I don't normally ride the bus with the team. But I did during one playoff series. Check out this story from April 8, 2000. I'll be back from vacation Aug. 10. Am I missing much?
The coach doesn't patrol the hotel halls late at night, waiting to scold a team member in violation of curfew.
And the players don't sneak out in covert operations so they can hit the local strip clubs.It happens with some hockey teams. Sure, it happens. But not with the Fort Wayne Komets, at least, not on this trip.
"(Coach Dave Allison) has called curfew on us a few times since the start of the year," left wing Bruce Ramsay said. "But since then, he trusts us."
Life on the road with the Komets is far from the stereotypical images of minor-league hockey players popularized by films like "Slapshot" and "Youngblood."
"I think it's a common myth that goes around with hockey, that we're partiers," 24-year-old goaltender Doug Teskey said. "But you look at how long the seasons are, and a lot of it's business. There are nights you can let loose and lay back and have fun. But you don't want to let loose and push the limits of your sleep and stuff."
This team endures much of what you would expect. There are long bus rides in cramped quarters with little to do other than gamble, watch movies and read. But money is hard to come by, so extravagant nights on the town seldom arrive.
Sure, the team lets loose at the bars, but usually with consent after the games. It's not often that strange women come calling in strange hotels throughout the country. It's not often that a player must drag himself through an early-morning road practice, with a hangover-induced headache weighing him down.
It happens. Sure, it happens. But not as often as you'd think.
The Komets are fortunate to be a centrally-located team in the United Hockey League. Most of their road games require less than six hours of driving. This 11-hour trip to Asheville for the playoffs and another trip to Utica, N.Y., have been their longest excursions of the season.
Ramsay, 30, said the Komets' travel schedule has been easy compared to any of his six seasons with Thunder Bay, an ex-UHL team. Almost every road voyage with Thunder Bay was at least 12 hours in duration, and some stretched to 18.
"That was a little excessive, but you really grew close to the guys when you spent that much time together in confined quarters," Ramsay said. "A lot of the time, it's good for the team."
Life on the road has been good for the Komets, who have developed a deep sense of camaraderie.
They passed this 11-hour trip from Fort Wayne on Thursday with four movies, selected by defenseman Dan Ronan, an amateur film historian.
Card games are a mainstay during the typical road voyage, though not on this trip, since the Komets' current bus doesn't have swiveling seats. Popular games include Euchre, poker and a trump game called "Shnarples."
"For three years in juniors, we didn't have movies on the buses, so it was pretty much gambling and maybe read a book or something," Teskey said. "Schoolwork? I don't think so."
The Komets killed an hour of the bus ride Thursday by organizing a pool on The Masters golf tournament. Everyone could select four players. Teskey drew the top pick and selected Tiger Woods.
Players like Ramsay and Milt Mastad read books, while others skimmed everything from newspapers to Playboy. Centers Jon Austin and Jason Goulet did crossword puzzles. And others just conversed while enjoying some chewing tobacco and the scenery.
A player would occasionally walk to the front of the bus to grab a soft drink and get grabbed by Allison, who would give a few critiques about the previous game. But Allison talked hockey with the players surprisingly little.
"If the player's not going to produce for you now, it's a little too late," said Ramsay, also the team's assistant coach. "I think he's pretty well set with what he wants from the players. Most of the coaching he's going to do now is during practices and behind the bench."
The atmosphere on the bus after a loss can be downright depressing. It's not uncommon for the team to travel in relative silence for hours after a disappointing game.
"If you worked hard, you can still feel some satisfaction that you played hard and the mood's not that depressing," Ramsay said. "But there are days, too, when you've played terrible and you just get on that bus and nobody wants to say a word because they're scared the coach is going to just jump down their throat. On those nights, it's pretty depressing."
The players receive a per diem of $25 ($12 for road games in which they don't spend the night), almost all of which is spent on food. On the bus, snack foods are sunflower seeds, fruit, cookies and submarine sandwiches. Meals, particularly before games, are loaded with carbohydrates -- usually pasta with chicken and potatoes.
As skaters move up to leagues at higher levels, the per diem, accommodations and food all improve.
"You learn to live on a lot cheaper foods (in the UHL)," Ramsay said. "I know last year, when I was in the (International Hockey League), we'd have $28 pre-game meals. To me, that was just outrageous, coming from the (UHL). I was used to eating at The Ponderosa and stuff like that. You would find the cheapest pasta you could find."
The Komets are one of the more-luxurious teams in the UHL, thanks partly to their 47-season stint in the IHL.
"If there's any bitching to be done, I expect it to be done by guys on the other teams," Ramsay said.
But some UHL teams surpass the Komets in some areas. The Rockford IceHogs have a bus with tables, several beds, large-screen televisions and plenty of room to spread out. The Komets, on the other hand, barely have enough room to stretch their legs.
"We just graduated from a school bus, I think," laughed Teskey, who went to the University of Alaska-Anchorage and endured at least 11 hours of travel during every road trip.
But the young players on Fort Wayne's roster realize their experiences on road trips like this are part of "paying their dues" on their quest to making it to a higher level. The players admit, it will be nice to enjoy first-class airplane rides and five-star meals in the NHL.
And even if they don't make it to the world where bell hops carry their luggage, most of the players won't complain. They love the world of hockey, and getting paid to live out their dreams.
All content herein is © 2007 The Journal Gazette and may not be republished without permission.
-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette
