WEBVTT - John-Michael Liles 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:02.639 I kind of knew that it was happening before warm ups, 0:00:02.640 --> 0:00:04.280 but I just said, hey, I'm going out to warm 0:00:04.360 --> 0:00:06.800 up still because it's an outdoor game winner classic. And 0:00:07.280 --> 0:00:10.119 I lined up from across from Kyle Quincy and Drew Miller, 0:00:10.119 --> 0:00:12.160 who are buddies of mine, and they're like, how's it going. 0:00:12.240 --> 0:00:14.000 I'm like, hey, I just got traded, and they're like, 0:00:14.040 --> 0:00:16.720 they're dying laughing because it's you know, we're warming up, 0:00:16.760 --> 0:00:17.959 and they're like, no way. 0:00:17.840 --> 0:00:19.439 And you couldn't play in the game, right because you 0:00:19.480 --> 0:00:19.920 got traded. 0:00:20.040 --> 0:00:21.239 Yeah, I couldn't play in the game. 0:00:21.280 --> 0:00:24.400 And then I took the equipment truck to the airport 0:00:24.520 --> 0:00:29.319 afterward and jumped on a plane to Washington, DC to 0:00:29.320 --> 0:00:30.040 meet the Hurricanes. 0:00:30.360 --> 0:00:35.080 Welcome to Cut, Traded, Fired, Retired a podcast featuring conversations 0:00:35.080 --> 0:00:38.919 with professional athletes and coaches who have experienced some or 0:00:39.040 --> 0:00:43.320 all of the words in the podcast title. They've been cut, traded, fired, 0:00:43.479 --> 0:00:47.440 and or they're retired. I'm your host, Susie Wargen. Fourteen 0:00:47.520 --> 0:00:51.040 years in professional sports is a long time, especially in 0:00:51.080 --> 0:00:54.280 the very physical National Hockey League, where the average career 0:00:54.440 --> 0:00:57.959 is about five seasons. John Michael Lyles is an Indiana 0:00:58.000 --> 0:01:00.840 boy who fell in love with hockey early life, and 0:01:00.960 --> 0:01:03.120 he was pretty good at it. He played on a 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:05.679 few high caliber teams through high school, and then his 0:01:05.800 --> 0:01:08.960 career continued to blossom in college at Michigan State, where 0:01:08.959 --> 0:01:11.640 he was a Hobie Baker finalist and was drafted by 0:01:11.680 --> 0:01:14.560 the Avalanche. He started out in the minors for the Avs, 0:01:14.600 --> 0:01:17.120 but didn't stay there long. In fact, just a few 0:01:17.160 --> 0:01:19.959 months after finishing his senior season with the Spartans in 0:01:20.000 --> 0:01:22.960 two thousand and three, he scored his first NHL goal. 0:01:23.280 --> 0:01:25.600 John Michael would be a staple on defense for the 0:01:25.600 --> 0:01:28.560 Abs for several years until he was traded to the 0:01:28.560 --> 0:01:31.600 Toronto Maple Leafs in twenty eleven. He would be traded 0:01:31.600 --> 0:01:35.920 twice more to the Carolina Hurricanes and the Boston Bruins. Eventually, 0:01:35.920 --> 0:01:39.679 in twenty seventeen, he called it a career. Shortly after retiring, 0:01:39.959 --> 0:01:42.880 John Michael began working on the Avalanche broadcast team with 0:01:42.920 --> 0:01:46.480 Altitude Sports and has become a mainstay during hockey season. 0:01:46.680 --> 0:01:49.720 He's also a husband and a doting dad to two girls, 0:01:50.040 --> 0:01:52.920 ladies and gentlemen. John Michael Lyles. 0:01:53.560 --> 0:01:59.360 Cut traded fired, retired podcast with Susie Wargen, John. 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:00.720 Michael Lyles, How you doing. 0:02:01.560 --> 0:02:03.000 I'm doing well. I'm doing well. 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:05.840 I will be transparent on this. You and I sat 0:02:05.880 --> 0:02:09.320 down over a year ago with my portable equipment that 0:02:09.400 --> 0:02:12.840 did not function correctly, which after we did a fabulous interview, 0:02:13.040 --> 0:02:15.440 it was great. I realized that my computer recorded through 0:02:15.480 --> 0:02:17.880 the speakers instead of the microphone, and so it took 0:02:17.919 --> 0:02:20.200 me a while to tell you that I screwed up, 0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:21.920 and you were so nice about it. 0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:23.160 And then here you are again. 0:02:23.280 --> 0:02:25.480 So we're in Denver now, So this I know. 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:27.720 I didn't have to come up to Bail to get 0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:28.799 you this time, so it was good. 0:02:29.080 --> 0:02:29.480 All right. 0:02:29.520 --> 0:02:32.000 So let's just start back at the very beginning with you. 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:35.120 And you've had so many cool things throughout I mean, 0:02:35.120 --> 0:02:37.920 your entire career and then also with what you're doing now. 0:02:37.919 --> 0:02:40.720 You're still so involved with media and we see around 0:02:40.720 --> 0:02:43.320 all the time, which is really fun. So born in 0:02:43.320 --> 0:02:48.040 Indianapolis and grow up there and start with the Wings 0:02:48.120 --> 0:02:50.360 minor league team, right, yeah. 0:02:50.240 --> 0:02:53.720 Yeah, Indy Wings. Yeah yeah, the youth hockey team there. 0:02:54.320 --> 0:02:56.040 It was hockey kind of your first love or did 0:02:56.120 --> 0:02:58.040 you have something else? And how'd you start playing? 0:02:58.480 --> 0:03:01.440 You know, I started playing so neither of my parents played. 0:03:01.880 --> 0:03:04.400 My dad and my grandfather loved going to the semi 0:03:04.440 --> 0:03:07.800 pro games in Indianapolis, and so because of that, I 0:03:07.800 --> 0:03:09.880 would go with them, and I just started skating. 0:03:10.040 --> 0:03:10.359 I was. 0:03:11.960 --> 0:03:14.399 No. I mean, it's definitely grown as what I would say, 0:03:14.440 --> 0:03:17.000 but back then it was, you know, it was pretty minimal. 0:03:17.480 --> 0:03:19.320 You know, we were kind of the only travel team 0:03:19.360 --> 0:03:21.760 at our age group in the state. I was fortunate 0:03:21.800 --> 0:03:24.360 we had a great group of parents and kids, and 0:03:24.639 --> 0:03:27.040 we actually had a number of kids off of those 0:03:27.120 --> 0:03:30.000 teams that ended up playing college hockey and some pro 0:03:30.080 --> 0:03:32.040 as well, and so yeah, it was kind of it 0:03:32.080 --> 0:03:34.359 was weird, but that's you know, sometimes how it works out. 0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:36.760 But we would travel pretty much every weekend in Michigan 0:03:36.880 --> 0:03:40.720 or Chicago or Toronto or anywhere to play games against 0:03:40.800 --> 0:03:43.120 really good competition. And you know, a lot of that 0:03:43.200 --> 0:03:45.680 comes back to the parents and how involved they wanted 0:03:45.720 --> 0:03:48.640 to be in terms of, yeah, like we could stay 0:03:48.680 --> 0:03:50.880 in Indiana and probably play a few teams around here, 0:03:50.920 --> 0:03:52.960 but we want to see if these kids can play 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:54.640 against the best competition and be good. 0:03:56.120 --> 0:03:57.800 They were all in, Absolutely, they were all in. 0:03:57.880 --> 0:03:59.800 I mean, we would travel pretty much every Friday and 0:03:59.840 --> 0:04:01.960 come back every Sunday, every weekend. 0:04:02.120 --> 0:04:03.120 And that's not cheap either. 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:04.360 No, it definitely wasn't cheap. 0:04:04.400 --> 0:04:07.000 So yeah, I mean, my parents were amazing and the 0:04:07.040 --> 0:04:10.040 parents on that team were amazing. And for me growing 0:04:10.120 --> 0:04:12.600 up in Indiana, I'm not gonna say hockey was my 0:04:12.600 --> 0:04:14.800 first love because I played a bunch of different sports 0:04:14.800 --> 0:04:18.320 growing up. What else do you play baseball and then yeah, 0:04:18.440 --> 0:04:20.320 just I mean a few other things. I played golf 0:04:20.320 --> 0:04:23.160 in high school, but baseball was kind of my first love, 0:04:24.320 --> 0:04:27.880 yession catcher, and I just I loved playing baseball and 0:04:28.000 --> 0:04:28.880 that was I loved. 0:04:28.880 --> 0:04:30.960 I mean, you know, Indiana, like it was. 0:04:31.480 --> 0:04:34.120 I don't know, I feel like so often now everybody 0:04:34.200 --> 0:04:36.200 plays things year round, yes, but for me it was 0:04:36.279 --> 0:04:38.480 nice because I played hockey in the winter and then 0:04:38.480 --> 0:04:40.799 I played baseball in the summer and mixed in golf 0:04:40.839 --> 0:04:42.440 here and there. But that was kind of you know, 0:04:42.480 --> 0:04:45.360 and all my friends played basketball or football, so like 0:04:45.440 --> 0:04:47.880 I was, I mean, it's funny. I was thinking about 0:04:47.880 --> 0:04:51.400 this the other day. When we moved from Indy North 0:04:51.520 --> 0:04:56.000 to Zionsville, my best friend had a basketball court in 0:04:56.120 --> 0:04:58.039 his barn in the hayloft. 0:04:58.960 --> 0:05:00.760 Like if that's not Indie and I don't. 0:05:00.600 --> 0:05:02.919 Know what it is, definitely basketball country. 0:05:02.640 --> 0:05:04.400 And so it's an old barn and it was the 0:05:04.480 --> 0:05:07.479 old like wood planks. It's not like an updated, you know, 0:05:07.720 --> 0:05:10.280 sport court or anything like that. And there were pillars 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:14.080 and there was hay all around the outside in the hayloft, 0:05:14.320 --> 0:05:15.960 and so it was super cool because we would play 0:05:15.960 --> 0:05:18.000 one on one there, you know, and two on two 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:20.120 all night into the you know, two, three in the 0:05:20.120 --> 0:05:22.479 morning all the time. When I was in middle school, 0:05:22.480 --> 0:05:24.040 and I just remember going back to that, it was 0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:26.760 like I never played basketball on a team, but I 0:05:26.800 --> 0:05:31.719 played so much basketball with my friends stall street ball exactly, yeah, exactly, 0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:33.800 and it was like you just grow up and that's 0:05:33.839 --> 0:05:35.839 what you do. And so yeah, I mean I played 0:05:36.160 --> 0:05:39.440 every sport in that way, but yeah, baseball and hockey, 0:05:39.480 --> 0:05:42.000 and hockey kind of took over just you know, when 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:43.920 I went to prep school, it was like I was 0:05:44.360 --> 0:05:46.359 good at hockey, and all of a sudden it just 0:05:46.480 --> 0:05:47.800 kind of rose to the forefront. 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:49.640 So talk about that, you go to prep school. 0:05:49.680 --> 0:05:51.760 Well before that, when you were like fourteen, you played 0:05:51.800 --> 0:05:54.320 on the Quebec International pe League Hockey tournament. 0:05:54.400 --> 0:05:54.520 Right. 0:05:55.200 --> 0:06:00.000 Yeah, there's some unfortunate pictures floating around from that. Yeah, 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:02.760 but that I mean, the the Quebec Tournament is a 0:06:02.920 --> 0:06:06.599 really prestigious tournament and we were fortunate to get in 0:06:06.680 --> 0:06:08.880 and play, and there's a team from Denver that goes 0:06:09.040 --> 0:06:11.760 every year. I believe that I think represents the ABS, 0:06:11.800 --> 0:06:14.839 which is super cool. And for US, Florida was relatively 0:06:14.839 --> 0:06:16.800 new at the time, and so we actually represented the 0:06:16.800 --> 0:06:19.880 Florida Panthers. Somehow there was a connection where we reached 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:22.240 out to the Panthers as, hey, we want to represent 0:06:22.279 --> 0:06:24.640 the Panthers in the NHL Division and I think we 0:06:24.640 --> 0:06:27.760 got permissions. We had like Panthers uniforms, and people loved it. 0:06:28.400 --> 0:06:30.240 Yeah, it was. It was super cool. 0:06:30.040 --> 0:06:32.920 And I remember going there and just yeah, like there's 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:34.720 crowds that you don't see it. 0:06:35.040 --> 0:06:37.880 Yeah you're fourteen, Yeah exactly. Yeah. Yeah, So it was. 0:06:37.960 --> 0:06:39.640 It was amazing, great trip. You know. 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:41.680 It was one of those things, like looking back, you know, 0:06:41.760 --> 0:06:43.520 one of the cool things that just sticks out in 0:06:43.520 --> 0:06:44.000 your memory. 0:06:44.040 --> 0:06:46.920 Well, sure, and helps build on everything else that comes 0:06:46.920 --> 0:06:48.799 with what you do. So when you go to prep school, 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:52.000 you go to Culver Academy as a freshman, I found 0:06:52.040 --> 0:06:55.520 this interesting. You were given the Artillery battillion. You were 0:06:55.520 --> 0:06:56.480 the best member of the. 0:06:58.080 --> 0:07:01.159 Mean I was very So it's a culver military academy, 0:07:01.240 --> 0:07:03.760 so it's marching something like that. 0:07:03.839 --> 0:07:06.840 It's just it's it's it's military, and what it is 0:07:06.839 --> 0:07:09.480 is that it really is about growing the entire individual, 0:07:09.560 --> 0:07:13.080 not just athletically, not just academically. Leadership comes into it 0:07:13.120 --> 0:07:15.600 as well, and so for me it was I really 0:07:15.680 --> 0:07:18.160 enjoyed the military aspect of it and my freshman year. 0:07:18.480 --> 0:07:20.400 You know, I love playing hockey, which is why I 0:07:20.400 --> 0:07:23.400 went there because it's an amazing hockey program, but the 0:07:23.480 --> 0:07:26.320 military aspect really spoke to me. And I was only 0:07:26.400 --> 0:07:28.280 there two years. Ended up going to the US national 0:07:28.280 --> 0:07:30.720 team after for my junior and senior year. But my 0:07:30.800 --> 0:07:32.920 brother went there for four years. He was a regimental 0:07:32.920 --> 0:07:34.840 commander at one point, like and he went to the 0:07:34.920 --> 0:07:37.800 Naval Academy. So it resonated with our family, is what 0:07:37.840 --> 0:07:40.640 I would say. He was a lot more dial than 0:07:40.680 --> 0:07:42.920 I am and a much better person. But somehow I 0:07:43.000 --> 0:07:45.120 snuck in there and won that award, I guess. 0:07:45.560 --> 0:07:47.400 But there's something to be said for that though, And 0:07:47.440 --> 0:07:50.400 that probably worked well for you in pro sports because 0:07:50.800 --> 0:07:53.880 knowing a schedule and being on time. As an athlete, 0:07:53.880 --> 0:07:55.760 you have to do that. If you're if you're on time, 0:07:55.800 --> 0:07:56.240 you're late. 0:07:56.680 --> 0:07:59.960 Yes, it's it's so true. Yeah, it's so true. 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:01.720 And I would say that one of the things that 0:08:01.760 --> 0:08:03.640 I dealt with, and a lot of guys that go 0:08:03.680 --> 0:08:05.880 into retirement deal with, is all of a sudden, you're 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:08.000 not on a schedule, and you've been told kind of 0:08:08.040 --> 0:08:10.640 where to be, what to do, what to where. You know, 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:13.720 what body fats have, how strong to be, how fast 0:08:13.720 --> 0:08:16.920 to be, every since you're like fourteen years old essentially, 0:08:17.120 --> 0:08:20.040 and so when you transition into retirement, it can be 0:08:20.200 --> 0:08:22.080 very tough to kind of have this you know, you're 0:08:22.120 --> 0:08:24.440 almost floating in the wind a little bit, and even 0:08:24.520 --> 0:08:27.240 right now waiting for hockey season to start. Now, my 0:08:27.320 --> 0:08:30.320 kids are back at school and you're kind of, you 0:08:30.320 --> 0:08:32.679 know now in full time doing TV for the ABS, 0:08:32.679 --> 0:08:35.320 and I'm like, I need something to do, right, So 0:08:35.480 --> 0:08:37.720 it's you know, you're you're like, Okay, what do I 0:08:37.760 --> 0:08:39.640 do today? I have all this free time, My girls 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:42.240 are in school, my wife's you know, going to do this, 0:08:42.440 --> 0:08:47.360 and well, all right, Michael, Yeah, so yeah, you can 0:08:47.400 --> 0:08:50.080 only golf, Yeah, you can only golf so much. You 0:08:50.080 --> 0:08:52.520 can only work out so much, and so yeah, it's 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:53.480 it's still hard. 0:08:53.480 --> 0:08:55.120 It's you've been retired for many years. 0:08:55.200 --> 0:08:56.679 I've been retired for many years now. 0:08:56.679 --> 0:08:58.600 But that I think part of that is, you know, 0:08:58.640 --> 0:09:01.120 going back to the military asst is, you knew that 0:09:01.160 --> 0:09:02.760 your bet had to be made, you knew that you 0:09:02.800 --> 0:09:04.800 had to have your shoes shined, you knew that, you know, 0:09:04.840 --> 0:09:07.040 your clothes all had to be folded, your homework all 0:09:07.080 --> 0:09:09.040 had to be done, and that was something that I 0:09:09.080 --> 0:09:12.480 really liked. Is just that kind of regimented aspect of 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:13.960 the military academy. 0:09:14.000 --> 0:09:16.000 So does Aaron give you a lot of chore lists 0:09:16.000 --> 0:09:17.360 and things like that you just do. 0:09:17.400 --> 0:09:19.800 To you just do them. 0:09:19.840 --> 0:09:22.080 I'm a little I'm a little crazy. Yeah, I'm a 0:09:22.080 --> 0:09:22.760 little o C D. 0:09:23.000 --> 0:09:27.360 Like it's yeah, it's uh but I mean yeah, it's 0:09:27.400 --> 0:09:30.640 like she she leaves and comes back and things are done. 0:09:30.800 --> 0:09:31.440 Things are done. 0:09:31.520 --> 0:09:34.920 Yeah, I mean yeah, but listen, it's I don't I 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:36.960 don't like dive into the laundry too much. 0:09:37.000 --> 0:09:39.000 She usually does the laundry. But I mean, like I'm 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:42.240 you know, I'll clean, yeah, yeah, I'll do the dishes, 0:09:42.280 --> 0:09:44.800 I definitely, yeah, mow the yard. Like that's I. Yeah, 0:09:45.000 --> 0:09:46.680 I grew up. I had a lawnmowing business. 0:09:46.679 --> 0:09:49.560 So I'm still mow the yard to this day and 0:09:49.640 --> 0:09:51.720 do all the landscaping and everything. 0:09:51.800 --> 0:09:54.479 It's it's uh you, it's impressive. 0:09:54.559 --> 0:09:57.040 I credit my mom. My mom's a little OCD in 0:09:57.080 --> 0:10:02.000 that regard, so it apple didn't fall too far from 0:10:02.040 --> 0:10:02.320 the tree. 0:10:02.480 --> 0:10:02.960 I love it. 0:10:03.000 --> 0:10:03.760 That's so funny. 0:10:03.800 --> 0:10:05.439 All right, So, as you mentioned, in the last two 0:10:05.480 --> 0:10:08.400 years of high school, you're with the USA Hockey Development 0:10:08.400 --> 0:10:10.320 Program and you go to Michigan. Then at that point 0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:13.120 and you start getting recruited, you go to Michigan State. 0:10:13.240 --> 0:10:17.040 How many other colleges were beating down your door because 0:10:17.080 --> 0:10:18.559 you were getting pretty hot at that point. 0:10:18.640 --> 0:10:20.880 Yeah, it's interesting looking back. 0:10:20.960 --> 0:10:24.080 My dad saved all of the letters from all the colleges, 0:10:24.120 --> 0:10:26.400 which is really cool to see. And you know, I 0:10:26.640 --> 0:10:28.839 would say most of us on that team were pretty 0:10:28.840 --> 0:10:32.080 heavily recruited. I knew early on that I was going 0:10:32.160 --> 0:10:34.800 to stay kind of somewhere in the Midwest, and so 0:10:34.880 --> 0:10:38.000 I ruled out Denver University, who I actually knew, Steve Miller, 0:10:38.080 --> 0:10:40.800 the assistant coach, and they, you know, they kind of 0:10:40.840 --> 0:10:43.200 chatted with me a little bit early on and for me. 0:10:43.360 --> 0:10:45.959 I you know, my grandfather was super involved watching me 0:10:46.080 --> 0:10:48.480 play hockey all the time, and he didn't travel, he 0:10:48.520 --> 0:10:51.160 didn't fly, He would drive only, okay, And so I 0:10:51.240 --> 0:10:53.480 kind of knew that I wanted to be closer to home, 0:10:53.480 --> 0:10:56.600 but not too close, essentially, And after kind of whittling 0:10:56.640 --> 0:10:58.920 down through a number of different places, it came down 0:10:58.920 --> 0:11:01.439 to Notre Dame in Michigan's eight and Notre Dame was 0:11:01.480 --> 0:11:04.320 an amazing place, super close to home, maybe a little 0:11:04.360 --> 0:11:07.840 too close, And so Michigan State was a really good 0:11:07.920 --> 0:11:09.959 fit for me and it ended up working out really well. 0:11:10.000 --> 0:11:14.280 I had a great four years there, made some amazing friends. 0:11:14.440 --> 0:11:17.440 It definitely helped me kind of make that next step 0:11:17.480 --> 0:11:19.840 to the NHL. But you know, even at the like 0:11:19.880 --> 0:11:21.760 when I was at Culver in the US program, it 0:11:21.800 --> 0:11:24.720 was never I never really thought about playing in the NHL. 0:11:24.760 --> 0:11:26.600 It was like, really, yeah, you're just kind of in 0:11:26.640 --> 0:11:29.600 it and you're just playing, and then you know, Michigan 0:11:29.640 --> 0:11:32.440 State you're playing. I got drafted after my freshman year, 0:11:32.760 --> 0:11:34.720 but even that, it's like, you know, somebody told me 0:11:34.720 --> 0:11:36.920 the easy parts getting drafted. It's making it to the 0:11:36.920 --> 0:11:40.080 next level, it's sticking. And I never really thought about 0:11:40.320 --> 0:11:42.079 where I would end up or if I would play, 0:11:42.200 --> 0:11:45.800 and so it was kind of when I signed that contract, 0:11:45.920 --> 0:11:47.800 it was it was. It was one of those things 0:11:47.800 --> 0:11:49.720 where you're like, oh man, this is now a job, 0:11:49.800 --> 0:11:51.760 and all of a sudden you're in it. 0:11:51.960 --> 0:11:54.199 So when you sign that contract, so you start at 0:11:54.200 --> 0:11:57.000 Michigan State nine nine nine rights and then the ABS 0:11:57.080 --> 0:11:58.880 draft you in the fifth round in two thousands. So 0:11:59.200 --> 0:12:01.400 when you sign that contract back then, I mean that's 0:12:01.400 --> 0:12:04.000 way before Anni l and all that stuff was coming around. 0:12:04.280 --> 0:12:07.000 You could still play because you played another three years and. 0:12:06.880 --> 0:12:07.800 They just had your rights. 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:10.680 Basically, yeah, they have your rights. You had an age change. Yeah. 0:12:10.840 --> 0:12:14.160 I got an agent my senior year, after my junior year, 0:12:14.160 --> 0:12:17.240 I think, and we had conversations with the ABS about 0:12:17.480 --> 0:12:19.720 signing after my junior year, and I just I wasn't 0:12:19.760 --> 0:12:21.840 big enough or strong enough. Still, I had a good 0:12:21.920 --> 0:12:23.880 year my junior year. I had a really good year 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:26.559 my senior year, which definitely helped me to get ready. 0:12:26.280 --> 0:12:27.640 For just a Hobie Baker finally. 0:12:28.160 --> 0:12:28.319 Yeah. 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:30.880 Well, and I mean we had a really good team 0:12:30.920 --> 0:12:34.320 my freshman sophomore or junior year. Senior year wasn't as good. 0:12:34.360 --> 0:12:36.720 We lost Ryan Miller, who was a Hobie Baker winner 0:12:36.760 --> 0:12:40.280 and amazing goalie, and anytime you lose somebody like that, 0:12:40.400 --> 0:12:43.080 it's always going to be tough. And so senior year 0:12:43.200 --> 0:12:45.680 was great though, in the sense that it really put 0:12:45.720 --> 0:12:48.360 a lot of It made me kind of build as 0:12:48.360 --> 0:12:50.480 a player and as a leader, and you know, my 0:12:50.559 --> 0:12:53.480 deep partner and I had really good years and it 0:12:53.600 --> 0:12:56.440 kind of prepared me for what was to come next. 0:12:56.480 --> 0:12:59.400 And it's funny like going back and Eric Laquah was 0:12:59.400 --> 0:13:01.440 in town for our alumni event the other week, and 0:13:01.480 --> 0:13:03.720 we were chatting and he was kind of my point 0:13:03.760 --> 0:13:06.440 person with the ABS when I was playing at Michigan State, 0:13:06.480 --> 0:13:08.280 and so he would come and watch me and chat 0:13:08.320 --> 0:13:10.360 with me. And when I signed out of Michigan State, 0:13:10.400 --> 0:13:12.480 I went played in Hershey and played the last five 0:13:12.520 --> 0:13:14.440 games of the regular season, and then our first round 0:13:14.480 --> 0:13:18.880 in Hershey. The Avs lost in Game seven to Minnesota. 0:13:19.160 --> 0:13:21.440 Eric Lacros said the plan had been if the Avs 0:13:21.440 --> 0:13:24.080 had won that round then gone to the second round, 0:13:24.080 --> 0:13:26.120 they were going to call me up and play me 0:13:26.160 --> 0:13:27.240 in the playoffs. 0:13:27.320 --> 0:13:27.840 Oh my god. 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:29.680 But it was just, yeah, it was one of those 0:13:29.720 --> 0:13:32.760 things where you're like, I never even thought that would 0:13:32.800 --> 0:13:35.280 be a possibility, And it's just funny going back and 0:13:35.320 --> 0:13:38.280 hearing some of those things from twenty plus years ago. 0:13:38.440 --> 0:13:40.800 So yeah, no kidding, Yeah, what a different experience that 0:13:40.800 --> 0:13:41.280 would have been. 0:13:41.320 --> 0:13:43.280 It would have been a real different experience. Yeah. 0:13:43.679 --> 0:13:46.080 Instead, I got the whole summer to train and come 0:13:46.080 --> 0:13:47.960 into training camp and try and make. 0:13:47.880 --> 0:13:49.040 It almost better. 0:13:49.240 --> 0:13:51.560 Yeah, it actually works out really well. But yeah, you 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:52.960 never know how things will play out. 0:13:53.080 --> 0:13:54.719 You just found that out a couple of weekends ago. 0:13:54.720 --> 0:13:57.240 And you found it out, yeah, a week eight days ago, 0:13:57.320 --> 0:13:57.880 nine days ago. 0:13:58.080 --> 0:14:01.160 Yeah, okay, So in let's see, you end up signing 0:14:01.240 --> 0:14:03.120 a two year deal in March of two thousand and 0:14:03.160 --> 0:14:04.439 three with the ABS. Like you said, you went and 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:07.200 played for the Bears. You make the roster then were 0:14:07.240 --> 0:14:08.920 you surprised? 0:14:09.040 --> 0:14:09.439 Were you? 0:14:10.200 --> 0:14:11.760 Or was it just kind of You're just going with 0:14:11.800 --> 0:14:14.360 the flow of this is how things are going, because 0:14:14.400 --> 0:14:16.000 it doesn't always happen that way, where we just play 0:14:16.000 --> 0:14:18.400 a few games in Hershey and then get on the 0:14:18.400 --> 0:14:19.120 regular roster. 0:14:19.440 --> 0:14:21.880 I kind of just came in a training camp and 0:14:22.120 --> 0:14:26.000 you know what, I was an undersized defenceman, especially those days, 0:14:26.360 --> 0:14:28.440 you know, there was a handful of defensemen that were 0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:31.360 maybe five 'ot ten and so it was like, Okay, 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:32.800 I'm going to come in, I'm going to try and 0:14:32.840 --> 0:14:35.800 make an impact and hopefully, at the very least they 0:14:35.840 --> 0:14:37.880 have to think twice before sending me down. And that 0:14:38.000 --> 0:14:40.400 was kind of my mentality, is, you know, come in 0:14:40.400 --> 0:14:42.640 in really good shape, try and make as much of 0:14:42.640 --> 0:14:44.800 an impact as I can, and you know, make them 0:14:45.160 --> 0:14:48.200 have to make a decision. I was fortunate, I would 0:14:48.200 --> 0:14:50.840 say fortunate for me, not fortunate for other guys, but 0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:53.880 Dj Smith, who's a coach in the NHL now, but 0:14:54.160 --> 0:14:57.280 he was one of the defensemen that was essentially slotted 0:14:57.280 --> 0:14:59.000 to be on the roster. I was probably going to 0:14:59.040 --> 0:15:01.080 be the seventh or eighth defense if anything. And he 0:15:01.120 --> 0:15:03.040 got an eye injury, you got hit with a stick 0:15:03.120 --> 0:15:05.320 or a puck in camp, and he missed the rest 0:15:05.320 --> 0:15:07.920 of camp and at least the first part of the season. 0:15:07.960 --> 0:15:10.400 So it actually kind of opened up a little bit 0:15:10.440 --> 0:15:10.720 for me. 0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:13.160 And I think, you know, a lot of succeeding in 0:15:13.840 --> 0:15:17.840 professional sports is not only talent and drive, but some 0:15:17.920 --> 0:15:21.000 of it's luck and that opportunity and opportunity exactly. And 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:24.600 so it was fortunate for me for that to have happened. 0:15:24.680 --> 0:15:27.320 Unfortunate for him to get that eye injury, but it 0:15:27.400 --> 0:15:28.880 was one of those things where I was able to 0:15:28.960 --> 0:15:31.080 kind of seize the opportunity and make the team and 0:15:31.120 --> 0:15:33.040 make it enough of an impact to stay there for 0:15:33.160 --> 0:15:33.560 this year. 0:15:33.560 --> 0:15:35.680 You got to be ready when those come about. So 0:15:35.720 --> 0:15:38.360 you get your first goal. Then October of that season, 0:15:38.480 --> 0:15:39.720 what do you remember about your first goal? 0:15:39.840 --> 0:15:40.600 In Minnesota? 0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:42.880 It was a national televised game, so my parents got 0:15:42.920 --> 0:15:45.080 to see it, which was really cool. Yeah, a lot 0:15:45.160 --> 0:15:47.760 of people back home got to see it. And yeah, 0:15:47.800 --> 0:15:50.440 Bates Spataglia passed the back door to me and I 0:15:50.520 --> 0:15:53.280 just essentially a wide open net. And yeah, I mean 0:15:53.560 --> 0:15:55.120 those are the ones you don't forget. 0:15:55.000 --> 0:15:56.880 No kidding, Oh, that's super cool. 0:15:56.960 --> 0:15:59.400 And then that year you have ten goals, thirty four points, 0:15:59.480 --> 0:16:03.080 highest point for a defenseman in Avalanche history. 0:16:03.080 --> 0:16:05.760 Does that still stand? Oh gosh, no, I didn't think so. 0:16:05.920 --> 0:16:08.200 No, No, for a rookie. No, that's I mean, I 0:16:08.200 --> 0:16:09.680 think Kale's slapped out. 0:16:09.720 --> 0:16:12.200 Oh yeah, yeah, I think there might have been a 0:16:12.200 --> 0:16:14.040 couple guys that have beaten that by this point, but 0:16:14.160 --> 0:16:17.520 kal KALs pretty much got everything and if he doesn't 0:16:17.520 --> 0:16:18.840 have it, he will have it soon. 0:16:18.680 --> 0:16:20.600 Because there were a few others you notched some things 0:16:20.640 --> 0:16:22.560 along the way. Yeah, I mean they I mean that 0:16:22.680 --> 0:16:24.920 was you know, in the early two thousand. Yeah, We've 0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:26.520 had some pretty good players exactly. 0:16:26.640 --> 0:16:26.880 Yeah. 0:16:26.920 --> 0:16:29.920 I was happy to have held a few things at 0:16:30.000 --> 0:16:31.520 least for a couple of years. And you have a 0:16:31.520 --> 0:16:33.720