Re: Michigan Tech 2013-2014: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Realignment
This was my concern going into a tough non-conference schedule mostly all on the road. We start 1-6-1 and you have to wonder how the players confidence is. Maybe I'm being too optimistic, but with the exception of the Sunday Notre Dame game we've been rioght there, and with a slightly better PP it's a completely different record. There should be plenty of optimism for the rest of the season.
Mel Pearson show summary for 11-04:
Tough weekend, feel for our players who played, well, hard with passion
Fine line between winning/losing, couldn't be more proud of them
Overall thoughts:
Ready to play, they were anxious, ready to go, scoring chances early, not getting that first goal
We're not finding the back of the net, Blake not 100%, credit to him, wants to play, Friday was his best game, number of NHL guys commented to Mel that he was our best player
Blake, D. Johstone, Petan, having some trouble scoring, playing well, creating opportunities, they'll go in eventually, on road other teams get last change and get the matchups they want
We played well, good scoring opportunities, got away from shooting puck in OT, 2x1 Rix decided to make pass, need to be more selfish and shoot
Give our team credit, gut wrenching loss Friday, right there, carried play, bounced back well Saturday, got off to a good start
Worked on being prepared this year, everyone is different in their preperation so it's on each individual, guys doing a good job, Northern game might be one exception
On Friday:
Mel - back when he was at MTU, they played MI at least 2 maybe 5 times in a season
Healthy rivalry, plenty of history, excited when they visit Houghton next year, good hockey team, Friday's game was one of best college hockey games Mel's been a part of
Down 1-0, Gissusseppi, Mel recruited him, great skater, good play, cut right in past Hanna
Haven't played with lead on road yet this year, hard playing from behind, offense hard to preach beacuse players tend to cheat, still creating chances, if we weren't Mel would be very concerend
Need to get a little more hungry around net, get gritty goals, offense will come. really like defensive play right now
2-0 after penalty expires, put us on our heels, puck hit Sweeney hits post and goes in net, good bounce for MI
these bad bounces will even themselves out, we'll get them later this year as long as we play the right way
Blake Pietila makes it 2-1, good PP goal, changed our PP this week, caught them off guard, good PPs Friday night
Eick SHG 2-2, real nice job pressuring dman at blueline, not many people can catch him, reminds Mel of John Madden at MI, holds career NCAA SHG record, emerging as one of better all around players, they had 5 forwards on PP
We had 7 freshmen going into Yost, 5/6 sophmores, young team playing well at Yost
Dirk - similarities to Conner, he had 8 SHG one year, Eick well on his way
Now we have to get CJ to score 5x5, he's a threat SHG, people scouting us will take notice of him
Dirk - do you worry about CJ, with his success, might forget defensive angle of PK?
Mel - No, he's honest player, have to play on right side of puck/defensve, even when it's 50/50 chance of getting puck, with our speed we'll get to pucks
3rd period entertaining, good hockey game, outshot them through 2 periods, good reffing, we were pressing for a win,
In 3rd: 16 shots MI, 8 for Tech, they were shooting shots from everywhere, Grade A chances fairly even in 3rd
We carried play in OT, Copp scores GWG, ref got in the way stopping a puck from getting deeper in their zone, allowed them tranistion back on offense, refs were in the way quite a bit this weekend, but refs did do a good job, good shot bad goal, Copley will stop that most of the time, did touch Stebners stick a little bit
Tough loss, we had our opportunities, didn't cash in on a few 2x1s, when you play a good game, agasinst a good opponent in a tough building, hope to come away with something
MTU PP 1x5, MI PP 0-4, Copley 40 saves, Nagelfoort 34 saves
On Saturday:
A couple unnecessary penalties, that gave MI momenteum at end of 1st, you'll kill good team penalties, less likely selfish ones
Had three straigh penalties late in 1st period, Want to play 5x5 because of our depth and PP not clicking
Numbers down on some of our top players, mainly because of PP struggles, played much better this weekend
Can't give MI PP, 30% coming into the weekend, go down 1-0 late in 1st, Copley would likely want to have it back, Mel watched replay on FS Detroit yesterday, Legacy comments that Copley was a little deep in his net
Good discipline this weekend, except for this time
Period 2, no scoring, Friday was so hard fought, Sat wasn't same pace of play, both teams played tighter defensively, not as much room, slower, energy level not up to Friday levels
Early in 3rd, MI makes it 2-0, because of 1st goal being short side, Copley may have overcorrected, they shot far side, bad angle shot
Liked how we responded, we didn't pack it in, Rix scores to make it 2-1, backhand shot
Coach Muckalt was talkign to Rix about scoring, he has one of better shots in practice, doesn't shoot as much in games, don't be afraid to shoot
Good hit by Vallis to cause MI to cough puck up to Rix
Great conditioning, outplayed them after that point, outshoot them 9-8
We had great opportunities, Heinonen came off wing, walks in and gets great shot, puck in crease, Rix should dive and chip it, tries to knock it in, but MI gets stick in way, that's difference right now
Just after that, Blake P, back door opportunity, not getting any luck right now
PP 0-6, didn't like it as much Sat, looked tired, slugish, too predictable, last PP was best of game, Hanna & D. Johnstone some great chances
OVerall, ton of credit to our team
Reason these teams were scheduled, wanted to play good teams, UMD, ND, MI, all played in NCAA tournaments recently, it'll help us down the road, going into WCHA, need to make sure same intensity is there playing WCHA teams
MI 1-9 on PP, really good, one of top PP in country, 13 NHL draft picks
We're not getting results, Mel came here to win, not to play close games/moral victories, it's a process, like the direction of this team/program
Alulmni function in Ann Arbor - nice to be on road see alumni, had one at UMD also, great turnout of fans Friday and Saturday, could hear Lets Go Huskies Friday
Mel spoke at function, great turnout, over 100 people, supportive, alot of alums proud of their connection to Tech, told them to be proud of this team, they'll give their best effort, even though W/L aren't adding up
MSU coming up this weekend, first time since 1984:
They're 3-3, good hockey team, improving program, Tom in his 3rd year also, 3-1 in last 4, getting healthy
Can't worry about goal scoring, need to play a rock solid game, it'll come
Fans come out and enjoy, they're a solid team led by 2 good goaltenders, hoping for another great crowd
Mel thinks they'll be chartering up here, hope for snow to make it a good experience for them
Blue line luncheon 11:30 Friday, Begg Center, Mel will be there with a few players, come ask questions and a nice lunch, see the Begg after the redesign, Murals/classic pictures of Tech players/trophys, bring your camera
Sponsored by Coaches Corners sandwhich shop
Mural unbelievable, Dirk's son amazed by it, some classic great players on it, D. Johnstone all over too, not sure how he got in so many pictures
Questions for Mel:
What are you doing on that 3rd linemate with Eick/Rix, it's changed a lot?
Left them together because they play well together and they play PK together. Will likely continue rotating guys in there, have also messed with Eick playing on different lines. Probably will leave Eick/Rix together and keep trying different guys there.
What does MSU bring to the table?
They're in transition, a few years back defensvie. NOw trying to open it up a bit, more offensve skill guys that can skate, move the puck. Right now, looking to open it up a little bit. Will be sound defensively.
On top end guys sturggling:
Just a matter of time, they're too good. You know they can do it. Some of it's puck luck, Blake has to get healthy. We just have to hit the net instead of aim for perfect spot.
The last 3 MI goals were just shots, not aiming.
With questionable goals on Pheonix, does it give Phillips a shot?
No question, Copley real good on Friday, except last one. Have to stop ones you should stop. Right now 1 goal is so important, so many 1 goal games for us. Everything magnified when you give up a goal.
So many 2 goal defecits we've come back from. It takes a lot of energy to play from behind. Havnen't played with lead on the road yet this year.
Encourage everyone to get ticekts this wknd. It'll be exciting, the wins will come. Come support this team, NMU was a great crowd.
*sigh*
