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bamba1jl · 07-07-2018, 08:27 AM

SMJHL Prospect Ryan Mason has sat down with us today to give us a little better idea about who he is ahead of this Sunday’s draft.

Ryan, I know it must be a chaotic time in your life right now, thanks for taking the time out of your schedule to meet with us.

Thanks for having me, I relish the opportunity to let everyone get to know a little more about me.

First of all Ryan, what can you tell us about your game?

I want to be the guy that goes out there and gets my team those dirty goals that win you hockey games. I love using my size and strength to play below the circles and put in those tip ins and rebounds. I want to be the guy goalies and defenseman see in their nightmares. I also want to be as responsible as I can defensively. I know how much coaches need that out of a young player. There is also some agitation and grit to my game. I’m certainly not afraid to mix things up. All in all, I want to be the guy coach is able to trust in any situation, from a late game penalty kill, to the extra skater at the end of the game. I live for those big, pressure filled moments.

Do you have any preference about where you play your junior hockey?

I would honestly consider myself blessed to be drafted by any of these fine organizations. Just getting the chance to play junior hockey at the highest level like this is a great honor. That being said, I’m a cold weather guy. The nice part about this league is that none of the teams are in the deep south where I’d have to deal with the heat too much. Also, I should mention, Detroit would be a dream landing spot for me. I live in Michigan’s thumb right now so it would only be a 2 hour ride up M53 to have mom do my laundry and get a home cooked meal.

What are you hoping to gain out of your time in junior hockey?

Well, I have the same goal I imagine every prospect at this level has, making it to the SHL, and bringing a cup to whatever team I play for. I’m extremely competitive, and winning a championship is my number one priority wherever I go. I also can’t wait to go out there and show the SHL I have what it takes to make it in that league. That’s been my dream since I was just a little guy playing pond hockey. It’ll be nice having the scholarship too, so I have a fall back just in case things don’t go the way I have envisioned.

Can you give us an idea of who Ryan Mason is off the ice?

Well, I’m a big outdoorsman. Growing up in a rural area, I was rarely in the house whenever the weather allowed it. I did a lot of fishing and hunting. Ice fishing is my favorite, that is one of the reasons I would prefer a cold weather team. I would also love the opportunity to hunt some of the game in Canada in my off time. In Michigan, there isn’t a realistic chance of me hunting an elk or a moose, which is an idea that is very exciting to me. I also just got my motorcycle license and I have a lot of fun cruising around on that. My parents definitely aren’t crazy about me having one at my age though (laughs). I hope my SMJHL contract doesn’t forbid it. I better check into that.

Can you talk about what your presence in the locker room will be?

Absolutely. Wherever I go, I try to lead. I’ve been a captain eventually on every team I’ve played for yet. I’m the rah rah guy that is out there trying to get everyone pumped up when we need a big goal or a big penalty kill, whatever the situation may be. I have no problems having the hard conversations with guys too when we need to have them. I’m not going to sugar coat anything to protect someone’s feelings. Sometimes that rubs some guys the wrong way, but I don’t really care, we are all here to win a championship, and I’m going to do whatever is necessary to push us to the level we need to be at to accomplish this goal.

Anything you want to say to the GMs that are going to decide your fate on Sunday?

I relish the chance to play for any of you guys. You’re getting a guy that is going to be a huge locker room presence and is going to give you his all every single shift of every single game, every single practice, and every single training session. To those of you that pass on me, I promise you, it’s not going to be fun playing against me for the next few years. You’re going to be sorry.

What are your favorite sports to watch and play outside of hockey?

For watching, other than the SHL obviously, I love watching college football. Anytime I get the rare free Saturday in the fall, you can find me watching my Michigan Wolverines. I’m also a big Nascar fan. (Laughs) I suppose you can blame that one on my rustic upbringing. As far as playing sports, as I mentioned before, I’m a huge competitor, I’ll play anything I can get people to compete against me in. Even if it’s just throwing a rock at a tree. Specifically though, I enjoy golf, tennis and basketball the most probably. Anything that is going to keep me conditioned in the off season.

Finally, pineapple on your pizza or not?

(laughs). Oh yeah absolutely. I know that’s not a popular opinion, but I love it. I usually get what I call the sweet meat heat, which is bacon, pineapple, and jalapeno. Absolutely delicious.

Thanks Ryan, good luck on Sunday and I hope we get the chance to talk again soon

Anytime, you know how to get ahold of me

1027 words, 2x bonus

DeletedAtUserRequest · 07-07-2018, 12:08 PM

Very nice read. Sounds like a good prospect.

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King · 07-07-2018, 08:21 PM

Pineapple on pizza, asking the hard hitting questions.

Very nice.

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