Mel Pearson Show summary for 3-2:
Disappointing weekend, wanted a better position today, but it's still nice to be in conversation to have a chance at MacNaughton Cup
We want to be in that conversation every year going into the last weekend
Where this program has come in 4 years, incredible to watch, Seniors have done a fabulous job
Mankato - see our team in them in a lot of ways, goalie, GF, GA, very even, we match up well, 4 goals have seperated 4 games, they made key plays to get the Ws
We had our opportunities, Sturos, late 2x1, in OT, L'Esperance had a chance, they have our number right now, but we can play better, a lot of guys struggled this weekend
But a lot is Mankato, they played in front of record crowd, they fed off that, they got a few goals from the point, we couldn't get the puck through them
Like our team, battled to the end both games
3rd period Friday, we took a penalty, on our heels the rest of the game, they outaattmepted us by 20 shots
1st period Sat was not good, they jumped us, a fine line, thye had that step on us
On Friday:
0-1, we had a breakdown, chased the puck a bit too much, pretty even period
1-1 - Sturos big goal, showed great speed up the side, great shot, Williams off his angle a bit, Reid had a strong weekend, he'll be a key guy going forward
Jamie stood on his head in 3rd, his best game of the year, sometimes the more work he gets, the better he can be, but we want to limit shots
They had 2 PPs in 3rd, gave Mankato momentum
Jamie gave us a chance to win, Gould with a post in 3rd
Our Dmen got beat 1x1, when Mankato got some breaks in on Jamie, got caught watching the puck a bit
Jamie gave us opportunity to come back Saturday with chance to walk out in 1st place
Out-attempted them 5-2 in OT
Congrats to Jamie, finalist for Mike Richter, new award for best goalie in country along with other criteria, student, community involvement etc He has opportunity to win that.
On Saturday:
Made some adjustments, thought we'd bounce back and play better
We did decrease the # of scoring opportunities they had. We were a little flat 1st period.
Can't be intimidated by the crowd, but they came out and jumped us pretty good. After 1st 10 mins we settled down.
1-0 Johnstone, as he gets more games, he'll only get better, want him in a position to be real productive
We missed Eick's speed in a series like that
Our 1st lead, it was short lived, we have to play better after we scored, next few shifts have to be good
1-1, Molinari, from the point
Didn't like this sequence, we score, win faceoff, then we go Dman to Dman, when you do that, the D has to move with the puck against their forecheck but we stood there and let them forecheck, and we ice the puck
Didn't move our feet, no one open, hail mary pass is icing, and sure enough off a faceoff play, the guy on the board could shoot it, but then our D didn't pick up guys in front of net, combination of mistakes
every play matters, the faceoff after the Tech goal led to the Mankato goal, Mel really hot after that - had gone over both things (D to D) and the Mankato faceoff play for their goal, didn't execute
We have a number of neutral zone plays we can make, just poor execution, can't give good teams opportunities like that
1-2, goal with 5 seconds in period, 2x2 in the corner and they won the battles, threw it to the point, had guys that could've blocked it, seeing eye wrist shot
2-2, Leibinger out of the penalty box out of Neville, we carried play, attempts even, most of their shots from perimeter
Kero missed a tap-in, unlike him, sums up weekend, guys had trouble handling puck at times, not sure nerves, mentally off etc, a lot of guys fought it
2-3, GWG, we have to block that shot from the point, they did a real good job blocking shots, we'll work on that this week
2-4 PPG, broken play off PK, Leitner knew were Gervais would be, it was a quick play, tough to give up
Mankato changed forecheck and shut things down, went into a 1-2-2, even period until that PPG, for the most part, even hockey games, their best players made a few plays to separate them
Mankato 3 point lead in WCHA, too bad, our guys played hard, wanted to do well, they never give up, told the team that's as good of a team as you'll see in the country, we don't walk out of there feeling like we had no chance, could've beat that team, our guys upset, have a feeling we might meet them again
They discussed other WCHA games.
Told our team it's out of hands now, but we saw Bemidji, they're playing as well as anyone right now, MSU/BSU will be a good series, we have to take care of business
On NMU:
Nexteer sponsor for Friday, remote at Noon from the MUB on Wed, Tshirt giveaway for Friday
Senior night after the game, would be great to have a record crowd for our seniors, they deserve a great sendoff
Big important game, we haven't talked much about NCAA, but the next few weekends make/break where we end up if we have opportunity to play in the tourney
Questions for Mel:
What special preparations will Tech have before this weekend.
Changes to lineup, tweak a couple things. Get Eick in, could've made trip , wanted to give him extra week though.
PP didn't get much work in game, spend extra time on that. Work on forecheck, didn't get to get after them that much. Need to work harder without the puck.
Other than Jamie, any player that played exceptionally well?
Sturos played hard and had a good game.
Johnstone was good.
Pietila, helped win faceoff battle and had jump.
We had guys that tried, but success was limited mostly due to Mankato.
Emailed noted Tech's best players haven't been effective against MSU or BGSU in the playoffs last year.
Part is on the road, they have last change. There are matchups they wanted. We tried to shuffle it up to get guys away from player.
Mankato had a Dpair they wanted against Kero's line.
Part is we are in a learning process, Mankato has been in NCAA recently. It's different, preparation, mentality you need. Even at MI, took baby steps, missed tourney, then lost in 1st round etc.
Really like this group, all these pressure situations are good for you. Good wake up call for us. Disappointed, but have to take something away, from it.
Did Mankato do anything special to our top scorers?
They had mathcups they wanted. Took our time/space away, against everyone. Effective forecheck.
We didn't get many PPs either. Sometimes your top players can perform with more space on PPs.
Down at Mankato about 7 former of Mel's Edina classmates were at the games.
Mel's happy to welcome back Darcy Way, to the Tech family. He'll do a great job fundraising and helping all the spots.
Dirk noted about the MN High School hockey tourney. We got to see a few games last week. We're dealing with some recruits there. Joe amazed at the crowd for a regional game. Mel's good friend is the coach of Edina, they have a good team again.
Would love to go to it, but with our schedule it falls during a bad time.
Fortunate to get Steman out of MN. He's established himself as a good player. So many players in MN, some can get overlooked or late bloomers. We'll keep our hands in the mix in MN.
Giant game this weekend. Have to do all the little things to win. We have to block shots, kill penalties, get PP opportunities. Create offense. 3rd offensively, 2nd team defense. 1st scoring margin. A lot of good things.
Told this team we know how to win. 24 wins tied with Mankato and UND.
They'll be ready Friday night. Come to the union on Wed even if you're not a student, grab a bite to eat.
Will watch some of NMU's recent games, but it's all about us. We have to prepare and be ready to play our game. We didn't do that this weekend.
