Luke Meyer Named As The New Head Coach Of The Wausau Cyclones

Welcome back for S6E5 of Inside Cyclones Hockey!

On this weeks episode, Mark Robinson is joined by director of business operations Zach Serwe to preview some of the exciting promotional nights that the Wausau Cyclones have planned for the upcoming season. The full promotional schedule is not released yet, but the giveaways and events that are public are just the beginning of what will be an unforgettable season for Cyclones fans. Zach also overviews how fans can purchase a "flex 4" ticket pack, which is a super convenient way for small groups or families to lock in multiple games for the 2026-27 season.

Mark is also joined by former assistant coach and newly named head coach of the Wausau Cyclones, Luke Meyer! Mark and Luke talk about the emotions of finding out he recieved the promotion after Coach Oystricks departure, how he plans to keep a winning culture in Wausau, and what the process has looked like for filling the coaching staff. Players are reporting to Wausau in about 3 weeks, which means Cyclones hockey is fast approaching, and Coach Meyer is ready to lead a successful team into the postseason.

Now, from the eye of the Clone:

Promotional Preview & Flex 4 Plans: (1:28-26:38)

Head Coach Luke Meyer Interview: (27:38-46:16)

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You can find Mark on Instagram and TikTok @markrobinsonsports and X @markrobinsonn

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 2:15

Well, good. I could tell you what I uh I think we said on the last episode, but now I feel even more that hockey season is gonna be here pretty pretty quickly. The report date is set, and uh with us opening on the road a little bit earlier. Um I think it just has everyone and a little bit more of a sense of things are happening here pretty quickly. So um people are pretty excited. I know we put out a lot of stuff um over the last week, and we'll talk about those those items today. But uh things are things are happening, that's for sure, and uh excited to uh to get back to the rink here pretty soon.

SPEAKER_03 2:51

Yeah, it's it's coming up quicker than we can quicker than we can fathom. Report dates are getting getting satin right around the corner. Uh whether it's first years or guys that are returning to be to be vets uh under Coach Mezy and the uh the new coaching staff for the Cyclones, things are things are ramping up quick. And uh speaking of things that are ramping up, the hockey will happen regardless, but um tons of stuff has to happen from a business standpoint. And and on the last episode, Zach, it was it was heavy on the schedule talk. We talked a ton about you know all the little all the little nooks and crannies of the schedule, how many home games there are, how how the schedule is pretty much all home from January through the end of the regular season. Uh they don't leave the state of Wisconsin for like a the last third of the season, all that fun stuff. Uh and we we kind of teased a little bit of uh the promotional schedule too. So we've got some we've got some promotional stuff that we're gonna talk about today in terms of what fans can look out for for early home games and what kind of what kind of fun promo stuff they'll have to look forward to in terms of giveaways and other fun stuff that we do inside the rink during Cyclones games. Uh but before we get into all that, uh we also touched briefly on the Wisconsin Valley, excuse me, Wisconsin Valley Fair booth, when the dates are for that fair, what's going on, and how it specifically relates to the Cyclones and how locals and fans can get involved there. Um so I just wanted to let you kind of remind everybody what's going on with the Wisconsin Valley Fair and how people can get involved in terms of Cyclones hockey with that super fun event coming up.

SPEAKER_00 4:36

Yeah, so the fair is going to be happening here in Wausaw, uh, basically right outside our our back door of our office here at uh Marathon Park. Uh it's a big week uh every single year for the area. Uh I want to say it's one of the largest fairs, if not the largest, um, in the the area. The one thing that's kind of unique is it seems obviously Wassa is one of the the main hubs of the of the biggest city uh here in in central Wisconsin for sure. So people come from all over to uh to uh check out all the attractions going on during the week of the of the fair. So the fair uh for us and how that relates is we'll have a booth in the south wing of the expedition building here at Marathon Park. Um for people that are familiar, obviously coming to Cyclones Games, that's basically um instead of go coming right in the rank doors, you take a a left um instead, and then you head in that south wing of that building. It's literally about I don't know, twenty, twenty-five feet off the front of the um the front rink doors there. So it's very convenient for people to uh come on and and visit us. We'll have uh staff there throughout the week to interact with and you know if fans have questions about different um uh things coming up with the schedule or maybe uh you know they have tickets uh questions about different ticket packages, things like that. Um if they want to learn more about potentially becoming a billet for the upcoming season, hosting one of our cyclones players will be information about that as well. So it's always a a fun week for the people of the uh central Wisconsin for the the fair. Um we've had a lot of success um with our Facebook contest, our like it's a contest of the the uh entertainment acts. Um kind of went um really, really super super well. Um I don't know what it was uh this year. We haven't really done anything different from previous years, but we got around 300 different likes and shares on those different concert ticket giveaways. So I want to just give a quick shout out to people that participated in that. That was pretty pretty cool to see that people are excited about those entertainment acts um for the for the upcoming week here. So that should be a lot of fun. Um again, step by, say hi, enter for a chance to win, win a pair of Foundrist Club tickets uh during the week of the fair.

SPEAKER_03 7:10

Yeah, it'll be super fun to uh check out that booth. And like you said, it's right in our home base, which is convenient for people who are already familiar with cyclones, hockey, and such. Uh, and then honestly, this just serves as a reminder as well. Uh if you're not following us on social media, those are the go-to places to see when all these different types of things are going on. Uh, you know, if you maybe skimmed through a pod episode or missed a pod episode for whatever reason, social media is the number one way to make sure that you're staying up to date with any updates that you need in terms of stuff like this, Zach. Everything you just explained, uh how you can get involved in the Wisconsin Valley Fair. But we're also keeping completely up to date on player changes, coaching changes, uh promotional schedules, basically everything you can dream of. Um so it's at Wastacyclones across all our social media platforms Instagram, Facebook, X, YouTube, TikTok, all that good stuff. So make sure you're following us there as well. And of course, our website at WASACyclones.com. All right, Zach, let's talk a little bit about some of the giveaways, promotional stuff that we've got going on. Um uh I'm not gonna lie, you you uh shot over an agenda to me before uh before we recorded. And one of these things will always stick out to me in terms of what we do for uh for promo nights at Cyclones hockey. Uh, and I am so excited that we're bringing it back in full capacity. But uh what uh what kind of stuff do we have on the early slate for uh what fans can expect for a giveaway or for other fun fun promo nights in the the early home days of the cyclone season?

SPEAKER_00 8:52

Yeah, so we have a couple things that uh we put out uh last week, and then one other item I'm gonna tease just exclusively for our listeners here on the podcast. So um the first one being the first two dollar beer night of the season uh presented by our friends at uh Budweiser. They're gonna that's gonna be taking place the first Friday home game of the season. That's gonna be Friday, October 16th. First, the uh the new team in the division um the Fox Cities Forge um on that Friday night. So fans are gonna be able to enjoy $2 beer, which includes Bushlight, uh Budweiser, um, and then Bud Light, and then again I'm I'm missing one. Oh mechancra, that's the other one. Um as well. From the time the door is open uh all the way through the ten minute mark in the third period. So I know fans um always really especially um they always enjoy the two hour beer nights, of course, but the first one of the season, I think that always hits a little bit different for fans that hockey's back in town and uh they can enjoy uh banging the glass on either the south end of the rink in the clone zone or the north end of the rink. Um and just uh just uh give the opposing goalie hell. Um I know I've seen that a number of times on two dollar beer nights of uh fans really getting into it and teasing the the opponent um uh or opposing goalie throughout the course of the night. So that should be a lot of fun um coming up on October 16th um here at Marathon Park.

SPEAKER_03 10:33

Uh from the day that I started doing you know the broadcasting and the pod and everything that I'm doing for the cyclones, this has always been the number one thing we've done promotional-wise that sticks out to me. Just as uh as somebody who you know loves a Friday or a Saturday night out with with some buddies, always looking for something to do, especially you know, when you get into the dog days of winter. I know this is later down the road and we'll still have some nice weather come the early days of the season, but it it it doesn't get any better than being able to go and watch autumn hockey and have a few drinks with your friends, and you're not paying 15 bucks a drink like you would, you know, at a Packers game or a Brewers game or whatever. You're getting such a good bargain for a drink while you're having a blast on a weekend night out. So this is something that I'm really excited to see. Uh October 16th, $2 beer night. Uh, I don't know if this was intentional, Zach, but what a what a way to welcome the new team to the league. A little $2 beer night away game for uh the Fox Fox City. Uh do I have that right? Fox City, I can't think of the name of them off the top of my head.

SPEAKER_00 11:49

Fox City Forge. It doesn't exactly if I'm being honest, it doesn't exactly roll off the tongue for me either.

SPEAKER_03 11:55

So um I don't play um, to be honest, that's what I was I I would that was my knee jerk, was I was gonna say forge, but I didn't think that was right. I was gonna not I I held back because it didn't seem right. So that's that's funny. But um, but anyways, what uh what a great way to welcome the Fox City Forge to Marathon Park to the league is for a little $2 beer night action where hopefully the fans are not holding back. Um so that'll be that'll be an exciting one to have $2 beer nights back. And then uh uh we've got another confirmed giveaway right after that game, just uh a week or so later, Zach. If you want to talk a little bit about uh a piece of Cyclones merch that fans can get a hold of on a home game promotional night uh very shortly after the $2 beer night on October 16th.

SPEAKER_00 12:48

Yeah, I'm pretty excited about this. Actually, um this morning as we were recording, I got the uh the final proof of this uh of this hat. I think fans are gonna really gonna like what it looks like. I would say the biggest comparison that um I could put to people that might be familiar with um so it's gonna be on Friday, October um 23rd versus uh Rochester. We're gonna have a cyclone salute to service hat giveaway presented by our our friends at the Medical College of Wisconsin. That's gonna go to the first 250 fans, and it's it's seemed pretty close to um how you see the different uh NFL teams in their salute to uh service hats. So I think fans are really gonna enjoy that. It's almost like a um an olive green kind of, if you will. Um and I again I think fans are really gonna enjoy how that that looks. It's not one of those um like just strictly camouflage hats. Um like a camouflage hunting hat. It's more something that you can kind of wear wherever with whatever um that you want in terms of style. So really looking forward to that one again. That's gonna be happening um Friday, October 23rd, I would say, for fans listening to the podcast today. You're gonna expect um to see what that actually hat looks like probably in the next two weeks here on our social pages uh as well. So that'll be exciting um early season giveaway for fans uh in the month of October.

SPEAKER_03 14:23

That sounds like an awesome giveaway to to celebrate the month of October, where I mean, like to your point, Zach, across the NFL, for example, we see tons of different small salutes, no um, you know, small salutes to people who have served for our country, whether it's you know, coaches and players on the sideline wearing hats or beanies that have uh you know that camouflage accent to them. So cool that we are gonna participate in our own way at uh Wastacyclones hockey for um for fans to get um get involved and stuff like that. And uh I I can tell you I'm super excited to see what that um what that final print's gonna look like. I'm sure it's gonna look awesome. I mean, looking back to all our promo stuff last year, everything looked so good. It was so clean looking, and I'm sure that's gonna be the first of many awesome items that Cyclones can can collect throughout the 2026-27 season. Um, so super awesome for uh for Wasp Cyclones fans to start getting excited about all the different little pizza merch they're gonna be able to collect throughout the pizza. I'm actually literally on my desk right now looking at my Stelly the Cyclone, Dr. Stelly Bobblehead. And I'm sure there's gonna be another awesome Stelly Bobblehead. Um just a reminder too to everybody that uh you can keep an eye on uh the promo schedule and the regular schedule as it comes out. The the regular schedule is fully released, but uh the pro the promo schedule will be will be rolled out over the next few weeks on our website at wastacyclones.com. Um and then uh last but not least, Zach, looks like we've got some some uh some ticket plans that that uh fans can get locked into for the upcoming season as well. If you want to talk about that and remind Cyclones fans how they can have the best possible ticket plan for the upcoming Cyclone season.

SPEAKER_00 16:21

Yeah, we got tickets plans um available now. The one other promo item I wanted to squeeze in quick to was um the Corgi races. Um uh that year, or I should say that date for this upcoming season has been set to. Um that's gonna be Saturday, January 23rd. Uh it's gonna be presented this year by our friends at Pet Smart Vet Services. So last week um fans probably seen uh we put out that information and um we one thing I want to say about that is if you have a corgi or know someone um that has a corgie that would like to participate is to get your registration in as soon as possible. We um every single year we do uh fill that up. Um as uh most fans listening to this podcast know from previous years, that game always sells out um as well every single year. So um make sure that uh if you have a quarter know someone, or maybe you're uh someone that is returning from previous years. I've seen a ton of applicants uh come through even in that first like 24 hours uh that we had that link live on our website. Uh you can find out all the information about the Corie races this year. Um I got WasselCyclins.com backslash corgi races. Uh we'll be doing again this upcoming year some specialty merchandise uh that will will benefit the marathon county made society as well. So a lot of great things coming up with with that. And I know people like to uh to place that one on their on their calendar for sure. Um probably one of the most unique events, not only with us and what we do, but I would argue um anything across the state of Wisconsin. Um we got people coming from all over for it. So really cool events uh and that data set again Saturday, January 23rd this year.

SPEAKER_03 18:20

I I just recently saw the post about that, and it reminded me of just how fun that night is as well. I mean, honestly, we're hitting both of my favorite things that we do on hockey nights, $2 beer night and and the dog races. It's just so much fun to see those dogs running around on the ice. Um, and I I I'm seeing tons of different levels of sports all around the world, whether it's other junior hockey teams that play at a higher or a lower level, or summer baseball leagues picking up on stuff like this too. So it's cool to it's cool to see other people you know hop on something that's been uh tradition at Cyclones hockey for the last few years. So uh definitely some awesome stuff to keep an eye on. The uh first $2 beer night coming up on October 16th, and then the salute to service hat giveaway on October 23rd, and then of course the Corgi races, and like Zach said, you can check all that stuff out on our website at wastacyclones.com. And uh speaking of our website at wastacyclones.com, uh I didn't mean to I didn't mean to skip ahead, Zach, but I I teased the uh the flex plans just a minute ago. If you want to talk about those as we as we round things out here on this segment.

SPEAKER_00 19:40

Yeah, so if uh fans are familiar with our flex plans for past season, we made a little bit of uh adjustment on some things uh with it. Um the main thing being um is uh we substitute out the uh the dip dots uh from past season and we actually changed that to uh something that we feel like has a little bit more um value for our fans in terms of uh items at the game. So this yeah, uh instead of four different dot postures, it will be um a ten dollar cyclones merchandise gift card um for them to use at uh give the um regular season or postseason games. So what that post flux four plans um look like for that uh merge package merge package specifically, it's four undated tickets that can be used at any regular season home games during the year. Um you receive one free ticket to the home opener. Of course, that'll be taking place uh this year on uh Saturday uh September 26th. Uh believe it or not, I don't even want to look because I have a lot of things to do, but I think it's coming up on around 65 days away. Um, if not less, might be I think next year. Oh, it's probably around 60. So coming up quick, um the all other element to that is either like I just mentioned the $10 gift card for merchandise or for beer vouchers. Uh you save 20% off on game day pricing with flexable plans. And then finally, um you save 10% off on Cyclone's merchandise uh as well. So that beer package it runs sixty dollars, which is $120 value in that package, and then the merchant package uh new for this year runs fifty dollars and it's a hundred dollar value. So you're saving uh fifty percent off on uh on that package. So the best way I could describe this um the flux plans is if you aren't necessarily a great planner or you have a which uh pretty much everyone has a pretty busy life. Uh they don't necessarily know what they're gonna do on the weekend every every um you know, Wednesday afternoon. They're like, Oh, I got my plans already set. This way you can really customize what you want it if you want to do. Um for example, we have people that'll be five multiple flux plans over the course of the year. Um almost like just as a bigger ticket where they might use it as one game they'll take um you know maybe it's a home operation specific ability to take five total people and just use off of that whole flux plan in one game or you'll have maybe it's just a couple and uh they go to a couple of different games or it could be a situation that uh a lot of times I see it's just a you know maybe it's just a family of four um and they use that uh in in in one game that they want. So the other thing that's really um cool about the the flux plans is you get um that opportunity to just like like I said um customize it to how you want to use it. Um and that's really at the end of the day our feedback that I hear back from fans is what they like about it the most is they're they don't need to be tied into a specific game um for the course of the year. After um when season starts and the home opener has already been played a free ticket most here for the home operator then that is moved to the fan appreciation game. So just one final note uh for fans on that. If you're interested in this you can get it online just head to wassacyclines.com slash flex four and you'll see all the details right there.

SPEAKER_03 23:34

Yep and you can also just go to the regular homepage of the website wasyclons.com and under the tickets drop down there's a flex four section that you can click on where it's all ironed out the details are written in fine print for you in terms of what the benefits are, how you're gonna reap them from reap from them, what the prices are and then last but not least uh the form that you can fill out where a Cyclones rep will contact you regarding setting up the Flex four ticket pack where your busy schedule doesn't have to get in the way of enjoying tons of Cyclones hockey and all the fun that comes along with it. All right well Zach this is kind of everything that I think we had to go over today. It might not feel like it for you but uh it's kind of the kind of the dog days of the offseason where we're kind of just going over all the all the basic uh all the basic housekeeping stuff but uh before we know it it's gonna be ramping up very quickly we're gonna have all sorts of stuff going on and all sorts of stuff back in the mix for Cyclones hockey but uh in the meantime was there anything else you wanted to touch on anything you wanted to talk about before we before we close things out on this segment?

SPEAKER_00 24:48

No that that'd be it um again just one reminder um stop on say hi at the Wisconsin Valley Fair um next week I think it's one of the most uh things that I enjoy the most about interacting with our fans that's really a cool opportunity for our fans just to have kind of like a a more of a long form conversation um obviously in that cool looking expedition building where I have some time and other people that are working with we have time to really uh sit down and talk with you about cyclones hockey and gives a good perspective um on the fan side of it so I really really enjoy those those conversations for sure. Um so step on and uh looking forward to seeing everyone there next week at the fair.

SPEAKER_03 25:34

It'll be cool to have you know like you said people come out and make some connections have some conversations and for you know for fans you get to learn a little bit more about what this uh what this whole operation looks like be uh behind the curtain and get a good understanding of uh how we get everything going for uh for an exciting home season of Cyclones hockey all right well Zach always uh always good to catch up with you I'm glad things are uh going well in out in Wisconsin and uh I'm sure for you I know like I said it's the dog days of the season for uh for someone like me but I'm sure the time is time is flying for you and the the home opener is probably gonna be feel like it's right around the corner for you.

SPEAKER_00 26:17

For sure, for sure. We'll see fans here soon. Looking forward to it Co clones.

SPEAKER_03 26:22

Alrighty all right well thanks so much Zach Surway. Always a pleasure to get to chat with you. We're gonna uh kick it to break here on the Inside Cyclones hockey podcast here from some of our partners and sponsors who make this podcast possible uh and we'll return in just a moment. Enjoy the excitement of Cyclones hockey in the Bushlight clone zone. Your ticket in the clone zone includes a limited edition Bushlight clone zone beer mug and complimentary Bushlight and Michelob Ultra from doors opening through 10 minutes remaining in the third period. Complimentary snacks include assortments of pub mix, pretzels and chips ice level seating with pub tables and general admission bar height chairs with an excellent view of all the action. Visit WASACyclones.com slash bushlight clone zone to learn more today. Are you dealing with a plumbing emergency, leaky faucet, clog drain, or a faulty water heater? Locally owned River Valley Plumbing in WASA has you covered our skilled technicians provide fast, dependable service for all your plumbing needs, big or small. We're committed to quality and customer care because at River Valley Plumbing we treat our customers like family. Call 71578573 Now or visit Rivervalleyplumbing.com for service you can count on. Welcome back everybody to the Inside Cyclones Hockey Podcast. Thanks for letting us take some time to hear from our lovely partners who make this podcast possible. But now without further ado we've got an awesome interview teed up for this week's episode it's a familiar face but he's got a new title and for the first time on the Inside Cyclones hockey podcast I'm so proud to welcome the head coach of the Wasp Cyclones Luke Meyer to the show. Luke thank you so much for joining and congratulations on the big promotion thank you so much Mark thanks for having me it's uh it's a pleasure to be here with you as always so there's a lot to dive into there's a lot to talk about because I mean you've been with the organization for a handful of years and you've kind of moved your way up the totem pole and there's there's a lot of different angles a lot of different deep dives we can take but but before we get into all of those details I just want to know how it went down. Like what were the emotions what were the moments leading up to finding out that you were getting the promotion put put us in your shoes for how you found out you were becoming the next head coach of the Wasa Cyclones yeah it was uh pretty I didn't really know it was coming.

SPEAKER_02 28:52

So I talked to Nathan a couple weeks before like in July and he said he was talking about going to Houston as as he did get the head coach down in Houston in uh in the knall so he said he was going down there and I emailed her texted ownership and told him I was interested in the position went and had coffee with Brad and talked to BJ on the phone and I was kind of like the preliminary I want to be the head coach of the Wassau Cyclones. And then the following week I met with Brad again just having coffee and I didn't expect anything from it and he offered me the job and I was shocked I didn't really know what to do. I asked him if he was serious and he said yes and I was kind of awestruck for a couple minutes because it is a dream come true now. I got into this job to be a head coach be a hockey coach and to see it come full circle is kind of awesome. It's just really cool to to have it happen to me and have a dream come true of mine at at kind of a young age and but it's been cool and I was awestruck at the time that Brad offered me the job and shook my hand.

SPEAKER_03 30:11

I mean I I know the listeners you guys can't see but I've got my Z on a zoom here and I mean as you're telling me the story like I can see I can see the smile light up in your face like I can I can tell how genuine it is that you've you know like I said you've been with his organization for a number of years you've gotten to work under an awesome head coach in Nathan Oystrick and you know for you to be able to capitalize on the fact that he's stepping up to you know the next opportunity for him in the world of coaching that's an awesome moment for you and you know to your point too at such a young age to get to to get to step into this role and uh kind of start the next chapter of of your coaching career and just just the next chapter of your hockey life in general which is which is super awesome. So uh we obviously you know we're mentioning Oistie um who had a great tenure with the Cyclones took him to the playoffs a handful of times uh and you know whether it was talking to you or talking to all the players that were with the team last year everybody just raved about all the different things that he offered as a coach uh whether it was on the ice, off the ice, the advice that he gave, the technical stuff that he gave as a coach, all that kind of stuff. So I I just I'd love to get your insight and just have you talk a little bit about all the different things that you learned from Oistee working directly under him and you know how you feel like you were able to grow both your coaching abilities as well as just your knowledge of the game overall while getting to work under a guy like Oisty who not only has so much experience playing professional hockey whether it was the AHL winning championships at that level or getting NHL games just what kind of stuff were you able to learn from him over the years working under him with the organization?

SPEAKER_02 31:54

It's been truly an incredible three years working with him just his hockey knowledge down to like the little minute details you could tell that he played at the highest level and he understands the game and how kind of to talk to these players how they tick. The main thing that he taught me was how to be a a good human being first and foremost like he is down to earth salt of the earth you'd never know he was a professional hockey player and he doesn't let being a head coach of an NA3 team boost his ego at all. He just comes work every day with a smile on his face and you know it's just great great guy to be around um we still he calls me every day and it's awesome um he also has just taught me a whole bunch about how to can how to get these players to compete. It's a grind of a season how to give guys off days when you see them sluggish even though things aren't going your way it might be because guys are tired. Just giving them an a day to breathe understanding the recovery system for these players. He also just taught me a bunch of hockey drills and in general like I knew the basic stuff coming in I knew how to run a forecheck and all that but all these fancy drills he's got written up all these stuff he did when he was a pro and just the hockey background he has is is unbelievable. And we're going to continue to to use those drills to use the knowledge he gave me on how to communicate with these players how to understand the emotions of going through a hockey season and being a head coach it all translates things won't be too much different there might be some minor tweaks here and there but the Nathan oyster uh his story will live on here in wassau and I'm I'm hoping to continue his his style and just to kind of grow it.

SPEAKER_03 33:47

The Nathan Oystrick blueprint will stick around in Wassa for the for the foreseeable future I I you know I I feel like that's such a good point you make because you know he's gone obviously coaching in the knoll he's got a great opportunity that he's going to pursue but in a way he's still here because you get to instill everything that he taught you whether it be on the ice the actual technical drills and the and the hockey that you're teaching these young players you get to instill all that but you know you also get to pass down you know the mental mindset that he passed down to you and you know the mental skills and the things that he taught taught you you get to you know continue that on to the players who are returning who've our have already worked with him in the past as well as you know a little bit of a combination I feel like of you and some of the guys that are returning are going to get to take both of those things that we all just talked about, you know, whether it be his IQ of the game just his understanding of the sport or the things that he's teaching you off the ice, the advice that he's giving you the mental aspects and the mental strengths that he's giving you I feel like that's all going to stick around and uh you know I never played hockey I never played for the Wassa Cyclones but I can tell you one thing I spent a season around you and Oistie and and his energy is contagious. It rubs off and I feel like a little bit of that will just always linger on in that building in that locker room and you know with this organization for a while which is super cool. Absolutely um he did a lot for this organization and we're looking to keep keep on that same traject uh trajectory so I wanted to ask you if you know if you think there's any correlation here at all and if you do you know I'd love you to go a little in I'd love for you to go a little in depth on the matter. These are young guys that are playing for the Cyclones uh you know anywhere from 17 18 19 20 years old you know whatever it may be right out of high school uh in kind of in between like the figuring out what they want to do post high school getting geared up for potential college hockey you know that sweet spot I know you've been working with guys on this team for the past few years there's been guys that you've been with for the whole way through there's you know returns that you're gonna have next year do you feel like being a little closer in age to these players do you feel like you have an advantage in terms of being able to connect with them on a little bit higher of a level and do you think that's gonna maybe help you out as stepping into a little bit more of a you know power dominant role where you know you're not you're not the right hand man to a head coach like you're the guy you're the guy that's piloted at piloting everything and mandating everything.

SPEAKER_02 36:23

Do you think having a little bit uh of a closer age gap between you know yourself and these players is that going to benefit you as a head coach uh I think it will help there still are some things where I'm turning into the old guy I'll be turning 30 in a month so I'm almost I'm 10 years older than some of these players and the age gap is definitely growing but there is some things that the hockey side of things have has changed so much since like the older coaches have been around. So just being able to learn how to communicate with these players I've been coaching birth years of 06, 07050 all the players we have today since they were Kiwis and squirts. So this is kind of the age group that I started with when they were seven six seven eight years old. So understanding how the game has been taught for them growing up and now it's them as 18 19 20 year olds that'll I think that will help me kind of understand the the background of hockey knowledge that they have and what they have and haven't been taught and what things there are that still need to be worked on. And then just in the locker being kind of I don't want to be a friend obviously because you can't really be a a friend and a coach at the same time but just being someone they can talk to and a little bit more relatable in life situations. I I've gone through it pretty recently of their age and I can kind of understand what they're going through at 18 19 20 year olds moving away from their house for the first time and it's a little bit more fresh in my mind than some of the the 50, 60 year old coaches in the league. So I think the age will will definitely help out.

SPEAKER_03 38:11

Yeah I feel like from an outsider looking in thinking about how obviously you're not one or two years older than these guys but I mean I mean you're you're you're in the same sort of ish head space to where like you you you're not too far removed from being in their shoes being in their same position. So you can you know you can almost relate to them to a little higher of a degree than you know someone that's a little older in the head coaching position. So I see I see a lot of ways that that can you know benefit both you and benefit them. Like I'm sure you know you're gonna be able to learn some stuff about yourself as a head coach working with people that you know you're able to get in the headspace with and and and kind of level with which is uh which is super exciting. Um so when you look at the last few seasons that the Cyclones have had um you know you guys are consistently in the postseason you're only a few years removed from a divisional championship so so winning culture is present in Wassa and there's a lot of success with this team too what what are some of your goals for this team this year like looking at the past looking at what you guys have been able to accomplish in the past what do you want to take from these past seasons these past experiences and what do you like what do you want to take about that what do you want to add and how do you want to instill that in this future team that you're now looking at you know with some returners some new guys uh and you know what is going to be your your first team as the head coach well we have had a lot of success uh since I've been here we've made the playoffs three years in a row and now that's not good enough yeah being a playoff team is what's expected um the main goal is to win a Fraser Cup every year that is the main goal for a hockey team but to take the next step is to win playoff rounds is to get to the Fraser Cup tournament those are the next steps those are what the returners want those are what we brought new rookies in that's what they want is to be a competitive team is to be a team that is tough to play against every night plays the right way plays hard plays fast and that will dictate the success we have if the players are willing to buy in to the things that we talk about in the locker room during practice I see the same amount of success coming this year as we've had in the past three years and hopefully a little bit more and bringing a a trophy back to Wassa. Yeah I feel like you have such an advantage in that you've you've had that experience of being the right hand man to somebody who's you know really built up this organization and built up the success that it has been having in the past but it's not about him anymore. It's your show now and you get to not only take everything that you learned but you get to instill all sorts of new strategies and new mindsets into these players and just into your coaching staff in general. And I think you're at an advantage and that you have all the experience but you can also try new things to you know combine the already winning culture and the consistency that you have in the postseason but at the same time you know I I I I agree with you in that you know it gets to a point with you know whatever level you're playing at making the playoffs every year isn't good enough. Like you can have a playoff team every year but if you're not winning championships what's the point so I I think it's an exciting thing to think about you know how you're gonna be able to draw past experience and new things that you want to try to build a team that's capable of winning a Fraser Cup.

SPEAKER_02 41:40

Yeah it's gonna be there are will be some minor tweaks we're gonna try out some different some different things we're gonna start with the trusty true Wassau cycling systems that we've worked on for the past three years but there are a couple tricks up my sleeve that if things are going sideways or if we need to switch things up I think we can implement them quickly and we want to we want to be a pretty versatile team where we can make intermission adjustments where we switch the fork check from a 212 to a one two two if we need to or switch a power play or switch a penalty kill. I want to be pretty versatile in that and having everybody on on board and everyone understanding what's going on so we can make those those quick changes.

SPEAKER_03 42:26

Yeah absolutely um all right so I don't know anything about this uh I don't know where the progress is at but I just wanted to at least you know throw the question out there uh you can tell me as much as you're allowed to tell me like I said I don't know where things are at but um has your previous role been filled yet have you have you filled the coaching staff out with an assistant coach? Do you know what your staff is going to look like uh and how involved have you gotten to be you know in the process of uh of finding somebody that gets to kind of be your new right hand man kind of what you got to serve as under Coach Oistey for the last few years yeah we we did hire uh an assistant coach I believe it was yesterday he signed his contract I won't get into too many details I think there there will be a press release about all of that but he's a younger guy he reminds me of myself he's he's hungry he wants to do the job he knows his game um and he was willing to do whatever it takes to to be a hockey coach that's someone that I I wanted to to bring in was someone who doesn't think they deserve to be here but someone who actually wants to be here and wants to to grind it out in the NA3 because it's not a glamorous job being an assistant coach in the NA3 but it's doing what you love and and the person I brought in they they love what they are going to do. He's super excited and he's finding finding out all the little nuances we had him on a a call today with a future player we had a a zoom meeting with a future player and he saw all the all the little stuff we talk about how to build the culture here and he's learning quickly so that position has been filled sweet well uh yeah I haven't heard any buzz about that yet uh but uh I'm excited to see uh you know who who's filling that role and uh what that'll look like and uh for those that are listening uh I would say just continue to check in on our socials and our website at wassacyclones and our website at wassacyclones.com. Uh you know like you said Meisy there's 100% going to be a news release press release some sort of uh written piece about who we're bringing in to fill that role and uh I can you know all but guarantee that we'll probably have uh that individual on the on the pod at some point to you know pick their brain about getting to come into this role and get excited about stepping in as the assistant coach for the uh for the Wassa Cyclones which super exciting uh Luke I'm just want to say congrats one more time man super awesome to see you uh you know I only got to you know work alongside you for one season but so cool to see you you know make a big step in your career progression as uh as a you know assistant coach to a head coach in junior hockey it's it's just one step closer to you know achieving an overarching goal and moving to bigger and better things in the in the world of hockey so uh you know I want to be the first on the pod to say huge congratulations and I'm super excited to see what you uh what you accomplish in your first year as head coach of the Cyclones.

SPEAKER_02 45:27

Thank you so much I really appreciate it. Do you have uh anything else you want to say to the listeners before we wrap things up here um nothing off the top of my head I just want things to continue to stay the same come out support the game's gonna be the same high high intensity fast tough hockey and it's it's gonna be fun so let's pack marathon park and go clones.

SPEAKER_03 45:51

Awesome well I can tell you that uh all the clones fans locally in WAS are looking forward to getting back into that barn with all sorts of fun stuff and you know more importantly intense high fun hockey for for the entirety of the 2026 27 season. All right thank you so much head coach of the Wasp Cyclones Luke Meyer for joining us today. Going to kick it to another break here on the Inside Cyclones hockey podcast and we'll return in just a moment. Thanks for listening to Inside Cyclones hockey as we give you a behind the scenes look at the team please rate review and subscribe to stay up to date on all things Cyclones hockey and as always go clones