WTP?! Michigan High School Hockey Coaches Association Special - Ann Arbor Skyline

Introduction and Welcome [Music] UNS syndicated [Music] presents what the puck with sha [Music] bgan so glad you could join us for another edition of what the puck along with my partner Mike ivel my name is sha ban let's get right to it can't thank uh the Michigan high school hockey coaches association enough for making this possible it's helping guys like Mike and I past the time until the new season starts let's just be honest with that and it is not that far away kindly Interview with Coach Matthew Meyer joining us he is the head coach of an arbor Skyline a guy that knows a little something about the high school hockey game for quite a long time let's welcome him in he is coach Matthew Meyer coach really appreciate you taking the time thanks so much for joining us here yeah Sean Mike I'm uh happy to be here chat about some high school hockey with you guys and uh just you know raise awareness about the game and the program well you know I say it all the time I I don't think people in this state know how good of a product it is and and how much it's grown I always say forget about 20 30 years ago really in the the last 10 years you're a guy that has a unique view of that here last week we had the head coach of Midland hockey on Steve wit you're a guy that's familiar with Midland hockey tell everybody about that yeah so uh I actually went to Midland High School class of 2010 um DED Coach Meyer's Background and Journey dried out all four years uh failed failed a few times but ultimately was able to get in there at the end of my high school career and be a part of that team um you know you think of Midland chemi hockey and it's been around for so long couple of my cousins you know played on the team in the late 90s and it's just it's been such a staple as far as high school hockey goes in terms of one of those blue blood programs um and I'm honored to be from there for sure and once you left High School hockey coach you went all over the place from CMU to some uh internships at the the OHL to nc3 tell us where is your coaching pathway where did it start where has it taken you and how did it lead you to Skyline High School yeah so it's a bit of a different story I suppose um I got started as you said with CMU and I remember that day vividly I was actually it's one of my first weeks on campus I transferred in from Community College and I was cutting through one of the dorms just to get some air conditioning it was like 95 degrees outside and I saw um a bulletin for the CMU women's team that they were looking for a student manager and at that point in my life my plan I wanted to be a high school teacher and Coach High School hockey that's what I thought I wanted to do I was like this looks great I'll be around a team I'll get to learn this is awesome fast forward a few weeks to our first game we played Robert Morris I think we got our doors blown off like 15 to four or something it was bad and that was actually the first time I had met the head coach of the team was at the game we'd been practicing for weeks he had been MIA shows up to the first game we lose badly he quits so then the team's kind of up you know what creek without a paddle and I remember sitting in a diner around midnight with you know with college club sports you know the students are like the president vice president treasur It's Made of the students kind of and they offered me the Coaching Philosophy and Experience job and I'm 21 years of age probably had no business being the head coach of that team um but it was such a great experience they welcomed me with open arms got to do that for a few years you mentioned um my internship with the 2024 Memorial Cup champion sagonos Spirit uh that was a great great learning experience two years there uh my first year there was actually Dave drinkle first year there so I got to kind of come in at the beginning and see what he was about in the program he was building my second year there Spencer carbury was the head coach who's now the head coach of the Washington Capitals as you guys know uh just a really great guy did a lot of video did a lot of stat work um helping kind of keep track of player finances and stuff just really figuring out how you know a professional hockey organization works and runs dayto day which was great um and then got the opportunity in 2019 to move out to wils be Pennsylvania coached the women's team at Kings College NCAA D3 I was actually assistant coach and director of H hockey operations uh while I was there great learning experience great great group of young women still friends and talk to and close to with a number of them and um then Co happened made hockey illegal for a period of time and uh you know um I'm an only child my parents are a bit older I wanted to come back home and be close just all the confusion at the beginning you didn't really know what was going on so came back was fortunate enough to get linked up uh at s spsu spent a year as the assistant coach there and then got a job at actually at the Arctic Coliseum and I wasn't there super long before uh coach strip stepped down at Skyline and I was like well I work here and this is a heck of a lot closer than sagov Valley so threw my name in the Hat and they obviously liked what they heard and still here going into year four now you know I I want to backtrack a little bit because I say this all the time and I mentioned this to to coach Whit I I had the fortune and I mean that of of working for Mr golin and that great group up in Sagen all and I'm not sure that people realize what a High School Hockey in Michigan hockey hotbed it is up there you know whether it be Sagen or Midland even down to Fint that whole region you know when you're when you're talking about regions in this state I'm not sure people give that region that you grew up playing and and you grew up working in maybe the love that it deserves coach yeah I mean the Great Lakes Bay Region is is really you know a great spot to raise a family and it's a great spot to be an athlete too uh especially within hockey like we're talking about here um you know whether it's Midland or Bay City Sagen or even all the way down to Flint you know it really has been a bit of a hockey hot bed that I would say does get overlooked you know you think about Metro Detroit and you think about the west side and you know even the Ann Arbor Wasa County area but you know and every year you know whether it's Midland High or it's Sagen Heritage you know it seems like there's always a team from that region in it late in our league so I think it's a great spot for young hockey players I think it needs to be scouted more heavily if you're a junior guy or a college guy um and and some really good coaches up there as well you know coach with this H great experience that you've had all over the place different colleges different programs do you use that do you feel that helps you reach some of these kids that are trying to do the same thing by going off the college and playing at the next level 100% yeah I I really I'm a big believer in lifelong learning you know I mean it doesn't matter where you're at or what you're doing there's always something you can pick up on and even in certain cases it's maybe I shouldn't do this you know you can always pick up a little bit of wisdom somewhere and just my time you know coaching the college ranks seeing all the different backgrounds that that kids come from you know obviously with women it's a little bit different than it is with boys because there's not really any major junior hockey leagues for young women or anything but um you have players who you know it's pretty obvious early which ones want to keep playing and which ones you know are just kind of there for whether it's the social aspect or just to be competitive in High School athletics you know and I'm not knocking either one of those things but particularly with guys you know we've had some guys in our program since I've been there you know Sam Alper Alex Nakashima Graham Newton Shane Roberts you know guys who who keep on playing past high school and and those conversations start early it's you know hey coach I'm I'm thinking about this what are your thoughts I'm thinking about maybe doing this show case do you know anything and I really am thankful for my time in college and Junior Hockey because I feel like it has given me a lot of exposure that can be helpful to players like that and even aside from the players that want to you know keep playing at the highest level until they can't anymore just really understanding kind of the overall athletic mindset right you grow up playing sports you work in sports with coaching or or operations or whatever it is and and you just you talk to so many people you you hear so many stories and at the end of the day you know my job as a coach is to not only you know win a bunch of games sure but you want to be personable you want to have relationships with these kids because they can sniff out whether you care or not they can sniff it out quicker than probably you or I can um but yeah all all those experiences have been super great and and I really think they've made a difference maybe in a couple cases with some players of mine Skyline High School Hockey Team uh again our guest here the head coach at an arbor Skyline uh coach uh this is how I'm remembering it okay I'm I'm going to tell everybody out there I'm a big Halloween fan so it's Michael Myers and Coach Meyer that's how I'm remembering it and I'm sticking it to it because you know for whatever reason the tendency is to say mayor it's Meer is is coach told some teachers back in the day as well we were talking about the sagona area I I'd be remiss before we talk about your team uh specifically and you know some great players one last year in particular um your area is is an area that I'm seeing go like this too you know whether it be coach Rober whether it be uh coach zagata in in in Seline I I'm I'm watching what's going on in your area and that's another area I mean I could keep going with the the teams and the coaches you know it better than anybody I I think things are picking up in your neck of the woods out there in the an arbor area yeah I mean I I joke about it all the time the amount of competitors we have as a hockey a youth hockey team in Wasing county is insane CU you have you have Pioneer you have hon you have fgr Dexter Chelsea Seline not to mention big be is taking over the n aror Ice Cube as well so there's just there's you have to find a way to kind of separate yourself and it doesn't make my job any easier because you know you mentioned Clinton Kyle and you know there's other guy Grundy's been a lifer and uh you know Caleb Bentley Chelsea seems to be good every single year um and I'm missing a couple guys sorry to them at the moment but but it's just you know it's it's it's tough because you want to try and separate yourself and you have so many other guys who are really good at their jobs trying to do the same thing and you know at the end of the day my my big thing is you want to create something that people want to be a part of and obviously the easiest way to do that is to win a bunch of trophies and win a bunch of games but you know even the most successful coaches probably don't win as many games as they would like um but really it's just creating that culture and I don't even really like the word culture that much I think it's become too much of a buzz word but you really just want to create a little like you want to create a family I mean at the end of the day that's what it is and you know we spend so much time together whether it's you know all my assistants whether it's you know Donnie bust Decker Frank Garcia I have a great staff and you know we all get along we all hang out we all talk all the time and I think that rubs off on the kids too when they see their staffs working hard being friendly with each other leading by example I think it kind of does trickle down and you know on on average teams the coaches are doing the doing the leading most of the time but on the really good and great teams the leadership group and the players are doing the leading themselves and I think I did get a little glimpse of that last year but you know a great hockey hot bed in Washton County it doesn't make my life any easier having that much talent and those that many good programs around me but you got to tip your cap where credit is due and yeah we're definitely surrounded by great great options for youth hockey players and talking about Wings coach you've improved your wins all three Challenges and Expectations for the Season years that that you've been there this one's going to be a little bit tougher you lost your top three scorers including the dynamic that we've been talking about what are your expectations for the lead leading Junior scorer Eric Van alstein coming back and your Skyline team this year it's gonna it's going to be a challenge no doubt and and we you know obviously the the four player rule went into effect a couple of weeks ago so I'm I'm taking kind of a back seat now but we did have an extensive summer program something we' do uh at the beginning each summer now we just did it our second year in a row and hopefully it'll continue is we do a training camp at the beginning of Summer it's kind of like a whole week of two a days and we really just try and Hammer Down what our identity is going to be what type of team we want to be how we're going to play why we're going to play the way we play you don't replace all that offense in high school hockey overnight it just doesn't happen so we're definitely going to I believe we're going to struggle to score at times but I think that extra effort can be made up in the net I think we have a strong goalie Duo and I think we will be able to play really good team defense because that that's really been something I've been harping on the team since the day I showed up is is good team defense you know if if you can have a 15 16 year old Winger in the dzone diving to block a shot from the point like that's buyin right that's that's actual Buy in buying into what the coaches are saying your captains are saying and so you know as we go through this season I see a lot of UPS and downs for sure but I also see the opportunity to really prove to people that hey it doesn't matter who we got here whether it's Graham Newton or whether it's a 10th grader we all bleed the same the same Skyline blue in our veins you know and and I think that my messaging has has done a good job Landing with that I'm I'm really impressed with the with the junior class that we have our junior class is going to be our biggest I think we got nine or 10 kids in our junior class you know guys like uh the D young Lucas and ni Colin Barnes I think I think we might have a sneaky one-two center punch with Lucas D young and Colin Barnes I think those two kids are are gonna put a lot of people on notice um and then we got some pretty good defenseman too I mean Landon Wilkerson I mean Landon last year just as a sophomore I mean you could see a little bit of Graham in him the way that he skates and and he's a little bit bit meaner than NES too which I don't hate um and then guys like Ben boso and Gabe Hutton I mean two Juniors who have been you know paying their dues and grinding it out on the back end looked like they've improved a ton and like I said our goalie Duo you know Benny Billings and Elias kersman you know Elias has you know he had a big knee injury his his sophomore year and then last year was a bit of an up and down year for him and he's hungry he texts me almost every day and uh and Benny Benny's as rock solid as they come too so it's definitely going to be challenging at times but I think we have the opportunity in front of us if we can really Buy in and work hard and and fight like we did last year maybe we don't have the offensive Firepower sure but I can tell you what there's just as much character in that room today as there was at the end of February southeastern conference is going to be one to Watchers no doubt about that red division is where it's at that's who we're talking to tonight again coach Meyer kindly uh joining us here the head coach at at Skyline of course temp Temperance Bedford Seline Pioneer hon and and Skyline boy you mentioned that Skyline blue I've said this on the show many times I mean just just as an offside uh on uh the state champ show I one of the best jerseys in the state I mean that is just a sweet uni it's a really good look there's no doubt about that we've mentioned his Spotlight on Key Players name a couple times and he is one of those guys this is why we're doing this to say Hey listen you know not only do we have Dynamic players but but guys that have an opportunity to move on Mike Sun I is playing in the OJ right now as a matter of fact scored in the exhibition sorry to make you blush Mike but scored in the exhibition last night um and and you know we're watching a lot of young players like Graham Newton continue their career what can you say about Graham and and where do you think he can take this as we talk about the proven path man I I could talk about NES all night um he's he's a great kid you know first and foremost like actually like you know you meet so many young people doing this and and few of them stick out like NES to me you know forget about the hockey side for a moment just you know a good person can tell he cares you know whether we had a big win the night before or a tough loss he's hitting me up the next morning what are you thinking for practice you know um I think we I think we did good last night but I think we could you know button it up here here and here and just a kid that's dialed in like that is g to be successful in whatever he does for sure and then on the hockey side I mean probably probably the best athlete I've ever coached to be honest with you um he you could you think he's in trouble and then he's not somehow and um just we're going to miss him offensively for sure but even the intangibles in the dzone you know being able to get pucks out being able to start the breakout um he's he's really got an all-around game and I gotta tell you a a story about him we were it was our last game against Pioneer last year and it was it was MJR night and for those who don't know we had we had a player uh commit suicide about seven or eight years ago miles Roberts um his brother Shane was our captain last year alongside NES but we do a fundraiser game every night or every every night every year for for the MJR foundation and this happened to be that game H Skyline Pioneer at the Coliseum on a Saturday night um we were down going into the third period 3-2 and early in the third Pioneers scored again to make it 4-2 and you know it's a big emotional game it's it's a tough goal to give up and NES was was on the bench for it and you know as coaches do they you know kind of take a step off the bench and maybe kick the wall or you know do something and and I look over at NS and NS is standing up and he's firing up his boys and he's like don't worry guys we got the next three we're going to work right now come on let's go and wouldn't you know it we ended up winning that game six to five awesome um n NS was in on on just about every goal that that we came back on and um Shane Roberts was actually the one that scored the goal that took the lead for us it's just a storybook moment but I as soon as I saw NES respond the way that he did after giving up that fourth goal something inside me said we're gonna win this game and that's exactly what happened so Graham Graham's going on to holderness next year uh prep school out East and the way they do it he's playing with a a triple A team as well um Islanders program out there if I'm not mistaken um and he's got NCAA division three aspirations for sure I think he could definitely achieve that um he got to maybe button up a couple of areas that Scouts find important that we've talked about um but a a guy that has not only that athletic ability but that level of maturity and and kind of resistance upstairs I mean he's got the pen in his hand so I I am no worries about nudes I have all the confidence in the world in him and I'm certain that he's going to make some NCAA division 3 coach very happy somewhere here in the near future oh yeah and I can I can second all that I had the pleasure of watching and traveling with him and his dad to some mdhl select games out in Minesota and Chicago and matter of fact if his dad had the sutures he would have sewn my son's chin up after a cross Che but he couldn't what a great guy but sticking with the skyline here me and Sean like to get out to see as many games as we can what are the mustsee games on your Must-See Games and Final Thoughts schedule this year that we can get out and watch well I think really uh an easy one to shoot for is the dilic Invitational that happens in uh early mid December that's honestly such a fun week that the kids get super Juiced up for all the an arbor teams play each other that week um and unfortunately we haven't gotten the chance to win one since I've been here but you know we fight like heck every time some really great games last year tied fgr uh had a close one with Pioneer and beat hon but aside from that really any SEC game is is really must watch you know it really doesn't matter what the standings are you know when you got two groups of of young men who want something really bad competing for it I mean that's honestly you know I have my own investments in it sure I want my team to win of course but just being able as a fan of the game those conference matchups are incredible and you know whether it's Skyline and Seline or Skyline and Dexter or Skyline and Chelsea you're gonna get a great game so we we have um we have a long road in front of us like I alluded to a little bit earlier but I have the utmost confidence in my guys with with what we were able to do last year and and kind of the younger guys seeing that leadership group lead the way that they did um I expect us to compete like hack in all those SEC games for sure Mike Competing in SEC Games will do just that I think first week of December put it on the calendar we'll try to figure out a a nice day to go out there and catch a game or two no doubt about that coach Meyer kindly join is the headman at Skyline uh coach we're The Secret of High School Hockey doing this to let people know and I call it a secret and sadly it's a secret just the the caliber of play in high school hockey and all the guys moving on in The Proven path here's the opportunity for you a guy that's been around hockey your whole life in in varying degrees young players watching right now he's debating you know do I do I go play for Skyline do I go here do I go there do I do I play for my hometown team my my school Why Choose High School Hockey? team why High School hockey I think High School hockey is really kind of it's the place to be where if you wanna if you w to play on kind of the corner of solid competition and like actual teamwork and camaraderie I think that's the place for you to be you know and and I don't mean to sit here and knock tripa hockey by any means but I've I've interacted with several AAA players and coaches and everything and it's really just kind of hard to find a group that can connect on a special level like some of those special high school teams that you see go far you know and I think I think really at the end of the day you can't you can't replace that you know that School logo on your chest you know that that pride in playing for your school and like when when you make that team at least for me like the best feeling the best feeling making that team feeling like hey you know I'm I'm a part of this I'm a part of this tradition I'm a part of this Legacy you know that'll be around hopefully 10 20 50 Years After I'm Gone um and we see you know youth clubs and organizations you know fold all the time unfortunately but I really think High School hockey offers players and families the opportunity to you know be involved in the game on a competitive level it's not going to cost you $10,000 a year which is obviously a great thing and I think the end of the day too I think at the high school level us coaches at least Developing Young Players for me anyway we really place a lot more importance on the overall development of the young man and young women in certain in certain situations um because at the end of the day you know I've since I've been there going into year four I've had maybe four or five guys continue on and and keep playing after high school but um what about everyone else you know they can't just be put to the side what about those guys and I think it's really really important because our game is so good for teaching life lessons I mean just the selflessness the work ethic the diligence all of those great things it doesn't matter if you're playing hockey or you're at work or you're being a husband or a son or whoever you know these these are real life lessons and and real tangible skills that we have the opportunity to teach our kids and I can't speak for every coach by any means but I know for me that's really what fires me up is the the opp opportunity to develop the overall person because at the end of the day you know 70 80% of them I'm their last stop you know unless they go play beer league somewhere which is all well and good that's great but I'm their last stop and I want to make sure and I take it very seriously I want to make sure that they're getting something that they can carry with them for life out of it whether it's something they can apply in in their schooling in college or you know in their fam someday or just even you know when you're going through it mentally right I mean life's tough and you you got to be able to surround yourself with good people and you got to know how to lead and at the end of the day at least in our program at Skyline that's of the utmost important to us that's such a great answer and I think that answer is why we're getting more and more kids to play high school hockey and as more and more kids are playing the product is getting better and better and we're moving more kids on and on and on if you've watched the show you know what questions coming now Michigan High School hockey is progressing every year coach is there Improving High School Hockey anything that you would want to improve upon or change in high school hockey to make it a better product or to move more of our kids on um man I could be really I could be really disruptive with this answer if I wanted to no do it do there's no bad answer when we have this conversation I think you know that coach I think um I think for me you know I'd like to see it Challenges and Solutions maybe be a little bit easier for kids to play high school hockey you know I mean especially lately and I've I've heard this story from a couple of coaches and I've even dealt with it once myself you know if you have a a player who played somewhere the year before right I mean 99 times out of a 100 they have to sit out the next year you know there there's a list of exceptions they say but they it's like they make it more difficult to allow kids to continue playing and that stinks because we want to grow the game and you know what if you know I had a player who played for me last year mom or dad got a job in Grand Rapids they move out there and they can't play and they're forced to go play Club hockey somewhere well now you just lost a good high school player you know I really think we need to make it easier for kids to play our game you know we talk about grow the Game grow the Game grow the game but if if a kid transfers there's so many Hoops they got to jump through through to keep playing High High School hockey I would like to see that be a little bit easier and and truthfully too you know I think there are a lot of programs out there who how do I say this the right way there's a lot of programs out there who have really really good coaches they've been there a long time and and they they know what they're doing but I think a lot of programs do suffer too because they keep replacing their coach every year two years and you know a couple teams near us have are on their six seventh coach in the last 10 11 12 years and I think that makes it really hard to to sell the program you know it's it's tough to find good coaches I mean don't get me wrong that we don't just Sprout Building a Strong Program off on trees but you know I'd like to see just more programs kind of uh maybe hire for some longevity so to speak you know there's always kind of a rush to to fill coaching positions and my fiance she's a varsity coach at Birmingham Groves and you know there just there's a lot of coaching turnover so I would like to see maybe the mhsaa do something to either incentivize coaches to to stay and keep building their programs or um you know more more just kind of I don't know direct and open lines of communication and feedback you know it's a lot of people have a lot of great ideas on how to to make it easier to play make it more competitive maybe make it a little bit cheaper um it's just it seems like in in the educational atmosphere it takes a lot longer for change than it should so I would like to see just just some of the the rules that make it difficult make it less difficult you know with the terms of being able to bring kids in and you know obviously if you know coaches are trying to build a Powerhouse you got to have some stop gaps and there I have no problem with that whatsoever but you know kids who are experiencing financial hardship or kids who's you know parents are going through it or things like that I'd like to see that be easier for them to keep playing and then also the mhsaa um incentivizing schools and teams and programs to retain their coaches and and you know maybe create some type of program that um just incentivizes that because I think at the end of the day if you if you've got a program and a coach has been there a long time you know we were talking about Midland they've had three coaches in the last like 40 years and so I I think that's a big thing is just hiring good coaches and doing whatever you can to retain them boy you bring up such a great point because is is as you were talking about that you you can't help but I always use the term The Usual Suspects right you know there there are teams that you know and hopefully you guys become one of those Usual Suspects where you make a couple runs and maybe people sit back and say oh well that's cute isn't that nice but if you do it again and again and again you become a usual suspect and just off the top of my head thinking about The Usual Suspects no surprise they're all teams that have had that continuity that have had a team there or a coach there for a long time and has become an integral part of that community and and and really coach Meyer it's it's you want to go play for that the kids in this city want to go play for that hey hey I want to be a part of that where it sells itself in a perfect world yeah that'd be great but it doesn't always work like that in some spots yeah and it's it's hard to put your finger on it too because you know and you know as a young coach myself you know I mean I've been lucky enough to been working in hockey for for 10 11 years now and and at the beginning you kind of bounce around a little bit and you're gaining experience and all that stuff and and when I landed at Skyline I was like I want to be here for a second I I don't want to keep bouncing around I want to be able to make an impact in one spot you know Bloom where you're planted type of thing you know all of us are always chasing the next opportunity or chasing the next open door and it's just I think we kind of lose sight of you know no like Bloom where you're planted you know trust that God has you where he wants you and just really do the best job that you can and that's kind of the philosophy I've had at Skyline you know and and I I loved my time in college hockey and Junior Hockey but where I'm at right now I'm I'm super happy and and I think that our group is really starting to kind of buy into those philosophical things that I've been teaching them and you know granted Upcoming Season and Goals this year you know it'll be a little bit tougher than it was last year but if we can be resilient and diligent and stick together we're going to be just fine and we're certainly going to be just fine the year after that and we're gonna really keep going and keep growing and we've got we've got big goals at Skyline and you know I can I can tell people the goals and they might you know roll their eyes or laugh in the back of their head or whatever but at the end of the day that doesn't phase me I'm here to do a job I'm here to to be an example for my players and for my staff and um I just am really grateful to be able to work in this Sport and to be the head coach of a team that that truly is a family and that truly does care about one another that is great that is great you know I know we're we're we're coming up against it here but before I end it all with myself here we were talking about Graham Newton in the mdhl and some of the success he had there do you have any guys out there this year that we can go take a look at because I know I'll be out there within the next couple of weeks checking those games out unfortunately for the first time since I've been here Skyline is not represented in the mdhl this year so you're going to have to find another team to root for unfortunately I'm sorry well you know it's interesting because I I think that piggy backs on on your previous answer coach it's it's look even the big boys even in the even the big boys have one of those quote unquote down years you you know where hey it just so happens that you know we lost a great senior class we got a lot of young Talent right now sounds to me and I don't want to take anything away from certainly next year's Squad but it sounds to me like maybe that's the situation with this team is Hey listen let's see what we got this year but next year these guys are going to be special you see it all over the state it's just so happens you know for whatever this birth year that birth year whatever the case may be is that a fair assessment of your team there's a lot of young Talent you really don't always know what you're going to get out of that young Talent yeah I mean spot on 100% for sure you know I mean last year we lose nine or 10 guys this year we'll lose two or three and then the year after that we'll lose nine or 10 more so you know it's high school sports you know not just hockey it's obviously very cyclical and but at the end of the day you know we got our group we we pretty much you know have a general idea of who's going to be there at tryouts and what the team's going to look like and um you know and these guys understand you know I'm I'm really excited to watch upper classman now the Juniors and seniors because it's their time to shine we've got guys who you know were maybe third liners last year who are stepping into top six and special teams roles or we got you know de defensemen who are all of a sudden you know in the top four and there's going to be growing pains no doubt about it and and our and our coaching staff is is very clear on that we don't expect perfection in terms of the result I mean it'd be foolish to do so but we do expect a little bit of an element of perfection in the way we go about our business the way we treat our teammates the way we work on the ice and in the gym like control your controllables I feel like I say that 1,400 times a day during the hockey season control your controllables because at the end of the day you can't control the bad bounce of a puck or you can't always control the officials whistle but you can control how hard you back check you can control getting that puck off the glass and getting it out you can control structure in the dzone and I think if our group can buy into that very very intensely being able to control the controllables super well and not get too rattled up here you know maybe my win total does increase for a fourth year in a row I mean I don't know you just you gotta play the games so I'm excited to see how it pans out um I've Excitement for the New Season got a lot of confidence in the guys that are here um like I said you know I think we could have a really sneaky one-w center punch and I think our decor and our goalies are going to be kind of overlooked as well um but at the end of the day we have a job to do no one's going to give us any free passes no one's going to hand us any any victories we're going to have to earn every inch we get and we Embrace that challenge you know that's the kind of team we want to be we want to be a blue collar hockey team we want to be a hardworking hockey team we want to be kind of a team full of you know guys who aren't afraid to not muck it up you know I mean we obviously can't fight in high school hockey but guys who are hard to play against we we like that we value that and if our group can come together and buy around those those kind of simple yet hardworking philosophies yeah we're we're going to be okay Coach is firing me up Mike if I was only 38 years younger i' i' I'd go play with him in a second there's no doubt about that hey ask my ask my players if you ever can about my pregame speeches they're some of the best around I've heard I'm I will do that I promise you I will I will definitely you know what John kid if you're listening maybe coach would be so nice to get a camera in that locker room and we could even tape one of them if before a Pioneer or a hon game yeah you're going to want to be in there for let's let's go hey one last thing I I always say this it to me the last two and a half months before the season starts is just like that like like honestly with so much going on in the fall and the next thing you know it's mid November and we're all getting ready to drop the puck again I know Mike talked about some of the special games who do you open with are you at home or you are you on the road I don't know if you know it off the top of your head but I thought I'd asked to give everybody just a shout out in that regard yeah so our our home opener is is November 13th we play sft unified at home and then that weekend we're on the road at Gross Point North and then we play Leno United the night before Thanksgiving right before Thanksgiving break so those are our first three contests I'm telling you Mike you know this as well the night before Thanksgiving game is just awesome I I don't know what it is about that I'm so glad that so many teams decide to do that I think it's a fantastic thing hey I think it's a fantastic thing you're doing with your team and I I think anybody that listens to you coach uh under understands uh you know what you're trying to do and why we're telling everybody that we can uh High School hockey is a proven path and and certainly a great place to be continued success to you if you need anything don't hesitate to reach out to us I think I can give a shout out to our boy Johnny kid from state champs as well and I wish you nothing but the best is your coach yeah guys I really appreciate you having me on giving the opportunity to talk about our program in the game and um I just I couldn't be more honored and humbled to be getting to do what I do and be around the guys that I'm around we're just uh we love what we do and we love hockey and we love wearing that Columbia Blue oh it's a beautiful Jersey oh my goodness is that a beautiful Jersey uh coach Meyer kindly joining us all right Mike now I'm gonna make you blush all right you're your boy scored Personal Stories and Reflections last night like how no seriously come on no what's what's going on so I mean it just so ha has it that uh this is the only game that wasn't streamed for whatever reason Halbert and Huskies didn't uh uh stream the game I don't know if it's because they're Rivals and they were trying to you know do a little gamesmanship but then our power went out so I was even having trouble getting updates and and Sean's truth be told my phone wouldn't load so I had I didn't get anything for an hour and a friend of mine's uh I think it's his cousin was over and she's like well my phone's working so I grab her phone and I get on there and as soon as I hit the update of course name spelled wrong but that's okay you know Sebastian ivil and I went Bonkers I did I went around high five and everybody uh as you know I mean fourth liner trying to make the lineup every night it was huge that they want to face off back to him and anybody out there that's listening that knows Sebastiano you know where the goal went five hole yeah and he got a quick Snapper off but on top on top of that Sean more proud uh and you know I'm proud because I I I don't talk a lot about this but uh three block shots got his in a very rough third period where there's a lot of roughing penalties got sandpaper seie and he said and he said a kid probably about six4 stood him up and was uh trying to go with him and he's like what am I gonna do to you but get into it you know get into that that s paper all the things you have to do a lot of PK time so it was pretty cool but yeah uh got off the schneide and got his first goal last night uh in the OJ well you know why are we bringing that up because Sebastiano played at Catholic Central and we keep talking about the proven path and there is another example hey we can't thank coach Meyer enough mike always a pleasure to chat with you Todd back at Closing Remarks and Credits uh Studio Central we appreciate everything you do most importantly thank you for watching we hope to see at the rink when the season starts once again this is the proven path thanks to our friends from the Michigan High School coaches Michigan high school hockey coaches association I'm Sean he's Mike CM what the puck featuring sha bellan produced by Todd Losi and Blake matac executive produced by Shawn ban and Todd Losi theme song and incidental music by Elliot Middleton engineering mixing and graphic design support provided by the UNS syndicated podcast team don't forget to like And subscribe to what the puck on all your favorite channels while you're there be sure to rate and review the podcast got something to say to Sean call the UNS syndicated hotline at 248 237 3257 [Music]