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6.23.02
AAA Las Vegas Adds Defenseman Scott Chism, Plus....
ROB PALLIN: 'WE DID GOOD, BUT WE STILL HAVE WORK TO DO....'
Las Vegas -- Defenseman Scott Chism looked at the menu, laughed and ordered the big one -- a Lumberjack Slam, with extra thick syrup and send over the coffee strong and black.
No one said a word, particularly those
fancy-passing wingers who were also at the breakfast table at Denny's over on Craig and I-15.
Chism is the tough man on skates, who has a slide-ruler wide grin when he mixes it up in a deep dark corner on the ice.
Las Vegas ice coach Rob Pallin should know. He watched Chism lock up with quite a few of his skaters in those wild, rip-roaring wars with the AA Utah Stars last winter.
And now Chism is on our side.
He will pull on the AAA Outlaws jersey and provide what it takes for our top scorers like Josh Jasek, Eddie Samuels, Travis Roseberry and Jeff Hajner to zero in on the attack nets at top speed.
"I've been playing 'D' since, well since I was maybe 10 years old," Chism said. "Sometimes, a team will move me up on the front lines. But primarily, I'm on defense."
Chism, who lives in Salt Lake City, was one of the new skaters who signed up with AAA Las Vegas this past weekend. Scott's father lives in Las Vegas, so
there's no problem for Scott to load the gear and head into town for the big season.
Other out of towners who signed on included:
//Nate Rein, a left-handed, hard-skating winger from the AA Utah Stars.
//Cody Morin, also left-handed, from the AA Phoenix Firebirds.
//Mike Bernardy, a super-smart defenseman from Salt Lake City.
Jason Allen, Jeff Hajner and Zach Whisman are all from Las Vegas.
There are more skaters on the way, said Pallin.
"We did good, but we have more work to do," he said.
Pallin talked about a mini-camp in early August, bringing in an AAA midget major
team to "shake out" the lines and look at new skaters.
"So much to do, so little time," he said.
The countdown is ticking towards opening day, which is the last weekend of August.
6.13.02
NOW, WE'RE THE LAS VEGAS OUTLAWS!!!
Las Vegas -- First, Rob Pallin had chicken soup, a couple of buttered rolls, a cup of hot coffee, lots of early evening hockey talk.
"I think you're going to like this, coach," said Mark Whyte,
president of the Las Vegas Outlaws.
He handed ice coach Pallin an Outlaws game shirt. It was the road jersey, black, with 'Las Vegas' written in bright gold
letters across the chest. Just below Las Vegas, it said 'Outlaws' in red script lettering.
Pallin checked it out, looked at the tags, felt the fabric, inspected the sleeves, studied the front and the back.
"I like it," he said, looking at the team general manager, Bob Roseberry.
Roseberry nodded. "The kids will like it too, coach," he said.
So now we're the Outlaws.
It's a big decision.
It's a big change.
Most people, like our rink board parents and the skaters, know it's the right move. Now, with firm financial support from the Outlaws, we have the funding to
enter into Tier 1 midget major hockey, proudly wear the AAA stripes, go to big time tournaments throughout the nation.
It wasn't just the coach's decision. He brought in the Mustangs parents, met
with them at the Santa Fe Stations Ice Arena, kicked around the pluses and the minuses.
Joe Fulwiler, whose son Cody set all kinds of goalie records last season, put it all
together when he said "....we'll still have the same hearts beating in the Outlaws shirts."
He was referring to Las Vegas' magical 60-11-3 season last winter. He was
thinking about the Hockeyfest, the Santa Fe Classic, the Christmas tournament, the two wins over the L.A. Kings majors, beating Shattuck black Silver Sticks,
winning the Southwest League title, the Pacific District Tier 11 championship and the wild 3-1 ride at the U.S. Nationals.
Pallin said that team had an inner soul, a ticking heart.
He was on the bench while captain Josh Jasek slammed in 61 goals, Adam Naglich 48, Eddie Samuels 45 -- and that was just one line.
Defense? Eddie Del Grosso scored more times in two seasons than any other
Las Vegas defenseman. Justin Johnson, T.J. Craig, Josh Shiode, Chris Anderson, Steve Novotny shut down waves of attackers all season long.
Paul Lowden and Cody Fulwiler were in the net. They broke every record we
ever had.
It's going to be different this season. Skaters are coming in from Arizona, California and Utah to try out for the AAA Las Vegas Outlaws June 21-23. There
will be sharpshooters, defensemen, enforcers and some mighty good goalies coming in and trying out.
Pallin will have his metal clipboard, his evaluators in the bleachers and rink
board parents will be pressing their faces against the rink glass during the tryouts.
Everyone wants to be on the top team in town.
And Pallin has a bigger vision than the rest of us: He wants to build the Outlaws
into one of the top teams in the nation.
Click here for official press release.
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