ICYMI: Hockey pro Austin Saint joins Connected!

Michael: It’s been quite an interesting ride for you here over the last several months. Of course, we chatted over Zoom months ago after your signing with the Greenville Swamp Rabbits. That’s your shirt. I asked you to pick out something there. I dunno if you can straighten out, but we can kind of see the logo. There you go a little bit there. But you got some of the team swag that you’re representing here. It’s been a few months since that all shook down and happened. Does it still feel surreal for you that it all came to be, it quickly ended your collegiate season, then started pro?

Austin: Yeah. At the time it was a shock. I think I kind of knew I was ready to make that jump, but finally having those people believe in me and to get there and make an impact right away, it was important for me and just kind of my self-confidence. But now just kind of being in it for a while and then going through my shoulder surgery, kind of all that, got to kind of see what it was all about. From all aspects, whether it was behind the scenes on the ice or whatever it was. But now I feel confident in myself and I’m excited for next year and keep going.

Michael: How did the season end up? I know we had saw, like, we had played the clip of you scoring your first goal. There’s a lot of excitement. I know that the Swamp Rabbits were having a good season. How did it end up in the pursuit for the Kelly Cup?

Austin: For myself it was kind of short-lived a bit. I was playing well. I had like four goals in seven games. I was starting to play well, starting to get more opportunity. Then we were playing Orlando, kind of caught a weird rut in the ice and kind of was taking a tumble, guy finished his check on me, and I dislocated my shoulder, broke two bones and tore my labrum. I had to get shoulder surgery, end the season for me, but kind of just had to find a new way to keep myself busy and keep developing. So I got this VR headset called Hockey Sense Arena.

Michael: Oh, really?

Austin: So I was working on my hockey IQ a bit, and it was really important for me to do that just to stay busy, keep my mind into it. That was the biggest thing, staying busy through it all.

Michael: How is that VR?

Austin: It’s pretty good. I wouldn’t say it’s like the most realistic, but I mean, it’s probably as close as you could get to on ice action and they got a ton of drills in there, so yeah, it keeps it interesting. It’s fun.

Michael: Ever put on the VR headset Heaven?

Heaven: Have I? Yes, but not a hockey one. I did once punch a cabinet with the VR headset on.

Austin: Oh yeah.

Heaven: I’m pretty sure I told that story before.

Michael: What game were you playing?

Heaven: I don’t know. I can’t remember. You had to fight some little guys and I did not stay within the motion capture.

Michael: Any injuries or anything sustained from the VR?

Austin: Not for myself. I had some family members playing it and my mom ran into a railing outside the perimeter. That was pretty funny. Thankfully, she didn’t get hurt.

Michael: Next question, Heaven, what do you think?

Heaven: Well, I just kind of wanted to know what being down in the States is like, ’cause I’ve never been there.

Austin: Yeah, no, it’s nice. Greenville’s a pretty southern town, so a lot of southern accents, which is a bit different than over here. It’s a very conservative town.  Lots of churches up there. But it’s pretty cool. It’s a different feel, but in terms of hockey and the way everyone operates there, it’s pretty much the same as anywhere else. You do the same things every day. You try to keep it pretty consistent. Unless you’re away from the rink for whatever reason, it’s pretty much the same as anywhere.

Michael: How big is the home stadium there?

Austin: I think it seats just under 15,000. They cover part of the top half because usually they don’t fill 15,000, but I think military appreciation, there was just around 9,000 for that game. They get a pretty good crowd. The crowd gets pretty rowdy. There are fans who are very passionate about the game.

Heaven: Super fans.

Austin: Kind of like super fans. It’s pretty cool. They’re there all the time and it’s crazy how much they care about the team.

Michael: I remember seeing the clips and I was kind of blown away by the size of the rink. Is that in the East Coast Hockey League? You got the NHL, the AHL, and then the ECHL, which you signed on with last year. Is that typically the size of those barns, or do you get some variety depending on who you’re playing?

Austin: For the most part they’re pretty similar. Some probably sit around eight to nine, but there are a lot of NHL-size facilities. Most of them are pretty high-end. I can’t think of any right now that are just like crappy facilities. For the most part, whether you’re in three rivers on the French team or whatever, they’re all pretty up-to-date and pretty nice.

Michael: Did you make it to Newfoundland?

Austin: No, I got there. When I arrived, they had come back the day before from their trip up there. I didn’t get to experience that. Now they’re folded, so I’ll probably never get to.

Michael: What have you learned more about the lineage of the Swamp Rabbit?

Heaven: I was gonna ask that.

Austin: Right after our interview last time, my mom called me and she had looked it up because I didn’t know. There’s a big Swamp Rabbit trail there, it’s called. There’s a backstory behind it, but I’m not too positive. I didn’t really read much into it. That’s kind of where they got the name from. I don’t know if the Swamp Rabbit itself is like a mythical creature or whatever, but it’s a mythical creature. I don’t think it’s real.

Heaven: It definitely works as one of the more unique names that you will hear.

Michael: It’s a memorable team name for sure. Definitely a memorable one. That’s kind of the fun part too, the ECHL is different communities, different team names. It’s a lot of time on the bus still, isn’t it? Or is it not too bad to travel?

Austin: It’s actually not too bad. At least in our division. I know there’s some other divisions where they have long bus rides and they have those sleeper buses because they’re on there for 12, 16 hours at a time. For us, our longest trip was our trip to Orlando, which was an eight-hour bus trip. Anytime they go that far, usually it’s a flight. Other than that trip, maybe six hours is the farthest trip. Other than that, it’s about three or four. It’s not too bad. They treat us well.

Michael: Certainly a lot of experience in the AHL riding the bus through various levels of hockey. How has it been this summer in the training? You had the injury and doing the VR, but have you touched the ice a lot? Are you gearing up here lately? How’s that been going?

Austin: You know me, I like to stay busy. As soon as I got back, they were trying to hold me off the ice as long as they could to make sure I didn’t reinjure myself. As soon as I got back here, I was on the ice. Ever since then, three to five days a week, been on the ice and training, keeping busy. That’s important for me. With that whole injury, you have some self-doubt. It’s good for a guy going through something like that to keep busy and get back to where they were. Especially when you’re trying to keep moving up the ranks, you want to make sure you’re developing over the summer. For me, it was important not to just come back as the same player, but make some strides over the summer too. When I went back, I wasn’t just the same player as when I left.

Michael: I think of teammates of yours for the Pontiacs who went on to play NCAA. There’s a whole lot of volatility when you look at a roster like that, where guys are moving in and out and the transfer portal. Can you compare and contrast your path to yours?