PAUSECAST: Devils Defenseman, Damon Severson, Joins our Podcast

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For the seventh episode of the Devils Official Pausecast, our guest is Devils defenseman, Damon Severson.

Severson is currently in Kelowna, B.C. for quarantine. Severson played junior hockey in Kelowna for the Rockets and talked about what that team means to the community.

"They care about tier hockey here, there's numerous teams, but the Rockets are the Mecca of the sports as a sports town, being at the highest level. Beautiful facility, great area where we played," said Severson. "The people here really respect the Rockets as an organization and they support them as best they can."

Severson also discussed the long bus rides from Kelowna to other Canadian cities during his junior hockey days.

New Jersey Devils Official Podcast · Damon Severson: "Pausecast" - Episode 8

"You spend a lot of time on the bus so guys kind of get into certain roles on the bus, what they bring to the table," explained Severson. "I was the snack man. And my last couple years I was always counted on to bring the snacks. So Krispy minis, little bags of chips or five-cent candies at the time, there was a bunch of stuff. I would always be stopping at 7-11 on my way to the rink for a road trip, picking up a bunch of snacks."

The Devils defenseman also provided some insight for the day leading up to the NHL pause back in March.

"Immediately when everything kind of happened, obviously the biggest shock was the first announcement with the NBA, they said a player had gotten COVID," said Severson. "Moving forward the writing was on the wall for the NBA and then the NHL with us using all the same facilities they do. We showed up to the rink that next morning because we playing Carolina that night. And it was kind of like, guys were talking, we had a normal meeting in the morning, and then it pretty much got told to us within 15-20 minutes that we weren't allowed to skate, and we weren't allowed to be at the rink."

"It doesn't really hit you until it's been some time now, you get some time to look back and think about it. It's been I guess two months now, so it's crazy to think."

Severson also shed some light on a popular trend for NHL players during the pause - growing their hair and facial hair.

"It was kind of like a thing. I don't know if it was an unwritten thing or guys were just doing it on their own and everyone ended up doing it. But I guess we're calling it the quarantine beard for awhile there. I noticed myself along with many of my teammates and many others around the league were letting their hair - whether their hair or facial hair - grow."

"I ended up growing out my facial hair, it got pretty long to the point where it's kind of in the way," said Severson. "I'm not a pretty big facial hair guy, I usually keep it pretty clean but I grew it once, shaved it off and now this is actually the round two. So this is probably going on a couple weeks, maybe three weeks now so it's due for another shave."

"I was fortunate I got a home haircut just on the back and around the sides, from my girlfriend, so I was lucky to have that because it was getting a little bit out of control too," said Severson. "I know lots of guys are overdue for some trims."