Jack Sampson and Colby Muise, formerly of Marian University NCAA men’s ice hockey, have recently signed professional contracts.

Sampson (Portage, Mich.) spent the end of the 2022-23 season with the Evansville Thunderbolts but will now head to the Fayetteville Marksmen of the SPHL.  He closed out his career as a Sabre with his best season after recording 28 points from 10 goals and 18 assists.  Sampson skated in 75 games during his Marian career recording 17 goals and 37 assists for 54 total points.  He also had four game-winning goals in a Sabre sweater.  Sampson provided consistent offense for the Sabres and recorded a point in 18 of 27 games.  He had eight multi-point efforts with a pair of three-point games during the season.  His first three-point game came in the Superior Showdown Championship where he assisted three goals.  This earned him Sabre of the Month honors for the month of December.  He then had a goal with two assists at Lake Forest to clinch the No. 6 seed for the NCHA Harris Cup Playoffs.  His lone multi-goal game of the season came in game one of the NCHA Harris Cup Quarterfinals against No. 13 St. Norbert.

“It means a lot to me to be able to have this opportunity to play hockey at the professional level,” said Sampson.  “I’m really excited to get going this year.  I was very fortunate to have great teammates at Marian taht pushed me every day to get better.  I also can’t thank Clay and Rylee enough for all they have done for me and the program.”

The SPHL is an independent professional hockey league based out of Huntersville, N.C.  The league is primarily based in the southeastern United States but stretches into Illinois and Indiana.  For more information on the Fayetteville Marksmen please visit https://marksmenhockey.com/.

Muise (Yarmouth, N.S.) was a standout goaltender throughout his career and will head overseas after signing with Club de Hockey de Chambéry of French Ice Hockey Federation Division 1.  He finished the 2022-23 season 9-12-2 with a 3.11 goals-against average, and .903 save percentage.  His 663 saves on the season were good for second in the conference, and he logged the most minutes of any goaltender in the NCHA at 1,369:53.  Muise stopped at least 30 shots 11 times in his final season, including the last three games of the season, with a season-best 43 coming in a 5-2 road win over No. 1 Adrian.  The victory over the Bulldogs was the first known Marian win over the top-ranked team in the nation and snapped a 35-game unbeaten streak for Adrian.  Muise would earn four NCHA Defensive Player of the Week awards on the season.  The 2021 NCHA Harris Cup Tournament MVP closed out his career sixth all-time for wins (28), fourth for total saves (1,830), fifth for shutouts (5), and fourth for save percentage (.911).

For more information on the Éléphants de Chambéry please visit https://www.hockey-chambery.com/.