Ryan Reynolds gave them business advice. They ignored it

There were nights where it was just, honestly, going from bad to worse with just bad luck things that just happened. And I would look at the producer and they would be happy. And I'd go, why are you happy? And they would go, because we couldn't write this. Yeah, it makes for the best TV. This might be really bad for you as ownership, but oh my God, for our show, holy ----. A Canadian music icon and a beloved Canadian TV personality. Michael Bublé and Drew Scott, longtime friends among the owners of the Western Hockey League's Vancouver Giants, and joint executive producers of Prime Video's new sports documentary series, Hometown Giants. This is an underdog story for these young men. There's so much at stake. The series follows a group of teenage junior hockey players balancing the pressures of living away from home, finishing high school, and chasing big dreams of making the NHL. There's been ups and downs and adversity and conflict and all of it. But you have to suffer To go from where you're at to greatness. He's lined up, hit hard. Scott and Bublé are hoping to follow in the footsteps of another local giant, Ryan Reynolds, and his wildly successful Welcome to Wrexham. 15 years we have waited for this. Now this is the perfect name for this series. I mean, not just the hockey team, but look at you guys, right? Like two superstars in different fields from Metro Vancouver who Are genuinely friends, right? Yeah, I mean, this is our hometown Giants. It's all about, I mean, the story of the series isn't about us, but it's sort of, we're ambassadors of the team and the kids' stories, but we grew up here. We've known each other for a very long time. I went to acting school with his sister, and the fact that we can come back and be a part of our community with this team is pretty phenomenal to me. It is very much a pinch-me moment. Yeah, it's very cool. And, you know, it's impossible for me not to be sentimental. I get very sentimental about... Our relationship and like we'd grown up together, literally, like before our success, before fame, you know, we knew each other. And so this whole thing, the Giants, I love the game of hockey so much. It's deep, you know, and I love storytelling. And Drew loves money. That's funny. So, spoiler alert, Ryan Reynolds. He makes an appearance in the first episode. How does that even work? Do you text him and he agrees to be part of the show? Are you ready for the show? I'm friends with Ryan. And Ryan's a guy that I ask a lot of advice after. Like, you know. There's different businesses that I'm going into. I'm going to give it a second tour. And honestly, I'll just call him up and I'll just say, What's your opinion? What would you do? And he's always just really, he's really generous with his time. He's a really smart cat. He cares a lot too, especially with his hometown in Canada. He cares, I think. He's the kind of guy. He loves this place. Oh yeah. And that's the thing, you see it in his series, Welcome to Wrexham, and you see it with everything that he does. And the fact that he volunteered to kind of be in the first episode and have fun with us is amazing. He's a great dude. He had some advice for you though that you put on the air. Yeah, don't own a team. Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it, idiots. But, you know, I was thinking about how you guys ended up on the ownership group. And I do know how much you love hockey. And I have seen on Dragon's Den your entrepreneurial mind. What do you bring to the ownership group? Well, I think an important thing is to lean in on your skill sets, right? So I've never been a part of a franchise before like this. I don't know hockey the way that our coaching staff knows or like Mike knows, but I know marketing and I know strategy and I know outside the box thinking for how you can grow an IP. And when I started thinking about this team and what I could bring to this team, I think it's my years of producing TV. That was the big asset. So right from the beginning, we started talking about how can we reach a bigger audience? We have kids from all over the world playing on our team. So there are already a lot of eyeballs internationally. How can we make our team known internationally? And that's where we started talking about our show with Amazon. And then when he started talking to me, it wasn't just that he was going, you know, we can go and sell this concept. But it's that he sort of started talking to me about the kids, you know? And the truth that really... Every single one of them has this incredible story. I mean, the drama is baked into this fight for their life. They are the fastest, the toughest, the best young hockey players from all over the planet. And they've all come here chasing the same thing. My dream is to make it to the NHL. I've always dreamed of playing in the NHL. My main goal is the NHL. Make the NHL. My dream is to play in the NHL. I'm going to do everything I can to get there. Got drafted by the Giants. I was 15 years old at the time. Playing in front of 4,000 people when you're 15 years old is definitely a shock. You know, even if I look at one of the stories, the individual stories of a young defenseman who was a star on our team, I couldn't believe that we got to go from that first day and the continuity and truth of getting to a point where I'm crying my head off at home, watching the NHL draft and watching as... He's chosen by the San Jose Sharks. The San Jose Sharks select from Vancouver of the WHL, Ryan Lind. Oh my god, that was, that was a super proud moment. That was his dream. As a parent, that's my dream too for him. Oh, oh, oh, oh. You can't believe it. So that was such a moment of pride that just washed over me. Now, this series comes out at what might be a challenging time for hockey. There are people right now who, Aren't sure how they feel about hockey, right? That they think that maybe there's a, you know, a toxicity in hockey culture, particularly in junior hockey. But I just wonder, like, how do you deal with that in terms of, you know, bringing people, trying to get people excited about a sport that a lot of hockey fans love, but maybe not everybody's sure, is a welcoming place for them? I think you have to be transparent, Ian. And I think you can't hide from the things that have happened and are happening. And in that transparency, I think it's really important that we talk about it and we find a place to advocate for people that are going through that. And we have to find ways to... Honestly, they're kids Ian, like they're kids, you know, and so one of the biggest parts of our job in all seriousness is truly is protecting them. There really has to be a pact with not just you as an organization, but other owners, the league, where you are truly trying to create great citizens. And you know what? People shouldn't like that part of hockey. I mean, that obviously, I mean, that kind of culture, kids, you know, showing up and getting hazed or sexual assault case. I mean, they shouldn't. We need to talk about this. This shouldn't be something that we don't have to love. Obviously, it's not comfy, but that's part of growing and that's part of changing culture. Sure. If you are successful as co-owners of the Vancouver Giants, what does success look like? How will you judge that you're successful? I think for me, as we said, the kids are the focus. We want to make sure we're setting up in life whether they end up in the NHL or not. Seeing them come back, which we already have as well. Seeing the kids that already come back 10 years later or 20 years later, they come back and show what they're doing, how they're part of the community. That's success. I do want to see the team grow and win. I want to see, you know, we're going to be airing in over 240 countries, like countries and territories. I want to see people globally that come to Vancouver because they want to see the Giants. They want to see our hometown. Listen, hockey-wise, I've got to call these kids and their parents and tell them how happy I am for them and how proud I am, whether they're gone off to become a fireman or they've been drafted to the San Jose Sharks. Thanks for having me. And it is so personal. This is going to sound nuts, but we did our, when I was doing their show, they were doing a thing called Celebrity How Are You, and it was just, I remember that day, and he and his brother were driving in the car, and we were going to the white spot down on Hastings. And it was like, and your brother was looking out the window and he was like, oh, that's where I used to go and play those pickup games. Oh, and that first date that I went on with that girl. And I was like, oh, get out of here. My mom went to that school. You know what I mean. His date was with your mom at that school? Oh, wow. This is amazing. It all comes together. Remember when I said I was so excited about doing this interview with you?