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xfactorx121 · 03-18-2016, 07:08 PM

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The more things change, the more they stay the same. Thatâ€™s the moral of the story, at least as far as center prospect Leif De Bruin is concerned. After a brief stint with the Halifax Raiders last season during their playoff run, De Bruin will again return to the Raiders, this time in more of a full time roll. Yes, Halifax had a big night on Monday. Not only where they the host city for this years S28 entry draft but they also had the picks to vastly improve their roster. After wheeling and dealing their way to the first overall selection, in a surprise move that landed them the consensus top forward Felix Herzog, the Raiders then went on to draft right wing sniper Jack Dabkowski with the eight overall pick and center Leif De Bruin with the sixteenth. While these three picks where certainly the ones that grabbed the headlines, the late round addition of defenseman Gorlab is an under-rated move that could pay-off huge for the Raiders if the young blue-liner can reach his potential. All in all, the Halifax Raiders put on a pretty impressive draft show for the home crowd on Monday and have potentially snatched up the core of their next Four Star Cup caliber team. The moves didnâ€™t stop on Monday either. After a big pitch from management, the Raiders found a way to add un-drafted rookie, Patriks Porzingis to their defense. Porzingis is still much of an unknown, but consensus is that had he been draft eligible he would have gone much higher than many of the defenseman who where taken the other night.

At this very moment, however, we are going to take a step back from the Raiders off-season additions talk. In a short time we expect newly drafted center Leif De Bruin to step to the podium here at Raiders head quarters and address the media for the first time since being selected 16th overall. Letâ€™s listen inâ€¦

Camera flashes begin to go off as Leif De Bruin makes his way to the podium. He is greeted there with a smile and a handshake by Halifax GM VBOTTAS and is handed a Raiders hat which he slides on with a smile.

VBOTTAS- Ladies and gentleman, thank you for joining us today. What, can I say, itâ€™s been a very busy couple of days but itâ€™s also been a very exciting couple of days. We here at the Raiders organization feel as though we had a great night on Monday and it hasnâ€™t stopped there. Right now we are going to take a moment though to introduce one of our newest members. Heâ€™s a familiar face to the organizationâ€¦ Someone who we feel can step right in and make an impact on our teamâ€¦ I have to say we pretty much lost our minds when he slipped back to us at 16â€¦ Please give a warm welcome to Leif De Bruin.

Applause from the media

LDB- Thank you. First and foremost I just want to thank the Halifax Raiders organization for drafting me. Monday night was a dream come true in so many ways and I just cant express in words how much it means to me to be here. Like our GM said, Iâ€™ve had some previous experience up here in Halifax, part of me feels like a veteran just returning to the Scotiabank center. So in a lot of ways this just feels right returning to the Raiders. Iâ€™m extremely excited to get to work. I know the next few days are going to be crazy as we get ready for training camp and work our way into the pre-season. Iâ€™m 100% ready to go, 100% invested in this team and all I can say is letâ€™s go kick some ass! At this time, Iâ€™ll take some questions from you guys if you have any. (Gesturing out to the media)

Media #1- Leif, first of all congratulations. Now that youâ€™ve seen some of the other rookies who will be joining you in Halifax, how do feel about the direction of the club not only this year but over the next few years?

LDB- Yea, we had a great night in the draft. I had my fingers crossed most of the night when I saw the Raiders picks come up, hoping that theyâ€™d pick me. That didnâ€™t really change as the night went on. Even as Halifax started snatching up other players before, I was still praying to somehow find a way back here. I was sitting with my family during the draft and I remember hearing the annoucement that the Raiders had traded up to the first pick. My dad and I kind of looked at each other, trying to figure out what that meant and if it was good or bad for me. We knew it was going to be Herzog, heâ€™s an amazing player and Iâ€™m so pumped to get a chance to play along side him. I was a little nervous when they grabbed Dabkowski at #8. I thought that was a place I couldâ€™ve been selected. In the end though, I get to go to the team I wanted and I get the opportunity to play along side of two stud forwards. I think this is a great building point for us for the future.

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Media #2- Leif it looked like you where getting a little frustrated as the draft went on. What was happening as you watched teams continuing to pass on you as the draft wore on?

LDB- Yeah, I mean there was definitely a time in the night where I began to sweat a little. I personally thought that I had done enough to earn a first round spot. Obviously things donâ€™t always work out the way that youâ€™d expect. Once we got into the second round though I started to get a little nervous. I had those teams in the back of my head that I thought where interested in me and every time one of them would pass for someone else I felt my stomach drop. Once 16 rolled around, though, and Halifax stepped up to the plate I just had a feeling. I felt that it was going to be me and when I finally heard my named called, it was just the best feeling in the world.

Media #3- Leif, some rumors where flying around before the draft that you had some character flaws that could potential hurt your draft spot. Do you feel that this came back to bite you at all?

LDB- You know Iâ€™m not really sure. I fell a lot further than I thought I would, so maybe thatâ€™s a reason why. I didnâ€™t pay a lot of attention to most of those stories coming out though. Have I made mistakes in the past? Absolutely! Am I a distraction or am I not 100% invested in hockey? Absolutely not! This is my focus, this is where I want to be and pretty soon everyone will see that.

Media #4- You said there where a few teams that you thought might be interested in you as the draft went on. Who where those teams and what do you have to say to them now?

LDB- You know Iâ€™m not going to call out specific teams. Like everyone in this draft, I had in my mind a handful of teams that I felt had a real genuine interest in adding me. Some of those teams obviously werenâ€™t as interested as I thought but in the end Iâ€™m in the best situation I couldâ€™ve hoped for. I will say that my slide in the draft, however, will definitely works as a source of motivation. Iâ€™ll spend the rest of my career trying make those teams that didnâ€™t pick me regret it everyday. I have a lot of faith and confidence in myself as a player and as a leader. I think I shouldâ€™ve been a higher pick and now Iâ€™ll make everyone else believe it to.

Media #5- Leif what will be your focus for the up-coming season? What skills of yours are you really going to focus in on and try and improve?

LDB- You know thatâ€™s a great question. Iâ€™m a real goal driven person, so I definitely will spend some time thinking about what I want out of my time here in Halifax. For this season, off the top of my head, while I will work to develop a nice rounded overall game there are definitely some areas of focus. I consider myself to be a pass first, playmaking type of center and I would really like to develop the skills that go a long with that this year. I will spend a lot of my time working to improve my puck handling, passing, face-offs and things of that nature. Possessing the puck and then generating opportunities is the name of the game for me.

Iâ€™m going to wrap it up with that question guys. I want to thank everyone who came out today and showed their support. Iâ€™m very excited about the up-coming season and canâ€™t wait to get out on the ice with my teammates. I look forward to seeing you all as the season progresses, have a good night! Go Raiders!

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