Our Exclusive Interview With Flyers Defenseman, Matt Carle

Complete Audio of the Interview:

Dime A Dozen Questions (Clean Version)

Name- Matty or MC
Age- 26, (6^th NHL season)
Hometown- Anchorage, Alaska
Relationship status- Married, a year ago last week

1. Favorite food- Bison filet

2. Favorite sport’s team/city when you were growing up— Growing up in Alaska, I didn’t really like have a favorite team. Kind of when Scott Gomez came into the league he was playing with New Jersey, so as hard as that is for Flyers fans to understand, I was kind of rooting for the Devils.

3. Who do you think is the hottest celebrity- Jennifer Aniston

4. Favorite thing about Philly- The history of the city

5. Favorite Moment as a Flyer- Going to the Stanley Cup Finals

6. Dream job, other than an NHL player- Fishing guide or something? Maybe not the guide, but on the TV show actually fishing.

7. Favorite TV show- Dexter, Entourage, maybe the Office or something like that too.

8. Favorite music genre- A little bit of everything. A lot of country tunes, rap, and some soft stuff.

The Important Stuff

Reaction to Carts and Richie being traded? Have you had a chance to talk to Carter or Richards since the moves? – I haven’t had a chance to speak to them personally, but like everyone else, I think that the initial reaction was that everyone was in shock. I remember sitting in a movie and my agent called me, and obviously I didn’t answer, and just shot him a text. I said, ‘Hey I’m in a movie,’ because the draft was in a couple of days so you are always kind of wondering what is going on around then. Me being a guy, and my name always seems to pop up in trade rumors, so my agent is calling me around the draft I’m a little bit on edge as well. So I sent him a text, ‘Let me get out of this movie and I’ll give ya a call back.’ Two seconds later he sent me a text saying that both Richards and Carter are gone. So I don’t think I watched any of the movie, just ‘cause I was on the phone texting my team. People around the league, everyone was in shock.

What are your thoughts on playing with an NHL great in Jaromir Jagr? – It should be interesting. I think he will add a new dynamic to our team, and you haven’t heard much from him being in Russia the past two seasons, but I’m sure he still has a lot of skill and demands a lot of respect from the league. And obviously he played really well at the Olympics last year in 2010, so he is going to be a good veteran leadership guy for us I would hope, and he will contribute to our power play and add that scoring that we lost with Cartsy and Richie leaving.

What about Maxim Talbot? Do you hate him as much as we think you hate him? – Well the type of style that I play, I’m not mixing it up too much, so I mean he is definitely one of those agitator players, and I’m sure everyone will learn early on in the season that he is much better to have on your team than playing against him. He brings some veteran leadership. He has won a Stanley Cup, he has been to the finals twice, so he knows what it takes in the playoffs and that’s always a good thing to have on your team.

Compare playing in San Jose and Tampa Bay, to Philadelphia. – I don’t think there is anything like the fans in Philly. I always joke around with people because people are always like ‘How are the fans in Philadelphia. They sound like they are brutal.’ And I joke, and you know, I tell people the fans are awesome and I wouldn’t want it any other way. I love the passion that they bring. I always tell people we play an 82 game schedule, this is how I’m trying to explain the passion of the fans, being an 82 schedule half our games are at home. So we play 41 home games. I say, we can go 40-0 those first 40 games, lose that last one, and still get booed off the ice. People always get a laugh when I tell them that about the passion in Philly, and it’s great. In the locker room we feed off the fans, and two years ago that run in the playoffs was probably some of the loudest crowds I think we have ever seen. It was awesome.

What is it like playing alongside a guy like Chris Pronger? – It’s good. When he first got traded I was obviously pretty excited he was going to be a part of our team, and I remember going into training camp that year not really knowing what to expect. Sure enough, day one, they put up the rosters and I was playing with him. It was a little nerve wrecking early on playing with a guy who is a sure-fire, hall of famer. After training camp, and as the season went on, we got more and more comfortable together, or I got more and more comfortable with him, and I’m sure it was kind of the same on his side. That partnership has continued to grow. Obviously he was out a little bit with some injuries last year, and I’m just looking forward to him getting healthy and getting back going. Let’s hope we can have a full healthy season out of him this year.

Who wears the C next year if you had to choose? – We have a group of older veteran guys. We have Briere and Timonen, you know Prongs. I think no matter what it’s going to come down to, you know, whether you have a letter on your sweater or not, it’s going to be a team effort. I know it sounds a little cliché, but it’s going to take a group of leaders in our dressing room to make up for what we lost, in the leadership that Mike Richards brought to our team. But like you said, the guys that we have, have been in the league a long time and know what it takes. And whether one of those three guys have it, I think anybody is going to respect any one of those three, anytime one of them gets up to say anything. I am not too concerned about it and when that decision comes down I’m sure everybody will respect it.

Thoughts on playing in your 2^nd Winter Classic in 3 years? Is it like home for you? – Sometimes you find this day in age, you find kids from California and Arizona, and some of those southern states. More often than not, most kids grew up in skates or in Canada. The weather is pretty cold and everyone plays outside. Obviously it is no different for me. When I was growing up, practices, we were playing pond hockey on the weekends, doing all that fun stuff. Having a chance to play in even one Winter Classic was awesome, and now to have a chance to play in another one, hopefully, it will be a real treat, especially to have it in Philly. Even when we were in Boston it seemed like there were more Philly fans there than there were Bruins fans. I can’t imagine what it is going to be like this time around.

Excited for 24/7? – We all followed it pretty closely, and I think it is a great touch the NHL added this year and it should be interesting. Having those cameras around, we’ll see who the real characters are on our team I guess.

Rapid Fire Questions

Best cheesesteak in Philly? – Whichever one has a shorter line, between Pat’s and Genos.
What kind of car do you drive? – Chevrolet Avalanche
Thoughts on the fans in Philly? – Passionate
All-time favorite hockey player? – Nicklas Lidstrom
Best friend on the team? – Giroux or Reemer
Toughest forward you had to shut down? – Gotta be Crosby or Ovechkin. I think Crosby because he can make plays at any time. He is a way better passer and can score goals now too. So he is a double threat.
Typical day in the life of “Matt Carle” – Right now in the summer, it’s pretty simple. Right now we get up and work out in the morning around 7 o’clock, come back and have breakfast. And then depending on the weather, we are either on the boat wake surfing or hitting up the links and golfing. So it’s pretty relaxed right now, but once the season gets going we’ll start to turn the gears up a little bit.