Draft-Day Interviews

Earlier I was lamenting that I had neglected to turn on the tivo and thus did not have any direct quotes from Cody Goloubef's interview during today's draft coverage. Luckily (and not surprisingly), Todd Milewski has saved the day for me and has a transcript of the interview which I'll go ahead and post here because I really enjoyed this interview. As I mentioned before, Cody was composed and well-spoken, and I'm so glad he's a Badger.

Green: Cody, I mean, this has got to be an exciting moment for you. Columbus Blue Jackets, what do you know about this hockey club?

Goloubef: It's a young hockey club, fairly new into the league. They want to win. They've got a lot of young guys. It's just a great organization. It's going to be fun to play for them.

Green: You grew up in southern Ontario, in Oakville, I believe, correct? So when you were growing up there and playing amateur hockey, was there a player in the National Hockey League that you really dreamed of becoming close to his abilities?

Goloubef: I think Tomas Kaberle out of Toronto. I'm a big Toronto fan so I watched him a lot. I just liked the way he is with the puck, real smooth and steady. That's been a guy I've always tried to mimic my game toward.

Green: What do you know about Ken Hitchcock and the coaching staff? Hitch is a disciplinarian, he's a guy that is very much an accountability type of guy, and I'm sure that probably is something that you're also used to.

Goloubef: That's something I've gotten used to at school right now with coach Mike Eaves. Real tough. He holds you to your mistakes and gives you a pat on the back when you do great. So I think it's going to be a good fit for me, something I've been preparing for and I'm looking forward to it.

I wish I had video or audio from that interview, as I liked it better than the other 2 interviews I found. The Blue Jackets have a decent interview on their front page. Gotta like Cody's attitude about not being picked in the 1st round and about working on his game. NHL.com also had an audio interview with Goloubef.

NHL.com also has an audio interview with Patrick Wiercioch, who didn't sleep much last night after being "in awe of all the great players still left" after the 1st round ended. Seems like a nice kid.

Unfortunately, NHL.com doesn't have interviews with any of the other Badgers selected, and I couldn't find any additional interviews on team websites.

However, the Ducks website has audio comments from their Director of Amateur Scouting Alain Chainey on their 2nd-round picks Justin Schultz and Nick Pryor. Calling Schultz a "very good hockey player", Chainey was quite complimentary of Schultz's hockey sense, skating, puck-moving ability, and offensive skills. Regarding Pryor, Chainey felt his talents were "worth taking a chance on" despite his size due to his skating and puck-moving abilities.

Wish I had interviews with the rest of the Badgers selected in this draft. If anyone finds any additional interviews, please let me know and I'll add them in. Thanks!