The Insider Interview - Playoff Edition
A: Oh, I think definitely. Mike’s been skating every day. That’s why he made the trip for the last few games, so he could be with the team. You know, sometimes you get a chance to heal up and it’s a good thing, so I don’t see any problems there. It’s not like he’s a first or second year guy who’s not used to what it takes to get into the playoffs. He’s a guy that’s been there, so he knows where he needs to be and that’s why he made the trip. He’s been skating and I think he’s healed up and ready to go. I think everyone’s ready to get on with the playoffs. It’s a different mentality, a different game; a lot of those injuries, even the nagging ones tend to disappear come the playoffs. I think we’re going to be ready to go.
Q: We talked before the season about how well Kevin McLeod played last season and he’s had a magnificent season this year. He was one of the leading defensive scorers in the league and tied with Sam Ftorek (Amarillo) for most goals scored by a defenseman (20). He was also the fourth leading scorer for the Brahmas. Are you surprised with his continued improvement as a player and his ability to bounce back from injuries?
A: Yes and no, I mean, I don’t think you ever look at a defenseman and expect them to score 20 goals; that would be a fairly lofty goal, but I think we talked about this at the start of the year, he’s a capable person, he’s a good guy, he works extremely hard and he does what he’s asked. I think he’s just been fortunate this year to cash in on his chances. He has an amazing shot and his offensive instincts as a defenseman are probably second to none in our league. I think he’s just sort of scratched the surface, whether you want to believe it or not. His talent level is amazing. It’s certainly a surprise to me that he scored 20 goals, but it’s not totally out of his realm. I asked him the other night what he had last year (34 points, 12 G, 22 A) and he couldn’t really remember, but I think he had anywhere from 12 or 15 goals last year as a rookie, so definitely the potential is there. He’s improved like you hope every second year player will. He’s just been a tremendous asset for our team. And like I said, he’s just a great guy; easy to work with, easy to play with and he works hard every day, which is all you can ask.
Q: Ross Rouleau has come in to fill a spot on the roster and seems to be developing well as a defenseman for the Brahmas. Were you happy to see him come in and fill that role?
A: Oh, it’s been amazing. Every team has its run of injuries and I think how you fare through those injuries is a big part of your success in the season. Some teams lose defensemen and they can’t recover. We had the luxury of bringing him in at a very critical time of the season and we had a tough stretch and lost a couple of games. To have him step in and play the way he plays is unbelievable. It’s hard to imagine being put in that situation, to come in and not really playing at that level and then come in and be counted on as a fourth or fifth D man some nights…he’s stepped in and done more than I think we’ve asked of him, so yeah, it’s been incredible and we’ve sort of had that all year, even, with Danny Force coming in and playing a game or Adam Davis. It seems everyone has sort of chipped in and it’s really worked well for us.
Q: Another guy who’s come in late in the season, Nathan Saunders, has made a big impact on the team, on and off the ice. Nathan has what Fonger described as a “swagger” to him, sort of like Brent MacSween last year…how do you like having him on your squad?
A: You know, I think you touched on it. Certainly on the ice, it’s easy to see what he brings to the table, every game. But what you don’t see is what kind of personality and what kind of attitude he brings to our locker room. He’s an easy-going guy; he knows what makes him successful. He is young but he’s played a lot of hockey and he knows where he fits and what he needs to be doing. It’s just been unbelievable for us. On the ice he brings that toughness and he certainly has a reputation…he’s a tough guy and he looks out for his teammates. He is one of those unbelievable teammates you don’t always hear about. In the locker room, he does the right thing; he keeps it loose. On the ice, he feels that if anyone touches any of our guys, he’s the guy that wants to take it upon himself to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. He’s done it since he got here. I’m not sure we knew everything we were going to get from him and he’s exceeded our expectations.
Q: We talked in the pre-season about going to Colorado and taking a couple of hard losses after sweeping Bossier-Shreveport. Do you think a lot of the guys are going to be heading into the playoffs with lessons learned from last year’s run?
A: Yeah, I think as an athlete too, regardless of where you were, you take lessons from anything that happens. Certainly, I think having enough of the core of guys who were here last year when we lost, and knowing how close we were, just made us that more hungry to get back there. There’s no question that there’s a number of teams in this league that are capable of winning a championship and we know that, but we have confidence in each and every member of our team and we have confidence in our team’s ability to take what happened last year and turn it into a positive. Its part of playing, you know; certainly last year, we were pretty disappointed. One of the things that Fonger brings to the table is that he’s won a championship and he’s lost one and he knows what need to be said or done. Hopefully we can take what he’s implementing and work it to what we need to be doing.
Q: You have some tough series’ ahead of you. Rio Grande Valley and then either Laredo or Odessa before you can make it to the finals. I wouldn’t want to downplay any of those teams. Where you are now, with this Brahmas team; do you feel that you have what you need to get in there and get the job done to advance to a championship series this year?
A: Definitely. We’ve played every team and we’ve been successful against every team this year and you know every team we’ve played, we beat, so we know that it’s in our realm and it’s just a matter of stepping it up. Obviously, every team is going to step up and we just need to do the same. I mean, if you go into the playoffs wondering and thinking what may happen, I just think you’re taking the wrong approach. We’re going to take the approach that our rink is a tough building to beat us in. We need to win our home games every time and we’re also going to need to go to someone else’s rink and steal a couple. We know every game is going to be hard. Hopefully, we’ve been preparing for that all year and especially down the stretch here…we’re ready. We think we’re as good as any team that’s out there and we’re excited. We want to get going.
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