Angelo Esposito: A One-On-One Interview With the Atlanta Thrashers Prospect

Last week I got the chance to sit down with Atlanta Thrashers prospect and team Canada World Junior hopeful, Angelo Esposito. 

Angelo, who was waiting to hear whether or not he was being invited to this year's team Canada camp, spoke to me candidly about his junior career, the trade from Pittsburgh, team Canada, and what lies ahead for him with the Atlanta Thrashers.

Esposito holds the distinction of being one of only two players to try out for team Canada's World Junior team three years in a row.  Now he knows this is his final chance to make the team and wear the Maple Leaf on an international stage, something he isn't going to take lightly with camp being this week.

Derek: "Talk a little bit about the start of your junior career. You came into the league with a lot of hype as a 16 year old. Was it something that was a little dizzying and hard to deal with for you, or do you think you handled it well?"

Angelo: "I think I handled it pretty well. The entourage I had while with the Quebec Remparts helped me out a lot, and my parents as well were there to help me out."

Derek: "What about your first junior game? You scored your first goal on your first shift, something that every kid growing up dreams of."

Angelo: "It was pretty cool actually. It was my first game, so to score and get it out of the way was definitely a good feeling."

Derek: "Today Canada will announce its world junior selection camp roster. As someone who has been invited to the camp three times with obviously not the end results you wanted, is being named to the camp and eventually the team something that is as important to you now as it was in previous years?"

Angelo: "Yeah. Obviously I would love to play for that team. There aren't too many kids that get invited and even less make the team so I definitely consider it one of my goals."

Derek: "What went through your head when you didn't make the team on your first attempt? I know you were a young age, but it still seemed to come as a bit of a surprise. Was it hard for you? Perhaps something you thought you did?"

Angelo: "No I didn't really think it was something [I] didn't do. The first time I had a pretty good camp, but Canada has a ton of talent up front and I was still young and maybe wasn't strong enough at 16 to play on the team."

Derek: "And what about last year? Was that one maybe a little more personal?"

Angelo: "Last year was more of a disappointment, but it's now in the past so I don't really think about it."

(Around this time in the interview, Angelo finds out he has been invited to his fourth consecutive team Canada tryout camp, thus has another shot to represent Canada at the World Junior Championship.)

Derek: "The world junior tournament is definitely a launching pad for young stars, but there are also plenty of players who never played for team Canada that have enjoyed success in the NHL.

"Guys like Danny Cleary, who was also cut three times, has a Stanley Cup, and fellow Quebec born NHL'er Marty Brodeur never played for Canada at this tournament. Are these examples of their success something you use as motivation going forward?"

Angelo: "Yeah, there [are] a lot of great players that haven't played. I got invited three years already, and that's something to be proud of. There is only 35 guys out of all of Canada that get to go to the camp, and I just look at those guys as a positive."

Derek: "Switching gears to talk a little bit about the NHL. What went through your mind when you were traded from Pittsburgh to Atlanta in the Marian Hossa deal? It was the first trade you've ever really been a part of. Was it something at the time that was hard to deal with, or did you maybe see it coming?"

Angelo: "I was surprised at first because you don't really expect to get traded right off the bat. I talked to Pittsburgh and they said they had to make a move, and after talking with Atlanta I saw this as a great opportunity and really looked at it as sort of a glass half full type of situation."

Derek: "Let's speak about Atlanta for a second. They're clearly in a rebuild, but there is already some young talent that's worth getting excited about. What are your thoughts on Atlanta currently, and what are your expectations going forward?"

Angelo: "Well they have a good organization. Both Don Waddell and John Anderson the coach, have been really positive with me. Hopefully next year they would like me to play with them, it just depends on how I progress over the season and the summer."

Derek: "Recently on Bleacher Report there was an in-depth article on the pressure young guys face as they go forward from junior into the NHL. You were heralded as a first overall pick from the time you were a young teenager. Did you personally feel there was a lot of pressure put on you from an early age?"

Angelo: "I never really thought of it as pressure. It's something I try not to think about when I am playing. All I can do is worry about being the best player I can be, and leave the rest up to itself."

Derek: "Let's finish with a question about your junior team. You got 22 points personally, and the team is second in its division. Is this a team poised to make a serious Memorial Cup run?"

Angelo: "I think so. We're just working everyday to be a better team in every area that we can, and I think right now we're heading in the right track."