Week 23: Coach Graham and the Ice Cats

The Pee Dee Ice Cats are one of the FPHL's toughest competitors and have been lurking in the shadows. With the playoffs around the corner, they are not so quietly emerging. In this episode, @swancommander is joined by Ice Cats head coach Gary Graham. Dave Jackson gives us the suspension report.

The conversation continues in the Discord — join free here: https://discord.gg/7UVWaJyR4d

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:16

Testing the right speaker. Testing the left speaker. Testing the left. Testing weaker. Beyond the arena. Beyond the glass. Beyond the glass.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

What's going on, everyone? Welcome back to another episode of FPHL Beyond the Glass. I'm your host, Eric Swanex, one commander on social media. This is the official podcast of the Federal Prospects Hockey League, and we are in the home stretch. We are coming down to the final run here. Chase for playoffs, standings starting to solidify themselves more. In this episode, we're going to sit down with Gary Graham, the head coach of the PD Ice Cats. Last time we spoke with Gary, we were they were neck and neck with Twin City for that fourth and final playoff spot in the Continental Division. They are now starting to separate themselves. So we're going to sit down with Gary. We're also going to sit down with Dave Jackson. He's going to give us the suspensions. He's been busy. Let's get into it. What's going on, Gary? Welcome back to the show.

SPEAKER_02 2:03

Eric, how you been?

SPEAKER_01 2:04

Been great. How about you? Big weekend this weekend for you guys.

SPEAKER_02 2:07

Doing good. Yeah, we had four games in uh five days. So it was uh it was a war of attrition. I thought the guys did a great job. You know, um, I used to do a lot of these in the ECHL when I was coaching. We'd have, you know, four and seven or something like that. You know, you had the Wednesday game and then a three and three. And those Sunday games were like watching paint dry. It's just your guys were zapped. The game was so boring and sloppy. But I told my guys after Sunday's game, I was honestly so proud of the way the guys competed. I mean, we play an aggressive style everywhere on the ice. And I thought, you know, if anything, might we might be a little bit holy in kind of what we do, some holes in our game on Sunday because we're a little bit late on our reads. It wasn't the case. The guys did a great job. So uh they got a well uh deserve two days of rest here.

SPEAKER_01 2:49

Yeah, that's awesome. So you guys got a tough schedule, not even in terms of uh opponents, but actual uh game day and whatnot. Yeah, four four and four and five. That's uh that's hard. That's that's that's the Wednesday.

SPEAKER_02 3:00

The Wednesday one was a makeup game from when uh we've had a couple weird things where we got snowed in when we were up in Binghamton. You got stranded up there like back in January, and then we were in Athens, Georgia for uh an away series two-game set. We played Friday night, beat Athens, and then uh Snowstorm came and it had to cancel the game. So we got snowed into Athens. So that was actually a makeup game on Wednesday. So it wasn't originally uh like the FPHL didn't schedule for and five, you know, so it's just a makeup game. But you know, again, we we kind of stunk it up on Wednesday, weren't happy with our game in Athens and then played well on the weekend.

SPEAKER_01 3:36

Yeah, for sure. I mean, you guys have kind of you know, in my mind, like you guys have been the you know, kind of the sleeper pick all season long. Like you, you know, I think you guys have um, you know, like to your point that you said on previous episode, like your schedule is tough, right? Like you guys had a very tough schedule, and I think you know, I think there's a lot of people that didn't realize that, didn't realize how good PD is. Um, you know, because again, like you like you guys have just straight up, you know, straight up war.

SPEAKER_02 4:02

Uh we're we'll we've been forged in fire the whole season. I mean, there's not a single week game on our schedule. So I tell everybody it's like SEC football for us, and um, and so it's just every game, but that's again, it's it's made me realize, you know, again, like I I think I told you at the beginning of the year, yeah, I didn't know this league very well. You know, you recruit a team during the summer. Um, you know, you're you're watching film, you see kind of what works, what doesn't work. And then of course, during the season, I've I've realized you know, some of the players weren't really fitting in with the style of play that we wanted to play. You know, we've made a lot of trades, a lot of moves. Our team looks completely different, really, from what it did, you know, back in November, December. And all the pieces that we brought in have really helped our team in terms of overall depth in a lot of different areas. So I think we've become bigger, we've become faster, we've become more experienced. Um, our goaltending's been more consistent. So, you know, and again, when you're playing the best teams all the time, you're you're getting a chance to see, like, hey, like we got to find a way of getting better here if we're gonna match up with these guys down the stretch. So um it's it's been good. Ownership's been great. They've given me the tools and resources uh to make trades, of course. We've had to say goodbye to players that we really liked here. Um, and also, you know, had to give some financial considerations, of course, to make some of the trades for like a guy like Lake Koff that's been exceptional for us. He's been a real catalyst, you know, for us in some of the other moves that we've made. Um, but if you don't have an ownership group that gives me the resources to do that, we're we're kind of stuck with the same roster. Maybe we have, you know, in November and December. And those guys were great guys, they worked hard, but but realistically, when you're playing against the Columbuses and the Athens and the Carolinas all the time, um, it we just work deep enough. And so now I feel like you know, all 10 of our forwards can kind of roll, all six of our D can kind of roll, and then we don't get in these bad matchups.

SPEAKER_01 5:53

Yeah, absolutely. I think that that's a very interesting point. Um, in terms of support from the ownership, because I feel like that's something that a lot of times goes unseen, um, like intentionally unseen. I mean, most times owners don't want to be, you know, too big, you know, too much in the spotlight, but that um that support is crucial because the owner can silently really help a team win, or I don't want to say handcuff them, but you know, the ownership being willing to do things and being willing to support the coaching staff and you know let them do what they got to do and support the players, it's it's a a silent um, you know, it packs a big punch that people don't see because it's it's usually silent.

SPEAKER_02 6:32

Oh, a hundred percent. I mean, again, uh, you know, a coach in an organization is only as good as the horses in the stable, is like what I like to say. So you can't go to a horse race ride and donkey. So it's you gotta make sure that you keep getting better players. And you know, again, our job as coaches is to coach them up and and put the systems and the foundation in there and hold them accountable to that. But realistically, again, you know, Athens has a tremendous depth, they've had depth the whole year. It's a great spot to play. Marty did a great job building it up last year, and and and Garrett there's done an unbelievable job. And you know, when you got to play them, how many times that we got to play them? Like we realized that we had to get a better roster if we're gonna match up. It's just it's just the name of the game. So, you know, we've been trying to get to that point. And even though we've lost the last three to Athens, you know, we won the I think the two or three before that. You know, Wednesday's game, we stunk it up, but you know, the games we lost last weekend to them, we lost in a shootout, a game we could have won. We outchanced them, and then we lost by a goal. We outchanced them badly on the second night, but still lost four to three. Um, they were still coin flip games. So, you know, at the beginning of the year, we didn't match up with Athens for squat, Eric. Like it wasn't even close, I didn't think. But now, you know, we're a lot closer, and they've made their team better too, as well. So their roster has made some some tweaks and changes, and now they're a lot bigger and stronger and a little bit deeper even now with Gus Ford on their team. So, you know, it's uh our divisions, it's it's a lot of fun because it keeps you on your toes.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

Yeah, yeah, and yeah, and like that that pod down there. Um, you know, Brant from Binghamton said that, you know, in his opinion, that's the most competitive pod in the league. You know, so you know, to your point of the schedule being extremely tough, you know, he shares that same opinion that that pod is just insane. And uh, yeah, I know we've touched on it a number of times, but yeah, like you know, your team there, like you guys have certainly accelerated as the season's gone on, which is you know, which is what you want, right? You want to get time, you know, you want to get hot at the right time and um you know, and you know, figure out any kinks or whatever in the beginning, which is you know what it seems you guys did. And you know, every team goes through different lulls um, you know, during some point of the season. And it's uh you know, it's comforting when you have when you know that's behind you.

SPEAKER_02 8:41

Yeah, no, the group is a lot more confident, you know. Even you know, we're not gonna win every game, but even during the adversity of when we're not playing well and stuff, it's just the overall attitude of the team is a lot different. You know, we've you know, I think you win with you win with good guys too. Yeah, skill is important, but you got to bring the right guys in the locker room. So, you know, the guys that we brought in at Jake Hamilton's Xavier Abdelas, you know, Dominic Dela Civita on the back end, these guys are very good hockey players, but also just great human beings and they and they got good personalities. They bring lightness to the room. Um, you know, they're funny, you know, they're just different elements, you know. Up front, of course, you know, all the guys that we brought in have been great additions to the room. So um just the overall makeup of our team, personality-wise, as well as on ice, um, and and the fact that we're a better skating team than we were with the players that we brought in allows us to play our system a little bit more effectively. And that that plays a big part of our success too. But, you know, it doesn't get any easier. We got a very ticked-off Monroe team coming in to play this weekend. It's the first time we see Monroe. Um, I know Monroe's been wanting to see what we are, we've been wanting to see what they are. You know, of course, teams that very well could see each other potentially in the playoffs. So there's a lot of implications on the line. You know, they're pretty safe, I think, in terms of making the playoffs that they haven't already. I think they did punch their ticket, if I'm not mistaken. But, you know, we still we got work to do. You know, we got work to do. You know, Twin Cities got three and three against Biloxi this weekend, and uh that should be pretty obtainable for them, uh, the way that that's been going, unfortunately, for Biloxi. And they trade a lot of their guys at the deadline and stuff like that. So, you know, and then again, we got a very big challenge against Monroe. So, you know, like I told the guys, we just got to keep keep taking care of our business. You know, it's nice to sometimes get help from another team. Uh, but again, you know, the ball's in our court, we just got to run with it.

SPEAKER_01 10:30

Yeah, exactly. Control your own destiny. And what what do you think's been like the biggest difference as of late? Um, last time you were on, we spoke about how you and Twin City were in that neck and neck battle for fourth place. You guys are sitting in fourth now. You have put a you know, a decent chunk of distance between you and them. You know, if the playoffs were to start tomorrow, obviously you guys would have Athens. Um, you know, what's been the biggest um, I don't want to say change, but the biggest uh you know happening since you know, in you know, in your locker room since you and I last spoke, and now being able to put some uh distance between you and Twin City for that fourth place spot.

SPEAKER_02 11:05

You know, I just think again, you know, when we when we we brought Colgate in too, right? Like so we we've had some bigger wins. Like we went up there when we went to Binghamton at the end of January. That was a big test for us. You know, we uh we we won that game. We played really well on a Friday, but we still lost. And then on Saturday night, you know, we were the first team to shut out Binghamton on home ice in like three years or something. And we were it was their first home loss of the year. And then the next game we go and then we we beat uh we beat Athens for the first time on their home ice. So, you know, we got back-to-back big wins, like statement wins, you know. Then uh then we faced the Columbus team on the road. They were the hottest team in the league. They won 12 straight games, and everybody's telling us how great Columbus is. Then we go in and win back-to-back games against the hottest team of the league. Then the following weekend, the next hottest team in the league is Blue Ridge. And then we go beat them three and three in their rink. And so it seems like all these storylines keep setting up in front of us, you know. And it just seems like the mountain is up here, you know. And then we go in there and and and we meet this, you know, insurmountable obstacle, and the guys respond. And and that's great, you know. Any coach will tell you that when you can meet those challenges head on and find a way of being successful, yeah, there's no X's and O's, there's no speech that I can do that is better than that moment because it shows the guys that they're capable of it, they can do it, they believe in themselves, they believe in the guy sitting next to them. Um, if they're bought into the coach's message, okay, my message now is clear. It's more uh in stone. Um, and so that's kind of what's been really helping us down the stretch here is just some key wins at the right times to give us just the right amount of confidence. And again, you know, everything's easier when you're winning games, right? You know, when you go in the valleys, it's it's hard to pull out of the valleys. We were in a valley, it took us a while to get out of it. Um, we're playing better now. And even though we lost three straight games against Athens last week, there were still we still did a lot of good things, you know, even at 7-2 or 7-3 loss. I mean, if you watch that game, Carter McPhail stood on his head. And I mean, he made some of the most unbelievable saves. We had three crossbars that game. It's just, you know, we had a ton of great scoring chances. We just couldn't finish. That was really a lot closer game than what it was. And so, you know, it's not like we lost our confidence after those three losses in a row to Athens going into the Columbus weekend. We just we just were a little snake bit, you know, lake off. We had multiple breakaways we didn't score on, and now we're back to scoring and playing with a little bit more confidence.

SPEAKER_01 13:39

Yeah. How how do you think you know, like, like just mindset and everything for the players? Do you think it's an advantage with this schedule that you've had so far? Where you know, playoff time rolls around. Most, you know, most teams, you know, it's like, all right, things are gonna get really real, really quick. And you guys are kind of like, hey, things have been real all season. We've been going through this all season long, like just big game after big game.

SPEAKER_02 14:01

This is this is what you honestly you would prefer to have this, honestly. This was like my first year in Fort Wayne as a head coach. We had to almost go 650 win percentage, 700 win percentage down the light down the stretch, and we did it, and we made it the playoffs. My first year on the last game of the season against Wheeling on home ice. It was a Sunday, five o'clock game. I'll never forget that feeling. Like we just had to we had to win so many big games, too. Like we had to go down to Florida. We had a Florida South Carolina trip, you know, in the Everblades and Stingrays are always great. We sweep the whole thing. We go into Florida, win two, then we go to South Carolina against the head coach of the Washington Capitol, Spencer Carberry, and beat them for two. It was actually four games, two and two. And like that right there is what kind of catapulted us. That was like that launcher where it's like, wow, we actually have a team that can do this. We just went on the road and played two of the best teams in the toughest division in the coast. And we kind of just rode that into our playoffs, and and and we won our first playoff series against Reading, you know, against the number one seed, the defending champs.

SPEAKER_01 15:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:05

The reason why that was was because we had been playing desperate hockey, like you just said, for so many games in a row. By the time the playoffs started, it was just another game. I mean, it was just another another game, you know, no different, you know. Um, and that's the way we just kind of went with our approach. And that's kind of how we're doing things around here. I mean, we know the importance of every single game and how tight everything is. And um, the captains have done an unbelievable job. The leadership group has really deserves the majority of the credit because they've kept the guys dialed in. And we haven't had Eric a lot of practice time either lately around here with the ice being out. And so we've done more video. The guys have had to stay in shape away from the rink, so they've been taking care of their bodies like pros. They haven't been drinking and smoking, and when they show up, they're out of shape. Like they've been they've been they've been very good professional pro hockey players. And as you know, at the single A level, you can usually deal with a lot of that with your team as a coach. Is it's kind of like that's why guys are at this level, right? They don't take it as serious off the ice. It's more of a country club. You hear the horror stories, more of a let's party and drink. This team is not that way. There, it's a very good group of pro players that take their craft very seriously.

SPEAKER_01 16:19

Yeah, that's also and and it's it's awesome. And it shows, I mean, you know, again, just the success that you guys are having, you know, down the stretch here. I mentioned earlier, like you guys are you know accelerating through the season. And you know, for me, I think probably the most on you know underestimated team. Um, you know, not that I think anybody thinks that you guys aren't, you know, top end. I think it's um, you know, again, just that the schedule I think was very deceiving at times this season, where you know, again, like you guys really had a battle for every point you've got in the in the standings. And I think now people are kind of getting um you know, you know, surprised a little bit at seeing, you know, that like, hey, all right, just knocked off Columbus three, you know, three in a row. Like that's you know, like you guys expected that. You guys know you could do that. Um, you know, but again, like I think that it's yeah, I think you guys are kind of like the the sleeper team of the league.

SPEAKER_02 17:09

Well, I don't want to go that far. Um, but um, you know, I I I think you know, the schedule's been tough. We've talked about everybody knows it, but um, you know, the the opponents too. I mean, you know, Columbus, they were they were close games, you know what I'm saying? It's not like we're running away with games, you know. So, you know, I I just think it's really good for both clubs. You know, I've talked to Boomer and and and Rutz and stuff. It's like when we play each other, it's really good hockey. I mean, it's really good hockey. I mean, I wish the fans around the league would like really watch our games. Like, it's very good hockey when these teams are playing against each other. And um, you know, that that's just I think when you have a record, we've been below 500 win percentage the majority of the year. So if you're just glancing at the standings, you probably think, oh, PD, whatever. You know, they're below 500. They must not be very good, right? So I can see where people would, if they don't really follow our division, would probably think that, you know, but you know, we've been better than our records indicated for a long time. I mean, I've I mean, we have been. It's just it's been tough. You know, we lost a lot of one goal games, a lot of overtime games. We lost a lot of games early in the season where we outplayed teams, outchanced teams, just maybe just let in that one weak goal here or there that just killed us or something like that. And um, you know, that gets frustrating on the group. And sometimes that that was hurting us in November, December, where I'm trying to build a culture and expectations. And when you're losing games, it's hard to do that as a first-year coach because are the guys going to buy into the message if the coach's message means we're losing games. Does the coach know what the heck he's talking about? Is can he lead us through this? You know, that's normal stuff. I don't take offense to that, but that's what happens when you have a new first-year team, all these new guys, when you start losing, you lose two in a row, you lose three, you lose four. That's when that doubt starts creeping in everywhere. And it it was challenging and it challenged us as an organization. But like you know, when you can come out of it on the right side and you get forged in fire, then you can come out on the right side of it and take it for what it is. It was a good learning lesson for us, and we're a better team for it.

SPEAKER_01 19:14

Yeah, and probably just a lot of adjusting, too, right? Like, because you mentioned that you're you know, first year coach in this league, but you're not you know, first year coach in this league. You've coached, you know, you've obviously been around the block, been around the block at higher levels. Um, you know, it's like a lot of it probably, I assume, was just you know, a lot of it is an adjustment period of learning the league. Like, you know, you could watch film all you want and talk to people, but then once you're in it, it's uh you know, and just like anything else, the league is constantly evolving, right? So, like you watch film on last year or the year before. Well, it's gonna be a little bit different this year, and you know, you get your feet planted and be like, okay, this is this needs to be adjusted, that needs to be adjusted, and then you're off to the races, like you guys are.

SPEAKER_02 19:49

Well, the learning curve for me, you're not even gonna believe this. The listeners probably wouldn't believe this, but like, I mean, I almost was I feel like I was over coaching uh and like again, over coaching, doing more what I'm used to doing at the other higher levels I've been early in the season with guys that frankly I don't think I might have been teaching and talking too fast because I'm used to guys being maybe more receptive to the information. But then I started I get get into these individual interviews with guys and I would ask them about okay, what'd your college coach do with you last year? And I'm not gonna throw any programs under the bus here. But I mean, the answers, Eric, would be you wouldn't even believe it. What systems did you guys run in college last year? Coach, we didn't have any systems. I go, what are you talking about? He goes, literally, we didn't we didn't work on D zone. What do you mean? Like, uh if I traded for a guy from a certain team in a federal league, you know, we'd start doing video and pre-scout work, I'd be like, So is this something similar to like what you guys would do? Coach, we haven't done video all year. What are you talking about? You haven't done video. Like, so you're dealing with different types of players that than what I'm used to doing in terms of prep work, detail work, and stuff like that. That and and so I took for granted, I think, a lot of things of what I'm used to players knowing by the time I have them. And I had to kind of slow it down, maybe going backwards a little bit and try to get a better feel. And so I definitely feel like I've changed my coaching methods this year. And normally I wouldn't do that, honestly. Sometimes us coaches are stubborn, you just kind of just keep going what you know, especially when you've coached as long as me. But you know, that's where the captains have come in. They've given me some feedback in captains meetings as to certain things that maybe could be adjustable, and we've we've adjusted some things. And I think the the verbiage, the terminology, the teaching has been a little bit more simpler, and it's allowed guys to just go out and just play and react instead of I think I had them thinking too much early on in the season.

SPEAKER_01 21:45

Yeah, and I I love that point that you just made, and it's very interesting where you know it's not like not that there's any you know, not that there's anything wrong with the players, it's just identifying that hey, you know, in the ECHL, we're getting a lot of guys from the division one level. Federal League, we're getting a lot of guys from the division three level. Yeah. Yeah, there's a difference in how those players were brought up to no fault of the player. Right. There's a difference in the environment from division one to division three. And I think that says a lot about you as a coach recognizing that and not just saying, all right, get him out, get me a new player. Well, yeah, if you okay, if you keep trading them for a different player out of division three, you're gonna have the same problem because he's coming from the same place. So to recognize that, hey, it's not it's not the player, it's where the player is coming from. And there's nothing wrong with the player, he just needs to be taught. So instead of hey, get out of here, get me the new guy, and then new guy has the same problem, get out of here, get me new guy, same problem.

SPEAKER_02 22:38

You know, you said, All right, let's sit down and teach him, let's identify and that and that and that was more what we started doing when we when we did make transactional moves, is that we we simplified kind of our systems, more simplified everything, and so guys could react quicker. When we started doing that, we did that for a month, and then everybody started going better. But then then you could evaluate your roster a little bit easier. So now is this guy fast enough to play in the system, right? So then you can just really make a the guy. Everybody knows the system now. Now you can see how everybody can react in the system. Then you start identifying, you know what? I might need to get a little bit faster here on right wing. I'm gonna make this trade for this guy because he's gonna bring more speed. Yeah, I need to get a little bit more size on my third line. This guy can do this job a little bit better than this guy. So then you can kind of make those decisions for your roster are a little bit easier once you take away the kind of the hockey IQ side of things. Because I was more focused on the hockey IQ side of things early on in the season and getting frustrated, frankly, because I'm like, why aren't why aren't guys picking this stuff up? Like, I don't get it. Like, am I just a terrible teacher out of nowhere in my career? They are they just not understanding it. And I started getting to understand that just what I normally would expect the player to know coming out of college and wherever they came from, they just didn't know, frankly. You know, and that's no fault to them. It was just these details that I just take for granted. I needed to kind of go in reverse a little bit, slow it down, identify how am I teaching it, and try to be a little bit more simple with it. And since I started doing that, it it seems like that's been a definitely a big help.

SPEAKER_01 24:19

Yeah, I I love it. I love it. I mean, and to like to all the young players out there, and I'm probably gonna use your example on the on my junior hockey podcast, um, just the importance of playing for a good coach and a good program, right? Exactly what you you know, everything that you were just saying in terms of like where you're getting the players from and everything. So I think it you know it's so so important. And um, yeah, no, I love that you just brought that up. So um, biggest thing for you guys going down the stretch and into playoffs, what would you say it is?

SPEAKER_02 24:48

Well, I think our overall depth is really good right now, you know. Like I was able to do something you never want to do, but like I was I healthy scratch one of our better players on Sunday. I would have never been able to do that at the beginning of the year for discipline reasons. Just you know, he took a bad penalty on on Saturday night. And uh because of our depth now with Elijah Wilson and Noah Robinson and we got Drew Welsh back from the from Macon and the SP. You know, we have enough depth now for me to be able to kind of hold guys accountable to certain things, which which is great. You know, I wasn't able to do that at the beginning of the year. So I really like we have 8D right now uh that that can all play in this league. You know, we got a couple uh guys that are on the IR, but they're getting back into shape. So, you know, we're we're we're able to we're practicing right now with 12 forwards, eight D, and three goalies. And so like practice today was highly intense. I'm able to run high-level drills, competitive drills, continuous drills, keep the pace high. Um, so just that keeping our conditioning up is in and keeping us healthy down the stretch here is probably gonna be the most important.

SPEAKER_01 25:51

Yeah, awesome. Any anything you want to end off with?

SPEAKER_02 25:54

Um, no, just uh, you know, we're we're we're excited for the opportunity to try to make the playoffs. It's gonna be a heck of a challenge down the road. You know, I got a lot of respect for Harry's a good buddy of mine, the coach there in Twin City. And um, you've got a lot of respect for each other's programs and stuff like that. And you know, I think um I think I'm gonna be happy to get in the playoffs and make a push with our club. Um, but realistically, I want to see the Continental do good. You know what I'm saying? Obviously, you know, I love Shirsey up there. You know, he played for me a little bit, but um, you know, I'm hoping I'm hoping that somebody out of our division this year wins it all.

SPEAKER_01 26:28

Bring it bring it down south.

SPEAKER_02 26:29

Yes, we want to bring it down south this year.

SPEAKER_01 26:32

Well, that's awesome, Gary. Thank you very much for doing this, and best of luck the rest of the way.

SPEAKER_02 26:36

All right, thanks, sir.

SPEAKER_01 26:40

What's going on, Dave? How are you?

SPEAKER_00 26:42

I'm great, Eric. We had a uh busy weekend this weekend, and uh I I was a little busier than normal. So uh my mate tag repairman status uh is now off the shelf, and uh I'm back uh I'm back grinding it out here uh at Player Safety Central.

SPEAKER_01 26:58

Yeah, I was gonna say, I think uh yeah, a little more this week than the past couple past couple weeks, but um no uh one category that we don't have this week that is nice to see.

SPEAKER_00 27:09

I I think we got a lot of categories this week. Uh we'll start off.

SPEAKER_01 27:13

We had a we had a no slurs this week, right?

SPEAKER_00 27:16

No slurs, but we had some lew gestures. Yeah. So uh they kind of go hand in hand. Uh we're almost there. Yeah, so we had a uh we had a match penalty for elbowing in Baton Rouge. People go, what's a match penalty versus a major penalty? Well, this was a case, it's not a hockey play. A major penalty for elbowing would be you're going in to make a hit on a player with the puck. It's careless, it's reckless, it gets a bit high, you elbow the guy, you break his nose or something. That's a five-minute major in a game misconduct, but it's a hockey play gone bad. You may or may not get suspended based on the video. Match penalty for elbowing is in this case, it was a player with the puck who got hit legally, not even that hard a hit, didn't like being hit, and as the puck left away, he responded with a quick elbow to the opponent's face. That's not a hockey play. There's nothing about that play that screams anything other than retribution and frustration. So the act was done, the player got two game suspension. Fortunately, no serious injury. Uh, we had so we had a game in Watertown where uh frustrations boiled over a little bit. Um we had a player, well, we go back one day, we had a player from Watertown who um on the bench and an opponent got checked right in front of him at the bench, and he decided that he would engage the player from the bench. You can't do that. When you're on the bench, you're considered off the ice. When you're off the ice, you have no rights to touch anybody who's on the ice, unless they engage you first, which which didn't happen. Uh so he engages the player from the bench. Um, they end up holding on to each other. He leaves the bench, comes on the ice. In this case, it wasn't like leaving the bench under the rule, leaving the bench. Um he was already previously engaged with the guy, but so he got a suspension for fighting off the ice. He came on the ice, uh, delivered one punch, knocked the guy down, so he got an aggressor penalty, one more game, and then he ended up getting involved in another scrum that he wasn't penalized for, but he had no business being involved in that scrum because he should be on the bench. So we ended up getting four games.

unknown 29:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 29:41

And then the next day his team was losing. The team's coach got a little bit frustrated. Um, the team's coach ended up getting fined for his actions in regards to the other team. Um there were some things Don Security had to get involved, and while this was happening, the player who was suspended decided he would get involved as well in his street clothes. So that earned him another game suspension. So he's now got five, he's now got five games. The coach got fined. Um, you just can't have that. I mean, yeah, take your suspension, go sit in the stands, eat some popcorn, but you can't lay low. You can't come down and um I know you want to be a good teammate, I know you want to get involved, I know you want to stand up for your players. I respect that, I understand that, but I'm just doing my job as well. So you end up getting five games total. Um then we had a play in Indiana where a player left the bench. Now, again, uh leaving the bench is a six-game suspension. If you leave the bench for the purpose of starting an altercation or joining into an altercation already in progress, but the word altercation really means fight. In the absence of a fight, the rules applied a little differently because there's so much gray area involved here. You got line changes, you have stoppages of play where guys come on the ice, there's pushing and shoving before they get. I mean, if we applied the rule strictly by the letter of the rule, we would have far too many suspensions that people would be shaking their heads at, going the punishment doesn't fit the crime.

SPEAKER_01 31:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:26

So, so it becomes it becomes judgment. There was an altercation, pushing and shoving going on right in front of the bench. The whistle went, there was a line change, the player came on the ice, immediately got involved in the pushing and shoving. There were no penalties assessed. He got pushed out of there by the linesman, but again, he had no business entering that fray from the bench, so he got a one-game suspension. It's not just for him, it's for other players in the league, for coaches in the league to see this because we make these suspensions known to everybody in the league. They can watch the video. Tell your players not to leave the bench and get involved in something. Bad things happen. Nothing good's gonna happen if you get involved in something when you leave your bench. So he got a one-game suspension for that. Um, Columbus, we had an instigator with less than five minutes to go in the game. Now, I've talked about this at length on this podcast. It says in the rule book that an instigator penalty in the last five minutes of play is an automatic game misconduct, and you may be subject to suspension. Most of these cases I do not suspend because they are organic fights that start a guy gets run from behind, his teammate comes over to defend his player, instigates the fight, he deserves the game misconduct. I'm not suspending him. It wasn't a settling of accounts from something earlier, it wasn't it wasn't uh setting the tone for next game, it was something that happened directly then on the ice in the last five minutes. You instigated a fight, you're out of the game, I'm not suspending you. But if I think the instigating is is a result of something earlier in the game or something you're setting up for next game, that is when you get suspended. And in this case, we had a hockey game that was a little bit lopsided. We had a player come in, deliver a body check, and then after the body check that he he delivered, that wasn't enough. He dropped his gloves and went after a player and decided to exact his pound of flesh from this player. That's not an organic fight. That's you deciding it's late in the game. I got nothing to lose. I'm just gonna cause mayhem here. He got suspended. That's where instigating the last five minutes becomes a game misconduct and a one-game suspension. That's what he got. And then you know what? On the way out, he committed a lewd gesture as well. So he ended up getting three games. He turned he turned a body check into a three-game suspension. It's education. Let's hope that they learn from it and and move on. Um and then finally we had well no, we had two more. Uh finally we had uh a player um involved in a fight on the ice, and we call it continuous. So there's two types of continuant altercation. There's a there's there is a player involved in a fight, the linesmen enter, and they just won't stop. They just keep they keep trying to fight over top of the linesman. Usually you get ejected, game misconduct for continuing altercation. I normally won't suspend the game misconduct's enough. When I do suspend is when the linesmen are put in danger. And in this case, the linesman's report was they took a punch off the helmet, it took an elbow off the ear while they were telling the player to stop. He refused to stop, so he receives a one-game suspension. What then uh made it worse was after he left the ice, there were some things done in the bowels of the arena that uh Rink Security had to report on. So the commissioner's office ended up um assessing a five-game suspension. And that's not from that's not from player safety. Player safety's responsibility ends where I can no longer see the player on video. When it goes into what's going on behind in the dressing rooms, that becomes a league office, commissioner's office. And the commissioner, uh rightly so, and I totally support him, um, suspended this player for five more games on top of the one-game continual altercation. So he's got six games. And finally, we had um a player from uh Binghamton who, after scoring a goal, gave a loot gesture to the crowd. Uh, it wasn't witnessed by the referees. Um normally my policy is if something happens on the ice that's a hockey play, let's say a missed boarding, a missed slash, something like that, teams have 24 hours to request a review that would come across my desk, uh, and then I decide whether the player uh is worthy of supplemental discipline. When it comes to lewd gestures, when it comes to interaction with the fans or anything to do with uh physically assaulting an official, I don't have a statute of limitations on that. Um so this video came into me uh two days after the game. The proof, the evidence is in the video, and and he suspended now for two games for a loot gesture. Um, what I will say is we had two lewd gestures this weekend. That's too too many. Both teams took ownership. I spoke with the ownership group of both teams. Uh both of them were very, very firm in saying it's unacceptable behavior, putting it back on their player, and they're dealing with it internally. And I think that's uh kudos to both those teams. Uh that's the leadership, that's the leadership that we need and we want in this league. And these two teams are taking the lead by by you know, disavowing and disowning this type of behavior and taking some leadership on it. So kudos to them and I I'm happy to be part of it.

SPEAKER_01 37:32

Yeah, absolutely. That's great. Very, very unique weekend, busy, busy understatement. I mean, a lot of situations there that snowballed and just got worse for the individual. Um, yeah, hopefully a little less busy this weekend. I know you got your NCAA Frozen 4 um festivities coming up. So hopefully everyone gives you a little break.

SPEAKER_00 37:49

ESPN, ESPN has the rights for the women's and the men's uh frozen four, uh the women's semifinals, two games Friday, and the final championship this Sunday. Uh be on ESPN. I'll be the rules analyst for that. And then um first weekend in April, I believe it is, April 9th to uh 9th or 8th and 10th, or guess, or 9th and 11th. Whatever that weekend is, is the men's, yeah, the men's frozen four uh from Las Vegas. And um the two semifinal games are Thursday night, the championship Saturday evening, and that's gonna be great hockey. And uh maybe I'll be busy, maybe I won't, but it's just gonna be great hockey. And I get the uh I get a front row seat to uh analyze the rules and try and explain them to uh to the college hockey fan.

SPEAKER_01 38:37

Yeah, awesome. Well, hopefully, hopefully the Federal League gives you a little break. Um, but yeah, sounds great, Dave. I will talk to you soon.

SPEAKER_00 38:45

All right, Eric, all the best.

SPEAKER_01 38:47

Thank you, you too. And that's gonna do it for this episode. Let's do our proof of attendance token code for watching this episode. The proof of attendance token code is going to be IceCats, all one word. Enter the code on the podcast page at swanhockey.io, and you will be eligible to receive your proof of attendance token for watching this episode. Codes must be entered by 9 p.m. Eastern, the night that this show airs, Wednesday night. Our magic number is still five. Collect five or more of these tokens, and you will be able to access the member only chat in Club Fed inside the Swan Hockey Discord server. That's gonna do it for this episode. And until next time, I'll see you guys soon.

SPEAKER_04 39:26

Thank you for being the best part of this episode of FPHL Beyond the Glass by Swan Hockey. We will see you soon. We will see you soon.