Expected by Whom? - An Analytics & Eye Test Hockey Podcast · Winged Wheel Podcast Network

Jake Walman - The Interview - Ep. 25

·40 min·2 clips

Wallman says Detroit media is a '180' from his experience in St. Louis.

Jake Wallman joins for a special offseason conversation. He is introduced as the first active player on the show, and that shifts the tone right away. The opening leans into who he is as a person. Wallman answers in a direct way, saying he likes having fun, working hard, and keeping a regular life built around family and good friends. The hosts also ask about the childhood players he admired and the games he would pick if he were at home with a controller. That gives the first stretch a loose, personal feel. The interview then turns toward the people and places that shaped his development. Wallman explains that Tom Wilson was the one who got him to Matt. He says Matt was already hard to reach because he had become such a sought-after trainer and BioSteel creator. Getting in was not automatic. When college coaches wanted him to add weight, his dad reached out through Tom’s family to see if there was any path into that circle. Matt gave him the opportunity, and Wallman treats that as a meaningful break in his path. He describes what that access meant. Being around Matt and older NHL players before Providence gave him a chance to grow in a way that went beyond a normal college setup. The training group became a place where he could learn from players he was not teammates with during the season. The point is not just that they worked hard. It is that the summer setting let him pick up ideas, habits, and perspective from people at a different stage of their careers. The conversation makes that feel like part of the growth process instead of just a workout story. The hosts keep pressing on the social side of that world. Wallman is asked what it is like to share a training space with players like Tyler Seguin and to trade hockey thoughts with guys who will soon be opponents or distant acquaintances again. He talks through that in a casual way, which keeps the episode grounded. The relationship is not framed as dramatic. It is treated as one of the quieter ways players improve, by being exposed to different ways of thinking and preparing. There is also some road-trip color. The conversation touches on whether those offseason training partners become the kind of people you greet before games when you run into them outside the summer setting. That part stays light, but it helps show how small the hockey world can feel once players start crossing paths in different contexts. The tone stays easy and amused without losing the sense that these relationships matter. The final stretch comes back to personality. The hosts bring up a memorable AHL celebration, a Fortnite-inspired stick move he once used on a penalty shot or shootout. Wallman recognizes it immediately. The joke works because it fits the rest of the interview: he is thoughtful about his craft, but he is not interested in making the process feel stiff. That last bit gives the episode a clean human edge and leaves the listener with a sharper sense of how he carries himself around the game. The conversation ends feeling relaxed, practical, and quietly revealing.

As heard by us

A patient player interview that finds the work and personality behind Jake Wallman's game.

Jake Wallman's offseason sit-down works because it feels unforced. It starts with life away from the rink, then moves into the training relationships and summer settings that shaped his game, so the listener gets a clear sense of how he thinks without the polished, canned tone…

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Why you'd press play

For when you want an offseason interview with Detroit Red Wings defenseman Jake Wallman.

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