Hockey Media Day: Player Quotes

The Spartans met with the media on Tuesday, Sept. 25 to preview the upcoming season.

Mitchell Lewandowski, sophomore forward

On his excitement for the season…
We're obviously really excited. We've been on campus since July so it's nice to jump back into things and the Green and White game is eight days away and first exhibition game is only a week and a half so definitely excited and ready to get going.

On the younger guys facilitating more competition…
I think the locker room is more competitive this year and there's more of a drive; there's more chemistry in the locker room. It's nice knowing you've got a good class coming in. Most of those guys are going to be impact players this year so it's really nice to know that.

On his goals for the season…
I think this year we're going to make some noise. I think we're going to turn a lot of heads this year. It's not going to be one of those years where we're pushing for seventh place; we're not satisfied with that, obviously. You see the rankings and whatnot but we're not focused on that. We're not even looking for fifth or sixth, we're looking for that one spot.

On the pressure to improve this season…
I think just not being satisfied and just keep going every single day. We've been here for a couple months already and just trying to get that overall look at the big picture. Obviously we're not satisfied with what happened last year and playing with my line mates, gaining more chemistry is a big thing for me. Bringing in the freshmen, those guys have to feel welcome and have an impact on the season for us to do well too.

On what the KHL line has to do this season…
I think a lot of what happened last year was team's started to shut us down a little bit. It became more of a dump and chase kind of game for us and starting to open teams up that way rather than trying to go right through the zone. I think overall just being better on the power play will help us a lot, obviously special teams is a big part of the game and just 5-on-5, keeping pucks out of our own net.

Zach Osburn, senior defenseman

On his senior season…
I don't want to leave this place; I love it here. Just everything about it, the hockey, all the boys here. It's just a lot of fun.

On experiencing everything for the last time…
I definitely didn't take anything for granted. I love my time here. Just looking back at it, it's sad that it's the last year.

On if it's taken time to get used to Danton Cole's coaching style…
He's someone that will really go to battle for us and it shows that he cares. We love having him around and everyone's really bought into his system. I think things are looking up for this team.

On the team this year…
We're young, but we're getting bigger. As you can see from the new freshmen coming in, you guys are going to see that we have a couple 6-foot-2 defensemen coming in. We've got Wojciech Stachowiak, (Adam) Goodsir, (Mitchell) Mattson. We've kind of changed from being a smaller, fast team to having a little bit of bulk mixed in there. We're kind of transforming into a bigger, heavier hitting team while at the same time we've got some guys who can move on our team.

Sam Saliba, junior forward

On who's in contention to be on the second and third lines…
I'd definitely start with myself. I'd personally like to, from a production standpoint, I'd like to have a better year than I did last year. Look at guys like Cody Milan, Mitchell Mattson, David Keefer and Logan Lambdin. I think all those guys can come in and help us produce.

On the depth on the team…
That's a lot of depth right there that may have been missing in past years – that depth top to bottom and knowing that you can get production from all different lines, whether it's your first or fourth line. I think that's what makes you successful in college hockey is being able to have four lines, three D pairs and two goalies that can help you win.

On what he wants to accomplish as captain…
Well it definitely comes with responsibility. I want to lead the right way, on and off the ice. My teammates elected me for who I am and who I was the first two years here so I think the biggest thing is just staying true to who I am.

On if the skill level has increased…
Absolutely. It's definitely increased since my freshman year. Here we are two years later and obviously with the addition of the staff last year, we're looking to jump right on things.

On his reaction when he was elected captain…
I was really honored and excited, just knowing that the guys that wore that letter here before me and a lot of great players. To be named by my teammates meant a lot.

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Taro Hirose, junior forward

On what the next step is for this team…
Just bring that consistency every single night, having no off nights. If we show up every night and do what we do, I think we'll give the team a chance to win. Just leading by example a little more and doing the little things a little bit better I think is something we can do and maybe just playing a little bit harder. I know Coach Exter is always getting on us about playing the right way and stuff like that so that's definitely something that we can do a lot better.

On improving on the team's skills and chemistry…
I think as we keep playing we'll just learn more about what we like about playing together. I think each of us has gotten better in our way in the off season, we just need to contribute and make it easier out there when we're playing.

On what things have to happen this year for the team to improve from seventh place and have a chance in the conference playoffs…
I think we need to improve our defense. If we defend better, we'll be in more of those 2-1 games instead of the 7-2 or something like that. I think we need to be a little more consistent, bringing it in on Friday and Saturday nights; you saw last year how we win Saturday, we lose Friday and we have to come back. Coach always said we didn't win many Friday games, not giving ourselves the chance to sweep the weekend. I think that will be a big thing for us this year is bringing it in on both nights, not just one.

On the improvement on the defense with the freshmen and older guys…
I think just being a year older is just something that you can't really put words to but it will help guys make plays a lot easier and knowing the speed. I think all the defensemen are really good on helping the new guys sort of adjusting to the systems and what the coaches like to see. I think there will be a lot of improvements on the back end.

On developing himself as a passer…
I think I sort of go into the mindset that when there's a chance to shoot, there might always be a better option. I think whether it's in practice, knowing where to put the puck between a guy's stick, between a guy's feet, when he's going to move his feet to create an opening and things like that, so when it comes to game time it's just second nature. I get the puck, you take a quick look at the net and if nothing's obviously there you know where your guys are going to be, what areas of the ice they might be in, what places you need to put the puck to get to them.

Tommy Apap, sophomore forward

On being named alternate captain…
It means a ton for me to help lead this team. We have a lot of leaders on this team so I'm just a small part of that and it starts with (Sam) Saliba our captain all the way down through even our freshman, they shown some good leadership.

On what he did to earn alternate captain…
I'm not necessarily a super vocal guy, I'm pretty vocal in the locker room, but I'm not out there yelling at guys and doing that kind of thing. I just try to work hard in practice every day and work hard in games and do what the coaches are asking of me.

On translating the team's skill onto the ice…
Throughout most of the spring, the summer and the fall we've had an idea of just trusting the process and keep growing, keep building on what we've already done and I think there's a lot more for us to accomplish. Through that, coach has harped on us to just keep getting better every day, every little drill we do. There's going to be so many details to the game that we have to pay attention to and we all know that and the incoming freshman know that, so when everybody's on the same page it just clicks a lot better.

John Lethemon, junior goaltender

On expectations for the 2018-19 season…
The expectations are very high, every year you want to keep getting better. We've got a lot of guys returning so everybody's going to be a year older, a year stronger and a year faster so that's really positive. All of the freshmen we brought in, they really came to compete, they're all very talented and there's going to be a lot more competition up and down the lineup.

One year two for head coach Danton Cole…
The expectations are still the same. If anything they just keep getting higher. We're building on the culture here and he's been a big part of that, the entire staff has, they really hold us accountable.

On preaching the process rather than the results…
We're trying to get that mindset, that the end result isn't really what we're thinking of. We want to come to the rink every single day, wake up every day, do the right things, take care of ourselves and try to get a little bit better every day. That's just a part of trusting the process and believing in it and those results will come.

Michigan State University Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Tommy Apap

Taro Hirose

David Keefer

Logan Lambdin

John Lethemon

Mitchell Lewandowski

Mitchell Mattson

Cody Milan

Zach Osburn

Sam Saliba

Wojciech Stachowiak

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