Bobcats puck the Griz in “Brawl of the Wild on ice”

A new all-time scoring record, senior night and a retired jersey were just the beginning as the MSU Men’s Hockey Club team took down the University of Montana (UM) Grizzlies last Friday during what the Gallatin Ice Foundation (GIF) dubbed a “Brawl of the Wild on ice.” The 6-0 victory over the Grizzlies in the last home game of the season brought the Bobcat’s record to 30-2-2.

Before the match, a small ceremony was held to honor the nine seniors and their contributions to the team. As a class, they hold a combined record of 119-25-3 with two League Championships and four years at Nationals. Among those honored were center Hayden Klem; goalie Tyler Cortis, defense Caleb Brownell and forwards Luke Juergensen, Ryan Larese, Jackson Mundell, Noah Younkin and Steven Irick. 

Jorgen Johnson was the last — but certainly not least — to be honored during the ceremony. The starting goalie currently leads the nation with a 95.2 save percentage, holds every goaltending record for the Bobcats and was recognized as the top goaltender in the American Collegiate Hockey Association Division 2 for the 2023-24 season. 

In appreciation of his dedication to the team, Johnson’s jersey — No. 54 — was retired at the end of the ceremony and is currently displayed on a banner above the locker room alongside former players Ryan Perius and Connor Mesec. 

“In the hockey world, that’s like the highest honor,” Johnson said. “It means the world to me just to be a part of the success. Words don’t really do it justice.”

The event was hosted by GIF, a nonprofit organization that supports programs such as MSU Men’s and Women’s club hockey, MSU figure skating, community youth and adult hockey leagues and media internship opportunities for students of the Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship.

“Our focus is on keeping sports attainable, accessible and affordable,” said GIF Philanthropy Director Jeff Moore, noting that clubs like the hockey team rely almost entirely on outside fundraising. The organization recently added a new locker room, giving the Bobcats an official home with the GIF in the Haynes Pavilion ice facility at 901 N. Black Ave. 

To help kick off the rival game, Dean of the MSU College of Education Health and Human Development Tricia Seifert performed the ceremonial puck drop. “I was so stoked to be invited to drop the puck for the Cat-Griz hockey game,” Seifert said. “It’s an incredible honor to be on the ice with such extraordinary student-athletes.”

Klem had an impressive four-point night with one goal and three assists, the first of which — on Owen Davis’ goal — gave the Bobcats a 2-0 lead at the end of the first period. Going into the match, Klem was tied with former Bobcat Ryan Padden for the all-time points record, with 192. Klem broke Padden’s record with his assist at the beginning of the match, causing team members to rush the rink in celebration.

“Selfishly I wanted to score, of course, but when the opportunity arose I gave it to one of my teammates, Owen Davis, and he was lucky enough to bury it,” Klem said. “I kind of didn’t know what to do, everybody [was] rushing onto the ice, somebody jumped on me, my head was down, it was a cool feeling for sure.”

“I think I liked it even more just because of how the team celebrated for me because, at the end of the day, it is a team sport,” he said.

As the regular season comes to an end, the Bobcats — currently ranked first in their league — have shifted their sights to a postseason run. “[Our focus is] just one game at a time,” Johnson said, explaining that the team tries not to get caught up in the overall excitement. “Focus on the process and the result takes care of itself.”

Head Coach Dave Weaver said that consistency is the biggest thing he hopes to see from the team in the coming weeks. “We need to put together 60 minutes of hockey every game,” he said, adding that experience is what separates his group of seniors from the rest of the competition. 

“You can't mimic playing in the playoffs or nationals unless you've done it. They know the level they have to be,” he said.

Hockey games for the 2025-26 season can be viewed at 

https://www.swxlocalsports.com/montana/.

Scheduling and tickets can be found at https://msuhockey.com/.

Postseason play can be followed under Men’s DII at https://www.achahockey.org/2025-national-championships.