Thunderbolts

I had a story in today’s paper about the first signings for next year. Some leftovers from the interview with coach Brent Bilodeau:

• Bilodeau plans to meet this week with veteran Jason Duda. Duda led the team in scoring (55 points), despite suffering from a bad back much of the season. Duda decided not to have surgery in the off-season, instead opting for rehab. “We’re gonna talk and see how his back is and what his plans for the future are,” Bilodeau said. “I’m sure he wants to come back, but it has to be something we’re both comfortable with.”
• Goalie Tim Boron, Troy Ofukany (36 points, 122 PIM as a rookie) and Joel Hanson (33 points in 39 games) are hoping to play at a higher level next season, but they want to return to Wichita if that doesn’t work out, Bilodeau said.
• Mike Batovanja, among the first signees, said he likes the direction of the team under Bilodeau. “We’re gonna win,” he said. “I’m excited to get it turned around.”

The Thunder has lost a star performer – this one off the ice.
General manager Joel Lomurno’s off-season, already challenging given the team’s poor play the past two years, became even tougher with the recent departure of key staffer Joe Greene, who had been with the team for three seasons. Greene was the director of group sales, and under his leadership the Thunder was among the best in the CHL in that department.
Greene is moving to the CHL expansion team in Independence, Mo. He will be assistant GM.
“It’s a big loss,” Lomurno said. “He’s known throughout the league as one of the best salesmen in the league. Joe is going to help start a new franchise, and he thought this would be best for him and his family. We wish him the best.”
Jeremy Mock has been promoted to director of group sales.
“He’s got big shoes to fill, but he learned under Joe and he has a lot to work with,” Lomruno said.

Duda won’t do surgery: Veteran Jason Duda, who struggled with a sore back much of the season, has elected to rehab the injury rather than have surgery. Lomurno said the team will know in about a month if the rehab has worked, or if surgery will be required.
Scott Rozendal (knee), Jason Tessier (hand) and Pascal Bedard (shoulder) have also had surgery since the season ended.

Boron update: Goalie Tim Boron had surgery on one hip toward the end of the season. He has having surgery on the other hip this week. “It’s going to be a big injury to come back from,” Lomurno said.

The ceremony to retire Rob Weingartner’s No. 15 jersey was pitch perfect. The Thunder staff did a nice job keeping the plans secret and Weingartner was surprised and, it seemed, genuinely moved. I used binoculars to watch his reaction, and I’m fairly sure he said, “Oh, my gosh” when his jersey was unveiled in the rafters. Both his wife and daughter, dressed in a Weingartner jersey, wiped away tears. Weingartner’s young boys were there, too, in their youth hockey jerseys.

There is no questioning Weingartner’s love and dedication to Thunder hockey. As noted during the ceremony, he was a “fearless” player and a key member of both championship teams. Last year, he gave up his job to take over the Thunder on an interim basis when coach Mark French was fired. Then-general manager Chris Presson said Weingartner was a finalist for the permanent job, but I don’t think he was given serious consideration. Would Weingartner, had he been hired, have a better record than current coach Brent Bilodeau? Impossible to say. But I do know a Weingartner-coached team would have played hard and hit hard; if not, Weingartner would have found new players. Simple as that.

I thought it was a nice touch to have Marc Belanger, who has been wearing No. 15, skate to center ice and remove his jersey, while the announcer said no one would ever again wear that number. Thunder GM Joel Lomurno planned the ceremony, but he told me that Belanger’s role was Bilodeau’s idea.

As mentioned, I watched Weingarter closely during the ceremony. His most visible reaction came when the announcer mentioned that he played on the two title teams. At that point, Weingartner pumped his fist. That sums up Weingartner to me.

THE SOONER, THE BETTER: While Lomurno (and staff) did a great job with the Weingartner ceremony, I think Lomurno is making a mistake in the handling of Bilodeau’s future. Lomurno told me he will announce his decision later in the coming week. The season will be over tonight, and Lomurno will have all the information he needs. So make the call Monday or Tuesday. Why make Bilodeau, and the fans, wait? Plus, the season ticket holder’s party is Tuesday night. So Bilodeau is gonna mix and mingle with the fans, while everyone wonders if he will be back? Awkward.

DUDA’S RETURN?: I had a pretty long interview with veteran Jason Duda after he scored three points to lead the Thunder to victory on Friday. Duda is always a little coy with his future plans, but he definitely sounded like he wants to return next season. He also told me he will likely have back surgery during the offseason. I knew Duda was suffering from a bad back; I didn’t know it was that serious. I’ll have more from the Duda interview in a story next week.

“JOEL T’S PASSION: Lomurno has taken a lot of heat for the Thunder’s lousy season, and he surely bears some responsibility. But fans are dead wrong if they think Lomurno is content to put a rotten team on the ice as long as the attendance is good. I sit right next to Lomurno during all the home games, and no one in the Coliseum is more disappointed (and sometimes angry) when the Thunder plays poorly. Somehow, Lomurno, a rookie GM, has to use that passion to turn around the franchise. The win on Saturday, and the Weingartner ceremony, allowed fans a rare high note. Overall, though, the Thunder has been embarrassingly bad for two years. One quick anecdote that illustrates how much Lomurno cares for the Thunder, and the players. Last night, an assist for goalie Krister Toews was added to one of the goals. Lomurno immediately made certain the addition was announced to the crowd. Toews’ parents were at the game, and Lomurno knew it would be nice for Toews and his folks to hear the assist announced. A nice gesture.

   Another installment of the semi-regular Sitdown with Steve, a Q and A with Steve Schuster, the voice of the Thunder.

   KL: The recent Academy Awards got me thinking. If Hollywood made a movie about the Thunder, I see my role as the beat reporter being played by a leading man, someone like George Clooney or Russell Crowe. I see you being played by someone really short, like Rick Moranis. Thoughts?
   Schuster: I’m taller than Moranis, and much more handsome.

   KL: We haven’t done a Q and A since the Tracy Egeland vs. the hecklers controversy. What are your thoughts on what happened?
   Schuster: It’s hard to comment because I don’t know what was or was not said. I will say that I highly doubt that the security guards would allow any kind of profanity-laden tirades from the fans. That’s why the hecklers have lasted for so long. If it’s just a matter of the opposing team overreacting because they aren’t clever enough to respond in a clean manner, then the opposing team (whoever it is that night) should just shut up and concentrate on the game. What if the game (in which the incident happened) was a one-goal game, and something pivotal happened during the two minutes of game clock that Egeland had his back turned to the ice? How would you explain that to your GM? It’s just as simple to ignore what’s going on, but I think that goes to show how effective the hecklers really are.

   KL: The Thunder won three of four last week. You saw all the road games. Real improvement or just wins over bad to mediocre teams?
   Schuster: Anytime you win two road games in a tough building (and Rapid City is as tough as any building in the league outside of Colorado) you have done a good job. Plus, in all three wins the Thunder overcame deficits, so while playoffs are out of the question, you have to give credit to the team for not folding tent and playing hard to the end.

   KL: Lots of new faces in town. Who has impressed you the most?
   Schuster: John Daigneau has been very good, and I’m interested in seeing him the rest of the year. He looks very agile for a big guy (he’s 6-4), which combined with the fact that he fills up a lot of the net, makes him a very strong tender. He’s battled three different concussions in his life (some which were unrelated to hockey), so he’s a guy you want to root for.

   KL: How surprised were you by coach Bilodeau’s tirade the other night? I think it would have been more effective had he tossed some sticks or a water jug on the ice.

   Schuster: First, I want to say that I think some fans have been unfair in suggesting that he does not show enough emotion. He has been stern with the team many times this year, just not necessarily out in the open. Today’s athletes are different than they were even 15 years ago. There is nothing wrong with the change, but the fact is that coaching/managerial styles that worked in the past just aren’t as effective anymore. I think Coach Bilodeau has a good demeanor for today’s athlete. You have to remember that it’s a 64-game season, not 64 one-game seasons. This team is still playing hard (as evidenced by three come from behind wins last week), even though it is not headed to the playoffs. A lot of that has to do with Coach’s even-keeled temper. In answer to your question, I was a little surprised, but I am glad that he did what he felt he needed to do to stick up for his team. He had every right to be upset at the call that the referee in question made.

   KL: You made the comment to me the other night that Wichita is sort of a poor man’s Bossier-Shreveport. Illuminate further.
   Schuster: Wichita works hard, especially defensively. Obviously the team is short on goal scoring, there’s no getting around that. But if you look at the scores of each individual game, the Thunder has been in virtually every contest. There have been maybe a handful of blowouts, but for the most part, the Thunder has had a chance to win each night. Bossier is similar in that they put defense first, and force you to really work for scoring chances. They just have more firepower than Wichita right now.

   KL: The Thunder needs two wins to avoid the stigma of “worst team in the history of the team.” How important is it that the team gets those wins? Obviously, it’s setting the bar low to have that as a goal, but no team wants to be saddled with the tag “worst ever.”
   Schuster: It’s hard to say because there are very few players left over from last season’s team. I agree that you want to avoid that stigma, but I don’t think it’s on the mind of the players, because in order to be effective you have to focus on the current game. I know that’s the biggest cliche in sports, but it’s something you find to be true when you’re around the team for the whole season. This goes for any sport at any level. The amount of mental preparation needed to win one game is so great that if you are thinking ahead or thinking behind, you can’t possibly give 100% for that current night.

Thunder GM Joel Lomurno wants the team to show more toughness down the stretch, and coach Brent Bilodeau is bringing in two new players who might add that element: forward Devin Guy and veteran defenseman Rob Stanfield. Both could be in the lineup for this weekend’s games.

Guy, a 6-foot, 200-pound rookie, had 17 points and 116 penalty minutes in 31 games for the Hudson Valley Bears of the Eastern Professional Hockey League earlier in the year.

Stanfield (6-3, 210) has spent the bulk of his pro career in the East Coast Hockey League. In 1999-2000 and 2000-01 combined, he piled up 275 penalty minutes, along with 15 points. He has played for one other CHL team, the Laredo Bucks in 2002-03, scoring 12 points with 75 penalty minutes.

This season, he played 28 games for the Huntsville Havoc of the Southern Professional Hockey League. He had three points and 56 penalty minutes in 28 games.