As one of three young centers, along with Jordan Weal and Nic Dowd, who lasted deep into training camp, it isn’t that far off to envision Nick Shore wearing a Kings jersey in the near future. The University of Denver alum excels on the defensive side of the puck, while still being able to produce offensively. A well-rounded center who is expected to be a key part of the Manchester Monarchs this season, Shore spoke directly to MayorsManor about training camp, his personal goals for the year, and more…
On if his training camp affected his confidence level:
“I think it’s good, obviously, to be able to get in some games during training camp. It really helps to skate with a lot of the guys that are on the team. It was a good couple of weeks we had down in LA, and now we’re just looking forward to getting started here.”
On if he thinks about being on the cusp of being NHL ready:
“You never really think about it, to be honest. I think once you’re here, your main focus is ‘Sunday is our first game’. From that standpoint, you’re just worried about coming in every week, trying to get a little better, and just go from there.”
On who he would choose to be the next Monarchs captain:
“I couldn’t really say. Soup [Andrew Campbell] was great. Obviously, last year was my only year with him, but we had a lot of older guys along with Soup that had a great leadership group. I’m sure we have plenty of guys that can step up and fill that role.”
On what would be a successful season for Manchester:
“Obviously, we had a really successful regular season last year, finishing first, and then I think it ended shorter than all of us wanted it to. So, I think if we sort of build on what we did during the regular season and finish a little bit stronger, that would be really good for us.”
On his personal goals for the 14-15 season:
“Last year was my first year, so I just want to keep building on that and get better every day and hopefully start the season off on the right foot. Last year, it took me a little bit to get going. Just looking to get off to a quick start and go from there.”
On diagnosing last year’s first round loss to Norfolk:
“I couldn’t put my finger on it. Norfolk was in the eight spot, but they were a pretty good team. I think we had a lot of trouble with Gibson in goal – we didn’t produce nearly enough goals as we needed to. It was really a disappointment for all of us, so I think looking back on it, that could fuel us a little bit this year, especially heading into the second half of the season.”
RELATED CONTENT:
2014 Mid-season Prospect Rankings – Nick Shore profile
Nick Shore on his unique contract with the Kings
Shore Post-Game quotes after Rookie Game vs. Coyotes – September 2014
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