University of Minnesota Athletics
Johnny Sounds Off; Senior Forward John Pohl
2/22/2002 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
The most annoying thing about him, according to roommate Jeff Taffe, is that he watches "SportsCenter" non-stop. His reason for doing so should be obvious - to bring him one step closer to the possibility of replacing his hockey career with a career as a sportscaster. Okay, so maybe that's not the obvious reason and maybe a future without hockey should remain unmentionable, but it's one of those things that the average fan doesn't know. So, as sort of a fans guide to Johnny Pohl, he was given the opportunity to provide his own input on a story revealing the particulars - superstitions, favorites and secret aspirations- of "Don Lucia's Son" (as teammates like to call him). [My real dad is Glen Sonmor.]
If you pay enough attention during pre-game warm-ups and the national anthem, you may have your own ideas about Johnny Pohl's superstitious behavior. [If you do, you have way too much time on your hands.] Those ideas are about as close as you can come to knowing the routines that go into pre-game activity for him, because the superstitions must only work if the one performing them is the only one aware of them. His favorite cereal is Lucky Charms, so could that possibly correlate? We'll probably never know. However, if you do pay attention maybe you have noticed that he stands in the same spot on the blue line during the national anthem (that must be one of them) or even that he_______. (I left that space open for Johnny, but obviously those secrets are far too well kept. It doesn't hurt to try!)
"I have so many that I can't even list them off," Pohl said. "If I told you them, I'd have to kill you, so I'll just say that I have to pray before every game. But, that's all you get to know, and there are endless superstitions that I can't even go into."
Obviously, the list must be long and arduous and it's almost unimaginable that he's been doing the same routine since the age of four, when he first started playing. The superstitions are just a matter of sticking with what works and hoping for the best. Or is there another reason why he has so many of them? [Things I do before a game aren't so much superstition as they are preparation.] Certain points get added, others get subtracted, but regardless, the feeling one gets on the ice mainly depends on how you are looking at the it. At least that is the case with Johnny, whose first games at Mariucci are far different than those of his senior season.
"The first time I played at Mariucci I was pretty nervous, because for the two years prior to that season I was thinking about coming to the University and playing for the Gophers," Pohl said. "It wasn't all that I thought it would be only because I kind of sat on the bench a lot and our team really wasn't that good. However, compared to the feeling now when you get to play a lot and you're winning; it's way different."
Obviously that feeling of winning on your home ice makes certain aspects of a particular game stick in an athlete's mind, which usually leads to more superstitions or added pre-game rituals. It can make certain goals stand out and others seem somewhat mundane [none are ever mundane, especially at home], however, with Johnny Pohl it wasn't winning on home ice that makes his first collegiate goal the most memorable of his career. In fact that first goal came in a win at Wisconsin and who wouldn't remember beating their top rival on their own ice?
"I've never really scored a big goal, hopefully it's still to come," Pohl commented. "As of right now my most memorable collegiate goal, would have to be my first because I just don't think I've ever really scored a real memorable one. I scored one in NCAAs but that was nothing, so my first goal being in Madison against the Badgers in a game that we won would have to be my most memorable one."
The first collegiate goal must be the sweetest [not necessarily, but definitely most memorable], and those that follow may all seem the same unless accompanied by a particular accolade such as a Frozen Four berth. Would the goal that got you there be more memorable than any that occur while you were there? [They get better as the season goes along.] As fans, we may never know the feeling of scoring a collegiate goal, but as a player one can imagine that it's one of those things that goes straight to the top of the list in terms of best ever hockey experiences especially if it occurred in the Frozen Four.
"I can honestly remember walking on campus the first day as a freshman, talking to Adam Hauser and talking about how cool it was that the Frozen Four would be in St. Paul," Johnny stated. "It might happen it might not, but I do know that if it does happen and we make it there it will be probably the best hockey experience of my life."
So what if it all ended at the end of this season? No more game days, pre-game rituals, superstitions and no more hockey hair (we'll touch on that some more later). As was stated earlier, the late nights (wait, they aren't so late) spent watching SportsCenter are not just intended to annoy roommate Jeff Taffe. Or are they? [I'd rather watch SportsCenter than Days of Our Lives, Elimidate and Dawson's Creek like my roommate.] Those nights (or early evenings) are intended to prep Johnny for the future, when he can say, "I'm John Pohl and this has been SportsCenter. Up next, beach volleyball!" [It doesn't matter what's on next because it's always lights out after SportsCenter. Up Next would be my talk show, but that might never happen.]
"The guys on the team make fun of him, so I kind of stuck up for him by living with him this year. But, he's a clean person so that kind of helps out around the house a little bit," Taffe commented. "The most annoying thing about him is that all he watches is SportsCenter. Once in a while I can get him to change the station, but his SportsCenter days are way out of control!"
"I want to be involved in sports in some way. I'd love to be a sportscaster or work for a news station doing sports," Pohl said. "I just want to be around sports whether it be predicting or talking about it, maybe having a talk show or something like that. If that doesn't work out, I would love to have some kind of business, [with Erik Wendell because he's smart,] and just make lots of money."
There is also that secret ambition to be a country musician (his stage name would be Garth Brooks Jr. - of course!), but, since his guitar playing skills still need to be honed, that ambition could be sidelined for some time. The sportscaster career is a far better course of action considering the fact that SportsCenter is a must and hockey is a topic teammates cannot seem to take off Pohl's mind. Okay, so maybe Johnny didn't like this part, but, I'm sorry, it had to stay.
"Hockey is a big topic. He really likes to talk about it, but I'm usually quiet and just agree with him once in a while," Taffe commented. "He really likes to talk about it and just see what kind of things we are doing as a team, which is good once in a while because I think it just shows how much the game means to him."
Hockey has to mean a great deal in order to render the amount of dedication required to play at the collegiate level. Being that the stupidest thing he can recall ever having done has to do with hockey, would be another signal that hockey means a lot. However, stupid or crazy things are few and far between since he proclaims himself to be a fairly boring guy.
"I'm not really a wild guy, so I haven't really done a lot of crazy things," Pohl stated. "But, I guess you could say the stupidest thing I've ever done was I played with a broken wrist against Anchorage last year and I didn't have anything on it except tape. That was pretty crazy, but in a way I didn't even know it was broken. I wish I could tell you something really crazy that I've done, but I guess I'm pretty boring."
Since, he is not a wild guy and crazy acts are hard to come by, that quote just could not be removed. But, maybe he really isn't all that boring, it could just be that he is a bit more regimented than the average person. According to Taffe, "He's a very disciplined person, and he's always in bed by nine[ten] o'clock, so he doesn't really have that many stories to tell."
He may not have a lot of outrageous, jaw-dropping stories to tell, but it goes without saying that he definitely has his moments. So, as was promised - the hair. It is almost trademark Johnny Pohl to have his untamed hair sticking out of his helmet, blowing in the breeze as he skates across the ice. [I would never perm it.] A conversation with his best friend left him awestruck that he would consider Pohl's hair the best Gopher hockey hair - ever. It has become a hockey tradition to just let it grow for reasons unknown, but how much would it take to make Johnny break that tradition in the middle of the season? [It's too long now. I will probably cut it a week after the season ends.]
"To cut it right now you would have to give me at least a couple thousand dollars, but at the end of the season I will definitely cut it," Pohl said. "If you play for the Gophers you have to have the hockey hair."
Hockey has many unique aspects. The hair is obviously one of them, given the fact that most individuals would have to empty their bank accounts in order to get Pohl to cut his hair midway through his senior season. However, as an athlete, you look at it from a different perspective - the hard work required to succeed. To describe hockey in one word according to Pohl would be "awesome;" it just can't be described in any other way, so, if it is to the point that words can not explain it, then the hard work must really pay off.
"The most unique aspect of hockey I think is that you can't be good at one thing and be a hockey player. You have to have so many things going on. Your legs have to be strong, you have to be able to skate, you have to be able to shoot and handle the puck, you have to know the game, you have to know what's going on because you don't want to get killed out there," Johnny stated. "So it has to be the most difficult sport of all because anyone can run, shoot a basketball or be handed the football and run down field. I think hockey is one of the sports that you can't be born good at; it's an acquired talent that you have to work hard at and get in a lot of practice before you can be good."
In order to be a great hockey player that athletic ability must be fine-tuned in order to bring all aspects of the game into a nice package. All areas of the game must have the undivided attention of each participant, when that doesn't happen frustration tends to ensue. This may seem sort of odd, but off the ice that same type of thing can really push Johnny's buttons.
"My biggest pet peeve is when you are talking on the phone to someone and you're having a conversation, but then that person starts talking to someone else in the background. I have a friend that does that to me all the time and I can't stand it. You think they are talking to you, but they aren't and it's just so unbelievably frustrating."
Maybe it's not a direct correlation to hockey, but that is the whole point. Johnny Pohl on the ice is not quite the same as Johnny Pohl off the ice. On the ice he is the team's points leader and co-captain. He will finish his career in the top 10 all-time at Minnesota in points and assists. Off the ice he is the scholar-athlete and philosopher. Yes - philosopher. I tried to throw a wrench into the interviewing process by asking a deep question, "Is the grass greener on the other side?" The answer made the title "Deep Thoughts with Johnny Pohl" very tempting.
"I think the grass is green where we are, and it's green on the other side," Pohl said. "I think today is great but tomorrow could be even better."
Any more deep thoughts Johnny? [Never pursue the passing at the expense of the permanent.] (Okay, that title was incredibly tempting.) These little known things (or thoughts) are those aspects of John Pohl that fans may not be too familiar with, but every fan and teammate knows of his leadership, talent, dedication and determination.
"He's a great leader. He and Jordan Leopold are both vocal in the locker room, which is huge," Taffe said. "They have taken the younger guys under their wing. They are great people not just great hockey players, so it means a lot to play on a team with them."
For Johnny, embedded in the asset of leadership is honor and pride, and it is exemplified with the greatest portion of humility.
"I think being chosen a leader of the [this] team is probably the greatest honor [I've] ever [received]. Hopefully, more good things like that will happen to me, but, if my hockey career comes to an end at the end of this year, then I would have to say the proudest thing ever is being the captain for the Gophers. I just want to be remembered as somebody that helped the program in some way whether it is on the ice, in the locker room or in the classroom. I want people to look at me and say `I want to have a career like he had some day.'"
Easier said than done? Hardly!
Written by Men's Athletic Media Relations Student Assistant by Tarcy Thompson; annotated by Johnny Pohl.
Author's note: Johnny Pohl proofread the following story, adding in or crossing out any comments he deemed necessary. After receiving the folded-up, proofread version with notes scribbled in the margins (looking somewhat like a middle-school note) from Pohl, I inserted his commentary below. (Anything in [brackets] or strikethrough is a direct result of Johnny's proofreading.)
The most annoying thing about him, according to roommate Jeff Taffe, is that he watches "SportsCenter" non-stop. His reason for doing so should be obvious - to bring him one step closer to the possibility of replacing his hockey career with a career as a sportscaster. Okay, so maybe that's not the obvious reason and maybe a future without hockey should remain unmentionable, but it's one of those things that the average fan doesn't know. So, as sort of a fans guide to Johnny Pohl, he was given the opportunity to provide his own input on a story revealing the particulars - superstitions, favorites and secret aspirations- of "Don Lucia's Son" (as teammates like to call him). [My real dad is Glen Sonmor.]
If you pay enough attention during pre-game warm-ups and the national anthem, you may have your own ideas about Johnny Pohl's superstitious behavior. [If you do, you have way too much time on your hands.] Those ideas are about as close as you can come to knowing the routines that go into pre-game activity for him, because the superstitions must only work if the one performing them is the only one aware of them. His favorite cereal is Lucky Charms, so could that possibly correlate? We'll probably never know. However, if you do pay attention maybe you have noticed that he stands in the same spot on the blue line during the national anthem (that must be one of them) or even that he_______. (I left that space open for Johnny, but obviously those secrets are far too well kept. It doesn't hurt to try!)
"I have so many that I can't even list them off," Pohl said. "If I told you them, I'd have to kill you, so I'll just say that I have to pray before every game. But, that's all you get to know, and there are endless superstitions that I can't even go into."
Obviously, the list must be long and arduous and it's almost unimaginable that he's been doing the same routine since the age of four, when he first started playing. The superstitions are just a matter of sticking with what works and hoping for the best. Or is there another reason why he has so many of them? [Things I do before a game aren't so much superstition as they are preparation.] Certain points get added, others get subtracted, but regardless, the feeling one gets on the ice mainly depends on how you are looking at the it. At least that is the case with Johnny, whose first games at Mariucci are far different than those of his senior season.
"The first time I played at Mariucci I was pretty nervous, because for the two years prior to that season I was thinking about coming to the University and playing for the Gophers," Pohl said. "It wasn't all that I thought it would be only because I kind of sat on the bench a lot and our team really wasn't that good. However, compared to the feeling now when you get to play a lot and you're winning; it's way different."
Obviously that feeling of winning on your home ice makes certain aspects of a particular game stick in an athlete's mind, which usually leads to more superstitions or added pre-game rituals. It can make certain goals stand out and others seem somewhat mundane [none are ever mundane, especially at home], however, with Johnny Pohl it wasn't winning on home ice that makes his first collegiate goal the most memorable of his career. In fact that first goal came in a win at Wisconsin and who wouldn't remember beating their top rival on their own ice?
"I've never really scored a big goal, hopefully it's still to come," Pohl commented. "As of right now my most memorable collegiate goal, would have to be my first because I just don't think I've ever really scored a real memorable one. I scored one in NCAAs but that was nothing, so my first goal being in Madison against the Badgers in a game that we won would have to be my most memorable one."
The first collegiate goal must be the sweetest [not necessarily, but definitely most memorable], and those that follow may all seem the same unless accompanied by a particular accolade such as a Frozen Four berth. Would the goal that got you there be more memorable than any that occur while you were there? [They get better as the season goes along.] As fans, we may never know the feeling of scoring a collegiate goal, but as a player one can imagine that it's one of those things that goes straight to the top of the list in terms of best ever hockey experiences especially if it occurred in the Frozen Four.
"I can honestly remember walking on campus the first day as a freshman, talking to Adam Hauser and talking about how cool it was that the Frozen Four would be in St. Paul," Johnny stated. "It might happen it might not, but I do know that if it does happen and we make it there it will be probably the best hockey experience of my life."
So what if it all ended at the end of this season? No more game days, pre-game rituals, superstitions and no more hockey hair (we'll touch on that some more later). As was stated earlier, the late nights (wait, they aren't so late) spent watching SportsCenter are not just intended to annoy roommate Jeff Taffe. Or are they? [I'd rather watch SportsCenter than Days of Our Lives, Elimidate and Dawson's Creek like my roommate.] Those nights (or early evenings) are intended to prep Johnny for the future, when he can say, "I'm John Pohl and this has been SportsCenter. Up next, beach volleyball!" [It doesn't matter what's on next because it's always lights out after SportsCenter. Up Next would be my talk show, but that might never happen.]
"The guys on the team make fun of him, so I kind of stuck up for him by living with him this year. But, he's a clean person so that kind of helps out around the house a little bit," Taffe commented. "The most annoying thing about him is that all he watches is SportsCenter. Once in a while I can get him to change the station, but his SportsCenter days are way out of control!"
"I want to be involved in sports in some way. I'd love to be a sportscaster or work for a news station doing sports," Pohl said. "I just want to be around sports whether it be predicting or talking about it, maybe having a talk show or something like that. If that doesn't work out, I would love to have some kind of business, [with Erik Wendell because he's smart,] and just make lots of money."
There is also that secret ambition to be a country musician (his stage name would be Garth Brooks Jr. - of course!), but, since his guitar playing skills still need to be honed, that ambition could be sidelined for some time. The sportscaster career is a far better course of action considering the fact that SportsCenter is a must and hockey is a topic teammates cannot seem to take off Pohl's mind. Okay, so maybe Johnny didn't like this part, but, I'm sorry, it had to stay.
"Hockey is a big topic. He really likes to talk about it, but I'm usually quiet and just agree with him once in a while," Taffe commented. "He really likes to talk about it and just see what kind of things we are doing as a team, which is good once in a while because I think it just shows how much the game means to him."
Hockey has to mean a great deal in order to render the amount of dedication required to play at the collegiate level. Being that the stupidest thing he can recall ever having done has to do with hockey, would be another signal that hockey means a lot. However, stupid or crazy things are few and far between since he proclaims himself to be a fairly boring guy.
"I'm not really a wild guy, so I haven't really done a lot of crazy things," Pohl stated. "But, I guess you could say the stupidest thing I've ever done was I played with a broken wrist against Anchorage last year and I didn't have anything on it except tape. That was pretty crazy, but in a way I didn't even know it was broken. I wish I could tell you something really crazy that I've done, but I guess I'm pretty boring."
Since, he is not a wild guy and crazy acts are hard to come by, that quote just could not be removed. But, maybe he really isn't all that boring, it could just be that he is a bit more regimented than the average person. According to Taffe, "He's a very disciplined person, and he's always in bed by nine[ten] o'clock, so he doesn't really have that many stories to tell."
He may not have a lot of outrageous, jaw-dropping stories to tell, but it goes without saying that he definitely has his moments. So, as was promised - the hair. It is almost trademark Johnny Pohl to have his untamed hair sticking out of his helmet, blowing in the breeze as he skates across the ice. [I would never perm it.] A conversation with his best friend left him awestruck that he would consider Pohl's hair the best Gopher hockey hair - ever. It has become a hockey tradition to just let it grow for reasons unknown, but how much would it take to make Johnny break that tradition in the middle of the season? [It's too long now. I will probably cut it a week after the season ends.]
"To cut it right now you would have to give me at least a couple thousand dollars, but at the end of the season I will definitely cut it," Pohl said. "If you play for the Gophers you have to have the hockey hair."
Hockey has many unique aspects. The hair is obviously one of them, given the fact that most individuals would have to empty their bank accounts in order to get Pohl to cut his hair midway through his senior season. However, as an athlete, you look at it from a different perspective - the hard work required to succeed. To describe hockey in one word according to Pohl would be "awesome;" it just can't be described in any other way, so, if it is to the point that words can not explain it, then the hard work must really pay off.
"The most unique aspect of hockey I think is that you can't be good at one thing and be a hockey player. You have to have so many things going on. Your legs have to be strong, you have to be able to skate, you have to be able to shoot and handle the puck, you have to know the game, you have to know what's going on because you don't want to get killed out there," Johnny stated. "So it has to be the most difficult sport of all because anyone can run, shoot a basketball or be handed the football and run down field. I think hockey is one of the sports that you can't be born good at; it's an acquired talent that you have to work hard at and get in a lot of practice before you can be good."
In order to be a great hockey player that athletic ability must be fine-tuned in order to bring all aspects of the game into a nice package. All areas of the game must have the undivided attention of each participant, when that doesn't happen frustration tends to ensue. This may seem sort of odd, but off the ice that same type of thing can really push Johnny's buttons.
"My biggest pet peeve is when you are talking on the phone to someone and you're having a conversation, but then that person starts talking to someone else in the background. I have a friend that does that to me all the time and I can't stand it. You think they are talking to you, but they aren't and it's just so unbelievably frustrating."
Maybe it's not a direct correlation to hockey, but that is the whole point. Johnny Pohl on the ice is not quite the same as Johnny Pohl off the ice. On the ice he is the team's points leader and co-captain. He will finish his career in the top 10 all-time at Minnesota in points and assists. Off the ice he is the scholar-athlete and philosopher. Yes - philosopher. I tried to throw a wrench into the interviewing process by asking a deep question, "Is the grass greener on the other side?" The answer made the title "Deep Thoughts with Johnny Pohl" very tempting.
"I think the grass is green where we are, and it's green on the other side," Pohl said. "I think today is great but tomorrow could be even better."
Any more deep thoughts Johnny? [Never pursue the passing at the expense of the permanent.] (Okay, that title was incredibly tempting.) These little known things (or thoughts) are those aspects of John Pohl that fans may not be too familiar with, but every fan and teammate knows of his leadership, talent, dedication and determination.
"He's a great leader. He and Jordan Leopold are both vocal in the locker room, which is huge," Taffe said. "They have taken the younger guys under their wing. They are great people not just great hockey players, so it means a lot to play on a team with them."
For Johnny, embedded in the asset of leadership is honor and pride, and it is exemplified with the greatest portion of humility.
"I think being chosen a leader of the [this] team is probably the greatest honor [I've] ever [received]. Hopefully, more good things like that will happen to me, but, if my hockey career comes to an end at the end of this year, then I would have to say the proudest thing ever is being the captain for the Gophers. I just want to be remembered as somebody that helped the program in some way whether it is on the ice, in the locker room or in the classroom. I want people to look at me and say `I want to have a career like he had some day.'"
Easier said than done? Hardly!
Written by Men's Athletic Media Relations Student Assistant by Tarcy Thompson; annotated by Johnny Pohl.
