San Diego's Bulldog

Throughout the centuries, bulldogs are noted for their strong demeanor. The Romans were overwhelmed by the original Bulldogs when they invaded the British Islands in 55 BC. The Celt inhabitants of these islands had trained these animals to leap into the air and bite calvary horses upon the nose. This caused the horses to buck and send their riders flying. The modern day bulldog is noted for its strong defense and territorial nature; it charges only when provoked by attackers. The San Diego Gulls have one of these modern day stalwarts in Jason Courtemanche. Courtemanche has earned the nickname "Bulldog" from his coach for his tenacious nature on defense, and his willingness to attack opponents when they assault Courtemanche or one of his teammates.

Courtemanche readies a punch for Idaho's Jessie Austin in the Gulls' last home game.

William Overin: Can you tell me what it was like growing up in Hartford, Connecticut?
Jason Courtemanche: It was good. I grew up in a suburb, next to a grammar school and had a park across the street. It was a good place to grow up - there were a lot of things to do outdoors. I lived only five minutes from the city and there were a lot of things to do in the city - museums and things like that. I grew up with a lot of culture. There were a lot of things to do outside. I was always in the park playing street hockey, or baseball or football - it was an enjoyable experience.

WO: Did you follow the Hartford Whalers?
JC: I was a Whaler's and a Bruin's fan. Ray Bourque is my favorite player, so I always rooted for the Bruins. As I got older, I lost my allegiance to the Bruins and became more of a Whaler's fan. And then when they left, even though I was out here, I was sort of heart-broken. You know it was sad for the city.

WO: What happened to them?
JC: They sold the team to a guy from Detroit. He moved the team right away. The state had the veto power on the sale. There was a group of people from Connecticut that wanted to buy the team, but the state didn't want to build a new building. Hindsight's 20/20, but now we have the Patriots moving into Hartford. I think that will be a good thing. There is a billion-dollar revitalization program going on. Where they're building the stadium, they're building a convention center. There's going to be a whole new Gaslamp-type of area with restaurants and bars. It's going to be good for the city.

WO: What is your family like - did anyone else in your family play hockey?
JC: My uncle was a hockey player that's basically how I got started. My dad wasn't a hockey player - he was a wrestler in high school.

WO: Did your uncle play professionally?
JC: No, he played in high school. He was a very good player. He still plays now; he's probably in his early forties and still a very good player. A smarter player than I am. I wish I had his smarts on the ice. He got me started when I was a kid and got me hooked - and then my whole family got into me playing and taking me. My uncle was the biggest reason why I played hockey.

WO: You mentioned Ray Bourque earlier as your favorite hockey player when you were growing up. Did you have any other favorite hockey players?
JC: Ray was always my favorite. I liked Bobby Orr, but I was a little too young to see him in his prime. I remember him just as I was getting old enough to follow the game. Ron Francis was big when I was a kid in Hartford. When I was eleven years old he was a family friend, and so I got to know him a little bit. I played a few men's league games with him. The way he did things, not just the way he approached the game, he was just a classy guy all around the way he handled himself in the community. The way he handled himself around the town. The Whalers don't trade Ron Francis and they're still in Hartford. I believe so.

WO: What are your hobbies?
JC: I have an almost six month old St. Bernard Puppy (Macy). Since my fiancée and I got her, we don't do too much because (on) days off the dog wants to go to the beach. Basically I want to go to the beach with the dog. I like to go to movies. I play golf, but I haven't been playing a lot of golf recently. I just got some new clubs, and I gotta go out and whack them around a little. I like to read and go to the beach. But basically since I got the dog, that's my main hobby.

WO: What are your musical tastes?
JC: Geez if you come over to our house you'd find everything from Mozart to Sublime. We have everything in our house. I like Jazz, Alternative Rock, Classic Rock, Classical, Frank Sinatra....

WO: Sort of eclectic?
JC: I definitely have eclectic tastes, I think everyone our age has a wide variety of tastes. I don't think anyone other than the extreme people have just one certain type of music they listen to. It depends a lot on the mood that I'm in. A lot of times when I leave the rink I have to put on a jazz or classical station because I'm so wound up. I need something to relax me and mellow me out.

WO: Do you listen to anything before you go to a game that gets you pumped up?
JC: I like the Tragically Hip and Bare Naked Ladies. Rage Against The Machine really gets me fired up too...As far as hard rock goes - those guys jam. I love listening to those guys before a game.

WO: What is your favorite movie of all-time?
JC: That's tough. For funniest comedies ever I think are "Dumb and Dumber" and "There's Something About Mary" - two recent movies - I'm not going back to classics. As far as drama, I think my favorite movie recently is "Good Will Hunting." It's a great movie.

WO: Sort of takes you back to New England?
JC: I really enjoy it because it's back in Boston. It's a hometown kind of feel. I just thought it was a really good movie.

WO: Your nickname is "Bulldog" how did you earn that?
JC: I don't know... Martinson started calling me that a couple of years ago. He said I was like a Bulldog on the ice. Hopefully I don't look like a bulldog as far as my face. I think it's more of kind of a tenacious player. Although bulldogs are kind fat and lazy - maybe that's why he's calling me bulldog. (laughs) I like to take the body and hits and kind of be tenacious, so I think maybe that's why he called me that.

WO: What do you think of San Diego in the time that you've been here?
JC: I bought a house here. I'm here full-time now. I really enjoy it. I started coming out here in 1992 before I even started playing here. I fell in love with the city - it's a great place. A little expensive to get a decent house. It's just ridiculous, but we bought a house and we live here. I'll be staying here for a long, long time.

WO: You said you are engaged - when are you getting married?
JC: In August to Shannon, my fiancée.

WO: What other sports do you enjoy watching?
JC: I love all sports. I love to read the sports page. I watch ESPN Sport's Center, Fox Sport's News.

WO: Now that Olberman's over there?
JC: He's kind of dry and sarcastic - but he's pretty good. I love all sports. I love baseball - I was a baseball player growing up and football... I played football. College Hoops, I'm a big UCONN fan, even though I didn't go to UCONN. If you were born in Connecticut you are a big UCONN fan, unless you went to one of the rival Big East Schools.

WO: I saw you went to Elmira College. Where's that?
JC: Upstate New York. It's a small school about 1 hour west of Binghamton, halfway between Albany and Buffalo in the Upper West Peninsula. It's nice; it's near Cornell - about a half-hour from there in a beautiful area. It's a town of a hundred thousand people - not that small. The hockey team is followed tremendously with three TV stations and beat writers from two newspapers.

WO: A big shift coming here to San Diego.
JC: We had 5,000 fans at a game, and were treated like royalty. It was a great school, and I met some of my best friends there. It was a good education - that was the most important thing. I got my degree.

WO: What was your degree in?
JC: I got a degree in Psychology with a concentration in Business. Bachelors in Psychology. It was definitely a good experience. It had a small student teacher ratio. We had two thousand kids there in the school. We had a great campus and some of the best people I've ever met have been associated with that school.

WO: You played hockey there - what else did you play?
JC: Well Hockey went from September basically to April. We went to NCAA Final Four three of the four years that I was there.

WO: What years were you there?
JC: I was there from 89-93.

WO: How do you keep yourself in shape during the off-season?
JC: I've been playing roller hockey.

WO: Who have you been playing for?
JC: Last summer I played for Tampa Bay. The summer before I played for Orlando. I've played for Phoenix. I played for the Connecticut Coasters the first year of RHI, the New Jersey Rock N Rollers the second year of RHI - I've played quite a bit.

WO: The league is kind of defunct now isn't it?
JC: They're coming back this year. There is going to be two roller hockey leagues. San Diego is in the running to get one of the teams.

WO: Would you be interested in playing here if you could?
JC: I think that if I'm not doing some other things, I'm looking into exploring some other opportunities.

WO: Plus you'll be getting married too?
JC: Yeah, I'm getting married in August, but I'm exploring some other opportunities for the off-season as far as getting some more experience in business. So that when my career's over, I can put something tangible on my resume - something other than hockey.

WO: Hasn't Hockey opened the door for you?
JC: I've met a lot of people and made a lot of good contacts through hockey. But I want to do something as far as get into the business world a little bit. Start to meet some people - get some tangible experience.

WO: Any field of business you'd like to pursue?
JC: I'd like to do radio sales or television sales. Marketing and sales for radio and television. I have some friends that do it here in San Diego, and I have a friend that does it back in Boston. From everything that I've seen and observed, you never know until you do it, but I think it is something that I'd enjoy doing. You have a very high income potential, which is obviously attractive, but that is not the main thing. You'd be dealing with a lot of advertisers and businesses. You'd be the go between for the station and the personal business owner. I think that it is something that I'd be good at - I'm pretty much a people person. I'm hoping that something will pan out for me in the future.

WO: How did you get started playing hockey - that's kind of what you were talking about with your uncle?
JC: When I was a kid he just kind of threw me on some skates. I loved it. My parents never pushed me to play any sports - they never pushed me; they weren't the kind of overbearing-type parents that coached their kids all the way up.

WO: They didn't try to live vicariously through you?
JC: Yeah, exactly. They were like, "As long as you do well in school, you can play sports. We love that you play sports." I think that they taught me a lot of life lessons through sports - sportsmanship, I hate to lose. I think that I developed that through youth sports. I met a lot of my friends through sports and teams I played on. Kids I still keep in contact with a lot, even though we're all spread out all over the country.
I had some academic troubles my sophomore year in high school - I didn't play sports until I got my grades back up. I think that this was the best thing that ever happened to me. It gave me a better focus. From then on I got good grades - I was able to get into prep school and to get into a good college. Looking back, I'm kind of thankful that I had those problems in a way because if I just kept sliding by maybe I wouldn't be here today, Because I wouldn't have gone through college and finished. A lot goes to my family because I have a big support system: my mother, my father, my grandmother, my aunt and uncle. I had a lot of people to watch out for me. I have a couple of other aunts. I mean we have a really strong family unit which was good because there was always someone there for me.

WO: Is it difficult then being out here in California being away from your family?
JC: It's tough. I'm close to my family. It's tough being away from them, but they've lived their lives now I'm living mine. If someday it takes me back there then great, if not then there's always a place in California. They always come out and visit. My dad and my step-mom were just out here for the holidays - for New Years. My grandmother's going to Italy in February and she's coming out after that.

WO: Hopefully come out and see you play in the play-offs?
JC: My uncle's coming out for the play-offs and I'm sure my dad will come out for the play-off's too. Then they'll all be out for the wedding too. It's tough, but maybe someday we'll go back to Connecticut - I don't know. Right now the focus is basically on being here in San Diego.

WO: What is your best hockey memory?
JC: I have so many. I think that winning three Taylor Cups has got to be up there. I think playing in the Turner Cup finals (with Long Beach) was a great experience. Playing against the Detroit Vipers, they had Sergei Samsonov (now with the Boston Bruins) on that team - Jimmy Carson - Dan Kesa's playing with the Penguins now - they just had a lot of talented players on that team. Being on that Long Beach team and going to the finals in the IHL - that was definitely an experience. Then my college memories; four league titles in four years, three NCAA final four appearances....

WO: Sounds like you've been on a lot of winners.
JC: I've been on a lot of winning teams. I've been lucky because I'm not the most talented guy. I've just been in the right spot. Teams are made up of a lot of cogs that make them click. I've been able to fit into a winning team instead of a losing team. You know...nobody likes to play on a losing team.

WO: What was your worst injury?
JC: I've had some pretty bad ones. I've had a couple of concussions - those were pretty bad. I had an infection in my hand where I had to have surgery last year. I was in the hospital for four days, then I was hooked up to intravenous (lines) for two weeks to get the infection out. That was a pretty scary injury.

WO: Because you could have lost your hand?
JC: If it had gone on further, but luckily we have a great medical staff here with the Gulls. I'm lucky I didn't play in a place like Tucson or one of those other places.... We have some of the finest doctors of anywhere in the country and Billy our trainer.

WO: Can you tell me about when your first fight was in hockey? (laughs)
JC: My first fight was...Well I had a couple in college, but you're wearing a facemask so it's not really the same thing. I think my first fight as a pro was in Nashville. I don't really remember who it was against - It was against somebody pretty tough. I think they played for the Dayton Bombers. I can't remember what the guy's name was, but he was a pretty tough guy. I took my lumps. Playing college hockey and youth hockey in the states you don't fight. Not that I'm a tough kid, but I know the techniques. I can take a punch with the best of them.

WO: Not like learning in Canada?
JC: When you go and play junior hockey (in Canada), you learn how to fight. Coming out of college, you don't learn that stuff. You learn to play hockey. You learn how to take the body; you don't learn how to fight. I took my lumps, and I still take my lumps. I like to give out more than I take.

WO: How does your mother feel about your fighting? Doe she ever say anything?
JC: She knows it's part of the game. It's something that I do. They don't really enjoy it. I'm sure they'd rather have me as a goal scorer, but they're happy with what I do. I don't consider myself a fighter - I think I bring a lot more to a team than just fighting, but I can do it if it's called upon. I did it more in past years than I have this year.

WO: Well, how would you characterize your style of play?
JC: I consider myself as more of a policeman, more of a guy that's out there. I'll take care of my teammates. I won't take any stuff from anybody myself, but I'm not a guy that's put on the ice three or four times a period to go out there and fight. I think I contribute more in a way that I take the body. I'm an up and down type of player as far as taking the body, but I can fight if it's called upon.

WO: How do you mentally prepare yourself for a game?
JC: If you ask some people this year, I haven't been mentally prepared.

WO: What do you mean?
JC: I haven't had a great year if you look at my statistics.

WO: Well you've been out a lot too.
JC: They (the statistics) don't tell the whole story. I'm not really happy that I'm a minus player (which has improved as of March 1 to a plus), which I've never been in my career. I've always been one of the top guys on the team or in the league as far as plus/minus go. I'm really working hard to get myself out of the minus. As far as goals and assists, I don't think that you can measure my type of play by goals and assists. I think that I do a lot more than that. You look at my plus/minus and it's just terrible.
Getting back to your question. I try to take a pre-game nap, not for too long - maybe an hour. I try to mentally image. I try to focus on the weaker parts of my game. I try to picture myself moving my feet quickly, making good passes, and hitting the net with my shot - doing the right things.

WO: Does your psychology training help you out with that?
JC: Well, it hasn't been helping me this year. It has worked in the past. I think I haven't been as focused on doing it this year as I should, but when things are going well that's what I try to do. I try to really focus on doing that.

WO: I've noticed that a lot of tough guys/enforcers are often the more easily approachable players - can you give me any insight into why this is?
JC: I've heard that from other leagues.

WO: Because a lot of times a lot the tough guys are the ones who get involved with the community?
JC: I don't know why that is. As much as fighting is not as much a part of the game anymore, fans still love it. Fans identify with the tough guys - they are not the most talented guys, they are not the superstars - they are just regular guys out there working hard. I think that's why on other teams in other leagues that's why they are more approachable. I think a lot of the guys are approachable - hockey players in general are pretty approachable. Some of them are real jerks.

WO: That's just people in general(laughs)
JC: Yeah that's just human nature - that's just like taking percentages. I think a lot of them are just fairly good guys and down to earth. Especially in the minor leagues, I mean we make the same amount as the average Joe. We're not making millions of dollars a year. We're making our regular check like the average guy and we live check to check pretty much - some savings. We're not Wayne Gretzky or Michael Jordan. We're just regular guys like they are too, but they have so much more focus on them. We're just regular guys making regular salaries. Minor league athletes are more approachable in general. Some of them aren't because they think they are better than people. For the most part, guys on our team are pretty good about it.

WO: Greg Spenrath is not a fan favorite here in San Diego - he is also Fresno's captain - do you have any comments on him as either a player or person?
JC: Yeah - I think he's a gutless player. I mean he's a strong guy, he's a tough guy. Everything he does is from behind, and he's out to hurt people. I have respect for hard players - Jacques Mailhot's (Fresno player/assistant coach) a good example or Jason Simon (Forward for Colorado Gold Kings.) Those guys are tough guys and some of the toughest guys in the league. They're not dirty players; they're not out to intentionally hurt players.

WO: What exactly happened in the incident where you had to receive twenty stitches?
JC: He pitch-forked me in the face.

WO: Did you see it coming?
JC: No, I had my back turned to him. I've fought him many times and he's never beaten me. Never beaten me in a fight. I lose fights; I lose fights all the time, but not to that guy.
The last game we were in Fresno (January 8th & 9th), he asked me how I liked my stitches on my nose, and he'll give me twenty more. I don't think that hurting people is a good way of going about doing business. You give them a good check that separates their shoulder, you give them a bruise, or you knock the wind out of them. That's part of the game. But when you're running guys from behind, intentionally trying to end their careers. I don't have any respect for people like that. But I have a lot of respect for a lot of tough guys - it's a tough job and for a lot of hockey players in general it's a tough job. They go out there and hit hard and work hard. Sometimes the sticks get up and that's part of the game - and you get cuts and things like that. But when you're intentionally out to hit like Darren Perkins got run from behind by Suorsa (Fresno defender). That whole Fresno team, most of the guys, not all of them, but I'd say 75% of them are gutless.

WO: Why do you think that is?
JC: I don't know why that is. I think that's a mirror of their coach. Nobody liked him when he played. He's a crybaby and people tend not to like crybabies. They take on his persona. Just like we take on Marty's persona. We yell at the refs too much, just like he yells at the refs too much. I think for the most part we're a pretty good group. We get on the officials way, way too much. But other than that we try to go about our business in a classy way. We're also like Marty is; we don't take a lot of bologna. If someone is gonna go out and try to hurt us - we're gonna give it right back to them. We don't go out there and try to hurt people. We go out there and try to play hard, good clean hockey. Sometimes it doesn't happen that way, but that's what we try to do. That's the focus.

WO: I know people in other cities have tried to characterize the Gulls as goons.
JC: We'll play it anyway you want to play it. You want to play a good hard game, clean, not fight.... You want to just play hockey - We'll play hockey. But you think you're gonna push us around, we're not gonna let you. That's the way Marty played the game when he was a player, he was a guy that would go out and stick up for his teammates. He's the kind of guy that if you want to go out and play hockey - we'll play hockey. But you want to out and fisticuffs, then you're gonna lose.

WO: What happened to you in the game against Anchorage where you had your mouth injured?
JC: I got highstuck, and I lost my two front teeth. I'm wearing a facemask because I got a temporary bridge in there. That's what happened against Colorado; my bridge got knocked out.

WO: Wasn't that Hakan Jansson? (Editor's note - Hakan Jansson was not a member of the Gulls when this interview took place. Jason has since stated that he is glad to be playing with Jansson).
JC: Yeah it was fine; it was a good hit. I don't like that guy, but I just happened to have my head down and good for him. If I'd had my regular teeth in, chances are it would have just been a hit and I would have just got up off of the ice. I got up. I wasn't hurt. I felt something crush in my mouth, and I was spitting my teeth out. That's why I was down on the ice for a little while. I went to the dentist and they put another temporary bridge in. When I got highstuck, I fractured all my gums, so until they heal I've got to wear that mask until they put my permanents in. It's going to be another couple of weeks. It's healing pretty well. That hit that Jansson gave me just broke the bridge; it didn't affect my gums at all.

WO: I notice that Hakan Jansson has been real annoying to the team.
JC: Yeah he's a pest, but every team needs them. We have Kyle Reeves. Teams hate Kyle. They hate me and Chad, but they HATE Kyle. He gets under their skin. He's yelling and screaming at them, then he scores three goals and it pisses them off even more. Every team has those players. Bakersfield has Glenn Mears and Steve Dowhy. Phoenix has Jamie Allen and Sebastian Fortier. Every team has those kind of players. We have Reeves and a few other guys. Taj Melson used to get under guy's skin. They do their job really well like Ulf Samuelsson or Kasparaitus in the NHL. Jansson does it for Colorado. He got me with a good hit so good for him. But I'll get him back.

WO: How do you think the team is adjusting to all of the personnel changes that have occurred this season?
JC: I think it's part of the business. I mean we've been lucky here that we've won so much. There haven't had to be a lot of personnel changes. There might be more, we're not setting the world on fire. It's not what the Gull's organization is used to. There still might be some more personnel changes - Who knows? I'm not in the front office. I don't know what they're thinking. I know that if we don't starting to put together some strings of wins there will be some more changes. It is part of the business. You don't like it, but it happens. You just have to live with it.

WO: What do you think of the level of play in the West Coast Hockey League this year?
JC: It's definitely improved. I think that there have been nights in other years where we could show up and win the game on talent alone. And there are nights where we haven't shown up, but we have Sergei. Sergei is probably the best goalie in minor hockey in shoot-outs.

WO: Do you think that the team at times relies on him too much?
JC: Sometimes, but I think that we also don't come prepared to play, and I think that comes back to what I was saying about focussing mentally. I've been as big or the biggest culprit of it all year as far as not being prepared to play mentally. I think I try to prepare myself every day, but then I look back on it a week later or days later, and I think there are things I could have done to get myself more mentally prepared to play. That's what I've been trying to do the last few weeks here. I've really tried to focus on playing well and playing a solid game here. I'm trying to get my plus/minus back up there. Not really focus too much on my scoring, but focus on not letting the other team score when I'm out there. That's what I want to do the rest of the season, contribute the best way that I can.

WO: There is another incident that occurred earlier this year where you where in the penalty box in Tacoma and fans threw beer on you and spit on you?
JC: Sometimes fans get overzealous, if they want to throw their beers on you or sodas on you - it shouldn't happen because there should be security. They threw their beer and soda on me and I stood up to see what happened. They like to taunt you or whatever, then a guy spit in my face. That's going too far. You want to spend seven dollars on a beer then throw it on me - knock yourself out. You're just an idiot. You want to start a fight with me, then spit on me - you'll certainly start a fight with me.

WO: I found out someone did get arrested for that.
JC: Good. There's no place for that anywhere. I don't think that when our fans throw beer - You want to yell and scream and taunt, that's one thing. Don't throw things on players. We're out here playing a game. Scream and yell all you want, but you start throwing things - I mean think about it. You're twenty guys and you go into a hostile environment with seven or eight thousand people against you and people start throwing things. I don't think it's right to throw your stick in the stands. I lost my cool when the guy spit on me.

WO: Do you have any predictions for the rest of this season?
JC: I think the Gulls will be back in first place in our division, maybe not in the league but in our division. And I'm going to get my plus/ minus back up.

DOB: 7/31/70
BIRTHPLACE: Hartford,CT
HEIGHT: 6'1"
WEIGHT: 215
POSITION: Defense
SHOOTS: Left