📅 Published on: 2024-11-24 06:56:35

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Brett Kulak Scott Oake and Louie DeBrusk on After Hours to discuss his growing defensive role on the Oilers, growing up in …

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🕵️‍♂️ Transcript:

thank you boys for your contribution but uh frankly Louie and I have better questions well look look at you who would ever have thought back in 09 when the Vancouver Giants took a wild swing on a 5 foot6 140lb kid made you a ninth round selection um you were just a little bit bigger then than you were in the picture but who would ever have thought back then that you were one day going to play in the NHL how convinced were you yeah uh it’s funny I always had the belief in myself for sure but uh you know it’s a long road to get there and there’s lots of times along the way where where it doesn’t quite seem like you are going to make it and uh you know you get pushed down my first year Pro playing in the east coast then the AHL and then finally getting a game in uh the NHL it’s uh yeah it’s a it’s a long road but you know I kept the the belief and get a good sport system around me and uh you just keep working day by day uh year by year and just keep getting better and uh that’s still kind of the goal the game teaches me things every day still so we’re going to talk about how you have gone from the farm to the NHL and it certainly was on The Road Less Traveled but first to tonight Louie yeah nice performance by you guys tonight I thought you guys came out really well in the first period obviously that was the game plan early on just some of your highlights um from the night a couple of things for me you’ve played the right side a little bit with darn nussa no cough keeps throwing you over there and in certain times in the game you play the left side partially you play the right side partially you make a really nice backhand pass coming up the wall here how tough is that going back from from left to right for you uh during the game uh yeah at the start it’s different for sure but now I’ve been doing it for whatever it’s it’s been 10 plus games so that one right there I mean that’s out of the Zone threw a couple of sticks that’s a pretty nice play yeah yeah no it’s good but you know that’s what what I hope to expect myself for sure I’m assuming it’s because of the skating ability right the one thing Paul coffee said right is you skate really well so to be able to play the right side or your offside in in particular you have to be a good move of the feet you have to be able to shuffles twist the right way for you you’ve always been a great skater just kind of comes naturally be able to go that way yeah it’s a strength of mine for sure and that’s just the way the game’s going you have to skate and the better you can skate the easier the game is and uh that’s for sure allowed me to just play both sides and so BR you’ve always you’ve always had offense in your game consider how you started the season and what your head coach had to say yes yes he’s looking a little more like um Bobby or and uh scored four goals in um 16 games so um yeah we’ll see how long that lasts but we’re not expecting him to uh score 20 or 25 this year but we do expect him to play a good all round game so four goals in 16 games was in fact a 20 goal Pace you played game number 21 tonight but uh was it not high time that somebody got you in the bobor conversation yeah that that’s awesome I love it uh the more of that the better for sure and yeah it’s been a great start of the Year little ups and downs for the team but I think it’s a a good thing for us you know the scoring didn’t come easy uh early on and sometimes that’s good you got to you got to play different and work harder for your goals and better have that now than uh come April heading into the playoffs so Chris noblock also talked about how you consistently step up and you certainly did it in the playoffs last spring in particular in the final a lot of people felt you were the unsung hero of the Oilers appearance in the stany Cup Final and you’ve done it again this year the absence of Darnell nurse Louie yeah just a remarkable run for you guys last year but and that’s your second run to the final for you personally what did that have as far as confidence carrying over to this year and why maybe you’re having such a great start to the season for you personally yeah I think uh it was such a quick turnaround for obviously the off season going from the end of June to the the start of this season so I think that was something just your game picks up uh quicker and um just yeah year after year anytime I I get that experience and you know the first time in Montreal you didn’t play every game through that run but you just see see what the guys go through and then when you do get in there you you see what the game’s like and it just naturally makes you a better player different challenges and situations you’re in and uh I think that’s just allowed me to keep keep improving and I just hope for more of that Paul coffee when he stepped on board the one thing he asked of you guys was to make plays he said I want you guys to make plays get up the ice that kind of translates right into your game as well too it seemed like you came out a little bit once he came on board would you agree with that yeah I think so I think he he’s done a great job at you know he’s getting the most out of all of us D I think and uh he he’s encouraging he pumps confidence into us and he he pushes Us in the right ways and and he expects more every night and uh yeah he he’s been great he’s just kind of a wind in your sales for sure and um he’s he’s been awesome for me the oil’s confidence in you Brett’s clearly reflected in your ice times you were over 20 minutes again tonight have been so consistently for the last couple of weeks uh Louie yeah you know like the numbers have risen I mean obviously the more responsibility you have the more you play and again this kind of goes along the same lines when you start playing well the coach wants to use you more and for Paul coffee being the defensive coach he’s he sees comfort in putting you on the ice and he’s putting you out there in more situations so every player wants to play more right yeah it’s the out there uh I mean the more ice you get the better for sure and a lot of the times the better you play you just you know you know your next shift’s coming and you’re not sitting on a bad play or anything like that for too long and uh the ice time has been great but you know like you say you don’t just get handed ice you got to go out there and you got to want it first of all and you got to want to be on the ice and involved in the game all the time and then uh you got to make your shifts count and you got to make plays and uh it’s it’s been a good run for me and uh hopefully to continue it all right back to the Stanley Cup Final La uh last June um how do you spell relief when you take a penalty in game number five and then Conor Brown get you off the hook let’s just look at your reaction here in The Penalty Box after Connor Brown gets the short-handed goal you remember this obviously you do yeah yeah okay there’s the short-handed goal and Praise Jesus yeah it happened tonight for you too it but it wasn’t quite the celebration no has in game not the same emotion you were like okay good yeah that’s uh I can remember that like vividly still and I probably will for a long time that’s a long sit in that box that was an exciting moment for sure ho uh which stands for hard core Oilers asks how many names do you remember of 196 players drafted before you in the Bantam draft yeah not many less than less than 10 guys for sure and his follow-up question is H what is your favorite we’ve got some pictures of you You’ uh during your time with the Vancouver Giants what’s your favorite Junior Hockey memory with the Vancouver Giants uh one was my first year the the teddy bear toss goal I scored that at home uh well there’s that’s awesome yeah scoring the teddy bear toss school I don’t know how many fans we had it was probably most fans I had played in front of uh my career there was probably 15,000 in there and it was it was pretty cool it’s the O Kings teddy bear toss tomorrow and it’s like it’s that’s always the big deal scoring that goal isn’t it everybody wants to score yeah it’s fun Okay you’re from Stony plane it’s a half hour west of Edmonton on Highway 16 which makes okay that’s it all right I got ahead of myself there uh Stony plane half hour west of Edmonton um which makes you next to Stewart Skinner the closest thing the Oilers have to a homegrown Talent did you know that Stony plane was once known as dog rump Creek oh okay I didn’t know that’s what it went by but I mean there’s still uh the pond there there is a spot called dollr Creek so they haven’t lost that but I didn’t know that’s what they because the bend in the creek south of dog Lake looks like a dog’s rump okay so you come on this show Brett uh not just to be showcased but also to be educated it’s a public service we’re performing here first thing you thought when Montreal traded you to Edmonton at the deadline in 22 and you knew you were coming home uh it was exciting my wife was pregnant at the time and I knew she was going to be given birth back in Canmore so it was kind of the perfect scenario I was going to be closer to her and uh closer to the family and going to a team you know pushing for the playoffs and coming home it was just yeah it was the perfect scenario for me so I Googled famous people from Stony plane two names came up uh a politician whose name I did not recognize and you so you now have the title of most famous person from Stony plane how do you feel about that yeah take it yeah guess right but actually I guess it really can’t be you Glenn Hall the legendary goenda but lived in Stony plane his whole life so he gets the title and we’ll have to resend yours uh spoke to your parents Laura and Gil yesterday Gil said that any trip to the store now takes a half an hour longer because people want to stop him to talk about you and the Oilers but he said when it really came home to him um how much your Fame had spread was at Halloween when the kids come to their house and say is this where Brett kulak’s parents live yeah that’s funny they got some good stories they’ve been getting some some perks around town for sure but uh yeah my dad loves to chat so I’m sure he’s not too upset about his extended grocery shop so is it true as a kid that country you used to trick-or treat at Glen Hall’s house yeah yeah I remember going to his house yeah yeah uh how many requests then for kolak sweaters have you had from uh from Stony plane can’t say the exact number but uh every year there’s there’s quite a few maybe maybe I’d say 20 per season let’s talk about how you got to the NHL and and doing all the things that are currently required of any player to get to the show so we’ll start with a checklist here um personal trainer did you have one uh couple of years a little sporadic and now I’ve kind of reverted to just just training by myself again skills coach did you have one uh no dietician no hockey School uh no not really okay so according to today’s standards you really have beat the odds to get to the NHL that’s you’re kind of old old school you know Year from in a lot in a lot of ways maybe I wouldn’t have lasted year a couple weeks before Camp yeah but you know I there were stories you know Brad Baris used to run to the rink every day to get himself in shape not that old school but uh that’s pretty incredible that you didn’t have that growing up it was just playing the game and being a kid right lots lots of time on Ice yeah yeah there you go hours and hours it is the most door ice and yeah just always on the ice yeah so you basically are here on hard work Love of the Game uh two older brothers Tyson and Kyle it’s not uncommon for the little brother to uh follow uh the older brothers into whatever it is they happen to be doing but your mother has told me that Tyson and Kyle had no interest in hockey whatsoever so if they didn’t inspire you what did yeah I don’t know what it was cuz yeah being the the youngest boy um I was the first one to start playing and I don’t know what made my parents put me in the skates but uh yeah I was the first one to start and then obviously the only one who kept going with it so uh been enjoying it ever since how did you become such a good skater was it just the time on the ice like you said you just literally put the time in and it was just natural for you I think so yeah I don’t know because I mean to be an elite skater even at the NHL level which you are that’s pretty impressive you know you as you get older your legs get stronger and everything but from a young age you know I was always good skater but I don’t know if I was uh yeah I remember that you and George lck yeah yeah yeah these are good pictures awesome good memories yeah your mother dug those out of the albums yesterday for was there an NA All-Star team there is that a spring team you put on yeah play on that team yeah the old na Allstar oh yeah we had some good teams y all right let’s have a look at some vintage kolac here it goes back to the point of kak kak with the shot stopped at the defense he gets it back again A Bouncing but they go [Music] not been in R my partner there you go now what’s up with number 97 yeah I don’t know why I like that number back in the day you didn’t ask for it when you came here yeah hey Conor funny uh it was uh I think a 14,000 acre grain Farm on which you grew up I can’t think of a better slice of canadiana in the winter smaller that’s 1400 Acres 1400 yeah 14 I wrote down 14,000 sorry yeah oh overshot um I can’t think of a better slice of canadiana in the winter than uh the kolac boys getting on a tractor and driving to the slooh and cleaning it off uh with the tractor and then playing for hours was that a common occurrence yeah yeah every every winter as soon as the pond was you know it would freeze right through so uh that’s that’s what we did we had a cut in the in the trees and able to get the tractor right in there and push it off that that was the easy way to do it but sometimes if you took the shovels out then you get a little more work to do but uh yeah we found our way on that pond uh every year for sure and it was fun well you pretty much answered the question but we’re going to get this one in anyway it’s from Steve Yuan um you may recall he covered the Vancouver giant still does for the Vancouver Province and Steve by the way on hockey fights cancer night is a cancer survivor that’s worth mentioning uh he asks I remember reading in a well-crafted newspaper story which of course Steve wrote that Brett skating stride originated in part from staying out of the way of his two older brothers on the rink that would be the slew they made uh every winter on a pond across the road from the family farm is that true yeah probably a little bit played part to that for sure we uh we would spend hours out there and uh like I said to Louie I think just the skating and just getting to the NHL and everything is just a combination of just a lot of time playing hockey and uh that was a big part of it uh question from Jake being a good old Bera boy who was your favorite Oiler growing up I’d have to say over the years it was Smitty for me for sure yeah Ryan Smith so well you scored that tip goal this year so I mean you obviously had some good hands in front of the net you scored he scored a ton of goals from right there so yeah no I’d say all through the years you know guys would come and I they’d be awesome for a couple months but Smitty was the guy you’d always stick with and yeah he was always the favorite you know uh back to the band of draft in ‘ 09 we’ve already mentioned that you were uh sorely undersized and so you stayed back for a year to play in St Albert and then you underwent a merciful growth spurt reported to Vancouver uh at six feet but as your mother said uh very thin the joke was you could hide behind a fishing pool uh you play a season there and you get drafted after what 72 games you get drafted by the Calgary Flames in the fourth round did it suddenly feel like your hockey career was on Fast Forward yeah yeah a little bit I mean it was just uh things for me that I had in mind like little little goals you want to achieve right like you want to come in and have a good seasoning and get drafted and I mean it’s easier just said and done but yeah just got to thank obviously the GM and the coach and everything in Vancouver for bringing me in and giving me good opportunity and allowing me to have a successful season and and putting me kind of on the map to to get drafted that year was it a concern for you like how small you were like were you did you were you even thinking about or were you still just playing and saying this is kind of the next step and we’ll see what happens or yeah I was uh I was always undersized growing up and you know you talk to lots of people and they say lots of people say that’s probably a good thing you learn how to play kind of against bigger guys if you’re in your battles your body positioning and everything so I I definitely don’t think it hurt my game and that’s for sure because you still play against guys who are a lot bigger than you nowadays but um yeah always I was always undersized defenseman like you say until kind of that you know 18 17 18 years old I kind of started to come along and uh be a little more average so you never forget your first career goal let’s have a look at [Applause] yours simple yeah yeah how you drew it up right yeah down the left side rip it oh that was that was fun you know what the guys talk about how hard your shot is yeah you know that’s theone you’ve always had a little little Undercover you know it’s one of those furin there got the the primary assist on my goal he he’s the one who introduced me to my wife too so it’s kind of an extra little uh special connection there so as I said earlier you’ve always had offense in your game there was that goal uh you’ve scored 25 in your career and uh let’s deal with another one from the Heritage Classic yeah this had to be a special one you know the Heritage Classic here in Edmonton and you know what you’re in the elements and you bash this one on the backand side that’s got to be right up there for one of the best ones you ever scored yeah that was awesome had uh had family and friends everyone there and yeah I just I I remember the last Heritage Classic in Emon I when I was a kid I was I was pumped for this game and then you know obviously this core one it’s pretty cool and then the just the Roar of the atmosphere in the stadium was that was awesome that many people in the building yeah that was good uh question from D it’s more of a statement actually starts with coie you’re a stallion on the back end mistakes never seen him uh question regarding your number with 27 typically worn by Oiler tough guys like sanco Hunter Lorac Lich what made you choose that number yeah I remember when I got traded here um they were asking me kind of what I wanted they said like do you want to go back to your Calgary number 61 or what and I I just I didn’t really want that one so I asked for the list of what was available and uh I saw TW 27 and I had always like Scott neire growing up when when I played so I was like uh H that’s nice number I’ll take that one that’s not a bad guy to mold your game after could he ever skate you talk about skaters wow yeah yeah I was he he was one of my favorites too growing up you don’t fight a lot but you don’t turn down invitations I think hockeyfights.com has you at about eight or nine bouts in your career and yeah something like yeah and they list as the top one this one against Sam Carrick we’ve got an expert here in fights uh I’m sorry against laery uh Lou yeah well you know the thing I like about it is your head’s up you know you can tell you’re you’re pretty comfortable in this situation two older brothers I’m assuming that they probably made you pretty tough growing up as a kid right they taught me how it feels like take a punch anyway but you you’re totally like you know you watch guys fight I mean you can see laford he’s got his head down your head right up and you’re looking exactly where you’re throwing your punches and that to me as an ex tough guy is telling me hey yeah be careful cuz he’s looking where he’s throwing these punches it’s not Reckless yeah but you seem pretty comfortable in the situation that was a good one yeah yeah yeah I don’t fight much don’t don’t love fighting but sometimes you know I think that was the third or fourth time he kind of hit me late after the play I’m like all right oh he takes so much yeah exactly you and Caitlyn have one child Riley’s two and a half uh her birth was news in May of 22 because it occurred during that first round matchup with the la king so take us through the circumstances yeah we just uh we were down 3-2 in our series and then it was after game six in La we just had a big big win tied up the series 33 to bring it home for game seven and we’re staying over theight in LA and then I I get the call in the middle of the night uh it was from our trainer and he said hey your wife’s in labor and you know it was it was a little bit early so I’m not even expecting a first child like uh yeah it’ll all work out perfect I’ll be there no problem but uh yeah I get the call in the middle of the night and then I’m up and and caught the earliest flight I could and she held off and I flew into Calgary and my mom drove down from Stony and uh picked me up and drove me out to cmore and and I was able to be there for the birth so that was good and then yeah we we spent the night in cmore that night uh game seven was the following day so my mom drove me back up here to Edmonton uh I missed morning skate and then uh just went home had some lunch and laid down for a while and then we we ended up winning game seven so it and you played game seven on an emotional High obviously so now Caitlyn is due to deliver your second child in April that will be the seventh grandchild for Gil and Laura uh but are you not looking at the same sort of scenario this year because that’s playoff time again yeah exactly yeah so I guess you hope so right yeah oh yeah maybe not that close due dates uh end of April and then you know we play our last game I think April 16th so hopefully uh baby comes on the 17th and then get a couple days before our first round match up well it worked out last time and it will this time uh Brian Costello asks any relation to former Cougar’s great and Edmonton native Vancouver draft pick sta y Stu is my dad’s uh Dad’s cousin so when I when I started playing pro hockey I started to you know getting to know Stu a little bit better and he shared shared a little wisdom little stories with me and that and uh just been able to you know grow a relationship a little bit more uh I didn’t know him too well growing up as a kid but um yeah it it’s cool it’s always been pretty cool for me to know I’ve had that connection in the family to someone who played in the NHL last thing on hockey fights cancer night here in Edmonton you think of your uncle Randy why yeah he uh he was big for me he was a big hockey fan and um just you know he passed away unfortunately when I when I was a pretty young kid but uh one thing he always said to me is he wanted to be my agent when I got to the NHL so uh that was that was pretty cool for me just uh that belief in someone I looked up to and he thought I could do it and again that’s just kind of another another step and uh believing in myself that it could happen perfect yeah glad you were able to remember him tonight thanks for joining us there’s Brett kulak Mr reliable as an Oiler defenseman he was our guest on after hours back to Rogers Place in Edmonton in a moment [Music]

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