We're here with Edmonton Oil Kings, defenseman Blake Fiddler
Blake as we speak right now. You know,
we're a handful of weeks away from the start of
training camp, but just give me a sense of
what your excitement level is like here as we get
set for the start of the 2023 24 WHL season
. Yeah, I'm super excited to head into my
first year here. Uh It's gonna be a really
cool experience and uh a fun year, definitely,
uh looking forward to going in a training camp and
uh I got to practice with the team for a
few weeks last year. So, uh looking forward
to seeing some familiar faces and new faces going into
my first year. Tell you what as a,
as a 16 year old player coming into the Western
Hockey league, maybe, you know, a bit
of a wow moment when you're kind of practicing and
playing games in an NHL arena, right, the
home of the Edmonton Oilers. But you know how
much did that time with the team last year and
in the spring kind of help you acclimatize and maybe
familiarize yourself to your new settings. Here. Yeah
, uh, definitely helped, uh, getting to
get up there and practice with the team for a
few weeks. Just kind of, uh, see
what the normal WHL uh, day looks like and
, uh, getting to meet everybody and obviously playing
, uh Rogers place. It's unbelievable and getting to
watch a few games. Uh, they, they
packed the barn, uh, pretty well in that
big, big, uh, rink. So it's
definitely gonna be exciting, Uh, playing, uh
, my first game. You've just come back from
Europe. Like, tell me about the experience you've
had representing your country of the United States at the
Five Nations U 17 event. Yeah, it was
, uh, it was amazing, uh, putting
on that jersey, there's no better feeling than to
represent your own country and, uh, obviously going
to a different country. It was, uh,
uh, pretty cool to, uh, like,
see Prague and, uh, all of those,
uh, cool cities and, uh, the rinks
over there are much different. It's, uh,
it was a really cool experience and, uh,
uh, play with, uh, so against some
of the top kids from these countries. It was
definitely really cool and I'll remember it for the rest
of my life. Kind of a nice jump start
for you to kind of get ready for the season
too, I think. Yes, it's definitely,
uh, something I can build off of, uh
, uh, the Five Nations tournament. It was
, uh, it was a good, uh,
way to kick things off and, uh, uh
, it's gonna help me, uh, with my
confidence going into the, my first year Blake.
Of course, your dad Verne played in this league
, coached in this league, played in the national
hockey league as well. You know, what are
, what are some of the memories you have,
uh, of, kind of following his career as
you were growing up and, and, you know
, uh, kind of now getting to, to
carve your own path really in the WHL, you
know, something that he did, uh, you
know, a, a couple of decades ago.
Yeah, obviously, uh, he's played a long
time in the NHL and he's been, uh through
the Western League and, uh, yeah, just
getting, uh, watch him as a little kid
being in the locker room around the guys. Uh
, it was pretty cool, uh, getting to
have a dad, uh, that, uh,
with so much experience and, uh, yeah,
he's helped me so much in my career already.
Just, uh, the little things and he's always
trying to help me, uh, no matter what
. And, uh, yeah, he's been a
big part of my career so far. I understand
you even kind of had a, a bit of
a volunteer or vol and told maybe opportunity to,
to be a stick boy in Keona during training camp
one year when your dad was, uh, a
part of the Rockets coaching staff. You tell me
about that experience and uh, kind of getting up
close and personal with some of the Rockets players.
Yeah, I was definitely, uh, pretty cool
. Just nothing to do in summer. And,
uh, uh, at, at that age too
and, uh, just love being around the guys
and, yeah, it was cool to be on
the bench with some of the guys and, uh
, build some relationships with the older guys and,
like, at the end of practice I'd go on
the ice and shoot on the goalies, whether it's
a shootout or whatever. Uh Yeah, that,
that stuff was uh pretty cool for those who haven't
seen you play Blake, maybe if you could just
kind of describe yourself as a player and by extension
, uh you know, if there are kind of
NHL players NHL defenseman, you've kind of grown up
watching uh and emulating that you, you kind of
look to for, for tips and, and kind
of inspiration with respect to your own style of play
. Yeah, I think I'm a big long uh
ray defenseman, uh two way defenseman. I like
to provide offense, but I like to, I'm
also uh able to defend in my own zone and
uh I like to use my strength to my advantage
. I'm a, a smooth skater for uh my
size and uh yeah, I think uh my IQ
I, I'm good at making a smart hockey plays
and I like to, I like, uh go
, I like to model my game after him,
his physicality and he's a strong skater and, uh
, growing up in Texas I've loved, uh,
watching me. He and John Klingberg, I think
their creativity, uh, they bring a element of
creativity to the game that I like to also bring
to my game. Uh, they're both, uhm
skaters and, uh, m is more of a
two way guy that I like to, uh,
model my game after. But I like, uh
, uh, Klingberg offensive game. Tell me a
little bit about what it's been like growing up playing
hockey in Texas. I mean, we, we
hear a lot kind of up here about, you
know how the NHL kind of expanded to the south
and the US and, and the growth of the
game there. But, you know, maybe,
maybe just share your kind of anecdotes about, you
know, how big the game is down there and
, and, and how much of a foothold,
I mean, you know, you look at the
Stars Elite program that you've been a part of that
, how, how, how much it's grown perhaps
over the time that you've been a part of it
and playing, uh, in, in, in
that state. Yeah, hockey's, uh, grown
a lot over the past like, uh, like
10 years, a decade. Um, it's,
it's grown a lot and, uh, yeah,
the Stars have done a great job with growing the
game too. But, uh, Dallas Stars Elite
, we have a great program, um, down
here. We, we're always on the ice working
out. We have great coaches. Um, yeah
, it's really helped me a lot and, uh
, we got a lot of good players that come
out of, uh, Texas. You talk about
working out, you talk about being on the ice
and, I mean, I know you, you
were definitely kind of heavily involved in the national team
level recently, but what else has been keeping you
kind of busy this summer, uh, with respect
to preparing yourself for the WHL. Yeah, we
just, uh, we're on the ice lots,
working out lots, uh, lot of hockey this
, uh, summer with, um, development camp
and all the tryouts for the national team. Uh
, but, uh, yeah, I just been
working out and, uh, uh, skating lots
and in my free time trying to hang out with
my buddies and golf and stuff like that, uh
, just to, to get away from the game
a little bit in my free time. But,
yeah, I've just been on the ice and working
out lots.