Absolute Non-Sens: Travis Green

Absolute Non-Sens: Travis Green

I’ve also heard that you’re red green color blind. I only knew this because last year a couple times you would look at my tie and be like, “Hey, what what color is that tie?” And that’s So you’ve obviously had this your whole life. Sometimes I wondered about the color. Sometimes I just didn’t like the You didn’t like the tie? Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Especially this guy. Yeah. Yeah. [Music] We’re back for a little show we like to call absolute nonsense. It’s the Mendes Star combo. It is. We’re back. Star. Mendes. Mendes Star. What sounds better? I think Mendes Star. It goes, you know, you have the the S at the end of the name goes right into the It’s all one word. Mendesar. Mendes Star. Mendes Star. Menddees or the dash. Still, it flows better. No. Menddees star than star. Menddees. Stardez. Stardez. Menar. Maybe we should be workshopping these things before we come on to the crow and start talking. But we’re excited for another episode, the drop of our little podcast. Coming up this week, we’ve got the head coach of your Ottawa Senator is Travis Green. A kind of fun, candid um he doesn’t really give off nonsense vibes. Let’s be honest. We could be honest. I mean, Travis would probably when he sat in this chair, he was like, “What are you guys going to ask me? You going to keep it uh keep it serious?” But I think we got some stuff out of the coach that we’re excited to to share with our viewers and listeners. For sure. Yeah, absolutely. Great conversation. Again, a little bit more of a delve into his career as a player and then kind of going into coaching a little bit. Really, really interesting stuff uh from Travis. Yeah. So, we’ll get to that. Uh but first, it’s time to open up the mailbag. Once again, not sure why this falls on my uh lap. Uh you know, not I’m not saying you’re not busy. Yeah. I’m just saying, you know, when when you watch other podcasts and other shows, you know, the the the more senior I’m gonna call myself the more senior seasoned reporter. He’s not the guy sifting through emails. He should be the junior. I’m going to go ahead and call you the cub reporter. He should be cub reporter uh should be out there sifting through the emails. But he didn’t. And that’s okay. If you task me with it, I’ll probably do it still. I will. I did I did do a little bit of the homework that you assigned me from last episode, which was go into Drake Bath’s Wikipedia and see if or add him to the Fort Wayne people who are born in Fort Wayne. And he was there already. He showed up this time. So there my homework assignment was done for me. Jenna Fischer and Jenna Fischer and Drake. Drake. Yeah. Fort Wayne, Indiana. Okay. So you’re actually doing your work. So let’s open up the mailbag. Uh this one is hi and Jackson. Big fan of the pod. You guys are great together. I’ve had a lot of fun with the set changes that we see each episode. I love seeing the Tim Stupsler jersey drawing that first episode, especially because I was the lucky fan who won the frame drawing through the contest you guys had on social media. On a side uh note, I might need a certificate of authenticity from you so I can prove it was the one on the wall behind Tim in the episode. So, certificate of authentic like who’s signing that? Oh, I have not. It shouldn’t be me. You’re not authentic enough. Um I don’t think it’s me. No. Is it Tim? Like we can’t ask Tim. Is it our set designer Ben Kohl’s? Maybe. May. It’s got to be one of us. I feel like Timmy’s the most like the most justified one. But of authenticity. Um Yeah. But interesting. Amy, who’s written in and she won that says, “I noticed in that last episode with Drake Bath, it looks like there’s a Lubu on the shelf in the corner with the picture of someone’s face taped on it. Is that what it is? And if so, what’s the backstory? Keep up the great work. Go sends Go.” That’s from Amy. So awesome. Thank you. I am going to I’ll reach over and pick it up for the people that are viewing this podcast and be able to show it to them. Describe for the people just listening. What is this uh Jackson that I’m reaching for? So we used this labu for the schedule release video, I believe. And it didn’t have a face p uh planted onto it. Basically, it is my face with the labu mouth. I went on vacation for two weeks this summer and came back and my face was on the labu. How it got there, I don’t really know. How and why? How and why and why? Yeah, I guess someone thinks I’m a Le Boooo. Okay. So, so there’s the answer. There’s the answer to it. But yeah, I’m glad that everyone’s pointing out the little knickknacks that we’ve got going on back here. It’s obviously a great set and we try to shake it up as much as we can and it’s uh it’s it’s great that people are noticing it. Leave it to the You know what? That Lubu is not going to stand on its own. I’m going to put it back. We’ll put it back after. You got that uh you know the gravy boat, the infamous gravy boats that were locked in a Halifax shipping dispute last year. That’s there. Uh never that’s the weirdest since in my time in the job still remains the weirdest press release I’ve ever written. Never thought I would have to write uh that anything was locked in a uh shipping uh in a harbor for a shipping dispute. Crazy, eh? Like so so out of whack. You must while you were writing that, I can’t even imagine what’s going through your mind. Like what is going on here? crazy shipping dispute, shipping argument, I don’t know. I don’t know. Um, okay. Couple of other Kevin Robbitai writes in. Uh, guys, I would like to say love the podcast. Thanks for doing it. It’s great to know our sense players a little bit better off the ice. With that being said, we absolutely need to hear more from Ardam Zub. Okay. Zubie on the pod. Interesting. We can get that going hopefully at some point. Got to talk to him about a little bit. Yeah. I heard rumor has it that you had a pretty good conversation with Zubie recently. kind of just an off the off the record. Yeah, for sure. I think that’s if it’s off the record, then we can’t ask you what happened. No, it was a good conversation. More hockey related, but yeah, we’d love to hear more from Zubie. He’s he’s such a great guy, right? Such a great guy to have on the team and to talk with. Okay. Uh this one comes in about the Drake Bathson episode. Just watched that podcast. Loved it. Uh his mom’s a teacher, his sister’s a professional hockey player, and yet most of them still play the guitar. What an amazing family. Uh, more importantly, besides being a great golfer, I was impressed with Drake’s party planning skills. Sent from my iPad. Oh, no. Alicia Star. And you told me before we started recording. I lied. Your grandma did write in. Uh, she watched the episode uh, and she liked it. Oh, that’s good. I’m glad. Yes. Um, but we did have a contest in the Drake Bathson uh episode which was uh we had the we have the Tim Hortons gift or sorry the Tim Horton’s Hortons I can speak Horton’s hockey player uh hockey. What is wrong with you? It’s okay. It’s okay. Collect yourself Horton’s hockey card. There we go. signed by Drake Bath that we’re going to give away on this episode after we asked you to write in. What is another sport that a former senator could play or participate in? See, you know, when I stop and I speak normally, it’s almost like I’ve done this. Yep, it is. But yeah, I was getting a little ahead of myself. It’s okay. You got excited. You’re so excited to give this card. Can I tell you why I actually tripped up? When our kids were little Yeah. our oldest daughter couldn’t say Tim Hortons and she called it Tim Hortons. Okay. And so I actually caught I felt like I was saying Tim Hortons there and I’m like I think I just said Tim Hortons. That’s so relatable though. It’s the same with me like when you hear little things that you think you’re saying and you’re like oh I didn’t say that right. I got to restart. Tim Hortons. Tim Hortons. Okay. So here we go. We’re going to rifle through a handful of emails that came in. What former senator or current senator would be great at another sport? Let’s get the ball rolling here. Sean Foys writes into the show and again you can always hit us up communications senators.com. Jackson doesn’t know a what the email address is or how to access it but I do. Communications senators.com. I’m going to get you access to that you’re going to see. Hey Ian and Jackson been loving the podcast. Have a answer for your question. Obvious one for me. It’s that story that always is around that Daniel Alfredson could have gone pro in table tennis in either hand. Either hand. Wow. What a legend that comes in from Sean. Okay. Okay. I think that’s a common one. Did you get multiple ones of this? Yeah. Uh I I just love this name. Jimmy Jolliker. I just feel so like delightful saying the name Jimmy Jolliker. Don’t you like, hey, Jimmy Jolliker writes like I I feel really happy saying the name Jimmy Jolliker. Jimmy Jolliker writes in and said uh Alfie playing any kind of racket sport. I suspect you guys would have lots of submissions on that. But I’ll say Craig Anderson, deep love of racing. I remember watching him uh with a video of his racing sim setup years ago. So, I’ll say that. Interesting. Comes in from Jimmy Jolliker. I feel like I just have to say his name. That’s a good one. Okay. James Murray writes in. I like this one. And this is the We’re going to kick this old school uh old school for you, Jackson. You’re not going to know this name. No. This is a guy who played in the original uh version of the Ottawa Center, the first year of the team in 1992. Okay. So, we’re talking old school Civic Center. Does this name ring a bell? Hank Lammons. I don’t think he is. And that’s okay. He’d only played, I think, 30 or 40 games with the Senators. But did you know that Hank Lammons was actually in the Olympics? Really? Wow. For sailing. Wow. Like I feel like if we had a current member of the Senators, oh, by the way, in the summer, like he’s he’s sailing at the Olympics. I feel like we’d be all over that for sure. That’s crazy. Uh James writes in, you know what? He was accomplished sailor. He competed for Canada at the 92 Olympics, a two-time world champion in the Finn class. I don’t know what I don’t know what that means. Could be making up stuff. Um, 15time national champion, Ontario athlete of the year in 1990, and the sale Canada athlete of the year three different times. So, Glams, that’s crazy, right? I never knew that. That’s so interesting. That’s a good one. Yeah, that’s great. I’m I’m just ripping through these because we’ve got so many. Um, Bella writes into the show, sends player that I think could go pro in another sport, Tim Stutzla, and I think he could be a baseball player because of that out of the air goal that he scored in Sweden. Yeah. Can’t wait for the next episode. Comes in from Bella. That’s all hand eye coordination. That’s all hand eye for sure. Um, I have uh this one, Jack. Yep. First name that comes to mind when you asked this question would have been the late great Ray Emory and boxing. His pension for the Sweet Science was well documented. As a fan, I was always impressed at how he handled himself in that department. P.S. say hi to Jackson’s grandma for me. That is from Jack. And we did that. Okay. But here’s the winner. Okay. And why do I have two sheets of paper? Cuz you didn’t know this and I’m throwing you uh kind of into the mix, but I trust you so much as a young broadcaster. I know you can pull this off. Okay. It’s roleplaying. Is it really? Rob Scott, I’m gonna give you a script. Are you ready for this? I’m gonna give you a script. You’re only going to read what’s in bold. Okay, you’re gonna read what’s in bold and I am gonna play the role of me. Okay. Rob has written in and says, “Guys, I have a full transcript of a recent conversation between Ian Mendes and several members of the Ottawa Senators organization as they try and figure out if anybody would excel in a different sport. PS, reader discretion is advised.” Okay. I did I did scroll through it to make sure there’s no swearing. Yep. Nothing, none of that. So, ready to go. So, I’m I’ll be me and you’ll be the person in bold. In bold. Okay. There’s a couple here. There’s there’s a handful of different This was the B uh role you were born to play. Okay. About eight different roles. So, we’re going to start. Hey, Drake Bathson. I know you’re an excellent golfer. Do you think any Sens or former Sens could excel as an athlete in a different sport? Yeah. No. What is that? Your answer? Yeah. No. Tim Stutzlet, do you understand what Drake’s talking about? 100%. Okay. Alex D. I’ve asked two different players a simple question and I’ve got nothing. Nobody. Nobody remembers who was number two. Says D. I don’t think you need the ad. Says D. It was clear. It was clear. Wanted to be sure. Okay. Hey Alfie. All I want is a simple answer. Is that asking too much? Do you think any Sense player could excel in a different sport? Probably not. Drake, come on. Seriously? Yeah. No. Oh my gosh. Andy Sutton, help me out here. This is an easy question. What kind of answers are these? So, you’re an expert? Oh my gosh. Dominic Hashik, help me out. I’m totally confused. When can somebody answer this question for me? Maybe Friday. And there you have it. and seen. That’s me speaking with Donna Hosik, Andy Sutton, Drake Bathson, uh Daniel Alfredson, Alex D, Tim Stuts, all people you’ve crossed paths with over and just before we get to Travis Green, Dominic Hashik, uh maybe Friday. That was the way he would say it. Maybe Friday. Uh was because um we would ask him in that 06 season, are you ready to play? And he would always say, maybe Friday. Maybe Friday. Part of that that Sens verbiage that people only people would understand who are sensors. There’s certain words. A doctor is another one. I thought you were going to come up with a sens uh what the not thesaurus. What’s it was like a scroll, right? We’re saying a scroll glossery. Glossy glossery. Thsaurus is Yeah. Love that. Well, that was a great submission, Rob. And I feel like Rob should win. Yeah. So, here’s the deal, Rob. I’m going to forward your email to Jackson Star. And he’s finally going to do some admin work around here. He’s gonna get you that card. Perfect. We’ll set it up. We’ll set it up. That’s awesome. Okay. And speaking of setting things up, we’ll set this one up. Here’s our conversation with Sen’s head coach Travis Green. [Music] The Absolute Nonsense podcast is furnished by Dallas Decor, the official luxury furniture partner of the Ottawa Senators. Ian and I sit on these super comfortable chairs every episode. And we thank our lucky stars, wink wink, that we have such a great partner in Dallas Decor. [Music] All right, I got to tell you, Jackson, of all the guests that we have on season one of the pod, y this is the one where, let’s be honest, I think you’re the most intimidated. You think so? Yeah, I know. I think so. Oh, rightfully so. Rightfully so. Wow. It’s the head coach Travis Green. Thanks for coming on. Hey, welcome. Thanks for having me, Jackson. Yeah, it’s great to have you. Pleasure to be on uh your podcast. Thank you. My podcast, Rising Star. Star Rising Star is Born. Yeah. My one of my favorite memories of last year, I we were in Detroit and this guy’s uh story from his hometown paper makes the press. Yeah, I think I remember that. And you walk by and you’re like, “Hey, prime time.” But but but I got to ask you, were you intimidated? you’re like this is his first year as a reporter last season. Last year. Last year was his first year. Intimidating. I think so. At first, for sure. Like sitting in the press room. I mean, pretty straight face when you go speak to the media upstairs, you know. I think that like a little bit intimidating for me coming in. Taller guy, too. Yeah, I could see how on first year on your job it would be everything would be a little bit intimidating, but uh hopefully hopefully that changed as the year. Oh, yeah. Don’t worry. We had a little fun. Had some laughs. We did have some laughs. It was good. You mellowed out. I mellowed out. A little bit. Yeah. Little bit. Little bit. You got me. You got me on a good day today. So, oh, I love it. We don’t have game face on right now. No. No. Then that’s the whole point of this spot. No game related questions, no strategical questions, anything like that. You know, it’s funny. when I uh when you got hired by the SNS was May of 2024. I was still working as a reporter with the Athletic and I reached out to some of my colleagues in Vancouver to ask about hey give me some lowdown on on Travis Green and universally Travis came back Thomas Dance Farhan Lology some of the people I reach out they loved working with you which I I was actually surprised by and I remain surprised by good news. Good to hear bad to hear. Yeah. No. And and and I’m wondering like for you because I know I talked to some other younger reporters too that actually said they felt like Travis Green mentored me a little bit. What what was that like in Vancouver to to have that relationship with the media and to essentially serve as a as a mentor or a bouncing board for for Well, it’s nice to hear. Yeah. Um I think you know I think the surprise part is probably you know a lot of people see me when we’re in game mode. uh after games they don’t you know they don’t get privy to see how we operate behind cameras uh you know I think over time in Vancouver I got to know a lot of the reporters just you know as time went on and some of them better than others and and you know I think just developed relationships where we could talk openly about I guess the job itself maybe the way I am and And you know, I think it just turned into where we had banter back and forth about, you know, how I could maybe help them more or how they could make it, you know, so I’m I don’t want to say on guard, but you know, you get to know the personally a little bit and I think that helps. So, a lot of that is really just relationship building and building up trust and and that probably doesn’t just go for media. That probably goes for your players, your fellow coaches, like just building trust with people. Well, it’s a big it’s a big part of coaching. I I believe um I don’t think if well, not just coaching, but you know, friendships, what everything really in life, being able to to trust a person in in what you’re talking about or what you’re doing. As far as coaching goes, you know, I tr I really believe that the players, they know when you care and when they don’t. And part of that care is being able to trust you. And uh that leads into, you know, how do you keep players accountable? How do you coach them? How do you teach them? And I think it always starts with them being able to know that you’re being honest and and they can trust you for what you’re saying. Uh, and I think, you know, when it comes to the media, you know, they’re, you know, coaches have their guard up and, you know, sometimes your words can get twisted a little bit if you don’t if you don’t say, you know, something perfect. And, uh, you know, I’m no different. I am definitely uh a little bit guarded when I’m in, you know, when I’m doing an interview after a game or and emotions are hot and uh whether you win or you lose. And you know, I’m probably a lot different if you guys have seen, you know, off camera than than on camera. And kind of kind of on that note a little bit, but like talking about relationships and you know getting relationships with players, coaches, friends, and that is Yeah. Who’s stricter? Travis Green the coach, Travis Green, the parent. Oh man, probably probably Travis Green, the the coach. Um, you know, as far as a parent, my I’m really lucky my kids are, knock on wood, they’ve been they’re not troublemakers. They don’t I don’t have to be uh strict with them that they they tend to do the right things all the time and and uh I’m really lucky that way. Can’t say the same about the guys over here. Yeah, you know, I think uh you know, coaches can be hard there. That’s part of our job is to challenge players to push them outside of their comfort zone. I truly believe that, you know, if you want to be your best, the best version of yourself, it’s not easy to do it on your own. And, you know, I think the best coaches push their players to be their best versions. and they they come up with different ways for every player because it’s not the same. Um, but I’ll also say that with our group here, they’re they are very coachable. Um, you know, it’s not not probably it is the best group of when it comes to coachability, the the best group that I’ve coached in in any league. And and that always makes your job a lot more enjoyable. Uh and ultimately it makes it easier cuz you know I I know it I wouldn’t have liked to coach myself at times and and there are challenging there are players that are more of a challenge to coach than others and uh our group is very coachable. they want to be coached and and they will accept criticism. Uh but you can also be positive and give them positive reinforcement which we do and uh they’re open to to learning and and improving. You just said you probably wouldn’t have wanted to have coached yourself in ways in in ways. Yeah. But Al Arbor did coach you when you broke in in the early 90s. So I’m wondering what was it like do you think for Al Arbor to coach a young Travis Green? Yeah, challenging probably at times. Uh, you know, I think every coach that I I’ve had probably would have different version. You know, I almost feel like there was different versions of me as my career progressed. Uh, you know, the younger version of me when I first started was probably too cocky. Um, and then there was a version of me that probably wasn’t confident enough at times. uh probably uh you know didn’t understand at at at a point in my career what I really was or what the best version of me was as a player as far as how I had to play. And I think ultimately when I decided to just start playing to win, I be that was my best version. All I cared about was winning and the personal stuff, you know, I wasn’t so concerned about. And I think that’s just being uh not insecure about yourself in the league and finally realizing that you are in the league and you know necessarily points didn’t matter. It was just winning and losing. You got to have a pretty good story about Allen there somewhere. Yeah. Back to All uh man he you know All when you talk about intimidating coaches for me as a young player he he he intimidated me and not in a not on purpose. just he was quite a presence. He was a legend. Um and when he walked into the room, he demanded or commanded respect I think is the better word. Uh had a you know big deep voice and and yet uh I might have learned my biggest lesson from from Al. And I I probably didn’t know it at the time, but uh there was I’ve told this story a couple times where we were battling to make the playoffs. I was it was my rookie year, so I was still everything’s new to me and um we lost to I believe it was the Bruins Boston 4-2 and I I was like minus three or four. Uh they had Adam Oats, Cam Neely, Ray Bourke, some really good players and I was our checking centerman. And they went off that night. And I was devastated after the game. You know, you right away you start thinking, I’m going to be sent to the miners. I’m going to I’m going to lose my I’m going to be scratched, whatever. I was still living in the hotel. And it probably wasn’t five to 10 minutes after the game where uh I was still in my skates and just you know I was feeling down on myself and Al came up and he was standing in front. I could see his feet in front of me as I was still staring at the floor and uh I was I think quickly I felt like man I’m setting a record for being sent to the miners after a game and uh you know he just sat and had a talk with me. um and more or less, you know, told me that a it wasn’t a good night obviously, but you’re playing against Hall of Fame players and they have nights like that and you as a checking centerman are going to have more nights like that. And he didn’t want me to dwell on it. Uh wanted me to learn from it. And really he came in so I would probably sleep at night because we had uh Pittsburgh coming in with Mario uh next day and he and he even said, “Hey, we need you to be ready to play Saturday.” And uh we got a big game against Pittsburgh and I can’t have you, you know, wallowing around for the next two days. And it was something that really stuck with me for a long time. And you know, he more or less taught me a lot about empathy and and caring for your players and and that really stuck with me, you know, even till today. You held Mario to what? Four points that night. Probably really shut him down. Yeah. Would that have been the year though that then you guys ended up playing the Penguins in the playoffs? Yeah. So, what was that game? David Volic, where were you when that goal scored? Like I was in bed in a in a black room to be honest. Uh I got hurt and uh I got hurt against uh Pittsburgh early in the series uh on a faceoff with Ron Francis. his butt end caught me in the eye and um I had bleeding in the back of my eye and I needed to for 48 hours or whatever sit in a dark room and and I I tried to come back and play game six uh and I skated went to the eye doctor again and it restart re rebled. So again I had to go sit in like no light zero light and uh yeah I was done. I didn’t get to play that game. I thought it was bringing back this awesome memory for you and you’re like, “Wow.” I mean, it was a great memory being on that team, but it was, you know, part of playoff hockey. So, yeah. Uh, just back to Al for a second, like that, it is remarkable. You ever think about that? Like that late 80s, early 90s was not a time where the word empathy would have been used in anyone’s vocabulary, let alone a coach in an NHL room. Do you ever think about like he was ahead of his time? Yeah. I I think uh you know when people talk about Al they they’d probably be a little bit surprised at that story cuz he was a rough and gruff guy and but I think when you got to know Al and players that actually played under him um you know he was a really caring guy and really cared for his players and and yet when he did an interview or something like that you probably would have never you know it goes back to what we talked about earlier you wouldn’t have seen that side of him and um but he was he was he was a great coach, Hall of Fame coach and uh he was you know he’s a Hall of Fame person too. Rough and gruff guy who’s actually nice on the inside. Did it remind you of anybody? A little bit. Yeah, a little bit. Yeah. Well, I I don’t know. Maybe taking it to a different kind of perspective here, but you mentioned the eye the issue you had. I’ve also heard that you’re red green color blind. I am color blind. A couple questions related to that a little bit. Um, first off, your last name is Green. Does that ever kind of does anyone bring that up at any point? You’re the first, Jackson. I’m the first. So, congrats. Yeah. Thank you. And second, does that ever cause issues on the ice like with jerseys? I’m curious. It hasn’t very often. Um, you know, it is sometimes it’s challenging when you’re, you know, picking out a tie or something like that. Uh, but I I do have a story once where it was it was in Udica. Bomber Bomber and I were in Utica coaching and uh we were doing a drill and I I wasn’t happy with the drill and I started yelling like at the green line to get get moving. They were screwing up practice. I was probably using a lot harsher words and kind of had a little rant for for a good 30 seconds and everyone was kind of too nervous to say anything to me and then Bomber skated over. Bomber was even nervous to to uh interrupt and he skated over and said, “Yeah, we there’s no green line on the ice.” And so it was actually the orange line. So I uh that was the only time, but other than that, it’s kind of like one team’s white, one team’s dark. So So you’re able to tell. Actually, I only knew this because last year a couple times you would look at my tie, you’d be like, “Hey, what what color is that tie?” And that’s that’s how I uh did you like like So you’ve obviously had this your whole life. Sometimes I wondered if about the color. Sometimes I just didn’t like it. You didn’t like the t. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Especially this guy. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. But is that a thing that in childhood you realize at like a certain age? 8 10 12. Yeah. You know what? I I my parents and I figured it out when I was I don’t know seven or eight just doing an eye test when you pick out those numbers and the dots and I couldn’t get a bunch of them. And I see I see the colors but I just don’t know what they are. Yeah. So, um, Jackson and I tried to do a lot of prep work for this interview. Okay. I know it probably doesn’t seem that way. And I got to commend you on not leaving any digital footprint out there. Like there’s no definitive story about Travis Green. No feature story. So, we’d like to delve a little bit into your like what was it like growing up in and now Castlegar was home. Yeah. Like can you explain to us and the the listeners, the viewers, what’s Castlegar like in British Columbia? Well, Castlegar is very small town of between 8 and 10,000 people. Um, I moved there. I was born in Crestston. Moved to Caligar when I was probably one. Yeah. Uh, my dad was from uh uh Riondell, which is probably a town of a thousand people. My mom was from Grand Forks, and we ended up in Caligar. Yeah. Spent my whole life there. uh small town, played my minor hockey there. Still have a bunch of great friends. My mom and dad still are there. They go down to Arizona for the for the winter. And uh there’s something to be said about growing up in a small town. I think we had I don’t know two stoplights and uh you kind of know everyone in town and like I I still you know consider it home. go back there in the summer once a summer and uh yeah, it was a great place to grow up. You know, I didn’t know any better, but I I wouldn’t have changed anything for the for the world. What is that movie like? Like I have no no experience living in a small town or growing up in a small town like from the big city. You come to Ottawa and it’s, you know, considered a big city for people in a small town. Just what’s that like? It was a change when I moved uh when I left. I was 15 when I went to Spokane and um it was definitely a change for me, like change of pace and and I I don’t even I hadn’t even watched an NHL live game until I think the first game I played and uh it was an exhibition game and uh so it was different, you know, and then going from, you know, Spokane to even a bigger city when I I got to New York was obviously a lot different too. And I think even when you’re coaching, I I I think that understanding where players come from uh is important because there’s a lot of I think you get a little bit intimidated a little easier when you’re been in a small town your whole life and and you haven’t been out of it a lot. It it’s it’s a big change and it and it feels a lot different when you’re out of when you get outside your your environment that you’re used to. I’m always impressed when I hear for people that the first NHL game they watched was a game they played in. I I’m blown away by that. So, because it’s quite a ways, right? Castle Garden of Vancouver is what like the drive is Yeah. It’s not like you can make that drive, right? And go It’s like seven hours or something. Yeah. But so you never went to the old coliseum? No. No. Never did. I uh I might have watched one game before I played in one live. Yeah. Um but yeah, it was Yeah. I didn’t get an opportunity. You know, my parents weren’t driving me to watch NHL games. They were trying to figure out how they’re going to have me and my brother play hockey from year to year and and you know, money wasn’t was was tight. So, we weren’t zipping around buying NHL tickets. What uh now what was your favorite team as a kid growing up? Like cuz you come from the era, same one as me where there’s only Saturday night games and then I think you know the odd Wednesday night we would have games but that was it. It wasn’t like I mean I probably get scolded for saying it, but I grew up started watching hockey uh when the Canadians were winning Stanley Cup. So, uh watching Gilafleur, yeah, you know, Ken Dryen who just passed away and got to work with Ken and when in Toronto or not work with him, he was part of the Maple Leafs and just an amazing person. Uh watching them win, it seemed like they were on Hockey Night in Canada every weekend. Yeah. when they were in their glory days. I think uh as I got a little older into my teens, that’s when I, you know, I started watching Mario a lot closer. Um and he became probably my favorite player to watch and uh you know, then once you get drafted, you’re kind of you’re out of that who’s your favorite team kind of mode. Yeah. So, you’ve played I guess on multiple teams, multiple different players. Who’s the best chirper that you’ve played with or against? Oh man, uh there’s a lot that come to to mind. Uh back I think years ago there was chirping was uh there was a lot more chirpers. Yeah, it was an art form back. It sure was. There was an art. There was guys that were funny one oneliners and then guys that just went right to the heart. And yeah, uh you know, Brady’s dad was was pretty good at it. Um, Darcy Tucker was quite the chirper and he wasn’t one to to mince words. It wasn’t always witty chirps, but it seemed like every team that you play on, there were guys that were pretty good at it one way or the other. Yeah. You ever when Big Walt comes on one of these dad’s trips, you ever go down memory lane about the trips? I have. Yeah, we do. We still trip each other as like like we were playing together. Yeah. Uh, you know, we were looking at your your hockey reference page and looking, you know, you you obviously we mentioned Al Arbor, but you coached, you know, Mike Sullivan coached you in Boston, Paul Maurice in Toronto, and those guys are still coaching now. So, we’re curious like when you’re in the hallway, and I know coaches don’t often run into each other, but like Oh, yeah. Like like what’s that dynamic like when you actually played for a guy and now you’re you’re coaching against them and do you ever do you ever get a chance to catch up on a personal level? Yeah, I mean Sully and I are pro are we played together, too. And uh are a lot closer in age, so it was uh you know, we’re I would say we were closer just cuz we were teammates for a while. and uh he was a young coach coming in and I was near the end of my career when I ended up playing for him which was I mean we still laugh about it uh because it was you know it was different and uh so we still joke about it once in a while and yet you could see that Sully was going to be a great coach uh even at a younger age and and I and I really valued that year with him just you know we had a type of relationship that most player coaches do. And he could call me in and and talk about the team and as an older guy on the team, what he what I felt and and maybe how I could help him a little bit as well. Um knew my game extremely well, which was nice. Uh with Paul, um you know, Paul was a guy that, you know, I was really impressed when I I played under him. wasn’t long, but he was, you know, he was influential in my decision of what I was going to do cuz I remember the my last year would have been my last year in Toronto, I believe, that uh Paul called me in at the end of the year and he uh we just talked, you know, I was near the end of my career and and you get older and and he was one that said to me, you know, I’ve only he’d only told a couple people this, two other players, and uh that he thought I should get into coaching. just from being around me, listening to me and uh the other one of them was Rod Brendmore and uh you know I took it to heart and I think I ended up playing half a year in Switzerland the next year and then got right into coaching. So we still you know when I see Paul we still catch up and talk and and you develop friendships. Some of the coaches I know well um and some you don’t know you know I don’t know at all. If Paul Maurice doesn’t have that conversation with you and you don’t got to go go down the coaching road, what’s Travis Green doing today? Man, good question. Uh, you know, I’ve always been been in love with the game. Yeah, I don’t know if I could envision myself not have being in the game in some capacity. I think I would have tried to get into management in some way. Maybe. Um, I was fortunate that when I went to Portland, I got to kind of play on both sides being assistant GM and assistant coach there. If I but if I wasn’t in the world of hockey, I’m I’m not sure what I would would have done to be honest. Media. Yeah, probably not. No, probably not. Talk a little about mentorship earlier of young reporters. Could you see yourself in the classroom as a pro as a teacher or a professor? I don’t I I don’t think I’d have the patience for it, but who knows? Uh, you know, I might maybe I would have gotten to media. Maybe I I’d always toyed around with even going back to school and you know when I was younger I know that you know I had thought about being a lawyer before I played played hockey and got actually made the NHL. That was something that I had in the back of my mind. But uh yeah I don’t know. I’ve been very fortunate to the game’s given me a lot and anytime you know I always dreamt of playing in the NHL. I didn’t didn’t think I would uh you know play as long as I did and and then to coach is I I’m always grateful for what the game has given me and to be in the NHL I don’t I don’t never take it for granted you mentioned maybe being a lawyer in our research for this interview we googled your name Travis did you know that it comes up under was it Criminal Minds yep Criminal Minds there’s a show called Criminal Minds where there was a recurring character named Travis Green Wow did I did not know this Not a big Google guy. You’re not a big Don’t Google uh your own name. Okay. I know you didn’t obviously watch Criminal Minds. We’re going to wrap up here. One thing I know you did watch last year. We talked about this and I love the fact that you love White Lotus. Yeah. And I want to know what are like what are the shows that you watch and I’m sure it must be a nice escape to be honest with you. Like because you’re you’re so into it probably 18 hours a day. This is a job you can’t really escape. So you get those moments to escape. White Lotus. Yeah. I’m a bit of a binger though. So, I actually try to I uh I have to be careful cuz I I will uh in the bubble in the I remember in the playoffs the one year in with Vancouver when we were in Edmonton in the bubble. Yeah. I uh got into Sons of Anarchy and uh I swear I I slept about two hours a night because I was up all night watching and then it then when we lost and we got out of the bubble, I remember the first I was driving from uh Vancouver to Castlear. Yeah. And the first gas station I pull up to, there’s a like a gang of bikes. Come on. Yeah. All of a sudden, I felt like I was in the gang and they recognized me as the coach of the Canucks. And they, a couple of them came over and said, “Hey, you know what? Great job.” And I was like, “You got to let me sit on your bike.” And and then like, so I got a picture on this Harley. And I was like, I was like, I’d watched it so much that I felt like I was all of a sudden in the gang. So, I haven’t been watching a lot lately. I watched Stick, the golf one. That was probably my latest one and looking forward to another one. Okay, we’re going to wrap up. One final question. You mentioned driving from Vancouver to Castle Guard. This is a driving related question. Can I preface by saying he’s brought this up to everyone? Every guest gets this question and I want to know when Travis Green is coming to Canadian Tire Center. Yes. Does Travis Green exit on Terry Fox Drive or Palladium Drive? To be honest, I take the back road right across. You take the back. So, you don’t even You’re never on the highway. I’m not on the highway. Okay. Small town guy. Small town guy. Perfect. And I don’t know the name of the roads yet. I just just put it on my I still put it on my maps and and just go. Just go. I don’t get on the highway. I do know that though. Okay, we’ll leave it there. Well, Travis, we appreciate you dropping by the pod. We really do. We appreciate maybe trying to show off this side of you a little bit to to our fans. Look at this work. He can You know, I don’t like that. No, I know you don’t like that, but we appreciate it. And hopefully this season maybe a better better chemistry. Jackson, I think so. Grab a screen. We’ll see. He might I don’t want him to get cocky and get ahead of him. Oh boy. Don’t worry. So, that was fun. [Music] Okay, Jackson. Lots to unpack there. Yeah. Uh, now be honest of and we’ve had a handful of guests that have dropped by. We try to create uh a fun homelike environment, right? Even with the furniture, comfy chairs, dor, the labu, you know, we’re giving those vibes. But was that the most of the guests that we’ve had, is that the most and we kind of touched on this in in the chat with them. I don’t know if intimidating is the right word like like what how would you describe and be I don’t know. I think like be honest like for example when I talk with Travis Green when it’s talking related I’m prepping right like like certain amount of questions this is what we’re talking about and it was the same thing for here more prep maybe a little bit less less of a flow that I than what we’ve we’ve seen with the other players in the sense that like I was more prepped more ready for it maybe not intimidating but yeah a little nervous going into it but it was good it worked out I think what okay now let’s let’s debrief here okay what would be worse for you and I can answer this question too. Yeah. If if you’re like your dad yelled at you right now or Travis Green, what would what would scare you more? It’s a good I think Travis Green would honestly scare me more cuz my dad I’d just be like, “Dude, what are you doing here?” Oh, man. I wish you could. I’d like to see you try that with uh with Travis Green. Also, I like You call your dad dude? Yeah, pretty much. Yeah, we have a good relationship, my dad and I, I think. But I think enough to the point where that if he yelled at he wouldn’t yell at me, first of all, but if he were to yell at me, he wouldn’t. Oh, the golden child. Of course. No, I don’t think he’d yell at me. But uh but yeah, if Travis Green yelled at me, I think I’d be I think anyone would be pretty terrified, right? Would you be Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. There’s not even a huge age gap between us. I’m like, I’m still intimidated. It was a great conversation with him. I The fascinating stuff, the story he told about yelling at guys about the green line. Yep. Yep. Oh, that’s great. That that’s great. That’s remarkable. So funny. And the fact that Bomber, who’s still Nolan Bumgarnner, who’s still with the team here, is was part of it and was like, “Come on, man. You’re we don’t have a green line on the ice.” Yeah. It’s crazy. It It is. And And I still get it from time to time. He will chirp me. Uh sometimes he’ll trip my tie or whatever. And I always think like, “What are you seeing?” Yeah. Exactly. Crazy. It’s nuts. Like Yeah. I don’t know. It’s uh I mean I’m he’s not obviously the only one who lives with it. Like people live with it on a day-to-day basis, but it’s an interesting thing that you don’t really think about for for people who have that going on in their life. No. Okay. So, and we can tease another episode we have coming up because Travis Green, current head coach of the Ottawa Senators. We have had a conversation with a former head coach of the Ottawa Senators, Paul Mlan. Y, which was a fun conversation. Really was. Okay. I’m gonna ask you if you could interview and put in that seat. Now, any coach in hockey history, okay? Doesn’t have to be a Senator’s head coach. Any you could interview any head coach in Ottawa history or NHL history. Who are you picking? It’s a good question. Oh, like even you gave me a couple seconds while you were still talking to think about it and I still couldn’t It’s called ragging the puck. When you rag the puck for your teammate. Yeah. I feel like it’s got to be one of the old school guys like Tobe Blake. I was thinking Tobe Blake. Exactly. Do you know how to Blake got his nickname? How? I don’t. So, his name is Hector. Actually, his real name is Hector. Okay. His little sister couldn’t just as like my daughter couldn’t say Tim Hortons and said Tim Hortons. His little sister couldn’t call him Hector and called him Hecto and it got just shortened to toe. Imagine that. That’s crazy. That’s crazy. That’s kind of crazy because you would think, especially like those coaches from the 40s and 50s, you’re like, “Wow, this guy, something happened to his toe got blown off in an accident or something at a factory.” No. No. His sister just couldn’t. That’s crazy. It’s like those old nicknames in the days like spiky one-armed Anderson or something from baseball. Oneeyed Frank McGee. Oneeyed Frank McGee. Exactly. Good point. Uh, yeah. Just crazy. The best one in baseball, Morai, three-fingered brown. Wow. There’s his name. Thing fingered right. Three-fingered brown. Yeah. And he had a different spin on the ball because of three fingers. Three fingers. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, Tobe Blake. I think it’d be to I think that’d be my What are you like to go the ghost of Tobe Blake? Top Blake comes down here and he’s sitting in here. What are you asking him? He must have so many stories from back in the day, right? Like just you asking about like what was the walk-in hallway like for you? Like did guys did guys walk in and get with different suits? I’m curious to see what his perspective would be on what the game like how the game’s changed, right? Like that’d be crazy to just for him to sit and watch just walking by. Rocket by the way to Rocket Rashard’s miked up tonight. Exactly. And it’d be one of those huge microphones cuz it’s the 1950s. He’s carrying like a whole thing on his shoulder. Crazy. No. Yeah, I think mine would be to Blake. You anyone? I You know what? I would go with former Ottawa Senators head coach Dave Allison. Huh. He was only here for like seven weeks. Yep. He only won two games, but everything I hear is that this guy was a super like super colorful, unique character. There’s rumors that he was like trying to get the bad energy out by having like a seance. Yeah, I heard about that. I need like Was there a Ouija board involved? Crazy. I don’t know. I don’t know. We could get You’re wasting your time on Tobe Blake. I don’t think Tobe Blake used the Ouija board, but there’s like a nonzero% chance that Dave Alson did. And I think that makes for a better podcast. I wonder if he’d be the only coach in NHL history to have potentially used a Ouija board in any situation. I don’t know. I don’t know. Tortoella. No, I don’t think so. Maybe. Maybe. I don’t know. He doesn’t seem like a Ouija board type. He’s not the dark arts type of guy. No, he doesn’t seem like But yeah, that was a lot of fun with with Travis Green. We have a future episode, like we said, coming up with Paul Mlan. Uh we have future episodes coming up with some, you know, other alumni. We’d love to hear from you if you want us to track down, you know, alumni, ex players, coaches, things of that nature. We’ve had people say like, “Oh, you guys should have equipment staff on people who have played the role of Sparta.” Although there’s a lot of gray area there. Are they allowed to speak? We don’t know. We still don’t know the answer to that question. But yeah, and also if you want to delve in on the conversation, like if you got any coaches from back in the day that you think would be great to have here on the podcast or would have been great to have on the podcast, let us know. Let them know. What’s the email address? Communications.com. He listens. I listen. Wow. I listen. I didn’t think I listen. I listen. It’s a reporter. You got to listen a little bit, right? A little bit. Only a little bit. That’s the sound That’s the sound of a good reporter. How much do you listen? Only a little bit. Just a little bit. Just a little bit. All right. Well, we hope you enjoyed this podcast. a little bit because we enjoyed having Travis Green. Um, again, these are always fun. Keep those emails rolling in. Communications atawacenators.com and we’ll catch you next time.

Senators Head Coach Travis Green joins the Absolute Non-Sens podcast to tell stories from his career in the NHL, growing up colourblind, and how he got into hockey at a young age.