NAHL Announces New Team In Minnesota
By Kirk Estes
The NAHL today announced that the Minnesota Junior Hockey Group headed by Scott Krueger, Scott Meyer and Joe Pankratz has purchased the dormant New Mexico Mustangs membership. Minnesota Junior hockey will relocate the team to Richfield, MN a suburb of greater Minneapolis/St. Paul. While they have yet to announce a team name or head coach, the team will start play in the 2013/14 season.
The team will call the 1800 seat Richfield Ice Arena home. Kruger stated “the city of Richfield was very accommodating” and will be making several enhancements to the arena over the next eight months in preparation for the start of the season. The new team will have two built in regional rivalries. Richfield in just over 100 miles from Austin, MN home of the Austin Bruins and 150 miles from Onalaska, WI home of the Coulee Region Chill.
Meyer and Pankratz have an extensive hockey background and are the founders of Exceed Hockey, which own and operate two year-round hockey training centers. The center in Prior Lake is home to the AAA Minnesota Magicians and the Stillwater center is home to the AAA Warriors.