Ryan Kesler Interview - 2011 NHL Awards

Last month we caught up with Vancouver Canucks Selke winner Ryan Kesler at the 2011 NHL Awards in Las Vegas to discuss hip hop, stick flex, weight loss, and interview bombing. These are his stories.

Q: I understand you’re responsible for some of the music during the Canucks pregame warmup skate?


A: Yeah, that’s true.

Q: Did you select the track that starts it off every night, Jay-Z’s "Public Service Announcement" from the Black Album?

A: Yeah.

Q: Do you control the jukebox in the locker room as well?
A: Yeah, as well.

Q: What do you like to line that up with?
A: Ah, Luongo likes house music before games so I throw a little of that in. And I like my hip hop stuff, so we mix it up a little bit.

Q: Talk about your experience in the Stanley Cup Final.
A: It's still hard to swallow now. In the next couple of weeks we're going to look back and realize we had a great season, and we came one game away. Obviously it wasn't our goal to come one game away. We wanted to win. But we did a lot of things as an organization that we've never done before. Time heals all wounds, right?

Q: How much weight did you lose during the playoff run or was it stable the whole time?
A: It drops a little bit, not too much though.

Q: Did you experiment with stick flex during the playoff run? I’ve heard some players go with a softer stick as the season gets longer.

A: No. I went with the same one and it worked out.

Q: Any interview bombing plans for the NHL Awards this evening?

A: You never know. Maybe.

Many thanks to Ryan for speaking with us. Best of luck next season.