Portland, Maine welcomed a brand new hockey team into the city when the Portland Pirates left their affiliation with the Arizona Coyotes organization, and instead became the proud affiliate of the Florida Panthers organization.
The Portland Pirates have had a history of affiliating with new organizations. From 1993 to 2005, the Pirates were affiliated with the Washington Capitals. From 2005 to 2008, they were with the Anaheim Ducks. From 2008 to 2011, they were with the Buffalo Sabres. From 2011 to 2015, they were with the Arizona Coyotes. Now, the Pirates are the affiliate of the Panthers.
Although the name and logo stayed the same, the fans and the community would be the first to say that the style of hockey is much different – and more admirable at that. Living on the East Coast, as well as the fact that Maine is only hours away from Boston, hockey fans in the community tend to prefer an aggressive style of hockey. They want to see their home-team finish checks and get in the dirty areas. This is exactly style of hockey this Pirates team plays – and it has this community thriving.
I had the opportunity to catch Tom Rowe, the head coach of the Pirates, after Saturday’s Halloween matinee game, where the Pirates lost 4-3 to the Rochester Americans.
When asked about the Pirates clean but aggressive style of hockey:
“That’s the way we want to play, and it takes a little time to get it going in the direction consistently – but that’s what we said when we got here. It’s the way we like to play as an organization. Fast and very aggressive on the forecheck.”
“[But] yeah, you’re going to give up some odd-man rushes but once we get everybody in-sync…it’s only been seven games.”
When asked about if the clean but aggressive style of hockey is something the team works on during practice:
“Oh yeah, we’ve been working extremely hard. This is probably the hardest working group I’ve ever coached when it comes to practice so it’s just a matter of time before we put it all together.”
“[Shane] Harper hasn’t even scored a goal yet and he’s a 30 goal scorer in this league, so once he breaks out, he’ll be putting them in the net on a consistent basis so it’s just a low-confidence level right now. I told the guys to go out tonight, relax, enjoy the Halloween party and get ready to work on Monday.”
“It’s a good group. They’re really good guys and they’re good players. It’s only a matter of time we snap out of it.”
Head coach Tom Rowe is very well-respected in the hockey community. Rowe’s professional hockey career started when he was drafted 36th overall by the Washington Capitals in 1976. In 376 NHL games, Rowe tallied 85 goals and 100 assists for 185 points. Additionally, Rowe also played the role as assistant coach to the 2006 Stanley Cup Champions, the Carolina Hurricanes. Rowe’s professional experience with hockey should give Pirates fans a surge in confidence for this team.
The old Pirates will certainly be missed, but the new Pirates are starting to look like a game-changer for this city.
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
