Soo Greyhounds’ Blake Speers ready to sweat the small stuff: Making The Jump

Some of Blake Speers' early hockey memories involve watching another hometowner bear the expectations of being a Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds first-rounder.

After having the No. 4 overall pick in successive OHL priority selection drafts — and 17-year-old centre Jared McCann and 18-year-old defenceman Darnell Nurse are each panning out well — the Soo went local this spring by selecting the speedy, skilled McCann. The centre who had a 50-goal season for the Soo Thunder midgets is confident

"Me and my dad actually had season tickets when I was growing up," "I can remember that last Soo boy that was taken in the first round, Tyler Kennedy, watching him play. It's pretty cool that I can be the next guy to do that."

"I'm just going to have it to take it as it comes. I don't know how I'm going to be treated by the fans. I'm just going to play hockey and see where it goes. There will be ups and downs, but I'm doing to have a good support system with my family [parents Karen and Mark Speers] around, all the guys looking after me."

The Greyhounds are on a good run of turning out skilled small forwards. Russian fan favourite Sergey Tolchinsky, who's listed at 5-foot-7, was bypassed in this summer's NHL draft but promptly created a buzz at the Carolina Hurricanes development camp. Philadelphia Flyers prospect Nick Cousins, 5-11 and 177 pounds, tallied 103 points as the Soo's captain last season. Former first overall pick Daniel Catenacci, all of 5-9, was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in 2011 before playing out his junior career in Owen Sound.

"I'm just trying to improve my mental game right now," Speers says. "The skills will take of themselves with time on the ice every day. The mental part is going to be the difference between who goes in the first round and who doesn't go at all."

That competitive zeal has been stoked over the years by the occasional tennis match between Blake and his father, Mark. It's friendly father-son competition, but with an edge.

"I live a couple metres away from a public tennis court and now it's something we do once in a while," Blake Speers says. "It gets very intense. It's sometimes not so friendly."

1. What aspect of going from minor midget to the OHL concerns you the most, aside from the obvious like the fact you're facing players three and four years older than you?

"I'm going to play to my strengths and use my speed and my skill. But I'm going to have to adapt and do different things than I used to do in the minor midget, like cutting into the middle of the ice and doing what I want. I'm not going to be able to dictate play as much as I'm used to; I know that. Now I have to adapt so I'm not out there getting hammered every shift. I also have to learn how to get into high-traffic areas [around the net] while keeping yourself out of a position to get hurt."

"I'm obviously going to have use my speed. I'm not going to overpower anybody. I'm going to really have to move my feet out on the ice."

2. You're tight with North Bay's Mike Amadio, who's a second-year forward. How have you tapped into his experiences from his rookie year?

"I've been on the ice with him pretty much every day this summer. He's a very, very skilled player so we do a lot of one-on-one things together... I don't really ask him too many questions, but he shows me little things without him knowing it. I watch him and pick up on what he's learned over the past year and kind of try to mimic it.

"We've already looked at the schedule. I play him in my fourth career game."

3. I understand you're a strong student: how did arrive at the decision to pick major junior rather than retain your option?

"I checked out each route, obviously. I took some tours of NCAA schools and other OHL teams. The majority of the OHL teams I talked to put a big emphasis on schooling, especially the 'Hounds. They pride themselves on having a really good academic program. For me to come here, it gives me a lot of confidence that I won't be leaving my school behind."

4. Outside of family, who pops to mind when you think of the people you thank for helping you get this far in hockey?

"My coach from the past three years, Sal Lamantea. He's really, really brought me a long way. When I first came to him [as a bantam player] after playing with the '96s [players one year older than Speers], for five years, I was very one-dimensional. Only played offence. I started playing a lot more defence and I think that's honestly what got to me to this point.

"He worked on that with me one-on-one at practice. If he had to, he'd centre me out in front of the team and give me the kick I needed to make sure I was helping out the team defensively"

5. Favourite TV show or movie?

"Favourite movie is Step Brothers and my favourite TV show is Community. I love it. I think it's just the funniest thing.

"Me and Amadio, we watched the whole series a couple weeks back and got real into it. We learned some of the raps that Troy and Abed [Donald Glover and Danny Pudi] do."

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.