A new junior hockey team is coming to the Twin Cities. Forest Lake will be home to the Minnesota Mallards out of the North American Hockey League next season.
"It produces about 300 college athletes every year, a handful of NHL draft picks every year as well," explains Mallards General Manager AJ Bucchino. "And, you know, the league is pretty much the bridge for motivated hockey players at the end of their high school career, before college or before pro hockey."
Bucchino spoke to WCCO Radio's Vineeta Sawkar Wednesday morning and had been with the Richfield-based NAHL the Minnesota Magicians prior to the team being purchased by new owners and moving to Wisconsin.
There are already two NAHL teams in Minnesota with teams in Austin and St. Cloud. The Mallards will play in the NAHL's Central Division along with Aberdeen (SD), Austin (MN), Bismarck (ND), Minot (ND), North Iowa (Mason City), St. Cloud and Watertown (SD).
Bucchino says that Forest Lake is the perfect spot for a new team. It will be the only team in the Twin Cities metro area after Richfield moved to Wisconsin, and play games at the Forest Lake Sports Center which they'll share with Forest Lake High School's team among other hockey associations.
"High school games get about 700 fans a game," says Bucchino. "We feel that this credible league could get 600 to 1,000 fans a game and really be a great place for the community to do things, and get involved that way. The facilities are top-of-the-line for a Twin Cities location in the league."
The NAHL is now in its 49th season. It's the only USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier II Junior league boasting 32 teams in 17 states from across North America. The US junior hockey program is available to high school students and graduates who are at least 16 years of age and no older than 20. Many players in junior hockey leave home to play in the NAHL under the supervision of the team and academic counselors.
"We're very excited to offer Minnesota-born players a local place to come, and be in a very exposed environment where there's a lot of recruiting, a lot of scouts come through a major airport in this hockey bed that we live in," says Bucchino. "We're very excited for this opportunity coming this fall."
Bucchino also says that players who come from outside of the area will be looking for families to host players as well and says they will have a website ready with more information in about a week.
During the 2022-23 season, the NAHL had over 380 NCAA committed players with over 75% of those being NCAA Division I commitments. Additionally, 38% of all NCAA Division I freshmen played hockey in the NAHL. Over the course of the last seven seasons, over 1,850 NAHL players have made NCAA commitments and 36 have been drafted into the NHL according to league stats.
All teams in the NAHL are privately owned and operate as a business similar in structure and business operations as those involving professional hockey teams. Bucchino confirmed that the team will be owned locally by Charles Bailey Jr.
It'll be a sprint to the start of the season says Bucchino, who says they are quickly preparing for a June draft and getting a team on the ice this fall. The team does have a coach already. His name is Terry Watt who is a native of Ajax, ON, Canada and played professionally for 14 years across several different leagues. Bucchino says they'll be introducing him at a later date.
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