Flint players, OHL commissioner David Branch talk about Firebirds’ situation
By @MichaelCaples –
FLINT – Following their 5-2 loss to the Erie Otters today, the Flint Firebirds’ players had their first opportunity to speak with the media about their current situation.
Wednesday marked the second time since November that the Firebirds’ coaching staff was fired by owner Rolf Nilsen, and the second firings brought with it sanctions from the Ontario Hockey League and suspensions for the owner and Sergei Kharin, the man selected to serve as interim head coach after John Gruden and Dave Karpa were let go.
When the puck dropped on the Firebirds vs. Otters game, assistant GM Joe Stefan and ‘emergency call-up’ Pat Peake were behind the bench coaching the Flint squad.
When asked what this experience has meant for the friendships built within the Firebirds’ locker room, Troy native Ryan Moore had plenty to say.
“Oh my God, I think this is the closest group of guys I’ve ever been with and that’s saying a lot,” Moore said. “In hockey you grow as a team and have a lot of brothers but this is the closest I’ve ever been with a team.”
Ryan Moore talks to the media after the game
They have had to be close – November featured a team walk-out after the coaching staff was unjustly fired, and ever since, trades including star players, a 15-game losing streak and now the latest batch of firings have made for trying times in Flint – and that’s just on the hockey side of things.
The players said they appreciated commissioner David Branch stepping in and basically assuming control of the hockey operations side of the franchise for the time being.
It’s good for us, him stepping in,” forward Francesco Vilardi said. “It shows how big of a deal it’s become. I think he made the right call. It was good to have him here today.”
Branch said during tonight’s game that sanctions were put on the Firebirds after Nilsen failed to follow agreed-upon terms from the first incident in November.
“I think we were pretty clear that in our view, he was in violation of an agreement that he had entered into with the league last November,” Branch said. “And it was of concern because we had had a couple of indiscretions that we had addressed with him and he had pledged that he would honor the agreement. He chose to disregard that when he arbitrarily, without any consultation with the league, fired John Gruden and Dave Karpa. We felt that we had to take strong steps.
“The agreement that we had with him was that he would stay out of hockey operations and if he wanted to do anything in hockey operations to seek league approval.”
Branch said he has not been pleased with how things have progressed in Flint during the Firebirds’ first season after the move from Plymouth during the offseason.
“It is concerning and it’s so disappointing,” Branch said. “All the concerns we had were ill-founded. The community has embraced this team. Done a remarkable job with the facility. The boys are in a great area. Billet homes. Real good schooling situation. All that is there and all that is good. So now we’ve gotta find a way to move forward in a positive fashion in the hockey operations side and ownership.”
Much of the postgame conversation was what players would do at the conclusion of the season. With just over a month left on the schedule, offseason is already in sight, and so is the need to figure out plans for the 2016-17 season.
“I mean – I mean, it’s tough,” said defenseman Vili Saarijarvi, a Red Wings draft pick and the Firebirds’ CHL Import Draft acquisition this summer. “Tough situation right now. I don’t know. I just try now to keep focusing and work as hard as I can every day. We’ll see. I mean, I don’t know, it’s a hard question. It’s been a huge year here, I think we have a good group of guys, but, like I said, I don’t know about next year. I think we’re going to talk about it later, like when the season is over, like when it comes closer.”
Vili Saarijarvi talks to the media
Branch said that no decisions have been made about the Firebirds’ coaching situation for the rest of the season, saying that the OHL was in “hurry-up offense mode” while trying to field a staff for today’s game. Peake seemed interested in staying for the reminder of the season.
“That’s the million-dollar question,” Peake said. “I don’t know at this point. Everything is kind of up in the air right now.”
“…I like coaching. Pretty good at it, I think, and I enjoy it.”
Moore said that yesterday’s practice – which was player-run without any interaction from Kharin or other staffers – was emotional.
A lot of emotions. The best thing for us we thought was we needed our space. We weren’t ready for Sergei or whoever it was to step in. We thought that whether it was a joke or not, that [Connor] Sills was coach for practice. We thought we’d get more work done by ourselves.”
Then, today, Hakon Nilsen – owner Rolf’s son and a member of the Firebirds roster – was the only player to show up for morning skate.
“I was just trying to be here, seeing if anyone was showing up,” Hakon Nilsen said after the game. “I mean, nothing to say about it. I was just making sure if anybody was going to show up, I was going to be here.”
Hakon Nilsen talks to the media
The younger Nilsen – who did his first-ever media interviews after the game – said that his teammates have been very supportive during a tumultuous season for he and his family.
“I’m just trying to work hard and earn the respect of my teammates,” Nilsen said. “That’s really what my main goal is.
“They haven’t been an issue at all. They’ve been really good to me. Positive and a few guys have reached out to me.”
The players said that they decided a walk-out wouldn’t be the best way to handle the latest frustrating moment given to them by ownership. Instead, they opted to let the OHL step in, and the players all voiced their support of Branch and thanked him for stepping in and assisting them.
“Obviously it was a little different with the walkout with the jerseys and everything but for us we handled it well,” Moore said. “We sat down as a team and we came to a conclusion of what we thought was best.”
They heard what the y needed to hear from the league before returning to action tonight.
“Basically we wanted to hear that we were in good hands,” Moore said. “The first time we thought the situation was dealt with but I guess it wasn’t.”
The Firebirds play Saturday night at home against London. Stay tuned for more coverage from MiHockey from tonight’s game, as well as any other news that comes forward.