Moving Forward: Kyle Rankin, Stampede

by Kolbe Nelson
April 09, 2012 6:17 PM


Bright spots for the Stampede this year were few and far between, but the Herd have a lot to look forward to.

"There's only I think six of us moving on to college," Stampede Forward Kyle Rankin said, "So that leaves a lot of guys able to come back and they've got some good guys in the system as well."

One of the guys that is moving on to college is Rankin, he's got a lot to look forward to too. Rankin will be playing for Princeton next year, something he's been waiting for for quite a while.

"I made my committment when I was 16 years old and I'm 19 now so it sort of feels like a long time coming." Rankin says.

And if anything has prepared the forward for the rigors of major college hockey, it's been a rough season in the highly competitive USHL.

"It's a really good league," Rankin says, "Just playing in the league itself is a great challenge every night, showing up. I've learned a lot personally about what it takes to compete, not only at this level, but what it's gonna take moving forward."

Rankin's thankful for it all, even though the end result of a lot of games didn't go the way he would've liked.

"I've created a lot of friendships that'll probably last a lifetime on this team. A lot of great friends, a lot of great players on this team," Rankin says, "I've really been happy to be a part of this. We obviously, the players especially, would've liked to win more, but at the end of the day, we learned a lot and I'll always be pullin for the Stampede."

And Stampede fans will surely be doing the same for the Tigers when Rankin's on the ice.

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