Lucas Punkari
It’s been a little bit longer of a wait than he would have liked, but Fort Frances native Mitch Cain now is getting ready for the next part of his hockey career after signing his official letter of intent with Bemidji State two weeks ago.
“I really wanted to jump into the schooling there and start playing for the team last season,” Cain admitted.
“But the coaching staff wanted me to come in and start playing right away, as opposed to sitting out in my freshman year as a ‘red shirt,’” he added.
Before signing the letter of intent with the Beavers, the 19-year old Cain spent the last two seasons with the Des Moines Buccaneers of the USHL, where he notched 48 points in 116 games.
“After I signed a verbal commitment with them [Bemidji State] a couple of years back, the coaching staff has been following my progress at Des Moines,” Cain noted.
“Coming into next [season], they have an idea of what they want and expect out of me, so I’m really looking forward to the challenge and I’m really excited,” he enthused.
Cain, who stands 6’2” and weighs 202 pounds, saw his point total improve from 21 to 27 in the 2010/11 season for the Buccaneers, and also had an increase in penalty minutes from 46 to 137 in his sophomore campaign.
“I guess that kind of goes with my style of play,” Cain, who describes himself as a power forward, joked about his increased time in the sin bin.
“Coming into a second season, there’s that extra confidence that comes with being a returning player, and I was given some more ice time in certain situations, which gave me a better opportunity to get more points and really prove myself,” he reasoned.
Unfortunately for Cain and the rest of the Buccaneers, they found themselves on the outside looking in for the USHL post-season as the team missed the playoffs for the fifth-straight year.
“If it wasn’t for a really bad month in February, I think we would have made the playoffs, for sure,” Cain said.
“We ended up dropping 10 out of 11 games, and we just couldn’t figure out what was going on.
“Things just weren’t clicking, and pucks just weren’t going into the net,” he recalled. “And though we did our best to come back, it just wasn’t enough in the end.”
However, despite the recent struggles for the Buccaneers’ franchise, Cain feels things are looking bright for the four-time Clark Cup champions.
“It [the improvement] is really in the entire mindset of the whole organization,” Cain noted.
“The year before I came down to play there, the team had only won 12 games.
“But now they’re really starting to want to get back to what it was like in the early 2000s, when they were winning championships, and I think they’re going to be getting there really soon,” he remarked.
The former Fort Frances Jr. Sabres’ forward also spoke highly of the city of Des Moines itself, which he felt has really molded him into the person he currently is.
“I love the town and the people there, and I couldn’t have been happier to have been spent my last two years there,” Cain stressed.
“Our arena there [Buccaneer Arena] is one of the oldest in the league, and although it may look a little run down, when it’s packed with 4,000 fans, it really is something.”
Meanwhile, having the experience of living and playing far away from home the past two seasons, Cain feels the transition heading to Bemidji will be much easier than it could have potentially been.
“I think that’ll be huge,” he said.
“The style of play in the USHL will really help me a lot going into the NCAA, and living away from home in Des Moines really shaped me into who I am now.
“So I’m pretty excited for it.”
Someone Cain has been in contact with during the entire process is Fort Frances native Dan MacIntyre, who just completed his senior season on the Beavers’ blueline.
“He lives just down the road from me here in town and we also trained two summers ago, so I’ve tried to stay in touch with him as much as I can,” said Cain, who has yet to decide what he’ll be majoring in come this fall at Bemidji State.
“He really enjoyed his time down there, and he loves the hockey there, so he’s really been a big help along the way in preparing for my college career,” Cain added.
While MacIntyre won’t be Cain’s teammate this coming season, there will be a Fort Frances connection during WCHA play as Cain will cross paths with his friend, Joe Basaraba, who will be playing in his sophomore season for the national champion Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs.
“We’ll be playing them a couple of times next year, so I’ll have to make sure to keep a close eye on him,” he joked.
“It’s quite an accomplishment, though, to win a national championship, and I certainly wish him the best throughout the rest of his career,” Cain added.
