Mitch Calvert
Joe Basaraba must be enjoying his time at Shattuck-St. Mary’s prep school in Faribault, Mn. because he’s likely to be spending several more winters in Minnesota after committing to the University of Minnesota Duluth for his freshman year in 2010.
“UMD was a great fit for me—the town, the school, the coaching staff, and the new arena in 2010. I’m really looking forward to that,” the ex-Muskie told the Duluth News Tribune last week.
Basaraba, 16, was taken 22nd overall in the Ontario Hockey League draft this past spring after his second season with the Muskies, but opted to go the school route and instead enrolled at Shattuck-St.Mary’s this fall.
He currently has 15 points in 26 games with the school’s prep team.
“I think it’s been a bit of an adjustment getting used to a different style of play for him, a faster pace, but he’s doing fine and coming along a pattern that a lot of our good players have gone through in their time here,” Shattuck boys’ prep team coach Tom Ward said in a phone interview.
“We’ve got high hopes for him,” Ward added. “He comes to the rink and works hard with a smile on his face, and we think he has a chance to be a real good player.”
Ward felt Basaraba made a wise move opting for UMD.
“His sister [Kate] goes to school there, and it’s in the Western League, so it’s easy for his folks to get around to games if that’s what they like to do,” he noted. “It’s a great place to go to school and a good [hockey] program, and he’ll get a chance to earn his ice time there.”
Ward added Basaraba fits a similar profile to that of Shattuck-St. Mary’s alumnus Drew Stafford, who now plays for the Buffalo Sabres, but obviously has some work to do to reach that level.
“He’s a long, lanky player with a similar skill set to Drew, but he’s got a lot of work to do to become a first-rounder,” Ward remarked.
With just four returning players, Shattuck-St. Mary’s has struggled with consistency at times this season but still sported a 15-6-6 record going into the weekend.
“Some nights we’ve looked like [the] Montreal [Canadiens] and other nights we’ve looked like a PeeWee team, so we’ve been inconsistent, but we’re coming along and we’ll be fine,” Ward said.
“With so few returning players, we’ve kind of had to re-invent the wheel, but it’s coming.”
