Strangest interview location

I've interviewed people in situations that were slightly odd before. Sitting on a dolly for one. I interviewed skills coach Kenny McCudden in a darkened room under a spotlight because it was the only quiet place we could find. But tonight I think takes the cake.

So I'm in Jeff Pyle's office and he's commenting on the game. Someone knocks on the outside door, and being the nearest to it, I open it to let them in. It was Coach John Marks from Augusta, coming to talk to Jeff. He made himself at home while the rest of us were talking -- washed his hands in Jeff's bathroom. I had intended to go down to the Augusta locker room to find Marks later anyway, so since he was there, I told him I'd like to talk to him after he was done with Jeff and that I'd wait out in the hall. He said "No, let's do it now. Let's go," and stepped back into the bathroom to get away from the conversations still going on around Jeff's desk. So we talked about Tampa prospects in Jeff's bathroom.

And there's nothing like a 6-2 loss and a really rough week to bring honesty to a coach's mouth. He said some rather scathing things about the two players. I was surprised, but he doesn't have anything to lose at this point.

One interesting thing that affected tonight's game is that Mike Brodeur was supposed to start in net for Augusta, but sometime between this morning's skate and warm-ups, his shoulder started bothering him too much to go. So Riku Helenius, who had stayed out longer this morning than one would want a starter to do, had to start instead. That probably affected his game. Marks was still critical, and of the bad-angle goals in particular.

For the Gladiators, Kevin Nastiuk was listed on the roster (as if returned from Providence), but EBUG Curtis Ryser was there instead. I asked Pyle about this, but was not satisfied with the answer. Hmm.

I also asked Pyle why he started seven defensemen tonight. He said the backline was a little banged up. And that he can move a D to F, but not the other way around.


Mike Brodeur.

Riku Helenius

Turkey bowling
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