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.