By Jeff D'Andrea

Former Raider goalie Siemens commits to UofA

Apr 18, 2013 | 5:31 PM

On March 27 moments after his Prince Albert Raiders were swept by Red Deer Rebels in the first round of the Western Hockey League playoffs, a teary eyed 20-year-old in Luke Siemens knew his junior hockey career had come to an end.

He came out of the Art Hauser Centre dressing room and had little to no idea about what the future would hold for him.

Fortunately for him, it didn't take long at all to figure that out.

About three weeks after knowing his season was over, Siemens quickly committed to the University of Alberta Golden Bears hockey program.

“Obviously at the end of the season, I didn’t have an idea of what was going on, but that’s over and things are starting to settle,” said Siemens, who plans on majoring in business. “It’s nice that I got that commitment from there, it’s going to be a great place to play.

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“I toured their campus and their facilities and obviously, they’ve been a top-notch team for the last few years. With the city and the campus itself, I think they have a lot to offer for myself.”

During early March, Siemens said about “15-20” schools got in contact with him and started their recruiting process. At the time, Siemens wanted to focus on piling up wins with the Raiders and would figure out his post-junior career after the season had completed.

“I wanted to make PA my priority, so I kind of just shooed them away and told them I’d talk to them then the season was over,” said Siemens. “(U of A) were really great with respecting my space during my season.”

Siemens, who hails from Delta, B.C., felt U of A’s campus and the city of Edmonton were both great fits. The hockey team itself has had a lot of success in recent years, winning four of the last six Western Canada titles and has a CIS record of 13 national titles.

But the thing that separated the Golden Bears from the rest of the schools were everybody he dealt with during the recruiting process, general manager Stan Marple, head coach Ian Herbers and goaltending coach Dave Rathjen.

“I think the thing that most persuaded there was the people there, whether talking with them on the phone or email,” said Siemens. “Once I met them finally, they’re great people and they seemed honest and forthcoming.

“They’re straight up with you, they’re pretty honest with their players and they treat their players really well.”

During his season with the Raiders, Siemens posted single season franchise records with a .912 save percentage, 66 games played, 1890 saves and 3,784 minutes played. He also tied the single season record for shutouts with six, tying Rejean Beauchemin’s 2003-2004 season.

Although the season ended a lot sooner for Siemens than he and the rest of the Raiders would have liked, he can look back on it with pride.

“I know it ended not the way I’d like it, but you get over it slowly. You have to look back on the positives when you look back on your junior days,” said Siemens. “You’re not thinking ‘oh that one puck I should’ve stopped,’ you’re thinking about the 2,000 that you did.

“It’s a nice memory to have, that’s something I’ll always remember is having those records. Whether they last for one season, if someone breaks them next year, or if they last for 20 years, it doesn’t really matter to me. It’s nice to have for now.”

There are three former Raiders on the Golden Bears right now. Former co-captain Jordan Rowley, James Dobrowolski and Jordan Hickmott.

jdandrea@panow.com

On Twitter: @jeff_dandrea