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Q&A with Greg Hogeboom
Written by: John Logue on 09/11/2004 
Hockey's Future caught up with Hogeboom at the Pacific Division Rookie Tournament at Disney ICE in Anaheim.
HF: How did you make the determination to play in the NCAA over Canadian juniors?
GH: I was drafted in the fifth round by North Bay and went to their camp. After a couple of days my family and I decided that school would be a better route. I was pretty confident that if I went back and played one year of juniors that I could get a scholarship. Everything worked out for the best and I ended up at a great school in Miami.
HF: How was the style of play in college different?
GH: It’s a lot quicker. The guys seem to be a lot older, much more mature, much stronger. I came there as a 17-year-old, it was pretty overwhelming. I just tried to get stronger. I had an okay freshman year, progressed and got stronger and my game kept developing.
HF: You had 24 goals your junior year, 17 of which were on the power play. Was everything just clicking on the power play that year?
GH: We had a great power play and our coach would put me in the position right in front of the net. It’s where I like to be. I had a great linemate in Mike Kompon. He fed me the puck a lot so I had a lot of tip-ins and garbage goals. I managed to get 17. It was a good feeling to lead the nation in power play goals.
HF: Is there an NHL player you patterned your game after?
GH: Not really, I like the way power forwards play like Jeff O’Neill and Brendan Shanahan. Guys that play hard in both the ‘O zone’ and ‘D zone’, and can score goals.
HF: How was this year’s prospect camp different for you now that you’ve graduated and signed a contract?
GH: It was a lot different. I came in to my first development camp as a sophomore, I had just been drafted, so my expectations weren’t very high and I knew I was going back to college. I think I left a pretty good impression there and came back two years later and worked out very hard over the summer. This is my first rookie camp and so far it’s going pretty well and hopefully it will continue to go well.
HF: What did you focus on the most over the summer?
GH: Just getting stronger, also trying to get quicker and lose some weight. I was working out in LA with some other Kings prospects, Noah Clarke, Dave Steckel, George Parros and Denis Grebeshkov. We had a good time, we all worked out together, and I think we all made huge strides in our physical development and hopefully we see the results on the ice.
HF: Were you working out down in Venice Beach?
GH: No, we were working out at the Home Depot Center with Mike Boyle. The trainers there helped us out quite a bit.
HF: Did the Kings have much contact with you during your college years?
GH: Not really, they pretty much left me alone and let me play my game. I actually didn’t know many times when they even were at the rink. Maybe that was good, maybe that was bad. I can’t really tell. They have the kind of management staff that doesn’t really like to interfere.
HF: What’s it like being a teammate of Dave Steckel’s after so many college games against him?
GH: My line was often matched up against Dave’s. Dave was one of the best defensive players in the CCHA last year. We played Ohio State 16 times over four years. We had some good battles. We have a mutual respect for each other. We’re roommates here at rookie camp and might end up roommates in Manchester.
HF: You had another Kings prospect on your team in Miami, Marty Guerin. What are your impressions of him?
GH: Marty is a great player. He was a right winger too, on our top two lines. He’s a really good prospect, a definite steal in the ninth round. He’s developing in Miami, he should be great this year. He was great for them last year -- very solid player.
HF: Now that you’ve graduated, what do you think you will miss most about the college game?
GH: The camaraderie. Our team was a really close-knit bunch. We knew we were going to be there for four years, so you gotta be friends with everyone. In the pro game it’s a little different because guys come and go with trades.
HF: You signed a two-year contract with the Kings back in April, where do you want to be when those two years are up?
GH: My goal is to be in the NHL by that time. I think that if I keep developing the way I have been, it’s realistic to think I should be there. That’s my goal for sure. If there is a setback, I will take it in stride and hopefully do well in the AHL.
Copyright 2004 Hockey's Future. Do not duplicate without permission of the editorial staff.
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