With no returning players to build his roster around, and with less than four months before the first game, time was of the essence for Noren.  He had coached at several levels of amateur and professional hockey, most recently as an assistant coach for the Olentangy Liberty High School hockey team, but had never run a junior hockey team.

Thanks to the healthy supply of local hockey talent, however, he did not have to look far to assemble a junior hockey team from scratch.  With the Season Opener right around the corner, Columbus has signed 18 players.  The USPHL is a Tier III Junior A circuit, so additional players may become available as cuts are made in Tier I and Tier II camps later this month.

“We have only been at this about 9-10 weeks,” Noren pointed out.  “We are happy with the players we have would but would like to pick up 2-3 more.”

Seventeen of the 18 players on the current roster were born in Ohio with Edmond, Oklahoma native Isaac Jones, a forward, the lone exception.

There is only one 20-year-old on the roster, meaning every other player is eligible to play at least one more season after this one.  The Mavericks are also only carrying three 19-year-olds.  The high number of 17- and 18-year-olds gives Noren a fantastic opportunity to lay a foundation for long-term success in Year One.

The Mavericks model is not to compete with the local high school and AAA programs, but to compliment them, providing a 1-2 year post-grad bridge before players commit to college plans.

Noren says he will be heavily scouting high school seniors on the 18 teams in the Capital Hockey Conference (CHC) this season and that the Southwest Ohio High School Hockey League (SWOHSHL) can also be a source of talent.

Jack Wrightsel (Upper Arlington), a former AAA Ohio Blue Jackets player, produced 26 points (6-20-26) in 29 games as a senior at Upper Arlington High School last season.  He is a perfect example of the CHC pipeline Noren would like to tap into.

Goaltender Luke Bell (Strongsville) is the lone Northeast Ohio representative on the team.  Bell comes to Columbus from Strongsville High School where he was a Red Division First Team All-Star in the Greater Cleveland High School Hockey League (GCHSHL).

Bell will compete for playing time with Hayden Hoover (Plain City), who got into a game with the United States National Team Development Program (USNTDP) U17 team last year, and former Hilliard Wildcat goaltender Jonathon Szekeres (Galloway). 

There were another 5-6 players that Noren felt would have been ideal candidates for the USPHL had they not already made commitments elsewhere – which highlights the demand that the Mavericks feel they can meet.

“We will have 2-3 junior hockey veterans that we will lean on,” Noren said. “But the reality is we’ll have 15 rookies.”

The team is long on youthful enthusiasm, but short on junior hockey experience.  One of the former AAA OBJs, Deric Richison, is an 18-year-old Pickerington native that scored 16 goals – and added 72 penalty minutes – in 29 games for the Junior A Evansville Thunderbolts of the NA3HL last season.

Meanwhile, 18-year-old Jared Matley (Columbus), a 6’1”, 172-pound forward, gained USPHL experience with the Niagara Falls Thunder last year.

Noren says that Dayton Stealth alum Trevor Kraska (Tipp City), an 18-year-old forward, has looked like a leader during camp.

Regardless of where the various players came from, they will be tasked with coming together as a team in the weeks and months ahead. 

So far, so good, says their coach.

“I am totally pleased with the effort,” Noren said.  “We’ve been practicing at 5:30 every morning getting ready for the start of the season.”

The puck drops for real on Friday night when the Mavericks welcome the Toledo Cherokee.  Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m. at Ohio Health Chiller North.

--- Scott Harrington for Ohio Hockey Digest