It’s hard to book a better guest than Senators forward Tim Stützle on a podcast’s first episode.
Even though Stützle says he’s a fairly hard person to get a hold of, and that usually, you have to call him two or three times to get him to pick up his phone (12:16), the German superstar didn’t take much convincing to join Ian Mendes and Jackson Starr for the debut episode of The Absolute Non-Sens Podcast.
Stützle speaks on wanting to play hockey in jeans as a kid (16:15) — though he concedes they wouldn’t offer much protection against an NHL slapshot.
He also revealed how close he came to playing for the University of New Hampshire before deciding to play professionally (19:35), recalling his heart pounding as he made the life-changing decision.
Despite his English being incredibly smooth for someone who moved to North America in 2020, Stützle said he still watches movies and television shows — like Prison Break — exclusively in German (23:38).
‘Is this the first time ever that a professor and an ex-student have launched a podcast together?’
Mendes, vice president of communications for the Senators, tapped his former journalism student at Carleton, Jackson Starr, to be his co-host for the podcast, which aims to bring fans closer to Senators players and alumni off the ice. Starr is entering his second year as On-Air Host for Sens360, and covers every Sens game, both at home and on the road.
“We’re hoping to share a different side of our players, coaches and alumni in this podcast,” said Mendes.
“We’re going to ask different and unique questions – stuff that really has nothing to do about hockey. We want our audience to feel a connection to them in a way they haven’t before. In our first episode, I think people will appreciate us asking Tim Stützle about whether he dreams in German or English. It’s those types of fun questions that yield the most interesting answers.”
Mendes adds that some of the best times of his career have been while he was hosting a radio show on TSN 1200 and doing a podcast with The Athletic Hockey Show.
“I love this medium because I think it offers you a chance to have deep and intimate conversations with people – that are completely different than the interviews you would get inside the locker room.”
If you have thoughts, questions, or guests you’d like to see in future episodes, Mendes and Starr encourage you to reach out to the communications department at [email protected].
You can find Episode One on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or NHL.com.
