Aaron Ekblad discusses winning second straight title, staying with Panthers

Energy Line with Nate Thompson and Julie Stewart-Binks open up the show talking about some of the most impactful signings so far in free agency. They also discuss the CBA changes as well as Gavin McKenna deciding to play for Penn State. Two-time Stanley Cup champion Aaron Ekblad then joins Nate and JSB. Ekblad discusses life after winning a second straight title, the celebrations, trying to contain the Oilers star players, why he signed a new contract to stick with the Panthers and his offseason plan.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Energy Line is a production of the NHL and iHeart podcasts.
Welcome on into the Energy Line with made js B.
I'm Julie short Binks. He's former NHLR and Nate Thompson.
Energy Line is a production of the NHL and I

(00:25):
Heart podcasts, and we have a very special guest on
this week's episode, fresh off his second Stanley.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Cup title No Big Deal.

Speaker 1 (00:33):
We are joined by the Panthers Aaron egg Blad. Holy smokes,
are we excited to be able to have not only
a current player, but one that just hoisted the Stanley
Cup like two weeks ago, and who probably is also
fresh off of a bender as well as we saw Nate.
So many great memes, videos, everything of the Panthers just
living life. And I think it's I think it's great.

(00:58):
I mean, I don't think there's a limit on how
much celebrating you should do for the Stanley Cup, in
whatever way, shape or form you feel best.

Speaker 3 (01:07):
I totally agree.

Speaker 4 (01:08):
I think it's the one trophy in sports that you
see it. It's funny, right because like they get absolutely
it's debauchery, like it's craziness, and no one says a word.
They're just kind of like, yeah, they won the Stanley Cup.

Speaker 3 (01:21):
Why not?

Speaker 4 (01:21):
I mean they're supposed to get like that. But speaking
of debauchery, can we talk about your recent and benders?
Let's talk about your recent trip. Didn't you just get
back from a.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
No Bender's name somewhere.

Speaker 3 (01:33):
It was.

Speaker 1 (01:35):
Oration and relaxing trip that I took full myself to
Turks and Kekos, to an island off there's actually a
private island off Turks and Caicos called Parakeet, which is
actually frequented by celebrities. I found out Keith Richards has
a house there, and like Bruce Willis used to have

(01:56):
a place there, and Ben and Jen Gardner they got
married there. So that was a long time ago. But anyway, yeah,
I went to really nice place. I just decided to
take me on a little solo vak, which I honestly
thought was going to be chill, relaxed, and then somehow

(02:18):
I ended up on white lotus where all of the
guests interacted with one another and it was like, you
couldn't really I just wanted to like just do me
and kind of not talk to anybody, figure out the
rest of my life, you know, all this kind of stuff.
And then it was like I'm meeting people were all
like going for dinners. It's only a resort, it's an island.
It only had like one hundred and it only had

(02:39):
thirty percent occupancy. It was like wild, there's a Fourth
of July party. It was that was cool but also
weird because it's a British territory, so like you know,
there's a bit of irony behind all that. Anyway, had
a great time, but I did mention this to you.
First of all, it was not a bender. It could
have been, but I have been really exercising. The new
me is exercising quite a bit of self restraint, and

(03:02):
I'm really out of it myself.

Speaker 2 (03:04):
He's like, I could have come.

Speaker 1 (03:05):
Back here today and been like, mate, I can't even speak,
but I can because I'm an adult. And there was
one guy on the island who knew who I was,
So I have to tell you this. I'm I'm on
the quote unquote dance floor which has like ten people.
It's literally just like I don't know a restaurant for

(03:29):
the fourth of July and they're playing like I don't know,
twenty first day of September. This guy comes up, He's
like talking to some other guy and then he goes, oh,
we've met before. He looks at me and I was like, what,
we've met, Like, I've met somebody on this random island
before and he's like, oh yeah.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
He goes, what's your last name?

Speaker 1 (03:46):
I'm like Stuart Binks and he goes, oh, yeah, yeah,
we know each other. I'm like, how the fuck do
we know each other? Like like, are you gonna say like,
oh yeah.

Speaker 2 (03:56):
I was like, oh, yeah, cool, we know each other. Yeah,
we just know each other from god knows what.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
I just thought, Okay, maybe this guy's like a sports fan,
in which that would be more like I don't know,
I would know if I knew him. That's all I remembered.
I was like, I wouldn't know if I knew this guy.
Found out afterwards when he was talking to me about
Sam Rosen and Joe mcletty. I was like, all right,
this guy is a Rangers fan. He's probably a Mets fan,

(04:25):
means he's watched a network I work on, s n Y.
Jake we actually talked talking. It was Jake Yep, it
was Jake. It was our producer Jake. I didn't recognize
him there, but he just we know, the joke's actually
on me that I actually didn't know this person. But

(04:45):
what was interesting is like I was at a table
of people who didn't understand the rest of this conversation,
but me and this guy we're talking about Mitch Marner
going to Vegas, and I was like, I love this.
I'm on a remote island talking about Marner going to Vegas,
which is the last possible thing I thought I would
ever talk about here, and.

Speaker 2 (05:03):
It was it was great.

Speaker 1 (05:05):
What did you do over the you know what seemed
to be a bit of a sleepy couple of days
of free agency post free.

Speaker 2 (05:11):
Agency, Yeah, it was.

Speaker 4 (05:12):
I mean, it was a lot happened on the first day,
second day. I feel like, you know, we were obviously
we were talking with Elliott Freeman last week, but we
were waiting on Nikolai Eilers, and you know, he gets
signed to the Carolina Hurricanes, which it was rumored to
be for a while.

Speaker 2 (05:27):
But it just seems like a seamless fit.

Speaker 4 (05:29):
With Nikolai Eelers going to Carolina, the way how fast
he skates, and when you think of the Hurricanes, you
just think how fast they are, So I just think
that's going to be a really good fit for Carolina.
It's a boost in their forward depth for sure to
have Elers. I played with him. His nickname was fly
he can go fast.

Speaker 1 (05:45):
Yeah, so evidently that is something he's good at and
then he's going to be able to probably fit into
their system, have maybe more time more I son, what
do you think about You know, we've kind of annoyted
the Florida Panthers a lot of people have is three
time Stanley Cup champions, as in winning next year. But
how much better do you think Carolina is now with

(06:07):
Elers and also KeAndre Miller signed there too.

Speaker 3 (06:10):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (06:10):
I think both, I think and underratedly And it's a
good question, Julie. I think that no one's really talking
about Carolina that much, you know, because they didn't do
a whole lot. But I think they made key signings.
I mean, and you have to mention they they locked
up stan Covin as well, and he's been a perfect
fit with Carolina. I mean since he's been there, it's
like this has he this this kid been a Carolina

(06:31):
Hurricane his whole career. You know, it just seems like
he's fitting perfect. So you know, you add stan Covin
and then you get those other two guys, Caandre Miller
trade for him, and I think Caandre Miller now he's
going to be looked at in a bigger role, I think,
even in Carolina than he was in New York.

Speaker 3 (06:46):
I think you have Slave in there.

Speaker 4 (06:48):
Now, you have Caandre Miller there, and it's gonna be
It's gonna boost their back end, I think. And it
adds size, you know, I think with anything with their team,
I think Carolina needs at a little bit size. You know,
they've been pushed around a little bit the last few
years in the playoffs, and I think that'll help. And
then you, like I said, you added Eelers. He probably
goes on that top line. He probably plays with Ajo

(07:09):
and I expect him to be you know, Nikola Eelers
every year he's a twenty five twenty five thirty goal
guy and he could be more and he might be
more Carolina. So this could be some key signings that
were looking back during the season being like, wow, those
were some big moves for Carolina that that that might
end up maybe you never know, putting them over the hump.

Speaker 1 (07:31):
Right, And then like when you do look at the
team as a whole, I got to ask you because
you know you played with him, but like you've also
watched them, Like, what do you think of Carolina's goaltending situation?

Speaker 4 (07:41):
It's always the question mark, right, It's always been the
question mark. Their goaltending will get him to a certain point.
Then it doesn't get over. It doesn't they can't get
over to the next step. They can't get to the finals.
And you know, having those two guys, you know, I
think it's really I think yeah, sorry, sorry.

Speaker 2 (07:59):
Sorry I didn't even say their names.

Speaker 4 (08:02):
That's my bad guys Freddie, Yeah, I mean just assume
Freddy and check off my ken Stenberg pronounce his name,
but I'll butcher it every time. But you know, I
think it seems like Carolina believes in these two guys, right,
They believe that these guys can get them there and
they can win with them. And so it comes down
to it comes down to it, and people can speculate

(08:23):
and say, Okay, well we need to go out and
get a goalie. Well there's not a whole lot of
goalies to go out there and get. Yeah, look at Edmonton,
they haven't got anybody yet.

Speaker 2 (08:30):
Was just going to go there with you on that, Yeah.

Speaker 4 (08:33):
I beat you to it, so they you know, it's
for Carolina, it's in house and they know that, right.
I mean, the same thing happened with Florida. They go
to the finals, they lose, They've they've had some success
over the years, they lose. They have Bebroski. Everyone is
questioning Sertaviibroski. Well, I don't think anyone's questioning him now.
So I think with Carolina it's it's they got to

(08:55):
find a way. They have to find a way to
get over the humped. You know these things when you
go to the playoffs, you lose, you learn, you get better,
and you know, maybe that's the same same case for
both goalies Freddy and put check Koff, is you know,
finding a way to get over the hump and be
those guys that can, you know, make the saves that
they need to make key moments for Carolina. I mean,
I don't know. I think that's when it comes down

(09:17):
to it. I think that's it. And for Carolina too,
it's they have they have to play better when whenever
they get to the conference finals that we always talk.

Speaker 3 (09:24):
About, like what happened to them? What happened?

Speaker 4 (09:26):
There's no pushback it's like they play.

Speaker 2 (09:28):
Well, yeah daily certain point, you like forget that they
played Florida. That's way long waited with Carolina, you like
forget that they played Florida.

Speaker 1 (09:35):
I was like, it was just like boop Eastern Conference
Final went by in like the blink.

Speaker 4 (09:39):
Of an eye before we go in deeper. That's the class, right,
That's who That's who everyone's.

Speaker 2 (09:43):
Chasing is Florida Bingo bango bongo.

Speaker 1 (09:45):
That's Florida's world and we're just living in it and
looking at the team that they went up against. Of
course a Minton Oilers. As you just mentioned, they did
not do anything in the goalie situation, which I think
was it. As you said, the market wasn't really that
great and markets for goalie seem to be quite zero

(10:06):
point zero. But like, obviously they want to lock up
McDavid like for the rest of his life, but like
they're going to have to have a goalie for that.
I'd imagine McDavid doesn't want to stay on a team
that doesn't have a goalie. Do you think they have
something bigger in the works or do you think they're
going to just try to work with what they got.

Speaker 4 (10:25):
It's a really good question. I do think that they
have something bigger in the works. I think that they're
trying to make moves to clear up some space for
McDavid and also possibly getting a goaltender. I think they're
keeping Skinner. I do think that they're going to keep him.
You see, you saw that they made a goaltending coach change.

Speaker 3 (10:44):
I think that that's part of it.

Speaker 4 (10:45):
I think that they're thinking, Okay, we're going to continue
to improve Stuart Skinner. We're going to make him a
better goalie. We still believe in him, but we're still
going to go out and find someone else to push
him and have some stability in that. Maybe it's a
one A, one B kind of situation. They're in a
tough they're in a tougher they're in a tough predicament

(11:06):
with the cap and certain guys on hefty deals. So,
like I said, I think that they're trying to make
moves and they're I don't think they're done yet. I
think that there's more to be revealed with the Evanton
oilers as the summer goes on.

Speaker 1 (11:19):
I mean, you got to hope so because it seemed
like they didn't really get any better and they kind
of like gave everyone.

Speaker 2 (11:25):
To LA, which felt odd.

Speaker 1 (11:29):
It was like a very like LA was like stocking
up on like Edmonton Oilers or whatever. Okay, So on
that note, wanted to get into the fact you mentioned
the cap, But there is also the CBA that a
memorandum of understanding had gone out between the NHL and
NHL Players Association. They were able to ratify a four

(11:52):
year deal and within that deal some of the interesting
We won't get it into all of the boring stuff
that like, you know, you can find Elliott Friedman talking
about because he knows what he's actually talking about. But
we want to get to, like, you know, the the
fun stuff. One one thing, Nate optional.

Speaker 2 (12:12):
Dress code, no suits to arena thoughts.

Speaker 3 (12:17):
I think it's great.

Speaker 4 (12:18):
I think it's I think the league and teams should
allow players to wear what they want and dress up
and show their you know, show their personalities.

Speaker 2 (12:26):
I do think a lot of players will still wear suits.

Speaker 4 (12:29):
I think they're guys that will still you know, they're
programmed a certain way and they're gonna wear a suit.

Speaker 3 (12:35):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (12:36):
And then obviously, you know, I think your Toronto maple
Leafs will definitely lean into the you know, there's some
guys that are definitely fashion easts on that team, and
I'm sure they'll lean into wearing whatever they want. But
I'm looking forward to I'm looking for yeah news, yeah
Willie styles. I'm looking forward to seeing what guys wear
and they're h and showing off their personalities. I don't
think it's going to be anything as crazy as the

(12:56):
NBA or NFL. I don't think guys have that in them,
but you never know. I mean there's some new young
guys in the league, and we'll see. I hope some
guys have some good outfits that.

Speaker 3 (13:05):
Do go viral.

Speaker 4 (13:06):
Though.

Speaker 1 (13:07):
Yeah, I mean they've had they've had fun with suits,
like they've had fun, you know, coloring within the lines
over the last couple of years, Poster Nak being one
of them.

Speaker 2 (13:15):
It pops out to me.

Speaker 1 (13:16):
But I would say even just having covered the PWHL
this past year, like you know, the the fit checks,
the walk ins were so fun to see them do,
and like if there was a game of another team
they were a fan of, like when the NFL playoffs
were going on, and you know, one of other women,
Danielle Sardakney, she wore like a buffalo Bill's jersey to

(13:41):
the rink because she was supporting them that day, and
I thought that was you know, those are kind of
fun little things that show their personality or like maybe
they're supporting another team in the area. Like if says
say it's Anaheim will go back to them. Like and
if you were wearing like an Angel's jersey or something.
I mean, you guys did that on the ice. I know,
for warm ups and stuff like that, but like just
something kind of fun walking in That's doesn't be easy,

(14:03):
but it can just be like something fun.

Speaker 4 (14:06):
Yeah, And with social media now, everyone always wants to
see the walk in and what they're wearing. So whatever
you see, like, yeah, it's awesome. Whenever you see like
NBA players, you know they walk in. If you've seen
guys wear like McDavid jersey or they wear the Panthers jersey,
it's Bene or Marshawn whoever, like that gets that gets
people pumped up. They love seeing that, So I think
it's great. I think it's the league is recognizing that

(14:27):
you got to grow the game, and the way it's
ways to do that is letting guys show off the personality.
Because as we know, I mean, the NHL and the
hockey players.

Speaker 3 (14:35):
You know, we're not quite.

Speaker 4 (14:36):
As as as hip as the other leagues are, I
guess from Star as you could say, we're we're very
we're more so traditional in old school. So this will
be fun for the players to do this this year.

Speaker 1 (14:46):
Yeah, that's that's so true. Like hockey sort of just
like that. You know, it's like, uh, Colin Coward described
it to me once. It's like it's like, uh, it's
like white bread, whole milk, Like it's just very bland
and like, you know, other leagues are like got a
bit a spice that these are calling sports by the way,
not I mean, but he's just like it's it's you know, it's.

Speaker 2 (15:07):
By the book. It kind of goes how it goes.
But we saw I think.

Speaker 1 (15:11):
I mean, you could say the Panthers, like when we
look back on in history, like them having personality, the
whole dairy queen thing, like you know, really anything that
kind of showed like the going a bit out of
out out of order of how things are done right,
like the Panthers having other guys raise the cup, like

(15:31):
just different things that aren't in the traditional hockey sense.
I think we'll look back and say like, hey, these
were little catalysts that kind of kick things down the
road of things being a bit more interesting. And you know,
we see obviously we talk about PULPS and net On, TNT,
all the other podcasts, everyone just getting.

Speaker 2 (15:47):
A little loose.

Speaker 1 (15:48):
The more loose, the more interesting, the more things people say,
the more eyeballs, the more listeners. And then we can
cross over into other spaces, right like the Taylor Swift
stuff coming to the Panthers game, like that was and
obviously you know the other guy, the guy she was with,
Travis Kelcey being there too, Like.

Speaker 2 (16:05):
That stuff's great.

Speaker 4 (16:06):
Yeah, it's it's fantastic. I mean, it just grows the game.
I mean that's that's what we need. We need to
grow the game. That's what we're doing right now, Julie, just.

Speaker 2 (16:14):
Grow the game.

Speaker 1 (16:14):
Game right here, we're doing the Lord's work here, Energy
Line on a July nine peasant Listen, we are we
are committed to grow in the game. Because, yeah, it's
been a bit of a slow free agency. I'm gonna
say it's kind of a weird free agency, to be honest.
Let's talk about something that's different, and that is Gavin McKenna,

(16:36):
who is expected to be the you know, first overall
pick in next year's draft, having committed to Penn State.
So he's gone from the CHL, he played in the
WHL and he's now with these new rules, gone over
to play in NCUBA in college. And I mean it
would be weird if he kind of went back to
the DUB. I think, like he's already dominated it. Now

(16:59):
he has a new challenge. What do you make of it?

Speaker 3 (17:01):
All?

Speaker 4 (17:01):
I think this is great. I mean, this is huge
for hockey. It's going to change the whole dynamic of
college hockey. You're going to start seeing a lot of guys,
especially guys of Gab McKennis status status, going from major
junior to college. And like you said, Julie, he has
nothing left to prove in the Western League. What he
did I mean when he had a fifty four game
point streak at one point. You know, I got to

(17:25):
watch this kid in the finals, you know, cover him
for TSN and he is the real deal. I mean,
can you imagine, Julie, if Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid
played a year of college hockey before they were they
went first overall like that would that would change the
whole landscape of college hockey. I mean, and that's going
to do that this year. Now he's going to a
huge program like Penn State. I don't know if you've

(17:47):
seen have you seen some of the footage of their facilities.

Speaker 3 (17:50):
I mean, it's like.

Speaker 4 (17:51):
Top better than most NHL facilities, And this kid's going
to go there and hopefully, I mean, I would think
a lot of these games are going to be televised
with him because he's that good for sure, and college
hockey is going to change, you know, it's going to
it's going to make it that much more exciting him
him going to other buildings, him going to Michigan, or
him going to b C and you know, him playing
at Penn State. I mean, just it's such a big

(18:15):
deal for for hockey and Gab McKenna and obviously, you
know with all the new rules, I mean, you know,
good for Gab McKenna.

Speaker 3 (18:23):
You know, he's, uh, he's in a good spot.

Speaker 4 (18:25):
He gets to go play a year at college year
of college hockey, play at Penn State, probably dominate, and
then who knows when when what NHL team will be
there to pick him next next draft mm hmm.

Speaker 1 (18:36):
And it's like, you know, as we mentioned, he already had,
he had nothing left to prove in the DUB he
almost could like like you know, when you're not playing
and being challenged, like going backwards and not being challenged
forwards at least, like everything about this will be different
than playing in the Western Hockey League and so but
he picked Penn State, you know, not the biggest, best program,

(18:57):
although obviously great facilities as you mentioned, but there's Michigan, Denver,
North Dakota, you know, the big as you mentioned, the
Boston schools like those are all you know, great, But
like I'm curious because I grew up under the in
the whole CHL umbrella covering the OHL, covering the WHL,

(19:17):
all that kind of stuff. I didn't really cover college
hockey coming up. What how do you think he changes
the landscape of college hockey.

Speaker 4 (19:25):
Well, I think you're just you're just going to see
more players playing in college hockey. And I think you're
going to see a lot more players because predominantly most
players that are drafted obviously are drafted all from the
CHL mostly right, But I think that's going to change.
It is probably gonna shift because you're going to see
a lot of players probably play their sixteen year old
and seventeen year old year. Maybe it's in the Western

(19:46):
League ohl QMGHL. And then I think those players from there,
because they're allowed, we'll go to college and you know,
you look at their development. You know, they get to
play a ton of games with sixteen and seventeen, right,
they play all these games. Then they go to college hockey,
they play a year of year or two year college,
but and they play way less games. They're playing forty games, right,
and not only that for Gavin McKenna, he gets to

(20:09):
develop his body. You know we talked about college, right,
they work out more. They you know, they're only playing
two games a week, so you know there's a lot
more emphasis on working out and training and all those things.
So I think, you know, you're going to see these
players develop in a probably the best way possible with
these rules. But I mean, in my opinion, I think

(20:29):
because you're able to be in junior for a couple
of years, play a ton of hockey, and then develop
yourself in college too. So I just think it's going
to change the landscape because they're gonna have a lot
more players playing in the NHL coming out of college.

Speaker 2 (20:41):
Now mm hmmm, yeah, Okay, I like that you said that.

Speaker 1 (20:44):
I wanted to mention I had this dude that I
like hated kind.

Speaker 2 (20:49):
Of for a bit. He's in I don't know why.

Speaker 1 (20:52):
I was just about to give out personal details of
his of what he does for work, because that would
be like not a good idea.

Speaker 2 (20:58):
But he asked me.

Speaker 1 (20:59):
He's not like a big hockey fan, but he was
like watching the draft and was like, why do they
go back to their teams or why do they go
Why don't they just go right to the NHL?

Speaker 2 (21:10):
And I was like, well, I mean some of them
will some of them that are really good, like as
we saw you know, McDavid Badard, you know, celebrating any
of those guys. But I'm like, it depends on like.

Speaker 1 (21:21):
Their their development, Like they're still really young, they're still developing.
They also have these teams that already these guys are
playing at like this high level and taking away a
roster spot, like it depends on like a whole lot
of their development of the team they're going to. And
he was like, well, it's just kind of stupid that
they don't just go right to the NHL, and I
was like, well, I guess it would be stupid if
you didn't understand hockey, like you know.

Speaker 2 (21:45):
I was like, sorry, I just kind of ye, that's
that's not by him.

Speaker 1 (21:50):
I was like, he was just like, it's just like
why wouldn't they just do it like the other sports.
I'm like, because it's a different sport than the other sports, Like,
I don't know, they're still developing, so like, why would
you give I don't know, why would you put some
like little guy out there that could just get his
head blown off and like take away a spot from
I don't know. What do you think about that about guys?

(22:12):
You know, maybe not necessarily like what if someone said
that to you, which I'm sure you probably heard people
say stuff like that before.

Speaker 3 (22:18):
Yeah, I've heard the questions.

Speaker 4 (22:19):
I don't know if I've said I've ever heard someone say,
what should be like that?

Speaker 3 (22:22):
That was dumb? Whoever?

Speaker 4 (22:23):
That whatever his name is.

Speaker 2 (22:24):
Yeah, I don't worry. He's cut from the.

Speaker 3 (22:26):
Rock anyways, he's done.

Speaker 4 (22:28):
Yeah he's not.

Speaker 3 (22:30):
I no, I mean.

Speaker 4 (22:35):
I think it's that's what's unique about the NHL is
these players are drafted at seventeen eighteen, you know, and
you're seeing a lot of these players make make the
league at a young age.

Speaker 3 (22:44):
But that's part of it.

Speaker 4 (22:47):
Is you that's the first step, is you're getting drafted,
and then you're developing. After that, you know, it's you're
going back to college. Teams get the opportunity to let
players go back and develop in college, develop in junior
and get that player in a couple of years and
sign them. So that's that's the part of that's part
of the hockey I enjoy and I think it's good,
and it's very similar to baseball. Right Baseball has a

(23:08):
ton of minor leagues and they send their guys to
develop or or they have to, you know, spend some
time before they playing the playing the big leagues. It's
just a different dynamic than the other sports, is what
I would say to Joe Schmoe.

Speaker 1 (23:20):
Over there, you know, yeah, Joe s Moo, I would
say also to him, it's like getting rights, Like you're
kind of like getting the rights like to this this player, yes,
and then you get to kind of decide, you know,
how that works out for them. What do you think
right now in terms of winners, losers and anyone else?

(23:46):
In between from free agency as things stand, who do
you think is like the hottest team to come out
of free agency? And who do you think is the
coldest team?

Speaker 3 (23:56):
Winners?

Speaker 4 (23:56):
I mean we've we've said the Florida Panthers are the winners.
I can't say them again. I'll say real luck. I'm
going to say. People won't agree with me, but I
do think that more than losing, I think that the
La Kings won specifically, and no knock to see see
he's going to help them a lot. Obviously, I don't

(24:17):
agree with the price and the term, but I think
getting Duomelin, Yoel Armia and Corey Perry, I think those
guys that they signed, and then along with what other
guys they have, I think Deli Kings did well. Other
teams I would have to say right now, you know
the team that jumps out at me and no knock
to Tanner's you know either is the Boston Bruins. I

(24:39):
don't know if the signings they made and signing Tanners,
you know, to a five year deal for what is
it three three and a half or something like that,
I don't know if that's yeah somewhere around there, that's
not a win. I think I think you know, they
lost and no offense to you know, I'm all about the players.

Speaker 3 (24:56):
The players got to get paid. I love that.

Speaker 4 (24:58):
Yeah, But for the team, I don't know if that's
going to be a good's that's not going to work
out well for them. So those two teams jump out
at me, minus Florida, who I think won, and then
another team. And we've talked about I know this is
way too many teams. You g asked who wanted lost,
But is Edmonton Oilers? Edmonton Oilers are I'm nervous for them.
I'm very nervous for them going into the season with

(25:19):
them up against the cap and certain deals they have
to sign and then trying to get rid of guys
and then trying to add guys. They're in a predicament
right now and I'm really really looking forward to seeing
what happens there as well.

Speaker 1 (25:32):
They're like my fantasy football team when it's like, oh,
I just got all these big names and I'm like yeah,
and then I'm like, oh my god, I don't have
a kicker, I don't have defense, I don't have my.

Speaker 2 (25:43):
This is just my fantasy football team, Like, oh, Cross.

Speaker 1 (25:45):
I'm gonna have to off load of Oh no, I'm
gonna have to pick up all these nobody's and like
I've overspent. But yeah, it felt it feels as though,
after having made so many strides in the last two years,
they're in a.

Speaker 2 (25:58):
Bit of a precarious situation. Something I wanted to lead
off with and.

Speaker 1 (26:02):
I totally did, was the fact that this is wedding
season for hockey players, because it's like the only time
that they have off that in itself I find unique.

Speaker 2 (26:14):
It's like, you finished the season, then it's like wedding
wedding for all these guys.

Speaker 1 (26:21):
But Sam Bennett and his wife coming out for their
for their wedding to the Panther's goal song.

Speaker 2 (26:28):
Did you see that? I didn't know, Oh my god,
that was there.

Speaker 1 (26:32):
Like when they came out after they got buried, it
was like go Cats Go.

Speaker 2 (26:38):
And you know, at first, the first like part of
me was like does she want that?

Speaker 1 (26:42):
And then I was like, you know what, fuck, it
seems like she's really into it, love it for them,
Like she's like so I was like, does the bride really.

Speaker 2 (26:51):
Want to have? Go Cats Go?

Speaker 1 (26:53):
Is like the song they're coming out to. I'm like, yeah,
of course, she does too Stanley Cups, Like, why wouldn't
you want to have go Cats go You're like, this
is a great sham.

Speaker 2 (27:00):
I love it.

Speaker 1 (27:01):
And Sam Bennett is arguably gotta be feeling like the
king of the world right now, like winning the four
Nations win in a Stanley Cup. Again, con smythe gets paid,
gets married.

Speaker 2 (27:18):
This is it.

Speaker 1 (27:19):
Can only go downhill from here, really, I mean no,
this is he's at the peak.

Speaker 4 (27:23):
Yeah, he's He's on top of the mountain right now,
I'll say that. And Julia, sorry I missed it. I've
as you know, I've been to my fair share wedding,
so I try not to watch too many all these days.

Speaker 1 (27:36):
But yes, been tools in yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (27:40):
Yeah, been in Ben Yeah exactly, yeah yeah.

Speaker 1 (27:43):
Same when you were in the league, would you guys
ever talk being like you got your calendars out, being like,
all right, we got this guy's wedding, then we got
this guy's wedding, Like, oh man, they're getting married on
the same day because there's only so many days and weekends,
and does it ever like the wedding planning of the
off season get kind of crazy.

Speaker 4 (28:02):
You try to hope what you I hope that the
guys are smart and they space it out and they're
not too far from each other. But yeah, sometimes you'll
get the situation where two guys are getting married at
the same time and you'll have half guys at one wedding,
half guys at the other wedding. It's just the way
it goes. But I do miss that though. I mean
I miss obviously being now almost forty one. You know,
I'm not going to as many weddings now, but I

(28:24):
do miss that being able to travel around and go
to guys' weddings and it just be basically another party
with the with the fellas.

Speaker 3 (28:31):
So for the Panthers, what a tour there on this summer,
Holy shit, what a tour.

Speaker 2 (28:36):
We just love to be one of the.

Speaker 4 (28:37):
Weddings and cup parties. Oh yeah, I would love life.

Speaker 1 (28:43):
Life would just be so so good if we are
a Florida Panther. Is not a sentence I ever thought
I would have said in my entire life. Seriously, Okay,
you said you're almost forty one. When's your birthday?

Speaker 3 (28:58):
October fifth? October fifth, I'll be forty one.

Speaker 2 (29:01):
Years old, are then I'm a lead of course.

Speaker 4 (29:06):
Out And yeah, if you too, if you want to
talk about everything you just did and wanted to, and
I'll tune you out again like I did before.

Speaker 2 (29:12):
And you were born in Anchorage, Anchorage, Alaska.

Speaker 3 (29:16):
What are you doing right now?

Speaker 1 (29:16):
I'm gonna get your full chart, and then what time
do you know? What time you're born?

Speaker 3 (29:20):
Up?

Speaker 1 (29:20):
That's the question that'll really get guys to run away
from you.

Speaker 2 (29:23):
What time are you born?

Speaker 3 (29:24):
Actually?

Speaker 2 (29:24):
I know I was like five oh one or five
o two pm. Okay, great, can't wait.

Speaker 1 (29:29):
I'm gonna do Nate's chart and then we're gonna find
out like what he's really like and then you, guys,
can you.

Speaker 4 (29:36):
Talk about it on the next pod, I'll.

Speaker 1 (29:38):
Talk That's a tease. That's what we call it teas
in the business. Right now, if you want to find
out what Nate's astrological chart is, it will be on
the next podcast, where I will also reveal my own,
so you know, uh, make sure you tune on in
for that. But right now, stay tuned for this one
because we actually have two times Stanley Cup champion Aaron

(30:00):
Eckblad just in the middle of between weddings and partying
with the Stanley Cup. He is going to be joining
us here on Energy Line with Natan JSB. Don't go anyway,
all right, So we are extremely thrilled now to be

(30:21):
able to welcome in someone who has not only won
a Stanley Cup, he's won two Stanley Cups and he
just won a Cup a few weeks ago.

Speaker 2 (30:31):
And that is another the two.

Speaker 1 (30:32):
Times Stanley Cup champion from the Florida Panthers, Aaron Kwuad Aaron.

Speaker 2 (30:37):
We truly appreciate you joining Energy Line with.

Speaker 1 (30:41):
Naton JSB and got to ask you when you win
the Stanley Cup, do hangovers not exist because there's just
so much adrenaline?

Speaker 3 (30:51):
Oh maybe, yeah. It's for me, it's always, you know,
a go night and it's not much sleep, and then
then the following night I try to take it easy,
just to pace myself. So it's an every other night
kind of thing for me to.

Speaker 4 (31:03):
Talk to us about post Stanley Cup win. What's been
going on?

Speaker 3 (31:08):
How's the party have been going?

Speaker 4 (31:10):
I mean, how's everything going since the season's been done.

Speaker 3 (31:13):
That's good. Obviously that first night we leave the room
at like four four thirty something like that, and then
I personally go to sleep. I know, Chucky Barkie, all
those guys, they just go straight to Able. We're all
to Chucki's house and then to Elbow Room at like
ten am. So I need a little bit of sleep.
I can't do the full all nighter. But yeah, after that,

(31:35):
just in and out of bars and restaurants and taking
the places the next few days and eleven is obviously
an insane experience and you know, hopefully one that we
get to do over and over again. So yeah, it's
been a whirlwind of a few weeks, right, And.

Speaker 1 (31:51):
When you guys won, I mean it was legendary sort
of the the partying of course, on top of really
what you've done in the playoffs and being back to
back champions. And I'm just curious, like, who's the coolest
person that has reached out to you in your mind,
like from since you won.

Speaker 3 (32:08):
Oh, I mean, I can't say one specific person. A
lot of friends in the hockey world that have reached out.
Grateful for every one of them. The sheer number of
texts you get after you win or sign or anything
that's happened, I guess in the summer for myself and
the team is insane. It's hard to catch up with everyone.
But yeah, that's a lot.

Speaker 1 (32:30):
Was there anyone that surprised you like that came out
of the woodwork. W're like, wow, oh my gosh, I
can't believe Blank messaged me.

Speaker 3 (32:39):
I wish I had someone for you. I don't really,
I don't have the I don't have the most high
profile life or high profile contact lists, so nobody special.
Maybe uh Nate and I's friend keith yandle will say
he's the biggest celebrity in my phone.

Speaker 4 (32:54):
I do have one. This is a two part question.
Did Brooks Koepka message you?

Speaker 3 (32:59):
Oh? Probably, I think we spoke, Yeah, okay, and I
was to spend We went and played golf together and
oh nice. Yeah, yeah friends. At this point, he's a
good He wore my jersey throughout the playoffs when we
were in Toronto. He came and all of his buddies
and him came and they were wearing my jersey. So
that's a water under the bridge. Yeah, that's good. That's good.

Speaker 4 (33:19):
Well, So, I mean my question is is how did
it feel going into the finals that are going to
the playoffs this year compared to last year? Was it
was there more pressure on you guys this year? Did
you feel more pressure or was it just status quo
we do our job.

Speaker 3 (33:34):
I don't think we felt more pressure, to be honest, personally,
I felt pressure to format after a twenty game suspension,
which was tough, but I think the team was in
a good place mentally. We had been able to get
over the hump of beating Tampa before, and we knew,
you know, that's one of the bigger series that we
were going to have to face. Toronto was obviously a

(33:54):
lot better than they ever have been, and that was
not an easy series at all, going to seven games
and then Carolina. You know, anything can happen in that series.
It's always very tight, so nerve wracking for sure, But
I don't think we weren't confident that we could get
the job done.

Speaker 2 (34:10):
Okay, So I got to ask you. I'm from Toronto,
so I mean, but.

Speaker 1 (34:14):
I'm unbiased, of course, So just wondering, do you would
you say they were the hardest opponent you had this
year in the playoffs.

Speaker 3 (34:23):
I don't know. I'd be interested to hear what my
teammates think about that. I think they were definitely much
harder to play it against it than they ever have been.
I think, obviously, you know, a seven game series, if
you saw that in the finals. You you know, you
could expect that that's, you know, one of the more
difficult series. But Edmonton's obviously a very unique challenge and
what they bring to the table with the two best

(34:43):
players in the world, So it's hard to say that
they're any better or worse than them. It's I mean,
every series provides a different challenge and a different systems
and ways of countering it, and yeah, it just it
took us a little bit of time to get used
to what they were doing and find a way to
get through it.

Speaker 4 (35:02):
Yeah, explain to us and the fans too. Really, I
mean going into a series against Danmonton Oilers and playing
against guys like Connor McDavid and Leon Drysidel and you
know Connor McDavid very well. You guys have a history together,
playing together when you guys are younger, and you know,
how do you game plan for guys like that? Obviously
you guys did the job, but I guess explain to
us and explain to fans, like what, how do you

(35:22):
stop those guys or do you just contain them?

Speaker 3 (35:25):
Well, judging by the fact that my jock is still
four rows up at Rogers, I always say rex Al,
but it's Rogers, I believe Rogers center. But yeah, you
don't stop them, right, They're going to get their chances,
They're going to get their looks. It's about containing as
much as you can, I guess. You know, you look
at our penalty kill and the way like Gustav Orling
with block that shot that drives out so used to

(35:48):
where Connor drags you into the middle and passes that over.
You know, it's just great players countering their great players.
So we have Alexander Barkoff who played probably every shift
against Connor, who's the best two way center in hockey
at the moment and top however many in the league
all times. So you know, guys just do a really

(36:10):
good job at studying tendencies and we have a game
plan of all five guys on the ice taking care
of those players, right.

Speaker 1 (36:17):
And just to go back to that feeling of winning
the Cup. You know, you won it last year, you
win it again this year. What's maybe like a feeling
that you that came to you or like a I
don't know, just like like what it was like to
win it the second time that maybe you kind.

Speaker 2 (36:38):
Of surprised you about that entire experience.

Speaker 3 (36:41):
Yeah, so going throughout a year where you've already won
the previous year, you're kind of looking for driving factors.
And for me, that driving factor was watching my teammates win,
because we don't shy away from talking about it after
we won. We talk about it every day, what it
feels like when you wake up with a chance to win,

(37:03):
like that giddy feeling. So we talked about it so much.
All the new guys were probably like, shut up, but
you know, for us, it was, you know, we want
to see. For me specifically, I want to see the
guys that haven't won win so that they can understand
what we're talking about all year with how breaking awesome
it is. So for me that was a driving factor.
And watching the first seven guys who hoisted the cup

(37:26):
were all first time winners. I think for us maybe
it was more, maybe it was less, but I know
all of us looking on we're just so proud of it,
and that was a lot of fun, a great moment
for us. I mean, yeah, it was.

Speaker 4 (37:38):
It was pretty incredible to watch to see just to
see how much you guys cared for each other and
you guys, you know, kudos to you. Guys to let
the other guys that haven't won it lifted cup first.

Speaker 3 (37:48):
I mean, that was that was incredible. That was I
I think it was Chucky's idea. It was Chucky's idea
on the ice at the end of the game. It
wasn't talked about before, at least for me. So that
was a really cool thing and a great idea. Well
done by CHUCKI and Barkie. Yeah, it was so awesome.

Speaker 4 (38:04):
I mean just I mean, I don't I've never seen
that before, So it was it was it was a
special thing you guys did, and you could see how
special your team is. I want to talk about you
a little bit, Aaron, and you know you've first overall pick.
You know you've gone through a lot of injuries and
you know you get through. You've You've been through a
lot in your career. I've played against you, and you know,
I feel like.

Speaker 3 (38:22):
Your your game has evolved.

Speaker 4 (38:24):
You know, you've become this all around defenseman that is
so so enjoyable to watch. And you know, now you
see Matthew Schaeffer first overall pick right, you know, another defenseman,
talk about you know how you've had to you know,
evolve your game because I know for myself, you know
how long I played it was. You know, how do

(38:44):
you how do you make yourself better every year? How
do you make yourself relevant?

Speaker 2 (38:47):
You know how?

Speaker 4 (38:48):
What are some things that you've done over the course
of your career to make yourself evolved into the player
you are, which is a very very very good defenseman.
It's been fun to watch.

Speaker 3 (38:56):
Well, well, thank you, it's very nice of you. The
game for me has evolved obviously for more of an
offensive style, a guy who my first few years, I
think I had, like, you know, an insane number percentage
of offensive zone starts, like it was an offensive game.
And that's obviously changed for me with what our team needed, right,

(39:17):
we needed We didn't need more guys to score, We
needed guys to play defense. And obviously Paul has led
the charge for me on on changing my game and
being more of a defensive presence. Being mean is a
portion of that, and it's you know, it's not an
easy thing to go out and be mean every single night,
but you have to, and that's you know, part of

(39:38):
you know, me being relevant. So yeah, I guess trying
to do whatever I can to be a positive influence
on our team, and that's that's part of it.

Speaker 1 (39:45):
And Aaron going back to sort of those beginning days,
like I remember, so I covered the Anahid that's when
Nate was on there, so I covered when they would
go or play you guys in Sunrise, And I mean
from when you first started with the Anthers to now.
Obviously it's gone through like massive mass have changed. But
having been there in sort of those earlier days where

(40:08):
you know, there wasn't sort of this chaotic, raucous fan
base that was behind you. You know, you weren't winning
two Stanley Cups, how would you describe what it was
like to be a Panther at.

Speaker 2 (40:22):
The beginning and kind of what you maybe.

Speaker 1 (40:24):
Have gone through and the team has has sort of
become that like cult, that cult team that everyone's really
excited about now.

Speaker 3 (40:34):
Yeah, And maybe that's why I have so much pride
for the team is because I've been through it all
with one team. The early days weren't easy. Obviously, not winning,
not getting into the playoffs is never easy, and there's
always you know, they're always looking for answers, so you
don't know whether you're staying or going or you know
what's going to happen. So those are uneasy times and

(40:55):
uneasy days, but ultimately the organization stuck with it and
has done right by us in so many ways, and
we were able to reciprocate with championships. So it's it's
been awesome being a Panther.

Speaker 4 (41:08):
Yeah, And I'd say kudos to the players too, for
you guys for wanting to be there, because you can
see how much of you guys want to be there.
And that goes into my question is you know when
negotiations were happening, you know, we're guys like marsha Brad
Marshawn and Sam Bennett, you guys, were you guys talking
during his time to make sure that, Okay, we're going

(41:28):
to keep this thing together, we're going to run it back.

Speaker 3 (41:31):
I mean a little bit here and there at the
end of the day, I think, you know, we kind
of let our agents handle it. There was obviously a
way to get it done, and Bill knew that from
the beginning and that's what he was telling the media
and whatnot. So you know, we knew that there was
there's a way to do it, so we kind of
trusted that he would figure it out. Obviously, they had

(41:51):
to pay Benny. Benny would probably get like some crazy
amount of money on the open market, so they had
to get him done. And then obviously priorities, you know,
beyond that, we're you knowing to get me and Marsha done.
So I'm happy that we were able to find numbers
that work because you know, we're all well taken care
of and know there's more than enough money to go around.

Speaker 1 (42:10):
And we know erin obviously you know you took a
bit of a hometown discount. We're big fans of guys
who take hometown discounts. I think that's a real big,
like team thing for you to do when you're when
you're kind of looking at all that stuff and when
your agent is discussing with you, what's like maybe for
you and your family, like the most important things is it,

(42:31):
you know, being in a place for a long time,
is it the specific city, Like what is it that
sort of is is like the tipping point of like, okay,
this is this feels right for me and my family.

Speaker 3 (42:42):
You know, people will talk about home, right, Florida is
genuinely home. Like it's not like we don't go home
in the summertimes. We're here in Canada renting a house
for a few weeks, just in between weddings and whatnot.
And my wife has some visa issues. But beyond that,
Florida is genuinely home. It's not like somewhere we go
to play hockey. It's it's truly home. We have majority

(43:04):
of our friends outside of hockey are in Florida. Our
home is in Florida, and we love it. We've built
a life together. We met in Florida, my wife and I.
So it's not somewhere I go to play hockey. It's
it's home and that's kind of the That was the
driving factor and a reason we wanted to stay.

Speaker 2 (43:22):
Sorry to jump in, but is she Canadian?

Speaker 3 (43:24):
She is. Yes, we're both from I'm from Jacomsa, Bell River, Ontario.
She's from Leanington, Ontario.

Speaker 1 (43:29):
So okay, I understand as obviously as a Canadian, I
just got my citizenship, but I understand the whole visa
process and the green card stuff and all that, so
I empathize.

Speaker 3 (43:39):
Yeah. Yeah, she went to she did a medical residency.
She's a doctor.

Speaker 2 (43:44):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (43:45):
And when you do a medical residence, he has a
Canadian under a j one visa, they like forced you
to go home for two years. It's kind of a
crazy thing, but we're trying to trying to work through it.

Speaker 4 (43:56):
So kidding, Is there is there anything this summer? I
know I was, I was a little superstitious. Is there
any thing this summer that you're going to keep the
same or change? Even the Cup celebration? Is the Cup
celebration can be a little bit different this year.

Speaker 3 (44:11):
I haven't decided actually what I'm going to do and
where I'm going to do it. I know it's later
in August. I'm not going to say the exact date
so that people don't get excited in my hometown or
anything or in Florida. I don't know what I'm going
to do yet. But no, I'm not a superstitious guy,
So no, I'm just going to do whatever I decided
to do.

Speaker 1 (44:30):
I was listening aarin to you on the Jim Realme podcast,
and you said that when you guys lost in twenty
twenty three, it almost was like you needed to lose
the final to then win two Cups after that because
of the lessons that you learned. I'm just curious, what
are those lessons that you feel that you guys learned
from that loss that really propelled you to greatness know what.

Speaker 3 (44:55):
The exact lessons were. In a sense, I think once
you get all the way to the finals, you realize
that you can do it. You know, we were three
wins away the first time from winning, and it was grueling,
like it was difficult, and guys were injured, and we
had some extremely significant injuries that had probably come out

(45:16):
after and guys were playing through things like you can imagine.
So we didn't think it could be any harder than
that to win. So it's like losing obviously sucked and
it would have been nice not to. But at the
end of the day, I don't know if we win
the following year without losing and learning that we could
get there and that it wasn't unattainable. I think for

(45:37):
me personally, you go through nine ten years in the
league and it feels like it's unattainable at times to
get to the finals or win. But yeah, there's a
lot of lessons we learned obviously throughout those playoffs series
and without going to in depth and game by game
or series by series, we definitely learned a lot.

Speaker 4 (45:54):
Moving forward now going into the season, you know, what
are some things and what jumps out where it's like,
okay for us to three peat, we need to do this.

Speaker 3 (46:04):
Home to training camp as prepared as as we always have.
I know, our strength and conditioning guys and Paul in
the past have said that, you know, at the beginning
of this year, after we had won, our numbers were
even higher and better in the gym. So that's something
that we take extremely seriously as a team. Is coming
in shape and take care of your body, so you know,

(46:26):
recovery and stuff like that as well. I think obviously
with some guys playing like three hundred games over you know,
three and twenty or three hundred and thirty plus games
over three years, it's important for recovery. I don't think
we're going to be practicing all that much next year
obviously when we need it, but it's it's gonna be

(46:46):
hit it. That is the best part for sure. Absolutely.
The perk of winning and going deep in the playoffs
is practice less for sure. Just play games, baby, yeah, exactly.
And then obviously the tight schedule with the Olympics and stuff,
and we have like how many fins and and US
guys and can you guys that are going to be
over there, so its recovery is gonna be important for

(47:07):
us for sure.

Speaker 1 (47:07):
Great, And I find that fascinating because that's kind of
been the I guess the theme for you guys as
everyone was saying, well, can they do it? They played
so many games? Can they do it again? They've already
played these many games. When when people keep kind of
talking about like, oh, well, rest and recovery, and like
they played more hockey than anyone else, what do you
say to that.

Speaker 3 (47:28):
I think, short of major injuries that require surgery, it's
not that big of vi deeal to have a short summer.
I think you can still get a lot done. You
don't get mentally fatigued from working out for three or
four or five months in a row. So I think
there's a lot of advantages and disadvantages to it. I
think it goes both ways. So playing a lot of
hockey like that and the experience of playing in the

(47:49):
playoffs I think is more valuable than getting another two
months in the gym where you end up plattewing.

Speaker 4 (47:54):
Anyways, have you been have you skated yet? Have you
put on the on the skates yet? Or is it
a little bit more time off last.

Speaker 3 (48:01):
Year I don't think I skated until like end of
July early August, so I think that might be my
target because that's still yeah, you know, six eight weeks
of skating, which is plenty, but back in the gym
for sure over the last week and a half, two
weeks trying to just get a base again.

Speaker 1 (48:20):
I'll just ask you my last question is that, I mean,
how often do you sort of find yourself either like
waking up or having moments during the day where you're like, oh.

Speaker 2 (48:29):
My god, we just won the Stanley Cup.

Speaker 1 (48:33):
I'm a two time Stanley Cup champion in two years,
Like holy fuck, Like I.

Speaker 3 (48:37):
Didn't Yeah, yeah, yeah, there's no doubt. I think my
favorite and most exciting thing looking forward to is the rings.
I don't know why, it's such like a you know,
sports guy thing is like to have rings, but that's
I'm really excited to put on that second ring for sure. Aron.

Speaker 4 (48:58):
I appreciate you coming on. I have nothing else. I
mean you, I just have to say, like from the
time planning to you and now, I just think that
you're one of the best defensemen in the league all around,
and it was it was a joy to watch you
in the playoffs, So I'm rooting for you guys. I mean,
we know we're both friends with Yans and you know
guys that he roots for I root for, So I'm

(49:20):
happy for Congratulations.

Speaker 3 (49:21):
Man, this is awesome. I appreciate that. Thanks for having
me on yet, Thank.

Speaker 1 (49:26):
You, Aaron, we really appreciate it, and good luck and
the rest.

Speaker 2 (49:29):
Of the season.

Speaker 1 (49:29):
You guys said, excuse me, next season, I'm doing the
three p and you guys have made Florida so cool.
Nate and I talked about it, like we wish we
could play for the Panthers now right because it just
feels like that's like the cool club right.

Speaker 3 (49:41):
Now for the Lightning Julie.

Speaker 4 (49:43):
So I can't say that, can I?

Speaker 1 (49:46):
I mean, like now you can. Yeah, yeah, but it
looks like a lot of fun. So good luck and congratulations.
We really appreciate your time.

Speaker 3 (49:55):
All right, thanks again, thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (50:03):
Well that was Aaron ed Blade, two times Stanley Cup
champion for the Florida Panthers.

Speaker 2 (50:07):
Also just an.

Speaker 1 (50:07):
Overall cool, nice guy who gave us a lot of
time when he really didn't have to. And Nate, I
know that a couple of things stood out for you there, right.

Speaker 3 (50:18):
Yeah, he just screams leader.

Speaker 4 (50:20):
And you just see the culture that they built in
Florida and obviously he's one of the main guys that's
a part of that. I mean, he we talked about it.
He could have got well over eight million, and he
signs for six point one for eight years. And you
see how much he loves being in Florida, like loves it.
You know, he talked about his being his home. And

(50:40):
it's funny we both played with Keith Yandel and he
talked about it before when he was when he was suspended.
He said Keith was skating him because obviously he couldn't
be around the team, so Yan's was helping him out,
skating him and he was putting himself for the drills
and basically, but you know, I liked how open he
was about that, and he was very candid about you know,

(51:02):
the team I think is is how just take care
for each other? And he's you know how he mentioned,
you know, we just wanted to see their teammate. We
just want to see our teammates win. Yeah, like that
jumped out to me, Julie. When he said that. It
was like, Okay, this team is they're just dustined for
more great things.

Speaker 1 (51:18):
Right, It's like the energy behind the goal of winning
is so pure that it's like the universe is like, okay, yes,
we have never had a hockey team like this before.
That's like we want to win for other people, Like
it's not just for ourselves. It's like, all right, we
are blessing you with all the good things in the world.

Speaker 2 (51:37):
And I think that.

Speaker 1 (51:39):
What's interesting about his journey, as we talked with him about,
is like having been a Florida Panther twenty fourteen, twenty fifteen,
you know, some of the year twenty sixteen, some of
the years that were just like a slog. No one's
in Sunrise, No one's in Sunrise going to watch a
Panther's Ducks game, that's certainly for sure. And then for

(52:00):
him to have how he said, I think like having
like that, and then it growing to the level where
it is now where it's like everyone knows it, it's everywhere.
They are the stars of obviously the NHL, but they're
making a case for being one of the greatest teams
of all time, especially if they end up going on
to win a third Stanley Cup in a row, which

(52:22):
has never been done before. But it's like I think
when you have gone through like the shit, right, you
like feel a lot more tethered to a certain team entity,
whatever it is, because maybe it's like one of those
uh god, I say it all the time, but it's like,
you've whatever, I'll come back to this just getting stupider

(52:43):
every day. But it's like he's made that commitment like
you've you know, when you talk to someone on the
street that's trying to sell you something and you've like, oh, no,
I've engaged too much in conversation. Now I feel like
that I have to give them something. But in this sense,
he's already given so much. He feels that like action,
that he's got to keep going with it, which I

(53:05):
think is great because it's certainly worked out for him,
so it's got to be just like a whole Like
it's a complete one eighty to go from what he
started there to what it's like now.

Speaker 3 (53:15):
It's really impressive.

Speaker 4 (53:16):
And Eric eck Blad, it's funny because you everyone remembers
ech Glad and he won the call the trophy, right,
he won Rookie of the Year. He was he used
to score a lot of points, like he said, and
I remember at one point everyone used to be you know,
he used to be kind of a whipping boy there,
like he was, you know, a guy everyone talked about.

Speaker 3 (53:32):
Oh, you know, I don't know, he's not what he was.

Speaker 2 (53:35):
You know, the guy's made.

Speaker 3 (53:36):
He's made.

Speaker 4 (53:37):
He's had so many injuries too. He's had some couple
of serious injuries where he broke his leg, the one
year when he was having a really good season, and
then this playoffs, like that was the best I've ever
seen Eric goc Blad play. And you've seen how he's
evolved this game, like I mean, and all the adversity
he's been through as well, Like he got suspended this
year twenty games and comes back in the playoffs and

(53:59):
plays like he does. And now we're talking about on
the other side of it, and now he's you know,
he's a discounted player. You know, no one ever would
have thought that a few years ago when you're talking
about neck Blad and what he did and then he
kind of fell off a little bit, and you talk
about how he's evolved his game, and it's just really
impressive to see the career he's carved out and how

(54:19):
important is to that team.

Speaker 1 (54:20):
Yeah, I'm sure like having gone through the whole suspension
situation like makes you really reflect a lot on the
ability to play in the NHL. And and you know,
it's kind of one of those things like we talk
about where one day, you know, what is it. There's
a quote that Piers Morgan had in his Twitter bio.
It was like one day you're a cock of the

(54:41):
walk the next day or a feather duster, and it's
like you could be like like things can just change
so fast, and probably like I didn't want to go
into it with him because I just felt it wasn't
the right time too, with like everything, you know, you
just want the Stanley Cup, let's like focus on something
like this. But I'm sure having that like really put

(55:03):
it's a lot of stuff in a perspective, and how
you know something so great can be taken away from
you so quickly just based on like something that could
be out of your control entirely. So I think that
that really helps probably solidify a lot of the growth
that he's had, a lot of the success that he's had.
And as you know we've talked about and we've seen
with the Florida Panthers, it's like the whole.

Speaker 2 (55:24):
No one wins alone, Like they have really really really.

Speaker 1 (55:29):
Dealed into the team, like they're the best team in
the league obviously, like they are. As you said before,
it's like it's not the core four, you know, it's
like the core four lines like they've got just everyone
is completely in on the same thing, which is like, gosh, scary,
really scary. But if you're an NHL team watching them,
you would be like, that's the blueprint.

Speaker 2 (55:50):
Get a good team.

Speaker 1 (55:51):
Get someone up there who's like a good order, who's
like Paul Maurice, who's gonna get everyone riled up on
the same bandwagon, and you're gonna go for it. And
I don't know if I see anyone else out there
that's got that safe kind of as they do.

Speaker 4 (56:05):
No, there's nobody else. I mean, the Florida Panthers are
the standard. They won free agency, they won the Cup,
they're still winning in the summertime. Everyone's just trying to
catch up with the Florida Panthers. And you know, be
able to have Aaron ech bledd on and interview him
and hear his insight from their team from his point
of view was cool because it just confirms everything that

(56:26):
we talk about with Florida and how much, how much
they care for each other, how good of a team
you say they are, and they are. They are the
best team, and until someone's not knocks them off the mountain,
they're the best team. And I don't see anyone knocking
them off the mountain anytime soon.

Speaker 2 (56:40):
I know.

Speaker 1 (56:41):
Okay, So what's it like for you hearing a guy
talk about, like, oh, what am I going to do
with the Cup this year?

Speaker 2 (56:47):
I'm not sure yet? Like the ultimate the ultimate.

Speaker 1 (56:50):
Goal of of a hockey player and having been close
Nate but not having had that.

Speaker 2 (56:55):
Like, what is it like?

Speaker 4 (56:57):
That's why I asked him too, because I'm always curious
because I'd.

Speaker 3 (57:00):
Never won, right someone.

Speaker 4 (57:01):
He was like, Ah, I don't know, I'm not sure
this year, Like fuck, like next year it must be
nice and not. Yeah, it must be nice to not
know what you're gonna do with the Cup this year,
But no, I think I just I always like hearing
guys and seeing what they're doing at home, because you
know that's yeah, like you said, it's something that every
player you dream about from the time you're little, and

(57:21):
what you're gonna do with the Cups. So it was
interesting to hear him say like, I'm not sure this
year we'll see him. You know, he's just you know,
he's on he's on cruise control. He just signed it's summertime.

Speaker 3 (57:33):
You know.

Speaker 2 (57:34):
He just want to Stanley Cup.

Speaker 4 (57:35):
So not a whole not a whole lot of worries
for Aaron Eckblad right now.

Speaker 1 (57:39):
All right, but we have had a great time here
on the episode. We thank you, guys all for listening
to episode thirty. Holy Bananas. We've done thirty episodes of
The Energy Line with Nate JSB. Energy Line is the
production of the NHL and iHeart podcast. Thanks to Aeron
Ekblad for joining us, Thanks to Jake Brown for producing
the show. Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify or
wherever you get your podcasts, or listen on the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 2 (58:02):
Please give us a five star rating and.

Speaker 1 (58:03):
Write in a nice review if you feel like it.
I'm Julie Sharp Binks, He's Ny Thompson. We'll be back
with another episode soon, maybe next week, maybe the week after,
maybe sometime in the future, and thank you for tuning
in to the Energy Line. Energy Line is the production
of the NHL and iHeart podcasts. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,

(58:27):
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
your podcasts.