Boston Bruins Defenseman: Matt Grzelcyk

Boston Bruins Defenseman: Matt Grzelcyk

and our next guest on the ring rings podcast is a pride of Charlestown Massachusetts he was drafted 85th overall by the Boston Bruins in 2012 he’s played a total of 435 games in the NHL after a four-year career at Boston University please welcome to the podcast Matt grizzli how we doing Matt doing great how are you guys doing good really good nice intro in Chuck town you know the by’s roots he’s it’s fitting too much especially right after bunka Hill Dave did did you get out there and celebrate or what my parents actually came over the night before I wasn’t jumping into that Madness I saved myself on Sunday afternoon so no they just came over and we uh we got a nice little dinner in the seaport and um they wanted to save save their parking spot so they uh they took an Uber over and didn’t want to uh deal with that uh TR the next day no way your father hasn’t the Uber app on his phone does he no my mom he doesn’t know text message he like holds it with one hand and then he like does the pointer finger it’s it’s embarrassing oh that’s unbelievable still sending smokes he wants you to have a beeper yeah I uh I actually made my way over on Sunday I did a uh a nice little Father’s Day Road Race down here where I live and then then we made our way over to the parade we’re at the top of Aubin Street for a couple hours I missed a little bit of the beginning but it was good to always a good day in Chuck toown to catch up with family and friends and everybody gets so busy and and you know I miss a lot of my aunts and uncles just from being crazy during the winter so it’s a you know it’s it’s a day that’s marked on the calendar and if we don’t make it over there you find yourself in the dogghouse pretty quickly you’re going to hear about it I feel it’s the one day where everyone in Charlestown is actually positive for once and just wants to have a good time EXA exactly exactly uh well let’s get into things obviously growing up a city kid um obviously had a great you know youth hockey experience I know you played with like you know you guys had a wagon growing up right and did you play a year up with Jimmy vzy and those guys or or am I wrong in remembering that yeah I I for most of my childhood I played up a year just because that’s a lot of kids from around the area um Brandon Collier as wellmy sawon on Sunday yeah um they were all um a few months older than me and that was a January birthday so just kind of made sense to to go with them and um that was the start of uh yeah we had some really good teams as a kid and that was um just getting able to play against the best competition um something that helped me a lot um make it to where I am today well who are some of your early influences during that time in Charlestown some of the coaches or you know just you know some people that you looked up to maybe even older players uh when you’re just a young guy um Jimmy be’s dad for sure he was uh local Legend uh actually when we went out to dinner Saturday we ran into them uh they were at the same restaurant so always great to to catch up with him and um he’s been a huge supporter of mine um ever since growing up and someone that I still talk to this day and look to for advice and uh just to hear his stories is a is a treat for me and um yeah he was a huge influence for me growing up and Mark Fiddler was another coach for us as well and he had an unbelievable career at Buu so just to to be able to learn from those two at an early age I think set me up for success I think that great and obviously it’s it’s unbelievable you bring up Jimmy bezy and we had him on a while back big we had both Jimmy and young Jimmy on and Big Jimmy’s recall of stories and obviously his career was you know kind of like I think if he played in this era like with his goal scoring ability especially the way all my uncles talk about him and he was big strong like power forward but had a ton of skill to his game but the stories he can tell it’s like he played 2500 games in the NHL it’s incredible his recall yeah it’s insane and just I feel like as a kid that that did help so much his knowledge of being around the game and what he can recant is unbelievable even to this day um the people that he knows and you mention one name and he goes on the tangent for 10 minutes and it’s it’s just it’s uh it’s a special gift that he has honestly it’s uh it’s so entertaining but also he has a ton of knowledge as well yeah loved having him on we we just kind of went off the rails a few times and went down the rabbit Hol like we need to do this at the at the you know in the back room at the nights a at the M La this it it would have been even be a Five Hour podcast ex exactly would still be there yeah but he knows how to play the game I was at I was at the Buu game a playoff game this year we ended up in a in you know one of the Suites and he walks in he’s working for Toronto now he walks in with with Brenan chandan and his son he’s got them both tow sweatshirts I’m like this guy just knows how to I’m like Jimmy I’m like please tell me you brought them on a ice torch he goes oh yeah Bri he’s like you know be I brought him I you know took him by the monument I did this I did this I tell him this story I’m like it’s un unbelievable and they must have absolutely loved it too like guys like that would just like you don’t get to see that every day and he’s just cut from a Different Cloth it’s uh definitely one of a kind now was there anybody that you kind of modeled your game after um I would say just as I got older um a guy like Brian rafalski he was uh you know the NHL kind of at that point didn’t really have a ton of small defenseman but he was able to make it work and I think I kind of had to learn that um you kind of have to pick your battles and um just know that you’re not going to be a musling guys in front of the net and use your stick and skating ability to your advantage so a guy like himim is um you know as hockey became more serious to me is someone who I I watch very closely now to that point um was there any coaches in particular that really helped guide you in that direction or did you pick it up on your own by watching and kind of modeling your game after a rafalski type player um I would say like going to um the mass satellite um camps in the summer they helped a lot that was like kind of like my first introduction of uh we watch video I never did that as a kid you know I just loved playing the game and loved watching it on TV and um I think you know just growing up around that was kind of the first introduction into you can kind of you know study the game more closely and be more attentive that way so I would say just being around that just kind of open my eyes to you know how much work does have to be put in um off the ice in order to be better on the ice well I mean that’s one of the things that I’ve really noticed in your game um and when you know kind of teaching younger kids maybe undersized defenseman you know just a a simple comparison when Tory Krug was on the team and you know you see his approach versus your approach your skating ability you’re getting in the way you’re not trying to overpower anyone physically but you you’re using your assets to the best of your ability and I think that’s so important and getting to the spot before they do so you’re not on the wrong side of the battle and you know so I I tell players to watch you and understand that you don’t have to be the biggest strongest fastest guy you just have to use your head and defend correctly so you’re a good example for young players that’s for sure yeah I appreciate that I think you know when I became a pro player the first coach who I really had that conversation with was Bruce Cassidy um he’s a super smart hockey mind and he kind of pulled me into his office and just kind of made me aware of like you know you do have to pick your battles and once you make it to this level the guys are just so much bigger but if you can trust your you know hockey IQ and just know where guys are going to be or you can steer them in a certain direction um you know with your stick or you know the angles in which you skate then you can have success in this league and that kind of I never really thought about about hockey that way after to that point it just you know you’re just out there playing you’re having fun but he kind of you know opened my mind into more of an ex’s and O’s and you know maybe I could I could make guys go certain ways so um I credit a lot of that to another thing I I just want to add was I I was scouting with Chicago and watching you know bu was one of my teams and and you do it consistently at at the highest level but was there ever you know say a coach or you just see it you’re when you ESC escape to your forehand your skating is extremely good and you use the middle of the ice very well uh is that something that was encouraged by coaching staffs or you know is that just something that you just naturally felt comfortable doing I think um you know growing up I think that was always um you know a strength that I had and able to see the game and have a good feel going back on uh for pucks on on breakouts um but I think when I was at bu was kind of really where that that took off a little bit and we practiced going against a heavy four check a lot dur practice and uh coach Quinn there encouraged me to to be more creative and just trust my feel for the game versus you know once a puck is dumped in I’m not always going back with the plan it’s kind of sometimes it is good to to just read the play a little bit and I feel like um you know having a trust in in a coach like that and um I think that that kind of you know carried me a long way into making it um into Pro Hockey oh that’s great stuff and and great words of wisdom by coaches uh I wanted to get back to a little bit of the childhood and you know you talked about that hockey sense and that creativity and I know you’ve obviously always been kind of a power player uh wizard even from a young age but you know growing up in char down Eden Street Park roller hockey street hockey ball hockey whatever you want to call it you guys were a staple down there and do you credit a lot of you know your creativity and your hockey IQ to that stuff a ton um I kind of get asked that a lot but I think that that well I never heard it before so don’t I didn’t recycle the question no I mean that um I get asked by like parents like what’s one thing that kids can continue to do outside of hockey and I always tell them that I had you know friends who I grew up with we were addicted to playing roller hockey as kids and that was something that um you know when you’re out there you’re just playing for the Love of the Game and you’re trying to make things happen that you probably never would in ice hockey you’re probably going to get yelled at for some of the stuff that we were trying but that just developed those skills at such a different level I felt like my mind when I was out there playing I almost felt like a forward you know as a defenseman and I’m I’m just out there trying I’m to Dragon last guy back and not that you should be doing that all the time but you I feel like you do do you do develop um you know certain skills that way and um I grew up a street over from the rer hockey court that every kid ended up playing that so I can remember Saturday mornings like no alarm clock I literally would just go over there like we didn’t have cell phones back then so you would just you would hear the ball hit the cage fence and that was like my queue I’m like all right I’m going over and we would just be there all day Saturday Sunday like that was the best times ever just sleeping in your roller blades yeah yeah pretty much might have been a little too addicted but those are like the best times and something that I still look back on and and uh you know talk about with my friends from home no it’s great because it’s you know growing up as a as a city kid and you know I grew up just outside obviously and but we talk about that a lot and you know my kids growing up in D Chester which is another uh part of the city here it’s they’re down the park all the time and they’re just playing and they you know that some of it’s a little bit more organized in terms of street hockey leagues on feet uh others are you know the old the kitchen cups and the the the the salty 3on three and all these different tournaments that are kind of uh you know there’s the the other one over in West rockbury I can’t think of the name of it now but like so many of those tournaments it’s it breeds that competitive environment and you have kids that maybe aren’t even the best hockey players but they just go out and compete and they work and you know you learn real quickly like even that last guy back tow drag like you might beat the guy but that guy’s coming back with a two-handed because he’s playing for you know 50 bucks he’s playing for his lunch money in those tournaments no it’s so true I think that you know like you said like some guys are just out there for a good time some guys are out there to like actually make money like it’s kind of like Pro Hockey like some guys are like blocking shots in a lane like that’s literally their job like that was kind of like an eye opening experience and like you said like you’re literally out there with a stick and skates like you might break a leg like you gota you gota keep slideing on asphalt I love that lay down blockish I remember playing in college like playing at un and age coming home and it’s like you know all right I can’t get hurt playing in something like this and then you see guys diving laying out for yeah you think it’s like a good idea to maybe play and then you see like one guy just take one off the chest and you’re like I can’t with this how you gonna tell coachy Milly like playing in the doorchester tournament I’m out for the season but the team won you know the got G Gabby cup exct yeah it’s like it was worth it oh yeah yeah if you win it’s all worth it yeah I get the street cred now yeah gotta build the rep up a little bit exactly oh that’s great so as far as like playing other sports you you played a ton of street hockey did you play any other sports um you know as a kid and um you know with those with you had a good crew of of guys good athletes um what other sports did you play yeah I played baseball just through Little League um didn’t really fall in love with it that much um but lacrosse was one that I love growing up that’s very similar I feel like to hockey and um kind of being a midi you you have to play a little bit of offense and defense so um was another good way to develop you know hand eye coordination certain skills like that that you can’t always pick up just I think if you’re playing hockey year round it’s it is it’s tough to I feel like you know you hit a certain age and you just you might fall out of love with it and I tell kids all the time that I think it’s super important to play those other sports and even if hockey is your passion um you know there’s certain things that can help you become a better hockey player that way yeah really I mean that’s what we try to stress here what you say is like just don’t be a backyard loser you don’t have to have like organized Sports to play other sports go pick up a ball throw it around with your buddies you know yeah just and it helps you be social as well just be a normal just be a normal kid I think that that’s so important and kind of gets lost in today’s society a little bit can you throw a spiral no well not anymore we might have to have like a back lose a competition couple shoulder surgeries and stuff I’m sure mixed in I’ve had both done one each so it is like I played whiffle ball with my little nephew who’s uh getting a little bigger now and I was going to fetch balls and throw them back to him and I’m like so embarrassed I can maybe make it halfway like I’m like can’t even hit the cut off guy so um yeah I think those uh other sports are kind of behind me now unfortunately he’s more of a horseshoe guy now M underand bagam Maybe games the old uh bean bag toss yeah yeah that’s a little uh better on the shoulder I’d say exactly especially when you get the the drinks flowing you don’t feel the pain as much yeah like muscle memory though you know you just want yeah yeah exactly um well talk about that decision obviously growing up a city kid um you made a decision to go to Belmont Hill for high school what was that like what was that transition yeah my dad um he had actually been helping out with the JB hockey team uh for like 10 years um so when I was a young kid he would kind of have me up there and I would skate around uh with some of the JV guys just to you know get some free ice and play against some older kids so I was kind of introduced to the school at a at a young age and going through that process um it was a no-brainer for me wanted to go there um already knowing some people as well so um such a good school educationally and that was really important to to my family so um only ended up being there for three years but three years that I you know credit a lot of you know where I ended up going um they were huge for my development not only with hockey but uh academically a school wasn’t always coming easy to me so I really had to learn um just how to grind honestly how to learn how to learn yeah exactly learn how to do homework for five hours a night um but it just I feel like it just kind of made me grow up a little bit faster and that was huge for me that’s great yeah given you good study habits I’m sure you have lifelong friends from your time there as well and um can you talk about your decision to go out to the National program that was uh yeah I’m very happy about that it was actually it was pretty tough because I did love Belmont Hills so much and it was going really well for me there but um it was just kind of an opportunity that was really tough for me to pass up um I had made the 40 Camp the you know where they invite the top 40 kids there for a try out it didn’t really go well for me I was just so undersized you’re you’re there with um you know the boxing coach kirck um and we’re like working out I don’t know if i’ had ever worked out in my life up to that point I was so sore I could barely skate on the ice had a bad showing uh did not get asked at first they had asked you know they had committed most of the team and they had asked like seven eight defenseman they all said no because they weren’t sure if they were going to play and then they asked me after and I said yes immediately my parents were like what what are you doing like you’re not you’re going to go out there you’re 140 pounds you’re not going to play but I had one thing on my mind and that’s I just knew how well they developed kids and how important you know the off I training there was and I just I just thought that I had to do that if I wanted to continue playing past college just just to give myself a shot um and I decided to take a chance and I think that’s kind of where my career started to take off a little bit and um I C crit so much to that development to to those two years and I still have ton of friends who play in the NHL I’m still really close with even guys who don’t play in the NHL who aren’t playing hockey anymore we had a really tight team and having to live live with the Billet family um was another you know learning experience and also helped me grow up before college so that was huge for me did you find the transition difficult just going you know and and I say this like most most kids are they’re kind of you know they’re a little bit home bodies I would say right like they just you know have their crew and and hang with and like I’m kind of relating it to my kids right and my oldest is off and and he’s at at at Cushing which is you know an hour hour and 15 minutes away so it it’s close enough but you know he’s still boarding there but was that transition difficult to go from being you know a kid that grew up in a town of basically one square mile to anaba Michigan you guys were in anaba at the time right yep and I yeah it was actually it was really tough for me I I wasn’t really prepared for it like and I was you know probably a little naive to the fact I thought it’d be a little bit easier but up until that first break I think your first break out there is like Thanksgiving so for I don’t know two and a half months it felt like three years like every day I was just wanting to come home like hockey was so difficult all the training like I had never done that before I was just like I had to take three and four hour naps every day just to make it through like I was just so under sized at the time and uh after that point I kind of you know I not resented the decision but at first I was just like man I miss my friends so much like I had only known you know Charleston’s a very small place like everyone knows everyone like I had this same people who I grew up with till I was 16 years old like I had no other experience but then after my first year I was kind of like you know obviously it’s exciting to come home but I was like itching to go back and then that’s kind of new where my experience the second year going to play against college teams coming back to play against beu like it it had changed a little bit and um I’m kind of thankful that I was able to go through that um and just think it helped me mature um off the ice big time yeah just having some adversity though too not just on the ice but you know not socially really but just being away some adjustments that you have to make and you know definitely uh I’m guessing that it helped you grow as a person you know off the ice which helped you kind of translate that to on the ice yeah big time I think just you know like little things like you know my Billet parents making you know different food than my my mom like my mom’s cooking like I just had my mom’s cooking my whole life um they were unbelievable had so much patience with us thankfully I got to live with Frank patrano as well so it was another guy yeah Frank was like 230 I was I was gonna say he was eating yeah so I think I needed I credit Frank a lot we had some late night Eggos a lot together uh out there so he help me put wait pretty quick but just having him there just helped my experience so much um we were kind of going through the same thing together so um you know we were learning on the fly but it was nice to have someone who you know I grew up with and was comfortable with oh that’s great stuff he’s a character we had him on not too long ago and obviously played with uh with Keith and Florida so I got to know him a bit and he’s uh he’s funny and classic classic One of a Kind him his mom would uh wheel on some Antonio’s Grinders I don’t know if you guys know that his his fans restaurant yeah they’re the best people ever and uh man they’re they’re just stories for days I love them he was telling how he couldn’t even get a job at the pizza shop during his uh when he when he kind of had the incident at uh at BC and that transition year I forgot about that like my parents wouldn’t even they wouldn’t even hire me to swe be the pocket lot that that’s an all-time low at that point that’s how you know you screwed up exactly I love frank yeah he’s awesome and uh good to see him have a ton of success this year especially in the goal scoring category um this you know the decision as a Boston boy to you know I guess ultimately the goal for for most guys is you know playing in the bean pod playing in hockey East what was that TR the the decision like to go to be yeah that was um like you said growing up here um it was BC or Buu for me to be honest um tough to really think about any other schools at that point but um one of the best decisions I ever made I still have you know lifelong friends outside of hockey who I’m still really close with but yeah that we had some some really good teams there and getting the chance to play in the bean pot was obviously something that I I couldn’t pass up and I’m so thankful to have to W to won that and um some of the best memories I I’ve had in my life so far yeah just coming back home to a school that you know there’s there’s been a a charstone connection going back years you know to be um and as far as you know your comfort level and you know good coaching good teammates you guys had great success there um was there any you know times in particular where um you know you were like oh maybe I should have went to BC I actually I try to get yeah I actually wanted to go to BC for a little bit I grew up a beu fan my whole life went to games at Walter Brown got pizzas and chicken parms at te Anthony’s all the time oh yeah um but then when I went to Belmont Hill it kind of had that BC feel a little bit and I love Belmont Hill so much little yepy school and BC was winning national championships every other year at that point so I was like you know what maybe I’m a BC guy now and uh they never came through um be um they had kind of offered me right away something I didn’t expect and um I kind of held out because I was still really young at the time but I was honestly kind of hoping that VC might come along as well but never did and ended up being you know a great decision for me so um yeah startor wow so BC what a fumble I know I knew he was in the mix turn me down yeah that’s that’s messed up they started offering kids who were younger than me I’m like you know what I’m going back to pu what am I thinking oh man every time you play PC you want to stick it to him yeah seriously that that definitely a little bit of extra added to it although just playing in those games in general I mean those are exactly what you dream about as a kid so um yeah getting those opportunities is something I still look back on um and you know those are some of the best times of my life so you had a couple big moments uh while at Buu and and a couple of them I can think right off the bat I want to ask you about was the game at way when you scored in the C right was was like a swing and a home run right oh know that was uh Dave wowski oh that was Dave that’s right [ __ ] but he he was number five actually when you asked a question earlier he’s another guy who I admire as a kid um and when I was going through the recruiting process they were I think that’s actually a huge reason why I ended up being number five at bu is because of him um and he had so much success success as a as a smaller guy and uh relied on his skaing ability so that was h a big reason why I wanted to go to be what a fumble on that on that end by by me but I wish that was such a cool Sal that was sick I can’t believe that that and but I was definitely at the game when you scored the in in the bean pot yeah so I’m not gonna go 0 for two on that that was obviously pretty big one um we had such a good team that year and I think I can remember going up to iel right before the first draw and I’m like you know looking back on I probably put a little too much pressure on but I’m like I you got to end this first shift like you gotta just please put us on your back uh he ended up drawing a power play like five seconds into the game and you dream about those scenarios as a kid but you know once the game happens you just you’re out there playing and Puck ended up squirting right on my stick and I kind of had no other option but to shoot it and went in anded it yeah I didn’t realize it at the time how big of a deal that was but that’s something that I still look back on and I’m like wow that was that was pretty cool to to be you know from Charleson and to dream about being in that scenario and have it to having having to have it happen and be had kind of we had a tough few years there for a while and they’re kind of known as being the the bean pot school so it was nice to to get that back on the right side of kav and that was your junior year the best of us yeah that was my junior year yeah we ended up going to the uh National Championship that game playing back at the Gard so yeah that was kind of a magical year tough ending but yeah that was was wild ending still uh you know really cool just to haven’t gone through that experience of you know playing nbu but getting to play the Frozen 4 at the god him was insane now you played with noo Cherie right against him I thought you played with him for a brief stint there but you know because we had him on oh at the uh with the Bruins I played with him yes exactly yeah so you know he was talking about winning the face off and tanv coming over the top and so that should just really you know stingy so playing against tanv you should give him an extra little something for being able to put that still think about that quite often actually thanks for bringing I work out with null every day and I’m pretty sure he has a tattoo of them when they won the national championship on his back shoulder blade and so make sure he doesn’t go tarp off during the during the workout or else it’s gonna it’s going to sting a little bit I don’t even know thinking like why do we even let didn’t work out at be yeah beat us in the national championship but that’s all right yeah he’s a good guy we got a lot of good we got a lot of good Pro guys over there now so it’s it’s nice to have everyone around oh that’s classic uh rewind a little bit back to the the the draft process um going through it obviously being you know a bu kid uh you know or committed to BU under 18 guy uh what was that like were you you know high expectations not really sure what was the the you know I know the drafts coming up here pretty soon so what was it like for you um I had very low expectations to be honest um you know the game was a lot different back then not many you know 59 defenseman at the time so I had a ton of you know we had a really good team really good Decor guys who all projected to go for second round um I didn’t want to go to the draft at all I didn’t want to you know go and not get drafted but uh I was kind of convinced to to go there and support some of my teammates on the uat team and you know thought I would kind of kick myself if I didn’t end up being there for such a special day and I’m I’m very thankful that things ended up unfolding the way they did but I didn’t think for a second that the Bruins were even in the cards to be honest I I just never let myself think that a certain team was going to pick me and I was just hoping to get picked by anyone to be honest but just how it ended up playing out was you know kind of a dream come true and um it was it was a whirlwind of a process uh back then I didn’t even know I don’t think kids knew like about development camp like you know we got drafted and they’re like yeah we’ll see you in a couple days I’m like uh for what like yeah you’re G to go get absolutely bagged at Wilmington in in the middle of July um so having that experience was a huge wakeup call and into Pro Hockey and that was uh the draft was unbelievable I ended up you know my draft was in Pittsburgh I ended up playing my first game against the Penguins I ended up scoring my first goal against the Penguins so a lot of a lot of history there and it all kind of started uh uh 2012 and that decision to attend up going um was a a dream cont and you know as far as being a local kid and being drafted by the Bruins you see some local guys come back and play a little bit later in their career and um you know kind of when they are you know more established and kind of understand their role or understand their game um did you put any added pressure on yourself as you’re coming through you know from Providence to to Boston I mean it’s natural but like you know could you talk to us about your perspective and if if there was anything like that along along the way yeah I mean you do kind of hear those things a little bit um not you know there is a little bit more pressure and expectation with growing up here and kind of having that added baggage but it was nothing but a positive experience for me uh I had so many good people in my corner and um one guy one who was kind of there for me at the early stage my career was Jimmy Hayes he uh he was there for my first couple games the NHL I was so nervous to step in the locker room but I’ve known him and Kevin my whole life and to have you know him and his family around was massive for me he had been through that for a couple years there so um having someone who had that local connection um really kind of made me feel at home with it and um after that point just try to not think about it too much not put too much expectation it’s great to have so much so many family and friends around who were always there to support me but I think it also helped that we’ve had some great teams over the years as well and uh you know it always helps when you’re you’re winning games and you’re playing the playoffs and having some success that way so um it’s it’s been you know I can’t say enough about being a Bru and getting the chance to play in my hometown I mean there must be some comfort level obviously we didn’t even touch on it but your dad’s worked that the you know the Boston Garden worked in the bull gang since you know basically like you know the bunk of Hill day uh whatever it started basically he’s worked there for yeah well over uh 50 years and obviously your your brother John is an ice girl now uh also working it must be you know those uh what are those interactions like with you and and and young John oh they’re awesome um you know you guys know how it works like sometimes now they have this um the parents trip they’ll either have a mom’s trip or a dad’s trip last year they had a sibling’s trip oh God and like most of the guys like knew my brother just because you know being around the rink and my dad likes to come just talk everyone’s ear left and right so they kind of known my family for a couple years but we had a siblings trip and obviously you have a lot of fun together but it’s funny to see the interactions after like we’ll have like a TV time out and like guys like POS is like squirting them with a water bottle like it’s so it’s really funny like you all the whole crew is literally like pretty much I would say 95% of the guys are from Charleston so like I know all of right and I’m like in between a TV timeout like doing a meat lap and like just trying to get the legs going but if it’s like a tight game I’m like not really saying anything like trying to keep to myself but if we’re up like 51 like I might go shoot the [ __ ] a little bit with some of the guys like it’s it is really cool to have them around well and two bean pot Hall of Famers too right your dad and you I thought that was a really nice touch uh when when they both on both you and him at the same time that was really cool yeah just uh for him to get recognized for being there for so long and it was funny just because like he was so embarrassed about it and I think he knew all the guys all of his friends from chareston and stuff are just gonna like just get him so much [ __ ] like what the you didn’t even play like how the hell did you get in the beanball of f so just to see the Panic made the ice would be there wouldn’t be a there wouldn’t be games going on if it wasn’t for uh for Big John flooding the flooding the sheet yeah yeah no like the there is like a serious side to it too like you just see how much pride he took because you know not only being there for the Bruins games but he got to cover a lot of The Bu and BC games as well so those were uh you know that that really hit home for him and just to be able to go through that process with him was so cool for me and uh we’re very appreciative of them doing that it was a nice touch yeah really nice what was it like and this is kind of going back to the beginning because I know things change as you get older but we get a lot of questions about this and and you know most people don’t probably know it but I know just from my family history and my father being friends with your father and and my uncle Joo I think uh him and your dad played on the same line at Charlestown High School and like he was a really good hockey player uh back in his day so what was the the pressure like from you know Mom and Dad at home I had zero literally from day I had no pressure um they only wanted me to do you know with what I loved it didn’t have to be hockey it didn’t have to be Sports at all they really just wanted me to get an education and that’s all they stressed as a kid and I just happened to grow up loving hockey like right from day one I think I was skating pushing the crate at 2 three years old my dad had me over at the Garden but I never had any pressure from them whatsoever they only said that you know once you choose what you want to do we’re going to support you 100% And you have to work as hard as you possibly can to get there and to have that confidence for my parents made the world a difference and I would be nowhere near where I am today without them that’s great stuff because we hear a lot of different scenarios where parents are very kind of over the top and you know trying to drive and and you know internally drive them you know externally actually and you know to hear that it’s that’s kind of what I experienced you know my my dad mom very supportive and just it’s pretty healthy when you when you hear it and someone who’s playing at the top level and I said the success that you have and the experiences that you’ve had and that was the type of upbringing that you had and experiences so that’s uh good to hear good for our listeners to hear yeah no I think it’s super important obviously everyone’s different but um I think the Love of the Game has to come from within and your parents are obviously there to support you but they can’t be the ones pushing you well said can you um you know and then I don’t want to take up too much of your time here but just talk about that transition when you get to the Bruins and you’re you know in a locker room with guys you you know grew up obviously idolizing right you you’re you’re playing with guys like zido Cho with you know pasta berser on and clearly you’re a a Boston breu fan you have no you have no other option that’s for damn sure but what was it like walking into that room and what did you you know what have you learned uh you know now being almost you know over 400 games into the to to your NHL career and being an NHL regular like what have you learned from those type of guys yeah that’s uh I still pinch myself about that like it’s still the coolest thing to me I in in between uh you know my stall at the practice drink I’m in between marshy and Bergie well I guess when Bergie was still playing for a couple years there and that was just like every day I’d come in I’m like holy [ __ ] like I’m trying obviously not to have this reaction in front of them I don’t want to make them feel awkward but two absolute Legends um like you said Z Tuka C like the guys I literally grew up watching being a huge fan of um so I was I was very nervous to jump in the locker room obviously they had had a winning culture and been around for so long I think when you’re a new guy coming up you just you don’t want to step in anyone’s toes you just kind of want to blend in with the group but those guys right from day one made me feel so welcome came right up to me introduced themselves um just wanted me to you know take me to dinners on the road or little things like that just to make sure that you feel comfortable and they go above and beyond um I’ve only had the opportunity to play with one team but from what I’ve heard from guys on other teams just how much those guys uh you know reach out to you whether you just been traded here been a free agent it’s it is remarkable and it doesn’t sound like a lot but it does make a huge difference uh you know building that chemistry off the ice together and I think it translates on the ice and I think I’ve just learned uh you know all that it takes to to be a good Pro I’ve seen day in and day out how those guys take care of themselves and um how they you know treat each other outside the locker room how they do little things to set up uh you know just team building exercises away from the rink um you know little things like that I think they have so much leadership they’ve seen it all they’ve won at the highest level and there’s a reason why that they’ve had so much success for for so long and um I think that that you know my first couple years I Tred to be a sponge and and soak that all up yeah it’s an impressive culture you know I was there briefly in 2012 but to see you know the leaders such as like you’re talking about zido and um Bergie and those was like supplemental leaders you know everyone has a like kind of a say and like that supplemental leadership group is like holding each other accountable you know in the your peers and that’s like the healthiest when people are pull the road the right way and can hold you accountable those guys are obviously special for a reason but they also they don’t feel like they have to be you know the one guy to lead it like they really do it by with the whole group and they want to you know bring some younger guys along and they know that they’re not going to be playing for for for forever so they’re going to want to you know show them the ropes and make sure that Bruins culture lives on and I think that that’s something they proud themselves on and uh it’s been a huge reason why they’ve you know been a playoff Contender a year on a year out oh this um Matt this has been great we appreciate you taking the time I think uh there’s a lot you know a lot of great points that you made here for for you know kids and parents just that that that listen to the show so we really appreciate you taking the time uh M you got anything else for him before we let this guy go yeah we’re not looking for any Scoops or anything but we wish you the best in uh UFA hopefully back with the bees and contract negotiations uh but yeah we just wish you the best and hopefully uh things work out for you thank you guys yeah thank you for having me on this is great and uh I appreciate it I look forward to seeing you guys soon all right buddy all right guys we’ll see you yeah thank you guys see you later

Episode 186- BY & Motts are back with an interview with Charlestown native and Boston Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk! Before Matt joins the guys they catch up on the Stanley Cup Finals and some other news around the hockey world. Then Grz sits down with the boys to discuss his career so far and much more including:

Modeling his game after smaller defensemen
Transitioning from Charlestown to Ann Arbor for NTDP
A ton of firsts in Pittsburgh
Playing for his hometown team
+ more!

BY & Motts wrap up the show answering the My Hockey Rankings question of the week.

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