Which Jet could have a future as a Hollywood actor?

0:00SPEAKER_02:You, Standberg, Schife, and Heli are all in commercials now. Who would be the best actor in the Jets in the Jets room today?

0:07SPEAKER_00:I haven't seen I actually haven't even seen Schiffes or Hellies. Um I wouldn't I don't even know, but uh he's unafraid to embarrass himself. Like he's just always putting smiles on guys' face, so it's it's fun to do that.

0:17SPEAKER_02:Did any of your friends ask for free furniture? I still could ask for free furniture. My mom kind of forced me into it. Wanted to check my teeth at night, but Cole, as we sit here and uh take part of this podcast, uh your bobblehead is here. So you've had bobbleheads before. Is there any nervousness at all to it when you know a bobblehead is coming of what you're gonna look like with the finished product?

0:40SPEAKER_00:It's actually funny. I didn't know we were getting one. I was getting one until uh the video came out of what it looked like. So I had no idea. Um so there was all a surprise to me when I saw the video. I was just happy. It was uh I was I didn't have any time to be nervous, so it was good. It was uh it's cool to get a ball ahead.

0:59SPEAKER_02:So when you see it, I mean they did a really good job in the whole scheme of things.

1:03SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it looks great. It looks great. I even got a beard in it. That's nice. That that doesn't happen too often. Um yeah, it's really cool. I mean, the 1.6 part's pretty sweet, so just to be able to uh you know, I remember getting uh when I was young, we used to go to Florida all the time. Um we'd go to Disney and or wherever. Um but the one time we went to Tampa um when I was really, really young, we went to a uh Tampa Bay Lightning game and uh they were doing Vinny Le Cavalier uh bobbleheads.

1:33SPEAKER_02:Yeah.

1:33SPEAKER_00:And I remember getting one of them, thinking it was a cool thing, and always wanting one. So uh to now have have one of myself, it's it's uh pretty cool.

1:42SPEAKER_02:Well, would that be weird to have that in your house now? You know, a bobblehead of yourself.

1:46SPEAKER_00:Um yeah, I probably won't display it in my place, but um I'm sure my parents will have it up.

1:52SPEAKER_02:I'm sure your girlfriend would be fine with it, eh?

1:54SPEAKER_00:I don't know what that no, she'll uh my my parents will have it up, my grandparents they'll they'll all they'll all they all have the moose ones that that I had a couple years ago.

2:02SPEAKER_02:So would you say the bobblehead has kind of replaced hockey cards in some ways for your generation? Because I asked you the other day if you collected hockey cards. Hockey cards were very huge.

2:10SPEAKER_00:Yeah, the I think they're actually coming back hockey cards a lot. I'm not as much into it, don't know much too much about it. I know that they're becoming really popular. Um Upper Decks doing a really good job with that. So um I think uh I think the card game's coming back, but yeah, I mean for little kids, young kids, I feel like something that's like an actual, like that they can, you know, a hockey card might not be as cool to them as a you know a figurine or a bottlehead or something like that.

2:35SPEAKER_00:Um so it's uh it's definitely it's it's awesome.

2:38SPEAKER_02:So in the same uh wink here is uh when you saw your first NHL hockey card, was that exciting?

2:44SPEAKER_00:That was cool. Yes, that was cool. I had a couple and um they'd done those CHL ones a lot. Um so I had a few Saginaw ones, Team Canada ones, but the first like rookie NHL card was uh was a cool one. I think my dad loved it a lot more because he collected growing up and he loved the hockey card thing. Um so when you know he uh when he got his hands on his you know the first uh rookie card of mine, he thought it was pretty cool and um it's pretty awesome, yeah.

3:10SPEAKER_02:I mean you're in the NHL and all of a sudden that that does uh does something like that almost make it more real because you're now there's a hockey card that confirms.

3:17SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I mean well I mean sometimes you lose sight of it, right? Like you spend your whole life trying to get to the NHL, dreaming of it, and then it becomes reality, and I think sometimes you you lose um perspective or or you know, whatever that you're still in the league and like this was a childhood dream and how cool it really is. And you know, I just I sometimes lose my way with that and get so focused on playing good or whatever. Um the day-to-day process of it that you sometimes I forget to sit back and just remember that I am in the NHL and and that it this is a childhood dream, and you know, someone like my parents or or you know, grandparents or whatever that you know loved hockey growing up, loved hockey cards, all that kind of stuff.

3:59SPEAKER_00:They collected other people's and now they have one of their one of mine. It's it's uh it's pretty cool how that that happens.

4:05SPEAKER_02:Do your parents and your grandparents remind you of how cool it is that you're in the National Hockey League when you're going through those moments where you don't appreciate it as much.

4:12SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. They always uh you know, will send a text or a phone call or whatever and um just be saying that they're so proud to, you know, my parents the other day, they were in Montreal, first time ever seeing a game there. So like they were um, you know, we've watched a lot of games on Hockey Night in Canada growing up at at the Bell Center, and so now to you know, for for their first time to go there and watch me play, they were, you know, they just texted me after saying like how proud they were of you know being able to see me play in that rink.

4:40SPEAKER_00:So it's uh it's um yeah, they always there's always little reminders here and there that um how awesome this really is. How how much do you take the game home with you? And has that changed? It's changed a lot. I mean, I think uh trying to to not take it home with me. Um you know, since I was four years old, my whole life was dedicated to be becoming an NHL player. That's all I wanted to do. I never wanted to do anything else. And I remember going home and if I played video games, it'd be NHL.

5:08SPEAKER_00:If I played, you know, one on YouTube, it would be highlights of people, it would be every you know, I wouldn't watch TV unless it was NHL games. Yeah. So my whole life was kind of consumed by hockey, and then you know, you get to this level where it's it becomes a job, it becomes, you know, your your livelihood, and um you gotta you kind of start to realize that you can't take it home with you. Um you know, my first few years I would go home and you know, ride the highs and you know, dwell on the lows, and and I think it really um didn't help me away from the rink.

5:41SPEAKER_00:And now being able to, you know, go home, talk to my family, talk to my girlfriend, um, hang out with our dog, whatever it is, kind of get my mind away from from hockey. I feel you know, pretty fresh and rejuvenated when I come back into the rink. Um and I would say it's it's definitely changed throughout the last few years of um, you know, if I have a bad day at the rink or whatever, my dog or Katie or whatever, they don't they don't care. They don't they do care, but they don't want they don't want to see me upset or complaining or whatever at home.

6:14SPEAKER_00:They want to see me happy. So being able to kind of disconnect from from the game at home is uh something I've been trying to work on and um it's definitely changing. I definitely feel a lot better about it.

6:23SPEAKER_02:Is there's something too, and we it's well documented, when a dog reach you at the door, she don't care to be mad about anything.

6:31SPEAKER_00:Yeah, she doesn't care if I came home, um happy, mad, win, lose, whatever. She's uh she's just there to hang out and and super excited to see us. So it's um yeah, it's uh puts it into perspective too.

6:43SPEAKER_02:I know you have a girl a girlfriend now, and you just mentioned her, but um who would you like to get a phone call from the most when things are going bad? Or who would you like to be?

6:52SPEAKER_00:I mean, yeah, so uh phone call or I know text. Yeah, so I'm with obviously living with her, like so that I would say so. Phone call, I would say my parents. Yeah. Um just because I'm with when I'm with her, you know, we're obviously talking face to face and um you know, on the road, I do you know, when after a game call her, call my parents. You know, those those kind of my mom, dad, and sister, and then uh Katie, those are the four people that I really talk to after games, good, bad, whatever.

7:20SPEAKER_00:It um those are those are who I like to talk to and um just converse with.

7:24SPEAKER_02:The the holidays are coming up, and I was talking with Kevin Sawyer about this. He was in the national hockey for a little time. This is a very uh challenging time because there's a lot going on, and then you have the holidays coming up, but in your time in the national hockey, how hard is it to focus on the things we have when you know that break's coming up and you get a little bit of time, you get to get away from it all and you get to spend time with family.

7:43SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I think uh I mean there's what do we got left? Seven, eight games before Christmas, whatever it is. Um yeah, I mean it's it's obviously Christmas is a great time, it's the best holiday spending time with family and friends. And um, we're fortunate that our families are coming out to us this year, so we're gonna spend a you know a good chunk of time with them. And um but until then, you know, it's it's we got you know lots of really important hockey to be played.

8:07SPEAKER_00:So try not to get ahead of ourselves and um taking it one day at a time and obviously looking forward to that that family time and that that break and kind of refresh time to to get back to it. But um you know, making sure that we're you know really dialed in for the next seven, eight games to to you know, go into the break feeling really good about ourselves. And and um I think these next couple games here are gonna be uh crucial for us. Obviously, we're you know, claw you know, in the standings and and trying to, you know, fight for our lives here so that every game matters so much.

8:37SPEAKER_00:So I don't think we can really afford to be looking into the future. We just gotta take it day by day.

8:42SPEAKER_02:For sure. How challenging has it been for you to be the player that you want to be with the injury that you've had to deal with?

8:48SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it's been hard. I mean, mentally, physically, it's been hard. Uh physically, obviously, it's you know, it speaks for itself when you injure something. You're um you're just not gonna be you know 100% feeling great when you come back, whether it's you know, the actual injury, the cardio, the um whatever, getting back into game shape, all that kind of stuff. Takes time, especially when you miss at the beginning of the season. I was saying today.

9:11SPEAKER_00:Um that uh it feels like almost you know, you're you go through your whole training in the summer, training camp, last period of preseason, you get hurt. Now you miss six weeks, everyone else has kind of been going like that, getting into midseason form, and you're kind of basically coming back at square one.

9:30SPEAKER_02:So you're literally behind.

9:31SPEAKER_00:Behind, yeah, you're behind the eight ball, and there's you know, you can work really hard in the gym, and you know, you're working hard on the ice with with Sammy and Lau's rehabbing, and um but uh you can only do so much when everyone's in non-contact and everyone's doing individual stuff. It just doesn't, you can't replicate game situation, and then even when I was coming back into contact practices, like it's there really wasn't a lot of time for practice, so you're not getting those reps that you need.

9:55SPEAKER_00:So then all of a sudden you come back into a game and you're behind the eight ball and uh physically, and then mentally, you know, you're a little, you know, um aware of of your you know, your ankle and and your your kind of subconscious. Yeah, you're not you exactly, you know, you just had a traumatic injury to that area. Now it's um, you know, you every time you go into a corner and there's a big guy leaning on you, you're thinking about it a little bit.

10:22SPEAKER_00:Um, and it almost took me six, seven, eight games, you know, some tweaks and twinges to actually be like, okay, you know what, it hurt, but I got over it. That's the worst that's gonna happen. Now I can move on and go play. Um, so I needed to go through that a little bit. Um, it's not fun. Kind of bracing for going into a battle, and you're thinking to yourself, like, you're trying to go win the puck, but at the same time, you're like, oh man, it's just gonna I don't want to hurt myself.

10:47SPEAKER_00:Yeah. So um there's that part of it, and then there's also the the mental side of it when you're you take six weeks off, um, trying to come back and make a play, think the game at that speed. It's just so fast that it takes you some time to get back up to speed. Um, so when you put that all together, yeah, it's it's it's it's not easy, and everyone, you know, injuries are a part of the game and everyone deals with it, and I'm sure everyone that comes back with it doesn't feel great right away.

11:12SPEAKER_00:Um but it's just trying to, you know, get back to yourself and get back to feeling good as fast as possible. And um, you know, there's been games that have been great, there's been games that have been not so great, and I think uh just trying to find that balance for me now and and and feel good about myself and um you know the ankle feels good now, have confidence in myself. Um yeah, now it's just uh feeling good on the ice, you know, mentally.

11:41SPEAKER_03:Upper T night, January 9th.

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12:22SPEAKER_02:John the Tates talked about this yesterday. Each year you guys go to the hospital and the hospital visits, and I you always hear perspective a lot. But how can you not feel good about yourself when you see how happy you just being there makes a little kid? And you you probably remember being in that place one day too. So how does that how does that almost change and kind of put everything back in a good place when you guys go visit the kids at the hospital?

12:45SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I mean, it makes it the perspective is a great word. It it it makes you realize that you know we might have lost two in a row, three in a row. They don't care if you're not playing great hockey, but you know, you go see a four-year-old that's yeah, very sick, and it's puts it into perspective that we actually our lives are pretty great and um how lucky we are um to have you know good health, you know, great job. We get to play a game that we love for a living.

13:12SPEAKER_00:Um so it does put it in perspective, and then you're right, seeing the kids smile and seeing how happy it makes them. Like, you know, even if we've had a bad week of hockey, they don't realize that. They're just so happy to see an NHL player and see uh you know, see their idols on the Winnipeg Jets. So it's it's um perspective's a great word and it makes you feel good about yourself and it makes you you know just really realize that hockey is obviously our lives, it means a lot, but it's not everything in life.

13:39SPEAKER_00:And it's it's um it's it makes you realize that you know that we have lots to be grateful for, we have lots to be thankful, and and um we're just lucky to to be able to be doing this.

13:50SPEAKER_02:I love watching the parents' reaction when their kid is happy at that moment. That must make you feel good too, as well, right? Because there you see genuine emotion from the parents that their kids don't even have to think about how sick they are at that moment because of the case.

14:01SPEAKER_00:Well, that's exactly it. You know, these kids have gone through so much, you know, um, some of them in their teens, some of them under five, and it's like, you know, so they've been through surgeries or whatever, like crazy, crazy things that no parent ever, you know, it's the parents' worst nightmare to have have that for their kid. And um, you know, you you I would imagine that their their parents see a lot of their kids, you know, upset or struggling or you know, not feeling great, and then you know, we go in there and put a smile on their face.

14:30SPEAKER_00:And um, like you said, it just makes it makes the parent feel at ease for for even a couple minutes because they know their kids happy and not thinking about how their you know health is affecting them. Um so it's it's it's a pretty special day that we get to do that. Um I actually wish we were able to do it a little more because um it touches so many kids' lives and even the parents, like you said, like it's it's an it's an awesome thing to do.

14:55SPEAKER_02:So you you in that in that essence, you realize how um the impact you have in this community. You had a big impact in the community with your goal in game seven. I know you talked about it a lot, but it wasn't just here that you were you were asked about it or someone came up to you. You said it happened in Ontario and you were home for the summer.

15:11SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I mean, never really got uh kind of recognized or anything back home. Yeah. Um so I I never really experienced that. And then after the you know, this summer going home, didn't I wouldn't say happened every time I went out, but it it happened more more often than than I'd ever had it. And um it was just, yeah, that goal obviously uh meant a lot here in Winnipeg, but it meant a lot for you know the game of hockey. I think uh it was just it was uh kind of went viral scoring that late.

15:40SPEAKER_00:So it was uh I'm just you know lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, put the puck in the net and um you know obviously get that result that that happened. It was uh it was pretty awesome to be on that side of it. And um yeah, it was cool to go home and and have more, you know, see some people from from my hometown, you know, just make subtle comments like that was amazing. That would all that goes awesome, stuff like that. I mean, you expect it here in Winnipeg, but not back home, so it was cool.

16:05SPEAKER_02:Um I we won't talk, we won't talk about going forward because I know the focus is about right now. But what was Christmas like at the profetti house growing up? What was what was like the main thing that you loved every year at this time?

16:16SPEAKER_00:Um just spending time with everyone. Yeah, um, I probably didn't appreciate it enough as I was, you know, in my early teenage years and younger than that. I was so amped up to open the presents and play the whatever I got. And what was your favorite present? I don't know. I don't really know. Maybe an Xbox or PS4 or whatever it was. Like played that a lot, probably got my probably got good money's worth out of that one. Um, I think looking back at it now, it was just like especially not being home for Christmas and spending time with all my family members at Christmas for the last six, seven years, like I really looking back to appreciate those times.

16:59SPEAKER_00:And you know, we kind of had uh my my my dad's side, my Italian side, uh on Christmas Eve, and we always kind of had we would always eat kind of the same meal, and yeah, um, that was always kind of a tradition, and then opening up presents with my my sister and my parents at our house in the morning, and then going over to my other grandparents in the uh later that day on Christmas, and then I would actually go. It started when I was like probably 10 or 11.

17:24SPEAKER_00:I would go to uh my best friend's house um on Christmas night, and we'd have a I'd sleep over at his place um on Christmas night and and hang out with him, and then we'd uh we'd watch World Juniors the next day on Boxing Day together, and um we did that for probably five, six years, and I just kind of always remembered that being a you know fun time bringing all of our stuff that we got as presents and hanging out with each other and playing with all the games or whatever.

17:51SPEAKER_00:So it was um showing off the kids, yeah, exactly. So I I Christmas is a great time and love uh I was always growing up loving putting the tree up, putting the nativity scene up, all that kind of stuff. I love decor I don't like decorating for anything except for Christmas. It's the only one that I really only holiday or anything that I kind of got into. There's nothing as cool as Christmas decorations. Christmas is the best, it's just cozy.

18:14SPEAKER_02:It's I could have the pillows and everything. I don't even care about pillows, but if there's some Christmas stuff on it, I'll do it.

18:19SPEAKER_00:Yeah, Christmas is the best. So I we're fortunate enough that uh our families are coming out to us this year. Um we're gonna get four or five days here in Winnipeg together and um just hang out and chill and be able to spend time with them. So it's it's gonna be great.

18:33SPEAKER_02:Okay, so you talked about your friend, you guys watched the World Juniors. What was it like when you transferred and you played in the World Juniors?

18:38SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it was uh cool. I mean, obviously different. You're there uh you're there in mid early December, whatever, mid-December. Like you're and then you're we were in Edmonton both years, so we were at the JW there at the attached to the rink and spending Christmas, uh Christmas Day watching football and having team dinner with the guys, and I remember just you know kind of calling my parents on Christmas Day. So that was that was kind of the first time I never spent Christmas with my family, so it was kind of weird.

19:08SPEAKER_00:Um, but I was also being a world junior guy, like that was a dream come true as well. So just being able to have that, you know, excitement going into the tournament and being able to be with all the guys on Christmas Day and and hanging out. It was uh that was a that was a unique one.

19:24SPEAKER_02:Now that you've felt the pressure over world juniors, do you have empathy for players now, the kids now that play in the world juniors? Like Canada hasn't had a lot of success lately. Do you have empathy for them because you realize how much is on their shoulders?

19:34SPEAKER_00:Yeah, no, for sure. I think uh growing up I was one of those kids that was a diehard. I loved lived for that tournament. So I loved what growing up and and watching it and every Christmas that was the big thing. Um and then you play in it and you kind of realize you you really realize how many eyeballs and how and the magnitude of the the tournament is, and and uh no other country has like that.

19:56SPEAKER_02:No, it's crazy.

19:56SPEAKER_00:It's it's crazy the coverage of TSN and everything. They that's it's insane how how big it is. And um it's an honor to play in that tournament and play for Team Canada. And um, but yeah, you definitely realize, you know, we ended up losing in the gold medal game, and I remember how just devastating that was. And we lost to a pretty good US team. Um, so I can only imagine how it has been for the last couple years, you know, kind of losing in the quarterfinals, all that kind of stuff.

20:18SPEAKER_00:Like the pressure is is high, and um, especially playing on home ice, like the pressure's really high. Uh we're expected to do really well in this tournament every year, and um, it's kind of gold or nothing. And uh, so I I do feel for them the expectations are really high, the pressure's high, but it's uh that's what you want. That's you know, you want that pressure.

20:38SPEAKER_02:I'm gonna I was gonna ask you a million, but this is going a little bit longer than I wanted for you. Um, last one. You, Sandberg, Schife, and Heli are all in commercials now. Is this are the commercials talked about at all in the dressing room?

20:50SPEAKER_00:Not really. No. Uh just me and Sammy talk about it because we did it together.

20:54SPEAKER_02:Yeah.

20:55SPEAKER_00:Um, but yeah, I mean, I haven't seen I actually haven't even seen Scheifes or Hellies. Um, so I wouldn't, I don't even know. But uh yeah, doing it with Dough is fun. Just he's a goofball, so totally he makes you know light of all the situations and he he makes it fun. So it was uh he's unafraid to embarrass himself, like put himself out there. I'm a little more reserved in that way. I don't like to do that. So he's he takes charge and and uh he's great for that.

21:20SPEAKER_00:So he has like no problem at all acting in the commercial. He loves acting like a clown.

21:25SPEAKER_02:So I I can't even fairly ask you who's the better actor in the dressing room. So having not seen the commercials, who would be the best actor in the Jets in the Jets room today?

21:34SPEAKER_00:If you had to go in the Jets room?

21:36SPEAKER_02:Yeah.

21:37SPEAKER_00:I would say either him. Yeah, put him in any role. Yeah, you could put him in any role. Like he is, he is, yeah, he just it's something to like self-deprecate. Like when you make fun of yourself, it's fun. Like he's not in for he's not afraid to embarrass himself, like he's not afraid to put himself out there. And and um I know for me, I think a lot of guys in our room, it's like we're pretty reserved guys, like don't want to really um act out of you know put yourself in an uncomfortable position.

22:05SPEAKER_00:And he lives for that. So that's what makes him so fun to be around. And um he's just always putting smiles on guys' face, so it's it's fun to do that.

22:12SPEAKER_02:Appreciate the time, man. Merry Christmas to you and your family.

22:14SPEAKER_00:Yeah, thank you. Merry Christmas.