Since being named head coach of the Bakersfield Condors on July 21, Gerry Fleming has been getting to know the city and the fans. He’ll be heading up to Edmonton in early September to prepare for the Oilers rookie camp, where a good number of future Condors will be participating.

Condors beat writer Mike Griffith caught up with Fleming a few days ago to learn a little more about him, his thoughts on the Condors moving up to the American Hockey League and his trip to wine country.

Can you give us a bit of an insight to who Gerry Fleming is, your time as a player and how and why you got into coaching?

Basically, my career started in juniors with the Junior Canadiens when I was 16, about to turn 17. Played three years in junior hockey with them. Went to the Memorial Cup in ’85. Unfortunately, we didn’t fare as well as we anticipated. From there I went to the University of Prince Edward Island. From there I got signed as a free agent in ’91 with the Fredericton Canadiens, Montreal’s AHL team. Played three years there, then got called up to Montreal. Was in Montreal for two years, didn’t play much, then went back down as a player/coach. I signed a four-year deal to return back to Fredericton and work with their young guys.

From there I got into coaching and became Mike Therrien’s assistant for two years, one year in Fredericton and one in Quebec City. Then the opportunity presented itself to be the head coach for their AA affiliate in Tallahassee. It was a great opportunity for me to get my feet wet as a head coach, and I moved to Tallahassee. They disbanded after one year, but we had a pretty good team and some success, so it kind of opened up the eyes of other organizations and Carolina hired me to be their head coach of their AA affiliate in Florida. I was there for seven wonderful years. I still have my home there; it’s kind of my permanent residence. It’s a great place to live.

I wanted to be a head coach in the American Hockey League, but it was tough to get on as a head coach even though we did have some success there. Then Edmonton hired me — two years as an assistant in Springfield, then they moved to Oklahoma and kept me on. Worked with Todd Nelson and Rocky (Thompson). That was a tremendous experience. We became a tight-knit group.

You took over as head coach of the Barons last December when Todd Nelson was named interim coach of the Oilers. That was about the time it was announced that the season would be the last in the AHL for Oklahoma City. How did that affect the players and staff?

You know what, our total focus was “let’s focus on the process.” Distractions are out of our control. There’s nothing you can do about that stuff, absolutely nothing. It is what it is. It’s a business decision, so you know, let’s just focus on what we have to do. That’s the process of making ourselves a better team each and every day. From practices to games to the way we presented ourselves. That was how we dealt with it.

There was an overhaul of the Oilers’ hockey operations department during the offseason with a multitude of changes. Was your job secure, or was there an evaluation before it was announced that you were staying on as head coach at the AHL level?

There was an evaluation. They evaluated everybody in the organization, and I wasn’t immune to that. I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity, and I’m very happy with that.

Fans here are used to the level of play in the ECHL, where you were a head coach for eight seasons. What differences can fans expect at the AHL level?

I talk about execution. The level of execution is better, which adds a lot more flow to the game. It just makes the game seem like it’s going a lot quicker. Primarily, that is due to the level of execution and the level of skill. Guys are obviously a step faster, but I think just the flow of the game. You’re going to notice a big difference with the execution level and the speed will add to the entertainment value. Hockey is a beautiful game when it’s executed the right way.  

While the Oilers have struggled mightily over the past few years, the Barons have done pretty well, making the playoffs five straight years and having two conference final appearances. What are the keys to success at the AHL level?

It’s making guys want to come to the rink every day. You’ve got to create that atmosphere where they want to be there, they don’t want leave, they don’t want the season to end. I think that’s something we created in Oklahoma, and we expect for that to continue here. You want to make it a great environment so guys can’t wait to get to the rink, they can’t wait to get onto the ice. That involves a lot of different moving parts. You’ve got to make it fun for them; you’ve got to make the environment a great place. You’ve got to have nice amenities. All that goes into it. They want structure, they want a lot of different things. By doing all those things, before you know it, you’re into the playoffs and you’re on a long run.

The roster for the start of the start of the season won’t be finalized until October, but I’m sure you have a pretty good idea of who, with maybe a few exceptions, will likely be here on opening night. What type of team will the Condors be?

A lot of personnel decisions are based on guys’ performances in camps, injuries … there’s so many different variables that can happen during the course of a training camp. Guys can come in there and just blow the socks off, have an unbelievable camp and stay (at the NHL level) a little bit longer, which moves somebody else down. But overall we’re going to be very similar to the way we’ve been in years past. We’re going to be young. We’re going to be hungry. Puck-pressure team. Puck-possession team. We like to tell guys the way we’re going to score is by volume of shots and attacking the net and being over the puck. The puck is the most important thing in the game. You want it, and you want to do good things with it when you have it.

Can we assume that the systems employed by the Edmonton Oilers will be used in Bakersfield?

They’re going to be very, very similar. It makes an easier transition for guys when they do go up there that they’re not going to miss a beat. That they do understand what’s going on and being taught how to play the way Edmonton wants us to play.

This may be difficult to assess until the end of the season, but the five California teams are playing 68 games, eight fewer than the rest of the teams in the AHL. Is that a pro or con?

I think there’s pros and cons to both. It allows a lot more teaching time. A lot more time for guys to rest their bodies. I think those are some of the pros. With a lot of games being played and a lot more impact during the week when you play three-on-three, that takes a toll on your body and you’re a lot more susceptible to injuries. Guys get hurt, and that kind of sets their development back. If they have time to rest, proper nutrition, time to work on individual skill aspects those are all positives. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out at the end of the year.

I know you have not been here long, but you’ve had a chance to meet some of the season ticket holders. What are your thoughts on the fan base here?

Very knowledgeable and very enthusiastic. The reception we’ve received since we’ve been here as a staff is outstanding. Everybody’s excited for the season to get going. I know the Condors have been here since the Fog, but this is a whole new chapter in the evolution of hockey in Bakersfield. This is one step away from the NHL. Rivalries are going to be formed again with a California division, which is always nice. It promotes more interest in the game. There are a lot of great things that are going to be happening here. To be a part of it is a real honor.

As an aside, I hear you’ve already discovered that Bakersfield is not far away from a lot of places. How was your visit to the wine country?

(Laughs). It was outstanding. It was my first tour through Napa. We did a guided tour with a driver. It was outstanding, Beautiful, beautiful part of the world. I’ve spent a lot of time in Bakersfield, discovering Bakersfield, and this is a wonderful city, it really is. It might get a bad rap from people who haven’t really experienced here, but it’s been great. People have been fantastic. The area is nice; it’s warm. The weather is fantastic. There’s a lot of good things happening in this city, and I think people have to focus on the positives of what Bakersfield has to offer.