ISU senior Pete Majkozak is off to the quickest start of his four years as a Cyclone. Majkozak has 12 goals and 11 assists through 18 games this season, and is second on the team in points.

Majkozak, who is from White Bear Lake, Minn., has been playing hockey most of his life. His dad was a collegiate hockey player at Boston University.

“Dad was a big influence in my hockey career,” Majkozak said. “He coached me all the way until I was in high school. I still talk to him every weekend about the games.”

After high school, Majkozak went on to play junior hockey in Mason City for the North Iowa Outlaws. He was then traded to a team in Billings, Mont.

“After high school, I wanted to go to junior hockey before going to college, just to try out the lifestyle, and I found that it wasn’t for me,” Majkozak said. “It kind of felt too much like a job; all it was, was hockey everyday.”

The team in Billings folded, and Majkozak decided to move on to college.

Majkozak had a great freshman year for the Cyclones. By the end of the season, he had scored 30 goals and recorded 16 assists. As a sophomore, he had a very similar year, scoring 26 goals and 18 assists. In his junior season, he played in six fewer games, but saw his assist numbers rocket to 30, with 10 goals scored as well.

“He has been a good, solid all-around player,” said coach Al Murdoch. “He’s given a lot of heart and soul on the ice, and he keeps the team loose off the ice.”

As a senior, Majkozak has seen a lot of things. He said he enjoys having more input this season.

“I really enjoy it because I get to talk to the younger guys and they listen,” Majkozak said. “They want to know, because I’ve been through most of it so far.”

With the 2009-2010 season almost half over; all of the ISU seniors’ careers are coming to an end. Being at Iowa State for four years, they acquire a lot of memories and things they will miss when they are gone.

Majkozak is one of six seniors on the roster this season. Throughout all four years they have been here, they have had a chance to build that chemistry, which could be a big reason why the Cyclones are number five in the ACHA.

“Our team chemistry is unbelievable,” Majkozak said. “Going to practice everyday is really something I look forward to because you get to spend three hours with your best friends.”

This season, Majkozak has had one game he will remember forever. After Iowa State upset previously sixth-ranked Oklahoma on Oct. 16, Majkozak came up huge at the end of the night.

In the third period, the Cyclones were down two goals to Oklahoma. Brody Toigo brought the Cyclones within one goal seven minutes into the period. One minute later, Majkozak tied the game up, and the game eventually went to overtime. With a little less than two minutes to play in overtime, Brady Irwin found Majkozak in the middle of the ice and Majkozak buried it.

Majkozak also added that he would always remember going to China last spring for the World University Games.

Going forward this season, the Cyclones will need Majkozak to continue playing the way he did at the start of the year.

“He’s an important part of our team,” said senior Derek Behrman. “He’s a lot of fun to be around, but when it comes to hockey he works really hard. He’s one of the fastest guys in the ACHA, and he knows how to bury shots.”

After Iowa State, Majkozak would love to continue playing hockey.

“I always say I’m not going to take off the skates till they make me,” Majkozak said.