Three men and a podcast: Third Man In offers new hockey show with familiar names

For as long as professional sports have been around, opinions of those sports have followed close behind.

It's not uncommon to be at a bar and to overhear two or more people analyzing a play, a player or an entire team based on what is undoubtedly pure objectivity.

Sarcasm aside, three friends who take hockey seriously — and have an impressive library of facts about the sport tucked under their caps to toss out faster than a Zdeno Chara slapshot (175.1 km/h) — have started a podcast dedicated to the game, called Third Man In. 

Notable is the inclusion of host Terry Ryan, a Mount Pearl native who many Newfoundlanders will remember as a Montreal Canadiens first-round draft pick, author and a budding actor.

Today he continues to play senior hockey around the Newfoundland, but a podcast had been on his mind for a while.  

"I've been thinking about it for years.… I thought it was a great idea, because I've guested on all these shows from all over Canada too," Ryan said.

Without Ryan's contacts, professional relationships and clout on Twitter and Instagram, however, the show might not have gotten off the ground so successfully this early in its inception. 

But, as Ryan admits, he needed help to put the wheels of the idea into motion.

Enter Mike Hickey and Charles Pickett, Third Man In's other co-hosts.

"I don't have the organizational skills to put this together. I honestly don't," Ryan said from Hickey's basement studio, surrounded by goalie gear hung on the wall, movie posters, guitars — the base of operations for the team.

"Mike's that guy. He's the glue. Mike's great at the behind-the-scenes stuff, and can carry on a conversation because he knows hockey really well. As does Chucky." 

It was Hickey who brought the group together and pitched the idea over coffee at a truck stop in Mount Pearl. He has a background in film and production and has his own successful podcast in Fright Hype. Everything is run from his basement. 

Pickett brings energy to the table as a standup comedian, and is the butt of the kind of light-hearted jabs that many Toronto Maple Leafs fans have grown accustomed to. His knowledge of the game runs deep, a human version of hockeydb.com, a database and archive for all things hockey. 

Together the trio are like a well-built team, something each host attributes to their love of the game.

"I'd rather be part of a team than do it myself, even if I did have the organizational skills," Ryan said.

"That's the nature of hockey. I think what we're doing is kind of a metaphor for a dressing room, in a way."

Love of the game

With the pieces in place and two episodes under their belts, including one with special guest Ken Reid, who hosts Sportsnet Central, and another with Teddy Purcell a Newfoundlander who spent 12 seasons in the National Hockey League, the sky is the limit for these hockey fans. 

There is no overhead, other than Hickey's power bill, and the podcast has already successfully aired its first ad, marking the beginning of its potential income. The weekly podcast drops new episodes on Tuesdays.

Guests such as legendary CBC broadcaster Ron MacLean, actor Jason Momoa and even NHL superstar Sidney Crosby are on the wish list as the boys look to the future and what could become of their podcast; Ryan has an in with all three.

"It's kind of like a hockey-culture podcast in that it's using hockey as a unifier," Hickey said, sitting in the producer's seat in his studio.

"Because it really is. Fandom is that unifier, and so it's how we all kind of can relate, through our love of the game." 

Whether the podcast takes off or not, Pickett says it doesn't matter to him. Guests could be his uncle or his brother, he says; he'll still record episodes, he'll still talk hockey.

"The things I talk about on this podcast are the things I would talk about whether there's a mic in front of me," Pickett laughed.

Keeping the audience entertained and engaged is the podcast's creed. Most important is having interesting guests, regardless of their resumé.

"Some people have played 900 games and have nothing to say," Ryan said.

"And some people, like myself, have played an awfully small amount compared to that and have a shit-ton to say."

Weekly episodes are slated for Tuesday of each week.

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