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Nereus · 02-13-2017, 01:19 PM

After coming off another disappointing season in which the Winnnipeg Jets did not reach the playoffs, this offseason has been a long and stressful one for the Anaheim native in Luke Fleming. Countless hours in the gym and on the ice have prepared him for yet another year in the SHL after spending six long years of his career grinding at the stone that is the Western Conference. It holds talent the likes of the reigning champions in the Calgary Dragons, the always frosty Edmonton Blizzard, the ever rising Los Angeles Panthers, the young bucks in the Seattle Riot, the outspoken warriors that is the Texas Renegades, and last but not least, the shining star in the Portland Admirals. This kind of competition would leave a mortal man weak. But for "DJ Flemmy Flem" as his teammates like to call him, it is just another day at the office. All of that being said, we're happy to have the transcripts of a sit down interview with the man himself that we can share with you today, courtesy of HockeyMind.com.

It was another tough season for the Winnipeg Jets in S32. What are your thoughts heading into this year?
Honestly there is just so much going on in the hockey world in general these days. So much more so than when I came here years ago rising up on the scene as a young rookie looking to make a name for myself. Obviously I'm dissappointed in the way last season went for our team and our players. They deserved better than that given the talent we know we have on this roster. Unfortunately though that is just how it goes in the Western Conference in the SHL. There is just so much talent that sometimes you get lost in the shuffle. I am very confident that this year is going to be another thing coming for our team and myself. That Jason Visser guy though, he's pretty weird. We're really good friends and everything but man does that guy have some weird x rated stuff laying around the locker room and spilling out of his training bag. I think he does it on purpose.

Interview

Do you think that a year of added experience for the young line of Corey Bearss, Zack Evans, and Jason Visser will help them, or do you think they will suffer the dreaded sophomore slump?
Any time a player jumps into the SHL as fast as those three did, after just spending one season honing their skills in the juniors, they are going to have a hell of a time adjusting to the pace and tempo of the big leagues. It was not easy for me even to step in the SHL after spending three whole years doing my thing in the minors fot the Prince George Firebirds. I can't imagine what it must be like for those three but they have shown me consistently that they have the skill, the ability, and the passion to play at this level and that is why they're here in the first place. They bring that added youth and vitality to a team that really needs it. I have all the confidence in the world in all three of them and I hope to see them in a prominent role this season and into the future.

Interview

What have you personally done to ensure you make this next season your best? You're young enough that you seem to be entering your prime.
Well I would not call myself young anymore to be honest. I have aches and pains that I never once had in my younger days. Then again I do know that I am in my peak physical form right now. I'm faster than I ever have been, stronger than I ever have been, and obviously more experienced than I ever have been. This offseason I focused my entire being into just becoming a better puck handler. I know I have what it takes to do everything else at the highest level. At this point I just had to learn the intracacies of keeping the puck away from my opponents and being a little bit more patient with the puck. One of the only things I've been consistently told by my coaches and teammates is that I'm maybe a little bit too anxious to get the puck off my stick. Maybe this kind of tranining is exactly what I need to bring everything up a few notches and dominate the way I have done in the past playing for Team USA in the IIHF tournament.

Interview

Who is the most intimidating member of the Winnipeg Jets?
Big Manius. No doubt. The guy has always scared me ever since I was a rookie coming into this league and because of that I have always pretty much done anything I could to impress him. He used to do all sorts of weird hazing that I don't want to go into right now. It's going to bring back memories that do not need to be revisited. Anyways he's a lumbering hulk of a hockey player and he has that smell. The smelly smell that smells smelly. For real though, sharing a locker room with someone who could easily beat the crap out of you is a pretty cool thing if we're being honest. I know that any time we are out there on the ice I have someone I can rely on in all situations if someone takes a cheap shot at me. Not like I can't stand up for myself, but yeah. Having a guy like that on your team is invaluable. Pretty sure he is going to get the most penalty minutes this upcoming season, or at least that's what he has been talking about in the locker room during practice these last couple of days. Other teams have an enforcer. Well, we have a Big Manious.

Interview

Can you speak of your time playing for Team USA in the IIHF Tournament?
It has been my pleasure through and through. Each and every day I can represent the United States of America in the IIHF is a good one. It was always my dream to play at that level for my country as well, so it is all very heartwarming. We ended up coming home with the gold in S31 after years of effort playing for that team. I personally think with my massive ego and pride that I probably had a pretty big role in capturing the gold for my team that season. Then again you have to really put the win on the shoulders of Geoffrey Allen, the best forward in that entire tournament all in all. It was a great feeling for me and the boys to win a big one like that. It did not go this way this past season as Germany won the gold for the first time ever. Congrats to them. There are some good people on that team, including my teammate and close friend from Prince George, Travis Kudleychuk. I'm really proud of him.

[Image: 0.jpg]

Luke Fleming repping team USA.

Interview

Can you speak on the ability of Alek Koivu, who was drafted as a center but will be playing with the Winnipeg Jets in a top 6 defenseman role this season?
I do not know much about him personally as we've only just gotten to know each other in these past few weeks of training, but I know he has a good head on his shoulders like pretty much every rookie to be drafted in the Jets system. He knows that he wants to make an impact on this team and offered personally to play on defense for us. I think that is very commendable as his defensive center style of gameplay may translate to defense and it might not. Either way he is sacrificing a portion of his career to play for us in a different role and that alone is very cool in my eyes. He has talent otherwise he wouldn't even be sniffing ice time at this level. So yeah, I am happy for him and I am hoping that we see him do good things for us this year. Preseason was a bit rough, but hey, he is still learning one game at a time and has some of the best defenseman mentors in the SHL to take care of him. He will come around.

Interview

How has life been with Zack Hoover?
Oh you know its been very quiet in Winnipeg and in our shared apartment in the city. We go fishing on some of the big lakes and occasionally go mountain biking and stuff. He still has a very successful company that he has been pouring his time and creativity into, and it goes by the name of "Hoovuh Designs." My good friend and lover designs clothing for men and women all around Canada and in the United States. He also designs hockey jerseys and what not. It is all pretty cool stuff really, and I'm happy he found a hobby for himself outside of hockey that makes him enjoy life the way he used to when he was a young up and coming prospect like myself. We were drafted in the same season and everything. Both had a lot of hype surrounding us. These days we like to just settle down and think about the little things in life. Enjoying it all, you know? Despite whatever happens or doesn't happen to me in the SHL and in hockey in general, i always have a great person to go home to to spend my time with and that's what is important ultimately.

Interview

Do you have anything to say about some of the up and coming rookies playing for the Prince George Firebirds, your former SHL team?
Well to be completely honest with you and everyone I really don't watch junior games anymore. I just don't have the time anymore so I can only really speak on one player on the team, and that would be Isaac Cormier-Hale. We played in training camp together so I got a feel for the way he plays and generally why we drafted him 4th overall in the S33 SHL Draft. From what I have seen he has no big glaring weaknesses other than the puck seeming to pop off his stick at the worst times. Maybe that's just me gabbing my mouth, but other than that, he has all the ability and potential in the world to be a freaking amazing defenseman in the SHL one day. I mean, he was staring at me eye to eye on the ice since we're the same height and that itself was impressive to me. Other than that, he's got some monster hits for a rookie which kind of blew my mind considering how soft most players were in the juniors when I was coming up. Now they're producing players like this Cormier-Hale kid? I need to really check myself when it comes to the up and comers because he hits harder than me and he only has one year of real experience. Scary. It took me years to find my physical game. Judging from what I have seen as well, there is no limit to the potential in this young prospect.

Interview

All in all, are you optimistic about the future of your team?
Hell yeah I am. I look around every day and I see warriors in the locker room. That is one thing that I've always liked since I came to this team. Everyone else in the locker room was just as tough and hungry as I am if not more. That has to be one of the biggest reasons why I have stayed this whole time and why I do not plan on leaving as long as I have a beating heart in my chest. They invested in me and I have to invest in them right back. It is just the way these things go, you know? So yeah, the future of our team. We have some of the best young players in Corey Bearss, Zack Evans, and Jason Visser. All three are looking to be future top line potential players in the SHL. Alek Koivu is looking to make a name for himself this year as well, being another Jets rookie to make the SHL jump after only one year in the minors. Other than that, we have a star defensive prospect in Isaac Cormier-Hale and a two time Four Star Cup Champion in Vasily Horvat still chomping at the bit going into his third season in the minors. Horvat made a hell of an impression in this years training camp. He even knocked out a walk on tryout just for finishing his check on me. We have two other bright young prospects in Sami Free and Lukas Muller, two players who will be spending another year in the minors to hone their skills. I have faith in all of them much like I had faith in myself coming up. Truly we can achieve whatever we set our minds to.

Thank you for the detailed interview. We'll be sure to check up with you again some time soon.
My pleasure.

[2304 words]

ToeDragon84 · 02-13-2017, 01:28 PM

Quote:Originally posted by Nereus@Feb 13 2017, 09:19 AM
Anyways he's a lumbering hulk of a hockey player and he has that smell. The smelly smell that smells smelly.

I know that smell

Winter is Coming · 02-13-2017, 01:28 PM

The interview in summary:

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Chris-McZehrl · 02-13-2017, 01:29 PM

Germany won in the SHL History two more Gold Medals! it was earlier before it was be named IIHF

Crybaby

TML99 · 02-13-2017, 01:29 PM

Will you sign my vape pen?

crutch · 02-13-2017, 02:15 PM

will you sign my collection of 30 one hitters

***Wally*** · 02-13-2017, 02:22 PM

Will you sign my collection of rubbers

----
Forever remembered Jaywhy:
09-21-2016, 07:10 PM

To say the least, I'm very disappointed to not even be the first goalie off the board. Here I thought people would want the proven guy who runs the sim.

On the bright side...

I GET TO GO TO NEW YORK! FUCK PORTLAND!

Bonk · 02-13-2017, 05:15 PM

Quote:Originally posted by Nereus+Feb 13 2017, 12:19 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1' id='QUOTE-WRAP'><tr><td>QUOTE (Nereus @ Feb 13 2017, 12:19 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>
Anyways he's a lumbering hulk of a hockey player and he has that smell. The smelly smell that smells smelly. [/b]

<!--QuoteBegin-ToeDragon84@Feb 13 2017, 12:28 PM

I know that smell[/quote]

:D

[Image: when-you-go-to-the-bathroom-after-someone-else.gif]

jason97 · 02-13-2017, 05:47 PM

who

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