[SAINT PAUL . MN]
While the Twin Cities are abuzz with the Super Bowl this weekend, the Minnesota Norsemen are in St. Paul, quietly preparing for the CCHL Playoffs and somehow out of the limelight in what would normally be unrelenting media coverage in the State of Hockey.
“We love the passion in this state for hockey,” said Captain, Charlie Coyle. “But in all honesty, this is nice to focus completely on the task at hand and have these extra couple of days to rest up and prep for either the Tigers or Puffin.” Too be fair, with the New England Patriots in town and vying for their sixth title, and second in as many years. The Weymouth, MA native, Coyle is probably not completely focused on hockey.
The Norsemen even in the playoffs is somewhat of a surprise to many. Even so for the team’s management that envisioned a rebuild that would keep the team’s focus on building back up into contention. “I’d say we’re ahead of where we would’ve seen ourselves in the timeline of events,” said General Manager, Blake Wendt. “We were a dead last team in the rankings at this time last season. To say we would be in the playoffs a year later? I wouldn’t have said that with much confidence. Not because of our personnel, but because we are so young and developing and still in that process of our overall development. Full credit to our coaching staff and players for not accepting that path, and pushing for more.”
There was some major turnover in the roster from that 2016-17 squad that finished 22ndin a 22-team league with a 15-60-7 record. Only Coyle, Anders Lee, Jonas Brodin, Antti Raanta and in lesser roles, Nick Bjugstad and Mike Reilly were on last year’s team. Longtime coach Craig Hartsburg, who was hired by Wendt when he took over the team in 2007 in Thunder Bay, moved into a player development role. Mike Yeo was promoted from the Duluth Leifs and name head coach of the Norsemen in the summer.
Management was active in the offseason and took some swings on free agents. Some of those were costly misses, but the intent was there. Mostly though, the rookies that stepped up have been a major infusion into the success of this season. Jake Guentzel (who was shipped out and re-acquired) and Anthony Mantha have floated up and down the line-up. Guentzel nearly hit 20 goals and finished the regular season with 19, 26 assists for 45 points. Mantha played in 53 games, scored 14 and had 17 assists for 31 points and was a very respectable +16. But even more impressive has been a pair of rookie blueliners that have solidified themselves on the top pairing this season. Ivan Provorov (5-24-29 +13) and Brandon Carlo (3-18-21 +7) played in all 82 games and have not only been extremely impressive but garnered the trust of their coach enough to line up opposite of the other team’s best. “We fought it for a while to not pair up two rookies,” said Yeo. “Ivan played a lot with Vatanen to start and Brandon with Brodin. Then Sami was traded and we started playing McQuaid up more with Brodin and it was inevitable that Provorov and Carlo would end up together. We paired them up top, and they sort of forced our hand into keeping them there and together.”
As impressive as Provorov and Carlo have been, the future will continue to get brighter next season with Charlie McAvoy set to make the team. “We’re excited about what has been accomplished this season and to battle again in the playoffs,” said Wendt. “But we’re probably more amped up for what we will have next season and beyond. McAvoy should fit in perfectly with this group. He’s been dominating this season in Duluth, and we look forward to that translating to the CCHL with ease.”
But for now, it’s all preparation for a continuation of the season, hopefully, sneak up on some teams, and continue to build upon a strong foundation and be a consistent, relentless force for years to come.
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