COLUMN: Young guns for USU hockey step up
Utah State hockey’s big three have received a lot of praise this season. The trio of Brendan MacDonald, Tyler Mistelbacher and Brian Gibbons has lit up the scoreboard this season.
They seem to be in each other’s minds on the ice. Their goalscoring and assist numbers show how well they read each other, but skating behind them is another quiet force.
The Aggie supporting cast deserves some recognition. They are out-shined by Gibbons’ flashy play, MacDonald’s fast breaks and Mistelbacher’s big moves. Underneath all that, the younger Aggies let their solid play speak.
While Mistelbacher has been absent the past couple games, freshman forward Stu Hepburn has turned heads as he stepped into the starting lineup. The British Columbia native notched four assists against Weber State last Saturday to lead the Aggies.
Hepburn’s play earned him big props among the Aggie players and coaches.
On the defensive side, freshman Jordan Kerr is second among all Utah State defensemen in assists with 23. Kerr does much more than create offensive opportunities. His big defensive stops are just as valuable to a short defensive staff.
The Aggies have played well all season, until now, when grade issues and injuries have started to take their toll. Defensively, Utah State is running with just six players — a short staff for a team used to playing with four solid lines.
Kerr, Ty Johns and utility player Jeff Sanders anchor the Aggie defense. In just his second year at Utah State, Johns earned an A on his jersey and even a DII select team honor.
At the forward position, the Aggies are stacked. The holes are filled in by Utah natives Gary Higgs and Cooper Limb, along with a long list of young players all of whom are trying to make a name for themselves on the Aggie squad.
On the Aggies’ roster, 11 players are in their first year of college play. They are a young team, especially considering the Aggies are sitting high atop the American College Hockey Association Western division.
Fatigue and injuries could start to take a toll, heading into crunch time, toward the end of the season. There is no question the Aggies will feel the pain of an entire season weighing on them in the next couple months.
If the younger Aggies can keep skating like they are, the team will go far into the postseason. If not, who knows?
– Meredith Kinney is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism and an avid hockey fan. She hopes one day to be a big-shot sideline report working for ESPN. Send comments to meredith.kinney@aggiemail.usu.edu.