Mathieu Olivier is a big fan of the 5th Line.
Mike Stump: You talked a little bit about the fact that both the city, the arena as well as the people here—are really special. What do you think about the Fifth Line really makes it stand out? Both you and the rest of the leadership core talked a lot during last season about how exceptional fan support has been over the last couple of years. Obviously, this franchise historically hasn’t seen a whole lot of success in the last 25 years. But coming up here on the 25th anniversary, it seems like the team is really poised to take that next step, hopefully. Despite all of that, what has made the fan support and the Fifth Line really exceptional to you personally—that makes it really special to step out onto that ice every night?
Mathieu Olivier: Yeah. Well, it’s easy to be positive and support when things are going well, right? And when I got here, you know, my first two years with the team, we were bottom of the East and you still see the building full. And that just says a lot about how people are so passionate and they believe in what we’re going to accomplish eventually. And you know, that just spoke a lot to me about how much the support and how much the fans care and how much they deserve to get a chance to have a winning club here. And I felt like last year was a step in the right direction and we definitely felt it right away.
Especially—we had a lot of success at home, or a decent amount of success at home last year. So it felt like, you know, even that little bit of that little step that we took last year, fans were just so enthralled with it. And you know, for me, it’s like, well, they could have been—like we were—really upset about us not making playoffs. But I felt like the message was, ‘Well, we missed, but we’re so happy with the way things are going. We’re so excited for next year.’ It was such a positive look into it that it kind of helped us as players deal with the deception of not making it, right? Because we were upset by missing the way we missed. And I know for myself, I had a chip on my shoulder most of the summer, trying to get over that. But it felt like their positive approach—that was really something we as players felt and knew that we could use for ourselves to get back to work here.
"...how much the fans care and how much they deserve to get a chance to have a winning club here."Mathieu Olivier
Mike: We’re definitely excited to see everybody get back out there for sure. Running a couple of weeks away from training camp as it is. Just for the wrapping up here with the last couple of ones—obviously moving into the future—you’ve been here for three years now, this will be going into your fourth year with the Columbus organization, and you’re committed to the next five after that. When it’s—whether it’s at the end of your career or whether it’s all said and done—what do you think is the legacy that you want to leave here specifically in this market once your time is done on the ice at Nationwide?
Mathieu: Oh, good question. Well, I think... you know, the role that I have with the team and what I try to bring every night—and I see how guys like Jody Shelley and Jared Boll are, you know, beloved around here—not just because of what they did on the ice, but also how they treated others outside of the ice. And they got involved in all that.
I think that’s—for me, for what I do with the team—those are two really good examples of what I would like. You know, you say my legacy or what I want to accomplish here—to feel like at the end, I want to be kind and in that sort of category of guys that played hard and played with a lot of heart and obviously defended their teammates and all that stuff. But to have that kind of standing with the fans—that’s one thing that I do want to leave here as far as my legacy.
But you know, obviously it’s a question that you don’t really think about that much because you want to be a good teammate and you want to have a legacy with the team. But if you’re going to talk to me as far as leaving a legacy with the city and the fans, that’s something that I feel like they both did extremely well. And it’s a great example.
Mike: Definitely. After they’ve both stayed with the organization afterwards too, it’s definitely added to that. Last question I have for you, Mathieu, is: let’s say you have a young unrestricted free agent, restricted free agent, or even just maybe a young draft prospect that’s talking to you and they ask you something along the lines of, ‘Why should I want to play in this market? What’s great about Columbus in terms of committing my future here long term?’ If you had to reply to that question with where you are in your career at this point, how would you respond to that young prospect?
Mathieu: Well, it goes back to what I said earlier. I mean, you want to take everything into consideration, right? You want to take everything as far as the team, the organization, the installations, the rink and all that, and then as well the city and where you’re going to live and what routine you’re going to do. And I always tell people Columbus is great because you have a little bit of everything.
You have—for a young guy that’s coming to a new city—there’s life and there’s excitement, and obviously there’s Ohio State and it’s a young college town, while at the same time being a very, very good family town as well, with very good suburbs to eventually raise a family. You know, it’s kind of the best of both worlds. Really depends on the person.
A young prospect will come in and find it exciting, and an older player that’s coming in with his family—he won’t have a hard time finding a really nice suburb to go and establish. So that’s something that’s really important for players. And obviously, you know, ultimately you make your decision for what happens on the ice, and having a good team always helps.
But as far as selling the city—that’s how I usually sell it. And you know, a good example of that is a lot of the alumni stay here. You’ve got guys that have played here, gone somewhere else, and they come back. So that says a lot about that family life I was talking about earlier, where people can really settle down and have a good, nice home base—or do whatever. But that says a lot about how much the city is, like I said, kind of a hidden gem.
Mike: Well, Mathieu, it’s been a pleasure getting to talk to you over the last 10–15 minutes. Hopefully wishing you the best the rest of this season—and hopefully we’ll have something to cheer about come April and May.
Mathieu: I think so. But we’ll get to work early. I appreciate it. Thank you.