Latest / Inside Cyclones Hockey / What you need to know about this years NA3HL draft for the Wausau Cyclones

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What you need to know about this years NA3HL draft for the Wausau Cyclones · Inside Cyclones Hockey

• 0:00
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• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: Cyclones fans, welcome into season six, episode two of the Inside Cyclones Hockey Podcast.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: Today we're talking all things NA3HL draft and tender signings with the draft happening today, Wednesday, April 29th.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: There's lots of details, lots of news to get into as the Cyclones gear up to how to draft some future talent for the upcoming 2026-27 season.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: And we're also touching on some college commits from this last year's 2025-26 roster.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: A handful of guys officially committing to their next chapter of their hockey careers, as well as some other notable information for fans with our director of business operations, Zach Stirway.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: It's a great episode.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: So get ready, because it's time to enter the storm.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: And for today's first segment of the pod, joining me our director of business operations, Zach Stirway, we've got some awesome stuff to talk about surrounding the NA3HL draft, as well as some other important notes for fans to keep in mind during the offseason.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: So we've got an awesome episode for you.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: But first of all, Zach, how are you?
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: How are things going in Wassa?
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: And how's the now that we've really gotten into the offseason, how's how's stepping away from everything been treating you?
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_02: It's been good.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um I always say to uh you know people that uh run into at games and whatnot, it's it's hard to believe, but actually the months of uh April and May are at least for me, you know, in the office and and just getting things planned for next season are actually and recapping.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, the previous season are the are two of my bus busiest months all year.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_02: So been busy uh getting things uh organized with sponsors and all kinds of other things uh going into next year.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_02: So a lot of exciting things are are down uh in the works, and I always enjoy this part of this part of the year where you're beginning the planning and getting to uh get things organized for the the season ahead.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_02: So big things are coming and and we're really really looking forward to putting all that effort in for the fans to uh take advantage here at this seat this upcoming next season.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's crazy how as soon as one season ends, it just immediately switches over to all the prep and all the tasks that are needed to get ready for the season that's coming.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: And on the last segment of the pod a few weeks ago, I interviewed uh head coach of the Wassa Cyclones, Nathan Oystrick, and he he honestly said the same thing.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: I jokingly asked him, Do you get to kick your feet up and relax a little bit?
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: And he was like, Absolutely not.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: This is when things get the busiest with all the signings and the scouting and getting ready for next year.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's it just never ends, which is it has its ups and downs for sure, but I mean, like you said, big things coming, and we've got some exciting stuff in the pipeline for another awesome season of Cyclones hockey.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: All right, so got a few things to talk about.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: Uh let's just get right into it, Zach.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: We've got the NA3HL draft coming up in a few days here, and not only do I think it'll be useful to just kind of update fans on how the draft works, what the structure of it is, and how they can be involved and follow the draft as fans, but I think it'd also be good to keep everybody in the loop on what picks we have and who you know who we're gonna be able to select talent-wise.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: So I guess to start off, Zach, do you just want to kind of keep everybody in the loop and remind everyone when and how the NA3HL draft works that we've got coming up here?
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so the draft is is actually taking place here today as we record on um April 29th.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_02: It's gonna be upcoming at 1 p.m.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so fans can watch uh live round by round coverage on NAHL TV or follow the draft online via NA3HL Draft.com.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_02: Uh for fans to know in terms of how the NA3HL draft works, it consists of four different rounds.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_02: Uh each NA3 club uh we're entitled to one selection per round, unless it was you know acquired or lost due to who trades through other NA3HL clubs.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_02: So currently, as we head into the draft, um 2026 draft, we own a first round pick, which is uh pick number 23 overall, and then a fourth round pick that is 137 overall in the draft.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, we traded our second and our third round picks.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um, one of them, the second round pick was traded to Texas um last April in exchange for a tender, and then the third round pick was actually changed, or excuse me, traded this past month um to Peoria for a 2026 tender.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_02: So for fans to know listening and trying, um, one of the common questions I get among fans is hey, what's what's the difference between a tender and in a draft pick?
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_02: And the easiest way that I can put it for fans to um absorb and understand uh the best is really at the end of the day, the drip the draft uh versus a tender.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_02: A draft pick is is more uh something that I look at is it's more of for us in our league, it's more of a reach of trying to get uh a rights of a player that we think potentially is more of a high-end player that if he doesn't able to isn't able to make a um tier two junior roster, he can fall to us in in that case, and we own his rights.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um and then two with the tenders, it's more of what I would consider a much um more likelihood that that player that we signed to a tender is uh and are gonna end up in a cyclone's uniform that fall and fall into winter.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um in terms of the players that are eligible to be drafted, th those amateur players are have to be um less than 21 years of age um on December 31st um of the age of years, or whatever that I don't know if it's how to have my math on that.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_02: But um so the other thing is if you're of course not listed on another NA3HL team rostered or listed on it, you know.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and that means essentially if you played less than 10 games, um then you are eligible to be drafted.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: And a lot of times what you see is teams will end up protecting players that um are in that time frame of maybe they're had a kid that just played some high school and played only like five to eight games with them.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um they'll have uh a tender assigned to them so that they can protect them from being drafted from other teams.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um and then the only other thing to uh to note on the the draft picks is it's it's really um it's one of those things, like I said, where the tier T Tier Two teams, um they obviously have prior selection of whether a higher league to get the best players.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_02: So tier three, you're kind of trying to lock up that talent in case it's almost necessary.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_02: So you want to look at it as a backup plan for playing juniors.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the way that I kind of understood it from the beginning was the tender signings are much more what you want to focus on and much more likely, and the draft picks are more of a a secondary to the players that we go out and seek out for tenders.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, you said it yourself, Zach.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_01: I'll go over this one more time just to you know double down on all that information.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um we currently own a first round pick, the 23rd overall pick in the draft, a fourth round pick, the 137th overall pick in the draft, and then we traded our second round pick to the Roadrunners in exchange for a 2025 tender in April of 2025, and then we also traded a third round pick to the Mustangs in exchange for a 2026 tender this month.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: And so, I mean that's two of our four picks that we traded in exchange for tenders.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um so to me it seems like the draft is kind of a more of a secondary uh uh way to acquire talent for the future, whereas you're actually seeking out people that you think will fit into the roster.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_01: And then uh to clarify the um age out thing you were talking about too, Zach, on on our website actually here a story that we wrote recently.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: I think it says amateur players less than 21 years of age on December 31st, 2025, who are not listed.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that's 2005 would be the year.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: But either way, um exciting that we, you know, we've obviously had a lot of tender signings, and we're gonna go over that in another segment in this episode.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_01: We've added a lot of great talent, and in addition to that, we've got a lot of guys that are gonna be returning, playing at the next level in terms of leadership and experience with the team.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: And with you know, considering the fact that the playoffs have been right there over the last few years, you know, it always feels good thinking about who will be returning.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: The talent that's being added for the future poses a lot of excitement for the future of the team.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_01: So as Zach mentioned, draft is happening today as we're recording this pod.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_01: And then any draft updates, all that stuff can be found on our website, WastelCyclines.com or all our social media platforms at Wastel Cyclones on Instagram, X, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, all that good stuff.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: We'll be keeping you constantly up to date on any draft news that's prevalent to the team.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: So keep an eye out for that.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: All right, Zach, we got some other items to get to.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, wanted to talk to you a little bit about the Founders Club and what's going on with that this offseason and everything fans need to know about that and how they can get involved as uh you know we continue to keep a bunch of different things going during the offseason for Cyclones fans.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, exactly.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_02: Uh the Founders Club is uh something that it has been around since the inception of the Cyclones dating back to 20 uh 21.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_02: And it's the the best way that I can explain it to fans is what the Founders Club is all about.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_02: Is it's the best benefits that you're gonna get from Cyclones hockey um in any ticket package um across the board.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um, the best savings is gonna be in the founders club.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um obviously we want to reward people um that are just dedicated to our fan base um and are constantly showing support to us.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_02: And this is the uh the avenue for fans to to uh to do that.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_02: So with the founders club, this upcoming season, how it looks is similar.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_02: There's a couple little changes to it, but um for the most part it's very similar to past years.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_02: If you're if you have if you aren't aware what it is, is it's tickets to all 22 uh cyclones regular season home games.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_02: Um we have a specialty this year, especially uh free beanie hat that we'll be giving away in that package.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_02: One free additional ticket to opening night is included in this package.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so if you have a friend or family member that you want to uh bring along uh for that opening night, which is obviously an exciting night every single year, you can do that.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um the other benefits to the Founders Club, like I mentioned, it's the best savings you're gonna get.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_02: So you're gonna save 25% off on game day ticket pricing.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um, that's a big deal over the course of the season.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_02: I don't have the exact math in front of me, but you're in the neighborhood of uh saving around um$80 to uh$90 just on the ticket price alone.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um, if you were to just obviously go up and walk up day of game to buy tickets.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um you're gonna save 20% off Cyclones merchandise as well.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_02: Uh that's a pretty big deal um with on the merchandise end.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_02: The only other um avenue that you're gonna really save a whole lot on merchandise um is our end-of-the-year sale or some other um Black Friday sales.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_02: Those range in just the 20 to 25 percent.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_02: So if you want to look at it, is you're getting the best deal on merchandise all year round.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_02: That's a 100% accurate statement with that.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um, the other thing that's really, really popular with the Founders Club every year is you get guaranteed giveaway items um for um all the giveaway games throughout the course of the season.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_02: So say you can't make a certain game, um, we set that aside with uh the policy in place with that um for you to uh guarantee that giveaway item.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_02: Um and two of the other benefits to that is obviously if you can't make that game, um say it's a bobblehead or whatnot, um you have a um if you want to say insurance policy to uh to get that giveaway item every single year.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um the other item that you have on the farmers club to wrap it up quick is you have the ability to purchase playoff tickets prior to the general public as well, um, to reward those people with that as well.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_02: Then of course, you have a dedicated um cyclones ticket representative that any and all questions that you have about the cyclones, uh we like to make it a personal experience so you feel like um, you know, obviously you get the behind the scenes look of what's going on in the organization.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_02: And uh it's a great way to we have a our group of founders club um members there they're really passionate, obviously.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and it's always great to see them around the rink um at the games.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_02: They're always um you know, talking about different ways to that uh they enjoy Cyclones hockey or you know, going to role games, things like that with other founders clubs members.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_02: So it's uh an awesome um club for fans to be a part of and uh show their support of Cyclones hockey, or you're wrong.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, what a cool opportunity to have even more involvement in the team.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm gonna be completely honest with you, Zach.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't even know that was a thing, and just hearing you talk about it got me excited about you know the ability for fans to have that type of involvement with the team.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, basically you're a seasoned ticket holder for the Cyclones, and you get to you get to lock in every single home game, which I mean we you know, we might be a little biased, but what a great way to spend uh consistent weekends on a Friday or Saturday night getting these awesome giveaway items, having a few pops with your friends on two dollar beer nights and stuff like that, uh all that good stuff.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um if if you're uh this is just a question that I'm now thinking of, Zach, that I'm curious the answer to, and you know, maybe people listening are also wondering the answer, so I'm gonna ask it.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: If you're uh uh if you have the founders club and you're like a quote unquote season ticket holder, if you want to upgrade your ticket to like the clone zone or anything like that, like can you do that on like a game by game basis?
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yep, that is possible.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_02: And actually, um it's funny you say that we do have quite a few um folks in our founders club that that do do that throughout the course of the season.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um I would say um, you know, the one thing that's always cool about that is a lot of times, frankly, people do that um, like I just mentioned, to get an opportunity where versus sitting in you know the bleacher seating or or standing on the north end of the rink, obviously in the clone zone is much more of a social atmosphere down there where you can interact with people a little bit better and people take advantage of that throughout the course of the season.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um, definitely.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_02: So that's another popular item that uh that people enjoy with the Founders Club.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_02: Um so say, for example, when you're upgrading um that upgraded ticket, you know, um, I don't have the pricing listed in front of me, but generally it's around$16,$16 to$18 just to do that upgrade.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_02: And obviously that's giving you complimentary um beverages and snacks in the clone zone.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_02: The other thing I'll say about the founders club is just like the ticket savings aspect of it alone.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, for a season ticket package, frankly, for$200.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I don't think you're gonna find anything for the level of entertainment that we offer with the Cyclones for$200 for 22 events, um, a free beanie hat, you're saving on merchandise, you're saving on your general ticket pricing.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um, the general walk-up ticket pricing is um this past season was$12.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_02: And this year, if you look at it in the Founders Club, um, I believe it's just over$9.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's like$9.10 or something like that per ticket.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_02: So you're saving quite a bit.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_02: And uh like I said, it's it's a great way to interact with other cyclones fans and obviously support the team.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_02: And um, there are diehards, and we definitely can't uh do it without them.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_02: And uh it's a cool group of people.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um, they obviously love the cyclones, and it's it's cool for for people to uh be a part of something that's a little bit bigger than themselves and um get to know people even throughout the the rest of the uh the community here as well, and obviously gone through Cyclones hockey.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_02: So it's a pretty cool, pretty cool avenue for us um here at the Cyclones.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_01: I've continued to say this over and over again on the pod.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_01: Anytime I'm doing any sort of content for the team, I don't think in my life I will ever come across more of a bargain for an entertainment event, whether it's the ticket price, the price of the food and beverage in the arena.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like the biggest thing for me was always comparing getting a$15 beer at you know a higher level hockey game versus uh getting a$2 beer, and you can just you can spend$2 per beer and spend$14 on seven beers versus one uh$15 beer.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_01: The tickets are so much more reasonable, and then we're offering stuff like this.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: Cyclones fans, we're we're laying it out on a gold platter for you.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, just such a cool opportunity to get even more involved with the team and uh just be a part of an amazing community and an amazing thing that we've got going on here in Wassa.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Zach, if you already said this, I apologize, but probably fine to say it twice if you didn't.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: How can how can fans lock this in?
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_01: How can people get themselves a spot and signed up to be on the Founders Club?
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like where is that available for people to pursue?
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_02: So if the the link for that is on our website, um you just go into the tickets club, scroll down and click on Founders Club or the URL for it is wassacyclones.com backslash founders club.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_02: You'll find all the information that we uh laid out here in this episode right there.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, there's a buy now um button right there on the website um to go ahead and execute that.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um and then two if you Have any questions like further about the Congress club?
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_02: There's a form right on that page as well.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_02: Uh that we can help you answer any questions if you have.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_02: So maybe it's a question about uh um security giveaway ticket uh items policy ticket power or policy in terms of how you go about getting those giveaways and all that stuff.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, we'll give you all the details on that, um, so that you can take advantage of that the best that uh that you can throughout the year.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: So make sure to go to our website, wascyclones.com, get all the information on the founders' club, how you can get involved, and all that good stuff.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_01: And while you're there, check out any breaking news that we've got with the draft, tender signings.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: All the tender signing news as of when we're recording right now is up to date and won't change because Zach, I believe you said the tender deadline was on Monday, the 27th of April.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yep, that's correct.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_01: So we are all signed up and have our roster pretty much dialed in.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna go over that in this episode as well.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, go to our website, wassacyclones.com, check out the founders club, check out the news on the draft, and you can get quicker, more digestible updates on all our social media platforms as well.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_01: Wassa Cyclones is the handle on Instagram, X, TikTok, YouTube, all that good stuff.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, Zach, this isn't in the agenda, but I thought of this as we were talking, some news in the league that I was reminded of that I just wanted to really quickly get your thoughts on.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_01: Just as someone who's been working in the league for a while, um, it's kind of a two-parter question for you.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_01: It looks like the league has added three or four expansion teams for the upcoming NA3HL season.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_01: I don't believe any of them are in our division.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_01: So it doesn't concern us too much.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_01: But just from your perspective, as someone who's been around in the league for a while, number one, is this a normal thing for the NA3 to add like a handful of expansion teams on a yearly basis, or is this kind of is this kind of an oddity sort of thing going on, and we don't see this happen very often?
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_01: And then just the second part how cool is it to see the league expand and add locations?
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_01: Just really quickly, uh, it looks like another team in Minnesota, the Minnesota Vulcans are coming to the NA3HL, the Oklahoma City Warriors, the Fox City Forge, and then the Phoenix Inferno, some NA3HL out in the desert in Arizona.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_01: So just wanted to get your thoughts on that real quick, Zach.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think it's uh a really positive thing for the for the league.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_02: Frankly, it's something that I I think the best way that I can describe is it comes in sparts.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, it it's something if I think back, um, there's generally some movement.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I would say if I had to put like a number, actually year number on it, it's all every three years that you see um some new teams coming in um to the league.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I don't know offhand, I'd have to look on uh my backend in terms of when I was in the started in the league in 2017 with the number of teams are was at.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_02: I want to say it was in the low 30s, and now I believe it's gonna be with these new teams, it's gonna be pushing 40.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_02: So obviously that's good for the league in in general.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_02: I think the most impressive thing, frankly, of the footprint of the league.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_02: I talked to this, talk to this point a lot of times with two different businesses in the community, and when they realize like the footprint of the the league is really impressive.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, we're going as far you know west, obviously, um to Montana, far south as is Texas, um, and into Alabama, as far west now as to Phoenix.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_02: So um, and then obviously all the way to the to the east coast with uh with Long Beach.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_02: So that's pretty cool um to be a part of something like that.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_02: The one other note I will make is actually we do have one team that's um the Fox City team that is in uh Wisconsin, uh about an hour from Wausau.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it's gonna be in Appleton, Wisconsin, the Fox City Fords.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_02: So we don't have the details yet on confirmation.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_02: I'm assuming that they're obviously going to be in our division next year.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_02: We don't haven't gotten the final details of the league beats in a couple weeks here in terms of determining if a team like Rochester moves out of the division and goes to the West division, or if it's just simply another um, we bump up the teams in the league in our division from six to seven.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_02: So we'll see that here in the near future.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_02: But um, even with Fox Cities with a um the Appleton team, I think that will be a positive in terms of for the cyclones.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, you're gonna be competing for players in the state of Wisconsin, but I think at the end of the day for business, um, it's gonna be good for a new rival that'll be closer to Wausau and obviously a short travel distance um for us uh in that in the division as well.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah, all the updates per the NA3HL.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_01: It looks like the Phoenix Inferno are joining the South Division, the Oklahoma City Warriors are also joining the South Division, the Vulcans are joining the West Division, and then the only team that doesn't have a division assignment yet is the Fox City Forge.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_01: So that's who knows?
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe maybe that's gonna be, like you said, seventh team in the central division.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Zach, I don't know if you knew about this, but it's funny I brought this up.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_01: Like, this might be the first and only time that we have breaking news on the pod.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_01: As I was looking at all this, the NA3 just announced another expansion team.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like, like it got posted two minutes ago.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not even kidding.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: The Garden State Gamblers.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: You heard it here first on the Inside Cyclones hockey podcast.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_01: They're adding another team.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_01: This is, I believe, the fifth expansion team that's been added in the offseason.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know where the Garden State Gamblers are gonna play.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't say, but it's a cool logo.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_02: It's got like a I'm looking at it right now as you pulled it up.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_02: It's uh in Brick, New Jersey.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_02: Never heard of that, but um another teammates.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_01: There you go.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_01: And you also you just spoke that new existence, too.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_01: You're talking about how how hard how how far the geographical reach is, how we've got a team all the way out in Long Beach on the East Coast, and now they've got one in Jersey too.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_01: How crazy is that?
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that is pretty cool.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_02: And the other thing I while I was saying that earlier about the teams, I was thinking there was about 39 teams in the league, and I think that you know, with that new team with your breaking news, um mark, I believe that gets to an even 40, which obviously makes sense.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_02: You need a even number in terms of what you're gonna be doing for for scheduling.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so that's cool to see.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_02: And obviously, like I just said, um, seeing the the NA3 grow is a good thing for us.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um I mean, some I know a lot sometimes people say, well, that's over saturation and and whatnot.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_02: To give kids the opportunity to play uh junior hockey across the state of the or across the United States, I think at the end of the day, is a good thing.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_02: We've talked previously on the podcast about how good even at the ACHL ACHL um college hockey, how good that is.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, I don't think people necessarily realize that sometimes.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and that's really showcases all the kids that are playing either tier three or in some cases tier two hockey.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um, the quality that is being put out on a on a daily basis or a yearly basis, I should say.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_02: So props to the NA3.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_02: It's cool to see them continuing to grow here.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_01: Next thing we know, Zach, we'll have a team come to Colorado and we'll we'll have to do a uh a Cyclones times Colorado NA3HL collab, but that's obviously for the far future.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_01: All right, Zach, that's all I got for you.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have anything you want to say to the listeners about anything we talked about, anything to recap before we wrap things up here on the this first segment?
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_02: No, I don't.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_02: Uh thanks uh for listening here in the offseason.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_02: We'll be back with an episode uh in about a month or so and looking forward to uh getting closer back to uh seeing everyone at the rank uh in the fall.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yep, absolutely.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_01: Always great to catch up with you, Zach.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks so much for your time.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate it.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_01: Go clones.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_01: All right, we're gonna kick it to break here on the Inside Cyclones Hockey Podcast.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_01: We will return in just a moment.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_01: Hey Cyclones fans.
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• 31:56
  SPEAKER_01: Hey everybody, welcome back to the Inside Cyclones Hockey Podcast.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_01: One more big thanks to our Director of Business Operations, Zach Surway, for hopping on, doing a quick little segment talking NA3HL draft, tender signings, founders' club, some expansion teams in the NA3HL, and even the potential that one of those five expansion teams ends up in our division.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_01: Just to wrap things up here, we're gonna quickly go over the college commits that we know of from the age out players, as well as all the tender signings that the Wasa Cyclins have made, meaning these players will be coming in and playing for the Wassa Cyclones for the 2026-2027 season.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_01: Very exciting stuff.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_01: Let's start out with the tender signings for the Wassa Cyclones.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_01: As we mentioned in the last segment, the deadline for tenders in the NA3HL was Monday, April 27th.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_01: So all that is locked in, all that is done.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_01: We've pretty much got an idea of what the roster will look like besides the fact that the Wasta Cyclones have the draft today.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_01: If you're listening to this podcast on the day of its release, Wednesday, April 29th, the draft is going on.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_01: If you're listening to it later, you can always go to our website at Wassacyclones.com or to the NA3HL website and get some news on what's going on with the draft.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_01: But let's go down the line here, talk about all of the tender signings that the Wassa Cyclones have made.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_01: Basically, I'm just going to give you their first and last name, their position, and where they're coming from, where they've been playing hockey leading up to their tender signing in the NA3HL with the Wassa Cyclones.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_01: So kicking it off, we've got Nate Spencer, a forward from Ram High School coming to the Wassa Cyclones.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_01: We've got Tanner Robinson, a forward from also Ram High School coming to the Wassa Cyclones.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_01: Hayden Van Gilder, a goalie from Rice Lake High School.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_01: Jerome Porriere, hope I'm pronouncing that right, from Stevens Point Area High, just down the road.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_01: From Wasa, Wisconsin, a defenseman coming to play for the Wassa Cyclones.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_01: Brady Shute, a forward from the Cleveland Barons 18 team, 18U team that is, coming to play for the Cyclones.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_01: Antonio Glacalone, a forward as well, coming to play for Wasa.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_01: Once again, apologies if I'm pronouncing these names incorrectly, but just how I'm looking at them, how I'm reading them.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_01: Brighton Thaxton, another forward from the Sioux Indians 18U team coming to play for Wasa.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_01: Braden Myers from the Chicago Hawks 18U team coming just up the road from Chicago to play for Wassa.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_01: And last but certainly not least, we've got a very extra special, very cool tender signing for the Wassa Cyclones.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_01: Caleb von Gunthen.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure you recognize that last name.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_01: A defenseman from Team Alaska, 18U, coming to join his brother, Elijah Von Gunton, and play for the Wassa Cyclones.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_01: How cool to tender with a team.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_01: Elijah von Gunthen, that is, tender with a team, have a great first year playing here in Wassa, and you have such a great experience that your brother is coming to play for the same junior team.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_01: You get to share that experience with your sibling.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_01: You get to be on the team, you get to mentor your brother and be a leader for him in both a sibling standpoint and a hockey standpoint.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_01: So I wanted to save that one.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_01: Last but not least, Caleb von Gunton, brother of Elijah von Gunton from Team Alaska, 18 and up, coming to play for the Wasa Cyclones.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_01: Really, really cool stuff to have a little bit of a some sibling action on the Wassa Cyclones for the 2026-2027 season.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_01: Two other quick tender signing updates, courtesy of the Wassa Cyclones.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_01: Instagram, Jacob Maxon, a forward from Amory High, and Colin Sexton, a forward from the Littleton Hawks in Littleton, Colorado, also coming to the Wassa Cyclones.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_01: Those two weren't listed on the report that I received, but they're posted on our Instagram, so they are included in the list of tender signings that the Wasa Cyclones have made.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_01: So overall, it sounds like we've got some awesome young talent coming in for the 2026-27 Wassa Cyclones season.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_01: Gonna have a lot of new guys, forwards, defensemen, even a goaltender mixed in there.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_01: Should be an awesome roster for the Wassa Cyclones for the 2026-27 season.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_01: We'll get into some more details surrounding these players.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_01: Information that you need to know about them on a later episode of the podcast, but for now, for today, just the general information on all the guys that have tendered with the Wassa Cyclones.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_01: And as usual, if you want some more details right now on these players, some of their background, check out our Instagram at Wassa Cyclones to get some information, as well as our website, wassacyclones.com.
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_01: We have some news, articles, and updates surrounding some of these players as well.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_01: All right, let's get into some college commits.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_01: We've got a handful of guys that just recently finished up their time with the Wasa Cyclones who have officially committed to their next stage of hockey, their next chapter of playing hockey.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_01: They're moving on to the college level.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_01: Starting out with goaltender Brady Fail.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_01: Brady Fale is headed to Niagara University.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_01: Fail is headed to play for the ACHA Division I team at Niagara University, which is located in Buffalo, also close to Ontario.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_01: So Brady Fale will be playing ACHA hockey out in Buffalo, New York at Niagara University.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_01: Very exciting stuff for the tenured Wasa Cyclones goaltender.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_01: Brady Fale, super great goaltender for the Wasas Cyclones over the last few years.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_01: Most notably, this last year with the Wassa Cyclones had 22 games played, a 266 goals against average and a 9'20 save percentage.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_01: He had three shutouts and a 12-8-0 record.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_01: So great stuff from Brady Fale.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_01: Such a great career with the Wassa Cyclones, and a huge, huge congratulations to him to get to see him move on to now go play at the ACHA level at a very established college.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_01: So big congrats to Brady Fale, former goaltender for the Wasa Cyclones, heading to Niagara University.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_01: All right, the other college commit that we have official news of Owen Gome headed to Akenus College to play ACHA Division I college hockey.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_01: Gome's a native of Saginaw, Michigan, played in 34 games this past season, had four goals and five assists on the year.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_01: A great campaign with the Wasa Cyclones, and a huge congratulations to Owen.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_01: Owen Gome Gome.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_01: OG, one of the most liked guys on the team, going to play ACHA D1 hockey at Akenis College.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_01: So a big shout out to Owen Gome as well.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_01: For those that don't know, Akenis College located in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_01: So Owen Gome heading back to his home state of Michigan to play ACHA Division I hockey.
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_01: So just to recap, got some awesome tender signings up the pipeline for the Wasa Cyclone's gonna have a very deep, bolstered roster for the 2026-27 season, and some notable players from this last year's roster: Brady Fale, Hendon Niagara University, and Owen Gome heading to Akenis College.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_01: Like I mentioned, on a later episode of the pod, we'll go a little more in depth on these tender signings.
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_01: And as more college commits and as more news comes out about recent players that are heading on to the next chapter of their hockey journey, we'll be keeping you up to date on all of that news as it rolls out.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_01: All right, that's going to do it for us on this week's episode of the Inside Cyclones Hockey Podcast.
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for the support.
• 40:59
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for listening.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_01: Make sure to go check out wasacyclines.com for tender signing news, draft news, college commit news, and all that good stuff.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_01: Like Zach and I talked about, you can also check out all the information on the Wasa Cyclones Founders Club.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_01: Get your 22 all-home game season ticket pack with some other goodies attached to it.
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_01: Just go make sure to check that out at wasacyclines.com.
• 41:24
  SPEAKER_01: And while you're at it, make sure you're following us on all our social media platforms X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_01: You guys know the drill at Wasa Cyclones.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks so much for tuning in.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for the support, and we will talk to you guys soon.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_01: But for now, go clones.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_01: Enjoy the excitement of Cyclones hockey in the Bushlight Clone Zone.
• 41:45
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• 41:56
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• 42:01
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• 42:07
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• 42:33
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• 42:40
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for listening to Inside Cyclones Hockey as we give you a behind-the-scenes look at the team.
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_01: Please rate, review, and subscribe to stay up to date on all things Cyclones Hockey.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_01: And as always, go clones!