| Yellowjacket Recruit: Drew Strandberg |
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The Yellowjacket coaching staff has announced
that they have received a commitment from Drew Strandberg to join
the team beginning in the fall of 2010. Strandberg, a
goaltender from Thunder Bay, Ontario, is expected to immediately
challenge for the starting job in the Yellowjacket net.
"We targeted Drew from the very beginning as a goaltender that we
wanted to be in our program," said Yellowjacket Head Coach Dan
Stauber. "It's no secret that we struggled in goal last season
and we feel that by adding a player like Drew to our team we have
gone a long way in solidifying our goalie play."
Strandberg, 5-11 and 170, spent 2009-10 with the Traverse City North
Stars of the North American Hockey League (NAHL) and ranked among
the league leaders in most goaltending categories. In 40
games, he posted a record of 24-10-0 with a 2.38 goals against
average, a .909 save percentage and four shutouts. His 24 wins
were tied for the league lead and his four shutouts were tied for
second in the league, one behind the league leader.
But as good as his regular season numbers were, Strandberg dialed
his game up a notch in the post-season. He appeared in nine
games in the playoffs, going 7-1 with a 1.58 goals against average,
a .941 save percentage and two more shutouts, helping the North
Stars reach the NAHL's Robertson Cup finals.
Strandberg had previous junior hockey stops with the Melfort
Mustangs of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) and the
Thunder Bay Bearcats of the Superior International Junior Hockey
League (SIJHL)
"He had such a strong regular season. That was enough to make
us want to add him to our roster. But then seeing what he was
doing in the playoffs, we knew that this was the goaltender that we
wanted," Stauber said. "He was big reason, if not the biggest
reason, that Traverse City got all the way to the national
tournament.
"Drew played so well during the playoff run that we thought he
wouldn't be available for us. We thought for sure that a
Division I school would pick him up. But fortunately for us he
was still available and he wants to come to Superior and make our
team better. We're very excited about that." |
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