Thunderbolts

The latest installment of Sitdown with Steve follows. Steve Schuster is the voice of the Thunder.

KL: Early last week, I asked you what the Thunder organization would do if the team got shut out on Teddy Bear Toss night. On Saturday, it happened. Does that make me some kind of a clairvoyant?

Schuster: Well, the only two games you didn’t cover this year were the two Thunder home wins, so does that make you a jinx as well?

 KL: I knew that’s what you were going to say.

 KL: The Thunder’s lousy offense is getting a lot of attention, but I point out in my notebook this week that the team has allowed just 2.77 goals per game the past 13 outings. That’s solid defense. Discuss.

Schuster: The goaltending and defense has been top notch for a while now, and it’s unfortunate that the current scoring drought has overshadowed that.  All aspects of the defensive game have made great strides since the beginning of the year, and the team has allowed three of fewer goals in nine of its last 13 games (and allowed four goals in the other four games).

KL: I asked Tim Boron about the pressure he must feel to be nearly perfect, given that he has lost two 1-0 decisions recently. He said he only thinks about stopping pucks. That’s the obvious answer, of course, but I think knowing that you have nearly no margin for error would wear on a goalie. What do you think?

Schuster: Well, that would only be human nature wouldn’t it?  I mean, if your editor told you that he wouldn’t print your articles if he found a minor typo, or if I was told that I’d be taken off the air if I made one mispronunciation, then we’d feel that same pressure.  There’s no greater feeling than picking up a win, so when you literally do everything in your power to contribute and still end up with a loss it’s frustrating.  I think Boron will be fine though.  You don’t have the postseason success that he had a couple seasons ago without having a lot of mental toughness, so he has what it takes to persevere through this stretch.  I hope he plays in Wichita for a while.

KL: On the other hand, the margin of error for a CHL broadcaster must be huge. You can make stuff up if you want, right?

Schuster: I wish that were true, but the CHL network (which I know we don’t have in the Coliseum) keeps all of the broadcasters honest.  Besides, the fans are pretty sharp, so if you say something like “kick save by Duda”, they’re going to know something isn’t right.

KL: What was more disappointing on Saturday night: The Thunder’s failure to take advantage of that five-minute power play or the team’s 0-10 performance on the power play?

Schuster: Well, the 0-10 was a little overblown because I’m pretty sure there were some really short PP’s mixed in there, so I’d go with the five-minute PP.  What was more disappointing than not scoring on that long PP was that it never really had the opportunity to develop.  There were two minors called against Wichita in between (perhaps make up calls for Rocky Mountain), which severely took away from any chance Wichita had from enjoying the long PP.  Two minors equals four minutes, so Wichita basically had one minute of that PP to work with, and it wasn’t even a consecutive minute.

KL: Let’s have a contest. My pick to click this weekend is Chris Greene. He hasn’t scored a goal since Nov. 21, so he’s due. Go.

Schuster: I never do predictions.  Sorry.

KL: Can you see Russia from your house?

Schuster: Like from the White House?  You’d better ask President Obama that question.

Our third Sitdown with Steve Schuster follows. Schuster, who hasn’t yet embraced the “Rooster” nickname, is the voice of the Thunder.

KL: I’d estimate the Travis Clayton reception from fans in the Brown Barn was 55-45 cheers. You?

Schuster: Interesting, I said 60-40 boos on the broadcast.  Perhaps the acoustics are different on the left side of the press box.  All kidding aside, I think it was fairly balanced.  It was definitely the loudest crowd since opening night, so it seemed as if everyone had an opinion on the subject.

KL: Throw dirt on the Clayton situation for us. What are you final thoughts on the controversy with the front office, his return, etc.

Schuster: Well, as far as the team goes, I really don’t think it was a distraction to them.  Things were handled very professionally on the ice last week.  It was ironic that Travis scored the only goal and Jon Horrell picked up the shutout last Thursday, but it was just business as usual between the teams.  As far as everything else, I’ll stick to the Roger Clemens comparison I made last week, and say that Clayton will eventually be honored for his time here and embraced by 100 percent of the fan base.

KL: Obviously, the Thunder is struggling to score. Is this a problem that can be solved from within this season?

Schuster: At the beginning of the year, the clear cut advantage this team had was its speed.  Guys like Shudo, Hack, Byrnes, Yanchishyn, and Hunter were very tough to keep up with and that helped create a lot of scoring chances.  Now, Hunter and Shudo are out indefinitely, while Byrnes just came off of the IR and Yanchishyn was placed on the IR, so the team has lost part of that edge.  How that is compensated for is a tough question, because the knee-jerk reaction is to say “bring in new players.”  When healthy however, this team can be very dangerous offensively.  We saw that at the beginning of the year.  So it’s that balance between waiting for guys to come back and making moves.

 KL: If you’re a Thunder fan, what do you want to find under the Christmas tree this year?

Schuster: Right now, it’s just a matter of getting wins, and getting them any way possible.  Whether it’s waking up from their current scoring drought, playing air-tight defense, or simply getting healthier, the team is in need of a winning streak.  Fortunately, because the Northern Conference has been so top-heavy with Colorado and Oklahoma City, literally every team is within striking distance of the race.  I don’t expect that trend to continue though, so the Thunder need to be one of the teams among themselves, Rapid City, Tulsa, and Rocky Mountain to make a run as we approach the All-Star break.  After Friday, the schedule for December is very manageable, so the opportunity is there.

 KL: Is Andy Franck the best goalie you have seen this year?

Schuster: Well, he was really good in Youngstown last year too.  He’s 6-0 lifetime against Wichita and leads just about every major goaltending category in the league.  He’s the biggest reason why the Blazers are off to such a good start.

KL: This Brett Angel character from Bossier-Shreveport seems like the kind of player Thunder fans could grow to hate. Agreed?

Schuster: You know, what he did to Rozendal was wrong, but at least it could be construed as sticking up for his teammate.  The guy that agitated me that night was Dave Pszenyczny.  Rozendal dropped his gloves and was ready to fight, while Pszenyczny dropped his stick and sort of distracted Rozendal so that Angel could come in and blindside him.  Kudos to Curtiss Patrick for jumping in and going after Angel.

KL: Are you for opening presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?

Schuster: In our family, once you stopped believing in Santa Claus, you opened them on Christmas Eve around midnight while the little kids/believers opened them on Christmas morning.  I guess that means I’m a morning person.

 KL: I’m dying here. Is this the tenth question yet?

Schuster: The Yankees signed CC Sabathia.  Shouldn’t you be happy?

KL: What do you make of the Thunder losing so many games when the team outshoots its opponent?

Schuster: I asked Coach Bilodeau about that after last night’s game, and he said it’s unbelievable.  The thing is, only an idiot would say something like, “well maybe they should stop outshooting the other team.”  That’s just silly.  At 0-7-1 though, it’s no longer just a handful of games.  There’s really no explanation. Bad luck maybe?  Anyone who has been around the game will tell you that it is simply in your favor to finish the game with more shots than your opponent.  The ironic thing is that they are 6-7-0 when getting outshot.  It seems the team has played best under less than favorable conditions (6-7-0 when getting outshot, 4-7-0 on the road), but has struggled under conditions where you would expect a team to thrive (0-7-1 when outshooting, 2-7-1 at home).

KL: Hey, no goofy Rooster comments this week. How do you like that?

Schuster: Amen.

If you’re in need of Thunder news not involving Travis Clayton, here you go.

In obvious need of an offensive spark, the Thunder added a new forward today. Joel Hanson had eight points for the East Coast Hockey League’s Augusta Lynx, which recently folded. He can only help. The Thunder has four goals goals in its past three games, all losses.

I do not think he has ever met Travis.

The Thunder has “won” the Most-Annoying Fans category for five straight years in the CHL’s annual Best of the Best poll. Hecklers like Grant Norris and Chad Byers are a big reason why. The question this week, of course, is whether they will unleash some verbal barbs toward former Thunder star Travis Clayton, who returns to the Coliseum as a member of the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs on Saturday night. A Q & A with each follows.

Norris has been a season ticket holder for 16 years.

What did you like most about Clayton’s style of play? He gave 100 percent each and every shift and he would always stand up for his teammates.

Do you expect Clayton to get mostly cheers or mostly boos on Saturday night? Wow, that is a tough prediction.  On one hand, he poured his heart and soul into the Wichita Thunder and provided all of us Thunder fans with years of great memories.  On the other hand, he is in a Bossier Shreveport Mudbug jersey.  I’m predicting he will get more boos than he will cheers. 

Will you boo/heckle Clayton? I plan to cheer for him before the game starts but after that I’m a Wichita Thunder fan.  However, I won’t boo him and I will not heckle him (nor Blaznek for that matter).  I chose the same path with Wiebe and Laplante in their return last year; some former Thunder players I’m just not comfortable heckling and he falls into that category. Anything I throw out their way will be good natured.  Now, I can’t speak for the rest of the section. I imagine they will both get chirped pretty hard Saturday night. 

Byers has had season tickets for 15 years.

What did you like most about Clayton’s style of play? He never gave up no matter what the score was or how the Thunder were doing in the standings.

Do you expect Clayton to get mostly cheers or mostly boos on Saturday night? I expect mostly cheers.

Will you boo/heckle Clayton? I will heckle a little bit…mainly just to see what kind of reaction I will get from him if any. I won’t boo him at all. He was a great player and dedicated to the Thunder when he was here.

More bad news on the injury front for the Thunder. Rookie Chris Shudo, who has five goals and seven points in 13 games, is out for about a month with an undisclosed injury. (It’s coach Brent Bilodeau’s policy to avoid specifics when discussing injured players.)

The Thunder played with 12 skaters most of Saturday’s loss.

“Obviously, playing shorthanded like we are is tough,” Bilodeau said. “Hopefully, we can get a few bodies back this week.”

Defenseman Greg Cassista is expected back when the Thunder plays host to Bossier-Shreveport on Saturday.

All Clayton, all the time: The blog this week will focus on the much-anticipated return of Travis Clayton, who makes his first Kansas Coliseum appearance in a Bossier-Shreveport jersey on Saturday night.

To kick off TC Week, I asked Bilodeau about his thoughts on Clayton’s return, and the answer was predictable. “No thoughts, really. He’s just another player on another team. Best of luck to him. That’s about it.”

So no Travis Clayton Night, we take it: Thunder GM Joel Lomurno, decidedly unsentimental, says the franchise won’t honor or recognize Clayton on Saturday. “Travis will be here like any other former Thunder player in another uniform. It’s nothing special. There will be no special mention, no welcome back. He’ll be just another body in another jersey. He’s gone. It’s not like we want to draw attention to him, or honor him, when he’s playing for one of our rivals.”