Recruiting for Sault College

The ageless, relentless Charly Murray is on an ongoing recruiting mission as the head scout for the varsity men’s hockey team at Sault College.

Having watched as the Sault College women’s team capped an undefeated season — complete with a record of 31-0-0 — by winning the 2022-2023 American Collegiate Hockey Association Division 2 national championship, Murray is intent on returning the Cougar men to contender status for the 2023-2024 term.

Not that the 2022-2023 season was a wash for the Cougar men, who shrugged off a sluggish start and overcame a difficult schedule to finish with an overall record of 13-12-1. The season ended for the Sault College men with a narrow 4-3 loss to the Michigan State Spartans in the ACHA Division 2 regional playoffs.

To be sure, Murray is now clearly focused on the ’23-24 campaign beginning with a June 3-4 Spring Skate weekend that is open to all players interested in attending Sault College and playing for the Cougars next season. And Murray noted that interest in the June 3-4 Spring Skate, that is slated for the new Northern Community Centre, “has been great. We have more than 40 players signed up.”

Notably, the recently-opened Northern Community Centre in the city’s west end will be the home to the Sault College men’s and women’s hockey teams beginning next season.

At any rate, Murray has been actively recruiting players from both the Superior International Jr. Hockey League and Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League for next season. He has been watching games on TV and in person and has a book on some proven talent from both the SIJHL and the NOJHL.

“We have invited a number of very good players from both the SIJHL and the NOJHL to come to our Spring Skate so they can see first hand how we run our program and take a look at what we have to offer from a facility and school standpoint,” Murray relayed to Hockey News North.

For example, from the SIJHL’s Dryden Ice Dogs alone, Murray has done his homework and has designs on a number of players, including forwards Brady Frattinger, Ben Hackl and Tyler Earl and defenseman Max Rath. All four players will graduate from Dryden and the SIJHL after this season.

Murray said he has reached out to the above mentioned Dryden players and also has had a “really good chat” with Ice Dogs assistant coach Jake Gushue. The 26-year old Gushue not only was a standout defenseman for Dryden in his junior A playing days but he later played the game and attended school at Briercrest College, which is a member of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference.

Speaking of the Ice Dogs, one of their former players who is already committed to the June 3-4 Spring Skate is prize defenseman Chase Muswagon. The 22-year old Muswagon was a top recruit by Murray from the Dryden program to attend Sault College last fall and enrol in the Fish and Wildlife Conservation program. But after playing in four games and potting three points to begin the ’22-23 season, Muswagon suffered a severe concussion and eventually left school to return home to The Pas, Manitoba to recuperate.

As for Muswagon’s intentions for the Cougars and Sault College for ’23-24, he didn’t try to hide his enthusiasm by relaying to Hockey News North that he “can’t wait to be back in the Sault!” Muswagon noted that he is “feeling really good” and has been medically cleared to return to hockey.

From the NOJHL, one of the many players who Murray has been watching closely is Soo Thunderbirds forward Ethan Novello. A local product, Novello has already signed up for the Cougars June 3-4 Spring Skate.

“He is a player that has really developed from last season to this,” Murray said of Novello. “He didn’t get a lot of ice time last season but he has made the most of increased opportunties with the Thunderbirds this season.”

Another notable sign up for the Sault College Spring Skate is high end goalie Keenan Marks from the Thunder Bay North Stars of the SIJHL. Marks was recommended to Murray by his Thunder Bay area scout, Don Smith. Murray and Smith have an association that dates back many years.

“The goal is get us back to championship contender status,” Murray told Hockey News North. “We won the championship at the D3 level (in 2018-2019) and now our aim is to be among the very best in D2 for next season. We have done a lot of scouting and recruiting over the course of this season and the number of players who have signed up for our Spring Skate is a really good indication of the interest in our school and our men’s hockey program.”

Besides incoming recruits, Murray sees the ’22-23 edition of the Cougars as a building block towards the ’23-24 term and beyond with so many current student athletes having considerable eligibility remaining. In fact, the Cougars explosive first line of captain Caleb Wood, Gregory Trudeau-Paquet and Ethan Esposito are all in position to return to Sault College in the fall.

Wood led the Cougar men in scoring this season with 29 goals, 22 assists, 51 points in 25. games. Right behind Wood were Trudeau-Paquet with 18 goals, 32 assists, 50 points and Esposito with 16 goals, 26 assists, 42 points. Wood and Trudeau-Paquet are both former standout players from the NOJHL.

Wood, to be sure, is the epitome of what a student athlete should aspire to be.

After he graduates from the Business Administration program this year — he currently carries a 3.50 grade point average — Wood said he plans on returning to Sault College again in the fall to begin the Sports Administration program and continue to play hockey for the Cougars.

In tell tale fashion, Wood said he would recommend Sault College to any good player looking to combine a good hockey program at a school that is renowned as a top community college with a wide variety of academic and career options.

“As a hockey program and as a school, Sault College has so much to offer,” said Wood. “It is the best of both worlds when it come to education, the number of programs that Sault College offers and of course, the hockey.