The Corpus Christi IceRays, a proud member of the North American Hockey League, are set to begin training camp Monday in preparation for the upcoming 2023-24 season.
The IceRays bring back 10 players in addition to some exciting newcomers following a rough 2022-23 campaign which saw the team finish in 8th place in the NAHL South Division at 11-42-6 with 29 points.
The IceRays bring back 10 players in addition to some exciting newcomers following a rough 2022-23 campaign which saw the team finish in 8th place in the NAHL South Division at 11-42-6 with 29 points.
General Manager and Head Coach Sylvain Cloutier returns for his second season as head coach with the IceRays.
He is excited to get his team onto the ice.
“I’m really excited about getting started,” Cloutier said. “There’s a lot of guys we want to see. We have 36 guys at camp and we’re only going to keep 26 to go to Blaine, so we’re going to have some very tough decisions and there’s going to be a lot of competition this year.”
Among the top returning scorers for the IceRays are, Nils Forselius, Stepan Kuznetsov, Anthony Cafarelli.
Forselius was second on the team with 15 goals and 14 assists for 29 points in 51 games.
Kuznetsov (56 games) and Cafarelli (51 games) each netted 13 goals and added 12 assists for 25 points.
Connor Brust (8G, 13A, 21Pts), Cody Kempf (5G, 4A, 9Pts) and Jackson Beach (4G, 13A, 17Pts) are also returning.
“After last season, myself and the coaching staff had to really work hard and evaluate what we had and ended up making some moves, and we had to find the right character of people to play here in Corpus,” Cloutier said. “It’s a great place to play. We have great weather and a beautiful facility, and we think the group that we created during the offseason are guys that want to come here and play hockey and wanting to get to the next level and compete.”
To complement the returning firepower, the IceRays added key additions to the lineup including Arvid Lundberg Broback from Sweden, who has caught the eye of Division 1 schools.
“He was brought in to make us bigger up front,” Cloutier said of Lundberg. “A big body who can shoot a puck, he’s got a pro shot. We’ll be counting on him to bring us some offense.”
Matthieu Bourgault, a forward from Montreal joins the IceRays after playing with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks in the BCHL, where he scored 12 goals and had 20 assists last season.
Bourgault is committed to RPI.
“He’s another guy we’re looking at,” Cloutier said. “6-foot-3, 215, he’s going to bring some physicality up and also has a scoring touch. He’s a character guy and is one of those pieces we needed to add to our lineup. He wants to win and is going to bring that to our dressing room.”
Joining Lundberg Broback are two other Swedes, Karl Persman, a 6-foot-7 defenseman and Goalie Vilgot Holm. Goaltender Bryant Marks and defenseman Samuel Belanger from Montreal are other notable newcomers.
“It’s going to be a great battle here over the next two weeks,” Cloutier said.
The IceRays will play three preseason games, beginning Friday, September 1 at Shreveport at 7 p.m. CT, and Saturday, September 2 at 2 p.m.
Corpus Christi will close the preseason at Oklahoma Friday, September 8 at 7:10 p.m. before opening the regular season at the NAHL Showcase, Wednesday, September 13 against Aberdeen at 4:30 p.m.
Season tickets for the 2023-24 season are on sale now.
For information, please contact Michelle Evans at 361-814-7825, Ext. 104.
