This North Dakota Hockey Program Just Nabbed A Former NHL Player

This could be bad news for other hockey programs in the West Region and the state, for that matter.

There is a new person in charge of hockey development for the Mandan Youth Hockey Club, and he's a former NHL player.

The Mandan Hockey Club made the announcement this morning on social media. They have enlisted former Bismarck High Demon (both as a player and coach), University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldog, and former Chicago Blackhawk and Philadelphia Flyer to take over the reins in developing their youth hockey program.

Bismarck's Mike Peluso is the Mandan Hockey Club's director of hockey development.

Here's their announcement on Facebook this morning.

I just got off the phone with North Dakota hockey royalty, and Mike Peluso is very excited to get to work in his new position. His job will be developing Mandan youth hockey players and coaches.

He can't wait to be working with kids and teaching them the fundamentals and what it takes to excel in the sport of hockey. Peluso certainly has the resume, experience, and success to back that up.

Mike Peluso will still continue his fishing guiding business.

Things will not change with that in the spring, summer, and fall. Peluso did say he will have to give up some of his ice fishing season guiding because of his new job. He's also thrilled to be able to spend more time with his daughters with this new gig.

The Mandan hockey program has really come a long way over the last few years. They have arguably the nicest facility in the Capital Region (Starion), and their teams have been getting more and more competitive from youth all the way up to high school.

Now, Mandan hockey just got another big shot in the arm.