Dubuque, IA — The Fighting Saints and Northern Lights Hockey LLC (NLH) are proud to announce they have reached a contract extension with their President of Hockey Operations and General Manager, Kalle Larsson.
Larsson's new deal, which includes the 2022-23 season, with the organization that will keep him here through the 2025-26 season. Along with the extension, Larsson has also acquired a minority ownership stake of Northern Lights Hockey LLC.
"Kalle has been an integral leader for the Dubuque Fighting Saints," said Brad Kwong, the Managing Partner for NLH. "He has demonstrated over the years to have the intelligence, hockey acumen and a balanced approach to help build the Fighting Saints into one of the preeminent junior hockey organizations in the world. Kalle has established himself as a leader and well respected colleague amongst his GM brethren and has been a tremendous resource to the League in many hockey related matters. We're happy to be able to keep a talented hockey executive for 4 more years and look forward to continued success with Kalle at the helm."
Larsson has been a part of the Fighting Saints organization since 2015 when he was hired on as the Director of Player Personnel. He was then named the teams General Manager, along with his Player Personnel role, in 2017-18, before operating solely as the General Manager beginning in the 2018-19 season. Since then, Larsson also added the title of President of Hockey Operations in February of 2022.
With Dubuque, Larsson has overseen several of the franchise's high points and personal success. In the 2019-20 season, the Fighting Saints were on pace for their second best finish in franchise history before the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The strong season led to Larsson being named the USHL General Manager of the Year. Under his leadership, the Fighting Saints have continued their playoff streak to 11 consecutive seasons.
From a player development standpoint, Larsson has drafted and/or developed several marquee players. Under Larsson, Dubuque has seen over 95% of their players commit to Division I schools. Larsson is also responsible for drafting several USHL award winners, including 2019-20 USHL Forward and Player of the Year Riese Gaber, 2019-20 USHL Goaltender of the Year Erik Portillo, 2021-22 USA Hockey Junior Player of the Year Connor Kurth, and two USHL Curt Hammer Award Winners (Gentleman of the Year) in Stephen Halliday (2021-22) and Aidan Fulp (2019-20). The Fighting Saints have also had nine All USHL Team selections and three All Rookie Team selections under Larsson.
"It has been a delight watching Kalle grow into his current role and, frankly, his record speaks for itself," said Peter Chiarelli, one of the founding members of the Fighting Saints' ownership, and current VP of Hockey Operations for the NHL's St. Louis Blues. "He is succeeding in player evaluation, managing personnel, coach/GM relationships and connectivity, and many other smaller but equally important aspects of the job. He is cerebral, proactive and very industrious and efficient. The Dubuque Fighting Saints organization is fortunate to have a person like Kalle at our helm. Congratulations, Kalle."
Dubuque has also filtered several players in the NHL Draft that were drafted or acquired by Larsson including Matthew Savoie, Matias Macceli, Braden Doyle, Cole Guttman, Alex Steeves, Tyce Thompson, Kenny Connors, Kurth, Halliday, and Portillo, among others.
Education has also been a key focus for the Fighting Saints under Larsson. The Fighting Saints have had three of the last five USHL Scholar Athlete winners and 12 of the 29 total (41.3%) USHL All-Academic selections since the award was introduced in 2017.
Larsson joined the Fighting Saints from the Sioux City Musketeers, where he previously served as the club's Assistant General Manager and Director of Scouting. The Gothenburg, Sweden native joined the team late in the 2013–14 season and provided insight to the organization during two USHL drafts.
