CORALVILLE, Iowa (KCRG) - Three former University of Minnesota hockey players have reunited with the Iowa Heartlanders, bringing their college chemistry to professional hockey.
Jaxon Nelson, Johnny Sorenson and Mike Koster played together at Minnesota, where they sat next to each other in the locker room for two years. Now they’re teammates again in the ECHL, connected by what they call “The Vikes Fandom” group chat.
Recruiting through group text
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Sorenson arrived in Iowa first and used the group chat to recruit his former teammates, especially for Nelson.
“I tried to make him feel bad about not coming here,” Sorenson said. “You’re going to turn down your buddies? It’s a perfect opportunity to come play with your friends again.”
Koster joined the Heartlanders straight out of college, followed by Nelson, who came from the AHL where he had a two-way contract with the Boston Bruins.
“It’s always like something you can joke about, but when it becomes reality, it’s crazy,” Nelson said. “It feels like we’re back in college again somedays.”
Early success and leadership
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Nelson won ECHL Player of the Month in October. It was his first month with the team. The trio has transitioned from one college town to another, with Sorenson now serving as an alternate captain for the Heartlanders.
The leadership dynamic has shifted from their Minnesota days, when Nelson and Koster shared the captaincy.
“I think it’s just more of that college feel again, where there’s just a lot of chemistry,” Sorenson said. “Sometimes in pro hockey, the business side of things can make it feel like you’ve got to go to work every day. It’s like we’re still going to work, but we’re also enjoying it, just being around each other and building that chemistry and hanging out, outside of the rink.”
Building on college success
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The three players helped turn around Minnesota’s program during their time there.
“We just kind of turned the program around at Minnesota,” Nelson said. “My freshman year, we weren’t as good as we should have been. After that, we kind of knew what we had to do and we all came really close together and took off from there.”
Now they hope to bring that same success to the Heartlanders, though Koster admits he has to be careful about his college loyalties.
“I gotta be careful when I’m wearing my Gopher gear around here,” Koster said.
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