Practice underway for Thunder
Published 9:09 am Thursday, August 28, 2008
There’s a lot going on at the City Arena these days. There are upgrades being made to the concession stands and locker rooms and, oh yeah, there’s a group of around 25 people skating on the ice.
The Thunder has started practice at the City Arena, preparing for the season opener against the Kenai River Brown Bears at the NAHL Showcase in Blaine Sept. 17.
The players are adjusting to their new surroundings having already moved in with their host families but the first week of practice hasn’t allowed for anything other than hockey.
“There’s not a lot of hanging out time right now,” Thunder forward Danny Wood said.
The team begins the day with practice and then in the evening the dry land training begins. As grueling as the practices have been the players are excited about the season beginning.
“We just want to get ready because the Showcase is coming up sooner than we think,” Thunder forward Niko Kapetanovic said.
The players are confident that the team will be able to compete in the NAHL even as an expansion franchise.
“We’re going to be a hard working team,” Wood said. “Fast, quick, we’ve got some toughness. We’ve got a little bit of everything.”
The first week has been about conditioning and forming a team bond in order to get through a 58-game, seven month schedule.
“Our goal is to make sure we’re a close knit family, make sure everyone protects everyone,” head coach Brad Zangs said. “Like I told our players, we’re in this all together.”
The players have come from across the country to help get the team off the ground and off to a good start. Kapetanovic is from Wisconsin and Wood is from Ohio. The rest of the roster is composed of players from Minnesota, like Chris Cass and Jeff Lesmeister, Chicago and other areas of the country. The formation of that bond has been easy for some of the players because they have played together in the past and as everyone knows the hockey community is a small world. Wood and Colin Moberly played together at Shattuck St. Mary’s and have found the move to Albert Lea easy because of the familiarity with the other players.
Zangs has liked what he has seen from the group thus far and has been impressed with the pool of talent the team will have in its first year.
“I think we’re going to be a little more skilled than expansion teams in the past,” Zangs said. “We’ll take one game at a time.”
The Thunder has its home opener Sept. 27 against the Owatonna Express.