Columnist Dean Juipe: Thunder owner hopes bigger will equal better

Dean Juipe

Saturday, Sept. 28, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

IN SIMPLER TIMES the calls came only from the local media or perhaps from an occasional inquisitive fan.

Now they come from out of state and from men in positions of authority.

"Every summer and every fall, people question what we're doing," said Las Vegas Thunder owner Ken Stickney. "I guess people look at us, scratch their heads and wonder what's going on.

"But this year it's been a little different. This year (General Manager) Bob Strumm and I have taken calls from other teams' general managers and assistant general managers and they all ask the same thing: 'You guys having a fire sale?' or 'You guys just trying to cut your payroll?'"

Apparently the out-of-towners have yet to learn what the local hockey fans have long since come to understand. And that's this: The Thunder roster goes through an annual purge before being restocked with players every bit as talented as their predecessors.

It happened again this year. Assorted and almost daily transactions earlier this month have left the Thunder with a 24-man roster that includes only seven players who skated for Las Vegas as recently as last season.

The high turnover rate is part of being an independent, which the Thunder still is despite adding partial working agreements with a team in Russia and with Phoenix of the NHL.

"The roster's changed, but no more than it's changed any other year," said Stickney, whose team opens its 1996-97 International Hockey League season later this week.

If nothing else, the Thunder has changed for the bigger. And whether bigger equates to better will be determined over the next six months.

"Great," Stickney replied, when asked what kind of team he expects to see on the ice at the Thomas & Mack Center this season.

Great?

"Yup, great," Stickney reiterated.

Great would seem to mean an IHL championship, which has eluded the Thunder through its previous three seasons of existence.

"(Coach) Chris McSorley, who is our most conservative guy, told me 'This is by far our best team -- by far,'" Stickney said. "I think it's a special team, a truly great hockey team."

It's a big team, that's for sure, as the fans will quickly recognize.

Fourteen of the players on the roster are at least 6 feet tall and the shortest of the nine defensemen is 5 feet 11. That's the area Stickney, Strumm and McSorley felt they needed to shore up, as the Thunder was pushed around a bit during last season's disheartening playoff loss to archrival Utah.

"If we were lacking anything last year, it was size, specifically size on the blue line," Stickney said. "We've always had real good defensemen, but it was like they were the best small defensemen around.

"Sometimes there's no substitute for size. So what Strummer has been trying to do since the beginning of camp is bring in as many big, young players as possible and see what they have to offer."

To underscore that commitment the Thunder even brought in two guys who didn't play professional hockey last year. If you are big and can skate, chances are you had a shot at making the team this fall.

"Physically, we're a much more imposing team," Stickney said. "And a key part of this is that we think we've retained the high skill level and the high-octane offense we've always had."

But for all the power and speed, championship hockey teams inevitably come down to goaltending. The Thunder has shuffled the deck here as well, and has Parris Duffus down from Phoenix as its No. 1 netminder.

"You're only as good as your goaltender," Stickney agreed. "The last couple of years we felt we had the 79th best goalie in professional hockey -- (the 26 NHL teams tie up three goalies each) -- but this year we feel we have one of the top 78."

Is a championship in store?

"Maybe," Stickney said, "because we certainly seem to have an elite team."