by: Jermey Pike, minotauroshockey.com
When the NAHL trade deadline came and went, Minot Minotauros head coach and general manager Cody Campbell chose not to make any moves. Sometimes trade deadlines can spur action at the last moment. Campbell chose a patient approach with a long-term evaluation process.
“The deadline is an interesting time of year,” Campbell wrote. “I actually thought about what our plan was going to be for around the deadline for a few months. We felt like we had belief in what our roster has been able to do up to this point and confidence in the ability for the players on the roster to continue to improve and develop to help the group accomplish its goals.”
To get where the Tauros are at this point in the season has been a group effort. Campbell and his scouting staff had to find players to fill some big skates heading into the season. However, he had a full off-season in which to continue to build his long-term vision for the Tauros unlike his first season with the team. It certainly appears to have translated to the ice.
“To me, it says that as a staff, we followed our process,” Campbell wrote. “And it worked when it came to building this team, all the phases: returners, tenders, the draft, and free agents. We have players making large impacts from all of those areas. Building a team, especially a successful one, is a multi-year process. It’s been cool to see things that we talked about as a staff my first year in Minot come to fruition when it comes to the roster assembly.”
The Tauros have key players who returned from last year’s playoff team like captain Trevor Stachowiak, fellow forward Jack O’Hanisain, and defenseman Colby Woogk. All three of them are top five in points for the Tauros.
However, the other two players who are in the top five in points this season are new players: forwards Joel Lehtinen and Niklas Ketonen. In fact, Lehtinen leads all skaters in points as of the time of writing.
What might surprise fans is that the roster is almost unchanged from the NAHL Showcase that opened the season.
“On the players’ side, it means that we have guys that have worked to improve all season long,” Campbell wrote. “We also have a group that has bought into the culture and cares about each other. 23 of the 24 players on our roster were at the Showcase with us. We feel like that is going to mean something down the stretch.”
The Tauros are looking for a deep run in the playoffs, and staying at the top of the Central Division could be a big boost. Campbell felt like the current group was the best way to accomplish that goal, and the results are hard to argue with.