Power charges onto hockey scene
The puck is about to drop on the inaugural season of the Milwaukee Power in the NA3HL.
To casual sports fans, the Power is a complete unknown, a new franchise in an unfamiliar league at a level – Tier III junior jockey – few know exists.
To Chase Ernst and his partners, though, it’s an opportunity to fill a hole in a hockey community otherwise flush with the youth, college and pro game, as well as an early step in an ambitious plan to build and advance through the sport.
The opener of a 45-game season is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday at Wilson Ice Arena at Wilson Park, 4001 S. 20th St.
Ernst, the Power’s vice president of operations, offered a 40-minute primer recently, explaining the team’s and league’s place in hockey, the players who will wear the Power’s black and red and the group’s aspirations.
What is the Power?
The organization is part of the North America 3 Hockey League, the larger of two Tier III Junior leagues governed by USA Hockey. The team and league are part of the player development ladder designed to help players from their late teens to age 20 (through Dec. 31 of the current season) prepare and advance into collegiate and pro hockey.
The Power is one of four Wisconsin teams – the others are based in La Crosse, Wausau and Oregon – in the seven-team Central Division. The 37team league covers territory from Maine to Montana to Texas to Alabama.
Who’s behind it?
The Power was purchased and relocated from Decatur, Alabama, by Local Hockey Partners, LLC, which includes TCP Growth Partners, Scorers Edge Hockey and longtime healthcare industry executive Paul Lasiuk.
Lasiuk, CEO and co-founder of Chicago-based Healthy Interactions, is chairman and governor; Matt Murray, hockey director for the Milwaukee Junior Admirals, is president; and Ernst, a onetime junior player, former coach and a hockey executive from St. Louis, has been the face of the organization.
Milwaukee Admirals legend Fred Berry is the head coach.
Why Milwaukee?
“Milwaukee is missing a huge connecting piece inside the hockey world, because it’s not the traditional football, basketball, soccer, baseball (type of) path of high school to college,” Ernst said. “Those players that play for the (Wisconsin) Badgers, they go from their high school to juniors to the Badgers.”
The Milwaukee area has a considerable amount of youth hockey, but promising young players have found more opportunities to train and compete at a higher level by traveling to the Chicago area, for example.
How does the business work?
Tier III is a tuition-based level, meaning players pay to participate to cover the cost of travel, equipment, team infrastructure, coaching, etc.
Tuition in the league ranges from about $6,000 to about $12,000. The Power’s is $8,500, Ernst said, and the goal is that through sponsorships and other revenue the organization can get to the point it doesn’t have to charge tuition.
“A lot of kids do shop around Tier III clubs because frankly speaking mom and dad are tired of paying,” Ernst said. “The Tier III world creates opportunities, if you can eliminate tuition payments, to get some really, really, really high-end players."
Tier II and Tier I juniors – which ideally groom players for Division I colleges and the NHL – are tuition-free.
Who are the players?
At Tier III, players come from both directions, top youth players advancing and those who had hoped to reach the next level but fall just short
“An older player in our league is a kid who’s been through juniors, he’s owned where he’s at, and he’s trying to get to an NCAA Division III school,” Ernst said. “The ’01 (birth year) player is probably with us because – ‘elite’ is probably a strong word – he’s a very talented, good, high school-age (player). They’re just starting to have more opportunity and they’re more of a prospect.”
Will there be area players?
There will be this season, and numbers will grow as the Power becomes more established.
“We’ve got a kid … who grew up in the SHAW program,” Ernst said. “Hopefully in the next couple of years, we can develop and mature that kid at a little bit better pace than SHAW can provide.
“(And) we don’t want that kid playing for us his whole junior career; we want to get that kid to the (Tier 1) North American League. We want to take that ’01 player who’s local and give him an opportunity to try to go play DI.”
How many players advance?
About 140 players who were in the NA3HL last year moved on to Division III universities. Some have moved through the ranks. Others are playing on high-level college club teams.
“Half of these kids coming to this league are leaving this league with where they want to be, whether it be a college opportunity for an older player (or) advancement within the tier ranks,” Ernst said.
What is ‘success’ in Year 1?
The goal is to capture the attention of the community, build an energized fan base and begin to cultivate sponsorships to help the organization grow.
“I want the people who grew up watching the Fred Berrys of the world when he was the captain of the Admirals in their IHL glory days, who are oldschool hockey people,” Ernst said, “I want them to come and reconnect and own this junior team.”
Berry played for the Milwaukee Admirals from 1979-’87, co-founded local retailer Hockey Haven and coached the Marquette University club team.
What are the organization’s goals?
“We have a 10-year aspiration to own an NHL team,” Ernst said of the ownership group.
More immediately, the goal is to develop players and revenue streams and build the team into a Tier II program within three to five years.