1-on-1 with Max Szuber
Tucson Roadrunners defenseman Max Szuber joined Adrian Denny, Kim Cota-Robles and Arizona Daily Star Sports Editor Brett Fera this week on Roadrunners Happy Hour. Catch Happy Hour every Tuesday at 5 p.m. on Fox Sports 1450 AM and the Roadrunners Happy Hour Podcast on the iHeartRadio app. For the complete episode, and to hear more about Max’s NHL debut, you can download below.
Listen to “Szuber's Hockey House” on Spreaker.
Q: Tell us about getting recalled to then Coyotes last week, going to Seattle and getting to work with the guys at the big club!
The guys were awesome. I mean Josh (Doan) is one of my best buddies here, he welcomed me very good. I mean all of the guys welcomed very good. The leaders, everyone, was just warm and welcoming. They made it easy on me and they just said to “have fun, enjoy the moment.” I was kind of speechless, I didn’t have much to say there, but I was just very thankful to them.
Q: We got home ice advantage for the first round. Are you excited for the Whiteout? We kind of had a little playoff teaser here against Colorado this past weekend.
Oh yeah, it’s going to be a ball in here, very exciting, great fans. I can’t wait to see them wearing the white stuff and it’s going to be awesome. They were great games. I think both teams played very good games strategically and very mature games. I think we overtook them and that’s why we won.
Q: You guys seem to have a rotating team with all the call ups and you just keep winning. Why do you think that is?
I think that’s our strength, especially like we mostly find a way to win and that’s what makes our team so good. We always work hard. We make our place and we just stick together. We have great tough guys; they stick up for for us and they help us a lot.
Q: How much does getting that NHL opportunity drive you once you get back? It seems like guys always say that once they get back, they step harder on the gas instead of letting off and taking a rest for a bit.
Yeah, it was awesome. I mean, we can tell there is a big difference between the NHL and AHL. There’s a lot of work still to do. But once you get there, at least for the one game, like for Cam (Crotty) or me, we just want to get there more, you want to get more and more and more. But at some point, you also realize how much work there is. So, like we have to work more for that, and to make our dream true, and I hope one day it’s going to happen. I think for Cam he’s a great player. He’s going to make his way there. He’s a hard worker. So that’s what makes him very good.
Q: It seems like nicknames are a huge deal in hockey. Is that kind of how you know you’re accepted in the group?
Yeah, everyone has their nicknames here, I think that’s what makes the locker room so easy and so loose. We just know each other so well. That’s what makes it awesome.
Q: Tell us about the Tucson hockey dream house that you guys have going on. (Over the course of then season, Michael Kesselring, Josh Doan, Aku Raty and Anson Thornton have all lived in the same home.)
It’s nice. We have a great house. Obviously because we share it and it’s just awesome. Like, we have a very good connection in the house. We’re very close, we just bought a ping pong table. Yeah, so we play a lot of ping pong. We have a pool there, so it’s very fun with the guys chilling there and it just builds up a bigger connection. A lot of guys come over too and it’s just awesome to have them over.
