The Aberdeen Wings are a Tier II junior ice hockey team based out of Aberdeen, South Dakota , that began play for 2010–11. A member of the North American Hockey League in the Central Division, the Wings play their home games in the Odde Ice Center .
13-638: Since the team's inaugural season in 2010–11, the Wings have held the highest attendance numbers in their NAHL division, boasting crowds over 1,700. In their first four seasons, the Aberdeen Wings have made the NAHL playoffs twice. The goal of any junior hockey team is to help develop players for the next level. In four seasons, the Wings have had 22 players Division-I college commitments, three players sign professional contracts overseas, and two players drafted in
26-484: The 2010 NHL entry draft , but not signed by an NHL team and who were born after June 24, 1992, were also eligible to re-enter the draft. The NHL draft lottery enables a team to move up to four spots ahead in the draft. Thus, only the bottom five teams were eligible to receive the number one draft pick. Beginning with the 2013 NHL entry draft all fourteen teams not qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs will have
39-401: The 2012 NHL entry draft , but not signed by an NHL team and who were born after June 30, 1994, are also eligible to re-enter the draft. Since the 2012–13 season , all 14 teams not qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs have a "weighted" chance at winning the first overall selection. The Florida Panthers won the 2014 draft lottery that took place on April 15, 2014, thus moving them from
52-613: The COVID-19 pandemic . The start of the 2020–21 season was then delayed by one month and was slightly shortened from the typical 60 games to 56 games for the Wings. Despite the shorter season, the Wings set the league record for number of regular season wins with 51 and 103 points. Following the season, Langer was hired as the head coach for the Fargo Force in the United States Hockey League and Steve Jennings
65-605: The Edmonton Oilers , Ryan Murray going to the Columbus Blue Jackets , and Alex Galchenyuk going to the Montreal Canadiens . Ice hockey players born between January 1, 1992, and September 15, 1994, were eligible for selection in the 2012 NHL entry draft. Additionally, un-drafted, non-North American players over the age of 20 are eligible for the draft; and those players who were drafted in
78-596: The 2014 off-season, Winter accepted the assistant coach position at his alma mater , Bemidji State University , where he led the Beavers hockey team as captain to the Frozen Four in 2009. Anzalone came from a hockey family that includes his father, Frank Anzalone who was a national championship college hockey coach, minor league head coach, and scout for the Calgary Flames . Anzalone was fired as head coach at
91-581: The 2017 Robertson Cup tournament and lost to the Aston Rebels . The Wings then won the regular season division titles in each of the following two seasons culminating in the 2019 Robertson Cup league championship. Langer was also named the general manager in January 2019. In the 2019–20 season, the Wings were again leading the Central Division when the season was curtailed due to the onset of
104-463: The Aberdeen Wings had two players selected to play in the 2014 World Junior Championships for their home countries, including forward Lennart Palausch (Germany) and forward Bjorn Sigurdarson (Iceland). The 2014–15 was the first season under head coach Francis Anzalone. A native of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan , Anzalone served as the associate head coach and director of player personnel during the previous season under Wings head coach Travis Winter. During
117-628: The NHL. During the 2014 NHL Draft , two Aberdeen Wings players were selected. Both taken in the 4th round, goaltender Zach Nagelvoort was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers and defenseman Steven Johnson was selected by the Los Angeles Kings . Wings forward Lennart Palausch signed a professional contract during the 2014 off-season with Heilbronner Falken of the DEL2 in Germany. In the 2013–14 season,
130-489: The end of the 2015–16 season after two losing seasons and missing the playoffs. Two days after releasing Anzalone, the Wings announced it had hired long time NAHL coach Scott Langer as head coach. Langer had coached the previous 12 seasons with the Santa Fe/Topeka RoadRunners organization before being released during the 2015–16 season. In his first season as coach of the Wings, the team advanced to
143-474: The first selection of a player from Oceania with Australian Nathan Walker , being selected by the Washington Capitals in the third-round. Ice hockey players born between January 1, 1994, and September 15, 1996, are eligible for selection in the 2014 NHL entry draft. Additionally, un-drafted, non-North American players born in 1993 are eligible for the draft; and those players who were drafted in
SECTION 10
#1732798528800156-488: The second-overall pick to the first-overall pick. The order of the 2014 entry draft is listed below. 2012 NHL entry draft The 2012 NHL entry draft was the 50th NHL entry draft . The draft was held June 22–23, 2012, at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . It was the first time that Pittsburgh hosted the draft since the 1997 NHL entry draft . The top three picks were Nail Yakupov going to
169-717: Was named as the next Wings' head coach. Langer returned as head coach in October 2022. 2014 NHL Draft The 2014 NHL entry draft was the 52nd NHL entry draft . The draft was held on June 27–28, 2014, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . The top three selections were Aaron Ekblad , Sam Reinhart and Leon Draisaitl , going to the Florida Panthers , Buffalo Sabres and Edmonton Oilers , respectively. This draft featured
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