Kehrer catching on with Badgers

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/01/2021 (1893 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s uncommon for a college freshman to step into NCAA hockey and seize the moment, yet Anthony Kehrer is making the learning process look routine.

The 18-year-old defenceman from Winnipeg doesn’t play a flashy game but he’s logging heavy minutes and thriving for the No. 12-ranked University of Wisconsin Badgers.

You want crisp outlet passes? Watch Kehrer do his thing. Need a jet-propelled skater to lean on rival forwards during the penalty kill? Again, Kehrer is your man.

His resumé also includes rehab from a serious knee injury last spring and, more recently, overcoming a bout of COVID-19 three weeks into the fall semester at Wisconsin.

“It kinda freaked me out. It was the last thing I expected — to wake up to a call that I’d tested positive,” says Kehrer, adding his only symptom was a temporary loss of his sense of smell.

Kehrer and five similarly affected teammates went into quarantine for 10 days while also being required to wait 21 days before returning to action.

The Big 10 had delayed the start of its season so Kehrer, who made a full recovery, was fortunate not to miss any games.

The current Wisconsin roster is well-stocked with talent with six NHL draft picks, including first-rounders Cole Caulfield and Dylan Holloway at forward, but a substantial void was created in the off-season when blue-liners Wyatt Kalynuk (Chicago Blackhawks) and K’Andre Miller (New York Rangers) opted to turn pro early.

That’s where Kehrer comes in. After two years of seasoning with the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers, he was prepared for the Big 10.

“We asked him to be ready for the opportunity and… he came in and he was up and running, ready to go,” says Badgers head coach Tony Granato. “It’s definitely a heck of a pace change from the USHL to college hockey but I thought right from the start he was able to adjust to that.”

Kehrer made good use of his time in the USHL although he was hampered by an MCL tear in his left knee. It took two months to heal, avoiding surgery, but just as he was preparing to return to the Musketeers lineup the pandemic wiped out the rest of the season.

“Right when I was supposed to come back, a week later COVID hit,” says Kehrer. “I didn’t get back into any games, so that was disappointing.”

Playing in the Big 10, where he has already faced the likes of University of Minnesota sniper Sampo Ranta, a Colorado Avalanche draft pick, and Michigan centre Ken Johnson, a probable first-round choice in 2021, he’s been tested early and often.

Before Sioux City, Keher spent two seasons at the Rink Hockey Academy where his play impressed WHL scouts. The Brandon Wheat Kings chose him 30th overall in 2018, a ranking clearly affected by his NCAA leanings.

Soon after, he made a verbal commitment to the Badgers.

“I just weighed my options with my family when I was younger,” says Kehrer.

“The WHL was obviously the league I grew up watching. Again, they didn’t have the Ice (in Winnipeg) back then but the Wheat Kings were kind of my team back then and to be drafted by them and going to their camp, it was a harder decision. But now that I’m at Wisconsin — I went with my gut to go here — I’d choose it 100 out of 100 times.”

Before his move to Sioux City, Kehrer attended a tryout for the U.S. under-18 team in March of 2018.

Although born in Winnipeg, he qualified for dual citizenship since his mom Kimberley is from Kenmare, N.D. But without a passport (the necessary documents were delayed until eight months later), he was left off the roster of the prestigious developmental squad.

“We thought he had an outstanding camp there and easily could have made that team but there were still some problems with the paperwork so he wasn’t put on that roster,” says Granato. “So we knew he was an elite talent at a young age.

“Then he battled through the USHL the last couple years, had an injury to deal with last year, so he didn’t really have a complete season — but the character of that kid — you don’t really have to worry about that part of it.”

Granato says Kehrer reminds him of current Badgers defenceman Ty Emberson, the club’s third-year captain. Kehrer’s numbers aren’t eye-catching — he has six assists in 16 games — but he leads the team with a plus-12 rating.

“He’s extremely coachable,” says Granato. “You can see the situations we put him in: he plays against the other team’s top line quite a bit, penalty-kill minutes and he’s really gained confidence as the year’s gone along.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14