- Minnesota Blades
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Minnesota Blades is an American bandy club from Minnesota who play in the United States Premier Division.
Contents
History
The Blades were formed at the beginning of the 2002-2003 bandy season as the successor club to the Stabaek (MN) Bandy Club, which, after enjoying success in the 1980s and 1990s, had fallen on hard times. After Stabaek finished last in the Premier League table in 2001-2002, the Blades were founded and led by Steve Nelson of Edina MN(see notable players below) and exceeded expectations in their inaugural season by finishing the season in third place, before losing in the semifinals of the league playoffs to the Amur Tigers.
The Blades have won four US Premier League titles, taking the Gunnar Cup in 2004, 2005, 2008, and 2011. In 2005, the Gunnar Cup, which is traditionally awarded to the playoff champions, was awarded to the Blades by virtue of their first place regular season finish, as inclement weather in Minnesota caused the cancellation of that year's post-season tournament. In the 2005-2006 season, the Blades finished 4th in the regular season, and were eliminated from the league playoffs by expansion side OBS.
In both 2005 and 2006, the Blades were the runners-up in the North American Cup competition. The Blades are captained by Steve "Jazz Hands" Nelson; he earned the nickname due to his indelible stick handling prowess in the 2006 Federation cup. His off-the-ice antics in the local discothèques solidified his nickname.
Results
Year N.A. Cup Premier Division 2010-2011 3rd 1st 2009-2010 2nd 2nd 2008-2009 1st 2nd 2007–2008 1st 1st 2006–2007 2nd 2nd 2005–2006 2nd 4th 2004–2005 2nd 1st 2003–2004 n/a 1st 2002–2003 n/a 3rd Current roster
As of March 6, 2011. [1]
No. Position Player 3 
DF Mark Stevens 4 DF Jeremy Graff 5 MF Pat Fronek 6 FW Dave Martinson 7 DF Mike Stevens 9 MF Bobby Scott 10 MF Lucas Johson 11 MF Kristy Powell Wynn No. Position Player 12 MF Steve Nelson (captain) 14 FW Al Rabine 17 DF Todd Fronek 20 MF Andy Fronek (captain) 22 FW Kristy Powell 33 
GK Thom Wynn 34 FW BJ Bayers 99 FW Scott Fronek Thom Wynn has played for both USA and Canada
Notable players
Steve Nelson of Edina Minnesota has played in 12 Bandy World Championships and has over 130 USA National Team matches. Steve Nelson is the 5th leading scorer in History of the Bandy World Championships with over 85 goals in VM games. Nelson gew up in Edina Minnesota where he played hockey and then at Miami University in Oxford OH with fellow MN Blades Team member and co-captain Andy Fronek. Fronek has over 70 US National team games as well. Current information as of January 2010 from Viktor Kostikinov Moscow VM 2010
External links
- [2] ibdb.bandysidan
Thom Wynn is a U.S. Citizen, and plays in the United States. He played for the Canadian National Team on special loan at the 2004 World Bandy Championships after the U.S. and Canada received approval from the International Bandy Federation.
Categories:- Bandy clubs
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