Lucas Punkari
Even though the start of the regular season for the St. Cloud State Huskies’ hockey program isn’t until Oct. 7 in Anchorage, the anticipation already is starting to build for Fort Frances goalie Ryan Faragher.
In fact, Faragher, entering his freshman season with the club, headed down to campus on Monday to start his training program with the rest of his teammates, along with getting settled into the area before he moves into his dorm this coming Sunday.
“I’m just excited about getting to go there, having some fun, and getting to know the guys before the season starts,” he enthused.
“I’m not really nervous as I’ve been through this thing before, except for joining up with a college team,” Faragher noted.
“But I think if any nerves do show up, it will be right as the season is about to start.”
One of the reasons the 21-year-old isn’t feeling nervous is the fact he’s been through the process of moving to a new place to play hockey a number of times during his career.
“It all really started when I moved to Thunder Bay to play ‘AAA’ there for the Kings,” he remarked.
“That helped me to get used to being away from home as a young kid, and also moving from here to Bismarck really helped out a lot for heading down to St. Cloud.
“A lot of kids try to jump in as a true freshman when they are 18 years old,” Faragher added. “And when they are away from home for the first time, they sometimes don’t really know what to do or what to expect, and they sometimes go off of the track a little bit.
“But I think I’ve had the time to mature away from home and I think I am ready to jump into college hockey,” he reasoned.
The last two seasons have seen Faragher play for the NAHL’s Bismarck Bobcats, where he compiled a 53-26 record with a 2.33 goals against average that included seven shutouts along the way.
Faragher, who called his time in Bismarck a “great experience,” also stressed that the Bobcats’ coaching staff really help to mould him into the goaltender he is today.
“I think the biggest improvement that I made while I was there was with my patience as I don’t move around as much as I used to,” he explained.
“Before, you could probably compare me to a Tim Thomas/Curtis Joseph hybrid, but now I’ve toned things down a lot.
“And while I’m still making the desperation saves, I am now in the right spots to make them,” he noted.
While the Bobcats’ 2010 NAHL title win obviously was the highlight of his time with the squad, one of Faragher’s fondest memories during his time in Bismarck occurred during his rookie campaign.
“At the start of my first season [2009/10], we hadn’t won in our first eight games,” he recalled.
“We went up to Alaska [Avalanche] and I ended up going into the game after our other goalie got pulled, and we ended up coming all the way back to win 5-4.
“We went back to the resort that we were staying at and ended up having a big dance party just because we were so happy to get our first win,” he smiled.
Following the 2009/10 season, Faragher announced he had made a commitment to attend Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., where he would suit up for the Big Green for the 2011/12 campaign.
But Faragher changed his plans and decided to go to St. Cloud State instead—something which he chose to do after much deliberation.
“They [Dartmouth] were really the first team to show any interest in me, and I didn’t want to take any chances and not have any other schools look at me so I committed with them,” he explained.
“Heading into this past season, my coach in Bismarck [Layne Sedevie] told me that a lot of people end up de-committing from one school and going to another if something comes out there, and that while it was something that I may not want to do and that it was risky, that choice was out there.
“At the start of last year, I started to get a lot of interest from teams, and I hemmed and hawed over what I was going to do right up until about January, which was when I talked to my parents and discussed about maybe playing for a team that was closer to home and in a better league.
“So I ended up de-committing and I ended up speaking to St. Cloud right away.
“And while I did my research beforehand and saw that Wisconsin and Michigan Tech needed a goalie, they [St. Cloud] were the first school that really jumped out at me,” Faragher added.
With no regrets over what happened, Faragher is now focused on getting ready to enter the college game, especially playing in the WCHA conference.
“I’m really looking forward to that,” he enthused.
“They are the best league in college hockey and they always have someone in the ‘Frozen Four,’ so it’s just a great thing to get into.
“Even though after two years there, the league is going to have a big switch [which will see big-name schools such as North Dakota and Minnesota joining different conferences], I’m fortunate to have two years where I’ll be playing against teams that I wouldn’t have played otherwise,” he reasoned.
Going into his freshman season, Faragher, who has yet to decide upon a major though is leaning towards sociology, hopes to contribute to the team in any way he can. But he also knows it’ll be a tough task to try and snare the number-one starting job.
“Obviously, starting would be great,” he said. “But even if that doesn’t happen and I end up splitting time and learning from [junior and Phoenix Coyotes’ draft pick] Mark Lee, just settling in there at St. Cloud is the key goal for this year.
“In the long-term, I would love to get to the ‘Frozen Four’ as that would be the greatest feeling ever, not just for me but the entire program.
“They were super close to getting there [for the first time in program history] two years ago when they lost to Wisconsin, so everyone is just itching to get there and I would love to as well.”
