Oklahoma
Who are Oklahoma Warriors? NAHL team has brought high-level hockey back to OKC
Blazers Ice Centre, on the east side of I-35 near the I-240 interchange, is an unassuming building. Thousands pass by it every day on their morning commutes, not realizing that some of the best 16 to 20-year-old hockey players in the nation, and from around the world, are inside skating up a sweat.
The Oklahoma Warriors of the North American Hockey League (NAHL) are the most interesting team you’ve probably never heard of.
“There’s a lot of people that still don’t know we’re here,” Warriors coach Nate Weossner said Wednesday after a morning practice.
Two seasons ago, the team’s inaugural year in Oklahoma City after relocating from Wichita Falls, Texas, the Warriors won the NAHL Robertson Cup. The Warriors were crowned champions of a 35-team league stretching from Anchorage to Amarillo and Shreveport, Louisiana, to Lewiston, Maine.
At 7 p.m. Friday, the Warriors, who wear orange and black, will open season No. 3 in Oklahoma City with a game against the Amarillo Wranglers at Blazers Ice Centre.
Oklahoma City has been a hockey desert since the Barons left town a decade ago, and the city hasn’t truly embraced hockey, been energized by it, since the CHL days. The Blazers were the biggest show in town, playing in front of raucous crowds at the Myriad.
Oklahoma City has since joined the big leagues with the Thunder and plenty of other entertainment options, but for fans who miss the Blazers, who want to see high-level hockey, the Oklahoma Warriors are hoping to fill that void, albeit on a more intimate scale.
“There’s beer, there’s fights, there’s everything we had with the Blazers, just a little bit younger,” said assistant coach Mick Berge, who grew up in Oklahoma City.
The NAHL is a Tier-II junior hockey league that’s been around for 50 years.
For the uninitiated, junior hockey isn’t what it sounds like.
“For people that aren’t in it, it is difficult to understand,” Weossner said. “Like, what are these guys? Because you look at ‘em and you’re going, ‘They’re pretty f—–’ good.”
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What is NAHL junior hockey?
We’re well acquainted with the path the best football players take from the preps to the pros. We know all about high school hoops, the AAU circuits, college basketball and professional leagues around the world. In baseball, some future big-leaguers turn pro after high school. Others go to college.
Hockey is different. Junior hockey is a level without a parallel in other sports.
“Nobody really understands what level we’re at,” Berge said. “I try to let them know how good this hockey is.”
The USHL is the top junior hockey league in the country. The NAHL, which the Warriors play in, is one tier below.
Think of junior hockey as a developmental level between high school and college. Most junior hockey players have graduated high school while others are still finishing up. Those still in school are likely taking their classes online.
A lot of college hockey players enter their freshman year at 21, having spent several years in junior hockey before aging out at age 20.
While the players are unpaid, the Warriors operate like a professional franchise. They scout players, sell sponsorships and make money off gate proceeds and concession and merchandise sales. George Chalos, a Utah-based attorney, owns the team.
Berge, whose parents moved from North Dakota to Oklahoma, lived the junior hockey life. After two years at Putnam City High School, Berge left home at 16 to pursue hockey.
He spent a year in Dallas and then three years in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he graduated high school and finished his junior hockey career.
From the USHL, Berge played four years at Minnesota State University in Mankato. Hockey is in his blood. His dad played at the University of North Dakota and was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers. His brother also coaches.
Weossner, the Warriors’ head coach and general manager, played junior hockey in Canada. Weossner, from Bemidji, Minnesota, played college hockey at Minnesota-Crookston.
Last season, 340 NAHL players committed to play college hockey. According to the NAHL, 77% of those players were Division-I commits.
“These guys are all capable of playing in the NCAA,” Weossner said, looking out onto the ice, where some of his players were getting in work after practice.
And after that?
“They wanna play in the NHL,” Weossner said.
He didn’t back down from the lofty goal. Only 45 players with NAHL ties have been selected in the last nine NHL drafts, according to the NAHL.
“We want guys who want to play in the NHL,” Weossner said. “Now, are they all going to make the National Hockey League? No. But will some of them? Maybe. And we want guys who want that. We want guys that are intentional, that come with a compete level that is driven toward that goal.”
Weossner pushes his guys.
“Let’s not be casual,” he said during a lull in practice. “We’re not a casual team.”
Weossner shares a motto with his team: “We’re gonna figure out how we’re going to do something rather than worry about why we can’t.”
“We want people that are intentional, and we want guys that are gonna drive our game plan and drive their goal setting,” Weossner said. “And if we have those types of guys, the hockey takes care of itself.”
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Who are the Oklahoma Warriors?
The Warriors have a 25-man roster. One player is from Oklahoma. One is from Russia. Three are Slovakian.
The rest are from places you might guess. Like Watertown, Massachusetts, the hometown of Warriors captain Ollie Chessler.
This is Chessler’s second season with the Warriors.
“It’s obviously a lot different being from the East Coast and moving down here, but it’s been awesome,” Chessler said.
Chessler, like a lot of Warriors, lives with a host family.
“These families open up their homes, open up their hearts to have us,” Chessler said. “It’s an awesome experience all around.
“Those people are the lifeblood of our team,” Weossner added. “It’s an unreal experience for both them and the players. You’re bringing somebody into your home and you basically become part of their family. A lot of these guys will carry that relationship for a long, long time.”
This will be Chessler’s last season with the Warriors. He’s committed to play at Union College in Schenectady, New York.
Chessler has enjoyed his time in Oklahoma City. He’s been to Thunder games and even an OU football game.
“Obviously there’s a bunch of people who don’t know that there’s a hockey team here, but I think as we keep getting better and we keep winning games and putting a good product on the ice, the word is getting out,” Chessler said.
Berge has taken it upon himself to get the word out.
The Warriors are the only NAHL team in Oklahoma. They play in the South Division, which also includes teams from Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico and Texas.
“We’ll have scouts in this barn a lot,” said Berge, who expects capacity crowds of a couple thousand fans. “A lot of colleges come to watch to recruit these kids, professional scouts will be here, NHL scouts will be here to watch. It’s just a different dynamic compared to any other sport, so it’s very hard to explain until you get in the door and see it.”
Berge invited legendary Blazers coach Doug Sauter to do the ceremonial puck drop before the season opener Friday.
Having grown up here, coaching the Warriors has taken on extra meaning for Berge.
“It’s my dream,” he said.
When the Warriors are on the ice, Blazers Ice Centre is filled with dreams.
“To watch them know how hard it is, discover how difficult it is, really learn what it’s like to compete and watching them go through that process” Weossner said, “it’s the best feeling in the world.”
Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.