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Dropping the Gloves

Interview w/ Troy Crowder

·1 hr 14 min·5 clips
In his first NHL game, a 20-year-old Troy Crowder fought twice in the conference finals, triggering a meltdown that got his coach suspended.
John Scott hosts retired NHL enforcer Troy Crowder on Dropping the Gloves. The episode opens with light banter about Crowder's weight loss and current life in PEI. Crowder describes his post-retirement journey, including real estate, house flipping, and coaching his kids. He explains how he invented skate eyelid extensions and a movable blade holder to improve his own skating, patenting the designs and fitting Aaron Ekblad, which led to a player development role with the Calgary Flames. Crowder then delves into his NHL career, starting with his unexpected call-up to the New Jersey Devils during the 1988 playoffs. He played his first NHL game in the conference finals, fighting twice and sparking a brawl that led to coach Jim Schoenfeld's suspension after a confrontation with referee Don Koharski. Crowder discusses his rocky relationship with a minor-league coach, which caused him to quit temporarily, leading Lou Lamoriello to send him to a weight-loss ranch in Arizona. He returned to fight John Kordic in his next NHL game. Crowder highlights his rivalry with Bob Probert, including a famous fight in his rookie season, and his decision to sign with the Detroit Red Wings as a free agent to team up with Probert. A back injury cut short his time in Detroit, with ruptured discs threatening his career. He shares how Mario Lemieux called with medical advice and, after retirement, Wayne Gretzky personally recruited him to the LA Kings. Crowder briefly played in the Quebec Senior League and attempted a comeback with San Jose before a shoulder injury ended his playing days. The conversation shifts to his post-hockey life, including running for MPP and mayor in Sudbury, and a current legal battle over insurance fraud charges he claims are corrupt. The episode closes with reflections on his resilience and ongoing efforts to expose judicial misconduct.

As heard by us

Troy Crowder's playoff debut becomes a rough, odd, and possibly record-setting hockey memory.

Troy Crowder's first NHL game gives this episode its best run, with the story moving from amateur linesmen in white helmets to a 6-1 playoff loss, a return to Boston, and Crowder later wondering if two fights in his debut put him in a strange record category.

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Why you'd press play

You get Troy Crowder's first-playoff-game story: a 6-1 loss, makeshift white-helmeted linesmen, and his claim that two fights put him in rare NHL history.

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