Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Coulee Region's Bohrer decides on Canisius

Press Release

The Coulee Region Chill has announced that forward Ryan Bohrer has committed to Canisius College (Atlantic Hockey) for the coming fall.

He’s the 13th player who competed in January’s NAHL Top Prospects Tournament to commit to a Division I school after the event.

“I’m very excited to finally fulfill my dream of playing Division I hockey,” said Bohrer. “I wanted to receive a great education and, at Canisius, I’ll not only be playing on a great team, but will also have the opportunity to receive a top-notch education.”

“I’m very proud of Ryan,” said Chill head coach Garrett Strot. “He worked very hard this season to earn this opportunity.”

Bohrer, who turns 20 this month, led the North Iowa Outlaws, who will relocate to Coulee Region for the 2010-11 season, in scoring with 54 points (14 goals) in 58 games.

“Playing in the NAHL and for the Outlaws the past two seasons was a great experience,” said Bohrer, who also credits his family and teammates for his commitment. “I was able to improve my strength and overall game by being pushed on a daily basis in practices and off-ice training.

“The schedule (in the NAHL) is similar to that of a college season, but much longer,” he added. “With nearly 60 games in the regular season, one of the things you need to learn fast is how to be consistent; I think that’s one of the biggest things I improved on over the last two years.”

At Canisius, Bohrer will reunite with forward Ben Danford, who started the season with the Outlaws before being traded to the Robertson Cup champion Bismarck Bobcats (Danford committed to Canisius while playing for the Outlaws).

“Ben and I played on opposing teams in high school in the same conference and I’ll be glad to have him back on my team next season,” said Bohrer.

The Canisius coaching staff first contacted Bohrer, from St. Paul, with about a month left in the regular season after watching him play in the Top Prospects Tournament and a number of times on the Internet.

“We continued talking over the next few months as they continued to follow my progress,” said Bohrer. “I was very interested in Canisius' hockey success as well as its accredited business school, which is my planned major, so when (Golden Griffins head) Coach (Dave) Smith made me an offer, it was an easy decision.”

Bohrer is nothing but thankful for the added exposure he and his fellow NAHLers received at the Top Prospects Tournament.

“It was a huge highlight of my season,” said Bohrer. “It was fun to play with guys from my division who I was usually matched up against every weekend. Playing with and against top-caliber players was challenging and helped everyone to be seen by college coaches from across the country.”

(Nathan also is a writer for Maineiacs Post to Post and the Maine Hockey Journal. He can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)

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