Avalanche Country Today (2/7/07) ~ Derek Peltier Interview

[RMH]

Avalanche Country Today
~ Wednesday, February 7th, 2007: Interview with Derek Peltier ~
volume 2, number 82 (#203)
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News and Perspectives about Colorado Hockey Welcome to this edition of ACT. Here is today's menu: Daily Snap! Karlis Skrastins ACT Exclusive: Derek Peltier Interview, by RMH Sidebar: February Schedule/Results Game Wrap: Avs v. Panthers, by Americanario In the Papers: Articles from the hockey press. ACT Interview with Derek Peltier by RMH Derek Peltier was Colorado's fifth selection (184th overall) in the 2004 Entry Draft. In his second year with the Minnesota Golden Gophers, he skated in all 41 games, finishing third among Gopher defensemen and tied for 15th among WCHA defensemen in scoring with 18 points (1g/17a). He was a member of the WCHA All-Academic Team. He had a career high three points, including his only goal of the year, in an 8-0 victory over Union on Dec. 29. More recently, he had a pair of goals in an 8-2 victory over the Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves on Feb. 2nd. ACT: Could you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started in hockey? Derek Peltier: I grew up in Plymouth, MN and have one older brother. Growing up I had a pond in my backyard and the neighborhood kids would always be skating out there. The city would come every year and make a rink and flood the ice for us. When I was two years old my dad took me out there for my first time and ever since that time I always wanted to skate and play hockey. It is actually kind of weird because I was the first one in my family to play hockey. I grew up in a great neighborhood because there were a ton of kids all with in five years of each other in age and everyday after school we would have pick up games out on the pond until it was dark out or our parents made us come in. ACT: How is it that you came to be drafted by the Avalanche and did you deal with a particular scout? Derek Peltier: I really don't know how I became drafted by the Avalanche. I talked to a couple of other teams the year before I got drafted but Colorado was not one of them. I never had any contact with them prior to getting drafted. ACT: What area of your game have you worked most to improve this season? What would you consider to be your strengths and weaknesses? Derek Peltier: This season I have really tried to improve my defensive zone play. I put on some size over the off season and I feel a lot stronger in the D zone and shutting down other teams top lines. Right now I would say the strengths in my game are seeing the ice and moving the puck up ice. I like to have the puck on my stick and making plays with the puck. I also believe that I am a good skater and can jump in to the play to add the extra attacker. I continually want to get better in the D zone and on the penalty kill. I also want to keep on working on my shot to be more of a threat with the puck from the blue line. ACT: Having just returned from a trip to Alaska to play the Seawolves, could you describe the life of a college hockey player, e.g. what the travel is like, how often you practice before games, and how that melds with your academic work? Derek Peltier: College Hockey is a lot of fun and is something that I enjoy very much. So far at the University of Minnesota I have made a lot of new friendships that will last the rest of my life. As for hockey goes, we practice Monday through Thursday every week unless we have a bye week. Monday practices are usually skill days to get you back in to the week of practice and work on your individual games. Tuesdays are usually pretty tough which consist of a lot of battle drills, 1 on 1's, 2 on 2's, and odd man rushes. Wednesdays and Thursdays are team days where we work on our systems and special teams. Then we usually always play Friday and Saturday series and get Sundays off. This week for example we have a bye week which is great since we did just have the long trip to Alaska. This week we are skating on the treadmill Tuesday and Thursday and practicing Friday and Saturday, than we get Sunday off and then we will have a normal week of practice before we head to Colorado College next Thursday. Traveling is not to bad in our league, we will probably fly four to five times a year and the rest of the time are bus trips with the longest one being only about five hours or so. I believe that being a student-athlete keeps me organized and on top of my school work. Every day I have certain times where I have my free time to get school work done and do my studying. ACT: What type of advice have you received from the Avs since you were drafted? Derek Peltier: Since I have been drafted I have talked with the Avalanche organization a few times. I usually talk to them once or twice during the year and about the same during the summer. They usually give me advice on my game and things that I can work on to become a better hockey player. Thank you for your time, Derek. It's All About Lappy.. for Charity Be a part of the Ian-Crowd! Visit the Website to order your "It's All About Lappy" t-shirt! Over 270 shirts have been sold, with the proceeds going to Ian's preferred charity, Ronald McDonald House. Kid sizes now available!	Daily Snap! Karlis has played through such ailments as a broken wrist and a bad knee to get to this point. #3 Karlis Skrastins Photo by Bling February Schedule/Results 2/1 - Thu - Minnesota - L, 5-3 2/3 - Sat - Edmonton - L, 2-3 2/6 - Tue - Florida - W, 5-4 OT 2/8 - Thu - 7:00 PM Atlanta 2/11 - Sun - 1:30 PM at Dallas NBC 2/13 - Tue - 7:00 PM Anaheim VERSUS 2/15 - Thu - 7:00 PM at Calgary 2/17 - Sat - 8:00 PM at Calgary 2/18 - Sun - 8:00 PM at Vancouver 2/20 - Tue - 7:00 PM Calgary 2/22 - Thu - 7:00 PM Minnesota 2/24 - Sat - 8:30 PM at Los Angeles 1510 AM Altitude 2 2/25 - Sun - 6:00 PM at Anaheim 2/27 - Tue - 7:00 PM Columbus Avs v. Panthers Recap by Americanario Well he didn't have a point in his first game back, he looked rusty and sloppy at times and he was a -1 for the game. But John Michael Liles must have inspired the Avs in other ways. The Avs jumped out to an early lead after a shot by Skrastins deflected off the skate of Wolski and past Belfour. After that the Avs looked like they had given up on the season as the Panthers scored three unanswered goals. The Panthers score twice in the first to take a 2-1 lead and then again 4:43 into the second to go up 3-1. Arnason did his best to light a fire under the Avs as he dazzled the crowd with moves that even left Belfour dazed and the Avs came within one at 2-3. But less than 1:30 later the Panthers again took a 2 goal lead. Then it was Lappy's turn to try and light the fire as he took on Montador at 9:43 of the second for his league leading 14th fight. Still the Avs went into the locker room down 4-2 after two. For the third straight game the Avs came out like a team possessed in the third period out shooting the Panthers 19-4, dominating the play, jumping on pucks, and finishing checks. They even drew 3 penalties to 1 in the early going. But the Avs dismal PP (0-5) which only record one shot on each PP. With time running down it looked like the Avs were going to get stoned again in the third period after completely dominating their opponent. But then with Theo on the bench the Avs finally got a break when the Panthers took a penalty at 19:10. So with the man advantage and Theo still on the bench the Avs had the face off in the zone. Then it came crashing down around Florida with Florida controlling the puck and with a chance to easily clear the puck, Peltonen rushed his clearing attempt and put the puck over the glass drawing a second penalty only nine seconds later. 4 seconds later Stastny beat Belfour to tie the game and eventually send this one into overtime. The OT started with Peltonen still in the box for his delay-of-game penalty Avs quickly got into the zone and Joe Sakic beat Belfour just 25 seconds into the OT to complete the come back. What a great time for the Power Play (2-7) to come to life as the Avs scored 5-3 to get to OT and 4-3 to win as opposed to spending most of the final half of the period shorthanded as they had in the previous two outings. The two rookies continue to stay near the top of the rookie scoring charts as Wolski had a goal and Stastny picked up a goal and an assist. Brett Clark had a goal and assist, and Skrastins picked up an assist for the defense. Arnason also scored as three of the four lines had goals for the Avs tonight. Skrastins, playing in his 486th consecutive game, tied Tim Horton's record for consecutive games played by a D-man. All of us here at ACT extend our best wishes for a speedy recovery to Zoey! Get well soon!
In The Papers
From the Rocky Mountain News: Avalanche beats Florida 5-4 in OT One Avalanche defenseman tied an NHL record for durability Tuesday night and another was just happy to return to the lineup. Avalanche-Panthers faceoff NUMBERS GAME GM Sather not leaving Rangers yet New York Rangers general manager Glen Sather said Tuesday that he is not ready to surrender his job to Mark Messier, the man who delivered a long-awaited Stanley Cup to the Rangers. After a year, no resolution in gambling case for ex-NHL player Tocchet A year after New Jersey authorities busted a multi-million-dollar sports betting ring that implicated hockey legend Wayne Gretzky’s wife as a bettor, the most high-profile suspect — former NHL star Rick Tocchet — remains in legal limbo. Avs’ Skrastins ties mark for most consecutive games by defenseman Colorado Avalanche defenseman Karlis Skrastins played in his 486th straight game Tuesday night, tying him with Tim Horton for the longest consecutive games streak by a defenseman in NHL history. From TSN: Blackhawks steal SO win over the Flames Martin Havlat scored twice in the final three minutes then again in the shootout on Tuesday as the Chicago Blackhawks rallied for a 3-2 victory over the Calgary Flames. Four-goal outburst leads Ducks past Sharks Travis Moen's second goal capped Anaheim's four-goal second period as the Ducks won the front half of a key home-and-home series with the San Jose Sharks 7-4 on Tuesday night. The Sharks hoped to sweep the two games to move into first place in the Pacific Division, but now need a win Wednesday night in Anaheim just to remain within three points of the Ducks. Sakic's OT marker lifts Avs over Panthers Joe Sakic just wanted to make sure Karlis Skrastins' big night ended well. Sakic scored a power-play goal 25 seconds into overtime as the Colorado Avalanche rallied past the Florida Panthers 5-4 on Tuesday. Red-hot Leafs get past Blues Alex Steen snapped a tie late in the second period and Andrew Raycroft made it stand up with strong third-period play as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the St. Louis Blues 2-1 on Tuesday night. Sedin's too much as Canucks down Oilers Daniel Sedin had a career-high three goals and two assists while twin brother Henrik Sedin added four assists as the Vancouver Canucks defeated Edmonton 5-2 on Tuesday night for their fourth straight win over the Oilers. Flames raise Vernon's jersey to rafters Eighteen years after backstopping the Calgary Flames to their lone Stanley Cup victory, Mike Vernon wanted to give even more back to the fans of his hometown team. The former Flames goalie had his No. 30 jersey raised to the rafters at Pengrowth Saddledome on Tuesday night before Calgary took on the Chicago Blackhawks. Avs' Skrastins ties consecutive games streak Colorado Avalanche defenceman Karlis Skrastins played in his 486th straight game Tuesday night, tying him with Tim Horton for the longest consecutive games streak by a defenceman in NHL history. Skrastins - nicknamed ''Scratch,'' though he's never scratched on game nights - can break Horton's mark Thursday night at home against the Atlanta Thrashers.
A presentation of Avalanche-Country.com
Many thanks to the Mayor for the signature, and to today's contributors!	Avalanche Country Today is brought to you by: RMH ..................... Editor Today's Contributors Derek Peltier ........ Avalanche Prospect Americanario ........ ACT Contributor Bling ..................... Stellar Photographer MGISJ ................... ACT Golf Pro If you would like to contribute to ACT please email avalanchecountry@gmail.com. Thanks for reading!

[Kels]

Nice work RMH, and thanks for the interview Derek.

What kind of defenseman is Derek? Offensive? Defensive? Hitter?
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[RMH]

I'm not the best person to answer that, but I would say he is a puck-moving defenseman who is sound positionally. Perhaps the closest example on our current team would be Jordan Leopold in terms of style of play.
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[chiavsfan]

From how it sounds in the interview, he would be more offensive minded (but reading into it, it sound slike he is really trying to improve his overall defense).

I guess that's how I read it, but not seeing him, I am implying.

Another job well done...

[pingu]

Yay! I love this interviews!

[bling]

Hey guys, really nice work on the interview and the game recap.

I also love the nice accolades and recognition for Skrastins.

[tanguay#1]

Great Job!! It's always fun reading interviews.

Congrats to Scrathy!! I can't wait for tomorrow when we can see him break that record.
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[Kipruss3]

This isn't too hockey related, but his picture looks a bit like a sales guy, poor guy. He looks very happy, very lively, but from the look on his face, he probably wants out of that tie ! :-)


another good job RMH, and glad to hear from you, Derek. It's fun getting to know these guys from thier own words. :-)
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I laugh at everyone's pain but my own... I'm French! (LeFrog - Flushed Away)