GENEVA — Of the seven Hobart College ice hockey seniors who graduated in the class of 2025, three have signed professional contracts.
Defenseman Austin Mourar is the latest grad to sign and with that, the number of former Statesmen who will move on to play professionally in Europe is up to four. 2024 grad Artem Buzoverya signed a professional contract earlier this month as well.
Mourar has signed with Les Bouquetins Hockey Courchevel-Meribel-Pralognan in the French Division I Hockey League, where he will clash with former teammates he won three national championships with.
“This is a great opportunity for Austin,” head coach Mark Taylor said. “He was huge for us in achieving what we have achieved as a program. He’s another guy that did it athletically and academically to a very high standard and level of achievement, individually and as a great teammate. I’m grateful we had him for five years thanks to our Master’s program. Courchevel-Meribel-Pralognan is a great mountain region in France, a beautiful place. Certainly, another athletic experience but what a life and educational opportunity this will be. It should be entertaining to hear the banter when he, Coop and Icer play against each other.”
Mourar, who graduated in May with a master’s in management, was a four-time NEHC All-Academic selection. He will join fellow Statesmen Matthew Iasenza and Cooper Swift, who signed earlier this summer with other teams in the same league.
Mourar — affectionately called “Moose” by his teammates — played all 31 games in 2024-25, helping Hobart to its third straight national championship. He finished the year tied for fifth on the team with 21 points, recording nine goals and 12 assists on his way to earning first- team All-American recognition. Mourar set up the game-winning goal against Geneseo in the national semifinals. He had three multi-point games this season. Mourar played a key role for the Statesmen’s defense that was first in the nation in scoring defense (1.01) and a penalty killing unit that was eighth in the nation (.871). Mourar shared the team lead with 21 blocked shots.
He also is the all-time leader in games played for Hobart with 118 in four seasons in Geneva. He recorded 74 points on 31 goals and 43 assists. During the 2023-24 campaign, Mourar was named the NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. He also earned a spot on the NCAA All-Tournament Team during Hobart’s first two national championships. Mourar helped Hobart to a 106-11-4 overall record, three national championships, four NCAA tournament appearances, three NEHC tournament titles and four NEHC regular season championships.