February 15, 2010
Mohr, Dickson personify Mission experience
Ryan Mohr and Clayton Dickson define what the Mission Arizona program stands for.
Ryan Mohr and Clayton Dickson define what the Mission Arizona program stands for.
The third-year players, now with the 18 Red AAA squad, are what head coach Jeremy Goltz points to when he thinks of the prototypical Mission product - yet for different reasons altogether.
Dickson is in his first full season with the AAA team and is serving as an assistant captain.
"He's kind of what Mission is about," Goltz said. "He kind of came in, needed some work on his fundamentals, needed some experience, and he really embraced it. Here he is, three years later, moved up from the White (AA) program, and, man, he's turned into a good player."
A speedy forward, Dickson's embraced his leadership role.
"I feel like it gets me more involved with the guys and betters my game as well," he said. "I like helping everybody else out."
He split time between Mission's 18 AA and 18 AAA programs last season before earning a full-time spot this season.
"I worked my way up, doing double skates," Dickson said. "What Goltz sets out to do is move players up and better their skills."
In Dickson, that model's worked.
"Every season, there's ups and downs, and when I'm struggling a little bit, I kind of look at Clay and how successful our model's been," Goltz said. "I use him as kind of a source of inspiration for myself, like, 'Hey, this works. Just keep doing what you're doing.'"
"Now," Mohr added of Dickson, "he's one of the better players on our team. He's worked up to that."
Mohr, meanwhile, has evolved into what Goltz calls "probably, right now, our top player."
"From the first time we got him - I saw him at tryouts - he's stood out, he's moved up the chain," Goltz added. "He's turned into a great kid, a great leader."
"He's real crafty," Dickson said of Mohr, a power forward. "He pulls off some crazy moves every now and then.
"He's huge," Dickson added. "He shows up everyday, plays hard everyday. He's consistent and he always has the right attitude. He's pretty much the perfect example of Mission hockey."
Mohr's three years in the program has helped his work ethic.
"It's made me work a lot harder," he said, "because I know I can get moved down to the lower team, so I just try to work hard in all the practices."
Both Mohr and Dickson are currently enrolled at ASU - and both have their eyes focused on a similar goal this fall: making the Sun Devils' program, which is headed by Goltz.
"It's mainly to take the next step, to make a college squad," Dickson said. "With the talent they have on the team now, that'd be a dream come true, but also (it'd mean a lot) to stay with Goltz, his coaching and kind of the whole ship he runs."
Playing AAA hockey, Mohr said, has been the best preparation he can hope for.
"Every game, you're so improved just from playing at such a high level," he said.
P.O. Box 24024 - Edina, MN 55424 - ph. (612) 929-2171 - fax. (612) 920-8326