Seattle Kraken General Manager Ron Francis recognizes value of Coachella Valley Firebirds to building winning organization
Ron Francis is one of the greatest hockey players of all time.
Admitted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007 and a Stanley Cup champion in 1991 and 1992, the 58-year-old Canadian is now hoping for similar success off the ice.
Sports Director Blake Arthur had the privilege of talking with Francis one-on-one at the arena naming announcement. Here's their full conversation.
BLAKE ARTHUR: How is it different for you from playing compared to what you're doing now off the ice as far as general management and executive work?
RON FRANCIS: It's a little easier to get your frustration out when you're on the ice because you got a stick in your hand and you can whack somebody.
"Little easier to get your frustration out when you're on the ice because you got a stick in your hand and can whack somebody." @SeattleKraken GM @RonFrancis10
— Blake Arthur (@BlakeArthur24) February 2, 2022
Full conversation with hall of famer & 2x Stanley Cup champ tonight @KESQ! @Firebirds @AcrisureArena @CValleyAHL_Fanz
But no, I mean, I think you always love playing the game, you know, you still want competitive you want to be out there and you want to be playing unfortunately, Mother Nature you know, time catches up to you can't play. So this has been a great thing. You hire a lot of good people to work with you. And our goal is to build a real strong, successful organization that once we get there, we can be successful year after year. And that's the challenge. But it's a fun challenge to be a part of, you know, you want to be competitive. And certainly some of those young guys are going to take a little bit longer to sort of develop and get to the NHL. And that's what Coachella Valley comes into play. Right? Those kids get come down here and they work on their game and they learn. And the exciting part for the fans is you get to see the future NHL players here and sort of develop right in front of your eyes.
ARTHUR: Touch on that a little bit. I mean, this is this is minor league hockey, basically, for your big club up in Seattle. How much you're going to rely on on this team down here. And how excited are you to be a part of that development and growth for these young players?
FRANCIS: Yeah, no, it's it's critical our organization to make sure that we have a good team down here, those kids are developing well. This is our number one, if we have any kind of injuries up top we have called down here get players to bring up to, to use to help in our lineup, the young kids we draft they're going to be down here playing in developing sometimes it takes time to mature physically, or, you know, just mentally understanding the game a little bit better than than what they were coming into the situation. And sometimes it takes a little longer to have that happen. But those guys will get to do that here in just a great environment with an awesome arena. And, you know, we're excited to be a part of it.
ARTHUR: The vibe down here has been awesome. Everyone's kind of rallied around this team. It's been very exciting. It's a big deal for our valley. What's the vibe been like up in Seattle? I mean, looking from afar, it just seems incredible.
FRANCIS: Yeah, when I took the job, I didn't think I'd be picking out colors of carpet and tiles and grout and stuff. But that was all part of the process and our practice facilities are outstanding. Our arena is absolutely incredible. Our fans have been tremendous, right from day one, their support not only in buying merchandise, but just coming to the games and being vocal and supporting the team has been tremendous. And you know, when we announced that we're coming down here to Coachella Valley, I mean, I've got a lot of agents saying they're gonna try and do everything they can to get their players to play here because they want to come and spend time here. It's, it's just an awesome setup, the arena, when it's all said and done, it's going to be you know, I don't think there's anything like it in the American Hockey League with the 10,000 seat arena, plus our practice facility and, and the ability to do concepts for people in the valley as well. So it's gonna be a great addition to this area and something that we're really excited to be a part of.
If it don't make dollars it don't make sense. No matter how good the weather is! GM @RonFrancis10 on calling up players from @Firebirds and @AcrisureArena to @SeattleKraken and @ClimateArena!@KESQ @Jesus_G_Reyes @SeattleKrakenPR @CValleyAHL_Fanz @TheAHL @baileyarredondo pic.twitter.com/nSGLeXfWlM
— Blake Arthur (@BlakeArthur24) February 3, 2022
ARTHUR: Yeah, the running joke is that it's gonna be hard to get players to go to Seattle because they don't want to leave the great weather here. The great golf and everything we have going on in the desert. What's your experience been like here in the Coachella Valley? It's your first time or I'm sure you've been around before?
FRANCIS: I've been down here a few times. But yeah, I know it's it's tough to beat you look around and it's 77 degrees and sunny and that's that's tough to take. I do think we'll have a tough time calling guys up but we do pay them a little bit better up there than we do down here so I think we can get them to come play for us.
Stay with KESQ News Channel 3 for continuing coverage of the Coachella Valley Firebirds, the new AHL team set to make their season debut in the Fall of 2022!
