ESCANABA -- (Courtesy of RRNSports.com)

Escanaba High School graduate Jared Dagenais has signed to play hockey this fall for the Kalkaska Roughnecks of the Great Lakes Junior Hockey League.

Kalkaska, located near Traverse City, is an expansion club in this 12-team, Tier III league, which includes teams from big cities like Detroit, St. Louis, Chicago, and Indianapolis.  Dagenais is the only Upper Peninsula player on team, and he will report to Kalkaska within the next week. 

The GLHL plays a 40-game schedule, and the Kalkaska team will face the Motor City (Detroit) Chiefs in their first-ever game on September 10.  Former NHL player Reid Simpson is a part-owner of Kalkaska's team.

"I'm feeling pretty confident that I can excel at this level, and then see what happens from there," said Dagenais Wednesday night.

Dagenais played four seasons for the Escanaba Eskymos and was voted as the team's Most Valuable Player and was a second-team All-Conference pick.  He led the Eskymos in scoring with eight goals and 19 assists for 27 points.

In his Eskymo career, he had 24 goals and 34 assists for 58 points.  Dagenais will live on a horse ranch in Grand Traverse County with seven other players, and he will take on-line courses offered by Bay College.