Jason Robertson's summer skills camp for kids living on an Army base in North Carolina was among the highlights of his interview featured on the latest episode of the "NHL @TheRink" podcast.
Robertson, the Dallas Stars forward, and his brother, Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nicholas Robertson, ran the camp for kids living at Fort Liberty, the military base formerly known as Fort Bragg, near Fayetteville, North Carolina. They were assisted by their skills coach and their father, and received support from the United Heroes League and the NHL Players' Association.
Robertson, who called the experience at Fort Liberty "truly humbling," also discussed his journey to being a two-time 40-goal scorer who tied for sixth in the NHL last season with 109 points. He touched on expectations for the Stars this season after they reached the Western Conference Final last season.
"NHL @TheRink" co-hosts Dan Rosen and Shawn P. Roarke also sat down with Arizona Coyotes forward Clayton Keller in advance of the Coyotes' trip to Australia for the 2023 NHL Global Series -- Melbourne.
Keller and the Coyotes, along with the Los Angeles Kings, are in Melbourne preparing to play exhibition games at Rod Laver Arena, home of the Australian Open tennis tournament, Friday and Saturday. The games will start at 12 a.m. ET and air on NHL Network and ESPN+ in the United States; Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ in Canada; and 9Go, 9Now, ESPN and the ESPN App in Australia.
In addition to being part of the first NHL games in the Southern Hemisphere, Keller talked about his role now as a leader on the Coyotes at 25 years old, more than seven years removed from being the No. 7 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft. He's a mentor to rookie forward Logan Cooley, the No. 3 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft who is 19 and with the Coyotes in Australia.
"It's crazy how time flies," Keller said.
In addition to hearing from Robertson and Keller, Rosen and Roarke discussed the task ahead for coach Pascal Vincent and the Columbus Blue Jackets as they move on from the short-lived Mike Babcock era.
They reacted to Brayden Schenn (St. Louis Blues) and Brad Marchand (Boston Bruins) being named captain of their teams, gave predictions on how many goals Alex Ovechkin will score this season and offered their thoughts on Steven Stamkos and the potential for a new contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning after the captain expressed his disappointment in not having one yet Wednesday.
The "NHL @TheRink" podcast is free and listeners can subscribe on all podcast platforms. It is also available on NHL.com/multimedia/podcasts and the NHL app.
