Staff
“My boy’s gonna play in the big league,
My boy’s gonna turn some heads;
My boy’s gonna play in the big league,
My boy’s gonna knock ’em dead.”
Tom Cochrane’s lyrics are ringing a little truer for a pair of Fort Frances natives after developments over the past two weeks.
Goalie Ryan Faragher, 23, has decided to pass on his senior year with the NCAA Division I St. Cloud (Minn.) State Huskies.
Instead, he chose to sign a free-agent entry-level contract with the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks for one year at a reported value of $615,000, according to capgeek.com
With Ducks’ back-up goalie Fredrik Andersen going down to injury Friday, Anaheim called up John Gibson from its AHL affiliate, the Norfolk (Va.) Admirals.
That necessitated an immediate search for a free-agent collegiate goalie to fill the void, with Faragher fitting the bill.
He reported to the Admirals immediately upon signing and backed up starter Brad Thiessen in a 6-3 road victory over the Binghamton Senators on Saturday.
Faragher recently wrapped up his junior season with the Huskies, who were the top seed entering the National Collegiate Hockey Conference playoffs but lost in a first-round upset to the last-place Miami of Ohio Redhawks.
He finished the season with an overall record of 20-9-4, to go along with a 2.79 GAA and .905 save percentage.
Faragher was named an NCHC second-team all-star and was one of 68 nominees for the Hobey Baker Award, which goes to the top player in U.S. college hockey, although he did not make it to top 10 finalists.
He also is on the 18-person watch list for the inaugural Mike Richter Award—given to the top goaltender in U.S. college hockey.
Faragher played two years with the now defunct Fort Frances Jr. Sabres from 2007-09, compiling a 37-31-3 record in 75 games.
He then played two years with the Bismarck (N.D.) Bobcats of the NAHL, going 53-26-9 to draw the attention of the Huskies.
After taking over as starter in his freshman year, Faragher led St. Cloud State to the “Frozen Four” national championship tournament in 2012-13, going 24-14-1 with a stellar 2.27 GAA and .925 save percentage.
He ended his Huskies’ career with a 53-34-8 mark.
Basaraba, meanwhile, has made his way to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL after being assigned there late last month by the Florida Panthers, who drafted the 21-year-old forward in the third round (69th overall) of the 2010 NHL entry draft.
The former Muskie has three assists in his six games so far with the Cyclones to go along with a plus-six rating.
Basaraba, who played three games with the Jr. Sabres in 2007-08, just finished a four-year stint with the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.
He concluded his collegiate career with 28 goals and 28 assists in 148 games.
