NAHL 2021-2022 Thread

[Barclay Donaldson]

What would those that have more experience with this put the odds on an either an expansion team/team returning from a hiatus of having a successful season (above .500 record, making playoffs, etc.)? Seems like the odds would be long and it's a little odd that USA Hockey took this stance on returning players, since you'd think they'd want to encourage league parity. I assume that there probably would have only have been a handful for each team returning from hiatus anyway after 1.5 years, but even a few would have been helpful.

Plenty of teams have been successful almost immediately, plenty of teams have had miserable first seasons and many seasons after.

Shreveport was one of the best teams in the league and won the Robertson Cup in their second season.
Wichita Falls lost in the division finals but had been rolling all season long as an expansion team.
Wenatchee Wild lost in the Robertson Cup finals during their inaugural season.

Chicago Hitmen had two historically atrocious before folding.
New Mexico Ice Wolves were pretty bad in their first season.
Countless others.

It depends on who you bring in for staff. If you can recruit 10-15 kids who are committing NCAA D1, you will have a good season. The Rebels franchise under owner Dennis and HC Coombs and has only had 1 season under .500 and have historically had one of the best records in the league regardless of their numerous relocations. They clearly know how to recruit. And that is what it comes down to.

 

[GindyDraws]

IMO, the NAHL (and all other hockey leagues) need to move forward into the 2021-22 season with as little organizational perturbation as possible. Leaving the NAHL Divisions as they are gives the member teams one less factor to deal with, especially in the Midwest which was probably the most widely affected by the pandemic scheduling tumult (including one team sitting out & two teams who had to relocate to continue play). The League may also be hoping for future regional expansion to Midwest states (Missouri and Indiana still look promising, with Ohio & Michigan possible but seemingly less likely), which makes leaving room in the Central Division a good idea for out-years in the Central U.S. Northern Tier. Refer to the current NAHL footprint map to make your own judgments.

Ideally, a junior team in northern Indiana would be nice. I know the Indianapolis Jr. Ice existed for a few years in the mid 1990s, but I don't know what venues the NAHL team would play at in central Indiana besides the Pop Weaver Pavilion & the Fuel Tank, and most NAHL teams want to make money.

 

[JMCx4]

From: The North American Hockey League > News > Top Stories

Aberdeen Wings announce coaching change
JULY 28, 2021

The Aberdeen Wings of the North American Hockey League (NAHL) hace announced that head coach Scott Langer has accepted a new head coaching position with the Fargo Force, a member of the United States Hockey League (USHL). Assistant coach Michael Hill will also head to Fargo with Langer. ...

Steve Jennings has accepted the open position in Aberdeen and will be assuming the duties of head coach effective immediately. Jennings has worked directly with Langer since the 2004-05 hockey season and has been the Wings’ Director of Player Personnel since 2016. ...

 

[JMCx4]

From: The St. Cloud Norsemen > News

ASHLEY CHASE NAMED DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, PLAY-BY-PLAY BROADCASTER

July 28, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

St. Cloud, Minn. – The St. Cloud Norsemen have named Ashley Chase as Director of Operations, Media Relations & Play-by-Play Broadcaster. ...

Chase becomes the first female team play-by-play broadcaster across junior hockey in the United States, including the North American Hockey League (NAHL). ...

A 12-year media veteran, Chase is originally from Western Pennsylvania and has spent the last six years in Pittsburgh working in various media roles including positions at Robert Morris University and the TribLive High School Sports network following a six-year stretch in local sports television.

Chase served as the university’s social media manager, following three years in athletic communications working with the NCAA Division I men’s hockey team. Chase was a contributor and broadcaster for Pittsburgh’s TribLive HSSN for hockey, football, basketball, baseball and softball, and also filled that role for various local outlets.

Prior to that, Chase worked as a sports anchor and reporter in local television markets for six years in Sioux City, Iowa; Burlington, Vt. and Johnstown/State College, Pa., where she covered all levels of hockey, ranging from the NAHL and USHL to the NCAA and NHL.

On television and as a freelance sports journalist, Chase covered the Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup Playoff appearances from 2012 until 2019, at both WJAC-TV and for the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat.

A 2009 graduate of Morningside University, Chase began her broadcast career in Sioux City, both at the college level and with the local Fox Sports Radio affiliate, interning with and working alongside the voice of the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers, Curtis Anderson. ...

Read more at: ASHLEY CHASE NAMED DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, PLAY-BY-PLAY BROADCASTER

 

[JMCx4]

From: The Odessa Jackalopes > News

Scott Deur announced as Jackalopes Head Coach

July 30, 2021

ODESSA, TX – The Odessa Jackalopes are proud to announce the hiring of Scott Deur as the team’s next GM of Hockey Operations and Head Coach. ...

Deur, 32, began his coaching career in the North American Hockey League with the Fairbanks Ice Dogs in 2015 as an assistant coach. For the past six years, Deur has helped oversee four Midwest Division championship teams, as well as a Robertson Cup championship team in 2016 and a NAHL league regular-season championship in 2017-18. ...

Read more at: Scott Deur announced as Jackalopes Head Coach

 

[JMCx4]

From: The North American Hockey League > News > Top Stories

Schedule released for the 18th annual NAHL Showcase
August 5, 2021

The North American Hockey League (NAHL) has announced the game schedule for the 18th annual NAHL Showcase, which will be held from September 15-18, 2021, at the Super Rink in Blaine, Minnesota. All 29 NAHL teams will play between three and four regular-season games at the Showcase, which is one of hockey's most prominent and popular events of the entire season and has become the 'Greatest Show on Ice.'

Click here for the 2021 NAHL Showcase Schedule

Click here for a 2021 NAHL Showcase Schedule downloadable .pdf

... All 58 NAHL Showcase games will be broadcast live and in HD through HockeyTV, the official broadcast provider of the NAHL. ...

In addition to all 29 NAHL teams playing in the event, the United States National Team Development Program (NTDP) of the United States Hockey League (USHL) will be playing in the event in two exhibition games against the St. Cloud Norsemen on Friday, September 17th and the Janesville Jets on Saturday, September 18th. ... For more information on the NAHL Showcase including schedule, ticket prices, hotels, rental cars and arena information, visit www.nahl.com/showcase ...

Read more at: Schedule released for the 18th annual NAHL Showcase

 

[JMCx4]

Brown Bears announce coaching staff for 2021-22 season (Josh Dubinsky & Taylor Shaw)

 

[JMCx4]

NAHL Commissioner/President Mark Frankenfeld interviewed on The Pipeline Show from August 20th.

 

[JMCx4]

From: The North American Hockey League > News > Top Stories

Steel name Mignone as new Head Coach

AUGUST 27, 2021

The Chippewa Steel of the North American Hockey League (NAHL) have announced the hiring of Casey Mignone as the new Head Coach for the 2021-22 Season. Mignone becomes the fourth Head Coach in the Chippewa Steel franchise history.

Mignone most recently served as the Associate Head Coach & General Manager of Hockey Operations for the St. Cloud Norsemen of the North American Hockey League for the past two seasons. He also spent one season as the Head Coach of the Rochester Grizzlies of the NA3HL and two seasons with Division III Johnson and Wales University as an Assistant Coach. ...

Read more at: Steel name Mignone as new Head Coach

 

[JMCx4]

NA Now 2021-22 rapid-fire preview ...

 

[JMCx4]

The new Anchorage Wolverines squad got their hockey legs moving with a split of two exhibition games this past weekend vs. their Midwest Division rival Fairbanks Ice Dogs. Game summaries courtesy of the Anchorage Daily News ...

• Anchorage Wolverines lose 7-2 to Fairbanks Ice Dogs in junior hockey exhibition opener
• Wolverines down Ice Dogs in exhibition game

The Wolverines will start their inaugural regular season against fellow expansion team El Paso Rhinos on Sept. 15th, as part of the 2021 NAHL Showcase event.

 

[JMCx4]

Game #1 of the 2021-22 NAHL regular season is in the books ... or in a computer database somewhere ... Generals open NAHL season with 3-1 win

 

[JMCx4]

From: Texoma's Homepage > Local Sports

Wichita Falls Warriors drop puck on 2021 season with open door exhibition

by: M.J. Baird
Posted: Sep 7, 2021 / 10:06 PM CDT / Updated: Sep 7, 2021 / 10:06 PM CDT

The Wichita Falls take the ice Saturday September 11th at the KYC for an exhibition game against the Shreveport Mudbugs

Its a charity game helping to raise money for Shanda Campbell, the wife of Mudbugs’ head coach Jason Campbell who is battling multiple myeloma.

Tickets are $10 each, and can be bought at the door on Saturday night. All proceeds will go to #ShandaStrong. For more information on Shanda’s battle, click here.

 

[JMCx4]

From: KIII-TV3

IceRays returning after canceled 2020 season

Corpus Christi sees the return of the IceRays next week for the first time in a year and a half with the team heading to Minnesota for the NAHL Showcase.

Author: Chris Thomasson
Published: 10:59 PM CDT September 7, 2021
Updated: 10:59 PM CDT September 7, 2021

The heat outside might be rising sweltering, but the American Bank Center is freezing inside for the first time since spring of 2020 with the return of the Corpus Christi IceRays.

The IceRays are ready to resume play in the NAHL after the league shut down the season last year due to COVID. Corpus Christi has a new coach in its return with Michael Lysyj (pronounced lee-SEE) manning the bench. Lysyj comes over from Des Moines where he was an assistant in the USHL. ...

Read & See more at: IceRays returning after canceled 2020 season | kiiitv.com

 

[JMCx4]

From: The Minot Minotauros > News

Wagner Advances, Tauros Hire Campbell

September 11, 2021

Minot, ND – The Minot Minotauros are proud to announce that Head Coach and General Manager Shane Wagner is departing Minot for a soon to be announced NCAA head coaching position. Cody Campbell will immediately join the Minotauros to take over as the fourth Head Coach and General Manger in franchise history. First year Assistant Coaches Darren Banks and Jake Howie will remain in their roles within the organization.

Wagner first joined the Minotauros ahead of the 2017-2018 season as Marty Murray’s Assistant Coach and helped the team to a 28-26-6 record and an appearance in the National Championship Game. After three seasons as Murray’s Assistant Wagner took the helm ahead of last season after Murray departed to take over the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede. Last season, his first as Head Coach, Wagner led the Tauros to a 23-25-8 record and nearly the biggest playoff upset in league history when the Tauros took the record setting Aberdeen Wings to overtime in Game Five of the Central Division Semi-Finals. ...

Campbell comes to the Tauros after an NCAA DI playing career and eight years behind the bench. A goaltender during his playing days Campbell started with the Fargo Force and the Cedar Rapids Roughriders in the USHL and then for Niagara University. Immediately after his college career ended Campbell began a coaching career in the NAHL with the Odessa Jackalopes as their Goaltending Coach for the 2013-14 season. By the next season Campbell was promoted to Assistant Coach and Assistant General Manager. The next season Campbell served as the Assistant Coach for the Janesville Jets. In 2016-17 he started the season with his first Head Coaching job with the Colorado Springs Tigers 16U team before returning the Cedar Rapids as an Assistant in November. The next two seasons saw Campbell return to the Jackalopes, this time as Associate Head Coach. Finally, Campbell has spent the last two seasons as the Head Coach of the Walpole Express in the EHL and a scout for the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints. In his first season with Walpole Campbell earned EHL Coach of the Year honors. ...

Read more at: Wagner Advances, Tauros Hire Campbell

 

[mk80]

Wagner is departing Minot for a soon to be announced NCAA head coaching position.

Hmmm interesting

 

[JMCx4]

Week #1 in short video form ... And hockey lives on ...

 

[JMCx4]

And the Week #1 Stars of the Week, as the League's soft start gets on a roll with some netminder recognition ...

 

[JMCx4]

From: Seamore Sports

Dan Wildfong: Leading the Brahmas with details
On September 9, 2021
By terpanese

Hear from AIC Hockey Head Coach Eric Lang on what Lone Star Brahmas Head Coach Dan Wildfong means to College Hockey.

“He is an amazing advocate for his players and if you look at his track record his players are unbelievably successful collegiate hockey players.” Wildfong has developed pro hockey stars, sent players to college hockey and helped prepare them by focusing on details , as Lang went on to say. He noted what he gets when he gets a Wildfong developed player.

“They are college ready. He coaches his players hard, has high standards, and has them college ready when they show up on campus.”

As to Wildfong, he has built his program around character and players that strive to learn the details and systems needed to get to the next level. He looks for players with the same competitive drive he had in his decades playing professional hockey....

Read more at: Dan Wildfong: Leading the Brahmas with details

 

[JMCx4]

From: The Jamestown (NY) Post-Journal

Rebels Players In For Eye-Opener On Wednesday

Local Sports
Sep 13, 2021
Matt Spielman - Sports Writer

Several members of the Jamestown Rebels are in for an eye-opening experience come Wednesday.

The North American Hockey League Showcase starts that afternoon in Blaine, Minnesota, and for many of the Rebels, their 8:30 game that night against the Springfield Jr. Blues will be their first taste of junior hockey.

“I’m not sure if they’re realizing it’s an opportunity or not. I think that the self-evaluation process is immature at this stage in their careers,” Joe Coombs said Saturday morning before cutting his roster down to 24 players. ” … In every league, every time that you move up a level, you always think ‘I’m going to be good.’ They are good, but they don’t have immediate success. That lack of immediate success, especially with today’s kids, wanes on them.”

Forced to go dormant for the 2020-21 season due to COVID-19, Jamestown was unable to retain any of its players from the 2019-20 season. That forced Coombs, the head coach and general manager, to go back to his roots building a team.

“We’re always learning. This has been interesting to say the least,” he said. ” … Not having one player returning is an entirely new situation.” ...

Read more at: Rebels Players In For Eye-Opener On Wednesday

 

[JMCx4]

From: KIMT-TV3

The North Iowa Bulls open up their NAHL season on Wednesday

The Bulls are looking forward to this season and a new challenge.

Posted: Sep 12, 2021 11:52 PM
Posted By: Mary Peters

MASON CITY, Iowa - The North Iowa Bulls won the Fraser Cup Championship last year.

The Bulls are looking forward to this season and a new challenge.

The team is moving up a level to the NAHL.

"In our game, you're going to see a lot of a faster-paced game, just a little more skill. Fast-paced. A lot of hitting. And, you know, just a crisp play style. It's a little jump from the other league, but I think it's going to be good," says forward Ryan Coughlin. ...

"We have a strong and really quick team that's going to transition quickly and be able to push the pace and put other teams on their heels, which I think we did a really good job of. And that's going to be one of our strengths and I think we showed that in the preseason," says Ryan.

The Bulls take on the Minnesota Wilderness Wednesday morning at 11 (at the 2021 NAHL Showcase in Blaine, MN).

Read & See more at: The North Iowa Bulls open up their NAHL season on Wednesday

 

[JMCx4]

League game summaries from the first two days of the season-opening NAHL Showcase ...

• NAHL Showcase returns in grand fashion on Day 1
  
• Competition gets closer on Day 2 of NAHL Showcase

 

[JMCx4]

Third day in Blaine in the books ... Intensity and action picks up on Day 3 of NAHL Showcase

 

[JMCx4]

From: The Anchorage Daily News > Hockey

Anchorage Wolverines junior hockey team grabs first franchise win
By Anchorage Daily News
Updated: 1 day ago
Published: 1 day ago (Sep. 17, 2021)

A third-period goal from Jackson Krock lifted the Anchorage Wolverines junior hockey team to its first victory in franchise history Thursday night in Blaine, Minnesota.

The Wolverines grabbed a 2-1 win over the Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks at the NAHL Showcase. Anchorage is 1-1 in the North American Hockey League heading into a Friday game against the Wichita Warriors. ...

Read more at: Anchorage Wolverines junior hockey team grabs first franchise win

 

[JMCx4]

2021 NAHL Showcase wrapped up on Saturday night ... NAHL Showcase finishes strong on Saturday