Firebirds’ captain, coach and GM talk about the state of their OHL program
By @MichaelCaples –
It was business as usual in Flint today, as the Firebirds returned to practice after an eventful last few days.
Team general manager Terry Christensen, coach John Gruden and captain Alex Peters all spoke to members of the media to bring to a close two days of news and rumors swirling around their OHL program after the team’s coaching staff was fired and rehired by owner Rolf Nilsen.
“I think our owner came out, made a statement, he made an emotional decision the other night, and I think we have two lives we live, the one we learn with and the one we live with afterwards,” Christensen said. “I can tell you, in no uncertain terms, how close our team is as a group, every man in the locker room, our coaches are committed to developing these players, and we’re going to move forward and be a better team for it.”
Peters was the first player available for public comment, and the Firebirds’ captain said it was a unanimous decision by the Flint roster to turn in their jerseys after hearing their coaches had been let go.
“Lots of guys stood up, our team stuck together, and it was a really good bonding experience coming out of this,” Peters said. “We all put our butts on the line, did what we thought we had to do. To review it all, we’re hopefully a closer unit.”
For Gruden, who admitted that he had already cleaned out his office before he was reinstated Monday, his team’s act of dedication to he and assistant coach Dave Karpa was a moving experience.
“Someone had mentioned that they all went upstairs and threw [their jerseys] and, I’m like, wow, I didn’t expect that, me and Dave. It was on their own, and including every player, it feels good as a coach to know that the team has your back, but at the end of the day, they put a lot on the line as a group of young athletes with their careers in jeopardy.
“We’re just glad with everybody involved, as a staff, that we’re back and it’s behind us and like I said before, that we can just concentrate because we have a lot of work to do to become a better hockey team and individually for them to become better hockey players.”
Gruden said that he met with Nilsen privately on Monday, and he could tell the Firebirds’ owner regretted his actions the previous evening.
“He wanted to meet me first thing in the morning. I could see it in his face. It was just me and him at first, and I could just see it in his eyes, long night, and he made a decision, we don’t even know why it was, but we accepted his apology and he wanted us back and he was adamant about having us back. It became, OK the kids did what they did for us, me and Dave owe the kids and this city to come back and continue to do what we started, and that’s just to make it a strong organization where people want to come and play and make the fans proud when we step on the ice.”
Both Gruden and Christensen said playing time for Nilsen’s son, Hakon, did not factor into the firings. They, along with Peters, voiced their support for the owner’s son, a defenseman on the Firebirds’ roster who was the subject of many rumors throughout the last few days.
“It was a number of things, leave it at that,” Christensen said. “What I mean by that is this, you get emotionally involved, emotionally attached to a situation when you have your own blood involved. The bottom line is this, Hakon doesn’t want preferential treatment on this team, he wants to be a player like everybody else in the locker room. He wants to develop as the team sees fit. He’s a guy who has put in 100 percent into becoming the best hockey player he can possibly be, and I know his teammates respect him. We’re going to continue to work hard with Hakon, just like we do with all the players in the locker room to give them the best chance to be the best players they can be, period.”
Peters said Hakon Nilsen being the first player to turn in his jersey was the defenseman’s own choice, nobody else’s.
“Hakon’s a really nice kid,” Peters said. “He fits well in the locker room. It’s a tough spot for him, the circumstances, a rookie in the league, you just have to put your effort in and work hard and get in the line-up, and if he keeps doing what he’s doing, working hard every day, it will all play out.”
Gruden also said playing time for the younger Nilsen was never discussed and he hasn’t felt any pressure to play the 17-year-old defenseman.
“No, I don’t. Rolf never said anything to me about that,” Gruden said. “Through all this, I really do, because they’re targeting Hakon and he’s a stand-up young man, he’s highly educated and he does a lot of things to make himself a smart student and a better hockey player, and he was right there with his teammate. That’s all behind us now.”
As for the players deciding to return to the club after their headline-worthy show of support for their coaching staff, Peters said they heard what they needed to hear from their owner during the week’s meetings.
“Well, the big thing was Rolf had an apology and you could really tell that he was sorry for what he did,” Peters said. “Coaches had some assurance about the things they had to do, so the players were just excited to get back and play some hockey.
“It was just assurance that the coaches are the ones doing the hockey operations, and that’s what we got out of it.”
And their coach hopes his players can take an emotional week and turn it into something positive.
“We wanted to thank them for what they did, because they put a lot on the line. Now that they did it, there’s two things – they made a statement for us, and let’s move forward and get better. Now that we did, everyone’s eyes are on us, and what are we going to do after this? This should carry us with some motivation and some understanding that we do have work to do because we’re two games below 500 and we’re in last place. We need to get better and use this as motivation, as well, so this team can continue to win some hockey games.”
Audio from today’s interviews provided by Firebirds director of communications Dominic Hennig