(Ready to be graded; word count: 728)

Interview by: Jaime Sanders

A new player steps onto the scene, Cassidy Kreznik Lhotsky, is a draftee in the upcoming season. I was lucky enough to travel out to Cassidy’s hometown in Salzburg to meet him and to explore his hopes for the future SMJHL draft. The first impressions that I have of him upon first shaking his hand was that he is a soft-spoken individual who has a burning passion for the sport. The household is busy, with several of his family members running around amok with their hockey sticks, though their mother is quick to remind them that it is a sport best reserved for the outdoors.

JS: Thank you so much for allowing me to interview you this fine morning.
CL: It is not a problem.
JS: So, right off the bat, I have to delve a little into your background. Mind telling me about your family? Home-life?

It is at this point that Cassidy stretches around to give what I can only assume is a telling off to one of his younger brothers before adjusting himself back in his seat.

CL: The Lhotsky family is split into two, one part Austrian and the other part Irish. It is a strange mix, everyone keeps keeping me, so I just laugh. My mother lives here with my brothers and sisters; seven of us all together, three brothers, four sisters! Our father lives between here and Ireland, travels a lot. As you can see, home life is very active. All of us are big hockey fans and players.
JS: That must be a handful, or at least nice for your mother to have some support? Are you the oldest?
CL: My sisters are the oldest and help out a lot with us, but I am the eldest out of my brothers. The youngest is five, Henrik.

He points Henrik out, who had been running around with the hockey stick earlier. I was surprised that nothing had gotten broken during his run. Henrik looks a lot like a younger version of Cassidy (should I provide a picture here, perhaps some might say a better version of the eldest brother).

JS: So, how did you get into ice hockey?
CL: It’s sort of a family thing that once you’re hooked, you’re hooked. Salzburg has been my hometown since I had been born and hockey here can be dated back to 1977 to 1998 where HC Salzburg won third place and as I grew up, I watch every EC Red Bull Salzburg match.
JS: Religiously?
CL: Yes!
JS: Obviously, you do your own practice but do you watch those matches hoping to gleen something out of it? Or do you simply watch it for the sake of watching it?
CL: Good question. Uh, I would like to say I do both? I watch it to improve my own technique as a player, not just that of the left winger but of the whole game. I try to break it down to see what works and what doesn’t but then I get swept up in the stadium and start cheering. So I kind of lose concentration a little there.
JS: But I assume you’re paying close attention to the draftees on Sunday then?
CL: It is a big day for those wanting to make it into the league. I’ve been playing hockey since I was able to walk, so I am definitely excited.
JS: Able to tell us who you’ve like to get in with?
CL: Ah, that’s a secret.

Cassidy has tapped his nose at this point, but it has been said that he has been putting in the extra work. So, clearly he has been trying to catch the eye of somebody. Eventually, we head outside to get some fresh air.

JS: You’re really going to leave us hanging like this? On the day before the draft?
CL: I mean, I would like to keep it a secret, saves me from having to deal with the embarrassment that might come, publicly, if I don’t get drafted to the team I would like to be on.
JS: Alright, I'll stop hounding you about it and wait to see what happens and might call you up when the official drafts are called.
CL: Sounds good to me, sounds good. Maybe you should interview Henrik next time, no?
JS: Hahaha! Maybe I should!