Getting to Know: Cody Glass

During training camp, the Penguins had 2022 first-round pick Owen Pickering do the “Pass the Phone” TikTok challenge.

It began with the defenseman saying, “I’m passing the phone to the guy who thinks he’s doing a fit check.” Cut to Cody Glass.

“Well, this is embarrassing,” Glass said in the video. “All of it’s Nike."

Giving the 25-year-old forward a little bit of a chirp felt like the perfect way to start our next ‘getting to know’ interview, since he’s good-natured, chatty and gregarious. Watch the video, and then read on…

I feel like I have to ask you about that fit check. Brutal (laughs). Is that a go-to look for you? That's literally how my fiancé – wife now – dresses me. She has Nike connections, so all my stuff is Nike.

What Nike items are constantly on rotation? Shoes are probably my go-to. I’m a big Jordan Dunk guy. That's pretty much my only shoe brand. My billet [dad] in Portland worked for Nike, so it was very frowned upon to wear stuff that was not Nike.

Well, you did have a nice-looking tux for your wedding. Did you choose it, or was that your wife's influence there as well? More my wife, probably. But yeah, I wanted to kind of be a little bit different than my groomsmen. I knew I was going to do the bow tie, just to be a little bit different. But then it was kind of a mixture of, do we do white, or do we do a black jacket? We finally decided on the white jacket, and it looked good. Pictures-wise, it was awesome.

Is there any sort of flair you have with your game-based suits? No, not at all. I have some weird socks that I wear, which I usually get crap for, but it's fine.

Give me a couple of examples. So, I have two socks specifically that I get chirped for. One of them is Squidward’s head on an ice cream cone, then another one is like a galaxy sock. But instead of planets, it's avocados. So, it's just stupid. Filip Forsberg got me big into it. He has some fancy socks. I saw them and said to myself, ‘Those are pretty cool, Fil would like that.’ So I grabbed them.

What were some of the biggest highlights from your wedding? It was in Portland, Oregon. We had a ranch family farm. I met my wife in Portland when we were 17 and have been together ever since, so that's been great. The wedding was a lot of fun, a lot of family, I think 200 guests. But, yeah, it was a blast. It worked out really well, and the weather was really nice. The sunset was perfect. Almost felt like someone paid for it. I couldn't have imagined a more perfect wedding. Everybody was great. Everything turned out perfectly the day before. There were some scares with chairs and tables, and we were like, no, no, no. Then Bailey’s dad came up clutch with fixing some stuff, so that worked out really well. It was a lot of fun. I don't want to have another wedding (laughs), but it was really fun. I wish I could replicate it every year.

Maybe a vow renewal down the line! Did you have anything special, like signature drinks or food? I think the biggest thing was ice cream. That, and we also had Shake Shack. Those were my two go-tos. Then, we wanted our dogs to be a part of it. Our dogs are named Teddy and Bear, so they were on the cups, and then the two drinks of choice were The Teddy and The Bear.

I’m planning a wedding, do you have any advice for me? When the day comes, just enjoy it. Don't think of anything. Have someone take care of it all for you because it's such a cool experience from morning to night. I think you just have to be there every moment. Just kind of look down at your feet, maybe… just be where you are. It’s such a cool experience.

What is it like where you're from in Winnipeg? What do you do for fun whenever you're back there? I hardly go back now. I go back for maybe a month in the summertime. But yeah, it's mostly seeing friends, family… golf, train. Very basic. It always goes by so quick because I'm always seeing so many people. It's a great spot. Obviously, the winters are pretty bad [laughs] but it's home.

Do you and your wife live in Portland in the summer? Yeah, we’ll live there for a month or two. It's very split up. We'll go to Portland for like two months, Winnipeg for a month, and go back (to Portland).

What players and teams did you like growing up? So, the Jets came back when I was in grade 6. I was like 11, maybe. I remember when they came back, I missed school. We had a huge parade in the city, so I went to that. Then I missed school again… probably not the best thing to say, looks bad on my dad (laughs)… but when they drafted Mark Scheifele, they had a draft party at the rink, I went and saw Mark Scheifele drafted. So, it was pretty cool. I was a huge fan. I was a fan of the Jets, Blackhawks… I was jumping around all over the place when I was, like, 5 or 6. My room was painted Avalanche colors, too. I was all over the place.

Pretty cool parallel with you being the first-ever draft pick of the Golden Knights. I feel like Vegas and Nashville are two unbelievable cities. What was that like for you living there instead of visiting there? It was good, actually. I kind of got to learn more about the city. Not everything is of the Strip or Broadway. You kind of get to learn the ins and outs of the cities, the restaurants, all that kind of stuff. I really enjoyed it. It was kind of hard as a 20-year-old being in Vegas having all these distractions, Covid happens, all this kind of stuff. It was a very crazy experience for my first year of pro. So, it was wild, but I really enjoyed it. I have no complaints from all the cities I've been in, everybody's been really kind. All the places treat players really well.

What have been your impressions of Pittsburgh in general so far? I’ve loved it so far. The organization has been great. All the facilities have been top-notch. When I first came down here, I went to more Pirates games than I ever thought I would, like four or five. A lot of very sneaky good restaurants here. Meat & Potatoes is one that we've been to quite a bit. It's been good. It's a lot more quiet, but it's a great sports city. Being from Winnipeg, it’s a big hockey city – it’s good to be back in that kind of vibe of a city.

What do you like to do in your free time? What would be a perfect day off for you? I'd have to get a nap in. That’s my go-to. But we have our two dogs, so spending time with them is a must, and just trying to get outside. So, going on a walk with my two dogs. On days off, I just try to make it as low-key as possible. If we’re on the road a lot, we'll make that day more of a date-night type of thing. If it’s busy in the season, then it’s more of a rest day, keep it very low-key.

Do you watch a lot of TV, read… how else do you unwind? My go-to book is The Obstacle is the Way, that’s a good one. It’s part of a trilogy, by Ryan Holiday. Then TV shows, I've been grinding through How I Met Your Mother for like, the sixth time. There are so many… Prison Break for the fifth time. Then there's all these docuseries that I like. Anything that comes out I kind of watch, like the new Amazon NHL one I’ll watch. All that kind of stuff, I kind of pick at. But I rewatch shows a lot, just because I forget and it’ll pop up somewhere, and I'm like okay, I’ll go watch that again.

I saw you dressed up as Ted Lasso for Halloween one year – are you a fan of the show, or was that just kind of like an easy costume? A fan. I’d say that's one of my top three shows. It’s such a feel-good show.

So, what did you think when you saw the ‘BELIEVE’ sign walking out onto the ice? I saw that and I was like oh, yeah, that’s pretty cool. I went to go jump and smack it, but it’s way too high for me. WAY too high. I had skates on, too.

Last couple here… what do you have on in the car when you’re driving? I’m a big music guy. I listen to all genres, a little bit of hip-hop. But I’d say I’m a big Noah Kahan guy, the Lumineers. But then I also mix in Kygo, Sabrina Carpenter, I'm all over the map. If you put on a song, I would kind of know it.

I’ll wrap by asking who was on your Spotify Wrapped? Number one was Noah Kahan, for sure. I think number two is Kygo, maybe. I’d have to look at it again, but there might be some embarrassing ones on there. Might have Harry Styles and like, One Direction or something.