ST. CLOUD, Minn. — There are players that college hockey recruiters need to spend time explaining what their program is about, show them the facilities and talk about the history of the program.
When St. Cloud State's coaching staff started talking to Jack Reimann, they could cut through a lot of that because Reimann has wanted to play for the Huskies for a long time.
"My dad (Dan) played there and, growing up watching (Huskies) games, I always really wanted to play there," Reimann said. SCSU recruiting "started in preseason when I was with Sioux Falls and our coach there (Eric Rud) had coached for the women's and men's (teams). I knew St. Cloud was interested in me because they came and watched me.
"Luckily, coach Rud is pretty well-connected and he gave them some good insight about me as a player and as a person. They kept calling and eventually offered me, which was amazing. I knew in my heart that I wanted to go there. I had offers from other places and get my boundaries set and figure out where I really wanted to go. I made some visits and weighed my options, but ended up picking St. Cloud."
On Oct. 20, the 20-year-old center from Ham Lake, Minn., sent out a tweet that he had made a verbal commitment to playing for the Huskies.
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Words can not describe how proud and honored I am to announce my commitment to further my hockey and academic career at St. Cloud State University! I would like to thank my parents, family, friends, coaches, teammates, and God for helping me turn my dreams into reality.#gohuskies pic.twitter.com/BZTrE62YXC
— Jack Reimann (@jack_reimann) October 20, 2022
Being coached by dad
Reimann said that he had also made recruiting visits to Princeton and Massachusetts before deciding to play for the Huskies, whom he will join in the fall of 2023.
Reimann said that playing closer to home was also a factor in his decision. Dan Reimann played defense for the Huskies from 1992-96 and coached him through most of his youth hockey career.
"He coached me all the way up until bantams," Reimann said of the 14-and-under age group. "Having him on the bench, helping me, learning new things from him and showing me things — he was always my support system. I was lucky enough to have him there.
"Sometimes you butt heads and, as a player, you get angry and react certain ways on and off the ice. He's there to teach you. In the end, he's got more experience," Reimann said of playing for his dad. "You can always learn more from listening ... We didn't really get too mad at each other because I kind of understood that he knows what's going on and teaching me these things. And in the end, he's going to be the one helping me the most."
Doing the little things
Reimann is playing his third season of junior hockey. He played three seasons for Blaine High School and had 22 goals and 67 points in 83 games. He helped the Bengals take third place in the Class AA state tournament as a sophomore.
As a senior, he left Blaine to play his first season of juniors with the St. Cloud Norsemen of the North American Hockey League. In 49 games, he had 10 goals, 18 points, 59 penalty minutes and was a minus-15 playing for head coach Corey Millen.
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"It was a pretty tough decision, leaving my hometown and my friends," Reimann said. "But I knew it would help get me to the next level.
"It boosted my confidence and boosted my playing to transfer over to the next level," said Reimann, who was selected 78th by Sioux Falls in the 2021 USHL Draft. "The only reason I got drafted in the USHL was by playing there (in the NAHL) my senior year. I loved it there, loved the players, loved the coaches (with the Norsemen)."
Last season, he had eight goals, 20 points, 30 penalty minutes and was a minus-10 in 62 games for the Stampede. Sioux Falls finished 19-37-3-3, in seventh place out of eight teams in the Western Conference and missed the playoffs.
After the season, the Stampede ended up hiring Tony Gasparini to be vice president of hockey operations/general manager. Gasparini fired head coach Marty Murray and hired Rob Rassey to be the head coach. But Rassey ended up being named an assistant coach at the University of Michigan.
So then Rud was hired to replace Rassey as head coach.
Rud's son, Max, not only was a Stampede teammate of Reimann's, but the pair also had the same billet family during the 2021-22 season.
"Jack is a very strong, skating, dependable center," Eric Rud said of Reimann, who is listed at 6-foot and 197 pounds. "He's a very good penalty killer, has very good energy and intensity every day.
"I played junior hockey with his dad," said Rud, who played with Dan in 1991-92 with the USHL's Des Moines Bucaneers. "Great family, great kid, good teammate. He's good on draws, dependable and one of those guys that you put in your lineup and know that he's going to fit somewhere. He's going to be able to pressure the puck on that big sheet (at SCSU) and he's an every day guy. You never once worry is Jack is going to have a good practice today or an off game because of his energy or effort level."
According to InStat, Reimann is averaging 12 minutes per game and is winning 69% of his faceoffs in six games this sason. In a larger sample size last season, he averaged 15:34 per game, won 52% of his faceoffs, won 54% of his puck battles and averaged a hit per game.
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"I play both ends of the ice and I'm hard on the puck and a hard worker," he said. "I do all the little things. I play a good defensive game as a center and that transitions into offense.
"I played wing last year in the USHL for half the year ... they say I'm a jack-of-all-trades and I can play both positions. If you're a good center, it helps you play all the positions. Coaches find that important because they can put me in any situation."
Handful of SCSU connections
Reimann is the second son of a former St. Cloud State player to commit to play for the Huskies in recent months. Former Hill-Murray defenseman Leo Gruba committed to play for the Huskies on June 1. Reimann said that he and Leo have skated together a few times during offseason workouts.
Leo's father, Tony, was a forward for the Huskies and a college teammate of Dan Reimann for two seasons.
And Reimann also has connections with four other players who are connected with the Huskies.
Thor Byfuglien, a defenseman from Roseau, was a teammate of Reimann's with the Norsemen. Byfuglien, a 19-year-old, is playing his first full season in the USHL with the Chicago Steel and committed to SCSU in October 2021 .
Reimann played on the same team in the Upper Midwest High School Elite League with current Huskies Grant Ahcan and Cooper Wylie .
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And Reimann grew up in the same Ham Lake neighborhood as forward Austin Burnevik, who committed to the Huskies in August 2021.
"It's always hard going into a team and not knowing anybody, so going into next year, it will be a lot easier transition," he said.
Reimann said he had a 3.75 grade-point average in high school and is leaning toward studying business and sports management at St. Cloud State.
He said his family is excited that he will be playing close to home.
"They knew I wanted to go to St. Cloud pretty much my whole life," he said. "Growing up and going to games and (dad) playing there, I've always wanted to be like my dad and looked up to him. When the opportunity came, it's hard to turn it down. I did weigh out my options and looked at other schools, but I went with my heart and my gut and followed through with St. Cloud.
"It's the right fit for me. My parents would respect my decision no matter where I went, but they're super happy that I'm at St. Cloud now."
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