NA Now: Austin Bruins

NA Now: Austin Bruins

when I was a player, you know, late bloomers will come in at 19 or 20 that maybe were overlooked when they were 16 or 17. And so, you get those guys that are a little bit maybe more hungry um just because they’ve been passed over. That hunger is why the North American Hockey League is a destination for uncommitted athletes to secure their NCAA dreams. Steve Howard once played in the league of opportunity, but now leads the charge for the Austin Bruins. He shares a little bit more on what is ahead for the upcoming season and recaps last year today on NA Now. Yeah, you know, it was a great season for us, but uh ultimately our division had three of the top five teams in the entire league, you know, and and Bismar obviously won the the Robertson Cup and they were they were loaded last year. They had a lot of older guys which, you know, I think that that really that played a part in the playoffs. We only had five 20 year olds and I I I want to say they were, you know, 15, 16, 20 year olds, something like that. So, you know, I think that that’s huge for teams that are going deep and and trying to win a Robertson Cup. I think uh having that experience really helped them and and you know, I think it’s going to help us this year because we return a lot. Last season, your roster featured a 4212 3 and2 record during the regular season. What are some of your biggest takeaways from last year? Uh just, you know, there was a lot of great things from last year. We set some records. We had some great players that came through here that will probably hold those records for a long time. Um it it was just a good group of guys, you know. I think since I’ve been here, we’ve established a good culture and um you know, on and off the ice. And I think uh last year that group uh was certainly uh one of the special ones that I’ll always remember and um you know hopefully with returning quite a few of those guys that you know this year we can we can pick up where we left off. What about that group makes them so special? I think just you know when you think about some of the things we did you know I think it was what a 21 game stretch there where we didn’t get beat in regulation. Um that was kind of a cool little stretch that we went on and and you know inside the locker room those guys were so close and and they all knew that you know we we all had to buy in and um our young group our older guys like everybody was just uh they were they were class acts all year and then to have you know what Lorenza did last year even Malcasian and what he did last year um you know our goalenders like Jack Solomon you know we lost both of our goals bullies that we had at the beginning of the year and then we get Jack back and then to have Carl Axelson to get sent to us like you know those those guys were a one one punch. I wouldn’t even say it’s a one-two punch. Those were a one-1 punch. Um you know as far as goalenders go and it was just once again we had we had some really good defenseman, good forwards. It was a good team all around and and u you know it was I was fortunate to be able to coach that group and um you know I’ll always remember them. Steve, you also have a special connection to the North American Hockey League because you played in the league. What are some of the biggest changes that you have noticed from your time from playing to now coaching? Yeah, I just it’s probably the biggest thing is the landscape. Um landscape obviously the footprint too. When I was playing it was mainly in Michigan. Um you know I’m from Michigan. Uh, I think a lot of us, uh, a lot of us kids from Michigan back then, it was it was, uh, you know, the North American Hockey League, the USHL, and the AWHL, the American West League. They’re all on the same level. And, uh, you know, we we would all play against each other for the National Championship or or meet in a central location or one of the one of the leagues would host a cup. Um, but it was it’s a long time ago. A lot of things have changed since then. Um, but you know, I think they they had switched up the tier one to tier 2 status in the early 2000s. Um, you know, and then this past November, obviously with that landscape change is is probably the the biggest one junior hockeyy’s ever seen. So, um, I think everybody’s still trying to feel it out and figure out where where the chips are going to fall and and how things are going to settle here. But um uh you know for me I’m I’m just excited because you know once again as you said I played in the league and and to be a part of it for you know this will be my ninth season. Um, you know, it just kind of makes me feel like I’m I’m back where I started and uh, you know, hopefully I can pass on as as much knowledge to these kids and and these I should say young men um, to get them advanced on to their their goals and dreams of playing division one hockey or or college hockey period to be honest with you and hopefully pro. Yeah. So alongside your experience experience playing in the North American Hockey League, you also played NCAA hockey and also pro hockey. How has those experiences translated into your coaching now as the head coach of the Bruins? Yeah, you know, obviously times were a little different back then and and I keep getting older, but uh you know, to that stretch in the early 2000s to, you know, I played for seven years in the minors. I I think the the hockey was played a lot different. Um you know, I think uh the rules have changed, the game has changed a bit. It’s much more skilled and fast. um you know and and that’s that’s probably the biggest difference is uh you know the the guys that were probably playing in my day you could find uh um a bunch of role players and guys that were going to play hard and heavy now you can find a bunch of guys that can all do you know the Michigan and you know it’s the skill is everywhere out there it’s trying to um kind of bend and mold and make sure you got a group that’s uh you know going to play a little bit of the they’re going to finish or checks and play a little bit of those those I guess role play a bit in in in a sense to where a third fourth line guy would would kind of be a checking group or a checking guy. We need to have a few more um players like that and they’re hard to find nowadays. Everybody wants to score all the goals and and um that’s probably the biggest difference in the change as far as uh from when I played or or when I when I was coaching early on even to the today’s day and age. But um you know having said that uh the group that we had last year we had a good mix and we’re hopefully going to continue on this year with uh the same type of mix. But to kind of big piggyback off what you were saying you’re heading into your ninth season with the Austin Bruins. What keeps you coming back as coach? Honestly, a lot of things. Um this city. Uh I love this town. My wife and I have been here since the beginning. Obviously, uh we moved up here together and uh we just love it. The the support we get in Austin, uh it’s a great little community in in Minnesota and you know, 26,000 people and really during the winter, the Austin Bruins are the only thing to do in town, so everybody comes out. They know us. Uh we get treated really well here. Um our ownership is probably the other the other big thing. Um you know, I came here with with Mike Cooper and Craig Patrick. Uh they were great and they own the team for my first I think it was six years and then the last two years uh our new owner Brian Redines took over and and you know it’s it’s been great like I think that’s a really big thing and in my profession is uh having owners that that you trust and that trust in you and and that you get along with and um you know the ownership has been awesome and then uh just you know keep coming back because you kind of find your niche, you know, I’ve said it before, but you know, once once you get kind of used to the scouting and and how the league works and all that good stuff and and more importantly moving guys on to colleges, I think that’s uh that’s the the biggest part about our profession is the kids all want to move on and if you have the contacts to move them on and uh you know, you build a culture the way you want it, like you know, sometimes it’s a it’s a scenario that why fix what’s not broken, right? So, um just love love the town, love the area, and keep coming back. With last season’s roster, there were 11 athletes with NCAA commitments. How does it feel as a coach to see your athletes have those opportunities at the next level? Yeah, it’s really what we do this for. It really is. I mean, there’s nothing like having a player come in to tell you that he’s just committed somewhere or give you that call, you know? It’s it’s uh it’s most it’s it’s probably the most rewarding thing about our job and um you know every year we want to keep moving those guys on you know and I I certainly think we’d have more but we had a lot of younger guys last year. Um, so having said that, you know, a lot of the younger guys, hopefully we get them their their college commitment this year and, um, you know, we certainly, uh, were excited for the 11 that did move on and I think there might be a couple more coming out here in the next few weeks. But, uh, you know, all that said, that’s our that’s our number one goal. We want to move guys up and move guys on. With that, the Bruins have become a staple in the North American Hockey League. They just recently wrapped up their 15th season. What about Austin stands out as an organization and also as a city to play hockey in? Yeah, it’s the town support really. Um, you know, we’re we’re close enough to say the Twin Cities. We’re an hour and a half south of the Twin Cities that the guys are close enough to, you know, a lot of their maybe they’re from the Twin Cities. Maybe their parents want to fly in. They can fly right into Minneapolis and drive down, but we’re far enough away that, you know, we’re surrounded by cornfields in the small little town, right? And so you you have the junior feel of of playing. Honestly, it’s kind of like playing minor professional hockey. You know, you’re you’re a big fish in a small pond really. and uh the entire town from the businesses to the restaurants to the the fans, the billets, like everything. You know, you asked earlier why I keep coming back. Like that’s it’s all kind of set up for us. We love it here. Um and you know, it’s it’s the relationships that we’ve built here and and you know, I think a lot of the players really really do enjoy coming and playing hockey here. We have some that come back for their third and even their fourth year to play because they love it so much. And you know, that’s that’s a rewarding thing for me. You know, I think uh I always joke around with the rest of the staff and say, you know, they obviously want to come back because of because of the coaches, but really it’s it’s everything. It’s the town and and obviously they love their billets and and we still see quite a few of them. They’ll stop through and come in and say hi because maybe they’re going to play college hockey out east or um you know, maybe they’re passing through because they’re going to play minor pro hockey out west. And so they’ll stop through for a couple days and it’s nice to see those guys and just catch up with them and see how they’re doing. So that’s really fun to hear to see that it’s very full circle. They’re making the return. But while we’re still talking about the players, what makes the athletes who come through the North American Hockey League different than any other junior um league? Well, you know, that that question’s can go in a lot of different ways when I say that. Like a lot of times we start out with with a lot of the younger guys and we develop them in their first year or two and then they move on to let’s say um uh USHL or maybe in the CHL and you know they go from there. But in a lot of other ways and even my path uh when I was a player you know late bloomers will come in at 19 or 20 that maybe were overlooked when they were 16 or 17. And so you get those guys that are a little bit maybe more hungry um just because they’ve been passed over, they’ve been cut from every USHL camp or maybe they were drafted, they just never played for that USHL team. Well, we have a lot of those older guys that really develop later and, you know, for for us to get a player at 19 or 20 and, you know, turn them into a player that hopefully can have a long career professionally even after college, you know, and and that’s that’s probably one of the bigger rewarding things about the league, I think, is everybody talks about the NHL being an older league, and it certainly is. like uh like we just talked about, Bismar had quite a few 20-year-olds last year. We’re going to have quite a few this year. And you know, having an older team is never a bad thing. I think when you have some of that experience and and some of those guys that are maybe weathered, maybe they’ve been told no a few times, I I I really like that. I think that fuels their fire and um you know, it it’s what keeps those guys going. you know, they they want to they want to make sure they they go well with a bang as a 20-year-old or a 19year-old. They want still hungry for that college commitment and um you know, that’s what makes the the league so great. You you guys are or the the league is playing with a bunch of young men and it’s not boys, you know, and and I think uh having said that, it’s it’s the closest thing to a semi-pro game. you know, fans can come out and they can watch a good brand of hockey with a lot of guys that honestly most of them are going to go play somewhere after college and u you know, for you to come out and see the the stars of tomorrow today. Um you know, that’s that’s kind of one of the the cool things about being in the league and even to play against some of the players that we’ve in our division. like it’s it’s so awesome to to notice some of the guys that are playing in one of the other teams and go, “Man, that kid is he’s something, you know, but it’s even better when he’s on your team, right?” So, um those are those are probably some of the things that, you know, as a former player, as a coach now, that I’m probably most passionate about with the North American Hockey League is just the simple fact that, you know, it’s it’s always produced players. Um you know, I’m just excited and and feel very fortunate to be a part of it still. And uh you know there’s nothing like watching a player go to a development camp or you know even play on the TV screen at some point and you know had Nico Sturm win two Stanley Cups in the last six years. So it’s pretty cool to see um that former Austin Bruin now Stanley Cup winner. Um but you know having said all that it’s it’s uh it’s a process and and it’s what we do it for every year. you got to go out and find the next uh hopefully next Nikosterm or or the next uh Alex Lorenza or Luke Malcasian. So, uh that’s what what we love doing is the hunt. With that, the season is quickly approaching and everyone at home doesn’t get to experience an Austin Bruins game. Take us through what the atmosphere and the fan base is like. Yeah, it’s uh it’s great. You know, our arena holds 2,000 uh people. we can squeeze about 2500 in here and and we do on on pink night. Um but it’s you know the arena is very old. I think it was built in 1972. So, you know, you think about the history and the tradition of this arena, um, you know, been around so having been around so long, it’s, uh, certainly we’ve been trying to put some updates into it. Um, and and trying to get the city to to keep upgrading for us and and obviously playing in some of the arenas in our division, they’re very very nice and state-of-the-art, but there’s something about old Riverside Arena. You know, we got stands on both sides. Honestly, if you get if you were to get uh 800 to 1,000 fans in here, it looks packed. But it doesn’t really look much different when we have 1500 to 2,000 in here. You know what I mean? It’s just um both sides pretty loud and and the fan base here is is great. Obviously being in Minnesota, it’s a state of hockey, so everybody gets the game, they know the game, and um you know, it’s it’s a it’s an atmosphere like well, I I consider one of the one of the better atmospheres that you can play in in junior hockey just because of that old feel. You know, we we really like u the way things are presented here. I think our front office does a great job. I think uh David Query does a good job on the call. He’s he’s he’s a upand cominging um you know analyst that’ll be moving up or playby-play analyst that that’ll be moving on just like uh TJ Shelot or or any of the other guys that we’ve we’ve had move up to pro. But um they do a good job here. I mean quite honestly our entire division does a really good job. I don’t know that there’s a a bad spot that doesn’t really have any atmosphere in the central division but uh we all steal from each other. you see the the same games being played in intermission and whatever, but um you know, most importantly, it’s uh when you come into Austin, you know that uh you know, you have some passionate fans. They we travel well. A lot of them go on the road. It’s not it’s not common for us to be in in a place like Bismar or even my not and see some black and gold up in the stands. So, um yeah, you know, I just hope that everybody does get a chance that’s watching this to uh catch a game. if they don’t. Uh, and AHL TV does a good job. And once again, David Cory will be on the call. What do you think players enjoy the most about being an Austin Bruin playing and living in Austin? I I think it goes back to they’re treated like a pro here. Um, you know, we try to treat him professionally as coaches, as a hockey staff, uh, you know, as an organization. And then on and off the ice, it translates, um, you know, once again, small community. uh wherever they go, they go to a restaurant, they have to be mindful that, you know, hey, even though they don’t have maybe an awesome brewing shirt on, people know who they are. And so, um, you know, that said, they they’re looked up to here and and I think the players that we bring in, we want to bring quality players both as human beings and as hockey players. Uh, but, you know, more importantly, they got to be respectful around town. And I think they love the fact that they’re treated like pros everywhere. You know, they’re signing autographs. They’re they’re constantly asked to uh to do uh promotions and and help out uh community service-wise. We do a lot with the community here. And um you know, all that said, I think that’s why a lot of players really come back for multiple years is uh you know, they they like the group that we put together and and when I say that, the culture we put together and uh you know, that keeps guys coming back. Well, talking about the players as we head into this upcoming season, what are some of your overarching goals for this upcoming year? Uh, you know, everybody’s goal obviously the endgame is to to get to the Robertson Cup and win a Robertson Cup, right? So, um, you know, it’s there’s 34 other teams that are saying the same thing right now. But, you know, having said that, uh, you know, we want to move as many guys on as possible, too. That’s that’s the biggest thing. Uh, you know, we got some guys with this new landscape that we feel like can be division one hockey players, you know, and and it’s going to be u, you know, our our entire hockey ops staff is going to be making a lot of phone calls and those guys need to have productive years and you know, we need to we need to make sure we’re doing the right things as a as a group to uh, you know, counter some of the some of the different I guess styles of play in our division. uh we have some smart coaches in our division and and I feel like it’s it’s more and more of a chess match every game and every weekend. So, um you know, having said that, uh I think this year our our main goal is is obviously those two things to to try to win as many games as possible and get in the playoffs and then get to the Robertson Cup and hopefully win one, but most importantly move kids on. Yeah. And talking about moving kids on, one of our big events of the year is the greatest show on ice, the NA showcase where there’s college scouts every year and it’s quickly approaching. What are you looking forward to most once you hit Blaine with the Austin Bruins? Yeah, I think the biggest thing is getting our group in front of those guys early on. I think it’s such a great thing. Um, that showcase right there starts the wheel, right? And as the wheel turns, those guys keep you they keep following your guys. They keep checking up on them. we keep making phone calls and you know early on if they’re impressed usually with that player um you know it’s a a lot of times it continues on to hopefully a visit and maybe even a a college scholarship. So um that said it’s so well timed. Um I love the fact that we do it every year. I love the fact that when we get up there, I get to meet some of the new coaches. Uh, as you know, in college hockey, uh, there’s even more so, there’s a lot more turnover than there is in our in our level, I guess. Um, so having said that, you know, you get up there and you see a lot of assistants that have gone here or gone there and you get to catch up with them and uh, you know, hopefully we have the right fit, especially if it’s a kid that uh, you know, maybe it’s a higher educational school or an Ivy League school and hopefully we have a couple of guys that fit that mold and it’s a it’s a lot of fun to mingle with those guys at the at the showcase there. Absolutely. And to kind of wrap things up, reflecting on last season, what was one of your favorite memories with the Bruins? Favorite memories? Oh jeez. You know, it was probably that stretch that we went on, those 21 games. It was uh it was a lot of fun. Those guys were were very focused throughout that and um you know, we we had our own little inside deals that we did throughout that and that but we tried to keep going all year or for those 21 games. And um yeah, I think that was probably my my favorite time, you know, and there was so many little things that were going on just, you know, as as you know, hockey players are pretty uh um superstitious and and there was, you know, my my assistant Robbie didn’t have socks on the entire time because he forgot them for the game one, so he just quit wearing them. There’s a lot of cold rinks that he was freezing, but you know, there was that was just one of the little things. There was probably about 15 to 20 little things that we did during that stretch that uh you know just kind of makes me look back and smile and and that was probably my favorite time. Absolutely. I really appreciate you taking the time to chat with us today. We’ll see you in a few short weeks for the NA showcase. Thank you, Steve. Yeah, thanks for having me on again.

Head Coach of the Bruins, Steve Howard, shares more on what it means to be with the Austin organization and what makes playing for the Bruins so special for players. He dives into the grittiest of the athletes that come through the NAHL and how leading the next generation of hockey players fuels his passion for coaching.

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