Having watched and covered AHL hockey over the last 6 years, I’ve seen my fair share of players who, when you watch them, you think, “How did this guy go undrafted?” These players, guys like Jason Krog, Cory Conacher, and Matt Fraser, are all overlooked on draft day for any number of reasons--a lack of size, speed, or smarts. Sometimes, a player is a late bloomer.
Rampage
fans have been both cursed and blessed that Greg Rallo was one of these guys.
For two seasons, Rallo tortured the Rampage while playing with the rival Stars.
He had a knack for scoring back-breaking goals late in games or in overtime. A
skill Rallo brought with him to San Antonio.
After a four year collegiate career at Ferris State University, Rallo spent the next two plus seasons bouncing around the ECHL with some AHL call-ups mixed in. In 2008, he played for three AHL teams, ending the season with the Manitoba Moose. In 2009, the Moose made him an AHL regular for the first time in his career.
After
spending those two aforementioned seasons up the road in Cedar Park,
Rallo was signed to his first NHL deal by the Florida Panthers, the new
affiliate of the San Antonio Rampage. In his two seasons with the Rampage,
Rallo has scored 45 goals, adding 37 assists, and has seen action in 11 NHL
games with the Panthers.
Rallo
returns for his third season in the silver and black. With the departure of
team Captain Nolan Yonkman, Rallo figures to be the face of the franchise and a
front-runner to wear the “C”. His professionalism and hard work are
indisputable and his quiet leadership could be just what the team needs.
Greg took
some time away from his training in Michigan
to speak with me via phone. Here are some highlights:
On playing half of his pro career in Texas:
“Me and my family, we really enjoy Texas. Playing in Austin gave me a feel of the community. In San Antonio, my wife, she works full time, so she’s got a really good job and everything there just seems to fit our lifestyle right now.
I’ve gotten to the age where I’m not really sure if I wanted to keep moving around and I’ve seemed to find a good home in San Antonio.
On the hockey side of it, I don’t know if I’d have better opportunities to get to the NHL than what I got right here. The organization seems to believe in me and has told me it’s up to me to earn my opportunity and if I earn it, they’ll give it to me. And as I’ve seen, they’ve held true to their word.”
On playing in San Antonio and Austin, two “non-traditional”
hockey cities:
“It’s been amazing. I think both cities do a tremendous job supporting their teams. We see a lot of cities out on the road that we go to and the north might be a little bit more ‘traditional hockey’, but we have a better fan base and we have more people in the stands.
I mean, last year was an up and down year for the team and we had a lot of fans in the stands every night and that really does help.
It’s fun playing in front of energy buildings. You see a lot in San Antonio, where there might only be five or six thousand, but its an energetic fan base and that’s fun to play in front of.”
On last season:
“From management all the way down, the majority of us hate losing. It was not fun towards the end there and that’s not something that we wanted. It was a little disheartening the way we finished and that was the first time that I haven’t been a part of the playoffs since I was a pro, I‘m pretty sure. So that was pretty tough.
But on the other end of it, getting to play ten games in the NHL was, for me, a dream come true. I finally got a solid opportunity and in most of my games I played good minutes and, hopefully, made a lasting impression.”
On the Rampage offseason so far:
“It’s exciting. I think, with what they have, they’ve done a tremendous job of quality guys in that I think are going to help.
Matsumoto is one guy that I do know and, obviously, he’s a top line forward in the AHL. He’s going to help the power play; he’s going to help all aspects of the offense, for sure. He’s capable of getting 50-70 points, I think.
On the young guys:Gomes is a guy that earned every single thing he got last year by just hard work. He’s a guy that wasn’t supposed to be in the beginning, but he earned a spot in camp. There’d be nights where he played 4 or 5 minutes a night but he’d never complain and he continued to work hard and he earned himself another job and I have great respect for guys who do that.”
“Florida could be scary. They’ve got a lot of young guys that are extremely talented that, once they find their feet in the NHL and are paired with some of the older guys; it’s going to be a really good organization to watch.
Drew Shore and (Nick) Bjugstad have gotten their feet wet in the NHL and had some success. I played a lot with Howden when I was in Florida and he fit right in. Obviously, everyone knows how tremendous his speed is and once he finds his scoring touch, he’s going to be an NHL’er full time.
If those guys don’t make it out of camp and come back to San Antonio, I think those guys have the right mindset. They won’t be disheartened. They’ll continue to work hard because they know how close they are to the NHL.”
On being the face of the franchise:
“I love it. It’s an honor to be here and I really enjoy playing for the Rampage. With guys like Caruso and Mottau, we’ve got a solid leadership group that can move us forward and show us the right way.”
On personal and team goals:
“I expect right out of training camp for us to improve on last season and make the playoffs. That’s always the goal at the start of the year and that’s got to be how you measure success. It’s a must at our level. I mean, what’s the fun in playing 70+ games if, at the end of it, you have nothing to show for it.
Personally, my goal is to help us get there and, hopefully, earn a chance to get back to Florida because that’s my ultimate goal.”
Stick tap to Greg for taking the time to talk to me. I hope to have one or two more chats with members of the Rampage before training camp starts in late September. Then, its full speed ahead with the season.
No comments:
Post a Comment