From the excitement of being drafted to an odd season that saw him in the AHL before heading back to the WHL, Seth Jarvis still feels ready for whatever is coming. For this season, it all started with the Portland Winterhawks and the Neely Cup.
After the first day
Getting back into camp after a bit of an actual break, Jarvis stated that he felt okay.
“My legs started cramping after probably the end of that game. The morning skate and the back-to-back caught up quick, but it’s alright. I think I played okay. I know I will play a lot better.”
It might be his last camp
No matter how he does on the ice, Jarvis wanted to enjoy the experience at what could very well be his final camp in Portland. Coming in, he was incredibly excited to see his teammates again.
“I miss all of them. We keep in contact over the summer, but it’s not the same. I see a few of them, a few of the Winnipeg guys, throughout the summer, but I miss seeing Jaydon [Dureau], Newy [Reece Newkirk], Cross [Hanas], and all those guys, so it was nice catching up with them.”
He quickly added,
“After that last game with me and Jaydon, I was kind of wondering if we’d ever touch the ice together again, so I’m super happy that he’s here and I’m here. I’m just trying to soak it in.”
Raise up (maybe for good)
Currently, with the Carolina Hurricanes for their preseason, Jarvis is hoping to remain with the team this season, and it all starts at camp.
“I’m super excited. I think it’ll be a good opportunity for me. I’m going to see Ludz [John Ludvig] down there, and I’ll see Jaydon again, so it’ll be fun, but yeah, I’m super excited. I think I’m going in ready, and I’m just going to try to make the team.”
So Seth Jarvis
— Sara Civ (@SaraCivian) September 21, 2021
While the Winnipeg native would be missed on the Portland roster this season, it’s hard to imagine a person who wouldn’t want to see him join Carolina and find success right out of the gate. He showed his ability to keep up with the pros while with the Chicago Wolves shortly before joining the Winterhawks for the shortened WHL season earlier this year.
However, when the subject of leading the AHL in scoring came up, Jarvis gave credit to others first.
“I had a great team around me. There’s great support staff there, so it made it super easy for me.”
While his transition back to the WHL did not go as smooth as he had hoped, when he found his way back into the swing of things, fans saw the Seth Jarvis they all were waiting for. Finishing tied for third on the team in scoring with 27 points in 24 games, the longest he was kept off the scoresheet was a three-game stretch from 4/24-4/30. Only nine games saw Jarvis leave the ice without a point, while he had five outings with three points, two of those being hat-tricks. That being said, Jarvis recognized the difference between his performances and had some ideas as to why he didn’t quite have the WHL season he was hoping for.
“The transition back, it’s hard. I didn’t think it would be that hard. Obviously, the AHL is grown men, so they’re big, strong, and fast. Everyone there is a great hockey player, so you gotta move the puck, jump around. There’s no waiting, no time to kind of feel a game out and I think back in the Dub, you have all these 16-year-olds who aren’t as experienced in the league so I think it’s a little bit harder to get a flow going. I think when I came back, that was the biggest thing I noticed, just being a little bit more choppy but it’s obviously something that takes a little bit of time and when I came back. No one has played in like, nine months at that point. I didn’t expect anything to be super smooth. The transition from defense to forward is a little bit slower and stuff like that, but for the most part, it was pretty good.”
Displaying what he’s learned
During camp, he most wanted to show off one big thing he’s worked on.
“Biggest one was change of speed, not having to go 110 miles an hour every time I touch the puck. Slowing it down, analyzing a bit more, and then being able to turn it on pretty quick and have a good first couple steps to really burn by people. Just being more patient with the puck because I’m really using my speed that way.”
He also brought back a new mindset from his time with the Wolves.
“I think a lot of it is just approaching every day as its own kind of battle. I think you can kinda get lost, especially in November/December when it’s cold or rainy and you have to come to the rink. You can kinda get lost in those days, but I think just taking advantage of every day and every practice and…”
Jarvis then began to reflect on his time here in Portland. “I can’t believe I’m 19-years-old here now. I can remember when I was 15, playing with Cody Glass and kind of starstruck, but now I’m here as a 19-year-old and where’d the time go? So I’m trying to embrace everything and not let a moment slip by.”
Jarvis is now on the other side of it all
I had to take the chance to remind him that now that’s the way the rookies and 15-year-olds are coming into camp looking at him now.
“Yeah, it’s a little hard for me to wrap my head around.”
One guy the 19-year-old is looking forward to seeing take the ice for Portland is Dawson Pasternak.
“I went to school with him, grade 5 to like, 7? So we have a bit of a relationship, he’s a guy I want to see play. I think he’s a great player. He has a lot of attributes that could be really successful in this league and he could go places. He’s one guy I want to see really succeed, but there’s tons of great players here and I’m just trying to look out for everybody. Anyone can be kinda special in their own way so I’m just trying to see what everyone is like as a person.”
So, he’s just a big team guy, right?
In his own words:
“Huge team guy!”
Best of being back in Portland
Other than the guys, the 5’10 forward said he was most excited about being back because of the food and the weather.
“I love the weather. Winnipeg’s getting cold now, so it’s nice being here where it’s warm. I can wear shorts, I can go golfing, stuff like that. Food, weather, …and the guys.”
He laughed as he added that last part.
With the food being so high on his list, I had to ask what his go-to’s are, and I had a good time with his answers. Much like teammate Dante Giannuzzi, he went with the idea of “we don’t have it at home.”
“Well we don’t get Chick-fil-a in Canada so I love Chick-fil-a. Oh, Pot Belly. Pot Belly sandwiches are really good too.”
As for what his orders are?
“Chick-fil-a it changes every day, every time, depending on how hungry I am, but probably a sandwich and fries and then some nuggets. Then, from Pot Belly it’s the grilled chicken sandwich maybe? Elite. It’s unbelievable.”
However, he says that his overall favorite food is penne alla vodka or burgers. So if you want to eat some Seth Jarvis favorites, there you go.
Then, there’s golf
As far as what he said is his favorite hobby outside of hockey, he threw no curveballs.
“Golf. Oh, golf. Come on.”
He agreed, and we laughed about the fact that I should have expected that answer though, he hesitated a bit when asked about how his golf game is.
“It was pretty good and now I’m falling off the rails a little bit, but it is what it is.”
Well, he did have a lot more time last summer.
“Oh, yeah. I was getting pretty good and then lost all of it.”
Who gets aux in the locker room?
Of course, the question needed asking of who his go-to pick is to be on aux in the locker room.
“It depends. If it’s early morning? Well last year, early morning would be Mason Mannek, country music so it’s easy. Before a game? Probably Newy. Anybody that says Robbie (Fromm-Delorme) is lying.”
After some digging, he admitted that Fromm-Delorme is ultimately not who he’d keep away from the aux, just the person he doesn’t love to have in control of the music. Instead, he declared Ryan McCleary the teammate he’d pick as not allowed to choose the locker room music.
“McCleary walks around with his headphones in the dressing room and you hear it. He’s blasting like ACDC all the time. I’m not a fan of that.”
However, he offered up one final person for this one. Himself.
“Probably me, I probably don’t deserve it.”
The reason?
“I’m too indecisive. I’d play a song and look around and if no one is jamming out to it, I’d just change it. I’m too insecure to play aux.”
Especially now that he knows this is a frequent question.
Seth Jarvis’ pick for the best show to binge
Like most of the population, Jarvis has been watching Ted Lasso and had some high praise for the show.
“Unbelievable show. Unbelievable. Unreal show. I think the next one comes out maybe today, actually. Every Friday, yeah, that’s the big show.”
All of this said, the thing he was the most insistent about was that he was happy having the opportunity to be back in Portland and seeing all of the guys again. Whether the Carolina Hurricanes decide to keep him in Carolina or release him back to the WHL, Jarvis is excited to get the season going.
“Obviously the AHL was a great experience for me. It was a great learning experience and then coming back it was fun to be with the guys again and get used to the building.”
