Defender Jordin Pardoski said she has put in all the hard work, but had it not been for her father, Ryan, she would not be where she is today.
Ryan was a strong player as he was selected in the 1986 NHL Entry Draft by the New Jersey Devils and played at the University of Michigan from 1986-1990. Once his playing career came to a close, he entered the coaching field and eventually coached his daughter when she played for Detroit Honeybaked, a club team, for five years.
Head coach Josh Brandwene said the Pardoski’s are a great hockey family and Jordin got the important benefit of being influenced by Ryan as she grew up.
“He’s a terrific coach,” Brandwene said. “To have the opportunity to learn, work and grow with that kind of teaching has certainly benefited her.”
Jordin said her father’s coaching style was tough love and she received no special treatment as he pushed her just as hard as he pushed her teammates.
Defender Madison Smiddy, who played for Ryan during the 2010-2011 season, said Jordin’s father is a strong coach that not only helped her get her confidence back as a player, but also assisted Jordin a lot, too.
“It helped her being in the sport just to have someone that knows about it and talk to her about it [and] she would be able to assess her game, game-by-game,” Smiddy said. “I think that she enjoyed it and I think that it was probably a good thing for her.”
Ryan, who was a forward, characterized Jordin’s play by her strong skating and aggressive style, however, he said he does not know how Jordin gravitated to being a defender.
The Michigan grad also said he lets Jordin make her own goals and take ownership of them, but the one thing he has told her is set the bar high and believe she can do it.
“She doesn’t know how lucky she is to be a part of a program that has a clean slate…the sky is the limit,” Ryan said. “Whatever she wants to do, she has a chance to lay the groundwork for the future.”
Ryan added that there was no bad blood that Jordin attends one of Michigan’s rival schools. In fact, Jordin said she got her father Penn State apparel for Christmas and he wears it to support her.
