32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Seth Jones, Anders Lee & Tim Stützle

Episode Date: October 9, 2021

Seth Jones of the Chicago Blackhawks joins Jeff and Elliotte (7:00) to talk about his eventful off-season, playing with his brother this season, knowing your worth, the new additions to the Blackhawks and what went down in Columbus last season. The guys then chat with Anders Lee (19:00) about his love of dogs and Gordie Howe, resigning with the Islanders, his announcement tweet, playing without Jordan Eberle this season, his relationship with Lou Lamoriello and his recovery. Finally, Tim Stützle of the Ottawa Senators (30:00) chats about his driving skills, expectations in Ottawa this season and what it means to him to represent his country of Germany on the international stage. Music Outro: Wesley Bright and the Honeytones – Happiness Listen to more tracks by Wesley Bright and the Honeytones here This podcast is produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman. Audio Credits: CityNews, Paramount Pictures and Sportsnet. 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. Our condolences to Peter Silverman’s family and friends.

If you're an individual or a small business person and you're having trouble with a large corporation or government, write to me. I'll try to solve your problem and I'll run it all on City Pulse at 6. I'll help because I'm Silverman. Write to Silverman Care of City TV. Welcome once again to 32 Thoughts, The Interviews. We're going to share some of the interviews that we had during the nhl nhl pa media tour with three players specifically you'll hear from tim stutzela of the ottawa senators anders lee of the new york islanders and seth jones here in a couple of moments of the chicago blackhawks let's go through each of these players and get a couple of comments from you on them

tim stutzela who i cannot even think about without hearkening back to his draft and Alex Trebek. But as you've pointed out, Ottawa knows there's a big payday on the horizon for him. He's a high-level player, supremely skilled, part of an elite group of German hockey players making their way to the NHL. Your thoughts on Tim Stutzla? I'm really excited about Stutzla as a player. I think he's going to have a big year. I like him. I like Norris. I like like Kachok assuming they all get that sorted out I like

Shabbat I really do think if Ottawa was picking second last year they probably take Stutzla anyway and and Byfield goes to the Kings I know they love the player and I enjoy talking to him you know it's this thing with COVID Jeff there's a young group of players I've never really had a chance to meet or talk to and I really enjoyed this conversation he's got a real presence to him there's no question he's got a a good little fun but serious presence and one thing one of the Ottawa players did tell me is that he's one of those guys who likes and watches hockey and i and i think that is a i think that's a very big thing i always remember gretzky like kelly rudy talking about gretzky who are our next five games against and things like that because

he thought if you were really curious about hockey you had a better chance of being great at it and the fact that stutzler kind of has that gene in him is a good omen for the Senators. Pat Kane's that way too, from people that I've talked to. He's that guy. And what I really liked in this interview, and I'm glad we got there with him, was talking about playing internationally for Germany.

There's plenty of the conversation about playing for the Ottawa Senators, playing in the NHL, but hearing Stutzla talk about playing for his country, I'm glad we were able to get that in there and get him to comment on it. Anders Lee, man, I felt bad for him last year. And, you know, he's one of those players that, you know, you wonder what happens against Tampa. If Anders Lee is in the lineup, it must have been torture for him not to be able to play down the stretch in the playoffs give us your thoughts on on andrews lee who is a physical specimen we should point out elliot i agree with you about feeling bad like he talks in the interview about how hard it was

for the islanders to lose that series to tampa and you can only imagine what he's thinking watching a 1-0 game 7. Yeah. You know, like, you're sitting there on the sideline, and we talk about how close he did or didn't come to play. I don't want to ruin that. But you're sitting there in that game, and you're dying to help. Like, that game, Tampa dominated.

They were the better team. They played a great game. But in a 1-0 game, a guy who can score from right around the crease, you're thinking, oh, I could have done something with that. Or maybe if I'm there, we can do that. It's such the slim margin. And if you saw him score in his first exhibition game on Tuesday night, it was a typical Anders Lee goal right on the doorstep.

And that would be a thing if i was playing at that level and you're in game seven you lose one nothing and i know that the role i have could make a difference that would just eat me alive i wouldn't be able to get rid of that gross taste in my mouth for months it's a good conversation uh real thoughtful guy you'll hear from Anders Lee here in a couple of moments of the New York Islanders. We're going to kick it off, though, with Seth Jones, one of, and maybe the headline maker in the offseason. He reset the bar, Elliot, for defenseman compensation in the NHL. And right away, you think of the contract and the negotiations that Darnell

Nurse was having with Edmonton. And when the Seth Jones deal happened, all of a sudden things changed for Darnell Nurse and things changed for a lot of players, even his old, you know, running mate in Columbus, Zach Wierenski. Give us your thoughts on Seth Jones of the Blackhawks. You know, we talk about the Kachuks and how they're a sports business smart family because of, you know, all of the connections that they have through hockey and the sport. Well, the Jones family is like that too. Of course, Seth and Caleb's dad played in the NBA. They're very aware of how the business works. I remember a conversation years ago when he was still in Nashville. It was another one of the media days. It was one of the first ones back in New Jersey.

And he's talking about a contract dispute in the league with someone else. And he kind of said he didn't think that player really had it in them to let it last too long. And, you know, I said, okay. And the other person in that conversation later said to me that was seth jones way of saying that he knows how to use leverage and he's not afraid to use it i was always remembered that i think when you understand how the business works at an earlier age you have a better comfort level with what you have to do sometimes and what you have to give up sometimes. And I think the thing about Seth Jones is it's a big contract, but I don't think he's going to be bothered by the expectations to live up to that contract.

I think he's a very smart guy. I think he's very secure in his own skin. And I just think he understands everything that goes with being a pro and that's why i believe you know whether or not he lives up to the contract i think it's a question about are you beaten before you even start jeff are you so consumed by it at the beginning that you're in trouble and and i don't see that as being a problem with him looks forward to this conversation and it delivered we'll kick it off with seth jones followed by anders lee of the islanders tim I don't see that as being a problem with him. Looks forward to this conversation and it delivered. We'll kick it off with Seth Jones,

followed by Anders Lee of the Islanders, Tim Stutzla of the Ottawa Senators. In the meantime, we present from the NHL NHL players tour, Seth Jones of the Chicago Blackhawks on 32 thoughts, the podcast. Elliot, we're pleased to be joined by Seth Jones of the Chicago Blackhawks. And, well, we have a lot to talk to you about. This has been a really, really busy and interesting offseason for you uh for a number of reasons uh but let's start with

the Chicago Blackhawks and why you think this will be the right fit for you I think they know how to win here uh I wanted to go to an organization that's done it before and we still have some good pieces you know we brought in flurry we brought in tyler johnson which is a great depth piece for us you know you still have kane and tase and to bring cat is still young and upcoming and um we still do have some young guys you know kirby doc and a lot of these guys still we still need to develop myself included so i think it puts us in a good spot you've played against chicago a lot in career. Who would they like to play against? Chicago was always tough to play against, especially, you know, Kane and Debrinkat.

It was, you know, Kane and Panarin, and then it was, and then Panarin came to Columbus, and then it was Kane and Debrinkat, and, you know, that duo itself, even, you know, the last couple years, seemed to be just so hard to handle, so hard to deal with. And, you know, they think they beat Edmonton in the bubble and not playing around.

So, you know, with Tays coming back, it should be pretty exciting for us. And then in the back end, we got McCabe too. So I think the decor will be good as well this year. Let's go back to the end of last season. Where did you think you were going to be playing this year? Like we're talking about last game? Yeah, like the game ends. You know what?

I'm not sure. I hadn't even made up my mind then, to be honest, of what I wanted to do. I was just so focused on just, you know, it was kind of a bad year for everyone there in Columbus, and we didn't get much accomplished as a team and as an organization. And, you know, it took me two, three weeks after the year to really reflect on what I wanted to do really for the rest of my career. So right after the season, I had no idea.

Okay, so let's go and the news gets out that you're going to test the market eventually. Did you think you'd be signing somewhere for a long time or did you think it was going to be a one-year thing somewhere and then figure it out? It depended. There were a few teams involved in that process. There were teams that would have been a one-year thing, and I knew that. If they made that trade, everyone knew it was a one-year thing. And if I went to other teams,

it would have been an extension thing right away. So with the teams with the extension, the numbers were obviously talked about before of what the ballpark range would be if the trade did happen. And then come to Chicago. All right, you know I'm not going to let this go. What were the one-year teams? I'm dying to know.

Don't even try it. Does it rhyme with? Colorado. It's in the region. Well, because the thing is, Seth, one of the things I've always been really interested in you about your, not only your career, but as someone who comes from a family that understands pro sports, you probably more than a lot of other guys have understood your worth and how the business works. And you've never been afraid, like to say, I understand how the business works and I'm going to use it to my advantage as much as I can. So I was really curious, what was important to you in this process? Was it a one-year thing?

Was it a long-term thing? I was okay with either one, to be honest. And at the end of the day, it just didn't work this summer for that. I've talked to many people this summer about my situation and going back and forth on a lot of things. I think by the end of the day, in my heart, I wanted to be somewhere that I was going to be the rest of my career, not go to a team and then go to another team after.

You never know what happens in that one-year time span, especially there's not a lot of security there, things like that. But I do think with that one team, it could have been the one year. I think that they would have had a great chance to win it. So no more family split loyalties with NHL teams. Everyone in the family is a Chicago Blackhawks fan right now. Are you more excited to play with Caleb, or is he more excited to play with you?

I think it's mutual. We haven't even played against each other, believe it or not, the past four years. I've been hurt, or he was sent to Bakersfield, or something happened at Edmonton. Really? I never realized that. So we never have. I think there's been like seven or eight opportunities.

Always missed, hey? Always missed it somehow. I didn't realize that. Yeah, but now we're playing with each other, so it's pretty interesting. I'm going to try to push him as much as I can, of course. But I'm excited for him. I'm excited that he's going to get an opportunity.

And I'm really happy for him. I got to think at the very least, if the puck gets dumped in, Caleb has to go back and get it. Yeah. You take the hit. I'll get the puck. I'll skate it. Exactly.

Slide it over to me. I'll skate it up to him. It'll take five minutes. I'll skate it. Exactly. Slide it over to me and I'll skate it up. It'll take five minutes. I'll take one just because. I think Jeff was actually the first person who brought up the possibility of if Duncan Keith was traded to Edmonton, Caleb could be in the deal. How much before it actually did happen did you guys kind of realize that this could happen? We had no idea. We were sitting at home.

Then he got a call. And that was, but I think it was in the works with, you know, my agent was, I think, was working with Edmonton. Yes. Our agent was, and they were trying to make something happen, but we had no idea it had Duncan Keith or Chicago involved. So Caleb's there, and now you get traded. What's that moment like for your family

when you realize you're all going to be together? Crazy, actually. we were all at dinner uh in dallas we were out to dinner then i got then my phone starts blowing up because got people from chicago calling me and so we're all sitting at dinner and the next day we were flying here uh then we went to do the first pitch at wrigley uh did the river interviews and all that fun stuff toward this facility here. So it happened quick. And then we flew out the next day, but it was, I think my mom loved it. I mean, she doesn't have to watch two sets of games anymore on different time zones and travel to two different

places. So she's got everything she needs here. So I'm curious, how many pending free agent defensemen have texted you to say, thank you, and where do I send the Christmas cards? Zero. Zero. I guess that's just where the market's moving right now. Right. Essentially, we spoke to Darnell Nurse on Monday,

and we were talking about the nature of his deal, and then he very wryly just said, yeah, you know what? But about halfway into the negotiations things just changed and the defenseman market and this was led by you changed like profoundly this summer i didn't talk to darnell about that but i'm sure um you know even renski i'm sure oh yes dougie hamilton dougie hamilton my car signed that nice one but i mean everyone's in a different stage in their career too. Right.

So, I mean, Makar signed in a six-year, you know, same with Orenski. I'm sure, you know, maybe Orenski could have got more if he went eight. Who knows? But, you know, I guess it's market. And I'm sure, you know, Nate McKinnon's up in, what, a year. So, you're going to see these numbers go even higher for, you know, special Hart Trophy, ross guys like that but it goes back to what i was saying before though again seth is i think you've always

understood the business and someone's once said to me about you is that it would be meaningful to you if you knew that you move the bar up for other people and it's a cap system so there's only a but you did move the needle for other defensemen. I remember years ago, someone told me that you would like that to be part of your legacy, that you allowed some people to make more money. Yeah, I mean, I think we put our heart and soul into this game.

You know, it's a year-round game, you know, as players play now. You take maybe three weeks off of the season, and then you're training, skating again. It's everything I do in my life is for hockey. You know, under the cap system, it's obviously the numbers get crunched a bit and that's what a cap system is supposed to do. But, you know, hopefully in these next, you know,

COVID obviously took a hit on where the cap should be probably right now. And, you know, that two, whatever, 275 five two percent growth every year but i think in the next five years you're going to see it really take off um hopefully so good talks with my agent through that whole process and you know where i wanted to be uh with my aav and we got it done who was the first player from the hawks that texted you i think it was caner. I think Kaner texted me. Strom texted me. Taze called me. Yeah, he's not a texter. He's a phoner, I bet you. Taze?

Yeah. Yeah, he called me. He called me. We talked for like, I don't know, five, ten minutes. But yeah, quite a few guys did bring cat text me, actually, too. We were talking with Jack Hughes, and he was talking about getting to play with Luke. And he said, you don't get that.

And one of the things we're always starting to see more, Seth, is player empowerment of, I want to play with Luke and he said you don't get that and one of the things we're always starting to see more Seth is player empowerment of I want to play with this person or I want to play with that person and you know you and Caleb now get to play are we going to see more of this are we going to see more of brothers or just players like friends just athletes and hockey players and I know you're going it happens all the time I was going to say that's what I was going to say like That's what I was going to say. Like friends, brothers, like guys who want to play with each other. Are we going to see more of it?

Maybe. Maybe in the future. Maybe I'll do it. Wait, it's like, who's coming? Who are you bringing to Chicago? Who are your good friends in the league?

Like you said, in the NBA, those guys just want to play with friends and then they'll request a trade or something to go play with that guy or in that city.

I feel like they have a lot of power in that league. I mean, you look at the salaries, it's a little bit different. Their top salary versus ours. I think you're going to see it a little more. Maybe not so much in the light, though, in my opinion. There won't be guys coming out with a text message saying, I want to play with this guy and this and that. Maybe it's more behind the scenes.

Maybe they're more calling each other, texting each other, and saying, you should come sign with us. We've got a chance to do something special, something like that. Last year, there were, and I'm sure you heard them all, a lot of theories, some of them crazy, about what happened with the Columbus Blue Jackets. And we heard a ton of different things. What happened with Columbus last year?

What happened with that team? With what? Well, it wasn't exactly the best of all possible seasons. It was not. For Columbus. That's a fact. And even things like, oh, you know, the US election split the room down the middle. And there was like all kinds of stuff.

Oh, yeah. That's what you guys heard, actually? That was one of the things. One of the things that we heard. Yes. Yes, it was out there. What happened last year in Columbia? It wasn't bad.

I can tell you that for free. I don't think anything happened. It was just a bad year. Nothing clicked, i felt like i just think that our lines didn't click it just seemed like no one can get on the same page with the style we wanted to play it kind of started with dubois the season of drama you know so um started with the dubois trade uh and i don't think that was supposed to happen till the end of the year from what I was hearing, and that happened. And, you know, once that happens, it's kind of tough to bring it back. So we had new guys come in.

It just didn't seem to work, and Torts did his best. And at the end of the day, you know, when you're that far out of it, halfway through the year or three-quarters through the year, you start playing a lot more younger guys, seeing kind of what the organization has. And it just felt like it was time for, seeing kind of what the organization has. Right. And it just felt like it was time for everyone to kind of go. Torts, you know, thought that as well.

What was your relationship like with Tortorella? It was great. Me and Torts had a great relationship. You know, I sat down, had lunch with him after the season. You know, we talked for about an hour, hour and a half, and good solid conversations with him. Seth, thanks so much for this. Best of luck this year with the Hawks.

Anders Lee of the Islanders joins us and before we start to talk about hockey, and thanks so much for stopping by today, I know you're a dog guy. I'm a dog guy too. I've got a German shepherd. His name is Astro. I am a Houston Astros fan, but I named him Astro because I was a big fan of the Jetsons. You have dogs.

What kind of dogs are they and what are their names? Yes, we have a couple Australian shepherds. Our first one, we named him Gordy. Named him after Gordy Howe. Perfect. He had recently just passed away one, we named him Gordy. Named him after Gordy Howe. Perfect. He had just, he had recently just passed away actually when we got him. And a couple years later, it was time to get another one. And we kind of had no choice. We named him Howie. I love it.

Why Gordy Howe for you? You know, obviously I didn't watch him growing up or anything like that, but just read his book, you know, learned about him, watched highlights on him. He's Mr. Hockey. He was beloved for many reasons, his work ethic and what he did on the ice and then who he was as a person. I think someone that a lot of people looked up to. Did you ever get a chance to meet him? No, I didn't.

I didn't get a chance to meet him, but that would have been pretty cool. Did you ever look at those old school shots of Gordy with the shirt off, fishing, and you say, this guy didn't have sophisticated gym technology and trainers and any of those things. No, they did it the hard way. That's what they knew. They'd go home in the summer and he played baseball at times and worked the farmer wherever it was, and that's how they got ready.

How are you doing? Doing well. Yeah. The recovery has been exactly the way I've wanted to go. How are you doing? Doing well. You know the recovery's been exactly the way I've wanted to go. We've been really good with it and now camp's going to be the perfect chance for me to finish it off the right way.

Because you know that there were times last year during the playoffs where because of the way Lou Lamorello does things people were expecting you to shoot out of the tunnel in a playoff game. We were pushing it in every way we could. You know the guys were playing on the ice. I was doing my recovery, and we went after it, you know, in the best way possible.

But, yeah, we were close. I was going to say, was there ever a moment where you thought, you know what, I'm like a day or two away. I might be able to get out there. There were times. I mean, look, at the end of the day, it wasn't the right decision. As much as I wanted it to be as much as it was a thought and something I worked for, uh, with the doctors and everything, uh, the timing was still too soon, but you can feel

pretty good at that time. You can feel a lot better than you think. And at the same time, I'd have to jump into a, you know, a third round matchup, something where that speed's been going for quite a while. So after the season last year, I was out with one of my buddies who's a big Canadians fan. And I actually wasn't doing much arguing, but he was very upset at something I said. He said that, he says, well, you know, the Canadians were the second best team in the NHL this year. And, you know, I will confess there were a couple of beers involved here. And I said, you know, actually, I think if I was to do a power ranking, I'd probably have to put Montreal second because they were runners-up.

But I might put the Islanders second. Like 1-0 in Game 7 of that Tampa team. He was terribly offended. He was very upset with this particular stance. But the point I was trying to make to him is that I look at your team and to go seven games with Tampa, you weren't able to play. I got to think for all of you at the end of last year, as much pride as you guys had as a group for everything you did,

that one must have hurt just because of how close you were and how good you guys were. We have a special group. There's a lot that goes into getting to that point. We'll never forget how that felt and how that feels. And when you get to that point of the year, the margins between teams, the margins between games, pretty tight. So you know what? We added some chances, and you know what? We're coming back knowing what we're capable of and with an opportunity to, you know, with a lot of work in between, but to go back and to go further.

You are a miserable team to play against. And that's a real compliment in the NHL, in any league really. Players always say, I hate playing the Islanders. And you guys must feel that. Like when you're frustrating another team, because you guys play a real tight game like are there moments where you're sitting on the bench and you just know like okay these guys are frustrated we got them when we go out and play the game that we want to play I mean you hear it all the time right but when our team plays to who we are

you can get that feeling at times what you feel on the other end at times as well. You know, that's what the other team's trying to do to you and trying to push you out away from your game. But when we stick to what we know best, we have a chance every night. And I think that's what makes us frustrating to play against. You know, this is an individual world now. I watch a lot of things that happen in our business and elsewhere.

Social media, what it's done is it's, I think it's made people more individual than team. The Islanders are more team than individual. I think you guys are, as a group are very different than a lot of the way the world is going. How do you create an environment, even within the NHL where it's team above individual, and it's no BS with you guys. You can tell you all buy in. You're the captain. How do you help create that?

I think it starts up top with Lou and Barry, down to us players. I mean, it's just we'd always been a close group, but I think we have come together in a way that really we get to come to the rink every day and work together on what we're doing. And it sounds cliche and all that stuff, but there's no one that is more important than the other. And everyone has a role. Everyone has importance on our team. And we're not going anywhere without everybody. You know, like last year we had taxi squad guys.

Like, you know, that's a tough year for them. But they're a part of it just as much as we are. And they have to come every day and be a professional, and that's not easy to do. It's a full team effort, really. And I think it speaks volumes from the top down. Do you meet with Lamorello during the season? Yeah.

How often? Whenever Lou asks, you go see Lou. Yeah. So give me an example. When would he say, we've got to talk? Yeah. How often? Whenever Lou asks, you go see Lou. Yeah. Yeah. So give me an example. Like when would he say, we got to talk? I mean, Lou's around all the time. You see him almost every day.

He's around, so you catch up with him. But, you know, if there's times that he wants something to be heard or said, then he'll let you know, and it's always in the best way, and it's always for the intentions of making us better do you ever say because i think he likes having control but i think he also likes when people deal with him honestly how long did it get comfortable for you to say i don't know about this or i don't know if i agree with this you know for whatever reason i've always been comfortable around lou i think he makes, he makes that environment. And so not afraid to really say anything. To be honest, there's not

much to say most of the time, but when there is, it needs to be said, it's all good. I think he creates that, that atmosphere where, you know, we're all working towards the same thing and whatever it takes. If you look over your left shoulder right now, you'll see Jordan Eberle of the Seattle Kraken. What did he mean to you guys? Ebs is one of the best. A good friend and a great teammate and a line mate. He's a big-time, big-moment player.

He scored some big goals for us in the playoffs the last few years. That double OT was awesome. The way the Pockets enters the lead, player uh he scored some big goals for us in the playoffs the last few years and that double ot it's awesome it was great you know what that was we were talking about that the other last night, actually, and catching up. And, you know, it's the tough part of our business. But I'm excited for him to excel in Seattle and see what he's got to do and see what the team's going to do. And we're going to miss him.

You know, I wanted to ask you about your tweet. We didn't get a chance to talk last year, obviously. I wanted to ask you about your tweet when you stayed in New York and first of all I thought it was great secondly you were the one guy we couldn't figure out that year and we should have known it was because you were re-signing but how long did you have that one in your hip pocket and how much did you enjoy watching people trying to guess where you were going yeah no I had uh I'd obviously seen the movie years before but just kind of stuck with me a little bit and then as it kind of looked like it made more sense to do it it came to being a good tweet I'm not leaving I'm not leaving

I'm not leaving. The show goes on. This is my home. They're going to need a wrecking ball to take me out of here. That whole scenario was we always knew what was the plan and what was going to happen, and a lot of stories out there, and I don't blame anyone for it. You've got to try to figure it out, but there's only one option. How long did you have the tweet saved, ready to go?

Well, I had it ready to go, but it wasn't time to be formally announced, and I think it had gotten out a little bit or whatever, so then I threw it up there. Who your team do you think is the the secret weapon and is the answer Adam Pellick yeah might be he's not secret anymore well that's the thing last year's a big one for him that that name we've all seen it Pelley I think last year I mean he's he takes a step every year but last year I think he proved on and on the big stage in front of a lot of people, him and Pulak, him and Pools, how good those two are and how shut down they can be.

I saw him up top for three months, and it was special to watch him and the way he can defend, create, kind of minimize those gaps. He's also a cheeky little player. He does a lot of little things that are like, well, that's high-level skill from a shutdown D. Last one for me. February, Beijing, gold medal game, overtime. You're coming down.

You got the puck. Pelek's the last man between you and the goalie. What happens? Well, we've seen it in practice quite a bit. Hopefully there's a guy on the other side, you know. Some outlet somewhere. I don't know. I mean, first of all, that'd be an incredible thing.

But yeah, Pelly, he's one of the best to do it right now in our game. This has been great. Success for you and the Islanders this year. Thanks so much for doing this. Appreciate it. Thank you, guys. this has been great success for you and the Islanders this year thanks so much for doing this appreciate it thank you guys please be joined by Tim Stutzla

of the Ottawa Senators and I feel like I owe our listeners the I feel like I owe our listeners the, I feel like I have a responsibility to let you start this interview. No, no, no, you go.

Because off air, and I want to get there because it's a pretty interesting conversation. Before we get to all the hockey stuff, you and Elliot, Tim, are having a conversation about driving before we started going. So I'm going to hand the recreation over to you. Well, first of all,

what you should explain to all the listeners, Tim and the viewers, is the living living arrangements so who lives close to each other okay uh so last year i lived with brady kachak and josh norris and it was a great time for sure um right now josh is living in the same apartment building i'm at uh like about four rooms next to me and brady's living four minutes next to us so it's easy drive and yeah we got to see each other a lot too at the rink as well but also off the ice so it's going to be kind of the same just we live not together anymore so everybody understands that this means a carpool so what I was asking Tim and I warned him I was going to ask was, of the group, who is the worst driver?

And your answer was? I have to say it's me in Canada, that's for sure. I'm just not used to driving so slow. So that's the biggest difference, I would say. But yeah, I think Josh and Brady, they're already used to it. They should drive the car when we go to practice. Okay, so if you were to take Josh and Brady to Germany, and they were to drive on your turf, who would be the worst driver?

Josh lived in Germany when he was younger, so he's probably used to it a little bit more than Brady. So I got to go with Brady there. Last year was an interesting season for the Ottawa Senators. And by the end, this was a team that everybody knew this is a team that's done rebuilding. This is a tough hockey team to play. Going into this season, what's your mindset? And what's the team's mindset? I think we had a lot of good

talks after the season with the whole team and it's just that our young guys still have to step up we got to step up a little bit more to this year to be a playoff contender we want to play for the playoffs and we are still really really young so we have a lot to do and a lot of work in front of us so still just the young guys have to step up I think that all the guys were doing great and especially in the end and that's all you got to do and then I think that all the guys were doing great, especially in the end. And that's all you got to do. And then we can be in the playoffs hopefully pretty soon. You know, it's

got to be tough being a young player in the NHL, especially your first experience playing in the league. At what point did the game start to get comfortable for you? Because I would imagine the pace right away is overwhelming. Yeah, for me, the only problem was I was kind of preparing for the German League, playing two games a week. So I wasn't really like totally 100% ready for playing every second day or playing back-to-back games. So, I mean, it's how you prepare your summer

and how you build up your summer. So I felt like I got a little bit tired during the end of the season. But still, I think we have still a lot to do and still a lot to work on and especially if we play so many games we just got to be better from the start of the season that's our goal for next year I'm wondering like you only got to play six other teams last year who is the player or team that you cannot wait to play this year to say finally getting my chance to play against i would say cannot is maybe a little bit difficult because i gotta say really good player and it's going to be hard to play against those guys so

um i mean i think sydney crosby uh vechkin, McKinnon, Cal McCarr, all those guys, there are so many good players. I think I can't wait to play against, but it's going to be really hard. So I can't wait. It's maybe a little bit different. But yeah, it's going to be really excited to play them. You know, it's interesting to hear you talk about how the young players still have to get better because we've heard that the centers and organization talk about, you know, the rebuild is coming to an end and now it's the next time.

And I understand why everybody there is so excited. You guys have a lot of really good players. And I get the sense that your organization is saying it wants to talk playoffs. Do the players talk playoffs? For us, it's definitely our goal. I mean, I think for every team for every guy on our team we want to win as many games as we can so everybody's work really it's going to work really hard for that um but in the end um like i said i think we are really really

young still but yeah i think pierce said in the media the other day and that we are done with rebuilding so um if our team steps up our young group steps up i think we can be a really really good team in like right now and in the future i'm curious about your experience specifically what did you think the nhl was going to be like and what was it like i'm still just a little kid like just exploring everything and seeing everything and meeting all the new guys, new people all around the league. So it's been really exciting for me, especially my first year. But right now I just can't wait to see fans back in the building

and hopefully play in front of them. I mean, that makes a huge difference, and I think that's what we all play for. And you also play for the fans, so that's going to be awesome I think. What was it like playing against Leon Dreisaitl? It was definitely difficult. I mean he's an unreal player and for German hockey

I think he has done so much really, really good stuff and yeah, he won the MVP of the league too and I think that's getting Germany even better in hockey and there are so many young kids, same as me looking up to him and that's getting Germany even better in hockey and there are so many young kids same as me looking up to him and that's just awesome to see. How is he perceived in Germany in that he does a lot of great athletes in Germany as we all know where does the Andrei Seidel fit in?

I think he's gonna fit in pretty high we just gotta get hockey more of a popular sport in Germany that's what we want to do and that's what all the young guys are working for too with the national team everybody's really honored to play for the national team and it's really excited to get there every time so Leon I think he's doing a really good job with doing that stuff with the media too and yeah there are a lot of great players soccer players tennis players uh that's what he's going for uh right now to go up high there with all the soccer players and all the big names in germany tim ok here's best and worst moments of your rookie season

um i think my best moment was uh playing my first game that was definitely a moment i will never forget and when the kid threw the hats for the hat trick i think that was definitely an unreal moment too i will never forget and my worst feeling was when i fell down warm up and everybody saw it and it was everywhere on social media too so um that was a moment i gotta bet that it such a young team, it's pretty ruthless in that room. Like nobody gets away with anything without everyone piling on. It actually is. I mean, everybody saw it in the eyes too.

And then when we came back in the dressing room, everybody was dying laughing. But it's been pretty cool. It's been funny. We have a lot of really, really good guys. I mean, everybody is a good guy in the room too. So we have a lot of fun together on and off the ice. That's the most important, I'd say.

Are you thinking much about the Olympics? No, not for now, to be honest with you. My goal right now is starting training camp. That's what I want to focus on. And then I got to focus on the first game, playing the first couple of games. And then we'll see what's want to focus on. And then I got to focus on the first game, playing the first couple of games. And then we'll see what's going to come. I mean, for me, it's always a big honor

to play for the national team. And for sure, it's somewhere in my head that there will be the Olympics. But right now, it's just the beginning of the season. So that's the most important right now. I am curious. I know you're right. Your primary concern is the NHL and playing

with the Ottawa Senators. How important is international hockey to you? Because you talked about growing the game in Germany and having more of a worldview on where the sport is. How important is it for you personally? Yeah, for me it's really important. Like I said,

I love playing for Germany. I love playing to see all the boys again, play with them. We have a great group of guys there as well. So it's always great to see each other again after a couple of games here, after the season. It always depends, playing the World Championship. There will be a lot of games this year with 82 games in the NHL, plus Olympics, plus World Championship maybe.

So right now, the total focus is on the season. Gotcha. We wish you all the best. Thanks so much for taking time. Thanks, guys. Really appreciate it. Okay, I really hope you liked those interviews. Thanks to Seth Jones, Anders Lee, and Tim Stutzla for stopping by the podcast. Taking us out, a soul band from Akron, Ohio,

who you should probably see if they're playing a show near you. Wesley Bright and the Honeytones. Great name. The group has been dropping singles the last few years and Wesley just dropped his debut EP, What I Want.

Here's Wesley Bright and the Honeytones with their second single, Happiness, on 32 Thoughts, the podcast. I would come and do my thing She put me down Happiness on 32 Thoughts, the podcast. It's true, it's true If it's so Got to tell your pretty mama I'm through, I'm through Oh yeah

Oh yeah Yeah, yeah Yeah Well I'm walking around Going through my mind Tears come to my eyes now, baby All the time Now I'm trying to be a strong man

Trying to be a strong man Don't do me wrong, don't do me wrong, don't do me wrong, no. We have some sad news to share this evening. Journalist and broadcasting pioneer Peter Silverman has passed away at the age of 90. Silverman came to City TV in 1981 as a reporter for City Pulse. Several years later he began hosting Silverman Helps, a popular consumer segment that helped viewers solve issues. He relentlessly went to bat for people who had been ripped off, becoming a Toronto icon in the process. Silverman's work in journalism led him to fight for people with rare illnesses

and also brought him to third world countries and war zones. He is survived by his wife, two children and three grandchildren.