Noah Urness (Cranbrook Bucks Hockey Photo)
St. Cloud, MN – Despite the start of the season this weekend, the SCSU coaching staff is continuing to grind it out on the recruiting trail with the commitment this week of high-scoring Roseau, MN forward Noah Urness. Urness announced via Twitter (“X) on October 3rd that he has committed to skating for the Huskies. “I’m very honored and excited to announce my commitment to play Division I hockey and further my education at St. Cloud State University. I would like to thank my coaches, teammates, friends, community, and especially my family for helping me to get where I am today.”
The 17-year-old Urness is a 5’10”, 170-pound left-shooting forward currently playing for the Cranbrook (BC) Bucks of the British Columbia Junior Hockey League (BCHL). A three-year player for Roseau (MN) High School, Urness put up some incredible offensive numbers on the team with 75 goals and 88 assists for 163 points in just 76 games. In his junior season alone when he captained the team, he produced 45 goals and 41 assists for 86 points. This included 20 multi-point games and 14 games with two or more goals in 2022-23. These numbers placed him 5th overall in goal scoring, 15th in assists, and 8th in total points in Minnesota High School hockey.
Urness also competed in the Minnesota High School Elite League the last several seasons compiling 12 goals and 27 assists for 39 points in just 31 games against high-level competition.
Urness was the 83rd player chosen in the 2023 USHL Entry Draft by the Youngstown Phantoms. However, Urness opted to play for the Cranbrook Bucks and currently has picked off where he left in high school hockey leading the Bucks in scoring with 2 goals and 2 assists for 4 points in 4 games. Upon joining the Bucks, head coach Ryan Donald predicted his potential to become an impactful offensive player in the BCHL.“Noah has shown to be a dynamic offensive player at the high school level in Minnesota,” Donald says. “We were impressed with his personality and character, which we know will be a great fit within our organization as a whole.”
Neutral Zone, a prominent amateur scouting service described “He is calm with the puck and doesn’t rush or force reads. He is controlled and skates his lanes well. (He) never seems to be in a hurry and goes about his business in each zone. Gets to smart and soft areas and slips behind defensive coverage. (He’s a) quick forward who is not afraid to scrap in front of the net. Has a good net drive for his size and does not back down from a little battle. he does a fantastic job of acting as a third defenseman, and while he isn’t the biggest player by any means, he’s no slouch along the boards. Urness is undersized, but he’s got an edge to his game that truly intrigues us. Smart player that is at the beginning of his development curve.”
Urness is a former teammate of another Roseau native, Thor Byfuglien, a defenseman currently with the Chicago Steel who will be joining the Huskies in 2024-25.
No timeline is given for Urness and at 17 currently it may be a couple of seasons before he hits the ice for the Huskies.
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Any idea what happened with Leo Gruba? Tough to lose a legacy and a really good player.
Nothing that has been made public. Opted to look at other opportunies. Has not commited elsewhere.