NAHL Preview: The Michigan teams

By Matt Mackinder –

The North Division underwent a revamp over the summer months, but the Michigan-heavy division should be one of the most competitive divisions in all of the North American Hockey League.

Back are the Michigan Warriors, Port Huron Fighting Falcons and Traverse City North Stars, with the Motor City Metal Jackets moving to Jamestown, N.Y., and the Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings making a return to the NAHL. The Jamestown Ironmen is the fifth team in the North Division.

In the early going, the Warriors have shown that their run to the Robertson Cup finals last season was no fluke, Port Huron is accruing wins at a much faster pace than last year, Traverse City is finding success and the Jr. K-Wings have five wins in their first eight games.

The run to Frisco, Tex., home of the Robertson Cup tournament next spring, should go through the North Division.

See the NAHL standings and recent scores

KALAMAZOO JR. K-WINGS

The second incarnation of the Kalamazoo franchise is under the guidance of Mark Fakler, a former Western Michigan and Wayne State assistant coach who has some lofty goals in mind for the K-Wings.

“We want to lead the league in goals-against and then second, we want to lead the league in goals scored,” Fakler said. “I think the opportunities from offense will come from good defense, but first and foremost, we have to be tough to score on. I think that’s a formula for winning championships. We have to be able to take care of the puck in our own end.”

Veteran forward Andrew Graves comes to the K-Wings after scoring 26 goals for the Metal Jackets last season. Graves had one stretch during last season where he had 15 points in just eight games. Kalamazoo will also get some veteran scoring from Chris Hughes, who posted 30 points last season with Coulee Region.

“We wanted guys that wanted to be here and put 100 percent effort into what we are doing,” said Fakler. “We want them to compete hard on a daily basis and most importantly, have great character. NAHL players come into the league and there is a certain level of maturity and knowledge there that gives them an edge right away. We know there are hundreds of quality players in the NAHL and our hope in Kalamazoo is to give them the opportunity to perform, be successful and be seen.”

MICHIGAN WARRIORS

Last season, the first-year Warriors came within one win of a Robertson Cup championship.

This year, the Flint-based Warriors hope to gain that extra post-season victory, but with more than 10 players gone from last year’s team, including NAHL MVP Robert Tadazak in goal, Warriors head coach Moe Mantha is realistic when it comes to his expectations for this year, even after a 7-1-1 start to the season.

“We just want to play the game,” Mantha said. “There’s been a lot of hype going on. The team set the bar pretty high last year and we’ll be rebuilding this year because of the success we had last year. That’s what the program is all about, to develop young players and give them an opportunity to get to the highest level possible.”

Brach Tiller, a very steady backup last season under Tadazak, has earned the starting role and will have Luis Puig as his backup. Dave Johnson is the lone defenseman back and will mentor youngsters Derek O’Flynn, Matt Vermillion, Luke Fiegl, Jake Webber and Dan Sakalian.

Forward Chris Eckler, who came to Flint last year in a trade from Wichita Falls, has a positive outlook on the year.

“We lost most of our top scorers from last year, but that hasn’t seemed to slow us down this year,” Eckler said. “Our power play has been good and guys seemed to have stepped up this year and done well for us so far.”

PORT HURON FIGHTING FALCONS

With four wins in their first eight games, Port Huron is light years ahead of last year’s dreadful season that saw just six notches in the win column.

Head coach Bill Warren, who took over midway through the 2010-2011 season, had all summer to mold and shape the roster to be his own this year.

“We’re going to bring a much higher level of play to the ice this season with the roster we’ve put together,” said Warren, who coached Port Huron to a 5-20-5 record after taking over as head coach last January after a 1-26-1 start. “This is a team that is going to score some goals and compete for a playoff spot in the North Division. This team will bring energy and excitement to McMorran Arena and we will have players that will make an impact well beyond what they do on the ice.”

One strength Port Huron looks to have this year will be in goal with veteran returnee Peter Megariotis battling rookie Max Milosek for time. As of last weekend, each had recorded two wins.

“I have the mindset that I can be a No. 1, but Max is a really good goalie in his own right,” said Megariotis, one of three returning players to Port Huron, along with defenseman Sean Gammage and forward Logan Lemirande.

Megariotis added that there is a different vibe around the rink this time around.

“When Bill came in last year, this really wasn’t his team and to be honest, a lot of times we were just going through the motions,” admitted Megariotis. “Now, we know that jobs are on the line each day and I think that pushes us all to work even harder.

“No one is getting too comfortable and maybe that’s how it needs to be.”

TRAVERSE CITY NORTH STARS

Nearly one-third of the Traverse City roster is Traverse City natives — a tradition of sorts that has been a mark of the team’s success over their first six seasons.

“We’ve always had good local talent come through here,” said new head coach Chad Fournier. “In fact, some of the best high school players we’ve had over the years have come from around here. I think it says a lot about the high school programs and the quality of the coaching they get from the time they step onto the ice with the Grand Traverse Hockey Association all the way through high school.”

Top returning scorer Alec Shields is back looking to improve on his 21-goal campaign of a year ago and rookie Kyle Schempp out of the Compuware organization looks to be another impact forward.

Robert Wiener, Chris Leibinger and Zack Dorer are back on the blue line and will be counted on for instant leadership with the graduation of two-year captain Travis White.

“We’ve got veterans that will have to step into a larger role,” said Traverse City GM Anthony Palumbo. “By the same token, some of these younger guys are going to have to step up as well. We have a lot of new faces on defense and in goal and we may look to add a veteran defenseman to that mix as well, but it’s an exciting and talented group.”

Rookies Michael Parda and Kyle Laslo are the new goalies with Laslo taking the starting job and going 5-1-1 in the team’s first seven games.

“It’s a process of trying to identify the right players, fit them together, and go after some wins,” said Palumbo.

Thus far, Palumbo’s process looks to be working to a ‘T’.