RoadRunners Captain Michael Hill Will Be a Nanook

Hill buries one stick side. Courtesy: Michael's father.

Topeka RoadRunners (NAHL) top scorer Michael Hill has inked a deal to put on the Nanooks sweater next season.

After getting a bit of a rough start with the Wichita Wildcats, he made his way to the RoadRunners and instantly became their leading goal scorer, teeing up 31 goals last season, an impressive stat that helped the team make their decision to name him the captain for the current season, and he's still rolling.

This season, he has a 16-13-29 scoring line in just 18 games, good for 5th in the NAHL overall. He's averaging 0.89 goals per game and 1.61 points per game, but he's a -1 player thus far. Considering his scoring, that makes things interesting. However, our defensive masterminds behind the bench shouldn't have a problem coaching him up a bit in the defensive side of the game.

You might remember the RoadRunners name as Aaron Gens' former stomping grounds. In Gens' final year with the RoadRunners (their first in Topeka, after moving from Santa Fe), he posted more than a point per game as the team's top scoring defenseman with a 12-46-58 line in 53 games before coming to Fairbanks. Now, Gens graces the top Nanooks defensive line with linemate Joe Sova.

The Topeka RoadRunners website has put together a pretty nice press release. Here's a snippet, but please jump on to the full release for more:

RoadRunners Head Coach / GM Scott Langer says, "Michael's every day work ethic is contagious. Most people see him for his ability to score goals, but he brings so much more to the ice than that." He added, "The coaching staff at UAF is well respected and will do a tremendous job in helping Michael grow as a player."

Hill plans on majoring in either physical therapy or kinesiology. With his junior resume, he had a few options to consider but chose UAF. "It wasn't easy", Hill said of the decision. "In the end, it was just like when I chose to return to Topeka. They really made me feel wanted and appreciated."

Full story.

Be sure to look for Hill in next month's NAHL Top Prospects tournament.

UPDATE: After the received comment of the Topeka Capital-Journal erroneously labeling the previous photo, Michael's father sent me a few and I swapped it out for the one now included above. The additional photos are included below as well.