A full season in the spotlight has left Brandon Wheat Kings defenseman Gio Pantelas lots of opportunities to show scouts who he is as a player. The last major event on the scouting calendar was his chance to show them more about himself as a person.
Pantelas was one of 90 top prospects invited to the NHL Combine in Buffalo, which wrapped up over the weekend. It was a full week of interviews, events, fitness testing, and media scrums that represents the last chance for most prospects to leave an impression on the teams they hope will select them at the end of June.
“I thought it was a great experience,” Pantelas said. “I really enjoyed the city itself, I got to walk around a few times. It was very well organized and everything went very smoothly.”
Unlike some other attendees of the combine, Pantelas had some good insider information going into the event. His previous teammates Charlie Elick, Roger McQueen, Carson Bjarnason, and Carter Klippenstein all attended the combine prior to being drafted, and he leaned on Klippenstein in particular this season for insight into the week. He could hardly have asked for a better guide; Klippenstein was a physical beast at his combine last year.
“There aren’t many events that you get to go to where it’s not hockey specific,” said Pantelas. “Going there for workouts, it scared me a little because it’s a first experience you get to go through. Having Klippenstein really guide me through it, that was amazing. Physically, he’s an amazing guy off the ice and he did awesome at the combine. He had a great experience there and I got to learn some tricks from him, and I’m very grateful for that. I’m expecting that tradition to continue,” he added, alluding to the fact that several young Wheat Kings could get the call to the combine next season.
A huge part of the week is the fitness testing at the end of it, ranging from pull-ups and bench press to grip strength to vertical jumps and more. Players get put through their paces in groups with a cadre of NHL scouts and media looking on.
“There were some things I would change if I were to go through it again,” Pantelas said. “But it was the first time for everyone there, there’s no returners to the combine. But I think I did well, I was happy with my results and happy with being able to go there and show off my strength, especially after such a long and grueling season.”
Asked if there were any particularly tough tests at the combine, Pantelas gave the same answer that many other top prospects have given over the years, and for good reason.
“The hardest one was the VO2 max and there’s not really a debate on that,” he said. “It’s at least 11 minutes of you just fighting against your will. It starts easy, but it just pushes you and the whole point of the test is to push you past your limits. It was definitely a harder test for everyone, and for me specifically. I got 12:30 and the last two and a half minutes was just me fighting, trying to give myself the motivation to keep going.”
Each top prospect has an opportunity to shine in their own way at the combine. For Klippenstein, his off-ice fitness level was something he knew he could excel at. For the friendly, well-spoken Pantelas, an interview situation seemed like an ideal place to showcase his personality.
“It’s a lot different being able to talk to teams over zoom or phone calls versus seeing them in person,” said Pantelas. “And the teams, they get to see you and see how you are as a person. There are a lot of things people can hide being away from in-person meetings, and I’m someone who doesn’t have much to hide. I’m a good talker. So going to those meetings, they got to see what kind of person I am, and I think that helps me a lot.”
Combine interviews are well-known for presenting prospects with odd psychological questions (Klippenstein was asked, among other things, what he would do if he were on a desert island with fellow Wheat King Roger McQueen, a baseball bat, and a single bottle of water). Those questions are also sometimes accompanied by cognitive exercises (one team reportedly had players attempting to stack golf balls) and one of the eight teams Pantelas interviewed with employed a similar method of evaluation.
“There weren’t any questions that really threw me off,” Pantelas said. “but one thing that did stick out, I got given a sheet of paper marked with numbers one to 100 and I had 30 seconds to find the highest numbers I could.”
The combine was the latest stepping stone for a top prospect to the draft, and Pantelas has hit them all. He played for Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup before the season began, he was part of Team CHL and Team WHL East at the two top prospects games, he shattered his previous career point totals with the Wheat Kings, and now he’s been through the combine. And after all that build up, the moment where he finds out his immediate NHL future is now just over two weeks away.
“Going through your year, every single event matters, every game matters, the whole season matters, and there’s no part of it where you can lay low or rest,” Pantelas said. “Whatever you do, it almost feels like do-or-die and it can hurt you or push you through. So now I’m able to rest for two weeks, knowing I’ve done it all, I’ve gone through the whole year and given it my best, and being able to now just wait and take time, maybe enjoy the outdoors… it can just be me enjoying my summer, preparing for next year, and waiting for the next step.”
The NHL draft is going to be held in Buffalo on June 26 and 27.
