PHOTO courtesy icelevel.com
By Sean Marcellus
The Central Canada Hockey League had a chance to chat with one of its top performing goaltenders this season in 20-year old Michael Cullen of the Gloucester Rangers. Whether he is on the ice or off of it, this young mans future looks bright.
CCHL: You have had quite the journey to get to where you are now, coming up through the AA ranks, spending your 18-year and 19-year old seasons at the CCHL2 level, what are some things that helped you along the way?
MC: It wouldn’t have been possible without the support of my coaches, friends, teammates, and family. I was never a standout AAA player or someone who had an obvious and clear-cut path to the Jr. A level so it would have been easy to just go to Queen’s University, be a regular student, and call it a career but that’s not what I wanted. The fact that I could play in the CCHL2 with the Westport Rideaus while attending Queen’s gave me the opportunity to find myself as a goalie and student and ultimately gave my career a new life. Having Mike “Bundy” Seed and Tom Dodds be so patient, supportive, and understanding of my goals during the ups and downs of each season at Tier 2 meant I could just focus on playing and I really owe a lot to them and the community of Westport.
CCHL: The past two seasons you had quite a heavy workload playing with Tier 2 Westport, where you led the league in Minutes Played for two straight seasons, how did all that playing time help prepare you for the jump to the next level?
MC: I honestly can’t say enough about what it meant to have them trust in me so much. It was always about hitting the reset button and showing up to work the next day to help our team win no matter what happened the previous game. There are times within a game where you must be able to say “I’ve been here before, I can handle this!” and that’s what I think I benefitted the most from. Whether you’re up 1-0, down 4-1, or tied late in a game it helps to think you’ve been in those sorts of scenarios and can just focus on the next shot instead of letting your emotions get the better of you.
CCHL: Now you are a 20-year old rookie in the CCHL playing in your final year of Junior eligibility, what has surprised you most about playing at this level that you may have not expected coming into the year?
MC: I tried to prepare for this year at Jr. A to ensure there were no surprises, but I will say I enjoy the amount of time us teammates get to spend together. With Westport, we had a few guys from Queen’s, a few from the Valley, and a few locals which meant we’d show up for practices and games, so aside from the odd night out here and there we didn’t get to hang out very much. With Gloucester, we go to the gym together, do video together, and plan team get-togethers more frequently so it’s basically hockey all day everyday and that’s something I was looking forward to experiencing coming into this season.
CCHL: We always hear about how goalies are a little out of this world, as it’s not everybody’s’ enjoyment to have frozen pucks fired towards them, at what age did you realize the goalie position was for you and was there maybe a goalie you looked up to?
MC: I was probably around 5 or 6. There was this goalie mask colouring book at my elementary school that my parents would photocopy pages from and I would spend hours colouring in NHL goalie masks. Soon I would be the ball hockey goalie and outdoor rink goalie for my older brother and our friends which lead to lots of bruises over the years. I think for any goalie it stems from a desire to be different at a young age, and there’s no bigger differentiator the position can offer than the equipment. I have this 1990’s “Greatest Goalie” book that I keep around to this day so the big goalies I admired were probably Vladislav Tretiak, Ed Belfour, and Martin Brodeur.
CCHL: What are your plans for next year and beyond?
MC: As I mentioned earlier I was enrolled as a full-time engineering student at Queen’s so I will only have two years left of Div. I eligibility following this season. I’m currently reaching out to universities in Canada and the United States to see if my unique situation can benefit an elite hockey program anywhere. I would like to keep playing as long as possible and if I can earn a degree while doing it that would be awesome. Given the rather extensive path I’ve taken with hockey I really feel I’ve got a lot more to give to the game.
CCHL: Do you have any quirky game-day habits? What is your routine like?
MC: This is one area that took a lot of adapting over the years. I used to be very reliant on getting the perfect routine in, but when you play so much it is very rare that everything works out the way you want before a game (ex. bus is late, unexpected equipment issues, forgotten items etc.). I try to not be so dependent on what I do before a game to feel good but still have a guideline for what I need to do at home before I get to the rink. What I eat, how I stretch, and the timing of everything that I can control is well thought-out.
CCHL: If you could pick any professional hockey player to shut the door on in a shootout situation to clinch the victory, who would it be?
MC: Probably Patrick Kane in an international competition. Canada vs. USA to win gold, though I would hope a game like that would be continuous overtime.
CCHL: Do you have any special off-season training you take part in?
MC: I work out at Capital Strength Training Systems in Ottawa and do goalie training with Stefan Nichols at Goaler U over the spring/summer, once I’ve taken a few weeks to rest after the season is over. Without a doubt, I would not be in the position I find myself in if not for the support from the trainers at Capital Strength and Stefan. I usually receive phone calls daily to play in Men’s League games and help my friends’ teams out, so that also keeps me a lot busier than you’d think… there have been a few times when I played 3 games in an evening! Aside from that I enjoy playing basketball and squash with my friends to increase my lackluster cardio.
CCHL: When you’re not stopping pucks for the Gloucester Rangers, what kinds of activities do you enjoy?
MC: I like to keep busy by walking-in to my friend’s university courses at Ottawa or Carleton from time to time for knowledge’s sake. My status as an engineering student with Queen’s has limited my schooling options in Ottawa so the void needs to be filled somehow. On a more normal side I really enjoy playing the guitar, video games, and reading. I also have the opportunity to be a goalie instructor with Stefan and enjoy teaching as well as learning from his students.
CCHL: Lastly, what kind of advice can you give others who have had a difficult time making a Junior A club on the first or second go around and have had to develop their game at a lower level?
MC: Great question… I think the biggest thing is ego-management, as weird as that sounds. It’s tough to accept being released from a team you maybe feel you deserved to make. It’s even tougher when it happens numerous times the same season. And yet even tougher when it happens numerous times across multiple seasons. While it’s easy to play the blame-game over why things didn’t work out, it’s far more admirable and productive to look in the mirror, accept responsibility, and work to not give the next guy a reason to say no. You must have the maturity and control of your own ego to understand the perspectives of those who have the power of holding your hockey future in their hands and do everything you can to make a positive impression upon those people for the next time around; who knows, maybe they know a guy who knows a guy that is looking for a player like you. You never know how far someone is willing to go to help a good, honest, hardworking hockey player – it is obvious how little they will do for the opposite.
