Q. The 2005-06 seemed to just fizzle out. In general, how do you feel about last season?
A. Last season gave us the chance to establish ourselves as a solid organization and a club that treats their players with respect. If a player comes here with the intention of being a solid professional, they now know that we will treat them that way.

Q. Thinking about your first year as a head coach in the ECHL, what did you learn about doing business in this league?
A. I learned that being both GM and Head Coach was a lot of work. Many have both titles but none do everything, like I did; immigration, apartments, negotiations, flights in and out, recruiting players, etc. I am very happy to be sharing all this fun stuff with Ray this year.

Q. How will the late season trades and future considerations help us this year?
A. I am very happy with the acquisition of Justin Aikins, unfortunately some others were not players that fit with the new rules and some decided to play for another league that has no salary cap.

Q. How about some of the standout players from last year? Who really surprised you with their play?
A. Mike Mole was probably the only one that was serious about his career, and it showed by his great play. A few others have earned my respect as well.

Q. Most Roadrunners fans have heard your feelings regarding your suspension at the end of last season. Has the time that has passed given you any new perspective about this? Do you think that the other coaches around the league will learn a lesson from the league's discipline?
A. I don't know about the others but I know that many have been fined this season for their actions. I have accepted my suspension and moved on.

Q. Shifting gears to this season; how did you recruit the team over the summer?
A. This summer was my first time working with someone else as far as recruiting goes. Ray and I have set a type of player that I would like to coach and we spent the entire summer talking to kids, agents and excoaches to make sure that we would have a competitive team from the start. Ray's contacts and experience with this league has been a great addition to our hockey department.

Q. Before camp started we expected to see Michael Mole, Brent Henley, and Chase Trull return to the team. Mole and Henley were certainly well anticipated by the fans. What happened to these guys?
A. Mike and I had a great relationship but he wanted to stay within the organization that signed him this past summer (New York Islanders). We agreed to help him out and things have turned out pretty good for Molzy in
the AHL. Brent was another story, the first day of camp I told all of our players that if they weren't here for hockey and to be a serious professional, I would move them, and I kept my word.

Q. The fans in Phoenix were surprised to hear about J.J. Daigneault heading to Hartford to assist Jim Schoenfeld. How did you feel about losing him to the AHL?
A. JJ is a great friend and was a good assistant, but just like all of us his goal was to move up. When his longtime friend called to offer him a job at the next level, JJ did what most of us would do and accepted the new challenge.

Q. How about Brad Church? How is he coming along as a first-year assistant coach?
A. Churchy has been a great addition to our hockey department, he is very dedicated to his new career and to learning the ropes of coaching. He will become a good coach.

Q. I've hard some members comment that this year's players seem to be a different class off-ice; maybe a little more serious and professional. Were you looking for a certain quality of individual this time around?
A. Like I said last year was hard to recruit for many different reasons, one being not affiliated with an NHL team. Therefore the serious of many of them was questionable although they all worked very hard during practices and games. Our team this year is more goal oriented, all of our players know that they have a chance to move up.

Q. This team seems to have a lot of depth on the ice. Last year, you were looking to have a fast team. What was your goal this year?
A. I have always like speed and skill players. Toughness is also a part of the puzzle and I think that we have a good mix this year.

Q. Which players have surprised you with their quality of play?
A. To be quite honest most of our players have surprised me with their quality of play and the way they conduct themselves on and off the ice.

Q. Speaking of Mole and Henley; what is it about Pensacola? It seems like half their team has been through Phoenix.
A. With Mike it was the place he wanted to go. The others just happened that way.

Q. Thinking about the AHL and NHL affiliations, from a fan's perspective it looks like it's working out pretty well. What are your thoughts, now that we're almost halfway through the season?
A. The Coyotes have been very helpful and supportive of our program and our working relationship has been great.

Q. Finally, how are you felling about the Booster Club? We're doing the member/team events and providing stuff for the bus and player's apartments. Is there anything else we can do for the team?
A. You guys have been great for our team. Here's my question: Is there anything we could do for you guys� I truly appreciate your support and I look forward to our annual bowling event.