STEVE MICHALEK MAKING HIS MARK

Feb 15, 2016

By Tom Witosky | Follow @toskyAHLWild

When Iowa Wild goalie Steve Michalek learned last week teammate Jeremy Smith likely would no longer be with the club, his first thought was something practical.

“My first reaction was I have to get more clothes because I only packed for the weekend,” the 22-year-old Hartford, Conn native, said with a grin.

But, after winning his first two American Hockey League games by identical 5-1 scores, Michalek (pronounced Michael-Eck) has found himself in the right place at the right time to make an unexpected good impression on the Wild coaching staff.

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“It is just part of the business,” Wild head coach John Torchetti said of the decision by the Boston Bruins to recall Smith to play for their AHL club in Providence following a serious injury to goalie Malcolm Subban. “We knew this could always happen because that was part of the deal. You never foresee injuries.”

Smith’s unexpected recall took place two days after Michalek, who was called-up from the Quad City Mallards of the ECHL to replace an injured Leland Irving, had delivered his second Wild victory, stopping 36 of 37 shots in the Wild’s 5-1 road win at Chicago.

His first win – on Jan. 30 – made national news when Michalek and Charlotte Checkers goalie Daniel Altshuller squared off in a goalie fight – a first for most of the 6,158 Wild fans attending the game.

Michalek’s two wins for the Wild bookended a 3-2 overtime loss and a 4-0 shutout win for the Mallards.

Overall, according to Torchetti, it would be hard to keep Michalek from getting more games with the Wild now that Smith has departed.

“His call-up was well deserved because he put the work in and has the work ethic.” Torchetti said. “He put in his time in practice and in preparation for his game. Now he has to keep on being consistent here. I think he is capable of it.”

Freddy Chabot, the Wild’s goaltending development coach, agreed. He said Michalek’s temperament and his eagerness to improve his skills and goaltending strategies are major factors in his quick rise from playing major college hockey last year at Harvard.

“Michalek has a really good demeanor so when he makes a mistake or has a bad day he seems to get over it quickly,” Chabot said. “He doesn’t criticize, he doesn’t whine. He works and competes every day.”

Michalek said that he didn’t always have that focus, but that a searing and embarrassing mistake he made in 2012 while at Harvard contributed substantially to his maturing as player and person.

“A few of us got into trouble with the school for academic dishonesty on a take home test,” Michalek said. “It was an unfortunate situation and I definitely could have handled it better. I served a one-year suspension.”

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Michalek was one of 70 students suspended in 2012 by Harvard University officials after a teaching assistant for a government class noticed that some students had given identical answers on a take-home test. The scandal, which required the investigation of about 125 students, rocked Harvard and resulted in athletes from football, hockey, baseball and basketball teams being disciplined.

The suspension prompted Michalek to go the United States Hockey League briefly where he played 17 games for the Cedar Rapids Roughriders. But that alternative was cut short when Michalek learned NCAA eligibility rules forbid him from playing in the USHL if he wanted to continue to play at Harvard.

“I ended up living at home, which was really tough,” he said. “But I kept on working, trying to stay in shape for the next year.”

Michalek said that he thought about quitting Harvard, but decided that the opportunity provided to him was too great to pass up.

“I decided that I didn’t want to throw that away,” he said. “I knew my parents didn’t want to see me throw that away. They were proud to send their son to an Ivy League school. That was pretty important for them.”

Upon his return, the Minnesota Wild’s sixth-round draft choice in 2011, became the Crimson starting goalie in his senior year.  In 37 games that season, Michalek had a 21-13-8 record with a 2.28 GAA and a .924 save percentage.

“I had to deal with some adversity, but it ended up for the better. It helped me to refocus and see what I had to do,” Michalek, who expects to get his degree in psychology soon by attending summer school, said.

But before he goes back to Cambridge, Michalek said he hopes to make a lasting impression on the Wild staff.

“I know my spot here definitely isn’t permanent,” he said. “I know I have to perform well every time to keep my spot at any level. I’m definitely grateful for the opportunity.”

Michalek said he became a goalie at the age of eight – again for a practical reason.

“It looked like I wasn’t going to be able to make the hockey team, but then I noticed they needed another goalie,” he said. “I’ve been a goalie ever since.”

Growing-up in a family of Buffalo Sabre fans, Michalek also said that he began to copy the moves of Dominik Hasek at an early age, then watched Saber’s goalie Ryan Miller closely while developing a unique approach to the game.

“Some folks probably think I have a little much of that in my game, but he really was a great person to emulate,” Michalek said. “When Ryan Miller came along that was when I was really building an understanding of the game.”

Now that he is in the pros, Michalek said he has a better understanding of what it actually takes to become a professional hockey player.

“Something clicked in college that I realized that I didn’t have to be the best goalie in the world, but if I am the hardest worker out there then good things are going to happen,” he said.  “I began to take training in practice a lot more serious. It wasn’t just game day that was important, every day became important.”

Because of that, Michalek said, he has enjoyed playing with the Quad City Mallards a lot.

“I loved it there,” he said. “You can feel how they really support the Mallards down there. I’ve never played somewhere before where the fans are really behind you and you can feel how they really want you to succeed.”

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Now in Des Moines, Torchetti said that he thinks Michalek is going to feel the same kind of support from his teammates much of it the result of the fight with Altshuller.

“When the players see you fight, then they know you are fighting for them and they want to do the same thing,” Torchetti said.  “The team does respond to their goalie.”

As for Michalek, his major concern was more practical.

“I have to figure out a way to get more clothes here in next couple of days,” he said.

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