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King · 11-19-2018, 06:47 PM

Pride Player Profiles - Jeff Brogen

Today we continue our first in a series of "Pride Player Profiles", where fans can get to know their teams future stars a little bit better. Our next guest is the Montreal Militia Militia

star winger Jeff Brogen. Jeff Brogen is 18th in league scoring with 14 goals and 12 assists in 30 games so far. Jeff is leading the Militia in scoring and has his team currently in a playoff spot. Jeff looks ready to make the jump to the SHL next year. The Canadian all around offensive winger joins us today for an exclusive one-on-one interview.

TSN: Jeff, first of all thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us. You guys are in the middle of a four game winning streak where your club has put up 15 goals and registered a shout out in that stretch. So I'm sure it's an exciting time for your club.

Jeff: First, thanks for having me, and yeah we're on a bit of a roll right now so we're going to just try and keep it going.

TSN: So we're going to ask you a few of the same question we gave Richard, and we have a few taylored more to you. So first of all, San Francisco Pride fans are obviously very excited to have you join the SHL club soon. We were wondering what can fans expect from you as a player when we finally get to have you in San Francisco? We were wondering five on five what kind of player are you and how about on special teams?

Jeff: I’m an offence first type of player. There was a while where I was trying to do it all in the offensive zone, but I’m quickly realizing as I get time in camp with the rest of the Pride, that I’m going to need to focus on my decision making between passing and shooting so that I don’t get frozen while having defenders coming in to crash me. As it stands, I’ve been putting a lot of work into my ability to finish chances and look forward to the chance to net a ton for the Pride. I’m lucky enough that I have a good coaching staff and team around me who can help me build into the player most needed for the team, and that’s my plan going forward. Individual accolades are nice, but cups are better.

TSN: I'm sure the Pride fans love hearing that you're prioritizing cups first, and I'm sure that kind of mentality will make you popular in the locker room as well. Speaking of team success, the Pride are loaded with young forward talent, we were wondering if you could choose your linemates for when you come up to the SHL then who would you pick? Your Centres options are Moyer, Makinnen, Xena, Goku and King, your winger options are Luke, Metcalf, Kennedy, Vince, Russo, Reid?

Jeff: I’d be super stoked to play with any of them, but let’s be real that’s not much of an answer to the question. I think the big part of the key will be looking to see who’s play style works best with my own. Looking at the type of players we have, it looks like Xena @"Nicklebacklover_69" is built fairly similar to me, and it may work better to separate our scoring touches so that we can each be playing with some people who are more of a playmaker build. We run into the same thing with Leshaun King as well. Granted, this can all change as I have lots of training that I can use before making that jump to the SHL. Goku @Muerto I think would be a great fit. He’s a very strong skater and passer and I feel like that will work well with me. I’ve been focusing on getting better at handling the puck and putting it in the back of the net, and I think that we could make for a deadly combination on the ice. As I said though, changes may happen to builds, lineup, etc. in the offseason, so I’ll be happy to play with whoever I’m matched up with, and look to do my best for my linemates and the rest of the pride.

TSN: Very nice. Goku and Leshaun were on TSN earlier and they were joking over who gets to have who on their wing. Goku did dibs you then, so maybe it's meant to be. Moving on, we heard you're coming up next year, we were just wondering what your goals are for your first season, and what your goals are for the team over your first five seasons?

Jeff: My goal for the first season is to try and fit in and contribute in the SHL. Obviously, there’s a higher caliber of player and opponent in the SHL, and it will definitely be a challenge to get used to the pace. I want to take the time and get the chemistry working with prospective future linemates and really solidify my training to become the player that the Pride need me to be. Consistency and involvement will be key to developing into the player I want to be for year one. I think that we’re afforded a great opportunity with our team. We have a committed young group who wants to win, and wants to build the team into something special. In those first five years, I want to develop into an effective player, and become someone that new members of the team can lean on for help if needed. Team goal during those 5 years is definitely win. The first few will need to be developing our team, but by the end of that 5 year period, we will have a lot of talent ready to take on the league by storm. I think our team has the potential to win cups, and I know that that’s everyone’s goals.

TSN: That seems to be something that's many of you in the Pride LR keep mentioning, that it's all about the cups for you guys. Speaking of team mates. It's always fun for fans to hear about relationships between players, can you tell me about your relationships with the Pride players in the locker room, friendships with different guys, and where they came from?

Jeff: I feel like I get along with everyone pretty well so far. @King has definitely been a good guy to be around the whole time. He reached out to me before the draft and we’ve developed from there. Once we got into the locker room, it was super easy to get along with him and he’s always around to help out or anything. He’s a big piece of our locker room (as I’m sure surprises nobody) and is just a super dude. I have recently learned that he is pro pineapple pizza. It is yet to be determined how this will affect our friendship. I feel a love /hate relationship with @"luketd". He’s a great dude, and puts out some incredible media articles, but he is a Flyers fan, so that really puts a big damper on him. He may just be too gritty for me, I don’t know. Both @"Marc Bradford" and @Grapehead have played with me through Juniors, and it’s good to have them in both locker rooms. They both have quite a bit of experience and are fun to have around the locker room, and I’m super stoked that I’ll be getting to play with them in both leagues. There’s no one in the locker room who I’ve had any sort of problems with, so unfortunately I can’t break any spicy drama to you over that, but I feel like we’re a team who meshes pretty well and can handle any issues or disagreements maturely and quickly so that it doesn’t affect the vibe. It’s a great spot to be in whether you’re a junior player or an shl player so long as you can handle the bork.

TSN: A lot of new names and new faces coming together in a new locker room is always great to see. From another angle, It's nice to hear about the players perspective on management moves. This draft the Pride did a couple of deals that people were talking about. They moved the 2nd OA pick for 5th + 10th, then traded the 5th for a future 1st, currently 2nd OA. How do you think Pride management handled the situation?

Jeff: I think the deals were great. They brought in a lot of picks for us and that will really help building the team. I think the team as a whole realizes that we’re not trying to be the best team around right now, but that we’re trying to do a full and strong rebuild so that we have a roster packed with good players as we go down the line. Management has a clear vision in place, and I really like what they’ve been doing so far.

TSN: Yeah, it's definitely been commendable to see the plan slowly coming together. So moving to some questions we didn't get into with Richard, one is that you were drafted 26th by the San Francisco Pride, take me through your thought processes when you found out that San Fran had drafted you?

Jeff: I was pretty stoked. I was honestly expecting to go off the board a fair bit later. I wasn’t sure who’s radar I was on, but I went to my #1 choice. I was following the draft pretty closely, and I saw them pick up some great talent early in the draft and knew that I wanted to be part of that draft class and get to trying to bring San Fran their first cup. Being with the team has really been great. The expectations were high, but I love the group we’ve got and will be happy to rock that purple.

TSN: Thats always nice for the team that drafted you to know you were there first choice. The Pride have a lot of young talent and a lot of potential, what do you think will be the biggest factor for the Pride in making all the talent work in the SHL and winning cups?

Jeff: I think at this point a big part will be developing the rest of the cast. We’ve got a great set of people to work with, many of whom will be making the jump to the SHL next season. There’ll be some positions that we’ll need to fill in at, and that will likely be through our next few drafts and free agency. Being active as a team will be a big part of getting where we need to go, and being willing to change ourselves to be able to best fit the team. We can’t all be scoring, and some of us will have to make the change to a different playstyle, but we’ve got a solid group who all seems willing to do what’s needed to win.

TSN: One part of the off-season that the Pride haven't ventured into for some time is free agency. The Pride will have a loaded roster if everyone developes well, but what is the locker rooms perspective on pursuing free agents? As a group are you looking to recruit new names?

Jeff: I think it’s something that you always have to have an eye on. There’s a lot of talented people in the league with a lot of knowledge, and it’s always good to bring in someone who has the same vision and would fit in well with the team. I think it’s something that will become a bigger priority once we know what each player on our team can bring and see where we would need to fill in the gaps. This locker room has been welcoming everybody with open arms, so I have no doubt in saying that anyone who would be picked up would have an easy time settling in.

TSN: Well Jeff, thanks for taking the time to do this. Best of luck this season with Montreal and we look forward to having you with the big club soon.

Jeff: Thanks for having me.

(Split the money 25% @King 75% @Flowseidon since his answers to the questions were about 75% of the article and my questions were 25%)

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