“Michael DeBrito (Kenai River-NAHL) and Isaac Johnson (Cedar Rapids-USHSL and Bemidji State commit) will be missed as scorers,” said Head Coach Mike Donaghue, now in his 18th season.  “Cole Zierden and Carter Thielke were contributors in key situations for us, and defensively, Andrew Johnson played 4 years, so will miss his experience and leadership.”

Top returning forwards are Kellen Stenstrom (14 goals, 20 assists) and Shane Zierden (5 goals, 8 assists.  Colin Becker, Leighton Buckmeier and Ethan McGuiness are the top returners on the blue line.

“We are looking for Griffin Babolian (JR) to bring his football success to the hockey rink,” said Donaghue.  “Brayden Nelson (JR) and Joey Johnson (SR) have continued to develop into athletes that will need to step in and contribute.  Jax Katzenmeyer (SR) has worked hard and can contribute.  Ethan McGuiness (SR) did an excellent job stepping in throughout his junior year and will be relied upon to play important minutes this year.  Jack Welde and Michael Schmidt are two sophomores that will have an opportunity to provide some offensive punch.”

Assisting Donaghue are Trevor Larson, Joey Kalan and Scott Christison.  Donaghue says Alexandria and Northern Lakes are the favorites in Section 6A.

“We are in a rebuild mode,” added Coach Donaghue.  “We lost most of our scoring and key leaders from the last two years.  We are going to have to be gritty and detail focused to find success.  We will be a young team, so there will be some early season growing that will take place.  We do return a goalie who has 3 years of experience, as well as 3 defensemen that played substantial minutes last year.  We will count on them to be leaders this year.  If we can get the consistency and work ethic from the entire team each day, we will be a competitive hockey team.”