Fighting Saints release 30-man roster.
Courtesy Dubuque Fighting Saints — The Dubuque Fighting Saints, led by general manager Kalle Larsson and head coach Greg Brown, have released the team’s 30-man roster in conjunction with the USHL.
The Fighting Saints’ 2021–22 30-man roster is as follows:
| POSITION | NAME | PREVIOUS TEAM | DATE OF BIRTH |
| Forward | Nikita Borodayenko | Spartak Moscow Jr. | 6/17/02 |
| Forward | Michael Burchill | Detroit Compuware U15 | 4/29/05 |
| Defense | Max Burkholder | Dubuque Fighting Saints | 8/8/03 |
| Forward | Kenny Connors | Dubuque Fighting Saints | 3/10/03 |
| Forward | Mikey DeAngelo | Chicago Mission U16 | 11/19/04 |
| Defense | Zane Demsey | Dubuque Fighting Saints | 11/4/01 |
| Forward | Jaxson Ezman | Janesville Jets | 12/22/02 |
| Defense | Michael Feenstra | Dubuque Fighting Saints | 4/3/01 |
| Goaltender | Paxton Geisel | St. Cloud Norsemen | 1/18/04 |
| Forward | William Hallén | Frölunda J20 | 4/15/02 |
| Forward | Stephen Halliday | Dubuque Fighting Saints | 7/2/02 |
| Forward | Justin Janicke | USA NTDP U18s | 6/30/03 |
| Forward | Andrew King | Neponset Valley River Rats U18 | 4/28/03 |
| Forward | Peter Kramer | Thayer Academy | 8/8/02 |
| Defense | Axel Kumlin | Frölunda J20 | 2/23/02 |
| Forward | Connor Kurth | Dubuque Fighting Saints | 7/30/03 |
| Forward | Tristan Lemyre | Dubuque Fighting Saints | 1/15/01 |
| Forward | Gabriel Lundberg | Frölunda J20 | 2/8/02 |
| Defense | Christopher Lynch | Färjestad J20 | 4/25/02 |
| Forward | Max Montes | Dubuque Fighting Saints | 9/1/03 |
| Forward | Shawn O’Donnell | Pittsburgh Penguins U18 | 6/21/03 |
| Defense | Lucas Ölvestad | Djurgården J20 | 3/19/02 |
| Defense | Austin Oravetz | Pittsburgh Penguins U18 | 9/26/03 |
| Defense | Riley Rosenthal | Dubuque Fighting Saints | 12/10/03 |
| Forward | Samu Salminen | Jokerit U20 | 4/9/03 |
| Forward | (Carter) Primo Self | Dubuque Fighting Saints | 11/27/01 |
| Defense | Samuel Sjölund | AIK J20 | 5/19/01 |
| Forward | Ryan St. Louis | USA NTDP U18s | 6/13/03 |
| Forward | Riley Stuart | Dubuque Fighting Saints | 1/17/02 |
| Goaltender | Philip Svedebäck | Växjö J20 | 5/28/02 |
The 30-man roster includes 11 full time returners (Burkholder, Connors, Demsey, Feenstra, Halliday, Kurth, Lemyre, Montes, Rosenthal, Self, Stuart), and two players who played part of the season for the Fighting Saints (Oravetz, DeAngelo) during the 2020–21 season. Combined, the returners sport 745 games’ worth of USHL experience.
The Saints will see a completely new look in net, with Boston Bruins prospect Philip Svedebäck and 2022 NHL Draft prospect Paxton Geisel battling for ice time in between the pipes.
Svedebäck, 19, spent most of the season with the Växjö Lakers U20 club last season, where he posted a 5-6-0 record, a 3.47 GAA and a .912 save percentage. He also played two games at the third tier professional level in Sweden with Hammarby IF. Boston selected the 6’3” netminder in the fourth round, 117th overall, in the 2021 NHL Draft.
Geisel, 17, comes off of a season with the North American Hockey League’s St. Cloud Norsemen. It was there that he racked up NAHL All-Central Division Rookie honors. The Denver commit played in 40 games, put together a 14-22-0 record, a 3.37 GAA and a .892 save percentage. Geisel is a product of the Dallas Stars Elite program.
Dubuque will see a decidedly international flavor to the roster this season. Svedebäck, along with William Hallén, Axel Kumlin, Gabriel Lundberg, Christopher Lynch, Lucas Ölvestad and Samuel Sjölund, all have Swedish ties. The Fighting Saints also bring in Russian sniper Nikita Borodayenko, who put up back-to-back double-digit goal scoring seasons in Russia’s top junior league, the MHL.
The 2021–22 preseason gets underway Friday, September 10 at 7:05 p.m. against the Green Bay Gamblers, beginning a four-game preseason slate ahead of Opening Night, presented by MidWestOne Bank on Friday, October 9, also against the Gamblers.
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Born and raised in Ontario, Canada and moved to the state of Wisconsin in my late 30's. I worked at various newspapers and magazines in various sports positions for 25 years before changing careers five years ago. Now I am streamlining my focus on hockey only and in particular, all levels of hockey in the American Midwest.