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grok · 07-15-2018, 05:29 PM

(Ready for Grading)

Good evening, thanks for coming out. First of all, I have to say I’m really pleased with this preseason. The team is really coming together in a way that I appreciate, both on and off the ice. The locker room is a breeze and backstopping this group has never been an issue. We might not have had the results we wanted in the preseason, but I’m happy with a strong finish with such a big rookie presence.

I certainly would have liked to end the preseason with a winning record but coming to this league is a learning experience. I had a little time practicing with the USA NTDL U-17 team where I never started a game. It will take time to develop into a key player for this league, so I am grateful to Detroit management for having patience with me as I develop into this league and to my teammates for putting it all out there every night to make my life a little easier on the ice.

The Falcons have a great outlook into the season. Our rookie group is getting better with every day, the veterans are ready to put up career seasons, and I think we have a real shot at playoffs. I certainly think the media and other teams are underestimating what this team can do. We’re ready to dig deep and work hard, with a united locker room. Teams like that don’t happen every day. This team has something special.

Basically, I’m ready to kick some ass in the regular season, and I don’t think other teams realize that. I wouldn’t say I’m putting everyone else on notice but…I’m kind of putting everyone else on notice. I’m coming for y’all.

With that, I’d like to open the floor to questions from the press.

Questions from the Press

07-15-2018, 05:33 PMPlastic Bowl Wrote: How do you feel about your emerging status as the Falcon's mascot. Echos of "Grok grok grok grok grok grok" can be heard from the locker room at varying degrees of intensity. What's going on in there?

I think it has a lot to do with draft day. When the Raptors put in their invalid draft choice, the locker room rallied around me in a very meaningful way, and I think it just stuck. I see it kind of like dating. Being "the person someone else wanted" makes you more desirable, and I guess my winning personality helps a bit.

Really what it comes down to is my feeling about locker rooms, I think. I've always been of the opinion that I want to be on a team that is doing everything they can to win first. I can put in the work to rally a locker room, I can't guarantee I can make everyone else a winner. I'm on a team that has a strong locker room and strong personalities. But when I still put in the work on and off the ice, it gives the guys someone to look to--even if I'm not putting up career numbers. That's what it's really about.

07-15-2018, 05:33 PMPlastic Bowl Wrote: Also, who is the sexiest teammate you've had the pleasure with of playing so far and why is it Wolfhard Richter?

Who doesn't have a thing for short guys? Laughs. Also he always smells like bratwurst or spaetzle.

07-15-2018, 07:27 PMFlowseidon Wrote: What's your biggest worry for the coming season?

I'm just worried about getting better. Lots of people are depending on me to step up and grow quickly into this role. The team needs me so they can be successful, management needs me so they don't need to give up assets for a new goaltender, the fans need me so they have something to cheer for. If I don't get better, everyone's screwed. But I'm not worried about getting there. I know I'm the best goaltender in this draft and I know I'll grow. I'm just worried that it might not be enough, or that I won't grow quickly enough, or that I'll get left behind by my teammates.

I'm really fortunate that I have a strong support system behind me in the locker room and the GM's office. I have big dreams in this league. Win a championship, an individual award, a WJC gold. I'm confident that I can accomplish all of that in the Falcons organization with this new group of rookie players and veterans. But to get that done, I have to get better quickly. Hit the ground running when the season starts. Preseason was just the beginning.

07-15-2018, 07:27 PMFlowseidon Wrote: Would you rather have unlimited pizza for life or unlimited tacos for life?

I am carbohydrates reincarnated, so it has to be pizza. I have to be honest, the draft had me most worried because of pizza. I'm a St. Louis boy, we have our own thoughts and signature touches to pizza, so it's super important to me that I went somewhere with a strong pizza culture. Detroit had me a little worried because they aren't known as a pizza city, but I've fallen in love with the pan pizza joints around here. You can ask the guys at the Buddy's on Conant Street, I've been in there pretty much every home game day since I got to the city. Honestly that's one of the reasons I want to win a cup here--if I bring home a trophy, unlimited Buddy's for life could be a reality for me.

07-15-2018, 10:30 PMbamba1jl Wrote: Have you totally assimilated into Detroit's culture and become a Lion's fan? (If so, I feel so sorry for you)

Absolutely. I grew up a huge Rams fan, so I'm used to heartbreak in the face of overwhelming odds. Detroit is a totally natural fit. Joking! Joking!

I've had the chance to meet up with some of the Lions' management and a few players, and everyone has been incredibly kind and welcoming. It's been such a nice welcome for a fan without a team that I bought a jersey that day. Hell, [defensive coordinator] Paul Pasqualoni told me if I put on 40 pounds he'd put me on the d-line for the practice squad, so at least I know I have a backup plan if this whole hockey thing doesn't work out.

In all seriousness, there's a ton of history around the Lions. Good and bad. I can get behind a team like that--a team that's real with its fanbase and has a tortured past to climb back out of. I love that stuff.

07-15-2018, 11:47 PMBaseScoutX1 Wrote: Will Cedric Robinson Jr. be a thing?

Dude I'm 17. I don't even have a girlfriend. This question is kinda fucked up. I mean, maybe in the future I'll have kids, but doesn't the media have anything better to speculate on than a teenager's sex life?

Plastic Bowl · 07-15-2018, 05:33 PM

How do you feel about your emerging status as the Falcon's mascot. Echos of "Grok grok grok grok grok grok" can be heard from the locker room at varying degrees of intensity. What's going on in there?

Also, who is the sexiest teammate you've had the pleasure with of playing so far and why is it Wolfhard Richter?