May 6, 2021 • 51 mins
This week we preview the AHL's spring board of governors meeting, which includes discussion on relocating the Utica Comets to Abbotsford, BC, other relocation rumours and the COVID-19 rebound.
From there we go "On The Fly" and check in with Stockton Heat general manager Brad Pascall, hear from Bridgeport Sound Tigers general manager Chris Lamoriello, listen to some strong words from Grand Rapids Griffins head coach Ben Simon, and visit with San Diego Gulls standout forward Chase De Leo.
We have all that and more on Around The A for the Sports Podcasting Network.
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David Foot can be heard on CJBQ 800 in Belleville, the radio home of the Belleville Senators. He is also the voice of the Wellington Dukes and has OHL experience with the Belleville Bulls and the Peterborough Petes. You can find him on Twitter at @FootyOnTheAir.
Patrick Williams covers the NHL's top developmental league for NHL.com and EP Rinkside, a division of Elite Prospects, and can be heard regularly on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He has nearly a decade of experience at NHL.com, first covering the Winnipeg Jets before shifting to the AHL beat, and also has experience in the ECHL and OHL. You can find him on Twitter at @pwilliamsAHL.
From there we go "On The Fly" and check in with Stockton Heat general manager Brad Pascall, hear from Bridgeport Sound Tigers general manager Chris Lamoriello, listen to some strong words from Grand Rapids Griffins head coach Ben Simon, and visit with San Diego Gulls standout forward Chase De Leo.
We have all that and more on Around The A for the Sports Podcasting Network.
-----
David Foot can be heard on CJBQ 800 in Belleville, the radio home of the Belleville Senators. He is also the voice of the Wellington Dukes and has OHL experience with the Belleville Bulls and the Peterborough Petes. You can find him on Twitter at @FootyOnTheAir.
Patrick Williams covers the NHL's top developmental league for NHL.com and EP Rinkside, a division of Elite Prospects, and can be heard regularly on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He has nearly a decade of experience at NHL.com, first covering the Winnipeg Jets before shifting to the AHL beat, and also has experience in the ECHL and OHL. You can find him on Twitter at @pwilliamsAHL.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:06):
This is Around the A, aweekly look at the top stories, news
and interviews from the NHL's top developmentalleague, with your hosts, David Foot
and Patrick Williams on The Sports PodcastingNetwork. Season two, Episode fourteen of
Around the A on the Sports PodcastingNetwork. It's our sixtieth episode since we
(00:26):
started this venture just over a coupleof seasons ago. Glad to have you
along David Foot, alongside Patrick Williams, and we're getting into the stretch run
here, pat. Just a fewweeks left in this shortened campaign and we
now know that there officially won't bea Calder Cup playoffs. That hasn't stopped
a slew of news stories that havebeen coming in over the past week.
(00:47):
There's going to be more coming upwith the Board of Governors set to meet
this week, and we're going toget into a little bit of what they
will discuss at their meeting, alongwith the major relocation news Utica going to
Abbotsford, it's official now from theVancouver Canucks perspective, and the monthly awards
handed out as well. So there'sa whole lot to get to you on
this week's show. Yeah, whatthis current month lacked maybe in the way
(01:10):
of playoff race excitement. It's certainlymaking up for off the ice and on
the business front. As we said, how many times have we sat on
this show, The move toward thetwenty one twenty two season has already started
in earnest and sure enough, sobig moose have already come down. I
expect more to come down in thenext maybe even a few days, and
(01:33):
it's it's gonna be HECIC playoff racesare what they are, obviously, just
to recap for people, most ofthe divisions will not play any sort of
postseason whatsoever. The Pacific Division willplay a very modified emphasis on the other
word, very modified playoff format,just a few STREA games for those teams
(01:53):
out there, but everybody else willhave to settle for a regular season play
and then it's a full speed intothe off season and planning for what the
lead hopes will be a quote unquoteseason. And we will dive deeper into
what's happening at the Board of Governorsmeeting this week are on the fly segment.
(02:13):
A little bit later on, we'llfeature some audio from Stockton because there
are relocation rumors swirling around the heat. We will hear from a Bridgeport general
manager Chris Lamorello as they wrapped uptheir season. Also clips from Grand Rapids,
San Diego and Bellville as we tryto get into the minds of some
coaches and players as to exactly howyou stay motivated with no playoffs on the
(02:37):
horizon. All of that coming upon this week's show before we get into
things a little deeper. Will remindyou to subscribe to the podcast wherever you're
listening to it, rate and reviewus as well, and tell your friends
as well. As we have abig few weeks ahead as far as American
Hockey League news goes. And let'sstart with the big news this week,
Pat and that is that the AbbotsfordArena will be home to an American Hockey
(03:01):
League team again for the first timesince twenty thirteen, fourteen when the Heat
left town. And it's going tobe the Utica Comments moving to Abbotsford,
fulfilling a rumor that had been swirlingfor a few weeks now, and the
Vancouver Canucks making what I would sayis a wise decision to move their American
Hockey League franchise significantly closer to home. Yeah, in one false swoop They've
(03:24):
gone from having the furthest geographical affiliationto now one of the closest Abbots for
just about an hour or so east. Like you said, the Abbotsford Heat
had played there for five years.There was one key difference. It was
the Calgary Flames age. I'll fillit dropped right in the middle of the
heart of Vancouver Canucks country. Needlessto say, that was not a very
(03:46):
successful operation from a business standpoint forthose five seasons. But Vancouver Canucks have
joined the trend that's been going onfor several years in the American Hockey League,
where geography is paramount for affiliations,both from a salary cap perspective,
but also from a player development andjust dish perspective. Now, instead of
(04:09):
having to move your players back andforth across North America with multiple flight connections,
you simply summon a player an ourway. He could be there from
the morning skate, or if there'san injury in the morning skate, you
can bring him up in the afternoon. And so many teams have discovered in
the last number of years that justgreatly simplifies everything you're trying to do.
(04:32):
I think that most double this year, possibly even into next season depending on
the state of the US Canadian border. That border right now is still pretty
thick, pretty locked down. It'ssomething that if you're a Canadian based club
you have to really keep in mindthat we don't know what season will bring
(04:53):
in in terms of border restrictions,if any, but certainly if you're the
Vancouver Connects, this was a challengingseason where you had to actually own some
players out to other Canadian based affiliatessimply to have players within Canada if you
needed them on short notice because ofthe quarantine requirements and everything that went with
(05:13):
that. So I think that wasa big part of what prompted this move.
There certainly had been speculation in recentseasons that perhaps at some point abbits
Heard would be a possibility, andpeople start to connect the dots in terms
of you know, you have anempty building sitting there an hour away that
has already hosted the American Hockey League. It made a lot of sense,
(05:35):
but it's a lot easier said thandone to make these deals happen. They
finally did make it happen. Theyowned that franchise in Munica. Essentially it
had just been managed on a locallevel by the Utica comments and so it's
a very portable situation and they exercisethat option. And when that deal was
(05:55):
not renewed earlier in the season,I think that was the first sign that
Vancouver was looking at some other options, and sure enough, it finally did
come to fruition. The chairman ofCanucks Sports and Entertainment, Francesco Aquilini,
saying, quote, the move willbring significant opportunities for both our team and
the community, and it would begina new chapter bringing Canucks hockey to even
(06:17):
more fans throughout the Lower Mainland.You mentioned the fact that the arena is
AHL ready after having that experience there. It seats about seven thousand or so
for hockey, so it's a bigbarn, and imagine it'll get rock and
when the hometown fans packet. Andproximity to the NHL club and the fan
bases, I think is a hugething. We've seen the difference that that
(06:40):
has made in a number of markets. I mean even here in Belleville,
where you're still a couple hours awayfrom Ottawa, but in Toronto and obviously
Winnipeg and elsewhere, it's a bigthing to be that close to your NHL
club and to be able to pullthe fan base out to take in American
Hockey League games just from a revenuestandpoint, but also just from you know,
(07:01):
a fan standpoint. It's great tobe so close to the prospects.
I mean, I guarantee you're gonnahave Canucks fans driving from Vancouver out to
Abbotsford to watch, you know,the farm team play, which is a
luxury that not a lot of fansin this league have, and I can
see that being a perfect fit.There was some talk about Victoria as well
(07:23):
being a potential host, but there'sobviously a WHL team there and Abbotsford with
their empty rink, just seems likea like an excellent opportunity. We can't
ignore what this means for the folksin Utica, obviously, because you know,
anytime that I was there to doa comments in b Sends game,
the rink was packed. The fans, and I've said this on this program
(07:44):
before, are some of the bestin the American Hockey League and it's a
big stinger to lose that team.But it seems like they're not going to
be without a club for long atall. Just a little background on that
they had gone twenty years without theAmerican Hockey League, the Utica Devil's left
town and ninety three. The commentscame in in twenty thirteen, and it
was at the time un as alittle bit of the long shot in terms
(08:07):
of the chances of success. Theoriginal Utica Devils had had kind of a
mitch Bag mixed record of success.Now you're bringing in a team twenty years
later, certainly not a geographically approximateclub. There's obviously not going to be
a huge base in Cooper Canucks fansin Utica before the comments arrived, and
(08:31):
to the great credit of Robert Esh, the team president, and that fan
base, they've become one of thebest success stories in the entire American Hockey
League. They went to the CalderCup Final their second season. The buildings
packed two All Star games in justthat spans. It's coming back in twenty
thirteen to the building always seems likeit's it's rocking. It's filled very passionate
(08:52):
fan base, and they've done agreat job. They've had some up and
down teams for years, but thefan supports never really wavered at at all,
and that has certainly caught the attentionof the movers and shakers in the
hockey world. And it looks likeUtica will be taken care of, you
know, despite losing the Vancouver affiliation. And I don't think that's any surprise
(09:15):
because the success that they've had bothon the ice but more so off the
ice. They've put a lot ofrenaots into that building there, and they
add are on that Bank Center andmade it enter really really cool little barn
has that that that nice mix ofmodern amenities but the throwback feel every night
(09:35):
that they're playing hockey there, it'sit's real. It's a really energized the
atmosphere. Players love playing there,and I think it's going to be a
really good, uh continuing home forthe American Hockey League even beyond Vancouver's departure.
And what does this mean for Utica. I mean, we had heard
some rumblings about a trademark being filedfor the Utica Devil's name and uh,
(09:56):
you know and word mark again,but nothing will official on that front.
We did talk about the surprise inBinghamton that perhaps the Devils would be moving,
but is there any more word onthat move and what could happen as
far as filling the Adirondack Bank Centeragain. Yeah, it's it's one of
(10:16):
the real real challenges right now becauseand this is one of the issues as
you reached thirty two markets with Seattlecoming in, there's a lot more competition
for affiliations. It's not what itused to be when the lead was centered
mainly in the eastern two thirds ofNorth America. Now it's close to coast
(10:37):
and those western teams have a lotmore options closer to home, and so
that's hit a lot of those easternmarkets pretty hard. And so it's gonna
be a real challenge and a realkind of race, I think the land
affiliations in the future, and we'llsee what happens. But the way the
winds are looking, that's the waythey're blowing. It's it seems that southings
(11:00):
will pan out, but nothing officialto this point. Likely there will be
some discussion on that at the Boardof Governors meeting which happens this week,
and of course we will recap thewhole thing for you next week here on
around the A We will get alittle bit more in depth on what's on
the agenda at the Board of Governor'smeeting coming up later on in this program.
(11:22):
Before we move on to the monthlyawards and the weekly awards, let's
talk playoff format quickly. This newsbroke we had just posted last week's show,
and as always tends to be thecase, the news breaks that the
playoffs will not happen save four inthe Pacific Division. Again, pretty much
(11:43):
what we expected. I was surprisedthat one division even decided to play playoff
games, but obviously things are workingout well enough in the Pacific Division that
they feel like that's something that theycan pull off without any problems. Yeah,
that those specific division teams have reallybeen a very dead on playing as
many games as possible. San Diego, for examples, playing forty four regular
(12:05):
season games. They a lot ofthose teams out West have almost been playing
a heavier schedule than they would duringa normal season, and sort of the
idea, I think, being,well, we have nothing better to do
right now. It's not like playershave a lot of else, a lot
else going on, so I mightas well play. We have them here,
we're testing, get them as manygames as possible, so they're they're
(12:26):
going to continue that approach into theplayoffs. Get some of those players,
especially those young prospects coming in backfrom the Western Hockey League for example,
who had to go back. Well, now that season is over and they're
able to make the return to theAmerican Hockey League, you're seeing some players
trickle back and this will be achance for some of them to get another
four or five six games in andplay some high level competition going into the
(12:50):
summer. So that's the thinking there. But basically it's a tough fit for
players. I know that some ofthem weren't thrilled with how the plan went
down, but that's where its adsat the moments, and they're going to
play those playoff games. That's alittle bit of extra time in and then
they'll wrap up pretty quickly and headedinto the offseason. So they'll play a
(13:13):
tournament essentially to decide a division winner. The other divisions will all be decided
based on points percentage. One divisionalready decided. Not a shocker that the
Laval Rocket have clinched as champions ofthe Canadian Division because they've been absolutely incredible
this year. But it led toa question posed to me buy some folks
(13:33):
around town here in Belleville that theleague last season, when they ended the
year didn't officially award division titles asthey are doing this year. The Belville
Senators were at the top of theNorth Division and likely we're going to win
that division. Last year had somepeople wondering if perhaps they should be awarded
a banner for last season, andsame with the other division leaders at the
(13:54):
end of last season. I don'tthink there's been any official talk about that,
But is that something that you thinkwe could see or will teams be
left to their own devices to maybefind a way to mark their success if
they had it heading into the pandemic. Yeah, I haven't heard a lot
about that. I mean, justeverything that came at the league last season,
(14:15):
the uncertainty that if we think back, I mean they went out on
March twelfth, they wrapped up Ibelieve it was May eleventh they officially pulled
the plug on the seat, andin between, there was a lot lot
to figure out between then and thenalmost immediately from the point they canceled last
season, it wasn't too long beforethey had to start trying to sketch out
(14:37):
a plan for this season. Imean, if if we think back,
it was it was a long longroad to get there. Really you know,
probably the better part of saves monthsreally with a lot of stops and
starts and a lot a lot ofwaiting for the NHL to make up its
mind and figure out its own mind. So I think somewhere along the line
that's definitely went on the backburner.I wouldn't rule anything out. I think,
(15:03):
like you said, I think itmay be something that teams trying to
figure out for themselves, but Idon't expect any sort of official reciprocal decision
or I should say, a retroactivedecision awarding twenty nineteen twenty titles. I
think everything I've been told the leagueis just it's all about going forward.
(15:24):
I think to some extent people wantto just put the past fourteen months behind
them and move on, and Ithink that's understandable. There's a lot of
challenges this summer, as I've saidbefore. I mean, remember a lot
of these teams are gonna have tohire almost a new front office in a
lot of cases, and there's justa lot that they have to figure out,
(15:46):
really about really five months away fromthe start of next season, which
they seem like a lot, butit's really not not. When you're trying
to reboot really the entire business operationof the league and get a lot of
pieces of place with not a wholelot of time. Yeah, and I
mean, I'm typically not one forhanding out nothing banners or for teams doing
(16:07):
that on their own, but Icertainly wouldn't fault anybody for finding a way
to mark the success that they hadleading into the pandemic. Maybe a tribute
video or something like that on openingnight next season when we get back to
normal might be nice, but we'llhave to see how teams decide to mark
that if they do. Interested tohear what the fans think about that idea,
(16:29):
hit us up on social media ataround the apod. Let us know
what you think. Should the teamsthat were leading their divisions when the season
shut down last season be awarded fortheir success? We'd love to hear from
you. Let's move on to theweekly awards first, then we'll get to
the monthly awards for April, andthen we will get into the Board of
Governors meeting coming up here this week. And Joel Shellman from the San Jose
(16:52):
Barracuda had a hell of a week, a hat trick, some late game
heroics, seven points in three gameslast week and he is the CCMAHL Player
of the Week. These guys thatwin this award get their name in lights
in the Marquee and are pumped bythe league. But what do we need
to know about Joel Shellman? Yeah, nice prospect. I mean, Sandals
(17:15):
always seems to have those guys forone reason or another who are very quiet,
a little bit under the radar insome ways. Joel Shellman has really
made a nice little mark for himself, coming over a couple of years back
from the Swedish League where he hadconsiderable experience, and that's obviously a high
quality lead coming over and had sometime last year with the Sandals Sharks,
(17:38):
kind of a little bit of backand forth with the Barracuda, and I
think importantly for him he got sometime playing this season early on back home
in Sweden, was able to hitthe ground running when the HL season did
start. He's only twenty six yearsold. I liked his game a lot.
I think there's a lot of creativitythere and it seems like those players
(18:00):
that trained in the Swedish Hockey Leaguealways are well rounded, always have a
lot of detail to their game,and I don't think he's an exception in
that case. So he's had alittle bit of time up the NHL club
again this year, and obviously withthe reset or the rebuild or whatever you
want to call it, the Sharksare in the middle of UH, there
(18:22):
is opportunity for him going uh youknow, even beyond the season. He
is under contract for next year,so that's a good sign for him.
The key for him finished strong,and that's a that's a pretty far recuted
team if you watch some of theirgames, there's a lot of creativity there.
Uh. Sasha Zimileski another another kindof unheralded player, a good run
this year, and the Sharks alwaysseemed to, like I said, be
(18:45):
able to find either those uh lateround or undrafted players, either in North
America or in Europe, bring themin and grow them. And a lot
of credit obviously has to go toRoy sommer head coached there and San Jose,
who were familiar with from this show. But I like Shelban's game a
lot. I won't be be surprisedif he's a full timer next year with
(19:10):
the Sharks making a good case forit based on the week he had last
week, and then some pretty bigmonths from Boris Kochook the AHL's Player of
the Month, Cole from Fetti theRookie of the Month, and Stewart Skinner
the goaltender of the Month from Syracuse, Manitoba and Bakersfield respectively. Pretty big
months for all three of those guys, and as tends to be the case,
(19:32):
well deserving of the recognition that they'vegot. Yeah, Stuart Skinner,
I mean, what a nice,fine early pick by the Edmonton winners and
had a really nice run in Bakersfield. It's interesting looking at Bakersfield ever since
J Jay Woodcroft came in there.I mean they've really turned that whole program
around. For so long Edmonton reallystruggled to develop players at the HL level,
(19:56):
including goaltenders, and they've been ableto really star to find some success
there, built some trash and senda number of players already up to Edmonton,
and I think with good numbers stillon the way. So Skinner has
been a nice, fine, areal centerpiece there for what's been a strong
year with the Condors. And youlook at that team and I think they're
(20:17):
they're nice makes the veterans leading theway, but also a lot of higher
end young talents, so impressive withwhat he's been able to do so far,
and Cole Perfretti obviously Manitoba tenth overallpick this past October by the Winnipeg
Jets, and he's making a casefor why the NHLHL role might get re
examined because he's come into the AmericanHockey League and not only looked like he
(20:41):
can handle it, but excelled atdifferent points of the year. So getting
a very in depth education there asa as a young player with Pascal Vincent,
the head coach of the Moose,if you're playing for him, you're
going to learn all the aspects ofthe team. So it's it's been a
really successful year for him. Ithink if you're Winnipeg, you have to
be happy with what you've seen playingin the second best league in the world,
(21:04):
So full march to them. Ithink it's it's a really good situation
for them. Let's take a bitof a breather real quick here. We'll
come back and we will dive alittle bit deeper into what's on the agenda
on this week's AHL Board of Governorsmeeting Thursday, so we'll have a full
recap of what's talked about next week, and you can get all the details,
of course from Pat on Twitter atp williams Ahl. I'll likely have
(21:27):
some tidbits as well at Footy onthe Air and we'll discuss what's to come
here coming up on the episode fourteenof season two Around the Air. Interact
with us on social media, giveus our thoughts using the hashtag around the
A and follow us at around theapod. You're listening to Around the A
(21:51):
on the Sports Podcasting Network, don'tforget to subscribe to the pod, rate
and review as well. As wecontinue on here on the episode four season
two, number sixty. Overall,if you are keeping score at home,
we're going to dive now into theupcoming American Hockey League Board of Governors meeting,
and really, if you're tuning intothe show, the meeting is happening
(22:14):
right now or has just happened,and we'll have a full recap on next
week's show. But there's a lotfor them to discuss. Pat, maybe
we'll start with the Abbotsford relocation,which we discussed earlier on in the program.
It's big news. It's always ahuge deal when a team relocates.
But from the Board of governor's perspective, what do they have to do.
Is it just merely a matter ofvoting and rubber stamping this or will there
(22:38):
be some perhaps discussion in opposition ofthe move? But what are they going
to talk about? Generally speaking withthese kinds of things, If an NHL
team has gone to the lengths toput together a deal, put all those
pieces in place, you're not goingto see other teams to really raise an
objection that much. Shouldn't mean theremay be some obviously some teams that are
(23:00):
not happy, and certainly some teamswill be affected, for example by having
a team go out West because thatyou know, once he goes out West,
I mean, that's one for you'rea team in the Eastern Conference,
which certainly changes on the geography ofthe league, also changes some of the
scheduling and the financial components. Butit's a little bit of a situation where
(23:21):
if I don't want you to tellme what to do with my franchise,
then I'm not going to tell youwhat to do with your franchise. Type
of dynamic. So you know,provided that you know it's not something completely
outlandish, which is not the caseanymore. I think where this twenty years
ago and you had a lead thatwas primarily based in the East and then
(23:41):
somebody was saying, hey, wewant to put a team out in Atttsford.
Well than that would have created amuch different dynamic. But now,
I mean, the HL pretty muchtouches all four corners of North America,
you know, at least in theUnited States and Canada, and there's really
no place to more that's off limitsyour you'd all the way from South and
(24:03):
Charlotte, all the way to WestCalifornia, up north obviously Winnipeg, and
then a slew of teams in theEast. So there's plenty of geography for
everybody. So I don't foresee anyany opposition at least in terms of voting
to that move by the Vancouver Canucks. And you mentioned that widespread the league
is. So we'll talk in alittle bit about scheduling and how things might
(24:26):
look heading into next season. Butobviously with abbotsburd moving, there won't be
much opposition, as you say,to that. But again from the Board
of Governor's perspective, from the headexecutives in the league, what does this
mean for Utica? Will there bemuch talk? Do you think about replacing
the comments in Utica. Yes,absolutely, I think they'll be moves to
(24:48):
try to make that happen. Idon't foresee a problem for Utica. I
think, like I said earlier,their track record has been excellent and they're
a team that they earned their wayback I think into the upper estional lot
of the league simply for their office performance, the fan support, the
vibe that was created around town.And I think the Batist factor perhaps is
(25:08):
the renovations as they did to theirbuilding. They got really up to speed,
which is one NHL teams we're lookingfor the looking for facilities, they're
looking for geographical convenience, and you'recustoorting will check that box for for any
number of potential suitors. And Idon't see a problem for your year ago
whatsoever. Will there be much officialdiscussion about how to fill that void we
(25:33):
talked about the you know, therumor of the devils going there. Do
you think that's going to come upat all? Well? Yeah, I
mean there needs to be decisions madefast because the schedule has to be made
um and uh, there's there's wayaround that, and that the lead lights
that have in ducts in order forthe following season that as early as possible.
(25:53):
This is generally the time when theywant answers. It's of our u
in or not and if you're not, we need to know. So I
expect a very very swift resolution,I think to this situation. It was
one of those things where everybody kindof had to wait for the first shoot
(26:15):
a drop, and once that happenedwith Abbotsford and Vancouver, now that can
set it into chain of emotion orchain of motion of a lot of other
events to follow. So it's alwaysgetting that first step out of the way,
who goes first almost That is thedifficult part of this. And then
(26:37):
once that happens, thing to move, generally speaking pretty quickly. And all
this talk about teams moving, coupledwith I think what we can call the
success of the Canadian Division and questionsaround will the border open again in time
to start next season, it's gotsome rumors swirling about another potential relocation.
(26:59):
And will preface this discussion by sayingthis is all rumor, but it's a
rumor enough that it's led to questionsbeing asked of the general manager of the
Stockton heat Rad Pascal. Some talkabout perhaps the heat leaving Stockton and heading
it to Calgary, where they againhave seen a lot of success this year
playing out of the Scotia Bank SaddledDome, and like we said, with
(27:23):
the other teams that have their affiliatesclose by, it's been nice for the
Calgary Flames to have their prospects inthe house. Again, all rumors at
this point, But what are youhearing on that front? Yeah, keyword
rumors, keyword rumors. All capitalletters that can't emphasize that underlined, triple
(27:44):
exclamation mark, bold, it's asbold. Do you name it? Yeah,
tell us size it, etc.Etc. Yeah, a lot of
people I think are connecting the dots, just the background on that. Obviously,
Stockton had to temporarily relook eight tocalorie this season given the border constraints,
so they moved to the club atlast minute, really was about eight
(28:07):
days before the regular season was supposedto start. That actually delayed their home
or actually there's an entire schedule aboutsixteen days and they were the first team
believed it or not to actually concludetheir season last week. So naturally those
rumors start to swirl again. Imean, this is just being in the
hockey world. This being the AmericanHockey League, the gossip mill, the
(28:33):
rumor mill, whatever you want tocall it, has to be fed at
all times. And yeah, peoplestart putting two and two together, connecting
the dots. They're looking at Kyrie. They're saying, well, this went
pretty well. And it did.It went very well all things considered it
given especially the last minute nature ofit. If you're the Calgary Flames,
you have to be thrilled with howwell it went. They played all the
saddle done there and the players wereable to be in Calgary get up close
(28:59):
few wins by all the Flames management. They were able to ast you fluid
charter to all the road games.So I think the players like that for
sure, and all the conservative itwas a very successful operation. That being
said, um, you know,what's good for one season and a pandemic
may not be what's best long term. And so that question was posed to
(29:26):
Brad Pascal, the GM of theStockton need slash assistant general manager of the
Calgary Flames, and here's what hehad to say. Yeah, we're just
in the in the final stages ofgoing through things. We have an HL
board meeting coming up at the endof this week, which I think we'll
get a little bit more guidance on. I think initially as we as we
said all along, our our intentionis to be back in Stockton, and
(29:51):
we're just working on, you know, working on some details to be in
a in a situation, a situationwhere we can, I guess publicly say
that, but by seeing it now, is no different than what we said,
you know, in the past whenwe made a temporary relocation here is
our intention is to be back inStockton next year and that hasn't changed at
(30:11):
all. So no real news toreport other than we're just working on finalizing
the fine details of that and ensuringBut as I said all along, it's
been our intention to go back there, and that's if you're asking me,
that's a plan. That's a plannow, and we hope to have things
finalize soon. Now, listening tothat clip, Brad Pascal seems to be
(30:32):
committed to going back to Stockton,the question becomes how much stock do you
put into what he's saying. Andagain the thing that I'm looking at his
rumor of not going back, butis that a not going back permanently because
they want to move for certain oris it not going back because they don't
know if the border is going tobe open and it's just easier to stay
(30:52):
in Canada. There's still so manyquestions around this, and that's why again
we proceeded this conversation by holding rumorat the start of it, because there
is no for sure answer. Willwe get much more answers out of this
Board of Governor's meeting? You think, well, let me tell you this
about Brad Pascal. We've had himon this show. We know him well.
He's a straight shooter. He givesyou an honest answer. I take
(31:17):
him as his word. I haveno reason to doubt him. I think
what put throw over ankle into everything, and this has been true for the
last fourteen months, is the pandemicand the border and all those issues that
have thrown such a wrench into somany different aspects of the entire American Hockey
League operation and the stock and heatwere one of the biggest examples of I
(31:38):
han't a literally pulled States last minute, eight days before season and relocate the
operation to an entirely different country duringa pandemic. That shows what this pandemic
has done to the business. Theturmoil that it's caused, and so I
can't rull out anything anymore. Imean, I guess maybe I've become a
(32:00):
little jaded by this whole situation thathow y'all, I'm like, hey,
anything's possible, right, I mean, you know, like here we are,
we're playing games and empty buildings anddifferent schedules and any number of one
hundred other different things that are weirdright now. So we didn't shock me,
No, But as of this moment, I don't think there's much beyond
(32:22):
some smoke. I don't see anyreal impetus right now. Granted, anything
can change, and I'll certainly putthat that astich next to it. But
like I said, I trust Pascalwhat he says, and I have no
reason to dun him, for surea straight shooter. As you mentioned,
you can head over to sports PodcastingNetwork dot com browsed through our older episodes
(32:44):
and you can hear straight from BradPascal coincidentally enough, talking about how well
things have gone in Calgary. Butwe will have to see again on the
sucked in heat front how much heatthere is around that rumor of relocation.
Let's move on to some talk aboutthe schedule and the potential divisional alignment for
next year. Obviously there's going tobe a new team out west with the
(33:07):
Abbotsford getting the Utica comments in theVancouver Canucks franchise. We still don't know
though, again, and I feellike a broken record saying this, what's
going to happen with the border?How much of a question mark is is
that still putting on preparations for nextseason, Despite how gung ho everybody is
to move past this and have anormal twenty two campaign. It's a huge
(33:30):
facker and right now, nobody connectserthat as we've seen. I mean,
if the Canadian government, or frankly, if the US government decides the borders
shut down, then that's that.Look at the Toronto Blue Jays. They're
playing games right now in a springtraining stadium in Florida. So it goes
to show you that even somebody aspowerful as Major League Baseball was not able
(33:52):
to work around that. So ifthe border shut, then it's shut.
And that will create any number ofheadaches for the American Hockey League, not
the least of which would be theschedule. So you need to kind of
plan for the best, but alsoplan for the worst and if the borders
shut, that means Canadian clubs,at least for I don't know, the
(34:13):
first third, maybe more of theseason would be limited from making the trips
over the border, and you'd haveto certainly find that into your schedules.
So you're going to need to getsome information. But as we've seen,
it can change fast and what looksgood now in a month or two may
not. So I do think that'sgoing to be a major issue for the
(34:34):
league to really try to resolve andfigure out what their options are and if
it does for them to be thatthe border remains shut come next fall,
that the schedule will have to reflectthat. So but that's certainly throws a
lot of questions into the equation becauseright now, if you're the American Hockey
League, you don't really control thesituation, and that is a difficult place
(34:55):
to be in for a league.Yeah, and that's been one of the
overarching themes of the whole season,is that nobody's really in control of the
whole situation and tough to prognosticate onwhat's going to be decided, if anything,
around that portion of the agenda,just because of all the question marks
that still linger, but again wewill update you on that next week when
(35:17):
we do get some more concrete detailsout of that meeting. The last thing
that will try to predict, Isuppose, or one of the things that
we have a pretty good hunch they'regoing to talk about, is some of
the business initiatives that the teams aregoing to undertake as they try to write
the ship financially. No secret howmuch money teams have lost and the league
has lost overall, and I'd imaginethere will be some brainstorming trying to come
(35:42):
up with some creative solutions on howto fix those financial issues heading in the
next year. Yeah, the leaguehas always been really good about sharing best
practices and what works in my market. You know, it's something I'll share
with you and help you in yourmarket. And vice person that's something they
always are at. How do wehow do we build pro revenues, how
do we explore different possibilities. Imean, there's been so much change in
(36:07):
the sports business anyway in the lastten, fifteen, twenty years, this
year even more so. So,I won't be surprised that, you know,
the see teams be really aggressive.They're going to be looking to really
reintroduce themselves to fans next season.Welcome back. Remember us spend seventeen eighteen
months since you were in our buildingwatching games, and we want we want
(36:30):
you back, and how do weget you back? And so I think
there's gonna be a lot of sharingof ideas, and I think that's great.
I mean, the league needs thatcreativity. And there's a lot of
really bright business people in this league, really sharp minds, and I think
the more they can share their knowledgeand their info, the better. Yeah,
I'm probably hungry to get you backto the table and to be able
(36:52):
to discuss some of those ideas,put the positive thoughts out there and look
forward, more so than we've beenable to do over the last We heard
from Milwaukee this week that they hadtheir front office staff altogether for the first
time in months after they decided notto play so bright spots all over the
place, and the business discussion isone of those things that we will also
(37:13):
recap from the Board of Governors meeting, which again could be happening right this
minute, or could have just happened, depending on when you're tuning into this
episode. That we'll flip back tothe stretch drive. If you want to
call it that. We'll get somethoughts on how to stay motivated with no
playoffs on the horizon. To staywith us here on episode fourteen a season
two of Around the Ear. Interactwith us on social media, give us
(37:37):
your thoughts using the hashtag around theA and follow us at around the apod.
You're listening to Around the A onthe Sports Podcasting Network Season two,
episode fourteen A nice round. Episodesixty overall, so a milestone for us
(37:58):
here on the show. Glad tohave you along. One more reminder to
rate the podcast, subscribe to itif you haven't yet, and leave us
a review. That would be great. Really helps us out. We appreciate
you listening and tuning in for allthe latest news and notes from around the
league. Time to move on toour on the fly segment. If you
are new to the program, Thisis the part of the show where we
(38:19):
take a trip around the league andhere's some audio from various teams and players
and other sources. This week itis playoffs or lack thereof the fact that
the season is winding down, isonly a couple of weeks left, and
how do you get amped up?How do you get pumped. How do
you motivate yourself to bring your bestand play at the top of your potential
(38:40):
without a Calder Cup on the line. Now, we're gonna make stops in
the Bridgeport, in Grand Rapids,in San Diego, and in Belleville.
Where do you want to start first, Pat, Well, let's start in
Belleville. It's the homesite of theAround the A podcast. Yeah, might
as well. Had some thoughts thisweek from Parker Kelly, who's in a
second full season here with the BelvilleSenators, has taken on a real leadership
(39:05):
role for that group. And beforewe get to him, a quick quote
from Troy Man without audio. Ijust asked him straight up after the announcement
that there'd be no playoffs if hewas frustrated. What he said I imagine
rings true with most people around theleague that it's kind of mixed emotions.
Troy said he would have liked tosee like a rookie tournament style playoff,
which is similar, I think towhat they're gonna do out in the Pacific
(39:28):
Division. But he said, whatcan you do? And that's you know,
we all kind of throw our handsup in the air and say the
same thing. It is what itis. Everybody recognizes that, and like
we said in the last segment,we're just ready to look forward. And
we also asked Parker Kelly the samequestion about getting motivated without playoffs on the
horizon, and here's what the formerPrince Albert Raider had to say. Yeah,
(39:52):
I think you gotta play every gamelike it's your last. And oh,
I know there's no playoffs this yearand all the boys in ALAP,
but people are trying to themselves toget contracts next year or you know,
to get a Lake call up intothe Sense organization later in the years.
So you know, there's lots ofplay for if you put your mind to
it. I'm sure it's not toohard to get off for her for every
game. And he makes a goodpoint. Guys are still trying to leave
(40:15):
their mark and show that come trainingcamp in September, they want to earn
a spot in the NHL. That'salways the goal, contracts jobs. I
think if anything, there's more scrutinyon players from management making sure that they
are approaching it the right way.They're not just kind of going through the
motions down the stretch. And it'sa great time to test. You know,
(40:36):
it's almost like if a team iseliminated from playoff contention with a few
weeks to go in the season,that can sometimes to be the best way
to evaluate players because you really seewhat they're made of. Do they loaf,
do they kind of just half halfwaythrough the remaining weeks of the season,
or do they still play as ifthere is a playoff spot in the
(40:58):
line. And you can learned alot and this is a great test for
a lot of players and really agreat evaluation tool for management as well.
Yeah, similar thoughts to what weheard from Chase de Leo as well from
the San Diego goals. Yeah,Chase de Leo if you're familiar with him
at all from his time Manitoba Mooseor with San Diego, where he's become
just a standout player every shift,either as a rookie or now as a
(41:22):
veteran in the league. Full speed, full tilt, a guy that brings
it every night, a guy thatI really think is right on that line
between the NHL and HL at thispoint. I think he's an NHL player
quite frankly, and he had agreat breakdown of how he purchased it kind
of out of my control. I'mjust here doing my job. I know,
(41:43):
as a group, like I saidmany times, we're in this all
together no matter what happens. AndI think that me personally every day.
I take it as a playoff game. Whether it's training camp, whether I'm
training my parents' garage, whether aregular season, it doesn't matter. Every
single guy is replaceable, and Ikeep that in the back of my mind.
(42:06):
So for me, pretty much allsixty eight games during a season as
the playoffs for me. So Imean, it's it's a good thing to
I mean, I guess to haveto look forward to. Um. I
want to always compete against the bestand be the best. And I love
playing the game, and um Ilove playing more my hometown in California,
(42:28):
especially in front of my family.I'm not taking that for granted. So
I've learned to just kind of takeit one day at a time and just
push myself as hard as possible andbe ready for whatever's next. And from
the player's perspective, we move overto the coaching perspective. Out in Grand
Rapids, Ben Simon, the headcoach there, also spoke about trying to
(42:49):
get motivation heading down the stretch yetand one of the common themes we're hearing
pat is that it shouldn't be difficult. Right, Like we as as media
folks sit there and and question it, how do you mentally do that?
But for these guys, they aretrained pro athletes. It's ingrained and embedded
in them to compete every night.And that's pretty much what Ben Simon is
saying as well. Yeah, BenSimon was not pulling any punches. He
(43:13):
was. He was feisty the othernight after three two shootout loss at home
to Rockford, they'd fallen behind tonothing. He was kind of sparring with
the media a little bit, also, kind of lighting a fire under his
team a little bit. I don'tknow, maybe it's the last three months
have just gotten him a little bitfeisty, but he was a feisty player.
(43:34):
He's a feisty head coach. Andyeah, he shared that side of
himself in this quote. It's mentality. You gotta be ready to play.
And I think the last four orfive games we haven't haven't been engaged off
the bat for whatever reason. We'vetalked about playing for jobs, we've talked
about playing for pride, playing foreach other and we talked about taking a
(43:57):
taking a little bit of time todayto take a moment to reflect when you
know, even if there is noCalder Cup playoffs, talking about you know,
just think about how many times you'vehad a thing shoved up your nose
to test. You couldn't see youryour family, your sisters, your brothers,
your parents because all the protocols whenyou couldn't play period. I mean,
(44:17):
we still have the opportunity to play, and we're just we're not putting
together sixty minutes right now. Andwhat I really liked out of that quote
was the point to use all theseextra things that you've had to go through,
the testing and the isolation and thingsas motivation in the sense that you
didn't want to go through all ofthat for nothing, for no reason.
(44:39):
Right, make it count. You'vehad to put up with all this stuff,
So do your best right to thewire. And like we heard from
the players, just because this seasonis ending doesn't mean there's not a season
coming up, so you still gotto prove your worth absolutely. I mean,
if I found it kind of humoroushow Ben Simon mentioned getting the COVID
(45:01):
swab test swabs showed up shows everyday and it's a great point, right,
like, if you've had one ofthose, those are not fun now,
never mind having it how many timesin the past three four months?
And why would you want to throwit away? Now? You you you've
come this far, Why would you? Why would you slack off? And
(45:22):
I thought it's a great reminder anyplayer that maybe and not that players are
consciously deciding to slack off, buthuman nature. It's been a lot of
ways a very long season, despiteit only being the three months, the
playoff situation, the driving of itall, and you know, any anybody
might start to kind of let theirguard down. And what he's saying is
(45:45):
this is exactly the time to notdo that. This is the time to
double down on your efforts, makethe best of it. Finished strong,
take yourself into the summer on ahigh note, and send a message to
Steve Ierserman and the entire Detroit RedWings front office you're serious about competing for
a job next season by doing whatyou're doing right now this season. And
our last stop on the Fly thisweek is in Bridgeport with the general manager
(46:08):
of the Sound Tigers, Chris Lamarello. And it's been a strange season for
everyone Pat, but I think moreso for those three teams in the Atlantic
Division, Providence, Hartford, Bridgeport, because they've only seen those three teams
all season long. They only playedtwenty four games, but that seems like
(46:29):
a lot of games to play thesame opponents all the time. And I
would echo the sentiments of what we'regoing to hear in a moment from Chris
Lamarello about the work that's been putin to get the season completed without any
significant problems. Yeah, Chris Lamarello, chip off the old block, so
to speak. Lou Lamarello Son,he runs the Bridgeport to Sound Tigers and
(46:52):
very much to Lamarello in his approach, and I guarantee you with Lamarrello running
the show there, Lou Lamaro,although kind of at the top of the
heap there and then a real hardnose coach like Brent Thompson, the Bridgeports
Sound Tigers were not laying back andit showed in there in their finish.
They won five of their last sevengames, looked really strong, competing really
(47:15):
well against an excellent Providence Bruins teamand a very strong Hartford wolf Pack team,
and certainly handled themselves very well downthat stretch. And Chris Lamarrello really
puts into perspective exactly how the entireseason was, I mean, the ups
and downs and how they managed successful. They did not have any positive COVID
(47:36):
cases, which I think is remarkablejement given you know, you're talking twenty
five thirty thirty five people in thatgroup playing against other teams, also dealing
with all the office challenges. Toa full mark or full credit to that
team and both the players but alsothe staff behind the scenes who made that
(47:59):
happen well. First of all,I think the players, the coaches,
the training staff, certainly the medicalstaff deserve a tremendous amount of credit for
taking this challenge on the way theydid. At the time they did,
our expectations were really day to dayall year of maintaining health, maintaining safety.
(48:21):
The goal of playing twenty four gameswas forecasted. It was put together
with the league's help and certainly ourdivisional partners Providence in Hartford, who were
excellent to deal with, as wasthe league, and you know, providing
this opportunity to play and to completethe season without any interruption on the ice,
I think is a tremendous accomplishment andI think the players and like I
(48:45):
said, the staff and certainly ourmedical group did a tremendous job of utilizing
every tool that we had available tomake sure that we could complete the season
without interruption. And again we echothat sentiment not just to the staff and
Bridgeport, but to the staff andthe players across the league that have gotten
(49:07):
us this far. Just a fewweeks out from the end of this shortened
twenty twenty one American Hockey League campaign, again to recap, no playoffs in
any of the divisions but the Pacific. The team with the best points percentage
once the schedule is played out willbe Crown Division champions. The Laval Rocket
already winners of the Canadian Division,and the Hershey Bears up top on the
(49:31):
North Division. Adds of the recordingof this show, Chicago leading in the
Central and again it'll be an interestingplayoff I think in the Pacific, with
Henderson, Bakersfield and San Diego allpretty close on winning percentage, San Jose
not too far behind, and thenthat'll be the four I believe that we'll
play for the division crown out inthe Pacific. So what we'll keep an
(49:53):
eye on the playoff race We'll alsokeep an eye on the Board of Governors
meeting this week and likely I'm gonnaguess that are on the fly segment next
week will hopefully involve some sound fromsome of those executives who took part.
Yeah, that will be our goal. There's gonna be a lot coming out
of the meeting. It's a busytime in a normal season, trying to
(50:15):
do at the table for the followingseason, but now with a pandemic and
everything that has been upended by that, I expect you pretty eventful meeting.
We've already had one big domino vaultwith the Abbotsburg News, and I think
the people were to come. Ifyou want to have it breaking at Pee
williams Ahl at Footy on the Airor at Around the apod, it will
(50:37):
have the news as it breaks fromthat meeting. But next week, a
nice, full concise a recap ofall the big stories from the American Hockey
League's Board of Governor's meeting coming upon Around the Air. Thanks for listening
(50:58):
to Around the A. Be sureto tune in again next week. Find
Around the A on the Sports PodcastingNetwork, it, Spotify, or wherever
you get your podcast interact with uson social media, give us your thoughts
using the hashtag around the A,and follow us at Around the apod
This is Around the A, aweekly look at the top stories, news
and interviews from the NHL's top developmentalleague, with your hosts, David Foot
and Patrick Williams on The Sports PodcastingNetwork. Season two, Episode fourteen of
Around the A on the Sports PodcastingNetwork. It's our sixtieth episode since we
(00:26):
started this venture just over a coupleof seasons ago. Glad to have you
along David Foot, alongside Patrick Williams, and we're getting into the stretch run
here, pat. Just a fewweeks left in this shortened campaign and we
now know that there officially won't bea Calder Cup playoffs. That hasn't stopped
a slew of news stories that havebeen coming in over the past week.
(00:47):
There's going to be more coming upwith the Board of Governors set to meet
this week, and we're going toget into a little bit of what they
will discuss at their meeting, alongwith the major relocation news Utica going to
Abbotsford, it's official now from theVancouver Canucks perspective, and the monthly awards
handed out as well. So there'sa whole lot to get to you on
this week's show. Yeah, whatthis current month lacked maybe in the way
(01:10):
of playoff race excitement. It's certainlymaking up for off the ice and on
the business front. As we said, how many times have we sat on
this show, The move toward thetwenty one twenty two season has already started
in earnest and sure enough, sobig moose have already come down. I
expect more to come down in thenext maybe even a few days, and
(01:33):
it's it's gonna be HECIC playoff racesare what they are, obviously, just
to recap for people, most ofthe divisions will not play any sort of
postseason whatsoever. The Pacific Division willplay a very modified emphasis on the other
word, very modified playoff format,just a few STREA games for those teams
(01:53):
out there, but everybody else willhave to settle for a regular season play
and then it's a full speed intothe off season and planning for what the
lead hopes will be a quote unquoteseason. And we will dive deeper into
what's happening at the Board of Governorsmeeting this week are on the fly segment.
(02:13):
A little bit later on, we'llfeature some audio from Stockton because there
are relocation rumors swirling around the heat. We will hear from a Bridgeport general
manager Chris Lamorello as they wrapped uptheir season. Also clips from Grand Rapids,
San Diego and Bellville as we tryto get into the minds of some
coaches and players as to exactly howyou stay motivated with no playoffs on the
(02:37):
horizon. All of that coming upon this week's show before we get into
things a little deeper. Will remindyou to subscribe to the podcast wherever you're
listening to it, rate and reviewus as well, and tell your friends
as well. As we have abig few weeks ahead as far as American
Hockey League news goes. And let'sstart with the big news this week,
Pat and that is that the AbbotsfordArena will be home to an American Hockey
(03:01):
League team again for the first timesince twenty thirteen, fourteen when the Heat
left town. And it's going tobe the Utica Comments moving to Abbotsford,
fulfilling a rumor that had been swirlingfor a few weeks now, and the
Vancouver Canucks making what I would sayis a wise decision to move their American
Hockey League franchise significantly closer to home. Yeah, in one false swoop They've
(03:24):
gone from having the furthest geographical affiliationto now one of the closest Abbots for
just about an hour or so east. Like you said, the Abbotsford Heat
had played there for five years.There was one key difference. It was
the Calgary Flames age. I'll fillit dropped right in the middle of the
heart of Vancouver Canucks country. Needlessto say, that was not a very
(03:46):
successful operation from a business standpoint forthose five seasons. But Vancouver Canucks have
joined the trend that's been going onfor several years in the American Hockey League,
where geography is paramount for affiliations,both from a salary cap perspective,
but also from a player development andjust dish perspective. Now, instead of
(04:09):
having to move your players back andforth across North America with multiple flight connections,
you simply summon a player an ourway. He could be there from
the morning skate, or if there'san injury in the morning skate, you
can bring him up in the afternoon. And so many teams have discovered in
the last number of years that justgreatly simplifies everything you're trying to do.
(04:32):
I think that most double this year, possibly even into next season depending on
the state of the US Canadian border. That border right now is still pretty
thick, pretty locked down. It'ssomething that if you're a Canadian based club
you have to really keep in mindthat we don't know what season will bring
(04:53):
in in terms of border restrictions,if any, but certainly if you're the
Vancouver Connects, this was a challengingseason where you had to actually own some
players out to other Canadian based affiliatessimply to have players within Canada if you
needed them on short notice because ofthe quarantine requirements and everything that went with
(05:13):
that. So I think that wasa big part of what prompted this move.
There certainly had been speculation in recentseasons that perhaps at some point abbits
Heard would be a possibility, andpeople start to connect the dots in terms
of you know, you have anempty building sitting there an hour away that
has already hosted the American Hockey League. It made a lot of sense,
(05:35):
but it's a lot easier said thandone to make these deals happen. They
finally did make it happen. Theyowned that franchise in Munica. Essentially it
had just been managed on a locallevel by the Utica comments and so it's
a very portable situation and they exercisethat option. And when that deal was
(05:55):
not renewed earlier in the season,I think that was the first sign that
Vancouver was looking at some other options, and sure enough, it finally did
come to fruition. The chairman ofCanucks Sports and Entertainment, Francesco Aquilini,
saying, quote, the move willbring significant opportunities for both our team and
the community, and it would begina new chapter bringing Canucks hockey to even
(06:17):
more fans throughout the Lower Mainland.You mentioned the fact that the arena is
AHL ready after having that experience there. It seats about seven thousand or so
for hockey, so it's a bigbarn, and imagine it'll get rock and
when the hometown fans packet. Andproximity to the NHL club and the fan
bases, I think is a hugething. We've seen the difference that that
(06:40):
has made in a number of markets. I mean even here in Belleville,
where you're still a couple hours awayfrom Ottawa, but in Toronto and obviously
Winnipeg and elsewhere, it's a bigthing to be that close to your NHL
club and to be able to pullthe fan base out to take in American
Hockey League games just from a revenuestandpoint, but also just from you know,
(07:01):
a fan standpoint. It's great tobe so close to the prospects.
I mean, I guarantee you're gonnahave Canucks fans driving from Vancouver out to
Abbotsford to watch, you know,the farm team play, which is a
luxury that not a lot of fansin this league have, and I can
see that being a perfect fit.There was some talk about Victoria as well
(07:23):
being a potential host, but there'sobviously a WHL team there and Abbotsford with
their empty rink, just seems likea like an excellent opportunity. We can't
ignore what this means for the folksin Utica, obviously, because you know,
anytime that I was there to doa comments in b Sends game,
the rink was packed. The fans, and I've said this on this program
(07:44):
before, are some of the bestin the American Hockey League and it's a
big stinger to lose that team.But it seems like they're not going to
be without a club for long atall. Just a little background on that
they had gone twenty years without theAmerican Hockey League, the Utica Devil's left
town and ninety three. The commentscame in in twenty thirteen, and it
was at the time un as alittle bit of the long shot in terms
(08:07):
of the chances of success. Theoriginal Utica Devils had had kind of a
mitch Bag mixed record of success.Now you're bringing in a team twenty years
later, certainly not a geographically approximateclub. There's obviously not going to be
a huge base in Cooper Canucks fansin Utica before the comments arrived, and
(08:31):
to the great credit of Robert Esh, the team president, and that fan
base, they've become one of thebest success stories in the entire American Hockey
League. They went to the CalderCup Final their second season. The buildings
packed two All Star games in justthat spans. It's coming back in twenty
thirteen to the building always seems likeit's it's rocking. It's filled very passionate
(08:52):
fan base, and they've done agreat job. They've had some up and
down teams for years, but thefan supports never really wavered at at all,
and that has certainly caught the attentionof the movers and shakers in the
hockey world. And it looks likeUtica will be taken care of, you
know, despite losing the Vancouver affiliation. And I don't think that's any surprise
(09:15):
because the success that they've had bothon the ice but more so off the
ice. They've put a lot ofrenaots into that building there, and they
add are on that Bank Center andmade it enter really really cool little barn
has that that that nice mix ofmodern amenities but the throwback feel every night
(09:35):
that they're playing hockey there, it'sit's real. It's a really energized the
atmosphere. Players love playing there,and I think it's going to be a
really good, uh continuing home forthe American Hockey League even beyond Vancouver's departure.
And what does this mean for Utica. I mean, we had heard
some rumblings about a trademark being filedfor the Utica Devil's name and uh,
(09:56):
you know and word mark again,but nothing will official on that front.
We did talk about the surprise inBinghamton that perhaps the Devils would be moving,
but is there any more word onthat move and what could happen as
far as filling the Adirondack Bank Centeragain. Yeah, it's it's one of
(10:16):
the real real challenges right now becauseand this is one of the issues as
you reached thirty two markets with Seattlecoming in, there's a lot more competition
for affiliations. It's not what itused to be when the lead was centered
mainly in the eastern two thirds ofNorth America. Now it's close to coast
(10:37):
and those western teams have a lotmore options closer to home, and so
that's hit a lot of those easternmarkets pretty hard. And so it's gonna
be a real challenge and a realkind of race, I think the land
affiliations in the future, and we'llsee what happens. But the way the
winds are looking, that's the waythey're blowing. It's it seems that southings
(11:00):
will pan out, but nothing officialto this point. Likely there will be
some discussion on that at the Boardof Governors meeting which happens this week,
and of course we will recap thewhole thing for you next week here on
around the A We will get alittle bit more in depth on what's on
the agenda at the Board of Governor'smeeting coming up later on in this program.
(11:22):
Before we move on to the monthlyawards and the weekly awards, let's
talk playoff format quickly. This newsbroke we had just posted last week's show,
and as always tends to be thecase, the news breaks that the
playoffs will not happen save four inthe Pacific Division. Again, pretty much
(11:43):
what we expected. I was surprisedthat one division even decided to play playoff
games, but obviously things are workingout well enough in the Pacific Division that
they feel like that's something that theycan pull off without any problems. Yeah,
that those specific division teams have reallybeen a very dead on playing as
many games as possible. San Diego, for examples, playing forty four regular
(12:05):
season games. They a lot ofthose teams out West have almost been playing
a heavier schedule than they would duringa normal season, and sort of the
idea, I think, being,well, we have nothing better to do
right now. It's not like playershave a lot of else, a lot
else going on, so I mightas well play. We have them here,
we're testing, get them as manygames as possible, so they're they're
(12:26):
going to continue that approach into theplayoffs. Get some of those players,
especially those young prospects coming in backfrom the Western Hockey League for example,
who had to go back. Well, now that season is over and they're
able to make the return to theAmerican Hockey League, you're seeing some players
trickle back and this will be achance for some of them to get another
four or five six games in andplay some high level competition going into the
(12:50):
summer. So that's the thinking there. But basically it's a tough fit for
players. I know that some ofthem weren't thrilled with how the plan went
down, but that's where its adsat the moments, and they're going to
play those playoff games. That's alittle bit of extra time in and then
they'll wrap up pretty quickly and headedinto the offseason. So they'll play a
(13:13):
tournament essentially to decide a division winner. The other divisions will all be decided
based on points percentage. One divisionalready decided. Not a shocker that the
Laval Rocket have clinched as champions ofthe Canadian Division because they've been absolutely incredible
this year. But it led toa question posed to me buy some folks
(13:33):
around town here in Belleville that theleague last season, when they ended the
year didn't officially award division titles asthey are doing this year. The Belville
Senators were at the top of theNorth Division and likely we're going to win
that division. Last year had somepeople wondering if perhaps they should be awarded
a banner for last season, andsame with the other division leaders at the
(13:54):
end of last season. I don'tthink there's been any official talk about that,
But is that something that you thinkwe could see or will teams be
left to their own devices to maybefind a way to mark their success if
they had it heading into the pandemic. Yeah, I haven't heard a lot
about that. I mean, justeverything that came at the league last season,
(14:15):
the uncertainty that if we think back, I mean they went out on
March twelfth, they wrapped up Ibelieve it was May eleventh they officially pulled
the plug on the seat, andin between, there was a lot lot
to figure out between then and thenalmost immediately from the point they canceled last
season, it wasn't too long beforethey had to start trying to sketch out
(14:37):
a plan for this season. Imean, if if we think back,
it was it was a long longroad to get there. Really you know,
probably the better part of saves monthsreally with a lot of stops and
starts and a lot a lot ofwaiting for the NHL to make up its
mind and figure out its own mind. So I think somewhere along the line
that's definitely went on the backburner.I wouldn't rule anything out. I think,
(15:03):
like you said, I think itmay be something that teams trying to
figure out for themselves, but Idon't expect any sort of official reciprocal decision
or I should say, a retroactivedecision awarding twenty nineteen twenty titles. I
think everything I've been told the leagueis just it's all about going forward.
(15:24):
I think to some extent people wantto just put the past fourteen months behind
them and move on, and Ithink that's understandable. There's a lot of
challenges this summer, as I've saidbefore. I mean, remember a lot
of these teams are gonna have tohire almost a new front office in a
lot of cases, and there's justa lot that they have to figure out,
(15:46):
really about really five months away fromthe start of next season, which
they seem like a lot, butit's really not not. When you're trying
to reboot really the entire business operationof the league and get a lot of
pieces of place with not a wholelot of time. Yeah, and I
mean, I'm typically not one forhanding out nothing banners or for teams doing
(16:07):
that on their own, but Icertainly wouldn't fault anybody for finding a way
to mark the success that they hadleading into the pandemic. Maybe a tribute
video or something like that on openingnight next season when we get back to
normal might be nice, but we'llhave to see how teams decide to mark
that if they do. Interested tohear what the fans think about that idea,
(16:29):
hit us up on social media ataround the apod. Let us know
what you think. Should the teamsthat were leading their divisions when the season
shut down last season be awarded fortheir success? We'd love to hear from
you. Let's move on to theweekly awards first, then we'll get to
the monthly awards for April, andthen we will get into the Board of
Governors meeting coming up here this week. And Joel Shellman from the San Jose
(16:52):
Barracuda had a hell of a week, a hat trick, some late game
heroics, seven points in three gameslast week and he is the CCMAHL Player
of the Week. These guys thatwin this award get their name in lights
in the Marquee and are pumped bythe league. But what do we need
to know about Joel Shellman? Yeah, nice prospect. I mean, Sandals
(17:15):
always seems to have those guys forone reason or another who are very quiet,
a little bit under the radar insome ways. Joel Shellman has really
made a nice little mark for himself, coming over a couple of years back
from the Swedish League where he hadconsiderable experience, and that's obviously a high
quality lead coming over and had sometime last year with the Sandals Sharks,
(17:38):
kind of a little bit of backand forth with the Barracuda, and I
think importantly for him he got sometime playing this season early on back home
in Sweden, was able to hitthe ground running when the HL season did
start. He's only twenty six yearsold. I liked his game a lot.
I think there's a lot of creativitythere and it seems like those players
(18:00):
that trained in the Swedish Hockey Leaguealways are well rounded, always have a
lot of detail to their game,and I don't think he's an exception in
that case. So he's had alittle bit of time up the NHL club
again this year, and obviously withthe reset or the rebuild or whatever you
want to call it, the Sharksare in the middle of UH, there
(18:22):
is opportunity for him going uh youknow, even beyond the season. He
is under contract for next year,so that's a good sign for him.
The key for him finished strong,and that's a that's a pretty far recuted
team if you watch some of theirgames, there's a lot of creativity there.
Uh. Sasha Zimileski another another kindof unheralded player, a good run
this year, and the Sharks alwaysseemed to, like I said, be
(18:45):
able to find either those uh lateround or undrafted players, either in North
America or in Europe, bring themin and grow them. And a lot
of credit obviously has to go toRoy sommer head coached there and San Jose,
who were familiar with from this show. But I like Shelban's game a
lot. I won't be be surprisedif he's a full timer next year with
(19:10):
the Sharks making a good case forit based on the week he had last
week, and then some pretty bigmonths from Boris Kochook the AHL's Player of
the Month, Cole from Fetti theRookie of the Month, and Stewart Skinner
the goaltender of the Month from Syracuse, Manitoba and Bakersfield respectively. Pretty big
months for all three of those guys, and as tends to be the case,
(19:32):
well deserving of the recognition that they'vegot. Yeah, Stuart Skinner,
I mean, what a nice,fine early pick by the Edmonton winners and
had a really nice run in Bakersfield. It's interesting looking at Bakersfield ever since
J Jay Woodcroft came in there.I mean they've really turned that whole program
around. For so long Edmonton reallystruggled to develop players at the HL level,
(19:56):
including goaltenders, and they've been ableto really star to find some success
there, built some trash and senda number of players already up to Edmonton,
and I think with good numbers stillon the way. So Skinner has
been a nice, fine, areal centerpiece there for what's been a strong
year with the Condors. And youlook at that team and I think they're
(20:17):
they're nice makes the veterans leading theway, but also a lot of higher
end young talents, so impressive withwhat he's been able to do so far,
and Cole Perfretti obviously Manitoba tenth overallpick this past October by the Winnipeg
Jets, and he's making a casefor why the NHLHL role might get re
examined because he's come into the AmericanHockey League and not only looked like he
(20:41):
can handle it, but excelled atdifferent points of the year. So getting
a very in depth education there asa as a young player with Pascal Vincent,
the head coach of the Moose,if you're playing for him, you're
going to learn all the aspects ofthe team. So it's it's been a
really successful year for him. Ithink if you're Winnipeg, you have to
be happy with what you've seen playingin the second best league in the world,
(21:04):
So full march to them. Ithink it's it's a really good situation
for them. Let's take a bitof a breather real quick here. We'll
come back and we will dive alittle bit deeper into what's on the agenda
on this week's AHL Board of Governorsmeeting Thursday, so we'll have a full
recap of what's talked about next week, and you can get all the details,
of course from Pat on Twitter atp williams Ahl. I'll likely have
(21:27):
some tidbits as well at Footy onthe Air and we'll discuss what's to come
here coming up on the episode fourteenof season two Around the Air. Interact
with us on social media, giveus our thoughts using the hashtag around the
A and follow us at around theapod. You're listening to Around the A
(21:51):
on the Sports Podcasting Network, don'tforget to subscribe to the pod, rate
and review as well. As wecontinue on here on the episode four season
two, number sixty. Overall,if you are keeping score at home,
we're going to dive now into theupcoming American Hockey League Board of Governors meeting,
and really, if you're tuning intothe show, the meeting is happening
(22:14):
right now or has just happened,and we'll have a full recap on next
week's show. But there's a lotfor them to discuss. Pat, maybe
we'll start with the Abbotsford relocation,which we discussed earlier on in the program.
It's big news. It's always ahuge deal when a team relocates.
But from the Board of governor's perspective, what do they have to do.
Is it just merely a matter ofvoting and rubber stamping this or will there
(22:38):
be some perhaps discussion in opposition ofthe move? But what are they going
to talk about? Generally speaking withthese kinds of things, If an NHL
team has gone to the lengths toput together a deal, put all those
pieces in place, you're not goingto see other teams to really raise an
objection that much. Shouldn't mean theremay be some obviously some teams that are
(23:00):
not happy, and certainly some teamswill be affected, for example by having
a team go out West because thatyou know, once he goes out West,
I mean, that's one for you'rea team in the Eastern Conference,
which certainly changes on the geography ofthe league, also changes some of the
scheduling and the financial components. Butit's a little bit of a situation where
(23:21):
if I don't want you to tellme what to do with my franchise,
then I'm not going to tell youwhat to do with your franchise. Type
of dynamic. So you know,provided that you know it's not something completely
outlandish, which is not the caseanymore. I think where this twenty years
ago and you had a lead thatwas primarily based in the East and then
(23:41):
somebody was saying, hey, wewant to put a team out in Atttsford.
Well than that would have created amuch different dynamic. But now,
I mean, the HL pretty muchtouches all four corners of North America,
you know, at least in theUnited States and Canada, and there's really
no place to more that's off limitsyour you'd all the way from South and
(24:03):
Charlotte, all the way to WestCalifornia, up north obviously Winnipeg, and
then a slew of teams in theEast. So there's plenty of geography for
everybody. So I don't foresee anyany opposition at least in terms of voting
to that move by the Vancouver Canucks. And you mentioned that widespread the league
is. So we'll talk in alittle bit about scheduling and how things might
(24:26):
look heading into next season. Butobviously with abbotsburd moving, there won't be
much opposition, as you say,to that. But again from the Board
of Governor's perspective, from the headexecutives in the league, what does this
mean for Utica? Will there bemuch talk? Do you think about replacing
the comments in Utica. Yes,absolutely, I think they'll be moves to
(24:48):
try to make that happen. Idon't foresee a problem for Utica. I
think, like I said earlier,their track record has been excellent and they're
a team that they earned their wayback I think into the upper estional lot
of the league simply for their office performance, the fan support, the
vibe that was created around town.And I think the Batist factor perhaps is
(25:08):
the renovations as they did to theirbuilding. They got really up to speed,
which is one NHL teams we're lookingfor the looking for facilities, they're
looking for geographical convenience, and you'recustoorting will check that box for for any
number of potential suitors. And Idon't see a problem for your year ago
whatsoever. Will there be much officialdiscussion about how to fill that void we
(25:33):
talked about the you know, therumor of the devils going there. Do
you think that's going to come upat all? Well? Yeah, I
mean there needs to be decisions madefast because the schedule has to be made
um and uh, there's there's wayaround that, and that the lead lights
that have in ducts in order forthe following season that as early as possible.
(25:53):
This is generally the time when theywant answers. It's of our u
in or not and if you're not, we need to know. So I
expect a very very swift resolution,I think to this situation. It was
one of those things where everybody kindof had to wait for the first shoot
(26:15):
a drop, and once that happenedwith Abbotsford and Vancouver, now that can
set it into chain of emotion orchain of motion of a lot of other
events to follow. So it's alwaysgetting that first step out of the way,
who goes first almost That is thedifficult part of this. And then
(26:37):
once that happens, thing to move, generally speaking pretty quickly. And all
this talk about teams moving, coupledwith I think what we can call the
success of the Canadian Division and questionsaround will the border open again in time
to start next season, it's gotsome rumors swirling about another potential relocation.
(26:59):
And will preface this discussion by sayingthis is all rumor, but it's a
rumor enough that it's led to questionsbeing asked of the general manager of the
Stockton heat Rad Pascal. Some talkabout perhaps the heat leaving Stockton and heading
it to Calgary, where they againhave seen a lot of success this year
playing out of the Scotia Bank SaddledDome, and like we said, with
(27:23):
the other teams that have their affiliatesclose by, it's been nice for the
Calgary Flames to have their prospects inthe house. Again, all rumors at
this point, But what are youhearing on that front? Yeah, keyword
rumors, keyword rumors. All capitalletters that can't emphasize that underlined, triple
(27:44):
exclamation mark, bold, it's asbold. Do you name it? Yeah,
tell us size it, etc.Etc. Yeah, a lot of
people I think are connecting the dots, just the background on that. Obviously,
Stockton had to temporarily relook eight tocalorie this season given the border constraints,
so they moved to the club atlast minute, really was about eight
(28:07):
days before the regular season was supposedto start. That actually delayed their home
or actually there's an entire schedule aboutsixteen days and they were the first team
believed it or not to actually concludetheir season last week. So naturally those
rumors start to swirl again. Imean, this is just being in the
hockey world. This being the AmericanHockey League, the gossip mill, the
(28:33):
rumor mill, whatever you want tocall it, has to be fed at
all times. And yeah, peoplestart putting two and two together, connecting
the dots. They're looking at Kyrie. They're saying, well, this went
pretty well. And it did.It went very well all things considered it
given especially the last minute nature ofit. If you're the Calgary Flames,
you have to be thrilled with howwell it went. They played all the
saddle done there and the players wereable to be in Calgary get up close
(28:59):
few wins by all the Flames management. They were able to ast you fluid
charter to all the road games.So I think the players like that for
sure, and all the conservative itwas a very successful operation. That being
said, um, you know,what's good for one season and a pandemic
may not be what's best long term. And so that question was posed to
(29:26):
Brad Pascal, the GM of theStockton need slash assistant general manager of the
Calgary Flames, and here's what hehad to say. Yeah, we're just
in the in the final stages ofgoing through things. We have an HL
board meeting coming up at the endof this week, which I think we'll
get a little bit more guidance on. I think initially as we as we
said all along, our our intentionis to be back in Stockton, and
(29:51):
we're just working on, you know, working on some details to be in
a in a situation, a situationwhere we can, I guess publicly say
that, but by seeing it now, is no different than what we said,
you know, in the past whenwe made a temporary relocation here is
our intention is to be back inStockton next year and that hasn't changed at
(30:11):
all. So no real news toreport other than we're just working on finalizing
the fine details of that and ensuringBut as I said all along, it's
been our intention to go back there, and that's if you're asking me,
that's a plan. That's a plannow, and we hope to have things
finalize soon. Now, listening tothat clip, Brad Pascal seems to be
(30:32):
committed to going back to Stockton,the question becomes how much stock do you
put into what he's saying. Andagain the thing that I'm looking at his
rumor of not going back, butis that a not going back permanently because
they want to move for certain oris it not going back because they don't
know if the border is going tobe open and it's just easier to stay
(30:52):
in Canada. There's still so manyquestions around this, and that's why again
we proceeded this conversation by holding rumorat the start of it, because there
is no for sure answer. Willwe get much more answers out of this
Board of Governor's meeting? You think, well, let me tell you this
about Brad Pascal. We've had himon this show. We know him well.
He's a straight shooter. He givesyou an honest answer. I take
(31:17):
him as his word. I haveno reason to doubt him. I think
what put throw over ankle into everything, and this has been true for the
last fourteen months, is the pandemicand the border and all those issues that
have thrown such a wrench into somany different aspects of the entire American Hockey
League operation and the stock and heatwere one of the biggest examples of I
(31:38):
han't a literally pulled States last minute, eight days before season and relocate the
operation to an entirely different country duringa pandemic. That shows what this pandemic
has done to the business. Theturmoil that it's caused, and so I
can't rull out anything anymore. Imean, I guess maybe I've become a
(32:00):
little jaded by this whole situation thathow y'all, I'm like, hey,
anything's possible, right, I mean, you know, like here we are,
we're playing games and empty buildings anddifferent schedules and any number of one
hundred other different things that are weirdright now. So we didn't shock me,
No, But as of this moment, I don't think there's much beyond
(32:22):
some smoke. I don't see anyreal impetus right now. Granted, anything
can change, and I'll certainly putthat that astich next to it. But
like I said, I trust Pascalwhat he says, and I have no
reason to dun him, for surea straight shooter. As you mentioned,
you can head over to sports PodcastingNetwork dot com browsed through our older episodes
(32:44):
and you can hear straight from BradPascal coincidentally enough, talking about how well
things have gone in Calgary. Butwe will have to see again on the
sucked in heat front how much heatthere is around that rumor of relocation.
Let's move on to some talk aboutthe schedule and the potential divisional alignment for
next year. Obviously there's going tobe a new team out west with the
(33:07):
Abbotsford getting the Utica comments in theVancouver Canucks franchise. We still don't know
though, again, and I feellike a broken record saying this, what's
going to happen with the border?How much of a question mark is is
that still putting on preparations for nextseason, Despite how gung ho everybody is
to move past this and have anormal twenty two campaign. It's a huge
(33:30):
facker and right now, nobody connectserthat as we've seen. I mean,
if the Canadian government, or frankly, if the US government decides the borders
shut down, then that's that.Look at the Toronto Blue Jays. They're
playing games right now in a springtraining stadium in Florida. So it goes
to show you that even somebody aspowerful as Major League Baseball was not able
(33:52):
to work around that. So ifthe border shut, then it's shut.
And that will create any number ofheadaches for the American Hockey League, not
the least of which would be theschedule. So you need to kind of
plan for the best, but alsoplan for the worst and if the borders
shut, that means Canadian clubs,at least for I don't know, the
(34:13):
first third, maybe more of theseason would be limited from making the trips
over the border, and you'd haveto certainly find that into your schedules.
So you're going to need to getsome information. But as we've seen,
it can change fast and what looksgood now in a month or two may
not. So I do think that'sgoing to be a major issue for the
(34:34):
league to really try to resolve andfigure out what their options are and if
it does for them to be thatthe border remains shut come next fall,
that the schedule will have to reflectthat. So but that's certainly throws a
lot of questions into the equation becauseright now, if you're the American Hockey
League, you don't really control thesituation, and that is a difficult place
(34:55):
to be in for a league.Yeah, and that's been one of the
overarching themes of the whole season,is that nobody's really in control of the
whole situation and tough to prognosticate onwhat's going to be decided, if anything,
around that portion of the agenda,just because of all the question marks
that still linger, but again wewill update you on that next week when
(35:17):
we do get some more concrete detailsout of that meeting. The last thing
that will try to predict, Isuppose, or one of the things that
we have a pretty good hunch they'regoing to talk about, is some of
the business initiatives that the teams aregoing to undertake as they try to write
the ship financially. No secret howmuch money teams have lost and the league
has lost overall, and I'd imaginethere will be some brainstorming trying to come
(35:42):
up with some creative solutions on howto fix those financial issues heading in the
next year. Yeah, the leaguehas always been really good about sharing best
practices and what works in my market. You know, it's something I'll share
with you and help you in yourmarket. And vice person that's something they
always are at. How do wehow do we build pro revenues, how
do we explore different possibilities. Imean, there's been so much change in
(36:07):
the sports business anyway in the lastten, fifteen, twenty years, this
year even more so. So,I won't be surprised that, you know,
the see teams be really aggressive.They're going to be looking to really
reintroduce themselves to fans next season.Welcome back. Remember us spend seventeen eighteen
months since you were in our buildingwatching games, and we want we want
(36:30):
you back, and how do weget you back? And so I think
there's gonna be a lot of sharingof ideas, and I think that's great.
I mean, the league needs thatcreativity. And there's a lot of
really bright business people in this league, really sharp minds, and I think
the more they can share their knowledgeand their info, the better. Yeah,
I'm probably hungry to get you backto the table and to be able
(36:52):
to discuss some of those ideas,put the positive thoughts out there and look
forward, more so than we've beenable to do over the last We heard
from Milwaukee this week that they hadtheir front office staff altogether for the first
time in months after they decided notto play so bright spots all over the
place, and the business discussion isone of those things that we will also
(37:13):
recap from the Board of Governors meeting, which again could be happening right this
minute, or could have just happened, depending on when you're tuning into this
episode. That we'll flip back tothe stretch drive. If you want to
call it that. We'll get somethoughts on how to stay motivated with no
playoffs on the horizon. To staywith us here on episode fourteen a season
two of Around the Ear. Interactwith us on social media, give us
(37:37):
your thoughts using the hashtag around theA and follow us at around the apod.
You're listening to Around the A onthe Sports Podcasting Network Season two,
episode fourteen A nice round. Episodesixty overall, so a milestone for us
(37:58):
here on the show. Glad tohave you along. One more reminder to
rate the podcast, subscribe to itif you haven't yet, and leave us
a review. That would be great. Really helps us out. We appreciate
you listening and tuning in for allthe latest news and notes from around the
league. Time to move on toour on the fly segment. If you
are new to the program, Thisis the part of the show where we
(38:19):
take a trip around the league andhere's some audio from various teams and players
and other sources. This week itis playoffs or lack thereof the fact that
the season is winding down, isonly a couple of weeks left, and
how do you get amped up?How do you get pumped. How do
you motivate yourself to bring your bestand play at the top of your potential
(38:40):
without a Calder Cup on the line. Now, we're gonna make stops in
the Bridgeport, in Grand Rapids,in San Diego, and in Belleville.
Where do you want to start first, Pat, Well, let's start in
Belleville. It's the homesite of theAround the A podcast. Yeah, might
as well. Had some thoughts thisweek from Parker Kelly, who's in a
second full season here with the BelvilleSenators, has taken on a real leadership
(39:05):
role for that group. And beforewe get to him, a quick quote
from Troy Man without audio. Ijust asked him straight up after the announcement
that there'd be no playoffs if hewas frustrated. What he said I imagine
rings true with most people around theleague that it's kind of mixed emotions.
Troy said he would have liked tosee like a rookie tournament style playoff,
which is similar, I think towhat they're gonna do out in the Pacific
(39:28):
Division. But he said, whatcan you do? And that's you know,
we all kind of throw our handsup in the air and say the
same thing. It is what itis. Everybody recognizes that, and like
we said in the last segment,we're just ready to look forward. And
we also asked Parker Kelly the samequestion about getting motivated without playoffs on the
horizon, and here's what the formerPrince Albert Raider had to say. Yeah,
(39:52):
I think you gotta play every gamelike it's your last. And oh,
I know there's no playoffs this yearand all the boys in ALAP,
but people are trying to themselves toget contracts next year or you know,
to get a Lake call up intothe Sense organization later in the years.
So you know, there's lots ofplay for if you put your mind to
it. I'm sure it's not toohard to get off for her for every
game. And he makes a goodpoint. Guys are still trying to leave
(40:15):
their mark and show that come trainingcamp in September, they want to earn
a spot in the NHL. That'salways the goal, contracts jobs. I
think if anything, there's more scrutinyon players from management making sure that they
are approaching it the right way.They're not just kind of going through the
motions down the stretch. And it'sa great time to test. You know,
(40:36):
it's almost like if a team iseliminated from playoff contention with a few
weeks to go in the season,that can sometimes to be the best way
to evaluate players because you really seewhat they're made of. Do they loaf,
do they kind of just half halfwaythrough the remaining weeks of the season,
or do they still play as ifthere is a playoff spot in the
(40:58):
line. And you can learned alot and this is a great test for
a lot of players and really agreat evaluation tool for management as well.
Yeah, similar thoughts to what weheard from Chase de Leo as well from
the San Diego goals. Yeah,Chase de Leo if you're familiar with him
at all from his time Manitoba Mooseor with San Diego, where he's become
just a standout player every shift,either as a rookie or now as a
(41:22):
veteran in the league. Full speed, full tilt, a guy that brings
it every night, a guy thatI really think is right on that line
between the NHL and HL at thispoint. I think he's an NHL player
quite frankly, and he had agreat breakdown of how he purchased it kind
of out of my control. I'mjust here doing my job. I know,
(41:43):
as a group, like I saidmany times, we're in this all
together no matter what happens. AndI think that me personally every day.
I take it as a playoff game. Whether it's training camp, whether I'm
training my parents' garage, whether aregular season, it doesn't matter. Every
single guy is replaceable, and Ikeep that in the back of my mind.
(42:06):
So for me, pretty much allsixty eight games during a season as
the playoffs for me. So Imean, it's it's a good thing to
I mean, I guess to haveto look forward to. Um. I
want to always compete against the bestand be the best. And I love
playing the game, and um Ilove playing more my hometown in California,
(42:28):
especially in front of my family.I'm not taking that for granted. So
I've learned to just kind of takeit one day at a time and just
push myself as hard as possible andbe ready for whatever's next. And from
the player's perspective, we move overto the coaching perspective. Out in Grand
Rapids, Ben Simon, the headcoach there, also spoke about trying to
(42:49):
get motivation heading down the stretch yetand one of the common themes we're hearing
pat is that it shouldn't be difficult. Right, Like we as as media
folks sit there and and question it, how do you mentally do that?
But for these guys, they aretrained pro athletes. It's ingrained and embedded
in them to compete every night.And that's pretty much what Ben Simon is
saying as well. Yeah, BenSimon was not pulling any punches. He
(43:13):
was. He was feisty the othernight after three two shootout loss at home
to Rockford, they'd fallen behind tonothing. He was kind of sparring with
the media a little bit, also, kind of lighting a fire under his
team a little bit. I don'tknow, maybe it's the last three months
have just gotten him a little bitfeisty, but he was a feisty player.
(43:34):
He's a feisty head coach. Andyeah, he shared that side of
himself in this quote. It's mentality. You gotta be ready to play.
And I think the last four orfive games we haven't haven't been engaged off
the bat for whatever reason. We'vetalked about playing for jobs, we've talked
about playing for pride, playing foreach other and we talked about taking a
(43:57):
taking a little bit of time todayto take a moment to reflect when you
know, even if there is noCalder Cup playoffs, talking about you know,
just think about how many times you'vehad a thing shoved up your nose
to test. You couldn't see youryour family, your sisters, your brothers,
your parents because all the protocols whenyou couldn't play period. I mean,
(44:17):
we still have the opportunity to play, and we're just we're not putting
together sixty minutes right now. Andwhat I really liked out of that quote
was the point to use all theseextra things that you've had to go through,
the testing and the isolation and thingsas motivation in the sense that you
didn't want to go through all ofthat for nothing, for no reason.
(44:39):
Right, make it count. You'vehad to put up with all this stuff,
So do your best right to thewire. And like we heard from
the players, just because this seasonis ending doesn't mean there's not a season
coming up, so you still gotto prove your worth absolutely. I mean,
if I found it kind of humoroushow Ben Simon mentioned getting the COVID
(45:01):
swab test swabs showed up shows everyday and it's a great point, right,
like, if you've had one ofthose, those are not fun now,
never mind having it how many timesin the past three four months?
And why would you want to throwit away? Now? You you you've
come this far, Why would you? Why would you slack off? And
(45:22):
I thought it's a great reminder anyplayer that maybe and not that players are
consciously deciding to slack off, buthuman nature. It's been a lot of
ways a very long season, despiteit only being the three months, the
playoff situation, the driving of itall, and you know, any anybody
might start to kind of let theirguard down. And what he's saying is
(45:45):
this is exactly the time to notdo that. This is the time to
double down on your efforts, makethe best of it. Finished strong,
take yourself into the summer on ahigh note, and send a message to
Steve Ierserman and the entire Detroit RedWings front office you're serious about competing for
a job next season by doing whatyou're doing right now this season. And
our last stop on the Fly thisweek is in Bridgeport with the general manager
(46:08):
of the Sound Tigers, Chris Lamarello. And it's been a strange season for
everyone Pat, but I think moreso for those three teams in the Atlantic
Division, Providence, Hartford, Bridgeport, because they've only seen those three teams
all season long. They only playedtwenty four games, but that seems like
(46:29):
a lot of games to play thesame opponents all the time. And I
would echo the sentiments of what we'regoing to hear in a moment from Chris
Lamarello about the work that's been putin to get the season completed without any
significant problems. Yeah, Chris Lamarello, chip off the old block, so
to speak. Lou Lamarello Son,he runs the Bridgeport to Sound Tigers and
(46:52):
very much to Lamarello in his approach, and I guarantee you with Lamarrello running
the show there, Lou Lamaro,although kind of at the top of the
heap there and then a real hardnose coach like Brent Thompson, the Bridgeports
Sound Tigers were not laying back andit showed in there in their finish.
They won five of their last sevengames, looked really strong, competing really
(47:15):
well against an excellent Providence Bruins teamand a very strong Hartford wolf Pack team,
and certainly handled themselves very well downthat stretch. And Chris Lamarrello really
puts into perspective exactly how the entireseason was, I mean, the ups
and downs and how they managed successful. They did not have any positive COVID
(47:36):
cases, which I think is remarkablejement given you know, you're talking twenty
five thirty thirty five people in thatgroup playing against other teams, also dealing
with all the office challenges. Toa full mark or full credit to that
team and both the players but alsothe staff behind the scenes who made that
(47:59):
happen well. First of all,I think the players, the coaches,
the training staff, certainly the medicalstaff deserve a tremendous amount of credit for
taking this challenge on the way theydid. At the time they did,
our expectations were really day to dayall year of maintaining health, maintaining safety.
(48:21):
The goal of playing twenty four gameswas forecasted. It was put together
with the league's help and certainly ourdivisional partners Providence in Hartford, who were
excellent to deal with, as wasthe league, and you know, providing
this opportunity to play and to completethe season without any interruption on the ice,
I think is a tremendous accomplishment andI think the players and like I
(48:45):
said, the staff and certainly ourmedical group did a tremendous job of utilizing
every tool that we had available tomake sure that we could complete the season
without interruption. And again we echothat sentiment not just to the staff and
Bridgeport, but to the staff andthe players across the league that have gotten
(49:07):
us this far. Just a fewweeks out from the end of this shortened
twenty twenty one American Hockey League campaign, again to recap, no playoffs in
any of the divisions but the Pacific. The team with the best points percentage
once the schedule is played out willbe Crown Division champions. The Laval Rocket
already winners of the Canadian Division,and the Hershey Bears up top on the
(49:31):
North Division. Adds of the recordingof this show, Chicago leading in the
Central and again it'll be an interestingplayoff I think in the Pacific, with
Henderson, Bakersfield and San Diego allpretty close on winning percentage, San Jose
not too far behind, and thenthat'll be the four I believe that we'll
play for the division crown out inthe Pacific. So what we'll keep an
(49:53):
eye on the playoff race We'll alsokeep an eye on the Board of Governors
meeting this week and likely I'm gonnaguess that are on the fly segment next
week will hopefully involve some sound fromsome of those executives who took part.
Yeah, that will be our goal. There's gonna be a lot coming out
of the meeting. It's a busytime in a normal season, trying to
(50:15):
do at the table for the followingseason, but now with a pandemic and
everything that has been upended by that, I expect you pretty eventful meeting.
We've already had one big domino vaultwith the Abbotsburg News, and I think
the people were to come. Ifyou want to have it breaking at Pee
williams Ahl at Footy on the Airor at Around the apod, it will
(50:37):
have the news as it breaks fromthat meeting. But next week, a
nice, full concise a recap ofall the big stories from the American Hockey
League's Board of Governor's meeting coming upon Around the Air. Thanks for listening
(50:58):
to Around the A. Be sureto tune in again next week. Find
Around the A on the Sports PodcastingNetwork, it, Spotify, or wherever
you get your podcast interact with uson social media, give us your thoughts
using the hashtag around the A,and follow us at Around the apod
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