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NHL Draft | Mario Lucia interview

Posted by: Feldman

 

Mario Lucia didn't even hear his name called at Saturday's NHL Draft. The roar from the Wild fans, when, at No. 60, the words "the Wild select, from Wayzata High School ..." covered up the announcement of Lucia's name. Here's the interview he gave to the media after being selected. He addresses his thoughts on being taken by the hometown team, and the pressure that will be placed on him of playing in the Wild organization. He's also asked at one point if he was concerned that he might be taken by GM Garth Snow and the New York Islanders (Snow has, in the past, criticized Lucia's dad, Don, the head coach of the University of Minnesota).

Here's Mario Lucia's interview: M_Lucia0625

NHL Draft | Seth Ambroz interview

Posted by: Feldman

I'm sure it wasn't easy for Seth Ambroz, but after falling from a possible first- or second-round pick, all the way into the fifth round, he addressed the media. He answered questions for about 10 minutes, addressing everything asked of him. The New Prague native was selected No. 128 overall by Columbus. He'll play for the Gophers this fall.

Here's his interview: Ambroz0625

NHL Draft | Steven Fogarty interview

Posted by: Feldman

Edina's Steven Fogarty was the second Minnesotan drafted in this year's NHL Draft. He went to the New York Rangers with the 10th pick of the third round (No. 72 overall). Fogarty said he didn't even plan on attending the draft, initially.

Here's the interview he did with some Minnesota media members and some from New York: Fogarty0625

 

 

NHL Draft | Chuck Fletcher interview

Posted by: Feldman

Wild GM Chuck Fletcher addressed the media after Friday's first round of the NHL Draft. He talks primarily about the Brent Burns-for-Devin Setoguchi/Charlie Coyle/Zack Phillips trade, as well as addressing the Wild's first round draft choices.

Here is the Fletcher interview: Fletcher0624

NHL Draft | Zack Phillips interview

Posted by: Feldman

 

The Wild traded star defenseman Brent Burns and their 2012 second-round pick to San Jose during the first round of the NHL Draft on Friday night. In return they received former 30-goal scorer Devin Setoguchi, prospect Charlie Coyle and the No. 28 overall pick in this year's draft. They used that pick to take Zack Phillips, a 6-1, 178-pound center from the Memorial Cup champions Saint John Sea Dogs.

Phillips met the (mostly Minnesota) media after he was selected. Here's the link to his interview: Phillips0624

NHL Draft | Jonas Brodin interview

Posted by: Feldman

 

Swedish defenseman Jonas Brodin met the media after being selected No. 10 overall by the Wild on Friday night. His answers are brief and his English is broken, but he seemed very excited to be drafted by Minnesota. Brodin talks about what he needs to get better at and his experience of playing in the Swedish Elite League as a 17-year-old.

Here's the link to his interview: Brodin0624 

NHL Draft | The missing 3 from Rochester

FELDY: So, of course, an hour after our print edition goes to press, with my list of 16 guys from Rochester who have been drafted by NHL teams, I receive a complete list of all Minnesota players who have been selected in the draft.

Turns out I missed three guys from Rochester in my initial list, so there have actually been 19 players from here who have been drafted.

The three I missed (and my apologies go out to): Ethan Philpott, Ross Johnson of Mayo and Doug Wieck of Mayo. Shame on me for missing Wieck, who I interviewed for a story when his nephews -- Joe and Connor Faupel -- were playing for Century's state tournament team in 2009.

If you pick up our print edition today, you'll see short bios on the other 16 guys from Rochester who have been drafted by NHL teams. Keep reading for short bios for Johnson, Philpott and Wieck. I'll get those into Saturday's paper, along with our other draft coverage.

ROSS JOHNSON
(Born 8-5-67)
Drafted by: Minnesota North Starts (1985, round 8, No. 153 overall).
Notes: Johnson was selected in the 1985 draft by the home-state North Stars after his high school career at Mayo. He played one season of college hockey at Minnesota-Duluth, followed by three seasons at North Dakota. He played in 90 career college games, compiling 28 points.

DOUG WIECK
(Born 3-12-65)
Drafted by: New York Islanders (1984, round 4, No. 70 overall).
Notes: The forward played on Mayo's 1982 state tournament team and two seasons at Colorado College (1984-86) after being drafted. WIeck also played for the Portland WInterHawks of the WHL and the Virginia Lancers of the ACHL.

ETHAN PHILPOTT
(Born 2-11-75)
Drafted by: Buffalo Sabres (1993, round 3, No. 64 overall)
Notes: Born in Rochester, Philpott played high school hockey at Phillips Academy in Massachusetts. Had a 61-point season for Des Moines of the USHL in 1994-95. He played three years of college hockey at Harvard and played three seasons of minor league hockey.

Now that I've added the three guys listed above, here's the list of 19 guys from Rochester to be drafted. If I'm still missing anyone, please let me know:

Guy Gosselin
Jim Johannson
John Johannson
Ross Johnson
Alex Kangas
Jeff Kruesel
Bryce Lampman
Ethan Philpott
Shjon Podein
Johnny Pohl
Scott Schneider
Eric Strobel
Colin Stuart
* Mark Stuart
Mike Stuart
Jake Taylor
Jeff Teal
Doug Wieck
* Doug Zmolek

* -- first round pick