To an already extensive resume – which includes playing nearly 500 NHL games; suiting up for 15 clubs in 14 professional seasons; joking around with with Bill Clinton at the White House after North Dakota won the NCAA title; being teased about his hair by George W. Bush after Carolina won the Stanley Cup; gaining notoriety for #hijinx on Twitter; dabbling memorably as an Uber driver – Mike Commodore recently added one more line: A job in the real world.
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Five months ago, Commodore joined forces with Triton Land Services, handling their sales and marketing on a full-time basis.
“Basically, I know nothing about sales, nothing about marketing,” said Commodore, 38, who has relocated to Calgary. “I know nothing about land services, I know nothing about construction. I know nothing about computers, other than sending emails and surfing the Internet. So it’s been interesting. It’s been good.”
Besides, as he pointed out, it was time to enter the work force. Retiring after the 2013-14 season with KHL Vladivostok, he moved to Phoenix and simply relaxed for three years.
“Just hanging out, golfing,” said Commodore. “I wasn’t in a rush or anything. I was just trying to figure out passively what was next.”
Now, however, he is busy. Besides working full time, there’s buzz about an #InOne podcast, in conjunction with Sauce Hockey, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based enterprise.
“It could be fun. We just need to work out the logistics,” said Commodore, adding that he’ll be joined by fellow wiseacres Tyson Nash and the person behind the original Not Dany Heatley account on Twitter. “It’s going to be a lighter podcast. I don’t want to sit on there and just drone through stats. I don’t really care. I like watching hockey. But it’s a work in progress.”
Despite playing just 38 games for the Flames over parts of two seasons, he remains a familiar face in the city. Big hair and a laid-back attitude turned him into a cult hero. In the eyes of sportswriters he was larger than life, because he delivered.
For instance, the morning after a 2004 playoff game in which Flames fans littered the ice with debris, reporters beelined to Commodore’s dressing-room stall. He didn’t disappoint.
Without hesitation, Commodore reminisced about his college days when North Dakota fans would welcome the Minnesota Golden Gophers in a unique fashion.
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“They threw gophers on the ice – dead gophers,” he said. “I remember one time after the game, there was a couple of dead frozen gophers out on the ice. I was out giving an interview on the ice and I just shot one. I was inside my blueline and I shot it down to the other end. I thought it was just going to go maybe off the far boards along the ice. Well, it flew over the glass and just smoked somebody in the stands. I felt so bad. I was like, ‘I’m out of here,’ and I ducked off the ice.”
The telling of the gopher story does not put a dent in his treasure trove of tales. The other day he happily unearthed a few more howlers.
When’s the last time you laced them up?
I played in a (Sept. 7) charity hockey event called the Ice Breaker up in Slave Lake. It was a fun thing, me and Jamie Macoun and Curtis Glencross went up there. Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson. Actually, I took a stick in the face – I just took the stitches out. With about three minutes left in the third period, I caught a high stick.
And I skated at the Alzheimer’s event in Edmonton at the end of April. Actually, the last two times I’ve laced ’em up for these charity events, I ended up in the hospital, needing stitches. (Laughs) In Edmonton I got into a fistfight outside a bar. I got jumped … and I got caught on the chin. Guy just suckered me. I didn’t even see it coming. It wasn’t in the bar, it was outside on the street. I didn’t say a word (to provoke anyone). I was by myself. Actually, I ended up meeting the girl that I’m dating now, so it’s worked out OK.
So she’s a medical professional?
No, she just happened to be watching and she brought the cops over. Because after the guy suckered me … I wasn’t very happy when I got up. I went after the guy pretty good and got the upper hand on him fairly handily. And the cops kind of tackled me, which was good. It all worked out. I don’t think anyone got too badly hurt.
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Obviously, training camps are now in full swing. Do you ever miss this time of year?
I enjoyed training camps a lot more when my spot on the team was established and I was on a one-way contract. When I started in New Jersey (after being drafted 42nd overall in 1999), all you had to do was take a look at the roster. I’m not knocking out Scott Stevens, Ken Daneyko, Colin White, Brian Rafalski, Scott Niedermayer, all these guys.
I can’t say I miss training camps. But I can’t say I hated them, either. I hated the testing part of it … because I sucked at skating. So any skating test I was terrible at. And I never really knocked it off the charts in weightlifting or anything like that.
Everyone still talks about the 2004 fairy tale. You were in (AHL) Lowell and came up in the spring, but soon you were thrown into action. Toni Lydman and Denis Gauthier got hurt, so you and Steve Montador took over.
The best way to put it, as far as my experience, was how other people viewed it. I get it all the time, people coming up to me, “You were great as a Flame. You were awesome here.” Most of the time I just say, “Hey, thanks. I appreciate it.” But every once in a while I’ll be like, “Yeah, thanks – it was the greatest 18 games I ever played.” And they’re like, “What!” And I’m like, “I played 18 regular season games here.” And they’re like, “No way. I thought you were here for, like, four years.” I was here at the right time and it worked out.
Especially during the postseason, coaches and players can seem pretty anxious, kind of bunged up. So serious, at least around us. But that team? There was Ville Nieminen cracking one-liners. You could tell Andrew Ference dug having a platform. And it seemed like you really enjoyed the process as well.
We had a pretty loose group. We all realized that we played better when we were just ourselves. We had a tough team, too, starting with Jarome. That was one of the reasons we went so far. I think everybody enjoyed the ride.
Just making the playoffs at the time was a huge thing, so we were kind of already playing with house money. When we knocked Vancouver off, the city went crazy. Then we had Detroit – look at their roster. It was a joke how many Hall of Famers and goal scorers … everybody was on that team. Once we knocked them off, it was like, “Whoa. We have something here. If we can beat these guys, we can beat anybody in the league.” Everybody had fun with it. I know I tried to.
I recall a story about you and a few of the fellows attending a Metallica concert during the playoff run.
It was after we beat San Jose. Metallica was in town and I’m a huge Metallica guy. Godsmack played first and then the lights came on during the intermission. We all stood out. I stood out especially because of my hair and my beard. I remember sitting there and going, “Oh my god. Is it just me or is everybody looking at us?” That’s how it felt. (Laughs) Then I ended up giving an autograph to a female – an upper-body autograph. So – lights on, Saddledome’s packed, lot of people watching, the place went wild. I’m like, “I think I feel like a rock star right now.” We ended up going out with Metallica that night – we met them at Cowboys. It was awesome. I remember talking to Lars Ulrich, the drummer. He was sitting on the pool table upstairs at Cowboys and I must have B.S.ed with him for a couple hours.
You got a good laugh during that series against San Jose when you announced that you’d suffered a “mid-face injury.” Remember that?
That was after Patrick Marleau ran me from behind, blatantly from behind, and my nose smashed off the ridge of the boards. Broken nose, for sure. I was bleeding. You break your nose and your eyes water up, so I couldn’t see anything. All I knew was the puck was in our end and I’m like, “I’ve just got to get back to the front of the net.” So I blindly went back to the front of the net. I couldn’t see anything. The puck went out to one of the Sharks and he got a shot on net – a scoring chance. I remember going back to the bench and Darryl (Sutter) just gave it to me. I turned around and I was so mad that I wanted to hit him. I’m thinking, “This guy just blasted me from behind. No penalty. My nose is broken. I’m bleeding everywhere. I can’t see anything.” But I knew what he was trying to do. He was trying to get me fired up. So I just took it, which was the right thing to do.
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Guys didn’t talk too much about this – the flight back from Tampa after losing Game 7. Not a short flight, either. What do you remember about that?
The first hour, it was pretty down. Then everybody kind of loosened up. What can you do? It’s over. Everybody tried their hardest. It was a hell of a run. So we enjoyed ourselves.
There was a tonne of people at the (Calgary) airport. I’d had a few beers – my car wasn’t at the airport – and Martin Sonnenberg was driving. What was it? Three in the morning? There was all these people and, in my head, I was like, “You know what? Chances are this is never going to happen again. You hope it does. But it might not. It probably won’t. So I’m going to sign some autographs.” So I went, thinking it would be 20 minutes or something. I was out there for a couple hours. (Laughs) I think Sonny is still mad because he had to sit in the car and wait for me. But it was cool. Definitely a cool time to play here.
And you know what? You better enjoy it, because sooner or later, no one’s going to give a shit. So while they care? You might as well enjoy it.
Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty ImagesInteresting, having that talk with yourself about a run likely never happening again. Then, sure, enough, the next NHL season (2005-06), you go to the final with Carolina – and win. And, like in Calgary, you reached cult-hero status. For the hair, of course. But also for that bathrobe.
Yeah, in Carolina there was a little brochure in our stall and there were six or seven items – you could pick one thing and it would be your Christmas gift from the Carolina Hurricanes. There were barbecue sets and wine sets, and I’m like, “I’m not going to use any of this stuff.” Then I saw this robe. So I got it and by the time it showed up it was March.
So I put it on and Glen Wesley sees it and he’s like, “That’s awesome.” And I go, “Yeah, you think so?” I didn’t know if he was making fun of me or not. (Laughs) Then he goes, “Get Bobby (the equipment manager) to sew your numbers into the sleeve.” Well, Glen’s played about 50 years in the NHL so whatever he says goes.
I wore it in the dressing room. Everybody laughed. The TV cameras caught it. I did an interview in it. It was funny. (One night) in the regular season, I came out and right next to the glass there were a dozen dudes who had wigs on and white bathrobes. I was dying laughing.
Then, as the playoff rounds go by, you’ve got to find new things to write about – as media, you find new things to talk about. So it took off. They were selling them. It turned into a pretty big thing, actually.
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Your massive popularity – in Calgary, too – can you explain it? Maybe the fans see a guy who doesn’t take himself too seriously. Is that how you endear yourself to the masses?
I think so. I don’t take a lot of things really seriously. I always tried to have fun. Be serious when it’s time to be serious, but have a good time doing it.
When I was doing my interviews, I would try to be honest. I tried not to say the same old thing all the time. I mean, that’s painful. I understand why some guys do it. I tried to be myself as much as possible. People enjoyed that, I think.
The popularity seems to have translated to social media. (His Twitter account, @commie22, has more than 115,000 followers.)
It keeps me entertained. I guess if I was looking for a job in hockey, I probably would’ve toned it down because it would be frowned upon. But no one in the hockey world cares what I’m up to anyways.
One Twitter sensation, especially around trade-deadline time, is your #PackYourShit hashtag. (Commodore predicts which players are on the move.) Are you spinning yourself as an actual insider now?
The first year when I was tweeting that? I was basically just making shit up. (Laughs) But then it caught some steam and I’m like, “People seem to really like this.” Then I was getting text messages from friends in the media or guys that are still playing. And they’re like, “Hey, I think this is happening,” so I would fire it off. Last year I will say I had some inside scoops, to be honest. The first year I think I broke one right at the end. Last year my goal was to break two and I got two. I don’t know what I’m going to do this year. Three seems a little heavy, but you never know.
Now #InOne seems to have momentum. What’s the origin of that?
I told the story on (the podcast) Spittin’ Chiclets. I was in Russia and I ended up getting into a fight, a brawl, in a restaurant. And I just (tweeted): “Me and the Russian guys, we were having a few beers. We were in one.” All it means is going out and having a good time, a couple drinks, whatever.
Graham DeLaet, the golfer, he was like, “Why don’t you make a T-shirt?” I’m, like, “Really?” And he’s like, “I’d buy one.” I don’t know anything about making T-shirts. Then Sauce Hockey sent me a direct message on Twitter, “Hey, do you want to do some T-shirts? We’re right here in Scottsdale.” It’s turned into kind of a popular thing. Having (PGA star) Ricky Fowler wearing it definitely doesn’t hurt.
You mentioned that you’re not looking for a job in hockey. Is that kind of liberating? You can say what other people can’t, including taking shots at Mike Babcock.
I’m not making anything up. I’m straight up stating how I feel, especially when it comes to that clown. I do catch a lot of heat for it. (People think) I rip on a lot of people on Twitter, but I really don’t. I rip on Mike Babcock, Scott Arniel, Pierre McGuire, and that’s it. I’ve got no problems with anybody else.
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Speaking of the power of social media, that picture of you in your underwear with all the cash – was that a hard lesson?
The next year, it was Exhibit A on the NHLPA’s (lecture about) be careful when you’re on the Internet.
That came out when I was in Columbus in a bad economy (in 2008) after I signed a deal for more money than people thought I was worth ($18.75 million US over five years). But that picture? It was taken eight months prior in Carolina. We had an early practice the next day, so I was at home, lights out, sleeping by myself. A buddy of mine came in a little bit before midnight. Opens my door and turns the lights on. He’s drunk. I’m like, “Get out of here.” He won’t leave. This goes on for two minutes. You know how in Super Bowl parties, there’s squares? I’d won a couple squares so there was $3,000 in cash sitting on my bedside table. He goes, “Throw that up in the air. I’ll take a picture. I’ll leave.” This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, but if this guy is going to leave? So I do it. He takes the picture and leaves. I’m asleep within seconds.
Fast forward a couple of months. Now it’s the fall. He puts it up on his Facebook account – he’s got a few hundred friends or whatever – and he takes it down. It was on there for maybe six hours, eight hours.
A month after that, I’m in Columbus and we got on the bus. I get a message from the p.r. guy in Ottawa, where I’d finished the year before, and it’s, “Not sure if you saw this, but I thought I’d give you the heads up.” Uh oh. So I open it up and there’s this picture on this blog. My stomach fell out of my body. Oh my god. This is not going to come across well at all. It was a gathering storm. It’s in the papers in Canada. My mom calls me, crying. The kids at her high school (in Fort Saskatchewan, where she’s principal) are cutting it out of the paper and bringing it in. My mom’s like, “What are you doing?” Literally bawling. So I got a hold of my buddy, “You have to call my mom right now because she’s crying – and she never cries.” My dad’s pissed off. I’m like, “Dad, this is what happened.”
I called the guy at Yahoo Sports and said, “Look, you posted this. I understand. It’s fine. I don’t care. But at least let me give my side of the story.” So I gave my side of the story, but, at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter. There’s no coming back. It could be the most innocent thing in the world, which this was, but no one’s going to believe you anyways.
From that point forward, I knew you could copy-paste pictures on the Internet. I learned that real quick. Definitely a wakeup call. James Wisniewski brought it up to me at Jared Boll’s wedding. He’s like, “Man, you look like an idiot.” I’m like, “Let me tell you the story …”
OK, let’s wrap up with the Uber story. So you’re in Phoenix …
Let’s call it two years ago. I had nothing to do. I was single. I was like, “You know what? I’m tired of going out.” I need some time off drinking. I just need to relax, but, at the same time, I don’t want to sit here in the house by myself. I need something to do that gets me out of the house but keeps me out of the bars.
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So Uber? That might be a good idea. I probably did 70 rides. Some funny ones. I picked up some people from Columbus, Ohio, in town for the weekend, and I’m like, “I used to live there.” And they’re like, “What did you do there?” I go, “Well, I used to play for the Blue Jackets.” (Laughs) I could see them in the mirror, sitting there in the backseat, going, “Oh, yeah. This Uber driver played for the Blue Jackets.” Then it was, “Do you know Jared Boll? Do you know Rick Nash?” I’m like, “Look, I could go through the whole roster if you want or you could just look me up. I’m not lying.” So we kind of had a laugh about that.
I ended up picking up Doug Weight’s niece one time. That was pretty funny. Doug was coaching at the time. We tried to call him.
I never drove late. I was a happy-hour driver. I drove on Halloween – I should’ve known better. But it was early enough I thought it wouldn’t get too messy. I picked up two couples and one of the girls was no-control-of-her-body wasted and she puked in my car. It took me an hour to get through the whole ordeal. I got paid eight bucks to do it and I’m like, “That was a fun experiment. That’s enough for me.” I retired from Uber.
(Top photo credit: Elsa/Getty Images)
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