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Royce left amid roster concerns
Published Friday, September 5, 2008
Former Albert Lea Thunder defenseman Adam Royce shocked the team’s coaching staff when he told head coach Brad Zangs and assistant coach Brian Murphy Aug. 26 that he no longer wanted to play for the team, but it was a move Royce considered weeks prior to the beginning of practice Aug. 25.
Royce, the first player tendered by the Thunder, started thinking about leaving the team after the main camp concluded and roster decisions were finalized, he said.
“I didn’t feel it was going in the right direction, for me at least, because in order for me to move up to the next level this team has to do well,” Royce said. “In order for them to do well they have to perform on the ice. I just didn’t think that was going to happen.”
Royce believed the team wasn’t going to perform well because of some of the roster decisions.
“They didn’t put all the talent on the ice that they could have,” Royce said. “That was very frustrating to me because obviously I want to be the best I can be. Without winning games you’re not going to have many scouts at the game, looking to move you up. I did not think it was going to be very beneficial to me.”
There were differences between the quality of players that former head coach Paul Willett drafted or tendered and those that Jim Perkins, director of hockey operations for the Thunder, selected, Royce said.
“I think Paul did a very good job,” Royce said. “Minnesota was the main state he recruited. Jim Perkins Chicago. There are eight or nine kids on the team from Chicago and that’s where he’s from. What a coincidence.
“I knew Paul was a good coach, and he knew a lot about hockey. I knew a lot of his players that he tendered and drafted that he wanted on the team were very capable of playing at this level. It’s another guy, more so, his picks were a little weaker.”
Perkins declined to comment.
Royce expected more of a veteran presence on the team.
“I thought they would get more veterans or guys from USHL camps that got cut, but we didn’t do much of that at all,” Royce said. “I think the scouting could have been better as well.”
Zangs felt that Royce didn’t give himself an opportunity and the team an opportunity. The Thunder begins play at the NAHL Showcase Sept.17 and is a tournament where scouts attend, Zangs said.
“If he’s worried about scouts, it’s unfortunate because he doesn’t get it,” Zangs said. “When we go up to the Showcase there are going to be a ton of scouts out there.”
According to the NAHL Web site, monthly progress reports are submitted to the NHL Central Scouting and all major college programs.
Royce’s concern with scouts appearing at games stems from his opinion of the players on the roster.
“The chemistry with some of the players we had, I just don’t think we’d been very successful as a team,” Royce said. “I don’t think it would have been beneficial.”
Zangs questioned how Royce could form such an opinion.
“How do you make a fair judgment on a team when you’re only there for one day?” Zangs said. “All I know is this is over and done with and I’m moving on.”
Zangs and Murphy believed Royce left the team to focus on his academics, but Royce said that had little influence on his decision.
“There were numerous reasons why, that was probably the littlest reason,” Royce said.
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Comments
Posted by pitbullwithlipstick (anonymous) on September 5, 2008 at 12:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
After reading Royce's comments regarding this program and his Thunder teammates, they should rejoice knowing he is not part of the AL Thunder. It is obvious he was not dedicated to playing hockey in the first place as he only survived 1 day of practice. The excuses for quitting seem to be ever changing. If he didn't want to play from the beginning he should have applied for the GM position as it sounds like he is an expert at selecting an NAHL team.
Hopefully this doesn't inhibit future Tigers from making this team. We sure would like a hometown boy who can handle the competition on the ice. Obviously Royce is not that boy.
Posted by BB27 (anonymous) on September 5, 2008 at 4:25 p.m.
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by thunder (anonymous) on September 7, 2008 at 9:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
pitbullwithlipstick-- number 1 which other tigers even have a shot of making this team? and for 2 royce has played in heavier competition. and may i ask who are u pitbull or are u to scared to say? im guessing you dont know royce personally, but you do talk a big game. also i have talked to royce and he talked to 15 out of the 18 NAHL teams.
BB27-- do you know royce at all, roy nystrom said that he was one of the best student athletes he has ever coached. Also your not going to get looks when your team loses every game? how dumb are you? and may i ask what your name is? i think we should meet up sometime soon and discuss this topic together unless you are too scared. and if you are a tigers fan how can you talk down on the one who owns all of the tigers records for a defensemen. sounds like someone is a little jealous of royce or has a little envy upon him?... also royce had 6 offers from other teams the day after he quit. also do either one of you air heads know any one that has played at this level or a higher level? I'm guessing not....
hope to speak with both of you in person very soon! :) :)
Posted by babyblugovesrcool (anonymous) on September 8, 2008 at 4:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
When has Royce played in heavier competition? this is the highest level he has been involved in. And apparently couldnt handle it. maybe the team in the championship game will pick him up so he can be on a winning team. i find it hard to believe that he has been contacted from 15 teams when they would be contacting the thunder since they have his rights. i also find it hard to believe that he has the best defensive record in town. I am pretty sure that Dusty Trail owns them. if he does hold them, they will be the last records he will get. he showed a real team player by choosing to quit after one practice, really shows alot of heart for the game. and yes there have been others from Albert Lea to go to juniors so maybe you should check your records. And there are also teams with losing records that produce players to move up to the next level because usually they are looking for good players not good teams to move up. I truly think the way Royce handle this entire situation has been very juvenile and very disappointing for the town.
Posted by LZ94 (anonymous) on September 8, 2008 at 4:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Royce has the record for points in a career by a defenceman. Trail has the record for points in a season by a defenceman. You can find those stats here:
http://sports.smumn.edu/bignine/
My $.02 is that the kid made a very poor decision in how he handled his exit. Keep the dirty laundry in house, don't air it in the paper. Not too classy.
Posted by thunder (anonymous) on September 8, 2008 at 6:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
he was contacted by those teams before he tendered with the thunder.. i take it your not very smart huh.. and whats your name again buddy? and LZ i believe you have a good rep at minnhock as well.. whats your name? and he played in the upper midwest elite league which was better competition being the fact that his D-partner got drafted in the 2nd round of the NHL this season.
Posted by thunder (anonymous) on September 9, 2008 at 2:12 p.m.
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by thunder (anonymous) on September 9, 2008 at 2:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
also playing with ppl better than you does make you better as well you idiot!!! and did you ever go to any of those games? my guess would be no since your mralbertlea and you stay in this town?
Posted by Rukidn (anonymous) on September 9, 2008 at 3:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Royce had the chance of a life time and he blew it. He was never talked to by any NAHL teams if you like I will give you there numbers and you can find out right from the horses mouth. He was way in over his head he new it and thats it. He tried to save face by throwing other players under the bus. All he did is let the other teams know his true character and they wont want him anyway. Also just becasue he quit doesnt mean that he can go play hockey for another team in the NAHL unless the team drops him. Royce was a token nothing more, he should have used it to his advantage instead of mesing it up.
Posted by thunder (anonymous) on September 9, 2008 at 8:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
ahahahahahahahahahhah!! rukidn who are you huh? ahahahahahha!!! call those teams mr. big stuff hot shi* since u think you know so much.. he was contacted by i believe it was 15 out of the 18 nahl teams before he signed his tender. since he quit he has not been contacted by any NAHL teams but alot of other different teams in different leagues. so i want you to call all of those other teams and ask them!! hahahahaahahahh!! since u think u know all call them buddy straight from the horse big guy!! hahha u crack me up!! why would he lie!! hahah!!! who are you huh? thats so funny that u say that!!
Posted by thunder (anonymous) on September 9, 2008 at 8:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
and i do want there numbers big guy!! that is so funny that you said that!! hahahahahahah who do you think you are huh!! !hahaahahahahahahahah that is hilarious!! huh tough guy!! who are you?? whats your number huh? call all those teams!! and the reason he was not contacted by any other nahl since he quit cuz he cant cuz albert lea still has his rights
Posted by jonny (anonymous) on September 9, 2008 at 8:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
ok so i read a few posts on hear and someone keeps asking to write you name so im letting everyone know who i am. this is jonny breuer. i played jr hockey and chose not to play college hockey. not D1.. D3. i was extremely upset to see that royce quit the team. i think this new team is going to be a great opportunity for the community of albert lea. i've always thought royce was a good player player but jrs was not for him. i cant stress this enough im not talking crap about him im just talking the truth. i first point is this look and trail and his first year playing jrs.. or mine for that matter. we both fought everyday to get into the lineup and our team was 2 games under 500. thats not to great. royce was not even close to the skill level of trail. out of all of my senior class he had by far the most potential. then ellingson, ellertson, etc. im really sad that he said this stuff in here, considering he never played in a game. we played in the state of hockey and kids will give up everything just to get a chance to play jrs. another thing about jrs is teams make trades. when you dont perform your gone. its not easy. and the easy way out is to quit. i also played in the elite league and i played with several players that are drafted. it did make me better playing with them but you have to do it yourself to make it. im a huge hockey fan now that i dont play and this just makes me sad that the only player to quit was the hometown kid. im sorry if i was to blunt in this post but its the truth..
jonny breuer
Posted by thunder (anonymous) on September 9, 2008 at 11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
maybe if you guys new the reason he quit you would understand. or if anyone knew what was going on "behind the scenes or under the table" but i talk to royce daily and he couldnt even tell me but i kinda got the hint. only royce and a couple others know what is going on and its not right or legal.
Posted by thunder (anonymous) on September 9, 2008 at 11:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
is that the reason you didnt play college hockey? did you have D1 options? and if trail was so much better than royce why aint he playin D1? is it just cuz he dint have any options or did he choose not to...? but i agree trail did have tons and tons of potential but i believe he didnt even play elite 1 and he had another year on royce both in Highschool and juniors...
Posted by lundepride (Laura Lunde) on September 10, 2008 at 8:53 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Does anyone remember Chad Damerow? He was my hockey hero in high school. He played in Omaha and then on to St. Mary's. Doesn't matter really, I just always found him to be such a stand-up guy, and an all around team player. Those are qualities that hockey players who advance should possess, after all, the youth players idolize them.
Posted by jonny (anonymous) on September 10, 2008 at 10:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)
that is not way im not playing college hockey.. i chose not to cause i was sick of playing. and i wasnt bashing royce at all. i just wanted to say what i thought. i think most of all i just wanted to see him play and do well. thats it. hope the best to you all and enjoy the season. both thunder and tigers. :)
ps damerow was a very good player and i remember watchin him run show on the ice. so much fun to watch.. and i think he might be the only 3 time captian for the tigers?? might be wrong there tho..
Posted by Thunder1 (anonymous) on September 10, 2008 at 11:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Jonny, don't waste your time with these ignorant fools. You don't owe anyone an explanation as to why you chose not to continue your hockey career. There's far more to life than skating pucks up and down a sheet of ice. You're one of the best hockey players ever to come out of Albert Lea, along with Chad Damerow and many others far before Royce's time.
Posted by pitbullwithlipstick (anonymous) on September 11, 2008 at 12:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Well I started this circus so hopefully I can end it. I dont know royce from adam no pun intended. I comented only on my impression of him from his quotes in the paper. I don't care about stats or achievements. I care about the reputation of hockey and especially in Albert Lea. The good thing that came out of this is that people do....remember the class acts like Jonny ,Damerow, etc. that keep this program strong. I wish Adam well but I also wish he wouldn't have said what he did.
Posted by Cbaas (anonymous) on September 11, 2008 at 6:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
thunder,
what is your name as I see you wanting to know everybody else's? Seems like you are just another one of those people trying to live a dream through someone else and have come to realize that dream will never come true. Just my opinion.
Posted by 3trees (anonymous) on September 11, 2008 at 3:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Is this site for children only, the comments sure seem to indicate that. C-Baas, I'll play golf with you any time!!!!!
Posted by almommy (anonymous) on September 11, 2008 at 4:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Doesn't anyone remember the good teams we had during the mid-90's (which C-Baas was a member of a couple). There were some great student-athletes on those teams. I remember the excitment when the Tigers went undefeated for a long stretch one year. Fun times.
As far as Royce, it's just too bad. Would have nice to see a hometown boy on the team. We're still excited to have the Thunder in town though!
Posted by lundepride (Laura Lunde) on September 11, 2008 at 4:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I am excited for the first home game on the 27th... Go Thunder!
Posted by Cbaas (anonymous) on September 11, 2008 at 7:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Well MRALBERTLEA, If you want to talk about my lack of talent 13 years ago and the poor field at the Shortstop, I'll be gald to. Just let me know and I'll be glad to meet you anytime.
I find it kind of funny that I come on here with an opinion and real name, then someone with obviously no self-esteem can sit back and rip me for something not even related to the subject?
My opinion is that Royce was a good player and should work hard and enjoy whatever is offered to him in the future. The reality is that there are a million good players in this world with the same dreams so one needs to be smart enough to differentiate themselves from the rest to move on and find a way to be better. They also need to be smart enough to realize when the next level isn't in reach and just enjoy life and the sport they love. I strongly beleive parents need to be smart enough to realize this too!
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