The Insider Interview - Brandon BenedictThe newest Texas forward talks about his past experiences and his future with the Brahmas
Brandon Benedict flew into DFW on Friday night during the Brahmas-Eagles game, then joined his new teammates for the bus ride over to Bossier City as the team prepared to do battle with the Mudbugs the following day.
With a very short time to get acquainted with his new teammates and familiarize himself with some of the basics of Dan Wildfongs' systems, Benedict took to the ice on Saturday and scored his first point in the Central Hockey league with an assist on the Brahmas' only goal of the night.
Benedict was aggressive and had a good number of shifts for a player who had only signed with the team just hours before. While the game and the loss was frustrating for the team, Benedict showed a lot of hustle and proved that once again, Fonger had brought in another high caliber player who will be integral to the teams' continued success.
I spoke to Brandon by phone last week as he prepared to leave his home in Nova Scotia to join his new team. Here is our conversation.
Q: In Halifax, playing junior hockey with the Mooseheads, I understand yours was a household name among local hockey fans. How did you like playing there?
A: It was great. I was pretty fortunate. I was playing local; only an hours drive from the city. I think Halifax is definitely one of the better places to play junior hockey in Canada. Being kind of a local kid, I was definitely pretty fortunate. It was a great five years for sure.
Q: Was it your intention to attend Acadia University or were you recruited to play with the Axemen?
A: They recruit a little in the university here in Atlantic Canada. I guess I talked to a bunch of different schools. I had buddies there and I’m from that area as well so there were several reasons why I chose Acadia.
Q: You played there with former Brahma Kevin Korol and current Brahma Matt Quinn. Do you still keep in touch with both of them?
A: Yeah, actually I’ve been talking to them ever since we graduated. This whole entire year I’ve been keeping in touch with Quinn about going there and Korol as well. He’s over in China. They’re two good buddies so we keep in touch, for sure.
Q: After graduating from Acadia, you signed with the Texas Wildcatters. It was a different style of hockey, different climate, a different type of people down in Beaumont. How was the transition for you?
A: It was a great experience. I loved it down there. Obviously, the weather was nice. We had a great group of guys on our team. I think that’s the key for any team to be successful is to make sure the guys click on the ice, but off the ice as well. In Texas last year, we had a bunch of guys that got along really well. We had a fairly good regular season. In the playoffs, we had a bunch of call-ups and injuries and you don’t want to use excuses but that kind of hurt us.
Q: Malcolm Cameron is a great coach and he had a lot of nice things to say about you. How did you like playing for him?
A: Malcolm is a very intense coach and he expects a lot from his players, night in night out, day in day out, he expects a lot every day. If you’re not giving your 110%, he’s going to call you out. That’s the way pros should be, and he treats you like a pro. Even though you’re playing in the East Coast League, he treats you like you’re playing in the NHL and he tried to treat the entire organization like that.
Q: You had an excellent rookie year with the Wildcatters with 69 points in 61 games during the regular season. How did you feel about your performance?
A: I was happy with it, I guess. Points are one thing. You try to play the game both offensively and defensively. When you’re playing on such a good team like that, it’s easy to get points, I guess. That’s all I can say about that. You’re only as good as the players around you, I find. Last year we had so many good players, every guy on our team could put up those numbers if they had the ice time.
Q: After your rookie season, were you sad to see the team change ownership and move to California?
A: I guess that’s the way it was and the way it had to be with the attendance and stuff like that. It’s not like we weren’t drawing but it wasn’t many people and it’s hard for a team to stay stable in that situation. The franchise has to be able to make ends meet so they had to move. I don’t know if I was sad or not; if I had gone back there, I’m not sure what would have taken place. It was kind of weird I guess, yeah, to see your team now that you played with last year to be playing out in California.
Q: You went over to Denmark to play with Totempo HvIK with fellow Wildcatters Scott Champagne, Tim Cook and Dan Welch. How did things go over there?
A: We had a pretty good team, I guess. We clinched the playoffs but obviously it didn’t end the right way; our team went bankrupt. That wasn’t the ending that we wanted. We battled all year to take a playoff spot and then we hear that we’re going bankrupt so it wasn’t a good ending but that’s the way it works over there sometimes. Our major sponsor, Totempo, their actual company went bankrupt. There’s no money here and there’s a financial crisis and all that stuff going on so that’s happened in the real world and it affected us on the ice.
Q: How did you like playing for Karsted Arvidsen?
A: He was a different coach compared to North American guys. It was a little bit different but he was a good coach and he expects a lot and I think that’s what a lot of coaches ask for – just make sure you work hard and good things will happen when you work hard. He was a good coach.
Q: It’s difficult to decipher the Danish websites; how did you do over there; what kind of numbers did you put up?
A: I had 33 points in 36 games.
Q: How was it that you came to be recruited by the Brahmas?
A: It kind of started with Forbie MacPherson I think, actually. His cousin is a good buddy of mine. It kind of started when he was coaching down there. We got to talking a couple of years ago when I decided I was going to try and play pro. Ever since then, we kept in touch and I kept in touch with Wildfong this year, thinking I could get there at the end of this season and it all came about and now I’m here.
Q: Were you at all familiar with Dan Wildfong as a player and as a coach with the Brahmas?
A: A couple of my buddies actually played with Wildfong in Shreveport. So yeah, I’d heard some stories about the type of guy he is and the way he coaches. He expects a lot of his players and the bottom line, he wants us to work hard. That’s all you can control as a player is your work ethic. Hopefully the points will come and the wins will come but you know if you can work hard, that’s all you can ask for.
Q: The Brahmas are on the playoff hunt again after making it to within a game of the championship series last season. They’ve already surpassed so far, what they’d accomplished last year at this point. How does it feel to be coming onto a team that’s on the hunt like they are?
A: It was great. I was pretty fortunate. I was playing local; only an hours drive from the city. I think Halifax is definitely one of the better places to play junior hockey in Canada. Being kind of a local kid, I was definitely pretty fortunate. It was a great five years for sure.
Q: Was it your intention to attend Acadia University or were you recruited to play with the Axemen?
A: They recruit a little in the university here in Atlantic Canada. I guess I talked to a bunch of different schools. I had buddies there and I’m from that area as well so there were several reasons why I chose Acadia.
Q: You played there with former Brahma Kevin Korol and current Brahma Matt Quinn. Do you still keep in touch with both of them?
A: Yeah, actually I’ve been talking to them ever since we graduated. This whole entire year I’ve been keeping in touch with Quinn about going there and Korol as well. He’s over in China. They’re two good buddies so we keep in touch, for sure.
Q: After graduating from Acadia, you signed with the Texas Wildcatters. It was a different style of hockey, different climate, a different type of people down in Beaumont. How was the transition for you?
A: It was a great experience. I loved it down there. Obviously, the weather was nice. We had a great group of guys on our team. I think that’s the key for any team to be successful is to make sure the guys click on the ice, but off the ice as well. In Texas last year, we had a bunch of guys that got along really well. We had a fairly good regular season. In the playoffs, we had a bunch of call-ups and injuries and you don’t want to use excuses but that kind of hurt us.
Q: Malcolm Cameron is a great coach and he had a lot of nice things to say about you. How did you like playing for him?
A: Malcolm is a very intense coach and he expects a lot from his players, night in night out, day in day out, he expects a lot every day. If you’re not giving your 110%, he’s going to call you out. That’s the way pros should be, and he treats you like a pro. Even though you’re playing in the East Coast League, he treats you like you’re playing in the NHL and he tried to treat the entire organization like that.
Q: You had an excellent rookie year with the Wildcatters with 69 points in 61 games during the regular season. How did you feel about your performance?
A: I was happy with it, I guess. Points are one thing. You try to play the game both offensively and defensively. When you’re playing on such a good team like that, it’s easy to get points, I guess. That’s all I can say about that. You’re only as good as the players around you, I find. Last year we had so many good players, every guy on our team could put up those numbers if they had the ice time.
Q: After your rookie season, were you sad to see the team change ownership and move to California?
A: I guess that’s the way it was and the way it had to be with the attendance and stuff like that. It’s not like we weren’t drawing but it wasn’t many people and it’s hard for a team to stay stable in that situation. The franchise has to be able to make ends meet so they had to move. I don’t know if I was sad or not; if I had gone back there, I’m not sure what would have taken place. It was kind of weird I guess, yeah, to see your team now that you played with last year to be playing out in California.
Q: You went over to Denmark to play with Totempo HvIK with fellow Wildcatters Scott Champagne, Tim Cook and Dan Welch. How did things go over there?
A: We had a pretty good team, I guess. We clinched the playoffs but obviously it didn’t end the right way; our team went bankrupt. That wasn’t the ending that we wanted. We battled all year to take a playoff spot and then we hear that we’re going bankrupt so it wasn’t a good ending but that’s the way it works over there sometimes. Our major sponsor, Totempo, their actual company went bankrupt. There’s no money here and there’s a financial crisis and all that stuff going on so that’s happened in the real world and it affected us on the ice.
Q: How did you like playing for Karsted Arvidsen?
A: He was a different coach compared to North American guys. It was a little bit different but he was a good coach and he expects a lot and I think that’s what a lot of coaches ask for – just make sure you work hard and good things will happen when you work hard. He was a good coach.
Q: It’s difficult to decipher the Danish websites; how did you do over there; what kind of numbers did you put up?
A: I had 33 points in 36 games.
Q: How was it that you came to be recruited by the Brahmas?
A: It kind of started with Forbie MacPherson I think, actually. His cousin is a good buddy of mine. It kind of started when he was coaching down there. We got to talking a couple of years ago when I decided I was going to try and play pro. Ever since then, we kept in touch and I kept in touch with Wildfong this year, thinking I could get there at the end of this season and it all came about and now I’m here.
Q: Were you at all familiar with Dan Wildfong as a player and as a coach with the Brahmas?
A: A couple of my buddies actually played with Wildfong in Shreveport. So yeah, I’d heard some stories about the type of guy he is and the way he coaches. He expects a lot of his players and the bottom line, he wants us to work hard. That’s all you can control as a player is your work ethic. Hopefully the points will come and the wins will come but you know if you can work hard, that’s all you can ask for.
Q: The Brahmas are on the playoff hunt again after making it to within a game of the championship series last season. They’ve already surpassed so far, what they’d accomplished last year at this point. How does it feel to be coming onto a team that’s on the hunt like they are?
A: It’s definitely nice to know you’re with a team that has a chance of winning – you’re not going to a team where most people think you don’t have a chance. All you can do is put yourself in a position where you have a chance to win each and every night and I think a team like Texas, they do have a chance each and every night based on the record and what I can see and what I can hear. That’s why you play the game – to win. You don’t really want to go to a losing team. Looking at the record, I’m definitely not going to a losing team.
Q: The fans out here, some of them know of you from the Wildcatters but some don’t know much about you. Is there anything you would like to say to the Fans of the Texas Brahmas?
A: I’d like to say that I’m very excited to come. Hopefully I can help the team and not hurt the team (laughing). I’m just there to chip in. Don’t expect miracles, that’s for sure, I’m just there to work hard and help the team win.
Photo Credit: Robert Keith
1 comment:
Good insight to this guy Robert.
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