Shane Pinto: My NHL Scouting Combine experience

Shane Pinto poses for a portrait at the 2019 NHL Scouting Combine. (Chase Agnello-Dean/NHLI via Getty Images)

When Shane Pinto woke up on May 27, he was feeling both excited and nervous.

The 2019 National Hockey League Scouting Combine, which took place at KeyBank Center and HarborCenter in Buffalo from that day through June 1, was about to get under way. The first five days would feature one-on-one interviews between prospects and NHL organizations in the KeyBank Center’s suites. Fitness tests were on the docket for the final day.

“It was pretty nerve-racking because I had five interviews the first day, and the first one was with the Ottawa Senators,” the 18-year-old center from Franklin Square, N.Y., said. “I was really nervous. You’re going into a room with the management of an NHL team.”