Teammates drew Jaden Schwartz back to Tigers

There was a reason that the phone was ringing and the e-mail in box for Colorado College hockey season tickets was filling up more quickly than usual Monday morning.

That’s because 2010-11 leading scorer Jaden Schwartz confirmed late Sunday that he will return to play for the Tigers.

The chance to play one more year with his teammates, including older brother Rylan Schwartz, and on a team that has a chance to make an impact at the national level prompted his decision.

“Once I thought about the teammates and the coaching staff it really wasn’t that hard to decide to play (at CC) for one more year,” he said. “We will have a good team that anyone would want to come back to.”

Schwartz said the St. Louis Blues, which drafted him No. 14 in the 2010 NHL draft, did not put a lot of pressure on him to go pro.

“It was ultimately my decision,” he said. “I knew I will benefit from one more year (of college).”

The Tigers’ run to the NCAA West Region final also excited Schwartz about the direction the program is pointed.

“He was a big part of it,” Tigers coach Scott Owens said. “From a team standpoint, we’re very pleased.”

Schwartz (47 points, 30 assists) was named as Rookie of the Year by Inside College Hockey and made the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and national rookie teams despite missing 15 games. If you pro-rate those 15 games with his 1.5-point average (70), he would have been right behind Hobey Baker Award winner Andy Miele (71 points).

Jaden is not worried about individual honors though.

“Those will come with the team’s success,” he said. “I will work on improving my plus-minus and being a better all-around player. That’s what I’m focused on.”

His expected return already prompted 200 new season ticket holders for the 2011-12 campaign, marketing director Scott Lowenberg said, adding that confirmation prompted a lot more calls and emails Monday.

Schwartz’s teammates have reason to be pleased as well.

“It’s obviously, awesome to have him back,” senior captain Nick Dineen said. “He’s a great player and great teammate. He is very down to earth for as good a player as he is. I’m happy to have him on the team for my senior year.”