RACINE NAMED NW PLAYER OF THE MONTH
The OJHL announced today that Georgetown Raiders goaltender Steven Racine (photo credit - Eamonn Maher/The Independent Free Press) has been named the Gongshow Gear North-West Conference Player-of-the-Month after posting an 8-1 record throughout the month of February.
Racine was a rock down the stretch in the regular season for the Raiders, going 4-0-0 with one shutout, a 2.25 goals against average and .910 save percentage, to help the club capture the OJHL regular season crown. The native of Williamsville, New York continued his stellar play into the club’s preliminary round post-season match-up versus the Burlington Cougars. Racine would post a pair of shutouts as part of his 4-1 record, including a 1.68 goals against average and .932 save percentage to help the Raiders dispose of the Cougars in five games. Combined on the month, he posted eight victories and three shutouts, along with a 1.92 goals against average a .923 save percentage.
Upon hearing of the award, Racine was quick to credit the organization and look ahead, “It is a great honour and truly a reflection of how well our team has played, as well as the systems our coaches have put into place. Coming from B.C., the last few months have been great in Georgetown and I cannot thank everyone involved in the organization enough. We definitely have all the pieces in place to hopefully win a championship in the coming months.”
Raiders General Manager and Head Coach Greg Walters added, “Steven has been a great addition to our team. He is very confident and has given our team a chance to win every game he has played.”
Paul Geiger of the Stouffville Spirit was runner-up to Racine as the North-West Conference Player-of-the-Month. The third-year defenceman recorded 17 points in 10 games played leading the club into the playoffs, including 10 assists during a preliminary round victory over Aurora.
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Steven Racine was born on August 28, 1991 in Williamsville, New York and would play his ‘AAA’ youth hockey from 2000-07 with several different Buffalo-based squads, including the Depew Saints who were the State Finalist in 2003-04. He would move to Watertown, Connecticut just prior to the 2007-08 season, where he would attend and play hockey at The Taft School with the Rhinos. His final year at Taft, 2008-09, the hockey club would finish the season as New England Quarterfinalists.
Following the season, Racine would be ranked 29th among North American netminders in the final rankings put out by NHL Central Scouting for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft and he would be selected in the 5th round of the 2009 USHL Entry Draft, 62nd overall, by the Lincoln Stars. Racine made the jump to junior hockey in 2009-10, starting the season as a member of the Lincoln Stars in the USHL. After playing only two games for the Stars, Racine moved on to join the Waterloo Black Hawks, posting his first two junior wins, and finally would finish the season with the Jersey Hitmen of the EJHL.
Last season would see much of the same for the lanky netminder. After starting the year with the Jersey Hitmen, Racine returned the USHL, joining the Chicago Steel where he would play five games, before finishing the season with the Chicago Hitmen of the NAHL. Despite a turbulent two seasons, the youngster remained optimistic and took positives out of the experience, “During these two seasons, I learned a great deal about dealing with and overcoming adversity and what it takes to play at the highest level.”
Entering this season, the well-traveled netminder was recruited by the Westside Warriors of the BCHL and he join the club posting a 7-9-0 record with a 3.10 goals against average for the club before he was traded to the Georgetown Raiders. After starting his OJHL career with five consecutive wins, Racine would confirm a commitment to join the University of Michigan Wolverines beginning in the fall of 2012. Although missing some time during the middle portion of the season, he would finish the regular season with a perfect 15-0-0 record for the club with four shutouts, a 1.66 goals against average and a .938 save percentage.
