Interview with Alex Nedeljkovic (1/2)
By John Burd
I had the chance to catch up with IceDogs’ starting goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic. We discussed his experience at the World Juniors and what it will take for Niagara to win it all this year.
Just starting off like I usually do, what are your nicknames on the team?
All the guys call me ‘Ned’. Obviously it’s just a shortened version of my last name. It’s funny, I grew up playing in Cleveland but nobody called me Ned down there, everybody called me Alex, or Al, or Big Al or something like that you know. As soon as I got out to Michigan I played one year of Triple A and then I went to Plymouth but as soon as I got to Michigan everybody started calling me Ned. It just kind of stuck and its kept going and going. It was pretty funny to see how it started and it’s pretty basic and everything, not much to it.
Can you describe the atmosphere and the feeling in Finland for the World Juniors. Obviously the U.S. won bronze so what was that like for you?
It was an incredible experience. It’s hard to describe without being too vague and, you know, picking very cliche words I guess, but the atmosphere was incredible. Almost every game was sold out. Playing Russia in the Semi-Finals was an incredible atmosphere. It was defiantly an experience I will never forget and something i’ll always treasure – to be able to play against the top-20 19 year-olds in the world and to get close to such a good group of guys in such a short period of time, it’s something special. To be able to walk away with a medal is always something that you should be very proud of, unfortunately it wasn’t gold but, you know, not many people can say they’ve won a bronze medal in their lives so it’s something pretty special.
Did you have bragging rights over guys like Perlini since Canada didn’t do as well as expected?
No nothing like that, you know, when I first got here it was all getting to know everybody and obviously I knew Brendan from playing with him when I was younger but going over there, you know I saw him at the hotel and at the rink and stuff like that and we talked. We would just ask how things were going with each others teams and the schedule ahead and things like that so there was no hostile feelings there, nothing like that at all. When we got back it was nothing like that either. It was congrats and how did you feel, how did the whole thing end up for you and everything like that and we just talked about the other guys.
Where do you keep your bronze medal? Do you have a special place for it?
I don’t actually, to be honest with you I left it in a bag and I kind of forgot which bag it was in so I had to go dig around in my closet the other day to find it but I just gave it to my parents this past weekend to take home so they’re going to hopefully put it in a special place besides a duffle bag.
You were named one of the top three players for the U.S. while you were there. Can you just speak about your daily routines while you were there and what your preparation was like to get set for the tournament.
It was very professional. Every morning we would wake up, have breakfast, we would have like a half-hour time slot to have breakfast then the bus would leave for the rink. If it wasn’t a game day we would have practice around noon, we would practice and then we would go back to the hotel, have lunch, and you know the rest of the day was kind of up to you. Sometimes we would have a team meeting around eight or nine o’clock at night, there would be a snack for us and we would most likely go over video for the next game. It was very professional. Everything they did was first class. Our trainers were available for us almost any time during the day if we needed something. Video was available for us to go over and to kind of see what’s coming ahead and look forward and try to tweak a couple things every now and again. It was just very professional, very first class, it was something that I was very lucky to be apart of.
What was the lifestyle like in Finland? Was it much different from here or kind of similar?
We stayed in downtown Helsinki so they do a couple things differently. The food is a little different over there. Hockey is definitely a lot bigger out there than it is [here], well I wouldn’t say a lot bigger but over there it’s really crazy. People there are really crazy with their sports. That night of the finals when Finland won no matter where you were every single bar was filled, every restaurant was filled, and when they scored the overtime goal you knew that it was Finland because the entire city erupted so I thought that was something really cool to experience and to at least be apart of.
What was your greatest learning experience or takeaway from being there?
Just at how skilled some guys are and where they’re playing and what you have to look forward to. Obviously this is one of the best Junior leagues in the world, if not the best Junior league in the world, and there are some pretty special guys that play in this league but you get a glimpse of what’s to come down the road hopefully whether it’s playing in the American Hockey League or the National Hockey League hopefully, to see what kind of skill is still to come. There are guys that just make the simplest plays but at the same time they do it consistently in-and-out and that’s the reason why they’re one of the top kids at this age group in the entire world. You really get to see everything and you get everybody’s ‘A’-game, you know there’s never an easy game because everybody wants to win at that point so that’s something that was really cool, you’re playing against the best competition in the world.
Next year you’ll be going pro so what do you think you’re biggest adjustment will have to be? You already had some of that experience at the World Juniors but do you think there’ll be anything else you have to adjust to?
I think the speed will be the biggest thing. Obviously things happen a little quicker up there, everybody’s a lot stronger so it’ll happen a little bit faster but I think when you get to that next level hopefully things start to kind of slow down at the same time. Guys are a lot more skilled and they know what’s going on and there’s not as many broken plays so you kind of read the game a little bit easier almost. At the same time you have to have that patience because when the game does slow down that much it opens up that much more room on the ice and a lot more things can happen.
What plans do you have for the offseason that will give you the best chance of making the NHL roster?
Well hopefully it’s a short one [off-season], obviously we want to go deep and we want to win that Memorial Cup. As for as the summer goes it’s just going back to Michigan and working out in the gym that I’ve been with for the past couple of years – on-ice maybe once or twice a week towards the middle of the summer and then development camp, you know just try to do what I can to show where i’m at. Then comes Traverse City, in that tournament just try to do the best that I can and leave a good impression with that and go into camp hopefully hitting my stride and then from there on it’s about making the team.
You’re regarded as one of the top goaltenders in the OHL, what do you contribute you success to?
My goalie coach in Plymouth who I’ve been working with for about five years. My game really started to take a turn and it turned around when I started working with him, it’s really gone to another level and I think the biggest thing that he preaches and that I’ve taken away from it is to be able to have a purpose every time you’re on the ice whether it’s a game or practice, or just for whatever, you’re just always trying to get better. You’re never out there to waste time or waste anyone else’s time. At the end of it all if you’re not getting better you’re getting worse, you know there’s no in between, somebody’s always trying to get better and trying to take your spot so if you’re not out there working on something then you’re really doing nothing. That’s been the biggest thing that I think he’s helped me fully comprehend and understand is that every time you’re on the ice you have to be out there for a purpose, whether it’s just a simple thing like staying centre with the puck or if it’s working on something that’s a little bit more complex like a certain save or something like that. He’s definitely been a big part of my progression the past couple of years and what i’ve been able to accomplish so far.
You spoke briefly about the Memorial Cup, how do you think this team matches up against teams like Erie or Kingston?
You know I think we’re right there with those teams. To be honest with you I think we may be even better than most of those teams. I think we have a lot more depth and, you know we may not have the high-end, well we do have the high-end skill talent, we have guys like Josh Ho-Sang and Brendan Perlini that can score goals whenever they want it seems, they can make passes and it seems like they’ve got eyes in the back of their head so I think we’ve got the high-end skill that you need. At the same time defensively we’ve got the guys who can hold the fort down. We can play a defensive style of game or we can play a run-and-gun type of game, we’ve just been hitting a couple speed bumps here lately but we’re starting to come together a little bit here and – playoffs is a completely different animal, it’s a completely different game – so hopefully things start turning around here and we start hitting out strides all at once. I think once playoffs start everybody will kind of see what we can really accomplish.
Stay tuned for Part 2 which will be released tomorrow where Alex told me about his top three preferences for movies, sport teams, and even teammates!
