THE DRAKKAR REPORT: Norsemen look to take giant step in 2015-16 season

Herb Brooks Olympia [SAINT PAUL | MINNESOTA]

The celebration of the start of the 2015-16 CCHL season begins this afternoon at 7th St W and down W Kellogg Blvd in anticipation of the Minnesota Norsemen hosting the Siberia Ice Cats tonight as the CCHL’s Opening Game. A celebration that the city of Saint Paul and the State of Hockey hope to repeat at the end of a long playoff run.

“Without sounding too cliché,” says GM Blake Wendt. “We’re in it to win it. We are confident in the group that we’ve put together over the years of rebuilding, and accelerated this offseason is capable of doing some damage this year. Obviously there are many teams in the CCHL that feel the exact same way, and the competition will be immense. But we’re here to compete with the best of them, and the people of this hockey-mad state and region deserve the best this game can give.”

The Norsemen are in for some very stiff competition throughout the league. But also very much within their own conference. Home of the back-to-back Kehler Cup champion Copenhagen Crusaders, the Canosa Conference also has the very formidable Victoria Ronin and Georgetown Millers, Ovechkin-led Sanibel Islanders and budding super team, Reykjavik Puffin.

“It’s going to be a fight all year,” says Norsemen captain, Johnny Boychuk. “We play in a very stout conference, and it seems as though everyone wants it. It’s easy when you have the champ in your conference to want to knock their teeth out. Easier said than done. But we’re not backing down to anyone.”

Minnesota played twelve games this pre-season and went 4-5-3. Not anything to send quivers down the spines of the competition. But there is still not much concern from the coaching staff.

“We did want we wanted to do in the pre-season,” says head coach Craig Hartsburg. “Our record is what it is. Could we improve on some things? Absolutely. Some teams go out there with their lineups set and just roll over everyone. We had players we wanted to tryout and had some competition for spots to be earned. We tried out scenarios where there’s an injury to a key player and moved guys around to keep the motor running as a team. In the end, we did what we wanted to do, and are eager to get things going for real. We know expectations are high and if we just do what we know we are all very capable of doing with the talent here, we can be very successful. It’s a matter of us as coaches to implement the plan and the players to execute the plan to success.”

Fans can arrive outside and around the Olympia at 4:30 PM for the Norsemen ‘Sails Up’ rally. Washington St from W Kellogg Blvd to W 5th St will be closed for the event from 2 PM until midnight.