The Insider Interview - Dan Wildfong

The Texas Brahmas' head coach talks about the playoffs, winning the championship and a lot of other things you were curious about

It was just about a year ago that I sat down with Dan Wildfong to talk about his first season as head coach and the Northern Conference Finals series against the Colorado Eagles. A lot has transpired since then and I've talked with Fonger many times since. But now, for the first time, I've sat down to speak with the head coach of the Central Hockey League Champion Texas Brahmas. Yeah, I never get tired of saying that.

Here is our conversation.

Q: Was it important was it to have the bye in the first round of the playoffs? Or would you have rather had the boys playing?

A: I think it was real important to have it. It gave us a little rest when we were banged up. We definitely, at that point of the season, needed a rest. I don’t think we played playoff hockey in our first couple of games in the playoffs, but we had a good team that got the job done. Sometimes it’s tough when a team is playing playoff hockey and you’re not, to play against them. We seemed to, like I said, get the job done.

Q: The Odessa Jackalopes were a very tough opponent last season and really put their all into that conference final series. What are your thoughts on the Jacks?

A: I thought they were a great team that was well coached. I thought they brought it every night against us. The important thing about Odessa is that they were right there too, through the whole year, and they had nothing but a great season. We’re not lucky, but we were happy to get by them because they gave us a heck of a run, a heck of a test, not just in the regular season but obviously in the playoffs; it was a battle.

Q: I talked with you right after you spoke with the team after Game 6 of the conference finals in Odessa. That was the second 2-0 loss in a row for the Brahmas at the Ector County Coliseum. Did you have a real concern about going into another forced Game 7, even at NYTEX, with the real chance of losing the opportunity to advance on home ice?

A: Yeah, I was. I’m just being honest here; I was very disappointed in our effort in Game 6. I thought we would’ve come out a lot stronger and we wouldn’t have a forced Game 7. You know, we worked hard all year long in order to put ourselves in a position to play in front of our fans with the home ice advantage. That’s why those Tuesday night games were as tough and we were grinding it out – we don’t take the nights off for that reason. If it is a Game 7, you have your fans that are behind you and your familiar building. We never want to go to a Game 7, because it is a little bit of a coin toss. We’ve had a lot of success here at our building, so I was pretty confident that our guys would be coming out ready.

Q: How big was the win in Game 1 in Colorado?

A: I think it was huge for us. That building is not an easy building to win in. When you’re on the road and you can get a win, especially when it really puts the ball in your court, it’s huge. We took advantage of it obviously by coming back here. We almost won that second one too. But I think getting that first one gave us a little momentum in the series.

Q: I think the penalties were a factor for Colorado. They lost some discipline and they paid for it. Fortunately the Brahmas power play was doing really well…

A: When you have two talented teams, you can’t give talented players who work hard the opportunity to have that extra man. Especially when, I felt like some of their penalties weren’t great penalties. I’m sure if you ask them, they’d say the same thing. That was probably one of the main reasons why we were successful all year was we were a very disciplined team. We didn’t take a lot of stupid penalties. If we did get a penalty, it was probably a good one. When you take good penalties, you end up killing them and when you take those bad ones and you get scored against, first off, your teammates know it was a bad penalty so they’re mad and the next thing is, when you get scored on – you go from being mad at the other team, to being mad at your team and you’re mad at that guy who took the bad penalty. It affects the morale of the team and your focus is not in the right direction. That’s what it’s like when you take a bad penalty and when you take a good penalty. A good penalty, everyone knows the difference and they’re all on the same page; "let’s get this job done, let’s get the kill." But if you take that bad one, the focus is “why’d you take this, it’s selfish”. It’s a whole different direction that your focus is on.

Q: One of the things about the Brahmas last season was that even a man down, you’re still an offensive threat with all of the shorthanded goals that you were able to put up…

A: Yeah, we weren’t very happy with our penalty kill in the regular season. We were at home, but on the road, we couldn’t really understand why, because our systems were the same. But I guess that little extra time and space might have made the difference. But we did create a lot of chances for ourselves and we did bury a lot of penalty kill opportunities – we scored on them, so I was pretty happy with that considering other years, I can’t really remember the numbers, but we’d have four or five or six and this year we had 19. That’s a big difference. Definitely a momentum-changer in a game too, scoring a goal short-handed.

Q: Were you surprised that all that McClelland didn’t start Morgan Cey in Games 4 or especially 5?

A: I’ve been asked that a lot. You know – he has a better feel on his team. When you’re coaching a team and you have the pulse, you have your hands right in the mix of everything and you know what’s going on. If he didn’t put Penner in and we won by three or four goals, he would look like the idiot. It doesn’t matter which way you go as a coach, it’s your gut feeling at the time. Penner got them there throughout the playoffs, so you know, it was a choice he made and you’ve got to stick with it. You can’t look back. You can’t second guess yourself. It’s a confidence thing too, when you put your goalie back in there and give him that little lift, maybe he was hoping for that. You know “I still believe in you, I know you can get the job done.”

Q: Brett Jaeger was outstanding all year and certainly didn’t disappoint in the Finals. Will Brett be back in a Brahmas sweater next season?

A: We hope so. He was a key factor and the first guy we were going hard after that was on the team last season. We’re still in the process of negotiation.

Q: You know, a lot of people are wondering what’s Cash’s story?

A: You know, Cash did a heck of a job. He was the first guy I signed when I took the job of coach here. He trusted in me and I told him we’d win a championship together. We were hoping to do it last year and we ended up doing it this year. He’s a true professional. Cash knows it’s not about how much friends we are, it’s about winning. He knew Jaeger was playing well and he was on top of his game so he kind of, you know, took a step back for the team. There’s guys out there that would be pouting about not playing – “Hey, I’m a number one, why am I not getting my shot?” And then it hurts the team. There’s a fine line there because you still have to push Jaeger to be his best or vice versa; Jaeger has to push Cash to be his best. I think Cash did a great job for us. If we needed him, I knew he would’ve been there. Fortunately for us, we didn’t need him in the playoffs. He ended up getting a little time (in the regular season) and he played well. He is a great goaltender. He probably still, to this day, could be one of the top two, three goalies in the league. His back and the injury this year set him back a little but he’ll be OK. I don’t know what his future holds here. I don’t think he knows what his future holds in hockey. So, we’re just staying in contact and hopefully we can work something out. You know, and if not, I can’t thank that guy enough for trusting in us because he was one of the huge building blocks to this championship.

Q: The Brahmas outscored the Eagles 27-15 in the Finals with 14 goals scored on the power play. Were you happy with the special teams play against Colorado?

A: Very happy. Like I said, you give that group of guys enough opportunities, they’re going to score goals. And then our penalty kill stepped it up in the playoffs. I think that’s where we wanted to see ourselves all year. We have an inside joke – “The Tony’s”, the PK guys. They really stepped it up. There’s a story about them…I brought the guys in when our power play was struggling. There was a guy at Colgate (Dan’s alma mater) – he only got to play the penalty kill. He’d go out and he would dive in front of shots, he’d block shots, he’s do whatever it took to get that penalty kill. He was just so excited to get out there. He didn’t ever get a regular shift and every time he iced the puck or blocked a shot the whole team would step up and go “Tony!” And it’s still kind of a tradition at Colgate to this day. You know, they call it the “Tony PK.” It’s just about taking pride and excitement in your job when you’re out there. You don’t get in the newspaper for blocking shots. You don’t get in the paper for working hard in the penalty kill. It’s just work that, you don’t get as many pats on the back but, you know, this guy really went above and beyond taking pride in his job and we kind of took a little bit of that tradition and brought it here. It’s about taking pride in your penalty kill and being proud about your numbers on the penalty kill, feeling proud about making that penalty kill. I think Quinner and Cameron went out and had hats made up that said “Tony PK” (laughing).

Q: You had four of the top five scorers (including the top three) in the playoffs, including Deitsch (11 G, 15 A = 26, +9), Sheppard (10 G, 11 A = 21, +8), Skworchinski (13 G, 7 A,+20, +9) and Benedict (7 G, 11 A = 18, +11) and the number two scoring defenseman in Kevin McLeod (4 G, 8 A = 12, +2). What can you say about the offensive production of the Brahmas when it really counted?

A: You know, I can’t thank these guys enough. They are such a great team to coach. They worked hard and they gave me everything they had, almost every night and it was fun, a lot of fun. I saw us go to a different level some nights. If we really needed a goal or we really needed to bear down, we’d pick it up two notches and you could see it out there. The guys really dug deep. When I was on championship teams in Shreveport, we had the same kind of thing. Even if we were down goals here, we knew we could come back and get the big goal in overtime or win it in regulation. I thought we had that kind of team going into the playoffs and I was excited about it.

Q: You came to Texas with the goal of winning the Cup, first season. You came very close to getting the opportunity. You did it in the second season. When the cup was brought out to the ice and it was handed to you and you had it up over your head, what was going through your mind, right then?

A: It was an amazing feeling.

Q: Now this was as a coach; obviously you’ve done that as a player…

A: I don’t know if anyone heard the interviews after it was over. But I got interviewed in the room and my biggest thing is when I lifted that cup, I felt all those guys, from Forbes MacPherson and you know, Frank to Cody, Mark Cody; all of those guys that bought in, Mark Carragher, you know, that trusted in us our first year and Tim Laurila. Those guys that really bought in to come in to play for two coaches that really didn’t have a lot of experience and an organization that didn’t have a lot of experience. For them to buy in to help us in a stepping stone process to get to the semi-finals last year and the finals this year and winning it all…when I held that up, I was holding up for them too. They couldn’t be there but they were definitely there in my mind. I’m missing probably around 15 names there as well. It’s like starting a business, you know. When you start it and it blossoms into something, it’s unreal. Kind of a surreal feeling and that’s kind of how I felt as well. It’s surreal – like, we really did it! Like all that hard work, putting in that many calls, Forbie putting in calls, Ron putting in calls, you know, Mike banging on doors, going and getting sponsorships. Our office staff, getting season tickets sold; Frank getting this building up in time…It’s kind of a magical story really, if you look back at it. It was very rewarding. You know, I couldn’t have done it without my family either. They’ve been great to me.

Q: Jordan Cameron said "What's great is he built the team to be a team…There are just so many great players here, and it's not a team built on one or two guys. We all played a role, we all came together. It's a fun team to be a part of." How satisfying was it to see the “team model” that you put together buy into what you were selling and come through with the ultimate victory?

A: Well, when we first got the job and we first sat down, Forbie and I were like, what do we need to bring a championship here? The first thing that came out of our mouths was character. We had to have character guys. And the thing is, if you have a good core character, it’s going to lead everyone else to buy into that character. We had to get core guys, character guys that really bought in and would do whatever it takes…guys sacrificing. They really wanted it and in turn, if you would do that, the next guy would do that for you. But if you go about your job and just worry about yourself, not about the guy doing it beside you, it’s not fun. It’s not fun to be around. You get pissed off at that guy, like “I’m going to the gym, I’m working out, getting my body ready, doing whatever it takes and he’s not? Why am I just trying to carry the load?" I don’t care if you’re a top-end scorer or a bottom-end guy; everyone has to do their work. I think this team saw that. They saw that we all have to work hard together for a common goal or we’re not going to get there. With Ronnie and I, we stayed on them too. We wouldn’t let them off the hook. We paid attention to detail and that’s part of the detail – going to work every day. And then after that, do what you want, enjoy yourself (smiling).

Q: You played with Craig Minard for five seasons, played against him for one (Lubbock) and coached him for two. He’s done a fantastic job for you as team captain. For him, you know, he lost that opportunity to raise the cup in Shreveport after the Finals against Laredo…how happy were you to see him finally win the cup?

A: In true fashion, you say this and you hear it all the time - it couldn’t happen to a better guy, it really couldn’t. If you look at Minzy’s career, he’s a dedicated guy; he just wants to win so badly. He’s one of those guys that I’m talking about…he is Brahmas hockey. He’s the guy that, if you’re not going out to compete every night, he’s going to go “Why aren’t you?” That accountability that he holds…it holds me accountable, seeing Minzy work that hard. That guy’s 33 years old; still working hard in practice, staying after, busting his butt in the gym. You know, I have to go and get the best players. I have to put in my work here so his work can be successful as well. He’s such an unbelievable family guy, an unbelievable person to be friends with. If you are friends with Minzy, you’re blessed. You’re blessed in so many ways. He’s just a great person. I can’t tell you how well I think he played this year. Compared to – I would say when I played with him in Shreveport – he was a great player; he did a great job. I just saw him elevate his game this past year, more than I ever saw him when I played with him or against him or coached him. It was just a fantastic year for him. He read plays well, moved the puck. He seemed to play with that confidence of “I’m going to win and nobody’s holding me back.” He played all year like that. And when you have your leader doing that, it makes my coaching job a lot easier because everyone just starts following.

Q: He’s a true leader. He’s probably the epitome of the guy you want wearing the “C” on his sweater. You know, its funny…the fans, everybody wants to know – have they signed Dan yet, have they signed Dan yet? I hear Dan’s going to work here or there…people are always asking me what I think and I say, “You know, it’s OK because if Dan ever moves on, we’ve got Ron Vogel and Craig Minard.” And I say that because I see Minzy as a future coach…

A: I agree. I think he would be a fabulous coach. I think a lot of these guys would but Minzy’s got that – he sees things, details, and he really knows his game too. He loves hockey. You have to love it to be a coach. You have to love watching tape; you have to love watching NHL games to learn. It’s a learning process. He’s a committed guy, an honest guy and that’s what it takes to be a coach. He’s going to be a wonderful coach some day. If I can ever help him out in that aspect, I would in a heartbeat. I’d be proud to say I helped him out in some way because I know he would do a fabulous job.

Q: The first thing you did when you entered the locker room was to put the game puck up on the wall. For those who are not familiar, can you describe the significance of those pucks?

A: Well, the way it works is that every win in the playoffs – last year it would have took us 14 wins, so last year we had 14 pegs up there because it would have taken 14 pucks to win the cup. This year, because of the bye, we had 12 pegs up there. Every win in the playoffs, we would have the MVP of the game who puts the puck up. The next game, that guy that was MVP picks the guy that puts the puck up there again. So it’s a little tradition we have. There’s nothing more special than when one of your teammates picks you out. You’re not winning a trophy. You’re not winning more money. You’re not winning an award. But it’s a teammate recognizing another teammate in front of everyone. “You did a hell of a job. You’re the big reason why we won tonight.” It’s just a satisfaction when they get that puck and put it up there. They did a great job and it was a huge win. Not only for our team, but for the franchise. So, we had all those pucks up there all summer long and I kept looking at them and every time I went into the room, I’d go “man, we were that close, we were that close.” You know, this year before we started the season, I was telling Forbie and Ronnie, I was like “I want to put that last puck up there. I want to win this. We can do it.” I felt like the whole year, our team was like that. You know, we talked about winning. We talked about it and it wasn’t a taboo to talk about it. It wasn’t a taboo to have pictures of the cup in here. We wanted to win like no other. I think last year’s experience really helped us, or really helped a lot of guys, show us the direction, how close we were. And how much more it took too, because even though you’re that close, we let two or three games go. We let them slide by against Colorado and we knew we couldn’t do that again. We knew we weren’t going to let ourselves do that again. I was really proud of these guys. The way they played throughout the whole playoffs. Obviously, in the beginning, I think we struggled a little, but we still, we played well. Well enough to win. So, it felt great (laughing).

Q: And then you got dunked with the bucket of ice, not the Gatorade. Were you expecting that?

A: No (laughing). That’s the last thing I think you expect as a coach when you play hockey. I have a lot of respect for every one of those guys. Every one of those players that I loved and could call them my friend too. We had a pretty good relationship with everyone. They knew what my job was, I knew what their job was and after we got out of the rink, if they ever needed me or if they ever needed this door to be open, it was open for them. It still is and they’ll always be a part of this organization, this team. There’s a fine line there of being too hard on the guys and them hating you and there’s a fine line by being too easy and them not respecting you. You’ve got to find that and it’s a tough balance sometimes. I felt like we had a pretty good relationship with every guy on this team.

Q: I want to ask you about Mike Vellinga who has all but announced his retirement after 11 seasons professional. What can you tell me about Mike’s contribution to the success of the Texas Brahmas?

A: Mike has definitely been, you know, a guy where – he didn’t know Forbie or me; you know he came in the first year with a great resume. We had played against him. We knew he was a very steady D; he wasn’t going to put up a ton of points, very steady. You know, to be honest, me and Mike have had our issues about the way he competed sometimes. But, a good story I’d like to share with you is…me and Mike had a meeting about him competing. We didn’t feel he was competing hard enough. He just looked me straight in the eye and he goes “I will be there at the end…you don’t have to worry about me. I’ll be OK, I’ll be there.” If it was a young guy, I would have looked at him and I would have said “That’s bullshit. I want to see it now.” But I knew Mike meant it. Obviously, his health – when you play that many years, you get banged up. He wasn’t playing 100% all the time. He played injured a lot, for which I can’t thank him enough. The fans don’t see that. Sometimes, he would play through it without telling me or the trainers. We sometimes took that as “He’s not giving it everything.” Well, he’s a character guy. I love his family. I love him and I’d do anything for that guy. He was one of the best D men in the playoffs. He gave us everything he had. I think he was a huge piece of the puzzle in the playoffs. I saw his game go from, if we were rating it on a scale of 1 to 10, it went from a 6 to a 10, and that’s a big difference.

Q: Can you describe what it’s been like working with Ron Vogel over the past year?

A: Obviously Forbie did an outstanding job. We’ve been friends for a long time. For Ronnie to be able to come in and step into those shoes is a tough task, you know I demand a lot of my assistant coach. I think Ronnie just did an unreal job with the players because there’s times when I was really heavily leaning on guys and being hard on guys and he filled that void better than any coach I’ve ever had in being that in-between guy. Me being the bad guy and he being the good cop, bad cop kind of thing. But not only that, he’s so organized, he’s so positive. He really – when I get all excited and it’s time for him to say “Hey, we’ve got to look at it in a different way’’ - at the prefect opportunity and the perfect times, he says it. There are times where I let my emotions take a big part of me and he steps back and says, sometimes he’s on board and says “Let’s go give it to them” but then there are other times where he says "Listen, let’s just think of this in a different way; let’s go about it in a different direction.” He’s such a good friend to me too. He’s a great family man. If anyone knows Ronnie, they know he has the biggest heart in the world and he’d do anything for anyone. He’s a hard worker and he’s just one of those guys you love to have in your corner. I’m so happy to have him.

Q: It appears that you will have a significant number of returning players, to anyone who has an opinion. Outside of that, versus say the first year or even going into last season, is it any easier recruiting and re-signing this time around with the cup in hand, and I’ll throw this out too, having a little bit nicer bus?

A: Yeah (laughing). It definitely makes things easier to recruit when you win because normally you call a guy say 10-15 times and he might commit at the 15th call. Where now we’re calling guys at the third call and they’re saying “Looks great, I’m in.” And we’re going (laughing) “Well alright!” which is great because if we’re recruiting them, that’s the guys we want. You end up losing guys to other teams so you have to call more guys than you warrant which is great for us. You know the bus really helps as well. The guys that were here, they know what it was like (laughing)…the dog days of that old bus but I guarantee you they’ll always remember the stories, good stories. It’s kind of like the father telling you “I walked up to the hill both ways to go to school.” Well, the boys will be telling the stories of me holding the windshield in (laughing). But, I think in this organization, the boys see improvement every year. When you see our ownership trying to do whatever they can to make these guys happy, it’s the best organization to play in. The boys appreciate that.

Q: There are coaches and others (not players) who bash NYTEX and then there are guys who can appreciate it. What advantage does this building give to the Texas Brahmas?

A: First off, just the atmosphere of it. Its cold, its dark, there’s no spotlights in here. Not too many amenities for the visitors. I just think it’s such a great building for a home team because we know what we expect here. They come in, these young guys and they’re like “where are all the spotlights?” and when you go into Oke City as a young guy, they’re like “I feel like I’m in the NHL!” But when you come here you don’t really feel like you’re in the NHL (smiling), you know but it’s still…what an atmosphere this is. I played in a lot of college rinks that had that kind of atmosphere and they say college rinks have the best atmosphere in hockey. Well, we have it here for the home team. It’s a great place to play. I think all our guys love it here. They love the locker room, they love the way the fans treat them.

Q: The Allen Americans have signed several young players. Have you had a chance to meet and talk with Coach Mullins at the league meetings?

A: Yeah, I had a great talk with him and Macker was there too. They’re a class act and I’ll think they’ll have a lot of success in this league, hopefully not against us (smiling). It’s going to be a great rivalry…they’re putting a great team together. It’s going to be just like Shreveport and we were but its going to be closer and it’s going to be more accessible to fans. 45 minutes away, it’s going to be a lot of fun both ways.

Q: Has there been any talk about having a pre-season match with the Americans at NYTEX?

A: We haven’t talked specifics but yeah, we’re probably going to do something with them. I’ve got to talk to Dwight (Mullins) next week. We’re intermixing the Making the Cut, so our Making the Cut guys will play their Making the Cut guys. Instead of us practicing, we’ll do a little practice and then we’ll play each other in a night game.

Q: There’s been some talk about a change to the vet rule which currently sets the threshold at 281 games, with four vets allowed per team (goalies exempt). There’s talk of re-setting the threshold to 300 games. Do you think there is a need for any change, one way or another?

A: I don’t understand where they come up with 300 because it would make sense to base it on 64 games so that would make it 320. That’s five full seasons and I really think the owners are starting to figure out that the vets are the guys that are really selling the game. If you keep turning over younger guys all the time and you keep turning your veterans, like your Minard’s, like your Deitsch’s, you know you keep turning those guys over, soon you don’t have familiar faces to say “that’s the Brahmas.” Like your Cameron’s and your Kinnunen’s and your Jaegers. Those guys are recognizable names and when you get a lot of fans in this building, now for two years that like them and they end up leaving and you just keep a revolving door with those guys leaving, I think the owners are starting to see that it’s hurting them with the fan support. I think it’s a huge thing to have your veterans stick around for at least for a possible five years, I think that’s important. I think two, three, even four years, that’s not enough time to make a decision, if I have to get rid of this one guy because of the vet rule.

Q: Do you think it’s Ok to stay at four vets or would you like to see it increase to five?

A: Well, it is at five with the goaltender, but I think if you added another vet, it wouldn’t hurt anything. I think if you add the games up it would make it better. Before, veterans were not in shape and they would get injured and they would be out for a lengthy amount of time in the off-season and the owners were like “we don’t need these vets; they’re costing us a lot of money.” Now, veterans are getting in better shape. They’re more conditioned than ever to take on the season and there’s not as many summer IR’s or off-season claims in the summertime. I think now they’re re-evaluating it and saying these guys are important to our communities, they are important to us as owners to have them be franchise players. Obviously some vets are going to move here and there but your main core, if you can keep them together for a long period of time is only going to help sell tickets.

Q: What is your opinion of the format for the 2010 All-star Game?

A: I see the reasoning behind it because it tends to be very hard to sell an all-star game. No one really wants to have it because it costs money. But if you can have three teams that are bringing the majority of their players and its close, you’re going to get those fans over there. I’m not a huge fan of the concept, the way it is. I would like to see them get rid of the all-star game and have it be a young stars game. Bring in scouts and have it to be a developmental game to try and push guys into calling ourselves a developmental league, to get these guys showcased to go to the American League or go to wherever they want to go. I think it would do us a way better job than sending veterans to this game that are just in it to have a couple pops or beers and share some stories. But, it is about showcasing your talent. I think we should focus on showcasing our young talent and making us one of the best leagues to come to so it would be easier to recruit to get guys to the next level…that’s ultimately a AA-level; you want to play at the highest level possible. If we could be that stepping stone, that’s what you want.

Q: There’s a sale pending and now we’re waiting on league approval of the new ownership of the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs. Given your past history with the team, what were your thoughts on the possibility that the Mudbugs might go dark for a season?

A: I think it would be a shame. I think it’s been one of the top franchises in minor pro hockey for a long time. It’s a fabulous place to play. There are a lot of great people there and they love their hockey. I cannot imagine Shreveport without hockey there. It does a lot of great things for the community and for families. I remember one story – a good friend of mine over there in Shreveport told me that he didn’t have a relationship with his daughter, at all. One day he was walking out of the rink and he told me “Thank you” and I said for what? He says “I had no relationship with my daughter. She went shopping, I went hunting; we didn’t do anything together” and he said “Now, we go to games together and we talk about the players, we talk about the game and it really brought us really close together.” That’s what hockey does for families. It would be a shame for some families to be separated because there’s not that bridge of bringing family together; it’s so important. It would hurt the community too. There’s a lot of good things that those guys – Muskie’s done a great job over there, and Trevor. They’ve done a fabulous job of bringing that organization to where it needs to be. You know, they’re in it every year. They’re one of the top teams and it would suck to see them leave.

Q: The Brahmas were represented by you, Ronnie, Mike Barack and Scott Plourde. How were you received at the league meetings this year?

A: Every person, every GM congratulated us. They were all joking around, you know, “You can have it for a little while but we’re coming to get it” (laughing). That really puts a focus on us going forward. We’ve got to get to work so we can win it again. And we have been, just so everyone knows. But I thought we were received really well. The league had a fabulous showcase that they put on out there and we learned a lot. It’s tough not knowing what division you’re in or what kind of format they’re going to do. It’s hard to make trades or do anything like that. But, I thought we kind of gained some respect from them out there.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith