Tuesdays with Peter-In Conversation with Peter Hirsch

"There's talk on the street; it sounds so familiar
Great expectations, everybody's watching you"
The Eagles: "New Kid In Town"

Tuesday evening was a big night in Coventry, as Danish international Peter Hirsch, arguably one of the biggest new signings of this season's EIHL, met the fans at a packed Crosby's Sports Bar, the new Blaze venture at the Skydome. The Breakaway was of course there in the crowd, and was lucky enough to be given some quality time in conversation with the Blaze's new starting goalie, on topics ranging from what attracted him to Coventry to what it feels like to face Sidney Crosby. Here's what transpired-italics are quotes, non-italics are my additions:

First of all, I asked Peter what had attracted him to Coventry. It appears that an ex-Blaze favourite was key in influencing his decision:

"I was looking to come over here at Christmas (Hirsch was rumoured to be coming in as a replacement for JF Perras) but my club stopped that. But I'd spoken a lot to Neal Martin (ex-Coventry and Hirsch's team-mate at Aalborg last season) about coming to the EIHL and he'd told me about the organisation, Paul Thompson and the fans, and said nothing but good things about them...the more he spoke to me about it, the more I thought "let's do this". And so here I am"

I then asked the quietly-spoken Hirsch if he was surprised by his welcome, and knew about the excitement his signing had caused..."I didn't know what to expect-I'm surprised by how many people are here, but in a good way...the fans really seem to care about their club and it's nice to see so many people come to welcome me."

The welcome may have surprised him, but it didn't show-during our conversation there was a constant stream of fans coming up to him to wish him well, say hello or just have a few words-he took the time to speak to all of them equally and left every fan with a smile on their face at the end of the conversation, however brief.

The next question covered his hopes for the season, and also asked if the high expectations and excitement of Blaze fans left him feeling under any pressure. His answer was unequivocal: "I hope to have as good a season as I can in goal and help the team in any way I can-I want to win, just like the fans do."

As for his outlook on bad games? It appears that the man himself is far more critical of himself then even the most rabid fan:

"Oh, I hate them. If I have a bad game then I spend a long time thinking about it-it's a long night in my house if we lose! But I try my best to avoid that."

Goalies are being known for being the most superstitious among hockey-players, and with many, their number is of crucial importance. Hirsch will wear eighty-four on his back this season after wearing 31 throughout his career, so what's the story behind the number change-to such a "non-goalie" number too?

"There isn't any reason for picking 84-I'd worn 31 since I was about 15, but last season I had quite a bad year, and so when they asked me what number I wanted this season, I just picked the first one that came into my head-it was like I was having a new start in a new country, so the number-change came out of that, and 84 just seemed nice and far away from 31. Plus, I should be the only player in the league wearing 84, I think!"

There you go...that's simple enough. No conspiracy theories here...

Given that Hirsch has been on the other side against Blaze before, and there are several players remaining from that Continental Cup team in 2007/08, I asked him what his impressions were of British hockey thus far:

"In Denmark, we know nothing about British hockey-but the Blaze were much better than we expected-they were fast, good shots, and we had to play very hard to beat them."

Encouragingly for Blaze fans, Hirsch is not a goalie who likes an easy life...

"One thing I notice from looking at the game reports-most games you face 30, 40 shots. I'm not a guy who likes to spend 17 minutes waiting for his first shot-I like to always be in the action, making saves."

This led to another question-are you the kind of goalie who likes to play the puck or will you freeze it whenever you can?

"I do whatever the defence tells me-if they say put it in the corner, I put it in the corner, if they say freeze it, I freeze it...I just do whatever has to be done to stop the other team scoring."

That's not to say he's a passive goalie who lets his defence dictate his play, though..."If I think they're not doing stuff that'll help me, then I'll let them know very quickly."

The topic then moved on to British fans...Hirsch is complimentary about his new home rink:

"It (the Skydome) is a nice place-it's not like Aalborg, but that was a brand new arena so nowhere is-it's going to be a fun place to play hockey"

One of the Skydome's foibles, due to the seating arrangements, is that it's the only rink where the home goalie spends two periods in front of the away fans. Given that he's played in some pretty passionate atmospheres, and the EIHL rinks often get noisy with fans baiting the opposition goalies, how does he deal with the crowd?

"The worst thing is when you hear your own fans shouting bad stuff at you-that gets into your head sometimes. Away fans, though...I love it. The more shouting, the better-I just play harder."

He pauses, and then smiles wickedly, before adding...

...and if I make a great save, I'll let them know about it."

Hirsch's pedigree is unquestionable-in his international career he's played against some of the top players and teams in the world, beating the US and drawing with Canada-what's it like facing superstars like Sidney Crosby?

"There are three parts to it-before the game, during the game and after the game. Before the game you're like "wow, Dany Heatley..." or "wow, Sidney Crosby" and it's always in your head. During the game, you don't think about it-you're just trying to stop the puck, or (and here we see the man's sense of humour as he makes a rueful stick-sweeping motion) pull it out of your net"

But surely you notice these superstars during the game?

"You can't. One time, when Denmark played Canada, Sidney Crosby was playing for them, and he scored a hat-trick past me. After the game I was sat in the locker room and said "That Crosby guy didn't do much". My team-mates looked at me amazed and said "Peter, he scored a hat-trick!" I didn't even know..."

What about beating the US and drawing with Canada-surely that must have been a great night:

"The US game was good, but that game against Canada I was angry because I thought I had a bad game and we should have won (at this point, my eyebrows are raised very high indeed in surprise) ...I was sat in the changing room being angry with myself even though everyone else was happy..."

With standards that are that high, Hirsch will doubtless become a favourite with the demanding Skydome faithful...

For my last question, I asked the Dane what his thoughts were about playing in the coming season, and for his first impressions of the team-mates he'll be playing with. His response was instant...

"I can't wait. I'm really excited-the team looks really good-the guys I've met so far are really friendly, the fans seem like a great crowd. I can't wait to skate out on the ice in front of them in September...".

Hirsch may be excited, but you can almost guarantee the people he'll be playing front of come September are even more so...with a pedigree from the top Scandinavian leagues and the highest level of international competition, there's no denying the friendly Dane will be one of, if not the best goalie in the EIHL next season. I came away from my chat with him convinced that the league has found a new star goalie to rank with the likes of Christian Bronsard, Jody Lehman and Andrew Verner-and the man himself will quickly become a huge Blaze fan favourite...as well as a focus of envy for those of other teams...

That's your interview, with many thanks to Peter and the Blaze for their time in both setting it up and answering the questions...we'll be back in a few days for another look at off-season happenings in the EIHL, as well as the latest updates on the Bracknell Bees' fight for survival...

Keep keeping your eye on the puck...