Monday, October 31, 2011

Week in Review

After starting the season out dramatically, it seemed as though things might stabilize for the Thunder. You know? Perhaps a regulation win would suffice? Friday night in Tulsa was no different for the dramatics, and at least this one was only a 60 minute game! The game started out quite dismal for the Thunder, allowing a powerplay goal less than five minutes into the game, and another within another five minutes. Colin Hemingway chipped into the deficit in the second period scoring frames only goal. Going into the third period this looked to have the story line of every other game the Thunder had played this year. Boy did they have other ideas! Scoring five goals in the period and not allowing a Tulsa goal. Matt Summers led the way, scoring a goal just :26 seconds into the period and another on the powerplay. But the game winner came in a fashion in which, for Thunder fans, should not be surprising. Aaron Davis, who led the Thunder in shorthanded goals last season, did it again. Receiving a slick pass from Daniel Tetrault, Davis drove hard to the net and scored to give Wichita the lead for good. Six unanswered goals including five in the third period was a great way to finish off a team that earlier in the week was quoted as saying "We are going to take it to them".

Saturday night was back to the dramatics for the Thunder as Allen visited town for the second time in a week. Wichita played catch up all game, while seemingly controlling play. Trailing 1-0 Jarred Mohr tallied his first in a Thunder uniform, tying the game on the powerplay. Allen answered to start the second period, but Thomas Beauregard was thinking otherwise. Netting his 100th career goal, Thomas tied the game on a centering feed, burying the puck top shelf to dead lock the game. No goals in either the third period or the five minute overtime led to the Thunders third shootout in four games. Keith Johnson scored for Allen in the sixth round, when Alex Bourret skated to center ice. Bourret, who was suspended for the previous two games for a questionable "Illegal check to the head", was back on the ice for the first time since the suspension. Bourret skated in, deked backhand and got goaltender Rejean Beauchemin to bite hard to his glove side. Bourret quickly switched back to his forehand and easily slid the puck in to tie the shootout. After an Adam Russo save, it was Aaron Davis' turn. Davis was able to score five hole on Beauchemin giving the Thunder their third shootout win in as many chances.

Now I am going to go a little cheesy on these next couple lines, so follow along. The topic is the heart. I don't know about all of you, but I'm not sure my heart can take much more of these thrilling finishes. But if the Thunder keep winning I'll find ways to keep the old thing ticking. One thing I continue to notice about this team is their?? ANYONE? Heart. You guessed it. They trailed twice this last weekend to Allen before tying the game both times. Trailed Tulsa two-rip, and was down three to nothing to Allen, last Saturday, before scoring three goals in the third period to tie the game. Not trying to bash any former Thunder teams, but when was the last time you saw a team play with such heart and determination this early in the season and be successful at the same time? To answer that question I personally would go back to the Laxdal era of 2004-2005. That season the Thunder started out 8-0. What is even more impressive to me is the caliber of players that was brought in this season, and have all been able to put any ego's aside and come together as a team. The CHL has evolved since 2004-2005. Gone are the days, in my opinion, of teams having a core group of players, that were always your go to guys. Teams are constantly changing year by year. That year the Thunder had three 70+ point producers (Duda, Clayton, and Blaznek) who were guys that played here for multiple seasons and were expected to put up those kind of numbers. Kevin McClelland, after being given new resources financially, went out and assembled a team that on paper was stacked. What was left to be seen was how they were going to produce on the ice. I'm sure we have all seen the teams that on paper were championship winners, but ended up fluttering in the playoffs or even regular season. Three wins against conference finalists, and beating an unbeaten Tulsa team has calmed my nerves on how the team would perform. Sure we can all thank the Steven's, which is well deserved, but I began thinking. We have all praised the efforts of the Steven's brothers for coming in and saving this franchise, but who is to thank for the product we have seen so far? The fan entertainment side of it is one thing. Prizes, block parties, drum lines all help bring people back to the arena, but what are those things worth if the on ice product is dismal? That's where I think the attention needs to turn to Kevin McClelland. He has been a winner every where he has gone, he is 221-133-32 as a head coach in the CHL. This man knows how to win, he did it as a player and is doing it as a coach. Of the 21 players on the roster, nine came from different leagues, four from different CHL teams, and eight returning players. I think a good deal of thanks needs to go to Coach Mac for recruiting a roster that not only is chock full of talent, but has come together as a team already and shown what kind of heart it takes to win hockey games.

Until next time.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Chat's From The Bench

The date was January 17th. By luck of the draw my once a year business meeting in Davenport Iowa (Quad City area) was held when the Thunder were playing in Quad City. Naturally the first thing I asked my boss on my first ever business trip was if our meetings would last past 6pm. He assured me they wouldn't and I ventured in the snow to the I-Wireless Center. This was my first encounter watching Adam Russo between the pipes. There were 1,303 (announced) Mallards fans there, and 1 Thunder fan. The game that I watched featured us peppering the aforementioned Russo with 45 shots in the game including 18 in the final frame in a 3-2 Thunder win. The one thing I left remembering was how athletic he was. Fast forward now to October 14th, 2011. The first Thunder exhibition game couldn't come soon enough. His name was announced wrong in the starting lineups, but yet he stole the show. After three appearances for the Thunder, goaltender Adam Russo is now 3-0 (2-0 regular season). And if that wasn't good enough all are of the shootout win variety! I had the opportunity to speak to him at the post game party at Twin Peaks last Saturday night. A very personable guy, Adam stopped to talk for several minutes before needing to meet up with his wife. I had the opportunity to finish up that conversation and asked him a few questions for the blog and wanted to take the time to share them with you in a segment I hope to do on a regular basis called "Chat's from the bench".


1. So far, what's your opinion on Wichita, the arena, and fans? Do you have any favorite spots?

So far, me and my wife feel really welcome here Wichita. The city is great, the fans and the organization have been amazing already and we hope we can be here for a while! We have been out and about pretty much everywhere in the city and it seems like a great spot to play! The arena is amazing and the fans are phenomenal already! So all in all, I am very very happy! :)

2. Who influenced you most with your career?

My parent's influenced me the most and then my grandfather and grandmother are a close second. I should honestly just say my family. I have an amazing family that has loved me and encouraged me in everything I have done from the day I was born and I will never be able to thank them enough for everything.

3. Who was your favorite player growing up?

I would have to say Patrick Roy. Growing up in Montreal, I loved the Habs and they were the team that I always wanted to play for. I got to go to their rookie camp my second year junior which was pretty awesome and to be honest, I think I will always be a Habs fan at heart, win or lose!

4. Do you have any superstitions or rituals?

I have honestly learned not to be. I had some crazy one's in junior like either KFC or kraft dinner, and washing my car on game days, but to be honest, now I try to keep it to a minimum. I listen to my music before the games when I'm at the rink, I shoot the puck end to end before warmup and I do the same stretching routine but that's really about it. I guess the crazy part of me as a goalie is being pretty loose!

5. Can you tell me about your goalie school?

Absolutely! I have been coaching goalies during the summer for 12 years now, and I have had a goalie school with my ex goalie coach from Midget AAA in Ottawa, Ontario for that long. Recently I moved to BC, the western part of Canada and I opened my own business, A.R. Action-Reaction Goaltending, which I have been going with for 2 summers now. I recently partnered up with Jack O'Halloran, an ex-goalie from the Leafs, who is very well established out west and we have turned in to a good partnership and are becoming bigger and bigger now. I am actually going to be running camps all year here for goalies in Wichita at the minor hockey levels. I'm in the middle of putting it all together.

6. If you weren't playing hockey what would you be doing?

To be honest, question 5 pretty much answers this question. I would still be in hockey and most definitely in coaching. I love teaching and being involved with kids and seeing them get better and knowing that I might have had something to do with it. I like seeing people succeed and I like being able to help them on those good paths.

7. What was it like playing for Italy in the World Championships?

It was amazing. I got to play in 3 World Championships and I was involved in 4. Most memorable for me was playing team Canada in game 1 of the World's in Germany in 2010. Playing guys like Corey Perry, Steve Stamkos, Tyler Myers, Rene Bourque, Ryan Smyth just to name a few, was just amazing.... Aaaannnnd I have a pretty good memory of robbing Stamkos on one of his signature one timers from the slot. Just an awesome memory, and I still watch it on my youtube video from time to time. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IozLrOnA0o8) if you wanna check it out! Hahaha!

8. How is international play different from North American play?

International is just a lot more open, the ice is obviously a lot bigger and there is less hitting. Europe is definitely a "smaller guys" game, as a forward, but it was a great life experience though.

9. What is your most memorable game played in?

Hahahah! I'm going to have to go back to question 7, that game against team Canada would have to be at the top of my list!!

10. What made you decide to play in Wichita this year?

Funny story, and maybe I shouldn't say it but, last year I was talking to guys on this team and I know Tetsy pretty well and after the games against Wichita last season, I had said to Tetsy "I'd love to come play for an organization like this and in front of people like this" and then coach Kevin passed by both times and said, "so are you coming to play for me next year, (joking obviously) and I would just continue to answer him, "make the trade sir, make the trade" and funny enough, here I am! I don't regret making that comment at all because honestly, the boys are great in the room, coaches are great, fans are amazing, building is awesome and the city is great too. Now all we have to do is bring home a championship and it will all be complete.


I asked Adam if there was anything he wanted to say in closing and he provided this.

"I hope I can help this team win and continue to win for a long time. I also want to just say thanks to all the people that continue to come out to the games and support us! You guys are incredibly important and I hope you all know that! The noise you make just fuels the fires in our bums to keep us going!!"



My sincere thanks to Adam for being the first person to sit down with me and answer a few questions.

Until next time.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Opening thoughts.

For those of you that don't know me, I am 24 years old and have been going to games since 92-93. Some of my best father/son moments came at Thunder games. This is my third year as a season ticket holder. If you know anything about me you know hockey is a passion of mine. I have played the sport, traveled to watch it, and even dabbled in coaching (there is a small bit of a joke with that). I am a regular poster on the Thunder message board and have decided to take my love for writing about the sport to another source. Not that there is anything wrong with a message board, but rather this is more of an open area for me to post without making it feel like I am shoving my thoughts down anyone's throat.

So with that being said, the season has started out to an exciting and thrilling start. With what started out as a dismal off-season, with threats of playing at the salary cap floor, soon switched to hopeful optimism. I gotta say that playing this season on the cap floor would have put this team right back into a state of panic. The fan base has always, and will always be here. But how long can a solid base, support and fund an owner that does not give back what the fans put in? That question of doubt was quickly erased by three local brothers with a family name that is known throughout the city. Brandon, Rodney and Johnny Steven stepped in, and stepped up and purchased a storied minor league franchise that was seemingly at its financial wits end. As a fan it was a strong sigh of relief. The brothers gave the team the financial support it needed to sign high caliber players, and almost just as important, promote the team. Something that had not been done in mass for years.

So Coach McClelland was able to bring in a roster that was over flowing with talent. NHL 1st round draft picks, guys who have ample time in the AHL, and guys from the AA level that have led their respective leagues and teams in scoring. Now all that was left was to see them on the ice. To be quite honest the exhibition games did not overwhelmingly impress me. I expected to come in and beat a Tulsa team that quite frankly looked like an SPHL team in training. But as we all saw Tulsa played two tough games. Next comes opening weekend, and games against Rapid and Allen. We've seen enough of Rapid City the last several years to know what we were walking into. There is not much to say about Allen, considering we had never beat them. The thing that impressed me the most was nothing flashy. But rather when we got behind or looked a few steps behind these teams, we were able to stabilize and regain our composure. Sure Matt Robinson had a highlight real short handed goal, but most of our goals were due to hard work. The kind of work that grinders do, close to the net, rebounding, and stick on the ice type goals. Of the five regulation goals scored over this last weekend, four of the five were scored from the middle of the circles or lower. Matt Summers, Brett Hemingway, and Matt Robinson all scored from within a sticks length of the crease. That says a lot to me about a group of guys that on paper would seem to be highlight reel kind of goal scorers. The only goal that came from outside the circles was Daniel Tetrault's point blast to tie the game, coming off the power play. These are the kind of goals that we have been lacking, to win games in recent years. Four points against two teams that last year had a combined 87 wins. Are we championship bound? Not necessarily, please remember we are only two games in. But these are two games that really says what we have to look forward to this year. I said in the off-season that I was more excited for this season than any other season before. And after this opening weekend, that thought is still the same.

It's going to be a fun year Thunder fans! I look forward to writing about the team that I love. If you have any suggestions on blog topics please let me know. I am never at a lack for words!