25. Gwyneth Philips, Goaltender with PWHL Ottawa

Intro welcome to the ringside rundown podcast showcasing the incredible women's hockey players from around the world through compelling interviews and discussions alongside your host Chris Sinclair hello and welcome back to the rinkside rundown podcast today I am thrilled to be joined by Gwyneth Phillips a nor Eastern University graduate and newest member of pwhl Ottawa winth welcome to the show how you doing I'm good I'm excited to uh do this it's going to be a lot of fun yes it will be uh I cannot believe that I have the chance to be able to chat with you and I'm so excited so let's Origin story dive in I always like starting um and I don't know about you but I love a good origin story and so I would love to learn more about what was it about hockey that Drew you to the sport yeah I mean we I'm from a small town um where like everyone kind of plays football but we did have an ice hockey program like a house program and uh I don't know why my dad signed my brother up for that but he did and my brother kind of leaned into it and then he took it off and started playing like up in Columbus about an hour and a half north two hours back then and so I just kind of you know wanted to be as cool as my brother and then eventually event um I was obsessed with being a goalie uh that's a whole another story but eventually you just kind of started getting into the the goalie world and kind of things started to work out but I don't really know like there wasn't like one point in time um you know I played hockey and then I started doing figure skating to like help my hockey so it's not like I started figure skating um I think mostly just like I wanted to be as cool as my big brother so um and we're Figure skating going to get into the your family had on you but could you tell me a little bit more about and this is actually a common theme where even on the male side a lot of people will actually um whether they're actually typically on the male side it's that they have figure skaters helping with their Edge work and all that sort of stuff um could you talk a little bit about the impact that um figure skating you actually participating directly in figure skating helped um helped your career especially as you had such a passion for being a goal tender yeah I mean at the time when I was doing figure skating I was still a player um but I think the reason I did it was to help my Edge work to just be a better skater and I think it really helped and also like beyond the tangible skill set like I remember waking up at like 5: in the morning as a 10-year-old and my mom would like take the hair dryer and like blow hot air into my pants that way I could put on warm pants and like wake up in the morning we go to McDonald's and we go to the rink and like I just think like the waking up at 5:00 a.m. to do something that I didn't really want to do at 5:00 a.m. kind of built a lot of character cuz like I don't remember much about the figure skating stuff like I was probably like only like eight really but I remember like going through the grind and then like me and my brother were like in an on I play thing which was like so out of my comfort zone but it was something that I had done and like just something cool that I can say like yeah I've been outside my boundaries my comfort boundaries but yeah I think primarily was like I did it for the edge work but I think I got a lot of life lessons out of it as a little kid uh including a lot of McDonald's which is never a bad thing yeah I love those pancakes I don't a lot yeah great way to start off your uh your day um uh you alluded to it uh just a moment ago but um you grew up in Athens Ohio um and Growing up in Ohio it's so often the case but you were in a position in which and you actually said like you started off as a player not as a [Music] boys until like you 10 and then I still like my primary focus was guys until like high school but I played on girls teams and as I got older like I would focus on the girls so like before when I was like 12 I would miss some girls things to go to guys things um but as I got older I had to make that shift and focus like just for like my future and stuff because there weren't going to be many scouts and whatever at the guys stuff but um I think like I honestly think I I learned like I think the reason I'm able to play at where I am is because I did try to play guys as long as I could like I was like a 12y playing with 14-year-olds but then making that switch to girls was pretty important like in high school we had one of our men's player goalies dress for like a practice and he was getting lit up and it was like he was like I'm just not used to this game like it's just so much different so I think making that transition to the woman side of things at an early age was really helpful cuz then I could see like how the game goes cuz it is it's a smarter game some like and like until recently the lack of physicality kind of changes the way people have to do things so um I think I think it was really important to me to play for both guys and girls and like I don't know skill-wise especially and like just learning how to like be so do you did you ever have a chance to be to play goal as against the boys what do you mean like I was sorry I was on an all guys team yeah so sorry did you ever play did but were you go then or were you still were you still I was I think I made the transition to full-time going on a guys team around like 10 or 11 okay um so yeah and then I played till I was like a freshman so I went to prep school my freshman year so I played until I was like you 14 or whatever that is like bantom I think for guys okay so um and maybe we're getting a little bit ahead of ourselves here but that's that's fine let's jump around a Playing against boys little bit um do you what do you how do you think playing against boys has helped your game as a goenda every game how you prepare for every game and then how you actually play that game I mean it's been so long now since I've had to like think about that cuz you know it's been 10 years oh wow um but I think um like when I was a 12 when I was 12 I'd play on the 14 guys and they were just so much bigger and faster than me and like just they developed so much faster like I was playing with 14-year-old dudes I was 12 I was Tiny and like I think I kind of learned how to play like how to play as a small person and then like now that I'm I'm 23 and I'm still pretty short like I think like the skills that I learned when I was with the guys like being an undersized goalie especially with way bigger guys like I had to figure out different styles that maybe other goalies weren't doing and uh just learn to be an athletic goalie cuz like you know I mean I'm not going to say you know 14-year-old doublea boys are like you know the best but when you're 4 foot something and trying to keep up with them you got to play uh your own style yeah and I I think um you know going back a little bit here for a moment I think you know as someone who was also a Growing up in Athens Ohio small town like I never played uh competitive Sports really at any any level but I grew up in a small town uh and I know that had a tremendous impact on me what was it like for you to be you know growing up in in Athens Ohio I can't say enough great things about my town um I know growing up it was a little bit tough because eventually I kind of grew out of the house league and like I wanted to keep playing at a higher level and there was some push back and my dad can tell the story better her but like the board was like if you ever show back if you ever show up to the rink again like telling me I was like six like we're going to call the police on you and I think I went to the rink and I think they called the police on me like there was some push back at a young age and then eventually like I don't know what changed I think the board kind of flipped over over and then like it was you know smooth sailing from there um and everyone was really welcoming and let me kind of do the double roster thing so that way I could play with my friends in Athens and then like keep you know getting better and like reaching my goals uh in Columbus and uh I mean now like those kids that again like I went to prep school so those kids in Athens I haven't lived or gone to school with since uh Middle School are some of my closest friends like I'm going to go to London to see one in a few weeks like my other one's like he like he'd take a bullet for me like it's a great town great people and I think everyone was so supportive like when my parents post things it's like all these Athens moms and dads being like I remember when like I think just having that support and then like because I didn't really play hockey there like that's not my identity in Athens which is really cool like I'm not like this hockey player so much it's it's kind of like freeze yeah it's a it's a nice break especially and we're going to get into it but especially based off of your collegiate career you know um you had an incredible collegiate career so it's nice to be able to just be known as GTH Phillips yeah yeah yeah it's cool it Family support yeah um how you know we've mentioned it a couple of times here but how important has your family been for you both I think in the you know obviously in the early days some uh McDonald's runs as you've mentioned but um and especially now like you're you're starting an incredible uh next chapter of your life this is a pro career now what's it been like to have that support along the way it's been amazing um my brother's five and a half six years older than me and he was playing hockey um and so like growing up with that age Gap both playing hockey like I was usually with my dad and my mom was usually with my brother and so like like you know my dad was my number one supporter drove me everywhere and then my mom was kind of helping with my brother um and then as I kind of got older and like especially in college when you know my brother's not really playing he doesn't play hockey anymore unless you count like be League um which he does uh and you know my mom's able to like come they started coming to every game and my parents would commute to Boston like every weekend even when I wasn't playing to watch my games and now like if you ask my brother like any of my stats or anything like they're just right there like he knows everything like he's he's my biggest supporter now and I think um you know them having my like my dad driving me everywhere and you know me getting to watch my brother like have so much fun with hockey and take it as far as he could I think um propelled me to like want to be as good as I can be and take this as far as I can um and so now like looking back at it to see like all that they've done and all the work they put into to it and now I can see like how you know excited they are and proud of me that um you know I've managed to get where I am um okay so we're going to do that thing again that I typically do which is PWHL Draft Jump Ahead to jump back again so bear with me on this one but uh this is a perfect segue um you were drafted into the pwl you were drafted to Ottawa I want to know we're going to get into more of your perspective on that in a little bit but I want to know you know we're talking about family and it would I would be remiss if I didn't ask how your family um uh how excited your family was considering you know all of the things you had to go through to get to where you are what were their what were their reactions what were their thoughts when uh they found out that you were drafted into the pwhl I mean my my mom was with me and she was so excited um you know and not to get ahead of again but like I didn't know where I was going to go in the draft so uh to hear my name in the third round when I was thinking a little bit later was like oh my gosh like here we go and um My Poor Dad it was his birthday on the day of the draft and my dog is like not doing so well and so I'm he like volunteered to stay back and watch my dog so he was like live streaming it and he like when he he like heard it my name he like went back and he taped it on his phone cuz he doesn't know how to screen record cuz he's 65 and then he posted on Facebook and he was like I shouted him out like I was like sorry that you can't be here Dad and he was like oh my gosh that's me like so they were really excited um and then again like I got so many texts from old teammates and then Athens people but yeah they were just excited like I mean they've I've put in a lot of work but they they've definitely put in a lot of work too like a lot of long nights um you know getting home from practice at 1: or 2 a.m. and my dad would have to go to work the next day at like 8: so they were I think they were a little bit relieved yeah I would say uh the unsung heroes often in uh well any sport but it's but specifically with hockey are often the the hockey parents it's brutal yeah my dad did not want me to be a goaly he he did not want the pressure and I I just kept like poking at him until he folded so he really didn't want this from the start well I mean it's worked out for you pretty nicely and we're gon to get I like to think of it like that yeah like well where would I like when I was playing player dad I couldn't skate backwards so let's be happy yeah yeah Style of Play let's look for a silver lining here um so um for those of you or those of uh the folks who don't know uh necessarily a ton about you um could you let's start off off with how would you describe your style of play as a goenda is and O's like aren't great I think I just have a good feeling of what's going to happen um you know I'm pretty quick I'm a little bit under sized so um I try to make up with that and speed um you know I played with Aaron for 3 years she's a little bit of a unorthodox goalie sometimes she pulls out some pretty crazy saves so uh you know just playing with her for a few years I've tried to adop some of that into my game just be a little bit more athletic um but I think I'm pretty calm back there uh that's at least what I've heard from my teammates that you know I bring a calm presence but uh I don't know I I think I think I'm I am calm but I'm I'm definitely like jumping around like out of excitement back there all right we'll take it we'll take it absolutely that's there's nothing wrong with that I always think of you know someone like uh Dominic hassk who doesn't necessarily have a conventional um playing style what look you saw his career right so to you know that's kind of where it's like you don't have to be you just have to be athletic and if you're athletic you commit to it you can be undersized you can be oversized it doesn't matter you're going to make the save and uh and you've made Northeastern University quite a few in your career and we're going to get into that in just a moment um um as I had mentioned off the top you're a graduate of Northeastern University could you talk a little bit I think for a lot of us you know it's one thing to choose to go to a a university or a college and you know you're thinking about just your your um the program that you want to study but it's another thing to also take into consideration the program on the to help Advance your career could you talk a little bit about what went into the um decision to attend nor Eastern yeah um a lot of it was the co-op program in terms of like that office stuff so they do um like a six Monon internship instead of taking classes and then you kind of like frontload the summer to make up for it so it turns out it ends up being a fiveyear program if you don't like Rush um which worked out really great for with Co because then I was going to be academically there for five years and then athletically you know I got my fifth year um but um you know that and like just good academics really was a draw and then from the ice like the hockey side of things um uh when I committed there I think Britney bolski was their starter I don't think Aaron was good I think she hadn't been there yet she was still like a junior senior in high school and so like you know we didn't really know where the pieces were going to fall it looked like like you know I was coming in the year that Britney was graduating so then like it would just look like I would take in Britney's role but you know I think I think a lot of people didn't didn't give credit to Aaron because you know she plays in on Orthodox style sometimes but like she stops the puck and she is a heck of a goalie so I think when she came in you know I think Britney was the captain a senior captain and uh you know Aaron beat her for the spot and then you know I'm watching this happen as a high schooler and I'm like okay like you know like this is this is reality like I'm not going in there to start that that's fine like a lot of that happens and you know it was hard at sometimes but like I'm a firm believer that it worked out in the best way possible um so yeah I mean I think you know I didn't know how the pieces were going to lie or fall in terms of hockey and like ice time but you know they worked out really well so pretty happy with the way they did yeah and there are a lot of Industrial Engineering Northeastern fans who would absolutely agree with you on that one so um you so obviously uh successful career on the ice off the ice you studied industrial engineering could you talk a little bit about like I mean obviously there's the the caveat that up until that point you weren't sure that there would be a professional you know you may have to go overseas or there there wasn't at that point a professional League necessarily um um that looked like it was truly viable um could you talk a little bit about why you decided industrial engineering and then um sort of what the impact was for you when you found out about the pwhl yeah uh so industrial engineering I went in undecided for like my first two years and then like I really wanted to do engineering coming into college like I didn't know what kind but I was honestly just like kind of scared between like hockey commitment and school commitment like if I'd be able to do it uh so I kind of took my time and then eventually I was like all right it's time to declare like I think I can do engineering and one of my best friends was like oh you should try this engineering like um you my my other friend at school does it and like it's like very unique to like a certain personality and it's like your personality like when if like this is for you and she was like it's industrial engineering and I was like no way like I've been looking into doing that like then I have to do it like if it's if other people are telling me that I should do it I should probably do it based on like um it's cuz it's a very like it's like how you think and like you like kind of create systems so um you know once I got my you know once I declared and I was leaning into it I I was pretty excited uh to go into the workforce and like maybe you know work in like a factory and create like uh like assembly lines and like optimize them is kind of what they do um I have a friend who works at Disney world as an Industrial Engineer and like she has a great time so I kind of got excited to do it and then you know this league opened up and was so successful I was like okay easy change like that's great I loved my degree but like let's go play hockey um now I'm like oh what am I going to do like event like I've all this awesome degree but I think I'm definitely more excited to continue my postgrad career as a hockey player than as a engineer yeah yeah I I don't know anything about industrial engineering and I dropped out of University so um but I uh I feel like playing hockey is clearly a more passionate thing for you even if it you know hopefully you have an tremendously long career but even if it doesn't even if it isn't a long career at least you got to do it professionally yeah yeah ex totally at least I got to professionally it's so cool yeah um so this is the part of the show where I Northeastern know so I've realized that hockey um obviously it's a team sport so it isn't necessarily about just individual Awards it isn't just about you know your success on the ice those sorts of things but I do think that there's value especially for you know now Ottawa fans who may not know necessarily uh about your incredible North Eastern career which they need to look into cuz when I did uh I can promise you and I'm going to get ahead of myself here but I can promise you uh I jumped up when they uh and screamed when they select when Ottawa selected you and I scared my dog um so um uh there's you know you had an incredible it's it's you know again I'd be remissed if I didn't highlight your incredible Northeastern career where you know you it included things like the national goal tender of the year in 2023 two-time Patty casm award finalist NCAA record holder with a 958 career save percentage again I know it isn't about those individual um results but it is to a degree as well I want to know you know in reflecting on your time at Northeastern what were some of those favorite memories that you had uh like whenever I think about my career at northeas one of my first thoughts is about uh the bean poot that was at TD Garden this past year that was so cool like coolest thing ever now now it's like still really cool but now it's like wow like my PEB games are going to have like that many people that's also and then the thing about that is really cool um uh when we my fourth year my senior year like hockey championship like this is so bad but I think I let in like the first goal first shot and I was like first shot first goal I was like I don't know like I had so much confidence in my team and that's what I like that's what I think about but I was like we're winning this game I'm not even afraid like I don't know if that was the right attitude but like I was like we're winning this game there's no I don't care that I let in the first shot like this my team's got it and like then I think I like think about how proud and like how good and how cool that team was that like I had that confidence that like even though we're down nothing with like one shot on net like we've got it um so I love that team um and then you know you got all the silly off I memories that'll last a lifetime uh that team nor Eastern has a really good culture uh so I was really happy to be part of that and you know a lot of really good kids still in the program and who have gone through so uh very fortunate to have learned from some of the best on and off the ice and now a word from our sponsor this episode is sponsored by Sports nutritionist Melissa buffos of MB performance nutrition as a former competitive hockey player churn nutritionist Melissa's mission is to help the next generation of hockey players optimize their health and diets so they can perform their best on and off the ice ready to dominate on the ice Melissa's new course the hockey nutrition blueprint is is opening soon if you're serious about learning how nutrition can impact performance and building actionable nutrition strategies based on your unique needs as an elite hockey player get on the wait list today learn more and sign up at Melissa bos.com course that's m l i SSA b o u f os.com course thank you to Melissa beunos for sponsoring this episode and now back to the show and speaking of uh that team you've Aaron Frankle mentioned her name a few times but you had the great Fortune to be playing along with uh Aaron Frankle uh and we saw her success this season uh with Boston she was fantastic um I think they ended up dubbing her the green monster if I'm not mistaken um I think that's so awesome that's such a good nickname yeah yeah shout out to Kenzie lone for that one it was fantastic uh absolutely and it was absolutely accurate she played outstandingly well this season uh especially in the playoffs um could you talk a little bit about uh your relationship with her and maybe some of the things that not just that you learned from her but she was a like how that relationship was and and sort of what you were able to learn from one another yeah I mean having Aaron as a goalie partner was great um she I think I talked about you know taking some tools from her toolbox but aside from that like I no one works as hard as Aaron like in practice in games so just kind of seeing her work ethic and then watching how her work ethic got her to where she wants to be kind of showed me like what was possible if you know I work that hard and um you know she she just doesn't give up on pucks uh doesn't matter if you know she's making a backwards flip to like get there um so you know just learning learning what it takes to be at that next level cuz she she was really like I mean around like while I was there like that was kind of when she was getting her break with Team USA I think and so like seeing like that happen for her like kind of showed me like what it takes and I think that was really helpful for me cuz you know she gave me like a role model someone to look up to um you know then off the ice she was she's a really good kid really funny and just kind of like she was good at keeping things calm and keeping things you know fun and casual and I think that showed me a lot too like she was a good leader and it showed like how you know how someone can be Aaron Frankle on the ice and then be Aaron Frankle off the ice and like kind of bring those together and create a really good environment for the team and you know in the lockroom or you know like at a team dinner stuff like that yeah so I I think you know know this is The goalie relationship a a unique opportunity to be able to talk about um like a goal what's the goalie relationship like both obviously you've explained the some of the things that you've learned from her but I think it's also unique to be able to talk about the offi stuff like what was it like to be able you know you've mentioned her sense of humor the kind of person that she is do you want to talk a little bit more about the off I stuff because that's it's not just a like on Ice obviously it's a results driven business we got to win we got to be good um but it's also kind of fun to talk about the offi stuff yeah Aaron is um like one of the weirdest funniest people I've ever met uh so it was always just like you can't help but like be in a good mood when you're around her I would say my first few years like we were friends we were friendly like but we weren't particularly like we weren't hanging out in each other's rooms and then like my junior year Maddie Mills uh she play at Cornell she transferred in for her fifth year and uh she went to shadic with Aaron so Aaron would come over a lot more we' go to Aaron's and like that's we kind of got a little bit closer that year and uh you know I kind of got to see like some other sides of her than like you know the post game or like the pregame dinner stuff and that was just a pleasure like she's she's really so funny and she's really easy to talk to like I remember uh I think before we even set foot on the ice uh my freshman year you know we were like at a team fun function she came up to me and she was like Hey like uh and she just kind of like talked me through a few things and like kind of like opened that door for like a good relationship and like how like kind of how her and Britney did things and like they had a great relationship and so she was like this is like you know this is how I think we can be and how we should be and like I think like we have that potential to like you know push each other but be like really good friends and like her just doing that on day one was like really cool and like really inviting and she was like if you ever need anything like I'm here like I've you know we've all been through it so so you know she kind of helped take me under her Wing a little bit and show me the ropes as a young 17-year-old freshman all right and um uh and that obviously goes a long way and I think that helps Define who you are and um how Team USA experience you approach any other team that you're a part of now uh Ottawa um also speaking of teams you had the opportunity to um you know you were selected to be part of Team USA uh in this year UHF Women's World Championships I kind of want to know what were some of the biggest takeaways from you in terms of just like the overall experience you know being able to be a part of that being a part of Team USA um and how you think that's going to translate you know those exper it's all about those experiences as that you have throughout your career kind of they kind of pile up and they kind of like add to who you are now what are some of those favorite experiences and how do you think that time with Team USA has helped you um as now again you know we've mentioned it a few times um you know in your new career with pwl Ottawa yeah so just to tie in that last question about Aaron and like the world stuff uh having Aaron there was awesome cuz I didn't know a lot of the girls and like some of them I I do just cuz they're kind of close to my age but like in that capacity of like Team USA like they're a little bit more established I'm a rookie and like I whenever I was like kind of confused on something like I text Aon behind the scenes be like what am I supposed to be doing so she was she was really great to have there too that was um another really great thing about Aaron but um in terms of like experiences um like I think it was one of the best things I could do for my Development coming into the new league cuz like you know like I've always had coaches like coach plant at nor Eastern is a goalie guy and he's always telling me like do this or this and I'm like yeah you're right I should do that like let me try but then when it comes to a game like I don't do it or whatever but it still works like things that I should work on I could get away with in college and like I'll own that and then I was out like practice for worlds and I was like yeah this is not cutting it anymore like I need to I need to do the things that coaches have been telling me to do so it was honestly eye opening cuz like it's really hard to believe something when it's not you know if it's what is it saying if it's don't if it's not broken like what is it like if it's don't don't fix it don't fix it yeah so like I was like ah and now it's like yeah it's it's broken it's broken I got to fix it so now I have a lot of things um that I I want to work on over the summer and get ready for which was really great cuz like that would have really hurt the confidence going into preseason camp and like learning it then as opposed to like in practice um when like you know I was just there to kind of like learn the ropes a little bit get my feet wet so you know it was just a blast and then just kind of like you know doing that like kind of reaching my goals um to like wear that Jersey and like be a part of that team was just so cool and such an experience that I think it propelled my confidence a lot um and also just like you know check off the list like that was on my bucket list so pretty happy good and Getting drafted into the PWHL we're going to talk a little bit more about that bucket list uh in the last segment of the show so uh be prepared for that um so I want to shift gears now you know we've talked about your early career uh you didn't start off as a [Music] goenda here like let's talk about what's going on right now for you so again I said it earlier I literally jumped up when I heard heard that you got drafted by Ottawa now I'm not someone who's going to be I will tell you right now obviously I have a an Ottawa jersey in the background here uh I'm from the area uh when the team was announced in Ottawa I was super stoked about this I've Loved women's hockey since I think 2002 was when I started I first started watching it not to date myself but um uh so this is an incredible uh this was incredible experience uh for me um so I can only imagine how it must have been for you so I kind of want to you know if we could um kind of get you know go back to that moment you know you you would mentioned from your parents perspective how exciting it was could you talk about what it was like for you personally to hear your name drafted into the pwhl it was like no words um I I was so excited and honestly so surprised I thought um Otto was off the board for me I thought the way things worked out um I thought like I thought one goaler was coming over from Montreal and then Montreal was going to open up and New York needed a goalie and Toronto wanted a goalie and like so Ottawa I was like not going there like they don't need a goalie like they're pretty set like so when they called my name I was like what what like that's crazy and I mean I'm like I'm good friends with Kathy pippy who kind of helps doing like recruiting like scouting stuff and you know she didn't say anything and I was like well what's going on here like am I getting pranked like is this real this is so cool like I had no idea I'd be going to Ottawa which like I'm so happy to be going to like it's I've heard so many good things about the city um like the girls have been very nice and the ones that I knew before like they're really nice people so like sure the team's great um but I was just I was just in shock like I had no idea that I would be going to Ottawa and the third round is huge honor but it was just so cool to be like a part of something you know still so new but like thriving as much as it is um and now to be like a part of you know with my friends that have gone on and played in the first year uh of the league to go play with them again it's going to be really cool and so let's let's expand on that a little bit let's talk a little bit about What to expect in Ottawa what you've heard about Ottawa um and whether you know a lot of those players whether a lot of ottawa's players have reached out to you to let you know like hey this is what you should expect because you know there's a across the league Ottawa is known as probably and again I know this is going to sound biased but I have the information to back it up um Ottawa is known as like a prime a Primo location for women's hockey the enthusiasm the passion it's here what is it like what are you most looking forward to and then what how have the players helped to prepare you for uh coming to Ottawa yeah I keep hearing that Ottawa has the best market and like I everything that I've heard like that's so true like they have the best fans um you know I've heard the facilities are really great uh for the players and so I'm just so excited to like be there um like this is ridiculous but like I was was on the call with um the goalie coach and he was he was telling me like kind of where the girls live and so I'm like doing research and I'm like so excited to be apartment shopping for like my new house in Ottawa like that's so cool um you know and as soon as I got drafted um some of the girls were you know dming me like following me and I'm like this is surreal like these are these these girls are so cool and now like I know them like I like they follow me on Instagram now like that's insane um and so like you know getting DMS from them and being like Oh my gosh like I used to look up to you like I still look up to you and then like a few days later like texts are trickling in as they like get my number from people and they're like can't wait to have you like can't wait to like get the season going and it's just like building up all this excitement for like the season and like this new chapter in my life like I'm so excited for Ottawa like I've heard so many great things and like the city just seems so cool like I'm a city person so like I think that's going to be a lot of fun for me is being in a really cool spot all right well prepare yourself cuz it is unreal here so uh and we're we're thrilled to have you here I speak on behalf of all Ottawa fans I I'll take that I'll take on that burden um it's going to be a really exciting time um we're going to move to the last segment of the show and this last segment of the show has traditionally become it's basically a scientifically proven test okay that will really help us to get to know the true Gwyneth Phillips are you ready to take that test yeah okay good I promise it's not skill testing it's also not that hard so don't worry I hated tests so I would never make this uh very difficult but it's going to be a lot of fun and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do okay okay um we're g to start off with you know um I've been fortunate enough to be able to connect with a few goalies but not many on this show and so it's always interesting to learn your go-to pregame meal my go-to premium meal like I'm walking to the rink I'm usually swinging by and getting a smoothie and a coffee the day before our team at Northeastern we'll do like a team meal so everyone goes into one room one person like the main room Cooks the entree and then everyone Junior's bring the garlic bread so it's usually like a pasta dish so usually like a some kind of pasta dish uh the night before that that's like a big thing for us too okay cool and I need to know what goes into that Passa dish so what are like are you doing Alfredo are you doing pasta like U sorry tomato sauce it fully depends on what the room wants to do so like it's usually pasta dish like we've done tacos before um uh sometimes it's like a lasagna but you know I I'm like a big fan of the classic spaghetti and meatballs it's the easiest to cook for 30 people so I'll go with like a pasta like a and meatballs with like garlic bread it's my simple well you're talking to a carb fan so that sounds fantastic to me um what song is your must play on game day oh well I don't get that choice because I don't have ax but I love Miley Cyrus so I would listen to pretty much anything Miley Cyrus um build up okay so you you alluded to it who does have ax control on game day or on like yeah in the locker room all time Taylor greo has ax she's um gonna be a senior but she's got the best so I've ever I've ever had so it's pretty good all right so the bar Music is high for when you come to Ottawa appreciate that um I want to know uh speaking of music if you could only listen to and I I think I have the answer already but if you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life what would it be and the caveat to that is it doesn't have to be continuously playing but it's just like when you put it on it has to be this song yeah easy um beautiful things by Benson Boon um obsessed with him right now oh I wasn't okay that's you were expecting Miley Stars yeah well he's on the up and up for me like he's close to surpassing Miley but like there's something nostalgic about Miley that's still like good no I uh yeah uh Benson's all over at least uh for me all over Tik Tok so I uh yeah I I feel you on that one that's that's fair um if you weren't playing hockey what would you do would it be industrial engineering it probably would be but like if I was really doing whatever I wanted I would probably like have like a retrofitted van and like live my life driving around and doing doing things I like outside things you know yeah so I I like weird I would be like a big van life person okay Bucket List that's fair I I looked into it so I feel you on that one um we had uh spoken about it earlier or you had mentioned it earlier uh about your bucket list so there was something you've uh checked off your bucket list uh being able to play for uh with Team USA what's something else that's on your bucket list uh let me pull it up but one of them that oh you actually have a list this is great oh I have I have like one list that's like serious and one list that's like not so serious okay one from each the serious uh I want to go like okay so I saw this video where there's a a rope hanging off like a bridge and then you drive like a jet ski or or a boat underneath it and like as you're doing that you grab onto the rope and then you like create this like pendulum and then it's like a rope swing okay and then it's that one's stupid but like I'm we boat and stuff and like I know exactly where I could do that but we can't make a rope swing anywhere but like that's the second best so I've been like holding on to that for a while okay um and then the serious one oh I want to go to like 15 new restaurants by the end of the year which is like hard for me cuz I don't go and eat out a lot but that's like I'm want to do that more okay I think that'll be easy moving to Ottawa like everything will be a new restaurant so I might have to re that no I was going to say uh I can promise you the 15 new ref restaurants in Ottawa that's Things People May Not Know About Gwyneth something that absolutely can be achieved we don't have Bridges tall enough for that for the uh for your first option but I can promise you the second one got you covered especially around the rink you're going to be that that neck of the woods is is absolutely going to be Stellar for that that's what I've heard um what's something people may not know about Gwyneth Phillips ah that was tough um I think I think I think there's like I think I would surprise people with like the things that I do just in terms of like I can like I'm told I'm pretty weird like and like I'll do some pretty like questionable things that are like yeah she's a goalie but like not so I would just kind of like people don't know but like I'm I'm going to like I'm I come off as like to start like a little bit normal but like once you get to know me like you might like run away and hide I don't know I've it's going to be it's going to be interesting I think I'm going to scare a few people on day one or two I see that to me just sounds like quirky and that's totally fine it maybe maybe I tried to put a positive spin on that one yeah yeah it was a rude awakening when we did like the everyone writes a note to like the graduating class and mine was like going to miss you like really weird but like it's going to be it's going to be different without you that's for sure so that one I've been holding on to it's a little bit like in my it's in Grain like I just learned how weird I guess I am so that's that's fine it just adds that different Dynamic to the team and let's be honest like you said Goldies there's they're kind of a different yeah we get like a like it doesn't matter like yeah exactly they're just a goalie yeah yeah yeah it makes sense it's fine yeah it's part of their charm um lastly um when you're ready to just relax after whether it's a game or it's a practice especially a long practice or something like that um what does gwy if Phillips want to do I'm such an iPad kid I just want to like watch TV like I'll just throw on something on I'll usually throw something on the TV and then like maybe if I'm really like like I'll throw something on my iPad too like I got two screens going I don't know I'm cooking like TV's there so like when I'm relaxing like I'm just watching TV sitting on the couch I don't like to sit in my room I'm a big like living room person so I can annoy all my roommates um but I always got the I always have the TV going on to like relax okay so I I lied um because there's one more now Gwyneths Favorite Shows followup question to that what's what is what is your like do you have a go-to show that you just like because as you mentioned you have two screens going so theoretically the other thing the things that's on the TV is probably like a show that you've seen a thous times and you're like oh I know what's going on I can be on my iPad I can go back and forth what is it that you throw on well I just like I watch TV so much that I do have like multiple series that I'll throw on but um right now I'm like trying to diligently watch the house of dragons like the new so I'm re-watching season one because they just came out of season two so that one's like kind of on in the background and then uh I don't know what I'm I forget what I'm watching right now but um yeah I usually just cycle through like some really bad Teenage Drama show and it's like just on in the background so yeah where you can recite the lines you're like know exactly like oh this one's a bad like she's not going to end up with him like I've seen this before those are the best because then you don't actually have to pay attention to really anything that you're doing yeah yeah the acting so bad it's like comical like oh it's so good it's so bad it's good that's the charm of it yeah yeah yeah yeah I feel you um well uh Gwyneth uh thank you so much for doing this uh I could talk to you for so much longer this has been so much fun um again thank you for doing this I know that you've been busy obviously getting drafted planning on moving to Ottawa eventually you will get here um so I just appreciate you taking the time out of your uh your busy day to to to hang out and to kind of share with uh Ottawa folks what they should expect so thank you for doing this no yeah thanks for doing this this was fun and I think you know I think this stuff's really important to help grow the game and right now where the league is like now's the best time to do this like get it going keep it going kind of thing so this is always an honor to do all right well uh you'll definitely have to come back then you've committed now so and with that uh folks for gwth Phillips I'm Chris Sinclair and this has been the rinkside rundown podcast C cheers [Music]