Alex Vlasic Comments on His NHL Dream & More On WGN Radio

Joe Brand of WGN Radio spoke with young Blackhawks defenseman Alex Vlasic. Vlasic recently was called up from Rockford. He grew up in Wilmette, which is just less than 20 miles north of Chicago. Brand asked him a number of questions from how he felt getting the call up, playing close to home, and many more.

Vlasic on what it's been like being back home as an NHL player:
"It's kinda weird being able to live my dream as an NHL player but still kinda have my roots as a kid going home on off-days. It's pretty unique and it's definitely something I don't take for granted. Like I said, dream come true and super surreal that it's happened."

Vlasic on the transition from AHL to NHL:
"I feel really good. I'm starting to feel way more confident with the puck. First couple games, I was super nervous. Kinda always looking down at the other teams bench looking at their players wondering what I'm going to do to defend. Cause you know every team has like a top player in the NHL so it's pretty crazy to play against the best players in the world. But, it's just kinda not necessarily worrying about the atmosphere or the other team, it's just focusing on what I do best and trusting my instincts. That's kinda what a lot of people like players and coaches told me first coming in. Just play your game and believe in yourself. None of that really registered with me right away and now it's kinda like everything takes awhile to adapt and like you gotta adapt to the speed, the strength, the IQ of every player. But once you do, it's just kinda like do the thing that got you here in the first place."

Vlasic on the trusting the Blackhawks method of developing him:
"Yea they've obviously been in the industry for quite a long time, and it's a very successful organization. One of the most successful in the NHL so, just having trust, having belief in the coaching staff and whoever it is up top like Kyle and people like that. Just believing that what they're doing for us is right. What they think is best for our development and just kinda trusting that system. It's definitely pretty easy to see that they understand what we need to do."


Vlasic on the coolest things about playing in the NHL:
"I think just playing with like Kane, Toews, Jones, like all those players. It's super... weird almost because it doesn't feel real. I think honestly playing against some of the other players in the league and in some of the rinks of other teams. Like we went to Nashville, Vegas [I didn't play the Vegas game], but just the atmosphere in all the NHL barns, it's like, it's crazy. It's unlike anything I've ever experienced like in college or anything like that. But yea I think that's the coolest part. How different everything is and how intense it is to play against these unbelievable players."

You can hear these comments along with plenty more on the rest of the podcast below!