Interview with Mammoth Captain John Gallant Pt 1 of 2
Recently, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to sit down with Colorado Mammoth captain John Gallant and pester him with some questions.
A Canada native, Gallant has played defense for the Colorado Mammoth since they were the Washington Power. Before playing in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) he played in Canada for Six Nations and the Victoria Shamrocks.
This is the first part of a two-part interview:
MD: What got you playing lacrosse?
JG: I needed something to do in the summer. I was playing baseball and didn’t enjoy it. A coworker of my father got me involved in it. So I started at 7th grade, maybe 8th.
MD: If you weren’t playing lacrosse, what sport would you want to play?
JG: I’d play football. We never had football in high school. Never had football growing up. Never had the opportunity to play. I love watching it. Particularly college football.
MD: Did you always want to play defense?
JG: No, I just wanted to play. I generally played both, but when I started playing junior lacrosse, that’s where I was kind of put on defense. I think being a defenseman in hockey, I was comfortable with that, so it made that transition easy. But it wasn’t until I was 18 where I then focused primarily on defense. I think I found out when I got to the level I was at, that if I wanted to play, that’s the position I had to play.
MD: If you didn’t play defense, what position would you want to play?
JG: I wanted to play both. I always played both. That’s just the way I was always taught.
MD: I’m assuming that since you’re from Canada you’ve played on both concrete and astro turf. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of playing on each? Which do you prefer?
JG: There are real strengths and weaknesses to both. The cement can be very slippery. It’s easier to play defense on turf because you can react quicker. Playing on the cement is….when it gets dusty, or it gets wet, or you know moisture builds up on it, which happens, but generally it can get dusty. That fine layer of dust, of dirt, it makes it very slippery when trying to react. Defensively you’re always reacting a lot, so it’s easy to do that on a more firm surface than cement.
Either one is fine. Defensively, it’s easier to play on cement, but cement is easier to fall on. When you fall on a hip, it’s like falling on a basketball court. You can slide. On the turf you’re kinda stuck there. Generally there are more ankle and knee injuries on astro turf. Once your foot’s there, it’s not moving. There’s a little more give on cement. Strengths and weaknesses to both but once you’re playing there’s not a big difference really.
John Gallant with the 2006 Champion's Cup
MD: What do you like most about playing lacrosse?
JG: The competitiveness. The physicality of it. I think it has a lot of different dynamics to it. There’s also a lot of finesse to it. The speed of it. It encompasses a lot. It’s a sport where you really rely on other individuals for your success. Small mistakes that are made can be costly.
And you know, there is an aspect of it, it’s something different. It’s not enormous. It’s not out there; it’s a little niche sport, and so there’s not a lot of people that can play successfully. That’s always a nice thing you know, to be able to do something that not a lot of people can do. It’s not baseball, or football or basketball. Something that people can pick up and play whenever they would like and be successful at it.
MD: How would you describe an NLL game to someone unfamiliar with it?
JG: I think it’s an event. I think the game itself, at times can be a controlled chaos of back and forth. I think it’s going to be a mixture of the physicality of ice hockey with sort of the finesse and team-work of basketball. I think the atmosphere is going to be a very loud, very blue-collar type atmosphere that is generated around a family event. It’s affordable, so there’s room to bring your whole family.
MD: Who’s on your dream team, past or present?
JG: I can probably give your four or five. I would play with Gary [Gait], Gary was pretty good. Jim Veltman would be one. Jon Tavares would be two. Andrew Turner would be there. I’ll give you guys I’ve just played with. I’d rather go with that.
I don’t know. I think [Jamie] Hanford would be there. [He's] a face off guy. He’s very good. [Jay] Jalbert I’d put there. Yeah, so I would put them. Veltman. I don’t know who I’d put in net. Matt Roik. Roik’s a good guy. Probably put him or Anthony Cosmo in net. I would put those two. That would probably be it. It’s a tough question. Those ones. The goalie was tough. Just trying to not leave anybody out. I think that’d be it. We’ll go with those guys.
MD: Who is your favorite team to play against? Why?
JG: I don’t know. To be honest with you, I don’t know that there’s one that you really look forward to playing against. You kinda look forward to playing everybody. I think I’ve been around long enough now, there’s not one. There’s not one particular team that you either enjoy playing against the most or not. There’s obviously more difficult teams depending on the year. But, I’d say there’s more places I like to go.
I enjoy playing in Buffalo. I like that atmosphere. As a team I don’t think there is one. But as a place, I like going to Buffalo. The flight there is terrible, but the actual game itself and the atmosphere is pretty good.
MD: Where’s your least favorite place to play? Why?
JG: I think it all depends. Like Rochester. Rochester is not great. Rochester is tough to get to, same thing with Buffalo. I think the least successful is Toronto. That’s the probably the one I least play….you know it’s very nice. It’s a very nice building. It has some history to it. But I’d say we’ve had the least amount of success playing in Toronto. We’ve had some very disappointing losses in Toronto.
So that’s probably one place, Toronto. If you’re going to talk about crowd, I’d go to like Edmonton. It’s just miserable. If you’re talking about, just, you look on it and you know, you’re going to have to take connecting flights and it’s this and not a great city, that’d be Rochester. But as a place that I’ve just had a lot of bad losses, that’d be Toronto.
MD: How did it feel to be named Captain?
JG: It wasn’t a surprise. Well it was and wasn’t. You kinda see the writing on the wall a little bit. You know, you’ve been here a long time, you haven’t caused any disturbances really, or any problems. Was I totally surprised? No. But I was very honored. It’s a big responsibility. I think I was ready for it. I think I’ve learned a lot from captains I’ve had either in this organization or others. And I was ready for it.
We want to win and we want to win now. Can’t wait two years, three years, because we might not be here anymore. So there’s that honor you feel but there’s also the excitement that, okay, now we can sorta get to work a little bit and right the ship per-se. We have ideas and you want to try implementing them so that we’ll be successful. So you know, yeah, I definitely was honored. It’s been a lot of work, tell you what. I didn’t realize it was going to be this much work. You know? Kinda have a little bit more respect for some guys that you’ve known in the past cause there’s a lot of stuff goes on behind the scenes. It’s hard work. You don’t kinda realize that sometimes.
MD: Do you want to go into what kind of extra work you have now?
JG: It’s like any business or job you’re in, you know when you’re management. You’re managing. I have to manage players now. I have to manage egos now. I have to manage personalities. Guys get upset, you know, they come to me about it, and that’s fine. So that’s been a learning experience, right? So there’s managing people. 25 of them and a lot of them are young. And a lot of them who are young and who are here for the first time have been elite players where they came from. And now they’re no longer elite players and that’s a tough transition to make. From being the main focal point of your team to now you’re not always gonna be.
Everybody’s good here. So the management’s been tough. It’s been fun. I’ve enjoyed it. Enjoyed the challenge of it. So there’s managing and there’s mediating. You’re sort of the liaison between two groups who don’t necessarily always see eye to eye. And that can be a difficult thing to do, a difficult spot to be in.
MD: How has being Captain affected your approach to each game?
JG: You have to spend more time. It’s definitely more time. It means you have to be better with your time. ‘Cause we do have a job, so you have to be better at time management. Because you need to spend time each day talking to different players where in the past I didn’t have to do that, right? So now I have to get myself ready, physically and mentally. And then I also have to spend time with other players and via email or phone call so it makes it even more challenging.
MD: As someone known for having a subtle but huge impact on the floor, how does it feel to suddenly be in the spotlight?
JG: It’s interesting. You know, it’s flattering, again. But it’s rewarding a little bit that I’ve been able to be around long enough to sort of achieve that, right? Obviously there’s a lot of guys that haven’t been able to do that. It’s interesting. Whatever I can do to help promote this game and promote this team I would be willing to do. I am in the spotlight a little bit more. And that’s fine. But I also look at it as trying to grow this sport a little bit. Being professional when I’m out in the public eye I think is a responsibility that I have, you know not even just for myself, but for the players on our team, and the players who will be on our team in the future.
MD: How did it feel to be nominated to the 2007 All Star Team?
JG: It was good. [laughs] I was proud to represent our team. Any one of us who were playing coulda been in there and so it was an honor to represent not only like the fans, and the team but also the group of seven guys that play defense. I think that was really rewarding. It was an honor to participate and to represent the defensemen on our team.
MD: What made you represent all your fellow defensemen on your helmet before the All Star Game?
JG: I think I had the responsibility to do that. Because we were a defensive unit. I wouldn’t have had my success without those other players. They wouldn’t have been successful without me. So we all had to work together. And we were a team. And we were a unit. And that’s how defense is played. You need all five of you and the goalie to be playing well to be successful. You can get away on offense a little bit, playing one on one. You can’t do that on defense to be successful. So that’s why I had the responsibility to make sure those other guys got some credit because they deserved it.
MD: Hopefully, it’s several years away, but have you given any thought to what you would like to do when playing lacrosse is no longer an option?
JG: A little bit. You start thinking about it a little more and more each year. You try not to, but, in time I’d like to stay in it in some form. To be honest with you, I’d love to officiate. I say that now. I would seriously consider doing that – officiating.
I think for this league to be successful, one of the very many things it needs to be successful is to have officials who have had experience playing or participating at this level. At the speed, at how physical the game is. I think the officiating core as a group is very good, but you know, I think the officiating group as a whole would benefit from having some former players participate.
MD: What changes made in the off-season do you think had the most impact on the team?
JG: Obviously, we traded away our captain. The guys that we brought in on the draft day. Between Portland, the expanded draft, and the normal entry draft we brought in half a new team. That’s the biggest change. And you’re seeing that now because it’s taking time for guys to grow together.
MD: What changes do you think still need to be made?
JG: I think we have what we have. There’s not going to be any changes. That’s a tough question simply because we can’t make any. We can get a piece here and there but there’s not going to be any major changes. There just can’t be. That would force a trade and to make a trade, you have to have someone to trade with. What we’ve got is what we’ve got.
Changes that need to be made need to be made in the dressing room and not with the personnel. And those changes are, you know, we need to trust one another. We need to believe in ourselves, in our own skills, and then believe in the skills of the guy beside you. And we just need time. We need time to learn, and time to work with one another. With all those new guys, they have to learn that this, the National Lacrosse League, is different than any other league they played in. What has worked in other leagues, whether it be at the divisional college level, or the Canadian Lacrosse Association, the WLA, might not work here – because the talent is better here. The depth of talent is better.
MD: What would you say to fans disappointed in the rough start the Mammoth are off to?
JG: I would say not to panic. We’re not hitting the panic button. We’re 2-4, fair enough. It could be worse. But it’s obviously not the start we’d want. We’re not panicking on the team, so they shouldn’t be. Our goal is to win the championship. We want to be playing our best lacrosse at the end of the season. Not now. Not in the middle, but at the end.
From being around, I understand what it takes to get there. I’ve been on teams here that have gone 14 and 2 and lose in the first round. Right? I’ve gone on teams here that were 4 and 4 and win a championship. I say to be patient, I say not to panic. I say to trust what we’re doing. Everything we do is to win. I don’t want to be part of a rebuild, that’s not why I’m here. If I was, I’d ask to leave. I don’t have the time to do that and neither do the majority of guys here. Part of our teaching and educating is to really appreciate every opportunity you have.
You know, there was one question there… I don’t like playing in Toronto. I lost an overtime game in Toronto. Semi-finals. Double-overtime game in Toronto the first year I played. And you know, like Paul Gait, Gary Gait, Kip Fulks, Paul Cantabene, laundry list of guys. Amazing prospects. Double overtime. And you know, we knew we were moving here, getting a fresh start. Oh, we’ll be back. We’ll be back again, this is easy. Toronto went on to win the championship. So you looked at it, you know, ok, we’re a goal away, we had plenty of chances, Paul Gait was hurt. We lost this double-overtime game to the eventual champions, we’ll be back again. And you know it took, until whatever it was, 2006 to get there and haven’t been back since. Made the playoffs every year I’ve been in this league and have been in one Championship Game.
And so I don’t have the time, because I know how difficult it is to get back. So what you try teaching the young guys is listen, like, you don’t know. I thought I would be back to Championship Games, semi-final games every year and that hasn’t worked out that way. So that’s the message you try to send to the young guys is that you gotta appreciate every opportunity you have because you may not get any more. So we’re all working at, towards that one goal. Patience and trust.
MD: After a game like the one against the Orlando Titans, how do you stay positive and motivated for the next game?
JG: I think you gotta be positive. I believe you have to remember it, but you also have to forget about it. Right? I think you really gotta examine what you did positive and make that note. Cause there were a lot of positives that we did out of that game. As a leader you gotta remain positive because guys are going to doubt one another. And that’s erasing a bit of trust. You gotta be positive. You gotta look at it and move on it. And that’s it. You can’t dwell on it. You can’t pout about it. You can’t get pissed and annoyed about it. You can do that personally, but you can’t do that where other people can see it. And you just move on. Be positive and move on.
