Former Bison Van Tetering Alaska-Fairbanks bound

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

Former UFA Bison centre Troy Van Tetering has committed to the University of Alaska Fairbanks for the 2015-2016 season.
Van Tetering, who only played one season with the Bisons, is currently playing with the Lloydminster Bobcats of the AJHL and is thrilled to be playing in the NCAA next year.
“It felt great, it’s something I’ve been working for since I was little. It was one of the goals I had, and one of the big reasons I was playing hockey, and to finally achieve that goal felt great,” said Van Tetering. “It’s almost indescribable because I took a bit of a long road, but it was nice to be finally rewarded for all the work.”
The Carstairs native credits a lot of his success to this point to learning the basics of the game effectively from the Bisons coaching staff.
“This year I would not have been able to make the jump to Junior A without Dan (MacDonald) and Doug (Raycroft) and lots of the guys I had behind me that year and playing with them and developing as a player because they’re a great coaching staff and they really developed me as a player,” said Van Tetering.
He admits that kind of teaching helped with the transition to Lloydminster.
“The beginning of the year has been awesome, I was pretty nervous making the jump but again great coaches and they’ve been giving me chances and believing in me. I’ve been getting lots of power play time and that’s helped with the development part and getting into different situations,” said Van Tetering.
Alaska-Fairbanks has set out what they expect of him, so he can make an immediate impact upon arrival.
“This is my first year and I am a rookie, so they still expect me to put up a few numbers and keep playing strong but next year they’re going to expect a lot especially since I’ve committed. They’re not going to want me to sit back and relax now that I’ve signed,” said Van Tetering.
Once he recovers from a separated shoulder, he wants to get back in the lineup and continue developing, to show to his coaches that he can play and that Alaska-Fairbanks made the right decision.
When Van Tetering arrives at Alaska Fairbanks, he is considering taking Petroleum Engineering or Program Environmental Sciences.