Off-Season Conversation: Jared Nightingale

Off-Season Conversation: Jared Nightingale

During the next couple of months, I will attempt to whet all of our hockey appetites with interviews every two weeks or so with some of last year’s Wolf Pack stalwarts. We’ll talk about what the guys are doing to pass the time during the summer, as well as their analysis of this season and thoughts going into the coming season.

The most recent conversation was with “heart and soul” defenseman Jared Nightingale…

Where do you spend the off-season?

Right now I spend it back in Michigan, mostly at Michigan State. It’s nice here, a lot of the alumni come back and train every year. It’s always nice to come back to your roots and kind of catch up with guys and get a good workout. The facilities here are unbelievable.

Do you have a place near MSU?

I have an apartment in East Lansing, and actually I’m living with (Wolf Pack teammate) Paul Crowder. He decided to come here because he didn’t have many options. His brother went to school here, so we’ve been working out together so far.

You said a lot of the alumni come back there. Is that a lot of the pro players, NHL and AHL guys?

Yeah, quite a few, at all levels. We have guys that play over in Europe too. Some of the guys wait until the second half of the summer to get here, but there are pretty good skates come late July, quite a few NHL guys and AHL and European players.

In addition to training, what have you been up to for fun and relaxation?

Trying to golf as much as I can. I’ve got to sharpen up my game. And I went out to Minnesota and visited my brother (Adam). He’s coaching at Shattuck St. Mary’s (prep school) and I hadn’t been out there yet, so I was able to spend about a week-and-a-half there. I went up north to Cheboygan (Michigan, his hometown), spent some time with my parents. They both retired, so I’ll be spending a little bit more time with them. But other than that, just trying to hang out and enjoy the down time.

How is your golf game?

Brutal right now. It’s still early, though, but I can’t get off the tee to save my life, there’s quite a few things to work on.

I know what brutal is by my golf standards, what’s brutal by your standards?

Having a couple quadruple-bogeys a round kills the score, but I’ve shot mid to upper 80s so far, which actually is not that bad. That’s kind of what I usually shoot, but compared to other guys, I can’t keep up.

By the end of the summer, when you’ve been playing a lot, where do you want to get to for a score?

Sometimes, I don’t know what it is, the more I golf the worse I get. I just hope I stay below 100.

Have you taken any vacations, any trips anywhere?

No, just to Faribault, Minnesota (to Shattuck St. Mary’s), and went to Minneapolis, because it’s right there (near Faribault). But I have a trip planned, I’m going to a wedding in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, an old friend, that’s something to look forward to. And next week, since both my parents just retired last week, we’re all going to Wisconsin Dells. Both my brothers are married and have a couple of kids each, so it’ll be a good time to get the whole family together, kind of get away.

What sort of work are your folks retiring from?

My dad was a state policeman, he was a detective for 31 years, and my mom was a middle-school gym teacher, and she retired after I think 25 years. It’s really convenient, they retired in the same week.

It’ll be an interesting change for them, after so many years of doing jobs like that.

I know, but they’re excited. They have a lot of plans, building a house and visiting the grandkids.

Do you do any hockey schools or camps?

Yeah, I usually try to help out at Michigan State with their hockey camps. I’m not going to do it as much this year, but there’s also another kind of a defenseman camp run by Mike Weaver, who played in St. Louis and played at Michigan State. I help him out for a week, and then I think I’m going to go up north and do a camp for a friend at Lake Superior State. And this summer I’m planning on going to work a Hockey Ministries camp down in Florida, if it all works out.

That’s a pretty full summer.

I know, and I told myself before, I didn’t want to work as many camps, to get drained. But there’s so much down time, you’ve got to fill it with something.

Give us your perspective on how last season went. What stands out to you?

I think a few things do. I think that stretch where we lost all those games (in February and early March) was tough. It was disappointing in wins and losses, but I think we’ll be better for it. I don’t know if I’ll be there next year, but what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and guys will definitely grow from going through the adversities last year. It was just disappointing, just because we had such a good group of guys, but at the same time, I don’t regret anything from the season and I’m sure most of the guys don’t. We gave it our all, and hopefully we’ll use that as a positive in the upcoming year.

You personally started the year in the ECHL, and then by the end of the year you were a top four guy with the Wolf Pack and playing a ton in a lot of different situations. Did that make you pretty proud, to progress that far during the course of the year?

Yeah, I was very thankful for my ice time and just that I was able to contribute to the team and kind of find a role. I was pleased, and it’s kind of like in everything you do, you want to constantly be improving each day. I think getting sent down to Charlotte at the beginning of the year, looking back now, it was very valuable to me and it made me appreciate being up in the American League more and helped me work that much harder to try to stay there. Hopefully I can continue to build upon last season.

And at the end of the year, after the Wolf Pack were done, you went back to the Checkers for what turned out to be their final playoff run before the franchise becomes an American League team for next year. How did that go?

It was good. We wanted to go a little farther, but we ran into a very good team, Cincinnati, that ended up winning it, but it was great to go down there, and I viewed it as a good opportunity to play some more hockey. I didn’t feel like I was ready to be done, and we fell a little bit short. But yeah, they’re going to the American League now, and that’s going to be an unbelievable city. Whoever plays there is going to be very lucky.

I heard Kenny Gernander say more than once in reference to you, “that guy’s a real warrior.” Do you feel like you bring a warrior mentality to the game?

I try to. I try to definitely give the same effort night in and night out in intensity, and definitely I take pride in trying to make it tough on the opposing team, whether it be scrapping or trying to play as physical as you can or being a positive influence in the locker room. I kind of view that as one of my valuable assets.

It’s clear that’s a strong role for you, but this year with the Wolf Pack you had three goals and eight points, and those were AHL career highs for you. Do you feel like you made big strides in being part of the attack, in addition to the physical play?

Yeah, definitely, and that’s an area where I have to keep on improving. I do feel like I took a step as far as trying to jump up, not necessarily jumping up in the rush, but just being kind of a second-wave option. I definitely improved, and the more you play with some of the guys, I would feel like I was pretty spoiled watching Heikkinen and Sanguinetti and Potter. You can learn so much just by watching your peers, and I was fortunate to play with some pretty good defensemen, it’s just natural to pick up some tips. But definitely I feel like I’ve taken a step each year along the way. I feel like I took my biggest step last season and I want to continue to try to improve this offseason.

I’m sure as you and I talk at this early point in the offseason, the situation for next year is still a little fuzzy, but do you feel like there is a decent chance that you might sign back with the Ranger organization?

Yeah, I’m definitely not going to burn any bridges. I’ve had a great experience there and a good opportunity in Hartford, but it is still very early and just to see what’s out there as far as options elsewhere. But I’m not really worried about that, I think everything happens for a reason. And if that’s the way the cards fall that I’m back in Hartford, I’ll be excited to go back there and hopefully try to work my way up and continue to improve.

If you are back with the Wolf Pack, as you look at it here in early summer, how would you see the Pack’s prospects for the upcoming season?

Well, I think it’s always high. The Wolf Pack always put together a team that has the potential. I don’t have the list in front of me, but I can expect that since last year was the first year they didn’t make the playoffs, that they’ll come back even stronger. I know with a lot of their prospects, as far as the D-men, coming back, there’s no reason they shouldn’t be near the top of the league. I wouldn’t worry too much, I think the Wolf Pack will have a successful season.

Playing for a guy like Kenny Gernander, who really appreciates your approach, and J.J. Daigneault, who was a wily defenseman, a successful guy, for a long time in pro, what’s that experience been like for you?

Like I said, I feel like I’ve been spoiled. As defensemen we don’t work as much with G, but as far as J.J., I haven’t had any coaches with the experience that he has. I’ve been very fortunate to be around that for two years. He kind of picks up the little things of the game that maybe somebody else wouldn’t, because he put in so many years. But definitely I feel like I’ve been spoiled with all of those guys. Even Patty Boller, I had a pretty good relationship with all three of the guys and I really enjoyed my time with them.