On this very special episode of The Chirp with Daren Millard, Daren comes at us minutes before then Vegas Golden Knights hit the ice for a crucial game 7. On episode #14 Daren dives into the mind of the Chief Content Officer for the NHL, the man behind the bubble, Steve Mayer. Steve in charge of logistics and everything you see when you watch an NHL bubble game. Steve discusses some of the state of the art things they are doing and what to expect in later rounds, why he opted for no virtual...

On episode # 13 of The Chirp With Daren Millard, we welcome former professional hockey player David Ling. David explains the type of player he was, playing until his early 40s, his last fight, being 5’6, the craziest thing he did on the ice, the KHL, the most skilled player he ever played with, the best part of playing in the NHL, chirping the top players and road hockey. We close with his skill set translating into today's game, his first game in the NHL, playing hockey around the globe,...

On episode #12 of The Chirp With Daren Millard, we welcome in friend of the show and certified beauty Nick Kyprios onto the program. Nick and Daren reminisce about their time on Hockey Central at Noon, how Little Buddha Cocktail Company came to be, handling contract negotiations, 'Undrafted, Hockey, Family and What It Takes To Be A Pro' , Nicks fathers’ influence on the game of hockey, his favourite linemate he ever played with, favourite coach and Mark Messier. We close with insulting...

Episode #40 Of the Chirp with Daren Millard highlights analytics. Daren sits down for a candid conversation with Meghan Chayka co-founder of Stathletes. Meghan discusses Stathletes as a whole, transitioning into sports, the progression of gender, and analytics in tech and gambling. We close with the eye test vs data, not watching hockey for entertainment, a day in the life of Meghan, watching junior hockey across the world, collecting data for a hockey game, epidemiology and skeptics.

On the 39th episode of the Chirp with Daren Millard welcomes former NHL player, Stanley Cup Champion, and co-worker Shane Hnidy. Shane and Daren discuss making mistakes, Brad McCrimmon, Ilya Kovalchuk vs Marian Hossa, superstitions, Shanes favourite defensive partner, and a ritual/routine as a broadcaster. We close with the pre-game warm-up, hair, playing for Pierre McGuire, player/coaches, radio vs television, first goal/last goal why he never got into coaching, and the pronunciation of his...

On the 38th episode of the Chirp With Daren Millard, Daren welcomes on Aaron Downey. Aaron is a professional hockey coach and former player, playing 13 seasons and 243 games in the NHL and rallied off 500 penalty minutes. This isn’t an enforcer conversation though. Daren and Aaron discuss Aaron not getting drafted, ‘energy guys’, Chris Chelios and Nicklas Lidström's work ethics, how important fitness is in achieving long term success, playing legendary Detroit Red Wings team and winning a...

On the 37th episode of the Chirp With Daren Millard, Daren welcomes on Canadian treasure, Chief Correspondent for CBC News and anchor of The National, Peter Mansbridge. Peter explains the influence the CFL and NHL had on him as a child, the last time he played an organized hockey game, hockey being a connection to family, and calling a sporting event. Peter continues with his favourite hockey interaction, his beard, who he would love to interview and Auston Matthews. We close with...

On episode #36 on the Chirp with Daren Millard, Daren welcomes Kaleb Dahlgren. Kalebs’ story involves a horrible tragedy that claimed 16 lives. Kaleb was on the Humbolt Broncos bus that was split in half by a tractor-trailer. Kaleb explains skating for the first time following the accident and the three chapters of Kaleb. Kaleb recalls the chilling details of what he remembers before and after the accident, his parents being on the scene, visiting the crash site, what he left there for his...

Welcome to episode #35 of The Chirp With Daren Millard. In today’s episode, we double dip with two current NHL coaches. Paul Maurice and Pete DeBoer have a relationship that runs much deeper than just being two fo the best NHL head coaches in the league. Pete and Paul reminince on their early relationship in hockey, the Windsor Spitfires hockey incubator, Jim Rutherford’s influence, and Paul explains coaching in the NHL at the ripe age of 27. Pete and Paul trade aspects of their coaching...

On episode #34 of The Chirp with Daren Millard we welcome back friend of the show and Chirp day oner, PJ Stock. PJ discuss being quarantined, TikTok, teachable moments, ‘The Last Dance’, comparing eras and 80s Oilers tell all documentary. PJ tells a hilarious story of his impromptu commute to a charity event with with Larry Holmes in PEI and Daren lobbies PJ to be in Larry’s corner for his comeback fight. We close with ‘Stock Talk’, the greatest boxer of all time debate, Ray Bourque and...

On episode #33 of The Chirp With Daren Millard, we stick with the theme of interviewing legendary coaches and welcome on the third-winningest coach in NHL history with a total of 849 victories and 1 Stanley Cup, Mr. Ken Hitchcock. Ken discusses how is he filling his days during the break, “the coaches café”, front line workers, how hockey is changing across all levels, Mike Babcock and coaching in the Olympics. Ken shares how a coach's shelf life has changed over the years, coaching the great...

On episode #32 of The Chirp With Daren Millard, we have the pleasure of speaking to one of our biggest guests to date. This man is the winningest head coach in NHL history, with 1,244 victories and an astounding .654 winning percentage. His nine Stanley Cup bench wins ranks first all-time. Chirp Nation I now present, Mr. Scotty Bowman. Scotty discusses getting his hockey fix, Nicklas Lidström, the legendary teams he coached, managing star players and advice he’d give to coaches today. Scotty...

Welcome back Chirp Nation. On episode #31 Daren brings on a man he’s been trying to book since day 1, friend of the show and Canadian broadcast/production legend John Shannon. John and Daren the pandemic, household pecking orders, possible routes the NHL could take to complete the season and which teams will benefit the most from the break. John explains starting in the broadcasting industry at a young age, the most important moments of his career, making the transition from production to...

Welcome back Chirp Nation to the Chirp with Daren Millard. Daren has made his triumphant return to the podcast airwaves and is ready to bring you the best content during this odd time we are currently living in. On today’s episode Daren welcomes long time friend, legendary GM/broadcaster Doug MacLean. The boys discuss Dougs tennis game, quarantining with family, COVID-19, politics and the chances of the NHL making a return this season. Doug recalls being asked by the Conservative party of...

On the 29th episode of The Chirp With Daren Millard we welcome one of the most influential people in hockey, your success in your fantasy hockey pools this year may very well depend on Matt Nichol. However, Matt will not score a goal or get a second of ice time. Matt is a strength and conditioning coach who worked for the Toronto Maple Leafs and is the co-founder of BioSteel Sports. Boatloads of sports teams and athletes are knocking on Matts door to help them take the next step in their...

On the 28th episode of The Chirp With Daren Millard, we welcome NHL vet and broadcaster for the NHL Network Mike Johnson. Mike didn’t take the conventional road to the NHL. As you will learn in this conversation. Mike almost gave up hockey at one point. Mike and Daren get into playing A’ and AA’ in high school, playing Tier 2, a career-changing post-All-Star game hat trick, a magical senior year and the NCAA. Mike dishes on the first time he spoke to an NHL scout, sliding door moments, being...

Welcome to the 27th episode of the Chirp with Daren Millard. On today’s episode, we have one of the biggest crossover episodes to date here in the DeanBlundell.com universe. Shows are colliding people. Today’s guest is none other than Unfiltered’s very own Matthew Barnaby. Name a bigger crossover episode, I’ll wait. Today Bam Bam and Daren dive deep into NHL Free Agency. Specifically, Artemi Panarin, living in New York City, playing in the Big Apple and Barns dishes on a few stories during...

Welcome to the 26th episode of The Chirp with Daren Millard. Today we have an outstanding interview for your listening pleasure. Somehow, Daren got to sit down with New Jersey Devils President, Hugh Weber. New Jersey was front and centre at the NHL Draft this year drafting Jack Hughes and trading for P.K Subban. A trade that quite literally went down behind the scenes during the interview. Hugh didn’t mention it and kept his cool the entire time but felt bad and left Daren a voicemail to make...

Welcome to the 25th episode of the Chirp with Daren Millard. On today’s episode, we welcome arguably one of the best coaches in the National Hockey League. Not only did this man lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a record-setting regular season he is also a finalist for Jack Adams Award. At the Chirp we don’t like to lie, we did this interview some time ago but needed the right time to release it and the NHL Awards Week seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so. John and Daren discuss his...

On the 25th episode of The Chirp with Daren Millard we bring on the commissioner of the ECHL Ryan Crelin. Daren and Ryan get into the ECHL as a whole and the way it’s perceived, marketing, SpongeBob, team names, his competition and commissioners being booed. Ryan dishes on the fun parts of his job and the parts that he doesn’t enjoy. Ryan takes pride in being a progressive league. Ryan had a lot of hockey eyes on the ECHL this year when he executed a radical idea for a 3 on 3 running clock...

Welcome to the 23rd episode of The Chirp with Daren Millard. On today’s episode, we welcome longtime Sports Illustrated columnist Richard Deitsch. Richard specializes in writing and discussing what is going on in the broadcast industry. He also co-hosts Prime Time Sports with Bob McCowan on The Fan 590, a place Daren called home for many years hosting Hockey Central At Noon. Bobcat and Richard have been spending most of their time on air time talking about the Toronto Raptors and their...

Welcome to the 22nd episode of The Chirp with Daren Millard. On today’s episode, we take a little bit of a different approach from our normal show format. Today we welcome on two of Daren’s really good friends, who just so happen to be the broadcast team for the Edmonton Oilers. None other than Gene Principe and Kevin Quinn. Daren and Kevin started their careers together and Daren also broadcast with Gene on many occasions. Think of this conversation as an inside look at 3 broadcast legends...

On the 21st episode of the Chirp with Daren Millard we welcome St.Louis Blues defenseman Michael Del Zotto. Del Zotto is in the midst of a 600 game, 10 year NHL career. He was drafted by the New York Rangers and became the youngest defenseman in Rangers history to play in a season opener. Del Zotto recalls that game with his family in attendance and his first game in the NHL against the Pittsburgh Penguins where they raised the Stanley Cup banner. The boys get into scoring a game 7 winner,...

On the 20th episode of The Chirp With Daren Millard, we welcome on one of the NHL's most experienced coaches.Slated to pass the 1000 game mark, has one of the highest winning percentages of any coach and is one of the most normal human beings you will ever meet. He’s a gifted offensive mind, the conversation Daren and Bruce have is cliche-free and not scripted. It is one of the most honest conversations we have had on the Chirp thus far. The boys discuss his first goal in the NHL, first NHL...