STEELHOUNDS Laforest wants to build winner right from start

The SteelHounds' coach said he wants to build an environment of success.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- If the Youngstown SteelHounds were looking for excuses to lose this season, they wouldn't have to look far.
They're playing in a new building.
They haven't had time to develop team chemistry.
And the schedule is filled with long bus trips to states such as Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado and Kansas.
But coach Jean Laforest isn't interested in excuses.
He wants to win now.
"One of the things we've talked about is creating a culture of success," said Laforest, an Angus, Ontario, native. "We're going to emphasize hard work and maximal effort and doing things right the first time.
"When you have that philosophy, good things are going to happen."
Laforest was hired as the SteelHounds coach and director of hockey operations on June 1. He spent the last three years coaching at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, where he also served as an instructor in the Department of Kinesiology.
Familar with pros
But he's no stranger to the pro ranks. From 1997-2000, he coached the Shreveport Mudbugs of the Western Professional Hockey League, compiling a 133-56-9 record, three playoff appearances and back-to-back President's Cup championships (1998-99 and 99-2000).
He also won the Governor's Cup in 1998-99, awarded to the WPHL regular season champs.
He left Shreveport to coach the Port Huron Border Cats of the United Hockey League for the 2000-01 season and part of the 2001-02 season.
Laforest knows he's got a tough job ahead of him with the SteelHounds -- it's never easy to assemble a winning team in such a short time -- but he's confident that the team will be successful sooner rather than later.
"We're not going to cut corners," he said. "We're going to play our own style of hockey night in and night out."
On the road
Laforest didn't get any help from the schedule-makers. Youngstown opens its season with five straight road games before the home-opener against Oklahoma City on Nov. 4.
"These road trips will only be a detriment if we allow them to be," Laforest said. "Our attitude is going to dictate how we play on the road. If we sit back and complain about it, it's only going to hurt us."
Laforest learned many of his principles when he studied at the University of Calgary on a National Coaching Institute scholarship. During that time, he worked with the Canadian national team and was his mentor was current Los Angeles Kings coach Andy Murray.
It's worked for him so far and Laforest believes it will work again.
"The good Lord willing, we'll win games," he said.
scalzo@vindy.com