USHL: QA with Jordan Samuels-Thomas

Jordan Samuels-Thomas scored 21 goals and 37 assists in 43 games with the Hartford Junior Wolf Pack and did as he pleased in 2006-07, but 2007-08 in the USHL was a learning year for the 17-year-old forward. With the Waterloo Black Hawks this past season, Samuels-Thomas scored a modest eight goals and three assists in 56 games but logged a lot of on-the-job training under the tutelage of P.K. O'Handley and the Black Hawks coaching staff. Despite his low point totals in his rookie USHL season, the 6-foot-3, 192-pound power forward still caught the attention of NHL Central Scouting and a number of college programs.

McKeen's correspondent Kevin Wey had the opportunity to talk with Samuels-Thomas after Game 4 of the Clark Cup Finals. The blossoming forward discussed his transition from the AJHL to the USHL, his continued development, his choice to go the USHL over the QMJHL, his commitment to Bowling Green State, and his thoughts on the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

McKeen's: Well, tomorrow night is the last game no matter what happens, so you will have a full season of USHL hockey behind you. Looking back, what have been some of the biggest adjustments you have faced coming out of the Atlantic Junior Hockey League to the USHL?

Samuels-Thomas: I'd say the biggest adjustment for me is speed. It's a lot faster game here, compared to the "AJ," and your feet always have to be moving. There's a lot of fast players, lot of skilled players who can do everything.

McKeen's: What are some of the things that you've focused on improving or that coach P.K. O'Handley and his staff have had you focus on improving?

Samuels-Thomas: Once again, moving my feet. At the beginning of the year, I got caught a lot of the time coasting, and they really emphasized me moving my feet, because I'm a better player when I move my feet.

McKeen's: On the flipside, what do you consider are your strengths?

Samuels-Thomas: I think I protect the puck pretty well, that's the main part of my game, offensively, just sort of controlling the play and just keeping it low and establishing pressure.

McKeen's: It seems like you have a decent shot, too.

Samuels-Thomas: Yeah, I need to get it quicker over the summer and hopefully come back next year and score some more.

McKeen's: Just a quicker release?

Samuels-Thomas: Yeah.

McKeen's: Okay, because it seems like the shot power is already pretty good. With that, what are your plans this summer in terms of rest and then development and training?

Samuels-Thomas: I plan on a getting a lot faster, because I want to be faster player, and, once again, working on my shot. I think if I can work on those two things, I'll be a bigger presence on the ice.

McKeen's: Any particular camps that you are looking at going to, or dry land training camps, stuff like that?

Samuels-Thomas: Just the local gym at home and doing the camps with Waterloo. Other than that, nothing special.

McKeen's: I have seen you listed at various sizes, so what are your height and weight?

Samuels-Thomas: I think I'm about 6-foot-3 right now and 191, 192.

McKeen's: I would believe that. I saw 6-foot-2 and I was like, "I don't know, I think he's a bit taller than that." Now, last year, with the Hartford Jr. Wolf Pack, you scored 21 goals and 37 assists in 43 games, but you have not had as big of a role as a rookie with the Black Hawks this year. What has it been like not being one of the main scorers?

Samuels-Thomas: It wasn't bad. I still had to figure out my role on this team. There's players on this team who score, who are snipers, and being one of the bigger guys, I know that I have more of a physical role and, once again, just working down low, doing the grind game. I've sort of came into the zone with that and I accept that, I enjoy it.

McKeen's: And, of course, next year there is a good chance, as guys move on, you'll move up.

Samuels-Thomas: Yeah. You know, that's the plan, but wherever they have me, it'll be good.

McKeen's: You were drafted in the USHL Entry Draft in the 14th round, but you were also drafted by the Moncton Wildcats in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in the eighth round that league's draft. What made you decide to go the USHL/collegiate route?

Samuels-Thomas: I've never, never had really, really good coaching. I heard just great things about the staff here, and everything I heard was true. I've learned a lot this year, and I've always wanted to go to college. Going to Canada, I wasn't completely sure about it. It seemed pretty good, but you never know until you're up there. This, I felt really comfortable being here, with the coaches, and just the guys that I know who are on the team.

McKeen's: Plus, going the USHL route always leaves all options open, since you can always move to major juniors later in the future. Speaking of the collegiate route, though, you committed to Bowling Green for 2009. When did you first start talking with Bowling Green, tell me about the recruiting process they led you through, and what made you decide to go there?

Samuels-Thomas: Well, they were the first team that recruited me out of the "AJ." They flew down a bunch of times to watch me play, and I was talking to a lot of other schools, and ironically it came back full circle where I took a few visits and I felt at home at Bowling Green, so I chose there. I just feel really comfortable there and just look forward to it.

McKeen's: long those lines, what were those other programs that showed interest in you and that you also considered, if I might ask?

Samuels-Thomas: Hockey East schools, schools closer to home, UMass, Quinnipiac. But, Bowling Green is in Ohio, which isn't that big of a deal. It's ten hours away, but I just want to be at a spot where I felt comfortable, and my family feels the same way.

McKeen's: Going back to your time in the AJHL, tell me about 2006-07 with the Junior Wolf Pack and how that season went for you and how it helped developed you some for this level.

Samuels-Thomas: I thought it helped me develop by just (pauses)… creativity. I sort of was able to do what I want, with the coaching staff. So, I got to figure out a lot what I can do, what I couldn't do, and just my limitations. It was a good year for me, but the team itself, we weren't winning that much. This is the first year I've been on a team that's been a contender for a championship. I think, mainly, last year just gave me a lot of confidence coming into this year that I could score and get points.

McKeen's: Sometimes when players have that free reign to do what they want, it's kind of a double-edged sword. Did you ever feel that was the case for you last year?

Samuels-Thomas: Ummm, yeah, because, just going back to coaching, there really wasn't that much coaching last year. Coming here, my first few games, I was pretty lost in the play. What should I do here? What should I do there? Coach is telling me what I should do in different situations, he asked me what I should do in different situations. So, yeah, it was definitely a double-edged sword.

McKeen's: What organizations did you skate for coming up through the ranks prior to the Junior Wolf Pack.

Samuels-Thomas: The two years before the Junior Wolf Pack I spent my freshman and sophomore year at Canterbury Prep School, part of the New England prep school. Before that, I skated with the Jr. Falcons, Jr. Falcons '89 team.

McKeen's: Did you ever skate with Barry Almeida at all, even though he is an '88?

Samuels-Thomas: I skated with him before in the summer, but I never really knew him.

McKeen's: When did you first start skating, and then playing hockey, and how did you get your start?

Samuels-Thomas: I got my start, I watched The Mighty Ducks. My dad bought me a pair of skates, started doing some skating lessons, started playing in-house league at the local rink, roller hockey, just sort of tried out different aspects of hockey, and then by the time I was eight years old, I was playing travel team for the Springfield Jr. Pics.

McKeen's: Would that have been the original Mighty Ducks movie and how old were you at that time?

Samuels-Thomas: Ahhh, it'd make me five years old I believe. But, yeah, the original.

McKeen's: You are ranked 133rd by Central Scouting amongst North American skaters in their final rankings. What do you think of that and do you ever think about the draft?

Samuels-Thomas: Personally, I don't try to think about the draft. I mean, it's really good to be on it, a blessing to be on it. But, there's only a certain amount of control, I can control the way I play, but it depends on how scouts see me, and other than that, I really try not to think about it.

McKeen's: If I might ask, have NHL teams, I'm assuming they have, expressed interest in you? Have you had to do the surveys and all of that stuff?

Samuels-Thomas: Yeah, I've done the surveys for quite a few teams. I'm not sure what the implications are for that, but, yeah, I've definitely done a few surveys and talked to a few teams.

McKeen's: Have there been any particular teams showing more interest than others have?

Samuels-Thomas: Hard to say. I mean, I really don't deal with it, it's more of, like, a coaches thing. I try to focus on the game here.

McKeen's: Sure, play your game and the rest will fall into place.

Samuels-Thomas: Yeah, hopefully everything else falls in place.

McKeen's: If I am a director of amateur scouting for an NHL team, what are some of the reasons I should consider drafting Jordan Samuels-Thomas?

Samuels-Thomas:: I'd say protecting the puck, pretty physical, create space for players I play with. So, that'd be my view.

McKeen's: Lastly, who were and are some of your favorite players and why?

Samuels-Thomas: Well, first player I knew was Ray Bourque. He played for the Boston Bruins and I watched him play all the time. I'm not a defenseman, but I really enjoyed watching him play. Now, I really look to Joe Thornton, because he's also a pretty big guy, 6-foot-4, but he's a playmaker, uses his body, I try to use my body just like him to try to make plays. So, I'd say that's who I really look up to.