Hi-Line Athlete Profile: Ryan Lund, Glacier Nationals

There are few positions in sports like the goalie position in hockey. It takes a different mentality to stand between the pipes, while the puck flies at you. But for Ryan Lund of the Glacier Nationals, which belong to the North American Tier 3 Hockey League, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

As a goaltender, it’s very easy to be both the hero and the goat. So far this season, the Nationals, who had just one player with previous experience in junior hockey, have had some growing pains, which has made things difficult for Lund and the other goalies on the team. Yet, Lund and the other Nationals’ goal tenders are starting to feel right at home between the pipes.

Six games into the Nationals’ 2014-15 campaign, Glacier sports just a 1-5 record, following the team’s first win of the season, which came last Saturday night at the Havre Ice Dome, when the Nationals beat the Yellowstone Quake by the score of 2-1. The game actually went into penalty shots and the Nationals outscored the Quake 4-2 to earn their inaugural victory as part of the Havre community.

Yet, the goal of the Nationals organization is not just winning hockey games. In fact, the number one goal of the franchise is trying to take players like Lund and get them placed into college programs or with higher-level junior programs.

To that end, many of the players, including Lund, who is from Anchorage, Alaska, are from different parts of the county but have all converged on Havre because of their love of hockey and hope of using their opportunity with the Nationals to advance their hockey careers.

Leading up to the Nationals game this week with the Billings Bulls Friday night at the Havre Ice Dome, the Havre Daily News caught up with Lund for five questions.

HDN: What made you want to play junior hockey?

Lund: “I have been playing hockey for a long time and when you get on the ice with all the guys and everything, I just have fun pretty much every time I’m out there. And then with all the ice stuff we do, it’s like having 19 brothers. So that keeps me happy on and off the ice and I just have a great time playing.”

HDN: How do you like Havre compared to Anchorage?

Lund: “I like it so far. It’s a little bit different because I am from a pretty big city, so it’s a little different being in a small town like this. But I went to high school in a small town and went to college in a small town last year, so it’s not that big of a change. I am not looking forward to the cold weather though.”

HDN: What is your long-term goal with hockey?

Lund: “My long-term goal since I started playing is to get my college paid for. That has been my goal. I have been talking to a few coaches, so hopefully it works out. My family doesn’t have a lot of money, so getting an education and my degree is my end goal with hockey.”

HDN: What professional hockey player do you look up to or model yourself after?

Lund: “Marc-Andre Fleury. I used to like him a lot. He has kind of choked in the playoffs the last couple of years but I still like the way he plays and he is probably the most athletic goalie in the NHL.”

HDN: What’s it like being a goalie and having the puck come at you?

Lund: Trying to stop the puck isn’t tough. The tough part about being a goalie is when you have to sit games or when the defense lets you down. But when I’m out there stopping pucks that is when I am having fun.”