The offseason commitments to play college hockey continue for the Terriers, with another player announcing his intent to go south of the border next season.
Ross has committed to the University of Jamestown in North Dakota, where he will join the Jimmies for a chance to compete for the ACHA Championship.
The Jimmies lost in the National Quarterfinal to Liberty University this past season.
Ross says the decision was a fairly easy one.
"It was just a pretty, pretty easy-going process. I got my hockey advisor at the start of the season, and he helped me reach out to some coaches and organizations down in the States for college and university. Jamestown happened to reach out to me and showed a lot of interest, so that was kind of big on my end, having an interest in me, having an organization take a risk. So, that was really good, and then I took a couple of weeks, kind of focused on playing for a bit and then just before playing the second round, I decided Jamestown was the right fit for me after talking with the coach a couple of times over the weeks. After that, we got the paper signed, so it was pretty smooth sailing from there."
Ross, who was known for his hard-nosed style, adds that he believes playing in the MJHL is a piece of what allowed him to get to this point in his hockey career.
"I think it was huge for my development, joining the league at 17 and playing that year of junior hockey instead of AAA, I think it excelled my game a lot. And just over the years, I could feel myself getting more comfortable in a league, getting more comfortable with the speed, the pace, and everything that goes into a hockey game. So, the MJHL definitely got me ready for this. I think I'll be ready to go and make an impact at the next level."
Ross notes that the time he spent in Portage is something he looks back on fondly as a benefit to his game.
"Like I said before, having someone interested in me, it made the transition a lot easier and coming to Portage I knew I knew they were a competitive team in the league for the last couple years and years before that so I was really happy when I found out I was going to a good organization like Portage. And overall, I thought the season went great. I thought it kept on getting better as it went on, and once I got settled in Portage, it was some of the best months of my junior hockey career."