NHL ENTRY DRAFT

June 24, 2000

Brooks Orpik

BROOKS ORPIK: I think going into -- you have expectations of where you want to go. You try not to think of it too much, but it's still in the back of your mind. I guess I was a little disappointed at first, but I mean right now, I mean there's no room for disappointment. I'm just pretty excited. I think going into it means a little bit more than it does now, so I'm just happy.

BROOKS ORPIK: It was kind of funny meeting him, I guess, at first. He said something to me. I guess it's funny how it worked out. I didn't have much conversation with the Pittsburgh organization going into it, so I was surprised at first. I guess with that whole thing in the back of my mind, it's kind of funny how things worked out.

BROOKS ORPIK: I guess so. I tried not to think about it too much, who was interviewing me. There might be a reason. I'm not sure why.

BROOKS ORPIK: I don't know the situation. The second in DC is second to none. Might be hard to pass up if I decided to leave. I'll give more thought to it later on. Like I said, it's pretty hard to pass up.

BROOKS ORPIK: I guess I admire Scott Stevens the most. As far as someone comparing to...(Inaudible).

BROOKS ORPIK: No, like I said before, I had no interviews with them before, so it was pretty surprising to me to get drafted by Pittsburgh. I think I'll talk about that later on, probably in the next couple weeks or so. It's really all up in the air now I think.

BROOKS ORPIK: I guess nothing at all. Definitely when I saw them picking, it was kind of -- it was pretty funny being from there. But I guess, like I said before, I really didn't think about it too much, what teams were that interested, they didn't seem that interested. I guess I would have been happy getting drafted there. But I mean, where I got drafted really didn't mean too much to me. No matter where I went, I was going to be happy.

BROOKS ORPIK: I don't really think I have a slam on it.

BROOKS ORPIK: I think it's great for college. You see the first two guys, Ricky and Dany going one, two, then my teammate Krys and I going -- but I think it's just great for college really. It's been overshadowed by Juniors a lot, the last couple years. So maybe things have turned around a little bit for us.