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Canucks: draftee Ryan Kesler

Written by: Brendan Macgranachan on 07/06/2003 Subscribe to HF's RSS Feed

Centerman Ryan Kesler is one of the newest members of the Vancouver Canucks organization. Kesler, a native of Livonia, Michigan, was the Canucks first pick, (23th overall) in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.  He joins Ohio State University teammate R.J. Umberger in the organization. "R.J. never said anything (about the organization)", Kesler said, "It feels good to be on the same team as R.J., we complement each other real well."

Kesler was ranked 16th among North American skaters by CSB and was projected to go a bit higher than when he was selected. "I was nervous (waiting to be called). As the picks go on and on, you ask yourself, 'When am I going to get picked?' I'm glad I got picked in the first round, it took off all the pressure," he said. "You just got to keep it positive."

Kesler is a hard checking, two-way player that can place the puck in the net. Before heading to OSU, Kesler spent two season on the U.S. National U-18 Devlopment Program. He lead the U-18's in scoring last season with 19 goals and 43 assists for 62 points and sat 30 minutes in the box. He also won gold at the IIHF World U-18 Championship, silver at the Three Nations Cup and was golden again at the U-17 Challenge. "I always wanted to play in the Ontario Hockey League. My rights belong to the Brampton Battalion so I wanted to play there. but things never worked out there. Playing with the National team I think changed my mind to go to college."

Kesler joined the Buckeyes for the 2002-03 season. He had a strong freshman year, netting 11 goals to go along with 20 assists in 40 games. The Buckeyes finished 3rd in the CCHA with a 25-13-5 record. The finished behind Ferris State University (31-10-1) and Michigan State, lead by Jeff Tambellini, (30-10-3). "We started off strong than tailed off towards the end. We had a hard 1-0 loss to Boston College to finish our season."

Kesler told HF that he is most likely to stay in school and take the same route Umberger did, stay 2-3 years and develop. "I'm just contractating on getting better right now. If I'm back in school, I'm back in school. I've haven't thought about it much."

Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM
2001-02 US Jr. Team ------------- 13 5 5 10 10
2002-03 Ohio State Univ. NCAA 40 11 20 31 44

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