NEW ULM — From a host family to an owner of both a NA3HL and an NAHL franchise.

That is the road that new New Ulm Steel owner Kelly Kasik took in becoming the new owner of the New Ulm Steel and the Chippewa Steel when she purchased both teams from Steve Black.

Kasik’s ownership was approved on Tuesday morning by the North American Hockey League Board of Directors.

Kasik, who has been a real estate investor for the past 16 years, is currently living in San Jose but will be moving to Denver later in the next year where she will run both franchises. She said that her trek into hockey began three years ago.

“We have a 12-year old son Zachary who is a hockey goalie and for the past three years, we have been a billet (host) family for older hockey players from the San Jose Jr. Sharks,” Kasik said. “We have hosted six players in that time and we have loved the experience in being a family to them. In meeting with them I really wanted to find out how I could help them and grow hockey and help the kids.”

Her husband, Geoff Stahl, is a graduate of the University of Maryland and has a degree in Physical Sciences (Aerospace Engineering/Computer Science).

Kasik said that she will run the team with her husband having a hand in it. He has been employed by Apple Inc. for the past 21 years.

Kasik took that interest and she said she inquired with a sports agent and told him that she wanted a hockey team to become involved with.

“I told him I did not want a professional team but I really wanted to help kids in hockey,” Kasik said. “So he suggested Junior Hockey which is where I can help players improve and get to college hockey. I started looking around and I reached out to owners to see if anyone was interested selling. And we found the Blacks and we started talking.”

And the Blacks were great to work with, she said.

“They loved helping the players and owning the teams (New Ulm and Chippewa) and the more we talked, the more we had things in common. And Steve felt comfortable selling both teams to me.

“I was in New Ulm a couple of weeks ago and was in a meeting with the City officials and met with Tom (Schmitz, New Um Park and Recreation Director) and looked around the town and fell in love with it.”

Early-on, Kasik said that she is in the process of hiring a Business Manager for the New Ulm Steel.

“And I really want this to be a community-based team and have the town involved in it,” she said. “The community is a huge part of the Steel team and I want to keep it that way.”

Kasik said that she is planning on having community get-togethers this summer and early next year in New Ulm.

Kasik said that she does not see a lot of changes being made.

“The Blacks did a good job but I definitely want to build the franchise up more — I want to hire some more people and grow the success of the franchise. I want to do more events in New Ulm with the Steel.

“I want to grow the franchise in New Ulm and I want to meet everybody in New Ulm because they are a big part of our franchise,” Kasik said. “I plan to come out to games next season and this summer we want to do a bar-b-que for all of the sponsors. I want to meet the people of New Ulm.”