A lot has happened on the Salt Lake Golden Eagles' front in the past few months.
The Eagles got a new owner in Larry Miller, got a new coach in Bob Francis, and got word that they will, indeed, be playing in a new arena for the 1991-92 hockey season.All this coming as they were winding down from the most successful season in the 20-year life of the Golden Eagles.
Now, as they begin to catch their breath, the Golden Eagles are looking at a new season in a league that is smaller, but promises to be tougher.
Saginaw pulled out of the league for a year to reorganize, and Denver disbanded this past summer. Phoenix, however, entered the IHL over the summer and brought the league up to nine teams for the 1989-90 season.
Asked about how he viewed the league, Francis said he felt that, "as a whole, it has been upgraded. Looking at the rosters of each of the teams, I think everyone has strengthened themselves for this season.
"Indianapolis, Kalamazoo, Milwaukee and Peoria are all stronger this year. Muskegon (winner of the Tunner Cup last year) hasn't hurt itself. Anyone of the five teams has the ability to step forward."
The season started for the Eagles last Friday in Peoria. In his coaching debut, Francis took the Eagles to a 5-1 victory. They then moved to Milwaukee for Game 2 of the new year, where the Eagles lost to the Admirals in overtime, 6-5.
After Francis had had the opportunity to see his team play, he made some early-season observations.
In goal, he said, the Eagles are real strong with Steve Guenette as the main goalie and Wayne Cowley as backup. Guenette is considered one of the top three young goalies in the league this year. Cowley played well last year, but didn't get as much time in the net as he would have liked. Francis said that he expected Cowley, "to be a bigger factor this year. He'll have more time out there."
On defense, Francis continued, "We have a good nucleus of veteran players coming back. These are players that will get better with experience."
Playing defense for Salt Lake will be Brian Glynn, Ken Sabourin, Chris Biotti and Rick Lessard. In addition, there will be three new comers - Kevin Grant, Jerry Tarrant and Darryl Olsen. Grant came to the Eagles from the OHL, Tarrant from the University of Vermont and Olsen from Northern Michigan University.
The Eagles were hurt on the front line. They lost a lot of scoring punch, including Paul Ranheim, who scored 68 goals last year, the most every by a Salt Lake player.
Also gone are Jim Johannson and Peter Lappin, two more potent scorers for the Eagles.
"But," said Francis, "we have some very capable people coming back. We also have some good players from past years coming back and some good young players coming in."
Among this year's front line he mentioned Bryan Deasley, Tim Sweeney, Stephane Matteau and Rick Barkovich. Matteau and Deasley joined the Eagles in time for the playoffs last year. Sweeney was an All-America forward from Boston College and Barkovich returns to the Eagles after one year playing for Indianapolis.
"Overall, we have a very sound defensive team. We will just have to keep the goals down. We'll have to be a physically dominating force out there.
"Our style will be to play similar to last year . . . and aggressive type of team where we force the opponents into making mistakes and then to exploit their weaknesses. We won't be able to play a complacent style where we can sit back and wait for things to happen. We're going to have to make them happen."
Looking at the change in ownership, Francis sees it as a positive step. He said he didn't think it would change the operation very much.
"But it added stability to the organization. Larry Miller is committed to the community and is a good businessman. I think it's a positive situation," he said.
He feels the same way about his move into the head coaching position. It was, for him, he said, a natural move.
The season started for Francis and the Eagles last Friday on the road in Peoria. The Eagles won 5-1. The following night they lost to the Milwaukee Admirals in overtime, 6-5. The team will return to Salt Lake City for a home opener on Wednesday in the Salt Palace.