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**RomanesEuntDomus** · 03-13-2016, 04:57 PM

Hockeysfuture Pre-Draft Spotlight: Nicolas Winter

"How does your game compare to that of your father?" "Do you feel extra pressure because of your dad's career?" "Did your father inspire you to become a hockey player or did you make this decision all by yourself?" "He must be very proud and happy with your choice, right?"

It's nothing new. Not for Nicolas Winter, not for any other young hockey player who is the son or daughter of a famous, now retired superstar. While you are just working as hard as possible to make your hockey dreams come true, you still can't avoid the comparisons. You can't avoid your fathers name coming up over and over and over again. You can't avoid having lofty expectations placed on you while you are working and preparing for the SMJHL along with many other young players who are equally or even more talented than you, but whose names barely anyone knows yet. The pressure is on before you have even stepped onto the ice of an SMJHL rink for the very first time. For millions of kids in the US and Canada, just making the SHL would mean that a dream has come true â€“ for you, it's the least that people expect. It can be a crushing weight on your shoulders. For many young players, it has sooner or later taken all the fun out of the game that you are supposed to love.

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But Nicolas Winter takes it all with a smile. Right now, he is just happy. Happy, that in less than 48 hours he will finally know which SMJHL team he will get to play for. Happy to take the next step in his young hockey career. Happy to live his dream, just like millions of other kids. With the SMJHL draft being tomorrow all the prospects, their families and the press have gathered in Halifax and the hockey circus is already in full swing. The buzz, the rumors, the excitement, you can feel it everywhere, in the lobbies of the hotels where the players are staying to the convention center where the draft will actually take place.

If you talk to the scouts then most of them will tell you that they see Nicolas as a playmaking Center first and foremost, a player with great vision, good wheels and a solid defensive game. Despite his 6'3 frame he hasn't developed much of a physical game so far though and right now it seems like there are other players in this class who possess more raw talent. For Nicolas, his game is all about smarts, not stick skills. "For me the most important thing is to make the players around me better and to help the team as a whole", Nicolas told us, "and over the course of my junior career so far I've often found that the best way for me to make my team better is to distribute the puck or to close gaps, not to carry it myself and try to dangle people or score as many goals as possible." It's an unusual approach for a player whose father, David Winter, is the all time goalscoring leader in the SHL, a shoot-first trigger man who loved to bull his way towards the goal with the puck on his stick. Nicolas has heard this comparison many times before and it often makes him laugh: "It's true, in many regards my game is pretty much the complete opposite of how my father played. But there are lots of different ways to be effective on the ice and I don't think one of them is more important than the other, the style I play is just the one that feels the most natural to me."

Right now Nicolas Winter is projected to go in the first round of the SMJHL Entry Draft, but as it often goes with the junior drafts, nobody knows for sure who teams are targeting. More often than not junior franchises surprise everyone by going with a rather unkown darkhorse prospect early on, that one player they really focused on and talked a lot to before the draft, while better-scouted players who got more exposure early on can slip a bit. Will Nicolas be one of those player that might have to wait longer than expected to hear their name called? Right now he isn't worried about that: "I really don't care much about when I get picked, what's important is that I end up with a team that is a good fit, where there is a good winning atmosphere in the locker room and where the management knows what they are doing. And I think that is the case with pretty much every team which is why I'm neither worried, nor have any favorite destination right now."

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Most mock drafts currently have Nicolas going 4th Overall â€“ to the Prince George Firebirds of all teams, the team that his father spend his junior career as well. A coincidence? "Maybe some people put me there in their mocks for that specific reason, because of that connection with my father. But I don't think that'll be much of a factor, there are different people in charge there now than there were over twenty years ago and if I end up in Prince George I want it to be because of my own merits, not because people are looking for a nice feel-good story."

While Nicolas is rumored to go 4th, the consensus for the first overall pick right now seems to be Felix Herzog, another German speaking player, who hails from Switzerland. Herzog has been one of the candidates for the top selection for quite some time now thanks to his unique offensive skillset, but he really cemented himself as the favorite with an impressive showing in the rookie showcase tournament where he was the leading scorer, averaging two points per game. Felix and Nicolas already knew each other before that tournament where they were lucky enough to get to play on the same team, the Stingrays. And even though Felix clearly outshined Nicolas, who finished the tournament with 8 points compared to Felix' twenty, the young Winter only had good things to say about his Swiss buddy: "It's amazing to watch Felix out there, the pure talent he has, his nose for the net and how the puck seems glued to his stick until he sends it towards the net with a sick release. I think he will be a truly special player and I can't see anyone else other than him going first overall right now."

The first overall pick is currently held by the St. Louis Scarecrows and while they are assumed to pick up Felix Herzog, things are expected to open up quite a bit afterwards, when the Detroit Falcons, Halifax Raiders and Prince George Firebirds make their first picks. While the current draft class isn't the biggest one the SMJHL has ever seen, it is full of talent in the early rounds and many different players will have a chance to become a first round or maybe even top three selection, from well-known characters such as Hans Moleman or Casey Holmes to newer faces like Leif de Bruin or the biggest riser of the last few days, Mikael Talo. When will Nicolas Winter hear his name called? We will find out tomorrow...

Nicolas was asked some more questions during this press conference, you will find his answers below!

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Quote:What team in the SHL would you want to play for?

I haven't really thought about that so far, already talking about the SHL when I haven't even played a single game in the SMJHL and showed that I can handle that league feels too early. But there are many teams in the SHL that I like of course, the teams my father played for but also other squads like the Los Angeles Panthers or New England Wolfpack. Right now I don't think there is a single team I wouldn't want to play for.

Quote:Where does Detroit fall on your list of top teams?

I try to approach this whole process as open-minded as possible so I don't really have a preference or a ranking at this point. I don't think a draftee who hasn't proven himself yet should run around ranking teams that have been around since before he was even born â€“ there are very competent people in charge pretty much everywhere, so I think I'd be happy whereever I go.

Quote:If you could predict where you fall in the draft, where is it?

Well most mock drafts have me at #4 so that seems like a preddy good guess (laughs). Of course I hope that I can be a first round or even a top five pick but at the end of the day that's not what's important, everyone starts on an equal playing field once the season begins so nobody will care about my draft position if I don't show what I'm capable of on the ice.

Quote:Do you have any pre-game rituals?

It's not really a ritual but one thing that often sets me apart from my teammates is that I barely eat anything on game days, for whatever reason I prefer playing with an empty stomach â€“ and then go on an eating binge after the game. Probably not the most healthy thing in the world but so far it has worked for me (laughs).

Quote:What makes you different from the other prospects?

To be honest? Nothing. I don't feel like I'm special, I'm just a normal kid who loves hockey and will do everything he can to make his dream of one day playing in the SHL come true. I think that I'm a very hard worker and a good teammate but the same can be said for many other players in this league. But that's the important thing in my opinion, you don't have to be special, you don't have to be the chosen one. You just have to give it all out there each and every day, if you do that then you will be rewarded eventually.

Quote:How long do you see your career going?

I plan to play as long as my body can keep up and as long as I still feel the fire inside. How long that will be I don't know yet, but I hope to be able to play well into my thirties, if not longer. Twenty seasons or more in the SHL, why not? Although I doubt that'll be possible anymore considering how much faster and more competitive this league has gotten over the past few years.

Quote:What will you do differently than your father?

Boy I'm not sure if I should touch that question (laughs). My dad had a fantastic career and I can only hope to have as much success in the SHL as he had. He did move around quite a bit though which I got to witness first hand as a kid, I'm not sure if I would like that for my own career. At one point I would like to settle down, hopefullly finding a team that i can stay with my whole career. Oh and maybe I can win some more awards and cups than my old man too.

Words: 1886

Wasty · 03-13-2016, 05:54 PM

Awesome article
Nicolas is gonna be a stud man! I hope we can continue to be teammates Cheers

Thanks for the kind words as well!

#40 Niclas Wastlund - W - VANCOUVER WHALERS Whalers

/ MINNESOTA MONARCHS

**RomanesEuntDomus** · 03-14-2016, 08:50 AM

Quote:Originally posted by Wasty@Mar 13 2016, 10:54 PM
Awesome article
Nicolas is gonna be a stud man! I hope we can continue to be teammates

Thanks for the kind words as well!

Thanks buddy Smile

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