Former BCHL captain Ryan Bakken commits to Trinity Western for 2014/15

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Former Langley Rivermen captain Ryan Bakken will be coming home next fall and returning to play at the Langley Events Centre as he will join the Trinity Western University for the 2014/15 B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League season.

The 6-foot-1 defenceman will also be joining his older brother and Spartans captain Brad Bakken as the two of them will help anchor an already impressive TWU blue line.

"We are thrilled to be adding a quality leader in Ryan Bakken," says Spartans head coach Barret Kropf. "I'm sure that the brothers Ryan and Brad will enjoy playing together once again, but more importantly Ryan gives us another solid Junior A defenceman who has strong leadership qualities."

"Our program continues to strive towards developing leaders on and off the ice and Ryan fits in perfectly with what we are trying to build at TWU."

The younger Bakken, who graduated from Langley Secondary, comes to the Spartans after spending the last two years with Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri.

In two seasons playing in the ACHA (American Collegiate Hockey Association), the 22-year-old Bakken registered seven assists and 18 penalty minutes in 48 games. In his first year, he helped Lindenwood to a second place finish at the 2013 ACHA Division I National Championship tournament.

This past season, Lindenwood finished 17th in the ACHA national ranking after posting a 13-20-2 overall record. The Lions lost in the first round of the ACHA Division I national championship tournament.

"I'm really excited to play out the rest of my career at home while also getting the chance to play alongside my brother," said Bakken, who plans to study business administration. "It's a great opportunity for me and I know I’ll be getting an outstanding education from TWU."

In four years playing in the BCHL with Langley – the first three years were with the Chiefs and the last one, 2011-12, was with the Rivermen – Bakken collected four goals, 41 assists and 110 penalty minutes in 168 regular season games. He added one goal and two penalty minutes in 17 career playoff games.

He served as team captain in his last year with Langley.

The Spartans are coming off their best season in program history as they finished second in the BCIHL playoffs. After beating Simon Fraser in a best-of-three semifinal series, the team lost in two games to Selkirk College in the BCIHL best-of-three championship series. The Spartans posted a 10-13-0-1 record in the regular season to finish a program-best third in the BCHL standings.