32 Thoughts: The Podcast - High Expectations

Episode Date: September 2, 2022

Jeff and Elliotte are joined by Calgary goaltender Jacob Markström (2:30) to talk about the Flames' off-season, how he plans to improve his play against the Oilers and if the team has improved. Then Tim Stützle (14:00) of the Ottawa Senators tells the guys about his summer, off-season workout routine, improving his sleep and his expectation going into the season.Music Outro: Bijelo Dugme - Bitanga i princezaListen to the full track hereThis podcast was produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Great. You rolling? Yeah. He wanted to prove that you could do it. So he's asked you a second time. That's why. Welcome once again to 32 Thoughts to Podcast.

Merrick alongside Friedman and Amal Dulwich playing the keyboards in the background. And Elliot, this is going to be a couple of interviews from our European NHL Players Media Tour. We've already heard from on the last podcast, Leon Dreisaitl and Bill Daly, NHL Deputy Commissioner. Today, we will hear from Tim Stutzla and Jacob Markstrom. Let's start with the Calgary goaltender first. He has some kryptonite.

All goaltenders have kryptonite. Unfortunately, it's Edmonton that is the kryptonite for Jacob Markstrom. I thought it was interesting to hear him say that he had some idea. I don't want to spoil it. It had some idea on how to work on it and how to improve on it. They're going to score a lot of goals and a lot of people. But the other thing I really liked about the interview was when, you know, what's the big debate is Calgary better with the changes.

And he didn't even hesitate. That was, I thought pretty good stuff. Yeah. Excellent goaltender. And a little bit later on, we hear from Tim Stutzla of the Ottawa Senators. As we mentioned last podcast, this guy is ripped up like a bad report card now. And that is good news for the ottawa senators i like stutzla as well you know it's always interesting like you you do a lot of

interviews um with uh players come from overseas and you know some of them are careful because they're not comfortable in the language which i completely understand I think sometimes we forget how difficult that can be, but he's seamless. Like, you know, he's right in it, and he's confident for a young guy. And, you know, you said at the end of the last podcast that you think he's primed for a big season. And look who he's playing with.

He radiates confidence right now. Radiates it. Yeah. Watch him with A. DeBrinckit and C. Giroux He radiates confidence right now. Radiates it. Yeah. Watch him with A. Debrinkit and C. Giroux coming soon to a hockey rink near you. So a little bit later on, you'll hear from Tim Stutzla. But up first, our conversation with Calgary Flames netminder, Jacob Markstrom. Along with Jacob Markstrom from the Calgary Flames, we'll start with the Edmontons.

There's so much to get to with you, but I want to start with the Edmonton series. And when that's over, you begin the process of trying to get it out of your system and get it out of your head so you can resume a normal life. Really emotional series, we all know right after that series like what do you do to get to get rid of that fog that oiler fog that's around you yeah obviously it's tough you know throughout the season what we build on and the dallas series and the confidence we have in our group and uh you know obviously the back of a lot of people's

head you you knew that some guys probably won't going to be here next season but we had something really good going and it was i think for me personally too it was the first year we really coming into every game you know i was never really worried it was you know our group was so confident that you know we'll beat any team any day and uh so with the season we had and then you know obviously ran into edmonton and it was it was so emotional and it was such a roller coaster and uh yeah it's tough pill to swallow but uh you know for me personally i don't want to forget it completely you want to have that sour taste in your mouth and uh you know

i you know i still have it in the back of my mind. And that's what gets you up in the morning and gets you to the gym and gets you to work a little bit harder than last year. You know, I remember when Pittsburgh lost the Stanley Cup to Detroit in 2008, there's a famous story about Crosby getting a picture of Zetterberg lifting the cup. And that summer when he worked out, he looked at it every day. And, of course, Pittsburgh won the cup the that summer when he worked out he looked at it every day and of course pittsburgh won the cup the year after and you know the one thing jacob is that that was the one team last year that got to you and they've got great players and i wonder is there something you think about

in your workouts or you go back and you think about and say this is why they had success i think for me personally i think you always see you try to break down the games uh you know the games we had during the season two we had you know we had one i think two or three one win but then you know obviously the the game in the saddle dome where it was nine five and you know it's a win but that's not how you want it to be but and then you go the first game in the playoffs it was nine six so then you try to sit down and like, what's going on here? Because those were the two games I've been a part of with the most goals and it's the same team.

And I think, I don't know, the whole team, it's obviously a different atmosphere and everything is the same league, same amount of time in the games, the same puck is on the ice but you know when we collide with those guys it just you know stuff just seemed to happen so I think the mental part of just kind of take a step back and you know you always try to figure out what you can do but to to really emphasize to not get carried away both emotionally and you know for me I seem to have the most success when i'm just even keel and and but you know it's hard there's fights in the stands you want you want to get up and get involved you want to go fight the stands with them sometimes that's how you feel

but uh yeah i mean it's such a fun series during the season and you know obviously the playoff wasn't that much fun but there is a sour taste for sure that i feel like the whole city of calgary has and uh you know i don't think no one has forgot about it and we're excited to get back in there is that what you do you think that maybe you got a bit carried away emotionally in those series i don't know i like i i feel like throughout the whole playoff you you feel the same obviously if i look is the preparation wasn't different and and anything like that but it just seemed that they you know obviously they got some bounces we got some bounces too but yeah you know I couldn't really personally you know find that rhythm of just you know where everything was just kind of coming to me

and you know being in the right spot the decision-making you're kind of if you let one or two or three goals in you start hesitating a little bit and you can't do that because then you get punished. This offseason, you're watching Johnny Gaudreau leave Matthew Kachuk to the Florida Panthers, two-thirds of the best line in the NHL goes. Was there a part of you at all, maybe during the Johnny Gaudreau situation,

where you said, wait a minute, what's happening to our team here? Does this mean're gonna take a step obviously Brad Treleving has gone out and Hubert O and Wiger and Nazem Kadri come in but was there part of you at all that said wait a minute what's happening with my team here I don't really think it was to that extent I uh I think uh you know I tried to do what I could and I was calling Johnny, I think, after a week or two weeks after the season. I was trying to call him every day and, you know, especially terrible times of the day

with the time difference. But, you know, I was being a pain in his behind there for a bit. Do you think he left because you were calling him too much? Maybe. No, I don't think so, but you never know. But yeah, it's, you know,'m excited i can sit here i think we're going to be better this year and you know we got some

great players it's more excited for me to you know i was you know huberdale from the florida time and uh weger is we're in the san antonio at that point no i never played with him there but uh but yeah he's he's a great defenseman and then the signing signing of Nassim Khadri was great. And, you know, I want to lift Brad to a tree. It's easy for him to, you know, kind of say what's going on. People, you know, Tuchaka and Johnny wanted to leave 100 plus goal scorer points this season. And they were the leading force with Lindholm for our team the entire year but you know he he had great communication with you know especially us all the guys on the team and and said that we're you know we're working on stuff and you know it's going to be good it's going to be good don't worry don't stress so so he he did a great job of you know kind of putting a great team together and and I think we're going to have a lot of success this season. You know, it's interesting to hear you say that

because one of the things I always wonder, sometimes moves happen and players are blown away. They don't see it coming. And sometimes the moves happen and players say, yeah, we kind of knew this was going to happen. So as a flame, did you have an idea that when this year might be without Goudreau and kachok no not really no i can't say i did obviously you try to talk with the players and uh but you know we knew it could

happen i didn't see it happening yeah you know i thought it was going to come back because you know he's a calgary flame and he always been a Calgary Flame. But things change for different reasons. Obviously, I thought he wrote a great letter there for the people of Calgary and the Flames fans. He wanted to be close to his family. He got a newborn coming and a lot of things involved. I know myself, too, going from Vancouver to Calgary as well. People are not going to agree, and some people are, and I wish them luck

on all the games except against us. Then I hope he gets nothing. And Kachuk, did you have any idea that maybe Matt wouldn't be back? Yeah, it's so hard because, I mean, you hear the rumors and you read and you hear people are talking about it, and it was obviously a big, you know, those two names were the big talking point you know right after the season what's

what's gonna happen so you can't really avoid it or or see but you know i just i really like how tree went about it and and you know obviously it would have been nice to you know obviously with the position we were we're so good it's not like we should have traded Goodrell. You can't do that. We're, we're really good. We were a really good hockey team and we were having success. So you can't really trade away a big piece like that. And then he leaves for nothing.

But I think, you know, we got cap space and we got Kadri and we got Huberto and Weger for those two players. So I think that's a really good trade off. It's a heck of a recovery, as you said. And that's the next thing. Did you have any idea, because sometimes these trades pop up out of nowhere. Did you have any idea that Huberto and Uyghur were coming,

or did you have any idea that Kadri was coming? Well, I was at a wedding, Nicholas Backstrom's wedding, and I was in bed, and my phone kept ringing, and it was Brad Treleming, so he was like, Huberto's a good guy, right? I was like, yeah, and my phone kept ringing, and it was Brad Treleming. So he was like, Hubert, that was a good guy, right? I was like, yeah, he's a good guy, but he's a really good player too. He was like, okay, we're working on something. Oh, so you had an idea.

Yeah, I had a little idea there. But yeah, he's obviously, I think I woke up the next day after not feeling hungover at all, but more excited about getting back to work and for the season. That's fantastic. Do you think this was the year that people finally noticed or recognized just how good Lindholm is? I think so because obviously I'm a little bit biased.

We're good friends and we're hanging out in the summers and follow his development. But I see him every day and he's such a good player, you know, defensively and offensively. I mean, what all those three guys did together. And, you know, we can be in our zone for two minutes and you have Lin Wong going from corner to corner and standing in front of the net.

And then all of a sudden, Johnny has a breakaway. And you wonder, like, how is he on the far blue line right now? But, you know, it's a lot about the work that Linholm did that let them kind of play the way they wanted to play and kind of cheat a little bit because they knew Linda would always be behind there. So I'm looking at your defense now. Like, you've got to –

It's really good. Like, it's interesting because, as you said, you guys just lost a couple of hundred point players, but if this league is one in goal on defense and down the middle, like I look at your centers, I look at your blue line, I look at the guy in goal and I say, Calgary's built that way.

So there's been this big debate. Are the flames better or are they not as good how do you see it we're better for sure obviously you look at the blue line and then uh you know i'm not going to sit here and talk about the players that that left chuck is a panther now and john is with the with columbus but uh like you said to looking at the centers we have and down the middle, you need to be deep down the middle to be successful, especially in the playoffs. And then our defensive core is you got my favorite player of all time,

Chris Tannev there. So, you know, I'm happy he's there. And then, you know, with everything else, you got Rasmus Andersen who had a career year last year. Noah Hannafin who's you know he was healthy pretty much all season and and played great all year you add Uyghur to that and then Sadoro he was super important for us so you know and then we got a lot of young players young defensemen too that both with uh skill guys and you know big solid defensemen

coming up from Stockton. So it's going to be really fun, and I'm way more excited about this year than I was last year. Looking forward to it. Thanks so much for this. Best of luck next season, and I look forward to seeing you back with the Flames. Yeah, sounds good. Thanks for having me.

So with that defense core and those centers, you've got to win the Vezina this year. Yeah, for sure. That's a bank. That's a bank. So, Tim, thanks so much for joining us here today. Much appreciated, as always. The last time we spoke, we talked about cars and driving and Germanyany and you've spent your summer doing some golfing uh in germany what was your what

was your summer like thanks for having me i mean my summer started when i came back saw my family and then i went on a yeah one week golf to a couple friends and then two weeks off just relaxing and then i started working out uh in like a gym with like a coach where Mo trains too so we had a lot of fun yeah yeah we had a lot of fun together so and Mark McHale as he played in Vancouver too so us three were yeah kind of working out together so yeah and then I just had one more week like I think one and a half week ago maybe weeks ago i went uh on a little one week vacation to greece uh with the coach there too so that was really cool was cider walking around like yeah i'm the rookie of the year like i'm the rookie of the year no i think he's uh he's

pretty humble too so uh he knows he's really good i think everyone knows that but um yeah he's a humble guy so it's it's fun to be around him now i could be completely wrong about this but you look a little bit different like you look leaner not to say that you were like out of shape or anything like that before but you look leaner and stronger did you change much in terms of what you did this year yeah thank you i mean yeah i think we changed a lot right now i have like a personal trainer who's like really like saying everything i have to do and like we have like nutrition coaching and like sleeping coach too who's like really like saying everything i have to do and like we have like nutrition coaching and like sleeping coach too so everything is really good set up and um

yeah i took a lot of care of my body i would say and um yeah i can't wait until the season starts was there a reason for this like tim did you look at something that happened in your career did your staff look at something and say we have to change things did you do that yeah i mean i think i haven't started last year the way i wanted to and i was working out kind of by myself with the pro team in manheim and like some things didn't go the way i wanted to and um in the end i had to change something and i wanted to yeah my body to be the best in shape i can yeah get my body in shape so right now I feel really really good and I think yeah the best I've ever felt now I would you mentioned sleep so LeBron James has a trainer and I heard a podcast with this person once and he said the first thing he asked LeBron James

every morning is how much sleep did you get are you a big sleep guy yeah I think sometimes so my problem was sometimes before games i took my nap and then i woke up and i was still tired like i felt like i've slept for like eight hours and like i couldn't even open my eyes kind of so i wanted to change something also with nutrition and stuff i think that's a big part of sleeping too yeah i mean i sleep the hours i have to and for me sometimes like i said i was sleeping too long, was a factor two after games, like when we had a day off, like sleep until like 10, 11.

I think that's not good too. So I just wanted to have like a plan when I have to go to bed and like what I have to eat and then, yeah, wake up the next morning and feel way better. And what I can do to feel better in the morning to be awake right away. So that was really helpful. Smart, smart. So while you were working out and golfing and practicing your sleeping,

your general manager was very busy, whether it's Alex Debrinket or Claude Giroux or Cam Talbot, the Ottawa Senators look like they're taking a step. As you're watching all of this, what's going through your mind? What did you make of your general manager's moves first of all i think all the moves he made were really really good for us i think going forward i think that was the right moves and we talked about it in the in the meetings we had like with the guys and i think everyone kind of wanted that way to go and everyone wanted to push for the playoffs this year we wanted to do it last year too but we just weren't good we didn't play good enough uh i think you could see it in the end

like we had a good team we have a really good group of guys too so it's been a lot of fun but this year we really have to be way better from the start and i think the moves we made i think help us a lot and right now i think everyone was really pumped to get back to ottawa and get to all the new guys so it's going to be a lot of fun. Is the group chat all about playoffs or bust like we have to make the playoffs this year? I think everyone knows it like we don't really talk about a lot I think as soon as we go to training camp I think it's going to be talking a lot more about it but right now I think everyone is just really excited about the things what happened in Ottawa and the signings you made with like Norris getting a long-term sign I think is a huge part of our team too so and I'm just really happy to have guys who like thought I can learn a lot from I think and we text a little bit and yeah he seems like a really good guy and I heard a lot

of really good things about him so I'm really excited to get back. There's another guy that the Sanders fans are hoping signs long-term, you know, Tim. Anything going on there? I mean, I love Ottawa. I love the city. I love the guys. For me, I have one more year, but we'll see what's going to happen. But I'm really committed to sign there long-term maybe,

and I'm going to be looking forward to yeah hopefully joining room for a long time there so you're making a permanent center switch too have they talked to you about you know who you're going to

play with or has DJ been in touch in terms of his expectations or anything like that I don't know if I can say that but yeah you can say it yeah

you can say it you can say it no no for sure i mean i think they made it pretty official uh i think uh i talked to dj a couple times during the summer uh how i feel and everything and i think uh yeah the moves we made i think were really good for me too i think uh with jeru and to bring it i think they already said a little bit what they think the way is going and um i'm just really, really excited about the team we have. All lines, all the pairings. I think it's going to be a lot of fun playing. Would you look at video of somebody?

You had played plenty against Claude Giroud playing in the same conference, but De Brinket comes from Chicago and you wouldn't have mixed a lot. Would you watch video? It's like, okay, if I'm playing with De Brinket this season, I need to know his tendencies. I need you know where he wants to get the puck would you watch video of the brinkett in the summer it's actually funny because uh that you say that because when we work out we have like always an hour of like conditioning so we go like we have a bike or we go biking and then usually it's like sometimes when we have like a leg day we have like just an hour of like cycling like and then you can watch some video to it and i actually did

i watched videos of the guys and um yeah i saw uh the brinkhead 40 goals he scored were like probably like 30 first assists from kane and like that you can see the connection they have like it's just unreal and like so much fun to watch and I hope I can yeah really set him up because he's like a really good goal scorer and I

think he can score a lot of goals in that league. Did you notice any tendencies from Dabrinkit like he likes it here or there's a certain

area in his body where he wants the puck passed to him did you notice all that stuff? Yeah I mean sure I think he scored a lot of goals like one timer one time was also on the power play i think he's really good at that and i think he can shoot actually from everywhere like it's actually insane like sometimes

you just give him a puck and he just skates by d and shoots out of nowhere and goes in like those type of players i think it's really important for a team who can just score at any time in the game. And I think a guy like that is noticed, too. He can score from everywhere in any type of game situation. So, yeah, I hope to try to give him the puck as much as I can, and hopefully we can score some nice goals. We're going to start to see more German hockey players in the NHL. We expect big things from JJ Paterka and Lukas Reichel. You're there now.

Mo Sider has the Calder Trophy as the Rookie of the Year. Leon Dreisaitl's story has been well told. It seems that there are these three elite German players in the game, and you're one of them. When you go home, how are you treated now? I mean, Leon's Leon. Now Mo, as you mentioned, everyone knows him. But how are you treated when you mean leon's leon now mo as you mentioned everyone's everyone knows him but how are you treated when you go home now i think really good i mean in germany it's not

like hockey is not that big as like in north america in the us so it's different for sure like when when you go through ottawa like everyone kind of knows you and like loves hockey and stuff but in germany it's like where i'm in the summer is like manheim and it's like a hockey city so you get recognized so the that's fun and uh i mean the fans that come like fans to practice and stuff when they has when they had their first team practice they were like yeah probably a thousand fans so that was was really fun and uh i mean for me it's just i want to be myself and see what can happen but also like you see it with the sponsorships and stuff like more and more people want to do with hockey players in germany so uh that's a really really big part and i think peterka and reichel

can be really good nhl players too i mean ultimately for developing german hockey players i think ultimately it's smart the u23 rule And so for people watching and listening to this, the U23 rule in Germany essentially is on every pro team, there has to be three players under the age of 23. That can be awkward for some teams. It can be good for other teams. Some teams have like five good U23 players. Some struggle to have two. How much do you think that rule helped you helps other young german hockey players and listen we see the results now because germany's producing elite level players to the nhl but give a thought on the u23 rule in germany i mean yeah sure i think it was a really big part because like mo played there me played there but in the end i think right now when you

when you look at it i think the players who play there are literally good enough to play in the dl in the first league so that's also a big part you also have some teams where like under 23 players they play like two minutes a game like they just sit on the bench and like they don't really get ice time so that's kind of a point to what maybe can get switched up a little bit that kind of maybe even you have to play them amount of time or you send them down if they're not playing in the team and let them play in the dl2 and let them play their like 18 19 minutes a game so but there are also some guys like i see it in manheim there's some d man who's playing a lot of minutes so it's been good to see and i think the development german hockey is going forward and forward well defensemen just stand there they don't do anything so they can play they can play a lot

of minutes right skate centers you guys actually have to skate around okay a couple of a little more non-serious ones first of all who gets more points this year stutzler de brinkett or matthews marner bunting or Matthews, Marner, Bunting? I mean, I think everyone always wants to be the best, and I'm really confident that we have a really good line there, but I think with Matthews, Marner, I think Matthews can score even 70 this year. I think every time he goes in a game, he just knows he's going to score a goal,

and that's just awesome to see. But for sure, I want to be the best. And I think we can really have a good line going there and maybe get some more points. We talked a little bit about Dobrynka. Have you spoken to Giroud at all or anything like that? Have you guys had conversations at all yet? Yeah, we talked on the phone.

I talk with everyone new to the team. So we just texted a little bit about golfing when i come back so uh yeah i think it's going to be fun time meeting all those new guys and i think we are a really young group of guys still so we're gonna have a lot of fun playing together i also wanted to ask you i'm sure you watched the playoffs this year when you saw brady kachuk in Calgary with Matthew wearing the Flames jersey, what did you think? I loved every second of it. So I know Brady, I know Matthew a little bit too.

So I think it's great to see him support his brother that much. And I think he flew down. I actually lived with Matthew the whole time they were in the playoffs when they were at home. So the whole family was there too. And then he signed a contract with Budweiser too. That was kind of funny. And now everyone on the team hopes we get free beers from Brady the whole year.

So no, but it was awesome to see. And I think, yeah, Matthew had an unreal season and really deserved that contract there too. So Brady's pumped for him. Any personal goals for you this year are you someone that sounds like okay i need to have this many goals this many assists these numbers look need to look like this you have in your own head some targets for yourself for me it's literally making the plus of the team like i think when i play good i think

the team can be way better so um i just want to bring my A game every time and just try to play my best hockey I can and then hopefully make the plus team that's the most important for me. Tim, thanks so much. Great to see you. Great to see you guys. That's Tim Stutzla of the Ottawa Senators. As we mentioned off the top, primed for a big season with the Sens. Thanks to Tim Stutzla for stopping by.

Thanks to Jacob Markstrom for stopping by. Thanks to Amil Delic for putting this together as he does each and every podcast. Those interviews conducted at the NHL Player Media Tour in Paris, France. Thanks to everybody who helped make all of this possible, especially someone who always deserves praise, the great Laura Cook.

Laura, you're the best. Okay, over the next couple of weeks, before we get to the Vegas NHL Player Media Tour, you'll hear more of the interviews that Elliot and I did with various European NHLers. Look for that wherever you consume your podcasts. Thanks so much for listening. Talk to you again soon. Tebe traže poloče več, tebe traže šta če ta padeč, ne, ne, ne, bitan ga jim vse zapar. Ne ide to Svi će da

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