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| Around the WCHL: November 2002 |
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Edited
by Phillip Brents Teams
included in this report: Anchorage
Aces “It’s a tremendous challenge,” said Davidson, a native of Brantford, Ontario. “I’m a coach and this is a great opportunity to do what I love. I don’t know much about the city yet, but I’m very impressed with this ownership group and the people running the organization. I think Derek and I our going to make a great team.” Davidson is coming off his second season with the CHL’s Ice, and is looking to duplicate the success he built there after taking a new franchise to a league title in 1999-00. “It was a very similar situation,” Davidson said of the inaugural CHL team in Indy. “There was a local ownership group who bought the assets from the old Indianapolis IHL franchise to basically give something back to the community and they were just great to work for.” When the Ice was sold this summer, Davidson began looking for a more ideal coaching situation. He came recommended to the Aces by former Ice forward and current Ace Yvan Corbin, who prospered under Davidson’s offense like never before. Corbin scored 68 and 75 goals in two years under Davidson. “I favor an offensive game,” the new coach said. “I believe in scoring some goals, entertaining the fans and using your skill. Yvan and I enjoyed great success together. He’s the finest goal scorer I’ve ever seen.” Davidson’s combination of experience and coaching philosophy make him a perfect fit for the organization, according to Aces general manager Derek Donald. “We wanted a guy who was successful at this level of hockey not only in terms of wins and losses but in providing a very entertaining product,” Donald said. “Rod has been successful in other AA leagues and his teams are high flying, high scoring and a lot of fun to watch.” Davidson fit the strict criteria the new owners had for their next bench boss. “In the pre-interview, they were basically looking for integrity, success -- winning, discipline, community involvement and team exposure,” Davidson said. “I have a lot to offer in these areas and that’s what I brought to them.” Davidson is fair, but regimented, he explained, and believes in taking care of his players in a comprehensive manner. He’s already put together a volume of information for each player from training camp on. He is actively engaged in recruiting and is looking at doing whatever he can to improve the Aces and their chances at a Taylor Cup championship. Davidson began his coaching career during the 1992-93 season with Brantford of the old Colonial Hockey League by securing an affiliation with the NHL’s Calgary Flames. “I am looking
at getting an NHL affiliate, which isn’t easy to do, but can make
such a difference to an organization,” he said. Bakersfield
Condors The Condors improvement last season was on defense. It came under a new coach and goaltending tandem. While the coaching staff remains the same this season in Bakersfield, if the Condors are going to fly closer to wrapping their talons around the Taylor Cup, it will be behind new netminders. Enter Kevin St. Pierre and Fredrik Jensen, both 27. The duo replaces the 2001-02 tandem of Luciano Caravaggio and Scott Hay. Caravaggio led the WCHL last season in shootout percentage (.889) while Hay tied for second in the WCHL with four shutouts. The coaching staff has to believe it has struck gold to completely make over the position. St. Pierre joins the Condors after spending the last two seasons with Port Huron in the UHL. In 33 games for the Border Cats last season, St. Pierre put up a 3.12 goals against average with a sturdy .906 save percentage for a team that finished 12th in the 14-team UHL. He has recorded a save percentage of more than .900 in four of the past five seasons and holds a career .902 save percentage. The native of Sherbrooke, Quebec, was named the WPHL’s Outstanding Goaltender when he played for the Shreveport Mudbugs during the 1997-98 season. St. Pierre led the WPHL in wins (36) and amassed a 3.00 GAA and .910 save percentage that season. He led the Mudbugs to the WPHL Presidents Cup championship the following season. He has twice led his league in shutouts, and has eight shutouts in his seven-year professional career. During the 2000-01 campaign, St. Pierre set a UHL record by recording three consecutive shutouts – a duration that would push the existing WCHL record of 197:13 set that same season by San Diego’s Trevor Koenig. “Kevin’s a big goaltender, which we were looking for, and he's a championship goaltender,” Condors head coach Paul Kelly said. With a 4-0 shutout victory against the defending Taylor Cup champion Fresno Falcons to his credit in his first regular season game for Bakersfield, St. Pierre’s WCHL debut was certainly an auspicious one – and set the immediate tone that the Condors will not settle for another fourth-place finish in the Southern Division standings. Jensen opened the season as St. Pierre’s backup. A native of Vetlanda, Sweden, Jensen has played his entire career in his homeland. He spent the majority of last season in the Swedish Elite League with Linkopings, where he was a teammate of fellow Condor Christoffer Norgren. His best season came in 2000-01 with Linkopings in the Swedish First Division when he put up a 1.19 GAA and a .939 save percentage. “Jensen
comes highly recommended and has had success in Europe. Marty (associate
coach Marty Raymond) and I feel like we have a strong goaltending tandem
with Jensen and Kevin St. Pierre,” Kelly said. Idaho
Steelheads
Oates, 29, made the tough decision to hang up his skates this season as he pursues a new career off the ice. His front office responsibilities include acquiring sponsorships for the Steelheads and Bank of America Centre. Oates was a seventh round selection by the New York Rangers in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft. “I have grown to love Boise and its people, so when Diamond Sports approached me with this offer, I was thrilled,” Oates said. “But it’s going to hit me that I’m not playing anymore when I see the team on the ice this season. It will be hard but I’ll always be a part of the Steelheads’ family and help out in any way I can.” “Matt’s the kind of guy you want to have around,” said Diamond Sports president Bill Waller. “If we couldn't have him on the ice, we wanted him in the office. We are confident he’ll do a great job for us.” Another addition to the Steelheads’ off-the-ice operation this season is radio play-by-play announcer Britt Talbert. For the past six years Talbert, 36, has been the public address announcer for the Steelheads at the Bank of America Centre. As occasional host of the “Steelheads Hockey Show” on ESPN Radio KTIK 1350 – the broadcast outlet for all Steelheads’ games -- he earned the respect of WCHL hockey personnel as one of the most knowledgeable minor league hockey people in the country. The hockey show runs during the season, Monday through Friday, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. “I have
been associated with Diamond Sports and the Idaho Steelheads for many years,
and to take it to this next step is truly a dream come true for me,”
Talbert said. What
goes around … Among the new
faces this season are right-wing Marty Flichel who played last season with
Tacoma, Joe Rybar, who was the leading scorer three out of four years with
Peoria in the ECHL, and Czech native, Michal Pinc, who was a fifth round
selection by the San Jose Sharks in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. San
Diego Gulls “He’s the top-gun type of player that we were looking for,” Martinson said. The Gulls got one of the WCHL’s premier scorers in Enga. The 5-foot-11-inch, 190-pound center ranks eighth all-time in the WCHL with 387 points, ninth all-time with 165 goals and 222 assists. A 10th round selection of the New York Islanders in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft, Enga has scored at least 27 goals in each of his seven professional seasons. He's also played in every game since joining the WCHL and hasn't missed a pro game since 1996 (467 games). One of the last of the original Gold Kings, Enga had appeared in all 310 regular season and playoff games since the franchise moved to Colorado Springs in 1998. He narrowly missed becoming the first Colorado player to register 50 goals in back-to-back seasons after finishing with 48 to earn Second Team All-WCHL honors to go along with a team- and career-best +24 plus-minus rating. Enga finished last season second in the WCHL with 48 goals and third with 95 points. He was the Gold Kings’ all-time leader in games (310), points (387), goals (165), power play goals (56) and shorthanded goals (10). Enga’s career-high 50 goals and 105 points in 2000-01 landed him a First Team All-WCHL selection as well as a trip to the 2001 WCHL/CHL All-Star Game. Besides being a top scorer, Enga is extremely reliant and he attributes his astonishing ironman status to an active lifestyle outside of the rink that included hiking and fly fishing while growing up in the mountains of Colorado. “I just love to play. It’s fun to get out there,” Enga said. Playing for San Diego is something Enga wanted to do ever since he first came to the WCHL. “Obviously coming to San Diego, I am excited. That’s where I always wanted to play. They have a tradition of winning. Coming into the rink, wearing that uniform, you feel like you have an edge. Just putting on the uniform is special,” he said. Enga is aware of the expectations placed on him but is not overly bothered by them. “I am just going to play my game and hope to score some goals,” said the always humble Enga, who made a spectacular debut with the Gulls by scoring two goals and an assist. “Everybody
kind of knows their role. That’s what Marty (San Diego’s Martinson)
got me for,” Enga said. |
FEATURE ARTICLES
AROUND
THE WCHL GAME RECAPS PROFILES IN HOCKEY PRESS RELEASES |
Former
CHL champion Rod Davidson is enthusiastic about the challenge of guiding
his new remade hockey team, dubbed the “new era Aces” by the
ownership group that resurrected the franchise this past summer.
Though
unsuccessful in their long-term goal of winning the Taylor Cup last season,
the Bakersfield Condors made up some ground that, in the short term, could
go a long way in bringing that long term goal a little closer.
Former
Steelheads center Matt Oates is lacing up oxfords this season instead of
skates after being hired as a Sponsor Account Executive for Diamond Sports,
the Idaho Steelheads’ parent company. 
When
last season’s top goalscorer in the WCHL, Mark Woolf, left the San
Diego Gulls to play this season in Germany, the Gulls offensive lineup was
left with a huge gap. However, San Diego head coach Steve Martinson had
kept his eye on Colorado Gold Kings center R.J. Enga for quite some time
and, with Woolf’s departure and the almost simultaneous folding of
the Gold Kings, Martinson took the chance to sign the 30-year old Enga.