On July 1st, a lot of NHL players sign with new teams. Most of the signings are widely recognized. But, one signing that was overshadowed by the other ones was the Calgary Flames signing winger Spencer Foo. Foo went undrafted and played at Union College, where he scored 26 goals and 36 assists for an impressive 62 points in 2016-17, which was good enough for fourth in the nation. In three years at Union, Foo scored 49 goals and 63 assists for 112 points in 113 games. At 23 years of age, the Edmonton, Canada native hopes to crack the Flames potent top-six.
Recently, I was able to talk to Foo. Here are the questions I asked him.
Carter LaCorte (me): \”Was it cool to find out that multiple NHL teams were looking to sign you?\”
Spencer Foo: \”Yes, definitely. It was awesome having all that interest, especially not getting drafted, and trying to work my way up the ranks. It was pretty cool to have that interest.\”
CL: \”What about the Flames made you want to sign in Calgary?\”
SF: \”A couple of little things, like being close to home (Edmonton and Calgary are both in Alberta), and being in Canada, having a lot of good people in the organization. Another big thing was opportunity and the ability that the Flames are going to be able to win with the team they have right now. It\’s really solid and I think they are going to be a winning team in the next couple of years, and that was a big reason for it.\”
CL: \”What do you think you bring to the table when you play?\”
SF: \”I think I bring a high speed level, and a solid skill-set offensively and I think I\’m a better player defensively as well, and I think I\’ll be able to help the team.\”
CL: \”What current NHL player do you model your game after?\”
SF: \”That\’s a tough one. I guess the guy I look at now is Jake Guentzal coming out of Pittsburgh. He came out of college and was able to make an impact right away. He\’s a fast offensive player, and is able to chip in with a few goals here-and-there. I\’d say just the way our careers have gone, I kind of look up to him.\”
CL: \”If there is any player you are most excited to play with in Calgary, who is it?\”
SF: \”It\’s a pretty easy one. I\’d love to get the opportunity to play with Johnny Gaudreau. He\’s a college guy like me, and obviously has an incredible offensive skill-set. I think It would be pretty awesome to play with him.\”
CL: \”Why do you think Union is producing a lot of NHL players recently (Shayne Gostisbehere, Mike Vecchione, Dan Carr)?\”
SF: \”First of all, it\’s the recruiting, and once you get there, they have a winning mindset and have that culture where they want their players to work hard and win games. They also they want their players to play the right way and I think they are good at developing two-way players that are able to make the jump.\”
CL: \”How proud are you of your brother Parker on being drafted by the Blackhawks (in the 5th round in 2017)?\”
SF: \”I\’m really proud of him. We\’ve grown up together and always have had a little rivalry, trying to push each other to make each other better, and over the last few years he\’s worked really hard to get to that point, and I can\’t say enough good things about him.\”
CL: \”Last question, after being undrafted, how much did that motivate you to make the NHL?\”
SF: \”A lot. It\’s tough when you have to go the long way, and fight for your spot, but for me I\’ve always had the dream of getting to this point. I\’ve put in the work to try and get here. It\’s finally starting to pay off, and having that chip on your shoulder throughout the way, I think that\’s helped a lot.\”
CarterHud 