Change, confidence abound in Knoxville

KNOXVILLE, TENN. – If there is one thing that is consistent in this world, it is change. That saying especially rings true in Knoxville where the Ice Bears are starting their second season in a row with a new head coach and a big scoring hole to fill.
After losing to the Huntsville Havoc in the second round of the playoffs last year, many fans wondered what would become of the once dominating force in the SPHL. The Ice Bears had won the championship three times in the league’s short six-year history and produced the top scorer every year in Kevin Swider.
With the retirement of Swider and Tim Vitek along with the loss of Bobby Joe Pelkey and Taylor Hustead from the roster, Knoxville found itself without four of its top five scorers. Add to that an already shaky defense and lack of a strong backup goalie and the rebuilding of a championship team becomes a challenge for rookie coach Mike Craigen.
“Obviously, we knew that (it) would be an issue when Kevin retired,” Craigen said. “I always joked that I would hate to be the coach to take over after Swides retired and here I am now.”
Craigen was brought in to replace Marc Rodgers who had replaced two-time President’s Cup championship coach Scott Hillman. For whatever reason, the team’s fortunes took a turn for the worse a year ago as the Ice Bears finished with a good 30-23-3 record but in a very uncharacteristic fourth place. Knoxville was still a terror at

home in the Knoxville Civic Center with a 21-7-0 mark but became meek on the road where the Ice Bears went 9-16-3. A dramatic first round playoff victory over bitter rival Fayetteville seemed to drain Knoxville of its energy, leaving the Bears defenseless to stop the eventual champion Havoc.
Rodgers was release during the summer, paving the way for Craigen, who was and still is revered by Ice Bears fans, to grab his first head coaching position. He spent the summer working with Knoxville’s new director of hockey operations, Kevin Swider, to recruit players who were known for their leadership both on and off the ice. Their efforts led to two key signings, Emery Olauson and Lorne Misita to help the offense.
Olauson comes to Knoxville from Fayetteville where he was part of a high-powered offense. He had 20 goals and 33 assists last season to go with a 24 goal campaign the year before for the FireAntz. Misita spent much of his career with Columbus before playing for the expansion Pensacola team in 2009-10. He tallied 29 goals and 35 assists for the Ice Flyers.
“We signed Olauson and Misita with the express intent to fill the scoring gap,” Craigen said. “They are proven in this league so thetwo of them together are going to be able to help out on offense.”
Frank Furdero (19-36-55), Mike Bulawka (10-10-29), Travis Hanson (8-15-23) and David Segal (12-5-17) are all returning to the Ice Bears lineup and will be expected to step up their offensive games this season. Coach Craigen sees Segal, who is known more for being a tough guy than a scorer, as a player who has the ability to do big things on the ice.
“I think Segal has a lot of skills and has earned the right through all of his fighting, battling and physical play to see what he can do offensively,” Craigen said. “He is someone who is tough at the right times but also plays the game and puts up some numbers for us.”
Also returning this year is goalie Andrew Gallant, who Craigen believes is the best goaltender in the league. Gallant’s numbers last year – 19-11 record with a .903 save percentage – were impressivebut when he had to sit out most of the second half of the season due to an injury, the importance of having a solid number two net minder was apparent.
Enter Bryan Hince. Hince secured a spot on the roster as the backup goalie with impressive showings in both preseason games. He comes from Plattsburgh State (N.Y.) where he was a part of two SUNY-AC championships.
The weakest link for the Ice Bears last season was defense so Craigen addressed it during the off-season. He started by resigning both Jim Jensen (3-13-16) and Mark Van Vliet (10-27-37) to anchor the seven-member unit.
The most notable addition to the defensive corps is Martin Kubaliak. The Zvolen, Slovakia native is a known commodity, having played last year with Huntsville where he racked up 21 points and 126 penalty minutes. He became an instant fan favorite during the two exhibition games against his former team, dishing out some big hits and even bigger punches to his former teammates to establish his presence.
“We are big on the back end. We’re smart. We’re physical,” Craigen said. :I don’t think there is going to be any problem with our defense this year.”
Craigen’s confidence, along with his passion for playing the game, may be the most important ingredient to bringing the President’s Cup back to Knoxville. His attitude and excitement for his players, his new job and the city where he had his greatest professional success should drive the team to win.
“I am really excited to see what these guys do and I’m excited to see this team come together,” he said. “We are all here to win hockey games. Winning is fun and that is what we are going to base our season on.”
Winning and fun were two things that Knoxville fans enjoyed in the past and have come to expect from their hockey team. Only time will tell if Craigen’s return and the other off-season changes will result in another championship come April.
Kristina Shands is a media consultant for the Knoxville Ice Bears.
Contact the author at kristina.shands@prohockeynews.com