Saints Hockey Action Lives Here!

It's been an exciting, month, we'll say. Exciting, because we can officially say Eagle 102.3 is your new home for Dubuque Fighting Saints live hockey action! Every game! Every bone crunching hit and ice-shredding counter-attack brought to you by your new play-by-play announcer Blake Theisen! Blake brings four years of hockey broadcasting experience, including two seasons calling games at the Division I level for his hometown St. Cloud State University. Theisen earned his degree in Mass Communications from SCSU in the spring of 2022.

Blake and I had a chance to chat; check out the full interview below

And Blake's not the only one new in town. This year the Saints will be led by newly appointed Head Coach Kirk MacDonald. Coach MacDonald is now the sixth head coach in the organization's Tier I history. He joined the Fighting Saints from the Reading Royals of the ECHL; where he held a record of 158-86-34 in the regular season. Most recently, the Royals finished first place in the North Division with a 45-17-9 record, and a +57 goal differential. During his professional hockey career, MacDonald scored 96 goals and 121 assists in 406 games.

Robert Miller, President of Business Operations joined the Saints in April of 2021 with his sights firmly focussed on keeping your Dubuque Fighting Saints a powerhouse in the USHL. Both Robert, and coach Kirk, were able to sit down with me and chat about not only the changes in play style and coaching philosophy, but also the growth and development of the organizations as a whole.

Upgrades in the facilities have stunted home games for the front half of the season, but no worries as you can catch all the away game action live on Eagle 102.3, the first match kicks off pre-season on Friday, September 9th. The first official home game is now scheduled for November 4th in our house. Speaking of which check out these photos of the updates being made to the new refrigerated ice floor!

As always your Dubuque Fighting Saints are certainly Hockey, but they are also so much more than that. Through many amazing partnerships the Saints are giving back.

For Example: with the help of Great Clips, every save made by a Fighting Saints goaltender throughout the regular season means $1 donated to the Veterans Freedom Center in Dubuque. FYI, 1,766 saves were made by a Fighting Saints goaltender last season, which accounted for a $1,766 donation to the VFC! As a result of the Crawford North Penalty Kill, Crawford North donated $2,500 to the Dubuque Regional Humane Society! In addition, auctions through out the year raise funds for great causes, for example, last years stand out player Stephen Halliday and the Dubuque Fighting Saints auctioned off his record-breaking stick for $800. Halliday then matched that donation, which totaled  $1,600 donated to the Dubuque Regional Humane Society. And the new campaign OneGoal, thanks to Dubuque Screw Products, will send donations back to our local Dubuque Youth Hockey! In addition each home game brings with it the 50/50 raffle. Half of the nightly pot will go to the fan with the winning ticket, while the other half goes to the Northern Lights Hockey Foundation to benefit local non-profits.

The mission of the Northern Lights Hockey Foundation is to promote amateur sports competition in the game of hockey in the Tri-State area of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, with a particular emphasis on physical education, character development, and education.

Those are just the tip of the iceberg as the Dubuque Community plays a huge role in the organization and players lives as host families. Actually, the Fighting Saints organization is always looking for comfortable housing situations for their players. Families that demonstrate a balanced family-oriented life style and live within reasonable travel distance to the Mystique Community Ice Center. The Saints organizations states;

Host Families are a vital part of the hockey experience for our young players. A good host family impacts the player on and off the ice. Many players remain in contact with their host families long after they have moved on in their career.

You can also find Bernie the St. Bernard and Saints players visiting local schools and events, as they are highly active in and throughout our local communities. My kids love it when the drop by Cascade! 

Yes! It looks to be an exciting year as we bring you Dubuque Fighting Saints hockey action all season long! Tune in to Eagle 102.3 for every game and check out your Dubuque Fighting Saints online for more details, tickets, and on how you can get involved with this great organization!

Check Out The Dubuque Fighting Saints Regulars Season Schedule Below...