Bakken heading to Lindenwood next season

Ryan Bakken will join Darnell Dyck at Lindenwood next season

The Langley Rivermen Junior “A” Hockey Club is pleased to announce former Rivermen Captain Ryan Bakken has committed to play at Lindenwood University next season.

 

“I can’t wait for August to roll around when I go off to Lindenwood University and start the next chapter in my life,” said Bakken.

 

Lindenwood University is located in St.Charles,Missouri. The men’s ice hockey team competes in the varsity club ACHA division and has been very successful in recent years. The Lindenwood Lions won back to back national championships in both 2009 and 2010.

 

Bakken mentioned this would not have been possible without his opportunity with the Rivermen last season,

 

“My time with the Rivermen was awesome and definitely learned a lot throughout the year not only about myself as a person , but as a hockey player as well,” said Bakken, the first Captain in Rivermen history, “I can’t thank the management and coaching staff enough for getting me to where I am today”.

 

Rivermen Head Coach/GM Bobby Henderson thought Bakken left a lasting impression on his teammates last season,

 

“We were lucky to have Ryan as our Captain in our inaugural season, he set the bar of what expectations of a Captain should be,” said Henderson, “he had great connections not only with his teammates, but with the community as well and will be missed, but we couldn’t be happier for the opportunity that he has gotten”.

Overall in his BCHL career, the Langley native played in 185 games recording 5 goals and 41 assists for a total of 46 points and racked up 112 penalty minutes.

 

Bakken will join Rivermen teammate Darnell Dyck in Lindenwood next season, who committed to play there in late April.

Jakob Reichert interview

Jakob Reichert shares his thoughts on the trade:

Official press release on Rivermen-’Cents trade

The Langley Rivermen Junior “A” Hockey club has announced a trade with the Merritt Centennials. The Rivermen trade forwards Austin Plevy (1994) and Sebastien Pare (1993) in exchange for forward Jakob Reichert (1993). Reichert is a Langley native and has played two seasons in the BCHL recording 21 goals, 30 assists for a total of 51 points to go along with 165 penalty minutes.

“I found out in the morning about the trade and was very excited to hear the news,” Reichert said, “I grew up in Langley and have watched the Langley organization very closely like the Langley Hornets, the Langley Chiefs and just so excited to play in my hometown I can’t emphasize that enough”.

Although he can hardly wait to play in front of family and friends on a nightly basis, the 6’4”, 230 pound -18 year old was still surprised to hear he was traded,

“I was pretty surprised to hear I was traded, but I had a feeling it could happen and when I heard I was going to Langley I was so pumped because I have heard nothing but good things about the organization,” continued Reichert.

Rivermen Head Coach/GM Bobby Henderson explained that there has been interest in acquiring Reichert since last season,

“We attempted to get him, but the timing wasn’t right at the time, but we got him now and we are very thrilled to have him,” Henderson said, “Jakob fills a need for us up front and overall is a character kid that is a leader and has pro potential written all over him”.

Reichert is continuing to improve year after year and hopes to add some experience to a young Rivermen squad in September,

“It will be my fourth year playing junior hockey, I spent my first year up in Revelstoke where we won the Western Championship and my last two seasons were in Merritt where we had good teams, so I hope to add some experience to a relatively young team,” Reichert finished.

To acquire a player like Reichert, the Rivermen had to send both Austin Plevy and Sebastien Pare the other way,

“On behalf of the organization we wish Austin and Sebastien the best of luck in Merritt, they were good players for us last season and are confident they will do well up there,” Coach Henderson said.

BREAKING TRADE: Rivermen and Centennials make a deal

                                Jakob Reichert is coming home

The Langley Rivermen have traded forwards Austin Plevy (1994) and Sebastien Pare (1993) to the Merritt Centennials in exchange for forward Jakob Reichert (1993).

Analysis:

The Rivermen are getting size and experience up front in Reichert as he is a 6’4″, 230 pound winger and has spent two seasons in the BCHL. He is also a Langley native as well. In 104 career games, Reichert has recorded 21 goals, 30 assists for 51 points and has 165 Penalty minutes to go along with that. Jakob fills a need up front with size an grit and also some scoring touch around the net.

In Plevy, the Cents’ are getting a slick play making forward that can skate very well and has already committed to Merrimack. In 119 career games, Plevy has recorded 18 goals and 38 assists for a total of 56 points

In Pare , they get a guy that can play in every situation and always does what is asked of him by the coach. In 66 career games, Pare has recorded 6 goals and 8 assists for a total of 14 points.

This is the first trade in the Bobby Henderson era in Langley.

Good luck to both Austin and Sebastien up in Merritt and welcome Jakob back to his hometown of Langley!

Austin Plevy

 

Sebastien Pare

Langley Rivermen 2011/ 2012 audio highlights

Interview with new Captain Thomas Nitsche

1 on 1 interview with the newest Captain of the Langley Rivermen- Thomas Nitsche.

Rivermen lock up athletic star Mitchell McLain

Mitchell McLain is coming to Langley

The Langley Rivermen Junior “A” Club is pleased to announce the commitment of forward Mitchell McLain (1993) to the team for next season. Mitchell is from Baxter,Minnesota and played for Brainerd High in the USHS. He had a spectacular season recording 35 goals and 29 assists for a total of 64 points in 25 games played.

 

“I am very excited to come to the Rivermen next season, I have always wanted to be a hockey player after high school and Langley really sounds like a great place to play and the Rivermen organization seems like an awesome team to play for,” said McLain who was in between classes at school.

 

In talking to Head Coach/GM Bobby Henderson, the 6’1”, 190 pound forward McLain really liked everything he heard,

 

“The town, the area and the Henderson family’s drive to succeed not only as an organization, but getting their players to the next level was a huge factor for me and couldn’t be more pleased with my decision,” said McLain.

 

Coach Henderson could not be happier to land a player like Mitchell’s caliber,

 

“As soon as I saw him play I knew we had to get him in a Rivermen uniform, he is big, fast, skilled, and competes very hard, which we really like,” said Henderson, “he is a well rounded athlete and we expect him to contribute immediately”.

 

The Minnesota star is a well rounded athlete and then some to say the least as he is the starting quarterback on the football team in the fall and a shortstop and first baseman on the baseball squad as well. Currently it is baseball season and McLain has a mind boggling batting average of .562. He is giving up those two sports and is choosing the hockey route,

 

“I have always enjoyed playing football and baseball, but ever since I was a little kid I dreamed of being a division one and professional hockey player and have always had an extra love for hockey,” said McLain.

 

When asked about his expectations when it comes to playing in Langley, he made it clear what he hopes to accomplish,

 

“I hope that we make it in to the post season and go as far as we can in the playoffs and I also want to grow as a player individually in my time there and hopefully move on to division one hockey at some point,” McLain finished.