USHL: QA with Mike Lee

Fargo Force goaltender Mike Lee may be swimming into uncharted waters for a United States Hockey League goaltender. Lee was ranked third overall by Central Scouting amongst North American goaltenders in their mid-term rankings, which would typically translate into a second round selection at the NHL Entry Draft. Should Lee be selected with the 59th overall pick or higher at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, he'll beat the current mark of 60th overall by former Omaha Lancer (and current Nashville Predator) goaltender Dan Ellis at the 2000 NHL Entry Draft.

McKeen's correspondent Kevin Wey was recently able to talk to Lee after a spirited USHL contest against the Omaha Lancers. Lee discussed his selection to the USHL All-Star Game, his transition to the USHL, leading Team USA to gold at the World Junior A Challenge, skating at the U.S. National Junior Evaluation Camp for the World Junior Championships, his standout high school hockey career in Minnesota, committing to St. Cloud State, and a few NHL netminders he looks up to.

McKeen's: I guess the latest, biggest news for you is that you were named to play for Team West at the USHL Prospects/All-Star Game. How did you find out you were named to that team, who told you, and what does it mean to you to be named to that?

Lee: Actually my dad gave me a call. My aunt saw it was posted on the USHL website and she called my dad, and my dad called me, so it was a kind of roundabout way of hearing about it. Then, I looked on the website and checked it out, and it's an honor to be named to that team, obviously. But, I think it's a credit to all the guys in front of me, and we have four guys going, so that's a big honor for our team as well. (Lee, Josh Birkholz, Luke Witkowski, and Keegan Flaherty are the four from Fargo.)

McKeen's: Kind of the last one to know, in a way. With the help of some of the guys in front of you, you're among the league leaders in all goaltender statistics. With that, how do you think your transition has gone from high school hockey in Minnesota to playing in the USHL, and what have been the biggest changes for you?

Lee: You know, it's definitely been a learning experience for sure. I'd like to think that I've gotten better each and every week and the months that I've been here. The whole goal coming here is to develop my game and get better, and it's definitely a different game than high school hockey, obviously. Everybody's good. You just have to learn how to be ready to play every game and every weekend for about six months.

McKeen's: Along those lines, with the improvements, what are some of the areas that you've been focusing on improving in 2008-09?

Lee: I've just been (pauses)… my mental game has been something that I've really been trying to work on. Coming from a high school season where you play 31 games at the most, and I'm already at 25 or 30 already, and that's been a big thing, being ready. Getting ready game in and game out and just go out there and give your team a chance to win.

McKeen's: On the flipside, what would you say are your strengths as a goaltender already?

Lee: I think I use my size well, and I just try to take up as much net as I can, make that first save, and my teammates bail me out all the time out there. So, as long as I can make that first save, I feel pretty confident.

McKeen's: I was able to see you guys (Fargo) at the Fall Classic, where things didn't go quite so well, a slow start, and the regular season started like that, too. But, you guys have really been picking it up and have become much more competitive as the season has gone on. With that, how do you feel the season has gone for you guys as a team and in what areas has the team improved on the most?

Lee: I think that first month was pretty rough, obviously. We went 0-4 in preseason, but it was definitely a learning experience for all of us. About three-fourths of our team is new to the league, and that was definitely something that we had to step in and get our feet wet right away and got a good heads-up that if you don't come to play, you're going to get beat. I think we've improved as the season has gone on, obviously, and it's good where we are right now, but I think we still have a long ways to go and we have to get a lot better that we can get as a team to be a championship team.

McKeen's: You guys definitely are a young team, a very talented team, and toward the end of the season you guys might be trending up and peaking at the right time, and then you guys could definitely go a ways in the playoffs.

Lee: Definitely. That's the goal with any team, you don't want to peak too soon and you don't want to wait to peak until after the season. So, you want to be peaking at the right time, and that's our goal.

McKeen's: You're second only to Indiana's Brett Bennett (a Phoenix Coyotes draft pick) in minutes played, and maybe you've leap-frogged him after tonight, but you did miss a little bit of time with the team, and that's when you were up in Alberta playing in the World Junior A Challenge. Similar to the All-Star Game question, how did you find out you were named to that team, who told you, and what did that mean to you?

Lee: Oh, our team manager Marc Boxer called us and informed us of that, making that team, and obviously it's an honor to put on that USA jersey and represent your country anytime you can. We just came together really well up there, and that was definitely an experience I'm going to remember the rest of my life.

McKeen's: I'll depart from the Challenge real quick and go to another Team USA question. Before the season, you were selected to skate, or tend the net, at the National Junior Evaluation Camp. What was it like to participate in that at such a young age and what was that camp like, and how did you feel you did there?

Lee: That was definitely another new experience for me, another thing that helped me get my feet wet and gain some experience. It's a pretty big honor to go out there for 10 days, or whatever it was, and play with those kind of players and see where everybody else is at in the country for our age and just go out there and do your best. I like to think I could have done better out there (chuckles), but it was just good to be out there.

McKeen's: Who were some of the guys at that camp that impressed you the most and why?

Lee: Well, obviously, the World Junior vets like James vanRiemsdyk and Jordan Schroeder, and those guys are the obvious leaders out there, and Colin Wilson, to just name a few. Just the way they carry themselves and go out on the ice, whenever they're on the ice, and compete and play, and then the other goaltenders my age, too. It was just good to learn and kind of feed off everybody else.

McKeen's: Now, going back to the World Junior A Challenge, you tended net for the final four games, the four games you won, which helped you guys win the gold medal and earn yourself the top goals-against average (1.75) and top save percentage (.933) at the tournament and were named to the all-tournament team. So, what was it like to accomplish those things and what were some of the keys to those accomplishments?

Lee: Well, obviously, the big key was our team around me. Really, that was probably the best group of guys I've ever played with. Just, all the talent we had out there was pretty unbelievable, to sit back in your net and watch all of that happen in front of you. It's a big credit to them, and it was just an honor to get a chance to wear the USA jersey, and luckily I did pretty well.

McKeen's: Compare and contrast the play and the caliber of play at the World Junior A Challenge with what you play every night now in the USHL.

Lee: It was actually really similar, especially playing those Canadian teams. They play, obviously, North American hockey, and obviously the European game is a little more wide-open. But, we were playing on an NHL-sized rink there, so they really couldn't open it up too much. So, I'd say that it was very similar to the USHL.

McKeen's: You've credited your teammates as a group, but who were some of your teammates that impressed you the most and why?

Lee: Well, obviously, Craig Smith, our captain, is just a horse. Every time he's on the ice, he's busting his (pauses)… balls and trying to (chuckles), trying to do anything he can for the team. He's a team-first guy, and that's why he was our captain. Just, everybody, I can't really pick anybody else out.

McKeen's: Craig Smith is definitely having a great year for Waterloo, too. He may just get himself drafted yet, who knows? Now, two years ago seemed like, to me at least, the point where you really started to emerge on the scene, when you were given the reins for Roseau going to the state tournament and winning that title. At what point did coach [Scott] Oliver hand you the reins and then tell me about going 12-0 and posting a .969 save percentage and goals-against average below 1.00 (0.75)?

Lee: I came into the year competing with four senior goalies. So, that was just, I was happy to get into games at the beginning of the year. Now that I've talked to coach afterwards, he's said that he really thought I was going to be the guy at the end of the year and just worked me in here and there, and I really didn't get the job until playoffs. So, that was exciting, as a sophomore, coming into a program like Roseau, where you know you look up to everybody that's played there and you can see what the program has churned out. To get the honor to be able to start for them is unbelievable.

McKeen's: Similarly, last season, you led Minnesota high school hockey in goals-against average (1.10) and save percentage (.940), and you won your first 27 games. So, what was that like and then, also, what were those final two games like?

Lee: Well, it was pretty disappointing to go out in the state tournament and not finish how we would like to, but that's the way the state tournament is in Minnesota. Anything can happen. That's why it's so exciting, that's why everybody comes to watch every year, because nothing's given there. But, our first part, the regular season, was unbelievable. The guys around me, my buddies playing up all the way, we just knew each other so well and came together so well and had a good regular season. But, it was definitely disappointing then at the state tournament.

McKeen's: Describe for those players in high school who never get to play in the state tournament in Minnesota, and for those players who don't play in the NHL, what it's like to play in the Xcel Center.

Lee: Well, it's unbelievable. Especially that state tournament atmosphere, it's unreal. You get people from all over the state that just love hockey, and everybody in that arena loves hockey, and that's why they're there, just to watch. Not just necessarily their team, but they're coming to watch a bunch of high school kids. That's what's so unbelievable about it. The state just falls in love with the game.

McKeen's: It becomes a way of life for a while. Now, over the course of your high school career, obviously your statistics are very good, but what are some of the accomplishments you're most proud of and a highlight or two of your career that people might not know about that you're proud of?

Lee: Obviously, I'm just proud of winning that state tournament the first year and being able to be the goalie in net when we won it. That was something that I worked really hard for and was really happy with being able to accomplish, going in there as a young kid and just kind of taking over at the end of the year when it counted. So, that's definitely the big thing that I'm proud of at Roseau High School.

McKeen's: Last season you also played for Team North in the Elite League. How did the Elite League go for you and how would you say that compares to the United States Hockey League?

Lee: That was definitely an interesting experience. I was playing football last fall, too, so it was a six-hour car ride every Friday night after the football game. It was fun to get down there and play every weekend, too, and just stay fresh. You know, that's a collection of all the best kids in Minnesota as well. So, it's definitely good hockey, still.

McKeen's: With football, what position, or positions perhaps, did you play?

Lee: I was a quarterback and free safety.

McKeen's: That seems to be the standard for players in Minnesota, to be the quarterback and play hockey.

Lee: Yeah, it was definitely fun. We had a great football season last year, too, and it was definitely something that I missed this fall.

McKeen's: Also last year, you committed to St. Cloud State. I'm sure everyone in St. Cloud is pretty ecstatic, too. At what point did they start talking to you and what was the recruiting process like, and what made you decide being a Husky was the right thing for you?

Lee: Really, it started that sophomore year in the state tournament. We kept in close contact all summer and I got to know coach Bob Motzko really well, and the other coaches there. It's just something you feel comfortable with, and through the whole recruiting process when you're looking at other schools, everybody says, "When you know, you're going to know." That's just kind of the way it happened for me. It just felt right there, and that's why I decided to go.

McKeen's: If I might ask, what were some of the other programs that were recruiting you?

Lee: CC (Colorado College) and North Dakota a little bit, but really it was just between North Dakota and St. Cloud. I'm definitely happy with my decision.

McKeen's: All three of them are fantastic programs, so you couldn't really lose. Then, also, with St. Cloud, are you leaning toward a major or two?

Lee: I'm thinking about doing something with science. I haven't really decided. I'd like to go into medicine, maybe, hopefully after I play hockey for a little bit after I go to college.

McKeen's: Going back to the beginning, when did you first start playing hockey and how did you get that start, and when did you first start playing goalie and how did you first start playing in net?

Lee: Really, in Roseau you start playing hockey as soon you can hold yourself up on two skates, and I was probably three or four years old when I started playing hockey. All of my friends, obviously, play hockey, that's the thing to do in Roseau. It's kind of funny how I started playing goalie. I started to like it in mites a lot, and I'd play goalie every other game there, or something. Then, the Squirt B Team needed another goalie when I was still in mites, and they threw me up there and strapped some pads on me and away I went.

McKeen's: Playing up an age group from an early age. I assume you only skated for the Roseau organization all the way up through?

Lee: Yep, that's right. The Roseau Youth Hockey Association.

McKeen's: There aren't a whole lot of different organizations up there, unless you're from someplace else up there originally, and that kind of goes to my next question. For fans across the United States and Canada who might end up reading this and aren't familiar with high school hockey in Roseau, explain what high school hockey means to the town, its tradition, and then also its biggest rivalry.

Lee: Well, obviously, the town runs and lives and breathes its hockey. It's a town of about 3,000 people, roughly. Almost every kid that lives there plays hockey. It's just something, one of those small-town stories you hear where they play hockey all the way up and you play for your town your entire life, all the way through pee wees and bantams and all the way to high school. It's just something you take pride in, throwing on that green and white. Really, the town lives and breathes on it, that's why it's so fun. For Minnesota, that's the way all those small towns are, and especially when we get to play Warroad, over there. They're 20 miles apart from each other, and both towns really shut down and come to the game and watch, and that's what's so fun about it.

McKeen's: I was assuming you were going to say Warroad, unless things up there have changed dramatically in recent years. Now, Central Scouting, in their mid-term rankings have you ranked third amongst North American goaltenders, which is pretty good. What does it mean to you to be ranked so high and to be ranked highly on other scouting services, such as McKeen's, and do you ever envision draft day and, if so, what do you see?

Lee: It's definitely an honor to see your name on a list like that. But, really, at this point of the season, it doesn't mean much. I'd like to sit here and tell you that it's awesome and it means so much, but really it doesn't. Just, hopefully, I can keep making a good name for myself out here and keep getting wins for the club.

McKeen's: Lastly, who were some of your favorite players and/or goalies growing up and who are some of your favorite players and/or goalies today?

Lee: I grew up watching Patrick Roy, and he was always my hero. Every time he was on TV, my eyes were glued to the screen. I just loved how competitive he was and how every time he was on the ice, he wanted to get the win. Today, I like watching Roberto Luongo and guys like Carey Price, just how they carry themselves and how composed they are on the ice.

McKeen's: This might be the same answer, but which goalies would you like to equate to?

Lee: Those are definitely guys I'd like to equate to. I like to keep my cool out there and look composed and just be solid back there and somebody that my teammates can look at and feel some comfort, knowing I'm composed and ready for that next shot.