Austin forward Sturm makes NCAA DI commitment
July 2, 2015
The Austin Bruins, proud members of the North American Hockey League (NAHL), are pleased to announce that forward Nico Sturm has committed to play NCAA Division I hockey at Clarkson University. Clarkson is a member of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC).
Sturm, 20, just completed his second season of playing in the NAHL. Sturm (6’3/190) was one of the key factors in the Bruins run all the way to the Robertson Cup Finals this season. He was third on the team in scoring during the 2014-15 regular season with 41 points in 53 games played. He was also second on the team with a +29 rating. Sturm is a two-way forward who is a consistently reliable center on faceoffs, who also likes to position himself in front of the opposing goalie.
However, it was the playoffs where Sturm really excelled as he led the Bruins in scoring in the post-season with 13 points in 13 games, including a team-high seven goals.
In an interview earlier in the season with the Post-Bulletin, former Bruins head coach Chris Tok said that Sturm was a key part of getting the team going in their deep playoff run. "The biggest thing he brought in the (Aberdeen) series was his speed and tenacity, creating turnovers on the forecheck. He got back to that in Game 5 against Minot. His line played well throughout the playoffs and he's a big reason why."
"He came here as a young kid with a lot of speed and a lot of energy," linemate and second-year Bruin Alex Pettersson said in an earlier interview with the Post-Bulletin. "He needed to work a little bit on how he reads the game. He's a player who goes hard all the time and sometimes he just needed to read the play a little bit and slow it down. I love playing with him, he plays with a lot of speed and sees the ice really well."
Sturm, who is from Augsburg, Germany, also had the unique opportunity to represent his homeland of Germany during the 2015 World Junior Championships held earlier in the year in Canada.
Before joining the Bruins, he played the 2013-14 season (his first in the U.S.) with the Corpus Christi Ice Rays of the NAHL’s South Division. Prior to coming to America, Sturm skated for the ESV Kaufbeuren U16 and U18 teams in the German Development League.
In 74 career NAHL regular season games, Sturm recorded 44 points.