Cam Frear: Sky City Stampede coach on the NZ Ice Hockey League Grand Final series

The grand final series in the New Zealand Ice Hockey League gets underway this afternoon, with the Sky City Stampede taking on the Botany Swarm in Auckland. 

D'Arcy Waldegrave spoke with Sky City Stampede coach Cam Frear, previewing the upcoming series and discussing how the competition has risen to a new level of competitiveness in 2025. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the All Sport Breakfast podcast with Darcy
Waldgrave from News Talk SEDB.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Let's talk some ice hockey. I have an unhealthy obsession
with this game. Don't ask me why. I have no idea,
but there's just something about it. I've been quite fascinated
by ice hockey over the last few years. Love having
both the women and the men on the program. We
are going now to the Sky City Stampede head coach

(00:33):
Cameron Frere ahead of their Botany Swarm fiction number one today.
Good morning Cameron.

Speaker 3 (00:40):
Good morning mate. How are you good?

Speaker 2 (00:41):
Finals time? This is where it all counts on a
mission from the deeper South. You are settling in for
what I expect will be quite a scrap up against
the Swarm because oddly they finished top of the table
this year. That's kind of unusual in this competition. Normally,
you guys dominate, don't you.

Speaker 3 (01:00):
Yeah, usually we've we've held the first seed for the
last few years. But yeah, this year was super competitive,
you know, in terms of playing sixteen games and one
game or two games worth of points separating the first
and the fourth team. Yeah, it was really competitive this year,
and we dropped a few games that we probably should

(01:20):
have put away.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
So have you got worse or have the rest of
the competition got better or is it somewhere in between.

Speaker 3 (01:27):
I think it's you know, the rest of the competition
is starting to lift a lot more on me seeing
some of those you know, some imports come through that
have really lifted the other teams. We've been really lucky
to have high caliber imports for the last few years,
and you know, some of the other teams have managed
to find some high caliber imports, but then also have
import players stick around as well, which is a huge

(01:49):
advantage in this league because you can play two imports,
but then you can have two assimulated players, which are
I guess New Zealand non residents or citizens that have
been here and haven't left the country for over a year.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
Does that work though, for the strengthening of the local
player base to have that much involvement from overseas players.

Speaker 3 (02:10):
Yeah, well it makes us. It makes all of us better.
It lifts the level of the league. And you know,
thinking back to the time that I was playing, I
probably did the most learning from imports. You know, some
of them have come from European styleed hockey, some have
come from North American, so to be able for them
to come in for the right reasons and and help
lift the level of our players and our knowledge levels. Yeah,

(02:31):
it's always going to be a good thing.

Speaker 2 (02:32):
What's the difference in styles between North America and Europe.

Speaker 3 (02:36):
I think a lot of it is, you know, like
European they play a lot on Olympic ice, which is
a larger ice surface, so it's probably more you know,
puck position and you know, have turning back and using
the space and probably not as physical, whereas North Americans
more a North South kind of game where you're looking

(02:57):
to go forward and you chip the park and use
physical you know, your body to regain it and then
kind of get the puck to the net. And yeah,
it's probably a bit more of like a hard working,
gritty style, whereas you know, the European style is a
bit flash here and you know, kind of more liken
to football soccer the way.

Speaker 2 (03:16):
Teams are used, because we know that with ice sockey
you get pretty shot pretty fast, so you're constantly revolving
off the bench. Does either of those styles mean more
time and play less time? Does that Does it change
how you deal with your playing stuff? During the game
itself camp.

Speaker 3 (03:32):
A little bit. Yeah, you're looking at it's more the
combinations that you've got. You know, if you can find
you know, the right combinations and different lines that kind
of come on and do different things. You know, you
might have you know, like a shutdown defensive line that
you play against their top line to try and keep
it to nullify them offensively, and then you might have
your skill you know, your more offensive players trying to

(03:53):
look for a different matchup to get an advantage. So yeah,
a lot of it's more like the tactical of how
you're going to how you're going to play against their
style and yeah, and try and be successful.

Speaker 2 (04:04):
So adapt into the style as it tats you. That's
the key that what gentle does ten to which style
of hockey do they move toward. Is it American, is
it European? Is it something else?

Speaker 3 (04:16):
I think historically we've we've kind of looked towards the
North American kind of style, you know, for us, you know,
rugby is the big sport here, so you know, we
do love the physical side of the sport, you know,
in the body contact and and that kind of stuff.
So we've probably historically been more in the North American style.
But you know, as we start seeing you know, some

(04:38):
of our younger players going overseas and you know, new
new coaching and all that kind of stuff, we're starting
to be more of a hybrid, which is I guess
seeing the increase in you know that the kids coming
through and playing for the ice flex but then also
you know some of our players being successful overseas as well.

Speaker 2 (04:55):
Coach of the Stampede, Cam Freer joins us looking forward
to the finals of ice hockey leagues happening today Sunday
and possibly Monday. But if someone gets away too it
it's the It's the end of the series. Odd, isn't
it to be playing on a Monday. It can't be
easy for you guys. I'm sure we've all got proper jobs.

Speaker 3 (05:15):
Yeah, it's it's a little bit different, I guess with
the final series this year, there was a lot of
different outcomes of where the finals could be and so yeah,
with the amount of rinks that we have in New Zealand,
it's all about a balancing act of trying to find,
you know, the time where we can one travel and
two have the have the availability of the ice rink

(05:36):
to be able to play.

Speaker 2 (05:36):
Does the botany ice suit your men in this game
because it's slightly i'm told, changes attitudes and the light
between different ice. Does this work for you? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (05:49):
For us, it's it's a little bit bigger than what
we're used to down here in Queenstown. But you know,
for a lot of our guys, they've played you know,
ice ice flax World Champs, on Olympic size ice as well,
so we've been there enough that when it's not really
an excuse for us, we're just excited and ready to go.

Speaker 2 (06:07):
It's coming up. It is at quarter past five the
Sevening Storm Stampede. They repeat the dose quarter of the
five tomorrow and required well, there might be a playoff
game on Monday and on that mister Frere, as always,
thanks for your time, thanks for your information, and thanks
for helping all of our knowledge when it comes to
the game of ice hockey.

Speaker 3 (06:26):
You travel safe, okay, Thanks very much. Mate.

Speaker 1 (06:29):
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