It seems to be working - with kids from Arizona, Texas and Nevada expected to be drafted this weekend. Even more impressive is the strong representation of players with ties to Southern California - including forwards Emerson Etem (Long Beach), Beau Bennett (Gardena), Jason Zucker (LA Selects) and Jake Fallon (former LAHC player). There's also a pair of defenseman Brandon Underwood (San Diego) and Taylor Aronson (Placentia) among others.
Yesterday we posted an interview with Underwood (available here). Today we're back to share a conversation between The Mayor and Taylor Aronson.
He's a kid that's ranked #88 by NHL Central Scouting, not bad for a player from California - where some people say the hockey choices are limited for youngsters.
Aronson has found no shortage of opportunities to date though, including being a first round selection in the USHL junior hockey draft last year. He ultimately passed on that opportunity, as well as U.S. college hockey, to head north and play for the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL.
That's an important part of his story, as he played this past season on a 'Hawks team that was the darling of many scouts and media, due to having five players ranked in this draft's top-100. One could even argue that perhaps he'd be getting more attention if it weren't for the stellar play of his teammates Nino Niederreiter and Ryan Johansen - who are both expected to be long gone by the time the Kings pick at #19 in the first round.
Taylor will probably go a few rounds later. Yet, whichever team gets him can thank the Kings, in small part, for helping...he says the Kings and Wayne Gretzky inspired him to start playing when he was younger. See what else he has to say...
Talk about growing up playing hockey in California. What are some of the challenges in playing a non-traditional SoCal sport? And what motivated you to keep playing when most of your classmates were probably playing baseball or football?
