The Night Before


A long and testing season for Nolan Angello has ultimately led to tomorrow night's draft.

It's all come down to this. A long season of blood, sweat and tears in the SMJHL with the aim of getting to this moment. In a little over 24 hours, the S30 SHL Draft Class will have the first step in their career towards superstardom determined. Among them is Montreal Militia forward Nolan Angello, and for the final time as an SMJHL rookie, he is on hand to answer any and all questions the media might have for him.

Any contributions are hugely appreciated!

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1. Who is your greatest inspiration?

It's not easy to have just one name here. I mean it's a cliched answer but obviously I owe so much to my parents for all the support and dedication they've shown to me since I started playing, and there's no way I'd be here without them. Other wise, I look up a lot to Patrick Kane in the NHL and Daniel Merica as an SHL player. The immediate impact Kane had on a struggling team when joining is something I dream of doing, and obviously Merica is one of the greatest players ever to step foot on SHL ice. I take a lot of inspiration from those guys and really try to emulate what they did.

2. Where do you want to travel to most?

I'd love to be able to go on safari in Africa. It's tough to squeeze in trips like that with the kind of schedule you need to set yourself for the offseason, but perhaps next season I'll be able to get some time to see a bit more of the world. I've been fortunate to travel all over Europe and North America through hockey but there's so many more places I'd love to see across the world.

3. What drives you?

Another great question, it's tough to say just one thing but if I had to, it's going to be the innate desire to be the absolute best at everything I do. I want to win at everything I try my hand at. For some reason I've always been a super competitive guy and the thought of losing just doesn't compute with me. I've learned some tough lessons along the way but all my success has come from my desire to win at everything I do.

4. What do you think you've learned in your season in the SMJHL?

So many things. I think the most important thing I took away from it was the level of dedication it's going to take to reach the ceiling I've set for myself. I want to be the best but it's going to take time and so much hard work to get there and be the player I want to be. I learnt a lot about how much it means to be a part of a real team unit also, which I really can't put a value on. It really changed the way I look at playing the game.

5. Roughly when do you project yourself going in the draft?

Honestly, I have no idea. I think I'll be in the top 10 somewhere but with how much elite talent is in this draft class it's a crap shoot trying to guess who's going to go where. I have places I want to be drafted more than others but we'll see how things shake out. It's going to be an incredibly exciting and nervous evening, whatever happens I can't wait to see how things play out tonight.

6. If you could do your rookie season over, what, if anything, would you change?

If I'm being honest I don't think there's anything I would change about it. I feel like I had such a productive and enjoyable first season in the SMJHL, you know, I played the way I wanted, I met some great new people and I really raised my game to the next level. That's pretty much all you can ask for, it'd be wrong for me to have any complaints!

7. If you could choose, where would you be drafted, right away or perhaps later when the pressure might not be so intense ?

I wondered about this, and it would be nice to come in later in the draft and surprise everyone by becoming a good player but I just want to be that guy who gets drafted at the top, the one who hears his name called first. I mean I know I won't be going first tonight but there's something about me that just wants to get drafted early and come into the league with a chip on my shoulder!

8. What makes you feel mad or frustrated?

I'm usually a really level headed guy but if I mess up a play or make a bad decision on the ice I get really angry at myself. It's natural I guess but still, I should maybe look to work on improving that.

9. Empty net, do you shoot or try to pass?

Oh I'm definitely trying to score myself. I'm a shoot first kind of player regardless and an empty net is just an invitation I can't pass up!