After signing a two-year, $2.5 million AAV contract with the Maple Leafs, forward Teddy Blueger discussed his decision to choose Toronto in free agency.
What makes the Leafs a good fit for you?
Blueger: You kind of go off of where you feel like you are wanted and where you feel like you can have a role. Throughout that whole process, it seemed like Toronto was interested right from the start. It just felt like the right place for me to go.
Being able to play for an Original Six team is an opportunity that doesn’t come too often. It’s a big honour. It kind of ended up being an easy choice.
You had some good chemistry with Dakota Joshua in Vancouver a few years back. Tell us about your experience together and whether you think you’ll be playing with him again here in Toronto.
Blueger: I have no idea if I will be playing with him again, but we did have a good run — me, Dak, and Conor Garland. I had a lot of fun playing with those guys. We had some success, obviously, so that always helps, but I think the three of us complemented each other pretty well. We kind of brought slightly different skill sets.
The balance was there as a line; Dak is a big, physical power forward who is great down low and great in front of the net. He can score. He has a great skill set. I love playing with him. I am obviously hoping to get that chance again.
You played both wing and center interchangeably throughout your career. Where do you think the best fit is for you?
Blueger: Both are a good fit. Most centers can play wing normally and are adaptable that way, with an ability to switch back and forth. Even last year, there were a couple of times when I would play a couple of shifts at wing and go back to center. I feel comfortable doing both. Wherever I am needed is where I will be.
You didn’t grow up in Toronto — you grew up in Europe — but you mentioned that playing for an Original Six team with the Leafs is something really exciting to you. Why is that?
Blueger: Just knowing Toronto, it kind of seems to be the center of the hockey world. Just being part of an Original Six team, I know all of the guys I am friends with who have played there have said it is a little bit different. It carries a little more weight.
Any time you are in the building and look up into the rafters, you see all of the retired numbers, the history, and the weight of that. Also, you know how passionate the fans are and how much they care. It is great to be doing something that people care so much about and being a part of that. It is kind of a unique opportunity that you don’t get in most places.
What, if anything, do you know about Sergei Bobrovsky? How cool will it be to have him backstopping the team all season?
Blueger: Very cool. Big signing by the team. I don’t really know much about him personally — I’ve never met him — but obviously, he can play the game very well. He seems like a great guy. I am looking forward to meeting him, just like the rest of the guys.
When you were in Vancouver back in March, you fought Colton Sissons in Vegas. What do you remember about it? What will it be like being teammates with him now?
Blueger: I think it will be great to be teammates. He has been a great player for a long time in the league.
As far as the fight, I don’t think it was really too much of a fight. It was just a scrum on the ice, and we were both kind of involved in it. I think we will probably just laugh about it when it comes up.
How do you remember your time in Vancouver?
Blueger: I loved my time in Vancouver. I made a lot of great friends. I have been with some of those guys for three years. We went through a lot of ups and downs together. That helps create a bond.
The city was amazing — really nice people, and very, very beautiful nature.
Last year, in particular, was a very challenging year. It was probably the year when I learned the most. It was the biggest year of learning throughout the course of my career. There were so many ups and downs, so many challenges with the team, so much change, and different guys getting traded or called up. There was a lot of adversity, but also a lot of learning and growth.
I had a great time in Vancouver. My wife and I both loved it there. We will remember it very, very well.
What is the biggest thing you learned through that experience last season?
Blueger: Just about the importance of team cohesion and culture-type stuff — what makes a team tick, what makes the guys come together and play at their best.
The goal for any team is to get to the point where you find this balance of guys caring about each other enough to the point where they’re willing to sacrifice themselves for the good of the team. How you get there — and trying to figure out how to get guys on the same page — is stuff I maybe took for granted early in my career in Pittsburgh with Sid setting the tone with his practice habits, discipline, showing up on time, and being respectful to each other, to the trainers, and to the staff.
It is things like that that seem like, when you take each one on its own, a small thing, but when you add them all up, it creates an environment within the facility. That environment is huge. It has to be positive and one where everyone can kind of be themselves and come to work every day excited and upbeat instead of down and kind of in a negative mindset. That makes all the difference, I think.
It is just little things like that — and trying to figure out ways to navigate that — that is the kind of stuff you carry with you your whole life, even past your hockey career.
You don’t have a trace of an accent. You are from Latvia. When did you come from North America?
Blueger: I came over when I was 14. I went to Shattuck and played there for four years. After that, I played four years at Mankato. I have been over here for more than half my life now. It’s been a long time. My wife is American, so we are mostly here now. We will go back to Latvia for a couple of weeks every year.
I’ve been speaking English for a long time. Even before I came over, I was going to an English school. I started learning English at a young age, and being over here for so long, you kind of pick up on the language.
