Canucks Insider Podcast Episode 16: Which Canuck Would Win Survivor? with Derek Forbort

Canucks Insider Podcast Episode 16: Which Canuck Would Win Survivor? with Derek Forbort

selected 15th overall in the 2010 draft he has played in 550 NHL games and has recently signed a one-year contract extension with the Canucks as he heads into his 11th season in the NHL derek Forbert is our guest today on the Conucks Insider podcast and as I was doing that intro there was some running kind of B-roll in the background and I couldn’t stop let’s find this in like our content folders derek you give away a ton of pucks to fans i I like out of all the players you were the guy who popped up the most like giving away pucks to fans in pregame and stuff so I’m curious where that comes from and why you kind of do that so often because like I was looking up like fans and looking up keywords and your name just kept popping up in that regard yeah i um I didn’t even know that was like kind of knowledge out there but yeah um I don’t know i just kind of remember being a kid and um going to NHL games and like just like wishing so bad that I someone would have thrown me a puck um and so just like whenever I I see kids on the glass it’s just kind of something I always try and do and um there’s kind of a little dead spot in my warm-up between kind of when I’m going hard so I just kind of take a little breather and try and get as many kids pucks as possible it must be pretty fun like I see the reaction of these kids like do you ever notice it like some of these kids go nuts when you flip it over to them yeah it’s cool and it’s it’s kind of like a cool little reminder right before the game starts that um you know there are kids that you know kind of look up to us and uh you know those are kind of the kids that we’re out there you know trying to play hard for and trying to get a win for and um yeah I don’t know when it started it was just kind of something I did so Derek you began your NHL career in LA kind of started working your way out east and had a couple different stops so you made your way back to the West Coast tell me what you like about the West Coast and what kind of brought you back here um I don’t know if it was anything like specifically like geographywise but um yeah I mean I’ve always loved the West Coast um you was in LA for a bunch of years and loved the uh the kind of the quiet beach life and um you know Vancouver has has a lot of that kind of cool stuff too so it’s been it’s been a it’s been a good place what was it like kind of moving to LA at like 20 years old there like that’s got to be quite the the big move for you to kind of take on that and start playing in the NHL like as a young guy that must have been pretty cool kind of moving into LA and being 20 years old being able to have some fun down there yeah I mean it’s a it’s a really fun city um the practice rank is down in like Elsa Gundo so we’re a little bit like outside of the craziness of LA and it’s more kind of quiet like beach community a lot of volleyball um just like a lot of cool little bars and restaurants so it wasn’t as crazy as you think and but it was awesome that’s cool and before that you end up going to the University of North Dakota and just like I don’t know when I say that like I just think hockey school so like what was your experience like spending some time there and really being at like one of the best hockey schools in the nation it was great um I mean you have like you know the I it’s it’s probably the nicest rink in the world probably the nicest gym in the world um and to kind of get free reign of like those facilities and like you have a key card to the rank and you can go skate whenever you want you can go work out whenever you want and um it’s just like a really professional program and you know did a lot to get me ready for professional hockey i I have to imagine like was that a difficult decision for you like being a Minnesota guy and UND like I I feel like not a lot of guys end up making that switch but you were one of them that went to North Dakota like what kind of drew you there I guess uh I don’t know oh I mean you’re you’re so young when you’re making that big decision and um I mean I mean that logo and that rink and the coaching staff was all kind of like a big kind of part of it but I mean it’s not like it was a very easy decision i was pretty torn between UMD kind of my hometown team and uh going to North Dakota and um I think in the end I just figured it was a good idea to get a little further away from mom did she like that no no she didn’t uh I I think what’s cool too like NCAA hockey the way it’s really evolving here of like bringing in all the guys from like the WHL and OHL and QMGHL like what do you think the NCAA is going to look like in a couple years like getting all these major junior guys now kind of filtering it’s It feels like it’s going to change the landscape quite a bit yeah I think it’ll I think it’ll help uh for sure like make it like like some of those like smaller college teams like make them a lot more competitive um cuz just there’s there’s obviously going to be a bigger player pool of really good players and um yeah it’ll be interesting to see how it like shakes out like some older freshman coming in i think it’s just going to make the product that much better that’s cool what was the favorite thing for you like just playingwise playing NCAA hockey like I’m sure like the home barn must have just been incredible to play it but for you like what do you kind of look back at from that time and think like man that was really cool the experience i I loved like going to like the away like the away schools and like just like seeing the passion in college hockey and um you know we had like obviously a really like beautiful big rink and sometimes it felt like like a pro atmosphere like I mean fans were unbelievable but then when you kind of go to some of those like smaller old school barns with the crowd right on top of you and those were kind of some of my favorite games that’s cool man and then you end up making the jump play some some hockey down in Manchester there in the AHL uh what was the first kind of impression of pro hockey for you especially after kind of coming out of uh you know NCAA it feels like it’s a good little kind of step on your way up to there and then you get to the AHL what were some things from those first few years that kind of like shocked you a little bit about jumping into pro hockey uh I mean definitely all the promotions to get people to the games i mean my first day was it was bring your dog to the game night um and so that was like my first game in pro hockey and I was kind of just like where am I right now but um it’s fun it’s like your first time kind of you’re living with like kind of other guys you’re all in the same situation and you’re kind of in these like smaller towns and um we actually had some really good teams in Manchester we won it all and we had like a great group of guys and um it was a lot of fun um and it’s it’s a really good league and it really does a good job at getting you ready for the NHL yeah and it’s happening right now with the Abbottzford team like obviously heading into the Western Conference Finals they’re up 3-1 like for for somebody who’s kind of been there done that and gone on such a deep AHL playoff run what’s it like for a young guy because there’s a lot of young guys out there in Abbottzford who like I don’t know if you’re just kind of in it you’re like so young and it’s already happening or like if you could now kind of look back and appreciate going on such a deep run with Manchester yeah it’s it’s I mean it’s so much fun like I remember like we it in in Manchester like none of us even had our leases like past a certain point so we were all like in a like a big hotel together and like I mean you’re still like what like 20 21 22 like years old so it’s just like you know a big sleepover with your buddies and you’re playing hockey and you’re playing playoff hockey and like once you get rolling it’s you’re like let’s win this thing and it’s a lot of fun so yeah I texted Manior like good luck in the 70s there today and sounds like they’re playing really well yeah and he’s he’s ripping it up man’s having a great playoff so far um kind of for you like let’s talk about the contract extension here you signed a one-year deal with the Canucks had a couple million here um you only spent one year here but you kind of were ready to come back for a second what kind of led you to make this kind of an easy decision I guess to be back here in Vancouver because I’m sure you would have had a lot of options kind of around the league if you went to free agency yeah um I mean I one of the things I kind of wanted me I really wanted to come back for was just kind of the way we kind of battled like down the second half of the year um you know we were a team that had a lot of adversity kind of a lot of crap happened and I don’t know I felt like we just did a really good job of kind of sticking together and just battling for each other and kind of formed a good little brotherhood like the second half of the year and um the thought of kind of coming back and competing for a full year with that group and especially like the decor we had such a a really good mix of like kind of older guys and younger guys and we all got along really well and there was some real cohesiveness back there especially with the footy and um it was just kind of fun battling with those guys so that was kind of a big part of it yeah and I think kind of talk about defense core there you guys had Marcus Patterson late you had some young players just kind of playing so well later on in the season there um just your thoughts on this defense core moving forward here and what you kind of see your role fitting in here and just being a part of what I think is arguably one of the better defense cores in the league yeah I mean we’ve got like we’ve got like guys on like all and like Quinton Hughes from one of the best offensive guys in the league and we’ve got some really good defensive guys so it’s a really good mixture of you know guys that have good roles and um feel like everyone kind of knows their role and um yeah getting getting young PD back there and Mance and they were uh kind of fun guys to work with and it was cool to see them you know kind of excelling and playing well and um yeah just the chance to kind of be a part of that group was was uh was fun for me to think about so to kind of speak to that with the defense core that you guys have here you add Marcus Patterson to the group and from the sounds of some of the guys I’ve talked to so far this off seasonason like he added a lot to that room like what did he kind of bring when he immediately got there like did he have an immediate impact on kind of getting involved with the room and what was he like to kind of just add to this defense yeah he was great um he’s such a good dude he’s a he’s a really funny guy especially for a Swede and uh yeah he’s just like kind of a good like glue guy and he plays hard and I mean he’s been on some really good teams in Pittsburgh and been around like guys with I mean obviously unbelievable Leafers like Crosby and you know all all those guys and um for us to get him and just kind of that experience and it was huge for us for sure does it take a while to understand these sweets like their humor because like I I found it like it’s like dry to a level that I don’t think a lot of us understand certain times yeah I mean they’re uh No I mean they’re all great like we have like we have just a good group of sweets like Hogy’s an idiot yeah even really quiet but he’s funny um yeah even even uh Pety is like he’s Pety’s got some really dry humor and he’s funny so they’re a good group um I think a lot of Cons fans wanted an update on just how your how your eyes been recovering i know it’s a tough scene for a lot of fans to watch but how are you feeling how’s the recovery going during the offseason it’s been good yeah everything is everything’s all healed up um just got a little scar and uh a little bit of droopiness but I think it’s starting to come back up that’s awesome man well I know fans will be happy to hear that um at least the recovery part anyways uh but um I guess like let’s move on to the penalty kill because like I found the stat that out of all defenseman who played over a 100 minutes on the penalty kill you had the least amount of goals against um so talk me through your secret to being the best defenseman on the penalty kill in the NHL last season so well if if if I knew for sure I’ I’d probably lead that that category every year but um yeah I think it wasn’t I mean we just had like we just really got rolling with it and everyone kind of was on the same page and we knew what we wanted to cuz when you got four guys you’re going to have to give up something and we kind of knew what we wanted to give up and what we wanted to take away and um when everyone’s on the same page and in the right spots and it like it frustrates the power play and um I know it had nothing to do with me i’m sure I just got some bigger saves than other guys what What’s it like to kind of know I guess like there has to be some confidence with the group right especially in that regard of like the Pelico how well you guys perform kind of from like February on like how do you kind of bring that into next season or is it kind of just built through the year like is it possible to carry that over into next year i I assume it has to be to a degree but how do you guys kind of do that uh yeah I mean I think we got a lot of the same guys who are kind of on those like forward kills and D kills that are they’re all coming back so I mean if we can keep it going that’ll be huge um yeah anytime you’re it it’s such a confidence boost for the team when you know you can go out and get a kill um and you know it’s it’s for us it’s it’s fun when we get out there and kill and we don’t let them score and the boys kind of get rolling from it so so you mentioned you sent a text to Victor Madi before kind of the AHL playoffs run here with him and like DPD coming in even Carel getting a game late in the year uh to see these young guys come in like what’s it like for you now that you’re you know 10 years in the books for you in the NHL and you’re still moving forward in your career but now that you’ve seen these 20-year-old kids like how cool is it for you to kind of be on the other end and be able to guide some of these guys in the league as I’m sure some players did to you when you were a young player yeah it’s fun i mean I I remember like when I was like in like training camps and like coming up like I still do like some drills that like Robin Regeear would always do and uh Matt Green and like you just kind of steal their stuff and then you know I’ll make like Mance or DPD do some drills with me after practice and I’m sure they’re like what is this i’m like don’t worry about it just pass me the puck and um but yeah it’s just it’s it’s fun to work with them and you know they’re such great kids and you know they work really hard and um you know they’re eager to learn and it’s it’s kind of fun when you get guys with that attitude derek you seem like one of these guys who just like loves to be around the rank too like I’m I’m curious what’s your favorite part about just being around the guys and like whether it’s working through practice or being on the road like how much do you enjoy that part of the game of hockey and just being occupied like I I have a feeling you enjoy being around the boys quite a bit oh yeah i mean the best part is is postpractice sauna club that’s for sure um we got a good group of guys that after practice we’ll go hang in the sauna and um maybe grab some lunch after and we do it after games sometime and um you know anytime you just get to hang with the boys and especially as you get older and you know it’s it’s going to be coming to an end soon and um you just want to take advantage of all those times so I wanted to ask about the new head coach coming in as well obviously he’s a guy he’s been around without Adam foot but he takes over as head coach uh what’s the excitement level for you there what do you think he’s going to kind of bring to another level now that he’s the head coach instead of kind of working with you guys on defense he’s taken over everything now uh it’s a lot on his plate but what do you think is going to work so well with him coming in as the head coach next season yeah I mean he’s a really good communicator um you know he does a really good job like when he’d run drills in practice he did a great job with getting the energy up and you know we knew what he wanted and you know he loves high compete and you know that’s how he played and that’s what he expects out of us and um yeah he’ll be great i know him and Tak I’m sure have pretty similar philosophies on like structure and stuff like that but um you know he’ll definitely have us like competing in practice and going hard for sure that’s awesome do you ever have to tell some of the young guys about like you know I’m a similar age to you i grew up watching footy when I was a kid and I was like this guy was one of the meanest dudes on the like do you have to tell some of the 20-year-olds about this guy a little bit or what yeah i think we have to tell footy that we can’t cross chick trick as much as he used to anymore get penalties for but um no I mean they they figured it out pretty soon like pretty early on and um you know he would do such a good job at kind of taking guys oneonone after practice and working on little things and um I mean you know you know pretty early like what he wants and you know how he wants you to play back there um so Kevin Dean gets added to the staff as well someone that you had in Boston uh what’s it like having a coach kind of come in and join you that you’ve had in the past what was it like working with him i think it was the 202122 season you had him as a coach there working with you on defense what’s it like to know that you got a friendly face kind of coming in here to join the group yeah it’s great um you know he’s an awesome guy he’s uh he’s had a lot of good you know he’s in Chicago and working with a lot of young D and I know he did a great job with some of their young guys and you know we got some young guys here that you know he’ll do a great job with too and um he’s just a great human too i mean guys love playing for him and um yeah he’s he’s awesome that’s great to hear um fans in Vancouver what was it kind of like to get in here and see this market kind of learn it for a year here like what did you learn about Vancouver Conucks fans that you maybe didn’t know in the past uh well my first taste with Kucks fans was after I put Hoglander in a headlock a couple years ago they were all up in my Instagram comments so it’s good to uh it’s good to mend that fence and uh you know they’re awesome uh you know you kind of you see people around and you know everyone’s just like so like enthusiastic about the team and people care so much and it’s really fun to play in a market where people are you know that into it and I don’t it’s great yeah well you’re all the Canadian teams playing each other like what was it like when when you come back in the locker room to see hoggy or you got like how do you guys gonna go through that because I’m curious like I have no idea how he would react i have no idea how you would react what’s it like like when you guys like hey we’re teammates now man like I don’t know well it it was even like it was even more it was funnier when I I got to know him and I realized like how big of a goof he is and uh even like after like that whole thing happened we’d be at like the face ups and he’d just be like smiling i’d be laughing i’m like who is this kid uh but no it’s it’s it’s good it’s he’s like he’s he’s he’s a really funny guy and um me and him have a really good relationship and we’re always kind of making fun of each other and we laugh about it all the time that’s awesome so for you now heading into your 11th season uh I’m curious how different your game has kind of changed how you’ve like tried to evolve it from you know being a 20-year-old coming in you’re 15th overall pick high end but you kind of have to adjust as you’re playing and you get 10 years in now what are you kind of looking at evolving in your game now kind of in your 11th season that’s kind of really changed from when you first came in here like what do you what are you really trying to kind of grow your game now in your you know 11th year as an NHL player uh I mean I’d say some of the bigger stuff is more off ice um you know kind of back then I was I think when maybe when I got drafted I was like 198 lbs and so you’re all about bulking up and like trying to put on weight and like and now it’s just like trying to I’m it’s trying to do the opposite i’m trying to kind of you know lean down and stay quick and um it’s just kind of funny how that works and um it’s a lot of kind of like injury prevention stuff and just just trying to stay in really good shape and um so yeah off ice is huge it’s definitely more important now is like you know to get take care of the body and helps kind of keep their career going yeah definitely i think what’s interesting I’ve never really like heard a player talk about this either but like when you so you go 15th overall in the draft like when you’re in that year and you know your draft is coming up like was there a point where you’re like damn like I think I’m going to be a first rounder here like do you remember when you started like understanding like I’m going to be a 15th overall pick like I’m curious if that ever hit you and if you like got surprised when you get called like how did it all come about where you’re like I’m going to be a first round pick yeah I mean it was probably the year like leading up to it like um you know growing up in Duth and uh Minnesota you’re pretty isolated from like the rest of the US and Canada with like all their AAA stuff and like and all that stuff that they do and Minnesota kind of stays in house and does their own thing and um so then my senior year when I went to the US national team and I saw like some like pre-draft stuff I was like what like I had no clue I was even like like in that discussion and it was kind of a shock to me to be honest with you and um but then like kind of once you start seeing every like draft thing and you go to the combine and you talk to teams and you know your agents telling you stuff that’s kind of when you start to get a feel for where you’re going to go yeah that’s got to be a pretty cool feeling man not something that a lot of people get to experience that’s pretty awesome um for yourself now like what’s a personal goal do you set those at all like at this point in your career have you kind of learned to that point or do you set anything for yourself going into the season uh I I’ll never set like anything like stats wise um it’s just that’s just not not what I do but um you know I always just like practice like I just like kind of one day at a time try and get a little better every day um you know just every day trying to make the right choices for my body and um just kind of little micro goals like that but nothing stats wise so you kind of touched on a little bit earlier but like the the eagerness for this group to bounce back here and you guys built a lot kind of in the later parts of the season and we’ve kind of been talking to guys throughout the offseason here it sounds like everybody’s really on the same page of like how to run this back next year and really get back to the playoffs be a playoff team where does that come from from this group and did it have to develop over the year last year to get there is obviously not making the playoffs last year it’s kind of led you guys to this point where it’s like man we got to bounce back like we got to come back what’s it like for the group right now kind of focusing on next year and making that bounce back a real possibility and something that actually happened here yeah I think it something definitely kind of I mean I’m sure it was it wasn’t easy to do i mean it was it was done through like you know some tough conversations and some tough meetings as a group and uh some tough tough video sessions on how we want to play and how we want to compete and um you know we came into the year with like clear goals of making the playoffs and doing something and then uh things kind of got off track and but I think we did a good job kind of nipping some of that stuff from the bud and uh you know kind of getting the culture where it needs to be i think speaking of that culture like a lot of it starts with the captain and I think Kucks fans know what this guy’s like what Quinn Hughes does on the ice everybody can see it he’s an incredible defenseman in this league um but just as a captain like I think when you’re a young guy in a Canadian market all this pressure how do you think he handled it what does he do to this group kind of in the room or just with the guys like as a captain things that the fans don’t really see a lot of like what is it like having Quinn as a captain oh he’s great uh he’s such a good dude and um you know I think like maybe you guys like you see him on the bench and he’s not like the most talkative but like in the room he’s he’s a fiery guy and he’s competitive and you know he gets the boys ready to go and um you know he’s got that swagger too like he goes out there and he knows he’s the best player and I think it kind of rubs off on the guys the way he competes and um yeah he’s awesome he’s a special player and a special guy what’s it like for you guys on the bench when you watch him like some of these things he does in the blue line like is you guys in the defense of sitting together like what’s it like like how are you guys talking about the stuff that he’s doing out there oh it’s annoying all you Canucks fans thinks it’s think it’s that easy to do it’s like but no he I mean it’s just like it makes no sense he’s like a point guard up there and like I mean maybe like him and Macar are the only ones in the league who can do that and um just how easy he makes it look and he’s he’s got some special hips uh who’s the best storyteller in that locker room that you kind of came in you get your first year who did you find like who’s the guy who can spin a good story in the locker room ah good stories um Teddy Teddy Bluger’s got some good stories he’s a funny guy uh Jake De Brasa is the worst storyteller by far he he thinks he’s his dad Louie just talking all the time uh for you like you you obviously leave Vancouver during the summer in the offseason here but when you’re here like you get a lot of rainy days here at Vancouver right so I wonder if you can walk me through a Derek Forward special on a rainy day what’s the thing that you do like walk me through a perfect rainy day in Vancouver since we have a lot of those during the season oh I mean I love the rain so sign me up i mean usually like especially on a game day when it’s raining like it just like makes your your pregame nap so much better um when it’s really sunny you’re like “Ah shoot i’m I should probably be outside.” But when it’s raining you’re like “No nap time.” Uh I don’t know what I do like nothing too crazy i mean the season’s so hectic as is like um yeah trying We’ve found some pretty cool restaurants uh we’ve done a little We’ve met this guy who runs a sauna boat so we’ve done that on a rainy day uh yeah i don’t know you can still enjoy the city when it’s raining yeah that’s awesome man uh we’ll finish up on this one here i just wanted to get this out there because like I was talking about the the show Survivor a lot and I was like if we were to put if you guys all went on an island together and you guys had to play the game Survivor like who do you think takes the cake there who wins this game Survivor i don’t know how aware you are of the game i’m sure you know what Survivor is but like you guys were on the game show Survivor who do you think would walk away from that who’s in that Conucks locker room well me and Jake De Brasa are huge Survivor fans so we we break it down every week um Jake always said if he got on Survivor his first vote he’d vote for Jeff just to confuse everyone um which would be epic uh who would who would ride the lobies i I think Phil Heronic probably uh he’s just like I could see him like catching like a wild boar and like just like eating it like no problem uh he uh he he I think Phil Herona could probably be number one okay because like you got to have alliances you got to backstab someone is like is that Phil has all that you think going for him uh yeah and I I think Phil would play a pretty straight out game like he would get his alliance and he would stick to it i don’t think there’d be much backstabbing there and uh so it’ be like a pretty elementary game for him but I think he could do it who do you think would be like since you know Survivor I got to get into this thing with you like who do you think would be one of like you go in who’s a big threat that you got to get out first like who would the guys be together like this guy’s too much of a threat is it Phil like would you guys have to like is everyone on the same page thing with who would you think would be one of the first people voted out because they’re a threat oh I mean oh I I would try and get Hoggy out for sure right away just because I just I I wouldn’t I wouldn’t trust him i just I know he he he’d still be a little mad i put him in a headlock a couple years ago and he’d be coming for me so he’d be my number one guy to get out uh and then as far as like a physical threat uh God who I mean Kefir Sherwood he’s kind of he’s an animal in the gym maybe him uh you can’t he’d probably win a bunch of challenges so probably him or him or Hogi okay so I feel like you and you and Jake wants to have like a target on your back being the Survivor guys too so like I don’t know it’d be fun it’ll never happen but it’d be an incredible thing to do it would would be epic derek appreciate you taking some time man uh this is really appreciated and congrats on the one-year extension we’re excited to see you for another year as a Vancouver Canut yeah thanks for having me

This week, Chris Faber sits down with Derek Forbort, fresh off putting pen to paper on a one-year contract extension with the team. He speaks on his path to playing 10 seasons in the NHL, the Canucks’ coaching staff, giving his picks for who in the locker room would win Survivor, and much more.

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