BRIDGEPORT, CT - One of the biggest surprises last season for the New York Rangers was the development of Jed Ortmeyer. He was called up as a fill-in replacement and with his hard work and determination, quickly became a fan favorite. The Nebraska native scored two goals and had four assists in 58 games, but numbers don’t tell the whole story. Ortmeyer was day in and day out, the hardest worker on the ice. He played every shift hard and did the little things that made him a good hockey player. For his labors, he was picked by the fans as the winner of the “Continental Airlines Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award” and was named Rookie of the Year by the New York Rangers Fan Club. With Broadway dark due to the lockout, the University of Michigan product has returned to Hartford to play and it was after the Wolf*Pack’s victory in Bridgeport that MOFO Sports sat down with Ortmeyer to ask him a few questions.

Jed Ortmeyer: It’s not too much different. The speed is pretty close and I definitely work a lot harder in the NHL. The skill guys - top to bottom - are a lot better up there (in the NHL), but as far as the work ethic, the guys here are trying to get to the NHL, so they are working a little bit harder.

JO: I need to work on playing good defense and staying in shape. I need to take advantage of my chances. I need to get more offensive when I get a chance and I need to make sure I can take care of my end defensively.

JO: I think growing up in Nebraska. We didn’t have the best teams growing up and that was the one thing that our coaches always preached to us if we wanted to compete. And it stuck with me my entire life. It was something that I started when I was young and I am continuing it now.

JO: It was very good feeling. There weren’t many other rookies up at the time, but it was nice to be recognized that I worked hard and contributed.

JO: Right now, I think they are working. They are trying to protect guys to make sure there are no serious injuries. With the goalies and the bigger lines, I think it’s speeding up the game a little bit.

JO: I watched the Red Wings a bit. I had a coach that played for the Red Wings, so he had a shrine to the Wings from when he played. He someone who I was interested in and so I followed them a bit.

JO: I am the baby of four total and I am the runt of the litter. The rest of my family is a pretty good size. I don’t know what happened to me; they took all the good genes from me.

JO: A lot of the guys were good. Mark Messier, on the first day, pulled me aside and wished me luck. It helped me a lot playing with him the first couple of months, because he could have been a guy that would yell at me and get on me, but he never did that. He was always helpful from the bench and he told me to look for certain things. He was never negative; he was always constructive. That made a big difference for me, because he is someone I look up to and am in awe of. For him to be down to earth and helpful, it was a big step for me.

JO: Down here, they are trying to develop players more, so there is more one-on-one time. They talk to you more. The coaches up there expect you to play and fill into situations.

JO: It would probably be scoring my first goal. It is something you dream about as a kid. And to come back and to have Mark Messier standing at the red line waiting for me and giving me a big hug is something I will always remember.

Photo by Martin McDonald.