Article Written by Samantha Roering. Photos by Samantha Roering.
The clock is ticking down as the start of the 2023-2024 men’s hockey season approaches. With a new season set to kick off Oct 7 at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center, there are also some new members to the SCSU men’s hockey team.
From competing in the United States Hockey League (USHL) to the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SHJL) to even representing their country in the IIHF World Juniors tournament, the 2023-2024 Men’s Hockey freshman class kept busy last season. With eight fresh faces on the team, let’s look at who they are and where they were last year.
Headlining the class is Warren Clark. The 19-year-old from Riverside, Ontario, spent his 2022-2023 season in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) playing for the Steinbach Pistons. The right-shot defenseman was a contributor to the championship-winning team. In 55 regular season games, he led the Steinbach Pistons defensemen in points, collecting 38 total points, consisting of 6 goals and 32 assists.
In the postseason, his success only continued. In 18 playoff games, he scored 8 points from 1 goal and 7 assists. He was reliable in big moments, as his postseason goal came as the game-winning goal in the final game of the Divisional Semifinals.
Following his successful rookie season, Clark got drafted in the 6th round, #179 overall, by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
His smooth skating, size, and hockey sense could impact the Huskies this season.
Clark isn’t the only incoming freshman who just had a championship season. Tynan Ewart, a left-shot defenseman from Duncan, BC, spent his third season with the Battlefords North Stars of the SJHL, where the team won the Canterra Seeds Cup.
In his third season with the club, Ewart even got the opportunity to be an alternate captain. In his 55 games played, he not only led the defensemen on his team in points with 56, but he had the most points of all defensemen in the league. This success led to Ewart being named the SJHL’s Defensemen of the Year.
In the postseason, Ewart played 13 games and picked up 14 points, averaging 1.08 points per game. He was third overall in postseason assists with 12 and led all defensemen in the category. Ewart’s ability to score points while still thriving defensively will be fun to watch here at SCSU as he joins an already deeply talented defensive core.
Another name to keep up with this season is Jack Reimann. From Ham Lake, Minnesota, the 20-year-old spent the last season in the United States Hockey League (USHL). The right-shot forward spent his season playing for three different USHL teams, including the Des Moines Buccaneers, with whom he finished the season. In 55 games, he got 22 points, coming from 10 goals & 12 assists. He ended the season with a +/- of 9 in his 3rd season of junior hockey.
Now, Reimann is looking to take his development to the NCAA level. He has a connection to the SCSU Men’s Hockey program, as his father, Dan Reimann, played hockey for the Huskies. That contributed to Jack’s interest in the team.
Tyson Gross is another USHL alum coming to the Huskies this season. He spent the last season with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders and collected 39 points in 54 games. The 39 points (7 goals and 32 assists) was the 5th most of a player on the RoughRiders.
Gross comes from a strong hockey background, as the 20-year-old Canadian has family ties in the NHL. His father, Kevin Gross, is the Vice President of Partnerships and Broadcasts for the Calgary Flames.
Barrett Hall also spent his most recent season playing in the USHL. The 19-year-old forward from Apple Valley, Minnesota, played for the Green Bay Gamblers. Before that, he was selected by the Seattle Kraken in the 6th round, #164 overall, in the 2022 NHL draft.
He then went on to play 56 games with the Green Bay Gamblers, picking up 45 points via 17 goals and 28 assists. He ranked 5th on the team in total points. Though his team had a first-round playoff exit, he helped them in their three playoff games by assisting on two goals.
The next name to note is one that most SCSU hockey fans might recognize. Verner Miettinen, the brother of SCSU’s senior forward Veeti Miettinen, is set to join the team for the 2023-24 season. The 20-year-old left-shot forward spent the previous season playing in the USHL for the Fargo Force.
Verner Miettinen played in 51 regular season games for the Fargo Force and finished the season with 34 points, 17 goals, and 17 assists. The Force made it to the USHL Finals, where they fell short of the Youngstown Phantoms. In 9 playoff games, Miettinen scored seven points from 2 goals and five assists.
Miettinen also had the opportunity to represent his home country, Finland, internationally last season. He competed for their World Juniors team, which finished the tournament in 5th place. He played five games in the tournament and picked up an assist.
Kaleb Tiessen, the next freshman joining the Huskies this season, is a left-shot defenseman from Leamington, Ontario. Tiessen spent his 2022-23 season playing in the North American Hockey League (NAHL). He played for the Maryland Black Bears, who made it to the NAHL Semifinals.
Tiessen played in 51 regular season games, collecting seven goals and 18 assists for 25 points.
The 6’5 defender contributed to the team’s playoff run as well. He brought his size and skating skills to 9 postseason games, where he picked up four total points before the team lost the semifinals.
The final freshman recruit is Isak Posch, a goaltender from Umeå, Sweden. He spent the 22-23 season playing in the NAHL for the Minnesota Wilderness. Posch played the most games of a Wilderness goaltender, with 44 games played in the regular season. He led the goaltenders on the team in goals allowed average with 2.12 and save percentage with .926. He had four shutout games in the regular season and finished the year with a record of 25-13-2.
Posch’s success was a factor in the Minnesota Wilderness’s playoff run. The team made it to the semifinals with Posch in net, sporting a record of 6-2-1. While some players can’t handle the intensity of the postseason, Posch improved almost every measurable stat in the postseason.
His goals-allowed average in the postseason dropped to an impressive 1.66, and his save percentage jumped to .945. His goaltending abilities stole games for the Wilderness and kept them in the tournament. The opening match of the Midwest Division Final was an example of that.
Posch shut out the Wisconsin Windigo, making 26 saves to take Game 1 of the series. The Wilderness would win the Midwest Division Final before falling in the Robertson Cup Semifinals.
SCSU’s freshman hockey class, alongside the rest of the hockey team, will kick off their season at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center on October 7, where they’ll face the St. Thomas Tommies.
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