PROVIDENCE — Two years ago, while patrolling the ice at the New England Sports Village on Commercial Boulevard in Attleboro with the NAHL's Northeast Generals, Evan Orr may have been dreaming, but one day… He never expected to see the day he would skate in the NCAA men's Frozen Four.
There were only two wins left until that day.
The sophomore defenseman for the No. 20 nationally ranked and CCHA champion Michigan Tech Huskies will play against No. 1 ranked Boston College in the first round of the regional NCAA Division 1 Tournament on Friday at 2 p.m. Standing on the ice at AMP.
“I loved playing for the Generals. It was a good experience,” Orr said after Thursday's practice. “Having the playing time and experience before college really helped my game.”
Orr totaled 23 points in 25 regular season games with the Generals in 2021-22 after being acquired in a trade from Odessa, Texas.
The Huskies (19-14-6) will have to sharpen their skates against defending Hockey East champion Boston University (31-5-1).
Orr has played in 44 games over two seasons at Michigan Tech since graduating from the Generals and Brian Erickson, who is owner, general manager and coach of the Generals.
“It was fun playing for Brian and the whole organization,” Orr said. “A lot of it has to do with confidence and being able to play more minutes there. Just the repetition really helped. Brian just let me be who I was and helped me grow.”
The defensive-minded Huskies are second in the CCHA behind goaltender Blake Pietila (2.49 points per game), have 76 career wins, 24 total shutouts, and have held 39 opponents to three or fewer goals this season. There is. Michigan Tech has won seven of its past eight games and allowed two or fewer runs in six games.
It's been a long and winding hockey journey for Orr, a native of Shelby Township, Michigan. Orr returned to Michigan State and began his development in Little Caesar's youth program for four seasons (2014-2018). He then went on to play for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (Pa.) in the NAHL, Muskegon (Mich.) in the USHL, Prince George (British Columbia) in the BCHL, Odessa (Texas) in the NAHL, and then Attleboro and General. It continued to Z. Then I went to Houghton, Michigan, where Michigan Technological University is located.
The Huskies won national titles in 1962, 1965 and 1975 and made it to the NCAAs three years in a row.
“The CCHA is a great league and there are a lot of players in the NHL that came out of there,” Orr said.
“I was playing in Odessa (of the NAHL South Division) and I didn’t know I was going to get traded,” Orr added about his path back to his hometown of Michigan. “It’s never fun to get traded, but it worked out really well for me.”
Orr had never been to the Bay State before landing in District 02703, except for youth tournament days with the Little Caesars program. “I really enjoyed my time in Massachusetts,” said Orr, who lived with three teammates in a row house on the border of South Attleboro and Pawtucket. He took academic courses online, had to wake up from sleep every morning, had to learn how to shop and cook, how to do laundry, clean, and pack clothes, so this period was even at maturity 101 years old. there was.
“Between traveling and school, I was pretty busy,” said Orr, who was 21 when he was a general. “I had a full-time schedule for schoolwork. It was tough adjusting to schoolwork a few years out of high school. It helped me adjust. “Some of the guys on the team were billets ( We had a family sponsor), but our place was just down the street and we enjoyed our time there. It's really growing fast.”
Orr played both defense and forward for the Huskies this season.
“I was happy to compete whenever and wherever I could,” said Orr, who is 5-foot-11 and weighs 185 pounds. “Defense is the thing I'm most comfortable with. I've always prided myself on my defense first and foremost. I can't tell you how happy I am to be attending (Michigan) Tech and playing hockey. .”
The University of Wisconsin (26-11-2) will face defending national champion Quinnipiac (26-9-2) in a nightcap game Friday at 5:30 p.m. The winners of Friday's game will compete on April 11 in St. Paul, Minnesota for the regional title and a spot in the Frozen Four on Sunday at 4 p.m.
