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Ask a Moose - GM Craig Heisinger

Manitoba Moose General Manager Craig Heisinger ("Zinger") recently answered your questions in the eighth Ask-a-Moose session of the 2006-07 season.

Click here to listen to Zinger's interview, or read the transcript below. Visit Moosehockey.com again soon for the next Ask-a-Moose feature!

	1. If you could change one of the following things in the AHL, which would it be? 1 - Increase or do away with the veteran rule. 2 - Adopt the two-referee system. 3 - Bring in video replay. 4 - Cut the number of regular season games down so there's more time for practice and no more 3-games-in-3-nights. Mike - Winnipeg, MB
	I'd say it's probably cut down the number of regular season games, but it has more to do with practice time and rest than it does with the 3-in-3s. I don't think the 3-in-3s are as big an issue as people make them out to be, and there are a lot of good things to them as well. But for sure to get more rest and more practice ice, I'd go with number four.

2. What were your thoughts after last year's 5-4 loss in Grand Rapids in Game 7, after the team blew their big lead? If you could go back in time, what would you change before the game? Brett - Winnipeg, MB

Well, I mean, it was a pretty devastating loss, but the question itself I think is pretty clear. If we'd have had a third goalie that we could have put in and been ready to go, I think that that would have maybe changed the game in our favour. But in hindsight, one of the things that drew us to Drew MacIntyre was his ability to go in and do what he did. So, did we pay the price in losing that series? Yeah, but did we learn something more about a guy we coveted? Yes, probably. But no question, we should have probably had a third goalie ready to go, and we didn't.

3. What do you expect in return for the trades concerning future consideration involving Nick Kuiper at the beginning of the season and the more recent Reagan Rome trade? Brett - Winnipeg, MB

Actually, I don't expect anything in return. Sometimes you can go back down the road if you've done somebody a favour. You know, a year or two down the road, they might be inclined to pay you back, and usually you make future deals with people you have absolute trust in. In this case, in Wilkes-Barre's case, it was Chuck Fletcher and Ray Shero, and the Portland one for Nick Kuiper was Bob Murray. One is you might be able to go back and ask for a favour, but two is, I don't expect anything in return. If you sign a guy and he's not working for you, you try to put him in an environment that he can have success in.

Basically, Dustin Wood came in and beat out Nick Kuiper, so we owed it to Nick Kuiper to find him another place to play. Where Reagan Rome was concerned, all things being equal, we expected more out of Reagan Rome. He's gone to Wilkes-Barre and probably done what we expected him to do. But the other thing with Reagan is, he needed to play ten East Coast league games to play in the East Coast league playoffs, and he'd only had seven with us and I didn't think he was going to get the three he needed. So it's not just one-dimensional. You have to work with the East Coast league teams too, and we needed to move him so he was eligible, not for his sake but for the East Coast league's teams sake too.

4. How do the Moose go about scouting players independent of the Canucks? For example, Rypien and Burrows were signed. Do you look at European leagues, major junior, university, other pro leagues, etc.? Hollywood - Winnipeg, MB

Well, we spend a lot of time scouting between. . . I mean, we have a full-time scout in Bruce Southern; we have myself, who does a lot of scouting; we have three other guys that work part-time for us - one in the Quebec league, one in the Ontario league, one guy that spends a lot time down East in the NCAA schools; Bruce covers all the East Coast leagues and the American leagues; I cover the Western Hockey League, the WCHA up here, and the NCAA, and chip in with the East Coast league and the American league too. We try to augment Vancouver's drafts with a bunch of our own scouting, and I think it's worked good for Vancouver but it's also worked good for us because we have to be more than competitive to win, and it helps us a lot.

5. Zinger, you have had some great success with picking players deep in the ECHL and having them move on to the NHL. Have any NHL teams inquired about your services and do you have desires to further your career with an NHL team? Tom - Winnipeg, MB

I've had a couple of inquiries - I don't know how serious they were or not, but I probably didn't take them all that serious because of the second part of your question. You know, 'never' is a strong word, but right now my family and everything comes first, and they're very much entrenched in the community here so my desire to pick up and go is not real strong. If I had to move to stay in hockey, then I would probably do that, but right now, I chose to stay here 11 years ago and I have no desire to leave right now.

6. Out of all the Canuck prospects who have a chance of turning pro next season, and possibly playing for the Moose next year, who are you most excited about? Brett - Winnipeg, MB

I think it's difficult to narrow it down to one player because sometimes expectations exceed development. I think next year, the Canucks have a good crop of young players coming in, probably the biggest and the brightest that they've had in their time here, but we've had success. Guys have developed: Nathan McIver's developed, Mike Brown's developed, Jannik Hansen's developed. It's up to them to a certain point. They have some decent guys coming next year: Mason Raymond, the kid that plays in Brandon (Simak), maybe Luc Bourdon, Daniel Rahimi, who we might possibly see at the end of the year. I think they have a good crop of prospects, but there's not one guy in particular. They have Corey Schneider coming in from Boston College, which is a high-profile prospect. But I think you've got to be careful not to put too much expectations and see where guys play out.

7. How has Manitoba's relationship with Victoria been during the first season of the affiliation? The Salmon Kings are currently battling for the final two playoff spots and Julien Ellis looks to be evolving into a solid prospect. Matt - New Zealand

I think the affiliation with Victoria has been a very pleasant surprise for me. I think it had lots of good things on the surface going in, one being geographical location. It's probably better for Vancouver but good for us because it's not a U.S. destination and we have two airlines that can go in and out of there. So geographically it worked real good. Immigration-wise it worked real good: we don't have to worry about getting guys immigration on short notice if we change our mind on a player. And certainly the currency part of it, where they can all be paid in Canadian currency and reimbursing the Salmon Kings or vice versa, them reimbursing us. So I think it's worked real good. Julien Ellis has gone down there and done good, but if we wanted to throw a guy in there for a couple weeks or a few days or a few games, like we did with Adam Keefe or Patrick Coulombe, whether it is easy and simple - I'm not 100% sure - but it does seem simpler and easier.

8. Who has to pay the players that have contracts with you and the Canucks when they get shipped down to the Moose? Guy

For the most part, we pay a flat rate per player back to the Canucks. Anybody on an NHL contract gets their cheque on the 15th and the 30th from the Canucks. Anybody on a standard or two-way AHL contract gets their cheque from the Moose on the 15th and the 30th. So any players we split with the Canucks, we pay whatever the agreed-upon rate is and they would get their cheque from the Canucks and we'd reimburse Vancouver.

9. How often do you chat with Dave Nonis about the Moose players and how they're playing? How much of a role do you play with who gets the call up to the big club? Richard - Duncan, BC

The first part of the question, I would spend more time talking to Lorne Henning and Steve Tambellini about the Canuck prospects than I would talk to Dave. I would talk to Dave on bigger issues or issues that we might be arguing about more than we'd talk about players. Lorne is the Director of Player Personnel and Steve is responsible for the issues that are here, so certainly I would spend more time talking to them. I would talk to Lorne every couple of days, probably Steve as well every couple of days, and probably Dave every couple of weeks.

How big of a role do we play when guys get called up? A fairly significant role, although this year is a little bit of a different dynamic with Alain being the coach there and him being very familiar with the players that are here. Just being gone for the one year, he has a pre-conceived notion about who might be able to help them, not based on how they're playing this year, but what he saw last year. Traditionally, they'll call down and say who's playing the best, but there's lots of times where sometimes it's not about the best player, it's about the right player in a certain situation, and that can be frustrating for the players. But for us it's important to be as honest as you can, and whether they take our opinion or not, that's up to them. But it's for sure solicited from us.

10. In your opinion, what current Moose player has the best chance to be a regular in the Canuck line-up next year? Brett - Winnipeg, MB

Well that's a tough question and probably not one I'm going to answer all that honestly. But I think to quote Randy Carlyle, and I say it all the time and it's very cliché-ish now, but that part is up to the players. We give them an environment for an opportunity to have success and hopefully they can take advantage of it. And we've had lots of guys take advantage of it: Burrows, Rypien, Josh Green took advantage of it. So we're hopeful that guys will continue to do that. Jesse Schultz is taking advantage of it, Jason Jaffray's trying to take advantage of it. So that remains to be seen. I think Drew MacIntyre's taking advantage of it. Who that next guy is I think remains to be seen, but the best thing about it is the Canucks have given guys opportunities off American league contracts and that really helps our recruiting in the summer.

11. How has Manitoba's relationship changed with Vancouver since 2001 to present? Matt - New Zealand

I say it's changed significantly. It would probably be difficult to articulate into words all the changes, but I think the trust factor has grown. For the most part, I think that's what's changed the most. It's taken some time, but I think there's a level of trust - us and them, and them and us - to do what's best for them without big brother watching over your shoulder, type thing. I think it was important for us to find a line in the sand, development vs. winning, and important for them to see how important it was for those things to combine here. So I think that's the biggest thing, the trust factor, and that we've seemed to find a line in the sand between development and winning, and the last few years - I guess the last three years - we've seemed to have done a decent job at that.

12. What is your favourite time of the season to be GM of the Moose? What is the most stressful part of being the Moose GM? Brett - Winnipeg, MB

That's a good question. I'm not sure that I know the exact answers. The busiest time is probably the best time, but the busiest time is in the summer. That's when you have to do your work and that's what pays the dividends down the road. In the summer, I move my office out to the lake because I have four kids that are on summer vacation. So I work every day, pretty much all summer, but at the end of the day, I can turn off the phones and I can go fishing. And I will tell you that that's probably the best part of my whole season is those maybe two-and-a-half months. Although you're working every day, those times where you can go fishing from six 'til ten in the evening and you can shut the rest of it off. That's probably the best time. And probably this time of the year, March, after the trade deadlines are gone, and everything's set, and you're pretty much working on next season anyway for the past six weeks. Whatever's going to happen this year is going to happen. It's out of your control now, you've done what you can. Certainly March through June is an exciting time but June through September is a very busy time. But there is some downtime in the evening that you can enjoy your hobbies, which is fishing for me, and I do enjoy that time a lot because I can spend time with my kids and I like to fish.

>> What about the most stressful part of the job?

The most stressful part of the job? You know what? I don't know if there's a tremendously . . . I mean, it's a stressful job, but you know what? It's better than a real job. And anytime things start to get the better of you or you get worn down, I think it's important that you take a step back and try to see what you have. So yeah, there's stressful times. You know, you lose a few in a row. But you know what? You win a whole bunch in a row and there's stresses with that. You know, expectations get exceeded. So, I think it's real important to keep an even keel.

13. Hey Craig, seeing as you were the equipment manager for the Jets, do you have any interest in what kind of equipment is used by the Moose today? Thanks! Sydney - West St. Paul, MB

Yeah, absolutely I do. You know, I probably stick my nose in sometimes where it doesn't belong. We have terrific trainers and equipment guys here in Hilty (Steve Hildebrand) and Mullet (Rob Milette), but you know, there's times where a guy gets a concussion and you'll be in there questioning what kind of helmet he's wearing, or the same guy breaks his foot in the same place. Why did you take the padding off the skate and just play the rest of the season with it? Because that's a passion of mine and where I came from, I probably do stick it in more than I need to. And plus I have four kids that play, and play at a decently high level, so I'm still flipping through the catalogs and paying attention to what's this and what's that. I love that job. It's not like I didn't and it's not like I aspired for this one. I would have been perfectly happy still knowing every detail of the equipment job.

14. Mr. Heisinger, for a young person who wishes to get into Hockey Operations as a career, but does not have a playing career, how do you get into the industry? Luke - B.C.

I don't think the playing part's all that important. I think there's some great people that have not played at a high level - I certainly didn't play at the highest level. Andy Murray, who's a Manitoba guy who's coaching in the NHL and had a tremendous amount of ability and success, never played. Barry Trotts, who's coaching, played Bisons at the highest level. I think first and foremost, the two most important things for getting into probably any job, but especially this kind of job where you deal with a lot of different personalities all the time, is one, your people skills have to be second-to-none. You have to have the ability to let stuff roll off your back and go back and deal with it at a more proper time when cooler heads will prevail. And I think work ethic. As long as you're willing to do whatever it takes to give yourself a chance, I think those are the most important qualities. I don't think the level you played at or the amount you played is an issue whatsoever.

15. Hi Craig, as a fan of the game, I wanted to thank you and the Moose organization for your stirring season - Just what the Doctor ordered! Playoff hockey in a hockey town! Following the Moose and Canucks I believe allows us fans to see more of the business side of the game. In an era of CBAs, union dissention, rule changes, and salary caps, the reality is, as a fan, we need to have more education in these areas. I ask you two questions: 1) When did you realize that the "game" of hockey was more than superstars and Stanley Cups? 2) In this age of hockey, what do you do as an organization to stay focused on the human values (the fans, the players, & the employees) within the game? Congrats on the terrific season to date, and maybe-just maybe-we can have a Calder Cup Parade down Portage Avenue this spring. Thanks. Kevin - Winnipeg, MB

For me, the first question is easy. It was back in 1996 when the Jets were going to leave Winnipeg, and you know what? For me, it was a simple decision to stay in Winnipeg because it wasn't all about Stanley Cups and superstars in my situation. It was about two things: 1) My family situation. I had four kids under four, so for me to pick up and move to a different city was going to be easy, but for my family to go or my wife to go, it was going to be different doctors, different schools, different grocery stores . . . all those things. Your priorities change. Five years before that, I would have thought I was going to be the first guy out of town and the most important things were superstars and Stanley Cups. But there's defining moments in your life that change those decisions, and I can remember the exact moment that I knew that it changed for me. I was changing laundry in the old Winnipeg Arena with the guy that helped me, Stan Wilson, and we were talking about the team moving to Phoenix, and I can remember blurting out "Well, I'm not going." And the rest of their mouths dropped, but it was good for everybody, in the scheme of things, in that group it moved everybody up a notch and everybody's moved on to bigger and better jobs. For me, that was the moment that I understood that it wasn't all about superstars and Stanley Cups, and staying in Winnipeg and making a good life for my family seemed to be more important. And it's all turned out pretty good.

The part about the organization staying focused on human values, I mean, it's pretty much beat into us … Beat's not the right word, but it's drilled into us right from the top, from the Chipman family, about how important those things are. But I think the other part of that is the route that I came to be a general manager is very different than probably 95% of the other people, and especially doing it in Winnipeg. And it goes back to the Jets days too. You had to do a lot of the little things right in Winnipeg because it wasn't the most glorious place to play in the National Hockey League, but when guys got traded here, it was like a death knell for them, and when it was time to retire or they got traded again, it was like nobody wanted to leave. And I think part of the reason for that is because you understood what was important in people's lives, and it's just not all about the players, and that's when you get caught up in putting players on pedestals. It's about the people. The players need to treat other people in the organization with respect, the people in the organization need to treat the people with respect. But the bottom line is we're all people. You can leave the player part out of it, and you need to treat people how you'd want to be treated.

I think for me personally, it started back then, understanding the little things in peoples' lives that made a difference. But then when I came to the Moose, there was certainly a very strong family value tradition put on by the Chipman family and that is something that we try to do our best at. You know what, we all make mistakes, we all snap on somebody at one time or the other, but I think all-in-all, the team environment and the organization or the company not being too big allows you to have a better use of your people skills and treat people as equally and fairly as you can.