Hey Slovak fellows, anyone can get behind the paywall and share the interview?
[Source](https://dennikn.sk/3827513/kent-hughes-slafkovsky-je-v-montreale-ako-v-akvariu-vsetci-vidia-kazdu-jeho-chybu-a-niektori-sa-z-nich-aj-tesia/?ref=mwai)
by JurMar_
@Montreal Canadiens
2 Comments
This is rather long but interesting reading so I will post it translated into english in multiple parts into this chain:
We are publishing an interview with the General Manager of Montreal as a special episode of the “Morning from Montreal” section. On that July night in 2022, many people in Slovakia and Montreal were waiting to see what Kent Hughes would say. The General Manager of Montreal first spoke in French, and then he said in English: “From the Slovakian national team and TPS Turku Juraj Slafkovský.” It was a big surprise, as Shane Wright had been the main favorite for the draft pick position for months. Most people are still convinced that the battle between Slafkovský, Wright, and Logan Cooley was very close. However, Hughes claims in an interview with Denník N that it was not the case. Hughes was originally supposed to have a moment with us after the Sunday game with St. Louis, but this appointment was canceled as post-game interviews with players took longer. “Kent will be driving to Boston tomorrow and will be expecting your call,” the club’s spokesperson told us. The personal meeting turned into a phone call, but the “moment” turned into more than half an hour. As Hughes drove across the Canada-US border, he told us:
– What really happened on draft day;
– Why he didn’t send Slafkovský to the farm even during tough times;
– Why he thinks some people rejoice in Slafkovský’s mistakes;
– What he thinks about rankings that evaluate young players;
– Whether he considered drafting Šimon Nemec or Dalibor Dvorský;
– How Montreal fans are different from those in Boston;
– And how he loved Peter Šťastný in his youth, even though he played for the rivals from Quebec.
Before the draft, you found out as much as you could about Slafkovský. However, over the last 1.5 years, you have had the opportunity to get to know him better. Did he surprise you with anything?
Yes, because being a draft pick in Montreal is hard enough. But if you are a draft pick and you also struggle at the beginning, that is really tough. Juraj came to us at eighteen, far from family, having to speak in a foreign language. And yet, he managed to improve despite all the criticism and negativity that was directed at him for a long time. It might not be accurate to say we were surprised because we had seen before the draft that he had these qualities. However, you don’t really know how a young player will handle the pressure until he is exposed to it. I am amazed at how he dealt with it.
You chose him as the draft pick. What percentage of this decision was based on his hockey skills and what percentage on his character traits?
You consider everything, but ultimately you’re looking for the best hockey player. Hockey skills definitely weighed the most. Of course, we were also reassured that we really liked his character, his ability to stand up for himself, and his motivation in hockey. This is important for a player to cope with the environment in Montreal. First and foremost, however, we were looking for a player whose game quality is worthy of a draft pick. If we didn’t believe he had it, we wouldn’t have taken him.
I understand that character traits made up only a small percentage of the decision-making process, but did they ultimately prevail since the battle between Slafkovský, Shane Wright, and Logan Cooley was very close?
It wasn’t close.
It wasn’t?
No, Juraj was our clear number one pick.
It was said, however, that you were deciding until the last moment. Even on the day of the draft, you called Slafkovský in for an interview, which was also attended by the club owner Geoff Molson.
We wanted to talk to him one more time because we wanted to use all the time we had available. It was also an opportunity for him to meet the owner. We didn’t want to prematurely announce to the 31 other teams and the public what we would do. However, internally we had practically unanimously agreed that Juraj was the best choice.
Was Šimon Nemec in your considerations at any point? If so, when did he drop out?
We watched him at the World Championships. After that, we had a meeting with our scouts, at which we more or less decided that Slaf was our choice. So, we excluded Nemec quite early. We ranked him in the group with Cooley and Wright, but we had Slaf above all of them, so we didn’t really consider Nemec.
Thank you u/jazvec for the copy and pasting of the article for us my dude!
Was a good read.