'I was looking for winners'
| Thursday, Oct 15 2009 09:51 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Oct 15 2009 09:51 PM
Condors coach Marty Raymond sat down recently with Condors beat writer Mike Griffith for an annual question-and-answer session. Raymond, 45,is a native of Drummondville, Quebec, and has been head coach of the Condors for five-plus seasons. He is 186-144-47 at the helm of the Condors.
Why did you bring back just one player (Andrew Ianiero) from last year?
We talked about this in the spring, that things had to change -- whether it was myself or some of the players that had been here for a while and got comfortable. After talking to Anaheim, I knew there was going to be a lot of young players coming our way because (of Anaheim not having) an American League team. So we had to take some drastic measures. Were we going to get seven, eight nine, 10 ... You never know. In order for us to feel good about those guys being in a good environment we wanted to bring in only guys who are buying what we're selling. A lot of guys last year were at the end of a rope where they'd been here too long. And they're good players, good guys (and) it doesn't mean they won't do well somewhere else. But we felt that maybe it was time to make that change, bring in a new bunch of guys here and go in a different direction. When the fans (ask) what about recognition of guys, I guarantee that next year there will be guys here that will be great guys to have back.
The ECHL allows four veterans and the Condors have always had a solid corps of vets. But you have just two vets this year. What is the thinking behind that?
To be honest with you, I didn't really look at that. I just looked at guys. There's guys to me that have been playing three years of pro hockey, played in the American Hockey League and have that experience I'm looking for. We have 26-year old captains that played university hockey, we have guys that won championships. I was looking more for winners. I didn't really look at age right away. It turns out a lot of them are mature young guys. Nothing against veterans, it just panned out that way. I think it's important to have some second- and third-year guys and older rookies, guys who have played four years of university hockey and are not 21.
You have eight players with American Hockey League experience, but overall this remains a very young team in terms of pro experience. What challenges does that present?
It's a big challenge. With no pro experience, the first five pro games is a new experience. Sometimes a lot of young guys come here and they don't understand the ECHL is a real good hockey league and it takes a little bit of adaptation. We talked about that with (Mathieu) Aubin. He said the same thing. Two years ago when he came down and helped Cincinnati win the championship he was in the American League at the start of the season and he felt like, what am I going to do here? It's going to be easy, I'm going to rack up the points. It took him a while to get going. The first two games he had no points and realized this is good hockey. He ended up having a great season and stuck in the American League the next season. It's important for these guys to know it's good caliber hockey. You have to be prepared for it. It's not as easy as you might think. Just because you've been in an NHL camp doesn't mean you're going to come into the ECHL and dominate. There's a lot of good men here and good hockey players.
You have a lot of players assigned to the Condors this year by the Ducks, including two goaltenders. What are the positives of having two assigned goaltenders and what are the negatives?
The positives are obviously phenomenal goaltenders. We haven't seen guys like this in Bakersfield in a long time. Pielmeier was phenomenal in camp in the NHL and the AHL. He's an unbelievable goaltender. Pogge has played in the American Hockey League his entire career, was in Toronto's system and had played seven games in the NHL and is Anaheim's No. 3 goaltender (behind NHLer's Jonas Hiller and Jean-Sebastien Giguere). The positive is they'll stop pucks, especially with a young team. We have a young team and need good goaltending. We have better goaltending and defense than last year. Now, if someone gets hurt you get the trickle-up effect and your goaltender gets called up and you have to look for a goaltender. You can't have everything and that's the way it is in this league.
This is the first time in your tenure with the Condors that you don't have an assistant coach. How has that affected you during the summer and how will it affect you during the season?
In the summer, I did the recruiting before with (Bob) Bartlett so I had to do a little more on that end. During the season it's going to affect me a little more. Now I have to for sure get up much earlier in the morning. My schedule for a normal day will be sure having to get up at 4:30 or 5 in the morning, come in and finish video and prepare myself for the day as opposed to coming in at 7 or 7:30. There's so many things to do you have to get there and get it done early so you don't get caught up in the day. It's a lot more work but I accepted that challenge and that's why I want to be surrounded by guys that I believe are going to be great in the locker room for me and they're going to be able to push that culture, that enthusiasm that young guys have.
We talked a little after last season about your coaching style: hard-nosed, not considered a players' coach. With only you, the players have no one else to fall back on. Do you have to change your coaching philosophy?
I think your coaching philosophy is your systems and who you are and you're going to be the same coach. But I certainly had to reassess a few things. Sometimes you can't always say people are wrong. You make some mistakes and you have to do better. What I intend to do better is I have to have a closer relationship with the players. My door has to be open. I have to be a teacher, a mentor. Therefore, I have to be a lot more relaxed, a lot more patient. And the pressure that's been put upon my shoulders, I can't put that upon their shoulders. That's the change. I was a much more of players' coach in Phoenix because I had a lot of great leadership. When I came to Bakersfield I had to be more of a hard-nosed guy because the team was lax in the first few years. Now I have to go back to being a players' guy. In this day and age the message is not going to go through if you keep kicking and pushing. I have to do a better job of driving guys up as opposed to having my top-tier guys always pushing. That's what I have to change and get better at.
What's the difference between the makeup of last year's players in general and the players you're getting from the Ducks?
First of all, the players we're getting from the Ducks, sadly enough they don't have an AHL affiliate. They put some guys in San Antonio. But most of the guys here would be playing in the American League. They're good players, not to say anything about the guys last year. Our guys ... for an example, we asked for passports from our guys to be sent right away. I called everybody and within an hour and a half I had them sent to me. Last year Mark (Pederson, assistant coach) told me it took about a week and half to get the passports. Attitude wise, that's a difference. It's only a little indication, but to me it's a big difference. You can have the greatest philosophy in the world and the greatest systems in the world and if you have guys who are receptive you're going to do well and win. If guys do their own thing and don't care it's always going to be a difficult process. You have to surround yourself with kids you believe are going to be able to not only understand, but are also good human beings, good people who want to progress. People who everything around them is not a big issue and who concentrate on their jobs.
Has the relationship with the Ducks improved over last season?
I think so. It's been smooth. They've been great. It's been open. My job is to make sure all of our kids, including those assigned by them, improve and get better. In the process, winning is what we're looking for. But we have to make sure those guys get better and improve their hockey skills and sometimes their hockey mind.
