David Archambeau/For the Gazette Michigan Tech’s Raymond Brice fights to push past a pair of Alabama-Huntsville defenders during a game this past season at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

HOUGHTON — As a child growing up in the Copper Country, like so many other young hockey players, Raymond Brice had a singular goal, to play for the Michigan Tech Huskies. Brice, who heading into his fourth season in Black and Gold, was voted by his teammates as the team captain for the 2019-20 season.

It is an honor that has barely sunk in for the Houghton Gremlins’ top career scorer, who is following in the footsteps of Hancock native Tanner Kero, who donned a captain’s “C” during his senior season.

“My teammates are the people I see every day,” said Brice. “Those are the guys I go to battle with, the guys that I love the most.

“It’s tremendous honor to have them think of me in this way. It’s a privilege to have this honor.”

Brice will be joined by senior Alex Smith and junior Seamus Donohue as assistant captains, giving the Huskies three guys who play the game the same way night in and night out.

He would not have it any other way.

“I think they have good voices in the locker room,” Brice said. “They are well-respected. Both (of them) are very skilled guys.

“I think both are well respected on the ice, which helps me.”

Having joined the Huskies after finishing a two-year journey through the North American Hockey League, Brice has skated along a number of leaders, and feels that a couple have really rubbed off on him as he figures out what type of leader he wants to be moving forward.

“There are a lot of guys who have been good leaders that have looked up to,” he said. “I thought Brent Baltus was a great captain when I was here and I really looked up to him.

“(Jake) Lucchini has been one of my best friends here. (Dylan) Steman, (Jake) Jackson, and even Cliff (Watson), who was here when I was a freshman, were huge (in helping shape my role), Matt Roy was incredible, Shane Hanna and guys like that.”

Having been part of the one of the last classes former head coach Mel Pearson brought in, Brice and the Huskies have been very successful over his time at Michigan Tech, winning back-to-back WCHA playoff titles.

However, last year was a step backward for the program, with the team finishing 14-20-4 overall and 13-12-3-1 in WCHA play, which was good enough for sixth and a first round matchup against Bowling Green State, who exorcised some demons of their own in beating the Huskies in the playoffs.

Brice chalked up 2018-19 to the youth of the team, which makes sense given the fact that the Huskies had 11 newcomers in the lineup at various points throughout the campaign.

Five freshmen scored at least 10 points, with seven seeing action in at least 27 contests. That adds up to a lot of experience in big moments for a team that lost 12 games by two or less goals.

“There was a hump there and it was tough to get over and we never really did,” said Brice. “I think some of that was inexperience and immaturity.

“We some guys that are going to play some valuable minutes this coming year. Now they are going to have some valuable minutes already played under their belts.”

Brice has not scored at the college level as he had in high school. In 67 games with the Huskies, he has just seven career goals and 18 career points, but he has made up for the lack of scoring with a hard-working attitude both in practice and in games. Head coach Joe Shawhan has admitted several times that he wished he had a roster full of players who work as hard as Brice does, which is a testament to his respect for the Houghton native.

Brice missed most of his freshman year after suffering a season-ending injury in game against Minnesota State at the MacInnes Student Arena. In 2017-18, he played in 38 games, scoring four goals and nine points.

Last season, he scored three goals and had a career-high six assists in a season that saw him not break into the lineup until Nov. 2 at Alabama-Huntsville. He scored three points in his first three games of the season and often found his line starting after the Huskies returned home from that first lengthy road trip.

Getting the chance as a local kid to get his name announced in the area he grew up playing in has meant a lot to Brice.

“It’s just an incredible honor,” said Brice. “I think that I am pretty fortunate in that aspect in that I get to play in my hometown as well as wear the “C” in my hometown.

It is not clear yet whether Brice, who missed almost all of his freshman season, will get the chance to wear the captain’s “C” for one year or two, but either way, he is excited for the challenge that 2019-20 holds and looks forward to proving himself right in the minds of Huskies fans.