Claimed:Boychuk's Season Review

[DollarAndADream 3,356]

Boychuk's First Season in the VHL

 

The season has finally ended and there have been plenty of ups and downs for all teams. Every rookie had their chance to prove their skill on their new teams, some outshining others. It is a huge step in a player's career when he makes the jump to the VHL. Some players just do not have what it takes, and some will succeed in big ways. It requires a lot of heart to make such a leap to a talented league like the VHL, and it is very interesting seeing who has it.

 

The Calgary Wranglers are a rising team in the league and looking to be a contender sooner rather than later. They have some of the more important pieces to work around, like goaltender Martin Brookside. He has made a great splash on the Wranglers and with him between the pipes, Calgary is looking for quality up front. They seem to have found this when they drafted Travis Boychuk as he has done way more than expected of him.

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Boychuk had an outstanding season managing to score 103 points in 69 games played. That is not a feat that many can say they have accomplished. 1st in rookie scoring, and 7th overall in the whole league he has wowed analysts and fans alike. He cracked the 100 point milestone in his first season.  On the other hand, he also missed 3 games, and one could argue he may have cracked the top 5 by scoring another 4 points in those 3 missed. As a centerman, he was 3rd in the center scoring race. Mainly a play maker, he earned 68 assists on the Wranglers. Quite the production for a rookie. Nobody expected 35 goals from the passer either.

 

This play maker was 3rd in the league in the assists category, a stunning number for a mere rookie while being only 3 assists away from 1st. Travis has been known since the start as being an elite-caliber passer but he stormed through the gate surpassing his goals. Most analysts expected him step into the league and produce at a pretty good pace, but not what he did this season. His vision and skill easily transferred over to the big stage and he continued to impress his coaches as he did in the past. If the Wranglers needed a play maker, they have most definitely found one in Boychuk.

 

As another great surprise, Travis Boychuk scored 35 goals with the club. He was 1 goal behind tying the Wrangler lead held by Simon Tremblay at 36. All of his off-season training working on his goal scoring touch has looked to pay off in a big way. Although, this will surely balance out once Calgary gains some more talent on the team. Boychuk was heavily relied on with top minutes this season, and did not disappoint anyone while he had taken charge. It should be tough to repeat the 35 goal mark next year as it is not a task he has done very often in the past.

 

One skill he worked on a ton last off-season was his face offs. He knew he had to get better at that aspect if he was going to have any kind of success in the VHL. In his rookie season, he did pretty good for a first timer going 48.29% in the circle. With all of the amazing talent and size that this league has, going close to 50% is not a bad thing. As he looks towards the future, we are sure that he will continue to work on his strength and technique here.

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Hitting is also not something anyone thought about for Travis Boychuk. He has a slimmer frame and is not a big body like plenty of centermen are, yet he managed to land 110 hits. Bringing this kind of physicality to his repertoire will do nothing but benefit his career going forward. Being in the big leagues, toughness is a trait that every player should at least have a taste of. If Boychuk can bring more heavy checking to the ice, everyone will be pleased.

 

Travis Boychuk was the top rookie producer this season, with 23 more points than the man behind him in Vojczek Svoboda. One would think that hitting 103 points in his VHL debut, he is a shoe-in for the Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy awarded to the top rookie. Svoboda, Boychuk and Helsinki goaltender Kimmo Salo look to be the 3 men competing for that trophy, with a player of each type being a nice coincidence. Heading into the season, Boychuk never thought he would go on to win any trophies but we are sure that he will accept whatever praise that is given to him.

 

The Calgary Wranglers and the VHL have witnessed a great happening in the league with Boychuk, and all the fans are hoping he comes back with more of the same next year. The Wranglers have someone to build around up front for certain. This team is not far off from contention in the league, and once they get more balance into their line up they should surely be a threat.

 

[Guest Svoboda_3]

Content: 3/3

869 words. It was very Boychuk-esc., but all the praise is well-deserved. Congrats on the Stolzy. The Media Spot also flowed very well and was well-structured.

Grammar: 2/2

There's probably more than you and I would like here, but nearing 900 words and the latter being of the minor variety, a deduction isn't required.

 

and looking = and are looking

100 point = 100-point

play maker = playmaker

35 goal mark = 35-goal mark

face offs = face-offs

pretty good = pretty well

more heavy = heavier

line up = line-up

Appearance: 1/1

Looks good as usual.

Overall: 6/6

[Kesler 1,514]

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