After this Saturday’s game vs. the Islanders in Los Angeles, the Kings will depart for a four-game road trip, including the first three in Canada.
And that’s where the fun will begin for goaltender Ben Scrivens.
Traded by the Maple Leafs to the Kings this past summer, Scrivens could potentially find himself at the opposing end of the ice versus the central figure in that deal, netminder Jonathan Bernier, come next Wednesday.
After practice earlier today at the Kings training facility, the questions started to flow. Here’s what he had to say about next week’s roadie…
On if he’s excited about returning to Toronto:
“Yeah, it should be fun getting back to the old stomping grounds. You have to make sure you’re focused on the task at hand, which is getting two points for the team. But, it should be a fun night.”
On if he still stays in contact with any Maple Leafs players:
“I still keep in touch with a couple guys. They’ve had some turnover too. Reims [James Reimer] and I are good buddies. We still keep in touch. I still text with Mark Fraser and van Riemsdyk every once and a while when things come up, something funny comes up. The hockey world is pretty small. You always run into mutual acquaintances, stories will come up. So, it’s easy to have that base to go back to, ‘Oh, I saw so and so the other day, hey how’s it going buddy.'”
On if he still watches Maple Leaf games:
“I’ll watch hockey games. If they’re on, I’ll watch [Toronto]. But, I don’t make a point of watching Leafs games.”
On any fond memories from his time in Toronto:
“In my opinion, a city is a city. I’m not a big architecture guy or anything like that. What makes places special to me are the people. Obviously, we had a lot of good friends there and forged a lot of lasting relationships. That’s the biggest thing, the people that we met and the friends that we have there now. We still keep in touch with them. It’s going to be good to get back and see them again.”
On returning to the media-circus in Toronto:
“I spent three years there. I think I can handle the media there.”
On the Toronto media compared to what he’s experienced in LA:
“It’s like this, but about eight more deep. I feel like if you’re yourself, just treat it the same way you would a scrum of three, answer the questions honestly. Don’t say anything stupid, too stupid. Treat people with respect and usually they’re pretty nice to you.”
On being a celebrity in Toronto:
“It definitely has its perks but it has its drawbacks too. That being said, when you’re playing in Toronto, you’re the Lakers, you’re the Yankees in New York. It’s a lot of fun, because people genuinely care about what you’re doing. Any drawbacks that there are, is because people care too much, if that’s possible. You can’t hold it against people that they care about what you’re doing. It’s a lot of fun there. As I got later in my career there and started to play at least a little more, oblivious you get a little more recognition in day-to-day life. People see you out at restaurants and stuff. I’ve never had any bad experiences- Canadians are all nice. It was a lot of fun to be involved with hockey in Toronto.”
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“In my opinion, a city is a city. I’m not a big architecture guy or anything like that. What makes places special to me are the people.”
Scrivens is great. I have a lot of respect for an intellectual goalie of his caliber. A co-worker of mine went to school with him at Cornell. I’d love to get in touch with him just to let him know we are all really happy to have him on our team. I wonder if she can hook me up with some contact info!