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Wausau Cyclones 2026-27 Schedule Release · Inside Cyclones Hockey

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• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: Or excuse me, a little over a month.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: June 3rd was when we last talked with you guys, talked about some upcoming opportunities with the Cyclones and ways that the local community can get involved, as well as some other fun stuff.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: And since over a month ago, we've had a ton of different stuff happen.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: We have a ton of updates for you.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: So in due time, we're going to have an action-packed episode full of tons of good information regarding the Cyclones.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: And it wouldn't be a complete episode without the director of business operations joining us on the episode as well.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: So pleased to welcome, as usual, for the offseason, Zach Serway on this episode of the Inside Cyclones Hockey Podcast.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_01: Zach, before we get into all the nitty-gritty, just how are you?
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: How are things?
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: And how's it been with the off-season continuing to progress, getting ready for the 2026-27 campaign?
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_02: It's been really good.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, had uh uh, as I'm sure a lot of people around uh northern Wisconsin had an opportunity to relax over the uh the weekend on a lake.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so that's always good.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_02: But uh as the the 4th of July comes comes and goes, it always feels like hockey season is right around the corner.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um our players, believe it or not, will be reporting to Wassau in about uh five to six weeks already.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_02: So it's gonna be here pretty quick.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um and uh getting excited to uh get uh a lot of the things finalized, obviously, that uh that makes things uh run smoothly throughout the season.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_02: So a lot of work um and it'll be here pretty quick um later on, and we'll get into the schedule here in a moment in terms of uh when that first home game will be.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I I feel like you and I had just yesterday kind of pow out about how we were gonna do the podcast for the offseason.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: We just kind of wrapped up the Fraser Cup playoffs, and now we're already into July.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, yeah, to your point, players are reporting in a little over a month.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: It's crazy how fast that offseason flies by.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: But I mean, how exciting to get to think that after a well-deserved summer, a nice break, we're gonna be back with Cyclones hockey before we know it.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, all right, so like we said, Zach, we got a lot to talk about, talking about the schedule, some other exciting stuff in terms of how fans can get involved and how the local community can get involved to an even higher degree than we discussed last time.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: But uh before we do that, did want to shed some light on the uh the coaching changes that the Cyclones have this upcoming season.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: So I I guess I'll turn it over to you, Zach.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: You can provide all the details on what the uh the coaching staff will look like for the 2026-27 campaign.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so if people have been obviously following along on uh some of our social accounts here, um head coach uh or should say now former head coach Nathan Oyster took a position in the North American Hockey League uh with the Houston Bulls a couple weeks back.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um and then actually uh today as we're recording this, uh Luke Meyer uh was named head coach um and um general manager of hockey operations for the club.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_02: So people are more than likely familiar with that name.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_02: Luke has been an assistant coach with the organization for the previous three seasons here under uh Coach Oystrix.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_02: So it's really good to um obviously keep continuity in in my opinion, in terms of with the players that are currently on the roster and some of the recruiting work that has already been done.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and frankly, too, Luke has obviously been uh a big part in the cyclone success uh the last three years as well, obviously making the playoffs each of those those three seasons.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm personally really happy for Luke.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I think he's uh really earned this opportunity and to to show what he can do in this uh this new role.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_02: So should be pretty excited.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_02: I'm personally really excited to work with Luke.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_02: I've enjoyed my time uh working with him and as the assistant uh role and everything that we uh work together on.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_02: So uh should be a lot of fun and like I said, super excited for for him to get this opportunity.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so exciting for him.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: Uh just in terms of my brief time with them and you know knowing both of them during the previous season, first of all, I just want to give a big congrats to to Coach Oisty.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: It was a it was a pleasure to get to chat with him, interview with him on the pod a few times, and honestly just watch the way that he you know mentored these young players and talked with these young kids.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: It was it was really, really cool to see the impact that he had.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: And to go even a step further, the way that the players talked about him.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: I got to know some of the players really well and also got to interview a ton of them on the podcast.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: They spoke nothing but amazing things of all the things they learned from Coach Oystrich and just all the lessons that they're gonna take away from him.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: So, really cool to get to have his name and the history that he has playing in the NHL, winning a caller cup in the AHL attached to the Cyclones franchise forever in history.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: And so just a big congratulations to Coach Nathan Oystrich moving up to the knoll.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: And then, I mean, same goes for Luke Meyer.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: I I I have nothing but amazing things to say about him.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: Anytime I interviewed him on the pod, he I always did a very analytical interview with him.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: It was it was really just about the hockey, asking him what what he likes about the team, what needs to get better, what about the play is working, and just his understanding of the game, the way that he sees the game, his hockey IQ, it it is it's truly one of the strongest hockey minds that I've ever been in the presence of.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: I've had some conversations with him at the rink, and I've I've had to have I've got I've had to I've gotten to have some great conversations with him just about the game in general.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: So I feel nothing but the utmost confidence that he is going to have so much success in that head coaching role.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm very excited to see what Luke Meyer gets to do as the head coach and just wanted to give a quick congratulations to Oistie.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_01: Super exciting stuff.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, change is not always the easiest thing, but it's cool to get to see somebody who's been with the organization for a while move up into uh a little bit more of a legitimate role.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: So uh exciting for both of those guys, and I think it'll be great to have Coach Meyer in the head coaching role.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: So speaking of next season with uh with Meise as the head coach of the Wassa Cyclones, we've got something very exciting to talk about, Zach, and that is the 2026-27 NA3HL schedule is officially out and released, and it's time to get excited for Cyclones hockey to be back at Marathon Park Arena in Wassa.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_01: And the schedule's got all sorts of different fun little tidbits about it.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: So, I mean, Zach, I'm just gonna kind of turn it over to you uh to get us excited and get us ready for this next Cyclones campaign.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: Now that the schedule is, I think, all but official.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's all uh but official.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_02: Uh the which is gonna be released as this podcast uh is released here.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_02: And uh it's certainly uh every year uh talk about in doing the schedule um and working with the different teams and the scheduler um who does it for our division.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_02: It's certainly obviously always a challenge to get every uh this year there's a new wrinkle thrown in with a a new seventh team uh with the Fox City team coming aboard, uh actually just about an hour away from us.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_02: So um this year I think was extra challenging for that scheduler, just because obviously when you have seven teams, you have odd number, and it that just becomes more and more challenging in terms of trying to to work through the schedule and and not having um certain weeks where you have a long break, like a three-week stretch of you know, maybe only one or two games, different things like that.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_02: So as we speak today, we are 78 days away from our home opener in Wausau, believe it or not.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_02: It's gonna be Friday, September 25th, will be that home opener here in Wassau.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_02: A couple of tidbits about this the schedule itself, um in terms of games by month, how that'll play out.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_02: So for September, we'll just have that one game on September 25th.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_02: The month of October, we'll have three home games, December, excuse me, November, two home games, December, two home games, January four.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_02: We've got another heavy February, which is historically pretty um standard for what we're looking at.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_02: We'll have seven during the month of February, and then finally March to wrap it out, we'll have uh close it out with three uh home games.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_02: So in terms of the the balance, um it's it's fairly balanced, obviously.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_02: The the heaviest part being in February.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_02: The the cool tidbit um about the the schedule itself in terms of the balance.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um 13 of our last 16 games will be at home.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um we've always done really well with that um over the years and and just having the opportunity to play in front of our home fans is obviously we're trying to make a a playoff push, which will be a little bit more even difficult uh than previous years now, obviously, with an additional additional team um in the division.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_02: Uh one other note is 10 of our first 11 games are gonna be on the road.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and we're gonna open uh the earliest we've ever had on the road.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we're gonna be opening, believe it in or not, Mark, before Labor Day.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_02: We will be uh down in Peoria.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_02: That date is uh September uh fourth and fifth.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_02: We'll be down there uh in Peoria to open this season.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_02: So not necessarily um great on the hockey side, obviously, in terms of with the guys having to report a little bit earlier.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but uh as I just said, you gotta get the schedule in.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_02: There's certain different challenges with what we had going this year.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_02: Um in terms of games by the day of week, uh Friday this year, there'll be 10 home games, Saturday 10 as well.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_02: We'll have one Wednesday home game that will be between the Christmas and um New Year holiday.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it's kind of a tradition for us to have uh at least one home game during that time frame, obviously when people are off work.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we would get really good attendance for for that every year annually.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_02: And then finally, we'll have one Sunday home game that'll actually be the final home game of the year um in the middle of March during the regular season.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um and one other couple are cool, or actually one other cool tidbit uh with the schedule is after our showcase, the NA3HL showcase in December, we will not leave the state of Wisconsin uh to play uh a role game, which is pretty rare.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_02: So uh the only role games that we'll have after that uh December showcase will be three rogue games at West Bend and one at Fox City.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_02: So that's pretty unique and obviously will benefit um us in terms of health um as we get down the stretch.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_02: And and two, obviously it's it's nice that uh we won't be traveling in really bad weather that that uh that we you can tend to have, obviously, in that uh January and February time frame.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_02: And uh hopefully the guys can uh kind of tread water, if you will, um early in the season with quite a few rogue games to uh to get it started.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_02: But it should be a fun time, and I'm excited in terms of of how it turned out for our fans.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, like I said, with uh fairly even uh schedule and obviously uh multitude of February games when uh frankly in in Wassa in central Wisconsin that time of year, there's not a whole lot to do.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_02: So it's great that uh we have opportunity for fans to uh to come out and enjoy Cyclones hockey during those uh cold winter months.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I like the point of uh treading water during the the start of the season and then hopefully not having any any weather come in for the for the remainder of the season because boy did we get some weather during the latter days of this last season.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_01: I will never ever forget the snowstorm that wrapped up my first year in Wassa.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: It was it was something something I've never experienced.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: Took me 19 hours to drive all the way back to Colorado in in one straight shot.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: But hopefully, hopefully the schedule works out, works out in favor of the team, and hopefully there's no no crazy, crazy weather storms like that towards the end of the year.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: But uh, I mean, that's a just a that's a great analytical deep dive into all the excitement around what uh local fans and home fans can look forward to.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_01: Uh what seems exciting to me is just kind of the the overall buildup of home games as the season progresses.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: And this was the way that it was for me working with the team last year.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: It was like one or two games in September, and then two or three games in October, same thing in November, and then December, January kind of starts to ramp up a little bit.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: Four four games in January, and then seven games in February, and that's when it gets super exciting because you're just you're at the rank every week.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: You've got the home fan base really starting to connect with the team.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_01: And it's so much fun to see see the build-up, and more specifically, how fun that the home games, or the majority of them that is, land at the end of the regular season when playoff implications are heating up, when you can clinch a spot in the Fraser Cup playoffs, and that just that kind of rallies around, that gets the fans to rally around the team even more.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: So super exciting that we're looking at a very home-packed latter half of the season after 10 of the 11 games of the season are on the road to start, 13 of the last 16 will be at home.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and then, you know, I think it's cool that we don't have to leave Wisconsin after the NA3 showcase.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_01: And part of the reason that is is because it's a seven-team division now, and the Cyclones will be going to Appleton a little bit to play the uh the Fox Cities Forge.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: Pretty cool.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: I know we talked about this a few weeks or months ago, just that a bunch of new franchises got added.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: But pretty cool that not only another franchise got added, but it's in Wisconsin and it's right down the road in Appleton that the Cyclones have another divisional opponent that they'll get to play that isn't too far in terms of the travel.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'm I'm excited about that just because like you said, it's uh it's an easy travel partner um for us and for obviously for the players too.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_02: It uh it's good on them.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_02: We're you know, making a quick bus trip that's only I mean, basically uh essentially kind of a high school bus trip, uh only a little over an hour to uh to get to Appleton from Wassau.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_02: So um that's really cool for us.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_02: And then uh two, uh the only I would say the only downside if you want to look at uh the schedule in terms of um you know trying to make a playoff spot is it's gonna be uh quite a bit more difficult to uh to make the postseason um with that additional team.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, with seven teams, only four are gonna make the the postseason.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_02: So um certainly obviously Luke Meyer and um the new assistant that'll be coming in will have a challenge with that.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_02: But um if anything's proven over the last years that we just talked about is I think they're they're up for that uh that challenge for sure.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, 100%.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it's a six-team division last year.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it was West Bend, Rochester, Wasa, and St.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_01: Louis.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: The the Woodsman and the Mustangs weren't able to squeak their way into the postseason.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: And this year there'll be one more team attached to that list that doesn't make it in.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_01: And honestly, I personally think that makes it a little more fun.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, I say that considering and hoping that the Cyclones are on the good side of that fun and that they make the playoffs still, but that makes it almost even.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: You have four teams in the playoffs and three teams out of the playoffs, and I think that that makes it just a little more exciting, a little more competitive.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: So very exciting.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: Schedule is officially, like I said, all but confirmed.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, so stay up to date on our website, uh, wassacyclones.com to see the official uh the official release for the schedule.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_01: This is obviously just kind of a verbal preview of it.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: And then this is to come in the future.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_01: But I mean, the first thing that comes to mind for me, Zach, when I hear the schedule is what the promo schedule is gonna be.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: So uh we'll we'll keep a we'll keep a close eye out for when that is official.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have like a a rough time frame of when that's gonna be done?
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yep, so that'll be that'll be completely finalized uh by early September.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_02: But uh as uh we go over the different off season, we'll have different uh drips or drabs of that um over the course of even later this month and into August, we'll get more heavy into that of releasing dates.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um one little thing I will say to confirm um the home opener uh that's gonna be presented by our friends at uh same as last year, Clover Belt Credit Union.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_02: The first 500 fans will receive a magnet schedule or two that game.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I will say, just as a teaser, we do have some really cool things planned that I think people are gonna enjoy in terms of our giveaways.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_02: Um, one little teaser I'll put out there is there will be a replica Cyclones jersey giveaway this year um as well.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_02: So I think we got a ton of different things.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_02: There'll be a bobblehead um again this year.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_02: Um so I think fans are really gonna enjoy a lot of things we do.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_02: Of course, we'll have the Corgi races and Weird Dog races as well, and a lot of other things in between.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_02: So it's gonna be at least the way it's pacing right now, is say that uh it's gonna be one of our best promotional schedules that we've ever had.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_01: The I mean the the the jersey giveaway that sticks out to me immediately.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_01: What an awesome thing to get showing up to a to a cyclones game.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: So stay tuned for this or excuse me, for the promo schedule release and the official schedule release uh on our website, wastacyclines.com.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, I think you said 78 days until this until the regular season starts.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_01: Was that the number I heard?
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yep, that's correct.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's that's gonna fly by.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: That is gonna go very, very quickly.
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  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_01: Enough about the schedule.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_01: Let's move on to some other just housekeeping items before we wrap things up here, Zach.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_01: I wanted to ask you about the Wisconsin Valley Fair concert ticket giveaway details and how that relates to the Cyclones, what that whole situation is.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so again, this year we've partnered with the Wisconsin Valley Fair.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_02: So during the uh Wisconsin Valley Fair, and that itself is actually just 26 days away.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_02: That occurs this year from August 4th through the 9th, right at Marathon Park.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_02: During that time, we will have a booth and the south wing of the Expedition Building as per usual in that facility.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_02: We will also, during that time, um, it's really, really popular over the fair is we'll be giving away a pair of uh two founders club Season Passes.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_02: So that's always a really popular promo that we do uh during the fair to uh to get people engaged and get people excited.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um one thing I'll say about the fair is we just talked on the schedule.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_02: We'll have um some small schedules for folks to uh to pick up.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_02: Um obviously that'll be one of the first opportunities for fans to do that uh as well.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_02: And a lot of times people, it's really great we get to uh interact with the fans at that event and just talk uh talk a little shop, if you will, about the the cyclones and everything that is going on with the team and fans really enjoy that uh for sure.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_02: So stop by and serious at the Wisconsin Ver Valley Fair again, August 4th through the 9th.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um and then another thing that we're doing with the Wisconsin Valley Fair is we will be having a uh social media contest on our Cyclones uh Facebook page where fans will be able to participate in a like and share contest to win four tickets to each of the uh musical acts that will be performing uh that week.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_02: Um the acts that are gonna be performing this year is a country star, uh Chris Jansen, um Shannon Doa and Skillet are the performers here at the Wisconsin Valley Fair.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um so uh some good acts uh that'll be pairing uh performing at the fair.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know if I could say that I could see you, Mark, as a skillet fan.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe more of a Chris Janssen.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_02: That's uh that could be a better fit for you.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_02: But uh they have all kinds of different genres of of music um here at the Wisconsin Felly Fair, and it should be a good opportunity for fans.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_02: Good opportunity to win some free tickets uh to that uh event here in a couple weeks.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_01: I think you're right, Zach.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_01: I can't say that I'm the biggest skillet fan.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_01: I don't even know if I've heard much of their music, but I mean any live music to be honest.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: Any live music is good live music, uh, in my opinion, and just how fun to get to go out and enjoy the the latter half of summer at that fair, enjoy some live music and you know, help out with continuing to market and get ready for the 2026-27 Cyclones campaign.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so you said it was the fourth through the ninth of August.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yep, that's correct.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: So make sure to check that out and check out again our website, wassacyclones.com, as well as all our social media handles, Instagram, X, Facebook at Wassa Cyclones.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: You can get all that information as well.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_01: All right, last but not least, Zach, uh, I mean, the the biggest help to the Cyclones organization is making sure that the players are in the best scenario that they can be because they come from all over the world, whether it's 30 minutes up the road coming down from Stevens Point, or we have players all the way from Alaska or California or all the way on the East Coast.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: People come to Wasa to play for the Cyclones and they need a place to live.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_01: And we do a great job providing all of our players with amazing billet family situations.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: And I believe we have some info on how some more families can get involved for this upcoming season and help out as a billet.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so if if you're interested in potentially hosting a uh cyclones uh player for the upcoming season, uh you can head to our website, wallsacyclones.com backslash billet families.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and on there, there's a a tab.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_02: Uh on that tab I should say you can find um an application to apply to uh be a billet family.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um obviously by the one thing I want to say, even if you're filling out the application, that doesn't necessarily that mean that you are guaranteeing yourself that you're hosting a player.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um it could be something that, you know, maybe you have uh a couple of questions about the program or or how it works, or you know, maybe it's just something simple like when the timing is or what a typical week looks like for a player, all those different type of things, or um maybe it's a question regarding, hey, you know, what type of uh families are are best um for for this type of program.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we can have uh obviously answer all those different questions um during that conversation.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_02: So um you can just send myself over an email.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_02: I can give that over to our billet coordinator.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_02: Uh my email is just at Z A C H at WallsawSecclones.com, or you can give our car our office a call at 715-869-3132.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_02: So uh again, we'll go help uh walk you through that uh that process.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um I will say too, sometimes we'll have you know people that um maybe they're just um they could even just be a fan of the cyclones, they just want to help out in any way.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um maybe it's they have uh a lead of someone else that they want to hate.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_02: I think this person could be a really good um potential billet family for you guys.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um there's all kinds of different ways um that people end up becoming billet families.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_02: The one thing I will say though, um, I will encourage people obviously to you know fill out our application, but we are thankfully we're really really lucky in Wausau where we're not necessarily scrambling for billet families.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_02: Um even last year we had more billet family applications than players that uh that we could fill um in home.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_02: So we're very lucky that way.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um that we got have really good support with our our billet families and they see that awesome connection that has formed over the course of uh the season and really um you know, in some cases, many, many years, and obviously they're supporting them even as they're going on to play college hockey as well.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_02: So it's a really cool program.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, again, if you want to learn more, just head to walslecyclones.com backslash billet families.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I've heard some great stories of just how much the billet families are invest and care in their billet kids, the guys that are playing for the cyclones.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um, there was one family that I got super connected with last year, talked to them at a few games, and at one point they were out of town missing a weekend of Cyclones hockey for their current billets because they were up in Minnesota visiting and having dinner with and going to a Division III game of a billet kid that they had had in the past.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, that's just that's a small example of how dedicated these billet families are, how much they care, how much they invest their time.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_01: And it's really cool to see from an outsider perspective.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and so as we try to get more people to get involved and market this, that's that's just an example right there of you know the experience that you could have, you can be so connected with, and you can be so invested in the cyclones on a whole new level.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and then just one other thing that I'll say, and this is a niche example, but I just think of some of the conversations that I had with uh some of the players from last year, whether they aged out or whether they're returning for another season.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_01: If you are a family with with you know some younger kids, this is an opportunity for your kids to you know look up to somebody who's in a position where they're moving on to a big stage of their life.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, there was a guy, I'm not gonna say his name and put him on the spot, but uh a kid who played for the Cyclones last year who had a billet family when he was uh, or excuse me, he had a billet hockey player living with him when he was a little kid.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_01: And he said that one of the biggest reasons that he decided to play junior hockey was because he got to look up to this hockey player.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_01: He got to learn from him.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_01: So it's just cool experiences like that.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_01: So uh like Zach said, email him at uh Zach Z-A-C-H at Wassacyclones.com or call the office 715-869-3132 to get information on how you can get involved as a billet family for the upcoming season.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_01: Last thing that I need to address, last time we were on the pod, we did our Stanley Cup final predictions.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_01: It's been a while since the Stanley Cup final wrapped up, but Zach, you hit the nail on the head.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_01: You said canes and six, and the canes in fact would go on to win the Stanley Cup in six games.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_01: So I just I had to I had to give you your flowers because that's pretty sweet that you were able to call that from the get-go, canes and six.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_01: What what what was the gut feeling?
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_01: How did you how did what what made you guess that?
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, how confident were you from the get-go?
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_02: For whatever reason, I was pretty confident about that.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_02: I think the thing that kind of set me over the edge was um a little bit about what you talked about with um the previous series, especially in the and we even see it at our level in NA3 of in the in the playoffs when you go through different series and say you go deep in that series where there's six or seven games in the prior series, that really takes a beating on players.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_02: And um I think Vegas, they really they when they went through Colorado, it just took a took a big toll on them.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um the series previous previously for the Canes was a lot easier for them to to get through and not as much wear and tear on their bodies.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_02: So um that's kind of what gave me some confidence that they could they could pull it off.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, Vegas is still a really good team, but uh that's what really gave me the confidence that uh at that end of the day that they could have a little bit of edge on them.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_02: And uh it played out well.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_02: I just wish uh I just wish Mark that I would have placed a bet that I could uh financially benefited on it, but uh it is what it is.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um and uh I was just happy to predict it anyway um and have a little fun with it too.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_01: 100%.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, like I said, I couldn't I couldn't go through this episode without mentioning that you hit the nail on the head.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_01: So good on you for for getting that right.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_01: Uh all right, Zach, as we wind things down here, uh we will be back with an episode that releases on August, or excuse me, July 22nd.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_01: So a few weeks leave once again from the off-season edition of the Inside Cyclones Hockey Podcast.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_01: But in the meantime, go to our website, check out all the details surrounding the schedule, wasacyclones.com.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_01: The promo schedule will drop there as well.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_01: Make sure that you get involved with the cyclones at the Wisconsin Valley Fair as well from August 4th to the 9th.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_01: And in the meantime, go clones.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_01: Anything else for us today, Zach?
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, that's all I got.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_02: Go clones.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_01: Alrighty, thanks so much for the time.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_01: As usual, Zach and listeners, thank you so much for tuning into the Inside Cyclones Hockey Podcast.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_01: We really appreciate it.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_01: We'll talk soon.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_01: Go clones.
• 34:02
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• 34:07
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• 34:18
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• 34:23
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• 34:29
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• 34:34
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• 34:43
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• 34:49
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• 34:55
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• 35:02
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for listening to Inside Cyclones Hockey as we give you a behind the scenes look at the team.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_01: Please rate, review, and subscribe to stay up to date on all things Cyclones Hockey.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_01: And as always, go clones!