College hockey notes: Warroad's Slukynsky brothers chart new course – Grand Forks Herald

GRAND FORKS Former Warroad High stars and brothers Grant and Hampton Slukynsky are charting new directions in college hockey.

Grant, a freshman forward at Northern Michigan, has entered the transfer portal.

Hampton, a goaltender who would be a freshman at Northern Michigan, has decommitted from the Wildcats.

The moves come after Northern Michigan's coaching staff left for new jobs.

Head coach Grant Potulny, a Grand Forks native, is leaving for an opportunity in the American Hockey League that has yet to be announced. Assistant Nick Peruzzi has accepted a job as an assistant at UConn. Assistant Byron Pool is heading to Dartmouth to become an assistant.

Grant Slukynsky, a former captain for Sioux City in the United States Hockey League, scored six goals and nine points as a freshman for the Wildcats.

Hampton, meanwhile, won the USHL's Goaltender of the Year award while leading the Fargo Force to the Anderson and Clark Cups this season. Hampton is a fourth-round pick of the Los Angeles Kings.

Their recruitment can be difficult.

It's late enough in the offseason that many teams have already allocated their scholarship money.

So the options may be limited to schools that still have scholarships left or those that can use Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) collectives to cover school costs.

The departure of the Slukynsky brothers continues a mass exodus from Northern Michigan.

The Wildcats have now lost 18 players to the NCAA transfer portal: 14 before Potulny's departure and four since. Northern Michigan has also lost two of its top recruits since Potulny departed Slukynsky and forward Adam Pietila, who committed to Wisconsin.

Northern Michigan is working to hire a replacement for Potulny.

Two names have emerged: St. Cloud State assistant Dave Shyiak and Winnipeg Jets scout Brian Renfrew.

Shyiak was part of Northern Michigan's 1991 NCAA-winning team. He also previously served as an assistant with the Wildcats before accepting the head coaching job at Alaska Anchorage.

Renfrew, who played at Western Michigan, also previously served as an assistant at Northern Michigan. Renfrew's other college hockey coaching stops include Alaska, Michigan State and Omaha. Renfrew won an NCAA national championship with the Spartans. His cousin, Billy, is a devotee from Northern Michigan.

Clarkson is also looking for a hire after head coach Casey Jones left for Cornell, where he will serve as associate coach under Mike Schafer this season and then take over as head coach in 2025-26.

The top candidates for Clarkson's job are likely Union head coach Josh Hauge and Clarkson assistant Chris Brooks.

Hauge, a former Fargo Force aide, worked as an aide to Clarkson for seven years. He left for Union two years ago.

Brooks is a longtime college hockey assistant with stops at Western Michigan and Michigan Tech. He also served as head coach of Division-III Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Forward Grayden Slipec is no longer coming to UND.

The Fighting Hawks and the Chicago Steel forward have parted ways.

Slipec initially committed to UND in October 2021, while playing for Surrey in the British Columbia Hockey League. He moved to USHL Chicago the past two seasons, but the offensive side of his game hasn't emerged yet. Slipec scored two goals in 53 games last season.

Slipec's older brother, Jacob, just completed his second season at Omaha.

Seven UND hockey players now have personalized merchandise at the

Sioux Shop's NIL

store.

They are Jackson Kunz, Dylan James, Cameron Berg, Jake Schmaltz, Dane Montgomery, Jake Livanavage and Kaleb Johnson.

More will be added as paperwork is filed.

Schlossman has covered college hockey for the Grand Forks Herald since 2005. He has been recognized four times by the Associated Press Sports Editors as the top beat writer for the Herald's circulation department and once as North Dakota Sports Writer of the Year. He lives in Grand Forks. Reach him at [email protected].