Mathieu Olivier has become a key part of the Blue Jackets, finding a home in Columbus the past two seasons.
The big, physical wing had played 48 NHL games over three seasons with the Nashville Predators before being acquired in a trade in the summer of 2022. Brought in to add some snarl to the CBJ lineup, Olivier has done just that, totaling 10 goals, 27 points and 17 fighting majors in 120 games the past two seasons.
TRAINING CAMP HOME, PRESENTED BY OHIOHEALTH
In addition to that, Olivier has become an important voice in the locker room, using his hard-working nature and effort-based style of play to carve out a role with the squad.
BlueJackets.com caught up with Olivier in the early days of camp to talk about his role on the team, finally being fully healthy and his offseason time with his two kids. This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
You’re a guy that you’ve had a defined role, but you’re always looking to add to your game. As you’re trying to get better this offseason, what were you focusing on?
“At this point in my career, it’s about maintaining whatever strengths I have. Obviously, I think I’m a pretty strong guy, but it’s about maintaining that and staying in the upper echelon of that area now. I’m always looking to work on my game. During the year, I always do extra for my offensive skills, and I think this summer has been a really good summer for that. I’ve had a good group back home of old pros that are working with us. I’ve been putting a lot of effort into that. This summer, I think I put in more time on the ice than usual. Having a healthy summer is also very helpful, but I think that was where I tried to do more is actually get more on the ice and maintaining what I did in the gym.”
That’s right – last year was tough for you because you came in and you were limited by a leg injury. You have to feel so much better this year.
“You get a broken tibia, it takes a while to get back. I got a rod put in my leg. My knee, my ankle, my tibia, everything was compromised, so obviously I didn’t have the same pop on the ice as I usually do, and that was hard to come back from. I didn’t feel 100 percent until probably after Christmas. It was hard to get back from that, but this summer was nice. I’m pretty motivated to be 100 percent and get some work in.”
This is year three for you here. I think we’ve seen you getting more comfortable taking a leadership role, and it seems like you’ve found a home here. What’s it like when you get back with this group?
“We’ve all been in communication through the summer. You have FaceTimes with guys, a couple of texts here and there. We all go to different places, but we all stay close. So seeing everyone again was fun. Obviously there were tough circumstances this year, and we were able to go through it together, but the message was it was nice to be back at the rink so we could be together. I think it helped everyone. We’re not shying away from it in the sense we’re open, we talk about it, we reminisce and talk about Johnny the way he would want us to. I think that’s brought us even closer together if that’s even possible.”
On the ice, there’s been some rough times the last few years, but sometimes you have to go through that to get to the good times. With the young players and the veterans you have and as close as you are, does it feel like the team can start turning it around here?
“Absolutely. I think everyone is a year older, everyone is more mature, more experienced. That’s the good thing about having a young team is every year it gets more and more exciting. You’re going up. Everyone this year, the testing – well, I don’t have the official results, but the eye test, everyone has been really good. Everyone came in ready to go. We’ll see. Practices have been upbeat, they’ve been high-paced and everyone seems to be in a really good headspace and ready to go.”
I wanted to ask about summer a little bit. What was it like going back home to Quebec?
“Yep, we were in Quebec City. Both me and my wife’s family are from there. The kids get to see grandma and grandpa. We have big families and we’re both very family-oriented. It was mostly just being with family and friends and getting my training done through that. Very busy. Once I was done with my training, I was a full-time dad and family guy. A good kind of busy for the summer, that’s for sure, but it’s really good to get going as well. It was too long. Obviously, you want to be in the playoffs. But it was a good summer.”
Did you get to do anything fun with the kids, get to go anywhere or anything like that?
“We didn’t do any trips. We had our backyard completely redone so we just enjoyed that. (The kids) learned how to swim. My youngest is starting to skate and get into that as well. Just trying to keep them exposed to a bunch of different things and be as rounded out as possible. They’re having fun.”
Did they get a new swing set or anything like that in the backyard?
“A swing set is not good enough for them now. The swing is too boring. They need a little more. They went swimming on their own. They did gymnastics as well. I was joking (in a previous interview) about them wrestling, but I wasn’t. They’re actually always wrestling together. It’s fun to see.”
OK, the big question – did you get any good poutine back home this summer?
“I did, but I’m trying to think. I hit my body comp objective pretty early, so I had a few weeks in the summer where it was just off the rails, and then I got right back on it. But I was on the A&W train this summer. Just those two weeks, though. When you hit your objective early, you have to get a little bit of a treat there.”
