Pierre-Olivier (PO) Joseph sits down with Canucks Insider Podcast host Chris Faber to discuss playing in a Canadian market for the first time, being reunited with old teammates, and how he fits in with the defence corps this season.
Joseph shares his initial thoughts about how beautiful Vancouver is and how he’s excited to play for a Canadian market for the first time in his NHL career.
“I think I embrace it. I embrace the fact that it's a big passion here [from] fans out of Vancouver. I'm very excited to be here and playing Canadian market,” Joseph said.
He talked about his custom suits that include custom lining and stitching on the inside. One of his favourite inside stitching features Harry Potter, and he has many role models like Willie O’Ree and athletes he grew up watching like Serena Williams and Usain Bolt also featured on the inside of his suits.
“It's been something that [I] wore since I started playing hockey, I feel like so it's just incorporating in our inner life. It's nice to just be able to play with it [fashion] and be myself with it all and just go out there and have fun with it,” Joseph said.
He has had many mentors help him through his hockey journey, including his brother, Stanley Cup champion and St. Louis Blues forward Mathieu Joseph. Growing up, he idolized Kris Letang and then had the chance to play with him in Pittsburgh. He spoke about Letang taking him under his wing when Joseph started playing pro hockey.
PO talks about the matching high-sticking penalties when he was playing against Mathieu as one of the highlights of playing against his big brother.
“We're really big competitive people on the ice against each other,” Joseph said. “We always go at it somehow, we get penalties. We are in scrums, he's a yapper on the ice too. It's always good to compete against him."
He rejoins former Pittsburgh Penguins teammates Marcus Pettersson, Teddy Blueger, Drew O’Connor in Vancouver, and is happy to be back sharing the ice with them.
Joseph sees the drive and determination in the Canucks group to have a bounce-back season. He started skating with the group before training camp and they have a goal to get back to the playoffs.
“So, you see that the guys have the fire in their eyes right now, to try to compete and get this season started and compete against so many good teams out there. So, it's just fun to be part of it and trying to help the team as much as I can,” Joseph said.
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