Last season, Yellowknife’s Jack Works was on top of the U.S. college hockey world, part of the Denver University men’s squad which captured the NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Championship.
This season, the 21-year-old forward was back in the hunt with a new school, but there would be no repeat.
Works and his Michigan Tech Huskies were in Allentown, Pennsylvania for their regional qualifier in the 2023 edition of the national championship tournament earlier this month. Their first contest was against Penn State on March 24 and that would be as far as they would go this season as the Nittany Lions soundly defeated the Huskies, 8-0.
Works said nothing went right at all in that game for his side.
“Seemed like every time we had a chance, their goalie would shut the door,” he said. “It’s not the way you want to go out. We were playing in Penn State’s home rink and they had it full, so we were up against that, too.”
It wasn’t like it was last year for Works when Denver hosted its regional and won to advance to the Frozen Four tournament in Boston, where they went on to win the whole thing.
The Huskies were selected for this year’s tournament based on their national ranking — 10th among Division I squads — as they finished the regular season with an overall record of 24 wins, 11 losses and four ties. When it came to their conference record in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA), the Huskies finished second with 15 wins, seven losses and four ties.
In their conference playoffs, the Huskies beat St. Thomas University out of Minnesota to move into the semifinals, but were beaten out there by Northern Michigan on March 11.
“Losing in the conference playoffs didn’t affect our spot,” said Works. “It may have moved us up the rankings a little bit (if they won), but it didn’t make any difference.”
This past season was Works’ sophomore campaign and, as mentioned, the first with his new school. He made the decision to transfer to Michigan Tech after the school made some overtures to him during the off-season.
“They came to me and asked if I’d be interested in making the move,” he said back in September 2022. “It was down to me and I made the decision to go there. It was hard to leave Denver, but I’m excited to be here and hopefully get a chance to show what I can do. It was a chance to get some more ice time and a good opportunity.”
Works got a good look at Michigan Tech during the Pioneers’ playoff run last season as both teams were part of the West regional tournament that determined who would move on to the national championship.
He said their style of play was a big drawing point.
“They play an aggressive style and they’re a good fore-checking club,” he said. “That’s how I like to play and I think I fit into their system well.”
Works certainly saw more ice time with the Huskies as he played in 39 games overall and notching eight goals to go along with nine assists for 17 points.
“It was great to get out there and play more,” he said. “I got a chance to show what I can do and my goal is to improve over the off-season and get better.”
Like any school team, there will be players graduating and moving on, but Works will be back for his junior season and he plans on making more of an impact.
“We’ve got a real good group of guys coming back for next season,” he said. “I’m hoping we’ll be able to get back and go further and get a shot at the national championship.”