Hogg chooses pros over Wolves

Kris Hogg won’t be returning to the Lakehead Thunderwolves for a fifth and final OUA hockey season.

The veteran winger on Thursday confirmed to tbnewswatch.com he’s forgoing his final university campaign to try his hand at the professional game.

Hogg, 25, has signed a deal with the Central Hockey League’s Missouri Mavericks, a deal announced by the club on Wednesday.

Though the move was overshadowed by the Mavericks' signing of CHL scoring champion Sebastien Thinel, team officials were nevertheless excited to have the British Columbia native on board.

“Kris Hogg is a very big signing, too,” Mavericks coach Scott Hillman told the Independence (Mo.) Examiner. “Being a fourth-round NHL draft pick, we have high expectations for Kris. He played for one of my former coaches, who knows this league very well, and we believe he can take his game to the next level. We are going to push him very hard to help him make his dreams come true.”

Hogg had nine goals and 17 points with the Wolves in an injury-plagued 2010-11. The former fourth-round pick of the Calgary Flames (2004) had 50 goals and 106 regular season points for Lakehead in his four-year career.