Re: Michigan Tech 2013-2014: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Realignment
Mel Pearson show summary for 10/14/13:
Two different games this weekend, Friday - didn't play terrible, but not with extra edge needed on road
Looking at the weekend, need to improve in some areas, but did well in other areas that surprise you
Copley played well - made hard saves look easy, he read the play well, during 5x3s he shut the door, our PK solid too, main reason is goaltender
UMD's GWG, tough goal to give up, may want to have it back, UMD throws it to the net, goes right through Pheonix legs off a UMD skate
Leibinger goal, good heads up play, going hard to the far post on his SHG goal, big goal for us
Dirk thinks shots not accurate with 41 for UMD and 16 for Tech
We missed the net a lot, shots may be a bit misleading, we missed the net a lot in both games
Mel not happy with some of penalties Friday, want good team penalties
Going down 5x3 unnecessary, want to be succesful with a lot of bad penalties
It's refs first real action too, everyone tryign to figure out what's a penalty and what isn't, new NCHC officials
J. Johnstone goal, called off due to highstick, Johnstone never touched it, off Neville mask, whistle blew early, becasue of supposed high stick
THey'll be one of the fastest teams we see all year, along with Michigan,
boths teams had a lot of scoring back, we had 3 freshmen Dmen, they had 2 , thought we'd see more scoring, but PP was off and goalies on both sides were good
0-6 on PP, 2 shots, we were too deliberate with puck, forcing to make things happen, thinking too much, just play, Seigo was a great quarterback, big factor, Hyland struggling, thinking too much, just play
Walker seemed to struggle, from Dirk's perspective, Mel - they did have a benefit for Walker's brother who passed away 2 years ago, some distraction for him possibly, he didn't play poorly, Walker will get better
Stebner may feel like he needs to do more with injuries and being captain etc, wants to do whatever he can and more, had a simliar player at Michigan, too worried about everyone else and for games he was drained, told Mich player you have to worry about your own game, when Stebs plays his game he's really good
We got the game to 1-1, we had another breakaway right after that, very tight game
On Saturday:
UMD scores first, only PP goal of weekend, puck to the net, Jamie opens his pads just enough and it goes in
1st period, we were ready to go both nights, even more energy on Saturday and kept it going, we learned a lot from Friday
Lineup changes - D. Johnstone out with concussion like symptoms, B. Pietila sat coaches decision, Phillips in
We've got good competition, a lot of guys have played well, healthy to do that, gives other players credit for what they've done, keeps them involved
Wanted to send a message to team, also can show we can play without a couple of our top players, Davis, Fillion, Sova, upperclassmen Dmen, Pietila, D. Johsntone, think about that, wow to not have all that, it's not about what you don't have, it's who's on the ice
Heinonen and Heitila played extremely well, all of freshmen except Sturos and Wintjes have played, all freshmen played well, Phillips solid too
Neville first goal, great second effort, we were due, they created it, played strong on the puck, Neville just out-muscled the guy, he had a good weekend, playing like an upperclassmen, has speed
Most goalies aren't going to get beat if they can see the puck, same for this weekend, had to work for that goal past McNeely
In OT, controlled play eventhough we were short handed at the end, our PK much more agressive, looking to score instead of throwing it down ice, Kero and Neville with SH chances, Whitten great job with PKers
Have a chance to score some SHG this year
Kero with a great game, have talked to him about elevating his game, he skated, played against top UMD forward, created his own opportunities, stronger on faceoffs
1-1 tie, but do shootout because NCHC doing shootout, UMD has asked all non-conference teams to do a shootout, Michigan has already asked that, we will not do shootout at Notre Dame, Hockey East doesn't do it
Dirk enjoyed the shootout, it just doesn't represent the game of hockey, to say someone won because of a shootout
New age hockey people say it's exciting, and it did create excitement
Heinonen and Kero score in shootout, Heinonen a goal scorer,he made it look easy, they have shootout in USHL and Tyler has done a few
PP better come, taking Blake and D. Johnstone out, has some effect, it's a work in progress, coaches aren't happy, and players aren't either, have to put mor pressure to move puck quicker, need to change shooting lanes, couldn't get puck to the net
Attempted shots in our favor, have to work on hitting the net
Phillips solid, looks much more comfortable than last year, one of our most improved players, great work habits, looks better in net, 2 guys that can really play
Best 3 goalie combination in WCHA? Mel thinks so, need to prove it, potential is there. Any 1 of three, could play and win. Mel a bit nervous in summer, never sure, as freshmen, hoping they take another step forward.
Goaltending most impotant position, dont want average goalteding with a good team, it looks like Pheonix has taken a step, Phillips definately taken a step.
B. Pietila, coaches decision, we talked, a skirmish at end of Friday game, didn't help us at all, for David or Blake
David in same skirmish, UMD player grabbed David's helmet, hit his head on the ice, nothing major, but with a headache, didn't play David
UMD good team for us to play, enjoy plaing them, tough physical hockey, they skate well, solid team
They'll be back in December next year, they wanted that date, also had option of early October, Duluth has played Tech more than any other team, We'll try to continue, Mel will call Scott this week to thank, maybe see if anything can happen for a new 2 or 4 year deal
Former UMD & Tech coach Sertich stopped by Saturday talking to Dirk, he was still thanking John MacInnes for what he did for UMD, John was a pioneer in helping other prorams, Tech played UMD early on in their excistence and helped get them into WCHA, During all of the splintering last year, people don't know history, but Mel thinks Sandelin knows, and enjoyed the WCHA and understand what teams like Tech did for UMD,
Sertich also stopped and had a nice chat with Mel, he was so positive about some things Mel was discouraged about from Friday, if he was younger he'd still be in copper country, enjoyed the area
He looks great, had some health issues a few years back
On Notre Dame:
Mel gets a vote on USA Today coaches pole, will have them in top 5
They are upper classmen laden, as good as anyone in country, they didn't give up a goal last weekend, scored 7, outshot WMU
We're up against a good team, as good a team as we'll play all year, big challenge on the road, knows how to win, and strong physically
Last year top 4 scoring players, all juniors are all back as seniors, goaltending 44 saves on weekend, Hayes good goaltender, great defensive core, defense first game, hard to come form behind on them
We play a different game than WMU, we bring some speed, we'll go after them, guys excited, want to play at full houses on the road, we'll be ready
Mel has coached against Jackson for years, Jackson is trying to open things up more, maybe getting more skilled players than time at LSSU, still defense first, very system oriented
Against their defense, we'll get scoring chances with our speed, need to finish opportunities, we had some great ones against UMD, missed net, too cute with shots
Questions:
Q: With 6 healthy Dmen, will some forwards have to practice on defense this week?
A: Mel was talking to Coach Kearly last week and said we can't do contact, nervous in practice, only 7 healthy Dmen, then Jimmy broke his wrist in non contact drill, had surgery so down to 6 dmen. We'll have to put a few guys on defense in practice in case they need to play out of position.
Look and see if they can do a capable job. It's tough, how much contact in practice this week? Can't afford to lose any more guys on the roster period.
Q: In light of scary USHL injury, what's Mel's position on fighting at junior level?
A: Sat night, during a fight, Dubuque player went down, hit head on ice, had seizure, postponed game. Don't think fighting is needed in junior level, it's not at NCAA level, guys police themselves. It'll be interesting to see what they do at NHL level.
Don't need incidents like this in the game.
Notre Dame is Friday/Sunday games because of Football.
A lot of same issues when Mel was at Michigan, they gave us Thur/Friday option or Friday/Sunday, if we were home last weekend, probably would've accepted Thur/Friday. Miss less school with the Friday/Sunday. Afternoon games are weird. Playing a good team, building will be rocking.
On Saturday, thought about about attending football game. But instead the guys will relax, go to the tailgate on Saturday, tour stadium on Friday. Will sit around and watch football on TV.
On way to UMD 2 hours into trip, bus breaks down. There was a side road, guys can walk around. Guys are outside, hundereds/thousands of ladybugs appear, all eventually in the bus. They fixed the bus finally, rough start to the week with Davis and then the bus breaks down so no Thursdays skate. Then the bus hits a parked car Saturday, so no bus to get to the rink. Plenty of adversity. But watched a show with players on some women injured in boston marathon bombing, we're going through noth*ing compared to them. Talk about adversity a lot with team.
It' show you deal with it. We bounced back, played hard all weekend. Will win a lot if we play like we did on Saturday.
Happy Canadian Thanksgiving, blue line club had traditional thanksgiving for our team last night. Thanks to them and all the support. Great meal, whole team enjoyed it.
