A few minutes with...Trevor Buchanan

The Mudbugs assistant coach talks about the possibility of moving into a head coaching position, the "Thunderbugs", the Texas Brahmas and the season so far

Trevor Buchanan is in his fifth season as assistant coach of the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs. The former right wing played for the team for seven seasons prior to hanging up his skates in 2004.

Buchanan began his hockey career playing for the Kamloops Blazers (WHL) in the 1988-89 season. The following season was split between the Blazers and the Victoria Cougars. During his two seasons in the WHL, he tallied 92 points (40 G, 52 A) and 553 penalty minutes in 135 games played.

Buchanan played for four seasons in the ECHL with the Louisville Icehawks/Riverfrogs. He accumulated 199 points (95 G, 104 A) and 1,111 penalty minutes in 248 games played.

He also played two seasons with the San Antonio Iguanas (CHL) during the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons (64 G, 54 A, 604 PIM in 111 games played) and the Houston Aeros (IHL) during the 1994-95 season (1 G, 0 A, 18 PIM in nine games played).

With the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, Buchanan tallied 362 points (144 G, 218 A) and 1,146 penalty minutes during regular season play. He’s one of only three staff members who have been with the organization since the very beginning. Playing for the 'Bugs during their first seven seasons before his retirement, Buchanan was a part of all three President's Cup Championship teams and ranks second in franchise history with 466 games played and third with his 362 career points. He also ranks sixth in league history in games played and seventh in career penalty minutes.

I spoke with Trevor recently about his thoughts on possibly moving into a head coaching role and other subjects. Here is our conversation.

Q: Do you feel at this point in your career that you're ready to make the jump to one of the head coaching positions that will be available next season?

A: Believe me, it's something I think about a lot. This is my 12th season with the Mudbugs. It's become home for me and when I'm thinking about the fact that I'm in my fifth year as an assistant coach, when is it time to step out and get out on my own? Playing and working for an organization like the Mudbugs for that many years, it's a hard thing to walk away from. They've been so good to me and the organization is...you know, I played hockey a lot of years and have been involved with a few different organizations and it's tops in my mind, so that's something that really weighs on me. I've got a family now in Bossier, a home; so I mean a lot of different thoughts go through my head, but I would love the opportunity to see if I could get a team of my own and see what I could do with it. Working alongside Musky for all these years, I've learned an awful lot about the game and how to handle different situations. So, I do think about it a lot.

I know there might be people out there wondering the same thing, when is it time to step out on your own and take charge of your own things instead of staying in a comfortable situation? It's not that this is convenient for me so I'm going to keep doing it. That's not a thought in my mind. It just goes back to the organization. It's just something that's so special to me. It would be a hard thing to walk away from.

Q:I wanted to ask you about a couple of additions to the Mudbugs this season, Travis Clayton and Joe Blaznek, who I call "The Thunderbugs". How do you feel about their performance and what they've been able to bring to the team?

A: They're amazing guys, both of them. Having played against Clayton and Blaznek for a few years, I knew they were great players. They played hard. They cared about the organizations they played for and did what they could to help the teams they were with. Them coming to us...how could you not want these guys on your team with the experience and their character and leadership abilities? Neither one of them are big talkers or loud guys in the dressing room. It goes back to what they do when they're out on the ice. Travis, playing the most games in the Central Hockey League, it just shows he's a guy that loves playing the game. And still, every day he comes to the rink, he's got a smile on his face and he's excited and ready to go. The same can be said for Blaz; those two guys, it's nice to see...these guys have played for a long time and they could get by on what they've done in the past but it's like a new start for them. They know what it's been like to play against the Mudbugs and now they're a part of it and they just want to join in and see if they can help get us back to where we want to be.

Q: The thorn in the Mudbugs' side this season has been the Texas Brahmas. Is there anything you can point to as a reason for it?

A: I don't know. I honestly think when the Brahmas play against us, they find another level. They come into the game wanting to prove something and to give us their best game. I'm not saying they don't play as well against other teams. We don't see them obviously, when they play other teams. It's really hard for me to understand why we haven't had much success against them this season. The teams are pretty even, very balanced.

This year, the games we've played against them, they've all been good hockey games. At times, we've really beaten ourselves, taking some unnecessary penalties. You can't do that against a team like Texas with the talent that they have. They're going to take advantage of it. It's kind of puzzling. Obviously we're searching for an answer every game; we really try and pinpoint it but you never know what's going to happen. I think focus may be the biggest thing with us. We get away from that. There so many different things, different parts of the game when we play these guys.

Q: Then there's Dan Wildfong who had a long history with the Mudbugs organization. From a coaching standpoint, there's a bit of an advantage for the Brahmas in the sense that he is familiar with Musky's systems and has also learned a lot from him...

A: Yeah, I think he has a little bit of an advantage. He knows what Musky's style of coaching is, and the fact that Fonger played his whole professional career for Musky, he should know the way Musky thinks and what he wants from his players. Systems are put in place as a guideline. If you're following your systems the way you should, it shouldn't matter if another team knows exactly what you're going to do or not. I heard a coach in the NHL say something like that. Most teams, generally, have the same systems. It's who executes the best. I really don't think it makes that big of a difference really, I mean, Fonger's done a great job so far with his time here and the fact that they've had the kind of success against us says a lot for him. He knows what he's doing. I know I don't want to give him too many compliments with them being a major rival of ours, but you have to give credit where credit is due. He prepares his players for the games against us and they execute well against us. We're hoping we can start winning some games. We've played them so many times. These games are important even though we're in different conferences now.

Q: Going forward, do you think you have all the pieces in place that you need for a successful season and another run for the playoffs?

A: Yeah, I think we've got a good base. We've got all areas of the types of players I think that you'd want on your hockey team. Now, we've got to put it all together. Our play so far this year has been a little bit inconsistent and that's understandable early in the season. We had a pretty big turnaround this year in comparison to others. It takes some time for guys to come in and understand and realize what it takes to play for this hockey team. We're confident we have the right guys. Generally, when players come in at the start of the year, we don't have a lot of change. During the season, you stick with mainly what you brought in and you build it from there. We love the fact that we got off to a great start...we're very confident. Every year, we feel good about what we bring in. Musky spends a lot of time really focusing on filling in on the areas that we need and we always have a good core of players that return. Guys love playing for the Mudbugs. They want to win a championship. We did it early in our years and it's time we get one back there again.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith