There’s nothing like a little job security to change a hockey player’s perspective.

Less than a year ago, the Flyers’ Noah Cates wasn’t even in the opening night lineup for a game at the Vancouver Canucks.

But Cates didn’t let the slight get to him.

Instead, he kept working at his game, eventually returned to action and later found himself centering one of the team’s most effective two-way lines with Bobby Brink and Tyson Foerster.

Cates, who finished last season as a restricted free agent, was recently rewarded for his efforts with a new four-year, $16-million contract.

The 26-year-old Minnesota native can finally stop holding his breath when it comes to a hockey career with the Flyers.

During a media Zoom call on Wednesday, Cates talked about how things have improved of late, both for him and the team as it continues its rebuild.

“I think it (the contract) is a great term in terms of kind of where I will be at,” Cates said. “Prime years for me to get to free agency (age 30). It’s knowing I’ll be in Philly for the next four years, having a bit of a runway of where we want to go and where we want to be.

“So it’s super exciting. It’s a great contract and I’m super excited for it.”

Cates’ 14 goals last season were a career high. He also finished a plus-3, which was second in plus/minus rating among the team’s forwards to Garnet Hathaway’s plus-5.

With that performance, Cates sort of turned the corner on his NHL career. There’s no more “identity crisis” to worry about.

“Just starting the season off getting scratched, it’s not where I wanted to be after (that) last (2023-24) season,” Cates said. “Just kept my head down, found my game and the effective way I can play. Doing it consistently for most of the season was great, which set me up for this contract and the future.

“Super happy that I believed in myself. I know what I am as a player and where I’m at. Just sticking with it turned out to be the best thing for me.”

Cates disclosed he recently spoke briefly with new head coach Rick Tocchet. There’s a good chance these two will hit it off because Cates is such a responsible player who constantly thinks team first.

“He’s an energetic guy and excited to have him,” Cates said.

It should be noted that Cates was a fifth-round draft pick, so he was a bit of a long shot to establish an NHL career. He played four years of college hockey at the University of Minnesota-Duluth so it’s a feel-good story.

“Coming into pro hockey, didn’t know what to expect,” he said. “I had my older brother (Jackson) doing it before me and he had been through a lot. First couple years he was kind of going up and down.

“For me to come in and prove what I can do, earn a nice contract – never really expected that when I was in college. To make it to the NHL, to be a big part of that (Flyers rebuild), I’ve been through a lot but I know what I am and what I can bring to the Flyers.”

Flyers’ NHL Draft Party set for AC

On Wednesday the team announced it will host a 2025 Draft Party in partnership with the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City on Friday, June 27 from 6 to 10 p.m.

The party will feature appearances by Flyers governor Dan Hilfirty, head coach Rick Tocchet and alumni members Mark Recchi and Todd Fedoruk.

The Flyers have three first-round draft picks, including the No. 6 overall.

Guests will receive giveaways and can participate in raffles for autographed team and musician memorabilia.

Tickets are $6 per person with proceeds benefitting Flyers Charities. They can be purchased at am.ticketmaster.com.

www.flyingfishhockey.com 

SAINT CLOUD — The Huskies’ den is getting an upgrade.

The Herb Brooks National Hockey Center is receiving $12.9 million from a bonding bill passed by the Minnesota Legislature on Tuesday, June 10 in a special session. The $700 million package addresses statewide projects using money from a state bond and general fund bill. Aside from the historic Herb, some of the infrastructure projects are in water systems, transportation and housing.

St. Cloud representative Dan Wolgamott (DFL-14B) advocated for the funding as co-chair of the house higher education committee.

“I’m proud of all we accomplished for St. Cloud during the most bipartisan session in Minnesota House history,” Wolgamott said in a statement. “Our key achievements will get more police officers on our streets, tackle the healthcare workforce shortages, attract and incentivize developers to downtown St. Cloud, and provide much-needed renovations to the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.”

St. Cloud Technical and Community College also received $1.3 million in infrastructure funding as part of the bonding package, passed the same day as the remainder of the state budget.

The SCSU athletic department will release a statement on its plans for the investment by the end of the week, according to athletics communications director Andrew Melroe.

The Herb Brooks National Hockey Center was built in 1989 to facilitate the SCSU men’s and women’s teams’ move to NCAA Division I. It now hosts the Huskies, the Division III St. John’s University Johnnies, youth teams and community events. Last summer, it hosted then-presidential candidate Donald Trump for a rally that sat an estimated 8,000 people.

“I think that it’s a humongous victory not just for Husky hockey, not just for St Cloud State University, not just for downtown St Cloud, but for our whole community (considering) the economic benefits that the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center provides for our local economy,” Wolgamott said in an interview.

SCSU arena hosts Trump rally: Trump bashes Biden, Harris and promises to keep Social Security, Medicare at MN rally

Trump stiffs St. Cloud cops: St. Cloud waiting on Trump to pay $209,000 in bills associated with July rally

SCSU hockey season ends: St. Cloud State hockey teams’ seasons end in conference quarterfinals

For several years, St. Cloud State officials have campaigned for state funding to upgrade the original refrigerant system for its two ice sheets from R-22, which has been outlawed for its damage to the ozone in the atmosphere. The Municipal Athletic Complex is upgrading its system to ammonia this summer, part of a $16 million project that includes roof work, new locker rooms and more training and mechanical space.

One difference between the sheets at the MAC and the National Hockey Center is the size of the ice — SCSU plays on the larger Olympic rink compared to NHL dimensions. Most teams, including all of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, play on the smaller ice. Two rinks in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association are bigger than NHL and smaller than Olympic.

The arena had been upgraded recently. Before last season, the video boards and sound system were upgraded thanks to $1.3 million in gifts. In 2019, the school added a new workout room connected to the nearly $20 million addition in 2013 that built a new atrium, suites and locker rooms.

Contact reporter Reid Glenn at rglenn@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Herb Brooks National Hockey Center to be renovated with state funds

Justin Carbonneau spent as much time on the football field as he did on the ice growing up.

“I used to play football with my brother, so we’re both ex-football players,” said Carbonneau, who had to step away from the game to focus solely on hockey when he started high school. “I think I was pretty good. … I love to play football and those hits and all that. I was linebacker on defense and running back on offense.”

The 18-year-old power forward plays with a football mentality, blending physical play with a high-end skill set that helped him finish second in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League with 89 points and tie for second with 46 goals in 62 games with Blainville-Boisbriand this season.

“I’m a big power forward who likes to hit, to skate,” Carbonneau (6-foot-1, 205 pounds) said. “I have good vision, but I’m mostly a shooter, power forward.”

His shot is something he continually works on, with an emphasis on variety and deception as well as power. He tries to watch Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs and David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins for things to add to his game.

“It’s all about shooting pucks, but with a purpose,” he said. “Like shooting only post-in, shooting in a different direction, different shooting stride, shooting in motion, all that. It’s different tools you work at on the ice, but off the ice too, that helps you have a better season.

“Matthews I think, has one of the best kind of shooting motions, a toe drag and all that. Pastrnak is really good with his poise; [Artemi] Panarin too. It doesn’t take the best shots to kind of snipe it bar-down. Sometimes it’s about your deception and those guys are really good at it.”

Blainville-Boisbriand assistant coach Maxim Noreau has been helping Carbonneau work on fine-tuning that shot.

“My biggest thing to him from the beginning of the season, it was trying to make him understand that he’s been able to rely solely on the shooting part, and not so much on the scoring IQ or the variables that are involved in that, like manipulating the goalie, different timing, maybe a delay on your shot,” Noreau said. “I call it tempo shooting, where goalies get to find your rhythm, and can you throw them off.

“He’s got just such a good release, such a heavy shot even when he’s off balance. For him, it was like just powering through and putting it in the right spot. So we worked a lot on fake and a push and changing the angle, especially on the power play or off the rush, how to maybe change that D’s stick or stuff like that … and then that powerful shot can come through. And with the more reps he’s getting at that in the game, the percentage he’s going to score is going to go way up.”

It’s been a consistent upward climb for Carbonneau, who had 59 points (31 goals, 28 assists) in 68 games in 2023-24.

Carbonneau said one of the big changes he made following that season was on his recovery after games and on off-days. That’s allowed him to feel better on game days and amplify his skill even more.

“He’s been more involved and in a better position to receive the puck,” Blainville-Boisbriand general manager Olivier Picard said. “As soon as he has a puck on his blade, he’s dangerous. … He was competing the year before also to get loose pucks and everything, but now his strength is becoming even better than the other guys. So he wins more battles and everything and that helps.

“He’s smart. He sees plays that others don’t, so that’s really an asset for him offensively. His vision, and he still has a shoot-first mentality. He wants to score goals, but he can make plays also.”

A purpose-built arena can ignite a region

My own journey started knocking on doors, selling season tickets for a struggling Washington Capitals franchise — selling the experience, not just the team.

Credit: Handout

Credit: Handout

I believed in the game. Watching hockey live creates lifelong fans and unforgettable memories.

Years later, I led marketing efforts when the Capital Centre gave way to a new downtown D.C. arena. That venue didn’t just give the team a home — it helped revitalize the surrounding area. Fans came, restaurants opened, businesses boomed, and the Capitals became one of the league’s most successful franchises.

A purpose-built arena can ignite an entire region.

Some say, “Hockey didn’t work in Atlanta.” That’s a convenient headline — but an incomplete one. The Flames and Thrashers both built passionate fan bases. What they lacked wasn’t support — it was stable leadership and proper infrastructure. This time, those pieces are in place.

Even Bettman said it on May 9: “It’s a different place than when the Flames and Thrashers left… I don’t think the prior two visits have any bearing on whether or not we would go back — if all the other pieces… were put together.” Today, NHL viewership in North Atlanta is 20% higher than the national average, according to the NHL to Atlanta X account.

While there’s no formal NHL application process, the league has indicated that a market that checks every box might just earn a meeting with the commissioner. Does Georgia have that project? I believe so. The Gathering at South Forsyth not only has everything required to be a new home for hockey, but also for live entertainment, dining, shopping and living.

Six reasons South Forsyth should be home to an NHL team

The Gathering at South Forsyth is a $3 billion, privately funded, mixed-use development with a next-generation, NHL-ready arena at its heart. Think of it as The Battery 2.0. I remember the early skepticism around The Braves and the Battery: “Traffic.” “Parking.” “Suburban location.” And now? It’s a national model, often called the gold standard. The Gathering will follow that same winning formula — only this time, with ice.

Here are the facts:

No stone has been left unturned.

In my career, I’ve never seen a private sports and entertainment effort this far along, this well-located, and this strategically executed. Auto dealership CEO and philanthropist Vernon Krause and his team, who are pushing for the NHL in Forsyth County, aren’t pitching a concept — they’re offering a solution. They are shovel-ready today, not years from now.

Atlanta is already a top 10 sports market and home to the Braves, Falcons, Hawks, Dream, Vibe, United, Swarm, a deep college sports culture, and premier events from the Super Bowl to the upcoming FIFA World Cup. The one hole in the lineup? The NHL.

Hockey fans are a different breed. We travel. We live and die by sudden-death overtime. No other sport has a community-driven fan base like hockey. Georgia has a strong undercurrent of these fans — still here and moving here, still hungry after 13 long years. Bringing hockey back would complete Atlanta’s roster and tap into a sport that’s quietly thriving here — from youth leagues and adult rec teams to sellouts for the minor league Gladiators in Gwinnett. Hockey’s here. We just need a team.

We’re ready. I’ve seen firsthand what a team and the right arena can do for a community.

This is our moment. South Forsyth is the place. Let’s bring the NHL back — and this time, let’s do it right.

Dale Kaetzel is an Atlanta resident and the former president of Six Flags Atlanta Properties, and a lifelong hockey fan whose career includes the NHL Capitals, MLB SF Giants, venue management, thousands of live events and eight different theme parks across North America.

The SEC is on top, right? Well at least in football they think they are, if the debate around the College Football Playoff last year was any indication. But it appears that the supposed top conference in the country has that same delusion across all their sports, most recently claiming the throne in college baseball. There’s just one tiny problem: In the College World Series, which starts on Friday, only two teams from the SEC will be battling it out for a national championship. 

We noticed it in the College Football Playoff and now it’s bleeding into baseball: The pedestal the SEC has gotten comfortable on might not be as lofty as everyone had assumed. The rest of the conferences are starting to catch up.

Texas was eliminated by UTSA in its Regional, Vanderbilt was eliminated by Wright State and Arkansas took out the defending champions in Tennessee. Of the eight teams headed to Omaha, just two are from the SEC, a far cry from what the conference’s supporters were predicting on Selection Sunday.

The College World Series is more proof of the SEC’s dominance in college athletics … or lack thereof

The SEC has long felt it was a level above everybody else. Yet, it’s now up to Arkansas and LSU to keep the conference’s dominance alive. It won’t be easy though; after all, Coastal Carolina might be the strongest team in the field, coming in on a 23-game win streak and having dispatched Auburn on the road in the Super Regional.

What makes the SEC only having two teams reach the CWS so remarkable is that the conference sent 13 teams to the NCAA Tournament. Sure, there was some friendly fire, with SEC teams taking each other out, but it was far from a dominant performance regardless.

This is similar to basketball, too, where the SEC had14 teams that reached the field of 68 only to watch most of them flame out on opening weekend. While Florida did win a national championship this year, it doesn’t absolve the conference from losing ground to the other conferences. The only thing that would keep them from yet another embarrassing postseason is to win the whole thing in Omaha.

It won’t be easy, either. The CWS field is loaded with talent, and the sport has seen a record amount of parity over the last few years, per a CBS Sports story. 

The SEC isn’t as strong as it once was, and now it’s bleeding into baseball. The SEC can’t say it’s the best conference in the country. They went 2-for-13 in getting teams to the CWS, and the reigning champions won’t get a chance to defend their title. That tells you everything you need to know about SEC “dominance”.