The Lone Star Brahmas return ten skaters for the 2020-21 season, including Joey Baez, Cole Beilke, Luke Burke, Jack Collins, Andrew DeCarlo, Mitchell Digby, Stefan Miklakos, Malcolm Palmer, Dylan Smith and Joey Trazzera. Brahmas media spoke to each player to learn about the abrupt end to the 2019-20 year, off-season activities and what they are looking forward to for the upcoming NAHL season.
NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TEXAS — Mitchell Digby isn’t one to rest on his laurels. The defenseman had a stand-out rookie year on the Lone Star Brahmas, ranking within the top three places among all rookies in goals (6), assists (16), points (22), points per game (0.61) and power-play goals (2). Digby also committed to the Air Force Academy (Atlantic Hockey, D1) during his inaugural season–one of three skaters to do so from the 2019-20 roster. But the Ottawa Lake, MI. native wants to make this season the best one yet. Keep reading to find out what the skater is doing to prep for the year ahead.
Brahmas Media: How would you describe the 2019-20 season in your own experience?
Mitchell Digby: Everything went the way we wanted it to. It wasn’t luck, because we put in a lot of hard work to get to where we were. Everyone bought into the system and success followed.
BM: What was it like when you learned the season was canceled?
MD: Myself, Matthew Rickard and Cole Beilke were on the golf course and we got a message from Coach that the season was paused. We initially thought it was only going to be paused for a week or so because we were supposed to have a game the next day, but then it turned out to be up until now. It didn’t feel real at first, but it was a weird time. We didn’t know what to expect.
BM: How have you been staying in shape and motivated during the off-season?
MD: I have a good core group of guys that I work out with from my hometown, where all of them play high-level juniors or in college, so since we all have the same goals, we keep each other motivated and compete with each other every day.
BM: What is your mentality coming into this season?
MD: We have to be mentally tough; it’s not the regular start to the season, but you have to be flexible and keep working hard no matter what the situation is.
BM: What is one part of your game that you’re confident in and one part of your game that you’re looking forward to working on?
MD: I love playing on the power-play and managing the play, giving our team a chance to score. I think I can work on being better at being shut down in the defensive-zone and kill more penalties.
BM: What are you most excited about for this upcoming season?
MD: Playing games in front of the Brahmas fans. I miss playing in front of people like that; it was the best part of last year.
Fast facts about Mitchell Digby:
Height: 5’11
Weight: 181
Position: Defense
Shoots: Right
Hometown: Ottawa Lake, MI
Favorite–
Movie: Happy Gilmore
Ice cream flavor: Cookie Dough
Breakfast food: Banana pancakes
Hockey player: Zack Werenski
Season: Winter
Dream job (besides hockey player): Pilot
Superpower of choice: Flying
Dream vacation destination: Aruba
Hidden talent: Juggling
Best thing about living in North Richland Hills/playing at NYTEX: Great facility and fans. Getting recognized at restaurants. The whole experience is “second-to-none” – Mitchell Digby
Sydney Johnson is a media and content intern with the Lone Star Brahmas.