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A Day in the Life of Jake Gardiner

By Touchpoint Media, 07/26/16, 10:30AM CDT

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Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman and Minnetonka native, Jake Gardiner, gets together with his childhood friend – and fellow NHLer –  Mike Reilly, nearly every day during the summer. Why should playing in the NHL change a summer tradition?

“Mikey and I grew up together,” said the 26-year-old Gardiner, who finished the 2015-16 season with 31 points. “We’ve spent a lot of summer days together ever since we were kids. And we still just have a lot of fun. It’s pretty cool to see both of us make it to this level of hockey and be able to work together and push each other.

“It’s really just a lot of fun.”

Gardiner shared a typical offseason day back in Minnesota.

8 a.m. Rise and Shine – Monday through Friday I wake up about an hour or so before I work out. It doesn’t happen every day, but it’s usually around 8 a.m. After I wake up, my fiancé, Lucy, is kind enough to make me breakfast. I’m pretty spoiled with that. She switches up what she makes each day, but it’s always something good. Sometimes it might be breakfast sandwiches, other times it’s a bowl with soft-boiled eggs, quinoa, peppers, onions. She does all kinds of stuff.

9:15 a.m. Buddy System – Every day I’ll go and work out with my good friend and training partner, Mikey Reilly, who plays for the Minnesota Wild. It’s definitely fun most of the time. It doesn’t feel like we’re working out, just because we’re having such a good time. We’re laughing about something dumb or having a competition about who’s better or stronger or quicker, so it really makes it a lot of fun. It’s good having someone to compete with who is also in the NHL.

On Monday, Wednesday and Friday we do more strength work, and on Tuesday and Thursdays we do hills. It’s not just sprints up the hill, but it’s working on different types of power like high knees and stuff like that. It’s good to mix it up. Hills are good because you work on that forward lean that’s the same type of movement as your stride and power on the ice. On the ice you have to work on getting your legs into that position. When you’re on the hills, you’re already bending your knee so you’re in that position to begin with. It’s just a good tool to build strength, quickness and power overall.

11:45 a.m. Re-Energize – After we get the workouts out of the way, I’d say at least four times a week – if not more – we are going straight to eat lunch. It’s a pretty regular thing for us to grab lunch together.

12:45 p.m. Teed Up – It usually depends on the day, but a lot of times I’ll spend my afternoons golfing. It’s been a lot of fun to get out on the course this summer, especially because Lucy is really starting to get into golf. She’s been taking a few lessons, so it’s been fun to get out with her, too. Each time we go out, we both seem to be getting better. We’re members at Wayzata Country Club, so it’s been good to get out there a lot. She played six or seven times last week as we’re preparing for a tournament up at Grand View (in Brainerd), so she’s been pretty nervous about that.

If I’m not golfing, I’m a big movie guy so we might go check one out, or check out some new restaurants. We saw Secret Life of Pets, the kid movie, and it was actually really funny. I liked it. I’m not a big fisherman, that’s a big thing for my dad, so I don’t get out on the lake as much as he does, but maybe once in a while.

5 p.m. Dinner’s Ready – We don’t get too much grilling done. We actually just got a house so we don’t have a grill just yet. Lucy likes to cook a lot so she might whip something up, otherwise we like to go out to eat a lot, too. Truthfully it just depends on the night. We’re pretty busy at night during the summer so it just depends on the day of the week. I play in a softball league, Da Beauty League and there’s family stuff too so it keeps us pretty busy.

6 p.m. Da Beauty League – It’s actually surprising we haven’t had a 4-on-4 league like this in the past with how many NHL and high-caliber players there are here in Minnesota in the summer. It’s just kind of a fun way to stay in shape and get back into the swing of things on the ice. There’s a lot of stuff you can do off the ice, but realistically it’s a different in-shape than when you are working out on the ice. So anytime we can start getting on the ice and working out on that type of stuff with other talented and high-end players, it really helps out and it has so far.

We are all wired to never want to lose. There will never be a fight or any big hits, but the guys are still going pretty hard. We’re all pretty competitive guys. There’s a lot of chirping that goes on for sure, but we’re all just out there having fun, too.

10 p.m. Hot Tub Time – One other thing I do every night is take a hot tub. That’s a must, no matter how hot it is. It just feels really good to relax and ease those muscles, especially after a long day.

11 p.m. Happy to Be Home – Being back home in Minnesota, it’s just a great place to live. I mean there is a reason it’s called the State of Hockey. Compared to Canada, it’s right up there for a place that loves the game. Playing in Toronto, it’s obviously all about hockey up there, but it’s the same type of passion here. It’s fun having the support of the fans and just having a big hockey fanbase in general in Minnesota is awesome. Plus, you can’t beat the weather in Minnesota in the summer. It’s great weather for golf, usually not too hot, and the people here are so nice. It’s home. 

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Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman and Minnetonka native, Jake Gardiner, gets together with his childhood friend – and fellow NHLer –  Mike Reilly, nearly every day during the summer. Why should playing in the NHL change a summer tradition?

“Mikey and I grew up together,” said the 26-year-old Gardiner, who finished the 2015-16 season with 31 points. “We’ve spent a lot of summer days together ever since we were kids. And we still just have a lot of fun. It’s pretty cool to see both of us make it to this level of hockey and be able to work together and push each other.

“It’s really just a lot of fun.”

Gardiner shared a typical offseason day back in Minnesota.

8 a.m. Rise and Shine – Monday through Friday I wake up about an hour or so before I work out. It doesn’t happen every day, but it’s usually around 8 a.m. After I wake up, my fiancé, Lucy, is kind enough to make me breakfast. I’m pretty spoiled with that. She switches up what she makes each day, but it’s always something good. Sometimes it might be breakfast sandwiches, other times it’s a bowl with soft-boiled eggs, quinoa, peppers, onions. She does all kinds of stuff.

9:15 a.m. Buddy System – Every day I’ll go and work out with my good friend and training partner, Mikey Reilly, who plays for the Minnesota Wild. It’s definitely fun most of the time. It doesn’t feel like we’re working out, just because we’re having such a good time. We’re laughing about something dumb or having a competition about who’s better or stronger or quicker, so it really makes it a lot of fun. It’s good having someone to compete with who is also in the NHL.

On Monday, Wednesday and Friday we do more strength work, and on Tuesday and Thursdays we do hills. It’s not just sprints up the hill, but it’s working on different types of power like high knees and stuff like that. It’s good to mix it up. Hills are good because you work on that forward lean that’s the same type of movement as your stride and power on the ice. On the ice you have to work on getting your legs into that position. When you’re on the hills, you’re already bending your knee so you’re in that position to begin with. It’s just a good tool to build strength, quickness and power overall.

11:45 a.m. Re-Energize – After we get the workouts out of the way, I’d say at least four times a week – if not more – we are going straight to eat lunch. It’s a pretty regular thing for us to grab lunch together.

12:45 p.m. Teed Up – It usually depends on the day, but a lot of times I’ll spend my afternoons golfing. It’s been a lot of fun to get out on the course this summer, especially because Lucy is really starting to get into golf. She’s been taking a few lessons, so it’s been fun to get out with her, too. Each time we go out, we both seem to be getting better. We’re members at Wayzata Country Club, so it’s been good to get out there a lot. She played six or seven times last week as we’re preparing for a tournament up at Grand View (in Brainerd), so she’s been pretty nervous about that.

If I’m not golfing, I’m a big movie guy so we might go check one out, or check out some new restaurants. We saw Secret Life of Pets, the kid movie, and it was actually really funny. I liked it. I’m not a big fisherman, that’s a big thing for my dad, so I don’t get out on the lake as much as he does, but maybe once in a while.

5 p.m. Dinner’s Ready – We don’t get too much grilling done. We actually just got a house so we don’t have a grill just yet. Lucy likes to cook a lot so she might whip something up, otherwise we like to go out to eat a lot, too. Truthfully it just depends on the night. We’re pretty busy at night during the summer so it just depends on the day of the week. I play in a softball league, Da Beauty League and there’s family stuff too so it keeps us pretty busy.

6 p.m. Da Beauty League – It’s actually surprising we haven’t had a 4-on-4 league like this in the past with how many NHL and high-caliber players there are here in Minnesota in the summer. It’s just kind of a fun way to stay in shape and get back into the swing of things on the ice. There’s a lot of stuff you can do off the ice, but realistically it’s a different in-shape than when you are working out on the ice. So anytime we can start getting on the ice and working out on that type of stuff with other talented and high-end players, it really helps out and it has so far.

We are all wired to never want to lose. There will never be a fight or any big hits, but the guys are still going pretty hard. We’re all pretty competitive guys. There’s a lot of chirping that goes on for sure, but we’re all just out there having fun, too.

10 p.m. Hot Tub Time – One other thing I do every night is take a hot tub. That’s a must, no matter how hot it is. It just feels really good to relax and ease those muscles, especially after a long day.

11 p.m. Happy to Be Home – Being back home in Minnesota, it’s just a great place to live. I mean there is a reason it’s called the State of Hockey. Compared to Canada, it’s right up there for a place that loves the game. Playing in Toronto, it’s obviously all about hockey up there, but it’s the same type of passion here. It’s fun having the support of the fans and just having a big hockey fanbase in general in Minnesota is awesome. Plus, you can’t beat the weather in Minnesota in the summer. It’s great weather for golf, usually not too hot, and the people here are so nice. It’s home. 

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