Season 6 Episode 29 of the Chasing MacNaughton Podcast from Tech Hockey Guide; Try Not To Think. This week, Tim Braun and Rob Gilreath were joined by the newest addition to the Michigan Tech hockey roster, Ryan Manzella. In this episode, the guys discussed Ryan’s path to arriving at Michigan Tech, Ryan’s impressions of Houghton, Mich., getting to know teammates halfway through a season, Ryan’s day to day activities and the hockey facilities at the Mac. After Ryan left Tim and Rob reviewed the GLI and Palm Springs tournaments and talked about Ferris State head coach Bob Daniels announcing his retirement at the end of the season.
The path to Houghton
The guys were a little scattered in their questions to Ryan, but the overarching theme of the questions focused on Ryan’s path to getting to Houghton. Ryan talked about playing AAA hockey in Sioux Falls, South Dakota then playing juniors in Alberta, Canada before moving back to the USHL and playing for the Sioux Falls Stampede. Later in the show, the guys circled back to Ryan’s origin story and talked about how Ryan came to be a goalie, of which the answer threw Tim and Rob for a bit of a loop. Ryan talked about NCAA teams becoming more interested in recruiting him as he moved back from Canada. Tim asked Ryan about the timeline of Michigan Tech recruiting him and Ryan said Tech began recruiting him about three weeks before he committed to the team. The guys talked a little about how this process looked and who was the primary recruiter for Tech when speaking with Ryan.
Ryan talked about how well Tech did going over the school and the hockey program during the short recruiting period and also talked about getting thrown right into a game during the GLI. Ryan thought the rivalry game between Tech and Northern was fun and had a good atmosphere despite being a neutral site game. The guys asked Ryan about his experience getting to know his teammates on the road and in such a quick timeline. Ryan discussed the positives of staying in hotels with the team and the opportunities it afforded him to bond with his teammates. Ryan also talked about the process of coming up with a helmet design.
The guys talked about Ryan’s routine and how he’s been settling into life in Houghton. Ryan gave a positive review of the hockey facilities available to the team and said the team is treated well. Ryan gave an outline of his daily schedule of classes and practice, but said he hadn’t had much time to explore the great urban expanse that is Houghton just yet.
Palm Springs review
After Ryan left, Tim and Rob spent a few minutes reviewing the Palm Springs tournament that Tech recently competed in. The beginning of the discussion focused on the poor attendance and was not positive. Tim thought that flight costs were likely a limiting factor for the east coast fans not attending, but thought the resort hosting the tournament was probably happy that they made money on those fans who stayed at the resort. Tim was happy that Tech was able to hang with UMass-Lowell during the game, but was disappointed at the result. Tim talked about Tech’s team response to tough situations during games and how it seems they don’t respond well to adversity.
At the of the episode, the guys spent a few minutes congratulating Ferris State head coach Bob Daniels on his recent retirement announcement at the end of the season. Tim was happy that Bob was able to get his 500th win and that it wasn’t against Tech. The guys discussed how Bob is likely one of the last coaches who will be able to retire on their own terms, rather than being forced out.
Cut for time
This week’s cut time for Patrons is approximately six minutes long. There was a discussion on Ryan’s Monday night class. Rob talked about watching Minnesota State play an exhibition game. Tim talked about not going to watch Tech play Augustana due to a softball tournament. There was some “end of show” content.
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