The first Canadian born contestant to playSurvivorhad to take off, eh?
Did he feel any pride or pressure playing as the first Canuck ever?
And how doesSurvivorcompare to the NHL?
Robert Voets/CBS
Read on for his responses.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Why are you talking to me?
So I formed an alliance actually with Aaron, Missy, Elizabeth, and Elaine.
So I see why they did it.
But like I said, I love playing the way I played.
Everybody played the game hard right off the start.
It was game-play right as soon as we got on the island.
They didnt have to have loyalty to me.
Thats the way I wanted to play the game.
I dont know if thats the same way they wanted to play.
I think particularly with Elaine, it wouldve worked, and probably Elizabeth too.
And Aaron and I got pretty close too, but hes playing the game hard.
Thats the one thing that probably surprised me the most, the amount I enjoyed the actual game-play.
Like Elaine and I put together the blindside to get Ronnie out at the start.
So I was surprised at how much I really enjoyed that part of the game.
I felt like it was one of the three of us.
Was I a threat?
Did I have a big personality that people would want out?
I didnt know what their thought process was.
So I felt that it was one of the three of us for sure.
You spent 11 seasons in the NHL playing for the New York Rangers and the Los Angeles Kings.
So I felt like I was really prepared for that.
So I really felt like physically I was fine.
The game ofSurvivoris a different game than where youre going man on man in the NHL.
Youre banging in the body so theres the risk of injury and pain all that stuff.
I felt fine physically.
So youre constantly going, and youre constantly mentally on guard, right?
Like, What are people saying?
And trying to figure out whats happening.
It is just a different level of toughness.
But it was good.
It was a real challenge.
And thats what Im looking for.
It was a blast.
You were the very first Canadian to appear on the show.
And I really felt like I really wanted to play the game that same way that I was raised.
Because Canadians are so polite and nice to each other.
They go, No, you go, you go.
So I kept wanting to play that loyal, respectful kind of game.
Thats what you do.
So you play a respectful game where you respect the coaches, teammates, referees and all that stuff.
But you play to win.
And thats the way I wanted to play out this.
So I think that the Canadian upbringing really came out when I played the game.
Karishma said she was bullied on the original Lairo tribe.
Do you agree with that or not?No, I dont at all.
He believed they were going to vote me out.
So we had to kind of be tough on Karishma at that point.
It was poor Karishma all the time, even when she cut her hand.
She made that into a bigger issue than I thought I would be.
It seemed like her agenda was to make it into the poor Karishma show.
And then she complained that she wasnt part of the group.
So that was her game strategy.
I think everybody in our tribe, we really got along fine.
I mean, obviously, theres the gameplay, theres stuff going on behind the scenes.
I think everybody was really trying to pull together.
Who was your ride or die out there?
Im assuming it was Elaine.Yes, she was.
We came together right away.
I grew up on a farm and shes got a farm, so theres that connection there.
And she used to have dogs.
But it wasnt just me that she was connected with.
She had a connection with the girls.
I felt like I was also getting close to Aaron and Dean in particular.
But yeah, we really hit it off.
It started there when Ronnie and Aaron wanted to vote her out.
It was important to me at that point to show her that Im going to fight for you.
Im not gonna let that happen.
Thats how we did it.
That was important for me.
So when and how did you finally find out that Boston Rob and Sandra were out there?
Did they tell you after you were eliminated?Yeah, exactly.
And if you go down swinging, thats what happens.
So it would have been interesting to see how I would have handled that whole situation.
You seem happy with how you played.
I really liked his game because he just wouldnt quit looking for idols.
I didnt know that was happening.
I think Missy was playing a stronger game that I realized she was.
She played a hard game.
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