All Access: J.D. Dudek

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Prior to the United States Hockey League trade deadline in March, the Steel acquired forward J.D. Dudek from the Dubuque Fighting Saints. Hailing from Auburn, N.H., Dudek has made an immediate impact with the Steel scoring three goals and adding two assists in ten games. Dudek burst onto the hockey scene in High School, as he was fortunate enough to capture two state titles with two different schools. After captaining his prep school to the Small School State Championship one year ago, Dudek was selected by the New Jersey Devils in last year’s NHL Entry Draft. Dudek is committed to Boston College and will suit up for the Eagles at the conclusion of his USHL career. We had a chance to talk to the Steel Center about his accomplished past and his bright future.

Q: You’ve been with the Steel for close to one month now. How would you describe your first month in Chicago and what has that transition been like coming to a new team midseason?

A: It’s been awesome. The coaching staff and my teammates have all made the transition pretty easy for me and I’ve been able to produce here so that’s helped out a lot. City-wise, it has been very different because there is not much going on in Dubuque. We used to make hour and a half trips to Chipotle in Madison, and now I can go ten minutes down the road. It’s been great though, the city is great and the team is awesome.

Q: In your first weekend with the Steel, you scored the game-winning goal against your former team (Dubuque). What was that like to not only play against your former teammates but also to score the game-winning goal against them?

A: It was definitely different, especially with it being the first week since the trade. It was awesome to get back out on the ice with those guys and to get a couple wins with my new team. It was pretty fun and special.

Q: Your dad was a very accomplished college football player. When did you first start playing hockey and was there any push from your family to go the football route?

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A: There was no push at all. My parents were both good athletes and they never wanted to force me to play anything. I started playing hockey when I was 8 years old. The only thing my dad told me was that if I wasn’t going to play football he wanted me to try one thing, and that was the Punt, Pass and Kick Competition. So I tried that out and actually did well. I won the state competition and then regionals as well. Overall, I placed seventh nationally. But he has started to love hockey. He may even love watching hockey more than football now. He sets a timer for when the Bruins games are happening so he’s definitely grown to love the sport like I have.

Q: Can you talk about your high school playing career and what it was like to capture two state championships?

A: I played my freshman and sophomore year of high school at Pinkerton Academy (Derry, NH). I was lucky enough to play on a line with Zach Sanford, who is at Boston College this year and was drafted by the Capitols as well. It’s pretty rare to find that in a New Hampshire Division I public school. My sophomore year, his junior year, we won the state championship. After that, I transferred to Kimball Union Academy (Meriden, NH) for my junior/senior seasons. My senior year I was captain and we won the Small School Championship. My time there at prep school was awesome just because of the coaches and the players. I was coached by Coach [Mike] Levine my junior year, who is now the assistant coach at Brown. My senior year I was captain and coached by Coach [Tim] Whitehead, who was the coach at UMaine. So the whole experience was awesome.

Q: What was the college recruiting process like for you and what ultimately led to your commitment to Boston College?

A: To be honest, it was pretty different from what most kids go through. I know it’s a pretty long process for most but mine actually happened pretty quickly. I wasn’t really on anyone’s radar and then I was lucky enough to go to the National Camp, which is a pretty highly scouted tournament. I played really well and was in the top three in scoring by the end of the camp and I was pretty much on the phone the entire eight-hour ride back. I was fortunate enough to tour BC and get an offer from them, so the choice happened pretty quickly.  

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Q: Last year, you were drafted in the sixth round by the New Jersey Devils. Can you describe your draft day experience and what it meant to you to be drafted by the Devils?

A: I talked about it with my family and said that since it was my draft year, whether or not I get drafted I would love to go to Philly and soak in the experience. I was pretty certain I wasn’t going first round but my dad and I went anyway just to check it out. It was funny because I would look up at the board when they would call the player names, especially when it was a team that had talked to me. The team right before the Devils was a team that I had talked to pretty frequently and when they didn’t call my name, I put my head down. The Devils were the last team I talked to, two days before the draft, and when that pick happened it was the only time of the draft that I wasn’t looking up at the board. But overall it was special, and to go to New Jersey where it’s a world-class organization is awesome. I also have a couple buddies that were drafted there. The whole experience, to be there with my family, was surreal.

Q: Of all the things that you have accomplished in your hockey career, which stands out to you the most?

A: I’m a huge team guy so the Small School Championship we won at KUA definitely stands out. We had six or seven returning guys and 16 new guys coming in because we had 16 seniors the year before. And we had a brand new coach. So to captain that year and show leadership, we were able to completely turn it around after it was expected to not be a great year.

Q: How do you feel going into this weekend against Bloomington and Team USA?

A: We feel confident. We had a great start after the trade deadline. It went down hill a little bit since then but we’ve been doing all the right things. I think we will be able to get back on track this weekend. It’s actually the first time my dad will be here in Chicago as well so it will be a special weekend for me.

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