On Monday, It was announced that former St. Cloud State University backup goalie Rasmus Reijola had transferred to the Alaska-Anchorage hockey team.
Because of an NCAA exception, the fifth-year senior will not have to sit out the 2016-17 season and is eligible to play immediately because he’s already graduated from SCSU. It’s very rare that player takes advantage of this rule. Former University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux forward Brett Bruneteau graduated from UND with a degree in Business after two years and transfered to Vermont, where he played for another two seasons.
In four seasons with the Huskies, Reijola played sparingly, backing up all-conference goalies Ryan Faragher (2012-13) and Charlie Lindgren for two seasons (2014-16). Reijola also redshirted during the 2013-14 season.
In 14 career games with the Huskies, the 23-year-old Reijola was 2-3-0, .867 goals against average and a 3.06 save percentage. Reijola is a good student and was named to the All-NCHC Academic team in 2014-15 and 2015-16.
Before college, Reijola played for the Blues in Junior A SM-liiga during the 2011-12 season.
Currently, the Seawolves have three active goalies on the roster. Reijola should battle for playing time with starting goalie Oliver Manta and backup goalie Jared D’Amico. Last season, Manta took the bulk of the starts for the Seawolves games, going 10-18-3, 2.88 goals against average and a .903 save percentage.
From the interesting facts department. Reijola will be the first member of the old WCHA to play in the new WCHA.