Max Giese: Interview with San Jose Sharks scout Pat Funk

Sharkspage's Max Giese caught up with San Jose Sharks veteran scout Pat Funk at the 2008 USHL Allstar Game in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Pat Funk and Indiana's Scott McConnell coached the East Division (Team RBK) to a 6-5 shootout win over the West Division (Team CCM).

Working with the San Jose organization since its inception in 1991-92, Funk is responsible for scouting Western Canada, U.S. juniors, U.S. colleges and high schools for the Sharks. He has also worked with the New York Rangers and Minnesota North Star organizations, and has coached high school and college hockey in Minnesota for 20+ years.

[Q] What are your thoughts on being named head coach of the USHL Eastern All-Star Team?

[PF] I thought it was great. It's nice to get a chance to get on the ice and be around those kids that I've been scouting all year. Getting to see them from a different perspective and getting to see them in the locker room is great.

[Q] How will the experience of being a head coach behind the bench differ from your usual role scouting players from the press box or the stands, and is there any advantage to this point of view?

[PF] It's definitely different and it has its advantages. To see the game from a different view and how the kids interact with different kids. That's what we kind of try to do when scouting, is see how they are with their peers as we kind of watch off the ice as well as on the ice.

[Q] Do you get to follow the Sharks much?

[PF] I get to see almost every game and that's the good thing about Minnesota is that I can go see a game at night then come home and the Sharks on here at 9:30 pm.

[Q] Can you describe your high school and college coaching background in Minnesota?

[PF] I coached at high school and taught physical education and health in the Saint Paul Minnesota school system. I coached high school football, football, baseball and then in 1980 I began to scout part time while still coaching. Then I went to St. Thomas Academy to be an assistant coach for four years, until I went full time in 1993 with the Sharks.

[Q] How has your 21 years of teaching experience in Minnesota public schools influenced the way you would scout a young hockey player?

[PF] Yes it helps you get a certain read on people and deal with the individual. Each person is an individual, and when you're trying to project these kids three to four years from now, my experience of seeing kids develop in school from seventh to tenth grade helps you realize that each individual can mature at a different rate. You can have twenty different kids and see twenty different personalities so it has definitely helped.

[Q] What was the most difficult aspect of the transition from being a high school and college hockey coach to scouting?

[PF] When I was still coaching and scouting it was kind of hard because I had to do a practice then quick go to a game. At that time I was mostly just coaching kids from Minnesota. Then going full time, the thing I missed was working with the kids but I did get to run a summer camp and now I work with our prospects every summer at the development camp.

[Q] What advice would you give to an aspiring scout on how to evaluate talent, and what are the traits needed to become a fulltime scout for an NHL team?

[PF] Skating is so important but we also look at hockey sense and character. We really look to see how he interacts with the players around them. The way we judge size is does he play above or below his size, if he plays below his size than size becomes a negative even if he's 6'3. A lot of it is the character and if they make a difference in the game, we look at all of that.

For example Joe Pavelski. Everyone knocked him because of his size and his skating but he's so smart that he is every place that he is supposed to be on the rink. I always use the analogy of stealing a base in Baseball. It's not always the fastest guy, it's the one that anticipates and the one that can read the pitcher. It's just like that in hockey, you may not be the fastest guy but if you're one step ahead of everyone else mentally then skating doesn't matter so much. Pavelski has also won at every level, he won the State Tournament in high school, the High School showcase with Team Wisconsin, the Clarkson cup with Waterloo in the USHL, and then the national championship for the Wisconsin Badgers. Now we're hoping he can do that for us and get that Stanley Cup. Same with Matt Carle, similar guy that worked on his game and made a difference for his team.

[Q] Speaking of character, is that why most of your prospects end up wearing a letter in their amateur careers before moving onto the pro's?

[PF] Definitely, I believe you can't teach or coach someone to be a leader.

[Q] Your sons seem to be following in your footsteps as coaches, do you think either of them have a future scouting young hockey players as well?

[PF] My daughter also coaches, she played for North Dakota. Both sons teach at St. Thomas Academy where they both went to high school. My son Matt just likes to coach and be around the kids, he graduated from Notre Dame and is now a buyer for Target. My son John, that's what he really wants to do. He would like to be in coaching and stay in hockey. After he was done playing in Wisconsin for the Badgers he immediately began to coach in Madison.

[Q] Could you describe which leagues and levels of hockey you focus on evaluating for the Sharks?

[PF] I'm responsible for the WCHA, USHL, Minnesota and Wisconsin areas High School, and then everything out West, along with Brian Gross in the WHL, and tier-2 hockey out there.

[Q] As a scout, how involved are you with a prospects development?

[PF] We have them all out in San Jose each summer for the development camp. All we can have them for is seven days and it has to be seven days straight.

[Q] When you attend a game in which a Sharks prospect is playing, do you check up on them and give them advice?

[PF] Yeah and we have all of their email addresses. In fact, our goalie that plays in Duluth, Alex Stalock, I just emailed him yesterday and talked to him about the different games that I've seen of him live or on tape recently. Also, when Petrecki was in Minnesota I saw him play in four games and then I went down to talk him. We try to keep in contact with all of them.

[Q] How do the Sharks disperse their scouts at the major events such as the CHL Top Prospects game or at the International Events?

[PF] We had everybody attend the CHL Top Prospects game including Paul Fink our video guy, Doug Wilson and Joe Will from the front office, and all of our scouts. International events are different, we mostly just have Tim Burke over seas where he does most of Europe and Karel Masopoust in the Czech Republic.

[Q] When you selected Nick Petrecki in the first round, Tim Burke was quoted as saying that every scout in your organization was able to see Petrecki. How does that work out?

[PF] Well, Tim Burke, Rob Grillo, and my self really saw him. Gillies Cote does Quebec and into the Eastern Colleges as well as Eastern Europe. Brian Gross does the Western leagues with me. But what happens is that when I see a game at night, the report from the game can be seen by all of our scouts on their computers the next morning. It's a great system, If I read a report from another scout and I think to myself that I didn't see that, then I know I better go see this player again and take another look.

[Q] At what age do you begin to scout players?

[PF] Preferably when they're 15-16 beginning to play high school or midget and at the Select Festivals. Ideally we would like to see how they have progressed through the previous years. When you're really projecting three to four years out you want to see if they're still getting better or if they have plateud.

[Q] What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Nick Petrecki and how he is developing?

[PF] He's a real solid defenseman, he's strong and has a really good shot. He's very physical and is progressing really well! I mean this is a kid that last year in Omaha just kept getting better and better so to see him in this summer where he was and then to see how far he has come since then is special. He's just one of those kids that wants it so bad and he's progressing really well.

[Q] Could you expand on his play this year?

[PF] He's just a monster and he's doing the same thing in College that he did last year in the USHL. But now he's doing it where he is under control and not everything ends up in a train wreck like it was last year where he was just trying to kill everybody.

[Q] Could you touch on his decision making with the puck?

[PF] His decision making with the puck is really good. He's now looking over his shoulder to make sure he knows what is coming at him and to manufacture more time for himself. This has progressed really well.

[Q] How about the goaltender in Duluth, Alex Stalock?

[PF] He's a real good athlete. Stalock kind of struggled last year. It was his first real test with adversity in his life. I mean this is a kid that dominated high school where he actually went to school with my daughter, and then the USHL where he carried Cedar Rapids to a championship in his first year. But he came back this year in unbelievable shape and really worked hard at his game. He now has his swagger back, he's cocky but in the right way. He has that mentality where if you beat me you're not going to beat me again. We also have a really good goalie in Vancouver in Tyson Sexsmith, he's a really solid goalie.

[Q] In an article from the Prince George Citizen it talked about some character issues with Ty Wishart. Are there any concerns there with Wishart?

[PF] No! We have no concerns. He's a kid and what people don't realize is kids are kids and they do make mistakes at times. We've talked to him and he's got it back where he's focused and everything else is there.

[Q] What are your thoughts on Ty Wishart and his development?

[PF] He's got a really good shot and he's running the power play. What really helped him is he got a lot of ice time in Prince George where he was the go-to-guy and just kept getting better and better. He was playing 35-40 minutes a game, where you kind of develop some bad habits to but you also get to handle the puck more. Now him and another prospect of ours Frazer McLaren are in Moosejaw together and playing strong.

[Update] Alex Stalock strikes again and earns ECHA Player of the Week honors - University of Minnesota Duluth Athletics.

For the second time in as many weeks, Alex Stalock's puck-rejecting prowess has landed him Western Collegiate Hockey Association Defensive Player of the Week recognition. The University of Minnesota Duluth standout sophomore clinched the honor by turning aside 49 of 50 shots in backstopping the Bulldogs to a pair of wins last weekend at then-No. 15 UMass-Lowell.

Stalock, a native of South St. Paul, Minn., now joins Denver senior netminder Peter Mannino as the only three-time recipients of the league's Defensive Player of the Week Award in 2007-08.

Link fixed.

[Update2] Wishart's sensational shootout goal lifts Moose Jaw past Saskatoon 3-2 - Canadian Press.

Ty Wishart scored a spectacular shootout goal to propel the Moose Jaw Warriors past a hard-working Saskatoon Blades team 3-2 in WHL action Saturday. Wishart's toe-drag manoeuvre, in which he pulled the goaltender to one side and slid the puck in with the tip of his stick using his long reach, wowed the Moose Jaw crowd.

[Update3] Interview with 2007 first round draft pick, Boston College defenseman Nick Petrecki - Max Giese for Sharkspage (12/20/2007).

Hockey Notes - January 29th

- Boston Bruins leading scorer Marc Savard scored the game winning goal with 21 seconds left to give the Eastern Conference Allstars an 8-7 win over the Western Conference in front of 18,644 fans Sunday in Atlanta.

Rick Nash took advantage of an in-game Versus interview with West goaltender Rick DiPietro to score the first of his three goals on the evening. Nash snapped a quick wrist shot to beat DiPietro in the first period. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Columbus Blue Jackets left wing took a home run pass and split defenseman Brian Campbell and Sergei Gonchar for his second goal, finishing with a world class deke on Florida Panthers goaltender Tomas Vokoun. Nash followed an early third period Ryan Getzlaf goal for the Western Conference with a third goal of his own. Rick Nash accelerated past 2 defenseman in the neutral zone, turned his back to Boston goaltender Tim Thomas while on the breakaway, and flipped a backhand over Thomas's glove hand.

Evgeni Nabokov was the only allstar goaltender to stop all the shots he faced, shutting down the Eastern Conference 8 times on 8 attempts in the second period. Hometown Atlanta Thrashers left wing Ilya Kovalchuk (37G, 26A) stood in front of the crease for several seconds waiting for a setup pass from behind the net. Kovalchuk rifled a one-timer up high, only to have Nabokov reflexively snatch the puck out of the sky with his glove hand. Kovalchuk fell backwards to the ice in amazement. Eric Staal broke Kovalchuk up ice with a long pass with seconds ticking down in the second period. Again with Kovalchuk breaking in on Nabokov, the Sharks netminder stacked his pads, threw out his stick for a poke check, and covered the net up high with his glove all in one quick motion. Kovalchuk slammed his stick to the ice after being denied his allstar moment for the second time on home ice.

Kovalchuk expanded on Nabokov's performance after the game:

"Nabby was one of those guys who can get the MVP tonight, too," Kovalchuk said. "He's played an unbelievable 20-minute shutout. And he's played 51 or 52 games already during the season, so he's a great, great goaltender."

Former Thrasher Marc Savard earned the game winning goal, Eric Staal earned the Allstar Game MVP award, and Rick Nash/Evgeni Nabokov should deserve MVP honorable mention for their performace. Nash's hat trick was the 15th in NHL Allstar Game history. Nabokov's 2nd period shutout was the first goaltender shutout since Nikolai Khabibulin playing for the Worldstars team in 2002. The West Allstar team outshot the East 51-33. Rick DiPietro provided a running play-by-play for the last 20 seconds of the first period.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was the second intermission guest on the Versus broadcast. Bettman said the league will build on the Ducks-Kings series to begin the 2007-08 NHL season in London with NHL Premiere. The New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning are scheduled to begin next season in Stockholm Sweden. The Ottawa Senators and Pittsburgh Penguins are scheduled to begin next season in Prague, Czech Republic. Bettman also mentioned there was no interest in NHL involvement in a Hockey Superleague, instead mentioning that supporting existing European teams would be preferrable.

- The 2008 NHL Allstar Skills Competition introduced a new look on Saturday. The NHL introduced a new breakaway challenge trick shot competition to serve as the NHL's version of the slam dunk contest, moved the fastest skater competition to a straightaway wind sprint, and created a new hockey obstacle relay course with multiple events.

The Eastern Conference took home the hardest shot team title with a 100.1 mph average. Hulking 6-foot-9, 255-pound Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara took home the individual hardest shot title with a 103.1 mph blast on his third attempt. Al "the Planet" Iafrate still holds the allstime record hitting 105.2 mph in the 1993 skills contest. Thomas Kaberele hit 4-of-4 targets in the initial round of the accuracy shooting competition. Kaberle and the West's Jason Arnott each hit 3-of-4 targets in the finale, but Kaberle emerged with the win in a 1-target shootoff.

Shawn Horcoff of the Edmonton Oilers took home the fastest skater title. With the help of an outstretched stick to win the intial heat, Horcoff downed Buffalo Sabres defenseman Brian Campbell with a 4.395 second mark in the finals. The Eastern Conference took home the relay course win 8-5, the East defeated the West 60-52 in the breakaway challenge, the Western Conference won the elimination shootout 4-3 with Dion Phaneuf's final round goal against Tim Thomas, and the West beat the East 5-4 in the Youngstars Game.

East emerges with hard-fought SuperSkills win - NHL.com.

Most people came to see the Breakaway Challenge, an event billed as the NHL's version of the NBA Slam Dunk Contest. Players were judged more on originality than whether their shots went in. The star of that show was the Capitals Alexander Ovechkin, who won the event with just the kind of originality fans were hoping to see. The Russian star dazzled them by first dribbling the puck on his stick and trying to bat it in out of the air, but whiffed.

Rather than quit, Ovechkin tri