[631 words, ready for grading]

William Hartmann, a Swiss left-winger and the Vancouver Whalers first-round pick from the most recent SMJHL draft, has quickly become a fan favourite for his speed and physical style of play, particularly his 81 hits in 22 games, which is second in the entire SMJHL so far behind only Scarecrows enforcer Luc-Pierre Lespineau-Lebrunette. We caught up with Hartmann to get his thoughts on life in his new hometown, his lacking offensive stats, and the physicality that has endeared him to the Whalers faithful.

On living in Vancouver:

It's been a pretty big adjustment to living on the coast in Vancouver now, but it's been pretty good for me so far. The weather's a lot warmer here, we've had a couple of winter storms but it's just a nice reminder of home. I've been up to Whistler a couple times during my days off to visit the snow. Homesickness hasn't really been a thing for me, I'm usually in touch with my family every day or two so it's good to be able to talk to them regularly, and also they came out to Carolina for a couple games to watch me play live and actually got to see my first point and first goal during those games.

On a slow start offensively:

I'm not too worried so far about my start. Obviously I would have liked to have more points by this point in the season, but I feel like I'm improving every and getting better as a shooter. I've been more of a digger so far, so if we can keep pucks in the offensive end and generate some chances on goal for my linemates Marcus (Ohlsson) and Lligma (Broomstick) to get some points I'll be happy with that. It was pretty thrilling to get that first goal though. We were playing against Carolina, and it was the second game of a two-game road series against the Kraken. I'll remember it forever. Zlatan Ibrahimovic Jr picked up a puck and shot it, and it got blocked, and then Sabo Tage collected the puck and it was blocked as well, and it came back out to me. I just kind of corralled the puck and shot it, I was trying to get it out quick, and it went blocker side on the goalie. It being my first SMJHL goal and on the road, I wasn't really sure how to celebrate, so I just threw my hands in the air basically. Rizzo made sure to get the puck, and now it's something I'll be hanging on to forever. As long as the team's winning, that's the most important part.

On penalties and physical play:

It hasn't been too much of an adjustment period to the more physical SMJHL style so far, I knew going in that I'd be a pretty physical player so it's gone pretty well. Last I checked, I think I was second in the league for hits, and the fans love that, so hopefully they'll be a little more patient with my lack of offense so far if I'm getting the crowd into it when I throw the body. Starting that fight against the Kraken and getting kicked out of the game wasn't the smartest thing I ever did, and I definitely heard about that one from my parents after the game ended. Guess they don't like watching their son throwing punches on television. I do have to say, it was pretty funny to watch Miro (Slapskinnenen) and Nick (Corrigan) fight too, looks like we've got a scrappy Whalers team this year.