[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign the following program is brought to.
[00:00:05] Speaker B: You in living color on Dell gazette.com or wherever you get your podcast.
[00:00:13] Speaker C: The Daily Gazette Company presents the parting Shots Podcast.
[00:00:18] Speaker A: Now here's your host, Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Shots.
[00:00:23] Speaker B: Thank you, Scott Kesey, and welcome to the Parting Shots Podcast, available wherever you get your podcast. Subscribe today. Thanks for joining me from the Parting Shots Podcast Studio in Schenectady, New York. It's our final podcast for the month of June and we're going to talk a lot of hockey on this edition of the podcast. I know it's almost 90 degrees out the last couple of days. Earlier this week cooled off a little bit on Thursday. I'm taping this portion of the podcast Thursday night in here in the office. It is freezing, the air conditioning is on, so is hopefully makes the podcast listening to the podcast better. Anyway, as I said, we had a lot of hockey talk on this edition of the podcast. We're going to talk with RPI men's hockey legend Matt Murley. He's getting inducted into the New York State Hockey hall of Fame in a couple of weeks at the Hilton Garden Inn in Troy. Of course, Matt's a Troy native. We're going to talk about his induction in, what it means to him. We'll talk about his career at RPI and we'll talk about what he's doing with his He's a really media mogul, I guess you could say, involved with Paul Biss. That's media stuff. So we'll talk to him about that. And then we'll talk with Joe Yorden of Noted Hockey, our good friend.
We'll get his thoughts on Alexander McGilney finally getting elected to the Hockey hall of fame on his 17th. Try this major League Baseball.
Alexander would have been done after 10 tries, but we're going to talk to Joe about that, why it took so long for to get in once he had a great NHL career. You know, the big story, of course, was the fact that him getting into the United States when he was drafted by Buffalo because back then it was tougher to get paid players from Russia out of Russia. You had to do some sneaky things to get them out. And we'll talk to Joe about all that and what Alexander McGunley's legacy is in Buffalo.
Course, they also play some other teams, including Vancouver and Toronto. So we'll talk to Joe about that and some other hockey topics. We'll get his thoughts on. Yeah, I think this CBA is going to be approved soon between the players and the NHL and talk about adding two more regular season games, making an 84 game schedule, reduce the preseason, which is always good.
Don't need those preseason games.
I wish they could somehow may start the season earlier. This is my thoughts getting that way. The Stanley cup finals not playing until late June. It seems kind of weird. I mean I don't think these teams get much rest anymore back when I was growing up. Now the season was done, playoffs were done by mid May and you had all summer off and now you don't get much time off if you get to the final round. So but we'll talk to Joe about that. Some other hockey topics, get his thoughts, you know, being an RP RPI guy. And we'll talk about his thoughts on the RPI hockey situation, the rehiring of Eric Lang a couple months ago. So we'll talk to Joe about that and everything hockey wise. So looking forward to a good podcast here. And as we go to break, it's getting tough, tougher and tougher to do these dedications and memorials. But Bobby Sherman, an actor and singer from the 1960s and 70s, he was a sort of a teen idol back then and he was in the late 60s, 19 early 70s TV show here comes the Bride.
So he passed away recently of cancer at the age of 81. And here's one of his big hits, Easy Come, Easy Go. Rest in peace, Bobby.
[00:04:05] Speaker A: I'm taking a shade out of the.
[00:04:09] Speaker D: Sun.
[00:04:12] Speaker A: Whatever made me think that I was number one I ought to know.
Easy come, Easy go I'm sitting it out now I'm spinning the dial.
[00:04:30] Speaker D: Just.
[00:04:30] Speaker A: Thinking about the chump I've been I have to smile, Didn't I know Easy.
[00:04:38] Speaker D: Come and Easy Go.
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[00:05:00] Speaker A: Hey, I'm Frank Calando pretending to be Morgan Freeman, maybe even a little bit of John Bat or Robert Downey Jr.
Comedian, impressionist, playboy, philanthropist. Maybe not the last two. And you're listening to the Parting Shots podcast with Daily Gazette SP editor Ken Shots.
[00:05:18] Speaker C: Welcome back to the podcast. My first guest is going to be inducted to the New York State Hockey hall of fame on July 13th. He's an RPI men's hockey legend and he's making a name for himself in the sports media business.
Please welcome Troy native Matt Murley to the broadcast. Matt, appreciate a few minutes. Congratulations on that. First of all, before we got on the air. You're living in Sweden, which I didn't know it until just now. So tell everybody where you live and how long you been there.
[00:05:46] Speaker D: Yeah, so I'm over in Sunsville, Sweden. My wife is from here. And back in, I think it was 2011, I started playing in Sweden. I ended up playing three years over here. So we met here while I was playing for Timra Ik. And Tim Ray is a. It's a big hockey team here. Henrik Zetterberg played here. Elias Pederson played here. So some. Some good players have played through here. And then after that I moved on. I started playing again in the KHL and then Germany and Asia. So I don't know if we're going to and all that, but she traveled around with me all those times. And once I retired in 2019, we moved back here. And we've kind of had this as our home base with some moves to the US for some three months or eight months. But this has been our home base.
[00:06:31] Speaker C: As one of the teams you play for in the Asian League has a nickname of the Killer Whale. So what was that logo look like?
[00:06:38] Speaker D: Yeah. Damn young killer whales. Yeah, that was my last official stop. I loved it over there. The Asian League, the. The damn Young Killers Wells is owned by this big real estate guy. So if you get very successful in South Korea, the government makes you put more money into creating more jobs. So you'll see a lot of the companies, like if you follow the baseball over there, it's LG Tigers, it's Samsung Lions, it's Kia, whoever. So this guy went to the university in Minnesota and he fell in love with college hockey and he loved hockey. So when he got control of his dad company and it got really successful, he said, I'm start hockey team. So, you know, he had 50 employees and he's dumped all this money into our team. So it worked out really well.
[00:07:23] Speaker C: That's good. That's great.
[00:07:24] Speaker D: Yeah. So, interesting stuff.
[00:07:26] Speaker C: So tell me about when you got the notice from Rennie Larue that you were going to be inducted into the New York State Hockey hall of Fame. What, what, what, what. What were your first thoughts? And what does this mean to you?
[00:07:37] Speaker D: Yeah, it's. It's really cool.
Try to save some of my stuff, I guess, for the. The actual ceremony. But what I've been saying, it's kind of more of like almost a family award because my father was so important in New York State hockey. If he never got so involved with starting all his Uncle Sam's Hockey teams. As he had youth hockey teams, he had a high school team for my brother. He had all these other leagues and development, and he basically built the Nick Ice Rink in Troy for myself and my brother and for all the kids there to have somewhere to play. And luckily that's back in operation now for Troy Youth Hockey. So my dad had a huge footprint on New York hockey. I did well as a youth. You know, I played in Syracuse. We won state titles, we won the Empire State Games, and, you know, went to University RBI and had a great career there. And I guess the one year in playing for the Albany River Rats might have helped too. So I had a lot of, a lot of ties to New York and some people that, you know, how is he a Hall of Fame when he didn't play that much NHL? It was kind of everything building up to that and what my family has done for the state of New York.
[00:08:46] Speaker C: Yeah. Being a Troy native, how important was it for you to stay home and play for rpi?
[00:08:52] Speaker D: Yeah, it was always my dream. I learned to skate at rbi. I used to go to the RPI hockey school as a youth. I played in the, in the summer league at night there. I remember scoring a goal one time and as it hit the back of the net, the lights went out, the whole arena. It's just one of those memories, I think. My brother, my cousin were both on my team. So I always loved rpi. I never, never dreamed that I would be good enough to play there. So as the, as the process kept going, the time kept going, it became a reality. I, I, I, I, I entertained all the other offers and I made a bunch of other visits, but I, I knew, and I think everybody else knew I was always going to rbi.
[00:09:30] Speaker C: Yeah. What was that recruiting process like? Me, obviously, I don't know if you want to mention the other schools that were at this point, it's well passed, but what other schools were looking at you?
[00:09:41] Speaker D: Yeah, I think I had every school in the country send me a letter. At least my, my final ones. I really liked looking at Harvard. BU and then Michigan were probably my top four. The Harvard one was just, you know, it's Harvard. It's when you're growing up, it's a school you hear about, you're set for life after. So I, I gave them a visit. I went down to bu. I remember Jack Parker came out and took me to breakfast in Syracuse. And, you know, they, he just went into the, the Hockey Hall.
[00:10:09] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:10:09] Speaker D: So he was a legend even back then. This is in 96 97. So that was always really interesting as a youth, real small kid. I remember them winning a national title. So I kind of, I kind of remembered that and wanted to do that. And then Michigan was my second choice. And that was just because it was such a, a school with the, with the football and the basketball and you know, they had the Nike sponsorship.
So when you're, you're a 16 year old kid, you love that idea of that stuff. But when I went on my visit there, it was just too big and it was, it just was not for me. And it RPI was always going to be it.
[00:10:47] Speaker C: Did you feel any added pressure playing an RPI in front of your family, friends? And was there any kind of that pressure?
[00:10:55] Speaker D: Yeah, I felt a ton of pressure at the beginning because, you know, you guys were writing front page articles about me before I even played a game. And the first game I knew I was going to have tons of people that haven't had a chance to see me play because I had played in Syracuse since I was 9 years old.
So I would have some tournaments in Troy once in a while. But for the most part, my family and friends had never seen me play. But probably, maybe I used up a lot of the luck in my career was that opening night versus BE you. I got a breakaway maybe seven, eight minutes into the game and I scored on it. So the pressure was instantly gone after that. Like I had scored a goal. We end up winning the game in overtime. I was on the ice for that. So after that first game, it was, it was over. Like, the pressure was over. I proved I could do it and I kind of just ran with it from there.
[00:11:45] Speaker C: And ironically, playing BU in your first game against Jack Parker, who tried to get you to be you.
[00:11:51] Speaker D: Yeah, I mean, I, I remember watching them in the morning skate and I was like, oh my God, it's BE you. The white gloves, it's J. Parker. I think they were wearing the sweatpants in the morning skate. I, I think that's still a tradition at bu.
And it was just like, oh my God, what is this team? And I don't think RBI had, had beaten them in a long time before that. So I remember sitting there talking to Mark Murphy and Dan Riva. They were seniors I don't think they'd ever beaten. I'm like, all right, tonight we're gonna get them. We're gonna get them tonight. And they probably thought I was crazy. But yeah, we went out, Dan Riva scored that OT winner and we, we had a, we had a Great night after that.
[00:12:28] Speaker C: What was head coach Dan Fridgen?
[00:12:32] Speaker D: Yeah, Dan. I just talked to him a little while ago.
I wanna.
Fridge. I'm allowed to call him Fridge now. But when you played, if you called him Fridge, he would probably two hand you in the back or something like that during the three on three game. Yeah, yeah, Dan was great. He recruited me right away. They were at my house on, on back then. July 1st is when they could first talk to you. Yeah, they were at my house midnight. Like when June 30th at midnight when it turned July 1st. Berkey and BC were at my house recruiting me. He was calling me at 1201.
So they, they really wanted me and I gotta like thank him because he gave me the ice time right away. He gave me second line with, you know, Riva and it was Tapper or Gardner, they were kind of rotating around. So he gave me that ice time right away.
And then early on in the training camp there was six guys on the power play, so obviously only five can play. And I was, I was in the spot with the two guys. So the other four were set and I was competing with a guy there. I end up taking that spot. So just giving me the power play chance right away was, was huge. I don't know if I would have got that at every other school. So that was another reason to go to rpa. I knew I was going to get the playing time and you know, he rewarded with me and I think I rewarded him by producing for him.
[00:13:51] Speaker C: Yeah, you got 74 goals, 101 assists for 175 points in your career your junior year? Senior year, back to back 24 goal seasons. He had over 40 points in three or four seasons.
What are you most proud of of your RPI career?
[00:14:06] Speaker D: Probably my senior year, I think it was in around December, I got mono and I had a miss, I think six games. And you know, it, it really took a lot out of me. I actually moved home to my parents house. My mom could wait on me and, and I did everything I could do to not like lose the weight and you know, you'll hear the horror stories. People losing 20, 30 pounds during mono. So I was, I remember I was drinking the Gatorades and my mom was going over to Stewart's and getting me two milkshakes because you couldn't really eat. My throat hurt so much, but I was just drinking fluids and shakes to keep my weight on so I'd be ready when I came back for the guys. You know, it was my senior year this Is it? And, you know, we had a good team, but anyway, so, you know, we struggle a little bit, and then when I come back, we still struggled, and I felt fine. It wasn't that, like, we just struggled as a team. We couldn't get a, like, saves from the goalies. We just couldn't do anything.
And the one game was a exhibition game versus Bowling Green. We actually talked Fridge into putting in our third string goalie against Bowling Green. Right. This, like, we're a mess. We gotta wake our goalies up. We gotta wake our team up. Put him in for a period and see what happens. So he goes in for that period and he stood on his head. And then the rest of us were diving around, blocking the shots, making all the simple, like, easy plays. And we. We come out of the period up one, nothing. We go in the locker room. Palmer pulls himself. He thought he was gonna have a heart attack because he hadn't played a game in five years. So he gets pulled out. Nathan Marsters goes in and keeps the shutout for him.
And after that, we went on a serious run. I. I want to say we won 11 or 12 games in a row, getting all the way to the. The semifinals of Lake Placid. And we ran into the Cornell. Cornell team with Doug Murray and whoever. They always had a great goal.
[00:15:57] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:15:58] Speaker D: We couldn't score. We end up losing two nothing in the semis.
And then the third place game, we beat up on Clarkson. I scored maybe with 20 seconds left to win that game and to keep our NCAA hopes alive. But if you remember back in those days, it was only 12 teams.
[00:16:14] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:16:14] Speaker D: We ended up with our. Whatever RPI ranking and Pairwise ranking was 13th, so we'd end up not getting in the tournament. But I was really proud how we were. We were dead last in the standings there before that Bowling Green exhibition series. And we rolled it all the way back and we made it to the semifinals and, you know, we finished third place.
[00:16:33] Speaker C: Yeah, what I remember most about that is I had my little heart episode up there in Lake Placid after the Cornell RPI game.
[00:16:41] Speaker D: Yeah. Yeah. You probably weren't the only one.
[00:16:44] Speaker C: Yeah, I spent. I spent the Saturday in the hospital up there, like, before getting transferred down to Albany or St. Peter's but that. That was a fun time. But when you were playing Matt, RPI was always in the mix for ECAC hockey titles and, you know, obviously playing to get to the NCAAs. But the program has fallen hard times. You know, Fridge was fired after the 25, 2005, 2006 season, Seth Aper came in, had some success, but not, not enough to, you know, sustain his job avail job situation. He was going. After the 16, 17 season, Dave Smith came in and the struggles continued. And to be fair, RPA had a great shot at winning the EC Hockey Tournament in 2020. But then COVID 19 pandemic shut things down. Let me ask you what, why do you think RPA hockey has struggled over the last few years?
[00:17:36] Speaker D: Yeah. To go back. Yeah, I liked when they hired Appert. I thought he did a good job. They had some good recruits come in. They had that. They made the NCAA tournament the one year when Jim Montgomery was here. That really helped him. We all seen what he's done now. When Seth lost him, it was tough and he couldn't really find a replacement like him. And if you talk to Benny Barr, you talk to any of these other head hockey coaches, they, they'll be the first to tell you that it. The success comes from their assistant coaches. They're. They're nothing without the, the assistants out there, the ones that are doing the recruiting, that are doing the everyday coaching. So that really hurt him. And then it was funny is I was good friends with Seth and when I was ready to retire, I was like, oh, I'm gonna. He's like, I got a job for you. As soon as you're done, I'm all right. I'm gonna work with Seth. And as I was playing in Japan, he gets fired. And I'm like, oh, that sucks. There goes my, my, you know, retirement plan. But then all of a sudden, Benny Barr pops up as a favorite to get it. So I said, oh, even better. My roommate for 10 years now, I, I'll get even a better job from Betty. But yeah, it turned out they end up getting Dave Smith. And you know, I bring that story up about Benny because Dave was always kind of in a lose, lose situation.
You know, everybody wanted Benny, all the alumni, because he was one of us, you know, the locals who all got to know him from playing there. And then, you know, friends with me and, you know, he married a girl from Watervlite, so he was embedded in the local scene as well. So everybody wanted him and kind of held that against Dave forever. So he was kind of in a tough spot. And then what really didn't help Dave was, was Shirley Jackson, the president, when I think she was first to cancel the season that, you know, as the teams were canceling it. And then the next year she just canceled it completely, which really hurt because guys Started leaving. And then even to make it worse, the third year, I believe we were the only team that didn't have fans.
So, you know, she really handcuffed him and he was basically never really able to recover.
So I think it was time to make a change just because it was, it was going down the wrong path. And I'm really excited about Eric Lang coming in.
I got to meet him and talk to him a bunch in the process of him getting hired. And you know, he had great success at aic. He's already hired a new assistant that he was familiar with, that, that, that's going to be great at recruiting. So I think things are going to turn around. It's going to take a couple years, but I believe we're going to get back in and the goal is to be in those league placids, to be in that top four, the ecac. And then if you can get in the NCAA tournament, see what happens.
[00:20:22] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, let me talk to you about trillium. I think 2020, I think they ended up with the, the conference ended up canceled because the Ivies ended up canceling. And then it was just a cluster after that.
I, I, I think to my, to me, yeah, you can debate whether or not it was smart to close out the 2021 season, not play that year, but I think what really killed, I agree with this. I not being able to have the outside fans. The students and faculty and staff were allowed to go to games, but anybody outside in that 21, 22 season, that made no sense. My union had, you know, they had fans, limited, but they had fans.
The other schools had fans as well. But it just was one of those things where, you know, not only could off campus fans not show up, NHL scouts couldn't have appeared.
[00:21:12] Speaker B: Again.
[00:21:13] Speaker C: I was surprised, I was surprised the media was allowed to, to go and cover games at RPI back then. So I think from that standpoint, that really set the program back a few years.
[00:21:23] Speaker D: Yeah, 100%. And you know, that's all behind us. We have a new president now. President Schmidt. Dr. Schmidt. He's awesome. We got the new athletic Director, Christy Bowers. Dr. Christy Bowers. And you know, that was part of, it was the one story I love telling and I, I don't even care. I guess I shouldn't care anymore. But Lee McElroy, when he got hired as athletic director, I was sitting at the hockey banquet. It was the first day he was hired. I'm sitting right next to him at the banquet and he goes, yeah, I don't really know anything about hockey, Matt. I come from UAlbany. It's a basketball and football school. So I'm really gonna have to rely on you guys with, with help, you know, the alumni are really gonna have to help me out with hockey. I said, hey, you know what, Lee? That's why we're here. Love to help you. Here's my number. Call me anytime.
And when his first decision came up, when he did fire Seth, we, we told him like take Benny Barr. I mean I wrote a two page letter explaining how he's this guy, he's that guy. And he writes me back like one line, thank you for your interest in RBI hockey. And I've come to find out he was just copy and pasting that to everybody to all the alumni that sent the messages and an email. So he really put the team back too. So surely can't take all the blame. Yeah, got to give him something.
[00:22:41] Speaker C: I think it was your buddy Colby Armstrong who suggested that if you were asked, would you like to become the general manager of RPA hockey? Especially this day and age with the name, image and likeness situation and just how crazy it is out there because you're seeing a lot of colleges hiring general managers to run programs.
[00:22:59] Speaker D: Yeah, well, all that stuff's really cool. And yeah, Colby's a character. He brought up like throwing my hat in the coaching. I, I wish I had gotten into the coaching now maybe five years ago as an assistant because then it would have been an eas, you know, fall into place for me. But I haven't coached. I coached a Bantam team back in 2020 is my last real coaching experience. So to take on a rebuilding program was not in the cards. But I've talked to Eric Lang a bunch. I've talked to Christy a bunch. I'm actually building a house in Troy. So I'll be moving home and I'm going to be ready to help out in, in any way I can. And you know, if you notice, I, I do talk more about them on our game note show and on the social media. So I'm gon to make RBI hockey better in any way I can and, and I'm always available for them in any way.
[00:23:50] Speaker C: How happy are you were you with, with your pro career? I mean, you played in the NHL with Pittsburgh, the team that drafted you. You played for the Phoenix Coyotes. You know, you mentioned the Albany River. Ask me how, how much fun was your pro career? Maybe you probably didn't get to, you know, stick in the NHL probably as long as you like, but to be able to play as long as you did. And how satisfying is that?
[00:24:13] Speaker D: Yeah, I mean, if you look back when I was 16 years old, I remember talking to one of my buddies, McMonagle, and we were playing junior hockey, and we thought, oh, man, like, maybe we can go and we can play in, like, Europe someday or in Sweden someday. And never dreamed about the NHL. So, yeah, to get to the NHL was amazing. The climb up there is so much fun. That's what the whole experience is. And I just. I never. I never really stuck there. I never could produce there. It's crazy. Every other league in the world, I eventually produce. If it was juniors, college, ahl, Switzerland, Sweden, Russia, and for some reason, the NHL, I just. I couldn't get over the hump there. I. I would get a couple games of power play in first line and I would get some points, but then the next game, I'd be right back to fourth line penalty kill, which I was fine with. I said, I'll be a penalty killer because I knew Sidney Crosby is going to win Stanley Cup. So today I have no problem playing fourth line and penalty kill and. And I'll ride this guy to a couple Stanley Cups. But that didn't work out. So, yeah, I love my crib. I love that I got to play and. And to go back to. To that. When I did leave, I said, oh, what a dream would be to play in all these different countries for free, basically, to get. Get paid to go visit all these countries. And I got to see the entire world during this career. And yes, it would be nice to have some of these $30 million contracts that you see now in the NHL and to. To have a Stanley cup, especially after watching these Stanley Cups the last few years live, I. I would. I mean, it's still a dream. I don't think I'm gonna get back and play to make it a dream, but to. To do that would have been awesome. But I. I have no regrets. Everything was.
What do they say, like, icing on the cake or something. After I got to play at rpi, I never dreamed more than that.
[00:26:01] Speaker C: Well, you mentioned the game notes, this show with Colby Armstrong. How did you get associated with Paul this and that and his business stuff.
[00:26:10] Speaker D: Yeah. So back when I was in Korea, I went on and I just did an interview with them. So that was how I first started with them. And then when I hired in 2019, they said, come down to Philadelphia and do another interview. So I flew down to Philadelphia, did the interview with them, and went to the Flyers, Capitals, game, after the interview. And this is kind of when sports gambling was just starting in the U.S. yeah. So we're all talking, like, who we take and who we taking in the game. And the first two guys said Flyers, the next two guys said Capitals. And it came to me, and I know Whit forever, but I'm just really meeting these. The rest of the guy. I knew Biz a little bit, too, but not like I knew Whip. And I said, all right, you guys like them? You guys like them. I go, you know what we do? We take the draw. We take. We bet the game goes to overtime and that those guys are like, what?
[00:27:03] Speaker A: What?
[00:27:03] Speaker D: What are you talking about? You can't do that. I'm like, yeah, you can. I'm like, that's how European soccer and hockey. That's how all the gambling works over here.
Because back then, they were just thinking, you could call the guy, the Italian guy on the phone. Hey, yeah, give me this and that. But now it's all online, so you can bet everything.
[00:27:18] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:27:19] Speaker D: And I said, we're betting the draw plus 300.
So they're like, all right, screw it. Yeah, I found it on my site. So we all do it. And before the game, we had a pregame party, a pink Whitney party. And. And they're making a video, and Biz is on there. And Biz, like, yeah, we got this new guy, Merle. He just came down, and he's. He's got us all betting the draw that it's going overtime plus 300. And he, like, pulls me in the video and blah, blah, blah. So it's a long story. Long game goes over time, and we all go nuts. So we just have a great night, and. And that's it. That's the end of it. I. I slide back home. And the next year was, I was flying to Sweden. We were living in Sweden, had my daughter, and. And nothing's going on. The next year, we. I end up coaching in Rochester. And as I'm coaching in Rochester, Penn National Gaming bought barstool, so they had to come up with a sports book. And now Spitting Chiclets needed to start doing more gambling content.
So I assume this is how the meeting went. Biz is like, I know nothing about gambling wins. Like, I don't want to do any more work, but I know a guy. I know a guy that's right up his alley. So. And Biz, knowing me, hit that drawback and knew my whole gambling history, said, all right, yeah, we're gonna let Merle start doing the Gambling picks for us. So every couple nights, I'd make a parlay for them that they could put on the sparse dual sports book. And, you know, I'd write a small blog. I was just doing it all for fun as I was coaching this team, and it went really well.
[00:28:49] Speaker A: And.
[00:28:49] Speaker D: And by the next season, they offered me a job to do it full time.
[00:28:53] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:28:54] Speaker D: So then.
[00:28:55] Speaker C: Yeah, that was fun. Is it?
[00:28:56] Speaker D: Yeah, it was. Yeah, it was. Nothing planned. So then as I. I was happy doing that, and I would pop on their show every now and again when they needed somebody else or, you know, if it was like a college topic or a European topic, I would jump on. I was kind of, you know, their European expert. And as that was going along, I kind of wanted to do more. So I. I said, I want to start doing a daily, like, gambling show and. And just talk about picks quick, every day, 20, 30 minutes. So we started spit that. And at the same time, Colby Armstrong wanted to start getting more involved in doing more stuff. So we said, all right, why don't we start a show? They said, well, you guys start a show. We'll start off once a month. So we did once a month the first season, and it just wasn't enough because we would forget what we were talking about. So that next. That year in the playoffs, we said, we're doing my original idea, the daily gaming, like, gambling show. So we did every single day of the playoffs, our game notes, daily and live, and. And that really hit us off. And then all of a sudden, everybody was following us, talking about it. So the next season we started doing once a week and. And that's where we are now. And we're just trying to make it bigger and better every day.
[00:30:05] Speaker C: Wow, that's amazing. Amazing stuff.
[00:30:07] Speaker D: Yeah, none of it was planned. It was really crazy.
[00:30:11] Speaker C: So you're. You're with me. You're in the media now? Of course.
[00:30:13] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:16] Speaker C: Amazing. It seems like it's a great career.
Let me ask you about the Stanley cup final just completed a couple weeks ago. The Florida Panthers repeated Stanley cup champions this. Do we have a dynasty down there in Sunrise?
[00:30:30] Speaker D: Yeah, I think so. They. They are something else, the way they just all act, the entire organization. I've known Bill Zito, the gm. I've known him since he was an agent. I probably met him back in 2000.
And he's always been like this intense and kind of dialed in and just. Just so smart. The moves he's been able to pull off and just the culture when you're down there in Florida. And, you know, you're meeting the scouts even, or you're seeing the wives, or you're seeing the front office people. We're friends with the equipment manager. It's an unreal culture that they've built that like just feeds into that on ice product that we all get to watch that you see on tv and they're just loaded.
We'll find out in the next couple of days if they're going to be out, who they're going to be able to keep. But I, I have a feeling he's going to find a way to keep all three of those guys, Marshawn, Eckblad and Bennett. And if they do, I can't see a team in the east that can beat them. So I think they'll be right back in the cup final for a fourth year.
[00:31:28] Speaker C: It amazes me. I grew up in Philadelphia in the 70s with the Flyers. The Broad Street Bullies had season tickets to them. You know, seasons be done, the class be done. In mid May, here we are. You get into mid to late June with these off. Not much off time. But to see the Panthers get the three straight cup finals. Before that, the lightning of three straight cup finals. What does it say about these organizations that are able to do that in this day and age when you don't have as much off time in the off season?
[00:31:58] Speaker D: Yeah, that's why I didn't really like Florida coming into the playoffs because, you know, Kachuk was hurt, Marshawn was hurt. I think Ekblad was suspended.
Their big players weren't even playing. They were losing. I said, all right, they must be out of gas. But all of a sudden, boom, playoffs came and they were the, they were the fresher team. By the end of it, Edmonton was. Looked exhausted. And I feel like Florida could have played two or three more series. Yeah, they, they look fresh. They weren't hurt really.
They were something else. I, I just think it's different now, the way these guys all prepare. You know, back in the, in the old days on the road, we're going out drinking, having some beers, having a nice dinner, you know, now these guys are going. They're not even going out to dinner. The meals are in the hotel. They have these recovery pants that they wear that are like the ice, you know, the ice tubs. And they're, they're drinking green smoothies instead of, instead of drinking the, the rum and Cokes or the vodka sodas. So these guys are, you know, these guys are real athletes now. They're, they're 100 commitments taking care of themselves. So I don't think that's a big of a problem as it was 10 years ago.
[00:33:06] Speaker C: Yeah, so I remember back in the day about Code Ursula, Bears. There were some interesting situations I witnessed. But that's for another podcast, so.
[00:33:15] Speaker D: But yeah, my, my brother Tom, he was a, he was the athletic trainer, assistant athletic trainer for the Bruins, Ray Borks. Last season, one of his jobs was to have. Have a six pack of beer ready for Ray after every game. So that, that kind of stuff's not happening.
[00:33:29] Speaker C: I know there's one picture I see online every once in a while from, from the early 1970s. There's like a case of beer in front of goaltender. Bruins goaltender Eddie Johnston is like, oh, my God. It's like he's drinking all that beer. And it's, it's like I said, it's a different, different era. There was, you know, players didn't really take care of their bodies like to do now. So it's a, it's a crazy side. So, Matt, look forward to seeing you at the New York State Hockey hall of fame induction on July 13th. It'll be a lot of fun to catch up with you there. And I appreciate you doing this for a few minutes. And again, congratulations on the induction and a great career and keep going in the media and maybe one day we'll see you on the NHL and TNT with biz.
[00:34:15] Speaker D: Yeah. Thank you for everything. Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. I'm Gonna probably have 30 people, at least 30 friends and family at the event, so it's going to be a great day. And I mean, it's a great weekend. Saratoga's opening up Thursday of that week, so a huge weekend of sports up in the Capital District.
[00:34:32] Speaker C: Crazy stuff. So, Matt, appreciate it too much. Thanks again.
[00:34:36] Speaker A: Awesome.
[00:34:36] Speaker D: Thank you.
[00:34:36] Speaker C: That's Matt Murrell. Coming up, Joe Yerton of Hockey Noted Hockey comes on to talk about the induction of Alexander McGilney into the hockey hall of Fame. You're listening to the Potting Shots podcast.
[00:34:57] Speaker A: It's the most historic conference in college hockey.
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Hi, this is John McGraw, the voice.
[00:35:31] Speaker D: Of Colgate Hockey on ESPN.
[00:35:33] Speaker A: You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
[00:35:36] Speaker D: With Daily Gazettes sports editor Ken Shaw.
[00:35:40] Speaker C: Welcome back to the podcast. And finally, after 17 long years, Alexander Mogilney has been elected to the Hockey hall of Fame. The former NHL great started his career at the Buffalo Sabres.
[00:35:52] Speaker B: And we're going to talk to someone.
[00:35:53] Speaker C: Who knows the Sabers very well. That's our friend Joe Yorden from Noted Hockey. Joe, welcome back to the podcast. And when the news came out Tuesday, I mean it was, was finally a sense of relief for all hockey fans, probably for Alexander.
Why did it take so long for him to get elected?
[00:36:11] Speaker A: Boy, that's, I don't know if that's a loaded question or if it's, if it's just one that has, you know, a hundred explanations that don't really make a lot of sense.
I usually, I try to chalk this up to the fact that there's 18 people that vote on the hall of Fame and you need 14 people to say yes.
And all it takes is five people to be like, well, my ballot's full with all of these other people.
Sorry, you know, you know, they're limited by number, you know, the number they can have per class. It's not like, you know, the, the Basketball hall of Fame where they can elect a thousand people, you know, every class, but just the fact that Alex's story of how it, you know, what it took for him to get out of, you know, because he played for the Central Red army team, which technically made him an officer in the, know, the Soviet army, and the fact that he got, you know, swept out of Sweden by the, by the Saber staff to, to get to North America is to defect and, and play in the NHL is harrowing because, you know, we're so, we're so far past beyond the Cold War era that, you know, it, a lot of folks just don't understand. I mean, younger folks, older folks definitely understand but, but you know, there's so many younger fans don't understand what it took for, for players to get out of, you know, being in the Soviet Union to play in the NHL. It was, it was a terrifying thing for, for him. And you know, I went back and read a lot of the, the quotes from stories back then and you know, some of the stuff that like, you know, Victor Tikonov, who is the coach of the, you know, the, the Soviet team because he got swept out after the Soviets had just won at world championships in Sweden in 89 and the Sabers just kind of virtually snuck in there and got him out. And some of the things that like tikonov was saying was, you know, it was like one of those things where, you know, a pair, you know, rudely paraphrasing it. It was basically like, boy, it'd be a shame if something happened to your. Your girlfriend or your family if, you know, if you don't come back here, like that, that kind of stuff. And it was dead serious. You know, they were. That's not. That's not stuff that was taken lightly by them and it had never happened before. So.
[00:38:27] Speaker C: And it was.
[00:38:27] Speaker A: That whole experience was just like, you know, that. That's just that story alone. And what that led to with the, the influx of all these great Russian players that finally came over. I mean, I mean, you could have inducted McGilney as a. As a builder almost for, for just for that, never mind him, for his greatness in, in hockey.
[00:38:47] Speaker C: Yeah. And if like a few months after he defect, he got into. Defected to the United States States, the Berlin Wall fell. So all of a sudden now, so, I mean, just, you know, just a coincidence, a lot of stuff. And because now you obviously, you know, NHL teams are drafting Russian players, although the way the things are between the United States and Russia right now, who knows what's going to happen and.
[00:39:09] Speaker A: Right.
[00:39:09] Speaker C: So. But Cold War II maybe we can call it. But yeah, he came in and he finished his career. He fell 10 games short of playing a thousand games. 473 goals, 559 assists. Had a career high 76 goals in the 1992-93 season. Career high 127 points. What was. What. What made him so dynamic?
[00:39:34] Speaker A: Boy, everybody that I. Because it was a few years ago, we did a collaborative story on McGilney for, for the Athletic. Just people from all the cities that he, you know, that he played in from, you know, from here, from here in Buffalo to Vancouver to Toronto to, you know, to New Jersey, everybody that, Everybody that we. That all of us on the staff talk to, and I talked to Pat LaFontaine and to Yuri Himilev, who were, you know, teammates of his here in Buffalo, and everything about him was just that, you know, this guy did things nobody else was doing in the NHL at that time. And you think about like what the NHL was like late 80s, early 90s. It was still a very heavy game. It was very skilled, but like, you know, it was a little bit more loose with the, with the, with some of the mean stuff and the nastiness and the physicality of everything. But. But Alex was, Was a guy that got around all of that like, he was just so elusive, so quick and so skilled, and he was also a guy that, you know, he wasn't a guy that, you know, shied away from, you know, mixing it up. He wasn't a guy that was gonna fight or anything like that, but.
But he certainly wasn't a guy that was gonna back down from. From anything. Like, he. You know, he's always in the mix. He was always there, but, like, he was. His confidence was just so high with. With what he did and everything, it was just like, wow, okay, this.
This guy is something else. This guy's. This guy's incredible. And, you know, it was. It's just like one of these things where you're just blown away. You were just blown away watching him in action and that, you know, I mean, that 92, 93 season, you know, myself and a couple, you know, a couple of my other buddies here on the beat, we. We always talk about how, like, that was the last great offensive season for the NHL because, you know, 93, 94 happens. And then, you know, teams started trapping it up. They started, you know, interference was let run wild by, you know, officials for whatever reasons. And.
But, like, that season, I mean, that's the year Solani scored 76 as well, you know, breaking the rookie goal record, and.
And McGilney tied him for the league. The league lead. And it was just, you know, mind blowing watching guys like that doing what they did and with speed and skill and just the ability that they had, it was. It was incredible. And, you know, I mean, he. He did this every. I mean, when he got traded to Vancouver, his first season of Vancouver, he scored 51.
You know, this is a guy that really established himself. Like, first year everywhere. He was just like, whoa, okay, this guy's something else. And, you know, it was. It was unfortunate that it took him so long to eventually be on a Stanley cup winner. He did it in New Jersey, but it was just, you know, he was such a big factor for so many of these. These teams where, you know, they were great because they had had other parts, but they were great, especially because they had Alex.
[00:42:20] Speaker C: I mean, what is his standing with the Savers? I mean, is it. Was there ill feelings when he left or what. What is it. Was it right now?
[00:42:30] Speaker A: I. I think I. I haven't heard a negative thing around here about him. Once He's. He's a beloved figure in the fan base. I imagine it's the same way with. With the management. I mean, management is so different now than it was back then. I Mean, that was the Knox family back in that, you know, back. Back when they traded them, I believe. I don't think it had been transferred over. I don't know. Golf sign wasn't around yet at all, I don't think. But, but like that, you know, that's, you know, it's multiple GMs ago, that's multiple eras ago at this point. And, you know, Alex is a guy that the fans, you know, fans adore him.
And the Sabers fans were always one of the loudest. I mean, they're pretty much every fan base that got to have Alex as, as one of their own would be screaming the loudest every year when he wouldn't get elected to the hall of Fame. And they're just like, what's, what is their problem? Why isn't this guy here?
I know when the, the Sabers had their 50th anniversary, they invited him to come out because they had, you know, they have multiple like, nights for the different eras and you know, they had the, the, the night were all. They invited all the past team captains and they invited Alex. But Alex, you know, was politely said, well, you know, I'm not gonna be able to make it. I mean, he's the president of Amer Haborovsk in the, in the khl, which is far eastern Russia. We're talking like across, across the water from Japan, south of, you know, south of Korea, you know, out there. But, but he, but, you know, he politely declined and you know, it's just, you know, he's never been a guy. He always, always hated flying like he despised flying. So, you know, getting him, getting him back across the, across the, the globe to, to come here for anything was always almost a non starter. But I do wonder if he'll be at. I do wonder if he'll be at the ceremony in November in Toronto.
[00:44:22] Speaker C: Did Savers retire his number 89? No.
[00:44:24] Speaker A: No. Alex talks wearing it when they, when they acquired Tuck because he wore 89 in Vegas and, and in Minnesota, he said he was taking 89 and he was. He's like, I'm doing this as a tribute to Alex. And there's pretty good number of fans that were like, hey, man, what the heck?
What are you doing, dude? Like, that number should be that, that number should be in the rafters. But I, I don't imagine it's going to get retired, but I don't know. There's so few hall of Famers that have, that have been through here in Buffalo that it would be a worthy number retirement But I, I don't think it's gonna happen.
[00:45:02] Speaker C: Yeah, it's a shame. It seems like it would be, especially if you could somehow convince Alexander to come over, you know, with the induction ceremony and then somehow. I don't know what the schedules.
Obviously the schedule has not come out yet, but I mean, if it can time it where the Sabers are home that. A couple days later and have that retirement ceremony.
[00:45:23] Speaker A: Yeah, it's. I'm gonna be very curious to see what the schedule looks like, because I think it's coming out. Out in July, maybe mid July, because if they're home around that weekend and if he is coming over, I have to imagine he's. He's gonna come over for this. This is. This is the, you know, too big of a. Too big of a moment to, to be like, sorry, I can't make it. But I do wonder if the Sabers are gonna, Are gonna do something about that because they've wanted to recognize him for, for years that I, I don't, you know, not necessarily like a Jersey retirement, but, but some kind of recognition, you know, publicly, because, boy, the. I mean, you don't do these things to like, guarantee you get a sellout. But I would guarantee they would sell out whatever night they. That was if Alex was going to be here. Because, I mean, he's. He's adored and beloved by the fans.
[00:46:15] Speaker C: Yeah, we're talking on the day of the first round of the NHL draft, which will take place on Friday night. So we won't really get into. Into specifics as far as who's getting picked and all that stuff, but the Sabers made a trade the other day. Can you talk with Utah, I believe. What. Can you talk a little bit about that?
[00:46:33] Speaker A: Yeah. J.J. paterka was sent to Utah for Michael Kesselring and Josh Doane. Josh, the son of Shane Doane, the. He was the figurehead of the Coyotes organization for their entire time in Arizona. But Kesselring is. Kesselring is a guy who played at Northeastern right shot defense when he's 6-525-big shot. And I'm talking.
He had the. He had the record for hardest shot goal since they started measuring these things with the, with, you know, the NHL edge instruments with the puck tracking and all that stuff. He had the record for a day and it was broken by Tage Thompson like the next. The next day. So, so. So they were teammates at Worlds this year. They helped the United States win gold at Worlds for the first time time in more than 90 years, which is a Stunning. A stunning statistic when you think about it.
But they were, all three of them were teammates. Stone, Kesselring and Thompson were teammates there. So it's, it's kind of interesting, ironic, whatever, you know, what have you. But, but he's, but he. Because he's a righty shot and because Owen Power. They've been looking for a partner for Owen for.
Since he started playing in Buffalo.
I want to say this solves that issue because Castle Rings really improved himself over the years or the last couple years. And he's kind of had to force his way up because he spent a lot of time in Northeastern. He was drafted by the oilers back in 2018, played some time in the AHL Bakersfield and he was trade. You know, he's part, he was part of a deadline day trade with, with Arizona and it was Arizona where he finally got to crack through and play. And he's gotten better the last couple years, so it's great. But that's not the focus. The focus is trading Paterka who was tied for the, The Sabers tied on the. Tied for second on the Sabers and scoring 68 points. He was third on the team in goals with 27.
He's 23 years old and it's. This is. He's two years younger than both Eichel, Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhardt were when the Sabers traded them a few years ago.
And it's, it's, it's the kind of thing where the fans are just, they're instantly deflated by it because this is a guy they drafted. You know, he was a second round pick. It was, you know, not necessarily a diamond in the rough, but like when you get a great player in the second round, that's something that you usually want to, you know, wear as a badge and say, hey, we did it. You know, we did a good job here. This is our guy. And they did, they, they should. You know, Kevin Adams and the group should be very proud of that.
But at some point the, the attitude changed, the, the ceiling changed and I think JJ was, was, was growing up beyond what Buffalo can offer him.
Not necessarily team wise, I mean, like, you know, city wise, culture wise, all that stuff. And I, I think, you know, maybe his idea of, of being in Buffalo was like, this place is too small for me. I gotta get, I gotta get out of here and go somewhere else. Well, problem with being an RFA is that, well, the team owns your rights and they can trade you wherever they want to. And Utah was the place that, that Offer that had the guys that Buffalo wanted, they wanted Michael Kesselring very badly. So that helps make that deal, you know, Salt Lake City a bigger, better place than Buffalo. Well, I mean, you know, maybe. I guess if you're into skiing, I guess that's, that's the thing. If you're a Mormon, hey, cool. You know, like that's the place for you to be. But, but, but anyway, I mean, you know, JJ signed a contract extension with them the instant that trade was completed.
Five years, 38 and a half million, I think. 38. 38 plus million, 7.7 per year in the cap. So it's a, It's a tough blow for, for the fans because JJ was exciting, fun player, scores goals. That's always great.
But I think it was something where that relationship just kind of grew apart. And when. And you know, the biggest thing that Kevin Adams has always said he wants guys that want to be here. I think, you know, JJ made it. Made it clear that he would. He didn't want to be here anymore. And, you know, when you say those magic words, well, then it's time to go. Yeah, I, I think the biggest hang up, though, for the fans is that he didn't get that Adams didn't get more. For a guy with a perceived value that was as high as what JJ's was, because you see a defenseman and a, you know, a guy who's probably a 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 4th line forward, you know, second pair defenseman, 3rd, third, 4th line forward. You're like, that ain't enough for a guy that was, you know, second on the team in scoring. You got to get more than that. You got to get a pick, you got to get another player, you got to get something else. But this could be a trade where you give it a little more time the way that Castle Ring will work out with power, and then, you know, whatever dawn adds, you might look at it and go like, you know what? Maybe this is better for the team because things gel better, I think. You know, you know, power becomes darling too, because he has Kesselring next to him. Then that's a huge win.
But time is gonna have to take care of that. This. This is kind of like the Savoy McLeod trade last year, but, like, a lot bigger because Savoy was all hope and what you think he might be, whereas Paterka is what, you know, what he is.
[00:51:55] Speaker C: Yeah.
Some NHL news. Looks like we're gonna have a labor agreement coming out soon.
Two new, two more regular season games who have an 84 game schedule less preseason games. I don't see any talk about fixing the playoff format because I wish they go back to the conference setup instead of what they have right now.
I mean, how important is this for the NHL to get this done and have some labor piece? Because this we've known for years. We saw a season get canceled in 2004, 2005 because of a lockout, but to see them cooperating and see it seems like everything's being agreed upon, especially with the long term injury, we're actually gonna have a salary cap in the playoffs starting in 26, 27. So I mean, how big is this to get this done before there's any kind of labor strife?
[00:52:44] Speaker A: We're, we're of the generation where we're scarred by labor problems, aren't we? Are we, Ken?
You know, the night, you know, 94, 95, just coming off of the Rangers winning the cup and then immediately there was a lockout that killed half of the next season. And you're like, cool way to seize the momentum, guys. Good work. And then, you know, 10 years later, they wipe out an entire season because the owners want to cost certainty.
And then even 2012, 13 or 2013, where, you know, the LA Kings win their first Stanley cup and it's started having like flashbacks to the Rangers winning for the first time in 54 years. And you're like, these guys, can you see ever figured out here, like, like, what are you doing? But to have peace for as long as they've had now is incredible.
It's amazing. And I think, I think this is one where everybody realized like, hey, we're, we're doing really well.
Compare, you know, compared to how they have in the past, financially speaking, because you compare it to the NBA, NFL, mlb, like it's going to be like, well, these guys are still, still, you're not on that level. But, but for what they, what they're working towards and what they're working at, this is, this is incredible to see everybody playing nice and, and working things out and not turning everything into a major, you know, argument point to, to get a deal done. Like, this is, this is pretty, this is pretty amazing.
[00:54:10] Speaker D: Yeah, it is.
[00:54:10] Speaker A: So, you know, like, and when you get to a point with these, with these talks where it's just, you're making tweaks as opposed to, to radically changing systems, it's such a relief because tweaks can be negotiated easily. Major changes cannot.
So like even the changes with the, with the contracts, you know, we're, it's not going to be eight years max anymore. I think it's going to be seven, seven to resign with your team. Six elsewhere. I think that's, I don't, I don't know if that was officially changed, but I think that that was something that was meant to be changed. But, but that's, you know, like things like that where it's just kind of like, okay, yeah, no, that's, that, that works for us. That's fine.
It's incredible. So, you know, I'm glad, I'm glad to see we have peace in our time with this stuff because, you know, last time around 2012, I, I remember, you know, was working for NBC at the time and was able to twist NBC's arm into covering a lot more Albany doubles and Adirondack Phantoms games because I was like, well, there's, there's NHL guys there. Yeah, just, we don't have any NHL games to cover and they're like, you know what? Good point. Go up, go up and cover those guys.
[00:55:16] Speaker C: Yeah, of course we've, we met a long time ago when you were following the RPI Engineers men's hockey team.
I had Matt Murley on earlier this podcast. He's getting inducted into the New York City Hockey hall of Fame in a couple of weeks.
What do you think about that with Matt getting inducted?
[00:55:36] Speaker A: It's awesome to see. It's, he's a guy that, you know, anybody who, anybody who grew up in the Capital District, I think, I think everybody knew about, knew about Merle's because, you know, he was, he was such a, you know, really good player. Coming up, you know, playing, playing around Albany, playing in Troy, you know, he grew up in Troy and then, you know, he winds up at RPI and he was a great player at RPI and you know, went on to play in the NHL and had a really solid career. Obviously his post career career now with, with Barstool is, is its own thing. But, but it's, but, but as a player though, I mean he was, he was awesome. I mean we, we don't get a lot of like NHL level players coming out of the area and he was one of them. And you know, the fact that he stayed home to play college hockey, the fact that he was able to get into RPI and to play hockey there speaks a lot about like, you know, you know, how good he was at that and the way he was able to, to, to play so well there. It was awesome to see. So this is, this is a well earned, well earned honor for him and it's very Cool to see. It also ages me pretty hard because I'm pretty sure he and I are like the same age. So when guys your age are going into hall halls of fame, it's like, oh boy. Okay, we're getting old now, man.
[00:56:57] Speaker C: Yeah. Well, let me get your thoughts about the RPI hockey program.
[00:57:01] Speaker B: Me?
[00:57:02] Speaker C: When you were growing up watching them, they were, yeah. You won a national championship when you were a kid in 1985. I mean, they came close to getting to the NCAA tournament a few times, I think. You know, they got there on the fridge in 95.
Got there at appert one year when he was a head coach.
It seems like the program has really slipped over the last few years. I mean, we, you know, you know, Seth Apert couldn't get it turned around. Dave Smith was hired. He couldn't get it turned around. Now Eric Lang's in charge coming out of first from, from American International.
What do you think the program needs to get back to where it was when you were watching him as a fan.
[00:57:44] Speaker A: Why, that's, do we have another like five hours to talk about this?
No, I, I, I think, I think this is a good start with hiring, with hiring lion because I mean he's a guy who, who when he took over at AIC and that was a program that, you know, that they're one of the, you know, one of the, the late risers out of D3 and the D1 hockey back in the, you know, late 90s and the entire time they were in D1, they're bad like that. Like Atlantic Hawking is pretty rough and AIC was at the bottom of that and like they never were able to really get out of the basement in that divi. In that conference. And that's, that's not good.
That's really not good. And the moment Lang got in there, AIC was like top of the charts. You know, they, you know, they got to the tournament. They were, you know, they were quickly, you know, he was able to get them quickly turned around to a point where it was like, oh, these guys are going to be at the top of, of Atlantic now for, for a while. That's, it's pretty, that's pretty amazing. That's a pretty stunning turnaround. And the work that he did there to get that program, you know, 180 around is, is impressive. And the hope now, I mean he was, he was one of the, you know, the, the young, younger high, you know, high rising guys, you know, coaches in the industry where, you know, you got big schools keeping an eye on them saying like, Jesus, we got to make a move. This is a guy we might have to go for.
And the fact that RPI got in there and, and got him in there is, is a huge step in the right direction because, you know, things stalled out pretty hard under Dave Smith. And you know, when that process was going on, when, you know, when they fired Seth and they were looking around, you know, the list of coaches that they were looking at, I was, Dave was the one I was most surprised was, was, was on their short list.
And that's, you know, that's, you know, that has nothing to do with Dave himself. It was just, it was just kind of like, you know, RPI has, they have like an opinion of where they believe they're meant to be in the college hockey, you know, you know, picture. And when you're looking at guys who are, who are coaching at Canisius, and again, this is not a slide to Kenesius, but like, there are standards, like ECAC believes they're better than Atlantic. You know, ECAC believes they're part of, you know, they're, they're in that realm with, you know, with Hockey east and, and you know, all the big boys. And when you're looking at those lower ranks, you want to pick out somebody who might be a younger high, you know, guy who's on the way up.
And Dave Smith wasn't exactly that and he was coming off a season where Charles Williams was, was in all world goalie for them.
And like, that's cool, but like, you know, when you're hiring a coach based on a guy who had a, had a goalie that had a, you know, a great career there, like, that's, it's kind of, it's kind of tough. It's, it's a little short sighted. But this is looking at it program wise, bringing in Lang like, this is, this is a longer look down the road kind of thing. And granted, the picture in college sports now is way different. It is, it is so different now than the way it used to be where if you get a coach and you got guys that, that want to play for the coach, you got those guys for four years, well, might have a guy for one year and you, you better have a guy who's, who's really got an ear to the ground and who's really out there, you know, working every connection that they've got and has eyes on everything. Because now if you're able to get guys out of Canadian junior hockey now to come play for you, the Pool is even bigger. So I think Lang's a guy who, who has a better feel for what this new college world is. Is going to be and what it's going to be like. So that's. It's huge for rpi. It's a. I mean, it's such a weird time in college sports, period. But.
But this is a, this is a change that's in the right direction. It's really tough competition, though. You know, I mean, the top end of ECAC hasn't really changed. You know, there's a team or two that'll swap out here and there, but, you know, the heavy hitters are always the heavy hitters and those are the teams you got to try to take out or run for with at least. So that's hard. But.
But the, the conference quality on the whole has taken such a hard hit the last, you know, five, five years or so, five, six, seven years, that being able to kind of grow the program up and getting into a better place.
I'm saying this should be easier, but it's also really difficult to do because the, the quality of play in Hockey east and Big Ten and NCHC is so.
It is so high now that it's really hard to keep up with, with. With the likes of them. But knowing, knowing where you stand, knowing where you're at and getting the best players that you can to be at that level can really turn things around.
[01:02:50] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, I also. You got to factor in the. The COVID pandemic shut down the 2020, 21 season.
The RP was a team in 2020. It looked like it was going to win the ECS Yockey tournament ahead that. That not gotten shut down because of COVID And then I think the major mistake that was made BY the administration, Dr. Shirley Jackson, who was the president of RPI at the time, not allowing fans from outside the campus to go to sporting events. And I think that really has set the program back. You saw a lot of players transfer. Transfer out of after that season. And it just, I think that really did. It did a lot of damage because union also sat out that 2021 season. But they came back and they allowed a limited number of fans, but they allowed fans from outside the campus come. And now NHL scouts couldn't come to games at rpi. I was surprised and I told Matt this. I surprised the media was allowed to cover games.
[01:03:45] Speaker A: Yeah, there's a lot to be said of Shirley Jackson's time at rpi and I'm sure there's a lot of Folks that would love to have a lot more things to say about it, but would rather not. But it, that time was made a lot more difficult for a lot of people and not just the COVID years either. Like that the entire time there was, was really difficult for a lot of folks. And it's really hard to recruit and get guys to come to rpi, period, because, you know, the academic standards are sky high, just like they are at the Ivies and the whole thing, which, you know, whatever, fine.
But to have, to have that and to have, you know, a, you know, a president who's getting a little bit too involved in what's going on and thinking things have to be one way and it's like, that's not how it works for this. This has got to be different. And saying, well, too bad my way or the highway. Yeah, it just makes everything that much harder. That's why, you know, when Seth was able to recruit Jerry Amigo and Brandon Perry and, and Alan York to play at rpi, it was a mind blowing victory for him because like that, that level of talent coming to RPI hadn't happened in ages. And that, that was, that was something I was like, wow, okay, well, this is, this is pretty wild. And you know, those guys were only there for a year.
But you know, there's different reasons why that changed too. Like there, you know, that's a multi, that's a multifaceted conversation. But, but that was, you know, think things changed at some point. Well, I don't know if they changed, but I think that was just, you know, you're able to kind of boss your way into things and saying like, listen, these are the guys we're bringing in. So we're doing it like this is, this is just how it has to be. And you know, it's that, that time. And for rpi, hockey is just so strange and you had so much changeover with, you know, with ads and presidents and the whole thing and makes it hard, makes it hard to run any of the sports, period.
[01:05:51] Speaker C: Yeah. Well, Joe, I appreciate your insight as always and have a good off season and hopefully run into, maybe come out to the new new barn at Union for the, for a game.
[01:06:02] Speaker A: You know what? I, it's, it's. I'm very eager to see what that looks like because I got so used to, I got so used to the dome and getting thrown off every time I walk through the front door going, wait a minute, where am I? Am I, I? Am I standing where I'm supposed to be? Because that Entrance. Always. I've been there a hundred times and every time I walked in there, I'm like, oh, I'm not where I should be. They're like, no, no, going that way. Okay, all right, fine, fine. But, but yeah, no, very, very interested in seeing it. I. Maybe. Maybe I'll get a. Get a break. Maybe the Olympic break in February because I don't think I'm going to Milan. So, so maybe. So maybe. Maybe then I can get. Get, get back. Get back home and, and be able to see some games. I don't know if. I don't know if the schedule will be friendly then, but we'll see.
[01:06:48] Speaker C: Well, I'm. I'm happy that the press box will be on the side after 29 years of evidence on press box.
[01:06:56] Speaker A: Well, it's. It's good to see that another ECAC school will have a normal press box. Let Harvard be one of the few that has the, the end zone ones.
[01:07:04] Speaker C: You know, And Princeton. Don't forget Princeton. Of course.
[01:07:05] Speaker A: Princeton. Oh, my God. Yeah, Princeton. She's.
[01:07:08] Speaker C: Well that.
[01:07:09] Speaker A: You need a winter coat to cover a game there too.
[01:07:12] Speaker C: 1. One year I was so. It was so cold in there, I was running down to go to the Union Lock Room for postcare injuries. My toe. I couldn't feel my toes. I thought, they're going to break.
[01:07:21] Speaker D: Oh, man.
[01:07:22] Speaker A: See? Yeah. Hobie Baker Rink, it's awesome. But boy, oh boy, even in summer, I imagine it's 30 degrees inside there.
[01:07:29] Speaker C: I'm. I'm convinced they keep that place cold because Hobie Baker's buried at center. I just want to keep the body cold.
[01:07:37] Speaker A: If they've got. If they've got a lying and stayed in that range, then you know what? Good on them because that's, that's the world's best secret.
[01:07:45] Speaker C: Joy. Appreciate as usual and then we'll talk soon.
[01:07:48] Speaker A: Yeah, you got it, Kenny.
[01:07:49] Speaker C: Thanks so much, Joe. Y. I'll be back to wrap up the podcast and have the latest winner and Daily Good that's auto racing contest in just a moment.
[01:08:10] Speaker A: Hi, I'm Stan.
[01:08:11] Speaker D: And I'm Shen.
[01:08:12] Speaker A: And each week we bring you the Stan and Shen Show.
And each week we talk about fun things through our travels throughout the capital region. We touch on food, we touch on news, try to touch heavily on good news. And Shen's always available with hot takes.
[01:08:29] Speaker D: Yeah. So if you could follow along and listen to us every week on DailyGazette.com or on all major streaming platforms, we'd.
[01:08:37] Speaker A: Love to have you join us. Hi, this is Matt Dubre, the play by play voice of Union College hockey. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast with Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Shot.
[01:08:50] Speaker B: Back to wrap up the podcast. The Week 18 winner in the Deli Gazette's auto racing contest was Linda Rockwell of Schenectady with 55 points.
Linda wins a $50 gift card. Congratulations, Linda. The VIP winner was Nick Platel Grand Premier tires with 25 points. Taking a look at the standings, Scott Lucher of CapitaLand GMC leads with 325 points. Jerry Peel of Frankenstein's is next at 295. Nick Platel has 230 points. Dwayne Leach of All Season Equipment has 210, I have 180 and and Matt Margiotta of SG Roofing has 80 points.
I'll announce the auto racing contest winner's name and that winner's name will appear in Saturday's Daily Gazette. To play, go to dailygazette.com and click on the Auto Racing Contest banner.
Just because COVID 19 mandates are easing, that does not mean you should relax. Be vigilant. If you have not gotten vaccinated or received a booster shot, please do so. Do it for yourself, do it for your family and do it for your friends. And once again, vaccines do not cause autism, despite what RFK Jr says.
Don't forget to download the Daily Gazette app and sign up for our E Edition so you never miss a headline. Subscribe today at www.dailygazette.com. we have a lot of great specials going on. When credibility matters, Trust the Daily Gazette on the latest edition of the Stan and Shen Show. Stan Houdy and Shen Adore Briere celebrate Shen's recent promotion to business editor of the Daily Gazette family of newspapers. Congratulations, Shen. The pair talked about summer camps, including Shen's three summer stint at golf camp. That's going to be interesting.
The duo then weighed in with a tasting of the new Selena Gomez Oreos. Yeah, I had wasn't too bad. Subscribe to the San and Shen show on all your podcast listening platforms.
That wraps up another edition of the Parting Shots podcast. I want to thank Matt Murley and Joe Yurden for coming on the show next week. Mike McAdam joins me for his at the Track with Max segment as he gets you ready for the July 4th Racing Festival starting Thursday at Saratoga Race Course.
And I'm scheduled to talk with former RPI men's hockey coach Dave Smith. He's landed a new job. Smith is the general manager and head coach of the ECHL's Rapid City Rush we'll talk to him about that and what happened with rpi. Please tune in.
If you have questions or comments about the podcast, email them to me at shot. That's s c h o t
[email protected] follow me on X Threads and Blue sky at Slap Shots.
The views expressed on the Parting Shots podcast are not necessarily those of the Daily Gazette Company. The Parting Shots podcast is a production of the Daily Gazette Company. I'm Daily Gazette Sports Editor Ken Schott. Thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time from the Parting Shots Podcast studio in Schenectady, New York. Good day, good hockey.
[01:12:00] Speaker A: Sam.
