Lombardi/Hickey quotes

I’ve have some more stuff later, but I thought I’d post all the quotes before I hit the road. I’ll say this much. The reaction at the draft party was pretty similar to the reaction on the blog…

LOMBARDI
“In publications, people might have had him 25 to 30, but there was too much buzz on him. That type of defenseman is hard to find. I kind of drew a line under a certain number and said, `I cant go below that or Im going to lose him. … He would have ended up going from 10 to 13.
“I had a good interview (with Lombardi) at the combine and I got to know him. … I’m looking forward to coming to the (developmental) camp.”
“It would have been nice to go down a little lower, but players like that are hard to find. Thats why (Kimmo) Timonen gets seven million. People find value in that kind of player.
“When you have a number of players in a certain layer, you lean toward position.”
“If anybody follows my history in terms of defensemen, I like players who can get up the rink in a hurry. I look at this as hopefully being similar to Stuart and Hannan in San Jose. In today’s game, guys who can skate and get up the ice are important.”
“Karl is going to play in the NHL next year. He’s more mature. Alzner is a very good player and a very safe pick. (Hickey) is riskier but the upside is higher.”
“I came down to two players: one defenseman and one forward. We really microanalyzed it.”

HICKEY
“I definitely was surprised. Its not something I was waiting for. I was just getting comfortable in my seat. I thought there was a chance (to be picked) anywhere from eighth on.
“In a nutshell, I think Im a two-way player who plays with a lot of grit and character. I started off a slot slow. There was a little more emphasis put on my defense but then I started getting more chances and offense. Our team started doing well and things started clicking.

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