Lisätään vielä vähän Vatasesta ja Montourista. Yawney ja Carlyle toivoo Vatasen kuljettavan kiekkoa enemmän alueelle ja liittymään hyökkäyksiin mukaan. Puolestaan Montourista juttua edellisessä Friedmanin 31 thoughtsissa:
26. Growing up,
Brandon Montourwas a huge fan of the Detroit Red Wings. His father, too. So, as you can imagine, when he got into a game against them, he was pretty excited.
“It felt weird playing against
Henrik Zetterberg,” he said Tuesday.
Did you say anything to him?
“I was too nervous to say anything. Well, we got into a battle and I caught him with a high stick. As we skated up ice, I told him I was sorry,” he laughed.
27. You can see how comfortable Montour is getting. He says he’s picking his spots better. He did admit that in their last game against Carolina, when they were down 3-2 going into the third period, he got reigned in a little.
“On an early shift, I made a rush, then another rush. I got back to the bench and (coach Trent Yawney) was looking at me. He said, ‘You will have the green light in a bit, just tone it down now.’”
His story is pretty well known now — he was a good lacrosse player who went undrafted in the OHL. While playing with the Greater Ontario Junior League Caledonia Corvairs in 2012-13, he’d been discovered. NCAA Massachusetts was on to him, as was USHL Waterloo.
“It’s kind of a weird story,” Montour said. “(Waterloo head coach PK O’Handley) called me and asked me to come, and I asked, ‘Why would you guys want me to come there? I play against you.’”
Montour didn’t realize the call was from Iowa, not Ontario.
“I didn’t know about (the USHL).”
Did he doubt his ability?
“No, I thought I could do it.”
He sure could. Eighteen months later, he was at UMass, and on everyone’s radar.
28. Montour has told the story about how a Ducks scout made eye contact with him a few picks before he was taken 55th overall in 2014, giving him the thumbs up to know his selection was coming. Did he know it would be Anaheim?
“I’d talked to them a couple of times. There were a handful of teams that seemed interested. I thought there was a good chance Winnipeg would take me. I talked to them a lot. Toronto and Chicago, too.”
I’ve been told Anaheim knew the other interest and wasn’t risking his availability any longer. Looks like a great decision.
Onneksi Ducks nappasi miehen ajoissa. Voisi olla muuten vaikka Chicagon miehiä.