D-man a big baseball fan
Neal Pionk never told former teammate Rick Nash he had his jersey when he was a kid. (CONNOR HAMILTON / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES)
NEAL Pionk was born in Nebraska, raised in Minnesota and is now in his eighth season with the Winnipeg Jets after coming over from the New York Rangers in the Jacob Trouba trade.
The Free Press chatted with the 31-year-old undrafted defenceman on Thursday in Chicago, before he netted a goal and two assists in a 4-3 overtime loss.
Q: We know you’re good at hockey. But what other hidden skills or talents do you have away from the rink?
A great card player. (He deliberately says this loud enough so it can be overheard by several teammates around him who regularly engage in games on the plane).
No, I’d say my only other talent is baseball. From back in the day. I was second and third base. I played amateur baseball until I was 21, and then once I signed a pro hockey contract I had to stop. I didn’t want to round second and sprain an ankle or take a ball off the fingers. But now I just love following the game, I’m a big fan.
Q: How about something you’re terrible at, despite your best efforts?
I’m not very good at pool. It’s the only thing I do left-handed. I have a pool table at home, and I’m just so terrible. I can’t figure it out.
(It is suggested he might be a sneaky pool shark, pretending to be bad in order to sucker in an opponent).
Oh no, not at all. I wish.
Q: Which teammate would be most successful at doing a stand-up comedy routine?
Underrated funny, for sure, is Josh Morrissey. He’s not super loud, but the stuff he says I laugh at almost every time. I think he’s hilarious.
And Gabe Vilardi. Very, very funny. Those would be a couple favourites on the team.
Q: You, Neal Pionk, are made NHL commissioner for one day. What’s the first rule you change?
Is profit an issue?
If you don’t win 41 games, you’re not in the playoffs. I get with profits it might be a little bit of an issue. But yeah, you have to win at least half your games. It’s why I like baseball playoffs so much. It’s almost impossible to make it at .500.
Q: Winnipeg has been your hockey home for eight seasons now. Is there something about the city you’ve come to appreciate?
There’s a few things. I think the restaurant scene is really underrated. Not that I’m a big foodie, but when I first got here, Lows (captain Adam Lowry) told me about the restaurants. We’ve explored a lot of them. They’re really good.
And then similar to Duluth (Minn.), this is just a hockey-crazed town. That’s why we liked it so much, because it was very similar to home. People are extremely nice, and we love it.
Q: What’s your very first hockey memory from childhood?
My very first memory is probably winning the city championship in Squirt hockey. I was like 10 years old, there were like six teams around the city of Duluth, and we won.
Q: As a kid growing up in Minnesota, who’s one or two NHL players that you idolized?
I always looked up to Pavel Datsyuk. The Red Wings were so good when I was growing up, and Datsyuk was kind of the star player. I liked him a lot.
And then as a kid, when we’d wear jerseys and pretend to be that player, everyone had a Datsyuk, (Alex) Ovechkin, (Sidney) Crosby jersey. I wanted a different one. So I got a Rick Nash jersey. And then he ended up being my teammate in New York. I don’t know if I ever told him that — we only played together for about 20 games.
For defencemen, it was (Brian) Rafalski, Nik Lidstrom.
Q: What was your first job?
It would have been working for my dad, doing landscaping.
I was 16. I hated it. The next year I took a job at the local car wash. I didn’t want to lay any more sod during the summer. But it taught us good lessons. Looking back now I’m glad I did it. But yeah, me and my brothers all had to work at least one year for him. I was the only one who just put in one year. The rest of them put in more years.
Q: If you weren’t playing professional hockey, what would you be doing to earn a living?
Probably landscaping. If the hockey didn’t work out.
Q: Is there a story behind your No. 4?
It was available. I wore 44 in New York, because that was my training camp number. Then I came here and J-Mo (Morrissey) was wearing 44, so I asked what was available and they said “4.” College, I wore 4 because 5 wasn’t available and that’s what I had worn in junior. And then in youth hockey I always wore 9.
Q: Do you have any superstitions related to hockey?
Nothing crazy. For whatever reason, I always put on my left skate first. I don’t know why. And I always tie my left skate first, too. Why, I don’t know. But now it’s just kind of routine.
Q: What is your go-to pre-game meal?
I always have a salad and a pasta. Mix and match sometimes. When we get maybe to the middle of the year, I’ll maybe switch up the sauces or try something different on top of pasta. But those are the staples.
Q: Is there a food you absolutely will not touch?
No, I’ll try whatever. I’m very open to trying anything. I’m not picky at all. I love putting peas and black olives on a lot of stuff that guys think is weird. But I love it.
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NEAL PIONK
A wide-ranging one-on-one conversation series with the Winnipeg Jets about the stuff you don’t always hear in the media scrum