A Thunder Bay product gets to continue playing hockey and chasing an education with the Lakehead Thunderwolves.

Twenty-one-year-old forward Keighan Gerrie has committed to the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) for 2022-2023 after concluding his junior hockey career with the Nanaimo Clippers of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL).

“The pace of the play is pretty fast,” Gerrie told Acadia News Thursday. “There is a lot of skill in the league with players getting drafted to the NHL. There are also quite a number of NCAA Division One commitments. Overall it’s a fast game which makes you better as a player.”

Before making his way west, Gerrie played a season with the Waterloo Black Hawks of the United States Hockey League (USHL).

He’s also an alumni of the Thunder Bay Kings program (2015-2017), stating that he remembers the long bus rides and making a lot of life long friends, to which he still hangs out with to this day.

Gerrie suited up with the Thunder Bay North Stars of the Superior International Junior Hockey League (SIJHL) for a pair of seasons, which included appearances in the Dudley Hewitt Cup.

“Being the young guy (on the North Stars), watching the older guys who taught you how to carry yourself and what junior hockey is all about. I just remember it being a lot of fun, especially playing in front of the hometown fans at the (Fort William) Gardens so I’m looking forward to doing that again.”