When Damon Whitten was announced as a participating coach in the College Hockey Sweden Camp from July 16 through 20, 2012, no one really knew what would come of that, but Michigan Tech is already seeing the effects. One of the attendees of that camp has already committed to wear the Black and Gold. Marcus Ericsson, a 6’1″ defenseman from Luleå, Sweden, had a great showing at College Hockey Sweden and agreed to play for the Huskies earlier this fall. Ericsson will spend this season with the Des Moines Buccaneers before heading to Houghton in Fall 2013.
Ericsson has spent the last four seasons playing for junior teams in Luleå. In 2010-11 as a 17-year-old, Ericsson played for the Luleå J18 team, scoring 10 goals and 11 assists in 40 total games between the J18 “Elite” League and the J18 “All-Swedish” League. Ericsson followed that up with playing in the J20 SuperElit league for the 2011–12 season where he played in all 47 games for Luleå J20, scoring 6 points including a goal.
The Des Moines Buccaneers are part of a Swedish invasion that should help Ericsson with his transition to a more North American style of hockey. Playing on the same team as Eric Martinsson and Axel Wemmerborn should make that transition easier as they all work on improving their English, preparing for American college life and getting adjusted to a more physical style of hockey. Ericsson has a chance to be the best blueliner for the Buccaneers and should be a solid addition to the Huskies in 2013.
Hopefully Ericsson is on the beginning (in addition to Daniel Holmberg) to reopening a Scandinavian pipeline to Michigan Tech. Tech Hockey Guide is positive that Damon Whitten found some other prospects that will be followed by the Huskies and could pop up in a future recruiting article if everything works out, but for now it’s nice to see that the College Hockey Sweden trip is already paying off.
Tim is a 2004 graduate of Michigan Tech. He is a co-founder of both Mitch’s Misfits and Tech Hockey Guide. With recent additions to the staff, Tim is again able to focus on his passion, recruiting. He currently works as an environmental engineer and resides in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Area.
