By Tommy Kane

Published: April 7th, 2018

Volume II: Issue XXII

I recently had the honor of interviewing two of the current Rochester Institute of Technology hockey players. Erik Brown (pictured right) is an upcoming Senior Forward and Logan Drackett (pictured left) is an upcoming Sophomore Goaltender. This article is my first interview. I asked both players four thought-provoking questions about the past and upcoming seasons and they responded. The questions and the answers were recorded and are published below. I hope you enjoy hearing the input that these two great men had to say about the team!

Erik Brown:

Erik Brown will be a Senior Forward next year from Keene, Ontario. He is currently majoring in Biomedical Engineering. Before coming to RIT, he played for the Kemptville 73’s who are in the CCHL. Brown set a season record by scoring a total of 29 goals this past year and was tied second nationally in goals. He had an outbreak in scoring against Scared Heart on February 17th, 2018, where he scored four goals!

Q: You scored 29 goals this season and was second in Division I in scoring. What is it like to go through such a strong season? Is there anyone else to give credit to other than yourself?

A: Yeah it feels good to go through a season like that. When it comes down to it, it feels pretty awesome to accomplish that. There are a lot of people who deserve credit for helping me. You can even take it back to my childhood and my father. In terms of the team, our strength and conditioning coach. I can’t give him enough credit because I train with him during the summer. He helped me build the foundation to perform at my optimal level. Also, the coach is giving me opportunities, my line-mates have helped me a ton. Abbot Girduckis is an exceptional play-maker, he makes it easier for me to play the middle of the ice. Gabe Valenzuela is an all-around playmaker who opens up a lot of ice for me to make a play.

Q: You were recently named Atlantic Hockey Player of the Month. How has that affected you and your play out on the ice? Has anything changed going forward?

A: I don’t think anything has changed at all. Much like the accolade of getting 29 goals, they are only pieces of recognition that make you feel that you are accomplishing your overall goal. It doesn’t change my mindset, it kind of just reassured me. My overall goal with the team is I wanna win a League Championship and a National Championship. My personal goal is I want to play in the NHL. I believe in setting the bar as high as you can and shooting and falling wherever you do. These pieces of recognition just keep me motivated.

Q: Although you were not a Captain this year, did you feel like you contributed to leading this team? How did you help the other Captains throughout the year and did you learn anything important from them?

A: Not being named Captain isn’t an indication that you aren’t a leader on a team. You can be a quality leader even if you don’t actually wear the “C”, and that’s a role I tried to take on this past season. I just try to make sure I’m doing the right things on and off the ice. Whether trying to stay healthy or trying to develop my game on the ice, I try to be one of the hardest working players out there. My style of leadership is ‘lead by example’, but I wanna be the leader who is heard and talks when necessary. I don’t wanna be the guy who talks all the time. I try to be the guy that others can rely on. I think that it is important to have trust in certain guys. This year I learned a lot from our four Captains. Chase and Brady Norrish are two outstanding leaders. They do the right things on and off the ice. When they spoke they compelled you to listen to them. Matt Abt was a leader who doesn’t change because he was a Captain. As a leader, he remained the exact same humble character guy the team loved to be around. I learned a lot from his philosophy. Myles Powell is a down-to-earth great person. He is a little more vocal, but I think you need guys on your team that are a little more vocal. I learned about being a character guy and doing the right things on and off the ice. He was a hard and passionate player at all times. When he doesn’t see acceptable things, you can see the passion in him. I take those little pieces from those guys and instill them in myself.

Q: What are you most looking forward to next year as it will be your Senior year?

A: I think I’m just looking forward to making the most of my last year, whether that is progressing my game for after college or pursing my goal of playing Pro. I also want to develop myself as a person and leader. You can argue developing as a person is the most important, because being a Senior you have a different role. You got the Freshman coming in; you have a little more weight to everything you do. It is important to set an example. I am looking forward to that process of progressing. I am also looking forward to the hockey and giving it the best I can. This is your last year of safety because in the Pros you deal with contracts. Being in that world isn’t easy, so preparing myself to be in the best position for the Pros is important to me this upcoming year.

Logan Drackett:

Logan Drackett will be a Sophomore Goalie next year who is from Calgary, Alberta. He is a Business Management major. Before coming to RIT, he played for the Calgary Canucks who are in the AJHL. Although only a Freshman, Drackett played 19 times and was named Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week two times last season!

Q: As a Freshman you started in net against Northeastern during the opening Homecoming game this year. You saved 41 shots in a tough OT loss to the ranked team, while then getting named AHA Freshman of the Week. You next played against RPI and allowed 7 goals in a blow-out loss. What was going through your head during and after that game? Did Coach Wilson guide you in any way?

A: After the RPI game, I was a little down and my confidence was shot. Coming in later, Coach came up to me and told me to focus on the next game. He told me he was planning on staying with me for the next game, and to not have my confidence shot. He told me that I have proven that I can play. It was a tough time and I had a roller coaster of emotions, but I stayed at it. It was nice Coach gave me some reassurance, which really helped me. It’s tough when you play well the first two games and then get shot up. You learn from those tough games and go from that.

Q: As a Freshman Goalie, there is a lot of competition to get the starting role in net. Ian Andriano and Christian Short are great Goalies. How did you all get along, while knowing that the three of you were fighting for the starting spot? Anything specific?

A: I think for us we really just focused on the business on the ice. Off the ice, we are great friends. If I can work as hard as I can, then Ian will see that and work as hard as he can. It was a great atmosphere to have three Goalies that can play, as well as Ian being a Freshman as well. Shorty (Christian Short) was helpful by showing us the ropes and teaching us how to be a Goalie at this level. Overall, they were great teammates to have and we had each other’s backs throughout the season, no matter what.

Q: Coach Wilson entrusted you to be the starting Goalie during the AHA Playoffs. How did you take advantage of that opportunity, considering he could have picked another Goalie to start? How will this experience during the AHA Playoffs help you in the future?

A: I thought it was reassuring how he picked me, as Ian and Shorty could have done great as well. Moving forward, you know that every save matters, even if it is a routine save or a big save, it all really matters because in the Playoffs, they are all just one goal games. It is good to get that experience under my belt because hopefully next year I can use my experience to get further than the First Round and build off last year’s First Round Series. I know that there is a lot of stuff that I need to work on personally to make sure we go further next year.

Q: As a Freshman Goalie, you have been an inspiration to me by how you persevere when times are tough, especially during that triple OT game. How will you improve your game moving forward? Is there anything that you learned from your first year that will possibly help you? If so, what?

A: I think really just being physically fit. Coming in, I thought that I was fit, but at this level it takes double that I was the level before. I need to be in the gym a lot longer this Summer. Every game you learn something about yourself that isn’t gonna work at this level. I learned a lot about myself this season. I don’t think my glove was good enough this year, as well as I need to work on my patience during games. I was too aggressive sometimes this year or I was trying to cheat the plays. I need to compose myself better next year. Being a Goalie who isn’t the tallest, I can stand on my feet to my advantage. I learned a lot this year and through the Playoffs, but you gotta work on stuff everyday and every game to try to be a leader and the best Goalie in this league. Every year, people are working just as hard as you; it shows you gotta work hard in the gym every time.

I would like to once again thank Erik Brown and Logan Drackett for conducting this interview with me. I hope to have more interviews in the future. As always, go Tigers!