Roger GEISER

Roger GEISER

Canfield Hockey

When Roger Geiser moved to Canfield in 2008 he experienced quite a sense of culture shock.

In a hockey sense, he may have well been in another country.

The senior originally hails from upstate New York, “right along the Canadian border,” he says.

“It was a big change going from there where there’s so many big teams and it’s competitive,” Geiser said. “There’s not much here, but it’s still fun and it’s been a good time.”

Hockey is more than a sport in the further reaches of New York, it’s a way of life. And just like everyone else, he learned how to skate right as he was learning how to walk.

“I started playing hockey when I was 4 years old, he said. “I really didn’t like it. But my parents encouraged me to stick with it and I came back the next year and I loved it.”

Canfield was the only area school that offered hockey, this season. In previous years, multiple schools combined to just eek out enough participants to fill a team. With the Cardinals able to withstand on their own, Geiser stepped in immediately and made an impact in goal. He tallied 643 saves his freshman year and topped that with 772 for his sophomore campaign.

“Then somebody told me I cracked the top 10,” Geiser said referring to the OHSAA record for career saves.

Two games into his senior year — he’d stand alone. His career saves total reached 2,407 for a new state record.

It wasn’t necessarily a goal for him, though, even as he’d stop upwards of 60 shots each time out. Geiser really didn’t even have a mental clock counting down to the milestone.

“Plenty of people had that for me,” he said. “They were always on me about it.”

Geiser has aspirations to go to college and one day play in the NHL. In the meantime, he’s trying out for the Ohio Prospects team out of Cleveland Heights. It’s a launching pad for young players to then get selected to junior leagues and the professional ranks.