Wild On 7th – Episode 71: Judd Brackett, Billy G, Zeev Buium and Ryder Ritchie
This is Wild on 7th your favorite wild podcast did you guys see this this is unbelievable what is that all about ker get in here for the real thing like let’s get weird maybe I blacked out trying to figure out what was going on doubt worry fear cuz that’s what we’re breaking the mold on here welcome to Wild on 7 presented by Pilot games we’re here until it’s here and welcome back to Wild done 7th your favorite podcast this is a summer edition we’ve got some sweet hats on the table ker will’ll get to those in a second uh we’ve got a lot this is what we’d call a smorgus board episode we’ve been off a while we were we had some Band-Aids on this spring and into June cuz well we didn’t have a horse in the race so uh we went into I don’t know probably healing mode and but we’re coming out after the draft Boom the excitement is back all of a sudden and speaking of the draft we’re going to have J bracket Bill Garen and the Wild’s first and second round picks with us through the course of this Marathon podcast because why not get right back into it and just throw the entire kitchen sink at the fans uh but before we do let’s take a second uh let’s make sure we we recognize the sponsors this is brought to you by Pilot games make sure when you’re out enjoying your Libations this is post 4th of July now I think it’s July 8th that we’re recording this but uh it’s it’s summer season you’re outside it’s also pole tab season and when you’re playing them try those e tabs cuz when you use pilot games products when you use them your community wins uh appreciate their support uh ker you’re looking like the Fourth of July uh and The Summer’s going well for you you’ve got a nice yeah tan going the hair is looking nice I’ve been I’ve been I’ve been doing good yeah I uh I like the sun we’re on the lake um I’m very optimistic about this year I uh there’s been a little bit of this negativity buzzing around in the kind of Kayan sort of little circles and I think everything went wrong last year that could have ever gone wrong all the injuries Sweden trip bad start go tending was a little off I don’t know man let’s just let’s have a great year let’s defy expectations let’s make 24-25 excellent I’m very excited about this Z boo that we picked up he looks like a stud that fell into our laps and this uh trenin seems terrifying in a really great way um I mean I I look forward to interviewing him at some point but uh yeah like all the the messages are right let’s be hard to play against let’s be better on the PK let’s get off to a better start yeah I like I like it let’s let’s go I think if if you’re a fan and what’s concerning a little bit is probably the like the lack of change yep you know it’s you you bring in trenin who will have an impact but it’s not one of the big names that you saw out on the market you know and but did the Wild have the money for that and I think everybody knew that was going to be the case but then there was speculation that there would be trade and other things going on and uh on most fronts it seemed rather quiet so it it seems like they picked up trenin and uh Loco the the trade with Boston and uh what looked like a pretty good draft for him no question it looked like a great draft but other than that it’s it’s the same guys back it’s it’s two maybe three better Seasons U you know like if Hartman goes from 20 to 2530 if Freddy gdo scores a few more goals and um Baldi maybe finds a little bit more consistency and uh I heard Bill Garen at one point mention that when they made the coaching change carrill had six goals and Baldi had one you know and it was a slow start goal tending obviously didn’t have its best year injuries played a huge Factor um and and we through take it listen to Billy interview too cuz there’s a lot there where he he touches on that hey we bolstered Iowa but at the same time we’ve got some injury insurance with the the guys they signed to two-way deals and those are lucrative two-way deals for those guys like they’re basically NHL players um so not a lot changed but they’re they’re hoping that the guys he’s like hey we have the talent on the roster to be a playoff team and and um you know maybe a little bit of help and changing identity and refocus on what’s important well all of a sudden they’ll be in the right spot I mean is that a fair assessment yeah and I I think um with Billy too he uh he he takes that stuff head on you know when he you know whether it’s people saying you know uh the critique that I’ve been hearing out there is we’re kind of Trapped In This middle six world are we going to have all the money we wanted at the end of next year and um I I just think get back into the playoffs um build towards the future and everything can change and I heard you earlier somewhere else maybe on a different pod you were kind of feeling like uh you know having the goal tending depth could be a good thing too with with the bus and flower and obviously the young kid pushing from Iowa is that you still feeling good about that having the three goalies yeah where where I would have concern is I I think goalies just take time and it it seems a goalie Prime is I don’t know 27 28 I think a player Prime is like 24 25 kind of so if Gus had a great year and I think you saw he’s capable of and then he signs a one-way deal he has some stuff happen off the ice he’s got a family and things change a little bit and sometimes you just got to give those guys time to figure it out and that’s the hard part about this game is it’s a what have you done for me lately kind of business but I think that Gus is a a great rebound um type of guy where they thought that maybe hey let’s let’s unload these guys or one of them and save three million and go get a score I think Bill touched on this too look at the guys that that went in free agency nobody’s going for that kind of money so that wasn’t going to happen I think that the wild would maybe end up having more egg on their face if they forced a trade ran somebody out um somebody like Gus because Gus seems to be the guy flurry signed late last year Wall said’s not going anywhere so Gus would be the odd man out um I I think it’s good for them to have options and good for them to have competition and I think it’s also good and I I’m I don’t know I’m not in Management’s room I wouldn’t give up on Gus he he showed what he’s capable of it’s a matter of finding that more consistently now and that that’s development that’s I mean that’s that’s what it’s about he’s still young I think he’s 24 years old like don’t give up on the guy like look at dubnick he I think he was on his fourth team when he came here then all of a sudden he was an Allstar you know and you could look across the league Jacob marrom same kind of thing there’s there’s a lot of goenda taking four three four teams because teams give up on them a little too soon but um yeah I like the goalie situation you know the one thing I didn’t ask Billy and I wanted to I we kind of I wanted to get your take on this um this team has had bad starts to the seasons to the season so the these first like 10 games and historically when I’ve looked at the schedule um we’ve we’ve we used to even call it I remember our first year doing this it was like the group of death like the first five games were against really hard team so this year we go Columbus Seattle Winnipeg St Louis Columbus Florida Tampa Philly I mean it’s like seven of those 10 teams were not in the playoffs if I’m not mistaken then Pittsburgh yeah right so that helps but how do you like I was wondering from Billy standpoint how do you check on guys like how do you make sure you have are you looking at Instagram going like hey I don’t think Bush Light peach that’s a lot of bush Light peach like how do you these guys are Pros I I don’t think that you I actually think you’d get Negative return if you were if you were micro you just let it they know what they need to do PR if they don’t show up then then you you lay the hammer down then you make life stink a little bit for them um I I don’t think that you should you probably shouldn’t babysit them in the summer uh at least guys that have have been established and they’re on their second deal or something you know do you think he’ll run a different training camp like will he play the starters in those preseason games almost like NFL teams do sometimes that’s proba they catch 22 let’s go that’s a catch 22 for for the preseason like how many games do you have you want to get your young guys in but you want the NHL Club ready what’s most important you need the the NHL to get off to a super hot start but at the same time injuries were an issue last year so do you want to throw those guys out there like I think uh Spurgeon got hurt last game of exhibition last year and then all of a sudden the season changed five preseason games Winnipeg Dallas Winnipeg Dallas Chicago man we’re going to have a little down from Seven I think it was seven the year prior it’s going to be a more serious Camp it’s going to be a more pointed camp and there’s going to be more skating it’s going to be less load management more get to work yep you know and I like that I do too I think that’s what it’s going to be but there there’s there’s give and take there it’s a long season but they’ve had a long off season and I think that um we’ll have another type of Billy moment that we had two years ago if you remember what was it uh why are we here why are we here with Jared Spurgeon it it it’ll there will be another moment like that where the conversation to kickoff Camp No More Mr Nice sets a certain tone I think I could see that as well I uh Hey I want to ask you how um how was your summer going do we have any good Carter kid stories from Athletics that you want to share have we had like a handshake line incident no have we had like uh any sort of you’re finding some chips on the shoulder you guys are keeping it clean yeah keeping it clean uh it’s been soccer so we’re running around from field to field soccer lacrosse uh it’s it’s summer hockey a little bit here and there too uh but this is we’re we we’re kind of in the midst of our own summer of yes like last year’s uh yeah you’re going on a road trip oh we were up at the lake um the girls were at Camp so uh they had stay over Camp they had Day Camp they were they’re playing sports we’re tubing skiing boating swimming now we’re going out to South Dakota we’ll go to the Dells um yeah they they’ll have birthdays it’s I’m I’m going to Blink and The Summer’s going to be over like this is uh this summer might be the most epic that my kids have that’s great one of the things when when we had the little kids is we would ask them after the trip what the best part of the trip was and and sometimes they would say being in the car together you know cuz you’re I mean it can be a family fun house don’t get me wrong it can go sideways on you but just being together you know uh not looking at your phone um Drive in maybe and make a playlist for that part of the country or whatever I I miss that we would pick a spot every summer and just go whether it was down to Florida to Boston out west and yeah man enjoy get some good beef jerky Bob seer’s pretty good on the road uh Zack Brown is pretty good on the road um you got to you got to work through the the music it’s a long drive yeah no it is uh it’s going to be a long drive out there I’ve uh I’ve done the the South Dakota tour before too I don’t remember how far it is from spot to spot but you feel like they’re in close proximity but they’re actually a couple hours apart if you’re going from place to place so uh we’ll see we’ll we’ll see how this goes I will say this Cosmos have you heard of this no okay so there’s a a a Roadside Attraction called the cosmos and it’s in a Vortex and I you’re going to think this is BS but I’ve been there twice I went there as a kid I would be the same age as your kids now and I went back as a parent thinking it was going to be obvious to me what they were doing in the cosmos your kids will stand on a plank and they’ll switch being taller than each other you could throw a tennis ball it’ll curve even though you’re not trying to the it’s like a fun house inside there and I went back as an adult thinking this whole thing would be obvious like it’s built on the side of a hill or what no idea it’s the weirdest place on Earth all the trees are like growing in a circle almost it’s worth doing it it’s right on the road you’ll see the sign Cosmos I promise you take the kids to the cosmos it’ll it’s so bizarre mind it’s really good I uh hey did you watch the schedule release videos from some of the teams no you saw um Faber and Middleton went on I didn’t know you know that I guess Middleton’s super scared of uh like all that kind of stuff but he drives a motorcycle everywhere is that weird he’s like scared of uh roller coasters but just he’s like on a trip with his dad right now driving motorcycles that does that doesn’t add up right I don’t know maybe he had a bad time in the county fair with those rides Carney maybe a Carney experience we can dig into but that was a great video with the hockey day Minnesota coming to Valley Fair but um did there was a couple more of this uh the Devils did a great one with um uh I forget who the they had this guy acting and then uh uh one of the teams did they had a field trip with like seven-year-olds coming in doing the schedule release it’s amazing that that’s turned into like a creative contest for teams the uh do you notice anything about the schedule are you excited to go to Utah or anything jumping out at you yeah no uh I I looked at it um it it looks like uh the schedule’s laid out pretty well I think in terms of workload too um the four nations tournament is in there so there’s a break and stuff too for that um no I think the schedule looks great but I think we’re Utah twice yeah get to go there twice the B Vegas only once and it’s on the second of a back toback so that’s going to stink for uh the traveling crew because usually Vegas is a decent spot to hang on um but the other bomber is I think it’s Florida early in the year yeah like you like Florida in I wonder if this is a road game this uh this Florida I think it is I think I think Florida’s right out of the gate like maybe October even like it’s yeah at Florida October 22nd you’re right it does look like the kind of you can maybe get a running start at a schedule I sure hope so I don’t want to be holding our breath chasing it like we have been are you optimistic I um I it seems like there’s low like the expectations are kind of like well it’s the same guys yeah and we didn’t make the playoffs last year so what do we expect to be different so I I really do think if we could get back into the playoffs and have some success I think people will really enjoy it well it’s a lot like Blackjack though you’re you’re you’re about to double down you know and you’re doubling down on the same guys and you get one card this group is going to get one card flip up you could hit 21 I mean you could be you could be right where you want to be and everything is great you could flip a three and then all of a sudden boom you’re toast or something you know or um I think that’s kind of what it is for them right now is management said we have faith in you guys and this is the group and that’s it they’ve got to go out and play they’ve accepted that last year was an anomaly and that the excuses were probably reasons more so then excuses um and they’ve they’re given them a chance uh am I optimistic yeah I think that the team has talent I think it’s it’s shown that they can win I do think that they’re going to need more from everybody now are they capable of that um that’ll be the question like they’re going to they’re still going to need more from Baldi they might still need somehow need more from cill um and at the same time everybody’s a year older so in a in a team that’s uh not not long in the tooth but they’re not the oldest group but they’re not the youngest group and an extra year we’ll see um we’ll see how it works but I’m optimistic I think I I think they’re a playoff team uh uh yeah absolutely I think it’s nerve wck when you look at some of the moves the other teams in the central made a little bit Nashville yeah Nashville went out yeah went Bonkers Nashville had the credit card off Dallas is going to be good I actually think I could see Colorado maybe come back down to earth a little bit they like they’re having issues the Central’s nasty I mean it’s going to be it’s this start does matter you know we don’t play a lot of division foes it looks like right out of the gate there’s some East Coast stuff there if we can get rolling uh get Carill going faster let’s Also let’s also celebrate I think Dylan has moved to the east so he’s no longer in Winnipeg so kill God Carill might be healthy for the year yeah knock on yeah we don’t like that he’s he’s good at sitting on people and Stanley that’s the other guy right they have a couple guys no I’m optimistic it’s uh it’s going to be good I’m also optimistic though ker that uh my house is going to be in good shape when I get back after these road trips why it’s been a rainy year it really has been wet yeah so there’s I’m always nervous when you leave for a while there’s going to be issues or water issues but I I’m not this year because I had the roof replaced by wild construction oh you did yeah gutters and and everything so now I know it doesn’t matter whatever Mother Nature throws at the house it’ll taken care of so um if you ever want that same peace of mind you should reach out to Wild construction I know there’s been some storms that have ripped through maybe less the Metro more up north uh Brooklyn our our podcast helper here she’s uh she’s from Cross Lake I know that area was ripped uh ripped up through with a storm tons of hail wild construction uh they’ve got people up there uh boots on the ground so if you’ve got a a primary home a secondary home in that location look them up man they’ll they’ll take care of you um they’ve got the research tool right on their website you see if you’re in the area if storm has been populated if there’s hail and give them a shout they’ll come take care of you so that when you go on your road trip you’ll have a little piece of Mind wild construction mn.com you know we just built our house it’s only a year old but uh Jimmy’s klaw gives me that same piece of mind at times um it’s got this classic Supper Club taste that’s how they describe it uh you may not know this but in the latest iri data um Jimmy is the bestselling klaa in the state of hockey uh second oh wait what’s that Jimmy’s pineapple second yeah that’s right they’re they’re one and two kind of like Z and uh and R right that’s kind of what they are in terms of klaw if we if Jud bracket were to draft him so check out Jimmy’s K slaws and dips don’t you be messing with my dress God midseason form I like that one two Jud bracket draft like I don’t know if I need to talk to his agency about like did I just do ads with them in it that was talk to sikman about it it’s fine that was magic uh and maybe maybe great too because of the segue that it it allows us like let’s let’s let’s bring Jud in but before we do um yeah so this interview along with all the interviews on the Wild on 7th podcast are presented by Duke Canon Duke Canon makes hardworking grooming products for hardworking dudes if your hair is a weapon or you wish it was check out Duke Canon great colog great big bricks of soap you can find them at the hardware store you can find them at Target Minnesota company Duke Cannon here’s Jud bracket Jud is a scout where do you draw the limits on scouting uh do you ever look at Men’s leagues looking for some hidden talent out there we haven’t got around to that yet but we I’ve talked to Billy we that’s definitely an apartment we got to we got to extend to yeah s untapped Market seven and seven8 size head that’s problem we don’t have we don’t have helmet for that you can’t teach that you can’t teach that yeah so uh ker uh real quick let’s get into the Fourth of July though because we’re coming off that I think today’s what July 7th or 8th and uh yeah how was it how was the holiday it was great I uh I liked it being on a Thursday you get kind of extra time you get I I think that’s about as good as it can be that’s as long as it can be maybe if it was on a Wednesday he could fudge the Thursday and the Friday and end up with a five dayer but uh other than that I thought it was great I Fourth of July itself uh was a little rainy so they kicked it one day forward but no problem watched it from Shore scared of the lake on the fourth to watch what from Shore the fireworks fireworks yeah I don’t like to be on the no the day after they did it on the 5th and uh I don’t like being on the water on the 4th of July why just too many just too many goons out there oh I thought I thought this was like a you were afraid of fire or something no I think that would be a safe spot that’s what I thought I could probably roll off the Pontoon at that point but um no I just uh too many just I don’t know yahoos out there like to be on land how about you yeah where do you take it in Jud uh I was on Cape Cod so obviously uh have the restaurants out there too it’s a great week for us uh I didn’t see anybody on the cape who had any trouble rolling Wednesday through Sunday but they all took a five day we had great weather um big weekend for the for the for the restaurants too so you’re I mean you’re you’re traveling all over the place it’s Vegas Cape back here to Minnesota uh what’s the Fourth of July on the cape like uh quintessential you get the you get the parade which is great um and then it’s you know everyone’s on boats golfing in the restaurants at night so small town community but fireworks at night it’s a it’s a it’s a it’s a real good take what’s your restaurant yeah I didn’t know you’re a restaurant tour oh yeah my uh my brother and I have uh two restaurants uh in Harwich where we grew up uh the port and Ember um they’re probably about 300 yards apart right on the Main Street which is great uh music at both uh one’s a cold fire pizza and one’s more of a you know an upscale um you know Steak Seafood Martini but then turns into pretty pretty Lively at night really yeah geez how did you get into that uh parents had a restaurant in the same town so we grew up uh working in them and and got the bug so you grew up in the restaurant business so you’re familiar with it then how the heck did you get into hockey well it cap God seasonal so I had Winters you know after playing and then a lot of time off in the winter wanted to get into coaching and it sort of evolved into scouting and it’s uh it’s been a great parlay so like the Cap’s population doubles in the summer then it gets pretty quiet in the winter yeah it gets real quiet in the winter yeah some like Northern Minnesota yeah I was just in the cape I was in Mash p and cont to it can it how close is that to your uh World Headquarters out there should should be about 30 minutes but in the summer you’re that’s a good that’s a good poke it’s it’s good out there man a lot of people doing a whole lot of nothing yeah American Flags we bought a hat for my dog when we were there cuz that’s the kind of stuff you get in the cape he’s been wearing it no big deal but uh no it’s uh it’s great so you’re you’re a renaissance man you can see the future with draft picks two restaurants just came out of the sphere in Las Vegas man you’re cool let’s get let’s get into the draft a little bit um so the sphere how was that I mean it looked awesome it was incredible what a what a venue I mean obviously the you know the audio visual effects were incredible I thought they did a really good job too in terms of the stage was Central so everyone you know all the teams were sort of around the stage with a chance to get up and see the players there um but I it was a really good take I thought they did a great job you know just seeing the collage of all the all the players faces and then the highlights I thought they did an incredible job yeah so centralized draft but it’s the NHL’s last or maybe not the last but they’re changing the way that they’re going to do it and they kind of go out on top I think because the venue looked great I don’t know that they could have done a better job but now everybody it looks like next year the drafts are going to be more remote where everybody’s in their own War Room call it in the cities well could be any City I suppose but then the draft will be some other place like how’s that going to work it’ll it’ll probably be a little bit like it was during Co right where you you set up the War Room conference room with with your scouting staff and and call in the picks um not sure how they’re going to do it with the players right you’re going to want some sort of central Hub so maybe like what the NFL does where they’re they’re in a venue where they still get on stage and get their jerseys I would assume yeah um but uh details are haven’t come out yet sure they even a little bit of Buzz that maybe it was so good in Vegas that there’s some second thoughts about oh is that right yeah we’ve heard that I don’t know any truth I mean I believe that it looked great and it worked now there’s like there’s deals that get done and things that get worked out like on the draft floor too because everybody’s there for the whole week and you know all of a sudden there will be a void probably there and how is that filled is that more phone calls or whatever so but um in your role does that kind of St factor in you know being in close proximity to the other 31 teams 100% I mean it’s a it’s a week of information so it’s fact finding you hear about who’s interviewing a player we’re we’re doing the same you know we’re bringing players in to talk to them um one more time uh but you hear what other teams are doing too and there’s agents around the players are around so it’s just and and it’s great to just have you know a week together with our staff right we’re you know we’re spread out from west coast East Coast over to Europe so for us to get a week together um you know put our brains together and have have uh you know a chance to collaborate collaborate together and and gather some information and run mock drafts it’s it’s a it’s a really important week but there’s also the other side of it too we get you know the the you know we get a runner to get gets to go I mean that’s a huge part my boys and my and my daughter have all got a chance to do it you know Hendrick’s guy did it this year so that’s a really special part that you lose out on yeah that would be cool so what is that the runner like runs the pick someplace or something they get they are at the table with us uh get to go up on stage usually carry the jersey and the hat up there um and sit with us all you know the whole the whole draft so when we need coffee we need that’s why it’s the the Run yeah we coffee chips whatever they’re the ones so we don’t have to leave the table um but pretty awesome experience for them too yeah so kinger you’re pretty excited about the first pick yeah I mean they couldn’t announce it they were done announcing it before my phone was blowing up with excitement well I didn’t think we had a chance to get him to be honest I mean he played so well in the Frozen Four he wrecked it for my Boston College Eagles but uh plus just being able to yell like boo when he scores and stuff the Z I don’t know I I just think he seems like a stud and and what we’re already doing with Faber and then adding another um good American Boy uh to the Blue Line what can you tell us about zeve like you certainly not who uh who we expected to see there you know we envisioned him top five maybe yeah when and and there was there was talk you know of him going in that in that range we sat there sort of with baited breath watching and all right he’s going to go here uh it’s going to be this pick so with every pick that went by you know we had to start thinking about you know where’s the point where’s the breaking point where we can where we can get up and you know there were still um a couple defenseman there when San Jose was going um so we thought you know this is the first time maybe there’s a chance here and as soon as uh that pick was in we were we were on the phone to to try to get up one spot we just couldn’t wait so he yeah so he was the guy that you’re like you see that he’s he’s still available and that like you thought he was Untouchable so then all of a sudden your list is changing a little bit cuz he’s at the top of it thinking like he maybe wasn’t even on your list to begin with thinking like he’s not going to be available yeah we ran a lot of mocks and and scenarios you know we do some historical trends that try give us some suggestion on what might be there and very very rarely was he was he the end result for us you know and now what was he like maybe the six dman pick so there was a bunch I mean and that was what Pick 12 yeah so the the draft must have been heavy on defenseman yes and especially early and and rightfully so you had you had guys not just z z had a historically incredible year in terms of production as a freshman in in college hockey plus he does nothing but win right he wins a world championship last April with the u8 team wins the world juniors wins a national title but on top of that you had you know two defenseman that had 30 plus goals in the CHL you know one’s a 6′ three right shot with 100 100 penalty minutes on top of it you’ve got um you know you’ve got a a 6 foot7 defenseman playing the KHL playing 24 minutes already so it was a it was a really incredible group of defenseman um and you know maybe that’s what helps yeah and so and and is some of that because I was trying to figure out like how a guy with that kind of talent Falls and you looked at some of the teams that were selecting dmen you know Pick 10 and above and they might already have like their PP quarterback like a Vancouver or somebody like that that has a Quinn Hughes and I don’t know where Van picked off the top of my head but just something like that where they they they had a piece that would be like Z so then they went maybe a different direction wanted a 6′ s kind of Tyler Meers type of dman or something because that helps complement what they have or something no doubt and we and we that was part of our forecasting too looking at teams looking at what they have for depth you know I think uh I think Philly mentioned even afterwards you know they have you know they have uh tale and Andre and um I think they got like a cam York a young guy so they you know they’ve circled the market a little bit so you know was it you know they make their own decision but uh you know that we we tried to exploit some of that looking at teams and who Mike you know See’s a six-footer so could there be teams with a bias against them and and possibly get them there to us but we at the end of the day we kept saying there’s no way yeah that’s crazy so when you go into the draft you have pick 13 what do you like what do you have were like like a four player sweet spot where you think like like these are probably the guys we’ll get and then you rank those guys like how how does that work we s we thought you know maybe the top five top six were going to be sort of set in stone those players were going to go you knew celebrini and then I can’t pronounce yeah however you say that name so we you know we thought five six guys for sure were going to go so then we were you know we were looking in this in this next group of three four players which for us really rounded out the top 10 but nobody wanted to get out you know move out of the top 10 they’re they’re players were this is a great draft at the top uh like I said these guys even the forwards that were involved had tremendous years I mean you got a player with 54 goals and 116 points in the Western League you know in this draft so uh tip of the cap to the kids they they put a lot of pressure on the scouts and it came down to you know personal preference at times so and it also so you have picked 13 and you trade for a Pick 12 you move up one spot and the player’s valuable are you doing that to make sure you get the player so that Philly doesn’t or is there an element to you don’t want somebody else leap frogging you trading Philly for that pick because like maybe you make your assessment that Philly maybe isn’t that into the player that’s available but there’s a lot of teams that would be so we’ve got to jump to make this trade even though it’s one pick to try to box everybody else out from jumping in front of you guys to get that pick 100% it’s look if you know it’s we have to get into the spot to take him and it’s not just Philly it’s the teams that are behind us there’s other teams that are thinking the same thing as us that geez we didn’t we didn’t expect them to be here how do we get up here and do it and you know scouting Community is a small world uh you know we hear a lot afterwards other teams we’re we’re definitely trying to get there too wow wow crazy uh so yeah run us through zeve a little bit so he’s a he’s a power play guy uh I I watched watched him in the the Frozen 4 a little bit too and when the game was on the line too like he’s got Moxy he’s not afraid to like hold the blue line to make like a a risky play put some air under the puck over a guy as last man you know and it’s just ice in his veins and you watch a guy like that you’re like okay well he certainly has talent you can see it but then all of a sudden he has like the mind that where where he’s like not he’s not thinking about what can go wrong he’s thinking about what he can execute and there’s like a difference there you know there’s certain game man and certain guys that Tak that take games and he seems like he might be the kind of guy that will take a game you know what I mean 100% he’s a driver he wants he wants the puck he wants to make a difference he wants to be the best player on the ice every night you can tell that’s just the way he approaches the game um you know and if if there’s mistakes it’s fine the confidence is there like he’s going to try it again um so you there’s some risk to his play but it’s it’s measured it’s not uh it’s not careless in any way he’s a competitor he wants to win so he’s not going to jeopardize you know winning or putting his team in a bad position but he definitely wants to impact the game you’ll when you meet him and you talk to him it comes across right away huge personality a lot of swagger a lot of confidence and rightfully so uh ker and I talk about this quite a bit but how in the heck does California produce players like that and what the why isn’t Minnesota producing players like that you might not have an answer you don’t have to answer the second part of that but like how does like he’s what Lagoon in the gal or something like that like California there’s San Diego I think couple years of traic though you can’t can’t that’s Minnesota that’s okay yeah so he figured it out yeah okay good yeah no that’s good um K you got anything here or I was just wondering about intangibles right you mentioned he’s a winner I’m looking at these your your second and third pick both kind of overcame major injuries right so they they maybe even had their draft stock was higher they got banged up they’re they’re working their way back how how much do you look at stuff like that like hey this kid’s a winner or this kid you know you had the The Finnish kid right said steal of the draft to Billy like that takes a certain personality to do that what how do you how do you look for stuff like that the winning and the overcoming adversity we spend a lot of time with it we talk we talk about it we talk about character and culture a lot um but you know saying those things and not falling up in our our empty words right we we spend a lot of time as Scouts meeting the kids interviewing the kids we’ve got a uh a process in place um you know we we went out and hired someone specifically who does a lot of this work uh that supplements what we do as Scouts too so when the conversation comes we want winners we want guys that are going to be you know what we envision the wild being as a team and um it it matters it matters it’s it’s coachability it’s it’s progress right these guys are all 17 they got to continue to get better so if you get a high character kid with a work ethic that’s got that in Drive he’s going to he’s going to continue to get better and he’s not going to you know you see Aaron Kibby Haru you know approach Bill and and say that you know he got the Seal of the draft I I I generally believe that he thinks that right uh when we went to the combine and talked to anyone uh that played on any of the Finish national teams they all said he was their biggest leader um who they looked up to you know in the room on the ice so there’s a reason why he wears the SE I would I would think he probably even does at the world juniors this year do you uh as a scout you’re always picking things that you think are going to be great is this like go into other places in your life are you like always trying to find the hot new restaurant are you like good at fantasy sports are you like your kids hockey team are you like hey you may not be able to see it right now but little Billy he’s going to grow and and by the time we’re in bantams he’s going to be the best player in this group are you like a prognosticator anywhere else you got the restaurant I TR honestly like all my my all my kids are in sports uh daughter just committed to college this week which was incredible congrats field field hockey yes sweet and uh but honestly at the rink I’m I’m in the corner I’m quiet I don’t have much to say I try not to you know let the the NHL Scout and me get involved with with 12 and 13y Old Hockey um but you know it is it is fun I mean you see even at that age you see the the the E and flow of it kids growing who’s you know an early developer because there you know there are some things you see with you know the guy that might be bigger stronger early it doesn’t always you know it’s hard to hard to stay on that path from from start to finish so you see some of that but at the end of the day even for these guys that we just drafted it’s all about development right they have you have to keep getting better you have to push yourself that’s why we want to create environments like this week with development Camp right if if we continue to draft well um you know not all these players are going to play for a while but if we create depth create competition it’s going to it’s going to help help everybody that’s a good question of of every draft class uh like what what’s the Hope goal expectation um of how many players from each class might be NHL players like are you hoping to you know I think if you’re if you’re hitting on two in every draft you’re you’re well ahead of the curve um you know I mean obviously it’s our goal to to you know we want we we see these guys helping us in in in different roles and having an opportunity I mean from first right through seventh but um you know the goal if you’re getting two in every draft you’re you’re definitely you’re ahead of the the average yeah and you almost have to hit on your one and then you know get one of those other guys to develop into a player and in some ways not catch lightning in a bottle but I think that’s a good way to describe what you’re trying to do is is find a diamond in the rough now is there a draft strategy where like you you’re looking for a guy that has highend talent that maybe fell a little bit because of injury or because of certain circumstance and like you might draft him and say let’s give this guy a shot because he might have been further up the draft board had he had a good year um some be like Richie or like that where it’s like hey there’s other guys in this range that were healthy that had maybe better numbers but this guy might be the guy that could be an NHL player yeah and you know what I think the hardest thing to find is obviously skill right so we focus on that in the draft we’re looking at high side we want potential we want we want you know the you know you go if you go into free agency and S a top six for you you overpay right and it’s so if we can if we can develop skill here at you know through the draft and internally it’s it’s cost effective as well what is skill now though to me skill is like almost all hockey sense like a lot of a lot of guys have the ability to to handle a puck and to make a play and make a pass and and play with it I feel like the skill component now is almost all mental like are they smart with the puck and know how to protect it know when to move it and also will they get in the right areas too right we want guys that are inside the dots and going to get to the net like when you talk about Richie like yeah n a scorer yep he’s got Jam he’ll get there like he wants to score but you know if he’s got to get into traffic and and get greasy he will yeah we we touched on this in the playoffs a couple years ago it’s crazy and it’s different at I think each level I don’t get the data on on like college or junior or high school hockey but where the goals are scored like the the further up you get in terms of talent the closer it gets to the net like where the average goal is scored and then in the playoff even from regular season to playoff hockey it’s still like three Ines closer to the net like you have to be that much closer yeah you know like all goals are scored right outside the crease and then playoff hockey all goals are scored actually in the crease and eventually you get to ericon e yeah which is the very center of the hurricane he’s actually in the net he’s just standing there like this with his hands up yeah all of his goals I think so recap uh real quick we we’ll let you get out of here and kry if you have anything else after but uh it’s I think this is what your fourth draft with the wild this is uh the fifth because the co the co year it’s four years but We snuck in an extra draft there in year one right off the bat um so I think there’s a a pool here of of players that you’ve selected and um give us a rundown of of where you think that pool is at because I I I do think that you’ve touched on the fact that you’ve you’ve put an emphasis on character youve put an emphasis on skill and um you know I think we’ve we’ve talked in the past that a lot of times you’ll just draft a best player more than need if possible um and sometimes that might change but give us an overall view of the the draft class that you have yeah I think uh you know we’ve we’ve like I said we’ve always focused on the character we want skill we want guys that are going to compete um you know so you know we’ve addressed some some things internally whether it be size down the middle we were able to address that we’ve we’ve certainly got addressed some skill a lot of guys this year who put up you know whether it’s Riley height and uh the production he had this year but you know watching Hunter hate win a me Cup right those are those are things that you can’t uh you can’t measure right that experience that he has and brings here guys are going to ask him about it he’s going to be you know from from a standpoint he’s going to help others grow you get David spachek who goes over and wins a world championship at the end of the year and playing with men and nhlers so this Prospect pool is is starting to grow um and there’s competition at you know I think I think actually at development Camp I think the defenseman are all are entirely everyone that we’ve drafted uh no invites because I don’t think there’s any room we’ve so we’ve created a lot of competition there um but from you know that’s part of the the the goal of the draft too as we look internally at our Prospect pool what are what’s an element that we’re missing missing right when you look at you know round six and Stevie laskar right that’s something that we felt we needed to address we needed the size the bite from the back end so we’re always trying to round out a uh you know the full Prospect pool so that you know when there’s when there’s needs injuries opportunities that we have someone there ready for it yeah is there anything it looks like the top three picks are are really studs is there anything about the the later picks that may maybe for the masses that they just know about Z and they’re excited about that what would you tell them about some of the later round guys I you know what I I’m equally excited about all of them honestly uh you know if you talk about Sebastian soy uh it’s a 6’2 righted shot defenseman um you’ll see him this week excellent skater uh big body gets up and down the ice really well um you know Chase Wy had a tremendous year in Red Deer you’ll see his uh physically he’s got a lot long way to go which is which is good that’s growth potential but uh the the speed and the power that he plays with the movement laterally uh this guy never gives up on a puck um and and even Stevie laskar as we mentioned he’s older um you know second time through the draft uh and uh you know a guy that stands up for teammates big hitter so he’s like a Roadhouse guy yeah yeah like he just like meet him in the parking lot I think uh we haven’t done uh all the measurements but I’m pretty sure he comes in just under 64 and 215 so uh a man an element we we didn’t have and really excited to have them I’m excited to watch yeah uh real quick how early do you start uh your scouting because I I just saw some clips out of the brick tournament in Edmonton are you familiar with this tournament oh yeah unbelievable it’s unreal my son was there two years ago was he yeah it’s honestly like it’s it’s an unbelievable take they play in the West Edmonton Mall yeah you walk in you know you hear about the tournament you’re like all right like I’ve I’ve heard it it’s going to be expensive to go out there it delivers like the atmosphere is unbelievable the the you know the the glass is just above your waist so if you’re the kids go by and high five the whole crowd after they score it’s it’s unbelievable they’ve got a wall there with all the kids who’ve ever played and you know any any any other are in Red so for the kids it’s a pretty pretty jaw-dropping experience so I saw that uh Detroit won yesterday and uh I think it was Chad cleric’s kid with three and one in the final yeah not bad not that I’m paying attention what team was I think he answered the question right there what team was your kid on uh he played for the uh Boston Junior Bruins okay Boston had a good team I think that this year Minnesota was in the same bracket as as Boston uh I think they beat him so shout out to the team Minnesota I think they played they had a good tournament Detroit ended up winning it I don’t think they have like a third or or I don’t know if they they basically play to win this thing but uh I think uh a couple of buddies on the team Zack prey son Jackson uh Jackson pzy was on team Minnesota Everett prer Nate prer nephew was on it another buddy of mine uh Bowen Johnson so a couple of good 11 12 year-olds out there dangling tow drags hey what writing them down yeah write them down remember those names remember those names I want to know more about the so the dads were all wearing like they were like like bathrobes maybe Hotel they party just as hard as the kids do on the ice I think one guy had a shirt off right he was going crazy the celebrations on the ice by the kids are unbelievable in this tournament too and they got they have like The Fat Heads Up and had like little statues of all the kids behind them it’s unreal dad’s had the shirts off with the robes yeah it’s looked it looked we should go on vacation it looked plush yeah like we’re missing out no that’s a good life I mean it looked good and I did like that uh first of all when the kids score they got to get away from their teammates as fast as they can it’s the push off hey to run through hey I got about four or five four or five things in my skit but then they just bombed him at Center Ice had to hug and then the whole whole family line with the dad’s probably getting his his gut cut on the glass leaning over with the robe it was awesome I was like gez this is either this is everything that’s wrong with hockey or everything that’s right with hockey I don’t know but it seems kind of interesting all right Bowen Johnson Jackson perzy and ever prer remember those ones um all right cool j well I appreciate it man yeah thanks it’s it’s fun to to see what you do and track everything and appreciate you taking the time with us awesome thank you guys thanks buddy summer temps are rising actually the first 90° day of the summer right around the corner but at Aquarius it’s time for their summer meltdown of savings get up to $3,000 off a new high efficiency cooling and heating system plus with a qualifying purchase you’ll get a free whole home air purification system stay cool and comfy with amazing air quality for years to come it all starts with a free inhome consultation one of their highly trained Comfort Specialists will provide options that make sense for you and your home and that’s not all enjoy special price on new heat pumps and Mini Splits and 50% off in AC tuneup don’t miss aquarius’s meltdown of saving sale now through the end of July schedule today at Aquarius homes services.com Aquarius believes in earning the right to be recommended and guys I recommend them they came over they solve my problems 68 and sunny inside my house all the time boom hey ker um we just wrapped up the 4th of July and the taste of Minnesota um if if you’re trying to recreate like summer in Minnesota on the grill what are you getting I’m going to head over to Cub I’m going to get some other Pub Burgers I like them because they got the flavors packed into them already you can get the the Jalapeno in there the cheese is embedded we’re going to talk about my grilling prowess or lack of prowess a little bit uh in this episode but I tell you when I’m in that back corner of my yard with all the bushes and trees and I’m cooking those cub Pub Burgers maybe get some Kors Banquets like you’re finishing the last season of Yellowstone that no one’s seen come into the house uh you’re a hero I actually have a king of the grill platter um that I I think it was originally bought for me CU my last name is King but now that people have seen what I do out there with the Cub Pub Burgers it’s just a sign of respect they’ve crowned you the best that’s right best burger maker so check out thanks to Cub Cub Pub burgers at Cub perfect we got to e we got to ease in with Billy he’s a friend of the program yeah this is an organic five timer he’s like on Saturday Night Live he would be like get the jacket he would get the jacket go back with Steve Martin and he also knew that these were dvo hats for development Camp D camp and uh so that’s good but hey Fourth of July uh did you watch fireworks on land or on water um did not watch fireworks no it didn’t even watch them no didn’t even watch them um it was kind of raining if you were here yeah yeah I was here uh we uh yeah we just stuck around the house my son had a bunch of buddies over and um all my kids were in town which was great um yeah it was pretty pretty relaxing day and it was fun have you worked the grill in the last week were you like helming the grill yes what did you cook um one night I made some steak I I have gone to I have gone to the Blackstone ah yeah and for everything everything yeah everything well I have a triager also that that takes a little more time most nights but the Blackstone is uh you got a big one probably uh 36 in yeah you have like telling you that’s the ticket just go buy one see it’s good for breakfast I use it for breakfast but I still do like dinner on the main Grill cook I cook steaks on it when he said he went all Blackstone you kind of had a look of like maybe that wasn’t the way no I just haven’t considered it it’s it’s it’s almost exclusively breakfast I got a 17inch Blackstone had a lot of problems out there a lot of pressure not a lot of places to move things I’ve had some I’ve had some bad outcomes that’s too small I know I’ve had some bad you know like cougar and Top Gun where it’s like it’s no good no good yeah I’ve gone down out there no I I went uh we did uh we did it’s too small it’s not my fault we shrimp tacos the other night and I had all like the veggies on one side and all the shrimp on the other and you just feel like a you know short order cook or something it’s just awesome you feel like a pro when you’re doing you do you do you get the long spatulas chopping it’s just you ever catch an egg on the side over the egg right on there there I I’m I’m a big believer though I love it so ker I I can oh no I would have been able to it doesn’t surprise me that you’ve struggled with a grill so I I drive past Ker’s house and most people have the grill on the Decker on the patio he has his grill out in the woods facing the woods almost like it started on fire and he went to put it there yeah I don’t know why that’s there in the woods I think I don’t I think saw the place this be like it was 100% on fire it was 100% on fire and for some reason it’s tucked back there cuz they didn’t want to burn the house down and now that’s where it’s I could for sure get malaria where I grill the way things Grill is that where you grill yes and I now that I think about it maybe you’re right that’s a that’s a lack of confidence by my spouse just being like brand new house just built the house why don’t we throw the grill over here with the mosquito net and uh yeah I’m a long ways away from the house and it’s very foresty where I am but I did cook some Bratz last night easy brats are easy just go with the color I turn them a lot I’m I overh handle on the grill a lot of flipping yeah L of checking every bur don’t over flip them I know I did do Smash Burgers successfully on the Blackstone yeah 10c press down yeah they cook so fast yeah they just like they’re done you have to have the wax paper under there I don’t have or else they stick to the the Press but the Oklahoma burgers with the really fine shaved onions okay you pile on there like I’m getting hungry I’m getting hungry yeah this sounds sounds good should we get into some hockey well we’re not going to we never are going to interview you like the other people though this isn’t Kayan this isn’t ruso we’re not worried about your plan two years from now we’re just going to talk like like crew right now I love it I I want to talk about zeve because uh I you know of course good American defenseman killed our Boston College Eagles and did you just basically draft him because just I’m going to get him back he played well draft him it’s going to be a real tough play and just sit him it’s going to be a really tough start for him just he’s just doing army crawl through Tria for like three weeks Seagle Seagle so tell us about zeve and all seriousness because I know the fan base is legit excited about this kid yeah I mean we all are um we we did not expect uh Z to be there we had him rated much higher as as did uh most teams I would would say all teams um you know I I think um there were a couple picks early on that that kind of uh maybe threw the first half of the first round off a bit and um we were we we just couldn’t believe that he was kind of coming to our area um it’s kind of funny because I I talked to Z’s agent and we we had another interview lined up with him with with Aaron beo and it was they were I think they were just kind of having a hard time connecting and it’s we were kind of like you know what he’s not going to be there it’s not going to matter don’t even worry about it but you know what thank God we Aaron had already had you know other interviews with him and and um so a Jud and uh so they they felt they knew the player and then he started dropping and um when we got to 12 we’d seen we had seen another team get up and talk to Philadelphia wait wait so like you you saw the team get up from their desk and walk over to Philly because the draft is changing we talked about this with Jud a little bit and like so there’s like some value in having a centralized draft Yeah that that part that I mean you’re you’re right there you know some guys still use the phone and they’re at the table right next to you but then then then not as many people know who you’re talking to but um and we just we just didn’t know we don’t we did not want to leave it up to chance that Philly didn’t take that we would not get him so um called Philly and and uh you know offered our third round pick next year which is I I we all thought it was a small price to pay uh to get this player and and it worked out so we’re we’re thrilled um he’s a he’s a great young man um comes from a real interesting background his you know I met his parents and they were kind of you know kind of got the story um and you know of their family and it’s it’s really remarkable and you can see why these kids have such great character him and his brothers are just fantastic kids and um you know he had like 80 people there at the draft like you know big family and you know he had family flying from Israel and things like that and that to me that says something it’s just you know you come from you know solid background like that it it you know they don’t grow up like the neighbors so you he he comes from a background he’s going to be a solid kid and uh yeah we’re just we’re thrilled to have him and he’s going to feel a need and maybe we can get into like when and maybe they you don’t have an answer on like when we might see him in a wild sweater a little bit but um he looks like the kind of guy that is going to be a stud at quarterbacking a power play like you I watched him at the the Frozen Four like he’s last man back s pass over a couple guys like dragging people around like he knows what he’s doing he’s got the mock he he doesn’t play I I feel like he plays to make plays not to avoid making mistakes a little bit too but he executes those plays um offensive like great Mobility but something that I think that the the roster maybe doesn’t have right now and would you say that’s accurate yeah yeah it would and and he does have that ability you know look at when you you know it’s one thing to do it in college it’s another thing to do it at the NHL level you have to um you know you have to be really good to be able to run on you know on NHL power play but we feel that you know the direction that his game is going his skill level his his mind uh which is the big thing is he’ll be able to do that and um you know like I said with all these young guys we we just have to make sure that we handle them properly from from you know now till then and and make sure that we don’t uh you know uh stunt his development in any way and and make sure that that he’s where he needs to be at the right time like if it you know he’s going to go back to Denver perfect you know when when does he sign we got to make sure we sign him at the right time like all these things like um but yeah in the end he’s got that ability and the the rest of the draft was probably equally as exciting in terms of I think guys that you got and um like how do you feel that the rest of the draft sh out I think a lot of attention has been paid to zeve because that I mean that’s on TV that was at the sphere there was a lot going on he fell there was a trade there’s St but the rest of the was really strong too yeah I think I think so I mean I hey look I uh I’m a big believer in in what Jud does and and how he approaches it and his knowledge of of the uh of all the players and and it’s his day and um the one thing that I love about Jud is that he’s not afraid to uh you know kind of stick his neck out there and and and and pick the players he really believes and you know like like with Richie you know you know he had had a a charlie horse injury and and missed 40 games and um but but before that he was first round talent and you know just because it’s an injury same way we got Damon hunt it does like these young guys they they heal and I just feel like he’s like this just makes sense um so we got a a good player you know at Great Value and and um you know and you know I just think with all of our guys we all just kind of looked over at Sean kind of creep creeping in the door here rice on Ice um uh just I I really feel like Jud gets good value for the round that we’re picking in and um but that’s almost strategy it’s almost strategy yeah yeah and I I think he’s I think he’s brilliant with this stuff and and you know uh uh you know even in the fourth round with with Aaron um you know he he had missed most of the year because of his his injuries but without those injuries he’s a much higher rated player and his his injuries are going to heal they’re fixed they’re going to heal he’s going to be better this is a long process so um yeah I just I just love I just love those picks how um how was Vegas in the sphere absolutely incredible it was oh for I mean it was so hot oh my God it was so hot um but it was uh the the sphere is uh it’s just wild it’s it’s like nothing you’ve ever seen before I can’t I want to see a concert there um just extremely unique and uh yeah it’s really an experience I I I I thought it was fantastic are you gonna miss the centralized draft or are you gonna like the remote draft more I I think the remote draft is something that we really need to try um I I think of course you know you miss um our tradition of of doing an inperson draft um but but what could it be you know you you you see the some of the other sports that that have a remote draft and they have great success with it you know what what are we going to do um you know to make it better to to to kind of spice things up you know it’s up to the individual teams on how they’re going to you know handle everything but I I think it’s I think the remote draft is also going to be a good opportunity for us to do um something special for our fans and for the the the players that we pick but um yeah I guess the one thing I I will you know for me like you get around all the hockey people like and everybody’s like oh it’s the greatest thing to have everybody Under One Roof you know the one time year I’m like it is great but for a guy like me it’s like complete overload I’m like I want to say hi to him I want to say hi to that guy that guy I like I’m like oh my God like I need a break but it is awesome I’ve been uh I’ve been listening to some of your interviews and there’s this theme hard to play against has been coming up you picked up the the kid from Boston and this trendon uh his interview was just some of the best content uh his sort of um whatever it was his Zoom where he just he was just such just so tough like if he would have got done with that zoom and just gotten to Camaro and drove away it would have been perfect um just how he talked about everything he was just he was very Russian and just hard so what do these guys bring uh you know this idea of being being hard to play against even he said the team maybe got softer after Felino and maroon were out of the lineup but you’re looking for that kind of grit that spiciness yeah it just you know what the competitiveness it’s it’s you have to be hard to play against in this league and I I think um and I think we lost some of that and the one thing that I like about our team when we’re on top of our game is that from top to bottom we’re hard to play play against from from Kill MH you know down to the you know the the the the the rest of the guys are the lowest guy whatever everybody’s hard to play against and I feel like we lost some of that and when you know and I I just feel like like uh like trenny is going to come in and and and help reestablish that you know um we’ve always had you know Marcus and Patty maroon or Revo um you know hearts’s got a get more involved in it again you know baldi’s got to get more involved in being harder to play against mid’s got to be like everybody’s got to be harder to play against in their own way MH um but I definitely think we lost part of the uh some of the uh the the physical abrasive aspect of our game and and I I think we really really need to reestablish our identity um before anything else because um you know obviously we’d like to start adding you know at a certain point but it doesn’t matter unless you have that identity in check ready to go and sometimes I think it the hard to play against gets confused with just being bigger and more physical that doesn’t mean just running around either that means being there like skating you know like yeah being in somebody’s face when they turn up with the puck or having so they’re not comfortable retrieving a puck that and that doesn’t mean you have to hit them or you need to be 6’4 to be hard to play against kill’s hard to play against other you can be hard to play against with a good stick you can be hard to play against with Good Feet you know it’s just it’s different but those guys bring an element like obviously trennan can he can be hard to play against because he is big because he’s rangy because he skates cuz he can do a lot CU he’ll go with the net like there’s a lot of things that he’ll do to be hard to play against but it’s all those factors that you’re probably looking for not just hey I’m looking for a tough guy to scare somebody 100% yeah you know listen this is this is the you don’t you don’t scare many guys you you need to be hard to play against just exactly like you said kill is hard to play against zuk Carell can be hard to play against when he’s on his game baldi’s got to be hard to play against with his size his talent um being willing to take pucks to the net eek is hard to play against like whatever your game is you need to be hard to play against in that element you know you’re a skilled guy there’s a 5050 Puck you have to like you’re you’re compete level has to be through the roof go get it that’s what I’m talking about you know what pressure up the ice you know work hard coming back all those things like you know what be be disciplined in your in your systems like be where you’re supposed to be you know defensive Zone coverage neutral zone for that’s hard to play against like be dialed in all there’s all sorts of different ways uh to be hard to play against but I think when you when it really comes down to it that there’s a found of competitiveness when it comes to that and we we have to get back to that I wanted to talk about Coach Hines a little bit so he comes in last year and for carts and I it was really interesting to watch he he really usually when a coach comes in you can’t necessarily see all the tactics changing but he just had him skating to open areas playing faster kind of in not Lanes but they all had uh options it seemed on every play and it kind of picked up the pace hot streak a little bit of a cold streak another hot streak now that he comes in he’s having his own Camp he gets to do it the way he wants he’s not a transition um what do you expect out a coach what should fans yeah you know this guy well what what uh what should we what do you think will be a little different this season well I listen when John came in I I know you know we had this discussion and he implemented some things that you know can be grasped right away uh fairly easily like um playing fast like neutr coming out of our own end things like that there there are a lot more uh details in in the game in all three zones special teams all that stuff that JN wants to implement and I think like you said this is just giving him a fresh start with with the group from day one so I think he will be I don’t think I know he’ll be throwing a lot more at them to learn and to adjust to and I think that’s that’s the beauty of of having a training camp is like so John’s going to implement a lot of new things now we we have to start working on them on a daily basis that’s why the preseason games are important so we can we can Implement them during the preseason and get ready uh you know for game one safe to say too that for a coach he I don’t I don’t know how many games he had last year 60 we it but 20 to 30 Games is his learning curve too he’s figuring out the players that he has on the roster what buttons to push what they’re capable of what what playing being hard to play against looks like for Matt baly is different than it is for Jake Middleton and trying to put them in the right spots to be hard to play against or and he’s got to assess like okay this is the group this is what I have this is and I’ve been on teams before where yeah over the summer just systems entirely changed because the the group in there didn’t work with the the systems that we tried the year prior so it’s like all right we got to try something different and it switches and um but now Hines has got a pretty good grasp on what he has what these guys are capable of and now he’s been able to formulate a plan over the course of the summer and then maybe go execute it uh with a little more detail to begin next season yeah couldn’t agree with you more cards I I and you know what too he knows the players well now and I think that’s the important thing is like the communications open the guys the guys know what to expect from John John personality wise uh uh you know accessibility wise all that stuff like there’s just a little less to figure out um on that aspect so now he can go and focus more on the hockey stuff and just kind of you know he knows what he’s working with and so do they tell us about Jack CU interesting hire um in in I think in a good way too like in established and former head NHL Co coach that has had success and now he’s coming in and um what like what’s his role what do you see from him well Jack uh yeah Jack’s got a lot lot of lot of experience that was uh one of the things that that hiny was looking for and um you know we we talked for hours um you know about this position and how important it will be uh John’s never worked in the NHL with Jack neither have I but I you know through my time in Long Island I you know we know all the same people and i’ I’ve known Jack actually I played I played for the old Minnesota Northstar Scout Smoky Cerrone I played in the summer league I want to know so much more about this with so guy’s name was Smokey Cerone yeah Smokey Cerrone he’s from Providence and uh so Smokey coached the Minnesota northstars team in Joe Lions Pro Elite league and hang a mass and I played in it with cap and his brother so I’ve known him since I was probably 16 that’s great um it’s a small It’s a small world man yeah it is it’s crazy but you know what Jack I tell you what he he’s he he’s he’s a good coach he’s very passionate um he’s just willing to give his time and just wants to teach these guys and he he takes he takes the PK and things like that personally and he wants it to be the best and I’ve worked with him now a couple times and so as John like World Championships um with USA hockey and um you know this this past World Championships when when I was over there um Jack was just really impressive and and and John liked working with him a lot so you know we’re we’re uh we’re lucky to have uh him and him and Donna join join the team good yeah that’s fantastic uh this viral moment this uh K har are you says I’m the steal of the drafty pulls you in close for the real thing what a love it you got to love it now how how often is that do you get any have you that ever happened the first time and he looked right into your eyes and was like hug him pulled him in tight I mean that was that’s I want to hear your version of that story what’s your version of that yeah like you know you just congratulate the kids and they wish he grabbed me he pull me in he was like he he had this look on his face I’m like what’ I do and he just said you know you got the biggest steal in the draft I’m like like it like it it like caught me off guard a bit I’m like and then I was like that’s wow that’s fortitude like that was that was fantastic like that’s a that’s the way to say I’m here yeah no doubt and and uh yeah I just it’s just the confidence you know and and it was um you know I he he probably didn’t expect to go as late as he did and I hope he uses that um as as fuel so the back to a little bit on Iowa look like you you invested substantially maybe in Iowa and there’s some guys and Veteran guys there and and what’s the idea behind that is because Iowa I think missed the playoffs has maybe the last couple years is the hope that all of a sudden some of these young guys you know because jud’s been doing great with the drafts and the prospect pool now is it a matter of investing to getting them in a spot where they can win some games and and play playoff hockey yeah that’s definitely one of the thoughts but the biggest thought is is improving the depth uh for the Minnesota Wild these are all players that uh have NHL experience and and they’re good players at the NH NHL level and and I think when they when they get called up it’s um or they or they’re there uh they’re they’re more they’re better suited for the role that we’re going to put them in sure and that’s really the thinking behind it we needed to get uh we needed to get some size we needed to get a little um just a little different on on our callup options and and being a being able to leave our younger players uh you know there so they can continue to just play Big minutes because we don’t want them up here just sitting around and maybe some injury Insurance CU last year with the injuries yeah and the injury insurance too is is is a big one I mean we just yeah we we just felt like we were a little thin and um we we just needed to improve on that I was surpr we’re we’re very excited about the guys that we signed yeah yeah it looks great everything I mean it was exciting I mean it looked like it was kind of a quiet July one yeah but at the same time like if you if you look through it a little bit I I think there there’s some promise there and some it’s going being a good thing yeah I mean yeah it was it was kind of a quiet July 1 but you know what we a accomplished what we feel we needed to accomplish I I think if you look around the league and you know there are teams out there making big splashes and this and spending all that and getting this guy and that guy and every guy and and that’s great you know what that’s that’s what they felt they needed and could afford and um I feel that we got what we needed and spent the money that we could and it’s still it’s still about building something it’s um and you know what got to play the games um speaking of playing games give us an update on four nations and and how that’s going I’m surprised you had time over the Fourth of July to to fire up the Blackstone because you I mean you’re a busy dude from the draft to free agency to for Nations to you name it there’s signing Middleton tra I mean it seems like you you got a lot of cooking yeah yeah I’ve had a lot of cooking uh actually couple uh month ago I had um I had uh the USA Hockey staff uh in into Minnesota um and we met for uh a couple days on uh you know the first six players that were going to be named um but then you know how how it goes you just start talking about the teams and like you know how they’re going to be like who’s available like who and and there were there were great conversations it was a blast it was you know we’re sitting here talking about all the elite American players in the game and guys who you’ll never have a chance of getting otherwise you know there’s no salary cap there’s no contracts it’s it’s just hockey never thought of that it’s just hockey and it’s just the the elite of the elite and um you know touching base with these guys you know I I I’ve talked to all first six well no I talked to five because Matthew kachuk was uh swimming in the ocean yeah was swimming in the ocean so I got to touch BCE with him soon but he he’s at the Elbow Room so so um you know getting to know these guys on a on a different level too is has been really uh has been really cool um they’re good kids they want to win they they can’t a lot of them have played together before in the past so they’re really excited about getting kind of their their generation together again and and and trying to make some good things happen yeah it seems like it’s going to be exciting tournament I hope there’s tons of hate too like it’s in Boston too I just I hope it’s like Old School uh you not even the World Cup like go back to before that you know like I mean these this generation hasn’t this American group has not had best on best the last time we did it it was uh they had the young stars both McDavid and Matthews yeah both of them were on team North America did you see the roster of that unbelievable I mean that team was Terri I think M Kinnon was on that team too it’s like Matthews and the hot pink jerseys Michael McDavid and that was great it’s it’s unbelievable but now you get to I I just hope it uh this would be good I hope it gets it gets real uh and I think it should get should get feisty I I wanted to ask you one um this uh what did you I I don’t I bet you didn’t learn anything but what what was reinforced by watching the Stanley Cup playoff this year like I watched Maurice’s speech and when he was I mean one of the greatest Victory speeches of all time I’m like this is exactly what the state of hockey needs this release that he had 30 years right what did you learn you know whether it’s a style of play or size of players or did you did you have anything where you’re like circled it and went yep there it is that’s what works your best players have to be your best players they have to drive the bus they just do you can’t if if if your best players aren’t aren’t getting it done you’re done you’re yeah like Edmonton six and seven yeah yeah I mean you know you s you saw it you know when when McDavid and tridle weren’t playing as well in the first three games they were getting dusted and you know Florida’s guys were were on and then it flipped and you know I I don’t know what happened but McDavid and Dr especially McDavid just turns it on and you know now now we’re in game seven and then in game seven they’re they’re you know Florida’s best players were the best and it has to be like that and and you know you have to have those you have to have those big guys and you have to have them playing well at the right time dude I think I think I well one thing was reinforced that the fourth win’s the hardest to get at least in the four the fourth is the hardest to get when you get that close to something you’ve wanted your whole life it’s it’s almost impossible not to get caught up in the fantasy of it I think that happened in Florida a little bit you know and then they had enough time to be able to recover from it but with that the second thing is the experience matters you like Florida had to lose they’ve lost before that’s the reason that they could probably sharpen their pencil at the time that they absolutely needed to they could shut it down when they needed to so if you’re a wild fan I mean it it’s been painful having these these first round exits and losing but it’s the it’s the playoff loss that put both those teams in the final as Edmonton struggles Florida strugg they’ve all been through it every every so you have to lose before you can win and then it’s that experience that it’s that experience that almost how to win yeah that’s how it teaches you how to win it does it does it’s the the the the pain uh the pain uh that you go through um when you lose it it thickens your skin but you can also go back to certain plays or why why didn’t we win you know what happened like you know where where did we go wrong and but you just you just get stronger you get mentally tougher and you see a lot of teams go through it and um most teams do you know and and you know in in 94 we lost to the Rangers and it really toughened us up and we won a 95 and ‘ 08 the Penguins lose to Detroit you know it toughens them up we were ready for game seven in in 09 and um like it just it ha you know you read Gretzky’s book you know when he’s they they lose to the Islanders for the first time and he’s walking by and they’re not celebrating they’re all putting ice bags on that’s what it takes you you you have to learn that and it’s a tough lesson but um yeah it makes you better it’s not even it’s not even losing before you win it’s the journey you have to go through multiple rounds you have to do all the things you have to get so close to it that you can taste it and then it’s taken away that I don’t I’m not necessarily sure you have to do that but I agree if you do that it it can help you a lot I mean that I I couldn’t imagine FL it’s so hard it is so hard it is so taxing on on your body on your mind like you have you have to be on like two for two months straight each and every night physically and mentally you have to be on you know what you have to you have a bad game which is going to happen you know what you turn over a puck and that loses your team the game you have to be able to like put that aside and move on to the next game c of heagy game six mistakes no good game seven scores the goal yeah he like that kid’s lights out like you have to be able to put that aside and and and just move on um I I had learned that my first playoff series um it was the 9192 series season we played the Rangers in the playoffs I remember we lost a game at Madison Square Garden but we took the bus back to Jersey and I remember sitting there with uh with cl Lemieux and and and Lou and and um a couple other guys and you know Pepe had a beer and you know guys were kind of like laughing and kind of you know they had already moved on and I was like just sitting here like okay we just lost a game shouldn’t we be like sad and pep Pepe is like no you just look it it’s done you move on we got we got another game coming up you just you just and that’s a Learning lesson like you just got to keep going no matter what happens and you know as the Oilers prove too you’re never really done no until until until you lose that last game you’re you’re never done you can always come back like it you know the the record books are the record books but you can always get yourself back in it right right no I know and I want to just give Cory Perry a hug this poor guy has been to the finals in six five of the last six years he has been able to win it he’s got he’s got his cup but man like think about that he’s been he’s been playing I can’t 10 months of hockey N9 months of hockey for six straight years it’s amazing it’s unbelievable it’s amazing deserves win that kid’s a warrior that kid deserves win I love his game I love his game always have before we let you go so hockey it it uh starts Stanley Cup Final then the draft then free agency so it’s like summer starts then all of a sudden there’s like two weeks of tons of activity then it’s like back to Summer mode for two months where are you going to spend the next uh couple weeks when you’re recharging out on the shore yep I’m going to the shore for a little while then I’ll come back here uh then I have to I’m going to Arizona for a couple days uh with my daughter to move her into a new apartment then going back to the shore for a little while and then come back here yeah work on the tan rest the back I will will are you a are you a tarps off kind of guy at the beach or sun shirt uh protecting from sunburn no tarps off tarps off for sure you definitely have I’ve this you got a hairy chest right got thisin skin yeah no I’m made for that for that you’re olives and then uh what’s uh what’s the first thing you’re grabbing at Wawa oo first thing of grabbing at Wawa I’ll probably go I’ll probably go roast beef hogy with Swiss mhm little bit of lettuce pickles cucumbers hot peppers little extra male God look at he’s not even here right now look atar off at the be he just went he was at WWA did you see his eyes just roll back and and then he smiled at the end of the order yeah that that’ll probably be my first WWA and then uh I’ll probably roll down a blitzes and get a pork girl EG and cheese sandwich for breakfast that’s pretty standard what about beverages you do like a Diet Mountain Dew guy or Celsius like what you just water Gatorade what do you do coffee in the morning water and and then uh barley po cocktails in the afterno all right all right okay it’s the beach man you know what it’s it’s hey it’s it’s the beach I like it well I appreciate you spending some time with us always fun coming here you guys enjoy the family five Been Working Man uh put the feet up a little bit so um thanks for taking the time with us yeah thanks for having me on always good to see you all right we’re here at development Camp also known as uh dvo camp we got we got the big boys we got we did we got the studs coming in uh we got z boam i this is a hell of a between all he does is win u8 World Junior national champ nchc rookie team first team Rookie of the Year blah blah blah take a breath so yeah so he’s he’s doing good that’s zeve our first rounder and we got Ryder Richie also was WHL rookie of the year if I got it right 55 and 61 son of a former NHL um first round Talent had a little quad hematoma that maybe bounced him uh down but he’s got a chip on his shoulder and ready to kick some ass as well for your Minnesota Wild so they’re in town for development camp and we’re going to get to know the youngsters well tell you got to ask him about the you have any okay do you have any idea what those red things are is it is it a make a cake it it is actually probably to make a cake but do you know why it would be here for development is it to make that’s what I said looks like a wedding cake mold I have no idea okay so there was at one point a band called dvo and they had a song called whip it whip it real good and uh they used to wear these energy cell hats dvo development camp dvo Camp we’re on a little bit of a small budget here at Wild on 7th had the wife make the with Gorilla gr glue and only Bill Garen knew what it was but it could be a good social post I bet half the people will know what it is and half won’t so welcome to dvo Camp do you want to Rapid Fire him a little bit to get them loose in the sauna yeah I can’t you can’t hurt to Rapid Fire him do you remember some of the questions I got some on my phone I do should we we got to explain to them what this is okay um we have a thing called rapid fire uh we use it with the wild guys it’s probably going to fade away cuz we’ve interviewed almost everyone except for number 97 if you see him around tell him we’re looking for him but uh this is a simple thing you got to answer quick okay a lot of the goalies they get locked up and they do a long answer and you can just say pass if you want to pass okay and this will be easier for you because you’ll probably go uh let’s say when carts ask you a question why don’t you start and then you go second when I ask a question you first you second so you get so it follows it’s like a game of snake is what you’re saying yeah it’s like a snake draft yeah fantasy um all right so we’ll start this and this is just to get you loose you know your young kids uh okay nickname uh there’s a lot little little man uh YY laheim there I got like anything you can think of how about you yeah uh rich rich dog Big Rich just just kind of that Big and Rich no that’s a country band all right you up yeah who do you text the most uh probably say my buddies yeah my girlfriend yeah what do you listen to in the car uh just country be more specific who are some of your country people Luke Holmes Morgan Wallen um I don’t know we got you how about you yeah it depends on the day I’d say Zack Bryan or Drake all right all right so you’re on the Kendrick Lamar Drake battle you’re more of a drake guy yeah 100% Drake okay cool you guys are what 18 years old and just got drafted so you probably don’t have an answer for this one but what was your first real job that’s usually for guys that play in the NHL and it’s like did you have a real job you guys ever had a real job never had a job no I love it neither did I no you never had a job they’re like they’re like what’s a job actually what’s a job wait what do you mean uh hockey jersey you had as a kid I think my first jersey was a a Chara Jersey another Z yeah uh yeah Sydney Crosby for me or or my dad’s I’d say nice first concert never been to one yeah I went I was supposed to go to Drake last year in Vancouver and it cancelled an hour before the concert so never been to one come on Drake yeah you guys know what stage coach is yeah so I went to Stage Coach and then uh in Red Rocks in Colorado I went to uh Riley green jeez Red Rock is like a it’s like a bucket list venue right it’s sick it’s a sweet spot it’s outdoor right yeah it’s like outdoor it’s like literally in the mountains yeah just like covered in and then there’s just like a whole seating area it’s have you seen this Riley green guy he’s like the coolest yeah he’s awesome he’s I think he’s like Riley Duckman on Instagram he’s just so cool um but he made me feel old there I’m just going to say I know him hey dvo Riley green I got coverage I got hidden talent oh man um I mean I played the trumpet for like four years we got to get that back that’s good that’s good that’s for a freegame lineup yeah my hidden talent uh I can speak Swedish what what yeah I didn’t know that is a talent I told you’re GNA fit in here cuz well that might throw the balance off what’s the what’s the Swedish Mafia have here five yeah and then four with Zuki zukaro is technically the leader of the Swedish Mafia Norwegian he’s Norwegian yeah I don’t know how that works but that’s what we’ve been told what’s your guys’ pet peeve oh uh talking with food in their mouth just kind of that’s pretty normal one I just can’t can’t do it when I’m trying to like watch something like on the TV like a movie and someone’s just like being super loud and like I’m really into the movie and like they won’t shut up or something it wait till you get married and your wife asks you every single question about the movie as you’re watching the movie like I don’t know I’m watching I think your wife’s great Ryan she doesn’t listen what’s the last thing you binged watched it could be a TV show or a movie probably suits so good yeah Harvey Spectre I just started suits the other day so I’m season n just came out or something right is it a new season it’s like their final season really I thought it was just running through the old stuff uh what’s your or who’s your favorite social follow so uh Instagram Tik talkk whatever who who’s your favorite follow uh this a dangerous question question for a young man honestly kind of kind of a weird one the sketch guy he’s pretty big on Tik Tok is that the guy that can like the football guy oh okay he’s pretty funny like the what’s up brother yeah yeah that guy oh man uh I don’t know probably like aats he’s always posting something so uh who plays you in the movie so this is an actor they maybe you think they look like you maybe they just you would just want them to play you so we’re going to see the the boo Blockbuster who’s you you know Adam Sandler and the Zohan meet to Zohan yeah is that what it’s called this guy he loves everything Z that’s good yeah I like that Sandler would be good yeah how about you that’s a that’s a tough one um I don’t like I don’t know I I’ve been trying to think of that one I got asked at the combine weirdly I didn’t really have an answer for it but honestly probably say I’ve gotten I’ll just say Justin Bieber oh nice the beibs you’re a bever a is that what they say all right how do you want to do this how do you want to get in crack these kids open you want any more rapid fire I got a couple first car don’t have my license yet don’t have your license no dude I like that you’re actually like a fetus like he doesn’t know what a job is he had never been to a concert what you ride camels have you ever seen fire yes okay good how about uh how about weird food combo like Canadians like ketchup on their eggs and stuff do you do that John no I do that you do that I don’t do that ketchup on eggs I do like ketchup on like everything really yeah I go Maple Sy on eggs maple syrup on your eggs yeah that’s probably the weird that is weird no that’s good and if I have like sausage or bacon and eggs but no pancakes I want maple syrup too that’s on the breakfast meat not on the eggs themselves I don’t care if it gets on the eggs I think it makes everything better that’s the hard part about syrup you can’t control it’s everywhere um all right yeah let’s so let’s get into it how was it like the draft the whole process for you guys so um Ryder why don’t you start uh like uh you know you’re going to get picked obviously um what’s the day like where you at who you with yeah uh kind of just spent all day with with the family uh I didn’t really know if I was going to go day one or day two so I mean I got ready for day one didn’t go and then day two I was I was looking forward to it I knew I was going to get picked that day and yeah just kind of waited out and wait until you get your name called and it’s it’s a dream come true I mean just getting go down there meeting all the staff and the scouts and general managers so it was uh it was a lot of fun yeah and the sphere how was the sphere crazy it was yeah it’s you walk in there and you don’t even believe it’s real like it’s just the the screen’s massive it’s kind of hurts your at first but it’s it’s crazy yeah and Z how about you you you had a bunch of people there right I hear 40 no we0 85 people 85 people 85 at the sphere yeah a lot of like family and friends so um it was a lot of fun I think the whole day like kind of like with riter started just spending with with family and friends and then um you know like the whole like I got there early um at the sphere and I went like they introduced me with like a robot I don’t know if you guys saw that anywhere but um like a couple of us like I don’t know if everyone did or what it was but you like go on an escalator down and cuz they didn’t do like the red carpet outside so um they like introduced us with like a robot and this robot would like look at us and like explain like who we are and like really team we came from and everything and it was super freaky so I didn’t like it but I mean it was cool and then U I guess just like the whole experience with the sphere was unbelievable I mean like all the like what they do in there is just like insane and then um yeah I me it was just uh it was an awesome experience a lot of fun obviously and um yeah it was it was crazy who do you talk to like who tells you guys like where to go and when to be there and stuff is there like a PR guy for Al from the NHL I don’t know like what you did but they you know like do you know like the welcome to the NHL show like that they do so I was like one of the guys they’re doing with so I was just with like them the entire time so they were just telling me where to go and what to do you’re just like okay I can do this what what do you do with 85 people in town are you like taking over some hotel with like chicken fights like where do you eat do you have to find like a buffet like what that’s like 15 Ubers like how what what what did you do how did you do that I don’t I don’t first of all it’s awesome but I don’t even know I honestly don’t know um like what everyone was doing half time a lot of my family was in the casino I was going to say were they there for the draft or for the gambling I think I think they might have had more fun than I did so um like zeve who’s Eve that’s awesome likee like trip to Vegas let’s go that’s good um I did want to talk about uh this culture that Carl has built at Denver I I listened to him on a podcast and could have been more impressed with this guy he’s a young coach he’s had success right away he had an injury that kind of forced him into coaching what’s what’s in the water at du what uh how would are there little bumper stickers hanging on the wall like what what is the ethos of uh Denver hockey right now I mean it’s awesome I think what people don’t understand is like we don’t have like the shooting rooms and um you know some of the stuff that North Dakota and Boston College and other schools have but um you know we have a really nice facility that not a lot of people like I guess would expect and um I think like for me like when you come to Denver like you get guys that really want to be there like it’s not like I said it’s not like the most high tech fancy whatever so um you get guys who really want to be there who love the game who are really good people and um you know Tavis McMillan like our assistant coach is you know Scouts all of us brings us all there and um he does a really good job and then just the whole coaching staff obviously Carl Ferguson I mean everybody they’re they’re uh they’re world class I mean they’re they’re great guys you can you know have a great conversation with them at any time of the day and then um you know you get on the ice and it’s all business so it’s a great balance with everybody and um yeah I’ve never been a part of a team that type before so it’s uh it’s definitely a different different feeling and uh yeah it’s a it’s a way different culture than I think anybody has in college hockey yeah 10 national championships the best of all right or tied with Michigan we’re we’re we’re at the top you’re top yeah so that’s literally the best the Alabama of uh of college hockey doesn’t feel right um Ryder so you you grew up your dad played in the NHL so you’re around the rink all the time yeah like when when was hockey your game like when did you know ever since I was born I’d say like just kind of getting born into a hockey hocke family with my dad playing it and uh growing up at the rink I remember getting to go watch like practice and stuff be sitting on the bench during pregame skate when he’s playing in the NHL and getting to go in the room after they win games and stuff so I that’s all I kind of remember is just just hockey hockey hockey and then as I grew old I just kept playing it falling in love with it so I just I just kind of always knew so where did you grow up I I’ve lived lived in Calgary lived in Vancouver uh lived in bellus for a year lived in Switzerland for say four years Sweden three years so I’ve lived lived everywhere now it makes sense that you can speak Swedish yeah yeah yeah I did that’s great great you’re like James Bond no kidding international Man of Mystery yeah yeah that’s that’s pretty awesome um so you followed your your dad played in all those spots yeah yeah I played everywhere so it was pretty cool getting to follow them around and seeing seeing every kind of City so it was it was a lot of fun yeah I always think that there’s value in being around like a rank in a locker room all the time as a kid cuz you learn how like you learn how to handle it and stuff and um so like what was the the family’s reaction to getting drafted and all that and your dad obviously proud beyond belief but how was it yeah I would say it was it was a relief it was uh something we’ve been kind of waiting for something I’ve been looking forward to all my life and it was a it was a it was a proud moment I mean I had I didn’t have 80 people like zeve there but I had I had a decent crew of I’d say 15 people so I just get to kind of celebrate that with my friends and family and uh it was it was a lot of fun I have to imagine you’re going into your draft year and you’re like it’s I got to have a big year like you put a lot of pressure on on yourself uh and then boom you get injured like what’s that like and how does that you know mentally that’s got to be tough too yeah that was for sure tough I mean I missed 10 weeks three months so I missed a lot of time uh it was it was a grind to come back from it but uh I mean I had I had a I had a good end of the year I had good playoffs and then I got I got the opportunity to go to world so that was uh that was a lot of fun and so like I could look forward to through my injury so it was uh it was some something I I had to kind of work through and it was definitely tough especially being the draft year where you’re trying to trying to impress people and I just you’re you’re like if there’s any year it’s this exe yeah it’s like I missed 21 games and that’s just 21 opportunities to show myself so it was it was tough but I mean everything happens for a reason and I’m here and what was the injury is a quad uh it was a yeah quad hematoma I had one of those was it how’d you get it like a leg on leg check or yeah that was a pretty bad KNE on KN hit I had the same thing happen to me and it’s amazing you’re like it’s they call it like a bruise and you’re like this feels like a a bruise I can’t even bend my leg oh yeah couldn’t even move for the first three hard it’s hard to be like I missed 20 games because I bruised my leg but it’s it’s the real deal you can’t move it you can’t move it yeah it’s awful uh Z real quick uh um how does a kid from California turn out to be a pretty darn good hockey player yeah it’s a unique story so I’m sure I don’t know if you guys know or not my parents originally moved from Israel um you know to the US and then knew nothing about hockey um my have two older brothers and then um we just had like a couple cousins who who lived in the states not not many people and um they played like five minutes down the road at Sandy Ice Arena was just a small rank barbecue in the backyard like no AAA teams nothing no travel was just like Club in house just for fun and um my older brother Shai loved watching him play um begging my parents to let him play they said no 100 times eventually let him play and then oldest brother started playing and just being a little brother kind of tag along so um know very glad I I did and just kind of fell in love with it right away and he’s a Detroit pick right is he is he uh American League last year where is he now he he signed at the end of the year last year um and then went in to Grand Rapids played a game or two and then um yeah so he’ll probably start the year in Grand Rapids next year yeah it’s pretty amazing so the whole family it wasn’t a hockey family now it’s just a hockey family yeah we weren’t like at all my parents were like go play basketball go play you know football go do something else like hockey is there anything in the like blood line though was your mom like an Olympic basketball player is there something there or they just roll over from Israel and they’re like let’s try this and you’re just the best at it she was a professional um women’s basketball player in Israel so she was uh she was pretty good um wow did you break her heart picking a sport the same season you know like you can’t play basketball and hockey yeah we we did uh I did love basketball like my both like all my brothers and I we loved it played um every summer like i’ play in like like a little league um you know from school cuz couldn’t play obviously during the year and then I think it was in like fifth grade and I was like debating on like doing a split season of hockey and basketball cuz I just loved it so much and then my mom kind of was like I don’t know like you know who knows how tall you’re really going to be and like I was like all right I’ll STI talking hey I want to hear about draft day so like you got to like figure out your look right lot of three-piece suits this year like crazy um what did you how did you feel about your game like your your look the hair whatever did you feel like you came you brought it or you kind of looking back yeah looking back like you know wrinkled shirt or like like take me through kind of the thinking and how you feel style how did the how did the RIS go at the draft for you I I felt like I felt pretty good I thought my suit was was really good I mean never really had a suit that nice before so um I loved it so I mean my hair just kind of does whatever it’s never going to do anything amazing if it’s too long it’s going to get poofy if it’s short it’s just going to do this so um it just yeah I it was nothing nothing what did you do did you what did you what kind of what color was your suit did you have like the the short pants with the the Gucci you know no socks or what was the what was the did uh I just did um it was like a dark Navy with like like lining on it yeah so it’s pretty patterned and then um I got skulls on the inside just cuz it just it it wasn’t like a skull like people like think when you say skull but it was like it was actually it was just like nice like a nice touch um and then I had just like low for shoes nice how about you what you socks or no socks uh like no show socks ah it was hot there I heard yeah it was a sauna outside yeah I went uh like a light blue suit with a with a black tie just not a three-piece I had lining of like f uh family photos and pictures of myself so it was it was pretty cool I wore per Jordan one Lowe’s kept it no dress shoes uh no show socks like zeve uh yeah so I thought I thought my SU game was pretty strong who does the picture Faber had that too when he went to the award show he had some pictures on the inside of his family so who like who does that just any Taylor just says I’ll throw a liner in here uh I got mine customade uh through through my agency so we flew out to Vancouver and he met up and went through all the options and then kind of I had to send him some photos and he just he just got it done so it looked nice it’s awesome has is pretty sweet yeah it’s like you’re bringing everybody with you you imagine if he had to do it though he’d have a suit this big with the 85 pictures on it it’ be like Jag be like at the sphere Jack the size of the sphere he’s the thing they put over the sphere at the end of the night when they’re cooling it down I uh so when you get drafted do you get do guys like reach out to you find your cell phone does like a kid like Faber reach out to you defenseman college or do you have any of that or is that does that not happen some of the wild guys definitely um like bagoan and COV um Baldi Spurgeon um they text you or they hit you on uh socials they all texted me and then Quinn Hughes also texted me so that was that was pretty cool yeah that’s great yeah I don’t know yeah keep going little rip I was just a fanboy there for a second no let me I uh how about how about Excel Energy right so you you win this is for Z you win the nchc you win the Frozen 4 have you lost a game at The X no I’m four and0 there right now so four and0 but who’s keeping track so we just run the table I like that but uh I would like to hear from both of you we started this pod because Minnesota uh can get in this funk where we’re you know we’re always wondering what’s the next bad thing that are going to happen you know the we’ve started to have a little momentum with the Timberwolves Vikings have lost four Super Bowls the wild are you know building towards it but when you got drafted by Minnesota what was your original Instinct about the state and then even about the wild you know whether you were playing you know PlayStation or whatever and you know are you knew corrill but nobody else I’m just curious what was your perspective of Minnesota as you got drafted I mean I spent like two two years here at sh St Mary so I love Minnesota I spent a whole summer here um on lake minetonka so like I I love Minnesota like I always try to come back here like whenever I can for Summers and train here or whatnot and then so like getting drafted here was was unbelievable and then I think from the like team perspective I feel like it’s like um you know on the rise like obviously really good organization guys that know what they what they want to do and what they want to accomplish and a lot of players that are are kind of coming up and um I think for for all of us like we’re really fortunate to kind of get this opportunity to hopefully help this team um you know win a Stanley Cup one day so um I think there’s a lot of opportunity and um you know we’re going to be looking good in the next couple years how about you what did you know and what did you kind of who who did you know on the wild just from a kind of a fan perspective yeah uh I mean being Canadian you don’t know like a much about the states but I knew kind of Minnesota is like the the state of hockey so I was pretty excited yeah baby yeah that’s right pretty excited to come to place that that really loves loves the game uh and just like about the team I I didn’t like know a ton about the organization but I kind of I knew Krill of course Baldi I knew knew a lot of the players Spurgeon and uh yeah just kind of the same things Eve said like up and coming uh hopefully hopefully a lot of opportunity here and it’s looking it’s looking like we’re going to be hopefully good in a few years so Ryder what what was your path because I feel like Americans and Minnesota kids uh specifically you have like a different path to well in to draft day uh here it’s you know you play your squirt your peee your Bantam then you’ll play high school maybe you’ll play a year junior or two before and then then you’re getting drafted what’s the path of um of of a Canadian yeah so in Canada it’s it’s a bit different I mean I grew up in Europe so I had it differently but I came back to Canada in Peewee so I played my two years Peewee and then which Peewee is how old in that’s 12 13 okay and then banam I played at a hockey Academy so it’s like it’s kind of like high school it’s like in between junior and like high school it’s like kind of the same thing same idea you go you all you base yourself out of a high school yeah and you you play at how he said those like the prep schools kind of yeah it’s it’s pretty much a prep school that’s that’s a better word so we kind of play at that I played my two years banam and then you’re [ __ ] and then you get drafted to the to the WHL and then I I played my two years there and then I got that’s Prince Albert Prince Albert yes that’s uh that’s kids from what 16 17 years old to 20 years old you’re playing against there yeah yeah 16 20 yeah and then boom here you are yeah yeah crazy crazy now zeve how about you because you you well grew up in Cali but you’ve had a stop at Shad you go to Shad for a couple years or yeah so I started obviously in Sano then moved to went to Junior Kings um which was like a two-hour Drive which was like horrible but um obviously wanted to play travel like Triple A so we moved to the Kings um all three of my brothers and I and then um went to shadic at like 13 so I played my eighth grade and freshman year there and then from there went to NDP and then yeah then to college so you’ve kind of been on the road for a while too yeah I’ve been away from home so you went to shed and you were boarded at chadic yeah and then yeah lived in the dorm whatever for the for the two years there and then um yeah when I went to ntdp I actually accelerated a grade so I can go to college like a year early not a year early but like just go with like my grade I guess cuz since being a late birthday like instead of being in like the grade with all the guys in my age group I was in like the one behind just you were the oldest in your class instead of the youngest yeah so I just I accelerated like my instead of doing my junior year in high school I just went from sophomore to senior I want to I wish I could have known I didn’t know that was possible I would have tried that too I know I yeah I mean like young Sheldon CU I’m in August when’s your birthday I’m not the smart best school uh December December okay yeah hey who do you model Z like both of you really so nhlers um uh obviously you’re a power player play guy and who do you look up to in the in the league and and then same for you like who are you know kind of not not that you think you’re the same but if you go man if I could have everything dialed I’d like to be like that man I’d probably say like Quinn Hughes is probably like the most for me I mean not the not the biggest guy but obviously really Shifty mobile and smart so um I love watching him play and then obviously was a college guy so just kind of seeing his path and it’s obviously very similar kind of like to mine so um he’s a he’s a big guy for me but I think I mean I don’t get too fixated on like one guy I want to be my own player so there’s anything I can pick up from him or any other guys around the league I’ll try yeah for me I’d say it’s Wyatt Johnson or William neander I think I watch watch a lot of both uh both of them and I think we have kind of kind of some similarities in our game I wouldn’t say we’re the exact player but I feel like I try to watch a lot a lot of different NHL players and try to take different stuff out of their game so it’s hard to kind of say so you were on Wyatt Johnson ahead of uh the world I I’m shocked how the playoffs he’s just been unbelievable you were uh you were buying that stock a while back uh I’d say beginning of this year so like right before his stock kind of really rised and then I mean watching what he did in the playoffs was it was pretty special he’s good man that’s for sure he is good uh so what do you guys have on tap for the week there it’s Devo camp and development Camp you guys are going to be on the ice a little bit working out a little bit and then you’re going to have some fun getting Anno each other too right like what did I hear you’re going go-karting or do you guys know the volleyball go-karting I heard some of it yeah golfing golf yep so be so you guys are developing like how to have fun more like well I think there’s pressure you have to win everything podcasters for the week we want to be these dudes but he’s you got to finish first in the goldkart race you got to finish second you got to finish first in golf you got to finish second you got to keep the order of things you can’t let this thing go it’s not lord of the F the three times I’ve gone gokart and I finished first good just like that’s what winers win another one so funny yeah all right guys well do you have anything else John no man I’m excited you’re here the future is bright uh we really uh we want to get the cherry on top of the uh state of hockey here and get that long deserve cup um so uh we’re hoping people people like you are some of the pieces that help us get there and I’ll end with this too cuz the there’s obviously the chance that you guys come into training camp and have a great camp and then boom you’re here forever but do you guys know what next year looks like for you uh as a backup plan or you know in the event that you know what what does next year look like I think for me I think the the smartest thing to do I mean obviously still have to have conversations with them but um you know go back to Denver play another year um you know gain even more confidence get bigger get stronger and then um you’ll kind of see where I am after that yeah probably same thing for me kind of I mean I’m only 17 so that’s crazy are you 17 yeah 17 so go back back play another year in the Western League for for Prince Albert and like Steve said get bigger stronger and keep developing keep developing my game yeah but hey don’t sell yourself short you have a good camp you’ll be here a while yeah all right dudes well I appreciate you taking the time have fun this week thanks welcome welcome we’re thrilled to have you
Summer is in full swing but hockey is always on our mind at Wild on 7th, so we’re bringing you a marathon of a pod this week! Director of Amateur Scouting, Judd Brackett sits down with Carts and King to discuss the draft, the process, and the Sphere! Billy G swings by to talk all things Wild, Wawa and 4 Nations; and a couple of this years draft highlights, first-rounder Zeev Buium and second-rounder Ryder Ritchie sit in for a taste of show business in the NHL.
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1 comment
Steal of the draft