Latest / Classic Hitz with Hitman / Hitman talks to Joey Erickson with Coach Skerlick of the Corpus Christi IceRays

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Hitman talks to Joey Erickson with Coach Skerlick of the Corpus Christi IceRays · Classic Hitz with Hitman

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hey, what's going on? It is Hitman with you. And
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: I've got in the studios right now, Joey Erickson. Joey,
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Joey from the Corpus Christi Ice Rays. Hey, dude, what's
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: going on? And you brought our brand new coach. Yes,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: brought our.
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: Brand new head coach, Nick Skurlik. And we're just getting
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: fired up for this weekend. It's home opening weekend presented
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: by Hilliard Law at the Hilliard Center. So the season
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: is now here.
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  Speaker 1: Now, Nick, I got to ask you a question real quick. Nick,
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: give me a little bit of background on your experience
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: with coaching and stuff like that.
• 0:26
  Speaker 3: I've had the privilege of coaching ice hockey for, I
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: believe this is my 10th season, my fourth season inside
• 0:32
  Speaker 3: the North American Hockey League. I've coached in the state
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: of New Jersey, state of Pennsylvania, Maine, and now.
• 0:39
  Speaker 4: South Texas, so.
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: It's been quite the journey in 10 years.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: I was going to say quite the journey. You just
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: talked mostly about the East Coast. What do you think
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: of the weather here?
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: Other than when we're inland, it's a little warm, but
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: about one to two blocks from the water, I've noticed
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: there's a lot cooler with the wind.
• 0:58
  Speaker 4: So I try to do everything.
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: Real close to the water, but I'm down eight pounds
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: right now, so I'm not complaining, man.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: So who are you guys playing this weekend? We have
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: the El Paso Rhinos. El Paso Rhinos. Now, those are
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: your main rivals, aren't they? I would say they're one
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: of them. You could put a.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: probably a plethora of teams in that category with a
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: straight board and lone star. El Paso's a rival in
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: the sense that they beat us up pretty good last year.
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: So we need to avenge that.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: So, Coach, tell me, what are your thoughts concerning the
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: El Paso Rhinos so far?
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  Speaker 3: I don't think the concern is the opposition for the
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: first weekend. They are South Division finalists, so they did
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: lose in the championship division final last year. So I'm
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: really excited to see them They do return a lot
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: of players. I think our main concern is every kid
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  Speaker 3: on our team is very excited to play. A lot
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: of players will have their first game in the Hilliard Center.
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  Speaker 3: It's one of the nicest facilities in all of junior
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: hockey and across Canada and the United States. And a
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  Speaker 3: lot of kids aren't used to playing in front of
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  Speaker 3: a pretty good, solid fan base. So I think my
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: first concern is just how we're going to act and behave.
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  Speaker 3: A lot of emotions running high. And we've been really
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: digesting what we're going to face– providing ourselves in terms
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: of maybe a distraction.
• 2:22
  Speaker 4: So we're worried about ourselves right now.
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  Speaker 3: And I think that's kind of how we'll approach all
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: 59 games.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: So are you still right now in the middle of
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: like auditioning some of the new members? Are you making
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: cuts already yet so far?
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  Speaker 3: We've released 22 players to this point. We started the
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: year with 46 and now we're down to about 24.
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: We have a few players incoming from one higher level
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: than ours. Um, so right now we're a little bit
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: over the 24 number, but I would say this is,
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: you know, this is our team that we're, you know,
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: unraveling Friday and Saturday night. And so far we, we
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: really liked the roster. Uh, therefore I don't think I'll
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: have to do a lot of jumbling around this year. Um, in,
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  Speaker 3: in our level where 20 year olds are the oldest
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: you could be. So 20 turning 21, we have 19,
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: 20 year olds to.
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  Speaker 4: Start the year.
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  Speaker 3: So we're going to be an old mature team and,
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  Speaker 3: hopefully I won't need to go searching for talent. I
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  Speaker 3: think it's all right here already in Corpus.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: So last year, I remember there was, besides, of course,
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: people from Michigan and from around the state, but there
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: was some people that were from out of the United States, actually.
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: They're from Europe and stuff like that. So Name some
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: of the players that are here from overseas. Well, one
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  Speaker 1: of our.
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  Speaker 2: Captains entering this season is actually from Ukraine. He's been
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: stateside for five, six years now, so he's well accustomed
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: to the United States, but he's from Ukraine. We have
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: multiple Russians. We have a Russian netminder, by the way,
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: who's gigantic. He's like 6'8, I swear, on skates. You
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: can't miss him. I don't think he speaks a lick
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  Speaker 2: of English, but I think the boys are going to
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  Speaker 2: help him out with that. The good thing is we
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  Speaker 2: have multiple other Russians on our team, so they can
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: communicate with him and whatnot. But this year we're not as,
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: I would say, multinational as we were maybe the past
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: previous years. We have a lot of kids from the
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: East Coast, so a lot of like Boston's, Connecticut's. We
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: have a kid from Brooklyn, New York. He is Brooklyn personified.
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  Speaker 1: He's a lot of fun, too.
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  Speaker 2: His name is CJ D'Agostino. We have a couple Italians
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: on the team. We have Nick Paragini. He's from Long Island.
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  Speaker 2: So we have some characters on this group and some
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: really great personalities, which I think fans will come to
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  Speaker 2: grow in love this year.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: Okay, Coach, I'm going to put you on the spot.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: I'm going to ask you this real quick. Who do
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  Speaker 1: you think is going to stand out this year on
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: the team?
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  Speaker 3: As a fan favorite, it kills me to say it
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: because I yell at him all the time.
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  Speaker 4: We have a kid named Braden Brady. Okay.
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  Speaker 3: Brady played for my team last year in Maine. He's
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: been a part of my organization, whether it's Maine or Texas,
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  Speaker 3: now for four years. He's just a special breed, man.
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  Speaker 3: He loves crushing kids. Unfortunately, last year's season ended early
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: with a concussion, and the boy that he ran into's
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: season also ended early in that collision. And he's just, man,
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: he's going to be a freight train. And last night
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: we had our season ticket handouts, and the players were there,
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: and Brady's doing backflips on the dance floor. Brady's singing karaoke.
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  Speaker 3: So I think the fans will fall in love with
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  Speaker 3: him as a person. I know the others enjoy him,
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: the ownership who's seen him play. They're really excited about Brady.
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: And then on the offensive side, I think we have
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: some new faces. We have Michael Lazzarone, Oliver Chaya, and
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: then Mike Sandrick. I don't think you're going to find
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: a first line better than that anywhere in our league.
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: And then obviously in net, we have a returning player,
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: Vlade Brzgalov, coming back. So I think those five, you'll
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: see shine right away. And there's, I mean, there's so
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: many good players on this team, and I feel bad
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: leaving guys off of there, but we want to try
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: to mention as many names as possible. But those would
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: be the guys I'm looking for right away to make
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: an impact, not only on the ice, but also in
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: the community of Corpus as well.
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: So now I've got to ask you, and I asked
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: this to everybody last year, what's your Whataburger order?
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: Well, I went one time since I've been down here.
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: I had Whataburger and Amarillo five years ago.
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  Speaker 4: Okay. And I just got a typical, I think it
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  Speaker 4: was a double cheeseburger.
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: Right.
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  Speaker 4: And I was.
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  Speaker 3: Expecting Texas toast and I got the bun and I'm like,
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: what am I doing?
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  Speaker 1: Is this Whataburger?
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  Speaker 3: I didn't realize you got to get the special, you
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: got to tell them that.
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  Speaker 4: But I would do like a double cheese. We're on
• 6:38
  Speaker 4: a no-carb diet going.
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: On right now. Oh, no, not you too.
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  Speaker 3: It's a health kick, but I would say I'm a
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  Speaker 3: big cheeseburger. I love pickles, man. So just load up
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: that thing with pickles.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, okay. You're going to have to meet a guy
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  Speaker 1: named Scary Larry. He's got some pickles that he'll probably
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: love to give you. So it's like, yeah.
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  Speaker 4: Scary Larry.
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  Speaker 1: Scary Larry and his pickles. He's got some pickles that
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: are really, really good. I can't wait to eat them. So, okay,
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  Speaker 1: so you were mostly from the East Coast. Did you
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: used to eat a lot of White Castle or what?
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: That's a great question. I'll tell you, I love the movies.
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: Harold and Kumar go to White Castle. That was the
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: only time I ever craved it. But yeah, right about
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: 10 minutes outside New York City. So we'd drive about
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: 15 minutes from where I grew up and we'd get
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: White Castle one, two in the morning. The Crave Case, man,
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  Speaker 3: like that just got.
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  Speaker 4: We don't eat that anymore, though.
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  Speaker 1: Okay.
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  Speaker 2: All right.
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  Speaker 1: Okay. Well, Whataburger is considered the White Castle of Texas.
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  Speaker 3: I think Whataburger's got White Castle, I'm going to be honest.
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  Speaker 1: Oh.
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  Speaker 3: I do like a White Castle French fry, the crinkle cut,
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: more than the Whataburger, but Whataburger's definitely a little bit more.
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  Speaker 1: Just please, for the love of God, don't tell me
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  Speaker 1: you love In-N-Out, because I just... No. I will never
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  Speaker 1: talk to you again.
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  Speaker 4: Never had it.
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  Speaker 1: Okay. Thank God. Don't ever do it.
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  Speaker 4: Won't ever be in my mouth ever again.
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: Joey... What are some of the things that's going to
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  Speaker 1: be happening this weekend? Yeah, we got some great stuff
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  Speaker 1: on the horizon.
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  Speaker 2: So Friday, the first 1,500 fans in attendance get a
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: schedule magnet, so you can put that on your fridge.
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  Speaker 2: Never miss an Ice Rays game the rest of the season. Saturday,
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: first 1,500 fans get an Ice Rays rally towel. It's
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: actually shaped like a jersey. It's pretty slick stuff. So
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: first 1,500 fans both nights. Saturday is a post-game skate
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  Speaker 2: as well. We are charging this year, it's $ 10 for
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: fans without skates, but if you bring your skates, it's $ 5.
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  Speaker 2: So it's half off and you can skate with the
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: players after the game, which is always really fun. Get
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: an autograph and hopefully they're in a good mood with
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: a couple wins if You know, our boy Nick does
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: his job.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: Oh, I think he's going to do his job. I
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: think he will.
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: I think we're in good hands here in Corpus Christi.
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: So it's going to be just a fantastic weekend. And
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  Speaker 2: you can just expect us to build off what we
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: created last year. And that's just a fun atmosphere and entertainment. Sometimes,
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: I hate to say it this way, but the hockey
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: is just happening, right?
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  Speaker 1: Come enjoy a.
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  Speaker 2: Really fun party atmosphere, and then you'll get hooked with
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: the hockey real quick because it's the best sport to
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: watch in person. Okay, so where can people get tickets?
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: They can go to Ticketmaster. You can call our offices
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: right now. Lorenzo, our boy Low Daddy is what we
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: call him, he's waiting for your phone call right now, 361-814-PUCK.
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: You can call Lorenzo. He'll get you hooked up with tickets.
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: Or you can email us too. Visit GoIceRace.com. I'm going
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: to have all the information about opening weekend on there
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: and just what to expect. We have an official roster
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: out there, too, so start to get to know the players.
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  Speaker 2: That way you're ready to rock and roll for this
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: Friday and Saturday.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: And then if you, of course, want to get some
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: new gear, you can get it there also.
• 9:30
  Speaker 4: Heck, yeah.
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: At the Hilliard Center, we've got the whole merch table.
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  Speaker 2: There's going to be a kid's zone, a lot of
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: fun stuff going on. You can also go online, too. Yeah,
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: there's a shop. I think it's shopicerace.com. So we've got
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: a little online store. Wherever you need to get your gear,
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: we're fired up for a great season.
• 9:45
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: Joey, Coach, thanks a lot for coming in today. Thank you.
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: All right?
• 9:49
  Speaker 4: Thank you very much.