Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Alright, everybody, welcome back to the Good Old Hockey podcast. We've got a very, very, very special episode for you guys and for us as well.
Today we've got our first NHL interview ever. We've had a couple interviews here and there, but this is the first ever professional player we've ever had on here. Super excited. He's a very, very, very old teammate of mine back when we were super little, but galley, just go ahead and read off his resume from.
[00:00:26] Speaker B: Yeah, well, well, try not to get out of breath because there's so much stuff, but uh, man, this is, guys, this guy's two time WHL goalie of the year. Two time HL Goalie of the Year, CHL Goalie of the Year, HL MVP in 2022 23 and at 2020 World Junior Championship gold medalist. There's plenty more I could spill off, but I don't want to bore you. I'm sure everyone knows about it myself. As a Flames fan. Been following you for a while. Um, he was drafted by the Calgary Flames in the 7th round in 2019, which, my opinion, steal of the draft. He's shined at every single level of play and honestly, one of the NHL's most promising goalie prospects. He's got NH 18 NHL games under his belt and he's only 23 years old. This guy's a brick wall. Watch. You play a lot of games, Dustin. Very excellent goalie. We're really lucky to have you on, you know, episode number 41. And. Yeah. Ladies and gentlemen, today we got Kyrie flames goalie Dustin Wolfenhe.
[00:01:23] Speaker C: Thanks for having me on here, guys.
[00:01:24] Speaker A: Yeah, of course. Thank you for coming on. Curse of all your busy schedule. How's the offseason going for you?
[00:01:32] Speaker C: It's good, man. Trying to get as much golf as I can while the weather's nice. And the weather right now here in Calgary has been nineties, so it's been. It's been a toasty one for the last couple weeks.
[00:01:43] Speaker A: Yeah, we're down in Boise, so we're what? How far is it?
[00:01:46] Speaker C: Galley?
[00:01:46] Speaker A: Like 9 hours?
[00:01:47] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, 9 hours. Probably like straight distance, but we got to go through a bunch of two lane highways to get up to Caldwell.
Yeah, man. Did you, uh. Did you hit up the stampede last week or weeks before?
[00:02:00] Speaker C: I did. I did. I, uh, went to the rodeo, hit the grounds for one day. It's an absolute zero out there, so it's kind of one day and yeah, it's. You're good for a year, right? And it's. It's crazy, but I've hit the tents a couple times, see some. Some good shows. And you know what? They take good care of us out there, so it's always good to enjoy it.
[00:02:25] Speaker A: Yeah.
Who's your favorite artist you've seen there?
[00:02:30] Speaker C: Let's see. Probably one of the best shows I see was this year it had Flo Rida started off it. Shabuzi. Come on. And it obviously is kind of blown up lately with his bar song, but Macamore absolutely shook the house.
I was up top in, like, a balcony, and I could have swore that sucker was going to fall down. I was shaking like crazy. It was. It was pretty unreal. Yeah, yeah.
[00:02:55] Speaker B: McLemore is really good. I heard Nickelback was there. Do you get a chance to see them?
[00:03:00] Speaker C: I didn't. He was at the dome the day I got home from. From my buddy's wedding, but I chose to go see Florida again for the last.
I probably should have went and see Nickelback because who knows how long those guys are going to go for. Yeah.
[00:03:15] Speaker A: Yeah. I would have seen McDavid there, too. I know he loves them. But, um. All right, well, let's, uh, kind of kick it back a bit in terms of just your story. When I give our listeners just some insight, and I haven't really seen. Is this your first podcast? Like, how many podcasts have you done before?
[00:03:31] Speaker C: I've done a handful of them, but.
[00:03:33] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:03:33] Speaker C: Um, obviously we're pretty busy, so. Yeah, I don't get to do too many of them.
[00:03:38] Speaker A: All right, well, if you kind of go back a little bit, just kind of explain, you know, just what it was like growing up in San Jose.
If you had any goalies, you kind of modeled your game after or anything, just how that started for you and your love of hockey.
[00:03:50] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, I'm sure just like yourself, like the sharks was. Was the reason I got into hockey. And you know what Nabokov was, he was pretty much the goat of the sharks at that time. Yeah, it was pretty, pretty cool to watch him growing up. And it's even cooler now that, you know, he's been a part of the Sharks organization for a while now and kind of crossed paths with him going through the American League, playing against the barracuda. I've seen him you all around the rink getting the, you know, shoot the shit, and you kind of fanboy a little bit, even though you're starting to get the position that he was for a long, long time. But, yeah, it's always cool to get the talk and see what those guys have to say after having long careers.
[00:04:40] Speaker B: Was there. Was there any, like, Sharks games or moments that you watched the Sharks play that stood out to you or I guess your best, best memory when you're watching the Sharks play?
[00:04:51] Speaker C: Yeah, it's been a long time.
I'd be lying if I said I had pinpoint a single memory, but, you know, they, they had all the tools for so many, many years and, you know, kind of the big Joe, Little Joe. Granted, both are now officially retired, and it sounds like Pavelski might have went back for. For one more year, but.
Kind of sad he didn't get a cop after so many games and so many years. But, yeah, no, it was just cool. I wish they would have been able to figure out in the playoffs so he could have, you know, stay in a cup, come to San Jose. But you know what? Now, now I gotta do everything I can to make sure that doesn't happen.
[00:05:41] Speaker B: 100%.
[00:05:42] Speaker A: I saw a photo, I think when you made your debut with the Stanley cup, you didn't touch it though, I'm assuming.
[00:05:48] Speaker C: No, I've never touched it.
[00:05:50] Speaker A: Good. Yeah. Except for the one in your hand. Is that a Stanley cup you got next to you?
[00:05:56] Speaker C: No, it's not. It's a fake. Okay.
[00:05:58] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:06:00] Speaker C: Costco. Costco, man.
[00:06:01] Speaker A: Gary, what are we going to ask?
[00:06:03] Speaker B: Oh, I was just going to ask to a lot of listeners out there don't really know too much about California hockey and what was it like kind of growing up playing in a non traditional hockey market, kind of like California. I know it's gotten a lot more hype in the past decade or so, but I. I guess. Could you just tell listeners a little bit about that?
[00:06:22] Speaker C: Yeah, I feel like when me and Sean were growing up, it was.
There weren't as many people. Like you said, you kind of knew everyone around the rank. Cause you were always there and it was always the same people.
It's been pretty awesome to see how much it's grown. And the sharks have like ten ranks now. It's ridiculous.
[00:06:42] Speaker A: Yeah. Have you been back recently?
[00:06:46] Speaker C: I mean, I've. The Barracuda play.
[00:06:49] Speaker A: Oh, true.
[00:06:50] Speaker C: I. Sure. So I've been around. Yeah. And then obviously played. Played once at the end of the year at SAP.
But, yeah, it's pretty remarkable how much it's grown and obviously it's hopefully going to get even better now that yellow sharks got celebrini and they brought in some. Some pretty good players to surround him with them.
It was pretty sad, to say the least. When we played at the end of the year, there it was pretty empty after having it, after having known HP now SCP, to be one of the loudest buildings for many, many years. And I'm sure give it a couple years and it'll be right back with the personnel they've acquired.
[00:07:37] Speaker A: Yeah, no, I agree. I. I mean, it's definitely sad, but it makes sense. I mean, they've been rebuilding, it seems like forever now, but we're not about talking about the sharks here. Yeah, but the. I had another question just kind of like, I guess if you could kind of pinpoint a moment in time where you kind of realized that it was your time or that you had a shot to go to the NHL, like, when was that for you? Because I never. I never got to that point, but I'm curious if you ever had that. That moment or if you even know when that was.
[00:08:07] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, when I watched San Jose to go to LA, I. Granted I was nine or ten by now. Agent had basically recruited me to say, hey, like, we want you to come play for our team, for our kids team in LA, and forced me off. My parents figured out a way to make that happen.
Those years went on. I think I was there for six years. And as those years went on, them. You get scouts watching you for juniors in college and kind of once the band draft came around and kind of had a good idea of what could happen and if it did happen, where I would like to go, and I think probably around there, I was like, okay, well, if I start playing pretty well in juniors, you know, you never know what's going to happen. And obviously I put some, put up a couple of good years in Everett and we had some good teams that made some good runs in the playoffs and big time, anytime you win, it certainly helps your stock.
[00:09:13] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:09:14] Speaker B: So I know there's a lot of people in California, here in Boise and all over the place, to be honest. Was there any sort of culture shocks going down from northern California to southern California? I know you were only ten years old, but did you notice anything in specific that was different about LA?
[00:09:34] Speaker C: I mean, it's. You're going from the Silicon Valley to Hollywood, basically everything is significantly more expensive.
Granted, I didn't have to worry about that at the time. Yeah, my parents are probably hurting from those. From those years, but no, I mean, at that age, all you focused on was school and hockey.
I switched to online school to be able to kind of make the transition going to southern California in order to get the right training on the ice that I needed. And obviously it was pretty beneficial at that time.
But, I mean, at the time, all you focused on was, you know, skating and school and hopefully getting, getting good grades.
[00:10:27] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, most fully. All right, let's kind of transition to juniors then, too. What was that like? Or how did that whole happen with you getting drafted to the WHL? Like, could you kind of explain that or walk into that?
[00:10:41] Speaker C: Yeah, as a.
Basically, as a US born kidde, the stereotypical thing is you're going to go college.
You don't see too, too many us born kids go to the western Lake Grant. I think that's maybe changed a little bit. You're starting to see a little bit more, especially with them implementing a us born draft before the regular draft even happens.
But I told thieves that I wasn't sure what I was going to do. I'd probably go college. And, you know, in the back of my mind, I had some connections with Everett and knew some good people over there, and my goalie coach knew their GM really well, and it was kind of basically sway other teams to basically not pick me. And hopefully I had a chance to. And granted, it worked out pretty well.
It's exactly where I wanted to go, and if I did go the junior route and, you know, I wouldn't have changed it, it turned out great. And now my parents live there and I've kind of made that their home, so it's pretty cool to go back.
[00:11:53] Speaker B: Yeah. Did you ever consider the college route? I know you kind of touched on that a little bit, but did you ever, you know, see going that way? I know a lot of american players.
[00:12:02] Speaker C: Do that, so, yeah, I didn't do any, like, visits or anything.
I forgot what age they're allowed to kind of start talking to you, but you basically are committed to the Western League pretty early on. Like, I signed when I was just before I turned 16. So you either wait and see what's out there for schools or you kind of just bite the bolt and say, I'm going to go this route. And they laid out a pretty good plan for me, and it all worked out well.
[00:12:40] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, you had a lot of success with them, too. I mean, what two time goal of the year in the WHL and so CHL as well, which is amazing. Did you ever have, like, I don't know, any moments that stick out to you with the WHL? Like, I don't know, just anything that really stuck out to you playing there?
[00:13:01] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, the fans were terrific.
You don't really, if you're not familiar with the western league, you don't really know whatever it is, where it is, but they do a great job with, with their hockey. You know, we average like over 6000 fans a night, which is wow for Dear Mark Wolfram and I. So you always knew that coming to the rink you were going to have a good atmosphere and, you know, we had some, some good teams. We made some good runs. We ended up losing in the finals my first season. And one game I'll never forget is it was the Western Conference final.
We were in Tri City for games six. I believe we were down. I think it was either four or five, one with like say 18 minutes left in the game. And we were. It was, it was. I was obviously what wasn't playing because Hart had the net and he ended up burying a guy at the face off top before the play even started and flipped penalties. We somehow managed to be a power play and winded up coming back. We scored like three goals in like four minutes or something. Ended up winning an overtime. And if we don't win that game, who knows what happens in game seven. But it was pretty cool to be a part of something like that. Yeah.
[00:14:22] Speaker B: Yeah, that's sweet. So I guess, you know, what was it like going from, you know, transitioning into juniors, especially at, you know, high level league like the WHL was, you know, is it pretty hard to adjust or did it come pretty easy to you? Cause I know, I mean, I was looking at some of your stats. You played, I want to say, 20 games your, your rookie season in the Wlan.
[00:14:43] Speaker C: Yeah, no, it, it probably went smoother than expected.
I was just coming off double hip surgery in the summer, so I missed the first, I think, month, month and a half of the season.
And obviously my first couple games went probably better than ever expected and that kind of set the tone for the rest of the year. And once heart went away for world juniors, I put a ton of games and kind of found, found my groove a bit. And, you know, whenever I got to play the rest of the year, you know, we had a really good team, so there was, you know, we weren't losing too many hockey games and it's always fun. Yeah, exactly. When you're winning, it's. There's nothing ever bad, so. Yeah, no, I definitely kind of just set the tone and sweet. It was nice to be able to play a whole heck of a lot of games for the next couple years.
[00:15:41] Speaker A: Yeah, that's awesome.
Well, could you kind of talk us a little bit about just winning gold with world juniors in Czech Republic, too? Like how was that just that atmosphere, the team you were with?
[00:15:52] Speaker C: Yeah, the.
We ended up losing the quarters and the track, actually.
Interesting. Interesting place. We won in the bubble.
[00:16:01] Speaker A: Oh, okay.
[00:16:03] Speaker C: You're after. You're good. But the check is an interesting place for sure. We were in west drava, and you know what? Being. I don't know how old. I was probably 18 at the time. And, you know, all you go do there is play hockey. But I'd never been out of the country, and, you know, it takes you 25 hours to get there or whatever with travel, and I. Wow.
It's ridiculous. Like, you fly from. We flew from Detroit. It was, like, eight or 9 hours to one place, and you have a layover. Then it's another, like, few hours, and you lost, like, three or 4 hours.
Just, like, the different cultures of foods and the way they structure their hotels. Like, me and my roommate wearing, like, a shoe locks for a room, and I only played one game there, but just being in that atmosphere was european fans or something else. Did you. Yeah.
[00:17:00] Speaker B: Did you guys have ac? Your.
[00:17:02] Speaker C: Your.
[00:17:02] Speaker B: Your dorms? Because I know a lot of places don't have ac. And that was, like, I've been over to Prague before, and it was brutal. The heat.
[00:17:10] Speaker C: Yeah, it's. Granted, it was the winner, so, thankfully, it wasn't.
But true, if you transition to the bubble, we were staying at the.
Where are we staying at? It was. It's an older hotel. Granted, Hockey Canada was given the J Dub merits. They were living in luxury.
But, yeah, our hotels, like, the heater AC, like, barely worked.
It was very interesting with the bubble. Like, you showed up, you were locked in your room for four days, couldn't leave your room.
Like, the food just gets delivered to your door, and they basically had a wristband on you, so, like, if you left the door, you were, like, out of the tournament. Like, you would. They'd kick you out nuts.
[00:17:56] Speaker A: It was crazy roommate, right?
[00:17:59] Speaker C: No, we were all solo at that point. Oh, my gosh. We do, like, a bunch of zoom calls and whatnot, but, yeah, you're basically just sitting in a room for. For four days, filling your jump, trying to figure out what to do.
[00:18:11] Speaker A: Yeah. Play video game, anything.
[00:18:15] Speaker C: I don't even think we brought the.
I might have brought the Xbox. I had to have, or else I'm not sure what I would have done.
[00:18:22] Speaker A: Watch movies, I guess, like. Yeah, I can't really.
[00:18:26] Speaker C: Yeah. But, no, it's pretty cool. Obviously, I would have liked to have seen us win with fans.
Yeah. Playing canon and the gold medal would have been pretty electric, I would presume, especially in Edmonton. That's a pretty big hockey town, as you all know, so. Yep.
No, but anytime you get a chance to win a goal, you're not going to complain.
[00:18:48] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:18:49] Speaker B: Not, not a big fan of Edmonton as a Flames fan?
[00:18:52] Speaker C: No, no. Right on, right on your side there.
[00:18:56] Speaker B: Just spinning back to the WHL. I know you won many different awards with them. Did you ever feel like you kind of dominated the league or you know, that you were, you were ready for the, for the pros?
[00:19:10] Speaker C: Yeah, I think like as you, after you get drafted, I feel like after you get drafted, you come back to the western league and you feel like you have maybe a leg up on a lot of players in terms of like you've seen, you've went to camps, you've seen professional shots. Now you kind of have a feel of what's going on.
And also I feel like you gained some, some hockey knowledge going through, you know, def camp, main camp. So when you go back, you know, there's that standard to dominate where you're at.
I felt like as the years went by, like Covid season, I, the west really didn't start till what was it, probably February or March or whatever.
I, so I played a couple games here in Calgary for Stockton at the time and granted, the first game was probably as bad as anyone could have thought, which is crazy to think about, but what happened there?
We were losing five one. I didn't make it past the halfway point of the game.
Damn. So you think about a pro debut, it doesn't leave the fondest of memories, but granted, it's all worked out to the end. Yeah, no, but after playing a few games and being in that pro environment, coming back to the Western League, it certainly slows down. And, you know, I came back and had a really good start. I think I had three shots in a row. Wow.
So it felt like basically I was on top of the world.
You know, things were going well and too bad that year was cut short because every single season we had you better team to win it and Covid year and obviously the 20 game shortage season.
[00:21:09] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:21:10] Speaker C: You know, I think we had a really good chance and, you know, it's unfortunate, but now is all you can hope or you can wish for, I guess. Yeah.
[00:21:19] Speaker B: So how did that like, go down? Did they just let you guys know and it was just basically seasons done or. I mean, that's, that's just, it's still bizarre to think back on, on that season, you know, that shortened season in the WHL.
[00:21:32] Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, right when Covid came around, you know, I think one of the first cases happened to be in every. I'm not sure how that was, but when we came back from the Czech Republic, I felt like I was sick for, like, a month, but didn't know what it was. So who knows? Maybe I had Covid. You never know.
But I felt like there was, like, a couple days span of it went from what's. What's Covid? To holy shit. Like, now this thing is legit. Like, it's.
[00:22:04] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:22:04] Speaker C: Everywhere.
I forgot who. What NBA player put. Put his mouth on the mic over there. Yeah, I remember that happened one day, and the very next day, like, everything.
They were like, we're shutting everything down.
Like, we were waiting to go on the. On the bus to get on the road, and they're like, we're done. Like, we're pausing the season, and everybody send everybody home for, like, two or three weeks, hoping something would happen, to keep going, but then ended up just counting it and say, we'll see you later.
Yeah.
[00:22:41] Speaker B: So what was that like, you know, as a. As a professional athlete, how. How did you stay in shape and how did you, you know, continue to play hockey during then?
[00:22:52] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, like, any other offseason, I don't think I touched the ice. Like, I try not to touch the ice too much in the summer. Yeah. Like, it's. I won't touch the ice here until August, so it's trying to take a lengthy break from, you know, putting your body in those positions. But I think during COVID it was.
There was a lot of unknowns. Like, when is the season going to start? So do I need to skate right now? Do I need to work on everything?
I'm trying to think. I went to.
I think once I started getting back into, basically shape, there was some cool things. One of the gyms that I went to had, like, a.
One of those slide boards, but it was like an octagon, so you can mess around, do wheelies on it. Like, it was crazy.
So I did that for a while and felt like that was pretty handy. I did a lot of, like, virtual workouts and reconnected with some old, old people to help me out. And I spent a couple months down in Stockton with the goalie coach at the time, who is now the goalie coach to the Sharks.
So he did a good job to get promoted for that. But I went and lived with his family for, like, two and a half, three months.
No, we'd work out and skate and we did a lot of. We played a lot of basketball in the hood, and it was. It was pretty cool. I mean, yeah, not something you would normally get to do, but granted the circumstance, we tried to make the best of it. And I remember, I think it was. It was probably August, September, maybe.
Obviously, no seasons were going and still kind of just hanging around and remember USA hockey giving me a call saying, hey, this tournament's gonna happen, so basically figure out what you need to do to get back into shape. And I ended up driving from Everett to Coeur d'Alene for, like, a weekend to skate. I.
Because at the time, there's no. Nothing was open in Everett. There was no rinks open, and everything was shut down. And we played a lot of roller. That was the only hockey we were playing.
But it's crazy to think back of how you would just work out in garages and dumbbells were selling for thousands of dollars on Facebook marketplace.
[00:25:23] Speaker A: That's crazy. I want to hear about this warm up jump. Where did that come from?
[00:25:30] Speaker C: Your guess is good as mine, then I don't know where it came from.
I didn't start it till my last year in ever, which was the shortened Covid season, and it just kind of came out of nowhere.
It's kind of transitioned into the calling the jump for joy. It's, you know, you get to play hockey, the sport you love, and especially being at the highest level, you just. You want to enjoy it. And, um, it's pretty cool to see people sending me videos of, you know, their kids doing it.
[00:26:01] Speaker A: That's awesome.
[00:26:03] Speaker C: It's just something that, uh, people can relate to and, you know, have fun with.
[00:26:08] Speaker B: So is that kind of, like, your rhythm now? Do you do that before every single game? And do you. Do you never with that jump?
[00:26:16] Speaker C: I do it every period. And, um, you know, something might change at some point, but for the time being, it's something that, uh, I enjoy. And I know the. The media people certainly enjoy it, too. Oh, yeah, I know. Like, last year when we were doing, uh, all the flames, like, preseason media shoots, um, that's all they cared about. They wanted clips of me doing jumps.
[00:26:42] Speaker A: So, yeah, now we're doing it.
[00:26:44] Speaker C: Sure. Yeah, exactly. So it's all in good fun.
[00:26:47] Speaker A: Yeah. Did you, like. How did you describe yourself? Just in the locker room? I guess because I know from my past with goalies, you have these two spectrum of goalies. They're either, like, super silent and, like, just locked in. In the locker room, or they're psychopaths in the locker room just going crazy. Do you fall on either side of those or you more in between? Like, where are you?
[00:27:09] Speaker C: Athenae. Yeah, I feel like it depends on the scenario.
I like to be one that's kind of chatty and likes to engage with people. And granted, if I have the headphones on, you're probably not hearing a whole lot from me, but, I mean, it's where I'm in a position where I get, like I said, I get to do what I love. I get to be the highest level. I get to be around people that have been the league for, for so many years, and time flies, so I try to take in as much as I can and shoot the shit and just enjoy the guys and, you know, it's crazy what scenario, you know, I'm in. You never would have believed that, you know, a kid from the Bay area would be in this position. And, Grant, there's two of us here now in Congress, so it's just pretty cool. I like to try to engage and.
[00:28:09] Speaker B: Enjoy what's on your pre game playlist.
[00:28:15] Speaker C: There's a whole lot of stuff on there. You got a little bit of nickelback on there. You got some. Okay. Like some pop, you got some edm.
I haven't added anything, but post Malone's a big. I love post Malone. Yeah.
Just say I like anything that'll get me kind of fired up, and I think it's got a good beat to it. Really?
[00:28:37] Speaker A: Yeah. I actually have done this before. Like, we record a podcast, I'll listen to burn it to the ground by Nickelback. It gets my heart going. I know. I'm, like, ready to, you know, go in all energy, but that's awesome. Nickelback's good one.
[00:28:50] Speaker B: Great song.
[00:28:51] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, I remember it from. Was it one of the cho. I feel like it was.
I can't remember.
[00:28:59] Speaker C: It had to have been in there for sure.
[00:29:00] Speaker A: Yeah. All right, well, could you. I know we kind of went through, you know, junior's early career. Talk to us about draft night. How was that? Just, like, that experience of, you know, that whole week.
[00:29:12] Speaker C: Yeah, it's.
It was nice. I only had to drive, you know, an hour off, 2 hours to Vancouver, so maybe if it was a farther distance, who knows what. What the situation would have been if I went or not.
Granted, I was projected to go a lot higher than where I ended up, so I ended up going to day one to see a lot of guys that I've known through playing tournaments and stuff.
You cross paths with a lot of guys, and it was cool to see those guys go on the first round and have their, their night and enjoyed and, you know, I always knew that day two that that was kind of the chance that I had somewhere in there, and I didn't expect to be sitting there for 7 hours.
[00:30:05] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:30:06] Speaker C: But it was pretty crazy how, like, you know, I think I was projected to be like, between round three and five. So I was, round three started to come and it started to go. You're kind of questioning what's going on. You know, four goes by and you're starting to get a little worried. And I was five and six pass, you're like, what the heck is going on right now? Yeah, big time. I just, I had a really good year in Everett, and everybody's just overlooking it because of strictly hype. And it was funny. My, my agent's French and I remember him bringing up a couple staff members from different teams. Did a concourse and would pull me aside and be like, hey, this guy isn't that short. Granted, I'm not six'five, but like, wow, I still can get the job done. And, yeah, no kidding, he was yelling in French and it was hilarious. But I was on the congress and just happened to go sit back down for the last couple picks and you know what? I wouldn't, would have changed for the world. It was pretty cool to one, be one of the last ones selected and obviously had a lot of family there. And there were a bunch of fans from, from Everett who made the trek, too. So when I met, my name, did a good call, there was a pretty, pretty large commotion in the arena, and that's cool.
A large majority of the teams had already packed up their tables and we're out of there. So there weren't too many people left.
And by the time, you know, you go down there, you do some, some media and sign some stuff. By the time I got back up to the, like, the flames sweep the whole stage and everything was already torn down and it's crazy how fast they move and. Yeah, yeah.
But you know what? It was pretty awesome. I remember one of the guys or the guy I work with for, like, the mindfulness side of the game to keep your head straight is he's from Vancouver, so he was there sitting with, with me and my family. And for some reason, you just had a feeling that, like, everything was gonna go fine. Like, just hang in there. And granted, this guy's got some, some tricks of his sleeve. I don't know how he does it, but he had a feeling and granted, it worked out. So, yeah, pretty cool. Yeah.
[00:32:31] Speaker B: Did you use that as, like, motivation kind of getting drafted later? Because, I mean, you had such a good year, year before and years before as well, but I think you fell quite in, quite far in the draft, which was surprising to me, but very thankful as a Flames fan that got picked up by Calgary. But, yeah, I guess, you know, did you use that as motivation?
[00:32:54] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, I think I always will.
Not only just that, but just how, how many teams had a chance skipped over me, not because of what I can do on the ice, but because of how tall I stand in the paint and, yeah, granted, it's their job to try to find the best person that will be in NHL. And years down the line, there's a lot of small players in the league like Claire is now. There's a lot of smaller players than large.
Karen, goal is a little bit of a different position, but there's been a couple of guys that are six foot or even below that have been tremendous. And I think it's pretty awesome when you do get the chance and you get to play and you have success that you can just shove it back in their face.
[00:33:55] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:33:56] Speaker C: Um. That's got to kind of make them regret. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
[00:34:01] Speaker A: All 31 teams are going to be kicking themselves.
[00:34:04] Speaker B: Did they, did they give you a call or how did that go down with, you know, getting picked?
[00:34:10] Speaker C: No. So I was there. So they just announced it over the microphone. Oh, wow.
If I wasn't there, they probably, I would assume it would be via phone.
And it was funny. The only, I only talked to Calgary, I think, for like, maybe ten minutes on the phone prior to the draft, so they weren't really even on my radar. Wow. There was a handful of teams that I talked to quite a bit, but. So every time they came up, I was looking for that. Yeah, exactly. You're like, holding your breath waiting for it to happen. But, you know, I. I enjoy hearing Calgary, so I'm pretty happy about it.
[00:34:49] Speaker A: Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, we went, we went to the draft this year, like three weeks ago in Vegas. It was really cool to see, just especially being in the sphere, too, but, you know, so for me, watching Macklin getting picked was cool, but, yeah, I was just kind of curious about that just because we had seen all that and I didn't, I kind of figured that they'd let you know, but I also was like, maybe they don't even know until they literally say their name.
[00:35:15] Speaker C: Yeah, you have no idea until. Until they say it and it was even. I think it might have been even more different with, like, Covid. They did the virtual draft, and, like, you're just sitting on tv waiting for something to happen.
[00:35:31] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely.
One last question about the drafts.
Kind of, like. I mean, I've always kind of been curious about this. Just you, you know, never playing professionally. Obviously, I love the sharks. Um, but when you get drafted, how fast is that? Like, you're. I mean, obviously, I know that you're huge into the flames and you play for them, but, um, how quick does that, like, that fandom for your childhood team just drop? Cause, I don't know. I'm always used to, like, lifelong fans, but some of these players, you know, obviously have ties to the past. But, like, how quick does that change?
[00:36:08] Speaker C: Yeah, I think, like, granted, I was all into the sharks for. For many years, and then, obviously, I lived in LA for the Kings when they won two cops.
Wow.
So that was a pretty cool experience to be around.
So, I mean, once. Once you get picked by someone else, I feel like it transfers pretty quick. Yeah. You know, once you put on a jersey and you're kind of like, wow, this is kind of reality now. And certainly the hatred for the Oilers came right away.
[00:36:48] Speaker B: I feel you on that.
[00:36:50] Speaker C: Anytime you get to play them, it's pretty rewarding to beat them, but, you know, they've got. They've got a heck of a team over there and now, so, yeah, it's always a tough one.
[00:37:02] Speaker A: Did you play them last year, the Oilers? Just last.
[00:37:04] Speaker C: I didn't play. I know I seen it firsthand from.
[00:37:09] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:37:09] Speaker C: From the bad shit.
[00:37:10] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:37:11] Speaker C: I tell you what that stuff is.
That power play is something. Something else.
[00:37:16] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:37:17] Speaker B: Does. Does that rivalry kind of carry over to the HL as well?
[00:37:23] Speaker C: I'd say a little bit, but not. It's nothing anything like battle of Alberta, by any means. Yeah. You know, I think one of the biggest rebels we've had the last two years is probably Coachella.
Coachella or Abbotsford, those are probably the two biggest rebels we've had. Obviously. Obviously being part of the closest team to us, and we've played playoff series against them two years ago, and then Coachella. Last two years, um, Coachella knocked us out twice, unfortunately. Um, but, uh, you know, there's a lot of hatred towards. Towards Coachella, and it would have been nice to give it back to them, but, you know, heck of a squad.
[00:38:07] Speaker A: So. Been drafted playing with Everett. Um, how did that contract go? Like, was that an in person thing? They phone you up, they walk? You know, I've seen the photos I remember on Instagram, when you sign those papers, I'm assuming you're at home. But how was that whole process with just signing that initial contract?
[00:38:27] Speaker C: Yeah, when I signed it, when I did Everett, when I signed with Everett, they did a full on press release, which was pretty cool.
They made a pretty big deal out of it. So I happened to be there for a week, you know, kind of seeing what was. What it was like. And, um, you know, they did a whole staged media thing and did a whole video, and that was pretty cool.
It was a little different for. For the NHL. They basically just, you know, your agent is negotiating with what's going on. Granted, my agents are negotiating right now to. For my new contract. And so they. They basically just call you say, this is probably the best what you got. And it was during COVID So I just. You sign your house, ship it off, and, you know, at that time you got signing bonus. So it was pretty nice to see some. Some money coming to the bank, but big time. No, but it's. It's always rewarding to put the pen to the paper.
[00:39:29] Speaker B: Yeah, definitely. So what? So I know, you know, obviously you kind of bounced around ever in the AHL during the COVID year. Did you ever play in Stockton at all?
[00:39:38] Speaker C: I did. I put a full year in Stockton.
Thankfully, it was, you know, I survived.
[00:39:50] Speaker B: Yeah, I've heard some stories from that. What was Stockton like?
[00:39:54] Speaker C: No, it was. It was interesting, to say the least.
You know, they have their. There were the die hards that would go to every game, but other than that, there was almost no people in the stands. Maybe a couple of thousand. Maybe a thousand.
Wow. I mean, it's just not a big hockey town. Yeah, but it was nice to be in California and be somewhat close to the home, right? Yeah, but, I mean, it served its purpose. We. We had a really good team. We ended up going to the conference finals and lost to Chicago. But there were some pretty funny stories where I don't know who we were playing, but it was kind of an open concourse on one end of the rink, and they set up a boxing ring.
They had boxing matches in between the periods. No way. Like, we play a period and then there would be like a full on boxing match, like on the calling course during the intermissions, like something I've never seen before. No, it's insane. And then, like, the Diaz brothers are from there, right? They're pretty bad.
So I think it was like Nate Diaz boxing gym. Like, they were part of it.
I'm pretty sure he might have been there at one point, but somebody pissed off a Hells angel. Like, I don't know what happened, but I remember walking out of the rink. There was probably, like, 30 cop cars surrounding the building.
[00:41:30] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh.
[00:41:31] Speaker C: I don't know what happened, but something bad.
[00:41:34] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:41:35] Speaker C: Like, you're getting an escort to your car because you never know what's going to happen. And that is wild.
No, it was just interesting. But it was pretty cool to be there for one year and get to experience some. Some craziness.
[00:41:52] Speaker A: Yeah.
Because that was your first season in the AHL.
[00:41:56] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, first year. And then, wow, it was like, middle of playoffs, and they're like, oh, yeah, we're gonna move the team to Calgary.
Which, I mean, I didn't mind. It was. It's. It was always a pain in the butt to, like, if you wanted to, if you were getting called up, you had.
They get you a car service to San Francisco. So it'd be an hour and a half to San Francisco, and then the flight from there is like three, three and a half hours or so with a time change. And so it's a whole day thing, and it's a lot nicer just be able to wake up and drive to a different rank.
[00:42:34] Speaker A: Yeah. I was always baffled with San Jose and how they had the Worcestershire in Massachusetts. I was like, why is this even a thing?
[00:42:42] Speaker C: Like.
[00:42:43] Speaker A: And obviously now they're in San Jose, but, yeah, that's. That's crazy. I love that about Stockton. I played a couple tournaments there, and not the same experience, but I had some interesting just encounters there.
[00:42:56] Speaker B: What's. What's the fan base like in Calgary compared to Stockton? Obviously way bigger of a hockey city. But did you guys pull pretty good in Calgary?
[00:43:06] Speaker C: Yeah, it was pretty good. And, uh, like, for the Wranglers, it would. It would depend on what day. Like, if it was a weekday, it'd be pretty empty. Probably only a thousand or so, maybe two. Um, but, like, if you got on, like, a Friday night, Saturday night against, like, Abbotsford or something, like, there would probably be like 670 thousand people. Wow, that's pretty cool. And granted, in this, although I'm like, it looks like there's nobody there because, yeah, it's a 20,000 seater. Right. Um, but, I mean, with the Flames, it's pretty awesome. They. I don't know if we sold out much last year, but still, like 19, 18, 19,000. Pretty. Pretty remarkable and pretty cool to be in the old dome for a couple more years before they turned on.
[00:43:49] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:43:50] Speaker B: Yeah, man, I've gone to quite a few games up there. I'm originally from Montana, so we. We drive out there for hockey tournaments, catch a Flames game. Um, or just go up there for Flames games in general. But, yeah, it's sad that the dome is coming down. What's it. What's it like playing in that place? Is it. Is it pretty old or outdated or.
[00:44:07] Speaker C: It is. It is outdated. Um, like, our facilities probably aren't as nice as. As most. Um. But, I mean, it feels. It feels very homey in there. It's.
It's a very, like, dull lighting. And, like, if you compare, like, the south to, like, Edmonton, it's, like, waking up in the morning compared to, like, going to sleep at night. Like, it's pretty dark. But you know what? Ever since I started playing there, like, it just feels like you're at home, and there's always. There's, like, a big comfort level, and, you know, it's. The organization takes really good care of us, so pretty much anything we need, it's.
It's a special place to be, I think.
[00:44:55] Speaker A: All right, well, we got through it. Let's hear about the NHL. How was that? I mean, I remember, at least with my family, group chat, like, when we got the notification that you were gonna be playing against San Jose, too, like, such a cool moment. And then seeing your mom and dad on tv, I remember telling my friends, I'm like, I know that guy. I played hockey with him when I was little. But how was that, like, first game, just. If you could describe that day to us. And I, you know, getting called up to that phone call.
[00:45:20] Speaker C: Yeah, it was awesome. I know, uh, trying to think of what day it was. I think it was the day before.
Um.
I don't know if something happened or there might. There might have been, like, rumblings if.
Because we were out of the playoffs, we just got knocked out. I think the flames had just gotten knocked out. So, um, kind of rumblings of, you know, there might be a chance, and obviously being against the sharks, you kind of have it, like, you know, you know when that day is coming.
So I found out basically before we went out to practice for. For the wranglers. And so I kind of had all day the day before, and obviously the day of game.
I mean, you're just kind of sitting there like, how is this happening? Yeah, now you've worked so hard to get through, and now it's. It's finally gonna happen. And I remember Daryl Sutter may give me a call, then I go forward. Just saying I deserve this. Like, you're happy to see you, excited to see you play tomorrow and.
No, it was the last game of the year, so, yeah, everybody was pretty.
Like we were out of the playoffs but myself and Matt Cornell, we were to play our first games together and I remember my parents flew in.
I think they might have flew in the night before.
And so I saw him in the morning of the day of the game and, you know, they got a. The flames decked him out pretty well.
[00:47:03] Speaker A: That's awesome.
[00:47:04] Speaker C: You know, most of the time they sweet, like, you see the camera of the parents just like in the crowd and they basically put them in the owner's suite and took good care of them and next thing I know they got like bags of merchandise coming home with them and that's awesome. They took really good care of them and obviously the game went pretty well. I was kind of shitting my pants for the first 30 minutes of it.
You know, you like to think that it's just hockey and. But you're kind of shaking your boots a bit for. Until you get comfortable and no, we kind of dominated that game and there wasn't a whole lot of action. I think the shots were like 50 to 20 or something. Like, it was ridiculous.
[00:47:43] Speaker A: Sounds like a short.
[00:47:46] Speaker C: And granted, it was only like we were losing at one point. I think it was. It was one nothing for like the first half of the game until we started making a. Making a comeback.
[00:47:55] Speaker A: But do you remember who scored on you?
[00:47:59] Speaker C: Noah Gregor scored.
[00:48:01] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:48:02] Speaker C: That's shitty rebound. I gave up a shitty rebound right to him.
No, it was pretty cool. I played my first game. Matt played his first game and then the door, I put a hat trick. So it's kind of like there's a whole lot of stuff going on.
[00:48:17] Speaker B: I remember that game.
[00:48:19] Speaker C: It was.
It's a good way to end it for. For flame Spence, for sure.
[00:48:24] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:48:25] Speaker B: And then you went back into the HL playoffs after that, correct?
[00:48:29] Speaker C: Yeah, flew right back there and I think we were playing.
We played Abbotsford first.
We've actually. We had a bye week, so we finished. If you finish first in your division, you had a by to the second round.
So they beat Bakersfield, I'm pretty sure, and we played them and it sure is a tough place to play. They gave you a small arena, like 5000, 6000, maybe a little bit more, but right on top and they sell out. So it's the loud ruckus building and we end up going. I think we were up to all in the series and they got game three, but the.
They were pretty close to getting game four. If they get four, we probably might not win.
Like, all the momentum is going the other way and no, he lost Coachella in five games, just round two. But I feel like after you play at the highest level and you get to come back, there's like a different confidence level about it. And, like, I know for this year, like, I spent the last month and a half up with the flames and kind of got to really work on some. Some areas of my game that you don't need to transfer at the NHL level and just some areas where you kind of learn and figure out what works best. And once I went back down to the American League, I felt like everything was kind of slowed down and you were on top of your game and, like, that first series against Tucson, that was probably some of the best song I've ever played in my life.
They put on like 90 shots in two games. Like, they. They peppered us and we ended up winning both. So it's, it's, it's a. It's pretty cool when you reach that best level. You get to come back and find your groove and it's rewarding and hopefully we can find that groove again at the start of the year. Yeah.
[00:50:42] Speaker B: So I know you touched on it a little bit. What was that transition like from the Ahl to the NHL? Was there any key difference or something that really stood out to you?
[00:50:53] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, you're playing against the best players in the world.
Grad. No. No shade on anybody in the american league, but it's. It's a different beast.
No. Guys are so, so much bigger and stronger and they can pinpoint their shots, which is ridiculous. I remember, like, Johnny Goodrell can pick that left corner with. With ease. Yeah, it's ridiculous, but everybody liked that. And just figuring out how.
How different teams play, how you can be one step ahead. And granted, there were some games where I wasn't at my best and it kind of, I'd rather have games early on where you're not happy with it, but you can learn from it and come back better, build the next game. And I kind of. Throughout the season, it's tough when you're up and down, up and down because there's an adjustment period for sure, like, speed wise and guys are so good at the netfront, so managing traffic can be tough at times, but just being able to work on that consistently at that level is something that has certainly helped, especially the last part of the year.
I feel like as I got to play more games and got to get more in a groove. I had a good stretch at the end of the year and I think once you get to be around the environment and get to understand what life is like and how you're managing things on the icing off the ice, it certainly helped. Yeah.
[00:52:34] Speaker A: Do you have someone in the, whether AHL or NHL, like someone you'd consider a teammate that is like a mentor to you or someone that's like really been helping you with that transition from HL to NHL?
[00:52:48] Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, if you look at players like Mark Schremmel was a tremendous help for, for me. He was always there. Um, I was always there answering questions about me and he was kind of like the old veteran and gravity's. I think he's almost 35 now, so he's been in the league for a long time.
So he's seen a lot and he's played a lot of games and he's been through the ups and downs. So he understands, you know, if you have a really great game or if you ever shoot a game. And so he was always supportive about that.
I feel like goalie coaches have been so influential. Like I talked about, like Thomas Pierce with Stockton, not with the Sharks. Like, he was like him and his family played a large role in my comfort in Stockton and it was always nice to have somebody you could fall back on if you need anything. And no, it was cheated to see him go, but obviously was happy that he earned that promotion to the Sharks.
I kind of wasn't sure what was going to be coming in for other coaches. And Mackenzie Scapsky came in. He played a few games for the Rangers a few years back and he's been outstanding. He's been like a big brother almost. And it's nice when you can come to the rink and the coach you deal with the most doesn't feel like a coach. You have that relationship with them that you can joke around and give them shit and kind of just how funny. You're not all tensed up about talking to him. Um, no. He would always invite me over for dinner and we'd play a lot of crib and so I feel like those relationships and obviously Jason Lebarber's been great every time I've been up and so I feel like the goalie coach and the staff that they put together in the goalie department has been outstanding and certainly has made things a lot easier for me.
[00:54:50] Speaker A: Yeah, that's awesome.
[00:54:52] Speaker B: Did you, did you mention cribbage?
[00:54:54] Speaker C: I do, yeah.
[00:54:56] Speaker B: You good cribbage player?
[00:54:59] Speaker C: I'd like to think so. It's scaps.
He's played a lot of crib in his life, so anytime I beat him, I like to give it to him.
No, but he's the one that got me into it. And we would, like, in the airport, we'd play on our phones for hours and that's funny? No, it's. Yeah, it's a good game to pass the time.
[00:55:21] Speaker B: Yeah, it's a difficult game.
[00:55:23] Speaker C: Why?
It is. It's easier on the phone when you don't have to count it. The phone counts for you. Yeah, yeah.
[00:55:30] Speaker A: So those phone games give you a real advantage. Like, I used to always play solitaire and it felt like cheating sometimes when I was on the phone.
[00:55:39] Speaker C: His wife is like an ultra fast counter. So, like, if we're playing, like, with actual cards, I'll be like, okay, I have ten points. And she'll, like, see my cards and, like, know, oh, you're missing four points. So I'm taking those four points. It's like, oh, shit. Like, okay, I don't know where you see these extra four points, but okay, yeah, like, if you say so, math guru.
[00:56:03] Speaker A: Who would you say, like, in the flames locker room? Who's like, the funniest guy? Who's like the locker room guy?
[00:56:10] Speaker C: I feel like Zidorov Washington until he got treated like, he kind of always stirred the pot with everybody.
It was always very vocal and loud and uyghurs. Pretty vocal. I really like weegs. He's probably one of my best buddies on the team. And I know, like, Nas can, can speak up too. He's not. I don't know if he's the most vocal, but he's always. He's kind of in it. Like, he's a veteran, he's a captain with us. So, like, he's, uh, he's obviously engaged with everything's going on, but, um, I don't know if there's a big, like, like that guy is doing something. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, I know. Uh, like, Vladar is. He can be funny times, can be a funny time at two, and any of the, like, the Russians, they like to get after it and enjoy themselves, and it's fun to, like, be around those guys because they're all positive energy and they enjoy each other's company and there's no bad eggs in there whatsoever. And that's pretty awesome to have.
[00:57:18] Speaker A: That is. Yeah.
[00:57:20] Speaker B: So what's it like playing in kind of a hockey crazy city like Calgary and I guess, do you ever get recognized when you're walking through the streets or, you know, fans.
[00:57:31] Speaker C: Yeah.
A canadian market is awesome to be a part of, and now they eat, sleep, and breathe hockey, so it's anywhere you go. It's tough for me to. And granted, I've only played a few games, so I'm not even, like, a really big household name whatsoever, but it's hard for me to go places without, like, people asking me for photos and whatnot, which, I mean, is cool to an extent. Right?
You know, you've worked so hard to get to the point where people recognize you, and, you know, they. They like what you do, and so that's obviously rewarding part, but it can get a little annoying at times. Yeah, but granted, it comes with the gig, so you kind of just deal with it. Yeah, sure. To have some fun with it.
[00:58:18] Speaker A: I. I've seen, like, some people, they just tell stories of, like, people asking for crazy signatures. Have you had anything yet that, like, is, like, a. Just an interesting fan interaction that you're just, like, walked away with being confused?
[00:58:33] Speaker C: There's certainly some interesting ones. Like, I've signed a couple Pringle cans.
[00:58:36] Speaker A: Like, pringle.
[00:58:38] Speaker C: I think I've signed some, like, beans. Like, something stupid. I know.
[00:58:42] Speaker B: Any zinc cans?
[00:58:45] Speaker C: I don't know if I. There's got to be one. For sure. There's got to be one. I think I've signed somebody's kid. I'm like, why are you. Why am I signing, like, what is going on right now? Yeah, no, I think I signed a lady's arm, like, a couple months ago, and she said she was gonna get tattooed, and I was like, wow. Like, I better make this. Sure. This is good.
[00:59:08] Speaker A: That's hilarious.
[00:59:09] Speaker C: No, if she actually did that, I props her. That's pretty remarkable.
[00:59:12] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:59:14] Speaker B: Sounds like flame sands.
[00:59:17] Speaker C: Exactly.
[00:59:17] Speaker A: Yeah, I have this Zenkin right here behind me. That was. Did you see that video of bedard going around of him trying to get the zinc and signed? Or is that the draft?
[00:59:28] Speaker C: I don't know if I've seen it.
[00:59:30] Speaker A: I. I posted that because I was one. I was at the draft. I tried to get him to sign it, and he just, like, ignored me completely. But I did get. I got Ryan Leonard to sign it and Zachary Benson as well. So we'll have to add your name on there.
[00:59:43] Speaker C: That's awesome.
That's hilarious.
[00:59:46] Speaker A: That's my go to. I tried it at the. At the draft. Austin Matthews walks right by me. He gave me. He acknowledged it, but it's a go to. I always have it on me. So it's like. It's an easy. Sign this, please. Something like that.
[00:59:58] Speaker C: Did you offer Al Machu?
[01:00:00] Speaker A: No. I felt a little uncomfortable with asking bedard, especially. Yeah, Austin Matthews maybe would have taken it, but bedard, I was like, he's a kid, and he's, like, the face of the NHL in a couple years, so. Felt a little weird just offering him some random nicotine. Pouch.
[01:00:17] Speaker C: But, yeah, I feel like most guys. I feel like most guys be like, oh, pouch. Okay, I'll sign your.
[01:00:25] Speaker A: That's what Ryan Leonard and Zachary Benson were both.
[01:00:29] Speaker C: They both.
[01:00:29] Speaker A: They knew.
[01:00:30] Speaker C: Yeah.
That's awesome.
[01:00:34] Speaker B: So going back to Calgary, do you have any, like, what do you think? The non most cool non hockey thing to do around the city or around the areas?
I know a lot of people speak about Banff. I've been there myself. It's awesome place. But is there anything that stands out to you?
[01:00:50] Speaker C: Yeah, Banff is pretty cool.
I mean, I think the easy answer would be, like, stampede. Stampedes are pretty definitely. Granted, before I moved here, I had no idea what the stampede was, but it's. It's crazy. I think they almost had one. 1.5 million people come through here in, like, eleven days. Jeez.
So I just go to show you how many people come from out of town. I know a lot of people, like, come from different cities to, like, work for the week and then go back home. And it's just ridiculous. Like, if you go to, like, the music tents and, like, you're back to back with people and. Yeah, it's just an absolute do. Like, if this was Covid, you'd be. You'd have Covid?
[01:01:33] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:01:36] Speaker B: You've been in a parade, right?
[01:01:38] Speaker C: Yeah, I rode in the parade this year. It was.
[01:01:40] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[01:01:41] Speaker C: It was pretty sweet. You grant? I was on the horse for 5 hours, so it was pretty painful.
We got there extremely early. Extremely early.
I think we got there at 630, and then we didn't start the parade till ten, so there was a lot of sitting around. But once the parade got started, it was insane. I think somebody was saying, like, three or 400,000 people watched the parade, and I could believe it. Like this. There wasn't one open spot on the street. Like, it's flooded with people for, like, a two to three mile radius.
And, like, you see, you walk past parking garages and every level is jam packed.
And, like, going through there, I'm just thinking to myself, like, if we will somehow win a cop here, like, this is going to be ridiculous.
Like, if this is a stampede. If this is stampede, like, imagine bringing a couple mirror. Like, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[01:02:39] Speaker B: The red Mile is definitely a thing.
[01:02:40] Speaker C: And gets pretty sure even.
[01:02:42] Speaker B: Even around the playoffs. I mean, I've never been up there during the red mile. I've been up there for a couple playoff games, but, yeah, man. I mean, it's. It's a sweet city for hockey wise, and I guess, do you embrace kind of the cowboy culture, or do you like country music at all?
[01:02:57] Speaker C: I do. Yeah. I think it's kind of come around more than I've been here.
You know, I just went out and bought my first pair of boots before the parade, and everybody was commenting that they were too shiny. I'm like, no shit. I just bought these.
No, it's pretty. It's pretty crazy. Like, once stampede comes around, every single person has a cowboy hat and boots on and probably some jorts. So, no, it's pretty cool environment, but I can't say I would do it every day, but, yeah, every once in a while, for sure.
[01:03:33] Speaker A: Honestly, if Tate McCray's there next year, I gallie, I'm down to fly out there with you. I'll be packed in that house for.
[01:03:41] Speaker C: But it was jammed for that long.
[01:03:44] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:03:44] Speaker C: First day, the stampede, it was full.
[01:03:47] Speaker A: Yeah. Hometown show for her, too. So, you. You got some good fans to keep you motivated. But, Galley, I know I'm kind of still in your question. I know you wrote this down, but you won Chl scholastic player of the year.
How, like, honestly, very impressive. What was your GPA that year, if you remember?
[01:04:09] Speaker C: I think it was a 4.04.0. Damn.
You know what? I did a online prep school, so everybody gives me shit about it. Oh, you did online school? Like, it was so easy, but it was a pain, and obviously, it was nice living at home. Like, I had the help of my parents helped me out when. When I needed it, because, really, really, you're on your own, your own device to kind of figure out what the school wants, like, what these coordinators want you to do and how they want you to do it.
[01:04:44] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:04:46] Speaker C: So, I was very fortunate to have some help in the background of, you know, am I doing this right and am I doing it wrong?
[01:04:54] Speaker B: So, yeah, man, you aced it. Do you have a. Do you have a favorite subject at all?
[01:05:00] Speaker C: Pe. Pe.
[01:05:02] Speaker A: Nice.
[01:05:04] Speaker B: Great answer.
[01:05:05] Speaker A: Yeah, in PE, I remember we'd do, like, floor hockey, and that was my favorite, favorite week. Cause I would. It was the only sport, like, all the other ones, I was kind of not very good at, but when it was for hockey season in PE, those two week period where you're just playing hockey all week. I was lighting it out.
[01:05:24] Speaker C: They bring out the bend of the plastic sticks. And you're bringing yourself a curve.
[01:05:28] Speaker A: Yep. Stepping on it, making the ov curve. Yeah. And they're like, what are you doing? You're like, oh, you have no idea.
[01:05:35] Speaker C: Oh, don't worry about me. You don't know.
[01:05:37] Speaker A: Yeah. Would you be a net for pe for the.
[01:05:40] Speaker C: God, no.
[01:05:41] Speaker A: No.
Get your face taken off.
[01:05:45] Speaker C: Yeah, exactly.
[01:05:46] Speaker A: If hockey didn't pan out for you, what would you have done for a career?
[01:05:51] Speaker C: It's a great question.
I mean, I feel like I would be involved with hockey in some way.
In what position? I don't know. I feel like I have a pretty good mind for, like, managing. I feel like I'm pretty well ingrained in, like, salary caps and that sort of stuff. But even though I feel like I know a lot, there's so much that I don't know. Like, there's so many ins and outs and rules and ways to get around things.
Like, I'm still learning, and I don't know how. Everybody knows everything. Granted, I'm surprised there's not more GM's that make mistakes, but, Grant, they have a lot of people that make sure they don't make those mistakes, so. Yeah, no, I've done some coaching, like, with some kids all over the years, and I feel like I'd be okay with that, but I feel like more of a management position. Probably would have been something in the cards.
[01:06:58] Speaker A: Yeah. Could be afterwards, too, after your.
[01:07:02] Speaker B: Anything come to mind that's outside of hockey?
[01:07:06] Speaker C: Uh, probably not. I mean, not.
[01:07:12] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:07:13] Speaker C: I feel like that's probably the only thing I ever thought about as a kid. Yeah.
That's all you ever wanted to do.
I feel like there's probably a phase where you want to be a skateboarder or something, but I feel like everybody goes to that.
[01:07:24] Speaker A: Yep. I had, like, two weeks of that. Yeah. Yeah.
[01:07:28] Speaker C: Plan B, skateboard, snap your ankles. And it's like, okay, I'm good. I'm done for.
[01:07:33] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:07:33] Speaker C: For my life, but, yeah.
Well, it's crazy how much, like, gaming has been, like, a big thing now, too. Like, granted, I don't play as many games anymore. Yeah, but, like, as a kid, you'd always play hours and hours and hours.
[01:07:51] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:07:51] Speaker C: And your parents would tell you, oh, you're wasting your life away. You're doing nothing.
[01:07:55] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:07:56] Speaker C: And now there's, like, thousands and millions of dollars that you can win these games.
[01:07:59] Speaker B: What's your go to video game. You like, you like Fortnite, call of Duty Chow?
[01:08:05] Speaker C: Like, Fortnite was big for a long time, right when.
[01:08:07] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:08:08] Speaker C: And it's prime. Like, that was the best game ever. Yeah, I do like Call of Duty. I'm a big zombies guy. I love playing zombies. Oh, yeah.
If you give me, like, a black ops three map, like, I could recite every angle enter. And I know those maps inside out. Yeah.
But no, I'm excited. They got black ops. New black ops coming out soon. Yep. Or in October. So I kind of just got back into plan because of that.
[01:08:37] Speaker A: So nice. Do you play chow at all?
[01:08:41] Speaker C: No, I haven't bought a chill in probably ten years. I get enough hockey.
[01:08:45] Speaker A: Yeah, it's the same game every time. Yeah, that's a good point. Yeah.
Because I've, I mean, I play chill a lot. I do the franchise mode because I think I was destined to be a GM in my past life.
Yeah, I know every team I've rebuilt, it's always, I always trade for you because I know, like, I have a connection. I'm like, I know this guy. He's my young goalie who I can build a team around.
[01:09:10] Speaker C: So, yeah, hopefully I'm doing the okay.
[01:09:14] Speaker A: Yeah, you've won a couple cups for me, so yourself on the back. Yeah.
All right, well, anything else galley before? Because I kind of want to ask about this, this next season and how excited you are or just any.
[01:09:29] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:09:30] Speaker A: Do you have any, like, I don't know, any cool goals coming up for this year or, you know, just let us know your thoughts on this upcoming season.
[01:09:39] Speaker C: Yeah, it's going to be an exciting year. I think, like, the opportunities there to play games and the last two years it's been like, mark, he's played a lot of games and as he should, he's a starter in this league and one of the best, for sure. And, yeah, I'm, um, I was fortunate enough to get to play some games, um, last year just simply because there were some injuries. And, um, now the opportunity has presented itself to, you know, get my foot in the door and play some more games and be there consistently and, um, know it's about earning it and when I get the stick, try to run with it. And, uh, obviously our team isn't probably on paper, is as good as a lot of teams, but we have a lot of good pieces and I think we have a chance to squeak into the playoffs, but for sure. And, you know, I just want to try to establish myself and get in the groove. And at the end of the day, you're still trying to prove people are wrong, that you deserve to play there.
[01:10:47] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:10:48] Speaker B: Yeah, man. As a Flames fan and whole Flames fan base is behind you, man. We want to see you be playing games and I'm real excited to watch you play this this year.
[01:11:00] Speaker C: I appreciate that. It's pretty awesome to have people coming up and know that they want a picture or something that they say they're excited to see me play. And obviously that boosts the confidence. And at the end of the day, you want to do the best by them and try to win as many games and the end goal is obviously a cup, then that might be a few years away. But you know what? Take it one game at a time and see what happens.
[01:11:30] Speaker A: Yeah, it's a process.
[01:11:31] Speaker B: Bring it back to Calgary.
[01:11:33] Speaker C: For sure. For sure.
[01:11:35] Speaker A: Yeah. That's awesome, man. All right, well, thank you so much, galley. Do you have anything else for him before you kick it out of here?
[01:11:42] Speaker B: Oh, man. I just want to say, you know, thank you for coming on. I think your story is very incredible.
You know, I feel like it's. It's very different than a lot of other NHL players, NHL goalies, you know, I feel like you're underdogging. You really shine at a lot of levels. So just want to say thank you so much. And it's Calgary planes. I'm rooting for you, man. I'm so stoked you're with our organization and, you know, you're ahead. A fan favorite here. Stoked to see you play in this upcoming year and many years to come.
[01:12:13] Speaker C: No, I appreciate it. I'm glad me and Sean could reconnect. It's been a while and. Yeah, it kind of. Yeah, it's me like six months behind.
[01:12:24] Speaker A: Yeah, no, I totally get it.
I was telling galley, I was like, man, he can't this month. But I was like, you know what? He's playing in the fricking NHL so well, we're sitting back twittering our thumbs. But you know, we understand how busy it was. But I appreciate it because I know you know how valuable time is and especially when you don't got a lot of it for free stuff.
But yeah, I really appreciate it.
Good talking to you as well. I'm sure we'll connect again in the future with everything that we're trying to take this stuff pretty far. Having a lot of fun with it.
This is our first season with it, so we've been doing a lot of. Lot of stuff, a lot of learning.
[01:13:05] Speaker B: Making Oiler making oilers fans mad.
[01:13:07] Speaker C: Yep. Yeah.
[01:13:08] Speaker A: Yeah. Instagram, we kind of targeted them. I mean, I'm obviously, as a Sharks fan, I don't give a shit what they. What they think, but Galley obviously had to kind of back him and ride his tail on that and kind of throw some jabs at them, too, so. Yeah, definitely sharing the hate with them. But, um, Dustin, do you have anything that you want to shout out or give anyone props or anything or anything like that?
[01:13:34] Speaker C: No. Man's glad we got to connect and it's awesome to see you putting together cool podcasts and stuff. And, you know, podcasts can blow up pretty quick.
[01:13:47] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:13:47] Speaker C: Good connections and, you know, been a handful, and they've all done pretty well. So, yeah, hopefully this.
This helps you, help you and will get. And get in good place.
[01:14:02] Speaker B: So.
[01:14:02] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah.
[01:14:03] Speaker C: Never need anything from me.
[01:14:04] Speaker A: Yeah, no. Awesome. Alright, guys, well, thank you for listening today. If you guys want to go follow Dustin, if you're not already. His handle is on Instagram. Is it at? What is it?
[01:14:14] Speaker C: I think it's just Wolfie.
[01:14:16] Speaker A: 2332-2332 so go follow him. If you're not following us on Instagram, go follow. Right now, if you found us randomly, could you, like, Dustin, follow us? Because we got a flames fan right there above me.
You enjoyed a lot, but with that, we'll see you guys in a couple of weeks. We'll probably be breaking down the recap of the year, you know, the crazy season that we had. So we're looking forward and we'll see you guys on the next one.
