OFF MIC: MEET MAVERICKS FORWARD, CADE BORCHARDT

In the second edition of Off Mic, we sat down with Cade Borchardt, a second-year pro and one of the Mavericks’ top forwards. Cade took us on a journey from his upbringing in Burnsville, MN all the way to his arrival on the professional hockey scene in Kansas City.

Burnsville is situated 15 miles south of downtown Minneapolis in Dakota County. In large part due to its arctic-like winter weather, Minnesota has long been known as “The State of Hockey.” Growing up in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, there was no shortage of frozen bodies of water for Cade to choose from. He got his start skating on a pond, conveniently located right in his backyard.

Much like our first guest, Rob Couturier, Cade did not grow up in a hockey household. His parents never played and weren’t even that familiar with the sport. It was in elementary school gym class where Cade and his brother Cole were first exposed to floor hockey, which led to many subsequent sessions on the pond and eventually a professional hockey career.

As the hockey pioneers in the house, Cade and Cole’s interest in the sport rubbed off on the Borchardt family. Their parents took them to several Minnesota Wild games at Xcel Energy Center where Cade admired the blazing speed of legendary players like Marian Gaborik and developed a deeper passion for the game.

During his playing career, Cade mentioned that he got to play on the same team as his brother on a couple different occasions. He recalls playing alongside him during his first year as a peewee and then in high school during his sophomore year when Cole was a senior. Cade said his sophomore season at Burnsville High was a period he’ll cherish for the rest of his life.

A guy who did not play for that Burnsville High team was fellow Burnsville native and current teammate, Nate Knoepke. “He’s a fake Burnsville guy”, Cade joked. Despite growing up and living in Burnsville, Knoepke attended Lakeville South High, a Burnsville High rival and part of the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL). Most people aren’t aware that the hype around high school hockey in Minnesota is akin to that of high school football in Texas. With several top tier high school teams in close proximity, the furthest Cade ever had to travel for a game was 10 minutes. The competition was tremendous and playing in front of big crowds was the norm, an experience that helped pave the way for a prolonged career.

As is common among aspiring professional hockey players, Cade opted to play juniors before heading to college. In 2016, he joined the Brookings Blizzard of the North American Hockey League, a Tier II junior hockey team based in St. Cloud, MN, less than 90 miles away from his hometown. In 2017, he made the jump to a Tier I program in the Madison Capitols of the United States Hockey League (USHL), followed by a stint with the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede in his third and final year of juniors. Cade lived with some great billet families during his time in juniors, but he mentioned it was the Covrig family in Sioux Falls, SD with whom he shared a special bond and is still in touch with to this day. Having a spacious room and enjoying home-cooked dinners with great company truly made him feel at home despite being nearly four hours away.

After his two years in Wisconsin and South Dakota, Cade returned to The State of Hockey and began his collegiate career in the fall of 2019. He recalled visiting Minnesota State Mankato a couple years prior and falling in love with the school, leading to his commitment to the program just before his season with the Madison Capitols. Cade’s childhood dream of playing Division I hockey in his home state became a reality when he suited up as a Minnesota State Maverick for the first time during his freshman year. After being one of the top scorers with 41 points as a junior, Cade was named captain of Minnesota State his senior year, a storybook ending to what he considers to be four of the best years of his life.

From the Minnesota State Mavericks to the Kansas City Mavericks, Cade signed his first professional hockey contract in the spring of 2023. He said the biggest difference when turning pro was the addition of weeknight games as opposed to playing strictly on Friday and Saturday as he did in college. However, less time to prepare for games didn’t faze Cade as he led all ECHL rookies in scoring during his first full season as a pro. In addition to both his and the Mavericks’ on-ice success, Cade has enjoyed all that KC has to offer. He says indulging at barbecue joints like Jack Stack and catching a game at Kaufman Stadium are among the top of his list.(Benson, 2024)