Unlike most NHL players, Ottawa's goalie doesn't like Game Day naps, so he trades in his afternoon doze for Dota 2.
After a 4-3 shootout victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday, the Senators jumped on the red-eye to St. Louis and apparently got in at around 5 a.m. on Thursday. A few hours later, Sens goalie Linus Ullmark jumped on the Daily Faceoff Podcast. It was obviously a favour for one of the hosts, former NHL netminder Carter Hutton, his running mate in Buffalo for three years.
So Ullmark didn't get a lot of sleep after his excellent 32-save performance in Vegas. It also turns out that he doesn't get a lot of afternoon sleep on game day. While most NHL players follow a strict game-day routine, which includes pregame naps, Ullmark told the podcast that naps really aren't his thing.
"People see me as a little bit of an abnormality in the hockey world because everybody loves their naps," Ullmark said. "I have not taken a nap throughout my whole career. I sleep way better (overnight) when I don't."
So while his teammates are crashing in the afternoon on the road, what exactly does Ullmark do with his free time on the day of a game?
He turns to esports or computer games.
The hosts noted that Ullmark's X account @icebeardude, which has 2 posts in two years, has a reference in his profile that identifies him as A Swedish guy that loves esport. So they asked him where that came from and if there's one game he keeps up with right now.
"So esports or computer games have been in my life ever since I was, I don't know, middle school, something like that. I used to be an OG Counter-Strike player ever since that time. Nowadays, I most preferably play Dota 2."
Counter-Strike is a first-person shooter video game that came out 25 years ago. Dota 2 is the sequel to Defense of the Ancients and has a large esports scene, with teams from around the world often playing in professional leagues and tournaments.
"It's my way of getting away from the game of hockey and think about nothing else," Ullmark said. "I get to keep up with my friends from back home as well. Then I also got to meet and see other faces that I wouldn't have met if I didn't play and all of that.
"And when it comes to this sort of lifestyle, it's nice to kind of have that outlet of talking about stupid stuff back home and with your buddies that you don't get to see for nine or 10 months."
With the Senators on a seven-game road trip, one of the things he made sure to pack, as he's done on road trips throughout his career, is his video game gear. But he made it clear that while he doesn't nap, he's getting all the sleep he needs overnight.
"I'm not staying up until 1 a.m. or something playing. No, I'm getting older. I don't really need to do that sort of stuff. I really need to sleep at that point as well.
"So, it's more for game days in general, just because of the time zones as well, which works out perfectly. Because I get back from morning skates and lunch, and my buddies back home work, they've just had their dinner.
"And now we just shoot the (breeze) and have fun."
After taking the late-night flight on Thursday morning, making a morning podcast appearance, then presumably heading for the Tkachuks' house in St. Louis with the rest of the team for a big Thanksgiving dinner, Ullmark may need to break his no-naps policy sometime before the Senators face the Blues on Friday afternoon.
By Steve Warne
The Hockey News
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