BILOXI, MS – From year to year, coaches usually try to find different themes to rally their troops around. Any kind of phrase or concept can become a focal point, be it on a dry erase board or a t-shirt.
In the case of the Mississippi Surge hockey team, head coach Steffon Walby 
doesn’t need a theme to motivate his team. All he has to do is put his guys on the ice and let them play.
It’s a simple philosophy that Walby uses, emphasizing discipline and commitment both on and off the ice. Last year, it allowed the Surge to build an identity of a high-powered offensive yet defensively stingy team that exceeded all expectations – except those of its coach.
“I expect the players who get paid to score to do exactly that while not allowing the opposing team to score,” Walby said. “I also expect the defenders to play a close game and to do their job properly.”
A brand new team in a brand new league. That’s what the Surge faced a year ago when the franchise joined the Southern Professional Hockey League. By the end of the regular season, however, the Surge looked more like one of the circuit’s cornerstone teams as they won the William Coffey Trophy for finishing first. They posted a sterling 20-8-0 home record and an even more impressive 14-6-8 mark on the road – the only team in the league to finish over .500.
The balance of scoring and defense was most visible on special teams. Mississippi’s power play scored a league-high 96 goals, 26 more than the next highest total. On the penalty kill, the Surge allowed the fewest goals (42) while posting up the best kill percentage (85.05).
Then came the playoffs. Following a fairly routine opening series win over Columbus, Mississippi faced Huntsville in the finals. All of a sudden, the power plant suffered an outage and the Havoc were able to sweep the series, holding the Surge to two in each of the three games played.
With an off-season of what-ifs done, Walby and the Surge are back for year two. No less than ten members of the squad that came so close last year have returned for another shot at the President’s Cup.
Up front, two of the biggest returnees have to be Matt Zultek and Michael Richard. As a first time SPHLer a year ago, all Zultek did was make jaws drop and goalies shudder. In 52 games, he scored an amazing
Surge forward Matt Zultek (photo courtesy Mississippi Surge)
Defensively, Mississippi has several players returning, including leader Steve Weidlich. Weidlich, last season’s SPHL Defenseman of the Year, quarterbacked the power play, killed penalties and steadied the rest of the blue line corps. He also showed just how tough he is when he took an accidental skate to the neck late in the season but somehow made it back to play in the finals.
Weidlich’s play and toughness endeared him to many of the team’s fans, even those who go back to the days of the Mississippi Sea Wolves in the ECHL. One of those “old school” fans, Shelby Harriel, couldn’t say enough good things about Weidlich when hearing that the defenseman would again wear a Surge jersey.
“Weidlich will do whatever he needs to do to give his team a lift and win the game,” Harriel said. “He chirps at the opposition to get
Surge defenseman Steve Weidlich (photo courtesy Mississippis Surge)
The biggest hole Walby will have to fill may be the most important: starting goalie. Last season, Bill Zaniboni joined the team in November and immediately became an impact player. He posted a 23-7-4 record with four shutouts, a 2.48 goals against average and a save percentage of .921. Those number helped Zaniboni earn SPHL Goaltender of the Year honors. Over the summer, he hung up the skates to go into coaching, leaving Walby to search for a replacement.
Walby thinks he has the answer in Dan Earles and Mike Brown. Earles, who at one time helped the Penetang Kings win the OHL’s Clarence Schmalz Cup, played in five SPHL games last season between Knoxville (3), Huntsville (1) and Mississippi. During the Surge’s first pre-season game this season, he stopped 25 of 28 Louisiana shots in a 5-3 win.
The other net minder expected to be on the roster come opening night is Mike Brown. The 25-yead old spent last year with the Amarillo Gorillas in the CHL, posting a respectable 3.46 goals against average and a .904 save percentage. A 5th round draft pick by Boston in 2003, he has also seen play in the OHL, AHL (Providence), ECHL (five teams) and the German 2nd Eishockey-Bundesliga.
Earles and Brown will have to win over Walby, their teammates and the fans because in addition to being an outstanding goalie, Zaniboni’s New England charm and charisma made him such a favorite in the seats.
“We just hope that any new goaltender we bring here will at least be able to carry on the tradition of backstopping the team to a successful season,” Harriel said. And if he’ll embrace the fans the way Zaniboni did, all the better. Numbers mean nothing if character, attitude and heart are lacking.”
For Walby’s part, he expects his new goalies to play well from the start. He did however say that he will do whatever it takes to keep his team on top.
“I believe Brown will perform well but I will not hesitate to switch him with Earles,” he said. “I will keep switching them until we find the winning combination.”
If the first exhibition game was any indicator, the Surge are already well positioned to pick up where they left off. Five different players (Phillip Rose, Kyle Frieday, Matthew Fitzgibbons, Casey Mignone and Chris Chambers) scored goals while the big guns watched from the stands.
Walby now has to cut the roster to the final 17 or 18 who will be the names come opening night. Until then, he and the Surge players will keep working to find their identity and if they do, there may just be two trophies in the Gulf Coast’s future.
Contact the author at chris.poirrier@prohockeynews.com
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