Well,

can I be honest? That's what struck me about both of you. You know, our families hung out at a camp and I was kind of like, I would never have guessed that you were a major league sports player or that, you know, she was a, like a country star, you know, cause you guys are both so like low key, chill, like sort of homebody like you said how do you I mean how do you balance that right like how do you go we're homebodies but we also like owning up to the fact that we're in the social sphere more so than most people it's

a job right so it's um she likes to she loves to sing and that's what you know God gave her this incredible gift and a voice um you know one of the best voices and so for her she i mean she loves to do it but you know covid hit and she's at home and such a blessing for her because of you know how busy we were before that but she knows that she's been given this massive gift and i try to support her the best i can in it and uh it's not it's not easy balancing all of that and then you add you know social media and you can't do anything without people or media critiquing you for you name it a performance or award shows or this or that so that's where i think you that's why probably we like to be at home and but we realize that you know what we've been given these gifts and we know that it's not just about us and i know a lot of people when they retire they want to go and sit on a beach and and then you then you sit on the beach for a few weeks and it's like wait a second this is there's so much more to that you know exactly

yeah that's why when we're driving home from duck hunting and telling me about all these different things you're getting involved with your church and different groups and conferences and men's things. And it really hit me like, oh man, Mike really is embodying. And I think one of the reasons you have this rest in retirement is no, I have my eyes set on the kingdom. It wasn't my little Mike Fisher kingdom. I had it on the kingdom. So my Mike Fisher kingdom with the predators might be coming to an end, but it hasn't changed my course. It's kind of like there really kind of is no retirement in the kingdom of God. It's

easy., it's easy to get caught into being selfish and trying to do all these fun trips and hunting and all those things. And, but I love serving on some few boards and, you know, like you mentioned, a men's event that's coming up, that planning and saying, I speak periodically. I wish I could preach like you, but it's something that's out of my comfort zone that I know that I love it when

I do it. I've heard you preach. You do a great job, bro. What

are you talking about? Speak. I don't preach. I speak. Yeah, I got you. But those are the things that I feel like I do have a passion for because the Lord changed my life in a drastic way when I was younger. And I want other people to experience that. If I can be honest and real about my struggles and just be honest and what God's done for me and how he's changed my life. And that, I mean, that's the reason why we're here. And I have to keep reminding myself of that.

What was your big aha moment with the Lord? Because like we were talking, it is dramatic how many hockey, like very few hockey players are professing Christians. At least it seems that way.

Yeah, I would say part of that is there's a lot of Europeans, a lot of Canadians, not a lot of people from the South that play hockey that grew up in at least the culture of church. But I would say that it has grown. There's a lot of teams have Bible studies. And you mentioned PAO earlier. We've had two years of that. As football was 50 years celebrating hockey, I think it just, we're celebrating their first conference. So it's definitely, it's different. My aha moment was when I think it was my second or third year in the league. And I was struggling and not living for the Lord and making bad decisions and didn't know how to deal with money and fame. And then my cousin who I was living with, him and his wife, we were real close growing up. And he knew I was struggling. He said, he basically was like, we need to do a Bible study. And I was like, okay, I know. And so we just threw prayer and going through the word. And I recommitted my life to the Lord and thankful for him. And that's why now to some of these men's events I like to do, it's like, man, I would not be speaking to people if it weren't for a guy that just might be meeting my cousin Warren, reaching out to me and saying, let's do a Bible study. And he just poured into me day after day and helped me so much. The Holy Spirit got a hold of me really for the first time in my life. And that's when I was like, not about how I grew up. It was about that personal relationship. Yeah.

And you felt like a pretty dramatic shift right after that.

Yeah. It, it, it wasn't right overnight, but I would say, you know, I broke up with my girlfriend. That was the big one. Cause that relationship wasn't healthy and, you know, God, it was kind of like open my eyes to, okay, I've been given this talent to play hockey in Canada and, you know, I'm going to use it for the Lord the best I can. And that doesn't mean it didn't make mistakes along the way, but that was more of a purpose for me now and knowing why I had the gift to use it. Yeah,

I always say about salvation, I said, some people are like the Saul to Paul. It's all at once. Boom. And then other people are more like Peter. I was more of a Peter where I was a kid and I was like, yeah, I'll pray for God to be my savior. I hate getting spanked. Jesus will take my spanking for me. Sign me up. Yep. Savior into it. But it was a lot later before I actually thought, I think he could be my Lord because I think his ideas are better than mine of how to run my life. I am interested how long from when you broke up with the girlfriend until you met Carrie. So

I'd been dating this girl for three years and I had the picture of the ring in my drawer. Oh man, it was serious. Yeah. Yeah. And I was only 22 years old, I guess. So we broke up. Was she so mad?

Did you blame the breakup on Jesus?

No, that was a long time ago. I don't know. I don't know. I don't think so bad. Jesus told you to break up with me? No, but I think it was like seven years. Oh, wow. Yeah. So it was the seven years where I was single from then until I met Carrie. I'm

sure people are wondering. I've asked you this. Do you want to tell people how you guys met?

I can. You can give the super impression. You want her version or mine? Both. Both. So one of her band, her band leader, childers uh was friends with one of my mentors actually worked in hockey ministries his name's tim burke and uh he so they'd known each other for a long time and tim is the best yeah he is yeah

he's got like a hairy carry quality to him you know what i mean you know hairy hi hi You know, he's got the white hair and just so lovely.

Yeah. He's unbelievable. But so then, so I remember Berkey told me, I was like, if you ever want to meet, you know, Carrie Underwood, let me know. I can get to a concert, whatever. I was like, right away, I kind of dismissed it. I was like, no. And then she'd come to Ottawa, you know, just.

Was it presented? Do you want to meet Carrie? Or was it? Do you want to meet Carrie? Do you know what I mean?

Was

there conspiratorial nature in the appointment? Okay.

Yeah. So we mentioned it again. And then I looked at my schedule in Toronto. I was like, yeah, I can make it work. So and then at that point, she knew that I was coming. And, you know, she if you know my wife she she so i figured i'd be going in backstage i'd just meet her in a regular you know some some sort of backstage whatever well she i get there and then i mean i say hi to mark and he's like yeah we're gonna go through meet and greet and i was like okay with all like the little girls and stuff all right so it's not how I pictured it she was

totally screening you

she 100 she was like this was the filter if it's a no-go she won't have to deal with me after so I go through meet and greet with like just tons of little kids whatever I'm trying to get the back I'm seeing you in a line of

children with balloons and like carry t-shirts and you're there with like.

Yeah, pretty much. So anyway, I just say hi for a couple of minutes. And then I had invited her to go out after the show with her band members and just kind of grab a bite to eat. And then she said, yes. So we saw each other after the show and then we'd really, we didn't have, we hadn't had a date obviously, but we really didn't have our first date for about three months after that. So just talked on the phone. I

love that. So yeah. Connection was palpable. It was like a laser beam. Suck me right in. Um, okay. So maybe, maybe near the last question. So, you know, you're Mr. Mom now. You're rocking it. And I want to tread lightly here. I

say Mr. Mom because my wife is amazing, you know. I don't want to take too much credit.

Well, when she's gone, you're Mr. Mom in it, you know. I mean, like, I know a thing or two about that. The thing that really impressed me is I was like, man, you're so even keel. You're like, yeah, yeah, very even keeled nature. All my experiences with you, even while you were destroying the lives of many ducks, you're very even keel about it. Yes, we're going to destroy these ducks' lives with this ammo. I was like, oh, this is so peaceful. first time I've ever taken the life of an animal. Mike seems very okay with it. And it was all very, you know, and then on the way home, first of all, it was so cold that your door froze. Do you remember this? And we couldn't close the door. So I had to wrap the seatbelt around the door for the three-hour drive back. And then we got to your house, and it went clink, and it closed.

That is a F-250 problem. I've had a few buddies with the exact same thing. Anyway, we

got home. We got home. But on the way home, I found the button. I found the Mike elevate his buttons button. And we started talking about politics. And to the point where you're like, yeah, I think I may run for office at some point. Right now, and we won't even talk about the issues because I've posted a little bit about things. And right now, I feel like the fear and the anger, at least in my lifetime, feels like at a fever pitch right now. And it makes sense because for the last two years, I'm super guilty of this. I go, I don't want anything to do with politics. Because mostly because I want everyone to like me. That's why I don't want to get involved in politics. But now policies have affected everyone's life the last two years. So you can't not be political because the policies have become invasive to the point where they're affecting everyone's daily life. So whatever side you land on, you're dictating how it's going to affect someone else's life. And that's a pretty unique situation. I guess it's not that unique. It's just maybe our perception of it is we now realize that policies matter. And so I guess my thought to you would be, or my question would be, do you really see yourself like doing politics? And how do you speak what you think in a way that you can be heard and that you're still hearing people who oppose you? Maybe that's really the big question. Well,

that's a, that's a great question and a tough question because, you know, everything now, like you said, is politicized and, um, from a mass to what you put in your body to you name it, um, which it never used to be. And I never used to even think twice about politics, especially growing up in Canada. And then, you know, and then having kids, I guess, I would say that, um, that kind of changed my perspective a little bit and thinking about, okay, what, what, what are the, how are they going to grow up? You know, you know, last, especially the last two years, things have changed so much. Um, what's it going to look like for them? Um,

right. You retire and then a pandemic. I think you and I probably retired right at the same time. Well, my band retired and you retired and then there's a pandemic. So you're like really left with lots of time to think about your life, right?

I wouldn't say I'm maybe passionate about politics or certain issues, but also I'm a Christian and I want to tell people about the Lord and be an example in my marriage. So a lot of people think that you stay out of politics, but I think for now, my kids are so young at home and it's like, man, I don't know if I'm ready for that. But if I really felt like God was calling me to that, then I'd definitely have to consider it. But there's a lot of hot-button topics right now. I was reading this morning in 1 Kings and just about Solomon and wisdom, and that's what he chose. And it kind of hit me. It's like, man, whatever I do, he could have chosen wealth and health and all these things that we all want, but he chose, he wanted wisdom. And that's kind of, I was like, man, that's, if we get off, I could have more wisdom. That would be a, especially being a dad and being at home and patience. I pray for those two things a lot because I'm not always that patient. Yeah. But I think politics takes a lot of wisdom and there's— And

patience because wisdom listens, you know?