Interview With the Team Asia GM

[Erik Summers 451]

Interview With the Team Asia GM

 

After day two of the WJC, Erik, the GM of Team Asia sat down for a small presser. When asked about his feeling on Team Asia's start, Erik responded, "There was a lot of doubt about Team Asia in the press ahead of the tournament. I admit that some of that was justified, a new GM, some concerns about depth, stuff like that. Hopefully, we have proven to everyone now that we are for real. Obviously we have our vision set on a high goal, but I think it is also important to celebrate the accomplishments we have already achieved." He continued, "We have beaten every other team in the tournament. I think that fact alone means that, no matter what happens from here, we will be considered a contended, which wasn't true at the start of the WJC."

 

When asked to highlight specific players, the young GM replied. "Above any individual accolades, I want to highlight that every single player on our roster has points and has a +/- above 0. That being said, I also think we have a couple of strong candidates for tournament MVP on our roster. Wang and Yamazuki are both top performers, but I think Okada has been excellent in creating scoring opportunities and I expect that his scoring numbers will go up as well. I also want to highlight the work Shush Nyko has done on our second line. That line has put in some of the hardest work on the ice I have seen in my career. I couldn't be happier with their play."