The Albert Lea Thunder started practice Monday at the City Arena and afterward the coach had the players run around Fountain Lake — twice.

It seems a cruel way to start practice for the North American Hockey League franchise in its first year, but the run symbolized the dual nature of Thunder head coach Brad Zangs. The run wasn’t really as tough as it might sound. The players were expected to run the entire time, but the time in which they had to complete the exercise was rather generous.

“I am pretty laid-back,” Zangs said. “Also on the same token high-strung. I demand a lot, I expect 100 percent out of my players at practice and out of myself.”

Zangs typically remains reserved and calm, but once the puck drops on the ice everything changes. His competitive streak takes over and he has been known to get rather animated when things don’t go well on the ice. He has said that after games — especially losses — that he will need some time to regain his composure before talking about the game. When the play on the ice isn’t up to his standards, Zangs is not one to sit idle.

“If I throw a tantrum you know I’m throwing a fit because I’m right,” Zangs said.

But Zangs has learned how to avoid those situations where his ire is drawn.

“I’ve learned from the past that if you have your team prepared for the week, you pretty much don’t have to be a yeller or screamer behind the bench,” he said. “I’ll coach during the game, but I’m not going to throw a tantrum just to impress people.”

Age: 42

Address:Farmington

Livelihood:Albert Lea Thunder head coach

Family: a wife and three children

Interesting fact: He wears a national championship ring from Iowa State, where he helped coach the school’s hockey club in 1992.

Clearly, there are two sides to Zangs’ personality. On the one hand he is cordial and amicable, and then there’s the serious hockey side. The difficult part is balancing both sides, especially with a group of 25 young men where respect can be easily lost.

“It’s difficult to have that fine line with the players,” assistant coach Brian Murphy said. “You can’t be, in my opinion, such a disciplinarian and not be a friend to them because eventually they’re not going to respect you and they’re not going to work hard for you. You still have to be there for them on the ice and off the ice. You have to set the precedent high and say ‘Here’s how it’s going to be and if you don’t like it, see you later,’ and eventually they’ll respect you more than if you’re buddy-buddy with them one time and the next time you yell at them.”

Zangs’ communication with players is the key and his approach allows him to have a good rapport with players.

“He’s not wishy-washy at all,” assistant coach Brian Murphy said. “He’ll look players right in the eye and be honest with them. I think that at this level that’s important — not to lead kids on with the wrong impression.”

As the head coach of a junior hockey team designed to help players reach college hockey, Zangs is required to be demanding of his players. But while a demanding coach might make himself unapproachable, Zangs makes himself available for his players.

“My door is always open,” Zangs said.

Zangs finds himself in a precarious position with the players because he did not recruit the majority of the players on the Thunder roster. He has had just a short amount of time to get to know each player on the team, but after having coached at the junior level in other places, Zangs believes he has become very good at reading players. It’s an important skill to have with junior hockey players because many things can weigh on a player’s mind at a given time.

“I think such a big thing with junior hockey and anything in sports is reading the player,” Murphy said. “Between the two of us I don’t think there’s a better pair in the league. I think we’ll do a great job of reading these kids.”

Zangs has been somewhat of a coaching vagabond, spending time at Iowa State University, Montana, Wisconsin and Ohio before coming to Albert Lea. Zangs turned down a job with the Lake Erie Vikings, a minor league hockey team, to stay closer to his family in Farmington.