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D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 7 | M H J ON L I N E . C O M 21 Taking Notice Hastings and his coaching staff first discovered Suess as a junior player with the Sioux Falls Stampede of the United States Hockey League. Suess said it wasn't until Christmas time of that first year after high school that college teams began to take notice of him. Suess began skating when he was about 4 years old in White Bear Lake with his cousins. His family eventually moved to Forest Lake where he played youth hockey. "Our teams were always pretty good growing up," Suess said. "We might have won the Squirt championship or the Regionals, and that was a fun year. It's just those little things you remember and probably never will forget." Suess made the Forest Lake varsity team as a sophomore and played on a team that won a conference championship. There were four other future college players on the team: Danny Fick (Harvard), Trevor Waldoch (Air Force), Christian Gaffy (Minnesota Duluth/Saint Mary's) and Lucas Kohls (Wisconsin-Eau Claire). "We were really good," Suess said. "We had a lot of talent." "I expect him to be one of the best players in the entire league. Not in a pressure way; I believe in him that much." —MIKE HASTINGS, MSU HEAD COACH QUICK HITS Favorite food: Tacos Favorite music: Hip-hop or rap Favorite athlete, growing up: Marian Gaborik Role model: My mom College major: Business marketing Quotable: "The learning never stops. There's always something you can do better, day in and day out." "The Learning Never Stops" While hockey was his main focus, Suess played three sports in high school, sticking with hockey and baseball all the way through his senior year and football through his junior year. Although college teams didn't come call- ing, junior teams did, and he was drafted by Sioux Falls, where he blossomed as a scorer playing alongside his future MSU teammate Zeb Knutson. In 128 games over two sea- sons, Suess scored 57 goals and racked up 118 points—statistics that got him drafted by the Jets prior to moving on to college. That production didn't stop in Mankato, but he's constantly striving to improve. He said he approaches every practice as if he has to earn his spot in the Mavericks' lineup, even though he hasn't missed a game since his freshman year and only missed three that year. "You learn something every day you come to the rink," Suess said. "I've definitely grown since I've gotten here. The learning never stops. There's always something you can do better, day in and day out."