![]() Obviously, I wanted to represent my country. Being cut right before they traveled to Europe was tough. What did you gain from the experience of competing to make Team USA for World Juniors? ![]() I think it's pretty cool to think about that but also take an example from guys like Olofsson, just their training and how hard they work." Seeing that and just kind of taking the example, knowing that guys from that development camp are playing in the NHL. Just remembering seeing guys like Olofsson out there and Thompson, seeing the success Olofsson had after seeing how hard he worked and seeing his attitude on the ice, too. It was pretty cool."ĭid you take anything from the development camp experience last summer and carry it into your season? They care about your development, so just having for instance come out to the games and be able to give me feedback helps a lot. It felt like they were at almost every other weekend or maybe more, so it was nice to hear feedback from them. What were your interactions like with the Sabres development staff? It was good in the end because it helped us grow and it's fun to play." So, at times you could get stuck and you had to just be ready every shift because it was always a challenge. We're playing a lot of minutes and you're defending against these older guys, too. "It was nice because the D coach played the younger guys a lot, so we were able to get a lot of shifts and able to be challenged on the ice. How would you characterize the role you played this year? The skill is pretty similar, but the strength, there's a difference there for sure." I think that's definitely the biggest adjustment. Guys spend so much more time training in the weight room. Is that the biggest adjustment coming from the USHL to college? So, you have to beat them with your feet and think smartly too within the game. I think that's still a big thing because you have guys a lot bigger taking runs at you. "Well, growing up I was on the smaller side as well, so I've learned to kind of use my feet and my skating to avoid getting hit. How do you compensate while playing physically stronger competition? And all the preparation leading up to it, take it seriously." It just shows that in college it's a battle every weekend, so you have to prepare and be ready and take every weekend seriously. But I think it was also a really good lesson to learn. ![]() "That game right there, that just showed that we were young and we didn't play the way we know we needed to. What did you learn from tough losses? The North Dakota game, for example. And on the personal level, I'd say the same thing, just kind of more mature. But by the end of the year, we were playing a lot better, a lot more team oriented. So, we had a couple games where we kind of showed our youth and we didn't really play the way we want to. ![]() For the team level, we're a young team all-around. Were the challenging aspects on a personal level, a team level, or both? I thought that was good in the way that it was challenging and there is lots of room for growth." Playing against older guys was, I thought, good because it helped me adjust and helped me adapt to stronger players, more like NHL level where you're going to be playing against stronger guys than you. It was challenging at times, which was good. "I thought it was a good season of growth. How would you characterize your freshman year? Prospect Rewinds: Dylan Cozens | Matej Pekar | Erik Portillo | Mattias Samuelsson Johnson caught up with to discuss his season. So, we're very pleased with the situation he's in." I think next year, we're going to see Ryan play an even larger role on what's likely an NCAA Tournament team. "He's got a great situation now during this quarantine where he's at home and has training and is doing a great job. "I think if you went on a week-by-week basis, every week Ryan Johnson was improving at the University of Minnesota, which is exactly what we wanted to see. "I think with Ryan, you just wanted him to transition into Minnesota and play his style of play, which is up-tempo, puck-moving defenseman," Sabres assistant manager Steve Greeley said. Minnesota had won its three-game series against Notre Dame to open the Big 10 tournament by the time the season was halted in March.
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