Jake Walman talks playoffs, meeting Oilers fans, and Preparing for the Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final

Jason Gregor: How do you balance the excitement of the Stanley Cup Final with the seriousness of it?

Jake Walman: That’s a good question. I feel like every game in these playoffs has kind of been like that, just balancing emotions. But obviously, we are excited. It kind of feels like a continuation of what we’ve been doing, so you’re in the moment throughout the whole thing, and you’re dialled in. At the same time, I try to take a step back and see the position you’re in and how exciting it is, while ensuring you are focused on the task at hand.

Gregor: What have you learned about yourself in these playoffs, considering you’d only played one playoff game prior to this season?

Walman:  Yeah. That’s a good one. I think I’ve proven to myself, and proven to other people, I could play well, and I kind of knew I would be here at some point, but I’m just really proud, to be honest, about how everything came to be. And we’re in a great spot now. I couldn’t be more excited or prouder of the situation that we’re in. And, personally, it’s exciting. I always hoped and dreamed of something like this. So, yeah, I think the biggest thing is how I’ve handled things thus far.

Gregor: Are you able to enjoy it? Do you take a few moments to enjoy each round before you focus on the next one?

Walman: I’m one of the guys who likes to disassociate as much as possible from the game when I’m outside of it. So, just enjoying time with family, and kind of thinking about the next steps, but at the same time, just kind of separating myself a little bit to give myself a bit of a mental break. I do think about the path and what we’ve been through and the accomplishments we’ve made thus far. But when we get back to the rink, it’s right back at it and preparing for what’s to come.

Gregor: Some guys never grow a beard this long. I know you’re a beard guy, so is it easy for you to sport the longer beard in the playoffs?

Walman: That was probably one of the biggest things I was excited about, growing a beard. I always keep it trimmed, so it’s a good excuse to grow it out and kind of not care about it — just let it go. Other than COVID, this is the only time I’ve grown my beard this long. I like it.

Gregor: You mentioned you like to dissociate and get away from the game. There was a story on social media this past weekend about you meeting some young fans (Luke, Jake, and Emma), and you having a good 10-minute chat with them and buying them some hockey cards. When you saw them and you introduced yourself, did you do it because you thought if you were their age, how awesome it would be to talk to an NHL player?

Walman: I don’t know if I thought about it like that, but when you put it that way, yeah, I would have been stoked to meet a Maple Leafs player when I was young, growing up in Ontario. Just going to watch them skating was unbelievable.

I’ve always kind of been the guy who tries to take time out of my day to do something for someone else. And I think growing up in Toronto, being a huge hockey fan, I know it’s similar to Edmonton, where kids grow up living, breathing hockey. So, when I saw the young boy looking at hockey cards, I kind of knew instantly that he was a hockey guy. And, yeah, it was a good opportunity for me, and it was a fun chat with them.

I think we have the privilege to use our status to improve the lives of others, and whether that’s just a little deed like that or going to see kids in the hospital, at schools, kids with special needs and kids who are underprivileged, stuff like that. It could be anything, but I’m always looking to kind of use our platform to kind of help other people.

Gregor: Now let’s focus on Wednesday. The coaches have had good plans in previous series to limit the strength of your opponents, like goals off the rush the past two series. How does that work over the next few days to get prepared? Do you study lots of video? Are there more conversations?

Walman: I think we do a little bit every day. It’s kind of like studying for a test, almost. Same thing in school. You do break it up into pieces and focus on different things every day. Today, we did a little bit of pre-scout and tendencies, stuff like that. They are similar to us. They have a very good team, and they are very deep. They don’t make many mistakes. They track aggressively. I think that’s probably the biggest thing that we’re good at. And you saw with those teams who are great off the rush, they will be another one of those teams.

The biggest thing is getting back and having guys above the puck, and that’s the definition of a mature team. I think it’s kind of instilled in everybody’s brain at this point to track above and defend first kind of thing and then take our chances when we get them.

Gregor: Florida is very physical. They forecheck hard and more than any other team. As a defenseman, how do you prepare for that, knowing they will be coming after you more often than other teams?

Walman: I’m not sure. Just be ready for it, I guess. That’s obviously their game, and we must be ready and know it is coming. Hopefully, we can counterattack that a little bit and use it to our advantage somehow. But it will be fun. Every time it is physical, emotions get high, and there is no better spot to be than in the Cup Final with more emotion. We want to be in the game mentally and physically. It will be fun. I can’t wait.

And neither can Oilers fans.