1-On-1: with Hunter Drew

Roadrunners Forward Hunter Drew joined Jonathon Schaffer and Kim Cota-Robles on this week’s Happy Hour Show. For the complete conversation and to hear about Hunter’s Halloween costume options, download this week’s show below. 

Listen to “Drawing It Out With Drew” on Spreaker.

This past weekend was rough from a team perspective, but great from a personal growth perspective for you. What stayed the same for you from the end of last season? You ended off last year with 9 points in 9 games.

Yeah, I think my mindset from the end of the year to now kind of stayed the same. I just wanted to be impactful and do what I can when I do get the chance to play. So that was kind of my goal going into the weekend and it’s worked out so far.

What things are you working on personally and with the team to get some wins this weekend?

I think maybe a little bit of D zone coverage, moving the puck a little better, just keeping it simple. It was a bit of a tough weekend, blew a couple leads, but we have some young guys who are playing situations that maybe they haven’t played in before at this level. Obviously, we’re working through that, and as the season goes, guys will gain their confidence and get their feet under them. It’s early on. We have lots of time, and we’re excited to take the next step.

You’re one of the scrappier guys on the team. Do you go into games ready to cause trouble or does it just happen on the fly? Do the coaches have an idea of who to put out there to not cause trouble?

Yeah, I would say that you definitely have an idea before the game. We get their lineup, they get our lineup, so you look at it and you’re like OK, I might have a run in with that guy for sure. Then it usually happens for the most part, so that keeps it interesting, keeps it fun. More often than not our coaches know not to have some guys on the ice at the same time.

A few faces that Roadrunners fans may recognize are playing for Tucson this year. You played with Andrew Agozzino in San Diego, how has it been to be reunited with him again?

Yeah, it’s great to play with him again. When I played with him, I was younger; I was 21 or 22. I’ve matured over the years, and I look at a guy like that who is naturally just a leader and a good guy to have around. Now it’s been four years and he’s still the same guy. He still leads us and the way he plays is great. He plays on the edge, but he’s also responsible on both ends of the ice. So, he is a good guy to look at on and off the ice for guys like me. It’s funny that I also played with him when we were younger as well.

It’s interesting how the hockey community works out. A lot of you guys know each other or have a mutual friend from high school, playing juniors or just growing up together.

Yeah, it’s weird. We always say the hockey world is so small. You run into guys on the ice, you have your incidents, and you meet them off the ice and they’re always great guys. It’s funny when you have pieces, like you talking about playing with Andrew when I was younger, and I see him now and it feels like we don’t skip a beat. Then obviously Matty, growing up I knew him. It’s never a bad time, we’re always laughing, whether it’s at the rink or away from the rink. It’s always fun to spend time with guys that you either grew up with or guys that you meet in the pros or if you don’t know them you probably have a friend in common or whatever the situation is. It’s pretty easy to make friends.

If you had a talk show, who would you have on as a guest?

I’ll give you two answers. The first one, I’ll give you a teammate. I would say probably either Matty, just cause I’ve known him for so long, there would be some funny stories, or I would have Ryan McGregor. He’s a pretty funny guy in my opinion. Outside of the rink, outside of Tucson, I would say my buddy from back home, Trent Snyder. He’s a funny guy. We’ll always have a good time together. Ask Matty about him, he’s got some funny stories too. So, he’d be a good one.