The North American Hockey League is known as the league of opportunity, and it certainly is as the 24-team league which covers 13 states has produced 1,345 NCAA commitments in the past five seasons and 21 of its players have been drafted into the NHL.

But there is much more to the NAHL than just hockey. For the players who make up the Austin Bruins, there are long bus trips, new experiences in a new town, new friendships and the hardships of being away from home for a long period of time.

Tyler Eichorst, owner of Acowsay Cinema, is hoping to capture the story of the Bruins off the ice as he is in the early stages of producing a docuseries on Austin, entitled “All-In.”

Acowsay Cinema is a small production team in the Twin Cities that produced “Dream State,” a docuseries on high school hockey teams for FSN North, and they’re hoping to provide a similar look at the Bruins.

“We’ve decided to put together a program that really captures the art and soul of hockey,” Eichorst said. “While hockey is the backbone of the show, it’s about so much more than that. It’s about those story lines and in between moments. We’ll go where the stories are and we’ll look to get the community involved as well.”

Eichorst, who is directing “All-In,” has already filmed a weekend series in early November for the trailer of the series, which will be available soon. While he’s fully intent on getting the film made, Eichorst is also looking for options for funding the project, which he hopes will eventually be released by this summer.

The crew is going to be back in Austin filming by January.

“Putting together and telling these stories is fantastic, but there are some funding and financing issues that need to fall into place,” Eichorst said. “We’re ready to start spreading the word that this will be a great show.”

Out of all of the NAHL teams, Austin stood out because of Riverside Arena and the presence of Hormel. It also helped that Danny Krueger, digital account manager for Acowsay Cinema, was friends with former Bruin Scotty Nelson.

“It’s a unique atmosphere. It’s like a minor league feel for junior hockey and it’s really special. The town of Austin has a rich story with a Fortune 500 company in town and what they have with the Vision 2020 project,” Krueger said. “For us what we love telling is all of the stories outside of the boards. We want to show the kid who’s battling to get on the roster or the billet family, We’re looking for those deeper stories. Sports kind of unites people together. Our mission is to inspire those who watch it with the stories that live outside of the game.”

Eichorst said the crew is looking into an IndyGoGo campaign to raise funds and he also wants to keep the community involved through social media.

“We’re super excited,” Eichorst said. “Our favorite part of film is capturing and making a film and that’s what we’re looking to do. Austin has been so welcome and embracing and it’s their story that we’re humbly willing to tell.”

Austin Bruins co-owner Craig Patrick said that he’s thrilled with the attention the Bruins are receiving.

“It feels good, we’ve had a lot of success over the years. We think we’ve made the Bruins into a model program. It’s something the people of Austin can be proud of too. We’ve sent so many guys onto Division I, Division II and Division III and pro hockey and it’s been an awesome thing,” Patrick said. “You’ll see what happens during the season as far as the ups and downs of it (in the docuseries).”