By Joshua Boyd / NCDCHockey.com
The NCDC will be previewing each of the 21 teams set to hit the ice during the 2024-25 season in a continuing series up to the Sept. 19 start of the new campaign.
Idaho Falls Spud Kings
Mountain Division
Home Arena: Mountain America Center
Head Coach: Anthony Bohn
The Idaho Falls Spud Kings always put on a great show, including their home games at Mountain America Center played in front of more than 4,000 fans per night. They also put on a great show in the standings, pushing their way into the fourth and final playoff spot in 2023-24 by one single point. While the first year in the NCDC for the now three-year-old franchise can be seen as a success on the ice and at the turnstiles, the Spud Kings know they can do better and that is the focus for this upcoming 2024-25 campaign. The Spud Kings’ season begins on Friday, Sept. 20, in Ogden vs. the Mustangs. The next night, they open their home schedule at the Mountain America Center, also against the Mustangs.
“Our staff has been working all summer long to build out our roster and we are excited to see how it all comes together to put out a product the Idaho Falls community can be proud of,” said first-year Head Coach Anthony Bohn. “We put in a process and phases to building out our summer recruiting. The way the rhythm of the summer goes, we feel we hit on each phase as the summer progressed, and we are excited to see our group come together in Idaho Falls.”
Bohn may be new to the Spud Kings, but this will be his 15th season as a coach. The former St. Mary’s University (NCAA Division III) player has coached in the NAHL, ECHL and most recently in the Midget AAA ranks with the highly-rated Windy City Storm team that reached the USA Hockey Nationals last spring.
Bohn will be joined on the bench by Assistant Coach Joey Strada, a first-year coach whose junior experience included playing in the NAHL and USHL, who also played Midget hockey in the former USPHL 16U Division (now Tier 1 Hockey Federation 16U) with the Skipjacks Hockey Club. In 2019, he helped the Aberdeen Wings claim the NAHL’s Robertson Cup. He went on to a three-year professional career in the Southern Professional Hockey League.
The Spud Kings remain busy working on molding their 2024-25 team, and weren’t able to provide specific names at this stage, but they are expecting to bring members of their 2023-24 squad back into the fold.
“We don’t know exactly who our top returners will be out of the gates. We still have guys in training camps and some guys will need to step into larger roles,” said Bohn. “It’s an exciting time for those guys and our whole organization as the season gets going.”
Additionally, the team’s younger core is still being defined, but Bohn is confident that all newcomers will be able to quickly take on the speed and physicality of the NCDC and, just like the veterans, attract plenty of college hockey coaches’ attention towards advancement.
“We like all our young guys coming in, we are excited to work with all of them and see them grow every day,” added Bohn.
