A former member of the Estevan Bruins has earned a scholarship to play NCAA Division 1 hockey for the 2021-22 season.
Goaltender Keenan Rancier, who played for the Bruins in the 2019-20 season and was the team’s playoff MVP, has committed to play with the Minnesota State Mankato Mavericks of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.
Rancier, from Victoria, B.C., came to the Bruins in the summer of 2019 in a trade from the Prince George Spruce Kings of the B.C. Hockey League, where he won a league title in 2019.
With the Bruins, he had a 25-19-4 record with a 2.91 goals against average and a .912 save percentage. He saved his best hockey for the playoffs. Even though the Bruins won just one of four games in their best of seven showdown with the Melfort Mustangs, Rancier finished with a 1.69 goals against average and a .955 save percentage.
The series was cancelled partway through due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rancier shifted to the Minot Minotauros of the North American Hockey League for 2020-21, and has put up a 9-9-2 record with a 3.07 goals against average and a .920 save percentage.
