Erik Strand

Erik Strand

Number: 14
Position: Forward
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 170
Shoots: Left
Hometown: Bloomington, MN
Last Team: Vail Avalanche (AFHL)
Birthdate: 6/29/77

Player Biography

Erik comes to the Buccaneers from the Vail Avalanche, of the American Frontier Hockey League. He scored 21 goals and 22 assists for the Avalanche for the 1995-96 season. He received an award from the Honeywell Foundation for Youth Understanding, as well as and Exchange Student Scholarship. Erik hopes to attend a four year college and major in aviation or secondary education.
In-Depth Interview
December 10, 1996

Sarah: Tell me about your Avalanche team; I just want to know what happened.

Erik Strand: Why they folded?

Sarah: Yes.

E. Strand: There wasn't enough back up support, I guess you could say, from the community. We had maybe, 500 fan's a game, if that. Because we were up in Vail, it was so far to every where else, it was more expensive. To get charters they'd have to come up from Denver and so even that cost more. It was just too expensive up there and not enough support. The owner lost so much money he couldn't afford it anymore.

Sarah: Was it Gail, what happened to her (Note: Gail was the Marketing
Director for the Vail Avalanche)?

Strand: Yes Gail. Since there weren't enough fans, it wasn't her fault, because she was the Marketing Director and was supposed to get people in there. And so they fired her because it was her fault, supposedly. She got the raw end of that deal because there was nothing she could do, there just wasn't a market for it up there.

Sarah: Do you know what happened to her after that?

Strand: No, on our way home from Christmas we stayed at her house for a night before catching a plane home. She hadn't found anything yet, not that I know of.

Sarah: I know when we talked to her she talked about going back and teaching. She had always wanted to teach, but everyone told her that it wasn't a good idea and that she shouldn't do that. It was really what she wanted to do but everyone told her not to. My Dad told her "you should do that if you want to."

Strand: Exactly.

Sarah: How old where you when you started?

Strand: Probably four or five.

Sarah: Why did you start?

Strand: I started playing hockey with my dad in the basement. I had my little stick and he was the goalie and we'd play little games. Then he got me skating. I don't really remember being asked, I just remember starting and loving it and not asking why I was doing it, just doing it.

Sarah: Why did you decide to play for the Bucs?

Strand: After last years team was folding we had the option of going somewhere else. The USHL is a lot better league as far as exposure, well, as far as everything. When I found out that we had the option I started contacting other teams, the Bucs were the best team to go to as far as where to go.

Sarah: Have you always been a forward?

Strand: Yep.

Sarah: What about past teams?

Strand: I played at Bloomington Jefferson growing up. I played high school hockey at Bloomington Jefferson. I played for the Vail Avalanche and then here.

Sarah: Do you have a favorite pro or college team?

Strand: College team? I like Saint Cloud. They're probably my favorite, but that's because one of my best friends is playing for them and I've gone up there and visited him. I loved it up there and that's probably why. Saint Cloud and the Gophers.

Sarah: You gotta like the Gophers!

Strand: Well, ya, that's who I grew up watching. The Gophers. As long as I remember playing hockey I remember going to Gopher games with my dad. He always took me to those.

Sarah: I want to go to one sometime.

Strand: I'm going this Sunday (Dec. 15), Gophers against Saint Cloud. I'll know nine team mates that I played with at Jefferson between the two teams. So it'll be like a reunion. It'll be weird though, because you're used to playing with them, but its fun too.

Sarah: What about a pro team?

Strand: I like either the Ranger or the Blackhawks, either of those teams.

Sarah: What about a favorite player?

Strand: Not really. There are too many good players in the NHL to have one favorite. I like Shjon Podein for the Flyers and Claude Lemieux for the Avalanche. Those are probably the two that stick out in my mind.

Sarah: What else do you like to do besides hockey?

Strand: I like to golf a lot, I like boating. And, I think it's called scurf boarding, do you know what that is?

Sarah: No.

Strand: It's a combination of surfing, snow boarding, and water skiing all in one. You are basically water skiing behind a boat, but it's like snow boarding, you have that kind of stance. One of my friends has a boat so that's what we did a lot last summer.

Sarah: Who do you most admire in life?

Strand: Do you mean who's had the biggest influence in my life?

Sarah: Sure.

Strand: I've had a lot of people that have had an impact in my life. But I guess the person that's said the one thing that meant a lot to me, and I'll remember the rest of my life, is one of the assistant coaches in my high school, John Bianchi. After I made the Junior Varsity for Jefferson, it was the greatest thing that had happened to me. The year before I had been cut from the high school team. It was a long shot for me to even make the JV team. When I did make it, I was on top of the world. John Bianchi called me into the office that same day, I was still on top of the world, he sat me down and said to me "Congratulations, but don't enjoy this too long, never be satisfied. That's all I have to tell you, you can go now."

Sarah: Do you have a favorite TV show?

Strand: I like the Simpson's or Married With Children.

Sarah: What's the best thing about being a Buc?

Strand: I don't know there's a lot of good things about it. There's unbelievable support here, that's what's been the nicest thing here. When you are out on the ice, when you get to play, and you go skating out there, everybody's out there cheering. It's just a great feeling seeing those people coming to watch you play a game. You know that the team is respected by a lot of other teams. I've always enjoyed it when another team wants to beat you so bad because of your reputation. Then when you do beat them it's even a better feeling because they hate you even more. When you lose it's even worse because you see them celebrating and you know what a big deal it is to them. You know that'll never happen again, at least you don't want it to.

Sarah: Goals for the future?

Strand: Obviously to play Division I hockey and after college I either want to become a teacher or pilot. I'd love to teach in high school and be a high school hockey coach. I'd love that more than anything, that would be great. Other than that, we'll see what happens.

Sarah: Finish this sentence: The fans would be surprised to know that I...

Strand: They'd be surprised to know that I've been in eight car accidents. The police have only been called once, the others were just minor. But still, eight accidents.