Seventeen months ago, Ryan Geris thought his competitive hockey playing days were over. In late November 2004, the then-University of Minnesota Duluth sophomore defenseman decided to call it quits due to the lingering effects of past concussions. That, however, didn't completely squelch his desire to lace up his collegiate skates sometime down the road.



In other words, never say never. When UMD begins pre-season practice this fall, Geris will be back in a Bulldog uniform.



\"After a lot of contemplation, I decided that playing again was what I really wanted to do,\" said Geris. \"Up until this past Christmas, I never had given any serious thought to returning to the ice, although it was always in the back of my mind. At that point, I began tossing the idea around with members of the Bulldog coaching and training staff as well as my parents and a number of doctors. The more I explored it, the more sense it made to me. This is a decision I feel very comfortable making.\"



The 6-1, 190-pound Geris, who will turn 25 in August, joined the Bulldogs in 2002-03 and proceeded to rack up four goals and seven assists for 11 points and was a plus-11 while skating in 40 of possible 42 games as a rookie. The following year, he played in just seven outings before incurring a season-ending concussion against Bemidji State University on Nov. 15, 2003. Although Geris was subsequently granted an extra year of eligibility as a medical redshirt, he made only six appearances (his last coming on Oct. 30 at home versus the University of Vermont) in 2003-04 because of concussion-related problems.



During this past winter, Geris remained active with the Bulldog program, serving as a volunteer student assistant coach which entailed taking part in daily practices and attending most of the home and road games.



A native of Alexandria, Minn., Geris is one of eight defensemen the Bulldogs will have at their disposal in 2006-07 and joins forwards Jeff McFarland and Bryan McGregor and goaltender Josh Johnson as the club's lone seniors. His distant cousin, defenseman Josh Meyers, made his UMD debut this past season.