Michigan Tech 2014-2015

[JohnsonsJerseys]

Re: Michigan Tech 2014-2015

College Hockey All Access - Ferris State Bulldogs vs. University of MichiganReally nice production aside from a few hokey moments. Tech's athletic department could learn a lot from this.

Nice HD quality, too bad the game feed didn't look that good.
Ryan J

[huskyfan]

fhttps://twitter.com/JamiePhillips31/...38063092019200

That is a pretty great mask. Quincy Mine, the UP, kids playing hockey, that pie chant you dorks always do, Doge...good lord what dork.

oh, Biddy, you know we take that as a compliment!

its a great mask!

[JohnsonsJerseys]

Re: Michigan Tech 2014-2015

Week #2 with the Huskies at the top of the WCHA standings. How long will the streak last?
I'm pretty sure this is already the longest time at the top in the 20+ years I've been following the Huskies.
Ryan J

[bigblue_dl]

Re: Michigan Tech 2014-2015

Week #2 with the Huskies at the top of the WCHA standings. How long will the streak last?
I'm pretty sure this is already the longest time at the top in the 20+ years I've been following the Huskies.
Ryan J

Hockey teams I root for are currently 4-0. Trying to figure out if Tech or the Wild will be the team to break that streak.

[mtu_huskies]

Re: Michigan Tech 2014-2015

Mel Pearson Show summary for 10-13:

Good weekend, nice turnout on Saturday
Wish we could do skate with the huskies more often, our players enjoy it
Wanted to create a game like atmosphere, to keep good habits going, with 3 weeks between games, easy to get into bad habits
Wanted to see guys who hadn't played yet or are on the bubble
Also wanted to look at goalies, good to see Devin in net, no warm-up, hard on him, Wintjes has had a lower body injury and hasn't practiced a lot, he played well
Johnstone out for precautionary reasons
Schuldt just had knee surgery, out 6-8 weeks

Blacklock: Had a good game, had an injury this summer, has continued to get better, quickness, deceptive shot, sees plays well
Anderson: Big strong kid, light on his feet, can play center or LW, size/grit/toughness but can skate, he'll continue to get better
Devin Kero: difficult when don't get a warmup, Eick on breakaway right away and scores, Schawhan very happy with Devin, has a few things to work on, good for him to get in
Matt Messina was other goalie: practiced due to Wintjes injury, played HS hockey in Duluth, 5th year senior, in National Guards and had a tour in Afghanistan, interesting young man, wanted to get him in a game, did fine
Patrick Anderson: scored a goal, has fought some injuries, really improved his skating, credit to Patrick and Shelast working with him, greet teammate

Have implemented some new system things, did see some of it in intrasquad game. Not with everyone, as some people have habits. Really happy to see some of it, have to continue to work on it.

Steman stood out: skates so well, speed, hard to get puck from him, tough to play against, will be a really good player

Raised $1600 for local junior hockey and skate with huskies is important to give back to community. We have to get more involved, continue to find ways to help in the community.

Muckalt was on the road in western Canada, trying to finalize a couple recruits, good to get out and show our face with a couple recruits
Shawhan was on the road Friday but back for the game, wanted him to see the team being newer
Will have 3 days of practice, probably all coaches on the road this weekend, we have to do a lot of recruiting in-season

Cut second half to 20 mins: tried to get a few extra bodies to help, but club hockey down in Oshkosh this weekend, only 4/5 Dmen on teams, so every other shift vs. every third shift in normal game, wanted to increase intensity, pace did pick up

They discussed other NCAA hockey results:
UAF and UAA had wins over UW and Maine, Friday was real good for WCHA
Early in the year, Alaska schools can go out on ice 2 weeks earlier than other teams so it's huge, and travel to AK can be hard
No idea why AK gets 2 extra weeks, strangest thing because they play at home the first weeks usually, huge advantage for them early in the year, been that way for a long time
Dirk noted incentive rule: any team playing in AK, gets an extra game to play in addition to 34, that's why teams go to AK for the tournament, good bonding to go up to AK too, and tournament pays for most of the cost to go up there, no reason to not go
Now UAF hosts tournament, easy for them to get home games early in the year, not as much struggle to schedule non-conference games early in year as for us
BGSU/Miami split, Bemidji/UND split

Implemented some freshmen in PP, will that be a revolving door through season?
A little bit, one group we know well, have to determine what players can do well and create PP system around that.
Pietila/Sturos strong in front of net. Up top want skill guys, Johnstone can shoot it, Hanna has poise and can handle puck. Petan, so smart, dish it off to guys, top 3 guys move around, make it a good group.
Down the road, Auk will be a strong candidate for a spot like Hanna.
2nd group, trying to find out what freshmen do really well at this level, so want to put guys in spot to succeed, we have a lot of good offensive players, need to find chemistry on 2nd PP group.

Do you use PP card when recruiting?
Mel's recollection, no, talk about guys leaving positions open, have to earn your time. Hard to guarantee someone they'll run PP, could tell kid they'd have opportunity to earn that position.
Want to be upfront honest, and tell kids they'll have to earn their spot.

On PK, ever look at offensive side of things?
Talk about speed first, Mel watches a lot of hockey, NHL started last week, listened to Babcock talk about speed, wants to increase team speed.
Last night, Miracle was on, movie talked about speed/skating, need it. Have to skate for forchecking, break out, puck pressure, etc.
Continually adding speed, trying to get players faster, Shelast done a great job. Gould, Heinone, Baltus, P. Anderson all much better skaters.
Trying to be more aggressive on PK. Not enough speed yet, need to recruit more.



Questions for Mel:

What, if anything, is missing from the Tech hockey program preventing us from being in contention on a yearly basis?
Nothing missing, recent ruling from Big 5 conferences, will do what they want, give full scholarship, or lifetime scholarship, we're goign to have to deal with that.
Could give reasons why it's difficult or more difficult, but we have to get the job done. It's not what you don't have, it's what you have. We have a great rink and good following.
Good coaches, strength and condition, great education. Rich strong past at Michigan Tech, good alumni/donors. Its up to us to identify right players to be here. We want players that want to be here.
We can do it, it wont happen over night but we'll get there. Where we've come from in last 4 years, feel really good about our program.
2nd part after changing culture is to learn how to win. Some teams have that have won a lot understand how to win and how to react in situations.
We have to win a playoff series, win some postseasons things so we know what it takes. We're getting there. Pleased with where we're at and programs heading in right direction.


Now that intrasquad game is over. When do you plan to select final roster and how many players will you keep?
We have a roster, it's pretty well set, we're at 31, don't see us going over that. We had a couple young men interested in being on team. Will talk about it this week.

For committed players do coaches have a say in what junior league they play in?
A lot of players make verbal commitment before school, usually 1 or 2 years of juniors still to play.
We have a little bit of say. We like to stay out of it for most part. Find it difficult to tell kid to go play here and they have could have a negative experience.
Have player look at options and what are they thinking. Whatever they feel most comfortable with. We talk to them about potential junior coaches/style of play. For most part let young man make that decision with family. Give a little input.
Some other schools might feel different and may want them to play for a buddy in BCHL or something knowing that player will get a fair shot at playing. We try to be careful, don't want to burn bridges.

USHL vs BCHL, one is not better than other?
They're different, one isn't better. USHL more defensive oriented. BCHL more wide open for scoring
Both are good. One isn't right for everyone. USHL has a lot of players that have gone on to NCAA. BCHL doesn't quite have that many. Good players come out of both leagues.

Deflections out of mid air, are we working on that?
A little bit to improve coordination.

Mel reminded fans to get tickets for Michigan games.

[JohnsonsJerseys]

Re: Michigan Tech 2014-2015

http://michigantechhuskies.com/sport...swGpM.facebook

Nice to see the hockey program starting to develop corporate sponsors ($7 / shirt x 850 = ~$6,000). Everyone wants to be associated with a winner and momentum will build as the team keeps winning. More winning = more dollars spent with the program. More money = better everything. Better everything = More winning. Round and round the cycle goes.

I wonder if that is a Walker Hyland game jersey? Might be the first white jersey to leave the team but it looks pretty darn clean for two years of use if it is a gamer.
Ryan J

[redwing61]

Re: Michigan Tech 2014-2015

http://michigantechhuskies.com/sport...swGpM.facebookNice to see the hockey program starting to develop corporate sponsors ($7 / shirt x 850 = ~$6,000). Everyone wants to be associated with a winner and momentum will build as the team keeps winning. More winning = more dollars spent with the program. More money = better everything. Better everything = More winning. Round and round the cycle goes.

Sigh, you're right, but as an employee of a competitor of ArcelorMittal, this kills me.

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: Michigan Tech 2014-2015

John Scott got Braden Holtby pulled 9:34 into tonight's SJS/WAS game with his first goal since last December to make 3-0 Sharks.

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: Michigan Tech 2014-2015

Probably the nicest NHL goal Scott will ever score

I give you John Scott the Sniper!

The world is coming to an end. RT"@SanJoseSharks: John Scott the sniper. #SJSharks http://t.co/RFzjb6j7rI"

— Keith Piatek (@kpiatek19) October 15, 2014

[Broseph Stalin]

Re: Michigan Tech 2014-2015

Probably the nicest NHL goal Scott will ever score

I give you John Scott the Sniper!

The world is coming to an end. RT"@SanJoseSharks: John Scott the sniper. #SJSharks http://t.co/RFzjb6j7rI"

— Keith Piatek (@kpiatek19) October 15, 2014

He's a pure scorer. Luckily San Jose has people like Raffi Torres on the roster to make sure other teams don't take liberties against Scott. See how much space he had on this goal? Nobody would touch him. Thanks Raffi!

[huskyfan]

Re: Michigan Tech 2014-2015

[bigblue_dl]

Re: Michigan Tech 2014-2015

How does John Scott get behind the defense? I mean, I've seen it before, and it blew me away then too.

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: Michigan Tech 2014-2015

How does John Scott get behind the defense? I mean, I've seen it before, and it blew me away then too.

It's the Caps - they don't play defense.

[JohnsonsJerseys]

Re: Michigan Tech 2014-2015

Sigh, you're right, but as an employee of a competitor of ArcelorMittal, this kills me.

Now would be a good chance to talk to your management and get exclusive rights for all future promo items. Get in now while you still can. Years from now companies will be begging to be associated with the team, but there won't be anything left to sponsor.
Company X: Yeah, we would like to to do a corporate sponsorship with Huskies Hockey.
Mel: Hmmm, we'll were pretty booked for the next couple years. Our scoreboard, Zamboni, dasher boards and other key areas are locked up on multi-year contracts and we just signed a deal for naming rights on the Keystone Light Pep Band Overhang at the Delta Airlines ice sheet in the JMSIA.
Company X: But we want to have our name associated with a winner - what can we do?
Mel: Well you could always sponsor the nacho stand. Everyone likes nachos...

I give you John Scott the Sniper!

Look at the speed! Not a Caps player in sight when he lets that shot go.
John gives me hope that my career in rec hockey might not be over just yet.
Ryan J

[JohnsonsJerseys]

Re: Michigan Tech 2014-2015

It's the Caps - they don't play defense.

They're too busy ordering room service... "Lots of ketchup."
http://youtu.be/5yzGT-9sk7Q