Q&A with Keegan Kolesar
Last season was right wing Keegan Kolesar’s second with the T-Birds. Keegan played 64 games and 19 goals and 19 assists for 38 total points with 85 penalty minutes. Keegan attended the NHL Combine at the beginning of June and was selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the third round of the NHL Draft on June 27. Keegan took some time out of his busy offseason to answer a few questions.
Seattle Thunderbirds: Thanks for taking some time with us today Keegan. First off, congratulations on being selected by the Blue Jackets. What were you feeling when Columbus called your name in the Draft? Where were you when you had heard the news?
Keegan Kolesar: Thank you for having me. I was speechless. I couldn’t even respond over the phone because of all the noise in the background and still being in shock from what just happened. I was in Brandon with all of my family celebrating the draft as well my brother had a baseball tourney there. I came to support him and his team and watch as many games as I could.
ST: How do you feel about being selected by the Blue Jackets? What are some of your thoughts about the team?
KK: It’s a dream come true being selected by Columbus. It’s every Canadian kids dream to be drafted to the NHL and eventually play one day, so to cross something off my bucket list like this is something special. They are a team that is on the rise and has very skilled talent up front and character all throughout the lineup.
ST: You were at the Blue Jackets Development camp shortly after the Draft. What was the camp like?
KK: Eye opening. Right when I got there we got to meet some of the current players like Brandon Dubinsky, and Boone Jenner. It was very nice to have them talk to me like I was just another teammate. We had workouts and skills sessions everyday and many skating sessions to work on edge work and skating techniques.
ST: How was the on-ice work? Were there any drills you like? How did you feel you had skated and showed your skills?
KK: The skates went really well. I had a lot of fun out there with the other prospects. A couple drills were competitive and that made it more fun. They were game like scenario drills shooting on goalies and making quick plays while always moving our feet when having the puck.
ST: Did the camp have any off-ice work? If so what did that involve?
KK: We did a workout every day of the week. The first day we got in we had fitness testing at the track and we did a mile and a half run and did some functional movement work. The workouts were different every day working on a new group of muscles every time.
ST: Did you have much time during the camp to go explore the city and do any site seeing? Were there any team building events you took part in that you can share with us?
KK: We didn’t get any downtime for ourselves. Every day we did something as a group in Columbus. We went to the Ronald McDonald Children’s Hospital and cooked for the families. We went to the zoo and got to see the rhinos and played with some penguins and baby tigers. We also went to Ohio State and performed a scavenger hunt throughout the campus.
ST: The Blue Jackets also selected Paul Bittner from the Portland Winterhawks in the Draft. He’s a guy you have seen a lot of with our rivalry with Portland. What was it like being at the Development Camp with a big rival?
KK: It was different for sure being on the same side with him. We had a good time talking about the previous season and went back and forth about certain games and had some laughs.
ST: Prior to the Draft, you were at the NHL Combine in Buffalo, what was the combine experience like?
KK: That was an amazing event to be apart of and especially with Barzy, Gropper and Bearsy.
ST: How was the interview process with teams at the Combine? Did you get any crazy or silly questions? How many interviews did you do?
KK: All of the interviews went well. Nothing crazy came up in any interviews with the teams I spoke too. I had 21 interviews.
ST: What about the physical tests at the Combine? Any of them in particular that you felt you performed better than expected? It looks like you finished 3rd overall in the VO2 test? Is that right?
KK: I wasn’t allowed to do any upper body tests because the doctors didn’t clear me. So I made sure I performed even better on the others events to make up for it. The VO2 was incredibly hard and I thought I posted up a decent score. I didn’t think at the time I placed that high.
ST: How busy has this off-season been for you with the Combine and Draft and Development Camp?
KK: It’s been a wild one for sure. I don’t have anything to leave for now until camp so now I can actually spend some time at my cabin and with family.
ST: Do you have any plans for the rest of the off-season?
KK: Train everyday and get ready for my first NHL camp and spend as much time with my family as I can.
ST: Last season for you was cut a bit short due to an arm injury. How‘s the arm now? Have you recovered?
KK: It feels amazing now, not what it used to be for sure. I’m getting close and having a lot of success with rehab and it’s translating to more mobility when I’m on the ice.
ST: With training camp fast approaching are you working out this off-season for next season? Is there any specific skill or skills that you have been working on getting better at to improve your game?
KK: Yeah of course. I’m working out everyday and skating every second day working on my on-ice skills with multiple coaches for skating and then stickhandling and shooting.
ST: Looking back at last season, what are some things that you think the team will be able to improve on in order to be even more successful this coming season?
KK: We are going to have more experience in our team and with that it brings confidence for more players having them be more comfortable to the league and making it easier for them to perform well.
ST: Do you have any goals for yourself and the team this coming season?
KK: I think we have an amazing team coming up this season and we should be ready for a long season this time around.
ST: That’s all we got for you Keegan. Thanks for the time. Enjoy the rest of your off-season and we’ll see you at training camp!
KK: Thank you for having me. See you at camp!
Seattle Thunderbirds Public & Media Relations Intern Ryley Dozier conducted the Q&A with Keegan Kolesar. The team will be posting Q&A’s during the off-season with T-Birds player.
