“They don’t have a team, they didn’t have a league. They had nothing going for them and the guys wanted it, the locals wanted it.”
He added that lack of infrastructure was a big reason why it was important to revive the sport in the Balkan nation.
“Imagine there’s no hockey in Saskatoon for 10 years,” Janzen said. “Everyone would be looking around being like, ‘What’s going on?’ That’s how they feel.”
What followed was months of research, emailing and trips to Europe to see if there would be a path towards operating a team and if it would be feasible to build back up their hockey infrastructure. The country’s history with hockey dates all the way back to the former country of Yugoslavia, which competed at five Olympic Games in men’s hockey between 1964 and 1984.
“It was probably about three months before I decided to green light the project,” Janzen said.
“There’s a lot of other work, you can’t just tap your credit card, right? You’ve got to get a Macedonian bank account, you’ve got to get lawyers, you’ve got to get accountants, you’ve got to get the government involved.”
Janzen will oversee the team from Saskatoon, while he’s tabbed former North Macedonia team captain Ivica Taskov to handle the day-to-day operations alongside business partner and former professional hockey player, Nick DiLisi, as head coach for the Herd.
Saskatchewan Rush play-by-play voice Cody Janzen (pictured) is heading up the Skopje Herd, in their first few weeks as a team in North Macedonia. (Cody Janzen/Submitted)
The Skopje team has already played in three weekend series against opponents from Slovenia, Bulgaria and Bosnia, winning five of their eight games so far.
Janzen’s vision is two-fold: for the team to elevate to a fully professional league and to create minor hockey infrastructure for future generations in North Macedonia.
“I have to go in there and build a sustainable hockey model,” Janzen said. “I think for us to do that – for me to do that – is find and grow the game regionally to have a strong Balkans league.”
While not quite on the same level as movie and television stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney purchasing Welsh professional soccer club Wrexham A.F.C., the Rush play-by-play voice did take inspiration from their story.
Specifically, on the impact a revitalization of sport can have on the local community.
“You can just see how much the locals love the chance to get to be a part and play for a real club again,” Janzen said.
“That made it all worth it.”