The Game They Played

The Game They Played

By Bernie CorbettSociety & CultureDocumentarySportsHockey
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The Game They Played episodes

  • Tony Granato: The Basement, Team USA, and Five Bonus Years

    Tony Granato is the oldest of the Granato kids from Downers Grove, Illinois, where the firemen flooded the ball field across the street and the basement games ran Tony and Cammi against Donnie and Robbie, with one rule for Cammi: don't tell mom. Bernie Corbett takes him from a kid in second or third grade wondering why nobody on the Blackhawks was American, through Northwood Prep on the 1980 Olympic ice, Wisconsin, Calgary in 1988, and a letter from the Rangers he assumed every player in the world got.

    Tony talks about the trade to Los Angeles that nobody could reach him for, the hotel roommate registered under a fake name who turned out to be Wayne Gretzky, the 1993 run to the Final, the brain surgery in 1996 and the five bonus years in San Jose that followed, the 1997 Masterton Trophy, a 20 dollar bet with Gretzky on an All-Star opening faceoff, why coaching is about relationships and not egos, going back to class at 52 to finish his degree, Cole Caufield, and how he wants the game to remember him.

    Chapters

    0:00 Welcome to The Game They Played

    1:05 Introducing Tony Granato
    2:39 Downers Grove and the flooded ball field
    4:59 A Blackhawks family
    6:36 Basement games with Cammi
    8:29 Don't tell mom
    10:06 Why no Americans?
    12:27 Juniors, naps and Northwood Prep
    16:19 Skating on the 1980 Olympic ice
    17:32 Wisconsin and Badger Bob
    19:43 Hockey schools for vacations
    21:18 Calgary 1988 and the Soviet dream team
    24:32 The letter from the Rangers
    27:29 Ready for the NHL at 23
    29:10 Rookie year and Phil Esposito
    30:59 1993 with the Kings
    35:11 The stick measurement
    37:37 Traded at the All-Star break
    40:58 Rooming with Gretzky
    44:10 What Wayne and Sidney model
    46:43 The penalty minutes
    49:41 The 1996 injury and the comeback
    56:20 Five bonus years in San Jose
    57:48 The $20 faceoff with Gretzky
    58:58 Coaching: relationships over egos
    1:02:35 Back to class at Wisconsin
    1:06:18 Cole Caufield
    1:09:32 College hockey's new landscape
    1:12:39 2026 for American hockey
    1:16:00 Health, and two years in remission
    1:17:53 How he wants to be remembered
    1:19:18 A Pearl Jam rain check

    Produced by Andy Bernstein. Show open by Stevie Potter. Hannah Connors on site.

    New episodes weekly, in video and audio. thegametheyplayed.com

    1 hr 21 min
  • John Vanbiesbrouck: Beezer, the Vezina Trophy, and the Year of the Rat

    John Vanbiesbrouck won the Vezina Trophy with the New York Rangers and was in goal when the Florida Panthers reached the Stanley Cup Final. He played 882 NHL games over 20 seasons, with 374 wins and 40 shutouts. This is his full interview with host Bernie Corbett.

    John talks about growing up in Detroit with a bricklayer dad from Belgium, plaster masks with his brother Frank, and the forgotten jersey that got the other goalie drafted by mistake. Then come a farm team that folded in Tulsa, Herb Brooks poking him in the gut at 18, and a glass table that cut three tendons and a nerve. John calls his tandem with Mike Richter probably one of the best in Rangers history.

    In Florida's Year of the Rat, Scott Mellanby killed a rat in the dressing room, then scored twice. John called it a rat trick. He's now with USA Hockey, and most of the U.S. Olympic men's team came through its National Team Development Program. He and his wife have four sons and eight grandkids, who call him Pops.

    Chapters

    0:00 Welcome to The Game They Played

    0:49 Introducing John Vanbiesbrouck
    2:04 Detroit, immigrant parents, and Gordie Howe
    5:24 The Gordie Howe bridge
    6:03 The Olympia and the old barns
    7:02 Brother Frank, the masks, and Giacomin
    9:46 Goaltending, least coached to most coached
    10:44 Goalies and tough guys
    13:34 Little Caesars and the lost jersey
    15:58 A walk-on in Sault Ste. Marie
    17:58 Drafted by the Rangers, Tulsa folds
    21:53 Tennis balls in the parking lot
    23:07 Lou Vairo and the 1984 Olympic team
    24:42 Herb Brooks and the first call-up
    27:52 The 1986 Vezina and the run to the conference final
    30:32 The broken jaw and the glass table
    33:33 Mike Richter and the Rangers tandem
    36:07 Cleon walks in: both 1989 U.S. goalies
    37:45 Why New York loves its goalies
    38:51 Expansion: first pick of the Florida Panthers
    40:57 Bobby Clarke, Bill Torrey, and building from cast-offs
    44:24 1996, the Year of the Rat
    47:12 Beating Boston, Philly, and Pittsburgh
    48:13 Hockey in Florida now
    50:10 Third in Conn Smythe voting, the golden era
    52:43 Three sweaters at the end
    54:26 USA Hockey: the ADM and the NTDP
    57:37 The Olympics and the Four Nations
    1:00:03 No such thing as a non-traditional market
    1:01:52 Goalies in today's game
    1:03:10 Pops: four sons, eight grandkids
    1:04:25 Sign-off

    Hosted by Bernie Corbett. Executive producer: Andy Bernstein. Producer on site: Hannah Connors.

    thegametheyplayed.com

    1 hr 6 min
  • Larry Robinson: Big Bird, the Big Three, and Ten Stanley Cups

    The inaugural episode of The Game They Played. Bernie Corbett sits down with Hockey Hall of Famer Larry Robinson at the Legacy Club of Boston, across the street from TD Garden.

    Big Bird grew up milking cows on a dairy farm in Winchester, Ontario, went 20th overall in the 1971 draft behind Guy Lafleur, and became the backbone of the Canadiens dynasty: six Stanley Cups as a player, the 1978 Conn Smythe, a plus-730 career, and four more Cups as a coach and consultant in New Jersey and St. Louis. Ten in all.

    Larry talks about the hit that cracked the Forum boards, what made Ken Dryden and Guy Lafleur different, Scotty Bowman's magic number, the night he fought Dave Schultz, leaving Montreal for Los Angeles, the garbage can kick that turned the 2000 Final, the 2019 Blues, thirty years of polo, Lane Hutson, and how he wants to be remembered.

    Chapters

    0:00 Welcome to The Game They Played

    1:03 Introducing Larry Robinson
    4:36 The dairy farm in Winchester, Ontario
    6:46 Farm work as weight training
    10:27 Wanting to be a veterinarian
    14:19 Kitchener and the move to defense
    16:34 The 1971 draft and Al McNeil in Halifax
    18:54 A Blackhawks fan in a Canadiens sweater
    22:48 First NHL game and the Bob Nevin hit
    26:26 A Stanley Cup as a rookie
    28:33 The hit that cracked the Forum boards
    32:24 The dynasty and the Big Three
    34:28 Guy Lapointe and cherishing every day
    35:25 Ken Dryden
    38:15 Scotty Bowman's magic number
    40:27 Guy Lafleur
    42:14 Too Many Men, May 10, 1979
    42:55 Officiating and a game of mistakes
    46:24 The 1978 Conn Smythe and the Cheevers goal
    48:52 Leaving Montreal for Los Angeles
    52:20 The injury that ended his career
    54:03 Lou Lamoriello and coaching in New Jersey
    55:09 Winning the Cup as a head coach
    56:55 The garbage can kick
    59:24 2019 and the Blues' first Cup
    1:04:02 The 1986 Cup and Patrick Roy
    1:09:07 Remembering Claude Lemieux
    1:10:24 Polo, hockey on horseback
    1:15:00 The Adams Division and the Forum
    1:19:55 Fighting Dave Schultz
    1:25:15 Lane Hutson
    1:28:29 Family
    1:32:22 How he wants to be remembered

    Recorded at the Legacy Club of Boston. Produced by Andy Bernstein. Thanks to Cleon Daskalakis and the Legacy Club.

    New episodes weekly, in video and audio. thegametheyplayed.com

    1 hr 36 min

About The Game They Played

From the publisher's feed

Interviews with former NHL players, hosted by Bernie Corbett.