December 14, 2025 • 30 mins
Wild GM Bill Guerin breaks down the blockbuster deal that sends Quinn Hughes to Minnesota with Dan Barreiro!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We wrapped stuff up on bumper to bumper on Friday
night your Minnesota while to make a little bit of news.
And the man who orchestrated pretty much all of it, well,
I guess he had to have a partner. But on
this side of it, it's kind of enough to join
us off the top of the program. Wile general manager
Bill Garon is uh with us now, welcome back to
(00:20):
the program. Are you still on the adrenaline adrenaline rush?
Are you past that? How would you describe the current
Billy Garren mood?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Well, first of all, good morning, thanks for having me on.
I'm excited. I mean, you know, we Chris callaher and
I flew out and picked Quinn up yesterday and we
got to just chat with him on the plane for
a while, and you know, it's kind of hard to
believe that he's actually on our team now still, but
(00:56):
really excited to you know, see him in his debut
and he's really excited to be here. You know, he
loves hockey, he knows this is a great hockey market
and excited, you know, to be in Minnesota. So we're
you know, I'm really excited about it, all right.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
I guess I should not presume, and radio you're never
supposed to presume that your audience knows everything that we're
talking about. So for the maybe eight or nine people
in the market who don't know you, you swung a
deal in which you bring I think it's fair to
say a superstar defenseman a Quinn Hughes, you give up
a bunch that includes Zev Bulliam rossi Ogrin and an
(01:42):
unprotected first round pick in twenty twenty six. Does any
of that scare you?
Speaker 2 (01:53):
No, not really. I mean, Nick, we got the player
that we wanted to get, and you know what, if
you're going to get a player of this caliber, you
have to you have to pay, you have to give up,
you have to give stuff up. You don't get these
guys for free. So hey, listen, is it like I said,
like we we put a lot of time and effort
(02:15):
into those young players, drafting, developing, you know, and you
you you have a relationship with them. It's not the
easiest thing to move on from them. But when you
look at it, you know, look at the player you're
getting and look at the appet Yeah, they they they're
they're already good players. You know, we feel that we
(02:37):
got you know, a great player right now. They're just
at different stages. So I mean, look, there's always a
bit of of I guess rich that people can look
back and say he should have done that, he should
have done this, or whatever. But hey, today we have
Queen Hughes on our team and we're better, and uh,
(02:57):
I'm just really happy about it.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Let's drill down for the casual hockey fan, because everybody
says this is this is a this is a great
this is a superstar player in his prime right or
maybe even got more. Uh can get even a little
bit better if that's possible. He's what twenty six years old,
So for the casual hockey fan, drill down a little
(03:19):
deeper on his strengths as a player individually and what
you think he brings and ads collectively that you also needed.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Well, I mean, honestly, he's he's one of the best
skaters you've ever got to see. He can transport the puck,
I mean, his power playwork is elite. Is yeah, I mean,
he's just it's tough to describe. He just you knowing
he's out there, he controls a play, always has the
(03:56):
puck on his stick. You know, he just I don't know,
it's tough to describe, but he's just he's good at
so many things it's tough to really just pinpoint. But
I think his offensive capabilities or are you know, probably
at the worst top three in the league for yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
You So let's go back to let's try us to
try to do a little of the history here of
how we got to this place where you had this opportunity,
because because I think what's been written is that this
sort of started with a phone call you got from
your assistant GM. I think you were doing a bunch
(04:35):
of scouting. So is that is that where this the
story kind of begins. Can you kind of go give it,
get us through the timeline as to how we got here.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Yeah, I was, I was scouting. I was actually going
to a going to a game, and you know, I
always just check in with with the guys and make
sure everything's going all right. And Matt and I were
having a discussion and you know, it just said you
might think I'm kind of crazy, but maybe check in
with Jim. I don't know what's going on with Clinton Hughes,
(05:06):
but I'm just you know, just reading some stuff. So
like that, you know, what maybe I'll just call Jim
and see what's going on, and then you know, it
just went from there.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
He told me what he told me what they were
looking for, and I said, I have exactly that, and
here you go, and that was my first offer.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
Well, I want to get to that part in a minute.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
So how much time you've elapsed from between between when
you get the phone call from your assistant GM and
then you talk to him and he says, hey, look
con in the water's warm. You know, there's a lot
of people interested. But if you want to make an offer,
that's fine. Was it almost did you immediately call him back?
Or are you still on that same phone call and
(05:56):
you already have the idea of who you're going to
be willing to deal?
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Yeah? Well, actually I called Patrick Alvin. He's the GM,
Jim's the president. But so Patrick told me that Jim
was going to be handling this deal. So by the
time I called Jim, I knew what I was gonna
I knew what I was going to offer, and you know,
I talked to Jim the next day. I was flying home,
(06:21):
so I was at LaGuardia Airport in uh in New
York and Jim and I had a discussion. I said,
what are you looking for? He said this, and I said,
I can satisfy that, and here's what I'm offering you,
and uh, it just kind of went from there.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Give me your thinking on giving them your best offer
from the beginning.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Because with you're not going to fool anybody. H They're
dealing a star player. They're not going to take You're
not gonna slide one by them. They're smart too, they
have out they have analytics, they have good people, Like,
you're not gonna be ask your way into getting Clint Hughes.
(07:08):
And to show people that you're serious, you got to
come out of the gate swinging and if you want them,
go get them. You're not You're not gonna out smart anybody.
And this like it's just and that's not that's not
what I want to do. I want to make a
fair deal, and you know what, when it works for
both teams, that's when it's the best And you're not
(07:31):
gonna they're just not going to bite on on on
a crappy offer. And that's not the way I'd like
to do business. This is what I think is fair.
It's a lot, but he's he's a great player, so
you're gonna get a lot.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
And what what what day was that that you made
the actual offer?
Speaker 2 (07:54):
That was Monday?
Speaker 4 (07:55):
That was Monday?
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Okay, that was Monday.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
So here's the obvious question. I don't think you get
resolution of this thing till Friday. I think as we're
right off the air, So are you talking, are you
guys talking back and forth just to check in? Are
you letting it go? Are you thinking this many days
after we make what we think is a hell of
an offer, they probably don't have a better one. We
(08:19):
have nothing back from them. Are you starting to think
this thing's not going to happen?
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Well, I you know what, Jim, Jim was great to
work with, and he you know, he just he just said, hey,
look there's a lot of teams interested, so we have
to kind of see this thing through. And he's like,
you've made a strong offer and we'll get back to you.
I checked in with him once and you know what,
I'm uh, I wouldn't have to remake the deal Friday Friday.
(08:45):
Then on Friday he called me back and said, hey,
look we're getting there. I'll I'll give you a call
back in a few hours. And then he called back,
He's like, yeah, I think we I think we can
get a deal here.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
Is that when you were you had to you were
working on the meatballs?
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Yes, I actually am right now too.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Now did you throw I mean any of the meatballs
and exultation against the wall when you knew that the
deal was done? I would have think whatever damage you
do to your palatial estate would have been worth it
to just celebrate that way.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Yeah, we celebrated.
Speaker 4 (09:22):
Yeah, I'm sure. I'm sure you did. That's that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
How hard was I mean, goo that you gave up
good pieces across the board, But I know I remember
talking to you as recently I think as well. Had
we had a boy him at the State Fair, I
know how much you regarded him and what you thought
of him. So how hard is it to lose him
in this deal? Because I think you guys project him
(09:46):
as a guy who can be, in his own right,
a superstar someday.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Yeah. Absolutely, And it's tough to give up these young
players no matter what. There's such a good guy. He's like,
they're good kids there. They you know we we got
If Quinn wasn't available, we'd still have them and we'd
be fine with that. Like it was, it was good.
But you know, this is just part of the business. Uh,
(10:15):
sometimes it's crappy. And but you know what, we got
such a big player and he's so excited to be
here that you know what, we you know, sometimes in
life you've got to do stuff that's that's tough, and
you know this business is no different. And but we're
just we're just yeah, you know what. I hope those
(10:36):
guys have great careers and they go on and help
Vancouver turn things around. Like I do. I want the
best for them. And uh, you know it's yeah, it's tough.
It's tough, but it's part of it.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
Much of the hockey community that I've heard from since
the the story broke Friday, a little bit after we
got off the air on our program has been incredibly
positive and excited and you know, inspired basically across the board.
But you know how it works in this town. Really,
(11:14):
I think any town, they go, well, now, what exactly
is this contract situation? Again, Well, there's no guarantee here.
His agent's making it clear he's very happy to be here,
but he can't promise anything. So what do you say
to those who have those obvious concerns that that's the
(11:34):
biggest gamble in the part of a deal that they
are all wanting to celebrate.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Wow, then you won't make the deal. Jesus that then
you're going to sit there and I don't know, mediocrity
or whatever it is, Well, you'll never make a deal.
So I don't know, you're going to be afraid of
every and then good luck?
Speaker 4 (12:03):
Do you feel? And what is your approach going forward
with that?
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Is it?
Speaker 1 (12:08):
And listening to your comments, it's a sense is Look,
we get him here. He was he and his agent
were cooperative. They sort of knew this was coming at
some point. You got everybody had to be in on this,
one would assume. And he's not saying no, even though
I know he couldn't technically, But you still want him
to be pleased to be here or willing to be here.
(12:30):
And we get him here where we think we're building something.
We get him in the culture, We get him in
with a team that we think has got a chance
to be on the rise, and then in that sense,
we sell them in a way that makes it impossible
for him to want to go anyplace else.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
Is that the strategy?
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Yeah, I mean, that's that's that's the idea. You want
all of your players happy. And I think you know,
he's no different. I mean, there are other guys that
you know, have you know, approached free agency and decided
to sign back with us, things like that, and he
couldn's gonna be no different. You know, We're we're gonna
(13:11):
we're gonna just keep doing the way. We're gonna keep
going the way that we've been going. And we've got
a terrific culture in our locker room. We've got good guys,
we've got a good team, we've got a great market,
we've got great ownership, and it's it's fun to play here.
And I mean that that that's a good start. So
(13:33):
but you know what, I just honestly like, look, we'll
worry about that down the road. This is you know, yeah,
I don't know, Well, I'm not worried about it right now.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
This falls you know, it's it.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
I'm chuckling inside a little bit because I've been here
before with another general manager in this town, the man
who runs the Minnesota Timberwolves, Tim Conley. And what Conley
has basically said to me is that his philosophy, you know,
he believes in two things. He does believe in organizational stability,
(14:09):
and he also believes in not making panic moves right,
letting things come together. However, he's made clearly what we
in this business call big swings a couple of times right,
first in adding Rudy Gobert and then he traded away Karl.
Anthony town is an extremely popular player and an All
(14:30):
Star player, and when I talked to him about it,
he said, yeah, you know, it's sometimes you just you.
You can't be afraid to make those big moves on
the basis of the possibility that they could blow up
in your face. And it strikes me that you're kind
of I mean, your personalities are very different, but that
in that sense, you guys share that philosophy.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
Is that fair to say, Yeah, that's fair to say.
I mean, honestly, you gotta you gotta stick your neck
out there. You gotta do. You have to take a swing,
and like, if you don't, you're just gonna be I said,
you know, I don't know, You're gonna be bunting your
whole life. You gotta play for the fence, you know
(15:10):
what I mean. And look at look at our look
at our team. Now like we're we're better, Like we're
better because of this guy. We're giving ourselves a chance
like this is you know. And and if you just
sit on your hands and you build and you build, well,
you know what, there comes a time and I said
that this summer, you know when when you know, everybody
(15:34):
said we didn't do anything, we did nothing. Well, of
course we didn't. There was nothing out there. But we're
in the game now, we are able to get in
the game. That's exactly what I said.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
You've been ahead, I'm sure.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
And and and we are and you know what, we
were patient and we waited so we could be involved
in moves like this.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
You've been in NHL locker rooms, as you know as
a player as well, and it would it strikes me that,
you know, it's also the kind of move that has
to be energizing to a locker room or appreciated in
a locker room the same way I think for many
fans and the idea that these are big swings and
(16:17):
there's no guarantee every big swing is going to connect.
But I gotta believe, I don't know what sense you're
getting yet if you've got and you you know you've
got good connections. Obviously, you stay in touch with everybody
in terms of what how energizing this is within the
locker room under the classification of a man. They're serious
about this because obviously potentially if you're able to re
(16:37):
sign them, they ain't gonna you ain't gonna get that
done for a buck fifty either, So there's commitment there.
I assume this is being received within the locker room
is a very positive step, even if the players that
have gone away they have relationships with and might miss.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Yeah. I think the guys are really excited, you know
you Yeah, I mean they're they're excited, like this is
a this is a big set. Look at they've earned it.
They you know, they've showed that, you know, we can
compete with anybody and and we can, we can beat anybody.
(17:16):
So yeah, I'm I'm all in with this guy with
these guys, and I hope they're excited because I am.
I I believe in them. I think we can. I
think we can make some noise.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Was this was this you keeping your promise to Caprice off? No, No,
that's more dramatic if you say yes.
Speaker 4 (17:37):
That's not though, that's not the truth.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
I mean we all assume that part of it was, Hey,
we're not done. We're gonna keep going. We're gonna keep adding.
Don't you don't have to worry about that. We take
you take care of us by signing with us. We'll
take care of you by adding another really good piece.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
No, I don't, although I look, all I want to
do is win. Like I don't make promise with the players.
Oh well, you know I'm gonna get you this guy
or that guy or this guy. All I can promise
you is that we're trying to win and we'll do
what we have to do.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Text, let me ask you this question because it's and
a lot of people I think are asking this. By
the way, your guy Russo Radio is supposed to join
us in the ten o'clock hour. Dan, could you ask
Billy about upgrading our center depth? It was already a
big question for losing Marco. I love this trade, but
how can we compete with first line centers we'll face
in the playoffs like McKinnon and Michael McDavid, etcetera.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Well, I mean, take a look at our decoor. I
think it's probably the best in the league. That helps
when you're playing against other top guys. I think the
play of Danilla year off made it made it possible
to move Rossy. I think we see kind of a
(18:55):
rise in his game. Yeah, there's no doubt. We'd still
like to add, you know, some centered death, no doubt,
but no, there's there's more than one way to skin
a cat. You know, you just we'll figure it out.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Did you see the comments from within the hockey community,
from other general managers, other executives? Anonymous? I might add,
because that's why it's got to work. Have you read
a couple of those. This is from a This is
from the Athletic. This is a quote from an Eastern
Conference executive. Minnesota's back end is scary with Hughes and
(19:40):
the favor. Vancouver gets talented young players that can help
for a while. Good job. That indication seems to be
that both sides did extremely well.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
You'll take that, I assume, yep, yeah, yeah, I'll take it.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
A West Western Conference executive very surprising. So you didn't
hear You didn't hear much about Minnesota even being interested,
and I figured Vancouver would want to send him east,
but the Canucks got a good return. I'm a big
boy fan Rossi he has already proven to be a
twenty five goal sixty point guy. Trade will really be
judging who the first round pick turns out to being.
Of many resigns Hughes, but if they just get him
(20:14):
for a year and a half, that is a lot
to give up. They resigned him there arguably getting the
second best offensive defenseman in the league. So there seems
to be I guess you could say a great agreement there.
What interests me about that quote, though, is let's go
back to the earlier you were talking about the whole
the timeline. So you mentioned you get the call from
(20:37):
one of your guys to hey, make a phone call here.
My assumption is you're on this the whole time because
you covet this player. Was it you had not done
that because you didn't think he was yet available?
Speaker 4 (20:51):
Or why did you.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Have to get that phone call to kind of get
this whole thing going?
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Well, you know what, honestly, you don't think of everything,
even though you're the general manager, you think of everything.
You know, I'm thinking of one and other guys are
thinking of others. And you know that's why that's why
I have guys like Matt and kill her and like
they they have ideas too. It's not like I've always
(21:19):
said that, that's not all me. Like we we work
as a team, and for Matt to you know, pick
up the phone and just say, hey, look, you know
we should we should look into this, or maybe maybe
give them a call just to see where it's at.
Maybe it's nothing, but you know it turned out to
be something. Well, that right to me. If you're if
(21:42):
you're only willing to do things that are your idea
comes into your head, you're you're you're foolish. So I'm like,
I listen to my guys and if they have good ideas,
like we're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna look into that.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
Do you believe in collaborations what you're saying, Oh yeah,
one hundred percent.
Speaker 4 (22:01):
Yeah, that's good to hear it.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
I don't know if this matters to you, but Louis
called me yesterday for two reasons.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
One was to mock me for being.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
Here on a day where I knew he knew by
the end of the day I was gonna be like
minus fifteen and a minus or win show minus thirty.
Speaker 4 (22:20):
And he's of course in Florida. The hockey guy you.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Know, the Sue guy is luxuriating in Florida. And the
other reason is he wanted to talk about this deal.
To describe him as enthusiastic is to vastly understate the
state of his hockey being.
Speaker 4 (22:38):
He is thrilled.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
And part of it that he and I talked about
was the big swing thing, because he believes in the
big swing. And again, you don't always get it right.
He didn't always get it right, but he believes it.
And he said, the first time you and he talked,
if you took the job, you asked him for what
the best advice was, and that's what he talked about,
was a be the boss. Don't be afraid to be
(22:59):
the boss, and don't be afraid to take shots, to
take swings.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
Absolutely absolutely, And I agree with him, like it's he's
always given me great advice, Like he's, uh yeah, and like, honestly,
this is this is what we've been waiting for, to
to really get in the game and be like I said,
and be able to do this stuff and to be
able to to go after players like that. Like we
(23:25):
we don't, like I said, we don't want to just
sit there like this is not you know, what I mean,
we we want to win a Sally Cup, and you
need you need great players and you need a great
team to do that. So putting the opportunity arises, you
got to take it. Sometimes, well you got Sometimes you don't.
Sometimes it might not be the right time.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
Well, you also have to have an owner, I assume,
I mean, the the assumption is that you make this
deal with a full intent of re signing him, right,
so that ain't gonna be cheap. So I assume that's
those discussions have to take place too, right, It's it's
going to take another Brinks truck to bring him back
if he if he continues to be as good as
(24:08):
he is.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
Correct, And I ask you, let me ask you a question. Sure,
do you like when you interview other gms and other
people in like the other sports, do you talk about
like the money like that, Like oh yeah, well.
Speaker 4 (24:22):
Well let me give you let me answer. I'll answer
it this way.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
I'm curious because like kind of the NHL, we're kind
of gone into this new in this new land where
guys are making real big money, and like it always
comes up because you know, we've got the hard cap
and oh man, you're gonna have to spend all this money, yeah,
and this and that, and I just didn't I didn't know,
like if because like if you look at like the
(24:47):
NBA and MLB and some like they make way more money.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
Oh yeah, yeah, well I didn't.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
Know if you kind of approach it like that. But
I think Craig. Craig owns a team, he's them. Fine,
he's in it to win, yes he is. Their finances
are good, like we're okay if if we're not, if
it's not okay, then we wouldn't be in it. And
(25:15):
you know what, he wants to win. It's like you can't,
Like it's kind of like the trade. Like I talked
about the trade, you have to pay to get a
player of that caliber. In order to win the Stanley Cup.
You have to pay great players to be on your team.
It doesn't come free. You can't. You're not. I'm sorry,
but you're not going to be at the minimum the
(25:37):
floor of the cap and win the Stanley Cup. You're
just not. So if if we're if we're in it
and we're going for it, and we're going for it,
we're not we're not trying to do it. Oh just
on our term. If we can only spend this much
and see if we can squeak one out. Well, you're
in it.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
I am not here to suggest any of this spending
would be reckless at all.
Speaker 4 (25:59):
It's more, you know, okay, let's let's double check, let's
be sure. No, Well, here's I'll give you the exception.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
Whenever if I ever talk to anybody from the Twins,
and I don't as much anymore because there's not that
much to talk to. We never talk money, Bill, because
that organization doesn't want to spend any money. And and
I know that's not what you're here to do. It's
my job to take shots at other organizations. But I honestly,
this is what I think appeals to fans about the approach,
(26:29):
the ambitious nature of this approach.
Speaker 4 (26:32):
It may or may not work out perfectly, but.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
It's it's like, wow, that's an investment, uh, literally and figuratively.
And that's what the Wolves have largely done. And and
I think I and that's definitely what the Vikings have
tended to do. Now they have more money to work with,
but it's all relative. Let's they all still have certain
pots from which they work and not every g you know,
maybe even the NHL. There may be owners of say no, no, no, no, no,
I don't want to.
Speaker 4 (26:56):
I don't want to. You know, take that kind of
a kind of a a step.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
There are in every sport. Yes, that's why they never win.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Yeah, that's it, that's it exactly all right. So you're
you're on meatball patroling. What's the dish you're making now?
Is it a breakfast, a brunch dish or working dinner?
Speaker 2 (27:13):
What we we just I was up at like five
this morning. I was just crossing a turning, and because
of everything that happened the other day, I didn't get
to complete the you know, the meatball extrapaganza. But you know,
we're making a bunch for Christmas Eve. Like I'm making
(27:34):
them now. I got the vacuum sealer out. They're going
to go in the freezer. We'll pull them out for
Christmas Eve.
Speaker 4 (27:41):
It's impressible.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
I think I made I made six pounds already this morning.
Speaker 4 (27:44):
Six pounds. That's a lot of meat.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Yeah, we're gonna have like forty something people. Okay, nobody's
gonna go hungry.
Speaker 4 (27:51):
It's a good event. Do you find that process relaxing?
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Yeah? I just like cooking in general general, and it's uh, yeah,
it's great. I love it.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
Last question because we haven't really talked about the team,
and I think we should so leaving aside this move.
Prior to this move, what beyond obviously some really good
goaltending most of the time, what else has changed for you?
What what do you see that you can can you know,
demonstrably tell us this is why we seem to be
(28:23):
turning some things around.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
I think we've matured a lot, Like I think, you know,
what the guys are under understanding a little bit more
like how we need to play each and every night,
especially in the games. Like you know, we've we've beat
every good team this year. You know, now now we
have to back it up, like you know, we we
(28:47):
beat a good team that we lose for a weaker team. Uh,
but we're we're we're at least kind of making a
step in the way we play in these you know, big,
big regular season games. So I think there's a I
think there's a maturity that's that's going on here with
our team. And yeah, it's good to see.
Speaker 4 (29:09):
I appreciate the time.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
Congratulations on the meatballs, Congratulations on the deal.
Speaker 4 (29:15):
And I'll add one other thing.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
Some often our interviews are different than they are with
other general managers in large measure because you allow the
jousting more, which I do appreciate, and you can't do
that with everybody. Some people get too uptight. Some people say,
well I'm shutting it down. I'm not doing that. So
if they are sometimes they feel a little bit different.
It's because you allow them to be different, which as
(29:39):
a host I much appreciate.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
Awesome, I love it. No, I always love coming on
with you, and I appreciate the jousting. You always ask
good questions. Thanks, no matter who writes them for.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
You, well large largely Russo obviously. Yeah, I just quote
him and thanks, have a good morning.
Speaker 4 (29:56):
Thanks, thank you. That's Bill Ghon, the WHI general manager.
Still working on the meatballs that
We wrapped stuff up on bumper to bumper on Friday
night your Minnesota while to make a little bit of news.
And the man who orchestrated pretty much all of it, well,
I guess he had to have a partner. But on
this side of it, it's kind of enough to join
us off the top of the program. Wile general manager
Bill Garon is uh with us now, welcome back to
(00:20):
the program. Are you still on the adrenaline adrenaline rush?
Are you past that? How would you describe the current
Billy Garren mood?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Well, first of all, good morning, thanks for having me on.
I'm excited. I mean, you know, we Chris callaher and
I flew out and picked Quinn up yesterday and we
got to just chat with him on the plane for
a while, and you know, it's kind of hard to
believe that he's actually on our team now still, but
(00:56):
really excited to you know, see him in his debut
and he's really excited to be here. You know, he
loves hockey, he knows this is a great hockey market
and excited, you know, to be in Minnesota. So we're
you know, I'm really excited about it, all right.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
I guess I should not presume, and radio you're never
supposed to presume that your audience knows everything that we're
talking about. So for the maybe eight or nine people
in the market who don't know you, you swung a
deal in which you bring I think it's fair to
say a superstar defenseman a Quinn Hughes, you give up
a bunch that includes Zev Bulliam rossi Ogrin and an
(01:42):
unprotected first round pick in twenty twenty six. Does any
of that scare you?
Speaker 2 (01:53):
No, not really. I mean, Nick, we got the player
that we wanted to get, and you know what, if
you're going to get a player of this caliber, you
have to you have to pay, you have to give up,
you have to give stuff up. You don't get these
guys for free. So hey, listen, is it like I said,
like we we put a lot of time and effort
(02:15):
into those young players, drafting, developing, you know, and you
you you have a relationship with them. It's not the
easiest thing to move on from them. But when you
look at it, you know, look at the player you're
getting and look at the appet Yeah, they they they're
they're already good players. You know, we feel that we
(02:37):
got you know, a great player right now. They're just
at different stages. So I mean, look, there's always a
bit of of I guess rich that people can look
back and say he should have done that, he should
have done this, or whatever. But hey, today we have
Queen Hughes on our team and we're better, and uh,
(02:57):
I'm just really happy about it.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Let's drill down for the casual hockey fan, because everybody
says this is this is a this is a great
this is a superstar player in his prime right or
maybe even got more. Uh can get even a little
bit better if that's possible. He's what twenty six years old,
So for the casual hockey fan, drill down a little
(03:19):
deeper on his strengths as a player individually and what
you think he brings and ads collectively that you also needed.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Well, I mean, honestly, he's he's one of the best
skaters you've ever got to see. He can transport the puck,
I mean, his power playwork is elite. Is yeah, I mean,
he's just it's tough to describe. He just you knowing
he's out there, he controls a play, always has the
(03:56):
puck on his stick. You know, he just I don't know,
it's tough to describe, but he's just he's good at
so many things it's tough to really just pinpoint. But
I think his offensive capabilities or are you know, probably
at the worst top three in the league for yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
You So let's go back to let's try us to
try to do a little of the history here of
how we got to this place where you had this opportunity,
because because I think what's been written is that this
sort of started with a phone call you got from
your assistant GM. I think you were doing a bunch
(04:35):
of scouting. So is that is that where this the
story kind of begins. Can you kind of go give it,
get us through the timeline as to how we got here.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Yeah, I was, I was scouting. I was actually going
to a going to a game, and you know, I
always just check in with with the guys and make
sure everything's going all right. And Matt and I were
having a discussion and you know, it just said you
might think I'm kind of crazy, but maybe check in
with Jim. I don't know what's going on with Clinton Hughes,
(05:06):
but I'm just you know, just reading some stuff. So
like that, you know, what maybe I'll just call Jim
and see what's going on, and then you know, it
just went from there.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
He told me what he told me what they were
looking for, and I said, I have exactly that, and
here you go, and that was my first offer.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
Well, I want to get to that part in a minute.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
So how much time you've elapsed from between between when
you get the phone call from your assistant GM and
then you talk to him and he says, hey, look
con in the water's warm. You know, there's a lot
of people interested. But if you want to make an offer,
that's fine. Was it almost did you immediately call him back?
Or are you still on that same phone call and
(05:56):
you already have the idea of who you're going to
be willing to deal?
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Yeah? Well, actually I called Patrick Alvin. He's the GM,
Jim's the president. But so Patrick told me that Jim
was going to be handling this deal. So by the
time I called Jim, I knew what I was gonna
I knew what I was going to offer, and you know,
I talked to Jim the next day. I was flying home,
(06:21):
so I was at LaGuardia Airport in uh in New
York and Jim and I had a discussion. I said,
what are you looking for? He said this, and I said,
I can satisfy that, and here's what I'm offering you,
and uh, it just kind of went from there.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Give me your thinking on giving them your best offer
from the beginning.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Because with you're not going to fool anybody. H They're
dealing a star player. They're not going to take You're
not gonna slide one by them. They're smart too, they
have out they have analytics, they have good people, Like,
you're not gonna be ask your way into getting Clint Hughes.
(07:08):
And to show people that you're serious, you got to
come out of the gate swinging and if you want them,
go get them. You're not You're not gonna out smart anybody.
And this like it's just and that's not that's not
what I want to do. I want to make a
fair deal, and you know what, when it works for
both teams, that's when it's the best And you're not
(07:31):
gonna they're just not going to bite on on on
a crappy offer. And that's not the way I'd like
to do business. This is what I think is fair.
It's a lot, but he's he's a great player, so
you're gonna get a lot.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
And what what what day was that that you made
the actual offer?
Speaker 2 (07:54):
That was Monday?
Speaker 4 (07:55):
That was Monday?
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Okay, that was Monday.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
So here's the obvious question. I don't think you get
resolution of this thing till Friday. I think as we're
right off the air, So are you talking, are you
guys talking back and forth just to check in? Are
you letting it go? Are you thinking this many days
after we make what we think is a hell of
an offer, they probably don't have a better one. We
(08:19):
have nothing back from them. Are you starting to think
this thing's not going to happen?
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Well, I you know what, Jim, Jim was great to
work with, and he you know, he just he just said, hey,
look there's a lot of teams interested, so we have
to kind of see this thing through. And he's like,
you've made a strong offer and we'll get back to you.
I checked in with him once and you know what,
I'm uh, I wouldn't have to remake the deal Friday Friday.
(08:45):
Then on Friday he called me back and said, hey,
look we're getting there. I'll I'll give you a call
back in a few hours. And then he called back,
He's like, yeah, I think we I think we can
get a deal here.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
Is that when you were you had to you were
working on the meatballs?
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Yes, I actually am right now too.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Now did you throw I mean any of the meatballs
and exultation against the wall when you knew that the
deal was done? I would have think whatever damage you
do to your palatial estate would have been worth it
to just celebrate that way.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Yeah, we celebrated.
Speaker 4 (09:22):
Yeah, I'm sure. I'm sure you did. That's that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
How hard was I mean, goo that you gave up
good pieces across the board, But I know I remember
talking to you as recently I think as well. Had
we had a boy him at the State Fair, I
know how much you regarded him and what you thought
of him. So how hard is it to lose him
in this deal? Because I think you guys project him
(09:46):
as a guy who can be, in his own right,
a superstar someday.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Yeah. Absolutely, And it's tough to give up these young
players no matter what. There's such a good guy. He's like,
they're good kids there. They you know we we got
If Quinn wasn't available, we'd still have them and we'd
be fine with that. Like it was, it was good.
But you know, this is just part of the business. Uh,
(10:15):
sometimes it's crappy. And but you know what, we got
such a big player and he's so excited to be
here that you know what, we you know, sometimes in
life you've got to do stuff that's that's tough, and
you know this business is no different. And but we're
just we're just yeah, you know what. I hope those
(10:36):
guys have great careers and they go on and help
Vancouver turn things around. Like I do. I want the
best for them. And uh, you know it's yeah, it's tough.
It's tough, but it's part of it.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
Much of the hockey community that I've heard from since
the the story broke Friday, a little bit after we
got off the air on our program has been incredibly
positive and excited and you know, inspired basically across the board.
But you know how it works in this town. Really,
(11:14):
I think any town, they go, well, now, what exactly
is this contract situation? Again, Well, there's no guarantee here.
His agent's making it clear he's very happy to be here,
but he can't promise anything. So what do you say
to those who have those obvious concerns that that's the
(11:34):
biggest gamble in the part of a deal that they
are all wanting to celebrate.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Wow, then you won't make the deal. Jesus that then
you're going to sit there and I don't know, mediocrity
or whatever it is, Well, you'll never make a deal.
So I don't know, you're going to be afraid of
every and then good luck?
Speaker 4 (12:03):
Do you feel? And what is your approach going forward
with that?
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Is it?
Speaker 1 (12:08):
And listening to your comments, it's a sense is Look,
we get him here. He was he and his agent
were cooperative. They sort of knew this was coming at
some point. You got everybody had to be in on this,
one would assume. And he's not saying no, even though
I know he couldn't technically, But you still want him
to be pleased to be here or willing to be here.
(12:30):
And we get him here where we think we're building something.
We get him in the culture, We get him in
with a team that we think has got a chance
to be on the rise, and then in that sense,
we sell them in a way that makes it impossible
for him to want to go anyplace else.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
Is that the strategy?
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Yeah, I mean, that's that's that's the idea. You want
all of your players happy. And I think you know,
he's no different. I mean, there are other guys that
you know, have you know, approached free agency and decided
to sign back with us, things like that, and he
couldn's gonna be no different. You know, We're we're gonna
(13:11):
we're gonna just keep doing the way. We're gonna keep
going the way that we've been going. And we've got
a terrific culture in our locker room. We've got good guys,
we've got a good team, we've got a great market,
we've got great ownership, and it's it's fun to play here.
And I mean that that that's a good start. So
(13:33):
but you know what, I just honestly like, look, we'll
worry about that down the road. This is you know, yeah,
I don't know, Well, I'm not worried about it right now.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
This falls you know, it's it.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
I'm chuckling inside a little bit because I've been here
before with another general manager in this town, the man
who runs the Minnesota Timberwolves, Tim Conley. And what Conley
has basically said to me is that his philosophy, you know,
he believes in two things. He does believe in organizational stability,
(14:09):
and he also believes in not making panic moves right,
letting things come together. However, he's made clearly what we
in this business call big swings a couple of times right,
first in adding Rudy Gobert and then he traded away Karl.
Anthony town is an extremely popular player and an All
(14:30):
Star player, and when I talked to him about it,
he said, yeah, you know, it's sometimes you just you.
You can't be afraid to make those big moves on
the basis of the possibility that they could blow up
in your face. And it strikes me that you're kind
of I mean, your personalities are very different, but that
in that sense, you guys share that philosophy.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
Is that fair to say, Yeah, that's fair to say.
I mean, honestly, you gotta you gotta stick your neck
out there. You gotta do. You have to take a swing,
and like, if you don't, you're just gonna be I said,
you know, I don't know, You're gonna be bunting your
whole life. You gotta play for the fence, you know
(15:10):
what I mean. And look at look at our look
at our team. Now like we're we're better, Like we're
better because of this guy. We're giving ourselves a chance
like this is you know. And and if you just
sit on your hands and you build and you build, well,
you know what, there comes a time and I said
that this summer, you know when when you know, everybody
(15:34):
said we didn't do anything, we did nothing. Well, of
course we didn't. There was nothing out there. But we're
in the game now, we are able to get in
the game. That's exactly what I said.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
You've been ahead, I'm sure.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
And and and we are and you know what, we
were patient and we waited so we could be involved
in moves like this.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
You've been in NHL locker rooms, as you know as
a player as well, and it would it strikes me that,
you know, it's also the kind of move that has
to be energizing to a locker room or appreciated in
a locker room the same way I think for many
fans and the idea that these are big swings and
(16:17):
there's no guarantee every big swing is going to connect.
But I gotta believe, I don't know what sense you're
getting yet if you've got and you you know you've
got good connections. Obviously, you stay in touch with everybody
in terms of what how energizing this is within the
locker room under the classification of a man. They're serious
about this because obviously potentially if you're able to re
(16:37):
sign them, they ain't gonna you ain't gonna get that
done for a buck fifty either, So there's commitment there.
I assume this is being received within the locker room
is a very positive step, even if the players that
have gone away they have relationships with and might miss.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Yeah. I think the guys are really excited, you know
you Yeah, I mean they're they're excited, like this is
a this is a big set. Look at they've earned it.
They you know, they've showed that, you know, we can
compete with anybody and and we can, we can beat anybody.
(17:16):
So yeah, I'm I'm all in with this guy with
these guys, and I hope they're excited because I am.
I I believe in them. I think we can. I
think we can make some noise.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Was this was this you keeping your promise to Caprice off? No, No,
that's more dramatic if you say yes.
Speaker 4 (17:37):
That's not though, that's not the truth.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
I mean we all assume that part of it was, Hey,
we're not done. We're gonna keep going. We're gonna keep adding.
Don't you don't have to worry about that. We take
you take care of us by signing with us. We'll
take care of you by adding another really good piece.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
No, I don't, although I look, all I want to
do is win. Like I don't make promise with the players.
Oh well, you know I'm gonna get you this guy
or that guy or this guy. All I can promise
you is that we're trying to win and we'll do
what we have to do.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Text, let me ask you this question because it's and
a lot of people I think are asking this. By
the way, your guy Russo Radio is supposed to join
us in the ten o'clock hour. Dan, could you ask
Billy about upgrading our center depth? It was already a
big question for losing Marco. I love this trade, but
how can we compete with first line centers we'll face
in the playoffs like McKinnon and Michael McDavid, etcetera.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Well, I mean, take a look at our decoor. I
think it's probably the best in the league. That helps
when you're playing against other top guys. I think the
play of Danilla year off made it made it possible
to move Rossy. I think we see kind of a
(18:55):
rise in his game. Yeah, there's no doubt. We'd still
like to add, you know, some centered death, no doubt,
but no, there's there's more than one way to skin
a cat. You know, you just we'll figure it out.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Did you see the comments from within the hockey community,
from other general managers, other executives? Anonymous? I might add,
because that's why it's got to work. Have you read
a couple of those. This is from a This is
from the Athletic. This is a quote from an Eastern
Conference executive. Minnesota's back end is scary with Hughes and
(19:40):
the favor. Vancouver gets talented young players that can help
for a while. Good job. That indication seems to be
that both sides did extremely well.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
You'll take that, I assume, yep, yeah, yeah, I'll take it.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
A West Western Conference executive very surprising. So you didn't
hear You didn't hear much about Minnesota even being interested,
and I figured Vancouver would want to send him east,
but the Canucks got a good return. I'm a big
boy fan Rossi he has already proven to be a
twenty five goal sixty point guy. Trade will really be
judging who the first round pick turns out to being.
Of many resigns Hughes, but if they just get him
(20:14):
for a year and a half, that is a lot
to give up. They resigned him there arguably getting the
second best offensive defenseman in the league. So there seems
to be I guess you could say a great agreement there.
What interests me about that quote, though, is let's go
back to the earlier you were talking about the whole
the timeline. So you mentioned you get the call from
(20:37):
one of your guys to hey, make a phone call here.
My assumption is you're on this the whole time because
you covet this player. Was it you had not done
that because you didn't think he was yet available?
Speaker 4 (20:51):
Or why did you.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Have to get that phone call to kind of get
this whole thing going?
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Well, you know what, honestly, you don't think of everything,
even though you're the general manager, you think of everything.
You know, I'm thinking of one and other guys are
thinking of others. And you know that's why that's why
I have guys like Matt and kill her and like
they they have ideas too. It's not like I've always
(21:19):
said that, that's not all me. Like we we work
as a team, and for Matt to you know, pick
up the phone and just say, hey, look, you know
we should we should look into this, or maybe maybe
give them a call just to see where it's at.
Maybe it's nothing, but you know it turned out to
be something. Well, that right to me. If you're if
(21:42):
you're only willing to do things that are your idea
comes into your head, you're you're you're foolish. So I'm like,
I listen to my guys and if they have good ideas,
like we're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna look into that.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
Do you believe in collaborations what you're saying, Oh yeah,
one hundred percent.
Speaker 4 (22:01):
Yeah, that's good to hear it.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
I don't know if this matters to you, but Louis
called me yesterday for two reasons.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
One was to mock me for being.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
Here on a day where I knew he knew by
the end of the day I was gonna be like
minus fifteen and a minus or win show minus thirty.
Speaker 4 (22:20):
And he's of course in Florida. The hockey guy you.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Know, the Sue guy is luxuriating in Florida. And the
other reason is he wanted to talk about this deal.
To describe him as enthusiastic is to vastly understate the
state of his hockey being.
Speaker 4 (22:38):
He is thrilled.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
And part of it that he and I talked about
was the big swing thing, because he believes in the
big swing. And again, you don't always get it right.
He didn't always get it right, but he believes it.
And he said, the first time you and he talked,
if you took the job, you asked him for what
the best advice was, and that's what he talked about,
was a be the boss. Don't be afraid to be
(22:59):
the boss, and don't be afraid to take shots, to
take swings.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
Absolutely absolutely, And I agree with him, like it's he's
always given me great advice, Like he's, uh yeah, and like, honestly,
this is this is what we've been waiting for, to
to really get in the game and be like I said,
and be able to do this stuff and to be
able to to go after players like that. Like we
(23:25):
we don't, like I said, we don't want to just
sit there like this is not you know, what I mean,
we we want to win a Sally Cup, and you
need you need great players and you need a great
team to do that. So putting the opportunity arises, you
got to take it. Sometimes, well you got Sometimes you don't.
Sometimes it might not be the right time.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
Well, you also have to have an owner, I assume,
I mean, the the assumption is that you make this
deal with a full intent of re signing him, right,
so that ain't gonna be cheap. So I assume that's
those discussions have to take place too, right, It's it's
going to take another Brinks truck to bring him back
if he if he continues to be as good as
(24:08):
he is.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
Correct, And I ask you, let me ask you a question. Sure,
do you like when you interview other gms and other
people in like the other sports, do you talk about
like the money like that, Like oh yeah, well.
Speaker 4 (24:22):
Well let me give you let me answer. I'll answer
it this way.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
I'm curious because like kind of the NHL, we're kind
of gone into this new in this new land where
guys are making real big money, and like it always
comes up because you know, we've got the hard cap
and oh man, you're gonna have to spend all this money, yeah,
and this and that, and I just didn't I didn't know,
like if because like if you look at like the
(24:47):
NBA and MLB and some like they make way more money.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
Oh yeah, yeah, well I didn't.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
Know if you kind of approach it like that. But
I think Craig. Craig owns a team, he's them. Fine,
he's in it to win, yes he is. Their finances
are good, like we're okay if if we're not, if
it's not okay, then we wouldn't be in it. And
(25:15):
you know what, he wants to win. It's like you can't,
Like it's kind of like the trade. Like I talked
about the trade, you have to pay to get a
player of that caliber. In order to win the Stanley Cup.
You have to pay great players to be on your team.
It doesn't come free. You can't. You're not. I'm sorry,
but you're not going to be at the minimum the
(25:37):
floor of the cap and win the Stanley Cup. You're
just not. So if if we're if we're in it
and we're going for it, and we're going for it,
we're not we're not trying to do it. Oh just
on our term. If we can only spend this much
and see if we can squeak one out. Well, you're
in it.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
I am not here to suggest any of this spending
would be reckless at all.
Speaker 4 (25:59):
It's more, you know, okay, let's let's double check, let's
be sure. No, Well, here's I'll give you the exception.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
Whenever if I ever talk to anybody from the Twins,
and I don't as much anymore because there's not that
much to talk to. We never talk money, Bill, because
that organization doesn't want to spend any money. And and
I know that's not what you're here to do. It's
my job to take shots at other organizations. But I honestly,
this is what I think appeals to fans about the approach,
(26:29):
the ambitious nature of this approach.
Speaker 4 (26:32):
It may or may not work out perfectly, but.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
It's it's like, wow, that's an investment, uh, literally and figuratively.
And that's what the Wolves have largely done. And and
I think I and that's definitely what the Vikings have
tended to do. Now they have more money to work with,
but it's all relative. Let's they all still have certain
pots from which they work and not every g you know,
maybe even the NHL. There may be owners of say no, no, no, no, no,
I don't want to.
Speaker 4 (26:56):
I don't want to. You know, take that kind of
a kind of a a step.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
There are in every sport. Yes, that's why they never win.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Yeah, that's it, that's it exactly all right. So you're
you're on meatball patroling. What's the dish you're making now?
Is it a breakfast, a brunch dish or working dinner?
Speaker 2 (27:13):
What we we just I was up at like five
this morning. I was just crossing a turning, and because
of everything that happened the other day, I didn't get
to complete the you know, the meatball extrapaganza. But you know,
we're making a bunch for Christmas Eve. Like I'm making
(27:34):
them now. I got the vacuum sealer out. They're going
to go in the freezer. We'll pull them out for
Christmas Eve.
Speaker 4 (27:41):
It's impressible.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
I think I made I made six pounds already this morning.
Speaker 4 (27:44):
Six pounds. That's a lot of meat.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Yeah, we're gonna have like forty something people. Okay, nobody's
gonna go hungry.
Speaker 4 (27:51):
It's a good event. Do you find that process relaxing?
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Yeah? I just like cooking in general general, and it's uh, yeah,
it's great. I love it.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
Last question because we haven't really talked about the team,
and I think we should so leaving aside this move.
Prior to this move, what beyond obviously some really good
goaltending most of the time, what else has changed for you?
What what do you see that you can can you know,
demonstrably tell us this is why we seem to be
(28:23):
turning some things around.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
I think we've matured a lot, Like I think, you know,
what the guys are under understanding a little bit more
like how we need to play each and every night,
especially in the games. Like you know, we've we've beat
every good team this year. You know, now now we
have to back it up, like you know, we we
(28:47):
beat a good team that we lose for a weaker team. Uh,
but we're we're we're at least kind of making a
step in the way we play in these you know, big,
big regular season games. So I think there's a I
think there's a maturity that's that's going on here with
our team. And yeah, it's good to see.
Speaker 4 (29:09):
I appreciate the time.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
Congratulations on the meatballs, Congratulations on the deal.
Speaker 4 (29:15):
And I'll add one other thing.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
Some often our interviews are different than they are with
other general managers in large measure because you allow the
jousting more, which I do appreciate, and you can't do
that with everybody. Some people get too uptight. Some people say,
well I'm shutting it down. I'm not doing that. So
if they are sometimes they feel a little bit different.
It's because you allow them to be different, which as
(29:39):
a host I much appreciate.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
Awesome, I love it. No, I always love coming on
with you, and I appreciate the jousting. You always ask
good questions. Thanks, no matter who writes them for.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
You, well large largely Russo obviously. Yeah, I just quote
him and thanks, have a good morning.
Speaker 4 (29:56):
Thanks, thank you. That's Bill Ghon, the WHI general manager.
Still working on the meatballs that
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Betrayal: Weekly
Betrayal Weekly is back for a brand new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack. And make sure to check out Seasons 1-4 of Betrayal, along with Betrayal Weekly Season 1.