Steve: Wade, this is going to be your first interview with the Bucs. I know you played a couple games for the Bucs at the end of last year. Let’s get a little background information on you. Where were you born, where did you grow up?

Wade: I am from Thief River Falls, Minnesota. It is about 45 minutes from Grand Forks and about 45 minutes from the Canadian border, so it’s a good five to six hours from the Minneapolis area.

Steve: And you grew up there and lived there all your life?

Wade: No. Actually, I’ve lived in Bemidji and I’ve also lived in Detroit Lakes. I think I lived in Detroit Lakes until I was five. Then I moved to Thief, and then I moved to Bemidji, and then I moved back to Thief River Falls. I have been a couple different places.

Steve: Tell me about your family, brother, and sisters.

Wade: I have a brother that is 22, and I have a sister that is 23. My sister ran track for NDSU track team. My brother played baseball at Bemidji State. Now my brother is working at Cabella’s, and my sister works at a bank. Then I have my mom and dad, Glen and Patty. My mom is a director of a mental health division, and my dad is in the administration field.

Steve: Has your family been able to see you play as a Buc yet?

Wade: No, not this year they haven’t seen me.

Steve: Last year did they?

Wade: Yep, they saw me a couple times so it was kind of nice. They are going to be coming this weekend though.

Steve: I guess Omaha would be a good time to come.

Wade: Yep!

Steve: Why and when did you start playing hockey?

Wade: I was real little. I don’t remember. I think I started when I was small and it was just kind of in the family. My dad played hockey at Bemidji State. I forgot to mention that. So I was young and our family was just a hockey family, so it just kind of grew on me. I liked it and I wanted to skate, so I kept going on. I don’t remember what age it was but I started out young.

Steve: What are some of the teams you’ve played for?

Wade: Do you mean All Star teams?

Steve: Just anything growing up.

Wade: You’ve got the pee wee A’s, the bantam A’s, you’ve got the high school team. Then I played for the University of Alaska-Anchorage, a Division I team for half a year. Then obviously for Des Moines. That is about it.

Steve: I didn’t get a chance to interview you last year. How did you end up coming to the Bucs for that short period of time at the end of the year?

Wade: There was that new rule where you could get a high school player for at the end of the year. He saw me over the summer play, and he wanted me to come here at the end of the year. His initial thing was just to have me play for five games so I would get a veteran status, so the next year I wouldn’t have to sign a card so I could come in the next year and just be like a veteran on the team almost. But I ended up coming here and I did real well, so he wanted me to stay for the playoffs and play with them all the way through the rest of the year.

Steve: Were you playing for your high school team at that time?

Wade: Yeah, I played football. I like football a lot. And then I played hockey. Immediately we lost out, and the next day I went to play against Fargo. So it was a little change going from a high school game to a junior game when we played Fargo. It was fun though; it was a good time.

Steve: Didn’t you score in your first game?

Wade: No, it was maybe one or two down the road. I got a couple goals against Rochester. I had a good time. It was a great time last year. It was an unbelievable experience.

Steve: So Owens saw you. Did you know about the Bucs before then?

Wade: No, actually I did not know. I knew about Lincoln and I knew about Omaha and I know of all those teams. I didn’t really know about Des Moines. He called and he asked if I wanted to come down. He called it like six future players and come down and skate in the tryout. I said yeah, sure. I didn’t think anything of it. Yeah, I will come down. I skated and he wanted me to sign the high school tender. I’m like all right, you know. I thought about it and I really didn’t know much about Des Moines. I didn’t know how good their tradition was. I didn’t know anything like that. Until I started looking into it more, and I eventually started to come. I came down here and found out how good they were, and it was a great situation. It’s awesome, I love it here! It’s a great place to play!

Steve: So at the end of last year, I remember you weren’t really sure whether you were going to go off to college right away or come back. What happened there? You obviously decided to go.

Wade: I got offered a scholarship from Alaska, and I had a couple of teams looking at me and wanting me to come back and stuff like that. I went up there for a visit and I thought it was a good situation up there. I decided to go up there and I guess it didn’t fit well for me up there. I decided to come back and try it again.

Steve: There were a couple other ex-Bucs on the team up there, weren’t there?

Wade: Yeah, Matt Shasby, Klage Kaebel and Reggie Simon.

Steve: Did you get to know those guys?

Wade: Yep, I know those guys real well.

Steve: So you played how many games for Alaska? You scored some goals.

Wade: Yeah, a couple goals. I played 11 games in the first half of the year. I was hurt for three of them and I got benched for the other two. I played the regular shift and all that. I played a majority of the games.

Steve: Do you think you’re going to be playing the rest of the year then for the Bucs?

Wade: Yeah, I’ll be playing here this year and probably next year for sure. Because I’m young enough so I can come back next year and play.

Steve: What’s one of the best things about being a Buc?

Wade: It’s great! Everybody looks at you like you’re a, you know, you’re kind of a, I don’t know how to explain it. You’re just...

Steve: Kind of a star?

Wade: Yeah, they look at you real like WOW looking, you know. It’s kind of the team and the town. I don’t know much about the other teams, but it seems like everybody looks at you like WOW and this and that. I have compared it to college hockey and I can tell you this that Des Moines has more people looking at you like WOW, you know, you’re a player and you play for Des Moines. Compared to Alaska, you know, not really too many people, you know, they looked at you like that but not really like how they look at you like here, in an astonished way. It’s great. It’s an awesome atmosphere here. Any high school player, if they want to come, should come here if they want to play in a great atmosphere.

Steve: Now up in Alaska do they get quite a few people at the games?

Wade: Yeah, I don’t recall how many. I think it is 6,000 or 7,000 they fit and we would get over 4,000 a game so a fairly good crowd.

Steve: You said you played football before and hockey. Any other sports?

Wade: Yeah, I played golf and baseball.

Steve: Okay, so you do a lot of sports.

Wade: Yeah.

Steve: What do you like about hockey?

Wade: It has been my sport, you know. It has been the one I’ve always wanted to go on and play. I guess it is called, I don’t know, I can’t even think of the word. The sport that I love the most. You know, I love it. I live for it and I want to succeed in it and I want to, you know, be the best I can and wherever that brings me, it brings me. It’s a challenge and it’s just a great sport.

Steve: In all those years of playing hockey or even other sports, what is one of your greatest athletic moments?

Wade: I guess I have a couple. When I was in pee wee A, I went to state in pee wee A’s and bantam. I went to state in bantam A’s too. Well, I have got a bunch. It is not, I don’t really have one great moment, you know, like when we won last year when I played with Des Moines at the of the year. That was great and an unbelievable learning experience. You know, my high school years when we were in the semis and almost went to state and lost in the section final of the state my senior year. I have a couple. I don’t really have one great moment, you know, I am still waiting for it but it will come.

Steve: In all those years have you had anything embarrassing happen to you on the ice?

Wade: Yeah, it’s kind of hard to explain. I think I was bantam A’s or pee wee A’s, one of the two, and we were in St. Cloud and there was a tournament in St. Cloud and I was at the St. Cloud State arena. I came down the ice to shoot and the puck like bounced on me and it was kind of one of those shots where you’re kind of leaning back, and I was like trying to get rid of it. When I shot, I had so much underneath it that my whole body took me and I did a 360 and fell. Everybody was just roaring in the stands and my coaches and all the players were giving me crap about it. So I guess that was kind of an embarrassing moment for me.

Steve: Do you have a nickname?

Wade: Most people call me Chides or Wado or one of those two.

Steve: How about any hobbies outside of hockey?

Wade: Hunting and golf. I love to golf and I love to hunt. My family is kind of a big hunting family so it is neat, you know, duck hunting and all that stuff.

Steve: If you won a million dollars, you would . . .

Wade: I would invest most of it and then go buy something I really want to buy, you know. Something that would be neat and some toys, but I would invest most of it.

Steve: I can’t imagine living without . . .

Wade: I don’t know. I would say, I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about that question. Let’s see here. The phone, I guess. I can’t imagine living without a phone.

Steve: The fans probably don’t know that . . .

Wade: I try to play the guitar. I have a luxury guitar back home. It has been hard for me because I got it during last Christmas, and I tried to play it over the summer. I learned a little bit, and then once I left for Alaska it was tough for me to learn it cause I couldn’t bring it along. So it has been more or less setting in my closet for awhile. Whenever I am home, I try to plug it in and try to play it.

Steve: Anything else you want to tell the fans on your interview?

Wade: I would just like to say hi to all my friends back home. I don’t know. What else would I like to say? Say hi to Coach Bergland for me.

Steve: Thanks, Wade.

1/13/00