Shane O'Brien verbally destroys Oilers legend Ryan Smyth.

During his tenure as a member of the Edmonton Oilers, former National Hockey League forward Ryan Smyth became one of the most beloved figures in the entire history of the Oilers franchise. Smyth was not only a fan favorite but also served as the organization's captain for a time, something that you would think would make him a well respected figure among his peers.

It would seem however that not everyone shares that opinion, as former NHL defenseman Shane O'Brien would reveal on a recent episode of the Missin Curfew podcast. To say that O'Brien unloaded on the former Oiler would be a massive understatement, as O'Brien would even go into detail regarding the reasons he genuinely hates the aforementioned Ryan Smyth.

"I'll tell you why I hate Ryan Smyth," began O'Brien. "First of all because he thought he was Wayne Gretzky, which he was nowhere even in the same f***ing breath. I don't care if he wore the long gloves and tucked his shirt in or what the f*** ever."

O'Brien did pause briefly to say the only positive thing he would say about Smyth during his entire rant.

"I used to want to kill him in front of the net, I'll give him credit, he could take a beating and he would go to the net hard," said O'Brien reluctantly.

It was the second reason for his hatred of Smyth that appeared to truly fire O'Brien up however.

"But the reason I hated him is when I signed with Colorado I heard a story about him in preseason," began O'Brien. "He just signed a huge ticket with the Colorado Avalanche, exhibition game, there was a puck in front of the net... this kid shot it. Some young kid that was just playing an exhibition game that I don't think ever played in the NHL. In an exhibition game and Ryan Smyth went to the ref 'It hit my pants' and took the kid's goal in an exhibition game, and this guy was in the league for 10 years by then or maybe more."

That was the moment that cemented O'Brien's hatred of Smyth, something that he claims he made Smyth fully aware of.

"At that point I let him know every time I played against him," said O'Brien. "You think you're Captain Canada Smyth? You're f***ing nuts! Every game I would chirp him 'You're such a f***ing nerd Smythy, no one thinks you're cool, not even people in Edmonton that you think love you'... I hate him, I hate him."

O'Brien can be heard in his own words in the short clip below, but be warned he is extremely fired up for this one.