Saturday 26 January 2013

Draft Rankings and Q&A With Jack Johnson




PuckCentralHQ's Rankings:


1- Seth Jones
2- Nathan MacKinnon
3- Aleksander Barkov
4- Sean Monahan
5- Elias Lindholm
6- Valeri Nichushkin
7- Hunter Shinkaruk
8- Jonathan Drouin
9- Rasmus Ristolainen
10- Adam Erne
11- Ryan Pulock
12- Robert Hagg
13- Nikita Zadorov
14- Max Domi
15- Darnell Nurse
16- Josh Morrissey
17- Anthony Mantha
18- Frederik Gauthier
19- Kerby Rychel
20- William Carrier
21- Zach Fucale
22- Ryan Hartman
23- Andre Burakovsky
24- Bo Horvat
   25- Nicolas Petan
   26- Eric Comrie
   27- Jacob de la Rose
   28- Curtis Lazar
   29- Alexander Wennberg
   30- Artturi Lehkonen

Honourable Mentions:

-Nick Sorensen
-Eric Roy
-Anthony Duclair

Interview with Jack Johnson of the Columbus Blue Jackets:
Here's a small Q&A we did with Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Jack Johnson!

PuckCentralHQ: You've been supporting the American World Junior team a lot since the tournament started, what was your World Junior experience like?


Jack Johnson: Both of my World Junior experiences were unbelievable. My first time in 2006 was in Vancouver. I've had a lot of great hockey memories in that city and the atmosphere of a WJC in a Canadian city can't be matched. It was a lot of fun and I fed off the Canada/USA rivalry, becoming public enemy #1 in Vancouver. For me personally it was a good tournament as I was named to the tournament all-star team. Unfortunately as a team we finished without a medal in 4th place. The following year was held in Sweden. I scored an OT goal against Sweden to get us to the medal rounds and then we played the epic shootout game with Canada in the semis. I went 2-for-2 in the shootout, but Jonathan Toews went 3-for-3 and won it in the 7th round for Canada. We ended up winning the bronze by beating the host Sweden. It wasn't what we set out to do, but everything was such a great experience. It was amazing to represent my country and it is a time I will never forget.

PuckCentralHQ: What advice would you give to the young players at the World Juniors right now?


JackJohnson: Go out and enjoy the experience. Play your game and try not to let the pressure get to you. It's a short tournament so anything can happen. Remember that it's an honor to play for your country and only the guys in the room with you will be able to say they represented USA at the 2013 World Junior Championships. Play with pride, respect the tradition, and go for gold!

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