He had to wait to hear 127 names before his was called by the Columbus Blue Jackets at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. Now, Seth Ambroz is out to send a message to the 29 NHL teams that passed him over.

“Prove them wrong.”

Expected to go among the top 60 picks of the draft in his home state, Ambroz fell to the Blue Jackets in the fifth round. The sting of having to wait longer than expected on day two of the draft was still fresh in the tone of Ambroz’s voice.

“I had no idea,” he admitted. “Obviously you don’t know what to expect. Obviously I was expecting to be higher, but now that it’s all said and done, I cant complain, being selected to an NHL team is a great accomplishment. It’s what you do after.”

Ambroz elaborated.

“When you say prove them wrong, teams that didn’t want you, you know, wont say it on the air but there are other things, I just want to play with a bit of an edge and show them why they should’ve picked you,” he said. “Just prove them wrong.”

Still, the confidence of the Omaha Lancers leading scorer didn’t waiver as he waited to hear his name called. It wasn’t a matter of if he got drafted, the six-foot-two, 210-pound forward explained.

“Not necessarily if,” he said. “It was more when. Stuff happens. It’s what you do from here on out.”

And Ambroz is ready and willing to leave his draft day disappointment behind and focus on just that.

“When it’s all said and done, you’re just a number in this draft and it’s what you do after,” he added. “Now you just got to prove those that didn’t want you wrong.”

Aaron Vickers is the managing editor of Future Considerations and can be found on Twitter. For all the latest Future Considerations news and posts, follow FC’s Official Twitter Feed, on YouTube and on Facebook!