Anchorage Daily News
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Anchorage Daily News February 8, 2004 Sunday, FINAL EDITION SPORTS; Pg. C1 A winning attitude New Aces coach drags franchise out of dumps By MATT NEVALA of their games as Payne slowly It's not uncommon for Payne to Anchorage Daily News began to mold his no-nonsense, join the team for a few beers at always-be-prepared coaching the conclusion of a homestand. The key cog in the Alaska Aces' style. transformation from forgettable "Guys will walk over to his table hockey farce to a respectable "Davis does the homework," and talk with him," Mass said. member of a nationwide minor Mass said. "He knows exactly "With most coaches, guys would league this season isn't a mys- what is going on. If he's going to be asking 'What the hell is he tery. It's Payne-fully obvious. speak to a Rotary club, he'll doing here?' " study his speech and practice it." In little more than half a year on Respect for Payne doesn't end the job, coach Davis Payne has Payne's philosophy is simple. with the players. Damion Parme- recruited a winning team. The You work as hard as you can, the lee, the team's first-year equip- Aces, playing their first season in best you can and with honest ment manager, spent the last two the AA-level ECHL, entered the intentions. years working with Payne in weekend 10 games over the .500 South Carolina. He came to mark and in prime position to "He knows what players need to Alaska specifically to work with qualify for the playoffs. The turn- hear," said Terry Parks, manag- Payne. around comes after four con- ing partner of the Aces ownership secutive losing seasons and group. "He understands where "Davis is a people person," Par- near-financial ruin. the guys are coming from. Davis melee said. "He's just good. It is no dummy. He has a way of surprises me sometimes how Alaska is playing to full houses getting 110 percent out of guys straight up he'll be with you." again at Sullivan Arena. The team other coaches couldn't get 80 sold out three of its first 26 home percent out of." change is good games and average attendance - - 4,322 going into Saturday's Payne isn't some crotchety old- These aren't the Aces of old. The game with Las Vegas -- is up schooler. He's only three years team boasts a mix of older play- more than 1,200 fans per game older than his oldest player. ers, veterans nearing the end of from last season. their careers who may want to "He knows what it's like to be a coach and view Payne as a tutor, Payne, 33, has represented the player," said Aces forward Chris and younger players on their way Aces at Anchorage business Lipsett. up the hockey ladder. Three luncheons and in public-service players, forwards Mark Smith, announcements. He was named Lipsett and Mass say one of Mike Scott and Charles Linglet, coach of the Western Confer- Payne's strongest attributes is have earned call-ups to the AAA- ence's team at last month's the way he interacts with players. level AHL in the last month -- a ECHL All-Star Game. He doesn't skate circles around first in franchise history. The any discussion. promotion of players to next tier "Everything this team has done is a sign of a respected organiza- comes from what he's done," said "Davis is very clear and explicit in tion and an everyday part of the Louis Mass, an Aces defense- what he demands of you as a game for most ECHL teams. man who grew up in Anchorage. player. It's part of what makes "Davis is the pulse of the team." him a player's coach," Mass said. Before Parks' group bought the "It's like he is one of the guys, Aces out of bankruptcy in 2002, "DAVIS DOES THE HOMEWORK" but by being serious he keeps his the team's image had been tar- distance. Some players would nished by years of poor man- Before coming to Anchorage, take it too far and get too loose, agement. Players came and Payne coached the ECHL's Flor- but Davis controls this team by went, the team often played like ence (S.C.) Pride for 21/2 sea- his demeanor." the postgame party carried more sons. His teams won 60 percent importance than the game, and CompetitivEdge 1-888-881-EDGE www.clipresearch.com Electronic Clipping opponents couldn't wait to see never a focus, I was just kind of a gradual transition from player to the Aces and pick up easy going with the flow." coach. points. Payne advanced through the At 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, Payne Payne, the team's seventh ranks with age, right up to playing said he didn't supply flash on the coach in nine years, is responsi- midgets in high school. Sud- ice in his playing days. ble for much of the change. He denly, calls started coming in. recruited 20 guys who played American colleges were inter- "Grind in the corners. I did all the one-third of Alaska's 72-game ested in him and he was inter- necessary dog work," he said. "I schedule before a single roster ested in going to college. He at- was usually more of a comple- change. The recent AHL call-ups tended Michigan Tech Uni- mentary player. Maybe I made and a rash of injuries forced versity in Houghton, Mich. the skill players better." Payne to make just his second trade of the season prior to this "I flew home from my recruiting Yet he scored at least 15 goals in weekend's Las Vegas series. trip thinking I can't believe they every one of his pro seasons. want me to play college hockey," "He recruited this team thinking he said. "I went straight from John Marks, coach of the ECHL these are my 20 guys," Mass midget hockey to college." team in Greenville, S.C., knew said. "We've kind of grown to- Payne first as a player and made gether into a family." Payne played four years at him an assistant coach in 2000. Michigan Tech and graduated He quickly recognized Payne's And a well-behaved family at in 1992 with a degree in biology. promise as a coach. that. You don't see the Aces out He immediately began his pro- on the town nearly as much these fessional playing career, which "Davis was the kind of player you days as in the past. A flight at- would span eight seasons and wanted on your team," Marks tendant recently told Parks how take him to the ECHL, the old said. "When he came to coach much she appreciates the pro- International Hockey League, the with me, I gave him more respon- fessionalism of the players on American Hockey League and sibility than pushing pucks flights this season, saying that National Hockey League. He around in practice. I knew the hadn't always been the case. played 22 games with the Boston only way he would grow whiskers Bruins in the mid 1990s, record- was by being part of the bench, Payne doesn't want to compare ing an assist and 14 penalty min- part of the practices and part of the past with the present. utes. making the decisions. He proved he could handle anything." "If I knew enough about what During his rookie season with happened here, maybe I would Greensboro (N.C.) of the ECHL in FAMILY MAN wear a bigger badge of honor," 1992, Payne, on the advice of Payne said. "I didn't want to some fans, stopped by a popular Payne doesn't consider himself know. I don't see why it's a sur- restaurant to check out one of anymore dedicated to his job prise or why I'm getting credit for the waitresses. than any other coach. Some the change. All I did was bring in days, he needs more time than guys who want to build pro Jane, a nursing student working others to get his coaching chores hockey careers and want to act her way through school, didn't done. the right way." know hockey. But she knew the fans. "I try to do what I do, and do as the player much of it as possible in one "They were the types to always day," Payne said. "If that means Payne was born in the British call at the end of a game to tell working 17, 18, 19 hours in a day, Columbia town of Kamloops, me they were coming in," she you do." which in North American pucks said. parlance ranks right up there with When the Aces are home, Payne Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan on It wasn't long before Payne be- said he wakes up each morning the old-time hockey, fun-to-say came a regular. around 7:30 a.m. meter. He started to play the game as a kid. "I started chasing her down for a "If it's a game day, maybe ear- phone number," Payne said. "I lier," Payne said. "I remember as a 5-year old being don't know how much charm was asked to play on the team with involved. It was more of a bull He studies game film relent- the 6-year olds," Payne said. "As rush." lessly, sometimes into the wee I grew up playing on the city's hours.