you get thatopportunity in Dallas without

(01:23:57):
those things?

Speaker 1 (01:23:58):
on your resume?
Probably not, I, you know, andeven then I I was.
Just I felt like I was sofortunate I got was was at the
right place at the right time anumber of years.
The situation in Dallas wasreally interesting because now I
got Bob Ganey as the generalmanager, doug Jarvis as an

(01:24:21):
assistant coach, montrealCanadiens, craig Ludwig as an
ex-teammate, montreal CanadiensCraig Ludwig is an ex-teammate,
guy Carboneau is an ex-teammate,joe Neuendijk, who I played a
short period of time with inCalgary, and then Keener and I
went from Mike Keener and I wentfrom New York to Dallas.

(01:24:43):
So there was a lot offamiliarity there and the idea
of how good they were.
Just now, seeing some of theseguys live every single day.
Sergei Zuboff may be one of themost talented players that I
ever played, with Just thenicest set of hands that I've
ever, ever, ever, ever had theopportunity to see on a daily

(01:25:06):
basis, and just as cool as acucumber.
And then, of course, medano,where that sweater flies up, and
you know it was just.
And then Latin, and you knowyou can go on.
Our defense was as strong asany six defensemen in the maybe
the history of the NationalHockey League, for gosh sake, I
mean, those guys were good.
And then Eddie and the Pipes,and if Eddie wasn't going, uh,

(01:25:29):
you had roman turk.
So, uh, we were pretty strongfrom from, uh, our fourth first
line right through to our fourthline.

Speaker 2 (01:25:36):
So so a lot of fun, but yeah, so put that, but so
put the gm cap on like.
So you, you have all this,these guys that you just talked
about, and then you get you andmike keen get added to that
recipe.
So when you get in there, whatis the message to you, or why do
you think you're there and whatare you providing for value to
that group?

Speaker 1 (01:25:56):
Well, as I showed up I think it was four days, five
days after becoming a DallasStar and I showed up and there
was a little envelope, my stall,I should go grab it so I can
read you exactly.
But anyway, I I read the.
I read the Bob ism and I callit a Bob ism because it was from
Bob Ganey, but it was justthree little pointers, strong on

(01:26:21):
face offs, hard to play againstand, uh, keep the room light.
You know, yeah, hey, but yourealize, man, alive with this
group, that was.
Those are three reallyimportant things and maybe
keeping the room light was, wasmaybe one of the most important

(01:26:43):
things.
I mean, I was having fun rightthrough to the last.
Uh, that last warmup going into, was it double overtime in
Buffalo?
Uh, holly scored anyway, it wasuh like we were having fun.
We were just having fun.
And as tense as some of thoseguys were, especially Eddie
Belfort, uh, you know, I mean ifyou can still laugh and because

(01:27:07):
you know you're going to go outthere and and do your best, uh,
but still, we, we still enjoyedthe game and uh, we enjoyed
practices, we enjoyed justworking for each other and and
so, but that opportunitydefinitely came from the past.
Uh, past relationship, uh withbob.
Uh, he sent craig Craig Buttonout to do the scouting prior to

(01:27:30):
the trade and I've had numerousconversations with Craig but he
said, no, we just felt you andMike in a trade for Doug Harvey
and oh shoot, pittsburgh Penguin.
Now His name will come to me.
But we just felt like that was abit of an upgrade for us.

(01:27:52):
And I thought, wow, well, whenpeople do that and sort of let
you know that message as well,man alive, you put a little bit
extra on the backpack and yousay I'm going to go the extra
mile for you guys Because youhave for me.
And I, and I thought, uh,number one, that that uh, uh,

(01:28:13):
accounting had screwed up on myfirst check when I arrived in
Dallas, because all of a suddenI got a 9% pay raise but there's
no state tax.
I'm coming from New York.
I went, whoa, hang on here.
A second Nice little bonus.
So that was sweet as well.

Speaker 2 (01:28:28):
No, that's great, and I'm so pumped that you
mentioned that note from Bob,because you know, again, three
points to an NHL player of howyou have, how to provide value
to a group, and one of them hasnothing to do with being on the
ice at all.
Right, like that is like.

(01:28:49):
I mean, that's the message thatI try and get through to guys
about the difference between youknow, sometimes even making it,
let alone or maybe adding yearsto your career, is like that
piece right there that the, thegame and the group is as big, if
not bigger, than you as anindividual.
And if and and if you get thataspect of it like you're, you
are, you're maximizing your ownpotential and your own tenure,

(01:29:10):
but you're also making otherpeople better and you're making
the game a better place andyou're having more fun while
you're doing it.
Like there's so many wins onthere.
I just think when we're tryingto be great, sometimes as an
individual, we can get so stuckinside ourselves that we forget
about that aspect right, Aboutthe guys around us and about the
culture of the whole thing.
So I just love that you saidthat.

(01:29:30):
I mean that's a that's adecision being made to try and
win a Stanley cup to bringsomeone in that's going to
provide that type of lube, thatoil in the room.
Like right that, that that theyknew that you were going to
bring.
Like that's I love that story.

Speaker 1 (01:29:42):
Thanks for sharing.
Yeah, we just had so much fun.
I know, and you know I I mean Ilook back our relationship with
bob and I, you know I justcan't thank him enough for for
allowing us that opportunity,because keener and I, to be
honest, I think I can speak formike but we were really
disappointed.
Here we are playing with the,the greatest player ever to play

(01:30:04):
in the world, wayne gretzky,and we're we're probably not
going to make the playoffs Likethis was just absolute, really
ridiculous.
Right, we just couldn't findanything, couldn't find that
chemistry in New York, butanyway, we found it in in Dallas
and and uh, three years ofthrills.

Speaker 2 (01:30:20):
Yeah, that's a what a way to go out too.
So two cups, uh?
I know you probably been askedthat question a ton of times, is
there?
Is there one highlight for you?

Speaker 1 (01:30:34):
you know, over uh, over your career that that
really stands out, maybe likeyour personal proudest moment.
Well, I gotta, I gotta admit itonly took nine seconds, but to
chip in for my first goal, uh,of the 86 playoffs, and for it
to be a an overtime goal, I mean, you know, it's probably the
one thing that will stick withme for I don't know how many
more years.
I mean, we're going on quite awhile now.

(01:30:54):
I actually brought the.
I said to Lana a while back.
I said you got to come watchhis Vancouver Boston.
So it would have been 2012 whereBurroughs scored, I think, 11
seconds into the overtime, butfor some reason I just felt like
this was going to be it.
Now, if he would have shot thepuck before wrapping it around,
he would have probably beenseven seconds.

(01:31:15):
So it's not like it can't bebroken, and especially with the
way they're moving today.
But anyway, it's been.
You know, I always have alittle fun with it.
I say Lana always says that Iscored that goal in nine seconds
and we had three of our kids in27 seconds.

Speaker 2 (01:31:30):
So oh man, that's awesome.
Well, I said an hour and we'reat an hour and 20.
So I think I'll I'll let you go, but I really, uh, really
appreciate you.
I really appreciate the messageyou bring.
You know what I mean.
One thing I say screwy is isyis better.
Humans make better hockeyplayers.

(01:31:51):
That's one thing that I really,truly believe, and I think when
we can build that characterpiece, the human piece, the
teammate piece, you are going tobe better as an individual and
you're also going to make thoseguys around you better.
So I think you exemplified thatyour entire career from the
short time I was with you.
I thought you did a great jobof that and thanks for sharing
that message here today.
Thank you very much.

(01:32:11):
Appreciate it Awesome.
Is there anything else you'dwant to leave my listeners with
as far as message for how to,how to get to where they want to
go?

Speaker 1 (01:32:19):
Well, I, I would say that, uh, that you keep bringing
up so, as you get your guests,keep pushing them into those,
those areas that they can sharesome of the inside stuff,
because, uh, you know, I, Ialways knew my work had had to
go on first before my skates.
That was one thing that I knewfor a fact.
And you can never be, you cannever be under, uh over prepared

(01:32:42):
, I think to be over prepared,uh, overprepared, I think to be
overprepared.
Even public speaking, some ofthese deals that I do today,
when I go in and I'm wellprepared, man, they go, they're
just wonderful to do and youdon't feel like, you know,
you're not getting all sweatyand anxious for all that stuff,
it's just kind of rolls off yourtongue now.
So, anyway, it's been a lot offun.

Speaker 2 (01:33:04):
That's great.
Those are great messages.
Well, thanks again.
Next time I'm in Calgary, I'mgoing to look you up, or we'll
have to share a few more stories, and I really appreciate you
taking the time today, screwy.

Speaker 1 (01:33:14):
Great to see you, Jason.
All the best.

Speaker 2 (01:33:22):
All right.
Thank you so much for beinghere till the end and listening
to the conversation with BrianScroodland, two-time Stanley Cup
champion and my former captain.
Scruton was always a ton of funto be around, always pulling
some type of prank or gettingthe guys together for some type
of a getaway or a lunch or adinner or, like he said, the

(01:33:44):
bikini contest at Hooters inGreensboro as my rookie
initiation one of the years.
There was always something uphis sleeve and he kept things
light.
He kept things fun but he keptit professional.
He knew how to work and he wasan example in that capacity and
wore the C with pride and hedeserved it.
A ton, so tons of lessons totake away from Mr Scrooge.

(01:34:09):
I wish we could have him on alittle longer.
There's so many more questionsI thought of asking after we
were finished, but maybe that'sfor another time.
For all of you who out there whowant to be leaders, I did say
it during the discussion, butfinding your authentic voice,
like what you are, first andforemost as a person, is

(01:34:31):
integral to being a good captain.
You can't pretend to be acaptain.
You can't pretend to be an ideaof somebody that you don't,
that you aren't uh and thinkthat that's going to get the
troops, get your teammates firedup and have them rally against
you.
Leadership is a skill.
There are things that you cando to become a better leader.

(01:34:54):
You can practice being morevocal.
If you think vocality issomething that you aren't great
at and you want to be more vocalbecause you think that a leader
should be vocal and a goodcommunicator, then practice it.
You can definitely practicethese things so you become
authentic at it.
It's not like you can't ever begood at it.
But don't fake it in the lockerroom on day one and try and

(01:35:14):
tell this great big speech andfeel like you have to be some
type of an orator, acommunicator, and you're going
to gain the trust of yourteammates and you're going to be
deemed the leader of the team.
That's not the way it works.
The way it works is you show upauthentically.
You, if you're a jokester, be ajokester.
If you're a serious guy, beserious.

(01:35:34):
If you are somebody who likesto have a good time and poke fun
of himself, do that.
But make sure you bring yourstandard to the table, and your
standards have to be high.
That's a non-negotiable,especially once you get to the
pro ranks and most of the timeat the junior ranks, your

(01:35:58):
character has to be high.
What does character mean?
That means you have to makeother people around you better.
It means you have to make themfeel comfortable.
It means you have to do theright thing much more often than
not and when no one's looking.
It means you should be one ofthe hardest workers in the room,
if not the hardest worker.
It means that your preparationis detailed and meticulous and
consistent.
It means you bring a level ofplay that people understand who

(01:36:19):
you are and what you're going tobring every night.
Winning is paramount to you.
If you are an authentic leaderof a hockey team, that has to be
the most important thing, andgetting the best out of
everybody around you has to beimportant.
So many things get lost in theidea of what a captain is.

(01:36:40):
You can be a quiet captain, aloud captain.
You can be a competitive,physical captain.
You can be a dangler as acaptain.
You can be a competitive,physical captain.
You can be a dangler as acaptain.
But you do need to be you andyou do need to be an example
when it comes to those who arearound you and the one that
never misses is going to work.

(01:37:00):
Like Brian Scruton says, you putyour hard hat on before you put
your skates on.
Whether you're a first PP guyor a third line centerman, you
put your hard hat on first,whether it comes to going to the
gym, whether it comes topreparing for an exhibition game
or a playoff game.
Show that work ethic, show thatcompete on a night in, night
out basis.
Be relentless about it and youwill be looked up to on your

(01:37:24):
team, because that is somethingthat is very difficult to do,
and leaders are good at doingdifficult things, and don't
forget about that interpersonalaspect of leadership.
Those around you should feelincluded, should feel welcomed,
should feel valued, and theyshould also feel challenged by a
captain.
That's one of the things that acaptain should be doing should

(01:37:45):
be challenging those around themto be better, not only by their
example, but also sometimes ina challenge of words that this
needs to be better.
That obviously comes at a littlelater ages.
I'm not expecting U13 and U15captains out there to be holding
his teammates accountable.
Let the coaches do that.
But once we get to the olderlevels, the pros and the juniors

(01:38:07):
that are listening to this.
That is something that comes.
There's a responsibility toleadership, uh, that you need to
be comfortable in calling guysout around you, and you only get
to do that when you're bringingit yourself.
So, uh, leadership lessons fromBrian Skruelin uh, such good
stuff.
They're.
Better humans make betterhockey players, as you know.
Uh, keep trying to be a betterhuman.

(01:38:29):
Your hockey will follow.
Until next time, play hard andkeep your head up.

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EP.141 - Leading on Ice: Brian Skrudland's Journey from Undrafted to NHL Champion

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}EP.141 - Leading on Ice: Brian Skrudland's Journey from Undrafted to NHL Champion