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NHL DRAFT

June 24, 2016

Olli Juolevi

Buffalo, New York

Q. Your reaction at joining the Vancouver Canucks?
OLLI JUOLEVI: Yeah, it's awesome to go to Vancouver. I was so pleased to go to Vancouver, and I saw how great the city is and how much they love hockey. It's awesome.

Q. Did you ever dream that you'd go in the top five when you looked at this?
OLLI JUOLEVI: Of course you hope that. I was hoping to go as high as I can, but like‑‑ it's weird how the draft goes. You never know what's going to happen, and you have to be ready for everything. You can't be like, yeah, I'm going now, and you can't be disappointed if you don't go. I was just waiting when somebody was calling my name, and I'm so happy that it was Vancouver.

Q. What is Vancouver getting in you, what kind of defenseman?
OLLI JUOLEVI: I think I'm an offensive defenseman, but there is the two‑way game, so I can play all situations, penalty kill and power play, but my biggest assets are my biggest strength, and it helps.

Q. To go to a team with the Sedins, a rich history, is that kind of special?
OLLI JUOLEVI: Yeah, it's pretty awesome because I'm from Europe, and the stadium has been there for so long. It's great to go to such a great organization, when those games were on TV, and it's a great hockey town.

Q. Did you and Matthew Tkachuk have a bet on who would go first?
OLLI JUOLEVI: No, we didn't. I just hope all the best for him, and I'm so happy when I saw he went right after me. It's great, and he's a great player.

Q. Do you think playing for the Memorial Cup title showed your competitiveness and ability to win?
OLLI JUOLEVI: Yeah, I think it shows my confidence in those things both in Finland and London we are playing all the way at the end. It's just like‑‑ it's great, and you can see that you can win with me.

Q. What did the season playing for Dale Hunter do to help your development?
OLLI JUOLEVI: Oh, it helped me a lot, and I'm so thankful for Dale and how much he helped me, and like all my defensive games, he helped me out so much with those things. It's just great, and that was one of the things when I came to London, I knew it's a great team, but I knew it was one of the best coaches in the world.

Q. You're a pretty confident guy; do you think you have a shot to play pro next year?
OLLI JUOLEVI: Yeah, I think that's my goal. I think everybody who's going top 10 or so, they have to like work so hard this summer, and that's my attitude this summer, I want to play until next year, and I want to come to training camp and show what I've got.

Q. How were you feeling tonight sitting in the seats waiting for this to happen?
OLLI JUOLEVI: Yeah, first I was just waiting when Patrik or Jesse are going, are they going 2 and 3, but yeah, after Jesse went 4 and then I was just like talking about, oh, he went 4 and he went to Edmonton and talking about that with my dad and mom, and then I saw Vancouver is going there, and my agent was still saying, yeah, be ready, and like then they called my name. It's a pretty awesome feeling.

Q. Who did you have sitting up there, mom and dad?
OLLI JUOLEVI: Yeah, just my mom and dad and my two brothers.

Q. What's this mean for Finnish hockey to have three of the top five picks?
OLLI JUOLEVI: I think it means a lot. It's all about what happens after this. It's not like‑‑ of course it's a big deal that we are going all three in the top five, but now what happens after this, because like nobody knows those players who has never played in the NHL even though they might have went in the first round of the draft. You just have to work hard after this.

Q. Did you meet Gold at all in London?
OLLI JUOLEVI: I'm not actually sure. He might have been there when I came first, but I was a pretty shy guy when I came, so I wasn't watching too much anybody else.

Q. You were the first defenseman off the board. Is there any pressure that comes from that, or do you welcome it as something that perhaps you want to prove to the Canucks that they got that right?
OLLI JUOLEVI: Yeah, of course I want to show that they made the right decision, but of course what it says from Vancouver that they are trusting me and I'm 100 percent the first defenseman that they got there. No, it's just a good thing, and I like challenges. I'm not going to change anything because I'm first D. It doesn't matter if I'm first or second or so. I'm just happy to be a Vancouver Canuck now and go there and work my hardest.

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