There was good news and bad news for local hockey fans when Elk River senior right winger Jack Perbix announced his future intentions.
On Saturday, Perbix announced on his Twitter account that he was switching his college commitment from Notre Dame to Minnesota.
New Gophers' hockey coach Bob Motzko had recruited Perbix when Motzko was the head coach at St. Cloud State. Perbix' older brother Nick will be a freshman defenseman at St. Cloud State this season.
But the Elk River hockey program, and high school hockey in general, took a hit when Perbix, who was taken in the fourth round of the 2018 NHL Draft by the Anaheim Ducks, also announced he was foregoing his final year of high school hockey. He will instead play for the Green Bay (Wis.) Gamblers of the USHL.
"I have a goal to play college hockey as a true freshman for a long time now and leaving my senior year and playing for Green Bay will allow me to achieve that goal," Perbix told Jake Andersen of the Elk River Star News.
Perbix said that both the University of Minnesota coaches and the Anaheim front office encouraged him to make the switch from high school to junior hockey.
"After talking with Anaheim and the college I will be attending, as well as my parents, we thought it would be more beneficial to my hockey game if I went to a league where I would have to mature as a person and as a player," Perbix told Andersen.
Perbix had 45 goals and 135 total points in three seasons for the Elks.
