VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The best Survey Says questions are usually the ones where a player has to choose a specific teammate for something.
I had some good ones last season -- Which teammate would be a good TV analyst? Who wouldn't you want to be your roommate? Who wouldn't you trust to drive your car?
It's always funny when one or two players keep getting chosen by the rest of their teammates. That was the case for this edition, when I asked players which teammate could not survive on a desert island. There were definitely some trends with this one.
Here's what everyone said.
Jesse Puljujarvi: Me! I think I'd go in panic mode. I need someone.
Bryan Rust: Probably Guentzy. He seems like he'd be a little timid in that environment. I just don't think he would have what it takes.
Colin White: Petey (Marcus Pettersson). I mean, he probably could. But I just want to say him.
Jake Guentzel: Tanger. He's not handy at all. He's a city guy, he can't do the lifestyle like that.
Sidney Crosby: Tanger. He just wouldn't have all of his products, you know what I mean? He needs his nice sheets and stuff.
Valtteri Puustinen: Nyls (Alex Nylander). I don't know why, but he's the first guy I think of.
Magnus Hellberg: Alex Nylander. I just feel like he wouldn't be good at it. He's big into the Instagram, the fashion.
Rickard Rakell: Probably Karl (Erik Karlsson). I just don't see him making a fire, putting up a camp, making a shelter. I don't see it out of him.
Noel Acciari: Karl. I don't think he could handle it.
Kris Letang: Karl. I just picture him to be in a nice, comfy bed, you know? He's not one to sleep on the floor.
Lars Eller: Karl. He would be hopeless out there.
Ryan Graves: Karl. I think Karl would be toast. He doesn't seem like the outdoorsy type. Or P.O, maybe, I don't think P.O would be too outdoorsy.
Erik Karlsson: P.O. I don't know ... age, experience, and he just seems like a city guy.
Alex Nedeljkovic: P.O. He's not a survivalist.
Tristan Jarry: P.O. I feel like he's addicted to his phone, his phone would die and he'd be scared.
John Ludvig: P.O. I don't know if he's smart enough to figure out what to do to survive out there and hunt and stuff. He'd be struggling for sure.
Chad Ruhwedel: I heard the rumors that P.O probably wouldn't survive. But I would say Jake, I just don't see it. (Joseph came in the room a few minutes later, and Ruhwedel tells him, "I didn't pick you to be first out for Survivor!" Joseph lit up and told me, "He's a good D partner.")
Marcus Pettersson: OC (Drew O'Connor). He's the least handy, that's my first thought. But he could be I don't know. Or P.O, I don't see him as a handyman.
P.O Joseph: OC. He's -- I don't know the word in English -- maladroit (clumsy). I think he would put himself in some unlucky situations you don't think people would be doing.
Jansen Harkins: OC. He's just a little thick in the head.
Drew O'Connor: Harkins. He's an idiot (laughs).
______________________________
There's a lot of Joseph answers here, obviously. Nedeljkovic sits next to Joseph in the locker room. After I went to Nedeljkovic for this but before I went to Joseph, Nedeljkovic had already told Joseph what I was working on and that he chose him for this answer. By the time I made it back over to Joseph, Joseph was arguing with Nedeljkovic about why he'd be fine on his own on an island. I told Joseph that it wasn't just Nedeljkovic, that he actually was a popular answer so far. Joseph was flabbergasted, especially when he heard who some of those answers came from -- "GRAVY?! JOHNNY?! PETEY?!"
Joseph said he went camping every year for 10 years growing up. Nedeljkovic interjected with "Your backyard doesn't count," and Joseph clarified that it was real camping, not in his backyard, and that he also knows how to fish. He said he's considering going camping during next year's All-Star break and inviting his teammates along to show them that he's "so far off from a city boy."
Karlsson wasn't so rattled over being a popular selection, but rather seemed amused at how wrong his teammates were about him.
"I don't think most people know where I come from," Karlsson told me. "If they did, they wouldn't pick me. I pretty much lived in the middle of nowhere for the longest time. Since I became rich, I think my manners changed a little bit. So maybe they haven't seen that side of me yet. They don't know me well enough."
Letang was a little more understanding of being an answer for this one, saying he probably could have picked himself as his own answer. He disagreed with Crosby's reasoning for picking him though, saying, "I don't need any products!"
Past editions of Survey Says can be found here. Have an idea for a question? Leave it in the comments!
