DollarAndADream 3,356 Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 (edited) A Tale of a Man in the Shadows There comes a time in a man's life when he must dawn the hockey jersey. Quite frankly, I had no idea where I was going with this write-up when thinking of that first sentence, and I still don't. Travis Boychuk was born into the hockey world, and molded by it. He didn't know there was more to life until he was already a man. A career in any other field of practice faded away as soon as he stepped onto the ice. He lives and breathes the stick and puck. In fact, he is quite tired of being brushed aside by the analysts of the league. To put it onto paper, he has an 88 points-a-season average. That's more than the bigger star on his team in Bruno Wolf. You see, Travis grew up with a great work ethic. All throughout his life he's been hitting the gym and not giving a rat's ass about how big the other guys were around him. There will always be haters in any competitive sport, and Mr. Boychuk brushes them aside like nothing. Dirt on his shoulders is all it is to him, and his shoulders are always clean. Did that make sense? I don't know. Let's move on. ---------------------------- - ---------------------------- Everyone will always have their opinion of different players in the VHL, or any other sport really. In this case I want to take a look at Travis Boychuk. Coming into the league, nobody knew who he was or if there was any hope of him staying active in the practice facilities. It might have taken him a little while to finally hit his stride in that regard, but he did and he impressed his training staff wherever he played. He's been through the ropes of the VHLM and the VHL by now, and knows what it takes to win games. Positivity is definitely a key for him in his mindset. Negativity will find no place in his head. On the Ottawa Lynx, he was just another player. He was overshadowed by Konstantin Azhishchenkov who everyone seemed to think was the next big thing coming out of Russia, or wherever it was. In Turku, Boychuk was surrounded by some star talents in Svoboda, Wylde, Vlasis and Waldron where he was overlooked on that strong team. Then he came to Calgary, and they were in rebuild mode so people didn't exactly look much at the team. Travis Boychuk even won the trophy for best rookie with 103 points in his first season in Season 38. But no, that team didn't have enough talent on it and apparently people thought the reason he was grabbing so many points was because who else would on that team? He followed that up with a 91 point season, showing he wasn't just a one-hit wonder. In the 40th season, being his third, he only managed 66 points. This was also his first season where he was positive in plus/minus, with a +19. This was a strong Calgary squad though, one that had the likes of veteran Thomas Landry who was eating up the points as well, maybe taking some of Boychuk's fire away, but that was more than okay with him. They ended up taking out the Quebec City Meute in 7 games after being down 3-1, which was a huge upset for Quebec. -------------------------- -------------------------- Ironically, he was then traded to Quebec, a team that everyone loved to hate and being put onto the second line. Quebec was a team that most people loved to hate, so Boychuk was put back in the category of players to ignore. Travis then went on to post another 100+ point season with 103, matching his career milestone. One-hit wonder? I think not. That was also after a transition where he was placed on the second line for the first time in his career after three seasons of first line action. 103 points as a second liner is pretty damn good. Now, in Season 42 he followed up with 77 points in 72 games, after taking his first hit in depreciation. Now this far into the playoffs, he's scored 7 goals in 11 games, leading his team in goals. He also is tied with Aksel Thomassen in points with 11. Everyone ahead of him in points or goals has played more games as well. All of this being said, the Meute are on the brink against a tough Cologne Express squad. It is a wonder of why Quebec could handle New York for 7 games but not Cologne, although there is still time for that. Brock Waldron put on an MVP performance in that series against the Americans, but he has been less than stellar against the Express. With my drunkenness and my indecisiveness to what direction I should go in this article, I think it's time to conclude. Edited April 18, 2015 by DollarAndADream Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Victor 10,836 Posted April 18, 2015 Admin Share Posted April 18, 2015 Boychuk forever in my good books for repping Calgary even at a low point in franchise history. You deserve a cup and maybe Quebec can still get one. DollarAndADream and diamond_ace 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kesler 1,514 Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 Boychuk forever in my good books for repping Calgary even at a low point in franchise history. You deserve a cup and maybe Quebec can still get one. Uhhh Victor it wasnt even planned to win this season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuffy 346 Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 Got it all wrong it's boychuck DollarAndADream 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Victor 10,836 Posted April 18, 2015 Admin Share Posted April 18, 2015 Uhhh Victor it wasnt even planned to win this season sure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laflamme 376 Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 Content: 3/3- Very good read. Great to learn about the players I never hear of personally. surprised it turned out so good since you were intoxicated.Grammar: 2/2 good work.Appearance: 1/1 looks good, has picture and title.Final 6/6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DollarAndADream 3,356 Posted April 19, 2015 Author Share Posted April 19, 2015 Content: 3/3- Very good read. Great to learn about the players I never hear of personally. surprised it turned out so good since you were intoxicated. Grammar: 2/2 good work. Appearance: 1/1 looks good, has picture and title. Final 6/6 Haha, yeah. I guess I still write decently no matter how much liquor is in my system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank 5,058 Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 Claimed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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