Firebirds’ president, head coach talk about team’s status
By @MichaelCaples –
On the team’s radio show – The Flint Firebirds Hockey Coaches Show with Dominic Hennig and John Gruden – Tuesday evening, both Flint Firebirds president Costa Papista and head coach John Gruden talked about Sunday’s events and how the team is moving forward.
Following the Firebirds’ overtime win Sunday evening, Flint owner Rolf Nilsen fired Gruden and assistant coach Dave Karpa. The Firebirds’ players responded by turning in their jerseys and telling the team they would no longer play for the OHL club.
Monday evening, the team issued a statement from Nilsen where the owner announced that he regretted his decision, and that the coaching staff had been rehired.
MORE: Firebirds release statement from owner Rolf Nilsen
Now, the Firebirds are attempting to move forward from an incident that made headlines inside and outside of the hockey community.
“We did have some challenging moments, but everything from really yesterday forward has been very, very positive and we’ve made a great deal of progress,” Papista told Hennig on the radio show’s broadcast. “I’m happy to report that John Gruden and Dave Karpa signed new three-year deals, which is fantastic and they’re excited and Rolf Nilsen is very pleased and we’re moving forward. The players are, the older guys are going to be on the ice at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning, and that’s going to be a great visual to see the players back in action and doing what they came here to do. We’re going to take this moment, this experience, and we’re going to do our very best to turn it into a learning experience and a positive experience for the organization.”
Gruden said that his team’s actions showed the level of commitment the entire team shares.
“Well we try to install that into all of our players from the get-go, on sticking together and things get tough, especially on the ice, and the other things where we lose a couple games or we win, it keeps things tight-knit, and that’s what good hockey teams have to do is stick together,” Gruden said. “Those guys did something that we didn’t expect, but just moving forward, Mr. Nilsen is really apologetic, he feels extremely bad and moving forward, he just wants to move on with it just like we do as a team. It’s done, and it’s over with and we’re just excited to get back to work, to continue to build this franchise into something special and give these kids everything we can as coaches to get better every day.”
Papista said he hopes that the growing Firebirds fanbase continues to support their new team.
“First of all, a giant thank you,” Papista said. “The support we’ve received here from Day 1 is off the charts. We’ve had a little setback here that we fully intend to recover from and continue to deliver great quality hockey and entertainment to the community. We really want this franchise to be something that is a true part of the community and something everyone can take a great deal of pride in, so thank you to the fans for your support. We are very hopeful that you will stick by us and continue to support this team. The players, I can’t say enough about the players. They are an incredibly hardworking bunch of guys that are laying it all on the line every single game. I’m very proud of our team and I think it’s a team the entire community can really take a ton of pride in.”