Former Saskatoon Blades forward Ryan Keller is retiring from professional hockey.
Keller made the announcement Thursday on his Twitter account:
The Saskatoon native played four seasons with his hometown Blades from 2001-05, racking up 237 regular season points and 13 more in the playoffs.
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Keller also represented Canada at the under-18 World Junior Championship in 2002.
He was not picked in the NHL entry draft.
He signed his first contract in 2005 with the Grand Rapid Griffins, and played two seasons in the American Hockey League, first with the Griffins then the Syracuse Crunch. He also spent time playing for the Muskegon Fury of the United Hockey League.
In 2007, he moved to Finland to play with the Espoo Blues. He spent two seasons there, leading the team in scoring both years.
Keller returned to North America in 2009 when he signed a contract with the Ottawa Senators. He started the season with the Senator’s AHL team in Binghamton and got his first taste of NHL action on Nov. 25, 2009, eventually playing six NHL games that season.
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Ottawa re-signed him to a one-year contract for the 2010-11 season and went on to lead the Binghamton Senators to the Calder Cup as their captain.
Keller spent one more year in the AHL – with the Oklahoma City Barons – before heading back overseas to play with Genève-Servette HC in the Swiss league.
In 2013, he moved over to the ZSC Lions, where he won the Swiss Cup in 2014 and 2016.
Keller has not announced any future plans.
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