Exit Interview – Jack Studnicka

Exit Interview – Jack Studnicka

Well, this is a tough time for everyone. Uh for you, I know you’d want to be playing right now. Um but initial kind of just reflections back on the year for the team and and for yourself individually. Um yeah, it’s definitely pretty heartbreaking right away. Um but upon reflection, I’m really proud of the group. Um, you know, everyone came in kind of from a new team, majority of people, and uh, took a couple games to gel, but once we jelled, I mean, uh, the chemistry in the room was incredible. I think you saw it on the ice. And, um, yeah, it’s too bad we couldn’t couldn’t continue the regular season success. Coach Marco told us that you were a guy that you mentioned, the new faces, 12 new faces, that you became a leader. At what point in the season do you feel like you felt like you were a leader of this team? Um, that’s a good question. Um, I don’t really try to change what I do too often. Um, show up, work hard, take care of my body, do things the right way. And, um, no, that’s really nice of him to say something like that. I do try to lead by example. Um, not the most vocal guy in the room, but um, someone who shows up and works as hard as he can each and every day. Do you feel like uh for the new guys that had come in here um it was nice for yourself to to get a clean slate? I know you’ve had that before, but maybe this time was a little bit different for you coming in and had kind of some momentum coming in. Yeah. Um you know, in the past, uh up, down, traded, bunch of different teams. Um, but up, you know, I’m really really grateful to have spent the whole season uh in the same place and kind of uh get rolling uh consistently and that was really nice for me. It’s been a long time for that and um couldn’t ask to do it at a at a better organization. It seemed like for your linemates too that you guys had that chemistry and you were able to have that consistency as a center kind to kind of get that, you know, Sammy and Andre especially down down the stretch there. You guys seem like you really had a good thing going. Yeah, I mean chemistry is everything. Um, you get along with guys off the ice. You’re probably going to have some chemistry on the ice and uh those were great guys to uh be around in the room and then uh like you said, it really started to gel there toward the end and it’s really too bad. It was cut too short. So cool that you hit the 72 games for the regular season. Is that something going into the year like that was your goal to hit 72 or is it kind of like when it kept getting closer you’re like I want that? It was definitely a goal to stay healthy. Uh battled some injuries especially last year that uh didn’t allow me to play in every game and uh really took my training really really serious this summer going into the year. So uh just super happy that it worked out that way and I was able to uh contribute each night. How does that set you up for this off seasonason? Are you going to try to do things the same? Do you have anything else that you want to try out or look into anything different to to change it up going into next year? Uh, I have a pretty good setup back in Michigan. Uh, tons of hockey guys tend to go there to train and uh, we have a great group where we push each other and uh, so likely we’ll be doing pretty much the same thing and uh, hopefully it continues to pay off. And then reflecting on your season, what about your game do you think that you improved the most compared to past seasons? Um, it’s a good question. I would say, um, playing with pace. I think, uh, skating is is probably my best asset. And, you know, the way the or the the the team ran its system, it really really played into that middle speed for the centerman. So, I think it was a really good fit the way the team was ran and and the way that I play the game. Uh any other plans for the summer that you have in mind or anything else you’re doing that’s outside of hockey now that you have a couple extra weeks to to to you know kind of relax and rest before next year? We’ll see. I haven’t gotten that far yet. Um lots of dog trips to the park with my dog. Um golfing time alone. Um but I haven’t gotten that far. I’m still still a bit buttth hurt about how it ended. Um, also the fact that you kind of like you mentioned were able to stay with the team for the whole season. Um, this is a new area for you. What did you think about living in Southern California, uh, and kind of getting an opportunity to kind of learn this area a little bit more than maybe just being somewhere for a short amount of time? Yeah, I loved it. I loved it. Me and my girlfriend and even my dog, he really adapted to the California lifestyle. So, we loved it here. Um, couldn’t have asked for a better place to spend it.

Recognized as one of the team’s leaders, Jack Studnicka explained what he had done to contribute to the #ReignTrain’s success.