CHANHASSEN, Minn. — The new coaching staff at Minnesota State has had a busy offseason recruiting a new era of Maverick skaters.
Previous head coach Mike Hastings and his staff used to typically recruit players that were older and had a bit more grit to them, but now that he has taken over at Wisconsin and brought a good chunk of his team from Minnesota State with him, there's been some new patterns starting to emerge among the new staff in Mankato.
Head coach Luke Strand along with associate head coach Troy Ward and assistant's Keith Paulsen and Cory McCracken have been busy on the recruiting trail this offseason and have recruited many younger, skill-based skaters, and many of them just so happen to come from the State of Hockey itself.
Some of the recruits that fit this new pattern so far include 16-year-old Aiden Grossklaus, 18-year-old's Liam Hupka (Minnetonka), Tate Pritchard (Lakeville South) and Jordan Ronn (Champlin Park), along with 19-year-old Sam Rice (Prior Lake). And you can now add Jack Christ to that list too, as he's the newest young skater to announce his pledge to the Mavericks.
"I am proud and excited to announce my commitment to play Division I hockey at Minnesota State University. I would like to thank my family, friends, teammates, and coaches for helping me along the way," the 17-year-old posted on his social media pages on Sept. 21.
Christ, a 5-foot-9 forward, is originally from Chaska, Minnesota, and grew up skating for the Chaska/Chanhassen Youth Hockey Association. He has 69 points over his two varsity seasons so far with the Storm and was tied for the top-scorer on the roster last year as a junior.
"I was talking to a few teams, they just started calling me a few months ago," he said about the college recruiting process. "Mankato ended up giving me a call and invited me down to campus and it was amazing, I loved everything about it. I had a few more teams call after that but I'd say Mankato has always been my No. 1 option."
The Mavericks started reaching out to Christ mid-Summer, around July. He took an official visit in August and then verbally committed to the team in September.
Congratulations to @ParagonAthlete @JackChrist_9 on his commitment to @MinnStMHockey | @CCHAHockey !@StCloudNorsemen | @NAHLHockey | @chanbhok https://t.co/mNctTkCcOk— pic.twitter.com/jYDQjlEiVM
— Paragon Sports Consulting (@ParagonAthlete) September 21, 2023
"I'd say the biggest thing was just the coaching staff and how, as soon as I met them, I just loved all of them. It just felt like they should be my coaches," he said. "It just seemed like the right fit. They have great facilities down there, great workout rooms, pretty much just top-notch everything."
Chanhassen has been a very talented high school team the past two years that Christ has been on the squad. The Storm were 19-6-1 overall in 2021-22 and Christ netted 24 points in 26 games that season as a sophomore. This past year, the team had a 24-4 overall record before unfortunately losing to Minnetonka in double-overtime during the Section 2AA championship game. The 5-foot-9 forward was tied for the most points on the team in 2022-23 with 45 (20G, 25A) over just 28 contests.
"I trained really hard at MAP South that summer before I was a junior, that made me a lot bigger and stronger. I was also just playing with more confidence and poise, knowing that I can make plays, and I wasn't as worried about messing up," he said about his development as a player.
"Last year was a great year and we were a really good team. We knew it was going to up being a showdown in that section final versus Minnetonka," he added. "They did end up winning, which was tough, but now looking forward we're hoping to have another really good rematch this year and we'll see what happens."
#NAHL Commitment Alert: @StCloudNorsemen forward Jack Christ has committed to play NCAA Division I @collegehockey for @MinnStMHockey in @CCHAHockey https://t.co/fyHzAS35Ol pic.twitter.com/QRKPzJ8Ae4
— NAHL (@NAHLHockey) September 22, 2023
Recently, Christ has been skating with the St. Cloud Norsemen of the NAHL to start off the 2023-24 season. He was drafted by the team in the seventh round of the NAHL Entry Draft this summer. The 17-year-old already has three assists in eight games so far this fall.
"It has definitely been a step-up from high school hockey. It's a lot faster, more physical, and you just have to make plays a lot quicker - which I've liked," he said. "The first few games took a little adjusting but I feel like I'm starting to get the hang of it and it's been really fun."
St. Cloud is about a 90-minute drive from Christ's home in Chaska. He has been carpooling with his Norsemen teammate Louie Wehmann (Providence Academy) lately to get to practices and games. Even though Christ's numbers have been good in the NAHL so far, he is planning on returning to Chanhassen to play with the Storm for his senior season.
After the high school season ends, he'll likely join up with St. Cloud again in the spring. He will then have at least a year or two of junior hockey to play before he joins Minnesota State. Christ is currently thinking about majoring in something related to business when he gets to campus.
The Chaska native is the middle child in his family, with both an older and a younger sister. He played lacrosse when he was younger up until middle school, but currently just plays hockey and enjoys golfing in his free time.