Leon Draisaitl featured in Trans World Sport profile video
By baggedmilk
6 years agoIf you’re looking to kill some company time on a Friday, I’ve got a fresh feature on Leon Draisaitl for you that will knock a few minutes off the clock until it’s time to leave.
Over on YouTube, Trans World Sport put together a six minute feature on Leon Draisaitl’s emergence as one of Europe’s brightest stars. The video looks at some of Draisaitl’s offseason training routines, introduces you to a couple of his skills coaches, and gets into the big German’s mindset as he enters the first season of his new $68 million contract. Admittedly, there are a lot of hockey cliches in this video so I went through and pulled out some of the money quotes to save you some time if you didn’t feel like sitting through the video.
On playing in the NHL and having heightened expectations:
“It’s the best league in the world and the best players in the world play in this league. For me, it’s very special to be a part of that and I’ve been having a lot of fun over my last couple years.”
I can only imagine what kind of “fun” these guys are getting up to. I did a bunch of ridiculous shit in my 20s and I had about 13 cents to my name. Imagine being that same age with millions of dollars in the bank? Marone. What about the Oilers, Leon? What say you?
“We want to make sure that we get off to a good start and we want to put it out on the ice. We know we have a good team but it’s a matter of putting it out on the ice.”
Shout out to Trans World Sport for the delayed release on this video because that “good start” quote did not age well (they did acknowledge the 2-5 start at the end of the video). But that’s okay, I know that editing these kind of things can take time so we’ll give you a pass on that one. Generous of me, I know.
When asked about expectations heading into the first season of his new contract, Leon says he’s just trying to keep improving.
“Just try and get better. I’m trying to play my game and trying to help the team win eventually. I’m not going to set any markers or any goals or anything like that for the upcoming season. I’m just going to try and get better.”
I believe in you, Leon! So what you’re saying is that the Oilers will be champions for sure, right?
“It’s hard to say. I think the league is so good, with so many good teams that you never really know.”
Fine, I’ll deal with you tempering my expectations but I’m not going to like it. Cool? Cool. If you’re not going to guarantee wins will you at least tell me about Connor? I feel like that’s a fair compromise.
“I think we compliment each other well. I think we like playing with each other and we’re really good friends off the ice so it’s a lot of fun.”
Alright, Leon, there was nothing sexy in this quote but I guess I’ll take it. I like to think that Connor and Leon are such good friends that they’ve built their own bunk beds to create more space for activities just like in Step Brothers, but I guess he doesn’t want to reveal everything. I get that.
On a personal note, Draisaitl set the record for most points scored by a German player in one year and that was not lost on Leon. When asked about going back to Germany to train over the summer, Draisaitl gushed about his hometown.
“Cologne is very important for me. It’s in my heart, it’s where I grew up, it’s where I started playing hockey and learned everything. It will always have a special place in my heart.”
I’ve never been to Germany but from what I understand it’s a beautiful place to visit and the general love of beer and lederhosen has been pulling me in like a tractor beam for years now. One day, I’ll get there. One day.
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