The AJHL hockey season draws near and the pieces are coming together for the Drumheller Dragons after a number of signings in the past few weeks. The Mail had a chance to chat with Dragons head coach Brian Curran on his evolving team and what the club plans to do with the fresh slate of a new season.
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Q: With the preseason approaching, we thought it would be a good idea to touch base and see how the team is coming together this year.
Curran: The team has come together fairly well. We’re a couple players away, but the scouting staff did a really good job. We spent a considerable time from January onward in the recruiting process and I think our guys did a great job as far as getting players that I was looking for. It’s somewhat of a youth movement. We’re bringing in a lot of younger players that I think are very talented, skilled, hard working players, for sure. Last year was an average season. Some players had a great season for us and some players underachieved for themselves personally. In the middle of January I thought we’d go in the direction of getting a little bit younger. I’m not saying we’re rebuilding, it’ll look like it for sure, but I think these players have that drive. They are still very young, some are right out of Midget AAA, but are still great players. I won’t have to worry about these kids working their tails off, that’s for sure.
Q: You said you were talking with your scouts about looking for certain things, is that the youth and work ethic you’re talking about?
Curran: It’s the compete level. They never quit. There’s so many facets to that part of the comment. It’s like going to the net hard, it’s battling in the corners and staying in those battles and winning the battles. It’s coming back hard to our zone. The defencemen we changed up – we have some pretty tough kids back there, but we have some mobile defencemen that can really skate. They’re young but they’re players who have done well where they were playing. They’re just kids that don’t stop and they’ve got good character. I’ve visited 95 per cent of the parents and they’re all good people. Good parents, good background, they all worked hard for what they wanted in life and when I meet them it sure looks like the kids know that too and they work hard. Good character is something we wanted to stress. To have those guys that when things get tough they won’t fold and throw in the towel. I’m excited for the year.
Q: Is there something about last year’s team that is making you want to change the culture?
Curran: You know what, last year is done and over with, and I think there were mistakes made all over the place. I certainly thought last year’s team was going to be a much better team, but, at the end of the day, it starts with me. There were things that I should have grabbed onto right from the beginning that were between me and the players, and set us straight and on the right path. I’ve been trying to figure out this Y-generation for two years and at the end of the day I can’t change who I am. I’m going back to the old Brian Curran with some new adjustments that I’ve learned over the last couple years. You can’t change who you are, and it starts with me. I know I’ve made my changes now back to what I like about me as a coach. As for the players, it was a rough year for some of our older players and we just didn’t gel together as well as we should have. But it’s over with, it’s done with, and it’s kind of like the first time I got here – we had to make significant changes, and we did, but started off slow and had a very successful year. I hope we don’t start slow, but I know we’ll be a team people will want to watch. I look at it as a fan, and I would rather watch a team that goes out on the ice and works their tails off. Win or lose you know they’re going to give it their best.
Q: I think that will resonate with Drumheller, too.
Curran: Yeah, and that’s what we had. The team worked hard certainly at times last year and you could see what they could have been, but we couldn’t sustain it on a daily basis. So you know, I thought that culture had to change. Some have asked me why so many first year players, and my answer is simple: it just feels good. It feels like the right thing to do, for me, right now, and try and get some more scholarships here and put a team on the ice that has fans saying ‘boy, but they worked hard.’ That translates into wins at the end of the year.
Q: It must also feel nice to know you have these young players for a couple of years with these guys to work with and develop them, right?
Curran: We went young for another reason, too. I’ve been looking at the trend of college scholarships and everyone is continuously looking for that young star hockey player and I felt like we picked up a lot of young kids that I feel will have an opportunity. We have a lot of 99s and I think colleges are looking for these young players to latch on to early on. It’s one of the reasons I got Darryl (Olsen) as our assistant coach. Darryl has been to the highest level, he’s got a couple boys that play hockey and one of them played a couple games in the National Hockey League last year. Darryl has been a skill developing coach and I think that’s really important in today’s game, to work on the skills of these individuals. Darryl is going to take on that role and also teach me some of the stuff he’s been teaching for 15 or 20 years. I think it’ll help these kids. I think we got some good young players in this group and we’ll look at getting them to the next level.
Q: What is the goalie situation like this year?
Curran: We have Xavier (Burghardt) coming back, and one from the U of A coming. We have two or three goalies, and there’s only going to be four here. The goaltending situation is going to be key for sure. But we’ll let that play out through the exhibition games and see where we’re at. We believe in all four of them coming. I can’t tell you too much, I’ve got other goalies trying out too.
Q: How about the captain?
Curran: We won’t name the captain yet. It won’t be the captain here last year because he’s gone now. The captain is a big selection you have to make. It’s looking at intangibles of captains, and what we feel the leadership group is. The leadership for this group needs to be strong this year. We have a few guys we’ve identified already and we’ll see how they play out in camp.
Q: Is there a particular agenda or things to accomplish that you’re pushing for in camp this year?
Curran: We’ve spelt out to the players throughout our camps this year, very clearly, that it’s going to be players that are pushing themselves. Our big concern is that there is not going to be any room for lack of effort or excuses. Players that play for the Dragons this year are going to be the type of players that are going to push themselves to be the best they can be. I know it’s a cliché, but we’re going to look at that. Their demeanor on the ice, their body language, putting line combinations together to see who is good playing with who. There’s a long process that’s going to take some considerable time. But there isn’t going to be anyone here that will say ‘I’m going to take a night off tonight.’ None of that is going to be tolerated here. They all know it and they all understand it, and now it’s up to them to prove it in training camp. Some jobs are on the line here. It’s a real reality check because there’s nothing guaranteed in this game. When you’re an assigned player we expect you to play here, but if another player comes in and kicks his butt, there’ll be a decision to be made. The staff agrees that we will be doing the right thing and the best we can to succeed and accomplish their personal goals and team goals, and get themselves scholarships and onto the next level. The first months will be tough and adjustments will have to be made. They’re always going to complain, hockey players like to complain, but at the end of the day they’re out there giving it everything they have.
Q: Sounds like it should be a good year for the fans.
Curran: It’s a complete change. Last year is over and done with. I don’t want to say the players failed or I failed, we just didn’t do it right and it starts with me and now we are going to make sure we correct those and make those adjustments. That’s the greatest thing about this game: nobody is infallible. Everybody can make mistakes. If you don’t learn from your mistakes you’re not going to be a better player or a better coach. I learned more last year than I did in all my years as a coach, and I think that was important for me. I think that’ll benefit the players, and I just think we have a really good group of players that are going to be on the right path right from the very beginning. There might be some trials and tribulations, as there always is with a hockey team. I don’t coach to lose. I don’t coach to have losing seasons. I coach to have fun, to win championships, to get players to the next level, and for the community to enjoy what we put on the ice.