Growing up in Richfield, Minnesota, senior forward Gavin Best started playing hockey at a very young age.
With his dad being a hockey player and living in Minnesota, Best and his brother grew up around the rink. Best had the skates on starting at a very young age, skating on local rinks and playing pond hockey in the winters.
As a kid, Best was very well-rounded in the sports he played.
“I played a lot of sports growing up,” Best said. “I obviously got into hockey very young. I also played baseball, I dabbled with football, and dabbled with soccer. I started playing golf since my dad and grandpa were both big golfers, so they got me into it at a young age. I did a little bit of everything.”
Once he got to high school, Best made the decision to step away from baseball and focus on hockey and golf, which he said were both a lot of fun.
After high school, Best played for the Minnesota Magicians, which is a junior-level team in the North American Hockey League based out of his hometown of Richfield. Best’s junior experience wasn’t the regular experience. With the rink being five minutes from his house, Best was able to live at home. Having his family be able to attend the games easily worked out great.
His first year, he had 16 points on 12 assists and four goals. In his second year with the Magicians, Best was awarded an assistant captain role and totaled 54 points on 20 goals and 34 assists. Best talked about what he learned from his junior experience.
“I think I learned a lot during those two years of juniors,” Best said. “Obviously, my first year, having it be a big transition and struggling a little bit, that was kind of my first real hardships and struggles that I’ve gone through in my hockey career in terms of not playing and not playing where I wanted to. I definitely learned a lot about myself that first year, and then in my second year, I started to play some good hockey and felt pretty confident going into the second year. My coaching staff believed in me and gave me a good role, and giving me a letter helped me with confidence on the ice and my voice in the locker room.”
Best went to Michigan State after juniors, playing in 10 games for the Spartans and winning both the team’s Most Improved Player award and American Hockey Coaches Association All-American Scholar. In his sophomore season, Best appeared in two games and was an Academic All-Big Ten.
After his sophomore season, Best decided to part ways with Michigan State and enter the transfer portal. Ferris State reached out to Best, who was able to connect with former Bulldog Travis Shoudy. Best met with Shoudy a few times, who helped show Best around campus which was a big reason for him transferring to Ferris.
In his junior season and his first season with the Bulldogs, Best appeared in all 36 games and finished fourth on the team with 19 points and second in goals with 10. In the 2024-25 season, Best registered his first collegiate point, goal and multi-point game. Best also had two different three-game point streaks.
First-year head coach Brett Riley loves the type of player Best is for the program.
“Gavin is the ultimate leader,” Riley said. “He leads in a lot of ways, but most importantly, he leads by example. He has the respect and admiration of everyone in our program, and he has backed that up consistently with his play on the ice. From a coaching perspective, he’s been instrumental for us, especially as our staff has transitioned in this year. He’s helped set the standard every day and has been a tremendous resource as we’ve gotten acclimated. We’re very fortunate to have him in our program.”
Sophomore forward Jack Silich has nothing but good things to say about Best’s leadership.
“[Gavin] is the type of person everyone wants to be around,” Silich said. “The type of leader everyone wants to model themselves after. He’s an unreal person and an all-around great hockey player who always has the team’s best interests in mind. [Gavin’s] a great friend, and I wish him the best going forward.”
In his senior season, Best is looking to lead the Bulldogs down the stretch and into the playoffs but ultimately looking to leave a lasting impact on the team and the organization.
Best’s plan after college is to pursue professional hockey and make his future decision from there.