Block Party | Tyler Johnson

Let’s say you walk into the lighting room. Coupe says, “Johnny, like give give some boys some like life lessons, career lessons now that your career is has wrapped up and you got to tell the guys something.” The younger guys, right, the Connor geekies of the world. I think that it’s shorter than what you think it will be. I mean, just feels like just yesterday that uh got into Tampa and stuff. So, I think that would be the biggest thing is like it happened so quick. [Music] Bolts nation. Welcome into another episode of the Bolts Block Party powered by our awesome friends at High Ali IPA, Wolfie and Kobe. And we could not be more excited to get this gentleman on the podcast. It’s probably been four or five years since he has been on the legend that is Johnny be good. Tyler Johnson joins us here on the podcast. TJ, it is so awesome to have you back here in Tampa, back in the building. Congratulations on the retirement. You surely do not look retired. You are jacked, my friend. Uh but how amazing how amazing is it uh for you to be back here in the city once again, man. Thanks. I can’t believe it’s been four or five years since I’ve been on this. It’s been a while. Um, no, it’s been super fun. I just got in this morning. Uh, unfortunately it’s a quick trip, so I’m only here for the night and then leave tomorrow, but uh I wish I was here longer. I love this place. Have Have obviously I I don’t know the last time you were back in the city, but the changes all around the building, it’s pretty I’m I’m sure it’s like mesmerizing for you to look around and see all the changes. I mean, the downtown’s insane. I remember when we were here, uh, Mr. Vinnick was talking about all the different things he wanted to do downtown. And now to be able to kind of see it come to life. Uh I don’t know if I actually envisioned it this way, but uh no, I love it. It It’s such a cool city. It’s uh you know, always my second home. I I really love it. Are you like everyone else? Like I’m just wish I would have like when I first got here, I wish I would have bought like five properties, you know, like I be just rolling right now. Screws McDucking it around. Oh, I remember looking on Davis Island for my first house and just the the water prices, right? To be on the water was astron, you know, crazy. But now it’s Good luck. I would love to take that. Yeah, Tampa’s been growing in leaps and bounds for sure, man. Um, so obviously, you know, you um you’ve surely left your mark on this organization, but for you obviously um retiring last year or actually this year, uh, this past summer. Um, was that a difficult decision for you? Obviously, um, you know, a 13-year career in the NHL, over 400 points, 193 goals, 240 assists. I mean, from somebody who who entered this league as, you know, non-drafted to have such a an amazing career, but again, having it recently come to a close, like what what’s kind of going through your mind right now? Uh, yeah. I mean, I think it’s always difficult leaving something behind that was such a big part of your life, but at the same time, I was kind of ready for it. I mean, I look back when I was, you know, 18, 19, 20, before I signed, I had no idea what was going to be my life. and um ended up being this. So I I mean I I’m pretty thankful for everything that’s happened. I got a lot of good friends, a lot of good teammates, won some cups, uh able to get to know Kobe, so that’s been fun. Always a positive. Everyone’s highlight. Everyone’s highlight. You don’t have to lie. No, I mean I I’m just so thankful for like what unfolded. I I never thought that uh you know, this could have been something in my life. So for me to be able to actually do it and be a partake and be able to have my family throughout everything has been uh unbelievable. So, it’s uh one of those things that it’s bittersweet, some you always want to do, but at the same time, I’m uh very thankful that it’s over. And now I see the guys go out there and, you know, have that last exhibition game where they try to kill each other, and I’m like, it’s probably my time, you know? So, it’s one of those things where it’s uh both both sides. Yeah. Johnny, I was uh I was looking up all your stuff and uh I was like, you know, how many fights did John Johnny have in his career? Do you know how many fights you had? NHL career. I had too many that they couldn’t count on. One one poor soul had the uh the pleasure to fight you in and Tory Krug. Yeah, it was bubble. I was really pissed off. Yeah. Yeah. Take us back. Johnny Johnny just beat him up. That’s not quite what happened. Uh no, he uh tomahawkked me in the head and there was no call so I was pissed off and then we were kind of tustling and then he just kind of threw down and that was about the end of it. Nothing. it. I actually probably had more that probably should have counted as fights compared to that one. But you you led the league in double minors, double nothing go miners. I had a lot of those actually. They’re like that wasn’t a true fight like Johnny just a lot of coincidentals. I take the guys to the box with you. Yeah, there you go. Johnny, you mentioned uh just kind of knowing it was time and you know kind of h how does how do you come to that kind of realization that it was, you know, maybe time to to hang it up and move on to something else? Well, I think it’s tough. I mean, you always think like, oh, I could do it a little bit longer or whatever. But at the same time, I think, um, for me, it was a bit of a transition in life. Um, ended up getting married last summer to my wife. Uh, we want to start a family. We want to start all these different things of, you know, trying to kind of lay, uh, our foundation of where we’re going to be and like what we want to do. And um you know being in this sport especially a little bit later in life you might be traveling every single year going different places doing different things and I didn’t really want to do that and you know I I didn’t want to have to worry about oh what happens if I get traded here? What happens if I go here? I wanted to kind of just have a normal life. And I I think I’ve been long enough of traveling and doing different things that I like to settle down a little bit. It gets tough kind of when you start like, you know, that long-term contract kind of gets up and it’s now you’re here one minute and next minute you might be somewhere else. I totally get that. Um, what so since you’ve been retired, you know, what what is what’s next for Tyler Johnson? Uh, I don’t know. Uh, you know, kind of helping with my friend’s charity right now. I think that’s a big theme for me is trying to give back. I mean, when I was a kid, um, you know, let’s be honest, like playing hockey is not a cheap sport by any means. And, uh, my, uh, parents used to have to work, you know, four or five different jobs throughout the year just to be able to support me. I was the only child. If I had a brother or sister, probably wouldn’t able to do it. So, um, for me, I’ve been trying to give back a little bit. We had a golf tournament back home trying to pay for some youth sports. I want to do some different things. So, I’m working with Media Charitable Foundation that, um, partners with the NHL. We do a lot of different uh girls hockey activities trying to grow the game a little bit and I think that’s a lot of fun for me. Um so I want to focus most of my time on that. I’m getting into a little bit of the business side of things of networking and um you know media does some pharmaceuticals uh drug sales to states and different things. So I’ve been kind of on that side and it’s been fun for me because I get to meet different people which you know playing hockey you meet so many cool people. So, it’s uh it’s been fun to kind of put everything together and um we’ll see what happens throughout the next couple years. You get recognized in that in that world. Like, are you the Tyler Johnson club for the Lightning? Like, I mean, it’s a total 180 from professional sports. I I think what it is is when people see me, they don’t assume that, but then they’re like, you’re too short, too small. There’s no way you play in the NHL. Were you an actor at the Hobbit, Frodo? Uh no. So, I I think it takes a little bit of time. Maybe they Google me a little bit, maybe see something. But, uh, usually it kind of helps, I guess. I mean, everyone likes sports and, um, being a part of the Lightning or you know, we’ve done such a tremendous job of helping different communities and different things like that. So, it’s been really cool to be a part of. Johnny told me uh the the charity golf tournament that he’s part of. Yeah. For every ball lost, a kid got a new pair of skates. So, they just there was so many skates. There would have been a lot of skates. You’re right. I wish we would have done that. That would have inspired. I need Balor to help me out on that one. Yeah, we’re listening. They’re paying attention. Well, I mean, let’s kind of like rewind a little bit. Obviously, you know, you’re you’re coming into the retirement world, but I think it’s it’s probably awesome for us to kind of go back and recap some of the highlights cuz like you said, you didn’t quite foresee the career and the future that you had. Even starting at the beginning, obviously your parents met at a Wreck League hockey game. You wore skates before you could walk. And wasn’t your mom the one who taught you how to skate? And you still didn’t quite see the path at that age? Well, I I thought it was a path, but uh beating Spokane, Washington, I mean, it’s a small city. Um, you know, I was playing against guys that, you know, quite frankly, we’re never going to make it there. You didn’t have that competition that, you know, living in the bigger cities you may have. Um, I was thankful that my parents were able to take me to Vancouver, BC in the summer every weekend, and that’s when I actually had my good competition. But yeah, I mean, you never really think anything’s going to come of it. I I was always hoping I was going to play in juniors in WHL. Yep. Uh you get your college paid for, then after that, you never know what’s going to happen. So, it was, you know, it was on the way. So, WHL, which again, you had success there, but really Norol, oh, was a lot of success in Norol. You guys had a 28game win streak while you were in Norfol, which I think is still a Pro Hockey League record. I’m not sure if that’s been broken since. Um, and then obviously to the Spokane Chiefs where your number nine was retired just the second time in franchise history. When you look back to those days to the the WHL days to Norfolk and then obviously linking with Cooper and to Syracuse, what stands out the most about those days of your playing career? Oo, that’s a tough question. Um, I don’t know. I mean, so thankful that I was able to be on some good teams. Like when I was playing for the Chiefs, uh my first year I actually got cut from a USHL team and I thought that was going to be, you know, the team I was going to play for, where I was going to go. I was going to go to college, do all that thing, but uh ended up getting cut, ended up going play for the Chiefs. We won a Memorial Cup that year. I was his hometown, right? Hometown. I ended up MVP. I ended up getting WHL MVP for the playoffs that year. So I basically went from you’re not good enough. That’s what I’m saying. And it’s like that coach you’re like that’s a guy right there. That’s the idiot. Yeah. Yeah. So it was so I mean just going through that and then you know ended up signing with Tampa my last year juniors at 20. I literally sat my dad down and go hey I don’t want to play as a 20-year-old. I want to go to college. I just want to you know I I wanted to be a nurse and nest anesthesiology. That’s kind of what I wanted to do. I was like I don’t want to be a 21-year-old freshman. I’m going to get made fun of. I’m stupid old. I don’t know. Like I just want to be younger. Sure. turned pro and got made fun of anyway. Well, and that’s what happened. My dad was like, “Hey, you’ll never have this opportunity again. Just play one more year.” And uh, you know, I did that, able to sign with Tampa. And then, you know, that was kind of a lucky thing, too, where I didn’t know exactly who I was going to sign with, and it just kind of the last minute I was like, “Yeah, I’m going to go with Tampa.” I had few other options and I was lucky enough to pick the right one. And then we went to Norfolk and I mean, 28 games, that’s crazy. Insane. Yeah. Johnny, so like why Tampa though? Like you mentioned a few other teams. What was it about Tampa? Like Steve Eisermanman was the general manager at the time, you know. Why why was it Tampa over, you know, someone else? Weren’t you in the movies when you got the call from Steve or something? Uh, so that was when I got called up. Yeah. No, so I was actually in Prince George um when Steve called me uh to sign. And I mean I You’ve been the PG, right? Yeah. It’s It’s up north. It’s up north. You’re really far away. Yeah. Like I remember we were driving through PG and like your bus is so high, right? Well, the snow on the side of the road’s higher than your bus. That’s insane. Like it’s it was wild like where we were at. And he called me up. Well, actually my agent goes, “Hey, make sure your phone’s ready.” So I had that and then um all of a sudden he calls me and goes, “Hey, I’m Steve Eisman.” I was like, “Oh my god, yeah, I know who you are.” So then we were talking for a little bit and I thought the coolest thing is after we were done talking, he goes, “Hey, I want to uh call your dad.” And so I gave him my dad’s phone number and uh like 10 minutes later my dad calls me. I’ve never seen him happier. He was so ecstatic. He’s like, “You’ll never know who just called me.” I go, “I think I have a pretty good guess.” You guys number your dad, right? Yeah. So I just felt comfortable. Um he made me feel like if I was going to go down there, I was going to get an opportunity and that’s all you could really ask for. And that’s all I really wanted is someone just to believe in me, someone be able to give me a chance. and then I was just going to try to do my best and see what happened. So that’s a big transition though. You know, you’re you’re living at home playing for the Chiefs, signed this pro contract. You go to Norfolk. Your first couple years pro like what kind of transition was that? Yeah, it was way different and I wasn’t close. I mean going going from Spokane to our first year were in Norfol, Virginia, which is across the country and um definitely different part of the country from what I was from. So, uh, you know, being there, like you said, I I was living at home. I had home-cooked meals, had everything. So, it kind of worked out perfectly though, is right across the street from the Scope Arena that we played at and, practiced at, did everything was a brand new apartment complex. And in the AHL there in Norfolk, we had, I think, everybody but four guys living in that apartment complex. So, we were able to have dinners, parties, whatever we wanted to do just right next door. Go down the hall. Can you be imagine being a neighbor and all of a sudden all these like this whole hockey team of like 20some year old guys that are just like winning hockey games, partying it up, having a great time. It was it was one of the greatest years of my life. And I always say I loved it. I am so thankful I did it. I never want to do it again. Like I just don’t want that again. But Well, Johnny, let me ask you though, like is was that maybe one of the things that made that group so special is that you guys had that tight connection? And I I’m just kind of like putting it parallel to maybe some of the characteristics of the team here in Tampa. You know, all the guys, you know, they live for the most part fairly close to each other. You know, guys aren’t spread out um like other teams, but you think that had something to do with the success of uh the teams in Norfolk, maybe even in Tampa here? For sure. Uh, I mean, you obviously know Coupe is a big team guy, wants everyone to be together, and he was our coach down there, so he kind of made a big impact in that. But, uh, no, I I think that is definitely a a very, very big thing. I mean, going from here to Chicago where I was at, guys are, you know, you’re half an hour, 45 hour away. It’s hard to get together. It’s hard to do things. People are in little tiny condos where in Tampa, we have houses, you can have pool parties or whatever else. So, I mean, it it brings everyone together. And when everyone’s together, when you’re a family, when you’re able to build that culture, it goes a long ways. And I think that’s what Tampa’s done a really, really good job of is throughout the years, we’ve kind of built that culture. And it started with Mr. Vinnick, started with Coupe, and then, you know, we had guys that kind of came up together at the same time. And then we had great pieces like yourself and uh Boille and Strawman and Callahan, and I mean, you can go down the list. he had these guys that came in and just fit that culture and was able to just kind of build on everything. And um yeah, I I think when you’re close, that makes everything so much easier. And you were there. I mean, obviously, you know, going back to to uh Norol, like Coupe started like right was he right after you had gotten there or like the same time? He was there a year before me. Okay. And so you have seen obviously the evolution of Coupe as well from there to now with the Lightning. talk a little bit about the evol evolution of Coach Cooper as well from your perspective from Norolk to to Tampa Bay. Yeah, he’s always been a good communicator. I think that’s what makes Coupe special for what he does. But um I think at the very beginning he was a little bit more hands-on. He uh you know kind of demanded the room, demanded you know certain things. He was he was you know pretty much like our leader in all senses by you know the end of my career in Tampa here. I think we all learned so much and we all kind of did everything together to where we had our leaders that really just led the team. I mean, we had, you know, Coburn and Stampos, um, Mcdana, you know, all these different guys, Callan that, you know, they’re quote unquote like our coaches/leer. Like, there was times where, you know, they would just say, “Hey, Coupe, don’t come in this period. We got this.” Like, we we’re going to straighten guys out. Cuz we all knew what we had to do. And we were able to know that because Coupe already instilled and taught us that in that culture. And um so I think as the years got on for me, Coupe was more hands-on, maybe a little bit less hands-on as years went on because he could feel the room, could kind of see how guys were reacting, guys were doing that. Uh you know, it wasn’t you didn’t need to be handheld the whole time. We we had the team that you know just tell us where to go and we’re going to go and do it. Facts. What about your style of play, Johnny? like how how did that evolve from your style in juniors till no folk to becoming uh you know an NHL all-star? Like h what kind of progression did that take for you? You know a lot of guys you know they have all the success in juniors and then they might have to tweak and change their game a little bit. Did you experience that at all? Well I mean I think I did. I mean if you talk to Coupe he says I did. Um, but for me, I I feel like I was just trying my hardest and just kind of whatever happened happened. But, uh, Coupe always says, he’s like, “Yeah, the first couple weeks in the AHL, he’s like, I didn’t know what to do with you. Like, you you wanted to get rid of me.” So, it was a little bit of a change of pace throughout that year and then something finally just clicked. Um, actually, right before we won that 28 games in a row, I got reamed so hard, me and Coner, that we were literally sitting in our stalls crying cuz Coop was just yelling at us. so much and then we come around and win 28 games in a row. I don’t think I changed anything, but things just kind of clicked. So, I have I have no idea. I mean, I all I tried to do was just work as hard as I can and do whatever I needed to do to be able to succeed. I mean, if you wanted me to go play wing, if you wanted me to play center, if you want to play D, whatever it is, like I I’m for it. So, a guy of your stature, size, 58, maybe you can go a little higher. Let’s go five. Let’s go 5’7. What shoes he’s wearing? 510. So, you know, if to make it in the NHL, I feel like every guy that size has to have a a chip on their shoulder. Did you have that chip? Well, I I think it was just competing is what it is. And I I remember my dad told me at a very young age is like, you better hit them before they hit you. So, I kind of wanted to do that. I like I’d rather be the agitator than get picked on. So, I kind of want to be that person. So, that was a big thing. And then, you know, with Coupe, it it made you even feel bigger as a player just cuz he always said like, you know, if one guy’s in, we’re all in. Like, it’s it’s a Wolfpack mentality. So, we haven’t seen that. No. No. Through the preseason, we haven’t seen that. Not at all. But, I mean, that’s a culture thing. And it makes you just be able to relax and play however you want to play to where I know that, you know, if some guy comes at me, I can hit him in the face cuz I know I got Kobe on my back and he’s, you know, going to help me out. He’s going to back you up. Whereas, same thing. If Kobe wants to hit someone there, I’m going to be on his back, you know, like maybe a little different, but I’m going to their ankles right off, you know? Hey, it all counts. I love this guy, by the way. This is all a good fun. The great thing about Johnny is you can always chirp each other, man. That’s what it’s all about. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s been 5 years or 10 years or whatever it is. So easy. That’s what’s great about your camaraderie though, like you said, with your teammates to be able to have that connection and be able to do that with each other. I think that speaks volumes. that 2014. So, a 2014-15 year for you was literally like that breakout season, right? You had uh absolutely shredded the league. 29 goals, 43 assists, 72 points in 77 games. You finished third in the NHL in plus minus with a plus 33 that season. You were also like Kobe said earlier, uh you you were chosen for the 2014-15 All-Star game. But the the the line with you and Palot and Cooerov, the triplets, which became legendary with our fan base. We’ll never forget the poster, the ‘8s poster with you guys on it with the the ugly Christmas sweaters. Absolute classic. But those three players together, you, Cucherov, Palot, known as triplets. What made you guys so electric together and made you guys like literally unstoppable? They they used to say like it was almost like you guys were thinking for each other, like you would almost know what to do before it happened. What was the camaraderie and how did that all develop? Well, I I think for me and Pali, we played together in the AHL. We were the line and we did really well. We had Richard Panic at the time and then um you know, we get to the NHL and they were looking for someone to play with us. We played with Marty my first part of the uh rookie year, which probably and I we still talk to this day about how much we learned. We only played, I don’t know, 20 games with or not even 20 games, it was like 10 games with him or whatever it was. But um just the amount we learned from him was insane. And then uh we go into that next year, we needed someone to play with us. Um Cooch comes in and I mean I remember seeing Cooch in u training camp just the amount of skill that he had. Just what he was doing. He was a little bit more softspoken, a little bit, you know, kind of shy. Didn’t really want to like be around anyone, you know, you know, whatever. How cooch is, right? It’s a little different now. But uh no, he he was just a guy that he wanted to learn and wanted to get better. And he had so much skill that when we were working together, we were constantly talking, constantly figuring things out. We watch video every sing uh single morning at breakfast. We used to have some computers in the room there and we’d sit there and watch every single shift to watch, you know, other teams and different things. And you know, we just kind of figured out this is how we wanted to play. This is how we wanted to work together. And it just worked out really well that you know like you said I always knew where one of those guys were going to be at and it’s just you don’t even have to think and that was the best part of the game is like people would ask like hey what were you thinking on this play I don’t know I blocked out like I just made a play and that just works that way and that’s when you play your best hockey. Could you envision at that time cooch like now leading the league and scoring for I think it’s three three or four times. I think it’s three. I Yeah, I could. He’s he’s pretty freaking good. He’s uh the the things he can do with the puck and the way that he sees the ice, he doesn’t really have to see you or know where you’re at, but he just like somehow can tell or sense like he he’s he’s so good about I always said like if you were to just pause the game at any point, I bet he could tell you where every single guy on the ice is. Like he knows where everyone’s at. And just because of that, it was nice for me that I knew that I didn’t have to go out of my way to try to make sure that he sees me. I just go to the best spot and just sit there and wait for him to find me because that’s just how it works. And then Pali was the same way. Like we we just worked so well together knowing that we didn’t need the extra help. We just knew that we just needed someone to be in the right spot for us. Talk about that special connection because I feel like when I think of you and Pali, I always think you guys had a very special relationship together. Yeah. No, Pali is my best friend. Still is. We we talk all the time. He’s my favorite player. Uh, who’s your favorite player? I got his jersey on my wall. My wife is my favorite friend, but my Pali’s my favorite hockey team. No, I I mean, even my wife would probably be like, “Yeah, you’d rather go hang out with Pali.” And I just Yeah, I would like I I love Even when we were on separate teams, we still went on vacations together, go to by-weeks, whatever it is. And um no, we we just got along so well together. and even his wife, uh, Barta. Um, I mean, even in the AHL, like I still remember the very first night that I met her, we drank far too much and we just basically hung out all night and just she didn’t even know English, but by the end of the night, she just rambling random English words and I knew exactly what she was talking about. That’s great night. Yeah. So, I mean, it’s just great to be able to grow together like that. Like, I’m so thankful that that we had the AHL to be able to build that relationship, continue into the NHL. I mean, when I got called up, I think we had seven or eight guys from the AHL all called up at the same time. So, you’re able to have that bond and that chemistry, and I think that’s huge. I feel like that team you guys had in Norfolk really kind of set the foundation for everything that’s happened here in Tampa since 100%. You know, that that group of guys um really kind of started that initial success, kind of turned the corner and uh and man, it was it was just like the 2014 fun to watch and fun to be part of for sure. I mean and obviously then that kind of catapulted what has become a lineage of just successful literally it was 2014 right 2015 the finals we get we lose to Chicago but then you know obviously we had the the situation with Columbus that we don’t talk about um but literally like you can see like you said that progression from 2014 it’s like you’re climbing the mountain you’re starting to climb then you’d have these downfalls but then you just kept pushing and pushing honestly I still bugs me to this day the the finals in 2015 man if if you don’t break your wrist I feel like, you know, you had such an outstanding playoff. Like, it was insane. And then it’s just it’s just a bad break. I feel like I just play the whatif game. You know, in 2015 in the playoffs, you became the first player in Lightning history to record three multi-goal games in a single playoff series. You tied Fedenko for the Lightning single series goals record with six that whole season. again like it it blows my mind like you said what could have been if he didn’t had didn’t get injured but you can’t look at it like that but again just he was on fire he was on fire but culminating that whole buildup um and looking again at the the overall career you spent eight plus seasons with the Bolts and in all time Bolts history you’re top 10 in goals short-handed goals game-winning goals playoff goals and games it’s remarkable to think again only in eight seasons here and like that progression that build to have such a an indelible imprint on this organization. That’s got to feel amazing for you even to this day to look back and go like h you know like again the progression of from where it started to where it ended but you you reached the pinnacle. I mean you got back-to-back Stanley Cup champs and um but to go through all that adversity to literally be on the history books for the Tampa Bay Lightning forever, it’s got to mean something. Oh yeah. I mean, Tampa’s my home. I I love this place. Like, when I got asked to come down here, there’s no question. I I’m on my way. So, um, no, I’m I’m like I said, I’m so thankful for the opportunity that I got being able to do what I did. Um, being able to be with the guys I was with. I mean, that I think that says it all. It’s like I got so lucky for the teams that we had that we grew up. I mean, we went from I think my first year, my rookie year we or sorry, not my rookie year when I got called up, I guess. I think we were third to last or whatever and that lockout year. The year before I think they were close to they made playoffs, I guess, and they kind of had that run, but we were never like a quote unquote like good team, I suppose. And then from what we built it from that on to where they’re at now where I mean every year like it’s kind of cup or bust, right? I think it’s pretty special. Perennial contenders for sure. 100%. The bubble. We haven’t talked to you about your experience. We’ve talked to all these guys about their experience in the bubble and heard all different perspectives from wasn’t the best thing cuz you know away from my family to guys that absolutely loved being in the bubble because it completely immersed you in just the game and being around with the guys. for your experience like what was that experience like for you? Was it difficult? Was it I mean I hated it. Yeah. I I thought it was different. I thought it was horrible. I obviously we won so that was great. Um being with the guys it’s awesome. It’s just it’s so long being stuck in a hotel. I mean the for the first like week or two weeks it was super fun. Like everyone’s so excited about it and then at the end you’re it’s depressing. I mean it I I still joke around a little bit. It’s kind of bad, but I always say like if I would have been Dallas in that situation and went all that way and lost, like that would have been the worst thing in life. Like I we got something from it. So I’m super thankful, happy for it, but no, I I hate it. I mean, it’s just being stuck in a room and I know it’s not prison, but it kind of felt like that at least. Hopefully I never get into that, but I mean there’s there’s times we were stuck around the metal barrel with a fire thinking that was fun. You look back and you’re like, was it like Yeah, but how good how good did you get at Call of Duty? We did play a lot of Call of Duty, which was great, but we could have also done that in our house. So, it I don’t know. It very thankful. We’re with a great group of guys, too. Like, our team was unreal. Like, we were family friends. So, we had always something going on for sure. So, it made it better. But the circumstance, it could have been better. Yeah. Absolutely. All right. I got I got to I’m curious about this. So, you walk into the room tonight, right? Let’s say you walk into the lightning room. Coupe says, “Johnny, like tell the boys, give give some boys some like life lessons, career lessons now that you’re every career has wrapped up and you got to tell the guys something.” The younger guys, right? The Connor geekies of the world. That’s tough. Um, I think that it’s shorter than what you think it will be. I mean, I I always say this, too. I remember uh when we were 23 uh we were at Val Philpola’s birthday party. He was turning 30 and I remember sitting with Pali and go shoot if we play while we’re 30 like that’s old you know like that’s that’s crazy like we did a good job right and then now the other year I was what 33 in Chicago and we had Bedara at 18. I god I’m old like this is insane. like it it’s so crazy how fast that is, right? Like it just feels like just yesterday that uh got into Tampa and stuff. So I think that would be the biggest thing is like it happens so quick. So absorb it all, man. Cuz it does go quick. What do you got? Any stories about Kobe? You got a good story about this guy? None. No, no, we haven’t got a whole lot of Kobe stuff. Let’s talk about Let’s talk about your best Tampa stories. Kobe got the uh cup taken from our party at my house. So that was fun. Was that the one that they told him don’t put it in the water? it. I don’t think they Stanley Cup and Chlorine doesn’t really mix. I didn’t know. He just jumped in right away. Like just I don’t even remember why we were playing beer pong and I think I won and celebration and that was it. Yeah. Just taking it, you know. I don’t know. It was there was there was a lot of bottled water going around so it was sure it was awkward. Feeling good. Really good. I I have a good one with Kobe actually. Okay. So, uh we were in Philly. You remember this one? So Kobe gets hurt in like the first or second period. I think I got hurt too. I got deaned up. So we’re in the room and Kobe I think it was your shoulder or something and they’re like hey you should just take it off like we were losing. It was like 61 or something stupid and Kobe’s like I’m getting back in there. So he starts to do push-ups on the ground. He’s like it doesn’t hurt. And he’s doing push-ups in the locker room. And all of us are like what is this guy doing right now? That sounds 100% something you would do, bro. Like you’re mentally trying to get yourself back in the game. I don’t remember that. Kobe Kobe’s the ultimate competitor. He He was serious. He was scary. He was on your team. Loved him. Play against him. Scared. Scared. Big dude. He’s like twice your size. I mean, I can see why you’d be scared. Well, maybe not twice, but you know, the thing the thing I liked about the thing I loved about Johnny is that he was all like it didn’t matter who it was. Like you could always sit down with Johnny and have a conversation. Yeah. And you could disagree with Johnny. You could but it was always like it was always just a great like great conversation. It didn’t matter what it was about. It could you could be on totally opposite spectrums of what you were arguing and uh it was cordial but it was like intense but it was fun. You never felt like that guy’s a dick. You know what I mean? He just wasn’t. It’s just who he was. He was just like just a good guy. Well, it speaks volumes for your relationship. I’ll tell you what I really think off the air. Of course, man. All right, TJ, listen. Uh we’ve taken up pretty much uh enough of your time, but uh before we get out of here, we do a segment called Highi Hot Takes. Thanks to our friends at Hili. So, these are just hot takes. We just want to get your opinion on uh some of these questions. So, I’ll shoot off the first one here. Speaking of uh who is the one guy in the league that you never wanted to have to fight? Like if you had like Oh god, I gotta fight this guy. I I’d probably say Tom Wilson. He was crazy. Still is. Yeah. Want to fight him. He’s a good player, but we don’t like him. He’s not He’s not a fan favorite here. So, I was thinking about this for a while because I I just kind of getting back to like maybe your your uh your you’d you’d like to bring up your points, but okay. You’ve created this is let me set the table. I’m really like I said like I said you’re putting a lot of thought into this. I’m really excited. So Johnny you you’ve you’ve maybe committed a crime, right? You’ve maybe committed a crime. You need a former teammate to represent you as your defense lawyer. Who is representing you to keep you out of jail as your lawyer? Uh gosh, that’s tough. It can’t be Coupe either cuz he’s a lawyer, so that’s perfect. Yeah. No. Uh you know who I think would be good is either Callahan or Bishop. Go say Cali. I think they’d be good ones. I know you want me to say you. No, no, no. Not me. Not me. You would be good, too, but I can’t give that. had some great arguments with people and they really kind of like I what I liked about like Cali and Bishop is that you could still talk to them about everything but they got so heated so quickly that they were forcing their point on you and I kind of like that. So especially if you’re a lawyer like defense lawyer Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I think they’d be a good one for that. That’s a great answer. Ben Bishop uh Esquire, you know. I love it. There we go. All right. Final hot take and this is one that’s kind of current. Uh, what are your thoughts on scrapping the NHL wildcard format for playoffs and bringing back the one through eight seating? Because stars like Cal Mar are vocal, it rewards division winners and cuts down the travels. Purists agree that it streamlines chaos. Traditionalists say wild card adds drama. What do you think about the current system and would you change it? Well, I can see a point for everything. Um, I like it because it does build that rivalries because we’re always playing against the same teams. However, it was annoying because you always had to play against the same teams. So, um, if it was up to me, I would change it. I would do one verse eight. Um, if I wanted to be crazy with it, I think the idea that the top teams would get to choose who they want to play, I think that would be very cool. And I think that would create a lot of rivalry as well just cuz you know maybe you’re the fourth place team but that first place picked you like what what’s that going to happen man that’d be a lot of fuel in the fire though imagine being like they picked us like that’s you know awesome I mean I I think that would be fun and and looking at it like throughout you know our years like obviously Columbus that was very tough one for us but at the same time I it’s like they also were an eight seed that bought five guys at the trade deadline. They weren’t an eight seed. Like we knew going in they were going to be a good team, right? So it looks worse than what it was to where I guarantee like for us we wouldn’t have chosen them. There’s probably six other teams we would have chose first, you know. So it I don’t know. I I think it would be fun to kind of play that game of who do you want to play? What kind of upsets are we going to make from that? And some teams play better against different ones. So, you know, I think it would be kind of fun. There we go. NHL competition committee. Can we please sign him up? That’s a great answer. Tyler Johnson, Johnny be good. So awesome to have you here on the Bolts Block Party. I know our fans are uh we, you know, obviously we’re recording this. They’re not going to know the surprise tonight, but that he’s here. Uh so we’re so glad to have you back in Tampa and hopefully it’s not the last time. Hopefully we’ll see you around here a little bit more. But uh thank you so much for joining us. Hey, thank you. Yeah, anytime. I’d love to come. Appreciate it. And of course, thanks to our friends at High IPA for powering the Bolts Block Party, Wolfie and Kobe. We will see you guys next week.

Block Party has returned! Tampa Bay Lightning Alum Tyler Johnson joined Greg Wolf and Braydon Coburn for the first episode of the season.

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