Early Morning Interview - Jesse Teno

[Aimee 1,150]

During the early morning snow storm here in Vermont, we were able to grab a quick interview with London United goalie Jesse Teno. Still the lone goalie for the team, Teno is set to have another good veteran season. Still without a backup, and with no goalie picked up during the S88 draft, Teno remains the only backstop for London. Hopefully new GM Jacob Carson will be able to grab Teno some backup during free agency or future trades. But for now, we were able to catch Teno coming out of their sunrise practice at Riley Rink.

 

Jesse, great to see you working so hard for this upcoming season. How are you feeling going into S88?

 

I am feeling pretty good. Last season was a bit rough but since we only just missed the playoffs, I think we have a good chance this season. It helps that we were finally able to call up a great player like Leonard Triller. Jacob also did an incredible job picking up some serious power in Siyan Yasilievich, Sock Monkey and Igor Molotov. I think London might be the place to be this season.

 

Do you think the extra power will help London finally have a successful playoff run?

 

Man, I hope so. I know London has never won the Victory Cup so it would be amazing if we could be the team that gets it done. I don’t know if it will be this season or a future one, but I really do think that this team has a shot. Also Jacob was able to get San Diego their first cup, so I don’t see why such a successful GM in the VHLM couldn’t do that here. I know it’s probably a long shot with how powerful some of the other teams are, but hopefully all of the trade shuffling worked out in our favor.

 

What has been your biggest focus during training this off season?

 

Honestly, I have been focusing on everything. Certain aspects of my game feel really, really good so I’ve been trusting that to stay where it is. Right now, I’m working on my glove hand. It is by far one of my weaker points and how most goals are scored on me. So given the number of goals I let in last season, I think it’s about time I got that glove working like a veteran glove should. 

 

You ended S87 as the 6th overall goalie in the VHL for wins. Did you think you would end up that high and do you think you will be able to do better?

I had not realized I was that high. It seems so strange given where our season ended. But it is nice to know that I’m up there with some killer talent. A lot of the goalies who are up there have been around the VHL for a long time so I guess it feels good to be able to hold myself up against some real talent. In terms of climbing? Who knows. The season could go any way the hockey gods and Simon deem fit. I’ll just give it my best and keep trying to bring the cup back to London.

 

And that was about all the time I had with Jesse Teno this morning. They were off to continue working on their charity as they are set to fly back to London later this week to join their team for pre-season practice.

 

576 words for week ending 4/2/2023