Blueliner Orphus becomes third member of MNJHL's Ice Hawks to commit to EWU

Eastern Washington University is pleased to announce that defenseman Kristian Ophus (Everett, WA) has committed to the Eagles for the 2013/14 B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League season.

Ophus joins a growing list of recruits from the Minnesota Junior Hockey League's Rochester Ice Hawks that already included defenceman Tanner Hawes and goaltender Derek Moser. He put up 115 points and 485 penalty minutes in 164 games in four years of junior hockey split between Rochester and the Seattle Totems.

 

"We expect Kristian to be a big part of our group next season and hope he can play just like Chase Wharton has for us," says Eagles head coach Bill Shaw. "Both players make good decisions with the puck, but also make the competition pay a price to play in the offensive end."

Shaw also mentioned that the success in recruiting players from the MNJHL this spring has a lot to do with the work put in by assistant coach Pat Hanlon who handles much of the recruiting during the year.

"Pat was on the phone to his contacts in the Midwest every day and every time I saw him we had a new player to discuss," says Shaw.

 

Ophus is the fourth player to join the Eagles from the MNJHL this offseason and the seventh to sign overall. Additional player announcements are expected in the coming weeks.