Neal Pionk’s dad cut him once but now he’s living the dream
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Rangers defenseman Neal Pionk takes a shot at some Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby.
Q: Describe your on-ice mentality.
A: I’d say a relentless attitude.
Q: Why do you play that way?
A: I think I play that way just ’cause growing up I was never the biggest guy, never the fastest guy, so it was a mindset that had to push me to the next levels and push me higher, so I knew if I had the mindset going into the corner that maybe I could take the puck away from a bigger guy or maybe slow down a faster guy.
Q: Was that an obstacle growing up?
A: At times it was, but I think I used it almost as a chip on my shoulder. I got cut from a few teams and I used it as motivation to keep going.
Q: Give me a scouting report on you.
A: The competitive nature and my ability are the two things that would stand out.
Q: What’s it like being a New York Ranger?
A: It’s a dream every single day. Sometimes you have to take a step back and realize it, but you’re playing for the best franchise in hockey, an Original Six franchise, and I think the best fans in hockey. I remember at the end of last year, I think we got eliminated from playoffs, but the Garden was still packed, and they were cheering just as loud when we scored as the first game.
Q: Describe your first time in a Rangers uniform at MSG.
A: I have to give a lot of credit to those NHL video games (chuckle), ’cause that’s what it felt like. You kind of say, “Am I really here, am I really doing this kind of thing?”
Q: If you could pick the brain of one defenseman in NHL history, who would it be?
A: Arguably the greatest defenseman of all time, or most consistent, Nick Lidstrom.
Q: If you could test your skills against any goaltender in history, who would it be?
A: Dominik Hasek.
Q: Boyhood idol?
A: I liked watching Brian Rafalski just because he was a smaller, right-handed defenseman.
Q: Who are some of your favorite players as you got older?
A: Ryan Ellis for Nashville, a smaller right-handed defenseman, but a good puck mover and plays in all situations.
Q: What is your best hockey moment?
A: Winning a gold medal with the [2013] World Junior A Challenge team in Nova Scotia.
Q: What is your worst hockey moment?
A: The one that hurts the most is the national championship [Minnesota-Duluth’s loss to Denver in 2017] my sophomore year of college. I didn’t watch the game until I think four months after the fact, and I couldn’t even finish it.
Q: Are you a bad loser?
A: I used to be (chuckle). I remember one time, I broke my stick over the boards, and even then the sticks were pretty expensive, and I think I had to be about 12 years old, 13 years old, and my dad looked at me, he said, “I’m not buying you another one. You can work for your next one”. So in the winter, he snow-plows driveways and he made me go with him for a few hours to earn my next stick (chuckle).
Q: What is Brett Howden like as a roommate?
A: He’s only 20 years old, but I can already tell that he has some cooking sense, which is good.
Q: You don’t cook?
A: I do, too. I thought I was gonna have to kind of walk him through it, but he seems to be handling himself well.
Q: How did you become such a good cook?
A: It was last year in Hartford. Vinni Lettieri and I lived together in Hartford. I wouldn’t say I’m a good cook by the way — a learning cook (smile). His dad’s a chef, so we would come home from practice, get home about 1 or 2 o’clock, we would FaceTime his dad, and get all the ingredients and his dad would walk us through the process and the steps, and then we’d go from there.
Q: What is your go-to dish?
A: One of my favorites right now is bacon-wrapped scallops, and then I’ll do some asparagus on the side. Maybe some potatoes, too. The baby scallops are way more flavorful.
Q: You let Chris Kreider cook when you lived in Norwalk with him before training camp.
A: We did salmon a few times — I have to get the brand of mayo that he orders, but he orders some specific brand of mayo that makes everything better.
Q: Describe Henrik Lundqvist.
A: Probably the most competitive guy on our team. He wants to win every single night, and he gives us that advantage every night and gives us a chance to win every game.
Q: Coach David Quinn.
A: He’s a great coach. I think the best part is that he’ll vocalize what he wants, and he’ll let you know. There’s no hidden secrets.
Q: Did you ever have a Stanley Cup dream?
A: Yeah, walking it down Broadway (laugh).
Q: Is that your dream now?
A: Now it is (smile). I guess growing up, just bringing it back home. I guess I always thought it’d be cool, bring from Duluth [Minn.] and right on Lake Superior there, just to bring it out on the water, bring it in front of the Duluth Lift Bridge would be a cool spot.
Q: You liked Albert Pujols.
A: So Twins were my main team, but my grandparents live in St. Louis, so my secondary team was always the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Twins didn’t really have any long-ball hitters ever, so Pujols was one of my favorites.
Q: Who are athletes in other sports you like?
A: I have all my Twins players, but then a guy I always liked was Dustin Pedroia just because he always had dirt on his jersey, felt like he was swinging out of his shoes, give 100 percent even though he was a smaller guy.
Q: Do you see yourself as the Rangers’ Dustin Pedroia?
A: (Smile) Well, in a sense. I just like his attitude and the way he went about the game. It seemed like he was giving 100 percent, and hated to lose.
Q: Your mother made you take piano lessons for one year in second grade.
A: I didn’t like it so I quit. I did the one-year service and I was done (laugh).
Q: What did you use the piano for in the basement?
A: I’m sure we used it as a hockey net at some point. We used a lot of stuff as a hockey net — a couch, the piano, and I think eventually we got mini-hockey nets. It was usually me and Aaron, the youngest one, versus the two middle ones, Nate and Joe, in a two-on-two game. We’d put the bench on its side, and that was one of the nets, and then the piano kind of had walls on each side and that turned into the other net.
Q: Growing up with four brothers. What was that like?
A: Chaos at times. The youngest one was always crying. He’s a mama’s boy, he’ll admit to it, so I’m not afraid to say it. It was a lot of fun though. Had four friends growing up all the time, something to do, someone to play with.
Q: Describe your hometown of Hermantown, Minn.
A: [Population of] 10,000 people, and we have one indoor rink and five outdoor rinks available to the community.
Q: The story your parents told you when you were a Junior Hawk for the Waterloo Blackhawks.
A: So I was out there for the national anthem, and as soon as the anthem was over, lined up at wing to play the game (laugh). I was 3 years old. And the ref had to escort me off the ice.
Q: Your father cut you once.
A: I was on the Triple-A team which my dad coached. It so happened that we were going to Minneapolis for a really good Triple-A tournament, and we combined with another team. And a week before the tournament, he brings me in and he said, “Hey you’re not coming with us. You’re not on the team.” So essentially, he cut his own kid from the team he was coaching (laugh). I kind of saw the writing on the wall. But the backstory to it is last minute, one of the defensemen called and said he had something come up so he couldn’t make the tournament, so I went, but I hardly played (laugh). So after I made my NHL debut — I never brought it up to him since then, so this has been 10 years for me now — and we went out to eat and I said, “Hey, do you remember when you cut me from your own team (laugh)?”
Q: What was his response?
A: He said, “Yeah, I remember that (laugh).”
Q: What drives you?
A: I guess what drives me is just the love and the passion for the game. From Day 1, just being on the ice, and everything that comes with hockey, the family part of it, the community feel, the friends that you make … that’s what makes you excited to come to the rink every day.
Q: What are your favorite New York City things?
A: Going home, when I hit a red light, I got mad, ’cause I considered that traffic (laugh). It honestly took me two weeks to adjust. Now that I’ve gotten acclimated, and I figured out the subway a few weeks ago, so you figure out those little tricks. And I remember when I first tried to call a taxi here, I didn’t realize that the lights have to be on … for them to be available. I thought they were just driving by me just ’cause. So I was trying to flag a taxi down, and they kept wheeling by me, and I was like, “What’s going on here? Why won’t they stop (laugh)?” Finally, someone’s like, “No, the light’s gotta be on for them to stop.”
Q: Three dinner guests?
A: Zac Brown, Dave Schultz, Albert Pujols.
Q: Favorite movie?
A: Tommy Boy.
Q: Favorite actor?
A: Will Ferrell.
Q: Favorite actress?
A: Margot Robbie.
Q: Favorite meal?
A: Coconut shrimp.
Q: This is supposed to be a rebuilding year. What are your thoughts on that?
A: We we don’t like using the word “rebuild” around here. We got some of the best players on the league. I think as we’ve shown through the first six weeks here so we can run with anyone.