Prospect Profile: C.J. Suess

Since he was selected by the Winnipeg Jets in the fifth round of the 2014 NHL Draft, C. J. Suess has changed a couple of things about himself.
First, he switched from wing to centre on his NCAA squad, the Minnesota State Mavericks.
Second, and most recently, he changed his last name from Franklin to Suess (pronounced 'cease'), which is his mother's maiden name.
The reason behind the decision was simple, and in his mind, long overdue. His mom, Cheryl, has been his primary caregiver from the moment he was born, and changing his name was a way of paying tribute to her and his grandmother - the two people that have meant more to him than "anyone else in the world."
"She was pretty excited. I told her I was thinking about it a couple different times and then when I finally did it, she was pretty happy," explained Suess. "She's not super emotional when it comes to that stuff, but I could tell she was proud and happy that I did it."

Even after the decision was made final, the 5-foot-11, 190-pound Suess said one of the things that made it feel real was seeing the new name bar on his jersey for the first time.
"It definitely feels more real when you see it on your nameplate, or when you hear the announcement over the PA at a game," he said. "That's when it hit me."
Suess, 23, is in his senior season and has captained the Mavericks for the past three years. As everyone knows, the sport of hockey is well known for its nicknames, and for a player with such a long tenure, he's definitely picked up a few over the years. C.J. was known as 'Franks' to his teammates and coaches and now everyone is making the adjustment to the new nicknames, including Suess himself.

"Most of the guys have adjusted to it," he laughed. "There is always a straggler who calls me Franks, but you can't hold it against anyone. It takes some time and I know that."
Suess added that the new nicknames so far are 'Seeser,' 'C-Joe' and 'Sweets,' and he fully expects more to be added in the future.
As for the other change - the always difficult move from wing to centre - it was something that both he and the Minnesota State coaching staff thought after his sophomore season would help both Suess and the Mavericks over the long haul.
"I'm able to pick up more speed and that was one of the main reasons right away," Suess said. "It's been tough, but I think I've taken to it pretty well.
"It's a totally different game playing centre than wing. You have to go from corner to corner. If you get beat off the wall playing centre, that guy's taking the puck to the net. It's definitely an adjustment period in positioning. It's taken me a while to get it down. I feel like I've finally got to a point where I'm happy with my game (at centre)."
There's also the matter of faceoffs, which admittedly has been a work in progress, but that, too, is coming along well after so many years away from the dot.
"It's just something that you continuously work on," said Suess, who makes sure to work on his craft every day after practice. "I feel like I've done a good job with them so far this season and I just need to keep it going."

Between games, practices and focusing on getting the Mavericks to the Frozen Four, Suess takes some time to check in on the Jets now and then to see how they're doing.
"I get the alerts on my phone and stay up to date on what's going on," he said. "It's been pretty cool to see where they are in the standings this year."
The current edition of the Jets has three players - Dustin Byfuglien, Matt Hendricks and Blake Wheeler - who are from Suess' home state of Minnesota, which just adds to the reason why he's so proud to be from the 'State of Hockey.' The Forest Lake native is off to a great start with the Mavericks, and is on pace to set new career highs in goals, assists and points, recording more than a point-per-game average in his first 18 games of the 2017-18 campaign - the first time he's done so in his four-year college career.
With 106 career points tallied by the Christmas break this year, Suess would soon join Minnesota State's top 10 scorers since the school joined Division I in 1996.
"Growing up there was always good competition; there was always someone there to push you. From that competition, it breeds some pretty good hockey players. It's awesome seeing names (from Minnesota) and it gives you hope you can do it and make the big leagues one day as well."
- Jamie Thomas, WinnipegJets.com