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| Photo by: MJB Images |
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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| Photo by: MJB Images |
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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| Photo by: MJB Images |
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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| Photo by: MJB Images |
