The Canmore Eagles would like to acknowledge that goaltender Ryan Ferguson has announced his intention to retire from Junior A hockey and will not be back between the pipes when the Canmore Eagles start their 2015-16 Alberta Junior Hockey League season next September.
Ferguson, who was a finalist for the “AJHL’s “Rookie of the Year” and “Top Goaltender” awards during the 2013-14 season, played in 96 regular season AJHL games over the past two seasons and earned 47 victories, while posting a 3.15 Goals Against Average and .908 save percentage. He was also named to the Southern Division all-star team and named Rookie of the Year for the Canmore Eagles in 2013-14.
“Although I’ve certainly enjoyed my two seasons in Canmore, I believe that this is the right time for me to make a change and pursue some other options in my life,” said the likeable 20-year-old netminder, who is already enrolled in engineering studies at the University of Victoria. “When I arrived in Canmore my intention was to try and earn an NCAA scholarship, but when I recently discovered that I was also eligible to receive a sizable amount of academic scholarship money to go towards my tuition at the University of Victoria, it helped make my decision a lot easier to make.”
“I know I’m really going to miss my teammates, competitive hockey and the Town of Canmore, but life moves on and I’m super excited to be going to school and enjoying life as a student.”
“Ryan played some excellent hockey for us over the past two seasons and we wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors,” said Eagles Head Coach and General Manager Andrew Milne. “When we upset the Camrose Kodiaks in the 2013-14 playoffs, Ryan was a huge factor for us. He won a lot of hockey games for us over the past two years and we always believed we had a chance to win with Ryan in the nets. We are certainly going to miss Ryan but that’s the nature of junior hockey and his leaving will open the door for another goaltender to earn a spot in our lineup.”
