St. Clair’s Tyler Motte talks about being selected by the Stanley Cup champs
By Michael Caples –
Tyler Motte said he attended the NHL Draft just trying to soak in the experience.
“You hear numbers thrown at you all the time, but you don’t really know,” the St. Clair native said. “You just kind of come here, sit down, try to get in a flow with it. You know some guys going here, going there, and you just try to sit back and try to enjoy it. It’s one of those things that you can’t really control, so you try to enjoy it and soak it all in. Obviously it’s exciting, but like I said, you just sit up there, enjoy the moment with your family, and see what happens.”
He had plenty to enjoy with his family when his name was finally called. Motte, a product of the National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, was selected by the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks in the fourth round of the 2013 NHL Draft in New Jersey.
“Oh absolutely,” Motte said when asked if it was extra special to be selected by the Cup champs. “I had the luxury of being in Chicago for their combine, maybe a month ago, and it’s a great city. I got the opportunity to walk around a bit, meet people, it’s an exciting place. Obviously with them winning a Stanley Cup, they’re a great franchise, and they’re moving in the right direction.”
After two years with Team USA, Motte will take his game to the newly-formed Big Ten hockey conference, as a member of the Michigan Wolverines. The forward who scored twice in the NTDP’s first victory over their Ann Arbor neighbors in program history last January said he’s looking forward to becoming part of the Maize and Blue.
“It’s a great school,” Motte said. “Education is obviously a big thing over there, and the hockey is second to none. Obviously they had a little bit of a rough go last year, but they’re moving in the right direction. We have a big class coming in, and they’re looking for us to step in early, and produce with them. It will be a great test, coming in freshman year, but I’m looking to come in with the rest of the freshman class and try to help out the team early.”
Motte said he’s looking forward to being a part of the first Wolverines class to compete in the Big Ten.
“It’s going to be interesting. With a lot of conferences shifting around, it will be good. Obviously we’ll be playing each team a little more often, I think we’ll be playing each team four times, a little more of a rivalry, maybe. At the same time, it’s still great hockey, playing with maybe a bigger level there, with Big Ten Network and all that. It will be great, it’s going to be the first year, and we’ll see how it goes.”
He also knows that success in college hockey – and one day a chance at the NHL – will only come if he can improve during his extended stay in Ann Arbor.
“Obviously offensive touch, you can always work on it,” said Motte, who plans on pursing a degree in sports management from UM. “Working the corners, all aspects of the game, you have to get better if you want to get to a level like the NHL, and you have to get better every day.”
MiHockey’s Mark Burns contributed to this article from the Prudential Center in New Jersey.