Ebert eager to prove teams wrong
By Rob Benneian
A slide like Nick Ebert has taken could have left him wondering about his hockey future.
Instead, it has made him more determined than ever.
Once touted as a guaranteed first round pick, and previously ranked as highly as fifth overall according to some scouts, a tough sophomore season with the Windsor Spitfires led to Nick Ebert tumbling down draft rankings to #96 overall by season’s end.
But the skid didn’t end there, as Ebert went unpicked until the Los Angeles Kings stepped up and made the 211th and final selection of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. In doing so, they handed Ebert a somewhat dubious title.
Mr. Irrelevant is what those in sporting circles call the player selected with the final pick in a given draft. Ebert is eager to prove he should have gone much earlier in the draft.
“I’m still very confident in my ability,” Ebert said in a phone interview from his home in New Jersey. “(Where you get drafted) is just a number. This season, I have a lot to prove. I’m up for the challenge, and I can’t wait to get started. I’m gonna show the teams that passed on me that they should regret passing on me several times.”
Ebert said he is going into his first full off-season of training. Once his season ended with the Windsor Spitfires, Ebert had time to reflect and decided that he needed to devote himself more to training if he wanted to become a professional hockey player.
“I’m looking at the situation differently,” Ebert said. “I’ve reexamined myself. There is no off-season now in hockey, this is my first season where I’m really understanding that. It’s a 12 month a year job.”
SIELOFF, JOHNSON, VAIL, CLARKE DRAFTED
Several other Spitfires were selected on what was a successful day for the Windsor Spitfires franchise.
Patrick Sieloff was selected 42nd overall in the second round by the Calgary Flames, making him the first of the Windsor Spitfires to be drafted.
“It was a waiting process, and I didn’t know when (he would be drafted), but I was excited about it,” Sieloff said from his hotel in Pittsburgh. “Once my name got called it was pretty sweet.”
Sieloff said after the Flames announced the selection he went down to their table on the draft floor and met the management team. He said they seemed really happy to have him, told him he had a good future and that the work he needed to put in to become a Flame started right now.
“I feel like I need to work on my gap (control) and my short stuff (such as reading the rush),” Sieloff said. “It wouldn’t hurt to help with my offensive game.”
Sieloff said he met with the Flames at the NHL draft combine and had a good feeling about the interview.
The Ann Arbor native has yet to play a game for the Spitfires, but he is anxious to get his career in Windsor started.
“(Getting drafted) is something you don’t have to worry about now, you just get to play and have fun,” Sieloff said.
Next, Ben Johnson and Brady Vail went 90th and 94th to the New Jersey Devils and Montreal Canadiens respectively. Michael Clarke was selected with the 132nd pick by the Colorado Avalanche.
Johnson said he watched a lot of the Devils this season with former Spitfire Adam Henrique helping to key their run to the Stanley Cup finals. He said he would be returning to Windsor in the coming days to train with Spitfires athletic therapist Joey Garland for the remainder of the summer.
Other players drafted with Spitfires ties are Jordan Schmaltz (25 – St. Louis Blues), Phil Di Giuseppe (38 – Carolina Hurricanes), Riley Barber (167 – Washington Capitals).
Get Social!
