New Lynx coach and old Lynx fans have a rocky, comical past

Officially, Thursday afternoon’s Augusta Lynx news conference was held to introduce a new coach. In reality, it was just an hour’s worth of reminiscing.

The Lynx hired John Marks as the seventh head coach in the team’s history. When the puck drops on season No. 11 in Augusta this October, it won’t mark the first time the 60-year old coaching veteran will be impacting Lynx hockey.

Don’t take my word for it. A quick glance at a portion of the transcript from Thursday’s news conference is all the proof a local hockey fan needs. Marks’ campaign as head coach is just one more chapter in the relationship between him and Augusta hockey.

"It’s been a real love/hate reliationship, but I really got to love it," Marks said. "The fans are great and whether you’re a home coach or visiting coach, the relationships you develop over the years and things like that - I always liked coming here. It gets loud in here some nights so hopefully we can rock the roof again."

The Towel Incident
Moments after Marks was introduced as head coach, his first comment (after receiving a 30-second standing ovation from the elated Lynx crowd) was about the now infamous towel incident of 2005.

In a shootout loss to the Lynx, Marks and his Greenville Grrrowl weren’t happy about a few calls from the men in stripes (31 penalties were called in the game). After one highly questionable call, Marks threw a white towel on the end of a hockey stick and waved it high in the air in surrender to the officials.

The Era of the Horn
The comical towel incident was one of the more positive memories of Marks’ run-ins with the Lynx over the years. Another came in a less publicized incident in which a Lynx fan got the best of Marks one night in Augusta.

Marks called it "the era of the horn."

"Right behind our bench, ee uh ee uh ee uh ee uh ee uh ee uh," Marks said, making the sound of the annoying horn that came from the direction of a Lynx fan. "One night the puck came in to the bench and I thought, 'OK, I’m going to make peace here, and everything’s going to be good.'

"I had the puck and I looked up to the person who had the horn, and I said, 'I give you the puck, you give me the horn.'

"Perfect! OK, so she slid the horn up the slit in the glass and passed it over, and I throw the puck over the glass and I said, 'Alright, yeah.'

The lady reaches down into her purse, picks up another horn and ee uh ee uh ee uh ee uh ee uh ee uh ee uh."

Coach Troutman
When then head coach Bob Ferguson had to leave the Lynx to be with his ailing father during a road trip last season, co-owner and general manager Dan Troutman had to step in as a fill-in head coach. It happened to be in a game in Pensacola with John Marks on the other bench.

"And then there was the game that Bob coached and unfortunately had to go home," Marks said. "Dan took over, and I looked over at the bench and thought, 'Who is this guy?'

"And, of course, the game went to overtime. We got a penalty; there was a faceoff late in the game and the faceoff was in our zone, and he calls a timeout. I said, "What’s he doing calling a timeout? He doesn’t know when to call a timeout. He’s too worried about too many men on the ice."

"So he fessed up and said the guys called a timeout out and said, 'If we win the draw we’ll do this and that and the other,' and, gosh, they won the draw and the puck goes back, they shoot it, it goes through a screen and they win it with three seconds to go.

"I looked over at the bench and I’m going, 'That son of a gun won.'"

As Marks wrapped up the story to laughter, a female voice from the crowd of Lynx fans shot a one-liner back.

"That’s for the playoffs three years ago."

The Playoffs
Three years ago, Marks and his Greenville Grrrowl eliminated the Lynx in the postseason. It was the second time Marks’ team had ended Augusta’s season in the playoffs, but this one hurt because it was the first playoff series for the Lynx in five years.

Lynx fans had high hopes for that team, led by Bob Ferguson in his first season as Augusta’s head coach.

"I’ve been in this area quite a bit. With Charlotte and Greenville, I’ve been down here many times with our teams," Marks said. "I know we broke your hearts a few times. I hope we can mend them."

The Reception
The broken hearts appeared quickly mended on Thursday when Lynx fans stood to their feet to welcome Marks to Augusta. The comments at the end of the news conference, coupled with the smiles and high fives, indicated all bad blood was gone.

"We couldn’t have done better," one Lynx fan said to another.

"I got my wish," was the comeback.

The feeling appears to be mutual.

"I've got to know quite a few of the fans and people obviously over the years in Augusta," Marks said. "I couldn’t be more thrilled to be here. There’s no question I couldn’t be more thrilled to be here."