Men’s Hockey: Q&A with Head Coach John Markell – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/11/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Talk about the upcoming season. What are your expectations for the team?
How we do this season will depend on how our young kids adapt. We’ve had some good practices here before Miami. I feel like we can finish in the Top 6 and if we get fantastic goaltending, possibly higher. We just have to see how our young guys develop and hopefully be good at the right time of the year.
What were your thoughts after the exhibition win over York?
It’s hard to tell where York is as a team compared to us. A win is a win, but we used it as an instructional time. You can’t even look at the first period because you’re just trying to get the rust out. All these new guys are playing together for the first time so it gave them an opportunity to become more familiar with each other. It’s just another team out there hitting you and the speed of the game is something you can’t simulate in practice. It’s probably not enough, but it will have to be coming in to the weekend.
This year the team is in a cluster with Miami, Michigan and Michigan State, all NCAA tournament teams last season. How do you think that will affect the squad?
Last year we did well against some highly ranked teams. We went to Michigan and won there, and we were one of only two teams to do that on their ice. Selfishly, I like it because the teams we get the best crowds for are these teams because of their national prominence. It’s extremely hard and maybe comes a little too quickly for some of our new guys who have never played CCHA hockey before, but it will make us better.
Zach Pelletier and Peter Boyd were named captains for this season. What did you see in them to bestow that responsibility on them? What do you expect from your captains?
They committed this offseason to better themselves and hopefully that will rub off on the new guys. A fifth-year guy like Zach has been through the highs and lows of success on the ice and in the classroom. He can help provide these guys with the experience of the emotions you might go through. They will look for someone who has gone through these things before.
Peter Boyd is the kind of guy that people seem to gravitate towards. He plays with the kind of passion we expect to see. Both guys are the kind of player we want to have at Ohio State.
The team is one of the youngest in college hockey, with 22 freshmen and sophomores. Do you think that is a benefit or a detriment to the team?
The sophomores and freshman will both have to grow up quickly and stay committed to being a part of the lineup. Older guys know what they’re doing wrong when they’re out of the lineup and what they are doing right when they are in the lineup. That’s the kind of guy we’re looking for. As long as we protect the young guys and bring them along gradually, we should be ok.
What should fans look for out of the Buckeyes this season? What will be some strengths of the team?
I’m hoping the strength of this team will be our competitive level. You can’t go from 9/10 one period to 5/10 the next period. We have to be consistently playing at a highly-competitive level. Hopefully youthful energy will bring that to us. The competition we have will bring us up to where we have to be and I think we proved we can play with that passion last year. If you come to compete and play with passion, you can be successful. You may not win every game, but you’ll be successful.
Your coaching staff changed this season, with former captains Steve Brent and JB Bittner joining the staff. Can you Talk about that change?
It’s nice having the captains back. Obviously I want to thank Casey for everything he’s done for our program. I’m going to miss him and we wish him all the luck in the world. Having Steve back was a smooth transition. He couldn’t overcome his passion for the game of hockey and wanted to be around it again. That’s showing through here already. He knows recruiting, he knows the rules, he knows The Ohio State University.
JB came back because he wanted to help and get involved in coaching. I’m happy to have a captain and a guy who played with more passion than I’ve ever seen back close to this program. It’s nice having a guy with experience on video pointing out some things to the coaches that someone else might not pick up.
You played collegiately at Bowling Green. How has being a player in the CCHA helped you as a coach of a league team?
It was a little different back then. The CCHA wasn’t then what it is today. Anytime you play college hockey you better understand the rigors of going to school and being an athlete and how you streamline those responsibilities. You get your priorities straight with all the temptations that exist out there, and it’s something I can draw on to help our kids out. The performance has to be there when you step on the ice and when you step into the classroom. You have to take care of your body and take care of your mind because there are a lot of temptations out there.
