The Big Suey: The Messiah at The Elbo Room
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Welcome to the Big Suey, presented by DraftKings. Why are you listening to this show? The podcast that seems very similar to the other Dan Lebitard podcast. I'm sorry, I'm not going to apologize for that. In fact, the only difference seems to be this imaging. I have been tempted in restaurants just walking past tables to grab somebody's fries if they're just there. That hasn't happened to you guys? I've done it. And now, here's the marching man to nowhere, fat face, and the habitual liar.

Everyone knows there is only one real championship in sports worth winning this week. It could be one tonight in sunrise when the Panthers finish off, possibly, if it's not jinxing it to say it, the Edmonton Oilers.

I just came in here and Greg and Stugatz were having the discussion of what Greg Cody would write if indeed Connor McDavid and the Oilers come back to win four straight games. And the conversation they were having was about Greg Cody writing the column after it's all over, after the Panthers have lost a heartbreaking game seven, writing the column, I was indeed wrong, but at the time I was right.

Put that on a billboard. It doesn't quite have the same ring. Look at radiant Charlotte Wilder. Look at her. She is holding up champagne. All illusions of objectivity have been discarded. She joins us from Boston where it is. I'm assuming there hasn't been much sleep. What has the evening been like for you surrounded by all that racism?

Okay. All right. I was so excited. I was ready to come in here and be like, don't let him get one. And then you did that, Dan. Thanks a lot. Awesome. Love it. No, listen, listen, I highly recommend that everybody.

have the experience of their team winning a championship. This is amazing. This is fun, guys. Like more people should do this. Why don't more people do this? This is a phenomenal, phenomenal experience. 10 out of 10, no notes. How much have you slapped? How many of the highlights have you been watching? How teary-eyed did you get watching Jason Tatum hold up his child?

Okay, well, I'm going to tear up. Yeah, did I cry? Maybe. In the press box, that's fine, right? Nobody, look, a little thumbs up. I was out with the team all night. We were partying. Just got back to my parents' house. I'm in their basement in Massachusetts. No, just kidding. They wouldn't even let me in the locker room, but I did try. Look, this feels...

Like I am such a sicko guys. This is the point that I'm at. I was in the, I was watching them win and I was like, Oh, before they won, sorry. Richard hits that buzzer beater, which by the way, can I just say, I called it. They came in, he was in with four minutes.

I mean, with four seconds to go at the end of the third and I saw him stretching, he was sort of stretching by the free throw line. And I was like, Richard is there like he's going to do it. He's going to hit that buzzer beater. He gets the ball from Al Horford off that rebound, sinks it from from freaking Siberia. And I was like, oh, my God, is this the next dynasty? Is this the next Warriors? Like that is how that is what a sicko I am right now, guys.

That wasn't I told you so about a shot that you knew he was going to make in a game. That was your analysis from Mike Breen did say he loves taking these shots. They put him in just to take these shots. I mean, he practices, he practices these shots and Missoula puts him in. He's like, Pritchard doesn't care if he messes up his three point percentage. He wants to take those shots. So we let him and he did in the finals. Dan, that's pretty cool. Well,

Mike just muttered in my ear, heartbroken, Missoula's a champion. It's such a funny thing to think about. He was drafted. He was in the draft class of Kyrie Irving. He is a young person who should have been fired after game four last season in the first round. Now he's a Hall of Famer. No, no.

Now he's a champion and you two are both talking dynasty. Put it on the poll at Levitard Show. Is Missoula going to replace Red Auerbach as the greatest coach in Celtics history? All

All I'm saying, Dan, is that Joe Mazzulla, he doesn't get too high. He doesn't get too low. He said winning can be just as dangerous as losing, but he kept his team even keeled. Bunch of superstars. They all bought in. It was a team win. Don't put that up. Put me up. Look how good I look right now. Look how good I look. This is what's happening in here right now. Since last year, we have had this banner of Bill Simmons looking sad everywhere.

at last year's game seven Celtics heat. And after the heat lost to the Nuggets, we were going to hang that as our banner in here from last season, but we never got around to it. And now that banner has been, uh,

it has been, I don't know what it is. It's, it's been drawn on. It has been desecrated, uh, with graffiti. His, uh, sadness has been turned into a smile now. And, uh, all of Boston is thrilled tonight. Did you actually get out into the city? Like what was, I imagine that the cheapest ticket there last night was $1,700 to get into the building. Um,

I imagine it was a zoo there because I don't think Boston, nevermind the Patriots. I don't think Boston cares about anything except basketball and baseball. What?

The Bruins. No, but that's higher than... I think hockey's the biggest. Bruins outrated them in the first round. I got caught up in the air there. They like their sports. This is their first title in five and a half years. Long suffering. But the way they care about the Celtics, I think, is more than the way they care about the Bruins and the Patriots. I got caught up in the air and realized that they care about the Red Sox that way, too.

They care about the Patriots. They care about the Bruins. They care about the Celtics. Can we replace the Bill inbox there for the visual listeners with just another inbox of me? Because, like, look how I found these ski goggles in my parents' freaking, like, hat closet or whatever. Yeah, thank you. There. This is what I want. I want double the Charlotte because these are heat tears. This isn't champagne. These are heat tears. I told you I was going to drink them, Dan. No, look.

I got outside after the stadium, after the game. It was like 1.15 because I had gone to the press conferences like any good journalist does. And it was still a little scary. You know, I had to walk like two blocks to get a car. And I was like, I don't know if I should be out here by myself. Dan, people care so much. I think the fact that the Celtics took, like in 2018, I remember Tatum and Brown talking

Eastern Conference Finals and it sort of blew my mind. I was like, oh my god, it's just possible. It's 2024 and they have lost Eastern Conference Finals many times. They have lost the finals. They lost the Eastern Conference Finals to the heat. It took time for them to do this and

I think patience is expensive in sports. Like, it's hard. It's sort of unbelievable that the front office stuck with this long enough for this to happen. And they did it as a team. And I think that it made it so much sweeter that I remembered being in that building in 2022 and being like,

This feels awful. Losing at home, it feels very, very bad. And then for them to win at home, it felt like it's euphoric.

Let me rephrase what it is that I was saying, because in getting Tangling Up, I think I failed. I want everyone to understand this city's relationship with this team when it comes to sports identity, regional identity, and the way Boston generally just cares about sports.

that was built by baseball and basketball. And the way that basketball became what baseball was is they were winning so much that they sort of tried to take the city from baseball.

And what ended up happening after that is the Patriots got in that discussion with the same kind of winning, but Boston doesn't care about the Patriots the way that it cares about the Celtics because it hasn't been handed down from grandfather to father to son, from grandmother to mother to daughter. It hasn't been handed down...

The winning hasn't been handed down. Charlotte would know best, but I think that's by generation. If you ask younger kids, what's the big team in Boston, they would tell you the Patriots. I agree, but my point is that that's because that's the one that did the winning with just football. It doesn't go back to when this all started. Where did Boston start caring about sports? When they had Bill Russell and Red Auerbach winning anything, everything. Because Boston, Ted Williams wasn't winning. No.

No. And also, Foxborough is a far-flung suburb. It's not in the city like those other teams are. So, Charlotte, you can speak to this.

I think that Boston, I think now the biggest team is the Patriots. I don't think there's any way around that. I think NFL has a much bigger hold on the country as a whole than any other sport. And I think that the Patriots, that dominance for 20 years, it was 20 years. That's a generation, right? I don't know how long a generation is. But I think that, yes, the Celtics carries...

they carry so much weight and but they they have you look they won in 1986 they won in 2008 they won in 2024 that's in in Boston terms as obnoxious as it is to say this that is that is long 2008 to 2024 is like well

We don't remember what this feels like for basketball, for everything else. Like, it's the most obnoxious thing in the world to be a Boston fan. Charlotte, you're spoiled. It is now because of the last 20 years, Charlotte. Before that, they were losers except for the Celtics. Like, the Red Sox were a laughingstock. The Patriots were a laughingstock.

Yeah, I know. I was alive for it. But at the same time, like when I was growing up in the 90s, like they won in 86 and then they didn't win until 2008, the Celtics. Like, I think that there's a that is the handed down generational love for this team. But I

I think every sport now, because it's been so dominant, I guess something that was exciting, Dan, last night was to see how much fans cared, how much fans cared about the fact that this was not just a rote championship. This was not like, oh, cool, they did it again. Like, this felt, the garden was so different.

loud. It was even in a blowout in the fourth quarter, everybody was just losing their mind. And I was very, I was proud because I was berating fans a couple of weeks ago for leaving early and they didn't leave early. So yes, I think the weight of this team has care in the history has carried a lot of that. Um, but I think it's also just the heartbreak of the last, you know, seven years that has made that, that made this feel so good.

a generation is considered to be 20 to 30 years. Just so we're all clear. Because I know we were all thinking it, right? I mean, I was at least. I looked it up. Generations.com. The thing that I was thinking of was how absurd a love for something has to be for it to be...

The cheapest ticket in getting in is $1,700, which made that ticket last night the most expensive in the history of Boston sports. Crazy. Because of how that city wanted to win there and because of whatever it is that Charlotte is talking about that's the last five years, combined with Mike Ryan being able to say, for this entire century, you've won one ticket.

You're telling me you're the most historic franchise. And I, in my lifetime, have seen you win one time. And now they get to say that they've won twice. When you were crying in the press box, Charlotte, what was happening there? Like, what was it just watching the happiness or was there something specific that triggered it? By the way, Charlie,

That's going to be the first of all, can we get me back in the double box? What happened? I really like that. That was fun. That was exciting for me. Can we get more you maximum me? Thank you so much. Maximum me. You have 20 seconds. You have 20 seconds. Fifteen. First of all, the OK, the name of my memoir is going to be crying in the press box. A Charlotte Wilder story. No, Dan, it was it was that, you know, that's where I grew up.

in and around that city it felt very I think for me personally just to be there um and this is my job and there was sort of a full circle moment and they lost so many times in the past seven years and then they won and it just I was so happy for them and they tried so hard and they did it and it was a historic season one of the best maybe the best team ever I don't know you can't say

Oddball, every day but Monday on the Levitard and Friends Network. Thank you. Thanks, guys.

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Official sleep and wellness partner of the NFL. See store for details. Don Levitard. Yeah, enjoy a long and fruitful run, Dan. What was that voice? A Celtics fan.

That was a Celtics fan? Well, it was me. Stugatz. Oh, it's amazing. It's amazing to see the mask pulled off and to see you so clearly. You were in such good disguise and I didn't know it was you. It's me, a Celtics fan. This is the Dan Levatard Show with the Stugatz. 2-1-1 down the left side. Here's Ballard with a wrist shot. Shoots in. Scores!

We've landed on the moon! Dvorak takes a shot. Loose puck right out in front. Pelton in. Pucks in the rebound. What's in the box? Froelich again. He's set up. Another shot. He scores! I feel like taking crazy pills. Weiss shoots. He scores!

I'm never going to dance again. Fowler, quick try, shoots and scores! Ball! The meatloaf! McClain to the left side of Froehlich. Top of the faceoff circle. Fires a try, shoots and scores!

Get off my lawn! McCabe's got a wide open net. Bingo! Empty net goal. Come with me if you want to live. Campbell throws it out in front. Goes back to the point. Long shot. They shoot. They score! There's a new sheriff in town and his name is Reggie Hammond. Booth. Wrist shot. Shoots. He scores! Wilson!

One of my favorites, Randy Moeller, hockey on the radio. That was a thing that we were doing 20 years ago. There was some sounds, Dugatz, that you were giggling about earlier because you almost went,

to go be the boss of Sal Licata in New York because he's an angry New York sports radio host. And I don't know if that anger is real or if it is contrived for the air. But the thing that he's angry about most recently involves Grimace.

the McDonald's mascot or I guess one of the McDonald's mascots. In fact, where does he rank in the history of McDonald's mascots? It's Ronald McDonald. Is the Hamburglar ahead of Grimace or is Grimace ahead of the Hamburglar? Well, there's a lot of controversy going on with the McDonald's mascots, if you will. We've discussed how Ronald McDonald hasn't really been shown other than like the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

for a while now. Now, Grimace might be on the outs in the rankings of McDonald's mascots because last year there was this big campaign to celebrate Grimace's birthday. I think it had been like 30 years, 20 years, something like that since they had celebrated Grimace's birthday. Now, what happened was they commemorated Grimace's birthday last year with a Grimace shake.

Then the Internet got to the Grimace Shake and the TikTok got to the Grimace Shake. And then what was happening was viral videos were going around of people celebrating Grimace's birthday, saying happy birthday, Grimace, and consuming the Grimace Shake. And then seemingly recreating crime scenes in which they had overdosed or been slaughtered by someone. And the Grimace Shake was all around them, as you can see on the floor. So it was like horror movies were being done with the Grimace Shake. Wow.

So this year, after three months heads up last year, there was no celebration of Grimace's birthday. However, it seems as though the Mets invited Grimace right around Grimace's birthday to throw out the first pitch. Now Grimace, not on Grimace's best behavior the day of the first pitch. Shenanigans behind home plate, trying to distract the pitchers. I believe the game was against the Marlins.

You

You didn't answer his question. Odd detail. Grimace is wearing a lefty glove, even though he throws righty. I mean, Billy's wheelhouse. Well, not answering my question. Requiring context as to what we're going to see in the clip. Yeah, but you didn't answer my question. You gave me the context. We feel like second. Second. Third. Third? Whatever. I feel like the Hamburglar might, but that's from a different time. They don't even do the Hamburglar anymore. Yes, they do. In fact, both Grimace and the Hamburglar were featured on Michael Jordan's racing teams over the weekend at Iowa.

And nobody's talking about Birdie, the other mascot. So Sal Licata is WFAN's angry voice here. And because Grimace is at the center of a winning streak, for some reason he has been enraged by Grimace. The Mets finally are playing well. They go on a winning streak. They've won five in a row. Hottest team in baseball, 8 of 10, whatever it may be. Yep.

And yet you've got some knuckleheads on social media and elsewhere giving of all people credit for this run. Grimace, that fat McDonald's mascot.

That's who's going to get called the Grimace Mets. I even saw Zoo tweet about this. Oh, the Grimace Mets. And it's not just him. Everybody's going to say, oh, the Mets are 5-0 since Grimace threw out the first pitch. That's really what we're talking about? Like the Mets are actually playing well. They've won five in a row. And it's because Grimace threw out the first pitch. He's got good scout report. Scouts like him. This is what I mean. Like this is such, it's such like minor league stuff.

Yeah, exactly. Can you imagine him being with the Yankees? Five-tool player. Yeah, one thing about Grimace, I think he could have stole some bags on the Yankees last night. Yeah, even him right off Trevino.

I know what you mean. The Grimace Met. And that makes Sal Licata our gas bag of the week. You throw it out there, though, Dan. You take phone calls for three hours, 20 share. Boom. I mean, that's how you do it. It's a good job by Sal. Sal's second time winning, right? Yes. First repeat winner? Yeah. Yep.

There's no way a person is that angry every single day. It's impossible. He woke up one day. He had no one to be angry at. There was no one to be angry at. The Mets were winning. The Yankees are good. All the other sports are done. So he went after Grimace. Don LaGreca, by the way.

That's also a classic sports, old-timey sports radio journalism type thing where you complain about everybody talking about this too much while you're talking about it. Right. It's totally ridiculous to think that Grimace would lead the six-game winning streak, but not ridiculous to think that our billboard would lead to a four-game losing streak. You got away from that and you had to bring it back.

The more you talk about it, the more you're putting this thing on a pedestal. It's very dangerous. I want to do the opposite. Can we stop saying the word jinx for the rest of the show? Can we just take a moment and enjoy this moment? And I don't mean tonight's game. Like right now, the moment before the game. We have a chance tonight to clinch the Stanley Cup final.

final. Again, in our barn. I don't want to savor this moment. I hate this moment. Wait a minute. Why can you say that? What? Why can you say that we can celebrate winning tonight, but he can't put up a billboard celebrating? No, I'm not putting up a billboard saying we've won the championship. Mick, he's overrated. I'm saying this is a good feeling. I was driving in today and I'm just like, holy shit.

We have a chance to win the Stanley Cup tonight. I'm nervous. I'm going to get nervous as the game gets closer, but it's just really cool. Can that be a thing? No more jinxes. This is really fun. I'm looking forward. The group chat's on fire. It is just a fun time to be alive right now. I'm not having any fun. Last night was terrible.

Last night was terrible. I'm in a bad mood. I just want this game to start already because it's been 72 hours. Like right now. I've had to sit with 8-1. I've listened to every podcast under the sun. I hate it. Just drop the puck. Just drop the puck. I've been on a plane for 72 hours. I feel bad. Chris, the other day you went...

You might be going straight back. You went to Sawgrass Sunrise in order to watch on video with what looked like thousands of very excited people. Yeah, it was sold out. And so for as much fun as we've been making of Miami proper, not being able to get that far north, this is a great place to be.

This is Sunrise's team, Plantation's team, Fort Lauderdale's team. That entire region has absolutely embraced everything that's happening there. What was the level of deflate there?

in seeing five goals scored in the first 16 shots on Bobrovsky and how quickly did people flee the last time you had this feeling going to an arena being like this is really cool something about it not being actually there and it was like just on a screen made it a little less sad like if the game was there I feel like I would have felt worse about it but everyone cleared out after the second period like I had I tried to beat traffic and I couldn't beat it because everyone left after

I want you guys from my perspective, you've heard me pretty consistently over the course of this, just generally fearing hockey. Where's the hot goalie going to come from? What's the weirdness that's going to present itself that's going to break my heart? Because I know they have a good team, but Tampa's also good, and Boston's also good, and the New York Rangers are also good. Now, Mike Ryan said that he feared Dallas more.

But what I'm telling you I fear the most isn't hockey, just hockey happening in the playoffs and the randomness of it.

It's hockey, and they've got the monster. Whether Cody wants to say he's overrated or not, the other team has the beast. Now, that didn't do anything for Luka last night going into Boston because when you have the better team, you're supposed to win this game at home even if the other team has the monster. But I'm scared of that dude. And now he's playing well.

He always plays well. He never doesn't play well. He's never not the biggest, fastest guy on the ice. Correct, yeah. He's always the biggest threat. It's pretty obvious to the eye. That's the biggest threat on the ice. You could be watching hockey for the first time in your adult life. You see that dude skate for 10 seconds, you realize he's different. But it's the one thing that, for me, spooks me on...

Oh, I get the pleasure of having the hot goalie. And now I'm coming in off of 8-1, and the hot goalie was taken out after a shutout in the first game of this series, and they've got that guy. You understand how my fear gets ratcheted up as someone who cares about the Panthers because I do respect and fear that guy, no matter what Greg Cody is making Roy ask all that NHL royalty in Edmonton. But it was one game. I know Edmonton beat...

blew them out, but it's one game. They're still down 3-1. He's the best player on the ice in every game. I understand that, but the Celtic fan base was also nervous because the Mavericks blew out Boston in Game 4. And then what did Boston do once it got home? They blew out the Mavericks. And let's not make this just a one-man team. They still have Leon Dreisaitl and Zach Hyman on that team, too. They're a top-five defense, too. It's not just scoring. That's a very good team.

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We won't get that out. That's shocking. Stugatz. Here's a picture of Christopher when he was like three years old. Right next to the condom? Yeah. That's a subtle reminder. Never forget. This is the Don Levitas show with the Stugatz. Stugatz.

The Messiah is in the zoo. Oh, I'm sorry. I don't know. I feel terrible. He was listening to us talking hockey, and we should be listening to him talking hockey. Let me introduce him correctly. He's a six-time Stanley Cup champion. You did. You did it more efficiently than I'm going to do it. It can't just be the Messiah.

Or it could be six-time Stanley Cup champion, five with the Oilers, one with the Rangers, guaranteed the one with the Rangers, the third leading point scorer in NHL history. And now he has made the 2,500-mile flight again from Edmonton to the real new capital of ice hockey all over the world, South Florida. Somehow that guarantee didn't jinx the Rangers. That's right. Somehow it did not. Look at that hat, by the way.

Look at that hat. He's got an elbow room. The elbow room. Tell us about the elbow room, Messiah. Oh, it's a great place to chop up the series and talk to everybody about what's going on, see all the great fans. That's not all we're chopping up. That's where we do our homework. That's what we're calling it, homework? Because I've been to the elbow room. That place is a special kind of fun dirty.

I love it. It's great to be down by the water. Great people. It's awesome. Wanted to talk some hockey with you because we have among us, the last time we broke some news from the elbow room, Connor McDavid's dad was bought a drink and a reporter gave him the drink. And Connor McDavid's dad said, you're not that Greg Cote, are you? Because we're with Greg Cote, who has said that Connor McDavid is overrated.

That is actually funny. How right he is. That's a headline grabber. Thank you. So how can you explain to him how absurd, how asinine his opinion is?

Well, that's the great thing about sports is everybody has an opinion and we all get to share it. And it doesn't have to be right or wrong or indifferent. If that's what you feel, that's great. I think he may be underrated, but that's just an opinion as well. I don't know how anybody could call Conor McDavid overrated. I respect it. I respect the opinion, but that's what makes sports so great is we can sit here and debate it all day and

chop it up and wherever we land it's great well mark let me explain my opinion and see if i at least have a point here uh i've never said mcdavid isn't great i mean he's the the best player in hockey overall but i don't think he's a two-way and pk subban was saying that barkoff is a better all-around player you called him an underachiever a 200 yeah yeah i did and here's the reason and

He's laughing at you. I think he's an underachiever because for all this greatness, nine years into his career, he hasn't won a Stanley Cup and the odds are still long that he's not going to win one again. And I think you don't get to be the top

echelon of the goat pen without a champion you've won six of them he hasn't won any yet for all his stats for all his numbers not saying he's not great i'm saying until he wins he's 27 i understand in his ninth year until he wins the cup yeah he doesn't get to be the best ever he doesn't get to be mcjesus and the next gretzky and everything else people say in my opinion

Well, I think he would agree with you. I don't think he's arguing the fact that through his career, he'll want to win the Stanley Cup or he'll need to win a Stanley Cup to be considered along the greats. You just talked about Gretzky, Lemieux, Howe, or all the greatest luminaries of our game. The unfortunate part of team sport is you can't do it alone. I wrote a book exactly that. No one wins alone. So, of course...

The evolution of any hockey player goes through tough times. You have to learn how to win. You have to know how to play. You have to know how to play in tight situations, but it's all just a learning process.

a journey for every player, not only Connor McDavid. And sure. Did he know everything when he came to the league? No. Has he gotten better as he's gone through his career? Of course he has. Has he learned how to lead better through these times when the team's down three, nothing, the world's looking at him. In my opinion, he's done an amazing job of the leadership. He hasn't pointed a finger. He's hasn't complained about anything that's happened. He just gone out there and played hard every game, which is amazing. And then to put on top of it,

When your team's looking at you as a leader, they're looking for anything that for any sign of resignation or we can't do it. But he hasn't given any of that. So when you talk about underrated, I mean, there's, you know, sure, he hasn't won because he's nine years. But there's a lot of players have gone through their whole career and never won.

because they haven't been in a situation where the team is strong enough to support them. Good teams put special players in position to make great plays at the right time. And I can talk about that firsthand of all the great teams that I played on. Edmonton's got a team this year where they can compete. Now, whether they can win the Stanley Cup this year, I don't know. That remains to be seen. But ultimately...

You know, he needs to support and then he needs to be able to figure his own game out on both ends of the rink, which every player has to. Wayne Gretzky had to. Mary Lemieux had to. Bobby Orr had to. All the greats. And he's going through that process right now. I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that he's, so personally, and this is just a debate, I personally wouldn't call him underrated at this point. I would call him, it's like every other great player, it's a learning curve.

You got a standing ovation at Rogers Place in Edmonton over the weekend. Where are you less likely to have to pay for a drink in public? Edmonton or New York? Oh, New York, I think. Well, I'll tell you, you know, I played 12 years in my home city of Edmonton, which was amazing. I was born and raised there, played my hockey, minor hockey there, family, friends. And, of course, when the Edmonton Oilers became part of the National Hockey League, I was drafted there.

and spent 12 incredible years. I played with some of the best teams ever, some of the greatest players ever. We had Hall of Famers. But to be able to do that in my hometown was incredible. When I left New York and asked to be traded, or when I left Edmonton and asked to be traded, the team was kind of breaking up and it was starting over again. So I told the

the GM at the time, Glenn Saylor, that perhaps maybe I'd like to go try it somewhere different. And he goes, well, where would you like to go? And I go, I think New York would be a really fun place to play. Living in New York City, the 51 years at the time when I went there, they hadn't won a Stanley Cup. So the challenge was too great to pass up.

I don't look at it in terms of not buying a drink. I look at it in terms of the people I've met along the way. It's been an incredible, fortunate journey for me as a hockey player. And here we are years later, almost 30 years later since we won the Stanley Cup in New York. It doesn't seem like that long ago, but wow, unbelievable.

Yeah, but which city, though? Yeah, pick a city. Pick a city. You don't have to look at it about buying a drink, but where are you just simply less likely to have to buy a drink when you walk into any local establishment? Edmonton, where you won five, or New York, where you won one? Or the elbow room. Can it be...

The elbow room. That's it. No, don't let him out. Way to go, Cody. Go sit in the penalty box, Cody. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I've been treated both. They're tied for first. You can't say both. All right, that is unacceptable. Elbow room was a better answer. Now the questions are going to get harder. This is from Anderson Cooper's interview on 60 Minutes with a mob informant and the former owner of the Gentleman's Club scores, and I quote,

The New York Rangers came to scores on the night they won the Stanley Cup, filled the Stanley Cup with champagne and shared it with everybody. And then they left the cup. They got drunk and they left the cup. Can you confirm or deny that story from a professional snitch? I cannot confirm that story. I don't believe I was there. But if I was there...

I would have confirmed it, but I'm not sure that happened. I don't think any, as drunk as everybody might have been, I don't think they would have left the Stanley Cup at scores. In 1987, you allegedly brought the Stanley Cup to a gentleman's club in Edmonton, then placed it on the stage where the cup was reportedly used as a prop by the talent. Can you confirm or deny that the Stanley Cup was damaged enough that night to necessitate repairs?

Again, I'm going to deny that the cup did have a screw that holds the actual very top of it to the bottom part of it that had come loose. And so we took it to a place where they attach it back on.

Classic Messiah. Can you tell us the most fun that you ever had in a single season? I don't know whether the last one ends up feeling better than the first one when it comes to championships. Oh, that's a great, I've never been asked that question before. Uh, the most fun of any year. Wow. Uh, I don't know. I had a great time, uh,

That year in Edmonton, I would say 84 and 94 probably the two of the best. The pick one, I'm going to say 94 only because I was 31 at the time. No, I was 32 or 33 at the time. We had a great season enjoying New York City and all those great things it has to offer.

How confusing is it to you as somebody who loves Edmonton, loves Canada? How confusing is it to Canada to have Florida dominate hockey for the last five years?

I'm not sure if it's in five years, but you're right about Tampa and they're excluded as well. That's a great part about our sport is that the expansion in the southern states and the amount of kids that are playing hockey and getting the opportunity to play hockey and have role models right in front of them. It's what the NHL wanted to do. It's what Gary Bettman's initiative was. It's to grow the game, diversify the game. We've done a great job of it. And, yeah,

We look at Austin Matthews being born and raised in Arizona, one of the greatest players in our game today, just goes to show you how successful it's been coming into the southern states like Florida and like California, like Anaheim, like Nashville. It's amazing. I don't think anybody looks at it as the geography itself.

because we have great Canadians playing all over the world and certainly back down here in Florida as well. I want to come at this Conor McDavid conversation from a different angle. All right, let's circle back on that. Yes, I have my top five Edmonton Oilers. I have my top five Oilers of all time, okay? Top five Oilers of all time.

All right, that's what I have. Okay, so you don't, so we'll find out right now. You're telling Mark Messier, well, he's got to be on this, right? All right, let's see where we're going to end up. Let's see where we've got to end up here. Maybe that's why we're having the conversations, because I'm not on it, which is okay. I don't think he's a top five oiler of all time. You are. I don't think Conor McDavid is. Whoa. Spoiler alert. Whoa. That is a spoiler. Go ahead. You're not going to put him in this top five? Number five. Yari Curry.

Number four. Amazing hockey player. One of the best two-way hockey players I've ever played. Could have won the Selke Trophy for the best defensive forward scoring 70 goals a year, which is amazing. Number four. Grant Fierre.

No, you can't win championships without great goaltending. He's got to be on the list. Number three, Paul Coffey. Always team big. Highest scoring defenseman ever. You know, you talk about the tandem with Gretzky and Coffey together. Great, great, great, great, great defenseman. Number two, Mark Messier. Number three,

Oh, that bum. I'm not sure about that. I think we can replace him. Number one. The great one. Oh, wow. No Connor McDavid. No Connor McDavid in the top five. No Houston Oilers. Go ahead and knock off one of your teammates, Mark. I dare you. I thought Warren Moon for sure was going to be on the line. What about Kevin Lowe? What about Kevin Lowe?

Oh, Lenny Anderson. Lenny Anderson was an all-time great. You can put Moog on the list, Tim. All-time great. The unfortunate part about Edmonton, there's quite a few great hockey players, Hall of Fame hockey players that could be on the list, too. But I'll certainly move out of the way for Connor there as soon as he wins the Stanley Cup. He's going to smash a lot of records in Edmonton and...

So you agree he has to. Thank you. Boom! We got him, Greg. Oh, I'm not denying that from the get-go, and he won't deny that as well. I think he's well aware of what's at stake in his career. But that doesn't mean he's underrated. So I'm...

I'm with you. Or overrated, I should say. He's definitely not underrated. Mick's properly rated. Hey, maybe he is underrated. Maybe he is. Let's play a little game. Maybe he is underrated. Let's play a little game of penalty shot for your life, okay? You have to choose one guy to take a penalty shot. If he converts it, you're living. If he's not, unfortunately, you die. We understand the game. I'm making sure Mark understands the game. It's for your life, yes. Wayne Gretzky, Connor McDavid.

Patrick Kane. He went off the board! A shocking answer from the Messiah. Thank you, Mark. Good talking to you. T.J. Oshie. Pre-game coverage begins 7 p.m. Eastern tonight, ESPN2, with The Point. It features Steve Levy, P.K. Subban, and Mark Messier. See you later, Mark. Thank you for being on with us. Thanks for having me on, you guys. Take care. Thank you, Mark.

Summer's the best time to run the way you want. Dial it up with new challenges and programs and bring your workouts with you to make the most of outside sunny days. Stugatz, guess what? What? You know what you can do with Peloton? What? Get the app, go outside, ride a bike. Well, I thought you ride Peloton inside. Well, you do, you can ride Peloton inside if it's a rainy day or if it's cloudy or you just don't want to get outside, maybe it's too hot.

summertime, go outside. I record a lot from my office with you and you've noticed it's sitting there yet. It hasn't been used. Well, now's the time. Summer's the best time to start that push. Right. Can we do it together? Not on the same bike, but we could join a class together. I used to do that. We used to have Guillermo Tan. I'd invite people. We'd all take a class together. Okay. So I think you're starting to get concerned about my health and my age, Billy. I,

I sense that with you. We're beyond starting. Okay. Whatever road lies ahead, your training starts here with Peloton Tread and Tread Plus. It's not just a bike, a treadmill too. I'm going to go outside. I'm going to get in shape. I'm going to do it with Billy Gill. I want to be in your class. I want you to be my instructor. You know what? I won't be your instructor. You don't want to spend more time with me. No, I can schedule a class and we can ride together. I won't be the instructor of the class. We can have Camila could be our instructor. I like the Grateful Dead class. My daughter, she uses the Peloton. Mm-hmm.

She was on it once and an instructor who was playing Grateful Dead 2. So let's do that. Okay. Why don't we go for a run outside? Guided run. Peloton. Me and you. That's something we can do together. Okay. Turn on the app. Me and you go outside. Enjoy the summer. Call yourself a runner with Peloton at onepeloton.com slash running. All right.

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