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FAIRBANKS — Dr. Cary Keller repaired Ryan Muspratt’s severely-injured knee two years ago.

This past April, the former right wing for the Alaska Nanooks hockey team thought that the team’s physician deserved to have a scholarship named after him.

The scholarship, which will be awarded in the future to a University of Alaska Fairbanks student-athlete, was Muspratt’s way of saying thank you to Keller and giving something back to the university for which the native of Calgary, Alberta, skated from 2004-08 and earned bachelor of business administration degrees in accounting and management from this past spring.

“First and foremost, it had to do with his contributions to the university, and in particular, what he’s done for my career,’’ Muspratt, 24, said Wednesday in a telephone interview. “He treats all of us so well ... I felt he needed a little bit more recognition, and I can’t even put together how much he’s given to the university.’’

Keller said Wednesday he was surprised, honored and humbled when Muspratt announced the scholarship at the Nanooks Hockey Awards Banquet in April at the Carlson Center.

“There’s certainly thousands who volunteer their time and energy to help out the hockey team and the athletic department,’’ Keller said. “I’m only one of many; so, it’s really an honor to be singled out and identified by Ratter and the rest of the team.’’

Keller, though, was the only person who performed surgery on Muspratt’s left knee after a season-ending injury on Feb. 10, 2006 during a game against Bowling Green State (Ohio) at the Carlson Center.

The anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments of Muspratt’s knee were torn when a Falcons skater and he banged knees as the Bowling Green player was bringing the puck up the right wing and Muspratt was attempting to forecheck him.

Muspratt, in a Nov. 30, 2006 Daily News-Miner article, recalled that, “He side-stepped me, and then my knee folded.’’

Keller, on Wednesday, said that he knew the injury was serious even before Muspratt was taken off the ice and into the Nanooks lockerroom to be examined.

“Not only was the anterior cruciate torn, the medial collateral was torn as well, and it represents a complicated injury,’’ Keller said. “It means a more complicated recovery, and it certainly further diminishes the chance of successfully returning to play.

“I was saddened by the injury and I knew he had a long road ahead of him. Sometimes in those situations, the physician and the team’s trainers have a better understanding of how long a road it is to recovery than the athlete does in the beginning.”

Over the 18 seasons that he’s donated his services to the Nanooks, Keller has seen only two Alaska hockey players tear both ligaments at the same time — Muspratt, and Jordan Hendry, a defenseman from 2003-06. Hendry’s season-ending injury occurred in October 2005 against Alaska Anchorage at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage.

He also saw Muspratt and Hendry return to the ice after dedicating themselves to rehabilitation and conditioning following their surgeries.

Hendry recently signed a two-year contract extension with the Chicago Blackhawks after playing 40 games last season for the National Hockey League club after it promoted him in January from its American Hockey League affiliate in Rockford, Ill. Hendry also trained this summer in Fairbanks.

Muspratt was back on the ice in November 2006, ahead of schedule for an injury that Nanooks trainer Mike Curtin said in the Nov. 30, 2006 article takes nine to 12 months from which to recover.

Muspratt skated in 28 of Alaska’s 35 games last season, contributing three goals and four assists. He completed his career with 15 goals and 11 assists for 26 points in 114 games.

He decided to continue to contribute to UAF with the scholarship in Keller’s honor.

“The cool thing,’’ said Keller, “is Ratter, in some ways, took a bad experience, and turned it into a way to pay tribute to a whole team of people who helped him through his recovery. He turned it into a scholarship, and it shows so much generosity and creativity on his part.’’

Muspratt worked with the university’s development department to create the scholarship, and just three weeks ago, he had helped raise $5,000 for it.

“Now it can be in the general scholarship fund, and the next goal is to make sure we have it for as long as we can,’’ said Muspratt, who’s moving to Anchorage in August to become an auditor for KPMG, an accounting firm.

Approximately $1,000 will be awarded to one recipient, starting in the 2009-10 school year.

“It’s basically for a walk-on type student-athlete, to help with staying in their sport and having money to go to school,’’ Muspratt said. “It’s easier to play when most of your schooling is paid for — that’s our goal.”

For information on donating to the scholarship, call the UAF development department at 474-2619.

CAMPUS TRAILS: Ward Dobbs, a University of Wyoming senior linebacker and West Valley High School graduate, was named July 21 to the first team of the All-Mountain West Conference Preseason Football Team. Dobbs has 242 career tackles and needs 17 this season to rank among the Cowboys’ top-10 all-time leading tacklers. Wyoming opens practice Monday and begins the season against Ohio on Aug. 30 in Laramie, Wyo.

OLYMPICS: Carlos Boozer, a Utah Jazz forward and Juneau-Douglas High School graduate, contributed four points, four rebounds and two blocks in a seven-minute stint for the U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team in a 120-65 rout of Canada in last Friday’s exhibition game in Las Vegas. Boozer and his Olympic teammates face Turkey today and Lithuania on Friday in the USA Basketball International Challenge in Macau, China.

PRO NOTES: At least two National Football League preseason games featuring Alaskans are scheduled to be televised next month. The Green Bay Packers, with left guard and North Pole High School graduate Daryn Colledge (No. 73), play host to the Cincinnati Bengals on Aug. 11 at 4 p.m. ADT on ESPN, and the Chicago Bears, with rookie cornerback and Bartlett graduate Zackary Bowman (No. 35), entertain the San Francisco 49ers at the same time on Aug. 21 on Fox (KFXF Channel 7) ... Los Angeles Sparks forward Jessica Moore, a Colony grad who was born in Fairbanks, contributed seven points, a rebound and a steal in a 92-84 overtime victory against the Minnesota Lynx in a Women’s National Basketball Association game on Sunday in Minneapolis ... Al Sokaitis, a former Alaska Nanooks men’s head coach, was named July 14 as the head coach of the expansion Alaska Dream of the American Basketball Association. The Dream of Anchorage is scheduled to begin play in December and will be among 48 teams set to play within the league this season, according to the ABA Web site.

Contact staff writer Danny Martin at 459-7586 or dmartin@newsminer.com.