Welcome to Federal Offenses. As some of you may know, I live in Albuquerque and last season I worked as the Public Address Announcer for the New Mexico Ice Wolves NA3HL team. This coming season, I was hired to also be the PA Announcer for our NAHL team. As a result, I will no longer have the time to follow and cover the FPHL. This will be my final edition of Federal Offenses, but I’m not leaving PHN, this season I will be writing a regular feature on the Ice Wolves that I have titled The Wolves Den.
For my last edition of Federal Offenses, I wanted to feature someone who has literally done it all and someone who would be the perfect bridge for me moving from the Fed to the NAHL, none other than the current Team President of the FPHL Motor City Rockers and former Director of Officials and Hockey Operations for the NAHL, Scott Brand.
Brand addresses officials as USHL Director of Officials
Scott spent two seasons as the President and General Manager of the Carolina Thunderbirds from 2017-2019, before moving on to the same position with the Columbus River Dragons from 2019-2023, building a Championship team and solid foundation in both cities that still stands today and that’s something he’s proud about, “In Winston-Salem, we followed the road map to create a great market, we built a great sales team, great partnership with the city and worked through the league system to create a winning organization. 9 other teams failed there, the Thunderbirds aren’t going anywhere, except hopefully a new building someday. Scott continued, “Columbus was already an established hockey market, but with the ownership group and staff, Jeff allowed us to build a solid financially strong foundation, and that was dealing with Covid. Those are two solid pillars of the FPHL, I like to think I had a significant role helping to make those teams successful.”
Scott has seen the growth of the league first hand and it’s made some solid changes, “I think the biggest change in the FPHL is much better stability and team operations. We haven’t had a team shut down in the middle of the season in over 7 seasons, that’s an accomplishment. The league is attracting bigger venues like Columbus, GA, Baton Rouge, Binghamton Biloxi, and Monroe, those are great buildings, while trying to remember the roots of its success, Danbury, Watertown, Port Huron, and Danville. As long as the FPHL can be successful in those smaller markets- it will continue to have success.” He said, “I also think the younger players who are coming into the league are more talented and better athletes, I also think the league is a lot more conscious when it comes to player safety, it’s not where it needs to be, but it has made significant strides.”
Brand and 2019 Commissioner’s Cup Champions
Scott helped build the SPHL, where he served as the Director of Officials, so he knows what it takes for a league to gain relevancy. “First and foremost, if the FPHL fails, it’s because the league killed itself, the Board of Governors, we control our own destiny, the financial model works. Our league is going to experience growing pains like travel. While I like expansion, Danbury to Topeka makes zero sense, however if we secure 4 -6 more teams in the Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma area, Danbury won’t need to go to Topeka, We need to adhere to stricter ownership requirements, follow our procedures when it comes to subjects like expansion and operations. The white elephant is multiple team ownership, is it healthy, not in my opinion, but it was necessary at one time. Scott continued, “There are two ways of looking at it, if a market is available and someone wants to take the investment risk and they happen to own a team or six, why should we not let them cultivate the market? It’s America and we are a free-market capitalist society. Now if a market is available and a new qualified owner wants to take the risk, then we should expand the ownership family. For the record, the league preventing that scenario has not happened. We also need to allow some of the newer owners and GM’s to have a bigger say at the table, while respecting the experience of our league leadership.”
Scott does have a bit of a reputation of coming up with some quirky ideas, there’s a reason he’s considered the PT Barnum of minor league hockey, but there are a few ideas he wishes would have stuck, “I really would like to see the pre-game shoot out used for a season, no one walks out of a shootout; and let’s try a few games without the blue lines, be on side at the red line.” He said, “I would also like to cut the number of regular season games by 2, and if we want to really clean up a lot of the stupid stuff, I am not talking about the honest fights, we should put body cameras on the officials and head coaches.”
As I mentioned, Mr. Brand was the Director of Officials in not only the SPHL and NAHL, but of the USHL, where he also was VP of Hockey Operations and GM of the Waterloo Black Hawks had VP of Hockey Operations for the Dubuque Fighting Saints and Youngstown Phantoms, nobody can question his credentials and passion for our great sport. Along the way, he has created rules that have extended to the highest levels and had a hand in kick starting countless careers. If anybody deserves to pat themselves on the back, it’s Scott Brand. “On the question of my personal accomplishments, a few things stand out. One is the icing rule, kind of neat that is being used by the world. Then the number of people who I may have had a small role in advancing their careers. Players, officials, broadcasters, front office staff, it is very cool seeing so many able to make a living in sports.” He continued, “Lastly, I like to think that I left markets better then when I started, seems like I have been told a lot of those places, I was told hockey and baseball won’t work, they seem to be doing just fine. I hope I was able to make a difference in places that I have worked, Iowa, Ohio, North Carolina, Georgia, I like to think I laid a solid foundation for the continued success of those teams.”
Mr. Brand, I think I can speak for everyone whose career you have touched, mine included, when I say you have absolutely made a difference in our lives. I may never make it to the NHL like a Peter MacDougall, but even the smallest amount of advice can change someone’s life. Like just over 10 years ago when you told me, if you project confidence, you will build confidence. What may seem like an insignificant conversation between you and a rookie beat reporter for an up and coming website like PHN, can be the catalyst for that reporter to one day have built the confidence to tell an NA3HL team he would like to audition to be their PA Announcer. Thank you Scott.
All photos courtesy of Scott Brand
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