NEW ULM — New Ulm’s Jeremy Reed said that he is excited about his new position as the Minnesota Hockey Executive Director.

“I have been on the Board of Directors [for Minnesota Hockey] for about 12 years,” Reed said. “It is a great organization and am excited about the faith that they have shown in me.”

Reed said there has been some turnover at the Executive Director position of Minnesota Hockey in the last couple of years.

“It is a large organization that has a lot of different moving parts,” he said. “And it can be very intimidating for someone that does not know how big if is and how it works.”

How big is Minnesota Hockey?

“As the governing body of hockey in Minnesota — with adults — we are at about 70,000 players,” Reed said. “And in addition to that we have programs, partnerships and we have diversified programs with the blind, deaf, hard of hearing — that is a whole other branch of adult programs. So it is not just youth hockey.”

Reed added that in addition to that Minnesota Hockey also has offseason programs.

“We also have people that do player development clinics throughout the year,” he said.

Reed added that Minnesota Hockey also has involvement with the Minnesota High School League, the Boys and Girls Coaches Association and the Minnesota Wild — organizations that work together for the sport of hockey.

Reed said that right now there are a lot of meetings with partners.

“We are working with our staff and volunteers on programming,” he said. “We are trying to work ahead on things.

As the new Executive Director for Minnesota Hockey, Reed said that he would like to reinforce some things.

“One of the unique things about Minnesota is the community-based hockey,” he said. “That is a true strength when the communities and the taxpayers support it through the community rinks. That allows for community programs to maintain the community-based culture and that is what is important and it is what has made Minnesota the best. And it is one of the things that allows for kids and new families to enter the sport at a relatively low cost. We have a place for everybody to play.”

Reed said it does not matter if they are a high-end Bantam AA player or a low-end player.

“This model that we have allows all of the kids to be the best version of themselves,” he said. “And the experience that they are able to go through is what we want to maintain and enhance it going forward and continue to grow it. Our goal this year is to try and get twenty-thousand 8-and-under players for our first time in history.”

He said the 20,000 mark is a goal that Minnesota Hockey’s Development team has had.

Reed said that USA Hockey is trying to get 100,000 girls to play hockey.

Reed said that he really wants to collaborate with Minnesota Hockey’s Board of Directors.

“I want to collaborate with them as we move towards a strength-weakness and from that develop a three- and five-year strategic plan,” he said. “But we need cooperation on it.”

Reed said that while he will move to the Twin Cities for his new job, he will still “live” in New Ulm.

“There are a lot of people that have a home in one town and a cabin somewhere else,” he said. “It is a little different for us — we will have a loft in downtown St. Paul and a house in New Ulm.”