QA with Luke Eibler

Sometimes all it takes is a growth spurt. Luke Eibler was cut from midget minor Triple-A teams in the Detroit area for the 2006-07 season because he was considered way too small at 5-foot-6, 100 pounds. Two years later, and an additional eight inches taller and 75 pounds heavier, Eibler was making his presence felt in the Triple-A ranks again, with Victory Honda, and grabbing the attention of scouts with his puck movement and, even moreso, his open-ice hitting. That's the case again in 2009-10, only this time in the USHL with the Youngstown Phantoms. Despite being a rookie in the league, Eibler may very well be the top open-ice hitter in the USHL, and he contributes offensively, too. Factor in that Eibler is 30 to 40 pounds away from his eventual playing weight and the fact defensemen that can freight-train opponents like Eibler aren't a dime a dozen, Eibler has to be on the radar of any NHL team serious about adding a physical neutral-zone presence to their corps of prospects in the later rounds of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

McKeen's correspondent Kevin Wey had the opportunity to talk to Youngstown Phantoms prospect defenseman Luke Eibler in late January. Eibler discussed his adjustment to the USHL, his youth hockey career around Hockey Town, his commitment to Northeastern, his prospects for the 2010 Draft, and both forwards of today and yesterday that he looked up to.

McKeen's: Not to start on a negative note, but to start the year (2010), you were on a one-game suspension. Tell me about the incident that led to that?

Eibler: It was against Cedar Rapids. I guess they gave me a match penalty for cross-checking a kid in the head, after he drove and hit our goalie with, like, a minute left and they were up 5-1. I took it out on him because he drove the net and into our goalie. So, they gave me, I guess, a match for that and then they gave me a fighting major when we didn't even drop the gloves. So, that's good refing.

McKeen's: This is your rookie season in the USHL after playing for Victory Honda, which we'll talk about a little bit later, but what have been the biggest adjustments for you coming into the USHL and when did you start feeling comfortable with the USHL game?

Eibler: Probably after I got back from my injury. I started playing a little better, so I was playing a little more. It took me probably six games after my injury to get really, like, with the speed and adjusted to the speed and the size of the guys and making sure you make smart plays instead of trying to skate it a little more. On the powerplay, you can't skate it with these guys, you've got to pass the puck up. Like last year, I could skate the puck when I wanted. This year, it's not so much.

McKeen's: Any areas you still feel you find yourself adjusting to, and then tell me how the Olympic ice sheet, like what you played on tonight, changes your game, because it obviously does.

Eibler: Oh man. The Olympic ice sheet is great to play on. You've got a lot of space, you can make great plays, easy plays. The one thing, though, you've got to play between the dots. If you don't, they're going to beat you every game because it's way wider than normal, so we've got to stay between the dots, and the dots don't change. So, stay between the dots and you're all good.

McKeen's: What are some of the areas of your game that you feel you've improved on the most with Youngstown and what are the areas that you're still focusing on improving the most?

Eibler: Probably just getting the shot through from the point. You've got a lot of guys that are really good at blocking shots, you've got to move one way or the other laterally and hopefully get it through. The one thing I've got to work on is probably my one-on-one's. The speed of the guys, you've just got to get used to. If you can't contain, you've got to push 'em wide and keep pushing 'em wide and hopefully go around the net. They're quick, they've got good moves. The first and second lines are real good.

McKeen's: On the flipside, for those who have never seen you play, what would you say are the strengths of your game and the style that you play?

Eibler: I play a Niklas Kronwall style. I like to hit in center ice and be that big hit. That's one thing that most coaches know that I do. So, probably just keeping their heads and making sure they don't have their head down coming up the middle.

McKeen's: That works perfectly into my next question. Even last year with Victory Honda when I saw you, you were making some of those open-ice hits. At what point in your career did you start playing that physical game?

Eibler: As a defenseman, like growing up, it was pretty easy to read the play, and you can pretty much read what people are doing and how they're going to play the puck or how they're going to pass the puck and you just read it. Not many people can do it, honestly. That's why I think I got my scholarship pretty quick. Not many people can read that play and step up and make a big hit and turn the face of the game around for their team.

McKeen's: On a regular ice sheet, you're one of the better open-ice hitters in the league, even as a rookie. So, I definitely agree with you on that. I've read you've injured your shoulder twice this season. Once thanks to Nick Czinder in practice and then another time. Tell me about that and how it's feeling today.

Eibler: It's feeling really good right now. We were doing a drill in practice, we had to stay in between the blueline in the zone and coach was yelling at the guys because they're not hitting the defensemen and we were pretty much playing with them on the offensive side. So, he pretty much just cussed out Nick Czinder (chuckles) and then Nick, the next play, I get the puck and fumble it in my feet and I dump it down, don't see him coming, and he just hits me and I go over the boards and just kind of popped it. I think I strained my AC joint, and that was it for a couple weeks. Then, got back, injured the other shoulder in a game in Sioux Falls, I think. The one thing I've got to do is strengthen my shoulders and I'll be all set, gain a little weight.

McKeen's: That's a big part of weightlifting, the injury prevention…

Eibler: Yeah, exactly.

McKeen's: … not just the strength.

Eibler: We've got a pretty good [strength] coach now.

McKeen's: You were originally drafted by the Indiana Ice, which was shortly after the Midget Buc Bowl last year. When did Indiana first contact you and what did they say and then what did they say when they traded you?

Eibler: I was never contacted by them, honestly. I wasn't contacted by many people. Even the tryout at Waterloo, then after that, they said they might draft me or something the next year. Next year Indy drafted me and the guys on my team were like, "Eibler, you got drafted." I was like, "What?" We were in the locker room after the game and guys were checking on their phones to see if they got drafted and they were like, "Eibler, you're the only that got drafted." I was like, "What?" I didn't even know anything about it. They gave me a call shortly after. They had high hopes for me coming in, and then seven days before training camp they're like, "You know? We made a deal, we traded you and Scott Mayfield for Nick Mattson." I was like, "Alright." They were like, "You're going to Youngstown." I'm like, "Is that the NA?" I thought I was getting demoted, I was getting a little pissed. They were like, "No, it's the USHL."

McKeen's: Yeah, for the longest time there was the Mahoning Valley Phantoms in the North American Hockey League. You guys are an expansion team as far as this league is concerned, but you guys, especially at the beginning of the season, you guys weren't doing too bad. What were the keys to you guys being reasonably competitive from the get-go?

Eibler: We just go out and play the full 60 minutes. The guys are playing well. We out shot the [fecal matter] of this team, but, I guess we can't even get it past the tender tonight. Our forwards have got to forecheck, our "d" has got to play well. We were doing that the last couple games. We've just got to get it past the goalie now. That's what we've been hoping for.

McKeen's: Given that you're a Phantom, I'd be remiss if I didn't ask who your teammates are that impress you the most and why?

Eibler: Umm, probably Taylor Holstrom, Scottie Mayfield, and I'd have to say Andrej Sustr, too. Definitely, definitely Taylor, because he comes to work every night. He doesn't take a shift off. He plays the full 60 minutes every night. Mayfield plays a great 60 minutes, too. Him and Andrej are probably the top two "d" on our team. They're playing really well right now. Obviously Andrej gets back from the Czech Republic, err the Czech Republic national team, and he's playing well. David Donnellan is another good guy. He comes to work every day and comes playing. It was nice to see him get a scholarship right now and moving on next year.

McKeen's: The lone veteran on your d corps. Definitley, Andrej has improved his puck movement. I took a lot of notes on him tonight with how quickly he was making decisions and how they were the right decisions. He's definitely coming along. Going back to the beginning of your hockey career, when did you first start playing and how did you get that start?

Eibler: I started when I was two and a half. My dad kind of got me into it, in this program in Howell, Michigan. Pretty much from then on, my dad kept moving me up. Beau Schmitz lived right next to me, like five minutes away, he's playing in "The O" right now. Me and him started to go out for a tryout, and we tried out for a Triple-A team and kept moving on and eventually we made it. Me and him played together for four or five years, and we went from the 1990's, to the 1991's the next year, to make it a little easier on ourselves. Played Triple-A all the way up, then my midget minor year I was 5-foot-6, a 100 pounds, so, that kind of pushed me away from Triple-A. Then, I played high school for two years with my brother. Then I grew, grew to be 5-10, 5-11. Then it just happened that I caught the eye of Sean Ortiz and then he got me on my way.

McKeen's: That's a heckuva growth spurt. That's a John Moore growth spurt right there (Eibler is now 6-foot-3). What were the different teams that you played for at the different age groups coming up through the ranks?

Eibler: I played for Compuware, I played for Victory Honda, the Ice Dogs, I played a little bit for Belle Tire, went to Prospects with Caesar's. Then I went back to Victory Honda, then I played for my high school, Pinckney High School.

McKeen's: What was the age group for each of those?

Eibler: Squirts, I think it was squirts, I played with the Ice Dogs (became Victory Honda in 2003). Pee Wee Triple A, I went to an international tournament with Compuware. Then, there until I was 15, and then when I was 15 I played for Belle Tire in the spring, got cut in the fall, then played high school for two years, and my senior year I decided to go back to Victory Honda.

McKeen's: Was there much of a decision to play high school hockey or was that just kind of where you slotted in?

Eibler: They told me I couldn't play defense. I was a 5-foot-6 guy. They kind of pushed me to go to high school, which was great, because I wanted to carry the puck, and I played pretty well.

McKeen's: On the college front, you're committed to Northeastern. When did schools start talking to you, particularly Northeastern, what other schools were in the running, and what made you decide to become a Husky?

Eibler: The first time I was contacted was by Mercyhurst, because Brian Burke (not the Brian Burke currently the GM of Toronto), who was working with Victory Honda, he saw me play and said he was going to offer me something when I was young. I didn't know much about the college atmosphere. Then, I didn't think I was going to be good enough to play for a while, because I was playing high school. Northeastern contacted me, I think they saw me at training camp. They said they wanted me out for a visit, and I went out and visited, and I loved it. The town of Boston, the Beanpot was a big thing. I had a couple other schools contact me, but at the end of the day, my mom and dad thought that Boston was a great city for me. My grandma kind of said they're a great college, too. You're a student-athlete. If you don't make it pro, then you go to college. They kind of pushed me toward it. My family's pretty big in education. I pretty much just loved the college, loved the coaches, and saw that they're doing well and they're on the road to the right direction.

McKeen's: They definitely have turned it around. It was (pauses)…

Eibler: Three or four years ago…

McKeen's: Yeah, exactly. It was pretty rough a while back and then they, this might be happenstance, but they started recruiting more USHLers and things started working. But, that could be coincidence. It's your second year of NHL draft eligibility, and while there aren't a lot of guys selected directly out of midgets, it's not completely uncommon for guys in their second or third year of eligibility to come out of the United States Hockey League. To your knowledge, have NHL teams expressed interest in you and what would it mean to you to be drafted?

Eibler: You know? It'd be great to be drafted, but I still have a year of eligibility. If they don't do it this year, then I go play college and hopefully get drafted from there. I hear I'm an NHL prospect from my coach at Northeastern, and one of the agents that I'm talking to, they say quite a few teams are interested. But, if I don't get drafted, it's not a big deal. I'll go to college, play college for a year and maybe get drafted and maybe not. But, if I don't get drafted, I'm a free agent. So, it's even better.

McKeen's: That's right, you won't be too restricted. Although, the college guys aren't super restricted. If they don't tender you an offer, even if you're drafted, after those years, you're a free agent, especially with 30 teams to pick from. You mentioned representation, it sounds like you don't have a family advisor at this point, it sounds like a few guys are vying for you.

Eibler: There are a few guys. Me and my dad have sat down with, about, three of them. We're leaning toward one guy, but we just don't know yet. I want to make a decision quick so we can start possibly talking to NHL teams and maybe even the possibility of getting drafted. If not, I'm not really worried about it. I've got four years of college coming up.

[Note: Eibler shared who they were, but it was off the record]

McKeen's: Lastly, who were some of your favorite players earlier in your youth and who are some players today that are your favorites, Kronwall sounds like one of them, and players that you feel you're similar to?

Eibler: Joe Sakic was a really big influence growing up. It's kind of weird, coming from Michigan, everybody's like, "How are you an Avs fan?" I'm like, "I love the way Joe Sakic plays." I think Nik Kronwall, obviously, Scott Stevens, a big open-ice hitter, so I loved the way he plays. I have to say Pavel Datsyuk. I think he's the most well-rounded player in the NHL. He plays offense and defense. He's fun to watch. That's pretty much it.

McKeen's: Pavel's really turned into something. He's kind of like Sergei Fedorov in that regard. At the beginning of his career you didn't know for sure that he was going to be a future Selke winner, too, but, sure enough, here we are, and he definitely has some hands.

Eibler: Yeah.