This is the final piece of my interview with Coach Rob Sumner. I hope everyone has enjoyed the articles.
Hunnex: Did Spokane winning the Memorial Cup surprise you?
Sumner: Spokane winning the Memorial Cup didn’t surprise me one bit and they were very deserving to win. They played a great all around game and their goaltending was excellent. Their group was all focused on the same goal and it showed. It helps to have a little good fortune with injuries along with good play and they remained healthy throughout.
Hunnex: Going over some rough roster calculations the team appears to be really deep on the blue line. Are there any plans to possibly move a guy up to any of the forward lines? Haber?
Sumner: At this point there isn’t any plan to move defencemen up front. With that being said, it’s nice to know that several of our d-men, Haber included, are capable of helping out if needed.
Hunnex: Along the same lines… there appears to be a log jam on Defense but there is not a lot of experience (19 or 20s) back there? Is that a concern going into the season?
Sumner: Our defence may lack age but it doesn’t lack experience. Jackson and Olson leave many key minutes on the table but I think we have several players that have goals to take those minutes. We’ll have to see what happens with Hickey and we don’t know Warg well yet, but I think huge steps will be taken by the 18-year-old group.
Hunnex: Is there any reason at all to think that your style of play will change after the team moves from Key Arena to the KEC? As far as I know the ice surfaces will be the same, so I’m not sure why you guys would change your style of being defensive minded first.
Sumner: We are always striving to improve and I think playing in an energetic rink with a home-ice advantage will surely help us. As far as the type of game we play, we will strive to improve on what I think is a high energy, exciting style.
Hunnex: Any goals for the season? I know winning the Memorial Cup is every team’s goal but do you have more team specific goals in mind for the season?
Sumner: We have goals within our team that I will choose to keep within our team. Every team’s ‘big’ goal is to win the Memorial Cup and we are no different. I believe though, in order to get there, we will have to strive for and achieve our team’s goals to give ourselves a chance to get there.
Hunnex: Thank you very much for taking the time out to answer some questions for the fans.
Sumner: I tried to answer all of your questions and I hope this is what you had hoped for Tyler. Thank you for your interest and support of our team.
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