Here you go. I will not translate it word by word and please note that some things may be lost in translation. I some things are unclear I can try to explain them in other words.
You were drafted as no. 182. Was that a disappointment?
I believed that I'd be drafted sooner, many has told me, that I would be, if I played in North America last year. But Detroit is known for good late draft picks. Like Datsyuk ot Zetterberg, who are among biggest NHL start today.
You left Ceske Budjeovice, although you had secured place in team nad went to NA to Saginaw Spirit.
I would play on third or fourth line, not good enough for NHL scouts. Now I'm on their doorstep and I would never return to Europe. I adapted quickly to everything, also to faster play. There is huge difference between Slovenia and Czech Republic, but diffenrence between Czech Republic and NA is even bigger. They take care of everything you need and fans are incredible. In Saginaw there are on average 3500 and in some other arenas up to 9000.
You broke ten years old league record. You scored at least a point in 22 games.
Yeah,even people in Detroit are suprised. They are watching me constantly, last was here Steve Yzerman. He told my agent more than he did to me, but I heard him on radio, that I have some advantages against other young players. That I'm already best Detroit skater.
Also other scouts from NHL have evaluated your skating as superb. It's hard to believe that you gained that at Maribor hockey team.
When I was young my father took me to recreational skating every day. I skated 2 hours without rest. While other were just skating I tried to do everything possible. Now I'm gaining from that.
They have also said that you lack physical strenght and weight
I have 180 cm and 80 kg, I need another 10 to 15 kg, in muscles of course. It's going slowly as I don't eat any additives as some of my teammates do. And you cannot work out in fitness to much in the middle of season.
Then you're lucky that you're in Saginaw and you cannot go out a lot
Yeah, there isn't much to do in Saginaw, but even if it was I couldn't go anywhere as I'm too young. I don't even go to private parties as I'm only interested in hockey. And I'm going to school.
Do you live alone?
No I live with family I was assigned to by Detroit. They are hockey fanatics(in good way). They come to every game, they bought slovenian flag over internet, which is hanging on their house and they learned some slovenian words..
Have you explained to Americans difference between Slovenia and Slovakia?
With my Slovakian teammate Tomas Zaborsky I speak in Czech language, which I learned well, so others were even more convinced that Slovenia and Slovakia are the same. But we explained it to them. Anze kopitar is taking care of hockey promotion of Slovenia. He is well known on eastern coast too.
There is only one player from Maribor area in national team. You could become second.
To be hockey player in Maribor is not easy as fans like soccer more. But some players are now in younger selections, so things are going forward.
This article can be found on http://www.vecer.com/ (only in Slovenian).
