The Johnstown Tomahawks have had an exciting offseason and it just keeps getting more interesting.
In May, Johnstown won the Hockeyville, U.S.A. contest, which awarded the city $150,000 in improvements to the historic Cambria County War Memorial Arena and the right to host a preseason game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Tampa Bay Lightning this September 29.
On Tuesday, the club took its ties to the Penguins a step further by drafting forward Austin Lemieux in the first round of the North American Hockey League draft. Lemieux, 19, is the son of Penguins owner Mario and played for the Penguins Elite Under-18 team last season, scoring 14 goals and 23 assists in 31 games.
“We think he’s going to be a great addition to the Tomahawks,” said team president Rick Bouchard. “We’ve watched him progress over his youth and he’s turned into a fine hockey player and we’re excited to have him as our number one draft pick.”
The Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League had previously drafted Lemieux this year. The USHL is a higher-tier junior league than the NAHL, so the possibly exists that Lemieux could spend part or all of his season called up to Omaha.
New kids in town: The Tomahawks will also be playing in a new division with new opponents in 2015-16. The NAHL has added teams in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Aston, Pa. along with Trenton, N.J. to create a new East Division. The Tomahawks have been the easternmost team in the league since they moved to Johnstown from Anchorage, Alaska in 2012.
“There are terrific rivalries in all the major sports from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, so all of these four teams will be natural rivals,” Bouchard said. “We’re really excited about it and I think once some other organizations in the East see what’s going on, I think there will be an explosion in the East. I think you’ll see some more teams looking to join the North American Hockey League.”
While the Tomahawks will be losing their closest rival – the Keystone Ice Miners, who played in Connellsville, Pa., have folded – they will be gaining several natural rivals that should be close for fans to travel to road game to support their team.
“We had a great rivalry with Connellsville last year only being an hour away,” Bouchard said. “We had great games with great attendance and bus trips. I expect the same thing. Tomahawks fans will get some bus trips going and travel, which will create some fantastic rivalries.”
The Tomahawks averaged 2,137 fans per game in 2014-15, which was slightly down from the previous season but still good enough to rank them fifth in league attendance.
More from the draft: The Tomahawks also picked up a pair of Division-I NCAA recruits on Tuesday, two international players and a local product in the NAHL draft on Tuesday.
In the second round, as they selected forward Justin Cmunt from the Buffalo Jr. Sabres. Cmunt, 17, has committed to play for Union College beginning with the 2017-18 season. The 5-foot-9, 161-pound native of Amherst, NY had five goals and 21 assists for the Sabres last season in addition to a goal in a two-game audition with the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL.
With their third choice of the day, the Tomahawks landed Slovakian forward Peter Cicmanec. Cicmanec, 19, spent last season with the Wichita Jr. Thunder, where he scored 29 goals and racked up 42 assists in just 45 games.
Later in the third round, the Tomahawks again went the import route, selecting Russian goaltender Andrei Tikhomirov. The 19-year old had a 2.47 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage in 40 games for Nizhny Novgorod in the Russian second-tier league, the MHL. Tikhomirov was reported to have signed a new two-year contract with Nizhny Novgorod’s KHL club this offseason.
With back-to-back picks in the fourth round, they chose forwards Jack McDonough of the Philadelphia Jr. Flyers and Austin Alger from Livonia, Mich, who is committed to Miami University in 2017-18. Alger was the captain of the Cranbrook Kingswood High School squad and was named “Mr. Hockey” by the Michigan High School Hockey Coaches Association. Alger had 17 goals and 19 assists in 22 high school games last season.
The Tomahawks went from around the world to around the corner as they chose Sidman, Pa. native Ty Rickabaugh with their final selection. The 16-year old defenseman played for the Esmark Stars Under-16 team, which plays to the north of Pittsburgh.
