Kasprick commits to Minot State

It’s been a whirlwind of emotions for Cooper Kasprick this past week.

To say the 20-year-old captain of the Neepawa Titans was left wanting more following his first-round exit from the Manitoba Junior Hockey League playoffs after the Virden Oil Capitals dusted them in four straight would be subtle given the fact he was hoping to make a run all the way to the Turnbull Cup in his final season with his hometown club.

Then came along the silver lining.

The American Collegiate Hockey Association’s men’s Division 1 Minot State Beavers of Minot, N.D., announced his commitment to the team for the 2026-27 season beginning in the fall, making Kasprick the first Beaver recruit for next season and quickly turning the dread in his chest into excitement for the future.

“I’m very excited to go there,” said Kasprick on Monday. “I heard nothing but good things about the school, the team, the people that go there, so I’m very excited.

“The commitment actually came out middle of playoffs and I didn’t really think much of it because we were all very driven to win in the playoffs so I was more focussed on that and then after we lost out, which was unfortunate, it kind of set in how good of an opportunity I have to go to Minot. I know quite a few guys who commit and talk to schools early after their season’s done and have that already planned out, so it’s definitely nice to have that already done. It’s a lot less stress.”

Minot, who collected a 30-1-2 record this season and brought home their second consecutive Midwest College Hockey Division title with a 3-1 win over the University of Mary in February, have had Kasprick on their radar for two years now, ever since he broke out for 18 goals and 41 points following his second year with Neepawa.

Kasprick was out on the golf course with some friends last summer when head coach Wyatt Waselenchuk reached out to him to introduce himself and let him know the program held him in high regard.

“He said he’s been watching, and he’s interested and told me good luck in the year and he might not talk to me for another nine months, but he’ll be watching and that was like the first introduction,” Kasprick said. “Ever since then, it’s been over a year that it’s been in the back of my head and obviously I talked to him throughout this year and eventually it worked out and I’m happy it did.”

Kasprick’s spontaneous phone call gave him plenty of extra motivation throughout out the season, which helped him amass a career-high 21 goals and 50 points as the third highest point getter on the team behind Wawanesa’s Jack Clark and St. Albert’s Logan Paquette. The five-foot-11, 170-pound centre also had one assist in four post-season games against Virden.

The prospect of playing for a program that was ranked No. 1 heading into the ACHA D1 nationals in Maryland Heights, Mo., earlier this month — and eventually fell short 4-1 in the quarterfinals to the runner-up Adrian College — was also nothing to scoff at, but what made it a perfect fit for Kasprick was how close it is to home.

“It’s about three-and-a-half hours from Neepawa, where I live, so I’ve got family and friends that, if they have a weekend off, they can come out and watch, which makes it nice,” he said. “Obviously it’s a good hockey program, they’ve always been a top team in that league for years, and it’s close to home.

“I did my own research and talked it over with my family and it felt like the best fit for me.”

The early returns also suggest he’s made the right choice.

More than a handful of players from Minot reached out to Kasprick on social media after his commitment became official, including Elkhorn’s Colby Joseph — who led the Beavers in scoring this past year with 23 goals and 39 points —and Boissevain’s Austin Clyne — a former captain of the Titans in the 2021-22 year who just wrapped up his senior season.

Kasprick said that meant a lot to him.

“Just that process of guys taking the time to message me and welcome me definitely makes the transition easier and makes you excited to go there and play for those guys and makes you feel more comfortable, so that was good,” he added.

He’s looking forward to building new friendships in Minot, but admitted it will be just as hard to say goodbye to the bonds he’s already built with his teammates in Neepawa. He knows that’s part of the journey, though.

“I still don’t think it’s set in yet that I’m done, and it will in a week or two, I’m sure,” Kasprick said. “Just going to the rink every day and fighting for the guys that you sit beside, you’re willing to take a bullet for the guy beside you and to go through a wall. It’s something that I know I’ll have next year at university, but it’s something I’m still gonna miss from junior.

“You just want to do absolutely anything for those guys. I mean, they’re your brothers, it’s a brotherhood that you don’t find in really any other sport, so I’m going to miss seeing my best friends, 25 guys every single day.

“It’s kind of bittersweet to see the guys that I played with in Neepawa all at university now, but it’s exciting and I can’t wait to run into them and play them.”

» mdelucataronno@brandonsun.com