2010 Ivan Hlinka Tournament: Q and A with Team USA’s Tanner Sorenson
Tanner Sorenson’s star is shining bright, and it’s not just because he and his USA teammates look to be in great shape for a medal at the 2010 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament. The 17-year-old Anchorage, AK. native, was brilliant this past season racking up 32 goals and 65 points through 57 games while playing for Shattuck-St. Mary’s, a storied prep school in Faribault, Minn. that has produced the likes of Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews and Zach Parise. The season prior, Sorenson put up 31 goals and 61 points in 48 games with Shattuck-St. Mary’s U-16 team. It shouldn’t be surprising just how good the 5-foot-10, 175-pound winger really is, as his bloodlines are strong considering his father Dennis Sorenson was an All-American while playing at the University of Alaska Anchorage, and is the Seawolves 2nd all-time leading scorer. So Tanner is just a chip off the old block. There is a lot to like about the youngsters game, he is a tremendous skater, that has explosive speed, great stickhandling ability, good vision, and excellent hockey sense. He is also a very dependable player, that works hard at both ends of the ice, has very good leadership skills, and is mature beyond his years on how he approaches the game and conducts himself off the ice. I had a chance to catch up with the budding young hockey star, on the eve of USA’s semi-final game against Sweden, for a quick Q and A.
Who has been the biggest influence on your hockey career, and helped you develop into the player you are today so far?
Tanner: My biggest influence on my hockey career would be my dad, Dennis Sorenson, and Brian Bethard. Both were my coaches my whole life basically, from the age of 2 to 14, which is when I left to SSM, and there I have had a new coaching staff every year.
You are seen as a tremendous offensive talent, what do you believe are your best attributes as a player, and is there anything you would like to improve on moving forward?
Tanner: I think my offensive game has got me to where I am today. My mental game, hockey sense, stick skill and speed are all very good I think, and if I could improve on my defensive play, physical play, and become more of a threat without the puck it would all benefit my game a ton.
Is there a player in the NHL you mold your game after?
Tanner: I wouldn’t say there is an NHL player I mold my game after, but I have my favorites, like Zach Parise and Jonathan Toews. They are not only my favorites because they are Shattuck alums, but also because of how tremendously talented and how successful their young careers have been. I’m sure any youth hockey player would do anything to be in their position.
You have been great so far during your time at Shattuck-St. Mary’s, obviously they are a prestigious hockey program that have turned out some amazing NHL talent in Toews, Parise, and of course Crosby. What made you decide to attend there, and being that it is a long way from Alaska, was it a tough transition at such a young age?
Tanner: It wasn’t too hard of a decision for me to make, SSM has a great track record on producing top notch NHL players and I thought it was the best fit for me. I wanted to leave Alaska for better hockey because it seemed like the depth in AK is nothing compared to the Midwest, and playing there would help my hockey game a ton. Most people leave AK for juniors, or anything else around 17 or 18 years old it seems, and I thought leaving at an earlier age would benefit me a lot more. The transition wasn’t too hard for me because as a kid I never really wanted to stay home. I always wanted to stay over at friends houses, and hang out with them, so it was sort of easy for me, especially now. I know freshmen year, hockey wise and academically I struggled, but after that first year I seemed to have peaked in everything significantly.
You’ve committed to Michigan State afterwards, even though you were highly recruited by the University of Alaska Anchorage where your father is their No. 2 all-time leading scorer. How tough a decision was that for you to make, and what ultimately made you choose Michigan State?
Tanner: For me it wasn’t a tough decision at all really. MSU seemed to be the perfect fit for me. Deep down I feel like my parents really wanted me to go to UAA, so they could see me and watch me play more often, but I know they wanted whatever was going to make me happy. My parents support basically every decision I make. The big thing about MSU to me was the campus life, and hockey background, the campus is the nicest campus and area I have ever seen and the hockey background is second to none. They’ve turned out very successful players in the past decade, and have had many great seasons. Also, they succeed in many other sports and I love going to sporting events and cheering on friends and schoolmates, so it was pretty much a dream come true for me.
What is the highlight of your young career so far?
Tanner: I would like to say it was winning a national championship at SSM, but that has yet to happen for me, so to date it would easily be coming to Europe with Team USA U-18. The hockey is unreal, the experience is something ill never forget and what more can you say, your playing for Team USA at the top U18 tournament in the world. It’s all pretty amazing.
On that note, you and your USA teammates are preparing to play Sweden in the semi-finals of the Ivan Hlinka Tournament tomorrow. All the games have been fairly close so far, who in your opinion has been the toughest opponent so far and why?
Tanner: I think Russia was the hardest opponent and they beat us in a shootout. They were the toughest I think because if you made one mistake, one turnover, they were such a skilled team they would transition and capitalize. In the end, thats what hurt us.
Has it been tough coming together as a group in such a short period of time?
Tanner: Normally you would think it was tough to come together as a team, but our club acts and plays like we’ve been together for months. No one doesn’t like anyone, and everyone seems to enjoy every second together. Even on our downtime we’re all messing around, playing games, just having the times of our lives. I’m most positive every single guy on our team would give everything they had to play again at say the World Juniors for Team USA with the same group of players.
Who has caught your eye talent wise in the games in which you’ve played?
Tanner: I wish I knew names of the kids we have played against, but there names are not only hard to remember, but I don’t know any of them so ill try my best. The goalie from Finland (Richard Ullberg) that played against us seemed to be very skilled and I know he played quite well throughout the tournament. Then number 10 and 25 on Russia were both very skilled players, and were two big threats vs us when we squared off.
Obviously you guys have a lot of offensive weapons with yourself, Cason Hohmann, John Gaudreau, Vincent Trocheck and Seth Ambroz just to name a few. What do you see as the strength of this club?
Tanner: I think our team is all of the above. Our defense are not specific offensive or defensive they’re both, it seems like each d-man is very skilled defensively and then surprisingly they’ll be a threat offensively, and I think thats where we can scare teams. Our goaltending is unbelievable, in my opinion they’re the best two goalies I’ve played with, against, or seen in person. Then for forwards, we have our offensively skilled players, our power forwards, and our grinders, everyone knows their job on the team and we’ve all come together as one. Also, I personally believe have we out worked every team we’ve faced so far and will continue that trend going forward.
Has there been any pranks, and if so what was the funniest/worst one?
Tanner: Pranks, well (haha) I myself at Shattuck-St. Mary’s like to see myself as the prankster, but on this trip none so far. For myself, I know me and my linemate at SSM JP Lafontaine would go back and forth, but two that come to mind are when he decided to put shampoo in my shoe socks so when I put them on, my feet got drenched, those socks were ruined. So to respond to that, I took pieces of tape and taped every slash on his cage and he didn’t like that too much (haha), it takes quite a while to get off. I wouldn’t recommend that one unless it is getting personal. Then, it should capture the battle.
What does the typical game day consist of as far as meals, practise, nap times etc.?
Tanner: Well, here in Europe we played at 3:30 pm everyday, so we wake up at 8:45 am and eat breakfast, then go on a quick walk probably about 20-30 minutes around the town. Go back to the hotel and hang out for a little bit, then eat lunch at 11:30 am. After lunch we go back to our room and nap, or do whatever, until we have to load the bus to head to the game at 1:20 pm. Then from there on it’s all game time.
Who is your roommate at the tourney, and how is he to stay with?
Tanner: My roommate is Kevin Irwin, and I really enjoy it. We kind of have a history from past select festivals so we have known each other since we were 14 and get along real well. We don’t have any problems. Well I don’t (haha), I’m sort of a late night, early morning guy, soI don’t sleep too much compared to him.
Looking ahead to the game against Sweden on Friday, what do you guys need to do in order to beat them?
Tanner: No one on our team has seen Sweden play yet, so we really don’t know what to expect, except that they are going to give it 100% obviously since its for the opportunity at a gold medal. On the other hand, our team is willing to do anything to win and I really think we have the team to do it. Our teams goal since day one has been to win the gold medal, the US has not won it at this tournament since 2003 I believe, and winning it this year would be a huge feat for us all.
What do you like to do in your downtime from hockey?
Tanner: I like to train with my buddies, and shoot I guess. I really haven’t taken much off time this year, but I guess normally I would just hang out and catch up with some old buddies and golf every once in a while. I get kind of bored when I’m not playing hockey or training.
A lot of guys like to talk trash on the ice, what is the funniest chirp you’ve heard while playing?
Tanner: Funniest chirp, well I have two I’ve heard teammates say that I thought were pretty hilarious, and those are…”I’ve seen better wheels on a boat,” and “I’ve seen better shots at the doctors office,” for some reason those two always make me laugh.
You’ve scored a lot of goals so far in your young career, do you have one that stands out as your biggest/nicest?
Tanner: I have two that come to mind, one is this year at the select festival. I got the puck on the right wing side from a cross ice pass and skated down the boards, I decided to take a big slap shot from the top of the circles, and it went to right bar-down. The other was last year, playing Compuware in the quarterfinals at nationals. I put it between a guys stick at the red line, then took a one footed off side snap shot from the blue line while skating in on a 1-on-1 with the d-man, it went top right bar down and at the time was a huge goal in the game.
Favourite pump up song?
Tanner: I am a big country guy when it comes to music. I don’t really have a favorite pump up song, but before every game I always seem to listen to “Our Song” by Taylor Swift. I don’t know why, but it seems to be one of my pump up songs for some reason. Guess you cant go wrong with Taylor Swift.
