He’s part Maytag Repairman, part Santa Claus and fully friend to dozens, if not hundreds, of University of Denver hockey players.

His door is always open – regardless of where it happens to be located – and he’s ready to help players as quickly as a linesman drops a puck.

Pioneers coaches draw the lions’ share of the outside attention, but Director of Equipment Room Operations Nick Meldrum is one of a handful of staff members who operate behind the scenes to ensure DU’s players are prepared to perform at their best in the highly competitive world of college hockey.

Meldrum, who is going into his 10th year at DU, took some time recently to discuss his role in gearing up Pioneers in all sports (he oversees all 17) but specifically the hockey team.

MORE: Go behind the scenes for a DU hockey weekend

What summer break?

Meldrum and his colleagues have had a temporary change of address this summer due to the extensive locker room renovations for the hockey program. But his constituents know exactly where to find him, and that is clear on a summer morning in which he balances a multitude of tasks while dealing with skate, stick and equipment requests for current and former Pioneers.

He takes it all in stride, whether it’s sharpening skates, getting a player prepared for an NHL prospects camp or helping a player replace lost gear.

In a way, Meldrum’s job is akin to running the shop on Pawn Stars – you never know who or what’s going to come through your door.

“One of the good parts of the job is it’s always changing,” he said. “You never know what’s coming from one week to another.

“On top of it this year, there’s another wrench thrown in with the locker-room renovation. We’re in a temporary spot right now, and we’re going to have to move completely back into the locker room, the equipment room, the coaches’ room because everything is in storage right now.

“Not only are we outfitting all of the team in the new (gear) as it comes, but we’re also outfitting a brand-new locker room where we have more storage. It’s going to be kind of like moving into a new house.

“So that’s going to be a challenge on top of the new hockey season.”

Meldrum’s preparation for the next season begins almost as soon as a current one ends.

“It’s usually in the spring when we’re starting to get (equipment together),” he says. “I’ll sit down with the coaching staff. We know who’s on NLIs and who’s coming. There’s always a couple of last-minute adds like (transfer defenseman Les) Lancaster and (freshman goalie) Mikey Courson this year.

“The bulk of the players we’re starting to get things together not too far after our season is over. By June I’m ordering or have everything ordered for the most part for all of our guys.”

Making players feel at home

Whether they’re rituals, traditions or flat-out superstitions, players are particular about their gear. Some more than others. Meldrum has to balance those concerns with his primary one – “It all comes down to safety.”

Meldrum began his career as a student assistant at Lake Superior State and continued it with the U.S. National Team Development Program before coming to DU, and he has pretty much seen it all when it comes to equipment, particularly from incoming players.

“It depends on where they come from,” he says. “Some guys come in with (equipment) that’s in great shape and they keep using it. Then there’s some guys whose equipment is in very poor shape and you’re replacing it as soon as they get here for safety’s sake.

“Some fight it at first because it’s their lucky elbow pads or whatever from Pee Wees. You talk them out of it and get them in the new stuff.”

Because so many of the Pioneers’ incoming freshmen begin taking classes during the summer, this process begins well before the season. There are several benefits – equipment and otherwise – to this arrangement.

“They can skate in it now and get it broken in now,” Meldrum says. “And not have to worry about showing up at campus in the fall, breaking stuff in, trying to figure out where classes are, trying to figure out where they’re living, where they’re eating.”

Most hockey players, and most humans for that matter, are creatures of comfort. So it should come as no surprise they can be particular about their gear, especially their skates and their sticks. Meldrum says he spends far more time on those two items than anything else.

“Some are very particular about their skates or their sticks, and they should be. This is potentially their career, they’re expected to perform, and they need to have the best things possible so they can perform the way we expect them to at Denver,” he says.

“(Captain) Logan (O’Connor) is very particular about how his skates are. He’s got a custom spec through Bauer, and they’re custom made for him. He’s switching to the new True skates. They actually scan and (make) a 3D model of his foot. They’re literally made for his foot. … Hopefully that takes some of the pieces out of his puzzle.”

Summer is also prime time for players to experiment with or fine tune their sticks. That can mean everything from the curve of the blade to how open the blade is to what the flex or the grip of the stick is.

“If something’s not exactly right, I’ll hear about it and we’ll take care of it as quickly as we can,” Meldrum says. “They’re understanding. We have a great locker room. It’s fun.

“Usually companies are pretty accommodating and get stuff out.”

There’s also a business component to that for equipment makers like Bauer, CCM, True and Warrior as well as for the program, which purchases sticks through their various contracts with the companies. Warrior, meanwhile, provides the Pioneers’ gloves, pants and helmets, while Adidas provides jerseys, socks and some off-ice apparel.

Meldrum estimates that collectively the players will go through at least 650 sticks to as many as 800 in the course of a season. If a typical roster has 27 players, he figures it’s between 24-30 sticks on average for the seven-plus months they’re playing.

There is some variance depending on position and playing style as well.

“You get guys who are taking a lot of one-timers or who play aggressively, they’re going to go through more,” he says.

If there is a patron saint of stick destruction in the Pioneers’ recent history, Meldrum said current Minnesota Wild forward Jason Zucker would be the guy.

“One year he was using a brand new stick from Warrior. He was doing some testing and by the end of the season he went through 64 sticks,” Meldrum recalls. “Warrior was great and they made things right, and they knew we had some issues with some of the things he was trying out so we didn’t have to foot the bill for all of them. That’s the most I’ve ever had a guy go through in my career.”

The transition game

Will they or won’t they was one of the Pioneers’ biggest story lines this season, as in who might sign and NHL contract. As it turns out, DU had four players depart early for the League in fairly short order after an NCAA Regional final loss to Ohio State on March 25.

The exits of forwards Henrik Borgström, Dylan Gambrell and Troy Terry shortly after that game, and defenseman Blake Hillman a couple days later added a wrinkle to Meldrum’s job.

“It is kind of interesting with how quickly it happened this year,” Meldrum says. “A lot of these guys, we had the feeling it could be coming, so you’re preparing yourself for it. Usually the equipment guys from whatever team is signing them are usually in touch with me pretty quickly. We’re figuring out the logistics from there.

“After our loss (to Ohio State), it was tough, and then pretty quickly I had three NHL equipment managers calling me saying these guys were going to coming in pretty quickly. Any help I could give them would be appreciated. So I sent them out with sticks, bring back their pants and helmet and gloves that they’re not going to use, making sure they have laundry and shoes, the equipment they need when they show up, whether it was San Jose, Florida or Anaheim or wherever the player was going.”

This is just one example of the camaraderie and cooperation in the hockey equipment profession, something Meldrum says is widespread and not limited by level.

“It’s pretty cool because the NHL equipment guys are very outgoing, open guys, so whether I’m calling them for help or ideas or advice, they answer their phone,” he says. “When the time of year comes when they’re going to get some of our guys, it’s tough to see their number come up on the caller ID, but it’s good because the relationship we have we’re going to do whatever we can do to help, whether it’s sending the sticks out and the team’s buying the sticks from us and whatever else will make the transition for our player going there easier for all three of us.”

This is less of an issue during the summer, when as much as half of the Pioneers roster might head to an NHL developmental camp.

“It’s pretty simple,” Meldrum says. “The guys know what they need to take. I’m giving them a few extra sticks, making sure their skates are sharpened. … Making sure they’re going with two sets of sharpened steel so they’re ready to go. Most of the guys are pretty easy.”

NEXT IN PART 2: You would not want this man’s schedule 

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