Lucas Punkari
When Fort Frances native Ryan Faragher found out this summer that he would be taking over as the starting goalie for the St. Cloud Huskies’ hockey team from the departing Mike Lee, the 22-year-old immediately was pumped up about the opportunity.
“When I got the call from our coach [Bob Motzko], and found that Mike had signed [with the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes] and it was my job, I was pretty excited and I called my folks [Darcy and Penny] right away and let them know,” Faragher recalled.
“It’s a special thing to be a starting goalie, especially at this level, and it’s something that I don’t take for granted,” he stressed.
“I want to excel in that position and I want the guys to know that I’m serious about the job,” Faragher added.
“And I think with my play so far, it’s given them enough confidence in myself that I can be capable of playing the starting position.”
Coming off a 9-11-3 record in his freshman season with the Huskies, Faragher has made the most of his increased playing time.
He currently sports a 7-6-0 mark and a 2.28 GAA following a weekend split against the host Alaska Anchorage Seawolves.
“I feel like I’ve been doing pretty well,” Faragher said.
“The first weekend [in New Hampshire] was really rough as I was getting back into the game,” he admitted. “But since then, I’ve found my game and I’ve continued to grow as a goalie.
“The biggest difference, I think, from this year compared to last year is with the mental side of things as I’ve been able to have good games on both nights, and I’ve been able to stay in the game no matter who we are playing.”
One of those two-game weekends came back on Nov. 23-24 on the road against the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs.
Faragher made 59 saves, and gave up just one even-strength goal, in a weekend split with the Bulldogs, which earned him the WCHA’s defensive player-of-the-week award.
“It was pretty cool to the win the award as there are so many great players in our conference,” he noted.
“That weekend was a fun one as I hadn’t been there before to play the Bulldogs in Duluth, and it was a little more special since my family was there and I was playing against a fellow guy from Fort Frances in Joe Basaraba,” Faragher added.
“I was seeing the puck and I was feeling comfortable out there, and I was able to make some good saves in both games.”
Another highlight for Faragher came before the start of the 2012/13 season, when he was invited to participate in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ annual prospect development camp in July.
“That was the first camp like that which I have been to, and it was a great experience all around,” he enthused.
“I felt comfortable going up against their up-and-coming players there, which gave me confidence coming into the season back here at St. Cloud,” he explained.
“And it also gave me a sense of what a team like the Penguins are looking for.
“I got a feel for their organization and you get to see what they expect out of the players before they come back to camp the next year and try to make an impact in making their team,” Faragher noted.
With Faragher’s strong play between the pipes meshing together with an experienced blueline, along with a forward corps boosted by Drew LeBlanc’s return following a season-ending injury a year ago, the Huskies currently find themselves in a tie for second place in the WCHA with the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
They also were ranked 17th in the nation in the latest USCHO.com Division I men’s hockey poll.
“We came into the season knowing that we would have a good team, and we have really grown as a team since the start of the year,” Faragher said.
“We haven’t played to our fullest potential in the first two months, but we are still tied for second in the WCHA and that’s a good thing for us as we usually heat up after Christmas.
“We have a really deep team here from front to back, and we have full confidence that we can make a deep run this year,” he added.
With the Huskies preparing to begin an eight-game homestand this weekend against the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks, Faragher and his teammates are looking to keep up their strong start to the campaign as the program looks to head to the NCAA “Frozen Four” tournament for the first time in school history.
“Playing at home for the next month-and-a-half gives us a really good opportunity to pile up a bunch of points,” Faragher reasoned.
“We’re playing some tough opponents but at the same time, we have a chance to get enough points to solidify ourselves in the top three for the conference, which is something that we want to do,” he added.
“For myself, I just want to be consistent and make sure that I’m reliable from night to night.”
