NHL.com posted a “draft diary” penned by now-Red Wings prospect Joe Veleno:
When the Red Wings called my name at No. 30, it was such a special feeling. So ecstatic, so excited to hear my name called. I’ve watched the draft for a couple years now and I put myself in that situation, imagining my name getting called and going up on stage, shaking hands with the organization. It was an awesome feeling to actually do it. Words can’t describe the emotions that I was feeling getting up from my seat.
And I had no idea it was coming. I had gone out for dinner with Detroit at the combine — they were the only ones I went out for dinner with — so that showed they had a little bit of interest in me, but I didn’t know how much until now.
I got to talk to Commissioner Gary Bettman on the stage and he said, ‘welcome, the day has finally arrived.’ I’m never going to forget that. I also talked to some of the Red Wings people. They congratulated me, said they were happy they got to pick me, they’re happy I’m with their organization, they had me high on their list, and they really liked me.
I’m going to try to enjoy this moment with everyone here, but I have development camp coming up June 26 and then I’m going home to Montreal to train for the summer before I have rookie camp in August.
Detroit is a first-class organization with a lot of history, a good winning mentality, and a good staff. It’s going to be fun to see what the future holds and how I’m going to progress with that organization.
Continued, and there are oodles of videos of Veleno’s media availability in the Veleno draft entry.
