HIBBING—As an assistant coach under Eric Rewertz, Aaron Jamnick, who graduated from Hibbing High School in 2009, had already had a lot of hockey knowledge, but he wasn’t ready to take over the reins of the Bluejackets’ program.
When Rewertz decided to resign following the 2023-24 season, after four seasons at the helm of the Bluejackets, Jamnick threw his name into the hat of successors, and in mid-June, he will be living out a dream as he was named Hibbing’s coach beginning with the 2024-25 season.
As a side bar, Hibbing will be playing in Hockey Day Minnesota in January, taking on Eden Prairie in an early contest.
Needless to say, Jamnick isn’t taking this position lightly.
“Eric mentioned during the year that he thought he would be done, so I put in for it. Being on board the last four years meant a lot for me. It was time. It’s a great honor and a great program.
“A lot of people have done a lot of work to pull things together to keep getting better every day. I’ve been in coaching for a while, and I’ve learned a lot from Eric.”
Learned what?
“Probably patience is the big one,” Jamnick said. “It’s a long season, with a lot of ups-and-downs. You can’t get too high or too low. You have to keep everyone on board to get better every day.”
Jamnick will be taking over the team that isn’t lacking for talent.
“We have a lot of talent, a lot of guys who have put in a lot of time,” Jamnick said. “When they do that, that’s contagious. It brings out the best of them throughout the whole program to keep it going, to never be satisfied.
“Hard work pays off, but it’s a long process. It takes a lot of work. It’s a team sport. It takes a lot of guys pulling in the right direction.”
So far, things have been running smoothly with the time Jamnick has spent with the team.
“We had a good summer camp, and the guys have been skating and lifting since June,” Jamnick said. “It’s a good time of the year. We’ve put on some muscle, and we’re getting faster and stronger.”
Those will all be important elements of the Bluejackets’ game, especially with Hermantown still lurking as the preeminent team in Section 7A.
“It all starts with the offseason workouts,” Jamnick said. “We have to push the pace. We have to play extremely fast and hard. We have to match their intensity, be able to make plays and get to the net and score goals.
“We have to be able to skate the whole game. Overall, our game is getting faster. We have to be able to skate, defend and play quickly, with pace. It’s all a big part of it. We have a difficult schedule this year, so we’ll see teams similar to them. It’ll be a good test throughout the year.”
One of those games will be against the Eagles at Hockey Day Minnesota, which will be held at Valleyfair Amusement Park in Shakopee.
Jamnick, along with Keith Turner, Tyler Raatsi, Rex Walli, Jace Kampsula and Kelin Eslner attended the official announcement last Tuesday.
The last time the Bluejackets participated in Hockey Day Minnesota was 2013 in Grand Rapids.
“It’s a great honor for the whole town, school and team,” Jamnick said. “It’s a great event that we watch every year. It’s great to be a part of it. It’s a great opportunity for our program.
“We found out last December, but we didn’t tell the kids until May. We know they’re excited to play a team like Eden Prairie. It’ll be a great test. It will be a game they will remember for the rest of their lives. It’s a great venue. We’ll give them everything we’ve got.”
With that said, Jamnick said this season’s team has one goal in mind.
“We want to get back to the state tournament,” he said. “We’ll take it one step at a time. We have to play and train the right way, at all ages of our programs. It’s not just one or two players.
“It takes the whole group continuing to push each other to get to our goals.”
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