Mel Pearson Show summary for 10-20:
Seems so long ago that we played, starting from scratch, anxious to get on the ice and on the road
We've had good practices, kept them short/intense, looked good
Games are different, need to get our feet under us the first few minutes on Friday
Huge weekend, only time we see Ferris this year
How to scrimmage PP/PK: try to do it in our scheme, even though our own players know how we run our PP/PK
Team had Sunday off, ready to go today
This weekend, everyone tried PP/PK, made sure to work on our PP/PK scheme, will see video on Ferris' special teams
Wintjes has some ongoing issues, no completely there yet, had a setback from intrasquad game, on the shelf, hoping for him full go next week, Kero/Phillips traveling this weekend
They covered other college games:
ND/LSSU
MSUM/UMD: entertaining games, UMD has a good hockey team, MSUM looked really good
UAF/UAA/Air Force/Penn State
WCHA did well on the weekend, like the style of play our league is going to, teams can skate and have skill
BGSU/UAH: BGSU has a good team, will be right up with Ferris/MSUM
Hietila called in:
Nice to get a few goals early, has managed to score goals at most levels
Advice to local kids to become good D1 player? Improve skating/strength, worked at skating a lot, also strength.
Started in NAHL, didn't play a lot later in the year. Then played in SJHL, great experience, not quite as skilled as BCHL/USHL, really good hockey and got time to improve skills.
Mel: BLake paid his dues and worked in the juniors, and being a senior this year I expect him to have his best year
When he's in the lineup, what determines who he plays with? Mel: Can play him on left or right side, can play center and help on PP or PK. Beauty of Blake is he's flexible. Can trust Blake and put him on ice in any situation.
What's improved since you've gotten to Tech? Strength and skating, our strength coaches have helped a lot in last 4 or 5 years.
Blake's scouting report for Ferris: They work hard, it'll be a big weekend, we'll have to do the same thing to be successful.
It's a small rink, do you like it? Yeah, it's fun, it's nice to go to the Ralph/Kohl Center but places like this are fun too. Shoulder to shoulder with people in the crowd.
Motte is hard to beat, need to get pucks to the net and get people in front of the net.
Will be difficult to figure out who travels:
We have to start putting line up together today. We met this morning and went over it a bit, it'll be tough decisions.
We tell the players they make the decisions for us, sometimes that doesn't happen with close decisions.
We have an experienced team, they were tough 1 goal games last year at Ferris. We can't give up much because it'll be hard to score. May think defense first with close games like that
Ready for home games, so have all the players to choose from on both nights.
A guy like Brent Baltus, had some good games last year and has looked better, if he's even with a freshmen does he have more "money in the bank"?
Expect experienced guy to be ahead of freshmen. But yes, guys with experience/history usually go.
Hard then not playing when team is gone, practicing when teams is gone is tough.
Heinonen/Vallis also have looked good, they're making it tough on us.
Big roster, with little injuries, are practices harder with more players?
It's helped, can do drills a little longer, intensity is good, people aren't getting as tired with more bodies. The way we've designed practice, it's worked fine.
Schuldt out 6-8 weeks, E. Anderson hasn't skated some, Dane Birks out, Wintjes out, so roster isn't as big as you think.
Copley called in:
1-0 Win yesterday, first professional shutout, 15 saves
How is pro hockey, biggest difference student athlete/pro hockey? Schedule is busier with games/travel more spontaneous. Game is a little crisper, it's a litle jump.
Different with games all week long instead of weekends in college.
Goalies practice at 9:30, out of rink by 12:30 and have the rest of the day to do what you want.
Mel pointed out that much busier in school. Single guys in pro hockey can have a lot of free time.
On Hershey: Not a huge town, supports the hockey team. Cool place to play.
On Caps org: It's good, the coaches treat players well and want them to succeed.
Did you get the training at Tech to get to where you are now? Yeah, college hockey was great with preparation, and knowing what it takes to get to the next level.
Is there a difference in training, weight lifting? It's not much different, same kind of thing, work out after practice. Workouts are pretty similar. It's such a science and college/pros it's pretty similar.
Rooming with Chris Conner, Tech alum: he's injured so didn't play yesterday.
Mel: Want him to get that degree, it's a different life in pros but there's downtime and he could do online classes. Going to keep bugging him to get that degree. Wish him all the best.
A new volunteer assistant coach:
Very happy with Mark Maroste
Played here, coached here, and played pro for quite a few years.
Real good hockey mind, he'll be a real good addition to our staff and will really help our players.
He was on the ice last week working with our players, don't be afraid to jump right in
Thanks again to Dieter, with addition of Joe, felt we needed someone working with Forwards and Defense
Have known Mark for a long time, he'll do a real good job
How hands on will Mark be?
Expect him to be real hands on. He's been around hockey a long time. He knows a lot of our players, excited to have him on staff.
Given him green light if he wants to point something out to a player.
Mel was a player when Mark was being recruited. Have known Mark a long time.
Don't look past Ferris, but UM is first home series. Tickets going well, little spike in last week of sales.
If you want tickets, don't wait anymore. It'll be a great series, they've got a great team.
Reminder, students: 750 tickets for students, but can get a ticket for $5 if you want to guarantee a seat
Have a lot of great things going on, will give out gift bags for youth for trick/treating, costume contest etc, fun night Friday
Questions for Mel:
What do we need to do to beat Motte?
Have to get traffic in front of him. Teams that had success had people in crease area.
Get him moving side to side. We may have a few places we can beat, but easier said than done.
Need to work hard and be aggressive.
These are the games you want to play in, high competition level.
Mark Auk/Matt Roy, 2 freshmen that have played, is one above the other?
They're different style players. Mark is better offensively, Roy is defensive. Mark has to learn to play without the puck better. Mark was a little bit more sound defensively.
Had individual meeting with players last week. Very productive meetings.
Blake Pietila with 2 goals, why will he be more productive this year?
Last year he had a nagging injury we didn't talk about. Playing with one hand the 1st half. He's 100% now, tough kid that didn't want to take time off, he couldn't have made it worse.
He's more dialed in, senior year and knows team needs him.
Where is Mason Blacklock as far as the lineup?
He's continued to improve. He's probably improved the most from the 1st day to now. Had a lower body injury, couldn't train last month of summer. He's getting in shape, a little behind, but every week he gets closer to playing.
Dirk: Jimmy Davis, how's he doing?
He's been okay, a little issue last week. Didn't prevent him from skating, but nagged him. Has to get over that before he's 100%. He'll be fine after that.
They talked about Tech football, they're rolling. Mel was there, congrats to Kerly. Big weekend for them too in Houghton.
