A conversation with Andy Andreoff

LAKings Insider: As a veteran of development camps, what are you taking in from this week? How is it different from previous camps that you’ve been in in the past?
Andy Andreoff: It’s just the confidence. I feel much more comfortable this development camp. Like you said, I’ve been here for a couple of years, so now that I get to come out here with the bunch of the guys again, it’s great to be back. I’ve learned a lot, and it’s always good to be stickhandling, skating. They always teach me something new every day, so I love coming here.

LAKI: What are some of the eye-opening experiences you’ve had? Obviously, I know on the ice there’s a lot of revisiting the fundamentals. But is there anything that really sticks with you, that teaches you what you have to do to be in the NHL?
AA: Just the consistency and how hard you have to work out there every day. It doesn’t matter if you have a day off. You can always be doing something to get better at the game, and they teach us all that stickhandling and stuff, so you have to bring it back home when you go training in the summer and work on everything.

LAKI: What do you think of when you look back at what Manchester was able to accomplish last season, despite the injuries and roster subtractions?
AA: Well, I thought we had a pretty good season. It was an up-and-down season. It was tough with the lockout. Everyone’s team was going up and down with the players. I thought we battled hard at the end of the season. Everyone thought we weren’t going to make playoffs, and we didn’t worry about that. We just kept working hard every game, and we ended up making playoffs, and like you said, Springfield was a great series. We could have won that, for sure.

LAKI: When you come back here in September, what are the things that you’re looking to show off as you attempt to earn a spot on the team?
AA: Well, I just want to be an all-around player like I’ve always been. Get a couple goals, hits, and see what happens from there. Just got to play my role, and see how it goes.

LAKI: It’s a pretty rugged role, too. Past the training camps, how did you feel that role fit in at the professional level?
AA: I love it. I looked up all the guys in the NHL that I want to be like. They’re third, fourth line guys, so I’m looking forward to that. I can learn off the guys from L.A. I’ve been watching Dwight King and Clifford. That’s kind of the type of my style. I look up to those guys, and hopefully I’ll be one of them one day.

LAKI: Do those guys ever reach out to you at all?
AA: Well, I played with Dwight King this year, and he’s a respectful guy, and I look up to him like that. He was always nice to the younger guys, and he taught us a lot. It’s nice that a guy up there was always helping the younger guys like us.

–courtesy KingsVision