Around the A Podcast - Season 2 Episode 17 with Brian McCormack

This week on Around The A, We will speak with the voice of the Henderson Silver Knights, Brian McCormack, to discuss this week’s Pacific Division final with the Bakersfield Condors and what's made the Silver Knights so successful in their first AHL season.

We also hear from longtime AHL veteran Max Fortunus after he was hired as an assistant coach with the Texas Stars this week.

Then, in our On The Fly segment we check in with Manitoba Moose head coach Pascal Vincent; listen to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins veteran Tim Schaller and wrap up with thoughts from one of the top players in the AHL, San Diego Gulls forward Chase De Leo.

We have all that and more on Around The A for the Sports Podcasting Network.

Episode Transcript

(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 Podcasting Network. On to episode seventeen of our second
season of Around the A and thepush towards the final games of the season,

(00:29):
officially on the Pacific Division final hasbeen set. We are going to
tee up the matchup between the BakersfieldCondors and the Henderson Silver Knights, with
the voice of the Silver Knights,Brian McCormack coming up a little bit later
on in the show. We willalso take a trip around the league on
the fly. We've got stops thisweek in Manitoba, in Wilkesbury, Scranton,

(00:50):
and in San Diego. We willalso hear from the new assistant coach
with the Texas Stars, Maxim FortunistLots on the go plus Pat. Also,
our teams announced this week the yearend awards are starting to come out.
So despite the game's winding down,lots to talk about. Yeah,
you know, it's uh as hasbeen the theme all season. It's kind

(01:11):
of been busy, non stop.I mean, it's a lot of ways
this this season has felt only thoughthere was only three months long, and
that it was much longer because youwent from me and basically a weekend league
to pretty much a seven day aweek league and here we are in the
playoffs and where, um, youknow, it's obviously you know, abbreviated

(01:36):
playoff, but the teams are playingthree teams and four nights, uh,
you know, all best of threefinal and uh we're having awards announced this
week between the development so um,it really hasn't been any shortage of different
news stories and different angles around theleague at the moment. And again we

(01:56):
will get a little bit deeper intothat Pacific Division Final matchup between Henderson and
Bakersfield. Last week we mentioned thata whole round of playoffs was going to
be done by the time our nextepisode aired. So the road to the
Pacific Division Final looked like this.San Jose beat Tucson, Colorado beat Ontario,
and then San Jose beat Colorado,setting them up with their semi final

(02:22):
best of three series with Henderson SilverKnight swept that to nothing. On the
other side, Bakersfield beating San Diegotwo to one, and that's how we
get to where we are. Rightnow. It is an intriguing matchup.
Pat a lot to do with justthe fact that the season was so strange,
But these are two pretty good clubsthat saw some success throughout the course

(02:44):
of the season. Yeah, Hendersonkind of cruised right past San Jose.
There wasn't too much of a resistancethere, but Bakersfield really had a battle
to get past San Diego. Theaverage already won shots in those three games
against Lucas Dostel, and in thatfor San Diego it was absolutely fantastic.

(03:07):
Bakersfield that dropped the first game,had to come back in games two and
three from behind to win each gamein overtime and to finally put away San
Diego. Very kind of stubborn team, especially with Dostell. And that's and
so it shows that Bakersfield is alegit opponent, I guess if you want

(03:29):
to call it that for a veryvery good Henderson team. So Bakersfield number
one penalty killing in the regular seasonthirty an issue if you're the Henderson's over
Knights, who tend to sometimes getsucked into their own penalty troubles as well.
So I think disciplines are going tobe a major factor in this series

(03:52):
and associates the best of three series. So if you fall behind after game
one, I mean, you're allright in the hole and I'll pick up
against the wall. So um,yeah, it's it's an interesting to set
up just with the best of three, it kind of changes the little dynamic.
There's not much time to kind oflet things play a holler to feel

(04:13):
at each other. And they didplay each other ten times during the regular
season, so they're quite familiar witheach other. But Bakersfield is very much
a moan the very top teams inthis league. I think they're sometimes overlooked
a little bit, but they're good, better team. They play a real
big, hard, heavy game atslent first line starting Tyler Benson, Cooper

(04:35):
Morode, who led the league ingoals twenty one this season, so Stuart
Skinner and Ned and I mean,there's not much to go down that Bakersfield
roster announced, Like, I mean, it's a very very solid, well
coached team. Yeah. These teamsare only separated by two points in the
standings. Their goals four goals againstwere very close. Bakersfield scored one hundred

(04:57):
and twenty nine. Henderson scored onehundred and twenty five. Bakersfield allowed one
hundred and four, Henderson allowed onehundred two. So if you like those
numbers, they're very tight. Thepenalty minutes is the big area. Like
you mentioned, Henderson, despite theirsuccess fairly on discipline, almost ninety minutes
more in penalties over the course ofthe regular season, so that will certainly

(05:18):
be a factor when these two teamslock horns starting tonight. As of the
recording of this show, and we'regoing to tee up that series a little
bit more with the voice of theHenderson Silver Knights, Brian McCormack coming up
in just a little bit. Beforewe get to Brian, lots to talk
about. Will also remind you too, will follow us on social media at

(05:39):
around the APOD. Don't forget tosubscribe to the show wherever you're listening,
rate and review us as well.Let's talk some awards. Pat the Balance
win in last week and All Starteams have been announced. The All Rookie
Team has been announced. The individualawards will now start to trickle out over
the next little bit. Let's startwith the All Rookie Team first, because

(06:00):
there was one glaring omission for meand maybe a little bit of favoritism because
I thought you Gore Sokolov deserved anod on the All Rookie Team. But
what's perhaps more strange is the WestDivision or West Coast flavor that came through
in the nominations and in the awardwinners on the All Rookie Team, because
pretty much everybody saved for Hershey,I think were the only teams, it

(06:25):
was the only team that had someEastern flavor. Was there that big of
a gap between the rookies in theWest and the rookies in the East.
Yeah, that's that's an interesting question, interesting point, because I think there
was. I mean I said thisto a few people out west that especially
the Pacific Division seemed the closest thingwe had this season to a quote unquote

(06:50):
normal division, right, Like,they had a pretty good mitch of veterans
in that division, some really reallyhigh end prospects, I mean San Diego
leaving the way, Ontario as well. I mean, you know, Ontario
had a second overall and a fifthoverall pick in their lineup, both rookies.

(07:15):
I think there were some cases wherethe Eastern teams it got a little
thin at times. There were someteams that really struggled. Badhamton, for
one, really just was pretty farbehind the pack. For example, Bridgeport
at least up until the final coupleof weeks of the season, really struggled.

(07:42):
It seemed like they were far lessof that in the Pacific Division,
even including Ontario who started one tenand two and then turned that around it
became one of the top teams inthat division. Same thing with the Central
Division really good. Made to meananytime you have the Chicago Wolves in there,
Grand Rapids, you know, it'sstrued be a pretty good division to
start with. I just felt overallthat, Yeah, those traditionally Western Conference

(08:05):
teams for the most part, obviouslyCleveland's and Eastern team now, but the
depth was just a little bit better. And I think part of that too
was they were playing a little bitmore of a normal schedule. I mean,
if you look at some of theEastern schedules this year, they were
all over the place. You know, you might play today in the off
for nine days and you know,I know a lot of teams that they

(08:26):
East really struggled with that pace whereI mean, look at San Diego,
they played forty four games and threeand a half months or so I mean
they were, they were playing abusy really, it's pretty typical schedule all
things. Consider himself, I justthought overall, the yeah, that western
side of the lead was this yeara little bit more strong, and I

(08:50):
think that was reflected in that rookievote. And they did, you know,
like you say, seemed to playa little bit more of a normal
schedule. It was a lot ofthe same opponents that they typically would have
seen in a regular season. Therewasn't as much moving teams around as we
saw here on the eastern side ofNorth America. So that does make a
little bit more sense and will remindthe listeners as well that these All Star

(09:13):
selections are voted on by coaches,players and media in each of the league's
twenty eight members cities that were activethis year, so obviously that's a sentiment
that was shared across the league.A list off the All Rookie team Phil
Thomasino from Chicago, Connor McMichael outof Hershey, Riley Damiani from Texas.
Those were the forwards, Max Gildenfrom Bakersfield, Klin Addison from Iowa where

(09:37):
the defenseman, and then Logan Thompson, the goaltender, from the Henderson silver
Knights, who we will talk alittle bit more about with the voice of
the Silver Knights Brian McCormack coming upa little bit later on in the program.
We won't rattle off all of thedivision All Star winners if you will,
or selections, but where there areany names in there that maybe you

(10:00):
didn't expect to see or you're notsurprised made that list this year, I
will say that Igor Socolob, despitegetting a you know, I won't call
it a snub summer calling it asnub on the rookie selection, did make
the Canadian Division All Star teams.So that's enough of them make good for
me. But um, any nameson there that that you were either surprised

(10:22):
or not surprised to see. Yeah, For the most part, I mean,
and I think we have to acknowledgethe obvious, which is the format
this year was obviously on a wheeldeewhen you have to do it by a
division because of the way the schedulewas. For example, you had a
three team Atlantic Division. I meanthat just it's gonna be a little bit

(10:43):
of an awkward fit. For themost part, though I thought the votes
made sense. Nobody on there seemedlike an egregious choice, you know,
in terms of like why is thisperson on there? Is? I mean
I thought they all are pretty sensiblechoices. Um, I can't equipal with
any of I mean I had somedifferent pics myself, but um, you

(11:05):
know, I mean that's you know, if you get an agreement on that
in the best of time, isthe most normal off seasons, let alone
this season. So I thought itmade sense. Um, you know,
all things consider given the very lopsidednature or some of the divisions. Um
that I thought the voters, youknow, in this case, players,

(11:28):
coaches, media, etc. Mepretty sensible choices. So it all it
all looked you know, when itcame out today, it all looked pretty
normal to me. Nothing looked likereally askew. But yeah, there's just
no real easy way to do itin a season like this where essentially you

(11:48):
had five leagues in one um andreally no credis pollination between the divisions and
made it difficult I found to reallyget a sense so where a player might
stand overroads simply because you're only seeinghim against handful of teams in most cases.
And you know, if you havea couple of week teams in your

(12:09):
division all of a sudden, youknow, players could feast on that.
So that's sort of how I thought, But you know, I thought again
like for the most part, thechoices I thought were reasonably sensible. You
can head over to the AHL dotcom if you want to check out the
division All Stars selections for the season. As we mentioned off the top of

(12:31):
the show, the individual awards willcontinue to trickle out over the coming days
and weeks, and we will ofcourse update you on the winners of those
as they are announced. A couplemore headlines we want to hit before we
get to Brian McCormack, our featureguest on season two, episode seventeen of
Around the A, and one ofthese headlines is to me, I think

(12:52):
a really big deal, especially inyou know, the social climate we're in
right now, and that is MaxFortunist being hired as an assistant coach with
the Texas Stars. Guy who wona Calder Cup with that team, captain
that team played some NHL games,most recently was playing in Europe for the
last three seasons. But this isa veteran of the American Hockey League who

(13:15):
has, you know, a tonof wisdom that he would be able to
impart on on young players, andto me, it seems like a no
brainer selection to have a guy likethis on the staff. But again given
the fact that that he is blackand all the conversation around that, perhaps
even a little bit more poignant withthe way that things are going around the

(13:35):
world these days. Yeah, Imean Max was really, of all the
players in the league that have comethrough over the years, one of my
favorites. I mean, just inthe way certainly the way he played,
always a real steady player, butyou know, the way he conducted himself
as a leader. He wore thesea for the Texas Stars. He was

(13:58):
a plus thing really to a fixterthat you could get. I mean,
him and Travis Morn for the longesttime with Detas were kind of the one
two punched there, and that's toughto do in this league to have that
kind of stability and have a playerthat really buys in at this level to
what a franchise is doing, andhe was a huge part of that.

(14:20):
He was there to help launch theteam back in twenty ten and won the
Colner Cup in twenty fourteen, wentto two other finals, played a thousand
games in the HL alone. Likeyou said, he played a little bit
of NHL. He uh eighteen proseasons. He came in as an undrafted
player, and he had to comethrough the ec HL back in the early

(14:45):
two thousands when that was the toughpath to to to really make for a
young player, especially an undrafted player, and he made it for himself.
And just the way he conducts himself. I mean, every time I've ever
dealt with him made he's class act. He's everything you would want in terms
of somebody to guide your gun prospectsand also somebody to be a face for

(15:09):
your your team, you know,with the fans, with community relations efforts,
all those things that really matter offthe ice in terms of trying to
connect and build a franchise's brand.He's there. I mean, so now
you have we have Travis More andreally good coaching staff there Neil Graham as
the head coach IF on the DallasStars. I'm really excited about the SCIO

(15:33):
higher. You know, I hadkind of wondered what Max would do after
hockey. I mean, he wasone of those guys you knew he would
have different options and could kind ofgo in whatever direction that he chose,
so when he did go to coachingpath, I mean, I just it

(15:54):
seemed like a natural fit for him. Him and Scott White, the general
manager of Texas, who's also theassistant GM Dallas, I've known each other
for years, so it's a reallyeasy fit that way. And you know,
I think it's just gonna be areal nice move. I mean,
like I said, it's hard toget familiar faces and stability at this level,

(16:14):
but him, Travis Moore and arethe closest thing you get. And
uh, you know, like Isaid, just I mean, Max is
an absolute class act and exciting tosee how he can progress here as an
assistant coach. I'll be working withthe Texas Blueline. Uh, and then
eventually I won't be surprised if yousee him in the nhlbum We were able

(16:36):
to get to comment from the newassistant coach with the Texas Stars Calder Cup
champion, Max Fortunis on what thisnew position means for him in in transitioning
off the first of all, Iwanted to just say thank you for the
opportunity to the Dallas Stars staff.Uh, you know, I think it's

(16:56):
gonna be a good challenge a goodopportunity for me thanks to Whitey, Jim
and Tom there. It's just toshow the confidence in me. And uh,
you know, I I love LoveTexas has been there for for six
years, so I think it's gonnabe Ah, it's gonna be a fun
challenge for me, like I said, and uh, you know, I'm
just so grateful to be able tobe part of that staff again. So

(17:18):
thanks a lot. And even justfrom that clip pad, I think you
can tell what a humble guy heis. Um. We talked about the
experience that he's going to to bringto the to the bench and to the
prospects of the Dallas stars that arecoming up through the organization. And again,
UM, you know, race reallyshould be irrelevant and it shouldn't even

(17:40):
be a factor, but I thinkit is important to acknowledge that fact again
given the current social climate and thefact that we are trying to make this
game more accessible to people from allover the world and different cultures and backgrounds.
Um, to see, uh,somebody that looks like you, if
if you are a person of color, can make a big different uh down

(18:00):
the line. So it's it's afantastic higher um for every other reason then
that plus that I think is youknow, again just given the times outstanding
higher um by the Dallas Stars inin making Max fortunis an assistant coach there.
Yeah, you know you hear thephrase representation matters, and I mean

(18:22):
it makes sense. I mean whatever, whatever you're talking about, you're seeing
that things are changing, and uh, you know it's kind of either people
to get on on board with theprogram or are you're gonna be left behind?
Right So, um, I'm excitedto see it. Uh you know,
see how he does and uh seehow his career starts to take off.
And you know, like I said, I mean I could be more

(18:44):
in favor of this higher Uh.You know, these are important positions.
I think people sometimes overlooked them.They're like, oh, it's just the
assistant coach of an American Hawk tothe team, But you ct of guys
are working with your prospects. Theseare the ones every time you're sending a
draft pick there there this is aguy who's dr me working one on one
with those young players. You know, if you're drafted a second round pick

(19:07):
and he's a defenseman, where youthink of a Thomas Harley your first round
or you know it was a nineteenyear old wokie this year. Well he
very well maybe working with Max nextseason in Texas, working on all those
little fighting details. I mean,And what a better person to learn from
than somebody who played eighteen years,had a battle for every every everything that
he was given to this game.I mean, he made a career for

(19:29):
himself. I mean out of justa guy that you know, kind of
a small guy. I mean,he's I think he was five ten,
five eleven, not a big guy, but he made it work and he
played a hard nosed, tough game. And I think those players there,
I mean I put this on Twitterat the time of the hiring. I
mean, if you're a young playerand you don't know Max yet, I

(19:51):
mean, you probably don't realize howgood this news is. But this is
a really good day view if you'rea Dallas prospect and you're trying to learn
the pro game. Yeah, withouta doubt, fantastic higher And it'll be
fun to see what he adds tothe bench there. And and like you
had mentioned a few minutes ago,you know what his coaching career is going
to shape up to be like becausethe potential is limitless for a guy with

(20:15):
that kind of experience and personality,etc. Etc. So again, once
more excellent hire out there in Texasto add to the coaching staff. Last
note here, I don't think weneed to spend too much time on it,
but a few weeks back we talkedabout the latest developments with the Coachella
Valley Arena out in Palm Springs,where the Seattle Kraken's team will call home.

(20:40):
Last time we talked about it,they were going through some of the
bureaucracy and the red tape with thecity council in town. But we have
some developments and it's good news asfar as moving ahead with that project.
It is and this is as aswe both know, this has been a
very long, arduous path for theSeattle Crack and trying to get this deal

(21:03):
off the ground. I mean,there was that downtown Palm Springs plan that
that fizzled them. They had tokind of scramble to come up with a
new plan. This isn't Palm desert. Right outside of Palm Springs. Ten
thousand seed building um north of twohundred and fifty million dollars to build um,
apparently all privately funded, which youknow, I think at this day

(21:26):
and age, is you know,noteworthy. Now now that it looks like
it's officially approved, I mean youknow that, you know, the eyes
are dotted, the teas are crossed. Um. Now they have to actually
start scrambling, because then they wantto open this building in the fall of
twenty twenty two. Um. Originallythey were supposed to open the building in

(21:49):
this coming fall. Obviously when theoriginal deal fell through that it wasn't not
impossible. But they have seventeen monthsgive or take to get this wing up
and Clark sticking. So according tok E s Q television out there in
Palm Springs, they're supposed to breakground next week June second, and then

(22:15):
sort of we'll be off to theraces and kind of a race against the
clock really and see if they canget this building on. Because I know
Seattle is very eager to have aplace for their prospects, you know,
to not have the situation where youhave to start scattering them around or sharing
a dual affiliation for a couple ofyears. They want to have their own

(22:37):
team, just like the Bigas GoldenKnights did. And I think this is
the first page step toward that.Yeah, once once all of that government
stuff is done, now what's upto the builders to do their job.
And we will continue to follow alongwith that process as it moves forward,
and hopefully that building stays on timeand for the folks that are paying for

(22:59):
it on budget, and we willupdate that to construction as it continues.
It's kind of a nice segue fromthe next new franchise in the AHL to
the newest franchise in the AHL.The Henderson Silver Knights have inside of a
shortened season, pat become a modelfranchise in this league, you know,

(23:19):
from top to bottom. And we'regoing to be joined by the voice of
the Silver Knights, Brian McCormack,who will be with us from T Mobile
Arena where the Silver Knights are setto open up this specific Division final against
the Bakersfield Condors. Brian is aagain newcomer to Vegas, but not to
the American Hockey League. Spent acouple of seasons with the now defunct San

(23:44):
Antonio Rampage, was lucky enough tomake the move to Vegas when they got
sold and moved. Spent three seasonsbefore that with the Idaho Steelheads of the
ECHL And is a former ECHL Broadcasterof the Year, So he's going to
join us to a te up thisseries and to talk a little bit more
about what has made the Silver Knightsso successful and looking forward to to that

(24:06):
chat. Yeah. I mean,you know, Brian, you know,
has cut his teeth, like yousaid, with san Antonio. Um and
in that move U franchise when theycame to Henderson, uh and I had
just in the perfect spot. Imean, the team has been a home
run on and off the ice obviously. Um. They won their regular season

(24:27):
title in the Pacific Division. Um. They're a team that always been able
to welcome back fans. Uh andthe fan supports really taken hold early on.
And we're all very familiar obviously nowwith the success of the Vegas Golden
Knights. And it looks like thatsame recipe, that same formula uh and
started to be applied now to theAmerican Hockey League team. UH And you

(24:51):
know there's a I think there's aniche there for that team. UM.
It's it's obviously hard to get NHLtickets in that market. It's all the
obviously very as well. Uh andnow you have an option to watch a
good affordable hockey, you know,at a more family friendly price in a
top notch putent like Orleans Arena,and then in a couple of years at

(25:11):
their new six thousand seat facilities.So um, it's it's a kind of
a sign of the changing times inthe American Hockey League, like you said,
with pomp Screens, with Henderson,these buildings, especially all on the
West Post. It's it's an impressiveoperation that some of these teams have been

(25:33):
able to put in place, andI think no team exemplifies that more than
the Hendersons price. And we'll findout what's led to that success, both
on and off the ice. Andthe voice of the Silver Knights, Blind
McCormack, joins us next on theepisode seventeen of our second season of Around
the Year. Interact with us onsocial media, give us your thoughts using

(25:55):
the hashtag around the A and followus at around the apod. Thanks for
joining us on a game day,appreciate it. Happy to do it,
guys, Thanks for having me on. I just wanted to first start off
with some general thoughts on what theyear has been like for you. Obviously,

(26:15):
the relocation was was a big thingyou had to settle into a new
home, try to help get thisfranchise off and running. And then obviously
the success that the club has seenin the first season has been incredible.
What has this season been like foryou, and especially with all of the
COVID stuff that's been going on.Yeah, well, I mean just a
whole lot of fun. I meanit's been after they for me personally being

(26:37):
at the rampage, and then whenthe team was sold that certainly left some
uncertainties for the next couple of months, and then when COVID kicked in that
was even more so. So.When I had the opportunity to join the
Henderson Silver Knights. First of all, it was exciting because a it was
gonna be a brand new franchise andbe who was going to be in a
place there I already knew had anunslakable thirst for hockey. The biggest Gold

(27:00):
Knights took off and a tremendous amountsuccess helps as well, But you knew
you were going to a market thatwanted more hockey, So you're going to
go into a place that was readyand going to accept an HL team with
open arms. And on the otherside, for me personally, again,
it had been a several months ofsitting and waiting and seeing when hockey world
was going to come back to somesemblance of normal to allow me to jump

(27:22):
back in. So very very thankfulfor how this year has played out,
just to be here. But thenon top of that, unbelievably successful season.
Head coach Mini Viveros has a groupthat loves to play together and has
had a lot of success doing itthis year. And because of that,
now that we've had fans over thelast month and a half or so in

(27:44):
attendance in Henderson, you can seeit was funny to see how the fans
were reacting to this team when theycouldn't be here in person. You try
to figure out, Okay, howmuch of the social media noise is indicative
and how much of it am Iadding my own wishes too that it's you
know, over inflating it. Thenyou met them in person and you realize
this is a fan base chomping atthe bit to get in the building.
So it's been just a success onevery level. And we're we're grateful to

(28:07):
be playing a meetingful hockey in May. Yeah, without a doubt, And
you mean we talk about the successthat the franchise has seen. And to
me, it seems like everything cametogether really fast. And I've had the
experience obviously with ball Bill getting startedhere a couple of seasons go, and
you know, not to take awayfrom everything that the Senators have done here

(28:27):
in town over there three years,it just seemed like every box that that
Henderson had to check got checked,you know, in bright red marker,
and everything seems to have been done, uh, you know, almost to
a te to kind of lay thegroundwork for the success on the ice.
It was also one of those thingswhere you know, they knew they wanted
to bring the American Hockey League toHenderson for the same you know, beneficial

(28:51):
reasons that the Maple Leaves have withthe Marley's and any any team has it
there affiliate in the building or justdown the road, you know. But
on top of that, if they'regoing to do it, are going to
do it right. So Lifeguard Arenais the practice facility that just went up
last summer, and I don't knowthat a lot of NHL teams have training
facilities that look similar to what theHenderson Silver Knights have. So that was

(29:12):
a good investment and that's I thinkone of the things that's that's really impressive
for the Vegas Golden Knights is whetheryou're in Summerland for the Vegas Training Facility,
which is twenty minutes on one sideof downtown Vegas, or Henderson,
which is twenty minutes on the other, the two buildings feel very very similar.
So whether you're in Henderson or inVegas, for players that do jump

(29:33):
back and forth, you feel likeyou're in that Vegas organizational setting all the
time. You don't feel like you'vebeen jettison somewhere else. You feel like
you're still very much in the sameclassroom, and I think that that makes
an impact. But these are playersthat are very very well taken care of,
and because of that, again,the results translate. What is it
like to launch a franchise, obviouslyhit in a very crowded market during a

(29:56):
pandemic, when you can't have fansfor the better part of one like two
and a half months, How doyou do that? Well? I think
it was actually I'm not gonna saya blessing in disguise, because this isn't
what anybody wanted. But one ofthe benefits of it is that when your
fans can't be there in person,they have all the more motivation to be
vocal and tell you what they want. So from a broadcast perspective, you

(30:17):
know, if these fans want toget to know the players, and that's
one of the benefits we know ofminor league hockey. Fans feel like they
know the players on a personal leveland have access to them more so than
perhaps any other level of sports.You know, the only way they're going
to get that access and get toknow these players is through me for the
most part. So you know,for that reason, it certainly kept me
on us to make sure that Iwas introducing them as best I could,

(30:40):
but it also gave our fans achance to reach out and tell us a
what they wanted and be that they'rethere. You know, it's again we
had an idea of what our followingwas because they were reaching out and saying,
Hey, can't wait to come toa game in the meantime, we
want to see this, we wantto see that. So in that way,
you know, the communication lines couldn'thave been better from a front office
to a fan stand point. Nowthat we have fans in the building,

(31:02):
and again, this is just likethe Vegas Golden Knight's experience. When you
have a new franchise that you're launching, when he helps, when he helps
an awful lot. So when youstart seventeen and three, you got a
fan base that can't wait for thedoors to open, like, let's see
this thing for ourselves. So again, it's been really, really great,
and we look forward now to thegreat interactions we've had and the connection that
the fan base has next year ina in a hopefully as normal as possible

(31:25):
world, Now we can get outand do those more traditional person to person
community events and get more enriched inthe in the neighborhood. So, you
know, I think it's it's encouragingthat we've had such a great relationship and
such a great start now when we'vebeen held back so much by the realities
we're living in, and that setsus up well to to to reassert ourselves
again next year when when you knowexpectations are up there again, you know,

(31:47):
like it's always a battle for aminor league team in a major league
city like that. I mean,and we know that, you know,
the Golden Knights have obviously had success, but um, how are you as
a as a franchise, really tryingto find your own niche in a market
like Vegas where obviously there's a lotto do. There's major league competition,
you have an NFL team right inyour backyard, you have obviously the Golden

(32:10):
Knights, and like nine million otherthings to do. How do you guys
find your niche? Well, Ithink the minor league aspect is going to
be part of it again, thatthat accessibility, which again will only grow
going forward. But we also havethe benefit. I think this is a
hockey market that's not a secret toanybody now, but it might have been
five years ago, and you know, there was minor league baseball here,

(32:32):
There were there were some minor leaguesporting options here, but I think this
was a city that always wanted more. And what they're a shot at big
league sports. They got it,and they've supported in such a way that
now everyone can't wait to get theget in here. Now there's everyone's trying
to get into Vegas now. Butfor that stake, you know, our
our niche is that we are thelittle sibling of the most popular team in

(32:53):
town, you know, And Ithink that's what we've experienced, and I
think we hope we would experience isthat fan want to come to our games,
not just because of family, affordableprices and things like that, which
is certainly extremely important. But there'sa ton of Silver Knights jerseys in our
in our crowd. Yes, there'sVegas Golden Night jerseys there too, but
you know, fans are identifying withthis team. The city of Henderson itself

(33:15):
is happy to have something that's theirs. Yeah, but but like the Manitoba
Moose have, like the Marley's having, so on so forth, you know,
fans do want to come down andsay, oh, I can see
Cody Glass on a Thursday night,a hundred rows closer than I ordinarily would
have. I'm in. And sothere are prospects here that fans are very
excited about, and it's a veryvery accessible place for them to see them.

(33:39):
So that that's our niche. It'swe are the future of the Golden
Knights, at least that's what weintend for our players to be. And
I think our fans recognize that wedon't have to sell it to them that
much. They recognize it for themselvesbecause they want Golden Knights hockey all the
time. One question I've gotten fromsome people is you're in a building like
Orleans Arena, which in its ownright is a nice facility and would certainly

(34:00):
being you know, well the uppertier around this league for sure. Why
a new building out in Henderson,you know, why not just the or
Leans you know? I think thatwas again part of the idea when they
were gonna bring the team to Henderson. It was it wasn't just going to
be about the team in the hockeyops, it was going to be about

(34:21):
the community. And I think thisis a building that that Henderson wanted.
The old Henderson Pavilion was an outdooramphitheater concert center that people enjoy, but
it had gotten a little bit beatup because of weather and the sands of
time. So it was appropriate tohave a building but also a partnership to
have a tenant there. And Ithink everything just aligned perfectly. And if
you look at how they're they're puttingthis up, it's been six months and

(34:42):
the thing already from the outside,it's gone up very very quickly, and
Bill Holey has described it as it'sit's meant to be a mini team hold.
So again an embarrassment of riches fora guy like me that I get
to come to a new market andhave all these shiny new toys that are
on the way. But you it'snice that this is a building that's custom
made for us and is going tobe unlike any other building I think that

(35:07):
we've seen so far in this inthis league. And at the same time,
the Indoor Football League is now comingand it's it's gonna be a building
that gets a ton of use andthat makes it all the more sensible for
the city of Henderson to get behindit and make it happen. But it's
the Orleans is a great building.It's gonna be nice to have Dollar Lone
Center and when it's ready, becauseagain it's gonna be it's gonna be to

(35:30):
whatever extense, it's gonna be ours. And there's there's somebody said to that.
Chatting with Brian McCormick, the voiceof the Henderson Silver Knights, it's
great to see, um, youknow how fast the fan base is,
uh, you know, connected withthat team and kind of bought into what's
going on there. Obviously the successon the ice has played into that,
and uh playing into that success onthe ice, the guy behind the bench

(35:52):
manning vibros what's it been like seeinghim settle into this new role and what
is it about his coaching style thatthese guys seemed to really respond to to
get those results. Well, he'sjust so good at us which he knows.
You know, when you're in theroom or even from a distance,
there's a demeanor. Uh maybe vibrosIs just is a phenomenal communicator and he's

(36:15):
approachable while at the same time beinga good teacher. I think that's why
I can relate it to most.Actually, he's a really good teacher and
he'll get you in line when needbe, but you're never afraid to knock
on the door and go into hisoffice. Um, from from my standpoint,
extremely accommodating anything I need from him. He's happy to do interviews and
you know he understands that role ofthe marketing of this of this new team

(36:37):
and being the spokesman for it.M But he's just extraordinarily good at dealing
with young kids. And this isa guy who has played extensively and coached
extensively in Europe and in juniors inthe Western Hockey League and of course assisted
with the Edmonton Oilers for a seasonas well. But you know, with
that background, he's extremely adept atdealing with kids from overseas who are getting

(37:00):
used to the North American game becausehe was that kid. He was Canadian.
Gibby played in college in Europe andboth sides of the of the Sea,
so he knows how to help theEuropean kids get acclimated what their needs
are, both on the ice andoff, and he also knows how to
deal with young teenage prospects and earlytwenties guys who are making that jump as
well. So you know, youlook, what does what does it mean

(37:22):
to coach prospects in the American HockeyLeague? You're getting young kids from all
over the world and trying to getthem prepared to be everyday professionals. That's
what he's done for years before hecame into this role, So he was
perfectly suited for it. And therecord speaks for itself, because players love
playing for many v rows. Yeah, let's key in on some of those
players and let's work our way maybefrom the crease outwards and talk a little

(37:45):
bit about Logan Thompson, who hasbeen obviously a key piece of the puzzle
there this season with the results thathe's put up what, in your mind
has made him so successful as aguy, you know, playing his first
real full season in the American HockeyLeague and dealing with the workload that he
haves. You know, he's gota hell of a trophy case now,
doesn't he? After this week nowall Rookie Pacific All Star Team, you

(38:07):
have the two goaltender of the monthsback to back. You know, he's
just so competitive and not just ina refuse to lose kind of way a
lot of players have that. It'severy single shot. You know, he's
he's flopping around in practice. Hedoes not like to get beat ever,
but it's that competitiveness that allows himto do something. I think we can

(38:27):
all kind of relate to this mentality. You know, good goaltenders make the
saves they're supposed to make. Greatgoaltenders make this they're supposed to make,
and then maybe three or four ofthe ones that they have no bizinking.
That's what Logan Thompson has been andI kind of think of as a dominic
Cosheck mentality. And that's not notin any way to directly compare the two
stylistically else where, because that wouldbe uh, you know it would be

(38:49):
sacrilege to do that blasphemy. Butevery every now and then, every now
and then, usually once or twicea day, again you're gonna see Logan
Thomps to make a save in thecreeper. He is just swimming, He
is snow angeling upside down and justthrowing himself at the puck. And there's
that You got to be successful,and you do it for the for the
numbers to align right. But youknow there's a desperation on every shot that

(39:10):
he challenges, and he's not afraidto challenge a shooter one on one.
And if he's had a position,every single piece of paraphernal he's getting thrown
the path. So you know thatthat competitiveness and I think also the success
earlier this year he got off toa great start. Confidence is contagious and
it grows like a weed. AndI think he knows for a guy that
came into the year and never havinganchored an AHL team before, he knows

(39:34):
that the crease is his. Andyou know, again he's got the trophies
to prove it. I'm sure thatthat adds some encouragement as well. You
look at Ryan Murphy kind of likethat classic first rounder that didn't quite pan
out, and he got into thatlike mid twenties range where that's where guy's
careers really can go off track.And it seems like he's gotten his career
back on track. What has hebeen able to do that has been able

(39:57):
to get him back maybe into theNHL? Pitcher Patrick, this is a
story I always like to tell ofhis because he told it. I thought
it was one of the more fascinatingtidbits in a press conference or a media
availability that I've heard, because wehear so many cliche answers across the hockey
world. He said, well,what was the KHL like for you last
year? And what he essentially said, and of course I'm paraphrasing, but
he said, you know, hecame into the NHL. He was drafted

(40:21):
in twenty eleven as an offensive defense. That was the spark, that's what
caught everyone's eye. But the wordon him was that he had to work
on his defense. He didn't wantto be a defensive liability. So he
worked so hard through the years tocorrect that deficiency that he wasn't nurturing the
offense and the spark that made himspending He was kind of disregarding his special

(40:42):
skill set, trying to make upfor what people wanted him to be,
and so he said, I wentback to the k I went to the
KHL. I wanted to try tofind that again. I wanted to find
that offensive touch in that confidence andbring it back across the pond. He's
done that. He led the AmericanHockey League and assistant scoring among defensemen.
But so there's a confidence there,there's a lightheartedness there, which, again,

(41:02):
Patrick, you mentioned guys at thisstage of their career where you say,
like, okay, there's probably alot of pressure on these guys to
put up or shut up. Heis the funniest guy I've been around.
He is hilarious and it's authentic,so that picks everyone up around them.
But also, and I'm sure whenyou're leaving the league of scoring it's easier
to be that way, but thatkind of of energy is contagious. He's
wearing the sea now because Patrick Brownhas been up with the Golden Knights as

(41:25):
long as he has been. Ithink that's another indication. You look at
the end of the year, whatwas Ryan Murphy going to beat this year?
Well, he's a guy that ledthe league among defensemen is scoring,
and by the end of the year, you had no choice put a sea
on his chest. Just an unbelievableyear. And again, whether it translates
into NHL opportunities or whatever's next,that's to be determined. But you can't
say that for a veteran defenseman.He's twenty eight years old, but a

(41:45):
veteran HL defenseman that you bring into take his shot and also nurture the
young guys. You can't say thatyou haven't gotten everything out of Ryan Murphy.
You could have Hope who had goneout of this season. You look
at Daniel Region and you let youknow. To my eye, he was
always a solid forward in this league, probably second line type guy. This
year thought like he's just he's foundit. It just clicked for him.

(42:07):
He's won averaging like two points pergame the last you know, ten games
or something. What is working sowell for him? I mean, we've
asked him before and he even hedoesn't seem like he's totally able to Yeah.
I asked him this morning, Pat, I said, have you ever
been on a role like this before? Nope, And it's much more of
an explanation than that. But yeah, he's got dating back to the regular

(42:29):
season, thirteen goals in thirteen games, two points a game over the last
eight. Like he said, whatmany vibros says, and it's so right,
is that he's always in the rightplace and not just instinctively intrinsically finds
it himself where he needs to be. No, positionally he's always in the
right place. And he had agoal at the end of the season,
you know, two weeks ago orwhatnot, where he in the neutral zone

(42:51):
pickpocketed Tyler Benson of Bakersfield three timesbetween the red line and the high zone,
like three times stickwist Stick was sticklastspun around and sprung his own two
on one and shot at himself andscored again. Things are just going that
way. But you know, he'sso positionally sound and so responsible that the
he's where he needs to be wheneverthings open up. And what's so fascinating

(43:14):
is this explosion for him offensively reallystarted when Dylan Secure got called up to
the Vegas Golden Knights. They werelinemates for pretty much the entire season.
Dyll and Secure had great numbers andDanny Arrigue was still a point per game
player, but it's mostly as asetup man for Dylan Secure. He says,
it's completely coincidental, but you almosthave to think that when Dylan Secure
went up, he said, allright, well someone's gonna be the shooter
on this line now, it mightas well be me, and he cut

(43:36):
the results he needed. But justa really really heavy, responsible player that
goes out there in every situation.And as you mentioned, that veteran savvy.
Now that he's finding the places toopen himself up and he's finishing Jack
Dugan young work and like he gavein with some hype, you know,
he was kind of a big focuscoming out of college. But what have

(43:57):
you seen from him as he's grownthroughout the course of this season, learning,
learning, And the good thing wehave a skilled a skilled player like
that with a lot of expectations isthat you can identify them doing what they
do well, what you expected themto come in and do. If they're
doing it, you'll see it whilethey work on the other thing. So
on their worst day, may VieBros. Says, for Jack dooging to

(44:19):
be an NHL player, he's gota round out his two hundred foot game.
He's gonna get bared defensively, andthat's where a lot of young players
in this league need to learn.But if he's putting up a couple of
assists at night while he works onhis defense, you can say, all
right, well we're getting that atleast, and we're working on the other
things. But he's gotten better andbetter as the year has gone along.
The point speak for themselves. Hewas second in rookie scoring, but you
know, primarily a setup guy.And if you look at what he did

(44:39):
last year at Providence College where hewas a Hobie Baker finalist, led the
country and assists, led the countryin points at past first setup guy.
But over the last month, andthis is really happened for the entire Silver
Knight's roster, but for the lastmonth may Vie bros. Has been encouraging
everyone shoot more, be a shooter, and you see them working with him
after practice one timers from the leftcircle where he usually man's the power play.

(45:00):
He said, in college usually workedon the work from the right side,
so it's been an adjustment for himworking from the left. But he's
had a lot of success with backpost passes and working from the top of
the circle. But they've been saying, hey, you can shoot the puck.
Shoot the puck. You have theability to score goals too, And
over the last ten games you sawa big blipp I think of six goals

(45:20):
in the last ten or eleven somethinglike that. He saw an escalation there.
So it's a good young player whohas confidence, knows what he does
well, and now we're finding outelse he does well. And I think
they found a couple of good nuggetsover the last few weeks of the season
to carry into the summer. Afew more minutes here with Brian McCormack,
voice of the Henderson silver Knights again. They're getting set for the Pacific Division
Final against the Bakersfield Condors. Onemore player that we wanted to run by

(45:45):
you, Dylan Sakura. We actuallywent to the same high school, Dylan
and I. He's a little youngerthan I am, but a funny connection
there anyway. But this is aguy who's had had quite the journey,
you know, obviously some time withthe Black Cox teamed up with his brother
for a little bit as well,and finds himself here in Henderson now and

(46:07):
hasn't a heck of a year infront of him here. What have you
noticed out of him and what hadbeen the keys to his success? Well,
first of all, David, didyou ever knock because books have his
hands or anything like that, becauseI'll tell him I track you down.
I would have known his sister andhis older brother a little bit more,
but no, I might have evenbeen graduated by the time he got to

(46:28):
school. But no, I waspretty nice to people in high school.
You know, I'm just saying,if there's scores to settle, technically I
work for him. But right now, he's had just a tremendous season.
Again, another one of those veteranI guess tweeters you would say, because
he's had NHL looks, but they'venever been able to really stick there in
the Chicago organization. But the lookshe's had for Vegas, he's been very

(46:50):
good. He scored two goals intheir last game of the season. But
he again, he has been ashoot first player a lot this year,
which I don't know if that's exactlywhat you would have referred to him as
in rob but here he was andjust a really heady awareness of how to
open up space for himself, especiallyon the powerplay. Very very good from
the right circle. But I thinkhe's been exactly what you want to be

(47:14):
a veteran who can infer. He'snot at all, but you know,
I got experienced guy who can teachthe kids a thing or two. But
he's a very legitimate player, stillpushing for an NHL role full time.
He's competing for it all the time, and that's why he just got sent
down a couple of hours ago.He should be available for tonight's Game one,
I think, but he's very muchin that Vegas conversation. I think

(47:35):
he's a player that again a neworganization, a new set of eyes to
evaluate him. He had a seasonthat you just couldn't ignore it. At
the end of the year, hestarted getting call ups, got's the NHL
time, and I think he's youknow, I think he's put himself in
the position to get some consideration goingforward for the role he's in, maybe
a little bit more because he's avery very good player on the puck,
and especially if you can pair himup with someone who can set him up

(47:59):
with some space. He's got atremendous release. Just a thing I have
to ask you, um, HaroldTown Crier. Yeah, what can you
tell us about how that developed andwhat do the players take about him?
Well, I'd say if if Ithought he could keep up that volume for

(48:20):
two and a half hours, I'dbe worried for my job. But I
think I'm okay for now. Uh, it's just a lot of fun.
I think that was that was awrinkle of like the Vegas Golden Knights,
it's you gotta be different, yougotta be uh creative, you gotta be
outside the box to be in Vegas. And that was that was the the
Henderson wrinkle. And the first timeit happened, I can't I honestly shame

(48:40):
on me that I can't remember,but I can remember it was opening day,
opening day, or if they debutedhim in the preseason. But again
another reason was so interviews. Wehave a building with no fans, so
he's who's he proclamating too? Well, that's he got him on a camera.
But the first time it happened,the players, the players had idea.
So they're on the bench and theyjust hear a hen and then it

(49:02):
start like what the heck is that? Again it's it's very Vegas, but
it fits the brand. Um heuh. The the the the man behind
the tunic U is tremendous performer whohas experienced in the Vegas market before,
uh and just has a charisma thatyou know, that was the starting role.

(49:25):
All right, here's your here's yourline, here's your role. And
then from there it's just expanded wildlybecause he's just so entertaining. Um.
But how do the players feel aboutit? Let me tell I mean,
maybe you see this because a woundsocial over the last twenty four forty eight
hours. Uh. The coaches broughthim down for Game one against San Jose
and they had him read the startinglineup, uh, and he has not
missed it since. So it's youknow, Harold the town Cry. He's

(49:49):
the gift that keeps on giving.But he's also he's also of those guys
be careful what you have him do, because he's gonna do it so well
you're never gonna be able to goback again. So you know, if
if you have him swear in thepresident at the next inauguration, it's gonna
be Harald the town Crier for forevermore. Doing that sots of lots of
funny. Again, as I mentioned, is as we get back to normal,
allow this COVID situation and things startto expand. I don't doubt that

(50:13):
we'll have Harold all over town inmore settings than once. A couple more.
Bakersfield, well, you saw quitea lot of them this season.
What kind of challenge do they poseto? Was abviosly a very good Henderson
club? Well, you know,Patrick, this year, we've talked so
much about the young guys, especiallywith the way the junior leagues were set
up, that we had, youknow, guys who maybe wouldn't have had

(50:35):
other years. Peyton Crabs, JamieDrysdale, couldn't Buyfield done down the line,
especially not that hasn't been League WIB, but especially I feel like our
division was pretty heavy with with thatum, It's it's strange to talk about
Bakersfield the team that's actually kind ofolder, you know, when you talk
about Adam Kracknell and Braham Alone,Steph Griffith, Ryan Stanton, YadA,
YadA, there's a lot of guyswho have a lot of games under their
belt, and you know, Italked to players around you know who.

(50:57):
Because also Bakersfields won seven and tenagainst the Silver Knights. The only team
that can say that they have hadcontrol against the Silver Knights this season.
Talking to players, they say,you know what they're You can sense the
age and the experience that they knowhow to win games. They know how
to close out games. If youget a lead, they never let your
run away from them if you're ifyou're behind, they're not going to open

(51:21):
the door a crack and allow youto kick it down. It's it's a
team that in May Vibros is phrasingthis way too. They stay within their
systems, they're disciplined, they're comfortablein their own skin with what they are
and how they have to win games. I think we saw that in the
San Diego series as well. Threegames against the San Diego Goals, which
is a strong firepower team. Theynever led. Yeah, Bakersfield didn't leave

(51:42):
the entire series. They got twoovertime wins and then that's how they did
it. So it's it's just avery experienced, patient team that doesn't make
a lot of mistakes. And ifyou over exert yourself and overreach early on,
you're gonna set yourself up behind theeight ball. And again, just
to look at the numbers, thegoaltending matchup we've seen between these two teams.
Stewart Stoner has been phenomenal and LoganThompson is two three and one against

(52:04):
Bakersfield, but he has a ninetysay percent and his goals against I think
it's like one ninety or one ninenine or something like. How do you
have those numbers and not have awinning record. It's it's unfathomable. But
that just shows you what are wein for this week. I can't guarantee
it, but imagine we're gonna seea couple of pretty good goaltender deals over
the next couple of days. Yeah, it's going to be a tight series.
Exciting for sure, and nice tohave something to play for. Lastly,

(52:25):
you're playing the series in the BigBarn. As we mentioned off the
top at Team Mobile Arena. Um, what is that meant to to the
players and even yourself? You know, you get that opportunity to be in
the big building, and we've talkedthroughout the course of the season of the
show about what that can mean interms of attitude and motivation for the prospects.
Um, how is the team handlingthe transition and how nice is it

(52:49):
to be able to kind of capthe season off in the big building?
Yeah, David, very well.I mean it adds a little bit grandeur
to the weekend as well. Sothat's that's a nice touch, especially for
the uniqueness of this off series wehave many Vibros has mentioned it himself.
He's because this is not the firsttime that the Silver Nights have played in
this building. This year. OnMay eighth, they played here against the
San Jose Barracuda and they said atthat time, you know, it's good

(53:12):
to have the players in this settingbecause this is where they all want to
be full time, right, Sowe say, like, oh, being
in the shadow of the parent clubby being in Henderson, that's a that's
good and motivates guys, and theyknow that the management group is always watching,
absolutely true, giving them a tasteof being in this building and like,
hey, guys, if you workreally hard, you'll be here every
day. That does have mean,that does have significance. So that's a

(53:34):
nice touch, and I think itis impactful. Team played well when they
were here last time. Whatever youwant to stock you want to give that
um but even even just again forthe fans, this has been a trying
year. It's been fun, it'sbeen creative, it's been almost for all
the challenges there have been, it'sbeen encouraging to overcome them, you know,
to have year that VHLS had,I think everyone can be very proud
of that. So to these lastcouple of games in the big House and

(54:00):
make it a little extra special,I think that's a perfect way to cap
off the year and everyone can feelreally really good about us and have fun
in an extravagant setup. To saythe least, it certainly is extravagant.
Brian McCormack is the voice of theHenderson Silver Knights. Thanks again so much
for the insight man to appreciate yoursqueezing us in on a game day and

(54:21):
enjoy these last few games here beforewe get into the off field, I
mean to join you guys, Thanksso much. Interact with us on social
media, give us you our thoughtsusing the hashtag around the A and follow
us at around the apod continuing onyear. On the episode seventeen of season

(54:45):
two of Around the A. Thanksto Brian McCormack for his time and again
we will keep tabs on the HendersonSilver Knights and Bakersfield Condorus series. It's
going to be a short one,but should be an exciting one, to
say the least. If you havethe AHL TV subscription, you'll be able
to watch that action the last gamesof this a shortened AHL campaign on the

(55:08):
fly this week. We've got stopsin Manitoba, in Wilkesbury, Scranton,
and in San Diego. Lots toget to, So let's start with the
head coach of the Manitoba Moosepat PascalVincent. We've been catching up with coaches
and players as they make their exitinterviews so to speak, and get set
to head home for the offseason.And you know, despite the range of

(55:31):
people that you've been able to speakto, it seems like a lot of
folks are kind of on the samepage with what they took out of this
season and what it was like togo through it and how it lived up
to their expectations. And I feellike this clip will here in a moment
from Pascal Vincent is kind of alongthe same lines of that. Yeah,

(55:53):
it's been interesting, you know insome ways, as I said earlier,
to show the lead was almost fiveleads within one. And yet whether you're
in San Diego or Laval, orManitoba or what have you, everybody seemed
to have that one common experience offinding solutions this year. I think that

(56:13):
was the theme of this season.It was final a way this happened even
against all the obstacles, all thedifficulties, the odds, however you want
to put it. And the consensusis that for the most part, that
was a successful endeavor. Um.You know, and remember, I mean

(56:35):
coming into this back in December January, there was no real playbook. How
do you how do you handle thisseason? So there was a lot of
hard work that was done at theleague end team level to hash out some
of these protocols, and then therewas the buying for the players to go
with the day in and dale testing, the day of game travel, play

(56:58):
with no fans, take a paincard. Everything that came with this season.
The players bought in, and Ithink it was to their great credit
that the season was pretty much ableto be held without too much of a
hitch there. I mean, obviouslythere was a few teams that had some
issues, but they got past them, and you know, as we kind

(57:19):
of pull into June, now,I think if you're the league, and
if you're the twenty eight teams thatplayed this season and their NHL parent clubs,
you have to be happy with howeverything talked out. And as we
hear from Pascal Vincent, the headcoach of the Manitoba Moose, and as
we've heard from lots of others aroundthe league this season, development was the

(57:40):
real goal of this campaign. Wedidn't even know how many games we would
play, We didn't know who wewould be playing against, we didn't even
know where we were going to play. There was a lot of unknown before
the season started. Training camp wasdifferent. We're going through a tough time,

(58:05):
all of us together because of thispandemic, and then somehow the people
in the American League define a wayto make it happen, management and people
at the league and then finding waysand creating the protocols, and then the

(58:27):
reason behind it, it's because theybelieve in the development of those in those
players and then making sure that wetry to stay as normal as possible,
even though everything around us is nota pretty calm and collective. Pascal Vincent
in that clip again just sharing thatsimilar sentiment that the key to the season

(58:52):
was developing prospects and getting them experience, and the Manitoba Moose had a good
season to say, the least,and I think it was mission accomplished out
that way, and for most ofthe teams that played through the course of
the season with so many young players. Yeah, I mean I can tell
you, you know, being reallyfamiliar with how the Winnipeg Jets, how

(59:13):
the Manitoba Moose rum things, I'mnot surprised whatsoever that they had a successful
UM operation this season. I mean, it's a very disciplined, very meticulous
franchise really from the top on down. UM that's willing to spend money and
resources to be a successful um onon and off the ice has always invested

(59:38):
heavily into player development. UM andthen you put a head coach, and
Pascal Vincent's a real stickler for discipline. I mean he's the furthest thing from
a yeller and screamer. He's gottenmore just that It almost that lookie would
give you that you know, youdon't want to disappoint him if you're a

(01:00:00):
player. UM, he's able toconvey his message that way Mary Soloft spoken,
but he he carries a very formidablepresence in any way. So I'm
not surprised that the Moose made itthrough this season with a lot of um,
you know, an absence, Ishould say, of any real obstacles

(01:00:22):
or issues. And that was despiteyou know, having you know, a
seventeen game homestand you know, alongwith several long road trips, just like
all the Canadian Division teams for themost part, had to endure one point
or another. So um, fullcredit to Pascal Vincent and his group and
to his players for what they wereable to accomplish. Yeah, without a

(01:00:45):
doubt. And I think that goesto uh, you know, to all
the teams, players and staff thatwe're able to get through this season facing
so many challenges. Our last twoclips in this brief on the fly segment
this week come from players at youknow, kind of opposite ends to a
point. We'll start with Tim Shaller, who is a veteran guy. He's

(01:01:06):
been around a long time. He'splayed almost three hundred games in each of
the AHL and the NHL. Butunless you're a fan of the Buffalo Sabers,
or the Boston Bruins, or theVancouver Canucks, even the LA Kings
more recently, where he played acouple of games, you might not know
much about this guy and what hebrings. Educate us a little bit bad

(01:01:27):
about Tim Shaller and why he wasa guy that you wanted to hear from
at the end of this season.Yeah, he's interesting in this sense that
he's coming to that stage of yourcareer where so many players find themselves.
You're about thirty years old, You'vehad the success. Mean, he's played
two hundred and seventies something an HLgames by any measure, that's the success.

(01:01:52):
You know, He's had double digitBowl seasons. He's been a prospect
at one point, played four yearsof college. So he's kind of gone
through all those different milestones in aplayer's career, hit them, and now
he found himself thirty years old,a year removed from the NHL, coming

(01:02:15):
out of a COVID season, intowhat most general matters think will at least
be a somewhat challenging player market forguys like him. And I think he's
trying to almost rebrand himself, repurposehimself that maybe I'm not necessarily a guy
that's in NHL plans, you know, going forward, but I can be

(01:02:39):
a good veteran, I could bea good leader. I also get the
job done on the ice. Atthe age of level, he had a
really good season, and when Ispoke with him, I think that was
the thing that he really enjoyed,was, you know, for so so
many of these players, you're you'rein the NHL, yes, but you're
kind of playing limited minutes, yourfourth line role, maybe you're in a

(01:03:00):
cave role. Well, now youcan come down to the American hockey and
you can kind of rediscover, imean the fountain of youth in a way
that you're almost now a young prospectagain and you're able to play top six
minutes. It was funny, heremarked. You know, the first week
or so getting adjusted to playing heavyminutes was tough. I mean, he's

(01:03:21):
not used to it. So,you know, I think teams are looking
for players that are willing to acceptthat kind of role. It's not easy
necessarily to find players that will somewhatput their own needs aside and start to
take younger players under their wing.But the guys that are willing to do

(01:03:43):
it can certainly make a nice postthirty career for themselves at this level and
make good money. I mean,if you're a solid vetter in this league,
you can probably command two hundred andfifty thousand to start up to four
hundred thousand, you know, giveor take. Now, maybe that will
come down a little bit this year, but um, you can stow make
a nice living for yourself ed setyourself up for a career in hockey after

(01:04:08):
you're playing days are done if youplay your cards right. And as we'll
hear from Tim Shaller, he reallyabsorbed what he learned from veterans in his
career in his previous stops and showsthe importance of having these types of players
on your roster. When I wasin Rochester, I had some of the

(01:04:28):
greatest leaders I've ever had since I'vebeen playing professional hockey. And uh,
you know, I I've I've takena lot of what they've taught me and
and I've kind of taken that thispast year with the young guys, and
um, you know, maybe ifthey you know, you know, we
were down a little bit, pattinghim on the butt, you know,
saying hey, you know, everything'sgonna be good, and just little things

(01:04:48):
like that. You know, I'dlove to be that that kind of guy
that, you know, to goto a guy that younger guys look up
to, and you know, um, aren't afraid to ask me questions and
you know about the ice stuff onthe ice stuff, whatever it is,
and um, I think I cantake pride and something like that. So
I definitely like that. And theveteran conversation pat is heating up right now

(01:05:11):
because we're inching towards the offseason.We've discussed before how strange the free agent
market was last year and we hopethere's a bit of a return to normal.
But a lot of coaches now whohave the you know, the organizational
prospects set and know who's going tobe around now look to fill those holes
in their lineup, and a guylike Tim Shaller can can do a lot

(01:05:32):
for a young team. I think, yeah, at this level, he
could probably be twenty five goals prettyreliably, bringing in that NHL experience,
and he can play all situations andhe can almost sort of be unofficial assistant
coach. And I know a lotof teams really like to look at it

(01:05:55):
that way that you take. Let'ssay it camera gods in Ontario. Sure,
he's a top pairing defenseman, buthe's also a guy that can be
on the bench. He can correctmistakes in game for his teammates. He
can help certainly Bill some of hisyounger teammates out of his states or bad

(01:06:16):
situations on the ice, and he'sjust kind of an extra pair of eyes
and years for the coaching staff.And that's a valuable thing to have.
I mean, at this level,somebody that's can be a different voice from
the head coach or the assistant coaches, could be more of a pair almost,
And guy like Cholder gets that,and I think that's the angle that

(01:06:41):
he's looking at that. You know, it is going to be a tough
market and how do I make selfas marketable as possible to as many NHL
teams as possible. Well, thisis one way to do it, Yeah,
without a doubt, and some niceinsight from him on transitioning to that
part of his career, so tospeak. Our last guest on the fly
on Around the A this week isChase to Leo from the San Diego Goals.

(01:07:05):
Did get a little sniff of NHLaction one game this season, he
played a game last season, heplayed a game the season before, and
then a couple of seasons prior gottwo games in Winnipeg. But a guy
who you know, despite putting upconsistent numbers in the American Hockey League hasn't
really got that look at the NHLlevel that perhaps a player of his caliber

(01:07:27):
deserves. Played with the Portland winterHawks in the WHL, played for Team
USA at to the World Junior Sothis is a guy with pedigree, pat
But what seems to be holding himback? That's a good question. The
obvious answer, I think his size. He's five ten five nine, depending
you know, I guess you know. Kevin Day. I covered Chase his

(01:07:50):
first season in man Otoba and rightafter bad he made an impression. I
was a bad team. That wasa team that lost fifty games on a
seventy six. Yeah that was.There were a lot of tough nights on
the let's put it that way,and he was a notable exception that year.

(01:08:11):
I almost hit twenty goals as arookie um and more so just every
shift, just worked his butt off. You noticed him every every time he
was out there, even you knowin games that you know that the team's
buying six to one in the thirdperiod, he's buzzing. And if you
had told me then that he wouldstill be in the American Hockey League five

(01:08:34):
six years later, I would havebeen really surprised, especially considering that he's
produced at this level. I don'tpersonally, I don't. I don't get
why he's still at this level.Um, he's everything I would want for
a bottom six energy guy. UM. Certainly I think the Anaheim Ducks need
to help UM. He finished fourthin scoring this year. He's done everything

(01:08:59):
you can do. He's become atwo hundred foot player. I mean,
if you go down the checklist,he's done it. And I asked him
that, and you know he hecouldn't really give a great answer. I
don't think for why he is stillin the American Hockey League. But he
has a fantastic attitude. There's certainlynot any of that what was me approach.
He's the kind of guy if ifyou shot him out of the NHL

(01:09:23):
for five six years, he's justtrying to take down that much harder.
He actually trained by himself this pastoffseason, ditched the personal trainer or all
that and went old school. Hejust did it and his parents basement and
garage, and you know, cameObviously it worked. He came in in
great shape. And yeah he's he'ssmall, but he's straw on the ice.

(01:09:45):
If you watch him, I mean, he doesn't lose many put battles,
even against much bigger competition. Soyeah, I'm quite surprised, to
be perfectly honest, why he's stilldown here. I mean, frankly,
he has grown this league. He'sgoing to be a free agent this summer,
and I think he's certainly going toget paid, but I think more

(01:10:06):
portly for him will be to findthe right opportunity, whether it's in Anaheim
or somewhere else. Because he's twentyfive years old, so he's still got
time on his side. But youdoing it old pretty fast and in this
league, and before you know,you're twenty seven, twenty eight, and
people will definitely write you off atthat point. This year is big for

(01:10:29):
him. He did his job thissummer, or I should say this season.
This summer, you know, he'llstarting to do his job in the
gym, and now it's a matterof coming to camp now and winning an
NHL drive because I think once heactually gets there, he'll stick. But
I think the biggest challenge for himobviously has just been getting there. He's
not really gotten a shot now afterall this time in San Diego and Winnipeg,

(01:10:54):
and you know, I think that'sthat's unfortunate for him because he's certainly
done his part. He's held hisend of the parting Yeah, and we
got some thoughts from Chase to Leoon the future and trying to make that
next full time step to the NationalHockey I'm gonna make the NHL. I
know I'm gonna make the NHL.And if I don't believe that, nobody

(01:11:15):
else is gonna believe it. Soat the end of the day, you
can always improve, keep working onthings, and like I said, never
be satisfied. And it's just ahunger and I'll never lose that. I
know my parents have sacrificed so muchfor me, especially coming from California.
I know it's not easy. It'sa one percent chance to make it to
the NHL, and I always toldmy mom I was gonna be that one

(01:11:35):
percent. So a lot of workleft to do, but I'm looking forward
to it. If I love grinding, I love the grind, and obviously
it is year six for me inthe American League. So gotta keep going,
keep believing, and keep pushing onand just gotta just gotta believe until
the end. And you mentioned ita little bit earlier, Pat, I

(01:11:57):
think The big thing that I tookout of those comments was the self belief.
I mean, that's something we absolutelyhave to have all the time,
really if if you want to,you know, excel in pro sports and
really in any endeavor in your life, but more so when you're at kind
of the crossroads that he is atright now in his career. Yeah,

(01:12:18):
he has every reason given by thehockey world to be what who else do
I have to do to kind ofthrow his hands up? Some guys would
kind of pack it in and gooff to Europe and chase contracts, and
there's nothing root that. He's aguy that you know, he's not never
certainly would call him cocky, buthe's definitely confident and he's a fantastic team

(01:12:43):
player. Really took on the leadershiprole this year, worked closely with Trevor
Zegress, who's obviously one of theprize prospects in the Anaheim system. Played
on the line with him really helped, I think brain nut young player's game
along while not neglecting his own game. And so you know, he's certainly

(01:13:05):
a player that again I don't knowwhy he's still down here. I really
think he has a future in theNHL. I think he can do it,
and I think if you put himon your third fourth line, kill
penalties, be an energy player,buzz around, chipping a little bit offensively,
he can do that job for sure, and just one of the many

(01:13:27):
players will keep an eye on throughoutthe course of the offseason to see where
they end up as this AHL seasonwinds down here with the again Pacific Division
Final getting underway tonight in Las Vegas. Before we go, pat, do
you care to take a guess ora prediction on who's gonna win that series?
We talked in depth about it earlier, how tight it's gonna be too

(01:13:48):
close to call? Or do youthink someone has the edge too close to
call? But if you push me, and I'm going to push you that
out of Henderson has to stay discipline. It's driven Manny Beavers crazy a little
bit at different points this season thatthe team can be drawn into penalties.
Does have a pension for being adisciplined at times. So long as they

(01:14:12):
can do that, they can staydisciplined to stay on the right side of
the line. I think they'll takethis series in three games, but I
think it's going to be a battleand you know, if they can't,
then I would definitely give the edgeof bakers Field. But I do think
they've learned their lesson. They've beenbetter disciplined wise lately, so I think
that message has finally So I'll takeHenderson in three. Were about well,

(01:14:36):
just because there's only two teams left, I might as well take Bakersfield.
And we talked earlier about how they'vebeen building, and they've been improving throughout
the course of the season, perhapspeaking at the right time, and I
think they're going to give the SilverKnights a run for their money either way.
We will recap the series on nextweek's show as we find out who's

(01:14:57):
going to win the Pacific Division,and you know when the most meaningful games
perhaps being played around the league thisyear with this being a playoff style format
out West. Anything else you're lookingahead to this week, Pat, not
a whole lot. I mean,just we're almost at the finish line with
this season. Hard to believe.I mean, it's been such a bizarre

(01:15:20):
year, so kind of that theawards as they kind of drunkle out,
there'll be a few more still tocome. Workie of the Year, Goalie
of the Year, Defenseman of theyear, kind of the most notable ones.
And then next season, next week, Palm sprays, I won't.
I don't think I'll officially believe thatis a dud deal until the double hits

(01:15:43):
the ground and they start moving toearth. Because this has been a long
this supposed to pre covid. Iremember being in downtown Palm Sprange January twenty
twenty checking out the original site andit feels like a million year ago.
So at long last, I thinkthis thing is ready to come to fruition.

(01:16:06):
But stow us over, you know, as another yard or so to
go before it goes over the goalline. Yeah, and again we'll keep
you up to date on that andall the other happenings around the league.
If there's anything you'd like us tocover, or anyone you'd like us to
try to get a hold of asthe season winds down, send us a
message either on the social at aroundthe Apod or an email around the Apod

(01:16:29):
at gmail dot com, and wewould love to hear from you and try
to line up who you'd like tohear from as we wind down this shortened
season. Thanks again to Brian McCormackfor his time, especially on a game
day. And to the folks inManitoba, Wilkesbury, Scranton, and San
Diego for setting us up with ouron the fly yes this week as well.

(01:16:50):
One more reminder to subscribe to thepodcast, throw us a rating as
well and be sure to tune inagain next week to epis showed eighteen of
our second season of Around the eightThanks for listening to Around the A.

(01:17:15):
Be sure to tune in again nextweek. Find Around the A on the
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