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+---- Thread: [RMB2] Rookie Eric Hudson Prepares for the Playoffs (/showthread.php?tid=103688)
[RMB2] Rookie Eric Hudson Prepares for the Playoffs - EricNCSU - 02-24-2020
[800 words, Rookie Bonus Media 2]
We caught up with Rookie Eric Hudson after the finish of his first SMJHL Season.KSTL Sports Desk
It was a disappointing finish to the season for St. Louis, going 4-3-3 down the stretch. Losses in the final two games dropped St. Louis from 4th in the standings down to 6th. The extra point from the OT loss to Carolina in the final game of the season is the only thing keeping St. Louis out of the 7th spot and a first round play-in. We caught up with rookie Eric Hudson as the team has a few days off to see what he thought of his first season in the SMJHL and how he, and the team, are preparing for the upcoming playoff series with Colorado.
KTSL: Eric, thanks for joining us today. How was your first season in the SMJHL? Do you feel like you did well?
EH: It's good to be here. I think it went well. I wish I could have helped the team out more, but that's just how it goes sometimes. It took a while for the scoring to hit, but it finally did toward the end of the season. A goal and an assist those last two games, but I would have rather had team wins instead of the individual points.
KTSL: Speaking of scoring, you didn't score your second goal of the season until the 30th game, but it was a pretty special goal. Walk us through what that meant for you.
EH: The second goal was against Newfoundland.. I think? Yeah, Newfoundland. That was a tight game. Going into the 3rd period tied 1-1. I'd been promoted to 3rd line after we picked up Kriss Darzins, so I was skating with Dangel [Sasha Dangelchek, New England Wolfpack prospect] on my other wing. Him and Yamamoto [Mitsuharu] skated it into the zone and played catch for a while and I managed to get myself open. Dangel found me and I was able to one-time it in for the goal. That ended up being the game winner and I was named Second Star for that game. That was my only game-winner on the season so I'll cherish that for a while. Nice little trophy for being a star of the game.
KTSL: You've got a couple days off before the playoffs start, what are you doing to get yourself ready?
EH: Honestly, working on my conditioning and skating. 50 games is a long season and now we're looking at the possibility of 21 more? Working with the team has been great, I've improved a lot over the season and I just want to keep that going. This is the most I've played so far in my career, so I want to make sure I can keep it going.
KTSL: You're looking at a second round match up versus the Colorado Raptors, a team that you struggled against in the regular season, how do you feel going into the series?
EH: Colorado's tough, ya know, not going to lie. Couple of close games in that series. A 1 goal loss, a shootout loss.. A little bit of hard work and we can get on the other side of those games and win them. We both had blow out wins, we beat them 6-1 and then the last meeting of the season they beat us 9-1. That won't happen in the playoffs. They stumbled a little down the stretch too. They had a chance to win the Laurifer [Trophy, Most points in the League] outright and they lost two to finish out and ended up in a 3 way tie for 1st, but they get the 3rd seed from tiebreakers.
KTSL: Can you beat them in the playoffs?
EH: Yeah. Absolutely. I feel like we've improved greatly at the end of the year even though the record might not show it.
KTSL: What's your prediction for the series?
EH: I think it'll go 6 or 7, but absolutely we can win. I'll say we seal it in game 6 in front of the home crowd here in St. Louis.
KTSL: Last question, how excited are you about the upcoming SHL draft?
EH: I'm excited, but honestly I'm not thinking about that right now. Still got this year to worry about.
KTSL: Thanks Eric, good luck going forward in the playoffs and the offseason.
EH: Thanks, thanks for having me.
The St. Louis Scarecrows will face off against the Colorado Raptors in a couple days, after the conclusion of the first round play-in series. Colorado took the regular season series 1-3-1.
Stay tuned to KSTL for all your St. Louis Scarecrows playoff coverage.