Islanders prospect Ho-Sang: 'If people want to make me seem like an a--hole, go ahead'

New York Islanders prospect Josh Ho-Sang is aware of his reputation, and he's fine with it.

The outspoken Niagara IceDogs forward has his share of critics, but doesn't plan on changing his ways.

“People will find what they want to find in what I say," Ho-Sang told Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.ca. "I just speak my mind. If people want to make me seem like an asshole, go ahead. It’s cool.” 

The 19-year-old raised eyebrows by making bold predictions about his future NHL career and for criticizing Hockey Canada following multiple national team snubs.

“Being a teenager and calling out Hockey Canada and saying I want to be great in the NHL - I do it so people can see that I have dreams," Ho-Sang said. 

"Even if I don’t achieve them, maybe it’ll give people inspiration to chase their own dreams. I think a lot of people take something from my confidence. They’re like, ‘Hey, I could be like him.’”

The Islanders traded up to select Ho-Sang with the 28th overall pick last June, and general manager Garth Snow said afterward that the center likely has as much talent as anyone in the draft.

Ho-Sang was grilled by teams during the draft process, and he told Zwelling that some of the questioning was out of line:

He says that he walked into one room and the first thing a team said to him was 'Why are you so shit defensively?' Ho-Sang asserted that he wasn’t, citing his plus-minus and his even-strength points. 

"They just kept going on about how I don’t play defence and how selfish I am. I just kept telling them I don’t get scored on. I have the puck. We’re good. I may not be in the position you want me to be in, but I don’t get scored on,” Ho-Sang says.

“And they’d say, ‘Well, you will at the next level.’ But how do they know? That’s like saying it’s going to rain tomorrow. You may have a lot of the facts, but you still can’t control the weather.”

Clearly, he wasn't shy about firing back.

"They try to antagonize you; they try to hurt your feelings; they try to get in your head; they try to make you feel like shit. But, like, I’m gonna live and die anyway, you know? So I play their game right back.”

Ho-Sang has 75 points in 56 games split between the IceDogs and the Windsor Spitfires following a mid-season trade. 

His future looks bright, whether or not the criticism is justified.