Isner, the highest ranked male United States-born player (10th) by the Association of Tennis Professionals, was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, and has been following the Hurricanes since they moved to Raleigh in 1997. He discussed their 2006 Stanley Cup championship, the upcoming Hartford Whalers throwback night on Sunday and his NHL pregame watching routine. He praised Carolina's young core of players, led by forwards Sebastian Aho and rookie Andrei Svechnikov.
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NHL Fantasy on Ice podcast with John Isner
The 33-year-old also discussed whether his talents, namely his renowned tennis serve, could translate to the NHL. The 6-foot-10 Isner drew comparisons to Boston Bruins defensemen Zdeno Chara for his size (6-9) and Montreal Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber for his slapshot.
Isner, who played in and won the longest tennis match in history at Wimbledon in 2010 (11 hours, 5 minutes over three days), said he has a level of appreciation for NHL players, especially when watching them play overtime games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"That's what makes playoff hockey so cool," Isner said. "One-goal wins are very similar to tennis. It can take a very very long time. As we've seen in the playoffs, there have been some games that have been even four or five overtimes. These guys are playing 2 1/2 games in one night. That's why we love hockey. These guys lay it on the line every single night."
Earlier this month, Isner received a third jersey from the Hurricanes and showed off his Carolina pride on Twitter by posting pictures of his gameday setting with his television tuned into NHL Network.
