This week, the Clarion sat down with hockey defenseman Will Butcher.

Q: How old are you and what year are you?

A: I’m 21 years old and I’m a junior.

Q: What are you majoring in?

A: I’m a business major.

Q: Where are you from?

A: I’m from Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. It’s a suburb of Madison.

Q: How did you end up playing for DU?

A: I looked at the University of Wisconsin, but I came here because it had a great balance between school and hockey. This program is prestigious and I wanted to be a part of it.

Q: What is it like being drafted by the Colorado Avalanche and how much are you looking forward to eventually pursuing a professional career in hockey?

A: To be drafted is awesome in and of itself. It means a lot to me and my family to be drafted by a National Hockey League (NHL) team, especially because my hard work is being noticed. It’s my main focus, but if it doesn’t work out, I’ll have a DU degree to fall back on. I have options going forward with my career with whatever I choose.

Q: In your opinion, what is the most positive thing that came out of the Frozen Four?

A: Just taking our program back to the Frozen Four. We’re trying to win national championships and getting back to that level was awesome, especially since we haven’t been there since 2005, the last time we won. Establishing our team as one of the top in the country is a huge positive to take away.

Q: With Grant Arnold graduating in a few weeks, who do you think will be the new captain and is this something you are interested in?

A: We don’t know yet. We just voted for captain the other day and we’ll probably make an announcement at the end of the year. I was an assistant last year, so if I was nominated I would take full responsibility and be honored to be our new captain.

Q: What are you expecting to see from the team next season?

A: I don’t know the freshmen coming in and I’m getting to the point where I’m getting older. I think we’ll be a fast paced team again. Our strength will be in our skating. I think people should be looking for that pressure and we’ll have that tough mentality.

Q: What are your individual goals for next season?

A: Definitely my goal next year is to be an All-American again. I want to be a leader on the team and do the best that I can to make it a good season.