Welcome to this season’s final instalment of The Monday Mailbag. The spot where we take your questions and find answers to them.
We went all in before the playoffs with our insiders probing the dressing room on various fascinating topics before we allow them to get down to business in the playoffs.
It has been a delightful process to bring this feature to you each week while learning more about our players and staff.
Enjoy and start stockpiling your questions for our return.
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Hana C.: Who wins as the most fashionable Canuck?
One size does not fit all. Höglander was given solid props and Big Z may have intimidated himself onto the list. But clearly, there are frontrunners.
Sam Lafferty chose Nils Höglander as the most fashionable.
Höglander picked Ian Cole. “Coler has a good style. He dresses pretty cool,” said Höglander.
“I’d say that Z is the flashiest, but I like Teddy’s style,” said Carson Soucy. “He’s got the plaid going.”
Phil Di Giuseppe chose Nils Höglander and his burgundy suit.
“It’s an obvious answer, no?” said Nikita Zadorov with a smirk.
“I’ll put myself out there,” said Elias Pettersson.
“I have to go with Zadorov and he’s going to love it,” said Elias Lindholm.
“I’d say Thatcher Demko overall is the most fashionable,” said Teddy Blueger.
Natalee R.: What was the first concert you went to and what was it like?
“It was three bands,” said Lafferty. “Foreigner, Styx, and Def Leppard. It was with my stepdad and those bands are right in his wheelhouse. He took us to that show when we were kids, and he was having a great time. We enjoyed it too.”
“It was in Seattle in my first year when we travelled, and I saw Coldplay,” said Höglander. “They were pretty good.”
“I can’t remember my first, but my favourite was Coldplay,” said Pettersson.
“It was Bruno Mars, and it was during Minnesota Wild development camp in my first year,” said Soucy. “I don’t mind Bruno Mars. Not my first choice but the Wild got us a box and it was a pretty good show. He is a great performer.
Lindholm could not remember his first concert but said the best one he could remember attending was Bruno Mars.
“Mine was Nickelback,” said Di Giuseppe. “I haven’t been to many concerts, but Nickelback was awesome.”
“It was Lady Gaga in Buffalo,” said Zadorov. “I never went to concerts in Russia, my family didn’t really do that. Lady Gaga was great but she was two hours late because her plane was delayed.”
“I was in the 11th grade and my cousin took me to this Russian rapper named Basta,” said Blueger. “He had a show in New York and my cousin took me out with his friends. It was almost like a nightclub kind of thing. That is the first one I remember going to.”
Rachel T.: What was your favourite kids TV show when you were growing up?
“I’d go with Legends of the Hidden Temple,” said Lafferty. “It was on Nickelodeon, and they just had kids on the show. I wanted to be on it so bad.”
Soucy waited 0.1 seconds to answer and went with Family Channel’s Recess.
Zadorov said that he could name a bunch that he enjoyed but settled on Hey Arnold! and SpongeBob SquarePants.
Pettersson’s favourite show when he was a kid was Kim Possible.
Höglander said there’s some stuff on Disney+ that he likes but he could not decide on a show and instead said that he really liked the movie, Cars.
“I was a big Pokémon guy when I was young, so, I’ll go with that,” said Lindholm.
Teddy Blueger picked Rocket Power as his favourite kids show.
Di Giuseppe went with Family Guy even though it may not be a show made for kids.
Kathryn E.: If you were stuck on a deserted island, which teammate would you want to have with you (and why) and which food item could you two live on the longest?
Not only is Högs a fashion favourite but he is also considered the Swedish army knife of survivalism.
Zadorov chose Nils Höglander and pizza.
“I need someone who knows how to survive on an island and in extreme conditions,” said Zadorov. “Nils grew up in the woods.”
“I’ll bring Högs because he likes to build things and he lives in the forest back home in Sweden, so you know he knows how to survive,” said Pettersson. “Our food would be meat and potatoes.”
“That’s a tricky one,” said Lindholm. “I think I would pick Högs because he is from way up North. He should know how to survive. For the food, I would pick pizza or burgers.”
“I’d probably go with Sam Lafferty because he seems like he would be handy around the island,” said Blueger. “He’s also a beast physically and isn’t too annoying either. I’m sure at some point, anyone would annoy you on a deserted island, but it wouldn’t be for a while with Laff."
Blueger decided on pasta as their food item.
Jim P. & Krista T.: Which player makes you laugh most often?
“For a variety of reasons, I’d probably go with Nikita Zadorov,” said Lafferty.
Höglander also went with Nikita Zadorov.
Soucy chose J.T. Miller.
Di Giuseppe said Filip Hronek is funny, but Noah Juulsen makes him laugh the most.
Zadorov chose Conor Garland.
“When we’re with the team, it’s probably Garland,” said Pettersson.
Lindholm picked Garland.
“I could easily come up with a top five but it’s hard to just pick one,” said Blueger. “In the end, I’d have to say Högs makes me laugh the most.”
Tony B.: Who on the team can eat the most spaghetti?
Pettersson went with Zadorov.
“You’d be surprised how much Petey eats,” said Höglander with a laugh. “He eats a lot, but I won’t say him. I will say Zadorov because he is big.”
Blueger chose Lafferty.
Lafferty thought about it for a second, scanned the room, and then went with Phil Di Giuseppe.
“Oh, it’s Phil Di Giuseppe for sure,” said Soucy.
“Let’s go with Phil Di Giuseppe,” said Lindholm.
“It’s got to be me,” said Di Giuseppe.
Zadorov did not bite on Di Giuseppe and said it would not be him because PDG cannot even speak Italian. Zadorov chose Nils Höglander.
Jeremy H.: If you were able to spend a day with any two people in history (past or present), who would you choose and why?
Sam Lafferty decided on Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods and wants to spend the day on the golf course.
Nils Höglander picked Zlatan Ibrahimović because of his attitude, and Arnold Schwarzenegger because Höglander wants to hear about his story of coming to America.
Carson Soucy went with Michael Jordan and Tom Brady.
Phil Di Giuseppe would hang out with Adam Sandler and Michael Jordan.
Nikita Zadorov chose John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.
Elias Pettersson wanted to play some golf with Zlatan Ibrahimović and Kevin Hart.
Bill S.: I would like someone to explain what the centres are doing wrong when they are thrown out of a faceoff. It happens all the time and no one comments on it?
We also wanted to hear the on-ice explanation. So, we asked Phil Di Giuseppe, who has been a centre and winger in his pro career.
“If the wingers’ feet are not outside the circle is one,” said Di Giuseppe. “In the defensive zone, the defending centreman has to put their stick down first. You’ve got to watch the lines in the in-zone circles too, if your feet go on the line, the centre will get kicked out. Those are kind of dumbed-down answers there but those are a few.”
“In my case, I just blame the wingers,” said Lindholm with a laugh.
Teddy Blueger also helped shine some light on the situation.
“If the wingers are encroaching or cutting into the dot, they can kick you out. If your stick isn't in alignment with the little white strip of paint on there. Just like football, if you like jump offside or in our case, jump too early, they can kick you out. If your feet aren't aligned with the markings and your feet are inside the lines, they can kick you out. Yeah, those are probably the main ones,” Blueger said.
Cindy W.: Who is Phil Di Giuseppe’s favourite player of all time?
“I’ve got a lot of favourite players, but I’ll narrow it down to three and say, Peter Forsberg, Pavel Bure, and Wayne Gretzky,” said PDG.
Cindy W.: What got Phil Di Giuseppe into hockey?
“My dad kind of forced me into it at age three or four. I didn’t like it at first, but it looks like it’s worked out. We’ve come a long way,” said PDG with a laugh.
Lexi M.: What is something you have to do pregame?
It’s a short nap for Lafferty.
A good-sized nap for Höglander.
“There’s quite a bit,” said Soucy. “I say using the Hypervolt gun on my lower body. I started doing that in the minors. I remember when we got those, and I started doing that instead of foam rolling.”
Di Giuseppe needs to ride the bike before every game.
Zadorov claims that he needs to have a proper pregame meal. He doesn’t have many needs for his pregame ritual, but a healthy meal is non-negotiable.
Jim P.: Who would the players pick for strongest in the weight room?
Lafferty went with Ian Cole and called him a “refrigerator.”
“It’s Nils Åman because he won the strength test,” said Höglander with a chuckle.
Soucy chose Sam Lafferty and said that for his size, he is really strong but said that it’s probably Nikita Zadorov who’s pushing the most weight because he’s huge.
“It depends on what exercise we’re talking about, but I will say Ian Cole because he has some huge quads. He is probably the most powerful in the gym,” said Di Giuseppe.
“I’m going to say Colesy,” said Zadorov. “Colesy spends the most time in there, but J.T. Miller and Lafferty are both really strong too.”
“I’ll pick Högs, you can tell he's muscular, but I remember seeing him back when in the Timrå organization and he was lifting a lot more than the other guys,” said Pettersson. "Högs has the farmer strength.”
“Högs is a unit, he’s my pick,” said Lindholm.
Bryan B.: Are any of the guys soccer fans?
We asked a bunch of players and many of them were not big soccer fans. Here are the few that are...
Carson Soucy is a big Manchester City fan and says that he sometimes watches games with Teddy Blueger, who is a big soccer fan according to Soucy.
Elias Lindholm does not have a favourite team but enjoys watching the Premier League and Champions League.
“I’ll watch it all, if there’s a big game, I’ll be watching,” said Lindholm.
Blueger is a Liverpool fan and watches a lot of Premier League. He played the sport growing up until he had to make a full commitment to playing hockey.
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This concludes this year’s final edition of The Monday Mailbag here at Canucks.com.
Thank you to all who asked questions this season and we will be excited to fire it back up next year!
