Brent Johnson/Reed Low Interview
This is part 1 of an interview conducted by Mike Thornton with Brent Johnson and Reed Low from October 28, 1999. You can read part 2 by clicking on the link below or returning to the main page.
MT: Mike Thornton
BJ: Brent Johnson
RL: Reed Low
MT: Welcome to another installment of "This Week with the Worcester IceCats", I'm Mike Thornton, thanks for dialing this one up here on Newstalk 580 WTAG. We'll of course be taking some calls here throughout the hour and talking some IceCats and talking with some IceCats. In particular, we have Brent Johnson in the studio, a goaltender and Reed Low as well, we will talk to them momentarily but first just want to let you know what is going on right now with the Worcester IceCats, through 8 games, the 'Cats right now 2-4-2, with 6 points. They lost their last game, it was a tough game against the Portland Pirates after a great game prior to that against another New England division opponent a team that they play very well at home against, the Hartford WolfPack. So, IceCats a little bit of Jeckyll & Hyde this past weekend, they have another oppurtunity this weekend to make good, they've got a pair of games, including tomorrow night's tilt against the Quebec Citadelles and it'll be the first time anybody will have seen the Quebec Citadelles at Worcester Centrum Center. And not the first time in the barn on Saturday night at 7:35 for the Philadelphia Phantoms so lots of action to get to this weekend and lots of stuff to get to with Brent Johnson and Reed Low. Guys, thanks for taking a little time out and joining us.
RL: Thanks for having us.
MT: Well, lets talk first off about the past two games and the games thus far played during the season. There have been some great glimmers I guess of some really smart play and then other times it seems that that same team hasn't showed up night after night at the rink Reed.
RL: Um, I guess so a little bit, we're still young and some of the guys, alot of the guys this year, it's a little bit different from last year where the guys came out of college, they're a little bit older, you know 22, 23 years old where this year all the guys that are rookies on this team seem to come from juniors so I think it's gonna be a little bit of an adjustment period for them to get into the game and learn the tempo of this game, and that you gotta play 60 minutes every night or you're not gonna win, so I think we've had some glimmers and showed what we can do but we just gotta start getting on a little bit of consistency.
MT: Yea, I think the youth is the key for everyone to point out. I think there are 6 20-year olds on the roster this season for the Worcester IceCats. Um, what is it like, you know, coming straight out of juniors, what is the big adjustment in the game? I know the big word is speed, thats the huge change.
RL: Yea, speed and timing is the biggest thing that affected me when I came out. And everybody says it's speed but I think it's a little bit more timing, it's being in the right place and the right position to get the puck and you know being in the right position to get a pass.
MT: Brent, is that pretty much what you noticed? You're a goaltender, is it a similar circumstance? Are the pucks coming a little faster or are they just a bit more accurate or both?
BJ: Well it's a scrambly game, you know in the AHL. And you know alot of young guys and positioning isn't like it is in the NHL, guys are learning their jobs and learning their roles as a minor league hockey player and you know, it's tough, you know like new guys coming in, they can't really accell at the game the way guys coming out of college can do and it's gonna take a while but we have a good team and you know, the game is always gonna be scrambly, it's an AHL game, it's gonna be fiesty and it's just the AHL and thats all there is.
MT: What is the difference for you? You yourself also played junior hockey just like Reed, coming out, why do you think theres a possible advantage for a guy who had played college hockey as oppossed to juniors?
BJ: Well just maturity, learning about the game, you know, juniors you play for 3 years, well the average of 3 years, some guys 4. It's not the same game in the AHL, myself I came out of junior and worked hard to adjust to the scrambliness of the game and try and be the best I can be and work as hard as I can.
MT: Reed, you not only had the juniors to get acclamated to this level of proffesionals but you also had some East Coast time, so your story, I think, is a really good one in that, you came out as a young player and weren't just thrown right into the AHL, knowing that you should be up top, you were working for the NHL when indeed you were working for the AHL at one point.
RL: Yea, I came out of junior hockey and signed a contract with the St. Louis Blues and was one of those kids that thought it was gonna be a cake-walk from here on in. But that definetly wasn't the case, I was out of shape when I went to my first NHL training camp and ended up getting hurt and I was behind the eight-ball and my first year here in Worcester is actually one of the years that they were very veteranized here and had alot of veterans on the team. I play the right side and I think all 4 veterans on the right side that year had 3 years experience in the AHL or more, so I spent a little bit of time in the East Coast League but again I don't think that hurt me at all. I think I worked on my game and tried to become a better hockey player and tried to stick with it.
MT: Reed, rounding out your game, obviously one of your big skills coming out and noteably with your numbers as you look at your history is your physical portion of your game. I mean there's no avoiding the fact as to why your value has increased for a team like the St. Louis Blues, but it's not just that, they see you as a good project to get faster quicker and start scoring some goals.
RL: Well, definetly, these days in hockey the NHL is gearing towards less fighting, more scoring, if you're gonna be tough guy you gotta be able to play the game, you can't be a liability on the ice. And St. Louis has brought that to my attention, when I first came in, and they see some potential in me to maybe do some of that. And I just feel really honored that they think I have the capability of doing that, so again, it's all just working and being patient and letting things take care of itself.
MT: As we continue here on "This Week with the IceCats" with Brent Johnson and Reed Low, a forward and a goaltender so we're getting both perspectives on the game. Some news already out of IceCats camp, not just today but the day prior, Rudy Poeschek has been assigned to the Worcester IceCats and it was just announced today as well, Lubos Bartecko who was up in the NHL with the St. Louis Blues is coming back to Worcester. And so thats good news, the IceCats a little bit depleted there guys, with a couple of injuries and also some of the call-ups. One of the guys you started with on the season, a veteran for this club and a definite leader on the power play, Bryan Helmer went up and things seemed in a little bit of a disaray for some of the guys back there.
RL: Definetly, we start out being one of the most experienced defense teams in the league and then we lose a couple guys, a couple guys go up and before you know it you got all rookies back there and you know, I think for the most part they haven't done bad, but definetly getting Rudy Poeschek is gonna help us this weekend, there'll be nobody pushing us around.
MT: Yea, thats for sure, right now some of the toughness thats exhibited on the IceCats and possibly at no better time history-wise because of a team like the Philadelphia Phantoms, historically always brought in a real bangin' team, but to have not only Rudy Poeschek, yourself Reed Low, but Sylvain Blouin, I mean you've got 3 solid guys that are making sure that people don't have to look over their shoulder twice.
RL: Yea and thats a comforting feeling knowing that you got a couple buddies lined up beside you that you know can keep an eye on your back for you. So, it's gonna be alot of fun and I'm looking forward to the weekend.
MT: Brent, a little goaltending coming in here, you played both of those games last weekend, argueably I think your best game so far this season came against the Hartford Wolfpack last weekend in that 4-2 win. Stopping near 50 shots, I think you stopped 46 of 48 that night.
BJ: Yea, it was a big night and it wasn't my best game I've ever played but it's definetly a good feeling to get one behind your belt like that, you know you just gotta strive to do that game in game out and it's kind of tough. Our coach and our assistant coach are trying to teach our forwards to get in front of the goal and go to the net hard. You got other teams doing that against us and it creates a tougher situation for our defensemen. You know, where to stand and where to take the guys out, and what to do on a 2 on 1 and stuff like that. It's been challenging for a goaltender, looking at it from my point of view, it's been challenging for myself but things will get rolling along and things will get back on track, we just gotta have a couple big games this weekend.
MT: Right now Brent you're 2-3, 2 wins, 3 losses, knuckleheads like me are looking at the statistics trying to find some idiosyncrasies or some interesting points in the statistics and so far with your two wins your team has scored the first goal in front of you and when your team has lost they've allowed the first goal to get by you. Do you think there's anything to that for you?
BJ: Well no, I mean I don't think that thats a main issue, whether you score the first goal everyone knows you gotta play 60 hard minutes and play as tough as you can for 60 minutes or 65, it doesn't matter what. It's always tough to go into a third period or a second period down a goal or two, especially when you have a young team and we gotta know what we have to get acomplished out there and scoring the first goal doesn't really matter, you gotta stay with it and play 60 minutes.
MT: We are talking with Brent Johnson and also with Reed Low on "This Week with the Worcester IceCats", I'm Mike Thornton, if you want to ask any questions to either of these guys it's pretty simple especially if you have a touch-tone phone, 755-0058, We'll start taking some calls when we come back from this break, you are listening to "This Week with the IceCats".
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PART 2 OF THE INTERVIEW
