tl;dl highlights:
His back is fine golfing because 1) he can adjust his swing if it gets tight, and 2) he isn’t getting hit constantly. He carries two putters.
Coach Osh hid all his college letters, and he found them in his parents’ house a while back. During a visit to NoDak he saw the stick room and was sold.
He arrived at the combine at 4am not having slept the night before and went straight to meetings and the VO2. He mentioned the guy behind him was setting records (I’m not sure who that was, Crosby was injured and skipped half the testing)
He was watching Real World Road Rules while his friend’s dad was on the computer in the other room following the draft, and that’s how he found out he was drafted. He had no idea who was on the team so he had to print out the roster for his interviews when he was asked about who he was looking forward to playing with (he went with Keith Tkachuk).
Not new info, but he still doesn’t watch other NHL games, YouTube highlights etc, and doesn’t know all the players on west coast rosters.
He knew going into the 2014 Olympics he was there for shootouts. He thought it was over for him after for the first missed shot, and the coaches were laughing as they kept sending him out.
He was a little worried about facing Ovi about it when he got to DC but it’s never come up. His first year when they started doing shootout practice, Ovi made him go first.
Pavel Datsyuk is his favorite player of all time.
He felt like he let down the city of STL and Blues fans when he was traded because there’d been a big “something has to change” push from management. After first convo with BMac he was all in when he realized he was wanted and the plan was for him to play with Ovi and Backy. He and his wife had just bought a new house and she didn’t believe him when he told her he was traded.
There’s a great story about how he re-signed but he won’t tell it until after he retires. He called it “one of the highlight stories of my career.”
After the game in Colorado in 2018 Trotz laid into them about playing for each other. When they beat the Pens in the second series they knew they were going all the way.
The Cup handlers told them they’d never had a team bring in as many fans as they did during the Cup celebration.
Sports are his way of coping. When his parents told him they were getting a divorce he went out back to shoot pucks and ended up breaking the neighbor’s fence. Coach Osh passed at 4am the day before the next game and he immediately wanted to get back to the team – he flew private back that evening. He talked about the hat trick, the hug with Backy, and how close he and Backy are (they’re neighbors, their kids are the same ages and have been in the same classes since they were two).
He shouts out his mom because she doesn’t often get credit with how big a part Coach Osh was to his career. He said he gets his feistiness from her.
He is a massive Mario Kart fan and Wario is his guy. He didn’t leave the hotel during the 2018 playoffs because he was too busy playing MK. He wasn’t winning as much as he wanted so he Googled and some guy did 10k simulations and Wario won the most. Connolly was always Bowser, Niskanen was always Peach, Beagle was always Toad.
He was approached by Jason (cofounder) of Warroad Hockey Co) and was excited to design hats. He talked to his buddies back home and they agreed him using the name Warroad was cool if they took care of youth hockey there.
TILO was developed because 1) the seams of his base layers always gave him a rash, 2) Ovi’s wrist cut, and 3) his elbow pads kept sliding down. The neck guard was added specifically to protect kids.
Pass Shoot Score: Fuck Marry Kill but in the order of Shoot Score Pass.
Country singers: Pass Luke Bryan, Shoot John Denver, Score Luke Combs. He sings Luke Combs to his younger kids at bedtime. Country Roads is also his karaoke song.
Cheat foods: Pass maple donuts, Shoot peanut butter Capn Crunch (not in the Cup, he didn’t have any), Score Grandma Oshie’s peanut butter cookies. He’s a sweets guy, could eat cereal for the rest of his life. Savory fave is Dungeness crab (shoutout to Everett)
Unique skills: Pass perfect bridge card shuffle (his is solid), Shoot the hollow man, Score the 24 man hot tub after getting swept by Michigan Tech.
Gifts he’s received: Pass puck from JR he got at a roller tournament when he was a kid, Shoot the putter he got for his 1000th game, Shoot the painting of him and his dad he was given for Father’s Day.
by musuak
