Luke Siemens' final game in the Western Hockey League came sooner than he would've liked after a sweep in the first round of the playoffs Wednesday evening.
It proved to be the last time in net with the Prince Albert Raiders for the Tsawwassen goalie.
"We had our chances, we just couldn't score," says Siemens of what was a common occurrence in the series against the Red Deer Rebels. "We'd get our chances and miss the net or [Patrik] Bartosak would come up with the save."
Unlike on the ice, Siemens now has some time to contemplate his next move. At 20, he's too old for the NHL draft but is still hoping for the chance to sign as an unrestricted free agent. Or he could join the East Coast Hockey League, the American Hockey League or play for a university team.
Siemens estimates he has nearly 20 invitations from universities.
"Playing for a university team would allow me to play hockey and pursue my education."
He says he'd likely enroll in a business program.
"I hope he gets to do whatever he wants to do. I don't know if his route is university or pro, but I think he has potential to play either one... I think any route he takes he'll have success at," says Raiders head coach Steve Young.
Originally from Port Coquitlam, Siemens moved to Tsawwassen as a teenager and played on the South Delta Bantam A1 Storm with friends Josh Nicholls, Taylor Peters, Brendan Gallagher and Colton Jobke, who have all since signed with NHL teams.
"We had a good year," Siemens says of the 2007 group. "That was probably the best team that I was on as far as minor hockey went."
It made it to the provincial championships where it lost in the semi-finals.
He credits his Delta coaches for giving him the experience he needed to get where he is today.
"We played like 80 games that year."
Siemens played 66 games in the 2012/2013 season, posting a goals against average of 2.89 and a save percentage of .912. He added six shutouts.
"We did well considering we were dead last in the league last year and made the playoffs this year."
Young says the Raiders will miss Siemens.
"As a 20-year-old, he brought us a lot of good leadership... He played a bulk of the games. [He was a] good, solid goaltender, good, solid leader for us."
It's a little early to look for the silver lining in the sudden departure from the playoffs, but Siemens says every minute of game action counts in a player's development.
"The more minutes you have, the more experience you have, the better off you'll be. Despite losing those four straight games, those are four games that maybe next time I will win."
Another silver lining is the fact Siemens gets to come home to Tsawwassen on Friday. He says he's looking forward to taking a couple weeks off because the season has been hard on his body.
Siemens says he's looking forward to sleeping in his own bed, listening to the ferries come and go.
He will likely see his old Delta teammates too.
"We all get back together in the summer and joke about how much fun it was compared to now. It was the hockey days when we had no stress... we didn't have to worry about stats or making big saves."
Some things haven't changed since those good old days.
"In our last regular season game against Saskatoon I had Josh (Nicholls) coming down on me in the shootout and it was the same old, same old for both of us. He swung wide and I came out and poke-checked him and he glared at me.
It was the same thing that would always go on back in minor hockey... he'd get mad at me for poke-checking him."
