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Nereus · 07-18-2015, 04:24 PM

Today we sit down with the captain of the Prince George Firebirds, Luke Fleming. The Firebirds are coming off of a rough 5-2 loss to the Vancouver Whalers in game two of the SMJHL Playoffs. Luke, what do the Firebirds have to do to get back into this series after being down 2-0?

We just have to play hard as a team. I know for a fact I wasn't playing very well out there, and I'm disappointed. Not in the team, but in myself. I'm not going to mope around about it though. We know what we need to do to tie this series up, and we're going to focus on beating the Whalers one game at a time. It's not going to help if we get emotional, either, you know? My buddy Rick Chleb took a bad instigator penalty in the last game and was ejected because of it. I'm no saint myself, but that shouldn't happen again. We need to keep our boys out of the box in general moving forward.

Interview

Is this a different team you're facing rather then the Regular Season Whalers? If so, what's different?

Well, yeah, of course. They've really raised their game and I'm impressed with what they've been able to do as a group so far. My friend Zack Hoover plays for them as well, and I was sure he was going to bring everything he had to this series so I'm not exactly surprised there. I think this playoff series is going to be pretty fun to watch.

Interview

Are you a

?

I eat scrubs for breakfast, son.

Interview

Follow up, why are you a Scrub

?

I'm the captain of the Prince George Firebirds, for this season at least. You don't win playoff games if you're a scrub. Not unless you're Dany Heatley. Wait, are you saying I remind you of Dany Heatley? I'll actually take that as a compliment. He did score 50 in 07, after all.

Interview

Who is your favorite British defenseman?

I have absolutely no idea. Sorry British people, I can't hang.

Interview

Which players outside of the Firebirds do you most want to play with?
As far as my friends go, I'd like to play with Jasper Clayton and Zack Hoover. They're both very talented players that would probably make me look a lot better. If I was only thinking of that I'd probably go with Robb Wind or Evandrus Jesster as well. They'd definitely make me rich if you know what I mean.

Interview

How do you feel your first season has gone?

In all seriousness it could have gone a lot better. It was up to me to put points on the board consistently and I just couldn't. I don't have anyone to blame other than myself, as I had opportunities to play big minutes on a nightly basis. It wasn't a lack of trying, though. I've been training hard to try to correct the errors I've mad and improve for the future. My goal is to earn the trust of my coach to use me on the penalty kill next season, so I guess you can say I'm going to continue to round out my game.

Interview

Any SHL teams you really want to get drafted to?

Well, I consider myself a team player. It's no secret that I attempt to be a leader of sorts too, and honestly, I don't want to build up any big expectations. Whatever team I go to is going to earn my full respect and dedication, y'know? If they see something in me and decide that I'm their man, then that's that.

Interview

What do you think of your personal/team's performance in the playoffs?

We've had to reflect after losing those first two games. We had some hard practices and tried to cut down on all the turnovers and penalties we were having, and it worked to a degree. I would still like to see more discipline from all of us but once again, I'm no saint. I was in the box myself in multiple games in this series. Any way, I really think everyone except me has showed up to this series so far. That's a story for another day, though.

Interview

You've Come back from 2-0 in the Series to 2-1 in the Series, however game 4 is not looking too hot right now and it looks like you might have to win 3 in a row to win the series, what do you think went wrong?

Well, you try not to give up and you come back and use your hard earned momentum to win the game. That fixes the whole down by three games to zero thing.

Interview

Were you thrown off by the way Vancouver played? Were you expecting a Regular season Whalers instead of the Play off Champs Whalers?

I was impressed but not surprised. I know the kind of talent the Whalers locker room has. Even if I didn't want to know, Hoover would be telling me, so it's pretty self explanatory. They really want to win. We really want to win. This series might come down to a few bounces but in the end it's about who wants it more.

Interview

If you lose the series, what do you think was good about this playoff experience

Obviously whenever you lose in the playoffs it's a huge disappointment. You never want to go out early when you know what kind of damage your team is capable of. But when it comes to me personally, I've been pretty happy with the opportunities given to me and I think this sets me up for maybe one day playing big minutes in the SHL. Nothing is better than playoff hockey.

Interview

Top five answers are on the board. We surveyed 100 hockey players, and asked them: "What is the worst way to answer the question "Why did you lose today?

I think the worst way to answer why you lost a game is to not answer the question at all. Head games are a big part of all sports, and you don't want to show your opponent you're wavering even if you are. You have to have an answer for everything in today's world.

(1039 words)

Cynthia · 07-19-2015, 01:27 PM

soo um I'll ask you questions, you ask me questions Tongue

Thanks to Enigmatic and Crutch for the beautiful signatures

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