#92Noon! 11am Hour 10/9 Russo Radio, Cal Clutterbuck!

#92Noon! Russo - Clutterbuck

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Man Hey, Kevin Jesse here super pumped about the season
getting going again here already using the Minnesota mantra.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Well we'll get there next year. Lots of things need
to go great as far as health and production, and
I agree with Brett big time that the youngsters need
to get a significant chance to play on top three line. Lastly,
what's the over under on the amount of times Russo
talks about your candles in the press box?

Speaker 3 (00:27):
Thanks and go wild?

Speaker 4 (00:29):
Yeah?

Speaker 5 (00:30):
Amen, that's more of a Dan Burrero thing, But I
don't they're both infatuated with how my area smells.

Speaker 4 (00:38):
If you don't like it, don't come into it. It's
really that easy.

Speaker 5 (00:42):
Speaking of America's favorite blogger, let's go to Saint Louis
Michael Russo of The Athletic Andthathletic dot Com. What I
love about having you on, Russo is that Brett blakemore
usually waits till last second to call the guest, and
I'm always worried we're going to get.

Speaker 4 (00:55):
Him out on time.

Speaker 5 (00:56):
He calls you like ten minutes early, so we can
have a pre sho with you now.

Speaker 3 (01:01):
Yeah, he and I had a great conversation waiting for you.
No shocks. I guess that I thought the most impressive
part of that toss backs is the guy saying that
Brett Blakemore made a great point.

Speaker 4 (01:11):
Seriously, it doesn't have an often. Oh my goodness, Well
we've been we've been talking. Go ahead.

Speaker 3 (01:18):
My first question is Pat mcletty on vacation, Like, what's
going on? Why am I the guest?

Speaker 6 (01:23):
No?

Speaker 4 (01:24):
I had Pat on as well. Believe me.

Speaker 5 (01:26):
Uh Moleski calls them lifeboats. I've had lifeboat after lifeboat
after lifeboat, including Joe O'Donnell, including Patt NICCOLETTI. We're going
to finish up the show with Cal Clutterbuck, But how
do you start a brand new season without Michael Russo
of the Athletic in the Athletic dot com.

Speaker 4 (01:42):
We had to squeeze in.

Speaker 3 (01:44):
Yeah, absolutely, mostly because you got to ask clutter uh.
Like uh. I was talking to Nino the other day,
and you know, it was talking about like when he
was traded in Minnesota, how nervous he was that, you know,
if it's going to be a long term thing. And
I saw that I saw a podcast with clutter recently
where he basically said the same thing when he got
to the Islanders he was just freaking out, you know,

(02:04):
and and then you look at him. Turned it into
an entire career there and now he's doing TV there.

Speaker 5 (02:10):
Pretty impressive, without a doubt, and I very much look
forward to that conversation.

Speaker 4 (02:15):
I was going to say I was gonna have Joe.

Speaker 5 (02:18):
Smith on instead, but he's busy, He's he's the one
that actually works in your tandem.

Speaker 4 (02:22):
So I know that you had some free time, so
I know i'd be able to squeeze you in.

Speaker 3 (02:27):
That is very true, So Joe, I feel bad they
sent it. Like I even was thinking as I was
walking over here where they sent two of us to
Saint Louis for some ungodly reason. And Joe's now sitting
in Montgomery's press Correntson that's going the blues room, So
it's like they Yeah, they sent two of us to
Saint Louis so he could work and I could do radio. Yeah.

Speaker 5 (02:46):
Well, we definitely appreciate it, and it's an opportunity to
plug the Athletic.

Speaker 4 (02:49):
In the Athletic dot Com.

Speaker 5 (02:51):
You guys got all the best writers and all the
great stuff. I highly recommend it to anybody out there
at the Athletic dot Com.

Speaker 4 (02:58):
Your feelings coming into the brand new season.

Speaker 5 (03:01):
We've been talking duckies and bunnies, rainbows and unicorns. Everyone's
feeling good going into game number one. How about you
as you cover this team.

Speaker 3 (03:10):
I mean, I'm excited about real hockey, and that's for sure.
You know, I will say I'm a little nervous about
the team and how they're going to start. I just
I don't know. I mean, you have this great start
to camp and you're all excited about these young guys,
and next thing you know, they end camp and they
have a really in my eyes strange third line with

(03:30):
Trenian Hartman and Johanson, and then they're you know, you
have Marcus you know who you know, I love as
a player, but all of a sudden, he's your second
line left wing next to a Tara Tenco's just trying
to reinvigorate his career. And you have, you know, a
really again weird fourth line with ober and I who
was honestly only in the lineup because he's more experienced
than you're of but you're out performed him in camp.

(03:52):
And then you know, uh, rookie of making his NHL
w and and it just seems like They're an insury
away from significant issue here. So I'm a little I'll
just be curious to see how the lines are tonight
and how quickly John has to go away from him
and maybe scramble things up. I'm excited to watch Zeve
tonight in his regular season NHL debut, But same thing,

(04:15):
Like you knows as comfortable as he has looked with
Jared Spurgeon, you know that is a real undersized second pair,
and so against a big, bad Blues team, how long
can you go with that before you might have to
split it up? So I just you know, it's just
I guess my big thing is, like you have this
long training camp and all of a sudden we come
to practice Monday and everything is just messed up and

(04:37):
or did or changed and and so I'm just curious
to see how it all works and how long John
sticks with it.

Speaker 5 (04:44):
In Game one doesn't mean that this is going to
be what happens going forward. It can all change within
the first shift, let.

Speaker 4 (04:50):
Alone the first game.

Speaker 5 (04:52):
But that being said, are you a little disappointed from
your vantage point that Ogrin or you Rob didn't do
more to claim that top six role. So Marcus Felino
could be better suited in that third or fourth line
role where you know that he's going to excel. Now
he's kind of he almost feel like he might be
a little bit out of position.

Speaker 3 (05:13):
Yeah, I agree with you, and you know, I am
a little disappointed, but you know, I'm also trying to
remember that they're twenty one years old, You've got a kid,
and you know your office just coming over from Europe
for the first time. I thought he was really really
good defensively in camp, regressed a bit, but then they
you know, they threw him in Chicago against an NFL
lineup and he wasn't very good, and that is probably

(05:33):
why he is out of the lineup tonight. I thought
Ogrin was going to do more. He was so good
early in camp with Eric Kinek and Tarasenko. But you know,
there's as somebody I respect a lot says, it's very
different at eleven am than it is at seven pm,
and at seven pm throughout camp, who is not good.
He didn't produce, he didn't hit guys on the fore check.

(05:55):
He needs to be much much better if he's going
to be on this roster and not. I'm back in Iowa,
so I think that he has gotten a little bit
of a wake up call from the coaches here, a
little bit, but you know this is not and I
am and Brett could attest this. I am the guy
that wants them to go with the kids and go
with the kids, and you know, I know what I'm
you're getting from a Marcus Johansson and players like that, like,

(06:17):
let's see what Ogan and Europe can do. But the
one thing I will say is John gave them every
opportunity in camp, in top six roles, in middle six roles,
and neither of them produced. I mean, yeah, Ogeran had
seven shots in five games, zero points and Eurov had
seven shots in six games and one assist that in

(06:38):
the opener that, by the way, was an accidental its assist,
it was it was a you know, an attempted you know,
uh doorstep essentially tappened that he missed. And then astrois
a set up training for the goal in Winnipeg. So
you know, I expected more from both of them. But
I think Eurov is still going to be a really
good player. You know, everything is new to him. He's

(06:58):
still living in a hotel. And I said this on
the podcast Together Night, I was. I was shooting the
breeze with him at his stall, and I'm like, how's
the hotel and he just looked at me like almost sad,
and he goes the windows don't open, ye like but
it was like it was just this funny line that
like it just dawns on you, like this kid is
in North America really for the first time, and he's

(07:19):
in this strange place and he's trying to find his footing.
His English is still a work in progress. He has
he brings his laundry every day to the morning skate
for Terence Tanko to bring home and do I mean,
you know, everything is new to him. So I think
the hockey is gonna come. But I think some of
us sometimes, even as long as I've covered this league,
take it for granted about how difficult it is. His

(07:40):
family can't come over because of these issues, obviously because
he's from Russia. You know, he's got a significant other
that can't come over until December, you know, like stuff
like that, and so it's it's it's really I think
tough for him right now.

Speaker 5 (07:54):
Yeah, I agree, no matter what happens, even over the
course of this year, the future is bright for bull
of them, but by contrast what they didn't do in
the preseason and during training camp, hunter Hate did despite
being the last cut there at the end of training camp,
he gets the first call up when Nico Sturman, you
and Joe report that he's going to be out for

(08:14):
a significant amount of time. Look at this opportunity for
Hunter Hate there wide eyed and bushy tailed.

Speaker 4 (08:19):
He's going to make his NHL debut tonight most.

Speaker 3 (08:21):
Likely, Yes, most likely, and you know I will be
I'll also be interested to see what Jonas Berdeen. But
Hunter Hat was great. He had a really good rookie
year last year in Iowa. Scored twenty goals, and you know,
and we all know about how tough of the year
last year was Iowa. And maybe he can help ignite
a Liam Ogeran tonight because the two of them had
great chemistry as linemates last year in Iowa when Ogrian

(08:42):
went down there and was a basically a point of
game player. So I'm really excited to see him. He's fast,
he's got the shoot first mentality, and he's somebody that
honestly I could see because he was so good in camp,
Like you can move him up in the lineup. Let's
let's even just say like he could play wing. I mean,
you could put him on his off side, even on
that second line. If you're John Hines. You know, my

(09:05):
guess is they would go back to the well and
go Marcus Johansson first. But I am looking forward to
seeing him play tonight. And he was definitely a bright
spot in camp, scored that great time goal in Winnipeg,
scored that awesome goal as well, and at home in
the one preseason game, so you know, he definitely trust
you know, came close to earning a spot and and really,

(09:26):
you know, unfortunately for Nico Sturm, it is looking like
he's going to need back surgery or have had back surgery.
We'll we'll hopefully get an update today, but he's going
to be out for a while. So this is something
else Bill Garan's gonna have to really pay attention to here,
because suddenly they're, you know, with Zucarello out too, they
just are you know, as much as we want to
talk about the Wilds improved depth this year in cap space,

(09:48):
you know they might have to, you know, make some
sort of external move. And the reason why I say
that too is I know for a fact that on Monday,
when they got the word about Nco Sturm, they called
up Jack Rosselvik offered him a million dollar deal. Well,
he said he thought he could get to two and
a half million, declined it, and next you know, he
signed last night with Edmonton for a million and a half.
But just the fact that the Wild felt right away

(10:09):
that they needed to address the situation just tells me
that they're going to be really scouring the marketplace for
a trade if these young kids don't show that they
at least are ready right now.

Speaker 5 (10:19):
No match Zucarello, No Nico Sturm, and we thought no.
Jonas Brodein. John Hines wasn't ready to tip his hand
when I had him on two and two and a.

Speaker 4 (10:29):
Quarter hours ago. But I was there at practice with
you yesterday.

Speaker 5 (10:32):
We both had our face press right up against the
glass and we saw Jonas Prodein skating on a pair,
no not no contact, jersey on, just skating like a
regular guy. I think he's poised to make his season
debut tonight in game number one. What do you what
does your spidey sense tell you?

Speaker 3 (10:50):
You know, I honestly don't know. I would I would
think that it would be more doubtful.

Speaker 6 (10:54):
But but you're right.

Speaker 3 (10:55):
I mean, the one thing about Jonas Vardean, we've seen
him miss months, two months before get one track to
some play. Sometimes we've even seen him pop into the
lineup without a practice. He is, He's a rare breed.
From that standpoint, The onlying I'll say is that you
know the same. And look, he's gonna have to play
at some point, right the LA Kings, the Columbus, if
they're all hard hitting teams. But to throw him in tonight,

(11:17):
you know where he hasn't had a ton of contact
lately in camp. You know where he's really started to
get it in the last couple of days. You know,
it's very different when all of a sudden you have
bradon Chen coming at you on a cour check. So
you know, I'll be interested. But look, he's gonna have
to play at some point. The fact that they didn't
put him on injured reserve tells you that he's definitely close,

(11:37):
because they could have easily put him on IR and
brought up another player. And so the fact that they
want to have him missed the first week of the
season tells you that at a minimum. He's you know,
if he doesn't play tonight, he could be playing at home.
So I think it's a great sign to this team.
And then I'll be interesting to see what they do
with the blue line. Do they you know, do they
slowly put him in and play him third pair of

(11:57):
minutes but you know will not be something his long
term or do you throw them right away with say
a brock favor, keep a boam with Jared Spurgeon and
maybe drop out Jake Middleton on to the third pair
with a Pegosion or David Yurrichek. There's a lot of
options that Jonas Burdeen would bring that allows you to
deepen up your blue line.

Speaker 5 (12:15):
Talking to Michael Russo of the Athletic and the Athletic
Dot Com, a lot of the conversation not only in
the Twin Cities, Michael, but around the National Hockey League
was the wind fall that Carill Caprisa fell into seventeen
million dollars a year for the next eight seasons. Uh
Craig Leopold, Bill Garon didn't let that big fish slip away,
But then contrasted, right after the fact, you got McDavid

(12:37):
signing Icel Kyle Connor, all these guys for I mean,
not peanuts, but significantly less than seventeen million a year.
What do you say to the detractors out there that
say the Wild overpaid for number ninety seven?

Speaker 3 (12:51):
Yep, yeah, I mean I think the you know what
I think what I would say to detractors is the alternative.
You know, I mean, as we saw, you just mentioned
those three science and now it's sending out the market
next summer. And if you lose Coroll Presop, who you getting,
you know, or you're Vayer and kempe goes to market,
which I'm not convinced he's gunn on. Are you gonna
have to pay him fifteen just to get them here?
Because you're gonna now have to compete against thirty one

(13:13):
other teams to get them, you know, same thing with
Alex Tuck or Martin Ahis or Temmi Panarin or something
like that. So that would be what I would say,
But I you know, the only other thing is like
but and I don't I don't begrudge the Wild for
doing it at all. Okay, they had to get it done.
Everybody's situation is different. But I do think that it
makes Carill look, you know a little bit hypocritical here.

(13:35):
You know, the other guys were willing to play ball,
and you know, they they made their money, but they
also gave more team friendly contracts, and you know, and
Carill and his camp, and he's the boss of that camp,
you know, turned down a sixteen million dollar deal. Then
when the Wild offered seventeen million, they have the audacity
to counter and the Wild held firm there and they
gave him seventeen. So, you know, I don't think it

(13:58):
makes Krill look overly great. And he's got to look
at teammates in the eye for a long time knowing
that you know, he's going to be the highest paid
player in the NHL, so you better deliver. But right
now he's making, you know, ten million dollars more than
Matt Boldie, who's not that much of an inferior player
to him, that's for sure. So you know, look, the
CAP's going to go up. The hope is that eventually

(14:18):
that the market resets itself where essentially it catches up
to Kroll. But I think that it definitely puts a
lot of pressure on him now that he's got to
he's got to deliver, and look the wild could say
they have a ton of cap space built go after
big fish, but you know they'd have a lot more
cap space if he had taken thirteen or fourteen million
dollars than seventeen.

Speaker 5 (14:39):
I've asked this question to Mikletty, to Joe and even
Brett Blakemore, and I think all four of us agree
setting the over under at forty five goals and one
hundred points for Caprice up. We're all taking the over
with a caveat that he plays seventy games this season.

Speaker 4 (14:53):
Do you subscribe to this list?

Speaker 3 (14:56):
Yeah, I mean, if he's healthy, he's doing that, I
would think, you know, specially if you can stand that line.
But as I mentioned, we'll see about that line too,
because again with Zuperello out until November at least, you
know at some point they might, especially on the road,
and they got a lot of road games coming up,
you know, have to maybe separate Boldie in him and
put Boldie on the second line just to kind of

(15:18):
even it out. But I definitely think, I mean, Corill,
if he is healthy, is you know, got fifty goals
one hundred points ability easily, especially if he gets in
that seventy to seventy five game range.

Speaker 5 (15:30):
A couple of last ones for you. I know, you
got to get to the morning skate. Wild taking the
ice this morning. They're in Saint Louis, and I'll drop
the puck on game one of the eighty two game
grinds starting tonight, six forty five pre game puck drops
just after seven o'clock right here on FM one hundred
point three.

Speaker 4 (15:45):
The fan.

Speaker 5 (15:46):
This Central Division, the Wild and the Blues are a
part of it.

Speaker 4 (15:50):
It's going to be a dogfight once again. Michael. I
look at Dallas, I look at Colorado. I don't know.

Speaker 5 (15:56):
I don't think there's a lot separating either of them.
I think they're both going to be very good. But
how do you see the Central Division shaking out?

Speaker 3 (16:03):
Yeah, I think Dallas is You know, the interesting thing
about this division is I think everybody has taken a
little bit of a step back, except maybe Colorado. You know.
I like that they've resigned brock Nelson. I think him
being there a full year is going to help them,
you know, rather than transitioning for the first time being
traded in the middle of you know, at the deadline
last year. But I think Winnipeg is not nearly as deep.

(16:24):
I don't think Dallas is as deep, but I think
there's still probably the team to beat. And I think
Utah is going to be better. And I'm telling you,
like I know that Nashville got off to the horrible
start last year, but you know, maybe they have a
sort of a reset. Everything is about the start in
this league, and last year we witnessed it with a while.
They got off to an incredible start, had were tied
to the most points in the league in mid December,

(16:46):
and they made the playoffs on a tiebreaker, a lucky,
miraculous tiebreaker scored by Erik Sinnet in the final minute.
Otherwise they missed the playoffs. So it is you got
to get off the good starts in this league. The
team that I'm also telling you, I think it's going
to be pretty good at Saint Louis. Like I look
at their line up just this morning. I think Robert
snunder Route has been with Robert thomasin's the minute he

(17:08):
landed in Saint Louis. He has not left his side,
and he looks toys to have a big year. I
think Robert Thomas is going to pop as a superstar
this year. Dylan Holloway, if he's healthy, could get ninety points.
I mean, this is a pretty decent team. And then
obviously we've seen Bennexon win big games before, both in
the in the Stanley Cup playoffs and obviously in the

(17:29):
Four Nations last year. So I think the Blues are
on the rise.

Speaker 4 (17:32):
Who are you picking way early?

Speaker 5 (17:35):
We haven't even played game one for the wild season,
only a couple of games of the regular season under
our belt. But you got the two time defending Cup
champs in the Florida Panthers over there in the East,
and I know that's your your favorite team to ever
grace the Earth, but they're missing Sasha Barkov here for
a significant amount of time. Who's your favorite to hoist
Lord Stanley's Cup come next June.

Speaker 3 (17:56):
I have a feeling Vegas is going to do it.
I know that last night they weren't great defensively. I
know Aden Hill wasn't exactly terrific last night. They definitely
got blew that by three lead, but Michael and Barbashev
and Marnold looked incredible last night. I think Dorotheev's star
in the making had a hat trick last night, and
and the other thing here, and I know fans they're
going to just freaking get you know, pissed off at this,

(18:18):
but uh, you know, with Petro out and his career
potentially over, they get eight point eight million, in the
full eight point eight million in cap space, and last
night they looked me to have a blue line that
is very thinned out, but now they had eight point
eight million to play with. And I just think at
some point we know that the most the boldest GM
in the league, who is Kelly mccrimmin, will figure out
a way to fix that situation. And now he's got

(18:39):
the weapon to do it with that cap space. So
I just think that even the product that we saw
in the ice last night of Vegas, which was a
pretty exciting game. That game against the Kings was tremendous,
they're going to figure out a way to really fix
their issues this year, and I just think they're going
to be a really good team in a tough out.

Speaker 5 (18:58):
I can't imagine there's more than a couple of people
across the Great State of Hockey that don't know about
the athletic and your fine work there. They do great
work on all sports, but especially hockey and especially The
Minnesota Wild led by you and Joe Smith. If they
wanted to get a subscription to everyone's favorite blog, how
would they get their hands on?

Speaker 4 (19:19):
What is the Athletic and the Athletic dot com.

Speaker 3 (19:22):
You go to the Athletic dot com slash wild and
click on a story and you can go. You can
get a probably a discount even by going if you're
a first time subscriber or the Athletic dot Com slash
Rusto probably gets into so really appreciate that. Kevin Aaron
Stickman wants me to tell you to check your voicemail.
Oh boy, apparently, yeah, apparently you never check them.

Speaker 4 (19:42):
Okay, I will give you that.

Speaker 3 (19:44):
Listen, Yeah, unless I don't understand what he's saying. Also
said that you had some big meeting the other day
that you're worried about.

Speaker 4 (19:50):
Don't worry. But I don't know what he's talking about.
And it's just fine. That's sick man.

Speaker 5 (19:54):
You know what, after twenty five years, I think he's
gone bonkers. He's he's got bats in the belfree. Tell
him to concentrate, do his own job. I'll do mine
and everything will be fine.

Speaker 3 (20:04):
Yeah, keep up the good word. Work for Blake Moore.
Really good job.

Speaker 4 (20:08):
Thank you all right, enjoyce skate. We'll talk to you tonight,
all right, see keV Michael.

Speaker 5 (20:14):
Russo of the Athletic and Theathletic dot Com. Have you
Brett Blakemore got off your wallet and gone to Fvathletic
dot com slash Russo and got your fill of America's
favorite blogger.

Speaker 4 (20:25):
Well after high praise like that, how could you not
without adult? Oh what a guy.

Speaker 5 (20:29):
Let's take a break and then I want to squeeze
in Brett Blakemore's breakaways. And before we wrap up the show,
we're gonna hear from former Wild forward Cal Clutterbuck. He's
hung up the skates, he's in front of a television camera,
and he's our exclusive NHL insider. Can't wait for that,
can't wait to hear more of your talkbacks as well.
Still giving away tickets not only for Saturday, when the

(20:49):
Wild hosts the Columbus Blue Jackets, but Game three of
the regular season and Monday's game two of the home
schedule when they host the LA Kings.

Speaker 4 (20:57):
Send in those talkbacks. We're giving away tickets as we
roll forward on the fan. Before we go with the
fan and two men and Junk Chalk want and give
you shot to win bonus box of the National Cash
Contest at a kfan dot com. Keyword bills, keyword bills
for this hour KFE dot com keyword.

Speaker 5 (21:19):
From the beautiful studios of Saint Louis Park, Kevin follow
us in for Paul Allen and Eric Nordquis this afternoon
on KFA, and I should say this morning leading into
this afternoon, which is going to lead into the regular
season opener for the Minnesota Wild tonight. They'll be in
Saint Louis pregame at six forty five. Puck drops at
seven o'clock. Right here on FM one hundred point three

(21:40):
the fan to talk about not only the here and
now with the Minnesota Wild, but the glory days. Our
good buddy Cal Clutterbuck joining us now from Long Island.

Speaker 4 (21:49):
Cal. It is always great to hear your voice. How
are you, my friend.

Speaker 3 (21:54):
I'm very very good.

Speaker 6 (21:55):
I'm actually in Pittsburgh getting ready for the Isles opener tonight.

Speaker 4 (21:58):
That's right, TV. So that's right.

Speaker 6 (22:00):
Beautiful Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Speaker 4 (22:02):
Good for you, the Steel City.

Speaker 5 (22:05):
How exciting is it to not only drop the puck
on a brand new season. You're a guy that did
it for a number of years in the National Hockey League,
but a little bit different this year as a guy
that's you know, going to be behind that TV camera.

Speaker 6 (22:18):
Yeah, it is different, you know. I as I boarded
the plane yesterday with the guys who are on the
team and playing, and I've got a couple recently retired
former teammates who are have taken roles that require them
to be on the plane. Sitting at the front was
a little different than sitting at the card table. I'm
not going to tell you, but it's good. It's it's

(22:39):
kind of nice to be kind of back into this
routine of traveling. And like you said, the beginning of
the season is always the most exciting time for for
every team and every fan of every team because you know,
everyone has the same opportunity to go out there and
try and have a great year and ultimately win a cup.
So it's a very exciting time for for hockey fans

(23:02):
and players and staff alike.

Speaker 3 (23:04):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (23:04):
I know.

Speaker 5 (23:04):
We talked last spring on Beyond the Pond here right
here on FM one hundred point three the Fan about
your new gig and moving on from the playing days
skate hanging up the skates and doing this TV thing.

Speaker 4 (23:15):
Are you enjoying it?

Speaker 5 (23:16):
And I guess it's still very early, so everything's fun
when you do it once. But now that you're getting
into the routine, are you digging the process. I know
what it's like on the radio side, and it's a
lot more relaxed TV. There's a lot of people talking
in your ear. You love to comb your hair, but
you got to comb your hair, wear makeup and all
that stuff. Are you enjoying everything that goes into the
process of being on television?

Speaker 3 (23:38):
Yeah? I am.

Speaker 6 (23:39):
I think it's there is a lot. But you know
what was good for me is I I kind of
took a guest appearance at the home opener last year
for the Islanders, just kind of not expecting anything, so
I wasn't really trying to do well. So I've kind
of maintained that attitude and just you know, for me,
I enjoy watching the game talking about the game, and

(24:00):
for me, that's kind of what it really is. And
and you know, the more time you spend on TV
and getting prepared, you know, it gets a little easier.
But I just enjoy being able to, uh, you know,
relay a little bit information that that I may have
from my years of experience to you know, an islander,
a fan base, or or a fan base of visiting
fan base that might be listening to the game. And

(24:21):
I like just being able to point things out to
them that they might not otherwise see or might not
otherwise understand. And I I really enjoyed that part of
the job. And and I've got a great crew that
I work with at MSG Networks. There. You know, everything
we do is pretty streamlined and we don't spend too
much time on on things that don't require too much time.

(24:44):
So it's been a it's been a really fun process
for me and and just being able to kind of
stay in the game. And I was kind of I
think I underestimated how much I would miss the routine
and the game when I for decided to hang them up.
And this has been a great sort of filler for

(25:04):
me at transition into what is now becoming a second career.
But all of it put together just seems to be
working at the moment, and I'm going to keep doing
it until till I lose the joy, as they say,
and then we'll look for something else. But at the moment,
I'm really enjoying it.

Speaker 5 (25:20):
Talking about a former Wild forward Cal Clutterbuck, if you
can believe it, a third round pick by the Wild
back in two thousand and six, six seasons with the
Minnesota while from seven to thirteen, but seventeen years total
in the National Hockey League, you flourished, even you were
great here in Minnesota, but what you did there on
Long Island was unbelievable.

Speaker 4 (25:39):
The career that you were able to put together.

Speaker 5 (25:41):
I want to talk about your memories and even talk
about what's going on there in the Eastern Conference with
your beloved Islanders here in a moment, But is tonight
going to be especially difficult? When they dropped the puck
on a new season. It's one thing to hang up
the skates and go through all that emotions, but there's
something special about.

Speaker 4 (25:58):
Opening night as a player.

Speaker 5 (26:00):
It takes on a whole another meaning you're not going
to be a part of that in the same way
that you've been for so many years. How tough is
that going to be to swallow when you're in the
broadcast booth, whether the instead of there on the red line.

Speaker 6 (26:15):
Yeah, you know, it's kind of justification for me. That
I that I made the decision at the right time.
I'm totally fine with it. I'm excited to be a
part of it. In a different way. I think if
I was just sitting at home watching I might feel
a little more of that. But I really think that,
you know, I did what I could while I was playing,

(26:36):
and it was probably time. And you know, between that
and the opportunities that are presented to you when your
contract comes up after seventeen years, you kind of, you know,
you look at all the things that go into the
opening day of the season, all the summer training, the
training camp, all the difficult things that you have to do.
I was in my head just ready to go and

(26:58):
take a break, and so it's exciting for me here
and you know, on Long Island right now, it's an
exciting fresh start. Obviously lou Lamorello is no longer here,
and Matthew darsh comes in, and Matthew Shaeffer and really
in this over the course of the summer, there was
a lot that happened with the Islanders that doesn't normally
happen in summers, especially when you know a team has

(27:20):
missed the playoffs and in a long offseason, usually it
gets pretty boring, but there was a lot going on here,
so it's an exciting time for Islander fans. And Matthew
Shaffer making his debut tonight. He's been amazing through the preseason,
so very excited to be able to be a part
of that call tonight.

Speaker 5 (27:35):
Yeah, what'd you see from the number one overall pick
and Matthew Shaeffer? I know the upside looks tremendous, unbelievable
future for this kid. How do you think he's going
to be as he splashes onto the NHL scene.

Speaker 4 (27:49):
Well, he has a level.

Speaker 6 (27:51):
Of maturity I think, you know, it's been well documented
that is unlike most you know, eighteen year old kids,
and his abilities seem to match his confidence on the
ice kind of carries through off the ice of his
ability to in his eagerness to learn from not only
the guys around him, but you know, the guys who

(28:13):
are no longer playing. I know he talked to Matt
Martin a lot of him and I have had a
couple of conversations. He's just a really eager kid, and
a lot of kids who are in that position with
that much attention sometimes don't have the same sort of
mentality of this is my first step. I'm excited to
be here, but I need to you know, take in information.
I want to learn. I want to learn how to
be and you know, he's he just has that future

(28:34):
captain sort of personality and his on ice abilities are
are pretty evident. I think NHL fans will get to
to notice him pretty quickly. His skating ability is you know, elite.
He's a defenseman, but he loves he loves getting up
the ice. I think the thing I love about him
the most is when he makes the d toity pass

(28:55):
in the neutral zone. He's he's on his horse and he's,
you know, sometimes the first guy in the fore check.
Probably the UH. Probably he's going to take some harnessing
to figure out when the right time isn't when it isn't.
But I think for a young guy, for him to
have a confidence to be able to go up there
and get up in the rush, and he's really going
to create a look that the Islanders haven't had from

(29:15):
the back end in a very long time, probably since
the UH you know Minnesota native Nick Letty days where
Nick could be a one man breakout and get up
and create odd man Rushes with his speed and and
it still be the first guy back. And you know,
similar to Brent Burns when he was first a young
kid playing defense, he was, you know, a forward and
a defenseman. So he had a tendency to get up

(29:36):
there and be involved. And I think that just the
NHL these days is such a five man offense league
that you need defenseman that that can skate, need defenseman
he can make plays, and you need guys who are
willing to get up there and have the ability to
recover if things don't work out. So he has all
those things. And I'm sure he's going to make his
mistakes like anybody does, but I think his ability and

(29:56):
his confidence are enough so that the Islanders is going
to be able to put up with the mistakes, especially
early on.

Speaker 5 (30:01):
Dude, you better hope your buddy uh Bus Nasty that
you never lose the joy of You're a natural. This
is unbelievable. You were playing two minutes ago and here
you are. You're ready to take down Paul Bizinette there
on the on the national stage.

Speaker 4 (30:17):
You're You're a natural at this thing.

Speaker 6 (30:20):
Well, I do love the game, and I and I
spent years while I was playing studying it because I, uh,
you know, I was I was put in a different
role in New York than I than I probably was
on the trajectory for Minnesota, and and I really leaned
into it. I got lucky. I mean, I had two
linemates that were not only great friends, but we were
such a great fit as a lion and I really

(30:41):
the three of us kind of took it upon ourselves
to to add a dynamic to that, to that Islander
team that that a lot of teams didn't have. And
and in doing so, I think we've kind of really
kind of revolutionized the way people look at their fourth lines.
We still had some a lot of physicality and and
and Marty obviously was able to take air business, you know,

(31:02):
on the fifth the cuff side of things. But we
were able to go out there and play against other
teams good players and really make it difficult on them
and allow you know, our best players to go out
there and play against, you know, take offensive chances, playing
against lines who weren't as productive offensively and maybe weren't
as talented. So that really gave us an advantage. And
doing so, you know, you just you really learn the

(31:23):
nuances of the game. I had a couple of great
coaches along the way, and you know, I was always
just a detailed, detailed person, and I think that's you know,
that's really why I was able to play for as
long as I did, because I just I really thought
about I was very thoughtful about the way that I
would go out there and play the game. And as
much as people think I was just kind of a

(31:43):
run around body checker, which I probably was in Minnesota,
I really I took some time to learn the game
on a deeper level and I really just like, I
like thinking about the game and talking about it, and
so hopefully I'm gonna have a platform to do it for.

Speaker 4 (31:59):
Your Yeah, good, good for you.

Speaker 5 (32:01):
A year off to an amazing start of your media career.
Seventeen seasons in the National Hockey League. That doesn't happen
by accident, and it's awesome to think that it started
here in Minnesota.

Speaker 4 (32:11):
Real quick to the Eastern Conference.

Speaker 5 (32:13):
We like to think of the Central Division as the
toughest division in hockey, but then I look over at
the Metropolitan Division where your Islanders reside, and I know
that the expectations are great for your team coming into
this season. But when I look at they got to
deal with an up and comer like the New Jersey Devils,
the Carolina Hurricanes, which are a beast every year. The
Capitol's still with Ovechkin, the New York Rangers. You know,

(32:35):
they're always going to be a tough beat. And then
some of the other teams that are coming through there.
I mean, the Penguins still have Sidney Crosby, you got
the Flyers, the Blue Jackets.

Speaker 4 (32:43):
That is a tough division.

Speaker 5 (32:44):
And as much as we like to talk about the Central,
the Metro is not an easy target either.

Speaker 6 (32:50):
No, I think you're right about the Central. I think
it's developed into the premier division, and the Metropolitan was
for years when I was in the meat of my
Islander career that the Metropolitan Division was as tough as
you're going to get. But what the benefit of playing
in in a good division, and if not the best
division in hockey, is that you need to you spend

(33:12):
the regular season playing almost what people would call playoff hockey,
or else you don't make the playoffs. And and so
what happens is is over the course of the year,
you get better and you get better quicker, and if
you don't you don't, you know, you don't get your
chance at the playoffs. So when the playoffs do come,
those divisions are always are always more prepared, and you

(33:32):
see those teams kind of making long runs. And that's
how it was for us in the Metro. I I
just really enjoyed the level of competition. And and then
on top of that, when you go play teams and
other divisions, potentially teams that are a little weaker, you're
able to to win those games and a lot of
times win them convincingly and have what we've used to
call low stress, no doubt ors in the league. You know,

(33:55):
if you can if you can just get to that point,
then then you're going to have a really easy time
making the playoffs. So in a lot of ways, you know,
a tough division is a good thing for a team,
especially a team that has the ability to compete in
that division. So I think it's a good thing. And
you know, the Metro being what it is, it's not
what it used to be. But there are some teams

(34:15):
sort of making their way through. The Carolina Hurricanes obviously
very good year over year. The New Jersey Devils really
depends on if they can stay healthy they've had issues
with injuries, and when they're not injured, they they've had
great seasons one hundred points seasons with the crew they
have there, and the Islanders and the Penguins and a
couple of these teams that Washington did it last year.

(34:36):
I think they did a really good job of revamping
with their old veterans, injecting some youth and some speed
inner lineup. They had a lot of success with that,
obviously on the riding the coat tails of Obi's magical
run last year towards eight ninety five. But you know,
I think for the Islanders, the thought process is, now,
how do we how do we take the the guys

(34:56):
who are in their prime and marry them with the
young guys that we've been able to pick up through
the draft and spreeing and signings and formulate a team
that's gonna, you know, compete in this division.

Speaker 5 (35:06):
Yeah, well, we'll see how it all develops there in
the Eastern Conference. The focus over here is about the
Western Conference and the Wild heading into game number one
tonight in Saint Louis.

Speaker 4 (35:16):
Seventeen years in the National Hockey League.

Speaker 5 (35:18):
Again, we're talking to former Wild forward, former Wild draft
pick cal Clutterbucks seventeen years in the NHL, the bulk
of it there with the New York Calenders, but six
glorious seasons began your career here in Minnesota from two
thousand and seven to twenty thirteen. Hedge On last spring,
had you recount a little bit of that, But as
we enter the twenty fifth season of Minnesota Wild Hockey,

(35:38):
tell me there's not a special place in your heart
for when you donned the ice here at what was
then Excel Energy Center.

Speaker 4 (35:47):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (35:47):
I mean, what a great place to start a career,
you know, I am. I look back on those years
with a lot of fondness. I love my time there.
I wish I could have played there a little longer.
It's just a great It's a great place to live,
first and foremost, and that hockey team, as you know,
is supported so well and so honestly, you know, I

(36:09):
think you go around two different markets and you see
teams that go through years where they're struggling a little
bit for a couple of years, and and the fan
base starts to disappear a little bit, the rink isn't
as full. It just wasn't the case there, And and
I just love the energy that that building brought, and
it brought out a lot of energy in me, and
I love being able to go out there and make

(36:29):
make people cheer and give them something that you know
that they can enjoy. I was going to go out
there and work as hard as I could and and
try and bank some bodies and score some goals, and
you know, just play hard. And I really enjoyed my
time there. When I got drafted there and finally made
the team, I I really felt like I was going
to be there for my whole career. Obviously that didn't

(36:49):
work out, but uh, you know, twenty five years of
Minnesota Wild hockey, I can't, you know, where does the
time go. I felt like it was just still an
expand franchise. Had that feeling when I moved in there,
but you know that the team was was pretty good,
and then you know, we had a couple of years
where where we didn't make the playoffs and then I

(37:10):
was out. But you know, it's it's really is a
great place. And everybody that's played there since and has
played there before me as I feel, shares my sentiment.
So it's hopefully it's a great twenty five twenty fifth
anniversary season, and I was talking to our old buddy,
Aaron Sickman. I'm thinking about maybe coming out there for
one of those games, one of the alumni games, and

(37:32):
maybe pop my head in there and see some old
faces and try and enjoy a night or two.

Speaker 5 (37:37):
I hope you do this coming weekend, Saturday night. The
inaugural coaching staff is going to be here, Jacques Lamaire,
Doug Risebro from the management side, Mario Tromblay, Mike Ramsey,
Bob Mason. They're dropping the puck on game number one
of the home season, and it'll be cool to see
those faces. I can't wait to see yours. You're in Minnesota,

(37:57):
We got you, gotta stop buying. We'll have you on
here with myself and Tom Reid and hopefully we can
make that happen.

Speaker 6 (38:04):
Yeah, that'd be great. That'd be great. I love that.

Speaker 5 (38:06):
All right, clutter, enjoy the game tonight. Good luck in Pittsburgh,
good luck this season. I hope they put your makeup
on right and you get that hair comb just perfectly.

Speaker 3 (38:15):
Oh.

Speaker 6 (38:15):
I do all that myself, but you know that I'm
not letting anybody.

Speaker 4 (38:19):
Go get them. Thanks for doing this. We'll talk soon,
all right. But there is the great Cal Clutterbuck.

Speaker 5 (38:25):
I really wanted to get into the Eric Belange story
when he and Derek Bouguard filled his car with styrofoam peanuts.
I've never flat out asked him about it, and I
wanted to see how far down that road he'd go.

Speaker 4 (38:37):
But I'm out of time.

Speaker 5 (38:37):
I got to take a quick break and then we'll
squeeze in Brett Blakemore's breakaways till the top and reward
another couple of tickets to the home opener Saturday, when
the Wild hosts the Blue Jackets. But tonight it's game
number one of the regular season, coming up from Saint Louis.

Speaker 4 (38:50):
You'll hear all the action on the fan.

Speaker 5 (38:55):
Horrible clock management, but hopefully the last three hours makeup
for this sprint to the finish.

Speaker 4 (39:01):
We had a blast. We talked to Cal Clutterbuck, Michael Russo.

Speaker 5 (39:04):
Joe O'Donnell, Pat mcletty, and a bunch of other folks.

Speaker 4 (39:07):
In between.

Speaker 5 (39:08):
We also gave away a bunch of tickets. You might
be getting a text from me. May already got it
for a pair of tickets for the home opener comes Saturday,
when the Wild host the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Speaker 4 (39:18):
Hopefully you won those tickets.

Speaker 5 (39:20):
If you didn't, Wild dot com slash tickets to get yours,
and at the very least, hopefully you're on the air
tonight with us at six forty five pregame for Game
number one Duckies and Bunnies, Rainbows and Unicorns. The future
is bright and it starts tonight in Saint Louis.

Speaker 4 (39:35):
Brett Blake Moore, thank you for your time, good luck
the rest of the day.

Speaker 7 (39:38):
And thanks for listening to KFA and podcast Today's Paul
Allen Show. We're listening back to previous show and interviews
like going to the iHeartRadio app or kfan dot com.