Over the last 20 days, Sioux City Musketeers coach Jason Kersner built a blueprint for what he wanted the team identity to look like.
The newly-appointed coach for the defending Clark Cup champions will see how that blueprint turned on Thursday morning.
Sioux City began its championship defense at 11 a.m. against Green Bay to start the entire United States Hockey League slate, as all teams are at the Fall Classic in Pittsburgh.
SIOUX CITY — For the first time since winning the Clark Cup title back in the spring, the Sioux City Musketeers will take the ice as a team.
The game against the Gamblers will be one of three games against the Eastern Conference.
“Overall, it was a productive training camp,” said Kersner in a phone interview from Pittsburgh. “There were two things, one, me being a new coach, we all had to get on the same page with the way I do stuff and my language. There’s more new guys than there are returning guys, and we have to keep them together. I thought we took some really good strides in team building.
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“We’re excited to switch gears and get in regular-season mode,” Kersner said.
One of the new guys who Kersner mentioned was forward Benjamin Poitras. Poitras did come to Sioux City late last year, and he appeared in two games.
Poitras played on three different teams last year, but he spent the majority of his time with Salisbury School.
With Salisbury, Poitras tallied 17 points and that included 16 goals.
“He switches gears to being a full-time player and I think he has the potential to be a Draft-eligible player,” Kersner said. “We’re figuring out lines, but let’s just say he’s going to be a counted-on, impactful player for us.”
While most of the roster are new guys, there are several familiar faces and one will be in net to start the season.
Axel Mangbo will be the starting goaltender for the Musketeers, and he’s in a familiar position.
He’s now the main goalie after being the understudy, and Mangbo will hope to emulate what former goalies Akira Schmid and Alex Tracy did over the last two seasons.
Tracy had a remarkable season in 2021-22, leading the Muskies to the Clark Cup championship, and he was named USA Hockey Goaltender of the Year.
Kersner said he’s eager to see if Mangbo can have the same type of success as the previous two Sioux City goalies.
“He had a very good training camp, and he looked like he was ready to take over the starting job from Alex,” Kersner said. “Being a part of the team last year and Tracy was the ultimate teammate, but to be mentored by him has definitely carried over. That’s also a big piece of his development. I personally believe and I know we all have total confidence in him to lead this team.”
Mangbo did have some ice time last season. He appeared in 19 games and had a goals-against-average of 2.89. He had a save percentage of .893 and went 11-5-2 on the sason.
Mangbo had 526 saves last season.
““If it goes good, you’re the hero,” said Mangbo to The Journal last season. “If it goes bad, some guys blame it on the goalie. I like that. That is what triggers me.”
Croix Kochendorfer is the No. 2 goalie to start the season.
Kersner said that the defenseman group has a shot to be a key strength of the Musketeers. There are nine defensemen on the 25-man roster, including returners Garrett Brown and Tomi Leppanen.
Brown was drafted 99th overall by the Winnipeg Jets over the summer. He scored 16 points and played in all 62 regular-season games.
Leppanen played in 45 regular-season games and he posted 14 points.
“Those are two guys who we’re certainly going to count on this season,” Kersner said. “I think the depth of the defenseman is really, really good.”