Weary Costello enjoys NHL Draft Combine

He was fatigued, weary, wiped out, exhausted. Just plain dog tired.

"I'm dead right now," Jeff Costello said Sunday afternoon. "That last game, oh, my legs. I had no legs. It was like I was skating in cement."

You can't really blame the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders winger. It has been non-stop hockey for him the last week.

Costello flew Wednesday night from his home in Milwaukee to Toronto to be part of the National Hockey League's Entry Draft Combine. After two days of grueling mental and physical work there, he flew back home, hopped in a car and drove to Cedar Rapids for the final two days of the RoughRiders' 2009-10 tryout camp.

The camp concluded Sunday afternoon with the second of two "all-star games," featuring the top 40 players in the 80-player camp, as judged by the Riders coaching staff. From there, head coach Mark Carlson and assistant Mark Mullen picked 30 players as what you could call camp survivors.

There are no guarantees for any of the 30 that they'll be on the roster once fall camp rolls around. For instance, there's a July 1 cutdown date, in which USHL teams must pare their working rosters.

You can, however, say it's a sure thing Costello will be around once everything has been decided.

"Every summer, it's about getting bigger and stronger," he said. "But I'm going to work a lot on my skating. Just getting stronger on my skates. And skills, that kind of thing. Hopefully next year, I'll have a really good year, put up some numbers along the way. Just have a really successful season."

He had a successful rookie season for the RoughRiders, scoring 24 goals. The 18-year-old was ranked 50th among North American skaters in the final NHL Central Scouting ratings, getting him that precious invite to the 2009 Draft Scouting Combine.

Costello was among 104 draft-eligible guys who spent Thursday being interviewed by NHL clubs. San Jose, Nashville, Columbus, Ottawa, Anaheim, Philadelphia and the New York Islander had one-on-one sitdowns with him.

"Most of the questions were pretty straightforward," Costello said. "Describe to me how you play? What are your strengths and weaknesses? They asked you about your family background and that kind of stuff."

A few of the questions came completely out of left field, though.

"Some of them would ask the curveball question," Costello said. "San Jose asked me who the best golfer was ever to come out of Wisconsin. I had no idea. Columbus asked me who their head coach was. I totally blanked on that one. As soon as they told me, I was like, 'Oh, you're so stupid.'"

Steve Stricker is the answer to that first question, by the way. Ken Hitchcock is the answer to the second one.

Friday was all about physical fitness. Campers were tested on the bench press, push-ups, sit-ups, vertical jump, long jump and footwork (quickness and balance). Then there were the bike tests. The Wingate test lasts 30 seconds and measures how hard a player's muscles work and how quickly he fatigues. The VO2 test measures aerobic capacity.

The latter test involves players' feet being taped to the pedals of a stationary bike, their noses plugged and a breathing tube inserted inside their mouth. They are told to keep a certain speed on their bikes even though tension is increased significantly.

"Those tests were puke central," Costello said. "It was an intense couple of days. It was really fun, though. A great experience. Pretty jam packed from early in the morning until dinner hour."

Costello said he doesn't have much of an idea when he'll get drafted or by whom. His family has hired Dan Plante of Wisconsin to be his adviser/agent.

"As long as I go, I don't care what round," he said. "From what I've heard, between the third and fifth. It depends on if teams trade up for their picks and things. We'll see, pretty much."

Here's a story on the Draft Combine: https://www.nhl.com/news/