Hancock head hockey coach Scott Mikesch looks on during a game against Houghton on Saturday, March 6, 2021, at Dee Stadium in Houghton, Mich. (Adam Niemi/The Daily Mining Gazette)

HANCOCK — When discussing the local high school hockey scene, there have been a number of household coaches who have greatly impacted generations of players, whether it was Houghton’s Don Miller, Hancock’s Rick Miller, or Calumet’s Jim Crawford.

In more recent years, it has been the likes of Corey Markham at Houghton, Dan Rouleau at Hancock, and Dan Giachino at Calumet.

Looking to start the process of adding his name to that list is Scott Mikech, who guided the Bulldogs this past season for the first time.

Despite the fact that his team’s final contest this season was a 5-1 loss to Houghton in the Region 17 semifinals, Mikesch was pleased with how his team played through most of a 10-6 season that saw them finish fourth in the Great Lakes Hockey Conference behind Calumet, Houghton, and Marquette.

“I thought that we played good hockey night in and night out,” Mikesch said. “We had problems creating offense against the top teams, against the Marquettes, the Calumets, and the Houghtons. That was our only disappointment that I saw for our year.”

Mikesch was quick to admit that a large part of why his Bulldogs struggled to score was the play of Aksel Loukus in Calumet and Jimmy Pietila in Houghton, both goaltenders.

“I thought that their goaltenders, especially Calumet’s and Houghton’s goaltending, were really good against us. We created a lot of chances, and they played real well.”

The Bulldogs hung tough with the Gremlins and the Copper Kings throughout the season, but just could not find that elusive “one more goal” that made the difference on the scoreboard.

“We were in the games with them, and often outshot those teams,” he said. “Obviously, what you’re trying to do is win the game, and you need goals to win the game. We came up short in that area.”

Taking over a team like Hancock is never easy, not with the legacies of Rick Miller and Rouleau, both of whom have guided the Bulldogs to state titles. To do so during a pandemic made things even more difficult. However, Mikesch has spent time in the Hancock Public Schools system, and he felt that helped him build a rapport with his players quickly despite the distinct lack of practice time.

“I think it was a real benefit that I’ve been involved with the school now, as a substitute teacher,” said Mikesch. “I’ve been a substitute at Hancock on a pretty regular basis, so getting to be around the kids in school, I think, was a real plus for accelerating our communication between each other. That was good. As far as how I want them to play the game of hockey, and what I consider to be important things to build a successful team, that took a hit because of the limited time we had on the ice for sure.”

Having to adjust on the fly to changing rules and regulations, Mikesch and his players did their best to focus on the tasks at hand.

“We did some work with Zoom meetings, where we could go over basic concepts like face offs and forechecks, some real basic things,” he said. “But everybody knows that you can teach that and how much they absorb is kind of debatable. So until you get out on the ice and do it, I think that it’s not 100% ingrained.”

Despite the lack of practice time, Mikesch was proud of how much he felt the team did pick up and assimilate.

“Overall, I really thought that our team played the system that I wanted them to play,” said Mikesch. “They did a really good job of catching on to what we wanted to do. I had a lot of great help from my assistant coaches. They’re great teachers, and that’s what it’s all about: coaching is teaching, and I thought we did a good job of teaching and the kids did a good job of absorbing what we were trying to do, for the most part.”

Of course, having a pair of seniors in Austin Salani and Scott’s nephew, Mason, made a difference as well. The two led the Bulldogs in scoring and they were big contributors on the power play, where Hancock shined throughout the season. Both played for Team Copper Country, and since Mikesch coached there before joining the Bulldogs, both skaters had a chance to learn from him before the high school season started.

“I think they helped me a lot in that they bought into what I was selling, and a lot of the stuff (we did) they were familiar with through Team Copper Country. I thought our power play was really good this year. We were 35% on our power play.”

Unfortunately, both skaters are graduating, but Mikesch believes that he has some players who took large strides this season.

“Calvin Heinonen, who’s going to be a junior next year, really showed a knack for finding areas to get open and finish,” Mikesch said. “He really did a really good job in a lot of those games. Just like our other guys, he was snakebit. He had some really good chances, hit some pipes, and in those big games, every night he was getting chances.”

Another forward who made significant strides was Todd Anderson, although offensively it did not always show. A third-year Bulldog skater, Anderson scored five goals and 19 points during the season in 16 games, which was still down from his freshman year, where he notched 10 goals and 23 points in 25 games.

“Todd Anderson scored more as a sophomore (and a freshman) than he did this year,” said Mikesch. “He was getting the chances, but he just had a rough year finishing. I know that just watching him in practice, and watching the skill that he has, he’s got a lot more in the tank. I think that he might have a breakout year next year, because it just was one of those years where he was snakebit, and getting a bunch of chances, but nothing seemed to go in for him. I think he will, hopefully he can, bust loose next year.”

On the blue line, Mikesch was extremely pleased with the development of Chad Nordstrom and Dominick Pizzi. Nordstrom finished third on the team in scoring and learned to quarterback Hancock’s potent power play. Pizzi held steady in big moments.

“‘Nordy’ already was, I think, the best defenseman in the league, offensively,” Mikesch said. “There’s not a better offensive defenseman in the league than Chad. He’s got a lot of poise back there. He does a great job running the power play, slowing the game down back there, kind of when everybody gets to their spots. He’s a big asset that way, and I thought he made a real big step defensively.

“Dominic is really, he is probably our best defensive defenseman. He does a great job in 1-on-1 situations, handling the rush, handling himself in the corners. He became more and more physical. We encouraged them to do that. I think he gained confidence as the year went on.”

If there is one other area of concern heading into the 2021-22 season, it is in goal. Cousins Isaak and Brandon Pietila have been played most of the games for the Bulldogs the past two seasons, but they will be challenged next season by Dan Wroblewski, Randy Roberts and Saku Cunard, all three of which Mikesch feels are capable of stepping in, if the need arises. Roberts and Cunard spent the 2020-21 season with the junior varsity team, which gave both of them a chance to experience high school hockey before making the transition to the varsity squad when their opportunities arrive in the future.

With skaters continuing to grow and goaltenders hungry to keep their net empty, Mikesch is excited to see if he can get some more goals out of his team next season, making life difficult for the likes of Calumet, Houghton and Jeffers come regionals.