Season 6 Episode 28 of the Chasing MacNaughton Podcast from Tech Hockey Guide; California Dreaming. This is a special episode recorded by Mitch’s Misfits president Kellan Meloche from the Cactus Cup in Palm Springs, California. In this episode, Kellan sat down with Paul Zappia, who covers the LA Kings and Coachella Valley Firebirds for Last Word On Sports, and the two discussed Michigan Tech’s games against UMass-Lowell and Holy Cross, the Cactus Cup and its reception, and college hockey in the desert.
Cactus Cup discussion
Most of the conversation between Kellan and Paul revolved around the Cactus Cup. They talked about the quick turnaround between games for Tech and how that might have affected the team, but both guys gave praise to Tech for hanging in the game against UMass-Lowell. Paul specifically pointed out how well Michigan Tech played on special teams, especially during the nearly six minutes of penalty kill Tech had against UMass-Lowell. Paul was also impressed with the composure and confidence that Tech showed during their games, specifically pointing to Tech’s defensive corps. The guys discussed Michigan Tech’s goaltending situation and Paul was impressed with Ryan Manzella’s play having only recently joined the team.
The guys spent time talking about the lack of college hockey in the Palm Springs/West Coast area, and Kellan hoped that some of the new Big Ten schools would add hockey programs. Paul talked about the Firebirds having a sizeable fan base and how it has helped the game of hockey grow in popularity in the region. Paul talked about wanting to see the Cactus Cup return in future years and continue to showcase college hockey to the area.
Paul’s writing
After discussing the Cactus Cup, Kellan and Paul talked about some of the writing that Paul does and how Paul got to be a fan of hockey. Paul talked about being raised as a LA Kings fan, which lead to a discussion on former Husky Matt Roy who played several seasons with the Kings. Paul talked about his expectations for the Kings this season and how the team has surpassed those. Paul also talked about his current pursuits in getting his communication degree and his hopes to continue working in the field of sports reporting.
Cut for time
This week’s cut time for Patrons is approximately 26 minutes long. Prior to recording with Paul, Kellan sat down with a couple other Misfits who traveled to watch Michigan Tech play. They discussed Tech’s Cactus Cup tournament games, their thoughts on Palm Springs, why each decided to attend Michigan Tech, their favorite trip with the Misfits, and the second half of the season.
For additional information and more episode liner notes, check out our episode overview on Tech Hockey Guide. To make sure we can afford all our fancy equipment we purchased for the podcast and the THG website in general, please check out our Patreon page and consider joining. Patrons at our Black Level or above receive an authentic MTU jersey patch and access to extra podcast content including extended versions of our other episodes. This week’s extended version is about 54 minutes…