Today, I Mario Anderson present to you a riveting exclusive interview with one of the top draftees in the S68 draft class. Thank you Derek Martin for accepting my invitation for an interview and giving such wholehearted wonderful answers to all my questions. 

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Mario Anderson said,
"I am here with top prospect Derek Martin today in an exclusive interview. So Derek, how do you feel coming off of your first SMJHL season with the Carolina Kraken?"

Derek Martin responded with,
"Thanks for having me Mario, glad to be here. You know, I was just excited to have my name called on that big day and was really looking forward to helping out down south in Carolina. I was given a lot of room to improve and develop so I am grateful for that. Obviously, on a team's perspective, not the season we may have wanted and hoped for, but we know our time is to come so we keep our head down, work in the gym, work on the ice on every shift and we'll see success come our way. Individually, I liked how my game improved but i'm not. very satisfied yet and I need to keep showing up, listening to coached and getting to the level of hockey I know I can be at and help my team win cups!"

Mario Anderson said,
"That sounds very good, you seem like a very motivated player in every aspect of the word. Now seeing as you’ve had a full season to meet and talk with your fellow Kraken players, the Gm and other lovely folks, I was just wondering if there’s anything you want to say about them, especially now that there’s a vacancy in the associate captains spot and who will fill that role."

Derek Martin monologued, 
"All I can say about the Kraken, and this will obviously be an extremely homer take, but its the best spot a J rookie can find themselves in. From the minute General Manager Sve7en,  AKA swole tank top daddy 7, reached out before the S67 SMJHL Draft day, I knew Carolina would be a good fit and a good environment for me to thrive in. I was right on all accounts but still kept being surprised by how great of a locker room culture he had developed. Its truly been a god send for my development as a player and as a person and I can't thank him enough for his help in all aspects of it."

"As far as the team itself, I was fortunate enough to share both my rookie season and my locker room in Carolina with two fantastic recruits in Liam Logger (SloppyPainter) and Marton Diehm (jfett or FaraDian), two first generation players with whom I was able to figure the site out in all its pains and fun parts. I'm glad to have had them to go through it all and to develop along side one another. We're doing good in the earning category and we've all put in good time and good effort to make sure we can reward this franchise with a championship in the near future. Other than my recruits, I need to give a massive shoutout to all current and past players who remain active in the locker room. I cannot name them all as I would hate to forget any of them, but they know who they are. In their own ways, they made the locker room lively, funny, insightful, motivational, helpful and straight up awesome all the time. Before being players, we're humans first and this is one damn human forward group and i'm really grateful for them."

"As far as captains, I know as a team we'll be making the best possible choice, and there are many, to. help lead this team to the promised land and bring glory to the Kraken."

Mario Anderson asked,
"We’ve all heard of the legendary locker room the Kraken have had for most of their exsistence, now I’d like to move on to a more recent object of interest. A few days ago you were officially drafted into SHL, the highest league attainable, third overall in a stacked draft, a high honour indeed I’m sure you’ve already met some of your future teammates and are settling in nicely, would you like to give us more insight into your new home?"

Derek Martin responded with
"I've had nothing but great talks with Panthers management. GM fuzz was the GM in Carolina for a good bit of time and I know he and Sve7en both inlfuenced themselves positively, so I found a sense of familiarity there that made it such an easy transition and welcoming to this new organization. Plus, what can I say other than playing in such a great city is a treat! Great beaches, good food, it makes it all so much better! Outside of leisure, I know LAP is going through a rebuild and i'm really excited to be part of that. I know leadership is shifting and a lot of legendary players such as Lilja and Wagner have moved on recently, which gives me a real good opportunity to get involved with this new group the Fuzz and management are assembling and I look forward to my time there when I get the call up from juniors!"

Mario Anderson asked kindly,
"It sounds like your time with LAP will be great fun for you and great fun for the fans to watch! Now, what’s one thing you want to do in your remaining seasons in the SMJHL, besides winning it all of course. Lead the league in points? Best plus/minus? Win a pie eating competition and be named the best pie eater in the league? Anything you may want to do before your time is up?"

Derek Martin said in response to the question,
"I just hope I get to enjoy good times with the team and like you've said, very obviously I would love to bring a championship back to Carolina, its really my main focus as of now. Head down, do the work and results will come i'm sure! Personal stats will come if they come, the only metric i'm worried about is wins!"

"Thanks to Fuzz and LAP management, looking forward to the rest of my career!"

Mario Anderson asked,
"One last question, you’ve been seen a lot with Tukin Boutus the up and coming famous reporter, what is you’re relationship with this epic and studly man? Have you known each other long?"

Derek Martin responded with,
Oh, Tukin Boutus! Yeah we've grown close since he covered my draft day a good while back. We stay in touch here and there despite the distance. As an avid reader myself, I always love to stay on top of what good old Tukin is writing about. He always seems to publish important pieces that resonate through the hockey world, so its important to keep reading! I hope all is good with Tukin!"

Mario Anderson said,
"Well thank you for joining me! It was a pleasure learning more about you and your aspirations!"

Derek Martin said,
"Thanks for having me and giving me a platform to allow fans to know me a little better! Take care!"

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It was a me, a Mario Anderson interviewing Derek Martin. You won’t be able me on 5-70 news and you definitely won’t be able to see me on the telly. I won’t be holding any live shows and I won’t be leaving my house. Ever. You’ll hear about me next when I release my next article, and I offer you absolutely no thanks for reading my article. Have a lovely day!

           
                                                                             Team Canada | Liam Logger | Carolina Kraken Drafted 16th Overall in the SMJHL

Thank you to stud @ItsFrenchie for doin the interview and refusing payment multiple times lol

           
                                                                             Team Canada | Liam Logger | Carolina Kraken Drafted 16th Overall in the SMJHL