11/19/98

Steve: KC, where were you born and where do you call home?

KC: I was born in Mission Viejo, California. That is probably about an hour north of San Diego. And I call home Tustin, California. That is about a half hour north of Mission Viejo, and that is about an hour south of Los Angeles.

Steve: Is that where your folks live and everything?

KC: Yeah, my folks live there and I have a sister that lives in San Diego. I have a little niece and nephew. My niece is going to be four months and my nephew is going to be two months in December.

Steve: Have they been able to see you play as a Buc yet?

KC: My parents came out for the Buc Bowl. They got to see me play there. They came to Ann Arbor and they got to see a couple games in Ann Arbor.

Steve: That’s a long trip.

KC: Yeah.

Steve: Why and when did you start playing hockey?

KC: Well, I was always around the rink with my sisters. I have two sisters that were competitive figure skaters. If I was at the rink, I was always running around the rink and everything. I started out figure skating and I did that for a little bit. I just went out there with my sisters and they took me out. I mean, I went right from school out to the rink. I think I started playing hockey when I was about three; I was on the ice. I used to watch all the hockey players when I was with my sisters cause they would skate after the figure skaters. So my dad saw that and he said, "Oh, we’ll try that out." So I ended up playing that. I played hockey and baseball both.

Steve: Did anyone in your family ever play hockey before?

KC: No. My dad played AAA baseball and he was dropped by the Angels. My grandfather played for the Seattle Rainiers, which are the Seattle Mariners now. His brother, which is my great uncle, played for the Yankees. He was Joe Demagio’s roommate. He got a couple World Series rings.

Steve: So was it a difficult thing for you to choose between baseball and hockey?

KC: Yeah. I liked hockey a lot more. I was really good at baseball but my dad knew that hockey was my love. After school I would pick up a hockey stick before I would pick up a baseball, and I would go out and shoot against the garage. They knew. And there was a point where I had to make a choice. I chose hockey.

Steve: Just because of the love of the game, I suppose?

KC: Yeah, yeah. It definitely was. I did like baseball but, you know, hockey was my favorite.

Steve: You mentioned earlier that you had played with some of the other Bucs, ex-Bucs.

KC: Well, I am sure everyone knows Alex Kim. I think we were about four or five years old when we started playing together. I played with him for about five years. We always used to play against Noah and Garrett and a couple other guys. I would say I played with Noah for maybe three years and Garrett one year. Garrett is a couple years younger than me and Noah, a year younger. I always played up and so did Noah, so we were on tournament teams and all star teams together.

Steve: This was in California?

KC: Yeah, this was in California.

Steve: So then what happened? How about other teams you played for then?

KC: My last year I played in California. They started the Anaheim Junior Ducks, and that was my first year of bantam. That was the first year I played my own age group; after that I always played up. Noah was on the team that year. We had a good team. We made it to the finals and regionals. We ended up losing to Alaska, a really good team. After that year I got a letter from Compuware, which is a team out in Detroit, for their bantam team to come out and try out. So I tried out there and I ended up making Little Caesars, which I am sure many of you have heard of. So I played my bantam year out there and I ended up making the midget team the next year, and I played two years for the midget team. Then I was picked up by the Soo Indians last year in the North American League, and I played there.

Steve: How did you end up with the Bucs then?

KC: Two days after the Bucs won nationals last year, Scott gave me a call and said, "We saw you play a couple times last year and we are interested in drafting." I didn’t know too much about this league or the Bucs. I already signed with Ferris State last year. I signed a letter of intent with them last year and I decided I wanted to play another year of juniors, you know, going into college hockey a little bit older. I had a chance to go in last year but I wanted to play another year of juniors. I pretty much was going to go back to the Soo and just play another year like I did before. He said, "Well, why don’t you come out and take a look at Des Moines and see the try out camp. I am sure you would be impressed." So I came out.

Steve: Did you like what you saw?

KC: Yeah, I liked what I saw. I could tell the team was going to be really good with the players that were there; there was a lot of tradition. You could tell there was a lot of tradition

Steve: What are some of the things you like about playing for the Bucs that may be different from other teams?

KC: I would say there is kind of a tradition here, you know, of winning. That is really great. It starts with everybody, from the coaches and everyone else. Everybody knows that there is a big tradition here and everybody knows that they have to win, to keep that alive. I think that is really great. The fans are great here in Des Moines.

Steve: Now that you have had a chance to play quite a few places, are there any places that you really like to play at, other rinks?

KC: I would have to say Lincoln is pretty nice to go over there and play. I really like playing at home. That is definitely my favorite place. I feel really comfortable here and the fans really get you motivated to go out there and play your hardest.

Steve: I have been disappointed with the fans this year so far. We haven’t really started to rock yet. Near the end of the year we really start to get loud.

KC: It will pick up, I am sure. When you are on the road for a couple of games and you come home, it is great to get your own fans back. It is great.

Steve: You mentioned playing in Lincoln. Does that get you excited?

KC: I think it gets you excited to go out there and just...

Steve: Kill them?

KC: Yeah, exactly. Exactly that.

Steve: You said your future plans are Ferris State next year.

KC: Yeah, I am pretty excited about that. I am going for business.

Steve: Do you know any of the players at Ferris State right now?

KC: Jason Basile, who played here last year, he goes there. I actually played with one of the goalies when I played summer league in Detroit. And there aer a couple guys off the Detroit Freeze, which is now Chicago Freeze, that used to come out and skate with my midget team all the time.

Steve: Tell me what is the thing you like about playing hockey. We touched a little bit on this earlier with baseball. But what is it about hockey that you like?

KC: I like how intense it is, the intensity is great, the speed of the game. I just love getting up in the morning and coming to the rink and skating. Ever since I was little, I went to the rink every day. Even sometimes when I was in elementary school, I would get up at 4:30 in the morning and go to the rink and skate in the morning. There was a guy that played out there for Winnipeg at the time. His name was Matt Herby. My coach coached him and he played for Winnipeg. In the summertime we would get up in the morning, and I got to go out there and skate with him. I just always loved going to the rink; it was something I never passed up. Someone would say, "Hey, we have got some ice here." I was the first one to go there; I was always out there.

Steve: Have you had any embarrassing things ever happen to you while you are playing hockey?

KC: I would have to say, last year I got knocked into the other team’s bench. It was pretty embarrassing.

Steve: All the way in?

KC: Yeah, all the way in. I wasn’t too happy about it.

Steve: What happens when you’re all the way in?

KC: What happened was I got knocked in and I got up and I was just really mad because I was back checking and I was the last guy back. I didn’t even have the puck or anything. The guy grabbed me and he tried putting me over the boards and I went right over. I got up and their coach actually said, "Hey, leave him alone." There was a linesman right there and I turned around and I punched some guy and ended up getting a penalty.

Steve: Do you have a nickname?

KC: Not really. They used to always call me Bones. That was out in California.

Steve: But not anymore?

KC: No.

Steve: How about hobbies? Hockey must take a lot of time.

KC: Yeah, in the summertime I love to fish. I go gold prospecting sometimes in the summer.

Steve: Do you really? Where at?

KC: I go in the deserts of California and then Northern California.

Steve: Have you ever found any gold?

KC: Yeah. I have found a lot of gold up in Northern California.

Steve: Do you gather it up and sell it?

KC: I just keep it and display it right now. I am not really sure what I am going to do with it.

Steve: Do you pan for it or how do you get it?

KC: Yeah. When you go out in the deserts, there is a dry washer that you use and basically it is like a lawn mower type thing or like a leaf blower. It blows the light dirt in the pot and the dirt settles. Then you have to take it home because there is no water out there to pan it. That is what you basically do. There are different machines that will separate the heavy material from the light. You keep the heavy concentrate and you end up panning it out. But in Northern California you can pan in the rivers right there.

Steve: If you won a million dollars, what would you do?

KC: What would I do? I would probably put it in the bank and live my life the way I am doing right now and finish out my hockey career. Then I would have that. It really wouldn’t change my life too much.

Steve: Complete this sentence. The fans probably don’t know that . . .

KC: Probably that I don’t surf.

Steve: Is there anything else you would like to just say for the record while you are being interviewed?

KC: I would just like to say, you know, the fans are great here in Des Moines. It is nice to come home from a long trip and play in front of your home crowd. I would like to say the city of Des Moines is a nice place.

Steve: Great. Thank you, KC.

KC: All right, thanks a lot.

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