Connor Jalbert had just finished up a two-game weekend in which he scored two goals and four assists for the Chippewa Steel over his former team, the Anchorage Wolverines, helping them qualify for the North American Hockey League playoffs on the season’s final day.
The talented winger from Marblehead had been talking to a few colleges previously, but it was that performance — particularly his 1-goal, 3-assist showing in a 6-5 win in the regular season finale — that had new Army head coach Zach McKelvie saying he wanted Jalbert to visit the West Point campus when his junior hockey season was over.
He and his parents, Steve and Kristen, made the trip out to the Hudson Valley this past weekend. They came back to the North Shore after Jalbert committed to playing Division 1 college hockey for the Black Knights.
“It’s still sinking in,” admitted the 20-year-old Jalbert, who played three seasons of hockey at Marblehead High from 2019-22. “To play Division 1, especially at a place like West Point, it’s just a dream come true. It still feels a little surreal.”
A 5-foot-11, 170-pound left-shot winger with great speed, soft hands and scoring touch, Jalbert spent his first season in of Tier 2 junior hockey in the NAHL with both Anchorage and in Chippewa. He averaged nearly a point per game, scoring 50 points (18 goals, 32 assists) in 54 contests.
He was particularly strong after his late-December trade from Alaska to Chippewa Falls, Wisc., putting up 11-26-37 numbers in 32 games while playing on the first line and second power play unit.
On his official visit to Army, Jalbert said that McKelvie met him and his parents at their hotel for Sunday breakfast, then drove them over to West Point, went into the locker room and rink, and walked around the campus a bit.
“This will be (McKelvie’s) first year as head coach, but he’s a long-time assistant and former player at Army and is a great guy,” said Jalbert, who had 22 goals and 39 assists for 61 points in the equivalent of two-plus seasons at Marblehead High (including the truncated 2020-21 Covid season). He produced 16-27-43 totals as a junior for his hometown Headers in 2021-22 before moving on to play AAA 18U hockey in the North American Prospects Hockey League (NAPHL) for the Northeast Generals out of Attleboro.
“As soon as I stepped on campus, I knew it was a place I wanted to play at,” continued Jalbert. “Learning about the school and the its history was amazing; the CEO’s, the Presidents who have gone there, what it means to be an Army cadet, all of it. Everything there is so beautiful, too.”
Jalbert also got to learn about Derek Hines, the former St. John’s Prep hockey captain from Newburyport who served the same role at West Point before giving his life for his country while in Afghanistan in September 2005.
“It was super cool to hear that every single time they play a hockey game, they play in Derek’s memory,” said Jalbert, whose brother Aidan is a student at UMass Amherst. “That’s one of the things that really speaks volumes about the program, that it’s so much bigger than yourself. You’re sacrificing for the other guys around you.”
Having developed a taste for venison this past season, Jalbert plans on enrolling at West Point in the fall of 2026 after playing another season of junior hockey.
He called his time at Marblehead High “the most fun I’ve ever had playing hockey. You’re playing for your community in front of all your friends from school and all your friends you grew up playing with. I wouldn’t change that experience for anything.”
After leaving Marblehead High and playing a year with the Generals U18 team, Jalbert moved on to the Biggby Coffee AAA team in Lansing, Mich., which played out of both the NAHL and North American T1er Hockey League 18U (NAT1HL) combing to score 25 goals and 76 points over 56 games. Thanks to a family advisor familiar with the junior hockey process, Jalbert signed with the NAHL’s Anchorage franchise for the 2024-25 campaign on the first day he was tendered.
“Anchorage was super cool in that the players were like rock stars,” Jalbert admitted. “We’d sign autographs, the fans would know all of our names and bring signs with them to the games. When I was traded to Chippewa and we played in Alaska, it was almost even cooler because I got to see the (pregame) video entrance they had. You take it for granted when you’re on the team, but from the other side it was an eye opener.”
Jalbert’s linemate with Chippewa, Jacob Ligi, will enter West Point this coming season. Jalbert plans on visiting him in Michigan this summer; in the meantime, he’ll sharpen his own game at the New Hampshire Summer Skills at The Rinks at Exeter, looking to become more of a complete faster.
“I’ve played all over the place and it’s been a crazy ride, but totally worth it,” said Jalbert. “Knowing where I’ll be headed to college and playing takes so much of the stress off.
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