“Who Are You?” with Brett Kulak

Welcome to another addition of Who Are You? The main focus is talking to an Oilers player about his non-hockey interests. There might be one or two hockey questions, but the rest will be about other aspects of their life.

Brett Kulak: Yeah, sounds good!

Kulak: I don’t know how many fights I have in my career, maybe just 10 or something, but it was a fun one. You look and the guy, we’re very similar size; same height, same weight. It was good, we were both exchanging punches. It was fun, it brought energy to the team and the fans.

Kulak: They don’t like it. They say you had better keep those gloves on. They are always aware of how quick you could be injured in a fight. None of them like it, but maybe deep down my dad enjoys seeing it every now and then.

Kulak: Oh geez, I think its just the friendships you had and the fun. We had some good and successful minor hockey teams and we enjoyed winning. It’s funny how competitive you get with your friends right from the age nine, 10, 11 and you learn how fun winning is right from that age. So, I just look back at the tournament wins, and fun times at the hotel with your teammates.

Kulak: Yeah, we did go to provincials a couple of years. Also, an Alberta Winter Games event, I think we ended up winning gold. I think it was double overtime and a guy on our team we didn’t expect to score all season, he ended up potting it and he was all emotional. I remember he was tearing up when he scored the goal and things like that. It was awesome.

Kulak: Not too much. Me and my brothers and our friend group were into paintballing a lot. That was something that we enjoyed doing a lot. Besides that it was riding quads, dirt bikes on the farm, stuff like that.

Kulak: Oh yeah!

Kulak: Yeah, every Christmas Santa brought us a new mask and new paint balls and equipment and stuff like that. We had an area in the forest out back behind the farm and then Young Guns Paintball which is a local outfit, just west of the city. We were there all of the time playing and having fun.

Kulak: Oh, it’s been…. Geez, maybe I’ve been once in the last 10 years now. Since I went to Juniors, that slowed down a lot.

Kulak: Ooh, if I could get Connor so he isn’t scared of the paintballs coming at him, because you have got to be moving, you must keep moving, you can’t stay in one spot otherwise you get pinned easily, then I’d want him. It’s hard to hit a moving target in paintball and he can move very quick. He’s probably the fastest runner.

Kulak: Yeah, it’s a little bit of a fear thing too. It definitely hurts a little bit when you get hit, but if you’re ok with that, you’re good.

Kulak: Yeah, I enjoy reading.

Kulak: The book that I’m reading right now, No One Wins Alone, Mark Messier’s book. I’m about halfway through it and I’m at the part where the Oilers just won their first Stanley Cup. I really enjoy a lot of stuff where he talks about the commitment it takes, not just on yourself as an individual, but as a team; everyone has to bring it every day and so that’s one I’m enjoying right now.

Kulak: Six or seven years ago, I was really into reading self-help, personal development books, a lot of leadership books. The last couple of years here, I’m just reading more for fun. I like those types of books, I like mystery, non-fiction, fiction. I’ve been reading anything I can get my hands on. But I always got a book going.

Kulak: My daughter is still young enough, can’t really narrow down one she likes mostly, but she likes The Little Blue Truck series. They’re fun books. They have some good rhymes and some energy in them. She likes flipping pages and seeing pictures and she’s starting to talk a little bit.

Kulak: He hasn’t given me one yet. I read one in the kids’ class here at Roger’s Place once, but I don’t have one in my personal collection at home yet.

Kulak: I don’t know if I could give you the titles. I like music, but I’m not one who is going in and picking my song. I kind of listen to what comes. I have Sirius XM so it’s the Highway, Y2Country, CISN Country, it’s all country.

Kulak: I like Jason Aldean a lot.

Kulak: I haven’t been to many concerts, but back at Commonwealth, a long time ago, my first concert was Taylor Swift and Kenney Chesney. I went with one of my friends and that was awesome. The memory stuck pretty good.

Kulak: Not really, especially with a baby girl. My free time now that I have is playing with her. And she’s starting to get more interactive, playing with her toys and things. We have fun together. But besides that my wife and I like outdoor activates, we enjoy some cross country skiing on days off around town and we can pull the baby along behind in the chariot. So that’s something that we enjoy on our time that’s a little different.

Kulak: I’d have to brush up my skills, but maybe Alone, where you get dropped off and have to survive the 100 days. It takes some learning, survival skills.

Kulak: I like it. Yeah, yeah, getting more into it. I enjoy that a lot, being outside and in nature. That show has always intrigued me so I think that that would be a cool one.

Kulak: Yeah, that’s right exactly. I don’t know how long I would survive right now, might be lucky to get through a night I guess, but definitely something that I will pursue, and talking books, I read survival books and just try to accumulate a little knowledge here and there.

Kulak: I think a wolf. Bears, it takes quite a bit for them to attack you, cougar, you can fight off — not easily, I would say, it would be a fight for sure, but you could eventually get him away from you. But a wolf, it’s not often they are by themselves. So the next thing that you know, you have got two or three coming at you. They are relentless.

Kulak: Second quickest… I don’t know, maybe Markus Niemelainen, I mean he took it at the skills competition. Stats don’t lie, so I think that I have to go with that. I’ll go with Niemelainen.

Kulak: Ah, it’s great. Obviously, family, friends and this is the team that I grew up loving. To be able to throw on the Oilers jersey every day, I’m very grateful to do that. I work hard every day, and as you say it’s close to home. I’ll finish my NHL career here, and then I’ll go and play for the Stony Plain Eagles.

Kulak: I don’t know, there always seems to be a request coming in.

Kulak: Probably around there, we have four or five on order now. For a while the orders were backed up (laughs), but just the odd request here, there, one here two there, whatever. Different things for some charity, different things like that.

Kulak really loves the show Alone. It is on the History Channel. And if you missed Episode one of Who Are You? this year, you can read our conversation with Connor McDavid here.