The Insider Interview - Playoff Edition

Dan Wildfong

The Southern Conference Champion Texas Brahmas head coach talks about the series with Odessa and the road ahead to the President's Cup

I sat down with Dan Wildfong after the game on Saturday night. About a year ago, not long after the loss in Colorado, we did our first interview. I told him that I believed he would put together the team that would make it to the finals this season...and here we are, ready to face those same Eagles for the big prize - The President's Cup.

Here is our conversation.

Q: What did you say to the boys, to turn things around after Game Six in Odessa?

A: We talked about our game plan. We really focused on keeping it simplistic and what we didn't do. You know, we didn't focus on our negatives in the last game, but we focused on what we learned. We learned from the last game and we brought it into this game with what we didn't want to happen, first off; what happened last year. We wanted to be focused and we were tonight. I thought every line stepped it up and I called some guys out...you know, I called a few guys out. So did Minzy. That's what good leaders do. He's been a great leader for us all year and he's been very vocal at times when we need to be vocal. Jay's been vocal too but Juice just leads by example and so does Cameron. We've got a good bunch of guys - we didn't need to force them.

Q: With the guys that you had to talk to, were they receptive to it?

A: Yeah. I had to call a couple of guys out this morning. When I don't feel we're playing near the hockey...it's tough for me to sit out guys like Travis, who's playing unbelievable hockey for us when I've got guys that aren't playing. That was a tough decision...but the guys that sit out, they've got to know how big a part of it they are, with the depth that we have. It's tough.

Q: This was the Brahmas team that I saw tonight that could beat anybody. Was there anything that you saw that still needs to be improved upon, that will be a focus going into the championship series?

A: I just want guys to know that, you know, if we play the best that we can, we are the best team in the league and you've got to have that heart and you've got to have that swagger. But, if we try and do too much, we're like the worst team in the league. It just has to be simple hockey for us with our game. That's Brahmas hockey.

Q: Let's talk about special teams for a minute. Your PK is number one in the league, by far amongst the playoff teams remaining. Great tonight. The power play - still needs a little work. Where's your focus on special teams?

A: Um, I think we went 3 for 7 on the power play...

Q: Tonight was good, but you still need some consistency there...

A: Obviously we need work, but we're going to be playing a different team. We're going to have to switch up and change things and...it's all about making adjustments. We're going to have to look at some tape on whoever we play and we're going to have to make the adjustments necessary to be successful with our PK and the power play. I thought our guys did a bang-up job killing penalties. Killing penalties is hard work. I thought we did it to a tee. We've got three units of penalty killers who do a great job for us.

Q: The defense really played well tonight, to say the least. What's your feeling on your D at this point?

A: We just have a fantastic D corps. They're all buying in...I could go down the list and name every guy and their attributes and how well they're doing but as a D corps, they're, you know, very smart with the puck. They protect the house quite a bit. The house is the area by Jaeger and we keep pucks to the outside. And we're offensive too. We just make smart decisions and we're a big D corps. It's hard to push them off the puck, hard to get around them. We have a lot of leaders that really want it. Our D corps is a big part of it.

Q: What can you say about Tyler Skworchinski?

A: I've got a great story - I go to Tyler today and I say "Tyler, I don't ask or pull guys out that much, but Ty, I need you tonight. I really need ya" and he goes "I'll be there" and look what he did. He just looked me in the eye and it was just an assuring "don't worry about me, I'll be OK. I'll be there; I'll do it for you." And that...he's a great kid and a great character. I just, I like the kid. Ever since we got him here, he kind of flies under the radar of a lot of players. If you look at his numbers, he's right there with everyone else.

Q: A speedy skater, like Kinnunen. Great puck-handling skills, aggressive, plays D as well as the forward position...you could use a few more guys like him.

A: He probably gets the most ice time as a forward. He's such a well-rounded player. He's always on the D side, he always finishes his checks; he's what I'm talking about when I talk about keeping it simple. He doesn't try and do too much and that's an example to the other guys as well. His work ethic is outstanding. He just continues to do the small stuff, better than anyone else. When you do the small stuff better than your opponent, that's when you're going to be successful. I felt like Cam and Jake were struggling a little, and we threw him out there and he gave a boost to that line. They need to be a big part of us being successful and they were tonight. All three lines were.

Q: Jaeger, you know, outstanding in his position; leading the remaining goalies in GAA and save percentage. Depending on who you're facing in the championship series, a couple of other good goaltenders, but in net, you probably have one of the best, if not the best goalie in the league...

A: He is the best goalie in the league in my eyes. He's so calm and such a professional. I've never seen, you know...he just, he continually wants to win, he continually works at his game, he continually is so focused. If you want to be in the position we're at, you have to have good goaltending. If you want to have a chance to win a cup and you want to win the cup, you have to have good goaltending. We're getting that right now and it's a combination of great D and good goaltending and others who are willing to buy in...its a good team, we've got a good team. From the goalie all the way out. When we need the big save, like tonight - he stopped that semi-breakaway...that would've made it 1-1 and it would have been a whole different game.

Q: We first sat down, just about a year ago and I told you I really thought you were going to put together the team that would make it to the finals this year. Now you're here. How do you feel about it, personally?

A: I feel great. My family has been behind me. You know, they've sacrificed a lot...I just can't thank them enough. There's a lot of times, I'm at the rink and making phone calls, answering calls during supper...

Q: ...and you and Kelly just had a baby at the beginning of the season...

A: ...and there's been a lot of things that they've had to sacrifice for me to be here. I appreciate them. I feel ecstatic, because I just...you know, they're in Shreveport right now but I wish that they were here.

Q: Well, next up is Colorado or Mississippi. What's next as far as preparations?

A: We have to stay focused. I've been here where I've won and I've been to the finals a couple of years as a player and we're so excited about just getting there; we're satisfied. This team cannot get satisfied. The only thing that we'll be happy with is winning a cup. This team is too good to let each other down and for me to let them down. Like not pushing them to get there, because we have what it takes. We've got the goaltending, we've got the D, we've got the forwards and you know, we've got our fourth line. It's exciting. It's a lot of fun. These guys have worked hard to get the opportunity to play here in Game Seven. Obviously, we're not going to have that opportunity with whoever we play if they beat us. That's why we've got to take every game. It's so important. We cannot...I feel like we maybe took a couple of games off in this series; we didn't play our best hockey. You can't in the finals. You have to play the best hockey all the time.

Q: You mentioned the Fourth Line. You haven't been here the whole time but you've played against the Fort Worth team. You've got this core group of, I don't know what it is, a thousand, maybe less people that have been going to Brahmas games, like myself, since the 97-98 season. We've been waiting for this. I think if you ask any fan, who's the one person who has made the difference, it's going to be you. I know you're a humble guy, but that's the way it is. You've brought us to this place we've been waiting for, for such a long time...

A: I'm going to have to disagree with you. I can't pick one guy out of that locker room who I can say won the game for us tonight. It's just like that with this whole organization. It's not just me. I'm just a piece of the puzzle. Obviously, we do a ton of work. You know, it might have been lacking in the past but it just takes a lot of work to build a good team like this. But it's not just me. You know, from when we hired Forbie; he was such a big help and big influence on how we did last year and that was a huge stepping block for us to be successful this year, to get a lot of the guys to come back. Ronny comes in and has done a fabulous job. Our ownership...if Stuart didn't keep this alive, I don't have a job. And then Frank and Sal come in...it's just, it's more than just me.

There's a lot of pieces to this puzzle and, you know, it's fun. This is a fun time; it should be an exciting time for our players and an exciting time for our fans. The hard work is in the summertime getting the sponsorships, getting the season tickets sold. That's the grind time. That's when it's hard sometimes to see the light at the end of the tunnel. This is the fun time. This is when you go "you know what, I stayed up watching tape" or "I stayed up making phone calls", It's worth it, but I can't take the credit for this. It has to be a whole team effort. From day one, we talk about that. It's not one individual.

The Fourth Line, they're a big part of this as well, this whole atmosphere. When we first got here, there was probably a thousand fans and it looked empty. But those guys were cheering loud and it was louder than Oke City where they have seven or eight thousand. Now it just creates a culture. That's what we came here to do, is create a culture, a winning culture. Guys want to be here. It doesn't matter if we have the smallest building. They want to be part of this culture. That's what it's about - a winning culture. I feel it's been top to bottom. We still have, obviously improvements to make. I have improvements to make. But we're taking the right steps.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith