00:00We're live from Florida Panthers Media Day.
00:03It's 104.3 FM, WQAM.
00:06Very excited.
00:07We got the captain here, Alexander Barkoff.
00:09Sasha, thanks for the time, man.
00:10Really appreciate you.
00:11Thanks for having me.
00:12Dude, I got to ask you right off the gate because this was one of my favorite things
00:15about the celebration.
00:16You guys were out.
00:18I don't know where the hell it was, but that Instagram live that you had with Sam Reinhardt
00:23was one of the most delightful things I have ever seen in my life.
00:27Do you even remember it?
00:28No.
00:30You could tell you were in a place, a different place than everybody else because you had
00:38your arm around him and he's trying to break away and you just wouldn't let him go.
00:43And it was like, oh, it was hilarious.
00:46Yeah, I saw some videos about it and then that's about it.
00:52I didn't want to.
00:54Obviously, I didn't watch the whole thing.
00:55And yeah, but I heard a lot of guys said it was fun, but in a good way.
01:03Oh, yeah.
01:04In a delightful way, man.
01:05Did you do?
01:06I know you got to like picking kids, but like, did you have a favorite celebration?
01:09Like, was this one different from the first one?
01:12Oh, yeah.
01:13Like, obviously, first one, everything was great, but you just didn't know what to expect.
01:19Everything was new.
01:21You couldn't really, like, you didn't know where to go, what to do.
01:24Second time, you kind of like know already what to expect and you could just sit back and enjoy.
01:30And I think we did.
01:32We were talking to Etu a little earlier.
01:35How did you guys end up in Asana with the president of Finland?
01:39He invited us over to his house, summer house this time.
01:45It's a cool thing.
01:46Like, he invited us a year before to his place just to have lunch and talk.
01:52And, obviously, it means a lot to us to see the president and meet him and just spend time with him.
01:59And, obviously, great.
02:01Really, really nice of him that he did that to us.
02:04And, again, this year.
02:05So, I think it's becoming a, how do you call it?
02:10Like a tradition.
02:10Yeah, a tradition that he's going to invite the Stanley Cup champions.
02:14And I think it's great.
02:17It's been pretty cool to see when you go back home.
02:20Like, was it a little more low-key with the Cup this year?
02:23Because I remember that first year.
02:25It felt like you had, like, an arena full of people.
02:27Yeah, this year was way more calmer.
02:30I only had it at my place.
02:32And for a few hours, just call my neighbors, my friends there.
02:37And then I did something with the kids for a little bit.
02:41And then, again, with my friends and family and closest people, just dinner and sauna.
02:49That's about it.
02:50I did it in sauna.
02:52So, nothing crazy.
02:55Are you to the point now where you're like, I enjoy spending time with the Cup.
02:59I love it.
03:00But we won it.
03:02That's the biggest thing for me.
03:03That is the biggest thing.
03:05Yeah.
03:05Of course.
03:06Of course, it's nice.
03:07It's a Stanley Cup.
03:10It's the best trophy in the sports.
03:13It's a great tradition that, like, Cupkeepers travel with it around the world for the players to have their day with it.
03:24And you see how much, like, people of that city celebrating with the player who won.
03:32That's a great tradition.
03:33And, but, obviously, this year it was way, way calmer for me.
03:40And even I get to enjoy it.
03:43Right.
03:43Do you even think about the opportunity to three-peat at this point?
03:47Or is it too much hockey to even face, to even get that in your mind?
03:51Because, man, that hasn't been done in a long, long time.
03:55It would be pretty damn special.
03:57And you guys have already been to three straight.
03:58But winning three straight, like, has that already entered your mind of what that would mean?
04:02Well, that's our dream.
04:04Just like every year you come to the season, you want to win the Stanley Cup.
04:08That's every team's goal and dream.
04:11And same with us.
04:13We come to the season well prepared.
04:16Everyone wants to be better.
04:17And everyone wants to win again.
04:20It's not, we don't think about, like, winning third time in a row.
04:24We just want to think about, like, winning.
04:27And winning next game and getting to playoffs is our first goal.
04:31And then we create another goal.
04:34How excited are you that Ekblad's back?
04:37Like, was there ever a doubt in your mind?
04:39No, never.
04:42I love it.
04:43I absolutely love seeing that almost everyone's back.
04:48And that's always a great sign.
04:50Everyone wants to stay and wants to be part of it.
04:53And obviously Ekblad's been here for a long time.
04:56So, I never thought about him putting on another jersey.
05:03It would have just been weird.
05:04It would have felt, you guys, like, it feels so connected.
05:07You guys have been through, like, everything here.
05:09So, does it feel special to have somebody like him?
05:12I know you love all your teammates.
05:13But everything you guys have been through.
05:15Yeah, for sure.
05:16Like, every day I see him there.
05:20And, of course, sometimes I think about, wow, what we have been through since the day one.
05:25I remember meeting him for the first time.
05:27I didn't say a word because I didn't speak much English.
05:32But then we get to be roommates and go from there.
05:36And here we are.
05:38So, it's fun.
05:40And he loves you so much, he'll even get suspended for you.
05:42In the last few years, three years, you play a lot of hockey.
05:47How do you recover from that as you get older?
05:50How do you, you know, are you, is it easier to do it because you're familiar with what your body is going through?
05:56Because you've done it so much?
05:58Or does it become, okay, now I got to really take some time off and let my body heal?
06:04I think it's both.
06:06You're way more experienced.
06:07You get to know your body more and more every single year.
06:10But, like you said, as you get older, you probably need a little more time to recover.
06:16But I think, like, I feel really good and ready to go again.
06:21And I'm happy about that.
06:24What's Paul Maurice like during the season?
06:26Like, because we only see the viral clips of him going crazy.
06:30Does he pick and choose when that happens?
06:33I think he has really good, I don't think he has, he has really good understanding of the room, of all the players that, of the team, how he needs to be that day.
06:47Like, he understands the situation.
06:48We won two games in a row.
06:51We're going somewhere right now or we're at home or, like, he, all we have to do is just come to the rink and just hear what he has to say.
06:59Stay and go and do it.
07:02That's how great it is to have a coach like that.
07:06You feel, like, different at all as far as, like, how many players on this team just respect the example that you set?
07:11Because everybody says, like, on this locker room, nobody complains.
07:15And a lot of people relate that to that's how you go about your business.
07:18Has that changed at all?
07:19Or is it that's always kind of just been the way you've carried yourself?
07:22And does it feel any different as when you got your captaincy at all, just the way you lead?
07:28I think it's always been like that.
07:30Even when I got the C, I don't, of course, first year I thought, like, what should I do?
07:39Like, should I be something different?
07:41Should I be doing something different?
07:42But at the end of the day, I just think there's a reason I got the C.
07:48I just want to be myself.
07:49I just want to do what I've always been doing.
07:52And that's my thing.
07:54And to me, I'm not the most vocal guy.
07:57I'm not screaming at all.
08:01But I just try to be a good example on and off the ice and be as good as possible every single day.
08:07And, of course, it's not just me.
08:09It's every single guy in the room.
08:10They come in, they put in the work, and they don't complain, and they get better.
08:15Well, you've done a heck of a job, Captain.
08:17You've done a good job.
08:18Congratulations on another cup.
08:20We're looking forward to another season.
08:21Alexander Barkov joining us here.
08:23And we're looking forward to the year, man.
08:25Thank you so much.
08:26Thanks for having me.
08:26Thanks for having me.
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