Tyler King Interviews Erik Gudbranson. Listen Here.

A lot has been said recently about first round draft pick Erik Gudbranson and the rumors with his junior team in Kingston Ontario.  Articles everywhere that have left people with questions regarding his character, his demeanor and his play this season.  Questions also about how much of this is true, and is he being made an example of.  How much of what we are being told is a fabrication.

I’m not going to speculate about this  since I have tried to take in all the news and read as much as I possibly can about the situation.  There’s really no way from where I live that I can accurately tell the story of what’s going on with him and his Kingston team.  There’s just too much that we don’t know, and we here at The Rat Trick are not about to tell a story about a situation that’s very close to us without accurate information.  To me this is totally different that making opinions on the performance of our team, and whether or not we think we can make the playoffs.  This situation involves more then on ice performance, it involves the personality and makeup of a young man that is destined for a long and successful NHL career.  A man who may be in a situation that has been blown completely out of proportion.

Anyone who has read this site and who has seen my messages on Twitter, knows how much I like Erik and how I am looking forward to him putting on a Florida Panther sweater next season.  Little Miss Rat Trick feels the exact same way as I do, and the Rat Trick household can hardly to see him here next season.  My biggest concern with him going back to juniors was that he didn’t have anything to prove, and that nothing was to gain from him going back.  Think he’s not as good as Cam Fowler of the Anaheim Ducks?  Or Jeff Skinner of the Carolina Hurricanes?  The one element that is missing from the Florida Panthers is toughness and Erik would have brought that along with his defensive skills.  Sure he has more to learn, but are you trying to tell me that he’s not as good as Dmitry Kulikov was last year?  They play a different style of game, but when I saw Erik stick up for his teammates in that preseason game against Montreal, I knew he was ready.  Unfortunately money got in the way. In my opinion.

Personally I believe that Erik is a tremendous young talent, a skilled player that most likely could have been playing with the Florida Panthers this season.  Erik also speaks very well and is mature way beyond his years, and when you listen to him speak, you’ll see that he’s an even better person off the ice as well.

Tyler King is a broadcaster for the Kingston Frontenacs games, both home and away.  He was able to sit down with Erik on Friday and spend some time talking with him about a number of subjects.  A personal thank you to Tyler for posting the interview on Twitter and for one of my followers @AnneLaur who’s thank you to Tyler just happened to catch my eye at the right time.

Click on this link for the interview. Put in the date January 27, the time of 16:00 hours and 2011 and hit submit.  You’ll have to fast forward a couple minutes or so past the music.

The interview was posted on CFRC 101.9 FM.

Thanks for reading and listening.  Your comments are always welcomed and appreciated.

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