Recruiting news continues to roll in for the Huskies, who add another forward. This time, it’s Jake Jackson from Oakdale, Minnesota. Jackson will be a senior for Tartan High School and has been the leading scorer the last two seasons for the Titans. As a sophomore, the 5’11” forward scored 15 goals and 25 points to beat out older brother Jeff in scoring. Last year, as a junior, Jackson nearly doubled his scoring with 25 goals and 44 points, including 8 power play goals and 5 shorthanded goals.
Jackson has also participated in two seasons of the Midwest Elite League. In 2011, Jackson only participated in 6 games, scoring a goal against Team Wisconsin. In 2012, Jackson finished tied for 8th league-wide in goals scored with 10, good enough for 2nd on Team NE behind TJ Moore, one of the leading scorers for last year’s Class AA state champion, Benilde-St. Margaret’s. The Midwest Elite League is a great place to play and get attention. It’s a high caliber league with many of the best high school players from Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota. Many scouts watch these games closely and this is likely where Michigan Tech noticed Jackson. With the Elite League playoffs completed and Minnesota High School hockey not set to start until later this month, Jackson will be playing for Waterloo (USHL) this weekend.
Jackson’s time at Tartan makes him a great comparison to current Husky Ryan Furne. Furne spent his freshman and sophomore years playing for the Titans and led the team in scoring as a sophomore (18–20–38) but chose to leave Tartan and play his last two years of high school hockey for Hill-Murray where he and Daniel Sova led the Pioneers to the Class AA title as seniors. Jackson chose to stay at Tartan, so he probably doesn’t have a state title in his future, but he will continue to develop and is likely to spend some time in the USHL after his senior year at Tartan. As we’ve mentioned before, Jackson is in the same boat as many of our forwards – depending on how each develops over the next two seasons, some will head to Houghton in 2014 and some will have to wait until 2015. Only time will tell which group Jackson falls into, but his commitment is another instance of Michigan Tech’s finding a quality player of the future. Jackson should contribute, and probably has the ability be a scorer on the second line for the Huskies.
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.
