Re: Michigan Tech 2013-2014: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Realignment
Mel Pearson show summary for 1-13:
Two excellent hockey games against a top 5 team
Trouble offensively scoring goals, can't fault our team for effort
we've met most our standards of play checklist this weekend, should get better results when you play like that, but CJ Motte had somethign to say about that
Told our team, couldn't be more proud of them with how they played, first road weekend we got 0 points, some bad breaks on Saturday, but we need to perservere
On playing Ferris again:
Dialed in on what we need to do against them
Saturday night adjustments very effective, 92 attempted shots on Saturday, may be close to a record, very tough building to play in, thier 31 attempted shots, a lot of Grade A chances
Phillips - 17 saves, CJ Motte 44 saves, we made adjustments that paid off, but need to find a way to finish, offense hard to teach, either have it or don't
Rewatching the tape: our forwards are doing all things we practice, patientce, good passes etc, CJ MOtte made some big time saves
Frustrated to lose, 9 of 13 losses are 1 goal games, waived off goal is critical when it's a good goal, so frustration mounts, we handled it well though
On their GWG saturday, should've been penalty, play would've stopped and would've been no goal, we're not catching breaks
Told our team, we think we have things tough by losing close games, Mel spent Xmas eve in a downstate hospital with a family member in emergency room, Mel walked around hospital, saw veterans in hospital that had lost limbs, talked thier families, in perspective we dont' have thigns tough, we can go play hockey
We've had some setbacks, but a lot of things going well with this team, very encourages on how they stay with it, they'll keep on perservering
On Friday:
GOod game for Jamie, key saves at critical times to keep it close, Ferris had 3-4 Grade A chances off our turnovers
Fast paced game, unbelievable, tell our fans - if you want to see great hockey, get your Ferris tickets now with top 5 team coming to Houghton, their building sold out, 1st time all year, with no school, pack the mac agaisnt that team, great pace, intensity and scoring opportunities
We'll be fine if we can play with them in games like that
Talked about puck management in that building, smaller rink, transition game so huge, they created chances off our turnovers
Ferris only goal in 3rd, redirected by Tech player, saw Hanna's reaction on ice, it was going wide, delfected it off post and into our goal
Outshot 29-25, first time outshot in about 8 games, didn't get much pressure Friday, gave it to CJ Motte too much, he was like 3rd Dman, not much sustained pressure on forecheck, so made adjustments
They don't have as deep corners as Mac, "egg shaped" so dump in funnels to behind the net, CJ Motte played it easily
both teams tired, fast paced physical game, too much going on after the whistle, little disapointed in that, too much extra curricular
On Saturday:
Ferris scores first, puck hit one of our guys, lays in slot, Ferris' first real shot of the game
Halfway through 2nd period, goal called off, great play at the net, puck goes in the net, explanation from ref, he was in the act of blowing the whistle, clearly see on replay, whistle wasn't close to his mouth when goal goes in, red light is goal, green light is whistle, clearly, red light on & 3 seconds later green light
After the game, ref said he got it wrong, Mel told supervisor of officials, these are big goals, a big points swing, getting frustrated
Don't understand how still wrong after video replay, our team continued to really battle after that
Ferris SHG, 2-0, we had puck at point, Ferris leaves guy in frot of net open on their PK, tried to get it in there, but they picked it off and got 2x1 off that, Hanna did great 2x1 forcing player to backhand, Jamie got out of position a bit
Petan goal on 5x3 PP, good puck movement, have to get the puck to Petan more on PP
Outshoot them 21-8 in 2nd, they pride on defense and not giving much, Neville, D. Johnstone, Pietila had chances
Ferris scores, 3-1, Kero got speared, doing good backchecking, pitchforked down low, have to get that out of hockey, could be serious injury, Mel really upset, have to continue to play if it's called or not, puck was in front, and Dman nor Jamie couldn't get puck away
Mel called supervisor on spearing, should've been penalty, but don't like that play more for safety, have to get that out of college game
D. Johnstone scores with Jamie pulled makes it 3-2, sharp angle, Motte thought it was back door pass, so puck went in short side, no bad shot on net
Had a couple chances late, but couldn't tie it
Shots 46-20, Good PK - Ferris 0-2, good job defensively all weekend, especially Saturday
we continue to push forward, if we execute all our goals, most nights we'll win. Unfortunately we're doing those things, but not geting results
Told our captains, you know when you have no chance, and also know when you have a team that can compete, almost every series, even Notre Dame, we've played well, we've lost 9 1 goals games, 3 2 goal games
Have to score more, big things is our PP, want that 1 or 2 PP goals a game that will really help, really struggling there
Questions for Mel:
Mel got an email yesterday, they've noticed that our sticks are being tied up by opposition, mostly Bowling Green, and it doesn't seem like our defense does as good a job when our apponents are in front of the net.
It's not a misconception, other teams might be doing a better job defensively, but in practice we practice our defesmen get the other players stick, have to have it under or over the opponents stick. We do man on man drills, to work on that, 2-3 times a week.
Hockey is a game of habits, for exmaple on Ferris third goal, Tech Dman could've gotten the players stick.
With Jimmy Davis not playing yet this year, is he a candidate to redshirt?
He could, have to be careful, of getting him in or not. He's ready to play, a bit behind on conditioning, he'll get in a good week this week with bye. We thought about taking him to Big Rapids because he's worked so hard. It would've been hard to plug him in to that atmosphere. If he can help our team, he'll play him.
Dirk pointed out, he's still young for a junior. Mel - Have to look at what's best for Tech hockey.
With reported long list of commits, are you still actively recruiting, or more scouting future potential recuits?
We're actively recruiting for next tyear and the future. Looking for pieces to the puzzle. A player like Cliff Watson appears, don't know how the roster will shake down at the end of the year. we've had a few recuits that were injured this year, so they'll go back to juniros, so always looking for future.
Out of 46 shots on Saturdya, how many were considered Grade A?
15 for sure, maybe 20, you'd consider a scoring chance. Can do it on shots, or a Grade A chance where you miss the net (2x1, breakaway, etc). We had some really good opportunities, one of best goaltenidng performances Mel has seen.
Do you think it's possible, your team is shooting too much? We've been outshooting them too much, maybe taking low percentage shots.
There are some shots that are taken from outside. No we're not shooting too much. Get the puck to the net, strange things can happen. Only time is we have a potential play, but get tunnel vision and shoot instead of pass. Tryign to tell our team to be more unselfish, odd man rushes, we've been trying to make the good play instead of shooting. We've also missed the net some, that's critical too.
Have to shoot to score. It's hard to teach, Petan goal scorer. Some guys aren't, just shoot it to shoot it.
Intrasquad game at Houghton County Arena on Saturday 5PM, $2 to get in, donated to local junior hockey.
Good to get out in community. Play a game and get closer to the fans. Autograph session after, come on the ice and meet our players. Good way for us to stay sharp with bye week.
Good for Wintjes to get some work. Copley hasn't played since LSSU, good for him too. May have to make some calls, to work on PP in game situation..
This week gives us a good chance to work on individual things on PP. Make sure we have right people in the right place, do we have PP that would suite our players better. Mel up at 4AM worrying about our PP, dispointed in W/L record, no moral victories. Expect to win every game, we've had a chance.
Want to finish season on a good run.
It'll be good for guys that havne't played. Anderson, Davis etc. We'll see what they can do, not afraid of putting guys in lineup. Made good changes on Saturday, we'll do that until we get a winning formula.
WCHA standings:
Currently tied for 6th with LSSU. Not far behind home playoff spot. Goals/points so critical. We' not in a bad spot or good spot. We have to take care of business, no scoreboard watching. If we want home ice, we have to win close games.
7 of next 9 at home, need fan support, Like our schedule. We've played well at home, even BG, outplayed them Friday, Pheonix shaky. Looking forward to some home games.
More Questions:
With bad calls by refs. Do you see a difference in quality form old/new WcHA.
Not really, they did a good job Friday. Haven't had to talk to head ref much this year. Only 2 times, BG and Ferris game. We take this very seriously, you just ask that refs get it right. They'll miss penalties, but affecting goals, with tight games/standings, they have to get it right.
We have WCHA refs, CCHA refs. At LSSU it was 1 former WCHA, 1 former CCHA. Overall pretty happy. Mel wrote to guy that runs Big Ten refs, they did a great job in GLI. Can't remember 1 of the refs, that's how you know they're doing a good job.
Why do player stand the whole game instead of sitting between shifts?
Anxious, nerves, energy. Tell guys to sit and relax. But some guys can't, anxious and into the game.
We need our goalies to steal some games for us, haven't had that maybe since Fairbanks.
