Tank Talk: Wennberg

Tank Talk: Wennberg

winnie first off I want to say congratulations at Worlds didn’t win the entire tournament but still to have the bronze medal in your home country there’s got to be some satisfaction to that right yeah I mean the whole tournament itself uh playing at home friends and family there obviously the setup to win gold would have been amazing but uh obviously fell fell a little bit short but now give it a few weeks afterwards you kind of like it’s pretty cool to have a bronze medal and kind of like leave the tournament be like on a good note as well so yeah not everybody gets to take something home and you were saying that’s your first like adult medal that you’ve ever received yeah I played uh was a silver world champions twice in a row so this is like the first the other world champions have played and knocked out in the quarterfinals so for me I mean even though it’s a it’s disappointment in a certain way it’s still kind of for me like wow that’s pretty pretty cool brought to the medal hole my kid is thrilled he’s like loving it so for me yeah it’s pretty special anyways even though it’s just just a bronze so have you had a barbecue yet has it been passed around yet everybody take a picture with it yet no I don’t think my my kid would share it no for for sure like the first game that happened he brought it to the hockey room stood had national anthem he put it on so he’s pretty much like claimed it right now for himself so hey I know you’ve gone up against your teammates before in different tournaments and things over over time and over your career but specifically to go up against Will and Mack and your own head coach and Ryan Warovski in those games against the US and Canada had to be a little bit surreal right yeah I mean obviously it’s real different but I mean the worst thing is that we lost to both Yeah canada and US so yeah it wasn’t the the best matchup for us though but I mean it’s just fun i mean obviously you play with them there’s young kids you see them grow up there and then all of a sudden you play against them you kind of like see like this is what other teams face when they’re out there and it’s like you said it’s like a surreal feeling but you’re also kind of like Yeah it’s good to have them as teammates instead of playing against them for sure absolutely is there some personal development even for somebody like yourself who’s been around the block in the NHL but to just play with people you never have before maybe get coached by people you never have you you learn something new when you go in a tournament like that yeah absolutely i mean it’s it’s a different game for sure obviously with the big guys that kind of change the way you look at it you got to skate a little bit more you maybe not as much as a shooting threat all the time as you would be in the NHL but uh I mean new coaches new systems I think it’s good to get your mind like going and trying something else cuz when you get back to it get back to your habits like your own team i feel like you feel even like more comfortable in your skin there because that’s what you like used to play at so I think it’s good to kind of like expand your try your IQ a little bit on the ice but then also come back to it and you feel even more comfortable so you know I’ve been watching the Stanley Cup final with kind of one eye right like paying attention and and aware of what’s going on but for you uh six hours ahead of even the Eastern time zone right now you’re in Sweden so do you what watch the next morning how do you digest the Stanley Cup final games i mean I I I kind of keep like you say keep an eye on it but what’s funny is that my my youngest one the my girl here she wakes up at like 5:30s every now and then i’m like I wake up and it’s like still third period i’m like god damn it like it’s it’s a good and bad i’m like how’s this game not ended yet and it feels like I should be asleep right now yeah it’s crazy even here out west I’m thinking what time is it out east when they’re playing these games so uh no everybody’s watching and obviously I also wanted to touch on this um we were all very concerned for William Mean we saw that injuries he was ramping up to play in Worlds now I know you’ve seen him recently like within the last week or so just give us give us the vibe check how how’s he doing from your perspective no I mean he’s doing great obviously a little bit of rehab to kind of like get back to it but I mean it’s just crazy what happened i mean obviously just playing exhibition game like that like a friendly and then all of a sudden it’s like it just went so quick so all consideration it went really well he he’s okay right now but I mean obviously it’s just one one of those crazy things you can never expect but uh right now it seems like he’s kind of like reset a little bit i think we all learned something from it be more careful wear a couple more cut resistance things so try to make the best out of it but yeah no he he’s good he started working out skating and all that so I think he’s uh he’s getting to it and how’s the brand new Ecklland ice facilities is that where you met him at his brand new family right yes yeah i mean I didn’t skate for myself i’m still kind of like getting back to it it’s more for Rio to skate so he skated and it’s just a it’s a great facility they build two like small rinks guys go there and play so for my son to go there I haven’t skated in a while he was just excited i had to like drag him away from there uh so it it’s an awesome place i’m going to for sure spend some hours there skating and having fun with EK and those guys what a cool family legacy and speaking of the Ecklund family his brother likely to get drafted uh Victor this time around but as for the NHL draft upcoming how does a veteran like yourself either pay attention to this or not or does it matter to you or how does somebody like you look at the hype and then eventually the NHL draft no I mean keep an eye on it obviously it’s it’s your team is your I mean kind of future that’s coming into new players whoever is going to be is it a D man centerman I think for me I think is really exciting obviously you never know you see all these mock drafts and all that and it feels like it it’s always a little bit of guessing but now when it’s getting really close you’re kind of excited to see what’s going to happen so it’s going to be really fun and I mean for us I think it looks really good and I’m excited what we’re going to what we’re going to do with it for sure I guess you pay attention a lot more when you know you have the second overall pick where where were you Where were you when the draft you’re probably sleeping when the draft lottery happened but uh what was your reaction to the Sharks getting second overall i mean of course you’d love first but look you’re you’re going to get a talented player for this organization yeah i mean and that’s the thing it’s a lottery right you never know what you’re going to get obviously you want the first one to get like the you can pick whatever you want but I feel like brought second right there and I mean like uh what what I know and what I read up about these two first player Misa and uh uh sorry just go drawing Matthew Schaer Schaefer yes thank you i think both of them is going to be a hell of a player so it’s kind of like either way I feel like he’s two fantastic options so really excited to see how it’s going to pan out and like like I said for for us to get another key player that’s going to come in and probably make an impact right away i feel like that just helps uh the future that we’re building in with the Sharks so I think it just makes everyone even more excited about what’s ahead so yeah well speaking of the team and what’s ahead and really in the immediate future I think free agency starting on July 1st might help and impact your team next year and moving forward i don’t want to ask you what what players you’d like that’s a ridiculous question but here it is what type of players what type of free agents would you like to see your team go after whether it’s a style of play a certain dressing room uh fit what What do you think your team needs most in free agency no I mean I feel like right now we we got to add a little bit i mean obviously a lot of players left during the deadline it feels like we kind of need a couple of pieces to come in make an impact right there these de mans and all like that but the beauty of it is that it’s totally out of my control that’s kind of like the beauty of it as well so for me you always have the wish list as I kind of think it’s excited to kind of like sit back and see what’s going to happen cuz in my past experience it feels like you’re guessing and then you’re just totally wrong about it so I kind of just stopped that game cuz I never win at it anyways but it is exciting right and I didn’t I didn’t mean to put you in Mike Greer’s seat but you know what I mean like it’s it is kind of exciting to think that they’re going to do some things to to help bolster your team next year and and look I mean let’s be honest we know what the salary cap situation looks like for the Sharks there’s going to be some spending like this is going to be a it should be a lucrative free agent uh spending spree so I’m excited to see who your new teammates are honestly yeah exactly and and the same and that’s that’s the thing we were talking about even though it’s out of our choice obviously you read up and you see the players and you can’t wait to see like okay who’s going to end up here so I think that’s the part of the beauty like the buildup for it because right now obviously when you look at it it’s like oh it’s a couple of weeks days away and then it’s closing in and you’re like oh it’s really happening soon so for sure I’m eager to find out but like I said it’s it’s going to be fun to see what we’re going to do how much we’re going to spend what’s going to happen and you never know that’s that’s what I mean it’s just it’s it’s a curiosity is really like tingling right now for sure what do you think about the limit of three Swedes per team is that should should the Sharks get a fourth Swed i mean I feel like e either way I mean I obviously love hanging out with the Swedes one we have are great guys but I mean like I said I think it’s just as fun to get these young guys and especially you get to know these American Canadians Russians all of them is great but obviously I have a special bunch to Sweet so we’ll see if we can add another one to the team or not so I hope Douglas Murray isn’t watching this he will take exception to what I just said hey last thing here the the sun never sets in Sweden it’s by the way like 9 in the morning where I’m at in California it’s like 6 something where you’re at in Sweden uh what are your plans with the family the rest of this summer how how do you enjoy it no I mean obviously right now just a little downtime after playing a long tournament long season so just try to catch up with uh with the kids hang out with the family just to soak that in as much as possible got a big holiday coming up which is midsummer which is kind of like a highlight moment in Sweden so excited about that but other than that I mean try to travel try to enjoy as much of it and then kind of like get back to work and uh get ready for the next season but while we’re here friends and family that’s where we’re kind of like missing the life in the US so that’s what we try to like enjoy most so yeah hey Wendy it was great to watch you have a good season with the Sharks and things kind of progress can’t wait for next year already and I think that’s a good thing about you and the team is that things are going to come together even more this upcoming season thanks for your time and I will see you when you get back that sounds great thank you very much

Brodie Brazil checks in with Sharks forward Alex Wennberg to reflect on his time with Sweden at the IIHF World Championship, winning bronze, and how his summer is going.