Bret of the Gimpy Hip appeared on NHL Live yesterday (show is linked here–it’s the April 29th show, Hedi appears at the 19-minute mark).

The things that were discussed (in some sort of order):

1) DWTS – Bret talked about how proud he is of Kristi and how she’s doing and how her background as an athlete has prepared her for the show. He’s trying to enjoy it and have fun, which is cool. Also said that they should find a hockey player to be on the show (my vote goes to Jeremy Roenick–he’s such a media-whore and a showman that I think he’d actually do pretty well).

2) The end of the season and playoffs — Bret talked about how much of a bummer it was to miss after the late-season rally (especially given how Ottawa took that huge nosedive), he sang the praises of Peter Laviolette’s insistence on accountability and his refusal to make or accept excuses, and made special mention (I thought) of how Lavi rallied the troops after the Warchief fell in combat. Among other things, he said (and I quote) “Peter did a great job right down the stretch of making everyone accountable for their job, and consequently we were winning games.” (If JimR fires Lavi that will cause way way way more problems for the team than it would solve. — my personal opinion)

2) 1994 and 2006, trying to repeat as Champs – he talked about playing at the Garden, talked about the 1994 Canucks team, and tied it in to 2006 and how he understood how the Oilers felt after that game because he’d been there before. He also talked about how banged up he was after 2006, and how hard it is to repeat because the long season and long playoffs are so physically and mentally draining.

3) The Southeast — I quote: “Hey, YOU try playing Ovechkin every night! You play against him eight nights a year!”  Bret’s commentary about the Southeast boiled down to him saying that the people that call the Southeast “weak” are full of shit and that they’re way more competitive than people would think (personally, I think that if the rest of the Central gets its act together that Division will wind up becoming the new Southeast). I quote also: “The Southeast Division is not no slouch division.(sic)”  (I winced at the grammar issues.)

4) Miscellany — gushed about his kids, talked about DWTS a little bit more, and general chitchat about the playoffs. Also did not say whether or not he’d retire, though personally I think he should.