Justin: I was born in Palos Park, a suburb outside of Chicago. It is about a half-hour outside of downtown, south of Chicago.
Steve: Tell me a little bit about your family, brothers, sisters, parents. Is your family from Chicago?
Justin: Yeah, we are all from Chicago. My sister is going on 21 in December; she goes to the University of Iowa. My little sister is going on 14; she’s in 8th grade right now. That is it. I have two sisters and me and two parents.
Steve: Are your parents from the Chicago area?
Justin: Yeah, they are from the Chicago area, outside in the suburbs.
Steve: Chicago is not that far of a drive. Has anybody been able to see you play as a Buc?
Justin: Yeah, my grandparents came up, my parents came up. It is about five hours.
Steve: Why and when did you start playing hockey?
Justin: I started playing hockey probably when I was three years old. My dad was big in hockey. He played.
Steve: Who did your dad play for?
Justin: He just played local. He started really liking it and I was born with a stick in my hand.
Steve: What positions have you played?
Justin: I played center but right now I am playing right wing. I played right wing before.
Steve: So you have always been on the offense growing up?
Justin: Yeah.
Steve: Having played so long in hockey, do you have any advice for players coming up that want to make it up to the juniors or beyond?
Justin: You’ve got to keep at it at all times. There are times when it gets tough and hard, and you’ve just got to bite through those times and, you know, always something good comes out of the bad.
Steve: Have you had times when you wanted to quit?
Justin: No, never.
Steve: You’ve always wanted to play?
Justin: Always wanted to play.
Steve: Why don’t you tell me a little bit about some of the past teams you’ve played for.
Justin: I played on Team Illinois last year. It is a midget team that comes down after the midget Buc Bowl. They just had it for two years. It is a competitive team. We won nationals three years ago, and the year I came we took second. I played two years there, and the second year we took third.
Steve: Before that where did you play?
Justin: I played for Team Illinois through the years, all through the different levels.
Steve: Did you play for Team Illinois rather than high school becuase it is more competitive?
Justin: Yeah, high school hockey in Chicago is not that good.
Steve: How did you end up playing for the Bucs?
Justin: Well, the process began when I was 14 actually, for the Select 15. Well, the tryouts are held in Illinois for the Illinois kids. It is for the Illinois / Missouri kids and Iowa kids, I think, too. You pick a team out of that and you pick 20 guys out of that. It was held in St. Cloud the year that Scott Owens coached me for that. So Scott Owens saw me there and he recruited me ever since
Steve: And so with the coaching change, did that bother you a little bit?
Justin: Oh, not at all.
Steve: So you knew a little bit about the Bucs?
Justin: I knew they were a great team and had good fans. I liked everything about them. I always read about them and got the magazines about them. I liked them a lot. I liked the way they played too.
Steve: What is the best thing about being a Buc?
Justin: Well, there are a lot of things. It is just a good time playing in front of the fans. You know, I really like playing in front of the fans. It is a confidence booster when you get out there and you’ve got the fans behind you. We are a team and we are real close. The coaching is good. So it is really all good.
Steve: What about those times when you’re playing on the road? You had a long road stretch here where you weren’t winning, and you had big crowds in Lincoln and Omaha. How does that effect you
Justin: It is fun. It is a lot of fun but it’s definitely more fun if you’re the other team, considering it’s their hometown fans. I mean, you learn to put that as an advantage to yourself instead of putting it as a disadvantage, knowing you’ve got tons of people there. Just keep playing, you know.
Steve: What are your plans for hockey in the future?
Justin: Well, I want to play college hockey, Division I. Hopefully get a scholarship.
Steve: How many more years do you have with the Bucs?
Justin: Well, three years.
Steve: You have three more years you can play?
Justin: Yeah. But hopefully I’ll stay this year and next year or however long it takes.
Steve: Obviously, since you’ve been playing hockey since you were three, you’ve had a lot of things happen. Have you experienced any embarrassing things you would like to share?
Justin: Yeah, actually two. My first game with Team Illinois, the midget team, it was a 2-2 hockey game and I went to get the puck along the boards and I went to shoot it back behind the net, and I put it in our own net. But we ended up winning though because I came back and got an assist. Thank God!
Steve: Do you have nickname?
Justin: Well, some people call me Pesche, some people call me Squanto.
Steve: Do you have any hobbies besides hockey?
Justin: I like playing roller hockey. That’s what I do a lot of in the summer. I like playing basketball and lifting weights.
Steve: If you won a million dollars, what would you do with it?
Justin: Probably buy a nice Porsche and go from there, a nice car.
Steve: I can’t imagine living without . . .
Justin: Hockey.
Steve: The fans probably don’t know that . . .
Justin: I have a serious girlfriend back in Chicago.
Steve: Is there anything else you want to tell the fans?
Justin: I love them; they are great! I love playing in front of them. It’s just a good time. It makes it better to play here, a lot better.
11/11/99
