Finding Her Way
Mavericks' junior goalie Britni Kehler has followed an unusual path to become one of the best in the WCHA
by Dan Myers
Issue date: 11/2/06 Section: Womens Sports
When Minnesota State women's hockey goalie Britni Kehler began playing hockey in her hometown of Mitchell, Manitoba 10 years ago, there were no girl's teams in town. Her only option in the hockey crazy country was to suit up with a boy's team. After a few years honing her skills in Mitchell, Kehler was finally good enough to win the top-spot on the town's "A" team, beating out other boys her age for the job.
How did Mitchell react?
"It was bad," Kehler said. "I got kicked out of my town because I beat a guy out for the spot. So they got rid of me and the coaching staff."
A frustrated Kehler and family took her destiny into their own hands and moved on to St. Adolphe, Manitoba and a premier women's team in the area. But with few all-girls team in the region, St. Adolphe was forced to play many men's teams. Unfortunately for the guys, they were the ones often left flustered, as the women won more times than not.
And now, youth hockey days long in the rear view mirror, Kehler's long and unusual journey to college hockey is complete.
"There is just a certain thing you can see when you watch a special goaltender grow up," said Mavericks head coach Jeff Vizenor. "By the time she was a junior in high school, we had targeted her and we knew she could come in and make a difference right away in our program."
Kehler has had high expectations since the day she arrived on the MSU campus. Recruited as one of the top goalies in all of Canada, Kehler established herself right away, playing in 16 games her first year in Mankato. With a goals against average under three in her first year and a save percentage above 91 percent, Kehler quickly showed teammates and coaches she could be counted on.
After improving on both save percentage and goals against last season, Kehler is in line to top her career bests once again in 2006-07. With her pair of shutouts two weeks ago at North Dakota, she has already tied her career high for shutouts in a season with three. Her nine career shutouts are already a school record and the junior still has plenty of time remaining to extend the mark.
"She has become physically stronger, mentally stronger and much more confident," Vizenor said. "She understands the game and sees it better than she did two years ago."
Kehler has also become a communicator on the ice. Vizenor said she is like a third defenseman, and the extra set of eyes is helpful to a defensive core that faces top end scoring forwards each week.
"Her freshman year, she was kind of quiet," said senior defenseman Sammy Miller. "She is a better communicator now which is huge because if I am going back for a puck, she can tell me who is on me and what play to make. It is really important."
It is still her quiet nature off the ice that sets her apart from many goalies, which have a reputation for having quirky and unusual superstitions. Most of the time, Kehler is no different than a forward or defenseman on the Maverick roster.
"She's very laid back and nice," Miller said. "She is always thinking of others ahead of herself."
"She's not one that needs her stick taped the same way every day or go through the same routine," Vizenor said. "She is pretty mellow on game days and doesn't fit many of those stereotypes, that is for sure."
Kehler believes all the unusual superstition is a distraction.
"If I don't play well it's because my head is not in it, not because I didn't do some weird ritual."
Poor play is rarely a problem for Kehler. Her career numbers have already made her one of the best goalies in program history. And as the primary net minder for the foreseeable future, she will have the opportunity to enhance her legacy.
"I just need to be consistent and give the team a chance to win every night," Kehler said. "Our goal is to get to the NCAA tournament and I think that would be great for us and our program."
Dan Myers is the Reporter Sports Editor