With just 51 days of the Thunderbirds' season, Ryan Smith caught up with sophomore head coach Steve Konowalchuk, discussing the promising prospects from returning to veterans to the New Year to the rise of the organization through St. Louis Blues.
*Some answers have been edited lightly for length and clarity*
RS: Entering your second year as head coach and having a lot of familiar faces back, you have the chance to go where you left next. How much comfort does this provide for you and the team, and what will be the overall message of entering the new season?
SK: Established at the year-end meeting, all players seem to be excited about the year and the opportunity to build. Obviously, it was a tough result, but we were there, close to beating a very good team. We have a very good core back and the young people have another year of company, so this should help. They know how I work, I know their personality, so expectations for daily operations should help get into training camp and the start of the season. As a coach last year, you’ve known your guys and these guys are knowing you and what you expect, but now they know what I expect from them and they’re proud of each other because they’re a great hockey team, so they set expectations. Earlier last year, we had to build and put the foundation in place. For me, I believe the foundation has been established and now it is just a matter of building it on it.
RS: For so many players, the leap from grade 1 to grade 2 and grade 2 to grade 3 is so critical. There are many players that will be challenging among the attractions in St. Louis. What do you want to see in the last season with young players outside of production and advanced metrics?
SK: Every player is a little different. They are such young people (19, 20, 21) and you personally want to see your body grow, where they are bigger, stronger, and faster. This will improve their skills. Once you get bigger, stronger, faster, the game slows down a little and the game gets easier. This is the next step for young players. From there, it's a 200-foot game when you get into training camp and start playing. Ultimately, this is a big separator for many players, whether they are in the NHL or the AHL. It's a 200-foot game, and it's the little thing they do – stop shooting, hitting to play, finish checks, and consistently get into dirty areas. I think our guys are doing a great job in this, but we still want to build on that so they are ready for the NHL. For me, I wanted to see who had the ability to jump into where they left last year and take another step.
RS: With training camp and the end of a season, you never know what injury and lineup sports can do, but on paper, St. Louis and Springfield are clearly incredibly strong in the depth of progress. You may have all kinds of pieces to play in front. Have you considered which type of games and which group you might have to work with?
SK: It's exciting, and it makes the job of a coach easier because you compete from within. We were all healthy last year about a month and we had a sense of our forward group that we just came up with some really good offensive numbers in the rolling boundaries. Once, I came in (the locker room) and I told the guys that they would decide who would be the first line and the fourth line because we had four balanced lines. This makes me excited because on paper we have such depth, we have four lines, and the opponent will be hard to determine that it must be the highest line. Line combos will get out of the way, as the boot camp will decide some of them. Obviously, everyone on our team has a chance to get Bruce out of camp, so I won’t go beyond myself because I believe our guys, who should express their melancholy with a mindset.
RS: You have the opportunity to coach Chris Wagner at Colorado, a player that fans in this field have become familiar with since his days with the Bruins. What did you get from Wagner’s daily routine and statistics that didn’t show you?
SK: I was lucky to coach him in Colorado and Anaheim. First is the role – he is a good leader, taking role models as an example and working hard in practice and games. To me, he is a 200-foot, all-round player. He brings courage, toughness, is a good guy who can play or kill free throws, and is versatile, can be wings or centers. He is someone other team doesn't want to play because he will continue to stay in touch with you. This is an important thing in any team, especially at the American League level where you can watch the young player (him). They saw a guy playing at the NHL level for a long time. How did he do it? He does this because of his competition, willingness to stop shooting and what you are trying to teach everyone. That's what he's going to bring, that's those tough hockey and the ability to score and improve points.
RS: With Wagner, you have a strong veteran group in addition to Matthew Peca, Matt Luff and Corey Schueneman. The AHL is usually a development league and I think the average fan may not realize how important it is to let veterans fight at the NHL and AHL levels. How obvious are they affecting young players when you have such a core group?
SK: It's really important to have a veterinarian, not only for their abilities, but their character. Sometimes it’s fatigued with young players, and veterans with good roles get the respect of young players, and young players will follow them. They can push them a little. If veterans don’t have good roles, then young people may not follow them. With all of our senior players, young people can follow them on the ice and on the ice. On top of the role, you want your veteran to play football. Chemistry is so important when you have a young person who is trying to build confidence, if you can pair them with top veterans, it can help them succeed and maintain confidence while limiting the growing pain. I'm very excited about the veteran group we have. We are lucky to have the right roles and have good skills to bring a group of young people who have more experience in their own experience. You want to have the right age with veterans, but you also want the young passion of young players. This is our exciting combination.
RS: The rookies in the development camp last year transitioned to the upcoming rookies, and you have the opportunity to see a lot of these players. Starting with Juraj Pekarcik, a man who grew up in Slovakia with Dalibor Dvorsky, what do you expect from him? How much comfort is there for a player to have someone like Dalibor who can see him and see his future?
SK: It is always a benefit to see a young man and a friend experience and succeed. It's funny, they're all young, but one person (Dvorsky) puts a year behind him and has that kind of experience to help. With Pekarcik, he has one-on-one abilities and talent, he will be fun. Again, this is about expanding the game. Last year we had a lot of discussions with DVO, hoping he can now provide some translations for Pekarcik and make him a little faster. That being said, I want to emphasize that like all the guys in our camp, Devosky is St. Louis Blue, so his mission is to try to make the blues.
RS: Quinton Burns is a fun and fun prospect on the blue line in the rough game he plays. It almost screams Tyler Tucker when you hear this description, and we've seen how much his game in St. Louis has grown. What made him an interesting prospect for working with him?
SK: He stood out in the rookie camp last year because of his natural level of competition and his willingness to work hard and be determined. As far as I know, that's his game. It is difficult to find natural levels and sizes. It was his special quality, he was a good leader in the era when I had to work with him and was very coachable. It is still important to have big, tough, tenacious players in today's game. When another team looks at the lineup and who they were playing that night, it was like, “We have to keep our heads for this guy.” To me, Burns might be that kind of player as he grew and grew.
Rupee: Theo Lindstein is an exciting player in St. Louis, entering his first North American season. He has achieved great international success and participated in a men's league in Sweden at 19-20. The words we hear about him are his offensive and intuitiveness. Understanding that North American games are another animal, should T-bird fans be most excited about what he has to offer?
SK: His skill level is above average, his balance of hockey, and his first pass ability is a very good combination, and he is a great skater. Like most top players, this will be the speed at which he can adapt to North American games on a smaller rink where they will come to you faster in the back end. It would be a great learning experience for him, but he certainly has the ability to be a different manufacturer and is a real good hockey motivation and a powerful post-match guy.
RS: If depth is the first thing that makes coaching jobs easier, having a great goalkeeper might be #1A. Last year, you had the opportunity to work with Colten Ellis. Many people noticed what kind of big game he was. How do you view his potential ceiling?
SK: The goalkeeper is different from any other position and takes a long time to develop. I think a lot of people say this is usually a five-year roadmap. He was on a very good road. I’m on how he performed for us last year, especially when we were hurt and experienced some growing pain. He was our anchor, helped us win the game and left us in it. It is always hard for goalkeepers to predict who can catch the ball and run with it. I see (Ellis) intangible assets. He is competitive, has a bright personality, not too high or too low, works hard every day and becomes the top goalkeeper in our league. For me, he should go into St. Louis and show them that they have another goalkeeper who supports the NHL and make that a problem. It's a luxury for a coach when you have a goalkeeper like this. But I'm also happy to see Vadim Zerenko. He played some games and he was a different manufacturer. We talk about the time it takes for goalkeepers to polish, which takes a while, but in the possible disadvantage, his top game, he went in, and he got some wins with big savings. I'm glad he's in that game and sees it more often. With our two goalkeepers, I feel confident in the network.
