Re: '12-13 Michigan Tech Season Thread: Screw the Election, Let's Play Hockey!
Mel Pearson show summary:
They reviewed the goals in the series:
Overall Jujhar made big strides since beginning of season, good to get 2 goals Friday
Genoa had an outstanding game Friday, there's one he'd like to have back, but made key saves
Game winning goal, Petan at a very shallow angle with open net, good shift by that line, they were out there by awhile, Petan puts it in
Tech 3-5 on PP, worked on PP during bye week
On Saturday:
Outshoot BSU 15-4 in 1st, we were ready to play
On Petan's disallowed goal, on highlight tape, from that angle it looks like Petan bumps the goalie, from another angle, Siego's shot hits goalie, and puck is in crease, when it's in crease, it'a anyone's puck, it's fair game
Seigo's goal, Seigo overall looked good, made fewer mistakes, as a Dman you'll always make mistakes, Kero outbattled, got loose puck, nice pass by Johnstone and nice shot by Seigo
Two diff games in 3rd, for 1st half, good solid road game, gave up a couple chances, and then Davis took a holding penalty, we got a PP after taht but didn't do much with it
In OT, we looked fresh, they looked tired, eventhough we basically only played 2 lines in OT, real good 5 min overtime
BSU not happy with OT goal, Mel has watched this goal 20 times, Jujhar's stick is no where near BSU Dman's feet, BSU guy lost his edge, great non-call, Jujhar takes the puck and passes to Blake
Good for Blake, he doesn't miss, they were on Blake all weekend
Bemidji had 8 seniors in their lineup Sat, compared to our 1 upfront and 2 on D
Genoe starting to put together a couple good games
Questions for Mel:
How many non-conference games will we have in new WCHA?
28 league games, 2 at GLI allowed 34, plus Alaska exemption, probably 6 non-conference not including, GLI.
Are you finding other schools will do 1 for 1 deals (1 trip to to their rink for 1 trip to Houghton) or 2 for 1, Mel is finding some of both.
MSU is coming here next year, Duluth is coming up here, not much to say about the other downstate MI school until contract is done. A lot of good non-conference games.
Why have we been so good in OT?
5 of 6 have been succesful, we play to win. Not sure exactly, but we do play to win.
What is difference from Friday to Saturday's PP?
That's the PP, sometimes puck bounces the right way, they just didnt' go in. We work at it. Overall like our PP, middle pack in WCHA, top half in the nation.
Did Genoe do enough to earn the #1 spot going into weekend against UMD?
Yes. He played well, earned it, hasn't had many back to back chances and he did well. It'll be an ongoing battle.
Walker Hyland played Saturday, why did he play, injury or wanted to see him?
We had one guy that didn't play well Friday, so Hyland was in Saturday, assitant coaches have said Hyland has looked good in practice, we waited for the right time to get him in. He's got good offensive instinct, needs to work on defensive side. He looked comfortable.
We have 3 NHL draft picks, how often do NHL teams call to check on them?
Some call, not all, but some call in about quarterly to check in. We do see their scouts on the road at times. There were quite a few scouts in Bemidji, Mel talked to them. Talked to them about some of our free agents, which worries Mel. Want to see guys like Kero and D. Johsntone get through 4 years at Tech. Dirk pointed out Ottawa, FL and Montreal reps were there among other NHL scouts.
Blake Hietila, how did he play, will we see more of him?
Yes, he played well, we'll see more of Hietila. He was in for Gordic, Gordic's shoulder popped out, he could've played Sat, but let him rest. We've played everyone except one guy so far this year. We've got depth and some good competition.
Recruits question, what can you tell us about signings?
We have a few in, Mel checked at 6:30 AM when they got back in town Sunday morning. They've gotten a few more but still waiting on a few, should have about 6, and will announce them all at once. Next Monday Mel will have coaches with him to talk about recruits.
WCHA standings - every night is tough in WCHA, it'll be a good fight to finish, Du maybe playing better than anyone, We've played some of the top teams. Like where we are, and we have some home games startig in a few weeks. 2 huge wins puts us back in contention for home ice.
UMD tied and lost in Grand Forks last weekend. UMD will host SCSU this weekend. We'll get a better feel for where we stand after this weekend when teams get to the same number of games played.
Guys will get 2 days off for Thanksgiving.
When you get a couple big wins, wish we could keep playing, but we'll use this week to start getting ready for UMD.
