Login

droop · 03-30-2024, 12:05 PM

We sat down with Anchorage Armada defender, Chuck Chunky, to talk about his recent experience at the SHL entry draft. This comes as a rare media appearance by the All-Star team pick, but provided a glimpse into his draft experience as well as a cameo appearance from his new SHL GM.

“Hey Chuck, thanks for sitting down with us to talk draft and future goals. Can you give an overview of your draft experience?”
Chuck - “It was awesome, it’s something that you dream of and to experience it met all of the expectations and more. My dreams of being drafted never quite took place in Japan, but it was cool to embrace the local culture and it added to the experience.”

“What are your thoughts on being drafted by the New England Wolfpack?”
Chuck - “It’s a great organization with a deep deep history, and I am happy to be a part of the organization. They have found success in the past and have several cups to their name as far back as S23, and as recent as S70 and S74. Hopefully I can play a part in adding to that recent success with the team in the future.”

“Do you feel that you were unfairly passed over during the first round of the draft given your success during your rookie season with the Armada?”
Chuck - “No, I think teams had specific things they were looking for to fill gaps in their organizations and I just happened to no fill those gaps. A few teams had several first round picks which limited the number of teams that picked early on and I think they got what they needed. If anything, it provides a way for me to prove the organizations wrong and develop myself into a first round caliber player.”

“Thanks Chuck for the insight on your draft experience. We have your new SHL GM, Luke, of the New England Wolfpack here to answer a couple questions for us.”

“Hi Luke, what was your strategy going into this deep draft? How did you acquire your second round picks?”
Luke - “When we acquired Kenny Omega we knew that we needed to Trade Jaques Hammer to get back under the cap, and allow Omega to flourish in the new situation. Where Omega was an outcast in Texas, as they did not have room for him in their top 9. Kenny is young enough, to justify moving on from Hammer a bit early. But it was important for us to do that. As it the front office's philosophy of always getting younger, and continue to be a dynasty in the league. So from that, we had to trade Hammer. We made sure to get the best possible deal as we could. A couple teams were sniffing around, but Minnesota paid the price. We retained 2 mil, but we aquired 2 2nds in this draft. Which is pretty deep, and had a couple intruiging prospects that we were looking at. So getting 26 & 30 was a couple days before the draft. Luckily JR and I were already scouting just incase we get picks / we want to talk to the 1st gens in order to get to know them. So that if we have the opperuntiy to trade for them in the future, then we would know them.”

“How did you settle on drafting Chuck at 26?”
Luke - “Well, to be honest, Chuck wasnt 100% on our radar at 26. We thought we would be having more desirable prospects that fell to 26. People that either the Management were familiar with, or somone 1st gens we really connected wtih. However, that draft always doesnt happen how you plan. With Tater tat Jagerson getting picked in the 1st round. Then Kristians Mikelis also getting taken in the 1st round. Those were 2 people we were very high on. And then some other players that we hoped would drop into 26, like Mativy Cajabi, Jack Booth, or Chuff D'Lee. They were all taken before 26. So we had to shift gears to the people who we were looking at #30. Which were Chuck CHunky, Bojan Mivski, 3WW Wingmate-Roc to name a few. When Tampa picked Cade De Vries at 13, we kinda knew who we were picking at 26. So we announced Chuck Chunky at 26.”

“Interesting, thanks for the honesty there. How will Chuck have to improve in order to make it to the SHL?”
Luke - “Well, kinda of everything. But for defensemen, especially one's that get called up at like 710 TPE. they have to be defensivly sound. With that TPE level to start out, the offense may not come yet, but he can 100% be defensivly sound playing important minutes. We don't want to make his 1st season in the league boring. But we also need to make sure that we win games. He will ahve plenty of oppertunities to develop into a more offensive defenseman as he progressed. But what he needs to work on at first is getting his defensive game up to the SHL level.”

“How does Chuck’s addition to your organization affect your future?”
Luke - “If you look at the IFA bidding, they are all on defensemen. They are always in need. With one of our defensive prospects going inactive last season. We needed another defensemen to fill the hole when Sean Davies hitting regression harder. We are getting a lot younger on the defensive end however. Calling up Jeff GOldblum and Jaxson reaper this season to replace some old/retiring veterans. Then our only good defensive prospect is Troy McClure III who will be replacing Jayson Aittokallio next season. So from there, we have the 2 super stars in Pork Tenerloin and Seamus O'Slapahan who will be staying for a while. And with Sean Davies going to be hitting regression harder and his TPE can't keep up. We can replace him with someone homegrown. Chucky fits that timeline. We already talked to him with what he has to do in order to reach it to the SHL. we are confident that he can achieve that.”

“Thanks Luke, lastly while you’re here can you provide some quick insight on your pick Bojan Miovski at 30?”
Luke - “With our #30 pick, Bojan Miovski was our only option left. Besides Huck. However, Huck made it clear he would want to go to New Orleans eventually with his player. So we thought that risking it on a more unproven guy in Bojan would make more sense. We are interested in players who stick with the franchise and provide longer term value. There isnt a garunteed spot for him however. Which will make it tricky. but thats for a future problem than ours. Right now in this draft and the S74 we are making our defensive core ready for the next challenges ahead. as we are always in a constant state of retooling. Being that top 5-8 TPE team in the league. and always having a shot at the cup.”

“Awesome, again that was NEW GM Luke with some insight on his organizations path forward with pick 26 selection Chuck Chunky and pick 30 selection Bojan Miovski. Chuck, do you have any final words before we let you go?”
Chuck - “Yeah, it was great to get a chance to talk. As you can see Luke and I have already discussed my future with the team and I have a clear path forward to follow in order to find success in the league. I’m excited to get an opportunity with New England in the future but my focus is strictly with Anchorage at this time and I was to ensure I am filling the role that they need from me. We are looking forward to building off the regular season’s success from last year and are looking to build on that to progress further into the SMJHL playoffs this coming season.”

“Great! Thank you for sitting down with us Chuck. We wish you success in the coming season!”

(1536 Words)

Navigation

Extra Menu

About us