Edmonton Oiler and MASTP Alum Ryan Whitney

By Derek Van Diest, QMI Agency

EDMONTON - Ryan Whitney is ready to give it another go.

The Edmonton Oilers defenceman hopes to be in the lineup this week either Monday at home against the San Jose Sharks or Tuesday on the road in Vancouver.

"I feel bad, you feel for the guys that are out there losing," said Whitney. "I don't feel as great as I hoped I would, but I think I can still help at 80%. I'm going to do whatever I can."
Whitney has not played since Dec. 22, bothered by an ankle he had surgically repaired last year.

He's been limited to just 17 games on the season, collecting three assists.

"It's not any better," Whitney said. "I've tried taping it, and it's helped a little bit. I'll try one more time this year and hopefully I'll last the rest of the year, if not, whenever the season ends or wherever I'm done, I'll get some second and third opinions and go to the ends of the earth to figure out if I can fix it."

Whitney had been skating on his own prior to joining the Oilers for practice Sunday. It wasn't the best time to rejoin the squad, having to take a fitness test before practice then being put through the paces during it.

"I haven't practiced in a month and then I just did that," Whitney said. "I don't feel great right now, but maybe in the morning I'll feel better. I'm leaning towards coming back Tuesday but I could feel great in the morning (Monday) and get in there.

"But I had the fitness test then that practice, so I'm dying right now."
Edmonton Sun

Phoenix Coyotes defenseman
Keith Yandle's work ethic propels him to elite status

By Jim Gintonio - Jan. 15, 2012 04:59 PM

Dave Tippett knows the sacrifice and commitment it takes to string together hundreds of consecutive games. The Coyotes coach played in 417 in a row during one stretch of his NHL career.
"I was just too scared of losing my job all the time," he joked.

Keith Yandle, selected for the All-Star Game earlier this week, has 200 more to go to reach that mark, but Tippett knows the work ethic involved that has propelled the defenseman to elite status. That number will be cut by one when he takes the ice Monday as the Coyotes host the Colorado Avalanche.
 

"You have to be willing to be prepared
physically and mentally every night,"
Tippett said.
"You've got to stay injury free and have the ability to play through some injuries, but that's a badge of honor to see how many games they can play in a row.

"It shows that they're not just mentally strong but physically their bodies can handle it."
 

Yandle, who also was chosen for the all - star team last year,
never takes anything for granted,
and he was not expecting the selection.

"You are surprised because you see the other guys who are there, and you're just happy to be there and to be a part of the guys and being in the locker room with guys like that," he said. "So, yeah, I was a little surprised, but you work hard for it, and I'm happy to go.

"I've talked to guys that played, and you don't forget any of them. They're all different, and they're all separate occasions, and they're all fun times. It's a few days having a good time with other guys you've never met, and I'm looking forward to it."

Yandle, who averages a team-high 22-plus minutes a game, has five goals and 25 points. He began the season a bit slow but has been a force on both ends of the ice for the past several weeks.

He said all players have a lot for the game and want to be on the ice every night for as long as possible. To do that, staying in shape is the simple key.

"Coaches do a good job of knowing when we have to have a hard practice and knowing when to take it easy a little bit, so you rely on that a lot, and they do a great job with that," he said. "And having workouts with (conditioning coach Mike) Bahner and doing stuff after games also helps."

Derek Morris usually lines up as Yandle's defensive partner, and the veteran has seen Yandle's progression since he broke into the league and played seven games in the 2006-07 season.

"It's nice that he gets noticed because last year, obviously his season was outstanding, he forced everybody to notice him, but they noticed him again this year, that he's playing another solid season, playing great for us," Morris said.
 

"He's by far one of our best,
if not our best player, and every single night
he does something that helps us win a game,
and I think that's what you want out of your All-Stars."

He showed up to work, didn't complain;
there was never a sense of entitlement.

He seemed a throw-in in the Curtis Joseph trade with St. Louis in August of 1995, a huge winger going to Boston University. I remember there were all sorts of questions about his weight then, that he was more linebacker than hockey forward, with all the stories of his dad Bobby working for the New England Patriots.

He wound up playing over 1000 NHL games here, Washington, Buffalo and San Jose.  He wore an A on his jersey in many of those places, testament to his leadership ability in all of his stops.

“The scouts all wanted Mike but Glen (GM Sather) didn't know much about him. I remember Glen saying 'he weighs 265 pounds, he'll never fit into a pair of pants,”' laughed former Oilers' head of scouting Kevin Prendergast.

People wondered if Grier's footspeed would be good enough in the NHL. It was never all-world, but he lost weight, got leaner, got a little quicker by the time he came to the Oilers in 1996. But mostly what you got from Mike Grier was his attitude.
 

“If there was one word to describe Mike it was professional…one of the nicest guys that ever came through Edmonton.

He knew what he had to work on and he did. If he had to be mean, he was mean. His game wasn't pretty, but   he did everything with class,” said Prendergast.

His hitting ability was legendary. Nobody I've ever seen hit harder or cleaner. He obliterated people. He skated right through players, like he was rolling through an amber light at an intersection. He could teach today's young players how to body-check, rather than throw themselves at a player. You skate through them.

If you were ever in Grier's train tracks, you were history.

“After we beat Colorado (1998), one of their trainers told me their players were scared silly of Mike,” said former Oilers' trainer Ken Lowe.

His pain threshold was off the charts, too. “I'd put him in Jason Smith's class,” said Lowe, who was there when Grier had his dislocated shoulder during the 2000-2001 season, where you could hear him screaming on the ice when it would pop out during games. “Usually the more times a player dislocates a shoulder the easier it is to put back in but in Mike's case he was so muscular, there was so much resistance. It was hard,” said Lowe.

“He was one tough kid.”

Grier retires at 36, comfortable in the fact that he could probably get a job with any NHL team in management in a heartbeat.  Scouting, assistant coaching. He was universally respected.
“Mike's a smart guy. He could do just about anything. Heck, maybe he'll be a general manager one day,” said Prendergast.
Edmonton Journal: LOADED: 12.02.2011
 

Ryan Whitney Speaks of his
Satellite(MASTP) Experience

Ryan(Scituate) was a member of Massachusetts Satellite Training Program for 5 years. In that time he had over 150 hours of on ice practices, scrimmages and games, both at National Festival and with State of Massachusetts. During the off ice sessions he easily had 2 1/2 times that amount of time, well over 400+ hours.

Ryan attended Thayer Academy for his freshman through junior years. He spent his senior year in Ann Arbor for the National Development Team Program.


From the U.S. National Program Ryan went to Boston University. There he was drafted 3rd overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Two years ago he was traded by Pittsburgh to Anaheim. He did get a Stanley Cup ring from the Penguins however.

Last year he was traded to the Edmonton Oilers.

Ryan writes, “I first did the Satellite when I was 13( The 12-year-old program did not start until 1999). 
 

The best players my age were in it 
and it was a lot of fun.

You learned from college coaches, 
doing different drills and skill development.

It wasn't just on ice, the off ice workouts were great and got me started working out.”
 

“Every summer I just got better. 

Instead of doing tournaments in the summer
I did the Satellite Program. 

I felt if I had not Satellite I would regress. 

I don't see how playing in leagues and tournaments in the summer could have helped me. 

You don't need to play games 
all 12 months.”

“Every coach we had made it fun. The scrimmages were great and different than the usual one's, with different sets of rules. The trips I took, I will always remember(Ryan traveled on various State of Massachusetts teams to Vancouver, Finland, and St Cloud). Jamie Rice(Northeastern, now Babson) was a good coach. Bob Richardson was a good coach. ”

baseball at Phillips Andover Academy. 

He said that Schnieder could have 
pursued major league baseball.

"I was catcher,"
Schneider said. 
" I only played baseball in the spring
(Late March to early June, 
so no hockey for that 10+ week span). 

In the summer I played hockey
(In Massachusetts Satellite Training Program). 
I still love baseball."

Just like Brian Leetch who played baseball at Avon Old Farms School - March through early June.

Just like Brian Boyle(NYR - MASTP) who played baseball at St. Sebastiens School - March through early June.

A catcher - just like Jarome Iginla - who made the Canadian National Junior baseball team.

"The satellite program 
was great for my devolpement."

"It helped me become a well rounded hockey player on and off the ice. It was always fun to play games and better my skills with other kids that turned out to be friends for years to come."

" I learned how to warm up properly before working out."

" I also learned how valuable dry land training was in the summer. 
Becoming more athletic and stick handling off the ice helped me greatly 
and became a routine part of summer training."

Massachusetts Satellite

Training Program offers off-season

opportunities for high-level development

By Joshua Boyd - USA Junior Hockey Magazine

This summer, the best players in Massachusetts will have the opportunity to train with college and pro coaches. What off-season?

The Massachusetts Satellite Training Program will run for eight weeks with some players being recommended to USA Hockey for international competition.

The players will be in good hands, as one of the principals of the program is Dan Esdale, a USA Hockey Vice President and Junior Council chairman.

"It kind of stems back to the National Satellite Program that Jack Blatherwick started," Esdale said. "He was one of the strength and conditioning coaches for the U.S. Olympic hockey teams right from 1980 all the way through 2002. The thinking was that in order to take players to the next level, it required an intense off-season training program. We kind of spun it off and did that in Massachusetts, and we’ve started to see some results."

The original program was just meant for players ages 16 to 17 and was meant to select the Massachusetts teams for the USA Hockey Select Festivals.

"The Select Festivals were just a one-week camp, so we decided to do our own program," said Esdale.

The program was originally run in conjunction with Mass Hockey, and players tried out through the Mass Hockey Festival. The Satellite Program will still hold tryouts but not on that platform. The program is also open to players with birth years ranging from 1993 to 2000.

The camp is open to experienced boys and girls, though ages 13 and above are split by gender. On-ice sessions are held three times a week and off-ice sessions are held three times a week.

The players who make the Satellite Program out of tryouts will be working with a choice selection of coaches. Not only is this an opportunity for training, but this is also a chance for early exposure to these college coaches.

To see the full on-ice staff, go online to www.mastp.com, but a sampling includes Boston Bruins assistant coach Geoff Ward, Holy Cross head coach Paul Pearl, Merrimack head coach Mark Dennehy, Babson head coach Jamie Rice, Boston College assistant coach Greg Brown, Lake Erie Monsters (AHL) head coach David Quinn and so many more.

Off-ice, strength and conditioning coaches include Mike Boyle, working in the North Shore region, Holy Cross strength and conditioning coach Jeff Oliver in Worcester and Brian McDonough, who runs the Edge Performance Systems fitness facility at the Foxboro Sports Center.

The on-ice sessions will also be held at various rinks, such as Foxboro, Babson College.

There will be goalie-specific training, with coaches including Babson’s Ed Kesell, Boston University’s Mike Geragosian and former Boston College player and current South Shore Kings assistant coach Jeff Cohen.

"This program really gives a kid a chance to show who he is and what he can do, and it gives our large coaching staff an opportunity to see that," said Esdale.

However, it’s not about exposure, it’s about preparing for the next season, whichever the next level that season may be played at.

So, who takes part in this type of camp? The alumni list may be more impressive than the coaches list, if that’s possible. Former Satellite Program participants include NHL defensemen Keith Yandle (Phoenix Coyotes), Ryan Whitney (Edmonton Oilers), Brooks Orpik (Pittsburgh Penguins), defensemen Mike Mottau (New York Islanders) and goalie Cory Schneider (Vancouver Canucks).

"This really is training for highly-skilled kids to make it to the next levels," said Esdale.