32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Shane Wright: U18 World Champ

Episode Date: May 12, 2021

After winning a gold medal at the U18 World Championships with Team Canada, Shane Wright joins Jeff and Elliotte on the podcast to talk about his experience at the tournament, battling through a few minor illnesses during the tourney and what it means to represent Canada. They also chat about his favourite NHL team, players […]

So Shane, which miniseries are you burning through on Netflix or Amazon Prime right now? I don't really watch a whole lot of Netflix. My spare time is spent watching hockey games. Oh man, you are all business. I like that. That is awesome. And some video games and stuff like that. That's awesome. Welcome to 31 Thoughts, the podcast presented by the GMC Sierra AT4.

Elliot, interview time again. And today we sit down with Shane Wright of the Kingston Frontenacs. Shane Wright, gold medalist from the U18 Team Canada squad, captain of that team. Nine goals, five assists, 14 points, and only played five of the seven games in the tournament. Canada was dominant in this tournament. A lot of it was because of Wright. He was second in tournament scoring alongside Connor Bedard. Mishkoff, the Russian kid, was first.

Wright and Bedard, stars of the tournament for Canada. Both these players at times granted exceptional status and allowed into their junior league a year early. For Bedard, that's a vagina pats. And for Shane Wright, Elliot, it is the kingston frontenax your thoughts on shane right before we hear from the young man himself well i'm curious to hear what he's going to say about the injuries you talked about he missed two games and you know some people said to me they suspected that he had an excuse to pull the chute right that there was a legit reason that

he could have said look i'm not playing anymore i can't play the rest of this tournament and obviously that didn't happen so i'm curious to hear about that you know he's a year away from probably being the number one pick in the nhl draft he is and he's been on the radar for people for a number of years the first time i saw him was playing with the Don Mills Flyers and won an OHL Cup as well. Brennan Offman was on that team. Brant Clark was on that team as well. And you could tell, much like the first time that I saw Connor McDavid

when he played with that Marlies team with Sam Bennett and Josh Hosang and Roland McEwen, et etc like jeremiah addison like you could tell that there was something really special about this kid the way he held himself both on the ice and off the ice i mean on the ice even at a young age looks like a pro and as i'm sure you're going to hear in the interview here in a couple of seconds he doesn't sound like he's just a kid but elliot he's just a kid he sounds much more intelligent and composed at 17 than i did at 47 elliot that's a low bar you're setting for that young man let's hear from jumping over a matchbox anyone can do it let's hear from the young man here is shane wr Wright of the Kingston Frontenacs,

gold medalist with the U18 Team Canada squad on 31 Thoughts to Podcast. Elliot, it's not every day you get to talk to a gold medalist, but here we are. Welcome to the podcast for the first time, the one and only Shane Wright. Shane, thanks so much for stopping by today. And before we get into the particulars of your career, what's happened and what's going to be involved in your future. Congratulations. Like, just in a wide-brush form, like, describe what you just went through in Texas. Yeah, no, first off, thank you.

I appreciate that. You know, obviously, it was an unreal experience for me, you know, finally being able to play games for the first time in 14 months was, you know, unreal for me. Just had so much fun over there, had so much fun, you know, meeting those new guys and, you know, finally being able to play some hockey. Where is your gold medal right now?

It's about five feet away from me. So it hasn't lost my sight very much since I've been home. That's for sure. Yeah. Just look at it right now for a second. Look at it. What's the first thing you think of? Pride, I think.

I think that's the biggest thing. I'm just proud of having a gold medal, representing my country, being able to win a world championship, wearing the Canadian jersey on my chest. I think that's just the biggest thing for me. Just the honor and the pride that I feel. I'm not even winning it. I think just being able to wear that jersey and being able to represent my country um just an unbelievable feeling and obviously being able to win the gold medals just like the cherry on top i gotta think this has been a really weird year for you shane i mean you're 17 years old and there's a schedule that you've gotten used to in your life. It's hockey, whether it's in the minor level or last year in the OHL with the Kingston

Frontenacs. And this year you get this treat, this gift, this gold medal at the end of the weirdest year of your life. Can you take us through the last few months and how you've kept yourself sharp when what you know has not been there for you. Some of the weirdest months in my life. It's been a challenge. It's been a challenge trying to stay focused, trying to, you know, stay focused on my training

and, you know, focusing on, you know, the goals ahead and, you know, whenever I may be able to play hockey again. So obviously it's been a challenge. You know, it was a struggle at times to, you know, stay committed, but I feel like overall my commitment and, uh, you know, my dedication to, you know, always working out, always training and skating, just trying to get better in any way possible. I think, you know, I think I did a pretty good job at that and, uh, overall just happy with, uh, with how things turned out. Speaking of winning and winning this gold medal, I was texting this morning with someone who knows you very well. And this person said to me, and I'll just read you this part of this text. He said, something that isn't common amongst young athletes is Shane talks all the time about winning and how he needs to win. Do you have a feeling in your mind that you need to win? Like that's a need, a desire for you?

a feeling in your mind that you need to win like that's a need a desire for you i think it is yeah i mean obviously you know throughout my entire life i've been uh you know such a competitive person no matter what it is or what i'm doing um i always want to win i always want to be the best and i always want to push myself to be the best i think you know that translates to you know whatever i'm doing i always you know i hate you know I think, you know, that translates to, you know, whatever I'm doing. I always, you know, I hate, you know, sucking at something, you know, whatever that may be, whether that's, uh, that's hockey or, you know, whether it's something like a board game or a video game or, or anything like that. I think, you know, that competitive drive that I've always had and just always, you know, wanting to win everything I do. Is there anything about your game that you find you need to work at more than other things?

Because this thing doesn't come naturally to you. Um, I think for me right now, maybe something that I'm going to want to improve on a little bit is my skating and my, my technical stride. I think right now it's decent. Um, but I feel like there are some flaws with it and, um, there's definitely a lot of room for improvement there and room to, you know, get faster and gain a little speed. So, you know, that explosive, that quickness, that those three quick strides when you get the puck. So I think that's something that I'm going to focus a lot on this summer as well.

You know, getting more physical. I think I can gain my physicality and strength a little bit, obviously, in the next level, which is my overall goal and end goal obviously it's it's gonna be bigger stronger guys so i think that's gonna be a no really important thing as well so shane my wife loves backgammon and the first time i ever played her in backgammon she whipped my butt and i said i am not letting this happen again and i've become a much better backgammon player so So let's take hockey out of the equation. You talked about video games, other games, whatever, that you can't stand not to be good at. What is the one thing in life that you look at and say, not hockey, and say, I'm going to get better at this because I'm tired of other people beating me in it? Oh, definitely golf.

I definitely played a lot last summer with my buddies and, you know, I hated when they, when they'd hit a better shot than me or, or they'd beat me in a match or whatever it may be. So that's definitely something that, uh, I'm on, I want to get better at and, uh, you know, be the best out of my group for sure. So where did your handicap go to from where to where? I was probably around 18 to 16 range last summer. I'm hoping to get like 12, 11 by this summer. So, yeah.

Oh my God. It's 17. You disgust me. It just, like, it makes, it's just, it's wow. Good for you. Good for you, man. This is an elite level athlete. Yes, I know.

These are the people we talk to. They're not like us. I know. I know. I know. I remember having a conversation with you, about you a while ago with someone, a long These are the people we talk to. They're not like us. I know. I know. I know. I remember having a conversation with you about you a while ago with someone, a longtime scout. I think I watched you play maybe a dozen times with the Frontenacs, and I saw you a ton play with Don Mills.

And this one scout said to me, have you ever seen Shane Wright get hit? And I thought about it, and I said to myself, I don't think I've ever seen anyone hit you, Shane. Have you ever been caught out there? Oh yeah, I have. Yeah, a few times. A few times last year in Kingston at the start of the year, I got caught a few times pretty well. But because of those times,

I learned to get myself in better situations and keep my head up a little more and being aware of who's around me and who's on the ice. I really, and I learned to, you know, get put myself in better situations and, you know, keep my head up a little more and being aware of who's around me and who's on the ice. So I wanted to ask you about the under 18s a bit more here. I heard you were hurt. The NHL teams there, they knew it. A couple of them told me that you had a lot of excuses to either not play your best. One of them used the phrase, pull the chute,

which I'm sure would be completely foreign to you, but they were impressed with how you persevered and competed. First of all, can you tell us what were you going through? And second, what were the challenges you felt to compete your best despite those injuries? Yeah. So I was battling a few things, the, or more than a few things, I guess. So first thing in the Sweden game in the round robin, it was late in the first period. I wanted to draw on the ozone, wanted to off pin on the wall. He took a shot, hit me right on the foot,

the outside of the foot right near the bottom. You know, stung a little bit, didn't really think much of it, played the rest of the game on it. You know, felt fine that night. And then, you know, game on it you know felt fine that night and then uh you know next day you know it was still feeling a little sore so doc cam on our team said that no maybe you should get get some x-rays on it just kind of check it out so got some x-rays and came back had a hair had a hairline fracture in my foot that's the reason i was i was out for um the Latvia game the next day. It was an off day for us.

We didn't play. So I, I took that day off as well. Didn't practice with the team, just did a small workout. And then that night, you know, I started really noticing my throat was, was super sore, you know, hurt to swallow, couldn't really eat much food or drink much water. So, um, asked doc to check me out and, uh, you know, he saw there was no bacteria or, or some sort of virus in my throat and it was a little, maybe contagious. So I had to be separated from the team, had to isolate.

And then the next morning, uh, went to the hospital, get a, uh, strep throat test and a mono test came back positive for strep. And I was, I was going to be okay to play the game obviously i wasn't feeling 100 um strep kind of you know killed my energy and and took away all that but uh the ihf made the decision that it was considered a symptom of covid so um i had to stay in my hotel room and sit out that switzerland game which is unfortunate. And then, uh, an allergic reaction earlier as well. Um, I don't know what, I don't know why or what happened. Um, but my eyes were, were swelling up like crazy.

I could barely see, I could barely open them up. Um, you just asked the, ask the guys in our team. It was, uh, didn't look the greatest. Um, looked like I was, uh, you know, getting punched in the face a few times and I had a couple of black eyes, but still not feeling 100% right now. You can probably hear in my voice a little bit, still dealing with the strep a little bit. But yeah, that's kind of what I had to play through. Did anyone tell you that there's a chance you were going to be done, that you weren't going to be allowed to play? Yeah.

Yeah. I thought after the fracture in my foot, I thought I was going to have to, you know't going to be allowed to play yeah yeah i thought um after the fracture my foot i thought i was gonna have to you know sit out the rest of the tournament i thought i was gonna be done but uh we got looked at by you know a number of doctors a number of hockey canada doctors um my agent reached out to to one one of his buddies who's an nhl doctor and they took a look at it and, you know, they just decided that it wasn't going to put in danger or put in jeopardy the rest of the tournament.

Obviously it was safer than sorry to sit out the one game. But yeah, that, at that time I didn't really know how, uh, you know, the magnitude of it or how big a deal of it was. So all you know is you got a fracture in your foot, so you don't know whether you'll be able to play or not.

That U18 tournament was just loaded with skill, like at every level, all different countries as well. The Mishkov kid in Russia looked fantastic, Bedard, certainly yourself. You mentioned, you know, your, your teammate even going back to Don Mills when, in Brennan Hoffman, who impressed you with the tournament?

I'm always impressed that, or I'm always interested, rather, in who elite-level athletes are impressed with and why. Who did it for you in this tournament? Who did you watch and you said, wow, this guy's really something? I think for me, on our team, most impressive guy for me was Mason McTavish. Just seeing the way he played the game,

seeing the way he just dominated defense, just dominated them down low with his physicality and his strength. And just the way he played the game, every time he was on the ice, he made plays. Obviously, he was a great centerman for Bedsy there with him being able to create and be able to play off the rush and all that. So, Mason definitely really impressed me with his play him be able to create and uh you'll be able to play off the rush and all that so mace definitely

uh you know really impressed impressed me with his play um and overall just how he performed the tournament you know what i had a couple people talking to me about was uh conor bedard's backhand goal against oh russia they just said that that looked like a forehand not like a backhand yeah yeah obviously that was a special play. The boys got a little fired up on the bench after that. Um, got pretty excited. So yeah, obviously that was a special goal and, uh, no pretty sweet play as well. You've already had a really interesting career. Um, and you know, we, uh, unfortunately what happened to the OHL this year happened to the OHL and no games would have been very curious to see what you would have done

coming off a 39 goal campaign in your rookie season. You know, whether it's playing, you know, Don Mills Flyers with that, you know, incredible OHL Cup final against Adam Fantilli and the Toronto Red Wings,

which was a game for the ages. This tournament, already like when you look back, it's a pretty impressive resume. Like when you're looking back at some of these tournaments you've played in, teams that you've played on, what stands out for you?

I think definitely the U18s. I think it definitely stands out for me as the most important tournament, the biggest tournament I've ever played in. Just the talent that we had, not just in our team, but overall in the tournament and just the way that I want to say, you know, our team dominated and it was really special for me, you know, to play on a team of that magnitude and of that skill and is, you

know, by far the best team I've ever been a part of. What's next for you, Shane, after you do your quarantine and you get, have you been told you've got to stay off next for you, Shane? After you do your quarantine and you get, have you been told you've got to stay off your foot for a while or have you begun to plan out what your summer is going to look like? Yeah, I'm just going to get back to training, get back to the gym, get back on the ice. Just kind of what I was doing before, you know,

just get prepared for whenever OHL season may start, gain back some of the, some of the weight and muscle that I may have lost in the U18s and, you know, just get back on the ice and, you know, just hone those skills in again and, uh, you know, just try to get to the best levels possible. Who do you skate with Shane? Um, skate with a number of guys. Um, obviously I do the PowerEdge Pro, um, which is, you know, huge right now and it's getting, uh, you know, even more popular and, you know, I now and it's getting uh you know even more popular and

you know i love that i love doing that i think that i really benefit from that my game really benefits from that so and another guy i work with by the name of josh roble yeah used to work for uh for adam oats you know he does the same sort of stuff with the uh you know the shooting and um you know finding lanes and uh being able to score from different areas. So definitely work with those two guys a lot. Yeah. 13 months from now will be your draft day. Do you think about that at all? You say it like that.

It seems like it's not very far away. It really isn't. I'll be honest. I haven't really thought of it very much. There's so much hockey to be played there's so much to do from now until then so it's too far far away I think for me to to be focusing too much or being putting too much time or thought into it I think for me I just need to focus on the present and and focus on what I'm doing now in order to get there first. Now, who's your favorite team?

Definitely the Leafs. I definitely love the Leafs. I love watching them play. Probably a little cliche answer for where I live here. No, you're from Toronto. You're entitled. You know, you're entitled. You don't want those fans egging your parents' house or anything like that. So here's the thing I wonder.

So do you watch them much? I do, yeah. i watch most of their games yeah so when you're watching the leafs and they've got these tremendous players on that team how do you watch the game i'm always curious about this when you're processing are you just watching for fun hey the leafs against the canadians tonight let's see who wins or are you watching specific things um a little bit of both obviously i watch because i love hockey i love just watching the game but for me anyways i kind of like almost put myself in in situations and decisions players make i kind of picture myself in that situation

and making that decision myself and you know whatever play they make I kind of think of myself like hey what play would I make in this situation or or what would I do um in in this scenario so um that's just kind of the way I think of it it's nothing like I don't know training my mind or anything like that it's just kind of something that I enjoy doing and uh and I enjoy doing when I'm watching it when you watch them play who do you look at and say wow i i wouldn't have done that but that's a great idea and i'm gonna steal it can you give me a couple of examples of guys like that obviously the uh you know the matthews and marner are uh are super special the way they think the game the way they make plays but a guy i love

and is probably underrated and not someone you really think of is Jason Spezza. I think he's such a smart player and he's such an intelligent player. You can tell why he's still in the league now and he's being able to keep up and truly make a difference. And I just think the way he makes plays and the way he thinks the game is unbelievable. He's one of the best hockey minds I can tell out there watching. Obviously, he may not be the most fleet of foot. He may not be the fastest player, but his mind and the way he thinks the game is still at is such an elite level.

You know, I remember one of the first times I ever spoke with you, coming away from it and saying to someone, like, this is a really well-grounded kid. This is a really mature kid. Like, there was not like any element of sort of goofiness about you, Shane. Like, I remember the first time you and I spoke, I'm like, holy smoke, I think the guy's 25 years old. I want to check the ID here.

And I remember talking to someone, this would have been right around the OHL Cup, and they said, that's because of his parents. He said, that's the kid that his parents have raised. Do you have a thought or two on your folks. And I know that, you know, maybe even when you went to the GTHL, leaving Burlington could have been tough for you, but you know, what were your parents like all the way up here? Yeah, obviously my parents have had such a huge impact on myself and, you know, the way I've been raised and, you know, the person I am today, you know, they raised me to always be respectful, always to be, you know, a mature person.

And I think obviously, you know, moving to Toronto at the age I did definitely, um, you know, help speed up that process and help me gain that maturity faster. But overall, I think just, you know, the way my parents raised, uh, myself and my sister, um, just to be, you to be kind, respectful people. But never take anything for granted and always be determined, always be committed to just making yourself better in any way possible. Just a final one for me, Shane, what's the best piece of advice you've been given as you mark your path towards the NHL? I think just never be satisfied, just never being satisfied with, with where you are,

with your skills, never be satisfied with, with anything, whether it comes to your physicality or physical strength, you know, your shot, your skating, never feel like you're a hundred percent, you know, the best at, at anything, always try to pick apart your game, find things that you can improve on, find things that you can make better and just never be complacent. Um, and never just, just never be satisfied with your skill level or where your game is at. Always try to find those things to make yourself better. Um, because you know, there's other people out there doing the same thing. There's other people always making themselves better. So, um, if you want to be the best at what you do, you always have to be making yourself better and be pushing yourself.

I think that is awesome advice. I think that is so true. It's a, it's a great piece of advice that you were given and it's a great piece of advice for you to listen to. And this has been a lot of fun. Uh, you wonderful athlete. Someone's really lucky out there in the NHL who's going to get you. Shane, thanks so much for stopping by. Good luck in the offseason. Heal up. Look forward to seeing you next year with the Kingston Frontenacs. And as Elliot mentions, the NHL draft is just around the corner,

even though for some it may seem far away, probably not so much for you. Thanks so much for doing this today. Yeah, thank you guys very much. I appreciate it. And there he is, Shane Wright. Win, has a need to win. If you haven't seen this guy play yet so far, you are in for an absolute treat. When they get back to action in the OHL, make sure you check out your Kingston Frontenac's games next season. Thanks to Shane Wright for stopping by.

And that's it for another edition of 31 Thoughts to Podcast. Elliot and I will be back on Friday. Thanks for joining us today. Thank you.