St. Cloud State University saw the potential when Oliver was at Roseau, and so did the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League. Oliver secured a commitment to St. Cloud State and was drafted by the Predators. His time in Fargo helped solidify his future.

Grinder, digger, workhorse, pick a term and that describes Oliver. He isn’t a high-end scorer, but he is willing to go in the corners and work and he always plays a physical brand of hockey. In three years with the Force, he scored 13 goals and totaled 37 points in 121 regular season games.

“The time I spent in Fargo helped me develop as a hockey player and as a person,” Oliver said. “It prepared me to be a successful student-athlete.”

Oliver has played in 27 games as a freshman at St. Cloud State, where he is reunited with former Fargo head coach Steve Johnson, who is an assistant for the Huskies. Johnson was the second head coach in Force history, and when he was leaving Fargo he mentioned that he was excited to get Oliver when he made the switch to the NCAA.

Both going to a team that recruited him from the beginning and having a familiar coach on the staff at St. Cloud State helped make for an easier transition for Oliver.

“It was great coming into a situation where I was already comfortable with his coaching style,” Oliver said about Johnson. “Our prior relationship made the transition from juniors to college hockey much easier. It’s been great having the chance to play for him again.”

Former Force teammate Joe Rehkamp joined the team midseason and he and Oliver love to tweet back and forth on Twitter. The two played together in Fargo for two seasons and even spent time playing on the same line. Both players killed a lot of penalties in Fargo and became friends during their USHL careers.

“Joe and I were very good friends for two years in Fargo so it’s great to be back on the same team with him,” Oliver said. “I just told him to work as hard as he could and he would fit in just fine.”

The Huskies are in the middle of a muddy Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoff race right now. The team is 13-15-4 overall and 10-11-3 in the conference. Don’t count them out, though, now that former Force goaltender and USHL Goalie of the Year Mike Lee is back on the ice.

Lee and Oliver were high school teammates at Roseau when they won the state championship in 2007.

Oliver has scored twice this season, and still looks to have a bright future with the Huskies. He only had two points in 12 games during his first USHL season and he became a fan favorite and an alternate captain in his final campaign.

With a world class work ethic and a class clown attitude, Oliver has been a nice addition to St. Cloud State University this season.

“When I went into the camp, I was supposed to be going back to Fargo but the General Manager [George McPhee] of the Caps had other plans,” Haar said. “They thought I was ready to play at the collegiate level and that’s where they wanted me to play the coming fall. It’s hard to say no to someone who has already done so much for you, so I weighed my options and did what I had to.”

Haar obliged to the request of the Capitals and chose to leave Fargo for Western Michigan, where he joined former Force captain Luke Witkowski. The news was a bit of a blow to the Force, who had just learned that head coach Jason Herter was leaving to be an assistant at Minnesota-Duluth.

After scoring 23 points in 51 games in his only USHL season, Haar, a Huntington Beach, California native, has scored once and has seven points in 29 games for the Broncos. Like many freshmen will attest to, the NCAA has been a bit of a learning curve for Haar. If it’s anything like last season, though, Haar will be very dangerous come playoff time.

Haar and Witkowski didn’t have a chance to play together prior to college, but the duo has played well to help lead Western Michigan to a 16-13-5 overall record. The Broncos, led by head coach Andy Murray, are 10-3-3 in conference play and sit in third behind Michigan and Ferris State in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.

Not only have Haar and Witkowski improved on the ice, they have built a relationship.

“It’s awesome play with Luke. He’s such a positive guy in the locker room, and is a great leader,” Haar said. “Luke is always making sure that I am doing what I am supposed to when it comes to school and hockey. During games or practices he’s always good for giving me little pointers that help me out a lot.”

While Haar has enjoyed some success at the college level and pleased the Washington Capitals organization, there were some trying times during his late departure from Fargo. Haar posted his decision to leave the Force and join Western Michigan on a social media site and the front office found out that way, rather than from Haar himself.

“I do think I could have handled the situation better for sure by communicating with others to let them know and keep everyone in the loop,” Haar said. “But when it comes to choosing WMU I have no regrets at all.”

Learning has certainly part of life for the defenseman. Haar was a healthy scratch a few times early in his Fargo Force career. He struggled at times in the USHL, but he found his game in the middle of his first season. At Western Michigan, he got off to a bit of a slow start, but has been a more regular contributor as the season has gone on.

Being able to learn on the job has made Haar a coveted National Hockey League prospect and a dangerous collegiate offensive-defenseman.

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By: Tim How