120. Pete Demers: Royalty's Hall of Fame Trainer

The April 19, 1976 issue of Sports Illustrated had Ray Floyd on the cover after he absolutely ran away with the Masters, winning by eight shots at 17-under par in a wire-to-wire masterpiece. The story made it clear this was a different Floyd — more mature and more locked in than ever— while still giving props to guys like Ben Crenshaw who finished second. It was classic Augusta in the middle of the Bicentennial spring. On the baseball side, SI was excited about the Giants’ fresh start after new owners kept the team in San Francisco and packed the house for Opening Day. But while there was new found enthusiasm in SF, Brooks Robinson's days were nearing an end in Baltimore. The greatest defensive third baseman ever, was still grinding at the plate even as his hitting had slipped from his MVP days. quite a bit. The issue also had some wild stuff — a diver going into the giant shark tank at the New England Aquarium, Honest Pleasure looking like a Derby monster, and notes on the Yankee Stadium renovation. It was a fun snapshot of spring sports in 1976, mixing big moments with the raw edge of the era. And speaking of raw, the NHL section delivered with the “Week of Disgrace on the Ice,” where multiple Philadelphia Flyers players were charged with assault after a violent playoff game in Toronto. The piece also introduced readers to Pete Demers, the longtime head trainer for the Los Angeles Kings, who later earned his place in the LA Kings Hall of Fame, the PHATS Hall of Fame, the Rhode Island Hockey Hall of Fame, and the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. Demers was the guy stitching up faces and taping ankles through all the blood and chaos of 1970s hockey — a true behind-the-scenes legend. Pete joins us on the podcast to talk about his time in the NHL, how tough the players were that he treated back then and how the players lined up at his door for treatment in order to play. He talks to us about how Wayne Gretzky almost cost him his job after his trade to L.A. and how the difference between owners Jack Kent Cooke and Bruce McNall. And he tells us how a beer he kept in his drawer for almost 20 years was the best tasting beer he ever had in 2012. It's a week of golf, horse racing, baseball, and the crazy days of 1970's NHL action relived by a man who saw it all... Pete Demers on the Past Our Prime podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices