Also with

Uh, well, with Walz, I thought, um, you know, I thought we really hit it off.

I thought, um, you know, developed a lot of, uh, you know, respect for him and, uh, just the way he coached and honestly, the way he handled himself too as a, as a man.

I thought he was, um...

That's kind of the reputation he has, right? He's an honest person, and he's a great man, and, um, I think that goes a long way in the game.

That's all you can really ask for a lot of the times, just honest, honesty and being upfront.

And, you know, the thing I like about him is he's, uh, he's gonna be hard on me, he's gonna be hard on everyone.

What are your early impressions playing with Hans and-

Good question, Zach.

Um, honestly, I think it, it comes down to the love of the game and just, uh, the, um, desire to wanna put the work in, whether it's the off-season, every day during the season, whatever it may be to keep your body right.

I actually feel, feel really good, so, um, you know, not really, really sure how many years I have left.

But, um, you know, I signed a two-year contract.

I mean, I, I would like to think I could still play after that.

We'll see.

But, um, uh, yeah, I think at this point, especially, you know, 37 turning 38 this year, it's probably more of, like, a year-to-year thing.

Uh, do you feel a responsibility, though, to kind of try to pass on those same values to the younger guys and instill that in them for the team or, or not so much?

... over the last few weeks?

You, you know, it w- it was tough.

It was tough at first.

I think, um, you know, the opportunity to go back to Buffalo and, and be part of that team, that's really a good hockey team, the way they play, their puck possession, you know, uh, I, I think I could have fit in really well there.

Um, you know, the interest was real.

It was, uh, an exciting option, for sure.

And, uh, um, I think at first it was probably right there neck and neck with, with, uh, coming back to Chicago.

What did that mean to you?

Patrick-

Patrick, what will success look like to you this season? Um, like, uh, I think, I think the biggest thing is trying to win, right? Um, yeah, I mean, I could sit up here and talk about the playoffs and, and things like that, but I think, um, that's something you don't really think about now.

I think the most important thing is kinda getting yourself ready for the season.

Um, you know, looking at the schedule, we have, uh, a pretty tough start, first three games on the road, and, you know, obviously we're missing one of our best players.

So I think, uh, coming into the season, having a good training camp, training camp's shorter, um, getting ourself as ready as possible for those first few games is, uh, kind of where the focus is.

And, you know, you get off to a good start, you give yourself a little leeway to, uh, uh, put yourself into a position to make the playoffs.

So, um, that's kind of the main focus right now.

Were there any lessons that you learned over at, at those two other teams that you're gonna bring here in your second stint here?

Is that an accurate depiction of how you kind of came about it as well?

Yeah, for sure.

I mean, um, you know, for me, when I was younger, I, I, I just, I loved playing hockey, right? That was, that was my childhood, that's what I loved to do.

So, you know, I was on the ice all the time, um, you know, maybe 350 days a year.

I loved playing summer hockey, I loved going up to, uh...

I grew up in Buffalo, so tournaments in Toronto and Canada were some of the best tournaments you could play against competition, um, that maybe was, uh, a little bit better than, um, you know, what you were playing against in, in the States.

So it was always fun to do that.

When did that start happening? As a child, you just, that thing was glued to the stick?