Claimed:Player Focus: Travis Boychuk [Final 6/6]

[DollarAndADream 3,356]

Previous Editions:
Season 36 Part 1 + Part 2
Season 37 Part 1 + Part 2
Season 38 Part 1 + Part 2
Season 39  + Part 3 + Part 2
Season 40 (other parts in thread)
Season 41 (other parts in thread)
Season 42 Part 1 Part 2
Season 43 + Part 2 + Part 3
Season 44 Part 1

While I did look back into Travis Boychuk's career a little bit in one of my first editions of "A Brief Look Back", his career was a few seasons away from being over yet. So, now I will focus on him only.

Travis Boychuk - 8th Overall

-----------------------------------------

Boychuk looks on as a member of the Quebec City Meute
-----------------------------------------

Being drafted at 8th overall was a pretty great thing to happen for me, especially back when I was a fairly knew member who was never sure of how active I would be. One might say that Travis Boychuk was my pride and joy. I basically was learning how to build a player properly through him, and just winged it from the get-go. I think he did fairly well, all things considered. Boychuk is a player who never achieved much of anything besides finals exits, including the World and Super Cups. For that reason, his biggest award received is likely the Season 44 Grimm Jonsson Trophy, awarded to the VHL's top leader. While some might say the reason Boychuk won was because the Phil's agency had no player in the VHL, I think that award is something for Travis Boychuk to be proud of. I think even if Phil Hamilton was in the VHL at the time, Travis Boychuk had a fighting chance to come close to winning it.  He led the Quebec City Meute for multiple seasons, and while it did not result in a cup, they came out on more than one occasion.

Starting off in the VHL, Travis Boychuk was playing for the Calgary Wranglers. He broke onto the scene with a strong performance, winning the Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy as the league's best rookie. His rookie season was one where he scored 35 goals and added 68 assists, passing the 100 point milestone with 103 points. This feat would become a tough one to beat for Boychuk, with such a great season in his first showing. The Wranglers were in rebuild mode, so Travis' team did not qualify for the post-season. In his next outing, he put up 91 points, which was a bit less this time around, but he managed to score 38 goals, making a new milestone to hit. S39 was also the first season where Boychuk eclipsed the 50% faceoff mark with a 51.6% success rate. This was another season where the Calgary Wranglers did not qualify for the playoffs.

In his next and final season with Calgary, and his first in the playoffs, it happened in Season 40. Season 40, ironically, was the one where he put up the least amount of points in his career. This was a season in which Thomas Landry led the way for the Wranglers, so one might say that he stole the show over Travis Boychuk. Travis put up 66 points, with 33 goals and assists. The Calgary Wranglers made the post-season, and managed to heavily upset the Quebec City Meute in Game 7 after being down 3-1 in the series. The next round was all New York though, where the Americans would take that series 4-1. Boychuk put up 6 points in 12 games.

-----------------------------------------

Travis Boychuk scores a goal as a member of the Calgary Wranglers
-----------------------------------------

Ironically enough, that off-season, Travis Boychuk would be traded to the Quebec City Meute. This is the same team that the Calgary Wranglers upset in those Season 40 playoffs. So for the next season in Season 41, Boychuk had quite a bit of expectations to live up to. Although, from now on, this was going to be behind the likes of Aksel Thomassen and Bruno Wolf. No longer was Travis Boychuk going to be relied upon so heavily. In S41, he surpassed expectations, scoring 103 points for the second time in his career, but this time with 40 goals. This was the best mark he had ever hit thus far in his career, so Quebec was thrilled to get this kind of production. He also boosted his faceoff numbers to 59.4%. In those playoffs, Boychuk and the Meute beat the Calgary Wranglers in 5, then lost to the New York Americans in 5, where Boychuk had 14 points in those 10 games. Interestingly enough, Boychuk would beat Quebec as a Wrangler, then the very next season, beat Calgary as a Meute.

In Season 42, the Quebec City Meute had an outstanding season, winning the Victory Cup for the best regular season record. In this season, Boychuk's numbers would decline again, going to 77 points with 37 goals and 40 assists. This was a season in which Boychuk would lay out the most hits he ever had in a single season, with 264. In the playoffs, the Quebec City would make it all the way to the finals against the Cologne Express, but would ultimately lose in 5 games, being upset by the underdogs. He managed to score 11 points in 12 games, including 2 game winning goals and 31 hits.

--------------------------------------

Another candid shot of Travis Boychuk in Meute colours
--------------------------------------

Following up that disappointing finish to the playoffs for the Meute, in Season 43 they would once again put on a strong performance. Travis Boychuk put up 44 goals and 41 assists, for 85 points in those 72 games. This time around in the post-season, there was an even heavier upset, were the Seattle Bears took out the Quebec City Meute in 5 games in the 1st round. Another let down of a season for Travis Boychuk and the Meute. He had 4 points in those 5 games.

In Boychuk's final season in S44, he would get back to one of his more impressive performances. Once again surpassing the 100 point mark, he would score 42 goals and add 59 assists, for 101 points. Plus/minus-wise, this would be his best season as well, with a +43. He would also tie his career best in the game winning goals column, with 11. On top of that, he improved in the faceoff dot, earning a 61.2% success rate there. Despite all these feats, Travis Boychuk would not get the Continental Cup that he wanted for his career, because his ex-team the Calgary Wranglers had something to say about that. The Meute lost to the Wranglers in 5 games, where Boychuk only had 3 points. One thing to be proud of for him though, was that in this season he would go on to be voted as the top leader in the VHL, winning the Grimm Jonsson Trophy.

While he will not go down as a Hall of Famer, or even a cup winner, the Dollar and a Dream Agency is proud of Travis Boychuk. Bringing the agency over to the VHL, I was unsure of what to expect with my first player, but he did better than expected. While some people get to win cups as a rookie, or very early on in their career, Boychuk did not. This does not take away from my experience. I can only hope that with Zach Parechkin, things may be different.

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

great read. Tough luck with Boychuk, Muller and Parechkin will have fun going head to head in the near future  Good luck with Parechkin bud.

[Hybrid1486 577]

Content 3/3 Boychuk had a great career, championship or not (although one or two in Quebec would've been nice). I've written the career retrospective many times...it's a good exercise in helping to put together what a year-plus of real time has bought you.

Grammar 2/2 Spell check can only go so far...
... I was a fairly knew member ... - I'll let you spot the mistake

Appearance 1/1

Total 6/6

[CoachReilly 688]

Claimed