Hermantown’s Skrbich Choose Princeton For Academics And Hockey

Wes Vork-NSO File

May 1, 2011

Wes Vork-NSO

Garrett Skrbich of Hermantown has chosen Princeton as his college of choice to continue his academic and hockey careers. Skrbich helped lead the Hawks to back-to-back second place state tournament finishes. He also set the Hermantown scoring record for goals in a single season this past year.

Skrbich, a 4.0 student who spent his senior season taking classes at UMD, is considering Bio-Medical Engineering and anticipates he will have about 50 college credits by the time he graduates high school. That commitment to academics was a big part of his decision making process. “Hockey is really important to me, but the opportunity to get a Princeton education and play hockey would be pretty hard to pass up. It is a great chance to have the best of both worlds, and I am excited about the chance to play for the Tigers.” Skrbich explained.

Skrbich also considered continuing his educational and hockey endeavors at UMD. He ultimately chose Princeton stating “I talked with the coaches (at UMD) quite a bit; however they have a pretty deep recruiting class coming in. Because of that, some really good players are playing a couple years of Juniors, and I hope to be able to have an opportunity to play sooner and contribute at Princeton.”

In the end it came down to what he thought was the best fit. “Overall, I was impressed with the success of (Princeton’s) program and the coaching staff. I felt that I fit in perfectly as a student and an athlete at the university. It seems there are no limits at Princeton”. He also considered his future stating “if I want to play hockey after the college level, that possibility is available. If that isn’t meant to be, I will have one of the best undergraduate degrees in the world,” He explained.

Skrbich expects to play Juniors in the USHL and not enroll in any classes next year to focus on his hockey development telling NSO a year away from the classroom will be a welcome break. “It will be really nice to just focus on hockey. I have had a pretty tough schedule the last few years, and it is going to be interesting to just focus on my game and development.”

In his senior season at Hermantown Skrbich set the single season scoring mark with 42 goals, he also amassed 35 assists. Those numbers are even more impressive considering the elite players who have come through the Hermantown program. But Skrbich’s most impressive attribute this season could well have been his leadership abilities. The Hawks lost 12 players from the prior year’s team, including Minnesota Mr. Hockey nominee Adam Krause. They returned just four players yet were ranked #2 for most of the season and were the last unbeaten team in the state. Skrbich however, credits the Hawks program with teaching him some important traits, including, how to be part of a winning tradition, support your teammates and always play hard.

In all of the excitement of moving on and playing hockey on the east coast, Skrbich has not forgotten all of the people around him who made the opportunity possible, explaining to NSO. “I would like to thank all of the coaches and the hockey community in Northern Minnesota. I have been fortunate to have a lot of people take the time to help me along the way, and that is what is really great about hockey. There are a lot of great memories, and I want to thank all of the guys I played with and the coaches who gave me a hand.”

Wes Vork can be reached at wes@northlandsportsonline.com