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dizzyDC · 04-07-2017, 01:08 PM

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Post Draft Presser with Louie Garrett

MODERATOR: Alright guys, so right now we have right winger Louie Garrett here who was just drafted fifth overall by the St. Louis Scarecrows in S34 Simulation Major Junior Hockey League (SMJHL) Draft. We’re going to go ahead and get started with some questions. If you have a question go ahead and give us a signal and we’ll call you, just so we don’t have any confusion with multiple people asking questions at the same time. Alright, we’ll go ahead and start with you.

Interview

WILLIAMS: Hi Louie, Skip Williams of the Seattle Times here. First of all, it’s been a pleasure to follow your career over in Seattle and we’re beyond thrilled that you have made the jump over into the SMJHL. So my question is simply, how are you doing right now? What was your draft day experience like?

GARRETT: Hey Skip, I’m glad that you were able to make it out here for the press conference. Um yeah. It was kind of a whirlwind of a day. The other prospects and I were hanging out for the day before the event started and you could tell that there was just a lot of nervous energy in the air. I had a lot of fun though. It was cool to see my classmates get selected, but man, it was a real dream come true to see my name get called. It’s definitely something that I will never forget. After that it was just a storm of meeting new teammates and whatnot. It was a really great day.

MODERATOR: Alright, over there. Yeah, you’re up.

Interview

HARRIS: Hey Louie, Bob Harris of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. I have to ask, did you know that you were going to be drafted by the Scarecrows or was this a surprise to you?

GARRETT: No, I wouldn’t really say that it was a surprise to me at least. They were one of the teams that I had a little bit more contact with than some of the others so there was definitely a relationship there. I knew that I was on their radar. In fact, I was kind of talking with them all of the way up until the draft. I’m happy to be a part of this organization though, I think that they have a real chance of making a championship run this next season.

Interview

HARRIS: So, you thought that you were going to go around the time that you did? Around fifth overall?

GARRETT: Um, I didn’t really worry about tagging myself with a certain draft stock. I thought that there was a real chance that I would go in the first round, but there were some draft reports before the event that also had me going in the early to mid-second round. Talking to some people though, they thought that I was going to be taken even before I was there at the fifth spot. I think that just goes to show you that you can’t always trust draft reports. The only thing you can trust are the scouting reports that only the GMs have. All of that being said, I think the Scarecrows organization is happy to have me on board and like I said I’m happy to be here. I think we’re going to be doing great things real soon.

MODERATOR: Right here in front, go ahead.

MILLER: Hey Louie, Pete Miller from ESPN here. Have you had a chance to talk with the GMs of the Scarecrows yet about what your role on the team will be?

GARRETT: Not post-draft, no. In interviews before the draft, however, they did mention that they were going to start me out on the bottom six, which I think is totally reasonable. This Scarecrows team is deep, but I think that I will be able to have an impact on the bottom six. This is what I was basically telling all of the GMs in pre-draft interviews. I would rather bring the bottom six up than the top six down. If we can roll four lines this upcoming season, we’re going to be able to win a lot of games. I look forward to proving myself this season though. Like I said, I think it’s reasonable that start out in the bottom six, but I’m going to be training like crazy. It’s going to be my goal to try to push into that top six. I think a little bit of competition within the team makes for a healthy roster. We all have to be pushing each other to get better. Teams start to falter when players get complacent, but I don’t think that will be the case here. In the short time that I’ve had meeting the guys, you can just tell that they’re all dialed in on winning a championship.

MODERATOR: We have time here for a few more questions. Alright you, all the way in the back. Yeah you, go ahead.

Interview

MORGAN: Hi, Jennifer Morgan from NBC Sports. What can you say about how the draft played out? Or at least the first round. Did things go as expected?

GARRETT: Well I think most people expected Robert to go first overall. He’s an amazing player and I think the Whalers are going to be very happy with the production that they are going to get from him. I think he was probably the top player on most of the GMs big boards. Sophia really flew up the draft boards in the days leading up to the draft so I’m not really surprised she was taken second. I think she’ll be a good player to match up with Robert, a real set ‘em up and knock ‘em down kind of situation. I think that’s going to be a real deadly combo in Vancouver. Next Tomas and Finn went to Prince George and Colorado, I believe. You know, getting quality defensemen is a tough thing to do. It’s a difficult position to find guys at this level who are really up to the task and I think both of those guys definitely are ready for it. After me, Gord went to Halifax. He’s a real top notch center and I think that’s what they were really looking for over there. When they contacted me they wanted to know if I could make the switch to center so that told me that that is really what they were focusing in on for early in the draft. They got a good one in Gord though. Colorado was really stacking up on defensemen because then they went and got Niklaus on top of already getting Finn. They really bolstered their blue line that’s for sure. Rounding out the first round, Khet joined me in going to St. Louis. Again a really good blue liner and he’s going to play a big role for us this upcoming year. Overall, I’m really excited for all of us. I think we all got drafted by teams who think we are going to do big things.

MODERATOR: You right there, go ahead.

MINCHIN: Stephanie Minchin of CBC Sports, hey Louie. Did you get a chance to watch any of the highlights from the draft shows yet or have you been too busy getting ready to go to St. Louis?

GARRETT: Funny you should mention that. I did get to see a couple of highlights from the draft show. I was able to watch it on my phone in between interviews and whatnot. I had to laugh when the guys were talking about me when I got drafted. They talked about how I have been involved with the media to a degree of “A metric shit ton”. I guess I do talk to the media a lot and it’s been noticed around the league already. Speaking of interviews, here I am doing another on with you guys.

MODERATOR: Alright last question. Go ahead.

HENNINGS: Hey Louie, Mike Hennings from FOX Sports. What’s the plan now? What are the next steps?

GARRETT: So the first thing is signing my contract, then I will officially be part of the St. Louis Scarecrows organization. After that, I will be working out at training camp, which I think is going to be a really good experience. It gives me a chance to really work up some of my skill before the season starts. I have been talking to the GMs about what they want me to work on. They have given me some short-term goals that I think I will be able to achieve relatively soon. We haven’t really discussed long-term though, but I think that that is something that we can do later. Right now I know what I need to be working on. After training camp, we have a short pre-season and then we get going right into the season. Things will be moving pretty quickly around here and I’m very excited to see what happens. I believe in my abilities and the abilities of my teammates so, I really think that we are going to surprise some people this season. We have a real legitimate chance at going all of the way. Alright, thanks guys. I appreciate all of the questions and I look forward to chatting with you guys again soon. Like I said, be sure to watch out for St. Louis this season because we are going to be doing great things. Go Crows!

MODERATOR: Like Louie said, that’s all we have time for as we have other draftees to get in here. Thanks Louie and congratulations again on being drafted by the St. Louis Scarecrows.

DeletedAtUserRequest · 04-07-2017, 03:24 PM

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