0:00

who invited climate action to the party? We

0:03

did. Hey, I'm Shannon Burns. And I'm

0:05

Sarah Christie. Together, we host the Earth

0:07

Day Party Podcast, where the guest list

0:09

is full of climate experts sharing their

0:11

advice on how we can protect our

0:13

planet. Everything from avoiding microplastics to sustainable

0:15

fashion to getting a prescription to spend

0:17

time in nature. Plus, we hear from

0:19

David Suzuki. This is a

0:22

party where everyone is invited. The Earth

0:24

Day Party Podcast on the iHeart Radio

0:26

app or wherever you listen to your

0:28

favorite podcasts. the

0:32

last time where there was

0:34

the Battle of Ontario, but

0:36

also there is breaking news

0:39

going on right now, but

0:41

the PWHL that they are

0:43

expanding to Vancouver and we're joined now

0:45

by the head coach of the Minnesota Frost

0:47

of the PWHL, it's Ken Klee. Ken, thanks for

0:49

being on the show. You

0:51

bet, thanks for having me. Yeah, that's

0:53

exciting news for your league and it

0:56

made sense that eventually Vancouver was going

0:58

to jump on board. Yeah,

1:00

I know it's really exciting. I mean, it's you

1:02

know, it's a new league and everything but it's

1:04

still it's great that we're you know showcasing How

1:06

good the talent is and how good the players

1:08

are and you know, it's just really exciting for

1:10

us to be a part of Before

1:13

we get to any stories you can

1:15

tell about Ed Belfort or Yammer Jagger

1:17

during your days in Washington By the

1:19

way, I already heard you laugh because

1:21

you will have stories about Ed Belfort.

1:23

I I'm sure one of the big

1:25

Is that a sick name was Beagle? No,

1:28

he's like everyone just called him Eagle then some

1:30

guys are called the Beagle so I always that

1:32

always makes me chuckle I like that. He's

1:34

great. Yeah. No, that's that's a little

1:37

at least a little bit more Creative no,

1:39

but just about like women's hockey. Has

1:41

there ever been a boring? Women's

1:43

hockey game when it's between Canada and

1:45

the United States every game is like

1:47

one goal and most of them going

1:49

to overtime Yeah, no, it was crazy. mean when

1:51

I was the US national team coach We had the

1:53

same thing like it was my goal was to try

1:55

to figure out how to not have those games but

1:58

I think out of our I guess I had

2:00

five gold medal games with them and and

2:02

we went I think one time we got

2:04

like a two or three goal lead the

2:06

rest of them were all you know over

2:08

times or one goal games are all tight

2:10

so it makes a lot of fun it's

2:12

a fun fun thing to be a part

2:14

of for players for coaches for everybody so

2:16

it's really exciting what does it feel like

2:18

too big and moving over to the NHL.

2:20

What does it feel like to be desperate

2:22

in the playoffs? Because you guys were up

2:24

3 -2 in game 6 and 0 -4, but

2:26

Ottawa won that, but in double overtime. And

2:29

then in game 7, you know, obviously

2:31

there's desperation there. But what does desperation

2:33

feel like in the playoffs? Well,

2:36

it's just a different level. I think

2:38

all guys handle pressure a little differently.

2:40

And obviously there are guys who rise

2:42

and become stars for their teams, for

2:45

their towns. I even remember when

2:47

I was young, a guy like John Drews

2:49

became a hero in Washington because he came

2:51

from, you know, an okay regular season to

2:53

kind of lighten it up in the playoffs

2:55

to help the Caps. I think they even,

2:57

just to get maybe to the second or

2:59

third round of the playoffs, and he really

3:01

became a big player for them. So, you

3:03

know, it's just, it's exciting. I think playoffs

3:05

are a different level. The

3:08

compete where you see the same guys night in and

3:10

night out. You know, it just

3:12

it's a different it's a different world and

3:14

it's it's obviously a lot of fun to

3:16

be a part of and it's obviously fun

3:18

to watch so You know now it's just

3:20

great seeing it. What do you remember? And

3:22

if you don't you make all right shut

3:24

up cause but what do you remember the

3:26

most from the morning of April 20th 2004

3:28

but before game seven of that 04 series

3:31

Yeah, I think it was you know for

3:33

us it was just about belief And in

3:35

our group and kind of knowing that, you

3:37

know, it was my first year in Toronto,

3:39

but, but Toronto had kind of notoriously always

3:41

had the, the little mental advantage over Otto

3:43

at the time. Like they, I think they

3:45

had played multiple times in the playoffs. And,

3:47

you know, even before the series, a couple

3:49

of our guys were like, Oh my God,

3:52

we're playing them again. And I, you know,

3:54

I said to them like, Hey, listen guys,

3:56

I've been on the flip side of that

3:58

where when I was in Washington, we always

4:00

seemed to end up playing Pittsburgh and we,

4:02

and we couldn't get by them. So, you

4:04

know, I just think that mental edge of

4:06

knowing that, okay, you know, our

4:08

team has a, has a, just the slightest

4:10

edge because we did it last year and

4:12

the year before, and the year before that,

4:14

like just those little, even though it's a

4:16

different team, just that little bit of memory,

4:18

I think, um, it definitely, you know, sticks

4:20

with you as well as, you know, when

4:23

you looked around our locker room, you saw,

4:25

you know, Joe Newendike and Gary Roberts and,

4:27

you know, Owen Nolan, Darcy Tucker, Brian McCabe.

4:29

We just had Matt Sundin, obviously, like we

4:31

just had a lot of guys who were.

4:33

pros and they were you know top -notch players

4:35

top -notch people and you know to have

4:37

you know as many of those as you

4:39

can on your group is definitely helpful. Yeah

4:41

and what about then on the goalie

4:43

side of things I start off the show

4:45

we're joined by Ken Klee that the

4:48

best player of the night last night with

4:50

Anthony Stolars the moment goes to obviously

4:52

Max Domi for scoring the overtime winner how

4:54

much of a mental edge does that

4:56

have for players when they know the goalie

4:58

behind them is playing as well as

5:00

Stolars is. Yeah, I mean,

5:02

it's huge. I mean, you definitely need good goal

5:04

tending to go far and you're not always going

5:06

to be at your best. I mean, I watched

5:08

some of the game last night and, you know,

5:10

Ottawa had good, uh, had good zone time. They

5:13

were obviously out shooting the Leafs by quite a

5:15

bit and, uh, you know, the Leafs needed Solars

5:17

to be good. So, um, you know, he was,

5:19

which is, you know, credit to him. And, you

5:21

know, again, that's a chance for him to, to

5:23

make his name, to really say, Hey, I'm a,

5:25

I'm a legitimate number one goalie in this league

5:27

top 10 type player. You know, you look at

5:29

goalies throughout. time you know where they

5:31

have done well whether it's a Jordan Bennington or

5:33

you know Eddie Belfort winning a cup you know

5:35

in Dallas or you know I mean you just

5:38

have different moments in guys career obviously we had

5:40

only closing in Washington that took us all the

5:42

way the finals when I was there and so

5:44

you know it's just it's huge when you have

5:46

that goalie where you know even if you don't

5:48

have your best because the playoffs is a grind

5:50

you're gonna get dinged up and some days you're

5:52

gonna you're gonna be at 60 70 % some

5:54

of your guys and and you're gonna need your

5:57

goalie to bail me out so obviously last night

5:59

he was huge for them. Speaking of just how

6:01

it is you mentioned it is a grind. What

6:03

how did Ken Clee feel after

6:05

that seven game series? I asked you

6:07

what what your memories were the

6:09

morning of? What were your memories the

6:11

morning of after that game seven

6:13

against the Senators? Well,

6:15

I remember being excited but also like okay,

6:17

this is the first round like we had

6:19

a team And I think we were built

6:21

to go all the way. We had enough

6:23

veterans. We had enough everything. But I think

6:25

just to see the reaction from like the

6:27

fans and stuff, like I remember turning, coming

6:30

out of, it was Air Canada Center back

6:32

then and making a right instead of getting

6:34

on the gardener because we saw lots of

6:36

people out. And then next year you knew

6:38

they were, you know, fans all around our

6:40

truck. And it was like, almost like we

6:42

had, you know, won the cup already. How

6:44

excited fans were. So I think I really

6:46

remember that part. You know, I remember as

6:48

our group, we were like, Hey, We did

6:50

what we were supposed to do. We were

6:52

a veteran team. We would have been a

6:54

huge disappointment if we had. So I

6:56

think we were kind of where we expected

6:58

to be, but I think to get outside

7:00

and see the fan base, which is original

7:02

six. And people ask me, how is it

7:04

to play for different teams? And obviously, the

7:06

couple of years I got to play for

7:08

Toronto, playing for an original six team, it's

7:11

just phenomenal. They're fan base to support the

7:13

excitement, everything about it. I

7:15

want to ask you about Ed Belfort,

7:17

which I think is the most menacing

7:19

goalie the Maple Leafs have had since

7:21

Anthony Stolars. We saw him and Ridley

7:23

Greg mixing it up. And I'm wondering,

7:25

what was Ed Belfort like on a

7:27

game day, especially on a playoff game

7:29

day? We always hear in pitchers and

7:31

baseball, you don't talk to a pitcher

7:33

when it's their day to start and

7:35

you kind of give them a lot

7:37

of room. What was it like with

7:39

Belfort? I would

7:41

say very much the same. We definitely

7:43

gave Eddie his space. He was,

7:45

you know, he would get very mentally focused

7:47

and dialed in and nobody wanted to disturb

7:49

that, obviously, because like we said, if your goal

7:51

is better than their goal, your chances of

7:53

winning are definitely up. So, you know, I

7:56

think he was always a great teammate, but

7:58

on game days like that, you just remember him

8:00

getting ultra dialed in and, you know, didn't

8:02

matter. He, you know, he could juggle fireballs

8:04

or he could do whatever he wanted to do.

8:06

I don't think any of our guys would

8:08

have thought twice about it and just said,

8:10

okay, he's ready to go. So. You

8:12

know, it's just exciting to have, you know,

8:14

a competitor like that, and he knew that

8:16

there's pressure on him, obviously, to play well,

8:18

but he obviously, he relished that pressure and

8:20

loved it. Obviously, you know,

8:22

you never played with Alexander Ovechkin,

8:25

but all your time in Washington,

8:27

you certainly played with other stars

8:29

like Yammer Jagger. Washington

8:31

has taken on Montreal tonight.

8:33

As someone who's been in the game and

8:35

coached the game and been around it

8:37

as long as you have, are you amazed

8:39

that someone of Alexander Ovechkin's age is

8:42

still often the best player on the ice.

8:44

Yeah, I know. I think it's phenomenal. I mean, it's

8:46

unbelievable. I got to, uh, I started doing

8:49

some caps alumni the last couple of years and I

8:51

got to go to the 50th anniversary. The

8:53

caps did a great job putting on a

8:55

big, um, uh, a big party basically for all

8:57

the alumni from the different eras to come

8:59

back. And I think we had like, I want

9:01

to say like 70 or 80 players come

9:03

back in, uh, in the fall. And, and obviously

9:05

I, I had talked to Obi the year

9:07

before when I was there. You know, he's just

9:09

a hockey guy. He just loves hockey. He

9:12

loves being around the rink. He loves, you know,

9:14

telling stories. He's very, uh, uh, humble and

9:16

very, you know, just a good guy. So I

9:18

think that's why when you have guys like

9:20

that who, you know, he'll, he'll help the, you

9:22

know, Ryan Leonard's and the younger generation who

9:24

are just playing their first games in the NHL,

9:26

like, cause he loves hockey. He loves being

9:28

around it. He loves talking hockey. He, you know,

9:30

it's just exciting. And, and obviously he's had

9:32

a phenomenal career. If you'd asked me five years

9:34

ago, would he break the record? I would

9:37

say absolutely not. But. You know, it's remarkable that

9:39

he's been able to just year after year

9:41

keep putting up goals and it's phenomenal watch. It's

9:43

also great as a fan to see him

9:45

do it. Yeah, no, it is remarkable, just

9:47

the level of success both

9:49

individually and team -wise with

9:51

Washington. Hey, Kent, really appreciate. I'm

9:53

sure you get a lot of requests with

9:55

Leafs taken on Ottawa, and you were a

9:57

part of that back in the day, back

9:59

in 04. So, appreciate the time and all

10:02

the best with the Minnesota Frost and the

10:04

PWHL, and now another team coming in the

10:06

fold in Vancouver. So, I you taking the

10:08

time. Excellent. Thank you

10:10

very much, having me. Absolutely. is Ken

10:12

Clee, and yeah, the the majority

10:14

of his career obviously with the Capitals,

10:16

but remember his time with the

10:18

Toronto Maple Leafs. Hey, who invited climate

10:20

action to the party? We did.

10:22

Hey, I'm Shannon Burns. And I'm Sarah

10:24

Christie. Together we host the Earth

10:26

Day Party Podcast, where the guest list

10:28

is full of climate experts sharing

10:30

their advice on how we can protect

10:32

our planet. Everything from avoiding microplastics

10:34

to sustainable fashion to getting a prescription

10:36

to spend time in nature. Plus,

10:38

we hear from David Suzuki. This

10:41

is a party where everyone is invited.

10:43

The Earth Day Party Podcast on the

10:45

iHeart radio app or wherever you listen

10:47

to your favorite podcasts.