Summer Catch Up: Mika Zibanejad

It's late August and the butterflies are starting to hit Mika Zibanejad as a new season is inching closer and closer. But, there's plenty to talk about from a busy summer for No. 93, which included a Gold Medal at the World Championships, a Blueshirt wedding, new original music and more.
We caught up with Zibanejad who is back in New York to talk about what he's been up to during the offseason, and his excitement for Year 3 in New York.

NYR: How has the offseason gone?
MZ: "Right after the season ended I went to play for Sweden at the Worlds and had an amazing time and was able to cap off an amazing tournament with a win and Gold. That was huge, especially after the season we had with a lot of things going on, it was nice to end the season on a higher note, even though you'd rather have success with the Rangers.
It helped me throughout the summer to feel more motivated. I've been staying at home doing all the workouts and being able to play music and DJ during the weekends. It's been awesome. I watched the World Cup for a month straight between workouts. I've really enjoyed the summer."
NYR: Do you use the summer to spend time with family?
MZ: "Yeah. I think I was able to do that during the following weeks after the Worlds. A lot of family and a lot of friends watched the whole thing and then I was able to share the whole experience with them.
Then just spent some quality time with them and talk and go out for dinners. No schedule. It was nice to be very impulsive. If a friend texts you they want to meet up, you can do that, especially with the friends I only see during the summer."
NYR: You mentioned the Worlds. How special was that for you?
MZ: "It was awesome. It was one of those tournaments - I hadn't played for the top national team, only the junior team. Six years later to play for Sweden again and do it at that level was something I'd really been looking forward to.
You don't want to play [in the tournament] because you want to be in the playoffs, but if you can, it's one of those things that's really special. Knowing how big it is to play for your country at World Championship was really cool.
Going when you know you have a good chance to win makes it so much more interesting. Winning the whole thing capped off a great few weeks there and meeting a lot of guys you play against. I got to be back with some of the guys I played with at the World Juniors. You feel more at home."
NYR: How was the victory party?
MZ: "It was crazy. They're unbelievable. You look at pictures or video from the World Championship, out of 12, 13,000 there were 10,000 yellow shirts. We were able to stay in the same city the whole time.
[The celebration] was similar to the World Juniors. To go on stage and have 10,000 people cheering you - I got to meet the crown prince and their family. It was cool to do that again.
It was a big party. We were treated really well throughout the whole summer. It is big when we succeed in any sport, especially hockey. No one is ever going to be able to take that away from us. I'm two-for-two now with World Junior and World Championship. You couldn't write it up any better."

NYR: Were you able to travel at all once things settled down?
MZ: "I went to Greece for Quickie's wedding and I went to Spain as well with my two buddies for a few days. I didn't travel too much. I tried to stay at home base for training. Just worked out better with the workouts that I was home and didn't interrupt my schedule with travel. That was about it."
NYR: How was Jesper's wedding?
MZ: "It was incredible. They did a really good job with all that. I'm super happy I was able to be there. For me to be there for their day - me and Quickie have been really close the last couple years. It was cool to be at the wedding after not being friends for that long. Just a great wedding. I was so happy to be there."

NYR: We know you're a big music guy, so have you had a favorite song or album this summer, or any concert or festival you were able to check out?
MZ: "I'm going to go see Drake [at MSG]. That was my first concert ever at MSG after I was traded.
Favorite song - there's so many. Obviously my own song has been doing really well. It's not fair [to choose]. I can probably give you 30 songs I've been listening to nonstop but I can't pick out just one. I went to a couple festivals back in Sweden, like Summerburst. I've been to a few shows at clubs. Nothing major."
NYR: Is it humbling to have people letting you know how much they've enjoyed 'Nobody,' which you released in July?
MZ: "You never expect it. You think it's a good song in your opinion, but you never expect [such positive reaction]. You don't know how well it'll go. If you look at the other two songs I released, this one has been a lot more responses and streams. I'm super happy for that.
The support I got from Spotify is amazing. I can see what people are listening to and where they're from. I never expected this."
NYR: How do you balance DJing with your busy schedule with hockey?
MZ: "I found a really good balance between having my shows on the weekends when I'm able to, and focus on hockey during the week. Obviously workouts are priority No. 1. I love being up there and DJing and being the guy who decides what to play and what music is going to be played. The response has been really good this summer and I'm happy I did it. I can't complain."

NYR: How have those workouts been?
MZ: "Right now I'm back [in New York] and working with Ben [Prentiss] and working with those guys. I like it. It's been good. I'm working out with Kreids and I get to be around him, Smitty, Shatty. It's been really good.
It's been different from what I've been doing, just different types of exercises. Ben's been really good, really helpful. We're working and everyone is working towards the same goal of getting better."
NYR: We're into late August. Is this when the butterflies of a new season start to kick in?
MZ: "I live closer to MSG now so I see it every day. I get excited when I see video from last year. The closer you get you notice more people getting excited, too. That helps. Not that you really need help to get excited, but it's contagious when you see that, and it's fun when you know people are also excited. It makes you excited. It's going to be a lot of fun."