ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. — Dustin Byfuglien doesn’t pull the curtain back too often.

But when he does, you might be surprised by what you see.

During his first season with the Winnipeg Jets, Byfuglien kept his discussions with members of the media to the bare minimum and when he was prodded to do so, the big blue-liner with the booming shot chose his words carefully and didn’t delve too deep into topics.

You got the feeling that by saying so little, Byfuglien was hoping that reporters would simply give up and stop asking for him to do interviews.

There’s no doubt Byfuglien is shy, but we often figured he had much more to give.

That’s why we made the effort to drive down to Minnesota to try and chat with him in a more relaxed environment.

Low and behold, my findings back up the claim.

During a 30-minute exclusive with The Sun on Thursday afternoon, Byfuglien discussed a variety of topics, including fatherhood (his daughter is three months away from her first birthday and he’s thoroughly enjoying it), his love for the great outdoors (Big Buff recently returned from a bow hunting trip in Wisconsin and came up empty), and getting healthy again (he’s 100% after missing 16 games with a knee injury last season).

He even revealed a bit about what it was like dealing with the legal ordeal that followed him after he was stopped on Lake Minnetonka in late August of 2011 and charged with boating under the influence and refusing to take a chemical test.

After it looked like the charges were going to go to trial on July 23, Byfuglien’s lawyer Mitchell Robinson reached a plea agreement on a lesser charge for careless boating.

“It was more of a pain in the ass than anything,” Byfuglien said on Thursday after taking part in a 90-minute workout with 30-plus locked-out NHLers at St. Louis Park Rec Center. “It ended up being all right. Nothing bad came out of it. It was nice to have it over and be done with it.”

Byfuglien said the potential legal trouble wasn’t a distraction for him last season though.

“It really wasn’t anything that bothered me,” said Byfuglien. “It is what it is. They were trying to do what they had to do and at the end of the day, they really couldn’t do much.”

Byfuglien’s laid-back attitude is often perceived by some as a lack of caring.

That couldn’t be further from the truth.

He wants to win badly, but has an innate ability to keep things in perspective.

“Hockey is something that I enjoy. It’s my playground,” said Byfuglien. “You go out there and do what you do, sometimes things work and sometimes they don’t. That’s what is fun about it.”

What’s probably not fun is having to listen to folks go on Twitter and speculate on his weight.

But Byfuglien isn’t concerned about the rampant speculation around the Twitter-verse that he’s packed on the pounds.

“I’m right around the same,” said Byfuglien, who didn’t share the actual number but is listed at 265 pounds on the Jets’ official website. “Every year it’s always the same stuff and somebody is always going to comment on something. For me, it’s my weight. I sit and smile at it. It doesn’t matter, as long as I’m able to move and go.”

And with the benefit of sitting across from him and watching him skate, we can report that Byfuglien is moving well and doesn’t look any heavier than he was last season.

In case you were wondering, Byfuglien’s teammates aren’t that concerned by what he’s tipping the scales at.

“I don’t care if he’s 350 pounds,” said Jets winger Blake Wheeler. “He’s still one of the best players out there and one of the best defencemen in the league. People can be critical, but at the end of the day, he gets the job done. He’s a winner and that’s all that matters to me.

“He’s kind of an X-factor that I don’t know if any one else in the league has. He’s a one-of-a-kind guy. You can’t get him off the puck and his skill level is out of this world. When he’s playing his game, he’s unstoppable and when he's going, it makes our team that much better.”