Bullfrogs Ready for Another Season

FULLERTON — First-year Bullfrog Coach Brad McCaughey didn’t have the look of a worried man during preseason drills last week at Stuart’s Rollerworld. He was decidedly calculated and confident, his trademarks as an original Bullfrog player, and, last season, as an assistant coach.

Still, the landscape will be different this summer for the Bullfrogs because so much has changed in Roller Hockey International.

Only 10 teams remain from a high of 19 in 1995, and last Monday league officials had to take control of the Ottawa franchise because owners quit paying the bills. The league all-star game has been scrapped. RHI has gone from four divisions to two. The St. Louis Vipers, a solid club in the rugged Eastern Conference, have been shifted West to compete with the Blades, Bullfrogs, Sacramento and San Jose.

The Western Conference, traditionally a skater’s paradise, is expected to be more physical this season with the addition of St. Louis, and a vaguely worded league memo to referees has raised speculation that more fighting will be tolerated overall. This despite reassurances to the contrary from league officials.

RHI was further rocked by ESPN, which refused to renew a national cable contract.

But none of that concerned McCaughey, who is preparing for Saturday’s season opener against St. Louis at the Pond of Anaheim. He spent the winter coaching the now-defunct Fairbanks Gold Kings of the West Coast Hockey League and said he was so removed from RHI in north-central Alaska, that he hasn’t had much time to take note of all the changes. Nor did he care to.

“What happens in the league is not my concern,” McCaughey said. “What happens with this team is.”

Change is the operative word for the Bullfrogs too. They may check a bit harder, but they will be missing some key ingredients that had been part of the team since RHI began five years ago.

Popular former coach Grant Sonier decided to distance himself from RHI after owners voted to strip the Bullfrogs of home advantage in last season’s Murphy Cup playoffs. The last-second change appeared to violate league rules and is widely believed to have given the edge to the Orlando Jackals, who beat Anaheim, two games to one, in the final.

Sonier, a close friend and mentor to McCaughey, will stay on with the club as player personnel director, but his presence around the Pond this summer will be minimal, he said. McCaughey says he feels good about the team he’s putting together. But he admits it will be difficult to fill vacancies left by RHI players Victor Gervais, the team’s all-time leading scorer, and Savo Mitrovic, the team’s inspirational leader, and possibly, defenseman Joe Cook.

Gervais is living in Virginia after suffering what many feel is a career-ending knee injury in an ice hockey game this winter. Mitrovic re-injured a groin playing ice hockey and may never skate again, Sonier said.

Cook and club President Stuart Silver got in an off-season dispute when Cook left his job at Rollerworld to start his own youth inline camps. The pair met this week and “patched up our differences with no hard feelings,” according to Cook. But Cook said that if e did return, he would have to skip about a third of the games because of his new job and because of his role as team captain of the U.S. entry in the Inline World Hockey Championships in July. It’s up to McCaughey to decide whether he can live with that arrangement.

Goaltender Eric Raymond, who missed half of last season because of a knee injury, but turned in a 5.04 goals-against average as a backup to Rob Laurie, was traded to Montreal for David Goverde, who spent a short stint in the National Hockey League in 1995 with the Kings and Phoenix of the IHL.

Finally, the agent for defenseman Sean O’Brien, who had 59 goals for Utah and Phoenix in the International Hockey League, has told the Bullfrogs his client probably will sign a deal with an NHL team, perhaps the Kings.

“We have some roles we have to fill, no doubt,” Laurie said. “We’ve got a lot of new faces but not a lot of rookies. We’re bigger, more physical. We know that whatever style we play will have to be successful because the fans expect that from us.”

Former Vancouver standout Doug McCarthy is expected to bolster the Bullfrog defense. McCarthy was to be the coach of the San Diego Barracudas this season, but when that club folded three weeks ago, he decided to skate another year.

Goverde is expected to push the ever-reliable Laurie, who had 15 victories last season, for a starting job.

Todd Wetzel, the 1995 rookie of the year, and defenseman Rick Judson, did not attend training camp but are expected to be ready for the season opener. Glenn Stewart, who led the team with 33 goals last year, will be asked to fill Gervais’ shoes. Defender Sean Whyte is back, adding girth in the back. Veteran Bullfrog defensemen Darren Perkins, who had 68 points last season, and B.J. MacPherson, also return.

Jim Ficenec, a flashy forward who saw little action last season, has looked strong in training camp.

“I don’t think you can replace Cook or Gervais. They were their own type of players,” McCaughey said. “But I look to the team to do well and be well balanced.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Bullfrogs Information

* Home arena: The Pond

* Schedule: Saturday--St. Louis, 7:30; June 13--Sacramento, 7:30; June 14--at Blades, 7:30; June 15--Sacramento, 6; June 19--at Sacramento, 8; June 21--St. Louis, 7:30; June 25--Blades, 7:30; June 26--at St. Louis, 5:30; TBA; June 28--at San Jose, TBA; June 29--San Jose, 6; July 4--San Jose, 3; July 10--at Blades, 7:30 p.m.; July 11--at San Jose; July 12--Blades, 7:30; July 17--at Sacramento; July 19--Ottawa, 4:30; July 23--at Ottawa, 4:30; July 24--at Montreal, 4:30; July 26--at St. Louis, 5:30; July 31--at Blades, 7:30; Aug. 6--San Jose, 7:30; Aug. 8--Sacramento, 7:30; Aug. 9--at San Jose, 7:30.

* Tickets: Season tickets, mini-plans are individual game tickets available at Pond box office or through Ticketmaster at (714) 740-2000. Prices range from $8 to $30 per game.

* Website: www.bullfrogs.com

* For more information: (714) 939-7663