After a long and stressful SMJHL prospect showcase, Whistler, BC, standout Lex Peters gave our head reporter Jon Johnson a chance to catch up with him following the festivities. Peters was understandably pretty exhausted from his 20 game demo for all the various SMJHL clubs. The young Canadian center put up average numbers on the Blazers, with 12 points in 20 games. Peters played a crucial role on the penalty kill on the first PK line, however that was the only special teams time he saw. Initially, Peters played mostly third line minutes, until game 10 of the tournament. Past that point he transitioned to more second line time. 


It certainly is clear that Peters needs to adapt to a bit more of an aggressive game than he is used to. Peters landed in the top three in the "hits taken" category for the prospect tournament. This was a definite concern for Peters when he was first presented the opportunity to play in the prospect tournament. He was quite clear on his own self expectations.

"Its definitely a learning experience. A bit tough for me to go out there and get man-handled so easily. Obviously I haven't ever really thought of myself as a super physical player, but I really got knocked around out there and that is a bit frustrating," Peters pointed out his game plan following the draft. "I think for this upcoming season I really need to bulk up physically and get my defensive game a bit more situated. My old coach always said there is nothing wrong with a good round player. Maybe that will give me a bit more edge over these bigger guys."

With Peters finishing up his last BCMHL season at a lean 170, he has bulked up considerably for the upcoming draft by weighing in at 183lbs, however he may still need to add another 15lbs before he can hold his own on a team.

"I've gotten a few phone calls and texts from some GM's. I can't really talk too much about it because we're trying to figure some stuff out before the draft but there is some interest in me which is honestly really cool. It's different when you spend your whole life being recruited by hockey clubs; but getting your phone called by a big shot like an SMJHL GM is no joke. Really, really cool experience."

Be sure to keep your eyes out for Lex Peters on Feburary 19th at 10:30 pacific standard time, as the SMJHL draft is set to kick off another year of excitement for these young players.