Bruins Tender Stillwater Goalie Eisele

Nov 18, 2016

Photo credit: Stillwater Gazette

AUSTIN, MN – The Austin Bruins are pleased to announce the signing of goaltender Seth Eisele to a tender agreement. Eisele, a ’98 birthyear from Stillwater, MN, played in the Upper Midwest Elite League this fall and is returning to Stillwater High for his Senior season.

Although he’s been the backup for Stillwater the last two seasons, the Bruins had their eye on Seth thanks to a connection between Bruins assistant coach Keenan Kelly and Stillwater coach Phil Fox, who worked together at Northern Michigan University. Eisele impressed and was invited to Riverside Arena. He had a very positive experience immediately.

“I loved the arena and how welcoming the guys were,” he said. “They were all great characters and just kind of accepted the new recruits in no problem. They took us in as part of the team right away.”

Eisele found success in the Elite League, putting up a 2.57 goals-against average in 14 games for Team Northeast. Seth enjoyed the experience and played better than even he expected:

“Personally, I performed a lot better than I thought I was going to even though our team didn’t come out with the outcome that we wanted, he said. “It was so different [than Stillwater] especially with the speed factor and seeing all these kids that are the best of their teams. It was really fun.”

Eisele stands tall at 6’5, an increasingly common trend among goaltending prospects.

“I’m a big goalie but I’m quick enough to get from point A to point B,” Eisele said. “I don’t feel like my sizes affects me that much and I enjoy being this big.”

Six-foot-four Jake Kucharski is a ’99, but committed to Providence College a few weeks ago. Alex Schilling, the other goaltender on the roster is a ’97 and will age out after next season, so the door could be open for Eisele to have an impact on the Bruins sooner rather than later.

“I’ve always dreamed of playing Junior Hockey and I feel comfortable taking that next step,” he said. “I feel like the NAHL is a really good fit for me because I’ve heard so many great things about how well they develop goaltenders. I just feel like if I have a good season this year and just bring it on into their tryout [next season] I can really help them out”