Getting to Know Team Captain Christian Merritt

Wednesday, February 1, 2011
by Jackson Phillips

EUGENE, Ore. - This week, Director of Public Relations Jackson Phillips sat down with Eugene Generals Captain Christian Merritt for an interview. Phillips wanted to get to know Merritt on a much more personal level. The following serves as highlights from that interview, and sheds light into the life of a junior hockey player and the life that Merritt lives.

Phillips: Tell me about life as a player.

Merritt: Life as a player is pretty simple and nice actually. Some players are in high school and probably have the more demands than anyone else on the team. The rest of the team either takes online college classes or tries to find jobs, which is not easy with the kind of schedule we have with the team. Therefore, a lot of us just hang out during the day and make hockey our main priority in life.

Phillips: What brought you to Eugene?

Merritt: I came to Eugene because I was recruited by Jay Miller (the former head coach) and when I tried out I liked it here. At that point in time it was, what I felt to be, the best move for me to improve as a hockey player.

Phillips: Why do you play hockey?

Merritt: I play hockey because I like the speed of the game. There are a lot of different skills involved and a combination of different sports. It has some soccer with how the flow of the game goes but has the hitting of a football game and the hand eye coordination of baseball.

Phillips: What do you enjoy most about playing? What do you enjoy about the sport as a whole?

Merritt: I like this sport because it is a great game and it’s hard to explain, but it’s not until juniors that you really feel like the guys on the team are your brothers. I think that has to do with the fact that most of us aren’t from Eugene, so we only have each other for the most part. Through this, we have become close friends since we are always around each other.

I also like how in this sport the players police themselves, and there isn’t a lot of whining about every little thing like you see in sports such as soccer and basketball.

Phillips: Who is the most influential coach you have played for? Why?

Merritt: I have had two influential coaches in my career. Coach Kennedy is one, and so is my coach when I played for LA Hockey club. The reason being that both coaches have faith in my abilities as a player, and think that I can go far in this sport. They each have given me chances to improve as a player where other coaches did not.

Phillips: Have you always been a center?

Merritt: I have pretty much always been a center. Although, now I have moved out to right wing for my line, and I like it a lot and think it’s a better position for me because I can use my speed to my advantage.

Phillips: How were you selected to be the captain of the Generals?

Merritt: I was selected by the team. At the beginning of the year Coach Kennedy had all of us individually write down three names on a piece of paper of who we wanted to see as captains, and then coach made the decision from there.

Phillips: What responsibilities come with being the captain?

Merritt: As captain I feel like I need to hold myself to a higher standard than everyone else, especially when you are more of a leader of action like I am. I don’t do the whole big speech before the game. That is the kind of leader Kyle Kennedy is. I just try and show the younger, or less experienced, junior players on the team how to do things. Playing at the next level has definitely helped with that.

Phillips: What makes you a successful hockey player?

Merritt: What makes me successful as a player is hard work. I have always had a good work ethic and that helps me when I don’t have as much natural skill. I have worked on my skills, but working hard and being consistent has always been my strengths.

Phillips: How has Coach Kennedy shaped you as a player?

Merritt: Coach Kennedy has worked with me from day one; helping me try and get to the next level and grow as a leader. He has also helped me try and simplify my game, which I don’t have down quite yet but it’s something I’m still working on.

Phillips: What do you do off the ice?

Merritt: Off the ice, I hang out with the team and go to the gym. Being one of the smaller players in the league it’s important for me to try and stay as strong as possible since I don’t weight to my advantage. I also take an online college class and work a sorority house at the University of Oregon.

Phillips: What teammates do you spend most of your time with off of the ice? What are they like? Why do you enjoy them?

Merritt: I hang out with pretty much everyone. We don’t really have any cliques on the team so it’s not like the same people hang out with each other all the time. I am with Kyle Kennedy, Kirby Carlson, and Peter Martin quite a bit because we usually meet at the gym and lift together during the day. Then I hang out with Mikio Minobe during the night since we are roommates. Sometimes, I pick Connor Bambico up from school and hang out; since we have been good friends since our first year on the team together.

For more information:
Jackson Phillips, Director of Public Relations and Volunteer Coordinator, Eugene Generals
JPhillips@eugenegenerals.com
(541) 359-4154 Ext. 207 (office)
(510) 862-7174 (cell)