|
|
|
Ryan Faragher
 
Ryan Faragher has held down the St. Cloud State crease in Mike Lee's absence (photo: Jim Rosvold).
St. Cloud State could soon have a bit more competition in the crease.
There have been reports in the last week that Mike Lee’s return from injury could be this week against Minnesota, or at least, very soon.
Lee will be cleared to play in the near future but whether he returns to the crease right away is in question.
“I don’t let it bother me or get in the way of anything,” said Ryan Faragher, who has occupied the Huskies’ crease for most of the season. “I’m glad that he’s back and practicing. I’d hate to have to sit out that long. It will make us a better team.”
Faragher took over for Lee when the latter underwent hip surgery in October. Faragher had his struggles but he’s been hot lately, stopping 247 of 265 shots (.932 save percentage) against No. 14 Denver, No. 8 Western Michigan, No. 8 Colorado College and No. 17 North Dakota.
Faragher gave up eight goals on 78 shots (.897 save percentage) in his first two games against Minnesota in November. Lee is 2-0 all-time against the Gophers, allowing three goals on 85 shots (.965 save percentage).
Ryan Faragher 2009/10 Bismark Bobcats
Faragher Commits to Dartmouth for 2011
HANOVER, NH – Bismarck Bobcats goaltender Ryan Faragher is the eleventh Bobcat to secure his path to NCAA Division I hockey, as the netminder from Ontario has committed to Dartmouth College for the 2011-12 school year and season.
“I’m really excited to have my college plans set now,” said Faragher, “especially now that we’re in the playoffs. Having that external pressure out of the way is a big lift because all I have to worry about is Alexandria [the Bobcats’ divisional final opponent] and getting to nationals.”
In his first year as a Bobcat, Faragher was third in the NAHL in both goals against average at 2.17 and save percentage with a mark of .921 in 38 regular season games. He was also fourth league-wide with 23 wins.
Faragher posted 43 saves in his first playoff win over the Albert Lea Thunder on Friday as the Bobcats completed a three-game sweep of the fourth-seeded Thunder.
“Ryan is already a top goaltender in the North American Hockey League, statistically,” said Bobcats head coach Byron Pool. “So Coach [Bob] Gaudet made a shrewd move in picking him up for the 2011-12 season, because he will only improve next season under the guidance of [assistant coach] Layne Sedevie.”
The Big Green compete in the well-respected Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference; this year the ECAC sent two teams to the NCAA National Tournament in Cornell and Yale.
Dartmouth, located in Hanover, N.H., is a member of the prestigious Ivy League of eastern private colleges and is world-renowned for its academic reputation—ranking as the 11th best institution of higher learning nationwide according to US News and World Report.
“I’m undecided on my major as of right now,” said Faragher. “I feel lucky that I have a full year to weigh all my options in terms of what I want to study. I can’t go wrong though; having a Dartmouth education will set me up wonderfully for the rest of my life.”
Faragher’s commitment extends the Bobcats’ franchise record for Division I placements to 11 D-I recruits this year, including Jason Fabian (Air Force), Casey Kleisinger (Air Force), Ryan Jacobson (Air Force), Aaron Quick (Air Force), Gavin Hartzog (Wisconsin), Tom McCarthy (Merrimack), Sam Rendle (Bemidji State), Ben Danford (Canisius), Tony Turgeon (Nebraska-Omaha, alumnus) and Blake Hietala (Michigan Tech, alumnus).
“The entire Bobcat Hockey organization is extremely proud of Ryan for his accomplishment in securing his path to collegiate hockey,” added Pool, who himself played in the ECAC with Colgate from 1996-2000. “Ryan is the hardest worker on our team—every day he’s the first one on the ice and the last one off—and his commitment to Dartmouth is richly deserved.”
Faragher is Bobcats’ ‘meow’ in Bismarck
Wednesday, 24 February 2010 - 1:51pm
By Dan Falloon, Staff writer
Ryan Faragher received a rude welcome to the NAHL.
The former Fort Frances Jr. Sabre lost his first three games as his Bismarck Bobcats, the defending Central Division champs, sputtered out to an 0-5-2 start.
“It started out kind of rough, just trying to feel out the league, I guess,” Faragher reasoned.
“But the more I got to work with my goalie coach, Layne Sedevie, the more confident I got in the net.
“As the season went on, our team and myself got stronger, and now we’re sitting on top of the Central Division looking to win our division,” he added.
Faragher admitted the jump from the SIJHL to the NAHL was a significant one—even after leading the local loop in wins (24) and shutouts (five) in 2008-09 as the Sabres advanced to the second round of the playoffs.
“Playing in the ‘SI,’ in my first two years of junior, it really gave me a taste of what type of hockey junior ‘A’ was,” he recalled. “It was tougher, you’ve got stronger, older players that are more experienced.
“Jumping from that league to this league, there’s a big skill level difference,” he added. “The players here are a lot faster and they’re a lot more skilled with the moves they can pull off.”
But Faragher and the Bobcats have since worked out their early-season kinks, going 31-4-6 since the slow start to surge out to a 12-point lead atop their division.
In that same span, Faragher has posted a 19-3-6 record.
The 19-year-old started to take the reins of the starting job in mid-December, winning seven-straight starts from Dec. 12 through Jan. 8.
The tide had begun to run in Faragher’s favour a couple of weeks earlier as he was given the chance to run with the starting job.
After battling with Ryan Massa early in the season, Faragher won out on Nov. 26 when Massa was traded to the USHL’s Fargo Force.
Faragher is 13-2-3 since the deal went down.
“We both were battling pretty hard there for about a month, and once he got the call up, it made me feel pretty good that the hard work paid off,” said Faragher.
“From there, I played the majority of the games until just after Christmas.”
The Bobcats picked up Jake Williams to share time with Faragher between the pipes in mid-January, and Williams has been a revelation—winning all six of his starts while posting three shutouts.
“We’ve been rotating until playoffs so I can get a bit of a rest,” explained Faragher, who has a 2.20 goals against average and a .917 save percentage.
“He’s better than some of the other goalies we’ve had throughout the year, and that helps push me in practice and make myself better, which will eventually help out the team in the end.”
Faragher’s 19 wins and three shutouts tie him for second in the league in both categories.
His play earned him an invite to the NAHL’s Top Prospects Tournament in Ann Arbor, Mich. in January, where he helped Team Central to a 2-1 record against all-stars from the league’s three other divisions.
“That was definitely the best hockey I’ve seen in my life,” recalled Faragher, who allowed five goals in the three games, recording a .921 save percentage.
“They’re the top players from each division, and I got a taste of what it’s going to be like if we make it to the national tournament.
“The shots I faced were pretty tough, so I felt like I did pretty well,” he added.
Faragher isn’t looking far beyond this season, acknowledging a jump to college may be in the cards although another year of seasoning in Bismarck still is in the mix.
“As far as college commitments go, I’m not too sure if I’ll be here next year or if I’ll be at a college,” he admitted. “I’m looking to play one more year of junior and commit for 2011-12.
“If I do play another year of junior, I’d like to play it here.”
But Faragher does have an eye on the college ranks, and credits his development over the past several months into making him college-ready.
“I feel that I’ve gone from just a junior ‘A’ hockey player and I’m turning into a college hockey player,” he remarked.
“There’s that jump that you’ve got to make, and this year, I think I’ve made that jump, and I’m ready to move on in the next year or so,” he noted.
|
