Full Transcript for JON MIRASTY | Chriping Zebras Podcast | Ep 97

looking out behind home plate. That's awesome. Making a messy. I'm like, ⁓ my God. That's what Fenway Park is all about. And then right below those stairs, that's where the video replay guy sits. So while we were in there, there was a video replay going on. So he'll be extra quiet and everybody's in there and all the press is sitting up there. Yeah, was pretty cool. That's awesome. get him in trouble. I think he's got some pull around there. know? Lou is ⁓ just great and you really have to check that episode out. Episode 96. That was our last one. Now, today's episode, man, talk about getting a beauty on. mean, just John Marastie, you know, a lot of people know him from Shorzy, of course. He's number one. But he had a pretty storied hockey career as a fighter. Yeah, I reffed him. Yeah. But what strikes me is a lot of people here, oh, he was a fighter. He must have been a meathead, a cement head, this and that. He, much like a lot of the guys we know that played that role as a outspoken. ⁓ understands the game, a great understanding of fighting and where it fits in. You know, it's, it troubles me when non-hockey people look at those guys like they do. Cause as referees, you said it all the times, you know, those were the guys that, you know, we could rely on as refs, even though they, you know, would have a fight that didn't cause us problems. A lot of times it's solved problems for us. So, ⁓ but yeah, it's, ⁓ the, this Conor McDavid episode 97. really enjoyed our talk with him. Yeah, he was great. So without further ado, let's get to our conversation with John Marasti. I texted your buddy, Jordan Smotherman, to try and get some dirt on you, but he never texted me back. ⁓ I was actually supposed to run into him in Boston. We never got to meet up though. He was going to swing by and meet us, but I was at those damn Irish pubs every day. I'd walk around and find the shittiest little bars and that's where I'd post up. It's a good time. Plenty of lows. Yeah. was where I think per square foot a mile a block or whatever Boston has the most bars. I had a laptop. You know, little what the hell's his name? Michael's on shore, he's a little goalie. So anyways, he's kind of like a little faggot. So anyways, there's this, this, there's this, I could say it because he's the one that told me to say it. So we were at a bar and this little old lady comes up and with your guys, really strong boss, and actually goes, you know, you're not so much in a f***ing real life. I just burst out laughing. That's awesome. She was just chirping him and he looked at me and was like, do I get offended or do I laugh? Welcome to Boston. You're not so much a little f***ing odd when you're not on TV. When you guys took off your shirts at the garden and skated across, I skated over to him afterwards. go, you look like a 12 year old girl. Yeah, oh, those are funny. That's when the three gyms, we don't partake in that, that we say, no, we're not doing this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All three

of you guys are like, nope. It's part of the show, so it's kind of the thing. yeah, it's pretty funny. He's got the body of a 12-year-old boy, yeah, you're probably right. That was a great kid. Now, you brought it up. Let's get into it. Shorzy, how fun is that show to do? It's been an opportunity of a lifetime, I'm not going to lie. It's opened so many more doors. And it's pretty cool how I got onto the actual show. Jared Kiso is a huge hockey fight fan. I mean, he'll text me at five in the morning and he'll say, Hey, did you see that fight last night? And he's, think, I think, you know, it was more about fighting than I actually do, to be honest. And, uh, you know, just to have him reach out and, and invite me to the show without even having to have an audition or not even have a snip of acting, right. To have that opportunity and, and, and to be part of such a popular show as it's been kind of really special and kind of helps the afterlife of hockey. Right. You know, a lot of guys struggle when they leave from hockey because you're never, you know, you miss the. I think it's, you don't really miss the game. You miss the camaraderie, right? They hang out in the restrooms and, and hotels and restaurants and traveling. So it kind of brings that back to life and it may, you know, gives you, gives you a good feeling. uh, yeah, you know, I'm blessed to be there and. You know, now we're doing these, Shorzy classics where we're traveling all over playing NHL alumni teams and we're, pretty much filling up NHL stadiums. And, um, it's, it's really exciting and it's, it's really, it's a really cool opportunity. It's funny you say that like the. like the camaraderie with the guys and stuff because like I've I've been on teams before ⁓ and like being around the Bruins and stuff like you guys seem like an actual hockey team like you guys genuinely seem to love each other. Yeah well I'm not trying to not trying to pump Jared's tires too much he is my boss but you know he's a wizard at what he does you know he brings You know, like you said, he wanted to have one of the best hockey shows, but it's really hard to make actors learn how to play hockey. So he said, well, I'm going to make hockey players learn how to act. And I think that a lot of people told him he was crazy for trying to do it. And, and I think this is the one time where it made him look really good because, know, we, kind of got into, you know, hockey players, always find are pretty disciplined. You know, when it comes, yeah, we, should shoot the shit and we even get in trouble and all that. But at the end of the day, you know, we follow really strict guidelines and, when push comes to shoves and we have a job, we do, get it done. I think, you know, bringing guys like, you know, myself and Jordan and Brandon Nolan and, know, you got Jonathan Dohle all have hockey backgrounds, you know, know Goody played a little bit of senior hockey, you know, so there's a lot of hockey, hockey religion in there

and it really helps. Jared really actually lets us do what we want, you know, if I'm doing a hockey fight scene and they want me to do something, I'll tell them, said, I'd never do that. That doesn't happen in a hockey fight. And then they, ⁓ you do what you do, you know, or. If I say something, but it doesn't really sound like me when I speak, he lets me change it, which I really like. don't have to, it's not like black and white. wants this. He really wants us to take our knowledge of playing hockey. Little things, the way we set up our stalls in our dressing room. Sometimes the guys that have never played hockey, they're putting gloves everywhere. There's no where we say, okay, well, this is how we do it. And so we're having a lot of ⁓ input on making it more of real hockey show. ⁓ and then it does help, you know, when we're shooting scenes and I know I could kind of laugh, but you know, I'm the enforcer, but you know, with me, Jordan and Brandon being, one of the better lines out there to, be able to, ⁓ you know, do what we need to do, you know, hit the crossbar, whatever. It doesn't take so many shots, right? Because we're hockey, we're hockey players before we're actors. we, we can get the hockey scenes done a lot, a lot quicker and a lot faster. So, and, ⁓ you know, after hours when the boys like to party, we still keep that up too. You guys are like the baseball Savannah bananas the baseball tour. Yeah, like the other hockey version of that which is awesome. No, it's it's it's a great opportunity. Like I said, I'm I'm so thankful for it and I enjoy it and you know, just being able to hang with the boys is one of the most special things for me. Yeah, because it's on screen. like when when me and Riley were with you guys that the bell in hand after and then even last year at the House of Blues, like even when nobody's looking, the cameras are off, it seems like you guys are like a team, your boys. Yeah, yeah. And that's exactly how it is, know, so I mean, I'm not proud to say this, but I've actually never watched a single episode. I'm kind of going strong. So a lot of times guys will say, hey, I watch season, you know, season three, episode four. And I'm like, I don't know what you're talking about. Kind of like me on this podcast. I really listen because I hate how I sound. Yeah, same thing. I think I do a lot of podcasts over the years and same thing. don't think I've sat down and listened to one actual full podcast. know, when I did Spitting Chickens, you're getting a lot of these little clips that are posted online, but they're not the whole thing. So, I don't know. just, I sometimes feel like an idiot listening to myself talk or seeing myself on TV. I... I'm the same way. don't want anything that I'm in kind of a cool stat though. You know, I kind of giggle that, know, I've never watched the show and everyone's like, you're on the show and you've never watched it. know, and everything is too, you know, Jared gives us these little, I call them little storybooks. It's basically the lines that we're supposed to study. And I've never even sat down and looked at one of those yet. It's been five. It's been almost five years now. And, ⁓ my lines are really pretty, simple and pretty easy. So You know, I'm Jim number one, so I'm always, you know, usually I'm the first guy being spoke to. So Keith's like, Hey, Jim, it's, know, it's me. I'm yeah. And, ⁓ well, I never really, never really even studied the storybook or the storyline to, ⁓ to, know my lines, but, I'm in year five. So I think I'm doing pretty good. That's awesome. I am the exact opposite of all of you. love watching me. ⁓ And you can tell John, they know that I'm being serious. I watch everything I do. I'm not going to say that. He was pissed he didn't have a shirt off skating across the ice with you guys. You should have just said screw it and took it off. I thought about it. I know this this last season we did we filmed that just been released there at Christmas time. There are some pretty good pretty good times. I remember thinking that I'm living the dream because there's a there's a strip. strip club scene that we're in a strip club and you know we're sitting there and there's strippers all around us and I'm sitting thinking I'm being paid to do this and I'm looking around at chicks with walking on their tits hanging out and my god I got it made pretty good I'm fortunate so I am looking forward to seeing a couple of those scenes when I when I'm in the strip club. You watch those? I'll watch those for sure yeah. You know what's cool because we just talked about it I think what makes the show so authentic is that you do have hockey players acting. And I think it's kind of a throwback to Slapshot. know, George Roy Hill, who was the director, I think really wanted an authenticity to that movie. And that's why a lot of those players in that movie were plucked right out of the East Coast League. And even Michael Onkean, played Ned Brayden, he was an actor, but also played hockey his whole life. So I think that's a nice, you know, kind of throwback or almost like a tribute to Slapshot because I mean, for my money, that's the best hockey movie, sports movie for me, but hockey movie ever. I don't know. I kind of like Youngblood. Youngblood, good. To you with Miss McGill. We always joke though, there's no way that Rob Lowe should have had, should have had, what's her name, driving the Zamboni there. Way out of our league. I judge Finn who played racquet through You know my travels he was like he was living up in like or lives up in the Utica area Yeah, actually I I don't really remember what he looks like but I remember meeting him once because when I played the Syracuse crunch I know he's lives in that area and I remember we were at one of the bars one night and someone bumped me and said hey That's the you know, that's they said his name and he said that's the guy that played racquet on young bar Yeah, judge Finn. He uh, so

he's friend friendly with one of the linesman up there cop daddy and he would bring him to games So he brought him to binghamton one time and I was on a road trip and I was like, ⁓ i'm staying by you guys So like he he met us for breakfast and he came he came with a signed young bloods ⁓ dvd for me was unbelievable nice. Yeah, so I sat and had breakfast with ⁓ rackie Pretty cool. I like like yeah Just like just slaying the american league on a fucking saturday in the winter like you're miserable You're like, what the fuck am I doing? You're rethinking life And then all of a sudden, like you're meeting this guy who you're like, ⁓ my God, I watched this movie a hundred times. was cool. Well, that's right. No, it's pretty cool. You meet a lot of pretty cool people throughout the years. And that's one thing I love about playing the game and even being part of Shores. And now you meet so many, you know, pretty, pretty neat human beings. you know, with this tour, being able to play with guys that I grew up looking at and idolizing Wendell Clark and Darren McCarty and being able to have an opportunity to say, you know, I grew up watching them as kids and being able to... You know, me and Darren actually became really close. He's, he's the one that started the, the fights at the fall classics because, uh, like that wasn't originally planned. It was like, we're just going to go play a charity game and have fun. Uh, so Darren came up to me and never met him in my life, but obviously knew who I was. knew who he was. You know, it's just Johnny. said, I've watched every one of your fights. So right from when you were in juniors, he says, we, gotta, we gotta put a show on tonight. And I'm thinking like, it's a charity game. You know, it wasn't my idea. And, uh, so I said, well, I said, let me run it by, know, the boss. So I went and had to talk to Kara Hafitz. She does an amazing job for us and she's, one of the directors. And I said, Hey Kara, said, you know, Darren wants to have a little fight on ice. Like obviously it's going to be fake, but, we'll make it as real as we can. know, cause I'm worried about you guys get hurt, you know, insurances and all that stuff. She was Johnny. She was, if you want to, you do it, go ahead. think, you know, so we ended up doing it and that was the first one last year and it ended up going viral. So then, you know, I'm driving from. Detroit, where I think we're on our way to Buffalo and I get a call from Carrie, she's like, Hey Johnny, Buffalo wants that now too. And I'm like, So then I'm playing with my old captain and a good buddy of mine, Zenny Konopka, you know, he plays, he played for Buffalo for a bit. So right away he calls me and he's like, Johnny, says, me and you are going to fight. And I'm like, I'm not going to fight you, you're a middleweight. just teased him. Anyways, I know they kind of wanted me to fight Rob Ray at first, you know, Rob Ray, I think played a lot more history in Buffalo and stuff, but, I know Rob had said, I'm too old. You know, I might, I might get hurt or, or, you know, pull something. And so sure enough, I, I fought Z in, ⁓ in Buffalo, but it was funny cause you got to know Z's personality. He's, he, he's like a balls to the walls kind of guy. You know, he's wears it on his sleeves and he's very passionate, but he took the fight passionate too. says, before we fight. He said, I'm going to run somebody to make it look real. And I said, and then you come in, but we don't fight. We'll fight the next shift. He says, I'm going to go off and I'm going to cut myself with a razor. So he ends up running Freddie Roy, you know, that's Patrick was son and made it look pretty real. And there's a big loud people are kind of what just happened. And so I jump on the ice like that. I'm going to fight him, but we don't fight. So he goes off the ice, goes to the dressing room quickly and has the trainer slice them open with a razor puts his helmet back on comes out and then, you know, then I see him jump on the ice. So I jump on it and. We ended up squaring off and all I remember was, know, we come together and his helmet pops off and then he's wiping his forehead in my face. He's blood everywhere. And I'm thinking, fucking guy. So, uh, he took it to the next level. That's for sure. And, it reminded me of the WWF. And then, you know, and then we went to Boston and I fought that, uh, Graham Townsend and then Toronto and then Chicago and, then this year continues. Darren McCarty was the one that started it all. like one of my favorite things was when he jumped Claude Lemieux. Yeah. love that. old Colorado avalanche. did that. Yeah. So I love guys. Guy's an amazing guy. You know, I even actually got him involved in our, we do that international ice wars now, you know, the BKFC ice wars were, you know, I'm kind of the guy that makes the arrangements for the flights and the matchmaker and I was judging for a little bit, so I brought Darren in to come and be a judge. And so when we're in Detroit area, so it's really good. I really like having guys that did the job do it, you know, so it's, it's much more, uh, they know. You know, a of, a lot of, a lot of fans, they see a hockey fight and whoever lands on top, they think won the fight, which is not, I mean, you guys, you, reffed obviously. So that's not how it goes, right? It's, it's, uh, it's, it's, it's, there's a different way to score hockey fights than there is in boxing or wrestling or whatever. So. It's nice to have guys like him with that knowledge. but you're right, having a guy, what is he, how many Stanley cups does he have? He's got, he's got a few, you know, have him come and say, Johnny, I want you to fight, you know, that doesn't come around very often. I think that's kind of like how his ending can be, is to, know, just an absolute beauty. So. Do you tell them next time we could just drop the gloves, you don't need to cut yourself? Yeah. We have three more games coming up here with Calgary,

Edmonton and Vancouver. One guy that's on my radar is big George is the rocks. And I was telling you guys earlier, he's a big man. So I'm hoping if we fall down, he don't land on me. What's going to happen there? Well, from those mic'd up videos on YouTube, he seems pretty polite when he fights. that's, that's, that's, that's it's like how I always had the big smile on my face and you really enjoy it. So. But, ⁓ yeah, no, it's, it's going to be a fun, it's going to be a fun tour. know that Edmonton and Calgary are both selling out pretty good right now and sales are up and people, there's a lot of hype and a lot of excitement. it's a big one for me because I'm, I'm one of the only guys from Western Canada that's on the show. And Edmonton's literally only about four and a half hours from me. So I got, I bet you I have over a thousand people coming from my area coming to watch. So, ⁓ sales are right up there. I know they're, they're already talking about it, selling it out. So it's, it's going to be exciting. So the, ⁓ the. battle with like how you were saying it goes either zero or a hundred was the one with you and McCarty. looks pretty realistic. Like are there some of them where you're actually getting tagged? ⁓ actually this year I actually ended up with a little shiner and so did McCarty. you know, him and I, we're close, we joke around and so I don't really care about that. It's with other guys that I don't know so well that you you don't want to really accidentally pluck them, but it's hard. I actually find fighting fake is, is harder on my body than the real fights because when I'm throwing punches and I'm actually missing the guy, I'm hyper extending my elbow and my elbows and my shoulders hurt and I'm getting old and I'm thinking, you know, people are, you hear people saying, Oh, that was fake. I'm thinking, fuck, I'm so sorry. now. Speaking of fight, speaking of fights, remember the fight I told you, uh, with Francis Lassard that is on the wild, wild web. just looked it up quick. You guys were dancing for a little bit. I come in and go, are you guys going to go or not? And then you guys just kept throwing. I go, there was nothing fake about this. We had few battles. I know there was one battle in Syracuse. I think we skated around the whole entire ice. I threw my elbow pads at him. I threw the net at him and he kept backing up. And we ended up not even fighting because he kept backing up. But I think for about a minute and a half, I went right from one end of the rink to the other end of the rink. He ended up behind the net. And he was wild, man. Yeah, Frankie the animal. Yeah, he was an animal. Who was he? on the. He played in Binghamton for a long time. Yeah. Yeah. And then I think he was with Ottawa for a bit too. yeah, he played up. Yeah, he played in Ottawa. Yeah. Yeah. So great guy. You I kind of funny, you of these guys. I'll admit, Frankie was one of the guys that I didn't really like when I played. you know, most guys I. I liked and got along with. was one of the guys I didn't really care for when we played because I found that, you know, I'd line up and say, we're going to go and he'd say no. And then the puck would drop and I was always, I always consider myself, I always consider myself a very honest and fair fighter, you know, and I would say, okay, well, you're going to go and he'd say no. So I'd say, okay, well, I guess I'm going to play a shift then right. And minute the puck drops, I turn my back on him. jumps me and then I've seen him. I've seen him do that in my games. Yeah. He'd always ties his chin strap would be taped. think he used a roll of tape on his chin strap and his ankles to so you never get his helmet off. And here I am trying to, hated my helmet on. wanted it off, but yeah, it was good. But you know, over the years, you know, we, we all, we all keep in touch and there's a lot of respect there. And, and I love seeing the guys that are doing well. You know, there's a of, a lot of negative stories about enforcers, you know, not doing so well. And I'm not one those guys that's going to blast fighting. I loved what I did. I'd do it even probably worse, harder than I did if I went and did it all over again. But, ⁓ you know, a lot of these guys that struggle nowadays, I think there was also other issues underlying, you know, with depression or addictions and you mix that, you know, I'm not trying to say that fighting's great for you and hits to the head are great for you, but I just think a lot of those guys, because I've known a lot of these guys that passed on and stuff. And a lot of them had under underlying issues, right? So I don't just blame it strictly on, on hockey fights. I think there's a lot more. and I mean, guys in the MMA, UFC, right? Seen kickboxing. mean, they get hit in the head hard too. you know, don't hear that many stories about them, but, I don't know. think it keeps, it keeps the game honest. I think we're lacking a little bit of it, but it seems like it's almost making a comeback now a little bit. Just a couple of weeks are what. I seen my buddy, Matthew Olivier had a good one with Ryan Reeves. Reeves took the loss, it's what we do. We lose, we come back and win and ⁓ it's good. I actually reached out to Olivier because believe it or not, he used to watch me when I was playing the Quebec senior league fighting all the time. So that's we kind of came in touch and talked. So if we're ever in the same city, we always meet up and say hi. So I think he's the undisputed champ now in the NHL. And he got him on the backswing too. Yeah, I'll tell you. I'll tell you as an official right we appreciate you guys you guys were obviously like the most respectful guys and to deal with because we had to deal with you on a you know nightly basis and you know and sometimes back in when you play those games are on edge right and sometimes we were like ⁓ we need a fight right now just to settle things down like the temperature was like man you

just see this thing erupted into a line brawl and then all of a sudden like know, Pierre-Luc LeBlanc comes over the boards, Joel Reclitch, and you're like, all right, here we go. And, you know, it's settled things right down. And, you know, sometimes the games needs it sometimes. What I liked about that too was the excitement. if I jumped on the ice and Bond who jumps on the ice, we might not even fight, but it's just that anticipation. That presence, right? You know, and then people are like, ⁓ shit, they're out there. So it just made the games a lot more exciting. 100%. But, you know, like I said, it just keeps the game honest and... You know, if, I do something dirty out there and then I see, you know, one of the guys, you've lost for someone jump over the boards and you know, that's something's going to be settled. Same thing. Like I had a lot of respect for the referees because I remember one of the, one of our legendary fights, I mean, you're blonde ski. was right after the intermission or right after the buzzer went in bingo. ⁓ it was actually Mike's a growing Tom Sostito or chirping senators. And, ⁓ I mean, they were just bickering back and forth. And I remember coming in and saying, well, if you guys are going to go, let's, let's go. Or let's shut up and go the dressing room. And then, so I remember the one ref says, Marassi, just get it over with then. So that was coho 100 % fucking coho. Yeah. So, so all I remember is the refs, they said like the buzzer had already went and both teams kind of went to the blue line. Like they were singing the national anthem and we fought at center ice and you know, we were done. We fought till we couldn't swing no more. then, and then guys, and now they're actually like, good job. Okay. You guys, you know, it's rather than the guys bicker and give them tens or whatever. It was just like, okay, they fought it's done. Go to the dressing rooms now. And no, no, that's what I really respect when guys, when guys really understand the game and the points. It's not just a show, right? When we're going out to the fight, there's always some kind of purpose. Right. They call them stage or whatever. I still call bullshit on stage fights. It's there's always, it might've happened the game before it might happen the year before, but there's always a purpose for that fight. know, lot of the, the, the standard bystander doesn't really understand it, but there's, there's a lot more to the story. I think that's the problem. Like you mentioned it earlier, the game has changed to the point where. And, you know, honestly, I think it's non-hockey people making hockey rules, right? And, you know, guys can't be held accountable. You know, like you took a run at Gretzky, you got your ass kicked by Mussoli, a bomb gardener, right? Now guys are taking runs at Crosby and McDavid and, and Badad and no one's held accountable. I think that more people need to understand that fighting not only belongs in hockey, but serves a major purpose. It's not violence. And if you ever look at, know, they try to tell, they always try, lot of, like you said, a lot of the non-hockey people say, ⁓ they're nothing but they're, they're animals, they're goons, they're, you know, but they don't realize that most of the guys that are enforcers on a team in the city are usually one of the most standup guys in that city giving back, you know, charities and, and foundations and, and doing, really active in the community away from the rink, right. And I think that's, that always goes on notice how much is given back from those players that are considered savages or, know, meat heads or, you name it. I've been called it, but, ⁓ you know, so I really have a lot of respect for that. You know, there's a lot of guys out there. Don't get me wrong. There's a couple of meatheads out there that, know, that, that aren't very respectful, but that's in every society. But for the most part, all tough guys that did the job, they, they, they're humble and they know where they came from. But like, also like if they're, they're talking about like concussion. stuff in saying that like taking fighting out because they don't want concussion. Well, who's got more concussions than Sidney Crosby? Yeah. Of course, sir. I don't think so. What's a concussion? I've never had one. Yeah. We call it getting your belt on, right? I actually did that on the show. That's one of my lives on the show because I had gotten beat up in the show and I think it was one of the guys says, holy mad, Jim, how many times have you been knocked out? And I said, three or four times. Holy shit, that's a lot of concussions. And I look at them and go, what's a concussion? So, yeah, but I can honestly say to this day, I mean, I'm not saying I didn't have concussions, but I mean, there's, it's not as much of a protocol now, but I, know, when they say, when you, when you, when you have a concussion, you're knocked out, you're not supposed to go home and go to bed. You know, they say that the bright lights hurt you. I call bullshit on that. I remember the one time we got knocked out cold by, by Steve Bossy. I, uh, I went home. I was so fucking mad because you I don't, well, I'm competitive. I don't like losing. And I went home and I went straight to bed and had the best sleep of my life. And the next day that's when I kicked the shit out of him. got my, my revenge fight. Right. So, I mean, I don't think they'd allow that nowadays because I probably would have been sidelined for probably six weeks before they let me play. But back then it was like, you I went home out of sleep and next day I was ready to go guns blazing. actually now they tell you to sleep. Like, don't know. I just remember saying, you're not supposed to go home and sleep. I remember being told that, but I said, fuck that. I'm going to go and have the best sleep of my life and I'll be ready tomorrow. Yeah, that's how I only heard that. And yeah, was back in the day. Yeah. Back in the

day, you were supposed to not sleep. And like I joke and say, my father would wake me up every hour. Like you awake. Yeah. Go back to sleep. And now the research shows that's the worst thing you can do. Really? Yeah, you're supposed to wrap your brain. That's I didn't have a concussion because I went home and had the best sleep of my life. You did the right thing. You unknowingly did the right thing. took care of yourself. Yeah, well, like I said, and I've never had like where people say, oh, I throw up, I vomit. The bright lights hurt my head. I've never, never had that ever in my life. So that's why I joke around and say I've never had a concussion. Were you in that documentary Ice Guardians? I was vaguely in it. was in a split second too. Yeah. A few video clips. But what happened was that was the year when they were filming that I was supposed to be involved in it, but I had went to Russia to the cage. ⁓ okay. So then while they were filming it, I was out on the, on, on, ⁓ in Europe, in Russia, ⁓ chasing, chasing the Russians over there. So I never really got to be in it, but I think it did a lot of justice for the show or for the, for the fighters. mean, it's, it was well written. think you, you know, I, I talked to the guy that, directed the movie quite a bit. And, ⁓ you know, we've had some few, few chats here and there, but I think it was a, was a good show and he had a lot of big name guys in there was pretty neat to see. yeah, was a scary dude. What was playing in the KHL and like in Russia, like, is it true what they say that like sometimes like duffel bags full of money would show up? Yeah, I was giving bags of cash. ⁓ you know, I, to be honest, I should have left way earlier. ⁓ that was during my Columbus era days with Columbus being, be under contract with them in, in Syracuse. And, know, they're always promised me, ⁓ you're going to get called up. You're going to have a chance. And so I kind of held onto the dream, you know, trying to get that opportunity to play in the NHL where I was getting offers to go to Russia, but I said, I'm going to stay here and I'm going to try and get my opportunity. And, and, ⁓ so when I look back at it, I kind of wish I would have went, went a couple of years earlier because I mean, I ended up making more money than most guys and, and, having a good time there. And it kind of set me off financially really well. And I don't have any bad thing to say about Russia. mean, there's a lot of scary stories that you hear, but I mean, my time there, I got way more money than I was promised. I'll tell you that, you know, lot of guys say, I was promised this, but I didn't get it all. ⁓ I was treated like gold wherever we went. think it was a love hate relationship with me and your blog. ⁓ you know, they, called us. goons and but every rink that we went to was sold out, you know, so I the league, the league hate us, but they actually liked us because we brought in such a crowd. remember wherever we traveled, we were like the most watched team when we traveled and, you know, after games, there'd be lineups of people to get pictures of us, me and you, lots of the ones that they said that were, were animals, you know, so I think they actually liked us being there just to like what we did. But it was a great time. Like I said, even, even away from the game, you know, the people were so nice and it's a different world, right? It's a different country. And I think that people got to realize that when you go into someone else's house, it's not going to be the same as your house, right? Where I did see a lot of America, like us, we'd go out for supper and they'd say, ⁓ well in America, we have this. And, know, they put, put the restaurant down. It's like, well, we're not in America. This is, you know, so. You know, and then I had opportunities to party with like Vladimir Putin was pretty neat to meet him, president. And so it's kind of hard to you hear a lot of these stories here, you know, and, uh, how much of a nuisance he is and how bad he is, but I kind of got into politics. ran for chief and council of my, of my nation and got it, you know, as a leader of my community. And, I actually really respected some of the things that he had to say, you know, um, you know, one thing you said that's, don't know about you guys. in the USA, but in Canada, we're getting really overran with the foreigners, you know, and I'm not trying to be racially, but there's a lot of mud coming here and stuff. And, I remember Vladimir Putin touching base about, he goes, you know, in Russia, we allow, we want foreigners to come to, to Russia to live with us. But if they come to Russia, they're going to be Russians. They're going to speak Russian and work Russian. And I find in Canada, we're doing the exact opposite. We're bringing all these foreigners here, but we're changing our rules and policies. to cater to them, right? But they're coming here because they want a better life. And that's what really made me respect him. And he says, you know, he didn't like the idea. He said the native people, because I'm a status Indian. And he was kind of saying stuff about how the government doesn't treat the natives there very fairly. And so that really touched home for me. like, yeah. So they had a lot of respect for our native culture, too. So I think that's what drew me to them. I want to thank Townsend Hockey. At Townsend Hockey, they don't just build great hockey players. They build great people with discipline, respect, and leadership. On the ice and off the ice, they train character. They grow confidence. And they inspire a lifelong love of the game. Because at Townsend Hockey, it's not just about the scoreboard. It's about who you become. They build teammates, leaders, young people with heart, grit, and integrity because they know that the lessons learned on the ice, discipline. Respect, resilience are the same ones that shape strong character for life. At Townsend Hockey, they don't

just develop great hockey players, they develop great people. Townsend Hockey, join them and become more than just a player, become your best self. Townsend Hockey, practice until you get it right, practice until you can't get it wrong. Find out more information at townsendhockey.com. ⁓ I've never witnessed that, you know, I only seen the good in them. so it was, was an awesome experience. Like I said, I, you know, I've gained so much knowledge and education just from being in Russia for those few years. you over there when ⁓ Paul Stewart was in charge of the officiating? Cause he like, yeah, cause he was one of our guests and he met Putin too. That was pretty interesting. Yeah. I'm not too sure to be honest. I mean, ⁓ I was there the year, like when locomotive had the plane crash. Okay. They were actually flying to play my team. Which was kind of scary because I was supposed to sign with that team prior to going to Vitez. That was the team that was offering me a contract and I was kind of going back and forth between the two teams. ⁓ and that was our home opener. They were actually flying to play us that morning. And I remember waking up because I lived in a hotel. remember walking down to the lobby and there was a big TV in the lobby and there was the news was on and people were all crying. like, you know, it didn't speak Russian. So I'm like, what's going on? And they said, You know, the team that was coming to play us just crashed and they're all there. There's no game tonight. So it was pretty, and then all the news said back in North America was that a playing Russian team crashes with seven imports Canadian and we had seven imports too. So my phone blew up thinking, Oh, was it John? You know, was I on that plane? So that was pretty, pretty scary. pretty scary feeling, you know, and I remember we went to the, the, the vigil, you know, they had in the arena, they had all the caskets and and a memorial for the people. And I remember it was really sad just to be a part of that, you know, it was a huge arena and they had all the caskets in there. of course, you know, they gave us a bunch of roses to go put on the caskets. And so I went to the, remember going to the Canadian guys because there was, they had no family there. So I felt like I should be there for them, you know, us Canadian guys. So that was really emotional, that was, was a Something I'll never forget to be honest. Last week's guest, Lou Maloney, played in Japan for a while. And that language difference, like you just said, you didn't speak Russian. ⁓ Did you pick up any Russian or did you just kind of, did you have a, like he had an interpreter. ⁓ It's amazing how much you, when you, it's for example, in Canada, you grew up going, you speak English. I speak Cree as well. That's my native language. ⁓ It's, it's English and French, right? And yeah, I went to school from grade kindergarten to grade 10, learning French. And I could tell you within that two years, I learned more Russian than I did French because in Canada, you don't really need to use French writing if there's no French people, right? So, but in Russia, I'd go for dinners, go for supper and no one spoke a lick of English. So it's like, you had to learn. So I could say, I probably learned about, was probably, I'd say 40 % Russian. could speak. I had hired a, uh, I think I remember we didn't buy vehicles there, so we had hired drivers. And basically I'd pay a driver two or $3,000 a month, American, and he was my driver. So he'd be up in the morning with a coffee, wait for me. And my wife used to laugh because him and I, he didn't speak a word of English and I didn't speak a word of what he spoke. I think it was Kazakh what he spoke. But we learned how to communicate. know, I'd say, let's go to the strip club and I'd see, you big kids. ⁓ Or I'd say... We, we, we found a way to communicate. it was, Janessa just thought it was the most funny thing in the world. My wife, because she's like, it's so neat. You guys don't speak the same language at all, but you guys know exactly what you're going to go do. So like, because there was a big mall called the hunch a tier. It's kind of like the mall of Minneapolis, their mall of America or the West. It's a really big popular mall there. So I remember I'd tell them, I want to go to the mall and I'd be doing sign language and stuff like that. So we really learned how to, you learn how to communicate. That's for sure. So it's just the game of charades. Yeah, but I guess I got to say back to learning the language. I learned quite a bit, to be honest. That's hilarious. I learned there were three Russians in my regional camp up in Lake Placid or national camp for the referees and three came over and I learned, ⁓ I believe, Birgat was one word. Wow, you really look like Fedorov when you said that. And Siskie. ⁓ I don't know, one meant run and one meant tits. don't remember. Those are pretty important. Those are pretty important words to know. Right? I always said that, you know, I'd run for tits. So they taught me how to say that. ⁓ That's what I got out of there. No, I, I, was, it was pretty neat to learn the language. Like it's kind of sad because I was learning a lot where I could actually almost have conversation with people. But you know, it's been 10 or 15 years since I've been there now I don't really use it other than when I'm watching TV and I hear. a couple of Russian words. I'm like, ⁓ know what he just said, you know, but it's, was nice to really talk to people and use that language. like you were the Caitlin Clark of Russian hockey. Everyone loved you over there. Which one's Caitlin? Is that, is that the white girl or the chocolate girl? That's the white girl. Yeah. I, that's my, yeah. Well, no, I just, I, I don't watch basketball very much. But I know there's those two girls and they're always, they're always at each other. And my, my daughters are really good. My daughter's actually one of the best girls for

her age in the province right now. And Caitlin Clark is, is my daughter's idol. I just, but I had to make sure. Cause what's the other one's name? Angel Reese. Yeah, those two, just know that they're a bickering. So I was trying to put names together. Sorry for the HR, HR disaster there though. No, we we're good. We've, we've had plenty of. We can say whatever the fuck we want. He's a walking HR. Nightmare in, uh, in Shorzy. know, uh, Jared Keeser just a couple of weeks ago. He's like, we were just talking about you, John. If I tell you not to do something and I'm not going to say the word because, uh, it's probably inappropriate. But he says, if I tell you not to say that word, what are you going to fucking do? You're going to say that word 10 times in a row, which is completely true. If I told I can't do it, I'm going to do it. He goes, you you don't care who tells you not to do it. It could be your boss. It could be your wife. If you told you're not going to do it, you're going to do it. So, which is pretty true. You got to know my personality. Hey, we, we, ⁓ you started off with a bang and use the word that I don't even use on stage anymore. Cause people's assholes, Parker, when you say certain word. that's the word I use. That's the word I use. ⁓ yeah. Yeah. And, we had, ⁓ Kyle Binstead, who was referee from Australia. And, ⁓ you know, I love the fact that those people say cunt all the time. ⁓ They use it as I another reason to say the word. love it. No, they say cheers, you cunt, as a way of saying hi. I know. And our country has such a bad- I don't know if that's a word in Canada you can use, but everywhere else in the world is fine with it, but the US, I never got There's too many soft people in North America now. Your feelings get hurt. ⁓ but police are like- I had some of the worst things say to me playing pro-hawk. You know, there was racist words and I don't care if it's a word, it doesn't hurt my feelings. I'd say it right. I'd say it right back. You know, I remember one guy called me a dirty Indian and I said, you keep stealing my line. I'm going to keep fucking your women. It's just, it's our world's gone too soft. mean, a little bit of bullying, so I, I'm not, I'm not justifying bullying, but a little, little bullying here and there and teasing is, is, is good enough, you know? And I just feel now everyone's got to watch what they say. And that's, that's what I really respect about Jared Kiso with the show. He really rides that line, you know, flying like he'll step over it once in a while. And I respect that because, you know, it just, it just shows that he's, he's, he's testing the waters, right. And, ⁓ but yeah, I guess you could say I'm, one of the guys that's probably an HR nightmare. Cause I don't hold my, got to learn even being a public figure now. I, I like to comment a lot and, and I, I have my things that I like to say and I'm very, ⁓ Opiniated, I would say. I might not always be right, but I'll let you know what I think. Well, it's kind of going the other way because it's like growing up, was always sticks and stones can hurt my bones, but now it's the opposite where it's like. You've flipped the food pyramid upside down too. Yeah. got to learn the key. With all the politics going on right now, I have my vision and I'm not afraid to say it, but I've learned a little bit. Zip my mouth a bit. It is what it is. The good news on this podcast, I'm HR. So if I fire you, there's no chance of that happening. Riley and Marston get canceled. Yeah. Yeah. Our goal is to get canceled. That means we're out. We're well known enough if we get canceled. I've always said as like a comedian, I want someone to try to cancel me because that means people are paying attention. no, it's just Shane Gillis. Yeah, I mean, why not? What's really cool is like, and I grew up in the Cold War era, right? And where we hated Russia and there was that always that tense, you know, a bomb could be coming, you know, we had like plans and shit if we got the call, you know, or if the alarm went off. But to hear you have such a good experience there is kind of cool in the sense that, you know, you think certain things, but when you experience it in a different way, you know, it's kind of cool. Yeah, well, even being back home, you know, with politics and stuff, don't like to judge people by what I hear from them, from others. I like to, you know, even like the news right now, everyone makes their decisions about what they watch on the news. And, you know, I like to give people the benefit of the doubt and I'll make that decision if I think they're a bad person not. And I find that to be really true even in everyday life. You know, I never judge a book by its cover. You know, you got to meet that person. And I mean, to me, I probably present myself as an asshole half the time, but I could care less, you know. I treat people accordingly. I view politics like how my grandmother did. She was an Irish lady. I grew up in Southy and she would go to both parties, everybody that's running. She would go to all their events, right? And listen to what they had to say. she'd do it like so. She would never tell anybody who she was supporting. She was like, wait, someone's gonna represent me. I wanna know who it's gonna be. And if you're gonna hold true to your fucking word, right? And she held everybody's feet to their fight. Well, you said you were gonna do this and this. You're not doing it, right? Politics is a lot like how people are like, I view it like hockey fans. Like you got Boston fans, Montreal fans. All the Montreal fans are a trip, none of the Boston fans are a trip. It's like all the Republicans see a trip. You're just rooting for your team. Yippers, yeah, I hear you. Well, it kind of goes back to people thinking the fighters in hockey are all cement heads and can't skate. I mean, if you know hockey, you know that's bullshit, right? But people outside of hockey and the snowflakes that want to

change it. We'll say, he's just an idiot. can't skate. can't play hockey, but all you guys can play hockey. ⁓ yeah. I come home and play senior hockey. lead the league. lead the team at scoring, you but when I'm playing, you gotta remember too, when back in the day, my vision and my goal when I got on the ice wasn't to try score a goal. I wanted to go create havoc. I wanted to throw a big hit. I wanted to crush somebody. wanted to kick the shit out of it. You know what mean? I wasn't focused. I know I probably could have worked a little bit more on my game and became a better player, but when you're there and hired to do a job, that's what I did and I loved it, you know? And I always said, well, I got three fights that night or I scored three goals. Guess who got more girls? The guys that had three fights. They didn't care about goal scoring. Now, who was your favorite fighter growing up? Who did you watch and kind of try to emulate? mean, as a young kid growing up, obviously, I loved Wayne Gretzky, you that was the Canadian icon. But as I got into the role, I started to play more physical. I really like Wendell Clark. ⁓ Being a First Nation person, I really looked up to guys like Gino Ogik, ⁓ Chris Simon, ⁓ Sandy McCarthy, you know, those native guys that kind of lived the same lifestyle that I lived. ⁓ And it was really neat, know, God rest his soul is a guy like Chris Simon. You know, when I went to Russia, I actually became really good friends with him. Big Gino Ogik, same thing passed away, but I actually fought him when I was 20 years old at an Indian tournament, Prince George. I was, I was so scared because I, you know, I, like I said, I came, I was a 20 year old enforcer in the East coast hockey league. But I came home and I was in tip top shape playing in a, in a senior hockey tournament, you know, full contact. I was actually leading the tournament scoring and we're in the final game against, ⁓ Gino's team. And all I remember was Gino speared me in the nuts. And this was a guy that I idolized. I'm thinking, what the fuck you speared me in the nuts for, know? So I ended up going after him and fighting him. And I remember splitting them wide open. I cut his forehead open and I felt so bad after the fight. I wouldn't apologize. ⁓ so, but yeah, no guys, guys like Gino, Chris Simon, you know, another guy that I always. I didn't really like the way he fought, but I was always compared to a guy like Ty Dohme, know, short and stocky like myself. And ⁓ I wasn't a fan of how he spun all the time. I'm a guy that I just sat in there and just throw. But, ⁓ you know, I also liked, you know, looked up to guys like that because to do that job at what, five foot nine, to fight guys like Bob Probert and you know, all the biggest names in hockey, you got to big balls and be tough. So I really respected that as well. And then ⁓ But yeah, Wendell Clark would have been the player that I really liked because he could play the game really well. Same thing with

Bob Probert. ⁓ But yeah, was really guys like that that I looked up to the older I got. ⁓ So you, Chris Simon, I loved the way he played. Even though he didn't play for the Bruins, I still liked the way he played. ⁓ know, rough, tough, like kind of a Tom Wilson, but without the cute shots. Yeah. I think I like this one cheap shot though. Was it, it Hallweg? Remember? Yeah. You had it all in the head. ⁓ That was more of a fuck you. I'm an old veteran and you're running around like an idiot. So you don't fucking do that. I think you're like 25 games or something for that. Did he? Yeah. got suspended for a while. I was talking to somebody. I won't mention his name or maybe no. I won't say his name, but he fought Chris Simon a few times and I was talking to him about that and he was like, well, I fought Holwig too. I think Holwig deserves it. Yeah. There's players out there that are just little rats and then they run away. know, I think I'd even be like that too when you're an old veteran enforcer and you got some young punk running around that probably is not even in your caliber of fighting. And he does that, you know, I'm going to make you pay. ⁓ well, guess the little dirty hockey doesn't, and they're still all doing good in life so far. Chris is gone, but Hollerwig's still kicking and, but yeah, that was a pretty vicious attack anyways. Yeah, he was, that was kind of a low moment, but I mean, like you said, he deserved it. Yeah. Which sounds terrible. ⁓ Far, like. So we mentioned your relationship with the referees. there a particular ref that you kind of, I mean, I know you played in different leagues, like Gino mentioned, Coho, he worked in more leagues than anyone except Him and I have a lot. I remember I'd talk to him all the time. And then there's a ref, you guys might be able to help me on this. We had our first ever outdoor game in the AHL. Ian Jablonski fought. And it was like the first minute and a half in the game. there's a picture I could send it to you guys. And I, I, I heard he passed away. But anyways, and the only reason I heard this is because there's a, there's a picture of me and you. We're squaring off that center or we're squaring out. We're in the middle of a fight and he's literally, you know, the refs get the best seat in the house. And he's, he's got a smile from ear to ear. people are like, people are looking at this picture. They're not even talking about us fighting. Like look at that ref. He's having the time of his life. And then just, was reading the comments and someone said, you know, rest in peace. Cause I guess he passed away. might be Johnny Everett. Yeah. If I can, I'll send you guys that picture. And, ⁓ yeah, there's a picture of him and he's got it. He's literally like, there's me and your blots. He's like throwing and he's right in the middle. He's, he's this has, he's like in the, having the best time of his life. But, I was always, like I said, I always respected the refs. It's a tough job to do. ⁓ I think the older I got, they not so much playing pro, but when I'm playing in these. You get a lot of refs that try take over the game. don't like that, but I really respected the refs that let us play and they understood the game more. But I think I'm saying that now, I played a few years senior back home and you know, they, want to, they don't want any physical play. They just want it to be like a game of chess. And that's where I get kind of, I get a little frustrated at refs and you know, they're trying to act like they're reffing in the NHL. That really bothers me. But for the most part, all the refs that I played like in my pro days were awesome. I mean, I probably, they probably hated me half the time. I was always causing shit. No, I had you a handful of times, but it was just like, actually liked when having a guy like you out there, it almost gave you something to do. Like nowadays, like towards the end of my career, you're going in there, you're calling two hooks a hole in a trip and you go in the fuck home and you're like, well, this kind of sucked, right? But you know, no, honestly, but there was like, there was always like high energy. There was always on edge. There was always tension. You always had to be looking over your shoulder. because you never knew where that hit was going to come from. And next thing you know, had a, you know, Tom Sostito coming over the top and everything else. My buddy Tommy. Oh yeah. Like, oh, there was a whole slew of them. And you know, every team had like three or four guys and everybody was tough and everybody could fight. And you guys never went after skill players. was always, no, it was always that respect. always a certain code. mean, you know, you don't want to hurt someone. Same thing I play in that Quebec senior league up in Quebec there. And guys were like, so like, you can't, you're going to hurt somebody on those. But when, when we had bench brawls, I wasn't going to look for a goal. So I was going to the toughest guy on other team. Really the goal scorers grabbed the goal scores. They hugged. They clutched on and they basically danced, you know, helly clutter while, while guys like me were doing the blows. But, ⁓ I mean, yeah, I was never out there to, ⁓ I was never out there to hurt anyone, to be honest. You know, obviously I wanted to put punishment on them, but. the same time. You don't, never want to see anyone get hurt or injured. And, and, I think, like I said, I think that respect goes to, for most of the fighters. Was there ever a guy that you fought that like, you were like, you wanted to go with them. And as soon as you guys grabbed onto each other, you realized like, maybe I bit off more than I can chew or like, I want to get out of here. Not really, to be honest. I love fighting the bigger names because I felt if I fought, I always liked to be the underdog. So I find like. I'll go fight a guy like Steve McIntyre who was a killer and was huge and I'll do really good. Then I'll,

mean, and then I'll go fight a guy that I'm supposed to kill. And it's, it's, like, didn't get, I didn't get his work. I like to have fear when I was fighting. I like to be scared. that was, that's what hard, the older I got when I was kind of being one of the top guys in the league, I wasn't as scared because I would, you know I mean? And it was harder on my body and on my mentality because I, you become softer content. You're like, I don't need that, but when you were young and you're hungry, you want to kill everybody. So I just, someone just shared a picture of me fighting Derek Bogard and someone said, Holy man, that must've been shitty fighting that guy. He's a foot taller than you. But I actually wrote, it was actually another guy that I used to fight his name's Louis Bedard. And, and I told Louie, said, I actually would rather fight that guy than you because I found the guys that were my size were harder to fight. Cause a big guy that's six foot nine. He's throwing from 10 feet behind him that you can read every punch, you know. guy that's built like me is just coming straight down the middle and you're like, it's overwhelming. And you're throwing hammers too, right? Yeah. I really enjoyed fighting the big tall guys, whether people believe it or not. I really enjoyed the bigger guys. Well, it's kind of like PJ Stock. He always fought like Wade Gulak and like guys that were, and he did very well in all of them. And I was always like, why is he going after those guys? I met PJ in Airport in Toronto a couple of years back. yeah. We were looked at each other and we, I didn't know who he was and I don't think he knew who I was, but we knew of each other. And then I seen he had a hockey bag. it a, it might've been an AHL bag or a Bruins bag. can't remember. He said, do I know you? And he said, and then we said, yeah. Then we ended up knowing exactly who each other were, but he's like a really nice guy. One of my favorite hockey fights, it's Stan Jonathan and Steve Bouchard. And Stan Jonathan opens them up like a can of worms. Like he's throwing left, left, left. And then he opens right, right, right. He switches hands and it's absolutely like Stan Jonathan just tunes them up. It's unbelievable. the privilege of meeting Stan Jonathan. Yeah, he's a nice, thick little breed. ⁓ yeah. He was awesome. His fights are the best. And he's also, he's also native, correct? Yes, he is. Yeah. I got to meet him. I opened a Tim Hortons franchise up in in Meadowlake, Saskatchewan. But one of the, one of the things that I had to do was I had to go live in Ontario for like eight weeks and attend. It's, it's, it's called it Tim Hortons University. And ⁓ so while I was there, I went out to Six Nations there where he's from and I had a guy go introduce him to me. So it was pretty neat. ⁓ that's awesome. Yeah. How was the Tim Hortons experience? have to learn how It was good, but. It was really hard for me. I'm very OCD. So I'm a guy that has to do everything hands on. I don't know how to delegate jobs to people. And so for me, it really stressed me out. was there, you know, 14 hours a day, 15 hours a day. ⁓ It actually put me into some tough medical times for a while there, but things are good now. And it's just one chapter in my life. Now the MMA, ⁓ so you did MMA and How does that translate? Because a lot of people ask non-hockey people go, fighting in hockey looks a lot different than fighting in the street or in a boxing ring. And it is. I mean, obviously there's some similarities. But like, how did that MMA translate or, you know, how are the two similar in the sense that obviously you're trying to beat the crap out of each other, but. Yeah. Well, they're, they're completely different. Cause when I did fight my MMA, I was kind of lied to a little bit. I took a fight with like a month's notice with no MMA experience. I was basically just a tough brawler and you know, I did a lot of street fights back in the day, a lot of hockey fights. ⁓ but, and I was told that we're okay, you're going to fight a guy that's just going to brawl you. Like you're not going to, he's not, he's not going to take you down. We just want a slug fest. So, ⁓ What do I do? I go to, it's at the Montreal at the Bell Centre, know, I 15,000 people. And I was told that he wasn't going to take me down. The very first thing he does is he shoots and takes me down. Fucked up. You trusted us. But, uh, you know, going back, I mean, it was obviously my fault. I should have prepared more, but I took it on such last minute notice. um, you know, this, this, everything. leading up to the fight was different than hockey. Like when I played hockey my whole life, I knew like my pregame naps, my pregame meals. knew what to do to prepare before the fight. Where with the fight, I didn't know what to do. Do I go home and sleep? Do I eat lots of food? Do I, when I warm up, you know, cause like in hockey, we have our pregame skate at 10 o'clock in the morning and then we play at seven at night. Like I think what I did in that fight was I hit the pads too long and I was gassed before. So when I was called to go fight, I was already hitting the pads for 20 minutes and I was fucking tired. So just little things like that. And then I, get out there and I forgot my mouthpiece and just little things like, you know, I didn't have enough experience doing it. think, I think I would have been really good at it if I really took it seriously, but my, my number one goal was hockey and it was more, I just dabbled in there and tried it out, but it was fun. mean, I have a lot of respect for those guys. I, I did, ⁓ I do when I, don't like these guys all cross cross fighting now, you you get, you get a boxer calling out an MMA fighter. I wouldn't be scared to fight Mike Tyson on the ice. think I'd murder him on the ice. But if I would stepped in a boxing ring, he'd murder me. You know what I mean? Right. I don't like it. And with this ice war, we're getting a lot of guys

now that want more fights. we're getting guys applied to fight that have never played hockey in their life, but they're MMA fighters and they don't realize they come on the ice. They get murdered. Yeah. I could take anyone that's a decent skater that's never fought in his life and make him win the fight because he's so much stronger on his feet. But yeah, I mean, they're obviously both very disciplined, you know, sports that you have to do, whether it's hockey fighting or fighting in the octagon. But I don't, just, like to hit people. It feels good. It sucked in politics. Cause I mean, that's the most time that ever I always got a lot of people, you know, hounding you and bugging you. And I just wish I could be a hockey, well, if you talk smart to me, I'm just going to hit you. And unfortunately in politics, you can't do that. You should be able to. should be able to, yeah. Well, maybe you need someone in politics to change that. Yeah. You can run on that platform, right? If someone pisses you off, you just beat the fuck out I'm pretty sure they do that in England. Yeah. I'm pretty sure someone gets suckered. You bring up the ice war. The ice wars was something, and I'm hoping I still can be involved in it, but that was something that... I was approached about to be involved somehow with the meteor aspect or something. The concept is just, you know, really, I think, cool. Little out there for people. know, it's hockey without the hockey. But I hope that going forward, it keeps going and that, I don't want to speak too much on it because I don't make the final decisions. But the last I heard is we're going to be having another show on March 7th in Miami, Florida or Sunrise, Florida. Same venue where the Florida Panthers play. I think it's the Amaranth Arena on real ice, which I think made a huge difference because the prior fights were all on synthetic ice, which I mean, a guy like me, I use my edges a lot when I fight on the ice and being on synthetic ice, it's way different. ⁓ there was some really good fights. took over the matchmaking where I made some pretty good fights and I really try to limit guys that have never fought before coming to fight on the ice because you know, I've been in some fights where the guys showed up in plastic skates, you know, and, and, ⁓ so really try to justify it. And I don't want to disrespect people like myself or the past enforcers that did, they're really fighting with making it a sideshow. So I try to keep it as, as realistic as I could. But at the same time, it's, it's a entertainment industry. you know, I, I don't, I'm not fond, like I know they couple fights. I mean, I'm not going to say names, but I was told, ⁓ make sure you give this guy a fighter that he's going to win, you know, make him win because he's got a, he's got a big name. And, and, ⁓ and I, I'm not for that. I think that your fish should do speaking and, and, ⁓ You know, lot of the, the, the, the side shows where guys are on, on social media,

chirping back and forth. I'd rather just say you guys both shut up and fight on the ice, you know, like, like leave it all on the ice. And when you're off the ice, be respectful to each other. again, it's the entertainment business and I'm kind of in that area now, you know, Shorsey where a lot of it's entertainment, right? So I got to, I'm trying to keep it legitimate hockey fights, but I also have to, I'm trying to combine the boat together where I can keep a, you know, keep it pretty even. But, ⁓ the entertainment's kind of a big thing, you know, like even having, you know, they're, want girls fighting. They want goalies fighting. want, ⁓ brothers fighting. It's, like, respectful and not a side show as much as I can. It's, but with the entertainment side of it, kind of have to let some of that stuff slide. Do you there'll ever be a refs fighting thing? That's something really good. You guys interested or what? I mean, I'll go, can line it up. mean, ⁓ Riley have already fought. So. Yeah, you should hire the goon Dougie. That's how he he got himself into hockey. He was a fighter that learned how to fight on the ice and he actually trained how to fight. Yep. The goon. I'd say that I'd fight Gino, but I think that would end poorly for me. I got lot of anger issues. Yeah, I try not to fight. Yeah. Angry kids from salty. That's not that's not a recipe for success. I always thought when When like synthetic ice fighting on synthetic ice, I would think would be a lot easier for those guys who aren't good skaters because it's sticky. slip. ⁓ was not a fan of it at all. I put my skates because I go and help a couple of the younger guys out. They always ask me if I can go show them a few moves before. So we let the guys the day of the fight in the morning, kind of like a pregame skate. They're allowed to go take 20 minutes to skate on the ice and feel it out. And I did not like it at all. Whether I think it's, it's probably worse for a guy that's not a good skater because you fall a lot easier. Okay. Yeah. But I'm not a fan of the synthetic ice at all. So it's nice if we could keep getting venues that's unreal ice. It's much better. feel like the synthetic ice would be dangerous on the ankles. Like he can't like. Yeah. Well, the way some of those guys skate, it's dangerous on their ankles anyways. Yeah, that's true. That's true. They're ankle benders. I do have a referee I'd like to fight if we could set it up. Call him Call him out. I don't want to, I don't want to say who it is. Um, but maybe he wore 33, um, on his Jersey, but I wouldn't mind having to go with him. Uh, that's that, that's an option. We might see that in the future. Who knows? Good idea. I know the next one, we're going to really try and get a goalie fight. People have been asking for that and I have a few guys that want to, want to do it. So we'll see. I just want to make the fights pretty even too, right? I don't want to set one guy up to murder another guy. I want it to be an entertaining fight and not get anyone really hurt and stuff. Uh, the last fight we had in my app, uh, in Florida there, I was really impressed. I brought the first ever goalie, uh, girl fight female fight and holy shit. Was that the fight of the night? Really? Those girls could probably beat up half the brooms. I'll tell you women's hockey is getting physical, man. It's dangerous. It was pretty impressive. The one girl had a baseball on the front on her, on her chin. couldn't like, she got hit hard. ⁓ but both warriors and, and I'm sure they're going to want to go again. Yeah. Who did I, ⁓ I Colton, Colton Orr. Yeah. And then, ⁓ and then yeah, the goalie he's a bossing guy, isn't he? From that area. Yeah. Yeah. Sean. Yeah. And, ⁓ he was trying to steal my thunder. Yeah. Yeah. I was on the ice and I didn't even know they did it until after the fact. Good awareness. I knew it too and I was doing it play by play and I was like, wait, what happened? Real good awareness on my part. I was at the Thomas Price fight in Montreal, Boston. That was awesome. I had no clue that Gulley was fighting when I fought with Colton. He'd come after me and goes, you know, I fought too. And I'm like, no. And then I seen videos after I kind of giggled to myself. That was me. That's what I didn't even know. It was kind of funny. Right on. Now, I wanted to bring up, because you're a council member, ⁓ if I get this right, the Flying Dust First Nation. Yeah. And that's, mean, I know it's politics and it's, I just want to acknowledge it because it's a big accomplishment. Yeah. I mean, it's something I'm very passionate about. I'm actually no longer on council now. I took a term off, just way too busy with the with with Shorzy and and and I do an Aquine therapy program like away from hockey. I'm very active with our youth. ⁓ You know, I was fortunate enough to leave leave the reservation and and see the big world and and get a little bit of success at the same time. So I like to come back and it's no secret that our youth are struggling, you know, with the gangs and the drugs and the addictions, you know, just just our world just getting to be a pretty shitty place. So I'm trying to do what I can to. ⁓ you know, inspire our youth. with my history, what I've done, I like to give that back to the youth. So I've created that equine program where I use horses. I'm big into horses and I take a lot of troubled youth and work with them with horses and put them to work on the farm. know, I put them to work hard and teach them, you know, work ethic. But at the end of the day, I take them out and I have all the toys and I have boats, have squads, have skadoos, I got, you you name it, I got it. So what I like to do is let them, you know, work hard all week. And then I say, okay, on Friday, we're going to go to the lake and go tubing and, and, ⁓ you know, just teach them a lot about responsibility. So I do that pretty big. I really focus on our youth, but also our native people, ⁓ being a

leader has always been a dream of mine. And so I ran and it's a way that I can make a big difference. Unfortunately, my, ⁓ my way of thinking is a lot different than a lot of first nations, you know, I'm trying to really make them more independent and not so reliable on the government. ⁓ I like to enable, sorry, not enable. I don't want to enable people. I want to empower our people without enabling them, you know, ⁓ because the way the government designed it the last hundred years is for us to be very dependent on the government, the federal government. And then that's where the racism comes in. Right. So I'm really trying to make us more independent and, and work hard for our money, you know, so Don't get me wrong. I'm not a guy that's going to deny someone if they're starving. I'm going to say, okay, well, let's go get some food. But at the same time, I want to say, Hey, let's go shovel some elders driveways or let's go mow some lawns or let's go do some work and earn that money. You know, and then it's, it's much more. A good, I have a good feeling to earn what you have rather than have it given to you. So, ⁓ you know, I'm not the guy that's going to buy votes and say, ⁓ here's, here's a hundred bucks vote for me. And that, that goes on a lot right now in our native communities. There's a lot of corruption. And the leaders aren't really there to help their people. It's more to fill their pockets where I mean, my pockets, I mean, I'm not trying to brag, but you know, I'm doing well in life and to have a nice family. My wife works hard. And so I'm not here to try, you know, if anything, when I was in politics, I lost money because I was turning down a lot of my public appearances that I do. So I just really want to be in there to make a difference and help our people, you know, be, live more healthy. And, and, and that's what I use the horses for, you know, lot of outdoor activities and being in nature. I'm a big avid hunter and fisherman and I love being outside. And that's one of the reasons why I don't watch shows like Shoresy that much because I've never been inside. I'm always on the farm working or, you know, yesterday I spent about eight hours at the farm with horses. I had a family come out and ride and spend time with them. it's one of my more passionate things that I'm about is really trying to give back to my people and not just my people, even everybody, you we're all one person now and just trying to make the world a better place because it's not doing too well. Yeah, it's not and and you're If more people thought like you maybe the world might change because ⁓ yeah, pretty admirable Like I said, I i'm on I mean I have my political side that i'm on I support but at the end of the day I don't I agree with both sides and certain things, you know There's things that donald trump's doing that I agree with and there's things that I think he should fucking quit doing and he has a big mouth and but vice versa there's things that I believe

on the left side that right on, know, I think that that they have a better vision of. But there's also things that I think of these guys are crazy, you know? So I'm just learning to keep my mouth shut. I know it's hard though. It's very It's just hard because even our media nowadays, you watch one show, you know, like for example, that girl in Minnesota that was shot, you God rest her soul, you know, you don't want to anyone get hurt. But you watch one news channel and they're making her out like she was a... a hero and a, know, and then you watch another and it's two completely different. It's the same. It's the same incident, but two completely different stories. You don't even know what to believe anymore. And, and I think that's, I think the media is our biggest, our biggest fight right now is the stories that they're, they're providing out there. Yeah. I agree. agree more people that know the least have the most to say. Yeah. Yeah. Very true. I listened to the BBC for that reason. Cause they're a little more. here's the facts as opposed to here's what I want you to think. And then, know, someone else. did I read that you break horses? I break horses, Every one of my horses in my phone. What, I grew up with horses my whole life. So as ⁓ my late grandpa, Frank, was into horses and I basically took it over from him and my dad. You know, my grandpa got pretty old and my dad took it over and then. You my dad got up there and it's not as physical anymore. So then I took over. yeah, we run about, I run between 17 to 30 horses a year. I did, I was breeding and having them bred, you know, where I'd have colts every year. But my herd was getting pretty big. So I cut back for a while and now I'm kind of lower again. So I'm gonna start breeding. And I basically train my horses from colts and the horses that we ride every day are the horses that were born on the farm. And I've kind of created a good, breeding program. I have a lot of people are in high demand of my horses because they're just so half the time I don't even have to break it because they're just so their bloodline is so well temperament that you know that when they get to be about two years old I threw a saddle on them and they just swallow. But I've been on some horse I've been kicked I've been bitten I've been bucked off you know it's it's a it's a fashion of mine and I'm sure I'm gonna get kicked and bitten in the next couple weeks too. ⁓ Cost of doing business. do an acquaintance therapy where families could come and spend time with me, addictions. ⁓ know, have just on Friday, have ⁓ treatment centers bringing 10 clients to come and ride horses. ⁓ Tomorrow and Thursday, I have classrooms coming out to the farm to use horses. I had a big team of horses that pulls a wagon. So I, know, I, where there's money to be made, I make it and then I enjoy it. You know, I kind of have a I've been really blessed with the last five years with the Shor-Z, the leadership and in my horse program, it's very financially beneficial, but at the same time, I love going to work. Instead of getting up and going to an office at eight in the morning, I'm getting up and going in my truck to load up horses and do what I do. That's awesome. Yeah. Now, I gotta bring this up before we let it go. Have you seen the show Heated Rivalry? Hey, everyone's talking about it. what's is that. So, so funny story. I'm always teasing some of the guys, but hey, do you want to be on the show? And I'm kind of, you know, being a little bit, just making fun, they're not making fun of it. You know, you want to be on the show. And about two weeks ago, I get a, ⁓ an email from someone asking if I'm having any interest. No kidding. Going on. I haven't responded. watched it. I watched all six episodes. I'm sure you did. Oh yeah. That's not nice. I'm just kidding. Hey listen, listen. I hear a lot of, I mean obviously being in the film industry now, I have people reach out to me and send me links and they say, know, what a great show. It's good. I mean, like I said, I'm not here to create division. So there's people out there that live that lifestyle. Maybe that makes them feel better. Good for them. I don't care. You guys do what you do. I'll do what I do and that's how fun. But I don't know. You see you watch it. How was it? Was it good? I'll tell you what. The parts that I don't like have nothing to do with the scenes and all that bullshit because I don't care. Right? Although I, you know, if you're going to have sex scenes, you should at see a cock once in a while. Hey, he wants to see the cock. He's like, want to see. Wait a minute. I just want to see what they're working with. That's all. What won't shoot me when you're in the shower? If you want to judge this, come on, you want to side yourself up. Your favorite character on Shoresy is probably Ted Hitchcock, right? Because he's got a 10 inch cock. guess what? Hey, that's a lie. Sorry, sorry, T.R. When he comes on, we'll bring that up. So that's like that's like that's like a show, Brokeback Mountain back in the day. Yeah, yeah. I'm not agreeing with you because I didn't watch it. I was so excited. I'm a big country guy. love Westerns. I love, you know, when they're in the mountains and they're hunting and they're fishing and there's wolves and bears. that's, I love that kind of movie. And all I remember was I was excited. seen the, the, the previews of the brokeback mountain. So I was like, ⁓ I'm to watch this. This is like horseback riding horses, cowboys. This is going to be cool. I put it on and the first 15 minutes they're at it, they're, up in the mountains camping and they're, they're doing doggy style. And I'm like, what the? What can I never watch it since? Just all my, just all my thing. Nope. Well, it's not my thing either. Let's just get that out there. All right. And you know, but don't bullshit me. I'll, all you guys, when we're in the shower, you peek just to see what people have. Don't bullshit me. You all,

we all do it. But, the parts I didn't like is it jumps around a lot and there's a couple of scenes and the hockey scenes, there's not much hockey in it, but they, It's not realistic at all. And you know, I haven't watched so I don't know. Yeah, it's a it's little things like that. you know, if the one of the both main characters are supposed to be like the top in there in the NHL, right there and yell and they go out and on the street and restaurants and no one fucking recognize them. ⁓ yeah. Come on. That's not, you know, so it's those kind of things that I don't like. ⁓ better look really close though, just because there was a, there was a scene in Shorzy way back to one of the first seasons that I did. ⁓ and the guy was taking a piss in the urinal. I just want to let you know that that dick was fake. Well, we have your package ain't so big. They'll make it look bigger for you. Well, we had that with Kevin Chapman, Chappie. He was in Brotherhood and he played Freddy Cork and he had a 13 inch cock. And he tells the story about the prosthetic that he had to have and when he was taking a piss off a boat. Hilarious. So I guess there's a chance for me yet in the acting world. All right. You can play your dick. This thing goes off the rails sometimes and I just brought it right off. But well, John, it's been awesome. Thank you. It's been great. You guys have been a pleasure. We are so happy for the success you have and wish you continued success. And ⁓ if you do now, if you do want to see a hockey show without the gay. full ride on YouTube. Gino and I are in there. So. ⁓ really? Check it And actually, you know, it's funny as Jared told me at the garden that three different people sent him clips and everyone up there loves the show. It's it's a hockey show about college kids. And I watch it and Gino and I are the coaches. So it's pretty good. And we do not. There is no doggy style and nothing in it. It's it's 100 percent heterosexual. You say that. Yeah, it was so cool at the garden. There's one character there isn't in the episode in the show. ⁓ yeah. There's one guy that's a didn't really pay attention. And there's a new young there's a new young blood out too, hear. Yes, I saw that. Yeah. I never seen it, but I heard I want to check it I saw some preview for it the other day. I was like, is this AI or is this real? couldn't. ⁓ there's a real. He's actually a ref that maybe you guys Bob Langdon's on it. OK. Remember that name? Yes, I remember that name. Yeah, he's, he's a referee on it. I'm pretty sure. So I gotta get, I had to start getting those roles because I act and I'm a ref. So I'm just saying, you know, you gotta get, get in there. I just want to know. it's 13 inches too. you say, no, I didn't say that. can find people that will. Wait on guys. I'm the only one on the podcast. It's not in full ride. I don't know how that happened. Well, hey, I talked myself into it. Next season. can get in there. Next season. So it'll be good. This has been great. Yeah, John, thank you very much for coming on, man. It's been awesome. hopefully the fall classic will keep going. And ⁓ maybe we can get Gino on the ice next year. And he'll be out there as a zebra, too. Right on. Well, I forward to it, guys. And appreciate you having me. All right. Thank you. It was Amarasti. From Russia to Shorzy to Horses, John is just an incredible, incredible guy. Yes. I mean, a few more bleeps that, you know, than a lot of other episodes got a little bit of work, but it's worth it. That was a good episode. He was fantastic. And we know we'll see him in Shorzy, but we won't see him in Needed Rivalry. So that's good to know. They're in talks? Yeah, I don't think so. you know, talk about a guy who really gets it. Right? mean, he gets it. He understands what, you know, life is about and, you know, and all the work he does with the youth and the horses and, you know, just a just an all around great guy. Yeah, just help it like the the horse thing. I didn't want to get too off topic, but the. The horse thing was really interesting, like breeding them and then training them, like that many horses, like, how do you have time to do that? It's great what he does for like, just troubled people, or kids, addiction and all that. it's so, you know, it's really good that he is giving back and using it for a positive. That's awesome. I love that. Badass might do it. And like you said, a lot of the fighters, you know, ⁓ which people quote, call goons, but... You know, a lot of those guys are the guys that are most involved in the community and do the most work for everyone. So, um, definitely, uh, and he breaks horses. Yeah. You know, and I, I, know, you break a horse. It basically, you got to take a wild horse and make them not wild. Yeah. I just, I just sent a, the, the, um, link of the fight. Yeah. see that. All right. Cool. Yeah, because you do a reel. don't know if you can see me, but it is me in the clip. Yeah, one of Jon's fights. Yeah, we'll add that into the episode. And he had plenty of them. ⁓ yeah, they just throw. these... Sorry to cut you off. I didn't want to mention it during the episode because I feel terrible that I didn't know Chris Simon died. Yeah, I had no idea. Yeah, and like I said, I love the way he played. I mean, you know, the hard nose and the long hair. He actually, you know, one of the gyms kind of looks like him on the show. You know, with the long hair. But yet, no, I don't know how I missed that. I don't. That was a shock. I don't know if you could see it in the episode. But when he said that, was like, he's not talking about Chris Simon. I Googled it on my phone. was like, what the hell? do. Yeah. I feel terrible. I miss that one, Well, thanks for having us end on a somber note, Josh. Sorry. You want to about your skincare routine again? I'm always open to talk about that. We all know that. But yeah, that's gonna wrap it up. Episode 97, the Conor McDavid episode. Wanna remind you to like and subscribe on YouTube. Follow us on Spotify or Apple or wherever you get your podcasts. Make sure you check us out on the social medias, the Instagram, the Facebook, and of course, the TikTok. Absolutely. Trappingzebras.com for all information that you need or links to all the episodes and also to get any merch you might be interested in. Want to thank our sponsors, the Referees' Crease, Damon Financial LLC, also Townsend Hockey, and also the wonderful people at AOA Studios. And so that's going to do it for Geno Bender Jr. and Josh Dole. And I'm Mark Riley saying so long. We'll see you next year. Time here on the Chirping Zebras.