October 5, 2007
Hello again! In my last blog, I mentioned my anticipation over our training camp in Nashville. It’s been a long time, but the start of the season is finally here! On the eve of our first game, there’s certainly some anticipation and excitement within the team. We’ve been waiting all summer for this. We had a pretty good training camp and some decent exhibition games, but we need to get started and see where we’re at. We’ve got a lot of new faces and Saturday is going to be a stern test for us.As fate would have it, we’re playing against Peoria which is coached by Dave Baseggio. I coached with Dave two years ago in Bridgeport and I don’t think there will be any advantages or disadvantages because of that; I know some of his tendencies and he knows some of mine. In the end, it’s the players who go out on the ice and have to play the game. We’re all excited to get started and see where we go!
September 13, 2007
Hello again everybody! I’ve been talking for about 6 or 8 weeks now about the fact that this day was going to come quickly and I’m on the way to
Training camp in
On certain days, Brad and I are going to be running practices on game days with non-playing players, so it gets our feet wet and gets us ready not only for the season ahead, but for training camp which starts on Monday, the 24th. Again, we’re just excited to get things started, looking forward to getting down to Nashville and jumping in with both feet and starting my first season as Head Coach with your Milwaukee Admirals!
August 28th, 2007
It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve talked to you. I’ve had the good fortune of being able to play in the Milwaukee Brewer’s 25th anniversary golf tournament, which was a great honor. I was able to play with Derek Turnbow, the Brewer’s relief pitcher, former Milwaukee Buck Sam Williams, and Harris Turer, our owner, along with some of his friends as well. We won the tournament, which was nice, and overall had a very enjoyable time. The banquet after the tournament at the North Shore Country Club featured Bob Uecker emceeing, Robin Yount and many other former Brewers.After that, I’ve been in the office working – getting ready for the season for the last 3 weeks. I ended up taking a week off and headed down to Florida with my family to go to Disney World. Brad Lauer, the new Assistant Coach, has gotten into town and he’s getting settled, so I’m helping him with that. We’re off to Nashville tomorrow to discuss training camp in terms of what’s going to be happening there and what we’ll be doing. The season’s coming soon, it’s only a couple of weeks until we start camp in Nashville, and we’re gearing up for it and getting excited about it!
August 7th, 2007
Welcome back! In the last blog I mentioned one of my top priorities this summer was to hire an assistant coach. I am happy to say that Brad Lauer is the newest addition to the Milwaukee Admirals. Brad comes from the Kootenay Ice of the Western Hockey League. Coach Lauer played in over 300 National Hockey League games as well as skating in the Stanley Cup Finals with the Chicago Blackhawks. This combined experience and knowledge will be a great addition for me as well as our players and their development.I had the pleasure to throw out the first pitch last Friday at the Brewers game. I did not have much time to prepare for this humbling experience as my pitch showed. It has been a while since I was throwing the ball around the fields of Saskatchewan. I had the opportunity to talk to Chris Capuano, who fielded the opening pitch, and Dale Sveum who both happen to be hockey fans. I also chatted with Ned Yost for a couple minutes. It was interesting to talk to Ned especially after the events in the dugout the day before. It was clear that hockey is not the only sport where emotion boils over at times when everyone is trying to obtain the same goal, winning! All in all, it was a great experience and I am looking forward to the next opportunity where I can redeem myself.
I do not know about you guys, but I am ready to get out of this humidity and into a nice cool rink. I hope everyone is as ready as I am, talk to you soon….
July 26th, 2007
First of all I would like to welcome all of you to my first of many blogs that I will be writing over the course of the season. This is my rookie year as a blogger so if anyone has any suggestions or questions please do not hesitate to send me a note.Here we are in July and the season is fast approaching with a long list of work yet to be done in order to be successful come October. Topping the list is finding an assistant coach who can compliment my style. I believe it is important to have a mix of coaching philosophies to keep the team on an even keel. I am also looking for a coach that possesses good communicating and teaching skills.
Also on the list is filling the voids that were left behind from our affiliate change. Rockford moving to the AHL left us with no primary affiliate for call ups. Our new affiliate is Cincinnati in the ECHL. I am very busy right now signing guys to provide depth in Cincinnati in case of injuries or call ups to our team. Training camp preparations have been under way the last couple weeks which opens towards the end of September. I am looking forward to seeing our team together for the first time as there will be many new faces.
As far as my summer, most of it has been spent golfing and spending time with my family. I really enjoy golf as I find that it helps keep my competitive juices flowing. My family and I just arrived back from vacation and we are happy to settle down in Milwaukee for the duration of the summer. Over the past year we have noticed there is never a dull moment in Milwaukee. The city provides a lot of fun and exciting attractions and we are happy to be apart of the community.
Once again, please feel free to contact me with any suggestions or questions. Until next time…
