Heading to Topeka on Owatonna

OWATONNA — The Owatonna Express will take a long ride this week, but the bus will make a left at Interstate 35 instead of a right.
After playing only teams in the Central Division for the last 10 weeks, the Express will head south to take on the Topeka RoadRunners for three games in Kansas.
“It’s kind of exciting to know we’ll play a different opponent,” Express coach Pat Cullen said. “They’re a good opponent, and it will be a good measuring stick for where we are at as a team right now, that’s for sure.”
Topeka is on top of the South Division and is tied for the second most points in the league with 39. Owatonna is in second place in the Central Division with 31 points.
There haven’t been many games between Central and South Division teams this season, but the South has dominated the ones that have been played. The Central Division is just 2-8-2 against the South this season.
The Express have played two games against South teams, both at the NAHL Showcase in Blaine in September. The Express lost 3-2 to St. Louis in a shootout and beat Texas 6-5 in overtime.
North Iowa went to St. Louis for two games earlier this season and lost 10-3 and 6-0. In other games, Springfield beat Alexandria 6-1 and 9-4, and Topeka thrashed Albert Lea by a combined score of 20-2 in three games.
While none of those numbers can predict what will happen when Owatonna travels to Topeka for games on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, it does not bode well for the Central Division.
“We just have to prepare for a different team,” Cullen said. “We know Topeka is good. They’re the top team in their division, so obviously it’s going to be difficult. They will certainly show us what our weaknesses are. We’ll have to play well to beat them.”
Cullen said the Express try to do a little advanced scouting, but it can be difficult.
“We try to do a little, but I’m more worried about my team and how we’re playing.”
Topeka does sport one of the league’s leading scorers in forward Cole Schneider, who is tied for third in the league with 16 goals and tied for ninth with 28 total points.
The RoadRunners have used three goalies with success this season. Evan Karambelas leads the team with seven wins and a 2.07 goals against average. Eric Rohrkemper (6 wins, 2.30) and Cooper Frederick (5 wins, 2.63) are both effective as well.
Owatonna is led on offense by captain Cory Thorson, who is tied for seventh in the league with 14 goals and tied for 12th with 27 points. Express goalie Mike Shibrowski is tied for the league lead with 14 wins, and his 496 saves ranks fourth in the league.
As for the long drive, it is 436 miles from the Four Seasons Centre in Owatonna to the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka. By comparison, it is 495 miles to the ice arena in Bismarck, N.D., the home of the Bobcats, one of Owatonna’s division rivals.

NAHL takes over Thunder
OWATONNA — According to reports from several other media outlets, the North American Hockey League is taking over operations of the Albert Lea Thunder for the remainder of the season.
Both the Albert Lea Tribune and the Web blog americanjuniorhockey.com reported Monday that the league issued a press release that stated the league’s board of governors “voted to terminate the Albert Lea membership.”
The release went on to say that “the league is now involved in addressing a number of transition issues regarding the future operations of the team. The league will work to stabilize the team as quickly as possible.”
The Albert Lea Tribune reported that Thunder owner Barry Soskins was suspended from all team operations and that the league will now run the team with coach Chuck Linkenheld as the general manager.
Problems first began in Albert Lea several weeks ago when the parent of a Thunder player blew the whistle on a pay-to-play system. The NAHL is a Tier II junior league, meaning it is against league rules to make players pay to be on a team. According to earlier reports, the parents of one player told the league about the rules violation because their son wasn’t getting the promised amount of playing time.
Once the issue came out, the league took swift action. Soskins was suspended and forced to pay nearly $400,000 dollars in fines, legal fees and reimbursements of the illegally collected pay-to-play monies. The deadline for those payments was extended once, and Soskins still did not pay. As a result, the league took over the team on Monday.
Though Albert Lea’s membership in the league has been terminated, the team will play the remainder of the season with the league and Linkenheld at the helm.
“The team’s not closing down,” Thunder director of marking Paul Contreras told the Albert Lea Tribune.
It’s possible the league could find new owners for the team, and Contreras told the Tribune there are potential buyers, though he could not speak in depth on the subject. If new owners are not found, it is likely the team will fold following the season.
The Thunder have won two of their last three games, but are in last place in the Central Division where they play with the Owatonna Express, Bismarck Bobcats, Alexandria Blizzard and North Iowa Outlaws.
The Express and Thunder have played each other five times this season with the Express winning three games. The teams are scheduled to play six more games against each other, including one in Owatonna on New Year’s Eve. Albert Lea first came into the NAHL last season. The Thunder struggled through their first year and finished with just four wins in 58 games.
Reports from the Albert Lea Tribune and www.americanjuniorhockey.com were used for this story.

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