A few minutes with...Dan Wildfong

The Texas Brahmas head coach gives his thoughts on the team at mid-season

32 games into the regular season, the Texas Brahmas are sitting at the top of the Southeast Division, having soundly defeated the Laredo Bucks 4-1 in Laredo on Saturday night. The Brahmas are 20-9-3 and their 43 points put them ahead of Oklahoma City, within four points of the Southern Conference leading Odessa Jackalopes and six points of the league leading Colorado Eagles.

The Brahmas have been fueled by Jordan Cameron’s nine points and Grant Jacobsen’s seven points over their last five games and great play from goaltender Brett Jaeger who has allowed just six goals in his last four decisions, all wins. Coming off four straight road wins, the Brahmas continue their four-game road trip with games this week at Tulsa, at Oklahoma City and at Mississippi.

I spoke with Dan about where the Brahmas are at, halfway through the season. Here is our conversation.

Q: We are at the mid-point of the season and the Brahmas have improved on their performance by a few games vs. last season and made it through with a better December (7-4-0-2 vs. 5-7-1). What is your feeling on the progress the team is making and where do you see opportunities for improvement?

A: Right now, I see us playing some pretty good hockey. We're not playing 100% playoff hockey right now but we're making steps towards that. I think we could work on our D zone a little bit more. We've been working on our penalty kill and it's starting to come around and maybe in the neutral zone a little bit too. It's starting to come; I think guys are buying in we're finding success.

Q: No doubt changes will continue throughout the rest of the season but personnel-wise, do you feel the team is where it needs to be right now?

A: You know, as coaches, we're always looking and trying to find ways to get better. If we didn't, we wouldn't have that competitive edge of wanting to win. We're always looking but you know, these guys are competing hard for us every night and they're working hard in practice. For right now, obviously if we see something that we need to address and fix, we will do it. We're not afraid not to make moves. To be fair to these guys, they've been busting their asses and they've been working their tails off all year for me. I've got to show some loyalty to them.

Q: You probably have had the best in-season recruiting of any coach in the league. Three players who returned to the team – Jacobsen, Cameron and Sheppard are leading the team in points (29, 28 and 27 respectively). Without disregarding the team effort, how do you feel about the effort and contribution of these late additions?

A: Well, they're obviously three special players. You know, they've been putting up great numbers but they lead by example out on the ice. When you have great talent, guys that work hard, it's a great mix and these guys compete hard every night. You can see that when Jordan got player of the month. Shep's been scoring big, key goals and making great passes as well. He's not just putting up numbers on the goal side, but he's looking and finding guys too. I don't think a lot of people give him credit for that part of his game. Jacobsen's an all-around player that plays probably the most out of the forwards on my team. Penalty-kill, powerplay, regular shift, four-on-fours, five-on-threes. When he's playing his game, he shouldn't even be in this league. All three of them shouldn't be in this league. So, it's nice to have them on your team.

Q: As you mentioned, Jordan Cameron was named Oakley/CHL player of the month and is now wearing the “A” on his sweater; what are your specific thoughts on Jordan’s game?

A: I think he's really come around from last year. I just see more of a leadership role for him and not just on the ice but off the ice as well. He's really bought in to everything we try to sell here. I think it was kind of an eye-opener when he went over there (to Germany) to see...sometimes when you leave, you see what you had here. That was good of him to go over there and when he came back here, he's been running the whole time because he's just a special player. Game in, game out. He works hard. He's nice to watch, you know. It's nice having that guy on your bench when you need a key goal or you're in a key situation, he's going to be there for you. I think we were missing out a little at the beginning of the year. When he came in, it really helped our overall depth to our scoring.

Q: The addition of Nathan Saunders to the team has been popular with the fans. Do you feel he adequately fills the void needed in the defense?

A: Yeah, definitely. I think he adds that element we did not have...you know, if there is something that breaks out, it's nice to have that guy that, we're not asking him to fight, but he has that presence that he can. Look what he did against Oke City, he did a great job against a pretty tough fellow there. We're not asking him to do anything more than we're asking any other guy to do; stick up for each other, protect each other. I think he's going to be a fan favorite and he's kind of like a MacSween a little bit too, in the locker room. He's got that little bit of swagger and edge that we needed and he brings a lot of life to our locker room.

Q: The 92 points earned by the Brahmas tied the Eagles for the lead in the CHL in 2008. How do you feel about that?

A: Until I read it the other day, I didn't really think of it a lot. I'm more about winning a championship. That's what people really look at, at the end of the day, what have you done for me lately?

Q: I guess, coming in as a rookie coach last season; now you're in your second year...It's got to feel good that you were able to accomplish that it your first year-and-a-half as a head coach.

A: No, definitely. Don't get me wrong. We're very proud of what we did last year, but we really have to make that next step of being a dominant team in this league like Colorado, game in and game out. I think we're making steps that way but not quite there yet. I think we're earning a lot of respect in the league, which we probably haven't had in a while here. It's great to see the fans really supporting these guys and coming out to a lot of games. It feels...the atmosphere is just unreal. It helps out. They're kind of like a fourth line. They really bring a lot of energy when guys maybe don't feel the best in two games in three nights; it's good.

Q: The Brahmas have had, along with Rio Grande Valley, the lowest penalty minutes in the league this season. Did you enter the season with any emphasis on avoiding penalty situations or is this just a result of clean play?

A: I think it's just the team and the makeup of guys that we have. Your team changes year-to-year. I think last year, we got of to a start where we were losing games because we were undisciplined. And then, we have a lot of returning guys here and they've really bought in, the last half of the season that made us successful, of being disciplined. Really, just playing hard between the whistles. We've got a pretty fast team. We use our speed and are not using our sticks. Obviously, when you're competing hard, you're going to take penalties but I think we're competing hard and we're competing smart too.

Q: How did you solve Bossier-Shreveport this season?

A: I don't think we've solved them yet. You know, it's really, it's been good so far but they've been great games. You know, they blew us out at the beginning of the year and then we blew them out a couple of times. Other than that, they've been pretty close games and It's evenly matched. I can't really put a finger on it. I think maybe a few guys get up for it a little more; they were on the team that played there a few years back. It's just another game for us. We're not in their division anymore but you've got to keep beating those teams that we play so many times. If we lose to them the majority of times, we're going to be in trouble.

Q: With 6 more games against Laredo this season, which will decide the leadership of the Southeast Division, do you feel you've seen enough of Roscoe’s team to give you enough insight on how to win against them?

A: We know that they have a lot of talent over there. Roscoe's a great coach. He has those guys playing hard every night and they finish every check. They're probably one of the best teams I've seen this year in being very disciplined with their systems, in getting the puck deep and hitting, and you know really, It was one of the best, quickest games that I've seen in a long time...we've just got to continue to compete hard.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith