NEW ULM — New Steel owner Kelly Kasik has begun to assemble her first front office as she has Zach Stepan as the full-time General Manager of the New Ulm Steel.

Stepan will also remain as head coach of the Steel.

Kasik said that in her initial meeting with Stepan, she felt he was the right person for the job as GM.

“When I first met him I could tell right away how passionate he was about the team and everything he wanted to implement and change. He had some great ideas on how to make this team better I just felt he was the perfect person.”

Stepan said that he is he is very happy that Kasik decided to keep him on board and let him wear two hats as head coach and full-time General Manager.

“It is very normal for a new ownership group to come in and say that they want to bring in their own people — people that they trust — and after meeting with them it looks like they trust me with the GM job and that is very humbling,” Stepan said. “But at the same time it is going to be a lot more work and a lot of learning curves. Bryant (Black, former GM of the Steel) has taught me a lot. Having to have the final say on things for me will be nice but at the same time I have a lot more responsibility and I need to be ready for it.”

Stepan said that being a full-time GM gives him the freedom to do more things.

“We are planning on doing a lot of things this summer and now I can oversee all of that. We are looking to bring on a full-time Business Manager to help me and that will be a nice revamping of New Ulm Steel hockey in the city of New Ulm. We want to really hammer at the community involvement.”‘

Stepan said that a four-page document that has been put together from Stepan, the ownership group, the potential new business manager and Billet Co-ordinator Jessica Stadick.

“We have all had input into this document on things we want to see changed. Are we going to get them all done in a year? Absolutely not but there are a lot of good things on there from fund-raisers for the Billetts to a Pot Luck dinner at a park for the pubic and fans where we can all meet-and-greet. We want to be involved in the different festivals that we have here in New Ulm during the summer. We want to get our name out at these places.”

Stepan also wants to see his players get back into the community service.

“We lacked on that this last year because of COVID so we hope we can get back to normal on that. I also want to do some golf tournaments — I have a million ideas going though my head right now on how we can get the city more involved and excited about New Ulm Steel hockey and revamp this under new ownership.”

Stepan said that he cannot thank the Black family enough for bringing the Steel to New Ulm and getting the team to where they are.

While Kasik said she is reviewing applicants for the Business Manager, Stepan is looking for potentially a new assistant coach.

“Jack (Strommen, current assistant coach) wants to come back and I would love to have him,” Stepan said. “But at the same time he is living in St. Louis Park and he has a wife so that has to be a family decision. The assistant coaching job next year it will be a salaried employed job so I need my assistant coach to live down here and be available all of the time. That is a lot to ask of him to uplift his family and move so that will be a decision between him and his wife.”

Stepan said that for the Steel to have a full-time GM/coach and a full-time Business Manager in New Ulm is very important.

“We had a really good core of local people in the past,” Stepan said. “Eric Gramentz has done a great job for us on the sales piece and the day-to-day stuff and Bryant did a great job on our sponsorships. But these people had other full-time jobs. The new ownership has given me the full-time job which means more responsibility.”

Stepan said he would like to see a full-time Business Manager hired as soon as the regular season ends.

“We have so many plans for the summer. I have also looked into a couple of interns from Gustavus. But that decision is not mine to make — I do not know when Kelly wants to have that hire actually happen. But the person that we have in mind probably will be willing to help even though they may not start until June 1st.”