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The Neepawa Natives have secured their fourth commitment of a player who has worn the captaincy for his team in 2009-2010.

 

Jordan Palusky, a 6 foot 2 - 190 pound forward out of St Cloud, Minnesota, is the latest player to commit to The Natives.

 

An honors student, who has spent the last season taking high school and college courses while being named as one of Minnesota's top fifty players, Palusky has already been offered a full ride division 1 NCAA scholarship.

 

However, he is going to play at least one year of Junior A hockey before finalizing the destination for his NCAA career.

 

"Jordan dazzled us at camp," said Coach Perrier. "He is big, fast, skilled, he competes, he processes at high speeds. He is going to be a lot of fun to coach."

 

Palusky, who has been named to Minnesota High School All Tournament teams, was a Section 5 AA All Star this past season, and competed at the Great Eight All Star Tournament.

 

He also played for Team North in the Upper Midwest Elite League - a league designed to provide NHL and NCAA exposure to elite midwest players.

 

Palusky has also been through the USA Hockey festival process, where he was rated one of the top players in the USA.

 

Never one to take a backseat, Coach Bryant Perrier said the recruiting process for Palusky was unreal.

 

"I think there we over a dozen teams who made offers for him to tender early at the junior A level in the US," he said. "We worked the process since early in the new year, and are fortunate to have some great connections and scouts down in that area. We saw Jordan play and we decided that we really wanted to make a run for his skills."

 

After a visit by Jordan and his dad, and getting on the ice in Neepawa at spring camp, it was a done deal according to the coach.

 

"Paluskys are really, really great people," he said. "Committed to the game, and just fine people. Everyone just couldn't say enough great things about Jordan after he was up here for his visit and for camp."

 

A player of Jordan's calibre is not easy to find, but Coach Perrier says that this recruiting season has been a great experience for he and his staff.

 

"We have so many great kids coming in to our program that we want to work with," he said. "Four captains in five signing announcments is a great feeling. These guys are good people and Jordan is no exception."

 

"We are thrilled."