Live | Gage Goncalves Press Conference

Gage, thanks for joining us and congratulations. If you have any questions for Gage, please use the raise your hand function. We’ll give it a second to uh to populate. Recording in progress. First, we’ll go to Eden Cena. Hey, Gage. How’s it going? Congratulations, man.
Thank you very much.
Hey, um I wonder if you could just kind of take take us back a little bit about where you you feel that you’ve come in the past year. You know, I mean, you know, this time last year, you know, you came back on a two-way deal to kind of, you know, make good on on showing that you could be an NHL player and obviously you did that this year. I mean, what’s been the biggest difference if you say you sitting here right now with a two-year deal in hand versus, you know, maybe where you were a year ago? Uh, I think a lot of it’s just kind of the work ethic and, you know, the stuff I’ve done this summer and the stuff I’m kind of been doing through the season, whether I was with Syracuse or up in Tampa kind of after practices. But a lot of it’s just my confidence and just kind of having, you know, uh, the resiliency to know that I I can make plays at that level and I can help the team contribute offensively or defensively or whatever it is. So, yeah, I’d definitely say uh the confidence builder has uh has been the biggest stride for me. DeAndre, go ahead. Sorry, I was muted. Um, congrats on the new deal. I I wanted to ask you, um, you know, at the end of the season, Julian was kind of talking about um, how impressed they were with your development from Syracuse um, to Tampa. And I just I wanted to ask you maybe kind of what what you feel like you learned in Syracuse and how that helped you um, down the stretch here. Uh yeah, I think I just learned kind of, you know, how to be a pro every day. You know, just watching a lot of those guys doing a lot of extra work after practices, whether it’s kind of, you know, you’re shooting or you’re doing your power skating or or it’s kind of taking care of your body. And obviously when you uh when you’re up here in Tampa, the facilities and and the staff there are second to none. I’d say definitely one of the best in the league, if not the best at at helping you get uh what you need. So, at the end of the day, it’s kind of just on yourself to to take advantage of all those resources and uh hopefully I can I can keep striding and uh and can’t keep doing that here for the next uh two years. Gabby Shirley, go ahead.
Hi, Gage. Congrats. We’re so happy. Thanks, Gab.
Just wanted to know, I mean, from your perspective, why did you want to continue to be a member of this organization? I mean, just it’s it’s one of the best organizations in the NHL. The guys here from from management to the coaching staff, you know, what they’ve done in the past is is unbelievable. And, you know, playing with a bunch of first ballot Hall of Famers and a bunch of other guys that have been in this league a long time and know the game so well to be able to learn through them kind of just in the day-to-day process and and, you know, just how well they kind of treat everybody. if you’ve been in the NHL for 15 years or 40 games or whatever it is. So, uh they’re unbelievable and you know, I have a really think we have a really good chance at uh at doing some damage this year. You know, last year I think we obviously injuries can’t really have an excuse for that. But when we’re uh when we’re fully healthy or uh and we’re playing our best hockey, we’re uh we’re a pretty dangerous team. So, I think there’s a lot of guys in the team that uh want to get back to that uh pedestal this year. Gabby, do you have a follow-up? Yep. Um, Gage, we’ve obviously been fortunate enough to just watch your progression, everything from NHL debut, first goal, you playing back at home for the first time, and obviously your family has been along the entire way as well. You are very close to them. Can I hear how they have reacted to all this? And then finally, the big signing.
Uh, yeah, they were uh they were pretty stoked. I think my my mom and dad were in tears and obviously my uh my sister was super happy and her husband was probably texting me every single day and when is it going to get done? When is it going to get done? So, uh yeah, definitely a lot of relief. They obviously love Tampa and all we’ve ever kind of known is is Tampa and Syracuse and the way the development staff is and everybody in that organization. So, uh, yeah, it really means a lot to, uh, to sign this deal with them and hopefully I can, uh, just keep growing as a player and kind of as a person in, uh, in Tampa. Eden Cena, go ahead. A, your sister probably wasn’t the only one who was, uh, concerned about asking every moment about about your signing here. Um, you know, how did it go? How was the process and how did it go? I mean, was did did Julian come to you, you know, you and your people right away and say, “Listen, we we want to get this done um you know, right away or um you know, how how was kind of the process of uh of you signing and signing today?”
Uh yeah, he did a unbelievable job. He came to us uh kind of after the season, then we took some time and and he came to us again and you know, just the whole way he kind of went at it was obviously first class with everything he does. So, uh, yeah, you know, uh, we’re we’re super excited to to get it done and and for it to be announced and, uh, yeah, super excited to get back down to Tampa. Ben Pierce, go ahead. Gage, congrats, man. Uh, just you talked a lot this year about guys like Cooer, Rob, and Point that were willing to kind of lend a hand and teach you about different things on the ice, off the ice. Is is there one guy in particular that you think really helped you grow? And uh I’m just curious what your teammates had to say when they found out this was all going down today.
Uh yeah, I think the biggest guy that kind of helped me just grow with my my confidence in and my game is definitely Nick Paul. I mean, he’s kind of been like a little bit of an older brother uh vibes to me and geeks there. So yeah, he’s been unbelievable. whether it’s just like, you know, uh going for dinner or talking about the game or not getting too high or too low on the bench if if something good happens or uh or you mess up and just kind of trusting your ability. So, he was he was probably the biggest and uh I haven’t told a lot of the boys, so I think uh I’m getting some texts right now. So, yeah, they’re pretty uh they’re pretty fired up and I’m excited to uh to see them there in a couple of weeks. Jim Conlin from Ireland. Hi, Gage. Uh, Gage, uh, coming off an impressive, uh, season last year, you spoke about your ability to make plays, uh, 12 assists last year. Do you see that is a key component of your game, your playmaking ability? Is that a key strength of yours?
Uh, yeah, I think so. I think that’s kind of, you know, I’ve been kind of labeled as a playmaker, uh, kind of growing up and and through the ranks, whether it was in juniors or the A and now hopefully kind of in the NHL. So hopefully, you know, we have a great ton of great playmakers on our team. So hopefully I can kind of kind of add to that. I definitely want to shoot the puck a little bit more this year and be and be more of a a dual threat because I think just this just helps our team and it makes uh you know good players a lot better if they can have kind of have that double threat to them. But I’d still say playmaking is probably my uh my best ability. We have no further questions. Thanks Gage and thanks everyone for joining us today.
Thank you guys. Thanks, Gage. See you, Gage.
Thank you.

Lightning forward Gage Goncalves meets with the media after signing a two-year contract to remain in Tampa Bay.

Join the Thunder:
http://tampabaylightning.com

http://instagram.com/tblightning

#tampabaylightning #gobolts #gagegoncalves
Live | Gage Goncalves Press Conference

6 comments
Leave a Reply