Blaine, MN – The Minot Minotauros kick off their twelfth season this afternoon with their first ever meeting with the Oklahoma Warriors. The Warriors relocated to Oklahoma City, OK, this summer after two seasons in Wichita Falls. The NAHL Showcase will be the Warriors first regular season games as well.
The Tauros head into the Showcase after posting a 3-1-0 record in the Planet Pizza Preseason. Twelve Tauros have NAHL experience which is always a big factor at the annual league kickoff event. Hunter Longhi and Colby Joseph are two of those Tauros and with linemate rookie Chase LaPinta were perhaps the Tauros most dominant line during the preseason. The Tauros also generated a lot of offense from the backend against Bismarck in the preseason’s final two games with Nick O’Hanisain, Weston Knox, and Graham Skinner, each scoring to account for three of the Tauros five goals against the Cats.
Though the two teams have never met on the ice they certainly are not without connections. The first and most obvious is defenseman Owen Baumgartner who played 33 games for the Minotauros before being traded to the Warriors during the 2020-21 season. Additionally the Tauros have loose ties to both the Warriors’ Head Coach Garrett Roth and Assistant Coach Joshua Berge. Prior to taking the helm of the Warriors Roth was the long-time Assistant Coach of the Bismarck Bobcats. Berge meanwhile is the brother of former Tauros Assistant Coach Mick Berge.
The Farmers Union Pregame Show will kickoff at 2:00 p.m. for a 2:15 p.m. puck drop on the Minotauros Network. The game can be watched on HockeyTV, a full season pass is just $149.99. Fans can listen to free audio broadcasts on the Tauros Facebook page, Mixlr, gotauros.com, or in the Tauros Hockey App.