A few minutes with...Doug SauterThe Oklahoma City Blazers head coach talks about recent events, his players and the Texas Brahmas
Doug Sauter is now in his 14th season behind the bench for the Oklahoma City Blazers. During the previous 13 seasons, his teams have qualified for the playoffs 10 times, won seven CHL division regular season titles, four regular season championships, made three CHL Finals appearances and have won two CHL Championships. He is the winningest coach in CHL history
Sauter, a native of Fairlight, Saskatchewan, is the most tenured head coach in all of North American professional hockey, including the NHL, and among the most tenured in all of North American professional sports. He is one of five coaches in North American professional hockey history to record 500 wins with a single franchise and just the second in minor professional hockey to do so.
Sauter was a goaltender in his playing days, playing for six seasons in Canada's junior hockey system.
After retiring from organized hockey, he became an assistant coach with the New Westminster Bruins of the Western Hockey League. In his second season with the club (1974-75), the Bruins won the President's Cup Championship.
His first head coaching position was during the 1975-76 season with the Butte Copper Kings in the Southwest Hockey League. The following season he was named head coach of the Abbotsford Flyers in the British Columbia Junior Hockey League.
Sauter spent the next five seasons as head coach of the Calgary Wranglers (WHL), compiling a record of 202-144-14.
The Springfield Indians (AHL) then hired Sauter on for the 1983-84 season. He had a 39-35-6 record and the Indians lost in the first round of the playoffs.
The next season, Sauter returned to the WHL where he coached the Medicine Hat Tigers, Regina Pats and the Brandon Wheat Kings for two seasons each. His 417 wins during his time with WHL teams put him in the top 10 on the all-time coaching wins list in the WHL.
In 1991, Sauter went to the ECHL, coaching the Wheeling Thunderbirds. In four seasons with that club, the Thunderbirds compiled a 160-80-24 record, won the regular season title twice, and went to the playoffs every year.
Sauter took the position with the Oklahoma City Blazers in 1995. In his first season behind the bench, he led the team to a 47-13-4 record, winning the Adams cup (best regular season record) and then the Levin’s Trophy playoff championship, earning him Coach of the Year honors.
I spoke with Doug Sauter before a recent game at the NYTEX Sports Center. Here is our conversation.
Q: The Oklahoma City Blazers have been in the news recently for reasons other than the fantastic start to their season. Were you surprised to hear that Brad Lund would be leaving the organization?
A: Yes, that came as a real surprise but no doubt Brad’s probably got something else lined up. He’s a good friend of mine and he’ll be missed by, not only myself personally and my family, but by the hockey club and by the CHL. I think he was one of the key guys in the CHL that was able to put together the Central League, the old Texas League as I called it. He’ll be missed but he’s a young man with a lot of experience with 17 years in the hockey business. You’ll see him re-surface somewhere maybe within our league or maybe elsewhere.
Q: The other thing, which has come up before, is the news of the visit by the Edmonton Oilers and the consideration of the Blazers as an AHL franchise. Would you like to see the Blazers make such a move?
A: With our current lease with the City of Oklahoma, there’s a clause in there and it’s black and white; they would like us every year to explore the possibility to bring a higher level of hockey. There’s only two levels higher, one being the American League and then of course, the NHL. With the Thunder in Oklahoma City with the NBA, there’s no room for two big league teams.
It’s a point of interest for a lot of teams. I think there’s a lot of teams in the American Hockey League that aren’t doing well right now and would love to relocate to a place where they can draw anywhere from seven to ten thousand fans a game. Especially in the building we’re going to end up with, sharing the building with the Thunder. There’s going to be a $100 million dollar renovation to a building that only cost $90 million dollars, so we’re going to have a pretty nice building to play in.
We’ve got a good fan base and I think any team in the American League that was looking, would definitely set their sights on Oklahoma City. With our lease, we have to look into that. This summer, Edmonton made a couple of trips. There was nothing set in stone or any promises made or anything else. They’re just looking…there’s lots going on with Dallas moving (their AHL affiliate) to Austin. I don’t know how that’s coming along but I know that there are some other teams interested. Anaheim was interested at one time in Oklahoma City as well so we’ve got the welcome mat out in front of our office and we’ll welcome teams and share information.
Right now, we’re a member of the Central Hockey League. I think it’s a great league. Lots of excitement, affordable prices as far as tickets go and we’re off to a great start. Hopefully we can keep good play on the ice and let the other things that happen in business in the boardroom stay in the boardroom.
Q: There are a couple of new teams entering the league next season in Independence, Missouri and Allen, Texas. Of course, another divisional realignment will take place at the league meetings next summer. Are you looking forward to seeing a couple of new rivals coming in?
A: I think we’ve got to always look to expand keep fresh franchises. There are probably a couple of franchises that need to relocate, and their players, and progress is just part of the process. These cities like Rapid City that just had a new building built; it’ll be interesting to see how they draw and what they do. There’s no doubt there’s a few franchises in our league that are probably looking around to relocate. That’ll be decision made in the next while. The one thing about the Central Hockey League, it’s always been very aggressive in finding new markets and hopefully they’ll continue to do a good job.
Q: Let’s talk a little bit about the team. You’re a former goaltender. Let’s talk about your goaltending. You have the best tandem in the league right now with Andy Franck and Doug Groenestege. Are you surprised your backup goalie has done so well?
A: Andy Franck played the majority of the games but now he’s out and he’s missed the last few games and Doug Groenestege stepped up very big. Doug’s a very good goaltender too and he knew very well that I was going to go with Andy pretty much throughout the year as our number one guy and he would pick up the pieces. All of a sudden now, he’s the starting goaltender. It’s been a nice one-two punch. Goaltenders compliment each other. They’re two different personalities. They’re a little, two different styles.
I think one thing that’s gone a little bit unnoticed is our defensive style of play. The six defensemen have played very strong in front of these two goaltenders. Our forwards have sacrificed themselves to play a little different system in their own end, which is a little more gritty, a little more work-involved. They’ve accepted that. It’s a total team effort that goes into having the goals against that we’ve had so far and leading the Central Hockey League.
Q: With Chad Hinz coming back from Austria, it was a good move, getting him back on the team. I’m sure it was a difficult decision to have to let Marty Standish move on. How did all of this come about?
A: Chad Hinz is a very unique player in that he is of that all-star caliber. Chad was simply sick and tired of the European game. A lot of pressure is on the imports…a lot of pressure on those imports that carry the mail, so to speak. He went over as kind of a replacement player because there were some injuries, etc., by all means I think he played pretty well and then they only offered him his second month of his contract. They offered him a Central Hockey League wage. So, we came back into the picture. We’re glad to have him back.
We’ve been committed all this year to making changes with the Blazers and put the best possible team on the ice. When it came down to it, the other three veterans, Gomez, Fleck and Passmore had played better than Marty. Marty is very dear to me, a very close friend, not only a player. We still have a coach/player relationship. It was very hard to let a player go that has given eight years service to the Central Hockey League and the Blazers and to the fans of Oklahoma City. Changes have to be made and we’ve made those changes. We are committed to put the best possible team on the ice and that’s the sacrifices that teams have to make sometimes.
Q: What is your feeling on the new incarnation of the Texas Brahmas versus the old Fort Worth Brahmas as far as caliber and coaching?
A: I think the intensity in the overall hockey organization is better. They bring a team that plays and competes every night. I think that’s all the fans want to see, a competitive team. The facility here has a little bit left to be desired. In fact, on the way here today, it didn’t even show up on the GPS (laughing). It’s just one of those things. They’re making do. I commend the ownership to make do.
It would be nice to see a beautiful five, six thousand seat arena pop up somewhere in one of these suburbs where this team could move in and be a big part of the community and give some identity. Right now, the name Texas Brahmas covers a pretty wide space. Texas is a big place. I think they get lost sometimes with their identity. They’re trying hard and they work hard at it. That’s all you can ask. If I was a big hockey fan, I’d be very happy to support the Brahmas and their efforts and how their team plays.
Photo Credit: Robert Keith
A: Yes, that came as a real surprise but no doubt Brad’s probably got something else lined up. He’s a good friend of mine and he’ll be missed by, not only myself personally and my family, but by the hockey club and by the CHL. I think he was one of the key guys in the CHL that was able to put together the Central League, the old Texas League as I called it. He’ll be missed but he’s a young man with a lot of experience with 17 years in the hockey business. You’ll see him re-surface somewhere maybe within our league or maybe elsewhere.
Q: The other thing, which has come up before, is the news of the visit by the Edmonton Oilers and the consideration of the Blazers as an AHL franchise. Would you like to see the Blazers make such a move?
A: With our current lease with the City of Oklahoma, there’s a clause in there and it’s black and white; they would like us every year to explore the possibility to bring a higher level of hockey. There’s only two levels higher, one being the American League and then of course, the NHL. With the Thunder in Oklahoma City with the NBA, there’s no room for two big league teams.
It’s a point of interest for a lot of teams. I think there’s a lot of teams in the American Hockey League that aren’t doing well right now and would love to relocate to a place where they can draw anywhere from seven to ten thousand fans a game. Especially in the building we’re going to end up with, sharing the building with the Thunder. There’s going to be a $100 million dollar renovation to a building that only cost $90 million dollars, so we’re going to have a pretty nice building to play in.
We’ve got a good fan base and I think any team in the American League that was looking, would definitely set their sights on Oklahoma City. With our lease, we have to look into that. This summer, Edmonton made a couple of trips. There was nothing set in stone or any promises made or anything else. They’re just looking…there’s lots going on with Dallas moving (their AHL affiliate) to Austin. I don’t know how that’s coming along but I know that there are some other teams interested. Anaheim was interested at one time in Oklahoma City as well so we’ve got the welcome mat out in front of our office and we’ll welcome teams and share information.
Right now, we’re a member of the Central Hockey League. I think it’s a great league. Lots of excitement, affordable prices as far as tickets go and we’re off to a great start. Hopefully we can keep good play on the ice and let the other things that happen in business in the boardroom stay in the boardroom.
Q: There are a couple of new teams entering the league next season in Independence, Missouri and Allen, Texas. Of course, another divisional realignment will take place at the league meetings next summer. Are you looking forward to seeing a couple of new rivals coming in?
A: I think we’ve got to always look to expand keep fresh franchises. There are probably a couple of franchises that need to relocate, and their players, and progress is just part of the process. These cities like Rapid City that just had a new building built; it’ll be interesting to see how they draw and what they do. There’s no doubt there’s a few franchises in our league that are probably looking around to relocate. That’ll be decision made in the next while. The one thing about the Central Hockey League, it’s always been very aggressive in finding new markets and hopefully they’ll continue to do a good job.
Q: Let’s talk a little bit about the team. You’re a former goaltender. Let’s talk about your goaltending. You have the best tandem in the league right now with Andy Franck and Doug Groenestege. Are you surprised your backup goalie has done so well?
A: Andy Franck played the majority of the games but now he’s out and he’s missed the last few games and Doug Groenestege stepped up very big. Doug’s a very good goaltender too and he knew very well that I was going to go with Andy pretty much throughout the year as our number one guy and he would pick up the pieces. All of a sudden now, he’s the starting goaltender. It’s been a nice one-two punch. Goaltenders compliment each other. They’re two different personalities. They’re a little, two different styles.
I think one thing that’s gone a little bit unnoticed is our defensive style of play. The six defensemen have played very strong in front of these two goaltenders. Our forwards have sacrificed themselves to play a little different system in their own end, which is a little more gritty, a little more work-involved. They’ve accepted that. It’s a total team effort that goes into having the goals against that we’ve had so far and leading the Central Hockey League.
Q: With Chad Hinz coming back from Austria, it was a good move, getting him back on the team. I’m sure it was a difficult decision to have to let Marty Standish move on. How did all of this come about?
A: Chad Hinz is a very unique player in that he is of that all-star caliber. Chad was simply sick and tired of the European game. A lot of pressure is on the imports…a lot of pressure on those imports that carry the mail, so to speak. He went over as kind of a replacement player because there were some injuries, etc., by all means I think he played pretty well and then they only offered him his second month of his contract. They offered him a Central Hockey League wage. So, we came back into the picture. We’re glad to have him back.
We’ve been committed all this year to making changes with the Blazers and put the best possible team on the ice. When it came down to it, the other three veterans, Gomez, Fleck and Passmore had played better than Marty. Marty is very dear to me, a very close friend, not only a player. We still have a coach/player relationship. It was very hard to let a player go that has given eight years service to the Central Hockey League and the Blazers and to the fans of Oklahoma City. Changes have to be made and we’ve made those changes. We are committed to put the best possible team on the ice and that’s the sacrifices that teams have to make sometimes.
Q: What is your feeling on the new incarnation of the Texas Brahmas versus the old Fort Worth Brahmas as far as caliber and coaching?
A: I think the intensity in the overall hockey organization is better. They bring a team that plays and competes every night. I think that’s all the fans want to see, a competitive team. The facility here has a little bit left to be desired. In fact, on the way here today, it didn’t even show up on the GPS (laughing). It’s just one of those things. They’re making do. I commend the ownership to make do.
It would be nice to see a beautiful five, six thousand seat arena pop up somewhere in one of these suburbs where this team could move in and be a big part of the community and give some identity. Right now, the name Texas Brahmas covers a pretty wide space. Texas is a big place. I think they get lost sometimes with their identity. They’re trying hard and they work hard at it. That’s all you can ask. If I was a big hockey fan, I’d be very happy to support the Brahmas and their efforts and how their team plays.
Photo Credit: Robert Keith
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