Junior hockey: WarHawks have a fresh face at the top
· Yahoo Sports
Oct. 2---- There is a new general manager and head coach in town.
Joey Fodstad will serve in both of these roles for the
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Fodstad, 26, takes over for Payton Ruter, who previously spent three seasons in both of these positions.
, months ahead of the NA3HL season, which for the WarHawks, begins this weekend. They play the Minnesota Vulcans at 7:10 p.m. Friday and the Granite City Lumberjacks at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Both games are on the road.
"We've been here since Sept. 7 practicing and it gets to be a long time — basically a month before a game — and everyone's got that itch to put the product that we've been working on for the better part of a month out there," said Fodstad, who was on Concordia-Moorhead's staff prior to Willmar.
Fodstad, originally from Rogers, heads a WarHawks team that had a 19-26-2-0 record and a fifth-place finish in the West Division in 2025-26.
Co-captains Elliot Domagala and Tanner Lozano and assistant captains Aiden Hogan and Wyatt Garvey will look to lead Willmar back to the playoffs for the first time since 2024-25.
Domagala and Hogan are each back for their third years with the WarHawks, who return Lozano, Garvey and Aiden Dame for their second seasons.
"We've got a lot of good leaders in the locker room — guys that hold each other accountable — and it's just overall a really good group," Fodstad said. "I look forward to coming to the rink every single day to skate with these guys."
No returners had more points than Domagala or Garvey last year.
Domagala, a right-handed forward from Luverne, posted 15 goals and 17 assists in 44 games last year. His younger brother, Maddux Domagala, is on this year's roster after appearing in 13 games as a high school senior last season. Garvey, a right-handed defenseman from Isanti, had four goals and nine assists in 37 games last year.
Those two — along with the others in the leadership group — hope to drive the WarHawks' success.
"We're going to be an accountable, detail-oriented team that is going to play a fast, skilled and physical pace of hockey," Fodstad said. "I firmly believe that it'll be a successful year."
Fodstad has four goalies for the start of the season: Asher Wold, Tate Metcalf, Chris Ernster and Noah Germain.
Wold is from Snohomish, Washington and has no NA3HL experience. Metcalf is from Bemidji and has seen some league action. Ernster is from Apple Valley and is currently rehabbing a torn meniscus. Germain is a Detroit Lakes senior who will depart from the WarHawks when the Lakers begin play.
All four will have opportunities between the pipes, Fodstad noted.
"Whoever plays the best and whoever stays hot is going to be the one who stays in the net," Fodstad said.
Fodstad, who played three seasons in the NA3HL before playing at Concordia-Moorhead, went to the Fraser Cup Final with the Rochester Grizzlies in 2020-21.
Now, Fodstad hopes to get there as Willmar's head coach/general manager.