Minnesota native with Air Force, national defense background buys Rochester Grizzlies, Austin Bruins

Jul. 19—AUSTIN — Brian Raduenz's career is serious business.

He'll take the leadership of the two businesses he purchased on Wednesday seriously, too, but he might have a bit more fun with them.

Raduenz, an Eveleth native and former Division I college hockey player, is the new owner of the Austin Bruins of the North American Hockey League and their Tier III sibling, the Rochester Grizzlies, of the North American 3 Hockey League.

The sale was officially announced today — Wednesday, July 19, 2023 — and Raduenz will assume control of the teams immediately.

"I am excited to carry on the winning tradition of both these great organizations and partner with the communities of Austin and Rochester to help talented young hockey players reach their full potential," Raduenz said in a statement.

He purchased the franchises from Austin businessman Mike Cooper and Craig Patrick, who founded the Bruins in 2010.

Patrick is a Sioux City, Iowa, native who worked in the medical device industry, including at Boston Scientific, before bringing NAHL hockey to Austin 13 years ago.

Raduenz, 57, has an extensive background in both hockey and national defense.

He is the CEO of Aevex Aerospace, which is headquartered in the San Diego suburb of Solana Beach, Calif., and according to its website "offers full-spectrum airborne intelligence solutions for cost-effective and customized services that answer our customers pressing challenges." The company was in the national news in April of 2022, when

the Biden administration announced it was sending 121 Phoenix Ghost drones (explosive drones) to Ukraine

.

The

Phoenix Ghost drone

is manufactured by Aevex Aerospace.

Raduenz's love for hockey began more than four decades ago when he grew up in the hockey-rich community of Eveleth, which is home to the

United States Hockey Hall of Fame

. He played for Eveleth, then played Division I college hockey for the United States Air Force Academy, before serving in the Air Force for 20 years as a commander.

He is a 1984 graduate of Eveleth High School, and received a bachelor's degree in 1988 from the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. He also earned a master's degree in 1992 from the Air Force Institute of Technology in Dayton, Ohio.

Raduenz and his wife, Theresa, started the

Iron Ranger Foundation

in 2019, which awards scholarships to high school students who have lost a parent to "death (of one/both parents), estrangement, incarceration, terminal illness, or termination of parental rights."

According to the Foundation's website, students attending a high school in specified California, Colorado or Minnesota counties are eligible for one of its scholarships. Mower County, where Austin is located, is among the counties listed in Minnesota.

The Raduenz family also donated $250,000 in February 2021 to the Rock Ridge Rising campaign, which raised money for new school and athletic facilities for the newly formed Rock Ridge School District — when the districts of Eveleth, Gilbert and Virginia merged.

Raduenz added in a statement that there are no plans to relocate either franchise and the current coaching staffs will remain in place.

"I think its going to be cool, for sure," said first-year Grizzlies head coach Tyler Veen, who has been with the organization for four years, two as a scout, two as an assistant coach. "I've yet to meet (Raduenz) but I think he understands what's going on. He gets the process we're going through here.

"He really cares about the game of hockey and he'll support us in what we're doing. I think it's a giving-back thing for him. He went through the wringer with hockey and now that he's established he wants to give back to the hockey community. It's cool that he's a Minnesota guy giving back to two Minnesota teams."

The new era also means a goodbye for Patrick and Cooper, whose teams found incredible success over the past dozen years.

The Bruins have reached the NAHL's championship — the Robertson Cup — three times, including this past season, when they fell in a classic of a championship game, 4-3, against the Oklahoma Warriors. Austin also went to the Robertson Cup Finals in 2014 and 2015, and earned the right to host what was then a best-of-3 series in 2015.

Cooper purchased a minority stake in the Bruins nine years ago this month, in July of 2014. He owns nine Qdoba restaurants in Minnesota, including the Qdobas in Austin, Rochester, Winona and Albert Lea.

In April of 2018, Cooper and Patrick dove into the NA3HL market, purchasing the Rochester franchise — previously known as the Ice Hawks — and rebranding it as the Grizzlies.

"We are grateful for the incredible support over the past 13 seasons," Patrick said, "and especially from our amazing fans who traveled this year to Blaine for the Robertson Cup."

Patrick added that he and Cooper will remain with the organizations in the 2023-24 season in an advisory capacity, to help with the transition.

The Grizzlies had instant success, winning 32 games in their inaugural season. Since then, they have won four consecutive NA3HL Central Division regular-season championships and two of the past three postseason division titles (the playoffs were cancled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). The Grizzlies made the NA3HL national championship game — the Fraser Cup — in 2021 and 2022, winning it in 2022.

"Craig and Coop took me in and gave me my start and an opportunity to get to where I am now," Veen said. "Right after I graduated from college, Coop was one of the first people to call me about coming down to be an assistant coach in Rochester.

"He kind of sold it to me, then (former Grizzlies head coach Chris Ratzloff) gave me the final push. I'm very appreciative and grateful for the resources and time they've given us. It's been nothing but first class all the way around."

Bruins head coach Steve Howard has completed his coaching staff, by announcing the hires of two assistant coaches this week. The announcements come a couple of weeks after Justin Fisher and Hampus Sjodahl announced their departures.

One of the new assistant coaches is a familiar face to Bruins fans. Liam Thrawl played for Austin in the 2016-17 season, when he had six points in 34 games. The 23-year-old spent this past season as a volunteer assistant coach at Division I Rensselaer Polytechnic University in Troy, N.Y. One of the players Thrawl coached at RPI is former Bruin Sutter Muzzatti, who was drafted by the Nashville Predators in the fifth round (No. 143 overall) last month. Muzzatti had 22 points in 35 games last season as a freshman at RPI and was named to the ECAC All-Rookie Team.

On Tuesday, Howard announced he has hired Alex Drulia to fill the other assistant coach spot. The 28-year-old was a scout for the Bruins last season after coaching in junior hockey for the previous seven seasons. Drulia, a native of Fort Erie, Ontario, played for the Dells Ducks in 2014-15, in the now-defunct Minnesota Junior Hockey League, the same league in which the Rochester Ice Hawks played. Drulia also coached with the Ducks from 2015-17.

Fisher, who was with the Bruins for three seasons, moved to North Carolina with his fiancee, and will continue to serve as a regional scout for Austin and the Grizzlies in the southeastern U.S. Sjodahl, a former Bemidji State University standout who coached in Austin for two seasons, was hired as an assistant coach by the USHL's Cedar Rapids Roughriders.

Fisher and Sjodahl helped build the Bruins' 2022-23 team that reached the NAHL's national championship game, the Robertson Cup, in May.