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Hey, it's Daria Mironova and Haki on the Beach.

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Today I would like to welcome one of the best players in the Cajol history, Nigel Dawes,

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who announced his retirement back in April.

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So is there a chance that you're going to pull Tom Brady and just be back?

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No, I don't think so.

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I'm quite content with where things are in my life.

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You know, I haven't really had the itch or anything to get back and I got hurt in January.

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I was trying to make it back for playoffs and then had another injury come up that needed surgery

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and stuff. So it was not an ideal way to end a career, but you know, a lot of times in hockey

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you don't get to go out on your own terms and I thought I was going to be able to, but you know,

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sometimes things happen and fortunately enough I'm healthy now and I'm good. So it's nice to

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start the next chapter of my life not in any pain or having any issues and being able to enjoy

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everything.

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So how long did it take you to make that decision?

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I kind of knew going into last season it was going to be my last year, the way my life was with Benson

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growing up and just the career I have enjoyed it and you know, I think the timing was nice. Benson

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is going into grade two and we want to kind of have some more structure and not, you know, going

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to two different schools each year and moving back and forth. So yeah, I think it was going to be

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something that, you know, things went really, really well and stuff maybe would have changed my

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mind, but even with the injury and not being able to finish the season playing or, you know, the way

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I would have wanted on the ice, I knew it was the right choice because my mind didn't really change

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even though I, you know, I got hurt and wasn't able to play past January. So I think that was the

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first clue that I was making the right decision and nothing's really changed since then.

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So how did your son and wife react?

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Well, I mean, I think these kinds of decisions are all family decision. I don't think just myself

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making it, you know, I think they're both excited and sad at the same time, you know, excited to be

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back home in Canada full-time after living 12 years in Europe and in Russia and yeah, but also

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sad because we're going to miss it. I mean, my brother was just playing in the world police

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fire games. He's a firefighter and he was playing hockey and that and we went and watched him and,

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you know, it brings back a lot of memories and just seeing that kind of competition and

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just people playing hockey again. I mean, I haven't had any much time on the ice. I haven't had any

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actually and, you know, I just want to kind of step away for a little bit. But yeah, I mean,

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it's been such a big part of our lives that, you know, I think it will take a little bit time to

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get used to not being at the rink all the time, but I'm sure now with Betson playing hockey,

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we'll find our ways back to the ring pretty quickly.

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Okay. What was your childhood dream? Do you remember that?

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Well, I think like most Canadians or even hockey players, my dream was to make the NHL and,

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you know, you never really think that that's a possibility or maybe it's the opposite. You think

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it's an easy possibility as a kid where, you know, it's just like, oh, it can't be that hard. You

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know, you go and play hockey and then go out and play, but, you know, it's definitely a grind.

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It's a long road and a lot of hard work. So lucky enough for myself, I was able to make that dream

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come true. And, you know, it's a few years in my life that I'll never forget. And, you know,

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it seems like a lifetime ago playing that, playing in the NHL and playing in North America, but

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I definitely remember that fondly. And yeah, now I'll get to watch it a lot.

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Yeah, we'll go back to that. So a lot of achievements here, there, all over the place,

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all over the world. So I had to write it down. Five seasons in the NHL, five NHL teams, UA team

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gold with Team Canada, New York Rangers draft pick, overall 12 seasons in KHL and Germany,

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and six KHL All-Star games. I mean, that's crazy. Have you ever dreamed about it?

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No, I think the last couple of months doing a couple of interviews and talking to people and

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just kind of sitting back and thinking about it a little bit. You know, I think you start to realize,

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you know, some of the great seasons I was able to have. And I mean, I loved my time in Russia and

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in Kazakhstan. Just playing in the KHL, it was not something that, you know, you would dream of. But

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I mean, I was so excited that I was able to do it and have that experience because it's such a great

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hockey league. I was able to have a lot of fun on the ice and play a game I love. And, you know,

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I know I have a lot of fans and followers and stuff from Kazakhstan especially and also in Russia.

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I mean, it was just such a great part of my life and such a great experience that,

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you know, times I'll never forget. How did you survive in Russia and Kazakhstan without

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knowing Russian? I think you go to a lot of the same places that have English menus and

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English servers. And, you know, you kind of learn. I mean, I definitely knew, you know,

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a little bit of Russian but not enough to be like conversational. But to kind of get around,

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to say a few phrases if you got yourself in trouble or lost or something where you could get

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some help. And I think you kind of, yeah, you get more and more comfortable each year. I mean,

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the first year is definitely a lot of culture shock. But as you settle in and you kind of figure

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your way out around the city and stuff, the imports really, really help each other a lot. And,

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you know, we formed quite a tight bond with them as well as some of the Kazakhs and the Russians.

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I mean, at the end of the day, once you get on the ice, it's pretty easy to live and be over there.

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You know, it's just kind of away from the ice. Sometimes it can be a little bit

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harder. But yeah, you kind of find a way to get by and, you know, there's a lot of good people

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around you. Did you ever feel like special treatment? Did you feel your superstar status?

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Be honest. No, I mean, it was a while. I think probably was like the fourth year before, you know,

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someone would see me out and ask me for a picture or something. And I always seemed to be at a

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grocery store. I don't know what it was with grocery stores, but it was always like you couldn't go to

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a grocery store. And then it's just like after, you know, one person took it, there was a couple

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other people. But after the first time that happened, you know, yeah, it seemed like almost

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like every time I was at a grocery store or supermarket or something, someone would come up

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to me. So it was kind of funny. We kind of joked about it. But yeah, I think after that, yeah,

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four years or so in in Astana, you know, the game was growing a lot. The team was going trending in

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the right direction, getting better each year. And, you know, they're really passionate fans and

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they watch a lot of games on TV if they weren't able to make it. And I think you could get

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recognized here and there. But I don't think I was treated any differently. For the most part,

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which really pretty respectfully, you know, sometimes there's a little bit of pushing and

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shoving or people kind of trying to get right up to the front of the line. But for the most part,

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it was a good experience. What about pressure, like some of the fans from management, like you're

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a superstar, you're supposed to deliver. Yeah, I think that comes with any job. I think there's

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ups and downs with that. I mean, when you're doing your job, it's obviously it's a great feeling. And

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when when you're not, it can be tough. But the thing about hockey is it's such a team game that

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it's not always just one player. So I mean, you could you could play really good and losing,

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you could play really bad and win. So, you know, it's all about kind of lifting your teammates up

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and being being there as much as you can and playing as well as you can as a team. I mean,

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there's there hasn't been any championship teams that have won with one good player or two good

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players. You know, you see the teams come together. Yes, guys can go on a run and get really hot. But

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it's not like basketball or football where your star player is going to get the ball every time

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you're out there. I mean, you know, you might not touch the puck for a few shifts. It doesn't you

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can't just hand somebody the puck like you got to get it. So it's definitely a different different

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feel that way. But I think, you know, you start to embrace it and you go out and you kind of a lot of

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us, you know, thrive under that pressure. So it was definitely a lot of fun to to kind of have that

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on you and kind of learn the goods and bads of it and ups and downs of it to try and be able to play

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your best all the time. You know, but it hasn't really hit yet because it's not it doesn't feel

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necessarily real. I mean, nothing really changed in my life except that I don't have to go to the

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gym if I don't want to. You know, like it's like I've always been home for the summers.

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You know, going to the gym is not, you know, at the top of the priority list to stay safe. It's

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staying staying in shape and skating and and working out towards next season. So now

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it's just been, you know, relaxing, enjoying the summer and spending time with friends and family

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and stuff. So I think kind of come October, November, I think it's going to start to really

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hit where it's like, OK, now the weather's starting to change, it's getting colder at home and, you

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know, now what are we going to do with our time? And then I think those longer days and the colder

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days, you're going to sit back and and think about all the times that, you know, when you're living

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in Kazakhstan or different games that different people visiting different trips, different

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trips we've been on, different experiences like that. So I still think it's a little bit too soon

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to to really have those those huge, you know, like look back and remember moments even on my

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career. I think it's still you think about it a little bit, but it's still not there. I guess

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still haven't really completely sat back and really gone over everything that kind of,

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you know, accomplished and been able to do so one day. That's right. And that's why we're going to

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do this interview and we're going to have another one like, I don't know, in a year, in five years,

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so we can compare how change, how change things and everything around you. What about your family?

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Because I know your parents, they used to visit here in Russia and Kazakhstan, right? And since

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you guys are Canadians, you're not really scared of the bad weather. Yeah, no, it's true. I mean,

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there that's another thing. I think as a younger player, you don't realize that, you know, it's not

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always about when it ends, it's not always about you. And I think part of the things that, you know,

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weighed into my decision about retiring is your family. I mean, not just my wife and Benson, but

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also, you know, your parents, brothers, like my brother just had a baby girl nine months ago. So,

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nine months ago. So, you know, like just things that you're kind of like missing as you get older

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and, you know, your parents start to get older and you've missed all these things over all these

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years that you kind of, you want to be around for things as they start aging. And also that means

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I've been aging as well. And even though I don't feel old, I mean, you know, in the hockey world,

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I'm definitely old and you can definitely feel that the last couple of years are not so much on

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the ice or at the rink, but just away from the rink. You know, do you have different priorities

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and you have different, you know, life commitments as maybe some of the younger players? And, you

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know, I asked a few people, like, if they want to ask you anything through me. And it's really funny.

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Do you remember Mike Pelino? Yes. So, I just asked him, like, do you have maybe a question or two for

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Nigel? And I swear he gave me a list. No, I'm sorry. This one is going to be like a separate

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interview from Mike Pelino. Yeah. Okay. So Mike asks that you were one of the best shootout

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scorers in the history of the New York Rangers. So I need to ask you, what's your favorite move was

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and how did you practice that? I think my two favorite moves were probably, especially when

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I was in New York, I think it was, you know, low blocker coming down the right side and kind of,

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like, just a quick shot low blocker or a quick shot five hole. And I think as you have more reps

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or more chances in the shootout, everybody's watching video and stuff. So then you want to

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try and, you know, come up with some moves that you can kind of start the same way, but maybe,

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you know, you finish something different and maybe it's a fake shot and you go to a deke after that.

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If you're watching or what might happen, but I don't know if it really practiced. I know I had a,

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you know, a good snapshot and I really use that to my advantage. I had a quick release and it was

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really accurate. It wasn't the hardest shot and it wasn't always, you know, like a big slap shot, but

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I practiced a lot just releasing the puck and as the sticks got better and the one piece and the

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technology, it just kind of made things a little bit easier on the release. And I think, you know,

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it was definitely one of my strongest points in my game. Can you say someone is your favorite

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hockey player right now or maybe someone you just enjoy watching? You know, I haven't watched a ton

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of hockey over the last few years. I mean, just being in Europe, you watch highlights and stuff,

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but with the time change, it's so hard to watch actual games. And that's something that I'm

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really looking forward to, you know, just being able to watch hockey games live and kind of sit

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back with Benson and watch games on TV or go watch some, you know, jazz games and some other teams

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coming through. There's so much skill and so much speed in these young players that, you know, it's

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very entertaining. I mean, the highlights are super entertaining, but just to watch, you know, as a

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former player to watch all the little things that they do and how skilled they are and how good they

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are doing it at such high speeds is definitely something that I'm excited to go and watch.

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I mean, I'm sure everybody loves watching McDavid. He's just so fast and so skilled

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and watching McDavid and Dreissel together is, the highlights is always pretty fun. So they're

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definitely at the top of my list and, you know, Nathan McKinnon, you know, and maybe even some of

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the guys that not many guys that I still play or used to play with or have played with playing, but

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you know, Crosby is always at the top of the league. Oh no, you beat me to it because I was like,

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please dude. Yeah, so yeah, we might try and get out to a game, you know, when Pittsburgh comes through.

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Oh, so can you like just call Sydney Crosby? Hey, can I get a ticket? I probably wouldn't do that.

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I'm sure there'll be tickets available. You can try and go and buy some or maybe somebody on the

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Jets might be able to help me out, but we'll see when the time comes. Okay, thank you. Now Mike

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wants to know, I should ask you about the father's trips and why they were so special. Well, the first

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one didn't get off to a good start because my dad actually slept in and when I went to pick him up

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from the hotel, he wasn't ready and I almost missed my meeting because of that. So I was not happy to

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start the first father's trip, especially as a younger player in New York, you know, almost

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missing a meeting, having to leave my car running in the parking lot and run in to make sure I wasn't

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late for the meeting. Luckily, I made it on time and, you know, I guess there was no consequences,

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but, you know, it's always fun to have, you know, your dads around or mums around now, especially

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on a lot of the trips because they sacrifice and put so much into all these players careers and lives.

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So to be able to share with them and, you know, just some of the travel or the dinners or the

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stories, you know, it's always pretty special. And, you know, my dad's met a lot of people and

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anybody who's been around when he's in town probably has met him because he's always just

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walking around the rink introducing themselves and talking to people even if they don't understand

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what he's saying. But he's got a huge personality and he's a great person and a great guy to

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to be able to share some of those things with. That's a good story.

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Yeah, maybe not for him, but I don't know if Mike knows that, but.

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Okay, so why were you so good in the K-Chall? I mean, he asked that.

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I mean, I think a lot, I mean, especially in hockey, I mean, it's confidence, it's,

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you know, being able to play with good players. I was very fortunate to have some very good line

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mates and not just that, I mean, you could have two really good players that just don't mesh

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together, don't, you know, aren't able to play well together. So I was fortunate that, you know,

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my game kind of, you know, blended well with with my line mates and that we were able to to figure

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it out. And yeah, it was it was a lot of fun. I think being able to play a lot of minutes and in

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every situation, I mean, other than that, the NHL, that was kind of what I did my whole career. So

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it's a little bit different when you know, you go from being a top line player to maybe having to

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play on the, you know, the third line or the fourth line and you're not playing as much.

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I mean, it happens to, you know, 95% of the players, but you know, that not everyone's going

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to be a superstar in the NHL and you got to find different ways to to make your game good. And,

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you know, I was able to kind of just get back to what I had done my whole career and I was,

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you know, being offensive player score goals and, and trying to create offense. So, yeah, I think

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looking back on it, I had some some really good playmakers on my lines and, you know, they made my

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job a lot easier trying to trying to score goals. Now that I'm trying to remember, I think Martin

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Braddor was one of your favorite goalies, right? I scored a few goals on him. Yeah.

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Not everyone did, but you did quite a few times. I, I don't know why it happened, but, you know,

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I think in my last year in New York, I think I have 14 goals and I think six of them were against

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him or four or something like that. But I mean, sometimes you're just in the right place at the

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right time. I was able to, you know, score some, some nice goals and some ugly ones against them,

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but, you know, it's always fun and we play New Jersey more than a lot of the other teams. So,

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I think that's part of the reason as well. No, there must be another secret. Yeah.

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You know something. Well, close your eyes and shoot.

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That was your secret? No, no. I mean, sometimes things just happen. I mean, there's not really

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a reason for it. I mean, situations, time, parts, plays in the game. I mean, when you get your

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opportunities, you want to try and bear down and score. And sometimes they hit the post and go

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out. Sometimes they hit the post and go in. And I mean, you probably take the same shot again and,

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you know, you might have a different outcome, but I think it was just, uh,

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funny or lucky story in my career. Yeah. We should ask Bradore about that. You see,

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I interviewed him before you a while ago. I didn't know you back then, so we need to do something

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about it. Cool. Yeah. Okay. Mike wants to know, can you name a couple of the most memorable teammates?

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Brandon Batchenski, Dustin Boyd, Stephane Dacosta, Mark Ransky, and, you know,

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Martin St. Pierre. Those were a lot of my line mates, so I'll give their thanks first. But I mean,

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you know, Roman Starchenko and Astana, he's still playing and he was always a great player. One of

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the best Kazakh players of all time. And it was fun to watch him play. Antoly Goloshev, when I got to

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Automobilis, he was just starting and, you know, now he's, uh, he's one of the top players in,

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on his team and in the league. And, you know, watching him now, it's fun to see how far he's

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come. I got to play with Zarapov, which unfortunately was kind of later in both of our careers. So it

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would have been nice to play with him when we were, when I was a little bit younger, but, you know,

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the history and how well of a career, how big of a career he had and how important he is to Russian

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hockey. It was, it was nice to be in the locker room and play on the same team as him. And I never

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played with him, but playing against him and having a lot of battles and not so much physical, but

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scoring back and forth with Moziakhin was always fun. You know, he arguably the best Russian

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player of all in the KHL for sure, in the history and just to be able to play so many games, being

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in the Eastern Conference and in the same division and seeing him score almost at will was, looking

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back on it now, it was really cool to see. At the time it sucked because he'd always be scoring

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against us, but yeah, it was just a lot of fun to be there firsthand to see all those players play

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with and against them. So one of those guys, he told me that you love shoes. I think I've asked

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you about that like once before. So you really love shoes. You collect shoes. Is that true?

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I don't think I collect them. I mean, I have a lot of shoes now. I think I have more golf shoes.

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They're more the purchases these days, but you know, you just want to have comfortable shoes and

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you want to be stylish and kind of go have different options depending on what you're wearing. So it's,

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you know, shoes can be a big part of that. And over the years, I've bought a few pairs.

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No, no, no, no, no. One of your teammates said that you have new shoes every day. That's different.

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Oh, I don't know. I wish that was the case, but no, not every day. But you know, I do have a few.

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You need to call your wife. Well, she has more shoes than me. So she looks like shoes. So maybe

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that's where I get it from. Did you bring all of them home? All the ones that I was so learning.

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Yeah. For the most part. I mean, when we left, I mean, I think our biggest move was leaving Astana.

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And I think we had 23 or 24 hockey bags going home. So that's one thing I won't miss is packing

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up and flying across the world. And now it's just one suitcase anywhere I go. I know it's only going

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to be for a few days or a week or something like that. You don't have to pack up your whole life.

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So I'm a pretty good packer, but now it's going to be real easy to do all the packing.

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Was it hard to choose an apartment in Kazakhstan and Russia? Like, how was the process?

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I think the first time, the first time I think it was tough. And especially you go in, you got

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four or five guys, you're going with a real estate agent and they show you, and you kind of have to

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like pick on the spot, but you don't know what the next one is going to look like. And you don't know

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if that one's going to be available. If you don't take it now. So it's almost like a game of chicken

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and you don't know what's going to be behind, you know, doors, A, B and C. But as the years went on,

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you know, I think the apartments, they had more and more options and they were getting,

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uh, you know, more modern. And, um, you know, I think maybe your fourth apartment in Astana was,

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you know, we had it for three years and it was great. And it felt like a home and, um, you know,

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it wasn't the hardest thing to pick. And as we got used to it and kind of knowing what to expect,

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I think it was, uh, you know, one of the easier things to sort out once we got there.

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Did you drive?

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I did drive. Uh, I drove the whole time. The only place I didn't drive was in

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Cattaring. Well, no, I even drove a little bit in Kazan. So yeah, I drove every, oh no,

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uh, you Cattaringburg was the only place we had a driver. We didn't have a car.

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So that would have been the only place that I didn't drive.

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I'm just trying to understand, you know, how different was the live home and the life.

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I think you get used to it. I mean, I, I think now a lot of you guys have drivers, um, you know,

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but when we went over there, they had two cars for 11, 11 of us players to drive. So, you know,

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there was no way that we were supposed to get to share them and stuff. So we kind of, it took,

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you know, a little bit, but after, you know, maybe a month or so we were comfortable. We'd

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kind of knew our way around the city. And, um, you know, sometimes you still get lost, but I mean,

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that happens and you just kind of find a way out of it and, and you go on your way. So we,

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a lot of times we'd have more landmarks as a set of street names, just to kind of like

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figure out how are you going to get around? Because we couldn't all read this, the street names.

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And when we first got there, so, you know, at this big yellow building, you turn left or at the orange

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building, turn right. And then, uh, that's kind of how we made our way around it. We, we would, uh,

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but you know, you figure it out once you kind of fill yourself into it, it's, uh, it's not,

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it's not too difficult. What about money? Was it easy to get used to new money? Cause you know,

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like I remember it's still, it's still not, I mean, I don't, I mean, not, not, not now. I don't

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need to, but it's, uh, yeah. I mean, the, the exchange rates and stuff, you're always going

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through on your phone and looking and, you know, you have all these extra zeros and you just don't

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know what it is. And then you're like, Oh, it's so much money. And then you're like, Oh, it was $20.

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So it was just, it was all a little bit bigger than it seemed. But, um, yeah, I think it's all

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a part of, uh, the experience and, um, yeah, it was too bad. Although sometimes you would think,

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Oh yeah. And then you like pay and then you like do the trend or the exchange after, then you

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realize you spent way more than you thought you were, or it was way less or something like that.

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But so you definitely had to be careful if it was something a little bit bigger repurchase,

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just to make sure you weren't, uh, you know, overspending on it. One thing they don't have in

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NHL, the breaks, like I forgot, how did they call them in ketchup? Like European breaks or something?

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Yeah. European breaks are like national team breaks. Yeah. So how did you spend them usually?

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Like, did you guys travel? Um, if we had enough time, we would definitely try to travel. Um,

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you know, I think that's part of the, the nice thing about being in Europe is having those breaks

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and being able to see different parts of the world, uh, going on different trips, kind of just, uh,

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you know, a little R and R time and recovery and, and resting and, and touring around. So for us,

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a lot of the time it was Dubai is just a direct flight from a lot of, uh, you know, the Russian

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cities, um, and the weather was always nice. So, uh, it's definitely a pretty cool experience.

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After a few years, I think it kind of got a little bit, I mean, although it's always changing, but,

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you know, it would be nice to be able to see a few different places, but at that time you just kind

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of want some nice weather. And that's, uh, that was the easiest, uh, guarantee for, for good weather.

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Let's, uh, go back to the All-Star games. That was my first one. That was, that was, uh, that was

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the best coach I've ever had, right? Thank you. Yes. Well, first one is a coach. Yeah, actually.

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Yeah. Yeah. Cause I want to go back to this one. Cause this, that year and that All-Star

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changed my life forever. So the first time ever KHL for some reason decided to bring

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KHL female reporters as coaches, assistant coaches, but we had some drama, you know,

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our locker room, not related to the players or us. We were fine. But still, um, Kevin Dalman,

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he was, well, I don't want to say mean, but he really gave me a hard time and I credit him for

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becoming so tough. And that's something I needed in Russia, like just become tough. And he helped

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me with that. But how was it? I don't know. How was like, was it weird for you guys that a girl

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in the locker room? I felt really bad at first. Oh, I mean, I don't think it was that weird. I

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mean, you got the girls as reporters or were around a lot anyways. So, I mean, the four assistant

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coaches, you know, they were all very successful reporters in the KHL and, and in Russia. So I

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think, um, you just had to kind of time being in the room at the right times. You couldn't stay in

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there the whole time, but, um, but you guys know, it was nice. I think it was a great reward. And

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just to kind of get the behind the scenes, um, you know, interviews or talk, or just to kind of

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learn. I mean, like you said, you hadn't been in a coaching aspect before. And I think it was a

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nice thing that the league did to, to kind of broaden, you know, get more fans and get more,

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more eyes on the game. But, uh, you know, Kevin hardened me up too, when I first got there, he

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wasn't, uh, he was welcoming, but also, you know, Oh yeah, he, he makes everyone earn it. And that's

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why he was such a good leader and a good player, you know, nothing is ever just handed over. And

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you know, it took a little bit of while for me to adjust to the game over there, but, um, you know,

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Kevin and I still keep in touch and, you know, he, he was known for not ever taking it easy on

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anyone and practice him. And I think that's, uh, you know, why we were such good players is because

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he made sure that you were going to come in and play your best and practice your best too. So, um,

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you know, yeah, it was, it was fun. Yeah. One thing I told myself, I will not break and I didn't

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break. It's too bad we couldn't win that tournament though. We were too busy having fun. Cause yeah,

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some people, they put it a lot in, they want to win it. You know, we were just there for a good time.

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So celebrate. That's actually, um, that was the hardest part. Cause at first that's like, you know,

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they just said that you guys going to do that, but no one explained what are we going to do.

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No one knew what are we going to do. So it was kind of, kind of, they just threw us out there.

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It's like, do whatever. Yeah. I had to take step by step and actually do something. We lost,

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didn't we lose our head coach like right before the game or the day before or something? Yeah.

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Yeah. So that's what I'm saying. We had a lot of drama that wasn't related to the KHL All-Star

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and sometimes like somehow we had to handle all of that and just, you know, keep like being focused

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on the game, having fun. It was hard. Yeah, it was especially, but you know, it's fun. The fans

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were great and being able to play an All-Star game in Astana was, uh, it was definitely very special.

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It was, they called you the king. Yeah. Uh, I don't know. I don't think I'm the king of anything,

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but you know, it was fun. They, they, they, they've always treated me well. And I was a lot of fun to

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play in front of the fans and the support that they gave us. And it was anyways, it was fun.

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And our team was named like the most creative, the fun one. Like, yeah, we were the fun team for sure.

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Yeah, we were cool. So yeah. And I can't remember the years, like I'm all confused now because of

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the timeframes, uh, the one in Kazan where we had Benson and Nikita on the bench. It would have been

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what year was that? I was coming from Oftermobil, so it would have been 2000. Because of like the

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pandemic, it's all confusing for me now because we missed a few. Yeah. Was it 19, maybe 20? I don't

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know. Like 21. Maybe it was, yeah, it would have been, oh yeah, it was my last year in Oftermobil.

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So it would have been what? 22, 21. I can't remember. 18, maybe 18 or 19. No, this one was

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19. This one was 19. That one? Yeah. Yeah. I think it was 19. That was. Look, it says on the front.

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Oh yeah, that's right. 18! Yeah, so that's 18. I told you, it's one of the best years of my life.

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Yeah, so 19. 19? Maybe 19? 19, yeah, it would have been 19. Anyways, it was after Kazakhstan.

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But the most important part is Benson was able to have fun with you. I mean, he was little, I'm

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not sure if he remembers. Yeah, he was. But he got a couple other games after that. He was in Moscow as

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well. So that was nice for him as well my last year. Do you help him to learn the game of hockey?

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Not just skating, like to learn more about hockey? Yes and no. He's hard. He doesn't listen to me. So

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I mean, one day, maybe he will. Maybe if he asks when I try to help him, he's like, I know that,

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I know. But this will be his first year actually playing hockey on a team. So he was really into

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football the last couple years in Germany and playing. But yeah, he'll play this year and we'll

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see where it goes. But I mean, if he ever asks any questions or anything like that, I mean, obviously

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I'm happy to help. But I mean, I'm not going to push him. He can kind of sort out his things on

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his own and I'm definitely going to support him and watch him. And it will be fun to see him out

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there. But yeah, I haven't really been doing much with him so far. So we'll see how things go in the

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next couple of years. What was your favorite arena in the KHL and in the NHL? NHL, probably Montreal.

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It's just, I mean, there's so much history on that team and it's one of the biggest ranks and the fans

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are insane every game. And just being able to play a few games from Montreal and some of them

355
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be at home and even some games as a visitor, you know, the crowd would be insane. You wouldn't want

356
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them to get on a roll because you would not be able to hear yourself think. In the KHL, when Astana

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built their new rank, you know, that was one of the best in the league. And to be able to call that

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home, it was always fun to play there. You know, some of our playoff runs against Tractor,

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having the arena sold out and, you know, winning one of those first playoff series ever for that

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organization was definitely something, a feeling that I'll never forget. And, you know, just,

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you know, having everybody behind us and being able to do that at home was fun. And then I always

362
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like, you know, going to Moscow to play. You know, the new VTB arena is very nice and before that,

363
00:33:29,360 --> 00:33:35,040
you know, SESKA Arena, when it was first opened and it seemed like all the Moscow teams were playing

364
00:33:35,040 --> 00:33:40,560
out of there. But it was always fun to come and play, you know, it's kind of like the heart of Russia

365
00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:48,080
and to be able to play in Moscow was always a treat. What about the old SESKA Arena, like the

366
00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:54,400
classic one? You know what? I didn't like it. I mean, I liked the rink, but I didn't like playing

367
00:33:54,400 --> 00:33:59,120
in the ice. The ice was terrible. It was really hard to move on. And I mean, I know there's a

368
00:33:59,120 --> 00:34:04,000
lot of history and, you know, warming up and seeing all the pitchers and that was very cool.

369
00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:09,920
But as a player to play on that, you know, I was happy when that wasn't in the league anymore and

370
00:34:09,920 --> 00:34:15,040
we didn't have to play on the ice. It sounds like I am the only person who loved that arena.

371
00:34:16,640 --> 00:34:20,000
I'm sure there's a lot of the SESKA teams that loved it because I'm pretty sure they did pretty

372
00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:28,640
well there. So not many teams winning in that arena against them. I can't be nice all the time.

373
00:34:28,640 --> 00:34:36,160
So I have to ask you about the Olympics. Like, you know, we cannot predict just every single

374
00:34:36,160 --> 00:34:42,400
thing in this world. And basically when NHLers were not able to go to the Olympics, Team Canada

375
00:34:42,400 --> 00:34:51,040
and Team USA were able to choose to invite anyone they want to. Was that hard for you?

376
00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:54,800
Honestly, not really, because there's not really anything I could have done about it.

377
00:34:55,840 --> 00:35:00,240
You know, I made my decision a couple of years prior to that. If it was something that maybe I

378
00:35:00,240 --> 00:35:07,280
would have done a month before and then I changed. But when I made the decision to, you know, take

379
00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:13,120
Kazakh citizenship, you know, that wasn't even on the table. So yeah, in hindsight, looking back,

380
00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:18,880
yeah, maybe I would have done things differently. But, you know, at the time there was no other

381
00:35:18,880 --> 00:35:23,440
options and that was, you know, something that I wanted the opportunity to do. And I got that

382
00:35:23,440 --> 00:35:27,520
opportunity to try and qualify with Kazakhstan and then also play in the World Championships.

383
00:35:29,600 --> 00:35:31,760
Who knows, maybe I wouldn't have made Team Canada, you never know.

384
00:35:31,760 --> 00:35:37,040
Well, you said it's too early and you are enjoying your life, I believe you. But

385
00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:42,720
you probably still have some ideas, like what kind of things you would like to try being a TV

386
00:35:42,720 --> 00:35:51,200
reporter, play-by-play, hockey operations, something, coaching, youth team, something.

387
00:35:51,200 --> 00:35:52,240
Give me something.

388
00:35:52,240 --> 00:35:58,240
I wish I could. I mean, honestly, like this is probably the most asked question to me in the last

389
00:35:58,240 --> 00:36:02,560
three months and I still have the same answer. I don't know. I don't know what's going to be next.

390
00:36:02,560 --> 00:36:08,160
I'm probably going to take a year or so to just enjoy life, go on some trips and do things that

391
00:36:08,160 --> 00:36:13,200
I haven't been able to do in the winter. So, you know, I'd like to stay in the game of hockey.

392
00:36:13,200 --> 00:36:18,080
At this point, I don't see it being like coaching or something, but you know, things can change. And,

393
00:36:18,080 --> 00:36:24,080
you know, I'm going to probably meet people, talk to some people over the winter and you never know

394
00:36:24,080 --> 00:36:29,200
what might come up. You never know where things might head. But, you know, right now I'm kind of

395
00:36:29,200 --> 00:36:36,080
enjoying not having a schedule and just being able to do what we want to do each day. That will change

396
00:36:36,080 --> 00:36:40,000
when Spencer goes back to school. But, you know, for now it's been a good summer and we've got some

397
00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:46,960
trips planned over this winter. And, you know, just kind of see where this next year takes me.

398
00:36:47,520 --> 00:36:51,760
I just remembered you guys went to Vegas for Stanley Cup Finals.

399
00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:53,120
Yes. Yeah.

400
00:36:53,120 --> 00:36:55,120
Who was it?

401
00:36:55,120 --> 00:37:00,800
It was really cool. I mean, we didn't plan it out. We were there for our wedding anniversary and it

402
00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:06,640
happened to fall over, you know, game five. And, you know, I bought tickets before the series started

403
00:37:06,640 --> 00:37:11,920
just in case. And, you know, who couldn't have dreamt that there was going to be the Stanley Cup

404
00:37:11,920 --> 00:37:19,280
clinching game. So, the atmosphere, the fans, the city, the players, I mean, everything was so cool.

405
00:37:19,280 --> 00:37:24,400
Even just as a hockey fan, let alone having played hockey and having it been a dream of mine at one

406
00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:29,920
point, but just to go and watch and experience that and, you know, even Cassie, you know, loved it.

407
00:37:29,920 --> 00:37:34,800
And, I mean, Vegas knows how to put on a show and I can't imagine a better place to win a cup. And,

408
00:37:35,600 --> 00:37:40,720
you know, I knew a few of the guys on the team from Winnipeg that I had trained with in past

409
00:37:40,720 --> 00:37:45,680
years. So, to see them win it and be able to celebrate and just to have that experience is,

410
00:37:45,680 --> 00:37:50,480
you know, it's kind of just a lucky coincidence that we were there at the right time,

411
00:37:50,480 --> 00:37:55,520
right place. And so, yeah, we're really happy that we were able to get tickets and experience

412
00:37:56,400 --> 00:38:01,680
them winning the Stanley Cup. That's pretty cool. Well, thank you for your time. I will have to call

413
00:38:01,680 --> 00:38:09,920
you again in a year and then in five years. So, we'll hear your answers or you will become an NHL

414
00:38:09,920 --> 00:38:17,360
coach by that time and you will say no. Yeah. Easy. Well, thanks for having me and it's good

415
00:38:17,360 --> 00:38:40,480
to talk to you again. Thank you. You're welcome.