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Following are the
comments from Ice Bats owner Jeff Buch regarding the article and
comments made by fired Ice Bats Coach Bill McDonald. Each of Buch’s
responses appears in the order of the comments made by McDonald in the
story.
McDonald’s
comment:
We were in the playoffs and I wanted to go in the playoffs and maybe
win. Now Hughesy (nickname for new coach Brent Hughes), he’s going
to go to the playoffs and have a chance to win with my guys.
Buch’s response:
Bill did his best. He tried his hardest. He’s been around the
game for a long time. We had the opportunity and the team had lost 9
out of 11 and we were going the wrong way. We had a coach in town that
every team in the CHL had wanted to have in the last three years. We
were able to get a championship-caliber coach, and turn this season
around and not just make the playoffs, but also make a run.
McDonald’s
comment:
This wasn’t about coaching. It’s just one guy that wants to get
involved in hockey that doesn’t really know much about hockey, at
all. I wouldn’t have been sour if we were like 10-30 and out of the
playoffs. Here’s a guy that owns the team and tries to be a hockey
guy making decisions and doesn’t really know. He probably wouldn’t
know a hockey player if he tripped over one to tell you the truth. You
can write that.
Buch’s response:
I’m shocked that he’s
going out the way he is, but so be it. I can’t change the bitterness
I suppose. I do thank him for his time here. It just didn’t work. I
will say that coaching at this level, this is about on-ice performance
and off-ice performance. His on-ice performance was average because
we’re a .500 team. Off-ice, it was a struggle. Bill would love to
just be a coach. Unfortunately, coaches at this level have to deal
with immigration, apartments, and expense reports. Some off-ice things
fell through the cracks.
McDonald’s
comment:
When I came here I knew where he was from and I respected him because
he was my employer. But I also knew that I was the hockey guy. He was
not the hockey guy. He would say something (hockey-related) and it
would just go in one ear and right out my other ear.
Buch’s response:
Again, he can say what he wants. He has picked every player on this
team. Don’t come to me and ask about a player. I’m just a fan. The
only time I get involved is if there’s a salary cap issue. It has
nothing to do about the players. For him to make those statements,
it’s sad actually. I would get a call once a week. I have no idea
what he is talking about. I’m speechless. If that makes him feel
better, then okay. And none of this is his responsibility, and I
picked all the players and this is my fault. Is that what he is
saying?
McDonald’s
comment:
We were beating Amarillo 4-0 and we lost in a shootout 5-4. Jeff came
into the room with a beer in his hand and grabbed a reporter and said
there is going to be roster changes if we don’t turn this thing
around. I had already given my interview, so he stopped the guy to
give him another interview. He said roster changes. My name is on the
roster, so I didn’t know if was me or not.
Buch’s response:
The picture didn’t exactly
happen how Macker (McDonald) described it. Everything was done and we
(Buch and the reporter) walked around and talked. My comment to the Statesman
was, ‘This team has one more week.’ That can mean a whole lot of
things. We had a bunch of guys coming back from injury. We were going
to have more bodies than spots. Of course, roster moves had to be
made. At the time, the statement kind of grew legs on its own.
McDonald’s
comment:
I told him I didn’t think that it was right that he should get rid
of me and he said we had been spiraling. ‘We just won 4 out of 6
points. We’re in the playoffs.’
Buch’s response:
Making the playoffs would have been an improvement. Had this been
last year, however, we would be a long way out of the playoffs. Last
year four teams made it. This year six teams make it. If this was the
same time last year, we had a seven- or eight-game winning streak.
This year was the opposite. We won early and were losing, losing,
losing.
McDonald’s
comment:
Austin is a city that when I came in here and coached on a visiting
team, I said that it would be a great place to come and coach. I was
right in the fact that it’s a beautiful city. The people are great
and the fans are great. But it was a challenge with the Bat Cave (Expo
Center), which I didn’t mind. Chaparral Ice is a short-term fit.
They asked me to come back (for the 06-07 season) and I told Buch that
we were going to have a tough deal recruiting. When you recruit a
player, they know Austin is an awesome place to come. I was straight
up telling them that we don’t have the greatest rink in the world
but you can come and play for me and they did that. Some guys got
there and they were like, ‘Whoa, this is bad!’ But you know what,
for the most part, we were in the playoffs and we made it work. We
made it our home. It was a challenge that we knew we all had to accept
and we accepted it. I thought I did a damn good job. Hey, we were in
the playoffs…in that rink.
Buch’s response:
It’s so ludicrous what he is
saying that it’s mind-boggling. He just doesn’t take any
responsibility. Some games when we were losing he would say you
can’t teach scoring.
Clearly we’re
in a smaller rink. We have much fewer seats. I will say that we play
in front of more people than teams in our league. Yeah, clearly the
reason why we are losing is I picked the players and we play in small
rink. Which is it?
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