RiverKings crown Landmesser as head coach

SOUTHAVEN, Miss. – When the Mississippi RiverKings announced late last week that coach Paul Gardner was being replaced, team officials said the new coach would be named quickly. True to their word, Gardner’s replacement was named on Monday and ownership didn’t have to go very far to find him.
Former Mississippi defenseman Derek Landmesser, who spent ten years on the ice with the RiverKings, will hang up the skates and don a coat and tie behind the bench when the team takes the ice this fall. He will be the 13th head coach in franchise history, a history that will add a new chapter as the RiverKings are now members of the SPHL.
“I’m excited. I think that (with) the 20th anniversary (of the franchise), we’ve got some pretty neat things planned up in the office. I’m looking forward to

the challenge of putting a good product on the ice and building a team that I think is going to be extremely competitive and entertaining,” Landmesser said. “I want our fans to be able to leave every night knowing that they got their money’s worth and that we put on a good show for them.”
The choice of the 36-year old from Thunder Bay, Ontario to be the next coach was a natural one given that he has already had the role as the face of the franchise. He has been with the RiverKings since 2000 and was a key part of the then-Memphis RiverKings CHL championship during the 2002-2003 season. In fact, of his 932 professional career regular season games, he played 627 of them with the Memphis/Southaven based franchise.
“We are happy that Derek has accepted the position and are sure that he will bring the type of team to the ice that will be entertaining to all,” General Manager Dave “Ab” Mattice said. “Derek knows what it takes to win at this level and the style of play to get there. He has been an important part of this franchise for a decade on and off the ice and we look forward to him leading the team into another ten years of RiverKings action.”
Landmesser holds several franchise records including points in a season by a defenseman (81 in 2005-2006), best season plus/minus rating (plus-59 in 2000-2001), career assists (462), career penalty minutes (953), career points by a defenseman (563) and those 627 regular season games played. He led the RiverKings in assists in six of the last eight years and led the team’s defensive corps in points in each of the last eight seasons.
A three-time all-CHL post-season selection and the circuit’s most outstanding defenseman in 2000-2001, Landmesser appeared in seven CHL All-Star games and during the 2009-2010 season he was honored as one of the starting defenseman on the CHL’s All-Decade team. It was the same year that he became the tenth CHL player to reach the 400 career assists plateau and later joined the 500 CHL point club.
With his playing days done, he now has to quickly adapt to life as a coach, something that he has already learned is quite different than what he has been used to.
“There’s obviously I think a different mentality that you bring every day to the rink standing behind the bench and getting the guys prepared on a daily basis as a group. As a player, you come and get yourself individually ready in your daily routine and do what you need to do to get ready for games,” he said. “It’s going to be a little bit of an adjustmentbut I’ve been fortunate enough over the last few years to get behind the bench a few times with former coaches we’ve had here. They’ve actually gotten me to coach a few exhibition games and it was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it.”
He said that those few times he went behind the bench gave him a perspective about the job that he has been able to carry over to his new position.
“There’s obviously a lot more hours put in now. It’s not coming to the rink for two to three hours a day. It’s a full time job and there’s a lot of things that happen behind the scenes on a daily basis,” Landmesser said. “It’s getting behind the bench and controlling the whole bench instead of being out there as a player and getting out there and just worrying about your individual job. You’re worrying about everyone’s job now and controlling the bench and keeping everyone ready to go.”
Not only will Landmesser be getting on-the-job training as a coach, he will be learning a whole new league and a different level of play. He said that he is certain that the move to the single-A SPHL will be very beneficial for the franchise and that he has enough contacts within the sport to be able to build a winning team.
“First off, it makes a lot of sense for us to move to this league. Geographically all the teams are a lot closer. We’ve got rivalries that are three hours away now and several teams that are just over five hours (away). I think from that standpoint our fans are going to be able to come make road trips, possibly catch a couple of games and be back here and be able to get to work Monday morning,” he said. “On switching to the different league, I’ve been fortunate to meet a lot of coaches throughout the Central Hockey League and I think it will help me in the long run with making contacts at the CHL and having some places for certain players that excel here to go and visa versa for players that they need to send down maybe for a little experience down here.”
Those connections will be very important over the next few weeks as Landmesser is just starting to recruit while many of the other league coaches have been planning and contacting players for a couple of months.
“It’s extremely crucial. Recruiting is a major part of being a coach. I will start tapping all of the resources that I have from former coaches I played with (to) agents that I’ve met along the way,” he said. “Being involved in this game for 15 years, I’ve made a lot of friends that are coaches back in junior (hockey) in Canada, coaches in the U.S. from college to the professional level.”
So what kind of team can RiverKings fans expect to see? Landmesser said he wants to put together a roster that will feature speed and explosiveness to go along with the hard-nosed, tough style that he himself displayed on the ice.
“We’re going to be an exciting team. We want to be a physical, entertaining team. I’m bringing guys in here that are going to have the hate to lose type attitude. Kids who are going to work 100 percent. The kids that are coming here are obviously going to try to make the jump to the next level,” he said. “In my successful years as a team, I’ve seen what it takes to build some of these teams – the hard work, the relentless attitude that it takes to win. We’re going to have a real good, fast, hard-hitting, entertaining team.”
Landmesser admitted that he is still in the process of learning about the SPHL. One thing that he has already picked up on is the importance of rivalries.
“With Huntsville just down the road three hours, a lot of our fans can make day trips. We’re surrounded by strong teams with Huntsville and Knoxville’s been successful in their years too. It’s going to be very important,” he said.
One of the more compelling and interesting rivalries will be with the Louisiana IceGators. With former RiverKings coach Kevin Kaminski behind the bench in Lafayette and former teammate Louis Dumont now the IceGators’ general manager, Landmesser said he expects the meetings between the two teams to be intense.
“I think it’s (RiverKings/IceGators) going to be a great rivalry. I’m still friends with them both and I think it’s going to be great,” he said. “They’re going to want to come here and upset us and we’re obviously going to want to play strong at home and put a good effort out in front of our fans.” 
Of course, there is also a built-in rivalry for the RiverKings with the Mississippi Surge down in Biloxi. With the Surge being the defending SPHL champions, Landmesser said it should make for an interesting battle for bragging rights within in the state.
“The battle of Mississippi or whatever you want to call it is going to be good. They’ve obviously got a real good team there – they’re the defending champs,” he said.
In taking the RiverKings’ coaching position, Landmesser was also able to take care of the most important thing in his life – his family. He and his wife Tammy have three daughters ranging from age three to eight. It was important for Derek to not have to uproot his family that is very fond of the Southaven community.
Additionally, by staying in Southaven, Landmesser will also be able to continue his work with the Junior StreetKings youth roller hockey program in nearby Hernando. As the director of the program, Landmesser teaches in-line skating skills, roller hockey techniques and provides life experiences through teamwork and sportsmanship to local youngsters.
“Family is first – there’s no question about it. We’ve been here ten years. My wife and children love it here. I like it here,” he said. “We’re very happy with the area and all of the community involvement that the team does. We wanted to stay in this area.”
Landmesser knows that there are RiverKings fans who are not happy with the change of leagues and think that the SPHL will not be up to the standards of the CHL. All he asks is that the fans give him, the team and the league a chance to show them that the decision to leave the CHL was the right one.
“With the change of leagues, some people aren’t very happy about it but I think come on out and give us a chance. Check it out,” he said. “We want to prove you wrong and show you that we are going to have a good product on the ice.”
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com