Catching Up with Casey Cizikas

Casey Cizikas’ seven-year-old son Jack was buzzing around the ice at the Matt Martin Foundation Hockey Camp, smiling from ear-to-ear when his dad came over and gave him a hug after a fun skating session.

Martin’s camp is one of the many ways Cizikas is spending quality time with his kids this summer. Cizikas, and his wife Kristy, are all about spending quality time with their oldest son Jack, five-year-old daughter Reese and two-year-old son Cole. Aside from a trip up north to visit his hometown of Toronto, Cizikas has been savoring a Long Island summer.

"It feels like our kids are growing up so fast right now and we want to be able to spend as much time with them as possible," Cizikas said. "Whether it's just hanging out, going to the pool, playing in the backyard, doing whatever we can as a family. It's been a really good summer."

The New York Islanders forward said he reserves his afternoons for family, whether it’s taking his kids to the local pool to swim with their friends or going on a family outing to the beach. In the mornings, it’s all about working hard in the gym or on the ice to prepare for a busy season coming up.

Cizikas spent a lot of time skating with his teammates on the island. There are a lot of familiar faces, but some new ones, including goaltender David Rittich, who is settling into Long Island and his new team after he signed a one-year deal with the Isles on Jul. 1.

"He's been awesome," Cizikas said of Rittich. "He always has a smile on his face and works extremely hard as well. He just welcomed his second kid, and he found a house on Long Island, which makes it a bit easier on his wife. He's got a great personality and work ethic, which goes a long way."

With offseason additions like Rittich and forwards Jonathan Drouin, Maxim Shabanov and Emil Heineman, there’s fiery motivation that comes with an upcoming fresh start to the season.

"We're excited for all these guys to get here and give ourselves a chance at a little redemption,” Cizikas said. “This way it ended last year, none of us were happy. None of us were satisfied with what went down it. We have a team now that we believe will push each other and make it as difficult on other teams as possible."

Cizikas is confident in the team’s new leadership with Islanders GM and EVP Mathieu Darche coming in. Darche checked in with the veteran forward right after he was hired, asked for his input and worked hard all summer to set up the team for success.

"What he's done this offseason, he's put our team in a position to compete," Cizikas said. "That's the biggest thing he wants to see from each guy, which is to compete on the ice, throughout camp, throughout games. To bring that kind of energy."

The summer started off with good fortune, even before Darche’s hiring. When the Isles won the NHL Draft Lottery in May – which materialized into the Isles drafting defenseman Matthew Schaefer first overall – Cizikas immediately dialed up Mathew Barzal in excitement.

"I called Barzy right away and I was like 'let's go baby, this is huge,' because that can transform a team, that can transform an organization,” Cizikas said.

Cizikas has heard a lot about Schaefer’s character, work ethic and exceptional talent through his brother-in-law Sean Monahan, who trains with Schaefer in the offseason in Toronto. He’s excited to watch the 17-year-old enter training camp and compete for a spot.

"Whenever you get a player of that caliber, it sets up the franchise for a long time," Cizikas said. "He's going to come into camp and do everything that he can to prove himself and show everyone why the Islanders took him number one. He's a special kid, works his butt off and has that drive in him."

As Cizikas heads into his 15^th NHL season with the Islanders, he’s fired up to get going and set an example at training camp.

"Training camps is always a fun time of the year, it's a time to get your feet wet again, get get back into that mentality of the season coming up," Cizikas said. "As a veteran, they want us to lead the force and then show these kids what it what it takes to play in the NHL, what it takes to be ready for camp, and just kind of lead the way in that sense."