Blacklock took leap of faith
October 23, 2014
By Brandon Veale - DMG Sports Editor (bveale@mininggazette.com) , The Daily Mining Gazette
HOUGHTON - Mason Blacklock's arrival in Houghton this fall was the culmination of a 2,000-mile leap of faith.
Blacklock, a freshman forward on the Michigan Tech hockey team, signed with the Huskies without ever having visited the campus in person.
He did have some good advice from recent recruits (and British Columbia Hockey Leaguers) Alex Petan and Jujhar Khaira.
Michigan Tech freshman Mason Blacklock moves the puck forward during the team’s intrasquad scrimmage Oct. 11 at MacInnes Student Ice Arena. (DMG photo by David Archambeau)
"They (Tech) just made me feel like a special person in the recruiting process and they seemed really honest the entire time and they always had an interest, so I kind of felt like they were loyal to me and not only interested in me as a player, but a person," Blacklock said.
Starting school at Tech turned out to match many of the descriptions he was given, he said, though one big white factor has yet to arrive.
"It was kind of what I thought it would be. They were always talking about how much snow there was here, and it was sunny, nice weather, so it was a bit different in that regard, but it was good hard practices and stuff. It took a bit of getting used to but it wasn't like I was too surprised by anything," he said.
His hometown, White Rock, B.C., is just south of Vancouver, just north of the U.S. border and just east of the Pacific Ocean, but he had a chance to tour the whole province during four seasons in the BCHL, in which he played more than 170 games.
Blacklock played for Langley, Nanaimo and Surrey before playing his last year and a half with the Vernon Vipers. The Vipers had a unique opportunity last season as hosts of the 2014 RBC Cup, the national championship of Canadian junior hockey.
The Vipers got their bid by virtue of being the home team, but they had a legitimate run, reaching the semifinals before losing to the eventual champs.
"We didn't end up winning, which was kind of too bad, but it was cool to see the best junior teams in Canada, measure yourself against those players and see where you stack up," he said.
Blacklock blossomed offensively in Vernon, recording career highs in goals, assists and points last season with an 18-12-30 in 28 regular season games.
"You're playing against some really good players every night and practicing with some good players, so you just kind of get better every day," he said.
After four years spent mostly focused on hockey, he said it's been a change to have books to hit as well. He's majoring in business administration.
"You've got to really manage your free time well. Once you leave the rink, it's not just hang out like it used to be in juniors. You've got to go and do your schoolwork, study and stuff like that, pretty much do everything you can to be ready to come to the rink the next day and work hard," he said.
He describes his game as being a big (6-foot-1, 195), hardworking player with some offensive skill that can put the puck in the net but be effective all over the ice.
"I'm hoping I can be a leader at some point, but just a hardworking guy that gives it his all every night and hopefully can contribute on the scoreboard," he said.
