The Badlands Sabres have named former forward and jr graduate Carter Johnson as the 3rd assistant coach in team history. Johnson joined the Sabres after 3 seasons with the club playing in a total of 97 games, scoring 23 goals and 17 assist for 50 points. The Sioux City, IA native enters his first year as an assistant coach. “I can’t describe the amount of excitement I have for this year” mentioned Johnson. “When the Sabres offered me the job, it wasn’t a long, and it wasn’t a hard decision to accept. I wanted to stay in the game of hockey after juniors and I couldn’t think of a better way of doing that than coaching for the Sabres. The one big thing I will bring to coaching is my hockey IQ. I analyze the game unlike many others. I can’t wait to relay that onto our players and I’m very excited to get the season underway”.
Johnson will join Mitzel behind the bench for his second full season as Head coach of the Sabres.
“CJ’s strengths as a coach will be his hockey knowledge” said head coach Brooks Mitzel. “Carter has a great understanding of the game and will be able to facilitate this knowledge into our team. And lastly, Carter will be able to relate to these players because of his prior experiences as a player for the Sabres. He knows the ins and outs of our organization, and it will be exciting to see him develop our players throughout the year.”
Mitzel has been behind the bench for parts of 2 season while Johnson has dawned a Sabres jersey.
“Carter and I have always had a good relationship” says Mitzel. “When he said he was interested in coming back as a coach, I was super excited. When I was coaching Carter, he was always bouncing ideas off of me and now we get to do it together as coaches. Carter has earned the respect of his players and myself through his dedication to helping this team. I only see our dynamic improving over the year. Carter and I have one goal in mind, and that is to develop our players to the best of our ability. I’m excited to work with him and excited to see what the year has in store for us.”
SABRES NEWS: Sabres get set to open the season at home vs the Yellowstone Quake on Friday September 13th and Saturday September 14th. Puck drop for both games is 7:05pm. Season tickets on sale now by calling Roosevelt Ice Arena – 605 394-6161