Ryan Stome was on the 31 Thoughts Podcast and said the following about his time with the Rangers so far (Sportsnet):
- On how things started with the Rangers, “It was slow developing. You go in there and get traded and I thought my first five games were really good and then I had a bit of a dip and up and down and a bunch of guys came back from injuries and after that just consistency. David Quinn did a good job talking to me and being honest and up front, had a couple of heart to hearts and I think new lease on life is a good way to put it. I took the opportunity and ran with it and with some guys being moved out at the deadline it helped, hurt the team but helped me establish myself. I think I’ve taken baby steps all year and I think my game is the best it’s ever been. I think I’ve continued to grow and learn and no matter how many ups and downs that has been the key for me.”
- What is a heart to heart with David Quinn like, “his biggest message to me, which may seem simple but rang true, was that he wanted me to play every game with a good intention. Come to the game and even if you don’t score a goal have an impact on the game and over my career maybe I’ve looked too much at trying to score or put up numbers and that rang true. I can go to a game and win some faceoffs or take a larger role on the PK or play against a top-six line and impact the game even if you aren’t scoring. The rest kind of took care of itself. A simple message like that and I kind of nodded my head and it got through to me. I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself and think that I’m on this huge trajectory but baby steps and continuing to grow and at 25 I think I have a lot of room to grow. The NY transition has been awesome for me.”
- “Getting traded from Edmonton was a big shock, I wasn’t producing but I thought I was playing well. I felt they gave me a role on that team, a third-line center and tried to play my role, the numbers weren’t there and they wanted to make a shake up and it was an eye opener for me and your third team, it was an eye opener to me. You don’t want to bounce around the league, at the end of the day the NHL is a real big privilege but you want to find a bit of a home and hopefully I’ve kind of done that in NY and showed management what they thought they had in me.”
- What is David Quinn like, “very intense but personal when you get away from the rink, I think that is one of things guys like about him. Whether it’s goofing around or having kind of a heart to heart, guys really appreciate that. But very intense, my dad came down for the dad’s trip and he came down to watch practice and said that he hadn’t seen a coach yell like that in a long time. He keeps us on our toes, as much as we are learning off him he is probably learning off us a little bit. Guys like him, he’s a coach you want to play for, want to work hard for, the intensity rubs off on everyone.”
- Who do you talk hockey with on the Rangers, “Tony DeAngelo has a really good hockey mind, he’s very passionate, shows a lot of fire sometimes but he has a good mind for the game, he and I have the GM talks a lot talk about the OHL and AHL, he’s a go-to guy for hockey talk.”
- On the best part of being a Ranger, “It’s hard to explain but my first goal as a Ranger was in the third period and I had a wrap around and the garden horn and the hey/hey/hey chant, it’s just something special. It’s a city that I never thought I would enjoy living in while playing on the Islanders and being on the other side of things and now that I’m living there, you don’t need to leave this place, there is everything you want, people love the team, people want a Stanley Cup there so bad. Playing for the blueshirts, Rangers logo, just a feel coming into MSG, whether it’s the low roof, it’s hard to explain, there is just something special and they call it the Garden Faithful but they really are. I’ve been on both sides and the Isles have passionate fans too but there is something about being in NYC and the best city in the world, it makes it special, I haven’t taken it for granted, I want to make something special happened and hopefully it’s a relationship that we can make a few years long.”