Re: PC hockey offseason and TOURNAMENT MODE!
Not sure if this article was posted yet but i thought it was interesting. Article makes mori look like an offensive machine, but from what I remember he always looked very shakey on the ice. Almost as if he had just learned how to skate. Looks like he has a good head on his shoulders and is realistic as to his hockey future, leaving his options open. I always cringe when college kids believe that they're gonna easily go pro. Thought the brief mention of a change of coaches was interesting. Also this little gem, "College didn’t go as well as I would have liked but I always stayed with it, was in shape and worked at my game,” wonder if that was the coaches fault?
The secret is out: Few in International Hockey League know more about the service of protection than Flint Generals rookie forward John Mori
By Brendan Savage | Flint Journal
FLINT, Michigan — Just because the Flint Generals signed him to score goals doesn’t mean John Mori isn’t capable of providing protection.
On the contrary.
It’s probably safe to say nobody in the International Hockey League is more capable in that department than the rookie forward.
You see, while earning a degree in political science at Providence College, Mori served a six-month internship with the United States Secret Service and his duties included being part of the security detail assigned to Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton during the 2008 election campaign.
He was also part of George H.W. Bush’s security detail and got his picture taken with the former President.
“It was great,” said Mori, 23. “I was physically in the motorcade with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama’s wife, Michelle. I was given a certain level of security clearance and had to go through lie detection and things like that to get the internship. I was able to work on a bunch of different cases.
“Secret Service covers foreign and domestic currency, any sort of credit card fraud, obviously protection. But the majority of their job is actually counterfeit currency and credit card fraud. The majority of my time was learning to see if a bill was fake, trying to point out inconsistencies in paper work.
“I was also able to go out in the motorcade.”
Mori, a native of Westport, Conn., said he received good reviews on his stint with the Secret Service and was given five years to decide if he’d like to attend the agency’s academy.
It’s something being considered by Mori, who is also studying to take a Series 7 Exam this summer in order to get a stock trading license.
But that’s in the future.
Mori’s main goal right now is to see where hockey takes him in the next few years.
He’s been one of the IHL’s most pleasant surprises this season, quickly establishing himself as one of the circuit’s top rookies.
In addition to being the Generals leading scorer with 22 goals and 24 assists, Mori is among the IHL’s rookie leaders in virtually every category while leading the entire league with five short-handed goals.
Not many people could have predicted how well he would adapt to the pro game after completing his college career at Providence, where he had just two goals and seven assists in 64 career games over four seasons.
Mori’s lack of production in college can be attributed to several things.
• He tore his tricep during his first game as a freshman, sidelining him for 10 months.
• The coach who recruited him was replaced before Mori had played a game.
• And he was used mainly on the third or fourth offensive line as a defensive specialist.
“College didn’t go as well as I would have liked but I always stayed with it, was in shape and worked at my game,” he said. “I’m not an overly skilled player. Hockey East is, by argument’s sake, the best league in college hockey and the role I was put into was to be a defensive player. I tried to learn that role the best I could.
“I decided I had more game left in me. I didn’t want to leave my career at the point where it was. I wanted to rectify it and fortunately coach (Jason) Muzzatti gave me that opportunity.”
The 6-foot-1, 180-pound Mori was brought to Muzzatti’s attention by an agent. Muzzatti checked into Mori’s background, liked what he heard and then really liked what he saw during Flint’s training camp.
Today, Muzzatti has no doubt Mori can move up the pro hockey ladder.
“Certainly, his college stats wouldn’t indicate the numbers he’s put up this year,” said Muzzatti, a former goaltender who spent five seasons in the NHL and played for Italy in the 2006 Winter Olympics. “But his habits and professionalism and what he brought from Day 1 would indicate he would produce.
“I think he can play on the next level. I definitely do. He’s got the work ethic and professionalism. He gets where he needs to go, he shoots the puck, he’s willing to pay the price and he’s hungry. That’s what you need to get to the next level.”
Actually, Mori has already been there.
He and Flint captain Pascal Rheaume were called up to the Manchester Monarchs in December and Mori appeared in one game for the American Hockey League club.
“It was the best experience of my life,” Mori said. “I played the first two periods, a regular shift. It was great. Then in the third, they didn’t play me as much just because they were down a goal and needed to win the game. The coach he said he was sorry ‘I couldn’t get you out there more.’
“He gave me very good feedback. He told me to keep doing what I was doing. I felt very good in the role they had given me, which was on the fourth line and to finish every hit. I wasn’t on the ice for any goals and I blocked a couple of shots. I felt very in place.”
It also justified Mori’s decision to put a potential Secret Service career on hold for a few years.
“Hockey is first and foremost,” he said “It’s been that way my whole life. I wasn’t happy with the way it turned out at the end of my college career. I wanted to change that and go as far as I possibly can in this sport.
“My goal is to first make playoffs here and then keep playing well and we’ll see what happens next year or the year after that.”
