{"id":23947,"date":"2019-05-19T16:16:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-19T22:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/nhl-players-forget-outside-world-during-playoff-runs\/"},"modified":"2019-05-19T16:16:00","modified_gmt":"2019-05-19T22:16:00","slug":"nhl-players-forget-outside-world-during-playoff-runs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/local-news\/nhl-players-forget-outside-world-during-playoff-runs\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL players forget outside world during playoff runs"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery\" readability=\"6.8086225026288\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-366119-124\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/Long_Cup_Runs_Hockey_93754-4a686-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/Long_Cup_Runs_Hockey_93754-4a686.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Ross D. Franklin \/ AP File Photo | AP | Washington Capitals center Lars Eller, right, celebrates his goal as Vegas Golden Knights left wing William Carrier skates away during the third period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals in Las Vegas last June. Paying the bills, going out to dinner and cutting the grass can fall by the wayside for NHL players on long playoff runs. With so much focus on hockey, everything on the outside is forgotten about this time of year.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"14\">\n<p><strong>Washington Capitals center Lars Eller, right, celebrates his goal as Vegas Golden Knights left wing William Carrier skates away during the third period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals in Las Vegas last June. Paying the bills, going out to dinner and cutting the grass can fall by the wayside for NHL players on long playoff runs. With so much focus on hockey, everything on the outside is forgotten about this time of year.<\/strong><br \/>Ross D. Franklin \/ AP File Photo | AP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/Long_Cup_Runs_Hockey_93754-4a686.jpg\" alt=\"Washington Capitals center Lars Eller, right, celebrates his goal as Vegas Golden Knights left wing William Carrier skates away during the third period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals in Las Vegas last June. Paying the bills, going out to dinner and cutting the grass can fall by the wayside for NHL players on long playoff runs. With so much focus on hockey, everything on the outside is forgotten about this time of year.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/Long_Cup_Runs_Hockey_93754-4a686-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/Long_Cup_Runs_Hockey_93754-4a686-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Steven Senne \/ AP | AP | The Carolina Hurricanes' Justin Williams talks with reporters during an NHL hockey media availability in Boston on May 8. Paying the bills, going out to dinner and cutting the grass can fall by the wayside for NHL players on long playoff runs. Williams loses track of what day it is: It\u2019s either a game day or not a game day, though doing a daily newspaper crossword puzzle reminds him that it\u2019s actually, say, Saturday.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"14\">\n<p><strong>The Carolina Hurricanes&#8217; Justin Williams talks with reporters during an NHL hockey media availability in Boston on May 8. Paying the bills, going out to dinner and cutting the grass can fall by the wayside for NHL players on long playoff runs. Williams loses track of what day it is: It\u2019s either a game day or not a game day, though doing a daily newspaper crossword puzzle reminds him that it\u2019s actually, say, Saturday.<\/strong><br \/>Steven Senne \/ AP | AP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/Long_Cup_Runs_Hockey_93754-4a686-1.jpg\" alt=\"The Carolina Hurricanes' Justin Williams talks with reporters during an NHL hockey media availability in Boston on May 8. Paying the bills, going out to dinner and cutting the grass can fall by the wayside for NHL players on long playoff runs. Williams loses track of what day it is: It\u2019s either a game day or not a game day, though doing a daily newspaper crossword puzzle reminds him that it\u2019s actually, say, Saturday.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/nhl-players-forget-outside-world-during-playoff-runs\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/nhl-players-forget-outside-world-during-playoff-runs\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Two minutes after wrapping up a conversation with his wife, Lars Eller couldn\u2019t remember anything.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cShe would be, like a half-hour later, \u2018Remember what we just talked about?\u2019\u201d Eller recalled. \u201cI\u2019m like: \u2018No, I\u2019m sorry. I completely forgot.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">A lot of things were forgotten during the Washington Capitals\u2019 2018 Stanley Cup run that culminated with Eller\u2019s clinching goal. This is the time of year when hockey crowds virtually everything else out for players who go on deep playoff runs. Travel, hotel rooms, practices, sleep, playoff beards and, above all, the next game are front and center. Things like cutting the grass and paying the bills fall by the wayside. They can wait, right?<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe whole world is put on hold,\u201d said Mike Rupp, who won the Cup with New Jersey in 2003. \u201cWhen I was playing in the playoffs, I wouldn\u2019t pay bills back before I had automatic bill pays. Playoffs, if you go on a decent run, I have all these late payments because you just forget about everything. Nothing matters. You\u2019re just so entrenched in it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Automatic bill payments have become Jordan Staal\u2019s friend growing up from a 20-year-old on Pittsburgh\u2019s 2009 championship team to a husband and father a decade later with Carolina. As younger teammates like Teuvo Teravainen have no problem going all in on playoff hockey mode, Staal leans on loved ones to get him through the daily needs off the ice.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThere\u2019s that small realm of what you\u2019re focused on, and paying the bills may not be one of them,\u201d Staal said. \u201cThat\u2019s when you\u2019ve got a good family around you and good friends to kind of just take that stuff off your hands and let you focus on what you\u2019ve got to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Hurricanes captain Justin Williams loses track of what day it is: It\u2019s either a game day or not a game day, though doing a daily newspaper crossword puzzle reminds him that it\u2019s actually, say, Saturday. But after winning the Cup in 2006, 2012 and 2014 at different stages of his life and going on several other long runs, the grizzled veteran has it all figured out by now.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s easy to do,\u201d Williams said. \u201cYou just deflect as much as you can and use the excuse of \u2018I\u2019ve got to focus on hockey\u2019 for everything. When you\u2019re home, it\u2019s dad time. When you\u2019re at the rink, it\u2019s hockey.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">While Eller said his one-track hockey mind is always thinking about the last game or the next game during the playoffs, some players try to fight that instinct. Carl Hagelin, who won the Cup with the Penguins in 2016 and 2017, tries to forget about hockey when he\u2019s not at the rink.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Easier said than done.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cObviously you go into your own bubble,\u201d Hagelin said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to spend time with your family and do all that stuff. I guess stuff that doesn\u2019t concern your family isn\u2019t as important.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">This phenomenon isn\u2019t limited to players, and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman \u2018s family knows all about how the playoffs take over. Bettman said his wife, Shelli, knows she can\u2019t make any plans during the postseason unless it\u2019s a place he can watch games on a TV or his iPad.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Bettman said he typically talks to director of hockey operations Colin Campbell multiple times on any given game day, well past midnight. But he loves every bit of it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThis is the best time of year. This is just awesome,\u201d Bettman said. \u201cAs (Shelli) says, going out to dinner with my iPad and watching a game has become an excuse for our social life. But, yeah, everything\u2019s on hold for two months because I never know where I have to be, what I have to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Players and Bettman agree the thrill of the playoffs makes everything worth it. Rupp, now an NHL Network analyst, said \u201cyou\u2019re eating, sleeping and breathing this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Yes, about that: Players do have to remember to eat properly and get enough sleep.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cYou\u2019ve got to focus, prepare, eat, sleep and do whatever you can to be the best on the ice,\u201d said Teravainen, who won the Cup in 2015 with Chicago. \u201cThe playoffs, it\u2019s all about hockey and you just prepare yourself for the game.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Eller said he focuses on what matters most. And much like Staal, he knows his wife will keep his head straight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIf you live with someone long enough, they know your tendencies and know you\u2019re maybe not always quite there and at the end of the day it\u2019s always things that can wait,\u201d Eller said. \u201cBut it can be a challenge sometimes because you give 100 percent of yourself to it and it means everything, right? You just live a little bit in your own world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/nhl-players-forget-outside-world-during-playoff-runs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington Capitals center Lars Eller, right, celebrates his goal as Vegas Golden Knights left wing William Carrier skates away during the third period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals in Las Vegas last June. Paying the bills, going out to dinner and cutting the grass can fall by the wayside for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-23947","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-11 02:18:50","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KIFT - The LIFT FM","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23947\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}