USHL: QA with Mike Cichy

Mike Cichy led the Tri-City Storm in scoring in 2007-08 with 16 goals and 29 assists in 59 games. He also played for Team USA at the 2007 World Junior A Challenge, but it wasn't enough for NHL teams to select him in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. In 2008-09, Cichy was named the MVP of the 2008 World Junior A Challenge and was leading Tri-City in scoring with a point-per-game-plus pace before being traded in mid-January to the Indiana Ice. Since then, he has gone on a two-point-per-game tear, helping further boost his stock for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft and putting him in a position to be an impact player for the University of North Dakota for next season.

McKeen's correspondent Kevin Wey recently had the opportunity to talk with Mike Cichy and discussed his trade from Tri-City, his scoring exploits with Indiana, the 2008 WJAC, the 2009 USHL Prospects/All-Star Game, his noted improvement since last season, and the specter of USHL playoff hockey.

McKeen's: On January 13 you were traded from the Tri-City Storm, whom you were leading in scoring, no surprise, to the Indiana Ice, and you've exploded to a two-point-per-game pace. So, when Tri-City traded you, what did they tell you, what was your reaction and what did Indiana tell you?

Cichy: Well, basically I heard from Tri-City the day of the trade. Coach Rudrud pulled me into his office and said, "You know what? Obviously it's not looking like we're on a playoff run right now," and he said if we had won the previous two games, that he would have never thought about trading me. But, we were just going downhill fast there and he said I could help them (Indiana) out and he can get help for next year moving forward. Obviously I'm going to school next year, so he's not looking for me next year. So, I guess it helped both parties in the long run.

McKeen's: While you were with the Storm in the previous months, what were some of the things that the coaches had identified there as to why the team was having such a tough go of it this year?

Cichy: You know? We couldn't figure it out there, when I was there. That's why we were losing. If we'd figured it out, we would have tried stopping it, but we went on a 19-game losing streak, I think 10 while I was there. It was just a rough situation. No one was happy, everyone was miserable, especially with the losing. Just a bad spot overall.

McKeen's: For the average fan out there who doesn't play junior hockey, or the junior hockey player who plays for one team his entire career, when a player is traded, what all goes into that behind the scenes and having to move and all that?

Cichy: Yeah, they don't give you much time, actually. I found out that day and I had to be on the road the next morning. So, basically, you have tell your housing family, you have to tell your teammates, and try to say bye to everyone. It's real emotional, because it's all I've known for the past year and a half. So, pack up, and on the road the next morning driving 14 hours and arrive in Indiana, practice that day, and then play a game the next night. So it happens really, really fast.

McKeen's: Were you able to take everything with you from the move or did stuff have to get sent or how did that all work out?

Cichy: I left a couple things there. We're going back there in March to play Tri-City, and I'm actually visiting my housing family this summer, too. Didn't take everything, but most of it I had to bring.

McKeen's: As I noted in my first question, you're averaging two points per game with Indiana. So, what's the adjustment been like from Tri-City to Indiana and who are some of your Ice teammates that you've been having the most chemistry with?

Cichy: Well, obviously, my linemates today were Shane Berschbach and Stanislav Galiev, and he found me twice today and I put it in. He's a great player. Obviously he's young. I think he's got a lot of NHL potential. Brandon Richardson, I played with in the beginning. Scored a little bit with him, but I think it's just the caliber of players. I can't attribute that to myself, because I never had a four-point game in my life when I was in Tri-City and I had two in the first two games here. Obviously it's the caliber of team. This team knows how to win, and when you're around winners, it's easier to put the puck in the net, you know?

McKeen's: Even though you were traded to Indiana, you still played for Team Reebok (West Division) at the USHL All-Star Game. So, tell me how the All-Star Game went for you?

Cichy: It was a lot of fun. Guys are going out there trying to show their stuff, because there's a lot of scouts there. The experience was great. Our dinner, Shawn Johnson was talking. It was cool, but playing against the Indy guys was a little weird at the same time. You try to have fun with it. You're not trying to kill anyone out there. Just make the best of the situation.

McKeen's: Yeah, Shawn Johnson is getting around—the inaugural address, the Super Bowl, the USHL All-Star Game, and now she's going to do Dancing with the Stars. It's almost ridiculous. Now, also, back to November, you played for Team USA at the World Junior A Challenge, again, but this time things, for you and the team went better and you were named the tournament MVP. So, tell me how that tournament was the second time around (Cichy played in the WJAC in 2007, too).

Cichy: That was an unbelievable experience, you know? Whenever you can play for your country, you always are apt to do that as fast as you can. We got up there and lost our first game to Germany and we learned from then on out that we don't like to lose. We don't want to be the joke of this tournament. We turned it around real quick. Coach Mark Carlson knew what he was doing, knew how to win, made his adjustments, changed all the lines up after the first game and we clicked well as a team. That experience was unbelievable, I'll tell ya.

McKeen's: Who were your linemates for most of that tournament?

Cichy: Well, the first game I played with Danny Kristo, who I'm going to North Dakota with next year, but then after that coach didn't like what he saw. So, I played with David Gerths from Lincoln and Patrick Mullane from Omaha, and we had some good chemistry together. We clicked all tournament long I think.

McKeen's: Who were some of your teammates on that team that impressed you the most and why?

Cichy: I think Craig Smith was the one who impressed me a lot. Matt Donovan, as a defenseman, real solid there. Obviously my linemates Gerths and Mullane, and Kristo obviously. He's a second-round Montreal pick, he's going to show you stuff, too. Plus, everyone as a team. It took every single person giving their heart and effort to get us the gold there.

McKeen's: That's kind of what Josh Birkholz told me the other week, that everyone fulfilled their role in those last four games very well.

Cichy: Yeah.

McKeen's: So, as the MVP of the tournament, does that include any sort of plaque or trophy or is it just in print? How did that work?

Cichy: They gave me a lot of hardware for that, actually, because I made the All-Star team, too, with the MVP. So, I got a ring and a globe for that, and then for the MVP I got a ring, and a globe, and a plaque. So, they loaded me up. It was hard getting through security, but it was worth it. It was fun.

McKeen's: So, like an actual globe?

Cichy: It was like a crystal globe. It was a crystal stand and then you put the globe on top of it. So, it was cool.

McKeen's: Well, that'll be something for the trophy case. Watching you last season and then watching you this season, even from the very beginning at the Fall Classic with Tri-City, it seemed like you'd improved a fair amount. So, tell me a bit about some of the things you worked on over the summer to step things up a notch.

Cichy: The biggest thing was strength. Last year (pauses), I had the option to go to school this year, and I took the option and said, "No, I'm not ready yet." I didn't feel physically ready to go to North Dakota this year. So, basically I worked on strength this summer. I went from about 165 to, I'd say, 195 by the end of the summer. So, I put on a bit of weight, and it was all muscle. With the strength aspect of that, and then just shooting pucks, working on the little things that you do every day, it just came together nicely.

McKeen's: There was a time when people would knock your skating a little bit, but that does not appear to be an issue at all anymore. Is that strength helping with that I take it?

Cichy: It does. With leg strength comes more speed and more power, so it all comes into one, and I also did some sprints, too, over the summer to try and get everything in. I think every aspect you can improve your game on is going to help you in the long run. So, I tried working on everything this summer and it's paying off so far.

McKeen's: Things are definitely taking off. Now, unfortunately, last June you were not selected in the NHL Entry Draft. But, obviously there are other opportunities and you're having a pretty fine season and it's looking like things are shaping to end up pretty well. So, with that, have NHL teams shown any interest again this year or more interest?

Cichy: A little more than last year. I talked with them at that tournament a little bit here and there. It's nothing that I'm trying to, like, just sit down and worry about every second. If I get picked up in the draft this year, I think that's great. It'd be a great honor. But, right now I'm more focused on the team and winning. I'd love to win a championship here. Losing last year and then losing at the beginning of this year kind of got me, and I have a winning attitude now. I enjoy winning every night with this team. So, I think that's what I'm more focused on now.

McKeen's: It probably feels good, because you know you have a real good chance of actually experiencing USHL playoff hockey.

Cichy: I've heard so much about it. I didn't get to experience it last year. Watching guys I knew go through it, I was like, "I want to do this." So, I'm really excited for this late push that we've got going now.

McKeen's: Does coach [Dave] Hakstol up at UND keep in contact with you and, if so, what's his impression so far with things?

Cichy: He's real happy with me. I talk to him pretty frequently, him and Cary Eaves I talk to a lot, too. Basically just try to keep the communication channel open. He doesn't work too much with me on what to do, he leaves that up to the coaches now. But, he just gives me positive feedback and he says he's really excited for next year.

McKeen's correspondent Kevin Wey also conducted an interview with Indiana Ice defenseman and Mike Cichy's teammate Joe Hartman. Click on the link to read the full interview.