Re: '12-13 Michigan Tech Season Thread: Screw the Election, Let's Play Hockey!
Mel Pearson show summary for 1-28, Damon Whitten was in studio for Mel:
Mel got back late last night, and he figured Dirk woudl talk about the scrimmage, so Damon is sitting in
Dirk - 2nd intrasquad game of year, wasn't sure how turnout would, pleasantly surprised Damon - turnout was fantastic, big element was having the band there, good environment
Gold (Damon's team) got the win, more impressed with 1st half, good job my Kevin, got peppered but kept the shutout, gave up a couple breakaway opppotunities
What do you worry about in intrasquad game? Told teams, UNO is playing Bemidji with intensity/pace, wanted game like intensity, but be smart with contact
We got out of it what we needed, as much as you can
Dirk - It's a smaller ice rink than NHL, it's bigger than it used to be more than 15 years ago
Damon - Ice size changes things a lot, no time for Dmen, want to get pucks/traffic to the net
Dirk - Some guys are waking up - Yeah, Furne has had a few good weeks, 2 goals in scrimmage, great move in scrimmage on pass from Seigo to beat Phillips, his 2nd goal great execuation between him and J. Johnstone
On Junior class - Furne, J. Johnstone, these guys scoring will be a huge part of our success, have had 2 lines off/on scoring, could use a 3rd line to get going
After game - fans wanted pics with trophy and individual players
Final score Gold 6 Black 3
Damon's overall thoughts on Huskies season:
Key is to have goaltending and defensive play getting better/being great - both are better
We're a young team, freshmen have played a lot of college hockey by now
Dirk - has bye weeks been tough to prepare team? Damon - It's been really tough, searching for way to keep their attention to get better everyday, hard to harness momentum as well
What do you see differently in Pheonix? Pheonix starting to see what it takes everday to be good. Shields has done a great job talking to him about that.
Jamie has gotten better, maybe a bit of a set back on Saturday, not his strongest performance. We're trying to find times to get him in net. Pheonix will have a lot to say about that. We have a Tuesday game coming up, we'll see.
Defense and forwards playing better in D zone. What are they doing now? Damon - Want forwards to be in position to help if needed, take care in front of the net (Damon said a lot more bout that)
D. Johnstone is coming on. David playing his best hockey, had a good freshmen year, now coming on, his skills are good, getting pucks to the net, moving the puck, going into corners
Jujhar - He's so strong to play against. Tip of the iceberg right now, we'll see more out of him to finish year. Matchup nightmare for teams. Once footspeed catches up to this level, he'll be so tough. Made some great passes in scrimmage.
Blake - 16 points, not sure if he'll be asked to score goals in NHL, but the way he shoots he can chip in for scoring, NJ is patient with prospects
Kero - fantastic saturday night playing with speed, B. Pietila, Petan, Kero line has been great, clicked in practice and scrimmage. Kero maybe best player on ice for black squad Saturday. He could add a little more strength.
On bubble players:
Talk to them everyday, tell them what they're doing well and not doing well, a lot comes down to daily practice habits, Blake Hietila was working great in practice for awhile and for whatever reason took a small step back, heavy legs maybe.
Likteig adds great speed, a lot comes down to compete/battle, kids don't realize how hard you have to compete to be succesful.
Aaron and Chad Pietila were great Saturday
Jimmy Davis - hasnt' cracked lineup, is he close? Damon - Yeah, he's played 8 games, done a good job when he played, he plays hard/strong. Notice his compete level on Sat. His issue is more reads/position at times. Jimmy also banged up for a bit, he's healthy now.
As an assistant coach, do you find yourself rooting for certain guys?
Root for guys that help us win.
There are guys you have different relationships with on the team, maybe you recruited them.
Try to be objective to put best lineup out on ice.
Times when Damon feels player x should play over player y. Mel makes final decision. Mon-Thur try to figure out who should play.
Intrasquad game scuffel - Jujhar/Sova/Seigo got in the mix.
Didn't think it was much, but coach asked about it, it made it's way on twitter etc.
It's good, want to replicate a game, going to complete/battle have frustration.
Not sure what got JJ upset, but he slashed Rix, took away our PP. Sova got on JJ for slashing, Seigo got into Sova. Sova/Seigo was worst of pushes/shoves. Playing with intensity.
Dirk thinks it went Viral because it appeared genuine. everything fine after game
Damon - Thur Shields/Damon warmed up with team for 20 mins, then left and let guys scrimmage after that for 20-25 mins, but players were out there for 40 mins, they want to play/battle not lose.
They reviewed WCHA scores
We're tied with Bemidji, 12 points, top six has 21 points at this point
Take one game at a time, want to climb the ladder, but overall Friday night at Omaha is next
There will be a lot of movement still in the WCHA with it being so tight
Questions for Whitten:
We have not matched up well against UNO the last few years, what will we do differently?
They're the opposite of Bemidji, Bemidji is structured in their play, UNO is more free will/free style, fast explosive with high end talent.
Have to get pucks behind their D.
If we can manage the puck we'll be okay
Basically two one goal games last time taking into account the ENG goal and also lost last minute SHG
Their transition game worries me the most, if we can take that away we'll have a good chance
Does the team approcah Winter Carinval any differently than other games?
Have to a little bit, guys know what an event/great crowd it is.
Our guys feed off the energy. Guys more excited than usual.
Preparing the team for this weekend after the weekend off and the long bus trip, easier to have the bye or no?
We wanted to play last weekend, keep going if we could've.
How do we have a great couple days of practice so we're ready for that puck drop? We'll ratchet up practice, starting today. Demand a lot of our guys.
Do you get gut feelings at all about how a team will start a game going into it?
Definatley feel better if it's a good week of practice. But never really know.
They discussed NHL being back
On UNO:
We haven't won in this building. This UNO team plays/competes hard. They know their weakness is on the back end, they want to pay up ice.
On Milos Gordic:
lower body injury, thinking it could be full go today or tomorrow at practice, there's a chance he travels and plays
On Sova:
Coming back from injury, their's no guarantees to come back in, has to step up and grab a spot by playing great every night
we've got guys that can play, Brown, Fillion is back and better. Hyland has stepped in and done well too.
PK has gotten better:
81.1%, want it higher, goal would be 83-84%. Goaltending has been biggest change, but guys getting into shotting lanes has helped both forwards and Dmen.
Guys close to scoring goals, Eick:
Eick had a great week of practice, scoring left/right, one his good friends was in town, maybe he was putting on a show in practice, save some goals for this weekend. Once he gets that first one, a couple more will go in.
Jake Johnstone: He's playing his best hockey, has confidence. He's playing with speed, that junior line has some chemistry.
On recruiting:
out looking, always trying to get better. Excited about next year's clase and down the road. Have a big list now, crazy how far out you go. We have a senior goaltender we need to replace, hope to know more about that soon. Probably done for next year, except if the right guy comes along.
Coach is out, nice with a bye week, the coach can get out and see some guys. Saw some of our committed guys, some guys we're talking to. Great to have his eyes out seeing guys, he's been around a long time, great recruiter at Michigan.
Drik - May not see Damon at UNO, he may be on the road recruiting. Damon - Big weekend this weekend, also looking forward to Carnival for our fans to come out.
Really, they just need to keep the Jilbert's ice cream, the obligatory popcorn, the WCHA's best nachos (
), and pop, as I think those are the big sellers. The pre-cooked hot dogs and lukewarm cardboard pizza are just gross. Having mistakenly tried both, I have no idea who eats that crap.