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NHL DRAFT

June 25, 2010

Mikael Granlund

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

Q. Congratulations. How excited are you to be going to Minnesota?
MIKAEL GRANLUND: Oh, it's great to be going to Minnesota. It's really like a hockey place. And it's great to be here. It's a great organization, and there is other players, too, so it's pretty exciting right now.

Q. Do you think there is a good chance Minnesota will enter you after interviewing with them?
MIKAEL GRANLUND: I don't know, I don't know. I mean, of course, hard to say. I mean of course it was one of those teams, yeah.

Q. How long do you think it's going to take you to make it to the National Hockey League? What kind of schedule are you on?
MIKAEL GRANLUND: Oh, hard to say right now. I mean, I think next year I will play in Finland, and I will get a nice big role in the league there. I don't know after that when I'm ready, but we'll see after next season.
But right now I think I will play in Finland next year.

Q. When does the season start in Finland?
MIKAEL GRANLUND: Sorry?

Q. When does your season start in Finland? What dates?
MIKAEL GRANLUND: It's like September 10th or something.

Q. Are you excited you might be able to see the Wild play in person?
MIKAEL GRANLUND: Yeah, it's really cool. I mean, it's nice.

Q. Are you aware that Koivu had a big star of the Fins, do you know him at all?
MIKAEL GRANLUND: I have never talked to him, but of course I know a lot about him. He's really a good player, and I heard he's a really good guy also. It's pretty exciting.

Q. Do you think it will be good for your development to have somebody like Nico take you on and teach you?
MIKAEL GRANLUND: Maybe. I mean I've heard he's a really good guy. And I think it's going to help me a lot about. It's going to help me right now.

Q. Can you describe what type of player you are?
MIKAEL GRANLUND: I think I'm a play maker. I try to make plays for my line mates and make my line mates better. I think that's my game. I try to play hard and be competitive, try to just help my team as much as possible.

Q. How much did it help you this year being so young to play professionally in Finland and already be on the pro team?
MIKAEL GRANLUND: Of course now I know what's it to be a professional. Of course I think it has been a big help for me. We have a really good team in Finland, so it was pretty easy to get there. It was fun to play there.

Q. How did you guys do this year?
MIKAEL GRANLUND: We lost in the first round in the playoffs.

Q. Who is your favorite Finnish hockey player?
MIKAEL GRANLUND: I really don't have one. But of course when I was younger there was like Teemu Salami, and Saku Koivu, of course, those big players in Finland. But right now I don't have one big idol.

Q. When did you decide you wanted to be a pro hockey player? How young were you when you first had that dream?
MIKAEL GRANLUND: Well, this was a tough first season for me in the professional league. It was fun to jump from Juniors to the professional. That's my dream to play professional hockey. That's what I want to do.

Q. Did you start skating when you were 4 or 5 years old?
MIKAEL GRANLUND: Oh, the first time was when I was 2 years old. That's when I started to play.

Q. Do you have any other family members that played, or do play?
MIKAEL GRANLUND: No, no. I mean, yeah, yeah, I have a younger player one year younger than me. He plays too.

Q. Do you think he'll be in Minnesota next year for that draft? He's going to be drafted next year?
MIKAEL GRANLUND: Oh, maybe, we'll see.

Q. How good is he?
MIKAEL GRANLUND: Oh, he's okay, let's say that.

Q. Do you guys, would it be a dream the Koivu brothers, Ruutu brothers? Could there be the Granlund brothers?
MIKAEL GRANLUND: Oh, hard to say. I have played with him. The last under 18 tournaments we played together some games, and it's great to play with him. He's a pretty smart player, so it's easy to play with him.
Of course, it's hard to say now, but it would be nice, maybe.

Q. You're 5' 10"; is that correct?
MIKAEL GRANLUND: I am.

Q. Is that big enough to play center in the National Hockey League, or are you still growing?
MIKAEL GRANLUND: I think that's enough. I mean, it will be appropriate for me. I have always been one of the smallest guys on the team, and it's not a problem. I try to do things, and it's not a problem to be a little bit smaller than everybody else.

Q. How many games did you miss this year?
MIKAEL GRANLUND: 15.

Q. So that pretty much a point of game player, you put that into perspective. Now you're a 60-point season in your first year?
MIKAEL GRANLUND: Well, I don't know. Maybe. We had a really good team, and I was used to playing. But, of course, it was like a little surprise for me like I played, so good with , and it's nice.

Q. Who else has played with Helsinki, Olli Jokinen, any other NHLers?
MIKAEL GRANLUND: Ruutu, yeah. And I mean there are quite a many players who I played in IFK.

Q. You missed 15 games? Were you hurt? Did you have a couple of injuries?
MIKAEL GRANLUND: Yes, I had a couple of injuries. In November and December I was like five weeks just before World Juniors. Then I missed 15 games.

Q. What was the injury?
MIKAEL GRANLUND: A groin injury.

End of FastScripts

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