The moment you have all been waiting for finally arrived this afternoon. The roster has been released. You can view the roster on the official Express website here:
http://nahlowatonna.stats.pointstreak.com/teamroster.html?teamid=137694&seasonid=4527 .
Obviously there will be plenty more information on the roster, but I will give you just a quick Big Kahuna opinion on this year's version of our favorite junior hockey team.
Goalies:
Mattias Horan - A native of Denmark, he spent last season in France. He was highly coveted by the Wichita Falls franchise, and was set to go to training camp with Wildcats. However, when former Express goalie Freddy Bergman committed to the University of Nebraska-Omaha, that opened up a juicy role with the Express, that Mattias jumped on.
Mike Shibrowski - An honorable mention all-state goalie at Benilde - St Margrets as a junior, he finished last season with the Russell Stover AAA program in Kansas City.
Defensemen:
Marco Fiala, Nick Carson, Jake Sloat, and Grant Fahnhorst return from last year. Newcomers joining them are:
Ben Montgomery - He is a cousin of former Express player and current UMD Bulldog Mike Montgomery. Ben comes from the Shattuck St Mary's program in Faribault.
Jake Suter - He is the son of former NHL star Gary Suter, the nephew of 1980 Olypmic team member Bob Suter, and the cousin of current NHLer Ryan Suter.
Connor Quinn - Hailing from Wildwood, Missouri, he played last season with the St Louis Amateur Blues.
John Kirby - The Austin, Minnesota native is the brother of former Express and current Air Force Falcon defenseman Tim Kirby.
Forwards:
Chris Bournazos, Dylan Porter, Chris Darnell, Zach Vierling, Cory Thorson, and Brian McGinty return from last year's squad, and will be joined by 9 newcomers.
Schyler Adams - Comes to the Express from New Prague High School, and was the #11 leading scorer in the entire state of Minnesota as a senior.
Jake Youso - USHL veteran, and committed to the University of Minnesota.
Ben Persian - Played at Orono High School last season. Has a verbal commitment to the Air Force Academy.
Chris Westin - Tied for 8th in scoring in the state of Minnesota last season as a senior at Virginia High School.
Blake Schammel - Tied for 21st in the state of Minnesota in scoring last season at Red Wing High School.
Jason McAloon - A tremendous athlete, he comes to the Express from the Team Illinois AAA program.
Nick Widing - Although he is from Somerset, Wisconsin, he played his high school hockey at Hill-Murray. It just wouldn't be an Express team without a former Hill-Murray guy on the roster.
John Haeg - Tied for 26th in the state in scoring last season at the Academy of Holy Angels.
Jordan Treddinick - Led the state of Wisconsin in scoring his senior year, and was a Wisconsin Mr. Hockey finalist.
My take: It's hard not to be extremely excited about the 25 guys on the roster. Coach Cullen mentioned at the meet & greet that it's going to be real tough to chose the 5 guys who won't dress for each game. This team is highly talented, and will be very dangerous come playoff time. I'm not going to mince words here: Anything less than a Central Division Championship, and a Robertson Cup run will be a disappointment.
See you at the rink.
--Big Kahuna
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1 comment:
I know it's still a month away, but has there been any rumblings about any Opening Night festivities yet? I see the game vs. Alexandria begins at 6 pm. Postgame concert being lined up perhaps?
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