The Insider Interview - Tim Laurila

The former Texas Brahmas defenseman talks about his experience with the team and his decision to retire

Tim Laurila retired in the off-season after spending his last pro year with the Texas Brahmas. The 6' 4", 230 pound defenseman from Moorhead, Minnesota played in 37 regular season games with the Brahmas, scoring three points (2 G, 1 A) and serving 41 penalty minutes.

Laurila, 30, began playing amateur hockey in the USHL with the Fargo-Moorhead Ice Sharks. After one season, he played NCAA hockey at Michigan Tech for four seasons. During his college career, he tallied 26 points (8 G, 18 A) in 114 games played.

After his final season at Michigan Tech, Laurila joined the Columbus Cottonmouths (ECHL) for ten games at the end of the 2001-02 season.

Laurila spent the next two seasons playing with the Oklahoma City Blazers and then spent a season with the Motor City Mechanics (UHL). Prior to joining the Brahmas, Laurila split the 2006-07 season with the Memphis RiverKings and the Corpus Christi Rayz.

I spoke with Tim at a recent game at NYTEX. We discussed his experience with the 2007-08 Brahmas, playing at NYTEX and his decision to retire.

Q: How did you come to join the Brahmas last season?

A: Well, it was kind of a who knows who. I had obviously played against Dan for many years and it was good to be finally on the same side as him. He wasn't always the easiest player to play against, a true competitor. He and Blair Manning played together in Shreveport. Blair had been talking to Dan and Dan found out that he got this coaching job. I had actually semi-retired at that point. I was the assistant coach for a division three college team back in Minnesota in my home town, Concordia College. They're in the MAIC (Minnesota Inter-collegiate Athletic Conference), so it's a pretty good league. Anyway, Blair and his wife were traveling back home and they stopped at our place for a couple of days and he talked to me about the possibility of coming back and I kind of still wanted to play so it actually worked out real well. Through Blair, I guess, Dan wanted me to come down.

I was also very fortunate that he (Dan) hooked me up with a job here in Fort Worth; a career. I work for a broker firm for energy companies and I work as a land man, so that was another reason for me to come out of semi-retirement. I was able to join the workforce and get something to put on the resume anyway, since after college, all I have is hockey. It's not always easy getting a career opportunity right out of college and only having played pro hockey.

Q: Are you still with that company?

A: Yes I am; it's a very good company. They treated me well. After the season was over, I went on full-time with them and it's a good relationship. They were understanding through the year. I kind of worked part-time and I traveled downtown in the afternoons after practice when most guys were going and swinging the clubs, I was going to work (Laughing). It worked out real well and I'm still with the company now. My wife and little guy and I are still down here and love the area. Other than the hockey, life-wise, it was a great decision to come down here as well.

Q: I understand you have another one on the way...

A: I do, I do, in four weeks a little girl is going to enter our world here, so that's obviously got me pretty nervous, but she's got kind a crazy big brother to protect her throughout the years, so that makes me feel better.

Q: Speaking of Dan Wildfong - playing against him or being coached by him; which did you prefer?

A: Definitely being coached. He's an intense coach and player and that's what you want. As a coach, you want someone who has that sort of passion and someone who's going to push players and at the same time knows the fine line to walk as far as that goes. All around, hockey-wise, he is an intense competitor and away from the rink, he's a great guy. That helps a lot.

Q: Last season, given the circumstances of the Brahmas coming off of a year's hiatus and how short a time Dan had to put a team together, were you surprised at how everything gelled so well, so quickly?

A: I really was, you know, you've got to give credit to Dan and Forbes MacPherson as well and everyone else who helped bring the team in. I would have to say that last year's team was probably the one of the best groups of guys...of course we were very successful hockey-wise, but as far as getting along and just good people, it was a great group. Sometimes you look back on things and that's what you remember more is the people that you meet and the friends that you make and last year was just a great example of a great group of guys coming together and working hard with the same goal and we were obviously very successful. I shouldn't say I was surprised, but I was really impressed with the way everything came about.

Q: The fans of course were very happy to see the Brahmas return and really took to them here in North Richland Hills. What was your feeling about the fan support and how you were treated here?

A: You have to remember I played in Oklahoma City in my first two years and I was down here a lot when they played in downtown Fort Worth, both rinks. You know, big buildings like that, sometimes there was not a lot of fans and atmosphere-wise it wasn't the best place to play in. You come to a rink like this, it's obviously a little smaller; there's a lot of metal around and great fans that really got behind the team. North Richland Hills and the area is very passionate about their hockey. Obviously for us to be successful definitely helped - everybody wants to watch a winning team. You've got to give the guys credit for that too.

Q: I've spoken to a lot of players on the Brahmas and from other teams who have a lot of good things to say about playing at a smaller rink; they like the closeness. NYTEX looks packed every night even if it's not a sellout compared to some of the larger venues, where there may be 5,000 seats but they're so spread out that it doesn't seem like a large crowd there.

A: Oh definitely. And again, I played in Oklahoma City and we played in the Ford Center; it's probably the most beautiful building I've ever played in. But you had nights, especially this time of year when football season is going on; a Saturday when OU is playing, the crowd could be pretty sparse. You definitely notice it more in a building of that size but no matter what this rink was like, if it was half-full or three-quarters full, it was always noisy and always a fun place to come and play. All in all, it was a great experience and one of my favorite places that I played, throughout the years.

Q: Best memory of last season?

A: Like I said, I think just the guys, you know. Going on the road for long road trips, being around each other and winning; if you're not winning, it's a different story. I think from the coaches on down, the whole experience of the season and making such great friends and being around such good people for a year, I feel blessed. It was really a great experience for me and my family.

Q: Watching the game as a spectator now, do you miss it? Do you wish you were still out there?

A: I've been asked that a lot lately. Right now, I'm real comfortable with my position. It's kind of nice to be up here and watching the games and not having the worry and stress and all of the preparation. That's probably been the biggest thing for me - it's kind of nice not having to prepare and obviously spending time with your family. I know my wife likes Saturdays and game days that don't revolve around my nap anymore. We can kind of do what we want to do. Right now, I would say that I think I made the right decision but I'll always miss it. You always miss playing and being around the guys and stuff but it's been a good transition for me. I feel good about it right now.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith