By Jared Shafran, News Staff
‘
The men’s hockey team made big steps toward improving its future, including moving on to life without All-American Brad Thiessen.’
The Huskies announced that goaltender Clay Witt, formerly of the Sioux Falls (South Dakota) Stampede, has committed to playing hockey at Northeastern. The announcement was made in a statement released by the Stampede Friday.
Last Tuesday the Huskies picked up a committment from defenseman Drew Ellement, formerly of the Portage (Manitoba) Terriers of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL). Ellement’s decision to join NU comes just weeks after his Portage teammate, goaltender Bryan Mountain, committed to play for the Huskies.’
The Huskies are looking to improve a team that went 25-12-4 last season and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1994.’
Witt, originally from Tampa, Fla., went 8-6-1 with a 2.99 goals against average last season. He also posted a .911 save average in the 18 games that he played for the team.
‘ Although Sioux Falls is considerably far away, Witt has some in common with some recent Northeastern players.
Former Husky captain Joe Vitale also played with the Stampede in 2004-05 before coming to play for NU.
‘ Before he was in Sioux Falls, Witt spent the 2007-08 season with the Boston Junior. Bruins and posted a 44-5-3 record with a 1.92 GAA and a .920 save percentage.
Other former Boston Junior Bruins that went on to play for the Huskies include recent graduate and leading goal scorer last season, forward Ryan Ginand, and next year’s assistant captains, seniors Jim Driscoll and Chris Donovan.
Witt is not the only recruit from this Stampede team. Forward Robbie Vrolyk, a native of Boylston who played with Witt last season, will also attend Northeastern.
While Witt will be in competition for the starting goaltender position, Ellement will be playing at the blue line and look to give a boost to the Northeastern power play, something he said he feels he can contribute to.
‘Northeastern said they wanted to improve on their special teams, particularly power play,’ Ellement said in a statement on the MJHL website Wednesday. ‘I feel very comfortable at that (powerplay time). I’m confident enough in my abilities that I’m hoping to jump right into their lineup right now.’
In 13 playoff games with Portage he scored a total 17 goals, tallying at least one score in every game. He helped lead the Terriers to Game 7 of the Anavet Cup, the championship final of the Canadian Junior Hockey League, where they were defeated in overtime by the Humboldt (Saskatchewan) Broncos on April 26.
‘ Ellement’s talents will soon be on display in college, but if Ellement has it his way, Matthews Arena will not be his final destination.
‘Northeastern has a number of excellent players,’ Ellement said in a statement. ‘The coaching staff is second to none’hellip;.I’m hoping all these things work out for me to perhaps move up to professional.’
