Brother of incoming freshman from Thief River Falls verbally commits to SCSU

Mick Hatten | SCTimes

Show Caption Hide Caption Gibbons on Robby Jackson, junior hockey Mike Gibbons talks with Mick Hatten at SCSU Sports Chat.

In college, Evan Bushy is hoping he gets a chance to do something he did not get to do with his older brother, Brendan.

Evan is hoping he gets to be one of the Brendan's hockey teammates at St. Cloud State. Evan Bushy, a 16-year-old defenseman, has verbally committed to play for the Huskies.

But Evan, who was also receiving recruiting interested from the University of North Dakota and the University of Minnesota, said possibly playing on the same team as a brother was not a deciding factor.

"Even if Brendan was not there, I still would have ended up being there because I think it's a great spot," said Bushy, whose older brother Brendan will be a freshman for St. Cloud State this fall. "I went on a visit to St. Cloud (June 20) and it felt right.

"I wanted to give it some time to make the right decision. After visiting and being around the culture of the team, the coaches, the facilities, it was the right spot and I see myself playing there."

MORE: College hockey: Thief River Falls 'D' commits to SCSU

Getting a chance

Evan Bushy will be a junior at Thief River Falls High School. This will be his third varsity season and had 11 goals, 22 assists in 31 games and helped the Prowlers win the Class A state consolation title.

As a freshman, Evan had three goals and seven assists in 24 games for Thief River Falls.

Brendan, 20, was a senior in high school during the 2016-17 season, but left to play for the Dubuque Fighting Saints in junior hockey in the United States Hockey League.

Brendan's departure helped move Evan onto the Thief River Falls varsity as a freshman.

"We needed to bring up a defenseman and we probably wouldn't have brought him up if Brendan hadn't left early," said former NHL forward Tim Bergland, Thief River Falls' boys hockey coach. "But we put him in the fire right away and he really thrived in playing in that pressure.

"He's got a very calm demeanor. He's one of those kids who has been a leader since Day 1 because he understands the game."

While Brendan and Evan are both defensemen, they play different styles in hockey.

"I'd say that I'm more offensive than Brendan, who is more of a steady and heavy (hitting) 'D' man," said Evan, who is 6-foot and 180 pounds. "I'm more of a two-way guy. I'm not shy to jump up and provide some offense."

Bushy was on Thief River Falls' top power-play unit last season.

'He does a great job of quarterbacking things back there on the power play," Bergland said. "He has good vision and it's tough to guess where the puck will go when he's got it.

"He's very good at reading the play. He doesn't telegraph what he's going to do. He keeps getting better for us."

MORE: AJHL Rookie of the Year, who has lived in 5 countries, commits to play for Huskies

Hockey family

The Bushy's father, Jon, played defense for Minnesota State-Mankato from 1997-2001. Evan, who also is a varsity golfer, said he has a 4.0 grade-point average and said that he has always wanted to play college hockey.

On the St. Cloud State coaching staff, he said that he has had the most conversations with assistant coach Mike Gibbons. Assistant coach Nick Oliver was on the staff for the Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL last year when the Stampede selected Bushy in the seventh round of the USHL Futures Draft.

While Brendan committed to play for St. Cloud State when Bob Motzko was the head coach, Evan has committed to play for the Huskies under new head coach Brett Larson.

"When Larson got the job, that's when the recruiting picked up," he said.

Evan is not sure if he will play his senior year of high school hockey at Thief River Falls or join the Stampede next season. But he knows he wants a chance to be a teammate of Brendan, who will be a senior in 2021-22.

Bergland said Evan has had a good offseason to prepare for the coming hockey season.

"He needs to keep getting faster, stronger and working on his shot," Bergland said. "He's going to keep doing that because he does a lot of things well.

"He's starting to become a leader that he's always been because now kids listen to him. It's hard when you're a senior to listen to a sophomore. He's making the kids around him better by what he does in the weight room and I hope it's addictive with our team."

Bushy is the eighth player to verbally commit to St. Cloud State since Brett Larson took over as head coach on April 13. The other verbal commitments are forward Jami Krannila (17, Finland), defenseman Valterri Piironen (16, Finland), defenseman Jack Peart (15, Grand Rapids), forward Joe Molenaar (18, Minnetonka), forward Zach Okabe (17, Okotoks, Alberta), goalie Aaron Randazzo (17, Alexandria) and defenseman John Opilka (15, Effingham, Illinois).

Follow Mick Hatten on Twitter, Instagram @MickHatten and at Facebook.com/sctimesmick. Reach him by phone at 259-3621, by email at mhatten@stcloudtimes.com.