By Matt Calamia @MattCalamia / NYRangers.com–
NYRangers.com chatted with Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh in his home state of Minnesota to see how No. 27 was spending his offseason, his first as a father.
NYR: How has the first summer as a dad gone?
RM: “It’s been a lot more fun now. Not having hockey and being able to spend a lot more time with the little one has been fun. She’s growing up so fast. We’re coming up on 10 months old now. We’re working on walking. She’s crawling everywhere, she’s walking with the walker, so it’s only a matter of time here. It’s funny how her personality just changes. She’s so excited to see whoever it may be walking through the door. Mom, dad, grandparents, friends. It’s great to be able to entertain her and keep her busy.”
NYR: Have you been able to travel or more keeping it close to the home base?
RM: “We did a little bit of traveling early on. Just went down to Florida to get away a little bit. A few trips up north to the family cabin. We’ve had a few weddings here with some friends that have gotten married. We traveled to Toronto for one and Madison, Wisconsin for one. Now in August here, we don’t have much on our schedule before we head back, so that’ll be nice to be able to soak in the time with family and friends and enjoy the house here.”
NYR: Have you guys had the chance to catch a movie or watch any shows that you can’t during the season?
RM: “Oh we’re pretty caught up on Game of Thrones.”
NYR: That seems to be a theme with you guys.
RM: “We’re on the edge of our seats come Sunday night. By the time Sunday rolls around, we’ve watched last week’s episode three or four times just to see if we missed anything. My wife and I, we’ve kind of been banking on that every Sunday night. We look forward to that. Yeah, it seems like everybody you know is watching it and talking about that. That’s been an exciting one.”
NYR: Any concerts you’ve gotten to see?
RM: “I haven’t made one but my wife went to the big one here at Target Field with Florida Georgia Line, Nelly and the Backstreet Boys. Some of her girlfriends went for that. I was at a golf trip with my high school buddies up in northern Minnesota, so that would have been a good one to see. Usually the last week of August here, the 23rd, the state fair starts. There’s concerts there every night, so we usually like to catch somebody there. Tim McGraw is coming here in a couple weeks. I think we’re going to try and see that as well.”
NYR: Any Twins games?
RM: “Yeah, we’ve gone to a couple early on there in June. I guess now it gets exciting. They’re playing pretty well. I usually keep track and watch them, flip them on at night during the week to catch up on them and see how they’re doing. It’s just great being outside on a nice night with nice weather and catch a ball game. It really puts a stamp on a great summer day.”
NYR: We’ve got about a month left until camp opens. Can you tell us about your training schedule?
RM: “A lot more on the ice for sure. That’s where you’ve got to find the balance between what you’re going in the weight room and what you’re doing on the ice. You don’t over-stress your body. You only get a few months here to recoup and recover and make sure the body is ready for a long season. You still have to remember come training camp time that it’s still three or four weeks until the actual games start. You’re not quite ramping up the intensity too much yet. It’s still just about trying to get that conditioning going on the ice and making sure you’re your body is feeling strong on the ice.”
(Reprinted with permission of NHL.com) (NHL.com Photo)
