Erik Jensen
Number: 21
Position: Forward
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 200
Birthday: 9-4-79
Hometown: Madison, WI
Last team: West High School

Player Biography

Erik comes to Des Moines after playing for West High School in Madison, Wisconsin, where he had 15 goals and 27 assists. He was selected to the Wisconsin All Star Team three years in a row. He plans to attend college and may work in sports medicine.

Player Interview

1/5/98

Steve: Erik, tell me about your family.

Erik: My parents are divorced and I have one brother who is 15. He plays hockey also. He did not make the high school team this year but should next year.

Steve: Where do you call home?

Erik: Madison, Wisconsin

Steve: Were you born there and raised there?

Erik: Yes, same place as Scott Owens. I grew up about two blocks away from him. But, I did not know him before this. A lot of the people in the neighborhood know him, and so do a lot of my friends.

Steve: What is your favorite food?

Erik: My favorite food is pizza, usually pepperoni. And then dessert is just chocolate and lots of it!

Steve: You are a chocoholic?

Erik: Yeah, and it does not really matter what kind it is, just lots of it.

Steve: What do you like to do when you are not playing hockey?

Erik: I used to like to hang out with my friends and play pool, just sort of relaxing. We are always going to watch movies.

Steve: Has your schedule changed a lot since you have been playing junior hockey?

Erik: A little cause I am in high school still. There are just four of us in high school and it’s sort of hard to do both, go to class and come and play hockey. We get a little tired at times too.

Steve: Do you have a full schedule at high school?

Erik: You take five classes out of eight, so it is not a full schedule. It is half a schedule.

Steve: How do you work your school schedule with games?

Erik: Like this week we are going to be missing three days. You have got to catch up a lot; stay after school and go in early.

Steve: Do teachers understand your situation?

Erik: You cannot be a jerk to them. You have got to get to know them and sort of suck up to them a little and let them know what the deal is. All of my teachers are nice. They are very cooperative.

Steve: So where do you go to high school?

Erik: I go to Valley High School.

Steve: Why and when did you start playing hockey?

Erik: I started when I was three. My mom just got me involved in all sports, and hockey is just one of the numerous ones. She coordinated everything and then took me to all the practices.

Steve: What are the past teams that you have played for?

Erik: Just high school teams and the club hockey team in town.

Steve: Is this your first time away from home? How did you end up in Des Moines?

Erik: This is my first time away from home. I ended up getting drafted here. Then the coach came down to my house and talked to me, and I thought it was the right decision. Then I moved down here.

Steve: Can you explain a little about how drafting works?

Erik: I guess they get six draft picks and three tenders. It is people that they own their rights against so they cannot play for any other teams in the league. Someone had his rights.

Steve: So Des Moines had rights to you?

Erik: Yeah, Des Moines had my rights. So they could trade me off for another player if they wanted to.

Steve: What is the best thing about being a Buccaneer?

Erik: I like the fans a lot around here. Kids look up to you, and it is really neat because back home we didn’t have a lot of fans. All the support and all the people are great around here. There are no negative things really.

Steve: Are there any drawbacks on being a Buccaneer or being on a Junior A hockey team?

Erik: It is a little tough to be away from home. Other than that, everything else is great. You get a little homesick sometimes.

Steve: Are you ever recognized in public?

Erik: A little because we wear these coats around, but it is really neat. You are sort of the hero. The recognition in public does not bother me. In fact, I kind of like it.

Steve: What is your most embarrassing moment (in hockey if possible)?

Erik: It is in hockey, actually. My freshman year we made it to the state finals. We were down 3-2 with 13 seconds left. We were in the offensive zone and some guy tripped me right after the face off. I thought, there are only 13 seconds and we are not going to win the game. So I ran after him and I punched him pretty hard and knocked him down. We ended up scoring a goal right after I punched him to send the game into overtime. The goal was disallowed because I got a penalty. My freshman year was awful. So, we lost the last game of the season and we lost the tournament. We were down 3-2 and it would have gone into overtime, but we never made it that far. It was really bad.

Steve: The fans would be surprised to know that I . . .

Erik: I do not even know. I guess that I am a slob or quite unorganized at times.

Steve: In what way?

Erik: Just in everything; my school books, my locker room stall, the whole ball of wax.

Steve: Do you have anything else you want to tell the fans?

Erik: Keep coming to the games. We enjoy it. You can hear the crowd when they all start going together and it gets really loud in here. It pumps you up.