Welcome to another riveting episode of the Circuit of Success podcast! In this edition, host Brett Gilliland dives deep into the extraordinary journey of Chris Pronger, a true hockey legend and former NHL player. Join us as we explore Pronger’s career, from his high school hockey days to becoming a Hall of Fame inductee and a two-time gold medalist.

Discover the grit and physicality that defined Pronger’s time on the ice, including his victorious moments as a Stanley Cup champion with the St. Louis Blues. Gain insights into the challenges of professional sports and the wisdom Pronger gleaned from early mentorship, highlighting the role of a business coach in shaping his path to greatness.

But that’s not all – Pronger’s story extends beyond the rink. Uncover the fascinating world of Journey J.R.N.Y., the whisky business co-founded by Chris and his brother. Delve into the intricacies of their venture, forged through years of research and development.

In this episode, Pronger shares invaluable advice on investing in oneself, the pursuit of excellence, and the significance of giving back to the community. Learn how his experiences as an athlete fueled his commitment to making a positive impact on the world, echoing the sentiment that the adrenaline rush on the ice is irreplaceable but focusing on the present is paramount.

Whether you’re a hockey enthusiast, a business-minded individual, or someone seeking inspiration, Chris Pronger’s insights are sure to resonate. Join us for a compelling discussion that intertwines NHL glory, the St. Louis Blues legacy, the essence of a hockey legend, and the exciting world of JRNY whisky. Don’t miss out on this episode packed with wisdom and the keys to success.

Subscribe now and be part of the Circuit of Success journey!

Chris Pronger – NHL HALL OF FAME

 

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I’m your host, Brett Gilliland.

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And today, I’ve got Chris Pronger. What’s up,

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my man? How are you?

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I am great. It’s good to have you.

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You. Been excited about this. It’s been a

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while. It’s been a while.

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We got our customers. We are branded for

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those watching at home. Thank you. Got the

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turkey Canadian whiskey right here. I go Brett.

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You go black? Yeah. You’re kind enough to

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come in here and give me a shirt.

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We got some, we got some whisky here.

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We may open one in a Gilliland,

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but yeah, man, you are the Hall fame

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hockey player, two time gold medalist,

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Stanley Cupchamp,

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Number forty four is retired at the enterprise

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center.

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You are a whisky owner. You are a

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husband. You are a father. And my last

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thing, I put your one hell of a

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golfer. Uh-huh. Wow. Not quite as good as

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you.

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But, man, that’s a hell of a career.

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That’s a hell of a career. Yeah. Practice

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on your slap shot. Not not your golf

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shot. Right? So, well, it’s been awesome getting

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to know you through old Billy. Billy Schmidt

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introduced to two of us. And so it’s

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been fun getting to know you, man. So

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I was excited to have you on the

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pod But if you can,

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people that don’t know you, I’m sure they

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listen to this probably does know you. But

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for those that don’t, man, there’s always a

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backstory. Something that’s helped make you the man

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you are today, and I always love to

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chat about that. So there, if you don’t

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mind. Yeah. No. I grew up in small

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town Canada,

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dried in Ontario,

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thriving metropolis of about seven thousand,

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strong right now.

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Nice.

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Northwest in Ontario is, so my hometown driving

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is eight hours straight north of Minneapolis.

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K. The coldest place in the continental US,

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not in Alaska

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is international falls, which is two and a

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half hours south of me. Wow. So it

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is cold.

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Not a lot going on in the winter

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other than hockey and

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snowmobiling,

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and ice fishing, and what you what you

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would expect. Yeah. But,

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Brett childhood growing up. Love living there. It

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was, it was a lot of fun. You

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know, see pre internet. So it was

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not a lot going on as far as,

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surfing the web and doing all that stuff

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and video games. It was pretty,

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you know, kinda asteroids and, the simple games

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that’s, that you can think of. But,

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now we played hockey pretty much every My

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brother, like, it’s pretty much what you do

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up there. Right? You’re not you’re not playing

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basketball or are you playing basketball baseball in

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the summers? Yeah. No. I was a multi

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sport athlete. Okay.

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I would play hockey in the

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fall, winter,

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early spring. And then would play baseball. Mhmm.

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And then I would golf all summer and

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kind of swim in the lake and be

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a kid. Nice. And then,

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I usually did not put skates on till

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the last two weeks of August when I

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would normally go to Thunder Bay and do

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a hockey school and stay with my grandparents

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and kinda have some time with

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them. My parents would get a break from

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us. Because you and your brother, right? Just

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me and my brother who’s two years older.

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Two for two for your parents and Angel

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hockey stars.

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And then,

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yeah, we just

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I mean, it was pretty simple living. It

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was nice. It’s awesome. Yeah. Not a whole

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lot to worry about. No cell phones. No

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nothing. And how much older is your brother

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than you? Two years. Okay. So two years

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older than you. So he’s beating the crap

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out of you guys or kids, running around

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a backyard. I believe I counted one summer.

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I had forty nine bleeding noses.

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So there was,

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there Thanks a lot. As as we used

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to hear a lot of, oh, the Pronger

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boys are going at it again. Yeah. But,

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no, it was,

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It was your dad, mom, the end of

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hockey? Is it sports? My dad played, you

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know, like college hockey a little bit. And,

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saw a picture of you guys where he’s

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not near as tall as you guys.

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My dad is 05:11. Okay. Chris brother was

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six six kinda like a picture I have

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of you and I. I look like I’m

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five foot four, you know, like, what’s going

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on here, man? This is terrible. So My

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grandpa was six three. So he’s the run

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to the litter. Yeah. You’re six six. Your

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brother’s six three. Six three. Okay. Big dudes.

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Imagine that on skates, even more intimidating.

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What, at what point do you should we

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open some of this stuff? Yeah. Let’s get

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I’ll let you, just grab it. Pick your

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poison. Alright. Let’s do this right here. Figure

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out which one you want. Get it right

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here. There we go. I can get it

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open here. Chris is some good stuff.

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We get a little pour here

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and then, I’ll ship it your way.

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Very good? Thank you, sir. Thank you.

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Cheers, mate. Cheers? Yeah. I’d like to

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smell it. A good stuff. That a good

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stuff. Anyway, back to the

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pre recorded, not pre recorded. The recorded session

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here we’re doing is At what point did

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you know you’re different, man? I mean, obviously,

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playing hockey, you’re a high level. There’s tons

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of good hockey players come from Canada.

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Was there that moment where you thought, man,

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I’m a little different than some of these

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guys?

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I was always,

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you know, growing up on, you know, kids

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my age. I usually played up a a

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a year or two years. Yeah.

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And and, you know, just played it out

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a higher level, if you will. And then

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you you really don’t know, come from a

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small town back then, you know, there’s, again,

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no internet, no real TV where you can,

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other than watch an NHL on hockey night

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in Canada on Saturday nights,

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you weren’t really immersed in it other than

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just who you’re playing against all the time.

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So I didn’t really

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have a good understanding or gauge

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to understand

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where I was at with respect to competition

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levels and and things of that nature. So,

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moved away from home when was fifteen, but

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prior to that, I had a choice to

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make at thirteen. Am I gonna play high

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school hockey,

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or am I gonna go play AAA hockey,

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which my brother played, and you’re driving

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10:12 hours in a bus, and it’s a

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gr you know, it’s a commitment and a

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grind.

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And I was, like, you know, I don’t

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wanna do that. I wanna play I wanna

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be with my friends, and I wanna play

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high school hockey.

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And, you know, there was a little politics

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involved that that I’ll get to later, but

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that was kinda really the first

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foray into the politics politics of sports and

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kinda what can happen

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they were upset that I didn’t go play

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on Chris AAA team. They being your parents?

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No. They being the coaching staff and the

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managers of that team. And their friends, my

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my brother played there, and they were friends

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of my parents, a lot of them. And,

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they we kinda merged two talents together, Kenora,

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and dried, and merged to create this triple

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a team because we were not each city

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was not or town was not AAA. Yeah.

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So we’d go and play in this AAA

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league. And I’m like, oh, I just wanna

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play with my buddies, but but again,

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fourteen,

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thirteen, fourteen,

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turning fifteen, the two years I played high

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school, I’m playing against twenty year olds. So

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I’m I’m playing nineteen, twenty year olds. So

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I’m playing against much older competition

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that have either gone on play junior, and

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I’ll come back. Gonna play high school hockey,

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finish your hockey careers, and go to school

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and do whatever. Right? So you’re you’re playing.

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It’s still against some pretty players. Yep. And

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on our team were players that had played

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in that league, and now they’re back playing

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high school hockey. So we had there was

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a lot of really hockey players that I’m

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playing against at the that age.

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So I’m, you know, I think in grade

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nine. I was six one, grade ten. I

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was six three. So I’m,

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Give me as big as those guys. I’m

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tall. I’m tall. I’m not big.

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Skin’ mouthy.

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But,

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you know, I think understanding

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I just wanted to have a good time.

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I wanted to enjoy my childhood. You know,

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it was a lot of pressure of, you

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know, you’re the best player. You’re Chris. You’re

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that. Yeah.

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And I thought we had a good enough

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team to go play in the Ontario’s where

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you’d go down to Toronto

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and play against the top high schools in

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the in the in the province and gets

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go to that way as opposed to playing

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out west

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were in Ontario, but they’re playing in the

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western. It just it was a, yeah, a

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s assorted deal. And so

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I played high school hockey for these two

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years. We go to the Ontario’s, both years.

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Brett

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seen by some scouts and and get asked

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to go play for this junior tee junior

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b team down in Stratford.

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And

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before I go and do that, I go

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to this summer camp, and they’re doing this

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under sixteen,

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camp to pick Chris, the all Ontario team,

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and I go to this camp, of which

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a lot were on this AAA team. Right.

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And, you know, it was a valuable learning

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for me on a couple fronts, number one,

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the politics.

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Number two,

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I wasn’t in the best shape. I didn’t

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train overly hard preparing

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for this,

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camp. So,

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you know, they said, oh, you know, we’re

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we’re cutting you. And I’m like,

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I’m I’m looking at my Gilliland I’m like,

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how am I getting cut? There’s no way.

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Yeah. But I get cut.

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And one of the scouts that watched me

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that pre that spring playing the All Ontario’s

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had two wild Chris. Now he’s got two

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wild cards for all of Ontario.

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And he’s like, how does this kid get

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cut? And he uses one of his two

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wild cards on me to go to the

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main camp. Wow.

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And I make the team.

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Again, not making the same mistake.

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I’m training now. I’m like, alright. I’m gonna

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train. I learned my lesson that it wasn’t

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prepared.

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Gonna happen again. I’m gonna train. I’m gonna

00:09:15.000 –> 00:09:17.000
prepare. And, you know, he’s that gentleman is

00:09:20.000 –> 00:09:23.000
still of my good friends. The wild card

00:09:23.000 –> 00:09:25.000
guy. The wild card guy, Sheldon Ferguson Ferguson,

00:09:25.000 –> 00:09:26.000
who then went on to scout

00:09:27.000 –> 00:09:29.000
for, central NHL central scouting, and then he

00:09:29.000 –> 00:09:31.000
worked for a number of different, NHL teams

00:09:31.000 –> 00:09:32.000
along the way.

00:09:33.000 –> 00:09:36.000
But still always talk about that circumstance and

00:09:36.000 –> 00:09:37.000
how

00:09:37.000 –> 00:09:39.000
He’s just happened to see if I don’t

00:09:39.000 –> 00:09:40.000
go to the Ontario championships, he doesn’t see

00:09:40.000 –> 00:09:42.000
me, and I don’t get this wallet, you

00:09:42.000 –> 00:09:43.000
know. It’s just who knows where he is.

00:09:43.000 –> 00:09:45.000
So many different. Yeah. I mean, it’s just

00:09:45.000 –> 00:09:47.000
if you don’t that opportunity or someone somebody

00:09:47.000 –> 00:09:48.000
doesn’t go out on a limb for you.

00:09:48.000 –> 00:09:50.000
Yep. You know, you you just never know

00:09:50.000 –> 00:09:51.000
where you’re gonna be. What were your parents

00:09:51.000 –> 00:09:54.000
like during that phase of life? Right? I’m

00:09:54.000 –> 00:09:55.000
picking high school over what they want me

00:09:55.000 –> 00:09:57.000
to do because, you know, in today’s world,

00:09:57.000 –> 00:09:58.000
and obviously you got kids. You know what

00:09:58.000 –> 00:10:00.000
it’s like. But the sports world is nuts.

00:10:00.000 –> 00:10:01.000
No.

00:10:01.000 –> 00:10:02.000
Bean

00:10:03.000 –> 00:10:05.000
Yeah. Miley. Yes. Yes. Miley.

00:10:06.000 –> 00:10:08.000
What were your parents like versus what we

00:10:08.000 –> 00:10:09.000
see parents today? Like, if you’re not on

00:10:09.000 –> 00:10:11.000
that all star if you’re not doing this,

00:10:11.000 –> 00:10:12.000
you’re not, you know, what were they like?

00:10:12.000 –> 00:10:14.000
Because they again, they went two for two

00:10:14.000 –> 00:10:16.000
with two NHL players. I mean, that’s that’s

00:10:16.000 –> 00:10:17.000
amazing. Yeah. I would say,

00:10:18.000 –> 00:10:20.000
you know, my dad was always quiet, always

00:10:20.000 –> 00:10:22.000
sat by himself up in the corner and

00:10:22.000 –> 00:10:23.000
just watched. Yeah.

00:10:24.000 –> 00:10:26.000
My mom was kinda with other parents, you

00:10:26.000 –> 00:10:28.000
know, hooting and hollering, but not, you know,

00:10:28.000 –> 00:10:30.000
getting involved in coaching and doing all that

00:10:30.000 –> 00:10:32.000
stuff. Getting advice and getting kicked. Yeah. Doing

00:10:32.000 –> 00:10:33.000
all that kind of stuff.

00:10:34.000 –> 00:10:36.000
You know, they weren’t car rides. What were

00:10:36.000 –> 00:10:36.000
those like?

00:10:37.000 –> 00:10:40.000
They were pretty quiet. I was pretty intense

00:10:40.000 –> 00:10:41.000
kid kinda preparing

00:10:42.000 –> 00:10:44.000
the way you saw me play is the

00:10:44.000 –> 00:10:45.000
way I played all the time. Okay. That’s

00:10:45.000 –> 00:10:47.000
the only way I know how to play.

00:10:47.000 –> 00:10:48.000
That’s the only way I know how to

00:10:48.000 –> 00:10:49.000
play. Okay. And so

00:10:50.000 –> 00:10:52.000
You know, I was kinda getting myself geeked

00:10:52.000 –> 00:10:53.000
up for the game. Yep. You know, you’re

00:10:53.000 –> 00:10:55.000
listening to music, you knew whenever,

00:10:56.000 –> 00:10:58.000
whatever music there was back then. Yeah. Not

00:10:58.000 –> 00:10:59.000
in AirPods.

00:10:59.000 –> 00:11:02.000
No. Yeah. No. Listen to Gilliland Oates and

00:11:02.000 –> 00:11:04.000
whatever else. My dad’s all fired up.

00:11:05.000 –> 00:11:08.000
Great tracks. Yeah. Exactly. Listen to Billy Joel

00:11:08.000 –> 00:11:09.000
a track or whatever.

00:11:11.000 –> 00:11:13.000
Not a whole, you know, we’re pretty quiet.

00:11:13.000 –> 00:11:15.000
Yeah. Just, you know, kinda go about business

00:11:15.000 –> 00:11:17.000
do your own thing. And and I love

00:11:17.000 –> 00:11:18.000
that though, man. You know, you you hear

00:11:18.000 –> 00:11:20.000
people talk about car rides, and that’s just

00:11:20.000 –> 00:11:22.000
one way, right, that people don’t wanna play

00:11:22.000 –> 00:11:24.000
sports. Sometimes the car rides home, mom, and

00:11:24.000 –> 00:11:25.000
dad, or, you know, why you miss that

00:11:25.000 –> 00:11:27.000
or do Chris? And Yeah. No. No. There

00:11:27.000 –> 00:11:29.000
was never, I don’t ever remember

00:11:30.000 –> 00:11:33.000
unless I did something not revolve

00:11:34.000 –> 00:11:36.000
around a play or whatever if I did

00:11:36.000 –> 00:11:38.000
something bad. Yeah. Right. You heard about it.

00:11:38.000 –> 00:11:39.000
May or may not have happened.

00:11:41.000 –> 00:11:43.000
No, I never got, well, why didn’t you

00:11:43.000 –> 00:11:44.000
make that pass? Or why didn’t you do

00:11:44.000 –> 00:11:46.000
this? Or why’d you make that player? No.

00:11:46.000 –> 00:11:47.000
I never

00:11:48.000 –> 00:11:49.000
it was, you know, it was just all

00:11:49.000 –> 00:11:51.000
about, as I tell people now. I’m like,

00:11:51.000 –> 00:11:53.000
make sure your kids are having fun. They

00:11:53.000 –> 00:11:55.000
get one chance to be a kid because

00:11:55.000 –> 00:11:57.000
guess what? You’re gonna grow up fast. Yep.

00:11:57.000 –> 00:11:58.000
And they’re out the door and

00:11:59.000 –> 00:12:01.000
you want them in those formative years of

00:12:01.000 –> 00:12:02.000
being a kid,

00:12:02.000 –> 00:12:05.000
being passionate about asport or multiple sports so

00:12:05.000 –> 00:12:08.000
that as they go off high school, college,

00:12:08.000 –> 00:12:09.000
etcetera,

00:12:10.000 –> 00:12:13.000
into normal normal life and are contributing citizens

00:12:13.000 –> 00:12:15.000
to the world, they still do stuff like

00:12:15.000 –> 00:12:17.000
that. They still wanna golf, they still wanna

00:12:17.000 –> 00:12:17.000
play hockey,

00:12:18.000 –> 00:12:21.000
basketball, volleyball, whatever it is, they wanna keep

00:12:22.000 –> 00:12:24.000
maybe not necessarily competing, but playing the sport

00:12:24.000 –> 00:12:26.000
that they love and are passionate about, or

00:12:26.000 –> 00:12:28.000
coaching it, paying it forward and doing these

00:12:28.000 –> 00:12:29.000
other things that you see a lot of,

00:12:30.000 –> 00:12:32.000
former players do. We’re gonna dive into your,

00:12:32.000 –> 00:12:34.000
obviously, your career here in a little bit,

00:12:34.000 –> 00:12:36.000
but but important for us as a firm,

00:12:36.000 –> 00:12:38.000
but also I think just any business person

00:12:38.000 –> 00:12:39.000
listening to this is whether it’s on the

00:12:39.000 –> 00:12:40.000
ice or in the boardroom,

00:12:41.000 –> 00:12:43.000
your values are important. Right? Your culture’s important

00:12:43.000 –> 00:12:45.000
to you. So was there a set of

00:12:45.000 –> 00:12:47.000
values or principles for you that maybe even

00:12:47.000 –> 00:12:48.000
your parents taught you or that you kinda

00:12:48.000 –> 00:12:50.000
formed early on in your career that said,

00:12:50.000 –> 00:12:53.000
this is what I stand for, and this

00:12:53.000 –> 00:12:54.000
is what I’m gonna do.

00:12:55.000 –> 00:12:56.000
You know, I think

00:12:57.000 –> 00:12:59.000
I was always one of the bigger kids,

00:12:59.000 –> 00:13:02.000
tall taller kids. You know, bigger, taller.

00:13:03.000 –> 00:13:04.000
But I always played a certain way. I

00:13:04.000 –> 00:13:06.000
always protected my teammates. I always

00:13:07.000 –> 00:13:08.000
let the other team know, oh, hey, you

00:13:08.000 –> 00:13:10.000
wanna take runs of this guy? Well, you

00:13:10.000 –> 00:13:12.000
better be careful because someone else can be

00:13:12.000 –> 00:13:13.000
taking runs of you.

00:13:14.000 –> 00:13:16.000
You know, and I think hard work and

00:13:16.000 –> 00:13:16.000
and

00:13:17.000 –> 00:13:20.000
adversity, you know, as my career went along,

00:13:20.000 –> 00:13:21.000
I you you

00:13:21.000 –> 00:13:22.000
sense

00:13:23.000 –> 00:13:25.000
and learn from the very adversities that you

00:13:25.000 –> 00:13:27.000
face, the decisions you gotta make.

00:13:28.000 –> 00:13:30.000
I’ve had plenty of decisions, whether it’s going

00:13:30.000 –> 00:13:31.000
to play junior, whether it’s going to play

00:13:31.000 –> 00:13:33.000
AAA or high school, whether it’s going to

00:13:33.000 –> 00:13:36.000
play major junior or college. I mean, just,

00:13:36.000 –> 00:13:37.000
you know,

00:13:37.000 –> 00:13:39.000
asking for trades, doing all these things. Like,

00:13:39.000 –> 00:13:41.000
you have you’re forced to really

00:13:42.000 –> 00:13:44.000
Stick to your guns. And, alright.

00:13:45.000 –> 00:13:47.000
You know, there’s some moments where I did

00:13:47.000 –> 00:13:47.000
not

00:13:48.000 –> 00:13:50.000
stick to my guns that I’m like, why

00:13:50.000 –> 00:13:51.000
did I not?

00:13:51.000 –> 00:13:53.000
Why did I cave and why, you know,

00:13:53.000 –> 00:13:55.000
it just if you have a core set

00:13:55.000 –> 00:13:56.000
of principles and you

00:13:57.000 –> 00:14:00.000
know who you are, and and you have

00:14:00.000 –> 00:14:01.000
a firm belief in that, you need to

00:14:01.000 –> 00:14:04.000
stick your guns. And there’s a couple times

00:14:04.000 –> 00:14:05.000
where I

00:14:05.000 –> 00:14:08.000
wouldn’t say I got bullied or talked into

00:14:08.000 –> 00:14:09.000
it. Just

00:14:09.000 –> 00:14:11.000
was told to you, you know, maybe you

00:14:11.000 –> 00:14:12.000
should go do this or that. And I’m

00:14:12.000 –> 00:14:14.000
like, well, I wish I’d have already did

00:14:14.000 –> 00:14:16.000
that. Yeah. Because it’s not. I

00:14:16.000 –> 00:14:18.000
I got asked to tell the owner one

00:14:18.000 –> 00:14:19.000
time in Saint Chris,

00:14:20.000 –> 00:14:21.000
sorry for making a play that I got

00:14:21.000 –> 00:14:22.000
suspended on.

00:14:23.000 –> 00:14:25.000
Like, why? Why? Why? Why do I need

00:14:25.000 –> 00:14:26.000
to apologize for that?

00:14:27.000 –> 00:14:29.000
That’s who I am. That’s how I play.

00:14:29.000 –> 00:14:31.000
Right. You love how I play. Yeah. So

00:14:31.000 –> 00:14:33.000
why am I still here? That’s why I’m

00:14:33.000 –> 00:14:34.000
here. You know, and I’m just like, well,

00:14:34.000 –> 00:14:36.000
why am I apologizing? I think that’s normal.

00:14:36.000 –> 00:14:38.000
Right? I mean, you think about even from

00:14:38.000 –> 00:14:39.000
a work standpoint? Oh, I kinda have good

00:14:39.000 –> 00:14:42.000
on that road. I kinda haphazardly just said,

00:14:42.000 –> 00:14:42.000
I’m sorry. But

00:14:43.000 –> 00:14:46.000
Yeah. I’m not I don’t mean it. You

00:14:46.000 –> 00:14:47.000
know, great. You told me to do it.

00:14:47.000 –> 00:14:48.000
Okay. I did it. But I don’t mean

00:14:48.000 –> 00:14:51.000
it. Yeah. Because I’m not sorry. Right. Right.

00:14:52.000 –> 00:14:53.000
I’m sorry I got caught.

00:14:54.000 –> 00:14:56.000
But when I read eight suspensions, is that

00:14:56.000 –> 00:14:58.000
what I heard? Eight. Yes. Hate suspensions.

00:14:59.000 –> 00:15:00.000
What was the best one?

00:15:02.000 –> 00:15:04.000
There were a few. There were a few

00:15:04.000 –> 00:15:06.000
good ones. You know what? I I learned

00:15:07.000 –> 00:15:10.000
early in my childhood to be unpredictable. Gilliland

00:15:11.000 –> 00:15:12.000
whether that’s you’re gonna take the puck, whether

00:15:12.000 –> 00:15:14.000
that’s you’re gonna hit them, whether that’s you’re

00:15:14.000 –> 00:15:15.000
gonna spear them, whether you’re gonna slash them,

00:15:15.000 –> 00:15:16.000
cross check them, whatever,

00:15:18.000 –> 00:15:19.000
in the grid the errors of the rule

00:15:19.000 –> 00:15:20.000
book.

00:15:20.000 –> 00:15:21.000
Mhmm.

00:15:21.000 –> 00:15:24.000
That keeping people unpredictable that just that indecisiveness

00:15:24.000 –> 00:15:24.000
in their head is gonna give you just

00:15:24.000 –> 00:15:24.000
enough time to

00:15:28.000 –> 00:15:30.000
make play, take the puck.

00:15:30.000 –> 00:15:32.000
They’re gonna be a little leery as to

00:15:32.000 –> 00:15:34.000
what you’re gonna do, and I could be

00:15:34.000 –> 00:15:35.000
honest with you sometimes. I didn’t know what

00:15:35.000 –> 00:15:38.000
I was gonna do. This is a re

00:15:38.000 –> 00:15:40.000
action. It’s a spur of the moment. You’re

00:15:40.000 –> 00:15:42.000
laying on. Yeah. Boom. But I think there’s

00:15:42.000 –> 00:15:44.000
people that, like, they like the hit. Right?

00:15:44.000 –> 00:15:45.000
I think of my oldest son, like, he

00:15:45.000 –> 00:15:47.000
likes the hit. Even he’s playing soccer. He’s

00:15:47.000 –> 00:15:49.000
not playing, but but, like, I was a

00:15:49.000 –> 00:15:50.000
guy. I didn’t like to hit. Like, I

00:15:50.000 –> 00:15:52.000
didn’t want that company. He’s probably why I

00:15:52.000 –> 00:15:53.000
played golf. Right? But

00:15:54.000 –> 00:15:55.000
do you think do you agree with that?

00:15:55.000 –> 00:15:56.000
I mean, people like to hit? Oh, absolutely.

00:15:57.000 –> 00:15:59.000
There’s, you know, when you see game start

00:15:59.000 –> 00:16:01.000
and you’re like, you either wanna get hit

00:16:01.000 –> 00:16:04.000
or get hit. Yeah. Just to absorb, get

00:16:04.000 –> 00:16:05.000
into the game, get the feel of it.

00:16:05.000 –> 00:16:08.000
Alright. We’re good now. Yeah. Just get that

00:16:08.000 –> 00:16:10.000
first one to get started. Alright. Now.

00:16:12.000 –> 00:16:14.000
Going. I was doing some butterflies, and get

00:16:14.000 –> 00:16:15.000
that

00:16:15.000 –> 00:16:17.000
I Brett some research last night. Watch some

00:16:17.000 –> 00:16:19.000
videos. I you said something on a podcast

00:16:19.000 –> 00:16:21.000
or some TV thing you’re on, and it

00:16:21.000 –> 00:16:23.000
said you you predicted be a hundred plus

00:16:23.000 –> 00:16:24.000
concussions? If you’re looking at what they consider

00:16:24.000 –> 00:16:25.000
a concussion now. Yeah. I

00:16:30.000 –> 00:16:30.000
would

00:16:31.000 –> 00:16:33.000
I would probably guess. You know?

00:16:34.000 –> 00:16:36.000
I can count ones where

00:16:36.000 –> 00:16:37.000
if you were looking at

00:16:39.000 –> 00:16:40.000
a baseline concussion of,

00:16:41.000 –> 00:16:43.000
you know, either it got knocked out or

00:16:43.000 –> 00:16:44.000
you’re seeing stars, you know, like a legit,

00:16:44.000 –> 00:16:45.000
you know, head trauma. You’re talking

00:16:50.000 –> 00:16:50.000
Twenty?

00:16:51.000 –> 00:16:52.000
Like that. And then,

00:16:53.000 –> 00:16:54.000
you know, seeing seeing stars, you bell rung

00:16:54.000 –> 00:16:54.000
and all the all those buzz words that

00:16:54.000 –> 00:16:54.000
you

00:16:58.000 –> 00:17:00.000
to hear. They’re like, don’t worry about it.

00:17:00.000 –> 00:17:02.000
Or I get a stinger. You know, your

00:17:02.000 –> 00:17:03.000
tip’s your head, but it’s your neck, but

00:17:03.000 –> 00:17:05.000
it’s your shoulder. You know, what is it?

00:17:06.000 –> 00:17:08.000
You know, there was so many different buzzwords

00:17:08.000 –> 00:17:10.000
to kinda take it away from

00:17:10.000 –> 00:17:12.000
your head. Yeah. That

00:17:13.000 –> 00:17:15.000
I, you know, over the span of playing

00:17:15.000 –> 00:17:16.000
hockey thirty

00:17:18.000 –> 00:17:20.000
Let’s see here. Thirty years or so? Eighteen

00:17:20.000 –> 00:17:23.000
in the NHL. Right. Thirty three. Yeah.

00:17:23.000 –> 00:17:25.000
Nineteen in the NHL. I mean,

00:17:25.000 –> 00:17:27.000
Yeah. I would, you know, you bang your

00:17:27.000 –> 00:17:28.000
head off the glass. You get hit. You

00:17:28.000 –> 00:17:30.000
know, there’s a couple times. You remember, we

00:17:30.000 –> 00:17:31.000
Brett banging my head off the glass on

00:17:31.000 –> 00:17:32.000
a hit.

00:17:32.000 –> 00:17:34.000
You know, you pass a puck and you’re

00:17:34.000 –> 00:17:36.000
trying to Brett yourself just, you know, you

00:17:36.000 –> 00:17:37.000
get hit by a big guy and you’re

00:17:38.000 –> 00:17:39.000
you’re hitting the guy and your head hits

00:17:39.000 –> 00:17:40.000
the glass.

00:17:42.000 –> 00:17:44.000
You’ve you’ve you don’t

00:17:44.000 –> 00:17:47.000
lose consciousness, but you’re you can feel it

00:17:47.000 –> 00:17:50.000
for a second or two. You’re like, okay.

00:17:50.000 –> 00:17:52.000
Talk about that moment we Brett hit in

00:17:52.000 –> 00:17:53.000
the chest. You know, the puck hits you,

00:17:53.000 –> 00:17:55.000
you go down. I watched that video last

00:17:55.000 –> 00:17:57.000
night. That was just scary as hell just

00:17:57.000 –> 00:17:58.000
watching the video, and I knew you survived

00:17:58.000 –> 00:17:59.000
it, but I’m like, in that moment, I

00:17:59.000 –> 00:18:01.000
came imagine. Yeah. I I

00:18:01.000 –> 00:18:04.000
when the whole Demar Hamlin thing happened, you

00:18:05.000 –> 00:18:07.000
you know, obviously got Yeah. That got just

00:18:07.000 –> 00:18:09.000
stood off and and, you know, being the

00:18:09.000 –> 00:18:11.000
first one that it actually happened to.

00:18:11.000 –> 00:18:14.000
I’m, you know, kinda relived it a little

00:18:14.000 –> 00:18:14.000
bit more and

00:18:15.000 –> 00:18:17.000
When it happens to you, that young in

00:18:17.000 –> 00:18:17.000
your career,

00:18:19.000 –> 00:18:21.000
you know, the the internet was still not

00:18:21.000 –> 00:18:23.000
really. The internet Yeah. Wasn’t it was ninety

00:18:23.000 –> 00:18:23.000
eight

00:18:24.000 –> 00:18:26.000
ish, I think. Yeah. Main ninety eight.

00:18:27.000 –> 00:18:28.000
There was not a lot of information out

00:18:28.000 –> 00:18:30.000
there. There was not,

00:18:30.000 –> 00:18:32.000
you know, dial up internet and all that

00:18:32.000 –> 00:18:34.000
kind of stuff. It’s just you’re not researching

00:18:34.000 –> 00:18:35.000
all that web I don’t even know if

00:18:35.000 –> 00:18:37.000
it was born yet. Well, he’s been dead

00:18:37.000 –> 00:18:39.000
if you went to WebMD. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly.

00:18:40.000 –> 00:18:42.000
Same symptom for everything. Yeah. But

00:18:44.000 –> 00:18:46.000
You know, I I started to really research

00:18:46.000 –> 00:18:47.000
and understand.

00:18:48.000 –> 00:18:48.000
I was actually

00:18:51.000 –> 00:18:54.000
closer to death than maybe a thought

00:18:54.000 –> 00:18:56.000
as I talked to the trainer and talked

00:18:56.000 –> 00:18:57.000
about what what I actually did have? Cause

00:18:57.000 –> 00:19:00.000
I never really I didn’t really wanna know.

00:19:00.000 –> 00:19:02.000
I’m just like, I just wanted to know

00:19:02.000 –> 00:19:04.000
from the doctor. Can it happen again? Right.

00:19:04.000 –> 00:19:07.000
Are there any short term, long term effects

00:19:07.000 –> 00:19:08.000
if I go back to play.

00:19:09.000 –> 00:19:10.000
And and once she cleared me of all

00:19:10.000 –> 00:19:12.000
that, and she’s like, no. This is just

00:19:12.000 –> 00:19:13.000
a random freak thing that

00:19:14.000 –> 00:19:16.000
follow those things line up again. It can

00:19:16.000 –> 00:19:17.000
happen, but the sequencing

00:19:18.000 –> 00:19:19.000
has to be perfect. Yeah.

00:19:19.000 –> 00:19:21.000
And the way it hits you has to

00:19:21.000 –> 00:19:23.000
be perfect and where it hits you.

00:19:24.000 –> 00:19:26.000
So I’m like, well, I just didn’t wanna

00:19:26.000 –> 00:19:27.000
know. So I start to ask the trainer.

00:19:27.000 –> 00:19:29.000
I’m like, so I get hit with a

00:19:29.000 –> 00:19:30.000
puck, a block shot. I gave it with

00:19:30.000 –> 00:19:32.000
a puck, and we’re killing a penalty.

00:19:33.000 –> 00:19:35.000
And I was, like, kinda stung in Rindy

00:19:35.000 –> 00:19:37.000
Troy, so I’m, like,

00:19:37.000 –> 00:19:39.000
In my hand, I’m like, cover the puck

00:19:39.000 –> 00:19:40.000
up, get a whistle, and then get to

00:19:40.000 –> 00:19:42.000
the bench. Don’t let these people see it

00:19:42.000 –> 00:19:44.000
down here. Yeah. Because they’re gonna be all

00:19:44.000 –> 00:19:45.000
over you. Alright.

00:19:46.000 –> 00:19:48.000
So in my hand, I do all that,

00:19:48.000 –> 00:19:51.000
but then I must have blacked out. Like,

00:19:51.000 –> 00:19:53.000
you kinda see I’m kind of Yeah. I’m

00:19:53.000 –> 00:19:55.000
gonna go down. Stumblebee tuna right after I

00:19:55.000 –> 00:19:57.000
get and take a stride, then boom, I’m

00:19:57.000 –> 00:19:59.000
down. Thank god. I had my hands in

00:19:59.000 –> 00:20:01.000
front of me. I would’ve broke my face.

00:20:01.000 –> 00:20:04.000
And I I wake up, and, you know,

00:20:04.000 –> 00:20:05.000
I’m in the middle of the ice. My

00:20:05.000 –> 00:20:06.000
stuff’s open

00:20:06.000 –> 00:20:08.000
all my stuffs off. And I look over

00:20:08.000 –> 00:20:10.000
to our bench. People are crying, and I’m

00:20:10.000 –> 00:20:12.000
just like, what’s going on here? So you

00:20:12.000 –> 00:20:13.000
had your wherewithal. I mean, you knew what

00:20:13.000 –> 00:20:15.000
was Once I woke up, I did. So

00:20:15.000 –> 00:20:18.000
then as this whole Lamar Hamlett thing happened,

00:20:18.000 –> 00:20:19.000
I started talking to the trainer. I’m like,

00:20:19.000 –> 00:20:21.000
so because I kept getting asked about it.

00:20:21.000 –> 00:20:23.000
And I was I don’t know. You know,

00:20:23.000 –> 00:20:25.000
it kinda just happened. To know, but I

00:20:25.000 –> 00:20:26.000
really didn’t.

00:20:26.000 –> 00:20:28.000
So I started asking. I’m like, so what

00:20:28.000 –> 00:20:30.000
exactly did happen?

00:20:30.000 –> 00:20:31.000
I was like, well, you know, we got

00:20:31.000 –> 00:20:32.000
out there.

00:20:32.000 –> 00:20:33.000
You weren’t breathing.

00:20:34.000 –> 00:20:37.000
You know, your lips were kinda panicked.

00:20:38.000 –> 00:20:39.000
No defibrillator.

00:20:40.000 –> 00:20:42.000
Back then, they had no defibrillators in the

00:20:42.000 –> 00:20:42.000
building.

00:20:43.000 –> 00:20:45.000
The ambulance was just a cart. It was

00:20:45.000 –> 00:20:47.000
basically just to to get you to the

00:20:47.000 –> 00:20:49.000
hospital. It wasn’t there was nothing in it.

00:20:49.000 –> 00:20:50.000
That could help you.

00:20:53.000 –> 00:20:55.000
And so here was starting to panic. My

00:20:55.000 –> 00:20:56.000
lips were starting to turn a little bit

00:20:56.000 –> 00:20:58.000
blue. He was like, yeah. We were just

00:20:58.000 –> 00:21:00.000
getting ready to give you mouth to mouth

00:21:00.000 –> 00:21:01.000
when you

00:21:01.000 –> 00:21:03.000
kinda came to and took a Brett. And

00:21:03.000 –> 00:21:04.000
they were like,

00:21:04.000 –> 00:21:05.000
Wow.

00:21:06.000 –> 00:21:07.000
Because they were they were just getting a

00:21:07.000 –> 00:21:09.000
little nervous. I think I had, like, fifteen,

00:21:09.000 –> 00:21:11.000
twenty seconds without breathing. And,

00:21:12.000 –> 00:21:14.000
you know, unlike ham on. I think it

00:21:14.000 –> 00:21:16.000
was, like, eight or nine minutes. Yeah. So

00:21:16.000 –> 00:21:18.000
they they were and and then since then,

00:21:18.000 –> 00:21:20.000
so then I went to hospital, did all

00:21:20.000 –> 00:21:22.000
that. And since then, right, right after that

00:21:22.000 –> 00:21:24.000
incident, they had fibrillators in the all the

00:21:25.000 –> 00:21:27.000
buildings. Mhmm. They’ve, you know, retrofitted or fixed

00:21:27.000 –> 00:21:29.000
the ambulance situation.

00:21:29.000 –> 00:21:31.000
And three years after that, Yuri Fisher with

00:21:31.000 –> 00:21:33.000
the Detroit Wed rings had a heart attack

00:21:33.000 –> 00:21:34.000
on the bench

00:21:34.000 –> 00:21:36.000
or right in front of the bench. And

00:21:36.000 –> 00:21:39.000
they also had the doctors way up in

00:21:39.000 –> 00:21:39.000
the top. Oh, yeah.

00:21:40.000 –> 00:21:42.000
And and after that incident, they had the

00:21:42.000 –> 00:21:43.000
doctors right behind the bench.

00:21:44.000 –> 00:21:46.000
And fortunate enough for Yuri Fisher, the doctor

00:21:46.000 –> 00:21:48.000
was right behind the bench, came off the

00:21:48.000 –> 00:21:50.000
bench, came out, start give him out the

00:21:50.000 –> 00:21:52.000
mouth, give him the

00:21:52.000 –> 00:21:54.000
defibrillator and save his life. Save his life.

00:21:54.000 –> 00:21:54.000
But, so I

00:21:57.000 –> 00:21:59.000
that that happens. I’m in the hospital. I’m

00:21:59.000 –> 00:22:01.000
I’m wearing a heart monitor for twenty four

00:22:01.000 –> 00:22:04.000
hours tracking it, doing all that. And, again,

00:22:04.000 –> 00:22:05.000
ask the doctor if, you know, is there

00:22:05.000 –> 00:22:06.000
any

00:22:06.000 –> 00:22:08.000
long term short term side effects if I

00:22:08.000 –> 00:22:08.000
play.

00:22:09.000 –> 00:22:10.000
And she’s like, no.

00:22:11.000 –> 00:22:12.000
So I I’ve thought about Demar Ham. So

00:22:12.000 –> 00:22:14.000
I wanted to rip the band aid off

00:22:14.000 –> 00:22:16.000
fast. Right. Basically. Brett right back. So how

00:22:16.000 –> 00:22:18.000
long did you set out? A a day?

00:22:18.000 –> 00:22:19.000
I just No. So even, like, the next

00:22:19.000 –> 00:22:20.000
day, you’re in the next day. So we

00:22:20.000 –> 00:22:22.000
played a I don’t know. Let’s just say

00:22:22.000 –> 00:22:24.000
that was a Tuesday? Yeah. Played on Thursday.

00:22:24.000 –> 00:22:26.000
Oh, wow. So I stayed in the hospital

00:22:26.000 –> 00:22:27.000
Tuesday night in Detroit,

00:22:27.000 –> 00:22:29.000
flew back on Wednesday,

00:22:30.000 –> 00:22:32.000
did all these tests, wore the heart monitor,

00:22:33.000 –> 00:22:34.000
did all that.

00:22:35.000 –> 00:22:36.000
Got up in the morning, went back to

00:22:36.000 –> 00:22:37.000
the doctor.

00:22:39.000 –> 00:22:41.000
Got checked out again. She looked at the

00:22:41.000 –> 00:22:41.000
monitor.

00:22:42.000 –> 00:22:43.000
The heart monitor that is,

00:22:44.000 –> 00:22:45.000
did a battery of tests against, sat down

00:22:45.000 –> 00:22:47.000
with her, talk to her.

00:22:47.000 –> 00:22:49.000
You know, still not knowing whether gonna play,

00:22:49.000 –> 00:22:51.000
but I prepared the night before like I

00:22:51.000 –> 00:22:53.000
was gonna play. Just you never know. Yeah.

00:22:53.000 –> 00:22:54.000
And then,

00:22:56.000 –> 00:22:58.000
And then went down to the rank at,

00:22:58.000 –> 00:22:59.000
like, 04:30.

00:22:59.000 –> 00:23:01.000
I think we had a seven, maybe a

00:23:01.000 –> 00:23:03.000
07:30 game. Went down to the rank at

00:23:03.000 –> 00:23:04.000
04:30, and just, like, I got cleared to

00:23:04.000 –> 00:23:06.000
play. So I’ll take up, see how I

00:23:06.000 –> 00:23:06.000
feel.

00:23:07.000 –> 00:23:09.000
And, well, you know, once once you put

00:23:09.000 –> 00:23:11.000
your equipment on It’s a good time. For

00:23:11.000 –> 00:23:11.000
me.

00:23:12.000 –> 00:23:14.000
I’m not taking that shit Yeah. It’s not

00:23:14.000 –> 00:23:15.000
it’s

00:23:15.000 –> 00:23:17.000
not happening. Right. I’m like, once it’s on

00:23:17.000 –> 00:23:18.000
You get to cut it off me again.

00:23:18.000 –> 00:23:20.000
Well, I’m not sitting now. If if I

00:23:20.000 –> 00:23:22.000
can if I can go out there and

00:23:22.000 –> 00:23:24.000
do warm up and do all the time.

00:23:24.000 –> 00:23:26.000
My might as well play. Right. And I

00:23:26.000 –> 00:23:29.000
hate sitting upstairs. It sucks. Yeah. So

00:23:30.000 –> 00:23:32.000
So, boy She just went back in and

00:23:32.000 –> 00:23:34.000
there was her nerves. Oh, yeah. There was

00:23:34.000 –> 00:23:35.000
nerves. You know, you again, to to the

00:23:35.000 –> 00:23:37.000
point, do you wanna get hit, or you

00:23:37.000 –> 00:23:38.000
wanna hit somebody, like, right

00:23:39.000 –> 00:23:41.000
And, you know, just, the water flies and

00:23:41.000 –> 00:23:43.000
the energy of coming out to the, out

00:23:43.000 –> 00:23:44.000
to the rain, you know, you take warm

00:23:44.000 –> 00:23:45.000
up and, you know, not everybody’s in the

00:23:45.000 –> 00:23:48.000
building. Yeah. Playoff game, playing Detroit, So it’s

00:23:48.000 –> 00:23:50.000
just crazy. Yeah. And,

00:23:51.000 –> 00:23:52.000
and then I come out for

00:23:54.000 –> 00:23:56.000
intros and come out, you know, to the

00:23:56.000 –> 00:23:59.000
building electric and going bananas, and then, you

00:23:59.000 –> 00:24:00.000
know, I come out. I was, like, one

00:24:00.000 –> 00:24:02.000
of one of the last couple guys I

00:24:02.000 –> 00:24:03.000
would always and

00:24:03.000 –> 00:24:05.000
fancy erupted and all that kind of stuff

00:24:05.000 –> 00:24:06.000
pretty cool. It brings it home. Oh, yeah.

00:24:06.000 –> 00:24:08.000
Alright. Let’s go. Well, you get and then

00:24:08.000 –> 00:24:10.000
you get the butterflies, like, alright. Let’s get

00:24:10.000 –> 00:24:12.000
the Band Aid ripped off and hit somebody

00:24:12.000 –> 00:24:15.000
somebody hit me, let’s get this out of

00:24:15.000 –> 00:24:17.000
the way so we can get past this.

00:24:17.000 –> 00:24:18.000
So in sports, I think for fans, I’m

00:24:18.000 –> 00:24:21.000
curious always to talk to players on it’s

00:24:21.000 –> 00:24:22.000
as big a deal for you guys. So

00:24:22.000 –> 00:24:24.000
there’s the rivalries. Right? There’s there’s games that

00:24:24.000 –> 00:24:27.000
mean more than than most. Obviously, playoffs always

00:24:27.000 –> 00:24:29.000
do. But did you treat those differently, or

00:24:29.000 –> 00:24:31.000
did did your mind go differently when you

00:24:31.000 –> 00:24:33.000
were playing a certain robbery for the different

00:24:33.000 –> 00:24:33.000
teams?

00:24:34.000 –> 00:24:35.000
Like, you know, cubs cards in baseball. Right?

00:24:35.000 –> 00:24:37.000
Like, there’s that thing. Did that matter to

00:24:37.000 –> 00:24:39.000
you? Oh, yeah. For sure. You the the

00:24:39.000 –> 00:24:42.000
team’s in your division. Yeah. And back then,

00:24:42.000 –> 00:24:43.000
you gotta remember, you pay you played those

00:24:43.000 –> 00:24:45.000
guys eight times. Mhmm. You know, the the

00:24:45.000 –> 00:24:47.000
schedule has since changed in you know, you

00:24:47.000 –> 00:24:48.000
don’t play

00:24:48.000 –> 00:24:51.000
against those teams as much. You know, you’re

00:24:51.000 –> 00:24:52.000
playing four home games, four road games, and

00:24:52.000 –> 00:24:54.000
then you’re playing the team typically in the

00:24:54.000 –> 00:24:55.000
playoffs and

00:24:55.000 –> 00:24:57.000
You know, you’re playing on sat possibly seven

00:24:57.000 –> 00:24:59.000
times and you’re playing it. You know, the

00:24:59.000 –> 00:25:01.000
next rival you’re playing seven times, it just

00:25:04.000 –> 00:25:04.000
you know, those

00:25:05.000 –> 00:25:07.000
the hatred between the teams

00:25:08.000 –> 00:25:08.000
intensifies

00:25:09.000 –> 00:25:10.000
with each playoff

00:25:13.000 –> 00:25:14.000
round that you play and we play Detroit

00:25:14.000 –> 00:25:16.000
four years in a row.

00:25:16.000 –> 00:25:17.000
This was

00:25:18.000 –> 00:25:18.000
ninety

00:25:20.000 –> 00:25:23.000
Ninety five, ninety six, ninety seven. This is,

00:25:23.000 –> 00:25:24.000
like, ninety eight. This is this is a

00:25:24.000 –> 00:25:26.000
fourth year in a rural plant. Yeah. You

00:25:26.000 –> 00:25:28.000
know, near the Okay. Here we go again.

00:25:28.000 –> 00:25:29.000
Here we go again.

00:25:29.000 –> 00:25:32.000
And so, you know, it’s just that rivalry,

00:25:32.000 –> 00:25:32.000
the

00:25:32.000 –> 00:25:35.000
the feuds between the play years and, you

00:25:35.000 –> 00:25:37.000
know, all the different things that happened over

00:25:37.000 –> 00:25:39.000
years. We hadn’t beaten them. They Brett us

00:25:39.000 –> 00:25:40.000
every year.

00:25:41.000 –> 00:25:42.000
You know, so it was

00:25:43.000 –> 00:25:45.000
It was getting intense. Yeah. When you get

00:25:45.000 –> 00:25:46.000
a lot of The hits, you get a

00:25:46.000 –> 00:25:46.000
little harder.

00:25:47.000 –> 00:25:49.000
You know, and you’re sick of losing, you

00:25:49.000 –> 00:25:51.000
know, getting pissed off. Yeah. Alright. Well, I’m

00:25:51.000 –> 00:25:52.000
gonna get my pound watch.

00:25:53.000 –> 00:25:55.000
Did you ever have one of those, guys

00:25:55.000